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diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6833f05 --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,3 @@ +* text=auto +*.txt text +*.md text diff --git a/35035-h.zip b/35035-h.zip Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..ecd9742 --- /dev/null +++ b/35035-h.zip diff --git a/35035-h/35035-h.htm b/35035-h/35035-h.htm new file mode 100644 index 0000000..56b8eab --- /dev/null +++ b/35035-h/35035-h.htm @@ -0,0 +1,14148 @@ +<!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" xml:lang="en" lang="en"> + <head> + <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html;charset=iso-8859-1" /> + <meta http-equiv="Content-Style-Type" content="text/css" /> + <title> + The Project Gutenberg eBook of The Actress' Daughter, by May Agnes Fleming. + </title> + <style type="text/css"> + +body { + margin-left: 10%; + margin-right: 10%; +} + + h1,h2,h3,h4,h5 { + text-align: center; /* all headings centered */ + clear: both; +} + +p { + margin-top: .75em; + text-align: justify; + margin-bottom: .75em; +} + +p.citation {text-align: right;} + +hr { + width: 33%; + margin-top: 2em; + margin-bottom: 2em; + margin-left: auto; + margin-right: auto; + clear: both; +} + +table { + margin-left: auto; + margin-right: auto; +} + +.pagenum { /* uncomment the next line for invisible page numbers */ + /* visibility: hidden; */ + position: absolute; + left: 92%; + font-size: smaller; + text-align: right; +} /* page numbers */ + +.center {text-align: center;} + +.smcap {font-variant: small-caps;} + +/* Images */ +.figcenter { + margin: auto; + text-align: center; +} + +.floatleft {float: left; clear: left; text-align: center; width: auto; + padding-top: 0.2em; padding-bottom: 0.2em;} + +img.cap { float:left; + margin: 0 0.5em 0 0; + position:relative; } + +p.cap_1 { text-indent: -0.4em; } + +div.drop p:first-letter { color: black; } + +div.drop p { margin-bottom:0;} + +/* Poetry */ +.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.i1 { + display: block; + margin-left: 1em; + 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; +} + +.poem span.i14 { + display: block; + margin-left: 14em; + padding-left: 3em; + text-indent: -3em; +} + +.poemblock24 {margin: auto; + width: 24em; + text-align: center;} +.poemblock26 {margin: auto; + width: 26em; + text-align: center;} +.poemblock28 {margin: auto; + width: 28em; + text-align: center;} +.poemblock30 {margin: auto; + width: 30em; + text-align: center;} +.poemblock32 {margin: auto; + width: 32em; + text-align: center;} +.poemblock34 {margin: auto; + width: 34em; + text-align: center;} +.poemblock36 {margin: auto; + width: 36em; + text-align: center;} +.poemblock38 {margin: auto; + width: 38em; + text-align: center;} +.poemblock40 {margin: auto; + width: 40em; + text-align: center;} +.poemblock42 {margin: auto; + width: 42em; + text-align: center;} +.poemblock44 {margin: auto; + width: 44em; + text-align: center;} + +/* Transcriber's Note and Corrections */ + + .tnote { border: dashed 1px; + padding: 1em; + margin-top: 3em; + margin-right: 0%; + margin-bottom: 3em; + margin-left: 0%; + page-break-after: always; } + + .tnote p { text-indent: 0em; margin-left: 2em; margin-top: .5em; font-size: 90%; } + + .tnote h3 { text-indent: 0em; margin-left: 0em; text-align: center; font-size: 100%; + font-style: normal; font-weight: bold; } + + </style> + </head> +<body> + + +<pre> + +The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Actress' Daughter, by May Agnes Fleming + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: The Actress' Daughter + A Novel + +Author: May Agnes Fleming + +Release Date: January 22, 2011 [EBook #35035] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE ACTRESS' DAUGHTER *** + + + + +Produced by Brenda Lewis, woodie4 and the Online Distributed +Proofreading Canada Team at http://www.pgdpcanada.net (This +book was produced from scanned images of public domain +material from the Google Book Search project.) + + + + + + +</pre> + + + +<p><br /><br /><br /><br /></p> + +<h2>POPULAR NOVELS.</h2> + +<h3>BY MAY AGNES FLEMING.</h3> + + +<div class="center"> +<table border="0" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="0" summary="book list"> +<tr><td align="left"> 1.—GUY EARLSCOURT'S WIFE.</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"> 2.—A WONDERFUL WOMAN.</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"> 3.—A TERRIBLE SECRET.</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"> 4.—NORINE'S REVENGE.</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"> 5.—A MAD MARRIAGE.</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"> 6.—ONE NIGHT'S MYSTERY.</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"> 7.—KATE DANTON.</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"> 8.—SILENT AND TRUE.</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"> 9.—HEIR OF CHARLTON.</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">10.—CARRIED BY STORM.</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">11.—LOST FOR A WOMAN.</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">12.—A WIFE'S TRAGEDY.</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">13.—A CHANGED HEART.</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">14.—PRIDE AND PASSION.</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">15.—SHARING HER CRIME.</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">16.—A WRONGED WIFE.</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">17.—MAUDE PERCY'S SECRET.</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">18.—THE ACTRESS' DAUGHTER (<i>New</i>).</td></tr> +</table></div> + + +<p class="center">"Mrs. Fleming's stories are growing more and more<br />popular every +day. Their delineations of character,<br />life-like conversations, +flashes of wit, constantly<br /> varying scenes, and deeply interesting<br /> +plots, combine to place their<br />author in the very first rank<br />of +Modern Novelists."</p> + +<p class="center">All published uniform with this volume. Price, $1.50<br /> each, and sent +<i>free</i> by mail on receipt of price,</p> + +<h4>BY</h4> + +<h3>G. W. CARLETON & CO., Publishers,<br />New York.<br /><br /><br /><br /></h3> + + +<h1>THE<br /> +ACTRESS' DAUGHTER.<br /><br /><br /><br /></h1> + +<h2>A Novel.<br /></h2> + +<h5>BY<br /></h5> +<h2>MAY AGNES FLEMING.<br /></h2> + +<h5>AUTHOR OF<br /></h5> + +<p class="center"> +"GUY EARLSCOURT'S WIFE," "A WONDERFUL WOMAN,"<br /> +"A TERRIBLE SECRET," "SILENT AND TRUE,"<br /> +"A MAD MARRIAGE" "LOST FOR A WOMAN,"<br /> +"ONE NIGHT'S MYSTERY," ETC., ETC.<br /></p> + +<hr style="width: 25%;" /> + +<div class="poemblock36"> +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">"Who that had seen her form so light,<br /></span> +<span class="i1">For swiftness only turned,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Would e'er have thought in a thing so slight,<br /></span> +<span class="i1">Such a fiery spirit burned?"<br /></span> +</div></div></div> + +<hr style="width: 25%;" /> + + +<h3>NEW YORK:<br /></h3> +<h5>COPYRIGHT, 1885, BY<br /></h5> +<h2><i>G. W. Carleton & Co., Publishers.</i><br /></h2> +<h4>LONDON: S. LOW, SON & CO.<br /> +MDCCCLXXXVI.<br /></h4> + + + + +<div class="center"> +<table border="0" width="65%" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="0" summary="printers name"> +<tr><td align="left">Stereotyped by</td><td align="right">HENRY M. TOBITT,</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">SAMUEL STODDER,</td><td align="right">PRINTER,</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">42 DEY STREET, N. Y.</td><td align="right">42 DEY STREET, N. Y.</td></tr> +</table></div> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_v" id="Page_v">[Pg v]</a></span></p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2>CONTENTS.</h2> + + + + + + +<div class="center"> +<table border="0" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="0" summary="contents"> +<tr><td align="right">Chapter</td><td align="left"></td><td align="right">Page</td></tr> +<tr><td align="right"><a href="#CHAPTER_I">I</a>.</td><td align="left">Christmas Eve</td><td align="right">7</td></tr> +<tr><td align="right"><a href="#CHAPTER_II">II</a>.</td><td align="left">The Actress—Little Georgia</td><td align="right">22</td></tr> +<tr><td align="right"><a href="#CHAPTER_III">III</a>.</td><td align="left">A Young Tornado</td><td align="right">36</td></tr> +<tr><td align="right"><a href="#CHAPTER_IV">IV</a>.</td><td align="left">Georgia makes some new Acquaintances</td><td align="right">53</td></tr> +<tr><td align="right"><a href="#CHAPTER_V">V</a>.</td><td align="left">"Lady Macbeth."</td><td align="right">67</td></tr> +<tr><td align="right"><a href="#CHAPTER_VI">VI</a>.</td><td align="left">Taming an Eaglet</td><td align="right">83</td></tr> +<tr><td align="right"><a href="#CHAPTER_VII">VII</a>.</td><td align="left">Georgia's Dream</td><td align="right">99</td></tr> +<tr><td align="right"><a href="#CHAPTER_VIII">VIII</a>.</td><td align="left">"Coming Events Cast their Shadows Before."</td><td align="right">114</td></tr> +<tr><td align="right"><a href="#CHAPTER_IX">IX</a>.</td><td align="left">Old Friends Meet</td><td align="right">129</td></tr> +<tr><td align="right"><a href="#CHAPTER_X">X</a>.</td><td align="left">Dreaming</td><td align="right">144</td></tr> +<tr><td align="right"><a href="#CHAPTER_XI">XI</a>.</td><td align="left">Something New</td><td align="right">158</td></tr> +<tr><td align="right"><a href="#CHAPTER_XII">XII</a>.</td><td align="left">Richmond House gets a Mistress</td><td align="right">171</td></tr> +<tr><td align="right"><a href="#CHAPTER_XIII">XIII</a>.</td><td align="left">Awakening</td><td align="right">184</td></tr> +<tr><td align="right"><a href="#CHAPTER_XIV">XIV</a>.</td><td align="left">A Dream Coming True</td><td align="right">200</td></tr> +<tr><td align="right"><a href="#CHAPTER_XV">XV</a>.</td><td align="left">Sowing the Wind</td><td align="right">215</td></tr> +<tr><td align="right"><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_vi" id="Page_vi">[Pg vi]</a></span></td></tr> +<tr><td align="right"><a href="#CHAPTER_XVI">XVI</a>.</td><td align="left">Reaping the Whirlwind</td><td align="right">233</td></tr> +<tr><td align="right"><a href="#CHAPTER_XVII">XVII</a>.</td><td align="left">Gone</td><td align="right">250</td></tr> +<tr><td align="right"><a href="#CHAPTER_XVIII">XVIII</a>.</td><td align="left">The Dawn of Another Day</td><td align="right">267</td></tr> +<tr><td align="right"><a href="#CHAPTER_XIX">XIX</a>.</td><td align="left">Desolation</td><td align="right">283</td></tr> +<tr><td align="right"><a href="#CHAPTER_XX">XX</a>.</td><td align="left">Found and Lost</td><td align="right">298</td></tr> +<tr><td align="right"><a href="#CHAPTER_XXI">XXI</a>.</td><td align="left">Charley's Crime</td><td align="right">314</td></tr> +<tr><td align="right"><a href="#CHAPTER_XXII">XXII</a>.</td><td align="left">The Sun Rises</td><td align="right">330</td></tr> +<tr><td align="right"><a href="#CHAPTER_XXIII">XXIII</a>.</td><td align="left">Over the World</td><td align="right">340</td></tr> +<tr><td align="right"><a href="#CHAPTER_XXIV">XXIV</a>.</td><td align="left">At Last</td><td align="right">354</td></tr> +<tr><td align="right"><a href="#CHAPTER_XXV">XXV</a>.</td><td align="left">"After Tears and Weeping, He Poureth in Joyfulness."</td><td align="right">369</td></tr> +<tr><td align="right"><a href="#CHAPTER_XXVI">XXVI</a>.</td><td align="left">"Last Scene of All."</td><td align="right">382</td></tr> +</table></div> + + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;"/><p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_7" id="Page_7">[Pg 7]</a></span></p> +<h2>THE ACTRESS' DAUGHTER.</h2> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_I" id="CHAPTER_I"></a>CHAPTER I.</h2> + +<h3>CHRISTMAS EVE.</h3> + +<div class="poemblock34"> +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">"Heap on more wood! the wind is chill;<br /></span> +<span class="i0">But let it whistle as it will,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">We'll keep our Christmas merry still."—<span class="smcap">Scott.</span><br /></span> +</div></div></div> + +<p><span class="floatleft">"</span></p> +<div class="drop"> +<img src="images/illo_l.png" alt="L" width="100" height="100" class="cap" /> +<p class="cap_1"> +or! Lor! what a night it is any way. Since I was first born, and +that's thirty-five—no, forty-five years come next June, I never heern +sich win' as that there, fit to tear the roof off! Well, this is +Christmas Eve, and we ginerally do hev a spell o' weather 'bout this +time. Here you Fly! Fly! you little black imp you! if you don't stop +that falling asleep over the fire, and stir your lazy stumps, I'll tie +you up and give you such a switchin' as you never had in all your born +days. Ar-r-r-r! there I vow to Sam if that derned old tabby cat hain't +got her nose stuck into the apple sass! Scat! you hussy! Fly-y-y! you +ugly little black ace-o'-spades! <i>will</i> you wake up afore I twist your +neck for you?"</p></div> + +<p>And the speaker of this spirited address—a tall, thin,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_8" id="Page_8">[Pg 8]</a></span> pasteboard +female, as erect as a ramrod and as flat as a shingle, with a hard, +uncompromising face, and a hawk-like gray eye, caught hold of the drowsy +little darkey nodding in the chimney-corner, and shook her as if she had +been a flourishing little fruit tree in harvest time.</p> + +<p>"P-please, Miss Jerry, 'scuse me—I didn't go for to do it," stammered +Fly, with a very wide-awake and startled face. "I wasn't asleep, old +Mist—"</p> + +<p>"Oh! you wasn't asleep, old Mist—wasn't you," sneered Miss Jerusha +Glory Ann Skamp, the sonorous and high-sounding title claimed by the +antiquated maiden lady as her rightful property; "you wasn't asleep +wasn't you? Oh, no! in course you wasn't! <i>You</i> never sleep at all, do +you? Betsey Periwinkle never runs off with the meat, and the cold +vittals, or drinks the milk, or pokes her nose into the apple sass, or +punkin slap-jack, while you're a snoozin' in the corner, does she? Ain't +you 'shamed o' yourself, you nasty little black image, to stand up there +and talk to one as has been a mother to you year in and year out, like +that? Ar Lor'! there ain't nothin' but ungratytood in this 'ere world. +Betsey Periwinkle, you ugly brute! I see you a lookin' at the apple +sass, but just let me ketch you at it agin, that's all! Oh, my stars and +thingumbobs! the way I'm afflicted with that lazy little nigger and that +thievin' cat, and me a poor lone woman too! If it ain't enough to make a +body go and do something to themselves I should admire to know what is. +Here, you Fly! jump up and fry the pancakes for supper, and put the tea +to draw, and set that johnny-cake in the oven, and then set the table, +and don't be lazin' around like a singed cat all the time."</p> + +<p>And having delivered herself of these commands all in<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_9" id="Page_9">[Pg 9]</a></span> a breath, with +the air of a Napoleon in petticoats, Miss Jerusha marched, with the +tramp of a grenadier, out of the kitchen into the "best room," drew +several yards of stocking from an apparently bottomless pocket, +deposited herself gingerly in the embraces of a cushioned rocking-chair, +the only sort of embrace Miss Jerusha had any faith in, and began +knitting away as if the fate of nations depended on it.</p> + +<p>And while she sits there, straight, rigid, and erect as a church +steeple, let me describe her and the house itself more minutely.</p> + +<p>A New England "best room!" Who does not know what it looks like? The +shining, yellow-painted floor, whereon no sacrilegious speck of dust +ever rests; the six stiff-backed, cane-seated chairs, standing around +like grim sentinels on duty, in the exact position to an inch wherein +they have stood ever since they were chairs; the huge black chest of +drawers that looms up dark and ominous between the two front windows, +those windows themselves glittering, shining, flashing, perfect jewels +of cleanliness, protected from flies and other "noxious insects" by +stiff, rustling green paper blinds; the table opposite the fireplace, +whereon lies, in solemn, solitary grandeur, a large family Bible, Fox's +Book of Martyrs, the Pilgrim's Progress, and Robinson Crusoe.</p> + +<p>Miss Jerusha, being frightfully sensible, as ladies of a certain age +always are, looked upon all works of fiction with a steady contempt too +intense for words; and therefore Robinson Crusoe had remained as +unmolested on the table as he had in his sea-girt island from the day a +deluded friend had presented it to her until the present hour. In fact, +Miss Jerusha Skamp did not affect literature of any<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_10" id="Page_10">[Pg 10]</a></span> kind much, and +looked upon reading as a downright waste of time and patience. On +Sundays, it is true, she considered it a religious duty to spell through +a chapter in the Bible, beginning at the first of Genesis, and marching +right through, in spite of all obstacles, to the end of Revelations—a +feat she had once performed in her life, and was now half way through +again. The hard words and proper names in the Old Testament were a +serious trial to Miss Jerusha, and, combined with the laziness of her +little negro maid Fly, and the dishonest propensities of her cat +Periwinkle, were the chief troubles and tribulations of her life. Miss +Jerusha's opinion was that it would have been just as easy for the +children of Israel to have been born John Smith or Peter Jones as +Shadrack, Meshach and Abednego, and a <i>great</i> deal easier for posterity. +Next to the Bible, Fox's "Book of Martyrs" was a work wherein Miss +Jerusha's soul delighted, and wonderful was her appreciation and +approval of the ghastly pictures which embellished that saintly volume. +"The Pilgrim's Progress" she passed over with silent contempt as a book +"nobody could see the pint of."</p> + +<p>Besides the best room, Miss Jerusha's cottage contained a kitchen about +the size of a well grown bandbox, and overhead there were two sleeping +apartments, one occupied by that ancient vestal herself, and the other +used as a store-room and lumber-room generally.</p> + +<p>Fly and Betsey Periwinkle sought their repose and shakedown before the +kitchen fire, being enjoined each night before she left them by Miss +Jerusha to "keep an eye on the house and things;" but as Fly generally +snored from the moment the last flutter of Miss Jerusha's dress +disappeared until a sound shaking from that lady awoke<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_11" id="Page_11">[Pg 11]</a></span> her next +morning, and Betsey Periwinkle, after indulging in a series of short +naps, amused herself with reconnoitering the premises and feloniously +purloining everything she could lay her paws on that seemed to be good +and eatable, it is to be supposed the admonitions were not very rigidly +attended to. There was not much danger of robbers, however, for the +cottage was situated nearly two miles from any other habitation, on the +very outskirts of the flourishing township of Burnfield, a spot lonely +and isolated enough to suit even the hermit-like taste of Miss Jerusha.</p> + +<p>The back windows of the cottage commanded a view of the sea, spreading +away and away until lost in the horizon beyond. From the front was seen +the forest path lonely and silent, with the dark pine woods bounding the +vision and extending away for miles. In the rear of the house was a +small garden, filled in summer with vegetables of all sorts, and the +product of this garden formed the principal source of Miss Jerusha's +income. The old maid was not rich by any means, but with the vegetables +and poultry she raised herself, the stockings she knit, the cloth she +wove, the wool she dyed, the candy she made and sold to the Burnfield +grocers, and the sewing she "took in" she managed to live comfortably +enough and "lay up something," as she said herself, "for a rainy day"—a +figure of speech which was popularly supposed to refer to times of +adversity and old age.</p> + +<p>A strong-minded, clear-headed, sharp-tongued, wide-awake, uncompromising +specimen of femaledom "away down east" was Miss Jerusha. Never since the +time she had first donned pantalettes, and had "swopped" her rag doll +for Mary Ann Brown's china mug, could that respectable individual, the +oldest inhabitant, recollect any occasion<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_12" id="Page_12">[Pg 12]</a></span> wherein Miss Jerusha had not +got the best of the bargain, whatever that bargain might be. Though +never remarkable at any time for her personal beauty, yet tradition +averred that her thriftiness and smartness had on one or two occasions +so far captivated certain Jonathans of her district, that they had +gallantly tendered their heart, hand and brand new swallow-tails. But +looking upon mankind as an inferior race of animals, made more for +ornament than use, Miss Jerusha had contemptuously refused them, and had +marched on with grim determination through the vale of years in her +single blessedness up to her present mature age of five-and-forty.</p> + +<p>The personal appearance of the lady could hardly be called prepossessing +at first sight, or at second sight either, for that matter. Unusually +tall, and unusually thin, Miss Jerusha looked not unlike a female +hop-pole, and her figure was not to say improved by her dress, which +never could be persuaded to approach her ankles, and was so narrow that +a long step seemed rather a hazardous experiment. Her hair, which was of +a neutral tint between red and orange, a vague hue commonly known as +"carroty," was disfigured by no cap or other sort of headgear, but +tethered into a tight knot behind, and then forcibly secured. Her face +looked not unlike that of a yellow parchment image as she there sat +knitting in the red firelight, rocking herself back and forward in a +rheumatic old chair that kept up a horrible crechy-crawchy as she +squeaked back and forth.</p> + +<p>The night was Christmas Eve, and unusually wild and stormy, even for +that season. The wind blew in terrible gusts, shrieking wildly through +the bare arms of the pines, drifting the snow into great hills, and +driving the piercing sleet clamorously against the windows. Miss +Jerusha<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_13" id="Page_13">[Pg 13]</a></span> drew closer to the fire, with a shiver, and paused for a moment +to listen to the wild winter storm.</p> + +<p>"My gracious! what a blast o' win' that there was. Ef the old Satin +ain't been let loose to-night my name's not Jerusha Skamp. Go out and +bring in some more wood, Fly, and don't let Betsey Periwinkle eat the +tea things while you're gone. My-y-y conscience! how it blows—getting +worse and worse every minute too. If there's any ships on the river +to-night the first land they make will be the bottom, or I'm no judge. +And I oughter be, I <i>think</i>," said Miss Jerusha, administering a kick to +Betsey Periwinkle, as that amiable quadruped began some friendly +advances toward her ball of stocking yarn, "seein' I've lived here since +I was born, and that's forty-five years come next June. I should not +wonder now if some shiftless, good-for-nothing vagabones was to 'low +themselves for to get ketched in the storm and come to me to let 'em in +and keep 'em all night. Well, Miss Jerusha, don't you think you see +yourself a-doing of it though! People seems to think I was made +specially by Providence to 'tend onto 'em and make yarb tea for them to +swaller as is sick, and look arter them as is well, whenever they get +ketched in a storm, or a nightmare, or anything. Humph! I guess nobody +never seen any small sand, commonly called mite stones, in <i>my</i> eyes, +and never will if I can help it. What on airth keeps that there little +black viper now, I wonder. <i>You</i>, Fly!"</p> + +<p>"Yes, old Mist, here I is," answered Fly, coming blustering in like a +sable goddess of the wind, loaded down with wood. "An' oh, Miss Jerry, +all de ghosts as eber was is ober in dat ar inferally ole house 'long +the road."</p> + +<p>"Ghosts! ugh!" said Miss Jerusha, with a contemptu<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_14" id="Page_14">[Pg 14]</a></span>ous snarl, for the +worthy spinster despised "spirits from the vasty deep" as profoundly as +she did mankind. "Don't make a greater fool o' yourself, you +misfortunate little nat'ral you, than the Lord himself made you. Put +some wood on the fire, and be off and hurry up supper."</p> + +<p>"Miss Jerry, I 'clear I seed it own bressed self," protested Fly, with +horror-stricken eyes. "I jes <i>did</i>, as plain as I see you now, an' if as +how you doesn't believe me, Miss Jerry, go and look for yourself."</p> + +<p>"Lord bless the child! what is she talking about?" said Miss Jerusha, +turning around so sharply that little Fly jumped back in alarm.</p> + +<p>"Ghosts, Miss Jerry," whimpered the poor little darkey.</p> + +<p>"Ghosts! Fly, look here! You want me to switch you within an inch o' +your life," said Miss Jerusha, laying down her knitting and compressing +her lips.</p> + +<p>"Miss Jerry, I can't help it; I jes can't. Ef you're to kill me, I <i>did</i> +see 'em, too, and you can see 'em yerself ef you'll only look out ob de +winder," sobbed Fly, digging her knuckles into her eyes.</p> + +<p>Miss Jerusha, with sternly shut-up lips, glared upon the unhappy little +negress for a moment in ominous silence, and then getting up, went to +the window and looked out.</p> + +<p>But the window was thickly covered with frost, and nothing was to be +seen from it.</p> + +<p>"Ef you'd only come to de door, Miss Jerry," wept Fly, taking her +knuckles out of one eye, where they had been firmly imbedded.</p> + +<p>With the tramp of an iron-shod dragon, Miss Jerusha walked to the +kitchen door, opened it, and looked out.</p> + +<p>A blinding drift of snow, a piercing blast of wind, a<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_15" id="Page_15">[Pg 15]</a></span> cutting shower of +sleet, met her in the face, and for one moment forced her back.</p> + +<p>Only for a moment, for Miss Jerusha was not one to yield to trifles, and +then, shading her eyes with her hands, she strove to pierce the darkness +made white by the falling snow. No ghost met her gaze, however, but +something that startled her quite as much—a long line of red light +streaming along the lonesome, deserted road. There was no one living +save herself all along the way for two miles, and no house of any kind +save the ruins of an old cottage, long since deserted, and popularly +supposed to be haunted.</p> + +<p>"Great Jemima!" exclaimed Miss Jerusha, as, after her first start of +astonishment, she came in, closed and locked the door, "who can be in +the old house? Somebody's bin caught in the storm, and went in there for +shelter. Well, lors! I hope they won't come bothering me. If they do, +I'll pack them off agin with a flea in their ear. You, Fly! ain't them +pancakes fried yet? Oh, you lazy, shif'less, idle, good-for-nothing +little reptyle! Ef you don't ketch particler fits afore ever you sleep +this night! And I 'clare to man the kittle ain't even biled, much less +the tea adrawin'! <i>You, Fly!</i>"</p> + +<p>Fly came rushing frantically out, and dodged Miss Jerusha's uplifted +hand, which came down with a stunning force on the table. With a +suppressed howl of pain, the enraged spinster shook her tingling +fingers, and was about to pounce bodily upon her unlucky little +servitor, when, in a lull of the storm, a knock at the door arrested the +descending blow.</p> + +<p>Both mistress and maid paused and held their breath to listen.</p> + +<p>The wind and sleet came driving in fierce gusts against<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_16" id="Page_16">[Pg 16]</a></span> the house, +shaking the doors and rattling the windows; then came a lull, and then +the knock was repeated, this time more loudly.</p> + +<p>"Oh, Miss Jerry, it's a ghos'! Oh, Miss Jerry, it's a ghos'! an' 'deed +a' 'deed I don't want for to go!" shrieked the terrified Fly, clinging +wildly to Miss Jerusha's dress.</p> + +<p>With a vigorous shake the spinster shook off the clinging hands of poor +little Fly, and laid her sprawling on the floor. Then approaching the +door, she called, loudly and threateningly:</p> + +<p>"Who's there?"</p> + +<p>Another knock, but no reply.</p> + +<p>"Who's there?" repeated Miss Jerusha, sharply.</p> + +<p>"It's only <i>me</i>—please let me in," answered a faint voice.</p> + +<p>To Miss Jerusha it sounded like the voice of a child, but still +suspicious of her visitor, she only called:</p> + +<p>"What do you want?"</p> + +<p>"Oh, please open the door—I'm <i>so</i> cold!" was the answer, in a faint, +shivering voice that was drowned in another shriek of the storm.</p> + +<p>Miss Jerusha was no coward; so, first arming herself with a pair of +tongs, having some vague idea she might find them useful, she pulled +open the door, admitting a wild drift of wind, and snow, and sleet, and, +blown in with it, the small, slight figure of a child—no one else.</p> + +<p>Miss Jerusha closed the door, folded her arms, and looked at her +unexpected visitor. Little Fly, too, so far recovered from her terror as +to lift her woolly head and favor the new-comer with an open mouth and +eyes astare.</p> + +<p>It was a boy of some thirteen or fourteen years of age, wretchedly clad, +but so white with the drifting snow that<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_17" id="Page_17">[Pg 17]</a></span> it was impossible to tell what +he wore. His face was thin, pinched, and purple with the cold, his +fingers red and benumbed, his teeth chattering either with fear or cold.</p> + +<p>As Miss Jerusha continued to stare at him in severest silence, he lifted +a pair of large, dark, melancholy eyes wistfully, pleadingly, to her +hard, grim face.</p> + +<p>"Well," said the spinster, at last, drawing a deep breath, and surveying +him from head to foot—"well, young man, what do <i>you</i> want, if a body +may ask?"</p> + +<p>"Please ma'am, I want you to come and see mother—she's sick," said the +child, dropping his eyes under the stern gaze bent upon him.</p> + +<p>"Oh, you do? I hain't the least doubt of it!" said Miss Jerusha, +sarcastically. "Should hev bin 'sprised if you <i>hadn't</i>. I was jest a +sayin' I 'spected to see somebody comin' for me to see their mother or +something. Nobody could die, of course, unless I trudged through the +snow and storm to see 'em off. Of course, it wouldn't do to let a +particerlerly stormy night come without bringing <i>me</i> out through it, +giving me the rheumatiz in all my bones and a misery in the rest o' my +limbs. Oh, no, in course it wouldn't. And who may your mother happen to +be, young man?" concluded Miss Jerusha, changing with startling +abruptness from the intensely ironical to the most searching severity.</p> + +<p>"Why, she's <i>mother</i>," said the boy, simply, lifting his dark, earnest +eyes again to that set, rigid face; "she is in that old house over +there, and she—is going to die."</p> + +<p>His lip quivered, his eyes filled and saddened, and he drew a long, +shivering breath, and swallowed very fast to keep back his tears. Brave +little heart! hiding his own<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_18" id="Page_18">[Pg 18]</a></span> grief lest it might offend that +sour-looking gorgon and keep her from visiting "mother."</p> + +<p>Miss Jerusha's face did not relax a muscle as she kept her steely eyes +fixed unwinkingly on that sad, downcast young face. It was a handsome +face, too, in spite of its pinched, famished look; and Miss Jerusha, to +use her own expression, "couldn't abide" handsome people.</p> + +<p>"And what brings your mother to that old house that ain't fit for a +well-brought-up dog to die in, let alone, a 'sponsible member o' +society?" asked Miss Jerusha, sharply.</p> + +<p>"Please, ma'am, we hadn't any place else to go."</p> + +<p>"Oh, you hadn't! I <i>thought</i> all along that was the sort of folks you +was!" sneered the old lady; "there allers is tramps about, dropping down +and dying in the most unheard-of places. There, be off with you now! I +make a pint o' never encouraging beggars or shif'less char-<i>ak</i>-ters. I +hain't got nothin' for your mother, and I ain't a public nuss, though +people seems for to think I'm paid by the corporation for seein' sick +folks out of the world. There! go!"</p> + +<p>"Oh! <i>please</i> come and see mother! indeed, <i>indeed</i> we ain't beggars, +but mother was so tired and sick she could not go any farther, and now +she is dying there all alone with only sis. Oh, <i>please</i> do come," and +the childish voice grew sharp and wild in its pleading agony.</p> + +<p>The heart beating within Miss Jerusha's vestal corset was touched for a +moment, and then arose thoughts of vagrants, impostors, and "shif'less" +characters generally, and the heart was stilled again; the voice that +answered his pleading cry was high and angry.</p> + +<p>"I won't, you little limb! Be off! It's my opinion your mother ain't no +better than she ought to be, or she wouldn't<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_19" id="Page_19">[Pg 19]</a></span> come a dying round +promiscuously in such a way. There! March!"</p> + +<p>With an angry jerk, the door was pulled open, and the long, lean finger +of the spinster pointed out.</p> + +<p>Without a word he turned to go, but as he passed from the inhospitable +threshold the large dark, solemn eyes were lifted to hers with a long +look of unutterable reproach; then the door was closed after him with a +sharp bang, and securely bolted.</p> + +<p>"Shif'less vagabones," muttered Miss Jerusha; "ought to be whipped as +long as they can stand! Well, he's gone, and he didn't get much out of +me anyway."</p> + +<p>Yes, Miss Jerusha, he has gone, but when will the haunting memory of +that last look of unspeakable reproach go too? It rose like a remorseful +ghost before her as she stood moodily gazing on the red spot that glowed +like an eye of flame on the top of the hot little kitchen stove—that +furnished sorrowful childish face—those dark, sad, pitiful eyes—that +silent reproach, far keener than any words.</p> + +<p>Miss Jerusha strove to still the rebellious voice of conscience and +persuade herself she had done exactly right, but never in all her life +had she felt so dissatisfied with her own conduct before. As usual, when +people are irritated with themselves, she felt doubly irritated with +everybody else; so, by way of relieving her mind, she boxed Fly's ears, +and kicked Betsey Periwinkle, who came purring affectionately around her, +to the other end of the room. And then, with her temper no way sweetened +by those little marks of endearment, she tramped back to the best room, +and dropped sullenly into a comfortable seat by the fire.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_20" id="Page_20">[Pg 20]</a></span></p> + +<p>But owing to some cause or another, the seat was comfortable no longer. +Miss Jerusha turned and twisted, and jerked herself round into every +possible position, and "pooh'd" and "pshaw'd," and listened to Fly, who, +out in the kitchen, had lifted up her voice and wept, and ordered her +fiercely to bring in tea and hold her tongue. And poor little ill-used +Fly brought it in, dropping tears into the sugar-bowl, and cream-jug, +and "apple sass," and snuffling in great mental and bodily distress. And +then Miss Jerusha sat down to supper, and great and mighty was the +eating thereof; but still the canker within grew sorer and sorer, and +would not be forgotten. Do what she would, turn which way she might, +that sorrowful, childish face would rise before her like a waking +nightmare. Conscience, that "still, small voice," would persist in +making itself heard, until at last Miss Jerusha turned ferociously round +and told conscience to mind his own business, that "she wasn't going to +be fooled by no baby-faced little vagabones." And then, resuming her +work, she sat down with grim determination, and knit and knit, and still +the steam within got up to a high pressure, until Miss Jerusha got into +a state of mind, between remorse and conscience and the heat of the +fire, threatening spontaneous combustion.</p> + +<p>Woe to the man, woman, or child who would have presumed to cross Miss +Jerusha in her present mood! Safer would it have been to</p> + +<div class="poemblock26"> +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">"Beard the lion in his den,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">The Douglas in his hall,"<br /></span> +</div></div></div> + +<p>than the young tornado pent up within the hermetically<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_21" id="Page_21">[Pg 21]</a></span> sealed lips of +Miss Jerusha Glory Ann Skamp at that moment.</p> + +<p>But all would not do. Louder and louder that clamorous voice arose, +until the aged spinster bounded up in a rage, flung her knitting across +the room, and, striding across to the hall, returned with an immense +gray woolen mantle, a thick black silk quilted hood, a red woolen +comforter, and a pair of men's strong calf-skin boots. Flinging herself +into a seat, Miss Jerusha, with two or three savage pulls, jerked these +on, and having by this means got rid of some of the superfluous steam, +burst out into the following complimentary strain to herself:</p> + +<p>"Jerusha Glory Ann Skamp, it's my opinion you're a nat'ral born fool, +and nothin' shorter! Ain't you ashamed of yourself in your 'spectable +old age o' life to go trampin' and vanderblowsin' through the streets at +sich onchristian hours of the night to look arter wagrets as ought for +to look arter theirselves? I'm 'shamed of you, Jerusha Skamp, and you +ought to be 'shamed o' <i>yourself</i>, going on with sich reg'lar downright, +ondecent conduct. Don't tell me bout that there little fellar's looks! +He's an impostor like the rest, and has done you brown beautifully, Miss +Jerusha, as you'll soon find out. 'A fool o' forty 'll never be wise!' +To think that Jerusha Skamp should be took in by a boy's looks at your +age o' life! His looks! fudge! stuff! nonsense! You're nothing but a old +simpleton—that there's what you are, Miss Jerusha! Here you, Fly! you +derned little black monkey you!"</p> + +<p>Thus pathetically adjured, Fly, in a very limp state of mind and body, +caused probably by the showers of tears so lately shed, appeared in the +door-way, her eyes full of tears and her mouth full of corn-cake.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_22" id="Page_22">[Pg 22]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Here, you Fly, I'm going out, and you and Betsey Periwinkle has got for +to sit up for me. Give Betsey her supper, and see that you don't fall +asleep and set the house afire."</p> + +<p>"Yes'm," said Fly, in a nearly inaudible voice, as she returned to her +supper.</p> + +<p>Then Miss Jerusha, putting a small flask of currant wine in her pocket, +wrapped her thick, warm mantle around her, and her hood closely over her +face, and resolutely stepped out into the wild, angry storm.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_II" id="CHAPTER_II"></a>CHAPTER II.</h2> + +<h3>THE ACTRESS—LITTLE GEORGIA.</h3> + +<div class="poemblock30"> +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i2">"Death is the crown of life."<br /></span> +<span class="i0">"She was a strange and willful sprite<br /></span> +<span class="i0">As ever startled human sight."<br /></span> +</div></div></div> + +<div class="drop"> +<img src="images/illo_t.png" alt="T" width="100" height="100" class="cap" /> +<p class="cap_1"> +he road to the old house was as familiar to Miss Jerusha as a road +could well be to any one, yet she found it extremely difficult to make +her way to it to-night. The piercing sleet dashed into her very eyes, +blinding her, as she floundered on, and the raw, cutting wind penetrated +even the warm folds of her thick woolen mantle. Now and then she would +have to stop and catch hold of a tree, to brace her body against the +fierce, cutting blasts, and then, with bent head and closed eyes, plunge +on through the huge snow-heaps and thick drifts.</p></div> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_23" id="Page_23">[Pg 23]</a></span></p> + +<p>She had not fully realized the violence of the storm until now, and she +thought, with a sharp pang of remorse, of the slight, delicate child she +had turned from her door to brave its pitiless fury.</p> + +<p>"Poor little feller! <i>poor</i> little feller!" thought Miss Jerusha, +piteously. "Lor', what a nasty old dragon I am, to be sure! Should +admire to know where I'll go to, if I keep on like this. Yar-r! you +thought you did it, didn't you? Just see what it is to be mistaken."</p> + +<p>This last apostrophe was addressed to a sudden blast of wind that nearly +overset her; but, by grasping the trunk of a tree, she saved herself, +and now, with a contemptuous snarl at its foiled power, she plunged and +sank, and rose and floundered on through the wild December storm, until +she approached the old ruined cottage, from the window of which streamed +the light.</p> + +<p>The window was still sound, and Miss Jerusha, cautiously approaching it, +began prudently to reconnoiter before going any farther.</p> + +<p>Desolate indeed was the scene that met her eye. The room was totally +without furniture, the plastering had in many places fallen off and lay +in drifts all along the floor. A great heap of brush was piled up in the +chimney-corner, and close by it crouched a small, dark figure feeding +the slender flame that burned on the hearth. Opposite lay extended the +thin, emaciated form of a woman, wrapped in a shawl, almost her only +covering. As the firelight fell on her face, Miss Jerusha started to see +how frightfully ghastly it was, with such hollow cheeks, sunken eyes, +and projecting bones. So absorbed was she in gazing on that skeleton +face, that she did not observe the little figure crouching over the fire +start up, gaze on her a moment,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_24" id="Page_24">[Pg 24]</a></span> and then approach the window, until, +suddenly turning round, she beheld a small, dark, elfish face, with +wild, glittering eyes, gleaming through masses of uncombed elf locks, +pressed close to the window, with its goblin gaze fixed full upon her.</p> + +<p>Miss Jerusha was not nervous nor superstitious, but at the sudden vision +of that face from elf-land she uttered a shriek that might have awakened +the dead, and shrank back in dismay from the window.</p> + +<p>While she still stood, horror-struck, the door opened, and a high, +shrill voice called:</p> + +<p>"Now, then, whoever you are, come in if you want to!"</p> + +<p>It was the voice of a mortal child, and Miss Jerusha was re-assured. +Thoroughly ashamed of herself, and provoked at having betrayed so much +fear, she approached the open door, passed in, and it was closed after +her.</p> + +<p>"So I scared you, did I? Well, it serves you right, you know, for +staring in people's windows," said the shrill little voice; and Miss +Jerusha, looking down, saw the same small, thin, dark face, with its +great, wild, glittering black eyes, long, tangled masses of coal-black +hair, high, broad brow, and a slight lithe figure.</p> + +<p>It was a strange, unique face for a child, full of slumbering power, +pride, passion, strength, and invincible daring; but Miss Jerusha did +not see this, and looking down only beheld an odd-looking, rather ugly +child, of twelve or thirteen, or so, with what she regarded as an +impudent, precocious gaze, disagreeable and unnatural in one so young.</p> + +<p>"Little gal, don't be sassy," said Miss Jerusha, sharply: "you ought to +hev more respect for your elders, and not<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_25" id="Page_25">[Pg 25]</a></span> stand there and give them +such empidence. Pretty broughten you must hev got, I know—a sassy +little limb."</p> + +<p>The latter part of this address was delivered in a muttered soliloquy, +as she pushed the hood back from her face and shook the snow off her +cloak. The "little limb," totally unheeding the reprimand, still stood +peering up in her face, scanning its iron lineaments with an amusing +mixture of curiosity and impudence.</p> + +<p>As Miss Jerusha again turned round and encountered the piercing stare of +those great, dark, bright eyes fixed so unwinkingly on her face, she +felt, for the first time in her life, perhaps, restless and uneasy under +the infliction.</p> + +<p>"My conscience! little gal, don't stare so! I 'clare to gracious I never +see sich a child! I don't know what she looks like," said Miss Jerusha.</p> + +<p>The latter sentence was not intended for the child's ears, but it +reached those sharp little organs nevertheless, and, still keeping her +needle-like gaze fixed on the wrinkled face of the spinster, she said:</p> + +<p>"Well, if you don't, I know what <i>you</i> look like, anyway—I do!"</p> + +<p>"And what do I look like?" said Miss Jerusha, in rising anger, having a +presentiment something impudent was coming.</p> + +<p>"Why just exactly like one of the witches in Macbeth."</p> + +<p>Now, our worthy maiden lady had never heard of the "Noble Thane," but +she had a pretty strong idea of what witches riding on broomsticks were +like, and here this little black goblin girl had the audacity to compare +her to one of them. For one awful moment Miss Jerusha glared upon the +daring little sinner in impotent rage, while her fingers fairly ached to +seize her and pound her within an<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_26" id="Page_26">[Pg 26]</a></span> inch of her life. Her face must have +expressed her amiable desire, for the elf sprang back, and throwing +herself into a stage attitude, uttered some words in a tragic voice, +quite overpowering, coming from so small a body.</p> + +<p>The noise awoke the sleeper near the fire. She turned restlessly, opened +her eyes, and called:</p> + +<p>"Georgia!"</p> + +<p>"Here, mamma; here I am," said the elf, springing up and bending over +her. "Do you want anything?"</p> + +<p>"No, dear. I thought I heard you talking. Hasn't Warren come yet?"</p> + +<p>"No, mamma."</p> + +<p>"Then who were you talking to a moment ago? Is there any one here?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, mamma, the funniest looking old woman—here, <i>you</i>!" said the elf, +beckoning to Miss Jerusha.</p> + +<p>Mechanically that lady obeyed the peremptory summons, too completely +stunned and shocked by this unheard-of effrontery to fully realize for a +moment that her ears had not deceived her.</p> + +<p>She approached and bent over the sufferer. Two hollow eyes were raised +to her face, and feeling herself in the awful presence of death, all +Miss Jerusha's indignation faded away, and she said, in a softened +voice:</p> + +<p>"I am sorry to see you in this wretched place. Can I do anything for +you?"</p> + +<p>"Who are you?" said the woman, transfixing her with a gaze quite as +uncompromising as her little daughter's had been.</p> + +<p>"My name is Jerusha Skamp. I saw a light in this here cottage, and came +over to see who was here. What can I do for you?"<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_27" id="Page_27">[Pg 27]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Nothing for me—I am dying," said the woman, in a husky, hollow voice. +"Nothing for me; nothing for me."</p> + +<p>"Oh, mamma! oh, mamma!" screamed the child, passionately. "Oh, not +dying! Oh, mamma!"</p> + +<p>"Oh, Georgia, hush!" said the woman, turning restlessly. "Don't shriek +so, child; I cannot bear it."</p> + +<p>But Georgia, who seemed to have no sort of self-control, or any other +sort of control, still continued to scream her wild, passionate cry, +"Oh, not dying! oh, mamma!" until Miss Jerusha, losing all patience, +caught her arm in a vise-like grip, and, giving her a furious shake, +said, in a deep, stern whisper:</p> + +<p>"You little limb! Do you want to kill your mother? Hold your tongue, +afore I shake the life out of you!"</p> + +<p>The words had the effect of stilling the little tempest before her, who +crouched into the corner and buried her face in her hands.</p> + +<p>"Poor Georgia! poor little thing! what will become of her when I am +gone?" said the sufferer, while a spasm of intense pain shot across her +haggard face.</p> + +<p>"The Lord will provide," said Miss Jerusha, rolling up the whites, or, +more properly speaking, the yellows of her eyes. "Don't take on about +that. Tell me how you came to be here! But first let me give you a +drink. You look as if you needed something to keep life in you. Wait a +minute."</p> + +<p>Miss Jerusha's hawk-like eye went roving round the room until it +alighted on a little tin cup. Seizing this, she filled it with the +currant wine she had brought, and held it to the sick woman's lips.</p> + +<p>Eagerly she drank, and then Miss Jerusha folded the shawl more closely +around her, and, sitting down on the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_28" id="Page_28">[Pg 28]</a></span> floor, drew her head upon her lap, +and, with a touch that was almost tender, smoothed back the heavy locks +of her dark hair.</p> + +<p>"Now, then," she said, "tell me all about it."</p> + +<p>"You are very kind," said the sick woman, looking up gratefully. "I +feared I should die all alone here. I sent my little boy to the nearest +house in search of help, but he has not yet returned."</p> + +<p>"Ah! you're a widder, I suppose?" said Miss Jerusha, trying to keep down +a pang of remorse and dread, as she thought of the child she had so +cruelly turned out into the bitter storm.</p> + +<p>"Yes, I have been a widow for the last seven years. My name is Alice +Randall Darrell."</p> + +<p>"And hain't you got no friends nor nothin', Mrs. Darrell, when you come +to this old place, not fit for pigs, let alone human Christians?"</p> + +<p>"No; no friends—not one friend in all this wide world," said the dying +woman, in a tone so utterly despairing that Miss Jerusha's hand fell +soothingly and pityingly on her forehead.</p> + +<p>"Sho, now, sho! I want ter know," said Miss Jerusha, quite unconscious +that she was making rhyme, a species of literature she had the +profoundest contempt for. "That's <i>too</i> bad, 'clare if it ain't! Are +they all dead?"</p> + +<p>"I do not know—they are all dead to me."</p> + +<p>"Why, what on airth hed you done to them?" said Miss Jerusha, in +surprise.</p> + +<p>"I married against my father's consent."</p> + +<p>"Ah! that <i>was</i> bad; but then he needn't hev made a fuss. He didn't ask +<i>your</i> consent when he got married, I<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_29" id="Page_29">[Pg 29]</a></span> s'pose. Didn't like the young man +you kept company with, eh?"</p> + +<p>"No; he hated him. My father was rich, and I ran off with a poor actor."</p> + +<p>"A play-acter! Why, you must hev bin crazy!"</p> + +<p>"Oh, I was—I was! I was a child, and did not know what I was doing. I +thought my life with him would have been all light, and music, and +glitter, and dazzle, such as I saw on the stage; but I soon found out +the difference."</p> + +<p>"'Spect you did. Law, law! what fools there is in this 'ere world!" said +Miss Jerusha, in a moralizing tone.</p> + +<p>"My father disowned me." ("And sarved you right, too!" put in Miss +Jerusha <i>sotto voce</i>.) "My family cast me off. I joined the company to +which my husband belonged, and did the tragedy business with him; and so +for eight years we wandered about from city to city, from town to town, +always poor and needy, for Arthur drank and gambled, and as fast as we +earned money it was spent."</p> + +<p>"And <i>you're</i> a play-acter, too!" cried Miss Jerusha recoiling in +horror.</p> + +<p>Miss Jerusha, trained in the land of "steady habits," had, from her +earliest infancy, been taught to look upon theaters as only a little +less horribly wicked than the place unmentionable to ears polite, and +upon all "play-actors" as the immediate children and agents of the +father of evil himself. She had never until now had the misfortune to +come in contact with one personally, having only heard of them as we +hear of goblins, warlocks, demons, and other "children of night." What +wonder, then, that at this sudden, awful revelation she started back and +almost hurled the frail form from her in loathing and horror. But a +fierce clutch was laid on her shoulder—she almost<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_30" id="Page_30">[Pg 30]</a></span> fancied for an +instant it was Satan himself come for his child—until, looking up, she +saw the fiercely blazing eyes and witch-like face of little Georgia +gleaming upon it.</p> + +<p>"You ugly, wicked old woman!" she passionately burst out with, "if you +dare to hurt my mamma, I'll—I'll <i>kill</i> you!"</p> + +<p>And so dark, and fierce, and elfish did she look at that moment, that +Miss Jerusha fairly quailed before the small, unearthly looking sprite.</p> + +<p>"I'm not a-going to tetch your ma. Get out o' this, and leave me go!" +said Miss Jerusha, shaking off with some difficulty the human burr who +clung to her with the tenacity of a crab, and glared upon her with her +shining black eyes.</p> + +<p>"Georgia, love, go and sit down. Oh, you wild, stormy, savage child, +what <i>ever</i> will become of you when I am gone? Do, pray, excuse her," +said the woman, faintly, lifting her eyes pleadingly to Miss Jerusha's +angry face; "she has had no one to control her, or subdue her wild, +willful temper, and has grown up a crazy, mad-headed, half-tamed thing. +If you have children of your own, you will know how to make allowance +for her."</p> + +<p>"I have no children of my own, and I thank goodness that I haven't!" +said Miss Jerusha, shortly; "a set of plagues, the whole of 'em! Ef that +there little gal was mine, I'd spank her while I could stand, and see ef +<i>that</i> wouldn't take some of the nonsense out of her."</p> + +<p>The last words did not reach the invalid's ear, and the little +tempest-in-a-teapot retreated again to her corner, scowling darkly on +Miss Jerusha, whom she evidently suspected of some sinister designs on +her mother, which it was her duty to frustrate.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_31" id="Page_31">[Pg 31]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Is she a play-acter, too?" said Miss Jerusha, after a sullen pause.</p> + +<p>"Who? Georgia? Oh, yes; she plays juvenile parts, and dances and sings, +and was a great favorite with the public. She has a splendid voice, and +dances beautifully, and whenever she appeared she used to receive +thunders of applause. Georgia will make a star actress if she ever goes +on the stage again," said the woman, with more animation than she had +yet shown.</p> + +<p>"And do you want your darter to grow up a wicked good-for-nothing hussy +of a play-acter?" said Miss Jerusha, sternly. "Mrs. Darrell, you ought +for to be ashamed of yourself. Ef she was mine, I would sooner see her +starve decently first."</p> + +<p>The dying woman turned away with a groan.</p> + +<p>"She won't starve here, though," said Miss Jerusha, feeling called upon +to administer a little consolation; "there's trustees and selectmen, and +one thing and another to look arter poor folks and orphans. She'll be +took care of. And now, how did it happen you came here?"</p> + +<p>"I came with the company to which I belong, and we stopped at a town +about fifty miles from here. Georgia, as you can see, has a dreadful +temper—poor little fiery, passionate thing—and the manager of the +theater, being an insolent, overbearing man, was always finding fault +with her, and scolding about something, whereupon Georgia would fly into +one of her fits of passion, and a dreadful scene would ensue. I strove +to keep them apart as much as I could, but they often met, as a matter +of course, and never parted without a furious quarrel. He did not wish +to part with her, for I—and it is with little vanity, alas! I say +it—was his best actress, and Georgia's name in the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_32" id="Page_32">[Pg 32]</a></span> bills never failed +to draw a crowded house. I used to talk to Georgia, and implore her to +restrain her fierce temper, and she would promise; but when next she +would meet him, poor child, and listen to his insulting words, all would +be forgotten, and Georgia would stamp and scold, and call him all manner +of names, and sometimes go so far as to refuse appearing at all, and +<i>that</i> last act of disobedience never failed to put him fairly beside +himself with rage. I foresaw how it would end, but I could do nothing +with her. Poor little thing! Nature cursed her with that fierce, +passionate temper, and she could not help it."</p> + +<p>"Humph!" muttered Miss Jerusha; "couldn't help it! That's all very fine; +but I know one thing, ef <i>I</i> had anything to do with her, I'd take the +fierceness out of her, or know for why—a ugly tempered, savage little +limb!"</p> + +<p>"One night," continued the sick woman, "Georgia had been dancing, and +when she left the stage the whole house shook with the thunders of +applause. They shouted and shouted for her to reappear, but I was sick +that night, and Georgia was in a hurry to get home, and would not go. +The manager ordered her in no very gentle tone to go back, and Georgia +flatly and peremptorily refused. Then a dreadful scene ensued. He caught +her by the arms, and dragged her to her feet, as if he would force her +out, and when she resisted he struck her a blow that sent her reeling +across the room.</p> + +<p>"Aha! that was good for you, my lady!" said Miss Jerusha, with a grim +chuckle, as she glanced at the little dancing girl.</p> + +<p>"It was the first time any one had ever struck her," said Mrs. Darrell, +in a sinking voice, "and a very fury seemed to seize her. A large black +bottle lay on a shelf<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_33" id="Page_33">[Pg 33]</a></span> near, and with a perfect <i>shriek</i> of passion she +seized it and hurled it with all her strength at his head."</p> + +<p>"My gracious!" ejaculated the horrified Miss Jerusha.</p> + +<p>"It struck him on the forehead, and laid it open with a frightful gash. +He attempted to spring upon her, but some of the men interposed, and +Georgia was forced off by the rest. Her brother Warren was there, and, +almost terrified to death, he brought her home with him, and that very +night we were told our services were no longer needed, and, what was +more, Mr. B., the manager, refused to pay us what he owed us, and even +threatened to begin an action against us for assault and battery, and I +don't know what besides. I knew him to be an unprincipled, vindictive +man, and the threat terrified me nearly to death, terrified me so much +that, with my two children, I fled the next morning from the town where +we were stopping, fled away with only one idea—that of escaping from +his power. I had a little money remaining, but it was soon spent, and I +was so weak and ill that but for my poor children I felt at times as if +I could gladly have lain down and died.</p> + +<p>"Coming from Burnfield to-night, we were overtaken by this storm, and +must have perished had not Warren discovered this old hut. The exposure +of this furious storm completed what sorrow and suffering had long ago +begun, and I felt I was dying. It was terrible to think of leaving poor +little Warren and Georgia all alone without one single friend in the +world, and at last I sent Warren out to the nearest house in the hope +that some hospitable person might come who would procure some sort of +employment for them that would keep them at least from starving. <i>You</i> +came, thank Heaven! but my poor Warren has not<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_34" id="Page_34">[Pg 34]</a></span> returned. Oh! I fear, I +<i>fear</i> he has perished in this storm," cried the dying woman, wringing +her pale fingers.</p> + +<p>"Oh, I guess not," said Miss Jerusha, more startled than she chose to +appear; "most likely he's gone some place else and stayed there to get +warm; but you, <i>you</i>, what are we to do for you? It doesn't seem +Christian like nor proper no ways to leave you to die here in this +miserable old shed."</p> + +<p>"Dear, kind friend, never mind me," said the invalid, gratefully; "my +short span of life is nearly run, and oh! what does it matter whether +for the few brief moments yet remaining where they are spent. But my +children, my poor, poor children! Oh, madam, you have a kind heart, I +know you have,"—(Miss Jerusha gave a skeptical "humph!")—"do, <i>do</i>, +for Heaven's sake, try if some charitable person will not take them and +give them their food and clothing. Not so much for Warren do I fear, for +he is quiet and sensible, very wise indeed for his age; but for the +wild, stormy Georgia. Oh, madam, do something for her, and my dying +thanks will be yours!"</p> + +<p>"Well, there, don't take on! I'll see what can be done," said Miss +Jerusha, fidgeting, and glancing askance at the wild eyed, tempestuous +little spirit, "and though you don't seem to mind it much, still it +don't seem right nor decent for you to die here like I don't know what," +(Miss Jerusha's favorite simile), "so I'll jest step over to Deacon +Brown's and get him to look arter you, and maybe he will hev an eye to +the children, too."</p> + +<p>"But you will be exposed to the storm," feebly remonstrated the dying +woman.</p> + +<p>"Bah! who keers for the storm?" said Miss Jerusha, glancing out of the +window with a look of grim defiance.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_35" id="Page_35">[Pg 35]</a></span> "Besides, its clarin' off, and +Deacon Brown's ain't more than two miles from here. There, keep up your +sperrits, and I'll be back in an hour or two with the deacon."</p> + +<p>So saying, Miss Jerusha, who once she considered it her <i>duty</i> to do +anything, would have gone through fire and flood to do it, stepped +resolutely out to brave once more the cold, wintry blast.</p> + +<p>The storm had abated considerably, but it was still piercingly cold, and +Miss Jerusha's fingers and toes tingled as she walked rapidly over the +hard, frosty ground. It had ceased snowing, and a pale, watery moon, +appearing at intervals from behind a cloud, cast a faint, sickly light +over the way. The high, leafless trees sent long black, ominous shadows +across the road, and Miss Jerusha cast apprehensive glances on either +side as she walked.</p> + +<p>Not the fear of ghosts, nor the fear of robbers troubled the +stout-hearted spinster; but the dread of seeing a slight, boyish form, +stark and frozen, across her path. In mingled dread and remorse, she +thought of what she had done and only the hope of finding him in the old +cottage on her return could dispel for an instant her haunting fear.</p> + +<p>Deacon Brown's was reached at last, and great was the surprise of that +orthodox pillar of the church at beholding his un-looked-for visitor. In +very few words Miss Jerusha gave him to understand the object of her +visit, and, rather ruefully, the good man rose to harness up his old +gray mare and start with Miss Jerusha on this charitable errand.</p> + +<p>A quick run over the hard, frozen ground brought them to the cottage, +and, fastening his mare to a tree, the deacon followed Miss Jerusha into +the old house.</p> + +<p>And there a pitiful sight met his eyes. The fire had gone out, and the +room was scarcely warmer than the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_36" id="Page_36">[Pg 36]</a></span> freezing atmosphere without. Mother +and child lay clasped in each other's arms, still and motionless. With a +stifled ejaculation, Miss Jerusha approached and bent over them. The +child was asleep, and the mother was <i>dead</i>!</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_III" id="CHAPTER_III"></a>CHAPTER III.</h2> + +<h3>A YOUNG TORNADO.</h3> + +<div class="poemblock28"> +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">"She is active, stirring, all fire;<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Cannot rest, cannot tire;<br /></span> +<span class="i0">To a stone she had given life."<br /></span> +</div></div></div> + +<div class="drop"> +<img src="images/illo_i.png" alt="I" width="100" height="100" class="cap" /> +<p class="cap_1"> +t was a bright, breezy May morning, just cool enough to render a fire +pleasant and a brisk walk delightful. The sunshine came streaming down +through the green, spreading boughs of the odorous pine trees, gilding +their glistening leaves, and tinting with hues of gold the sparkling +windows of Miss Jerusha's little cottage.</p></div> + +<p>It was yet early morning, and the sun had just arisen, yet Miss Jerusha, +brisk, resolute, and energetic, marched through the house, "up stairs, +and down stairs, and in my lady's chamber," sweeping, dusting, scouring, +scrubbing and scolding, all in a breath: for, reader, this was Monday, +and that good lady was just commencing her spring "house-cleaning."</p> + +<p>And Miss Jerusha's house-cleaning was something which required to be +seen to be appreciated. Not that there was the slightest necessity for +that frantic and distracting pro<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_37" id="Page_37">[Pg 37]</a></span>cess which all good housekeepers +consider it a matter of conscience to make their household suffer once +or twice a year, for never since Miss Jerusha had come to the years of +discretion had a single speck of dirt been visible to the naked eye +inside of those spotless walls. But it was with Miss Jerusha the +eleventh commandment and the fortieth article of the Episcopal creed, to +go through a vigorous and uncompromising scouring down and scrubbing up +every spring and fall, to the great mental agony and bodily torture of +the unhappy little handmaiden, Fly, and her venerable cat, Betsey +Periwinkle. Since the middle of April Miss Jerusha had shown signs of +the coming epidemic, which on this eventful morning broke out in full +force.</p> + +<p>Any stranger, on looking in at that usually immaculate cottage, might +have fancied a hurricane had passed through it in the night, or that the +chairs, and tables, and pots, and pans, being of a facetious +disposition, had taken it into their heads to get on a spree the night +before, and pitch themselves in all sorts of frantic attitudes through +the house. For the principal rule in Miss Jerusha's "house-cleaning" was +first, with a great deal of pains and trouble, to fling chairs, and +stools, and pails, and brooms in a miscellaneous heap through each room, +to disembowel closets whose contents for the last six months had been a +sealed mystery to human eyes, to take down and violently tear asunder +unoffending bedsteads, and with a stout stick inflict a severe and +apparently unmerited castigation on harmless mattresses and feather +beds. This done, Miss Jerusha, who had immense faith in the hot water +system, commenced with a steaming tub of that liquid at the topmost +rafter of the cottage, and never drew breath until every crevice and +cranny down to the lowest plank on the cellar floor had<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_38" id="Page_38">[Pg 38]</a></span> undergone a +severe application of first wetting and then drying.</p> + +<p>Awful beyond measure was Miss Jerusha on these occasions—enough to +strike terror into the heart of every shiftless mortal on this +terrestrial globe, could he only have seen her. With her sleeves rolled +up over her elbows, her mouth shut up, <i>screwed</i> up with grim +determination of conquering or dying in the attempt, with an eye like a +hawk for every invisible speck of dust, and the firm, determined tramp +of the leader of a forlorn hope, Miss Jerusha marched through that +blessed little cottage, a broom in one hand and a scrubbing-brush in the +other, a sight to see, not to hear of.</p> + +<p>And then, having brushed, and scrubbed, and scoured, and polished +everything, from the "best room" down to the fur coat of Betsey +Periwinkle, until it fairly shone, all that could offend the sight was +poked back into the mysterious closets again, another revolution swept +through every room, returning things to their places, and the whole +household was triumphantly restored to its former state of distressing +cleanliness. And thus ended Miss Jerusha's house-cleaning.</p> + +<p>"Them there three beds shill all hev to come down this morning," said +Miss Jerusha, folding her arms, and regarding them grimly, "and every +one of them blessed bedposts hev got to be scalded right out. You, Fly! +is that there fire a-burning?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, miss," answered Fly, who was tearing distractedly in and out after +wood and water, and as nearly fulfilling the impossibility of being in +two places at once as it was possible for a mere mortal to do.</p> + +<p>"And is that biler of hot water a-bilin'?"<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_39" id="Page_39">[Pg 39]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Yes, miss."</p> + +<p>"And did you tell Georgey to go down to Bunfield for some yaller soap?"</p> + +<p>"Please, Miss Jerry, I couldn't find her."</p> + +<p>"Couldn't find her, hey? What's the reason you couldn't find her?" said +Miss Jerusha, in a high key.</p> + +<p>"'Case she'd been and gone away some whars. Please, ole miss, dar ain't +nebber no sayin' whar anybody can find dat ar young gal," replied Fly, +beginning to whimper in anticipation of getting her ears boxed for not +performing an impossibility.</p> + +<p>"Gone away! arter being told to stay at home and help with the +house-cleaning! Oh, the little shif'less villain. I 'clare ef I hadn't a +good mind to give her the best switchin' ever she got next time I ketch +holt of her. Told me this morning she wasn't going to be a dish-washing +old maid like me! a sassy, impident little monster! Old, indeed! I vow +to gracious only for she dodged I'd hev twisted her neck for her! Old! +hump! a pretty thing to be called at my time o' life! Old, indeed! A +nasty, ungrateful little imp!"</p> + +<p>While she spoke, the outer gate was slammed violently to; a slight +little figure ran swiftly up the walk, and burst like a whirlwind into +the sacred precincts of the best room—a small, light, airy figure, +dressed in black, with crimson cheeks, and dancing, sparkling, flashing +black eyes, fairly blazing with life and health, and freedom, and high +spirits—a swift, blinding, dark, bright vision, so quick and impetuous +in every motion as to startle you—a "thing all life and light," a +little tropical butterfly, with the hidden sting of a wasp, impressing +the beholder with the idea of a barrel of gunpowder, a pop-gun, a +firecracker, or anything<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_40" id="Page_40">[Pg 40]</a></span> else, very harmless and quiet-looking, but +ready to explode and go off with a bang at any moment.</p> + +<p>It was Georgia—our little Georgia; and how she came to be an inmate of +Miss Jerusha's cottage it requires us to go back a little to tell.</p> + +<p>On that very Christmas Eve, when with Deacon Drown she discovered the +sleeping child and the ruined cottage, she was for a moment at a loss +what to do. She knew the girl had fallen asleep, unconscious of the +dread presence, and she had seen enough of her to be aware of the +frantic and passionate scene that must ensue when she awoke and +discovered her loss. She bent over her, and finding her sleeping +heavily, she lifted her gently in her arms, and in a few whispered words +desired the deacon not to remove the corpse, but to drive her home first +with the orphan.</p> + +<p>Wrapping the half-frozen child in her warm cloak, she had taken her +seat, and was driven to the cottage without arousing her from her heavy +slumber, and safely deposited her in Fly's little bed, to the great +astonishment, not to say indignation, of that small, black individual, +at finding her couch thus taken summary possession of.</p> + +<p>It was late next morning when the little dancing girl awoke, and then +she sprang up and gazed around her with an air of complete bewilderment. +Her first glance fell on Miss Jerusha, who was bustling around, helping +Fly to get breakfast, and the sight of that yellow, rigid frontispiece +seemed to recall her to a realization of what had passed the preceding +night.</p> + +<p>She sprang up, shook back her thick, disordered black hair, and +exclaimed:</p> + +<p>"Who brought me here?"<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_41" id="Page_41">[Pg 41]</a></span></p> + +<p>"I did, honey," said Miss Jerusha, speaking as gently as <i>she</i> knew how, +which is not saying much.</p> + +<p>"Where is mamma?"</p> + +<p>"Oh, she's—how did you sleep last night?" said Miss Jerusha, actually +quailing inwardly in anticipation of the coming scene; for, with her +strong nerves and plain, practical view of things in general, the good +old lady had a masculine horror of scenes.</p> + +<p>"Where is my mamma?" said the child, sharply, fixing her piercing black +eyes on Miss Jerusha's face.</p> + +<p>"Oh, she's—well, she ain't here."</p> + +<p>"Where is she, then? You ugly old thing, what have you done to my +mamma?"</p> + +<p>"Ugly old thing! Oh, dear bless me! <i>there's</i> a way to speak to her +elders!" said the deeply shocked Miss Jerusha.</p> + +<p>"<i>Where's my mamma?</i>" exclaimed the child, with a fierce stamp of the +foot.</p> + +<p>"Little gal, look here! that ain't no way to talk to—"</p> + +<p>"<span class="smcap">Where's my mamma?</span>" fairly shrieked the little girl, as she sprang +forward and clutched Miss Jerusha's arm so fiercely as to extort from +her a cry of pain.</p> + +<p>"Ah-a-a-a-a-a! Oh-h-h-h! you little crab-fish, if you ain't pinched my +arm black and blue! Your mamma's dead, and it's a pity you ain't along +with her," said Miss Jerusha, in her anger and pain, giving the girl a +push that sent her reeling against the wall.</p> + +<p>"Dead!"</p> + +<p>The word fell like a blow on the child, stunning her into quiet. Her +mamma dead! She could not realize—she could not comprehend it.</p> + +<p>She stood as if frozen, her hand uplifted as it had been<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_42" id="Page_42">[Pg 42]</a></span> when she heard +it, her lips apart, her eyes wide open and staring. Dead! She stood +still, stunned, bewildered.</p> + +<p>Miss Jerusha was absolutely terrified. She had expected tears, cries, +passionate grief, but not this ominous stillness. That fixed, rigid, +unnatural look chilled her blood. She went over and shook the child in +her alarm.</p> + +<p>"Little girl! Georgey! don't look so—<i>don't</i>! It ain't right, you +know!"</p> + +<p>She turned her eyes slowly to Miss Jerusha's face, her lips parted, and +one word slowly dropped out:</p> + +<p>"Mamma!"</p> + +<p>"Honey, your ma's dead, and gone to heaven—I <i>hope</i>," said Miss +Jerusha, who felt that common politeness required her to say so, +although she had her doubts on the subject. "You mustn't take on about +it, you—Oh, gracious! the child's gone stark, staring mad!"</p> + +<p>Her words had broken the spell. Little Georgia realized it all at last. +With a shriek,—a wild, terrific shriek, that Miss Jerusha never +forgot—she threw up her arms and fell prostrate on the ground.</p> + +<p>And there she lay and <i>shrieked</i>. She did not faint. Miss Jerusha, with +her hands clasped over her bruised and wounded ear-drums, wished from +the bottom of her heart she <i>would</i>; but Georgia was of too sanguine a +temperament to faint. Shriek after shriek, sharp, prolonged, and shrill, +broke from her lips as she lay on her face on the floor, her hands +clasped over her head.</p> + +<p>Miss Jerusha and Fly, nearly frantic with the ear-splitting torture, +strove to raise her up, but the little fury seemed endowed with +supernatural strength, and screamed and struggled, and <i>bit</i> at them +like a mad thing, until they were glad enough to go off and leave her +alone. And there<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_43" id="Page_43">[Pg 43]</a></span> she lay and screamed for a full hour, until even <i>her</i> +lungs of brass gave way, and shrieks absolutely refused to come.</p> + +<p>Then a new spirit seemed to enter the child. She leaped to her feet as +if those members were furnished with steel springs, and made for the +door. Fortunately, Miss Jerusha had locked it, somehow anticipating some +such movement, and in that quarter she was foiled. She seized the lock +and shook the door furiously, stamping with impotent passion at finding +it resist all her efforts.</p> + +<p>"Open the door!" she screamed, with a stamp, turning upon Miss Jerusha a +pair of eyes that glowed like those of a young tigress.</p> + +<p>The old lady actually shrank under the burning light of that dark, +passionate glance, but composedly sat still and knit away.</p> + +<p>"<span class="smcap">Open the door!</span>" shrieked the mad child, shaking it so fiercely that +Miss Jerusha fairly expected to see the lock come off before her eyes.</p> + +<p>But the lock resisted her efforts. Delirious with her frantic rage, the +wild girl dashed her head against it with a shriek of foiled +passion—dashed it against it again and again, until it was all cut and +bleeding; and then she flew at the horrified Miss Jerusha like a very +fury, sinking her long nails in her face and tearing off the skin, like +a maniac as she was.</p> + +<p>That at last aroused all Miss Jerusha's wiry strength, and, grasping the +child's wrists in a vise-like grip, she held her fast while she +struggled to free herself in vain, for the fictitious strength given her +by her storm of passion had exhausted itself by its very violence, and +every effort now to free herself grew fainter and fainter, until at last +she<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_44" id="Page_44">[Pg 44]</a></span> swayed to and fro, tottered, and would have fallen had not Miss +Jerusha held her fast.</p> + +<p>Lifting her in her arms, Miss Jerusha bore her upstairs and laid her in +her own bed. And then over-charged nature gave way, and, burying her +face in the pillow, Georgia burst into a passionate flood of tears, +sobbing convulsively. Long she wept, until the fountains of her tears +were dry, and then, worn out by her own violence, she fell into a +dreamless sleep.</p> + +<p>"Well, my sakes alive!" said Miss Jerusha, drawing a long breath and +getting up, "of all the children ever I seen I never saw any like that +there little limb. 'Clare to gracious! there's something bad inside that +young gal—that's my opinion. Sich eyes, like blazin' coals of fire! My +conscience! I really don't feel safe with her in the house."</p> + +<p>But Georgia awoke calm and utterly exhausted, and thus passed away the +first violence of her grief, which like a blaze of straw, burned up +fiercely for a moment and then went out in black ashes. Still grave and +unsmiling the little girl went about, with no life in her face save what +burned in her great wild eyes.</p> + +<p>Her mother was buried, and so Miss Jerusha with some inward fear and +trembling ventured to tell her at last; but the child heard it quietly +enough. She need not have feared, for it was morally and physically +impossible for the little girl to ever get up another passion-gust like +the last.</p> + +<p>One source of secret and serious anxiety to Miss Jerusha was the fate of +the little boy, Warren Darrell. Since that night when she had turned him +from the door, nothing had ever been heard of him; no one had seen him,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_45" id="Page_45">[Pg 45]</a></span> +no traces of him could be found, and one and all came to the conclusion +that he must have perished in the storm that night. Miss Jerusha too, +had to adopt the same belief at last, and in that moment she felt as +though she had been guilty of a murder. No one knew he had come to the +cottage, and she had her own reason for keeping it a secret, and for +politely informing Fly she would twist her neck for her if she ever +mentioned it; and in dread of that disagreeable operation, Fly consented +to hold her tongue.</p> + +<p>Feeling as if she ought to do something to atone for the guilt of which +her conscience, so often referred to by herself, accused her, Miss +Jerusha resolved, by way of the severest penance she could think of, to +adopt Georgia. Several of the "selectmen" offered to take the child and +send her to the workhouse, but Miss Jerusha curtly refused in terms much +shorter than sweet, and snappishly requested them to go and mind their +own affairs and she would mind little Georgia Darrell.</p> + +<p>And so, from that day the little dancer became an inmate of the lonely +sea-side cot. For the first few weeks she was preternaturally grave and +still—"in the dumps" Miss Jerusha called it; then this passed +away—like all the grief of childhood, ever light and short-lived—and +<i>then</i> Miss Jerusha began to realize the trouble and tribulations in +store for her, and the life of worry and vexation of spirit the restless +elf would lead her.</p> + +<p>In the first place, Miss Georgia emphatically and decidedly "put her +foot down," and gave her <i>guardianess</i> (if such a word is admissible) to +understand, in the plainest possible English, that she had not the +remotest or faintest idea of doing one single hand's turn of work.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_46" id="Page_46">[Pg 46]</a></span></p> + +<p>"I never had to work," said the young lady, drawing herself up, "and I +ain't a-going to begin now for anybody. I don't believe in work at all, +and I don't think it proper, no way."</p> + +<p>In vain Miss Jerusha expostulated; her little ladyship heard her with +the most provoking indifference. Then the old lady began to scold, +whereupon Georgia flew into one of her "tantrums," as Miss Jerusha +called them, and, springing to her feet, exclaimed:</p> + +<p>"I <i>won't</i>, then, not if I die for it! I've always done just whatever I +liked, and I'm going to keep on doing it—I just <i>am</i>! And I ain't going +to be an old pot-wiper for anybody—I just <i>ain't</i>, old taffy candy!"</p> + +<p>And then the sprite bounced out, banging the door after her until the +house shook, leaving Miss Jerusha to stand transfixed with horror and +indignation at this last "most unkindest cut of all," which referred to +the candy Miss Jerusha was in the habit of making and selling in +Burnfield.</p> + +<p>And thus the wild, fearless child kept the old lady in a constant series +of tremors and palpitations by the dangers she ran into headlong. Not a +tree in the forest she would not climb like a squirrel, and often the +dry frozen branches breaking with her, she would find it impossible to +get down again, and have to remain there until Miss Jerusha would get a +ladder and take her down. And on these occasions, while the old lady +scolded and ranted down below, the young lady up in her lofty perch +would be in convulsions of laughter at her look of terror and dismay. +Not a rock on the beach, slippery and icy as they were, she had not +clambered innumerable times, to the manifest danger of breaking her +neck.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_47" id="Page_47">[Pg 47]</a></span></p> + +<p>It was well for her she could climb and cling to them like a cat, or she +would most assuredly have been killed; as it was, she tumbled off two or +three times, thereby raising more bumps on her head than Nature ever +placed there. Then she made a point of visiting Burnfield every day, and +making herself acquainted generally with the inhabitants of that little +"one-horse town," astonishing the natives to such a degree by the +facility with which she stood on her head, or made a hoop of herself by +catching her feet in her hands and rolling over and over, that some of +them had serious doubts whether she was real, or only an optical +delusion. And then her dancing! The first time Miss Jerusha saw her she +came nearer fainting than she had ever done before in her life.</p> + +<p>"Oh, my gracious!" said Miss Jerusha, in tones of horror, when afterward +relating the occurrence, "I never see sich onchristian actions before in +all my born days. There she was a-flinging of her legs about as if they +belonged to somebody else, and a-twistin' of her arms about over her +head, and a-jigging back and forward, and a-standin' onto one blessed +toe and spinnin' round like a top, with the other leg a stickin' +straight out like a toastin'-fork. I 'clare it gave me sich a turn as I +hain't got over yit, and never expects to. Oh, my conscience! It was +railly orful to look at the onnatural shapes that there little limb +could twist herself into. And to think of her, when she got done, +a-kneelin' down on one knee as if she was sayin' of her prayers, as she +ought for to do, and then take and blow me up for not applaudin', as she +called it. A sassy little wiper!"</p> + +<p>Georgia's daily visits to Burnfield were a serious annoyance to Miss +Jerusha; for there were some who delighted<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_48" id="Page_48">[Pg 48]</a></span> in her wild antics, just as +they would in the mischievous pranks of a monkey, encouraged her in her +willfulness, and exhorted her to defy the "Old Dragon," as Miss Jerusha +was incorrectly styled. And such a hold did these counsels take on the +mind of the young girl, that she really began to look upon Miss Jerusha +in the light of a domestic tyrant—a sort of female Bluebeard, whom it +would not only be right and just to defy and put down, but morally wrong +<i>not</i> to do it. But though this was Georgia's inward belief, yet, to her +credit be it spoken, a sort of chivalrous feeling led her always to +defend Miss Jerusha on these occasions; and if any one went too far in +sneering at her, Georgia's little brown fist was doubled up, and the +offender, unless warned by some prudent friend to "look out for +squalls," stood in considerable danger.</p> + +<p>Then, too, the chief delight of the Burnfieldians was in watching her +dance; and Georgia, nothing loth, would mount an extempore platform, and +whirl, and pirouette, and flash hither and thither, amid thunders of +applause from the astonished and delighted audience. Her singing, +too—for Georgia had really a beautiful voice, and knew every song that +ever was heard of, from Casta Diva to Jim Crow—was a source of +never-failing delight to the townfolks, who were troubled with very few +amusements in winter; and Georgia was never really in her element save +when dancing, or singing, or showing off before an audience.</p> + +<p>And so the little explosive grenade became a well known character in +Burnfield, and Miss Jerusha's injunctions to stay from it went the way +of all good advice—that is, in one ear and out of the other. No sort of +weather could keep the sprite in the house. The fiercer the wind blew,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_49" id="Page_49">[Pg 49]</a></span> +Georgia's high spirit only rose the higher; the keener the cold, the +more piercing the blast, it only flashed a deeper crimson to her glowing +cheeks and lips, and kindled a clearer light in her bright black eyes, +and she bounded like a young antelope over the frozen ground, shouting +with irrepressible life. Out amid the wildest winter storms you might +see that small dark figure flying along with streaming hair, bending and +dipping to the shrieking blast that could have whirled her light form +away like a feather, flying over the icy ground that her feet hardly +seemed to touch.</p> + +<p>Georgia, wild, fervid child, vowed she <i>loved</i> the storms; and on +tempestuous nights, when the wind howled, and raved, and shook the +cottage, and roared through the pines, she would clap her hands in glee, +and run down through it all toward the high rocks near the shore, and +bend over them to feel the salt spray from the white-crested waves dash +in her face. Then, coming back, she would scandalize Miss Jerusha, and +terrify Fly nearly into fits, by protesting that the white caps of the +waves were the bleached faces of drowned men holding a revel with the +demons of the storm, and that whenever <i>she</i> died, she was determined to +be buried in the sand, for that no grave or coffin could ever hold her, +and she knew she would have splendid times with the mermaids, and +mermen, and old Father Neptune, and Mrs. Amphitrite, and the rest of +them, in their coral grottoes down below.</p> + +<p>Now, Miss Jerusha was by no means strait-laced in spiritual matters +herself, but such an ungodly belief as this would shock even her, and, +with a deeply horrified look, she would lay down her knitting and begin:</p> + +<p>"Oh, my stars and garters! sich talk! Don't you know, you wicked child, +that there ain't no sich place<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_50" id="Page_50">[Pg 50]</a></span> as that under the sun? There's nothing +but mud, and fish-bones, and nasty sharks like what swallered Joner down +there. No, you misfortunate little limb, folks allers goes to heaven or +t'other place when they die, and it's my belief you'll take a trip +downward, and sarve you right, too, you wicked little heathen you!"</p> + +<p>"See here, Miss Jerusha," said Georgia, curiously, "Emily Murray says +there's another place—sort of half-way house, you know, with a hard +name; let's see—pug—pug—no, <i>purgatory</i>, that's it—where people that +ain't been horrid bad nor yet horrid good goes to, and after being +scorched for awhile to take the badness out of them, they go up to +heaven and settle down there for good. Is that so, Miss Jerusha?"</p> + +<p>"There!" said Miss Jerusha, dropping her knitting in consternation, "I +allers said no good would come of her going to Burnfield and taking up +with unbelievers and other wagrants. Oh, you wicked, drefful little gal! +<i>No</i>; there ain't no sich place; in course there ain't. If you had read +that pretty chapter I gave you in the Bible last Sunday instead of tying +Betsey Perwinkle's tail to her hind leg and nearly setting of her crazy, +you wouldn't be such a benighted little heathen as you are."</p> + +<p>"Well, I didn't like it—there! All about two ugly great bears eating a +lot of children for calling somebody names. I don't like things like +that. There ain't no fun in reading about them, and I'd a heap sooner +read Robinson Crusoe; <i>he</i> was a nice old man, I know he was. And when I +grow up to be a big woman, I'm going to find out his island and live +there myself—you see if I don't."</p> + +<p>Miss Jerusha gave a contemptuous snort.</p> + +<p>"<i>You</i> grow up, indeed! As if the Lord would let a<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_51" id="Page_51">[Pg 51]</a></span> wicked little wretch +like you, that believes in gods and goddesses and purgatory and such +abominations grow up. No; if you ain't carried off in a flash of fire +and brimstone, like King Solomon or some of them, you may think yourself +safe, my lady."</p> + +<p>"Well, I don't care if I am," said Georgia. "I <i>do</i> believe in mermaids, +because I've seen them often and often, and I know they live in +beautiful coral grottoes under the sea, because I've read all about it. +And I know there are witches, and ghosts and fairies, because I've read +all about <i>them</i> in the 'Legends of the Hartz Mountains,' the nicest +book that ever was, and some Hallow Eve I'm going to try some +tricks—you see if I don't."</p> + +<p>The little girl's eyes were sparkling, and she was gesticulating with +eager earnestness. Miss Jerusha held up her hands in horror.</p> + +<p>"My-y conscience! only hear her! Oh, what <i>ever</i> will become of that +there young gal? Why, you wicked child, where do you expect to go when +you die?"</p> + +<p>"To heaven," said Georgia, decidedly.</p> + +<p>"Humph!" said Miss Jerusha, contemptuously. "A nice angel <i>you'd</i> make, +wouldn't you? More likely the other place. I shill hev to speak to Mr. +Barebones to take you into his Bible class, for I believe in my soul it +ain't safe to sleep in the house with such an unbeliever."</p> + +<p>"Well, you may speak to him as fast as you like, but I sha'n't go. A +sour, black old ogre, all skin and bones, like a consumptive red +herring! I'm going with Emily Murray to that nice church where they have +all the pretty pictures, and that nice old man, Em's uncle, with no hair +on his head, and all dressed up so beautifully. And old Father Murray is +just the dearest old man ever was, and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_52" id="Page_52">[Pg 52]</a></span> hasn't got a long, solemn face +like Mr. Barebones. Come, Bets, let you and I have a waltz."</p> + +<p>And seizing Betsey Periwinkle by the two fore-paws, she went whirling +with her round the room, to the great astonishment, not to say +indignation, of that amiable animal, who decidedly disapproved of +waltzing in her own proper person, and began to expostulate in sundry +indignant mews quite unheeded by her partner, until Miss Jerusha angrily +snatched her away, and would have favored Georgia with a box on the ear, +only the recollection of the theatre manager returned to her memory, and +her uplifted hand dropped. And Georgia, laughing her shrill, peculiar +laugh, danced out of the room, singing a snatch from some elegant ditty.</p> + +<p>"Was there ever such a aggravating young 'un?" exclaimed Miss Jerusha, +relapsing into her chair. "I sartinly <i>shill</i> hev to speak to Mr. +Barebones about her. Gracious! what a thing it is to be afflicted with +children!"</p> + +<p>True to her word, Miss Jerusha did speak to Mr. Barebones, and that +zealous Christian promised to take Georgia in hand; but the young lady +not only flatly refused to listen to a word, but told him her views of +matters and things in general, and of himself in particular, so plainly +and decidedly, that, in high dudgeon, the minister got up, put on his +hat, and took himself off.</p> + +<p>And so Miss Georgia was left to her own devices, and stood in a fair way +of becoming a veritable savage, when an event occurred that gave a new +spring to her energies, and turned the current of her existence in +another direction.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;"/><p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_53" id="Page_53">[Pg 53]</a></span></p> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_IV" id="CHAPTER_IV"></a>CHAPTER IV.</h2> + +<h3>GEORGIA MAKES SOME NEW ACQUAINTANCES.</h3> + +<div class="poemblock36"> +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i2">"His boyish form was middle size,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">For feat of strength or exercise<br /></span> +<span class="i2">Shaped in proportion fair;<br /></span> +<span class="i0">And hazel was his eagle eye,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">And auburn of the darkest dye<br /></span> +<span class="i2">His short and curling hair.<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Light was his footstep in the dance,<br /></span> +<span class="i2">And firm his stirrup in the lists—<br /></span> +<span class="i0">And, oh, he had that merry glance<br /></span> +<span class="i2">That seldom lady's heart resists."—<span class="smcap">Scott.</span><br /></span> +</div></div></div> + +<div class="drop"> +<img src="images/illo_m.png" alt="M" width="100" height="100" class="cap" /> +<p class="cap_1"> +iss Jerusha's memorable "house-cleaning" was over, and the cottage +having been polished till it shone, and everything inside and outside +reduced to the frightfully clean state that characterized everything +belonging to that worthy lady, she was prepared to sit down and enjoy +the reward of her labors, and the pleasure of an approving conscience. +Fly and Betsey Periwinkle, who had been in an excessively damp and +limber state for the last few days, and whom Miss Jerusha had kept +tearing in and out and up and down like a couple of comets, were at last +permitted to dry out, and might now safely venture to call their souls +their own again.</p></div> + +<p>Georgia, who rather liked a fuss than otherwise, quite enjoyed the +house-cleaning, and spent an unusually large portion of her valuable +time at the cottage while that domestic revolution was in full blast; +now that it was over,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_54" id="Page_54">[Pg 54]</a></span> she began to resume her slightly vagabondish +habit of roaming round the country, always up to her eyes in business, +yet never bringing about any particular result excepting that of +mischief. When Georgia wished to enjoy the pleasures of solitude, which +was not often, she strolled off to the beach, where, perched on top of a +high rock, she meditated on the affairs of the State, or whatever other +subject happened to weigh on her mind at the moment.</p> + +<p>One morning she started off for her favorite seat in order to have a +quite read, having inveigled Miss Jerusha out of the "Pilgrim's +Progress" for that purpose, in lieu of something more entertaining. Now +this beach being so far removed from Burnfield, its solitude was rarely, +if ever, disturbed; therefore, great was Georgia's surprise upon +reaching it, to find a shady spot under her own favorite rock already +occupied.</p> + +<p>Miss Georgia came to a sudden halt, and, standing on tiptoe, gravely +surveyed the new-comer, herself unseen.</p> + +<p>Under the shadow of the overhanging rock, on the warm sands, lay a tall, +slight, fashionably dressed youth, of sixteen or thereabouts, with +handsome, regular features, a complexion of feminine fairness, a +profusion of brown, curling hair, a high forehead, and unusually and +aristocratically small hands and feet, the former as white as a lady's. +The predominating expression of his face was a mixture of indolence and +drollery; and as he lay there, with his half closed eyes, he looked the +very picture of the <i>dolce far niente</i>.</p> + +<p>"Well, now," thought Georgia, "I wonder who <i>you</i> are, and where you +came from. I'll just go and ask him, though<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_55" id="Page_55">[Pg 55]</a></span> I do believe he's asleep. +If he is, I reckon I'll wake him in double-quick time."</p> + +<p>And Georgia, not being in the slightest degree troubled with that +disease incident to youth, previous to the days of Young America, yclept +bashfulness, marched up to the intruder, and planting herself before +him, put her arms akimbo, and assuming a look of stern investigation, +began:</p> + +<p>"Ahem! See here, <i>you</i>, where did you come from?"</p> + +<p>The young gentleman thus addressed leisurely opened a pair of large, +dark eyes, and quietly surveyed his interrogator from head to foot, +without disturbing himself in the slightest degree, or betraying the +smallest intention of moving.</p> + +<p>Very properly provoked at this aggravating conduct, Georgia's voice rose +an octave higher, as she said, authoritatively:</p> + +<p>"Can't you speak? Haven't you a tongue? I suppose it's the last +improvement in politeness not to answer when you're spoken to."</p> + +<p>This speech seemed to bring the young gentleman to a proper sense of his +errors. Getting up on his elbow, he took off his hat and began:</p> + +<p>"My dear young lady, I beg ten thousand pardons, but really at the +moment you spoke I was just debating within myself whether you were a +veritable fact or only an optical illusion. Having now satisfied myself +on that head, I beg you will repeat your questions, which, +unfortunately, in the excitement of the moment, I did not pay proper +attention to, and any information regarding myself personally and +privately, or concerning the world at large, that it lies in my power to +offer you, I shall be only too happy to communicate."<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_56" id="Page_56">[Pg 56]</a></span></p> + +<p>And with this speech the young gentleman bowed once more, without +rising, however, replaced his hat, and getting himself into a +comfortable position, lay back on the sands, and supporting his head on +his hands, composedly waited to be cross-examined.</p> + +<p>"Humph!" said Georgia, regarding him doubtfully. "What is your name?"</p> + +<p>"My name is Norval; on the Grampian hills—that is, it might have been +Norval, only it happened to be Wildair—Charley Wildair, at your +service, noted for nothing in particular but good-nature and idleness. +And now, having satisfied your natural and laudable curiosity on that +point, may I humbly venture to ask the name of the fascinating young +lady who at this particular moment honors me with her presence?"</p> + +<p>"Well, you may. My name's Georgia Darrell, and I live up there in that +little cottage. Now, where do <i>you</i> live?"</p> + +<p>"Miss Darrell, allow me to observe that it affords me the most dreadful +and excruciating happiness to make the acquaintance of so charming and +accomplished a young lady as yourself, and also to observe, that in all +my wanderings through this nether world, it has never been my good +fortune before to behold so perfectly fascinating a cottage as that to +which you refer. Regarding my own place of residence, I cannot inform +you positively, being a—'in point of fact,' as my cousin Feenix has +it—a wanderer and vagabond on the face of the earth, with no fixed +place of abode. My maternal ancestor resides in a place called Brooklyn, +a younger sister of New York city, and when not doing up my education in +the aforesaid city, I honor that venerable roof-tree with my presence. +At present, if you observe, I am vegetating in the flourishing and +intensely<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_57" id="Page_57">[Pg 57]</a></span> slow town of Burnfield over yonder, with my respected and +deeply venerated uncle, Mr. Robert Richmond, a gentleman chiefly +remarkable for the length of his purse and the shortness of his temper."</p> + +<p>"Squire Richmond's nephews! I heard they had come. Are you them?" +inquired Georgia, stepping back a pace, and speaking in a slightly awed +tone.</p> + +<p>"Exactly, Miss Darrell. With your usual penetration and good genius, you +have hit the right thing exactly in the middle; only, if you will allow +me, I must insinuate that I am not his nephews—not being an editor, I +have not the good fortune to be a plural individual; but with my Brother +Richard we do, I am happy to inform you, constitute the dutiful nephews +of your Burnfield magnate, Squire Richmond."</p> + +<p>"Hum-m-m!" said Georgia, looking at him with a puzzled expression, and +not exactly liking his indolent look and intensely ceremonious tone. +"You ain't laughing at me, are you?"</p> + +<p>"Laughing at you! Miss Darrell, if you'll just be kind enough to cast an +eye on my countenance you'll observe it's considerably more serious than +an undertaker's, or that of a man with a sick wife when told she is +likely to recover. Allow me to observe, Miss Darrell, that I suffered +through the 'principles of politeness' when I was an innocent and +guileless little shaver, in checked pinafores, and I hope I know the +proprieties better than to laugh at a lady. A fellow that would laugh at +a young woman, Miss Darrell, deserves to be—to be—a—a mark for the +finger of scorn to poke fun at! Yes, Miss Darrell, I repeat it, he +deserves to be a—I don't know what he doesn't deserve to be!" said Mr. +Wildair, firmly.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_58" id="Page_58">[Pg 58]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Well," said Georgia, rather mollified, "and what did you come up here +for, anyway, eh?"</p> + +<p>"Why, you see, Miss Darrell, the fact was, I was what you call +expelled,—which being translated from the original Greek into plain +slang, the chosen language of young America,—means I was politely +requested to vamose."</p> + +<p>"Oh," said Georgia, puckering up her lips as though she were going to +whistle, "you mean they turned you out?"</p> + +<p>"Pre-cisely! exactly! They couldn't properly appreciate me, you know. +Genius never is appreciated, if you observe, but is always neglected, +and snubbed, and put upon, in this world. Look at Shakespeare, and +Oliver Goldsmith, and all those other old fellows that got up works of +fiction, and see the hard times and tribulations they had of it."</p> + +<p>"And how long are you going to stay here?" asked Georgia.</p> + +<p>"That depends upon as long as I behave nicely, and don't endeavor to +corrupt the minds of the rising generation of Burnfield, I suppose. I've +been a perfect angel since I came, and would be at all times if they +didn't aggravate me. My mother was very disagreeable."</p> + +<p>"My mother was not—mamma never was disagreeable," said Georgia.</p> + +<p>"Indeed! Wonderful old lady she must have been then! Is she living?"</p> + +<p>"No: she's dead," said Georgia, looking down with filling eyes.</p> + +<p>"Ah! excuse me. I didn't know," said the boy, hastily. "And your +father?"</p> + +<p>"Dead, too."</p> + +<p>"Possible! With whom do you live?"<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_59" id="Page_59">[Pg 59]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Miss Jerusha."</p> + +<p>"Miss Jerusha—who?"</p> + +<p>"Skamp. She lives up in that cottage."</p> + +<p>"Skamp! There's a pretty name to talk about! Old-lady, is she?"</p> + +<p>"Yes; old and ugly."</p> + +<p>"Ah! I guess I sha'n't mind an introduction, then. And what brings you +down here, Miss Darrell? It's my time to ask questions now."</p> + +<p>"Why, I came down here to read; and now, look here, I wish you wouldn't +keep on calling me Miss Darrell; it sounds as if you were laughing at +me. Say Georgia."</p> + +<p>"With all my heart. Georgia be it—on one condition."</p> + +<p>"Well, what is it?"</p> + +<p>"That you call me Charley."</p> + +<p>"Of course I'll call you Charley," said Georgia, decidedly; "I intended +to all along. You didn't expect I'd say mister, did you?"</p> + +<p>"Of course I didn't; I never indulge in absurd expectations. And may I +ask the name of the book so fortunate as to find favor in your eyes, +Miss Georgia?"</p> + +<p>"Well, it's the 'Pilgrim's Progress.' I don't think much of it +either—all about a man going on a journey, and getting into all sorts +of scrapes. I don't believe it ever happened at all, for my part. And +now, as you seem to like taking things easy, I guess I will too; so here +we go!" said Georgia, as, shoving the book into her pocket, she made a +spring forward, and by some mysterious sleight of hand, only understood +by cats, monkeys, sailors, and depraved youths given to mischief, she +clambered up the steep side of the high, smooth rock, and perched +herself in<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_60" id="Page_60">[Pg 60]</a></span> triumph on the top, like a female Apollo on the apex of +Mount Parnassus.</p> + +<p>The young gentleman on the sands lifted himself on his elbow and stared +at the little girl in a sort of indolent wonder at this energetic +proceeding.</p> + +<p>"Eh, what? you're up there, are you? May I ask, Miss Georgia, if it is +your custom to perch yourself up there, like Patience on a monument, +whenever you wish to appreciate the beauties of literature? Oh! the +amount of unnecessary trouble people put themselves to in this world! +Now why—I simply ask as a matter of courtesy—what possible object can +you have in risking your neck in order to be slightly elevated above +your fellow-mortals, eh?"</p> + +<p>"Just for fun," said Georgia, as standing on one toe she cut a +pigeon-wing, at the imminent danger of tumbling off and breaking her +neck.</p> + +<p>"For fun! Well, it's singular what perverted notions of amusement some +people have. Now I—I'm about as fond of that sort of a thing, I may +safely say, as any other youth; yet you'll excuse me when I say I really +cannot see the point of that joke at all."</p> + +<p>"<i>You</i> couldn't do it," said Georgia, exultingly; "bet you any thing you +could not."</p> + +<p>"Well, now, I don't know about that," said the youth, surveying the rock +slowly with his large, indolent eyes; "of course, it's not polite or +proper to contradict a lady, or else I should beg leave to differ from +you in that opinion. There are precious few things, Miss Georgia, that I +ever attempted and failed to execute, though I say it. I'm what you may +call a universal genius, you know, equal to a steep rock, or any other +emergency, up to anything, ancient or modern, or, to use another +favorite and express<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_61" id="Page_61">[Pg 61]</a></span>ive phrase of Young America, a class to which I am +proud to belong—I am, in every sense of the word, 'up to snuff.'"</p> + +<p>"Bother!" exclaimed Georgia, to whom this homily, like all the lad's +speeches, was Greek, or thereabouts. "It's all very fine to lie there +like a lazy old porpoise, and talk such stuff, but you can't climb this +rock, say what you like—now then."</p> + +<p>"Can't I though!" exclaimed Master Charley, flinging away his cigar and +springing up with more energy than might have been expected from his +previous indolence, which, however, was more than half affected. "By +Jove! then, here goes to try. Miss Georgia, if in my efforts in your +service I turn out to be a case of 'Accidentally killed,' you'll see +that the coroner's inquest is held properly, and that all my goods and +chattels, consisting of a cigar-case, a clean shirt, and a jackknife, +are promptly forwarded to my bereaved relative. Now then, here goes! +'<i>Dieu et mon droit!</i>'"</p> + +<p>So saying, the lad, with a great deal more skill and agility than +Georgia had given him credit for, began climbing up the high rock. It +was no easy task, however, for the sides were quite perpendicular and +almost perfectly smooth, only suited to sailors and other aquatic +monsters used to climbing impossible places.</p> + +<p>Georgia clapped her hands and laughed her shrill elfish laugh at his +desperate efforts, and, taunted by this, the boy made a sudden spring at +the top, missed his footing, and tumbled off backward on the sands +below.</p> + +<p>With a sharp exclamation of alarm, Georgia, with one flying leap, sprang +clear off the beetling rock, and alighted, cat-like, on her feet by his +side. The lad lay perfectly still, and Georgia, terrified beyond +measure, bent over and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_62" id="Page_62">[Pg 62]</a></span> tried to raise him, and not succeeding in this, +suddenly bethought herself of Miss Jerusha's infallible plan for all +distresses, mental and bodily, and, catching him by the shoulder, gave +him a sound shaking.</p> + +<p>This vigorous proceeding had the effect of completely restoring Master +Charley, who had been for the moment stunned by the force of the fall, +and, opening his eyes, he slowly raised himself and looked with a +slightly bewildered glance around.</p> + +<p>"Well, I knew you couldn't do it," cried Georgia, who, now observing +that he was not killed, recovered all her aggravating love of teasing.</p> + +<p>"Ugh! you tantalizing little pepper-pod! that's the sort of remorse you +feel after nearly depriving the world of one of its brightest ornaments. +'Pon my word, I never was so nearly extinguished in all my life. Ain't +you ashamed of yourself, Miss Georgia, now that you've been and gone and +done and made me put my foot in it so beautifully? And speaking of feet +reminds me that I have given my ankle a twist, and must see whether it +is to be relied upon or not for the journey home, two miles being no +joke, even at the best times."</p> + +<p>So saying, Mr. Wildair got on his feet and attempted to walk, an +experiment which resulted in his making a very wry face—and uttering +something like a subdued howl, and finally sinking back in his former +position.</p> + +<p>"Well, here's a precious go, and no mistake!" was the exclamation jerked +out of him by the exigency of the case; "here's my ankle has thought +proper to go and sprain itself, and now I'll leave it to society in +general if I'm not in just the tallest sort of a fix. Yes, you may stare +and look blank, Miss Georgia, but I'll repeat it, you've used me<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_63" id="Page_63">[Pg 63]</a></span> +shamefully, Miss Georgia, yes, abominably, Miss Georgia, and if you keep +on like this, you stand a fair chance of sharing my own elevated +destiny. You perceive I'm a fixture here, and may as well take up my +quarters where I am for life, for out of this I can't go."</p> + +<p>"Whatever will you do?" exclaimed Georgia, in dismay.</p> + +<p>"Why, come to anchor here, of course; walking's out of the question. If +you would be so obliging as to hunt me up a soft rock to sleep on, and +where I could compose myself decently for death, it would be more +agreeable to my feelings than to scorch here in the sand. Attempt to +walk I positively can't and won't, traveling on one foot not being the +pleasantest or speediest mode of locomotion in the world."</p> + +<p>"Now, I declare, if it ain't too bad. I'm real sorry," said Georgia, +whose sympathies were all aroused by the good-humor with which Master +Charley bore his painful accident.</p> + +<p>"Well, I wouldn't take it too much to heart if I were you, Miss Georgia; +it might have been worse, you know—my neck, for instance."</p> + +<p>"I'll tell you what," said Georgia, "I've got an idea."</p> + +<p>"Pshaw! you're only joking," said Charley, incredulously.</p> + +<p>"No, I ain't; I'll go for Miss Jerusha, and make her come here and help +you up. You wait."</p> + +<p>"Really," began Charley, but without waiting to hear him, Georgia +bounded off, and clambering up the bank with two or three flying leaps +reached the high road, and rushed impetuously along toward the cottage.</p> + +<p>"There's an original for you," said the proprietor of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_64" id="Page_64">[Pg 64]</a></span> the sprained +ankle, looking after Georgia. "Well, this sprained ankle is mighty +pleasant, I must say. If the old lady comes down she'll have to carry me +on her back, for walk I won't."</p> + +<p>Georgia, meanwhile, on charitable thoughts intent, rushed along where +she was going, and the consequence was that she ran with stunning force +against some person or persons unknown advancing from the opposite +direction.</p> + +<p>"Heads up!" said a pleasant voice; and Georgia, who betrayed symptoms of +an insane desire to pitch head over heels, was restored to her center of +gravity. "Rather an energetic mode of doing business this, I must say."</p> + +<p>Georgia looked up, and jerked herself from the grasp of the stranger, a +young man, dressed in a student's plain suit of black, who stood looking +at her with a smile.</p> + +<p>"What did you run against me for?" said Georgia, with one of her scowls, +instantly taking the offensive.</p> + +<p>"Run against <i>you</i>! Why, you are reversing cases, madam. Allow me to +insinuate that you ran against <i>me</i>."</p> + +<p>"I didn't, either! I mean I shouldn't if you hadn't poked yourself right +in my way." Then, as a sudden idea struck her, she breathlessly resumed: +"Oh, yes; you'll do better than Miss Jerusha! Come along with me to the +beach, and help him up!" said Georgia, gesticulating with much +earnestness.</p> + +<p>"Help who up, my impetuous little lady?" said the young man, with a +smile.</p> + +<p>"Why, <i>him</i>, you know! He tumbled off—I knew he would all along—and +went and sprained his ankle, and now he can't get up. It hurts him, I +know, though he don't make a fuss or nothing, but talks and looks +droll—nice fellow, I know he is! Help him up to our house, and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_65" id="Page_65">[Pg 65]</a></span> Miss +Jerusha'll fix him off, she will! Come! come along, can't you?"</p> + +<p>All this time Georgia had stood, with sparkling eyes, gesticulating +eagerly, as was her habit when excited; and now she caught him by the +arm and pulled him vigorously along.</p> + +<p>The stranger, with a laugh, allowed himself to be borne on by this +breathless little whirlwind; and in less than ten minutes after she had +left him, Georgia stood beside Charley Wildair on the beach.</p> + +<p>Charley looked up as they approached, and glancing at her companion, +exclaimed:</p> + +<p>"Hallo, Rich! Well, here's a slice of good luck, anyway. How in the +world did you scare <i>him</i> up, Miss Georgia?"</p> + +<p>"Why he ran against me," said Georgia, "and nearly knocked my brains +out. Do you know him?"</p> + +<p>"I should think I did—rather!" said Charley, emphatically. "Here, Rich, +come and help me up, there's a good fellow!"</p> + +<p>"What have you been at now?" said Rich, as he obeyed. "Some piece of +nonsense, I'll be bound."</p> + +<p>"No, sir, I haven't been at nonsense. I was attempting to treat myself +to a rise in the world by climbing up that rock, and, losing my +equilibrium, the first thing I knew I was gracefully extended at full +length on the sands, with one limb slightly dislocated, as completely +floored an individual as you ever clapped your eyes on. For further +particulars, apply to Miss Georgia here. And that reminds me, you +haven't been duly presented to that young woman. Allow me to repair that +error before proceeding to business. Miss Darrell, let me have the +pleasure of presenting to<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_66" id="Page_66">[Pg 66]</a></span> your distinguished notice, my brother, Mr. +Richmond Wildair, a young man chiefly remarkable for a rash and +inordinate attachment for musty old books, and—having his own way. Mr. +Wildair, Miss Georgia Darrell, a young lady whose many estimable +qualities and aggravating will of her own require to be seen to be +appreciated. Ahem."</p> + +<p>And having, with great <i>empressment</i> and pomposity, delivered himself of +this "neat and appropriate" speech, Mr. Charles Wildair drew himself up +with dignity—which, as he was obliged to stand on one foot, with the +other elevated in the air, hardly made the impression it was intended to +make.</p> + +<p>Mr. Richmond Wildair held out his hand to Georgia with a smile, and, +after looking at it for a moment, in evident doubt as to the propriety +of shaking hands with him, she at last consented to do so with a grave +solemnity quite irresistible.</p> + +<p>And thus Richmond Wildair and Georgia Darrell met for the first time. +And little did either dream of what the future had in store for them, as +they stood side by side on the sands in the golden light of that breezy, +sunshiny May morning.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;"/><p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_67" id="Page_67">[Pg 67]</a></span></p> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_V" id="CHAPTER_V"></a>CHAPTER V.</h2> + +<h3>"LADY MACBETH."</h3> + +<div class="poemblock36"> +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">"Who that had seen her form so light,<br /></span> +<span class="i2">For swiftness only turned,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Would e'er have thought in a thing so slight,<br /></span> +<span class="i2">Such a fiery spirit burned."<br /></span> +</div></div></div> + +<p><span class="floatleft">"</span></p> +<div class="drop"> +<img src="images/illo_a.png" alt="A" width="100" height="100" class="cap" /> +<p class="cap_1"> + +nd now what am I expected to do next?" said Richmond, looking at his +two companions. "I am entirely at your service, monsieur and +mademoiselle."</p> +</div> + +<p>"Why, you must help him up to our house," said Georgia, in her +peremptory tone, "and let Miss Jerusha do something for his lame ankle."</p> + +<p>"And after that you must transport yourself over to Burnfield with all +possible dispatch, and procure a cart, car, gig, wagon, carriage, +wheelbarrow, or any other vehicle wherein my remains can be hauled to +that thriving town, for walking, you perceive, is a moral and physical +impossibility."</p> + +<p>"All right!" said Richmond. "Here, take my arm. How will you manage to +get up this steep bank? Do you think you can walk it?"</p> + +<p>"Nothing like trying," said Charley, as leaning on his brother's arm he +limped along, while Georgia went before to show them the way. "Ah, that +was a twinge. The gout must be a nice thing to have if it is at all like +this. I never properly felt for those troubled with that fashionable and +aristocratic disease before, but the amount of sympathy I shall do for +the future will be something terrifying. Here we are; now then, up we +go."<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_68" id="Page_68">[Pg 68]</a></span></p> + +<p>But Master Charley found that "up we go" was easier said than done. He +attempted to mount the bank, but at the first effort he recoiled, while +a flush of pain overspread his pale features.</p> + +<p>"No go, trying to do that; get up there I can't if they were to make me +Khan of Tartary for doing it. Ah—h—h! there's another twinge, as if a +red-hot poker had been plunged into it. The way that ankle can go into +the aching business requires to be felt to be appreciated."</p> + +<p>Though he spoke lightly, yet two scarlet spots, forced there by the +intense pain, burned on either cheek.</p> + +<p>Richmond looked at him anxiously, for he loved his wild, harum-scarum, +handsome young brother with a strong love.</p> + +<p>"Oh, he can't walk; I know it hurts him; what <i>will</i> we do?" said +Georgia, in a tone of such intense motherly solicitude that, in spite of +his painful ankle, Charley smiled faintly.</p> + +<p>"I know what <i>I</i> shall do," said Richmond, abruptly. "I shall carry +him."</p> + +<p>And suiting the action to the word, the elder brother—older only by two +or three years, but much stronger and more compactly built than the +somewhat delicate Charley—lifted him in his arms and proceeded to bear +him up the rocks.</p> + +<p>"Why, Richmond, old fellow," remonstrated Charley, "you'll kill +yourself—rupture an artery, and all that sort of thing, you know; and +then there'll be a pretty to do about it. Let go, and I'll walk it, in +spite of the ankle. I can hold out as long as it can, I should hope."</p> + +<p>"Never mind, Charley; I'm pretty strong, and you're not a killing +weight, being all skin and bone, and nonsense<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_69" id="Page_69">[Pg 69]</a></span> pretty much. Keep still, +and I will have you up in a twinkling."</p> + +<p>"Be it so, then, most obliging youth. Really, it's not such a bad +notion, this being carried—rather comfortable than otherwise."</p> + +<p>"Now, don't keep on so, Charley," said Georgia, in a voice of motherly +rebuke. "How is your ankle? Does it hurt you much now?"</p> + +<p>"Well, after mature deliberation on the subject, I think I may safely +say it <i>does</i>. It's aching just at this present writing as if for a +wager," replied Charley, with a grimace.</p> + +<p>Georgia glanced at Richmond, and seeing great drops of perspiration +standing on his brow as he toiled up, said, in all sincerity:</p> + +<p>"See here, you look tired to death. <i>Do</i> let me help you. I'm strong, +and he ain't very heavy looking, and I guess I can carry him the rest of +the way."</p> + +<p>Richmond turned and looked at her in surprise, but seeing she was +perfectly serious in her offer, he repressed his amusement and gravely +declined; while Charley, less delicate, set up an indecorous laugh.</p> + +<p>"Carry me up the hill! Oh, that's good! What would Curtis, and Dorset, +and all the fellows say if they heard that, Rich? 'Pon honor, that's the +best joke of the season! A little girl I could lift with one hand +offering to carry me up hill?"</p> + +<p>And Master Charley lay back and laughed till the tears stood in his +eyes.</p> + +<p>His laughter was brought to a sudden end by an unexpected sight. Little +Georgia faced round, with flashing eyes and glowing cheeks, and, with a +passionate stamp of her foot, exclaimed:<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_70" id="Page_70">[Pg 70]</a></span></p> + +<p>"How <i>dare</i> you laugh at me, you hateful, ill-mannered fellow? Don't you +ever dare to do it again, or it won't be good for you! If you weren't +hurt now, and not able to take your own part, I'd <i>tear your eyes +out</i>!—I just would! Don't you <span class="smcap">DARE</span> to laugh at me, sir!"</p> + +<p>And with another fierce stamp of her foot, and wild flash of her eyes, +she turned away and walked in the direction of the cottage.</p> + +<p>For a moment the brothers were confounded by this unexpected and +startling outburst—this new revelation of the unique child before them. +There was in it something so different from the customary pouting anger +of a child—something so nearly appalling in her fierce eyes and +passionate gestures, that they looked at each other a moment in +astounded silence before attempting to reply.</p> + +<p>"Really, Georgia, I did not mean to offend," said Charley, at last, as +they by this time reached the high-road, and the exhausted Richmond +deposited him on his feet. "I am very sorry I have angered you, but I'm +such a fellow to laugh, you know, that the least thing sets me off. Why +I'd laugh at an empress, if she did or said anything droll. Come, +forgive me, like a good girl!" and Charley, looking deeply penitent, +held out his hand.</p> + +<p>But Georgia was proud, and was not one to readily forgive what she +considered an insult, so she drew herself back and up, and only replied +by a dangerous flash of her great black eyes.</p> + +<p>"Come, Georgia, don't be angry; let's make up friends again. Where's the +good of keeping spite, especially when a fellow's sorry for his fault? +One thing I know, and that is, if you don't forgive me pretty soon, I'll +go and heave myself away into an untimely grave, in the flower of my<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_71" id="Page_71">[Pg 71]</a></span> +youth, and then just think of the remorse of conscience you'll suffer. +Come, Georgia, shake hands and be friends."</p> + +<p>But Georgia faced round, with a curling lip, and turning to Richmond, +who all this time had stood quietly by, with folded arms, surveying her +with an inexplicable smile, which faded away the moment he met her eye, +she said, shortly:</p> + +<p>"You had better come along. I'll go on ahead and tell Miss Jerusha +you're coming." And then, without waiting for a reply, she walked on in +proud silence.</p> + +<p>She reached the cottage in a few minutes, and, throwing open the door +with her accustomed explosive bang, went up to where Miss Jerusha sat +sewing diligently, and facing that lady, began:</p> + +<p>"Miss Jerusha, look here!"</p> + +<p>Miss Jerusha lifted her head, and, seeing Miss Georgia's flushed cheeks +and sparkling eyes, the evidence of one of her "tantrums," said:</p> + +<p>"Well who hev you bin a-fightin' with <i>now</i>, marm?"</p> + +<p>"I haven't been fighting with any one," said Georgia, impatiently, for a +slight skirmish like this was nothing to pitched battle she called +fighting; "but there's a boy that has sprained his ankle down on the +beach, and his brother's bringing him here for you to fix it."</p> + +<p>Now, Miss Jerusha, though not noted for her hospitality at any time, +would not, perhaps, on an ordinary occasion make any objection to this +beyond a few grumbles, but on this particular morning everything had +gone wrong, and she was in an (even for her) unusually surly mood, so +she turned round and sharply exclaimed:</p> + +<p>"And do you suppose, you little good-for-nothing whipper-snapper, I keep +an 'ospital for every shif'less scamp in<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_72" id="Page_72">[Pg 72]</a></span> the neighborhood? If you do, +you are very much mistaken, that's all. If he's sprained his ankle, let +him go sommer's else, for I vow to Sam he sha'n't come here!"</p> + +<p>"He <i>shall</i> come here!" exclaimed Georgia, with one of her passionate +stamps: "you see if he sha'n't. I told him he could come here, and he +shall, too, in spite of you!"</p> + +<p>"Why, you little impident hussy you!" said Miss Jerusha, flinging down +her work and rising to her feet, "how dare you have the imperance to +stand up and talk to me like that? We'll see whether he'll come here or +not. <i>You</i> invited him here, indeed! And pray what right have you to +invite anybody here, I want to know? You, a lazy, idle little vagabone, +not worth your salt! Come here, indeed! I wish he may; if he doesn't go +out faster than he came in it won't be my fault!"</p> + +<p>"Just you try to turn him out, you cross, ugly old thing! If you do +I'll—I'll <i>kill</i> you; I'll set fire to this hateful old hut, and burn +it down! You see if I don't. There!"</p> + +<p>The savage gleam of her eyes at that moment, her face white with +concentrated passion, was something horrible and unnatural in one of her +years. Miss Jerusha drew back a step, and interposed a chair between +them in salutary dread of the little vixen's claw-like nails.</p> + +<p>At that moment the form of Richmond Wildair appeared in the door-way. +Both youths had arrived in time to witness the fierce altercation +between the mistress of the house and her half-savage little ward, and +Richmond now interposed.</p> + +<p>Taking off his hat, he bowed to Miss Jerusha saying in his calm, +gentlemanly tones:</p> + +<p>"I beg your pardon, madam, for this intrusion, but my<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_73" id="Page_73">[Pg 73]</a></span> brother being +really unable to walk, I beg you will have the kindness to allow him to +remain here until I can return from Burnfield with a carriage. You will +not be troubled with him more than an hour."</p> + +<p>Inhospitable as she was, Miss Jerusha could not really refuse this, so +she growled out a churlish assent; and Richmond, secretly amused at the +whole thing, helped in Charley, while Georgia set the rocking-chair for +him, and placed a stool under his wounded foot, without, however, +favoring him with a single smile, or word, or glance. She was in no mood +just then either to forget or forgive.</p> + +<p>"And now I'm off," said Richmond, after seeing Charley safely disposed +of. "I will be back in as short a time as I possibly can; and meantime, +Miss Georgia," he added, turning to her with a smile as he left the +room, "I place my brother under your care until I come back."</p> + +<p>But Georgia, with her back to them both, was looking sullenly out of the +window, and neither moved nor spoke until Richmond had gone, and then +she followed him out, and stood looking irresolutely after him as he +walked down the road.</p> + +<p>He turned round, and seeing her there, stopped as though expecting she +would speak; but she only played nervously with the hop-vines crowning +the walls, without lifting her voice.</p> + +<p>"Well, Georgia?" he said inquiringly.</p> + +<p>"I—I don't want to stay here. I'll go with you to Burnfield, if you +like. Miss Jerusha's cross," she said, looking up half shyly, half +defiantly in his face.</p> + +<p>A strange expression flitted for an instant over the grave, thoughtful +face of Richmond Wildair, passing away<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_74" id="Page_74">[Pg 74]</a></span> as quickly as it came. Without a +word he went up to where Georgia stood, with that same light in her +eyes, half shy, half fierce, that one sees in the eyes of a half-tamed +and dangerous animal when under the influence of a master-eye.</p> + +<p>"Georgia, look at me," he said, laying one hand lightly on her shoulder.</p> + +<p>She stepped back, shook off the hand, and looked defiantly up in his +face. It was not exactly a handsome face, yet it was full of power—full +of calm, deep, invincible power—with keen, intense, piercing eyes, +whose steady gaze few could calmly stand. Child as she was, the hitherto +unconquered Georgia felt that she stood in the presence of a strong +will, that surmounted and overtopped her own by its very depth, +intensity and calmness. She strove to brave out his gaze, but her own +eyes wavered and fell.</p> + +<p>"Well?" she said, in a subdued tone.</p> + +<p>"Georgia, will you do me a favor?"</p> + +<p>"Well?" she said, compressing her lips hard, as though determined to do +battle to the death.</p> + +<p>"My brother is alone, he is in pain, he did not mean to offend you, he +is under <i>your</i> roof. Georgia, I want you to stay with him till I come +back."</p> + +<p>"He laughed at me—he made fun of me. I <i>won't</i>! I hate him!" she said, +with a passionate flush.</p> + +<p>"He is sorry for that. When people are sorry for their faults, a +magnanimous enemy always forgives."</p> + +<p>"I don't care. I <i>won't</i> forgive him. I was doing everything I could for +him. I would have helped him up hill if I could, and he <i>laughed at me</i>! +I won't stay with<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_75" id="Page_75">[Pg 75]</a></span> him!" she exclaimed, tearing the hop branches off and +flinging them to the ground in her excitement.</p> + +<p>He caught the destructive little hands in his and held them fast.</p> + +<p>"Georgia, you <i>will</i>!"</p> + +<p>"I <i>won't</i>! not if I die for it!" she flashed.</p> + +<p>"Georgia!"</p> + +<p>"Let me go!" she cried out, trying to wrench her hands from his grasp. +"I never will! Let me go!"</p> + +<p>"Georgia, do you know what hospitality means?"</p> + +<p>"Yes."</p> + +<p>"Well, he is your guest now. Have you ever read about the Arabs of the +desert, my proud little lady?"</p> + +<p>"Yes."</p> + +<p>"Well, you know once their most deadly enemy entered their house, they +treated him as though he were the dearest friend they had in the world. +Now, Georgia, you will be a lady some day, I think, and——"</p> + +<p>"I will stay with your brother till you come back," she said, proudly; +"but I <i>won't</i> be his friend—never again! I liked him then, and I +wanted to do everything I could for him. I would have had <i>my</i> ankle +sprained if it would have made his well. I was so sorry, +and—he—laughed at me!"</p> + +<p>In spite of all her evident efforts her lips quivered, and turning +abruptly, she walked away and entered the house.</p> + +<p>Richmond Wildair stood for an instant in the same spot, looking after +her, and again that nameless, inexplicable smile flitted over his face.</p> + +<p>"<i>Conquered</i>!" he said, with a sort of exultation in his voice; "and for +the first time in her life, I believe.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_76" id="Page_76">[Pg 76]</a></span> Strange, wild child that she is. +I see the germs of a fine but distorted character there."</p> + +<p>He walked down the road, whistling "My love is but a lassie yet," while +Georgia re-entered the house, and with a dark cloud still on her face, +walked to the window and looked sullenly after the retreating figure of +Richmond.</p> + +<p>Master Charley, who had a taste for strange animals, had been devoting +his time to drawing out Miss Jerusha, practicing all his fascinations on +her with a zeal and determination worthy of a better cause, and at last +succeeded in wheedling that deluded lady into a recital of her many and +peculiar troubles, to all of which he listened with the most +sympathizing, not to say painful attention, and with a look so intensely +dismal that it quite won the old lady's heart. But when he praised +Betsey Periwinkle, and stroked her down, and spoke in terms of +enthusiastic admiration of a pair of moleskin pantaloons Miss Jerusha +was making, bespeaking another pair exactly like them for himself, his +conquest was complete, and he took a firm hold of Miss Jerusha's +unappropriated affections, which from that day he never lost. And on the +strength of this new and rash attack of "love at first sight," Miss +Jerusha produced from some mysterious corner a glass of currant wine and +a plate of sliced gingerbread, which she offered to her guest—a piece +of reckless extravagance she had never been guilty of before, and which +surprised Fly to such a degree that she would have there and then taken +out a writ of lunacy against her mistress, had she known anything +whatever about such a proceeding. Master Charley, being blessed with an +excellent appetite of his own, which his accident had in no way +diminished, graciously condescended to partake of the offered dainties, +and launched out into such<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_77" id="Page_77">[Pg 77]</a></span> enthusiastic praises of both, that the +English language actually foundered and gave out, in his transports.</p> + +<p>And all this time Georgia had stood by the window, silent and sullen, +with a cloud on her brow, and a bright, angry light in her eyes, that +warned both Miss Jerusha and Charley Wildair that it was safer to let +her alone than speak to her just then. For though the girl's combustible +nature was something like a blaze of tow, burning fiercely for a moment +and then going out, she did not readily forgive injuries, slights, or +affronts, or what she considered such. No, she brooded over them until +they sank deep among the many other rank things that had been allowed to +take root in her heart, and which only the spirit of true religion could +now ever eradicate.</p> + +<p>The child had grown up from infancy neglected, her high spirit +unchecked, her fierce outbursts of temper unrebuked, allowed to have her +own way in all things, ignorant of all religious training whatsoever. +She had heard the words, God, heaven and hell—but they were <i>only</i> +words to her, striking the ear, but conveying no meaning, and she had +<i>never</i> bent her childish knee in prayer.</p> + +<p>What wonder then that she grew up as we find her, proud, passionate, +sullen, obstinate, and vindictive? The germs of a really fine nature had +been born with her, but they had been neglected and allowed to run to +waste, while every evil passion had been fostered and nurtured.</p> + +<p>Generous, frank, and truthful she was still, scorning a lie, <i>not</i> +because she thought it a sin, but because it seemed <i>mean</i> and cowardly; +high-spirited, too, she would have gone through fire and flood to serve +any one she loved; <i>but</i>, had that one offended her, she would have +hurled her back into the fire and flood without remorse.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_78" id="Page_78">[Pg 78]</a></span></p> + +<p>Ingratitude was not one of her vices either, though from her conduct to +Miss Jerusha it would appear so; but Georgia could not love the sharp, +snappish, though not bad-hearted old maid, and so she believed she owed +her nothing, a belief more than one in Burnfield took care to foster.</p> + +<p>Not a vice that child possessed that a careful hand could not have +changed into a real virtue, for in her sinning there was at least +nothing mean and underhand; treachery and deception she would have +scorned and stigmatized as <i>cowardly</i>, for courage, daring, bravery, was +in the eyes of Georgia the highest virtue in earth or heaven.</p> + +<p>Richmond Wildair understood her, because he possessed an astute and +powerful intellect, and mastered her, because he had a <i>will</i> equal to +her own, and a mind, by education and cultivation, infinitely superior.</p> + +<p>Georgia, almost unknown to herself, had a profound admiration and +respect for <i>strength</i>, whether bodily or mental; and the moment +Richmond Wildair let her see he could conquer her, that moment he +achieved a command over the wild girl he never lost.</p> + +<p>Yet it galled her, this first link in the chain that was one day to bind +her hand and foot; and, like an unbroken colt on whom the bridle and +curb are put for the first time, she grew restive and angry under the +intolerable yoke.</p> + +<p>"What right has he to make me stay?" she thought, with a still darkening +brow. "What business has he to order me to do this or that? Telling me +to stay with his brother, as if he was my master and I was his servant! +I don't see why I did it; he had no <i>business</i> to tell me so. I have a +good mind to run away yet, and when he comes he'll find me gone—but no, +I promised to stay, and I will.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_79" id="Page_79">[Pg 79]</a></span> I wouldn't have stayed for anybody +else, and I don't see why I did for him. I won't do it again—I never +will; the very next thing he asks me to do I'll say no, and I'll <i>stick</i> +to it. I won't be ordered about by anybody!"</p> + +<p>And Georgia raised her head proudly, and her eye flashed, and her cheek +kindled, and her little brown hand clenched, as her whole untamed nature +rose in revolt against the idea of servitude. Some wild Indian or gipsy +blood must have been in Georgia's veins, for never did a lord of forest +rock or river resolve to do battle to maintain his freedom with more +fierce determination than did she at that moment.</p> + +<p>Her resolution was soon put to the test. Ere another hour had passed +Richmond Wildair returned with a light gig, and entered the house.</p> + +<p>Georgia saw him enter, but would not turn round, and Charley, getting +up, bade Miss Jerusha a gay good-by, promising to come and see her again +the first thing after his ankle got well. Then, going over to Georgia, +he held out his hand, saying:</p> + +<p>"Come, Georgia, I am going away. <i>Do</i> bid me good-by."</p> + +<p>It was hardly in human nature to resist that coaxing tone; so a curt +"good-by" dropped out from between Georgia's closed teeth; but she would +neither look at him nor notice his extended hand.</p> + +<p>And with this leave-taking Charley was forced to be content; and, +leaning on Richmond, he went out and took his place in the gig.</p> + +<p>Then Richmond returned, and bowing his farewell and his thanks to Miss +Jerusha, slightly surprised at the molli<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_80" id="Page_80">[Pg 80]</a></span>fying metamorphosis that +ancient lady had undergone, he went up to Georgia, saying, in a low +tone:</p> + +<p>"Come with me to the door, Georgia; I have something to say to you."</p> + +<p>"Say it here."</p> + +<p>He hesitated, but Georgia looked as immovable as a rock.</p> + +<p>"Well, then, Georgia, I want you to forgive my brother before he goes."</p> + +<p>Georgia planted her feet firmly together, compressed her lips, and, +without lifting her eyes to his face, said, in a low, resolute tone:</p> + +<p>"Richmond Wildair, I won't!"</p> + +<p>"But, Georgia, he is sorry for his fault; he has apologized; you <i>ought</i> +to forgive him."</p> + +<p>"I won't!"</p> + +<p>"Georgia, it is wrong, it is unnatural in a little girl to be wicked and +vindictive like this. If you were a good child, you would shake hands +and be friends."</p> + +<p>"I won't!"</p> + +<p>"Georgia, for <i>my</i> sake—"</p> + +<p>"<i>I won't!</i>"</p> + +<p>"Obstinate, flinty little thing! Do you like me, Georgia?"</p> + +<p>"No!"</p> + +<p>"You don't? Why, Georgia, what a shame! You don't like me?"</p> + +<p>"No, I don't! I hate you both! You have no business to tease me this +way! I won't forgive him—I never will! I'll <i>never</i> do anything for you +again!"</p> + +<p>And, with a fierce flash of the eyes that reminded him<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_81" id="Page_81">[Pg 81]</a></span> of a panther he +had once shot, she broke from his retaining grasp and fled out of the +house.</p> + +<p>He was foiled. He turned away with a slight smile, yet there was a +scarcely perceptible shade of annoyance on his high, serene brow, as he +took his place beside his brother and drove off.</p> + +<p>"What took you back, Rich?" asked Charley.</p> + +<p>"I wanted to bid good-by to that unique little specimen of girlhood in +there, and get her to pardon you."</p> + +<p>"And she would not?"</p> + +<p>"No."</p> + +<p>"Whew! resisted <i>your</i> all-powerful will! The gods be praised that you +have found your match at last!"</p> + +<p>Richmond's brow slightly contracted, and he gave the horse a quick cut +with the whip that sent him flying on.</p> + +<p>"And yet I will make her do it," he said, with his calm, peculiar, +inexplicable smile.</p> + +<p>"Eh?—you will? And how, may I ask?"</p> + +<p>"Never you mind—she shall do it! I have conquered her once already, and +I shall do it again, although she <i>has</i> refused this time. I did not +expect her to yield without a struggle."</p> + +<p>"By Jove! there's some wild blood in that one. There was mischief in her +eyes as she turned on me there on the hill. I shall take care to give +her a wide berth, and let her severely alone for the future."</p> + +<p>"Yes, she is an original—all steel springs—a fine nature if properly +trained," said Richmond, musingly.</p> + +<p>"A fine fiddlestick!" said Charley, contemptuously; "she's as sharp as a +persimmon, and as sour as an unripe crab-apple, and as full of stings as +a whole forest of nettle-trees."<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_82" id="Page_82">[Pg 82]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Do you know, Charles, I fancy Lady Macbeth might have been just such a +child?"</p> + +<p>"Shouldn't wonder. The little black-eyed gipsy is fierce enough in all +conscience to make a whole batch of Lady Macbeths. May all the powers +that be generously grant I may not be the Duncan she is to send to the +other world."</p> + +<p>"If she is allowed to grow up as she is now, she will certainly be some +day capable of even Lady Macbeth's crime. Pity she has no one better +qualified to look after her than that disagreeable old woman."</p> + +<p>"Better mind how you talk about the old lady," said Charley; "she and I +are as thick as pickpockets. I flattered her beautifully, I flatter +myself, and she believes in me to an immense extent. As to the young +lady, what do you say to adopting her yourself? You'd be a sweet mentor +for youth, wouldn't you?"</p> + +<p>"You may laugh, but I really feel a deep interest in that child," said +Richmond.</p> + +<p>"Well, for my part," said Charley, "I don't believe in vixens, young or +old, but you—<i>you</i> always had a taste for monsters."</p> + +<p>"Not exactly," said Richmond, untying a knot in his whip; "but she is +something new; she suits me; I like her."</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;"/><p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_83" id="Page_83">[Pg 83]</a></span></p> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_VI" id="CHAPTER_VI"></a>CHAPTER VI.</h2> + +<h3>TAMING AN EAGLET.</h3> + +<div class="poemblock36"> +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i14">"In her heart<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Are sown the sparks that kindle fiery war;<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Occasion needs but fan them and they blaze."<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +</div></div></div> + +<p style="margin-left: 65%;"><span class="smcap">Cowper.</span><br /></p> + +<div class="poemblock32"> +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i4">"Mind's command o'er mind,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Spirits o'er spirit, is the clear effect<br /></span> +<span class="i0">And natural action of an inward gift<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Given by God."<br /></span> +</div></div></div> + +<div class="drop"> +<img src="images/illo_a.png" alt="A" width="100" height="100" class="cap" /> +<p class="cap_1"> +ll that day little Georgia went wandering aimlessly, restlessly, +through the woods, possessed by some walking spirit that would not let +her sit still for an instant. She had kept her vow; she had resisted the +power of a master mind; she had maintained her free will, and refused to +do as he commanded her. Yes, she felt it as a command. She had thrown +off the yoke he would have laid on her, and she ought to have exulted in +her triumph—in her victory. But, strange to say, it surprised even +herself that she had <i>not</i>; she felt angry, sullen and dissatisfied. The +consciousness that she was wrong and he was right—that she ought to +have done as he told her—would force itself upon her in spite of her +efforts. How mean and narrow her own conduct did look now that she came +to think it over, and the fever of passion had passed away; had she been +brave and generous she felt she would have forgiven him when he so often +apologized; it was galling to be laughed at, it was true, but when he +was sorry for his fault she<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_84" id="Page_84">[Pg 84]</a></span> knew she ought to have pardoned him. How +they both must despise her; what a wicked, ugly, disagreeable little +girl they must think her. How she wished she had been better, and had +made up friends, and not let them go away thinking her so cross and +sullen and obstinate.</p></div> + +<p>"Miss Jerusha says I'm ugly and good for nothing and bad-tempered, and +so does every body else. Nobody loves me or cares for me, and every body +says I've got the worst temper they ever knew. People don't do anything +but laugh at me and make fun of me and call me names. Mamma and Warren +liked me, but they're dead, and I wish I was dead and buried, too—I do +so! I'll never dance again; I'll never sing for anyone; I'll go away +somewhere, and never come back. I wish I was pretty and good-tempered +and pleasant, like Em Murray: every body loved her; but I ain't, and +never will be. I'm black and ugly and bad-tempered, and every one hates +me. Let them hate me, then—I don't care! I hate them just as much; and +I'll be just as cross and ugly as ever I like. I was made so, and I +can't help it, and I don't care for any body. I'll do just as I like, I +will so! I can hate people as much as they can hate me, and I will do +it, too. I don't see what I was ever born for; Miss Jerusha says it was +to torment people: but I couldn't help it, and it ain't my fault, and +they have no business to blame me for it. Emily Murray says God makes +people die, and I don't see why he didn't let me die, too, when mamma +did. Mamma was good, and I expect she's in heaven, but I'm so bad +they'll never let me there I know! I don't care for that either. I was +made bad, and if they send me to the bad place for it, they may. Em +Murray'll go to Heaven, because she's good and pretty, and Miss Jerusha +says <i>she'll</i> go, but I don't believe it. If she<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_85" id="Page_85">[Pg 85]</a></span> does, <i>I</i> sha'n't go +even if they ask me to, for I know she'll scold all the time up there +just as she does down here. If they do let her in, I guess they'll be +pretty sorry for it after, and wish they hadn't. I 'pose them two young +gentlemen from New York will go, too, and I know that Charley fellow +will laugh when he sees me turned off, just as he did this morning. I +don't believe I ought to have made up with him, after all. I won't +either, if his brother says I <i>must</i>. If he lets me alone I may, but +I'll never offer to do anything for him again as long as I live. Oh, +dear! I don't see what I ever was born for at all, and I do wish I never +had been, or that I had died with mamma and Warren."</p> + +<p>And so, with bitterness in her heart, the child wandered on and on +restlessly, as if to escape from herself, with a sense of wrong, and +neglect, and injustice forcing itself upon her childish uncultivated +mind. She thought of all the hard names and opprobrious epithets Miss +Jerusha called her, and "unjust! unjust!" was the cry of her heart as +she wandered on. She felt that in all the world there was not such a +wicked, unloved child as she, and the untutored heart resolved in its +bitterness to repay scorn with scorn, and hate with hate.</p> + +<p>It was dark when she came home. She had had no dinner, but with the +conflict going on within she had felt no hunger. Miss Jerusha's supper +was over and long since cleared away, and, as might be expected, she was +in no very sweet frame of mind at the long absence of her <i>protegee</i>.</p> + +<p>"Well, you've got home at last, have you?" she began sharply, and with +her voice pitched in a most aggravating key. "Pretty time o' night this, +I must say, to come home, after trampin' round like a vagabone on the +face o'<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_86" id="Page_86">[Pg 86]</a></span> the airth all the whole blessed day. You desarve to be switched +as long as you can stand, you worthless, lazy, idle young varmint you! +Be off to the kitchen, and see if Fly can't get you some supper, though +you oughtn't to get a morsel if you were rightly sarved. Other folks has +to toil for what they eat, but you live on other folks' vittals, and do +nothing, you indolent little tramper you!"</p> + +<p>Miss Jerusha paused for want of breath, expecting the angry retort this +style of address never failed to extort from the excitable little +bomb-shell before her, but to her surprise none came. The child stood +with compressed lips, dark and gloomy, gazing into the fading fire.</p> + +<p>"Well, why don't you go?" said Miss Jerusha angrily. "You ought to take +your betters' leavin's and be thankful, though there's no such thing as +thankfulness in you, I do believe. Go!"</p> + +<p>"I don't want your supper; you may keep it," said Georgia, with proud +sullenness.</p> + +<p>"Oh, you don't! Of course not! it's not good enough for your ladyship, +by no manner of means," said Miss Jerusha, with withering sarcasm. +"Hadn't I better order some cake and wine for your worship? Dear, dear! +what ladies we are, to be sure! Is there anything particularly nice I +could get for you, marm, eh? P'raps Fly'd better run to Burnfield for +some plum puddin' or suthin', hey? Oh, dear me, ain't we dainty, +though."</p> + +<p>Georgia actually gnashed her teeth, and turned livid with passion as she +listened, and, with a spring, she stood before the startled Miss +Jerusha, her eyes glaring in the partial darkness like those of a +wild-cat. Miss Jerusha, in alarm, lifted a chair as a weapon of defense +against the expected attack; but the attack was not made.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_87" id="Page_87">[Pg 87]</a></span></p> + +<p>Clasping her hands over her head with a sort of irrepressible cry, she +fled from the room, up the stairs into her own little chamber, fastened +the door, and then sank down, white and quivering, on the floor of the +room.</p> + +<p>How long she lay there she could not tell; gusts of passion swept +through her soul. Wild, fierce, and maddening raged the conflict +within—one of those delirious storms of the heart—known and felt only +by those whose fiery, tropical veins seem to run fire instead of blood.</p> + +<p>She heard Miss Jerusha's step on the stairs, heard her approach her door +and listen for a moment, and then go to her own chamber and securely +lock the door.</p> + +<p>In that moment the half crazed child hated her; hated all the world; +feeling as though she could have killed her were it in her power. Then +this unnatural mood passed away—it was too unnatural to last—and she +rose from the floor, looking like a spirit, with her streaming hair, +wild eyes, and white face. She went to the window and opened it, for her +head throbbed and ached, and leaning her forehead against the cool +glass, she looked out.</p> + +<p>How still and serene everything was! The river lay bright and beautiful +in the dark bright starlight. The pine trees waved dreamily in the soft +spring breeze, and the odor of their fragrant leaves came borne to where +she sat. The silence of the grave reigned around, the lonesome forest +seemed lonelier than ever to-night, and so deep was the stillness that +the plaintive cry of the whip-poor-will, as it rose at intervals, +sounded startlingly loud and shrill. She lifted her eyes to the high, +bright, solemn stars that seemed looking down pityingly upon the poor +little orphan child, and all her wickedness and passion passed away, and +a mysterious awe, deep and holy, entered that tempest-<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_88" id="Page_88">[Pg 88]</a></span>tossed young +heart. The soft, cool breeze lifted her dark elf locks, and lingered and +cooled her hot brow like a friend's kiss. Georgia had often looked at +the stars before, but they never seemed to have such high and holy +beauty as they possessed to-night.</p> + +<p>"God made the stars," thought Georgia; "I wonder what He made them for? +Perhaps they are the eyes of the people that die and go to heaven. I +wonder if mamma and Warren are up there, and know how bad I am, and how +wicked and miserable I feel? I guess they would be sorry for me if they +did, for there is nobody in the world to like me now. Some people pray; +Emily Murray does, for I've seen her; but I don't know how, and I don't +think God would listen to me if I did, I'm so dreadful bad. She taught +me a pretty hymn to sing; it sounds like a prayer; but I've forgot it +all but the first verse. I'll say that anyway. Let's see—oh, yes! I +know two."</p> + +<p>And, for the first time in her life, she knelt down and clasped her +hands, and in the light of the beautiful solemn stars, she softly +whispered her first prayer.</p> + +<div class="poemblock44"> +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">"Oh, Mary, my mother, most lovely, most mild,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Look down upon me, your poor, weak, lonely child;<br /></span> +<span class="i0">From the land of my exile, I call upon thee,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Then Mary, my mother, look kindly on me.<br /></span> +<span class="i0">In sorrow and darkness, be still at my side,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">My light and my refuge, my guard and my guide.<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Though snares should surround me, yet why should I fear?<br /></span> +<span class="i0">I know I am weak, but my mother is near.<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Then Mary, my mother, look down upon me,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">'Tis the voice of thy child that is calling to thee."<br /></span> +</div></div></div> + +<p>Georgia's voice died away, yet with her hands still clasped and her dark +mystic eyes now upturned to the far-<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_89" id="Page_89">[Pg 89]</a></span>off stars, her thoughts went +wandering on the sweet words she had said.</p> + +<p>"'Mary, my mother!' I wonder who that means. My mamma's name was not +Mary, and one can't have two mothers, I should think. How good it +sounds, too! I must ask Emily what it means; she knows. Oh, I wish—I do +wish I was up there where all the beautiful stars are!"</p> + +<p>Poor little Georgia! untaught, passionate child! how many years will +come and go, what a fiery furnace thou art destined to pass through +before that "peace which passeth all understanding" will enter your +anguished, world-weary heart!</p> + +<p>When breakfast was over next morning, Georgia took her sun-bonnet and +set off for Burnfield. She hardly knew herself what was her object in +passing so quickly through the village, without stopping at any of her +favorite haunts, until she stood before the large, handsome mansion +occupied and owned by the one great man of Burnfield, Squire Richmond.</p> + +<p>The house was an imposing structure of brown stone, with arched +porticoes, and vine-wreathed balconies. The grounds were extensive, and +beautifully laid out; and Georgia, with the other children, had often +peeped longingly over the high fence encircling the front garden, at the +beautiful flowers within.</p> + +<p>Georgia, skilled in climbing, could easily have got over and reached +them, but her innate sense of honor would not permit her to steal. There +was something mean in the idea of being a thief or a liar, and meanness +was the blackest crime in her "table of sins." Perhaps another reason +was, Georgia did not care much for flowers; she liked well enough to see +them growing, but as for culling a bouquet<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_90" id="Page_90">[Pg 90]</a></span> for any pleasure it could +afford her, she would never have thought of doing it. While she stood +gazing wistfully at the forbidden garden of Eden, a sweet silvery voice +close behind her arrested her attention with the exclamation:</p> + +<p>"Why, Georgia, is this really you?"</p> + +<p>Georgia turned round and saw a little girl about her own age, but, to a +superficial eye, a hundred times prettier and more interesting. Her form +was plump and rounded, her complexion snowy white, with the brightest of +rosy blooms on her cheek and lip; her eyes were large, bright and blue, +and her pale golden hair clustered in natural curls on her ivory neck. A +sweet face it was—a happy, innocent, child-like face—with nothing +remarkable about it save its prettiness and goodness.</p> + +<p>"Oh, Em! I'm glad you've come," said Georgia, her dark eyes lighting up +with pleasure. "I was just wishing you would. Here, stand up here beside +me."</p> + +<p>"Well, I can't stay long," said the little one, getting up beside +Georgia. "Mother sent me with some things to that poor Mrs. White, whose +husband got killed, you know. Oh, Georgia! she's got just the dearest +little baby you ever saw, with such tiny bits of fingers and toes, and +the funniest little blinking eyes! The greatest little darling ever was! +Do come down with me to see it; it's splendid!" exclaimed Emily, her +pretty little face all aglow with enthusiasm.</p> + +<p>"No; I don't care about going," said Georgia, coolly. "I don't like +babies."</p> + +<p>"Don't like babies!—the dearest little things in the world! Oh, +Georgia!" cried Emily, reproachfully.</p> + +<p>"Well, I don't, then! I don't see anything nice about them, for my part. +Ugly little things, with thin faces all<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_91" id="Page_91">[Pg 91]</a></span> wrinkled up, like Miss +Jerusha's hands on wash-day, crying and making a time. I don't like +them; and I don't see how you can be bothered nursing them the way you +do."</p> + +<p>"Oh, I love them! and I'm going to save all the money I get to spend, to +buy Mrs. White's little baby a dress. Mother says I may. Ain't these +flowers lovely in there? I wish we had a garden."</p> + +<p>"Why?"</p> + +<p>"Oh, because it's so nice to have flowers. I wonder Squire Richmond +never pulls any of his; he always leaves them there till they drop off."</p> + +<p>"Well, what would he pull them for?"</p> + +<p>"Why, to put on the table, of course. Don't you ever gather flowers for +your room?"</p> + +<p>"No."</p> + +<p>"You don't! Why, Georgia! don't you love flowers?"</p> + +<p>"No, I don't love them; I like to see them well enough."</p> + +<p>"Why, Georgia! Oh, Georgia, what a funny girl you are! Not love flowers! +What <i>do</i> you love, then?"</p> + +<p>"I love the stars—the beautiful stars, so high, and bright, and +splendid!"</p> + +<p>"Oh, so do I; but then they're so far off, you know, I love flowers +better, because they're nearer."</p> + +<p>"Well, that's the reason I <i>don't</i> like them—I mean not so much. I +don't care for things I can get so easy—that everybody else can get. +Anything I like I want to have all to myself. I don't want anybody else +in the world to have it. The bright, beautiful stars are away +off—nobody can have them. I call them mine, and nobody can take them +from me. I like stars better than flowers."</p> + +<p>"Oh, Georgia! you are queer. Why, don't you know<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_92" id="Page_92">[Pg 92]</a></span> that's selfish? Now, +if I have any pleasure, I don't enjoy it at all unless I have somebody +to enjoy it with. I shouldn't like to keep all to myself; it doesn't +seem right. What else do you like, Georgia?"</p> + +<p>"Well, I like the sea—the great, grand, dreadful sea! I like it when +the waves rise and dash their heads against the high rocks, and roar, +and shriek, and rage as if something had made them wild with anger. Oh! +I <i>love</i> to watch it then, when the great white waves break so fiercely +over the high rocks, and dash up the spray in my face. I know it feels +then as I do sometimes, just as if it should go mad and dash its brains +out on the rocks. Oh, I do love the great, stormy, angry sea!"</p> + +<p>And the eyes of the wild girl blazed up, and her whole dark face +lighted, kindled, grew radiant as she spoke.</p> + +<p>The sweet, innocent little face of Emily was lifted in wonder and a sort +of dismay.</p> + +<p>"Oh, Georgia, how you talk!" she exclaimed: "love the sea in a storm! +What a taste you have! Now I like it, too, but only on a sunny, calm +morning like this, when it is smooth and shining. I am dreadfully afraid +of it on a stormy day, when the great waves make such a horrid noise. +What queer things you like! Now I suppose you had rather have a wet day +like last Sunday than one like this?"</p> + +<p>"No," said Georgia, "I didn't like last Sunday; it kept on a miserable +drizzle, drizzle all day, and wouldn't be fine nor rain right down +<i>good</i> and have done with it. But I like a storm, a fierce, high storm, +when the wind blows fit to tear the trees up, and dashes the rain like +mad against the windows. I go away up to the garret then and listen. And +I like it when it thunders and lightens, and frightens everybody into +fits. Oh, it's splendid then! I feel as if I<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_93" id="Page_93">[Pg 93]</a></span> would like to fly away and +away all over the world, as if I should go wild being caged up in one +place, as if—oh, I can't tell you how I feel!" said the hare-brained +girl, drawing a long breath and keeping her shining eyes fixed as if on +some far-off vision.</p> + +<p>"Well, if you ain't the queerest, wildest thing! And you don't like fine +days at all?"</p> + +<p>"Oh, yes, I do—of course I do; not so much days like this, cold, and +clear, and calm, but blazing hot, scorching August noondays, when the +whole world looks like one great flood of golden fire—<i>that's</i> the sort +I like! Or freezing, wild, frosty winter days, when the great blasts +make one fly along as if they had wings—<i>they're</i> splendid, too!"</p> + +<p>"Well, I don't know, I don't think so. I like cool, pleasant days like +this better, because I have no taste for roasting or freezing," said +Emily, laughing. "Oh, I must tell mother about the droll things you +like! Let me see what else. Like music?"</p> + +<p>"Some sorts. I like the band. Don't care much for any other kind."</p> + +<p>"And I like songs and hymns better. And now, which do you prefer—men or +women?"</p> + +<p>"Men," said Georgia, decidedly.</p> + +<p>"You do! Why?"</p> + +<p>"Oh, well—because they're stronger and more powerful, and braver and +bolder; women are such cowards. Do you know the sort of a man I should +like to be?"</p> + +<p>"No; what sort?"</p> + +<p>"Well, like Napoleon Bonaparte, or Alexander the Great. I should like to +conquer the whole world and make<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_94" id="Page_94">[Pg 94]</a></span> every one <i>in</i> the world do just as I +told them. Oh, I wish I was a boy!"</p> + +<p>"I don't, then," said Emily, stoutly. "I don't like boys, they're so +rude and rough. And these two conquerors weren't good men either. I've +read about them. Washington was good. I like <i>him</i>."</p> + +<p>"So do I. But if I had been him I would have made myself King of +America. I wouldn't have done as he did at all. Now, where are you going +in such a hurry?"</p> + +<p>"Oh, I shall have to go to Mrs. White's. I've been here a good while +already. I wish you would come along."</p> + +<p>"No," said Georgia decidedly, "I sha'n't go. Good-by."</p> + +<p>Emily nodded and smiled a good-by, and tripped off down the road. +Georgia stood for a moment longer, looking at the stately mansion, and +then was about to go away when a hand was laid on her and arrested her +steps.</p> + +<p>Close to the wall some benches ran, hidden under a profusion of +flowering vines, and Richmond Wildair had been lying on one of these, +studying a deeply exciting volume, when the voices of the children fell +upon his ear. Very intently did he listen to their conversation, only +revealing himself when he found Georgia was about to leave.</p> + +<p>"Good-morning, Miss Georgia," he said, smilingly; "I am very glad to see +you. Come, jump over the fence and come in; you can do it, I know."</p> + +<p>Now, Georgia was neither timid nor bashful, but while he spoke she +recollected her not very courteous behavior the previous day, and, for +the first time in her life, she hung her head and blushed.</p> + +<p>He appeared to have forgotten, or at least forgiven it, but this only +made her feel it all the more keenly.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_95" id="Page_95">[Pg 95]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Come," he said, catching her hands, without appearing to notice her +confusion; "one, two, three—jump!"</p> + +<p>Georgia laughed, disengaged her hands, and with the old mischievous +spirit twinkling in her eyes, with one flying leap vaulted clear over +his head far out into the garden.</p> + +<p>"Bravo!" cried Richmond; "excellently done! I see you understand +gymnastics. Now I would offer you some flowers only I heard you say you +did not care for them, and as for the stars I regret they are beyond +even my reach."</p> + +<p>Georgia looked up with a flush that reminded him of yesterday. "You were +listening," she said disdainfully; "that is mean!"</p> + +<p>"I beg your pardon, Miss Georgia, I was not listening intentionally; I +am not an eavesdropper, allow me to insinuate. I was lying there +studying before you came, and did not choose to put myself to the +inconvenience of getting up and going away to oblige a couple of small +young ladies, more particularly when I found their conversation so +intensely interesting. Very odd tastes and fancies you have, my little +Lady Georgia."</p> + +<p>Georgia was silent—she had scarcely heard him—she was thinking of +something else. She wanted to ask about Charley, but—she did not like +to.</p> + +<p>"Well," he said, with a smile, reading her thoughts like an open book, +"and what is little Georgia thinking of so intently?"</p> + +<p>"I—I—of <i>nothing</i>," she was going to say, and then she checked +herself. It would be a falsehood, and Georgia as proud of never having +told a lie in her life.</p> + +<p>"And what does 'I—I' mean?"<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_96" id="Page_96">[Pg 96]</a></span></p> + +<p>"I was thinking of your brother Charley," she said, looking up with one +of her bright, defiant flashes.</p> + +<p>"Yes," he said, quietly, "and what of him?"</p> + +<p>"I should like to know how he is."</p> + +<p>"He is ill—seriously ill. Charles is delicate, and his ankle is even +worse hurt than we supposed. Last night he was feverish and sleepless, +and this morning he was not able to get up."</p> + +<p>A hot flush passed over Georgia's face, retreating instantaneously, and +leaving her very pale, with a wild, uneasy, glitter in her large dark +eyes. Oh! If he should die, she thought. It was through her fault he had +hurt himself first, and then she had been obstinate, and would not +forgive him. Perhaps he would die, she would never be able to tell him +how sorry she was for what she had done. She laid her hand on Richmond's +arm, and, looking up earnestly in his face, said, in a voice that +trembled a little in spite of herself: "Do—do you think he will die?"</p> + +<p>"No," he said, gravely, "I hope—I think not; but poor Charley is really +ill, and very lonely, up there alone."</p> + +<p>"I—I should like to see him."</p> + +<p>It was just what Richmond expected; just what he had uttered the last +words to hear her say. <i>Her</i> eyes were downcast, and she did not see the +almost imperceptible smile that dawned around his mouth. When she looked +up he was grave and serious.</p> + +<p>"I think he will be able to sit up this afternoon. If you will come up +after dinner you shall see him. Meantime, shall I show you through the +grounds? Perhaps you have never been here before."</p> + +<p>He changed the subject quickly, for he knew it would not do to +particularly notice her request. Georgia had<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_97" id="Page_97">[Pg 97]</a></span> often before wished to +wander through the long walks and beautiful gardens around, but now her +little dark face was downcast and troubled, and she said, gravely:</p> + +<p>"No—thank you!" The last words after a pause, for politeness was not in +the little lady's line. "I will go home now, and come back by-and-by. +You needn't open the gate; I can jump over the fence. There! don't mind +helping me. Good-by!"</p> + +<p>She sprang lightly over the wall, and was gone, and pulling her +sun-bonnet far over her face, set out for home.</p> + +<p>Miss Jerusha wondered that day, in confidence to Fly and Betsey +Periwinkle, what had "come to Georgey," she was so still and silent all +dinner-time, and sat with such a moody look of dark gravity in her face, +all unusual with the sparkling, restless elf. Well, they did not know +that the free young forest eaglet had got its wings clipped for the +first time, that day, and that Georgia could exult no more in the +thought that she was wholly unconquered and free.</p> + +<p>Richmond Wildair was at his post immediately after dinner, awaiting the +coming of Georgia. He knew she would come, and she did. He saw the +small, dark figure approaching, and held the gate open for her to enter.</p> + +<p>"Ah! you've come, Georgia!" he said. "That is right. Come along; Charley +is here."</p> + +<p>"Does he know I am coming?" asked Georgia, soberly.</p> + +<p>"Yes, I told him. He expects you. Here—this way. There you are!"</p> + +<p>He opened the door, and ushered Georgia into a sort of summer-house in +the garden, where, seated in state, in an arm-chair, was Master Charley, +looking rather paler than when she saw him last, but with the same half +droll, half<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_98" id="Page_98">[Pg 98]</a></span> indolent, languid air about him that seemed to be his chief +characteristic.</p> + +<p>"My dear Miss Georgia," he began, with the greatest <i>empressement</i>, the +moment he saw her, "you make me proud by honoring so unworthy an +individual as I am with your gracious presence. You'll excuse my not +getting up, I hope; but the fact is, this unfortunate continuation of +mine being resolved to have its own way about the matter, can be induced +by no amount of persuasion and liniment to behave prettily, and utterly +scouts the idea of being used as a means of support. Pray take a seat, +Miss Georgia Darrell, and make yourself as miserable as circumstances +will allow."</p> + +<p>To this speech, uttered with the utmost <i>verve</i>, and with the blandest +and most insinuating tones, Georgia listened with a countenance of +immovable gravity, and at its close, instead of sitting down, she walked +up, stood before him, and said:</p> + +<p>"Yesterday you laughed at me, and I was angry. You said you were sorry, +and I—I came to-day to tell you I was willing to make up friends again. +There!"</p> + +<p>She held out one little brown hand in token of amity. With the utmost +difficulty Charley maintained his countenance sufficiently to shake +hands with her, which he did with due decorum, and then, without another +word, Georgia turned and walked away.</p> + +<p>No sooner was she gone than Charley leaned back and laughed until the +tears stood in his eyes. While he was yet in a paroxysm Richmond +entered.</p> + +<p>"Has she gone?" asked Charley, finding voice.</p> + +<p>"Yes, looking as sober as Minerva and her owl."</p> + +<p>"Oh! that girl will be the death of me, that's certain.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_99" id="Page_99">[Pg 99]</a></span> By George! it +was good as a play. There she stood with a face as long as a coffin, and +as dark and solemn as a hearse," and Charley went off into another fit +of laughter at the recollection.</p> + +<p>"She condescended to forgive you at last, you see."</p> + +<p>"Yes, Miss Georgia and I have, figuratively speaking, smoked the pipe of +peace. Touching sight it must have been to a third person. It was a +tight fit, though, to get her to do it."</p> + +<p>"I think I could manage that proud little lady, if she were a sister of +mine. I shall conquer her more thoroughly yet before I have done with +her. I have a plan in my head, the result of which you will see pretty +soon. I expect she will struggle against it to the last gasp, but she +shall obey me," said Richmond.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_VII" id="CHAPTER_VII"></a>CHAPTER VII.</h2> + +<h3>GEORGIA'S DREAM.</h3> + +<div class="poemblock42"> +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">"The wild sparkle of her eye seemed caught<br /></span> +<span class="i0">From high, and lighted with electric thought,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">And pleased not her the sports which please her age."<br /></span> +</div></div></div> + +<div class="drop"> +<img src="images/illo_t.png" alt="T" width="100" height="100" class="cap" /> +<p class="cap_1"> +wo weeks passed. Charley was quite well again, and had left no effort +untried to reinstate himself in the good graces of Georgia. As that +young gentleman, in the profundity of his humility, had once told her he +seldom failed in anything he undertook, and with his seeming genial good +humor and handsome boyish face, he never found it a difficult task to<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_100" id="Page_100">[Pg 100]</a></span> +make people like him, and Georgia was no more able to resist his +influence than the rest of the world. And so they became good friends +again—"brothers in arms" Charley said.</p></div> + +<p>At first Georgia tried to resist his advances, and felt indignant at +herself for allowing him to talk her into good humor and make her laugh; +but it was all of no use, and at last the struggle was given up, and she +condescended to patronize Master Wildair with a grave superiority that +disturbed the good youth's gravity most seriously at times.</p> + +<p>Richmond had not lost his interest in the unique child, and his +influence over her increased every day. But still he was the only one +who had any command over her; to the rest of the world she was the same +hot, peppery, fiery little snap-dragon, defying all wills and commands +that clashed with her own. And even <i>his</i> wishes, when <i>very</i> repugnant +to her, she openly and fiercely braved; but, as a general thing, she +began to be anxious to please her young judge, whose grave glance of +stern disapproval could trouble her fearless little heart as that of no +other in the world ever could. And, though she was too proud to openly +let him see she cared for his approval or disapproval, still he <i>did</i> +see it, and exulted therein.</p> + +<p>Georgia had made her new friends acquainted with the pretty little Emily +Murray, whom Charley unhesitatingly pronounced at first sight a "regular +stunner," and these four soon became inseparable friends. At first Emily +was shy and silent, which Charley perceiving, he also assumed a look of +extreme timidity, not to say distressing bashfulness, which so imposed +upon simple little Emily, that, pitying his evident embarrassment, she +would timidly try to help him out by opening a conversation.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_101" id="Page_101">[Pg 101]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Is it nice to live in New York?" Emily would say, hesitatingly.</p> + +<p>"Yes'm," would be Charley's reply, in a tone of painful timidity.</p> + +<p>"Nicer than here?"</p> + +<p>"Yes'm—I—I think so."</p> + +<p>"Won't your ma miss you a good deal?" Emily would insinuate, getting +courage.</p> + +<p>"No'm—I mean yes'm."</p> + +<p>"Ain't Georgia nice?"</p> + +<p>"Splendiferous!"</p> + +<p>This long word being a puzzle to Emily she would have to stop a moment +to reflect on its probable meaning before going on.</p> + +<p>"So is your brother."</p> + +<p>"Yes, but he's not near so nice as I am."</p> + +<p>Again there would be a pause, during which Emily would look deeply +shocked by this display of vanity—and then:</p> + +<p>"It ain't nice to praise one's self," Emily would observe, seriously.</p> + +<p>"Well, but it's <i>true</i>," Charley would begin, in an argumentative tone. +"Now I ask yourself—don't you think I'm nicer than he is?"</p> + +<p>Now, it was Miss Emily's private conviction that he decidedly <i>was</i>, she +could not say no, and not wishing to commit herself by saying yes, she +would look grave, and remain silent. But Charley, whose shyness +generally passed away at this point, was not to be put off, and would +insist:</p> + +<p>"Now, Emily, just tell the truth, as every well-brought-<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_102" id="Page_102">[Pg 102]</a></span>up little girl +should, and say, don't you like me twice as well as you do Rich?"</p> + +<p>"Well, ye-es," Emily would reply, hesitatingly, "but I guess he knows +more than you do; he looks awfully wise, anyway, and then Georgia minds +him, and she don't mind you."</p> + +<p>"That's because she isn't capable of appreciating solid wit and hidden +genius—or, to use language more fitted for your uncultivated intellect, +my young friend—she doesn't know on which side the bread's buttered. +Any person with his senses about him would see at a glance I am worth a +dozen of Richmond."</p> + +<p>"No, you're not," would be Emily's decided answer; "you only think so +yourself. I heard Uncle Edward saying your brother was wise for his age, +and knew more than any young man he ever met, and he only laughed about +you, and said you were a 'curled darling of nature,' whatever that +means. So, then, I guess Uncle Edward knows better than <i>you</i>."</p> + +<p>"Now, Miss Emily, I can't stand this; I positively can't you know. It's +outrageous to expect me to lie up here and be abused in this shameful +fashion, and told anybody's Uncle Edward knows more about me than I do +myself. I've an immense respect for Father Murray, but still I won't +permit him or anybody else to insinuate that they know more about Mr. +Charles Wildair than I do. I've been acquainted with that promising +youth ever since he was the size of a well-grown doughnut, and I am +prepared to say, without mental reservation of any kind, that he is a +perfect encyclopedia of all sorts of learning—a moving, living +Webster's Dictionary, neatly bound in cloth. I've undergone grammar, +declined verbs and other vicious parts<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_103" id="Page_103">[Pg 103]</a></span> of speech. I have suffered a +severe course of geography, and can tell to an iota where Ireland, +Kamtschatka, and lots of other aggravating places are situated; I have +fought my way through French, and German, and Latin, and other dead +languages; and when I go back to New York, I'm bound to have at them +again, and have every single one of them, dead or alive, at my fingers +ends. I have a taste for poetry and the fine arts, as I evinced in early +life by a diligent perusal of that work of thrilling interest known as +'Mother Goose's Melodies', and by becoming a proficient on the +Jew's-harp. I have a soul above the common, Miss Nancy, and can discover +beauties in a tallow candle, and sublimity in a mug of milk and water. +And now, if after this brief and inadequate exposition you don't +acknowledge that my thing-um-bob-sentiments do me honor, then your +intellect, like small beer in thunder, is something to be looked upon +with pity and contempt!"</p> + +<p>As Mr. Wildair, Jr., usually promulgated his sentiments to an admiring +world in an exceedingly slow and leisurely manner, it took him some time +to get to the end of this speech, and when he was done he found that +Emily, overcome by the heat and his monotonous tone, was dropping +asleep. Making a grimace, he was about to lounge back into his former +lazy position, when Georgia, who had left them a moment before in full +chase after a butterfly, accompanied by Richmond, returned, looking so +woebegone and disconsolate that Charley, after a stare of surprise, felt +called upon by the claims of common humanity to offer her consolation.</p> + +<p>"May I ask, Miss Georgia, what awful mystery of iniquity has come to +light, to make you look as if your last friend had been hung for +sheep-stealing? You look about<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_104" id="Page_104">[Pg 104]</a></span> as intensely dismal now as a whole grove +of weeping willows."</p> + +<p>"Oh! it's my butterfly! my poor butterfly!" said Georgia, sorrowfully, +holding up the dead insect, its bright colors all faded and gone.</p> + +<p>"Oh, I see—as the blind man said—the insect has departed this life, +leaving, no doubt, a large and bereaved circle of friends to mourn its +untimely end. Funeral this evening, when friends and relatives are +respectfully invited to attend—that's the newspaper style, eh? May I +venture to inquire, Georgia, if the butterfly in question was a personal +acquaintance of yours, that you look so afflicted at its death? Because +if it was, I shall feel called upon to shed a few tears myself, out of +regard for you."</p> + +<p>"Oh, it was killed; and it was so pretty. Wasn't it pretty?" said +Georgia, looking in real grief, amusing to witness, at the poor little +crushed insect.</p> + +<p>"Strangely beautiful," said Charley. "I remarked it at the time; every +feature was perfect. Roman nose, intellectual forehead, well-formed +head, with the bump of benevolence largely developed, blue hair, and +curly teeth. And so it was killed, was it? Georgia, my friend, in the +name of common humanity, in the name of the law, I ask you who was the +cold-blooded assassin?"</p> + +<p>"Poor little thing! Richmond killed it," said Georgia, too deeply +troubled about the loss of the bright-hued insect to notice Charley's +highfalutin tones.</p> + +<p>"Blood-thirsty monster! let him beware! the day of retribution is at +hand!" exclaimed Charley, in tones so tragic that it would have made his +fortune on the stage. "Yes, the day is at hand when the oppressed and +downtrodden race of butterflies will rise in arms against such<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_105" id="Page_105">[Pg 105]</a></span> tyrants +as he, and Mr. Richmond Wildair will probably find himself knocked into +a cocked hat. But how did it happen? Explain the horrid deed. I have +steeled my soul, and nothing can move me more."</p> + +<p>And Master Charley struck his forehead with his fist, and assumed an +expression so frightfully despairing that an artist wishing to paint a +patriot beholding the ruin of his country would have given all the spare +change he might have for a glimpse of that agonized face.</p> + +<p>"Why," said Georgia, "I couldn't catch it, and Richmond was determined +to do it. So he struck his hat down over it, and when he took it off it +was dead, and all its beautiful colors faded and gone; poor little +thing!"</p> + +<p>"Oh, my wretched country!" exclaimed Charley, raising his hands and +eyes, "and it is under the shadow of thy laws such barbarous atrocities +are committed; in the face of open day crimes such as these, that make +the blood run down one's back like a pail of cold water, are +perpetrated! And man—black-hearted man—is the author of these deeds! +What other animal would perpetrate such a crime? Would a horse, or a +cow, or even a donkey, now, with malice aforethought, malice at which we +shudder as if we had taken a dose of castor oil, take off its hat and +smash all to pieces an upright member of society—like that dilapidated +butterfly, who at the time was probably thinking of his happy wife and +children at home—that is, supposing it wasn't an old bachelor? I ask +you again what other—but perhaps we have hardly time to do the subject +justice at present," said Charley, changing his tone with startling +abruptness, from one of the deepest anguish to the indifferent one of +every-day life. "Where's Rich, Georgia?"</p> + +<p>"Here, <i>mon frere</i>," replied Richmond himself, as he<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_106" id="Page_106">[Pg 106]</a></span> came up and threw +himself carelessly on the grass. "Come, Georgia, throw away that dead +insect, and don't stand looking so pitiously at it. There are plenty +more butterflies where that came from. Why, Emily, you're not falling +asleep, are you?"</p> + +<p>Emily started up, blushing deeply at being caught in the act, and put on +a wide-awake look indeed, as if to utterly repudiate the idea of such a +thing.</p> + +<p>"I hope your dreams were pleasant—eh, Em?" asked Charley.</p> + +<p>"I didn't dream," said Emily, blushing.</p> + +<p>"<i>I</i> dreamed last night," said Georgia, soberly.</p> + +<p>"About me, wasn't it?" said Charley, briskly.</p> + +<p>"About <i>you</i>" said Georgia, contemptuously. "No; I ain't such a goose! +It was a dreadful dream—ugh!" and Georgia shuddered.</p> + +<p>"Oh, Georgia, tell us—what was it about?" exclaimed Emily, eagerly.</p> + +<p>"Do, Georgia, and I'll be the Joseph who will interpret it," said +Charley.</p> + +<p>Georgia looked grave and dark, and was silent.</p> + +<p>"Come, Georgia, tell us," said Richmond. "I should like to hear this +dream of yours."</p> + +<p>"Oh, it was awful!" said Georgia, speaking in a hushed tone of awe. "I +thought I was walking on and on through a dark, gloomy place, following +some one who made me come on. The ground was full of sharp stones and +hurt my feet, and they bled dreadfully; but he wouldn't let me stop, but +pulled me on and on, till the ground where I walked was all covered with +blood."</p> + +<p>"Hard-hearted monster!" said Charley; "should admire to be punching that +fellow's head for him!"<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_107" id="Page_107">[Pg 107]</a></span></p> + +<p>"As we went on," continued Georgia, looking straight before her with a +dark kind of earnestness, and speaking in the tone of one describing +events then passing, "the ground grew sharper and sharper, and the blood +flowed so fast that at last I screamed out for him to let me go, that I +couldn't walk any farther. But he only laughed at me, and pulled me on."</p> + +<p>"The scoundrel!" broke in Charley. "If I had been there, I would have +made him laugh on the other side of his mouth."</p> + +<p>"Then, all of a sudden, we came to a great, red-hot blazing fire, that +looked like burning serpents with tongues of flame. All was fire, fire, +fire, on every side, red-hot blazing flames, that crackled and roared, +and made everything as red as blood. I screamed out and tried to break +away, but he held me fast and pushed me into the fire. I felt burning, +scorching, roasting. I screamed out, and fell all burned and blazing on +the ground; and then I woke, and I was sitting up in bed screaming out, +and Miss Jerusha was standing over me holding me down."</p> + +<p>Georgia paused, and there was something in her blanched face, +horror-dilated eyes, and deep, awe-struck tones that for a moment sent a +superstitious thrill to every heart. It was for a moment, and then +Charley carelessly remarked:</p> + +<p>"Nightmares <i>are</i> pleasant quadrupeds I know; I made the acquaintance of +one after eating half a mince pie and three pigs' feet one night before +going to bed; but for constant exercise I must say I should decidedly +prefer riding Miss Jerusha's Shanghai rooster to trying the experiment +again."<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_108" id="Page_108">[Pg 108]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Did you recognize the man who was with you?" asked Richmond.</p> + +<p>"Yes," said Georgia, in a low voice.</p> + +<p>"You did, eh?" said Charley; "who was it?"</p> + +<p>"I sha'n't tell you."</p> + +<p>"Oh, now, you wouldn't be so cruel. Come, out with it."</p> + +<p>"I won't," said Georgia, with one of her sharp flashes; "but it's +true—every word of it."</p> + +<p>"You mean it will come true?" said Richmond.</p> + +<p>"Yes."</p> + +<p>"Why, Georgia, do you believe in dreams?" said Emily. "Oh, that's +wicked; mother says so."</p> + +<p>"Wicked! it's no such thing. What do people dream for if they're not to +come true?"</p> + +<p>"So you believe you are destined to be burned up?" said Richmond.</p> + +<p>"Yes," said Georgia, unhesitatingly.</p> + +<p>"Oh, I haven't the slightest doubt of it," said Charley; "if you miss it +in this world, you'll——"</p> + +<p>"Now, Charley, be quiet," said Richmond, soothingly; "you have no +experience in different sorts of worlds, so you are not capable of +judging. Georgia, you are the most silly-wise child I ever met in all my +life."</p> + +<p>"What!" said Georgia, with a scowl.</p> + +<p>"You are so unnaturally precocious in some ways, and so childishly +simple in others. You know the most unexpected things, and are ignorant +of the commonest facts that any infant almost comprehends. You are +morbid and superstitious—but I knew that before. A little learning is a +dangerous thing. Georgia, you ought to go to school."</p> + +<p>Now, school was Georgia's pet abomination. Miss Jerusha, partly to be +rid of her and partly for the propriety<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_109" id="Page_109">[Pg 109]</a></span> of the thing, had often wished +to send her; but the idea of being cooped up a prisoner within the walls +of a school-room, and obliged to obey every command, was abhorrent to +the free, unfettered, untamed child. Go to school, indeed! Not she! She +laughed at the notion. Richmond had never spoken of it before to her, +and now, conscious of his power over her, and trembling for her +threatened liberty, all the old spirit of daring and fierce defiance +flashed up in her bold black eyes, and, springing to her feet, she +confronted him.</p> + +<p>"I <i>won't</i>! I'll never go to school! I hate it!"</p> + +<p>Georgia never said "I can't" or "I don't like to," but her dauntless, +defiant "I <i>will</i>" and "I <i>won't</i>," bespoke her nature. Emily said the +former; Georgia, never.</p> + +<p>Richmond expected exactly this answer, therefore he only smiled +slightly, and carelessly asked,</p> + +<p>"Why?"</p> + +<p>"Because I won't be shut up in a nasty old school-house, and not be able +to speak or move without asking leave. I'll not go for <i>any one</i>!" she +said, flashing a threatening glance at him.</p> + +<p>"Every one else does it, Georgia."</p> + +<p>"I don't care for every one else."</p> + +<p>"<i>I</i> did it, Georgia."</p> + +<p>"Well, I don't care for you!"</p> + +<p>"Whew!" whistled Charley. "Sharp shooting, this."</p> + +<p>"Then you prefer to grow up a—"</p> + +<p>"What?"</p> + +<p>"A dunce, and be laughed at."</p> + +<p>"Let them laugh at me! let them dare do it!" cried Georgia, fiercely.</p> + +<p>"And dare do it they will. Pooh, Georgia, have sense.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_110" id="Page_110">[Pg 110]</a></span> You can't roll up +your sleeves and go to fisticuffs with the whole world. What else can +you expect but to be laughed at when you are a woman if you know nothing +but what you do now? Wait till you see the wise little woman Emily here +is going to be. Why, your friends will be ashamed of you, Georgia, by +and by, if you don't learn something."</p> + +<p>"Let them, then! I don't care for them!"</p> + +<p>"Oh, don't you? I thought that as they cared so much for you, you might +care a little for them. I am sorry it is not so, Georgia; I am very +sorry my little friend is selfish and ungrateful."</p> + +<p>"I am <i>not</i> ungrateful," said Georgia, passionately, but her lips +quivered.</p> + +<p>"Then prove it by doing something to please your friends. Think how they +have tried to please you, and just ask yourself what you have done in +return to please them. Come, Georgia, be reasonable. You will think +better of this when you come to reflect on it."</p> + +<p>"That's right, Rich," cried Charley; "go in and win! I always knew you +had a native talent for teaching young ideas how to shoot. Splendid +parson you'd make."</p> + +<p>"I <i>have</i> tried to please them! I have tried to please <i>you</i>!"</p> + +<p>"Well, did I ever ask you to do any thing but what was your <i>duty</i> to +do? I am afraid you have not a good idea of what that word means. I am +your friend, you know, Georgia, am I <i>not</i>?" he said gently.</p> + +<p>"I don't know," she said, with a trembling lip.</p> + +<p>"But I am your true friend. What difference can it make to me whether +you grow up learned and accomplished, or as ignorant as your little +servant, Fly?"<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_111" id="Page_111">[Pg 111]</a></span></p> + +<p>"A great deal, if she know but all," muttered Charley.</p> + +<p>"But I hate school! I should <i>die</i> if I was kept in," said Georgia with +a sort of cry.</p> + +<p>"Nonsense! You would do no such thing! Do you remember the bird I caught +for you and put in a cage? Yes! well, it struggled to get out, and beat +its wings against the bars of the cage until you thought it would have +beat itself to death, yet now it is a willing captive."</p> + +<p>"Yes, it is like a wooden bird, without life; it lies in the bottom of +the cage and hardly ever sings or moves; it isn't worth having now," +said Georgia, her lip curling with a sort of scorn.</p> + +<p>"Well, it will be different with you; you are ambitious, Georgia, and in +trying to pass your schoolmates you will feel a delight and pride you +never experienced before. A new world will be opened to you; you will +like it. <i>Do</i> go, Georgia; if I were not your friend, if I did not like +you very much, I should not ask you."</p> + +<p>Charley, with his head bent down whistling "Yankee Doodle," was shaking +with inward laughter.</p> + +<p>"Oh, Georgia, do come," pleaded Emily.</p> + +<p>Georgia, with her lips compressed, her glittering black eyes burning +into the ground, stood silent, motionless, turned to iron.</p> + +<p>"Well, Georgia?"</p> + +<p>No reply.</p> + +<p>"<i>Georgia!</i>" Richmond cried, anxiously.</p> + +<p>She lifted her eyes.</p> + +<p>"Well?"</p> + +<p>"Georgia, will you go—I want you to—you don't know how deeply grieved +I shall be if you refuse; so deeply grieved that we shall be friends no +longer. Georgia, I am<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_112" id="Page_112">[Pg 112]</a></span> going away from here soon—I may never come +back—never see you again, and I should be sorry we should part bad +friends. Georgia, will you go?"</p> + +<p>"Yes."</p> + +<p>It was a hard-wrung assent. The word dropped from her lips as though it +burned them.</p> + +<p>Charley's whistle at that moment spoke volumes. Emily looked delighted, +and the face of Richmond Wildair lit up with triumph and exultation. +Once that "yes" had been uttered he knew her word would be sacredly +kept. How he exulted that moment in his power.</p> + +<p>"Thank you, Georgia," he cried, springing to his feet, and holding out +his hand, "we are fast friends forever now."</p> + +<p>Georgia shook hands, but the fingers she gave him were little rigid bars +of steel—no life—no warmth there.</p> + +<p>"When will you go?" said Richmond, following up his advantage, on the +principle of striking while the iron was hot.</p> + +<p>"On Monday."</p> + +<p>"Oh, Georgia, I'm so glad! Oh, Georgia that's so nice!" exclaimed Emily, +dancing round delightedly, and clasping her hands.</p> + +<p>Georgia's face was a blank—cold and meaningless.</p> + +<p>"That is right! Georgia, you are a good girl!"</p> + +<p>"If I had refused to do as you told me I would have been a selfish, +ungrateful thing—I understand!" said Georgia, turning away with a +curling lip.</p> + +<p>Richmond started. There was the look of a woman in her childish face at +that moment. It was one of her precocious turns.</p> + +<p>"Now, don't be cross, Georgia; it's real nice to go to<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_113" id="Page_113">[Pg 113]</a></span> school after you +get used to it," said Emily, in her pretty, coaxing way, putting her +arms round her waist.</p> + +<p>"I must go home—Miss Jerusha will want me," said Georgia, by way of +reply, as she resolutely, almost rudely, unclasped Emily's clinging +arms.</p> + +<p>"Shall I go with you?" said Richmond, making a step forward.</p> + +<p>"<i>No!</i>" exclaimed Georgia, with one of her peculiar sharp, bright +flashes, as she turned away in the direction of the cottage.</p> + +<p>Richmond and Emily sauntered back to Burnfield together, chatting gayly. +As Richmond entered the grounds of his uncle's stately residence he saw +his brother standing in the threshold humming a classical ditty.</p> + +<p>"Bravo, Richmond, old boy!" cried Charley, giving him a sounding slap on +the shoulder; "you deserve a leather medal! Do you think any of the +blood of your namesake of evil memory has descended to you?"</p> + +<p>"Pshaw, Charley! don't be a fool!" said Richmond, impatiently.</p> + +<p>"I don't intend to, my dear brother," said Charley, dryly; "but the +scales fell from my eyes to-day. What a world we live in!"</p> + +<p>"Tush! will you never learn to talk sense, Charles?" said Richmond, +biting his lips to maintain his gravity, as he shook off his hand and +passed into the house.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;"/><p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_114" id="Page_114">[Pg 114]</a></span></p> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_VIII" id="CHAPTER_VIII"></a>CHAPTER VIII.</h2> + +<h3>"COMING EVENTS CAST THEIR SHADOWS BEFORE."</h3> + +<div class="poemblock32"> +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i4">"A look of pride, an eye of flame,<br /></span> +<span class="i2">A full drawn lip that upward curled,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">An eye that seemed to scorn the world."<br /></span> +</div></div></div> + +<div class="drop"> +<img src="images/illo_t.png" alt="T" width="100" height="100" class="cap" /> +<p class="cap_1"> +he little town of Burnfield contained but one school, within the old +brown walls and moss-grown eaves of which the "fathers of the hamlet" +for many a generation had sat at the feet of some worthy pedagogue, or +pedagoguess, as the case might be, to catch the wisdom that fell from +their lips. In summer woman held her sway there, but in winter man +reigned supreme on the throne of learning, and "boarded round," a custom +not yet obsolete.</p></div> + +<p>Once every year came the great anniversary of the school, the last day +of April, when the "master's" term expired, and he left the town to the +dominion of the new school-marm. Then took place the great public +examination, in which lanky youths, weighed down with the consciousness +of their responsibility and first tail-coats, and cherry-cheeked girls, +bursting out of their hooks and eyes, showed off before the admiring +Burnfieldians, and received their rewards of merit, more highly prized +by them than the Cross of the Legion of Honor would be by some old +French veteran. A new innovation had lately been introduced by one of +the teachers—that of speaking dialogues at these distributions, and +wonderful was the delight young Burnfield took in these displays. The +more strait-laced of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_115" id="Page_115">[Pg 115]</a></span> the parents at first objected to this, as smacking +too much of "play acting," but young Burnfield had a decided will of its +own, and looked contemptuously on the "slow" ideas of old Burnfield, and +finally, in triumph, carried the day.</p> + +<p>The great day arrived, and the anxious parents who had young ideas at +school, were crowding rapidly toward the large old-fashioned +school-house under the hill. Among them, in grim, unbending majesty, +stalked Miss Jerusha Skamp, resplendent in what she was pleased to term +her new "kaliker gound," a garment which partook of the nature of its +forerunners in being exceedingly short and exceedingly skimpy, and the +gorgeous patterns of which can be likened to nothing save a highly +exaggerated rainbow. But Miss Jerusha, happy in the belief that nothing +like it had appeared in modern times, walked majestically in, upsetting +some loose benches, half a dozen small boys, and other trifles that lay +in her way, and took her seat on one of the front benches. The boys, +gorgeous in blue and gray homespun coats, with brass buttons of alarming +size and brightness, were ranged on one side, and the girls, arrayed in +all the hues of a flower-garden, on the other. Miss Jerusha's eyes +wandered to the side where the girls sat, and rested with a look of +evident pride and self-complaisance on one—a look that said as plainly +as words, "There! look at that! there's <i>my</i> handiwork for you."</p> + +<p>And certainly, amid the many handsome, blooming girls there, not one was +more worth looking at than she on whom Miss Jerusha's eyes rested. The +tall, slight, but well-portioned form had none of the awkwardness common +to girls in their transition stages. The queenly little head was poised +superbly on the sloping neck; the clear olive skin, with its glowing +crimson lips and cheeks, was the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_116" id="Page_116">[Pg 116]</a></span> very ideal of dark, rich, southern +beauty; the jet-black shining hair, swept off the broad forehead in +smooth silken braids, became well the scarlet ribbons that bound it, as +did also the close-fitting crimson dress she wore.</p> + +<p>Georgia (for of course every reader above the unsuspecting age of three +years knows who it is), without being at all aware of it, always fell +into the style of dress that best suited her and harmonized with her +warm, tropical complexion—dark, rich colors, such as black, purple, +crimson, or, in summer, white. The two years that have passed since we +saw her last have changed her wonderfully; but the full, proud, +passionate, flashing eyes are the same in their dark splendor; the +short, curling upper lip and curved nostril tell a tale of pride, and +passion, and daring, and scornful power—tell that time may have +softened, but has not eradicated, the temper of our stormy little +essence of wild-fire.</p> + +<p>Yes, she sits there, leaning listlessly back in her seat, her little +restless brown hands folded quietly enough in her lap, her long black +lashes vailing her darkly glancing eyes, cast down by a sort of proud +indolence; but it is the calm that precedes the tempest, the dangerous +spirit of the drowsy and beautiful leopard, the deep, treacherous +stillness that heralds the bursting sheets of fire from the volcano's +bosom, the white ashes that overlie consuming flames hidden beneath +them, but ready at any moment to burst forth. And there she sat, known +only to those present as the "smart little girl," the star scholar of +the school, good-looking, bright, generous, and warm-hearted, too, but +"ugly tempered."</p> + +<p>The dark, bright, handsome eyes of the girl of fifteen had already +carried unexampled desolation into more than<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_117" id="Page_117">[Pg 117]</a></span> one susceptible breast, +and some of the unhappy youths were so badly stricken as to be guilty of +the atrocity of perpetrating soul-harrowing "pote"-ry to those same +dangerous optics. But these were only the worst cases, and even they +never tried it but in the first delirium of the attack, and, like all +delirious fevers, it soon passed away, died out like a hot little fire +under (to use a homely simile) the wet blanket of her cool, utter +indifference, and they returned to their buckwheat cakes, and pork, and +molasses with just as good an appetite as ever.</p> + +<p>One by one the people came in until the school-house was filled, and +then the exercises commenced. The premiums were arranged on a table, and +on a desk beside it stood the master, who rose and called out:</p> + +<p>"First prize for general excellence awarded to Miss Georgia Darrell."</p> + +<p>There was a moment's profound silence, while every eye turned upon +Georgia, and then, as if by general impulse, there was an enthusiastic +round of applause, for her warm, ardent nature, and many generous +impulses, made her schoolmates like her in spite of her ebullitions of +temper. And in the midst of this Georgia rose, with a flashing eye and +kindling cheek, and, advancing to where the teacher stood, received the +first prize from his hand, courtesied, and, with head proudly erect, and +cheeks hot with the excitement of triumph, walked back to her seat.</p> + +<p>Then came the other premiums, for grammar, for geography, history, and +astronomy; the first prize was still awarded to "Miss Georgia Darrell," +until the good folks of Burnfield began to knit their brows in anger and +jealousy, and accused the master of being swayed, like the rest, by a +handsome face, and unjustly depriving their offspring for<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_118" id="Page_118">[Pg 118]</a></span> the sake of +this "stuck-up Georgia Darrell," who—as Deacon Brown remarked, in a +scandalized tone—seemed to despise the very "airth she walked on."</p> + +<p>The distribution was over at last, and then came the dialogues. And here +Georgia's star was in the ascendant again. She, and the teacher, +perhaps, knew what acting was—not one of the rest had the remotest +idea—and they held their very breath to listen, as losing her own +identity her eyes blazed and her cheeks burned, and she strode up and +down, declaiming with such vehement gestures, that they looked at one +another in a sort of terror, wonder, and admiration. And once, when she +and another were repeating a selection from Tamerlane, where she took +the character of Bajazet, and Tamerlane, in a sort of wonder and +admiration, says:</p> + +<div class="poemblock40"> +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">"The world! 'twould be too little for thy pride!<br /></span> +<span class="i2">Thou wouldst scale heaven!"<br /></span> +</div></div></div> + +<p>Georgia's eyes of lightning blazed, and raising her hand with a +passionate gesture, she strode over and fiercely thundered:</p> + +<div class="poemblock24"> +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">"I WOULD! Away! my soul<br /></span> +<span class="i2">Disdains thy conference!"<br /></span> +</div></div></div> + +<p>The Tamerlane of the moment recoiled in terror, and there was an instant +of death-like silence, while every heart thrilled with the knowledge +that the dark, wild girl was not "acting," but speaking the truth.</p> + +<p>It was all over at last, and, with a few words from the teacher, the +assembly was dismissed. As Georgia gathered up her armful of prizes and +put on her bonnet, the teacher came over, and, to the jealousy of the +other pupils, held out his hand to her, who had from the first been his +favorite.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_119" id="Page_119">[Pg 119]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Good-by, Bajazet," he said, smiling; "you electrified the good people +of Burnfield to-day."</p> + +<p>Georgia laughed.</p> + +<p>"Do you know you were not acting just now, Georgia? Do you know you are +ambitious enough to scale heaven? Do you know that you have within you +what hurled Lucifer from heaven?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, sir," she said, lifting her eyes boldly; "I know it."</p> + +<p>"And do you not fear?"</p> + +<p>"No, sir."</p> + +<p>"Do you know you are composed of elements that will make you either an +angel or a—<i>demon</i>?"</p> + +<p>"Miss Jerusha says I'm the latter <i>now</i>, sir," she said, with a light +laugh.</p> + +<p>He looked at her with a smile half fond, half sad.</p> + +<p>"Georgia, take care."</p> + +<p>"Of what, sir?"</p> + +<p>"Of <i>yourself</i>—your worst enemy."</p> + +<p>"Father Murray says everyone is his own worst enemy."</p> + +<p>"You are not like everyone. You are a little two-edged sword in a +remarkably thin sheath, my little sprite. Take care."</p> + +<p>"Well, I know I'm thin," said Georgia, who was in one of her unserious +moods; "but that is my misfortune, Mr. Coleman, not my fault. Wait a +little while, and you'll see I'll turn out to be a female pocket edition +of Daniel Lambert."</p> + +<p>"Georgia!"</p> + +<p>"Well, sir."</p> + +<p>"Promise me one thing."<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_120" id="Page_120">[Pg 120]</a></span></p> + +<p>"What is it, first?"</p> + +<p>"That you will study very hard till I come back next winter?"</p> + +<p>"Of course I will, sir. I made that promise once before."</p> + +<p>"Indeed? To whom? Miss Jerusha?"</p> + +<p>"Miss Jerusha!" said Georgia, laughing. "I guess not! To a friend of +mine—a young gentleman."</p> + +<p>And the girl of fifteen glanced up from under her long lashes at the +dignified man of forty.</p> + +<p>"Pooh, Georgia! stick to your books, and never mind the <i>genus homo</i>. +You're a pretty subject to be advised by young gentlemen. It was good +advice, though, and I indorse it."</p> + +<p>"Very well, sir; but why am I to attend to my studies more than any of +the rest of your pupils—Mary Ann Jones, for instance?"</p> + +<p>"Humph! there is a wide difference. Mary Ann Jones will go home and help +her mother to knit stockings, scrub the floor, make pumpkin pies, and +eat them, too, without even a thought of mischief, while you would be +breaking your neck or somebody else's, setting the iron on fire, or +bottling thunderbolts to blow up the community generally. As there is +more truth than poetry in that couplet of the solemn and prosy Dr. +Watts, wherein he assures us—</p> + +<div class="poemblock26"> +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">"'Satan finds some mischief still<br /></span> +<span class="i1">For idle hands to do,'<br /></span> +</div></div></div> + +<p>on that principle you need to be kept busy. Between you and Mary Ann +Jones there is about as much difference as there is between that useful +domestic fowl, a barnyard goose,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_121" id="Page_121">[Pg 121]</a></span> and that dangerous, sharp-clawed, +good-for-nothing thing, a tameless mountain eaglet; and you may consider +the comparison anything but complimentary to you. Mary Ann is going to +be a merry, contented, capital housekeeper, and you—what are <i>you</i> +going to be?"</p> + +<p>"A vagabones on the face of the airth," said Georgia, imitating Miss +Jerusha's nasal twang so well that it nearly overset the good teacher's +gravity.</p> + +<p>"Ah, Georgia! I see you are in one of your wild moods to-day, and will +not listen to reason. Well, good-by—be a good girl till I come back."</p> + +<p>"Good-by, sir. I don't think I will ever be a good girl, but I will be +as good as I can. Good-by, and thank you, sir."</p> + +<p>There was something so darkly earnest in her face, that Mr. Coleman +looked after her, more puzzled than he had ever before been by a pupil. +She had always been an enigma to him—she was to most people—and to-day +she was more unreadable than ever.</p> + +<p>"I declare to skreech, Georgy!" said Miss Jerusha, as they walked home +together, "you like to skeered the life out o' me to-day, the way you +talked and shouted. Clare to gracious! ef it wasn't parfectly orful, not +to say downright wicked. Talk about scalin' heaven! there's sense for +you now! And it's not only sinful, as Deacon Brown remarked, but reglir +onpossible. Where could a ladder, now, or even a fire escape be got, +long enough to do it? Pah! it's disgustin', such nonsense! I wonder a +man like that there Mr. Coleman would 'low of sich talk in his school +hus, it's rale disgraceful—that's what it is!"</p> + +<p>Georgia laughed. Georgia was more patient with Miss Jerusha than she +used to be, and had her hot temper more<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_122" id="Page_122">[Pg 122]</a></span> under control. This was in a +great measure owing to the instructions and gentle exhortations of good +Mrs. Murray, little Emily's mother, who had taught her that instead of +conferring a favor on the old maid by living with her, she owed her a +debt of gratitude she would find it difficult to repay. And Georgia, +whose faults were more of the head than of the heart, saw Mrs. Murray +was right, and consented to try and "behave herself" for the future. +Georgia found <i>self</i>-control a <i>very</i> difficult lesson to practice; and +the impulses of her nature very often rose and mastered her good +resolutions yet. Still it was something for her even to try, and it had +such an effect on Miss Jerusha, that the vinegar in that sour spinster's +composition became perceptibly less acid, and the ward and "dragon" got +along much better than formerly. So true it is that every effort to do +good is rewarded even here.</p> + +<p>When Georgia got home she found her friend Emily Murray awaiting her. +Despite the wide difference in their dispositions Emily and Georgia were +still fast friends. Emily did not go to the public school, but was +taught at home by her mother. But they saw each other every day, and +Emily's sunny disposition helped not a little to soften down our savage +little wild-cat into her present state of comparative civilization. +Still the same rounded little lady was Emily, perhaps an inch or two +higher than when thirteen years old, but still nothing to speak of, with +the same smiling, rosy, sunshiny little face peeping out from its wealth +of tangled yellow curls—for Emily's hair would persist in curling in +spite of all attempts to comb it straight and respectable looking, and +persisted in having its own way, and openly rebelling against all +established authority.</p> + +<p>"Oh, Georgia! I'm so glad!" exclaimed Emily,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_123" id="Page_123">[Pg 123]</a></span> throwing her arms around +Georgia's neck, and administering a dozen or two short, sharp little +kisses that went off like the corks out of so many ginger-beer bottles. +"I'm <i>ever</i> so glad that you got all the prizes! I knew you would; I +said it all along. I knew you were dreadfully clever, if you only liked. +And now I want you to come right over to our house and spend the evening +with us. Mother told me to come for you. Oh, Georgia! we'll have a good +time!"</p> + +<p>"Well, there, Em, you needn't strangle me about it," said Georgia, +laughingly releasing herself. "If Miss Jerusha doesn't want me +particularly, I'll go."</p> + +<p>Two years previously Georgia would no more have thought of asking Miss +Jerusha's leave about any thing than she would of flying; but since she +had come to a sense of her duty things were different. But as the +leopard cannot change his spots, nor the Ethiope his skin, so neither +could she entirely change her nature, and there was an involuntary +defiant light in her eye and haughtiness in her tone when asking a +favor, and a fierce bright flash and passionate gesture when refused.</p> + +<p>Miss Jerusha looked undecided, and was beginning a dubious "Wal, raily, +now—" when Emily's impulsive arms were around <i>her</i> neck, and her +pretty face upturned.</p> + +<p>"Ah, now, Miss Jerusha, please do; that's a dear! Do just let her come +over this once. I want her so dreadfully! P-p-please now."</p> + +<p>No heart, unless made of double-refined cast iron, could resist that +sweet little face and pleading "please now;" so Miss Jerusha, who liked +little Emily (as indeed nobody could help doing), accordingly "pleased," +and Emily, giving her a kiss—of which commodity that small individual +had<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_124" id="Page_124">[Pg 124]</a></span> a large stock in trade, that like the widow's cruse of old, never +diminished—put on Georgia's hat, and, nodding a smiling good-by to Miss +Jerusha, marched her off in triumph.</p> + +<p>"I am so glad, Georgia, you got so many prizes. Oh! I knew all along you +were real clever. I should like to be clever, but I'm not one bit; but +you, I guess you're going to be a genius, Georgia," said Emily, soberly.</p> + +<p>"Nonsense, Em! A genius! I hope I shall never be anything half so +dreadful."</p> + +<p>"Dreadful! Why, Georgia!"</p> + +<p>"Why, Emily!" said Georgia, mimicking her, "geniuses are a nuisance, I +repeat—just as comets, or meteors, or eclipses, or anything out of the +ordinary course are. People make a fuss about them and blacken their +noses looking through smoked glass at them, and then they are gone in a +twinkling, and not worth all the time that was wasted looking at them. I +know it is sacrilege and high treason to say so, but that doesn't alter +my opinion on the subject, and so don't trouble that small, anxious head +of yours, my dear little snow-flake, about my being a genius again."</p> + +<p>"I know who thinks so as well as I do," said Emily.</p> + +<p>"Who?"</p> + +<p>"Why, Richmond Wildair. Do you recollect the day, long ago, he first +told you to go to school?"</p> + +<p>"Yes."</p> + +<p>"Coming home that day he said he knew you were a little genius and +should not hide your light under a bushel, but set it on the hill-top. I +remember his words, because they sounded so funny then that they made me +laugh."</p> + +<p>"Pooh! what does he know about it? What a little<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_125" id="Page_125">[Pg 125]</a></span> simpleton I must have +been to do everything he used to tell me to! Still, that was good advice +about going to school, and I don't know but what, on the whole, I feel +grateful to him for it. That was two years ago—wasn't it, Em? Why, it +seems like yesterday."</p> + +<p>"And that funny brother of his," said Emily, laughing at some +recollections of her own, "he used to say things in such a droll way. I +wonder if they'll ever come back."</p> + +<p>"Why, what would bring them back, now that their uncle is gone away for +his health? I wonder if traveling really <i>does</i> make sick people well?"</p> + +<p>"Don't know, I'm sure. Isn't it a pity to have such a nice house as that +shut up and so lonely and deserted looking?"</p> + +<p>"I wish that house was mine," said Georgia. "I should like to live in a +large, handsome place like that. I hate little old cramped places like +our cottage—they're horrid."</p> + +<p>"Why, that's coveting your neighbor's goods," said Emily. "Look out, +Georgia."</p> + +<p>"Well, then, I should like one as good as that. I wish I owned one just +like it. I <i>shall</i>, too, some day," said Georgia, decidedly.</p> + +<p>"Do tell," said Emily, "where are you going to get it? Are you going to +rob a peddler?"</p> + +<p>"No. I intend to be rich."</p> + +<p>"You do? <i>How?</i>"</p> + +<p>"I don't know yet; but I <i>shall</i>! I'm determined to be rich. I am quite +sure I will be," said Georgia, in a tone of quiet decision.</p> + +<p>"Well, really! But it's better to be poor than rich. 'It's easier for a +camel—' You know what the Testament says."<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_126" id="Page_126">[Pg 126]</a></span></p> + +<p>"I'd risk it. Why, Emily, it's riches moves the world; the whole earth +is seeking it. Poverty is the greatest social crime in the whole +category, and wealth covereth a multitude of sins. Don't tell me! I know +all about it, and I am determined to be rich—<i>I don't care by what +means</i>!"</p> + +<p>Her wild eyes were blazing with that insufferable light that always +illuminated them when she was excited, and the stern determination her +set face expressed as she looked resolutely before her startled timid +little Emily.</p> + +<p>"Oh, Georgia, I don't think it's right to talk so!" she said, in a +subdued tone; "I'm sure it's not. I don't think riches make people +happy; do you?"</p> + +<p>"No," said Georgia, quietly.</p> + +<p>"Oh, Georgia, then why do you wish for it? Why do you crave so for +wealth?"</p> + +<p>"Because wealth brings power!"</p> + +<p>"But neither does power bring happiness."</p> + +<p>"To <i>me</i> it would. Power is the life of my life. Knowledge is +power—therefore I studied; but it is only a means to an end. Wealth +will attain that end, therefore wealth I must and <i>will</i> have."</p> + +<p>The look of resolute determination deepened. She looked at that moment +like one resolved to conquer even fate, and to tread remorselessly under +foot all that stood between her and the goal of her daring ambition.</p> + +<p>"What would you do if you were rich?"</p> + +<p>"I would travel, for one thing—I should like to see the world. I would +visit England, and France, and Germany, and Italy—dear, beautiful +Italy! that I love as if it were my fatherland. I would visit the +Alps—Oh, Em! how I love great sublime mountains rearing their heads up +to heaven. I would sail down the Rhine, the bright flowing<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_127" id="Page_127">[Pg 127]</a></span> Rhine! I +would visit the demons of the Black Forest, and see if I happen to be +related to them, in any way. I would cultivate the acquaintance of the +Black Horseman of the Hartz Mountains—and finally I should settle down +and marry a prince. Yes, I rather think I <i>shall</i> marry some prince, +Em!"</p> + +<p>"Oh, Georgia! you're a case!" said Emily, breaking into one of her +silvery peals of laughter; "marry a prince! what an idea!"</p> + +<p>"Well, I am good enough for any prince or emperor that ever wore a +crown," said Georgia, with a flash of her black eyes, and a proud lift +of her haughty little head, "and I should consider that the honor was +conferred upon him, and not me, if I did marry one—now then!"</p> + +<p>"Oh, what a bump of self-esteem you have, Georgia!" said Emily, still +laughing; "what a notion to talk about getting married, any way! whoever +heard of such a thing."</p> + +<p>"Well, it's nothing strange! you didn't suppose I was going to be an old +maid like Miss Jerusha, did you? <i>Of course</i> I'll get married! I always +intended to!" said Georgia, decidedly, "and so will you, Emily."</p> + +<p>"To another prince," said Emily, shyly.</p> + +<p>"No, to—Charley Wildair!"</p> + +<p>"I guess not! But here we are at home, and what would mother say if she +heard us talking like this? It all comes of your reading so many novels, +Georgia. Here, mother; here she is. I've got her," cried Emily, flying +into the pretty little parlor, where Mrs. Murray, a pleasant little +lady, a faded copy of her bright little daughter, sat sewing. Mrs. +Murray kissed Georgia, and congratulated her on her success, and then +went out to see about tea.</p> + +<p>Later in the evening Father Murray, a benign-looking<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_128" id="Page_128">[Pg 128]</a></span> old man, with +silver-white hair, and a look so patriarchal that it had suggested +Charley Wildair's graphic description of his being like one of those +"blessed old what's-their-names in the Bible," came in, and the +conversation turned upon Georgia's success.</p> + +<p>"I suppose you felt quite elated, Georgia, at carrying off the highest +honors to-day?" he said, smiling.</p> + +<p>"A little, only," said Georgia. "It wasn't much to be proud of."</p> + +<p>"What! To vanquish all competitors not much to be proud of! Why, +Georgia?"</p> + +<p>"Well, neither it is, sir—<i>such</i> competitors," said Georgia, +scornfully. "I should like a greater conquest than that."</p> + +<p>"Georgia's ambition takes a bolder flight; she looks down on the common +people of this world," said Mrs. Murray, with a peculiar smile.</p> + +<p>Georgia colored at the implied rebuke, but her disdainful look remained. +Father Murray looked at her half pityingly, half sorrowfully.</p> + +<p>"It will not do, Georgia," he said kindly: "you will have to stop. The +Mountain of High-and-Mighty-dom is a very dazzling eminence to be sure, +but the sun shines brighter in the valley below."</p> + +<p>At that moment Fly entered for her young mistress, and Georgia arose to +go.</p> + +<p>"Good-by, Mrs. Murray; good-by, Em; good-night, Father Murray."</p> + +<p>"Good-night, Georgia," he said, laying his hand on her shining, haughty +young head, "and Heaven bless you, my child!"</p> + +<p>She folded her hands almost meekly to receive his bene<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_129" id="Page_129">[Pg 129]</a></span>diction, and +feeling as though that blessing were sorely needed, she passed out and +was gone.</p> + +<p>Gone! As for you and me, reader, the <i>child</i> Georgia has gone forever. +Let the curtain drop on the first act in her drama of life, to rise when +the child shall be a woman.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_IX" id="CHAPTER_IX"></a>CHAPTER IX.</h2> + +<h3>OLD FRIENDS MEET.</h3> + +<div class="poemblock38"> +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i4">"It was not thus in other days we met;<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Hath time and absence taught thee to forget?"<br /></span> +</div></div></div> + +<div class="drop"> +<img src="images/illo_a.png" alt="A" width="100" height="100" class="cap" /> +<p class="cap_1"> +nd three years passed away.</p></div> + +<p>Elsewhere these three years might have wrought strange changes, but they +made few in good old Burnfield. The old, never-ending, but ever new +routine of births, and deaths, and marriages went on; children were +growing up to be men and women—there were no young <i>ladies</i> and +<i>gentlemen</i> in Burnfield—and other children were taking their place. +The only marked change was the introduction of a railway, that brought +city people to the quiet sea-coast town every summer, and gave a sort of +impetus to the stagnating business of the place. Very dazzling and +bewildering to the eyes of the sober-going Burnfieldians were those +dashing city folks, who condescended to patronize them with a lofty +superiority quite overwhelming.</p> + +<p>One other change these three years had wrought—the girl Georgia was a +woman in looks and stature, the handsome, haughty, capricious belle of +Burnfield. Time had<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_130" id="Page_130">[Pg 130]</a></span> passed unmarked by any incident worth mentioning. +Life was rather monotonous in that little sea-shore cottage, and Georgia +might have stagnated with the rest but for the fiery life in her heart +that would never be at rest long enough to suffer her to fall into a +lethargy.</p> + +<p>Georgia's physical and mental education had been rapidly progressing +during these three years. She could manage a boat with the best oarsman +in Burnfield; and often, when the winds were highest and the sea +roughest, her light skiff—a gift from an admirer—might be seen dancing +on the waters like a sea-gull, with the tall, slight form of a young +girl guiding it through the foam, her wild black eyes lit up with the +excitement of the moment, looking like some ocean goddess, or the queen +of the storm riding the tempest she had herself raised.</p> + +<p>Georgia braved all dangers because they brought her excitement, and she +would have lived in a constant fever if she could; danger sent the hot +blood bounding through her veins like quicksilver, and fear was a +feeling unknown to her high and daring temperament. So when the typhus +fever once, a year previously, raged through the town, carrying off +hundreds, and every one fled in terror, she braved it all, entered every +house where it appeared in its most malignant form, braved storm, and +night, and danger to nurse the pest-stricken, and became the +guardian-angel of the town. And this—not, reader, from any high and +holy motive, not from that heavenly charity, that inspires the heroic +Sister of Charity to do likewise—but simply because there was +excitement in it, because she was fearless for herself and exulted in +her power at that moment, and perhaps, to do Georgia justice, she was +urged by a humane feeling of pity for the neglected sufferers. She +watched by<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_131" id="Page_131">[Pg 131]</a></span> the dead and dying, she boldly entered lazar houses where no +one else would tread, and she did not take the disease. Her high, +perfect bodily health, her fine organization and utter fearlessness, +were her safeguards. Georgia had already obtained a sort of mastery over +the townfolks; that deference was paid to her that simple minds always +pay to lofty ones; but now her power was complete. She reigned among +them a crowned queen; the dark-eyed, handsome girl had obtained a +mastery over them she could never lose; she had only to raise her finger +to have them come at her beck; she was beginning to realize her childish +dream of power, and she triumphed in it. And so, free, wild, glad, and +untamed, the young conqueress reigned, queen of the forest and river, +and a thousand human hearts; looked up to, as comets are—something to +admire and wonder at, at a respectful distance.</p> + +<p>Under the auspices of Father Murray her education had progressed +rapidly. As his congregation was not very numerous, his labors were not +very arduous, and he found a good deal of spare time for himself. Being +a profound scholar, he determined to devote himself to the education of +his little niece Emily, and at her solicitation Georgia also became his +pupil. Poor, simple, happy little Emily was speedily outstripped and +left far behind by her gifted companion, who mastered every science with +a rapidity and ease really wonderful. By nature she was a decided +linguist, and learned French, and German, and Latin with a quickness +that delighted the heart of good Father Murray. All the religious +training the wild girl had ever received in her life was imbibed now, +but even yet it was only superficial; it just touched the surface of her +sparkling nature, nothing sunk in. She professed no particular<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_132" id="Page_132">[Pg 132]</a></span> faith; +she believed in no formal creed; she worshiped the Lord of the mighty +sea and the beautiful earth, the ruler of the storm and king of the +universe, in a wild, strange, exultant way of her own, but she looked +upon all professed creeds as so many trammels that no one with an +independent will could ever submit to. Ah! it was Georgia's hour of +highest earthly happiness then; she did not know how the heart of all +atheists, infidels, and heretics cry out involuntarily to that merciful +All Father in their hour of sorrow. Georgia was as one who "having eyes +saw not, having ears heard not." In the summer time of youth, and +health, and happiness she <i>would not</i> believe, and it was only like many +others when the fierce wintry tempest beat on her unsheltered head, when +the dark night of utter anguish closed around her, she fell at the feet +of Him who "doeth all things well," offering not a fresh, unworldly +heart, but one crushed, and rent, and consumed to calcined ashes in the +red heat of her own fiery passions.</p> + +<p>Georgia rarely went to church; her place of worship was the dark solemn, +old primeval forest, where, lying under the trees, listening to the +drowsy twittering of the birds for her choir, she would dream her wild, +rainbow-tinted visions of a future more glorious than this earth ever +realized. Ah! the dreams of eighteen!</p> + +<hr style="width: 45%;" /> + +<p>It was a wild, blusterous afternoon in early spring, a dark, dry, windy +day. Miss Jerusha, the same old cast-iron vestal as of yore, sat in the +best room, knitting away, just as you and I, reader, first saw her on +Christmas Eve five years ago, just looking as if five minutes instead of +years had passed since then, so little change is there in her own proper +person or in that awe-inspiring apartment, the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_133" id="Page_133">[Pg 133]</a></span> best room. The asthmatic +rocking-chair seems to have been attacked with rheumatism since, for its +limbs are decidedly of a shaky character, and its consumptive wheeze, as +it saws back or forward, betokens that its end is approaching. Curled up +at her feet lies that intelligent quadruped, Betsey Periwinkle, gazing +with blinking eyes in the fire, and deeply absorbed in her own +reflections. A facetious little gray-and-white kitten (Betsey's +youngest), is amusing itself running round and round in a frantic effort +to catch its own little shaving-brush of a tail, varying the recreation +by making desperate dives at Miss Jerusha's ball of stocking yarn, and +invariably receives a kick in return that sends it flying across the +room, but which doesn't seem to disturb its equanimity much. Out in the +kitchen that small "cullud pusson," Fly, is making biscuits for supper, +and diffusing around her a most delightful odor of good things. Miss +Jerusha sits silently knitting for a long time with pursed-up lips, only +glancing up now and then when an unusually high blast makes the little +homestead shake, but at last the spirit moves her, and she speaks:</p> + +<p>"It's abominable! it's disgraceful! the neglect of parents nowadays! +letting their young 'uns run into all sorts of danger, and without no +insurance on 'em neither. If that there little chap was mine, I'd switch +him within an inch of his life afore I'd let him carry on with such +capers. He'll be drowned just as sure as shootin', and sarve him right, +too, a venturesome, fool-hardy little limb! You, Fly!"</p> + +<p>Miss Jerusha's voice has lost none of its shrillness and sharpness under +the mollifying influence of Old Father Time.</p> + +<p>"Yes, Mist," sings out Fly, in a shrill treble.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_134" id="Page_134">[Pg 134]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Ken you see that little viper yet, or has he got drownded?"</p> + +<p>"He's a-driftin' out'n de riber, ole Mist; shill I run and tell his +folks when I puts der biscuits in de oben?" says Fly, straining her eyes +looking out of the kitchen window.</p> + +<p>"No, you sha'n't do no sich thing! if his folks don't think he's worth +a-lookin' arter thimselves, I ain't a-goin' to put myself out noways +'bout it. <i>Let</i> him drown, ef he's a mind to, and perhaps they'll look +closer arter the rest. A young 'un more or less ain't no great loss. +Don't let them ere biscuits burn, you Fly! or it'll be wuss for you! I +wish Georgia was here; it's time she was to hum."</p> + +<p>"<i>Quand un parle du diable on en voit le vue!</i>" says a clear, musical +voice, and the present Georgia, a tall, superbly formed girl, with the +shining eyes, and glossy hair of her childhood, but with a higher bloom +and brighter smile than that tempestuous childhood ever knew, enters and +stands before her, her dark hair blown out by the wind that has sent a +deeper glow to her dark crimson cheeks, and a more vivid light to her +splendid eyes.</p> + +<p>"Oh, you've come, hev you?" says Miss Jerusha, rather crossly, "and a +talkin' of Hebrew and Greek, and sich other ungodly lingo, again. It's +suthin' bad, I know, or you wouldn't be a sayin' of it in thim +onchristian langergers. I allurs said nothin' good would come of your +heavin' away of your time and larning thim. I know it ain't right; don't +sound as if it war. I feel it in my bones that it ain't. Where hev you +bin?"</p> + +<p>"Over to Emily's," Georgia said, laughingly, as she snatched up Betsey +Periwinkle, junior, and stroked her soft fur. "What did you want me for +when I came in?"</p> + +<p>"Oh," said Miss Jerusha, "it's all along of that little<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_135" id="Page_135">[Pg 135]</a></span> imp, Johnny +Smith, as has been and gone and went out in a boat, and I expect is +upsot and gone to the bottom afore this."</p> + +<p>Georgia sprang to her feet in consternation.</p> + +<p>"What! gone out in a boat! to-day! that child! Miss Jerusha, what do you +mean?"</p> + +<p>"Why, just what I say," said Miss Jerusha, testily; "that there little +cuss has a taste for drowndin', for he's never out of a boat when he can +get into one, and I do b'lieve it's more'n half your fault, too, +abringing of him out with you every day in your derned little egg-shell +of a skiff. Ef he hain't got to the bottom before this it's a wonder."</p> + +<p>"Oh, that child! that child! he will be drowned! Good Heaven, Miss +Jerusha, why did you not send and tell his parents?"</p> + +<p>"Well, 'taint my place to look arter other folks' young 'uns, is it?" +said Miss Jerusha, shifting uneasily under the stern, indignant gaze +bent upon her. "Let every tub stand on its own bottom, <i>I</i> say."</p> + +<p>"Oh, Miss Georgia! Miss Georgia!" cried Fly, excitedly, "dar he is! run +right into dat ar rock out'n de riber, an' now he can't get off, an' de +tide is a risin' so fast he'll be swep' off pooty soon."</p> + +<p>Georgia sprang to the window and looked out. The river, swollen and +turbid by the spring freshets, and lashed into fury by the high winds, +was one sheet of white foam, like the land in a December snow-storm. The +boat had struck a high rock, or rather small island, out in the river, +and there stood a lad of about ten years old with outstretched arms, +evidently shrieking for help; but his cries were drowned in the uproar +of the winds and waves. In<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_136" id="Page_136">[Pg 136]</a></span> ten minutes it was evident the sea would +sweep over the rock, and then——</p> + +<p>Georgia with a wild, frenzied gesture, turned and fled from the house, +seized two light oars that lay outside the door, threw them over her +shoulder, and sped with the lightness and fleetness of a mountain deer +down the rocks to the beach.</p> + +<p>"Oh, Miss Jerry! Miss Jerry! she's a-goin' arter him," shrieked Fly. +"Oh, laudy! dey'll bof be drowned <i>dead</i>! Oh! Oh! Oh!" And shrieking, +Fly rushed out and darted off toward the nearest house to tell the news.</p> + +<p>New settlers had lately come to Burnfield, and Miss Jerusha's nearest +neighbors, the parents of the venturesome little Smith, lived within a +quarter of a mile of her. Mercury himself was not a fleeter messenger +than Fly, and soon the Smiths and other people around were alarmed and +hurrying in crowds to the beach. As Fly, still screaming out the news, +was darting hither and thither, a hand was laid on her arm, and looking +up, she saw a gentleman, young and handsome, muffled in a Spanish cloak, +and with his hat pulled down over his eyes.</p> + +<p>"What's all this uproar about, my good girl? Where are all these people +hurrying to?" he asked, arresting her.</p> + +<p>"Oh, to der beach! Miss Georgia will be drowned," cried Fly, breaking +from him, and darting off among the crowd.</p> + +<p>The stranger hurried on with the rest, and a very few minutes brought +him to the beach, already thronged with the alarmed neighbors. On a high +rock stood Miss Jerusha, wringing her hands and gesticulating wildly, +and more wildly urging the men to go to Georgia's assistance, going +through all the phrases of the potential mood, "exhorting,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_137" id="Page_137">[Pg 137]</a></span> commanding, +entreating," in something after the following fashion:</p> + +<p>"Oh, she'll be drownded! she'll be drownded! I know she will, and sarve +her right, too—a ventursome, undutiful young hussy! Oh, my gracious! +what are you all a-standing here for, a-doing nothing, and Georgey +drownding? Go right off this minit and git a boat and go after her. +There! there! she's down now! No, she's up again, but she's sartin to be +drownded, the infernally young fool! Oh, Pete Jinking! you derned lazy +old coward! get out your boat and go arter her! Oh, Pete! you're a nice +old man! do go arter her! There! now she's upsot! No, she's right end up +agin, but the next time she sure to go! Oh, my conscience! won't none en +ye go arter her, you miserable set of sneakin' cowards you! Oh, my stars +and garters! what a life I lead long o' that there derned young gal!"</p> + +<p>"There's no boat to be had," said "Pete Jinking," "and if there was, +Miss Georgia's skiff would live where a larger one would go down. If +<i>she</i> can't manage it, no one can."</p> + +<p>"Oh, yes! talk, talk, talk! git it off your own shoulders, you cowardly +old porpoise, you! afraid to venture where a delikay young gal does. Oh, +Georgey, you blamed young pepper-pod, wait till I catch hold of you!" +said Miss Jerusha, wringing her hands in the extremity of her distress.</p> + +<p>"She has reached him! she has reached him! There, she has him in the +boat!" cried the stranger, excitedly.</p> + +<p>"And she has got him! she has got him! Hurra! hurra! hurra!" shouted the +crowd on the shore, as they breathlessly shaded their eyes to gaze +across the foaming waters.</p> + +<p>Steering her light craft with a master hand, Georgia<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_138" id="Page_138">[Pg 138]</a></span> reached the rock +barely in time, for scarcely had the lad leaped into the boat when a +huge wave swept over the rocks, and not one there but shuddered at the +death he had so narrowly escaped.</p> + +<p>But the occupants of the skiff were far from safe, and a dead silence +fell on all as they hushed the very beating of their hearts to watch. +She had turned its head towards the shore, and bending her slight form +to the oars, she pulled vigorously against the dashing waves. Now poised +and quivering on the topmost crest of some large wave, now sinking down, +down, far down out of sight until they feared it would never rise, yet, +still re-appearing, she toiled bravely. Her long, wild, black hair, +unbound by the wind, streamed in the breeze, drenched and dripping with +sea-brine. On and on toiled the brave girl, nearer and nearer to the +shore she came, until at last, with a mighty shout, that burst +involuntarily from their relieved hearts, a dozen strong hands were +extended, caught the boat, and pulled it far up on the shore. And then +"Hurrah! hurrah! Hurrah for Georgia! hurrah for Georgia Darrell!" burst +from every lip, and hats were waved, and the cheer arose again and +again, until the welkin rang, and the crowd pressed around her, shaking +hands, and congratulating her, and hemming her in, until, half laughing, +half impatient, she broke from them, exclaiming:</p> + +<p>"There, there, good folks, that will do—please let me pass. Mrs. Smith, +here is your naughty little boy; you will have to take better care of +him for the future. Uncle Pete, will you just look after my skiff, and +bring those oars up to the house? My clothes are so heavy with the wet +that they are as much as I can carry. Now, Miss Jerusha, don't begin to +scold; I am not drowned, you see, so it will<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_139" id="Page_139">[Pg 139]</a></span> be all a waste of +ammunition. Come along; I want to get out of this crowd."</p> + +<p>Fatigued with her exertions, pale and wet, she toiled wearily up the +bank, very unlike herself. The stranger, muffled in his black +brigandish-looking cloak and slouched hat, stood motionless watching +her, and Georgia glanced carelessly at him and passed on. Strangers were +not much of a novelty in Burnfield now, so this young, distinguished +looking gentleman awoke no surprise until she saw him advance toward her +with outstretched hand. And Georgia stepped back and glanced at him in +haughty amaze.</p> + +<p>"Miss Darrell, you are a second Grace Darling. Allow me to congratulate +you on what you have done to-day."</p> + +<p>"Sir!"</p> + +<p>"You will not shake hands, Miss Darrell? And yet we are not strangers."</p> + +<p>"You labor under a mistake, sir! I do not know you! Will you allow me to +pass?"</p> + +<p>He stood straight before her, a smile curling his mustached lip at her +regal hauteur.</p> + +<p>"And has five years, five short years, completely obliterated even the +memory of Richmond Wildair?"</p> + +<p>"Richmond Wildair! <i>Who was he?</i>" she said, lifting her eyes with cool +indolence, and looking up straight into the bronzed, manly face, from +which the hat was now raised. "Oh, I recollect! How do you do, sir? +Come, Miss Jerusha; let me help you up the bank."</p> + +<p>He stood for a moment transfixed. Had he expected to meet the impulsive +little girl he had left? Had he expected this scornful young empress, +with her chilling "<i>who was he?</i>"</p> + +<p>She did not notice his extended hand—<i>that</i> reminded<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_140" id="Page_140">[Pg 140]</a></span> him of the child +Georgia—but, taking Miss Jerusha's arm, walked with her up the path, +the proud head erect, but the springing step slow and labored.</p> + +<p>He watched her a moment, and smiled. That smile would have reminded +Georgia of other days had she seen it—a smile that said as plainly as +words could speak, "You shall pay for this, my lady! You shall find my +power has not passed away."</p> + +<p>It was a surprise to Georgia, this meeting, and not a pleasant one. She +recollected how he had mastered and commanded her in her masterless +childhood—a recollection that filled her with angry indignation; a +recollection that made her compress her lips, set her foot down hard, +and involuntarily clinch the small hand; a recollection that sent a +bright, angry light to her black, flashing eyes, and a hot, irritated +spot burning on either cheek; and the dark brows knit as he had often +seen them do before as he came resolutely up and stood on the other side +of Miss Jerusha.</p> + +<p>"And will <i>you</i>, too, disown me, Miss Jerusha?" he said, with a look of +reproach. "Is Richmond Wildair totally forgotten by all his old friends +in Burnfield?"</p> + +<p>Miss Jerusha, who had not overheard his conversation with Georgia, faced +abruptly round, and looked at him in the utmost surprise.</p> + +<p>"Why, bless my heart if it ain't! Wall, railly now! Why, I never! +Georgey, don't you remember the young gent as you used to be so thick +'long of? Wal, now! how do you do? Why, I'm rail glad to see you. I +railly am, now!" And Miss Jerusha shook his hand with an <i>empressement</i> +quite unusual with her in her surprise.</p> + +<p>"Thank you, Miss Jerusha. I am glad <i>all</i> my friends have not forgotten +me," said Richmond.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_141" id="Page_141">[Pg 141]</a></span></p> + +<p>Georgia's lip curled slightly, and facing round, she said:</p> + +<p>"Miss Jerusha, if you'll excuse me, I'll go on. I want to change this +wet dress;" and without waiting for a reply, Georgia hurried on.</p> + +<p>"What brings him here?" she said to herself, as she walked quickly +toward the cottage. "I suppose he thinks he is to be my lord and master +as of yore, that I am still a slave to come at his beck, and because he +is rich and I am poor he can command me as much as he pleases. He shall +not do it! he shall <i>not</i>! I will <i>never</i> forgive him for conquering +me," flashed Georgia, clenching her hand involuntarily as she walked.</p> + +<p>"And so you've come back! Wall, now, who'd a thought it? Is the square +got well and come back, too?"</p> + +<p>"My uncle is dead," said the young man, gravely.</p> + +<p>"Do tell! Dead, is he? Wall, we've all got to go, some time or another, +so there's no good making a fuss. What's going to come of the old place +up there?"</p> + +<p>"I am going to have it fitted up and improved, and use it for a +country-seat."</p> + +<p>"Oh—I see! it's your'n, is it? Nice place it is, and worth a good many +thousands, I'll be bound! S'pose you'll be getting married shortly, and +bringing a wife there to oversee the sarvints, and poultry, and things, +eh?" and Miss Jerusha peered at him sharply with her small eyes.</p> + +<p>"Really, Miss Jerusha, I don't know," he said, laughingly, taking off +his hat and running his fingers through his waving dark hair. "If I +could get any one to have me, I might. Do you think I could succeed in +that sort of speculation here in Burnfield? The young ladies here know +more about looking after poultry than they do in the city."<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_142" id="Page_142">[Pg 142]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Ah! they ain't properly brought up there," said Miss Jerusha, shaking +her head; "it's nothin' but boardin' schools, and beaus, and theaters, +and other wickednesses there; 'tain't ekil to the country noways. You'll +get a wife though, easy enough; young men with lots of money don't find +much trouble doing that, either in town or country. How's that nice +brother o' your'n?" said Miss Jerusha, suddenly recollecting the youth +who had by force possessed himself of so large a share of her +affections.</p> + +<p>"He is very well, or was when I heard from him last. He has gone abroad +to make the grand tour."</p> + +<p>"Oh—has he?" said Miss Jerusha, rather mystified, and not quite certain +what new patent invention the grand tour was. "Why couldn't he make it +at home?" Then, without waiting for an answer, "Won't you come in? do +come in; tea's just ready, and you hain't had a chance to speak to +Georgey yet, hey? You're most happy. Very well, walk right in and take a +cheer. You, Fly!"</p> + +<p>"Yes'm, here I is," cried Fly, rushing in breathlessly, and diving +frantically at the oven.</p> + +<p>"Where's your young mistress?"</p> + +<p>"Up stairs."</p> + +<p>"Well, you hurry up and get tea; fly round now, will you? Oh, here comes +Georgey. Why, Georgey! don't you know who this is?"</p> + +<p>Georgia gave a start of surprise, and her face darkened as she entered +and saw him sitting there so much at home.</p> + +<p>Passing him with a distant courtesy she said, with marked coldness:</p> + +<p>"I have that pleasure. Fly, attend to your baking; I'll set the table."</p> + +<p>Miss Jerusha was too well accustomed to the varying<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_143" id="Page_143">[Pg 143]</a></span> moods of her ward +to be much surprised at this capricious conduct; so she entered into +conversation with Richmond, or rather began a racking cross examination +as to what he had been doing, where he had been, what he was going to +do, and how the last five years had been spent generally.</p> + +<p>To all her questions Mr. Wildair replied with the utmost politeness, +but—he told her just as much as he chose and no more. From this she +learned that he had been studying for the bar, and had been admitted, +that his career hitherto had been eminently successful, that his uncle's +death had rendered him independent of his profession, but that having a +passion for that pursuit he was still determined to continue it; that +his brother's health remaining delicate, change of scene had been +recommended, and that therefore he had gone abroad and was not expected +home for a year yet; that a desire to fit up and refurnish the "House," +as it was called, <i>par excellence</i>, in Burnfield, was the sole cause of +his leaving Washington—where for the past five years he had mostly +resided—and finally, that his stay in this flourishing township +"depended on circumstances."</p> + +<p>It was late that evening when he went away. Georgia had listened, and, +except to Fly, had not spoken half a dozen words, still wrapped in her +mantel of proud reserve. She stood at the window when he was gone, +looking out at the dark, flowing waves.</p> + +<p>"Nice young man," said Miss Jerusha, approvingly, referring to her +guest.</p> + +<p>There was no answer.</p> + +<p>"Good-lookin', too," pursued Miss Jerusha, looking reflectively at +Betsey Periwinkle, "and rich. Hem! I say,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_144" id="Page_144">[Pg 144]</a></span> Georgia—you're fond of +money—wouldn't it be pleasant if you was to be mistress bime-by of the +big house—hey?"</p> + +<p>She looked up for an answer, but Georgia was gone.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_X" id="CHAPTER_X"></a>CHAPTER X.</h2> + +<h3>DREAMING.</h3> + +<div class="poemblock44"> +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">"And underneath that face, like summer's ocean,<br /></span> +<span class="i2">Its lips as moveless and its cheek as clear,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Slumbers a whirlpool of the heart's emotions—<br /></span> +<span class="i2">Love, hatred, pride, hope, sorrow, all save fear."<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +</div></div></div> + +<p style="margin-left: 70%;"><span class="smcap">Halleck.</span></p> + +<p><span class="floatleft">"</span></p> +<div class="drop"> +<img src="images/illo_w.png" alt="W" width="100" height="100" class="cap" /></div> +<p class="cap_1"> +ell, this <i>is</i> pleasant," said Richmond, throwing himself carelessly +on the grass, and sending pebbles skimming over the surface of the +river; "this <i>is</i> pleasant," he repeated, looking up at his companion, +as she sat drawing under the shadow of an old elm down near the shore.</p> + +<p>Three months had passed since his return, and the glowing golden +midsummer days had come. All this time he had been a frequent visitor at +the cottage—to see <i>Miss Jerusha</i>, of course; and very gracious, +indeed, was that lady's reception of the young lord of the manor. +Georgia was freezing at first, most decidedly below zero, and enough to +strike terror into the heart of any less courageous knight than the one +in question. But Mr. Richmond Wildair was not easily intimidated, and +took all her chilling hauteur coolly enough, quite confident of +triumphing in the end. It was a drawn battle between them, but he knew +he was<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_145" id="Page_145">[Pg 145]</a></span> the better general of the two, so he was perfectly easy as to +the issue. In fact, he rather liked it than otherwise, on the principle +of the "greater the trial, the greater the triumph," and, accustomed to +be flattered and caressed, this novel mode of treatment was something +new and decidedly pleasant. So he kept on "never minding," and visited +the cottage often, and talked gayly with Miss Jerusha, and was +respectful and quiet with Miss Georgia, until, as constant dropping will +wear a stone, so Georgia's unnatural stiffness began to give way, and +she learned to laugh and grow genial again, but remained still on the +alert to resist any attempt at command. No such attempt was made, and at +last Georgia and Richmond grew to be very good friends.</p> + +<p>Georgia had a talent for drawing, and Richmond, who was quite an artist, +undertook to teach her, and those lessons did more than anything else to +put them on a sociable footing. Richmond liked to give his lessons out +under the trees, where his pupil might sketch from nature, and Georgia +rather liked it herself, too. It was very pleasant, those lessons; +Georgia liked to hear about great cities, about this rush, and roar, and +turmoil, and constant flow of busy life, and Richmond had the power of +description in a high degree, and used to watch, with a sly, repressed +smile, pencil and crayon drop from her fingers, and her eyes fix +themselves in eager, unconscious interest on his face, as she grew +absorbed in his narrative.</p> + +<p>Dangerous work it was, with a pupil and master young and handsome, the +romantic sea-shore and murmuring old trees for their school-room, and +talking not forbidden either. How Miss Jerusha chuckled over it in +confidence to Betsey Periwinkle—she didn't dare to trust Fly—and +indulged in sundry wild visions of a brand-new brown silk<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_146" id="Page_146">[Pg 146]</a></span> dress and +straw bonnet suitable for the giving away a bride in.</p> + +<p>Little did Georgia dream of these extravagant peeps into futurity, or +the lessons would have ended then and there, this new-fledged intimacy +been unceremoniously nipped in the bud, and Miss Jerusha's castles in +Spain tumbled to the ground with a crash! But Georgia was in a dream and +said nothing. Richmond <i>did</i>, and laughed quietly over it in the shadow +of the old ancestral mansion.</p> + +<p>"Yes, this is pleasant," said Richmond, one morning, as he lay idly on +the grass, and Georgia sat on the trunk of a fallen tree near, taking +her drawing lesson.</p> + +<p>She lifted her head and laughed.</p> + +<p>"What is pleasant?" she said.</p> + +<p>"This—this feeling of rest, of peace, of indolence, of idleness. I +never sympathized with Charley's love for the <i>dolce far niente</i> before, +but I begin to appreciate it now. One tires of this hurrying, bustling, +jostling, uproarious life in the city, and then laziness in the country +is considered the greatest of earthly boons. All work and no play makes +Jack a dull boy, you know."</p> + +<p>"And do you really like the country better than the city?" asked +Georgia.</p> + +<p>"I like it—yes—in slices. I shouldn't fancy being buried in the woods +among catamounts, and panthers, and settlers hardly less savage. I +shouldn't fancy sleeping in wigwams and huts, and living on bear's flesh +and Johnny-cake; but I like <i>this</i>. I like to lie under the trees, away +out of sight and hearing of the city, yet knowing three or four hours in +the cars will bring me to it whenever I feel like going back. I like the +feeling of languid repose these still, voice<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_147" id="Page_147">[Pg 147]</a></span>less, midsummer noondays +inspire; I like to have nothing to do; and plenty of time to do it in."</p> + +<p>"What an epicure you are," said Georgia, smiling; "now it seems to me +after witnessing the ever-changing, ever-restless life in Washington and +New York, and all those other great cities, you would find our sober +little humdrum Burnfield insupportably dull. I know I should; I would +like above all things to live in a great city, life seems to be so fully +waked up, so earnest there. I <i>shall</i>, too, some day," she said, in her +calm, decided way, as she took up another pencil and went on quietly +drawing.</p> + +<p>"Indeed!" he said, slowly, watching the pebbles he sent skimming over +the water as intently as if his whole life depended on them. "Indeed! +how is that?"</p> + +<p>"Oh! I shall go to seek my fortune," she said, laughingly, yet in +earnest, too. "Do you know I am to be rich and great? 'Once upon a time +there was a king and queen with three sons, and the youngest was called +Jack.' I am Jack, and you know how well he always came out at the end of +the story."</p> + +<p>"Georgia, you are a—dreamer."</p> + +<p>"I shall be a worker one of these days. My hour has not yet come." And +Georgia hummed:</p> + +<div class="poemblock28"> +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">"I am asleep and don't waken me."<br /></span> +</div></div></div> + +<p>"What will you do when you awake, Georgia?"</p> + +<p>"What Heaven and my own genius pleases; found a colony, find a +continent, make war on Canada, run for President, teach a school, set +fire to Cuba, learn dressmaking, or set up a menagerie, with Betsey +Periwinkle for my stock in trade," she said, with one of her malicious, +quizzical laughs.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_148" id="Page_148">[Pg 148]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Georgia, talk sense."</p> + +<p>"Mr. Wildair, I flatter myself I am doing that now."</p> + +<p>"Miss Darrell, shall I tell you your future?"</p> + +<p>"I defy you to do it, sir."</p> + +<p>"Don't be too sure. Now listen. In the first place, you will get +married."</p> + +<p>"No, <i>sir-r</i>!" exclaimed Georgia, with emphasis: "I scorn the +insinuation! I am going to be an old maid, like Miss Jerusha."</p> + +<p>"Don't interrupt, Miss Darrel; it's not polite. You will marry some +sweet youth with nice curling whiskers, and his hair parted in the +middle, and you will mend his old coats, and read him the newspaper, and +trudge with him to market, and administer curtain lectures, and raise +Shanghai roosters, and take a prize every year for the best butter and +the nicest quilts in the county; and finally you will die, and go up to +heaven, where you will belong, and have a wooden tombstone erected to +your memory, with your virtues inscribed on it in letters five inches +long."</p> + +<p>"Shall I, indeed! that's all you know about it," said Georgia, half +inclined to be provoked at this picture; "no, sir; I am bound to +astonish the world some of these days—<i>how</i>, I haven't quite decided, +but I know I shall do it. As for your delightful picture of conjugal +felicity, <i>you</i> may be a Darby some day, but I will never be a Joan."</p> + +<p>"You might be worse."</p> + +<p>"And will be, doubtless. I never expect to be anything very good. Emily +Murray will do enough of that for both of us."</p> + +<p>"Emily is a good girl. Do you know what she reminds one of?"</p> + +<p>"A fragrant little spring rose, I imagine."<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_149" id="Page_149">[Pg 149]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Yes, of that, too; but she is more like the river just now as it flows +on smooth, serene, untroubled and shining, smiling in the sunshine, +unruffled and calm."</p> + +<p>"And I am like that same river lashed to a fury in a December storm," +said Georgia, with a darkening brow.</p> + +<p>"Exactly—pre-cisely! though you are quiet enough now; but as those +still waters <i>must</i> be lashed into tempests, just so certain will you—"</p> + +<p>"Mr. Wildair, I don't relish your personalities," said Georgia, with a +flushing cheek and kindling eye.</p> + +<p>"I beg your pardon—it was an ungallant speech—but I did not know you +cared for compliments. What shall I say you look like?—some gorgeous +tropical flower?"</p> + +<p>"No, sir! you shall compare me to nothing! Georgia Darrell looks like +herself alone! There! how do you like my drawing?"</p> + +<p>He took it and looked long and earnestly. It was rather a strange one. +It represented a wintry sea and coast, with the dark, sluggish waves +tossing like a strong heart in strong agony, and only lit by the fitful, +watery, glimmer of a pale wintry moon breaking through the dark, +lowering clouds above. Down on the shore knelt a young girl, her long +hair and thin garments streaming behind her in the wind, her hands +clasped, her face blanched, her eyes strained in horror far over the +troubled face of the sea on a drowning form. Far out a female face rose +above the devouring waves—<i>such</i> a face, so full of a terrible, +nameless horror, despair and utter woe as no fancy less vivid than that +of Georgia could ever have conceived. One arm was thrown up far over her +head in the death struggle, and the eyes in that strange face were +appalling to look on.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_150" id="Page_150">[Pg 150]</a></span></p> + +<p>Richmond Wildair held his breath as he gazed, and looked up in Georgia's +dark face in a sort of fear.</p> + +<p>"Georgia! Georgia!" he said, "what in Mercy's name were you thinking of +when you drew that?"</p> + +<p>She laughed.</p> + +<p>"Don't you like it, Mr. Wildair?" she said.</p> + +<p>"Like it! You're a goblin! a kelpie! a witch! an unearthly changeling! +or you would never have conjured up that blood-chilling face. Why, you +have been painting portraits! Did you know it?"</p> + +<p>"I did not when I commenced—I found I had when they were done."</p> + +<p>"And life-like portraits they are, too. That kneeling girl is Emily +Murray, though her sweet face never wore that look of wild horror you +have pictured there. And that other ghastly, agonized countenance, that +seems rent by a thousand fiends, is—"</p> + +<p>"Myself."</p> + +<p>"Oh, Georgia! what spirit possessed you to paint that awful face?"</p> + +<p>"How do I know? The spirit of prophecy, perhaps," she said, in a tone of +dark gloom.</p> + +<p>"Georgia Darrell, do you know what you deserve?"</p> + +<p>"No, sir."</p> + +<p>"Then I shall tell you. You ought to be locked in an attic, and fed on +bread and water for a month, to cool the fever in your blood."</p> + +<p>"Thank you; I would rather be excused. And now I come to think of it, it +<i>couldn't</i> have been the spirit of prophecy either that inspired me, for +your brother Charles once told me that I would never be drowned."</p> + +<p>"No? How did he know it?"<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_151" id="Page_151">[Pg 151]</a></span></p> + +<p>"He said a more elevated destiny awaited me—hanging."</p> + +<p>"What if he turns out a true prophet?"</p> + +<p>"I shall not be surprised."</p> + +<p>"You will not?"</p> + +<p>"Most certainly not. They hang people for murder, don't they?"</p> + +<p>"Well?"</p> + +<p>"Well!" she repeated, mimicking his tone, "I expect to be the death of +somebody one of these days."</p> + +<p>He knew she spoke lightly, yet suddenly there rushed to his mind the +recollection of the conversation he had once held with his brother, in +which he compared her to Lady Macbeth, and declared his belief in her +capability of committing that far-famed lady's crime. Strange that it +should come back to him so vividly and painfully then.</p> + +<p>"Well, signor," said the clear, musical voice of Georgia, breaking in +upon his reverie, "of what is your serene highness thinking so intently? +Do you fear you are to be the future victim?"</p> + +<p>"Georgia!"</p> + +<p>"I listen, mynheer."</p> + +<p>"Suppose you loved somebody very much—"</p> + +<p>"A mighty absurd supposition to begin with. I never intend to do any +such thing."</p> + +<p>"Now, Georgia, be serious. Suppose you loved some one with all your +heart, if you possess such an article, you flinty female anaconda, and +they professed to love you, and afterward deceived you, what would you +do?"</p> + +<p>"Do!" her face darkened, her eyes blazed, her lips sprung quivering +apart, her hands clenched; "do! I should BLAST them with my vengeance; I +would live for revenge,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_152" id="Page_152">[Pg 152]</a></span> I would <i>die</i> for revenge! I would track them +over the world like a sleuth-hound. I would defy even death by the power +of my own will until I had wreaked this doom on their devoted head. +Deceive me! Safer would it be to tamper with the lightning's chain than +with the heart that beats here."</p> + +<p>She struck her breast and rose to her feet <i>transformed</i>! The terrific +look that had started him in the pictured face, flamed up in her living +one now, and she stood like a young Medusa, ready to blight all on whom +her dark, scorching glance might rest.</p> + +<p>He stood appalled before her. Was she acting, or was this storm of +passion real? It was a relief to him to see one of his own servants +approaching at that moment with a letter in his hand. The presence of a +third person restored Georgia to herself, and, leaning against a tree, +she looked darkly over the smiling, shining waters.</p> + +<p>"From Charley!" was Richmond's joyful exclamation, as he glanced at the +superscription of the letter and dismissed the man who brought it. "It +is nearly six months since he wrote last, and we were all getting +seriously uneasy about him. Will you excuse me while I read it, +Georgia?"</p> + +<p>Georgia bent her head in token of acquiescence, and taking up another +piece of paper, began carelessly drawing a scaffold, with herself +hanging, to horrify her companion. So absorbed did she become in her +task, that she did not observe the long silence of her companion, until +suddenly lifting her eyes, she beheld a startling sight.</p> + +<p>With the letter clutched with a death-grip in his hand, his face livid, +his brow corrugated, his eyes fixed, his whole<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_153" id="Page_153">[Pg 153]</a></span> form rigid and +motionless, he sat with his eyes riveted on that fatal letter.</p> + +<p>In all her life Georgia had never seen the calm, self-sustained Richmond +Wildair moved, and now—oh, this was awful! She sprang to his side and +caught his arm, crying out:</p> + +<p>"Richmond! Richmond! oh, Richmond! what is the matter?"</p> + +<p>He lifted his eyes with a hollow groan.</p> + +<p>"Oh, Georgia!"</p> + +<p>"Richmond! oh, Richmond! is Charley dead?"</p> + +<p>"Dead? No! Would he were!" he said, with passionate bitterness.</p> + +<p>"Oh, Richmond, this is terrible! What has your brother—"</p> + +<p>"Brother! it is false!" he exclaimed, fiercely, springing to his feet; +"he is no brother of mine!"</p> + +<p>"Good gracious! Richmond, what has he done?"</p> + +<p>"Done!" he repeated, furiously: "he has disgraced himself, disgraced us +all—done what I will never forgive."</p> + +<p>It was the first time Georgia had ever heard him utter such language. As +a gentleman, he was not in the habit of staining his lips with +expletives, and now even <i>her</i> strong nature shrank, and she shuddered.</p> + +<p>"Oh, what has Charley done? What <i>can</i> he have done? He so frank, so +kind, so warm-hearted? Oh he cannot have committed a crime! It is +impossible," cried Georgia, vehemently.</p> + +<p>"It is <i>not</i> impossible!—lost, fallen, degraded wretch! Oh, mercy! that +I should have lived to see this day! Oh, who—who shall tell my mother +this?"<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_154" id="Page_154">[Pg 154]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Richmond, be calm—I implore you. Tell me what he has done?"</p> + +<p>"What you shall never know—what I shall never tell you!" he cried, +passionately.</p> + +<p>The color retreated from Georgia's very lips, leaving her white as +marble.</p> + +<p>"If it is murder—"</p> + +<p>"Murder! <i>That</i> might be forgiven! A man may kill another in the heat of +passion and be forgiven. Murder, robbery, arson, <i>all</i> might be +forgiven; but this! Oh, Georgia, ask me not! I feel as if I should go +mad."</p> + +<p>What had he done, what awful crime was this that had no name, before +which, in Richmond's eyes, even murder sank into insignificance?</p> + +<p>Georgia stood appalled, while Richmond, with the fatal letter crushed in +his hand, strode up and down as if he were indeed mad. Then, as his eye +fell on the familiar hand-writing, his mood changed, and he passionately +exclaimed:</p> + +<p>"Oh, Charles! Oh, my brother! Would you had died ere you had come to +this! Oh, Georgia! I loved him so! every one loved him so! and now—and +<i>now</i>!"</p> + +<p>He turned away and shaded his eyes with his hands, while his strong +chest heaved with irrepressible emotion.</p> + +<p>Every tender, womanly feeling in Georgia's heart was stirred, and she +went over and took his hand in hers, and said, gently:</p> + +<p>"Mr. Wildair, things may not be so bad as you suppose. I am sure they +are not. I could stake my soul on the innocence of Charles Wildair. Oh, +it is impossible, absurd, he can be guilty of any crime. The Charley +Wildair I once knew can never have fallen so low. Oh, Richmond, I feel +he is innocent. I <i>know</i> he is."<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_155" id="Page_155">[Pg 155]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Georgia, I thank you for your sympathy; it is my best consolation now; +but I am not deceived; <i>he is guilty</i>; he has confessed all. And now, +Georgia, I never want to hear his name mentioned again; never speak of +him to me more. I must go home now: I must be alone, for this shock has +quite unmanned me. Do not speak of this to any one. Farewell!"</p> + +<p>He pressed her hand, pulled his hat down over his eyes, and started off +in the direction of Burnfield.</p> + +<p>Lost in amaze, Georgia stood watching him until he was out of sight, and +then resumed her seat on the grass, to think over this strange scene, +and wonder what possible crime Charley Wildair had committed. It was +hard to associate with <i>any</i> crime the memory of the handsome, happy, +generous boy she remembered; but it must be so. He confessed it himself; +his brother, who passionately loved him, branded him with it; therefore +it must be so. While she sat thinking, two soft hands were placed over +her eyes, and a silky curl touched her cheek.</p> + +<p>"Emily," said Georgia, quietly, without moving.</p> + +<p>"Yes, that same small individual," said a sweet voice; and our fair +Emily came from behind her, and threw herself down on the grass by her +side.</p> + +<p>"Where did you drop from?" asked Georgia, not exactly delighted at the +interruption.</p> + +<p>"Not from the clouds, Lady Georgia. I went to the cottage, and learned +from Miss Jerusha that teacher and pupil had gone off sky-gazing and +'makin' pictures. At the risk of being <i>de trop</i>, I followed, and here I +am. Where's Monsieur le Tutor?"</p> + +<p>"Gone home," said Georgia, listlessly.</p> + +<p>"And left you here all by yourself! How shockingly<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_156" id="Page_156">[Pg 156]</a></span> ungallant! Now, I +thought better things of the lord of Richmond Hall. What do you think of +him, Georgia?"</p> + +<p>"Of whom?"</p> + +<p>"Of whom! You know well enough. Of Mr. Wildair."</p> + +<p>"I have formed no opinion on the subject."</p> + +<p>"Well, that's odd. <i>I</i> have, and I think him a splendid fellow—so +gentlemanly, and all that. I wonder what he thinks of us?"</p> + +<p>"He thinks you are a good girl, and I am a dreamer."</p> + +<p>"A good girl! Well, that's very moderate praise, blank and cool, but +just as much as I want. And you are a dreamer—I knew <i>that</i> before. +Will you ever awaken, Georgia?"</p> + +<p>"I shall have to; I never wish it, though."</p> + +<p>"Then the awakening will not be pleasant?"</p> + +<p>"No; I feel a presentiment that it will not. Oh, Emily! I am tired of my +present stagnant life; and yet, sometimes I wish I might never be +anything but a 'dreamer of dreams,' without even realizing how <i>real</i> +life is. I wish I were now like you, my little Princess Frostina."</p> + +<p>"You and I can never be alike—never, Georgia; every element in our +nature is as essentially different as our looks. You are a blaze of red +sky-rockets, and I am a little insignificant whiff of down."</p> + +<p>"No indeed; you are a good, lovable girl, with a warm heart, a clear +head, and a cool temper, who will lead a happy life, and die a happy +death. But I—oh, Emily, Emily! what is to be my fate?"</p> + +<p>She spoke with a sort of cry, and Emily started and gazed on her with a +troubled, anxious face.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_157" id="Page_157">[Pg 157]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Oh, Georgia, what is the matter? <i>Dear</i> Georgia! what is the matter? +You look so dark, and strange, and troubled."</p> + +<p>"I am out of spirits—a bad fit of the blues, Em," said Georgia, trying +to smile. "I am a sort of monomaniac, I think; I do not know what is the +matter with me. I wish I were away from here; I grow fairly wild at +times. Emily, I shall <i>die</i> if I stay here much longer."</p> + +<p>All that day something lay on her heart like lead. Perhaps it was the +memory of that mysterious letter, and Charley's guilt, and his brother's +anguish, that weighed it down. Miss Jerusha had long ago given up +wondering at anything her eccentric <i>protegee</i> might see fit to do; but +when all day long she saw her sit, dark and silent, with folded hands, +at the window, gazing at the ever-restless, flowing river, she <i>did</i> +wonder what strange thoughts were passing through her young heart, or, +to use her own expression, what had "come to her." Fly gave it as her +opinion, it was only a "new streak," in the already sufficiently +"streaked" character of her young mistress. And Betsey Periwinkle, +wondering too, but maintaining a discreet silence on the subject, came +purring round her, while her more demonstrative offspring leaped into +her lap and held up her head for her customary caress.</p> + +<p>Unheeding them all, Georgia went early to her room, and leaning her head +on her hand, gazed languidly out. The soft evening breeze lifted the +damp, shining braids of her dark hair, and kissed softly her grave, +beautiful face, and the evening star rose up in solemn beauty, and shone +down into the dark eyes fixed so earnestly on the far-off horizon that +seemed her prison wall. And Georgia looked<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_158" id="Page_158">[Pg 158]</a></span> up, and felt a holy calm +steal into her heart, and forgot all her somber fancies, and her high +heart-beating grew still in gazing on the trembling beauty of that +solitary star.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XI" id="CHAPTER_XI"></a>CHAPTER XI.</h2> + +<h3>SOMETHING NEW.</h3> + +<div class="poemblock34"> +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">The faltering speech, and look estranged,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Voice, step, and life, and beauty changed;<br /></span> +<span class="i0">She might have marked all this and known<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Such change is wrought by love alone.—<span class="smcap">Moore.</span><br /></span> +</div></div></div> + +<div class="drop"> +<img src="images/illo_t.png" alt="T" width="100" height="100" class="cap" /> +<p class="cap_1"> +here were great doings going on up at the "house." All Burnfield was in +a state of unprecedented excitement about it. The last Presidential +election, the debut of the new school-marm, or even the first arrival of +the locomotive at the Burnfield Railway depot, had not created half such +a sensation. Marvelous tales ran like wild-fire through the town, of +carpets, of fine velvets, as Mrs. Tolduso, the gossip-in-chief, called +it; of mirrors reaching from floor to ceiling in dazzling gilt frames; +of sofas, and couches, and lounging-chairs, and marble-topped tables, +and no end of pictures, and statues, and upholstery, and "heaps, and +heaps of other things—oh! most splendid," said Mrs. Tolduso; "sich as +must have cost an awful sight of money."</p></div> + +<p>Then workmen came from the city, and the stately old mansion underwent a +course of painting and varnishing, until it fairly glittered; and the +grounds were altered, and fountains erected, and statues of Hebes, and +Waterbearers,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_159" id="Page_159">[Pg 159]</a></span> and Venuses rising from the sea-foam, and lions, with +fountains spouting from their mouths and nostrils, and lots of other +devices scattered everywhere. And then a prim little matron of a +housekeeper, and an accomplished cook, and an aristocratic butler, and +coquettish chambermaids in shaking gold ear-drops and pink bows, and a +dignified coachman, and two fascinating young footmen, and a delightful +old gardener, with beautiful white hair and whiskers, made his +appearance, electrifying the neighborhood, and looking down with +contempt on their open-mouthed, homespun neighbors.</p> + +<p>The people stood a great deal more in awe of the aristocratic butler, +and footman, and the rest of them, than they did of their young master, +who was never stiff and pompous, but was given to pat the children on +the head as he passed and throw them coppers, and touch his hat to the +blooming, blushing, smiling country belles, and nod with careless +condescension to their fathers and brothers. And then wild, mysterious +rumors began to fly about that the young "squire" was going to marry +some great city heiress, and bring her here to live, and those who were +so fortunate as to be graciously noticed by any of the aristocratic +flunkeys aforesaid, endeavored to "pump" them, but knowing nothing +themselves they could only shake their heads and look mysterious +unspeakable things, that said as plainly as words: "Of course we know +all, but we have too great an esteem for the young gentleman in whose +house we reside to betray his confidence;" so Mrs. Tolduso, and the rest +of her set, had to coin their own news, and were still left to their own +surmises.</p> + +<p>Miss Jerusha, albeit not given to gossiping, could not help hearing +these rumors, and the worthy spinster began<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_160" id="Page_160">[Pg 160]</a></span> to grow alarmed. She had +never realized until now the immense distance between the rich young +gentleman, Mr. Wildair, and the poor daughter of the poor actress, +Georgia Darrell, who wore her poverty as a duchess might her coronet. +Why, the very servants of the house, in their arrogance, would look down +on the village girl; the fascinating young footmen would have considered +her honored by a smile; and the chambermaids would lift their rustling +silken robes and sweep past her mouseline de laine in lofty disdain. +Georgia, the cottage girl, mistress of the great house and all those +awe-inspiring young ladies and gentlemen who did Mr. Wildair's work for +a "consideration!" Oh, Miss Jerusha, no wonder your chin drops as you +think of it, and a sigh comes whistling through your pursed-up lips like +a sough of wind in a mainsail.</p> + +<p>Then there is that rumor of that haughty young city heiress he is to +marry. Miss Jerusha groans in spirit when she thinks of it, and wishes +Georgia was not so careless about it, for the only time that young lady +had been "short" with Miss Jerusha, for ever so long, was on the +occasion of asking her opinion about the same heiress, when Georgia told +her curtly "she neither knew nor cared—Mr. Wildair and his heiresses +were nothing to her." Yes, Miss Jerusha's brilliant visions of a brown +silk dress and new straw bonnet were fast going the way of many another +brilliant vision, and she sighed again over the evanishment of human +hopes, and then consoled herself with her everlasting stocking and the +society of the Betsey Periwinkles, mother and daughter. It was true Mr. +Wildair was a daily visitor still at the cottage, but his walks with +Georgia were altogether discontinued, and the drawing lessons completely +given up.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_161" id="Page_161">[Pg 161]</a></span></p> + +<p>Miss Jerusha did not know that this was by the cold, peremptory command +of Georgia herself, and much to the dissatisfaction of the young +gentleman; but she <i>did</i> know that the vivid crimson was paling in +Georgia's cheek, the light dying out of her brilliant eyes, and the +quick, elastic spring leaving her slow footsteps; knew it and marveled +thereat. She saw, too, with suppressed indignation (for it doesn't pay +to be angry with rich people) that Richmond saw it too, and seemed +rather pleased than otherwise thereat, while Georgia was relapsing into +her first mood, and invariably froze into a living iceberg the moment +his light, firm step sounded on the threshold.</p> + +<p>All this was very puzzling to Miss Jerusha, who soon after had the +pleasure of hearing he was going to be married to somebody else—a +report which he never even contradicted. And so matters were getting +into a "pretty mess," as Miss Jerusha said; and things generally were in +a very unsatisfactory state indeed, when one day Mr. Richmond Wildair +transfixed Miss Jerusha by the polite request that she would do him the +honor of coming and looking at his house. It was all finished now, he +said, and he wanted her opinion of it.</p> + +<p>"Lor', Mr. Wildair? what do you 'spose I know 'bout your fine houses, +and your fol-de-rols and gimcracks that you've got into it. There ain't +no good in my going," said Miss Jerusha knitting away, and looking as +grim as old Father Time in the primer.</p> + +<p>"Still, my dear Miss Jerusha, I should like your opinion of it, and you +will really very much oblige me by coming," said Mr. Wildair, in tones +of suave and stately courtesy. "If you will confer this pleasure on me, +I will send my carriage for you any day you will be pleased to name."<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_162" id="Page_162">[Pg 162]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Oh, gracious, no!" ejaculated Miss Jerusha, in alarm, as the +remembrance of the dignified coachman came over her; "not for the world. +Still I <i>should</i> admire to see it, but—Georgey, what do <i>you</i> say? Do I +look fit to go?"</p> + +<p>"You may please yourself, Miss Jerusha," she said in a voice so cold and +constrained, that Miss Jerusha looked at her and shifted uneasily in her +seat.</p> + +<p>"Let me answer for Miss Darrell," broke in Richmond. "You <i>do</i> look fit +to go, and I shall consider it a direct personal hint that you do not +want to see me here any more if you refuse. If you will not visit me, I +will not visit you."</p> + +<p>"Perhaps it would have been better if you <i>never</i> had," thought Emily +Murray, who chanced to be present.</p> + +<p>"Oh, well, I s'pose I'd better," said Miss Jerusha, shifting uneasily in +her seat again; "but the fact is, Mr. Wildair, them there servants o' +yourn, are a stuck-up set, and I—"</p> + +<p>"Have no fear on that score, my dear madam," said Mr. Wildair; "my +servants will keep their proper places, and treat my guests with +becoming deference. And now, when am I to expect you?"</p> + +<p>"Well, to-morrow mornin', I guess," said Miss Jerusha, who perhaps would +not have gone but for the opportunity of humbling and snubbing the +servants, one or two of whom had sneered at her in Burnfield, by letting +them see she was the honored friend of their master.</p> + +<p>"If Miss Murray and Miss Darrell would honor me likewise by accompanying +you," he said hesitatingly.</p> + +<p>Georgia started as if she had received a galvanic shock, and a flash +like sheet-lightning leaped from her fierce eyes; but Emily touched her +hand softly, and replied, quickly, before she could speak:<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_163" id="Page_163">[Pg 163]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Thank you, Mr. Wildair; you will excuse us. Georgia, you promised to +show me that French book you were reading. Come with me now and get it."</p> + +<p>Both arose, and, passing Mr. Wildair with a slight courtesy, swept from +the room, leaving him in undisturbed possession of Miss Jerusha, but +whether to his gratification or annoyance it would have taken a profound +observer to tell, for his face wore its usual calm, unruffled +expression. But his visit was shorter than usual that day, and in half +an hour Miss Jerusha was alone.</p> + +<p>Next morning, resplendent in her still new and gorgeous "kaliker gownd," +Miss Jerusha set off for the "house." Opening the outer gate, she passed +up a magnificent shaded avenue, where her eyes were greeted and +electrified by glimpses of floral beauty hitherto unknown. Arriving at +the hall-door, Miss Jerusha plucked up spirit and gave a thundering +knock; for though there was a bell, the ancient lady knew nothing of any +such modern innovations.</p> + +<p>The unusual sound brought the two fascinating footmen and spruce +chambermaids (who up to the present had had very little to do) to the +door; and when it swung back and displayed the tall, lank form of Miss +Jerusha in her astonishing dress, a universal titter ran from lip to +lip.</p> + +<p>"Well, old lady, what can we do for you to-day?" insinuated one of the +footmen, thinking Miss Jerusha an appropriate subject to poke fun at.</p> + +<p>"Where's your master?" said Miss Jerusha, sharply.</p> + +<p>"Here, marm, this is him," said the fellow, pointing to his brother +flunkey, who stood grinning, with his hands in his pockets.</p> + +<p>"Yes, marm, I'm the high cockalorum; we hev'n't got anything for you +to-day, though."<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_164" id="Page_164">[Pg 164]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Gess you mistook the door, old lady, didn't you?" said the first, with +an insolent leer.</p> + +<p>The man's words and looks so enraged Miss Jerusha that, lifting her +hand, she gave him a slap in the face that sent him reeling half way +across the hall.</p> + +<p>"Why, you old tramp," exclaimed the other, making a spring at the +undaunted Miss Jerusha, when an iron grasp was laid on his collar, and +he was hurled to the other side of the long hall, and his master's voice +exclaimed:</p> + +<p>"You insolent puppy! if I ever hear you address any one in this style +again, I'll not leave a whole bone in your body. Miss Jerusha, I beg ten +thousand pardons for having exposed you to the insolence of these +rascals, but I will take care it never happens again. Here, you +fellows," said Richmond, turning round; but the hall was deserted, and +he and Miss Jerusha were alone.</p> + +<p>"Never mind, Mr. Wildair," said Miss Jerusha, delighted at their +discomfiture, "it ain't no matter; I guess they got as good as they +brought, sir! What a big house this is, to be sure."</p> + +<p>But when Miss Jerusha was led through it, and all its wonders and +hitherto undreamed-of grandeur were revealed to her amazed eyes, speech +failed her, and she stood astounded, transfixed, and awe-struck. Never +in all her wildest visions, had she conjured up any thing like this, and +she held her breath, and trod on tiptoe, and spoke in a stilled whisper, +and wondered if she were not in an enchanted land, instead of simply in +the sumptuous drawing rooms, boudoirs, and saloons of the "house."</p> + +<p>Richmond watched her with an amused smile, and when she had been +"upstairs, and downstairs, and in my lady's chamber," he insisted on her +taking off her bonnet and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_165" id="Page_165">[Pg 165]</a></span> shawl, and staying for dinner. So he rang the +bell, and ordered the servant to serve dinner an hour earlier than +usual, and send up Mrs. Hamm, the housekeeper. And in a few minutes, +Mrs. Hamm, a very grand little woman indeed, in a black satin dress, and +gold watch, and dainty little black lace cap, swept in, and was +introduced to Miss Skamp, who felt rather fluttered by the ceremony, and +would have given a good deal to have been back in her cottage just then, +scolding Fly and kicking Betsey Periwinkle. But Mrs. Hamm was a discreet +little lady, and had heard the episode of the two footmen, and was +intensely gracious and polite—so much so, indeed, that it seriously +discomposed Miss Jerusha, who made a thousand blunders during dinner, +and did not breathe freely until she was fairly on her way home again, +in the carriage, too, for Mr. Wildair would not hear of her walking +back.</p> + +<p>That was a triumph for Miss Jerusha Glory Ann Skamp! Here was an +eminence she had never dreamed of attaining! Driving through her native +town, amid the wondering eyes of all the inhabitants crowding to every +door and window, in the magnificent carriage, with silk velvet cushions, +drawn by two beautiful horses in silver-mounted harness, and driven by a +gentleman looking like a lord bishop at the very least.</p> + +<p>Oh! it was too much happiness! She the descendant of many Skamps, to be +thus honored! What would her ancient "parients" say, could they look out +of their graves and behold this glorious sight? Wouldn't she be looked +up to in Burnfield for the future, and wouldn't she carry her head high +though! Why, not one in all Burnfield but Mr. Barebones, the parson, had +been invited to dine with the "Squire," and neither Mrs. nor Miss +Barebones had ever<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_166" id="Page_166">[Pg 166]</a></span> seen, much less riden in, his carriage. That was the +red-letter day in all Miss Jerusha's life. She was sorry, <i>very</i> sorry, +when the carriage drew up before her own door, and the dignified +coachman, touching his gold-banded hat to her, drove off, and left her +with a heart swelling high with pride and exultation, to enter her +dwelling.</p> + +<p>She found Georgia sitting in her favorite seat by the window commanding +a view of the river, a book lying listlessly between her fingers, her +eyes on the floor, her thoughts far away—far away. Miss Jerusha +entered, dropped into a seat, and then began a glowing harangue on the +glories and splendor of Richmond House.</p> + +<p>Georgia moved her chair, turned her head aside, and listened like one +deaf and dumb. Long and eloquently did the old lady expatiate on its +beauties and pomp, but Georgia answered never a word.</p> + +<p>"Ah! that heiress, or whatever gets him, will have good times of it," +said Miss Jerusha, shaking her head by way of a wind-up. "What do you +think, Georgia, but I asked him if he was really a-goin' to be married."</p> + +<p>There was no reply; but Miss Jerusha was too full of her subject to mind +this, and went on:</p> + +<p>"Says, I, 'I hear you're a-goin' to be married, Mr. Wildair,' and he +larfs. 'Is it true?' says I, and he nods and begins eatin' peaches, and +larfs again. 'To a heiress?' says I. 'Yes, to an heiress—'mensely +rich,' says he. 'That's what I am a-goin' to marry her for.' 'Marry her +for her money!' says I; 'oh, Mr. Wildair, ain't you ashamed?' 'No,' says +he, larfing all the time, and giving me one of those queer looks out of +them handsome eyes of his'n. 'Well, you ought for to be,' says I, rail +mad. 'Is she good-looking?' says I. 'Beautiful,' says he; 'the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_167" id="Page_167">[Pg 167]</a></span> +handsomest gal you ever seen.' 'I don't believe it! I don't believe it!' +says I. 'She <i>couldn't</i> be handsomer than my Georgie, no how; it's clean +onpossible,' says I."</p> + +<p>As if she had received a spear-thrust, Georgia sprang to her feet and +turned upon Miss Jerusha such a white face and such fiercely blazing +eyes that the good lady recoiled in terror, and the word died on her +lips.</p> + +<p>"<i>Did you dare?</i>" she exclaimed, hoarsely.</p> + +<p>"Dare what? Oh, my dear! What hev I done, Georgia?" cried out Miss +Jerusha, in dismay.</p> + +<p>But Georgia did not reply. Fixing her eyes on Miss Jerusha's face with a +look she never forgot, she turned and left the room.</p> + +<p>"Awful sarpints! what <i>hev</i> I done?" said the dismayed Miss Jerusha. +"I'm always a doing something to make Georgey mad without knowing it. +Can't be helped. Gracious! if I only had a house like that!"</p> + +<p>All through Burnfield spread the news of the visit extraordinary, and +before night it was currently known to every gossip from one end of it +to the other that young Squire Wildair, forgetting the ancient dignity +of his house, was going to be immediately married to Georgia Darrell, +and before long this rumor reached the ears of Miss Jerusha and Mr. +Wildair himself. From the latter personage it provoked a peculiar smile, +full of quiet meaning, but Miss Jerusha hardly knew whether to be +pleased or otherwise.</p> + +<p>For her own part, she would have considered the rumor an honor; but +Georgia was so "<i>queer</i>," Miss Jerusha would not for all the world she +should hear it. Other girls might not mind such things; but she was not +like other girls, and the old maid had a vague, uneasy idea that +something terrible would be the consequence if she heard it. But<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_168" id="Page_168">[Pg 168]</a></span> +Georgia did <i>not</i> hear it. There was a quiet, conscious dignity about +her of late years that made people keep their distance and mind to whom +they were talking; and not even that most inveterate of gossips, Mrs. +Tolduso, would have been hardy enough to put the question to the haughty +reserved girl. Therefore, though Emily, and Richmond, and Miss Jerusha, +and every one over the innocent age of three years old in Burnfield, +knew all about the current report, Georgia, the most deeply interested +of all, never dreamed of its existence.</p> + +<p>And so matters were getting most delightfully complicated, and Miss +Jerusha's dreams were growing "small by degrees and beautifully less," +when, one evening, about a fortnight after her visit, Georgia, who had +been out for a walk—a very unusual thing for her of late days—came +suddenly in, so changed, so transfigured, that Miss Jerusha dropped her +knitting and opened her mouth and eyes to an alarming wideness in her +surprise. Her face was radiant, lighted, brilliant; her eyes like stars, +her cheeks glowing; she seemed to have found the fabled elixir of youth, +and life, and hope, and happiness.</p> + +<p>"Why, Georgia! <i>My-y-y</i> conscience!" exclaimed Miss Jerusha, with a +perfect shake on the pronoun in her surprise.</p> + +<p>But Georgia laughed. Miss Jerusha could not remember when she had heard +her laugh before, and the rosy color lighted up beautifully her beaming +face.</p> + +<p>"What on airth has come to you, Georgey?" exclaimed Miss Jerusha, more +completely bewildered than she had ever been before in the whole course +of her life. "Why, one would think you was enchanted or something."</p> + +<p>Again Georgia laughed. It was perfect music to hear<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_169" id="Page_169">[Pg 169]</a></span> her, and fairly +gladdened Miss Jerusha's old heart. She did not say what had "come to +her," but it was evidently something pleasant, for no face had changed +so in one hour as hers had.</p> + +<p>"Never mind, Miss Jerusha; shall I set the table for tea? Here, Betsey, +get out of the way. Come, Fly, make haste; Miss Jerusha wants her tea, I +know."</p> + +<p>"Well, gracious!" was Miss Jerusha's ejaculation, as she watched the +graceful form flitting airily hither and thither, like an embodied +sunbeam, "if that gal ain't got as many streaks as a tulip! What will be +the next, I wonder?"</p> + +<p>All tea-time Georgia was another being; and when it was over, instead of +going straight to her room, as was her fashion, she took some +needle-work that Miss Jerusha could not sew on after candle-light, and +sat down to work and talk, while Miss Jerusha sat at her work, still +digesting her astonishment, and not quite certain whether she had not +gone out of her mind.</p> + +<p>The clock struck nine. Miss Jerusha, who, from time immemorial, had made +it a point of conscience never to sit up a moment later, began folding +up her work. Georgia, who was standing with her elbow resting on the +mantelpiece, her forehead dropped upon it, and her luminous eyes filled +with a deep joy too intense for smiles, fixed on the green boughs on the +hearth, now came over, and, to the great surprise of the venerable +spinster, knelt down before her, and put her arms caressingly around her +waist.</p> + +<p>"Miss Jerusha," she said, softly, lifting her dark, beautiful eyes to +her wrinkled face.</p> + +<p>"Well, Georgey," said Miss Jerusha, in a subdued tone of wonder.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_170" id="Page_170">[Pg 170]</a></span></p> + +<p>"It is nearly six years since you first took me here to live, is it +not?" she asked.</p> + +<p>"Nearly six yes," said Miss Jerusha.</p> + +<p>"And since then I have been a very wild, wayward, disobedient girl; +repaying all your kindness with ingratitude, have I not?"</p> + +<p>"Why, Georgey!"</p> + +<p>"I have been passionate, stubborn, and willful; saucy, impertinent, and +ungrateful; I know I have, I feel it now. You were very good to take the +poor little orphan girl, who might have starved but for you, and this +was your reward. Oh, Miss Jerusha! dear, best friend that ever was in +this world, can you ever forgive me?"</p> + +<p>"Oh, Georgey!" said Miss Jerusha, fairly sobbing.</p> + +<p>"I am sorry for what I have done; say you forgive me, Miss Jerusha," +said Georgey, sweetly.</p> + +<p>"Oh, Georgey! my dear little Georgey, I <i>do</i> forgive you," and, quite +melted, Miss Jerusha sobbed outright.</p> + +<p>"Dear Miss Jerusha, how I thank you. Lay your hand on my head and say +'Heaven bless you!' I have no mother nor father to bless me now."</p> + +<p>"May the Lord in Heaven bless thee, Georgey!" and Miss Jerusha's hand, +trembling with unwonted emotion, fell on the young head bent so meekly +now, and two bright drops fell shining there, too.</p> + +<p>Georgia's beautiful arms encircled her neck, and her lips touched those +of her old friend for the <i>first time</i>, and then she was gone. And Miss +Jerusha found that there was something new under the sun.</p> + +<p>But Miss Jerusha discovered, when the morning dawned, that still another +surprise awaited her.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;"/><p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_171" id="Page_171">[Pg 171]</a></span></p> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XII" id="CHAPTER_XII"></a>CHAPTER XII.</h2> + +<h3>RICHMOND HOUSE GETS A MISTRESS.</h3> + +<div class="poemblock30"> +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">"Bride, upon thy wedding day<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Did the fluttering of thy breath<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Speak of joy or woe beneath?<br /></span> +<span class="i0">And the hue that went and came<br /></span> +<span class="i0">On thy cheek, like lines of flame,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Flowed its crimson from the unrest<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Or the gladness of thy breast?"<br /></span> +</div></div></div> + +<div class="drop"> +<img src="images/illo_b.png" alt="B" width="100" height="100" class="cap" /> +<p class="cap_1"> +reakfast was over. Georgia, blushing and smiling beneath Miss Jerusha's +curious scrutiny, had gone back to her room, and Miss Jerusha, sitting +in her low rocking-chair, was left alone with the bright morning +sunshine that lay in broad patches on the floor to the special +delectation of Mrs. and Miss Betsey Periwinkle.</p></div> + +<p>Miss Jerusha was thinking of a good many things in general, but +Georgia's unaccountable freaks in particular, when a well-known step +sounded on the threshold, and the tall, stately form of Richmond Wildair +stood before her.</p> + +<p>Miss Jerusha was always pleased to have the rich young squire visit her, +because it added to her importance in the eyes of the villagers; so she +got up with a brisk, delighted "how d'ye do," and placed a chair for her +visitor.</p> + +<p>"All alone, Miss Jerusha?" said Mr. Wildair, taking up Betsey Periwinkle +the second, who came purring politely around him, and stroking her +mottled coat.</p> + +<p>"Wall, not exactly," said Miss Jerusha. "Georgia's up stairs, for a +wonder. I'll call her down, if you like."<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_172" id="Page_172">[Pg 172]</a></span></p> + +<p>"No—never mind," said Mr. Wildair. "Miss Georgia doesn't always seem so +glad to see me that she should be disturbed now on my account."</p> + +<p>"Wall, Mr. Wildair, Georgey's <i>queer</i>; there's never no tellin' what +she'll do; if you 'spect her to do one thing you may be pretty certain +she'll do 'xactly t'other. Now, yesterday afternoon she went out as glum +as a porkypine"—Miss Jerusha's ideas of porcupines were rather +vague—"and, bless my stars! if she didn't come in a smilin' like a +basket of chips. My 'pinion is," said Miss Jerusha, firmly, "that +something's come to her; you needn't believe it if you don't like too, +but <i>I</i> do."</p> + +<p>A smile full of curious meaning broke over Mr. Wildair's face.</p> + +<p>"On the contrary, my dear madam, I <i>do</i> believe it most firmly. Not only +do I <i>think</i> something came to her yesterday, but I <i>know</i> it from +positive observation."</p> + +<p>"Hey?" said Miss Jerusha, looking up sharply.</p> + +<p>Mr. Wildair put down little Betsey Periwinkle, got up, and leaning his +arm on the mantel, with that same strange smile on his face, stood +looking down on Miss Jerusha.</p> + +<p>"What is it?" asked the old lady, with a puzzled look answering that +smile, as if he had spoken.</p> + +<p>"My dear Miss Jerusha, I have a favor to ask of you this morning, a +<i>great</i> favor, a <i>very</i> great favor, indeed," he said, with a light she +had never seen before in his handsome eyes.</p> + +<p>"Wall," said Miss Jerusha, looking most delightfully perplexed, "what is +it?"</p> + +<p>"I want you to give me something."</p> + +<p>"You do! Why, my gracious! I ain't got nothing to give you."<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_173" id="Page_173">[Pg 173]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Yes, you have; a treasure beyond all price."</p> + +<p>"Good gracious! where?" said Miss Jerusha, gazing round with a +bewildered look.</p> + +<p>"I mean—<i>Georgia</i>."</p> + +<p>"Hey!"</p> + +<p>Richmond laughed. Miss Jerusha had jumped as if she had suddenly sat +down on an upturned tack.</p> + +<p>"Miss Jerusha, Richmond House wants a mistress, and <i>I</i> want Miss +Georgia Darrell to be that mistress."</p> + +<p>"Oh, my gracious!" cried the overwhelmed Miss Jerusha, sinking back in +her chair.</p> + +<p>"You have no objections, I hope, my dear madam."</p> + +<p>"Oh, my gracious! <i>did</i> you ever?" exclaimed Miss Jerusha, appealing to +society at large. "Marry my Georgey! My-y-y conscience alive!"</p> + +<p>Richmond stood smilingly before her, running his fingers through his +glossy dark hair, waiting for her astonishment to evaporate.</p> + +<p>"You ain't in airnest, now," said Miss Jerusba, resting her chin on her +hand and peering up in his face with a look of mingled incredulity and +delight, as the faded vision of the brown silk, and the new straw bonnet +began again to loom up in the distance.</p> + +<p>"Never was so much so in my life. Come, Miss Jerusha, say I may have +her."</p> + +<p>"Why, my stars and garters! 'tain't <i>me</i> you ought for to ask, it's +Georgey. Why didn't you ask <i>her</i>?"</p> + +<p>"I have already done so. I asked her last evening."</p> + +<p>"Oh-h-h!" said Miss Jerusha, drawing in her breath, and sending out the +ejaculation in a perfect whistle of astonishment at the new light that +dawned upon her. "I<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_174" id="Page_174">[Pg 174]</a></span> see now. That's what did it! Well, I never! And +what did she say?"</p> + +<p>"She said what I want you to say—yes."</p> + +<p>"But, look here," said Miss Jerusha, to whom the news seemed a great +deal too good to be true, "how about that there heiress, you know—hey?"</p> + +<p>"What heiress?" said Richmond, with a smile.</p> + +<p>"Why, you know—that one everybody said you were a-goin' to be married +to—that one from the city."</p> + +<p>"Don't know the lady at all—never had the pleasure of seeing her in my +life, Miss Jerusha."</p> + +<p>"Well, now, it seems to me there's suthin' wrong somewhere," said Miss +Jerusha, doubtfully; "why, you told me yourself, Mr. Wildair, you were +going to marry a heiress—'mensely rich, you said. I recommember your +very words."</p> + +<p>"And so I am; but Georgia was the heiress I meant—immensely rich in +beauty, and a noble, generous heart."</p> + +<p>"Humph! poor sort o' riches to get along in the world with," said Miss +Jerusha, rather cynically. "If you meant Georgey all along, what made +you let folks think it was to somebody else—that there young woman from +the city?"</p> + +<p>Richmond laughed, and shook back his dark clustering hair.</p> + +<p>"From a rather unworthy motive, I must own, Miss Jerusha. I wanted to +make Georgia jealous, and so be sure she liked me."</p> + +<p>"Wal, I never! that tells the whole story. She <i>was</i> jealous, and that +is what made her as cross as two sticks. Well, to be sure! if it ain't +funny! he! he! he!"</p> + +<p>And Miss Jerusha indulged in a regular cachinnation<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_175" id="Page_175">[Pg 175]</a></span> for the first time +that Richmond ever remembered to hear her.</p> + +<p>"I am glad it seems to please you. Then we have your consent?"</p> + +<p>"Why, my gracious, <i>yes</i>! I hain't the least objection. I guess not. +What do <i>your</i> folks say about it?"</p> + +<p>"My 'folks' will not object. I am my own master, Miss Jerusha. I have +written to tell my mother, and I know she will not disapprove of any +step I see fit to take," said Richmond, composedly.</p> + +<p>"Well, railly! And when is it a-goin' to come off?"</p> + +<p>"What?"</p> + +<p>"Why, the weddin', to be sure."</p> + +<p>"Oh, there is no use for unnecessary delay. I spoke to Georgia on the +subject, and proposed Tuesday fortnight; but she seems to think that too +soon—in fact, was preposterous enough to propose waiting until next +year. Of course, I wouldn't listen a moment to any such proposition."</p> + +<p>"Of course not," said Miss Jerusha, decidedly, thinking of her brown +silk, which she had no notion of waiting for so long.</p> + +<p>"Do <i>you</i> think Tuesday fortnight too soon?"</p> + +<p>"Gracious, no! I can get the two dressmakers, and have everything ready +before that, quite easy."</p> + +<p>"Thank you, Miss Jerusha," said Richmond, gratefully; "and as suitable +things cannot be obtained here, one of the dressmakers you mention will +go with Mrs. Hamm to the city and procure a bridal outfit for my +peerless Georgia. Neither shall you, my dear, kind friend, be forgotten; +and, believe me, I shall endeavor to reward you for all your kindness to +my future bride. And now for my plans. Immediately after we are married +we depart for New York,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_176" id="Page_176">[Pg 176]</a></span> and remain for some time with my mother there. +We will return here and remain until the fall, when we will depart for +Washington, and there spend the winter. Next year we will probably +travel on the Continent, and after that—sufficient unto the day is the +evil thereof," he said, breaking off into a smile. "And now, if you +like, you may call Georgia; we must reason her out of this absurd notion +of postponing our marriage. I count upon your help, Miss Jerusha."</p> + +<p>So Georgia was called, and came down, looking a great deal more lovely, +if less brilliant, in her girlish blushes, and smiles, and shy timidity +than she had ever been when arrayed in her haughty pride. And Miss +Jerusha attacked and overwhelmed her with a perfect storm of +contemptuous speeches at the notion of putting off her marriage, quite +sneering at the idea of such a thing, and Richmond looked so pleading +that Georgia, half laughing, and half crying, and wholly against her +will, was forced, in self-defense, to strike her colors, and surrender. +She was so happy now, so deeply, intensely happy, that she shrank from +the idea of disturbing it by the bustle and fuss that must come, and she +looked forward shrinkingly, almost in terror, to the time when she would +be a wife, even though it were <i>his</i>. But the promise was given, and +Georgia's promises were never retracted, and so the matter was settled.</p> + +<p>That afternoon the stately little housekeeper at Richmond House was told +she was to have a mistress. Mrs. Hamm was altogether too well-bred, and +too much of a lady, to be surprised at anything in this world; yet, when +she heard her young master was going to marry a village girl, a slight, +a very slight, smile of contempt was concealed behind her delicate +lace-bordered handkerchief, but<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_177" id="Page_177">[Pg 177]</a></span> she quietly bowed, and professed her +willingness to start for New York at any moment. And the very next +morning, accompanied by the dressmaker Miss Jerusha had spoken of, she +took her departure, with orders to spare no expense in procuring the +bridal outfit.</p> + +<p>Never was there a more restless, eccentric, tormenting bride-elect than +Georgia. From being positively wild, she became superlatively wildest, +and drove Miss Jerusha and Mr. Wildair daily to the verge of desperation +for the next two weeks. She laughed at him, fled from him, refused to +take a walk with him or sing to him, and made herself generally so +provoking, that Richmond vowed she was wearing him to a skeleton, and +threatened awful vengeance at some period fast forthcoming. And Georgia +would laugh the shrill elfish laugh of her childhood, and fly up to her +room, and lock herself in, and be invisible until he had gone.</p> + +<p>Georgia wanted Emily to be her bride-maid, but when Emily heard that the +Rev. Mr. Barebones was to officiate on the occasion, she refused. +Georgia, who was not particular who performed the ceremony of "enslaving +her," as she called it, asked Richmond to allow Father Murray to unite +them; but, to her surprise, Richmond's brow darkened, and he positively +refused. Georgia was inclined to resent this at first; but then she +considered it might arise from conscientious scruples, and though she +had none of her own, yet she respected them in others, and so she +yielded, and Miss Becky Barebones, a gaunt damsel, whose looks were +faintly shadowed forth in her name, gladly consented to "stand up" with +her; while a young gentleman from the city, a brother lawyer of +Richmond's, was to perform the same office for him.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_178" id="Page_178">[Pg 178]</a></span></p> + +<p>And so old Father Time, who jogs on unrestingly and never harries for +weddings or funerals, kept on his old road, and brought the bridal +morning at last. A lovely morning it was—a gorgeous, golden September +day, with hills, and river, and valleys all bathed in a golden haze; +just the sort of a day our tropical, wild-eyed bride liked.</p> + +<p>At early morning all Burnfield was astir, and crowding toward the little +sea-side cot, to catch a glimpse of the elegant bridal carriage and +gayly decked horses, and, perhaps, be fortunate enough to obtain a peep +at the happy pair.</p> + +<p>Inside the cottage all was bustle and excitement. Out in the kitchen (to +begin at the beginning, like the writer of the "House that Jack Built,") +Fly had been ignominiously deposed, to make way for the accomplished +cook from Richmond House, who for the past week had been concentrating +his stupendous intellect on the bridal breakfast, and had brought that +<i>dejeuner</i> to a state of perfection such as the eye, nor heart, nor +palate of man had ever conceived before. There were also the two +fascinating young footmen, making themselves generally useful with a +sort of lofty condescension and dignified contempt for everything about +them, except when they met the withering eye of Miss Jerusha, and then +they wilted down, and felt themselves dwindling down to about five +inches high. There was Mrs. Hamm, in black velvet, nothing less, and so +stately, and so politely dignified, that the English language is utterly +unable to do justice to her grandeur. There was Miss Jerusha, in +rustling brown satin, her wildest dreams realized, perfectly awful in +its glittering folds, enough to strike terror into the heart of a +Zouave, with a flashing ruby<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_179" id="Page_179">[Pg 179]</a></span> brooch, and a miraculous combination of +lace and ribbons on her head, all broke out in a fiery eruption of +flaring red flowers, which were in violent contrast to her +complexion—that being, as the reader is already aware, decidedly, and +without compromise, yellow. And, lastly, there were our two friends, the +Betsey Periwinkles, looking very much astonished, as well they might, at +the sudden change that had taken place around them; and, evidently +considering themselves just as good as anybody there, they kept poking +themselves in the way, and tripping up the company generally, and the +two fascinating footmen in particular, invoking from those nice +individuals "curses, not loud but deep." There was the Rev. Mr. +Barebones, gaunt and grim in his piety; and the Rev. Mrs. Barebones, a +severe female, with a hard jaw and stony eye; and there was Mrs. +Tolduso, whom Miss Jerusha admitted just to dazzle with her brown satin; +and there were ever so many other people, until it became a matter of +doubt whether the bridal party would have room to squeeze through.</p> + +<p>In the hall stood Richmond Wildair, looking very handsome and very happy +indeed, while he waited for Georgia to descend. Mr. Curtis, his friend, +resplendent in white vest and kids, lounged against the staircase, +caressing his mustache, and inwardly raging that that flagstaff of a +Becky Barebones was to be his <i>vis-a-vis</i>, instead of sweet, blooming +little Emily Murray.</p> + +<p>Up stairs in her "maiden bower" was our Georgia, under the hands of +Emily, and Becky, and one of the spruce dressmakers, being "arrayed for +the sacrifice," as she persisted in calling it. And if Georgia Darrell, +in her plain cottage dress, was beautiful, the same Georgia in her white +silk, frosted with seed pearls, enveloped in a mist-like lace<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_180" id="Page_180">[Pg 180]</a></span> vail, and +bearing an orange wreath of flashing jewels on her regal head, was +bewildering, dazzling! There was a wild, glittering light in her +splendid oriental eyes, and a crimson pulse kept beating in and out like +an inward flame on her dark cheek, that bespoke anything but the calm, +perfect peace and joy of a "blessed bride."</p> + +<p>Was it a vague, shadowy terror of the new life before her? Was it +distrust of him, distrust of herself, or a nameless fear of the changes +time must bring? She did not know, she could not tell; but there was a +dread, a horror of she knew not what overshadowing her like a cloud. She +tried to shake it off, but in vain; she strove to strangle it at its +birth, but it evaded her grasp, and loomed up a huge misshapen thing +between her mirror and the shining beautiful image in its snowy robes +there revealed.</p> + +<p>Little Emily Murray, quite enchanting in a cloud of white muslin, and no +end of blue ribbons, kept fleeting about, hardly knowing whether to +laugh or cry, and alternately doing both. She was so glad Georgia was +going to be a great lady, and so sorry for losing the friend she loved +that it was hard to say whether the laughing or crying had the best of +it. And there, on the other side, stood Miss Barebones, as stiff and +upright as a stove-pipe, in a crisp rattling white dress and +frozen-looking white lilies and petrified rosebuds in her wiry yellow +hair, with all the piety and grimness of many generations of Barebones +concentrated in her.</p> + +<p>And now all is ready, and, "with a smile on her lip and a tear in her +eye," Emily puts her arm around Georgia's waist and turns to lead her +down stairs, where her lover so impatiently awaits the rising of his +day-star, and Miss Barebones and the trim little dressmaker follow. And<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_181" id="Page_181">[Pg 181]</a></span> +Georgia involuntarily holds her breath, and lays her hand on her breast +to still her high heart-beating that can almost be heard, and goes down +and finds herself face to face with the future lord of her destiny. And +then Emily kisses and relinquishes her, and she looks up with the old +defiant look he knows so well in his handsome young face, and he smiles +and whispers something, and draws her arm within his and turns to go in. +And then Mr. Curtis swallows a grimace, and offers his arm to Miss +Barebones, and that wise maiden gingerly lays the tips of her white kid +glove on his broadcloth sleeve, and with a face of awful solemnity is +led in, and the ceremony commences. And all through it Georgia stands +with her eyes burning into the floor, and the red spot coming and going +with every breath on her cheek, and hardly realizes that it has +commenced until it is all over, and she hears, "What God hath joined +together let no man put asunder." And then there is crowding around and +a great deal of unnecessary kissing done, and Emily and Miss Jerusha are +crying, and Mr. Curtis and Mr. Barebones, and the rest are shaking hands +and calling her "Mrs. Wildair," and then, with a shock and a thrill, +Georgia realizes she is married.</p> + +<p>Georgia Darrell is no more; the free, wild, unfettered Georgia Darrell +has passed away forever, and Georgia Wildair is unfettered no longer; +she has a master, for she has just vowed to obey Richmond Wildair until +"death doth them part." And her heart gives a great bound, and then is +still, as she lifts her eyes in a strange fear to his face, and sees him +standing beside her smiling and happy, and looking down on her so +proudly and fondly. And Georgia draws a long breath, and wonders if +other brides feel as she does, and then she tries to smile, and reply +to<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_182" id="Page_182">[Pg 182]</a></span> their congratulations, and the strange feeling gradually passes +away, and she becomes her own bright, sparkling self once more.</p> + +<p>And now they are all sitting down to breakfast, and there is a hum of +voices, and rattling of knives and forks, and a clatter of plates, and +peals of laughter, and everybody looks happy and animated, and Miss +Jerusha and Emily dry their tears and laugh too, and the fascinating +footmen perform the impossibility of being in two or three places at +once, and speeches are made, and toasts are drank, and Mr. Wildair gets +up and replies to them, and thanks them for himself and his wife. His +wife! How strange that sounds to Georgia. Then she sees through it all, +and laughs and wonders at herself for laughing; and Mr. Curtis, sitting +between Miss Barebones and Emily Murray, totally neglects the former and +tries to be very irresistible, indeed, with the latter, and Emily laughs +at all his pretty speeches, and doesn't seem the least embarrassed in +the world, and Miss Barebones grows sourer and sourer until her look +would have turned milk to vinegar; but nobody seems to mind her much. +She notices, too, that Mr. Barebones perceptibly thaws out under the +influence of sundry glasses of champagne, to that extent that before +breakfast is over he refers to the time when he first met the "partner +of his buzzum," as he styles Mrs. B., and shed tears over it. And Mrs. +Hamm, in her black velvet and black lace mits, hides a sneer in her +coffee cup at him, or at them all, and Miss Jerusha is looking at her +with so much real tenderness in her eye that Georgia feels a pang of +remorse as she thinks how ungrateful she has been, and how much Miss +Jerusha has done for her. And then she thinks of her mother, and her +brother Warren—her dear brother Warren<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_183" id="Page_183">[Pg 183]</a></span>—of whose fate she knows +nothing, and of Charley Wildair and his unknown crime, and heaves a sigh +to their memory. And then Betsey Periwinkle the second comes purring +round her, and Georgia lifts her up and kisses the beauty spot on her +forehead, and a bright tear is shining there when she lifts her head +again, and Betsey purrs and blinks her round staring eyes +affectionately, and then everybody is standing up, and Mr. Barebones, +hiccoughing very much, is saying grace, and then she is going up to her +room and finds herself alone with Miss Jerusha and Emily, who are taking +off her bridal robes and putting on her traveling-dress.</p> + +<p>And there she is all dressed for her journey, and Miss Jerusha holds her +in her arms, and is kissing her, and sobbing as if her heart would +break; and little Emily is sobbing, too, and Georgia feels a dreary, +aching pain at her heart, at the thought of leaving her forever—for +though she is coming back, they can never be the same to one another +again in this world that they are now—but her eyes are dry. And then +Miss Jerusha kisses her for the last time, and blesses her, and lets her +go, and she follows her down stairs, where Richmond awaits her, to lead +her to the carriage. And then there is more shaking of hands, until +Georgia's arm aches, and a great deal of good-bying and some more female +kissing, and then she takes her husband's arm and walks down the +graveled walk to the carriage. And on the way she wonders what kind of a +person Mrs. Wildair, Richmond's mother, may be, and whether she will +like her new daughter, and whether that daughter will like her. And now +she is sitting in the carriage, waving a last adieu, and the carriage +starts off, and she springs forward and looks after the cottage until it +is out of sight. And<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_184" id="Page_184">[Pg 184]</a></span> then she falls back in her seat and covers her +face with her hands, with a vague sense of some great loss. But that +picture she never forgets, of the little vine-wreathed cottage, with its +crowd of faces gazing after her, and Miss Jerusha and little Emily +crying at the gate. How she remembers it in after days—in those dark, +dreadful days, the shadow of whose coming darkness even then was upon +her!</p> + +<p>They are whirling away, and away. She takes her hands from her face and +looks up. They are flying through Burnfield now, and she catches a +glimpse of the stately arches and carved gables of Richmond House, her +future home, and then that, too, disappears. They are at the station, in +the cars, with a crowd of others, but she neither sees nor cares for +their curious scrutiny now. The locomotive shrieks, the bell rings, and +away and away they fly. She falls back in her seat, and Georgia has left +the home of her childhood forever.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XIII" id="CHAPTER_XIII"></a>CHAPTER XIII.</h2> + +<h3>AWAKENING.</h3> + +<div class="poemblock38"> +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">"Her cheek too quickly flushes; o'er her eye<br /></span> +<span class="i0">The lights and shadows come and go too fast,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">And tears gush forth too soon, and in her voice<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Are sounds of tenderness too passionate<br /></span> +<span class="i0">For peace on earth."<br /></span> +</div></div></div> + +<div class="drop"> +<img src="images/illo_i.png" alt="I" width="100" height="100" class="cap" /> +<p class="cap_1"> + believe the established and time-honored precedent in writing stories +is to bring the chief characters safely through sundry "hair-breadth +escapes by flood and field," annihilate the vicious, make virtue +triumphant, marry the heroine, and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_185" id="Page_185">[Pg 185]</a></span> then, with a grand final flourish of +trumpets, the tale ends.</p></div> + +<p>Now, I hope none of my readers will be disappointed if in this "o'er +true tale" I depart from this established rule. My heroine is married, +but the history of her life cannot end here. Perhaps it would be as well +if it could, but truth compels me to go on and depict the dark as well +as the bright side of a fiery yet generous nature—a nature common +enough in this world, subject to error and weakness as we all are, and +not in the least like one of those impossible angels oftener read of +than seen.</p> + +<p>Jane Eyre says a new chapter is like a new scene in a play. When the +curtain rises this time, it discloses an elegantly furnished parlor, +with pictures and lounges, and easy-chairs, and mirrors, and damask +hangings, and all the other paraphernalia of a well-furnished +room—time, ten o'clock in the morning. A cheerful fire burns in the +polished grate, for it is a clear, cold December day, and diffuses a +genial warmth through the cozy apartment.</p> + +<p>In the middle of the floor stands a little round table, with a delicate +breakfast-service of Sevres china and silver, whereon steams most +fragrant Mocha, appetizing, nice waffles, and sundry other tempting +edibles. Presiding here is a lady, young and "beautiful exceedingly," +robed in a rich white cashmere morning wrapper, confined at the slender +waist by a scarlet cord and tassels, and at the ivory throat by a +flashing diamond breastpin. Her shining jet-black hair is brushed in +smooth bands off her broad, queenly brow, and the damp braid just +touches the rounded, flushed cheek. Very handsome and stately indeed she +looks, yet with a sort of listless languor pervading her every movement, +whether she lounges back in her chair, or slowly<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_186" id="Page_186">[Pg 186]</a></span> stirs her coffee with +her small, dark hand, fairly blazing with jewels.</p> + +<p>Opposite her sits a young gentleman of commanding presence and graceful +bearing, who alternately talks to the lady, sips his coffee, and reads +the morning paper.</p> + +<p>"Do put away that tiresome paper, Richmond," said the lady, at last, +half impatiently. "I don't see what you can possibly find to interest +you in those farming details, and receipts for curing spasms in horses, +and making hens lay. Of all stupid things those country papers are the +stupidest."</p> + +<p>"Except those who read them," said the gentleman, laughing. "Well, I bow +to your superior wisdom, and obey, like a well-trained husband. And now, +what are your ladyship's commands?"</p> + +<p>"Talk," said the lady, yawning behind the tips of her fingers.</p> + +<p>"Willingly, my dear. On what subject? I am ready to talk to order at a +moment's notice."</p> + +<p>"Well, I want to know if you have given up that Washington project? Are +we to spend the winter in Burnfield?"</p> + +<p>"I think so—yes," said Richmond, slowly. "It will be better, all things +considered, that we should do so, and early in the spring we will start +on our continental tour. Are you disappointed at this arrangement, +Georgia?"</p> + +<p>"Disappointed? Oh, no, no," said Georgia, with sparkling eyes. "I am so +glad, Richmond. It seems so pleasant, and so much like home to be here, +with no strange faces around us, and all those dreadful restraints and +formalities at an end. I was <i>so</i> tired of them all in New York."<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_187" id="Page_187">[Pg 187]</a></span></p> + +<p>"And yet you used to long so ardently for life in those large cities +some time ago, Georgia. New York was a Paradise in your eyes—do you +remember?"</p> + +<p>"Oh, yes," said Georgia, laughing; "but that was because I knew nothing +about it. I was dreadfully tired of Burnfield, and longed so for a +change. 'Tis distance lends enchantment to the view,' you know, and the +anticipation was somewhat different from the reality."</p> + +<p>"You did not like the reality?"</p> + +<p>"No," said Georgia, with her usual truthful promptness.</p> + +<p>"And yet I did everything to make you happy—you never expressed a wish +that I did not gratify."</p> + +<p>Tears sprang to Georgia's eyes at the implied reproach.</p> + +<p>"Dear Richmond, I know it. It seems very ungrateful in me to talk so; +but you know what I mean. I do not like strangers, and I met so many +there; there were so many restraints, and formalities, and wearying +ceremonies to be gone through, that I used to grow almost wild +sometimes, and feel as if I wanted to rush out and fly, fly back to dear +old Burnfield again, and never leave it. And then, those ladies were all +so elegant and grand, and could keep on saying graceful nothings for +hours, while I sat mute, tongue-tied, unable to utter a word of 'small +talk,' and feeling awkward lest I should disgrace you by some dreadful +<i>gaucherie</i>. Oh, Richmond, I was so proud, and fearless, and independent +before I was married."</p> + +<p>"<i>Too</i> much so, Georgia," he interrupted, gravely.</p> + +<p>"And now," she went on, unheeding his words, save by the deeper flush of +her cheek. "I am almost timid, for your sake. When I was among all those +people in New<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_188" id="Page_188">[Pg 188]</a></span> York I did not care for myself, but I was so afraid of +mortifying <i>you</i>. I knew they used to watch Richmond Wildair's country +bride to catch her in some outlandish act; and, oh, Richmond, when I +would think of it, and find so many curious eyes watching me, as if I +were some strange wild animal, I used to grow positively nervous—I, +that never knew what nerves were before, and I used to wish—don't be +angry, Richmond—that I had never married you at all. You used to call +me an eaglet, Richmond, and I felt then like one chained and fettered, +and I think I should have <i>died</i> if you had made me stay there all +winter."</p> + +<p>There was a passionate earnestness in her voice that did not escape him, +but he answered lightly:</p> + +<p>"Died! Pooh! don't be silly, Georgia. I <i>did</i> see that you were +painfully anxious at times, so much so that you even made <i>me</i> nervous +as well as yourself. You must overcome this; you must learn to be at +ease. Remember, those are the people with whom you are to mingle for the +rest of your life—not the common folks of Burnfield."</p> + +<p>"They are a stiff, artificial set. I don't like them!" said Georgia, +impetuously.</p> + +<p>Richmond's brow darkened.</p> + +<p>"Georgia!" he said, coldly.</p> + +<p>"Perhaps it is because I have not become accustomed to my new position. +Any one suddenly raised from one sphere of life to another diametrically +opposite, must feel strange and out of place. Why, Richmond," she said, +smiling, "I am not even accustomed to that grand little housekeeper of +yours yet. Her cold, stately magnificence overwhelms me. When she comes +to me for orders, I fairly blush, and have to look at my diamonds and +silks, and recollect I am Mrs. Wildair, of Richmond House, to<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_189" id="Page_189">[Pg 189]</a></span> keep my +dignity. It is rather uncomfortable, all this; but time, that works +wonders, will, I have no doubt, make me as stiff, and solemn, and +sublimely grand, as even—Mrs. Hamm."</p> + +<p>His face wore no answering smile; he was very grave.</p> + +<p>"You are not angry, Richmond?" she said, deprecatingly.</p> + +<p>"Not angry, Georgia, but annoyed. I do not like this state of things. My +wife must be self-possessed and lady-like as well as handsome. You +<i>must</i> lose this country girl awkwardness, and learn to move easily and +gracefully in your new sphere. You <i>must</i> learn to sit at the head of my +table, and do the honors of my house as becomes one whom I have seen fit +to raise to the position of my wife."</p> + +<p>"Raise!" exclaimed Georgia, with one of her old flashes, and a haughty +lift of her head.</p> + +<p>"In a worldly point of view, I mean. Physically, mentally, and morally, +you are my equal; but in the eyes of the world, I have made a +<i>mesalliance</i>; and that world whose authority I have spurned is +malicious enough to witness with delight your rustic shyness, to call it +by no more mortifying name. Georgia, I knew from the moment I first +presented you to my mother that this explanation must come; but, knowing +your high spirit, I had too much affection for you to speak of it +sooner, and if I wound your feelings now, believe me, it is to make you +happier afterward. You are too impulsive, and have not dissimulation +enough, Georgia; your open and unconcealed dislike for some of those you +met in town made you many enemies—did you know it?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, I knew it; and this enmity was more acceptable to me than their +friendship!" flashed Georgia.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_190" id="Page_190">[Pg 190]</a></span></p> + +<p>"But not to me. It is better to have a dog fawn on you than bark at you, +Georgia. I do not say to you to like them, but you might have concealed +your <i>dis</i>like. A smile and courteous word costs little, and it might +have saved you many a bitter sneer."</p> + +<p>"I <i>cannot</i> dissimulate; I <i>never</i> dissimulated; I never did anything so +mean!" said Georgia, passionately.</p> + +<p>"There is no meanness about it, Mrs. Wildair, and you might have spared +the insinuation that I could urge you to do anything mean. Common +politeness requires that you should be courteous to all, and I hope you +will not mortify me again by any public display of your likes and +dislikes."</p> + +<p>Georgia arose impetuously from the table, and, with a burning cheek and +flashing eye, walked to the window. What words can tell of the storm +raging within her wild, proud heart, as she listened to his +authoritative tone and words?</p> + +<p>"It is necessary, too, that you should by degrees grow accustomed to +what you call your strange position," he calmly went on, "before you +enter the fashionable world at Washington, where you will make what you +may call your <i>debut</i>. For that reason, while in New York, I invited a +party of friends here to spend Christmas and New Year's, and you may +expect them here now in less than a week."</p> + +<p>She faced round as if her feet were furnished with steel springs, every +feeling of rebellion roused into life at last.</p> + +<p>"You did? And without consulting me?"</p> + +<p>"Certainly, my dear. Have I not a right to ask my friends to my house?"</p> + +<p>She laid her hand on her breast, as if to keep the storm within from +breaking forth; but he saw it in the workings of her face.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_191" id="Page_191">[Pg 191]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Come, Georgia, be reasonable," he said quietly. "I am sorry this annoys +you, but it is absolutely necessary. Why, one would think, by your looks +and actions, I was some monstrous tyrant, instead of a husband who loves +you so well that he is willing to sacrifice his own fondness for +solitude and quiet, that you may acquire the habits of good society."</p> + +<p>She did not speak. His words had wounded her pride too deeply to be +healed by his gentle tone.</p> + +<p>"Well, Georgia?" he said, after a pause.</p> + +<p>She turned her face to the window, and asked, huskily:</p> + +<p>"Who are coming?"</p> + +<p>"My mother and cousin, the Arlinfords, Mrs. Harper and her two +daughters, Colonel and Mrs. Gleason, and their two sons, Miss Reid, and +Mr. Lester."</p> + +<p>"All I dislike most."</p> + +<p>"All you dislike most, Mrs. Wildair?" he said, coolly. "What am I to +understand by that?"</p> + +<p>"What I say. I have not yet learned to dissimulate," she said, bitterly.</p> + +<p>"Really, Mrs. Wildair, this is pleasant. I presume you forget my +mother."</p> + +<p>Georgia was silent.</p> + +<p>"Am I to understand, Mrs. Wildair, that my mother is included in the +catalogue of those you dislike?"</p> + +<p>Georgia did not speak.</p> + +<p>"Mrs. Wildair," he said, calmly, "will it please you to reply? I am +accustomed to be answered when I speak."</p> + +<p>"Oh, Richmond, don't ask me. How can I help it? I tried to like your +mother, but—"</p> + +<p>Her voice choked, and she stopped.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_192" id="Page_192">[Pg 192]</a></span></p> + +<p>He went over, and lifted the face she had covered with her hands, and +looked into it with a smile.</p> + +<p>"But you failed. You did not understand each other. Well, never mind, +Georgia; you will like each other better by and by. You will have to do +so, as she is going to live with us altogether."</p> + +<p>"<i>What!</i>"</p> + +<p>"My dear, be calm. How intensely excitable you are! Certainly, she will +live here: she is all alone now, you know—she and my cousin; and is it +not natural that this should be their home?"</p> + +<p>"<i>Your cousin, too?</i>"</p> + +<p>"Of course. Why, Georgia, you might have known it. They are my only +relatives, for he who was once my brother is dead to us all. Georgia, is +it possible you hate my mother and cousin?"</p> + +<p>He spoke in a tone so surprised and grieved that Georgia was touched. +Forcing a smile, she looked up in his grave face, and said:</p> + +<p>"Oh, Richmond, I did not mean to hurt your feelings; forgive me if I +have done so. I will try to like all your friends, because they are +yours. I will try to tutor this undisciplined heart, and be all you +could wish. It startled me at first, that is all. It was so pleasant +here, with no one but ourselves, and I was so happy since our return, +that I forgot it could not always last. Yes, indeed, Richmond, I <i>will</i> +like your mother and cousin, and try to be as urbane and courteous to +all our guests as even you are. Am I forgiven <i>now</i>, Richmond?"</p> + +<p>Half an hour later, Georgia was alone in her own room, lying prostrate +on a couch, with her face buried in the cushions, perfectly still, but +for the sort of shiver that ran<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_193" id="Page_193">[Pg 193]</a></span> at intervals through her slight frame. +It was their first quarrel, or anything approaching a quarrel, and +Georgia had been crushed, wounded, and humiliated, as she had never been +before in her life. It may seem a slight thing; but in her pride she was +so acutely sensitive, that now she lay in a sort of anguish, with her +hands clasped over her heart, as if to still its tumultuous throbbings, +looking forward with a dread that was almost horror to the coming of all +those strangers, but more than all, to the coming of her husband's +mother and cousin.</p> + +<p>All that day she was changed, and was as haughty and self-possessed as +any of those fine ladies, her husband's friends. The calm, dignified +politeness of Mrs. Hamm looked like impudence to her in her present +mood, and when that frigid little lady came to ask about dinner, there +were two burning spots on Georgia's cheeks, and a high, ringing tone of +command in her voice that made Mrs. Hamm open her languid eyes in faint +amaze, which was as far as she could ever go in the way of astonishment.</p> + +<p>Late that evening, as she sat in the drawing-room, practicing her music +lesson,—for she was learning music now,—Emily Murray was announced, +and the next moment, bright, breezy, smiling, and sunshiny, she came +dancing in, like an embodied sunbeam.</p> + +<p>"Mother's been over spending the afternoon with Miss Jerusha," said +Emily, "and I felt so lonesome at home that I overcame my awe of +Richmond House and its grand inmates, and thought I would run up and see +you. Hope, like Paul Pry, I do not intrude?"</p> + +<p>Georgia's reply was a kiss. She had been feeling so sad all day that her +heart gave a glad bound at sight of Emily.</p> + +<p>"Why, what's the matter, Georgie? You look pale and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_194" id="Page_194">[Pg 194]</a></span> troubled. What has +happened?" said Emily, her affectionate eyes discovering the change in +her friend's tell-tale face.</p> + +<p>"Nothing; at least, not much. I am a little out of spirits to-day; +everyone is at times," said Georgia, with a faint smile. "My moods were +always changeable, you know."</p> + +<p>"Well, I hope you will not acquire that anxious, worried look most +housekeepers wear," said Emily, gayly. "You have it exactly now, and it +quite spoils your beauty. Come, smile and look pleasant, and tell me all +about your journey to New York. Did you have a good time?"</p> + +<p>"Yes," said Georgia, coloring slightly; "I enjoyed myself pretty well. +We went to the theater and opera almost every night, and I went to a +great many parties of one kind and another. But Burnfield's <i>home</i> after +all, and there was no Emily in New York city."</p> + +<p>"Flatterer!" said Emily, laughing; "and did you see Mr. Wildair's +relatives there, too?"</p> + +<p>"Yes," said Georgia, in a changed tone. "He has no relatives but his +mother and a certain Miss Richmond, a cousin of his, and an orphan."</p> + +<p>"You forget his brother—our old friend Charley?"</p> + +<p>"He is not at home now—I have not even heard his name mentioned for +many a day."</p> + +<p>"Indeed?" said Emily, surprised. "How is that? I feel an interest in +him, you know," she added, laughing; "he was so handsome, and droll, and +winning—twice as nice, with reverence be it said, as your grave, +stately liege lord."</p> + +<p>"Well, it appears he did something. I never heard what, but Richmond +says he disgraced the family, and they<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_195" id="Page_195">[Pg 195]</a></span> have disowned him. What his +fault is I do not know, but one of the effects of it is, that he has +lost the inheritance Squire Richmond left him. You see the way it was, +my husband inherited all the landed property and half the bank stock, +and Charley the remaining half. Not a very fair division, you will say; +but as Richmond bore the family name, and was more after his uncle's +heart than his wilder brother, the old gentleman saw fit to leave him +most. As the bank stock was large, however, Charley's fortune was no +trifle; but to it certain conditions were annexed, namely: that he +should marry this young lady cousin, Miss Richmond, and take the family +name before he went abroad. Charley only laughed at it, and declared his +perfect willingness to marry 'Freddy'—her name is Fredrica—who would +be handy to have about the house, he said, to pull off his boots, sew on +buttons, and sing him to sleep of an afternoon. Miss Richmond, on her +part, made no objection, and that matter seemed settled; but whatever he +has done, it has completely broken up the whole affair, and his share +comes to Richmond along with his own. So, my dear little snow-flake, +that is all I know of your handsome Charley," concluded Georgia, with +her own bright smile.</p> + +<p>"It is all very strange," said Emily, musingly; "and I cannot realize +that the gay, careless, but ever kind youth that we knew, and whom +everybody loved, has become fallen and degraded, as all this would seem +to imply. What sort of a person is this Miss Richmond he was to marry?"</p> + +<p>Georgia's beautiful lip curled with a scorn too intense for words.</p> + +<p>"She is a—But, as I cannot tell my impressions of her without speaking +ill of the absent, I will be silent. In a<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_196" id="Page_196">[Pg 196]</a></span> few days you will have a +chance to see her for yourself, as she is coming here to live."</p> + +<p>"Indeed!" said Emily, slowly, fixing her eyes anxiously on Georgia's +face—"indeed! Would you not be happier without her?"</p> + +<p>"That is not the question," said Georgia, in a tone of reserve, for she +was too proud to let even Emily know how much she disliked this visit; +"it will not do for Richmond and me to make hermits of ourselves +altogether, you know, so a large party from the city are coming here to +spend Christmas. And, Emily, I want <i>you</i> to come too; they are all more +or less strangers to me, and it will be such a comfort to look on your +dear, familiar face when I grow tired of playing the hostess to all +those grand folks. Say, little darling, will you come?"</p> + +<p>The dark eyes were raised with such a look of earnest entreaty to her +face that Emily stooped down and kissed the pleading lips before she +answered.</p> + +<p>"Dear Georgia, I cannot; I would not be happy among so many strangers—I +should feel like a fish out of water, you know. We can meet often when +no strange eyes are looking on; they would not understand us, nor we +them, Georgia. And now, good-by; Uncle Edward is coming to tea, so I +must hurry home."</p> + +<p>She was gone. The airy little form and bright face flashed out of the +door, and Georgia felt as if all the sunshine in that grand, cold room +had gone with her. Impatiently she rose from the piano, and with a +rebellious rising in her heart, walked to the window and looked out with +a darkening brow.</p> + +<p>"She shrinks from meeting this crowd—so do I. She need not meet them, +but I have to—I must. Oh! hateful<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_197" id="Page_197">[Pg 197]</a></span> word. If there was a single bond of +sympathy between me and one of them—but there is not. They come here to +criticise and sneer at Richmond Wildair's country bride—to have a good +subject to laugh over when they go back to the city. Richmond says I am +morbid on this subject, but I am not. And that cousin, too—that smooth +silvery-voiced, oily little cheat. Oh! why, why did he invite her here? +I hate her—I loathe her. I shrank from her the moment I first saw her, +with her snake-like movements and fawning smile. And she is to live +here; to spy upon me night and day; to drive me wild with her cringing +servility, hiding her mockery and covert sneers. I think I could get +along with his mother, with all her open scorn and supercilious +contempt; galling as it is, it is at least open, and not mean, prying +and treacherous; but this horrid, despicable cousin that I loathe even +more than I hate—oh! I dread her coming; I shrink from it; it makes my +flesh creep to think of it. Oh, Richmond! if you knew how I detest this +earthworm of a cousin, would you ever have invited her here? Yes, I know +he would. I feel he would. He would be shocked, horrified, indignant, if +he knew how I feel on the subject; so he shall never know. He would +think it my duty to overcome this sinful feeling, and insist upon my +being doubly kind to her to atone for it. He likes her—so does his +mother—so does every one else; they believe in her silky smile, her +soft, treacherous voice, and cat-like step, and mean, underhand fawning; +but I—I see through her, and she knows it. She dislikes me. I saw that +through all her cringing, officious attentions and professions of +affection, and only loathed her the more.</p> + +<p>"Oh!" cried Georgia, pacing up and down the room, "this is, indeed, +awakening from my delusive dream.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_198" id="Page_198">[Pg 198]</a></span> Perhaps I am too sensitive—Richmond +says I am; but I cannot help feeling so. I was so perfectly happy since +our return, but now it is at an end. Our delicious solitude is to be +invaded by those cold, unsympathizing worldlings, who come here to +gratify their curiosity and see how the awkward country girl will do the +honors of stately Richmond country-house. Oh! why am <i>I</i> not sufficient? +Why need he invite all these people here? But I forget they are his +friends; they are to him what Emily Murray is to me. Dear, loving, happy +little Emily! with her calm, seraphic eyes, and pure, serene brow. +<i>What</i> is the secret of her inward happiness? How different she is from +me; even in childhood none of those storms of passion agitated her, that +distracted my tempestuous youth. Can it be that Christianity, in which +she so implicity believes, has anything to do with this perfect peace? +<i>Is</i> there a heaven?" she said, going back to the window and looking +gloomily out. "Sometimes I have doubted it; and yet there <i>ought</i> to be. +Our best happiness in this world is so short, so feverish, so fleeting, +and the earthly strife is so long, and wearisome, and sorrowful, that we +need perfect rest and peace somewhere. Two short months ago I was so +happy—oh, <i>so</i> happy!—and now, at this first slight trial, my heart +lies like lead in my bosom. How false the dazzling glitter of this world +is!"</p> + +<p>And, as if involuntarily, she murmured the beautiful words of Moore:</p> + +<div class="poemblock30"> +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">"This world is all a fleeting show,<br /></span> +<span class="i2">For man's illusion given;<br /></span> +<span class="i0">The smiles of joy, the tears of woe<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Deceitful shine, deceitful flow,<br /></span> +<span class="i2">There's nothing true but Heaven."<br /></span> +</div></div></div> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_199" id="Page_199">[Pg 199]</a></span></p> + +<p>There was an unusual shadow on little Emily Murray's face too, that day, +as she went home. She was thinking of Georgia. The eyes of affection are +not easily blinded, and she saw that under all her proud, reserved +exterior, her friend was unhappy.</p> + +<p>"I know she dreads the coming of all those people from the city, Uncle +Edward," she said that evening to Father Murray, as she sat busily +sewing at the table.</p> + +<p>"Poor child!" said the kind old clergyman. "I feared from the first this +marriage would not contribute much to her happiness. Not that it is Mr. +Wildair's fault; he means well, and really does all for the best; but +your friend, Emily, is peculiar. She is morbidly proud and intensely +sensitive, and has a dread amounting to horror of being ridiculed. +People of her nature are rarely, if ever, perfectly happy in this world; +they are self-torturers, and their happiness comes in flashes, to be +succeeded by deeper gloom than before. Georgia always was in extremes; +she was either wildly, madly, unreasonably joyful, or else wrapped in a +dark, sullen gloom that nothing could alleviate."</p> + +<p>The next three days Emily was not up at the Hall, but on the fourth +afternoon she started to see Georgia. The train from the city had just +reached Burnfield station, and two large sleighs, filled with ladies and +gentlemen, were dashing up amid the jingling of bells and peals of +silvery laughter toward Richmond House.</p> + +<p>Emily paused and watched them until they disappeared up the avenue, and +then, as she was about to turn away, she saw Mrs. Hamm, cloaked and +hooded, advance toward her.</p> + +<p>"Good-afternoon, Miss Murray," said the stately little<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_200" id="Page_200">[Pg 200]</a></span> dame, in a tone +of lofty courtesy that would have become a duchess.</p> + +<p>"Good-afternoon, Mrs. Hamm," said Emily, pleasantly; "I see you have +visitors up at the house."</p> + +<p>"Yes, friends of Mr. Wildair's, from New York—his mother, and cousins, +and others—quite a large party. Excuse me, this is my way. Good-day, +Miss Emily."</p> + +<p>What inward feeling was it that made Emily turn and send such a look of +pity up at the window of Georgia's room?</p> + +<p>"Poor Georgia!" she said, as she turned away, feeling, she hardly knew +why, a most uncomfortable sinking of her heart at the thought of her +sensitive young friend amid all those unsympathizing strangers. "Poor +Georgia! Poor Georgia!"</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XIV" id="CHAPTER_XIV"></a>CHAPTER XIV.</h2> + +<h3>A DREAM COMING TRUE.</h3> + +<div class="poemblock34"> +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">"I had a dream which was not <i>all</i> a dream."</span> +</div></div></div> +<p style="margin-left: 65%;"><span class="smcap">Byron.</span></p> + +<div class="poemblock34"> +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">"And we saw Medea burning<br /></span> +<span class="i0">At her passion-planted stake."</span> +</div></div></div> +<p style="margin-left: 65%;"><span class="smcap">Browning.</span></p> + +<div class="drop"> +<img src="images/illo_r.png" alt="R" width="100" height="100" class="cap" /> +<p class="cap_1"> +ichmond House at last was full of guests; every room was filled; peals +of laughter, and silvery voices of ladies, and the deeper tones of +gentlemen, made music through the long silent house, and scared the +swallows from their homes in the eaves. The idle servants had enough to +do now, and were tearing distractedly up stairs and down stairs, and +here,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_201" id="Page_201">[Pg 201]</a></span> and there, and everywhere with a terrible noise and clatter, and +all was gay bustle and lively animation.</p></div> + +<p>Georgia, superb as a young empress, in purple satin, with a brilliant +flush on her cheek, and a streaming light in her eyes, had never looked +so handsome as that day when she received and welcomed her husband's +guests. And when this ceremony was over, they were shown to their rooms +to dress for dinner, and Richmond, with a gratified smile, congratulated +her on the elegant manner in which she had performed her part. Georgia +listened, and her cheek flushed deeper, and her eye grew brighter as she +replied to his smile with one that made her face fairly radiant, and +inwardly resolved that to merit his approbation, she <i>would</i> try to +dissimulate, and try to be amiable and courteous to all, even to the +detestable Miss Richmond.</p> + +<p>The great dining-room of Richmond House was all ablaze that evening, and +the long table fairly glittered and flashed with its wealth of massive +silver and cut-glass; and around it gathered all the gay guests from the +city, and not a lady among them all was half so handsome or brilliant as +the dark, bright girl, in her rich sheeny dress, who sat at the head of +the table and did the honors.</p> + +<p>A very select party they were whom Richmond Wildair had invited. There +was Colonel Gleason, a tall, pompous-looking gentleman; and Mrs. +Gleason, a stiff, frigid lady, not unlike Mrs. Hamm; then there was a +Mrs. Harper, a buxom, jolly-looking matron; and her two daughters, +dashing, stylish-looking girls, who had never been guilty of a blush in +their lives. There, too, was Miss Reid, a silent, languid, +delicate-looking young lady, reminding one of a fragile wax japonica; +and a Mr. Lester, one of those irresistible bipeds known as "Broadway +swells," who never<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_202" id="Page_202">[Pg 202]</a></span> pronounced the letter R. and had the nicest little +bits of feet and hands in the world. There was Lieutenant Gleason, the +Colonel's eldest son, remarkable for nothing but a ferocious mustache +and a pair of long and slender legs; and there was Mr. Henry Gleason, a +youth of eighteen, who stared at the company generally through an +eye-glass, and gave it as his opinion that there never was such a rum +old house, or such a jolly stupid old place as Burnfield in the world +before. There was Miss Arlingford, a pale, dark-eyed, pleasant-looking +girl, and her brother, Captain Arlingford, a handsome, dashing young +sailor—frank, off-hand, and brave, as all sailors are. And last, but by +no means least, there was Mr. Dick Curtis, who on a certain interesting +occasion had "stood up" with Richmond, and now, resplendent in a white +vest and excruciating neck-tie, was making most anxious inquiries about +our friend Emily Murray, about whom he said his private opinion, +publicly expressed, was, that she was a "real nice girl—a regular +stunner, sir, and no mistake!"</p> + +<p>"Aw—should like to see her—weally," lisped Mr. Lester; "this heaw +Burnfield seems so good at that sort of thing, you know—waising +handsome gals, eh?" And the exquisite glanced with what he fancied to be +an unmistakable look at his hostess, whose haughty lip, in spite of +every effort, curled while meeting Captain Arlingford's laughing eye; +she had to smile, too.</p> + +<p>"I say, Lester," called Mr. Henry Gleason from across the table, "that +must have been the little beauty we saw standing in the road as we drove +up. By Jove! she was a <i>screamer</i>, a regular out-and-outer, a tip-top, +slap-up girl," said the youth, enthusiastically.</p> + +<p>"Henry, my dear," said his mother, looking shocked,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_203" id="Page_203">[Pg 203]</a></span> "how <i>can</i> you use +such dreadful language? 'Slap-up!' I'm really astonished at you!"</p> + +<p>"Well, so she <i>was</i> slap-up!" reiterated Master Henry, determinedly, +"nothing shorter. Ask our Tom, or Lester, or any of the fellows, if you +don't believe me."</p> + +<p>"A true bill, Harry," replied his brother Tom, the hero of the ferocious +moustache. "I say, Wildair, you'll have to present us."</p> + +<p>"Couldn't, my dear fellow," said Mr. Wildair, laughing; "little Emily +would fly in terror at sight of your gold lace and sword-knot. No chance +of getting up a flirtation with <i>her</i>."</p> + +<p>"Aw—couldn't expect anything bettah from a wustic; they ah not wuth the +time spent in flirting, you know," drawled Mr. Lester, sipping his wine.</p> + +<p>Georgia gave a sudden start, and, had looks the power to kill, poor +obtuse Mr. Lester would never have murdered the king's English again. +Glances were exchanged, and one or two malicious smiles curled sundry +female lips. The gentleman looked down at their plates, and Richmond's +mouth grew stern. Not one present but felt the words, save the noodle +who had spoken, and that fast youth, Master Henry Gleason.</p> + +<p>"Curtis is a goner, anyhow," said Master Henry, breaking the awkward +silence; "he turned as red as a boiled lobster the moment he clapped his +eyes on her. Eh, Curtis, you're a gone case, ain't you?"</p> + +<p>"It's no use though, my dear fellow," said Richmond, recovering his +bland look; "my little friend, Emily, wouldn't have you if you were +President of the United States. Isn't that so, Georgia?" he said, gayly, +appealing to his wife, who was conversing with Miss Arlingford and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_204" id="Page_204">[Pg 204]</a></span> her +brother, the only two whom she did not positively dislike.</p> + +<p>"I really do not know," she said, gravely, for she did not exactly +relish this free use of Emily's name.</p> + +<p>"And why, Wildair?" said Curtis, so earnestly that all laughed.</p> + +<p>"Simply, my dear fellow, because you and she have antagonistic views on +many subjects."</p> + +<p>A change of theme was soon after effected by the ladies rising and +seeking the drawing-room. There they dispersed themselves in various +directions. The eldest Miss Harper sat down at the piano, in the hope of +attracting the attention of Miss Arlingford, whom she professed a strong +attachment for, on the principle of "let me kiss her for her brother," +to change the song a little. But Miss Arlingford, who had taken a deep +interest in the proud young lady of the house, sat down beside her and +began to converse. The rest gathered in groups to chat or listen to the +music, or turn over prints, until the entrance of the gentlemen—for +which they had not to wait long, as that fast young scion of the house +of Gleason had moved a speedy adjournment to the drawing-room, +pronouncing the talk over the "walnuts and the wine" awfully slow +without the girls. And immediately upon their entrance Master Henry +crossed over to where Georgia and Miss Arlingford sat, and drawing up an +ottoman, deposited himself at their feet, and began opening a +conversation with his young hostess, whom, he had informed Captain +Arlingford, he considered the greatest "stunner" he had ever seen in his +life, and that, in spite of all people said about it, his opinion was +that Rich Wildair had showed his good taste and good sense by marrying +her.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_205" id="Page_205">[Pg 205]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Where's the other Mrs. Wildair—the dowager duchess, you know?" he +said, by way of commencing.</p> + +<p>"In her room," replied Georgia, with a smile. "She was rather fatigued +after her journey, and would not come down to dinner. She will grace the +drawing-room by her presence by and by."</p> + +<p>"Horridly easily fatigued she must be," said Henry, who was one of those +favored individuals who can say and do anything they like without giving +offense. "Freddy Richmond's with her, I suppose?"</p> + +<p>"Yes; she would not leave her aunt. Both will be here very shortly," +replied Georgia.</p> + +<p>Even as she spoke the drawing-room door opened, and a tall, +hard-featured, haughty-looking, elderly lady entered, leaning on the arm +of a small, wiry girl with little keen gray eyes, and hair which her +friends <i>called</i> auburn, but which <i>was</i> red, and very white teeth, +displayed by a constant, unvarying smile. A smiling face ought to be a +pleasant one, but this freckled one was not. There was a cringing, +fawning, servility about her which made most people, except those fond +of flattery and adulation, distrust her, and which fairly <i>sickened</i> +Georgia.</p> + +<p>"Speak of the—," began Henry, sinking his voice <i>pianissimo</i>, and +concluding the sentence to himself.</p> + +<p>Georgia arose, and almost timidly approached them, and inquired of the +elder lady if she felt better. Mrs. Wildair opened her eyes and favored +her with a stare that was downright insolent; and then, before her slow +reply was formed, Miss Freddy Richmond took it upon herself to answer, +with a fawning smile:</p> + +<p>"Thank you, yes—quite recovered. A night's rest will perfectly restore +her."<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_206" id="Page_206">[Pg 206]</a></span></p> + +<p>Georgia turned her flashing eyes down on the smiling owner of the ferret +optics and red hair, and a hot "I did not address myself to you—speak +when you are spoken to," leaped to her tongue; but Georgia was learning +to restrain herself since her marriage, and so she only bit her lip till +the blood started, at the open slight.</p> + +<p>"Can we not get on, Fredrica?" said Mrs. Wildair, impatiently.</p> + +<p>Georgia was standing before them, and now Miss Freddy, with her silkiest +smile, put out her hand—a limp, moist, sallow little member—and gave +her a slight push saying:</p> + +<p>"Will you be kind enough, Georgia" (she had called her by her Christian +name from the first, as if she had been a maid-of-all-work), "and let us +pass. I see Mrs. Colonel Gleason over there, and Mrs. Wildair wants to +join her."</p> + +<p>Richmond, standing over Miss Harper, who was deafening the company with +one of those dreadful overtures from "Il Trovatore," had not witnessed +this little scene. Indeed, had he, it is probable he would have observed +nothing wrong about it; but the gesture, the tone, and the insolent +look—half supercilious, half contemptuous—that accompanied it, sent a +shock through Miss Arlingford, brought a flush to her brother's cheek, +and even made Master Henry mutter that it was a "regular jolly shame."</p> + +<p>They brushed past Georgia as if she had been the housemaid, and she was +left standing there before those who had witnessed the direct insult. +Her head was throbbing, her face crimson, and her breath came so quick +and stifled that she laid her hand on her chest, feeling as though she +should suffocate. She forgot the curious eyes bent upon her—some in +compassion, some in gratified malice<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_207" id="Page_207">[Pg 207]</a></span>—she forgot everything but the +insult offered her by the worm she despised. With one hand resting on +the table to steady herself, for her brain was whirling, and with the +other pressed hard on her bosom, she stood where they had left her, +until Miss Arlingford arose, and taking her arm, said, kindly:</p> + +<p>"The heat has made you ill, Mrs. Wildair; allow me to lead you to a +seat."</p> + +<p>She did not resist, and Miss Arlingford conducted her to a remote seat +somewhat in the shadow, if such a thing as shade it could be called in +that brilliantly lighted room. And then the young lady began talking +carelessly about the music, without looking at her, until Georgia's +emotion had time to subside and, outwardly at least, she grew calm. +Outwardly—but, oh! the bitterness that swelled and throbbed in that +proud heart until it seemed ready to burst, that left her white even to +the very lips, that sent such a dreadful fire into her dusky eyes as if +all the life in her heart had fled and concentrated there.</p> + +<p>She did not hear a word Miss Arlingford was saying, she scarcely knew +she was beside her; she did not know what was going on around her for a +moment, until, with one grand crash that might have smashed a more firm +instrument, Miss Harper arose from the piano and sailed over to where +the young captain and Henry Gleason were talking, and made herself quite +at home with them at once. And then Georgia, whose eyes were fixed in a +sort of terrible fascination on Miss Richmond, saw her led to the piano +by her husband, and heard her singing, or rather <i>screeching</i> some +terrific Italian song, and all the time she was combating a fierce, mad +impulse to spring upon her and do—she did not know what—strangle her, +perhaps.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_208" id="Page_208">[Pg 208]</a></span> And then her song was ended—the final unearthly shriek was +given, like to nothing earthly but the squeal of a steamboat, and she +saw her approach, and, with her small, glittering, snaky eyes fixed upon +her, in a voice audible to all, ask her—their hostess—to favor them +next. Now she, as well as most there, knew Georgia could not play; but, +wishing to have a little pleasure quizzing the "country girl," they came +crowding around, and it was:</p> + +<p>"Oh, <i>pray</i> do, Mrs. Wildair."</p> + +<p>"<i>Don't</i> refuse us now."</p> + +<p>"<i>Do</i> favor us, Mrs. Wildair; I am sure you sing beautifully."</p> + +<p>"Of course Georgia will play; she knows it's not polite to refuse her +guests," said Miss Richmond, winding up the chant and smiling insolently +up in her face as she laid her hand on her arm.</p> + +<p>Georgia started as if a viper had stung her, and, striking off the hand, +arose white with concentrated passion.</p> + +<p>Richmond, coming up at the moment, had just heard his cousin's +silvery-toned request, and the startling way in which it had been +received.</p> + +<p>Miss Richmond and Miss Harper started back with two simultaneous little +shrieks, and looked at Georgia as they would at a Shawnee savage, had +one suddenly appeared before them, and a profound silence fell on all +around.</p> + +<p>Richmond's brow for one moment grew dark as night, and he caught and +transfixed Georgia with a look that made her start as if she had +received a galvanic shock. The next, with his strong self-command, his +brow cleared, and, making his way through the startled group, he said, +smiling:</p> + +<p>"My wife does not play, Freddy. You forgot music<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_209" id="Page_209">[Pg 209]</a></span> teachers are not so +easily obtained in Burnfield as in New York city. Why, Georgia, you are +looking quite pale. Are you ill?"</p> + +<p>She did not speak; she only lifted her eyes to his face with a look of +such utter anguish that his anger gave way to a mingled feeling of +compassion and annoyance.</p> + +<p>"I am afraid Mrs. Wildair <i>is</i> indisposed," said Miss Arlingford. "We +will leave her to your care, Mr. Wildair, while, if my poor efforts will +be accepted, I will endeavor to take her place at the instrument."</p> + +<p>As Miss Arlingford was known to be a beautiful singer, the offer was +instantly accepted, and the kind-hearted young lady was followed to the +piano by all present, who seated themselves near, while Richmond, +Freddy, and Mrs. Wildair, who, with a frown on her brow, had just come +up, gathered round Georgia.</p> + +<p>"Really, Richmond, your wife has made a most extraordinary exhibition of +herself this evening," said his mother, in a tone of withering contempt. +"Are you quite sure she is perfectly sane? I do not ask from curiosity, +but because Mrs. Gleason has been quite terrified."</p> + +<p>Georgia started as if she would have sprung from the sofa, but Richmond +held her down, while he said, coldly:</p> + +<p>"You can tell Mrs. Gleason she need not alarm herself on the subject; +the unusual excitement has been too much for her, that is all."</p> + +<p>"The <i>unusual excitement</i>! Oh, I perceive," said Mrs. Wildair, with a +smile more cutting than any words could have been. "Perhaps she had +better retire to her room altogether, and I will endeavor to play the +hostess to your guests."</p> + +<p>"My dear Georgia," said Freddy, laying her hateful<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_210" id="Page_210">[Pg 210]</a></span> hand on Georgia's, +and looking up in her face with a hateful smile, "I am afraid my request +offended you. I am sure I quite forgot you could not play, and never +thought you would have resented being asked; it is so common for people +to play nowadays that one cannot realize another is ignorant of what +every child understands. I really cannot leave you until you say you +forgive me."</p> + +<p>Georgia shuddered at the hateful touch, and her hands clinched as she +listened, but Richmond's eye was upon her, and she only shook off the +hand, and was silent.</p> + +<p>"Do say you forgive me, Georgia, <i>do</i>, please, I am <i>so</i> sorry," fawned +Freddy, with one arm around her neck.</p> + +<p>"Oh, Richmond, take her away! Oh, Richmond, <i>do</i>!" she cried out, +shrinking in loathing from her.</p> + +<p>Freddy, with the sigh of deeply injured but forgiving spirit, got up and +stood meekly before her.</p> + +<p>"Really," began Mrs. Wildair, with haughty anger; but her son, with a +darkened brow, said, hastily:</p> + +<p>"Mother, leave her to me. Freddy, go; she does not know what she is +saying; she will regret this by and by, and be the first to apologize. +She is excited now; to-morrow you will see her in a very different frame +of mind."</p> + +<p>"I hope so, I am sure; it is very much needed, I must say," observed +Mrs. Wildair, coldly, as, with a frown on her face, she drew Freddy's +arm within hers and led her away.</p> + +<p>"Oh, Richmond!" began Georgia, passionately lifting her eyes to his +face.</p> + +<p>And there she stopped, the words frozen on her lips. He did not speak, +but catching her wrists in a steady grasp, he looked sternly and +steadily in her eyes, until she sat<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_211" id="Page_211">[Pg 211]</a></span> shivering and trembling before him. +And then he dropped her hands, and without a word drew her arm within +his and led her down to where the rest were, and seated her on a sofa +between Colonel Gleason and himself.</p> + +<p>The song was finished, and amid a murmur of applause Miss Arlingford +rose from the piano and came over to where Georgia sat, to inquire if +she felt better. And then Captain Arlingford and Henry Gleason came, +too, and Georgia was soon the center of a gay, laughing group, who +strove to dissipate her gloom and restore the disturbed harmony of the +evening. And Georgia, now that her evil genius was gone, remembering her +husband's look, tried to smile and talk cheerfully with the rest, but, +as she said herself, she had not yet learned to dissimulate. And the +wild glitter of her eye and her marble-like face told a far different +story, and her efforts to be at ease were so evident and so painful, +that all felt it a relief when the hour came for retiring and they could +seek their own rooms.</p> + +<p>Mr. and Mrs. Wildair bade their last guest good-night, and then they +were alone in the drawing-room.</p> + +<p>Georgia sank down on a sofa, dreading even to look at him; and Richmond, +his courteous smile totally gone and his face grave and stern, stood +with his elbow leaning on the marble mantel, looking down on her with a +stern, steady gaze.</p> + +<p>"Mrs. Wildair!" he said, coldly.</p> + +<p>"Oh, Richmond!" she cried, passionately.</p> + +<p>"Well, this a delightful beginning, I must say," he observed, calmly. +"Are you aware, madam, that you made both yourself and me ridiculous +to-night?"</p> + +<p>"Oh, Richmond, I could not help it! Oh, Richmond, I felt as if I should +go mad!"<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_212" id="Page_212">[Pg 212]</a></span></p> + +<p>"It would not take much to convince our friends that you are that +already, my dear. May I ask if it was Fredrica's simple and natural +request that you would play for the company, that came so near driving +you mad? I saw you drop her hand as if there were contamination in the +touch."</p> + +<p>"Oh, so there is! so there is!" she cried, in frenzied tones.</p> + +<p>"Really, madam," said Mr. Wildair, in a tone of marked displeasure, +"this is carrying your absurdity too far. Take care that <i>I</i> do not +begin to believe you mad, as well as the rest. Are you aware that you +grossly insulted my cousin before my guests this evening?"</p> + +<p>"She insulted me!—the low, fawning hypocrite! Oh, that I should be +obliged to live under the same roof with that <i>thing</i>!" exclaimed +Georgia, wildly, wringing her hands.</p> + +<p>There was a dead pause. It had more effect on Georgia than any words he +could have uttered. She looked up, and saw him standing calm, stern, and +deeply displeased, with his large, strong eyes fixed upon her in sorrow, +surprise, and grave anger.</p> + +<p>"Oh, Richmond! what shall I do? I am going crazy, I think. Oh, Richmond! +I tried to do well, and not displease you, but she—— Oh! everything +that is bad in my nature she rouses when she comes near me! Richmond! +Richmond! I cannot <i>bear</i> to have you angry with me. Tell me—<i>do</i> tell +me—what I shall do?"</p> + +<p>"It is very plain what you must do, my love. You must apologize to Miss +Richmond."</p> + +<p>As if she had received a spear-thrust, Georgia bounded to her feet, her +eyes blazing, her lips blanched.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_213" id="Page_213">[Pg 213]</a></span></p> + +<p>"<span class="smcap">What!</span>"</p> + +<p>"Nay, my dear; it is folly to excite yourself in this way. Be calm. Of +course, you must apologize—there is no other way in which you can atone +for your unparalleled madness."</p> + +<p>"Never!"</p> + +<p>"You <i>will not</i>? Georgia, do I understand you right? You mean you <i>will</i> +apologize?"</p> + +<p>"Never!"</p> + +<p>"Georgia, you <i>will</i>!"</p> + +<p>"I will <span class="smcap">NOT</span>!"</p> + +<p>There was another dead pause. Still he stood calm and coldly stern, +while she stood with her full form drawn up to its full height, her eyes +flashing sparks of fire, her brow corrugated, her lips white with +passion and defiance.</p> + +<p>"Georgia," he said, coldly, and his words fell like ice on the fire +raging in her stormy breast, "once your boast was that you never told a +lie; now you have <i>sworn</i> one. You vowed before God's minister to obey +me, and yet the first <i>command</i> I have given you since, you passionately +refuse to obey. I am no tyrant, Georgia, and I shall <i>never</i> request you +to do anything for me again; but remember, madam, I shall not forget +this."</p> + +<p>He was turning away, but with a great cry she sprang after him and +caught his arm.</p> + +<p>"Oh, Richmond, unsay your words! Oh, I will do anything, anything, +<i>anything</i> sooner than part with you in anger! Oh, Richmond, my heart +feels as if it were breaking. I shall die if you do not say you forgive +me!"</p> + +<p>"Will you go to my cousin to-morrow, and beg her pardon for your insane +conduct to-night?"<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_214" id="Page_214">[Pg 214]</a></span></p> + +<p>She shivered as one in an ague fit, while from her white lips dropped +the hollow word:</p> + +<p>"<i>Yes.</i>"</p> + +<p>"That is my own brave Georgia. The insult was publicly given, and should +be publicly atoned for; but I will spare you <i>that</i> humiliation. And now +I feel that this lesson, severe as it is, will do you good. You will be +more careful for the future, Georgia."</p> + +<p>She lifted her head, and looked up in his face with a smile that +startled him.</p> + +<p>"It has come true, Richmond," she said.</p> + +<p>"What has, my love?" he asked, uneasily.</p> + +<p>"My dream. Do you not remember the dream I told you and Charley, long +ago, when I first knew you?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, I remember it. You told it so impressively I could not forget it. +What of that dream, my dear?"</p> + +<p>She laughed—such a mockery of laughter as it was!</p> + +<p>"It was <i>you</i> I saw in that dream, Richmond; it was <i>you</i> who drove me, +all wounded and bleeding, through the fiery furnace. You are doing it +<i>now</i>, Richmond. But I did not tell you <i>all</i> my dream then. I did not +tell you then that at last I turned, sprang upon my torturer, and +<span class="smcap">STRANGLED</span> him in my own death throes!"</p> + +<p>Again she laughed, and looked up in his face with her gleaming eyes.</p> + +<p>"My dear, you are hysterical," he said in alarm. "Be calm; do not excite +yourself so. I always knew you were wild; but positively this is the +very superlative of wildest. To-morrow you will feel better, Georgia."</p> + +<p>"Oh, yes—to-morrow, when I shall have begged <i>her</i><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_215" id="Page_215">[Pg 215]</a></span> pardon! Listen, +233Richmond, do you know what I wished to-night?"</p> + +<p>"No, dear Georgia; what was it?"</p> + +<p>"It was, Richmond, <i>that I had never married you</i>!"</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XV" id="CHAPTER_XV"></a>CHAPTER XV.</h2> + +<h3>SOWING THE WIND.</h3> + +<div class="drop"> +<img src="images/illo_m.png" alt="M" width="100" height="100" class="cap" /> +<p class="cap_1"> +erry days those were in Richmond House, with the old halls resounding +with music and laughter, and the hum of gay voices, from morning till +night. Astonished and awed were the people of Burnfield by the +glittering throng of city fashionables, who promenaded their streets and +swept past them in the sweeping amplitude of flashing silks and rich +velvets and furs. As for our city friends themselves, the ladies +pronounced the place "horrid stupid;" but as the young gentlemen, with +one or two exceptions, found the country girls exceedingly willing to be +flirted with, they rather liked it than otherwise.</p></div> + +<p>A proud man was the Reverend Mr. Barebones the first Sunday after their +arrival, when the bewildering throng flashed into the meeting-house, +and, with a great rustle of silks and satins, and an intoxicating odor +of <i>eau de Cologne</i>, filled the two large front pews that from time +immemorial had belonged to Richmond House. It was not religion +altogether that brought them—at least, not all. Languid Miss Reid, for +instance, went because the rest did, and it was less trouble to go than +to form excuses for staying;<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_216" id="Page_216">[Pg 216]</a></span> and that quintessence of exquisiteness, +Mr. Adolphus Lester, who was tender on that young lady, went because she +did. Miss Harper went because Captain Arlingford was going, and Miss +Freddy Richmond went because she was a very discreet young lady and it +was "proper" to attend divine worship, and Miss Richmond never shocked +the proprieties. Georgia went because she <i>had</i> to, and Lieutenant +Gleason and his father went to kill time, which always hung heavy on +their hands, on Sunday. Of the whole party, only Master Henry Gleason +and Mr. Curtis were absent; Master Henry, having pronounced the whole +establishment of Christian churches on earth and their attendant +Christian ministers "horrid old bores," declared his intention of +staying at home and having a "jolly good snooze."</p> + +<p>Every one seemed to have enjoyed themselves the last week at Richmond +House but its young mistress. There were rides, and drives, and +excursions during the day, and sailing parties on the river in Mr. +Wildair's yacht; and there were dancing, and music, and acting charades, +and all sorts of amusements for the evening, into which all the young +people entered with eager zest—all but Georgia.</p> + +<p>Those days, few as they were, had wrought a marked change in her. The +flush of her health and happiness had faded from her cheeks, leaving +only two dark purple spots, that burned there like tongues of flame; her +eye had lost its sparkle, her brow was worn and haggard, and her step +was slow and weary. She lived in daily martyrdom, such as none but a +spirit so morbidly proud and keenly sensitive can comprehend. Slights, +insults, insolence, and little galling acts of malice, "making up in +number what they wanted in weight," were daily to be borne now from her +super<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_217" id="Page_217">[Pg 217]</a></span>cilious mother-in-law and her malicious, insolent shadow and echo, +Miss Richmond. And these were offered openly, in the presence of all; +not an opportunity was allowed to escape of mortifying her; until +sometimes, wild and nearly maddened, she would fly up to her room, and, +alone and frenzied, struggle with the storm raging in her heart.</p> + +<p>Richmond, absorbed in attending to the comfort and amusement of his +guests, knew nothing of all this. It was not their policy to let him +suspect their dislike—yes, <i>hatred</i> of his bride; and, as they well +knew, the rest, who saw it all, would not venture to speak on so +delicate a subject to their proud host. It is true, he saw the change in +Georgia's face, and the freezing coldness her manners were assuming to +all, even to him; but from some artfully dropped hints of immaculate +Miss Freddy's, he set it down to stubborn sullenness. And believing her +to be incorrigible in her disagreeableness and insubordination, he grew +markedly reserved and cold when alone in her society; and thus the +misunderstanding between them daily widened.</p> + +<p>Georgia was too proud to complain of what she herself suffered and +endured—she was dumb; and indeed if she had been inclined, she would +have found it hard to make out a list of her grievances and relate them, +for Miss Freddy's insults were offered in such a way that, keenly as +they struck home, they dwindled into nothing when related to a third +party. Had he not been so absorbed in the duties of hospitality, and +striving to atone for his wife's neglect, he might have seen for +himself; but he was blind and deaf to all, and only saw her uncourteous +treatment of his friends and her wifely disobedience. And before +long—no one scarcely knew how—Georgia was pushed aside, and Mrs. +Wildair and Freddy began to take the place of hostess, and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_218" id="Page_218">[Pg 218]</a></span> Richmond +looked on and tacitly consented. All were consulted in their plans and +amusements but Georgia; <i>she</i> was overlooked with the coolest and most +insolent contempt; and if sometimes, as a matter of form, her opinion +was asked by either of the ladies, it was worded in such a way or +uttered in such a tone as made it even a more galling insult. And +Georgia, with a swelling heart and with lips compressed in proud, bitter +endurance, consented to bare her place usurped, without a word or +attempt to regain it. With a heart that underneath all her calmness +seemed ready to burst at such times, she would refuse to accompany them, +pleading indisposition, or sometimes giving no reason at all; and Mrs. +Wildair would turn away with an indifferent, "Oh, very well, just as you +please," and Richmond would say nothing at the time, until he would find +her alone, and then he would coldly begin:</p> + +<p>"Mrs. Wildair, may I beg to know the reason you will not honor us with +your company to-morrow?"</p> + +<p>"Because I do not wish to," she would flash, with all her old defiance +flaming up in her dusky eyes.</p> + +<p>"<i>Because you do not wish to!</i> Insolent! Madam, I <i>insist</i> upon your +accompanying us to-morrow!"</p> + +<p>"You find my society so brilliant and agreeable, no doubt, that my +absence will destroy your pleasure," she would say, with a bitter laugh +that jarred painfully on the ear.</p> + +<p>"No, madam, I regret to say that your fixed determination to disobey me, +and be uncourteous and disagreeable, is carried out in the very letter +and spirit. Still, I cannot allow my guests to be treated with marked +discourtesy. <i>I</i> have some regard for the laws of hospitality, if you +have<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_219" id="Page_219">[Pg 219]</a></span> not. Therefore, Mrs. Wildair, you will prepare to join our party +to-morrow."</p> + +<p>"And if I refuse?"</p> + +<p>His eye flashed, and his mouth grew stern.</p> + +<p>"You will be sorry for it! Do not attempt such a thing! You may disobey, +but you shall not trifle with me."</p> + +<p>She lifted her eyes, and he would see a face so haggard and utterly +wretched that his heart would melt, and he would go over and put his arm +around her, and say, gently:</p> + +<p>"Come, Georgia, be reasonable. What evil spirit has got into you of +late? Why will you persist in treating our friends in this way?"</p> + +<p>"<i>Our</i> friends!—<i>your</i> friends, you mean."</p> + +<p>"It is all the same; for my sake you ought to treat my friends +differently."</p> + +<p>Her heart swelled and her lip quivered. Yes, his friends might slight +and insult her, but she was to put her head under their heels, and smile +on those who crushed her.</p> + +<p>"Well, Georgia, you do not speak," he would say, watching her closely.</p> + +<p>"Mr. Wildair, I have nothing to say. Your mother and cousin are +mistresses here; my part is to stand aside and obey them. If you +<i>command</i> me to go to-morrow, I have no alternative. I am still capable +of submitting to a great deal, sooner than willingly displease you."</p> + +<p>"My mother and cousin undertook no authority here, Georgia, until you +neglected all your duties as hostess, and they were obliged to do so. It +is all your own fault, and you know it, Georgia."</p> + +<p>She smiled bitterly.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_220" id="Page_220">[Pg 220]</a></span></p> + +<p>"We will not discuss the subject, if you please, Richmond. I make no +complaint; they are welcome to do as they please, and all I ask for is +the same privilege. I cannot have it, it appears, and—I will go +to-morrow, since you insist; my absence or presence will make little +difference to your friends."</p> + +<p>"Georgia, why <i>will</i> you persist in this absurd nonsense?" he would +exclaim, almost angrily. "Really you are enough to try the patience of a +saint. I wish some of this foolish, morbid pride of yours had been kept +where it came from, and a little plain, practical common sense put in +its place. You have taken a most unaccountable prejudice to my mother +and cousin, which, if you had that regard for me you profess, you +certainly would not pain me by displaying; in fact, you resolved from +the first to dislike <i>all</i> I invited, and you have kept that promise +wonderfully well I must say, except as regards the two Arlingfords, +toward whom you evince a partiality that makes your neglect of the rest +all the more glaring. It is certainly a pity you did not receive the +education of a lady, Georgia, and then common politeness would teach you +to act differently."</p> + +<p>In silence, and with a curling lip and an unutterable depth of scorn in +her beautiful eyes, Georgia would listen to this conjugal tirade, but +her lips would be sealed; and Richmond, indignant and deeply offended, +would leave the room, and the next moment, all smiles and suavity, +rejoin his guests. And Georgia, left alone, would press her hand to her +breast with that feeling of suffocation rising again until the very air +of the perfumed room would seem to stifle her. And such scenes as this +were of frequent occurrence<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_221" id="Page_221">[Pg 221]</a></span> now, and one and all sank deep in her +heart, to rankle there in anguish and bitterness untold.</p> + +<p>Perhaps it may seem strange that Mrs. Wildair and Miss Richmond should +hate Georgia; but so it was. Mrs. Wildair was the haughtiest, the most +overbearing, and the most ambitious of women. Her sons were her pride +and her boast, in public as well as in private, and she had often been +heard to declare that they should marry among the highest in the land, +and perpetuate the ancient glory of the Richmonds. When Charley had +disappointed all this expectation, and had become an alien from her +heart and home, the shock, given more to her ambition than to her +affections, was terrible, and when she recovered from it, all her hopes +centered in her first-born, Richmond.</p> + +<p>There was an English lady of rank, the daughter of an earl, at that time +visiting an acquaintance of Mrs. Wildair in New York, and to this +high-born girl did she lift her eyes and determine upon as her future +daughter-in-law. But before she had time to write to Richmond, and +desire him to return home for that purpose, <i>his</i> letter came, and there +she read the quiet announcement that, in a week or two, he was to be +married in Burnfield to a young, penniless girl, "rich alone in beauty," +he wrote.</p> + +<p>Mrs. Wildair sat nearly stunned by the shock. Down came her gilded +coroneted <i>chateau d'Espagne</i> with a crash, to rise no more. Her son +was his own master; she knew his strong, determined, unconquerable will +of old, to combat which was like beating the air. Nothing remained for +her but to consent, which she did with a bitter hatred against the +unconscious object that had thwarted her burning in her heart, and a +determination to make her pay dearly for what she had done, which +resolution she pro<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_222" id="Page_222">[Pg 222]</a></span>ceeded to carry into effect the moment she arrived in +Richmond House.</p> + +<p>"To think that she—a thing like that—sprang from the dregs of the +city, for she is not even an honest farmer's daughter—should have dared +to become my son's wife," she said, hissing the words through her +clenched teeth; "a low wretch, picked up out of the slime and slough of +the city filth, to come between me and my son. Oh! was Charley's act not +degradation enough, that this must fall upon us too?"</p> + +<p>"Let us hope, my dear aunt, that the place she has had the effrontery to +usurp will not long be hers," murmured the dulcet voice of her niece, to +whom she had spoken. "We have built up already a wall of brass between +them, and I have a plan in my head that will transform it to one of +fire. Recollect, aunt, divorces are easily obtained, and then your son +will be free once more, and our queenly pauper will be ignominiously +cast back into the slime she rose from."</p> + +<p>Miss Freddy's hatred came from pretty much the same cause as Mrs. +Wildair's. In any case, she would have considered it her duty to follow +that lady's lead: but now she had her own private reasons for hating her +with all the bitter intensity of a mean little mind.</p> + +<p>Miss Freddy was to have married Charley, and was quite ready and willing +to do so at a moment's notice, but in her secret heart she would have +far preferred his elder brother. Differing from the rest of the world, +Richmond, even "from boyhood's hours," had been her favorite; but when +she saw his mother's hopes aspire to a coronet and a title, she was +overawed, and made up her mind to be cast into the shade. To be rivaled +by a lady like this could be<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_223" id="Page_223">[Pg 223]</a></span> borne, but that a peasant girl—a +nameless, unknown girl—should win the prize for which she had sought in +vain—oh! it was a humiliation not to be endured. So she entered heart +and soul into all her aunt's plans, and won that lady's approbation for +her dutiful conduct, while she carefully concealed her own motives. And +this, then, was the secret of Georgia's persecutions.</p> + +<p>The "wall of fire" the amiable young lady had referred to was to make +Richmond jealous. Now, jealousy was never a fault of his, but artful +people can work wonders, and Miss Freddy went carefully, but surely, to +work, with Mrs. Wildair for her stanch backer. And Georgia, all +unconscious, walked headlong into the snare laid for her.</p> + +<p>As her husband had said, the Arlingfords were the only ones in the house +whom Georgia could at all endure. The frank, genial, honest +straightforwardness of brother and sister pleased her; and, indignant at +the treatment so openly offered her, they devoted themselves in every +way to interest and amuse her. And Miss Freddy seeing this, her little +keen eyes fairly snapped with gratification, and by a thousand little +devices and pretenses she would manage to dispose of the sister, and +leave Georgia altogether to be entertained by the brother. And then the +attention of the company would be artfully directed to the twain who +were so much together, and Richmond would hear from one and another:</p> + +<p>"What friends Mrs. Georgia" (so she was called to distinguish her from +the other) "and captain Arlingford are!"</p> + +<p>"How <i>very</i> intimate they are!"<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_224" id="Page_224">[Pg 224]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Yes, <i>indeed</i>; just see how she smiles upon him—don't you think her +handsome when she smiles?"</p> + +<p>"Very much so. Captain Arlingford seems to think so, too. What a pity he +is the only one she will honor by one of them."</p> + +<p>"Well, it is fortunate she has met some one who can please her—she +seems so dull, poor thing!"</p> + +<p>"A handsome man like Captain Arlingford does not find it very hard to be +agreeable, I fancy; he is decidedly the best-looking young man here."</p> + +<p>"Mrs. Georgia's opinion exactly," said Miss Harper, sending a spiteful +glance at the unconscious objects of these remarks, who sat conversing +on a sofa at some distance. "I asked her, yesterday, and she said, 'Yes, +she thought he most decidedly was.'"</p> + +<p>"Poor, dear Georgia!" chimed in Miss Freddy, looking tenderly toward +her; "I am so glad she likes him; she seems to like so few, and indeed +nobody could help liking him, he is so charming. What a nice nose, and +lovely mustache, and sweet curling hair he has, to be sure!"</p> + +<p>"And, by George! he shows his good taste, too, in flirting with the +prettiest woman among you," exclaimed Harry Gleason, bluntly. +"Arlingford knows what's what, I tell you; he'll go in and win, I'll +bet!"</p> + +<p>Now these remarks, though at first he paid no attention to them beyond +what the words conveyed, jarred disagreeably on Richmond's mind. But as +days passed on and they grew more frequent and more meaning in tone, and +he saw the curious smiles with which they were regarded, and the +expression of his mother's face as she watched them, and saw his cousin +look first at them and then at him with a sort of anxiety and tender +pity, he felt a growing disagreeable<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_225" id="Page_225">[Pg 225]</a></span> sensation of uneasiness for which +he could hardly account. Even to himself, he was ashamed to own he was +jealous of Georgia—his leal, true-hearted, straightforward Georgia, +whom he had never known to be guilty of a dishonorable thought in her +life. Fiery, rash, high-spirited she was, but treacherous, deceitful, +<i>wicked</i> she was not. He could have staked his soul upon her truth, and +yet—and yet by slow degrees the poison began to enter his mind, and he +commenced to watch his wife with an angry, suspicious eye.</p> + +<p>Oh, Richmond! Richmond! that you should fall so low as this! You, whom +Georgia once regarded as a demi-god; you whom she still believes, in +spite of your sorrowful misunderstanding, everything that is upright and +true; you, whom, had heaven, and earth, and hades accused of infidelity, +she would not have believed. And now, you are growing jealous of your +rash but leal-hearted wife, whom you have completely neglected yourself, +to attend to others. Oh, Richmond!</p> + +<p>"Really, my dear, you are a jewel without price—worth a million in +cash!" exclaimed Mrs. Wildair to Freddy, delighted at the success of her +diabolical scheme. "Your plan has succeeded beyond all my expectations. +I really did not think you could make Richmond jealous without alarming +him, and putting him on his guard against us; but, positively, he is +growing as jealous as a Turk, and never suspects either of us in the +least."</p> + +<p>Miss Freddy smiled her sinister and most evil smile.</p> + +<p>"Poor Richmond! What a hard time he is going to have of it with that +green-eyed monster! And how delightfully unconscious Mrs. Georgia walks +into the pit with her eyes open! Really, it is as good as a farce! Oh! +the stupidity of these earthworms!"<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_226" id="Page_226">[Pg 226]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Poor Rich! he <i>did</i> look so deliciously miserable to-night when he saw +those two sitting together in a corner by themselves, turning over those +prints, just as innocent as a couple of angels."</p> + +<p>And both ladies leaned back in their seats and laughed immoderately.</p> + +<p>Poor Georgia! the sky was rapidly darkening around her, though this, the +blackest cloud, was still invisible to her eyes. Sometimes, in her +desolation, it seemed to her as if she had not a single friend in the +world, for Emily never ventured near Richmond House now, and she had +only seen Miss Jerusha once since her return. She <i>could not</i> +dissimulate. She had tried it in vain, and she would not bring her +haggard face and anguished eyes to tell the tale her tongue was too +proud to speak. So she did not visit the cottage, until at last Miss +Jerusha grew seriously uneasy, and resolved to brave all obstacles, the +impudent footman included, and go up to the house and see Georgia.</p> + +<p>Until she was fairly gone, Miss Jerusha had never known how large a +share of her heart her <i>protegee</i> had monopolized; and so, worthy +reader, behold her arrayed in that respected "kaliker geownd" you are +acquainted with, for brown silk could not be worn on a week-day, with +the faded shawl, and a pink calico sun-bonnet, a recent addition to her +wardrobe, knocking at the hall door of Richmond House.</p> + +<p>It was some time in the afternoon, and the household were dressing for +dinner, and so the servant told her, respectfully enough, for her first +visit had taught them a lesson they did not soon forget.</p> + +<p>"Dinner! you git out!" said Miss Jerusha, indignantly, "and it nigh onto +four o'clock. Don't tell me no such<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_227" id="Page_227">[Pg 227]</a></span> stuff! Jist be off and tell Georgey +I want to see her. Clear!"</p> + +<p>The man hesitated; Miss Jerusha looked dangerous; he expected the +dinner-bell to ring every moment, and his mistress was in her room; so +while he stood hesitating, a rustling of silk was heard behind him, and +the next moment Mrs. Wildair stood gazing in haughty surprise on the +intruder.</p> + +<p>Now, Mrs. Wildair knew well enough who Miss Jerusha was; her niece had +pointed her out one day; but as this was an excellent opportunity for +mortifying Georgia, she chose to be quite ignorant of the matter.</p> + +<p>"What is this?" she said, stepping back haughtily. "What does she want? +Wilson, how dare you allow beggars to enter the hall-door?"</p> + +<p>"She—she ain't no beggar, ma'am," said Wilson, casting an apprehensive +glance at Miss Jerusha, "she's——"</p> + +<p>"I don't care what she is. Persons of her class should go round to the +kitchen door. Send her out, and let her go there if she wants anything," +exclaimed Mrs. Wildair, sharply.</p> + +<p>Up to this point Miss Jerusha had stood fairly stupefied. She mistaken +for a beggar! She—Miss Jerusha Glory Ann Skamp—whose ward was lady of +this great house! For an instant she was speechless, with the blood of +all the Skamps boiling within her, and then she burst out:</p> + +<p>"Why, you yeller old lantern-jawed be-frizzled be-flowered, impident old +woman, to call me a beggar! Oh, my gracious! to think I should be called +that in my old ages o' life? <i>A beggar!</i> My-y-y conscience! If you hev +the impidence to call me that agin, I'll—I'll——"</p> + +<p>"Turn her out, she is crazy! turn her out, I tell you,"<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_228" id="Page_228">[Pg 228]</a></span> said Mrs. +Wildair, white with passion. "Do you hear me, Wilson? Turn this old +wretch out."</p> + +<p>The noise had now brought a crowd down into the hall, who stood gazing +in mingled curiosity and amusement on this scene between the lady and +the beggar, as they supposed her to be.</p> + +<p>"Turn me out! Let them try it!" exclaimed Miss Jerusha, looking daggers +at the startled Wilson.</p> + +<p>"Do you hear me, sir? Am I to be obeyed? Turn this woman out," said Mrs. +Wildair, stamping her foot.</p> + +<p>"Touch her if you <i>dare</i>!" screamed a fierce voice; and Georgia, with +blazing eyes and passionate face, rushed through the crowd, flashed past +Mrs. Wildair, and stood, white, panting, and fierce, like a hunted stag +at bay, beside Miss Jerusha. "Lay one finger on her at your peril! How +<i>dare</i> you, madam!" she almost screamed, facing round so suddenly on the +startled lady that she recoiled. "How dare you order her out—how <i>dare</i> +you do it?"</p> + +<p>"Really, young lady," said Mrs. Wildair, recovering her calm hauteur, +"this is most extraordinary language addressed to me. I was not aware +that persons of her condition were ever received in my son's house."</p> + +<p>"Then learn it now," said Georgia, fiercely; "while I am here, this +house shall be free to her in spite of you all. Perhaps you are not +aware, madam, who she is?"</p> + +<p>"Some of <i>your</i> relations, most probably," said Mrs. Wildair, with a +withering sneer. "She looks like it."</p> + +<p>"Mother! Georgia! What in the name of wonder is all this?" exclaimed a +hurried, startled voice; and Richmond Wildair, pale and excited, made +his way toward them.</p> + +<p>"It means, sir, that I have been grossly insulted by your<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_229" id="Page_229">[Pg 229]</a></span> wife," said +Mrs. Wildair, her very lips white with anger; "insulted, too, in the +presence of your guests; spoken to as I never was spoken to before in my +life."</p> + +<p>"Mother, for mercy's sake, hush!" he said, in a fierce whisper, his face +crimson with shame. "And, Georgia, if you <i>ever</i> loved me, retire to +your room now, and make no exhibition before these people. Miss Jerusha, +persuade her to go before I am eternally disgraced."</p> + +<p>"Come, honey, come; I'll go with you," said Miss Jerusha, tremulously, +quite nervous at this unexpected scene.</p> + +<p>With heaving bosom and flashing eyes Georgia stood, terrible in her +roused wrath, as a priestess of doom. Miss Jerusha put her arm around +her and coaxingly drew her along, and passed with her into the empty +breakfast parlor near. When she was gone, Richmond turned to his guests, +who stood gazing at each other in consternation, and forcing a smile, +said:</p> + +<p>"My friends, you must be surprised at this extraordinary scene, but it +will not appear so extraordinary when explained. The singular-looking +person who was the cause of all this was a sort of guardian of my wife, +and upon her entrance here my mother, deceived by her singular dress, +mistook her for a beggar, and ordered her out. An altercation ensued, +which my wife overheard, and, indignant at what she supposed a direct +intentional insult to her old friend, rushed down, and in the excitement +of the moment, thoughtlessly uttered the hasty words you have all +overheard. Mother, I beg you will think no more about it; no one will +regret them more than Georgia herself when she cools down. And now, +there goes the dinner-bell; so, my friends, we will forget this +disagreeable little scene, and not let it spoil our appetites."<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_230" id="Page_230">[Pg 230]</a></span></p> + +<p>With a faint smile he offered his arm to Mrs. Gleason and led the way to +the dining-room, saying, as he did so:</p> + +<p>"You will oblige me by presiding to-day, mother. Georgia, in her +excitement, will not care to return to table, I fancy."</p> + +<p>With a stiff bow Mrs. Wildair complied, and Richmond, beckoning to a +servant, whispered:</p> + +<p>"Go to the parlor and request Mrs. Wildair, with my compliments, to +retire to her own room, and say I wish her to remain there for the +evening."</p> + +<p>"My dear cousin," said a low voice, and the small, sallow hand of Freddy +was laid on his arm, "allow me to go. It would mortify our proud Georgia +to death to have such a message brought by a servant. Remember, she only +spoke hastily, and we <i>must</i> have consideration for her feelings."</p> + +<p>"My dear, kind little cousin," said Richmond, with emotion, as he +pressed her hand, "she does not deserve this from <i>you</i>. But go, lest +she should make another scene before the servants."</p> + +<p>With her silky smile Freddy glided out and opened the parlor door +without ceremony. Sitting on a sofa was Miss Jerusha, while Georgia +crouched before her, her face hidden in her lap, her whole attitude so +crushed, desolate, and full of anguish, that it is no wonder Miss +Jerusha was exclaiming between her sobs:</p> + +<p>"There, honey, there! <i>don't</i> feel it so. I wouldn't if I was you. +Where's the good of minding of 'em at all? Don't, honey, don't! It's +drefful to see you so."</p> + +<p>The malicious smile deepened and brightened on Freddy's evil face at the +sight.</p> + +<p>Miss Jerusha looked sharply up as she entered, and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_231" id="Page_231">[Pg 231]</a></span> seeing her +triumphant look, her tears seemed turned to sparks of fire.</p> + +<p>"Well, what do <i>you</i> want?" she demanded.</p> + +<p>Without noticing her by look or word, Freddy went over and laid her hand +on Georgia's shoulder.</p> + +<p>"Georgia," she said, authoritatively.</p> + +<p>With a bound Georgia leaped to her feet, and with eyes that shone like +coals of fire in a face perfectly white, she confronted her mortal +enemy.</p> + +<p>Freddy, with all her meanness, was no coward, else she would have fled +at sight of that fearful look. As it was she recoiled a step, and her +smile faded away as she said:</p> + +<p>"My cousin sent me here to tell you to go to your room and stay there +until he comes."</p> + +<p>Slowly and impressively Georgia lifted her head, and keeping her +gleaming, burning eyes fixed on the sallow face before her, pointed to +the door.</p> + +<p>"Go!" she said, in a hollow voice, "Go!"</p> + +<p>Freddy started, and her face flushed.</p> + +<p>"I have delivered my message, and intend to. If you don't do as my +cousin orders you—take care, that's all."</p> + +<p>"Go!" repeated the hollow tones, that startled her by their very +calmness, so unnatural was it.</p> + +<p>For the very first time in her life Freddy Richmond was terrified, and +Miss Jerusha appalled. Without a word, the former glided past, opened +the door, and vanished.</p> + +<p>For a moment Georgia stood stock-still, like one turned to stone, and +then, throwing up her arms with a great cry, she would have fallen had +not Miss Jerusha caught her.</p> + +<p>"Oh, my heart! my heart!" she cried, pressing her hands over it as +though it were breaking. "Oh, Miss Jerusha, they have killed me!"<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_232" id="Page_232">[Pg 232]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Oh, Georgia!" began Miss Jerusha, but her voice choked, and she +stopped.</p> + +<p>"Oh, leave me! leave me! dear, best friend that ever was in this world, +leave me, and never come to this dreadful house again. Oh, Miss Jerusha, +why did you not leave me to die that night long ago!"</p> + +<p>Miss Jerusha essayed to speak, but something rose in her throat and +stopped her. Nothing broke the silence of the room but her sobs and that +passionate, despairing voice.</p> + +<p>"Go! leave me! I cannot bear you should stay here; and never, never come +back again, Miss Jerusha. Oh, me! oh, me! that I were dead!"</p> + +<p>There was such painful anguish in her tones that Miss Jerusha could not +stay to listen. Throwing her arms around her neck in one passionate +embrace, she hurried from the house, sobbing hysterically, and startling +the servant who opened the door.</p> + +<p>Then Georgia reeled rather than walked from the room, up stairs, and +into her own bedroom; and there, sinking down on the floor, she lay as +still and motionless as if she were indeed dead. For hours she lay thus, +as if frozen there, as if she would never rise again—crushed, humbled, +degraded to the dust. Sounds of laughter and music came wafted up the +stairs; she heard the voice she hated most singing a gay Italian +barcarole, and now another voice joins in—<i>her husband's</i>.</p> + +<p>Oh, Georgia, your hour of anguish has come, and where is your help now? +Heaven and earth are dark alike; you did not look up when life's +sunshine shone on you, and now, in your utter misery, there is no helper +near.</p> + +<p>Oh, Georgia, where, in your humiliation, is the pride,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_233" id="Page_233">[Pg 233]</a></span> the independence +that has supported you hitherto? Gone—swept away, like a reed in the +blast, and you lie there prostrate on the earth, prone in the dust, a +living example of human helplessness, unsupported by divine grace.</p> + +<p>Hour after hour passed, and still she lay there. The door opened at +last, but she did not move. The footsteps she knew so well crossed the +threshold, but she was motionless. A voice pronounced her name, and a +shiver ran through her whole frame, but the collapsed form was still. A +hand was laid on her arm, and she was lifted to her feet and borne to a +chair, and then she raised her sunken eyes and saw the stern face of her +husband bent upon her.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XVI" id="CHAPTER_XVI"></a>CHAPTER XVI.</h2> + +<h3>REAPING THE WHIRLWIND.</h3> + +<div class="poemblock32"> +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">"Oh, woman wronged can cherish hate<br /></span> +<span class="i0">More deep and dark than manhood may."<br /></span> +</div></div></div> +<p style="margin-left: 65%;"><span class="smcap">Whittier.</span></p> + +<div class="poemblock36"> +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">"And in that deep and utter agony—<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Though then than ever most unfit to die—<br /></span> +<span class="i0">She fell upon her knees and prayed for death."<br /></span> +</div></div></div> + +<div class="drop"> +<img src="images/illo_i.png" alt="I" width="100" height="100" class="cap" /> +<p class="cap_1"> +t was not in human heart, much less in a heart that loved her still, to +gaze on that death-like face unmoved; and Richmond's stern gaze relaxed, +and his brow lost its cold severity, as he knelt beside her and said:</p></div> + +<p>"Dearest Georgia, one would think you were dying. Deeply as you have +mortified me, I have not the heart to see you thus wretched. Look +up—smile—speak to me.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_234" id="Page_234">[Pg 234]</a></span> What! not a word? Good mercy, how deeply you +seem to feel these things!"</p> + +<p>"Let me go, Richmond; I am tired and sick, and want to be alone."</p> + +<p>"Yes, you are sick; the fiery spirit within you is wearing out your +body. Oh, Georgia! when are these storms of passion to cease?"</p> + +<p>She lifted her melancholy black eyes to his face with a strange, +prolonged gaze.</p> + +<p>"<i>When I am dead.</i>"</p> + +<p>"Oh, Georgia, sooner than that! Oh, <i>why</i> did you insult my mother, +disgrace me, and horrify all these people to-day! Are you going crazy, +Georgia?"</p> + +<p>"No; I wish I were."</p> + +<p>"Georgia!" he said, shocked as much by her slow, strange tone as by her +words.</p> + +<p>"Perhaps I <i>will be</i> soon; you are all taking a good way to make me so."</p> + +<p>"Georgia!"</p> + +<p>"It will be better for you, you know—you can marry a lady then."</p> + +<p>"<i>Georgia!</i>"</p> + +<p>"Oh, you can marry your cousin—she will never disgrace you, Richmond," +she said, with a strange, short laugh.</p> + +<p>"<span class="smcap">Georgia!</span>"</p> + +<p>"Oh, Richmond, why did you marry me? <i>Why</i> did you ever marry me?" she +cried, suddenly changing her tone to one of piercing anguish, and +wringing her pale fingers.</p> + +<p>"Because," he said, flushing deeply, "I mistook you for a noble-hearted, +generous girl, instead of the vindictive,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_235" id="Page_235">[Pg 235]</a></span> rebellious one you have +turned out to be. Because I made a mistake, as many another has done +before me, and will do for all time. Are you satisfied now, my dear?"</p> + +<p>She rose from her seat and paced up and down, wringing her hands.</p> + +<p>"Oh, I thought I would have been so happy! You said you loved me, and I +believed you. I did not know you wanted a wife to bear the brunt of your +mother's sneers and your cousin's insults—some one to afford a subject +of laughter to your friends. Oh, Richmond, I wish—I <i>wish</i> I had died +before I ever met you!"</p> + +<p>Richmond stood watching her in silence a moment, and the look of marked +displeasure again settled on his face.</p> + +<p>"Well, really, this is pleasant!" he said, slowly. "You can act the part +of the termagant to the life, Mistress Georgia. I expected, and I +believe so did all the rest, to see you knock my mother down a little +while ago; that, I presume, will be the next exhibition. You have made +out a long list of complaints against me during the past; take care that +I do not turn the tables and accuse you of something worse than being a +virago, my lady."</p> + +<p>"Oh, I shall not be surprised. Say and do what you please; nothing will +astonish me now. Oh, that it were not a crime to die!" she cried, +passionately wringing her hands.</p> + +<p>"Well, madam, you do not believe in hell, you know," he said, with a +sneer, "so what does it matter?"</p> + +<p>"Two months ago I did not, Richmond; now I <i>know</i> of it."</p> + +<p>The frown deepened on his brow.</p> + +<p>"What do you mean by that, Mrs. Wildair?" he said, hotly.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_236" id="Page_236">[Pg 236]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Nothing," she replied, with a cold smile.</p> + +<p>"Have a care, my lady; your taunts may be carried too far. It ill +becomes you to take the offensive after what has passed this afternoon."</p> + +<p>"After what has passed! By that you mean, I suppose, my preventing your +mother from making the servants turn my best, my dearest friend, into +the street like a dog," she said, stopping in her walk and facing him.</p> + +<p>"My mother mistook her for a beggar. How was she to know she was +anything to you?"</p> + +<p>Georgia broke into a scornful laugh, and resumed her walk.</p> + +<p>"Positively, Mrs. Wildair," said Richmond, flushing crimson with anger, +"this insulting conduct is too much. If I cannot command your obedience, +I at least insist on your respect. And as we are upon the subject, I beg +in your intercourse with <i>one</i> of my guests you will remember you are a +wedded wife. You seem to have forgotten it pretty well up to the +present, both of you."</p> + +<p>She had sunk on a sofa, her face hidden in the cushions, her hands +clasped over her heart, as if to still the intolerable pain there. She +made no reply to the words that had struck her ear, but conveyed no +meaning, and after waiting in vain for an answer, he resumed, with a +still deepening frown:</p> + +<p>"You will not honor me with an answer, madam. Probably your smiles and +answers are all alike reserved for the fascinating Captain Arlingford. +How do you intend to meet my mother, Mrs. Wildair, after what has +happened to-day?"</p> + +<p>"Oh, Richmond, I do not know! Oh, Richmond, do, <i>do</i> leave me!"<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_237" id="Page_237">[Pg 237]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Madam!"</p> + +<p>"I am so tired, and so sick. I <i>cannot</i> talk to-night!" she cried out, +lifting her bowed head, and clasping her hands to her throbbing temples.</p> + +<p>"Be it so, then, madam. I shall not intrude again," said Richmond, as, +with a face dark with anger, he turned and left the room.</p> + +<p>Next morning at breakfast Georgia did not appear. There was an +embarrassment—a restraint upon all present, which deepened when the +unconscious Captain Arlingford, the only one who ventured to pronounce +her name, inquired for Mrs. Wildair.</p> + +<p>A dusky fire, the baleful fire of jealousy, flamed up in Richmond +Wildair's eyes. Freddy and his mother saw it, and exchanged glances, and +the old evil smile broke over the former's face.</p> + +<p>"She was indisposed last night," said Mr. Wildair, with freezing +coldness, "and I presume has not yet sufficiently recovered to be able +to join us at table. You will have the happiness of seeing her at +dinner, Captain Arlingford."</p> + +<p>There was something in his tone that made Captain Arlingford look up, +and Mrs. Wildair, fearing a public disagreement, which did not suit her +purpose at all, said hastily in a tone of the most motherly solicitude:</p> + +<p>"Poor, dear child. I am afraid that little affair of yesterday has +mortified her to death. Freddy, love, do go up to her room, and see how +she is."</p> + +<p>Now Miss Freddy, who was a most prudent young lady, for sundry good +reasons of her own, would have preferred at first <i>not</i> bearding the +lioness in her den, but after an instant's thought, the desire of +exulting over her proved too strong for her fears, and she rose with +alacrity from<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_238" id="Page_238">[Pg 238]</a></span> her seat, and with her unvarying smile on her face, +passed from the room, and up stairs.</p> + +<p>Upon reaching Georgia's door she halted, and discreetly peeped through +the keyhole. Nothing was to be seen, however, and the silence of the +grave reigned within. She softly turned the handle of the door, but it +was locked, and after hesitating a moment, she rapped. Her summons was +at first unanswered, and was repeated loudly three or four times before +the door swung back, and Georgia, pale and haggard, with disordered hair +and garments, stood before her. So changed was she that Freddy started +back, and then, recovering herself, she drew a step nearer, folded her +arms, and looked up in her face with a steady, insolent smile. But that +smile seemed to have no effect upon Georgia, who, white, cold, and +statue-like, stood looking down upon her from the depths of her great +black eyes.</p> + +<p>"Good-morning, my dear Georgia," she said, smiling. "<i>Captain +Arlingford</i> sends his compliments, and begs to know how you are."</p> + +<p>There was no reply to this insulting speech. The black eyes never moved +in their steady gaze.</p> + +<p>"What shall I tell the handsome captain, Georgia?" continued the little +fiend. "He was inquiring most anxiously for you this morning. Shall I +say you will relieve that anxiety by gracing our dinner table? Allow me +to insinuate, in case you do, that it would be advisable to use a little +rouge, or they will think a corpse has risen from the church-yard to +take the head of Richmond Wildair's table. And, worse than all, the +flame with which your red cheeks inspired the gallant captain will go +out like a candle under an extinguisher at sight of that whitey-brown +complexion. Say, Georgia, tell me in confidence how did you<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_239" id="Page_239">[Pg 239]</a></span> get up that +high color? As you and I are such near friends you might let me know, +that I may improve my own sallow countenance likewise."</p> + +<p>No reply—the tail form was rigid—the white face cold and set—the +black eyes fixed—the pale lips mute.</p> + +<p>"Mrs. Wildair and Mrs. Colonel Gleason used to insist it was liquid +rouge, but Captain Arlingford and I knew better, and told them all +country girls had great flaming red cheeks just like that. We were +right, were we not, Georgia?"</p> + +<p>Still dumb. Her silence was beginning to startle even Freddy's admirable +equanimity.</p> + +<p>"And now, my dear Georgia, I must really tear myself away from you. When +shall I say we are to be honored by your charming presence again?"</p> + +<p>The white lips parted, one hand was slightly raised.</p> + +<p>"Are you done?" she said, in a voice so husky that it was almost +inaudible.</p> + +<p>"Ye—yes," said Freddy, startled in spite of herself. "I only await your +answer, my dear."</p> + +<p>For all answer, Georgia stepped back, closed the door in the very face +of the insolent girl, and locked it.</p> + +<p>For one moment Freddy stood transfixed, while her sallow face grew +sallower, and her thin lips fairly trembled with impotent rage. Turning +a look of concentrated spite and hatred toward the door, she descended +the stairs.</p> + +<p>"Well, Freddy," said Mrs. Wildair, when she re-entered the parlor, "how +is Georgia?"</p> + +<p>"Not very well, I should say, by her looks—how she felt, she did not +condescend to tell me," unable for once to suppress the bitterness she +felt.</p> + +<p>Richmond, who was chatting with Miss Reid and Miss<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_240" id="Page_240">[Pg 240]</a></span> Harper, started, and +a faint tinge of color shone on his cheek.</p> + +<p>"When is she coming down?" asked Mrs. Wildair.</p> + +<p>"My dear aunt, Mrs. Georgia, for some reason of her own, saw fit to +answer none of my questions. She closed the door in my face by way of +reply."</p> + +<p>Richmond began talking rapidly, and with so much <i>empressement</i>, to his +two companions that languid Miss Reid lifted her large sleepy-looking +eyes in faint wonder, and a malicious smile curled the lips of Miss +Harper.</p> + +<p>A sleighing party was to be the order of the day, and, after breakfast, +the ladies hurried to their rooms to don their furs and cloaks; and +Richmond, seizing the first opportunity, hurried to Georgia's room and +knocked loudly and authoritatively at the door.</p> + +<p>It did not open; all was silent within.</p> + +<p>"Georgia, open the door, I command you!" he said, in a voice of +suppressed passion. "Open the door this instant; I insist."</p> + +<p>It opened slowly, and he saw the collapsed and haggard face of his wife, +but he was too deeply angry to heed or care for her looks at that +moment. Entering the room, he closed the door, and with a light in his +eyes and a look in his face that, with all his anger, he had never worn +hitherto, he confronted her.</p> + +<p>"Madam, what did you mean by your conduct to my cousin this morning?" he +said, in a tone that he had never used to her before.</p> + +<p>A spasm shot across her face, and she reeled as if she had received a +blow.</p> + +<p>"Oh, Richmond! oh, my husband! do not say that<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_241" id="Page_241">[Pg 241]</a></span> <i>you</i> knew of her coming +this morning!" she cried in tones of such anguish as he had never heard +before.</p> + +<p>"I did know it, madam! And when she was generous and forgiving enough to +forget your insolent treatment, and come to ask how you were, she should +have been treated otherwise than having the door slammed in her face," +he said in a voice quivering with passion.</p> + +<p>She did not speak—she could not. Dizzily she sat down with her hands +over her heart, always her habit when the pain there was most acute.</p> + +<p><i>He</i> knew, then, of this last deadly insult—<i>he</i> sanctioned it—he +encouraged it. His cousin was all the world to him—<i>she</i> was nothing. +It only needed this to fill the cup of her degradation to the brim. Her +hands tightened involuntarily over her heart, she could not help it; she +felt as though it were breaking.</p> + +<p>"And now, madam, since you <i>will</i> persist in your insolent course, +listen to <i>me</i>. You shall <i>not</i> any longer slight the guests, who do you +too much honor—yes, madam, I repeat it, who do you too much honor, by +residing under the same roof with you. Since my requests are unheeded, +listen to my commands! We are all now going out to drive; in four hours +we will return, and see that you are dressed and in the drawing-room +ready to receive us when we come. I do not ask you to do this. I +<i>command</i> you, and you refuse at your peril! Leave off this ghastly +look, and all the rest of your tantrums, my lady, and try to act the +courteous hostess for once. Remember, now, and try to recall your broken +vow of wifely obedience for the first time; for, as sure as Heaven hears +me, if you dare disobey you shall repent it! I did not wish to speak +thus, but you have compelled me, and now that I have been aroused you<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_242" id="Page_242">[Pg 242]</a></span> +shall learn what it is to brave me with impunity. Madam, look up; have +you heard me?"</p> + +<p>She lifted her eyes, so full, in their dark depths of utter woe, of +undying despair.</p> + +<p>"<i>Yes.</i>"</p> + +<p>"And you will obey?"</p> + +<p>"Yes."</p> + +<p>"See that you do! And remember, no more scenes of vulgar violence. Chain +your unbridled passions, and behave as one in your sane mind for once. +You shall have to take care what you are at for the future, mistress!"</p> + +<p>And with this last menace, he departed to join his guests in their +excursion.</p> + +<p>For upward of three hours after he left her, she lay as she had lain all +that livelong night, prostrate, rigid, and motionless. Others in her +situation might have shed tears, but Georgia had none to shed; her eyes +were dry and burning, her lips parched; natures like hers do not weep, +in their deadliest straits the heart sheds tears of blood.</p> + +<p>She arose at last, and giddily crossed the room, and rang the bell. Her +maid answered the summons.</p> + +<p>"Susan," she said, lifting her heavy eyes, "make haste and dress me. I +am going down to the drawing-room."</p> + +<p>"What will you please to wear, madam?" said Susan, looking at her in +wonder.</p> + +<p>"Anything, anything, it does not matter, only make haste," she said, +slowly.</p> + +<p>Susan, thus left to herself, arrayed her mistress in a rich crimson +satin, with heavy frills of lace, bound her shining black hair around +her head in elaborate plaits and braids, fastened her ruby earrings in +her small ears, clasped a bracelet set with the same fiery jewels on her +beautiful<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_243" id="Page_243">[Pg 243]</a></span> rounded arm, and then, finally, seeing even the crimson satin +did not lend a glow to the deadly pale face, she applied rouge to the +cheeks and lips, until Georgia was apparently as blooming as ever before +her. And all this time she had sat like a statue, like a milliner's lay +figure, to be dressed, unheeding, unnoticing it all, until Susan had +finished.</p> + +<p>"Will you please to see if you will do, ma'am," said Susan, +respectfully.</p> + +<p>Georgia lifted her languid eyes to the beautiful face and form in its +dark, rich beauty and fiery costume, and said faintly:</p> + +<p>"Yes; you have done very well. You can go now."</p> + +<p>The girl departed, and Georgia sat with her arms dropped listlessly by +her side, her heavy lashes sweeping her cheek unconscious of the flight +of time. Suddenly the merry jingle of many sleigh-bells dashing up the +avenue, mingled with silvery peals of laughter, broke upon her ear, and +she started to her feet, pressed her hand to her forehead, as if to +still the pulse so loudly beating there, and then walked from the room, +and descended the stairs.</p> + +<p>As she reached the hall, the whole party laughing and talking, with +flushed cheeks, and sparkling eyes, flashed in, and the next instant, +like one in a dream, she felt herself surrounded, listening to them all +talking at once, without comprehending a word.</p> + +<p>"Of course she is better. See what a high color she has," said the voice +of Freddy Richmond, the first she clearly distinguished amid the din.</p> + +<p>"I strongly disapprove of rouging," said Mrs. Wildair, in an audible +whisper, to Mrs. Gleason, as they both swept up stairs with a great +rustling of silks.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_244" id="Page_244">[Pg 244]</a></span></p> + +<p>"What a bewildered look she has," said Miss Harper, with a slight laugh, +as she too, brushed past; "one would think she was walking in a dream."</p> + +<p>"Here comes Captain Arlingford, Hattie, dear," as she tripped after her; +"she will awake now."</p> + +<p>Poor Georgia! she did indeed feel like one in a dream; yet she heard +every jibe as plainly as even the speakers could wish, but she replied +not.</p> + +<p>"My dear Mrs. Wildair, I am rejoiced to see you again, and looking so +well too," said the frank, manly voice of Captain Arlingford, as he +shook her hand warmly. "I trust you have quite recovered from your late +indisposition."</p> + +<p>"Quite, I thank you," said Georgia, trying to smile. Every voice and +every look she had lately heard had been so cold and harsh that her +languid pulses gave a grateful bound at the honest, hearty warmth of the +frank young sailor's tone.</p> + +<p>Richmond Wildair had just entered in time to witness this little scene, +and something as near a scowl as his serene brow could ever wear, +darkened it at that very moment. Well has it been said that "jealousy is +as cruel as the grave," it is also willfully blind. The very openness, +the very candor of this greeting, might have disarmed all suspicion, but +Richmond Wildair would not see anything but his earnest eagerness, and +the smile that rewarded him.</p> + +<p>Going up to Georgia, he brushed almost rudely past Arlingford, and, +offering her his arm, he said coldly:</p> + +<p>"You will take cold standing in this draught, my dear; allow me to lead +you to the drawing-room."</p> + +<p>At his look and tone the smile died away. He saw it, and the scowl +deepened.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_245" id="Page_245">[Pg 245]</a></span></p> + +<p>Placing her on a sofa, he stooped over and said in a hissing whisper in +her ear:</p> + +<p>"Do not <i>too</i> openly show your preference for the gallant captain this +evening, Mrs. Wildair. If you cannot dissimulate for my sake, try it for +your own. People <i>will</i> talk, you know, if your partiality is too +public."</p> + +<p>A flash like sheet-lightning leaped from Georgia's eyes, as the +insulting meaning of his words flashed upon her; she caught her breath +and sprang to her feet, but with a bow and a smile he turned and was +gone.</p> + +<p>"Oh, mercy! that I were dead!" was the passionate cry wrung from her +anguished heart at this last worst blow of all. "Oh, this is the very +climax of wrong and insult! Oh, what, <i>what</i> have I done to be treated +thus?"</p> + +<p>How this evening passed Georgia never knew. As Miss Harper had said, she +was like one in a dream, but it was over at last; and, totally worn out +and exhausted, she was sleeping a deep dreamless sleep of utter +prostration.</p> + +<p>Next morning, at the breakfast table, Henry Gleason suddenly called +out—</p> + +<p>"Well, ladies and gentlemen, what's to be the bill of fare for to-day?"</p> + +<p>"Somebody was talking of teaching us to skate yesterday," said Miss +Harper. "I want to learn dreadfully. What do you say to going down to +that pond we were looking at and giving us our first lesson."</p> + +<p>"I'm there!" said Master Henry, whose language was always more emphatic +than choice, "what do you say, all of you young shavers?"</p> + +<p>"I second the motion for one," said Mr. Curtis</p> + +<p>"And I for another," said Lieutenant Gleason, and a universal assent +came from the gentlemen.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_246" id="Page_246">[Pg 246]</a></span></p> + +<p>"And what says our host?" said Miss Harper, with a smile.</p> + +<p>"That he is always delighted to sanction anything Miss Harper proposes," +he said, with a bow.</p> + +<p>"And what says our <i>hostess</i>?" said Captain Arlingford, turning to +Georgia, who with her fictitious bloom gone, sat pale and languid at the +head of the table.</p> + +<p>"That she is afraid you will have to hold her excused," replied Georgia. +"I scarcely feel well enough to accompany you."</p> + +<p>"You are indeed looking ill," said Miss Arlingford, anxiously; "pray +allow me to stay with you, then, as you are unable to go out."</p> + +<p>"And me too!" sung out Henry Gleason so eagerly that the mouthful he was +eating went the wrong way, nearly producing strangulation. "There is not +much fun in teaching girls to skate; all they do is stand on their feet +a minute, then squeal out, and flop down like a lot of bad balloons, and +then get up and screech and go head over heels again. It's twice as +jolly hearing Miss Arlingford sing."</p> + +<p>Miss Arlingford laughed, and bowed her thanks for the compliment.</p> + +<p>"And may I beg to stay too?" said Captain Arlingford; "I am really +getting quite played out with so much exertion, and mean to take life +easy for a day or two. Come now, Mrs. Wildair, be merciful to Harry and +me?"</p> + +<p>"I think you had better try to join us, Georgia," said Richmond, with no +very pleased look; "the air will do you good."</p> + +<p>"Indeed I cannot," said Georgia, who was half blinded with a throbbing +headache; "my head aches, and I beg<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_247" id="Page_247">[Pg 247]</a></span> you will excuse me. But I cannot +think of depriving any of you of the pleasure of going, though I thank +you for your kind consideration."</p> + +<p>"Now, Mrs. Wildair, I positively shall not take a refusal," said Miss +Arlingford, who saw that it would do better not to leave Georgia alone +with her morbid fancies. "I shall take it quite unkindly if you send me +away. I shall try if I cannot exorcise your headache by some music, and +I really must intercede, too, for my young friend, Master Harry here, +who was delightful enough to compliment me a little while ago."</p> + +<p>"And will no one intercede for me?" said the captain.</p> + +<p>"<i>I</i> will," said Harry. "We three will have a real nice good time all to +ourselves—— hanged if we don't! Oh, Miss Arlingford, you're a—a +<i>brick</i>! you are so!" he exclaimed enthusiastically; "and Mrs. Georgia, +I guess you'd better let Arlingford stay too. Three ain't company, and +four <i>is</i>."</p> + +<p>And "Do, Mrs. Wildair!" "Do, Mrs. Georgia," chimed in Captain and Miss +Arlingford laughingly. And Georgia, unable to refuse without positive +rudeness, smiled a faint assent.</p> + +<p>For one instant a scowl of midnight blackness lingered on the face of +Richmond, the next it was gone, and Georgia saw him, smiling and gay, +set off with the rest on their skating excursion.</p> + +<p>The dinner hour was past before they arrived. Georgia had spent a +pleasanter morning than she had for many a day, and there was something +almost like cheerfulness in her tone as she addressed some questions to +her husband after his return. He did not reply, but turned on her a<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_248" id="Page_248">[Pg 248]</a></span> +terrible look, that sent her sick and faint back in her seat, and then, +without a word, he passed on and was gone.</p> + +<p>That look was destined to overthrow all Georgia's new-found calmness for +that day. She scarcely understood what had caused it. Surely he must +have known she was ill, she thought, and not fitted to join in an +excursion like that, and surely he could not be angry at her for staying +at home while too sick to go out. Feeling that the gayety of the +drawing-room that evening was like "vinegar upon niter" to her feelings, +she quitted it and passed out into the long hall. The moon was shining +brightly through the glass sides of the door, and she leaned her burning +forehead against the cold panes and looked out at the bright stars +shining down on the placid earth.</p> + +<p>There was a rustle of garments behind her, a soft cat-like step she knew +too well, and turning round she saw the hateful face with its baleful +smile fixed upon her.</p> + +<p>A flush of indignation covered her pale face. Could she not move a step +without being dogged by this creature?</p> + +<p>"Well, Mrs. Georgia," began Freddy, with a sneer, "I hope you had a +pleasant time to-day with the gay sailor."</p> + +<p>Georgia clinched her hands and set her teeth hard together to keep down +her rising passion.</p> + +<p>"Leave me!" she said, with an imperious stamp.</p> + +<p>"Oh, just let me stay a little while," said Freddy, jeeringly. "What +confidence he must have in you to make an appointment in the very face +of your husband!"</p> + +<p>"Will you leave me?"</p> + +<p>"Not just yet, my dear cousin," Freddy said, smiling up in her face. +"What a romantic thing it would be if we<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_249" id="Page_249">[Pg 249]</a></span> were to have an elopement in +real life—how delightful it would be, wouldn't it?"</p> + +<p>Georgia's face grew ghastly, even to her lips, and her whole frame shook +with the storm of passion raging within. Freddy saw it, and exulted in +her power.</p> + +<p>"How delightfully jealous Richmond is, to be sure, of his pauper bride +and her sailor lover; how his friends will talk when they go back to the +city—and how Mrs. Wildair, of Richmond Hall, who is too much of a fool +ever to know how to carry out an intrigue properly, will be laughed at. +Ha! ha! ha! what delicious scenes have been witnessed here since we +came, to be sure."</p> + +<p>What demon was it leaped into Georgia's eyes at that moment—what meant +her awful, calm, and terrible look?</p> + +<p>"How will it read in the papers? 'We are pained to learn that the young +and beautiful wife of Richmond Wildair, Esq., of Burnfield, eloped last +night. The gay Adonis is Captain Arlingford, U. S. N., who was, we +believe, at the time, the honored guest of the wronged husband. Mr. +Wildair has pursued the guilty couple, and a duel will probably be the +consequence of this sad affair.' Ha! ha! What do you think of my +imagination, Georgia?"</p> + +<p>No reply; but, oh! that dreadful look!</p> + +<p>"Oh, the insolence of earthworms like you," continued Freddy, in her +bitter gibing tone, "you dare to lift your eyes to one who would have +honored you too much by letting you wipe the dust off his shoes. <i>You</i>, +the parish pauper, reared by the bounty of a wretched old hag—<i>you</i>, +the child of a strolling player, who died on the roadside like a +dog—you, the——"</p> + +<p>But she never finished the sentence. With the awful shriek of a demon—a +shriek that those who heard could<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_250" id="Page_250">[Pg 250]</a></span> never forget, Georgia sprang upon +her, caught her by the throat, and hurled her with the strength of +madness against the wall.</p> + +<p>With a faint cry, strangled in its birth, Freddy held up her hands to +save herself; but she was as a child in the fierce grasp of the woman +she had infuriated.</p> + +<p>Ere the last cadence of that terrible shriek had ceased ringing through +the house, every one, servants, guests and all, were on the spot. And +there they saw Georgia standing like an incarnate fury, and Frederica +Richmond lying motionless on the ground, her face deluged in blood.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XVII" id="CHAPTER_XVII"></a>CHAPTER XVII.</h2> + +<h3>GONE.</h3> + +<div class="poemblock26"> +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">"Oh, break, break heart! poor bankrupt, break at once."<br /></span> +</div></div></div> +<p style="margin-left: 65%;"><span class="smcap">Shakespeare.</span></p> + +<div class="poemblock32"> +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">"Break, break, break,<br /></span> +<span class="i2">At the foot of the crags, O sea!<br /></span> +<span class="i0">But the tender grace of day that is dead<br /></span> +<span class="i2">Will never come back to me."<br /></span> +</div></div></div> +<p style="margin-left: 65%;"><span class="smcap">Tennyson.</span></p> + + +<div class="drop"> +<img src="images/illo_t.png" alt="T" width="100" height="100" class="cap" /> +<p class="cap_1"> +here was an instant death-like pause, and all gazed, white with horror, +on the scene before them. Freddy lay perfectly motionless, and Georgia, +terrific in her roused wrath, stood over her like some dark priestess of +doom. Not a voice dared to break the dreadful silence until Richmond +Wildair, with a face from which every trace of color had<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_251" id="Page_251">[Pg 251]</a></span> faded, and +with a terrible light in his eyes, strode over and caught Georgia by the +arm.</p></div> + +<p>"Woman! fiend! what have you done?" he said, hoarsely.</p> + +<p>She looked up, wrenched her arm free from his grasp, sprang back and +dauntlessly confronted him.</p> + +<p>"Given her the reward for which she so long has been laboring," she +said, in a voice awful from its very depth of calm.</p> + +<p>His grasp tightened on her arm, tightened till a black circle discolored +the delicate skin; his eyes were fixed on hers with a fearful look; but, +with the tempest sweeping through her soul, she felt not his grasp, she +heeded not his look.</p> + +<p>"Yes," she said, folding her arms and looking down steadily on the +senseless figure, "I have taught her what it is to drive me to +desperation. A worm will turn when it is crushed, and I—oh! what I have +endured in silence! And now let all beware!" she said, raising her voice +almost to a shriek, "for if I must go down, I shall drag down with me +all who have acted a part in my misery. Stand back, Richmond Wildair! +for I shall be your slave no longer!"</p> + +<p>No one there but actually quailed before the dark passionate glance bent +upon them, save Richmond. Some Roman father about to sacrifice his +dearest child on the altar of duty, might have looked as terribly stern, +as ominously rigid and calm, as he did then.</p> + +<p>Without a word, he strode over and grasped both her wrists in his +vise-like hold, and looked full and steadily in her wild, flashing eyes.</p> + +<p>"Georgia," he said; "come with me."<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_252" id="Page_252">[Pg 252]</a></span></p> + +<p>She strove again to wrench herself free, but this time she could not; he +held her fast, and met her flashing defiant gaze with one of steady, +immovable calm.</p> + +<p>"You had better come. I do not wish to use force. If you do not come +quietly you will be sorry for it."</p> + +<p>His glance, far more than his words or voice, was conquering her. He +felt the rigid muscles relax, and the fierce glance dying out before his +own, and a convulsive shiver pass through her slight frame.</p> + +<p>"Come, Georgia," drawing her toward the parlor; "dangerous maniacs +should not be allowed to go at large. You will remain here until I come +to you."</p> + +<p>He opened the door, let her in, then came out, turned the key in the +lock, and put it in his pocket.</p> + +<p>All this had passed nearly in a moment. The others, spell-bound, had +stood rooted to the ground, their eyes fixed on Georgia and Richmond, +almost forgetting the very presence of Freddy.</p> + +<p>Now he went over and raised her from the floor. Her arms hung lifeless +by her side, her head fell over his arm, and a dark stream of blood +flowed from a frightful wound in her forehead and trickled over her +ghastly face.</p> + +<p>A universal shriek from the ladies followed the sight, and some, +overcome by seeing blood, swooned on the spot. Unheeding them all, +Richmond made his way through the horrified group, entered the +drawing-room, laid his burden on one of the sofas, and seizing the bell +rope rang a peal that brought half a dozen servants rushing in at once.</p> + +<p>"Here, one of you bring me some water and a sponge, instantly; and you, +Edwards, be off for Dr. Fairleigh. Run! fly! lose not a moment."</p> + +<p>The man darted off. Richmond, wetting the sponge,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_253" id="Page_253">[Pg 253]</a></span> began carefully to +wipe away the blood and bathe her temples, while the others gathered +around, not daring to break the deep silence by a single word. There was +something startling in Richmond Wildair's face—something no one had +ever seen there before, underlying all its outward ominous +calm—something in its still, dark sternness that overawed all.</p> + +<p>In ten minutes the doctor arrived and proceeded to examine the wound, +while all present held their very breath in expectation. Richmond stood +with his arms folded over his chest during those moments of suspense, +motionless as a figure of granite; but the knotted veins standing out +dark and swollen on his brow, his labored breathing, and the convulsive +clenching of his hands, bespoke the agony of suspense he was undergoing.</p> + +<p>"Well, doctor," he said, huskily, when the physician arose, "will—will +she <i>die</i>?"</p> + +<p>"Die! pooh! No, of course she won't! What would she die for?" said the +doctor, a jolly little individual, rejoicing in a very bald head and a +pair of bandy legs; "it's nothing but a scratch, man alive! nothing +more. We'll clap a piece of sticking-plaster on and have her all alive +like a bag of grasshoppers in no time. Die, indeed! I think I see her at +it."</p> + +<p>And so saying, the little man drew the edges of the wound together, +applied sundry pieces of court-plaster, and then pronounced the job +finished.</p> + +<p>"And now to bring her to," said the little doctor, proceeding to give +the palms of her hands an energetic slapping; "and meantime, my dear +sir, how in the world did she manage to smash herself up in this +fashion?"</p> + +<p>Richmond did not reply. The sudden reaction from<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_254" id="Page_254">[Pg 254]</a></span> torturing fears to +perfect safety was too much even for him, and he stood at the window, +his forehead bowed on his hand, his hard, stifled breathing distinctly +audible in the silent room.</p> + +<p>"Hey!" said the little doctor, looking up in surprise at his emotion. +"Lord bless my soul! You didn't suppose she was going to die, really, +did you! Well! well, well, well! the ignorance of people is wonderful! +How <i>did</i> it happen, good folks?" said the doctor, making no attempt to +hide his curiosity.</p> + +<p>"An accident, sir," said Colonel Gleason, stiffly.</p> + +<p>"Hum! ha! an accident!" said the doctor, musingly; "well, accidents will +happen in the best of families, they say. Don't be alarmed, Squire +Wildair; the young woman will be around as lively as a cricket in a day +or two. Here, she's coming to already."</p> + +<p>While he spoke there was a convulsive twitching around Freddy's mouth, a +fluttering of the pulse, and the next moment she opened her eyes and +gazed vaguely around.</p> + +<p>"Here you are, all alive and kicking, marm," said the little country +Galen; "no harm done, you know. Hand us a glass of water, somebody."</p> + +<p>The water effectually restored Freddy, who was able to sit up and gaze +about her with a bewildered air.</p> + +<p>"My dearest Freddy, how do you feel? My darling girl, are you better?" +said Mrs. Wildair, folding her in her arms.</p> + +<p>"Of course she's better, marm," said the doctor, rubbing his hands +gleefully; "right as ever so many trivets. There's a picture for you," +he added, appealing to the company generally; "family affection's a +splendid thing, and should be encouraged at any price. Let her keep on +a<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_255" id="Page_255">[Pg 255]</a></span> low diet, and she'll be as well, if not considerably better than +ever, in two or three days. Might have been killed dead as a herring, +though, if she had struck her temple, instead of up there."</p> + +<p>"What's your fee, doctor?" said Mr. Wildair, in a cold, stern tone, and +a face to match, as he abruptly crossed over to where he stood.</p> + +<p>"Dollar," said the doctor, rubbing his hands with a joyous little +chuckle—"court-plaster—visit—advice"—</p> + +<p>"There it is—good-evening, sir. Edward, show Dr. Fairleigh to the +door," said Mr. Wildair, frigidly.</p> + +<p>"Good-evening, <i>good</i>-evening," said the bustling little man, hurrying +out. "Always send for me whenever any of you think proper to knock your +heads against anything. <span class="smcap">Good</span>-evening," repeated the doctor, as he +vanished, with an emphasis so great as to pronounce the word not only in +italics, but even in small capitals.</p> + +<p>Richmond went over and took Freddy's hand.</p> + +<p>"My dearest cousin, how do you feel?" he said.</p> + +<p>"Oh, dreadfully ill," she said faintly; "my head does ache so."</p> + +<p>"Perhaps you had better go to your room and lie down," said Richmond, +his lips quivering slightly. "Mother, you will go with her."</p> + +<p>"Certainly, my dear boy. Come, Freddy, let me assist you up stairs."</p> + +<p>Putting her arm round Miss Richmond's waist, Mrs. Wildair led her from +the room. And then every one present took a deep breath, and looked +first at one another and then at their host, with a glance that said, +"What comes next?"</p> + +<p>But if they expected an apology from Mr. Wildair they<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_256" id="Page_256">[Pg 256]</a></span> were +disappointed: for, turning round, he said, as calmly as if nothing had +occurred:</p> + +<p>"I believe we were to enact some pantomimes this evening—eh, Curtis! It +is near time we were beginning, is it not, ladies?"</p> + +<p>So completely "taken aback" were they by this cool way of doing business +that a dead pause ensued, and amazed glances were again exchanged. Any +one else but Richmond Wildair would have been embarrassed; but he stood +calm and self-possessed, waiting for their answer.</p> + +<p>"Really," said Mrs. Gleason, drawing herself up till her corset-laces +snapped, "after the unaccountable scene that—ahem—has just occurred, +you will have to excuse me if I decline joining in any amusements +whatever this evening. My nerves have been completely unstrung. I never +received such a shock in my life, and I must say——"</p> + +<p>She paused in some confusion under the clear, piercing gaze of +Richmond's dark eagle eye.</p> + +<p>"Well, madam?" he said, with unruffled courtesy.</p> + +<p>"In a word, Mr. Wildair," said the lady, stiffly, "I must say that I do +not consider it safe to stay longer in the same house with a dangerous +lunatic, for such I consider your wife must be. You will therefore +excuse me if I take my departure for the city to-morrow."</p> + +<p>In grave silence, Richmond bowed; and the offended lady, in magnificent +displeasure, swept from the room.</p> + +<p>"And, Mr. Wildair," said Miss Reid, languidly, "I too feel it absolutely +necessary to return; violence is so unpleasant to witness. Good-night." +And the young lady floated away.</p> + +<p>Once again Richmond bowed, apparently unmoved, but<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_257" id="Page_257">[Pg 257]</a></span> the slight twitching +of the muscles of his mouth showed how keenly he felt this.</p> + +<p>"Aw, upon honnaw, Wildaih," lisped Mr. Lester, hastily, "though I regwet +it—aw—exceedingly, you know—I weally must go back to New York +to-morrow, too. Business, my deah fellow, comes—aw—befoah pleasure, +and letters I——"</p> + +<p>"I understand; pray, do not feel it necessary to apologize," said Mr. +Wildair, with a slight sneer; "allow me to bid you good night, Mr. +Lester, and a pleasant journey to New York to-morrow."</p> + +<p>Poor Mr. Lester! There was no use in trying to brave it out under the +light of those dark, scornful eyes, and he sneaked from the room with +much the same feeling as if he had been kicked out.</p> + +<p>There was another profound pause when he was gone. Not an eye there was +ready to meet the falcon gaze of their host. Mr. Wildair stepped back a +pace, folded his arms over his chest, and looked steadily at them.</p> + +<p>"Well, ladies and gentlemen," he said calmly, "who next?"</p> + +<p>"Wildair, my dear old fellow," said Dick Curtis, with tears in his eyes, +"I—I feel—I feel—I'll be hanged if I know <i>how</i> I feel. It's too +bad—it's too darned bad for them to treat you this way, after all +you've tried to do for them. It's abominable, it's <i>infernal</i>, it's a +shame! I beg your pardon, ladies, for swearing, but its enough to make a +saint swear—I'll be shot if it's not!" said Mr. Curtis, looking round +with a sort of howl of mingled rage and grief, and then seizing +Richmond's hand and shaking it as if it had been a pump-handle.</p> + +<p>"And I, too, Curtis," said the honest voice of Captain<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_258" id="Page_258">[Pg 258]</a></span> Arlingford, "am +with you there. Mr. Wildair, you must not set us all down for Mr. +Lesters."</p> + +<p>"The mean little ass!—ought to be kicked from here to sundown!" said +Lieutenant Gleason, in a tone of disgust.</p> + +<p>"And so ought mother," said Henry, sticking his hands in his pockets and +striding up and down in indignation: "and the nasty Lydia Languish +Dieaway Reid, a be-scented, be-frizzled, be-flounced stuck-up piece of +dry-goods. I wish to gracious the whole of them were kicked to death by +hornbugs," said Henry, thrusting his hands to the very bottom of his +pockets and glaring defiance round the room.</p> + +<p>A low murmur of earnest sympathy came from all present, Miss Harper +included; for as Captain Arlingford had joined the opposition party, +like certain politicians of the present day, she found it no way +difficult to change her tactics and go over to the enemy.</p> + +<p>"My friends, I thank you," said Mr. Wildair, in a suppressed voice, as +he abruptly turned and walked to the window; "but—you must excuse me, +and allow me to leave you for the present. I feel—" he broke off +abruptly, wheeled round, and with a brief "good night," was gone.</p> + +<p>He passed up stairs and sank into a chair. His brain seemed on fire, the +room for a moment seemed whirling round, and thought was impossible. The +shame, the disgrace, the mockery, the laughter, the scenes in Richmond +House must cause among his city friends, alone, stood vividly before +him. He fancied he could hear their jeering laughs and mocking sneers +whenever he appeared, and, half maddened, he rose and began to pace up +and down like a maniac. And then came the thought of her who had caused +all this—of her who had nearly slain his cousin, and the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_259" id="Page_259">[Pg 259]</a></span> pallid hue of +rage his face wore gave place to a glow of indignation.</p> + +<p>He had seen Georgia leave the room that evening, and Freddy with her +sweet smile rise to follow her, and his thought, had been, "Dear, kind +little Freddy! what a generous, forgiving heart she must have to be so +solicitous for Georgia's happiness, in spite of all she has done to +her." And when he saw her lying wounded and bleeding, with his +infuriated wife standing over her, he fancied she had merely spoken some +soothing words, and that the demon within Georgia's fiery heart had +prompted to return the kindness thus.</p> + +<p>It is strange how blind the most wise of this world are when wisdom is +entirely of this earth. Richmond Wildair, with his clear head and +profound intellect, was completely deceived by his fawning, silk, +silvery-voiced little cousin. In his eyes Georgia alone was at fault. +Freddy was immaculate. She it was who had brought him to this—<i>she</i>, +whom he had raised from her inferior position to be his wife—she, who, +instead of being grateful, had commenced to play the termagant, as he +called it, ere the honeymoon was over. And worse than that, she had +proved herself that most despicable of human beings—a married flirt. +Had she and Captain Arlingford not been together the whole day?—a sure +proof that she had never cared much for him. Had she married him for his +wealth and social position? Was it possible Georgia had done this? His +brain for an instant reeled at the thought, and then he grew strangely +calm. She was proud, ambitious, aspiring, fond of wealth and power, and +<i>this</i> was the only means she had of securing them. Yes, it must be so. +And as the conviction came across his mind, a deep, bitter, scornful<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_260" id="Page_260">[Pg 260]</a></span> +anger filled his heart and soul, and drove out every other feeling. With +an impulsive bound he sprang up, and with a ringing step he passed down +stairs and entered the parlor where he had left her.</p> + +<p>And she—poor, stormy, passionate Georgia! what had been her feelings +all this time? At first, in the tumultuous tempest sweeping through her +soul, a deep, swelling rage against all who were goading her on to +desperation, alone filled her thoughts. She had paced up and down +wildly, madly, until this passed away, and then came another and more +terrible feeling—what if she had killed Freddy? As if she had been +stunned by a blow, she tottered to a seat, while a thousand voices +seemed shrieking in her ears, "Murderess! murderess!"</p> + +<p>Oh! the horror, the agony, the remorse that were hers at that moment. +She put her hands to her ears to shut out the dreadful sound of those +phantom voices, and crouching down in a strange, distorted position, she +struggled alone with all her agonizing remorse. How willingly in that +moment would she have given her own life—a thousand lives, had she +possessed them—to have recalled her arch enemy back to life once more. +So she lay for hours, feeling as though her very reason was tottering on +its throne, and so Richmond found her when he opened the door. She +sprang to her feet with a wild bound, and flying over, she caught his +hand and almost shrieked:</p> + +<p>"Oh Richmond! is she dead? Oh, Richmond! in the name of mercy, speak and +tell me, is she dead?"</p> + +<p>She might have quailed before the look of unutterable scorn bent on her, +but she did not. He shook her hand off as if it had been a viper, and +folding his arms, looked steadily and silently down upon her.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_261" id="Page_261">[Pg 261]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Richmond! Richmond! speak and tell me. Oh, I shall go mad!" she cried, +in frenzied tones.</p> + +<p>She looked as though she were going mad indeed, with her streaming hair, +her pallid face, and wildly blazing eyes. Perhaps he feared her reason +<i>was</i> tottering, for he sternly replied:</p> + +<p>"Cease this raving, madam; you have been saved from becoming a murderess +in act, though you are one in the sight of heaven."</p> + +<p>"And she will not die?"</p> + +<p>"No."</p> + +<p>"Oh, thank heaven!" and, totally overcome, she sank for the first time +in her life, almost fainting into her seat.</p> + +<p>Richmond looked at her with deep, scornful eyes.</p> + +<p>"<i>You</i> to thank Heaven!—<i>you</i> to take that name on your lips!—you, who +this night attempted a murder! Oh, woman do you not fear the vengeance +of that Heaven you invoke!"</p> + +<p>"Oh, Richmond! spare me not. I deserve all you would say. Oh! in all +this world there is not another so lost, so fallen, so guilty as I."</p> + +<p>"You are right, there is not; for one who would attempt the life of a +young and innocent girl must be steeped in guilt so black that Hades +itself must shudder. Had you caused the death of Frederica Richmond, as +you tried to, I myself would have gone to the nearest magistrate, had +you arrested, and forced you off this very night to the county jail. I +would have prosecuted you, though every one else in the world was for +you; and I would have gone to behold you perish on the scaffold, and +then—and then only—felt that justice was satisfied."</p> + +<p>She almost shrieked, as she covered her face with her<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_262" id="Page_262">[Pg 262]</a></span> hands from his +terrible gaze, but, unheeding her anguish, he went on in a calm, +pitiless voice:</p> + +<p>"You, one night not long since, told me you wished you had never married +me. That you really ever wished it I do not now believe; for one who +could commit a cold-blooded murder would not hesitate at a lie—a <i>lie</i>. +Do you hear, Georgia? But I tell you now, that I wish I had been dead +and in my grave ere I ever met Georgia Darrell!"</p> + +<p>"Oh, Richmond! Spare me! spare me!" she cried, in a dying voice.</p> + +<p>"No; I am like yourself—I spare not. You have merited this, and a +thousand times more from me, and you shall listen now. That you married +me for my wealth and for the power it would give you, I know only too +well. You were an unnatural child, and I might have known you would be +an unnatural woman; but I willfully blinded my eyes, and believed what +you told me that accursed night on the sea-shore, and I married +you—fool that I was! I braved the scorn of the world, the sneers of my +friends, the just anger of my mother, and stooped—are you listening, +Georgia?—and <i>stooped</i> to wed you. And now I have my reward."</p> + +<p>"Oh, Richmond! I shall go mad!" she wailed, writhing in her seat, and +feeling as if every fiber in her heart were tearing from its place, so +intense was her anguish.</p> + +<p>But still the clear, clarion-like voice rang out on the air like a +death-bell, cold, calm, and pitiless as the grave:</p> + +<p>"Once, in one of your storms of passion, madam, you asked me why I +married you. Now I answer you: because I was mad, demented, besotted, +crazed, or I most assuredly should never have dreamed of such a thing. +Perhaps you wish I had not, for then the gallant sailor you admire so<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_263" id="Page_263">[Pg 263]</a></span> +much might have taken it into his hair-brained head to do what I did in +a fit of insanity—for which a life of misery like this is to atone—and +married you. That I have deprived you of this happiness, I deeply +regret; for, madam, much as you may repent this marriage, you can never, +<i>never</i> repent it half as much as I do now."</p> + +<p>She had fallen at his feet, whether from physical weakness, or whether +she had writhed there in her intolerable agony, he did not know, and, at +that moment, did not care. He stepped back, looked down upon her as she +lay a moment, and went on:</p> + +<p>"I fancied I loved you well enough then to brave the whole world for +your sake; but that, like all the rest of my short brain-fever, has +completely passed away. What feeling can one have for a murderess—for +such in heart you are—but one of horror and loathing?"</p> + +<p>She sprang to her feet with a moaning cry, and stood before him with one +arm half raised; her lips opened as if to speak, but no voice came +forth.</p> + +<p>"Hear me out, madam," he interposed, waving his hand, "for it is the +last time, perhaps, you will ever be troubled by a word from me. You +have driven my guests from my house, you have eternally disgraced me, +and, lest you should murder the very servants next, must not be allowed +to go free. While a friend of mine resides under this roof you shall +remain locked a close prisoner in your room, as a lunatic too dangerous +to be at large. And if that does not subdue the fiend within you, one +thing yet remains for me to do—that I may go free once more."</p> + +<p>He paused, and the rage he had subdued by the strength of his mighty +will all along, showed now in the death-like<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_264" id="Page_264">[Pg 264]</a></span> whiteness of his face, +white even to his lips, like the white ashes over red-hot coals.</p> + +<p>Again her arm was faintly raised, again her trembling lips parted, but +the power of speech seemed to have been suddenly taken from her. No +sound came forth.</p> + +<p>"What I allude to will make me free as air—free as I was before I met +you—free to bring another mistress to Richmond House before your very +eyes. Money will procure it, and of that I have enough. I allude to a +<i>divorce</i>—do you know what that means?"</p> + +<p>Yes, she knew. Her arms dropped by her side as if she had been suddenly +stricken with death, the light died out in her eyes, the words she would +have uttered were frozen on her lips, and, as if the last blow she could +ever receive had fallen, she laid her hand on her heart and lifted her +eyes, calm as his now, to his face.</p> + +<p>Some author has said, "Great shocks kill weak minds, and stir strong +ones with a calm resembling death." So it was now with Georgia; she had +been stunned into calm—the calm of undying, life-long despair. She had +believed and trusted all along—she had thought he loved her until +now—and <i>now</i>!</p> + +<p>What was there in her face that awed even him? It was not anger, nor +reproach, nor yet sorrow. A thrill of nameless terror shot through his +heart, and with the last cruel words all anger passed away. He advanced +a step toward her, as if to speak again, but she raised her hand, and +lifting her eyes to his face with a look he never forgot, she turned and +passed from the room.</p> + +<p>And Richard Wildair was alone. He had not meant one-half of what he had +said in the white heat of his passion, and the idea of a divorce had no +more entered his<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_265" id="Page_265">[Pg 265]</a></span> head than that of slaying himself on the spot had. He +had said it in his rage, none the less deep for being suppressed, and +now he would have given uncounted worlds that those fatal words had +never been uttered.</p> + +<p>He went out to the hall, but she had gone—he caught the last flutter of +her dress as she passed the head of the stairs toward her own room.</p> + +<p>"I ought not to have said that," he said uneasily to himself as he paced +up and down. "I am sorry for it now. To-morrow I will see her again, and +then—well, 'sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof.' I cannot live +this life longer. I will not stay in Burnfield. I cannot stay. I shall +go abroad and take her with me. Yes, that is what I will do. Travel will +work wonders in Georgia, and who knows what happiness may be in store +for us yet."</p> + +<p>He walked to the window and looked out. The white snow lay in great +drifts on every side, looking cold and white and death-like in the pale +luster of a wintry moon. With a shudder he turned away, and threw +himself moodily on a couch in the warm parlor, saying, as if to reassure +himself:</p> + +<p>"Yes, to-morrow I will see her, and all shall be +well—to-morrow—to-morrow."</p> + +<p>There was a paper lying on the table, and he took it up and looked +lightly over it. The first thing that struck his eyes was a poem, +headed:</p> + +<p>"<i>To-morrow never comes</i>."</p> + +<p>Richmond Wildair would have been ashamed to tell it, but he actually +started and turned pale with superstitious terror. It seemed so like an +answer to his thoughts that startled him more than anything of the kind +had ever done before.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_266" id="Page_266">[Pg 266]</a></span></p> + +<p>To him that night passed in feverish dreams. How passed it with another +beneath that roof?</p> + +<p>At early morning he was awake. An unaccountable presentment of an +impending calamity was upon him and would not be shaken off.</p> + +<p>Scarcely knowing what he did, he went up to Georgia's room, and softly +turned the handle of the door. He had expected to find it locked, but it +was not so; it opened at his touch, and he went in.</p> + +<p>Why does he start and clutch it as if about to fall? The room is empty, +and <i>the bed has not been slept in all night</i>.</p> + +<p>A note, addressed to him, lies on the table. Dizzily he opens it, and +reads:</p> + +<blockquote><p>"<span class="smcap">My dearest husband</span>: Let me call you so for this once, this last +time—you are free! On this earth I will never disgrace you again. +May heaven bless you and forgive.</p> + +<p class="citation"><span class="smcap">"Georgia.</span>"<br /></p> +</blockquote> + +<p>She was gone—gone forever! Clutching the note in his hand, he +staggered, rather than walked, down stairs, opened the door, and, in a +cold gray of coming dawn, passed out.</p> + +<p>All around the stainless snow-drifts seemed mocking him with their white +blank faces, lying piled as they had been last night when he had driven +his young wife from his side. Cold and white they were here still, and +Georgia was—where?</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;"/><p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_267" id="Page_267">[Pg 267]</a></span></p> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XVIII" id="CHAPTER_XVIII"></a>CHAPTER XVIII.</h2> + +<h3>THE DAWN OF ANOTHER DAY.</h3> + +<div class="poemblock36"> +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">"Then she took up her burden of life again,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Saying only 'It might have been.'<br /></span> +<span class="i0">God pity them both, and pity us all,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Who vainly the dreams of youth recall;<br /></span> +<span class="i0">For of all sad words of tongue or pen,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">The saddest are these, 'It might have been.'"<br /></span> +</div></div></div> + +<p style="margin-left: 65%;"><span class="smcap">Whittier.</span></p> + +<div class="drop"> +<img src="images/illo_i.png" alt="I" width="100" height="100" class="cap" /> +<p class="cap_1"> +n the dead of night—of that last, sorrowful night—a slight, dark +figure had flitted from one of the many doors of Richmond House, +fluttered away in the chill night round through the sleeping town. A +visitor came to Miss Jerusha's sea-side cottage that night, with a face +so white and cold that the snow-wreaths dimmed beside it; the white face +lay on the cold threshold, the dark figure was prostrate in the +snow-drift before the door, and there the last farewell was taken while +Miss Jerusha lay sleeping within. And then the dusky form was whirling +away and away again like a leaf on a blast, another stray waif on the +great stream of life.</p></div> + +<p>Six pealed from the town clock of Burnfield. The locomotive shrieked, +the bell rang, and the fiery monster was rushing along with its living +freight to the great city of New York.</p> + +<p>In the dusky gloom of that cold, cheerless winter morning the tall, dark +form, all dressed in black and closely vailed had glided in like a +spirit and taken her seat. Muffled in caps, and cloaks, and comforters, +every one had<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_268" id="Page_268">[Pg 268]</a></span> enough to do to mind themselves and keep from freezing, +and no one heeded the still form that leaned back among the cushions, +giving as little sign of life as though it were a statue in ebony.</p> + +<p>The sun was high in the sky and Georgia was in New York. She knew where +to go; in her former visit she had chanced to relieve the wants of a +poor widow living in an obscure tenement-house somewhere near the East +River, and here, despairing of finding her way through the labyrinth of +streets alone, she gave the cabman directions to drive. Strangely calm +she was now, but oh, the settled night of anguish in those large, wild, +black eyes!</p> + +<p>The poor are mostly grateful, and warm and heartfelt was Georgia's +welcome to that humble roof. Questions were asked, but none answered; +all Georgia said she wanted was a private room there for two or three +days.</p> + +<p>Alone at last, she sat down to think. There was no time to brood over +the past—her life-work was to be accomplished now. What next? was the +question that arose before her, the question that must be promptly +answered. How was she to live in this wilderness of human beings?</p> + +<p>She leaned her head on her hands, forcibly wrenched her thoughts from +the past and fixed them on the present. How was she to earn a +livelihood? The plain, practical, homely question roused all her +sleeping energies, and did her good.</p> + +<p>The stage! She thought of that first with an electric bound of the +pulse; she knew, she was certain she could win a name and fame there; +but could she, who had become the wife of Richmond Wildair, become an +actress? She knew his fastidious pride on this point; she knew the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_269" id="Page_269">[Pg 269]</a></span> fact +of her having been an actress in her childhood had never ceased to gall +him more than anything else.</p> + +<p>Georgia Darrell would have stepped on the boards and won the highest +laurels the profession could bestow, but Georgia Wildair had another to +think of beside herself. Much as she longed for that exciting life—that +life for which nature had so well qualified her, physically and +mentally, for which she had so strong a desire—she put the thought +aside and gave it up.</p> + +<p>Though she had wrenched asunder the chains that bound her to him, she +still carried a clanking fragment with her, and, no longer a free agent, +she must think of something else. Another reason there was why that +profession could not be hers—she did not wish to be known or discovered +by any she had ever known before; her desire was to be as dead to +Richmond Wildair as if she had never existed—to leave him free, +unfettered as he had been before this fatal marriage. And, to make the +more sure of this, she had resolved to drop his name and assume another. +She would take her mother's name of Randall; it was her own name, +too—Georgia Randall Darrell.</p> + +<p>But what was she to do? Females before now had won fame as artists, and +Georgia had genius and an artist's soul. But she would have to wait and +live on this poor widow's bounty meantime, and that was too abhorrent to +her nature to be for a moment thought of. Nothing remained but to become +a teacher or governess, and even in this she was doubtful if she could +succeed. She knew little or nothing of music, and that seemed absolutely +essential in a governess, but still she would try. If that failed, +something else must be tried.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_270" id="Page_270">[Pg 270]</a></span></p> + +<p>Drawing pen and ink toward her, she sat down and indited the following:</p> + +<blockquote><p>WANTED—A situation as governess in a respectable private family, +by one capable of teaching French, German, and Latin, and all the +branches of English education. Address G. R., etc.</p></blockquote> + +<p>Next morning, among hundreds of other "wants," this appeared in the +<i>Herald</i>, and nothing now remained for Georgia but to wait. The +excitement of her flight, the necessity of immediate action, and now the +fever of suspense, kept her mind from dwelling too much on the past. Had +it been otherwise, with her impassioned nature, she might have sunk into +an agony of despair, or raved in the delirium of brain-fever. As it was, +she remained stunned into a sort of calm—white, cold, passionless; but, +oh! with such a settled night of utter sorrow in the great melancholy +dark eyes.</p> + +<p>Fortunately for her, she was not doomed to remain long in suspense. On +the third day a note was brought to her in a gentleman's hand, and +tearing it eagerly open, she read:</p> + +<blockquote> +<p class="citation"><span class="smcap">"Astor House</span>, Jan. 12, 18—.<br /></p> + +<p> +"<span class="smcap">Madam</span>: Seeing your advertisement in the <i>Herald</i>, +and being in want of a governess, if not already engaged, +you would do well to favor me with a call at your earliest +leisure. I will leave the city in two days. Yours,<br /></p> + +<p class="citation"><span class="smcap">"John Leonard</span>."<br /></p> +</blockquote> + +<p>As she finished reading this, Georgia started to her feet, hastily +donned her hat and cloak, with her thick vail closely<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_271" id="Page_271">[Pg 271]</a></span> over her face, +and taking one of the widow's little boys with her, as guide, set out +for the hotel.</p> + +<p>Upon reaching it she inquired for Mr. Leonard. A servant went for him, +and in a few minutes returned with a benevolent-looking old gentleman, +with white hair and a kind, friendly face.</p> + +<p>"You wished to see me, madam," he said, bowing, and looking inquiringly +at the Juno-like form dressed in black.</p> + +<p>"Yes, sir; I am the governess," said Georgia, her heart throbbing so +violently that she turned giddy.</p> + +<p>"Oh, indeed!" said the old gentleman, kindly; "perhaps we had better +step up to my room, then; this is no place to settle business."</p> + +<p>Georgia followed him up two or three flights of stairs, to an elegantly +furnished apartment. Handing her a chair, he seated himself, and glanced +somewhat curiously at her.</p> + +<p>"You received my answer to your advertisement?" he said.</p> + +<p>"Yes, sir," said Georgia, in a stifled voice.</p> + +<p>"May I ask your name madam?" said Mr. Leonard, whose curiosity seemed +piqued.</p> + +<p>Georgia threw back her heavy vail, and the old gentleman gave a start of +surprise at sight of the white, cold, beautiful face, and dark, +sorrowful eyes.</p> + +<p>"My name is Randall—Miss Randall," replied Georgia, while a faint red, +that faded as quickly as it came, tinged her cheek at the deception.</p> + +<p>Mr. Leonard bowed.</p> + +<p>"I suppose you have credentials—your certificates from those with whom +you have formerly lived?" said Mr. Leonard, hesitatingly, for he felt +embarrassed to address this queenly looking girl, on whose marble-like +face the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_272" id="Page_272">[Pg 272]</a></span> awe-inspiring shadow of some mighty grief lay, as he would a +common governess.</p> + +<p>Georgia's eyes dropped, and again that slight tinge of color flashed +across her face, and again faded away.</p> + +<p>"No, sir; I have not. I never was a governess before; sudden +reverses—adversity—"</p> + +<p>She broke down, put her trembling hand before her face, and averted her +head.</p> + +<p>Mr. Leonard was an impulsive, kind-hearted old gentleman, and the sight +of settled anguish in that pale young face went right home to his heart, +and touched him exceedingly.</p> + +<p>"Yes, yes, to be sure, poor child! I understand it all. There, don't +cry—don't, now. You know there is nothing but ups and downs in this +world, and reverses must be expected. I like you, I like your looks, and +I rather guess I'll engage you <i>without</i> credentials. There, don't be +cast down, my dear; don't, now. You really make me feel bad to see you +in trouble."</p> + +<p>Georgia lifted her head and tried to smile, but it was so faint and sad, +so like a cold gleam of moonlight on snow, that it touched that soft +heart of his more and more.</p> + +<p>"Poor thing! poor thing! poor little thing!" he said, winking very +rapidly with both eyes behind his spectacles; "seen a great deal of +trouble, I expect, in her time, must have, to give her that look. I'll +engage her; upon my life I will!"</p> + +<p>"There may be one objection, sir," said Georgia, sadly. "I can't teach +music."</p> + +<p>"You can't—hum!" said Mr. Leonard, musingly. "Well, that doesn't make +much odds, I guess. My daughters have a music-master now, and he can +teach little<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_273" id="Page_273">[Pg 273]</a></span> Jennie, I reckon, too. Your pupils are two boys and a +girl, none over thirteen; and as you teach French, and Latin, and +grammar, and English, and all the other things necessary, music does not +make much difference. And as for salary—well, I'll attend to that at +the end of the quarter, and I think you will be satisfied. When can you +come?"</p> + +<p>"Now, if necessary, sir—any time you like."</p> + +<p>"Well, to-morrow morning I start. I live forty miles out of New York, +and if you will give me your address, I will call for you in the +carriage."</p> + +<p>"I thank you, sir, but it is too far out of your way. I will come up +here," said Georgia, who did not wish to bring him to the mean +habitation where she stopped. "I suppose that is all," she said, rising.</p> + +<p>"All, at present, Miss Randall," said Mr. Leonard, rising, and looking +at her in surprise as she started at the unusual name. "To-morrow at ten +o' clock, I leave. Good-morning."</p> + +<p>He shook hands cordially with her at parting, and then Georgia hurried +out, feeling that one faint gleam of sunshine had arisen in her darkened +life. In the desolate years of the weary life before her she would at +least be a burden to no one, and for a few moments she felt as if an +intolerable load had been lifted off her heart. But when she was alone +again in her chamber and the reaction past, the awful sense of her +desolation came sweeping over her. In all the wide world she had not one +friend left. Sun, and moon, and stars all had faded from her sky, and +night—dark, woeful night—had closed, and a night for which there was +no morning. And, oh, worst of all, she felt it was her own fault, her +own stormy, unbridled passions had done it all; and with a great cry, +wrung from<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_274" id="Page_274">[Pg 274]</a></span> her tortured heart, she sank down quivering and white in the +dusky gloom of that wild winter evening. There was no light in Georgia's +despair; in happier days she had never prayed, and in the hour of her +earthly anguish she <i>could not</i>. In this world she could look forward to +nothing but a wretched, despairing life, and to her the next was a dull, +dead blank. One name was in her heart, one name on her lips, one whom +she had made her God, her earthly idol, and now he, too, was forever +lost.</p> + +<p>When the widow came in to awaken her the next morning, she was startled +by the sight of the tall, dark form, wrapped in a shawl, sitting by the +window, her forehead pressed to the cold pane, her face whiter than the +snow-wreaths without. She had not laid her head on a pillow the livelong +night.</p> + +<p>The cold, pale sunshine of the short January day was fading out of the +sky, when a sleigh, well supplied with buffalo robes and the merry music +of jingling bells, came flying up toward a large, handsome country +villa, through the crimson curtained windows of which the ruddy light of +many a glowing coal fire shone. As it stopped before the door, a group +from within came running out, and stood on the veranda, in eager +expectation and pleasing bustle.</p> + +<p>An old gentleman with white hair and a benevolent smile, answering to +the cognomen of Mr. Leonard, got out and assisted a lady, tall and +elegant, dressed in black, and closely vailed, to alight. Then, giving a +few hasty directions to a servant who was leading off the horses, he +gave the lady his arm and led her up to the house.</p> + +<p>And upon reaching the veranda he was instantly surrounded, and an +incredible amount of kissing, and questioning, and laughing, and talking +was done in an instant,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_275" id="Page_275">[Pg 275]</a></span> and the old gentleman was whisked off and borne +into a large, handsomely furnished parlor, where the brightest of fires +was blazing in the brightest of grates, and pushed into a rocking-chair +and whirled up before the fire in a twinkling.</p> + +<p>"Lord bless <i>my</i> soul!" said the old gentleman, breathlessly, and laying +a strong emphasis on the pronoun; "what a lot of whirlwinds you are, +girls! Where's Miss Randall, eh? Where's Miss Randall?"</p> + +<p>"Here, sir," answered Georgia, as she entered the room.</p> + +<p>"And pretty near frozen, I'll be bound! I know <i>I</i> am. Mrs. Leonard, my +dear, this young lady is the governess—Miss Randall."</p> + +<p>Georgia bowed to a little fat woman with restless, hazel eyes.</p> + +<p>"And these are my two eldest daughters, Felice and Maggie," continued +Mr. Leonard, pointing to two pretty, graceful-looking young girls, who +nodded carelessly to the governess; "and these are your pupils," he +added, pointing to two little boys, apparently between thirteen and ten, +and to a little girl, who, from her resemblance to the younger, was +evidently his twin sister. "Albert, Royal, Jennie, come up and shake +hands with Miss Randall."</p> + +<p>"Miss Randall! why, Licie, that's the name of that nice gentleman who +brought you the roses last night, ain't it?" said little Jennie, looking +up cunningly at her elder sister.</p> + +<p>Miss Felice glanced at Miss Maggie and smiled and blushed, and began +twisting one of her ringlets over her taper fingers, looking very +conscious indeed.</p> + +<p>"May I ask if you are any relation to young Mr. Randall, the poet, of +New York?" said Mrs. Leonard, pushing<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_276" id="Page_276">[Pg 276]</a></span> up her spectacles and trying to +see Georgia through the thick vail which still covered her face.</p> + +<p>"Why, mamma, what a question! Of course she's not," said Miss Felice, +rather pettishly; "he has no relatives, you know. There's plenty of the +name."</p> + +<p>Georgia threw back her vail at this moment, and stooped to kiss little +Jennie, who came up and held her rosy mouth puckered for that purpose, +as if she was quite accustomed to be treated to that sort of small coin.</p> + +<p>"Oh, Felice, what a beautiful face!" exclaimed Miss Maggie, in an +impulsive whisper.</p> + +<p>"Ye-es, she's not bad-looking—for a governess," drawled Miss Felice. +"They are generally so frightfully ugly. She's a great deal too pale +though, and too solemn looking; it gives me the dismals to look at her; +and she's ever so much too tall" (Miss Felice, be it known, was rather +on the dumpy pattern than otherwise), "and too slight for her size, and +her forehead's too high, and her—"</p> + +<p>"Oh, Felice, stop! You'll try to make out she's as ugly as sin directly. +Did you ever see such splendid eyes?"</p> + +<p>"I don't like black eyes," said Miss Felice, in a dissatisfied tone; +"they are too sharp and fiery. They do well enough for men, but I don't +approve of them at all for women."</p> + +<p>"Dear me, what a pity!" said Miss Maggie, sarcastically; "but you can't +call hers fiery—they're dreadfully melancholy, I'm sure. Now ain't +they, mamma?"</p> + +<p>"What dear?" said Mrs. Leonard, not catching the whispered question.</p> + +<p>"Hasn't Miss Randall got lovely melancholy black eyes?"</p> + +<p>"Oh, bother her melancholy black eyes!" said Miss<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_277" id="Page_277">[Pg 277]</a></span> Felice, impatiently. +"What a time you do make about people, Mag. And she only a governess, +too. I should think you would be ashamed."</p> + +<p>"Well, I ain't ashamed—not the least," said Maggie; "and no matter +whether she's a governess or not, she looks like a lady. I'm sure she's +very clever, too. I wonder who she's in black for."</p> + +<p>"Ask her," said Miss Felice, shortly, as she picked up a French novel, +and, placing her feet on the fender, sat down to read.</p> + +<p>Miss Felice was blessed with a temper much shorter than sweet, and Miss +Maggie, who was rather good-natured, took her curt replies as a matter +of course, and, going over to Georgia, said pleasantly:</p> + +<p>"Miss Randall, if you wish to go up to your room, I will be your +<i>cicerone</i> for the occasion. Perhaps you would like to brush your hair +before tea."</p> + +<p>"Thank you," said Georgia, rising languidly, and following Miss Maggie +from the room.</p> + +<p>"This is to be your <i>sanctum sanctorum</i>, Miss Randall," said Maggie, +opening the door of a small and plainly but neatly furnished bedroom, +rendered cheerful by red drapery and a redder fire. "It's not very +gorgeous, you perceive; but it's the one the governess always uses here. +Our last one—Miss Fitzgerald, an Irish young lady—went and +precipitated herself into the awful gulf of——"</p> + +<p>"What?" said Georgia, with a slight start, caused by Miss Maggie's +awe-struck manner.</p> + +<p>"Matrimony!" said Miss Maggie, in a thrilling whisper. "Ain't it +dreadful? Governesses, and ministers, and curates, and all sorts of poor +people generally <i>will</i> persist in such atrocities, on the principle +that what won't keep<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_278" id="Page_278">[Pg 278]</a></span> one, I suppose, will keep two. Don't you ever get +married, Miss Randall. <i>I</i> never mean to—— Why, my goodness, what's +the matter now?"</p> + +<p>Georgia had given such a violent start, and a spasm of such intense +anguish had passed over her face, that Miss Maggie jumped back, and +stood regarding her with wide-open and startled eyes, the picture of +astonishment.</p> + +<p>"Nothing—nothing," said Georgia, leaning her elbow on the table, and +dropping her forehead on it: "a sudden pain—gone now. Pray do not be +alarmed."</p> + +<p>"Oh, I ain't alarmed," said Miss Maggie composedly. "Do you think you +will like to live out here? It's awful lonesome, I can tell you; a +quarter of a mile almost to the nearest house. Licie and I want papa to +stop in New York in the winter, but he won't—he doesn't mind a word we +say. Papas are always the dreadfulest, most obstinate sort of people in +the world—now, ain't they?—always thinking they know best, you know, +and always dreadfully provoking. Oh, dear me!" said Miss Maggie, with a +deep sigh, as she fell back in her chair, and held up and glanced +admiringly at one pretty little foot and distracting ankle, "I don't +know what we should ever do only papa comes from the city to see us, and +that nice Signor Popkins, who was a count or a legion of honor, or some +funny thing in France, and got exiled by that nasty Louis Napoleon, +comes and gives Licie and me two music lessons every week. Oh! Miss +Randall, he's got just the sweetest hair you ever saw; and +mustaches—oh, my goodness! such mustaches—that stick out like two +shaving-brushes; and splendid long whiskers, like a cow's tail. Felice +don't care much for him, because she thinks she's caught that nice, +clever Mr. Randall, your namesake, you know; but I guess she ain't<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_279" id="Page_279">[Pg 279]</a></span> so +sure of him as she thinks. Oh! he does write the most divine poetry ever +was—down right splendid, you know; and every lady is raving about him. +He's travelled all over Europe, and Asia, and Africa, and the North +Pole, and California, and lots of other nice places, and knows—oh, dear +me, he knows a dreadful sight of things, and is a splendid talker. He +only came from England two weeks ago, and everybody is making such a +time about him. Felice met him at a party, and he came here last night +with the divinest bouquet, and she thinks she has him, but <i>I</i> know +better. Then some more gentlemen come here. Lem Turner, and Ike Brown, +and Dick Curtis, but he's gone away somewhere to the country, to where +some friend of his lives—— Hey? What now? Another pain, Miss Randall?"</p> + +<p>"No—yes. Excuse me, Miss Leonard, I am very tired, and will lie down +now. You will please to tell them I do not feel well enough to go down +to tea."</p> + +<p>"Well, there! I might have known you were tired, and not kept on talking +so, but I am such a dreadful chatterbox. I'll tell Susan to bring up +your tea. Good-by, Miss Randall; I hope you'll be quite well to-morrow, +I'm sure." And the loquacious damsel bowed a smiling adieu, and retired.</p> + +<p>Georgia <i>was</i> better the next morning, and able to join the family at +breakfast, which meal was enlivened by a steady flow of talk from Miss +Maggie, and a series of snappish contradictions and marginal notes from +Miss Felice, who never got her temper on till near noon. Mr. and Mrs. +Leonard took both daughters as matters of course, and seemed quite used +to this sort of thing. On Georgia's part<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_280" id="Page_280">[Pg 280]</a></span> it passed almost in silence, +as she sat like some cold, marble statue, with scarcely more signs of +life.</p> + +<p>After breakfast Miss Felice sat down to practice some unearthly +exercises on the grand piano that adorned the drawing-room, and Miss +Maggie Leonard bore off Georgia and the three juvenile Leonards to a +large, high, severe-looking room, adorned with a dismal looking +blackboard, sundry maps, with red, green, yellow splashes, supposed to +represent this terrestrial globe. Four solemn-looking black desks were +in the four corners, and one in the middle for the teacher. Books, and +ink bottles, and slates, without end, were scattered about, and this, +Mrs. Leonard informed Georgia, was the school-room, and after +administering a small lecture to Messrs. Albert and Royal and Miss +Jennie, the purport of which was that the world in general expected them +to be good children and learn fast, and mind Miss Randall, she floated +out, bearing off the unwilling Miss Maggie, and Georgia began her new +life as teacher.</p> + +<p>That day seemed endless to Georgia. Accustomed to uncontrolled freedom +and wild liberty, she was fitted less for a teacher than for anything +else in the world. That love of children which it is necessary every +teacher should possess, Georgia had not, and before the wearisome day +was done every feeling that had not been stunned into numbness rose in +rebellion against the intolerable servitude.</p> + +<p>At four o'clock the day's labor was over, and the children, glad to be +released, scampered off.</p> + +<p>Seating herself at the desk, Georgia dropped her throbbing head upon it, +giddy and blind with one of her deadly headaches, which until the last +month or two, she had never known.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_281" id="Page_281">[Pg 281]</a></span></p> + +<p>Suddenly the door was flung open, and Miss Maggie's ringing voice was +heard.</p> + +<p>"Well, Miss Randall, how did you get on? Mamma wouldn't let me come up, +and it was real mean of her. Why, what's the matter? Oh, my goodness! +you look dreadful!"</p> + +<p>"I have got a headache," said Georgia, pressing her hands to her +throbbing temples dizzily.</p> + +<p>"Oh, you have! Being in this hot room all day has caused it. Do let me +bring you your things, and come out for a walk. It is a beautiful +evening, though cold, and the air will do you good. Come. I'll go with +you, Miss Randall: Shall I go and get your things?"</p> + +<p>"You are very good," said Georgia, faintly; "I think I will; I feel +almost suffocated."</p> + +<p>Maggie bounded away, and the next moment came flying back, rolled up in +a huge shawl, and her pretty face eclipsed in an immense quilted hood. +She held another shawl and hood in her hands, and before Georgia knew +where she was, she found herself all muffled up and ready for the road.</p> + +<p>"Now, then!" said Miss Maggie, briskly; "come along! See if the wind +won't blow roses into those white cheeks of yours!"</p> + +<p>Passing her arm around Georgia's waist, Maggie drew her with her out of +the house.</p> + +<p>The day was cold, and clear, and bright, and windless; a frosty, +sunshiny, cold afternoon. The sun, sinking in the west, shed a red glow +over the snow-covered fields, and gave a golden brightness to the +windows of the house.</p> + +<p>Some of the old wild spirit, that nothing but death could ever entirely +crush out of Georgia's gipsy heart, rose<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_282" id="Page_282">[Pg 282]</a></span> as the cold, keen frosty air +cooled her fevered brow. The languid eyes lit up, and she started at a +rapid walk that kept Maggie breathless, and laughing, and running, and +quite unable to talk.</p> + +<p>"Oh, my stars!" said Maggie, at last, as she stopped, panting, and +leaned against a fence. "If you haven't got the seven-league boots on, +Miss Randall, then I should like to know who has? You ought to go into +training for a female pedestrian, and you would make your fortune in +twenty-five-cent pieces. I declare I'm just about tired to death."</p> + +<p>"Why, how thoughtless I am!" said Georgia, whose excited pace had +scarcely kept time with her excited thoughts; "I forgot you could not +walk as fast as I can. Suppose you sit down and rest, and I will wait."</p> + +<p>"All right, then," said Maggie, as she clambered with great agility to +the top of the fence and sat down on the top rail; "but 'Hold, Macduff! +who comes here?'"</p> + +<p>A sleigh came dashing along the road, drawn by a small, spirited horse +that seemed fairly to fly. It was occupied by a gentleman wearing a +large black cloak, and a fur cap drawn down over his brow.</p> + +<p>As he reached them he turned round and glanced carelessly toward the two +girls. For one instant his face was turned fully toward them, the next +he was whirling away out of sight.</p> + +<p>"Oh, how handsome! oh, isn't he beautiful?" exclaimed Maggie, clasping +her hands enthusiastically; "such splendid eyes, and such a pale, +handsome face, and such a glorious driver. My! how I would like to be in +that sleigh with him. I would—wouldn't you, Miss Randall?"</p> + +<p>She turned to Georgia, and fairly leaped off the fence<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_283" id="Page_283">[Pg 283]</a></span> in amazement to +see her standing rigid and motionless, with wildly distended eyes and +white, startled face, gazing after the object of Maggie's admiration.</p> + +<p>"Why, Miss Randall! Miss Randall!" said Maggie, catching her arms, +"what's the matter? Do you know him?"</p> + +<p>"Let us go back, Miss Leonard," said Georgia, passing her hand over her +eyes as if to dispel some wild vision.</p> + +<p>Know him! Yes, as if they had parted but yesterday. Could Georgia forget +Charley Wildair?</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XIX" id="CHAPTER_XIX"></a>CHAPTER XIX.</h2> + +<h3>DESOLATION.</h3> + +<div class="poemblock34"> +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">"And the stately ships go on<br /></span> +<span class="i2">To the haven under the hill,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">But oh for the touch of a vanished hand,<br /></span> +<span class="i2">And the sound of a voice that is still."<br /></span> +</div></div></div> + +<p style="margin-left: 65%;"><span class="smcap">Tennyson.</span></p> + +<div class="drop"> +<img src="images/illo_a.png" alt="A" width="100" height="100" class="cap" /> +<p class="cap_1"> +ll that night Georgia's thoughts ran in a new direction—Charley +Wildair. Yes, she had been face to face with the living, breathing +friend of her childhood once more. The mystery that surrounded him rose +up in her mind, and again she found herself wondering what he had done, +what crime he had committed. Evening after evening she walked out in the +same place, in the hope of seeing him again, when she was determined to +speak to him at all hazards; but in vain; he came not, no one knew, or +could tell her anything of him who had passed that evening. As day after +day wore on,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_284" id="Page_284">[Pg 284]</a></span> she began to regard his appearance almost in the light of +an apparition—something her disordered imagination had conjured up to +mock her, and at last even the hope of seeing him again, faded away.</p> +</div> + +<p>And so a month passed on. Oh! that dreary, endless, monotonous month, +with nothing but the dull routine of the school-room day after day.</p> + +<p>There were times when Georgia would start wildly up, feeling as though +she were going mad; and evening after evening, when the last lesson was +said, she would throw her shawl over her shoulders and hurry out into +the cold wintry weather, and walk and walk for miles with dizzy +rapidity, to cool the fever in her blood. Night after night, when, +unable to lie tossing on her bed, she would spring up, and, heedless of +the freezing air, pace her room till morning. The wild fire in her eye, +even in the presence of others, bespoke the consuming fever in her veins +that seemed drying up the very source of life in her heart. Had she been +leading some exciting, turbulent life, it would have been better for +her; but this stagnant monotony seemed in a fair way of making her a +maniac before long. There were times when her very soul would cry out +with passionate yearning for what she had lost—times when an +uncontrollable impulse to fly, fly, far away from this place, to search +over the world for him she had left, and, in spite of all that had +passed, to cling to him forever, would seize her, and she would struggle +and wrestle with the fierce desire until, from very bodily weakness, she +would sink down in a very stupor of despair.</p> + +<p>It seemed to her as if a dark doom had been hanging over her from +childhood and had fallen at last—a widow in fate though not in fact, an +outcast from all the world, and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_285" id="Page_285">[Pg 285]</a></span> almost with the brand of murder on her +brow. But oh, if she had sinned, was not the expiation heavier than it +deserved? A life of desolation, a death uncheered by a single friendly +face, to live forgotten and die forlorn, <i>that</i> was her doom. Poor +Georgia! what wonder that, frenzied and despairing, the cry of her heart +should be, "My punishment is heavier than I can bear."</p> + +<p>The Leonards hardly knew what to make of Georgia. Mr. Leonard looked +pityingly on the white face, so eloquent of wrong and misery, and +expressed his opinion that she had come through more than people +thought. Mrs. Leonard was rather puzzled about the young governess; when +in her wild paroxysms she would hear startling legends of her walking +through frost and snow for miles together, and would hear a quick, rapid +footstep pacing up and down, up and down her chamber the livelong night, +and would see the wild, lurid fire in her great black eyes, she would +give it as her opinion that Miss Randall was not quite right in her +mind; but when this mood would pass away, and reaction would follow, and +when she would note the slow, weary step and pallid cheeks, and +spiritless eyes, and lifeless movements, she would retract, and say she +really did not know what to make of her.</p> + +<p>Miss Felice snappishly said it was all affectation; the governess wanted +to be odd, and mysterious, and interesting; and if she was her father +she would put an end to her long walks, or know why. But these little +remarks were prudently made when Georgia was not listening; for if the +truth must be told, Miss Leonard stood more than slightly in awe of the +dark, majestic, melancholy governess. Miss Maggie declared it was +"funny," but she rather liked Georgia, though after the first week or +two she voted her<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_286" id="Page_286">[Pg 286]</a></span> "awful tiresome, worse than Felice," and left her +pretty much to herself. Her pupils liked her, but were rather afraid of +her in her dark moods, and, like the rest of the household, stood +considerably in awe of her, wrapped as she was in her dark mantle of +unvarying gloom.</p> + +<p>During this first month of her stay, Georgia had spoken to no one but +the household. Visitors there were almost every day, but Georgia always +fled at their approach, and both the Misses Leonard, conscious of her +superior beauty, had no desire to be eclipsed by their queenly +dependent, and were quite willing she should be invisible on these +occasions. Since she had heard Dick Curtis was a friend of the family, +she had dreaded the approach of every stranger, and always sent some +excuse for not appearing at table at such times. Therefore, sometimes +whole days would pass without her leaving her own room and the +school-room.</p> + +<p>As the children's study only comprised five hours each day, Georgia had +a great deal of spare time to herself. This she had hitherto spent +either in her long, wild walks or in her dark reveries; but now, of +late, a new inspiration had seized her.</p> + +<p>One day, to amuse little Jennie, she had seized her pencil and drawn her +portrait, and the drawing proved to be so life-like that the whole +family were in transports. The Misses Leonard immediately made a +simultaneous rush for the school-room, and overwhelmed Georgia with +praises of her talent, and pleadings to sketch theirs, too. And Georgia, +feeling a sort of happiness in pleasing them, readily promised. The +drawings were commenced and finished, and Georgia had unconsciously +idealized and rendered them so perfectly lovely, yet so true to the +originals, that they, in their ecstatic admiration, insisted that they +should be<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_287" id="Page_287">[Pg 287]</a></span> perpetuated in oil. Finding the occupation so absorbing and +so congenial, Georgia willingly consented, and sittings were appointed +every day until the portraits were finished. And finished they were at +last, and set in gorgeous frames, and with eyes sparkling with delight, +the Misses Leonard saw themselves, or rather their etherialized +counterfeits, hanging in splendor on the drawing-room walls, and calling +forth the most enthusiastic praises of the unknown artist's skill from +their guests, for Georgia had only painted them on condition that no one +was to be told.</p> + +<p>Then she voluntarily offered to paint Mr. and Mrs. Leonard and the three +children, and at Jennie's earnest desire, her little tortoise-shell +kitten was seduced into sitting still long enough to be taken too. This +last was a labor of love, for, strangely enough, it brought back +softened thoughts of the happy days spent in romping through the cottage +by the sea with Betsey Periwinkle.</p> + +<p>And a faint, sad, dreary smile broke over Georgia's face as she painted +the little blinking animal, and thought of all the old associations it +called forth. It brought back Miss Jerusha, and little Emily +Murray—dear little Emily Murray, whose memory always came to her like +the soft sweet music of an Eolian harp amid the repose of a storm. She +wondered vaguely if <i>they</i> missed her much, and what they would think of +her flight, and whether they would shudder in horror when they heard +what she had done, or whether they would think lovingly of her still.</p> + +<p>"Some day, when they hear I am dead, perhaps they will forgive me and +love me again," she thought, with something of the simplicity of the +<i>child</i> Georgia, as a gentler feeling came to her heart than had visited +it for many a day. Somehow, Emily's memory always did soften her and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_288" id="Page_288">[Pg 288]</a></span> +bring back a gentler mood. In her wildest storms of anguish and remorse, +in the darkest hour of her desolation, that sweet, calm, holy young +face, with its serene brow and seraphic blue eyes, would arise and +exorcise her gloom, and leave her calmer, softer feeling behind.</p> + +<p>One day, on the occasion of Mrs. Leonard's birthday, the children had a +holiday, and Georgia was left to herself. Seating herself at the window, +she began to draw faces from memory. The first was a long, angular one, +with projecting bones and sharp features, sunken eyes, and thin, +compressed lips, the hair drawn tightly back and gathered in an +uncompromising hard knot behind. An intelligent, dignified-looking cat +sat composedly at her feet, deeply absorbed in thought. Any one could +recognize, in these portraits, Miss Jerusha and our old friend Betsey +Periwinkle.</p> + +<p>"Dear Miss Jerusha! dear, good friend!" murmured Georgia, softly, as she +gazed at the picture. "I wonder will I ever see you again. I wonder if +you have grieved for my loss, and if you ever, these wild, stormy +nights, think of your lost Georgey. Dear Miss Jerusha, may Heaven reward +you for your kindness to the poor orphan girl."</p> + +<p>The next was a fairer face, a small head set on an arching neck; a low, +smooth, childish brow; small, regular, dainty features; sweet, +wondering, wistful eyes; a little dimpled chin, and softly smiling lips, +just revealing the pearly teeth within. It might have been the face of +an angel had it not been Emily Murray's, spiritualized, as everything +Georgia's magic pencil touched was. Such a lovely, child-like, innocent +face as it was, smiling up from the paper with such a look of heavenly +calm and serenity, that no breath of worldly passion had ever +disturbed.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_289" id="Page_289">[Pg 289]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Oh, dear little Emily! dear little Emily!" said Georgia, in a trembling +voice. "My good angel! if I had only been like you. Calm, peaceful, +happy little Emily! what will you think of me when you hear what I have +done."</p> + +<p>She hesitated a moment before she commenced the next, and then, as if a +sudden inspiration had seized her, she rapidly began to sketch. Soon +there appeared a noble, intellectual-looking head—a high, broad, +princely brow—square eyebrows, meeting across the strongly marked +nose—large, strong, earnest eyes—a fine resolute mouth, and square, +resolute chin. Heavy waves of dark hair were shaken carelessly off the +noble forehead, and it needed nothing now but the thick dark mustache, +and the calm, handsome, kingly face of Richmond Wildair looked at her +from the paper. In the seemingly fathomless eyes there shone a look of +sorrowful reproach, and a sort of sad sternness pervaded the whole face. +The very lips seemed to part and say, "oh, Georgia, what have you done?" +and with a great cry of "oh, Richmond! Richmond! Richmond!" she flung +down her pencil, then threw herself on her face on the couch, and for +the first time in years, for the first time almost since she could +remember, she wept, wept long, passionately, and bitterly.</p> + +<p>It was a strange thing to see this stone-like Georgia weep. In all her +misery she had shed no tears; in her stormy childhood she had wept not, +and the tears of childhood are an easily flowing spring; yet now she +lay, and wept, and sobbed, wildly, passionately, vehemently, wept for +hours, until the very source of her tears seemed dried up, and would +flow no longer.</p> + +<p>And from that day Georgia grew calmer and more rational than she had +ever been before. It was strange the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_290" id="Page_290">[Pg 290]</a></span> consolation she derived from these +"counterfeit presentments" of those she loved, and yet it was so. For +hours she would sit gazing at them, and sometimes she would fancy +Emily's smiling lips seemed saying, "Hope on, Georgia! before morning +dawns night is ever darkest."</p> + +<p>The Leonards, grateful for being made such handsome people, were quite +solicitous in their efforts to make the governess comfortable. Georgia +had a heart easily won by kindness, and as time passed on, she seemed, +for the present at least, to grow reconciled to her lot. Perhaps the +secret of this was that she had begun an achievement that had long been +in her thoughts, and in which she was so completely absorbed as to be +for a time quite insensible to outward things. This was a large painting +of Hagar in the Wilderness, a wild, weird thing, on which she worked +night and day in a fever of enthusiasm.</p> + +<p>Had any one seen her, in the still, mystic watches of the night, bending +over her easel, her dark hair flowing behind her, her wild eyes blazing, +her whole face inspired—they might have taken her for the very genius +of art descended on earth. She scarcely knew what was her design in +painting this; probably, at the time, she had none, but a love of the +work itself—a love that increased to a perfect fever, as it grew under +her brush. None of the family knew aught of it, and they puzzled +themselves in vain wondering what she could be doing to keep a light +burning so late every night.</p> + +<p>It was drawing toward the close of February that the severest snow storm +that they had during the season fell. For nearly a week it raged with +unceasing violence, and several gentlemen and ladies from the city were +storm-bound at Mr. Leonard's. During their stay, Georgia, as<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_291" id="Page_291">[Pg 291]</a></span> usual, +absented herself from the table and drawing-room, and the young ladies +were so busy with their guests that even Miss Maggie found no time to +visit her. Georgia did not regret this circumstance, as it gave her more +time to devote to her painting, and secured her from interruption.</p> + +<p>One wild, snowy evening, when it was too dark to paint and too soon to +light the lamp, Georgia passed from her room and walked swiftly in the +direction of the library in search of a book. She knew the library was +seldom visited, especially in the evening, when other amusements ruled +the hour, and so, not fearing detection, she went in, found the book she +was in search of, and, seating herself within a deep bay-window, drew +the crimson damask curtains close, and thus shut in on one side by red +drapery and on the other by the clear glass, through which she could +watch the drifting snow, she began to read.</p> + +<p>It was a volume of poems by W. D. Randall, the young poet, whose fame +was already resounding through the land. Such a sweet, dreamy, delicious +volume as it was! Fascinated, absorbed, Georgia strained her eyes, and +read and read on as long as one ray of light remained, unable to tear +herself away from the enchanted pages, and feeling as if she were +transported to some Arcadia, some fairy-land, by the magic power of the +poet's pen.</p> + +<p>At last it grew too dark to read another word, and then she closed the +book and fell into a reverie of—the author. She knew he was a visitor +at the house, and for once her curiosity was strongly excited. She +resolved to see him. She would make Maggie point him out the next time +he came, and see for herself what manner of man this young genius was. +There had been a steel portrait of him in the book, but Miss Felice had +carefully cut it out and preserved<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_292" id="Page_292">[Pg 292]</a></span> it for her own private use, as +something not to be profaned by vulgar eyes, to the violent indignation +of Miss Maggie.</p> + +<p>While she still sat musing dreamily, she was startled by hearing the +door flung open, and then a gleam of light flashed through the curtain. +Hoping it might be some servant to light the gas, she glanced out +between the folds and saw Miss Felice herself, standing beside a tall, +handsome, distinguished-looking young man. Retreat was now out of the +question. Georgia would not have encountered the stranger for worlds, +lest he should happen to recognize her; and, trusting they only came for +a book and would soon go away again, she resolved to sit still.</p> + +<p>"And so you will translate 'Undine' for me, Mr. Randall," said Miss +Felice, whose dress was perfection, and whose face was quite brilliant +with smiles. "Oh, that will be charming. The children's governess +teaches German, but I never could get her to read Undine."</p> + +<p>This, then, was the poet. At any other time she would have become +completely absorbed in looking at him, but the mention of "Undine" sent +a pang to her heart, and she sank back in her seat and bowed her face in +her hands. The sweet, sorrowful story of the German poet seemed so like +her own—she was the Undine, Freddy Richmond was the base, designing +Bertalda, and Huldbrand—oh, no, no! Richmond was not like him.</p> + +<p>"It is a lovely tale. You do well to learn German, Miss Leonard, if only +for the sake of reading 'Undine' in the original," said Mr. Randall.</p> + +<p>"I have something else that is lovely here," said Miss Leonard, looking +arch.</p> + +<p>"Yes—yourself," said Mr. Randall.</p> + +<p>"No, no; of course not—W. D. Randall's poems."<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_293" id="Page_293">[Pg 293]</a></span></p> + +<p>"And you call that lovely! Well, I gave you credit for better taste, +Miss Felice."</p> + +<p>"Oh, they are charming, sweet, <i>so nice</i>!" cried Miss Felice, clasping +her hands in a small transport.</p> + +<p>A smile broke over the handsome face of the poet. How pleasant it must +be for a poet to hear his poems called <i>nice</i>.</p> + +<p>"Well, never mind them; let us find 'Undine,'" said Mr. Randall.</p> + +<p>"I'm sure I've sat up nights and nearly cried my eyes out over that +beautiful poem 'Regina,' Did you ever see any one like the 'Regina' you +described so delightfully?"</p> + +<p>"Yes," said Mr. Randall, a sort of shadow coming over his face, "once, +in my childhood, I saw such a one—a 'queen of noble nature's crowning;' +one whose every motion seemed to say:</p> + +<div class="poemblock24"> +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">"'<i>Incedo Regina</i>'—<br /></span> +<span class="i0">'I move a queen.'"<br /></span> +</div></div></div> + +<p>"Dear me," said Miss Felice, "how nice! I really should like to see her. +I suppose she will be Mrs. Randall some day," and Miss Felice, looking +up between her ringlets, did the artless to perfection.</p> + +<p>Mr. Randall smiled again; it was evident he read Miss Felice like a +book.</p> + +<p>"Hardly, I am afraid. I don't approve of the Regina style of woman for +wives myself. Something less imposing would suit me better—a nice +little thing like——"</p> + +<p>Miss Felice had cast down her long lashes, and stood looking as innocent +and guileless as a stage angel; but here Mr. Randall most provokingly +paused and began caressing a hideously ugly little Scotch terrier that +had followed him into the room.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_294" id="Page_294">[Pg 294]</a></span></p> + +<p>Georgia had to smile in spite of herself at the provoking nonchalance of +the poet, more particularly as Miss Felice turned half pettishly away, +and then, remembering that her <i>role</i> was to be sweet and simple, she +gave him a smiling glance and returned to the charge.</p> + +<p>"And those verses on Niagara are so pretty! Papa took Maggie and me to +the Falls last summer, and I did like them so much! Oh, dear me! they +are so sweet!"</p> + +<p>Mr. Randall laughed outright. Miss Felice looked up in astonishment, but +just at that moment little Jennie came running in with something in her +hand.</p> + +<p>"Oh Licie! look what I have got—such a lovely picture of the most +beautiful lady ever was! Just look."</p> + +<p>"What an angelic face!" impulsively exclaimed Mr. Randall; "a perfect +Madonna! And only a pencil drawing, too! Why, Miss Leonard, this is +something exquisite—a perfect little gem! I never saw anything more +lovely."</p> + +<p>"Where did you get it, Jennie?" said Miss Felice.</p> + +<p>"In the hall; it's Miss Randall's—she dropped it coming out of the +school-room. I'm going to ask her to give it to me; she can make plenty +more."</p> + +<p>"Is it possible the artist resides here? You don't mean to say that——"</p> + +<p>"Oh, it's only the governess," said Miss Felice; "she draws and paints +very well indeed. By the way, she's a namesake of yours, too, Mr. +Randall. Yes, I see now it is one of her drawings; I could tell them +anywhere."</p> + +<p>The poet was gazing in a sort of rapture at the picture. The soft eyes +and sweet, beautiful lips seemed smiling upon him—the face seemed +living and radiant before him.</p> + +<p>"Why, one would think you were enchanted, Mr. Randall," said Miss +Felice, half pouting. "It's fortunate it's<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_295" id="Page_295">[Pg 295]</a></span> only a picture and not a +living face, or your doom would be sealed."</p> + +<p>"Oh, it is perfect, it is exquisite!" said the poet, under his breath; +"a Madonna, a Saint Cecilia, a seraph! Why, Miss Leonard, do you know +you have a genius under the roof with you?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, sir—Mr. Randall," said Miss Felice, courtesying.</p> + +<p>"Pshaw! I mean the artist. Come, is she the mysterious painter of those +delicious portraits in the drawing-room that have attracted such crowds +of admirers already?"</p> + +<p>"Well, since you have guessed it, yes. It was her own wish it should not +be known."</p> + +<p>"Why, she must be the eighth wonder of the world—this governess. Who is +she? What is she? Where does she come from?" said Mr. Randall, +impetuously.</p> + +<p>"She is Miss Randall—a governess, as I before told you, from New York +city, and that is her whole biography as far as I know it, except that +she is very strange, and wild, and solemn-looking, with oh, such immense +black, haunting eyes!"</p> + +<p>"Oh, Felice, she's really pretty!" said Jennie; "a great deal prettier +than you or Mag. Now ain't she, Royal?"</p> + +<p>"Who?" said Royal, entering at this moment.</p> + +<p>"Our Miss Randall."</p> + +<p>"Yes, I reckon she is. Miss Randall's a tip-top lady," said Royal, +emphatically.</p> + +<p>"I really should like to see her. Won't you present me to this genius, +Miss Leonard? It is not fair to hide so brilliant a light under a +bushel," said Mr. Randall. "I shall probably claim kindred with her, as +we both have the same name."</p> + +<p>"Well, I will ask," said Miss Felice, biting her lip. "I<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_296" id="Page_296">[Pg 296]</a></span> am not so +sure, though, that she will consent, she is so queer. Here's 'Undine,' +and now for the translation, Mr. Randall."</p> + +<p>But Mr. Randall stood still, with his eyes riveted on the drawing.</p> + +<p>"Dear me, Mr. Randall, hadn't you better keep that altogether?" said +Miss Felice, pettishly. "One would think you had fallen in love with +it."</p> + +<p>"So I have," said Mr. Randall. "Come here, Miss Jennie; I have a favor +to ask of you."</p> + +<p>"What is it?" said Jennie.</p> + +<p>"That if Miss Randall gives you this drawing, you will give it to me, +and I will bring you the prettiest book I can find in New York in +exchange."</p> + +<p>"Will you, though? Isn't that nice, Royal? Oh, I'll get it from Miss +Randall—she's real good—and I'll give it to you. May I tell her it's +for you?"</p> + +<p>"Just as you like; tell her anything you please, so as to get it for me. +Won't you tell me how I can see this wonderful governess of yours, Miss +Jennie?"</p> + +<p>"Let's see. Come up to the school-room with mamma."</p> + +<p>"By Jove! I will. But perhaps she wouldn't like me to intrude."</p> + +<p>"Mr. Randall, they are waiting for us down stairs," said Miss Felice, +stiffly. "Jennie—Royal—go out and go to bed."</p> + +<p>Georgia caught a parting glimpse of the graceful, gallant form of the +young poet as he held open the door for Miss Felice to go out, and drew +a deep breath of relief when they were gone. Then, having assured +herself that the coast was clear, she hurried out and sought her own +room, and searched for Emily's portrait, but it was missing.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_297" id="Page_297">[Pg 297]</a></span></p> + +<p>Next morning, as Georgia was about to enter the school-room, Miss Felice +fluttered up stairs, in a floating white cashmere morning-gown, and with +the drawing in her hand.</p> + +<p>"Good-morning, Miss Randall," she said, briefly; "is this yours?"</p> + +<p>"Yes," said Georgia, quietly.</p> + +<p>"Will you be kind enough to give it to me?"</p> + +<p>"It is the portrait of a very dear friend. I should be happy to oblige +you were it otherwise, Miss Leonard," said Georgia, coldly.</p> + +<p>"A portrait! that heavenly face! is it possible?" exclaimed the +astounded young lady.</p> + +<p>Georgia bowed gravely.</p> + +<p>"But oh, do let me have it! do, please; you can draw another, you know," +coaxed Miss Felice.</p> + +<p>"Of what possible use can that portrait be to you, Miss Leonard?"</p> + +<p>"Well, it's not for me, it's for a friend. Do oblige me, Miss Randall. +Mr. Randall wants it so dreadfully."</p> + +<p>"Mr. Randall! who is he?"</p> + +<p>"The author, the poet that everybody is talking about. He saw it last +night with Jennie, and took a desperate fancy to it, and, what's more, +wants to be introduced to you."</p> + +<p>"I would rather be excused," said Georgia, with some of her old +<i>hauteur</i>. "I do not like to refuse you, Miss Leonard, and if any other +picture——"</p> + +<p>"Oh, any other won't do; I must have this. There, I shall keep it, and +you can draw a dozen like it any time. And every one would not refuse to +be introduced to Mr. Randall, I can tell you," said Miss Felice, half +inclined to<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_298" id="Page_298">[Pg 298]</a></span> be angry; "he is immensely rich and ever so handsome, and +as clever as ever he can be, and most young ladies would consider it an +honor to be acquainted with him."</p> + +<p>Georgia bowed slightly, and made an impatient motion to pass on.</p> + +<p>"Well, I am going to keep it, Miss Randall," said Miss Felice, half +inquiringly.</p> + +<p>"As you please, Miss Leonard. Good-morning," and Georgia swept on to the +school-room, and Miss Felice ran to give the poet the picture, and tell +him their haughty governess refused the introduction.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XX" id="CHAPTER_XX"></a>CHAPTER XX.</h2> + +<h3>FOUND AND LOST.</h3> + +<div class="poemblock28"> +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">"There are words of deeper sorrow<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Than the wail above the dead."<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">"An eagle with a broken wing,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">A harp with many a broken string."<br /></span> +</div></div></div> + +<div class="drop"> +<img src="images/illo_i.png" alt="I" width="100" height="100" class="cap" /> +<p class="cap_1"> +t was a pleasant morning in early spring. The sunshine lay in broad +sheets of golden light over the fields, and tinted the tree-tops with a +yellow luster. The fresh morning air came laden with the fragrance of +sweet spring flowers, and the musical chirping of many birds from the +neighboring forest was borne to Georgia's ears, as she stood on the +veranda, her thoughts far away.</p></div> + +<p>You would scarcely have recognized the flashing-eyed, blooming, +wild-hearted Georgia Darrell in this cold,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_299" id="Page_299">[Pg 299]</a></span> stately, stone-like Miss +Randall, with cheek and brow cold and colorless as Parian marble, and +the dark, mournful eyes void of light and sparkle.</p> + +<p>It could scarcely be expected but that she would sink under the dreary +monotony of her life here, so completely different in every way from +what she had been accustomed to; and of late, she had fallen into a +lifeless lethargy, from which nothing seemed able to arouse her. There +were times, it was true, when, for an instant, she would awake, and her +very soul would cry out under the galling chains of her intolerable +bondage; but these flashes of her old spirit were few and far between, +and were always followed by a lassitude, a languor, a dull, spiritless +gloom, under which life, and flesh, and health seemed alike deserting +her. Her "Hagar in the Wilderness" was finished, and she commenced +drawing another, but lacked the energy to finish it.</p> + +<p>It was an unnatural life for Georgia—the once wild, fiery, spirited +Georgia, and it was probably a year or two, of such existence, would +have found her in a lunatic asylum or in her grave, had not an +unlooked-for discovery given a new spring to her dormant energies.</p> + +<p>Nearly half a year had now elapsed since that sorrowful night when she +had fled from home—six of the darkest months in all Georgia's life. For +the first four she had heard no news of any of those she had left, not +even of him who, sleeping or waking, was ever uppermost in her thoughts. +But one morning, at breakfast, Mr. Leonard had read aloud that our +"gifted young follow-citizen, Mr. Richmond Wildair, had returned from +abroad, and having re-entered the political world, which he was so well +fitted to adorn, had been elected to the legislature, where he had<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_300" id="Page_300">[Pg 300]</a></span> +already distinguished himself as a statesman of extraordinary merit and +profound wisdom, notwithstanding his extreme youth." Then there was +another brief paragraph, in which a mysterious allusion was made to some +dark, domestic calamity that had befallen the young statesman; but +before Mr. Leonard could finish it he was startled to see the governess +make an effort to rise from her seat and fall heavily back in her chair. +Then there was a cry that Miss Randall was fainting, and a glass of +water was held to her lips, and when, in a moment, she was her own calm, +cold self again, she arose and hastily left the room.</p> + +<p>But from that day Georgia made a point every morning, with feverish +interest, to read the political papers in search of that one loved name. +And in every one of them it continually met her eye, lauded to the skies +by his friends and followers, and loaded with the fiercest abuse by his +enemies. There were long, eloquent speeches of his, glowing, fiery, +living, impassioned bursts of eloquence, that sent a thrill to the heart +of all who heard him, and swept away all obstacles before the force of +its own matchless logic.</p> + +<p>A great question was then in agitation, and the young orator, as the +champion of humanity and equal rights, flung himself into the thickest +of the political <i>melee</i> and was soon the reigning demi-god of his +party. It was well known he was soon to be sent as a Representative to +Congress, and the knowing ones predicted for him the highest honors the +political strife could yield—perhaps at some future day the Presidency +of the United States. His name and fame were already resounding through +the land, and morning, noon, and night, Mr. Leonard, who was the +fiercest of politicians, was talking and raving of the matchless talents +of this rising star.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_301" id="Page_301">[Pg 301]</a></span></p> + +<p>And Georgia, how did she listen to all this. All she had hitherto +endured seemed nothing in comparison to the anguish she felt in his +evident utter forgetfulness of her. All the pride, and triumph, and +exultation, she would have felt in his success was swallowed up in the +misery of knowing she was forgotten—as completely forgotten as if she +had never existed. And oh, the humiliation she felt, when in the papers +of the opposition party, she saw <i>herself</i> dragged in as a slur, a +disgrace, in his private life. The sneering insinuations that the wife +of Richmond Wildair had deserted him—had eloped—had been driven from +home by his ill-treatment; <i>these</i> were worse to her than death. She +could almost fancy his cursing her in the bitterness of his heart when +his eyes would fall on this, for having disgraced him as she had done.</p> + +<p>On this morning, as she stood on the veranda, with a paper in her hand +containing an unusually brilliant speech of the gifted young statesman, +her thoughts wandering to the days long past when she had first known +him, Miss Maggie came dancing out with sparkling eyes, and eagerly +accosted her.</p> + +<p>"Oh, Miss Randall! only think! papa is going to give a splendid +dinner-party, and going to have lots of these political big-wigs here. +You know, I suppose, that they, or rather that Mr. Wildair, has gained +that horrid question about something or other the papers have been +making such a time about?"</p> + +<p>"Yes," murmured the white lips, faintly.</p> + +<p>"Well, papa's been so dreadfully tickled about it, though why I can't +see, that he is going to give this dinner-party, and have lots of those +great guns at it, and at their<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_302" id="Page_302">[Pg 302]</a></span> head Mr. Wildair himself, the greatest +gun of the lot. Only think of that!"</p> + +<p>Georgia had averted her head, and Miss Maggie did not see the deadly +paleness that overspread her face, blanching even her very lips, at the +words. There was no reply, and shaking back her curls coquettishly, that +young lady went on:</p> + +<p>"I'm just dying to see Mr. Wildair, you know, everybody is making such a +fuss about him; and I do like famous men, of all things. They say he is +young and handsome, but whether he is married or not I never can rightly +discover; some of the papers say he was, and that he didn't treat his +wife well, and Mr. Brown from New York, who was here yesterday, says she +committed suicide—isn't that dreadful? But I don't care; I'm bound to +set my cap for him, and I guess <i>I</i> can manage to get along with him. I +should like to see the man would make me commit suicide, that's all! But +it may not be true, you know; these horrid papers tell the most shocking +fibs about any one they don't like. I wish Dick Curtis were here; he +knows all about him, I've heard, but he hasn't called for ever so many +ages. Maybe I won't blow him up when I see him, and then I'll pardon him +on condition that he tells me all about Mr. Wildair. He is going to be a +senator one of these days, and a governor, and a president, and an +ambassador, and ever so many other nice things, and there is nothing I +would like better than being Madame L'Ambassadrice, and shining in +foreign courts, though I <i>am</i> the daughter of a red-hot republican. Ha! +ha! don't I know how to build castles in Spain, Miss Randall? Poor dear +Signor Popkins! what <i>would</i> he say if he heard me?"</p> + +<p>All this time Georgia had been standing as still and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_303" id="Page_303">[Pg 303]</a></span> rigid, and coldly +white as monumental marble, hearing as one hears not this tirade, which +Miss Maggie delivered while dancing up and down the veranda like a +living whirligig, too full of spirits to be still for an instant. All +Georgia heard or realized of it was that Richmond was coming here—here! +under the same roof with herself. Her brain was giddy; a wild impulse +came over her to fly, fly far away, to bury herself in the depths of the +forest, where he could never find her or hear her name again.</p> + +<p>Miss Maggie, having waited in vain for some remark from the governess, +was turning away, with a muttered "How tiresome!" when Georgia laid her +hand on her arm, and with a face that startled her companion, asked:</p> + +<p>"When—when do they come?"</p> + +<p>"Who? Dear me, Miss Randall, don't look so ghastly! I declare you're +enough to scare a person into fits."</p> + +<p>"Those—those—gentlemen."</p> + +<p>"Oh, the dinner-party. Thursday week. Papa's waiting till Mr. Wildair +comes from Washington."</p> + +<p>Georgia turned her face away and covered her eyes with her hand, with a +face so agitated, that Maggie's eyes opened with a look of intense +curiosity.</p> + +<p>"Why, Miss Randall, you are so queer! What on earth makes you look so? +Did <i>you</i> know Mr. Wildair, or any of them?"</p> + +<p>With a gesture of desperation, Georgia raised her head, and then, +through all the storm of conflicting feelings within, came the thought +that her conduct might excite suspicion, and, without looking round, she +said huskily:</p> + +<p>"I do not feel well, and I do not like strangers—that is all. Don't +mind me—it is nothing."</p> + +<p>"Why, what harm can strangers do you? I never saw<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_304" id="Page_304">[Pg 304]</a></span> any one like you in +my life, Miss Randall. Wouldn't you like to see Mr. Wildair? I'm sure +you seem fond enough of reading about him. Papa told me to persuade you +to join us at dinner that day."</p> + +<p>"No! no! no! Not for ten thousand worlds!" cried Georgia, wildly. Then, +seeing her companion recoil and look upon her with evident alarm, she +turned hastily away, and sought refuge in the school-room.</p> + +<p>Miss Maggie looked after her in comical bewilderment for a moment, and +then setting it down to "oddity," she danced off to practice "Casta +Diva," preparatory to taking Mr. Wildair's heart by storm singing it.</p> + +<p>"I do hope he isn't married," thought Maggie, dropping on the piano +stool, and commencing with a terrific preparatory bang; "he is <i>so</i> +clever and <i>such</i> a catch! My! wouldn't Felice be mad!"</p> + +<p>All the next week Miss Randall was more of a puzzle to the Leonards than +ever before. Her moods were so changeable, so variable, so eccentric, +that it was not strange that she startled them. Mrs. Leonard declared +she was hysterical, or in the first stages of a brain fever; Miss Felice +pooh-poohed the notion, and said it was only the eccentricity of genius, +for Mr. Randall had said she was a genius, and he was infallible; while +Miss Maggie differed from both, and set it down to "oddity." +Fortunately, however, for Georgia, the whole house was in such an uproar +of preparation, and new furnishing and cooking, and there was such +distracting running up and down stairs from day-dawn till midnight, and +the house was so overrun with milliners and dressmakers, and they were +all so absorbed in those mysteries of flounces, and silks, and flowers, +and laces<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_305" id="Page_305">[Pg 305]</a></span> wherein the female heart delighteth, that she was left pretty +much to her own devices, and seldom ever disturbed.</p> + +<p>At last the eventful day arrived. All the invitations had been accepted, +and Mr. Wildair, and Mr. Curtis, and Mr. Randall, and all the rest were +to come.</p> + +<p>Through that whole day Georgia had seemed like one delirious. There was +a blazing fire in her eye, and two dark crimson spots, all unusual +there, burning on either cheek, bespeaking the consuming fever within. +How she ever got through her school duties she could not tell, but +evening came at last, and with it Georgia's excitement rose to a pitch +not to be endured. She could not stay there and hear them, perhaps see +them enter. She felt sure, even amid thousands, she would distinguish +<i>his</i> step, hear <i>his</i> voice; and who knew what desperate act it might +drive her to commit—perhaps to burst into the room, and in the presence +of all to fall at his feet and sue for pardon.</p> + +<p>Unable to sit still, with wild gusts of conflicting passions sweeping +through her soul, she seized her hat and mantle and sought that panacea +for her "mind deceased," a long, rapid, breathless walk.</p> + +<p>It was a delightful May evening, soft, and warm, and genial as in June. +There was an air of repose and deep stillness around; one solitary star +hung trembling in the sky, and brought to her mind the nights long past, +when she had sat at her little chamber window, and watched them shining +in their tremulous beauty far above her. Everything seemed at peace but +herself, and in her stormy heart was the Angel of Peace ever to take up +his abode?</p> + +<p>On, and on, and on she walked. It was strange the charm rapid walking +had to soothe her wildest moods. Star after star shone out in the blue, +cloudless sky, and the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_306" id="Page_306">[Pg 306]</a></span> last ray of daylight had faded away before she +thought of turning. Taking off her hat, and flinging back her thick, +dark hair, that the cool breeze might fan her fevered brow, she set out +at a more moderate pace for home.</p> + +<p>It was a lonesome, unfrequented road especially after night. There was +another, new road, which had of late been made the public thoroughfare, +and this one was almost entirely deserted; therefore, Georgia was +somewhat surprised to see a man approaching her at a rapid pace. He was +a gentleman, too, and young and graceful—she saw that at a glance, but +in the dim starlight she could not distinguish his features, shaded as +they were by a broad-leafed hat. He stopped as he approached her, and +hurriedly said:</p> + +<p>"Can you tell me, madam, if this road leads to the Widow O'Neil's?"</p> + +<p>That voice! it sent a thrill to Georgia's inmost heart, as, with her +eyes riveted on his face, she mechanically replied:</p> + +<p>"Yes; a little farther up there is a gate. Go through, and the road will +bring you to it."</p> + +<p>"Thank you; I shall take a shorter way," said the stranger, lifting his +hat courteously, and turning rapidly away, but not before she had +recognized the pale, handsome face and beautiful, dark eyes of Charley +Wildair.</p> + +<p>For an instant she stood, unable to speak. She saw him place one hand on +the fence, leap lightly over, and disappear, then, with a sort of cry, +she started after him. But ere she had taken a dozen steps some inward +feeling arrested her, and she stopped. What would he think of her +following him thus? He was no longer the boy Charley, any more than she +was the child Georgia. Might he not think prying curiosity had sent her +after him? Would he<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_307" id="Page_307">[Pg 307]</a></span> be disposed to renew the acquaintance? Perhaps, +too, he had recognized her, as she had him, and gave no sign. The +strange revelation of Richmond gave her a sort of dread of him, and +after a moment's irresolution, she turned and walked back.</p> + +<p>The whole house was one blaze of light when she reached it. On the +dining-room windows were cast many shadows. Which among them was <i>his</i>? +Did either brother dream he was so near the other? Did Richmond dream +<i>she</i> was so near him, and yet so far off? She could not enter the +house; her heart was throbbing so loudly that she grew faint and sick, +and she staggered to a sort of summer-house, thick with clustering +hop-vines, and sank down on a rustic bench, and buried her face in her +hands.</p> + +<p>How long she had sat there alone in her trouble, and yet so near him who +had vowed to "cherish" her through all her trials until death, she could +not tell. Footsteps coming down the graveled walk startled her. The +odor of cigars came borne on the breeze, and then, with a start and a +shock she recognized the voice of Dick Curtis saying, with a laugh:</p> + +<p>"I wonder if Ringlets has got through that appalling howl on that +instrument of torture, the piano, she was commencing when we beat a +retreat? It's a mercy I escaped or I should have gone stark staring mad +before the end."</p> + +<p>"Come, now, Curtis, you're too severe," said a laughing voice, which +Georgia recognized as Mr. Randall's. "Ringlets, as you are pleased to +denominate Miss Felice, is only performing a duty every young lady +considers she owes to society nowadays, deafening her hearers by those +tremendous crashes and flourishes, and crossing her hands,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_308" id="Page_308">[Pg 308]</a></span> and flying +from one end of the piano to the other with dizzying rapidity."</p> + +<p>"And it's a duty they never neglect, I'll say that for them," said Mr. +Curtis. "And that's what they call fashionable music, my friend? Oh, for +the good old days, when girls weren't ashamed to sing 'Auld Robin Gray' +and the 'Bonnie Horse of Airlie.' The world's degenerating every day. +Thank the gods, we have escaped the infliction, anyhow. Here's a seat; +suppose we sit down, and, with our soul in slippers, take the world +easy. Poor Wildair! he's in for being martyrized this evening."</p> + +<p>"So much for being a lion," said Mr. Randall. "If he will persist in +being a burning and shining light, he must expect to pay the penalty."</p> + +<p>"Miss Maggie—little blue eyes, you know—has made a dead set at him. +Did you observe?" said Mr. Curtis.</p> + +<p>"Yes; but I can't say she has met with much success, so far. If report +says true, she is not the only young lady who has tried that game of +late."</p> + +<p>"Poor Rich!" said Curtis. "If they knew but all, they would find how +useless it was doing any thing of the sort. I suppose you heard of that +sad affair that happened last winter?"</p> + +<p>Oh, what would not Georgia have given to be a thousand miles off at that +moment! She writhed where she lay; it was like tearing half-healed +wounds violently open to sit there and listen to this. But move she +could not without discovering herself to Curtis, so she was forced to +remain where she was, and hear all.</p> + +<p>"No, I can't say as I have," said Mr. Randall, in a tone of interest. +"There are so many rumors afloat about his<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_309" id="Page_309">[Pg 309]</a></span> wife—suppose you allude to +that—but one cannot even tell for certain whether he was ever married +or not."</p> + +<p>"Oh, he was; no mistake about it," said Curtis; "I was present—was +groomsman, in fact. Such a magnificent creature as she was. I never saw +a girl so splendid before or since! beautiful as the dream of an +opium-eater, with a pair of eyes that would have made the fortune of +half a dozen ordinary women. By George! that girl ought to have been an +empress."</p> + +<p>"Indeed! I should think Wildair <i>would</i> be fastidious in the choice of a +wife. How came they to separate in so short a time? Did she not love +him?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, with her whole heart and soul; in fact, I believe, she loved +nothing in earth or heaven but him, but then that is nothing strange, +for Richmond is a glorious fellow, and no mistake! But you see, she was +as poor as Job, and proud as Lucifer, with a high spirit that would dare +and defy the Ancient Henry himself—one of that kind of people who will +die sooner than yield an inch. Well, it appears his mother did not like +the match, and persisted in snubbing her, and making little of her +before folks and behind backs, in fact, treated her shamefully, until +she drove the poor girl to the verge of madness."</p> + +<p>"And Wildair allowed her to do this?" said Randall, indignantly.</p> + +<p>"Well, I don't know how it was, but he was blind to all; but I think the +truth of the matter is they deceived him, and only did it when he was +absent. There was a cousin there, a little female fiend, whom I should +admire to be putting in the pillory, who tried every means in her power +to make him jealous, and succeeded; and you don't need to be told a +jealous man will stop at nothing."<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_310" id="Page_310">[Pg 310]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Poor girl! poor Wildair! What an infernal shame."</p> + +<p>"Wasn't it! You see, he had invited a party to his +country-seat—Richmond Hall they called it—and I was there among the +rest. Poor Mrs. Wildair had a wretched life of it, with them all set +against her. If she had been one of your meek, spiritless little +creatures, she would have drooped, and sunk under it, and died perhaps +of a broken heart, and all that sort of thing; or if she had been a +dull, spiritless young woman, she would have snapped her fingers in +their faces, and kept on, never minding. Unfortunately, she was neither, +but a sensitive, high-spirited girl, whom every slight wounds to the +quick, and you would hardly believe me if I were to tell you the change +one short week made in her—you would hardly have known her for the same +person. What with her mother-in-law's insults, her cousin-in-law's +sneers, her husband's jealousy and angry reproaches, and the neglects +and slights of most of the company, a daily stretch on the rack would +have been a bed of roses to it."</p> + +<p>"Shameful! atrocious!" exclaimed Randall, impetuously. "How could +Wildair have the heart to treat her so? He couldn't have cared much +about her."</p> + +<p>"Didn't he, indeed! That's all you know about it. If ever there was a +man loved his own wife, that man was Rich Wildair; but when a man is +jealous, you know, he becomes partially insane, and allowances must be +made for him. One night, this little vixen of a cousin I mentioned +somewhere before, began taunting Mrs. Wildair about her mother, telling +her she was no better than she ought to be, and calling herself all +sorts of scandalous names—one of the servants accidentally heard +her—until she maddened the poor girl so that, in a fit of passion, she +caught her and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_311" id="Page_311">[Pg 311]</a></span> hurled her from her, with a shriek I will never forget +to my dying day. Of course, there was the old—what's his name—to pay, +immediately; but Freddy's injuries did not prove half so severe as she +deserved, and a piece of court-plaster did her business beautifully for +her. But you never saw any one in such a rage as Wildair was about it, +knowing it would be all over town directly. Three or four of the mean +crowd he had invited went off, declaring his wife was a lunatic, and +that they were afraid to stay in the same house with her. Wasn't that +pretty treatment, after his hospitality?"</p> + +<p>"It's the way of the world, <i>mon ami</i>."</p> + +<p>"And a very mean way it is. Well, Wildair went to his wife and said all +sorts of cutting things to her, was as sharp as a bottle of cayenne +pepper, in fact, and wound up by telling her he was going to apply for a +divorce, which he had no more notion of doing than I have of proposing +to one of the Misses Leonard to-morrow. She believed him, though, and, +driven to despair by the whole of them, made a moonlight flitting of it, +and from that day to this Richmond Wildair has never seen or heard of +his wife."</p> + +<p>"Poor thing! it was a hard fate. What do you suppose has become of her?"</p> + +<p>"Heaven knows! She left a note saying she had gone and would never +disgrace him more—these were her words—and bidding him an eternal +farewell. Wildair nearly went crazy; he was mad, I firmly believe, for +awhile, and it was as much as any one's life was worth to go near him. +He searched everywhere, offered enormous rewards for the least trace of +her, did everything man could do, in a word, to find her again; but it +was of no use, no one had seen or knew anything of her."<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_312" id="Page_312">[Pg 312]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Could she have destroyed herself?"</p> + +<p>"Just as likely as not; she was the sort of desperate person likely to +do it, and she had no fear of death, or eternity, or anything that way. +Well, he was frantic when he found she was lost forever, and would have +given even every cent he was worth in the world for the least tidings of +her, dead or alive, but it was all a waste of ammunition; and, maddened +and despairing, he fled from the scene of disaster, sprang on board a +steamship bound for Europe, and was off. But he couldn't stay away; he +couldn't rest anywhere, so he came back, and plunged headlong into the +giddy maelstrom of politics, and became the man of the people—the +Demosthenes; the magnificent orator whose lips, to quote the <i>Political +Thunderbolt</i>, 'have been touched with coals of living fire;' a pleasant +simile, I should think. Poor Rich! they don't know the crucible of +suffering from which this fiery, impassioned eloquence has sprung. +Ambition will be to him for the rest of his mortal life, wife, and +family, and home, for he is not the man to dream for a second of ever +marrying again."</p> + +<p>"A sad story! And yet he can smile, and jest, and talk gayly, as I heard +him half an hour ago, when he was the very life and soul of the +company."</p> + +<p>"He must—it is expected of him; a man of the people must please the +people; and besides, he does it to drown thought; he tries to forget for +a time the gnawing remorse that, if indulged, would drive him mad. He +lives two lives—the inward and outward—and both as essentially +different as day from night. He believes himself the murderer of his +wife; in fact, an old lady who brought her up—for the girl was an +orphan—told him so, and would not look at him or let him in her house. +His mother, touched<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_313" id="Page_313">[Pg 313]</a></span> with remorse, confessed what she had done, and thus +he learned all his wife had so silently suffered. It was enough to drive +a more sober man insane, and that's the truth. Ah! there was more than +one sad heart after her when she went. Poor little Emily Murray! the +nicest, and best, and prettiest girl from here to sundown, was nearly +broken-hearted. I offered her my own hand and fortune, though I didn't +happen to have such an article about me, and she gave me my dismissal on +the spot. Heigho! Burnfield's done for poor old Rich and me."</p> + +<p>"What! Burnfield, did you say?" exclaimed Randall, with a start.</p> + +<p>"Yes, Burnfield. You have no objections to it, I hope?"</p> + +<p>"You—did you know—did you ever happen to hear of a widow and a little +girl by the name of Darrell there?" said Mr. Randall, in an agitated +voice.</p> + +<p>"Well, I should think I did—rather!" said Curtis emphatically. "The +widow died one night, and the little girl was brought up by one Miss +Jerusha Skamp of severe memory, and it's of her I have been talking for +the last half-hour, if you mean Georgia Darrell."</p> + +<p>"What!" exclaimed Randall, wildly, as he sprang to his feet. "Do you +mean to tell me that Georgia Darrell grew up in Burnfield, and was the +wretched wife of Richmond Wildair?"</p> + +<p>"Indeed I do," replied Curtis, with increasing emphasis. "Why, what the +dickens is the matter with you? What does all this mean?"</p> + +<p>"Mean! Oh, man! man! Georgia Darrell was my <i>sister</i>!"</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;"/><p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_314" id="Page_314">[Pg 314]</a></span></p> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XXI" id="CHAPTER_XXI"></a>CHAPTER XXI.</h2> + +<h3>CHARLEY'S CRIME.</h3> + +<div class="poemblock28"> +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">"By the strong spirit's discipline,<br /></span> +<span class="i2">By the fierce wrong forgiven,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">By all that wrings the heart of sin,<br /></span> +<span class="i2">Is woman won to heaven."<br /></span> +</div></div></div> + +<div class="drop"> +<img src="images/illo_w.png" alt="W" width="100" height="100" class="cap" /> +<p class="cap_1"> +ith every nerve strained, every feeling wrought to the highest pitch of +excitement, Georgia had listened; but at this last moment the overstrung +tension gave way, and, for the first time in her life, she fainted.</p></div> + +<p>On the wet grass where she had fallen she still lay when life and memory +came back. She raised herself on her elbow and looked wildly around, +passed her hand across her forehead, and tried to think. Gradually +recollection returned; one by one the broken chains of memory were +reunited, and all she had heard came back, flooding her soul with +ecstatic joy. Beloved still, no longer a cast-off wife, and her +long-lost brother Warren restored!</p> + +<p>She remembered him now; she wondered she had not done so at first, for +every tone of his voice was familiar. It was the name that had deceived +her, and yet he had his mother's name, too—Warren Randall Darrell. She +rose up, to find herself stiff and cold, lying on the wet ground, and +her dress soaked with the heavy dew. The garden was deserted, the house +all dark, and with an overpowering sense of loneliness she found herself +locked out.</p> + +<p>It would not do to disturb the family; she must wait<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_315" id="Page_315">[Pg 315]</a></span> till morning where +she was, so she resumed her seat and crouched down shivering with cold. +The new-born joy in her heart could not keep her from being chilled +through and through; and as the long hours dragged on, it seemed to her +that never was night so long as that. Benumbed with cold, sick, and +shivering, she sank into an uneasy slumber at last, with her head on the +hard, wooden bench.</p> + +<p>It was morning when she awoke. With difficulty she arose to her feet, +and saw a servant with lazy step and lack luster eyes come out and +approach the stables. As she arose, she found herself hardly able to +walk from cold and exposure, but she managed to stagger to the door and +enter unobserved. It was well for her she met no one, as they might have +taken her for one newly risen from the dead—for never did eye rest on +such a deathly face as she wore that morning. How she reeled to her room +she did not know; how she managed to take off her saturated garments and +fling herself on her bed she could not tell; but there she was lying, +weak, prostrate, helpless, and chilled to the very heart.</p> + +<p>As the morning passed and she did not appear, a servant was sent to see +what was the matter. Georgia tried to lift her head, but such a feeling +of deadly sickness came over her that, weak and blinded, she fell back +on her pillow. Every care was taken of her, but before night a raging +fever had set in, and with burning brow and parched lips Georgia lay +tossing and raving wildly in delirium. Alarmed now, the family physician +was sent for, who pronounced it a dangerous attack of brain fever, from +which he was extremely doubtful she could ever recover.</p> + +<p>For days and days after that Georgia lay helpless as a child, with +liquid flame burning in every vein. Sometimes<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_316" id="Page_316">[Pg 316]</a></span> she raved and shrieked +madly of Freddy Richmond, calling herself a murderess, and trying to +spring from those who held her. Sometimes she would plead pitifully with +Richmond and implore him to forgive her, and she would never, never +offend him again; and now she would forget all the past, and fancy +herself talking to the children in the school-room, seemingly with no +memory of anything but the present.</p> + +<p>It was a golden, sunshiny June morning when consciousness returned, and +she opened her eyes to find herself lying in her own room, with a +strange woman sitting beside her. Youth, and a naturally strong +constitution, had finally triumphed over the disease, but she lay there +weak and helpless as an infant. She had a vague, confused memory of the +past few weeks, and she turned with a helpless, bewildered look to the +nurse.</p> + +<p>"What is it? What is the matter? Have I been ill?" she asked, feebly.</p> + +<p>"Yes, very ill; but you are better now," said the nurse, coming over and +softly adjusting the pillow.</p> + +<p>"How—how long have I been sick?" she said, passing her wasted hand +across her forehead as if to dispel a mist.</p> + +<p>"Three weeks," was the reply.</p> + +<p>"So long!" said Georgia, drearily, and still struggling to recall +something that had escaped her memory. "Who are you? I don't know you."</p> + +<p>"I am your nurse," said the woman, smiling. "Mrs. Leonard hired me to +take care of you, and look after things generally until she came back."</p> + +<p>"Came back! Has she gone away, then?"</p> + +<p>"Oh, dear, yes! the whole family, children and all;<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_317" id="Page_317">[Pg 317]</a></span> they were afraid of +the fever, although the doctor said there was no danger."</p> + +<p>"Where have they gone?" said Georgia, faintly.</p> + +<p>"To New York. It's my opinion the young ladies were glad of any chance +of getting back to town, and it was they, particularly Miss Felice, who +insisted on leaving. Don't disturb yourself about them, my dear; you +will soon be as well as any of them."</p> + +<p>"Tell me," said Georgia, catching the woman's wrists in her thin, +transparent hands, and looking earnestly in her face with the great +black eyes so sunken and melancholy now—"tell me if you know whether a +certain Mr. Randall who used to come here went with them? Perhaps you +have heard?"</p> + +<p>The woman shook her head.</p> + +<p>"No, my dear, I have not. I have heard of him, though, often; they say +he is very clever and going to be married to Miss Felice, but I don't +know myself. Don't talk so much, Miss Randall; it is not good for you."</p> + +<p>"One thing more," said Georgia. "I—I raved when I was out of my mind; +will you tell me what it was I said?"</p> + +<p>"That would be pretty hard to do," said the nurse, smiling; but then, +seeing the look of desperate earnestness on her patient's face, she +added: "Why, you know, my dear, you talked a great deal of +nonsense—fever patients always do—about some one you called Richmond, +and Freddy Richmond—some gentlemen, I expect," said the woman, with a +meaning glance; "and you called yourself a murderess, and then you kept +begging some one not to be angry with you, and you would never do so any +more; and sometimes you would talk to the children, and fancy yourself +in the school-room with them. In short, you know,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_318" id="Page_318">[Pg 318]</a></span> you said all sorts of +queer things; but that was to be expected."</p> + +<p>From that day Georgia rapidly recovered, and in less than a fortnight +was able to get up and sit for a few hours each day in an easy chair by +the window, inhaling the fragrant summer air. Her first request was to +call for the latest papers; but for some time the doctor said she was +not equal to the exertion of reading them, and, in spite of her +passionate eagerness, she had to wait.</p> + +<p>To ask about Richmond she did not dare; but how eagerly she scanned the +first paper she got, in search of his name! And there she learned that +he had gone South on a summer ramble, wandering about from place to +place with the strange restlessness that characterized him.</p> + +<p>It was a blow to her at first, but when she came to think it over, she +was almost glad of it. Somehow, she scarcely could tell why she did not +wish to meet him yet; if ever she returned to him, it must be in a way +different from what she had left. She wanted to find her brother first; +she had a vehement desire to win wealth and fame, and return to Richmond +Wildair as his equal in every way. During the long weary hours of her +convalescence she had made up her mind to go to the city.</p> + +<p>The monotonous life of the last six months here grew unendurable to her +now; she would not have taken uncounted wealth and consented to spend +six more like them. Life at least was not stagnant in the uproar and +turmoil of the city, and solitude is not always a panacea for all sorts +of people in trouble.</p> + +<p>She had money—her half-year's salary had been untouched, and it was no +inconsiderable sum, for Mr. Leonard had been as generous as he was rich. +She had a vague idea<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_319" id="Page_319">[Pg 319]</a></span> of winning fame as an artist. She felt an inward +conviction that her "Hagar in the Wilderness" would create a sensation +if seen. She took it out from its canvas screen, and gazed long and +earnestly upon it.</p> + +<p>It was a wild, weird, unearthly thing, but strangely beautiful withal, +and possessing a sort of fascination that would have chained you before +it for hours. Never did eye look on a more gloriously beautiful face +than that of the pictured Egyptian in its dark splendor and unutterable +anguish. The posture, as she half-lay, half-writhed in her inward +torture, spoke of the darkest depth of anguish and despair; the long, +wild, purplish black tresses streamed unbound in the breeze, and the +face that startled you from the canvas was white with woman's utmost +woe. And the eyes that caught and transfixed yours, sending a thrill of +awe and terror to most stoical heart—those unfathomable eyes of +midnight blackness, where despairing love, fiercest anguish, and maddest +desperation seem struggling for mastery. Oh! never could any, but one in +the utmost depths of despair herself, have painted eyes like these. +Lucifer hurled from heaven might have cast back one last look like that, +so full of conflicting passion, but the superhuman agony shining and +surmounting them all—eyes that would have haunted you like a frightful +nightmare, long after you had first beheld them, eyes that would have +made you shudder, and yet held you spell-bound, breathless, riveted to +the spot.</p> + +<p>All unknown to herself she had painted her own portrait; those flowing, +lustrous tresses, that dark, oriental face, those appalling eyes, that +posture of utter woe and unspeakable desolation, all were hers. The face +was almost the fac-simile of the one that had once so startled Richmond<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_320" id="Page_320">[Pg 320]</a></span> +Wildair that morning on the sea-shore, only the passionate, tortured +form was wanting.</p> + +<p>At a little distance lay the boy Ishmael, with all his mother's dark +beauty in his face, but so serenely calm and childishly peaceful that +the contrast was all the more startling.</p> + +<p>It was a wonderful picture, and no wonder that Georgia's eyes fired up, +and her color came and went and her countenance glowed with power, and +triumph and inspiration as she gazed.</p> + +<p>"It must succeed—it will succeed—it <i>shall</i> succeed," she vehemently +exclaimed. "There has been a prize offered by the Academy of Art for the +best painting from a native artist, and mine shall go with the rest. And +if it succeeds—"</p> + +<p>She caught her breath, and her whole face for an instant grew radiant +with the picture she conjured up of the glory and fame that would be +hers.</p> + +<p>"Mr. Leonard shall take it for me; he has always been my friend, and the +artist's name shall be unknown until the decision is announced. Yes, it +shall be so; the paper says that all pictures for the prize must be +delivered in three days from this, as the decision shall be given and +the prize awarded in a fortnight. Yes, I will go at once."</p> + +<p>And with her characteristic impulsive rapidity, Georgia made her +preparations, and that very afternoon bade farewell to the house where +the last six wretched months had been spent, and took the cars for New +York.</p> + +<p>Arrived there, her first destination was the widow's, where she had +stopped before, and early next morning she set out for the hotel where +the Leonards were stopping.</p> + +<p>Mr. Leonard and his family were still there, and seemed<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_321" id="Page_321">[Pg 321]</a></span> quite overjoyed +to see her. It was fortunate, Mrs. Leonard said, she had come when she +did, for early in the next month she, and Mr. Leonard, and the girls +were off for Cape May for a little tossing about in the surf, and would +not return until quite late in the season, as, having been cooped up so +long, they were determined to make the most of their holiday now. The +children were to go back, and she, Miss Randall, was expected to go back +with them, and oversee the household generally in their absence.</p> + +<p>Great was the worthy lady's surprise when Georgia quietly and firmly +declined. At first she was disposed to stand upon her dignity and be +offended, but when Mr. Leonard declared emphatically Miss Randall was +right, that she was by no means strong enough to resume the labor of +teaching, that she needed rest and relaxation and amusement, and that +the city, among her friends, was for the present decidedly the best +place for her, she cooled down, and consented to listen to reason.</p> + +<p>"And now, how are all your friends, Miss Leonard?" said Georgia, with a +smile, yet with a sudden throbbing at her heart at the hope of hearing +something of her brother.</p> + +<p>"All well enough when we saw them last," said Miss Felice, in a dreary +tone; "everybody's going away out of the city, but papa will insist on +staying after every one else."</p> + +<p>"Whom do you call everybody else, my dear?" said Mr. Leonard, looking +over his paper good-humoredly. "If I don't mistake, you may see some +thousands of people in New York every day still."</p> + +<p>"Oh, yes, the nobodies stay, of course. I don't mean them," said Miss +Felice, pettishly. "I hate people. Anybody that pretends to be anybody +is going away."<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_322" id="Page_322">[Pg 322]</a></span></p> + +<p>"You're a nice republican—you are!" said Master Royal, who in one +corner of the room was making frantic efforts to stand on his head, as +he had seen them do in the circus the night before.</p> + +<p>"Has your friend Mr. Randall gone, too?" said Georgia, still trying to +smile, though there was a slight agitation in her voice in spite of all.</p> + +<p>"Yes, of course he has. I wonder you didn't hear of it," said Miss +Felice, looking dissatisfied.</p> + +<p>"Hear of it! how could she?" broke in Maggie. "You see, Miss Randall, +the queerest thing occurred while you were sick—just like a thing in a +play, where everybody turns out to be somebody else. Mr. Randall had a +sister once upon a time, and lost her somehow, and she grew up and +married Mr. Richmond Wildair, and he lost her somehow, the lady +evidently having a fancy for getting lost, and it was all found out +through Dick Curtis. So Mr. Randall and Mr. Wildair had a great time +about it, and now they have both gone to look for her again—one North +and the other South, so if they don't find her it will be a wonder. Is +it not romantic? I would give the world to see her—the wife and sister +of two such famous men. Oh, Miss Randall! Mr. Curtis says she was quite +splendid—so beautiful, you know, and,"—here Maggie lowered her voice +to a mysterious whisper—"he thinks she has gone and killed herself."</p> + +<p>"Oh, ma, look how pale Miss Randall is; she's going to faint if you +don't look sharp," cried out Master Royal.</p> + +<p>"No, it is nothing; pray do not mind," said Georgia faintly, motioning +them away. "I am not very strong yet; allow me to wish you good-morning. +Mr. Leonard, can I see you in private for a few minutes?"<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_323" id="Page_323">[Pg 323]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Certainly, certainly," responded Mr. Leonard, while the rest looked up, +rather surprised, as they left the room.</p> + +<p>In as few words as possible Georgia made known her request, and obtained +from him a promise of secrecy. Mr. Leonard was not in the least +surprised; he was perfectly confident about her taking the prize, and, +having obtained her address, told her he would call for it on the +morrow.</p> + +<p>But when the old gentleman saw it he fairly started back, and gazed on +it in a sort of terror and consternation that amused Georgia, breaking +out at intervals with ejaculations of extreme astonishment.</p> + +<p>"Eh? what? Lord bless my soul! Why, it's quite frightful—upon my life +it is! Good gracious! what a pair of eyes that young woman has got! +'Hagar in the Wilderness.' Je-ru-sa-lem! I wouldn't be Abraham for a +trifle, with such a desperate-looking wild-cat as that about the house. +She's the born image of yourself, too; one would think you and Hagar +were twin sisters. Well, Lord bless me! if it isn't enough to give a man +fits to look at it! It's well I'm not nervous, or I'd never get over the +shock of looking at it. Upon my honor, Miss Randall, I don't know what +to make of you. You're the eighth wonder of the world—that's what you +are!"</p> + +<p>The painting was accordingly sent in, and three days after, the whole +Leonard family departed—the children for home, and the elders of the +house for Cape May—and now Georgia was left to solitude and suspense +once more, until, as day after day was passed, and <i>the</i> day approached, +she began her old fashion of working herself up into one of her fevers +of impatience and excitement. Her usual antidote of a long, rapid walk +was followed in the city as well as in the country, and often did people +pause and look in wonder<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_324" id="Page_324">[Pg 324]</a></span> after the tall, dark-robed figure that flitted +so rapidly by them, whose vailed face no one ever saw.</p> + +<p>One night, as darkness was falling over the city, Georgia found herself +suddenly among a crowd of people who were passing rapidly into a church. +Borne along by the throng, she was carried in, too, and half-bewildered +by the crowd, and by the crash of a grand organ, and the glitter of many +lights, she found herself in a pew, among thousands of others, before +she quite realized where she was. She looked, and, with a half-startled +air, saw she was in one of the largest churches of the city, and that it +was already filled to suffocation.</p> + +<p>She heard some persons in a seat before her whisper that an eloquent +young divine (she could not catch the name) was going to address them. +While they yet spoke, a tall, slight figure, robed in black, came out of +the vestry, passed up the stairs, and ascended the pulpit. A silence so +profound that you could have heard a pin drop in that vast multitude +reigned, broken at last by a clear, thrilling voice that rang out in +deep tones with the awful words from Holy Writ:</p> + +<p>"You shall seek Me and you shall not find Me, and you shall die in your +sins."</p> + +<p>A death-like pause ensued, and every heart seemed to stand still to +catch the next words. But why does Georgia start as if she had received +a spear thrust? Why do her lips spring white and quivering apart? Why +are her eyes fixed so wildly, so strangely on the preacher? In that +moment the mystery was solved, the secret revealed—the brother of her +husband stands before her. The gay, the careless, the elegant, the +thoughtless Charley Wildair is a clergyman. For awhile she sat stunned +by the shock, con<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_325" id="Page_325">[Pg 325]</a></span>scious that he was speaking, yet hearing not a word. +Then her clouded faculties cleared, and her ears were greeted by such +bursts of resistless eloquence as she had never dreamed of before. In +that moment rose before her, with terrific vividness, the despairing +death-bed of the sinner and the awful doom that must follow. Shuddering +and terrified, she sank back, shading her face with her hands, appalled +by the awful fate that might have been hers. What—what was all earthly +trouble compared with that dread eternity of misery she had +deserved—that awful doom that might yet be hers? Still it arose before +her in all its frightful horrors, exhibited by the clarion voice of the +speaker, until, wrought up to the pitch of frenzy, her trembling lips +strove to form the word "Mercy." And still, as if in answer, rang out +that thrilling voice with that terrific sentence of eternal doom:</p> + +<p>"You shall seek Me and you shall not find Me, and you shall die in your +sins."</p> + +<p>The sermon was over, the people were crowding out, and she found herself +half senseless kneeling in the pew, with her face hidden in her hands. +An uncontrollable desire to see, to speak to him she had just heard +seized her, and she sprang up, and grasping some one who stood near her, +said, incoherently:</p> + +<p>"Where is he? I must see him! Where is he gone?"</p> + +<p>"Who?" said the startled personage she addressed.</p> + +<p>"He who has just preached."</p> + +<p>"In there," said the man, pointing to the vestry. "Go in that way and +you will see him."</p> + +<p>Forcing her way through the throng, Georgia hurried on, passed into the +sanctuary, and from thence to the vestry.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_326" id="Page_326">[Pg 326]</a></span></p> + +<p>There she paused—restored to herself. Nearly a dozen clergymen were +there, standing in groups, conversing with several ladies and gentlemen, +who had come too late to get into the church, and had been forced to +remain there to listen. All eyes were turned on the new-comer, whose +pale, wild beauty made her an object of deep interest, as she stood +startled and hesitating in the door-way. A little boy, standing near, +looked up and said, curiously:</p> + +<p>"Did you want anybody, ma'am?"</p> + +<p>"Yes—Mr. Wildair. Is he here?" said Georgia, hurriedly.</p> + +<p>"Yes'm, there he is," said the boy, pointing to where stood the man she +was in search of, standing by himself, his forehead leaning on his hand, +and a look of utter fatigue and weariness on his face.</p> + +<p>All Georgia's eagerness returned at the sight. Passing rapidly through +the wondering spectators she approached him, and, with an irrepressible +cry of "Charley!" she stood before him.</p> + +<p>Looking very much surprised, as well he might, the young clergyman +lifted up his head and fixed his eyes full on her face; but there was no +recognition in that look, nothing but the utmost wonder.</p> + +<p>"Oh, Charley! don't you know me?—don't you know Georgia?" she cried +out, passionately.</p> + +<p>Instantly he started up.</p> + +<p>"What! Georgia Darrell—little Georgia, my brother's wife!" he cried, +eagerly.</p> + +<p>Her eyes answered him.</p> + +<p>"Is it possible? Why, Georgia, how little I expected to meet <i>you</i> +here!" he said, holding out his hand, with a<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_327" id="Page_327">[Pg 327]</a></span> smile of mingled remorse +and pleasure. "How came you here?"</p> + +<p>"I do not know. Chance—Providence—something sent me here to-night."</p> + +<p>"I would never have known you, it is so long since we met."</p> + +<p>"Not so long as you think," she said, with one of her old rare smiles.</p> + +<p>"No! How is that?"</p> + +<p>"Do you remember the person you met on a country road, one night about a +month ago, and asked the way to Widow O'Neil's?"</p> + +<p>"Yes."</p> + +<p>"I was that person."</p> + +<p>"Indeed! And did you know me?"</p> + +<p>"Certainly I did."</p> + +<p>"Well, I never for an instant dreamed it was you; but no wonder—I never +saw any one so changed," he said, looking in the pale wasted face, and +contrasting it with the blooming happy one he had last seen.</p> + +<p>"Trouble seldom changes people for the better, I believe," she said, +with a sigh.</p> + +<p>"Ah, I heard what you allude to; Curtis told me. I am very, very sorry +indeed, Georgia; but do you know they imagine you dead?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, I know it," she said, averting her face.</p> + +<p>"And that Richmond has searched for tidings of you everywhere?"</p> + +<p>"Yes."</p> + +<p>"Well, Georgia," he said, anxiously, "what do you intend to do? You +should return to your husband."</p> + +<p>"I intend to," she said, looking up with a sudden<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_328" id="Page_328">[Pg 328]</a></span> bright smile, "but +not just yet. And you—how little I ever expected to see you a +clergyman—you, who, if your reverence will excuse my saying it, used to +be such a rattlepate."</p> + +<p>He laughed, the happy, careless laugh that reminded her of the Charley +of other days, and shook back, with the old familiar motion, his thick, +clustering, chestnut hair.</p> + +<p>"Time works wonders, Georgia. Thank God for what it has done for me," he +said, reverentially. "Did you know I was a clergyman?"</p> + +<p>"Not until to-night. They never would tell me what became of you. They +said you disgraced the family, committed some awful crime, but what it +was I never could learn. Surely they did not mean that by becoming a +clergyman you had disgraced your family?"</p> + +<p>"They meant that, and nothing else," he said, emphatically.</p> + +<p>"Ah, how much you gave up for the dictates of conscience—friends and +family, wealth and worldly honors, and all that makes life dear; and yet +you look happy," said Georgia, in a sort of wonder.</p> + +<p>He laid his hand on hers and pointed up, while he said, in a low voice:</p> + +<p>"'Amen, I say to you, there is no man that hath left home, or parents, +or brethren, or wife, or children, for the kingdom of God's sake, who +shall not receive much more in this present time, and in the world to +come life everlasting.'"</p> + +<p>She lifted her eyes in a sort of awe at the inspired tones. And his face +was as the face of an angel.</p> + +<p>A silence fell on them both, broken first by him.</p> + +<p>"You must come to see me again, Georgia. I have a<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_329" id="Page_329">[Pg 329]</a></span> good deal to say to +you that I have no time to say now. Here is my address while I remain in +the city, which will not be long. You have suffered wrong, Georgia, but +'forgive that you be likewise forgiven.' I must go now. Good-night, and +Heaven bless you!"</p> + +<p>In her unworthiness she felt as if she could have sunk at his feet and +kissed the hem of his garment. She bowed her once haughty head to +receive his parting benediction, and hurried out.</p> + +<p>Sitting in her room that night, she sank down to pray for the first time +in years—almost for the first time in her life. Fervently, earnestly +was that prayer offered; and a calmness, a peace hitherto unknown, stole +into her heart. In the sighing of the wind she seemed to hear an angel +voice softly saying, "Come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy +laden, and I will give you rest;" and dropping her forehead in her +clasped hands, she sank down in the calm light of high, bright, solemn +stars, and meekly murmured:</p> + +<p>"Hear me, oh, Lord!"</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;"/><p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_330" id="Page_330">[Pg 330]</a></span></p> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XXII" id="CHAPTER_XXII"></a>CHAPTER XXII.</h2> + +<h3>THE SUN RISES.</h3> + +<div class="poemblock28"> +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">"Radiant daughter of the sun,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Now thy living wreath is won,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Crowned with fame! Oh! art thou not<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Happy in that glorious lot?<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Happier, happier far than thou,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">With the laurel on thy brow,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">She that makes the humblest<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Lovely but to one on earth."<br /></span> +</div></div></div> +<p style="margin-left: 55%;"><span class="smcap">Mrs. Hemans.</span></p> + + +<div class="drop"> +<img src="images/illo_t.png" alt="T" width="100" height="100" class="cap" /> +<p class="cap_1"> +he wise counsel and impressive instructions of her old acquaintance, +the now calm, dignified, and subdued Rev. Mr. Wildair, soon brought +forth good fruit. Georgia began to find the "peace which passeth all +understanding." Now she looked forward with calm, patient expectation to +her meeting with her husband, with the sweet promise ever in her mind, +"seek first the kingdom of God, and all else shall be added unto you." +With a sad heart Georgia noticed her old companion's thin, wasted face +and form, the striking brilliancy of his eyes, the hectic flush of his +pale cheek, and the short, hacking cough that impeded his speech, and +felt that the inspired young missionary's days were numbered.</p></div> + +<hr style="width: 45%;" /> + +<p>The day came at last when the decision regarding Georgia's picture was +to be announced.</p> + +<p>She tried to be calm and patient, but notwithstanding all her efforts in +this direction, when Mr. Leonard started<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_331" id="Page_331">[Pg 331]</a></span> off to hear the decision that +was to condemn or accept her picture, she was in a perfect fever of +anxiety. She could not sit still, she could not taste breakfast; she +walked up and down her room in irrepressible impatience, with two hot +spots, all unusual there, burning on either cheek, and a wild, feverish +light streaming from her eyes.</p> + +<p>Noon came—twelve o'clock—Georgia looked at her watch unceasingly. He +had promised to return between twelve and one, but one passed and he +came not; two, and he was absent still; three, and in her burning +impatience she was about to throw on her hat and shawl and hasten out in +search of news, when the door was flung open, and Mr. Leonard, flushed, +and panting, and perspiring, rushed in.</p> + +<p>"Hurrah! you've done it! you've done it! you've got the prize, Miss +Randall! Hagar's electrifying the whole of 'em and got herself to the +top of the tree. If Abraham was around he'd feel pretty cheap just now, +to see the fuss they're making about her. I knew you would get it, Miss +Randall! Let me congratulate you! Hurrah!"</p> + +<p>And Mr. Leonard, in his delight, waved his hat and gave a cheer that +sent the widow shrieking into the room to see what was the matter. And +there she found Mr. Leonard grasping Georgia by both hands, and shaking +them with a zeal and vehemence quite startling, while Georgia herself, +forgetting everything, even her success, in her sense of the ludicrous, +was laughing until her cheeks were crimson.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_333" id="Page_333">[Pg 333]</a></span></p><p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_332" id="Page_332">[Pg 332]</a></span></p><p>Georgia smiled, but her cheek was flushed and her eye flashing with +triumph. Never had she looked so beautiful before, and the old gentleman +gazed at her with profound admiration as she stood like a triumphant +young queen before him.</p> + +<p>"You are right, Mr. Leonard, wonders never <i>will</i> cease. Some day, very +shortly, I intend to give you a still greater surprise."</p> + +<p>"Eh—how—what is it?" said the old man, puzzled by her radiant face.</p> + +<p>"Never mind, sir. You shall know in good time. To-morrow I will go with +you to 'receive my reward of merit.' I have never got one since I left +school, but I don't know but that I rather like the idea after all."<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_334" id="Page_334">[Pg 334]</a></span></p> + +<p>As she spoke the door was opened, and the widow re-entered.</p> + +<p>"Well?" said Georgia, inquiringly.</p> + +<p>"There are two gentlemen in the next room who want to see you, if you +please," she said.</p> + +<p>"To see me!" said Georgia, in surprise.</p> + +<p>"Yes'm; they asked for Miss Randall."</p> + +<p>Georgia's heart throbbed, and her color came and went. A sudden +faintness seized her, and she sank into a chair.</p> + +<p>"Why, bless my heart! what's the matter?" said Mr. Leonard, in surprise; +"it can't be the artists, you know, because they don't know your name or +address. What <i>does</i> ail you, Miss Randall?"</p> + +<p>"Show them in here. I will see them," said Georgia, faintly, raising her +head and laying her hand on her heart to still its tumultuous +throbbings.</p> + +<p>Georgia's hour had come.</p> + +<p>The door opened, and Georgia rose to her feet, deadly pale, with many +emotions, as Dick Curtis and Mr. Randall entered.</p> + +<p>"I was right—it <i>is</i> she!" cried Mr. Curtis, joyfully, as he sprang +forward and caught both her hands in his. "Huzza! Oh, Mrs. Wildair, Mrs. +Wildair! to think I should ever see you again!" said Dick, fairly ready +to cry.</p> + +<p>"<i>Mrs. Wildair!</i> Why, what the——"</p> + +<p>Mr. Leonard, in his astonishment, made use of an improper word, reader, +so you will excuse me for not repeating it.</p> + +<p>"My dear Mr. Curtis, I am truly glad to see you again," said Georgia, in +a faltering voice—"more rejoiced than I have words to say."</p> + +<p>"And this gentleman! I'll bet you a dollar, now, you'll<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_335" id="Page_335">[Pg 335]</a></span> say you don't +know him," said Mr. Curtis, rubbing his hands gleefully.</p> + +<p>"Not so, sir," said Georgia, taking a step forward and looking up in the +pale agitated face of Mr. Randall, every feature of which was familiar +to her now. "My dear, my long-lost brother! My dearest Warren!" And with +a great cry she sprang forward and was locked in her brother's arms.</p> + +<p>"Georgia! Georgia! my sister!" was all he could say, as he strained her +to his breast, and tears, which did honor to his manly heart, dropped on +her bowed head.</p> + +<p>"Huzza! hip, hip, hurrah! it's all right now!" shouted Mr. Curtis, as he +flourished round the room in a frantic extempore waltz of most intense +delight, and then, in the exuberance of his joy, he seized hold of the +astounded Mr. Leonard and fairly hugged him, in his ecstacy:</p> + +<p>"Help! help! murder! fire!" yelled Mr. Leonard, struggling frantically +in what he supposed to be the grasp of a maniac.</p> + +<p>"There! take it easy, old gentleman!" said Mr. Curtis, releasing him, +and cutting a pigeon's wing. "Tol-de-rol-de-riddle-lol! Don't raise such +an awful row! Ain't there a picture to look at, my hearty? Hurrah! Oh, +how happy I feel! And to think that I should have been the means of +bringing them together—I, Dick Curtis, that never did anything right +before in my life! Good gracious! Tol-de-rol—— Hello? Where are you +going so fast, old gent?"</p> + +<p>Mr. Leonard, the moment he found himself free, had seized his hat, and +was about to decamp, in the full feeling that a lunatic asylum had +broken loose somewhere, when Georgia, looking up, espied him, and said:<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_336" id="Page_336">[Pg 336]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Mr. Leonard, don't go. My best friend must stay and share in my joy +this happy day. Can you guess who this is?" she said, laying her hand +fondly on her brother's shoulder, and looking up in his face, with a +smile shining through her tears.</p> + +<p>"Guess!" said Mr. Leonard, testily—"I don't need to <i>guess</i>, young +lady. I know well enough it's young Randall, and I must say, although he +<i>is</i> a namesake of yours, it doesn't look well to see you flying into +his arms and hugging him in that manner the moment he comes into the +house. No more does it look well for Dick Curtis to take hold of me like +a bear, and dislocate every rib I have in the world, as he has done."</p> + +<p>"No, I haven't, Mr. Leonard," interrupted Dick; "there's Mrs. Leonard, +your chief rib—I haven't dislocated her, have I?"</p> + +<p>Mr. Leonard's look of deepest disgust was so irresistible that Dick +broke off and burst into a fit of immoderate laughter, snapping his +fingers, and throwing his body into all sorts of contortions of delight, +and his example proving contagious, both Mr. Randall and Georgia +followed it, and all three laughed without being able to stop for nearly +five minutes, during which Mr. Leonard stood, hat in hand, looking from +one to the other, with a look of solemn dismay unspeakably ridiculous.</p> + +<p>"Do not be shocked, Mr. Leonard," said Georgia, as soon as she could +speak for laughter, "though really you are not so without cause. Did I +not tell you I would surprise you oftener than you thought? Mr. Randall +is my own, my only, long-lost brother."</p> + +<p>"Her brother! Oh, ginger!" muttered Mr. Leonard,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_337" id="Page_337">[Pg 337]</a></span> completely bewildered. +"I might have known two such geniuses must be related to one another."</p> + +<p>"For all you have kindly done for my sister, Mr. Leonard, accept my +thanks," said Mr. Randall, as he came forward, with a smile, and shook +him heartily by the hand.</p> + +<p>"Well, what a go this is, anyway!" said Mr. Curtis, meditatively. "Only +to think of it! And all through me—or, rather, through little Emily's +picture! Why, it's wonderful! downright wonderful!—ain't it, Mrs. +Wildair?"</p> + +<p>"Mrs. Wildair!" exclaimed Mr. Leonard, looking from Dick to Georgia with +wide-open eyes. Then, as a sudden light broke in upon him. "Why, Heaven +bless my soul!" he ejaculated. "Sure enough, they told me Randall's +sister was Wildair's wife—the one that ran away. Great Jehosaphat! to +think she should turn up again in such a remarkably funny way, and +should prove to be our Miss Randall! I've a good mind to swear!—upon my +life, I have!"</p> + +<p>"And all through me, too, Mr. Leonard," said Mr. Curtis, exultingly; "if +it hadn't been for me they might have gone poking round the world till +doomsday and not found one another. If I don't deserve a service of tin +plate, I shall feel obliged to you to let me know who does."</p> + +<p>"Land of life and blessed promise!" exclaimed Mr. Leonard, who had +originally come from "away down East," and when excited always broke out +into the expletives of his boyhood, "how do you like it? Do tell, +Curtis."</p> + +<p>"Well, you see," began Mr. Curtis, with the air of one entering into an +obtuse narrative, "Randall—<i>his</i> name's Darrell, but that's neither +here nor there; 'what's in a name,' as that nice man, Mr. Shakespeare, +says, or, rather,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_338" id="Page_338">[Pg 338]</a></span> as he makes Miss Juliet Capulet say when speaking of +young Mr. R. Montague, her beau. Randall, as I was saying, got hold of a +picture of little Emily—I mean Miss Murray, a friend of mine—drawn by +Mrs. Wildair there, while residing in your house and doing the governess +dodge under the name of Randall too, which turns out to be a family name +after all, and one day he accidentally showed it to me, and if I didn't +jump six feet when I saw it, then call me a flat, that's all. Of course, +I asked him no end of questions and found out where he got it, and then +it was all as clear to me as a hole in a ladder, and I knew in a +twinkling who 'Miss Randall' was. So we tore along here like a couple of +forty-horse-power comets, and, after a whole day of most awful bother, +we found out where she was. And here we came, and here we found her, and +so, no more at present from yours respectfully, Dick Curtis." And Mr. +Curtis made a feint of holding out an imaginary dress, like an old lady +in a minuet, and courtesied profoundly to the company around.</p> + +<p>"My dear Miss Ran—I mean my dear Mrs. Wildair, allow me to congratulate +you," said Mr. Leonard, his face all in a glow of delight as he shook +her warmly by the hand, "upon my life, I never was so glad in all my +days. Good gracious! to think you should turn out to be such a great +lady after serving as governess in our—— Well, well, well! And that +you should find your brother the same day you took the prize for the +best picture in the Academy of Art. G-o-o-d gracious!" said Mr. Leonard, +with a perfect shake on the word.</p> + +<p>"What! Georgia taken the prize? It can't be possible that <i>you</i> are the +successful candidate whose wonderful<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_339" id="Page_339">[Pg 339]</a></span> picture everybody is talking +about?" exclaimed her brother, whose turn it was to be astonished.</p> + +<p>"Mr. Leonard says so," said she, smiling.</p> + +<p>"Oh, Jupiter!" ejaculated Mr. Curtis, thrusting his hands into his +pockets and uttering a long, low whistle, indicative of an unlimited +amount of amazement, "and you really and truly painted 'Hagar in the +Wilderness?'"</p> + +<p>"Yes, I really and truly did," smiled Georgia.</p> + +<p>"Well," said Mr. Curtis, in a tone of resignation, "all I have to say is +that nothing will surprise me after this. And that reminds me, I've +quite forgotten an engagement down town, and must be off. Randall, don't +you come. I know you have lots of things to say to your sister. Mr. +Leonard, you have an engagement, too—don't say no—I'm sure you +have—come along. By-by, Randall, old-fellow; good-day, Mrs. Wildair. +I'll drop in again in the course of the evening. Now, Mr. Leonard, off +we go!" and Mr. Curtis put his arm through Mr. Leonard's and fairly +dragged him away.</p> + +<p>"And so, instead of a poor unknown governess, I have found in my sister +one with whose fame the whole city is already ringing," said Mr. +Randall, when they were alone, as he looked proudly and fondly in her +beautiful face. "Dear Georgia, how famous you are."</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;"/><p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_340" id="Page_340">[Pg 340]</a></span></p> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XXIII" id="CHAPTER_XXIII"></a>CHAPTER XXIII.</h2> + +<h3>OVER THE WORLD.</h3> + +<div class="poemblock34"> +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i14">"They stood apart.<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Like rocks which have been rent asunder,<br /></span> +<span class="i2">A dreary sea now flows between,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">But neither heat, nor frost, nor thunder<br /></span> +<span class="i2">Shall wholly do away, I ween,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">The works of that which once hath been."<br /></span> +</div></div></div> +<p style="margin-left: 60%;"><span class="smcap">Coleridge.</span></p> + +<p><span class="floatleft">"</span></p> +<div class="drop"> +<img src="images/illo_o.png" alt="O" width="100" height="100" class="cap" /> +<p class="cap_1"> +h, Warren, what is fame compared to what I have found to-day?" she +said, sweetly. "What is fame, and wealth, and all worldly honors, +compared to a brother's love? But one thing more is needed now to make +me perfectly happy."</p></div> + +<p>"I know what you mean, Georgia—your husband. Is it possible you care +for <i>him</i> still, after all he has made you suffer?"</p> + +<p>She looked up in his face, and he was answered.</p> + +<p>"Then, for your sake, I am sorry he has gone," he said slowly.</p> + +<p>"Gone?" she repeated, with a paling cheek. "Gone where?"</p> + +<p>"To France, on some important mission from government that no one can +fulfill so well as himself, and—I have not the faintest idea of when he +will return."</p> + +<p>"Now that I have told you all that has befallen me," said Georgia, some +half an hour later that same afternoon, as brother and sister sat side +by side at the window, "I<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_341" id="Page_341">[Pg 341]</a></span> want to hear your adventures and +'hair-breadth 'scapes by flood and field' since that sad night long ago, +when we parted last."</p> + +<p>"I fear you are doomed to be disappointed, then, if you expect any such +things from me," said her brother, smiling. "My life has been one of +most inglorious safety so far, and I never had a hair-breadth escape of +any kind, since I was born."</p> + +<p>"How strange it is that I could ever believe you dead," said Georgia, +musingly. "Miss Jerusha, too, to use her own words, constantly averred +that you had 'got taken in somewheres,' and never would hear for a +moment that you had perished in the storm."</p> + +<p>"Well, Miss Jerusha was right," said Warren, "though really I need not +thank her for it, as I am quite certain, from your description, she is +the old lady that turned me out that same night. However, I forgive her +for that, and owe her a long debt of gratitude besides, for all she has +done for you. You remember, of course, Georgia, the company we used to +act with?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, perfectly. Don't I remember my own performances on the tight-rope +and on horseback as the 'Flying Circassian?" she said, smiling.</p> + +<p>"Well, when the old lady turned me off that night, I never felt more +like despairing in all my life. I was wretchedly clad—if you don't +remember it, <i>I</i> do—and it was bitterly cold. Still, I would not go +back without help of some kind, so I staggered on and on through the +blinding storm, until at last, benumbed and helpless, I sank down on the +frozen ground, as I thought, never to rise again."</p> + +<p>"Poor little fellow!" said Georgia, sadly, in whose<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_342" id="Page_342">[Pg 342]</a></span> mind the image of +the slight, delicate boy he was then rose uppermost.</p> + +<p>Warren laughed at the epithet applied to one who stood six feet without +his boots, and went on:</p> + +<p>"I suppose I had fallen into that sort of stupor which precedes freezing +to death, and was unconscious; but when next I awoke to the realities of +this exceedingly real world, I was in bed in a meanly furnished room, +and the first face I beheld was that of Betsey Stubbs, Georgia—the one +who used to figure on the bills as Eugenia De Lacy?"</p> + +<p>"And always played the artless little girl, although she was thirty +years old," said Georgia, laughing. "Oh, I remember her."</p> + +<p>"Well, there she was, and there I was with her, and with the company +again. It turned out that two of the men were passing along the road, +returning to the village—what do you call it?—Burnfield, and stumbled +over me, lying stiff and nearly frozen on the road. They knew me +immediately, and carried me off to where the rest of them were; and it +was resolved that they should decamp with me, for that old tyrant of a +manager thought it too much of a good thing to lose three at once. So, +in spite of my tears, and cries, and struggles and entreaties, I was +forcibly carried off a little after midnight, when the storm cleared +away, and brought back to the city.</p> + +<p>"Well, Georgia, for nearly another year I remained at our old business, +and with the old set, too closely watched to think of escaping, and to +escape from them was now the sole aim of my life. The opportunity so +long sought for came at last. One night a chance presented itself, and I +was off; and fickle fortune, as if tired of making me a mark to poke fun +at, came to my aid, and I made good<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_343" id="Page_343">[Pg 343]</a></span> my escape from my jealous +guardians. For hours I wandered about through the city, until at last, +worn out and exhausted, I curled myself up on the marble door-steps of +an aristocratic mansion, and fell fast asleep.</p> + +<p>"A hand grasping my shoulder and shaking me roughly awoke me after a +time, and as I started up, I heard a gruff voice saying:</p> + +<p>"'Hallo! you little vagrant, what are you doing here?'</p> + +<p>"I rubbed my eyes and looked up. An old gentleman, who had just alighted +from a carriage, stood over me, with no very amiable expression of +countenance, shaking me as if he would shake a reply out of me by main +force.</p> + +<p>"I stammered out something—I don't know what—and terrified lest he +should give me into the hands of a policeman, I tried to break away from +him and fly; but the old gentleman held on like grim death, and seemed +not to have the slightest intention of parting with me so easily.</p> + +<p>"'You're a pickpocket, ain't you?' said he, sharply.</p> + +<p>"'No, sir,' said I, half-angrily, and looking him full in the face, 'I +am <i>not</i>.'</p> + +<p>"'Then what brought you here,' persisted he, 'if you are not a juvenile +thief?'</p> + +<p>"'I was tired, sir,' said I, 'and I sat down here to rest, and so fell +asleep.'</p> + +<p>"The old gentleman kept his sharp eyes fixed on me as if he would read +me through, with a strange look of half-recognition on his face.</p> + +<p>"'Please to let me go, sir,' said I, again struggling to get free.</p> + +<p>"'What's your name, boy?' said the old man, without heeding me in the +slightest degree.</p> + +<p>"'Warren Randall Darrell,' replied I.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_344" id="Page_344">[Pg 344]</a></span></p> + +<p>"As if he had been struck, the old man loosened his hold and recoiled; +and I, seizing the opportunity, darted off, but only to find myself in +the grasp of a servant who stood holding the horses.</p> + +<p>"'Not so fast, my little shaver,' said he, grinning; 'just you wait till +Mr. Randall's done with you.'</p> + +<p>"'Mr. Randall!' repeated I, and instantly a sort of conviction flashed +across my mind that he might be my grandfather.</p> + +<p>"At the same instant the old man approached me, and catching me by the +arm, gazed long and steadily into my face, plainly revealed by the light +of a street-lamp. I looked up in his agitated face quite as +unflinchingly, and so we stood for nearly five minutes, to the great +bewilderment of the coachman, who stared first at one and then the +other, as if he thought we had both lost our senses.</p> + +<p>"'Tell me,' said the old man, after a pause, 'what was your mother's +maiden name?'</p> + +<p>"'Alice Randall,' said I, my suspicion becoming certainty; 'and you are +my grandfather.'</p> + +<p>"'What!' he exclaimed, with a start. 'Do you know me? Who told you I +was?'</p> + +<p>"'No one,' said I; 'but I think so. My grandfather's name is Warren +Randall, and that is the name on your door-plate there. I was called +after him.'</p> + +<p>"'You are right,' said he, in an agitated voice. 'I am your grandfather. +My poor Alice! You have her eyes, boy—the same eyes that once made the +light of my home. Where—tell me where is she now?'</p> + +<p>"'I don't know,' said I, half-sobbing. 'She's dead, I'm afraid—she and +Georgia.'</p> + +<p>"'Who is Georgia?'<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_345" id="Page_345">[Pg 345]</a></span></p> + +<p>"'My sister.'</p> + +<p>"'And your father?' he said, with a darkening brow.</p> + +<p>"'Is dead, too; has been dead this long, long time.'</p> + +<p>"'And so you are an orphan, and poor and friendless,' he said, speaking +as much to himself as to me. 'Poor boy! poor little fellow! Warren, will +you come and live with me—with your grandfather?'</p> + +<p>"I thought for a moment, and then shook my head.</p> + +<p>"'No,' said I, 'I can't. I must find my mother and Georgia.'</p> + +<p>"'Where are they?' he said, eagerly. 'I thought you told me they were +dead.'</p> + +<p>"'I said I didn't know, and I don't. They may be dead, for it is over a +year since I saw them last. I was carried away from them by force, and +now I am going to seek for them.'</p> + +<p>"'You!' said he. 'How can a little friendless boy like you find them? +No, no, Warren, stay with me, and let me search for your mother. I may +succeed, but you will starve ere you find them, or be put in prison. +Warren you <i>will</i> stay?'"</p> + +<p>"And you did?" said Georgia.</p> + +<p>"And I did. I answered that what he said was true, and that he was far +more likely to succeed than I was. That night I slept in a princely +home, with servants to come at my call—with every luxury to charm every +sense around me. Was not that a sudden change, Georgia, from the +miserable quarters of the players?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, indeed," said Georgia. "And what change did it make in you? Did +affluence spoil you?"</p> + +<p>"It might have, if I had stayed long enough there," said Warren, +smiling, "for I, with all my perfections—and if<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_346" id="Page_346">[Pg 346]</a></span> you want a list of +them just ask Miss Felice Leonard—am not infallible. I gave him my +history, and he dispatched a trusty messenger to Burnfield, and upon his +return he told me that both my mother and sister were dead. I believed +him then, but I have since thought that, finding you provided for, he +wished to keep me all to himself, and make me his sole heir.</p> + +<p>"I had so long thought, Georgia, that you and my mother were dead that +the revelations did not take me by surprise, and though I grieved for +awhile, the novelty of everything around me kept my mind from dwelling +much on my bereavement. My grandfather told me he intended to send me to +school, and, when he died, make me his sole heir, on condition that I +would drop the detested name of Darrell and take his. Not being very +particular about the matter, I readily consented, and two months +afterward I was sent to old Yale, where he himself had been educated, +there to be trained in the way I should go.</p> + +<p>"Well, Georgia, I remained there four years, and won golden opinions +from the big wigs of the institution, and delighted the heart of my kind +old grandfather by my progress in the arts and sciences. A letter +announcing his sudden death recalled me at last. I hurried back to New +York in time to follow him to the grave, and, when the will was read, I +found myself sole heir to his almost princely wealth.</p> + +<p>"Then I went to Europe and Asia, and saw all the sights, from the +pyramids of Egypt down, and wrote a book about my travels, as every one +does now who goes three yards from his own vine and fig-tree. Then I +came home, and lo! before I have been here three months, I find<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_347" id="Page_347">[Pg 347]</a></span> that my +sister, who was dead, comes to life again, and so—<i>finis</i>!"</p> + +<p>"You should add, 'And they lived happy for ever after,'" said Georgia, +smiling, "only, perhaps, it would not be strictly correct. And now that +you have found your sister, what do you mean to do with her?"</p> + +<p>"Make her mistress of the palatial mansion of the Randalls," said +Warren, promptly, "and settle one-half my fortune on her. <i>That</i>, Madam +Wildair, is my unchangeable intention."</p> + +<p>"Oh, Warren, dearest. I will never hear of such a thing!" said Georgia, +vehemently.</p> + +<p>"Well, if you will excuse me for saying so, I don't care in the least +whether you will or not—I shall do it. Not a word now, Mistress +Georgia; you will find that you will have to obey your brother, since +you have found him, and do for the future exactly as he tells you. +Besides, Georgia, Warren Randall's sister shall never go back penniless +to her husband," he said, proudly; "he shall find her his equal in +wealth, as in everything else."</p> + +<p>"Oh, Warren!" she said, with filling eyes.</p> + +<p>"Not a word about it now," he said, putting his fingers over her lips; +"to-morrow the world shall know you as you really are."</p> + +<p>"Warren, listen to me," she said, taking his hand. "Until I meet +Richmond again, I intend to keep my <i>incognito</i>. Perhaps you may call it +an odd fancy, but I really wish it. No one yet knows my secret but Mr. +Curtis, Mr. Leonard, and Richmond's brother, and if I wish it they will +keep it a secret. Let me still be Miss Randall until he comes."</p> + +<p>"But when will he come?" broke in Warren, half im<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_348" id="Page_348">[Pg 348]</a></span>patiently; "who knows? +It may be years or—Georgia," he added, suddenly, "suppose we go to +<i>him</i>, eh? When the mountain will not come to Mahomet, Mahomet must go +to the mountain—rather that style of thing, isn't it? What do you say +to a trip to France, <i>ma belle</i>?"</p> + +<p>"Oh, Warren!" she cried, catching her breath, her whole face growing +radiant with delight.</p> + +<p>"I am answered," he said, gayly; "this day week we start."</p> + +<p>"For where, may I ask?" said Mr. Curtis, lounging in. "Your chateau in +Spain? or on a wild-goose chase?"</p> + +<p>"Something very like it," said Warren, laughing. "We are off to France, +in search of one Richmond Wildair, plenipotentiary and ambassador +extraordinary to the court of that distant and facetious region."</p> + +<p>"Whew!" whistled Mr. Curtis, "I see, says the blind man. What a thing +conjugal affection is, to be sure! When do you go?"</p> + +<p>"This day week, in the Golden Arrow. And for some inscrutable feminine +reason Georgia wishes you to preserve her secret inviolable until she +returns. She is still Miss Randall; you understand? You and Mr. Leonard +are not to mention she is Richmond Wildair's runaway wife."</p> + +<p>"I'm dumb," said Mr. Curtis, shutting his lips as firmly as though they +were never to be opened on earth again. "Neither tortures, nor anguish, +nor bad pale ale shall tear from this lacerated heart the fearful +secret. Are you going to see after that prize of yours to-morrow, Mrs. +Wild—gee Whittaker! I mean Miss Randall," said he, dropping his tone of +stage agony, and speaking in his natural voice.</p> + +<p>"Most decidedly," said Georgia, smiling.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_349" id="Page_349">[Pg 349]</a></span></p> + +<p>"And then you are going to throw yourself away on our painfully clever +friend Wildair again, and leave all your friends here in Gotham to pine +away, with tears in their eyes and their fingers in their mouths," said +Mr. Curtis, in a lugubrious tone; "it's something I never expected of +you, Mrs. Wil—pooh! I mean Miss Randall, and I must say I, for one, +never deserved it."</p> + +<p>"Mr. Curtis, you—you were in Burnfield since I was," said Georgia, +hesitatingly, and coloring deeply; "how was Miss Jerusha and Emily +Murray?"</p> + +<p>"Well they were both in a state of mind—rather," said Mr. Curtis. "Miss +Jerusha flamed up, and blew us all, sky high, in fact raised the ancient +Harry, in a way quite appalling to a person of tender nerves—myself, +for instance—and gave Richmond what may be called, without +exaggeration, particular fits! As for little Emily," said Mr. Curtis, +turning red suddenly, "she—she didn't scold anybody, but she cried and +took on so that I felt—I felt a sort of all-over as it were—a very +peculiar feeling, to use a mild phrase, if you observe."</p> + +<p>"Dear little Emily," said Georgia, sighing.</p> + +<p>"That's just what I said," said Mr. Curtis, eagerly "but she didn't pay +any attention to it. I suppose you know I—I went—I mean I asked—that +is I offered—pshaw! what d'ye call it—proposed," said Mr. Curtis, +blushing, and squirming uneasily in his chair.</p> + +<p>"No, I did not know it," said Georgia, with difficulty repressing a +smile.</p> + +<p>"But I did though, and she refused me—she did, by Jove!" said Mr. +Curtis, dolorously.</p> + +<p>"What bad taste the girl must have," said Mr. Randall.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_350" id="Page_350">[Pg 350]</a></span></p> + +<p>"You're another," said Mr. Curtis, fiercely; "she's no such thing! How +dare you insinuate such a thing, Mr. Randall? There never yet was born a +man good enough for her; and if you dare to doubt it, I'll be hanged if +I don't knock you into the middle of next week—now then!"</p> + +<p>Mr. Curtis was as fierce as a Bengal tiger. Mr. Randall threw himself +into a chair, and laughed immoderately.</p> + +<p>"My dear fellow, I cry you mercy, and most humbly beg Miss Emily +Murray's pardon. I look forward some day to being acquainted with her +myself, and if I find her all that you say, I shall consider the +advisability of making her Mrs. Warren Randall."</p> + +<p>"You be—shot!" growled Mr. Curtis, striding savagely up and down. +"She's not to be had for the asking, I can tell you; and after refusing +<i>me</i>, it's not likely she'd have anything to do with you. Mrs. +Wildair—oh, darn it!—Miss Randall, I mean, when you see your husband, +tell him his mother is very ill, and if he does not hasten home soon he +will not see her alive. A precious small loss that would be though," +said Mr. Curtis, in parenthesis—"a stiff, sneering, high-and-mighty old +virago! Don't see, for my part, what Rich meant by ever having such a +mother!"</p> + +<hr style="width: 45%;" /> + +<p>One week later, Warren Randall and his sister were on board the Golden +Arrow, <i>en route</i> for Merrie England. Fair breezes soon wafted them to +the white cliffs of that "right little, tight little" island, and +Georgia for the first time set foot on a foreign shore.</p> + +<p>But now, in her impatience to rejoin and be reconciled to her husband, +she would consent to make no stay; so they immediately crossed the +channel into France, and posted at once for Paris. And there the first +news they<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_351" id="Page_351">[Pg 351]</a></span> heard from the American consul was that Mr. Wildair had left +a fortnight before for St. Petersburg.</p> + +<p>It was a disappointment to both, a bitter one to Georgia, and Warren +felt it for her sake. To follow him was the first impulse of both, and +they immediately started for the Russian capital.</p> + +<p>But fortune still inclined to be capricious, and to doom Georgia's +new-found patience to another trial. Mr. Wildair's political mission +required dispatch, and a few days before their arrival he had gone. From +the minister they learned that his first destination was a return to +Paris, from thence to Baden Baden, and it was more than probable he +would visit London and then return home.</p> + +<p>"Well, Georgia," said Warren, "you see fate is against you, and has +doomed you to disappointment. Nothing remains now but to make the best +of a bad bargain and start on a regular sight-seeing tour, and 'do' +Europe, as Curtis would call it. And, after all, perhaps it is for the +best you did not meet him. He is now rapidly rising to political +distinction, and his meeting with you might distract his thoughts, and +would certainly keep him from entering heart and soul into the political +arena as he does now. Besides, having lost you for so long, he will know +how to value you all the more when you do return. Come, Georgia, what +difference, after all, will a year or two make in a life? Don't think of +returning now, but let us continue our tour."</p> + +<p>"I am at your disposal, my dear Warren," said Georgia, with a smile and +a sigh. "As you say, after all, a year more or less will not make a +great deal of difference, and I am particularly anxious to continue our +tour. Therefore, <i>mon frere</i>, do with me as you will."<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_352" id="Page_352">[Pg 352]</a></span></p> + +<p>With an account of that tour, dearest reader, I will not weary your +patience—already, I fear, too much taxed. All "grand tours" are +alike—the same sights are seen, the same incidents occur, the same +scenery and pictures are looked at and gone into raptures over, and the +same people are met everywhere. The summer was spent traveling slowly +through France and Germany, and the winter was passed in Italy. Early in +the spring they visited Switzerland; and, almost imperceptibly, two +years passed away.</p> + +<p>And where, meanwhile, was he whose willful blindness and haughty pride +had brought on his own desolation? Where was he, widowed in fate though +not in fact?—where was Richmond Wildair?</p> + +<p>Home again, drowning thought and his intolerable remorse in the giddy +whirl of political life. He had returned in time to close his mother's +eyes, and hear her last words—a wild appeal for Georgia, the wronged +Georgia, to forgive her. And then, with all the power of his mighty +intellect, he had given himself up to the life he had chosen, that life +for which Heaven and nature had so well qualified him—a great +legislator—and that life became to him wife, and home, and all. Already +he had taken his seat in the Senate, and, though perhaps the youngest +there, stood foremost among them all, crowned with his lofty genius as +with a diadem. The knowing ones whispered that at the next election he +was certain of becoming Governor of his native State, and certainly, as +far as popularity went, there could be little doubt of it. Never was +there a young statesman, perhaps, who in so short a time had risen so +rapidly to distinction, and won such "golden opinions" from all sorts of +people.</p> + +<p>Of almost all concerning his wife he was profoundly<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_353" id="Page_353">[Pg 353]</a></span> ignorant. One thing +he knew, and that was that she, and no other, had painted the wonderful +picture about which the artistic world was still raving. Hagar, in her +mighty grief and dark despair, the wild, woeful, anguished form writhing +yet majestic in her great wrongs, was Georgia as he had seen her last. +And, as if to make conviction doubly sure, the picture bore her +initials. One consolation it brought to him, and that was that she still +lived. Every effort in human power he had made to discover her, but all +he could succeed in learning was that a tall, dark, majestic-looking +lady, bearing the name of Miss Randall, had received the prize; but +nothing more was known of her. Then he sought for her brother, and heard +he had gone to Europe, but whether alone or not he could not discover. A +score of times within the day would Dick Curtis be on the point of +telling him all, until the recollection of his promise would stop him, +and he would inwardly fume at not having made a mental reservation at +the time. Still, these tortures of doubt, and uncertainty, and hope, and +despair served Richmond just exactly right, he argued, and would teach +him, if he ever did find Georgia, to treat her better for the future.</p> + +<p>And so, while Georgia was roaming over the world, Richmond was rising to +still higher fame and eminence in his native land; and neither dreamed +how each had searched, and sought, and sorrowed in vain for the other.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;"/><p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_354" id="Page_354">[Pg 354]</a></span></p> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XXIV" id="CHAPTER_XXIV"></a>CHAPTER XXIV.</h2> + +<h3>AT LAST!</h3> + +<div class="poemblock36"> +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">"And there was light around her brow,<br /></span> +<span class="i2">A holiness in those dark eyes,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Which showed, though wandering earthward now,<br /></span> +<span class="i2">Her spirit's home was in the skies."<br /></span> +</div></div></div> + +<div class="drop"> +<img src="images/illo_t.png" alt="T" width="100" height="100" class="cap" /> +<p class="cap_1"> +wo years had passed and gone.</p></div> + +<p>It was drawing toward sunset of a clear, bright, breezy day, when a +crowd of people "might have been seen," and were seen, too, hurrying +down to one of the wharves of B——, to watch the arrival of the steamer +from Europe. Throngs of people who had friends on board came trooping +down, and watched with eager eyes the stately vessel as it smoked and +puffed its way, like an apoplectic alderman, to the shore.</p> + +<p>Among these lounged a young man, good-looking and fashionably dressed, +and evidently got up regardless of expense. There was a certain air of +self-complacency about him, as he stroked a pair of most desirable +curling whiskers, that said, as plainly as words, he was "somebody," and +knew it. Another young republican, puffing a cigar, stood beside him, +and both were watching, with the careless nonchalance of sovereigns in +their own right, the throng of foreigners that stood on the steamer's +deck.</p> + +<p>"A crowd there—rather!" remarked the hero of the cigar, as he +fastidiously held it between his finger and thumb and knocked the ashes +off the end. "Our European brethren have arrived in time to see the +elephant to good<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_355" id="Page_355">[Pg 355]</a></span> advantage. Young America will be out in great force +to-night."</p> + +<p>"To cheer the new governor—ye-es," drawled the other, as he, too, +lighted a cigar, and began smoking like a living Vesuvius.</p> + +<p>"What a thing it is to be the people's favorite—a man of the people, +that style of thing, you know—isn't it, Curtis?" said the first +speaker.</p> + +<p>"I believe you!" said Mr. Curtis, emphatically, for our old friend it +was. "It is the sovereign people's pleasure to go mad about their +favorite just now, and, like spoiled children, they must be humored. +What a thing the mob is, to be sure! They would shout as heartily and +with as good a will if Wildair were to be hung to-night as inaugurated. +Since the days when they shouted 'Crucify Him! crucify Him! Release unto +us Barrabas!' they have remained unchanged."</p> + +<p>"I hope you don't mean to insinuate that there is any resemblance +between the Jewish malefactor and the American governor—eh, Curtis?" +said his friend, laughing.</p> + +<p>"By no means, Captain Arlingford. Wildair deserves his popularity; he is +a great statesman, a real friend of his admirers, the people, and with +genius enough to steer the whole republic himself. He has fought his way +up; he has fought for equal rights, liberty, fraternity, equality—the +French dodge, you know—and deserves to be what he is, the people's +idol. Never in this good Yankee town was a new governor greeted so +enthusiastically; never did the mob shout themselves hoarse with such a +right good will. By Jove! I envied him to-day, as he stood on the +balcony of the hotel, with his hat off, while the sea of human beings +below shouted and shouted, until they could shout no<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_356" id="Page_356">[Pg 356]</a></span> longer. It was a +reception fit for a king; and never did a king look more kingly and +noble than at that moment of triumph did he."</p> + +<p>Captain Arlingford laughed.</p> + +<p>"Whew! there's enthusiasm for you! My sober, steady-headed friend, Dick +Curtis, starting off in this manner, and longing for public popularity! +I confess I should like to have witnessed his triumphal entry to-day +though. I have heard that the ladies absolutely buried him alive in the +showers of bouquets from the windows."</p> + +<p>"Didn't they!" said Mr. Curtis laughing at the recollection. "As his +secretary, I sat in the carriage with him, and, 'pon my honor, I was +half smothered under the load of fragrant favors. Such a waving of +cambric handkerchiefs, too, and how the crowd doffed their hats and +hurrahed! It excites me even yet to think of it; but there sat Wildair +touching his chapeau, and bowing right and left, 'with that easy grace +that wins all hearts,' to quote our friend and your admirer, Miss +Harper, a little."</p> + +<p>"That last bill about the people's rights did the business for him," +said Captain Arlingford, meditatively; "what a strong case he made out +in their favor, and what an excitement it created! Well, it's a famous +thing to be clever, after all; I knew it was in him, but it might never +have come out so forcibly, had it not been for that loss of his two +years ago. And it appears <i>she</i> is a genius too. To think she should +have painted that blood-chilling picture of Hagar, and found a brother +in that poet, Randall. Don't things turn up strangely, Curtis? I wonder +where she has gone, and if she will ever come back."</p> + +<p>"Don't know! Like as not," said Mr. Curtis, sententiously.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_357" id="Page_357">[Pg 357]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Splendid-looking girl she was, wasn't she, Curtis?" continued +Arlingford, pursuing his own train of thought.</p> + +<p>"Magnificent eyes, a step like an empress, and the smile of an angel."</p> + +<p>"Come, don't draw it quite so steep, my gallient saileur boy," said +Curtis; "recollect you're speaking of another man's wife, and that man +not a common mortal either, but the Governor of B—— and future +President of these Benighted States. Besides, what would Miss Harper +say?"</p> + +<p>"Miss Harper be—hanged!" exclaimed Arlingford, with such impatient +vehemence that Curtis laughed; "that's enough about her. Are you going +to the inauguration ball to-night?"</p> + +<p>"Of course—what a question! Do you think they could have a ball fit to +be seen without the presence of the irresistible, the fascinating +Richard Curtis, Esq., to keep it moving? Do you think any lady as is a +lady would enjoy herself if I was absent? Echo answers, 'Of course, they +wouldn't;' so don't harrow my feelings again by such another question."</p> + +<p>"Well, I see humanity and vanity are not among your failings. I suppose +all the <i>elite</i> of the city will be there?"</p> + +<p>"You had better believe it. The <i>creme de la creme</i> of B——. All the +beauty, and wit, and gallantry of the city, as the newspapers have it. I +have engaged with the editor of the <i>Sky Rocket</i> to write him an account +of the sayings and doings, for a 'consideration,' as the delicate phrase +goes, which, being translated from the original Hebrew, means that he +will puff our party on every occasion and no occasion, and if you don't +see 'among the guests was the gallant young Captain A——, U. S. N., who +paid during the evening the most marked attention to the lovely and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_358" id="Page_358">[Pg 358]</a></span> +accomplished Miss H——, whom it is whispered he is about to lead to the +hymeneal altar——' Hello! stop that! I say, Arlingford, don't choke a +fellow!"</p> + +<p>"Confound you!" said Captain Arlingford, catching him by the collar, and +fairly shaking the cigar out of his mouth; "will you forever continue +harping on that string? I say, let's get out of this; I hate to make one +in a crowd."</p> + +<p>"No; wait," said Curtis, laughing and adjusting his ruffled plumage. "I +want to see if there is any one I know on board the steamer; I expect +some friends. Here come the passengers. What a wretched, sea-sick, +sea-green-looking set. The amount of contempt I have for the ocean is +something appalling."</p> + +<p>"You had better mind how you express it before me," said Captain +Arlingford, decidedly. "I—but look there, Curtis, at that lady! Oh, ye +gods and little fishes! what a Juno! Eh? how? what? By the Lord Harry, +Curtis!" he exclaimed, springing up excitedly, as the lady in question +turned her face fully toward them; "if ever I saw Mrs. Georgia Wildair +in my life, there she stands!"</p> + +<p>"Where? where? where?" fairly shouted Curtis, catching him by the arm, +and staring round in an excitement far surpassing his own. "Where? +which? when?"</p> + +<p>"Whither? why? wherefore?" said Arlingford, laughing in spite of his +surprise and excitement. "<i>There</i>, man alive! don't you see? That tall +lady in black on the deck beside that intensely foreign-looking young +gentleman. Why, where are your eyes? don't you see?"</p> + +<p>"I see! I see! It's she! Hip, hip, hurrah!" shouted Mr. Curtis, waving +his hat, and electrifying the crowd around him, and then, before Captain +Arlingford knew what he was about, he darted off, played in and out<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_359" id="Page_359">[Pg 359]</a></span> +through the crowd, dug his elbows into the ribs of all around him, and +so forced his way aboard the steamer, amid the stifled shrieks and +groans, and curses of his victims.</p> + +<p>"That's what you call a summary proceeding," said Captain Arlingford, +laughing; "what a living galvanic battery that fellow is—a +broad-clothed barrel of gunpowder; touch him and off he goes! Well, +here's to follow his example."</p> + +<p>So saying, but in a less impetuous manner, he made his way through the +throng to where stood a lady, "beautiful exceedingly," and dressed +entirely in black, after the fashion of the Spanish Creoles, for one of +whom, in her dark, rich beauty, she might easily have been mistaken.</p> + +<p>"Mrs. Wildair! Good gracious, Mrs. Wildair, how <i>do</i> you do?" exclaimed +a breathless voice. "To think that you should come this day of all days! +Oh, scissors! Well, I <i>am</i> glad to see you! Upon my word and honor, I +am."</p> + +<p>"Mr. Curtis!" exclaimed the lady, with a little cry of surprise and +delight. "Why, what an unexpected pleasure to meet <i>you</i> here! Dear Mr. +Curtis, how glad I am to see you!"</p> + +<p>"So am I, just as glad!" said Mr. Curtis, seizing the little hand she +extended, and wringing it until she winced. "Good gracious! to think of +it. How <i>do</i> you do? Well, if it isn't the most unexpected—to think +that you should come home to-day of all days! Good gra—— Hey? what +now?"</p> + +<p>A vigorous slap on the shoulder that staggered him, as well it might, +had jerked the last words out of him, and turning fiercely round, he saw +the laughing face of the lady's companion turned toward him.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_360" id="Page_360">[Pg 360]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Why, Curtis, old fellow, have you a greeting for no one but Georgia? +Come, you have shook her hand long enough; try mine now."</p> + +<p>"Randall, my boy, how goes it? Well, I <i>am</i> glad, and no mistake. Good +gracious! what the mischief kept you so long in those barbarous foreign +parts, anyhow?"</p> + +<p>"Don't know, really," said Mr. Randall, laughing at his vehemence; "the +time passed almost imperceptibly. But you—what brings you here? I +thought you were in New York."</p> + +<p>"Well, I am not, though you mayn't believe it. Hello! Guess who this is, +Mrs. Wildair?"</p> + +<p>"Captain Arlingford!" exclaimed Georgia, delightedly, holding out her +hand; then, as the recollections of the past arose, the color mounted +for an instant to her very temples.</p> + +<p>"Yes, marm; nothing shorter," said Curtis, rubbing his hands gleefully. +"Je-rusalem! only to think of it! Well, the astonishing way things +<i>will</i> persist in turning up! Just to think of it. Why, it's like a +thing in a play or a novel. Now, isn't it, Arlingford?"</p> + +<p>"What! our coming home?" said Randall. "What do you see so extraordinary +about that, Curtis?"</p> + +<p>"No, it is not that," said Mr. Curtis, chuckling; "it's the remarkable +coincidence of your coming to-day of all days—not you, but your sister. +There, don't ask me now, everybody's looking—a set of ill-mannered +snipes. Arlingford, run and call a coach, there's a good boy, and I'll +tell Mrs. Wildair all about it. Good gracious! if it isn't the funniest +thing!"</p> + +<p>Mr. Curtis' excitement and delight, as he danced up and down, rubbing +his hands and chuckling, were so irresistible that all three, after +watching him an instant, burst into an<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_361" id="Page_361">[Pg 361]</a></span> immoderate fit of laughter, and, +beholding his look of dismayed surprise, laughed until the tears stood +in their eyes.</p> + +<p>"Eh! why, what the—— what are you laughing at? Don't act so, don't; +everybody's looking, and they'll think you're crazy," said Mr. Curtis, +imploringly. "Wait a minute, I'll call a coach myself—you just hold +on."</p> + +<p>Off darted Mr. Curtis, leaving them still laughing and unable to stop, +and ere five minutes he was back, and whipped them off like a living +whirlwind—pushed them into a coach, jumped in after, and banged the +door.</p> + +<p>"Dixon's Hotel!" he bawled to the driver, and away they rattled over the +pavement.</p> + +<p>"Now we're comfortable," said Mr. Curtis, surveying them complacently, +"and, only for me, you might have stood there all night, for coaches are +in demand, and hardly to be got for love or money. Oh, Jehosaphat! just +to think of it! why it's <i>droll</i>!" said Mr. Curtis, thrusting his hands +into his pockets, and, as the absurdity of it struck him for the first +time he leaned back in the carriage, and burst into a peal of laughter +that was perfectly terrific, and from the effect of which he did not +recover until they reached the hotel.</p> + +<p>"It's lucky for you, in more ways than one, that you met me," said Mr. +Curtis, as he got out and offered Georgia his arm, "for the city's full, +and you wouldn't have got a room in a hotel from one end of it to the +other—no, not if you went on your two blessed, bended knees and prayed +for it. Here, these rooms were engaged for the governor and his suite, +and this is mine, and is quite at your disposal, Mrs. Wildair."</p> + +<p>"But, oh! Mr. Curtis, I cannot think of depriving you——"<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_362" id="Page_362">[Pg 362]</a></span></p> + +<p>"There—not a word! not a word!" said Mr. Curtis, briskly, as he ushered +them into a sumptuously furnished apartment. "I'll camp with somebody +else. And now the very first thing I want you to do is to dress and come +to the ball to-night."</p> + +<p>"The ball! What ball?" said Georgia, in surprise.</p> + +<p>"Why the inauguration ball, to be sure! Oh, I forgot you did not know. +Well, then, the astonishing news is, that Mr. Richmond Wildair has this +day entered B—— as its governor! Now don't faint, Mrs. Wildair, +because I won't understand your case. And, as usual, there is to be a +ball, and I want you to come and be presented to his excellency the +governor."</p> + +<p>Georgia had no intention of fainting. A flush of pride, and triumph, and +delight, lit up her face, and, with the step of a queen, she arose and +paced up and down the room.</p> + +<p>"And so he has been elected," said Mr. Randall, thoughtfully. "I knew he +would rise rapidly."</p> + +<p>"What says Georgia—will you go?"</p> + +<p>"Yes," she said, with a radiant smile.</p> + +<p>"Hooray!" exclaimed Mr. Curtis; "Mrs. Wildair, you're a brick! Maybe Mr. +Wildair won't be astonished some, if not more, and a <i>leetle</i> delighted! +It's getting dark fast, and I ought to be off to the executive mansion; +but I'll let etiquette go be hanged for once, and wait for you. You had +better have tea in your own room, Mrs. W.; sha'n't I ring? It will take +you two or three hours to dress, you know—it always does take a lady +that long, I believe. Here, my man, supper for four up here; be spry +now."</p> + +<p>It was impossible to be serious and watch Curtis, as he flew round +impetuously, asking a thousand questions in a<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_363" id="Page_363">[Pg 363]</a></span> breath about what they +had seen abroad, and then interrupting them in the middle of the answer +to tell them something about Richmond, that had not the slightest +bearing on the matter.</p> + +<p>In his excitement he found it impossible to sit still, but kept flying +round the room, rubbing his hands in an ecstacy of delight, and laughing +uproariously as he thought of the surprise in store for the young +governor. During supper he monopolized the whole conversation himself, +and kept the others in fits of laughter, while his look of innocent +astonishment at their mirth would, as Captain Arlingford said, "make a +horn-bug laugh."</p> + +<p>After tea the gentlemen took themselves off to dress, and Georgia's +maid, who had arrived, remained to superintend her mistress' toilet. +Those two years of absence had restored the bright bloom to Georgia's +dark face, but the old flashing light had left her dark eyes, and in its +place was a sweetness, subdued, gentle, and far more lovely. The +haughtily curling lips were tender and placid, the queenly brow calm and +serene, the dark, beautiful face almost seraphic with its look of inward +peace. Oh, far more sweet, and tender, and lovable was the Georgia of +to-day than the haughty, fiery, passionate Georgia of other years! As +she stood before the mirror, in her rich, showy robe of gold-colored +satin, under rare old point lace, with diamonds flashing in rivers of +light around her curving throat, flashing in her small ears, gleaming in +her midnight hair, and glittering and scintillating like sparks of fire +on her rounded arms and small dark fingers, she looked every inch a +princess, a "queen of noble Nature's crowning."</p> + +<p>And so thought the gentlemen as they entered, in full dress—in +"glorious array," as Mr. Curtis pompously said<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_364" id="Page_364">[Pg 364]</a></span>—if one might judge by +her brother's look of pride and pleasure, Captain Arlingford's glance of +intense admiration, and Mr. Curtis' burst of rapture.</p> + +<p>"Why, you're looking splendid, absolutely splendid, you know; something +quite stunning, Mrs. Wildair! Ah! I should like to be as good-looking as +you. I never saw you looking so well before. Now, did you, Randall?"</p> + +<p>"Georgia is looking her best," said Mr. Randall, smiling.</p> + +<p>"Looking her best! I guess so! It's astonishing how handsome women can +make themselves when they choose. Now, I might try till I was black in +the face, and still I would be the old two-and-sixpence at the end. I +wish I knew the secret. Suppose we go now; we're behind time three +quarters of an hour as it is. The carriage is waiting, Mrs. Wildair."</p> + +<p>"I am quite at your service, Mr. Curtis," said Georgia, flinging a shawl +over her shoulders, and trying to smile, but her heart was throbbing so +rapidly that she leaned against the table for a moment, sick and faint.</p> + +<p>Who, when about to meet a dear friend from whom she had been long +separated, does not feel a sort of dread mingling with her pleasure, +lest she should find him changed, altered, cold, different from what she +had known him in other years?</p> + +<p>So felt Georgia as she took her seat in the carriage and was whirled as +rapidly as the crowded state of the streets would admit toward the +executive mansion. Her color came and went, now that the crisis was at +hand, and the loud beating of her heart could almost be heard, as she +lay back among the cushions, trembling with excitement and conflicting +emotions.</p> + +<p>A gay scene the streets presented that night. Never<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_365" id="Page_365">[Pg 365]</a></span> had a governor +received such an ovation as had this young demi-god of the dear public. +Every house was illuminated from attic to basement; flags were flying; +arches had been erected for him to pass under, as if it were the +reception of a prince. Thousands of gayly dressed people thronged the +pavements, bands were out playing triumphant marches, and an immense +crowd congregated around the governor's house, watching the different +carriages as they passed, bearing their freight of magnificently dressed +ladies on their way to the ball. But not to behold them was the dense +crowd waiting, but to catch a glimpse of the young governor when he +should arrive.</p> + +<p>As the carriage conveying our party approached the arched gate-way of +the executive mansion it was stopped, blocked up by a crowd of other +carriages. The people had pressed before, and it was in vain they tried +to get on. Drivers swore, and shouted, and vociferated, the mob laughed +and bandied jokes, gentlemen in commanding tones gave orders that were +either unheard or impossible to be obeyed, and a perfect Babel of +confusion reigned.</p> + +<p>"Come, this won't do, you know," said Mr. Curtis, "we must get on +somehow. Here, you fellows," he said, thrusting his head out of the +window, "get out of the way, I want to pass. I'm the governor's +secretary, and must get on."</p> + +<p>A derisive laugh from a group near followed, and a voice in the crowd +inquired anxiously whether his mother had many more like him, and also +whether that venerable lady was aware that he was out.</p> + +<p>Mr. Curtis showed symptoms of getting into a passion at this, but his +voice was drowned in a cry from a band of loafers near, who shouted:<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_366" id="Page_366">[Pg 366]</a></span></p> + +<p>"We want to see the governor! You won't pass till we see the governor!"</p> + +<p>There was a plain dark carriage right in front of them, and now the +glass was let down, and a clear, commanding voice, that rang out above +all the din, calmly said:</p> + +<p>"I am the governor! Stand aside, my friends, and let me pass!"</p> + +<p>That voice! Georgia half-sprang from her seat, and then fell back.</p> + +<p>Such a cry as arose—such a mighty shout, at the voice of their +favorite! The crowd swayed to and fro in their struggles to get near. +The driver whipped up his horses, a passage was cleared, and carriage +after carriage passed on and entered the crowded court-yard.</p> + +<p>"Hurrah for Wildair! Hurrah for Wildair! Hurrah! Hurrah! <span class="smcap">Hurrah</span> for +Wildair!" shouted the crowd, till the welkin rang.</p> + +<p>"Hurrah for Richmond Wildair—the <span class="smcap">Man of the People</span>!" exclaimed a loud +voice, and instantly the cry was taken up, and "Hurrah! hurrah! hurrah!" +rang out like the roar of the sea.</p> + +<p>And now on the balcony, clearly revealed in the light of myriads of +lamps, stood the kingly form of Richmond Wildair himself, his princely +brow uncovered, his calm, commanding face looking down on them, as a +king might on his subjects.</p> + +<p>And then once again arose the mighty shout, "Hurrah for Wildair! Hurrah +for Wildair! Hurrah for the Friend of the People!" until, hoarse with +shouting, the swaying multitude relapsed into silence.</p> + +<p>And then, clear, calm, and earnest, arose the commanding voice of their +favorite, as he addressed them.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_367" id="Page_367">[Pg 367]</a></span></p> + +<p>A dead silence fell on that great crowd the moment his first word was +heard. Short, and well chosen, and to the point, was his speech; and +hats flew off, and again and again the hoarse cheers of his listeners +interrupted him. Having thanked them for the enthusiastic reception they +had given him, he begged them to disperse for the present, and then, +having bowed once more, he retired.</p> + +<p>With three times three for the speaker they obeyed, and, save a few who +remained to watch the brilliantly illuminated mansion and listen to the +music of the band, the crowd soon dispersed through the thronged +streets.</p> + +<p>"There's popularity for you!" said Mr. Curtis, as with Georgia leaning +on his arm he entered the brilliant ball-room, blazing with lights and +crowded with splendidly attired ladies. "I should admire to see them +cheering me that way. How would it sound, I wonder? Hurrah for Curtis! +That's not bad, is it, Mrs. Wildair?"</p> + +<p>She did not reply—she did not hear him. Her eyes were wandering through +the glittering throng in search of one, the "bright, particular star" of +the evening. Yes, there he was, at the upper end of the room, surrounded +by a throng of the most distinguished there, bowing, and shaking hands, +and smiling, and chatting with the ladies. She strove to calm herself +and listen to what her companion was saying, but in vain, until the +mention of Richmond's name attracted her attention.</p> + +<p>"I won't bring you over among that crowd," he was saying; "I'll wait +till he's a little disengaged. They'll begin dancing presently, and then +the coast will be clear. Just see how everybody is looking at you and +whispering to one another. I guess they would like to know who you are<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_368" id="Page_368">[Pg 368]</a></span> +just now. Ah! what would you give to know?" said Mr. Curtis, making a +grimace at the crowd.</p> + +<p>And now an audible whisper might have been heard among the throng:</p> + +<p>"Who is she? oh, who is she?—that beautiful girl with Mr. Curtis. I +never saw her before."</p> + +<p>"Nor I. Nor I. Who can she be?" ran around the room. "How <i>distingue</i> +she is! how surpassingly beautiful! and how magnificently dressed! Oh, I +must get an introduction. See, he is bringing her up now to present her +to the governor. I'll ask him to introduce me. She is certainly destined +to be the belle of the evening."</p> + +<p>Meantime two or three quadrilles had formed, and the group surrounding +the governor had thinned, and he was left as much alone as he was likely +to be during the evening. Leaning against a marble pillar, he stood +talking to a starred and ribboned foreigner, and when Curtis approached +with Georgia, he was so engrossed with the topic they were discussing +that he did not observe him until his voice fell on her ear.</p> + +<p>"Mrs. Wildair, your excellency!" said Mr. Curtis, in the most emphatic +of voices, standing right before him.</p> + +<p>He started up, staggered back, grew deadly pale, and grasped the marble +pillar for support.</p> + +<p>Yes, there before him, radiant in her beauty, with serene brow and calm +smile, stood his long-lost wife—face to face at last!</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;"/><p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_369" id="Page_369">[Pg 369]</a></span></p> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XXV" id="CHAPTER_XXV"></a>CHAPTER XXV.</h2> + +<h3>"AFTER TEARS AND WEEPING, HE POURETH IN JOYFULNESS."</h3> + +<div class="poemblock36"> +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">"Do not spurn me in my prayer,<br /></span> +<span class="i2">For this wand'ring ever longer, evermore,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Hath overworn me,<br /></span> +<span class="i2">And I know not on what shore<br /></span> +<span class="i0">I may rest from my despair."<br /></span> +</div></div></div> +<p style="margin-left: 65%;"><span class="smcap">Browning.</span></p> + +<div class="drop"> +<img src="images/illo_f.png" alt="F" width="100" height="100" class="cap" /> +<p class="cap_1"> +rom his pale lips dropped one word:</p></div> + +<p>"Georgia!"</p> + +<p>"Dearest Richmond," she said, looking up in his face with her radiant +eyes.</p> + +<p>"Oh, Georgia, my wronged wife, can you ever forgive me?" he cried, +passionately.</p> + +<p>"I have nothing to forgive, my husband," she said, sweetly. "It is I who +should be forgiven."</p> + +<p>"Oh, Georgia, where have you been? Do I really see you, or do I dream? +So often have I dreamed you were restored, and woke to find it a dream. +Is this a delusion like the rest?"</p> + +<p>"Shake hands, and see."</p> + +<p>She held out hers with a smile, and he took it, and gazed into her face +with a doubtful, troubled look.</p> + +<p>"Yes, it is Georgia; it must be she; the same, yet so different. You +never looked like this in the days gone past, Georgia."</p> + +<p>"I have been new-born since," she said, with a serene smile. "You shall +learn all soon, Richmond. Do you know I have come to stay now?"<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_370" id="Page_370">[Pg 370]</a></span></p> + +<p>"See here, Mr. Wildair," said Curtis, giving him a poke "don't you keep +looking so; everybody's staring and whispering, and our friend here, +Whiskerando," pointing to the starred foreigner, "looks as if he thought +he had got into a lunatic asylum by mistake. You take Georgia—I mean +Mrs. Wildair—off into that conservatory, for instance, where you can +stare at her to your heart's content, and learn all the particulars +since she cut her lucky—I mean since she ran off and left you in the +lurch. Go; I know it will take you an hour, at least, to settle matters, +and beg each other's pardon, and smoke the pipe of peace, and so on; +and, meantime, as it is necessary the company should know who it is, +I'll whisper it as a great secret into the ear of the first lady I meet, +and get her to promise not to tell. There! vanish!"</p> + +<p>Passing his hand across his eyes, as if to dispel a mist, Richmond +offered her his arm and led her toward the conservatory, followed by the +wondering eyes of the guests.</p> + +<p>But Mr. Curtis had no need to tell. Miss Harper was there, and +recognized her with a suppressed shriek; and in an instant after, like +wild-fire, it ran through the room that this dark, beautiful stranger +was the mysterious wife of Mr. Wildair.</p> + +<p>Dancing was no longer thought of. Everybody flocked around Mr. Curtis, +and such an avalanche of questions as was showered upon him human ears +never listened to before. Had he possessed a thousand tongues he could +hardly have answered one-half. But he did not try to answer them. Mr. +Dick Curtis was a sensible young man, and never attempted +impossibilities; so he only folded his arms and looked around him +complacently, listening with the profoundest attention to all, but +answering never a word; until,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_371" id="Page_371">[Pg 371]</a></span> at last, when quite tired and +breathless, there was a pause, he lifted up his voice and spoke:</p> + +<p>"Ladies and gentlemen: On the present interesting and facetious occasion +allow me to say—(ahem!)—to say——"</p> + +<p>[Here a voice in the crowd, that of Mr. Henry Gleason, if you remember +that young gentleman, reader, interrupted with, "You <i>have</i> said it! +Push along, old boy!"]</p> + +<p>"To say," pursued Mr. Curtis, casting a withering glance at the speaker, +"as that very polite youth, whoever he may be, has falsely informed you +I have already said, that Mr. Wildair, his excellency," said Mr. Curtis, +with a dignified wave of his hand, "has commissioned me to say—I beg +your pardon, sir; you're standing on that lady's dress—to say that the +lady you beheld this evening is his wife, who has been indulging in a +little trip to Europe with his—(ahem!)—full approbation, while he was +seeing after the great, glorious, and immortal Union in Washington, and +scattering political oats—to use a figure of speech—before that +tremendous bird, the American eagle; and the lady arriving quite +promiscuously, if I may be allowed so strong an expression, he was +slightly surprised to see her—(ahem!)—as you all perceived, and has +just gone to have a little friendly chat with her over family matters +and kitchen cabinet affairs generally. And so, ladies and gentlemen," +concluded Mr. Curtis, laying his kid glove on his heart and bowing +gracefully, "I hope his temporary absence will not plunge you into <i>too</i> +deep affliction, or cause you to feel too dreadfully cut up, but that +you will set seriously to work and enjoy yourselves, while I represent +his excellency, and during his absence receive your homage. And to +conclude, in the words of Demosthenes, the great Latin poet, who<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_372" id="Page_372">[Pg 372]</a></span> +beautifully observes, '<i>E Pluribus Unum</i>,' a remark which I hope none of +you will consider personal, for I solemnly assure you it was not meant +to be, as I haven't the remotest idea of what it means. If any further +particulars are needed," said Mr. Curtis, drawing himself up, and +casting another glance of withering scorn upon Mr. Henry Gleason, "I +must refer you to the young gentleman who was good enough to interrupt +me, and who stands there now, a mark for the finger of scorn to poke fun +at. Ladies and gentleman, I have spoken! Long may it wave."</p> + +<p>And with this last "neat and appropriate" quotation, Mr. Curtis bowed +and blushingly retired, leaving his audience in convulsions of laughter, +for his unspeakably droll look and solemn tone no pen can describe. It +had the good effect, however, of diverting their attention from Mr. +Wildair and his wife for the present; and Mr. Curtis the center of a +laughing group, while his own face maintained its expression of most +doleful gravity, became for the time being the lion of the hour. With +edifying meekness did Mr. Curtis stand, "his blushing honors thick upon +him," until getting rather tired of it, he made a signal to the band to +strike up, and selecting Miss Arlingford for his partner, a quadrille +was formed and dancing commenced with real earnestness, and the business +of the evening might be said to have begun.</p> + +<p>But when an hour passed and the lady whose <i>entree</i> had created such a +sensation did not appear, impatient glances began to be cast toward the +conservatory, and petulant whispers to circulate, and pouting lips +wondered why they did not come. In vain Mr. Curtis was "funny;" his +popularity was waning as fast as it had risen, and it was all a waste of +ammunition. His jokes were unattended<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_373" id="Page_373">[Pg 373]</a></span> to, his puns were unlaughed at, +his most dolorous looks had no effect on the risibles of any, except +those who had a <i>very</i> keen sense of the ludicrous. At last, in disgust +at the fickleness of public favor, he got dignified and imposing, and +<i>that</i> had the effect of making sundry compressed lips smile right out +loud, but it is uncertain whether even this would have lasted any time +had not, suddenly, Richmond Wildair appeared with his wife leaning on +his arm.</p> + +<p>In an instant a profound hush of expectation reigned throughout the +room; the music instantaneously stopped; the dancers one and all paused, +and every eye was bent upon them. A low, respectful murmur of admiration +ran round the room at her queen-like beauty, but it lasted only an +instant, and all was again still.</p> + +<p>"My friends," said the clear, powerful voice that a short time before +had dispersed the surging crowd, "this lady, as you are all probably +aware, is my wife. There is not one here who has not heard a thousand +vague, floating rumors why we were separated, and now I feel it +necessary to say a few words of explanation, and silence the tongue of +scandal forever. A misunderstanding, slight and unimportant at first, +such as will arise at times in all families, was the cause. No blame, +not the faintest shadow of blame, attaches to this lady; if blame there +be, it solely belongs to me. A mutual explanation and a perfect +reconciliation have ensued, and if any one for the future shall canvass +the motives which caused us for a brief time to part, I will consider +that person my willful enemy. Ladies and gentlemen, let this pleasant +but unexpected incident not interfere with the amusements of the +evening, and as example is better than precept, I shall join you. Come, +Georgia."<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_374" id="Page_374">[Pg 374]</a></span></p> + +<p>He motioned to the musicians, and the dancers again formed, with Mr. and +Mrs. Wildair at their head. And then, when the quadrille was ended, all +came flocking round to be presented to his beautiful wife, whose +Juno-like beauty and grace was the theme of every tongue. And for the +remainder of the evening "all went merry as a marriage bell." If +anything were wanting to add <i>eclat</i> to the inauguration of the new +governor this supplied it, and every one grew perfectly enthusiastic +about the gifted young statesman and his beautiful wife. So romantic and +mysterious as it all was, "just like something in a play or a novel," as +Mr. Curtis said, that the excitement it created was perfectly unheard +of, and when the ball broke up and the company dispersed, in the "wee +sma' hours ayont the twal," they even forgot they were sleepy and tired, +and talked away of the unexpected <i>denouement</i>, and electrified their +friends when they got home with the wonderful news.</p> + +<hr style="width: 45%;" /> + +<p>"And now, Georgia," said Richmond, "tell me what has changed you so. I +can scarcely tell how it is, but it seems as if you were the Georgia I +once knew etherealized—the spiritual essence of Georgia Darrell; as if +you had cast off a slough and stepped forth radiant, serene, seraphic."</p> + +<p>"Flatterer!" said Georgia, smiling, yet serious, too. "But oh, Richmond! +I fear you will be angry when I tell you."</p> + +<p>"Angry at anything that has made you just what <i>I</i> wanted, just what <i>I</i> +tried to make you and failed! Not I, Georgia. Tell me what elixir of +happiness and inward joy have you found."</p> + +<p>"One without price, and yet one free to all—to the king and to the +beggar alike."<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_375" id="Page_375">[Pg 375]</a></span></p> + +<p>"And yet hitherto it has been beyond my reach. Tell me what it is, sweet +wife, that I may drink and live, too."</p> + +<p>"Oh, Richmond, if you would—if you <i>only</i> would!" she said, catching +her breath.</p> + +<p>"Why should I not? Name it, Georgia."</p> + +<p>"It is called <i>Faith</i>, Richmond."</p> + +<p>He looked up reverentially, and his face was very grave.</p> + +<p>"I think I know; and yet, hitherto it has been only a word to me. I have +seen it personified in two—in your little friend Emily, and in—"</p> + +<p>He paused and his face worked.</p> + +<p>"In whom, Richmond?"</p> + +<p>"In Charley. Oh, Charley! oh, my brother!" he cried, in passionate tones +as he began pacing rapidly up and down.</p> + +<p>The irrepressible cry reminded Georgia of that other day long ago when +he had received the letter in which he learned all. At the mention of +that name, Georgia too rose, pale and trembling, from her seat.</p> + +<p>"And have you seen him? Oh, Richmond! have you seen him?"</p> + +<p>"Yes," he said, hoarsely.</p> + +<p>"And where is he? Richmond—oh, Richmond, do not look so! Charley, your +brother—where is he, Richmond?"</p> + +<p>"In heaven, Georgia."</p> + +<p>She fell back in her seat, and covered her face with her hands.</p> + +<p>"Dead! Oh, Charley! and I not there!" she cried, while her tears fell +fast.</p> + +<p>"Weep not, Georgia," said Richmond, gently removing her hands; "his +death was the death of the just. May my last end be like unto his."</p> + +<p>But still she wept hot, gushing tears that would not be<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_376" id="Page_376">[Pg 376]</a></span> stayed—tears +that fell, not wildly, but that came from the heart, and were sanctified +to the memory of the early dead. At last—</p> + +<p>"Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord," she softly murmured, lifting +her pale face; "God be merciful to his soul! Dear Charley!"</p> + +<p>"He died like a saint, Georgia; he expired like a child falling asleep +in his mother's arms, with a smile on his lips; death had no terror for +him."</p> + +<p>"Were you with him, Richmond?"</p> + +<p>"Yes—thank God! Oh, Georgia, I had hardened my heart against him, and +yet when I would pass him on the street—I did often pass him, +Georgia—every feeling in my heart would be stirred, and no words can +tell how I would yearn for him, my own, my only brother. I saw he was +dying day by day, and yet pride—that curse, that bane that has dogged +me like an evil spirit from childhood up—would not let me step over the +barrier I myself had raised, and sue for forgiveness. At last came the +news that he was sick unto death, and then I could hold out no longer. I +went, Georgia—went in time to hear him forgive me, and to see him die. +Oh, Georgia, I shall never forget it—never! Oh, Charley, my gay, +thoughtless, light-hearted brother! to think you should be lying in that +far-off church-yard, cold and dead."</p> + +<p>"Grieve not, my husband," said Georgia, earnestly, as she laid her hand +on his, "but look forward to a happy meeting in heaven. And now of +others—your mother, Richmond?"</p> + +<p>"Is dead, too. Oh, Georgia, she wronged you. Can you ever forgive her?"<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_377" id="Page_377">[Pg 377]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Yes, as freely and fully as I hope to be forgiven. May she rest in +peace! And your cousin, Richmond."</p> + +<p>She smiled slightly, and Richmond met her bright glance with a sort of +honest shame.</p> + +<p>"I feel like going down on my knees to you, Georgia, when <i>that</i> name is +mentioned. She is well—or was when I saw her last—and safely married."</p> + +<p>"Indeed! To whom, pray?"</p> + +<p>Richmond laughed.</p> + +<p>"Do you remember Mr. Lester, of foppish memory, who made one of that +party to Richmond House two years ago—'Aw, weally such a boah'"—and +Richmond mimicked him to perfection.</p> + +<p>"What a shame!" said Georgia, laughing; "of course I remember him. Is it +possible she has married that little dandy?"</p> + +<p>"That she has, and a precious life she leads him, if all Curtis says be +true, for I never go there myself. The gray mare in that stable is +decidedly the better horse."</p> + +<p>"So I should imagine. But where is Miss Reid? Mr. Lester used to be +tender in that quarter, if I remember right."</p> + +<p>"Oh, yes: but she married Gleason—Lieutenant Gleason, you know. That +gallant officer proposed, and Miss Reid found it too much trouble to +refuse, so she became Mrs. Gleason the second."</p> + +<p>"Well, I wish them joy, all. How strangely things turn out in this +world, don't they, Richmond?"</p> + +<p>"Why, yes," said Richmond, laughingly, "rather so—your finding that +unexpected brother, for instance. But you don't ask for your old friends +in Burnfield—have you forgotten them, Georgia?"</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_378" id="Page_378">[Pg 378]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Forgotten them! Oh, Richmond."</p> + +<p>"Well, don't look so reproachfully; you know I didn't mean it. You want +to go and see them, I suppose?"</p> + +<p>"Oh, indeed I do. Dear Miss Jerusha, and dear little Emily, and——"</p> + +<p>"Dear little Betsey Periwinkle," interposed Richmond.</p> + +<p>"Yes; just so," said Georgia, resolutely; "a really good friend of mine +was Betsey, and very intimate we were. Yes, I want to see them all; when +will you take me there, Richmond?"</p> + +<p>"In one week from this, Georgia; I cannot get away before; and then, +with your brother, we will make a pilgrimage to Burnfield, and you can +look once more at the 'auld hoose at hame.' You will have to go down on +your knees and intercede for me with Miss Jerusha, or she will never +forgive me for the way I behaved to her darling."</p> + +<p>"Oh, how I long to go back there again! Now that the time is near, I +feel twice as impatient as I did before. A whole week! I wonder if it +will ever pass."</p> + +<p>But it did pass, and another, too, and busy weeks they were with the +governor and his lady. The nine days' wonder of her appearance had +scarcely yet passed away when Mr. and Mrs. Wildair and Mr. Randall left +B——, en route for the little "one-horse" town of Burnfield.</p> + +<p>A fairer day never came out of the sky than the one that heralded +Georgia's return to Burnfield—dear old Burnfield! fairer in her eyes +than Florence, the beautiful, brighter than Rome, the imperial, for her +home was there. Nothing was changed. There stood Richmond House, the +pride and boast of the town still, there was the pleasant home of Emily +Murray, there was the old school-house where her stormy girlhood had +been spent.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_379" id="Page_379">[Pg 379]</a></span></p> + +<p>As she gazed, she lay back amid the cushions of the carriage and put her +hand before her face, that they might not see how deeply she was moved. +Her brother looked out with mingled interest and curiosity, and with a +dim recollection of the few wretched days and nights he had passed here. +Richmond looked on the familiar objects with mingled gladness and +remorse, and recollected, with many strange emotions, that the last time +he had entered Burnfield it had been with his bride, as they returned +from their brief city tour. Only two years since then, and what changes +had taken place! Mr. Dick Curtis, who had insisted on making one of +their party, and positively refused to take no for an answer, was of +them all the only one perfectly unmoved, and sat looking at the familiar +landmarks as they drove past, with a face of grave approval.</p> + +<p>"Fine place, sir—fine place," said Mr. Curtis, with a wave of his hand; +"considerable of a town is Burnfield, eh, Randall? Not equal to Paris, +you know, or Lapland, or the great St. Bernard, or any of the other +tremendous cities, but a pretty tall place considering, and a real, +genuine Yankee town. And then the produce—I defy the world to raise +such girls, and boys, and pumpkins as they do in Burnfield. I defy 'em +to do it, sir! Look at that young lady there, in the pink sun-bonnet and +red cheeks, round as a cask of lager beer, and sweet as a cart-load of +summer cherries—there's a specimen of American ingenuity for you! Could +they surpass that in Constantinople or the city of Dublin, or any other +distant or impossible region? No, sir; they couldn't. I defy 'em to do +it, sir! Yes, I repeat it," said Mr. Curtis, striking his knee with his +hand, and glaring round ferociously at the company generally, "I defy +'em to do it, sir."<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_380" id="Page_380">[Pg 380]</a></span></p> + +<p>Mr. Curtis was as fierce as an African lion, so everybody immediately +settled down and looked serious.</p> + +<p>"The notion," said Mr. Curtis, folding his arms and surveying his three +companions in haughty disgust, "that they can raise as good-looking +people in any other quarter of the world as they can in these here +blessed United States. Look at me now," said Mr. Curtis, drawing himself +up till his suspenders snapped, "<i>I'm</i> a specimen! Mr. Randall, my young +friend, you have traveled, you have crossed that small pond, the +Atlantic, and have become personally acquainted with all the great guns +of Europe, from the Hottentots of Portugal to the people of 'that +beautiful city called Cork,' and now I ask you as an enlightened citizen +and fellow sinner, did you ever, in all your wanderings, clap your two +eyes on a better-looking young man than the individual now addressing +you? Don't answer hastily—take time for reflection. You know you +didn't—you know you didn't; the thing's impossible."</p> + +<p>"Mr. Curtis must be the best judge of his own surpassing beauty," said +Mr. Randall, politely; "if he will hold me excused, I would rather not +give an opinion on the subject."</p> + +<p>"Welcome to Richmond House," said Mr. Wildair, as the carriage rolled up +the avenue. "And now, gentlemen, I will leave you here for the present, +while Mrs. Wildair goes to see her former guardian, Miss Jerusha Skamp."</p> + +<p>"Perhaps I had better go alone, Richmond," said Georgia, hesitatingly. +"Our first meeting——"</p> + +<p>"Had better be unwitnessed; that is true enough," said Richmond. "Well, +John will drive you down. Shall I call for you in person?"</p> + +<p>"If Miss Jerusha consents to forgive you, I shall send<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_381" id="Page_381">[Pg 381]</a></span> for you, if Fly +is still in the land of the living," said Georgia, smiling. "Good-by, +gentlemen;" and kissing her hand, and laughing at Mr. Curtis, who nearly +turned a somerset in his profound genuflexion, she was whirled away +toward the cottage.</p> + +<p>Yes, there it stood still, the same old brown, low-roofed little +homestead. How different was this visit to it to what had been her last. +There was her own little room under the roof, and there, in the broad +window-sill, basking in the broader sunshine, lay Betsey Periwinkle and +one of her numerous family, lazily blinking their sleepy eyes.</p> + +<p>Georgia's heart beat fast as she leaped out of the carriage and walked +slowly toward the house. Gathering the sweeping folds of her purple +satin dress in one hand, she rapped timidly, faltering at the door.</p> + +<p>It was opened by Fly—yes, it was Fly, no doubt about it—who opened her +eyes and jumped back with a screech when she saw who it was.</p> + +<p>"Hush, Fly! How do you do?" said Georgia, tapping her black cheek. "Is +Miss Jerusha in?"</p> + +<p>But Fly, in her astonishment and consternation, was incapable of speech; +and smiling at her stunned look, Georgia swept past and entered the +"best room."</p> + +<p>There it was, still unchanged, and there, in her rocking-chair in the +chimney-corner, knitting away, sat Miss Jerusha, unchanged, too. Old +Father Time seemed to have no power over her iron frame. She did not +hear Georgia's noiseless entrance, and it was only when a bright vision +in glittering robes of silk and velvet, with dark tearful eyes and sadly +smiling lips, knelt at her feet, and two white youthful arms, with gold +bracelets flashing thereon, encircled her waist, and a sweet, vibrating +voice softly<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_382" id="Page_382">[Pg 382]</a></span> murmured, "Dear, dear, Miss Jerusha," that she looked up.</p> + +<p>Looked up, with a wild cry, and half arose, then fell back in her seat, +and flinging her arms round her neck, fell on her shoulder with one loud +passionate cry of "Georgia! Georgia!"</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XXVI" id="CHAPTER_XXVI"></a>CHAPTER XXVI.</h2> + +<h3>"LAST SCENE OF ALL."</h3> + +<div class="poemblock44"> +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">"I have seen one whose eloquence commanding,<br /></span> +<span class="i2">Roused the rich echoes of the human breast;<br /></span> +<span class="i0">The blandishments of wealth and ease withstanding,<br /></span> +<span class="i2">That hope might reach the suffering and oppressed.<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">"And by his side there moved a form of beauty,<br /></span> +<span class="i2">Strewing sweet flowers along his path of life,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">And looking up with meek and love-bent duty—<br /></span> +<span class="i2">I called her angel, but he called her wife."<br /></span> +</div></div></div> +<p style="margin-left: 65%;"><span class="smcap">Anon.</span></p> + + +<div class="drop"> +<img src="images/illo_l.png" alt="L" width="100" height="100" class="cap" /> +<p class="cap_1"> +ong and cool lay the shadows on the grass, one by one the bright, +beautiful stars arose in the sky, up and up sailed the "lady moon," +smiling down with her serene face on the trio sitting in the moonlight +in the humble parlor of that little cot by the sea.</p></div> + +<p>No light but that of the cloudless moon, no light but the beaming +glances from eyes bright with joy—no other light was needed. By Miss +Jerusha's side sat Georgia—not Georgia, the radiant vision of the +ball-room, Juno-like in her queenly beauty, but the humble, gentle +loving girl,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_383" id="Page_383">[Pg 383]</a></span> meek in her great happiness. One wrinkled yellow hand of +the venerable spinster lay in the small dark hands blazing with gems, +and held them fast as if she would have held them there forever, while +her eyes never for an instant wandered from the sweet smiling face.</p> + +<p>And at Georgia's feet knelt another—a vision in robes snowy white, with +the sweetest, fairest face ever sun shone or moon beamed on—one who +looked like a stray seraph in her white garments, and floating golden +curls, and sweet, beautiful violet eyes. Dear little Emily Murray, +sweeter and fairer than ever she looked nestling there, crying and +laughing together, and clinging to Georgia as though she would never let +her go again.</p> + +<p>"And to think you should have seen so much, and come through such +strange scenes!" sobbed Emily, laughing at the same time; "to think you +should have found a brother, and traveled all over Europe, and then come +back and found yourself the wife of the greatest man of the age! Oh, +dear me!" said little Emily, laughing and swallowing a sob, "it is <i>so</i> +funny and <i>so</i> strange to find our Georgia back here in the old cottage +again."</p> + +<p>"But it's very nice—now ain't it, Emily?" said Miss Jerusha, +complacently.</p> + +<p>"Nice! I guess it is," said Emily, clasping Georgia tighter. "Oh, +Georgia! I've lain awake night after night, crying and thinking about +you, and wondering what had become of you, and oh! so frightened lest +you should be dead—drowned, or frozen, or something; and in the stormy +nights all that long winter I never could sleep for fear you might be +out in the frost and cold, without a home or friends. Oh, Georgia! I did +feel so restless and miserable all that winter, for fear, while I was +warm and sheltered,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_384" id="Page_384">[Pg 384]</a></span> you might be lying in the bleak streets cold and +dead." And little Emily sobbed.</p> + +<p>"Dear little Emily!" said Georgia, kissing her.</p> + +<p>"And, oh, it is so nice to think you have become a devout Christian," +said Emily, changing from sobbing to laughing again, "and I am <i>so</i> +glad. Oh, dear me! how funny everything happens, to be sure. And Charley +Wildair, too," pursued Emily; "I am sure I never thought <i>he</i> would be a +clergyman; but I am very, very glad. Oh, I am so happy," said Emily, +laughing, and squeezing Georgia's waist, "that I don't know what to do +with myself."</p> + +<p>"Nor me neither, I don't now, railly," said Miss Jerusha, who was the +very picture of composure.</p> + +<p>"Dear Miss Jerusha," said Georgia caressingly, "and won't you forgive +Richmond—he really does not merit your anger, and wants to be forgiven +and be friends with you again so much. Please do."</p> + +<p>"Oh, you must, Miss Jerusha, you know," said Emily, seizing her other +hand, and putting her happy little face close up to hers, "it won't do +to refuse a governor your pardon. You must forgive him, please—won't +you, Miss Jerusha?"</p> + +<p>"Well, now, I don't know," said Miss Jerusha, relentingly, "he did treat +you dreffully, Georgey, but——"</p> + +<p>"No, he didn't Miss Jerusha—just served her right," said Emily, +"Georgia was naughty, I know, and didn't behave well. There, she +forgives him—look, she's going to laugh. Oh, say yes, Miss Jerusha."</p> + +<p>"Well, '<i>yes</i>' then; does that please you?" said Miss Jerusha, breaking +into a grim smile.</p> + +<p>"Dear Miss Jerusha, accept my best thanks for that," said Georgia, with +radiant face, "and now, may I send Fly<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_385" id="Page_385">[Pg 385]</a></span> up for him to Richmond House, +that he may hear your forgiveness from your own lips?"</p> + +<p>"Well, yes, I s'pose so," said Miss Jerusha, rubbing her nose; "and see +here, Georgey, while you're about it, I reckon you might as well send +for that there brother o' your'n too; I turned him out o' doors once, +and while I'm forgiving that there graceless husband o' your'n, I guess +I'll get him to forgive <i>me</i>."</p> + +<p>Georgia laughed, and went out to the kitchen to despatch Fly off on the +errand.</p> + +<p>"Perhaps I had better go," said Emily, timidly, "I—I think I'd rather. +It's so long since I met Mr. Wildair that I don't like to now."</p> + +<p>"Pooh, nonsense," said Georgia laughing, "don't like to meet Mr. +Wildair, indeed! Not a step shall you go until they come, and besides, I +want to make you acquainted with my poet brother, who is a handsome +fellow!" and Georgia's eyes sparkled.</p> + +<p>"Does he look like you, Georgia?" said Emily, meditatively.</p> + +<p>"Not a bit; better looking," smiled Georgia. "And oh, Em, there's a +particular friend of yours up at the hall, a certain Mr. Curtis, if you +remember him."</p> + +<p>"He's not a particular friend of mine," said Emily, pouting and +blushing. "I don't know anything about him. I wish he hadn't come."</p> + +<p>"How flattered he would feel if he heard that. You refused him, didn't +you, Emily?"</p> + +<p>"Oh, Georgia, don't tease," said Emily, springing up and turning half +pettishly away.</p> + +<p>Georgia laughed, and silence for awhile fell on all three, broken at +last by the sound of carriage wheels, and the next<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_386" id="Page_386">[Pg 386]</a></span> moment two tall +gentleman stood in the little moonlit parlor with their hats off, and +one of them stepping up to Miss Jerusha, extended his hand, and said, +with a smile:</p> + +<p>"Well, Miss Jerusha, am I forgiven at last?"</p> + +<p>There was no resisting that frank tone and pleasant smile. Miss Jerusha +looked meditatively at his proffered hand a moment, and then grasped it +with an energy that made the governor of B—— wince, as she exclaimed:</p> + +<p>"Well now, I railly don't think I ought, but Georgey says I shall hev +to, and I s'pose I've got to mind her. Mr. Wildair, how d'ye du? I'm +rail glad to hear they've made a governor of you, and I hope you'll +behave better for the future, and be good to Georgey."</p> + +<p>"I shall certainly try to; but, Miss Jerusha, I was almost as much +sinned against as sinning. That malicious little cousin of mine, you +know——"</p> + +<p>"Oh, I know; Georgey told me. Well, she won't interfere again, I +reckon—a impident little whipper-snapper, speaking as sassy to Georgey +as if she was mistress herself, and allers grinnin' like a chessy cat."</p> + +<p>"And has Miss Jerusha no greeting for me? Has she forgotten the little +boy who paid her a visit one stormy Christmas eve long ago?" said +Warren, as he advanced smilingly, shaking back his dark, clustering +hair.</p> + +<p>"My conscience! you ain't he, are you? Tall as a flagstaff, I declare! +Forget you—no I guess I don't. I did behave most dreadfully that night +to turn you out; but gracious! I knew you wouldn't freeze or nothin', +and neither you did, you see."</p> + +<p>"No I am frost-proof," said Warren, laughing; "but I owe you a long debt +of gratitude for the care you took of this wild sister of mine all those +years, Miss Jerusha.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_387" id="Page_387">[Pg 387]</a></span> Come," he said, extending his hand, "we shall be +good friends now, shall we not?"</p> + +<p>"That we shall," said Miss Jerusha, cordially shaking the hand he +extended. "My, to think the little feller I turned out that night should +come back sich a six-footer, and rail good-looking, too, now ain't he, +Emily? Why, you weren't the size of a well-grown doughnut then, you +know. Good gracious! jist to think how funny things <i>will</i> turn out. +'Clare to man, if it ain't the queerest world I ever heerd tell of!"</p> + +<p>Miss Jerusha wiped her spectacles meditatively, and gave a small, +mottled kitten who came purring round her a thoughtful kick.</p> + +<p>"Hallo!" said Richmond, picking it up. "One of Betsey Periwinkle's. How +is that intelligent domestic quadruped, Miss Jerusha? She and I used to +be tremendous friends long ago, you know."</p> + +<p>"Yes, I know; she was no ways proud, and made friends with most people," +said Miss Jerusha, complacently; "that's Betsey's youngest. She's raised +several small families since, and is beginning to fall into the old ages +o' life now. Ah, well! sich things must be expected; everybody gets old, +you know—even Betsey Periwinkle."</p> + +<p>Very swiftly passed that evening. It seemed as if the old happy days had +come back—those unclouded days, when no shadow of the darkness to come +had yet risen on horizon. Only one face was needed there to complete the +circle, one voice to complete the charm; but that bright young head lay +low now, the tall grass waved over that familiar face, and that clear, +spirited voice was silenced forever. Tears sprang to Miss Jerusha's hard +gray eyes,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_388" id="Page_388">[Pg 388]</a></span> as she listened to the tale of the noble life and early +death of her light-hearted favorite, and little Emily sobbed.</p> + +<p>"You must give up this little cottage, Miss Jerusha," said Richmond, +before they left that evening, "and come and live with Georgia and me. +Once upon a time you admired Richmond House, and now you must make it +your home."</p> + +<p>"Do, Miss Jerusha! Oh, dear Miss Jerusha, do!" cried Georgia, eagerly; +"it will make me so happy to have you always near me. And you shall +bring Fly and Betsey Periwinkle and all the little Betseys, and we will +be ever so happy together."</p> + +<p>But Miss Jerusha shook her head.</p> + +<p>"Mr. Richmond, I'm obliged to you, and you, too, Georgey, but I sha'n't +leave the old homestead while I live. My father and mother, and all our +folks, since the time of the revolution long ago, hev lived and died +here, and I don't want to be the first to leave it. I can see you every +day as long as you're in Burnfield; and whether I went to live with you +or not I wouldn't go with you to the city—a noisy, nasty place! So, I +reckon I shall keep on living here; very much obliged to you both at the +same time, as I said afore."</p> + +<p>And from this resolution nothing could move her—no amount of coaxing +could induce her to depart from it. The laws of the Medes and Persians +might be changed, but Miss Jerusha Skamp's determination never!</p> + +<p>It was late when they returned to Richmond House, where they found Mr. +Curtis solacing himself with a cigar; his chair tipped back and his +heels reposing on the low marble mantel, and yawning disconsolately as +he glanced drearily over the <i>Burnfield Recorder</i>.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_389" id="Page_389">[Pg 389]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Got back, have you?" he said, looking up as our party entered; "and +time, I should say. What precious soft seats your excellency and the +rest of you must have found in Miss Jerusha's. Quarter to twelve, as I +am a sinner! I wonder Miss Skamp didn't turn you out. How is that +ancient vestal?"</p> + +<p>"In excellent health," replied Richmond, throwing himself on a lounge, +"and perfectly unchanged since you saw her last. By the way, there was a +young friend of yours there, Dick."</p> + +<p>"Ah, was there?" said Mr. Curtis, twisting round suddenly in his chair, +and turning very red. "Aw—Bob Thompson, I daresay."</p> + +<p>"Yes, if Bob Thompson is five feet three inches high, and has blue eyes, +pink cheeks, yellow curls, and white forehead, ditto a dress, and is in +the habit of wearing gold bracelets, and answering to the pretty name of +Emily."</p> + +<p>"Ah—Miss Murray," said Mr. Curtis, thrusting his hands abruptly into +his pockets, and beginning, without the smallest provocation, to whistle +violently. "Nice little girl! How is <i>she</i>?"</p> + +<p>"Ask Randall," said Richmond, with a slight laugh and a malicious glance +toward the gentleman in question. "He had Emily pretty much to himself +all the evening—took summary possession of the young lady, and the +moment he was introduced began to be as fascinating as he knew how. +Irresistible people are poets. Ask <i>him</i>."</p> + +<p>Instead of asking him, however, Mr. Curtis favored the handsome poet +with a ferocious scowl, and then, flinging away his Havana, stalked out +of the room with tragic strides that would have made his fortune on the +stage.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_390" id="Page_390">[Pg 390]</a></span></p> + +<p>Mr. Wildair laughed, and Mr. Randall looked after him with a slight +smile, but said nothing.</p> + +<p>One week later Georgia learned his opinion. Emily had been spending the +evening at the hall, and had just gone home.</p> + +<p>"What a dear little angel she is!" exclaimed Georgia; "so sweet, so +good, so gentle and loving. Her presence brightens the room the moment +she enters, like a ray of sunshine. Darling little Emily! how I love +her! I wish she were my sister."</p> + +<p>Warren smiled, and placing a hand lightly on either shoulder, looked +down in her flushed, enthusiastic face.</p> + +<p>"Belle Georgia," he said, meaningly, "<i>so do I</i>."</p> + +<hr style="width: 45%;" /> + +<p>And now let the curtain rise once more ere it falls again forever.</p> + +<p>Five years have elapsed, but Burnfield and Richmond House are still the +same; a little larger, a little more noisy, a little more populous, but +nothing to speak of. The march of improvement does not get ahead very +fast there.</p> + +<p>There is a little brown cottage standing by the sea-shore, and sitting +in the "best room" is an elderly lady knitting away as if the fate of +kingdoms depended on it. Such a spotless best room as it is; not a speck +of dust to be seen anywhere, the very covers of the "Pilgrim's Progress" +and "Robinson Crusoe" fairly glitter with cleanliness, and it's +absolutely dangerous for a person of weak eyes to look at the chairs and +painted floor, so perfectly dazzling are they. The old lady herself, +albeit a little stiff and prim in her dress, is as bright as a new +penny, and although the said dress would at the present day be called<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_391" id="Page_391">[Pg 391]</a></span> +somewhat skimpy, it is a calico, like Joseph's coat of many colors, and +she is fairly gorgeous in it.</p> + +<p>A demure, well-mannered, polite animal of the feline species reposes on +a rug at her feet, and blinks a pair of intensely green eyes in the +sunshine with a look of calm, philosophical happiness beautiful to see. +Betsey Periwinkle, our early friend, has departed this life, deeply +regretted by a large and respectable circle of acquaintances, and was +buried in state at the bottom of the garden, and the one now introduced +is a descendant of that amiable animal, and as such no doubt will be +cordially welcomed.</p> + +<p>Out in the kitchen is a "cullud pusson" of the female persuasion, whose +black face glistens with happiness and a recent application of yellow +soap, who sits chewing gum and sewing at a new turban with a look of +contentment.</p> + +<p>But there is one other inmate of that best room—a stranger to you, +reader, whom I now hasten to introduce. It is a young lady of some three +years old, who goes skipping along, alternately tumbling down, and after +emitting one or two shrill yells, which she considers necessary to draw +attention to the clever way in which the fall was managed, crawls up +again and resumes her journey round the room, until she thinks proper to +undergo another upset.</p> + +<p>This small individual, not to be mysterious, is Miss Georgia Wildair, +eldest daughter of his excellency, Richmond Wildair, of Richmond House. +A pocket edition of our early friend Georgia she is, with the same hot, +fiery temper, but never will it lead her into such trouble as her +mother's has done, for the restraining hand of religion will hold her +back, and little Miss Wildair, the heiress, will be taught what our +Georgia never was, to "Remember her Creator in the days of her youth;" +and this little lady is<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_392" id="Page_392">[Pg 392]</a></span> the pride and darling of Miss Jerusha's heart, +and spends, while papa and mamma rusticate in Burnfield, a great deal +more of her time in the cottage than in the hall, and enjoys herself +hugely with Fly and Betsey Periwinkle.</p> + +<p>And now, reader, to that worthy cat, to the sable handmaiden, to the +little heiress, and to our old friend Miss Jerusha Glory Ann Skamp, you +and I must bid farewell.</p> + +<p>A new scene rises before us. A large and elegantly furnished parlor, +where pictures, and statuary, and curtains, and lounges, and last, but +not least, a genial fire, make everything at once graceful and +home-like. A lady, young and beautiful, but with a calm, chastened sort +of beauty, and a soft, subdued smile, sits in a low nursing-chair and +holds a baby, evidently quite a recent prize, who lies making frantic +efforts to swallow its own little, fat fists, and hitting its invisible +little nose desperate blows in the vain endeavor. This young gentleman +is Master Richmond Wildair, while in "nurse's" lap, at a little +distance, his eldest brother Master Charley, a youth of some sixteen +months, is jumping and crowing, and evidently having a heap of fun all +to himself. These manifestations of delight at last grow so obstreperous +that a handsome, stately gentleman who lies on a sofa near, reading the +paper, looks up with a smile.</p> + +<p>"What a noisy youth this boy of yours is, Georgia!" he says, looking at +Master Charley; "he is evidently bent on making himself heard in this +world. Come Charley, be quiet; papa can't read."</p> + +<p>But Charley, who had no intention of being bound over to keep the peace, +no sooner hears papa's voice than, with a crow an octave higher than any +of its predecessors, he holds out his arms and lisps:<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_393" id="Page_393">[Pg 393]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Papa, tate Tarley! papa, tate Tarley!"</p> + +<p>"Now do put down that stupid paper, Richmond, and take poor 'Tarley,'" +says Georgia, looking up with her bright smile. "Bring him over, nurse."</p> + +<p>"Well, I suppose I must," Richmond says, resigning himself as a man +always must in such cases, and holding out his arms to "Tarley," who, +with an exultant crow, leaps in and immediately buries two chubby little +hands in papa's hair. "Where's Georgia?"</p> + +<p>"Oh, down at the cottage, of course," says the lady, laughing; "when is +Georgia ever to be found anywhere else? Dear Miss Jerusha! it does make +her so happy to have her there; so while we live in Burnfield we may as +well let her stay there."</p> + +<p>"Oh, certainly—certainly," replies Richmond, with tears in his eyes as +Master "Tarley" gives an unusually vigorous pull to his scalp-lock. "And +by the way, my dear, guess from whom I heard to-day?"</p> + +<p>"Who—Warren?" inquires Georgia eagerly.</p> + +<p>"No—Curtis," says his excellency, laughing. "Poor Dick's done for at +last. Miss Maggie What's-her-name Leonard, the one with the curls and +always laughing, has finished him. As the king in the play says, 'I +could have better spared a better man.'"</p> + +<p>"Why, you don't mean to say he has married her?" says Georgia, in +extreme surprise. "Well, I <i>am</i> surprised. Where is he now?"</p> + +<p>"Off in the South for a bridal tour, and then he will return and resume +his duties as my secretary. There goes the tea-bell. Here, nurse, take +Master 'Tarley.' Come, Georgia."</p> + +<p>Look with me on another scene, reader. The beautiful<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_394" id="Page_394">[Pg 394]</a></span> moon rides high +over the blue Adriatic; the bright cloudless sky of glorious Italy is +overhead, that sky of which poets have sung, and artists have dreamed, +and old, sweet romancers have pictured, and gazing up at its serene +beauty with uncovered brow, stands a poet from a foreign land, with his +blue-eyed bride. You know them both; you need no introduction; you +cannot mistake them, for the lofty mien and gallant bearing of Warren, +and the soft holy blue eyes and seraphic smile of Emily are unchanged. +Some day, when they are tired wandering under the storied skies of the +old world, they will come back to the land of their birth, but you and I +will see them no more.</p> + +<p>On the last scene of all let the curtain rise ere it drops again +forever.</p> + +<p>In a sunny corner of a sunny church-yard, where the sweet wild roses +swing in the soft west wind, where trees wave and birds sing, and a +little brook near murmurs dreamily as it flows along, is a grave, with a +marble cross above, bearing the name of "Charles Wildair," and +underneath the inscription, "Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord." +Tread lightly, reader; hold your breath as you gaze. Kneel and pray in +awe, for a saint lies there.</p> + +<p>And now that the story is finished, I see the sagacious reader putting +on his spectacles to look for the moral. Good old soul! With the help of +a microscope he <i>may</i> find it; may Heaven aid him in his search; but +lest he should fail, I must decamp. Reader, adieu!</p> + + +<h3>THE END.<br /><br /><br /></h3> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_395" id="Page_395">[Pg 395]</a></span></p> + +<h5>1885. 1885.</h5> + +<h2>G. W. Carleton & Co.</h2> + +<h3>NEW BOOKS</h3> +<h4>AND NEW EDITIONS,</h4> +<h5>RECENTLY ISSUED BY </h5> +<h4>G. W. CARLETON & CO.,</h4> +<h5>Publishers, 33 West 23d Street, New York.</h5> + +<h5>The Publishers, on receipt of price, will send any book<br /> on this +Catalogue by mail, <i>postage free</i>.</h5> +<hr style="width: 25%;" /> +<h5>All handsomely bound in cloth, with gilt backs suitable for libraries.</h5> + +<h4>Mary J. 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(New)</td><td align="right">1 50</td></tr> +</table></div> +<h4>Augusta J. Evans' Novels.</h4> + + +<div class="center"> +<table border="0" width="80%" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="0" summary=""> +<tr><td align="left">Beulah.</td><td align="right">$1 75</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Macaria.</td><td align="right">1 75</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Inez.</td><td align="right">1 75</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">St. Elmo.</td><td align="right">2 00</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Vashti.</td><td align="right">2 00</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Infelice. (New)</td><td align="right">2 00</td></tr> +</table></div> + +<h4>Carleton's Popular Quotations.</h4> + + +<div class="center"> +<table border="0" width="80%" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="0" summary=""> +<tr><td align="left">Carleton's New Hand Book—Familiar Quotations,</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">with their authorship.</td><td align="right">$1 50</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Carleton's Classical Dictionary—A Condensed</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Mythology for popular use.</td><td align="right">75</td></tr> +</table></div> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_396" id="Page_396">[Pg 396]</a></span></p> + +<h4>May Agnes Fleming's Novels.</h4> + + +<div class="center"> +<table border="0" width="80%" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="0" summary=""> +<tr><td align="left">Guy Earlscourt's Wife.</td><td align="right">$1 50</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">A Wonderful Woman.</td><td align="right">1 50</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">A Terrible Secret.</td><td align="right">1 50</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">A Mad Marriage.</td><td align="right">1 50</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Norine's Revenge.</td><td align="right">1 50</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">One Night's Mystery.</td><td align="right">1 50</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Kate Danton.</td><td align="right">1 50</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Silent and True.</td><td align="right">1 50</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Maude Percy's Secret. (New)</td><td align="right">1 50</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Heir of Charlton.</td><td align="right">1 50</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Carried by Storm.</td><td align="right">1 50</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Lost for a Woman.</td><td align="right">1 50</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">A Wife's Tragedy.</td><td align="right">1 50</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">A Changed Heart.</td><td align="right">1 50</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Pride and Passion.</td><td align="right">1 50</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Sharing Her Crime.</td><td align="right">1 50</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">A Wronged Wife. (New)</td><td align="right">1 50</td></tr> +</table></div> + +<h4>Allan Pinkerton's Works.</h4> + + +<div class="center"> +<table border="0" width="80%" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="0" summary=""> +<tr><td align="left">Expressmen and Detectives.</td><td align="right">$1 50</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Mollie Maguires and Detectives.</td><td align="right">1 50</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Somnambulists and Detectives.</td><td align="right">1 50</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Claude Melnotte and Detectives.</td><td align="right">1 50</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Criminal Reminiscences, etc.</td><td align="right">1 50</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Rail-Road Forger, etc.</td><td align="right">1 50</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Bank Robbers and Detectives.</td><td align="right">1 50</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Gypsies and Detectives.</td><td align="right">1 50</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Spiritualists and Detectives.</td><td align="right">1 50</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Model Town and Detectives.</td><td align="right">1 50</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Strikers, Communists, etc.</td><td align="right">1 50</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Mississippi Outlaws, etc.</td><td align="right">1 50</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Bucholz and Detectives.</td><td align="right">1 50</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Burglar's Fate and Detectives.</td><td align="right">1 50</td></tr> +</table></div> + +<h4>Bertha Clay's Novels.</h4> + + +<div class="center"> +<table border="0" width="80%" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="0" summary=""> +<tr><td align="left">Thrown on the World.</td><td align="right">$1 50</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">A Bitter Atonement.</td><td align="right">1 50</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Love Works Wonders.</td><td align="right">1 50</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Evelyn's Folly.</td><td align="right">1 50</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Under a Shadow.</td><td align="right">1 50</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Beyond Pardon. (New)</td><td align="right">1 50</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">A Woman's Temptation.</td><td align="right">1 50</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Repented at Leisure.</td><td align="right">1 50</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">A Struggle for a Ring.</td><td align="right">1 50</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Lady Damer's Secret.</td><td align="right">1 50</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Between Two Loves. (New)</td><td align="right">1 50</td></tr> +</table></div> + +<h4>"New York Weekly" Series.</h4> + + +<div class="center"> +<table border="0" width="80%" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="0" summary=""> +<tr><td align="left">Brownie's Triumph—Sheldon.</td><td align="right">$1 50</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">The Forsaken Bride. do.</td><td align="right">1 50</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Earl Wayne's Nobility. do.</td><td align="right">1 50</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Lost, a Pearle— do.</td><td align="right">1 50</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Young Mrs. Charnleigh-Henshew.</td><td align="right">1 50</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">His Other Wife—Ashleigh.</td><td align="right">1 50</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">A Woman's Web—Maitland.</td><td align="right">1 50</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Curse of Everleigh—Pierce.</td><td align="right">1 50</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Peerless Cathleen—Agnew.</td><td align="right">1 50</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Faithful Margaret—Ashmore.</td><td align="right">1 50</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Nick Whiffles—Robinson.</td><td align="right">1 50</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Grinder Papers—Dallas.</td><td align="right">1 50</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Lady Leonora—Conklin.</td><td align="right">1 50</td></tr> +</table></div> + +<h4>Miriam Coles Harris' Novels.</h4> + + +<div class="center"> +<table border="0" width="80%" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="0" summary=""> +<tr><td align="left">Rutledge.</td><td align="right">$1 50</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Frank Warrington.</td><td align="right">1 50</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Louie's Last Term, St. Mary's.</td><td align="right">1 50</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Missy.</td><td align="right">1 50</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">A Perfect Adonis.</td><td align="right">1 50</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">The Sutherlands.</td><td align="right">1 50</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">St. Philips.</td><td align="right">1 50</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Round Hearts for Children.</td><td align="right">1 50</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Richard Vandermarck.</td><td align="right">1 50</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Happy-Go-Lucky. (New)</td><td align="right">1 50</td></tr> +</table></div> + +<h4>A. S. Roe's Select Stories.</h4> + + +<div class="center"> +<table border="0" width="80%" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="0" summary=""> +<tr><td align="left">True to the Last.</td><td align="right">$1 50</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">The Star and the Cloud.</td><td align="right">1 50</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">How Could He Help It?</td><td align="right">1 50</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">A Long Look Ahead.</td><td align="right">1 50</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">I've Been Thinking.</td><td align="right">1 50</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">To Love and to be Loved.</td><td align="right">1 50</td></tr> +</table></div> + +<h4>Julie P. Smith's Novels.</h4> + + +<div class="center"> +<table border="0" width="80%" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="0" summary=""> +<tr><td align="left">Widow Goldsmith's Daughter.</td><td align="right">$1 50</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Chris and Otho.</td><td align="right">1 50</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Ten Old Maids.</td><td align="right">1 50</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Lucy.</td><td align="right">1 50</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">His Young Wife.</td><td align="right">1 50</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">The Widower.</td><td align="right">1 50</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">The Married Belle.</td><td align="right">1 50</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Courting and Farming.</td><td align="right">1 50</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Kiss and be Friends.</td><td align="right">1 50</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Blossom Bud. (New)</td><td align="right">1 50</td></tr> +</table></div> + +<h4>Artemas Ward.</h4> + + +<div class="center"> +<table border="0" width="80%" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="0" summary=""> +<tr><td align="left">Complete Comic Writings—With Biography,</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Portrait and 50 illustrations.</td><td align="right">$1 50</td></tr> +</table></div> +<h4>The Game of Whist.</h4> + + +<div class="center"> +<table border="0" width="80%" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="0" summary=""> +<tr><td align="left">Pole on Whist—The English standard work.</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">With the "Portland Rules".</td><td align="right">$0 75</td></tr> +</table></div> +<h4>Victor Hugo's Great Novel.</h4> + + +<div class="center"> +<table border="0" width="80%" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="0" summary=""> +<tr><td align="left">Les Miserables—Translated from the French.</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">The only complete edition.</td><td align="right">$1 50</td></tr> +</table></div> + +<h4>Mrs. Hill's Cook Book.</h4> + + +<div class="center"> +<table border="0" width="80%" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="0" summary=""> +<tr><td align="left">Mrs. A. P. Hill's New Southern Cookery Book,</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">and domestic receipts.</td><td align="right">$2 00</td></tr> +</table></div> + +<h4>Celia E. Gardner's Novels.</h4> + + +<div class="center"> +<table border="0" width="80%" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="0" summary=""> +<tr><td align="left">Stolen Waters. (In verse)</td><td align="right">$1 50</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Broken Dreams. do.</td><td align="right">1 50</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Compensation. do.</td><td align="right">1 50</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">A Twisted Skein. do.</td><td align="right">1 50</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Tested.</td><td align="right">1 50</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Rich Medway.</td><td align="right">1 50</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">A Woman's Wiles.</td><td align="right">1 50</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Terrace Roses.</td><td align="right">1 50</td></tr> +</table></div> + +<div class="tnote"> + +<h3>Transcriber's Note</h3> + +<p>Punctuation errors have been corrected.</p> + +<p>The following suspected printer's errors have been addressed.</p> + +<p>Page 8. cought changed to caught. +(caught hold of the drowsy little darkey)</p> + +<p>Page 34. staid changed to stayed. +(stayed there to get warm)</p> + +<p>Page 39. duplicate word 'her' deleted. +(I've hed twisted her neck)</p> + +<p>Page 42. their changed to there. +(there she lay)</p> + +<p>Page 55. peronally changed to personally. +(regarding myself personally)</p> + +<p>Page 58. disgreeable changed to disagreeable. +(mamma never was disagreeable)</p> + +<p>Page 60. started changed to stared. +(and stared at the little girl)</p> + +<p>Page 61. yon changed to you. +(to differ from you in that opinion)</p> + +<p>Page 68. wore changed to were. +(if they were to make me)</p> + +<p>Page 71. havn't changed to haven't. +(I haven't been fighting)</p> + +<p>Page 96. definant changed to defiant. +(one of the bright defiant flashes)</p> + +<p>Page 122. attemps changed to attempts. +(of all attempts to comb it)</p> + +<p>Page 132. vissions changed to visions. +(rainbow-tinted visions)</p> + +<p>Page 136. Oh changed to On. +(On a high rock)</p> + +<p>Page 139. yonng changed to young. +(this scornful young empress)</p> + +<p>Page 145. duplicate word 'old' deleted. +(murmuring old trees)</p> + +<p>Page 147. managerie changed to menagerie. +(set up a menagerie)</p> + +<p>Page 148. masket changed to market. +(trudge with him to market)</p> + +<p>Page 153. commited changed to committed. +(cannot have committed a crime)</p> + +<p>Page 158. statutes changed to statues. +(and statues of Hemes)</p> + +<p>Page 168. month changed to mouth. +(opened her mouth and eyes)</p> + +<p>Page 174. ment changed to meant. +(was the heiress I meant)</p> + +<p>Page 184. breath changed to breadth. +(sundry hair-breadth escapes)</p> + +<p>Page 202. pronouced changed to pronounced. +(never pronounced the letter R)</p> + +<p>Page 202. un changed to an. +(to be an unmistakeable look)</p> + +<p>Page 203. akward changed to awkward. +(breaking the awkward silence)</p> + +<p>Page 204. ahd changed to and. +(and that, in spite of)</p> + +<p>Page 209. Arlington changed to Arlingford. +(Miss Arlinford was known)</p> + +<p>Page 209. percieve changed to perceive. +(Oh, I perceive, said Mrs. Waldair)</p> + +<p>Page 213. you changed to your. +(pardon for your insane conduct)</p> + +<p>Page 225. exclamed changed to exclaimed. +(exclaimed Mrs. Waldair)</p> + +<p>Page 228. passed changed to past. +(flashed past Mrs. Wildair)</p> + +<p>Page 230. she changed to he. +(saying, as he did so)</p> + +<p>Page 238. whity changed to whitey. +(that whitey-brown complexion)</p> + +<p>Page 256. occured changed to occurred. +(if nothing had occurred)</p> + +<p>Page 258. be flounced changed to be-flounced. +(be-flounced stuck-up piece)</p> + +<p>Page 259. greatful changed to grateful. +(instead of being grateful)</p> + +<p>Page 269. nome changed to name. +(to drop his name)</p> + +<p>Page 271. businees changed to business. +(to settle business)</p> + +<p>Page 271. our changed to your. +(my answer to your advertisement)</p> + +<p>Page 274. foward changed to forward. +(she could look forward to)</p> + +<p>Page 288. featurers changed to features. +(dainty features)</p> + +<p>Page 290. or changed to on. +(as time passed on)</p> + +<p>Page 296. cost changed to coast. +(that the coast was clear)</p> + +<p>Page 306. throughfare changed to thoroughfare. +(made the public thoroughfare)</p> + +<p>Page 307. ows changed to owes. +(she owes to society)</p> + +<p>Page 310. ths changed to the. +(one of the servants)</p> + +<p>Page 320. Acadamy changed to Academy. +(the Academy of Art)</p> + +<p>Page 332. initals changed to initials. +(the initials of the artists name)</p> + +<p>Page 333. Hager changed to Hagar. +(the artist of Hagar)</p> + +<p>Page 336. har changed to her. +(laying her hand fondly)</p> + +<p>Page 343. feel changed to fell. +(and so fell asleep)</p> + +<p>Page 345. staid changed to stayed. +(if I had stayed long enough)</p> + +<p>Page 354. apopletic changed to apoplectic. +(like an apoplectic alderman)</p> + +<p>Page 363. supprise changed to surprise. +(of the surprise in store)</p> + +<p>Page 372. futher changed to further. +(if any further particulars)</p> + +<p>Page 373. soley changed to solely. +(it solely belongs to me)</p> + +<p>Page 387. exerybody changed to everybody. +(everybody gets old)</p> + +<p>Page 390. suushine changed to sunshine. +(like a ray of sunshine) +</p> +</div> + + + + + + + + + +<pre> + + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg's The Actress' Daughter, by May Agnes Fleming + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE ACTRESS' DAUGHTER *** + +***** This file should be named 35035-h.htm or 35035-h.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + https://www.gutenberg.org/3/5/0/3/35035/ + +Produced by Brenda Lewis, woodie4 and the Online Distributed +Proofreading Canada Team at http://www.pgdpcanada.net (This +book was produced from scanned images of public domain +material from the Google Book Search project.) + + +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. 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You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: The Actress' Daughter + A Novel + +Author: May Agnes Fleming + +Release Date: January 22, 2011 [EBook #35035] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE ACTRESS' DAUGHTER *** + + + + +Produced by Brenda Lewis, woodie4 and the Online Distributed +Proofreading Canada Team at http://www.pgdpcanada.net (This +book was produced from scanned images of public domain +material from the Google Book Search project.) + + + + + + + + + + + POPULAR NOVELS. + + BY MAY AGNES FLEMING. + + + 1.--GUY EARLSCOURT'S WIFE. + 2.--A WONDERFUL WOMAN. + 3.--A TERRIBLE SECRET. + 4.--NORINE'S REVENGE. + 5.--A MAD MARRIAGE. + 6.--ONE NIGHT'S MYSTERY. + 7.--KATE DANTON. + 8.--SILENT AND TRUE. + 9.--HEIR OF CHARLTON. + 10.--CARRIED BY STORM. + 11.--LOST FOR A WOMAN. + 12.--A WIFE'S TRAGEDY. + 13.--A CHANGED HEART. + 14.--PRIDE AND PASSION. + 15.--SHARING HER CRIME. + 16.--A WRONGED WIFE. + 17.--MAUDE PERCY'S SECRET. + 18.--THE ACTRESS' DAUGHTER (_New_). + + + "Mrs. Fleming's stories are growing more and more popular every + day. Their delineations of character, life-like conversations, + flashes of wit, constantly varying scenes, and deeply interesting + plots, combine to place their author in the very first rank of + Modern Novelists." + + All published uniform with this volume. Price, $1.50 each, and sent + _free_ by mail on receipt of price, + + BY + + G. W. CARLETON & CO., Publishers, + New York. + + + + + THE + ACTRESS' DAUGHTER. + + A Novel. + + BY + MAY AGNES FLEMING. + + AUTHOR OF + + "GUY EARLSCOURT'S WIFE," "A WONDERFUL WOMAN," + "A TERRIBLE SECRET," "SILENT AND TRUE," + "A MAD MARRIAGE" "LOST FOR A WOMAN," + "ONE NIGHT'S MYSTERY," ETC., ETC. + + "Who that had seen her form so light, + For swiftness only turned, + Would e'er have thought in a thing so slight, + Such a fiery spirit burned?" + + + NEW YORK: + COPYRIGHT, 1885, BY + _G. W. Carleton & Co., Publishers._ + LONDON: S. LOW, SON & CO. + MDCCCLXXXVI. + + + + + + Stereotyped by HENRY M. TOBITT, + + SAMUEL STODDER, PRINTER, + + 42 DEY STREET, N. Y. 42 DEY STREET, N. Y. + + + + + + CONTENTS. + + + Chapter Page + + I. Christmas Eve 7 + + II. The Actress--Little Georgia 22 + + III. A Young Tornado 36 + + IV. Georgia makes some new Acquaintances 53 + + V. "Lady Macbeth." 67 + + VI. Taming an Eaglet 83 + + VII. Georgia's Dream 99 + + VIII. "Coming Events Cast their Shadows Before." 114 + + IX. Old Friends Meet 129 + + X. Dreaming 144 + + XI. Something New 158 + + XII. Richmond House gets a Mistress 171 + + XIII. Awakening 184 + + XIV. A Dream Coming True 200 + + XV. Sowing the Wind 215 + + XVI. Reaping the Whirlwind 233 + + XVII. Gone 250 + + XVIII. The Dawn of Another Day 267 + + XIX. Desolation 283 + + XX. Found and Lost 298 + + XXI. Charley's Crime 314 + + XXII. The Sun Rises 330 + + XXIII. Over the World 340 + + XXIV. At Last 354 + + XXV. "After Tears and Weeping, + He Poureth in Joyfulness." 369 + + XXVI. "Last Scene of All." 382 + + + + + +THE ACTRESS' DAUGHTER. + + + + +CHAPTER I. + +CHRISTMAS EVE. + + "Heap on more wood! the wind is chill; + But let it whistle as it will, + We'll keep our Christmas merry still."--SCOTT. + + +"Lor! Lor! what a night it is any way. Since I was first born, and +that's thirty-five--no, forty-five years come next June, I never heern +sich win' as that there, fit to tear the roof off! Well, this is +Christmas Eve, and we ginerally do hev a spell o' weather 'bout this +time. Here you Fly! Fly! you little black imp you! if you don't stop +that falling asleep over the fire, and stir your lazy stumps, I'll tie +you up and give you such a switchin' as you never had in all your born +days. Ar-r-r-r! there I vow to Sam if that derned old tabby cat hain't +got her nose stuck into the apple sass! Scat! you hussy! Fly-y-y! you +ugly little black ace-o'-spades! _will_ you wake up afore I twist your +neck for you?" + +And the speaker of this spirited address--a tall, thin, pasteboard +female, as erect as a ramrod and as flat as a shingle, with a hard, +uncompromising face, and a hawk-like gray eye, caught hold of the drowsy +little darkey nodding in the chimney-corner, and shook her as if she had +been a flourishing little fruit tree in harvest time. + +"P-please, Miss Jerry, 'scuse me--I didn't go for to do it," stammered +Fly, with a very wide-awake and startled face. "I wasn't asleep, old +Mist--" + +"Oh! you wasn't asleep, old Mist--wasn't you," sneered Miss Jerusha +Glory Ann Skamp, the sonorous and high-sounding title claimed by the +antiquated maiden lady as her rightful property; "you wasn't asleep +wasn't you? Oh, no! in course you wasn't! _You_ never sleep at all, do +you? Betsey Periwinkle never runs off with the meat, and the cold +vittals, or drinks the milk, or pokes her nose into the apple sass, or +punkin slap-jack, while you're a snoozin' in the corner, does she? Ain't +you 'shamed o' yourself, you nasty little black image, to stand up there +and talk to one as has been a mother to you year in and year out, like +that? Ar Lor'! there ain't nothin' but ungratytood in this 'ere world. +Betsey Periwinkle, you ugly brute! I see you a lookin' at the apple +sass, but just let me ketch you at it agin, that's all! Oh, my stars and +thingumbobs! the way I'm afflicted with that lazy little nigger and that +thievin' cat, and me a poor lone woman too! If it ain't enough to make a +body go and do something to themselves I should admire to know what is. +Here, you Fly! jump up and fry the pancakes for supper, and put the tea +to draw, and set that johnny-cake in the oven, and then set the table, +and don't be lazin' around like a singed cat all the time." + +And having delivered herself of these commands all in a breath, with +the air of a Napoleon in petticoats, Miss Jerusha marched, with the +tramp of a grenadier, out of the kitchen into the "best room," drew +several yards of stocking from an apparently bottomless pocket, +deposited herself gingerly in the embraces of a cushioned rocking-chair, +the only sort of embrace Miss Jerusha had any faith in, and began +knitting away as if the fate of nations depended on it. + +And while she sits there, straight, rigid, and erect as a church +steeple, let me describe her and the house itself more minutely. + +A New England "best room!" Who does not know what it looks like? The +shining, yellow-painted floor, whereon no sacrilegious speck of dust +ever rests; the six stiff-backed, cane-seated chairs, standing around +like grim sentinels on duty, in the exact position to an inch wherein +they have stood ever since they were chairs; the huge black chest of +drawers that looms up dark and ominous between the two front windows, +those windows themselves glittering, shining, flashing, perfect jewels +of cleanliness, protected from flies and other "noxious insects" by +stiff, rustling green paper blinds; the table opposite the fireplace, +whereon lies, in solemn, solitary grandeur, a large family Bible, Fox's +Book of Martyrs, the Pilgrim's Progress, and Robinson Crusoe. + +Miss Jerusha, being frightfully sensible, as ladies of a certain age +always are, looked upon all works of fiction with a steady contempt too +intense for words; and therefore Robinson Crusoe had remained as +unmolested on the table as he had in his sea-girt island from the day a +deluded friend had presented it to her until the present hour. In fact, +Miss Jerusha Skamp did not affect literature of any kind much, and +looked upon reading as a downright waste of time and patience. On +Sundays, it is true, she considered it a religious duty to spell through +a chapter in the Bible, beginning at the first of Genesis, and marching +right through, in spite of all obstacles, to the end of Revelations--a +feat she had once performed in her life, and was now half way through +again. The hard words and proper names in the Old Testament were a +serious trial to Miss Jerusha, and, combined with the laziness of her +little negro maid Fly, and the dishonest propensities of her cat +Periwinkle, were the chief troubles and tribulations of her life. Miss +Jerusha's opinion was that it would have been just as easy for the +children of Israel to have been born John Smith or Peter Jones as +Shadrack, Meshach and Abednego, and a _great_ deal easier for posterity. +Next to the Bible, Fox's "Book of Martyrs" was a work wherein Miss +Jerusha's soul delighted, and wonderful was her appreciation and +approval of the ghastly pictures which embellished that saintly volume. +"The Pilgrim's Progress" she passed over with silent contempt as a book +"nobody could see the pint of." + +Besides the best room, Miss Jerusha's cottage contained a kitchen about +the size of a well grown bandbox, and overhead there were two sleeping +apartments, one occupied by that ancient vestal herself, and the other +used as a store-room and lumber-room generally. + +Fly and Betsey Periwinkle sought their repose and shakedown before the +kitchen fire, being enjoined each night before she left them by Miss +Jerusha to "keep an eye on the house and things;" but as Fly generally +snored from the moment the last flutter of Miss Jerusha's dress +disappeared until a sound shaking from that lady awoke her next +morning, and Betsey Periwinkle, after indulging in a series of short +naps, amused herself with reconnoitering the premises and feloniously +purloining everything she could lay her paws on that seemed to be good +and eatable, it is to be supposed the admonitions were not very rigidly +attended to. There was not much danger of robbers, however, for the +cottage was situated nearly two miles from any other habitation, on the +very outskirts of the flourishing township of Burnfield, a spot lonely +and isolated enough to suit even the hermit-like taste of Miss Jerusha. + +The back windows of the cottage commanded a view of the sea, spreading +away and away until lost in the horizon beyond. From the front was seen +the forest path lonely and silent, with the dark pine woods bounding the +vision and extending away for miles. In the rear of the house was a +small garden, filled in summer with vegetables of all sorts, and the +product of this garden formed the principal source of Miss Jerusha's +income. The old maid was not rich by any means, but with the vegetables +and poultry she raised herself, the stockings she knit, the cloth she +wove, the wool she dyed, the candy she made and sold to the Burnfield +grocers, and the sewing she "took in" she managed to live comfortably +enough and "lay up something," as she said herself, "for a rainy day"--a +figure of speech which was popularly supposed to refer to times of +adversity and old age. + +A strong-minded, clear-headed, sharp-tongued, wide-awake, uncompromising +specimen of femaledom "away down east" was Miss Jerusha. Never since the +time she had first donned pantalettes, and had "swopped" her rag doll +for Mary Ann Brown's china mug, could that respectable individual, the +oldest inhabitant, recollect any occasion wherein Miss Jerusha had not +got the best of the bargain, whatever that bargain might be. Though +never remarkable at any time for her personal beauty, yet tradition +averred that her thriftiness and smartness had on one or two occasions +so far captivated certain Jonathans of her district, that they had +gallantly tendered their heart, hand and brand new swallow-tails. But +looking upon mankind as an inferior race of animals, made more for +ornament than use, Miss Jerusha had contemptuously refused them, and had +marched on with grim determination through the vale of years in her +single blessedness up to her present mature age of five-and-forty. + +The personal appearance of the lady could hardly be called prepossessing +at first sight, or at second sight either, for that matter. Unusually +tall, and unusually thin, Miss Jerusha looked not unlike a female +hop-pole, and her figure was not to say improved by her dress, which +never could be persuaded to approach her ankles, and was so narrow that +a long step seemed rather a hazardous experiment. Her hair, which was of +a neutral tint between red and orange, a vague hue commonly known as +"carroty," was disfigured by no cap or other sort of headgear, but +tethered into a tight knot behind, and then forcibly secured. Her face +looked not unlike that of a yellow parchment image as she there sat +knitting in the red firelight, rocking herself back and forward in a +rheumatic old chair that kept up a horrible crechy-crawchy as she +squeaked back and forth. + +The night was Christmas Eve, and unusually wild and stormy, even for +that season. The wind blew in terrible gusts, shrieking wildly through +the bare arms of the pines, drifting the snow into great hills, and +driving the piercing sleet clamorously against the windows. Miss +Jerusha drew closer to the fire, with a shiver, and paused for a moment +to listen to the wild winter storm. + +"My gracious! what a blast o' win' that there was. Ef the old Satin +ain't been let loose to-night my name's not Jerusha Skamp. Go out and +bring in some more wood, Fly, and don't let Betsey Periwinkle eat the +tea things while you're gone. My-y-y conscience! how it blows--getting +worse and worse every minute too. If there's any ships on the river +to-night the first land they make will be the bottom, or I'm no judge. +And I oughter be, I _think_," said Miss Jerusha, administering a kick to +Betsey Periwinkle, as that amiable quadruped began some friendly +advances toward her ball of stocking yarn, "seein' I've lived here since +I was born, and that's forty-five years come next June. I should not +wonder now if some shiftless, good-for-nothing vagabones was to 'low +themselves for to get ketched in the storm and come to me to let 'em in +and keep 'em all night. Well, Miss Jerusha, don't you think you see +yourself a-doing of it though! People seems to think I was made +specially by Providence to 'tend onto 'em and make yarb tea for them to +swaller as is sick, and look arter them as is well, whenever they get +ketched in a storm, or a nightmare, or anything. Humph! I guess nobody +never seen any small sand, commonly called mite stones, in _my_ eyes, +and never will if I can help it. What on airth keeps that there little +black viper now, I wonder. _You_, Fly!" + +"Yes, old Mist, here I is," answered Fly, coming blustering in like a +sable goddess of the wind, loaded down with wood. "An' oh, Miss Jerry, +all de ghosts as eber was is ober in dat ar inferally ole house 'long +the road." + +"Ghosts! ugh!" said Miss Jerusha, with a contemptuous snarl, for the +worthy spinster despised "spirits from the vasty deep" as profoundly as +she did mankind. "Don't make a greater fool o' yourself, you +misfortunate little nat'ral you, than the Lord himself made you. Put +some wood on the fire, and be off and hurry up supper." + +"Miss Jerry, I 'clear I seed it own bressed self," protested Fly, with +horror-stricken eyes. "I jes _did_, as plain as I see you now, an' if as +how you doesn't believe me, Miss Jerry, go and look for yourself." + +"Lord bless the child! what is she talking about?" said Miss Jerusha, +turning around so sharply that little Fly jumped back in alarm. + +"Ghosts, Miss Jerry," whimpered the poor little darkey. + +"Ghosts! Fly, look here! You want me to switch you within an inch o' +your life," said Miss Jerusha, laying down her knitting and compressing +her lips. + +"Miss Jerry, I can't help it; I jes can't. Ef you're to kill me, I _did_ +see 'em, too, and you can see 'em yerself ef you'll only look out ob de +winder," sobbed Fly, digging her knuckles into her eyes. + +Miss Jerusha, with sternly shut-up lips, glared upon the unhappy little +negress for a moment in ominous silence, and then getting up, went to +the window and looked out. + +But the window was thickly covered with frost, and nothing was to be +seen from it. + +"Ef you'd only come to de door, Miss Jerry," wept Fly, taking her +knuckles out of one eye, where they had been firmly imbedded. + +With the tramp of an iron-shod dragon, Miss Jerusha walked to the +kitchen door, opened it, and looked out. + +A blinding drift of snow, a piercing blast of wind, a cutting shower of +sleet, met her in the face, and for one moment forced her back. + +Only for a moment, for Miss Jerusha was not one to yield to trifles, and +then, shading her eyes with her hands, she strove to pierce the darkness +made white by the falling snow. No ghost met her gaze, however, but +something that startled her quite as much--a long line of red light +streaming along the lonesome, deserted road. There was no one living +save herself all along the way for two miles, and no house of any kind +save the ruins of an old cottage, long since deserted, and popularly +supposed to be haunted. + +"Great Jemima!" exclaimed Miss Jerusha, as, after her first start of +astonishment, she came in, closed and locked the door, "who can be in +the old house? Somebody's bin caught in the storm, and went in there for +shelter. Well, lors! I hope they won't come bothering me. If they do, +I'll pack them off agin with a flea in their ear. You, Fly! ain't them +pancakes fried yet? Oh, you lazy, shif'less, idle, good-for-nothing +little reptyle! Ef you don't ketch particler fits afore ever you sleep +this night! And I 'clare to man the kittle ain't even biled, much less +the tea adrawin'! _You, Fly!_" + +Fly came rushing frantically out, and dodged Miss Jerusha's uplifted +hand, which came down with a stunning force on the table. With a +suppressed howl of pain, the enraged spinster shook her tingling +fingers, and was about to pounce bodily upon her unlucky little +servitor, when, in a lull of the storm, a knock at the door arrested the +descending blow. + +Both mistress and maid paused and held their breath to listen. + +The wind and sleet came driving in fierce gusts against the house, +shaking the doors and rattling the windows; then came a lull, and then +the knock was repeated, this time more loudly. + +"Oh, Miss Jerry, it's a ghos'! Oh, Miss Jerry, it's a ghos'! an' 'deed +a' 'deed I don't want for to go!" shrieked the terrified Fly, clinging +wildly to Miss Jerusha's dress. + +With a vigorous shake the spinster shook off the clinging hands of poor +little Fly, and laid her sprawling on the floor. Then approaching the +door, she called, loudly and threateningly: + +"Who's there?" + +Another knock, but no reply. + +"Who's there?" repeated Miss Jerusha, sharply. + +"It's only _me_--please let me in," answered a faint voice. + +To Miss Jerusha it sounded like the voice of a child, but still +suspicious of her visitor, she only called: + +"What do you want?" + +"Oh, please open the door--I'm _so_ cold!" was the answer, in a faint, +shivering voice that was drowned in another shriek of the storm. + +Miss Jerusha was no coward; so, first arming herself with a pair of +tongs, having some vague idea she might find them useful, she pulled +open the door, admitting a wild drift of wind, and snow, and sleet, and, +blown in with it, the small, slight figure of a child--no one else. + +Miss Jerusha closed the door, folded her arms, and looked at her +unexpected visitor. Little Fly, too, so far recovered from her terror as +to lift her woolly head and favor the new-comer with an open mouth and +eyes astare. + +It was a boy of some thirteen or fourteen years of age, wretchedly clad, +but so white with the drifting snow that it was impossible to tell what +he wore. His face was thin, pinched, and purple with the cold, his +fingers red and benumbed, his teeth chattering either with fear or cold. + +As Miss Jerusha continued to stare at him in severest silence, he lifted +a pair of large, dark, melancholy eyes wistfully, pleadingly, to her +hard, grim face. + +"Well," said the spinster, at last, drawing a deep breath, and surveying +him from head to foot--"well, young man, what do _you_ want, if a body +may ask?" + +"Please ma'am, I want you to come and see mother--she's sick," said the +child, dropping his eyes under the stern gaze bent upon him. + +"Oh, you do? I hain't the least doubt of it!" said Miss Jerusha, +sarcastically. "Should hev bin 'sprised if you _hadn't_. I was jest a +sayin' I 'spected to see somebody comin' for me to see their mother or +something. Nobody could die, of course, unless I trudged through the +snow and storm to see 'em off. Of course, it wouldn't do to let a +particerlerly stormy night come without bringing _me_ out through it, +giving me the rheumatiz in all my bones and a misery in the rest o' my +limbs. Oh, no, in course it wouldn't. And who may your mother happen to +be, young man?" concluded Miss Jerusha, changing with startling +abruptness from the intensely ironical to the most searching severity. + +"Why, she's _mother_," said the boy, simply, lifting his dark, earnest +eyes again to that set, rigid face; "she is in that old house over +there, and she--is going to die." + +His lip quivered, his eyes filled and saddened, and he drew a long, +shivering breath, and swallowed very fast to keep back his tears. Brave +little heart! hiding his own grief lest it might offend that +sour-looking gorgon and keep her from visiting "mother." + +Miss Jerusha's face did not relax a muscle as she kept her steely eyes +fixed unwinkingly on that sad, downcast young face. It was a handsome +face, too, in spite of its pinched, famished look; and Miss Jerusha, to +use her own expression, "couldn't abide" handsome people. + +"And what brings your mother to that old house that ain't fit for a +well-brought-up dog to die in, let alone, a 'sponsible member o' +society?" asked Miss Jerusha, sharply. + +"Please, ma'am, we hadn't any place else to go." + +"Oh, you hadn't! I _thought_ all along that was the sort of folks you +was!" sneered the old lady; "there allers is tramps about, dropping down +and dying in the most unheard-of places. There, be off with you now! I +make a pint o' never encouraging beggars or shif'less char-_ak_-ters. I +hain't got nothin' for your mother, and I ain't a public nuss, though +people seems for to think I'm paid by the corporation for seein' sick +folks out of the world. There! go!" + +"Oh! _please_ come and see mother! indeed, _indeed_ we ain't beggars, +but mother was so tired and sick she could not go any farther, and now +she is dying there all alone with only sis. Oh, _please_ do come," and +the childish voice grew sharp and wild in its pleading agony. + +The heart beating within Miss Jerusha's vestal corset was touched for a +moment, and then arose thoughts of vagrants, impostors, and "shif'less" +characters generally, and the heart was stilled again; the voice that +answered his pleading cry was high and angry. + +"I won't, you little limb! Be off! It's my opinion your mother ain't no +better than she ought to be, or she wouldn't come a dying round +promiscuously in such a way. There! March!" + +With an angry jerk, the door was pulled open, and the long, lean finger +of the spinster pointed out. + +Without a word he turned to go, but as he passed from the inhospitable +threshold the large dark, solemn eyes were lifted to hers with a long +look of unutterable reproach; then the door was closed after him with a +sharp bang, and securely bolted. + +"Shif'less vagabones," muttered Miss Jerusha; "ought to be whipped as +long as they can stand! Well, he's gone, and he didn't get much out of +me anyway." + +Yes, Miss Jerusha, he has gone, but when will the haunting memory of +that last look of unspeakable reproach go too? It rose like a remorseful +ghost before her as she stood moodily gazing on the red spot that glowed +like an eye of flame on the top of the hot little kitchen stove--that +furnished sorrowful childish face--those dark, sad, pitiful eyes--that +silent reproach, far keener than any words. + +Miss Jerusha strove to still the rebellious voice of conscience and +persuade herself she had done exactly right, but never in all her life +had she felt so dissatisfied with her own conduct before. As usual, when +people are irritated with themselves, she felt doubly irritated with +everybody else; so, by way of relieving her mind, she boxed Fly's ears, +and kicked Betsey Periwinkle, who came purring affectionately around her, +to the other end of the room. And then, with her temper no way sweetened +by those little marks of endearment, she tramped back to the best room, +and dropped sullenly into a comfortable seat by the fire. + +But owing to some cause or another, the seat was comfortable no longer. +Miss Jerusha turned and twisted, and jerked herself round into every +possible position, and "pooh'd" and "pshaw'd," and listened to Fly, who, +out in the kitchen, had lifted up her voice and wept, and ordered her +fiercely to bring in tea and hold her tongue. And poor little ill-used +Fly brought it in, dropping tears into the sugar-bowl, and cream-jug, +and "apple sass," and snuffling in great mental and bodily distress. And +then Miss Jerusha sat down to supper, and great and mighty was the +eating thereof; but still the canker within grew sorer and sorer, and +would not be forgotten. Do what she would, turn which way she might, +that sorrowful, childish face would rise before her like a waking +nightmare. Conscience, that "still, small voice," would persist in +making itself heard, until at last Miss Jerusha turned ferociously round +and told conscience to mind his own business, that "she wasn't going to +be fooled by no baby-faced little vagabones." And then, resuming her +work, she sat down with grim determination, and knit and knit, and still +the steam within got up to a high pressure, until Miss Jerusha got into +a state of mind, between remorse and conscience and the heat of the +fire, threatening spontaneous combustion. + +Woe to the man, woman, or child who would have presumed to cross Miss +Jerusha in her present mood! Safer would it have been to + + "Beard the lion in his den, + The Douglas in his hall," + +than the young tornado pent up within the hermetically sealed lips of +Miss Jerusha Glory Ann Skamp at that moment. + +But all would not do. Louder and louder that clamorous voice arose, +until the aged spinster bounded up in a rage, flung her knitting across +the room, and, striding across to the hall, returned with an immense +gray woolen mantle, a thick black silk quilted hood, a red woolen +comforter, and a pair of men's strong calf-skin boots. Flinging herself +into a seat, Miss Jerusha, with two or three savage pulls, jerked these +on, and having by this means got rid of some of the superfluous steam, +burst out into the following complimentary strain to herself: + +"Jerusha Glory Ann Skamp, it's my opinion you're a nat'ral born fool, +and nothin' shorter! Ain't you ashamed of yourself in your 'spectable +old age o' life to go trampin' and vanderblowsin' through the streets at +sich onchristian hours of the night to look arter wagrets as ought for +to look arter theirselves? I'm 'shamed of you, Jerusha Skamp, and you +ought to be 'shamed o' _yourself_, going on with sich reg'lar downright, +ondecent conduct. Don't tell me bout that there little fellar's looks! +He's an impostor like the rest, and has done you brown beautifully, Miss +Jerusha, as you'll soon find out. 'A fool o' forty 'll never be wise!' +To think that Jerusha Skamp should be took in by a boy's looks at your +age o' life! His looks! fudge! stuff! nonsense! You're nothing but a old +simpleton--that there's what you are, Miss Jerusha! Here you, Fly! you +derned little black monkey you!" + +Thus pathetically adjured, Fly, in a very limp state of mind and body, +caused probably by the showers of tears so lately shed, appeared in the +door-way, her eyes full of tears and her mouth full of corn-cake. + +"Here, you Fly, I'm going out, and you and Betsey Periwinkle has got for +to sit up for me. Give Betsey her supper, and see that you don't fall +asleep and set the house afire." + +"Yes'm," said Fly, in a nearly inaudible voice, as she returned to her +supper. + +Then Miss Jerusha, putting a small flask of currant wine in her pocket, +wrapped her thick, warm mantle around her, and her hood closely over her +face, and resolutely stepped out into the wild, angry storm. + + + + +CHAPTER II. + +THE ACTRESS--LITTLE GEORGIA. + + "Death is the crown of life." + "She was a strange and willful sprite + As ever startled human sight." + + +The road to the old house was as familiar to Miss Jerusha as a road +could well be to any one, yet she found it extremely difficult to make +her way to it to-night. The piercing sleet dashed into her very eyes, +blinding her, as she floundered on, and the raw, cutting wind penetrated +even the warm folds of her thick woolen mantle. Now and then she would +have to stop and catch hold of a tree, to brace her body against the +fierce, cutting blasts, and then, with bent head and closed eyes, plunge +on through the huge snow-heaps and thick drifts. + +She had not fully realized the violence of the storm until now, and she +thought, with a sharp pang of remorse, of the slight, delicate child she +had turned from her door to brave its pitiless fury. + +"Poor little feller! _poor_ little feller!" thought Miss Jerusha, +piteously. "Lor', what a nasty old dragon I am, to be sure! Should +admire to know where I'll go to, if I keep on like this. Yar-r! you +thought you did it, didn't you? Just see what it is to be mistaken." + +This last apostrophe was addressed to a sudden blast of wind that nearly +overset her; but, by grasping the trunk of a tree, she saved herself, +and now, with a contemptuous snarl at its foiled power, she plunged and +sank, and rose and floundered on through the wild December storm, until +she approached the old ruined cottage, from the window of which streamed +the light. + +The window was still sound, and Miss Jerusha, cautiously approaching it, +began prudently to reconnoiter before going any farther. + +Desolate indeed was the scene that met her eye. The room was totally +without furniture, the plastering had in many places fallen off and lay +in drifts all along the floor. A great heap of brush was piled up in the +chimney-corner, and close by it crouched a small, dark figure feeding +the slender flame that burned on the hearth. Opposite lay extended the +thin, emaciated form of a woman, wrapped in a shawl, almost her only +covering. As the firelight fell on her face, Miss Jerusha started to see +how frightfully ghastly it was, with such hollow cheeks, sunken eyes, +and projecting bones. So absorbed was she in gazing on that skeleton +face, that she did not observe the little figure crouching over the fire +start up, gaze on her a moment, and then approach the window, until, +suddenly turning round, she beheld a small, dark, elfish face, with +wild, glittering eyes, gleaming through masses of uncombed elf locks, +pressed close to the window, with its goblin gaze fixed full upon her. + +Miss Jerusha was not nervous nor superstitious, but at the sudden vision +of that face from elf-land she uttered a shriek that might have awakened +the dead, and shrank back in dismay from the window. + +While she still stood, horror-struck, the door opened, and a high, +shrill voice called: + +"Now, then, whoever you are, come in if you want to!" + +It was the voice of a mortal child, and Miss Jerusha was re-assured. +Thoroughly ashamed of herself, and provoked at having betrayed so much +fear, she approached the open door, passed in, and it was closed after +her. + +"So I scared you, did I? Well, it serves you right, you know, for +staring in people's windows," said the shrill little voice; and Miss +Jerusha, looking down, saw the same small, thin, dark face, with its +great, wild, glittering black eyes, long, tangled masses of coal-black +hair, high, broad brow, and a slight lithe figure. + +It was a strange, unique face for a child, full of slumbering power, +pride, passion, strength, and invincible daring; but Miss Jerusha did +not see this, and looking down only beheld an odd-looking, rather ugly +child, of twelve or thirteen, or so, with what she regarded as an +impudent, precocious gaze, disagreeable and unnatural in one so young. + +"Little gal, don't be sassy," said Miss Jerusha, sharply: "you ought to +hev more respect for your elders, and not stand there and give them +such empidence. Pretty broughten you must hev got, I know--a sassy +little limb." + +The latter part of this address was delivered in a muttered soliloquy, +as she pushed the hood back from her face and shook the snow off her +cloak. The "little limb," totally unheeding the reprimand, still stood +peering up in her face, scanning its iron lineaments with an amusing +mixture of curiosity and impudence. + +As Miss Jerusha again turned round and encountered the piercing stare of +those great, dark, bright eyes fixed so unwinkingly on her face, she +felt, for the first time in her life, perhaps, restless and uneasy under +the infliction. + +"My conscience! little gal, don't stare so! I 'clare to gracious I never +see sich a child! I don't know what she looks like," said Miss Jerusha. + +The latter sentence was not intended for the child's ears, but it +reached those sharp little organs nevertheless, and, still keeping her +needle-like gaze fixed on the wrinkled face of the spinster, she said: + +"Well, if you don't, I know what _you_ look like, anyway--I do!" + +"And what do I look like?" said Miss Jerusha, in rising anger, having a +presentiment something impudent was coming. + +"Why just exactly like one of the witches in Macbeth." + +Now, our worthy maiden lady had never heard of the "Noble Thane," but +she had a pretty strong idea of what witches riding on broomsticks were +like, and here this little black goblin girl had the audacity to compare +her to one of them. For one awful moment Miss Jerusha glared upon the +daring little sinner in impotent rage, while her fingers fairly ached to +seize her and pound her within an inch of her life. Her face must have +expressed her amiable desire, for the elf sprang back, and throwing +herself into a stage attitude, uttered some words in a tragic voice, +quite overpowering, coming from so small a body. + +The noise awoke the sleeper near the fire. She turned restlessly, opened +her eyes, and called: + +"Georgia!" + +"Here, mamma; here I am," said the elf, springing up and bending over +her. "Do you want anything?" + +"No, dear. I thought I heard you talking. Hasn't Warren come yet?" + +"No, mamma." + +"Then who were you talking to a moment ago? Is there any one here?" + +"Yes, mamma, the funniest looking old woman--here, _you_!" said the elf, +beckoning to Miss Jerusha. + +Mechanically that lady obeyed the peremptory summons, too completely +stunned and shocked by this unheard-of effrontery to fully realize for a +moment that her ears had not deceived her. + +She approached and bent over the sufferer. Two hollow eyes were raised +to her face, and feeling herself in the awful presence of death, all +Miss Jerusha's indignation faded away, and she said, in a softened +voice: + +"I am sorry to see you in this wretched place. Can I do anything for +you?" + +"Who are you?" said the woman, transfixing her with a gaze quite as +uncompromising as her little daughter's had been. + +"My name is Jerusha Skamp. I saw a light in this here cottage, and came +over to see who was here. What can I do for you?" + +"Nothing for me--I am dying," said the woman, in a husky, hollow voice. +"Nothing for me; nothing for me." + +"Oh, mamma! oh, mamma!" screamed the child, passionately. "Oh, not +dying! Oh, mamma!" + +"Oh, Georgia, hush!" said the woman, turning restlessly. "Don't shriek +so, child; I cannot bear it." + +But Georgia, who seemed to have no sort of self-control, or any other +sort of control, still continued to scream her wild, passionate cry, +"Oh, not dying! oh, mamma!" until Miss Jerusha, losing all patience, +caught her arm in a vise-like grip, and, giving her a furious shake, +said, in a deep, stern whisper: + +"You little limb! Do you want to kill your mother? Hold your tongue, +afore I shake the life out of you!" + +The words had the effect of stilling the little tempest before her, who +crouched into the corner and buried her face in her hands. + +"Poor Georgia! poor little thing! what will become of her when I am +gone?" said the sufferer, while a spasm of intense pain shot across her +haggard face. + +"The Lord will provide," said Miss Jerusha, rolling up the whites, or, +more properly speaking, the yellows of her eyes. "Don't take on about +that. Tell me how you came to be here! But first let me give you a +drink. You look as if you needed something to keep life in you. Wait a +minute." + +Miss Jerusha's hawk-like eye went roving round the room until it +alighted on a little tin cup. Seizing this, she filled it with the +currant wine she had brought, and held it to the sick woman's lips. + +Eagerly she drank, and then Miss Jerusha folded the shawl more closely +around her, and, sitting down on the floor, drew her head upon her lap, +and, with a touch that was almost tender, smoothed back the heavy locks +of her dark hair. + +"Now, then," she said, "tell me all about it." + +"You are very kind," said the sick woman, looking up gratefully. "I +feared I should die all alone here. I sent my little boy to the nearest +house in search of help, but he has not yet returned." + +"Ah! you're a widder, I suppose?" said Miss Jerusha, trying to keep down +a pang of remorse and dread, as she thought of the child she had so +cruelly turned out into the bitter storm. + +"Yes, I have been a widow for the last seven years. My name is Alice +Randall Darrell." + +"And hain't you got no friends nor nothin', Mrs. Darrell, when you come +to this old place, not fit for pigs, let alone human Christians?" + +"No; no friends--not one friend in all this wide world," said the dying +woman, in a tone so utterly despairing that Miss Jerusha's hand fell +soothingly and pityingly on her forehead. + +"Sho, now, sho! I want ter know," said Miss Jerusha, quite unconscious +that she was making rhyme, a species of literature she had the +profoundest contempt for. "That's _too_ bad, 'clare if it ain't! Are +they all dead?" + +"I do not know--they are all dead to me." + +"Why, what on airth hed you done to them?" said Miss Jerusha, in +surprise. + +"I married against my father's consent." + +"Ah! that _was_ bad; but then he needn't hev made a fuss. He didn't ask +_your_ consent when he got married, I s'pose. Didn't like the young man +you kept company with, eh?" + +"No; he hated him. My father was rich, and I ran off with a poor actor." + +"A play-acter! Why, you must hev bin crazy!" + +"Oh, I was--I was! I was a child, and did not know what I was doing. I +thought my life with him would have been all light, and music, and +glitter, and dazzle, such as I saw on the stage; but I soon found out +the difference." + +"'Spect you did. Law, law! what fools there is in this 'ere world!" said +Miss Jerusha, in a moralizing tone. + +"My father disowned me." ("And sarved you right, too!" put in Miss +Jerusha _sotto voce_.) "My family cast me off. I joined the company to +which my husband belonged, and did the tragedy business with him; and so +for eight years we wandered about from city to city, from town to town, +always poor and needy, for Arthur drank and gambled, and as fast as we +earned money it was spent." + +"And _you're_ a play-acter, too!" cried Miss Jerusha recoiling in +horror. + +Miss Jerusha, trained in the land of "steady habits," had, from her +earliest infancy, been taught to look upon theaters as only a little +less horribly wicked than the place unmentionable to ears polite, and +upon all "play-actors" as the immediate children and agents of the +father of evil himself. She had never until now had the misfortune to +come in contact with one personally, having only heard of them as we +hear of goblins, warlocks, demons, and other "children of night." What +wonder, then, that at this sudden, awful revelation she started back and +almost hurled the frail form from her in loathing and horror. But a +fierce clutch was laid on her shoulder--she almost fancied for an +instant it was Satan himself come for his child--until, looking up, she +saw the fiercely blazing eyes and witch-like face of little Georgia +gleaming upon it. + +"You ugly, wicked old woman!" she passionately burst out with, "if you +dare to hurt my mamma, I'll--I'll _kill_ you!" + +And so dark, and fierce, and elfish did she look at that moment, that +Miss Jerusha fairly quailed before the small, unearthly looking sprite. + +"I'm not a-going to tetch your ma. Get out o' this, and leave me go!" +said Miss Jerusha, shaking off with some difficulty the human burr who +clung to her with the tenacity of a crab, and glared upon her with her +shining black eyes. + +"Georgia, love, go and sit down. Oh, you wild, stormy, savage child, +what _ever_ will become of you when I am gone? Do, pray, excuse her," +said the woman, faintly, lifting her eyes pleadingly to Miss Jerusha's +angry face; "she has had no one to control her, or subdue her wild, +willful temper, and has grown up a crazy, mad-headed, half-tamed thing. +If you have children of your own, you will know how to make allowance +for her." + +"I have no children of my own, and I thank goodness that I haven't!" +said Miss Jerusha, shortly; "a set of plagues, the whole of 'em! Ef that +there little gal was mine, I'd spank her while I could stand, and see ef +_that_ wouldn't take some of the nonsense out of her." + +The last words did not reach the invalid's ear, and the little +tempest-in-a-teapot retreated again to her corner, scowling darkly on +Miss Jerusha, whom she evidently suspected of some sinister designs on +her mother, which it was her duty to frustrate. + +"Is she a play-acter, too?" said Miss Jerusha, after a sullen pause. + +"Who? Georgia? Oh, yes; she plays juvenile parts, and dances and sings, +and was a great favorite with the public. She has a splendid voice, and +dances beautifully, and whenever she appeared she used to receive +thunders of applause. Georgia will make a star actress if she ever goes +on the stage again," said the woman, with more animation than she had +yet shown. + +"And do you want your darter to grow up a wicked good-for-nothing hussy +of a play-acter?" said Miss Jerusha, sternly. "Mrs. Darrell, you ought +for to be ashamed of yourself. Ef she was mine, I would sooner see her +starve decently first." + +The dying woman turned away with a groan. + +"She won't starve here, though," said Miss Jerusha, feeling called upon +to administer a little consolation; "there's trustees and selectmen, and +one thing and another to look arter poor folks and orphans. She'll be +took care of. And now, how did it happen you came here?" + +"I came with the company to which I belong, and we stopped at a town +about fifty miles from here. Georgia, as you can see, has a dreadful +temper--poor little fiery, passionate thing--and the manager of the +theater, being an insolent, overbearing man, was always finding fault +with her, and scolding about something, whereupon Georgia would fly into +one of her fits of passion, and a dreadful scene would ensue. I strove +to keep them apart as much as I could, but they often met, as a matter +of course, and never parted without a furious quarrel. He did not wish +to part with her, for I--and it is with little vanity, alas! I say +it--was his best actress, and Georgia's name in the bills never failed +to draw a crowded house. I used to talk to Georgia, and implore her to +restrain her fierce temper, and she would promise; but when next she +would meet him, poor child, and listen to his insulting words, all would +be forgotten, and Georgia would stamp and scold, and call him all manner +of names, and sometimes go so far as to refuse appearing at all, and +_that_ last act of disobedience never failed to put him fairly beside +himself with rage. I foresaw how it would end, but I could do nothing +with her. Poor little thing! Nature cursed her with that fierce, +passionate temper, and she could not help it." + +"Humph!" muttered Miss Jerusha; "couldn't help it! That's all very fine; +but I know one thing, ef _I_ had anything to do with her, I'd take the +fierceness out of her, or know for why--a ugly tempered, savage little +limb!" + +"One night," continued the sick woman, "Georgia had been dancing, and +when she left the stage the whole house shook with the thunders of +applause. They shouted and shouted for her to reappear, but I was sick +that night, and Georgia was in a hurry to get home, and would not go. +The manager ordered her in no very gentle tone to go back, and Georgia +flatly and peremptorily refused. Then a dreadful scene ensued. He caught +her by the arms, and dragged her to her feet, as if he would force her +out, and when she resisted he struck her a blow that sent her reeling +across the room. + +"Aha! that was good for you, my lady!" said Miss Jerusha, with a grim +chuckle, as she glanced at the little dancing girl. + +"It was the first time any one had ever struck her," said Mrs. Darrell, +in a sinking voice, "and a very fury seemed to seize her. A large black +bottle lay on a shelf near, and with a perfect _shriek_ of passion she +seized it and hurled it with all her strength at his head." + +"My gracious!" ejaculated the horrified Miss Jerusha. + +"It struck him on the forehead, and laid it open with a frightful gash. +He attempted to spring upon her, but some of the men interposed, and +Georgia was forced off by the rest. Her brother Warren was there, and, +almost terrified to death, he brought her home with him, and that very +night we were told our services were no longer needed, and, what was +more, Mr. B., the manager, refused to pay us what he owed us, and even +threatened to begin an action against us for assault and battery, and I +don't know what besides. I knew him to be an unprincipled, vindictive +man, and the threat terrified me nearly to death, terrified me so much +that, with my two children, I fled the next morning from the town where +we were stopping, fled away with only one idea--that of escaping from +his power. I had a little money remaining, but it was soon spent, and I +was so weak and ill that but for my poor children I felt at times as if +I could gladly have lain down and died. + +"Coming from Burnfield to-night, we were overtaken by this storm, and +must have perished had not Warren discovered this old hut. The exposure +of this furious storm completed what sorrow and suffering had long ago +begun, and I felt I was dying. It was terrible to think of leaving poor +little Warren and Georgia all alone without one single friend in the +world, and at last I sent Warren out to the nearest house in the hope +that some hospitable person might come who would procure some sort of +employment for them that would keep them at least from starving. _You_ +came, thank Heaven! but my poor Warren has not returned. Oh! I fear, I +_fear_ he has perished in this storm," cried the dying woman, wringing +her pale fingers. + +"Oh, I guess not," said Miss Jerusha, more startled than she chose to +appear; "most likely he's gone some place else and stayed there to get +warm; but you, _you_, what are we to do for you? It doesn't seem +Christian like nor proper no ways to leave you to die here in this +miserable old shed." + +"Dear, kind friend, never mind me," said the invalid, gratefully; "my +short span of life is nearly run, and oh! what does it matter whether +for the few brief moments yet remaining where they are spent. But my +children, my poor, poor children! Oh, madam, you have a kind heart, I +know you have,"--(Miss Jerusha gave a skeptical "humph!")--"do, _do_, +for Heaven's sake, try if some charitable person will not take them and +give them their food and clothing. Not so much for Warren do I fear, for +he is quiet and sensible, very wise indeed for his age; but for the +wild, stormy Georgia. Oh, madam, do something for her, and my dying +thanks will be yours!" + +"Well, there, don't take on! I'll see what can be done," said Miss +Jerusha, fidgeting, and glancing askance at the wild eyed, tempestuous +little spirit, "and though you don't seem to mind it much, still it +don't seem right nor decent for you to die here like I don't know what," +(Miss Jerusha's favorite simile), "so I'll jest step over to Deacon +Brown's and get him to look arter you, and maybe he will hev an eye to +the children, too." + +"But you will be exposed to the storm," feebly remonstrated the dying +woman. + +"Bah! who keers for the storm?" said Miss Jerusha, glancing out of the +window with a look of grim defiance. "Besides, its clarin' off, and +Deacon Brown's ain't more than two miles from here. There, keep up your +sperrits, and I'll be back in an hour or two with the deacon." + +So saying, Miss Jerusha, who once she considered it her _duty_ to do +anything, would have gone through fire and flood to do it, stepped +resolutely out to brave once more the cold, wintry blast. + +The storm had abated considerably, but it was still piercingly cold, and +Miss Jerusha's fingers and toes tingled as she walked rapidly over the +hard, frosty ground. It had ceased snowing, and a pale, watery moon, +appearing at intervals from behind a cloud, cast a faint, sickly light +over the way. The high, leafless trees sent long black, ominous shadows +across the road, and Miss Jerusha cast apprehensive glances on either +side as she walked. + +Not the fear of ghosts, nor the fear of robbers troubled the +stout-hearted spinster; but the dread of seeing a slight, boyish form, +stark and frozen, across her path. In mingled dread and remorse, she +thought of what she had done and only the hope of finding him in the old +cottage on her return could dispel for an instant her haunting fear. + +Deacon Brown's was reached at last, and great was the surprise of that +orthodox pillar of the church at beholding his un-looked-for visitor. In +very few words Miss Jerusha gave him to understand the object of her +visit, and, rather ruefully, the good man rose to harness up his old +gray mare and start with Miss Jerusha on this charitable errand. + +A quick run over the hard, frozen ground brought them to the cottage, +and, fastening his mare to a tree, the deacon followed Miss Jerusha into +the old house. + +And there a pitiful sight met his eyes. The fire had gone out, and the +room was scarcely warmer than the freezing atmosphere without. Mother +and child lay clasped in each other's arms, still and motionless. With a +stifled ejaculation, Miss Jerusha approached and bent over them. The +child was asleep, and the mother was _dead_! + + + + +CHAPTER III. + +A YOUNG TORNADO. + + "She is active, stirring, all fire; + Cannot rest, cannot tire; + To a stone she had given life." + + +It was a bright, breezy May morning, just cool enough to render a fire +pleasant and a brisk walk delightful. The sunshine came streaming down +through the green, spreading boughs of the odorous pine trees, gilding +their glistening leaves, and tinting with hues of gold the sparkling +windows of Miss Jerusha's little cottage. + +It was yet early morning, and the sun had just arisen, yet Miss Jerusha, +brisk, resolute, and energetic, marched through the house, "up stairs, +and down stairs, and in my lady's chamber," sweeping, dusting, scouring, +scrubbing and scolding, all in a breath: for, reader, this was Monday, +and that good lady was just commencing her spring "house-cleaning." + +And Miss Jerusha's house-cleaning was something which required to be +seen to be appreciated. Not that there was the slightest necessity for +that frantic and distracting process which all good housekeepers +consider it a matter of conscience to make their household suffer once +or twice a year, for never since Miss Jerusha had come to the years of +discretion had a single speck of dirt been visible to the naked eye +inside of those spotless walls. But it was with Miss Jerusha the +eleventh commandment and the fortieth article of the Episcopal creed, to +go through a vigorous and uncompromising scouring down and scrubbing up +every spring and fall, to the great mental agony and bodily torture of +the unhappy little handmaiden, Fly, and her venerable cat, Betsey +Periwinkle. Since the middle of April Miss Jerusha had shown signs of +the coming epidemic, which on this eventful morning broke out in full +force. + +Any stranger, on looking in at that usually immaculate cottage, might +have fancied a hurricane had passed through it in the night, or that the +chairs, and tables, and pots, and pans, being of a facetious +disposition, had taken it into their heads to get on a spree the night +before, and pitch themselves in all sorts of frantic attitudes through +the house. For the principal rule in Miss Jerusha's "house-cleaning" was +first, with a great deal of pains and trouble, to fling chairs, and +stools, and pails, and brooms in a miscellaneous heap through each room, +to disembowel closets whose contents for the last six months had been a +sealed mystery to human eyes, to take down and violently tear asunder +unoffending bedsteads, and with a stout stick inflict a severe and +apparently unmerited castigation on harmless mattresses and feather +beds. This done, Miss Jerusha, who had immense faith in the hot water +system, commenced with a steaming tub of that liquid at the topmost +rafter of the cottage, and never drew breath until every crevice and +cranny down to the lowest plank on the cellar floor had undergone a +severe application of first wetting and then drying. + +Awful beyond measure was Miss Jerusha on these occasions--enough to +strike terror into the heart of every shiftless mortal on this +terrestrial globe, could he only have seen her. With her sleeves rolled +up over her elbows, her mouth shut up, _screwed_ up with grim +determination of conquering or dying in the attempt, with an eye like a +hawk for every invisible speck of dust, and the firm, determined tramp +of the leader of a forlorn hope, Miss Jerusha marched through that +blessed little cottage, a broom in one hand and a scrubbing-brush in the +other, a sight to see, not to hear of. + +And then, having brushed, and scrubbed, and scoured, and polished +everything, from the "best room" down to the fur coat of Betsey +Periwinkle, until it fairly shone, all that could offend the sight was +poked back into the mysterious closets again, another revolution swept +through every room, returning things to their places, and the whole +household was triumphantly restored to its former state of distressing +cleanliness. And thus ended Miss Jerusha's house-cleaning. + +"Them there three beds shill all hev to come down this morning," said +Miss Jerusha, folding her arms, and regarding them grimly, "and every +one of them blessed bedposts hev got to be scalded right out. You, Fly! +is that there fire a-burning?" + +"Yes, miss," answered Fly, who was tearing distractedly in and out after +wood and water, and as nearly fulfilling the impossibility of being in +two places at once as it was possible for a mere mortal to do. + +"And is that biler of hot water a-bilin'?" + +"Yes, miss." + +"And did you tell Georgey to go down to Bunfield for some yaller soap?" + +"Please, Miss Jerry, I couldn't find her." + +"Couldn't find her, hey? What's the reason you couldn't find her?" said +Miss Jerusha, in a high key. + +"'Case she'd been and gone away some whars. Please, ole miss, dar ain't +nebber no sayin' whar anybody can find dat ar young gal," replied Fly, +beginning to whimper in anticipation of getting her ears boxed for not +performing an impossibility. + +"Gone away! arter being told to stay at home and help with the +house-cleaning! Oh, the little shif'less villain. I 'clare ef I hadn't a +good mind to give her the best switchin' ever she got next time I ketch +holt of her. Told me this morning she wasn't going to be a dish-washing +old maid like me! a sassy, impident little monster! Old, indeed! I vow +to gracious only for she dodged I'd hev twisted her neck for her! Old! +hump! a pretty thing to be called at my time o' life! Old, indeed! A +nasty, ungrateful little imp!" + +While she spoke, the outer gate was slammed violently to; a slight +little figure ran swiftly up the walk, and burst like a whirlwind into +the sacred precincts of the best room--a small, light, airy figure, +dressed in black, with crimson cheeks, and dancing, sparkling, flashing +black eyes, fairly blazing with life and health, and freedom, and high +spirits--a swift, blinding, dark, bright vision, so quick and impetuous +in every motion as to startle you--a "thing all life and light," a +little tropical butterfly, with the hidden sting of a wasp, impressing +the beholder with the idea of a barrel of gunpowder, a pop-gun, a +firecracker, or anything else, very harmless and quiet-looking, but +ready to explode and go off with a bang at any moment. + +It was Georgia--our little Georgia; and how she came to be an inmate of +Miss Jerusha's cottage it requires us to go back a little to tell. + +On that very Christmas Eve, when with Deacon Brown she discovered the +sleeping child and the ruined cottage, she was for a moment at a loss +what to do. She knew the girl had fallen asleep, unconscious of the +dread presence, and she had seen enough of her to be aware of the +frantic and passionate scene that must ensue when she awoke and +discovered her loss. She bent over her, and finding her sleeping +heavily, she lifted her gently in her arms, and in a few whispered words +desired the deacon not to remove the corpse, but to drive her home first +with the orphan. + +Wrapping the half-frozen child in her warm cloak, she had taken her +seat, and was driven to the cottage without arousing her from her heavy +slumber, and safely deposited her in Fly's little bed, to the great +astonishment, not to say indignation, of that small, black individual, +at finding her couch thus taken summary possession of. + +It was late next morning when the little dancing girl awoke, and then +she sprang up and gazed around her with an air of complete bewilderment. +Her first glance fell on Miss Jerusha, who was bustling around, helping +Fly to get breakfast, and the sight of that yellow, rigid frontispiece +seemed to recall her to a realization of what had passed the preceding +night. + +She sprang up, shook back her thick, disordered black hair, and +exclaimed: + +"Who brought me here?" + +"I did, honey," said Miss Jerusha, speaking as gently as _she_ knew how, +which is not saying much. + +"Where is mamma?" + +"Oh, she's--how did you sleep last night?" said Miss Jerusha, actually +quailing inwardly in anticipation of the coming scene; for, with her +strong nerves and plain, practical view of things in general, the good +old lady had a masculine horror of scenes. + +"Where is my mamma?" said the child, sharply, fixing her piercing black +eyes on Miss Jerusha's face. + +"Oh, she's--well, she ain't here." + +"Where is she, then? You ugly old thing, what have you done to my +mamma?" + +"Ugly old thing! Oh, dear bless me! _there's_ a way to speak to her +elders!" said the deeply shocked Miss Jerusha. + +"_Where's my mamma?_" exclaimed the child, with a fierce stamp of the +foot. + +"Little gal, look here! that ain't no way to talk to--" + +"WHERE'S MY MAMMA?" fairly shrieked the little girl, as she sprang +forward and clutched Miss Jerusha's arm so fiercely as to extort from +her a cry of pain. + +"Ah-a-a-a-a-a! Oh-h-h-h! you little crab-fish, if you ain't pinched my +arm black and blue! Your mamma's dead, and it's a pity you ain't along +with her," said Miss Jerusha, in her anger and pain, giving the girl a +push that sent her reeling against the wall. + +"Dead!" + +The word fell like a blow on the child, stunning her into quiet. Her +mamma dead! She could not realize--she could not comprehend it. + +She stood as if frozen, her hand uplifted as it had been when she heard +it, her lips apart, her eyes wide open and staring. Dead! She stood +still, stunned, bewildered. + +Miss Jerusha was absolutely terrified. She had expected tears, cries, +passionate grief, but not this ominous stillness. That fixed, rigid, +unnatural look chilled her blood. She went over and shook the child in +her alarm. + +"Little girl! Georgey! don't look so--_don't_! It ain't right, you +know!" + +She turned her eyes slowly to Miss Jerusha's face, her lips parted, and +one word slowly dropped out: + +"Mamma!" + +"Honey, your ma's dead, and gone to heaven--I _hope_," said Miss +Jerusha, who felt that common politeness required her to say so, +although she had her doubts on the subject. "You mustn't take on about +it, you--Oh, gracious! the child's gone stark, staring mad!" + +Her words had broken the spell. Little Georgia realized it all at last. +With a shriek,--a wild, terrific shriek, that Miss Jerusha never +forgot--she threw up her arms and fell prostrate on the ground. + +And there she lay and _shrieked_. She did not faint. Miss Jerusha, with +her hands clasped over her bruised and wounded ear-drums, wished from +the bottom of her heart she _would_; but Georgia was of too sanguine a +temperament to faint. Shriek after shriek, sharp, prolonged, and shrill, +broke from her lips as she lay on her face on the floor, her hands +clasped over her head. + +Miss Jerusha and Fly, nearly frantic with the ear-splitting torture, +strove to raise her up, but the little fury seemed endowed with +supernatural strength, and screamed and struggled, and _bit_ at them +like a mad thing, until they were glad enough to go off and leave her +alone. And there she lay and screamed for a full hour, until even _her_ +lungs of brass gave way, and shrieks absolutely refused to come. + +Then a new spirit seemed to enter the child. She leaped to her feet as +if those members were furnished with steel springs, and made for the +door. Fortunately, Miss Jerusha had locked it, somehow anticipating some +such movement, and in that quarter she was foiled. She seized the lock +and shook the door furiously, stamping with impotent passion at finding +it resist all her efforts. + +"Open the door!" she screamed, with a stamp, turning upon Miss Jerusha a +pair of eyes that glowed like those of a young tigress. + +The old lady actually shrank under the burning light of that dark, +passionate glance, but composedly sat still and knit away. + +"OPEN THE DOOR!" shrieked the mad child, shaking it so fiercely that +Miss Jerusha fairly expected to see the lock come off before her eyes. + +But the lock resisted her efforts. Delirious with her frantic rage, the +wild girl dashed her head against it with a shriek of foiled +passion--dashed it against it again and again, until it was all cut and +bleeding; and then she flew at the horrified Miss Jerusha like a very +fury, sinking her long nails in her face and tearing off the skin, like +a maniac as she was. + +That at last aroused all Miss Jerusha's wiry strength, and, grasping the +child's wrists in a vise-like grip, she held her fast while she +struggled to free herself in vain, for the fictitious strength given her +by her storm of passion had exhausted itself by its very violence, and +every effort now to free herself grew fainter and fainter, until at last +she swayed to and fro, tottered, and would have fallen had not Miss +Jerusha held her fast. + +Lifting her in her arms, Miss Jerusha bore her upstairs and laid her in +her own bed. And then over-charged nature gave way, and, burying her +face in the pillow, Georgia burst into a passionate flood of tears, +sobbing convulsively. Long she wept, until the fountains of her tears +were dry, and then, worn out by her own violence, she fell into a +dreamless sleep. + +"Well, my sakes alive!" said Miss Jerusha, drawing a long breath and +getting up, "of all the children ever I seen I never saw any like that +there little limb. 'Clare to gracious! there's something bad inside that +young gal--that's my opinion. Sich eyes, like blazin' coals of fire! My +conscience! I really don't feel safe with her in the house." + +But Georgia awoke calm and utterly exhausted, and thus passed away the +first violence of her grief, which like a blaze of straw, burned up +fiercely for a moment and then went out in black ashes. Still grave and +unsmiling the little girl went about, with no life in her face save what +burned in her great wild eyes. + +Her mother was buried, and so Miss Jerusha with some inward fear and +trembling ventured to tell her at last; but the child heard it quietly +enough. She need not have feared, for it was morally and physically +impossible for the little girl to ever get up another passion-gust like +the last. + +One source of secret and serious anxiety to Miss Jerusha was the fate of +the little boy, Warren Darrell. Since that night when she had turned him +from the door, nothing had ever been heard of him; no one had seen him, +no traces of him could be found, and one and all came to the conclusion +that he must have perished in the storm that night. Miss Jerusha too, +had to adopt the same belief at last, and in that moment she felt as +though she had been guilty of a murder. No one knew he had come to the +cottage, and she had her own reason for keeping it a secret, and for +politely informing Fly she would twist her neck for her if she ever +mentioned it; and in dread of that disagreeable operation, Fly consented +to hold her tongue. + +Feeling as if she ought to do something to atone for the guilt of which +her conscience, so often referred to by herself, accused her, Miss +Jerusha resolved, by way of the severest penance she could think of, to +adopt Georgia. Several of the "selectmen" offered to take the child and +send her to the workhouse, but Miss Jerusha curtly refused in terms much +shorter than sweet, and snappishly requested them to go and mind their +own affairs and she would mind little Georgia Darrell. + +And so, from that day the little dancer became an inmate of the lonely +sea-side cot. For the first few weeks she was preternaturally grave and +still--"in the dumps" Miss Jerusha called it; then this passed +away--like all the grief of childhood, ever light and short-lived--and +_then_ Miss Jerusha began to realize the trouble and tribulations in +store for her, and the life of worry and vexation of spirit the restless +elf would lead her. + +In the first place, Miss Georgia emphatically and decidedly "put her +foot down," and gave her _guardianess_ (if such a word is admissible) to +understand, in the plainest possible English, that she had not the +remotest or faintest idea of doing one single hand's turn of work. + +"I never had to work," said the young lady, drawing herself up, "and I +ain't a-going to begin now for anybody. I don't believe in work at all, +and I don't think it proper, no way." + +In vain Miss Jerusha expostulated; her little ladyship heard her with +the most provoking indifference. Then the old lady began to scold, +whereupon Georgia flew into one of her "tantrums," as Miss Jerusha +called them, and, springing to her feet, exclaimed: + +"I _won't_, then, not if I die for it! I've always done just whatever I +liked, and I'm going to keep on doing it--I just _am_! And I ain't going +to be an old pot-wiper for anybody--I just _ain't_, old taffy candy!" + +And then the sprite bounced out, banging the door after her until the +house shook, leaving Miss Jerusha to stand transfixed with horror and +indignation at this last "most unkindest cut of all," which referred to +the candy Miss Jerusha was in the habit of making and selling in +Burnfield. + +And thus the wild, fearless child kept the old lady in a constant series +of tremors and palpitations by the dangers she ran into headlong. Not a +tree in the forest she would not climb like a squirrel, and often the +dry frozen branches breaking with her, she would find it impossible to +get down again, and have to remain there until Miss Jerusha would get a +ladder and take her down. And on these occasions, while the old lady +scolded and ranted down below, the young lady up in her lofty perch +would be in convulsions of laughter at her look of terror and dismay. +Not a rock on the beach, slippery and icy as they were, she had not +clambered innumerable times, to the manifest danger of breaking her +neck. + +It was well for her she could climb and cling to them like a cat, or she +would most assuredly have been killed; as it was, she tumbled off two or +three times, thereby raising more bumps on her head than Nature ever +placed there. Then she made a point of visiting Burnfield every day, and +making herself acquainted generally with the inhabitants of that little +"one-horse town," astonishing the natives to such a degree by the +facility with which she stood on her head, or made a hoop of herself by +catching her feet in her hands and rolling over and over, that some of +them had serious doubts whether she was real, or only an optical +delusion. And then her dancing! The first time Miss Jerusha saw her she +came nearer fainting than she had ever done before in her life. + +"Oh, my gracious!" said Miss Jerusha, in tones of horror, when afterward +relating the occurrence, "I never see sich onchristian actions before in +all my born days. There she was a-flinging of her legs about as if they +belonged to somebody else, and a-twistin' of her arms about over her +head, and a-jigging back and forward, and a-standin' onto one blessed +toe and spinnin' round like a top, with the other leg a stickin' +straight out like a toastin'-fork. I 'clare it gave me sich a turn as I +hain't got over yit, and never expects to. Oh, my conscience! It was +railly orful to look at the onnatural shapes that there little limb +could twist herself into. And to think of her, when she got done, +a-kneelin' down on one knee as if she was sayin' of her prayers, as she +ought for to do, and then take and blow me up for not applaudin', as she +called it. A sassy little wiper!" + +Georgia's daily visits to Burnfield were a serious annoyance to Miss +Jerusha; for there were some who delighted in her wild antics, just as +they would in the mischievous pranks of a monkey, encouraged her in her +willfulness, and exhorted her to defy the "Old Dragon," as Miss Jerusha +was incorrectly styled. And such a hold did these counsels take on the +mind of the young girl, that she really began to look upon Miss Jerusha +in the light of a domestic tyrant--a sort of female Bluebeard, whom it +would not only be right and just to defy and put down, but morally wrong +_not_ to do it. But though this was Georgia's inward belief, yet, to her +credit be it spoken, a sort of chivalrous feeling led her always to +defend Miss Jerusha on these occasions; and if any one went too far in +sneering at her, Georgia's little brown fist was doubled up, and the +offender, unless warned by some prudent friend to "look out for +squalls," stood in considerable danger. + +Then, too, the chief delight of the Burnfieldians was in watching her +dance; and Georgia, nothing loth, would mount an extempore platform, and +whirl, and pirouette, and flash hither and thither, amid thunders of +applause from the astonished and delighted audience. Her singing, +too--for Georgia had really a beautiful voice, and knew every song that +ever was heard of, from Casta Diva to Jim Crow--was a source of +never-failing delight to the townfolks, who were troubled with very few +amusements in winter; and Georgia was never really in her element save +when dancing, or singing, or showing off before an audience. + +And so the little explosive grenade became a well known character in +Burnfield, and Miss Jerusha's injunctions to stay from it went the way +of all good advice--that is, in one ear and out of the other. No sort of +weather could keep the sprite in the house. The fiercer the wind blew, +Georgia's high spirit only rose the higher; the keener the cold, the +more piercing the blast, it only flashed a deeper crimson to her glowing +cheeks and lips, and kindled a clearer light in her bright black eyes, +and she bounded like a young antelope over the frozen ground, shouting +with irrepressible life. Out amid the wildest winter storms you might +see that small dark figure flying along with streaming hair, bending and +dipping to the shrieking blast that could have whirled her light form +away like a feather, flying over the icy ground that her feet hardly +seemed to touch. + +Georgia, wild, fervid child, vowed she _loved_ the storms; and on +tempestuous nights, when the wind howled, and raved, and shook the +cottage, and roared through the pines, she would clap her hands in glee, +and run down through it all toward the high rocks near the shore, and +bend over them to feel the salt spray from the white-crested waves dash +in her face. Then, coming back, she would scandalize Miss Jerusha, and +terrify Fly nearly into fits, by protesting that the white caps of the +waves were the bleached faces of drowned men holding a revel with the +demons of the storm, and that whenever _she_ died, she was determined to +be buried in the sand, for that no grave or coffin could ever hold her, +and she knew she would have splendid times with the mermaids, and +mermen, and old Father Neptune, and Mrs. Amphitrite, and the rest of +them, in their coral grottoes down below. + +Now, Miss Jerusha was by no means strait-laced in spiritual matters +herself, but such an ungodly belief as this would shock even her, and, +with a deeply horrified look, she would lay down her knitting and begin: + +"Oh, my stars and garters! sich talk! Don't you know, you wicked child, +that there ain't no sich place as that under the sun? There's nothing +but mud, and fish-bones, and nasty sharks like what swallered Joner down +there. No, you misfortunate little limb, folks allers goes to heaven or +t'other place when they die, and it's my belief you'll take a trip +downward, and sarve you right, too, you wicked little heathen you!" + +"See here, Miss Jerusha," said Georgia, curiously, "Emily Murray says +there's another place--sort of half-way house, you know, with a hard +name; let's see--pug--pug--no, _purgatory_, that's it--where people that +ain't been horrid bad nor yet horrid good goes to, and after being +scorched for awhile to take the badness out of them, they go up to +heaven and settle down there for good. Is that so, Miss Jerusha?" + +"There!" said Miss Jerusha, dropping her knitting in consternation, "I +allers said no good would come of her going to Burnfield and taking up +with unbelievers and other wagrants. Oh, you wicked, drefful little gal! +_No_; there ain't no sich place; in course there ain't. If you had read +that pretty chapter I gave you in the Bible last Sunday instead of tying +Betsey Periwinkle's tail to her hind leg and nearly setting of her crazy, +you wouldn't be such a benighted little heathen as you are." + +"Well, I didn't like it--there! All about two ugly great bears eating a +lot of children for calling somebody names. I don't like things like +that. There ain't no fun in reading about them, and I'd a heap sooner +read Robinson Crusoe; _he_ was a nice old man, I know he was. And when I +grow up to be a big woman, I'm going to find out his island and live +there myself--you see if I don't." + +Miss Jerusha gave a contemptuous snort. + +"_You_ grow up, indeed! As if the Lord would let a wicked little wretch +like you, that believes in gods and goddesses and purgatory and such +abominations grow up. No; if you ain't carried off in a flash of fire +and brimstone, like King Solomon or some of them, you may think yourself +safe, my lady." + +"Well, I don't care if I am," said Georgia. "I _do_ believe in mermaids, +because I've seen them often and often, and I know they live in +beautiful coral grottoes under the sea, because I've read all about it. +And I know there are witches, and ghosts and fairies, because I've read +all about _them_ in the 'Legends of the Hartz Mountains,' the nicest +book that ever was, and some Hallow Eve I'm going to try some +tricks--you see if I don't." + +The little girl's eyes were sparkling, and she was gesticulating with +eager earnestness. Miss Jerusha held up her hands in horror. + +"My-y conscience! only hear her! Oh, what _ever_ will become of that +there young gal? Why, you wicked child, where do you expect to go when +you die?" + +"To heaven," said Georgia, decidedly. + +"Humph!" said Miss Jerusha, contemptuously. "A nice angel _you'd_ make, +wouldn't you? More likely the other place. I shill hev to speak to Mr. +Barebones to take you into his Bible class, for I believe in my soul it +ain't safe to sleep in the house with such an unbeliever." + +"Well, you may speak to him as fast as you like, but I sha'n't go. A +sour, black old ogre, all skin and bones, like a consumptive red +herring! I'm going with Emily Murray to that nice church where they have +all the pretty pictures, and that nice old man, Em's uncle, with no hair +on his head, and all dressed up so beautifully. And old Father Murray is +just the dearest old man ever was, and hasn't got a long, solemn face +like Mr. Barebones. Come, Bets, let you and I have a waltz." + +And seizing Betsey Periwinkle by the two fore-paws, she went whirling +with her round the room, to the great astonishment, not to say +indignation, of that amiable animal, who decidedly disapproved of +waltzing in her own proper person, and began to expostulate in sundry +indignant mews quite unheeded by her partner, until Miss Jerusha angrily +snatched her away, and would have favored Georgia with a box on the ear, +only the recollection of the theatre manager returned to her memory, and +her uplifted hand dropped. And Georgia, laughing her shrill, peculiar +laugh, danced out of the room, singing a snatch from some elegant ditty. + +"Was there ever such a aggravating young 'un?" exclaimed Miss Jerusha, +relapsing into her chair. "I sartinly _shill_ hev to speak to Mr. +Barebones about her. Gracious! what a thing it is to be afflicted with +children!" + +True to her word, Miss Jerusha did speak to Mr. Barebones, and that +zealous Christian promised to take Georgia in hand; but the young lady +not only flatly refused to listen to a word, but told him her views of +matters and things in general, and of himself in particular, so plainly +and decidedly, that, in high dudgeon, the minister got up, put on his +hat, and took himself off. + +And so Miss Georgia was left to her own devices, and stood in a fair way +of becoming a veritable savage, when an event occurred that gave a new +spring to her energies, and turned the current of her existence in +another direction. + + + + +CHAPTER IV. + +GEORGIA MAKES SOME NEW ACQUAINTANCES. + + "His boyish form was middle size, + For feat of strength or exercise + Shaped in proportion fair; + And hazel was his eagle eye, + And auburn of the darkest dye + His short and curling hair. + Light was his footstep in the dance, + And firm his stirrup in the lists-- + And, oh, he had that merry glance + That seldom lady's heart resists."--SCOTT. + + +Miss Jerusha's memorable "house-cleaning" was over, and the cottage +having been polished till it shone, and everything inside and outside +reduced to the frightfully clean state that characterized everything +belonging to that worthy lady, she was prepared to sit down and enjoy +the reward of her labors, and the pleasure of an approving conscience. +Fly and Betsey Periwinkle, who had been in an excessively damp and +limber state for the last few days, and whom Miss Jerusha had kept +tearing in and out and up and down like a couple of comets, were at last +permitted to dry out, and might now safely venture to call their souls +their own again. + +Georgia, who rather liked a fuss than otherwise, quite enjoyed the +house-cleaning, and spent an unusually large portion of her valuable +time at the cottage while that domestic revolution was in full blast; +now that it was over, she began to resume her slightly vagabondish +habit of roaming round the country, always up to her eyes in business, +yet never bringing about any particular result excepting that of +mischief. When Georgia wished to enjoy the pleasures of solitude, which +was not often, she strolled off to the beach, where, perched on top of a +high rock, she meditated on the affairs of the State, or whatever other +subject happened to weigh on her mind at the moment. + +One morning she started off for her favorite seat in order to have a +quite read, having inveigled Miss Jerusha out of the "Pilgrim's +Progress" for that purpose, in lieu of something more entertaining. Now +this beach being so far removed from Burnfield, its solitude was rarely, +if ever, disturbed; therefore, great was Georgia's surprise upon +reaching it, to find a shady spot under her own favorite rock already +occupied. + +Miss Georgia came to a sudden halt, and, standing on tiptoe, gravely +surveyed the new-comer, herself unseen. + +Under the shadow of the overhanging rock, on the warm sands, lay a tall, +slight, fashionably dressed youth, of sixteen or thereabouts, with +handsome, regular features, a complexion of feminine fairness, a +profusion of brown, curling hair, a high forehead, and unusually and +aristocratically small hands and feet, the former as white as a lady's. +The predominating expression of his face was a mixture of indolence and +drollery; and as he lay there, with his half closed eyes, he looked the +very picture of the _dolce far niente_. + +"Well, now," thought Georgia, "I wonder who _you_ are, and where you +came from. I'll just go and ask him, though I do believe he's asleep. +If he is, I reckon I'll wake him in double-quick time." + +And Georgia, not being in the slightest degree troubled with that +disease incident to youth, previous to the days of Young America, yclept +bashfulness, marched up to the intruder, and planting herself before +him, put her arms akimbo, and assuming a look of stern investigation, +began: + +"Ahem! See here, _you_, where did you come from?" + +The young gentleman thus addressed leisurely opened a pair of large, +dark eyes, and quietly surveyed his interrogator from head to foot, +without disturbing himself in the slightest degree, or betraying the +smallest intention of moving. + +Very properly provoked at this aggravating conduct, Georgia's voice rose +an octave higher, as she said, authoritatively: + +"Can't you speak? Haven't you a tongue? I suppose it's the last +improvement in politeness not to answer when you're spoken to." + +This speech seemed to bring the young gentleman to a proper sense of his +errors. Getting up on his elbow, he took off his hat and began: + +"My dear young lady, I beg ten thousand pardons, but really at the +moment you spoke I was just debating within myself whether you were a +veritable fact or only an optical illusion. Having now satisfied myself +on that head, I beg you will repeat your questions, which, +unfortunately, in the excitement of the moment, I did not pay proper +attention to, and any information regarding myself personally and +privately, or concerning the world at large, that it lies in my power to +offer you, I shall be only too happy to communicate." + +And with this speech the young gentleman bowed once more, without +rising, however, replaced his hat, and getting himself into a +comfortable position, lay back on the sands, and supporting his head on +his hands, composedly waited to be cross-examined. + +"Humph!" said Georgia, regarding him doubtfully. "What is your name?" + +"My name is Norval; on the Grampian hills--that is, it might have been +Norval, only it happened to be Wildair--Charley Wildair, at your +service, noted for nothing in particular but good-nature and idleness. +And now, having satisfied your natural and laudable curiosity on that +point, may I humbly venture to ask the name of the fascinating young +lady who at this particular moment honors me with her presence?" + +"Well, you may. My name's Georgia Darrell, and I live up there in that +little cottage. Now, where do _you_ live?" + +"Miss Darrell, allow me to observe that it affords me the most dreadful +and excruciating happiness to make the acquaintance of so charming and +accomplished a young lady as yourself, and also to observe, that in all +my wanderings through this nether world, it has never been my good +fortune before to behold so perfectly fascinating a cottage as that to +which you refer. Regarding my own place of residence, I cannot inform +you positively, being a--'in point of fact,' as my cousin Feenix has +it--a wanderer and vagabond on the face of the earth, with no fixed +place of abode. My maternal ancestor resides in a place called Brooklyn, +a younger sister of New York city, and when not doing up my education in +the aforesaid city, I honor that venerable roof-tree with my presence. +At present, if you observe, I am vegetating in the flourishing and +intensely slow town of Burnfield over yonder, with my respected and +deeply venerated uncle, Mr. Robert Richmond, a gentleman chiefly +remarkable for the length of his purse and the shortness of his temper." + +"Squire Richmond's nephews! I heard they had come. Are you them?" +inquired Georgia, stepping back a pace, and speaking in a slightly awed +tone. + +"Exactly, Miss Darrell. With your usual penetration and good genius, you +have hit the right thing exactly in the middle; only, if you will allow +me, I must insinuate that I am not his nephews--not being an editor, I +have not the good fortune to be a plural individual; but with my Brother +Richard we do, I am happy to inform you, constitute the dutiful nephews +of your Burnfield magnate, Squire Richmond." + +"Hum-m-m!" said Georgia, looking at him with a puzzled expression, and +not exactly liking his indolent look and intensely ceremonious tone. +"You ain't laughing at me, are you?" + +"Laughing at you! Miss Darrell, if you'll just be kind enough to cast an +eye on my countenance you'll observe it's considerably more serious than +an undertaker's, or that of a man with a sick wife when told she is +likely to recover. Allow me to observe, Miss Darrell, that I suffered +through the 'principles of politeness' when I was an innocent and +guileless little shaver, in checked pinafores, and I hope I know the +proprieties better than to laugh at a lady. A fellow that would laugh at +a young woman, Miss Darrell, deserves to be--to be--a--a mark for the +finger of scorn to poke fun at! Yes, Miss Darrell, I repeat it, he +deserves to be a--I don't know what he doesn't deserve to be!" said Mr. +Wildair, firmly. + +"Well," said Georgia, rather mollified, "and what did you come up here +for, anyway, eh?" + +"Why, you see, Miss Darrell, the fact was, I was what you call +expelled,--which being translated from the original Greek into plain +slang, the chosen language of young America,--means I was politely +requested to vamose." + +"Oh," said Georgia, puckering up her lips as though she were going to +whistle, "you mean they turned you out?" + +"Pre-cisely! exactly! They couldn't properly appreciate me, you know. +Genius never is appreciated, if you observe, but is always neglected, +and snubbed, and put upon, in this world. Look at Shakespeare, and +Oliver Goldsmith, and all those other old fellows that got up works of +fiction, and see the hard times and tribulations they had of it." + +"And how long are you going to stay here?" asked Georgia. + +"That depends upon as long as I behave nicely, and don't endeavor to +corrupt the minds of the rising generation of Burnfield, I suppose. I've +been a perfect angel since I came, and would be at all times if they +didn't aggravate me. My mother was very disagreeable." + +"My mother was not--mamma never was disagreeable," said Georgia. + +"Indeed! Wonderful old lady she must have been then! Is she living?" + +"No: she's dead," said Georgia, looking down with filling eyes. + +"Ah! excuse me. I didn't know," said the boy, hastily. "And your +father?" + +"Dead, too." + +"Possible! With whom do you live?" + +"Miss Jerusha." + +"Miss Jerusha--who?" + +"Skamp. She lives up in that cottage." + +"Skamp! There's a pretty name to talk about! Old-lady, is she?" + +"Yes; old and ugly." + +"Ah! I guess I sha'n't mind an introduction, then. And what brings you +down here, Miss Darrell? It's my time to ask questions now." + +"Why, I came down here to read; and now, look here, I wish you wouldn't +keep on calling me Miss Darrell; it sounds as if you were laughing at +me. Say Georgia." + +"With all my heart. Georgia be it--on one condition." + +"Well, what is it?" + +"That you call me Charley." + +"Of course I'll call you Charley," said Georgia, decidedly; "I intended +to all along. You didn't expect I'd say mister, did you?" + +"Of course I didn't; I never indulge in absurd expectations. And may I +ask the name of the book so fortunate as to find favor in your eyes, +Miss Georgia?" + +"Well, it's the 'Pilgrim's Progress.' I don't think much of it +either--all about a man going on a journey, and getting into all sorts +of scrapes. I don't believe it ever happened at all, for my part. And +now, as you seem to like taking things easy, I guess I will too; so here +we go!" said Georgia, as, shoving the book into her pocket, she made a +spring forward, and by some mysterious sleight of hand, only understood +by cats, monkeys, sailors, and depraved youths given to mischief, she +clambered up the steep side of the high, smooth rock, and perched +herself in triumph on the top, like a female Apollo on the apex of +Mount Parnassus. + +The young gentleman on the sands lifted himself on his elbow and stared +at the little girl in a sort of indolent wonder at this energetic +proceeding. + +"Eh, what? you're up there, are you? May I ask, Miss Georgia, if it is +your custom to perch yourself up there, like Patience on a monument, +whenever you wish to appreciate the beauties of literature? Oh! the +amount of unnecessary trouble people put themselves to in this world! +Now why--I simply ask as a matter of courtesy--what possible object can +you have in risking your neck in order to be slightly elevated above +your fellow-mortals, eh?" + +"Just for fun," said Georgia, as standing on one toe she cut a +pigeon-wing, at the imminent danger of tumbling off and breaking her +neck. + +"For fun! Well, it's singular what perverted notions of amusement some +people have. Now I--I'm about as fond of that sort of a thing, I may +safely say, as any other youth; yet you'll excuse me when I say I really +cannot see the point of that joke at all." + +"_You_ couldn't do it," said Georgia, exultingly; "bet you any thing you +could not." + +"Well, now, I don't know about that," said the youth, surveying the rock +slowly with his large, indolent eyes; "of course, it's not polite or +proper to contradict a lady, or else I should beg leave to differ from +you in that opinion. There are precious few things, Miss Georgia, that I +ever attempted and failed to execute, though I say it. I'm what you may +call a universal genius, you know, equal to a steep rock, or any other +emergency, up to anything, ancient or modern, or, to use another +favorite and expressive phrase of Young America, a class to which I am +proud to belong--I am, in every sense of the word, 'up to snuff.'" + +"Bother!" exclaimed Georgia, to whom this homily, like all the lad's +speeches, was Greek, or thereabouts. "It's all very fine to lie there +like a lazy old porpoise, and talk such stuff, but you can't climb this +rock, say what you like--now then." + +"Can't I though!" exclaimed Master Charley, flinging away his cigar and +springing up with more energy than might have been expected from his +previous indolence, which, however, was more than half affected. "By +Jove! then, here goes to try. Miss Georgia, if in my efforts in your +service I turn out to be a case of 'Accidentally killed,' you'll see +that the coroner's inquest is held properly, and that all my goods and +chattels, consisting of a cigar-case, a clean shirt, and a jackknife, +are promptly forwarded to my bereaved relative. Now then, here goes! +'_Dieu et mon droit!_'" + +So saying, the lad, with a great deal more skill and agility than +Georgia had given him credit for, began climbing up the high rock. It +was no easy task, however, for the sides were quite perpendicular and +almost perfectly smooth, only suited to sailors and other aquatic +monsters used to climbing impossible places. + +Georgia clapped her hands and laughed her shrill elfish laugh at his +desperate efforts, and, taunted by this, the boy made a sudden spring at +the top, missed his footing, and tumbled off backward on the sands +below. + +With a sharp exclamation of alarm, Georgia, with one flying leap, sprang +clear off the beetling rock, and alighted, cat-like, on her feet by his +side. The lad lay perfectly still, and Georgia, terrified beyond +measure, bent over and tried to raise him, and not succeeding in this, +suddenly bethought herself of Miss Jerusha's infallible plan for all +distresses, mental and bodily, and, catching him by the shoulder, gave +him a sound shaking. + +This vigorous proceeding had the effect of completely restoring Master +Charley, who had been for the moment stunned by the force of the fall, +and, opening his eyes, he slowly raised himself and looked with a +slightly bewildered glance around. + +"Well, I knew you couldn't do it," cried Georgia, who, now observing +that he was not killed, recovered all her aggravating love of teasing. + +"Ugh! you tantalizing little pepper-pod! that's the sort of remorse you +feel after nearly depriving the world of one of its brightest ornaments. +'Pon my word, I never was so nearly extinguished in all my life. Ain't +you ashamed of yourself, Miss Georgia, now that you've been and gone and +done and made me put my foot in it so beautifully? And speaking of feet +reminds me that I have given my ankle a twist, and must see whether it +is to be relied upon or not for the journey home, two miles being no +joke, even at the best times." + +So saying, Mr. Wildair got on his feet and attempted to walk, an +experiment which resulted in his making a very wry face--and uttering +something like a subdued howl, and finally sinking back in his former +position. + +"Well, here's a precious go, and no mistake!" was the exclamation jerked +out of him by the exigency of the case; "here's my ankle has thought +proper to go and sprain itself, and now I'll leave it to society in +general if I'm not in just the tallest sort of a fix. Yes, you may stare +and look blank, Miss Georgia, but I'll repeat it, you've used me +shamefully, Miss Georgia, yes, abominably, Miss Georgia, and if you keep +on like this, you stand a fair chance of sharing my own elevated +destiny. You perceive I'm a fixture here, and may as well take up my +quarters where I am for life, for out of this I can't go." + +"Whatever will you do?" exclaimed Georgia, in dismay. + +"Why, come to anchor here, of course; walking's out of the question. If +you would be so obliging as to hunt me up a soft rock to sleep on, and +where I could compose myself decently for death, it would be more +agreeable to my feelings than to scorch here in the sand. Attempt to +walk I positively can't and won't, traveling on one foot not being the +pleasantest or speediest mode of locomotion in the world." + +"Now, I declare, if it ain't too bad. I'm real sorry," said Georgia, +whose sympathies were all aroused by the good-humor with which Master +Charley bore his painful accident. + +"Well, I wouldn't take it too much to heart if I were you, Miss Georgia; +it might have been worse, you know--my neck, for instance." + +"I'll tell you what," said Georgia, "I've got an idea." + +"Pshaw! you're only joking," said Charley, incredulously. + +"No, I ain't; I'll go for Miss Jerusha, and make her come here and help +you up. You wait." + +"Really," began Charley, but without waiting to hear him, Georgia +bounded off, and clambering up the bank with two or three flying leaps +reached the high road, and rushed impetuously along toward the cottage. + +"There's an original for you," said the proprietor of the sprained +ankle, looking after Georgia. "Well, this sprained ankle is mighty +pleasant, I must say. If the old lady comes down she'll have to carry me +on her back, for walk I won't." + +Georgia, meanwhile, on charitable thoughts intent, rushed along where +she was going, and the consequence was that she ran with stunning force +against some person or persons unknown advancing from the opposite +direction. + +"Heads up!" said a pleasant voice; and Georgia, who betrayed symptoms of +an insane desire to pitch head over heels, was restored to her center of +gravity. "Rather an energetic mode of doing business this, I must say." + +Georgia looked up, and jerked herself from the grasp of the stranger, a +young man, dressed in a student's plain suit of black, who stood looking +at her with a smile. + +"What did you run against me for?" said Georgia, with one of her scowls, +instantly taking the offensive. + +"Run against _you_! Why, you are reversing cases, madam. Allow me to +insinuate that you ran against _me_." + +"I didn't, either! I mean I shouldn't if you hadn't poked yourself right +in my way." Then, as a sudden idea struck her, she breathlessly resumed: +"Oh, yes; you'll do better than Miss Jerusha! Come along with me to the +beach, and help him up!" said Georgia, gesticulating with much +earnestness. + +"Help who up, my impetuous little lady?" said the young man, with a +smile. + +"Why, _him_, you know! He tumbled off--I knew he would all along--and +went and sprained his ankle, and now he can't get up. It hurts him, I +know, though he don't make a fuss or nothing, but talks and looks +droll--nice fellow, I know he is! Help him up to our house, and Miss +Jerusha'll fix him off, she will! Come! come along, can't you?" + +All this time Georgia had stood, with sparkling eyes, gesticulating +eagerly, as was her habit when excited; and now she caught him by the +arm and pulled him vigorously along. + +The stranger, with a laugh, allowed himself to be borne on by this +breathless little whirlwind; and in less than ten minutes after she had +left him, Georgia stood beside Charley Wildair on the beach. + +Charley looked up as they approached, and glancing at her companion, +exclaimed: + +"Hallo, Rich! Well, here's a slice of good luck, anyway. How in the +world did you scare _him_ up, Miss Georgia?" + +"Why he ran against me," said Georgia, "and nearly knocked my brains +out. Do you know him?" + +"I should think I did--rather!" said Charley, emphatically. "Here, Rich, +come and help me up, there's a good fellow!" + +"What have you been at now?" said Rich, as he obeyed. "Some piece of +nonsense, I'll be bound." + +"No, sir, I haven't been at nonsense. I was attempting to treat myself +to a rise in the world by climbing up that rock, and, losing my +equilibrium, the first thing I knew I was gracefully extended at full +length on the sands, with one limb slightly dislocated, as completely +floored an individual as you ever clapped your eyes on. For further +particulars, apply to Miss Georgia here. And that reminds me, you +haven't been duly presented to that young woman. Allow me to repair that +error before proceeding to business. Miss Darrell, let me have the +pleasure of presenting to your distinguished notice, my brother, Mr. +Richmond Wildair, a young man chiefly remarkable for a rash and +inordinate attachment for musty old books, and--having his own way. Mr. +Wildair, Miss Georgia Darrell, a young lady whose many estimable +qualities and aggravating will of her own require to be seen to be +appreciated. Ahem." + +And having, with great _empressment_ and pomposity, delivered himself of +this "neat and appropriate" speech, Mr. Charles Wildair drew himself up +with dignity--which, as he was obliged to stand on one foot, with the +other elevated in the air, hardly made the impression it was intended to +make. + +Mr. Richmond Wildair held out his hand to Georgia with a smile, and, +after looking at it for a moment, in evident doubt as to the propriety +of shaking hands with him, she at last consented to do so with a grave +solemnity quite irresistible. + +And thus Richmond Wildair and Georgia Darrell met for the first time. +And little did either dream of what the future had in store for them, as +they stood side by side on the sands in the golden light of that breezy, +sunshiny May morning. + + + + +CHAPTER V. + +"LADY MACBETH." + + "Who that had seen her form so light, + For swiftness only turned, + Would e'er have thought in a thing so slight, + Such a fiery spirit burned." + + +"And now what am I expected to do next?" said Richmond, looking at his +two companions. "I am entirely at your service, monsieur and +mademoiselle." + +"Why, you must help him up to our house," said Georgia, in her +peremptory tone, "and let Miss Jerusha do something for his lame ankle." + +"And after that you must transport yourself over to Burnfield with all +possible dispatch, and procure a cart, car, gig, wagon, carriage, +wheelbarrow, or any other vehicle wherein my remains can be hauled to +that thriving town, for walking, you perceive, is a moral and physical +impossibility." + +"All right!" said Richmond. "Here, take my arm. How will you manage to +get up this steep bank? Do you think you can walk it?" + +"Nothing like trying," said Charley, as leaning on his brother's arm he +limped along, while Georgia went before to show them the way. "Ah, that +was a twinge. The gout must be a nice thing to have if it is at all like +this. I never properly felt for those troubled with that fashionable and +aristocratic disease before, but the amount of sympathy I shall do for +the future will be something terrifying. Here we are; now then, up we +go." + +But Master Charley found that "up we go" was easier said than done. He +attempted to mount the bank, but at the first effort he recoiled, while +a flush of pain overspread his pale features. + +"No go, trying to do that; get up there I can't if they were to make me +Khan of Tartary for doing it. Ah--h--h! there's another twinge, as if a +red-hot poker had been plunged into it. The way that ankle can go into +the aching business requires to be felt to be appreciated." + +Though he spoke lightly, yet two scarlet spots, forced there by the +intense pain, burned on either cheek. + +Richmond looked at him anxiously, for he loved his wild, harum-scarum, +handsome young brother with a strong love. + +"Oh, he can't walk; I know it hurts him; what _will_ we do?" said +Georgia, in a tone of such intense motherly solicitude that, in spite of +his painful ankle, Charley smiled faintly. + +"I know what _I_ shall do," said Richmond, abruptly. "I shall carry +him." + +And suiting the action to the word, the elder brother--older only by two +or three years, but much stronger and more compactly built than the +somewhat delicate Charley--lifted him in his arms and proceeded to bear +him up the rocks. + +"Why, Richmond, old fellow," remonstrated Charley, "you'll kill +yourself--rupture an artery, and all that sort of thing, you know; and +then there'll be a pretty to do about it. Let go, and I'll walk it, in +spite of the ankle. I can hold out as long as it can, I should hope." + +"Never mind, Charley; I'm pretty strong, and you're not a killing +weight, being all skin and bone, and nonsense pretty much. Keep still, +and I will have you up in a twinkling." + +"Be it so, then, most obliging youth. Really, it's not such a bad +notion, this being carried--rather comfortable than otherwise." + +"Now, don't keep on so, Charley," said Georgia, in a voice of motherly +rebuke. "How is your ankle? Does it hurt you much now?" + +"Well, after mature deliberation on the subject, I think I may safely +say it _does_. It's aching just at this present writing as if for a +wager," replied Charley, with a grimace. + +Georgia glanced at Richmond, and seeing great drops of perspiration +standing on his brow as he toiled up, said, in all sincerity: + +"See here, you look tired to death. _Do_ let me help you. I'm strong, +and he ain't very heavy looking, and I guess I can carry him the rest of +the way." + +Richmond turned and looked at her in surprise, but seeing she was +perfectly serious in her offer, he repressed his amusement and gravely +declined; while Charley, less delicate, set up an indecorous laugh. + +"Carry me up the hill! Oh, that's good! What would Curtis, and Dorset, +and all the fellows say if they heard that, Rich? 'Pon honor, that's the +best joke of the season! A little girl I could lift with one hand +offering to carry me up hill?" + +And Master Charley lay back and laughed till the tears stood in his +eyes. + +His laughter was brought to a sudden end by an unexpected sight. Little +Georgia faced round, with flashing eyes and glowing cheeks, and, with a +passionate stamp of her foot, exclaimed: + +"How _dare_ you laugh at me, you hateful, ill-mannered fellow? Don't you +ever dare to do it again, or it won't be good for you! If you weren't +hurt now, and not able to take your own part, I'd _tear your eyes +out_!--I just would! Don't you DARE to laugh at me, sir!" + +And with another fierce stamp of her foot, and wild flash of her eyes, +she turned away and walked in the direction of the cottage. + +For a moment the brothers were confounded by this unexpected and +startling outburst--this new revelation of the unique child before them. +There was in it something so different from the customary pouting anger +of a child--something so nearly appalling in her fierce eyes and +passionate gestures, that they looked at each other a moment in +astounded silence before attempting to reply. + +"Really, Georgia, I did not mean to offend," said Charley, at last, as +they by this time reached the high-road, and the exhausted Richmond +deposited him on his feet. "I am very sorry I have angered you, but I'm +such a fellow to laugh, you know, that the least thing sets me off. Why +I'd laugh at an empress, if she did or said anything droll. Come, +forgive me, like a good girl!" and Charley, looking deeply penitent, +held out his hand. + +But Georgia was proud, and was not one to readily forgive what she +considered an insult, so she drew herself back and up, and only replied +by a dangerous flash of her great black eyes. + +"Come, Georgia, don't be angry; let's make up friends again. Where's the +good of keeping spite, especially when a fellow's sorry for his fault? +One thing I know, and that is, if you don't forgive me pretty soon, I'll +go and heave myself away into an untimely grave, in the flower of my +youth, and then just think of the remorse of conscience you'll suffer. +Come, Georgia, shake hands and be friends." + +But Georgia faced round, with a curling lip, and turning to Richmond, +who all this time had stood quietly by, with folded arms, surveying her +with an inexplicable smile, which faded away the moment he met her eye, +she said, shortly: + +"You had better come along. I'll go on ahead and tell Miss Jerusha +you're coming." And then, without waiting for a reply, she walked on in +proud silence. + +She reached the cottage in a few minutes, and, throwing open the door +with her accustomed explosive bang, went up to where Miss Jerusha sat +sewing diligently, and facing that lady, began: + +"Miss Jerusha, look here!" + +Miss Jerusha lifted her head, and, seeing Miss Georgia's flushed cheeks +and sparkling eyes, the evidence of one of her "tantrums," said: + +"Well who hev you bin a-fightin' with _now_, marm?" + +"I haven't been fighting with any one," said Georgia, impatiently, for a +slight skirmish like this was nothing to pitched battle she called +fighting; "but there's a boy that has sprained his ankle down on the +beach, and his brother's bringing him here for you to fix it." + +Now, Miss Jerusha, though not noted for her hospitality at any time, +would not, perhaps, on an ordinary occasion make any objection to this +beyond a few grumbles, but on this particular morning everything had +gone wrong, and she was in an (even for her) unusually surly mood, so +she turned round and sharply exclaimed: + +"And do you suppose, you little good-for-nothing whipper-snapper, I keep +an 'ospital for every shif'less scamp in the neighborhood? If you do, +you are very much mistaken, that's all. If he's sprained his ankle, let +him go sommer's else, for I vow to Sam he sha'n't come here!" + +"He _shall_ come here!" exclaimed Georgia, with one of her passionate +stamps: "you see if he sha'n't. I told him he could come here, and he +shall, too, in spite of you!" + +"Why, you little impident hussy you!" said Miss Jerusha, flinging down +her work and rising to her feet, "how dare you have the imperance to +stand up and talk to me like that? We'll see whether he'll come here or +not. _You_ invited him here, indeed! And pray what right have you to +invite anybody here, I want to know? You, a lazy, idle little vagabone, +not worth your salt! Come here, indeed! I wish he may; if he doesn't go +out faster than he came in it won't be my fault!" + +"Just you try to turn him out, you cross, ugly old thing! If you do +I'll--I'll _kill_ you; I'll set fire to this hateful old hut, and burn +it down! You see if I don't. There!" + +The savage gleam of her eyes at that moment, her face white with +concentrated passion, was something horrible and unnatural in one of her +years. Miss Jerusha drew back a step, and interposed a chair between +them in salutary dread of the little vixen's claw-like nails. + +At that moment the form of Richmond Wildair appeared in the door-way. +Both youths had arrived in time to witness the fierce altercation +between the mistress of the house and her half-savage little ward, and +Richmond now interposed. + +Taking off his hat, he bowed to Miss Jerusha saying in his calm, +gentlemanly tones: + +"I beg your pardon, madam, for this intrusion, but my brother being +really unable to walk, I beg you will have the kindness to allow him to +remain here until I can return from Burnfield with a carriage. You will +not be troubled with him more than an hour." + +Inhospitable as she was, Miss Jerusha could not really refuse this, so +she growled out a churlish assent; and Richmond, secretly amused at the +whole thing, helped in Charley, while Georgia set the rocking-chair for +him, and placed a stool under his wounded foot, without, however, +favoring him with a single smile, or word, or glance. She was in no mood +just then either to forget or forgive. + +"And now I'm off," said Richmond, after seeing Charley safely disposed +of. "I will be back in as short a time as I possibly can; and meantime, +Miss Georgia," he added, turning to her with a smile as he left the +room, "I place my brother under your care until I come back." + +But Georgia, with her back to them both, was looking sullenly out of the +window, and neither moved nor spoke until Richmond had gone, and then +she followed him out, and stood looking irresolutely after him as he +walked down the road. + +He turned round, and seeing her there, stopped as though expecting she +would speak; but she only played nervously with the hop-vines crowning +the walls, without lifting her voice. + +"Well, Georgia?" he said inquiringly. + +"I--I don't want to stay here. I'll go with you to Burnfield, if you +like. Miss Jerusha's cross," she said, looking up half shyly, half +defiantly in his face. + +A strange expression flitted for an instant over the grave, thoughtful +face of Richmond Wildair, passing away as quickly as it came. Without a +word he went up to where Georgia stood, with that same light in her +eyes, half shy, half fierce, that one sees in the eyes of a half-tamed +and dangerous animal when under the influence of a master-eye. + +"Georgia, look at me," he said, laying one hand lightly on her shoulder. + +She stepped back, shook off the hand, and looked defiantly up in his +face. It was not exactly a handsome face, yet it was full of power--full +of calm, deep, invincible power--with keen, intense, piercing eyes, +whose steady gaze few could calmly stand. Child as she was, the hitherto +unconquered Georgia felt that she stood in the presence of a strong +will, that surmounted and overtopped her own by its very depth, +intensity and calmness. She strove to brave out his gaze, but her own +eyes wavered and fell. + +"Well?" she said, in a subdued tone. + +"Georgia, will you do me a favor?" + +"Well?" she said, compressing her lips hard, as though determined to do +battle to the death. + +"My brother is alone, he is in pain, he did not mean to offend you, he +is under _your_ roof. Georgia, I want you to stay with him till I come +back." + +"He laughed at me--he made fun of me. I _won't_! I hate him!" she said, +with a passionate flush. + +"He is sorry for that. When people are sorry for their faults, a +magnanimous enemy always forgives." + +"I don't care. I _won't_ forgive him. I was doing everything I could for +him. I would have helped him up hill if I could, and he _laughed at me_! +I won't stay with him!" she exclaimed, tearing the hop branches off and +flinging them to the ground in her excitement. + +He caught the destructive little hands in his and held them fast. + +"Georgia, you _will_!" + +"I _won't_! not if I die for it!" she flashed. + +"Georgia!" + +"Let me go!" she cried out, trying to wrench her hands from his grasp. +"I never will! Let me go!" + +"Georgia, do you know what hospitality means?" + +"Yes." + +"Well, he is your guest now. Have you ever read about the Arabs of the +desert, my proud little lady?" + +"Yes." + +"Well, you know once their most deadly enemy entered their house, they +treated him as though he were the dearest friend they had in the world. +Now, Georgia, you will be a lady some day, I think, and----" + +"I will stay with your brother till you come back," she said, proudly; +"but I _won't_ be his friend--never again! I liked him then, and I +wanted to do everything I could for him. I would have had _my_ ankle +sprained if it would have made his well. I was so sorry, +and--he--laughed at me!" + +In spite of all her evident efforts her lips quivered, and turning +abruptly, she walked away and entered the house. + +Richmond Wildair stood for an instant in the same spot, looking after +her, and again that nameless, inexplicable smile flitted over his face. + +"_Conquered_!" he said, with a sort of exultation in his voice; "and for +the first time in her life, I believe. Strange, wild child that she is. +I see the germs of a fine but distorted character there." + +He walked down the road, whistling "My love is but a lassie yet," while +Georgia re-entered the house, and with a dark cloud still on her face, +walked to the window and looked sullenly after the retreating figure of +Richmond. + +Master Charley, who had a taste for strange animals, had been devoting +his time to drawing out Miss Jerusha, practicing all his fascinations on +her with a zeal and determination worthy of a better cause, and at last +succeeded in wheedling that deluded lady into a recital of her many and +peculiar troubles, to all of which he listened with the most +sympathizing, not to say painful attention, and with a look so intensely +dismal that it quite won the old lady's heart. But when he praised +Betsey Periwinkle, and stroked her down, and spoke in terms of +enthusiastic admiration of a pair of moleskin pantaloons Miss Jerusha +was making, bespeaking another pair exactly like them for himself, his +conquest was complete, and he took a firm hold of Miss Jerusha's +unappropriated affections, which from that day he never lost. And on the +strength of this new and rash attack of "love at first sight," Miss +Jerusha produced from some mysterious corner a glass of currant wine and +a plate of sliced gingerbread, which she offered to her guest--a piece +of reckless extravagance she had never been guilty of before, and which +surprised Fly to such a degree that she would have there and then taken +out a writ of lunacy against her mistress, had she known anything +whatever about such a proceeding. Master Charley, being blessed with an +excellent appetite of his own, which his accident had in no way +diminished, graciously condescended to partake of the offered dainties, +and launched out into such enthusiastic praises of both, that the +English language actually foundered and gave out, in his transports. + +And all this time Georgia had stood by the window, silent and sullen, +with a cloud on her brow, and a bright, angry light in her eyes, that +warned both Miss Jerusha and Charley Wildair that it was safer to let +her alone than speak to her just then. For though the girl's combustible +nature was something like a blaze of tow, burning fiercely for a moment +and then going out, she did not readily forgive injuries, slights, or +affronts, or what she considered such. No, she brooded over them until +they sank deep among the many other rank things that had been allowed to +take root in her heart, and which only the spirit of true religion could +now ever eradicate. + +The child had grown up from infancy neglected, her high spirit +unchecked, her fierce outbursts of temper unrebuked, allowed to have her +own way in all things, ignorant of all religious training whatsoever. +She had heard the words, God, heaven and hell--but they were _only_ +words to her, striking the ear, but conveying no meaning, and she had +_never_ bent her childish knee in prayer. + +What wonder then that she grew up as we find her, proud, passionate, +sullen, obstinate, and vindictive? The germs of a really fine nature had +been born with her, but they had been neglected and allowed to run to +waste, while every evil passion had been fostered and nurtured. + +Generous, frank, and truthful she was still, scorning a lie, _not_ +because she thought it a sin, but because it seemed _mean_ and cowardly; +high-spirited, too, she would have gone through fire and flood to serve +any one she loved; _but_, had that one offended her, she would have +hurled her back into the fire and flood without remorse. + +Ingratitude was not one of her vices either, though from her conduct to +Miss Jerusha it would appear so; but Georgia could not love the sharp, +snappish, though not bad-hearted old maid, and so she believed she owed +her nothing, a belief more than one in Burnfield took care to foster. + +Not a vice that child possessed that a careful hand could not have +changed into a real virtue, for in her sinning there was at least +nothing mean and underhand; treachery and deception she would have +scorned and stigmatized as _cowardly_, for courage, daring, bravery, was +in the eyes of Georgia the highest virtue in earth or heaven. + +Richmond Wildair understood her, because he possessed an astute and +powerful intellect, and mastered her, because he had a _will_ equal to +her own, and a mind, by education and cultivation, infinitely superior. + +Georgia, almost unknown to herself, had a profound admiration and +respect for _strength_, whether bodily or mental; and the moment +Richmond Wildair let her see he could conquer her, that moment he +achieved a command over the wild girl he never lost. + +Yet it galled her, this first link in the chain that was one day to bind +her hand and foot; and, like an unbroken colt on whom the bridle and +curb are put for the first time, she grew restive and angry under the +intolerable yoke. + +"What right has he to make me stay?" she thought, with a still darkening +brow. "What business has he to order me to do this or that? Telling me +to stay with his brother, as if he was my master and I was his servant! +I don't see why I did it; he had no _business_ to tell me so. I have a +good mind to run away yet, and when he comes he'll find me gone--but no, +I promised to stay, and I will. I wouldn't have stayed for anybody +else, and I don't see why I did for him. I won't do it again--I never +will; the very next thing he asks me to do I'll say no, and I'll _stick_ +to it. I won't be ordered about by anybody!" + +And Georgia raised her head proudly, and her eye flashed, and her cheek +kindled, and her little brown hand clenched, as her whole untamed nature +rose in revolt against the idea of servitude. Some wild Indian or gipsy +blood must have been in Georgia's veins, for never did a lord of forest +rock or river resolve to do battle to maintain his freedom with more +fierce determination than did she at that moment. + +Her resolution was soon put to the test. Ere another hour had passed +Richmond Wildair returned with a light gig, and entered the house. + +Georgia saw him enter, but would not turn round, and Charley, getting +up, bade Miss Jerusha a gay good-by, promising to come and see her again +the first thing after his ankle got well. Then, going over to Georgia, +he held out his hand, saying: + +"Come, Georgia, I am going away. _Do_ bid me good-by." + +It was hardly in human nature to resist that coaxing tone; so a curt +"good-by" dropped out from between Georgia's closed teeth; but she would +neither look at him nor notice his extended hand. + +And with this leave-taking Charley was forced to be content; and, +leaning on Richmond, he went out and took his place in the gig. + +Then Richmond returned, and bowing his farewell and his thanks to Miss +Jerusha, slightly surprised at the mollifying metamorphosis that +ancient lady had undergone, he went up to Georgia, saying, in a low +tone: + +"Come with me to the door, Georgia; I have something to say to you." + +"Say it here." + +He hesitated, but Georgia looked as immovable as a rock. + +"Well, then, Georgia, I want you to forgive my brother before he goes." + +Georgia planted her feet firmly together, compressed her lips, and, +without lifting her eyes to his face, said, in a low, resolute tone: + +"Richmond Wildair, I won't!" + +"But, Georgia, he is sorry for his fault; he has apologized; you _ought_ +to forgive him." + +"I won't!" + +"Georgia, it is wrong, it is unnatural in a little girl to be wicked and +vindictive like this. If you were a good child, you would shake hands +and be friends." + +"I won't!" + +"Georgia, for _my_ sake--" + +"_I won't!_" + +"Obstinate, flinty little thing! Do you like me, Georgia?" + +"No!" + +"You don't? Why, Georgia, what a shame! You don't like me?" + +"No, I don't! I hate you both! You have no business to tease me this +way! I won't forgive him--I never will! I'll _never_ do anything for you +again!" + +And, with a fierce flash of the eyes that reminded him of a panther he +had once shot, she broke from his retaining grasp and fled out of the +house. + +He was foiled. He turned away with a slight smile, yet there was a +scarcely perceptible shade of annoyance on his high, serene brow, as he +took his place beside his brother and drove off. + +"What took you back, Rich?" asked Charley. + +"I wanted to bid good-by to that unique little specimen of girlhood in +there, and get her to pardon you." + +"And she would not?" + +"No." + +"Whew! resisted _your_ all-powerful will! The gods be praised that you +have found your match at last!" + +Richmond's brow slightly contracted, and he gave the horse a quick cut +with the whip that sent him flying on. + +"And yet I will make her do it," he said, with his calm, peculiar, +inexplicable smile. + +"Eh?--you will? And how, may I ask?" + +"Never you mind--she shall do it! I have conquered her once already, and +I shall do it again, although she _has_ refused this time. I did not +expect her to yield without a struggle." + +"By Jove! there's some wild blood in that one. There was mischief in her +eyes as she turned on me there on the hill. I shall take care to give +her a wide berth, and let her severely alone for the future." + +"Yes, she is an original--all steel springs--a fine nature if properly +trained," said Richmond, musingly. + +"A fine fiddlestick!" said Charley, contemptuously; "she's as sharp as a +persimmon, and as sour as an unripe crab-apple, and as full of stings as +a whole forest of nettle-trees." + +"Do you know, Charles, I fancy Lady Macbeth might have been just such a +child?" + +"Shouldn't wonder. The little black-eyed gipsy is fierce enough in all +conscience to make a whole batch of Lady Macbeths. May all the powers +that be generously grant I may not be the Duncan she is to send to the +other world." + +"If she is allowed to grow up as she is now, she will certainly be some +day capable of even Lady Macbeth's crime. Pity she has no one better +qualified to look after her than that disagreeable old woman." + +"Better mind how you talk about the old lady," said Charley; "she and I +are as thick as pickpockets. I flattered her beautifully, I flatter +myself, and she believes in me to an immense extent. As to the young +lady, what do you say to adopting her yourself? You'd be a sweet mentor +for youth, wouldn't you?" + +"You may laugh, but I really feel a deep interest in that child," said +Richmond. + +"Well, for my part," said Charley, "I don't believe in vixens, young or +old, but you--_you_ always had a taste for monsters." + +"Not exactly," said Richmond, untying a knot in his whip; "but she is +something new; she suits me; I like her." + + + + +CHAPTER VI. + +TAMING AN EAGLET. + + "In her heart + Are sown the sparks that kindle fiery war; + Occasion needs but fan them and they blaze." + + COWPER. + + "Mind's command o'er mind, + Spirits o'er spirit, is the clear effect + And natural action of an inward gift + Given by God." + + +All that day little Georgia went wandering aimlessly, restlessly, +through the woods, possessed by some walking spirit that would not let +her sit still for an instant. She had kept her vow; she had resisted the +power of a master mind; she had maintained her free will, and refused to +do as he commanded her. Yes, she felt it as a command. She had thrown +off the yoke he would have laid on her, and she ought to have exulted in +her triumph--in her victory. But, strange to say, it surprised even +herself that she had _not_; she felt angry, sullen and dissatisfied. The +consciousness that she was wrong and he was right--that she ought to +have done as he told her--would force itself upon her in spite of her +efforts. How mean and narrow her own conduct did look now that she came +to think it over, and the fever of passion had passed away; had she been +brave and generous she felt she would have forgiven him when he so often +apologized; it was galling to be laughed at, it was true, but when he +was sorry for his fault she knew she ought to have pardoned him. How +they both must despise her; what a wicked, ugly, disagreeable little +girl they must think her. How she wished she had been better, and had +made up friends, and not let them go away thinking her so cross and +sullen and obstinate. + +"Miss Jerusha says I'm ugly and good for nothing and bad-tempered, and +so does every body else. Nobody loves me or cares for me, and every body +says I've got the worst temper they ever knew. People don't do anything +but laugh at me and make fun of me and call me names. Mamma and Warren +liked me, but they're dead, and I wish I was dead and buried, too--I do +so! I'll never dance again; I'll never sing for anyone; I'll go away +somewhere, and never come back. I wish I was pretty and good-tempered +and pleasant, like Em Murray: every body loved her; but I ain't, and +never will be. I'm black and ugly and bad-tempered, and every one hates +me. Let them hate me, then--I don't care! I hate them just as much; and +I'll be just as cross and ugly as ever I like. I was made so, and I +can't help it, and I don't care for any body. I'll do just as I like, I +will so! I can hate people as much as they can hate me, and I will do +it, too. I don't see what I was ever born for; Miss Jerusha says it was +to torment people: but I couldn't help it, and it ain't my fault, and +they have no business to blame me for it. Emily Murray says God makes +people die, and I don't see why he didn't let me die, too, when mamma +did. Mamma was good, and I expect she's in heaven, but I'm so bad +they'll never let me there I know! I don't care for that either. I was +made bad, and if they send me to the bad place for it, they may. Em +Murray'll go to Heaven, because she's good and pretty, and Miss Jerusha +says _she'll_ go, but I don't believe it. If she does, _I_ sha'n't go +even if they ask me to, for I know she'll scold all the time up there +just as she does down here. If they do let her in, I guess they'll be +pretty sorry for it after, and wish they hadn't. I 'pose them two young +gentlemen from New York will go, too, and I know that Charley fellow +will laugh when he sees me turned off, just as he did this morning. I +don't believe I ought to have made up with him, after all. I won't +either, if his brother says I _must_. If he lets me alone I may, but +I'll never offer to do anything for him again as long as I live. Oh, +dear! I don't see what I ever was born for at all, and I do wish I never +had been, or that I had died with mamma and Warren." + +And so, with bitterness in her heart, the child wandered on and on +restlessly, as if to escape from herself, with a sense of wrong, and +neglect, and injustice forcing itself upon her childish uncultivated +mind. She thought of all the hard names and opprobrious epithets Miss +Jerusha called her, and "unjust! unjust!" was the cry of her heart as +she wandered on. She felt that in all the world there was not such a +wicked, unloved child as she, and the untutored heart resolved in its +bitterness to repay scorn with scorn, and hate with hate. + +It was dark when she came home. She had had no dinner, but with the +conflict going on within she had felt no hunger. Miss Jerusha's supper +was over and long since cleared away, and, as might be expected, she was +in no very sweet frame of mind at the long absence of her _protegee_. + +"Well, you've got home at last, have you?" she began sharply, and with +her voice pitched in a most aggravating key. "Pretty time o' night this, +I must say, to come home, after trampin' round like a vagabone on the +face o' the airth all the whole blessed day. You desarve to be switched +as long as you can stand, you worthless, lazy, idle young varmint you! +Be off to the kitchen, and see if Fly can't get you some supper, though +you oughtn't to get a morsel if you were rightly sarved. Other folks has +to toil for what they eat, but you live on other folks' vittals, and do +nothing, you indolent little tramper you!" + +Miss Jerusha paused for want of breath, expecting the angry retort this +style of address never failed to extort from the excitable little +bomb-shell before her, but to her surprise none came. The child stood +with compressed lips, dark and gloomy, gazing into the fading fire. + +"Well, why don't you go?" said Miss Jerusha angrily. "You ought to take +your betters' leavin's and be thankful, though there's no such thing as +thankfulness in you, I do believe. Go!" + +"I don't want your supper; you may keep it," said Georgia, with proud +sullenness. + +"Oh, you don't! Of course not! it's not good enough for your ladyship, +by no manner of means," said Miss Jerusha, with withering sarcasm. +"Hadn't I better order some cake and wine for your worship? Dear, dear! +what ladies we are, to be sure! Is there anything particularly nice I +could get for you, marm, eh? P'raps Fly'd better run to Burnfield for +some plum puddin' or suthin', hey? Oh, dear me, ain't we dainty, +though." + +Georgia actually gnashed her teeth, and turned livid with passion as she +listened, and, with a spring, she stood before the startled Miss +Jerusha, her eyes glaring in the partial darkness like those of a +wild-cat. Miss Jerusha, in alarm, lifted a chair as a weapon of defense +against the expected attack; but the attack was not made. + +Clasping her hands over her head with a sort of irrepressible cry, she +fled from the room, up the stairs into her own little chamber, fastened +the door, and then sank down, white and quivering, on the floor of the +room. + +How long she lay there she could not tell; gusts of passion swept +through her soul. Wild, fierce, and maddening raged the conflict +within--one of those delirious storms of the heart--known and felt only +by those whose fiery, tropical veins seem to run fire instead of blood. + +She heard Miss Jerusha's step on the stairs, heard her approach her door +and listen for a moment, and then go to her own chamber and securely +lock the door. + +In that moment the half crazed child hated her; hated all the world; +feeling as though she could have killed her were it in her power. Then +this unnatural mood passed away--it was too unnatural to last--and she +rose from the floor, looking like a spirit, with her streaming hair, +wild eyes, and white face. She went to the window and opened it, for her +head throbbed and ached, and leaning her forehead against the cool +glass, she looked out. + +How still and serene everything was! The river lay bright and beautiful +in the dark bright starlight. The pine trees waved dreamily in the soft +spring breeze, and the odor of their fragrant leaves came borne to where +she sat. The silence of the grave reigned around, the lonesome forest +seemed lonelier than ever to-night, and so deep was the stillness that +the plaintive cry of the whip-poor-will, as it rose at intervals, +sounded startlingly loud and shrill. She lifted her eyes to the high, +bright, solemn stars that seemed looking down pityingly upon the poor +little orphan child, and all her wickedness and passion passed away, and +a mysterious awe, deep and holy, entered that tempest-tossed young +heart. The soft, cool breeze lifted her dark elf locks, and lingered and +cooled her hot brow like a friend's kiss. Georgia had often looked at +the stars before, but they never seemed to have such high and holy +beauty as they possessed to-night. + +"God made the stars," thought Georgia; "I wonder what He made them for? +Perhaps they are the eyes of the people that die and go to heaven. I +wonder if mamma and Warren are up there, and know how bad I am, and how +wicked and miserable I feel? I guess they would be sorry for me if they +did, for there is nobody in the world to like me now. Some people pray; +Emily Murray does, for I've seen her; but I don't know how, and I don't +think God would listen to me if I did, I'm so dreadful bad. She taught +me a pretty hymn to sing; it sounds like a prayer; but I've forgot it +all but the first verse. I'll say that anyway. Let's see--oh, yes! I +know two." + +And, for the first time in her life, she knelt down and clasped her +hands, and in the light of the beautiful solemn stars, she softly +whispered her first prayer. + + "Oh, Mary, my mother, most lovely, most mild, + Look down upon me, your poor, weak, lonely child; + From the land of my exile, I call upon thee, + Then Mary, my mother, look kindly on me. + In sorrow and darkness, be still at my side, + My light and my refuge, my guard and my guide. + Though snares should surround me, yet why should I fear? + I know I am weak, but my mother is near. + Then Mary, my mother, look down upon me, + 'Tis the voice of thy child that is calling to thee." + +Georgia's voice died away, yet with her hands still clasped and her dark +mystic eyes now upturned to the far-off stars, her thoughts went +wandering on the sweet words she had said. + +"'Mary, my mother!' I wonder who that means. My mamma's name was not +Mary, and one can't have two mothers, I should think. How good it +sounds, too! I must ask Emily what it means; she knows. Oh, I wish--I do +wish I was up there where all the beautiful stars are!" + +Poor little Georgia! untaught, passionate child! how many years will +come and go, what a fiery furnace thou art destined to pass through +before that "peace which passeth all understanding" will enter your +anguished, world-weary heart! + +When breakfast was over next morning, Georgia took her sun-bonnet and +set off for Burnfield. She hardly knew herself what was her object in +passing so quickly through the village, without stopping at any of her +favorite haunts, until she stood before the large, handsome mansion +occupied and owned by the one great man of Burnfield, Squire Richmond. + +The house was an imposing structure of brown stone, with arched +porticoes, and vine-wreathed balconies. The grounds were extensive, and +beautifully laid out; and Georgia, with the other children, had often +peeped longingly over the high fence encircling the front garden, at the +beautiful flowers within. + +Georgia, skilled in climbing, could easily have got over and reached +them, but her innate sense of honor would not permit her to steal. There +was something mean in the idea of being a thief or a liar, and meanness +was the blackest crime in her "table of sins." Perhaps another reason +was, Georgia did not care much for flowers; she liked well enough to see +them growing, but as for culling a bouquet for any pleasure it could +afford her, she would never have thought of doing it. While she stood +gazing wistfully at the forbidden garden of Eden, a sweet silvery voice +close behind her arrested her attention with the exclamation: + +"Why, Georgia, is this really you?" + +Georgia turned round and saw a little girl about her own age, but, to a +superficial eye, a hundred times prettier and more interesting. Her form +was plump and rounded, her complexion snowy white, with the brightest of +rosy blooms on her cheek and lip; her eyes were large, bright and blue, +and her pale golden hair clustered in natural curls on her ivory neck. A +sweet face it was--a happy, innocent, child-like face--with nothing +remarkable about it save its prettiness and goodness. + +"Oh, Em! I'm glad you've come," said Georgia, her dark eyes lighting up +with pleasure. "I was just wishing you would. Here, stand up here beside +me." + +"Well, I can't stay long," said the little one, getting up beside +Georgia. "Mother sent me with some things to that poor Mrs. White, whose +husband got killed, you know. Oh, Georgia! she's got just the dearest +little baby you ever saw, with such tiny bits of fingers and toes, and +the funniest little blinking eyes! The greatest little darling ever was! +Do come down with me to see it; it's splendid!" exclaimed Emily, her +pretty little face all aglow with enthusiasm. + +"No; I don't care about going," said Georgia, coolly. "I don't like +babies." + +"Don't like babies!--the dearest little things in the world! Oh, +Georgia!" cried Emily, reproachfully. + +"Well, I don't, then! I don't see anything nice about them, for my part. +Ugly little things, with thin faces all wrinkled up, like Miss +Jerusha's hands on wash-day, crying and making a time. I don't like +them; and I don't see how you can be bothered nursing them the way you +do." + +"Oh, I love them! and I'm going to save all the money I get to spend, to +buy Mrs. White's little baby a dress. Mother says I may. Ain't these +flowers lovely in there? I wish we had a garden." + +"Why?" + +"Oh, because it's so nice to have flowers. I wonder Squire Richmond +never pulls any of his; he always leaves them there till they drop off." + +"Well, what would he pull them for?" + +"Why, to put on the table, of course. Don't you ever gather flowers for +your room?" + +"No." + +"You don't! Why, Georgia! don't you love flowers?" + +"No, I don't love them; I like to see them well enough." + +"Why, Georgia! Oh, Georgia, what a funny girl you are! Not love flowers! +What _do_ you love, then?" + +"I love the stars--the beautiful stars, so high, and bright, and +splendid!" + +"Oh, so do I; but then they're so far off, you know, I love flowers +better, because they're nearer." + +"Well, that's the reason I _don't_ like them--I mean not so much. I +don't care for things I can get so easy--that everybody else can get. +Anything I like I want to have all to myself. I don't want anybody else +in the world to have it. The bright, beautiful stars are away +off--nobody can have them. I call them mine, and nobody can take them +from me. I like stars better than flowers." + +"Oh, Georgia! you are queer. Why, don't you know that's selfish? Now, +if I have any pleasure, I don't enjoy it at all unless I have somebody +to enjoy it with. I shouldn't like to keep all to myself; it doesn't +seem right. What else do you like, Georgia?" + +"Well, I like the sea--the great, grand, dreadful sea! I like it when +the waves rise and dash their heads against the high rocks, and roar, +and shriek, and rage as if something had made them wild with anger. Oh! +I _love_ to watch it then, when the great white waves break so fiercely +over the high rocks, and dash up the spray in my face. I know it feels +then as I do sometimes, just as if it should go mad and dash its brains +out on the rocks. Oh, I do love the great, stormy, angry sea!" + +And the eyes of the wild girl blazed up, and her whole dark face +lighted, kindled, grew radiant as she spoke. + +The sweet, innocent little face of Emily was lifted in wonder and a sort +of dismay. + +"Oh, Georgia, how you talk!" she exclaimed: "love the sea in a storm! +What a taste you have! Now I like it, too, but only on a sunny, calm +morning like this, when it is smooth and shining. I am dreadfully afraid +of it on a stormy day, when the great waves make such a horrid noise. +What queer things you like! Now I suppose you had rather have a wet day +like last Sunday than one like this?" + +"No," said Georgia, "I didn't like last Sunday; it kept on a miserable +drizzle, drizzle all day, and wouldn't be fine nor rain right down +_good_ and have done with it. But I like a storm, a fierce, high storm, +when the wind blows fit to tear the trees up, and dashes the rain like +mad against the windows. I go away up to the garret then and listen. And +I like it when it thunders and lightens, and frightens everybody into +fits. Oh, it's splendid then! I feel as if I would like to fly away and +away all over the world, as if I should go wild being caged up in one +place, as if--oh, I can't tell you how I feel!" said the hare-brained +girl, drawing a long breath and keeping her shining eyes fixed as if on +some far-off vision. + +"Well, if you ain't the queerest, wildest thing! And you don't like fine +days at all?" + +"Oh, yes, I do--of course I do; not so much days like this, cold, and +clear, and calm, but blazing hot, scorching August noondays, when the +whole world looks like one great flood of golden fire--_that's_ the sort +I like! Or freezing, wild, frosty winter days, when the great blasts +make one fly along as if they had wings--_they're_ splendid, too!" + +"Well, I don't know, I don't think so. I like cool, pleasant days like +this better, because I have no taste for roasting or freezing," said +Emily, laughing. "Oh, I must tell mother about the droll things you +like! Let me see what else. Like music?" + +"Some sorts. I like the band. Don't care much for any other kind." + +"And I like songs and hymns better. And now, which do you prefer--men or +women?" + +"Men," said Georgia, decidedly. + +"You do! Why?" + +"Oh, well--because they're stronger and more powerful, and braver and +bolder; women are such cowards. Do you know the sort of a man I should +like to be?" + +"No; what sort?" + +"Well, like Napoleon Bonaparte, or Alexander the Great. I should like to +conquer the whole world and make every one _in_ the world do just as I +told them. Oh, I wish I was a boy!" + +"I don't, then," said Emily, stoutly. "I don't like boys, they're so +rude and rough. And these two conquerors weren't good men either. I've +read about them. Washington was good. I like _him_." + +"So do I. But if I had been him I would have made myself King of +America. I wouldn't have done as he did at all. Now, where are you going +in such a hurry?" + +"Oh, I shall have to go to Mrs. White's. I've been here a good while +already. I wish you would come along." + +"No," said Georgia decidedly, "I sha'n't go. Good-by." + +Emily nodded and smiled a good-by, and tripped off down the road. +Georgia stood for a moment longer, looking at the stately mansion, and +then was about to go away when a hand was laid on her and arrested her +steps. + +Close to the wall some benches ran, hidden under a profusion of +flowering vines, and Richmond Wildair had been lying on one of these, +studying a deeply exciting volume, when the voices of the children fell +upon his ear. Very intently did he listen to their conversation, only +revealing himself when he found Georgia was about to leave. + +"Good-morning, Miss Georgia," he said, smilingly; "I am very glad to see +you. Come, jump over the fence and come in; you can do it, I know." + +Now, Georgia was neither timid nor bashful, but while he spoke she +recollected her not very courteous behavior the previous day, and, for +the first time in her life, she hung her head and blushed. + +He appeared to have forgotten, or at least forgiven it, but this only +made her feel it all the more keenly. + +"Come," he said, catching her hands, without appearing to notice her +confusion; "one, two, three--jump!" + +Georgia laughed, disengaged her hands, and with the old mischievous +spirit twinkling in her eyes, with one flying leap vaulted clear over +his head far out into the garden. + +"Bravo!" cried Richmond; "excellently done! I see you understand +gymnastics. Now I would offer you some flowers only I heard you say you +did not care for them, and as for the stars I regret they are beyond +even my reach." + +Georgia looked up with a flush that reminded him of yesterday. "You were +listening," she said disdainfully; "that is mean!" + +"I beg your pardon, Miss Georgia, I was not listening intentionally; I +am not an eavesdropper, allow me to insinuate. I was lying there +studying before you came, and did not choose to put myself to the +inconvenience of getting up and going away to oblige a couple of small +young ladies, more particularly when I found their conversation so +intensely interesting. Very odd tastes and fancies you have, my little +Lady Georgia." + +Georgia was silent--she had scarcely heard him--she was thinking of +something else. She wanted to ask about Charley, but--she did not like +to. + +"Well," he said, with a smile, reading her thoughts like an open book, +"and what is little Georgia thinking of so intently?" + +"I--I--of _nothing_," she was going to say, and then she checked +herself. It would be a falsehood, and Georgia as proud of never having +told a lie in her life. + +"And what does 'I--I' mean?" + +"I was thinking of your brother Charley," she said, looking up with one +of her bright, defiant flashes. + +"Yes," he said, quietly, "and what of him?" + +"I should like to know how he is." + +"He is ill--seriously ill. Charles is delicate, and his ankle is even +worse hurt than we supposed. Last night he was feverish and sleepless, +and this morning he was not able to get up." + +A hot flush passed over Georgia's face, retreating instantaneously, and +leaving her very pale, with a wild, uneasy, glitter in her large dark +eyes. Oh! If he should die, she thought. It was through her fault he had +hurt himself first, and then she had been obstinate, and would not +forgive him. Perhaps he would die, she would never be able to tell him +how sorry she was for what she had done. She laid her hand on Richmond's +arm, and, looking up earnestly in his face, said, in a voice that +trembled a little in spite of herself: "Do--do you think he will die?" + +"No," he said, gravely, "I hope--I think not; but poor Charley is really +ill, and very lonely, up there alone." + +"I--I should like to see him." + +It was just what Richmond expected; just what he had uttered the last +words to hear her say. _Her_ eyes were downcast, and she did not see the +almost imperceptible smile that dawned around his mouth. When she looked +up he was grave and serious. + +"I think he will be able to sit up this afternoon. If you will come up +after dinner you shall see him. Meantime, shall I show you through the +grounds? Perhaps you have never been here before." + +He changed the subject quickly, for he knew it would not do to +particularly notice her request. Georgia had often before wished to +wander through the long walks and beautiful gardens around, but now her +little dark face was downcast and troubled, and she said, gravely: + +"No--thank you!" The last words after a pause, for politeness was not in +the little lady's line. "I will go home now, and come back by-and-by. +You needn't open the gate; I can jump over the fence. There! don't mind +helping me. Good-by!" + +She sprang lightly over the wall, and was gone, and pulling her +sun-bonnet far over her face, set out for home. + +Miss Jerusha wondered that day, in confidence to Fly and Betsey +Periwinkle, what had "come to Georgey," she was so still and silent all +dinner-time, and sat with such a moody look of dark gravity in her face, +all unusual with the sparkling, restless elf. Well, they did not know +that the free young forest eaglet had got its wings clipped for the +first time, that day, and that Georgia could exult no more in the +thought that she was wholly unconquered and free. + +Richmond Wildair was at his post immediately after dinner, awaiting the +coming of Georgia. He knew she would come, and she did. He saw the +small, dark figure approaching, and held the gate open for her to enter. + +"Ah! you've come, Georgia!" he said. "That is right. Come along; Charley +is here." + +"Does he know I am coming?" asked Georgia, soberly. + +"Yes, I told him. He expects you. Here--this way. There you are!" + +He opened the door, and ushered Georgia into a sort of summer-house in +the garden, where, seated in state, in an arm-chair, was Master Charley, +looking rather paler than when she saw him last, but with the same half +droll, half indolent, languid air about him that seemed to be his chief +characteristic. + +"My dear Miss Georgia," he began, with the greatest _empressement_, the +moment he saw her, "you make me proud by honoring so unworthy an +individual as I am with your gracious presence. You'll excuse my not +getting up, I hope; but the fact is, this unfortunate continuation of +mine being resolved to have its own way about the matter, can be induced +by no amount of persuasion and liniment to behave prettily, and utterly +scouts the idea of being used as a means of support. Pray take a seat, +Miss Georgia Darrell, and make yourself as miserable as circumstances +will allow." + +To this speech, uttered with the utmost _verve_, and with the blandest +and most insinuating tones, Georgia listened with a countenance of +immovable gravity, and at its close, instead of sitting down, she walked +up, stood before him, and said: + +"Yesterday you laughed at me, and I was angry. You said you were sorry, +and I--I came to-day to tell you I was willing to make up friends again. +There!" + +She held out one little brown hand in token of amity. With the utmost +difficulty Charley maintained his countenance sufficiently to shake +hands with her, which he did with due decorum, and then, without another +word, Georgia turned and walked away. + +No sooner was she gone than Charley leaned back and laughed until the +tears stood in his eyes. While he was yet in a paroxysm Richmond +entered. + +"Has she gone?" asked Charley, finding voice. + +"Yes, looking as sober as Minerva and her owl." + +"Oh! that girl will be the death of me, that's certain. By George! it +was good as a play. There she stood with a face as long as a coffin, and +as dark and solemn as a hearse," and Charley went off into another fit +of laughter at the recollection. + +"She condescended to forgive you at last, you see." + +"Yes, Miss Georgia and I have, figuratively speaking, smoked the pipe of +peace. Touching sight it must have been to a third person. It was a +tight fit, though, to get her to do it." + +"I think I could manage that proud little lady, if she were a sister of +mine. I shall conquer her more thoroughly yet before I have done with +her. I have a plan in my head, the result of which you will see pretty +soon. I expect she will struggle against it to the last gasp, but she +shall obey me," said Richmond. + + + + +CHAPTER VII. + +GEORGIA'S DREAM. + + "The wild sparkle of her eye seemed caught + From high, and lighted with electric thought, + And pleased not her the sports which please her age." + + +Two weeks passed. Charley was quite well again, and had left no effort +untried to reinstate himself in the good graces of Georgia. As that +young gentleman, in the profundity of his humility, had once told her he +seldom failed in anything he undertook, and with his seeming genial good +humor and handsome boyish face, he never found it a difficult task to +make people like him, and Georgia was no more able to resist his +influence than the rest of the world. And so they became good friends +again--"brothers in arms" Charley said. + +At first Georgia tried to resist his advances, and felt indignant at +herself for allowing him to talk her into good humor and make her laugh; +but it was all of no use, and at last the struggle was given up, and she +condescended to patronize Master Wildair with a grave superiority that +disturbed the good youth's gravity most seriously at times. + +Richmond had not lost his interest in the unique child, and his +influence over her increased every day. But still he was the only one +who had any command over her; to the rest of the world she was the same +hot, peppery, fiery little snap-dragon, defying all wills and commands +that clashed with her own. And even _his_ wishes, when _very_ repugnant +to her, she openly and fiercely braved; but, as a general thing, she +began to be anxious to please her young judge, whose grave glance of +stern disapproval could trouble her fearless little heart as that of no +other in the world ever could. And, though she was too proud to openly +let him see she cared for his approval or disapproval, still he _did_ +see it, and exulted therein. + +Georgia had made her new friends acquainted with the pretty little Emily +Murray, whom Charley unhesitatingly pronounced at first sight a "regular +stunner," and these four soon became inseparable friends. At first Emily +was shy and silent, which Charley perceiving, he also assumed a look of +extreme timidity, not to say distressing bashfulness, which so imposed +upon simple little Emily, that, pitying his evident embarrassment, she +would timidly try to help him out by opening a conversation. + +"Is it nice to live in New York?" Emily would say, hesitatingly. + +"Yes'm," would be Charley's reply, in a tone of painful timidity. + +"Nicer than here?" + +"Yes'm--I--I think so." + +"Won't your ma miss you a good deal?" Emily would insinuate, getting +courage. + +"No'm--I mean yes'm." + +"Ain't Georgia nice?" + +"Splendiferous!" + +This long word being a puzzle to Emily she would have to stop a moment +to reflect on its probable meaning before going on. + +"So is your brother." + +"Yes, but he's not near so nice as I am." + +Again there would be a pause, during which Emily would look deeply +shocked by this display of vanity--and then: + +"It ain't nice to praise one's self," Emily would observe, seriously. + +"Well, but it's _true_," Charley would begin, in an argumentative tone. +"Now I ask yourself--don't you think I'm nicer than he is?" + +Now, it was Miss Emily's private conviction that he decidedly _was_, she +could not say no, and not wishing to commit herself by saying yes, she +would look grave, and remain silent. But Charley, whose shyness +generally passed away at this point, was not to be put off, and would +insist: + +"Now, Emily, just tell the truth, as every well-brought-up little girl +should, and say, don't you like me twice as well as you do Rich?" + +"Well, ye-es," Emily would reply, hesitatingly, "but I guess he knows +more than you do; he looks awfully wise, anyway, and then Georgia minds +him, and she don't mind you." + +"That's because she isn't capable of appreciating solid wit and hidden +genius--or, to use language more fitted for your uncultivated intellect, +my young friend--she doesn't know on which side the bread's buttered. +Any person with his senses about him would see at a glance I am worth a +dozen of Richmond." + +"No, you're not," would be Emily's decided answer; "you only think so +yourself. I heard Uncle Edward saying your brother was wise for his age, +and knew more than any young man he ever met, and he only laughed about +you, and said you were a 'curled darling of nature,' whatever that +means. So, then, I guess Uncle Edward knows better than _you_." + +"Now, Miss Emily, I can't stand this; I positively can't you know. It's +outrageous to expect me to lie up here and be abused in this shameful +fashion, and told anybody's Uncle Edward knows more about me than I do +myself. I've an immense respect for Father Murray, but still I won't +permit him or anybody else to insinuate that they know more about Mr. +Charles Wildair than I do. I've been acquainted with that promising +youth ever since he was the size of a well-grown doughnut, and I am +prepared to say, without mental reservation of any kind, that he is a +perfect encyclopedia of all sorts of learning--a moving, living +Webster's Dictionary, neatly bound in cloth. I've undergone grammar, +declined verbs and other vicious parts of speech. I have suffered a +severe course of geography, and can tell to an iota where Ireland, +Kamtschatka, and lots of other aggravating places are situated; I have +fought my way through French, and German, and Latin, and other dead +languages; and when I go back to New York, I'm bound to have at them +again, and have every single one of them, dead or alive, at my fingers +ends. I have a taste for poetry and the fine arts, as I evinced in early +life by a diligent perusal of that work of thrilling interest known as +'Mother Goose's Melodies', and by becoming a proficient on the +Jew's-harp. I have a soul above the common, Miss Nancy, and can discover +beauties in a tallow candle, and sublimity in a mug of milk and water. +And now, if after this brief and inadequate exposition you don't +acknowledge that my thing-um-bob-sentiments do me honor, then your +intellect, like small beer in thunder, is something to be looked upon +with pity and contempt!" + +As Mr. Wildair, Jr., usually promulgated his sentiments to an admiring +world in an exceedingly slow and leisurely manner, it took him some time +to get to the end of this speech, and when he was done he found that +Emily, overcome by the heat and his monotonous tone, was dropping +asleep. Making a grimace, he was about to lounge back into his former +lazy position, when Georgia, who had left them a moment before in full +chase after a butterfly, accompanied by Richmond, returned, looking so +woebegone and disconsolate that Charley, after a stare of surprise, felt +called upon by the claims of common humanity to offer her consolation. + +"May I ask, Miss Georgia, what awful mystery of iniquity has come to +light, to make you look as if your last friend had been hung for +sheep-stealing? You look about as intensely dismal now as a whole grove +of weeping willows." + +"Oh! it's my butterfly! my poor butterfly!" said Georgia, sorrowfully, +holding up the dead insect, its bright colors all faded and gone. + +"Oh, I see--as the blind man said--the insect has departed this life, +leaving, no doubt, a large and bereaved circle of friends to mourn its +untimely end. Funeral this evening, when friends and relatives are +respectfully invited to attend--that's the newspaper style, eh? May I +venture to inquire, Georgia, if the butterfly in question was a personal +acquaintance of yours, that you look so afflicted at its death? Because +if it was, I shall feel called upon to shed a few tears myself, out of +regard for you." + +"Oh, it was killed; and it was so pretty. Wasn't it pretty?" said +Georgia, looking in real grief, amusing to witness, at the poor little +crushed insect. + +"Strangely beautiful," said Charley. "I remarked it at the time; every +feature was perfect. Roman nose, intellectual forehead, well-formed +head, with the bump of benevolence largely developed, blue hair, and +curly teeth. And so it was killed, was it? Georgia, my friend, in the +name of common humanity, in the name of the law, I ask you who was the +cold-blooded assassin?" + +"Poor little thing! Richmond killed it," said Georgia, too deeply +troubled about the loss of the bright-hued insect to notice Charley's +highfalutin tones. + +"Blood-thirsty monster! let him beware! the day of retribution is at +hand!" exclaimed Charley, in tones so tragic that it would have made his +fortune on the stage. "Yes, the day is at hand when the oppressed and +downtrodden race of butterflies will rise in arms against such tyrants +as he, and Mr. Richmond Wildair will probably find himself knocked into +a cocked hat. But how did it happen? Explain the horrid deed. I have +steeled my soul, and nothing can move me more." + +And Master Charley struck his forehead with his fist, and assumed an +expression so frightfully despairing that an artist wishing to paint a +patriot beholding the ruin of his country would have given all the spare +change he might have for a glimpse of that agonized face. + +"Why," said Georgia, "I couldn't catch it, and Richmond was determined +to do it. So he struck his hat down over it, and when he took it off it +was dead, and all its beautiful colors faded and gone; poor little +thing!" + +"Oh, my wretched country!" exclaimed Charley, raising his hands and +eyes, "and it is under the shadow of thy laws such barbarous atrocities +are committed; in the face of open day crimes such as these, that make +the blood run down one's back like a pail of cold water, are +perpetrated! And man--black-hearted man--is the author of these deeds! +What other animal would perpetrate such a crime? Would a horse, or a +cow, or even a donkey, now, with malice aforethought, malice at which we +shudder as if we had taken a dose of castor oil, take off its hat and +smash all to pieces an upright member of society--like that dilapidated +butterfly, who at the time was probably thinking of his happy wife and +children at home--that is, supposing it wasn't an old bachelor? I ask +you again what other--but perhaps we have hardly time to do the subject +justice at present," said Charley, changing his tone with startling +abruptness, from one of the deepest anguish to the indifferent one of +every-day life. "Where's Rich, Georgia?" + +"Here, _mon frere_," replied Richmond himself, as he came up and threw +himself carelessly on the grass. "Come, Georgia, throw away that dead +insect, and don't stand looking so pitiously at it. There are plenty +more butterflies where that came from. Why, Emily, you're not falling +asleep, are you?" + +Emily started up, blushing deeply at being caught in the act, and put on +a wide-awake look indeed, as if to utterly repudiate the idea of such a +thing. + +"I hope your dreams were pleasant--eh, Em?" asked Charley. + +"I didn't dream," said Emily, blushing. + +"_I_ dreamed last night," said Georgia, soberly. + +"About me, wasn't it?" said Charley, briskly. + +"About _you_" said Georgia, contemptuously. "No; I ain't such a goose! +It was a dreadful dream--ugh!" and Georgia shuddered. + +"Oh, Georgia, tell us--what was it about?" exclaimed Emily, eagerly. + +"Do, Georgia, and I'll be the Joseph who will interpret it," said +Charley. + +Georgia looked grave and dark, and was silent. + +"Come, Georgia, tell us," said Richmond. "I should like to hear this +dream of yours." + +"Oh, it was awful!" said Georgia, speaking in a hushed tone of awe. "I +thought I was walking on and on through a dark, gloomy place, following +some one who made me come on. The ground was full of sharp stones and +hurt my feet, and they bled dreadfully; but he wouldn't let me stop, but +pulled me on and on, till the ground where I walked was all covered with +blood." + +"Hard-hearted monster!" said Charley; "should admire to be punching that +fellow's head for him!" + +"As we went on," continued Georgia, looking straight before her with a +dark kind of earnestness, and speaking in the tone of one describing +events then passing, "the ground grew sharper and sharper, and the blood +flowed so fast that at last I screamed out for him to let me go, that I +couldn't walk any farther. But he only laughed at me, and pulled me on." + +"The scoundrel!" broke in Charley. "If I had been there, I would have +made him laugh on the other side of his mouth." + +"Then, all of a sudden, we came to a great, red-hot blazing fire, that +looked like burning serpents with tongues of flame. All was fire, fire, +fire, on every side, red-hot blazing flames, that crackled and roared, +and made everything as red as blood. I screamed out and tried to break +away, but he held me fast and pushed me into the fire. I felt burning, +scorching, roasting. I screamed out, and fell all burned and blazing on +the ground; and then I woke, and I was sitting up in bed screaming out, +and Miss Jerusha was standing over me holding me down." + +Georgia paused, and there was something in her blanched face, +horror-dilated eyes, and deep, awe-struck tones that for a moment sent a +superstitious thrill to every heart. It was for a moment, and then +Charley carelessly remarked: + +"Nightmares _are_ pleasant quadrupeds I know; I made the acquaintance of +one after eating half a mince pie and three pigs' feet one night before +going to bed; but for constant exercise I must say I should decidedly +prefer riding Miss Jerusha's Shanghai rooster to trying the experiment +again." + +"Did you recognize the man who was with you?" asked Richmond. + +"Yes," said Georgia, in a low voice. + +"You did, eh?" said Charley; "who was it?" + +"I sha'n't tell you." + +"Oh, now, you wouldn't be so cruel. Come, out with it." + +"I won't," said Georgia, with one of her sharp flashes; "but it's +true--every word of it." + +"You mean it will come true?" said Richmond. + +"Yes." + +"Why, Georgia, do you believe in dreams?" said Emily. "Oh, that's +wicked; mother says so." + +"Wicked! it's no such thing. What do people dream for if they're not to +come true?" + +"So you believe you are destined to be burned up?" said Richmond. + +"Yes," said Georgia, unhesitatingly. + +"Oh, I haven't the slightest doubt of it," said Charley; "if you miss it +in this world, you'll----" + +"Now, Charley, be quiet," said Richmond, soothingly; "you have no +experience in different sorts of worlds, so you are not capable of +judging. Georgia, you are the most silly-wise child I ever met in all my +life." + +"What!" said Georgia, with a scowl. + +"You are so unnaturally precocious in some ways, and so childishly +simple in others. You know the most unexpected things, and are ignorant +of the commonest facts that any infant almost comprehends. You are +morbid and superstitious--but I knew that before. A little learning is a +dangerous thing. Georgia, you ought to go to school." + +Now, school was Georgia's pet abomination. Miss Jerusha, partly to be +rid of her and partly for the propriety of the thing, had often wished +to send her; but the idea of being cooped up a prisoner within the walls +of a school-room, and obliged to obey every command, was abhorrent to +the free, unfettered, untamed child. Go to school, indeed! Not she! She +laughed at the notion. Richmond had never spoken of it before to her, +and now, conscious of his power over her, and trembling for her +threatened liberty, all the old spirit of daring and fierce defiance +flashed up in her bold black eyes, and, springing to her feet, she +confronted him. + +"I _won't_! I'll never go to school! I hate it!" + +Georgia never said "I can't" or "I don't like to," but her dauntless, +defiant "I _will_" and "I _won't_," bespoke her nature. Emily said the +former; Georgia, never. + +Richmond expected exactly this answer, therefore he only smiled +slightly, and carelessly asked, + +"Why?" + +"Because I won't be shut up in a nasty old school-house, and not be able +to speak or move without asking leave. I'll not go for _any one_!" she +said, flashing a threatening glance at him. + +"Every one else does it, Georgia." + +"I don't care for every one else." + +"_I_ did it, Georgia." + +"Well, I don't care for you!" + +"Whew!" whistled Charley. "Sharp shooting, this." + +"Then you prefer to grow up a--" + +"What?" + +"A dunce, and be laughed at." + +"Let them laugh at me! let them dare do it!" cried Georgia, fiercely. + +"And dare do it they will. Pooh, Georgia, have sense. You can't roll up +your sleeves and go to fisticuffs with the whole world. What else can +you expect but to be laughed at when you are a woman if you know nothing +but what you do now? Wait till you see the wise little woman Emily here +is going to be. Why, your friends will be ashamed of you, Georgia, by +and by, if you don't learn something." + +"Let them, then! I don't care for them!" + +"Oh, don't you? I thought that as they cared so much for you, you might +care a little for them. I am sorry it is not so, Georgia; I am very +sorry my little friend is selfish and ungrateful." + +"I am _not_ ungrateful," said Georgia, passionately, but her lips +quivered. + +"Then prove it by doing something to please your friends. Think how they +have tried to please you, and just ask yourself what you have done in +return to please them. Come, Georgia, be reasonable. You will think +better of this when you come to reflect on it." + +"That's right, Rich," cried Charley; "go in and win! I always knew you +had a native talent for teaching young ideas how to shoot. Splendid +parson you'd make." + +"I _have_ tried to please them! I have tried to please _you_!" + +"Well, did I ever ask you to do any thing but what was your _duty_ to +do? I am afraid you have not a good idea of what that word means. I am +your friend, you know, Georgia, am I _not_?" he said gently. + +"I don't know," she said, with a trembling lip. + +"But I am your true friend. What difference can it make to me whether +you grow up learned and accomplished, or as ignorant as your little +servant, Fly?" + +"A great deal, if she know but all," muttered Charley. + +"But I hate school! I should _die_ if I was kept in," said Georgia with +a sort of cry. + +"Nonsense! You would do no such thing! Do you remember the bird I caught +for you and put in a cage? Yes! well, it struggled to get out, and beat +its wings against the bars of the cage until you thought it would have +beat itself to death, yet now it is a willing captive." + +"Yes, it is like a wooden bird, without life; it lies in the bottom of +the cage and hardly ever sings or moves; it isn't worth having now," +said Georgia, her lip curling with a sort of scorn. + +"Well, it will be different with you; you are ambitious, Georgia, and in +trying to pass your schoolmates you will feel a delight and pride you +never experienced before. A new world will be opened to you; you will +like it. _Do_ go, Georgia; if I were not your friend, if I did not like +you very much, I should not ask you." + +Charley, with his head bent down whistling "Yankee Doodle," was shaking +with inward laughter. + +"Oh, Georgia, do come," pleaded Emily. + +Georgia, with her lips compressed, her glittering black eyes burning +into the ground, stood silent, motionless, turned to iron. + +"Well, Georgia?" + +No reply. + +"_Georgia!_" Richmond cried, anxiously. + +She lifted her eyes. + +"Well?" + +"Georgia, will you go--I want you to--you don't know how deeply grieved +I shall be if you refuse; so deeply grieved that we shall be friends no +longer. Georgia, I am going away from here soon--I may never come +back--never see you again, and I should be sorry we should part bad +friends. Georgia, will you go?" + +"Yes." + +It was a hard-wrung assent. The word dropped from her lips as though it +burned them. + +Charley's whistle at that moment spoke volumes. Emily looked delighted, +and the face of Richmond Wildair lit up with triumph and exultation. +Once that "yes" had been uttered he knew her word would be sacredly +kept. How he exulted that moment in his power. + +"Thank you, Georgia," he cried, springing to his feet, and holding out +his hand, "we are fast friends forever now." + +Georgia shook hands, but the fingers she gave him were little rigid bars +of steel--no life--no warmth there. + +"When will you go?" said Richmond, following up his advantage, on the +principle of striking while the iron was hot. + +"On Monday." + +"Oh, Georgia, I'm so glad! Oh, Georgia that's so nice!" exclaimed Emily, +dancing round delightedly, and clasping her hands. + +Georgia's face was a blank--cold and meaningless. + +"That is right! Georgia, you are a good girl!" + +"If I had refused to do as you told me I would have been a selfish, +ungrateful thing--I understand!" said Georgia, turning away with a +curling lip. + +Richmond started. There was the look of a woman in her childish face at +that moment. It was one of her precocious turns. + +"Now, don't be cross, Georgia; it's real nice to go to school after you +get used to it," said Emily, in her pretty, coaxing way, putting her +arms round her waist. + +"I must go home--Miss Jerusha will want me," said Georgia, by way of +reply, as she resolutely, almost rudely, unclasped Emily's clinging +arms. + +"Shall I go with you?" said Richmond, making a step forward. + +"_No!_" exclaimed Georgia, with one of her peculiar sharp, bright +flashes, as she turned away in the direction of the cottage. + +Richmond and Emily sauntered back to Burnfield together, chatting gayly. +As Richmond entered the grounds of his uncle's stately residence he saw +his brother standing in the threshold humming a classical ditty. + +"Bravo, Richmond, old boy!" cried Charley, giving him a sounding slap on +the shoulder; "you deserve a leather medal! Do you think any of the +blood of your namesake of evil memory has descended to you?" + +"Pshaw, Charley! don't be a fool!" said Richmond, impatiently. + +"I don't intend to, my dear brother," said Charley, dryly; "but the +scales fell from my eyes to-day. What a world we live in!" + +"Tush! will you never learn to talk sense, Charles?" said Richmond, +biting his lips to maintain his gravity, as he shook off his hand and +passed into the house. + + + + +CHAPTER VIII. + +"COMING EVENTS CAST THEIR SHADOWS BEFORE." + + "A look of pride, an eye of flame, + A full drawn lip that upward curled, + An eye that seemed to scorn the world." + + +The little town of Burnfield contained but one school, within the old +brown walls and moss-grown eaves of which the "fathers of the hamlet" +for many a generation had sat at the feet of some worthy pedagogue, or +pedagoguess, as the case might be, to catch the wisdom that fell from +their lips. In summer woman held her sway there, but in winter man +reigned supreme on the throne of learning, and "boarded round," a custom +not yet obsolete. + +Once every year came the great anniversary of the school, the last day +of April, when the "master's" term expired, and he left the town to the +dominion of the new school-marm. Then took place the great public +examination, in which lanky youths, weighed down with the consciousness +of their responsibility and first tail-coats, and cherry-cheeked girls, +bursting out of their hooks and eyes, showed off before the admiring +Burnfieldians, and received their rewards of merit, more highly prized +by them than the Cross of the Legion of Honor would be by some old +French veteran. A new innovation had lately been introduced by one of +the teachers--that of speaking dialogues at these distributions, and +wonderful was the delight young Burnfield took in these displays. The +more strait-laced of the parents at first objected to this, as smacking +too much of "play acting," but young Burnfield had a decided will of its +own, and looked contemptuously on the "slow" ideas of old Burnfield, and +finally, in triumph, carried the day. + +The great day arrived, and the anxious parents who had young ideas at +school, were crowding rapidly toward the large old-fashioned +school-house under the hill. Among them, in grim, unbending majesty, +stalked Miss Jerusha Skamp, resplendent in what she was pleased to term +her new "kaliker gound," a garment which partook of the nature of its +forerunners in being exceedingly short and exceedingly skimpy, and the +gorgeous patterns of which can be likened to nothing save a highly +exaggerated rainbow. But Miss Jerusha, happy in the belief that nothing +like it had appeared in modern times, walked majestically in, upsetting +some loose benches, half a dozen small boys, and other trifles that lay +in her way, and took her seat on one of the front benches. The boys, +gorgeous in blue and gray homespun coats, with brass buttons of alarming +size and brightness, were ranged on one side, and the girls, arrayed in +all the hues of a flower-garden, on the other. Miss Jerusha's eyes +wandered to the side where the girls sat, and rested with a look of +evident pride and self-complaisance on one--a look that said as plainly +as words, "There! look at that! there's _my_ handiwork for you." + +And certainly, amid the many handsome, blooming girls there, not one was +more worth looking at than she on whom Miss Jerusha's eyes rested. The +tall, slight, but well-portioned form had none of the awkwardness common +to girls in their transition stages. The queenly little head was poised +superbly on the sloping neck; the clear olive skin, with its glowing +crimson lips and cheeks, was the very ideal of dark, rich, southern +beauty; the jet-black shining hair, swept off the broad forehead in +smooth silken braids, became well the scarlet ribbons that bound it, as +did also the close-fitting crimson dress she wore. + +Georgia (for of course every reader above the unsuspecting age of three +years knows who it is), without being at all aware of it, always fell +into the style of dress that best suited her and harmonized with her +warm, tropical complexion--dark, rich colors, such as black, purple, +crimson, or, in summer, white. The two years that have passed since we +saw her last have changed her wonderfully; but the full, proud, +passionate, flashing eyes are the same in their dark splendor; the +short, curling upper lip and curved nostril tell a tale of pride, and +passion, and daring, and scornful power--tell that time may have +softened, but has not eradicated, the temper of our stormy little +essence of wild-fire. + +Yes, she sits there, leaning listlessly back in her seat, her little +restless brown hands folded quietly enough in her lap, her long black +lashes vailing her darkly glancing eyes, cast down by a sort of proud +indolence; but it is the calm that precedes the tempest, the dangerous +spirit of the drowsy and beautiful leopard, the deep, treacherous +stillness that heralds the bursting sheets of fire from the volcano's +bosom, the white ashes that overlie consuming flames hidden beneath +them, but ready at any moment to burst forth. And there she sat, known +only to those present as the "smart little girl," the star scholar of +the school, good-looking, bright, generous, and warm-hearted, too, but +"ugly tempered." + +The dark, bright, handsome eyes of the girl of fifteen had already +carried unexampled desolation into more than one susceptible breast, +and some of the unhappy youths were so badly stricken as to be guilty of +the atrocity of perpetrating soul-harrowing "pote"-ry to those same +dangerous optics. But these were only the worst cases, and even they +never tried it but in the first delirium of the attack, and, like all +delirious fevers, it soon passed away, died out like a hot little fire +under (to use a homely simile) the wet blanket of her cool, utter +indifference, and they returned to their buckwheat cakes, and pork, and +molasses with just as good an appetite as ever. + +One by one the people came in until the school-house was filled, and +then the exercises commenced. The premiums were arranged on a table, and +on a desk beside it stood the master, who rose and called out: + +"First prize for general excellence awarded to Miss Georgia Darrell." + +There was a moment's profound silence, while every eye turned upon +Georgia, and then, as if by general impulse, there was an enthusiastic +round of applause, for her warm, ardent nature, and many generous +impulses, made her schoolmates like her in spite of her ebullitions of +temper. And in the midst of this Georgia rose, with a flashing eye and +kindling cheek, and, advancing to where the teacher stood, received the +first prize from his hand, courtesied, and, with head proudly erect, and +cheeks hot with the excitement of triumph, walked back to her seat. + +Then came the other premiums, for grammar, for geography, history, and +astronomy; the first prize was still awarded to "Miss Georgia Darrell," +until the good folks of Burnfield began to knit their brows in anger and +jealousy, and accused the master of being swayed, like the rest, by a +handsome face, and unjustly depriving their offspring for the sake of +this "stuck-up Georgia Darrell," who--as Deacon Brown remarked, in a +scandalized tone--seemed to despise the very "airth she walked on." + +The distribution was over at last, and then came the dialogues. And here +Georgia's star was in the ascendant again. She, and the teacher, +perhaps, knew what acting was--not one of the rest had the remotest +idea--and they held their very breath to listen, as losing her own +identity her eyes blazed and her cheeks burned, and she strode up and +down, declaiming with such vehement gestures, that they looked at one +another in a sort of terror, wonder, and admiration. And once, when she +and another were repeating a selection from Tamerlane, where she took +the character of Bajazet, and Tamerlane, in a sort of wonder and +admiration, says: + + "The world! 'twould be too little for thy pride! + Thou wouldst scale heaven!" + +Georgia's eyes of lightning blazed, and raising her hand with a +passionate gesture, she strode over and fiercely thundered: + + "I WOULD! Away! my soul + Disdains thy conference!" + +The Tamerlane of the moment recoiled in terror, and there was an instant +of death-like silence, while every heart thrilled with the knowledge +that the dark, wild girl was not "acting," but speaking the truth. + +It was all over at last, and, with a few words from the teacher, the +assembly was dismissed. As Georgia gathered up her armful of prizes and +put on her bonnet, the teacher came over, and, to the jealousy of the +other pupils, held out his hand to her, who had from the first been his +favorite. + +"Good-by, Bajazet," he said, smiling; "you electrified the good people +of Burnfield to-day." + +Georgia laughed. + +"Do you know you were not acting just now, Georgia? Do you know you are +ambitious enough to scale heaven? Do you know that you have within you +what hurled Lucifer from heaven?" + +"Yes, sir," she said, lifting her eyes boldly; "I know it." + +"And do you not fear?" + +"No, sir." + +"Do you know you are composed of elements that will make you either an +angel or a--_demon_?" + +"Miss Jerusha says I'm the latter _now_, sir," she said, with a light +laugh. + +He looked at her with a smile half fond, half sad. + +"Georgia, take care." + +"Of what, sir?" + +"Of _yourself_--your worst enemy." + +"Father Murray says everyone is his own worst enemy." + +"You are not like everyone. You are a little two-edged sword in a +remarkably thin sheath, my little sprite. Take care." + +"Well, I know I'm thin," said Georgia, who was in one of her unserious +moods; "but that is my misfortune, Mr. Coleman, not my fault. Wait a +little while, and you'll see I'll turn out to be a female pocket edition +of Daniel Lambert." + +"Georgia!" + +"Well, sir." + +"Promise me one thing." + +"What is it, first?" + +"That you will study very hard till I come back next winter?" + +"Of course I will, sir. I made that promise once before." + +"Indeed? To whom? Miss Jerusha?" + +"Miss Jerusha!" said Georgia, laughing. "I guess not! To a friend of +mine--a young gentleman." + +And the girl of fifteen glanced up from under her long lashes at the +dignified man of forty. + +"Pooh, Georgia! stick to your books, and never mind the _genus homo_. +You're a pretty subject to be advised by young gentlemen. It was good +advice, though, and I indorse it." + +"Very well, sir; but why am I to attend to my studies more than any of +the rest of your pupils--Mary Ann Jones, for instance?" + +"Humph! there is a wide difference. Mary Ann Jones will go home and help +her mother to knit stockings, scrub the floor, make pumpkin pies, and +eat them, too, without even a thought of mischief, while you would be +breaking your neck or somebody else's, setting the iron on fire, or +bottling thunderbolts to blow up the community generally. As there is +more truth than poetry in that couplet of the solemn and prosy Dr. +Watts, wherein he assures us-- + + "'Satan finds some mischief still + For idle hands to do,' + +on that principle you need to be kept busy. Between you and Mary Ann +Jones there is about as much difference as there is between that useful +domestic fowl, a barnyard goose, and that dangerous, sharp-clawed, +good-for-nothing thing, a tameless mountain eaglet; and you may consider +the comparison anything but complimentary to you. Mary Ann is going to +be a merry, contented, capital housekeeper, and you--what are _you_ +going to be?" + +"A vagabones on the face of the airth," said Georgia, imitating Miss +Jerusha's nasal twang so well that it nearly overset the good teacher's +gravity. + +"Ah, Georgia! I see you are in one of your wild moods to-day, and will +not listen to reason. Well, good-by--be a good girl till I come back." + +"Good-by, sir. I don't think I will ever be a good girl, but I will be +as good as I can. Good-by, and thank you, sir." + +There was something so darkly earnest in her face, that Mr. Coleman +looked after her, more puzzled than he had ever before been by a pupil. +She had always been an enigma to him--she was to most people--and to-day +she was more unreadable than ever. + +"I declare to skreech, Georgy!" said Miss Jerusha, as they walked home +together, "you like to skeered the life out o' me to-day, the way you +talked and shouted. Clare to gracious! ef it wasn't parfectly orful, not +to say downright wicked. Talk about scalin' heaven! there's sense for +you now! And it's not only sinful, as Deacon Brown remarked, but reglir +onpossible. Where could a ladder, now, or even a fire escape be got, +long enough to do it? Pah! it's disgustin', such nonsense! I wonder a +man like that there Mr. Coleman would 'low of sich talk in his school +hus, it's rale disgraceful--that's what it is!" + +Georgia laughed. Georgia was more patient with Miss Jerusha than she +used to be, and had her hot temper more under control. This was in a +great measure owing to the instructions and gentle exhortations of good +Mrs. Murray, little Emily's mother, who had taught her that instead of +conferring a favor on the old maid by living with her, she owed her a +debt of gratitude she would find it difficult to repay. And Georgia, +whose faults were more of the head than of the heart, saw Mrs. Murray +was right, and consented to try and "behave herself" for the future. +Georgia found _self_-control a _very_ difficult lesson to practice; and +the impulses of her nature very often rose and mastered her good +resolutions yet. Still it was something for her even to try, and it had +such an effect on Miss Jerusha, that the vinegar in that sour spinster's +composition became perceptibly less acid, and the ward and "dragon" got +along much better than formerly. So true it is that every effort to do +good is rewarded even here. + +When Georgia got home she found her friend Emily Murray awaiting her. +Despite the wide difference in their dispositions Emily and Georgia were +still fast friends. Emily did not go to the public school, but was +taught at home by her mother. But they saw each other every day, and +Emily's sunny disposition helped not a little to soften down our savage +little wild-cat into her present state of comparative civilization. +Still the same rounded little lady was Emily, perhaps an inch or two +higher than when thirteen years old, but still nothing to speak of, with +the same smiling, rosy, sunshiny little face peeping out from its wealth +of tangled yellow curls--for Emily's hair would persist in curling in +spite of all attempts to comb it straight and respectable looking, and +persisted in having its own way, and openly rebelling against all +established authority. + +"Oh, Georgia! I'm so glad!" exclaimed Emily, throwing her arms around +Georgia's neck, and administering a dozen or two short, sharp little +kisses that went off like the corks out of so many ginger-beer bottles. +"I'm _ever_ so glad that you got all the prizes! I knew you would; I +said it all along. I knew you were dreadfully clever, if you only liked. +And now I want you to come right over to our house and spend the evening +with us. Mother told me to come for you. Oh, Georgia! we'll have a good +time!" + +"Well, there, Em, you needn't strangle me about it," said Georgia, +laughingly releasing herself. "If Miss Jerusha doesn't want me +particularly, I'll go." + +Two years previously Georgia would no more have thought of asking Miss +Jerusha's leave about any thing than she would of flying; but since she +had come to a sense of her duty things were different. But as the +leopard cannot change his spots, nor the Ethiope his skin, so neither +could she entirely change her nature, and there was an involuntary +defiant light in her eye and haughtiness in her tone when asking a +favor, and a fierce bright flash and passionate gesture when refused. + +Miss Jerusha looked undecided, and was beginning a dubious "Wal, raily, +now--" when Emily's impulsive arms were around _her_ neck, and her +pretty face upturned. + +"Ah, now, Miss Jerusha, please do; that's a dear! Do just let her come +over this once. I want her so dreadfully! P-p-please now." + +No heart, unless made of double-refined cast iron, could resist that +sweet little face and pleading "please now;" so Miss Jerusha, who liked +little Emily (as indeed nobody could help doing), accordingly "pleased," +and Emily, giving her a kiss--of which commodity that small individual +had a large stock in trade, that like the widow's cruse of old, never +diminished--put on Georgia's hat, and, nodding a smiling good-by to Miss +Jerusha, marched her off in triumph. + +"I am so glad, Georgia, you got so many prizes. Oh! I knew all along you +were real clever. I should like to be clever, but I'm not one bit; but +you, I guess you're going to be a genius, Georgia," said Emily, soberly. + +"Nonsense, Em! A genius! I hope I shall never be anything half so +dreadful." + +"Dreadful! Why, Georgia!" + +"Why, Emily!" said Georgia, mimicking her, "geniuses are a nuisance, I +repeat--just as comets, or meteors, or eclipses, or anything out of the +ordinary course are. People make a fuss about them and blacken their +noses looking through smoked glass at them, and then they are gone in a +twinkling, and not worth all the time that was wasted looking at them. I +know it is sacrilege and high treason to say so, but that doesn't alter +my opinion on the subject, and so don't trouble that small, anxious head +of yours, my dear little snow-flake, about my being a genius again." + +"I know who thinks so as well as I do," said Emily. + +"Who?" + +"Why, Richmond Wildair. Do you recollect the day, long ago, he first +told you to go to school?" + +"Yes." + +"Coming home that day he said he knew you were a little genius and +should not hide your light under a bushel, but set it on the hill-top. I +remember his words, because they sounded so funny then that they made me +laugh." + +"Pooh! what does he know about it? What a little simpleton I must have +been to do everything he used to tell me to! Still, that was good advice +about going to school, and I don't know but what, on the whole, I feel +grateful to him for it. That was two years ago--wasn't it, Em? Why, it +seems like yesterday." + +"And that funny brother of his," said Emily, laughing at some +recollections of her own, "he used to say things in such a droll way. I +wonder if they'll ever come back." + +"Why, what would bring them back, now that their uncle is gone away for +his health? I wonder if traveling really _does_ make sick people well?" + +"Don't know, I'm sure. Isn't it a pity to have such a nice house as that +shut up and so lonely and deserted looking?" + +"I wish that house was mine," said Georgia. "I should like to live in a +large, handsome place like that. I hate little old cramped places like +our cottage--they're horrid." + +"Why, that's coveting your neighbor's goods," said Emily. "Look out, +Georgia." + +"Well, then, I should like one as good as that. I wish I owned one just +like it. I _shall_, too, some day," said Georgia, decidedly. + +"Do tell," said Emily, "where are you going to get it? Are you going to +rob a peddler?" + +"No. I intend to be rich." + +"You do? _How?_" + +"I don't know yet; but I _shall_! I'm determined to be rich. I am quite +sure I will be," said Georgia, in a tone of quiet decision. + +"Well, really! But it's better to be poor than rich. 'It's easier for a +camel--' You know what the Testament says." + +"I'd risk it. Why, Emily, it's riches moves the world; the whole earth +is seeking it. Poverty is the greatest social crime in the whole +category, and wealth covereth a multitude of sins. Don't tell me! I know +all about it, and I am determined to be rich--_I don't care by what +means_!" + +Her wild eyes were blazing with that insufferable light that always +illuminated them when she was excited, and the stern determination her +set face expressed as she looked resolutely before her startled timid +little Emily. + +"Oh, Georgia, I don't think it's right to talk so!" she said, in a +subdued tone; "I'm sure it's not. I don't think riches make people +happy; do you?" + +"No," said Georgia, quietly. + +"Oh, Georgia, then why do you wish for it? Why do you crave so for +wealth?" + +"Because wealth brings power!" + +"But neither does power bring happiness." + +"To _me_ it would. Power is the life of my life. Knowledge is +power--therefore I studied; but it is only a means to an end. Wealth +will attain that end, therefore wealth I must and _will_ have." + +The look of resolute determination deepened. She looked at that moment +like one resolved to conquer even fate, and to tread remorselessly under +foot all that stood between her and the goal of her daring ambition. + +"What would you do if you were rich?" + +"I would travel, for one thing--I should like to see the world. I would +visit England, and France, and Germany, and Italy--dear, beautiful +Italy! that I love as if it were my fatherland. I would visit the +Alps--Oh, Em! how I love great sublime mountains rearing their heads up +to heaven. I would sail down the Rhine, the bright flowing Rhine! I +would visit the demons of the Black Forest, and see if I happen to be +related to them, in any way. I would cultivate the acquaintance of the +Black Horseman of the Hartz Mountains--and finally I should settle down +and marry a prince. Yes, I rather think I _shall_ marry some prince, +Em!" + +"Oh, Georgia! you're a case!" said Emily, breaking into one of her +silvery peals of laughter; "marry a prince! what an idea!" + +"Well, I am good enough for any prince or emperor that ever wore a +crown," said Georgia, with a flash of her black eyes, and a proud lift +of her haughty little head, "and I should consider that the honor was +conferred upon him, and not me, if I did marry one--now then!" + +"Oh, what a bump of self-esteem you have, Georgia!" said Emily, still +laughing; "what a notion to talk about getting married, any way! whoever +heard of such a thing." + +"Well, it's nothing strange! you didn't suppose I was going to be an old +maid like Miss Jerusha, did you? _Of course_ I'll get married! I always +intended to!" said Georgia, decidedly, "and so will you, Emily." + +"To another prince," said Emily, shyly. + +"No, to--Charley Wildair!" + +"I guess not! But here we are at home, and what would mother say if she +heard us talking like this? It all comes of your reading so many novels, +Georgia. Here, mother; here she is. I've got her," cried Emily, flying +into the pretty little parlor, where Mrs. Murray, a pleasant little +lady, a faded copy of her bright little daughter, sat sewing. Mrs. +Murray kissed Georgia, and congratulated her on her success, and then +went out to see about tea. + +Later in the evening Father Murray, a benign-looking old man, with +silver-white hair, and a look so patriarchal that it had suggested +Charley Wildair's graphic description of his being like one of those +"blessed old what's-their-names in the Bible," came in, and the +conversation turned upon Georgia's success. + +"I suppose you felt quite elated, Georgia, at carrying off the highest +honors to-day?" he said, smiling. + +"A little, only," said Georgia. "It wasn't much to be proud of." + +"What! To vanquish all competitors not much to be proud of! Why, +Georgia?" + +"Well, neither it is, sir--_such_ competitors," said Georgia, +scornfully. "I should like a greater conquest than that." + +"Georgia's ambition takes a bolder flight; she looks down on the common +people of this world," said Mrs. Murray, with a peculiar smile. + +Georgia colored at the implied rebuke, but her disdainful look remained. +Father Murray looked at her half pityingly, half sorrowfully. + +"It will not do, Georgia," he said kindly: "you will have to stop. The +Mountain of High-and-Mighty-dom is a very dazzling eminence to be sure, +but the sun shines brighter in the valley below." + +At that moment Fly entered for her young mistress, and Georgia arose to +go. + +"Good-by, Mrs. Murray; good-by, Em; good-night, Father Murray." + +"Good-night, Georgia," he said, laying his hand on her shining, haughty +young head, "and Heaven bless you, my child!" + +She folded her hands almost meekly to receive his benediction, and +feeling as though that blessing were sorely needed, she passed out and +was gone. + +Gone! As for you and me, reader, the _child_ Georgia has gone forever. +Let the curtain drop on the first act in her drama of life, to rise when +the child shall be a woman. + + + + +CHAPTER IX. + +OLD FRIENDS MEET. + + "It was not thus in other days we met; + Hath time and absence taught thee to forget?" + + +And three years passed away. + +Elsewhere these three years might have wrought strange changes, but they +made few in good old Burnfield. The old, never-ending, but ever new +routine of births, and deaths, and marriages went on; children were +growing up to be men and women--there were no young _ladies_ and +_gentlemen_ in Burnfield--and other children were taking their place. +The only marked change was the introduction of a railway, that brought +city people to the quiet sea-coast town every summer, and gave a sort of +impetus to the stagnating business of the place. Very dazzling and +bewildering to the eyes of the sober-going Burnfieldians were those +dashing city folks, who condescended to patronize them with a lofty +superiority quite overwhelming. + +One other change these three years had wrought--the girl Georgia was a +woman in looks and stature, the handsome, haughty, capricious belle of +Burnfield. Time had passed unmarked by any incident worth mentioning. +Life was rather monotonous in that little sea-shore cottage, and Georgia +might have stagnated with the rest but for the fiery life in her heart +that would never be at rest long enough to suffer her to fall into a +lethargy. + +Georgia's physical and mental education had been rapidly progressing +during these three years. She could manage a boat with the best oarsman +in Burnfield; and often, when the winds were highest and the sea +roughest, her light skiff--a gift from an admirer--might be seen dancing +on the waters like a sea-gull, with the tall, slight form of a young +girl guiding it through the foam, her wild black eyes lit up with the +excitement of the moment, looking like some ocean goddess, or the queen +of the storm riding the tempest she had herself raised. + +Georgia braved all dangers because they brought her excitement, and she +would have lived in a constant fever if she could; danger sent the hot +blood bounding through her veins like quicksilver, and fear was a +feeling unknown to her high and daring temperament. So when the typhus +fever once, a year previously, raged through the town, carrying off +hundreds, and every one fled in terror, she braved it all, entered every +house where it appeared in its most malignant form, braved storm, and +night, and danger to nurse the pest-stricken, and became the +guardian-angel of the town. And this--not, reader, from any high and +holy motive, not from that heavenly charity, that inspires the heroic +Sister of Charity to do likewise--but simply because there was +excitement in it, because she was fearless for herself and exulted in +her power at that moment, and perhaps, to do Georgia justice, she was +urged by a humane feeling of pity for the neglected sufferers. She +watched by the dead and dying, she boldly entered lazar houses where no +one else would tread, and she did not take the disease. Her high, +perfect bodily health, her fine organization and utter fearlessness, +were her safeguards. Georgia had already obtained a sort of mastery over +the townfolks; that deference was paid to her that simple minds always +pay to lofty ones; but now her power was complete. She reigned among +them a crowned queen; the dark-eyed, handsome girl had obtained a +mastery over them she could never lose; she had only to raise her finger +to have them come at her beck; she was beginning to realize her childish +dream of power, and she triumphed in it. And so, free, wild, glad, and +untamed, the young conqueress reigned, queen of the forest and river, +and a thousand human hearts; looked up to, as comets are--something to +admire and wonder at, at a respectful distance. + +Under the auspices of Father Murray her education had progressed +rapidly. As his congregation was not very numerous, his labors were not +very arduous, and he found a good deal of spare time for himself. Being +a profound scholar, he determined to devote himself to the education of +his little niece Emily, and at her solicitation Georgia also became his +pupil. Poor, simple, happy little Emily was speedily outstripped and +left far behind by her gifted companion, who mastered every science with +a rapidity and ease really wonderful. By nature she was a decided +linguist, and learned French, and German, and Latin with a quickness +that delighted the heart of good Father Murray. All the religious +training the wild girl had ever received in her life was imbibed now, +but even yet it was only superficial; it just touched the surface of her +sparkling nature, nothing sunk in. She professed no particular faith; +she believed in no formal creed; she worshiped the Lord of the mighty +sea and the beautiful earth, the ruler of the storm and king of the +universe, in a wild, strange, exultant way of her own, but she looked +upon all professed creeds as so many trammels that no one with an +independent will could ever submit to. Ah! it was Georgia's hour of +highest earthly happiness then; she did not know how the heart of all +atheists, infidels, and heretics cry out involuntarily to that merciful +All Father in their hour of sorrow. Georgia was as one who "having eyes +saw not, having ears heard not." In the summer time of youth, and +health, and happiness she _would not_ believe, and it was only like many +others when the fierce wintry tempest beat on her unsheltered head, when +the dark night of utter anguish closed around her, she fell at the feet +of Him who "doeth all things well," offering not a fresh, unworldly +heart, but one crushed, and rent, and consumed to calcined ashes in the +red heat of her own fiery passions. + +Georgia rarely went to church; her place of worship was the dark solemn, +old primeval forest, where, lying under the trees, listening to the +drowsy twittering of the birds for her choir, she would dream her wild, +rainbow-tinted visions of a future more glorious than this earth ever +realized. Ah! the dreams of eighteen! + + * * * * * + +It was a wild, blusterous afternoon in early spring, a dark, dry, windy +day. Miss Jerusha, the same old cast-iron vestal as of yore, sat in the +best room, knitting away, just as you and I, reader, first saw her on +Christmas Eve five years ago, just looking as if five minutes instead of +years had passed since then, so little change is there in her own proper +person or in that awe-inspiring apartment, the best room. The asthmatic +rocking-chair seems to have been attacked with rheumatism since, for its +limbs are decidedly of a shaky character, and its consumptive wheeze, as +it saws back or forward, betokens that its end is approaching. Curled up +at her feet lies that intelligent quadruped, Betsey Periwinkle, gazing +with blinking eyes in the fire, and deeply absorbed in her own +reflections. A facetious little gray-and-white kitten (Betsey's +youngest), is amusing itself running round and round in a frantic effort +to catch its own little shaving-brush of a tail, varying the recreation +by making desperate dives at Miss Jerusha's ball of stocking yarn, and +invariably receives a kick in return that sends it flying across the +room, but which doesn't seem to disturb its equanimity much. Out in the +kitchen that small "cullud pusson," Fly, is making biscuits for supper, +and diffusing around her a most delightful odor of good things. Miss +Jerusha sits silently knitting for a long time with pursed-up lips, only +glancing up now and then when an unusually high blast makes the little +homestead shake, but at last the spirit moves her, and she speaks: + +"It's abominable! it's disgraceful! the neglect of parents nowadays! +letting their young 'uns run into all sorts of danger, and without no +insurance on 'em neither. If that there little chap was mine, I'd switch +him within an inch of his life afore I'd let him carry on with such +capers. He'll be drowned just as sure as shootin', and sarve him right, +too, a venturesome, fool-hardy little limb! You, Fly!" + +Miss Jerusha's voice has lost none of its shrillness and sharpness under +the mollifying influence of Old Father Time. + +"Yes, Mist," sings out Fly, in a shrill treble. + +"Ken you see that little viper yet, or has he got drownded?" + +"He's a-driftin' out'n de riber, ole Mist; shill I run and tell his +folks when I puts der biscuits in de oben?" says Fly, straining her eyes +looking out of the kitchen window. + +"No, you sha'n't do no sich thing! if his folks don't think he's worth +a-lookin' arter thimselves, I ain't a-goin' to put myself out noways +'bout it. _Let_ him drown, ef he's a mind to, and perhaps they'll look +closer arter the rest. A young 'un more or less ain't no great loss. +Don't let them ere biscuits burn, you Fly! or it'll be wuss for you! I +wish Georgia was here; it's time she was to hum." + +"_Quand un parle du diable on en voit le vue!_" says a clear, musical +voice, and the present Georgia, a tall, superbly formed girl, with the +shining eyes, and glossy hair of her childhood, but with a higher bloom +and brighter smile than that tempestuous childhood ever knew, enters and +stands before her, her dark hair blown out by the wind that has sent a +deeper glow to her dark crimson cheeks, and a more vivid light to her +splendid eyes. + +"Oh, you've come, hev you?" says Miss Jerusha, rather crossly, "and a +talkin' of Hebrew and Greek, and sich other ungodly lingo, again. It's +suthin' bad, I know, or you wouldn't be a sayin' of it in thim +onchristian langergers. I allurs said nothin' good would come of your +heavin' away of your time and larning thim. I know it ain't right; don't +sound as if it war. I feel it in my bones that it ain't. Where hev you +bin?" + +"Over to Emily's," Georgia said, laughingly, as she snatched up Betsey +Periwinkle, junior, and stroked her soft fur. "What did you want me for +when I came in?" + +"Oh," said Miss Jerusha, "it's all along of that little imp, Johnny +Smith, as has been and gone and went out in a boat, and I expect is +upsot and gone to the bottom afore this." + +Georgia sprang to her feet in consternation. + +"What! gone out in a boat! to-day! that child! Miss Jerusha, what do you +mean?" + +"Why, just what I say," said Miss Jerusha, testily; "that there little +cuss has a taste for drowndin', for he's never out of a boat when he can +get into one, and I do b'lieve it's more'n half your fault, too, +abringing of him out with you every day in your derned little egg-shell +of a skiff. Ef he hain't got to the bottom before this it's a wonder." + +"Oh, that child! that child! he will be drowned! Good Heaven, Miss +Jerusha, why did you not send and tell his parents?" + +"Well, 'taint my place to look arter other folks' young 'uns, is it?" +said Miss Jerusha, shifting uneasily under the stern, indignant gaze +bent upon her. "Let every tub stand on its own bottom, _I_ say." + +"Oh, Miss Georgia! Miss Georgia!" cried Fly, excitedly, "dar he is! run +right into dat ar rock out'n de riber, an' now he can't get off, an' de +tide is a risin' so fast he'll be swep' off pooty soon." + +Georgia sprang to the window and looked out. The river, swollen and +turbid by the spring freshets, and lashed into fury by the high winds, +was one sheet of white foam, like the land in a December snow-storm. The +boat had struck a high rock, or rather small island, out in the river, +and there stood a lad of about ten years old with outstretched arms, +evidently shrieking for help; but his cries were drowned in the uproar +of the winds and waves. In ten minutes it was evident the sea would +sweep over the rock, and then---- + +Georgia with a wild, frenzied gesture, turned and fled from the house, +seized two light oars that lay outside the door, threw them over her +shoulder, and sped with the lightness and fleetness of a mountain deer +down the rocks to the beach. + +"Oh, Miss Jerry! Miss Jerry! she's a-goin' arter him," shrieked Fly. +"Oh, laudy! dey'll bof be drowned _dead_! Oh! Oh! Oh!" And shrieking, +Fly rushed out and darted off toward the nearest house to tell the news. + +New settlers had lately come to Burnfield, and Miss Jerusha's nearest +neighbors, the parents of the venturesome little Smith, lived within a +quarter of a mile of her. Mercury himself was not a fleeter messenger +than Fly, and soon the Smiths and other people around were alarmed and +hurrying in crowds to the beach. As Fly, still screaming out the news, +was darting hither and thither, a hand was laid on her arm, and looking +up, she saw a gentleman, young and handsome, muffled in a Spanish cloak, +and with his hat pulled down over his eyes. + +"What's all this uproar about, my good girl? Where are all these people +hurrying to?" he asked, arresting her. + +"Oh, to der beach! Miss Georgia will be drowned," cried Fly, breaking +from him, and darting off among the crowd. + +The stranger hurried on with the rest, and a very few minutes brought +him to the beach, already thronged with the alarmed neighbors. On a high +rock stood Miss Jerusha, wringing her hands and gesticulating wildly, +and more wildly urging the men to go to Georgia's assistance, going +through all the phrases of the potential mood, "exhorting, commanding, +entreating," in something after the following fashion: + +"Oh, she'll be drownded! she'll be drownded! I know she will, and sarve +her right, too--a ventursome, undutiful young hussy! Oh, my gracious! +what are you all a-standing here for, a-doing nothing, and Georgey +drownding? Go right off this minit and git a boat and go after her. +There! there! she's down now! No, she's up again, but she's sartin to be +drownded, the infernally young fool! Oh, Pete Jinking! you derned lazy +old coward! get out your boat and go arter her! Oh, Pete! you're a nice +old man! do go arter her! There! now she's upsot! No, she's right end up +agin, but the next time she sure to go! Oh, my conscience! won't none en +ye go arter her, you miserable set of sneakin' cowards you! Oh, my stars +and garters! what a life I lead long o' that there derned young gal!" + +"There's no boat to be had," said "Pete Jinking," "and if there was, +Miss Georgia's skiff would live where a larger one would go down. If +_she_ can't manage it, no one can." + +"Oh, yes! talk, talk, talk! git it off your own shoulders, you cowardly +old porpoise, you! afraid to venture where a delikay young gal does. Oh, +Georgey, you blamed young pepper-pod, wait till I catch hold of you!" +said Miss Jerusha, wringing her hands in the extremity of her distress. + +"She has reached him! she has reached him! There, she has him in the +boat!" cried the stranger, excitedly. + +"And she has got him! she has got him! Hurra! hurra! hurra!" shouted the +crowd on the shore, as they breathlessly shaded their eyes to gaze +across the foaming waters. + +Steering her light craft with a master hand, Georgia reached the rock +barely in time, for scarcely had the lad leaped into the boat when a +huge wave swept over the rocks, and not one there but shuddered at the +death he had so narrowly escaped. + +But the occupants of the skiff were far from safe, and a dead silence +fell on all as they hushed the very beating of their hearts to watch. +She had turned its head towards the shore, and bending her slight form +to the oars, she pulled vigorously against the dashing waves. Now poised +and quivering on the topmost crest of some large wave, now sinking down, +down, far down out of sight until they feared it would never rise, yet, +still re-appearing, she toiled bravely. Her long, wild, black hair, +unbound by the wind, streamed in the breeze, drenched and dripping with +sea-brine. On and on toiled the brave girl, nearer and nearer to the +shore she came, until at last, with a mighty shout, that burst +involuntarily from their relieved hearts, a dozen strong hands were +extended, caught the boat, and pulled it far up on the shore. And then +"Hurrah! hurrah! Hurrah for Georgia! hurrah for Georgia Darrell!" burst +from every lip, and hats were waved, and the cheer arose again and +again, until the welkin rang, and the crowd pressed around her, shaking +hands, and congratulating her, and hemming her in, until, half laughing, +half impatient, she broke from them, exclaiming: + +"There, there, good folks, that will do--please let me pass. Mrs. Smith, +here is your naughty little boy; you will have to take better care of +him for the future. Uncle Pete, will you just look after my skiff, and +bring those oars up to the house? My clothes are so heavy with the wet +that they are as much as I can carry. Now, Miss Jerusha, don't begin to +scold; I am not drowned, you see, so it will be all a waste of +ammunition. Come along; I want to get out of this crowd." + +Fatigued with her exertions, pale and wet, she toiled wearily up the +bank, very unlike herself. The stranger, muffled in his black +brigandish-looking cloak and slouched hat, stood motionless watching +her, and Georgia glanced carelessly at him and passed on. Strangers were +not much of a novelty in Burnfield now, so this young, distinguished +looking gentleman awoke no surprise until she saw him advance toward her +with outstretched hand. And Georgia stepped back and glanced at him in +haughty amaze. + +"Miss Darrell, you are a second Grace Darling. Allow me to congratulate +you on what you have done to-day." + +"Sir!" + +"You will not shake hands, Miss Darrell? And yet we are not strangers." + +"You labor under a mistake, sir! I do not know you! Will you allow me to +pass?" + +He stood straight before her, a smile curling his mustached lip at her +regal hauteur. + +"And has five years, five short years, completely obliterated even the +memory of Richmond Wildair?" + +"Richmond Wildair! _Who was he?_" she said, lifting her eyes with cool +indolence, and looking up straight into the bronzed, manly face, from +which the hat was now raised. "Oh, I recollect! How do you do, sir? +Come, Miss Jerusha; let me help you up the bank." + +He stood for a moment transfixed. Had he expected to meet the impulsive +little girl he had left? Had he expected this scornful young empress, +with her chilling "_who was he?_" + +She did not notice his extended hand--_that_ reminded him of the child +Georgia--but, taking Miss Jerusha's arm, walked with her up the path, +the proud head erect, but the springing step slow and labored. + +He watched her a moment, and smiled. That smile would have reminded +Georgia of other days had she seen it--a smile that said as plainly as +words could speak, "You shall pay for this, my lady! You shall find my +power has not passed away." + +It was a surprise to Georgia, this meeting, and not a pleasant one. She +recollected how he had mastered and commanded her in her masterless +childhood--a recollection that filled her with angry indignation; a +recollection that made her compress her lips, set her foot down hard, +and involuntarily clinch the small hand; a recollection that sent a +bright, angry light to her black, flashing eyes, and a hot, irritated +spot burning on either cheek; and the dark brows knit as he had often +seen them do before as he came resolutely up and stood on the other side +of Miss Jerusha. + +"And will _you_, too, disown me, Miss Jerusha?" he said, with a look of +reproach. "Is Richmond Wildair totally forgotten by all his old friends +in Burnfield?" + +Miss Jerusha, who had not overheard his conversation with Georgia, faced +abruptly round, and looked at him in the utmost surprise. + +"Why, bless my heart if it ain't! Wall, railly now! Why, I never! +Georgey, don't you remember the young gent as you used to be so thick +'long of? Wal, now! how do you do? Why, I'm rail glad to see you. I +railly am, now!" And Miss Jerusha shook his hand with an _empressement_ +quite unusual with her in her surprise. + +"Thank you, Miss Jerusha. I am glad _all_ my friends have not forgotten +me," said Richmond. + +Georgia's lip curled slightly, and facing round, she said: + +"Miss Jerusha, if you'll excuse me, I'll go on. I want to change this +wet dress;" and without waiting for a reply, Georgia hurried on. + +"What brings him here?" she said to herself, as she walked quickly +toward the cottage. "I suppose he thinks he is to be my lord and master +as of yore, that I am still a slave to come at his beck, and because he +is rich and I am poor he can command me as much as he pleases. He shall +not do it! he shall _not_! I will _never_ forgive him for conquering +me," flashed Georgia, clenching her hand involuntarily as she walked. + +"And so you've come back! Wall, now, who'd a thought it? Is the square +got well and come back, too?" + +"My uncle is dead," said the young man, gravely. + +"Do tell! Dead, is he? Wall, we've all got to go, some time or another, +so there's no good making a fuss. What's going to come of the old place +up there?" + +"I am going to have it fitted up and improved, and use it for a +country-seat." + +"Oh--I see! it's your'n, is it? Nice place it is, and worth a good many +thousands, I'll be bound! S'pose you'll be getting married shortly, and +bringing a wife there to oversee the sarvints, and poultry, and things, +eh?" and Miss Jerusha peered at him sharply with her small eyes. + +"Really, Miss Jerusha, I don't know," he said, laughingly, taking off +his hat and running his fingers through his waving dark hair. "If I +could get any one to have me, I might. Do you think I could succeed in +that sort of speculation here in Burnfield? The young ladies here know +more about looking after poultry than they do in the city." + +"Ah! they ain't properly brought up there," said Miss Jerusha, shaking +her head; "it's nothin' but boardin' schools, and beaus, and theaters, +and other wickednesses there; 'tain't ekil to the country noways. You'll +get a wife though, easy enough; young men with lots of money don't find +much trouble doing that, either in town or country. How's that nice +brother o' your'n?" said Miss Jerusha, suddenly recollecting the youth +who had by force possessed himself of so large a share of her +affections. + +"He is very well, or was when I heard from him last. He has gone abroad +to make the grand tour." + +"Oh--has he?" said Miss Jerusha, rather mystified, and not quite certain +what new patent invention the grand tour was. "Why couldn't he make it +at home?" Then, without waiting for an answer, "Won't you come in? do +come in; tea's just ready, and you hain't had a chance to speak to +Georgey yet, hey? You're most happy. Very well, walk right in and take a +cheer. You, Fly!" + +"Yes'm, here I is," cried Fly, rushing in breathlessly, and diving +frantically at the oven. + +"Where's your young mistress?" + +"Up stairs." + +"Well, you hurry up and get tea; fly round now, will you? Oh, here comes +Georgey. Why, Georgey! don't you know who this is?" + +Georgia gave a start of surprise, and her face darkened as she entered +and saw him sitting there so much at home. + +Passing him with a distant courtesy she said, with marked coldness: + +"I have that pleasure. Fly, attend to your baking; I'll set the table." + +Miss Jerusha was too well accustomed to the varying moods of her ward +to be much surprised at this capricious conduct; so she entered into +conversation with Richmond, or rather began a racking cross examination +as to what he had been doing, where he had been, what he was going to +do, and how the last five years had been spent generally. + +To all her questions Mr. Wildair replied with the utmost politeness, +but--he told her just as much as he chose and no more. From this she +learned that he had been studying for the bar, and had been admitted, +that his career hitherto had been eminently successful, that his uncle's +death had rendered him independent of his profession, but that having a +passion for that pursuit he was still determined to continue it; that +his brother's health remaining delicate, change of scene had been +recommended, and that therefore he had gone abroad and was not expected +home for a year yet; that a desire to fit up and refurnish the "House," +as it was called, _par excellence_, in Burnfield, was the sole cause of +his leaving Washington--where for the past five years he had mostly +resided--and finally, that his stay in this flourishing township +"depended on circumstances." + +It was late that evening when he went away. Georgia had listened, and, +except to Fly, had not spoken half a dozen words, still wrapped in her +mantel of proud reserve. She stood at the window when he was gone, +looking out at the dark, flowing waves. + +"Nice young man," said Miss Jerusha, approvingly, referring to her +guest. + +There was no answer. + +"Good-lookin', too," pursued Miss Jerusha, looking reflectively at +Betsey Periwinkle, "and rich. Hem! I say, Georgia--you're fond of +money--wouldn't it be pleasant if you was to be mistress bime-by of the +big house--hey?" + +She looked up for an answer, but Georgia was gone. + + + + +CHAPTER X. + +DREAMING. + + "And underneath that face, like summer's ocean, + Its lips as moveless and its cheek as clear, + Slumbers a whirlpool of the heart's emotions-- + Love, hatred, pride, hope, sorrow, all save fear." + + HALLECK. + + +"Well, this _is_ pleasant," said Richmond, throwing himself carelessly +on the grass, and sending pebbles skimming over the surface of the +river; "this _is_ pleasant," he repeated, looking up at his companion, +as she sat drawing under the shadow of an old elm down near the shore. + +Three months had passed since his return, and the glowing golden +midsummer days had come. All this time he had been a frequent visitor at +the cottage--to see _Miss Jerusha_, of course; and very gracious, +indeed, was that lady's reception of the young lord of the manor. +Georgia was freezing at first, most decidedly below zero, and enough to +strike terror into the heart of any less courageous knight than the one +in question. But Mr. Richmond Wildair was not easily intimidated, and +took all her chilling hauteur coolly enough, quite confident of +triumphing in the end. It was a drawn battle between them, but he knew +he was the better general of the two, so he was perfectly easy as to +the issue. In fact, he rather liked it than otherwise, on the principle +of the "greater the trial, the greater the triumph," and, accustomed to +be flattered and caressed, this novel mode of treatment was something +new and decidedly pleasant. So he kept on "never minding," and visited +the cottage often, and talked gayly with Miss Jerusha, and was +respectful and quiet with Miss Georgia, until, as constant dropping will +wear a stone, so Georgia's unnatural stiffness began to give way, and +she learned to laugh and grow genial again, but remained still on the +alert to resist any attempt at command. No such attempt was made, and at +last Georgia and Richmond grew to be very good friends. + +Georgia had a talent for drawing, and Richmond, who was quite an artist, +undertook to teach her, and those lessons did more than anything else to +put them on a sociable footing. Richmond liked to give his lessons out +under the trees, where his pupil might sketch from nature, and Georgia +rather liked it herself, too. It was very pleasant, those lessons; +Georgia liked to hear about great cities, about this rush, and roar, and +turmoil, and constant flow of busy life, and Richmond had the power of +description in a high degree, and used to watch, with a sly, repressed +smile, pencil and crayon drop from her fingers, and her eyes fix +themselves in eager, unconscious interest on his face, as she grew +absorbed in his narrative. + +Dangerous work it was, with a pupil and master young and handsome, the +romantic sea-shore and murmuring old trees for their school-room, and +talking not forbidden either. How Miss Jerusha chuckled over it in +confidence to Betsey Periwinkle--she didn't dare to trust Fly--and +indulged in sundry wild visions of a brand-new brown silk dress and +straw bonnet suitable for the giving away a bride in. + +Little did Georgia dream of these extravagant peeps into futurity, or +the lessons would have ended then and there, this new-fledged intimacy +been unceremoniously nipped in the bud, and Miss Jerusha's castles in +Spain tumbled to the ground with a crash! But Georgia was in a dream and +said nothing. Richmond _did_, and laughed quietly over it in the shadow +of the old ancestral mansion. + +"Yes, this is pleasant," said Richmond, one morning, as he lay idly on +the grass, and Georgia sat on the trunk of a fallen tree near, taking +her drawing lesson. + +She lifted her head and laughed. + +"What is pleasant?" she said. + +"This--this feeling of rest, of peace, of indolence, of idleness. I +never sympathized with Charley's love for the _dolce far niente_ before, +but I begin to appreciate it now. One tires of this hurrying, bustling, +jostling, uproarious life in the city, and then laziness in the country +is considered the greatest of earthly boons. All work and no play makes +Jack a dull boy, you know." + +"And do you really like the country better than the city?" asked +Georgia. + +"I like it--yes--in slices. I shouldn't fancy being buried in the woods +among catamounts, and panthers, and settlers hardly less savage. I +shouldn't fancy sleeping in wigwams and huts, and living on bear's flesh +and Johnny-cake; but I like _this_. I like to lie under the trees, away +out of sight and hearing of the city, yet knowing three or four hours in +the cars will bring me to it whenever I feel like going back. I like the +feeling of languid repose these still, voiceless, midsummer noondays +inspire; I like to have nothing to do; and plenty of time to do it in." + +"What an epicure you are," said Georgia, smiling; "now it seems to me +after witnessing the ever-changing, ever-restless life in Washington and +New York, and all those other great cities, you would find our sober +little humdrum Burnfield insupportably dull. I know I should; I would +like above all things to live in a great city, life seems to be so fully +waked up, so earnest there. I _shall_, too, some day," she said, in her +calm, decided way, as she took up another pencil and went on quietly +drawing. + +"Indeed!" he said, slowly, watching the pebbles he sent skimming over +the water as intently as if his whole life depended on them. "Indeed! +how is that?" + +"Oh! I shall go to seek my fortune," she said, laughingly, yet in +earnest, too. "Do you know I am to be rich and great? 'Once upon a time +there was a king and queen with three sons, and the youngest was called +Jack.' I am Jack, and you know how well he always came out at the end of +the story." + +"Georgia, you are a--dreamer." + +"I shall be a worker one of these days. My hour has not yet come." And +Georgia hummed: + + "I am asleep and don't waken me." + +"What will you do when you awake, Georgia?" + +"What Heaven and my own genius pleases; found a colony, find a +continent, make war on Canada, run for President, teach a school, set +fire to Cuba, learn dressmaking, or set up a menagerie, with Betsey +Periwinkle for my stock in trade," she said, with one of her malicious, +quizzical laughs. + +"Georgia, talk sense." + +"Mr. Wildair, I flatter myself I am doing that now." + +"Miss Darrell, shall I tell you your future?" + +"I defy you to do it, sir." + +"Don't be too sure. Now listen. In the first place, you will get +married." + +"No, _sir-r_!" exclaimed Georgia, with emphasis: "I scorn the +insinuation! I am going to be an old maid, like Miss Jerusha." + +"Don't interrupt, Miss Darrel; it's not polite. You will marry some +sweet youth with nice curling whiskers, and his hair parted in the +middle, and you will mend his old coats, and read him the newspaper, and +trudge with him to market, and administer curtain lectures, and raise +Shanghai roosters, and take a prize every year for the best butter and +the nicest quilts in the county; and finally you will die, and go up to +heaven, where you will belong, and have a wooden tombstone erected to +your memory, with your virtues inscribed on it in letters five inches +long." + +"Shall I, indeed! that's all you know about it," said Georgia, half +inclined to be provoked at this picture; "no, sir; I am bound to +astonish the world some of these days--_how_, I haven't quite decided, +but I know I shall do it. As for your delightful picture of conjugal +felicity, _you_ may be a Darby some day, but I will never be a Joan." + +"You might be worse." + +"And will be, doubtless. I never expect to be anything very good. Emily +Murray will do enough of that for both of us." + +"Emily is a good girl. Do you know what she reminds one of?" + +"A fragrant little spring rose, I imagine." + +"Yes, of that, too; but she is more like the river just now as it flows +on smooth, serene, untroubled and shining, smiling in the sunshine, +unruffled and calm." + +"And I am like that same river lashed to a fury in a December storm," +said Georgia, with a darkening brow. + +"Exactly--pre-cisely! though you are quiet enough now; but as those +still waters _must_ be lashed into tempests, just so certain will you--" + +"Mr. Wildair, I don't relish your personalities," said Georgia, with a +flushing cheek and kindling eye. + +"I beg your pardon--it was an ungallant speech--but I did not know you +cared for compliments. What shall I say you look like?--some gorgeous +tropical flower?" + +"No, sir! you shall compare me to nothing! Georgia Darrell looks like +herself alone! There! how do you like my drawing?" + +He took it and looked long and earnestly. It was rather a strange one. +It represented a wintry sea and coast, with the dark, sluggish waves +tossing like a strong heart in strong agony, and only lit by the fitful, +watery, glimmer of a pale wintry moon breaking through the dark, +lowering clouds above. Down on the shore knelt a young girl, her long +hair and thin garments streaming behind her in the wind, her hands +clasped, her face blanched, her eyes strained in horror far over the +troubled face of the sea on a drowning form. Far out a female face rose +above the devouring waves--_such_ a face, so full of a terrible, +nameless horror, despair and utter woe as no fancy less vivid than that +of Georgia could ever have conceived. One arm was thrown up far over her +head in the death struggle, and the eyes in that strange face were +appalling to look on. + +Richmond Wildair held his breath as he gazed, and looked up in Georgia's +dark face in a sort of fear. + +"Georgia! Georgia!" he said, "what in Mercy's name were you thinking of +when you drew that?" + +She laughed. + +"Don't you like it, Mr. Wildair?" she said. + +"Like it! You're a goblin! a kelpie! a witch! an unearthly changeling! +or you would never have conjured up that blood-chilling face. Why, you +have been painting portraits! Did you know it?" + +"I did not when I commenced--I found I had when they were done." + +"And life-like portraits they are, too. That kneeling girl is Emily +Murray, though her sweet face never wore that look of wild horror you +have pictured there. And that other ghastly, agonized countenance, that +seems rent by a thousand fiends, is--" + +"Myself." + +"Oh, Georgia! what spirit possessed you to paint that awful face?" + +"How do I know? The spirit of prophecy, perhaps," she said, in a tone of +dark gloom. + +"Georgia Darrell, do you know what you deserve?" + +"No, sir." + +"Then I shall tell you. You ought to be locked in an attic, and fed on +bread and water for a month, to cool the fever in your blood." + +"Thank you; I would rather be excused. And now I come to think of it, it +_couldn't_ have been the spirit of prophecy either that inspired me, for +your brother Charles once told me that I would never be drowned." + +"No? How did he know it?" + +"He said a more elevated destiny awaited me--hanging." + +"What if he turns out a true prophet?" + +"I shall not be surprised." + +"You will not?" + +"Most certainly not. They hang people for murder, don't they?" + +"Well?" + +"Well!" she repeated, mimicking his tone, "I expect to be the death of +somebody one of these days." + +He knew she spoke lightly, yet suddenly there rushed to his mind the +recollection of the conversation he had once held with his brother, in +which he compared her to Lady Macbeth, and declared his belief in her +capability of committing that far-famed lady's crime. Strange that it +should come back to him so vividly and painfully then. + +"Well, signor," said the clear, musical voice of Georgia, breaking in +upon his reverie, "of what is your serene highness thinking so intently? +Do you fear you are to be the future victim?" + +"Georgia!" + +"I listen, mynheer." + +"Suppose you loved somebody very much--" + +"A mighty absurd supposition to begin with. I never intend to do any +such thing." + +"Now, Georgia, be serious. Suppose you loved some one with all your +heart, if you possess such an article, you flinty female anaconda, and +they professed to love you, and afterward deceived you, what would you +do?" + +"Do!" her face darkened, her eyes blazed, her lips sprung quivering +apart, her hands clenched; "do! I should BLAST them with my vengeance; I +would live for revenge, I would _die_ for revenge! I would track them +over the world like a sleuth-hound. I would defy even death by the power +of my own will until I had wreaked this doom on their devoted head. +Deceive me! Safer would it be to tamper with the lightning's chain than +with the heart that beats here." + +She struck her breast and rose to her feet _transformed_! The terrific +look that had started him in the pictured face, flamed up in her living +one now, and she stood like a young Medusa, ready to blight all on whom +her dark, scorching glance might rest. + +He stood appalled before her. Was she acting, or was this storm of +passion real? It was a relief to him to see one of his own servants +approaching at that moment with a letter in his hand. The presence of a +third person restored Georgia to herself, and, leaning against a tree, +she looked darkly over the smiling, shining waters. + +"From Charley!" was Richmond's joyful exclamation, as he glanced at the +superscription of the letter and dismissed the man who brought it. "It +is nearly six months since he wrote last, and we were all getting +seriously uneasy about him. Will you excuse me while I read it, +Georgia?" + +Georgia bent her head in token of acquiescence, and taking up another +piece of paper, began carelessly drawing a scaffold, with herself +hanging, to horrify her companion. So absorbed did she become in her +task, that she did not observe the long silence of her companion, until +suddenly lifting her eyes, she beheld a startling sight. + +With the letter clutched with a death-grip in his hand, his face livid, +his brow corrugated, his eyes fixed, his whole form rigid and +motionless, he sat with his eyes riveted on that fatal letter. + +In all her life Georgia had never seen the calm, self-sustained Richmond +Wildair moved, and now--oh, this was awful! She sprang to his side and +caught his arm, crying out: + +"Richmond! Richmond! oh, Richmond! what is the matter?" + +He lifted his eyes with a hollow groan. + +"Oh, Georgia!" + +"Richmond! oh, Richmond! is Charley dead?" + +"Dead? No! Would he were!" he said, with passionate bitterness. + +"Oh, Richmond, this is terrible! What has your brother--" + +"Brother! it is false!" he exclaimed, fiercely, springing to his feet; +"he is no brother of mine!" + +"Good gracious! Richmond, what has he done?" + +"Done!" he repeated, furiously: "he has disgraced himself, disgraced us +all--done what I will never forgive." + +It was the first time Georgia had ever heard him utter such language. As +a gentleman, he was not in the habit of staining his lips with +expletives, and now even _her_ strong nature shrank, and she shuddered. + +"Oh, what has Charley done? What _can_ he have done? He so frank, so +kind, so warm-hearted? Oh he cannot have committed a crime! It is +impossible," cried Georgia, vehemently. + +"It is _not_ impossible!--lost, fallen, degraded wretch! Oh, mercy! that +I should have lived to see this day! Oh, who--who shall tell my mother +this?" + +"Richmond, be calm--I implore you. Tell me what he has done?" + +"What you shall never know--what I shall never tell you!" he cried, +passionately. + +The color retreated from Georgia's very lips, leaving her white as +marble. + +"If it is murder--" + +"Murder! _That_ might be forgiven! A man may kill another in the heat of +passion and be forgiven. Murder, robbery, arson, _all_ might be +forgiven; but this! Oh, Georgia, ask me not! I feel as if I should go +mad." + +What had he done, what awful crime was this that had no name, before +which, in Richmond's eyes, even murder sank into insignificance? + +Georgia stood appalled, while Richmond, with the fatal letter crushed in +his hand, strode up and down as if he were indeed mad. Then, as his eye +fell on the familiar hand-writing, his mood changed, and he passionately +exclaimed: + +"Oh, Charles! Oh, my brother! Would you had died ere you had come to +this! Oh, Georgia! I loved him so! every one loved him so! and now--and +_now_!" + +He turned away and shaded his eyes with his hands, while his strong +chest heaved with irrepressible emotion. + +Every tender, womanly feeling in Georgia's heart was stirred, and she +went over and took his hand in hers, and said, gently: + +"Mr. Wildair, things may not be so bad as you suppose. I am sure they +are not. I could stake my soul on the innocence of Charles Wildair. Oh, +it is impossible, absurd, he can be guilty of any crime. The Charley +Wildair I once knew can never have fallen so low. Oh, Richmond, I feel +he is innocent. I _know_ he is." + +"Georgia, I thank you for your sympathy; it is my best consolation now; +but I am not deceived; _he is guilty_; he has confessed all. And now, +Georgia, I never want to hear his name mentioned again; never speak of +him to me more. I must go home now: I must be alone, for this shock has +quite unmanned me. Do not speak of this to any one. Farewell!" + +He pressed her hand, pulled his hat down over his eyes, and started off +in the direction of Burnfield. + +Lost in amaze, Georgia stood watching him until he was out of sight, and +then resumed her seat on the grass, to think over this strange scene, +and wonder what possible crime Charley Wildair had committed. It was +hard to associate with _any_ crime the memory of the handsome, happy, +generous boy she remembered; but it must be so. He confessed it himself; +his brother, who passionately loved him, branded him with it; therefore +it must be so. While she sat thinking, two soft hands were placed over +her eyes, and a silky curl touched her cheek. + +"Emily," said Georgia, quietly, without moving. + +"Yes, that same small individual," said a sweet voice; and our fair +Emily came from behind her, and threw herself down on the grass by her +side. + +"Where did you drop from?" asked Georgia, not exactly delighted at the +interruption. + +"Not from the clouds, Lady Georgia. I went to the cottage, and learned +from Miss Jerusha that teacher and pupil had gone off sky-gazing and +'makin' pictures. At the risk of being _de trop_, I followed, and here I +am. Where's Monsieur le Tutor?" + +"Gone home," said Georgia, listlessly. + +"And left you here all by yourself! How shockingly ungallant! Now, I +thought better things of the lord of Richmond Hall. What do you think of +him, Georgia?" + +"Of whom?" + +"Of whom! You know well enough. Of Mr. Wildair." + +"I have formed no opinion on the subject." + +"Well, that's odd. _I_ have, and I think him a splendid fellow--so +gentlemanly, and all that. I wonder what he thinks of us?" + +"He thinks you are a good girl, and I am a dreamer." + +"A good girl! Well, that's very moderate praise, blank and cool, but +just as much as I want. And you are a dreamer--I knew _that_ before. +Will you ever awaken, Georgia?" + +"I shall have to; I never wish it, though." + +"Then the awakening will not be pleasant?" + +"No; I feel a presentiment that it will not. Oh, Emily! I am tired of my +present stagnant life; and yet, sometimes I wish I might never be +anything but a 'dreamer of dreams,' without even realizing how _real_ +life is. I wish I were now like you, my little Princess Frostina." + +"You and I can never be alike--never, Georgia; every element in our +nature is as essentially different as our looks. You are a blaze of red +sky-rockets, and I am a little insignificant whiff of down." + +"No indeed; you are a good, lovable girl, with a warm heart, a clear +head, and a cool temper, who will lead a happy life, and die a happy +death. But I--oh, Emily, Emily! what is to be my fate?" + +She spoke with a sort of cry, and Emily started and gazed on her with a +troubled, anxious face. + +"Oh, Georgia, what is the matter? _Dear_ Georgia! what is the matter? +You look so dark, and strange, and troubled." + +"I am out of spirits--a bad fit of the blues, Em," said Georgia, trying +to smile. "I am a sort of monomaniac, I think; I do not know what is the +matter with me. I wish I were away from here; I grow fairly wild at +times. Emily, I shall _die_ if I stay here much longer." + +All that day something lay on her heart like lead. Perhaps it was the +memory of that mysterious letter, and Charley's guilt, and his brother's +anguish, that weighed it down. Miss Jerusha had long ago given up +wondering at anything her eccentric _protegee_ might see fit to do; but +when all day long she saw her sit, dark and silent, with folded hands, +at the window, gazing at the ever-restless, flowing river, she _did_ +wonder what strange thoughts were passing through her young heart, or, +to use her own expression, what had "come to her." Fly gave it as her +opinion, it was only a "new streak," in the already sufficiently +"streaked" character of her young mistress. And Betsey Periwinkle, +wondering too, but maintaining a discreet silence on the subject, came +purring round her, while her more demonstrative offspring leaped into +her lap and held up her head for her customary caress. + +Unheeding them all, Georgia went early to her room, and leaning her head +on her hand, gazed languidly out. The soft evening breeze lifted the +damp, shining braids of her dark hair, and kissed softly her grave, +beautiful face, and the evening star rose up in solemn beauty, and shone +down into the dark eyes fixed so earnestly on the far-off horizon that +seemed her prison wall. And Georgia looked up, and felt a holy calm +steal into her heart, and forgot all her somber fancies, and her high +heart-beating grew still in gazing on the trembling beauty of that +solitary star. + + + + +CHAPTER XI. + +SOMETHING NEW. + + The faltering speech, and look estranged, + Voice, step, and life, and beauty changed; + She might have marked all this and known + Such change is wrought by love alone.--MOORE. + + +There were great doings going on up at the "house." All Burnfield was in +a state of unprecedented excitement about it. The last Presidential +election, the debut of the new school-marm, or even the first arrival of +the locomotive at the Burnfield Railway depot, had not created half such +a sensation. Marvelous tales ran like wild-fire through the town, of +carpets, of fine velvets, as Mrs. Tolduso, the gossip-in-chief, called +it; of mirrors reaching from floor to ceiling in dazzling gilt frames; +of sofas, and couches, and lounging-chairs, and marble-topped tables, +and no end of pictures, and statues, and upholstery, and "heaps, and +heaps of other things--oh! most splendid," said Mrs. Tolduso; "sich as +must have cost an awful sight of money." + +Then workmen came from the city, and the stately old mansion underwent a +course of painting and varnishing, until it fairly glittered; and the +grounds were altered, and fountains erected, and statues of Hebes, and +Waterbearers, and Venuses rising from the sea-foam, and lions, with +fountains spouting from their mouths and nostrils, and lots of other +devices scattered everywhere. And then a prim little matron of a +housekeeper, and an accomplished cook, and an aristocratic butler, and +coquettish chambermaids in shaking gold ear-drops and pink bows, and a +dignified coachman, and two fascinating young footmen, and a delightful +old gardener, with beautiful white hair and whiskers, made his +appearance, electrifying the neighborhood, and looking down with +contempt on their open-mouthed, homespun neighbors. + +The people stood a great deal more in awe of the aristocratic butler, +and footman, and the rest of them, than they did of their young master, +who was never stiff and pompous, but was given to pat the children on +the head as he passed and throw them coppers, and touch his hat to the +blooming, blushing, smiling country belles, and nod with careless +condescension to their fathers and brothers. And then wild, mysterious +rumors began to fly about that the young "squire" was going to marry +some great city heiress, and bring her here to live, and those who were +so fortunate as to be graciously noticed by any of the aristocratic +flunkeys aforesaid, endeavored to "pump" them, but knowing nothing +themselves they could only shake their heads and look mysterious +unspeakable things, that said as plainly as words: "Of course we know +all, but we have too great an esteem for the young gentleman in whose +house we reside to betray his confidence;" so Mrs. Tolduso, and the rest +of her set, had to coin their own news, and were still left to their own +surmises. + +Miss Jerusha, albeit not given to gossiping, could not help hearing +these rumors, and the worthy spinster began to grow alarmed. She had +never realized until now the immense distance between the rich young +gentleman, Mr. Wildair, and the poor daughter of the poor actress, +Georgia Darrell, who wore her poverty as a duchess might her coronet. +Why, the very servants of the house, in their arrogance, would look down +on the village girl; the fascinating young footmen would have considered +her honored by a smile; and the chambermaids would lift their rustling +silken robes and sweep past her mouseline de laine in lofty disdain. +Georgia, the cottage girl, mistress of the great house and all those +awe-inspiring young ladies and gentlemen who did Mr. Wildair's work for +a "consideration!" Oh, Miss Jerusha, no wonder your chin drops as you +think of it, and a sigh comes whistling through your pursed-up lips like +a sough of wind in a mainsail. + +Then there is that rumor of that haughty young city heiress he is to +marry. Miss Jerusha groans in spirit when she thinks of it, and wishes +Georgia was not so careless about it, for the only time that young lady +had been "short" with Miss Jerusha, for ever so long, was on the +occasion of asking her opinion about the same heiress, when Georgia told +her curtly "she neither knew nor cared--Mr. Wildair and his heiresses +were nothing to her." Yes, Miss Jerusha's brilliant visions of a brown +silk dress and new straw bonnet were fast going the way of many another +brilliant vision, and she sighed again over the evanishment of human +hopes, and then consoled herself with her everlasting stocking and the +society of the Betsey Periwinkles, mother and daughter. It was true Mr. +Wildair was a daily visitor still at the cottage, but his walks with +Georgia were altogether discontinued, and the drawing lessons completely +given up. + +Miss Jerusha did not know that this was by the cold, peremptory command +of Georgia herself, and much to the dissatisfaction of the young +gentleman; but she _did_ know that the vivid crimson was paling in +Georgia's cheek, the light dying out of her brilliant eyes, and the +quick, elastic spring leaving her slow footsteps; knew it and marveled +thereat. She saw, too, with suppressed indignation (for it doesn't pay +to be angry with rich people) that Richmond saw it too, and seemed +rather pleased than otherwise thereat, while Georgia was relapsing into +her first mood, and invariably froze into a living iceberg the moment +his light, firm step sounded on the threshold. + +All this was very puzzling to Miss Jerusha, who soon after had the +pleasure of hearing he was going to be married to somebody else--a +report which he never even contradicted. And so matters were getting +into a "pretty mess," as Miss Jerusha said; and things generally were in +a very unsatisfactory state indeed, when one day Mr. Richmond Wildair +transfixed Miss Jerusha by the polite request that she would do him the +honor of coming and looking at his house. It was all finished now, he +said, and he wanted her opinion of it. + +"Lor', Mr. Wildair? what do you 'spose I know 'bout your fine houses, +and your fol-de-rols and gimcracks that you've got into it. There ain't +no good in my going," said Miss Jerusha knitting away, and looking as +grim as old Father Time in the primer. + +"Still, my dear Miss Jerusha, I should like your opinion of it, and you +will really very much oblige me by coming," said Mr. Wildair, in tones +of suave and stately courtesy. "If you will confer this pleasure on me, +I will send my carriage for you any day you will be pleased to name." + +"Oh, gracious, no!" ejaculated Miss Jerusha, in alarm, as the +remembrance of the dignified coachman came over her; "not for the world. +Still I _should_ admire to see it, but--Georgey, what do _you_ say? Do I +look fit to go?" + +"You may please yourself, Miss Jerusha," she said in a voice so cold and +constrained, that Miss Jerusha looked at her and shifted uneasily in her +seat. + +"Let me answer for Miss Darrell," broke in Richmond. "You _do_ look fit +to go, and I shall consider it a direct personal hint that you do not +want to see me here any more if you refuse. If you will not visit me, I +will not visit you." + +"Perhaps it would have been better if you _never_ had," thought Emily +Murray, who chanced to be present. + +"Oh, well, I s'pose I'd better," said Miss Jerusha, shifting uneasily in +her seat again; "but the fact is, Mr. Wildair, them there servants o' +yourn, are a stuck-up set, and I--" + +"Have no fear on that score, my dear madam," said Mr. Wildair; "my +servants will keep their proper places, and treat my guests with +becoming deference. And now, when am I to expect you?" + +"Well, to-morrow mornin', I guess," said Miss Jerusha, who perhaps would +not have gone but for the opportunity of humbling and snubbing the +servants, one or two of whom had sneered at her in Burnfield, by letting +them see she was the honored friend of their master. + +"If Miss Murray and Miss Darrell would honor me likewise by accompanying +you," he said hesitatingly. + +Georgia started as if she had received a galvanic shock, and a flash +like sheet-lightning leaped from her fierce eyes; but Emily touched her +hand softly, and replied, quickly, before she could speak: + +"Thank you, Mr. Wildair; you will excuse us. Georgia, you promised to +show me that French book you were reading. Come with me now and get it." + +Both arose, and, passing Mr. Wildair with a slight courtesy, swept from +the room, leaving him in undisturbed possession of Miss Jerusha, but +whether to his gratification or annoyance it would have taken a profound +observer to tell, for his face wore its usual calm, unruffled +expression. But his visit was shorter than usual that day, and in half +an hour Miss Jerusha was alone. + +Next morning, resplendent in her still new and gorgeous "kaliker gownd," +Miss Jerusha set off for the "house." Opening the outer gate, she passed +up a magnificent shaded avenue, where her eyes were greeted and +electrified by glimpses of floral beauty hitherto unknown. Arriving at +the hall-door, Miss Jerusha plucked up spirit and gave a thundering +knock; for though there was a bell, the ancient lady knew nothing of any +such modern innovations. + +The unusual sound brought the two fascinating footmen and spruce +chambermaids (who up to the present had had very little to do) to the +door; and when it swung back and displayed the tall, lank form of Miss +Jerusha in her astonishing dress, a universal titter ran from lip to +lip. + +"Well, old lady, what can we do for you to-day?" insinuated one of the +footmen, thinking Miss Jerusha an appropriate subject to poke fun at. + +"Where's your master?" said Miss Jerusha, sharply. + +"Here, marm, this is him," said the fellow, pointing to his brother +flunkey, who stood grinning, with his hands in his pockets. + +"Yes, marm, I'm the high cockalorum; we hev'n't got anything for you +to-day, though." + +"Gess you mistook the door, old lady, didn't you?" said the first, with +an insolent leer. + +The man's words and looks so enraged Miss Jerusha that, lifting her +hand, she gave him a slap in the face that sent him reeling half way +across the hall. + +"Why, you old tramp," exclaimed the other, making a spring at the +undaunted Miss Jerusha, when an iron grasp was laid on his collar, and +he was hurled to the other side of the long hall, and his master's voice +exclaimed: + +"You insolent puppy! if I ever hear you address any one in this style +again, I'll not leave a whole bone in your body. Miss Jerusha, I beg ten +thousand pardons for having exposed you to the insolence of these +rascals, but I will take care it never happens again. Here, you +fellows," said Richmond, turning round; but the hall was deserted, and +he and Miss Jerusha were alone. + +"Never mind, Mr. Wildair," said Miss Jerusha, delighted at their +discomfiture, "it ain't no matter; I guess they got as good as they +brought, sir! What a big house this is, to be sure." + +But when Miss Jerusha was led through it, and all its wonders and +hitherto undreamed-of grandeur were revealed to her amazed eyes, speech +failed her, and she stood astounded, transfixed, and awe-struck. Never +in all her wildest visions, had she conjured up any thing like this, and +she held her breath, and trod on tiptoe, and spoke in a stilled whisper, +and wondered if she were not in an enchanted land, instead of simply in +the sumptuous drawing rooms, boudoirs, and saloons of the "house." + +Richmond watched her with an amused smile, and when she had been +"upstairs, and downstairs, and in my lady's chamber," he insisted on her +taking off her bonnet and shawl, and staying for dinner. So he rang the +bell, and ordered the servant to serve dinner an hour earlier than +usual, and send up Mrs. Hamm, the housekeeper. And in a few minutes, +Mrs. Hamm, a very grand little woman indeed, in a black satin dress, and +gold watch, and dainty little black lace cap, swept in, and was +introduced to Miss Skamp, who felt rather fluttered by the ceremony, and +would have given a good deal to have been back in her cottage just then, +scolding Fly and kicking Betsey Periwinkle. But Mrs. Hamm was a discreet +little lady, and had heard the episode of the two footmen, and was +intensely gracious and polite--so much so, indeed, that it seriously +discomposed Miss Jerusha, who made a thousand blunders during dinner, +and did not breathe freely until she was fairly on her way home again, +in the carriage, too, for Mr. Wildair would not hear of her walking +back. + +That was a triumph for Miss Jerusha Glory Ann Skamp! Here was an +eminence she had never dreamed of attaining! Driving through her native +town, amid the wondering eyes of all the inhabitants crowding to every +door and window, in the magnificent carriage, with silk velvet cushions, +drawn by two beautiful horses in silver-mounted harness, and driven by a +gentleman looking like a lord bishop at the very least. + +Oh! it was too much happiness! She the descendant of many Skamps, to be +thus honored! What would her ancient "parients" say, could they look out +of their graves and behold this glorious sight? Wouldn't she be looked +up to in Burnfield for the future, and wouldn't she carry her head high +though! Why, not one in all Burnfield but Mr. Barebones, the parson, had +been invited to dine with the "Squire," and neither Mrs. nor Miss +Barebones had ever seen, much less riden in, his carriage. That was the +red-letter day in all Miss Jerusha's life. She was sorry, _very_ sorry, +when the carriage drew up before her own door, and the dignified +coachman, touching his gold-banded hat to her, drove off, and left her +with a heart swelling high with pride and exultation, to enter her +dwelling. + +She found Georgia sitting in her favorite seat by the window commanding +a view of the river, a book lying listlessly between her fingers, her +eyes on the floor, her thoughts far away--far away. Miss Jerusha +entered, dropped into a seat, and then began a glowing harangue on the +glories and splendor of Richmond House. + +Georgia moved her chair, turned her head aside, and listened like one +deaf and dumb. Long and eloquently did the old lady expatiate on its +beauties and pomp, but Georgia answered never a word. + +"Ah! that heiress, or whatever gets him, will have good times of it," +said Miss Jerusha, shaking her head by way of a wind-up. "What do you +think, Georgia, but I asked him if he was really a-goin' to be married." + +There was no reply; but Miss Jerusha was too full of her subject to mind +this, and went on: + +"Says, I, 'I hear you're a-goin' to be married, Mr. Wildair,' and he +larfs. 'Is it true?' says I, and he nods and begins eatin' peaches, and +larfs again. 'To a heiress?' says I. 'Yes, to an heiress--'mensely +rich,' says he. 'That's what I am a-goin' to marry her for.' 'Marry her +for her money!' says I; 'oh, Mr. Wildair, ain't you ashamed?' 'No,' says +he, larfing all the time, and giving me one of those queer looks out of +them handsome eyes of his'n. 'Well, you ought for to be,' says I, rail +mad. 'Is she good-looking?' says I. 'Beautiful,' says he; 'the +handsomest gal you ever seen.' 'I don't believe it! I don't believe it!' +says I. 'She _couldn't_ be handsomer than my Georgie, no how; it's clean +onpossible,' says I." + +As if she had received a spear-thrust, Georgia sprang to her feet and +turned upon Miss Jerusha such a white face and such fiercely blazing +eyes that the good lady recoiled in terror, and the word died on her +lips. + +"_Did you dare?_" she exclaimed, hoarsely. + +"Dare what? Oh, my dear! What hev I done, Georgia?" cried out Miss +Jerusha, in dismay. + +But Georgia did not reply. Fixing her eyes on Miss Jerusha's face with a +look she never forgot, she turned and left the room. + +"Awful sarpints! what _hev_ I done?" said the dismayed Miss Jerusha. +"I'm always a doing something to make Georgey mad without knowing it. +Can't be helped. Gracious! if I only had a house like that!" + +All through Burnfield spread the news of the visit extraordinary, and +before night it was currently known to every gossip from one end of it +to the other that young Squire Wildair, forgetting the ancient dignity +of his house, was going to be immediately married to Georgia Darrell, +and before long this rumor reached the ears of Miss Jerusha and Mr. +Wildair himself. From the latter personage it provoked a peculiar smile, +full of quiet meaning, but Miss Jerusha hardly knew whether to be +pleased or otherwise. + +For her own part, she would have considered the rumor an honor; but +Georgia was so "_queer_," Miss Jerusha would not for all the world she +should hear it. Other girls might not mind such things; but she was not +like other girls, and the old maid had a vague, uneasy idea that +something terrible would be the consequence if she heard it. But +Georgia did _not_ hear it. There was a quiet, conscious dignity about +her of late years that made people keep their distance and mind to whom +they were talking; and not even that most inveterate of gossips, Mrs. +Tolduso, would have been hardy enough to put the question to the haughty +reserved girl. Therefore, though Emily, and Richmond, and Miss Jerusha, +and every one over the innocent age of three years old in Burnfield, +knew all about the current report, Georgia, the most deeply interested +of all, never dreamed of its existence. + +And so matters were getting most delightfully complicated, and Miss +Jerusha's dreams were growing "small by degrees and beautifully less," +when, one evening, about a fortnight after her visit, Georgia, who had +been out for a walk--a very unusual thing for her of late days--came +suddenly in, so changed, so transfigured, that Miss Jerusha dropped her +knitting and opened her mouth and eyes to an alarming wideness in her +surprise. Her face was radiant, lighted, brilliant; her eyes like stars, +her cheeks glowing; she seemed to have found the fabled elixir of youth, +and life, and hope, and happiness. + +"Why, Georgia! _My-y-y_ conscience!" exclaimed Miss Jerusha, with a +perfect shake on the pronoun in her surprise. + +But Georgia laughed. Miss Jerusha could not remember when she had heard +her laugh before, and the rosy color lighted up beautifully her beaming +face. + +"What on airth has come to you, Georgey?" exclaimed Miss Jerusha, more +completely bewildered than she had ever been before in the whole course +of her life. "Why, one would think you was enchanted or something." + +Again Georgia laughed. It was perfect music to hear her, and fairly +gladdened Miss Jerusha's old heart. She did not say what had "come to +her," but it was evidently something pleasant, for no face had changed +so in one hour as hers had. + +"Never mind, Miss Jerusha; shall I set the table for tea? Here, Betsey, +get out of the way. Come, Fly, make haste; Miss Jerusha wants her tea, I +know." + +"Well, gracious!" was Miss Jerusha's ejaculation, as she watched the +graceful form flitting airily hither and thither, like an embodied +sunbeam, "if that gal ain't got as many streaks as a tulip! What will be +the next, I wonder?" + +All tea-time Georgia was another being; and when it was over, instead of +going straight to her room, as was her fashion, she took some +needle-work that Miss Jerusha could not sew on after candle-light, and +sat down to work and talk, while Miss Jerusha sat at her work, still +digesting her astonishment, and not quite certain whether she had not +gone out of her mind. + +The clock struck nine. Miss Jerusha, who, from time immemorial, had made +it a point of conscience never to sit up a moment later, began folding +up her work. Georgia, who was standing with her elbow resting on the +mantelpiece, her forehead dropped upon it, and her luminous eyes filled +with a deep joy too intense for smiles, fixed on the green boughs on the +hearth, now came over, and, to the great surprise of the venerable +spinster, knelt down before her, and put her arms caressingly around her +waist. + +"Miss Jerusha," she said, softly, lifting her dark, beautiful eyes to +her wrinkled face. + +"Well, Georgey," said Miss Jerusha, in a subdued tone of wonder. + +"It is nearly six years since you first took me here to live, is it +not?" she asked. + +"Nearly six yes," said Miss Jerusha. + +"And since then I have been a very wild, wayward, disobedient girl; +repaying all your kindness with ingratitude, have I not?" + +"Why, Georgey!" + +"I have been passionate, stubborn, and willful; saucy, impertinent, and +ungrateful; I know I have, I feel it now. You were very good to take the +poor little orphan girl, who might have starved but for you, and this +was your reward. Oh, Miss Jerusha! dear, best friend that ever was in +this world, can you ever forgive me?" + +"Oh, Georgey!" said Miss Jerusha, fairly sobbing. + +"I am sorry for what I have done; say you forgive me, Miss Jerusha," +said Georgey, sweetly. + +"Oh, Georgey! my dear little Georgey, I _do_ forgive you," and, quite +melted, Miss Jerusha sobbed outright. + +"Dear Miss Jerusha, how I thank you. Lay your hand on my head and say +'Heaven bless you!' I have no mother nor father to bless me now." + +"May the Lord in Heaven bless thee, Georgey!" and Miss Jerusha's hand, +trembling with unwonted emotion, fell on the young head bent so meekly +now, and two bright drops fell shining there, too. + +Georgia's beautiful arms encircled her neck, and her lips touched those +of her old friend for the _first time_, and then she was gone. And Miss +Jerusha found that there was something new under the sun. + +But Miss Jerusha discovered, when the morning dawned, that still another +surprise awaited her. + + + + +CHAPTER XII. + +RICHMOND HOUSE GETS A MISTRESS. + + "Bride, upon thy wedding day + Did the fluttering of thy breath + Speak of joy or woe beneath? + And the hue that went and came + On thy cheek, like lines of flame, + Flowed its crimson from the unrest + Or the gladness of thy breast?" + + +Breakfast was over. Georgia, blushing and smiling beneath Miss Jerusha's +curious scrutiny, had gone back to her room, and Miss Jerusha, sitting +in her low rocking-chair, was left alone with the bright morning +sunshine that lay in broad patches on the floor to the special +delectation of Mrs. and Miss Betsey Periwinkle. + +Miss Jerusha was thinking of a good many things in general, but +Georgia's unaccountable freaks in particular, when a well-known step +sounded on the threshold, and the tall, stately form of Richmond Wildair +stood before her. + +Miss Jerusha was always pleased to have the rich young squire visit her, +because it added to her importance in the eyes of the villagers; so she +got up with a brisk, delighted "how d'ye do," and placed a chair for her +visitor. + +"All alone, Miss Jerusha?" said Mr. Wildair, taking up Betsey Periwinkle +the second, who came purring politely around him, and stroking her +mottled coat. + +"Wall, not exactly," said Miss Jerusha. "Georgia's up stairs, for a +wonder. I'll call her down, if you like." + +"No--never mind," said Mr. Wildair. "Miss Georgia doesn't always seem so +glad to see me that she should be disturbed now on my account." + +"Wall, Mr. Wildair, Georgey's _queer_; there's never no tellin' what +she'll do; if you 'spect her to do one thing you may be pretty certain +she'll do 'xactly t'other. Now, yesterday afternoon she went out as glum +as a porkypine"--Miss Jerusha's ideas of porcupines were rather +vague--"and, bless my stars! if she didn't come in a smilin' like a +basket of chips. My 'pinion is," said Miss Jerusha, firmly, "that +something's come to her; you needn't believe it if you don't like too, +but _I_ do." + +A smile full of curious meaning broke over Mr. Wildair's face. + +"On the contrary, my dear madam, I _do_ believe it most firmly. Not only +do I _think_ something came to her yesterday, but I _know_ it from +positive observation." + +"Hey?" said Miss Jerusha, looking up sharply. + +Mr. Wildair put down little Betsey Periwinkle, got up, and leaning his +arm on the mantel, with that same strange smile on his face, stood +looking down on Miss Jerusha. + +"What is it?" asked the old lady, with a puzzled look answering that +smile, as if he had spoken. + +"My dear Miss Jerusha, I have a favor to ask of you this morning, a +_great_ favor, a _very_ great favor, indeed," he said, with a light she +had never seen before in his handsome eyes. + +"Wall," said Miss Jerusha, looking most delightfully perplexed, "what is +it?" + +"I want you to give me something." + +"You do! Why, my gracious! I ain't got nothing to give you." + +"Yes, you have; a treasure beyond all price." + +"Good gracious! where?" said Miss Jerusha, gazing round with a +bewildered look. + +"I mean--_Georgia_." + +"Hey!" + +Richmond laughed. Miss Jerusha had jumped as if she had suddenly sat +down on an upturned tack. + +"Miss Jerusha, Richmond House wants a mistress, and _I_ want Miss +Georgia Darrell to be that mistress." + +"Oh, my gracious!" cried the overwhelmed Miss Jerusha, sinking back in +her chair. + +"You have no objections, I hope, my dear madam." + +"Oh, my gracious! _did_ you ever?" exclaimed Miss Jerusha, appealing to +society at large. "Marry my Georgey! My-y-y conscience alive!" + +Richmond stood smilingly before her, running his fingers through his +glossy dark hair, waiting for her astonishment to evaporate. + +"You ain't in airnest, now," said Miss Jerusba, resting her chin on her +hand and peering up in his face with a look of mingled incredulity and +delight, as the faded vision of the brown silk, and the new straw bonnet +began again to loom up in the distance. + +"Never was so much so in my life. Come, Miss Jerusha, say I may have +her." + +"Why, my stars and garters! 'tain't _me_ you ought for to ask, it's +Georgey. Why didn't you ask _her_?" + +"I have already done so. I asked her last evening." + +"Oh-h-h!" said Miss Jerusha, drawing in her breath, and sending out the +ejaculation in a perfect whistle of astonishment at the new light that +dawned upon her. "I see now. That's what did it! Well, I never! And +what did she say?" + +"She said what I want you to say--yes." + +"But, look here," said Miss Jerusha, to whom the news seemed a great +deal too good to be true, "how about that there heiress, you know--hey?" + +"What heiress?" said Richmond, with a smile. + +"Why, you know--that one everybody said you were a-goin' to be married +to--that one from the city." + +"Don't know the lady at all--never had the pleasure of seeing her in my +life, Miss Jerusha." + +"Well, now, it seems to me there's suthin' wrong somewhere," said Miss +Jerusha, doubtfully; "why, you told me yourself, Mr. Wildair, you were +going to marry a heiress--'mensely rich, you said. I recommember your +very words." + +"And so I am; but Georgia was the heiress I meant--immensely rich in +beauty, and a noble, generous heart." + +"Humph! poor sort o' riches to get along in the world with," said Miss +Jerusha, rather cynically. "If you meant Georgey all along, what made +you let folks think it was to somebody else--that there young woman from +the city?" + +Richmond laughed, and shook back his dark clustering hair. + +"From a rather unworthy motive, I must own, Miss Jerusha. I wanted to +make Georgia jealous, and so be sure she liked me." + +"Wal, I never! that tells the whole story. She _was_ jealous, and that +is what made her as cross as two sticks. Well, to be sure! if it ain't +funny! he! he! he!" + +And Miss Jerusha indulged in a regular cachinnation for the first time +that Richmond ever remembered to hear her. + +"I am glad it seems to please you. Then we have your consent?" + +"Why, my gracious, _yes_! I hain't the least objection. I guess not. +What do _your_ folks say about it?" + +"My 'folks' will not object. I am my own master, Miss Jerusha. I have +written to tell my mother, and I know she will not disapprove of any +step I see fit to take," said Richmond, composedly. + +"Well, railly! And when is it a-goin' to come off?" + +"What?" + +"Why, the weddin', to be sure." + +"Oh, there is no use for unnecessary delay. I spoke to Georgia on the +subject, and proposed Tuesday fortnight; but she seems to think that too +soon--in fact, was preposterous enough to propose waiting until next +year. Of course, I wouldn't listen a moment to any such proposition." + +"Of course not," said Miss Jerusha, decidedly, thinking of her brown +silk, which she had no notion of waiting for so long. + +"Do _you_ think Tuesday fortnight too soon?" + +"Gracious, no! I can get the two dressmakers, and have everything ready +before that, quite easy." + +"Thank you, Miss Jerusha," said Richmond, gratefully; "and as suitable +things cannot be obtained here, one of the dressmakers you mention will +go with Mrs. Hamm to the city and procure a bridal outfit for my +peerless Georgia. Neither shall you, my dear, kind friend, be forgotten; +and, believe me, I shall endeavor to reward you for all your kindness to +my future bride. And now for my plans. Immediately after we are married +we depart for New York, and remain for some time with my mother there. +We will return here and remain until the fall, when we will depart for +Washington, and there spend the winter. Next year we will probably +travel on the Continent, and after that--sufficient unto the day is the +evil thereof," he said, breaking off into a smile. "And now, if you +like, you may call Georgia; we must reason her out of this absurd notion +of postponing our marriage. I count upon your help, Miss Jerusha." + +So Georgia was called, and came down, looking a great deal more lovely, +if less brilliant, in her girlish blushes, and smiles, and shy timidity +than she had ever been when arrayed in her haughty pride. And Miss +Jerusha attacked and overwhelmed her with a perfect storm of +contemptuous speeches at the notion of putting off her marriage, quite +sneering at the idea of such a thing, and Richmond looked so pleading +that Georgia, half laughing, and half crying, and wholly against her +will, was forced, in self-defense, to strike her colors, and surrender. +She was so happy now, so deeply, intensely happy, that she shrank from +the idea of disturbing it by the bustle and fuss that must come, and she +looked forward shrinkingly, almost in terror, to the time when she would +be a wife, even though it were _his_. But the promise was given, and +Georgia's promises were never retracted, and so the matter was settled. + +That afternoon the stately little housekeeper at Richmond House was told +she was to have a mistress. Mrs. Hamm was altogether too well-bred, and +too much of a lady, to be surprised at anything in this world; yet, when +she heard her young master was going to marry a village girl, a slight, +a very slight, smile of contempt was concealed behind her delicate +lace-bordered handkerchief, but she quietly bowed, and professed her +willingness to start for New York at any moment. And the very next +morning, accompanied by the dressmaker Miss Jerusha had spoken of, she +took her departure, with orders to spare no expense in procuring the +bridal outfit. + +Never was there a more restless, eccentric, tormenting bride-elect than +Georgia. From being positively wild, she became superlatively wildest, +and drove Miss Jerusha and Mr. Wildair daily to the verge of desperation +for the next two weeks. She laughed at him, fled from him, refused to +take a walk with him or sing to him, and made herself generally so +provoking, that Richmond vowed she was wearing him to a skeleton, and +threatened awful vengeance at some period fast forthcoming. And Georgia +would laugh the shrill elfish laugh of her childhood, and fly up to her +room, and lock herself in, and be invisible until he had gone. + +Georgia wanted Emily to be her bride-maid, but when Emily heard that the +Rev. Mr. Barebones was to officiate on the occasion, she refused. +Georgia, who was not particular who performed the ceremony of "enslaving +her," as she called it, asked Richmond to allow Father Murray to unite +them; but, to her surprise, Richmond's brow darkened, and he positively +refused. Georgia was inclined to resent this at first; but then she +considered it might arise from conscientious scruples, and though she +had none of her own, yet she respected them in others, and so she +yielded, and Miss Becky Barebones, a gaunt damsel, whose looks were +faintly shadowed forth in her name, gladly consented to "stand up" with +her; while a young gentleman from the city, a brother lawyer of +Richmond's, was to perform the same office for him. + +And so old Father Time, who jogs on unrestingly and never harries for +weddings or funerals, kept on his old road, and brought the bridal +morning at last. A lovely morning it was--a gorgeous, golden September +day, with hills, and river, and valleys all bathed in a golden haze; +just the sort of a day our tropical, wild-eyed bride liked. + +At early morning all Burnfield was astir, and crowding toward the little +sea-side cot, to catch a glimpse of the elegant bridal carriage and +gayly decked horses, and, perhaps, be fortunate enough to obtain a peep +at the happy pair. + +Inside the cottage all was bustle and excitement. Out in the kitchen (to +begin at the beginning, like the writer of the "House that Jack Built,") +Fly had been ignominiously deposed, to make way for the accomplished +cook from Richmond House, who for the past week had been concentrating +his stupendous intellect on the bridal breakfast, and had brought that +_dejeuner_ to a state of perfection such as the eye, nor heart, nor +palate of man had ever conceived before. There were also the two +fascinating young footmen, making themselves generally useful with a +sort of lofty condescension and dignified contempt for everything about +them, except when they met the withering eye of Miss Jerusha, and then +they wilted down, and felt themselves dwindling down to about five +inches high. There was Mrs. Hamm, in black velvet, nothing less, and so +stately, and so politely dignified, that the English language is utterly +unable to do justice to her grandeur. There was Miss Jerusha, in +rustling brown satin, her wildest dreams realized, perfectly awful in +its glittering folds, enough to strike terror into the heart of a +Zouave, with a flashing ruby brooch, and a miraculous combination of +lace and ribbons on her head, all broke out in a fiery eruption of +flaring red flowers, which were in violent contrast to her +complexion--that being, as the reader is already aware, decidedly, and +without compromise, yellow. And, lastly, there were our two friends, the +Betsey Periwinkles, looking very much astonished, as well they might, at +the sudden change that had taken place around them; and, evidently +considering themselves just as good as anybody there, they kept poking +themselves in the way, and tripping up the company generally, and the +two fascinating footmen in particular, invoking from those nice +individuals "curses, not loud but deep." There was the Rev. Mr. +Barebones, gaunt and grim in his piety; and the Rev. Mrs. Barebones, a +severe female, with a hard jaw and stony eye; and there was Mrs. +Tolduso, whom Miss Jerusha admitted just to dazzle with her brown satin; +and there were ever so many other people, until it became a matter of +doubt whether the bridal party would have room to squeeze through. + +In the hall stood Richmond Wildair, looking very handsome and very happy +indeed, while he waited for Georgia to descend. Mr. Curtis, his friend, +resplendent in white vest and kids, lounged against the staircase, +caressing his mustache, and inwardly raging that that flagstaff of a +Becky Barebones was to be his _vis-a-vis_, instead of sweet, blooming +little Emily Murray. + +Up stairs in her "maiden bower" was our Georgia, under the hands of +Emily, and Becky, and one of the spruce dressmakers, being "arrayed for +the sacrifice," as she persisted in calling it. And if Georgia Darrell, +in her plain cottage dress, was beautiful, the same Georgia in her white +silk, frosted with seed pearls, enveloped in a mist-like lace vail, and +bearing an orange wreath of flashing jewels on her regal head, was +bewildering, dazzling! There was a wild, glittering light in her +splendid oriental eyes, and a crimson pulse kept beating in and out like +an inward flame on her dark cheek, that bespoke anything but the calm, +perfect peace and joy of a "blessed bride." + +Was it a vague, shadowy terror of the new life before her? Was it +distrust of him, distrust of herself, or a nameless fear of the changes +time must bring? She did not know, she could not tell; but there was a +dread, a horror of she knew not what overshadowing her like a cloud. She +tried to shake it off, but in vain; she strove to strangle it at its +birth, but it evaded her grasp, and loomed up a huge misshapen thing +between her mirror and the shining beautiful image in its snowy robes +there revealed. + +Little Emily Murray, quite enchanting in a cloud of white muslin, and no +end of blue ribbons, kept fleeting about, hardly knowing whether to +laugh or cry, and alternately doing both. She was so glad Georgia was +going to be a great lady, and so sorry for losing the friend she loved +that it was hard to say whether the laughing or crying had the best of +it. And there, on the other side, stood Miss Barebones, as stiff and +upright as a stove-pipe, in a crisp rattling white dress and +frozen-looking white lilies and petrified rosebuds in her wiry yellow +hair, with all the piety and grimness of many generations of Barebones +concentrated in her. + +And now all is ready, and, "with a smile on her lip and a tear in her +eye," Emily puts her arm around Georgia's waist and turns to lead her +down stairs, where her lover so impatiently awaits the rising of his +day-star, and Miss Barebones and the trim little dressmaker follow. And +Georgia involuntarily holds her breath, and lays her hand on her breast +to still her high heart-beating that can almost be heard, and goes down +and finds herself face to face with the future lord of her destiny. And +then Emily kisses and relinquishes her, and she looks up with the old +defiant look he knows so well in his handsome young face, and he smiles +and whispers something, and draws her arm within his and turns to go in. +And then Mr. Curtis swallows a grimace, and offers his arm to Miss +Barebones, and that wise maiden gingerly lays the tips of her white kid +glove on his broadcloth sleeve, and with a face of awful solemnity is +led in, and the ceremony commences. And all through it Georgia stands +with her eyes burning into the floor, and the red spot coming and going +with every breath on her cheek, and hardly realizes that it has +commenced until it is all over, and she hears, "What God hath joined +together let no man put asunder." And then there is crowding around and +a great deal of unnecessary kissing done, and Emily and Miss Jerusha are +crying, and Mr. Curtis and Mr. Barebones, and the rest are shaking hands +and calling her "Mrs. Wildair," and then, with a shock and a thrill, +Georgia realizes she is married. + +Georgia Darrell is no more; the free, wild, unfettered Georgia Darrell +has passed away forever, and Georgia Wildair is unfettered no longer; +she has a master, for she has just vowed to obey Richmond Wildair until +"death doth them part." And her heart gives a great bound, and then is +still, as she lifts her eyes in a strange fear to his face, and sees him +standing beside her smiling and happy, and looking down on her so +proudly and fondly. And Georgia draws a long breath, and wonders if +other brides feel as she does, and then she tries to smile, and reply +to their congratulations, and the strange feeling gradually passes +away, and she becomes her own bright, sparkling self once more. + +And now they are all sitting down to breakfast, and there is a hum of +voices, and rattling of knives and forks, and a clatter of plates, and +peals of laughter, and everybody looks happy and animated, and Miss +Jerusha and Emily dry their tears and laugh too, and the fascinating +footmen perform the impossibility of being in two or three places at +once, and speeches are made, and toasts are drank, and Mr. Wildair gets +up and replies to them, and thanks them for himself and his wife. His +wife! How strange that sounds to Georgia. Then she sees through it all, +and laughs and wonders at herself for laughing; and Mr. Curtis, sitting +between Miss Barebones and Emily Murray, totally neglects the former and +tries to be very irresistible, indeed, with the latter, and Emily laughs +at all his pretty speeches, and doesn't seem the least embarrassed in +the world, and Miss Barebones grows sourer and sourer until her look +would have turned milk to vinegar; but nobody seems to mind her much. +She notices, too, that Mr. Barebones perceptibly thaws out under the +influence of sundry glasses of champagne, to that extent that before +breakfast is over he refers to the time when he first met the "partner +of his buzzum," as he styles Mrs. B., and shed tears over it. And Mrs. +Hamm, in her black velvet and black lace mits, hides a sneer in her +coffee cup at him, or at them all, and Miss Jerusha is looking at her +with so much real tenderness in her eye that Georgia feels a pang of +remorse as she thinks how ungrateful she has been, and how much Miss +Jerusha has done for her. And then she thinks of her mother, and her +brother Warren--her dear brother Warren--of whose fate she knows +nothing, and of Charley Wildair and his unknown crime, and heaves a sigh +to their memory. And then Betsey Periwinkle the second comes purring +round her, and Georgia lifts her up and kisses the beauty spot on her +forehead, and a bright tear is shining there when she lifts her head +again, and Betsey purrs and blinks her round staring eyes +affectionately, and then everybody is standing up, and Mr. Barebones, +hiccoughing very much, is saying grace, and then she is going up to her +room and finds herself alone with Miss Jerusha and Emily, who are taking +off her bridal robes and putting on her traveling-dress. + +And there she is all dressed for her journey, and Miss Jerusha holds her +in her arms, and is kissing her, and sobbing as if her heart would +break; and little Emily is sobbing, too, and Georgia feels a dreary, +aching pain at her heart, at the thought of leaving her forever--for +though she is coming back, they can never be the same to one another +again in this world that they are now--but her eyes are dry. And then +Miss Jerusha kisses her for the last time, and blesses her, and lets her +go, and she follows her down stairs, where Richmond awaits her, to lead +her to the carriage. And then there is more shaking of hands, until +Georgia's arm aches, and a great deal of good-bying and some more female +kissing, and then she takes her husband's arm and walks down the +graveled walk to the carriage. And on the way she wonders what kind of a +person Mrs. Wildair, Richmond's mother, may be, and whether she will +like her new daughter, and whether that daughter will like her. And now +she is sitting in the carriage, waving a last adieu, and the carriage +starts off, and she springs forward and looks after the cottage until it +is out of sight. And then she falls back in her seat and covers her +face with her hands, with a vague sense of some great loss. But that +picture she never forgets, of the little vine-wreathed cottage, with its +crowd of faces gazing after her, and Miss Jerusha and little Emily +crying at the gate. How she remembers it in after days--in those dark, +dreadful days, the shadow of whose coming darkness even then was upon +her! + +They are whirling away, and away. She takes her hands from her face and +looks up. They are flying through Burnfield now, and she catches a +glimpse of the stately arches and carved gables of Richmond House, her +future home, and then that, too, disappears. They are at the station, in +the cars, with a crowd of others, but she neither sees nor cares for +their curious scrutiny now. The locomotive shrieks, the bell rings, and +away and away they fly. She falls back in her seat, and Georgia has left +the home of her childhood forever. + + + + +CHAPTER XIII. + +AWAKENING. + + "Her cheek too quickly flushes; o'er her eye + The lights and shadows come and go too fast, + And tears gush forth too soon, and in her voice + Are sounds of tenderness too passionate + For peace on earth." + + +I believe the established and time-honored precedent in writing stories +is to bring the chief characters safely through sundry "hair-breadth +escapes by flood and field," annihilate the vicious, make virtue +triumphant, marry the heroine, and then, with a grand final flourish of +trumpets, the tale ends. + +Now, I hope none of my readers will be disappointed if in this "o'er +true tale" I depart from this established rule. My heroine is married, +but the history of her life cannot end here. Perhaps it would be as well +if it could, but truth compels me to go on and depict the dark as well +as the bright side of a fiery yet generous nature--a nature common +enough in this world, subject to error and weakness as we all are, and +not in the least like one of those impossible angels oftener read of +than seen. + +Jane Eyre says a new chapter is like a new scene in a play. When the +curtain rises this time, it discloses an elegantly furnished parlor, +with pictures and lounges, and easy-chairs, and mirrors, and damask +hangings, and all the other paraphernalia of a well-furnished +room--time, ten o'clock in the morning. A cheerful fire burns in the +polished grate, for it is a clear, cold December day, and diffuses a +genial warmth through the cozy apartment. + +In the middle of the floor stands a little round table, with a delicate +breakfast-service of Sevres china and silver, whereon steams most +fragrant Mocha, appetizing, nice waffles, and sundry other tempting +edibles. Presiding here is a lady, young and "beautiful exceedingly," +robed in a rich white cashmere morning wrapper, confined at the slender +waist by a scarlet cord and tassels, and at the ivory throat by a +flashing diamond breastpin. Her shining jet-black hair is brushed in +smooth bands off her broad, queenly brow, and the damp braid just +touches the rounded, flushed cheek. Very handsome and stately indeed she +looks, yet with a sort of listless languor pervading her every movement, +whether she lounges back in her chair, or slowly stirs her coffee with +her small, dark hand, fairly blazing with jewels. + +Opposite her sits a young gentleman of commanding presence and graceful +bearing, who alternately talks to the lady, sips his coffee, and reads +the morning paper. + +"Do put away that tiresome paper, Richmond," said the lady, at last, +half impatiently. "I don't see what you can possibly find to interest +you in those farming details, and receipts for curing spasms in horses, +and making hens lay. Of all stupid things those country papers are the +stupidest." + +"Except those who read them," said the gentleman, laughing. "Well, I bow +to your superior wisdom, and obey, like a well-trained husband. And now, +what are your ladyship's commands?" + +"Talk," said the lady, yawning behind the tips of her fingers. + +"Willingly, my dear. On what subject? I am ready to talk to order at a +moment's notice." + +"Well, I want to know if you have given up that Washington project? Are +we to spend the winter in Burnfield?" + +"I think so--yes," said Richmond, slowly. "It will be better, all things +considered, that we should do so, and early in the spring we will start +on our continental tour. Are you disappointed at this arrangement, +Georgia?" + +"Disappointed? Oh, no, no," said Georgia, with sparkling eyes. "I am so +glad, Richmond. It seems so pleasant, and so much like home to be here, +with no strange faces around us, and all those dreadful restraints and +formalities at an end. I was _so_ tired of them all in New York." + +"And yet you used to long so ardently for life in those large cities +some time ago, Georgia. New York was a Paradise in your eyes--do you +remember?" + +"Oh, yes," said Georgia, laughing; "but that was because I knew nothing +about it. I was dreadfully tired of Burnfield, and longed so for a +change. 'Tis distance lends enchantment to the view,' you know, and the +anticipation was somewhat different from the reality." + +"You did not like the reality?" + +"No," said Georgia, with her usual truthful promptness. + +"And yet I did everything to make you happy--you never expressed a wish +that I did not gratify." + +Tears sprang to Georgia's eyes at the implied reproach. + +"Dear Richmond, I know it. It seems very ungrateful in me to talk so; +but you know what I mean. I do not like strangers, and I met so many +there; there were so many restraints, and formalities, and wearying +ceremonies to be gone through, that I used to grow almost wild +sometimes, and feel as if I wanted to rush out and fly, fly back to dear +old Burnfield again, and never leave it. And then, those ladies were all +so elegant and grand, and could keep on saying graceful nothings for +hours, while I sat mute, tongue-tied, unable to utter a word of 'small +talk,' and feeling awkward lest I should disgrace you by some dreadful +_gaucherie_. Oh, Richmond, I was so proud, and fearless, and independent +before I was married." + +"_Too_ much so, Georgia," he interrupted, gravely. + +"And now," she went on, unheeding his words, save by the deeper flush of +her cheek. "I am almost timid, for your sake. When I was among all those +people in New York I did not care for myself, but I was so afraid of +mortifying _you_. I knew they used to watch Richmond Wildair's country +bride to catch her in some outlandish act; and, oh, Richmond, when I +would think of it, and find so many curious eyes watching me, as if I +were some strange wild animal, I used to grow positively nervous--I, +that never knew what nerves were before, and I used to wish--don't be +angry, Richmond--that I had never married you at all. You used to call +me an eaglet, Richmond, and I felt then like one chained and fettered, +and I think I should have _died_ if you had made me stay there all +winter." + +There was a passionate earnestness in her voice that did not escape him, +but he answered lightly: + +"Died! Pooh! don't be silly, Georgia. I _did_ see that you were +painfully anxious at times, so much so that you even made _me_ nervous +as well as yourself. You must overcome this; you must learn to be at +ease. Remember, those are the people with whom you are to mingle for the +rest of your life--not the common folks of Burnfield." + +"They are a stiff, artificial set. I don't like them!" said Georgia, +impetuously. + +Richmond's brow darkened. + +"Georgia!" he said, coldly. + +"Perhaps it is because I have not become accustomed to my new position. +Any one suddenly raised from one sphere of life to another diametrically +opposite, must feel strange and out of place. Why, Richmond," she said, +smiling, "I am not even accustomed to that grand little housekeeper of +yours yet. Her cold, stately magnificence overwhelms me. When she comes +to me for orders, I fairly blush, and have to look at my diamonds and +silks, and recollect I am Mrs. Wildair, of Richmond House, to keep my +dignity. It is rather uncomfortable, all this; but time, that works +wonders, will, I have no doubt, make me as stiff, and solemn, and +sublimely grand, as even--Mrs. Hamm." + +His face wore no answering smile; he was very grave. + +"You are not angry, Richmond?" she said, deprecatingly. + +"Not angry, Georgia, but annoyed. I do not like this state of things. My +wife must be self-possessed and lady-like as well as handsome. You +_must_ lose this country girl awkwardness, and learn to move easily and +gracefully in your new sphere. You _must_ learn to sit at the head of my +table, and do the honors of my house as becomes one whom I have seen fit +to raise to the position of my wife." + +"Raise!" exclaimed Georgia, with one of her old flashes, and a haughty +lift of her head. + +"In a worldly point of view, I mean. Physically, mentally, and morally, +you are my equal; but in the eyes of the world, I have made a +_mesalliance_; and that world whose authority I have spurned is +malicious enough to witness with delight your rustic shyness, to call it +by no more mortifying name. Georgia, I knew from the moment I first +presented you to my mother that this explanation must come; but, knowing +your high spirit, I had too much affection for you to speak of it +sooner, and if I wound your feelings now, believe me, it is to make you +happier afterward. You are too impulsive, and have not dissimulation +enough, Georgia; your open and unconcealed dislike for some of those you +met in town made you many enemies--did you know it?" + +"Yes, I knew it; and this enmity was more acceptable to me than their +friendship!" flashed Georgia. + +"But not to me. It is better to have a dog fawn on you than bark at you, +Georgia. I do not say to you to like them, but you might have concealed +your _dis_like. A smile and courteous word costs little, and it might +have saved you many a bitter sneer." + +"I _cannot_ dissimulate; I _never_ dissimulated; I never did anything so +mean!" said Georgia, passionately. + +"There is no meanness about it, Mrs. Wildair, and you might have spared +the insinuation that I could urge you to do anything mean. Common +politeness requires that you should be courteous to all, and I hope you +will not mortify me again by any public display of your likes and +dislikes." + +Georgia arose impetuously from the table, and, with a burning cheek and +flashing eye, walked to the window. What words can tell of the storm +raging within her wild, proud heart, as she listened to his +authoritative tone and words? + +"It is necessary, too, that you should by degrees grow accustomed to +what you call your strange position," he calmly went on, "before you +enter the fashionable world at Washington, where you will make what you +may call your _debut_. For that reason, while in New York, I invited a +party of friends here to spend Christmas and New Year's, and you may +expect them here now in less than a week." + +She faced round as if her feet were furnished with steel springs, every +feeling of rebellion roused into life at last. + +"You did? And without consulting me?" + +"Certainly, my dear. Have I not a right to ask my friends to my house?" + +She laid her hand on her breast, as if to keep the storm within from +breaking forth; but he saw it in the workings of her face. + +"Come, Georgia, be reasonable," he said quietly. "I am sorry this annoys +you, but it is absolutely necessary. Why, one would think, by your looks +and actions, I was some monstrous tyrant, instead of a husband who loves +you so well that he is willing to sacrifice his own fondness for +solitude and quiet, that you may acquire the habits of good society." + +She did not speak. His words had wounded her pride too deeply to be +healed by his gentle tone. + +"Well, Georgia?" he said, after a pause. + +She turned her face to the window, and asked, huskily: + +"Who are coming?" + +"My mother and cousin, the Arlingfords, Mrs. Harper and her two +daughters, Colonel and Mrs. Gleason, and their two sons, Miss Reid, and +Mr. Lester." + +"All I dislike most." + +"All you dislike most, Mrs. Wildair?" he said, coolly. "What am I to +understand by that?" + +"What I say. I have not yet learned to dissimulate," she said, bitterly. + +"Really, Mrs. Wildair, this is pleasant. I presume you forget my +mother." + +Georgia was silent. + +"Am I to understand, Mrs. Wildair, that my mother is included in the +catalogue of those you dislike?" + +Georgia did not speak. + +"Mrs. Wildair," he said, calmly, "will it please you to reply? I am +accustomed to be answered when I speak." + +"Oh, Richmond, don't ask me. How can I help it? I tried to like your +mother, but--" + +Her voice choked, and she stopped. + +He went over, and lifted the face she had covered with her hands, and +looked into it with a smile. + +"But you failed. You did not understand each other. Well, never mind, +Georgia; you will like each other better by and by. You will have to do +so, as she is going to live with us altogether." + +"_What!_" + +"My dear, be calm. How intensely excitable you are! Certainly, she will +live here: she is all alone now, you know--she and my cousin; and is it +not natural that this should be their home?" + +"_Your cousin, too?_" + +"Of course. Why, Georgia, you might have known it. They are my only +relatives, for he who was once my brother is dead to us all. Georgia, is +it possible you hate my mother and cousin?" + +He spoke in a tone so surprised and grieved that Georgia was touched. +Forcing a smile, she looked up in his grave face, and said: + +"Oh, Richmond, I did not mean to hurt your feelings; forgive me if I +have done so. I will try to like all your friends, because they are +yours. I will try to tutor this undisciplined heart, and be all you +could wish. It startled me at first, that is all. It was so pleasant +here, with no one but ourselves, and I was so happy since our return, +that I forgot it could not always last. Yes, indeed, Richmond, I _will_ +like your mother and cousin, and try to be as urbane and courteous to +all our guests as even you are. Am I forgiven _now_, Richmond?" + +Half an hour later, Georgia was alone in her own room, lying prostrate +on a couch, with her face buried in the cushions, perfectly still, but +for the sort of shiver that ran at intervals through her slight frame. +It was their first quarrel, or anything approaching a quarrel, and +Georgia had been crushed, wounded, and humiliated, as she had never been +before in her life. It may seem a slight thing; but in her pride she was +so acutely sensitive, that now she lay in a sort of anguish, with her +hands clasped over her heart, as if to still its tumultuous throbbings, +looking forward with a dread that was almost horror to the coming of all +those strangers, but more than all, to the coming of her husband's +mother and cousin. + +All that day she was changed, and was as haughty and self-possessed as +any of those fine ladies, her husband's friends. The calm, dignified +politeness of Mrs. Hamm looked like impudence to her in her present +mood, and when that frigid little lady came to ask about dinner, there +were two burning spots on Georgia's cheeks, and a high, ringing tone of +command in her voice that made Mrs. Hamm open her languid eyes in faint +amaze, which was as far as she could ever go in the way of astonishment. + +Late that evening, as she sat in the drawing-room, practicing her music +lesson,--for she was learning music now,--Emily Murray was announced, +and the next moment, bright, breezy, smiling, and sunshiny, she came +dancing in, like an embodied sunbeam. + +"Mother's been over spending the afternoon with Miss Jerusha," said +Emily, "and I felt so lonesome at home that I overcame my awe of +Richmond House and its grand inmates, and thought I would run up and see +you. Hope, like Paul Pry, I do not intrude?" + +Georgia's reply was a kiss. She had been feeling so sad all day that her +heart gave a glad bound at sight of Emily. + +"Why, what's the matter, Georgie? You look pale and troubled. What has +happened?" said Emily, her affectionate eyes discovering the change in +her friend's tell-tale face. + +"Nothing; at least, not much. I am a little out of spirits to-day; +everyone is at times," said Georgia, with a faint smile. "My moods were +always changeable, you know." + +"Well, I hope you will not acquire that anxious, worried look most +housekeepers wear," said Emily, gayly. "You have it exactly now, and it +quite spoils your beauty. Come, smile and look pleasant, and tell me all +about your journey to New York. Did you have a good time?" + +"Yes," said Georgia, coloring slightly; "I enjoyed myself pretty well. +We went to the theater and opera almost every night, and I went to a +great many parties of one kind and another. But Burnfield's _home_ after +all, and there was no Emily in New York city." + +"Flatterer!" said Emily, laughing; "and did you see Mr. Wildair's +relatives there, too?" + +"Yes," said Georgia, in a changed tone. "He has no relatives but his +mother and a certain Miss Richmond, a cousin of his, and an orphan." + +"You forget his brother--our old friend Charley?" + +"He is not at home now--I have not even heard his name mentioned for +many a day." + +"Indeed?" said Emily, surprised. "How is that? I feel an interest in +him, you know," she added, laughing; "he was so handsome, and droll, and +winning--twice as nice, with reverence be it said, as your grave, +stately liege lord." + +"Well, it appears he did something. I never heard what, but Richmond +says he disgraced the family, and they have disowned him. What his +fault is I do not know, but one of the effects of it is, that he has +lost the inheritance Squire Richmond left him. You see the way it was, +my husband inherited all the landed property and half the bank stock, +and Charley the remaining half. Not a very fair division, you will say; +but as Richmond bore the family name, and was more after his uncle's +heart than his wilder brother, the old gentleman saw fit to leave him +most. As the bank stock was large, however, Charley's fortune was no +trifle; but to it certain conditions were annexed, namely: that he +should marry this young lady cousin, Miss Richmond, and take the family +name before he went abroad. Charley only laughed at it, and declared his +perfect willingness to marry 'Freddy'--her name is Fredrica--who would +be handy to have about the house, he said, to pull off his boots, sew on +buttons, and sing him to sleep of an afternoon. Miss Richmond, on her +part, made no objection, and that matter seemed settled; but whatever he +has done, it has completely broken up the whole affair, and his share +comes to Richmond along with his own. So, my dear little snow-flake, +that is all I know of your handsome Charley," concluded Georgia, with +her own bright smile. + +"It is all very strange," said Emily, musingly; "and I cannot realize +that the gay, careless, but ever kind youth that we knew, and whom +everybody loved, has become fallen and degraded, as all this would seem +to imply. What sort of a person is this Miss Richmond he was to marry?" + +Georgia's beautiful lip curled with a scorn too intense for words. + +"She is a--But, as I cannot tell my impressions of her without speaking +ill of the absent, I will be silent. In a few days you will have a +chance to see her for yourself, as she is coming here to live." + +"Indeed!" said Emily, slowly, fixing her eyes anxiously on Georgia's +face--"indeed! Would you not be happier without her?" + +"That is not the question," said Georgia, in a tone of reserve, for she +was too proud to let even Emily know how much she disliked this visit; +"it will not do for Richmond and me to make hermits of ourselves +altogether, you know, so a large party from the city are coming here to +spend Christmas. And, Emily, I want _you_ to come too; they are all more +or less strangers to me, and it will be such a comfort to look on your +dear, familiar face when I grow tired of playing the hostess to all +those grand folks. Say, little darling, will you come?" + +The dark eyes were raised with such a look of earnest entreaty to her +face that Emily stooped down and kissed the pleading lips before she +answered. + +"Dear Georgia, I cannot; I would not be happy among so many strangers--I +should feel like a fish out of water, you know. We can meet often when +no strange eyes are looking on; they would not understand us, nor we +them, Georgia. And now, good-by; Uncle Edward is coming to tea, so I +must hurry home." + +She was gone. The airy little form and bright face flashed out of the +door, and Georgia felt as if all the sunshine in that grand, cold room +had gone with her. Impatiently she rose from the piano, and with a +rebellious rising in her heart, walked to the window and looked out with +a darkening brow. + +"She shrinks from meeting this crowd--so do I. She need not meet them, +but I have to--I must. Oh! hateful word. If there was a single bond of +sympathy between me and one of them--but there is not. They come here to +criticise and sneer at Richmond Wildair's country bride--to have a good +subject to laugh over when they go back to the city. Richmond says I am +morbid on this subject, but I am not. And that cousin, too--that smooth +silvery-voiced, oily little cheat. Oh! why, why did he invite her here? +I hate her--I loathe her. I shrank from her the moment I first saw her, +with her snake-like movements and fawning smile. And she is to live +here; to spy upon me night and day; to drive me wild with her cringing +servility, hiding her mockery and covert sneers. I think I could get +along with his mother, with all her open scorn and supercilious +contempt; galling as it is, it is at least open, and not mean, prying +and treacherous; but this horrid, despicable cousin that I loathe even +more than I hate--oh! I dread her coming; I shrink from it; it makes my +flesh creep to think of it. Oh, Richmond! if you knew how I detest this +earthworm of a cousin, would you ever have invited her here? Yes, I know +he would. I feel he would. He would be shocked, horrified, indignant, if +he knew how I feel on the subject; so he shall never know. He would +think it my duty to overcome this sinful feeling, and insist upon my +being doubly kind to her to atone for it. He likes her--so does his +mother--so does every one else; they believe in her silky smile, her +soft, treacherous voice, and cat-like step, and mean, underhand fawning; +but I--I see through her, and she knows it. She dislikes me. I saw that +through all her cringing, officious attentions and professions of +affection, and only loathed her the more. + +"Oh!" cried Georgia, pacing up and down the room, "this is, indeed, +awakening from my delusive dream. Perhaps I am too sensitive--Richmond +says I am; but I cannot help feeling so. I was so perfectly happy since +our return, but now it is at an end. Our delicious solitude is to be +invaded by those cold, unsympathizing worldlings, who come here to +gratify their curiosity and see how the awkward country girl will do the +honors of stately Richmond country-house. Oh! why am _I_ not sufficient? +Why need he invite all these people here? But I forget they are his +friends; they are to him what Emily Murray is to me. Dear, loving, happy +little Emily! with her calm, seraphic eyes, and pure, serene brow. +_What_ is the secret of her inward happiness? How different she is from +me; even in childhood none of those storms of passion agitated her, that +distracted my tempestuous youth. Can it be that Christianity, in which +she so implicity believes, has anything to do with this perfect peace? +_Is_ there a heaven?" she said, going back to the window and looking +gloomily out. "Sometimes I have doubted it; and yet there _ought_ to be. +Our best happiness in this world is so short, so feverish, so fleeting, +and the earthly strife is so long, and wearisome, and sorrowful, that we +need perfect rest and peace somewhere. Two short months ago I was so +happy--oh, _so_ happy!--and now, at this first slight trial, my heart +lies like lead in my bosom. How false the dazzling glitter of this world +is!" + +And, as if involuntarily, she murmured the beautiful words of Moore: + + "This world is all a fleeting show, + For man's illusion given; + The smiles of joy, the tears of woe + Deceitful shine, deceitful flow, + There's nothing true but Heaven." + +There was an unusual shadow on little Emily Murray's face too, that day, +as she went home. She was thinking of Georgia. The eyes of affection are +not easily blinded, and she saw that under all her proud, reserved +exterior, her friend was unhappy. + +"I know she dreads the coming of all those people from the city, Uncle +Edward," she said that evening to Father Murray, as she sat busily +sewing at the table. + +"Poor child!" said the kind old clergyman. "I feared from the first this +marriage would not contribute much to her happiness. Not that it is Mr. +Wildair's fault; he means well, and really does all for the best; but +your friend, Emily, is peculiar. She is morbidly proud and intensely +sensitive, and has a dread amounting to horror of being ridiculed. +People of her nature are rarely, if ever, perfectly happy in this world; +they are self-torturers, and their happiness comes in flashes, to be +succeeded by deeper gloom than before. Georgia always was in extremes; +she was either wildly, madly, unreasonably joyful, or else wrapped in a +dark, sullen gloom that nothing could alleviate." + +The next three days Emily was not up at the Hall, but on the fourth +afternoon she started to see Georgia. The train from the city had just +reached Burnfield station, and two large sleighs, filled with ladies and +gentlemen, were dashing up amid the jingling of bells and peals of +silvery laughter toward Richmond House. + +Emily paused and watched them until they disappeared up the avenue, and +then, as she was about to turn away, she saw Mrs. Hamm, cloaked and +hooded, advance toward her. + +"Good-afternoon, Miss Murray," said the stately little dame, in a tone +of lofty courtesy that would have become a duchess. + +"Good-afternoon, Mrs. Hamm," said Emily, pleasantly; "I see you have +visitors up at the house." + +"Yes, friends of Mr. Wildair's, from New York--his mother, and cousins, +and others--quite a large party. Excuse me, this is my way. Good-day, +Miss Emily." + +What inward feeling was it that made Emily turn and send such a look of +pity up at the window of Georgia's room? + +"Poor Georgia!" she said, as she turned away, feeling, she hardly knew +why, a most uncomfortable sinking of her heart at the thought of her +sensitive young friend amid all those unsympathizing strangers. "Poor +Georgia! Poor Georgia!" + + + + +CHAPTER XIV. + +A DREAM COMING TRUE. + + "I had a dream which was not _all_ a dream." + + BYRON. + + "And we saw Medea burning + At her passion-planted stake." + + BROWNING. + + +Richmond House at last was full of guests; every room was filled; peals +of laughter, and silvery voices of ladies, and the deeper tones of +gentlemen, made music through the long silent house, and scared the +swallows from their homes in the eaves. The idle servants had enough to +do now, and were tearing distractedly up stairs and down stairs, and +here, and there, and everywhere with a terrible noise and clatter, and +all was gay bustle and lively animation. + +Georgia, superb as a young empress, in purple satin, with a brilliant +flush on her cheek, and a streaming light in her eyes, had never looked +so handsome as that day when she received and welcomed her husband's +guests. And when this ceremony was over, they were shown to their rooms +to dress for dinner, and Richmond, with a gratified smile, congratulated +her on the elegant manner in which she had performed her part. Georgia +listened, and her cheek flushed deeper, and her eye grew brighter as she +replied to his smile with one that made her face fairly radiant, and +inwardly resolved that to merit his approbation, she _would_ try to +dissimulate, and try to be amiable and courteous to all, even to the +detestable Miss Richmond. + +The great dining-room of Richmond House was all ablaze that evening, and +the long table fairly glittered and flashed with its wealth of massive +silver and cut-glass; and around it gathered all the gay guests from the +city, and not a lady among them all was half so handsome or brilliant as +the dark, bright girl, in her rich sheeny dress, who sat at the head of +the table and did the honors. + +A very select party they were whom Richmond Wildair had invited. There +was Colonel Gleason, a tall, pompous-looking gentleman; and Mrs. +Gleason, a stiff, frigid lady, not unlike Mrs. Hamm; then there was a +Mrs. Harper, a buxom, jolly-looking matron; and her two daughters, +dashing, stylish-looking girls, who had never been guilty of a blush in +their lives. There, too, was Miss Reid, a silent, languid, +delicate-looking young lady, reminding one of a fragile wax japonica; +and a Mr. Lester, one of those irresistible bipeds known as "Broadway +swells," who never pronounced the letter R. and had the nicest little +bits of feet and hands in the world. There was Lieutenant Gleason, the +Colonel's eldest son, remarkable for nothing but a ferocious mustache +and a pair of long and slender legs; and there was Mr. Henry Gleason, a +youth of eighteen, who stared at the company generally through an +eye-glass, and gave it as his opinion that there never was such a rum +old house, or such a jolly stupid old place as Burnfield in the world +before. There was Miss Arlingford, a pale, dark-eyed, pleasant-looking +girl, and her brother, Captain Arlingford, a handsome, dashing young +sailor--frank, off-hand, and brave, as all sailors are. And last, but by +no means least, there was Mr. Dick Curtis, who on a certain interesting +occasion had "stood up" with Richmond, and now, resplendent in a white +vest and excruciating neck-tie, was making most anxious inquiries about +our friend Emily Murray, about whom he said his private opinion, +publicly expressed, was, that she was a "real nice girl--a regular +stunner, sir, and no mistake!" + +"Aw--should like to see her--weally," lisped Mr. Lester; "this heaw +Burnfield seems so good at that sort of thing, you know--waising +handsome gals, eh?" And the exquisite glanced with what he fancied to be +an unmistakable look at his hostess, whose haughty lip, in spite of +every effort, curled while meeting Captain Arlingford's laughing eye; +she had to smile, too. + +"I say, Lester," called Mr. Henry Gleason from across the table, "that +must have been the little beauty we saw standing in the road as we drove +up. By Jove! she was a _screamer_, a regular out-and-outer, a tip-top, +slap-up girl," said the youth, enthusiastically. + +"Henry, my dear," said his mother, looking shocked, "how _can_ you use +such dreadful language? 'Slap-up!' I'm really astonished at you!" + +"Well, so she _was_ slap-up!" reiterated Master Henry, determinedly, +"nothing shorter. Ask our Tom, or Lester, or any of the fellows, if you +don't believe me." + +"A true bill, Harry," replied his brother Tom, the hero of the ferocious +moustache. "I say, Wildair, you'll have to present us." + +"Couldn't, my dear fellow," said Mr. Wildair, laughing; "little Emily +would fly in terror at sight of your gold lace and sword-knot. No chance +of getting up a flirtation with _her_." + +"Aw--couldn't expect anything bettah from a wustic; they ah not wuth the +time spent in flirting, you know," drawled Mr. Lester, sipping his wine. + +Georgia gave a sudden start, and, had looks the power to kill, poor +obtuse Mr. Lester would never have murdered the king's English again. +Glances were exchanged, and one or two malicious smiles curled sundry +female lips. The gentleman looked down at their plates, and Richmond's +mouth grew stern. Not one present but felt the words, save the noodle +who had spoken, and that fast youth, Master Henry Gleason. + +"Curtis is a goner, anyhow," said Master Henry, breaking the awkward +silence; "he turned as red as a boiled lobster the moment he clapped his +eyes on her. Eh, Curtis, you're a gone case, ain't you?" + +"It's no use though, my dear fellow," said Richmond, recovering his +bland look; "my little friend, Emily, wouldn't have you if you were +President of the United States. Isn't that so, Georgia?" he said, gayly, +appealing to his wife, who was conversing with Miss Arlingford and her +brother, the only two whom she did not positively dislike. + +"I really do not know," she said, gravely, for she did not exactly +relish this free use of Emily's name. + +"And why, Wildair?" said Curtis, so earnestly that all laughed. + +"Simply, my dear fellow, because you and she have antagonistic views on +many subjects." + +A change of theme was soon after effected by the ladies rising and +seeking the drawing-room. There they dispersed themselves in various +directions. The eldest Miss Harper sat down at the piano, in the hope of +attracting the attention of Miss Arlingford, whom she professed a strong +attachment for, on the principle of "let me kiss her for her brother," +to change the song a little. But Miss Arlingford, who had taken a deep +interest in the proud young lady of the house, sat down beside her and +began to converse. The rest gathered in groups to chat or listen to the +music, or turn over prints, until the entrance of the gentlemen--for +which they had not to wait long, as that fast young scion of the house +of Gleason had moved a speedy adjournment to the drawing-room, +pronouncing the talk over the "walnuts and the wine" awfully slow +without the girls. And immediately upon their entrance Master Henry +crossed over to where Georgia and Miss Arlingford sat, and drawing up an +ottoman, deposited himself at their feet, and began opening a +conversation with his young hostess, whom, he had informed Captain +Arlingford, he considered the greatest "stunner" he had ever seen in his +life, and that, in spite of all people said about it, his opinion was +that Rich Wildair had showed his good taste and good sense by marrying +her. + +"Where's the other Mrs. Wildair--the dowager duchess, you know?" he +said, by way of commencing. + +"In her room," replied Georgia, with a smile. "She was rather fatigued +after her journey, and would not come down to dinner. She will grace the +drawing-room by her presence by and by." + +"Horridly easily fatigued she must be," said Henry, who was one of those +favored individuals who can say and do anything they like without giving +offense. "Freddy Richmond's with her, I suppose?" + +"Yes; she would not leave her aunt. Both will be here very shortly," +replied Georgia. + +Even as she spoke the drawing-room door opened, and a tall, +hard-featured, haughty-looking, elderly lady entered, leaning on the arm +of a small, wiry girl with little keen gray eyes, and hair which her +friends _called_ auburn, but which _was_ red, and very white teeth, +displayed by a constant, unvarying smile. A smiling face ought to be a +pleasant one, but this freckled one was not. There was a cringing, +fawning, servility about her which made most people, except those fond +of flattery and adulation, distrust her, and which fairly _sickened_ +Georgia. + +"Speak of the--," began Henry, sinking his voice _pianissimo_, and +concluding the sentence to himself. + +Georgia arose, and almost timidly approached them, and inquired of the +elder lady if she felt better. Mrs. Wildair opened her eyes and favored +her with a stare that was downright insolent; and then, before her slow +reply was formed, Miss Freddy Richmond took it upon herself to answer, +with a fawning smile: + +"Thank you, yes--quite recovered. A night's rest will perfectly restore +her." + +Georgia turned her flashing eyes down on the smiling owner of the ferret +optics and red hair, and a hot "I did not address myself to you--speak +when you are spoken to," leaped to her tongue; but Georgia was learning +to restrain herself since her marriage, and so she only bit her lip till +the blood started, at the open slight. + +"Can we not get on, Fredrica?" said Mrs. Wildair, impatiently. + +Georgia was standing before them, and now Miss Freddy, with her silkiest +smile, put out her hand--a limp, moist, sallow little member--and gave +her a slight push saying: + +"Will you be kind enough, Georgia" (she had called her by her Christian +name from the first, as if she had been a maid-of-all-work), "and let us +pass. I see Mrs. Colonel Gleason over there, and Mrs. Wildair wants to +join her." + +Richmond, standing over Miss Harper, who was deafening the company with +one of those dreadful overtures from "Il Trovatore," had not witnessed +this little scene. Indeed, had he, it is probable he would have observed +nothing wrong about it; but the gesture, the tone, and the insolent +look--half supercilious, half contemptuous--that accompanied it, sent a +shock through Miss Arlingford, brought a flush to her brother's cheek, +and even made Master Henry mutter that it was a "regular jolly shame." + +They brushed past Georgia as if she had been the housemaid, and she was +left standing there before those who had witnessed the direct insult. +Her head was throbbing, her face crimson, and her breath came so quick +and stifled that she laid her hand on her chest, feeling as though she +should suffocate. She forgot the curious eyes bent upon her--some in +compassion, some in gratified malice--she forgot everything but the +insult offered her by the worm she despised. With one hand resting on +the table to steady herself, for her brain was whirling, and with the +other pressed hard on her bosom, she stood where they had left her, +until Miss Arlingford arose, and taking her arm, said, kindly: + +"The heat has made you ill, Mrs. Wildair; allow me to lead you to a +seat." + +She did not resist, and Miss Arlingford conducted her to a remote seat +somewhat in the shadow, if such a thing as shade it could be called in +that brilliantly lighted room. And then the young lady began talking +carelessly about the music, without looking at her, until Georgia's +emotion had time to subside and, outwardly at least, she grew calm. +Outwardly--but, oh! the bitterness that swelled and throbbed in that +proud heart until it seemed ready to burst, that left her white even to +the very lips, that sent such a dreadful fire into her dusky eyes as if +all the life in her heart had fled and concentrated there. + +She did not hear a word Miss Arlingford was saying, she scarcely knew +she was beside her; she did not know what was going on around her for a +moment, until, with one grand crash that might have smashed a more firm +instrument, Miss Harper arose from the piano and sailed over to where +the young captain and Henry Gleason were talking, and made herself quite +at home with them at once. And then Georgia, whose eyes were fixed in a +sort of terrible fascination on Miss Richmond, saw her led to the piano +by her husband, and heard her singing, or rather _screeching_ some +terrific Italian song, and all the time she was combating a fierce, mad +impulse to spring upon her and do--she did not know what--strangle her, +perhaps. And then her song was ended--the final unearthly shriek was +given, like to nothing earthly but the squeal of a steamboat, and she +saw her approach, and, with her small, glittering, snaky eyes fixed upon +her, in a voice audible to all, ask her--their hostess--to favor them +next. Now she, as well as most there, knew Georgia could not play; but, +wishing to have a little pleasure quizzing the "country girl," they came +crowding around, and it was: + +"Oh, _pray_ do, Mrs. Wildair." + +"_Don't_ refuse us now." + +"_Do_ favor us, Mrs. Wildair; I am sure you sing beautifully." + +"Of course Georgia will play; she knows it's not polite to refuse her +guests," said Miss Richmond, winding up the chant and smiling insolently +up in her face as she laid her hand on her arm. + +Georgia started as if a viper had stung her, and, striking off the hand, +arose white with concentrated passion. + +Richmond, coming up at the moment, had just heard his cousin's +silvery-toned request, and the startling way in which it had been +received. + +Miss Richmond and Miss Harper started back with two simultaneous little +shrieks, and looked at Georgia as they would at a Shawnee savage, had +one suddenly appeared before them, and a profound silence fell on all +around. + +Richmond's brow for one moment grew dark as night, and he caught and +transfixed Georgia with a look that made her start as if she had +received a galvanic shock. The next, with his strong self-command, his +brow cleared, and, making his way through the startled group, he said, +smiling: + +"My wife does not play, Freddy. You forgot music teachers are not so +easily obtained in Burnfield as in New York city. Why, Georgia, you are +looking quite pale. Are you ill?" + +She did not speak; she only lifted her eyes to his face with a look of +such utter anguish that his anger gave way to a mingled feeling of +compassion and annoyance. + +"I am afraid Mrs. Wildair _is_ indisposed," said Miss Arlingford. "We +will leave her to your care, Mr. Wildair, while, if my poor efforts will +be accepted, I will endeavor to take her place at the instrument." + +As Miss Arlingford was known to be a beautiful singer, the offer was +instantly accepted, and the kind-hearted young lady was followed to the +piano by all present, who seated themselves near, while Richmond, +Freddy, and Mrs. Wildair, who, with a frown on her brow, had just come +up, gathered round Georgia. + +"Really, Richmond, your wife has made a most extraordinary exhibition of +herself this evening," said his mother, in a tone of withering contempt. +"Are you quite sure she is perfectly sane? I do not ask from curiosity, +but because Mrs. Gleason has been quite terrified." + +Georgia started as if she would have sprung from the sofa, but Richmond +held her down, while he said, coldly: + +"You can tell Mrs. Gleason she need not alarm herself on the subject; +the unusual excitement has been too much for her, that is all." + +"The _unusual excitement_! Oh, I perceive," said Mrs. Wildair, with a +smile more cutting than any words could have been. "Perhaps she had +better retire to her room altogether, and I will endeavor to play the +hostess to your guests." + +"My dear Georgia," said Freddy, laying her hateful hand on Georgia's, +and looking up in her face with a hateful smile, "I am afraid my request +offended you. I am sure I quite forgot you could not play, and never +thought you would have resented being asked; it is so common for people +to play nowadays that one cannot realize another is ignorant of what +every child understands. I really cannot leave you until you say you +forgive me." + +Georgia shuddered at the hateful touch, and her hands clinched as she +listened, but Richmond's eye was upon her, and she only shook off the +hand, and was silent. + +"Do say you forgive me, Georgia, _do_, please, I am _so_ sorry," fawned +Freddy, with one arm around her neck. + +"Oh, Richmond, take her away! Oh, Richmond, _do_!" she cried out, +shrinking in loathing from her. + +Freddy, with the sigh of deeply injured but forgiving spirit, got up and +stood meekly before her. + +"Really," began Mrs. Wildair, with haughty anger; but her son, with a +darkened brow, said, hastily: + +"Mother, leave her to me. Freddy, go; she does not know what she is +saying; she will regret this by and by, and be the first to apologize. +She is excited now; to-morrow you will see her in a very different frame +of mind." + +"I hope so, I am sure; it is very much needed, I must say," observed +Mrs. Wildair, coldly, as, with a frown on her face, she drew Freddy's +arm within hers and led her away. + +"Oh, Richmond!" began Georgia, passionately lifting her eyes to his +face. + +And there she stopped, the words frozen on her lips. He did not speak, +but catching her wrists in a steady grasp, he looked sternly and +steadily in her eyes, until she sat shivering and trembling before him. +And then he dropped her hands, and without a word drew her arm within +his and led her down to where the rest were, and seated her on a sofa +between Colonel Gleason and himself. + +The song was finished, and amid a murmur of applause Miss Arlingford +rose from the piano and came over to where Georgia sat, to inquire if +she felt better. And then Captain Arlingford and Henry Gleason came, +too, and Georgia was soon the center of a gay, laughing group, who +strove to dissipate her gloom and restore the disturbed harmony of the +evening. And Georgia, now that her evil genius was gone, remembering her +husband's look, tried to smile and talk cheerfully with the rest, but, +as she said herself, she had not yet learned to dissimulate. And the +wild glitter of her eye and her marble-like face told a far different +story, and her efforts to be at ease were so evident and so painful, +that all felt it a relief when the hour came for retiring and they could +seek their own rooms. + +Mr. and Mrs. Wildair bade their last guest good-night, and then they +were alone in the drawing-room. + +Georgia sank down on a sofa, dreading even to look at him; and Richmond, +his courteous smile totally gone and his face grave and stern, stood +with his elbow leaning on the marble mantel, looking down on her with a +stern, steady gaze. + +"Mrs. Wildair!" he said, coldly. + +"Oh, Richmond!" she cried, passionately. + +"Well, this a delightful beginning, I must say," he observed, calmly. +"Are you aware, madam, that you made both yourself and me ridiculous +to-night?" + +"Oh, Richmond, I could not help it! Oh, Richmond, I felt as if I should +go mad!" + +"It would not take much to convince our friends that you are that +already, my dear. May I ask if it was Fredrica's simple and natural +request that you would play for the company, that came so near driving +you mad? I saw you drop her hand as if there were contamination in the +touch." + +"Oh, so there is! so there is!" she cried, in frenzied tones. + +"Really, madam," said Mr. Wildair, in a tone of marked displeasure, +"this is carrying your absurdity too far. Take care that _I_ do not +begin to believe you mad, as well as the rest. Are you aware that you +grossly insulted my cousin before my guests this evening?" + +"She insulted me!--the low, fawning hypocrite! Oh, that I should be +obliged to live under the same roof with that _thing_!" exclaimed +Georgia, wildly, wringing her hands. + +There was a dead pause. It had more effect on Georgia than any words he +could have uttered. She looked up, and saw him standing calm, stern, and +deeply displeased, with his large, strong eyes fixed upon her in sorrow, +surprise, and grave anger. + +"Oh, Richmond! what shall I do? I am going crazy, I think. Oh, Richmond! +I tried to do well, and not displease you, but she---- Oh! everything +that is bad in my nature she rouses when she comes near me! Richmond! +Richmond! I cannot _bear_ to have you angry with me. Tell me--_do_ tell +me--what I shall do?" + +"It is very plain what you must do, my love. You must apologize to Miss +Richmond." + +As if she had received a spear-thrust, Georgia bounded to her feet, her +eyes blazing, her lips blanched. + +"WHAT!" + +"Nay, my dear; it is folly to excite yourself in this way. Be calm. Of +course, you must apologize--there is no other way in which you can atone +for your unparalleled madness." + +"Never!" + +"You _will not_? Georgia, do I understand you right? You mean you _will_ +apologize?" + +"Never!" + +"Georgia, you _will_!" + +"I will NOT!" + +There was another dead pause. Still he stood calm and coldly stern, +while she stood with her full form drawn up to its full height, her eyes +flashing sparks of fire, her brow corrugated, her lips white with +passion and defiance. + +"Georgia," he said, coldly, and his words fell like ice on the fire +raging in her stormy breast, "once your boast was that you never told a +lie; now you have _sworn_ one. You vowed before God's minister to obey +me, and yet the first _command_ I have given you since, you passionately +refuse to obey. I am no tyrant, Georgia, and I shall _never_ request you +to do anything for me again; but remember, madam, I shall not forget +this." + +He was turning away, but with a great cry she sprang after him and +caught his arm. + +"Oh, Richmond, unsay your words! Oh, I will do anything, anything, +_anything_ sooner than part with you in anger! Oh, Richmond, my heart +feels as if it were breaking. I shall die if you do not say you forgive +me!" + +"Will you go to my cousin to-morrow, and beg her pardon for your insane +conduct to-night?" + +She shivered as one in an ague fit, while from her white lips dropped +the hollow word: + +"_Yes._" + +"That is my own brave Georgia. The insult was publicly given, and should +be publicly atoned for; but I will spare you _that_ humiliation. And now +I feel that this lesson, severe as it is, will do you good. You will be +more careful for the future, Georgia." + +She lifted her head, and looked up in his face with a smile that +startled him. + +"It has come true, Richmond," she said. + +"What has, my love?" he asked, uneasily. + +"My dream. Do you not remember the dream I told you and Charley, long +ago, when I first knew you?" + +"Yes, I remember it. You told it so impressively I could not forget it. +What of that dream, my dear?" + +She laughed--such a mockery of laughter as it was! + +"It was _you_ I saw in that dream, Richmond; it was _you_ who drove me, +all wounded and bleeding, through the fiery furnace. You are doing it +_now_, Richmond. But I did not tell you _all_ my dream then. I did not +tell you then that at last I turned, sprang upon my torturer, and +STRANGLED him in my own death throes!" + +Again she laughed, and looked up in his face with her gleaming eyes. + +"My dear, you are hysterical," he said in alarm. "Be calm; do not excite +yourself so. I always knew you were wild; but positively this is the +very superlative of wildest. To-morrow you will feel better, Georgia." + +"Oh, yes--to-morrow, when I shall have begged _her_ pardon! Listen, +Richmond, do you know what I wished to-night?" + +"No, dear Georgia; what was it?" + +"It was, Richmond, _that I had never married you_!" + + + + +CHAPTER XV. + +SOWING THE WIND. + + +Merry days those were in Richmond House, with the old halls resounding +with music and laughter, and the hum of gay voices, from morning till +night. Astonished and awed were the people of Burnfield by the +glittering throng of city fashionables, who promenaded their streets and +swept past them in the sweeping amplitude of flashing silks and rich +velvets and furs. As for our city friends themselves, the ladies +pronounced the place "horrid stupid;" but as the young gentlemen, with +one or two exceptions, found the country girls exceedingly willing to be +flirted with, they rather liked it than otherwise. + +A proud man was the Reverend Mr. Barebones the first Sunday after their +arrival, when the bewildering throng flashed into the meeting-house, +and, with a great rustle of silks and satins, and an intoxicating odor +of _eau de Cologne_, filled the two large front pews that from time +immemorial had belonged to Richmond House. It was not religion +altogether that brought them--at least, not all. Languid Miss Reid, for +instance, went because the rest did, and it was less trouble to go than +to form excuses for staying; and that quintessence of exquisiteness, +Mr. Adolphus Lester, who was tender on that young lady, went because she +did. Miss Harper went because Captain Arlingford was going, and Miss +Freddy Richmond went because she was a very discreet young lady and it +was "proper" to attend divine worship, and Miss Richmond never shocked +the proprieties. Georgia went because she _had_ to, and Lieutenant +Gleason and his father went to kill time, which always hung heavy on +their hands, on Sunday. Of the whole party, only Master Henry Gleason +and Mr. Curtis were absent; Master Henry, having pronounced the whole +establishment of Christian churches on earth and their attendant +Christian ministers "horrid old bores," declared his intention of +staying at home and having a "jolly good snooze." + +Every one seemed to have enjoyed themselves the last week at Richmond +House but its young mistress. There were rides, and drives, and +excursions during the day, and sailing parties on the river in Mr. +Wildair's yacht; and there were dancing, and music, and acting charades, +and all sorts of amusements for the evening, into which all the young +people entered with eager zest--all but Georgia. + +Those days, few as they were, had wrought a marked change in her. The +flush of her health and happiness had faded from her cheeks, leaving +only two dark purple spots, that burned there like tongues of flame; her +eye had lost its sparkle, her brow was worn and haggard, and her step +was slow and weary. She lived in daily martyrdom, such as none but a +spirit so morbidly proud and keenly sensitive can comprehend. Slights, +insults, insolence, and little galling acts of malice, "making up in +number what they wanted in weight," were daily to be borne now from her +supercilious mother-in-law and her malicious, insolent shadow and echo, +Miss Richmond. And these were offered openly, in the presence of all; +not an opportunity was allowed to escape of mortifying her; until +sometimes, wild and nearly maddened, she would fly up to her room, and, +alone and frenzied, struggle with the storm raging in her heart. + +Richmond, absorbed in attending to the comfort and amusement of his +guests, knew nothing of all this. It was not their policy to let him +suspect their dislike--yes, _hatred_ of his bride; and, as they well +knew, the rest, who saw it all, would not venture to speak on so +delicate a subject to their proud host. It is true, he saw the change in +Georgia's face, and the freezing coldness her manners were assuming to +all, even to him; but from some artfully dropped hints of immaculate +Miss Freddy's, he set it down to stubborn sullenness. And believing her +to be incorrigible in her disagreeableness and insubordination, he grew +markedly reserved and cold when alone in her society; and thus the +misunderstanding between them daily widened. + +Georgia was too proud to complain of what she herself suffered and +endured--she was dumb; and indeed if she had been inclined, she would +have found it hard to make out a list of her grievances and relate them, +for Miss Freddy's insults were offered in such a way that, keenly as +they struck home, they dwindled into nothing when related to a third +party. Had he not been so absorbed in the duties of hospitality, and +striving to atone for his wife's neglect, he might have seen for +himself; but he was blind and deaf to all, and only saw her uncourteous +treatment of his friends and her wifely disobedience. And before +long--no one scarcely knew how--Georgia was pushed aside, and Mrs. +Wildair and Freddy began to take the place of hostess, and Richmond +looked on and tacitly consented. All were consulted in their plans and +amusements but Georgia; _she_ was overlooked with the coolest and most +insolent contempt; and if sometimes, as a matter of form, her opinion +was asked by either of the ladies, it was worded in such a way or +uttered in such a tone as made it even a more galling insult. And +Georgia, with a swelling heart and with lips compressed in proud, bitter +endurance, consented to bare her place usurped, without a word or +attempt to regain it. With a heart that underneath all her calmness +seemed ready to burst at such times, she would refuse to accompany them, +pleading indisposition, or sometimes giving no reason at all; and Mrs. +Wildair would turn away with an indifferent, "Oh, very well, just as you +please," and Richmond would say nothing at the time, until he would find +her alone, and then he would coldly begin: + +"Mrs. Wildair, may I beg to know the reason you will not honor us with +your company to-morrow?" + +"Because I do not wish to," she would flash, with all her old defiance +flaming up in her dusky eyes. + +"_Because you do not wish to!_ Insolent! Madam, I _insist_ upon your +accompanying us to-morrow!" + +"You find my society so brilliant and agreeable, no doubt, that my +absence will destroy your pleasure," she would say, with a bitter laugh +that jarred painfully on the ear. + +"No, madam, I regret to say that your fixed determination to disobey me, +and be uncourteous and disagreeable, is carried out in the very letter +and spirit. Still, I cannot allow my guests to be treated with marked +discourtesy. _I_ have some regard for the laws of hospitality, if you +have not. Therefore, Mrs. Wildair, you will prepare to join our party +to-morrow." + +"And if I refuse?" + +His eye flashed, and his mouth grew stern. + +"You will be sorry for it! Do not attempt such a thing! You may disobey, +but you shall not trifle with me." + +She lifted her eyes, and he would see a face so haggard and utterly +wretched that his heart would melt, and he would go over and put his arm +around her, and say, gently: + +"Come, Georgia, be reasonable. What evil spirit has got into you of +late? Why will you persist in treating our friends in this way?" + +"_Our_ friends!--_your_ friends, you mean." + +"It is all the same; for my sake you ought to treat my friends +differently." + +Her heart swelled and her lip quivered. Yes, his friends might slight +and insult her, but she was to put her head under their heels, and smile +on those who crushed her. + +"Well, Georgia, you do not speak," he would say, watching her closely. + +"Mr. Wildair, I have nothing to say. Your mother and cousin are +mistresses here; my part is to stand aside and obey them. If you +_command_ me to go to-morrow, I have no alternative. I am still capable +of submitting to a great deal, sooner than willingly displease you." + +"My mother and cousin undertook no authority here, Georgia, until you +neglected all your duties as hostess, and they were obliged to do so. It +is all your own fault, and you know it, Georgia." + +She smiled bitterly. + +"We will not discuss the subject, if you please, Richmond. I make no +complaint; they are welcome to do as they please, and all I ask for is +the same privilege. I cannot have it, it appears, and--I will go +to-morrow, since you insist; my absence or presence will make little +difference to your friends." + +"Georgia, why _will_ you persist in this absurd nonsense?" he would +exclaim, almost angrily. "Really you are enough to try the patience of a +saint. I wish some of this foolish, morbid pride of yours had been kept +where it came from, and a little plain, practical common sense put in +its place. You have taken a most unaccountable prejudice to my mother +and cousin, which, if you had that regard for me you profess, you +certainly would not pain me by displaying; in fact, you resolved from +the first to dislike _all_ I invited, and you have kept that promise +wonderfully well I must say, except as regards the two Arlingfords, +toward whom you evince a partiality that makes your neglect of the rest +all the more glaring. It is certainly a pity you did not receive the +education of a lady, Georgia, and then common politeness would teach you +to act differently." + +In silence, and with a curling lip and an unutterable depth of scorn in +her beautiful eyes, Georgia would listen to this conjugal tirade, but +her lips would be sealed; and Richmond, indignant and deeply offended, +would leave the room, and the next moment, all smiles and suavity, +rejoin his guests. And Georgia, left alone, would press her hand to her +breast with that feeling of suffocation rising again until the very air +of the perfumed room would seem to stifle her. And such scenes as this +were of frequent occurrence now, and one and all sank deep in her +heart, to rankle there in anguish and bitterness untold. + +Perhaps it may seem strange that Mrs. Wildair and Miss Richmond should +hate Georgia; but so it was. Mrs. Wildair was the haughtiest, the most +overbearing, and the most ambitious of women. Her sons were her pride +and her boast, in public as well as in private, and she had often been +heard to declare that they should marry among the highest in the land, +and perpetuate the ancient glory of the Richmonds. When Charley had +disappointed all this expectation, and had become an alien from her +heart and home, the shock, given more to her ambition than to her +affections, was terrible, and when she recovered from it, all her hopes +centered in her first-born, Richmond. + +There was an English lady of rank, the daughter of an earl, at that time +visiting an acquaintance of Mrs. Wildair in New York, and to this +high-born girl did she lift her eyes and determine upon as her future +daughter-in-law. But before she had time to write to Richmond, and +desire him to return home for that purpose, _his_ letter came, and there +she read the quiet announcement that, in a week or two, he was to be +married in Burnfield to a young, penniless girl, "rich alone in beauty," +he wrote. + +Mrs. Wildair sat nearly stunned by the shock. Down came her gilded +coroneted _chateau d'Espagne_ with a crash, to rise no more. Her son +was his own master; she knew his strong, determined, unconquerable will +of old, to combat which was like beating the air. Nothing remained for +her but to consent, which she did with a bitter hatred against the +unconscious object that had thwarted her burning in her heart, and a +determination to make her pay dearly for what she had done, which +resolution she proceeded to carry into effect the moment she arrived in +Richmond House. + +"To think that she--a thing like that--sprang from the dregs of the +city, for she is not even an honest farmer's daughter--should have dared +to become my son's wife," she said, hissing the words through her +clenched teeth; "a low wretch, picked up out of the slime and slough of +the city filth, to come between me and my son. Oh! was Charley's act not +degradation enough, that this must fall upon us too?" + +"Let us hope, my dear aunt, that the place she has had the effrontery to +usurp will not long be hers," murmured the dulcet voice of her niece, to +whom she had spoken. "We have built up already a wall of brass between +them, and I have a plan in my head that will transform it to one of +fire. Recollect, aunt, divorces are easily obtained, and then your son +will be free once more, and our queenly pauper will be ignominiously +cast back into the slime she rose from." + +Miss Freddy's hatred came from pretty much the same cause as Mrs. +Wildair's. In any case, she would have considered it her duty to follow +that lady's lead: but now she had her own private reasons for hating her +with all the bitter intensity of a mean little mind. + +Miss Freddy was to have married Charley, and was quite ready and willing +to do so at a moment's notice, but in her secret heart she would have +far preferred his elder brother. Differing from the rest of the world, +Richmond, even "from boyhood's hours," had been her favorite; but when +she saw his mother's hopes aspire to a coronet and a title, she was +overawed, and made up her mind to be cast into the shade. To be rivaled +by a lady like this could be borne, but that a peasant girl--a +nameless, unknown girl--should win the prize for which she had sought in +vain--oh! it was a humiliation not to be endured. So she entered heart +and soul into all her aunt's plans, and won that lady's approbation for +her dutiful conduct, while she carefully concealed her own motives. And +this, then, was the secret of Georgia's persecutions. + +The "wall of fire" the amiable young lady had referred to was to make +Richmond jealous. Now, jealousy was never a fault of his, but artful +people can work wonders, and Miss Freddy went carefully, but surely, to +work, with Mrs. Wildair for her stanch backer. And Georgia, all +unconscious, walked headlong into the snare laid for her. + +As her husband had said, the Arlingfords were the only ones in the house +whom Georgia could at all endure. The frank, genial, honest +straightforwardness of brother and sister pleased her; and, indignant at +the treatment so openly offered her, they devoted themselves in every +way to interest and amuse her. And Miss Freddy seeing this, her little +keen eyes fairly snapped with gratification, and by a thousand little +devices and pretenses she would manage to dispose of the sister, and +leave Georgia altogether to be entertained by the brother. And then the +attention of the company would be artfully directed to the twain who +were so much together, and Richmond would hear from one and another: + +"What friends Mrs. Georgia" (so she was called to distinguish her from +the other) "and captain Arlingford are!" + +"How _very_ intimate they are!" + +"Yes, _indeed_; just see how she smiles upon him--don't you think her +handsome when she smiles?" + +"Very much so. Captain Arlingford seems to think so, too. What a pity he +is the only one she will honor by one of them." + +"Well, it is fortunate she has met some one who can please her--she +seems so dull, poor thing!" + +"A handsome man like Captain Arlingford does not find it very hard to be +agreeable, I fancy; he is decidedly the best-looking young man here." + +"Mrs. Georgia's opinion exactly," said Miss Harper, sending a spiteful +glance at the unconscious objects of these remarks, who sat conversing +on a sofa at some distance. "I asked her, yesterday, and she said, 'Yes, +she thought he most decidedly was.'" + +"Poor, dear Georgia!" chimed in Miss Freddy, looking tenderly toward +her; "I am so glad she likes him; she seems to like so few, and indeed +nobody could help liking him, he is so charming. What a nice nose, and +lovely mustache, and sweet curling hair he has, to be sure!" + +"And, by George! he shows his good taste, too, in flirting with the +prettiest woman among you," exclaimed Harry Gleason, bluntly. +"Arlingford knows what's what, I tell you; he'll go in and win, I'll +bet!" + +Now these remarks, though at first he paid no attention to them beyond +what the words conveyed, jarred disagreeably on Richmond's mind. But as +days passed on and they grew more frequent and more meaning in tone, and +he saw the curious smiles with which they were regarded, and the +expression of his mother's face as she watched them, and saw his cousin +look first at them and then at him with a sort of anxiety and tender +pity, he felt a growing disagreeable sensation of uneasiness for which +he could hardly account. Even to himself, he was ashamed to own he was +jealous of Georgia--his leal, true-hearted, straightforward Georgia, +whom he had never known to be guilty of a dishonorable thought in her +life. Fiery, rash, high-spirited she was, but treacherous, deceitful, +_wicked_ she was not. He could have staked his soul upon her truth, and +yet--and yet by slow degrees the poison began to enter his mind, and he +commenced to watch his wife with an angry, suspicious eye. + +Oh, Richmond! Richmond! that you should fall so low as this! You, whom +Georgia once regarded as a demi-god; you whom she still believes, in +spite of your sorrowful misunderstanding, everything that is upright and +true; you, whom, had heaven, and earth, and hades accused of infidelity, +she would not have believed. And now, you are growing jealous of your +rash but leal-hearted wife, whom you have completely neglected yourself, +to attend to others. Oh, Richmond! + +"Really, my dear, you are a jewel without price--worth a million in +cash!" exclaimed Mrs. Wildair to Freddy, delighted at the success of her +diabolical scheme. "Your plan has succeeded beyond all my expectations. +I really did not think you could make Richmond jealous without alarming +him, and putting him on his guard against us; but, positively, he is +growing as jealous as a Turk, and never suspects either of us in the +least." + +Miss Freddy smiled her sinister and most evil smile. + +"Poor Richmond! What a hard time he is going to have of it with that +green-eyed monster! And how delightfully unconscious Mrs. Georgia walks +into the pit with her eyes open! Really, it is as good as a farce! Oh! +the stupidity of these earthworms!" + +"Poor Rich! he _did_ look so deliciously miserable to-night when he saw +those two sitting together in a corner by themselves, turning over those +prints, just as innocent as a couple of angels." + +And both ladies leaned back in their seats and laughed immoderately. + +Poor Georgia! the sky was rapidly darkening around her, though this, the +blackest cloud, was still invisible to her eyes. Sometimes, in her +desolation, it seemed to her as if she had not a single friend in the +world, for Emily never ventured near Richmond House now, and she had +only seen Miss Jerusha once since her return. She _could not_ +dissimulate. She had tried it in vain, and she would not bring her +haggard face and anguished eyes to tell the tale her tongue was too +proud to speak. So she did not visit the cottage, until at last Miss +Jerusha grew seriously uneasy, and resolved to brave all obstacles, the +impudent footman included, and go up to the house and see Georgia. + +Until she was fairly gone, Miss Jerusha had never known how large a +share of her heart her _protegee_ had monopolized; and so, worthy +reader, behold her arrayed in that respected "kaliker geownd" you are +acquainted with, for brown silk could not be worn on a week-day, with +the faded shawl, and a pink calico sun-bonnet, a recent addition to her +wardrobe, knocking at the hall door of Richmond House. + +It was some time in the afternoon, and the household were dressing for +dinner, and so the servant told her, respectfully enough, for her first +visit had taught them a lesson they did not soon forget. + +"Dinner! you git out!" said Miss Jerusha, indignantly, "and it nigh onto +four o'clock. Don't tell me no such stuff! Jist be off and tell Georgey +I want to see her. Clear!" + +The man hesitated; Miss Jerusha looked dangerous; he expected the +dinner-bell to ring every moment, and his mistress was in her room; so +while he stood hesitating, a rustling of silk was heard behind him, and +the next moment Mrs. Wildair stood gazing in haughty surprise on the +intruder. + +Now, Mrs. Wildair knew well enough who Miss Jerusha was; her niece had +pointed her out one day; but as this was an excellent opportunity for +mortifying Georgia, she chose to be quite ignorant of the matter. + +"What is this?" she said, stepping back haughtily. "What does she want? +Wilson, how dare you allow beggars to enter the hall-door?" + +"She--she ain't no beggar, ma'am," said Wilson, casting an apprehensive +glance at Miss Jerusha, "she's----" + +"I don't care what she is. Persons of her class should go round to the +kitchen door. Send her out, and let her go there if she wants anything," +exclaimed Mrs. Wildair, sharply. + +Up to this point Miss Jerusha had stood fairly stupefied. She mistaken +for a beggar! She--Miss Jerusha Glory Ann Skamp--whose ward was lady of +this great house! For an instant she was speechless, with the blood of +all the Skamps boiling within her, and then she burst out: + +"Why, you yeller old lantern-jawed be-frizzled be-flowered, impident old +woman, to call me a beggar! Oh, my gracious! to think I should be called +that in my old ages o' life? _A beggar!_ My-y-y conscience! If you hev +the impidence to call me that agin, I'll--I'll----" + +"Turn her out, she is crazy! turn her out, I tell you," said Mrs. +Wildair, white with passion. "Do you hear me, Wilson? Turn this old +wretch out." + +The noise had now brought a crowd down into the hall, who stood gazing +in mingled curiosity and amusement on this scene between the lady and +the beggar, as they supposed her to be. + +"Turn me out! Let them try it!" exclaimed Miss Jerusha, looking daggers +at the startled Wilson. + +"Do you hear me, sir? Am I to be obeyed? Turn this woman out," said Mrs. +Wildair, stamping her foot. + +"Touch her if you _dare_!" screamed a fierce voice; and Georgia, with +blazing eyes and passionate face, rushed through the crowd, flashed past +Mrs. Wildair, and stood, white, panting, and fierce, like a hunted stag +at bay, beside Miss Jerusha. "Lay one finger on her at your peril! How +_dare_ you, madam!" she almost screamed, facing round so suddenly on the +startled lady that she recoiled. "How dare you order her out--how _dare_ +you do it?" + +"Really, young lady," said Mrs. Wildair, recovering her calm hauteur, +"this is most extraordinary language addressed to me. I was not aware +that persons of her condition were ever received in my son's house." + +"Then learn it now," said Georgia, fiercely; "while I am here, this +house shall be free to her in spite of you all. Perhaps you are not +aware, madam, who she is?" + +"Some of _your_ relations, most probably," said Mrs. Wildair, with a +withering sneer. "She looks like it." + +"Mother! Georgia! What in the name of wonder is all this?" exclaimed a +hurried, startled voice; and Richmond Wildair, pale and excited, made +his way toward them. + +"It means, sir, that I have been grossly insulted by your wife," said +Mrs. Wildair, her very lips white with anger; "insulted, too, in the +presence of your guests; spoken to as I never was spoken to before in my +life." + +"Mother, for mercy's sake, hush!" he said, in a fierce whisper, his face +crimson with shame. "And, Georgia, if you _ever_ loved me, retire to +your room now, and make no exhibition before these people. Miss Jerusha, +persuade her to go before I am eternally disgraced." + +"Come, honey, come; I'll go with you," said Miss Jerusha, tremulously, +quite nervous at this unexpected scene. + +With heaving bosom and flashing eyes Georgia stood, terrible in her +roused wrath, as a priestess of doom. Miss Jerusha put her arm around +her and coaxingly drew her along, and passed with her into the empty +breakfast parlor near. When she was gone, Richmond turned to his guests, +who stood gazing at each other in consternation, and forcing a smile, +said: + +"My friends, you must be surprised at this extraordinary scene, but it +will not appear so extraordinary when explained. The singular-looking +person who was the cause of all this was a sort of guardian of my wife, +and upon her entrance here my mother, deceived by her singular dress, +mistook her for a beggar, and ordered her out. An altercation ensued, +which my wife overheard, and, indignant at what she supposed a direct +intentional insult to her old friend, rushed down, and in the excitement +of the moment, thoughtlessly uttered the hasty words you have all +overheard. Mother, I beg you will think no more about it; no one will +regret them more than Georgia herself when she cools down. And now, +there goes the dinner-bell; so, my friends, we will forget this +disagreeable little scene, and not let it spoil our appetites." + +With a faint smile he offered his arm to Mrs. Gleason and led the way to +the dining-room, saying, as he did so: + +"You will oblige me by presiding to-day, mother. Georgia, in her +excitement, will not care to return to table, I fancy." + +With a stiff bow Mrs. Wildair complied, and Richmond, beckoning to a +servant, whispered: + +"Go to the parlor and request Mrs. Wildair, with my compliments, to +retire to her own room, and say I wish her to remain there for the +evening." + +"My dear cousin," said a low voice, and the small, sallow hand of Freddy +was laid on his arm, "allow me to go. It would mortify our proud Georgia +to death to have such a message brought by a servant. Remember, she only +spoke hastily, and we _must_ have consideration for her feelings." + +"My dear, kind little cousin," said Richmond, with emotion, as he +pressed her hand, "she does not deserve this from _you_. But go, lest +she should make another scene before the servants." + +With her silky smile Freddy glided out and opened the parlor door +without ceremony. Sitting on a sofa was Miss Jerusha, while Georgia +crouched before her, her face hidden in her lap, her whole attitude so +crushed, desolate, and full of anguish, that it is no wonder Miss +Jerusha was exclaiming between her sobs: + +"There, honey, there! _don't_ feel it so. I wouldn't if I was you. +Where's the good of minding of 'em at all? Don't, honey, don't! It's +drefful to see you so." + +The malicious smile deepened and brightened on Freddy's evil face at the +sight. + +Miss Jerusha looked sharply up as she entered, and seeing her +triumphant look, her tears seemed turned to sparks of fire. + +"Well, what do _you_ want?" she demanded. + +Without noticing her by look or word, Freddy went over and laid her hand +on Georgia's shoulder. + +"Georgia," she said, authoritatively. + +With a bound Georgia leaped to her feet, and with eyes that shone like +coals of fire in a face perfectly white, she confronted her mortal +enemy. + +Freddy, with all her meanness, was no coward, else she would have fled +at sight of that fearful look. As it was she recoiled a step, and her +smile faded away as she said: + +"My cousin sent me here to tell you to go to your room and stay there +until he comes." + +Slowly and impressively Georgia lifted her head, and keeping her +gleaming, burning eyes fixed on the sallow face before her, pointed to +the door. + +"Go!" she said, in a hollow voice, "Go!" + +Freddy started, and her face flushed. + +"I have delivered my message, and intend to. If you don't do as my +cousin orders you--take care, that's all." + +"Go!" repeated the hollow tones, that startled her by their very +calmness, so unnatural was it. + +For the very first time in her life Freddy Richmond was terrified, and +Miss Jerusha appalled. Without a word, the former glided past, opened +the door, and vanished. + +For a moment Georgia stood stock-still, like one turned to stone, and +then, throwing up her arms with a great cry, she would have fallen had +not Miss Jerusha caught her. + +"Oh, my heart! my heart!" she cried, pressing her hands over it as +though it were breaking. "Oh, Miss Jerusha, they have killed me!" + +"Oh, Georgia!" began Miss Jerusha, but her voice choked, and she +stopped. + +"Oh, leave me! leave me! dear, best friend that ever was in this world, +leave me, and never come to this dreadful house again. Oh, Miss Jerusha, +why did you not leave me to die that night long ago!" + +Miss Jerusha essayed to speak, but something rose in her throat and +stopped her. Nothing broke the silence of the room but her sobs and that +passionate, despairing voice. + +"Go! leave me! I cannot bear you should stay here; and never, never come +back again, Miss Jerusha. Oh, me! oh, me! that I were dead!" + +There was such painful anguish in her tones that Miss Jerusha could not +stay to listen. Throwing her arms around her neck in one passionate +embrace, she hurried from the house, sobbing hysterically, and startling +the servant who opened the door. + +Then Georgia reeled rather than walked from the room, up stairs, and +into her own bedroom; and there, sinking down on the floor, she lay as +still and motionless as if she were indeed dead. For hours she lay thus, +as if frozen there, as if she would never rise again--crushed, humbled, +degraded to the dust. Sounds of laughter and music came wafted up the +stairs; she heard the voice she hated most singing a gay Italian +barcarole, and now another voice joins in--_her husband's_. + +Oh, Georgia, your hour of anguish has come, and where is your help now? +Heaven and earth are dark alike; you did not look up when life's +sunshine shone on you, and now, in your utter misery, there is no helper +near. + +Oh, Georgia, where, in your humiliation, is the pride, the independence +that has supported you hitherto? Gone--swept away, like a reed in the +blast, and you lie there prostrate on the earth, prone in the dust, a +living example of human helplessness, unsupported by divine grace. + +Hour after hour passed, and still she lay there. The door opened at +last, but she did not move. The footsteps she knew so well crossed the +threshold, but she was motionless. A voice pronounced her name, and a +shiver ran through her whole frame, but the collapsed form was still. A +hand was laid on her arm, and she was lifted to her feet and borne to a +chair, and then she raised her sunken eyes and saw the stern face of her +husband bent upon her. + + + + +CHAPTER XVI. + +REAPING THE WHIRLWIND. + + "Oh, woman wronged can cherish hate + More deep and dark than manhood may." + + WHITTIER. + + "And in that deep and utter agony-- + Though then than ever most unfit to die-- + She fell upon her knees and prayed for death." + + +It was not in human heart, much less in a heart that loved her still, to +gaze on that death-like face unmoved; and Richmond's stern gaze relaxed, +and his brow lost its cold severity, as he knelt beside her and said: + +"Dearest Georgia, one would think you were dying. Deeply as you have +mortified me, I have not the heart to see you thus wretched. Look +up--smile--speak to me. What! not a word? Good mercy, how deeply you +seem to feel these things!" + +"Let me go, Richmond; I am tired and sick, and want to be alone." + +"Yes, you are sick; the fiery spirit within you is wearing out your +body. Oh, Georgia! when are these storms of passion to cease?" + +She lifted her melancholy black eyes to his face with a strange, +prolonged gaze. + +"_When I am dead._" + +"Oh, Georgia, sooner than that! Oh, _why_ did you insult my mother, +disgrace me, and horrify all these people to-day! Are you going crazy, +Georgia?" + +"No; I wish I were." + +"Georgia!" he said, shocked as much by her slow, strange tone as by her +words. + +"Perhaps I _will be_ soon; you are all taking a good way to make me so." + +"Georgia!" + +"It will be better for you, you know--you can marry a lady then." + +"_Georgia!_" + +"Oh, you can marry your cousin--she will never disgrace you, Richmond," +she said, with a strange, short laugh. + +"GEORGIA!" + +"Oh, Richmond, why did you marry me? _Why_ did you ever marry me?" she +cried, suddenly changing her tone to one of piercing anguish, and +wringing her pale fingers. + +"Because," he said, flushing deeply, "I mistook you for a noble-hearted, +generous girl, instead of the vindictive, rebellious one you have +turned out to be. Because I made a mistake, as many another has done +before me, and will do for all time. Are you satisfied now, my dear?" + +She rose from her seat and paced up and down, wringing her hands. + +"Oh, I thought I would have been so happy! You said you loved me, and I +believed you. I did not know you wanted a wife to bear the brunt of your +mother's sneers and your cousin's insults--some one to afford a subject +of laughter to your friends. Oh, Richmond, I wish--I _wish_ I had died +before I ever met you!" + +Richmond stood watching her in silence a moment, and the look of marked +displeasure again settled on his face. + +"Well, really, this is pleasant!" he said, slowly. "You can act the part +of the termagant to the life, Mistress Georgia. I expected, and I +believe so did all the rest, to see you knock my mother down a little +while ago; that, I presume, will be the next exhibition. You have made +out a long list of complaints against me during the past; take care that +I do not turn the tables and accuse you of something worse than being a +virago, my lady." + +"Oh, I shall not be surprised. Say and do what you please; nothing will +astonish me now. Oh, that it were not a crime to die!" she cried, +passionately wringing her hands. + +"Well, madam, you do not believe in hell, you know," he said, with a +sneer, "so what does it matter?" + +"Two months ago I did not, Richmond; now I _know_ of it." + +The frown deepened on his brow. + +"What do you mean by that, Mrs. Wildair?" he said, hotly. + +"Nothing," she replied, with a cold smile. + +"Have a care, my lady; your taunts may be carried too far. It ill +becomes you to take the offensive after what has passed this afternoon." + +"After what has passed! By that you mean, I suppose, my preventing your +mother from making the servants turn my best, my dearest friend, into +the street like a dog," she said, stopping in her walk and facing him. + +"My mother mistook her for a beggar. How was she to know she was +anything to you?" + +Georgia broke into a scornful laugh, and resumed her walk. + +"Positively, Mrs. Wildair," said Richmond, flushing crimson with anger, +"this insulting conduct is too much. If I cannot command your obedience, +I at least insist on your respect. And as we are upon the subject, I beg +in your intercourse with _one_ of my guests you will remember you are a +wedded wife. You seem to have forgotten it pretty well up to the +present, both of you." + +She had sunk on a sofa, her face hidden in the cushions, her hands +clasped over her heart, as if to still the intolerable pain there. She +made no reply to the words that had struck her ear, but conveyed no +meaning, and after waiting in vain for an answer, he resumed, with a +still deepening frown: + +"You will not honor me with an answer, madam. Probably your smiles and +answers are all alike reserved for the fascinating Captain Arlingford. +How do you intend to meet my mother, Mrs. Wildair, after what has +happened to-day?" + +"Oh, Richmond, I do not know! Oh, Richmond, do, _do_ leave me!" + +"Madam!" + +"I am so tired, and so sick. I _cannot_ talk to-night!" she cried out, +lifting her bowed head, and clasping her hands to her throbbing temples. + +"Be it so, then, madam. I shall not intrude again," said Richmond, as, +with a face dark with anger, he turned and left the room. + +Next morning at breakfast Georgia did not appear. There was an +embarrassment--a restraint upon all present, which deepened when the +unconscious Captain Arlingford, the only one who ventured to pronounce +her name, inquired for Mrs. Wildair. + +A dusky fire, the baleful fire of jealousy, flamed up in Richmond +Wildair's eyes. Freddy and his mother saw it, and exchanged glances, and +the old evil smile broke over the former's face. + +"She was indisposed last night," said Mr. Wildair, with freezing +coldness, "and I presume has not yet sufficiently recovered to be able +to join us at table. You will have the happiness of seeing her at +dinner, Captain Arlingford." + +There was something in his tone that made Captain Arlingford look up, +and Mrs. Wildair, fearing a public disagreement, which did not suit her +purpose at all, said hastily in a tone of the most motherly solicitude: + +"Poor, dear child. I am afraid that little affair of yesterday has +mortified her to death. Freddy, love, do go up to her room, and see how +she is." + +Now Miss Freddy, who was a most prudent young lady, for sundry good +reasons of her own, would have preferred at first _not_ bearding the +lioness in her den, but after an instant's thought, the desire of +exulting over her proved too strong for her fears, and she rose with +alacrity from her seat, and with her unvarying smile on her face, +passed from the room, and up stairs. + +Upon reaching Georgia's door she halted, and discreetly peeped through +the keyhole. Nothing was to be seen, however, and the silence of the +grave reigned within. She softly turned the handle of the door, but it +was locked, and after hesitating a moment, she rapped. Her summons was +at first unanswered, and was repeated loudly three or four times before +the door swung back, and Georgia, pale and haggard, with disordered hair +and garments, stood before her. So changed was she that Freddy started +back, and then, recovering herself, she drew a step nearer, folded her +arms, and looked up in her face with a steady, insolent smile. But that +smile seemed to have no effect upon Georgia, who, white, cold, and +statue-like, stood looking down upon her from the depths of her great +black eyes. + +"Good-morning, my dear Georgia," she said, smiling. "_Captain +Arlingford_ sends his compliments, and begs to know how you are." + +There was no reply to this insulting speech. The black eyes never moved +in their steady gaze. + +"What shall I tell the handsome captain, Georgia?" continued the little +fiend. "He was inquiring most anxiously for you this morning. Shall I +say you will relieve that anxiety by gracing our dinner table? Allow me +to insinuate, in case you do, that it would be advisable to use a little +rouge, or they will think a corpse has risen from the church-yard to +take the head of Richmond Wildair's table. And, worse than all, the +flame with which your red cheeks inspired the gallant captain will go +out like a candle under an extinguisher at sight of that whitey-brown +complexion. Say, Georgia, tell me in confidence how did you get up that +high color? As you and I are such near friends you might let me know, +that I may improve my own sallow countenance likewise." + +No reply--the tail form was rigid--the white face cold and set--the +black eyes fixed--the pale lips mute. + +"Mrs. Wildair and Mrs. Colonel Gleason used to insist it was liquid +rouge, but Captain Arlingford and I knew better, and told them all +country girls had great flaming red cheeks just like that. We were +right, were we not, Georgia?" + +Still dumb. Her silence was beginning to startle even Freddy's admirable +equanimity. + +"And now, my dear Georgia, I must really tear myself away from you. When +shall I say we are to be honored by your charming presence again?" + +The white lips parted, one hand was slightly raised. + +"Are you done?" she said, in a voice so husky that it was almost +inaudible. + +"Ye--yes," said Freddy, startled in spite of herself. "I only await your +answer, my dear." + +For all answer, Georgia stepped back, closed the door in the very face +of the insolent girl, and locked it. + +For one moment Freddy stood transfixed, while her sallow face grew +sallower, and her thin lips fairly trembled with impotent rage. Turning +a look of concentrated spite and hatred toward the door, she descended +the stairs. + +"Well, Freddy," said Mrs. Wildair, when she re-entered the parlor, "how +is Georgia?" + +"Not very well, I should say, by her looks--how she felt, she did not +condescend to tell me," unable for once to suppress the bitterness she +felt. + +Richmond, who was chatting with Miss Reid and Miss Harper, started, and +a faint tinge of color shone on his cheek. + +"When is she coming down?" asked Mrs. Wildair. + +"My dear aunt, Mrs. Georgia, for some reason of her own, saw fit to +answer none of my questions. She closed the door in my face by way of +reply." + +Richmond began talking rapidly, and with so much _empressement_, to his +two companions that languid Miss Reid lifted her large sleepy-looking +eyes in faint wonder, and a malicious smile curled the lips of Miss +Harper. + +A sleighing party was to be the order of the day, and, after breakfast, +the ladies hurried to their rooms to don their furs and cloaks; and +Richmond, seizing the first opportunity, hurried to Georgia's room and +knocked loudly and authoritatively at the door. + +It did not open; all was silent within. + +"Georgia, open the door, I command you!" he said, in a voice of +suppressed passion. "Open the door this instant; I insist." + +It opened slowly, and he saw the collapsed and haggard face of his wife, +but he was too deeply angry to heed or care for her looks at that +moment. Entering the room, he closed the door, and with a light in his +eyes and a look in his face that, with all his anger, he had never worn +hitherto, he confronted her. + +"Madam, what did you mean by your conduct to my cousin this morning?" he +said, in a tone that he had never used to her before. + +A spasm shot across her face, and she reeled as if she had received a +blow. + +"Oh, Richmond! oh, my husband! do not say that _you_ knew of her coming +this morning!" she cried in tones of such anguish as he had never heard +before. + +"I did know it, madam! And when she was generous and forgiving enough to +forget your insolent treatment, and come to ask how you were, she should +have been treated otherwise than having the door slammed in her face," +he said in a voice quivering with passion. + +She did not speak--she could not. Dizzily she sat down with her hands +over her heart, always her habit when the pain there was most acute. + +_He_ knew, then, of this last deadly insult--_he_ sanctioned it--he +encouraged it. His cousin was all the world to him--_she_ was nothing. +It only needed this to fill the cup of her degradation to the brim. Her +hands tightened involuntarily over her heart, she could not help it; she +felt as though it were breaking. + +"And now, madam, since you _will_ persist in your insolent course, +listen to _me_. You shall _not_ any longer slight the guests, who do you +too much honor--yes, madam, I repeat it, who do you too much honor, by +residing under the same roof with you. Since my requests are unheeded, +listen to my commands! We are all now going out to drive; in four hours +we will return, and see that you are dressed and in the drawing-room +ready to receive us when we come. I do not ask you to do this. I +_command_ you, and you refuse at your peril! Leave off this ghastly +look, and all the rest of your tantrums, my lady, and try to act the +courteous hostess for once. Remember, now, and try to recall your broken +vow of wifely obedience for the first time; for, as sure as Heaven hears +me, if you dare disobey you shall repent it! I did not wish to speak +thus, but you have compelled me, and now that I have been aroused you +shall learn what it is to brave me with impunity. Madam, look up; have +you heard me?" + +She lifted her eyes, so full, in their dark depths of utter woe, of +undying despair. + +"_Yes._" + +"And you will obey?" + +"Yes." + +"See that you do! And remember, no more scenes of vulgar violence. Chain +your unbridled passions, and behave as one in your sane mind for once. +You shall have to take care what you are at for the future, mistress!" + +And with this last menace, he departed to join his guests in their +excursion. + +For upward of three hours after he left her, she lay as she had lain all +that livelong night, prostrate, rigid, and motionless. Others in her +situation might have shed tears, but Georgia had none to shed; her eyes +were dry and burning, her lips parched; natures like hers do not weep, +in their deadliest straits the heart sheds tears of blood. + +She arose at last, and giddily crossed the room, and rang the bell. Her +maid answered the summons. + +"Susan," she said, lifting her heavy eyes, "make haste and dress me. I +am going down to the drawing-room." + +"What will you please to wear, madam?" said Susan, looking at her in +wonder. + +"Anything, anything, it does not matter, only make haste," she said, +slowly. + +Susan, thus left to herself, arrayed her mistress in a rich crimson +satin, with heavy frills of lace, bound her shining black hair around +her head in elaborate plaits and braids, fastened her ruby earrings in +her small ears, clasped a bracelet set with the same fiery jewels on her +beautiful rounded arm, and then, finally, seeing even the crimson satin +did not lend a glow to the deadly pale face, she applied rouge to the +cheeks and lips, until Georgia was apparently as blooming as ever before +her. And all this time she had sat like a statue, like a milliner's lay +figure, to be dressed, unheeding, unnoticing it all, until Susan had +finished. + +"Will you please to see if you will do, ma'am," said Susan, +respectfully. + +Georgia lifted her languid eyes to the beautiful face and form in its +dark, rich beauty and fiery costume, and said faintly: + +"Yes; you have done very well. You can go now." + +The girl departed, and Georgia sat with her arms dropped listlessly by +her side, her heavy lashes sweeping her cheek unconscious of the flight +of time. Suddenly the merry jingle of many sleigh-bells dashing up the +avenue, mingled with silvery peals of laughter, broke upon her ear, and +she started to her feet, pressed her hand to her forehead, as if to +still the pulse so loudly beating there, and then walked from the room, +and descended the stairs. + +As she reached the hall, the whole party laughing and talking, with +flushed cheeks, and sparkling eyes, flashed in, and the next instant, +like one in a dream, she felt herself surrounded, listening to them all +talking at once, without comprehending a word. + +"Of course she is better. See what a high color she has," said the voice +of Freddy Richmond, the first she clearly distinguished amid the din. + +"I strongly disapprove of rouging," said Mrs. Wildair, in an audible +whisper, to Mrs. Gleason, as they both swept up stairs with a great +rustling of silks. + +"What a bewildered look she has," said Miss Harper, with a slight laugh, +as she too, brushed past; "one would think she was walking in a dream." + +"Here comes Captain Arlingford, Hattie, dear," as she tripped after her; +"she will awake now." + +Poor Georgia! she did indeed feel like one in a dream; yet she heard +every jibe as plainly as even the speakers could wish, but she replied +not. + +"My dear Mrs. Wildair, I am rejoiced to see you again, and looking so +well too," said the frank, manly voice of Captain Arlingford, as he +shook her hand warmly. "I trust you have quite recovered from your late +indisposition." + +"Quite, I thank you," said Georgia, trying to smile. Every voice and +every look she had lately heard had been so cold and harsh that her +languid pulses gave a grateful bound at the honest, hearty warmth of the +frank young sailor's tone. + +Richmond Wildair had just entered in time to witness this little scene, +and something as near a scowl as his serene brow could ever wear, +darkened it at that very moment. Well has it been said that "jealousy is +as cruel as the grave," it is also willfully blind. The very openness, +the very candor of this greeting, might have disarmed all suspicion, but +Richmond Wildair would not see anything but his earnest eagerness, and +the smile that rewarded him. + +Going up to Georgia, he brushed almost rudely past Arlingford, and, +offering her his arm, he said coldly: + +"You will take cold standing in this draught, my dear; allow me to lead +you to the drawing-room." + +At his look and tone the smile died away. He saw it, and the scowl +deepened. + +Placing her on a sofa, he stooped over and said in a hissing whisper in +her ear: + +"Do not _too_ openly show your preference for the gallant captain this +evening, Mrs. Wildair. If you cannot dissimulate for my sake, try it for +your own. People _will_ talk, you know, if your partiality is too +public." + +A flash like sheet-lightning leaped from Georgia's eyes, as the +insulting meaning of his words flashed upon her; she caught her breath +and sprang to her feet, but with a bow and a smile he turned and was +gone. + +"Oh, mercy! that I were dead!" was the passionate cry wrung from her +anguished heart at this last worst blow of all. "Oh, this is the very +climax of wrong and insult! Oh, what, _what_ have I done to be treated +thus?" + +How this evening passed Georgia never knew. As Miss Harper had said, she +was like one in a dream, but it was over at last; and, totally worn out +and exhausted, she was sleeping a deep dreamless sleep of utter +prostration. + +Next morning, at the breakfast table, Henry Gleason suddenly called +out-- + +"Well, ladies and gentlemen, what's to be the bill of fare for to-day?" + +"Somebody was talking of teaching us to skate yesterday," said Miss +Harper. "I want to learn dreadfully. What do you say to going down to +that pond we were looking at and giving us our first lesson." + +"I'm there!" said Master Henry, whose language was always more emphatic +than choice, "what do you say, all of you young shavers?" + +"I second the motion for one," said Mr. Curtis + +"And I for another," said Lieutenant Gleason, and a universal assent +came from the gentlemen. + +"And what says our host?" said Miss Harper, with a smile. + +"That he is always delighted to sanction anything Miss Harper proposes," +he said, with a bow. + +"And what says our _hostess_?" said Captain Arlingford, turning to +Georgia, who with her fictitious bloom gone, sat pale and languid at the +head of the table. + +"That she is afraid you will have to hold her excused," replied Georgia. +"I scarcely feel well enough to accompany you." + +"You are indeed looking ill," said Miss Arlingford, anxiously; "pray +allow me to stay with you, then, as you are unable to go out." + +"And me too!" sung out Henry Gleason so eagerly that the mouthful he was +eating went the wrong way, nearly producing strangulation. "There is not +much fun in teaching girls to skate; all they do is stand on their feet +a minute, then squeal out, and flop down like a lot of bad balloons, and +then get up and screech and go head over heels again. It's twice as +jolly hearing Miss Arlingford sing." + +Miss Arlingford laughed, and bowed her thanks for the compliment. + +"And may I beg to stay too?" said Captain Arlingford; "I am really +getting quite played out with so much exertion, and mean to take life +easy for a day or two. Come now, Mrs. Wildair, be merciful to Harry and +me?" + +"I think you had better try to join us, Georgia," said Richmond, with no +very pleased look; "the air will do you good." + +"Indeed I cannot," said Georgia, who was half blinded with a throbbing +headache; "my head aches, and I beg you will excuse me. But I cannot +think of depriving any of you of the pleasure of going, though I thank +you for your kind consideration." + +"Now, Mrs. Wildair, I positively shall not take a refusal," said Miss +Arlingford, who saw that it would do better not to leave Georgia alone +with her morbid fancies. "I shall take it quite unkindly if you send me +away. I shall try if I cannot exorcise your headache by some music, and +I really must intercede, too, for my young friend, Master Harry here, +who was delightful enough to compliment me a little while ago." + +"And will no one intercede for me?" said the captain. + +"_I_ will," said Harry. "We three will have a real nice good time all to +ourselves---- hanged if we don't! Oh, Miss Arlingford, you're a--a +_brick_! you are so!" he exclaimed enthusiastically; "and Mrs. Georgia, +I guess you'd better let Arlingford stay too. Three ain't company, and +four _is_." + +And "Do, Mrs. Wildair!" "Do, Mrs. Georgia," chimed in Captain and Miss +Arlingford laughingly. And Georgia, unable to refuse without positive +rudeness, smiled a faint assent. + +For one instant a scowl of midnight blackness lingered on the face of +Richmond, the next it was gone, and Georgia saw him, smiling and gay, +set off with the rest on their skating excursion. + +The dinner hour was past before they arrived. Georgia had spent a +pleasanter morning than she had for many a day, and there was something +almost like cheerfulness in her tone as she addressed some questions to +her husband after his return. He did not reply, but turned on her a +terrible look, that sent her sick and faint back in her seat, and then, +without a word, he passed on and was gone. + +That look was destined to overthrow all Georgia's new-found calmness for +that day. She scarcely understood what had caused it. Surely he must +have known she was ill, she thought, and not fitted to join in an +excursion like that, and surely he could not be angry at her for staying +at home while too sick to go out. Feeling that the gayety of the +drawing-room that evening was like "vinegar upon niter" to her feelings, +she quitted it and passed out into the long hall. The moon was shining +brightly through the glass sides of the door, and she leaned her burning +forehead against the cold panes and looked out at the bright stars +shining down on the placid earth. + +There was a rustle of garments behind her, a soft cat-like step she knew +too well, and turning round she saw the hateful face with its baleful +smile fixed upon her. + +A flush of indignation covered her pale face. Could she not move a step +without being dogged by this creature? + +"Well, Mrs. Georgia," began Freddy, with a sneer, "I hope you had a +pleasant time to-day with the gay sailor." + +Georgia clinched her hands and set her teeth hard together to keep down +her rising passion. + +"Leave me!" she said, with an imperious stamp. + +"Oh, just let me stay a little while," said Freddy, jeeringly. "What +confidence he must have in you to make an appointment in the very face +of your husband!" + +"Will you leave me?" + +"Not just yet, my dear cousin," Freddy said, smiling up in her face. +"What a romantic thing it would be if we were to have an elopement in +real life--how delightful it would be, wouldn't it?" + +Georgia's face grew ghastly, even to her lips, and her whole frame shook +with the storm of passion raging within. Freddy saw it, and exulted in +her power. + +"How delightfully jealous Richmond is, to be sure, of his pauper bride +and her sailor lover; how his friends will talk when they go back to the +city--and how Mrs. Wildair, of Richmond Hall, who is too much of a fool +ever to know how to carry out an intrigue properly, will be laughed at. +Ha! ha! ha! what delicious scenes have been witnessed here since we +came, to be sure." + +What demon was it leaped into Georgia's eyes at that moment--what meant +her awful, calm, and terrible look? + +"How will it read in the papers? 'We are pained to learn that the young +and beautiful wife of Richmond Wildair, Esq., of Burnfield, eloped last +night. The gay Adonis is Captain Arlingford, U. S. N., who was, we +believe, at the time, the honored guest of the wronged husband. Mr. +Wildair has pursued the guilty couple, and a duel will probably be the +consequence of this sad affair.' Ha! ha! What do you think of my +imagination, Georgia?" + +No reply; but, oh! that dreadful look! + +"Oh, the insolence of earthworms like you," continued Freddy, in her +bitter gibing tone, "you dare to lift your eyes to one who would have +honored you too much by letting you wipe the dust off his shoes. _You_, +the parish pauper, reared by the bounty of a wretched old hag--_you_, +the child of a strolling player, who died on the roadside like a +dog--you, the----" + +But she never finished the sentence. With the awful shriek of a demon--a +shriek that those who heard could never forget, Georgia sprang upon +her, caught her by the throat, and hurled her with the strength of +madness against the wall. + +With a faint cry, strangled in its birth, Freddy held up her hands to +save herself; but she was as a child in the fierce grasp of the woman +she had infuriated. + +Ere the last cadence of that terrible shriek had ceased ringing through +the house, every one, servants, guests and all, were on the spot. And +there they saw Georgia standing like an incarnate fury, and Frederica +Richmond lying motionless on the ground, her face deluged in blood. + + + + +CHAPTER XVII. + +GONE. + + "Oh, break, break heart! poor bankrupt, break at once." + + --SHAKESPEARE. + + "Break, break, break, + At the foot of the crags, O sea! + But the tender grace of day that is dead + Will never come back to me." + + --TENNYSON. + + +There was an instant death-like pause, and all gazed, white with horror, +on the scene before them. Freddy lay perfectly motionless, and Georgia, +terrific in her roused wrath, stood over her like some dark priestess of +doom. Not a voice dared to break the dreadful silence until Richmond +Wildair, with a face from which every trace of color had faded, and +with a terrible light in his eyes, strode over and caught Georgia by the +arm. + +"Woman! fiend! what have you done?" he said, hoarsely. + +She looked up, wrenched her arm free from his grasp, sprang back and +dauntlessly confronted him. + +"Given her the reward for which she so long has been laboring," she +said, in a voice awful from its very depth of calm. + +His grasp tightened on her arm, tightened till a black circle discolored +the delicate skin; his eyes were fixed on hers with a fearful look; but, +with the tempest sweeping through her soul, she felt not his grasp, she +heeded not his look. + +"Yes," she said, folding her arms and looking down steadily on the +senseless figure, "I have taught her what it is to drive me to +desperation. A worm will turn when it is crushed, and I--oh! what I have +endured in silence! And now let all beware!" she said, raising her voice +almost to a shriek, "for if I must go down, I shall drag down with me +all who have acted a part in my misery. Stand back, Richmond Wildair! +for I shall be your slave no longer!" + +No one there but actually quailed before the dark passionate glance bent +upon them, save Richmond. Some Roman father about to sacrifice his +dearest child on the altar of duty, might have looked as terribly stern, +as ominously rigid and calm, as he did then. + +Without a word, he strode over and grasped both her wrists in his +vise-like hold, and looked full and steadily in her wild, flashing eyes. + +"Georgia," he said; "come with me." + +She strove again to wrench herself free, but this time she could not; he +held her fast, and met her flashing defiant gaze with one of steady, +immovable calm. + +"You had better come. I do not wish to use force. If you do not come +quietly you will be sorry for it." + +His glance, far more than his words or voice, was conquering her. He +felt the rigid muscles relax, and the fierce glance dying out before his +own, and a convulsive shiver pass through her slight frame. + +"Come, Georgia," drawing her toward the parlor; "dangerous maniacs +should not be allowed to go at large. You will remain here until I come +to you." + +He opened the door, let her in, then came out, turned the key in the +lock, and put it in his pocket. + +All this had passed nearly in a moment. The others, spell-bound, had +stood rooted to the ground, their eyes fixed on Georgia and Richmond, +almost forgetting the very presence of Freddy. + +Now he went over and raised her from the floor. Her arms hung lifeless +by her side, her head fell over his arm, and a dark stream of blood +flowed from a frightful wound in her forehead and trickled over her +ghastly face. + +A universal shriek from the ladies followed the sight, and some, +overcome by seeing blood, swooned on the spot. Unheeding them all, +Richmond made his way through the horrified group, entered the +drawing-room, laid his burden on one of the sofas, and seizing the bell +rope rang a peal that brought half a dozen servants rushing in at once. + +"Here, one of you bring me some water and a sponge, instantly; and you, +Edwards, be off for Dr. Fairleigh. Run! fly! lose not a moment." + +The man darted off. Richmond, wetting the sponge, began carefully to +wipe away the blood and bathe her temples, while the others gathered +around, not daring to break the deep silence by a single word. There was +something startling in Richmond Wildair's face--something no one had +ever seen there before, underlying all its outward ominous +calm--something in its still, dark sternness that overawed all. + +In ten minutes the doctor arrived and proceeded to examine the wound, +while all present held their very breath in expectation. Richmond stood +with his arms folded over his chest during those moments of suspense, +motionless as a figure of granite; but the knotted veins standing out +dark and swollen on his brow, his labored breathing, and the convulsive +clenching of his hands, bespoke the agony of suspense he was undergoing. + +"Well, doctor," he said, huskily, when the physician arose, "will--will +she _die_?" + +"Die! pooh! No, of course she won't! What would she die for?" said the +doctor, a jolly little individual, rejoicing in a very bald head and a +pair of bandy legs; "it's nothing but a scratch, man alive! nothing +more. We'll clap a piece of sticking-plaster on and have her all alive +like a bag of grasshoppers in no time. Die, indeed! I think I see her at +it." + +And so saying, the little man drew the edges of the wound together, +applied sundry pieces of court-plaster, and then pronounced the job +finished. + +"And now to bring her to," said the little doctor, proceeding to give +the palms of her hands an energetic slapping; "and meantime, my dear +sir, how in the world did she manage to smash herself up in this +fashion?" + +Richmond did not reply. The sudden reaction from torturing fears to +perfect safety was too much even for him, and he stood at the window, +his forehead bowed on his hand, his hard, stifled breathing distinctly +audible in the silent room. + +"Hey!" said the little doctor, looking up in surprise at his emotion. +"Lord bless my soul! You didn't suppose she was going to die, really, +did you! Well! well, well, well! the ignorance of people is wonderful! +How _did_ it happen, good folks?" said the doctor, making no attempt to +hide his curiosity. + +"An accident, sir," said Colonel Gleason, stiffly. + +"Hum! ha! an accident!" said the doctor, musingly; "well, accidents will +happen in the best of families, they say. Don't be alarmed, Squire +Wildair; the young woman will be around as lively as a cricket in a day +or two. Here, she's coming to already." + +While he spoke there was a convulsive twitching around Freddy's mouth, a +fluttering of the pulse, and the next moment she opened her eyes and +gazed vaguely around. + +"Here you are, all alive and kicking, marm," said the little country +Galen; "no harm done, you know. Hand us a glass of water, somebody." + +The water effectually restored Freddy, who was able to sit up and gaze +about her with a bewildered air. + +"My dearest Freddy, how do you feel? My darling girl, are you better?" +said Mrs. Wildair, folding her in her arms. + +"Of course she's better, marm," said the doctor, rubbing his hands +gleefully; "right as ever so many trivets. There's a picture for you," +he added, appealing to the company generally; "family affection's a +splendid thing, and should be encouraged at any price. Let her keep on +a low diet, and she'll be as well, if not considerably better than +ever, in two or three days. Might have been killed dead as a herring, +though, if she had struck her temple, instead of up there." + +"What's your fee, doctor?" said Mr. Wildair, in a cold, stern tone, and +a face to match, as he abruptly crossed over to where he stood. + +"Dollar," said the doctor, rubbing his hands with a joyous little +chuckle--"court-plaster--visit--advice"-- + +"There it is--good-evening, sir. Edward, show Dr. Fairleigh to the +door," said Mr. Wildair, frigidly. + +"Good-evening, _good_-evening," said the bustling little man, hurrying +out. "Always send for me whenever any of you think proper to knock your +heads against anything. GOOD-evening," repeated the doctor, as he +vanished, with an emphasis so great as to pronounce the word not only in +italics, but even in small capitals. + +Richmond went over and took Freddy's hand. + +"My dearest cousin, how do you feel?" he said. + +"Oh, dreadfully ill," she said faintly; "my head does ache so." + +"Perhaps you had better go to your room and lie down," said Richmond, +his lips quivering slightly. "Mother, you will go with her." + +"Certainly, my dear boy. Come, Freddy, let me assist you up stairs." + +Putting her arm round Miss Richmond's waist, Mrs. Wildair led her from +the room. And then every one present took a deep breath, and looked +first at one another and then at their host, with a glance that said, +"What comes next?" + +But if they expected an apology from Mr. Wildair they were +disappointed: for, turning round, he said, as calmly as if nothing had +occurred: + +"I believe we were to enact some pantomimes this evening--eh, Curtis! It +is near time we were beginning, is it not, ladies?" + +So completely "taken aback" were they by this cool way of doing business +that a dead pause ensued, and amazed glances were again exchanged. Any +one else but Richmond Wildair would have been embarrassed; but he stood +calm and self-possessed, waiting for their answer. + +"Really," said Mrs. Gleason, drawing herself up till her corset-laces +snapped, "after the unaccountable scene that--ahem--has just occurred, +you will have to excuse me if I decline joining in any amusements +whatever this evening. My nerves have been completely unstrung. I never +received such a shock in my life, and I must say----" + +She paused in some confusion under the clear, piercing gaze of +Richmond's dark eagle eye. + +"Well, madam?" he said, with unruffled courtesy. + +"In a word, Mr. Wildair," said the lady, stiffly, "I must say that I do +not consider it safe to stay longer in the same house with a dangerous +lunatic, for such I consider your wife must be. You will therefore +excuse me if I take my departure for the city to-morrow." + +In grave silence, Richmond bowed; and the offended lady, in magnificent +displeasure, swept from the room. + +"And, Mr. Wildair," said Miss Reid, languidly, "I too feel it absolutely +necessary to return; violence is so unpleasant to witness. Good-night." +And the young lady floated away. + +Once again Richmond bowed, apparently unmoved, but the slight twitching +of the muscles of his mouth showed how keenly he felt this. + +"Aw, upon honnaw, Wildaih," lisped Mr. Lester, hastily, "though I regwet +it--aw--exceedingly, you know--I weally must go back to New York +to-morrow, too. Business, my deah fellow, comes--aw--befoah pleasure, +and letters I----" + +"I understand; pray, do not feel it necessary to apologize," said Mr. +Wildair, with a slight sneer; "allow me to bid you good night, Mr. +Lester, and a pleasant journey to New York to-morrow." + +Poor Mr. Lester! There was no use in trying to brave it out under the +light of those dark, scornful eyes, and he sneaked from the room with +much the same feeling as if he had been kicked out. + +There was another profound pause when he was gone. Not an eye there was +ready to meet the falcon gaze of their host. Mr. Wildair stepped back a +pace, folded his arms over his chest, and looked steadily at them. + +"Well, ladies and gentlemen," he said calmly, "who next?" + +"Wildair, my dear old fellow," said Dick Curtis, with tears in his eyes, +"I--I feel--I feel--I'll be hanged if I know _how_ I feel. It's too +bad--it's too darned bad for them to treat you this way, after all +you've tried to do for them. It's abominable, it's _infernal_, it's a +shame! I beg your pardon, ladies, for swearing, but its enough to make a +saint swear--I'll be shot if it's not!" said Mr. Curtis, looking round +with a sort of howl of mingled rage and grief, and then seizing +Richmond's hand and shaking it as if it had been a pump-handle. + +"And I, too, Curtis," said the honest voice of Captain Arlingford, "am +with you there. Mr. Wildair, you must not set us all down for Mr. +Lesters." + +"The mean little ass!--ought to be kicked from here to sundown!" said +Lieutenant Gleason, in a tone of disgust. + +"And so ought mother," said Henry, sticking his hands in his pockets and +striding up and down in indignation: "and the nasty Lydia Languish +Dieaway Reid, a be-scented, be-frizzled, be-flounced stuck-up piece of +dry-goods. I wish to gracious the whole of them were kicked to death by +hornbugs," said Henry, thrusting his hands to the very bottom of his +pockets and glaring defiance round the room. + +A low murmur of earnest sympathy came from all present, Miss Harper +included; for as Captain Arlingford had joined the opposition party, +like certain politicians of the present day, she found it no way +difficult to change her tactics and go over to the enemy. + +"My friends, I thank you," said Mr. Wildair, in a suppressed voice, as +he abruptly turned and walked to the window; "but--you must excuse me, +and allow me to leave you for the present. I feel--" he broke off +abruptly, wheeled round, and with a brief "good night," was gone. + +He passed up stairs and sank into a chair. His brain seemed on fire, the +room for a moment seemed whirling round, and thought was impossible. The +shame, the disgrace, the mockery, the laughter, the scenes in Richmond +House must cause among his city friends, alone, stood vividly before +him. He fancied he could hear their jeering laughs and mocking sneers +whenever he appeared, and, half maddened, he rose and began to pace up +and down like a maniac. And then came the thought of her who had caused +all this--of her who had nearly slain his cousin, and the pallid hue of +rage his face wore gave place to a glow of indignation. + +He had seen Georgia leave the room that evening, and Freddy with her +sweet smile rise to follow her, and his thought, had been, "Dear, kind +little Freddy! what a generous, forgiving heart she must have to be so +solicitous for Georgia's happiness, in spite of all she has done to +her." And when he saw her lying wounded and bleeding, with his +infuriated wife standing over her, he fancied she had merely spoken some +soothing words, and that the demon within Georgia's fiery heart had +prompted to return the kindness thus. + +It is strange how blind the most wise of this world are when wisdom is +entirely of this earth. Richmond Wildair, with his clear head and +profound intellect, was completely deceived by his fawning, silk, +silvery-voiced little cousin. In his eyes Georgia alone was at fault. +Freddy was immaculate. She it was who had brought him to this--_she_, +whom he had raised from her inferior position to be his wife--she, who, +instead of being grateful, had commenced to play the termagant, as he +called it, ere the honeymoon was over. And worse than that, she had +proved herself that most despicable of human beings--a married flirt. +Had she and Captain Arlingford not been together the whole day?--a sure +proof that she had never cared much for him. Had she married him for his +wealth and social position? Was it possible Georgia had done this? His +brain for an instant reeled at the thought, and then he grew strangely +calm. She was proud, ambitious, aspiring, fond of wealth and power, and +_this_ was the only means she had of securing them. Yes, it must be so. +And as the conviction came across his mind, a deep, bitter, scornful +anger filled his heart and soul, and drove out every other feeling. With +an impulsive bound he sprang up, and with a ringing step he passed down +stairs and entered the parlor where he had left her. + +And she--poor, stormy, passionate Georgia! what had been her feelings +all this time? At first, in the tumultuous tempest sweeping through her +soul, a deep, swelling rage against all who were goading her on to +desperation, alone filled her thoughts. She had paced up and down +wildly, madly, until this passed away, and then came another and more +terrible feeling--what if she had killed Freddy? As if she had been +stunned by a blow, she tottered to a seat, while a thousand voices +seemed shrieking in her ears, "Murderess! murderess!" + +Oh! the horror, the agony, the remorse that were hers at that moment. +She put her hands to her ears to shut out the dreadful sound of those +phantom voices, and crouching down in a strange, distorted position, she +struggled alone with all her agonizing remorse. How willingly in that +moment would she have given her own life--a thousand lives, had she +possessed them--to have recalled her arch enemy back to life once more. +So she lay for hours, feeling as though her very reason was tottering on +its throne, and so Richmond found her when he opened the door. She +sprang to her feet with a wild bound, and flying over, she caught his +hand and almost shrieked: + +"Oh Richmond! is she dead? Oh, Richmond! in the name of mercy, speak and +tell me, is she dead?" + +She might have quailed before the look of unutterable scorn bent on her, +but she did not. He shook her hand off as if it had been a viper, and +folding his arms, looked steadily and silently down upon her. + +"Richmond! Richmond! speak and tell me. Oh, I shall go mad!" she cried, +in frenzied tones. + +She looked as though she were going mad indeed, with her streaming hair, +her pallid face, and wildly blazing eyes. Perhaps he feared her reason +_was_ tottering, for he sternly replied: + +"Cease this raving, madam; you have been saved from becoming a murderess +in act, though you are one in the sight of heaven." + +"And she will not die?" + +"No." + +"Oh, thank heaven!" and, totally overcome, she sank for the first time +in her life, almost fainting into her seat. + +Richmond looked at her with deep, scornful eyes. + +"_You_ to thank Heaven!--_you_ to take that name on your lips!--you, who +this night attempted a murder! Oh, woman do you not fear the vengeance +of that Heaven you invoke!" + +"Oh, Richmond! spare me not. I deserve all you would say. Oh! in all +this world there is not another so lost, so fallen, so guilty as I." + +"You are right, there is not; for one who would attempt the life of a +young and innocent girl must be steeped in guilt so black that Hades +itself must shudder. Had you caused the death of Frederica Richmond, as +you tried to, I myself would have gone to the nearest magistrate, had +you arrested, and forced you off this very night to the county jail. I +would have prosecuted you, though every one else in the world was for +you; and I would have gone to behold you perish on the scaffold, and +then--and then only--felt that justice was satisfied." + +She almost shrieked, as she covered her face with her hands from his +terrible gaze, but, unheeding her anguish, he went on in a calm, +pitiless voice: + +"You, one night not long since, told me you wished you had never married +me. That you really ever wished it I do not now believe; for one who +could commit a cold-blooded murder would not hesitate at a lie--a _lie_. +Do you hear, Georgia? But I tell you now, that I wish I had been dead +and in my grave ere I ever met Georgia Darrell!" + +"Oh, Richmond! Spare me! spare me!" she cried, in a dying voice. + +"No; I am like yourself--I spare not. You have merited this, and a +thousand times more from me, and you shall listen now. That you married +me for my wealth and for the power it would give you, I know only too +well. You were an unnatural child, and I might have known you would be +an unnatural woman; but I willfully blinded my eyes, and believed what +you told me that accursed night on the sea-shore, and I married +you--fool that I was! I braved the scorn of the world, the sneers of my +friends, the just anger of my mother, and stooped--are you listening, +Georgia?--and _stooped_ to wed you. And now I have my reward." + +"Oh, Richmond! I shall go mad!" she wailed, writhing in her seat, and +feeling as if every fiber in her heart were tearing from its place, so +intense was her anguish. + +But still the clear, clarion-like voice rang out on the air like a +death-bell, cold, calm, and pitiless as the grave: + +"Once, in one of your storms of passion, madam, you asked me why I +married you. Now I answer you: because I was mad, demented, besotted, +crazed, or I most assuredly should never have dreamed of such a thing. +Perhaps you wish I had not, for then the gallant sailor you admire so +much might have taken it into his hair-brained head to do what I did in +a fit of insanity--for which a life of misery like this is to atone--and +married you. That I have deprived you of this happiness, I deeply +regret; for, madam, much as you may repent this marriage, you can never, +_never_ repent it half as much as I do now." + +She had fallen at his feet, whether from physical weakness, or whether +she had writhed there in her intolerable agony, he did not know, and, at +that moment, did not care. He stepped back, looked down upon her as she +lay a moment, and went on: + +"I fancied I loved you well enough then to brave the whole world for +your sake; but that, like all the rest of my short brain-fever, has +completely passed away. What feeling can one have for a murderess--for +such in heart you are--but one of horror and loathing?" + +She sprang to her feet with a moaning cry, and stood before him with one +arm half raised; her lips opened as if to speak, but no voice came +forth. + +"Hear me out, madam," he interposed, waving his hand, "for it is the +last time, perhaps, you will ever be troubled by a word from me. You +have driven my guests from my house, you have eternally disgraced me, +and, lest you should murder the very servants next, must not be allowed +to go free. While a friend of mine resides under this roof you shall +remain locked a close prisoner in your room, as a lunatic too dangerous +to be at large. And if that does not subdue the fiend within you, one +thing yet remains for me to do--that I may go free once more." + +He paused, and the rage he had subdued by the strength of his mighty +will all along, showed now in the death-like whiteness of his face, +white even to his lips, like the white ashes over red-hot coals. + +Again her arm was faintly raised, again her trembling lips parted, but +the power of speech seemed to have been suddenly taken from her. No +sound came forth. + +"What I allude to will make me free as air--free as I was before I met +you--free to bring another mistress to Richmond House before your very +eyes. Money will procure it, and of that I have enough. I allude to a +_divorce_--do you know what that means?" + +Yes, she knew. Her arms dropped by her side as if she had been suddenly +stricken with death, the light died out in her eyes, the words she would +have uttered were frozen on her lips, and, as if the last blow she could +ever receive had fallen, she laid her hand on her heart and lifted her +eyes, calm as his now, to his face. + +Some author has said, "Great shocks kill weak minds, and stir strong +ones with a calm resembling death." So it was now with Georgia; she had +been stunned into calm--the calm of undying, life-long despair. She had +believed and trusted all along--she had thought he loved her until +now--and _now_! + +What was there in her face that awed even him? It was not anger, nor +reproach, nor yet sorrow. A thrill of nameless terror shot through his +heart, and with the last cruel words all anger passed away. He advanced +a step toward her, as if to speak again, but she raised her hand, and +lifting her eyes to his face with a look he never forgot, she turned and +passed from the room. + +And Richard Wildair was alone. He had not meant one-half of what he had +said in the white heat of his passion, and the idea of a divorce had no +more entered his head than that of slaying himself on the spot had. He +had said it in his rage, none the less deep for being suppressed, and +now he would have given uncounted worlds that those fatal words had +never been uttered. + +He went out to the hall, but she had gone--he caught the last flutter of +her dress as she passed the head of the stairs toward her own room. + +"I ought not to have said that," he said uneasily to himself as he paced +up and down. "I am sorry for it now. To-morrow I will see her again, and +then--well, 'sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof.' I cannot live +this life longer. I will not stay in Burnfield. I cannot stay. I shall +go abroad and take her with me. Yes, that is what I will do. Travel will +work wonders in Georgia, and who knows what happiness may be in store +for us yet." + +He walked to the window and looked out. The white snow lay in great +drifts on every side, looking cold and white and death-like in the pale +luster of a wintry moon. With a shudder he turned away, and threw +himself moodily on a couch in the warm parlor, saying, as if to reassure +himself: + +"Yes, to-morrow I will see her, and all shall be +well--to-morrow--to-morrow." + +There was a paper lying on the table, and he took it up and looked +lightly over it. The first thing that struck his eyes was a poem, +headed: + +"_To-morrow never comes_." + +Richmond Wildair would have been ashamed to tell it, but he actually +started and turned pale with superstitious terror. It seemed so like an +answer to his thoughts that startled him more than anything of the kind +had ever done before. + +To him that night passed in feverish dreams. How passed it with another +beneath that roof? + +At early morning he was awake. An unaccountable presentment of an +impending calamity was upon him and would not be shaken off. + +Scarcely knowing what he did, he went up to Georgia's room, and softly +turned the handle of the door. He had expected to find it locked, but it +was not so; it opened at his touch, and he went in. + +Why does he start and clutch it as if about to fall? The room is empty, +and _the bed has not been slept in all night_. + +A note, addressed to him, lies on the table. Dizzily he opens it, and +reads: + + "MY DEAREST HUSBAND: Let me call you so for this once, this last + time--you are free! On this earth I will never disgrace you again. + May heaven bless you and forgive. + + "GEORGIA." + +She was gone--gone forever! Clutching the note in his hand, he +staggered, rather than walked, down stairs, opened the door, and, in a +cold gray of coming dawn, passed out. + +All around the stainless snow-drifts seemed mocking him with their white +blank faces, lying piled as they had been last night when he had driven +his young wife from his side. Cold and white they were here still, and +Georgia was--where? + + + + +CHAPTER XVIII. + +THE DAWN OF ANOTHER DAY. + + "Then she took up her burden of life again, + Saying only 'It might have been.' + God pity them both, and pity us all, + Who vainly the dreams of youth recall; + For of all sad words of tongue or pen, + The saddest are these, 'It might have been.'" + + WHITTIER. + + +In the dead of night--of that last, sorrowful night--a slight, dark +figure had flitted from one of the many doors of Richmond House, +fluttered away in the chill night round through the sleeping town. A +visitor came to Miss Jerusha's sea-side cottage that night, with a face +so white and cold that the snow-wreaths dimmed beside it; the white face +lay on the cold threshold, the dark figure was prostrate in the +snow-drift before the door, and there the last farewell was taken while +Miss Jerusha lay sleeping within. And then the dusky form was whirling +away and away again like a leaf on a blast, another stray waif on the +great stream of life. + +Six pealed from the town clock of Burnfield. The locomotive shrieked, +the bell rang, and the fiery monster was rushing along with its living +freight to the great city of New York. + +In the dusky gloom of that cold, cheerless winter morning the tall, dark +form, all dressed in black and closely vailed had glided in like a +spirit and taken her seat. Muffled in caps, and cloaks, and comforters, +every one had enough to do to mind themselves and keep from freezing, +and no one heeded the still form that leaned back among the cushions, +giving as little sign of life as though it were a statue in ebony. + +The sun was high in the sky and Georgia was in New York. She knew where +to go; in her former visit she had chanced to relieve the wants of a +poor widow living in an obscure tenement-house somewhere near the East +River, and here, despairing of finding her way through the labyrinth of +streets alone, she gave the cabman directions to drive. Strangely calm +she was now, but oh, the settled night of anguish in those large, wild, +black eyes! + +The poor are mostly grateful, and warm and heartfelt was Georgia's +welcome to that humble roof. Questions were asked, but none answered; +all Georgia said she wanted was a private room there for two or three +days. + +Alone at last, she sat down to think. There was no time to brood over +the past--her life-work was to be accomplished now. What next? was the +question that arose before her, the question that must be promptly +answered. How was she to live in this wilderness of human beings? + +She leaned her head on her hands, forcibly wrenched her thoughts from +the past and fixed them on the present. How was she to earn a +livelihood? The plain, practical, homely question roused all her +sleeping energies, and did her good. + +The stage! She thought of that first with an electric bound of the +pulse; she knew, she was certain she could win a name and fame there; +but could she, who had become the wife of Richmond Wildair, become an +actress? She knew his fastidious pride on this point; she knew the fact +of her having been an actress in her childhood had never ceased to gall +him more than anything else. + +Georgia Darrell would have stepped on the boards and won the highest +laurels the profession could bestow, but Georgia Wildair had another to +think of beside herself. Much as she longed for that exciting life--that +life for which nature had so well qualified her, physically and +mentally, for which she had so strong a desire--she put the thought +aside and gave it up. + +Though she had wrenched asunder the chains that bound her to him, she +still carried a clanking fragment with her, and, no longer a free agent, +she must think of something else. Another reason there was why that +profession could not be hers--she did not wish to be known or discovered +by any she had ever known before; her desire was to be as dead to +Richmond Wildair as if she had never existed--to leave him free, +unfettered as he had been before this fatal marriage. And, to make the +more sure of this, she had resolved to drop his name and assume another. +She would take her mother's name of Randall; it was her own name, +too--Georgia Randall Darrell. + +But what was she to do? Females before now had won fame as artists, and +Georgia had genius and an artist's soul. But she would have to wait and +live on this poor widow's bounty meantime, and that was too abhorrent to +her nature to be for a moment thought of. Nothing remained but to become +a teacher or governess, and even in this she was doubtful if she could +succeed. She knew little or nothing of music, and that seemed absolutely +essential in a governess, but still she would try. If that failed, +something else must be tried. + +Drawing pen and ink toward her, she sat down and indited the following: + + WANTED--A situation as governess in a respectable private family, + by one capable of teaching French, German, and Latin, and all the + branches of English education. Address G. R., etc. + +Next morning, among hundreds of other "wants," this appeared in the +_Herald_, and nothing now remained for Georgia but to wait. The +excitement of her flight, the necessity of immediate action, and now the +fever of suspense, kept her mind from dwelling too much on the past. Had +it been otherwise, with her impassioned nature, she might have sunk into +an agony of despair, or raved in the delirium of brain-fever. As it was, +she remained stunned into a sort of calm--white, cold, passionless; but, +oh! with such a settled night of utter sorrow in the great melancholy +dark eyes. + +Fortunately for her, she was not doomed to remain long in suspense. On +the third day a note was brought to her in a gentleman's hand, and +tearing it eagerly open, she read: + + "ASTOR HOUSE, Jan. 12, 18--. + + + "MADAM: Seeing your advertisement in the _Herald_, and being in + want of a governess, if not already engaged, you would do well to + favor me with a call at your earliest leisure. I will leave the + city in two days. Yours, + "JOHN LEONARD." + +As she finished reading this, Georgia started to her feet, hastily +donned her hat and cloak, with her thick vail closely over her face, +and taking one of the widow's little boys with her, as guide, set out +for the hotel. + +Upon reaching it she inquired for Mr. Leonard. A servant went for him, +and in a few minutes returned with a benevolent-looking old gentleman, +with white hair and a kind, friendly face. + +"You wished to see me, madam," he said, bowing, and looking inquiringly +at the Juno-like form dressed in black. + +"Yes, sir; I am the governess," said Georgia, her heart throbbing so +violently that she turned giddy. + +"Oh, indeed!" said the old gentleman, kindly; "perhaps we had better +step up to my room, then; this is no place to settle business." + +Georgia followed him up two or three flights of stairs, to an elegantly +furnished apartment. Handing her a chair, he seated himself, and glanced +somewhat curiously at her. + +"You received my answer to your advertisement?" he said. + +"Yes, sir," said Georgia, in a stifled voice. + +"May I ask your name madam?" said Mr. Leonard, whose curiosity seemed +piqued. + +Georgia threw back her heavy vail, and the old gentleman gave a start of +surprise at sight of the white, cold, beautiful face, and dark, +sorrowful eyes. + +"My name is Randall--Miss Randall," replied Georgia, while a faint red, +that faded as quickly as it came, tinged her cheek at the deception. + +Mr. Leonard bowed. + +"I suppose you have credentials--your certificates from those with whom +you have formerly lived?" said Mr. Leonard, hesitatingly, for he felt +embarrassed to address this queenly looking girl, on whose marble-like +face the awe-inspiring shadow of some mighty grief lay, as he would a +common governess. + +Georgia's eyes dropped, and again that slight tinge of color flashed +across her face, and again faded away. + +"No, sir; I have not. I never was a governess before; sudden +reverses--adversity--" + +She broke down, put her trembling hand before her face, and averted her +head. + +Mr. Leonard was an impulsive, kind-hearted old gentleman, and the sight +of settled anguish in that pale young face went right home to his heart, +and touched him exceedingly. + +"Yes, yes, to be sure, poor child! I understand it all. There, don't +cry--don't, now. You know there is nothing but ups and downs in this +world, and reverses must be expected. I like you, I like your looks, and +I rather guess I'll engage you _without_ credentials. There, don't be +cast down, my dear; don't, now. You really make me feel bad to see you +in trouble." + +Georgia lifted her head and tried to smile, but it was so faint and sad, +so like a cold gleam of moonlight on snow, that it touched that soft +heart of his more and more. + +"Poor thing! poor thing! poor little thing!" he said, winking very +rapidly with both eyes behind his spectacles; "seen a great deal of +trouble, I expect, in her time, must have, to give her that look. I'll +engage her; upon my life I will!" + +"There may be one objection, sir," said Georgia, sadly. "I can't teach +music." + +"You can't--hum!" said Mr. Leonard, musingly. "Well, that doesn't make +much odds, I guess. My daughters have a music-master now, and he can +teach little Jennie, I reckon, too. Your pupils are two boys and a +girl, none over thirteen; and as you teach French, and Latin, and +grammar, and English, and all the other things necessary, music does not +make much difference. And as for salary--well, I'll attend to that at +the end of the quarter, and I think you will be satisfied. When can you +come?" + +"Now, if necessary, sir--any time you like." + +"Well, to-morrow morning I start. I live forty miles out of New York, +and if you will give me your address, I will call for you in the +carriage." + +"I thank you, sir, but it is too far out of your way. I will come up +here," said Georgia, who did not wish to bring him to the mean +habitation where she stopped. "I suppose that is all," she said, rising. + +"All, at present, Miss Randall," said Mr. Leonard, rising, and looking +at her in surprise as she started at the unusual name. "To-morrow at ten +o' clock, I leave. Good-morning." + +He shook hands cordially with her at parting, and then Georgia hurried +out, feeling that one faint gleam of sunshine had arisen in her darkened +life. In the desolate years of the weary life before her she would at +least be a burden to no one, and for a few moments she felt as if an +intolerable load had been lifted off her heart. But when she was alone +again in her chamber and the reaction past, the awful sense of her +desolation came sweeping over her. In all the wide world she had not one +friend left. Sun, and moon, and stars all had faded from her sky, and +night--dark, woeful night--had closed, and a night for which there was +no morning. And, oh, worst of all, she felt it was her own fault, her +own stormy, unbridled passions had done it all; and with a great cry, +wrung from her tortured heart, she sank down quivering and white in the +dusky gloom of that wild winter evening. There was no light in Georgia's +despair; in happier days she had never prayed, and in the hour of her +earthly anguish she _could not_. In this world she could look forward to +nothing but a wretched, despairing life, and to her the next was a dull, +dead blank. One name was in her heart, one name on her lips, one whom +she had made her God, her earthly idol, and now he, too, was forever +lost. + +When the widow came in to awaken her the next morning, she was startled +by the sight of the tall, dark form, wrapped in a shawl, sitting by the +window, her forehead pressed to the cold pane, her face whiter than the +snow-wreaths without. She had not laid her head on a pillow the livelong +night. + +The cold, pale sunshine of the short January day was fading out of the +sky, when a sleigh, well supplied with buffalo robes and the merry music +of jingling bells, came flying up toward a large, handsome country +villa, through the crimson curtained windows of which the ruddy light of +many a glowing coal fire shone. As it stopped before the door, a group +from within came running out, and stood on the veranda, in eager +expectation and pleasing bustle. + +An old gentleman with white hair and a benevolent smile, answering to +the cognomen of Mr. Leonard, got out and assisted a lady, tall and +elegant, dressed in black, and closely vailed, to alight. Then, giving a +few hasty directions to a servant who was leading off the horses, he +gave the lady his arm and led her up to the house. + +And upon reaching the veranda he was instantly surrounded, and an +incredible amount of kissing, and questioning, and laughing, and talking +was done in an instant, and the old gentleman was whisked off and borne +into a large, handsomely furnished parlor, where the brightest of fires +was blazing in the brightest of grates, and pushed into a rocking-chair +and whirled up before the fire in a twinkling. + +"Lord bless _my_ soul!" said the old gentleman, breathlessly, and laying +a strong emphasis on the pronoun; "what a lot of whirlwinds you are, +girls! Where's Miss Randall, eh? Where's Miss Randall?" + +"Here, sir," answered Georgia, as she entered the room. + +"And pretty near frozen, I'll be bound! I know _I_ am. Mrs. Leonard, my +dear, this young lady is the governess--Miss Randall." + +Georgia bowed to a little fat woman with restless, hazel eyes. + +"And these are my two eldest daughters, Felice and Maggie," continued +Mr. Leonard, pointing to two pretty, graceful-looking young girls, who +nodded carelessly to the governess; "and these are your pupils," he +added, pointing to two little boys, apparently between thirteen and ten, +and to a little girl, who, from her resemblance to the younger, was +evidently his twin sister. "Albert, Royal, Jennie, come up and shake +hands with Miss Randall." + +"Miss Randall! why, Licie, that's the name of that nice gentleman who +brought you the roses last night, ain't it?" said little Jennie, looking +up cunningly at her elder sister. + +Miss Felice glanced at Miss Maggie and smiled and blushed, and began +twisting one of her ringlets over her taper fingers, looking very +conscious indeed. + +"May I ask if you are any relation to young Mr. Randall, the poet, of +New York?" said Mrs. Leonard, pushing up her spectacles and trying to +see Georgia through the thick vail which still covered her face. + +"Why, mamma, what a question! Of course she's not," said Miss Felice, +rather pettishly; "he has no relatives, you know. There's plenty of the +name." + +Georgia threw back her vail at this moment, and stooped to kiss little +Jennie, who came up and held her rosy mouth puckered for that purpose, +as if she was quite accustomed to be treated to that sort of small coin. + +"Oh, Felice, what a beautiful face!" exclaimed Miss Maggie, in an +impulsive whisper. + +"Ye-es, she's not bad-looking--for a governess," drawled Miss Felice. +"They are generally so frightfully ugly. She's a great deal too pale +though, and too solemn looking; it gives me the dismals to look at her; +and she's ever so much too tall" (Miss Felice, be it known, was rather +on the dumpy pattern than otherwise), "and too slight for her size, and +her forehead's too high, and her--" + +"Oh, Felice, stop! You'll try to make out she's as ugly as sin directly. +Did you ever see such splendid eyes?" + +"I don't like black eyes," said Miss Felice, in a dissatisfied tone; +"they are too sharp and fiery. They do well enough for men, but I don't +approve of them at all for women." + +"Dear me, what a pity!" said Miss Maggie, sarcastically; "but you can't +call hers fiery--they're dreadfully melancholy, I'm sure. Now ain't +they, mamma?" + +"What dear?" said Mrs. Leonard, not catching the whispered question. + +"Hasn't Miss Randall got lovely melancholy black eyes?" + +"Oh, bother her melancholy black eyes!" said Miss Felice, impatiently. +"What a time you do make about people, Mag. And she only a governess, +too. I should think you would be ashamed." + +"Well, I ain't ashamed--not the least," said Maggie; "and no matter +whether she's a governess or not, she looks like a lady. I'm sure she's +very clever, too. I wonder who she's in black for." + +"Ask her," said Miss Felice, shortly, as she picked up a French novel, +and, placing her feet on the fender, sat down to read. + +Miss Felice was blessed with a temper much shorter than sweet, and Miss +Maggie, who was rather good-natured, took her curt replies as a matter +of course, and, going over to Georgia, said pleasantly: + +"Miss Randall, if you wish to go up to your room, I will be your +_cicerone_ for the occasion. Perhaps you would like to brush your hair +before tea." + +"Thank you," said Georgia, rising languidly, and following Miss Maggie +from the room. + +"This is to be your _sanctum sanctorum_, Miss Randall," said Maggie, +opening the door of a small and plainly but neatly furnished bedroom, +rendered cheerful by red drapery and a redder fire. "It's not very +gorgeous, you perceive; but it's the one the governess always uses here. +Our last one--Miss Fitzgerald, an Irish young lady--went and +precipitated herself into the awful gulf of----" + +"What?" said Georgia, with a slight start, caused by Miss Maggie's +awe-struck manner. + +"Matrimony!" said Miss Maggie, in a thrilling whisper. "Ain't it +dreadful? Governesses, and ministers, and curates, and all sorts of poor +people generally _will_ persist in such atrocities, on the principle +that what won't keep one, I suppose, will keep two. Don't you ever get +married, Miss Randall. _I_ never mean to---- Why, my goodness, what's +the matter now?" + +Georgia had given such a violent start, and a spasm of such intense +anguish had passed over her face, that Miss Maggie jumped back, and +stood regarding her with wide-open and startled eyes, the picture of +astonishment. + +"Nothing--nothing," said Georgia, leaning her elbow on the table, and +dropping her forehead on it: "a sudden pain--gone now. Pray do not be +alarmed." + +"Oh, I ain't alarmed," said Miss Maggie composedly. "Do you think you +will like to live out here? It's awful lonesome, I can tell you; a +quarter of a mile almost to the nearest house. Licie and I want papa to +stop in New York in the winter, but he won't--he doesn't mind a word we +say. Papas are always the dreadfulest, most obstinate sort of people in +the world--now, ain't they?--always thinking they know best, you know, +and always dreadfully provoking. Oh, dear me!" said Miss Maggie, with a +deep sigh, as she fell back in her chair, and held up and glanced +admiringly at one pretty little foot and distracting ankle, "I don't +know what we should ever do only papa comes from the city to see us, and +that nice Signor Popkins, who was a count or a legion of honor, or some +funny thing in France, and got exiled by that nasty Louis Napoleon, +comes and gives Licie and me two music lessons every week. Oh! Miss +Randall, he's got just the sweetest hair you ever saw; and +mustaches--oh, my goodness! such mustaches--that stick out like two +shaving-brushes; and splendid long whiskers, like a cow's tail. Felice +don't care much for him, because she thinks she's caught that nice, +clever Mr. Randall, your namesake, you know; but I guess she ain't so +sure of him as she thinks. Oh! he does write the most divine poetry ever +was--down right splendid, you know; and every lady is raving about him. +He's travelled all over Europe, and Asia, and Africa, and the North +Pole, and California, and lots of other nice places, and knows--oh, dear +me, he knows a dreadful sight of things, and is a splendid talker. He +only came from England two weeks ago, and everybody is making such a +time about him. Felice met him at a party, and he came here last night +with the divinest bouquet, and she thinks she has him, but _I_ know +better. Then some more gentlemen come here. Lem Turner, and Ike Brown, +and Dick Curtis, but he's gone away somewhere to the country, to where +some friend of his lives---- Hey? What now? Another pain, Miss Randall?" + +"No--yes. Excuse me, Miss Leonard, I am very tired, and will lie down +now. You will please to tell them I do not feel well enough to go down +to tea." + +"Well, there! I might have known you were tired, and not kept on talking +so, but I am such a dreadful chatterbox. I'll tell Susan to bring up +your tea. Good-by, Miss Randall; I hope you'll be quite well to-morrow, +I'm sure." And the loquacious damsel bowed a smiling adieu, and retired. + +Georgia _was_ better the next morning, and able to join the family at +breakfast, which meal was enlivened by a steady flow of talk from Miss +Maggie, and a series of snappish contradictions and marginal notes from +Miss Felice, who never got her temper on till near noon. Mr. and Mrs. +Leonard took both daughters as matters of course, and seemed quite used +to this sort of thing. On Georgia's part it passed almost in silence, +as she sat like some cold, marble statue, with scarcely more signs of +life. + +After breakfast Miss Felice sat down to practice some unearthly +exercises on the grand piano that adorned the drawing-room, and Miss +Maggie Leonard bore off Georgia and the three juvenile Leonards to a +large, high, severe-looking room, adorned with a dismal looking +blackboard, sundry maps, with red, green, yellow splashes, supposed to +represent this terrestrial globe. Four solemn-looking black desks were +in the four corners, and one in the middle for the teacher. Books, and +ink bottles, and slates, without end, were scattered about, and this, +Mrs. Leonard informed Georgia, was the school-room, and after +administering a small lecture to Messrs. Albert and Royal and Miss +Jennie, the purport of which was that the world in general expected them +to be good children and learn fast, and mind Miss Randall, she floated +out, bearing off the unwilling Miss Maggie, and Georgia began her new +life as teacher. + +That day seemed endless to Georgia. Accustomed to uncontrolled freedom +and wild liberty, she was fitted less for a teacher than for anything +else in the world. That love of children which it is necessary every +teacher should possess, Georgia had not, and before the wearisome day +was done every feeling that had not been stunned into numbness rose in +rebellion against the intolerable servitude. + +At four o'clock the day's labor was over, and the children, glad to be +released, scampered off. + +Seating herself at the desk, Georgia dropped her throbbing head upon it, +giddy and blind with one of her deadly headaches, which until the last +month or two, she had never known. + +Suddenly the door was flung open, and Miss Maggie's ringing voice was +heard. + +"Well, Miss Randall, how did you get on? Mamma wouldn't let me come up, +and it was real mean of her. Why, what's the matter? Oh, my goodness! +you look dreadful!" + +"I have got a headache," said Georgia, pressing her hands to her +throbbing temples dizzily. + +"Oh, you have! Being in this hot room all day has caused it. Do let me +bring you your things, and come out for a walk. It is a beautiful +evening, though cold, and the air will do you good. Come. I'll go with +you, Miss Randall: Shall I go and get your things?" + +"You are very good," said Georgia, faintly; "I think I will; I feel +almost suffocated." + +Maggie bounded away, and the next moment came flying back, rolled up in +a huge shawl, and her pretty face eclipsed in an immense quilted hood. +She held another shawl and hood in her hands, and before Georgia knew +where she was, she found herself all muffled up and ready for the road. + +"Now, then!" said Miss Maggie, briskly; "come along! See if the wind +won't blow roses into those white cheeks of yours!" + +Passing her arm around Georgia's waist, Maggie drew her with her out of +the house. + +The day was cold, and clear, and bright, and windless; a frosty, +sunshiny, cold afternoon. The sun, sinking in the west, shed a red glow +over the snow-covered fields, and gave a golden brightness to the +windows of the house. + +Some of the old wild spirit, that nothing but death could ever entirely +crush out of Georgia's gipsy heart, rose as the cold, keen frosty air +cooled her fevered brow. The languid eyes lit up, and she started at a +rapid walk that kept Maggie breathless, and laughing, and running, and +quite unable to talk. + +"Oh, my stars!" said Maggie, at last, as she stopped, panting, and +leaned against a fence. "If you haven't got the seven-league boots on, +Miss Randall, then I should like to know who has? You ought to go into +training for a female pedestrian, and you would make your fortune in +twenty-five-cent pieces. I declare I'm just about tired to death." + +"Why, how thoughtless I am!" said Georgia, whose excited pace had +scarcely kept time with her excited thoughts; "I forgot you could not +walk as fast as I can. Suppose you sit down and rest, and I will wait." + +"All right, then," said Maggie, as she clambered with great agility to +the top of the fence and sat down on the top rail; "but 'Hold, Macduff! +who comes here?'" + +A sleigh came dashing along the road, drawn by a small, spirited horse +that seemed fairly to fly. It was occupied by a gentleman wearing a +large black cloak, and a fur cap drawn down over his brow. + +As he reached them he turned round and glanced carelessly toward the two +girls. For one instant his face was turned fully toward them, the next +he was whirling away out of sight. + +"Oh, how handsome! oh, isn't he beautiful?" exclaimed Maggie, clasping +her hands enthusiastically; "such splendid eyes, and such a pale, +handsome face, and such a glorious driver. My! how I would like to be in +that sleigh with him. I would--wouldn't you, Miss Randall?" + +She turned to Georgia, and fairly leaped off the fence in amazement to +see her standing rigid and motionless, with wildly distended eyes and +white, startled face, gazing after the object of Maggie's admiration. + +"Why, Miss Randall! Miss Randall!" said Maggie, catching her arms, +"what's the matter? Do you know him?" + +"Let us go back, Miss Leonard," said Georgia, passing her hand over her +eyes as if to dispel some wild vision. + +Know him! Yes, as if they had parted but yesterday. Could Georgia forget +Charley Wildair? + + + + +CHAPTER XIX. + +DESOLATION. + + "And the stately ships go on + To the haven under the hill, + But oh for the touch of a vanished hand, + And the sound of a voice that is still." + + TENNYSON. + +All that night Georgia's thoughts ran in a new direction--Charley +Wildair. Yes, she had been face to face with the living, breathing +friend of her childhood once more. The mystery that surrounded him rose +up in her mind, and again she found herself wondering what he had done, +what crime he had committed. Evening after evening she walked out in the +same place, in the hope of seeing him again, when she was determined to +speak to him at all hazards; but in vain; he came not, no one knew, or +could tell her anything of him who had passed that evening. As day after +day wore on, she began to regard his appearance almost in the light of +an apparition--something her disordered imagination had conjured up to +mock her, and at last even the hope of seeing him again, faded away. + +And so a month passed on. Oh! that dreary, endless, monotonous month, +with nothing but the dull routine of the school-room day after day. + +There were times when Georgia would start wildly up, feeling as though +she were going mad; and evening after evening, when the last lesson was +said, she would throw her shawl over her shoulders and hurry out into +the cold wintry weather, and walk and walk for miles with dizzy +rapidity, to cool the fever in her blood. Night after night, when, +unable to lie tossing on her bed, she would spring up, and, heedless of +the freezing air, pace her room till morning. The wild fire in her eye, +even in the presence of others, bespoke the consuming fever in her veins +that seemed drying up the very source of life in her heart. Had she been +leading some exciting, turbulent life, it would have been better for +her; but this stagnant monotony seemed in a fair way of making her a +maniac before long. There were times when her very soul would cry out +with passionate yearning for what she had lost--times when an +uncontrollable impulse to fly, fly, far away from this place, to search +over the world for him she had left, and, in spite of all that had +passed, to cling to him forever, would seize her, and she would struggle +and wrestle with the fierce desire until, from very bodily weakness, she +would sink down in a very stupor of despair. + +It seemed to her as if a dark doom had been hanging over her from +childhood and had fallen at last--a widow in fate though not in fact, an +outcast from all the world, and almost with the brand of murder on her +brow. But oh, if she had sinned, was not the expiation heavier than it +deserved? A life of desolation, a death uncheered by a single friendly +face, to live forgotten and die forlorn, _that_ was her doom. Poor +Georgia! what wonder that, frenzied and despairing, the cry of her heart +should be, "My punishment is heavier than I can bear." + +The Leonards hardly knew what to make of Georgia. Mr. Leonard looked +pityingly on the white face, so eloquent of wrong and misery, and +expressed his opinion that she had come through more than people +thought. Mrs. Leonard was rather puzzled about the young governess; when +in her wild paroxysms she would hear startling legends of her walking +through frost and snow for miles together, and would hear a quick, rapid +footstep pacing up and down, up and down her chamber the livelong night, +and would see the wild, lurid fire in her great black eyes, she would +give it as her opinion that Miss Randall was not quite right in her +mind; but when this mood would pass away, and reaction would follow, and +when she would note the slow, weary step and pallid cheeks, and +spiritless eyes, and lifeless movements, she would retract, and say she +really did not know what to make of her. + +Miss Felice snappishly said it was all affectation; the governess wanted +to be odd, and mysterious, and interesting; and if she was her father +she would put an end to her long walks, or know why. But these little +remarks were prudently made when Georgia was not listening; for if the +truth must be told, Miss Leonard stood more than slightly in awe of the +dark, majestic, melancholy governess. Miss Maggie declared it was +"funny," but she rather liked Georgia, though after the first week or +two she voted her "awful tiresome, worse than Felice," and left her +pretty much to herself. Her pupils liked her, but were rather afraid of +her in her dark moods, and, like the rest of the household, stood +considerably in awe of her, wrapped as she was in her dark mantle of +unvarying gloom. + +During this first month of her stay, Georgia had spoken to no one but +the household. Visitors there were almost every day, but Georgia always +fled at their approach, and both the Misses Leonard, conscious of her +superior beauty, had no desire to be eclipsed by their queenly +dependent, and were quite willing she should be invisible on these +occasions. Since she had heard Dick Curtis was a friend of the family, +she had dreaded the approach of every stranger, and always sent some +excuse for not appearing at table at such times. Therefore, sometimes +whole days would pass without her leaving her own room and the +school-room. + +As the children's study only comprised five hours each day, Georgia had +a great deal of spare time to herself. This she had hitherto spent +either in her long, wild walks or in her dark reveries; but now, of +late, a new inspiration had seized her. + +One day, to amuse little Jennie, she had seized her pencil and drawn her +portrait, and the drawing proved to be so life-like that the whole +family were in transports. The Misses Leonard immediately made a +simultaneous rush for the school-room, and overwhelmed Georgia with +praises of her talent, and pleadings to sketch theirs, too. And Georgia, +feeling a sort of happiness in pleasing them, readily promised. The +drawings were commenced and finished, and Georgia had unconsciously +idealized and rendered them so perfectly lovely, yet so true to the +originals, that they, in their ecstatic admiration, insisted that they +should be perpetuated in oil. Finding the occupation so absorbing and +so congenial, Georgia willingly consented, and sittings were appointed +every day until the portraits were finished. And finished they were at +last, and set in gorgeous frames, and with eyes sparkling with delight, +the Misses Leonard saw themselves, or rather their etherialized +counterfeits, hanging in splendor on the drawing-room walls, and calling +forth the most enthusiastic praises of the unknown artist's skill from +their guests, for Georgia had only painted them on condition that no one +was to be told. + +Then she voluntarily offered to paint Mr. and Mrs. Leonard and the three +children, and at Jennie's earnest desire, her little tortoise-shell +kitten was seduced into sitting still long enough to be taken too. This +last was a labor of love, for, strangely enough, it brought back +softened thoughts of the happy days spent in romping through the cottage +by the sea with Betsey Periwinkle. + +And a faint, sad, dreary smile broke over Georgia's face as she painted +the little blinking animal, and thought of all the old associations it +called forth. It brought back Miss Jerusha, and little Emily +Murray--dear little Emily Murray, whose memory always came to her like +the soft sweet music of an Eolian harp amid the repose of a storm. She +wondered vaguely if _they_ missed her much, and what they would think of +her flight, and whether they would shudder in horror when they heard +what she had done, or whether they would think lovingly of her still. + +"Some day, when they hear I am dead, perhaps they will forgive me and +love me again," she thought, with something of the simplicity of the +_child_ Georgia, as a gentler feeling came to her heart than had visited +it for many a day. Somehow, Emily's memory always did soften her and +bring back a gentler mood. In her wildest storms of anguish and remorse, +in the darkest hour of her desolation, that sweet, calm, holy young +face, with its serene brow and seraphic blue eyes, would arise and +exorcise her gloom, and leave her calmer, softer feeling behind. + +One day, on the occasion of Mrs. Leonard's birthday, the children had a +holiday, and Georgia was left to herself. Seating herself at the window, +she began to draw faces from memory. The first was a long, angular one, +with projecting bones and sharp features, sunken eyes, and thin, +compressed lips, the hair drawn tightly back and gathered in an +uncompromising hard knot behind. An intelligent, dignified-looking cat +sat composedly at her feet, deeply absorbed in thought. Any one could +recognize, in these portraits, Miss Jerusha and our old friend Betsey +Periwinkle. + +"Dear Miss Jerusha! dear, good friend!" murmured Georgia, softly, as she +gazed at the picture. "I wonder will I ever see you again. I wonder if +you have grieved for my loss, and if you ever, these wild, stormy +nights, think of your lost Georgey. Dear Miss Jerusha, may Heaven reward +you for your kindness to the poor orphan girl." + +The next was a fairer face, a small head set on an arching neck; a low, +smooth, childish brow; small, regular, dainty features; sweet, +wondering, wistful eyes; a little dimpled chin, and softly smiling lips, +just revealing the pearly teeth within. It might have been the face of +an angel had it not been Emily Murray's, spiritualized, as everything +Georgia's magic pencil touched was. Such a lovely, child-like, innocent +face as it was, smiling up from the paper with such a look of heavenly +calm and serenity, that no breath of worldly passion had ever +disturbed. + +"Oh, dear little Emily! dear little Emily!" said Georgia, in a trembling +voice. "My good angel! if I had only been like you. Calm, peaceful, +happy little Emily! what will you think of me when you hear what I have +done." + +She hesitated a moment before she commenced the next, and then, as if a +sudden inspiration had seized her, she rapidly began to sketch. Soon +there appeared a noble, intellectual-looking head--a high, broad, +princely brow--square eyebrows, meeting across the strongly marked +nose--large, strong, earnest eyes--a fine resolute mouth, and square, +resolute chin. Heavy waves of dark hair were shaken carelessly off the +noble forehead, and it needed nothing now but the thick dark mustache, +and the calm, handsome, kingly face of Richmond Wildair looked at her +from the paper. In the seemingly fathomless eyes there shone a look of +sorrowful reproach, and a sort of sad sternness pervaded the whole face. +The very lips seemed to part and say, "oh, Georgia, what have you done?" +and with a great cry of "oh, Richmond! Richmond! Richmond!" she flung +down her pencil, then threw herself on her face on the couch, and for +the first time in years, for the first time almost since she could +remember, she wept, wept long, passionately, and bitterly. + +It was a strange thing to see this stone-like Georgia weep. In all her +misery she had shed no tears; in her stormy childhood she had wept not, +and the tears of childhood are an easily flowing spring; yet now she +lay, and wept, and sobbed, wildly, passionately, vehemently, wept for +hours, until the very source of her tears seemed dried up, and would +flow no longer. + +And from that day Georgia grew calmer and more rational than she had +ever been before. It was strange the consolation she derived from these +"counterfeit presentments" of those she loved, and yet it was so. For +hours she would sit gazing at them, and sometimes she would fancy +Emily's smiling lips seemed saying, "Hope on, Georgia! before morning +dawns night is ever darkest." + +The Leonards, grateful for being made such handsome people, were quite +solicitous in their efforts to make the governess comfortable. Georgia +had a heart easily won by kindness, and as time passed on, she seemed, +for the present at least, to grow reconciled to her lot. Perhaps the +secret of this was that she had begun an achievement that had long been +in her thoughts, and in which she was so completely absorbed as to be +for a time quite insensible to outward things. This was a large painting +of Hagar in the Wilderness, a wild, weird thing, on which she worked +night and day in a fever of enthusiasm. + +Had any one seen her, in the still, mystic watches of the night, bending +over her easel, her dark hair flowing behind her, her wild eyes blazing, +her whole face inspired--they might have taken her for the very genius +of art descended on earth. She scarcely knew what was her design in +painting this; probably, at the time, she had none, but a love of the +work itself--a love that increased to a perfect fever, as it grew under +her brush. None of the family knew aught of it, and they puzzled +themselves in vain wondering what she could be doing to keep a light +burning so late every night. + +It was drawing toward the close of February that the severest snow storm +that they had during the season fell. For nearly a week it raged with +unceasing violence, and several gentlemen and ladies from the city were +storm-bound at Mr. Leonard's. During their stay, Georgia, as usual, +absented herself from the table and drawing-room, and the young ladies +were so busy with their guests that even Miss Maggie found no time to +visit her. Georgia did not regret this circumstance, as it gave her more +time to devote to her painting, and secured her from interruption. + +One wild, snowy evening, when it was too dark to paint and too soon to +light the lamp, Georgia passed from her room and walked swiftly in the +direction of the library in search of a book. She knew the library was +seldom visited, especially in the evening, when other amusements ruled +the hour, and so, not fearing detection, she went in, found the book she +was in search of, and, seating herself within a deep bay-window, drew +the crimson damask curtains close, and thus shut in on one side by red +drapery and on the other by the clear glass, through which she could +watch the drifting snow, she began to read. + +It was a volume of poems by W. D. Randall, the young poet, whose fame +was already resounding through the land. Such a sweet, dreamy, delicious +volume as it was! Fascinated, absorbed, Georgia strained her eyes, and +read and read on as long as one ray of light remained, unable to tear +herself away from the enchanted pages, and feeling as if she were +transported to some Arcadia, some fairy-land, by the magic power of the +poet's pen. + +At last it grew too dark to read another word, and then she closed the +book and fell into a reverie of--the author. She knew he was a visitor +at the house, and for once her curiosity was strongly excited. She +resolved to see him. She would make Maggie point him out the next time +he came, and see for herself what manner of man this young genius was. +There had been a steel portrait of him in the book, but Miss Felice had +carefully cut it out and preserved it for her own private use, as +something not to be profaned by vulgar eyes, to the violent indignation +of Miss Maggie. + +While she still sat musing dreamily, she was startled by hearing the +door flung open, and then a gleam of light flashed through the curtain. +Hoping it might be some servant to light the gas, she glanced out +between the folds and saw Miss Felice herself, standing beside a tall, +handsome, distinguished-looking young man. Retreat was now out of the +question. Georgia would not have encountered the stranger for worlds, +lest he should happen to recognize her; and, trusting they only came for +a book and would soon go away again, she resolved to sit still. + +"And so you will translate 'Undine' for me, Mr. Randall," said Miss +Felice, whose dress was perfection, and whose face was quite brilliant +with smiles. "Oh, that will be charming. The children's governess +teaches German, but I never could get her to read Undine." + +This, then, was the poet. At any other time she would have become +completely absorbed in looking at him, but the mention of "Undine" sent +a pang to her heart, and she sank back in her seat and bowed her face in +her hands. The sweet, sorrowful story of the German poet seemed so like +her own--she was the Undine, Freddy Richmond was the base, designing +Bertalda, and Huldbrand--oh, no, no! Richmond was not like him. + +"It is a lovely tale. You do well to learn German, Miss Leonard, if only +for the sake of reading 'Undine' in the original," said Mr. Randall. + +"I have something else that is lovely here," said Miss Leonard, looking +arch. + +"Yes--yourself," said Mr. Randall. + +"No, no; of course not--W. D. Randall's poems." + +"And you call that lovely! Well, I gave you credit for better taste, +Miss Felice." + +"Oh, they are charming, sweet, _so nice_!" cried Miss Felice, clasping +her hands in a small transport. + +A smile broke over the handsome face of the poet. How pleasant it must +be for a poet to hear his poems called _nice_. + +"Well, never mind them; let us find 'Undine,'" said Mr. Randall. + +"I'm sure I've sat up nights and nearly cried my eyes out over that +beautiful poem 'Regina,' Did you ever see any one like the 'Regina' you +described so delightfully?" + +"Yes," said Mr. Randall, a sort of shadow coming over his face, "once, +in my childhood, I saw such a one--a 'queen of noble nature's crowning;' +one whose every motion seemed to say: + + "'_Incedo Regina_'-- + 'I move a queen.'" + +"Dear me," said Miss Felice, "how nice! I really should like to see her. +I suppose she will be Mrs. Randall some day," and Miss Felice, looking +up between her ringlets, did the artless to perfection. + +Mr. Randall smiled again; it was evident he read Miss Felice like a +book. + +"Hardly, I am afraid. I don't approve of the Regina style of woman for +wives myself. Something less imposing would suit me better--a nice +little thing like----" + +Miss Felice had cast down her long lashes, and stood looking as innocent +and guileless as a stage angel; but here Mr. Randall most provokingly +paused and began caressing a hideously ugly little Scotch terrier that +had followed him into the room. + +Georgia had to smile in spite of herself at the provoking nonchalance of +the poet, more particularly as Miss Felice turned half pettishly away, +and then, remembering that her _role_ was to be sweet and simple, she +gave him a smiling glance and returned to the charge. + +"And those verses on Niagara are so pretty! Papa took Maggie and me to +the Falls last summer, and I did like them so much! Oh, dear me! they +are so sweet!" + +Mr. Randall laughed outright. Miss Felice looked up in astonishment, but +just at that moment little Jennie came running in with something in her +hand. + +"Oh Licie! look what I have got--such a lovely picture of the most +beautiful lady ever was! Just look." + +"What an angelic face!" impulsively exclaimed Mr. Randall; "a perfect +Madonna! And only a pencil drawing, too! Why, Miss Leonard, this is +something exquisite--a perfect little gem! I never saw anything more +lovely." + +"Where did you get it, Jennie?" said Miss Felice. + +"In the hall; it's Miss Randall's--she dropped it coming out of the +school-room. I'm going to ask her to give it to me; she can make plenty +more." + +"Is it possible the artist resides here? You don't mean to say that----" + +"Oh, it's only the governess," said Miss Felice; "she draws and paints +very well indeed. By the way, she's a namesake of yours, too, Mr. +Randall. Yes, I see now it is one of her drawings; I could tell them +anywhere." + +The poet was gazing in a sort of rapture at the picture. The soft eyes +and sweet, beautiful lips seemed smiling upon him--the face seemed +living and radiant before him. + +"Why, one would think you were enchanted, Mr. Randall," said Miss +Felice, half pouting. "It's fortunate it's only a picture and not a +living face, or your doom would be sealed." + +"Oh, it is perfect, it is exquisite!" said the poet, under his breath; +"a Madonna, a Saint Cecilia, a seraph! Why, Miss Leonard, do you know +you have a genius under the roof with you?" + +"Yes, sir--Mr. Randall," said Miss Felice, courtesying. + +"Pshaw! I mean the artist. Come, is she the mysterious painter of those +delicious portraits in the drawing-room that have attracted such crowds +of admirers already?" + +"Well, since you have guessed it, yes. It was her own wish it should not +be known." + +"Why, she must be the eighth wonder of the world--this governess. Who is +she? What is she? Where does she come from?" said Mr. Randall, +impetuously. + +"She is Miss Randall--a governess, as I before told you, from New York +city, and that is her whole biography as far as I know it, except that +she is very strange, and wild, and solemn-looking, with oh, such immense +black, haunting eyes!" + +"Oh, Felice, she's really pretty!" said Jennie; "a great deal prettier +than you or Mag. Now ain't she, Royal?" + +"Who?" said Royal, entering at this moment. + +"Our Miss Randall." + +"Yes, I reckon she is. Miss Randall's a tip-top lady," said Royal, +emphatically. + +"I really should like to see her. Won't you present me to this genius, +Miss Leonard? It is not fair to hide so brilliant a light under a +bushel," said Mr. Randall. "I shall probably claim kindred with her, as +we both have the same name." + +"Well, I will ask," said Miss Felice, biting her lip. "I am not so +sure, though, that she will consent, she is so queer. Here's 'Undine,' +and now for the translation, Mr. Randall." + +But Mr. Randall stood still, with his eyes riveted on the drawing. + +"Dear me, Mr. Randall, hadn't you better keep that altogether?" said +Miss Felice, pettishly. "One would think you had fallen in love with +it." + +"So I have," said Mr. Randall. "Come here, Miss Jennie; I have a favor +to ask of you." + +"What is it?" said Jennie. + +"That if Miss Randall gives you this drawing, you will give it to me, +and I will bring you the prettiest book I can find in New York in +exchange." + +"Will you, though? Isn't that nice, Royal? Oh, I'll get it from Miss +Randall--she's real good--and I'll give it to you. May I tell her it's +for you?" + +"Just as you like; tell her anything you please, so as to get it for me. +Won't you tell me how I can see this wonderful governess of yours, Miss +Jennie?" + +"Let's see. Come up to the school-room with mamma." + +"By Jove! I will. But perhaps she wouldn't like me to intrude." + +"Mr. Randall, they are waiting for us down stairs," said Miss Felice, +stiffly. "Jennie--Royal--go out and go to bed." + +Georgia caught a parting glimpse of the graceful, gallant form of the +young poet as he held open the door for Miss Felice to go out, and drew +a deep breath of relief when they were gone. Then, having assured +herself that the coast was clear, she hurried out and sought her own +room, and searched for Emily's portrait, but it was missing. + +Next morning, as Georgia was about to enter the school-room, Miss Felice +fluttered up stairs, in a floating white cashmere morning-gown, and with +the drawing in her hand. + +"Good-morning, Miss Randall," she said, briefly; "is this yours?" + +"Yes," said Georgia, quietly. + +"Will you be kind enough to give it to me?" + +"It is the portrait of a very dear friend. I should be happy to oblige +you were it otherwise, Miss Leonard," said Georgia, coldly. + +"A portrait! that heavenly face! is it possible?" exclaimed the +astounded young lady. + +Georgia bowed gravely. + +"But oh, do let me have it! do, please; you can draw another, you know," +coaxed Miss Felice. + +"Of what possible use can that portrait be to you, Miss Leonard?" + +"Well, it's not for me, it's for a friend. Do oblige me, Miss Randall. +Mr. Randall wants it so dreadfully." + +"Mr. Randall! who is he?" + +"The author, the poet that everybody is talking about. He saw it last +night with Jennie, and took a desperate fancy to it, and, what's more, +wants to be introduced to you." + +"I would rather be excused," said Georgia, with some of her old +_hauteur_. "I do not like to refuse you, Miss Leonard, and if any other +picture----" + +"Oh, any other won't do; I must have this. There, I shall keep it, and +you can draw a dozen like it any time. And every one would not refuse to +be introduced to Mr. Randall, I can tell you," said Miss Felice, half +inclined to be angry; "he is immensely rich and ever so handsome, and +as clever as ever he can be, and most young ladies would consider it an +honor to be acquainted with him." + +Georgia bowed slightly, and made an impatient motion to pass on. + +"Well, I am going to keep it, Miss Randall," said Miss Felice, half +inquiringly. + +"As you please, Miss Leonard. Good-morning," and Georgia swept on to the +school-room, and Miss Felice ran to give the poet the picture, and tell +him their haughty governess refused the introduction. + + + + +CHAPTER XX. + +FOUND AND LOST. + + "There are words of deeper sorrow + Than the wail above the dead." + + "An eagle with a broken wing, + A harp with many a broken string." + + +It was a pleasant morning in early spring. The sunshine lay in broad +sheets of golden light over the fields, and tinted the tree-tops with a +yellow luster. The fresh morning air came laden with the fragrance of +sweet spring flowers, and the musical chirping of many birds from the +neighboring forest was borne to Georgia's ears, as she stood on the +veranda, her thoughts far away. + +You would scarcely have recognized the flashing-eyed, blooming, +wild-hearted Georgia Darrell in this cold, stately, stone-like Miss +Randall, with cheek and brow cold and colorless as Parian marble, and +the dark, mournful eyes void of light and sparkle. + +It could scarcely be expected but that she would sink under the dreary +monotony of her life here, so completely different in every way from +what she had been accustomed to; and of late, she had fallen into a +lifeless lethargy, from which nothing seemed able to arouse her. There +were times, it was true, when, for an instant, she would awake, and her +very soul would cry out under the galling chains of her intolerable +bondage; but these flashes of her old spirit were few and far between, +and were always followed by a lassitude, a languor, a dull, spiritless +gloom, under which life, and flesh, and health seemed alike deserting +her. Her "Hagar in the Wilderness" was finished, and she commenced +drawing another, but lacked the energy to finish it. + +It was an unnatural life for Georgia--the once wild, fiery, spirited +Georgia, and it was probably a year or two, of such existence, would +have found her in a lunatic asylum or in her grave, had not an +unlooked-for discovery given a new spring to her dormant energies. + +Nearly half a year had now elapsed since that sorrowful night when she +had fled from home--six of the darkest months in all Georgia's life. For +the first four she had heard no news of any of those she had left, not +even of him who, sleeping or waking, was ever uppermost in her thoughts. +But one morning, at breakfast, Mr. Leonard had read aloud that our +"gifted young follow-citizen, Mr. Richmond Wildair, had returned from +abroad, and having re-entered the political world, which he was so well +fitted to adorn, had been elected to the legislature, where he had +already distinguished himself as a statesman of extraordinary merit and +profound wisdom, notwithstanding his extreme youth." Then there was +another brief paragraph, in which a mysterious allusion was made to some +dark, domestic calamity that had befallen the young statesman; but +before Mr. Leonard could finish it he was startled to see the governess +make an effort to rise from her seat and fall heavily back in her chair. +Then there was a cry that Miss Randall was fainting, and a glass of +water was held to her lips, and when, in a moment, she was her own calm, +cold self again, she arose and hastily left the room. + +But from that day Georgia made a point every morning, with feverish +interest, to read the political papers in search of that one loved name. +And in every one of them it continually met her eye, lauded to the skies +by his friends and followers, and loaded with the fiercest abuse by his +enemies. There were long, eloquent speeches of his, glowing, fiery, +living, impassioned bursts of eloquence, that sent a thrill to the heart +of all who heard him, and swept away all obstacles before the force of +its own matchless logic. + +A great question was then in agitation, and the young orator, as the +champion of humanity and equal rights, flung himself into the thickest +of the political _melee_ and was soon the reigning demi-god of his +party. It was well known he was soon to be sent as a Representative to +Congress, and the knowing ones predicted for him the highest honors the +political strife could yield--perhaps at some future day the Presidency +of the United States. His name and fame were already resounding through +the land, and morning, noon, and night, Mr. Leonard, who was the +fiercest of politicians, was talking and raving of the matchless talents +of this rising star. + +And Georgia, how did she listen to all this. All she had hitherto +endured seemed nothing in comparison to the anguish she felt in his +evident utter forgetfulness of her. All the pride, and triumph, and +exultation, she would have felt in his success was swallowed up in the +misery of knowing she was forgotten--as completely forgotten as if she +had never existed. And oh, the humiliation she felt, when in the papers +of the opposition party, she saw _herself_ dragged in as a slur, a +disgrace, in his private life. The sneering insinuations that the wife +of Richmond Wildair had deserted him--had eloped--had been driven from +home by his ill-treatment; _these_ were worse to her than death. She +could almost fancy his cursing her in the bitterness of his heart when +his eyes would fall on this, for having disgraced him as she had done. + +On this morning, as she stood on the veranda, with a paper in her hand +containing an unusually brilliant speech of the gifted young statesman, +her thoughts wandering to the days long past when she had first known +him, Miss Maggie came dancing out with sparkling eyes, and eagerly +accosted her. + +"Oh, Miss Randall! only think! papa is going to give a splendid +dinner-party, and going to have lots of these political big-wigs here. +You know, I suppose, that they, or rather that Mr. Wildair, has gained +that horrid question about something or other the papers have been +making such a time about?" + +"Yes," murmured the white lips, faintly. + +"Well, papa's been so dreadfully tickled about it, though why I can't +see, that he is going to give this dinner-party, and have lots of those +great guns at it, and at their head Mr. Wildair himself, the greatest +gun of the lot. Only think of that!" + +Georgia had averted her head, and Miss Maggie did not see the deadly +paleness that overspread her face, blanching even her very lips, at the +words. There was no reply, and shaking back her curls coquettishly, that +young lady went on: + +"I'm just dying to see Mr. Wildair, you know, everybody is making such a +fuss about him; and I do like famous men, of all things. They say he is +young and handsome, but whether he is married or not I never can rightly +discover; some of the papers say he was, and that he didn't treat his +wife well, and Mr. Brown from New York, who was here yesterday, says she +committed suicide--isn't that dreadful? But I don't care; I'm bound to +set my cap for him, and I guess _I_ can manage to get along with him. I +should like to see the man would make me commit suicide, that's all! But +it may not be true, you know; these horrid papers tell the most shocking +fibs about any one they don't like. I wish Dick Curtis were here; he +knows all about him, I've heard, but he hasn't called for ever so many +ages. Maybe I won't blow him up when I see him, and then I'll pardon him +on condition that he tells me all about Mr. Wildair. He is going to be a +senator one of these days, and a governor, and a president, and an +ambassador, and ever so many other nice things, and there is nothing I +would like better than being Madame L'Ambassadrice, and shining in +foreign courts, though I _am_ the daughter of a red-hot republican. Ha! +ha! don't I know how to build castles in Spain, Miss Randall? Poor dear +Signor Popkins! what _would_ he say if he heard me?" + +All this time Georgia had been standing as still and rigid, and coldly +white as monumental marble, hearing as one hears not this tirade, which +Miss Maggie delivered while dancing up and down the veranda like a +living whirligig, too full of spirits to be still for an instant. All +Georgia heard or realized of it was that Richmond was coming here--here! +under the same roof with herself. Her brain was giddy; a wild impulse +came over her to fly, fly far away, to bury herself in the depths of the +forest, where he could never find her or hear her name again. + +Miss Maggie, having waited in vain for some remark from the governess, +was turning away, with a muttered "How tiresome!" when Georgia laid her +hand on her arm, and with a face that startled her companion, asked: + +"When--when do they come?" + +"Who? Dear me, Miss Randall, don't look so ghastly! I declare you're +enough to scare a person into fits." + +"Those--those--gentlemen." + +"Oh, the dinner-party. Thursday week. Papa's waiting till Mr. Wildair +comes from Washington." + +Georgia turned her face away and covered her eyes with her hand, with a +face so agitated, that Maggie's eyes opened with a look of intense +curiosity. + +"Why, Miss Randall, you are so queer! What on earth makes you look so? +Did _you_ know Mr. Wildair, or any of them?" + +With a gesture of desperation, Georgia raised her head, and then, +through all the storm of conflicting feelings within, came the thought +that her conduct might excite suspicion, and, without looking round, she +said huskily: + +"I do not feel well, and I do not like strangers--that is all. Don't +mind me--it is nothing." + +"Why, what harm can strangers do you? I never saw any one like you in +my life, Miss Randall. Wouldn't you like to see Mr. Wildair? I'm sure +you seem fond enough of reading about him. Papa told me to persuade you +to join us at dinner that day." + +"No! no! no! Not for ten thousand worlds!" cried Georgia, wildly. Then, +seeing her companion recoil and look upon her with evident alarm, she +turned hastily away, and sought refuge in the school-room. + +Miss Maggie looked after her in comical bewilderment for a moment, and +then setting it down to "oddity," she danced off to practice "Casta +Diva," preparatory to taking Mr. Wildair's heart by storm singing it. + +"I do hope he isn't married," thought Maggie, dropping on the piano +stool, and commencing with a terrific preparatory bang; "he is _so_ +clever and _such_ a catch! My! wouldn't Felice be mad!" + +All the next week Miss Randall was more of a puzzle to the Leonards than +ever before. Her moods were so changeable, so variable, so eccentric, +that it was not strange that she startled them. Mrs. Leonard declared +she was hysterical, or in the first stages of a brain fever; Miss Felice +pooh-poohed the notion, and said it was only the eccentricity of genius, +for Mr. Randall had said she was a genius, and he was infallible; while +Miss Maggie differed from both, and set it down to "oddity." +Fortunately, however, for Georgia, the whole house was in such an uproar +of preparation, and new furnishing and cooking, and there was such +distracting running up and down stairs from day-dawn till midnight, and +the house was so overrun with milliners and dressmakers, and they were +all so absorbed in those mysteries of flounces, and silks, and flowers, +and laces wherein the female heart delighteth, that she was left pretty +much to her own devices, and seldom ever disturbed. + +At last the eventful day arrived. All the invitations had been accepted, +and Mr. Wildair, and Mr. Curtis, and Mr. Randall, and all the rest were +to come. + +Through that whole day Georgia had seemed like one delirious. There was +a blazing fire in her eye, and two dark crimson spots, all unusual +there, burning on either cheek, bespeaking the consuming fever within. +How she ever got through her school duties she could not tell, but +evening came at last, and with it Georgia's excitement rose to a pitch +not to be endured. She could not stay there and hear them, perhaps see +them enter. She felt sure, even amid thousands, she would distinguish +_his_ step, hear _his_ voice; and who knew what desperate act it might +drive her to commit--perhaps to burst into the room, and in the presence +of all to fall at his feet and sue for pardon. + +Unable to sit still, with wild gusts of conflicting passions sweeping +through her soul, she seized her hat and mantle and sought that panacea +for her "mind deceased," a long, rapid, breathless walk. + +It was a delightful May evening, soft, and warm, and genial as in June. +There was an air of repose and deep stillness around; one solitary star +hung trembling in the sky, and brought to her mind the nights long past, +when she had sat at her little chamber window, and watched them shining +in their tremulous beauty far above her. Everything seemed at peace but +herself, and in her stormy heart was the Angel of Peace ever to take up +his abode? + +On, and on, and on she walked. It was strange the charm rapid walking +had to soothe her wildest moods. Star after star shone out in the blue, +cloudless sky, and the last ray of daylight had faded away before she +thought of turning. Taking off her hat, and flinging back her thick, +dark hair, that the cool breeze might fan her fevered brow, she set out +at a more moderate pace for home. + +It was a lonesome, unfrequented road especially after night. There was +another, new road, which had of late been made the public thoroughfare, +and this one was almost entirely deserted; therefore, Georgia was +somewhat surprised to see a man approaching her at a rapid pace. He was +a gentleman, too, and young and graceful--she saw that at a glance, but +in the dim starlight she could not distinguish his features, shaded as +they were by a broad-leafed hat. He stopped as he approached her, and +hurriedly said: + +"Can you tell me, madam, if this road leads to the Widow O'Neil's?" + +That voice! it sent a thrill to Georgia's inmost heart, as, with her +eyes riveted on his face, she mechanically replied: + +"Yes; a little farther up there is a gate. Go through, and the road will +bring you to it." + +"Thank you; I shall take a shorter way," said the stranger, lifting his +hat courteously, and turning rapidly away, but not before she had +recognized the pale, handsome face and beautiful, dark eyes of Charley +Wildair. + +For an instant she stood, unable to speak. She saw him place one hand on +the fence, leap lightly over, and disappear, then, with a sort of cry, +she started after him. But ere she had taken a dozen steps some inward +feeling arrested her, and she stopped. What would he think of her +following him thus? He was no longer the boy Charley, any more than she +was the child Georgia. Might he not think prying curiosity had sent her +after him? Would he be disposed to renew the acquaintance? Perhaps, +too, he had recognized her, as she had him, and gave no sign. The +strange revelation of Richmond gave her a sort of dread of him, and +after a moment's irresolution, she turned and walked back. + +The whole house was one blaze of light when she reached it. On the +dining-room windows were cast many shadows. Which among them was _his_? +Did either brother dream he was so near the other? Did Richmond dream +_she_ was so near him, and yet so far off? She could not enter the +house; her heart was throbbing so loudly that she grew faint and sick, +and she staggered to a sort of summer-house, thick with clustering +hop-vines, and sank down on a rustic bench, and buried her face in her +hands. + +How long she had sat there alone in her trouble, and yet so near him who +had vowed to "cherish" her through all her trials until death, she could +not tell. Footsteps coming down the graveled walk startled her. The +odor of cigars came borne on the breeze, and then, with a start and a +shock she recognized the voice of Dick Curtis saying, with a laugh: + +"I wonder if Ringlets has got through that appalling howl on that +instrument of torture, the piano, she was commencing when we beat a +retreat? It's a mercy I escaped or I should have gone stark staring mad +before the end." + +"Come, now, Curtis, you're too severe," said a laughing voice, which +Georgia recognized as Mr. Randall's. "Ringlets, as you are pleased to +denominate Miss Felice, is only performing a duty every young lady +considers she owes to society nowadays, deafening her hearers by those +tremendous crashes and flourishes, and crossing her hands, and flying +from one end of the piano to the other with dizzying rapidity." + +"And it's a duty they never neglect, I'll say that for them," said Mr. +Curtis. "And that's what they call fashionable music, my friend? Oh, for +the good old days, when girls weren't ashamed to sing 'Auld Robin Gray' +and the 'Bonnie Horse of Airlie.' The world's degenerating every day. +Thank the gods, we have escaped the infliction, anyhow. Here's a seat; +suppose we sit down, and, with our soul in slippers, take the world +easy. Poor Wildair! he's in for being martyrized this evening." + +"So much for being a lion," said Mr. Randall. "If he will persist in +being a burning and shining light, he must expect to pay the penalty." + +"Miss Maggie--little blue eyes, you know--has made a dead set at him. +Did you observe?" said Mr. Curtis. + +"Yes; but I can't say she has met with much success, so far. If report +says true, she is not the only young lady who has tried that game of +late." + +"Poor Rich!" said Curtis. "If they knew but all, they would find how +useless it was doing any thing of the sort. I suppose you heard of that +sad affair that happened last winter?" + +Oh, what would not Georgia have given to be a thousand miles off at that +moment! She writhed where she lay; it was like tearing half-healed +wounds violently open to sit there and listen to this. But move she +could not without discovering herself to Curtis, so she was forced to +remain where she was, and hear all. + +"No, I can't say as I have," said Mr. Randall, in a tone of interest. +"There are so many rumors afloat about his wife--suppose you allude to +that--but one cannot even tell for certain whether he was ever married +or not." + +"Oh, he was; no mistake about it," said Curtis; "I was present--was +groomsman, in fact. Such a magnificent creature as she was. I never saw +a girl so splendid before or since! beautiful as the dream of an +opium-eater, with a pair of eyes that would have made the fortune of +half a dozen ordinary women. By George! that girl ought to have been an +empress." + +"Indeed! I should think Wildair _would_ be fastidious in the choice of a +wife. How came they to separate in so short a time? Did she not love +him?" + +"Yes, with her whole heart and soul; in fact, I believe, she loved +nothing in earth or heaven but him, but then that is nothing strange, +for Richmond is a glorious fellow, and no mistake! But you see, she was +as poor as Job, and proud as Lucifer, with a high spirit that would dare +and defy the Ancient Henry himself--one of that kind of people who will +die sooner than yield an inch. Well, it appears his mother did not like +the match, and persisted in snubbing her, and making little of her +before folks and behind backs, in fact, treated her shamefully, until +she drove the poor girl to the verge of madness." + +"And Wildair allowed her to do this?" said Randall, indignantly. + +"Well, I don't know how it was, but he was blind to all; but I think the +truth of the matter is they deceived him, and only did it when he was +absent. There was a cousin there, a little female fiend, whom I should +admire to be putting in the pillory, who tried every means in her power +to make him jealous, and succeeded; and you don't need to be told a +jealous man will stop at nothing." + +"Poor girl! poor Wildair! What an infernal shame." + +"Wasn't it! You see, he had invited a party to his +country-seat--Richmond Hall they called it--and I was there among the +rest. Poor Mrs. Wildair had a wretched life of it, with them all set +against her. If she had been one of your meek, spiritless little +creatures, she would have drooped, and sunk under it, and died perhaps +of a broken heart, and all that sort of thing; or if she had been a +dull, spiritless young woman, she would have snapped her fingers in +their faces, and kept on, never minding. Unfortunately, she was neither, +but a sensitive, high-spirited girl, whom every slight wounds to the +quick, and you would hardly believe me if I were to tell you the change +one short week made in her--you would hardly have known her for the same +person. What with her mother-in-law's insults, her cousin-in-law's +sneers, her husband's jealousy and angry reproaches, and the neglects +and slights of most of the company, a daily stretch on the rack would +have been a bed of roses to it." + +"Shameful! atrocious!" exclaimed Randall, impetuously. "How could +Wildair have the heart to treat her so? He couldn't have cared much +about her." + +"Didn't he, indeed! That's all you know about it. If ever there was a +man loved his own wife, that man was Rich Wildair; but when a man is +jealous, you know, he becomes partially insane, and allowances must be +made for him. One night, this little vixen of a cousin I mentioned +somewhere before, began taunting Mrs. Wildair about her mother, telling +her she was no better than she ought to be, and calling herself all +sorts of scandalous names--one of the servants accidentally heard +her--until she maddened the poor girl so that, in a fit of passion, she +caught her and hurled her from her, with a shriek I will never forget +to my dying day. Of course, there was the old--what's his name--to pay, +immediately; but Freddy's injuries did not prove half so severe as she +deserved, and a piece of court-plaster did her business beautifully for +her. But you never saw any one in such a rage as Wildair was about it, +knowing it would be all over town directly. Three or four of the mean +crowd he had invited went off, declaring his wife was a lunatic, and +that they were afraid to stay in the same house with her. Wasn't that +pretty treatment, after his hospitality?" + +"It's the way of the world, _mon ami_." + +"And a very mean way it is. Well, Wildair went to his wife and said all +sorts of cutting things to her, was as sharp as a bottle of cayenne +pepper, in fact, and wound up by telling her he was going to apply for a +divorce, which he had no more notion of doing than I have of proposing +to one of the Misses Leonard to-morrow. She believed him, though, and, +driven to despair by the whole of them, made a moonlight flitting of it, +and from that day to this Richmond Wildair has never seen or heard of +his wife." + +"Poor thing! it was a hard fate. What do you suppose has become of her?" + +"Heaven knows! She left a note saying she had gone and would never +disgrace him more--these were her words--and bidding him an eternal +farewell. Wildair nearly went crazy; he was mad, I firmly believe, for +awhile, and it was as much as any one's life was worth to go near him. +He searched everywhere, offered enormous rewards for the least trace of +her, did everything man could do, in a word, to find her again; but it +was of no use, no one had seen or knew anything of her." + +"Could she have destroyed herself?" + +"Just as likely as not; she was the sort of desperate person likely to +do it, and she had no fear of death, or eternity, or anything that way. +Well, he was frantic when he found she was lost forever, and would have +given even every cent he was worth in the world for the least tidings of +her, dead or alive, but it was all a waste of ammunition; and, maddened +and despairing, he fled from the scene of disaster, sprang on board a +steamship bound for Europe, and was off. But he couldn't stay away; he +couldn't rest anywhere, so he came back, and plunged headlong into the +giddy maelstrom of politics, and became the man of the people--the +Demosthenes; the magnificent orator whose lips, to quote the _Political +Thunderbolt_, 'have been touched with coals of living fire;' a pleasant +simile, I should think. Poor Rich! they don't know the crucible of +suffering from which this fiery, impassioned eloquence has sprung. +Ambition will be to him for the rest of his mortal life, wife, and +family, and home, for he is not the man to dream for a second of ever +marrying again." + +"A sad story! And yet he can smile, and jest, and talk gayly, as I heard +him half an hour ago, when he was the very life and soul of the +company." + +"He must--it is expected of him; a man of the people must please the +people; and besides, he does it to drown thought; he tries to forget for +a time the gnawing remorse that, if indulged, would drive him mad. He +lives two lives--the inward and outward--and both as essentially +different as day from night. He believes himself the murderer of his +wife; in fact, an old lady who brought her up--for the girl was an +orphan--told him so, and would not look at him or let him in her house. +His mother, touched with remorse, confessed what she had done, and thus +he learned all his wife had so silently suffered. It was enough to drive +a more sober man insane, and that's the truth. Ah! there was more than +one sad heart after her when she went. Poor little Emily Murray! the +nicest, and best, and prettiest girl from here to sundown, was nearly +broken-hearted. I offered her my own hand and fortune, though I didn't +happen to have such an article about me, and she gave me my dismissal on +the spot. Heigho! Burnfield's done for poor old Rich and me." + +"What! Burnfield, did you say?" exclaimed Randall, with a start. + +"Yes, Burnfield. You have no objections to it, I hope?" + +"You--did you know--did you ever happen to hear of a widow and a little +girl by the name of Darrell there?" said Mr. Randall, in an agitated +voice. + +"Well, I should think I did--rather!" said Curtis emphatically. "The +widow died one night, and the little girl was brought up by one Miss +Jerusha Skamp of severe memory, and it's of her I have been talking for +the last half-hour, if you mean Georgia Darrell." + +"What!" exclaimed Randall, wildly, as he sprang to his feet. "Do you +mean to tell me that Georgia Darrell grew up in Burnfield, and was the +wretched wife of Richmond Wildair?" + +"Indeed I do," replied Curtis, with increasing emphasis. "Why, what the +dickens is the matter with you? What does all this mean?" + +"Mean! Oh, man! man! Georgia Darrell was my _sister_!" + + + + +CHAPTER XXI. + +CHARLEY'S CRIME. + + "By the strong spirit's discipline, + By the fierce wrong forgiven, + By all that wrings the heart of sin, + Is woman won to heaven." + + +With every nerve strained, every feeling wrought to the highest pitch of +excitement, Georgia had listened; but at this last moment the overstrung +tension gave way, and, for the first time in her life, she fainted. + +On the wet grass where she had fallen she still lay when life and memory +came back. She raised herself on her elbow and looked wildly around, +passed her hand across her forehead, and tried to think. Gradually +recollection returned; one by one the broken chains of memory were +reunited, and all she had heard came back, flooding her soul with +ecstatic joy. Beloved still, no longer a cast-off wife, and her +long-lost brother Warren restored! + +She remembered him now; she wondered she had not done so at first, for +every tone of his voice was familiar. It was the name that had deceived +her, and yet he had his mother's name, too--Warren Randall Darrell. She +rose up, to find herself stiff and cold, lying on the wet ground, and +her dress soaked with the heavy dew. The garden was deserted, the house +all dark, and with an overpowering sense of loneliness she found herself +locked out. + +It would not do to disturb the family; she must wait till morning where +she was, so she resumed her seat and crouched down shivering with cold. +The new-born joy in her heart could not keep her from being chilled +through and through; and as the long hours dragged on, it seemed to her +that never was night so long as that. Benumbed with cold, sick, and +shivering, she sank into an uneasy slumber at last, with her head on the +hard, wooden bench. + +It was morning when she awoke. With difficulty she arose to her feet, +and saw a servant with lazy step and lack luster eyes come out and +approach the stables. As she arose, she found herself hardly able to +walk from cold and exposure, but she managed to stagger to the door and +enter unobserved. It was well for her she met no one, as they might have +taken her for one newly risen from the dead--for never did eye rest on +such a deathly face as she wore that morning. How she reeled to her room +she did not know; how she managed to take off her saturated garments and +fling herself on her bed she could not tell; but there she was lying, +weak, prostrate, helpless, and chilled to the very heart. + +As the morning passed and she did not appear, a servant was sent to see +what was the matter. Georgia tried to lift her head, but such a feeling +of deadly sickness came over her that, weak and blinded, she fell back +on her pillow. Every care was taken of her, but before night a raging +fever had set in, and with burning brow and parched lips Georgia lay +tossing and raving wildly in delirium. Alarmed now, the family physician +was sent for, who pronounced it a dangerous attack of brain fever, from +which he was extremely doubtful she could ever recover. + +For days and days after that Georgia lay helpless as a child, with +liquid flame burning in every vein. Sometimes she raved and shrieked +madly of Freddy Richmond, calling herself a murderess, and trying to +spring from those who held her. Sometimes she would plead pitifully with +Richmond and implore him to forgive her, and she would never, never +offend him again; and now she would forget all the past, and fancy +herself talking to the children in the school-room, seemingly with no +memory of anything but the present. + +It was a golden, sunshiny June morning when consciousness returned, and +she opened her eyes to find herself lying in her own room, with a +strange woman sitting beside her. Youth, and a naturally strong +constitution, had finally triumphed over the disease, but she lay there +weak and helpless as an infant. She had a vague, confused memory of the +past few weeks, and she turned with a helpless, bewildered look to the +nurse. + +"What is it? What is the matter? Have I been ill?" she asked, feebly. + +"Yes, very ill; but you are better now," said the nurse, coming over and +softly adjusting the pillow. + +"How--how long have I been sick?" she said, passing her wasted hand +across her forehead as if to dispel a mist. + +"Three weeks," was the reply. + +"So long!" said Georgia, drearily, and still struggling to recall +something that had escaped her memory. "Who are you? I don't know you." + +"I am your nurse," said the woman, smiling. "Mrs. Leonard hired me to +take care of you, and look after things generally until she came back." + +"Came back! Has she gone away, then?" + +"Oh, dear, yes! the whole family, children and all; they were afraid of +the fever, although the doctor said there was no danger." + +"Where have they gone?" said Georgia, faintly. + +"To New York. It's my opinion the young ladies were glad of any chance +of getting back to town, and it was they, particularly Miss Felice, who +insisted on leaving. Don't disturb yourself about them, my dear; you +will soon be as well as any of them." + +"Tell me," said Georgia, catching the woman's wrists in her thin, +transparent hands, and looking earnestly in her face with the great +black eyes so sunken and melancholy now--"tell me if you know whether a +certain Mr. Randall who used to come here went with them? Perhaps you +have heard?" + +The woman shook her head. + +"No, my dear, I have not. I have heard of him, though, often; they say +he is very clever and going to be married to Miss Felice, but I don't +know myself. Don't talk so much, Miss Randall; it is not good for you." + +"One thing more," said Georgia. "I--I raved when I was out of my mind; +will you tell me what it was I said?" + +"That would be pretty hard to do," said the nurse, smiling; but then, +seeing the look of desperate earnestness on her patient's face, she +added: "Why, you know, my dear, you talked a great deal of +nonsense--fever patients always do--about some one you called Richmond, +and Freddy Richmond--some gentlemen, I expect," said the woman, with a +meaning glance; "and you called yourself a murderess, and then you kept +begging some one not to be angry with you, and you would never do so any +more; and sometimes you would talk to the children, and fancy yourself +in the school-room with them. In short, you know, you said all sorts of +queer things; but that was to be expected." + +From that day Georgia rapidly recovered, and in less than a fortnight +was able to get up and sit for a few hours each day in an easy chair by +the window, inhaling the fragrant summer air. Her first request was to +call for the latest papers; but for some time the doctor said she was +not equal to the exertion of reading them, and, in spite of her +passionate eagerness, she had to wait. + +To ask about Richmond she did not dare; but how eagerly she scanned the +first paper she got, in search of his name! And there she learned that +he had gone South on a summer ramble, wandering about from place to +place with the strange restlessness that characterized him. + +It was a blow to her at first, but when she came to think it over, she +was almost glad of it. Somehow, she scarcely could tell why she did not +wish to meet him yet; if ever she returned to him, it must be in a way +different from what she had left. She wanted to find her brother first; +she had a vehement desire to win wealth and fame, and return to Richmond +Wildair as his equal in every way. During the long weary hours of her +convalescence she had made up her mind to go to the city. + +The monotonous life of the last six months here grew unendurable to her +now; she would not have taken uncounted wealth and consented to spend +six more like them. Life at least was not stagnant in the uproar and +turmoil of the city, and solitude is not always a panacea for all sorts +of people in trouble. + +She had money--her half-year's salary had been untouched, and it was no +inconsiderable sum, for Mr. Leonard had been as generous as he was rich. +She had a vague idea of winning fame as an artist. She felt an inward +conviction that her "Hagar in the Wilderness" would create a sensation +if seen. She took it out from its canvas screen, and gazed long and +earnestly upon it. + +It was a wild, weird, unearthly thing, but strangely beautiful withal, +and possessing a sort of fascination that would have chained you before +it for hours. Never did eye look on a more gloriously beautiful face +than that of the pictured Egyptian in its dark splendor and unutterable +anguish. The posture, as she half-lay, half-writhed in her inward +torture, spoke of the darkest depth of anguish and despair; the long, +wild, purplish black tresses streamed unbound in the breeze, and the +face that startled you from the canvas was white with woman's utmost +woe. And the eyes that caught and transfixed yours, sending a thrill of +awe and terror to most stoical heart--those unfathomable eyes of +midnight blackness, where despairing love, fiercest anguish, and maddest +desperation seem struggling for mastery. Oh! never could any, but one in +the utmost depths of despair herself, have painted eyes like these. +Lucifer hurled from heaven might have cast back one last look like that, +so full of conflicting passion, but the superhuman agony shining and +surmounting them all--eyes that would have haunted you like a frightful +nightmare, long after you had first beheld them, eyes that would have +made you shudder, and yet held you spell-bound, breathless, riveted to +the spot. + +All unknown to herself she had painted her own portrait; those flowing, +lustrous tresses, that dark, oriental face, those appalling eyes, that +posture of utter woe and unspeakable desolation, all were hers. The face +was almost the fac-simile of the one that had once so startled Richmond +Wildair that morning on the sea-shore, only the passionate, tortured +form was wanting. + +At a little distance lay the boy Ishmael, with all his mother's dark +beauty in his face, but so serenely calm and childishly peaceful that +the contrast was all the more startling. + +It was a wonderful picture, and no wonder that Georgia's eyes fired up, +and her color came and went and her countenance glowed with power, and +triumph and inspiration as she gazed. + +"It must succeed--it will succeed--it _shall_ succeed," she vehemently +exclaimed. "There has been a prize offered by the Academy of Art for the +best painting from a native artist, and mine shall go with the rest. And +if it succeeds--" + +She caught her breath, and her whole face for an instant grew radiant +with the picture she conjured up of the glory and fame that would be +hers. + +"Mr. Leonard shall take it for me; he has always been my friend, and the +artist's name shall be unknown until the decision is announced. Yes, it +shall be so; the paper says that all pictures for the prize must be +delivered in three days from this, as the decision shall be given and +the prize awarded in a fortnight. Yes, I will go at once." + +And with her characteristic impulsive rapidity, Georgia made her +preparations, and that very afternoon bade farewell to the house where +the last six wretched months had been spent, and took the cars for New +York. + +Arrived there, her first destination was the widow's, where she had +stopped before, and early next morning she set out for the hotel where +the Leonards were stopping. + +Mr. Leonard and his family were still there, and seemed quite overjoyed +to see her. It was fortunate, Mrs. Leonard said, she had come when she +did, for early in the next month she, and Mr. Leonard, and the girls +were off for Cape May for a little tossing about in the surf, and would +not return until quite late in the season, as, having been cooped up so +long, they were determined to make the most of their holiday now. The +children were to go back, and she, Miss Randall, was expected to go back +with them, and oversee the household generally in their absence. + +Great was the worthy lady's surprise when Georgia quietly and firmly +declined. At first she was disposed to stand upon her dignity and be +offended, but when Mr. Leonard declared emphatically Miss Randall was +right, that she was by no means strong enough to resume the labor of +teaching, that she needed rest and relaxation and amusement, and that +the city, among her friends, was for the present decidedly the best +place for her, she cooled down, and consented to listen to reason. + +"And now, how are all your friends, Miss Leonard?" said Georgia, with a +smile, yet with a sudden throbbing at her heart at the hope of hearing +something of her brother. + +"All well enough when we saw them last," said Miss Felice, in a dreary +tone; "everybody's going away out of the city, but papa will insist on +staying after every one else." + +"Whom do you call everybody else, my dear?" said Mr. Leonard, looking +over his paper good-humoredly. "If I don't mistake, you may see some +thousands of people in New York every day still." + +"Oh, yes, the nobodies stay, of course. I don't mean them," said Miss +Felice, pettishly. "I hate people. Anybody that pretends to be anybody +is going away." + +"You're a nice republican--you are!" said Master Royal, who in one +corner of the room was making frantic efforts to stand on his head, as +he had seen them do in the circus the night before. + +"Has your friend Mr. Randall gone, too?" said Georgia, still trying to +smile, though there was a slight agitation in her voice in spite of all. + +"Yes, of course he has. I wonder you didn't hear of it," said Miss +Felice, looking dissatisfied. + +"Hear of it! how could she?" broke in Maggie. "You see, Miss Randall, +the queerest thing occurred while you were sick--just like a thing in a +play, where everybody turns out to be somebody else. Mr. Randall had a +sister once upon a time, and lost her somehow, and she grew up and +married Mr. Richmond Wildair, and he lost her somehow, the lady +evidently having a fancy for getting lost, and it was all found out +through Dick Curtis. So Mr. Randall and Mr. Wildair had a great time +about it, and now they have both gone to look for her again--one North +and the other South, so if they don't find her it will be a wonder. Is +it not romantic? I would give the world to see her--the wife and sister +of two such famous men. Oh, Miss Randall! Mr. Curtis says she was quite +splendid--so beautiful, you know, and,"--here Maggie lowered her voice +to a mysterious whisper--"he thinks she has gone and killed herself." + +"Oh, ma, look how pale Miss Randall is; she's going to faint if you +don't look sharp," cried out Master Royal. + +"No, it is nothing; pray do not mind," said Georgia faintly, motioning +them away. "I am not very strong yet; allow me to wish you good-morning. +Mr. Leonard, can I see you in private for a few minutes?" + +"Certainly, certainly," responded Mr. Leonard, while the rest looked up, +rather surprised, as they left the room. + +In as few words as possible Georgia made known her request, and obtained +from him a promise of secrecy. Mr. Leonard was not in the least +surprised; he was perfectly confident about her taking the prize, and, +having obtained her address, told her he would call for it on the +morrow. + +But when the old gentleman saw it he fairly started back, and gazed on +it in a sort of terror and consternation that amused Georgia, breaking +out at intervals with ejaculations of extreme astonishment. + +"Eh? what? Lord bless my soul! Why, it's quite frightful--upon my life +it is! Good gracious! what a pair of eyes that young woman has got! +'Hagar in the Wilderness.' Je-ru-sa-lem! I wouldn't be Abraham for a +trifle, with such a desperate-looking wild-cat as that about the house. +She's the born image of yourself, too; one would think you and Hagar +were twin sisters. Well, Lord bless me! if it isn't enough to give a man +fits to look at it! It's well I'm not nervous, or I'd never get over the +shock of looking at it. Upon my honor, Miss Randall, I don't know what +to make of you. You're the eighth wonder of the world--that's what you +are!" + +The painting was accordingly sent in, and three days after, the whole +Leonard family departed--the children for home, and the elders of the +house for Cape May--and now Georgia was left to solitude and suspense +once more, until, as day after day was passed, and _the_ day approached, +she began her old fashion of working herself up into one of her fevers +of impatience and excitement. Her usual antidote of a long, rapid walk +was followed in the city as well as in the country, and often did people +pause and look in wonder after the tall, dark-robed figure that flitted +so rapidly by them, whose vailed face no one ever saw. + +One night, as darkness was falling over the city, Georgia found herself +suddenly among a crowd of people who were passing rapidly into a church. +Borne along by the throng, she was carried in, too, and half-bewildered +by the crowd, and by the crash of a grand organ, and the glitter of many +lights, she found herself in a pew, among thousands of others, before +she quite realized where she was. She looked, and, with a half-startled +air, saw she was in one of the largest churches of the city, and that it +was already filled to suffocation. + +She heard some persons in a seat before her whisper that an eloquent +young divine (she could not catch the name) was going to address them. +While they yet spoke, a tall, slight figure, robed in black, came out of +the vestry, passed up the stairs, and ascended the pulpit. A silence so +profound that you could have heard a pin drop in that vast multitude +reigned, broken at last by a clear, thrilling voice that rang out in +deep tones with the awful words from Holy Writ: + +"You shall seek Me and you shall not find Me, and you shall die in your +sins." + +A death-like pause ensued, and every heart seemed to stand still to +catch the next words. But why does Georgia start as if she had received +a spear thrust? Why do her lips spring white and quivering apart? Why +are her eyes fixed so wildly, so strangely on the preacher? In that +moment the mystery was solved, the secret revealed--the brother of her +husband stands before her. The gay, the careless, the elegant, the +thoughtless Charley Wildair is a clergyman. For awhile she sat stunned +by the shock, conscious that he was speaking, yet hearing not a word. +Then her clouded faculties cleared, and her ears were greeted by such +bursts of resistless eloquence as she had never dreamed of before. In +that moment rose before her, with terrific vividness, the despairing +death-bed of the sinner and the awful doom that must follow. Shuddering +and terrified, she sank back, shading her face with her hands, appalled +by the awful fate that might have been hers. What--what was all earthly +trouble compared with that dread eternity of misery she had +deserved--that awful doom that might yet be hers? Still it arose before +her in all its frightful horrors, exhibited by the clarion voice of the +speaker, until, wrought up to the pitch of frenzy, her trembling lips +strove to form the word "Mercy." And still, as if in answer, rang out +that thrilling voice with that terrific sentence of eternal doom: + +"You shall seek Me and you shall not find Me, and you shall die in your +sins." + +The sermon was over, the people were crowding out, and she found herself +half senseless kneeling in the pew, with her face hidden in her hands. +An uncontrollable desire to see, to speak to him she had just heard +seized her, and she sprang up, and grasping some one who stood near her, +said, incoherently: + +"Where is he? I must see him! Where is he gone?" + +"Who?" said the startled personage she addressed. + +"He who has just preached." + +"In there," said the man, pointing to the vestry. "Go in that way and +you will see him." + +Forcing her way through the throng, Georgia hurried on, passed into the +sanctuary, and from thence to the vestry. + +There she paused--restored to herself. Nearly a dozen clergymen were +there, standing in groups, conversing with several ladies and gentlemen, +who had come too late to get into the church, and had been forced to +remain there to listen. All eyes were turned on the new-comer, whose +pale, wild beauty made her an object of deep interest, as she stood +startled and hesitating in the door-way. A little boy, standing near, +looked up and said, curiously: + +"Did you want anybody, ma'am?" + +"Yes--Mr. Wildair. Is he here?" said Georgia, hurriedly. + +"Yes'm, there he is," said the boy, pointing to where stood the man she +was in search of, standing by himself, his forehead leaning on his hand, +and a look of utter fatigue and weariness on his face. + +All Georgia's eagerness returned at the sight. Passing rapidly through +the wondering spectators she approached him, and, with an irrepressible +cry of "Charley!" she stood before him. + +Looking very much surprised, as well he might, the young clergyman +lifted up his head and fixed his eyes full on her face; but there was no +recognition in that look, nothing but the utmost wonder. + +"Oh, Charley! don't you know me?--don't you know Georgia?" she cried +out, passionately. + +Instantly he started up. + +"What! Georgia Darrell--little Georgia, my brother's wife!" he cried, +eagerly. + +Her eyes answered him. + +"Is it possible? Why, Georgia, how little I expected to meet _you_ +here!" he said, holding out his hand, with a smile of mingled remorse +and pleasure. "How came you here?" + +"I do not know. Chance--Providence--something sent me here to-night." + +"I would never have known you, it is so long since we met." + +"Not so long as you think," she said, with one of her old rare smiles. + +"No! How is that?" + +"Do you remember the person you met on a country road, one night about a +month ago, and asked the way to Widow O'Neil's?" + +"Yes." + +"I was that person." + +"Indeed! And did you know me?" + +"Certainly I did." + +"Well, I never for an instant dreamed it was you; but no wonder--I never +saw any one so changed," he said, looking in the pale wasted face, and +contrasting it with the blooming happy one he had last seen. + +"Trouble seldom changes people for the better, I believe," she said, +with a sigh. + +"Ah, I heard what you allude to; Curtis told me. I am very, very sorry +indeed, Georgia; but do you know they imagine you dead?" + +"Yes, I know it," she said, averting her face. + +"And that Richmond has searched for tidings of you everywhere?" + +"Yes." + +"Well, Georgia," he said, anxiously, "what do you intend to do? You +should return to your husband." + +"I intend to," she said, looking up with a sudden bright smile, "but +not just yet. And you--how little I ever expected to see you a +clergyman--you, who, if your reverence will excuse my saying it, used to +be such a rattlepate." + +He laughed, the happy, careless laugh that reminded her of the Charley +of other days, and shook back, with the old familiar motion, his thick, +clustering, chestnut hair. + +"Time works wonders, Georgia. Thank God for what it has done for me," he +said, reverentially. "Did you know I was a clergyman?" + +"Not until to-night. They never would tell me what became of you. They +said you disgraced the family, committed some awful crime, but what it +was I never could learn. Surely they did not mean that by becoming a +clergyman you had disgraced your family?" + +"They meant that, and nothing else," he said, emphatically. + +"Ah, how much you gave up for the dictates of conscience--friends and +family, wealth and worldly honors, and all that makes life dear; and yet +you look happy," said Georgia, in a sort of wonder. + +He laid his hand on hers and pointed up, while he said, in a low voice: + +"'Amen, I say to you, there is no man that hath left home, or parents, +or brethren, or wife, or children, for the kingdom of God's sake, who +shall not receive much more in this present time, and in the world to +come life everlasting.'" + +She lifted her eyes in a sort of awe at the inspired tones. And his face +was as the face of an angel. + +A silence fell on them both, broken first by him. + +"You must come to see me again, Georgia. I have a good deal to say to +you that I have no time to say now. Here is my address while I remain in +the city, which will not be long. You have suffered wrong, Georgia, but +'forgive that you be likewise forgiven.' I must go now. Good-night, and +Heaven bless you!" + +In her unworthiness she felt as if she could have sunk at his feet and +kissed the hem of his garment. She bowed her once haughty head to +receive his parting benediction, and hurried out. + +Sitting in her room that night, she sank down to pray for the first time +in years--almost for the first time in her life. Fervently, earnestly +was that prayer offered; and a calmness, a peace hitherto unknown, stole +into her heart. In the sighing of the wind she seemed to hear an angel +voice softly saying, "Come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy +laden, and I will give you rest;" and dropping her forehead in her +clasped hands, she sank down in the calm light of high, bright, solemn +stars, and meekly murmured: + +"Hear me, oh, Lord!" + + + + +CHAPTER XXII. + +THE SUN RISES. + + "Radiant daughter of the sun, + Now thy living wreath is won, + Crowned with fame! Oh! art thou not + Happy in that glorious lot? + Happier, happier far than thou, + With the laurel on thy brow, + She that makes the humblest + Lovely but to one on earth." + + MRS. HEMANS. + + +The wise counsel and impressive instructions of her old acquaintance, +the now calm, dignified, and subdued Rev. Mr. Wildair, soon brought +forth good fruit. Georgia began to find the "peace which passeth all +understanding." Now she looked forward with calm, patient expectation to +her meeting with her husband, with the sweet promise ever in her mind, +"seek first the kingdom of God, and all else shall be added unto you." +With a sad heart Georgia noticed her old companion's thin, wasted face +and form, the striking brilliancy of his eyes, the hectic flush of his +pale cheek, and the short, hacking cough that impeded his speech, and +felt that the inspired young missionary's days were numbered. + + * * * * * + +The day came at last when the decision regarding Georgia's picture was +to be announced. + +She tried to be calm and patient, but notwithstanding all her efforts in +this direction, when Mr. Leonard started off to hear the decision that +was to condemn or accept her picture, she was in a perfect fever of +anxiety. She could not sit still, she could not taste breakfast; she +walked up and down her room in irrepressible impatience, with two hot +spots, all unusual there, burning on either cheek, and a wild, feverish +light streaming from her eyes. + +Noon came--twelve o'clock--Georgia looked at her watch unceasingly. He +had promised to return between twelve and one, but one passed and he +came not; two, and he was absent still; three, and in her burning +impatience she was about to throw on her hat and shawl and hasten out in +search of news, when the door was flung open, and Mr. Leonard, flushed, +and panting, and perspiring, rushed in. + +"Hurrah! you've done it! you've done it! you've got the prize, Miss +Randall! Hagar's electrifying the whole of 'em and got herself to the +top of the tree. If Abraham was around he'd feel pretty cheap just now, +to see the fuss they're making about her. I knew you would get it, Miss +Randall! Let me congratulate you! Hurrah!" + +And Mr. Leonard, in his delight, waved his hat and gave a cheer that +sent the widow shrieking into the room to see what was the matter. And +there she found Mr. Leonard grasping Georgia by both hands, and shaking +them with a zeal and vehemence quite startling, while Georgia herself, +forgetting everything, even her success, in her sense of the ludicrous, +was laughing until her cheeks were crimson. + +Georgia smiled, but her cheek was flushed and her eye flashing with +triumph. Never had she looked so beautiful before, and the old gentleman +gazed at her with profound admiration as she stood like a triumphant +young queen before him. + +"You are right, Mr. Leonard, wonders never _will_ cease. Some day, very +shortly, I intend to give you a still greater surprise." + +"Eh--how--what is it?" said the old man, puzzled by her radiant face. + +"Never mind, sir. You shall know in good time. To-morrow I will go with +you to 'receive my reward of merit.' I have never got one since I left +school, but I don't know but that I rather like the idea after all." + +As she spoke the door was opened, and the widow re-entered. + +"Well?" said Georgia, inquiringly. + +"There are two gentlemen in the next room who want to see you, if you +please," she said. + +"To see me!" said Georgia, in surprise. + +"Yes'm; they asked for Miss Randall." + +Georgia's heart throbbed, and her color came and went. A sudden +faintness seized her, and she sank into a chair. + +"Why, bless my heart! what's the matter?" said Mr. Leonard, in surprise; +"it can't be the artists, you know, because they don't know your name or +address. What _does_ ail you, Miss Randall?" + +"Show them in here. I will see them," said Georgia, faintly, raising her +head and laying her hand on her heart to still its tumultuous +throbbings. + +Georgia's hour had come. + +The door opened, and Georgia rose to her feet, deadly pale, with many +emotions, as Dick Curtis and Mr. Randall entered. + +"I was right--it _is_ she!" cried Mr. Curtis, joyfully, as he sprang +forward and caught both her hands in his. "Huzza! Oh, Mrs. Wildair, Mrs. +Wildair! to think I should ever see you again!" said Dick, fairly ready +to cry. + +"_Mrs. Wildair!_ Why, what the----" + +Mr. Leonard, in his astonishment, made use of an improper word, reader, +so you will excuse me for not repeating it. + +"My dear Mr. Curtis, I am truly glad to see you again," said Georgia, in +a faltering voice--"more rejoiced than I have words to say." + +"And this gentleman! I'll bet you a dollar, now, you'll say you don't +know him," said Mr. Curtis, rubbing his hands gleefully. + +"Not so, sir," said Georgia, taking a step forward and looking up in the +pale agitated face of Mr. Randall, every feature of which was familiar +to her now. "My dear, my long-lost brother! My dearest Warren!" And with +a great cry she sprang forward and was locked in her brother's arms. + +"Georgia! Georgia! my sister!" was all he could say, as he strained her +to his breast, and tears, which did honor to his manly heart, dropped on +her bowed head. + +"Huzza! hip, hip, hurrah! it's all right now!" shouted Mr. Curtis, as he +flourished round the room in a frantic extempore waltz of most intense +delight, and then, in the exuberance of his joy, he seized hold of the +astounded Mr. Leonard and fairly hugged him, in his ecstacy: + +"Help! help! murder! fire!" yelled Mr. Leonard, struggling frantically +in what he supposed to be the grasp of a maniac. + +"There! take it easy, old gentleman!" said Mr. Curtis, releasing him, +and cutting a pigeon's wing. "Tol-de-rol-de-riddle-lol! Don't raise such +an awful row! Ain't there a picture to look at, my hearty? Hurrah! Oh, +how happy I feel! And to think that I should have been the means of +bringing them together--I, Dick Curtis, that never did anything right +before in my life! Good gracious! Tol-de-rol---- Hello? Where are you +going so fast, old gent?" + +Mr. Leonard, the moment he found himself free, had seized his hat, and +was about to decamp, in the full feeling that a lunatic asylum had +broken loose somewhere, when Georgia, looking up, espied him, and said: + +"Mr. Leonard, don't go. My best friend must stay and share in my joy +this happy day. Can you guess who this is?" she said, laying her hand +fondly on her brother's shoulder, and looking up in his face, with a +smile shining through her tears. + +"Guess!" said Mr. Leonard, testily--"I don't need to _guess_, young +lady. I know well enough it's young Randall, and I must say, although he +_is_ a namesake of yours, it doesn't look well to see you flying into +his arms and hugging him in that manner the moment he comes into the +house. No more does it look well for Dick Curtis to take hold of me like +a bear, and dislocate every rib I have in the world, as he has done." + +"No, I haven't, Mr. Leonard," interrupted Dick; "there's Mrs. Leonard, +your chief rib--I haven't dislocated her, have I?" + +Mr. Leonard's look of deepest disgust was so irresistible that Dick +broke off and burst into a fit of immoderate laughter, snapping his +fingers, and throwing his body into all sorts of contortions of delight, +and his example proving contagious, both Mr. Randall and Georgia +followed it, and all three laughed without being able to stop for nearly +five minutes, during which Mr. Leonard stood, hat in hand, looking from +one to the other, with a look of solemn dismay unspeakably ridiculous. + +"Do not be shocked, Mr. Leonard," said Georgia, as soon as she could +speak for laughter, "though really you are not so without cause. Did I +not tell you I would surprise you oftener than you thought? Mr. Randall +is my own, my only, long-lost brother." + +"Her brother! Oh, ginger!" muttered Mr. Leonard, completely bewildered. +"I might have known two such geniuses must be related to one another." + +"For all you have kindly done for my sister, Mr. Leonard, accept my +thanks," said Mr. Randall, as he came forward, with a smile, and shook +him heartily by the hand. + +"Well, what a go this is, anyway!" said Mr. Curtis, meditatively. "Only +to think of it! And all through me--or, rather, through little Emily's +picture! Why, it's wonderful! downright wonderful!--ain't it, Mrs. +Wildair?" + +"Mrs. Wildair!" exclaimed Mr. Leonard, looking from Dick to Georgia with +wide-open eyes. Then, as a sudden light broke in upon him. "Why, Heaven +bless my soul!" he ejaculated. "Sure enough, they told me Randall's +sister was Wildair's wife--the one that ran away. Great Jehosaphat! to +think she should turn up again in such a remarkably funny way, and +should prove to be our Miss Randall! I've a good mind to swear!--upon my +life, I have!" + +"And all through me, too, Mr. Leonard," said Mr. Curtis, exultingly; "if +it hadn't been for me they might have gone poking round the world till +doomsday and not found one another. If I don't deserve a service of tin +plate, I shall feel obliged to you to let me know who does." + +"Land of life and blessed promise!" exclaimed Mr. Leonard, who had +originally come from "away down East," and when excited always broke out +into the expletives of his boyhood, "how do you like it? Do tell, +Curtis." + +"Well, you see," began Mr. Curtis, with the air of one entering into an +obtuse narrative, "Randall--_his_ name's Darrell, but that's neither +here nor there; 'what's in a name,' as that nice man, Mr. Shakespeare, +says, or, rather, as he makes Miss Juliet Capulet say when speaking of +young Mr. R. Montague, her beau. Randall, as I was saying, got hold of a +picture of little Emily--I mean Miss Murray, a friend of mine--drawn by +Mrs. Wildair there, while residing in your house and doing the governess +dodge under the name of Randall too, which turns out to be a family name +after all, and one day he accidentally showed it to me, and if I didn't +jump six feet when I saw it, then call me a flat, that's all. Of course, +I asked him no end of questions and found out where he got it, and then +it was all as clear to me as a hole in a ladder, and I knew in a +twinkling who 'Miss Randall' was. So we tore along here like a couple of +forty-horse-power comets, and, after a whole day of most awful bother, +we found out where she was. And here we came, and here we found her, and +so, no more at present from yours respectfully, Dick Curtis." And Mr. +Curtis made a feint of holding out an imaginary dress, like an old lady +in a minuet, and courtesied profoundly to the company around. + +"My dear Miss Ran--I mean my dear Mrs. Wildair, allow me to congratulate +you," said Mr. Leonard, his face all in a glow of delight as he shook +her warmly by the hand, "upon my life, I never was so glad in all my +days. Good gracious! to think you should turn out to be such a great +lady after serving as governess in our---- Well, well, well! And that +you should find your brother the same day you took the prize for the +best picture in the Academy of Art. G-o-o-d gracious!" said Mr. Leonard, +with a perfect shake on the word. + +"What! Georgia taken the prize? It can't be possible that _you_ are the +successful candidate whose wonderful picture everybody is talking +about?" exclaimed her brother, whose turn it was to be astonished. + +"Mr. Leonard says so," said she, smiling. + +"Oh, Jupiter!" ejaculated Mr. Curtis, thrusting his hands into his +pockets and uttering a long, low whistle, indicative of an unlimited +amount of amazement, "and you really and truly painted 'Hagar in the +Wilderness?'" + +"Yes, I really and truly did," smiled Georgia. + +"Well," said Mr. Curtis, in a tone of resignation, "all I have to say is +that nothing will surprise me after this. And that reminds me, I've +quite forgotten an engagement down town, and must be off. Randall, don't +you come. I know you have lots of things to say to your sister. Mr. +Leonard, you have an engagement, too--don't say no--I'm sure you +have--come along. By-by, Randall, old-fellow; good-day, Mrs. Wildair. +I'll drop in again in the course of the evening. Now, Mr. Leonard, off +we go!" and Mr. Curtis put his arm through Mr. Leonard's and fairly +dragged him away. + +"And so, instead of a poor unknown governess, I have found in my sister +one with whose fame the whole city is already ringing," said Mr. +Randall, when they were alone, as he looked proudly and fondly in her +beautiful face. "Dear Georgia, how famous you are." + + + + +CHAPTER XXIII. + +OVER THE WORLD. + + "They stood apart. + Like rocks which have been rent asunder, + A dreary sea now flows between, + But neither heat, nor frost, nor thunder + Shall wholly do away, I ween, + The works of that which once hath been." + + COLERIDGE. + + +"Oh, Warren, what is fame compared to what I have found to-day?" she +said, sweetly. "What is fame, and wealth, and all worldly honors, +compared to a brother's love? But one thing more is needed now to make +me perfectly happy." + +"I know what you mean, Georgia--your husband. Is it possible you care +for _him_ still, after all he has made you suffer?" + +She looked up in his face, and he was answered. + +"Then, for your sake, I am sorry he has gone," he said slowly. + +"Gone?" she repeated, with a paling cheek. "Gone where?" + +"To France, on some important mission from government that no one can +fulfill so well as himself, and--I have not the faintest idea of when he +will return." + +"Now that I have told you all that has befallen me," said Georgia, some +half an hour later that same afternoon, as brother and sister sat side +by side at the window, "I want to hear your adventures and +'hair-breadth 'scapes by flood and field' since that sad night long ago, +when we parted last." + +"I fear you are doomed to be disappointed, then, if you expect any such +things from me," said her brother, smiling. "My life has been one of +most inglorious safety so far, and I never had a hair-breadth escape of +any kind, since I was born." + +"How strange it is that I could ever believe you dead," said Georgia, +musingly. "Miss Jerusha, too, to use her own words, constantly averred +that you had 'got taken in somewheres,' and never would hear for a +moment that you had perished in the storm." + +"Well, Miss Jerusha was right," said Warren, "though really I need not +thank her for it, as I am quite certain, from your description, she is +the old lady that turned me out that same night. However, I forgive her +for that, and owe her a long debt of gratitude besides, for all she has +done for you. You remember, of course, Georgia, the company we used to +act with?" + +"Yes, perfectly. Don't I remember my own performances on the tight-rope +and on horseback as the 'Flying Circassian?" she said, smiling. + +"Well, when the old lady turned me off that night, I never felt more +like despairing in all my life. I was wretchedly clad--if you don't +remember it, _I_ do--and it was bitterly cold. Still, I would not go +back without help of some kind, so I staggered on and on through the +blinding storm, until at last, benumbed and helpless, I sank down on the +frozen ground, as I thought, never to rise again." + +"Poor little fellow!" said Georgia, sadly, in whose mind the image of +the slight, delicate boy he was then rose uppermost. + +Warren laughed at the epithet applied to one who stood six feet without +his boots, and went on: + +"I suppose I had fallen into that sort of stupor which precedes freezing +to death, and was unconscious; but when next I awoke to the realities of +this exceedingly real world, I was in bed in a meanly furnished room, +and the first face I beheld was that of Betsey Stubbs, Georgia--the one +who used to figure on the bills as Eugenia De Lacy?" + +"And always played the artless little girl, although she was thirty +years old," said Georgia, laughing. "Oh, I remember her." + +"Well, there she was, and there I was with her, and with the company +again. It turned out that two of the men were passing along the road, +returning to the village--what do you call it?--Burnfield, and stumbled +over me, lying stiff and nearly frozen on the road. They knew me +immediately, and carried me off to where the rest of them were; and it +was resolved that they should decamp with me, for that old tyrant of a +manager thought it too much of a good thing to lose three at once. So, +in spite of my tears, and cries, and struggles and entreaties, I was +forcibly carried off a little after midnight, when the storm cleared +away, and brought back to the city. + +"Well, Georgia, for nearly another year I remained at our old business, +and with the old set, too closely watched to think of escaping, and to +escape from them was now the sole aim of my life. The opportunity so +long sought for came at last. One night a chance presented itself, and I +was off; and fickle fortune, as if tired of making me a mark to poke fun +at, came to my aid, and I made good my escape from my jealous +guardians. For hours I wandered about through the city, until at last, +worn out and exhausted, I curled myself up on the marble door-steps of +an aristocratic mansion, and fell fast asleep. + +"A hand grasping my shoulder and shaking me roughly awoke me after a +time, and as I started up, I heard a gruff voice saying: + +"'Hallo! you little vagrant, what are you doing here?' + +"I rubbed my eyes and looked up. An old gentleman, who had just alighted +from a carriage, stood over me, with no very amiable expression of +countenance, shaking me as if he would shake a reply out of me by main +force. + +"I stammered out something--I don't know what--and terrified lest he +should give me into the hands of a policeman, I tried to break away from +him and fly; but the old gentleman held on like grim death, and seemed +not to have the slightest intention of parting with me so easily. + +"'You're a pickpocket, ain't you?' said he, sharply. + +"'No, sir,' said I, half-angrily, and looking him full in the face, 'I +am _not_.' + +"'Then what brought you here,' persisted he, 'if you are not a juvenile +thief?' + +"'I was tired, sir,' said I, 'and I sat down here to rest, and so fell +asleep.' + +"The old gentleman kept his sharp eyes fixed on me as if he would read +me through, with a strange look of half-recognition on his face. + +"'Please to let me go, sir,' said I, again struggling to get free. + +"'What's your name, boy?' said the old man, without heeding me in the +slightest degree. + +"'Warren Randall Darrell,' replied I. + +"As if he had been struck, the old man loosened his hold and recoiled; +and I, seizing the opportunity, darted off, but only to find myself in +the grasp of a servant who stood holding the horses. + +"'Not so fast, my little shaver,' said he, grinning; 'just you wait till +Mr. Randall's done with you.' + +"'Mr. Randall!' repeated I, and instantly a sort of conviction flashed +across my mind that he might be my grandfather. + +"At the same instant the old man approached me, and catching me by the +arm, gazed long and steadily into my face, plainly revealed by the light +of a street-lamp. I looked up in his agitated face quite as +unflinchingly, and so we stood for nearly five minutes, to the great +bewilderment of the coachman, who stared first at one and then the +other, as if he thought we had both lost our senses. + +"'Tell me,' said the old man, after a pause, 'what was your mother's +maiden name?' + +"'Alice Randall,' said I, my suspicion becoming certainty; 'and you are +my grandfather.' + +"'What!' he exclaimed, with a start. 'Do you know me? Who told you I +was?' + +"'No one,' said I; 'but I think so. My grandfather's name is Warren +Randall, and that is the name on your door-plate there. I was called +after him.' + +"'You are right,' said he, in an agitated voice. 'I am your grandfather. +My poor Alice! You have her eyes, boy--the same eyes that once made the +light of my home. Where--tell me where is she now?' + +"'I don't know,' said I, half-sobbing. 'She's dead, I'm afraid--she and +Georgia.' + +"'Who is Georgia?' + +"'My sister.' + +"'And your father?' he said, with a darkening brow. + +"'Is dead, too; has been dead this long, long time.' + +"'And so you are an orphan, and poor and friendless,' he said, speaking +as much to himself as to me. 'Poor boy! poor little fellow! Warren, will +you come and live with me--with your grandfather?' + +"I thought for a moment, and then shook my head. + +"'No,' said I, 'I can't. I must find my mother and Georgia.' + +"'Where are they?' he said, eagerly. 'I thought you told me they were +dead.' + +"'I said I didn't know, and I don't. They may be dead, for it is over a +year since I saw them last. I was carried away from them by force, and +now I am going to seek for them.' + +"'You!' said he. 'How can a little friendless boy like you find them? +No, no, Warren, stay with me, and let me search for your mother. I may +succeed, but you will starve ere you find them, or be put in prison. +Warren you _will_ stay?'" + +"And you did?" said Georgia. + +"And I did. I answered that what he said was true, and that he was far +more likely to succeed than I was. That night I slept in a princely +home, with servants to come at my call--with every luxury to charm every +sense around me. Was not that a sudden change, Georgia, from the +miserable quarters of the players?" + +"Yes, indeed," said Georgia. "And what change did it make in you? Did +affluence spoil you?" + +"It might have, if I had stayed long enough there," said Warren, +smiling, "for I, with all my perfections--and if you want a list of +them just ask Miss Felice Leonard--am not infallible. I gave him my +history, and he dispatched a trusty messenger to Burnfield, and upon his +return he told me that both my mother and sister were dead. I believed +him then, but I have since thought that, finding you provided for, he +wished to keep me all to himself, and make me his sole heir. + +"I had so long thought, Georgia, that you and my mother were dead that +the revelations did not take me by surprise, and though I grieved for +awhile, the novelty of everything around me kept my mind from dwelling +much on my bereavement. My grandfather told me he intended to send me to +school, and, when he died, make me his sole heir, on condition that I +would drop the detested name of Darrell and take his. Not being very +particular about the matter, I readily consented, and two months +afterward I was sent to old Yale, where he himself had been educated, +there to be trained in the way I should go. + +"Well, Georgia, I remained there four years, and won golden opinions +from the big wigs of the institution, and delighted the heart of my kind +old grandfather by my progress in the arts and sciences. A letter +announcing his sudden death recalled me at last. I hurried back to New +York in time to follow him to the grave, and, when the will was read, I +found myself sole heir to his almost princely wealth. + +"Then I went to Europe and Asia, and saw all the sights, from the +pyramids of Egypt down, and wrote a book about my travels, as every one +does now who goes three yards from his own vine and fig-tree. Then I +came home, and lo! before I have been here three months, I find that my +sister, who was dead, comes to life again, and so--_finis_!" + +"You should add, 'And they lived happy for ever after,'" said Georgia, +smiling, "only, perhaps, it would not be strictly correct. And now that +you have found your sister, what do you mean to do with her?" + +"Make her mistress of the palatial mansion of the Randalls," said +Warren, promptly, "and settle one-half my fortune on her. _That_, Madam +Wildair, is my unchangeable intention." + +"Oh, Warren, dearest. I will never hear of such a thing!" said Georgia, +vehemently. + +"Well, if you will excuse me for saying so, I don't care in the least +whether you will or not--I shall do it. Not a word now, Mistress +Georgia; you will find that you will have to obey your brother, since +you have found him, and do for the future exactly as he tells you. +Besides, Georgia, Warren Randall's sister shall never go back penniless +to her husband," he said, proudly; "he shall find her his equal in +wealth, as in everything else." + +"Oh, Warren!" she said, with filling eyes. + +"Not a word about it now," he said, putting his fingers over her lips; +"to-morrow the world shall know you as you really are." + +"Warren, listen to me," she said, taking his hand. "Until I meet +Richmond again, I intend to keep my _incognito_. Perhaps you may call it +an odd fancy, but I really wish it. No one yet knows my secret but Mr. +Curtis, Mr. Leonard, and Richmond's brother, and if I wish it they will +keep it a secret. Let me still be Miss Randall until he comes." + +"But when will he come?" broke in Warren, half impatiently; "who knows? +It may be years or--Georgia," he added, suddenly, "suppose we go to +_him_, eh? When the mountain will not come to Mahomet, Mahomet must go +to the mountain--rather that style of thing, isn't it? What do you say +to a trip to France, _ma belle_?" + +"Oh, Warren!" she cried, catching her breath, her whole face growing +radiant with delight. + +"I am answered," he said, gayly; "this day week we start." + +"For where, may I ask?" said Mr. Curtis, lounging in. "Your chateau in +Spain? or on a wild-goose chase?" + +"Something very like it," said Warren, laughing. "We are off to France, +in search of one Richmond Wildair, plenipotentiary and ambassador +extraordinary to the court of that distant and facetious region." + +"Whew!" whistled Mr. Curtis, "I see, says the blind man. What a thing +conjugal affection is, to be sure! When do you go?" + +"This day week, in the Golden Arrow. And for some inscrutable feminine +reason Georgia wishes you to preserve her secret inviolable until she +returns. She is still Miss Randall; you understand? You and Mr. Leonard +are not to mention she is Richmond Wildair's runaway wife." + +"I'm dumb," said Mr. Curtis, shutting his lips as firmly as though they +were never to be opened on earth again. "Neither tortures, nor anguish, +nor bad pale ale shall tear from this lacerated heart the fearful +secret. Are you going to see after that prize of yours to-morrow, Mrs. +Wild--gee Whittaker! I mean Miss Randall," said he, dropping his tone of +stage agony, and speaking in his natural voice. + +"Most decidedly," said Georgia, smiling. + +"And then you are going to throw yourself away on our painfully clever +friend Wildair again, and leave all your friends here in Gotham to pine +away, with tears in their eyes and their fingers in their mouths," said +Mr. Curtis, in a lugubrious tone; "it's something I never expected of +you, Mrs. Wil--pooh! I mean Miss Randall, and I must say I, for one, +never deserved it." + +"Mr. Curtis, you--you were in Burnfield since I was," said Georgia, +hesitatingly, and coloring deeply; "how was Miss Jerusha and Emily +Murray?" + +"Well they were both in a state of mind--rather," said Mr. Curtis. "Miss +Jerusha flamed up, and blew us all, sky high, in fact raised the ancient +Harry, in a way quite appalling to a person of tender nerves--myself, +for instance--and gave Richmond what may be called, without +exaggeration, particular fits! As for little Emily," said Mr. Curtis, +turning red suddenly, "she--she didn't scold anybody, but she cried and +took on so that I felt--I felt a sort of all-over as it were--a very +peculiar feeling, to use a mild phrase, if you observe." + +"Dear little Emily," said Georgia, sighing. + +"That's just what I said," said Mr. Curtis, eagerly "but she didn't pay +any attention to it. I suppose you know I--I went--I mean I asked--that +is I offered--pshaw! what d'ye call it--proposed," said Mr. Curtis, +blushing, and squirming uneasily in his chair. + +"No, I did not know it," said Georgia, with difficulty repressing a +smile. + +"But I did though, and she refused me--she did, by Jove!" said Mr. +Curtis, dolorously. + +"What bad taste the girl must have," said Mr. Randall. + +"You're another," said Mr. Curtis, fiercely; "she's no such thing! How +dare you insinuate such a thing, Mr. Randall? There never yet was born a +man good enough for her; and if you dare to doubt it, I'll be hanged if +I don't knock you into the middle of next week--now then!" + +Mr. Curtis was as fierce as a Bengal tiger. Mr. Randall threw himself +into a chair, and laughed immoderately. + +"My dear fellow, I cry you mercy, and most humbly beg Miss Emily +Murray's pardon. I look forward some day to being acquainted with her +myself, and if I find her all that you say, I shall consider the +advisability of making her Mrs. Warren Randall." + +"You be--shot!" growled Mr. Curtis, striding savagely up and down. +"She's not to be had for the asking, I can tell you; and after refusing +_me_, it's not likely she'd have anything to do with you. Mrs. +Wildair--oh, darn it!--Miss Randall, I mean, when you see your husband, +tell him his mother is very ill, and if he does not hasten home soon he +will not see her alive. A precious small loss that would be though," +said Mr. Curtis, in parenthesis--"a stiff, sneering, high-and-mighty old +virago! Don't see, for my part, what Rich meant by ever having such a +mother!" + + * * * * * + +One week later, Warren Randall and his sister were on board the Golden +Arrow, _en route_ for Merrie England. Fair breezes soon wafted them to +the white cliffs of that "right little, tight little" island, and +Georgia for the first time set foot on a foreign shore. + +But now, in her impatience to rejoin and be reconciled to her husband, +she would consent to make no stay; so they immediately crossed the +channel into France, and posted at once for Paris. And there the first +news they heard from the American consul was that Mr. Wildair had left +a fortnight before for St. Petersburg. + +It was a disappointment to both, a bitter one to Georgia, and Warren +felt it for her sake. To follow him was the first impulse of both, and +they immediately started for the Russian capital. + +But fortune still inclined to be capricious, and to doom Georgia's +new-found patience to another trial. Mr. Wildair's political mission +required dispatch, and a few days before their arrival he had gone. From +the minister they learned that his first destination was a return to +Paris, from thence to Baden Baden, and it was more than probable he +would visit London and then return home. + +"Well, Georgia," said Warren, "you see fate is against you, and has +doomed you to disappointment. Nothing remains now but to make the best +of a bad bargain and start on a regular sight-seeing tour, and 'do' +Europe, as Curtis would call it. And, after all, perhaps it is for the +best you did not meet him. He is now rapidly rising to political +distinction, and his meeting with you might distract his thoughts, and +would certainly keep him from entering heart and soul into the political +arena as he does now. Besides, having lost you for so long, he will know +how to value you all the more when you do return. Come, Georgia, what +difference, after all, will a year or two make in a life? Don't think of +returning now, but let us continue our tour." + +"I am at your disposal, my dear Warren," said Georgia, with a smile and +a sigh. "As you say, after all, a year more or less will not make a +great deal of difference, and I am particularly anxious to continue our +tour. Therefore, _mon frere_, do with me as you will." + +With an account of that tour, dearest reader, I will not weary your +patience--already, I fear, too much taxed. All "grand tours" are +alike--the same sights are seen, the same incidents occur, the same +scenery and pictures are looked at and gone into raptures over, and the +same people are met everywhere. The summer was spent traveling slowly +through France and Germany, and the winter was passed in Italy. Early in +the spring they visited Switzerland; and, almost imperceptibly, two +years passed away. + +And where, meanwhile, was he whose willful blindness and haughty pride +had brought on his own desolation? Where was he, widowed in fate though +not in fact?--where was Richmond Wildair? + +Home again, drowning thought and his intolerable remorse in the giddy +whirl of political life. He had returned in time to close his mother's +eyes, and hear her last words--a wild appeal for Georgia, the wronged +Georgia, to forgive her. And then, with all the power of his mighty +intellect, he had given himself up to the life he had chosen, that life +for which Heaven and nature had so well qualified him--a great +legislator--and that life became to him wife, and home, and all. Already +he had taken his seat in the Senate, and, though perhaps the youngest +there, stood foremost among them all, crowned with his lofty genius as +with a diadem. The knowing ones whispered that at the next election he +was certain of becoming Governor of his native State, and certainly, as +far as popularity went, there could be little doubt of it. Never was +there a young statesman, perhaps, who in so short a time had risen so +rapidly to distinction, and won such "golden opinions" from all sorts of +people. + +Of almost all concerning his wife he was profoundly ignorant. One thing +he knew, and that was that she, and no other, had painted the wonderful +picture about which the artistic world was still raving. Hagar, in her +mighty grief and dark despair, the wild, woeful, anguished form writhing +yet majestic in her great wrongs, was Georgia as he had seen her last. +And, as if to make conviction doubly sure, the picture bore her +initials. One consolation it brought to him, and that was that she still +lived. Every effort in human power he had made to discover her, but all +he could succeed in learning was that a tall, dark, majestic-looking +lady, bearing the name of Miss Randall, had received the prize; but +nothing more was known of her. Then he sought for her brother, and heard +he had gone to Europe, but whether alone or not he could not discover. A +score of times within the day would Dick Curtis be on the point of +telling him all, until the recollection of his promise would stop him, +and he would inwardly fume at not having made a mental reservation at +the time. Still, these tortures of doubt, and uncertainty, and hope, and +despair served Richmond just exactly right, he argued, and would teach +him, if he ever did find Georgia, to treat her better for the future. + +And so, while Georgia was roaming over the world, Richmond was rising to +still higher fame and eminence in his native land; and neither dreamed +how each had searched, and sought, and sorrowed in vain for the other. + + + + +CHAPTER XXIV. + +AT LAST! + + "And there was light around her brow, + A holiness in those dark eyes, + Which showed, though wandering earthward now, + Her spirit's home was in the skies." + + +Two years had passed and gone. + +It was drawing toward sunset of a clear, bright, breezy day, when a +crowd of people "might have been seen," and were seen, too, hurrying +down to one of the wharves of B----, to watch the arrival of the steamer +from Europe. Throngs of people who had friends on board came trooping +down, and watched with eager eyes the stately vessel as it smoked and +puffed its way, like an apoplectic alderman, to the shore. + +Among these lounged a young man, good-looking and fashionably dressed, +and evidently got up regardless of expense. There was a certain air of +self-complacency about him, as he stroked a pair of most desirable +curling whiskers, that said, as plainly as words, he was "somebody," and +knew it. Another young republican, puffing a cigar, stood beside him, +and both were watching, with the careless nonchalance of sovereigns in +their own right, the throng of foreigners that stood on the steamer's +deck. + +"A crowd there--rather!" remarked the hero of the cigar, as he +fastidiously held it between his finger and thumb and knocked the ashes +off the end. "Our European brethren have arrived in time to see the +elephant to good advantage. Young America will be out in great force +to-night." + +"To cheer the new governor--ye-es," drawled the other, as he, too, +lighted a cigar, and began smoking like a living Vesuvius. + +"What a thing it is to be the people's favorite--a man of the people, +that style of thing, you know--isn't it, Curtis?" said the first +speaker. + +"I believe you!" said Mr. Curtis, emphatically, for our old friend it +was. "It is the sovereign people's pleasure to go mad about their +favorite just now, and, like spoiled children, they must be humored. +What a thing the mob is, to be sure! They would shout as heartily and +with as good a will if Wildair were to be hung to-night as inaugurated. +Since the days when they shouted 'Crucify Him! crucify Him! Release unto +us Barrabas!' they have remained unchanged." + +"I hope you don't mean to insinuate that there is any resemblance +between the Jewish malefactor and the American governor--eh, Curtis?" +said his friend, laughing. + +"By no means, Captain Arlingford. Wildair deserves his popularity; he is +a great statesman, a real friend of his admirers, the people, and with +genius enough to steer the whole republic himself. He has fought his way +up; he has fought for equal rights, liberty, fraternity, equality--the +French dodge, you know--and deserves to be what he is, the people's +idol. Never in this good Yankee town was a new governor greeted so +enthusiastically; never did the mob shout themselves hoarse with such a +right good will. By Jove! I envied him to-day, as he stood on the +balcony of the hotel, with his hat off, while the sea of human beings +below shouted and shouted, until they could shout no longer. It was a +reception fit for a king; and never did a king look more kingly and +noble than at that moment of triumph did he." + +Captain Arlingford laughed. + +"Whew! there's enthusiasm for you! My sober, steady-headed friend, Dick +Curtis, starting off in this manner, and longing for public popularity! +I confess I should like to have witnessed his triumphal entry to-day +though. I have heard that the ladies absolutely buried him alive in the +showers of bouquets from the windows." + +"Didn't they!" said Mr. Curtis laughing at the recollection. "As his +secretary, I sat in the carriage with him, and, 'pon my honor, I was +half smothered under the load of fragrant favors. Such a waving of +cambric handkerchiefs, too, and how the crowd doffed their hats and +hurrahed! It excites me even yet to think of it; but there sat Wildair +touching his chapeau, and bowing right and left, 'with that easy grace +that wins all hearts,' to quote our friend and your admirer, Miss +Harper, a little." + +"That last bill about the people's rights did the business for him," +said Captain Arlingford, meditatively; "what a strong case he made out +in their favor, and what an excitement it created! Well, it's a famous +thing to be clever, after all; I knew it was in him, but it might never +have come out so forcibly, had it not been for that loss of his two +years ago. And it appears _she_ is a genius too. To think she should +have painted that blood-chilling picture of Hagar, and found a brother +in that poet, Randall. Don't things turn up strangely, Curtis? I wonder +where she has gone, and if she will ever come back." + +"Don't know! Like as not," said Mr. Curtis, sententiously. + +"Splendid-looking girl she was, wasn't she, Curtis?" continued +Arlingford, pursuing his own train of thought. + +"Magnificent eyes, a step like an empress, and the smile of an angel." + +"Come, don't draw it quite so steep, my gallient saileur boy," said +Curtis; "recollect you're speaking of another man's wife, and that man +not a common mortal either, but the Governor of B---- and future +President of these Benighted States. Besides, what would Miss Harper +say?" + +"Miss Harper be--hanged!" exclaimed Arlingford, with such impatient +vehemence that Curtis laughed; "that's enough about her. Are you going +to the inauguration ball to-night?" + +"Of course--what a question! Do you think they could have a ball fit to +be seen without the presence of the irresistible, the fascinating +Richard Curtis, Esq., to keep it moving? Do you think any lady as is a +lady would enjoy herself if I was absent? Echo answers, 'Of course, they +wouldn't;' so don't harrow my feelings again by such another question." + +"Well, I see humanity and vanity are not among your failings. I suppose +all the _elite_ of the city will be there?" + +"You had better believe it. The _creme de la creme_ of B----. All the +beauty, and wit, and gallantry of the city, as the newspapers have it. I +have engaged with the editor of the _Sky Rocket_ to write him an account +of the sayings and doings, for a 'consideration,' as the delicate phrase +goes, which, being translated from the original Hebrew, means that he +will puff our party on every occasion and no occasion, and if you don't +see 'among the guests was the gallant young Captain A----, U. S. N., who +paid during the evening the most marked attention to the lovely and +accomplished Miss H----, whom it is whispered he is about to lead to the +hymeneal altar----' Hello! stop that! I say, Arlingford, don't choke a +fellow!" + +"Confound you!" said Captain Arlingford, catching him by the collar, and +fairly shaking the cigar out of his mouth; "will you forever continue +harping on that string? I say, let's get out of this; I hate to make one +in a crowd." + +"No; wait," said Curtis, laughing and adjusting his ruffled plumage. "I +want to see if there is any one I know on board the steamer; I expect +some friends. Here come the passengers. What a wretched, sea-sick, +sea-green-looking set. The amount of contempt I have for the ocean is +something appalling." + +"You had better mind how you express it before me," said Captain +Arlingford, decidedly. "I--but look there, Curtis, at that lady! Oh, ye +gods and little fishes! what a Juno! Eh? how? what? By the Lord Harry, +Curtis!" he exclaimed, springing up excitedly, as the lady in question +turned her face fully toward them; "if ever I saw Mrs. Georgia Wildair +in my life, there she stands!" + +"Where? where? where?" fairly shouted Curtis, catching him by the arm, +and staring round in an excitement far surpassing his own. "Where? +which? when?" + +"Whither? why? wherefore?" said Arlingford, laughing in spite of his +surprise and excitement. "_There_, man alive! don't you see? That tall +lady in black on the deck beside that intensely foreign-looking young +gentleman. Why, where are your eyes? don't you see?" + +"I see! I see! It's she! Hip, hip, hurrah!" shouted Mr. Curtis, waving +his hat, and electrifying the crowd around him, and then, before Captain +Arlingford knew what he was about, he darted off, played in and out +through the crowd, dug his elbows into the ribs of all around him, and +so forced his way aboard the steamer, amid the stifled shrieks and +groans, and curses of his victims. + +"That's what you call a summary proceeding," said Captain Arlingford, +laughing; "what a living galvanic battery that fellow is--a +broad-clothed barrel of gunpowder; touch him and off he goes! Well, +here's to follow his example." + +So saying, but in a less impetuous manner, he made his way through the +throng to where stood a lady, "beautiful exceedingly," and dressed +entirely in black, after the fashion of the Spanish Creoles, for one of +whom, in her dark, rich beauty, she might easily have been mistaken. + +"Mrs. Wildair! Good gracious, Mrs. Wildair, how _do_ you do?" exclaimed +a breathless voice. "To think that you should come this day of all days! +Oh, scissors! Well, I _am_ glad to see you! Upon my word and honor, I +am." + +"Mr. Curtis!" exclaimed the lady, with a little cry of surprise and +delight. "Why, what an unexpected pleasure to meet _you_ here! Dear Mr. +Curtis, how glad I am to see you!" + +"So am I, just as glad!" said Mr. Curtis, seizing the little hand she +extended, and wringing it until she winced. "Good gracious! to think of +it. How _do_ you do? Well, if it isn't the most unexpected--to think +that you should come home to-day of all days! Good gra---- Hey? what +now?" + +A vigorous slap on the shoulder that staggered him, as well it might, +had jerked the last words out of him, and turning fiercely round, he saw +the laughing face of the lady's companion turned toward him. + +"Why, Curtis, old fellow, have you a greeting for no one but Georgia? +Come, you have shook her hand long enough; try mine now." + +"Randall, my boy, how goes it? Well, I _am_ glad, and no mistake. Good +gracious! what the mischief kept you so long in those barbarous foreign +parts, anyhow?" + +"Don't know, really," said Mr. Randall, laughing at his vehemence; "the +time passed almost imperceptibly. But you--what brings you here? I +thought you were in New York." + +"Well, I am not, though you mayn't believe it. Hello! Guess who this is, +Mrs. Wildair?" + +"Captain Arlingford!" exclaimed Georgia, delightedly, holding out her +hand; then, as the recollections of the past arose, the color mounted +for an instant to her very temples. + +"Yes, marm; nothing shorter," said Curtis, rubbing his hands gleefully. +"Je-rusalem! only to think of it! Well, the astonishing way things +_will_ persist in turning up! Just to think of it. Why, it's like a +thing in a play or a novel. Now, isn't it, Arlingford?" + +"What! our coming home?" said Randall. "What do you see so extraordinary +about that, Curtis?" + +"No, it is not that," said Mr. Curtis, chuckling; "it's the remarkable +coincidence of your coming to-day of all days--not you, but your sister. +There, don't ask me now, everybody's looking--a set of ill-mannered +snipes. Arlingford, run and call a coach, there's a good boy, and I'll +tell Mrs. Wildair all about it. Good gracious! if it isn't the funniest +thing!" + +Mr. Curtis' excitement and delight, as he danced up and down, rubbing +his hands and chuckling, were so irresistible that all three, after +watching him an instant, burst into an immoderate fit of laughter, and, +beholding his look of dismayed surprise, laughed until the tears stood +in their eyes. + +"Eh! why, what the----what are you laughing at? Don't act so, don't; +everybody's looking, and they'll think you're crazy," said Mr. Curtis, +imploringly. "Wait a minute, I'll call a coach myself--you just hold +on." + +Off darted Mr. Curtis, leaving them still laughing and unable to stop, +and ere five minutes he was back, and whipped them off like a living +whirlwind--pushed them into a coach, jumped in after, and banged the +door. + +"Dixon's Hotel!" he bawled to the driver, and away they rattled over the +pavement. + +"Now we're comfortable," said Mr. Curtis, surveying them complacently, +"and, only for me, you might have stood there all night, for coaches are +in demand, and hardly to be got for love or money. Oh, Jehosaphat! just +to think of it! why it's _droll_!" said Mr. Curtis, thrusting his hands +into his pockets, and, as the absurdity of it struck him for the first +time he leaned back in the carriage, and burst into a peal of laughter +that was perfectly terrific, and from the effect of which he did not +recover until they reached the hotel. + +"It's lucky for you, in more ways than one, that you met me," said Mr. +Curtis, as he got out and offered Georgia his arm, "for the city's full, +and you wouldn't have got a room in a hotel from one end of it to the +other--no, not if you went on your two blessed, bended knees and prayed +for it. Here, these rooms were engaged for the governor and his suite, +and this is mine, and is quite at your disposal, Mrs. Wildair." + +"But, oh! Mr. Curtis, I cannot think of depriving you----" + +"There--not a word! not a word!" said Mr. Curtis, briskly, as he ushered +them into a sumptuously furnished apartment. "I'll camp with somebody +else. And now the very first thing I want you to do is to dress and come +to the ball to-night." + +"The ball! What ball?" said Georgia, in surprise. + +"Why the inauguration ball, to be sure! Oh, I forgot you did not know. +Well, then, the astonishing news is, that Mr. Richmond Wildair has this +day entered B---- as its governor! Now don't faint, Mrs. Wildair, +because I won't understand your case. And, as usual, there is to be a +ball, and I want you to come and be presented to his excellency the +governor." + +Georgia had no intention of fainting. A flush of pride, and triumph, and +delight, lit up her face, and, with the step of a queen, she arose and +paced up and down the room. + +"And so he has been elected," said Mr. Randall, thoughtfully. "I knew he +would rise rapidly." + +"What says Georgia--will you go?" + +"Yes," she said, with a radiant smile. + +"Hooray!" exclaimed Mr. Curtis; "Mrs. Wildair, you're a brick! Maybe Mr. +Wildair won't be astonished some, if not more, and a _leetle_ delighted! +It's getting dark fast, and I ought to be off to the executive mansion; +but I'll let etiquette go be hanged for once, and wait for you. You had +better have tea in your own room, Mrs. W.; sha'n't I ring? It will take +you two or three hours to dress, you know--it always does take a lady +that long, I believe. Here, my man, supper for four up here; be spry +now." + +It was impossible to be serious and watch Curtis, as he flew round +impetuously, asking a thousand questions in a breath about what they +had seen abroad, and then interrupting them in the middle of the answer +to tell them something about Richmond, that had not the slightest +bearing on the matter. + +In his excitement he found it impossible to sit still, but kept flying +round the room, rubbing his hands in an ecstacy of delight, and laughing +uproariously as he thought of the surprise in store for the young +governor. During supper he monopolized the whole conversation himself, +and kept the others in fits of laughter, while his look of innocent +astonishment at their mirth would, as Captain Arlingford said, "make a +horn-bug laugh." + +After tea the gentlemen took themselves off to dress, and Georgia's +maid, who had arrived, remained to superintend her mistress' toilet. +Those two years of absence had restored the bright bloom to Georgia's +dark face, but the old flashing light had left her dark eyes, and in its +place was a sweetness, subdued, gentle, and far more lovely. The +haughtily curling lips were tender and placid, the queenly brow calm and +serene, the dark, beautiful face almost seraphic with its look of inward +peace. Oh, far more sweet, and tender, and lovable was the Georgia of +to-day than the haughty, fiery, passionate Georgia of other years! As +she stood before the mirror, in her rich, showy robe of gold-colored +satin, under rare old point lace, with diamonds flashing in rivers of +light around her curving throat, flashing in her small ears, gleaming in +her midnight hair, and glittering and scintillating like sparks of fire +on her rounded arms and small dark fingers, she looked every inch a +princess, a "queen of noble Nature's crowning." + +And so thought the gentlemen as they entered, in full dress--in +"glorious array," as Mr. Curtis pompously said--if one might judge by +her brother's look of pride and pleasure, Captain Arlingford's glance of +intense admiration, and Mr. Curtis' burst of rapture. + +"Why, you're looking splendid, absolutely splendid, you know; something +quite stunning, Mrs. Wildair! Ah! I should like to be as good-looking as +you. I never saw you looking so well before. Now, did you, Randall?" + +"Georgia is looking her best," said Mr. Randall, smiling. + +"Looking her best! I guess so! It's astonishing how handsome women can +make themselves when they choose. Now, I might try till I was black in +the face, and still I would be the old two-and-sixpence at the end. I +wish I knew the secret. Suppose we go now; we're behind time three +quarters of an hour as it is. The carriage is waiting, Mrs. Wildair." + +"I am quite at your service, Mr. Curtis," said Georgia, flinging a shawl +over her shoulders, and trying to smile, but her heart was throbbing so +rapidly that she leaned against the table for a moment, sick and faint. + +Who, when about to meet a dear friend from whom she had been long +separated, does not feel a sort of dread mingling with her pleasure, +lest she should find him changed, altered, cold, different from what she +had known him in other years? + +So felt Georgia as she took her seat in the carriage and was whirled as +rapidly as the crowded state of the streets would admit toward the +executive mansion. Her color came and went, now that the crisis was at +hand, and the loud beating of her heart could almost be heard, as she +lay back among the cushions, trembling with excitement and conflicting +emotions. + +A gay scene the streets presented that night. Never had a governor +received such an ovation as had this young demi-god of the dear public. +Every house was illuminated from attic to basement; flags were flying; +arches had been erected for him to pass under, as if it were the +reception of a prince. Thousands of gayly dressed people thronged the +pavements, bands were out playing triumphant marches, and an immense +crowd congregated around the governor's house, watching the different +carriages as they passed, bearing their freight of magnificently dressed +ladies on their way to the ball. But not to behold them was the dense +crowd waiting, but to catch a glimpse of the young governor when he +should arrive. + +As the carriage conveying our party approached the arched gate-way of +the executive mansion it was stopped, blocked up by a crowd of other +carriages. The people had pressed before, and it was in vain they tried +to get on. Drivers swore, and shouted, and vociferated, the mob laughed +and bandied jokes, gentlemen in commanding tones gave orders that were +either unheard or impossible to be obeyed, and a perfect Babel of +confusion reigned. + +"Come, this won't do, you know," said Mr. Curtis, "we must get on +somehow. Here, you fellows," he said, thrusting his head out of the +window, "get out of the way, I want to pass. I'm the governor's +secretary, and must get on." + +A derisive laugh from a group near followed, and a voice in the crowd +inquired anxiously whether his mother had many more like him, and also +whether that venerable lady was aware that he was out. + +Mr. Curtis showed symptoms of getting into a passion at this, but his +voice was drowned in a cry from a band of loafers near, who shouted: + +"We want to see the governor! You won't pass till we see the governor!" + +There was a plain dark carriage right in front of them, and now the +glass was let down, and a clear, commanding voice, that rang out above +all the din, calmly said: + +"I am the governor! Stand aside, my friends, and let me pass!" + +That voice! Georgia half-sprang from her seat, and then fell back. + +Such a cry as arose--such a mighty shout, at the voice of their +favorite! The crowd swayed to and fro in their struggles to get near. +The driver whipped up his horses, a passage was cleared, and carriage +after carriage passed on and entered the crowded court-yard. + +"Hurrah for Wildair! Hurrah for Wildair! Hurrah! Hurrah! HURRAH for +Wildair!" shouted the crowd, till the welkin rang. + +"Hurrah for Richmond Wildair--the MAN OF THE PEOPLE!" exclaimed a loud +voice, and instantly the cry was taken up, and "Hurrah! hurrah! hurrah!" +rang out like the roar of the sea. + +And now on the balcony, clearly revealed in the light of myriads of +lamps, stood the kingly form of Richmond Wildair himself, his princely +brow uncovered, his calm, commanding face looking down on them, as a +king might on his subjects. + +And then once again arose the mighty shout, "Hurrah for Wildair! Hurrah +for Wildair! Hurrah for the Friend of the People!" until, hoarse with +shouting, the swaying multitude relapsed into silence. + +And then, clear, calm, and earnest, arose the commanding voice of their +favorite, as he addressed them. + +A dead silence fell on that great crowd the moment his first word was +heard. Short, and well chosen, and to the point, was his speech; and +hats flew off, and again and again the hoarse cheers of his listeners +interrupted him. Having thanked them for the enthusiastic reception they +had given him, he begged them to disperse for the present, and then, +having bowed once more, he retired. + +With three times three for the speaker they obeyed, and, save a few who +remained to watch the brilliantly illuminated mansion and listen to the +music of the band, the crowd soon dispersed through the thronged +streets. + +"There's popularity for you!" said Mr. Curtis, as with Georgia leaning +on his arm he entered the brilliant ball-room, blazing with lights and +crowded with splendidly attired ladies. "I should admire to see them +cheering me that way. How would it sound, I wonder? Hurrah for Curtis! +That's not bad, is it, Mrs. Wildair?" + +She did not reply--she did not hear him. Her eyes were wandering through +the glittering throng in search of one, the "bright, particular star" of +the evening. Yes, there he was, at the upper end of the room, surrounded +by a throng of the most distinguished there, bowing, and shaking hands, +and smiling, and chatting with the ladies. She strove to calm herself +and listen to what her companion was saying, but in vain, until the +mention of Richmond's name attracted her attention. + +"I won't bring you over among that crowd," he was saying; "I'll wait +till he's a little disengaged. They'll begin dancing presently, and then +the coast will be clear. Just see how everybody is looking at you and +whispering to one another. I guess they would like to know who you are +just now. Ah! what would you give to know?" said Mr. Curtis, making a +grimace at the crowd. + +And now an audible whisper might have been heard among the throng: + +"Who is she? oh, who is she?--that beautiful girl with Mr. Curtis. I +never saw her before." + +"Nor I. Nor I. Who can she be?" ran around the room. "How _distingue_ +she is! how surpassingly beautiful! and how magnificently dressed! Oh, I +must get an introduction. See, he is bringing her up now to present her +to the governor. I'll ask him to introduce me. She is certainly destined +to be the belle of the evening." + +Meantime two or three quadrilles had formed, and the group surrounding +the governor had thinned, and he was left as much alone as he was likely +to be during the evening. Leaning against a marble pillar, he stood +talking to a starred and ribboned foreigner, and when Curtis approached +with Georgia, he was so engrossed with the topic they were discussing +that he did not observe him until his voice fell on her ear. + +"Mrs. Wildair, your excellency!" said Mr. Curtis, in the most emphatic +of voices, standing right before him. + +He started up, staggered back, grew deadly pale, and grasped the marble +pillar for support. + +Yes, there before him, radiant in her beauty, with serene brow and calm +smile, stood his long-lost wife--face to face at last! + + + + +CHAPTER XXV. + +"AFTER TEARS AND WEEPING, HE POURETH IN JOYFULNESS." + + "Do not spurn me in my prayer, + For this wand'ring ever longer, evermore, + Hath overworn me, + And I know not on what shore + I may rest from my despair." + + BROWNING. + +From his pale lips dropped one word: + +"Georgia!" + +"Dearest Richmond," she said, looking up in his face with her radiant +eyes. + +"Oh, Georgia, my wronged wife, can you ever forgive me?" he cried, +passionately. + +"I have nothing to forgive, my husband," she said, sweetly. "It is I who +should be forgiven." + +"Oh, Georgia, where have you been? Do I really see you, or do I dream? +So often have I dreamed you were restored, and woke to find it a dream. +Is this a delusion like the rest?" + +"Shake hands, and see." + +She held out hers with a smile, and he took it, and gazed into her face +with a doubtful, troubled look. + +"Yes, it is Georgia; it must be she; the same, yet so different. You +never looked like this in the days gone past, Georgia." + +"I have been new-born since," she said, with a serene smile. "You shall +learn all soon, Richmond. Do you know I have come to stay now?" + +"See here, Mr. Wildair," said Curtis, giving him a poke "don't you keep +looking so; everybody's staring and whispering, and our friend here, +Whiskerando," pointing to the starred foreigner, "looks as if he thought +he had got into a lunatic asylum by mistake. You take Georgia--I mean +Mrs. Wildair--off into that conservatory, for instance, where you can +stare at her to your heart's content, and learn all the particulars +since she cut her lucky--I mean since she ran off and left you in the +lurch. Go; I know it will take you an hour, at least, to settle matters, +and beg each other's pardon, and smoke the pipe of peace, and so on; +and, meantime, as it is necessary the company should know who it is, +I'll whisper it as a great secret into the ear of the first lady I meet, +and get her to promise not to tell. There! vanish!" + +Passing his hand across his eyes, as if to dispel a mist, Richmond +offered her his arm and led her toward the conservatory, followed by the +wondering eyes of the guests. + +But Mr. Curtis had no need to tell. Miss Harper was there, and +recognized her with a suppressed shriek; and in an instant after, like +wild-fire, it ran through the room that this dark, beautiful stranger +was the mysterious wife of Mr. Wildair. + +Dancing was no longer thought of. Everybody flocked around Mr. Curtis, +and such an avalanche of questions as was showered upon him human ears +never listened to before. Had he possessed a thousand tongues he could +hardly have answered one-half. But he did not try to answer them. Mr. +Dick Curtis was a sensible young man, and never attempted +impossibilities; so he only folded his arms and looked around him +complacently, listening with the profoundest attention to all, but +answering never a word; until, at last, when quite tired and +breathless, there was a pause, he lifted up his voice and spoke: + +"Ladies and gentlemen: On the present interesting and facetious occasion +allow me to say--(ahem!)--to say----" + +[Here a voice in the crowd, that of Mr. Henry Gleason, if you remember +that young gentleman, reader, interrupted with, "You _have_ said it! +Push along, old boy!"] + +"To say," pursued Mr. Curtis, casting a withering glance at the speaker, +"as that very polite youth, whoever he may be, has falsely informed you +I have already said, that Mr. Wildair, his excellency," said Mr. Curtis, +with a dignified wave of his hand, "has commissioned me to say--I beg +your pardon, sir; you're standing on that lady's dress--to say that the +lady you beheld this evening is his wife, who has been indulging in a +little trip to Europe with his--(ahem!)--full approbation, while he was +seeing after the great, glorious, and immortal Union in Washington, and +scattering political oats--to use a figure of speech--before that +tremendous bird, the American eagle; and the lady arriving quite +promiscuously, if I may be allowed so strong an expression, he was +slightly surprised to see her--(ahem!)--as you all perceived, and has +just gone to have a little friendly chat with her over family matters +and kitchen cabinet affairs generally. And so, ladies and gentlemen," +concluded Mr. Curtis, laying his kid glove on his heart and bowing +gracefully, "I hope his temporary absence will not plunge you into _too_ +deep affliction, or cause you to feel too dreadfully cut up, but that +you will set seriously to work and enjoy yourselves, while I represent +his excellency, and during his absence receive your homage. And to +conclude, in the words of Demosthenes, the great Latin poet, who +beautifully observes, '_E Pluribus Unum_,' a remark which I hope none of +you will consider personal, for I solemnly assure you it was not meant +to be, as I haven't the remotest idea of what it means. If any further +particulars are needed," said Mr. Curtis, drawing himself up, and +casting another glance of withering scorn upon Mr. Henry Gleason, "I +must refer you to the young gentleman who was good enough to interrupt +me, and who stands there now, a mark for the finger of scorn to poke fun +at. Ladies and gentleman, I have spoken! Long may it wave." + +And with this last "neat and appropriate" quotation, Mr. Curtis bowed +and blushingly retired, leaving his audience in convulsions of laughter, +for his unspeakably droll look and solemn tone no pen can describe. It +had the good effect, however, of diverting their attention from Mr. +Wildair and his wife for the present; and Mr. Curtis the center of a +laughing group, while his own face maintained its expression of most +doleful gravity, became for the time being the lion of the hour. With +edifying meekness did Mr. Curtis stand, "his blushing honors thick upon +him," until getting rather tired of it, he made a signal to the band to +strike up, and selecting Miss Arlingford for his partner, a quadrille +was formed and dancing commenced with real earnestness, and the business +of the evening might be said to have begun. + +But when an hour passed and the lady whose _entree_ had created such a +sensation did not appear, impatient glances began to be cast toward the +conservatory, and petulant whispers to circulate, and pouting lips +wondered why they did not come. In vain Mr. Curtis was "funny;" his +popularity was waning as fast as it had risen, and it was all a waste of +ammunition. His jokes were unattended to, his puns were unlaughed at, +his most dolorous looks had no effect on the risibles of any, except +those who had a _very_ keen sense of the ludicrous. At last, in disgust +at the fickleness of public favor, he got dignified and imposing, and +_that_ had the effect of making sundry compressed lips smile right out +loud, but it is uncertain whether even this would have lasted any time +had not, suddenly, Richmond Wildair appeared with his wife leaning on +his arm. + +In an instant a profound hush of expectation reigned throughout the +room; the music instantaneously stopped; the dancers one and all paused, +and every eye was bent upon them. A low, respectful murmur of admiration +ran round the room at her queen-like beauty, but it lasted only an +instant, and all was again still. + +"My friends," said the clear, powerful voice that a short time before +had dispersed the surging crowd, "this lady, as you are all probably +aware, is my wife. There is not one here who has not heard a thousand +vague, floating rumors why we were separated, and now I feel it +necessary to say a few words of explanation, and silence the tongue of +scandal forever. A misunderstanding, slight and unimportant at first, +such as will arise at times in all families, was the cause. No blame, +not the faintest shadow of blame, attaches to this lady; if blame there +be, it solely belongs to me. A mutual explanation and a perfect +reconciliation have ensued, and if any one for the future shall canvass +the motives which caused us for a brief time to part, I will consider +that person my willful enemy. Ladies and gentlemen, let this pleasant +but unexpected incident not interfere with the amusements of the +evening, and as example is better than precept, I shall join you. Come, +Georgia." + +He motioned to the musicians, and the dancers again formed, with Mr. and +Mrs. Wildair at their head. And then, when the quadrille was ended, all +came flocking round to be presented to his beautiful wife, whose +Juno-like beauty and grace was the theme of every tongue. And for the +remainder of the evening "all went merry as a marriage bell." If +anything were wanting to add _eclat_ to the inauguration of the new +governor this supplied it, and every one grew perfectly enthusiastic +about the gifted young statesman and his beautiful wife. So romantic and +mysterious as it all was, "just like something in a play or a novel," as +Mr. Curtis said, that the excitement it created was perfectly unheard +of, and when the ball broke up and the company dispersed, in the "wee +sma' hours ayont the twal," they even forgot they were sleepy and tired, +and talked away of the unexpected _denouement_, and electrified their +friends when they got home with the wonderful news. + + * * * * * + +"And now, Georgia," said Richmond, "tell me what has changed you so. I +can scarcely tell how it is, but it seems as if you were the Georgia I +once knew etherealized--the spiritual essence of Georgia Darrell; as if +you had cast off a slough and stepped forth radiant, serene, seraphic." + +"Flatterer!" said Georgia, smiling, yet serious, too. "But oh, Richmond! +I fear you will be angry when I tell you." + +"Angry at anything that has made you just what _I_ wanted, just what _I_ +tried to make you and failed! Not I, Georgia. Tell me what elixir of +happiness and inward joy have you found." + +"One without price, and yet one free to all--to the king and to the +beggar alike." + +"And yet hitherto it has been beyond my reach. Tell me what it is, sweet +wife, that I may drink and live, too." + +"Oh, Richmond, if you would--if you _only_ would!" she said, catching +her breath. + +"Why should I not? Name it, Georgia." + +"It is called _Faith_, Richmond." + +He looked up reverentially, and his face was very grave. + +"I think I know; and yet, hitherto it has been only a word to me. I have +seen it personified in two--in your little friend Emily, and in--" + +He paused and his face worked. + +"In whom, Richmond?" + +"In Charley. Oh, Charley! oh, my brother!" he cried, in passionate tones +as he began pacing rapidly up and down. + +The irrepressible cry reminded Georgia of that other day long ago when +he had received the letter in which he learned all. At the mention of +that name, Georgia too rose, pale and trembling, from her seat. + +"And have you seen him? Oh, Richmond! have you seen him?" + +"Yes," he said, hoarsely. + +"And where is he? Richmond--oh, Richmond, do not look so! Charley, your +brother--where is he, Richmond?" + +"In heaven, Georgia." + +She fell back in her seat, and covered her face with her hands. + +"Dead! Oh, Charley! and I not there!" she cried, while her tears fell +fast. + +"Weep not, Georgia," said Richmond, gently removing her hands; "his +death was the death of the just. May my last end be like unto his." + +But still she wept hot, gushing tears that would not be stayed--tears +that fell, not wildly, but that came from the heart, and were sanctified +to the memory of the early dead. At last-- + +"Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord," she softly murmured, lifting +her pale face; "God be merciful to his soul! Dear Charley!" + +"He died like a saint, Georgia; he expired like a child falling asleep +in his mother's arms, with a smile on his lips; death had no terror for +him." + +"Were you with him, Richmond?" + +"Yes--thank God! Oh, Georgia, I had hardened my heart against him, and +yet when I would pass him on the street--I did often pass him, +Georgia--every feeling in my heart would be stirred, and no words can +tell how I would yearn for him, my own, my only brother. I saw he was +dying day by day, and yet pride--that curse, that bane that has dogged +me like an evil spirit from childhood up--would not let me step over the +barrier I myself had raised, and sue for forgiveness. At last came the +news that he was sick unto death, and then I could hold out no longer. I +went, Georgia--went in time to hear him forgive me, and to see him die. +Oh, Georgia, I shall never forget it--never! Oh, Charley, my gay, +thoughtless, light-hearted brother! to think you should be lying in that +far-off church-yard, cold and dead." + +"Grieve not, my husband," said Georgia, earnestly, as she laid her hand +on his, "but look forward to a happy meeting in heaven. And now of +others--your mother, Richmond?" + +"Is dead, too. Oh, Georgia, she wronged you. Can you ever forgive her?" + +"Yes, as freely and fully as I hope to be forgiven. May she rest in +peace! And your cousin, Richmond." + +She smiled slightly, and Richmond met her bright glance with a sort of +honest shame. + +"I feel like going down on my knees to you, Georgia, when _that_ name is +mentioned. She is well--or was when I saw her last--and safely married." + +"Indeed! To whom, pray?" + +Richmond laughed. + +"Do you remember Mr. Lester, of foppish memory, who made one of that +party to Richmond House two years ago--'Aw, weally such a boah'"--and +Richmond mimicked him to perfection. + +"What a shame!" said Georgia, laughing; "of course I remember him. Is it +possible she has married that little dandy?" + +"That she has, and a precious life she leads him, if all Curtis says be +true, for I never go there myself. The gray mare in that stable is +decidedly the better horse." + +"So I should imagine. But where is Miss Reid? Mr. Lester used to be +tender in that quarter, if I remember right." + +"Oh, yes: but she married Gleason--Lieutenant Gleason, you know. That +gallant officer proposed, and Miss Reid found it too much trouble to +refuse, so she became Mrs. Gleason the second." + +"Well, I wish them joy, all. How strangely things turn out in this +world, don't they, Richmond?" + +"Why, yes," said Richmond, laughingly, "rather so--your finding that +unexpected brother, for instance. But you don't ask for your old friends +in Burnfield--have you forgotten them, Georgia?" + + + + +"Forgotten them! Oh, Richmond." + +"Well, don't look so reproachfully; you know I didn't mean it. You want +to go and see them, I suppose?" + +"Oh, indeed I do. Dear Miss Jerusha, and dear little Emily, and----" + +"Dear little Betsey Periwinkle," interposed Richmond. + +"Yes; just so," said Georgia, resolutely; "a really good friend of mine +was Betsey, and very intimate we were. Yes, I want to see them all; when +will you take me there, Richmond?" + +"In one week from this, Georgia; I cannot get away before; and then, +with your brother, we will make a pilgrimage to Burnfield, and you can +look once more at the 'auld hoose at hame.' You will have to go down on +your knees and intercede for me with Miss Jerusha, or she will never +forgive me for the way I behaved to her darling." + +"Oh, how I long to go back there again! Now that the time is near, I +feel twice as impatient as I did before. A whole week! I wonder if it +will ever pass." + +But it did pass, and another, too, and busy weeks they were with the +governor and his lady. The nine days' wonder of her appearance had +scarcely yet passed away when Mr. and Mrs. Wildair and Mr. Randall left +B----, en route for the little "one-horse" town of Burnfield. + +A fairer day never came out of the sky than the one that heralded +Georgia's return to Burnfield--dear old Burnfield! fairer in her eyes +than Florence, the beautiful, brighter than Rome, the imperial, for her +home was there. Nothing was changed. There stood Richmond House, the +pride and boast of the town still, there was the pleasant home of Emily +Murray, there was the old school-house where her stormy girlhood had +been spent. + +As she gazed, she lay back amid the cushions of the carriage and put her +hand before her face, that they might not see how deeply she was moved. +Her brother looked out with mingled interest and curiosity, and with a +dim recollection of the few wretched days and nights he had passed here. +Richmond looked on the familiar objects with mingled gladness and +remorse, and recollected, with many strange emotions, that the last time +he had entered Burnfield it had been with his bride, as they returned +from their brief city tour. Only two years since then, and what changes +had taken place! Mr. Dick Curtis, who had insisted on making one of +their party, and positively refused to take no for an answer, was of +them all the only one perfectly unmoved, and sat looking at the familiar +landmarks as they drove past, with a face of grave approval. + +"Fine place, sir--fine place," said Mr. Curtis, with a wave of his hand; +"considerable of a town is Burnfield, eh, Randall? Not equal to Paris, +you know, or Lapland, or the great St. Bernard, or any of the other +tremendous cities, but a pretty tall place considering, and a real, +genuine Yankee town. And then the produce--I defy the world to raise +such girls, and boys, and pumpkins as they do in Burnfield. I defy 'em +to do it, sir! Look at that young lady there, in the pink sun-bonnet and +red cheeks, round as a cask of lager beer, and sweet as a cart-load of +summer cherries--there's a specimen of American ingenuity for you! Could +they surpass that in Constantinople or the city of Dublin, or any other +distant or impossible region? No, sir; they couldn't. I defy 'em to do +it, sir! Yes, I repeat it," said Mr. Curtis, striking his knee with his +hand, and glaring round ferociously at the company generally, "I defy +'em to do it, sir." + +Mr. Curtis was as fierce as an African lion, so everybody immediately +settled down and looked serious. + +"The notion," said Mr. Curtis, folding his arms and surveying his three +companions in haughty disgust, "that they can raise as good-looking +people in any other quarter of the world as they can in these here +blessed United States. Look at me now," said Mr. Curtis, drawing himself +up till his suspenders snapped, "_I'm_ a specimen! Mr. Randall, my young +friend, you have traveled, you have crossed that small pond, the +Atlantic, and have become personally acquainted with all the great guns +of Europe, from the Hottentots of Portugal to the people of 'that +beautiful city called Cork,' and now I ask you as an enlightened citizen +and fellow sinner, did you ever, in all your wanderings, clap your two +eyes on a better-looking young man than the individual now addressing +you? Don't answer hastily--take time for reflection. You know you +didn't--you know you didn't; the thing's impossible." + +"Mr. Curtis must be the best judge of his own surpassing beauty," said +Mr. Randall, politely; "if he will hold me excused, I would rather not +give an opinion on the subject." + +"Welcome to Richmond House," said Mr. Wildair, as the carriage rolled up +the avenue. "And now, gentlemen, I will leave you here for the present, +while Mrs. Wildair goes to see her former guardian, Miss Jerusha Skamp." + +"Perhaps I had better go alone, Richmond," said Georgia, hesitatingly. +"Our first meeting----" + +"Had better be unwitnessed; that is true enough," said Richmond. "Well, +John will drive you down. Shall I call for you in person?" + +"If Miss Jerusha consents to forgive you, I shall send for you, if Fly +is still in the land of the living," said Georgia, smiling. "Good-by, +gentlemen;" and kissing her hand, and laughing at Mr. Curtis, who nearly +turned a somerset in his profound genuflexion, she was whirled away +toward the cottage. + +Yes, there it stood still, the same old brown, low-roofed little +homestead. How different was this visit to it to what had been her last. +There was her own little room under the roof, and there, in the broad +window-sill, basking in the broader sunshine, lay Betsey Periwinkle and +one of her numerous family, lazily blinking their sleepy eyes. + +Georgia's heart beat fast as she leaped out of the carriage and walked +slowly toward the house. Gathering the sweeping folds of her purple +satin dress in one hand, she rapped timidly, faltering at the door. + +It was opened by Fly--yes, it was Fly, no doubt about it--who opened her +eyes and jumped back with a screech when she saw who it was. + +"Hush, Fly! How do you do?" said Georgia, tapping her black cheek. "Is +Miss Jerusha in?" + +But Fly, in her astonishment and consternation, was incapable of speech; +and smiling at her stunned look, Georgia swept past and entered the +"best room." + +There it was, still unchanged, and there, in her rocking-chair in the +chimney-corner, knitting away, sat Miss Jerusha, unchanged, too. Old +Father Time seemed to have no power over her iron frame. She did not +hear Georgia's noiseless entrance, and it was only when a bright vision +in glittering robes of silk and velvet, with dark tearful eyes and sadly +smiling lips, knelt at her feet, and two white youthful arms, with gold +bracelets flashing thereon, encircled her waist, and a sweet, vibrating +voice softly murmured, "Dear, dear, Miss Jerusha," that she looked up. + +Looked up, with a wild cry, and half arose, then fell back in her seat, +and flinging her arms round her neck, fell on her shoulder with one loud +passionate cry of "Georgia! Georgia!" + + + + +CHAPTER XXVI. + +"LAST SCENE OF ALL." + + "I have seen one whose eloquence commanding, + Roused the rich echoes of the human breast; + The blandishments of wealth and ease withstanding, + That hope might reach the suffering and oppressed. + + "And by his side there moved a form of beauty, + Strewing sweet flowers along his path of life, + And looking up with meek and love-bent duty-- + I called her angel, but he called her wife." + + ANON. + +Long and cool lay the shadows on the grass, one by one the bright, +beautiful stars arose in the sky, up and up sailed the "lady moon," +smiling down with her serene face on the trio sitting in the moonlight +in the humble parlor of that little cot by the sea. + +No light but that of the cloudless moon, no light but the beaming +glances from eyes bright with joy--no other light was needed. By Miss +Jerusha's side sat Georgia--not Georgia, the radiant vision of the +ball-room, Juno-like in her queenly beauty, but the humble, gentle +loving girl, meek in her great happiness. One wrinkled yellow hand of +the venerable spinster lay in the small dark hands blazing with gems, +and held them fast as if she would have held them there forever, while +her eyes never for an instant wandered from the sweet smiling face. + +And at Georgia's feet knelt another--a vision in robes snowy white, with +the sweetest, fairest face ever sun shone or moon beamed on--one who +looked like a stray seraph in her white garments, and floating golden +curls, and sweet, beautiful violet eyes. Dear little Emily Murray, +sweeter and fairer than ever she looked nestling there, crying and +laughing together, and clinging to Georgia as though she would never let +her go again. + +"And to think you should have seen so much, and come through such +strange scenes!" sobbed Emily, laughing at the same time; "to think you +should have found a brother, and traveled all over Europe, and then come +back and found yourself the wife of the greatest man of the age! Oh, +dear me!" said little Emily, laughing and swallowing a sob, "it is _so_ +funny and _so_ strange to find our Georgia back here in the old cottage +again." + +"But it's very nice--now ain't it, Emily?" said Miss Jerusha, +complacently. + +"Nice! I guess it is," said Emily, clasping Georgia tighter. "Oh, +Georgia! I've lain awake night after night, crying and thinking about +you, and wondering what had become of you, and oh! so frightened lest +you should be dead--drowned, or frozen, or something; and in the stormy +nights all that long winter I never could sleep for fear you might be +out in the frost and cold, without a home or friends. Oh, Georgia! I did +feel so restless and miserable all that winter, for fear, while I was +warm and sheltered, you might be lying in the bleak streets cold and +dead." And little Emily sobbed. + +"Dear little Emily!" said Georgia, kissing her. + +"And, oh, it is so nice to think you have become a devout Christian," +said Emily, changing from sobbing to laughing again, "and I am _so_ +glad. Oh, dear me! how funny everything happens, to be sure. And Charley +Wildair, too," pursued Emily; "I am sure I never thought _he_ would be a +clergyman; but I am very, very glad. Oh, I am so happy," said Emily, +laughing, and squeezing Georgia's waist, "that I don't know what to do +with myself." + +"Nor me neither, I don't now, railly," said Miss Jerusha, who was the +very picture of composure. + +"Dear Miss Jerusha," said Georgia caressingly, "and won't you forgive +Richmond--he really does not merit your anger, and wants to be forgiven +and be friends with you again so much. Please do." + +"Oh, you must, Miss Jerusha, you know," said Emily, seizing her other +hand, and putting her happy little face close up to hers, "it won't do +to refuse a governor your pardon. You must forgive him, please--won't +you, Miss Jerusha?" + +"Well, now, I don't know," said Miss Jerusha, relentingly, "he did treat +you dreffully, Georgey, but----" + +"No, he didn't Miss Jerusha--just served her right," said Emily, +"Georgia was naughty, I know, and didn't behave well. There, she +forgives him--look, she's going to laugh. Oh, say yes, Miss Jerusha." + +"Well, '_yes_' then; does that please you?" said Miss Jerusha, breaking +into a grim smile. + +"Dear Miss Jerusha, accept my best thanks for that," said Georgia, with +radiant face, "and now, may I send Fly up for him to Richmond House, +that he may hear your forgiveness from your own lips?" + +"Well, yes, I s'pose so," said Miss Jerusha, rubbing her nose; "and see +here, Georgey, while you're about it, I reckon you might as well send +for that there brother o' your'n too; I turned him out o' doors once, +and while I'm forgiving that there graceless husband o' your'n, I guess +I'll get him to forgive _me_." + +Georgia laughed, and went out to the kitchen to despatch Fly off on the +errand. + +"Perhaps I had better go," said Emily, timidly, "I--I think I'd rather. +It's so long since I met Mr. Wildair that I don't like to now." + +"Pooh, nonsense," said Georgia laughing, "don't like to meet Mr. +Wildair, indeed! Not a step shall you go until they come, and besides, I +want to make you acquainted with my poet brother, who is a handsome +fellow!" and Georgia's eyes sparkled. + +"Does he look like you, Georgia?" said Emily, meditatively. + +"Not a bit; better looking," smiled Georgia. "And oh, Em, there's a +particular friend of yours up at the hall, a certain Mr. Curtis, if you +remember him." + +"He's not a particular friend of mine," said Emily, pouting and +blushing. "I don't know anything about him. I wish he hadn't come." + +"How flattered he would feel if he heard that. You refused him, didn't +you, Emily?" + +"Oh, Georgia, don't tease," said Emily, springing up and turning half +pettishly away. + +Georgia laughed, and silence for awhile fell on all three, broken at +last by the sound of carriage wheels, and the next moment two tall +gentleman stood in the little moonlit parlor with their hats off, and +one of them stepping up to Miss Jerusha, extended his hand, and said, +with a smile: + +"Well, Miss Jerusha, am I forgiven at last?" + +There was no resisting that frank tone and pleasant smile. Miss Jerusha +looked meditatively at his proffered hand a moment, and then grasped it +with an energy that made the governor of B---- wince, as she exclaimed: + +"Well now, I railly don't think I ought, but Georgey says I shall hev +to, and I s'pose I've got to mind her. Mr. Wildair, how d'ye du? I'm +rail glad to hear they've made a governor of you, and I hope you'll +behave better for the future, and be good to Georgey." + +"I shall certainly try to; but, Miss Jerusha, I was almost as much +sinned against as sinning. That malicious little cousin of mine, you +know----" + +"Oh, I know; Georgey told me. Well, she won't interfere again, I +reckon--a impident little whipper-snapper, speaking as sassy to Georgey +as if she was mistress herself, and allers grinnin' like a chessy cat." + +"And has Miss Jerusha no greeting for me? Has she forgotten the little +boy who paid her a visit one stormy Christmas eve long ago?" said +Warren, as he advanced smilingly, shaking back his dark, clustering +hair. + +"My conscience! you ain't he, are you? Tall as a flagstaff, I declare! +Forget you--no I guess I don't. I did behave most dreadfully that night +to turn you out; but gracious! I knew you wouldn't freeze or nothin', +and neither you did, you see." + +"No I am frost-proof," said Warren, laughing; "but I owe you a long debt +of gratitude for the care you took of this wild sister of mine all those +years, Miss Jerusha. Come," he said, extending his hand, "we shall be +good friends now, shall we not?" + +"That we shall," said Miss Jerusha, cordially shaking the hand he +extended. "My, to think the little feller I turned out that night should +come back sich a six-footer, and rail good-looking, too, now ain't he, +Emily? Why, you weren't the size of a well-grown doughnut then, you +know. Good gracious! jist to think how funny things _will_ turn out. +'Clare to man, if it ain't the queerest world I ever heerd tell of!" + +Miss Jerusha wiped her spectacles meditatively, and gave a small, +mottled kitten who came purring round her a thoughtful kick. + +"Hallo!" said Richmond, picking it up. "One of Betsey Periwinkle's. How +is that intelligent domestic quadruped, Miss Jerusha? She and I used to +be tremendous friends long ago, you know." + +"Yes, I know; she was no ways proud, and made friends with most people," +said Miss Jerusha, complacently; "that's Betsey's youngest. She's raised +several small families since, and is beginning to fall into the old ages +o' life now. Ah, well! sich things must be expected; everybody gets old, +you know--even Betsey Periwinkle." + +Very swiftly passed that evening. It seemed as if the old happy days had +come back--those unclouded days, when no shadow of the darkness to come +had yet risen on horizon. Only one face was needed there to complete the +circle, one voice to complete the charm; but that bright young head lay +low now, the tall grass waved over that familiar face, and that clear, +spirited voice was silenced forever. Tears sprang to Miss Jerusha's hard +gray eyes, as she listened to the tale of the noble life and early +death of her light-hearted favorite, and little Emily sobbed. + +"You must give up this little cottage, Miss Jerusha," said Richmond, +before they left that evening, "and come and live with Georgia and me. +Once upon a time you admired Richmond House, and now you must make it +your home." + +"Do, Miss Jerusha! Oh, dear Miss Jerusha, do!" cried Georgia, eagerly; +"it will make me so happy to have you always near me. And you shall +bring Fly and Betsey Periwinkle and all the little Betseys, and we will +be ever so happy together." + +But Miss Jerusha shook her head. + +"Mr. Richmond, I'm obliged to you, and you, too, Georgey, but I sha'n't +leave the old homestead while I live. My father and mother, and all our +folks, since the time of the revolution long ago, hev lived and died +here, and I don't want to be the first to leave it. I can see you every +day as long as you're in Burnfield; and whether I went to live with you +or not I wouldn't go with you to the city--a noisy, nasty place! So, I +reckon I shall keep on living here; very much obliged to you both at the +same time, as I said afore." + +And from this resolution nothing could move her--no amount of coaxing +could induce her to depart from it. The laws of the Medes and Persians +might be changed, but Miss Jerusha Skamp's determination never! + +It was late when they returned to Richmond House, where they found Mr. +Curtis solacing himself with a cigar; his chair tipped back and his +heels reposing on the low marble mantel, and yawning disconsolately as +he glanced drearily over the _Burnfield Recorder_. + +"Got back, have you?" he said, looking up as our party entered; "and +time, I should say. What precious soft seats your excellency and the +rest of you must have found in Miss Jerusha's. Quarter to twelve, as I +am a sinner! I wonder Miss Skamp didn't turn you out. How is that +ancient vestal?" + +"In excellent health," replied Richmond, throwing himself on a lounge, +"and perfectly unchanged since you saw her last. By the way, there was a +young friend of yours there, Dick." + +"Ah, was there?" said Mr. Curtis, twisting round suddenly in his chair, +and turning very red. "Aw--Bob Thompson, I daresay." + +"Yes, if Bob Thompson is five feet three inches high, and has blue eyes, +pink cheeks, yellow curls, and white forehead, ditto a dress, and is in +the habit of wearing gold bracelets, and answering to the pretty name of +Emily." + +"Ah--Miss Murray," said Mr. Curtis, thrusting his hands abruptly into +his pockets, and beginning, without the smallest provocation, to whistle +violently. "Nice little girl! How is _she_?" + +"Ask Randall," said Richmond, with a slight laugh and a malicious glance +toward the gentleman in question. "He had Emily pretty much to himself +all the evening--took summary possession of the young lady, and the +moment he was introduced began to be as fascinating as he knew how. +Irresistible people are poets. Ask _him_." + +Instead of asking him, however, Mr. Curtis favored the handsome poet +with a ferocious scowl, and then, flinging away his Havana, stalked out +of the room with tragic strides that would have made his fortune on the +stage. + +Mr. Wildair laughed, and Mr. Randall looked after him with a slight +smile, but said nothing. + +One week later Georgia learned his opinion. Emily had been spending the +evening at the hall, and had just gone home. + +"What a dear little angel she is!" exclaimed Georgia; "so sweet, so +good, so gentle and loving. Her presence brightens the room the moment +she enters, like a ray of sunshine. Darling little Emily! how I love +her! I wish she were my sister." + +Warren smiled, and placing a hand lightly on either shoulder, looked +down in her flushed, enthusiastic face. + +"Belle Georgia," he said, meaningly, "_so do I_." + + * * * * * + +And now let the curtain rise once more ere it falls again forever. + +Five years have elapsed, but Burnfield and Richmond House are still the +same; a little larger, a little more noisy, a little more populous, but +nothing to speak of. The march of improvement does not get ahead very +fast there. + +There is a little brown cottage standing by the sea-shore, and sitting +in the "best room" is an elderly lady knitting away as if the fate of +kingdoms depended on it. Such a spotless best room as it is; not a speck +of dust to be seen anywhere, the very covers of the "Pilgrim's Progress" +and "Robinson Crusoe" fairly glitter with cleanliness, and it's +absolutely dangerous for a person of weak eyes to look at the chairs and +painted floor, so perfectly dazzling are they. The old lady herself, +albeit a little stiff and prim in her dress, is as bright as a new +penny, and although the said dress would at the present day be called +somewhat skimpy, it is a calico, like Joseph's coat of many colors, and +she is fairly gorgeous in it. + +A demure, well-mannered, polite animal of the feline species reposes on +a rug at her feet, and blinks a pair of intensely green eyes in the +sunshine with a look of calm, philosophical happiness beautiful to see. +Betsey Periwinkle, our early friend, has departed this life, deeply +regretted by a large and respectable circle of acquaintances, and was +buried in state at the bottom of the garden, and the one now introduced +is a descendant of that amiable animal, and as such no doubt will be +cordially welcomed. + +Out in the kitchen is a "cullud pusson" of the female persuasion, whose +black face glistens with happiness and a recent application of yellow +soap, who sits chewing gum and sewing at a new turban with a look of +contentment. + +But there is one other inmate of that best room--a stranger to you, +reader, whom I now hasten to introduce. It is a young lady of some three +years old, who goes skipping along, alternately tumbling down, and after +emitting one or two shrill yells, which she considers necessary to draw +attention to the clever way in which the fall was managed, crawls up +again and resumes her journey round the room, until she thinks proper to +undergo another upset. + +This small individual, not to be mysterious, is Miss Georgia Wildair, +eldest daughter of his excellency, Richmond Wildair, of Richmond House. +A pocket edition of our early friend Georgia she is, with the same hot, +fiery temper, but never will it lead her into such trouble as her +mother's has done, for the restraining hand of religion will hold her +back, and little Miss Wildair, the heiress, will be taught what our +Georgia never was, to "Remember her Creator in the days of her youth;" +and this little lady is the pride and darling of Miss Jerusha's heart, +and spends, while papa and mamma rusticate in Burnfield, a great deal +more of her time in the cottage than in the hall, and enjoys herself +hugely with Fly and Betsey Periwinkle. + +And now, reader, to that worthy cat, to the sable handmaiden, to the +little heiress, and to our old friend Miss Jerusha Glory Ann Skamp, you +and I must bid farewell. + +A new scene rises before us. A large and elegantly furnished parlor, +where pictures, and statuary, and curtains, and lounges, and last, but +not least, a genial fire, make everything at once graceful and +home-like. A lady, young and beautiful, but with a calm, chastened sort +of beauty, and a soft, subdued smile, sits in a low nursing-chair and +holds a baby, evidently quite a recent prize, who lies making frantic +efforts to swallow its own little, fat fists, and hitting its invisible +little nose desperate blows in the vain endeavor. This young gentleman +is Master Richmond Wildair, while in "nurse's" lap, at a little +distance, his eldest brother Master Charley, a youth of some sixteen +months, is jumping and crowing, and evidently having a heap of fun all +to himself. These manifestations of delight at last grow so obstreperous +that a handsome, stately gentleman who lies on a sofa near, reading the +paper, looks up with a smile. + +"What a noisy youth this boy of yours is, Georgia!" he says, looking at +Master Charley; "he is evidently bent on making himself heard in this +world. Come Charley, be quiet; papa can't read." + +But Charley, who had no intention of being bound over to keep the peace, +no sooner hears papa's voice than, with a crow an octave higher than any +of its predecessors, he holds out his arms and lisps: + +"Papa, tate Tarley! papa, tate Tarley!" + +"Now do put down that stupid paper, Richmond, and take poor 'Tarley,'" +says Georgia, looking up with her bright smile. "Bring him over, nurse." + +"Well, I suppose I must," Richmond says, resigning himself as a man +always must in such cases, and holding out his arms to "Tarley," who, +with an exultant crow, leaps in and immediately buries two chubby little +hands in papa's hair. "Where's Georgia?" + +"Oh, down at the cottage, of course," says the lady, laughing; "when is +Georgia ever to be found anywhere else? Dear Miss Jerusha! it does make +her so happy to have her there; so while we live in Burnfield we may as +well let her stay there." + +"Oh, certainly--certainly," replies Richmond, with tears in his eyes as +Master "Tarley" gives an unusually vigorous pull to his scalp-lock. "And +by the way, my dear, guess from whom I heard to-day?" + +"Who--Warren?" inquires Georgia eagerly. + +"No--Curtis," says his excellency, laughing. "Poor Dick's done for at +last. Miss Maggie What's-her-name Leonard, the one with the curls and +always laughing, has finished him. As the king in the play says, 'I +could have better spared a better man.'" + +"Why, you don't mean to say he has married her?" says Georgia, in +extreme surprise. "Well, I _am_ surprised. Where is he now?" + +"Off in the South for a bridal tour, and then he will return and resume +his duties as my secretary. There goes the tea-bell. Here, nurse, take +Master 'Tarley.' Come, Georgia." + +Look with me on another scene, reader. The beautiful moon rides high +over the blue Adriatic; the bright cloudless sky of glorious Italy is +overhead, that sky of which poets have sung, and artists have dreamed, +and old, sweet romancers have pictured, and gazing up at its serene +beauty with uncovered brow, stands a poet from a foreign land, with his +blue-eyed bride. You know them both; you need no introduction; you +cannot mistake them, for the lofty mien and gallant bearing of Warren, +and the soft holy blue eyes and seraphic smile of Emily are unchanged. +Some day, when they are tired wandering under the storied skies of the +old world, they will come back to the land of their birth, but you and I +will see them no more. + +On the last scene of all let the curtain rise ere it drops again +forever. + +In a sunny corner of a sunny church-yard, where the sweet wild roses +swing in the soft west wind, where trees wave and birds sing, and a +little brook near murmurs dreamily as it flows along, is a grave, with a +marble cross above, bearing the name of "Charles Wildair," and +underneath the inscription, "Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord." +Tread lightly, reader; hold your breath as you gaze. Kneel and pray in +awe, for a saint lies there. + +And now that the story is finished, I see the sagacious reader putting +on his spectacles to look for the moral. Good old soul! With the help of +a microscope he _may_ find it; may Heaven aid him in his search; but +lest he should fail, I must decamp. Reader, adieu! + + + THE END. + + + + 1885. 1885. G. W. Carleton & Co. + + NEW BOOKS AND NEW EDITIONS, RECENTLY ISSUED BY G. W. CARLETON & CO., + Publishers, 33 West 23d Street, New York. + + The Publishers, on receipt of price, will send any book on this + Catalogue by mail, _postage free_. + + All handsomely bound in cloth, with gilt backs suitable for libraries. + + + Mary J. Holmes' Novels. + + Tempest and Sunshine. $1 50 + English Orphans. 1 50 + Homestead on the Hillside. 1 50 + 'Lena Rivers. 1 50 + Meadow Brook. 1 50 + Dora Deane. 1 50 + Cousin Maude. 1 50 + Marian Grey. 1 50 + Edith Lyle. 1 50 + Daisy Thornton. 1 50 + Chateau D'Or. 1 50 + Queenie Hetherton. (New) 1 50 + Darkness and Daylight. 1 50 + Hugh Worthington. 1 50 + Cameron Pride. 1 50 + Rose Mather. 1 50 + Ethelyn's Mistake. 1 50 + Millbank. 1 50 + Edna Browning. 1 50 + West Lawn. 1 50 + Mildred. 1 50 + Forrest House. 1 50 + Madeline. (New) 1 50 + Christmas Stories--and portrait. 1 50 + + Charles Dickens--15 Vols.--"Carleton's Edition." + + Pickwick and Catalogue. $1 50 + Dombey and Son. 1 50 + Bleak House. 1 50 + Martin Chuzzlewit. 1 50 + Barnaby Rudge--Edwin Drood. 1 50 + Child's England--Miscellaneous. 1 50 + Christmas Books--Two Cities. 1 50 + Oliver Twist--Uncommercial. 1 50 + David Copperfield. 1 50 + Nicholas Nickleby. 1 50 + Little Dorrit. 1 50 + Our Mutual Friend. 1 50 + Curiosity Shop--Miscellaneous. 1 50 + Sketches by Boz--Hard Times. 1 50 + Great Expectations--Italy. 1 50 + _Full Sets_ in half calf bindings. 50 00 + + + Marion Harland's Novels. + + Alone. $1 50 + Hidden Path. 1 50 + Moss Side. 1 50 + Nemesis. 1 50 + Miriam. 1 50 + At Last. 1 50 + Sunnybank. 1 50 + Ruby's Husband. 1 50 + My Little Love. 1 50 + True as Steel. (New) 1 50 + + + Augusta J. Evans' Novels. + + Beulah. $1 75 + Macaria. 1 75 + Inez. 1 75 + St. Elmo. 2 00 + Vashti. 2 00 + Infelice. (New) 2 00 + + + Carleton's Popular Quotations. + + Carleton's New Hand Book--Familiar Quotations, + with their authorship. $1 50 + Carleton's Classical Dictionary--A + Condensed Mythology for popular use. 75 + + + May Agnes Fleming's Novels. + + Guy Earlscourt's Wife. $1 50 + A Wonderful Woman. 1 50 + A Terrible Secret. 1 50 + A Mad Marriage. 1 50 + Norine's Revenge. 1 50 + One Night's Mystery. 1 50 + Kate Danton. 1 50 + Silent and True. 1 50 + Maude Percy's Secret. (New) 1 50 + Heir of Charlton. 1 50 + Carried by Storm. 1 50 + Lost for a Woman. 1 50 + A Wife's Tragedy. 1 50 + A Changed Heart. 1 50 + Pride and Passion. 1 50 + Sharing Her Crime. 1 50 + A Wronged Wife. (New) 1 50 + + + Allan Pinkerton's Works. + + Expressmen and Detectives. $1 50 + Mollie Maguires and Detectives. 1 50 + Somnambulists and Detectives. 1 50 + Claude Melnotte and Detectives. 1 50 + Criminal Reminiscences, etc. 1 50 + Rail-Road Forger, etc. 1 50 + Bank Robbers and Detectives. 1 50 + Gypsies and Detectives. 1 50 + Spiritualists and Detectives. 1 50 + Model Town and Detectives. 1 50 + Strikers, Communists, etc. 1 50 + Mississippi Outlaws, etc. 1 50 + Bucholz and Detectives. 1 50 + Burglar's Fate and Detectives. 1 50 + + + Bertha Clay's Novels. + + Thrown on the World. $1 50 + A Bitter Atonement. 1 50 + Love Works Wonders. 1 50 + Evelyn's Folly. 1 50 + Under a Shadow. 1 50 + Beyond Pardon. (New) 1 50 + A Woman's Temptation. 1 50 + Repented at Leisure. 1 50 + A Struggle for a Ring. 1 50 + Lady Damer's Secret. 1 50 + Between Two Loves. (New) 1 50 + + + "New York Weekly" Series. + + Brownie's Triumph--Sheldon. $1 50 + The Forsaken Bride. do. 1 50 + Earl Wayne's Nobility. do. 1 50 + Lost, a Pearle-- do. 1 50 + Young Mrs. Charnleigh-Henshew. 1 50 + His Other Wife--Ashleigh. 1 50 + A Woman's Web--Maitland. 1 50 + Curse of Everleigh--Pierce. 1 50 + Peerless Cathleen--Agnew. 1 50 + Faithful Margaret--Ashmore. 1 50 + Nick Whiffles--Robinson. 1 50 + Grinder Papers--Dallas. 1 50 + Lady Leonora--Conklin. 1 50 + + + Miriam Coles Harris' Novels. + + Rutledge. $1 50 + Frank Warrington. 1 50 + Louie's Last Term, St. Mary's. 1 50 + Missy. 1 50 + A Perfect Adonis. 1 50 + The Sutherlands. 1 50 + St. Philips. 1 50 + Round Hearts for Children. 1 50 + Richard Vandermarck. 1 50 + Happy-Go-Lucky. (New) 1 50 + + + A. S. Roe's Select Stories. + + True to the Last. $1 50 + The Star and the Cloud. 1 50 + How Could He Help It? 1 50 + A Long Look Ahead. 1 50 + I've Been Thinking. 1 50 + To Love and to be Loved. 1 50 + + + Julie P. Smith's Novels. + + Widow Goldsmith's Daughter. $1 50 + Chris and Otho. 1 50 + Ten Old Maids. 1 50 + Lucy. 1 50 + His Young Wife. 1 50 + The Widower. 1 50 + The Married Belle. 1 50 + Courting and Farming. 1 50 + Kiss and be Friends. 1 50 + Blossom Bud. (New) 1 50 + + + Artemas Ward. + + Complete Comic Writings--With Biography, + Portrait and 50 illustrations. $1 50 + + + The Game of Whist. + + Pole on Whist--The English standard work. + With the "Portland Rules". $0 75 + + + Victor Hugo's Great Novel. + + Les Miserables--Translated from the French. + The only complete edition. $1 50 + + + Mrs. Hill's Cook Book. + + Mrs. A. P. Hill's New Southern Cookery Book, + and domestic receipts. $2 00 + + + Celia E. Gardner's Novels. + + Stolen Waters. (In verse) $1 50 + Broken Dreams. do. 1 50 + Compensation. do. 1 50 + A Twisted Skein. do. 1 50 + Tested. 1 50 + Rich Medway. 1 50 + A Woman's Wiles. 1 50 + Terrace Roses. 1 50 + + + + +---------------------------------------------------------------+ + | Transcriber's Note:-- | + | | + | Punctuation errors have been corrected. | + | | + | The following suspected printer's errors have been addressed. | + | | + | Page 8. cought changed to caught. | + | (caught hold of the drowsy little darkey) | + | | + | Page 34. staid changed to stayed. | + | (stayed there to get warm) | + | | + | Page 39. duplicate word 'her' deleted. | + | (I've hed twisted her neck) | + | | + | Page 42. their changed to there. | + | (there she lay) | + | | + | Page 55. peronally changed to personally. | + | (regarding myself personally) | + | | + | Page 58. disgreeable changed to disagreeable. | + | (mamma never was disagreeable) | + | | + | Page 60. started changed to stared. | + | (and stared at the little girl) | + | | + | Page 61. yon changed to you. | + | (to differ from you in that opinion) | + | | + | Page 68. wore changed to were. | + | (if they were to make me) | + | | + | Page 71. havn't changed to haven't. | + | (I haven't been fighting) | + | | + | Page 96. definant changed to defiant. | + | (one of the bright defiant flashes) | + | | + | Page 122. attemps changed to attempts. | + | (of all attempts to comb it) | + | | + | Page 132. vissions changed to visions. | + | (rainbow-tinted visions) | + | | + | Page 136. Oh changed to On. | + | (On a high rock) | + | | + | Page 139. yonng changed to young. | + | (this scornful young empress) | + | | + | Page 145. duplicate word 'old' deleted. | + | (murmuring old trees) | + | | + | Page 147. managerie changed to menagerie. | + | (set up a menagerie) | + | | + | Page 148. masket changed to market. | + | (trudge with him to market) | + | | + | Page 153. commited changed to committed. | + | (cannot have committed a crime) | + | | + | Page 158. statutes changed to statues. | + | (and statues of Hemes) | + | | + | Page 168. month changed to mouth. | + | (opened her mouth and eyes) | + | | + | Page 174. ment changed to meant. | + | (was the heiress I meant) | + | | + | Page 184. breath changed to breadth. | + | (sundry hair-breadth escapes) | + | | + | Page 202. pronouced changed to pronounced. | + | (never pronounced the letter R) | + | | + | Page 202. un changed to an. | + | (to be an unmistakeable look) | + | | + | Page 203. akward changed to awkward. | + | (breaking the awkward silence) | + | | + | Page 204. ahd changed to and. | + | (and that, in spite of) | + | | + | Page 209. Arlington changed to Arlingford. | + | (Miss Arlingford was known) | + | | + | Page 209. percieve changed to perceive. | + | (Oh, I perceive, said Mrs. Waldair) | + | | + | Page 213. you changed to your. | + | (pardon for your insane conduct) | + | | + | Page 225. exclamed changed to exclaimed. | + | (exclaimed Mrs. Waldair) | + | | + | Page 228. passed changed to past. | + | (flashed past Mrs. Wildair) | + | | + | Page 230. she changed to he. | + | (saying, as he did so) | + | | + | Page 238. whity changed to whitey. | + | (that whitey-brown complexion) | + | | + | Page 256. occured changed to occurred. | + | (if nothing had occurred) | + | | + | Page 258. be flounced changed to be-flounced. | + | (be-flounced stuck-up piece) | + | | + | Page 259. greatful changed to grateful. | + | (instead of being grateful) | + | | + | Page 269. nome changed to name. | + | (to drop his name) | + | | + | Page 271. businees changed to business. | + | (to settle business) | + | | + | Page 271. our changed to your. | + | (my answer to your advertisement) | + | | + | Page 274. foward changed to forward. | + | (she could look forward to) | + | | + | Page 288. featurers changed to features. | + | (dainty features) | + | | + | Page 290. or changed to on. | + | (as time passed on) | + | | + | Page 296. cost changed to coast. | + | (that the coast was clear) | + | | + | Page 306. throughfare changed to thoroughfare. | + | (made the public thoroughfare) | + | | + | Page 307. ows changed to owes. | + | (she owes to society) | + | | + | Page 310. ths changed to the. | + | (one of the servants) | + | | + | Page 320. Acadamy changed to Academy. | + | (the Academy of Art) | + | | + | Page 332. initals changed to initials. | + | (the initials of the artists name) | + | | + | Page 333. Hager changed to Hagar. | + | (the artist of Hagar) | + | | + | Page 336. har changed to her. | + | (laying her hand fondly) | + | | + | Page 343. feel changed to fell. | + | (and so fell asleep) | + | | + | Page 345. staid changed to stayed. | + | (if I had stayed long enough) | + | | + | Page 354. apopletic changed to apoplectic. | + | (like an apoplectic alderman) | + | | + | Page 363. supprise changed to surprise. | + | (of the surprise in store) | + | | + | Page 372. futher changed to further. | + | (if any further particulars) | + | | + | Page 373. soley changed to solely. | + | (it solely belongs to me) | + | | + | Page 387. exerybody changed to everybody. | + | (everybody gets old) | + | | + | Page 390. suushine changed to sunshine. | + | (like a ray of sunshine) | + | | + +---------------------------------------------------------------+ + + + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg's The Actress' Daughter, by May Agnes Fleming + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE ACTRESS' DAUGHTER *** + +***** This file should be named 35035.txt or 35035.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + https://www.gutenberg.org/3/5/0/3/35035/ + +Produced by Brenda Lewis, woodie4 and the Online Distributed +Proofreading Canada Team at http://www.pgdpcanada.net (This +book was produced from scanned images of public domain +material from the Google Book Search project.) + + +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. 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