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diff --git a/40405-8.txt b/40405-8.txt deleted file mode 100644 index 56cd9e0..0000000 --- a/40405-8.txt +++ /dev/null @@ -1,5562 +0,0 @@ -Project Gutenberg's Mary Seaham, Volume 1 of 3, by Elizabeth Caroline Grey - -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/license - - -Title: Mary Seaham, Volume 1 of 3 - A Novel - -Author: Elizabeth Caroline Grey - -Release Date: August 4, 2012 [EBook #40405] - -Language: English - -Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 - -*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK MARY SEAHAM, VOLUME 1 OF 3 *** - - - - -Produced by Robert Cicconetti, Mary Meehan and the Online -Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This -file was produced from images generously made available -by The Internet Archive) - - - - - - - - - - MARY SEAHAM, - A NOVEL. - - BY MRS. GREY, - - AUTHOR OF "THE GAMBLER'S WIFE," &c. &c. - - - IN THREE VOLUMES. - VOL. I. - - LONDON: - COLBURN AND CO., PUBLISHERS, - GREAT MARLBOROUGH STREET. - 1852. - - Notice is hereby given that the Publishers of this work reserve to - themselves the right of publishing a Translation in France. - - LONDON: - Printed by Schulze and Co., 13, Poland Street. - - - - -MARY SEAHAM. - - - - -CHAPTER I. - - She left her home with a bounding heart, - For the world was all before her; - And felt it scarce a pain to part, - Such sun-bright beams came o'er her. - - A. A. WATTS. - - -The wedding feast was cleared away, the guests had departed, and the -last joy peal with its varied chimes, and crashing cannons from the old -church tower was sounding musically through the mountain valley. - -Over the whole aspect of Glan Pennant was spread that air of almost -desolation, ever, more or less, succeeding an event such as had, this -day, been celebrated there. - -The very servants, to whose festive entertainment the evening had been -appropriated, whether able to carry out to the required extent the kind -intentions of their employers, or reduced by the fatigue and excitement -of the day to the condition of that establishment, Dickens has so ably -and ludicrously described, at all events suffered not their notes of -mirth to escape the precincts of their apartments. All was hushed as the -sleeping beauty's palace in the superior portion of the mansion; and if -not quite deserted, to one entering the house at the moment of this -opening chapter, it might almost have seemed that the same spell had -been cast over its inmates. - -Another moment, however, and there could have been distinguished the -quick opening and shutting of an upper chamber door, and soon down the -staircase, a young lady, divested of all bridal costume, in every day -walking attire, might be seen to glide, and passing along the oaken -passage to the door of the library, enter that apartment. A profound -stillness reigned therein, though the room was not devoid of living -occupants. - -An old gentleman had quietly yielded himself to the indulgence of an -evening nap in a maroon-coloured leather chair; whilst on an opposite -sofa an elderly lady had, it seemed, been overtaken by the same -necessity, whilst to the murmur of the summer breeze she contemplated -the satisfactory completion of the day's great event, over the large -piece of worsted work, in which, as it now lay idly at her feet, a -little terrier dog had made its nest. - -Mary Seaham looked upon this scene and smiled to herself. Her quiet -entrance had not disturbed the sleepers. It amused her perhaps for a -moment to witness a placid forgetfulness, affording so strong a -contrast to the eager bustle which had but so lately subsided. - -But her smile, not exactly sorrowful, was gentle and subdued, -harmonising entirely with the spirit of her movements, as well as with -the whole character of the scene in which she seemed to play so solitary -a part. - -The smile, however, was soon chased by a slight sigh, and softly calling -the little dog, who roused and shook itself at her summons, springing -with alacrity to obey her call, she passed through the open window, and -with a semblance of relief proceeded across the lawn, her spirit -appearing to revive with every elastic step she took, beneath the -influence of the fresh and open air. - - * * * * * - -The clock struck eight as she passed from the grounds, and skirting the -village made her way through a romantic dell, where a rapid stream -issued from a thick wood, turning the rustic mill situated at its base. - -Slowly she ascended a precipitous hill leading to a heath-clad common. -Although she had avoided the actual village, where rude attempts at -wedding decorations would have greeted her on every side, and her -appearance have attracted more notice than would have been agreeable to -her feelings just then, she did not escape, during her route, some stray -encounters; and many a curtsey, smile, and kindly word, were bestowed -upon her, by the good, simple-hearted people she met. Whilst none the -less did she prize this greeting, because with the congratulatory -expression of their countenances, something of pitying condolence might -be visible. - -The poor and humble however devoid they may be of sentiment, have often -readier sympathy for the natural feeling of humanity, than we are apt to -give them credit, and they could compassionate the poor young lady who -had acted bridesmaid to a last unmarried sister--seen that sister -carried far from home--and she left behind all alone with the old -people. - -Perhaps their compassion might extend almost further than the real state -of the case required. - -It is very sad indeed to be left behind under similar circumstances. The -void, the blank, at first experienced, is perhaps one of the most -painful of all mental affections that can be sustained. But I think -there is something almost more melancholy, in what is sooner or later -sure to follow, in more or less degree according to the tone of men's -minds or the circumstances of their position--namely, when the aching -void begins imperceptibly to assuage, the blank to fill up, and we cease -to miss, or with difficulty realize the consciousness of our -bereavement; when the strong realities and intimate associations of -years seem, as by one magic touch, obliterated, and we would fain -recall even the haunting shadows of the past, to assure us that such -things have been. - - "We cannot paint to memory's eye - The scene, the glance we dearest love, - Unchanged themselves, in us they die, - Or faint and false their shadows prove." - -But Mary Seaham was not to be subjected to any of the latter -contingencies. She, also was to depart on the morrow from the home of -many years, and it is to contemplate scenes which for a long time she -may not look upon again, that we find her hastening. - - * * * * * - -The history of Mary Seaham's present position was this: She was an -orphan, and till the return of a brother from the colonies, where he had -gone to examine into the state of some very important family property; -she was thrown, (particularly since the event celebrated that morning) -to a certain extent, alone upon the world. Even had she desired to -linger in her deserted home, the privilege was denied her. -Circumstances rendering it expedient that Glan Pennant should continue -to be let until the final settlement of her brother's affairs, and the -Great uncle and aunt who had hitherto rented the place from their -nephew, and at the same time filled the office of affectionate guardians -to their unmarried nieces, now in their old age, becoming desirous of -being established more among their kindred and acquaintances, than in -this beautiful but distant, and out of the way country. - -They were shortly to leave Wales and settle in London, with an only -daughter, who had lost her husband, and lately returned from India, with -her children. - -The offer had been kindly made to Mary, to make her home with these -relations under this new arrangement; but being a stranger to her Indian -cousins, together with other motives for its rejection, she declined the -proffer, at least for the present, and preferred accepting an -invitation to spend the rest of the summer with another cousin and his -wife in ----shire, although these relations, except from early -associations, which drew her towards them with interest and affection, -might be said to be almost equally unknown to her; thus her future -prospects, were but of a very dim and uncertain nature. - -But Mary Seaham did not take this much to heart. She was not of an age -or character, nor did she possess experience sufficient, to feel any -great weight of depression on this score. - -The melancholy she now felt was rather of the soft, tender nature from -which, like the early blossom beneath the influence of the mild spring -air, her soul seemed struggling forth with hope and longing towards the -uncertain future. - -Although now one and twenty, her life had been, in its outward course, -so calm and circumscribed, within the current of home interests, and -domestic affections; so gently and gradually had the home circle broken -up around her, link by link falling away, till she scarcely felt the -influence of the change, that it was with confiding pleasure rather than -any anxious care, or restless misgiving, she contemplated an entrance -upon a changed sphere of action, never doubting but that she should find -love and affection, such as she had ever been accustomed to receive, in -all those professing friends who now came forward with proffered -assistance in her time of need. - - "In every heart a home, in every home a heaven." - -In the warm-hearted cousin she remembered of old, one in whom she might -repose trust and confidence, as in a brother, and in his beautiful and -engaging wife the truth and sympathy of a sister. - -Seated, therefore, upon the heathy common, there was more of pleasant -dreaminess than of regretful sadness influencing her spirit, as her eyes -wandered over the prospect spread before her with the attention of one, -who would fain engrave each familiar feature on her memory, and bear -away therein, a true and vivid picture of their beauties. - -The pretty valley we have described lay immediately at her feet, with -the woods beyond, amongst which proudly rose the mansion of Plas Glyn, -of which her sister, by her marriage that morning with Sir Hugh Morgan, -had become the youthful mistress; and a faint peculiar smile played on -Mary's countenance as she sat there in her solitary freedom, and dwelt -for a moment on this feature of the landscape. - -But it had passed away, when her glance turned towards the spot where -stood her own more modest, but still fairer home, Glan Pennant--then -upwards, where the mountain ridges towering one above the other, were -now eradiated by one of those sunsets of rare magnificence, which nature -seemed to have called forth on this occasion, as a farewell token of -affection to her meek and loving votary. - - - - -CHAPTER II. - - Once, and once only, let me speak - Of all that I have felt for years; - You read it not upon my cheek, - You dreamed not of it in my tears. - - L. E. L. - - -Whilst thus absorbed, a step whose sound the soft carpeting on which it -trod had not permitted her to hear, approached near to where Mary Seaham -sat, and a voice broke upon her reverie. - -She started a little, but perceiving who was the intruder, with a smile -and only a slightly heightened colour, she arose and frankly extended -her hand with the gentle exclamation: "Mr. Temple!" - -The person thus addressed was a man in the full vigour of his days; of -tall commanding figure, whose pale and noble countenance seemed to wear -less marks of worldly care than of high and chastened thought. - -His temples were already partly bare, but the rest of his thick dark -curly hair bespoke the strength of manhood, and his eye, full and -eloquent, beamed with a spirit and enthusiasm which might have become a -martyr. The black dress he wore, seemed to denote his clerical -profession. - -"I shall not apologize so much as I should otherwise have done, for thus -abruptly disturbing you Miss Seaham;" were the words of his rich -full-toned voice, "concluding as I do, that this evening, your -meditations must naturally be of somewhat melancholy a nature." - -"About an hour ago you would have been but too right in your -conclusion, Mr. Temple;" responded the young lady. "The bustle of the -day over, the dreary feeling of being 'the last left,' was stealing over -me to a most insupportable degree, but since I quitted the deserted -house, the influence of this lovely evening has worked most effectually -on my feelings. In the open air I think this is generally the case," she -added. "However, the sense of isolation and separation, may oppress one -in the confinement of the house. Here, one can feel at least that the -same blue sky," and Miss Seaham as she spoke lifted up her clear serene -eyes to the heaven above, "over-canopies us all. I have," she continued -with simple feeling, and a slight suffusion of the eye-lid: "great need -for my comfort, to realise that perhaps rather vague idea, for we shall -be now indeed a most scattered family. Arthur in America, Jane and -Selina in India, Alice in Scotland and Aggy so soon to be in Italy." - -She paused, her voice slightly faltering, as if the idea of this -domestic dispersion, when thus recorded in words, had brought the truth -before her with too much painful reality. - -"And you, Miss Seaham," interrogated Mr. Temple, a slight tremor also -perceptible in his deep clear voice, and which a kind and friendly -sympathy in the young lady's sadness might naturally have occasioned, -"do you really desert Glan Pennant so very soon?" - -"Yes, Mr. Temple, and had I not relied upon your promise of calling this -evening, I should have sent to let you know. I could not have gone -without seeing you again. I leave Glan Pennant to-morrow morning. I -travel part of the way with the Merediths, and some change in their -arrangements make this necessary. I own that it is a relief that I am -not to linger any longer here, though this speedy departure has come -upon me rather suddenly." - -She looked up, as her companion did not immediately reply to this -intelligence, and then he inquired seriously if she still kept to her -resolution of visiting her relations in ----shire. - -She answered in the affirmative. - -"It is a long time since your cousin, Mr. de Burgh, and I have met," he, -after some little cautious consideration, remarked. "We were -schoolfellows and college friends. Our lives have taken a different turn -since then, and I suppose our tastes and manners of life likewise. At -least I understand"--slightly hesitating--"that he has married a gay -wife, and, with his large fortune, I suppose, acts up to his -circumstances and position; but in days of old, I remember Louis de -Burgh to have been a man of quieter tastes and habits than his friend -Edward Temple." - -"I have seen nothing of my cousin since his marriage, nor of his wife -either. But their letters are the kindest and most affectionate, as you -may suppose," she added, "by my having accepted their invitation to pay -them so long a visit." - -"Ah, I once knew a great deal of some members of her family," Mr. -Temple continued, speaking, not so much in the way of common -conversation, than as if moved by some under current of deep and serious -interest. "And you think," he added, "that you shall find your cousin's -house agreeable?" - -There was something dubious in his tone of voice, as he uttered that -last enquiry, and Miss Seaham smiled. - -"You think perhaps I shall find it too gay to suit my quiet fancy," she -said, again raising her eyes to her companion's face. - -He looked down upon her, and after a short pause answered with simple -earnestness. - -"I only think that we shall miss you sadly here." - -Miss Seaham shook her head. - -"I fear not, Mr. Temple," she said ingenuously; "not half so much, at -least, as Selina and Aggy must be missed. I am ashamed of myself, when I -think how little I have done, during the last five or six years, in -comparison with my more active sisters--how I have selfishly dreamt -away my time, whilst they--and Aggy, my younger sister too--have been -continually going about doing good. Truly like Wordsworth's old Mathew, -I have been, I am afraid, - - "'An idler in the land, - Contented if I might enjoy what others understand.' - -No, Mr. Temple, I fear you must have found me a very incompetent -disciple, and only flatter me when you talk of missing my services." - -Mr. Temple smiled. - -"I did not indeed speak professionally when I talked of missing you," he -rejoined in a low, earnest tone, "though I by no means subscribe to your -self-accusations, on the score of uselessness; besides, there are such -things as moral influences," he added more seriously, with no assumption -of superiority, but almost reverence in his tone and manner, "and in -such, I am sure, as more than one can testify, you have not been found -wanting, whilst at the same time remember, _Mary_ more than Martha -found acceptance in the eyes of Him they equally desired to serve." - -"Alas! alas! Mr. Temple, if you do not flatter, you make me deeply -ashamed, and I fear for the first time," she added with a degree of -playful reproach, "I must set you down as an unfaithful pastor--speaking -false-praise, when you should be sending me away with serious -exhortation and advice as to my future course of life." The colour -mounted in sudden force to Mr. Temple's brow. - -"Then, God forgive me my unfaithfulness if so it be!" he murmured with -strong emotion, "for I do indeed confess, that never did I feel less -competent to act the part of Mentor, than I do now, standing before you -this evening, only trembling to be awakened from a dream I fear as -futile--though not less sweet--as any day-dream which may have coloured -the pure light of your existence, Miss Seaham." - -She looked up. Startled by the thrilling earnestness of the speaker's -voice, and still more struck by the expression of the countenance bent -down upon her, Mary Seaham withdrew her gaze in some confusion the -crimson blood suffusing her temples, and with averted countenance, she -said, with some hurried embarrassment, whilst striving to recover from -the sort of alarm her feelings had undergone, yet scarcely conscious of -what she uttered. - -"I am not sorry then to find that _you_ also can indulge in the weakness -of a day-dream!" - -But the awkward pause then followed--for Mr. Temple was silent after she -made this remark and beginning to fear lest she might have offended him -by its apparent lightness, she turned a timid glance towards her -companion. - -He was stooping down caressing the little dog by her side, not looking -offended, but grave and abstracted. - -She was reassured, and regarding him as thus he continued, seemingly -absorbed in his own particular thoughts--his fine, strikingly handsome -and intellectual countenance on which seemed to have been originally -impressed the stamp of talent of a higher order, and fitted for a wider -field of action than the little theatre in which they at present found -employment--the feelings to which this observation gave rise, moved her -to express herself in accents not devoid of gentle, admiring interest, -when she said: - -"Mr. Temple, do not think me impertinent, but I sometimes wonder that -you should linger so long in this remote, retired spot, where all the -good that it is in your power to effect is necessarily of so limited and -contracted a nature. Indeed," with a blush and a smile at her own -temerity, "I shall feel almost a melancholy regret in thinking of you, -when I am away, hiding your talents, wasting your powers amongst the -mountain heather, or on the humble inhabitants of this obscure, though -lovely valley." - - "'What dost thou here, frail wanderer from thy task? - Why hast thou left those few sheep in the wild?'" - -quoted Mr. Temple, a look of pleasure nevertheless lighting up the face -which he again raised towards her. - -"But a self-imposed task may not yours at present be?" persisted Miss -Seaham. - -He shook his head, but with the same smile continued: - -"I never thought to have found _you_ my tempter; but now tell me, -whither would you direct me?" - -"_I_ direct you! oh, Mr. Temple, you speak ironically; but surely, there -must be ways and means, by which one like you, may more effectually use -your powers to the glory of God and the good of mankind, than by -remaining in this secluded place, amongst people, who for the most part, -do not even comprehend your language. If I understood aright, you only -retired for a time, when some sorrow or trouble came upon you. I am very -bold, to-night;" breaking off in some confusion, for she perceived a -deep palor overspread his countenance, "but, I hope, now that there is -such an excellent man as Mr. Lloyd to fulfil your voluntary duties, -amongst the poor people of this dear place, you will not doom yourself -longer to such--I could almost fancy it--ungenial retirement." - -"Where should I go?" he sadly said, but with an earnestness which again -surprised and startled Mary, whilst he fixed his eyes on her face as if -on her answer his future course depended. - -"Where?" she repeated with embarrassment, "you ask _me_, who know so -little of the world, _you_ who know so much?" - -"I do indeed," he replied, with something of bitterness in his tone, -"and my experience, my dear Miss Seaham, has not made that text to me so -difficult of fulfilment which says, 'Love not the world, neither the -things that are in the world.' But you will think that I speak to-night -more like a disappointed melancholy misanthrope than a minister of that -Word, which breathes forth the spirit of peace and goodwill towards men; -nor will you think it kind that I thus unfavourably impress you -concerning this world, with which, it may be said, you, almost for the -first time, are about to make acquaintance." - -"_I_, Mr. Temple? oh no, indeed. I look upon myself as far too -insignificant a being, one destined to play far too insignificant a part -on that great stage to fear much its enmity." - -"Or its friendship?" Mr. Temple responded interrogatively; "for we must -remember, 'that the _friendship_ of the world is enmity with God!'" - -He spoke these words with a certain sad solemnity. - -Miss Seaham listened to the exhortation in meek, submissive silence, -though to look upon her calm, sweet, holy countenance one might have -thought the sin of worldliness could scarcely cleave to the soul which -seemed reflected thereupon. - -A silence again succeeded, broken by Mr. Temple. - -"Miss Seaham, do you think you shall find the life in this same great -world, so suited to your tastes as that which has glided by so -peacefully in this quiet sphere of action?" - -"Perhaps not," she answered; but with frank simplicity quickly added, -"yet I cannot but fancy I might enjoy this all the more if I were -permitted to return from having been parted from my old pursuits for a -little time--from having seen more, and entered upon a more varied scene -of existence." - -"This is but a natural fancy," Mr. Temple resumed, "but the trial is a -dangerous one. Of thousands who so return, like soldiers from the battle -field, to their peaceful homes, there are few, I fear, who come not back -to find their former existence of innocent enjoyment blighted by the -wounds and bruises wherewith their hearts and spirits have been -inflicted during that sorrowful campaign. They return--may be to live -resigned, but seldom happy--happy at least with that same peaceful joy -which was before their portion, they come either thus to pass their days -or--die." - -Mr. Temple paused for a moment, evidently to command the agitation of -his voice; he then resumed: - -"And, alas! Miss Seaham, it is not always the least proud and -unconspicuous objects of assault who are thus brought low--made the mark -of this same, blasting world. Not the eagle only, but the dove, is -pierced and wounded by the archer. No, the purest and holiest must, more -or less, sooner or later, if not amalgamated in its sin, at least be -stricken by its sorrow and its evil--I should rather say its evil men -'the men of this world.' Oh, Miss Seaham, beware of such men." - -He spoke again with an earnestness so bordering on enthusiastic -excitement that Miss Seaham, though almost inclined to treat with -playful lightness a warning which might have seemed to exceed the -occasion, or her case, suddenly felt the words thrill through her heart -with that peculiar feeling, which the superstitious, or sometimes even -those who deride such significance, are apt to interpret as a -_presentiment_. An involuntary shudder ran through her frame, and "the -evening fair as ever," began to her altered sensation to turn chill and -dusk. - -"You forget," she murmured, in faltering, almost reproachful accents, -"you forget, Mr. Temple, while you thus, in kindness I am sure, diminish -any attractive idea I may have formed of society, for it is, I conclude, -the society of the world, not anything appertaining to the good and -beautiful world itself, which can prove so hurtful and invidious, you -forget that I do not voluntarily seek its dangers, or rush upon its -temptations, but that I am in a manner thrown upon its mercy. It is not -permitted me to stay here. My sister in Scotland would gladly receive -me, but she is not entirely mistress of her own actions, and her large -family would make such an addition inconvenient. Is it not then natural -that thus situated I should, until the return of my brother, accept the -pressing invitations of such kindly disposed relations as my cousin and -his wife, though their position and circumstances may involve me in a -wider and perhaps gayer circle of acquaintance than that into which I -have hitherto been thrown." - -She spoke in a half pleading tone, and with almost tearful eyes, for the -urgent manner in which the subject under discussion had been pressed -upon her consideration, began gradually to work upon her mind in the -manner we have described. - -Mr. Temple listened with eager attention to her words, bending down his -head as if to prevent his losing one syllable of their significance, -and then when she ceased to speak, his countenance brightened hopefully. - -"But were your circumstances--your position the only motive which -compelled you to such a resource?" he earnestly rejoined, "and if a hand -were stretched forth would you repulse it--a hand which would fain -withhold one too pure and good for a soil uncongenial to qualities of -that nature, to all that is pure, lovely and of good report. Oh, Miss -Seaham, would you, will you reject it when it _is_ extended, and with it -a heart trembling for the answer which is to proceed from your lips. -Yes!" he hurried on as if with the nervous desire to postpone what he so -eagerly awaited; "this is as you say, a world most good and beautiful. -The glories of the Great Jehovah still gild this ruined earth. Yes, -beautiful it is--beyond even what this fair country, wild and lovely of -its kind, as it may be, can convey an idea to those whose experience -extends no farther. Yes, it is most right and natural that you, with a -mind above the common range, should thirst for such enjoyment; and oh! -what happiness--what privilege to be the means of ministering to the -desire--to be your guide--your guardian dear Miss Seaham, to regions -whose charms even your refined imaginative mind is scarce able to -conceive. But what do I say? My fears were indeed too well grounded, my -dream dissolves apace, if I read aright the expression of that calm -astonished countenance!" - - - - -CHAPTER III. - - And so, beloved one--life's all--farewell! - Still by my hearth thy gentle shade shall dwell, - Still shall my soul, where night the dreariest seem, - Fly back to thee, O soft--O vanish'd dream! - - THE NEW TIMON. - - -What indeed had Mary heard--what did she understand? - -Mr. Temple the great, the excellent--he who for the many years he had -made that retired neighbourhood his abode, had shone with such bright -and exalted lustre among his little circle of acquaintances, inspiring -in the minds of all, especially of those best able to appreciate his -superiority, the family of Glan Pennant--admiring regard almost -approaching to veneration, who to their eyes appeared more to approach -in character as far as mortal may without impiety be said to approach, -to that Great Being--Him who made himself of no reputation, stooped from -his high estate--humbled himself for the sake of the poor and ignorant -of mankind--was it he who thus addressed her? - -From what could be gleaned gradually from his discourse, by those with -whom he became most intimately associated, a man of high family and -connections, he had come unknown and lonely, like one dropped suddenly -from some higher sphere, divested of all proud pretensions, to act as a -voluntary and unostentatious minister to the wants and necessities both -temporal and spiritual of the poor and needy, whilst at the same time -affecting no misanthropic and reclusive habits, though a certain -impenetrable mystery ever hung over his former history, he did not -shrink from mixing in social intercourse with the very few families of -which the retired neighbourhood could boast, and more particularly with -the inmates of Glan Pennant; becoming a zealous assistant in all the -charitable pursuits and interests in which the young sisters of the -house had engaged with such active and untiring interest, as long as -they remain unmarried. - -Mary Seaham, perhaps, had been the one whose character and pursuits had -thrown her less than any of the family in the way of similar -association, and therefore might have been the least prepared to find -she had made so strong an impression on Mr. Temple's feelings, as his -present discourse discovered her to have done. But it was not so much -surprise, nor on the other hand, was it so much an overwhelming sense of -the honour done her by such distinction, as a feeling almost approaching -to self-disgust--shame; which for some moments kept her silently rooted -to the spot with that expression of countenance, her trembling lover -had interpreted as cold astonishment, excited by his proposal. - -Ashamed and sorrowful she felt, as one might be to whom some guardian -angel--some higher spirit from another sphere--had stooped to offer -himself as guide and guardian through this earthly pilgrimage, and she -the favoured mortal had turned away, despising the blessed boon thus -proffered, saying: - -"I will go forth and try whether I cannot walk amidst the dangerous -paths alone, or find at least some other Lord to have dominion over me." - -Or, as the self convicted Israelite, who seeing the heavenly manna -scattered round his path, felt his heart still turn away, after the -flesh pots of Egypt. - -This we mean to say was the light in which Mary was inclined to view her -feelings on this occasion. No one else, perhaps, would have judged them -so harshly, seeing in the first place, that the very exalted -superiority which in her own eyes made her heart's rejection of Mr. -Temple's suit, a reflection on her taste and feelings, would in the -opinion of others have rendered it but the more excusable; whilst in the -estimation of those possessed of less pure and simple enthusiasm than -the lady of his love, the possibility of such high strained excellence -existing in the life and character of a man of mortal mould, might have -been strongly doubted. - -But as it was, Mary Seaham now with downcast eyes and faltering tongue, -gave answer when to answer she was able, in such sort as might have -suited more an ashamed and humble penitent, confessing to a superior -being a sin or an infirmity, than a woman free to choose or to reject, -yielding her gentle death blow to a trembling lover's hopes. - -"Mr. Temple, how humbling to my feelings is the opinion you must have so -flatteringly formed of me, ere you could have addressed me thus; an -opinion, alas! how little accordant with reality. I fear, if you read my -mind, my character aright, you would start aside at the unexpected fact -of discovering worldly tastes and feelings, lying hidden there, dormant -only, perhaps, from want of time and opportunity for bringing them -forth. What, for instance, would you say, were I to acknowledge that it -is not so much the world--in the sense you have described it, with which -I am desirous of becoming acquainted, as that very world which you, in -your well grounded experience, so much contemn. I mean," she added the -colour tinging her cheek, "I mean its society." - -"Society!" Mr. Temple repeated, looking down upon her with a sad, but -mild and tender expression; "alas! can it indeed be so? your pure hopes -and aspirations, do they really tend in that direction?" - -"I had always fancied," she pursued apologetically, "that much of good -and beautiful--much worthy of interest and admiration, might be met -with in that last great work of the Almighty; and I may be said to have -comparatively seen as little of that branch of the creation in its -varied characters as of any other," she added with a smile. - -"And you go forth," he responded, in the same tone and manner as before, -"with your unsophisticated imaginings--your poetic fancy--prepared to -find this so called society peopled with the beings you have pictured in -your dreams?" - -"No, no! not quite that," she rejoined with returning animation; "but, -Mr. Temple, do you really consider the whole circle of society -individually as well as collectively, in so dark a light? Are there no -flowers amongst the thorns--no wheat among the tares?" - -"Yes truly," he responded with a still more sorrowful and earnest -interest, as he marked the glowing cheek and unwonted excitement of the -loved enquirer; "but the tares unhappily in that cursed ground--cursed -for man's guilty sake!--too much preponderate, and those springing up, -choke the wheat till even _they_ become unfruitful. But, oh, Miss -Seaham! am I answered now? The words, the acknowledgement you have just -made are they the vehicles you have chosen, by which to convey your -final rejection of that which I have dared to proffer, for if not, here -is a hand and heart as ready and willing--if possible ten times more -eager--to be allowed to guide and guard you through those dangerous -paths you desire to tread. Think not that I will shrink from turning -back even to that world I have so condemned; if it be to walk by your -side--to protect--to guide--to guard you there. Yes," he murmured to -himself, whilst some strong emotion evidently struggled for mastery, as -the idea suggested itself to his imagination, and again his cheek became -deadly pale. "For her sweet sake--with such an angel by my side--what -could I not brave, what could I not encounter? Even thou, mine enemy! -thou and thine insidious unnatural machinations!" - -Then recollecting himself, Mr. Temple turned in some alarm, lest his -half muttered soliloquy might have created unpleasant surprise in the -mind of her he was so anxious to propitiate. But his fear was -groundless. Mary Seaham, too much engrossed by the more apparent subject -of his discourse, so completely absorbing her attention, heeded not the -mysterious tendency of these latter words, and when recollecting -himself, he again paused in breathless enquiry; she could only shake her -head, and with averted face and downcast eyes, sorrowfully confess her -unworthiness, and her rejection of such distinguished favour as had been -shown her by his offer. Then in other words more clear and explicit, she -faltered forth sentences which tended slowly and sadly to convey with -certainty to Mr. Temple's mind--and what to him were the others -feelings, bowing down the young girl's heart before him as before a -superior being--that the one feeling he required was wanting there--the -love which alone could crown his hopes--induce her to become his wife. -A dreary pause ensued. It might have seemed that even nature sympathized -in the disappointment of one human heart, so hushed and still was all -around. - -The silence was broken by Mr. Temple. His voice had recovered the wonted -calm of its low, deep accents as thus he spoke: - -"And in this world of imagination--this dream-land sphere which you own, -alas! to have been no coral strands or balmy groves of the natural -world, but the glittering shores, the giddy mazes of society--there -wherein you have long in fancy loved to wander, and now in the might of -your innocence and purity of heart, so confidently and gladly haste to -enter and prove their reality. Tell me, amongst all the features of your -glowing picture, has your mind formed for itself hopes and aspirations, -which have in any degree stood in the way of those which I had dared to -entertain? Have your dreams carried you thus far, or do you go into the -world, with--at least on this one point, your heart and feelings, I -should rather say--your fancy, disengaged?" - -He did not speak as if in mockery and disdain to a weak and romantic -girl, but with the serious delicate kindness of one whose very skill and -knowledge in diving amongst the fantastic images of the human heart, is -all the less moved to scorn or derision at the conception of its hidden -enormities. - -Mary Seaham started. The crimson blood suffused her pure pale cheek. She -shrank from the enquiring scrutiny of that dark eye bent down upon her, -as if she felt that it had power to draw forth into light and substance -every indistinct shadow, each vague imagination which had ever floated -across her mind, a power too, which it was not possible by commonplace -subterfuge to evade. Something also in that dark eye strangely affected -her at that moment; the impression it produced, connecting itself in an -indescribable manner, with the very dream and fancy, Mr. Temple's -searching words had stirred up within her conscience. - -But the sense and spirit of her soul's pure innocence soon came to Mary -Seaham's relief. She shook off the morbid consciousness, and with -ingenuous courage, turning with bright open face to her inquirer, -replied: - -"That I have had many a foolish dream, Mr. Temple, connected with the -world of my imagination, I will not attempt to deny, but to the dignity -of hopes and aspirations, I assure you, they have never yet -arrived--never attained to such weight and importance in my mind, as -would lead me to the folly or madness of allowing them to interfere with -the substantial good--the real blessing which have this evening been -laid before my unworthy acceptance, and which--" - -"Enough!" interrupted Mr. Temple, as if to save himself, and her, the -pain of further explanation as to the motives which had forbidden the -acceptance of those acknowledged blessings. - -"Enough dear Miss Seaham. Dream on, and never may you wake from the pure -and blameless dreams, which, whatever be their nature, can alone have -taken rise in such a soul. Never may you awake from these to dark -sorrowful reality. But should you so awake, and find those dreams -dispersed, and Providence should again place us in each other's paths, -remember.... But alas!" he broke off abruptly, "of what avail such -imaginings? May God preserve you in this evil world! is all that remains -for me to pray." - -He wrung her hand in strong emotion, and when Mary Seaham raised her -tearful eyes to thank him for his fervent vow, Mr. Temple had turned -away, his tall form was already to be seen slowly disappearing across -the darkening common--and this long and singular interview was at an -end. - -Mary in her turn hurried home, and all that had passed seemed to her -recollection but as a bewildering dream, when she found herself once -more in the quiet library, officiating for the last time at the tea -table, which with the hissing urn, she found standing ready awaiting her -return. - - - - -CHAPTER IV. - - They grew in beauty, side by side, - They filled one house with glee, - Their _homes_ are severed far and wide, - By mount and stream and sea. - - HEMANS. - - - Pure girl! thy tender presence - Has an unconscious ministry to me, - And near thee, in the night that shrouds me still, - My darkness is forgotten. - - WILLIS. - - -The good old couple, awakened from their refreshing slumber, had already -sent a servant in search of their missing niece, wondering a little what -could keep her out so late upon this last night at Glan Pennant, after -a day of such fatigue, and the eve of her long journey. - -But Mary told them that she had been detained talking to Mr. Temple, -whom she had met upon the hill, and they were glad that she had seen -him, little devising all that parting interview had comprised, or they -might not have been quite so well satisfied with the part their niece -had taken therein. For it being their chief anxiety to see this last -remaining niece well settled in life, now that the critical and -uncertain circumstances of the family affairs rendered some secure -provision so desirable, and their matter of fact perceptions leading -them to regard Mr. Temple in the light of a very exemplary clergyman, of -comfortable means--and judging from his gentlemanly carriage and -superior conversation, more than from his own profession, or other -guarantee--of good family and birth; they had often thought, and even -ventured to express in words to each other, what a good husband he -would make for their quiet Mary, whose tastes and qualities--judging -from the same simple-minded rule of observation, which never saw ought -beyond the surface of appearance or boundary of circumstances--the good -old couple interpreted, were exactly those befitting her for the -vocation to be thereby entailed upon her, namely, that of clergyman's -wife, an inference which we have seen from our heroine's own confessions -that evening, to have been by no means correctly drawn. - -Mary Seaham's four sisters had been severally disposed of in marriage, -since by the death of their father, the charge of the orphan daughters -had devolved upon them. The eldest in every way--as the eldest daughter -of a family is often seen to do--most to the entire approval and -satisfaction of her friends. - -The superior advantages of a girl's introduction into the world, under -the care and superintendence of sensible and estimable parents, had -distinguished her opening career above those of her other sisters, and -she had been engaged before her father's death to Lord Everingham--whom -she subsequently married--a nobleman of high worth and distinction, at -this time holding a considerable post in India. - -Alice, the second daughter, a few years after, became the wife of Mr. -Gillespie, a Scotch lawyer, with whom she had become acquainted whilst -visiting some friends in Scotland, and he being a widower, with children -already provided for her care, to whose number she had duly added, her's -had proved no sinecure undertaking. But laudably had she fulfilled the -destiny appointed her, devoting herself in her still youthful years -without a murmur or backward look of regret to the life of comparative -drudgery which this choice of a husband had entailed upon her--a course -of life to which sneerers may be ready to apply the slighting axiom of -Iago, - - "To suckle fools and chronicle small beer;" - -but which nevertheless, when thus accomplished, may be accounted one of -the most honourable a woman can fulfil, the one perhaps best meriting -that commendation which the faithful workers in this world's vineyard -shall receive at the last day. "Well done, thou good and faithful -servant," &c., and though some might have fancied, at the time that -Alice Seaham, with her refined tastes, and somewhat superior -qualifications, was entering on a vocation she was ill fitted to -sustain, either with pleasure or profit to herself or others, it -surprised them to find how little these characteristics stood in the way -of her usefulness, capability, or perfect contentment in the part she -was called upon to act on this life's theatre--that part which devolves -on the wife of a professional man, with an increasing family, and -limited income. How far more usefully and happily employed for herself -and others were those refined tastes, and those superior qualifications, -though thus adapted, like the beautiful plants and products of the -foreign climes, to the common uses and necessities of mankind, than if -suffered to expand and expend themselves upon the leafless desert, in -selfish, listless, idle inefficiency, often preying morbidly on their -own resources for lack of legitimate exercise or healthful outlet--those -very tastes and qualifications, proving oftener a curse and a reproach, -than a blessing and an ornament to their possessor. For woman's strength -and honour lie in her heart, in her affections, in the duties which from -them devolve; if she lean upon her own understanding, trusts to the -resources of her mind, or intellect, she leans on a broken reed, she -makes for herself broken cisterns which can hold no water. - - * * * * * - -Selina Seaham, the third daughter, and the beauty of the family, only -one year before the marriage celebrated on the day in question, -consulted the inclinations of her own heart, rather than the prudent -wishes of her friends, and gave her hand to an officer, who had -immediately after left England to join his regiment in India with his -bride; and then the two younger sisters had remained together at Glan -Pennant without any seeming prospect of such speedy disseverment as had -since occurred, till some months after, Sir Hugh Morgan, the great man -of those parts, to the astonishment of all, proposed to the youngest -Miss Seaham and was accepted; he being her senior by some -five-and-twenty years. And though he had ever been on very intimate and -friendly terms with the family, had not shown any tendency that way -since the time, when, on the Seahams first coming to settle in the -neighbourhood, after their father's death--Mr. Seaham having absented -himself from Glan Pennant for some years, for the education of his -daughters--Sir Hugh Morgan made an offer of his hand to the eldest -daughter, and finding himself at fault, she being engaged at the very -time to Lord Everingham, oddly overlooked the precedence of the genius -and the beauty amongst the sisters, and transferred his offer of a place -in his hard-named pedigree to the startled Mary, then a girl of scarcely -seventeen. But though a man of much honest worth, not to speak of the -worldly recommendations of the match, the proposal produced no effect -upon the mind of the unambitious maiden, but surprise and repugnance. - - "And she refused him, though her aunt did say, - 'Twas an advantage she had thrown away. - (He an advantage!) That she'd live to rue it." - -Whether or not, she had reason for repentance on this score, may cause, -amongst those who follow her future history a difference of opinion. -But certain it is, that with not a pang of envious regret on her own -account, had she seen her young and blooming sister, Agnes, give her -hand that morning, five years after the event of her refusal to the same -excellent man, the only disagreeable feeling the occasion excited in her -mind being, the difficulty of reconciling herself to the idea, that her -dear, pretty, young sister Aggy, should so cheerfully acquiesce in a -fate which had once raised in her own mind such unqualified -disinclination. - -But then she was the only individual in the world, who did not think the -fair bride the luckiest creature in the world, and the wisest. - -"Who but a fool like me, they think, no doubt," mused Mary Seaham, with -a humble sigh, "would have rejected such an advantage as they seem to -consider it. True, I was only seventeen at the time, but am I wiser at -twenty-one? to-night's experience has well shown forth." And she -remembered a certain fable which had composed a portion of her -childhood's lessons, 'The dog and the shadow,' and smiled in very scorn -and derision at her own puerility. - -But alas! there are shadows which our wild and wilful imaginations have -conjured up which, scorn and deride them as we may, are destined to cast -a darkening influence on our future destinies. - - "Our fatal shadows that walk by us still;" - -to become, in fact, a substance--a reality--from which we would often -fain be able to awake and say: it was a dream. - - "Grant us not the ill we ask--in very love refuse-- - That which we know, our weakness would abuse." - -But it is as well, perhaps, to retrograde, in order to relate the -incident which some years ago had cast its beguiling shadows upon the -pure stream of our heroine's young existence. She was scarcely sixteen, -when, under the _chaperonage_ of her sister, Lady Everingham, then a -bride, she had found herself at the summer fête, given by the father of -her cousin, Mr. de Burgh's beautiful betrothed. Lady Everingham was -taken ill soon after her arrival, and returned home with her husband, -leaving her young sister under the nominal care of her cousin, Louis de -Burgh, and his _fiancée_ (the queen of that day's revels), who had, with -the most eager kindness, taken upon themselves the charge, but as may be -naturally supposed were but far too much better employed to carry out -their good intentions, so that Mary, having for some little time kept -near them, feeling very greatly _de trop_, being at length divided for -an instant from their side, saw the lovers, when next in view, disappear -together within the shade of a _bosquet_, and she left alone amidst -these few strangers, and indifferent friends, who happened to be near -the spot. - -Her youth and timidity made this situation of itself one of sufficient -embarrassment to her feelings, there being none with whom she felt such -a degree of intimacy or acquaintance as gave her courage to claim their -protection or companionship, but when these even began to drop off by -degrees from the parterre, wherein a portion of the company had -assembled, and the last lady had eventually departed without her having -the courage to follow in her train, poor Mary's distress was at its -climax. Only a group, composed of several gentlemen, with not one of -whom she was in any way acquainted, remained behind. - -The solitary position in which she found herself, causing her to become -a conspicuous object, the timid, though not awkward embarrassment of the -young girl as she stood irresolute, whether to remain or to retire, -attracted the attention of the party. They all looked at her, one or two -exchanged smiles which poor Mary, was very quick to interpret into those -of amusement and derision; and crimsoning to the temples, she was -preparing to glide away in desperate search of her cousin, when out of -that very group from whose fancied satire she was so anxious to escape, -a gentleman stepped forward and politely addressed her. - -He was afraid that she had lost her friends; could he in any way assist -her? She thanked him, and hesitatingly murmured the names of her cousin -and his bride elect. But this seemed sufficient explanation to the -gentleman, with regard to the situation to which he found the young lady -exposed. He smiled good-naturedly--feared she must not find fault with -any deficiency in _their chaperonage_ just now; and begged her to accept -his arm, and avail herself of his escort until she could be restored to -the runaways. The speaker was young and handsome. Mary Seaham looked up -gratefully into the dark eyes bent down so kindly upon her. The tone in -which he mentioned her cousin seemed to denote that an intimacy existed -between them. But setting aside these considerations, there was no -prudery in that young and innocent heart. She placed her arm within that -of the stranger's with the _naïve_ and simple confidence of a child, and -suffered him to lead her away from the scene of her discomfiture. - -Neither did he seem in any hurry to relieve himself of the charge he had -undertaken, for though he met and spoke to many lady friends, to whose -care he might, had he desired it, have committed Mary, he did not avail -himself of the opportunity but still continued to conduct her here and -there--finding she was a stranger to the beautiful domain--to every spot -considered worthy of interest and admiration, seeming himself pleased, -and interested by the gentle intelligent delight, with which his young -companion--now that she was happy and at ease--entered into the spirit -of everything around her; her first shyness wearing away, and her -innocent re-assurance, being still more effectually established after -an encounter with her cousin and his intended. The enamoured pair, -reminded, for the first time of the charge they had neglected, by the -sight of Mary, if they looked a little surprised at first, to see her -thus accompanied, were evidently relieved by finding her in any way -happily disposed of; and when playfully attacked by her protector for -having so unfaithfully fulfilled their office to his fair charge, they -answered in the same tone that Miss Seaham could not have found a better -_chaperon_ than her present companion. And then the handsome lovers, a -more graceful pair at that time could not have been found, gaily kissed -their hands, and pursued their flowery path--a path in which there -surely seemed as yet to lurk no thorn. - - "It was the time of roses, - They plucked them as they passed." - -Thus again, left standing alone together, Mary's companion looked at her -and smiled. Mary too smiled, but she blushed also and said: "You see -they will not take me off your hands; pray do not let me be in your way, -but take me to some lady of your acquaintance, who will doubtless let me -stay by her side." - -"Not for the world!" was the earnest rejoinder, "at least if you are not -tired of my society. Dinner--to which you must allow me the pleasure of -conducting you--must," he added, looking at his watch, "soon be ready; -till then, let me show you the aviary." - -And again he offered his arm, and led her in that direction. After -which, as she owned at last to feeling a little tired, they seated -themselves in the pavilion, where others of the company were assembled, -awaiting the banquet to be given in the house. There was one peculiarity -about her companion which impressed Mary at the time. - -Though animated and lively in his manner and discourse when he did -speak, his words were not many, whilst on the contrary the earnest, -thoughtful interest with which he seemed to listen to every sentence -proceeding from her mouth, trivial and simple as she considered them -herself to be, at the same time as it encouraged and irresistibly -flattered her modest pride, made her, nevertheless, wonder, and once or -twice look up inquiringly into the dark eyes bent down so earnestly upon -her face, as she gave utterance to any opinion or remark, as if to -discover from what reason this might proceed. - -She could not tell what attraction there often is in the simple-minded, -guileless nature of a youthful being like herself, to the man plunged in -the cares and passions of maturer years, and though Eugene Trevor, at -that time was young--not more than five and twenty--a more experienced -eye than Mary's might have discerned, _that_ stamped upon his -countenance, which told him to be, even then, no stranger to those dark -storms of passion, or of secret sin which, sweeping over man's breast, -blight before its time the freshness, health, and purity of youth. - -But how could Mary Seaham read all this? how should her guileless spirit -divine the wild, dark thoughts--the sinful purposes, unspeakable, -unspoken, which must even at that very time, like so many demons, have -been working, suggesting, forming themselves within the soul of him who -thus was seated by her unsuspecting side? And well for all of us, that -thus it must ever be-- - - "For what if Heaven for once its searching light - Lent to some partial eye, disclosing all - The rude bad thoughts that in our bosoms' night - Wander at large, nor heed Love's gentle thrall; - Who would not shun the dreary uncouth place, - As if, fond leaning where her infant slept, - A mother's arm a serpent should embrace; - So might we friendless live--and die unblest." - - * * * * * - -Yet Mary need not have wondered, even had it been given her, to look in -less partial light upon the being who by his kindness and other -fascinating qualities had so propitiated her sensitive, susceptible -young heart. - -Must the little brooklet wonder if the heated traveller, passing -fiercely on his dusty way beneath the noon-day summer sun, consumed with -inward fever and parching thirst; should turn with grateful delight to -kneel and bow his head over its cool and limpid waters, blessing -unawares the source of such pure refreshment. - -But then, alas! he rises like a giant refreshed to pursue his course of -ambition, pleasure, sin to whichever of these that course may tend; and -what more does he think of that clear, pure stream, when quaffing freely -of those turbid waters, from which at length the fevered votary is fain -to slake his fiery thirst? - -And thou silly stream, to retain so long the softened shadow of that -dark image, which for one brief minute had been reflected on thy limpid -bosom! - - * * * * * - -It was then five years since the period of the little episode we have -retrograded to relate, five years which had softly glided over Mary -Seaham's head, in the almost uninterrupted retirement of her mountain -home, and the simple enjoyments and pursuits this existence provided. -Five years, which at her happy hopeful period of life, adds, oftener -than detracts, from each charm either of mind or person--when, under -such untried circumstances, the heart springs forward upon the wings of -hope with freshness yet undiminished, and vigour unabated. - -It was then between five and six years after, that Mary Seaham, on a -summer eve found herself approaching her cousin's house in ----, which -place she had last visited with her sister, Lady Everingham, and from -thence repaired to that fête which had proved no unimportant incident in -her life. - - - - -CHAPTER V. - - Then came the yearning of the exile's breast, - The haunting sound of voices far away, - And household steps. - - HEMANS. - - -Silverton was a fine estate, and though the country in which it was -situated was tame and unlovely in comparison with that to which she had -been for so long accustomed, yet Mary Seaham was not so inveterate a -mountaineer that she could look, as I know many do, upon the different -aspect of the mother country, with the eye of utter aversion and -distaste, and though she could not perhaps have gone so far as to agree -with old Evelyn when he, asserts Salisbury plain to be in his opinion, -the part of Great Britain most worthy of admiration, yet for the gaze to -be able to stretch unbounded over a level tract of cultivated land after -having been long imprisoned within the massive confines of a mountainous -district, she was not ashamed to own, there may be a certain degree of -pleasurable relief. - -But as may be supposed, any very critical survey of surrounding objects -was at an end, when with that degree of nervousness ever more or less -attending an arrival of this kind, she drew near the place of her -destination in the carriage which had been sent to meet her. There was -no one to receive her at the door when she alighted, but the servants, -and its being near the dinner-hour, Mary concluded her cousins to have -retired to their dressing-rooms. On making inquiries, however, to that -effect she was informed that Mrs. de Burgh had not yet returned from her -drive, and Mr. de Burgh was also from home. - -Mary therefore accepted the offer of the civil domestic to be shown to -the room prepared for her, and retired thither, not sorry to be able to -rest awhile, after the fatigues of her long journey before a meeting -with her relatives. Perhaps her spirits might be a little damped by the -reception, or rather _non_-reception she had met with. - -There is so much importance attached to a warm welcome, by those not -well initiated in the careless frigidities of general society, that the -very sensitive and inexperienced are often more chilled by any such -accidental or habitual infringements on this score, than the occasion -really requires. - -We grow wiser or harder as we pass farther through the world, and learn -to look upon it no longer as one large home of loving hearts, such as -some may have accounted it; but a stage on which every man is too intent -to play his own individual part, to have much respect for these minor -charities of social life--the word, the look of kindness, of affection -which to the sensitive and unworldly spirit are often of higher -price--contribute more to make up the sum of mortal happiness, than the -most generous deed, or striking act of beneficence. We grow as we have -before said, wiser or more callous, as we pass on through this world of -our's--learn to see upon what principle society is founded, and cease to -shrink chilled, and wounded, before each touch which falls coldly upon -the warm surface of our too _exigente_ heart--each unsympathetic glance -which meets our wistful gaze. - -Mary Seaham sat down by her window, which commanded a view of the -carriage road, through the park, to watch for the return of her cousin's -wife. - -The evening was lovely, and she could not feel astonished that Mrs. de -Burgh should have prolonged her drive. A cool freshness had succeeded -the sultriness of the day, and she had perhaps not gone out till late. - -The scene too on which Mary looked was pleasant and refreshing to the -eye. The wide park with its troop of spotted deer, herding for the night -beneath the luxuriant foliage of the trees, which in rich clumps or -single majesty were scattered thickly over the demesne, gilded by the -still bright but softened sunbeams. - -But Mary Seaham was not quite able to enter into the enjoyment, which at -any other time would have been amply afforded her. - -She raised her eyes and began to feel a regretful longing for the -sun-gilt or cloud capped mountains, which for so long had met her gaze, -towering above the highest tree-tops of the Glan Pennant gardens--and -then a sense of strangeness and desolation came creeping over her -feelings. - -For the first time she seemed to realize the true nature of her present -position--and the sight of some labourers, wending their way across the -by-paths from their daily toil, tended to bring her gathering sadness to -a crisis. - -"They are going home," she murmured, and a few tears stole gently down -her cheeks. Then she thought of her sisters--the youngest, in -particular, as most lately and intimately associated with her in -sympathy and companionship, now so far divided, not only by distance, -but by the different ties and interests of her new estate; and then -occurred to her the words she had so lately heard. - -"Do you think you will find your cousin's house agreeable to you?" and -she began to ask herself that question too, though not for the same -reason, which had suggested the question to Mr. Temple--not lest it -might prove too gay and worldly for her tastes and inclination, but by -reason of the loneliness she might therein experience--that worst of -loneliness--the loneliness of the heart, or,-- - - "She might meet with kindness and be lonely still, - For gratitude is not companionship." - -Why then had she come here, would not her sister Alice, have gladly -opened her doors to receive her? And all the comparative inconvenience -and discomfort of that arrangement, seemed to melt into insignificance -before the other attractions of the picture suddenly conjured up. A -sister's warm, and earnest welcome--the familiar family voice which -would have greeted her, the tone of which at once would have made her -feel at home, though in a strange land, amongst unfamiliar scenes and -personages, whilst even the noisy delight of half-a-dozen nephews, and -nieces, which would have celebrated her arrival, came before her -fancy--as she sat in her silent solitary grandeur--in most alluring -contrast with her present undemonstrative, though luxurious reception. - -But no! she had been attracted by the urgent and pressing desire -expressed in the letters of her cousins, to make their house her home -until the return of her brother to England, and there had been something -in the impression she had received, or the associations connected with -her memories of those relatives, that had moved her, perhaps with little -reflection, to embrace the offer. - -But now she is thinking on the fête of six years ago--of the urgent -alacrity with which her cousin and his beautiful intended had then -volunteered their protection and support, and their subsequent neglect -and abandonment. Might not this incident be a type of what she had to -expect, under her present circumstances? - -She did not even, in this mood of dark imagining to which she had -yielded herself, carry her thoughts beyond the point of her discomfiture -on that occasion, or she might perhaps have had some dream analogous to -the sequel, conjured up to brighten the gloom of her present -anticipations. - -But dreams of any nature came not just then to her relief. She had never -felt so wide awake to dull reality, unrelieved but by the meek -philosophy with which she determined to make the best of everything -relating to her present position, cheerfully and contentedly to submit -herself to existing circumstances, keeping ever in view for her comfort -the expected return of her much-loved brother from Canada, when whatever -turn their fortunes might have taken, "for better or for worse, for -richer or for poorer," so that brother wrote, the cherished picture of -their early youth, might still be realized, and a home provided for his -favourite sister, which at least would make her independent of the cold -and heartless people of the world, till she found or desired a dearer or -a better. - - "Two things are left me for my destiny: - A world to rove o'er, and a home with thee." - - * * * * * - -Mary Seaham had just arrived at this point of her meditations, when her -maid returned to say that Mr. de Burgh was in the house dressing for -dinner, and to inquire whether her young lady would not do the same. -Mrs. de Burgh had not come home, but it was already past the usual -dinner hour. - -Miss Seaham proceeded accordingly to make the simple toilette she -thought suited to the occasion, for she learnt from her maid that there -was no company staying in the house, and then she determined to go down -stairs, to have at least her interview over with her cousin Louis, -whilst awaiting the arrival of her tardy hostess. - - - - -CHAPTER VI. - - Alas! when angry words begin - Their entrance on the lip to win; - When sullen eye and flushing cheek - Say more than bitterest tone could speak, - And look and word, than fire or steel, - Give wounds more deep--time cannot heal; - And anger digs, with tauntings vain, - A gulf it may not pass again. - - L. E. L. - - -Two little children--a fine girl of four and a delicate boy of -three--were passing from the drawing-room, through the vestibule on -their way to bed followed by a nurse. Mary Seaham would have stopped to -make the acquaintance of her little cousins, but too eager in their -amusement, the noisy chase of one another through the long _suite_ of -rooms, they, like Jaques's careless herd, "jump along by her and never -stay to greet her," in spite of the chiding injunctions of their -attendant, to wait and speak to the young lady. And Mary walked on into -the adjoining saloon. - -There she found Mr. de Burgh standing alone, his elbow resting on the -marble mantelpiece of the fireless grate, his eyes gazing fixedly -through the opposite window. - -He did not hear her noiseless approach over the velvet carpet; and she -had time at the same moment that she recognized the unchanged, almost -feminine beauty, of her cousin's handsome features, to remark no very -promising expression, namely, one of dissatisfaction and annoyance, to -be now seated on his countenance. It, however, brightened -instantaneously, when he became aware of Mary's presence; and with the -most affectionate cordiality, he advanced to meet and welcome her to -his house. Then seating her on an ottoman by his side, he made anxious -inquiries as to her journey and the wedding of her sister, slightly -touching upon other family matters, in which, as guardian and trustee to -his young cousins, he was concerned. And thus, for awhile, his attention -and thoughts seemed diverted from any previous cause of discontent. But -his powers of interest or politeness seemed at length exhausted. He -became evidently restless and fidgetty, cast sundry impatient, or as -Mary was more likely to interpret them, anxious glances towards the -window which commanded the same view across the park as she had been -lately contemplating, and finally rising from his seat, resumed his -former station near the chimney-piece, to watch, as Mary concluded, for -the arrival of his truant lady. - -Mr. de Burgh had only alluded to his wife's absence during their -conversation, by casually mentioning her not having returned from her -drive; but Mary Seaham, after noticing with rising sympathy and -compassion, the increasing perturbation of her cousin's countenance, and -naturally attributing its origin to the tender solicitation of an -adoring husband, ventured, after a few minute's silence, in which Mr. de -Burgh had been too much absorbed in his own feelings for common -discourse, to express in her gentle voice, the hope, that he was not -uneasy at her cousin Olivia's remaining out so late. - -"Uneasy? Oh no!" Mr. de Burgh exclaimed, aroused by the question, and -turning to the speaker with a careless laugh, "Oh, no, not in the least -uneasy! I suppose I shall have the pleasure of seeing her back between -this and bed-time. Oh no! My present cause of uneasiness is merely at -the thought that the dinner--for which about an hour ago I had -considerable appetite--must be, by this time, fit only for the dogs to -eat: and, also, that you"--he added, softening his voice of irony into -one of kind concern, observing probably, that his cousin looked pale, -grave, and exhausted, "that you, after your long journey, must be quite -faint for want of nourishment; but it is just like her," he continued, -in soliloquy, hastily walking to the window, "selfish, inconsiderate, -careless of everybody, everything, but her own pleasure and amusement. -But at all events," he added, "we'll have dinner, such as it is," and -approaching the bell, he rang it impatiently, and desired that the -dinner should be immediately served. - -If Mary Seaham had looked pale and serious before, she was ten times -more so after what she had heard. This outbreak of her cousin took her -so by surprise. The bitter words he had spoken with regard to his wife, -were in such direct unconformity, not only with anything she had been -accustomed to hear from one relative towards another, but, also, with -the picture her imagination had previously formed of the mutual -happiness and affection of the married pair with whom she had come to -sojourn. She looked back to the devoted lovers in their wanderings -through the flowery paths of courtship, devotion she had believed to be -but a faint fore-shadowing of the full-crowned sacred bliss, the -well-tried love, of a six years' union, such as she had expected it -would be now her lot to witness. But those disdainful expressions, this -disparaging declamation, came like an icy wreath upon her warm -imaginings. - -"Selfish!" "Inconsiderate!" Could her cousin's beautiful wife really -merit such a character? Or was the accusation merely the casual effusion -of a hungry husband's fretful humour. If this were not the case, it -spoke indeed little for her own chance of comfort as that lady's guest. -Still she was far less affected by any selfish interested consideration, -than by the shock her inherent principles and preconceived ideas upon -the subject had received. - -Louis de Burgh remained too much engaged with his own inward -dissatisfaction, for any further conversation; consequently, no more -words were spoken till dinner was announced, and then her cousin's arm, -with something of revived cheerfulness, was offered to her, and they -proceeded to the dining-room. - -They were seated _tête-à-tête_ at the table, and had not proceeded half -way through the meal, which was far from justifying Mr. de Burgh's -unpromising prognostications, when the sound of carriage wheels was -heard, and a loud peal at the door bell denoted the expected arrival. - -Mr. de Burgh made no demonstration of interest or excitement, but -continued the occupation in which he was now pleasantly engaged in -uninterrupted indifference. Mary, on the contrary, felt no slight degree -of nervous trepidation, and laying down her knife and fork, awaited in -anxious suspense the entrance of her other cousin. - -In less than an instant, Mrs. de Burgh, in carriage costume, made her -appearance followed by a gentleman. - -"Well, here we are at last," she exclaimed, rushing in with careless -abruptness, "and Mary arrived, I declare!" she added, with immediate -change of tone, "well, I _am_ shocked! I really had imagined that you -could not be here till nightfall. But welcome a thousand times!" she -continued, advancing with extended hands, and embracing her with an -affectionate warmth which almost brought tears into Mary's eyes. - -"The fact is," she continued after a few other inquiries, and having -thrown her bonnet aside, and put back the ringlets from her -face--flushed and heated to a very brilliant hue by the exertions of a -hurried drive--she seated herself to partake of the dinner reproduced -for herself and her companion. "The fact is, I have really been engaged -in your service, for feeling sure you would be horrified to come out of -the wilds of Wales, to find us here in as stupid and uncivilized a state -of reclusiveness as any of the natives of Kamschatka--though, for what -I know," she parenthesized with a laugh, "_they_ may have much more -society of their kind--feeling sure, however, of the dullness of this -place, I determined to drive my ponies as far as Morland, and see if I -could beat up a few recruits from the party assembled there, for your -enlivenment." - -Mary smiled and blushed, hardly knowing how to answer this speech. - -"_I_ am a person," continued Mrs. de Burgh, "who _can_ exert myself a -little for the sake of my friends--who _am_ willing to take some slight -trouble, unconnected with my own tastes and inclinations; to consider -that a young lady _may_ possibly require a little more amusement than -seeing trees cut down--a little more society than a man, his wife and -two children." - -Mary remarked the flashing eyes of Mrs. de Burgh directed towards her -husband, as she made this latter speech with much of marked -significance in her look and tone; and with the very contradictory -charges brought against the absent wife by Mr. de Burgh fresh in her -memory, she would, if she had deemed it smiling matter, have been -inclined to smile to see the table thus turned upon him. - -Perhaps her cousin was not himself quite unimpressed or unconvicted in -his conscience by the unconscious retort, for colouring slightly, and -for the first time directly addressing his wife since her entrance, -though he had entered into some conversation with the gentleman by his -side, he said with a not ill-natured, though somewhat provoking laugh, -which nevertheless displayed to great advantage his set of ivory teeth. - -"Well, Olivia, pray, the next time let your _unselfish consideration_," -with a stress on the latter words, "be a little more considerately -timed. To keep a tired guest waiting for her dinner till nearly nine -o'clock--for you knew as well as I did, that she was sure to arrive -before seven--whilst you are scouring the country in search of people to -say pretty things to her on the morrow, is a specimen of attentive -consideration, which at least was not dreamt of before in my -philosophy." - -"No of course not," was the contemptuous reply, "though perhaps Mary -Seaham may see the circumstance in a different light, supposing that -dinner, as she is a reasonable being, is not quite so important and -paramount a point in her existence as in yours. But why you waited for -me I cannot tell. You are not usually so painfully polite. I suppose you -wanted to show off to the utmost, the great inconsideration which marks -my conduct towards yourself and others, and the excessive consideration -of your own." - -How distressing and astounding all this was to Mary's feelings may be -imagined, more especially from being herself made so prominent an object -in the debate. - -In the first agitation of the meeting, what with the grateful and -gratified surprise which the unexpected warmth of her reception had -inspired, and subsequently her attention and interest being so much -absorbed by her newly arrived cousin, on whose unchanged beauty she -could not refrain from dwelling in unfeigned admiration--her opposite -neighbour who sat with his back to the now declining light had almost -entirely escaped her notice; but now, as with downcast eyes and flushing -cheeks, she sat listening in painful embarrassment to this conjugal -_tirade_, it occurred to her to lift a timid glance to discern how her -fellow-sufferer bore the infliction to which they were mutually exposed. -She raised her eyes, therefore, and having done so, that very timid -glance was rivetted, and became gradually changed into a gaze of -earnest, calm surprise, for as she gazed the indistinctness of the -vision seemed to clear away, and the face of him whose kindness had been -once so strongly impressed upon her girlish fancy to be revealed to her -astonished sight. - -The same dark eyes fixed with interest upon her changeful countenance, -that very same peculiar smile which he had turned towards her, when they -were left standing alone together on the occasion of her second -_cavalier_ abandonment, by the self-absorbed lovers--seemed to mark his -observation of the discomfiture which the startling contrast now -exhibited had caused her. A smile--such as moves one to look again, and -observe with curious interest the countenance from whence it -emanates--in much the same way as one would look upon a book of strange -characters, whose mystic language we feel certain could we but read it -aright, would unto us a tale unfold of more than common import. - -But, setting aside the interest which this unexpected recognition -inspired--the encouragement that smile, as on the former occasion just -mentioned, tended to convey--Mary Seaham felt--considering the many -secret thoughts and feelings which in her idle moments she had once -wasted on this--the almost, it might be said, ideal hero of her -imagination--wonderfully little affected by the fact of his real -substantial embodiment--not more so perhaps, than one might be who -awakens from a series of fanciful dreams to see the object who has -played therein the most fantastic and highly coloured part, standing, -divested of all supernatural and exaggerated characteristics, before his -eyes; and with a smile, almost as quiet and confiding as the one with -which she had yielded herself to his guidance six years before in the -grounds of Morland, she had acknowledged the recognition, ere Mrs. de -Burgh, after an angry pause and a killing glance across the -table--provoked by her husband's mortifying contradiction of her -assertion respecting the knowledge she had entertained of the hour of -her guest's arrival (a glance which was probably intended to convey to -his conviction how extremely odious an individual she deemed -him)--recovered sufficiently to proceed with her relation in the same -lively strain. - -"I was not very successful," she continued. "Of course, every body is in -London; however, I have the promise of a reinforcement in a day or two. -In the meantime, determined not to return empty-handed, I pressed this -gentleman--whom I found just about to start homewards--into my service, -and brought him--I cannot say a willing captive--chained to my -triumphant car. Nay, I am glad you are beginning to be ashamed of your -conduct," she added, as the accused party, looking at Mary, attempted a -smiling refutation of the charge. - -"Ah, yes, we will imagine what you would bring forth as your -excuse--that you did not expect _such_ a young lady, for you know I told -you there _was_ a young lady in the case, that you cannot deny. Well, -Mary and I will forgive you, now you are here, if you will only stay, -and withal--make yourself extremely agreeable--but, bye the bye, I ought -to introduce you to one another--how very forgetful of me! Miss Mary -Seaham or rather Miss Seaham now, I believe I should say--Eugene -Trevor." - -And Mary Seaham and Eugene Trevor exchanged another smile, as they -slightly bent their heads in acknowledgement of the ceremony, but both -at the same time murmuring their declaration of a previous acquaintance. - -"Indeed!" exclaimed Mrs. de Burgh, with some surprise, "when and where -could you have possibly met?" - -"You forget the fête at Morland, when you so cruelly abandoned Miss -Seaham to her fate, whilst you and Louis," with a little covered malice -in his tone, "went love-making." - -"Ah! to be sure, I do remember something of the kind," rejoined Mrs. de -Burgh, "that is to say, of you two being together, but that is so very -long ago," she added, in a tone of marked carelessness, and glancing at -her husband. - -"Not quite six years," said Mary. - -"_Only_ six years!" interposed Mr. de Burgh, blandly, "I should have -imagined it sixteen." - -"And I too," rejoined the wife colouring; "but at any rate," she -continued, with affected carelessness, "it has been quite long enough to -have almost effaced from my mind the impression--almost the recollection -of things then existing--you two it seems," glancing from Mary to Mr. -Trevor, "have better memories." - -Mr. de Burgh retorted with a beautiful smile; that the tablets of their -memories had happily been kept apart during that interregnum, that there -was nothing like six years of close contact for rubbing out old -impressions. - -"And then in that space of time," he added, probably with more secret -meaning than the not very original remark expressed, "and then in six -years, a great deal of change may have taken place." - -"A great deal indeed!" was almost unconsciously echoed by Mary's lips, -as her thoughts silently wandered over the domestic changes and family -events which coloured her reminiscences of that intervening period, -whilst from the soft pensive expression which stole over her -countenance, it might have seemed that it was more a soothing relief to -take refuge from "the strife of tongues" in the private sanctuary of -thought thus suggested, than that any very sharp pang of sadness or -regret was roused by this reflection. - -"A great deal certainly!" had echoed instinctively from Eugene Trevor's -lips. But why has the smile with which he lightly commenced the words, -faded away like a gleam of sunshine, from the dark hill side, ere they -died upon his lips, what were the suggested thoughts, the awakened -recollections he would have wished diverted? What record did the history -of these six years inscribe on the tablets of his memory? - -What ever it might be, he did not pause to contemplate it long; but -pouring himself out a glass of wine, drank it down hastily, as if the -ruddy draught could wash away the unrepented sin; the unatoned iniquity -of his secret soul--then looked and spoke as unconsciously as before. - -"Each mind has indeed," as it has been ably written, "an interior -apartment into which none but itself and the divinity can enter. In this -secluded place, the passions fluctuate and mingle in unknown agitation. -Here all the fantastic, and all the tragic shapes of imagination have a -haunt--where they can neither be invaded or discerned. Here projects, -convictions, vows, are confusedly scattered, and the records of past -life are laid; and here in solitary state, sits conscience surrounded by -her own thunders which sometimes sleep, and sometimes roar, while the -world knows it not." - -We said or quoted something to the same effect in a preceding chapter, -and added--that it was well that it should be so. - - - - -CHAPTER VII. - - There are some moments in our fate - That stamp the colour of our days. - - And mine was sealed in the slight gaze - Which fixed my eye, and fired my brain, - And bowed my head beneath the chain. - - L. E. L. - - -Mrs. de Burgh soon after led Mary to the drawing-room, when all that was -kind and affectionate, and calculated to reassure her young guest's -mind, with regard to her previously conceived misgivings, was expressed -by the former lady. - -They were, however--owing probably to the lateness of the hour, soon -joined by the gentlemen. - -Mr. de Burgh immediately sat down by his cousin's side, and, as if with -the intention of making himself more thoroughly agreeable than -circumstances had previously permitted, he entered into animated -discourse, in which, finding Mary perfectly able to sustain a competent -and intelligent part, he had speedily passed from the merits and beauty -of his children, and such like natural easy points of discussion, to -some improvements in the grounds, in which his interest seemed to be at -present much engrossed, showing more scientific and general information -on the whole than she had previously conceived him to possess;--he, -appearing on his part pleased to find so willing and intelligent a -listener in his young lady cousin. - -Mrs. de Burgh in the meantime had, soon after the conversation commenced -between them, called Eugene Trevor away to the open window, and -conversed with him at intervals in a low, confidential voice, whilst -turning over a pile of new music lying on the ottoman by her side. - -At last she called out to Mary, and asked her if she sung. - -Mary replied in the negative, but remembering well the beautiful voice -possessed by Mrs. de Burgh before her marriage, she rose with glad -alacrity to solicit a song from her. - -Mrs. de Burgh, whose question probably had been but a note of -preparation for her own projected performance, smiled compliance with -the request, and proceeded to the piano, whilst Mary, ensconcing herself -in a quiet nook between the piano and window, yielded her senses to the -soothing enjoyment which poetry and melody conjoined always afforded -them; and Mrs. de Burgh sung that evening only English songs, with a -beauty and pathos perfectly enchanting. - - "My spirit like a charmed bark doth swim - Upon the liquid waves of thy sweet singing, - Far away into the regions dim of rapture, - As a boat with swift sail winging - Its way adown some many-winding river." - -Many an evening Mary sat in that same place, and listened with -never-tiring pleasure to the same delightful songs, but never perhaps -with such pure, unmingled pleasure as had this sweet music on the -present occasion inspired her. - - "Softest grave of a thousand fears, - Where their mother care, like a drowsy child, - Is laid asleep in flowers." - -Once, at the close of a peculiarly beautiful ballad, she lifted up her -eyes, those "down-falling eyes, full of dreams and slumber," now gemmed -with a delicious tear, to encounter the dark orbs of Eugene Trevor, as -he stood shaded from the light, in the deep embrasure of the window. - -"You are very fond of music," he said, coming forward with a smile, on -finding his earnest gaze thus discovered. - -"Oh, very fond indeed!" Mary replied, with a low sigh, which marked -perhaps the spell of musical enchantment to have been broken by the -question, or it may be--the moment when some other power first fell upon -her spirit. - - "Though who can tell - What time the angel passed who left the spell?" - -"Very fond indeed," she continued; "but who is there that is not fond of -music?" - -"That man for one," answered Mrs. de Burgh, turning quickly round, and -denoting by her glance "that man" to be Eugene Trevor. "He is not, I can -assure you; he cannot distinguish one note from another--a nightingale's -from a jackdaw's. I believe my singing is the greatest infliction I -could put upon him. Can you deny this?" - -"Oh, if you choose to give me such a character to Miss Seaham, I can -have nothing to say against it, of course. I only hope she will not -judge me accordingly." - -And Eugene Trevor laughed, and looked again at Mary. - -"It is to be hoped not, indeed," chimed in Mr. de Burgh, who, as it -seemed, had become by this time tired of remaining _hors de combat_, in -the back-ground, and now came forward to join the trio; "for does not -Shakespeare say: - - "'The man that hath no music in himself, - Nor is not moved with concord of sweet sounds, - Is fit for treasons, stratagems, and spoils; - The motions of his spirit are dull as night, - And his affections dark as Erebus. - Let no such man be trusted--'" - -He just glanced at Eugene Trevor, who, however, did not seem to have -paid any particular attention to this severe commentary on his want of -taste--then, with a smile at Mary, who also smiled most unconsciously -upon his declamation--proceeded to exonerate himself from any share in -such dark imputations, by joining his wife in a duet she placed -carelessly before him on the desk, and in which, for the first time that -evening, Mary had the satisfaction of hearing the voices of the married -pair, blended in notes and tones of harmony and love. - -At its conclusion, Mrs. de Burgh quickly arose, declaring that they had -been very cruel in keeping Mary up so long, and that she must go to bed -immediately. Candles accordingly were lighted, and Mrs. de Burgh, before -wishing Eugene Trevor good night, impressed upon him again, her orders -that he should not desert them on the morrow. - -Mr. Trevor shook his head, saying his father would expect him; but that, -at any rate, he need not go early, so they could talk about it in the -morning, and he shook hands with both ladies in adieu. Mrs. de Burgh -accompanied Mary to her room, where, after lingering a little to see -that she had everything that she could want to minister to her comfort, -she left the pale and now really-wearied traveller to her needful -repose. But though somewhat subdued by bodily fatigue, Mary, having -humbly knelt and lifted up her heart in prayers of devout gratitude for -the mercy which had not only preserved her in safety through her -journey, but "brought her to see her habitation in peace, and find all -things according to her heart's desire," lay down with a mind divested -of much of those gloomy misgivings, which had troubled her spirit on her -first arrival. - -Was it alone the kindness her cousins had shown her that produced this -magic change? Perhaps so, for Mary was just at that age, and more still, -of that disposition when a word--a look--the most imperceptible -influence suffices to change the whole aspect of existence. - - "Even as light - Mounts o'er a cloudy ridge, and all is bright, - From east to west one thrilling ray, - Turning a wintry world to May." - -But she did not long remain awake to analyze her own sensations on the -subject. The echo of Olivia's "sweet" singing seemed to lull her senses -to repose, and she sank asleep to fancy herself again standing with Mr. -Temple on the hill-side heath. - -At first Mr. Temple it seemed to be, till turning, she thought her -companion's form and face had changed into those of Mr. Trevor. And -pain, trouble, and perplexity were the impressions produced by the -circumstance upon her dreamy senses. - -The same hand that had so lately pressed hers so gently on bidding her -"good night," was now in her dream wringing it with the fervent emotion, -which had marked her rejected lover's sorrowful farewell, till finally -she was awakened from her first light slumber, by finding herself -repeating aloud in soliloquy these strangely suggested words: "The voice -is Jacob's voice, but the hands are the hands of Esau!" - - - - -CHAPTER VIII. - - Oh! she is guileless as the birds - That sing beside the summer brooks; - With music in her gentle words, - With magic in her winsome looks; - - With kindness like a noiseless spring - That faileth ne'er in heat or cold; - With fancy like the wild dove's wing, - As innocent as it is bold. - - WORDSWORTH. - - -Fortunately for Mary Seaham's health and spirits, the following day, she -was troubled with no more such bewildering dreams throughout the -remainder of that night, and when the bright sun streamed in upon her -through the window, thrown open by her maid, she woke up cheerful and -refreshed. Accustomed at home to early rising, she found herself on -going down stairs--though it was later than her usual hour--the only one -of the party who seemed to have made their appearance. Hearing, however, -children's voices on the lawn, looking from the window of the -breakfast-room which she had entered, she stepped forth, and seeing the -little boy and girl sporting amongst the flowers, she made a more -successful attempt upon their notice than she had done on a previous -occasion. Attracted by her sweet looks, her gentle youthful manner and -appearance, the little people soon accorded to her their full confidence -and favour, and gambolled in her path or led her by the hand to point -out some gay butterfly or beautiful flower, with the same reliance and -satisfaction as they would have bestowed upon a new playfellow or -long-established friend, whilst-- - - "In virgin fearlessness--with step which seemed - Caught from the pressure of elastic turf-- - Upon the mountains gemmed with morning dew, - In the full prime of sweetest scents and flowers--" - -Mary yielded to their capricious guidance, walking by their side, and -entering with playful interest into their childish amusements and -pursuits. - -We have not yet described our heroine as to her personal appearance; and -some may ask if she were beautiful, or, as we have never hinted at any -such decided perfection, they may more shrewdly divine her, from all -they have put together, to have been more pleasing and attractive, and -pretty perhaps--than beautiful. And at any other time, perhaps merely -taking into consideration the long dark grey eyes with their drooping -eye-lids such as I have before pourtrayed, the soft brown hair braided -on a fair and open brow; the other features, which, whether regular or -not, breathed a softness and an intellect combined, which disarmed -criticism, to say nothing of her figure, which, a little above the -middle height, light and pliant as became a mountain maid, might have -seemed nevertheless, by her movements and habitual carriage, to denote -it governed by a soul within, as much, if not more conspicuously -inclined to _Il penseroso_ than _Il allegro_; but these two so nicely -combined, so delicately intermingled, so harmoniously playing one upon -the other, that it was hard to separate or distinguish them apart. - - "Serious and thoughtful was her mind, - Yet by reconcilement exquisite and rare." - -All this taken together, and I might perhaps have conceded to the -supposition and replied, - - "She was not fair nor beautiful-- - Those words express her not." - -Mary had never hitherto been much considered in the family, as far as -good looks were concerned. The mountain breezes which had dyed with -such brilliant bloom her sisters' cheeks, had failed to chase the clear -paleness of her own complexion; and therefore those around her who -adhered to the usual vulgar idea of beauty, had never thought of giving -her equality in that respect,--with the exception perhaps of the good -Baronet, who on the principle of "loving others different to oneself," -had first coveted the pale violet above the brighter flowers of the -family, as in pleasing contrast to his own ruddy hues,--and by him whose -refined perception had, as we know long since, discerned and singled out -the pearl of great price from the more glittering jewels of the -sisterhood. - -But as we see her standing before us at this moment, in her delicately -tinted attire, watching with a quiet smile of admiring interest the -pretty children, who have bounded away together a little in advance--or -lifting up her eyes toward the blue sky above, seeming to drink in with -a pure and lively sense of rapture, the delight of that most beautiful -of summer mornings-- - - "A morn for life in its most subtle luxury." - -Standing thus, unconscious that human eye was upon her, to have seen her -with that glow of youth and hope, and innocent intellectual enjoyment -kindling her cheek, few could have looked coldly upon her, and said or -thought "she was not fair or beautiful." - -Very fair at least she seemed to him, who from an upper chamber window -thrown open to cool the fever of his brow, looked down upon this morning -scene, and dwelt upon that living object, pleasant and alluring to the -thirsting of his heart--the thirsting for that something, purer, holier -than his own nature could supply--which sometimes springs up within the -soul of him who has wandered farthest from the paths of innocency and -peace. - -Mary was talking to her cousin Louis, who first joined her on the lawn, -when Mrs. de Burgh and Eugene Trevor made their appearance. The latter -congratulated Mary when they sat down to breakfast, on her having -apparently so completely recovered from her last night's fatigue, and -mentioned his having seen her in the garden from his window. - -She blushed, and said she had been making acquaintance with the dear -little children, whose praises she then rung upon the father and -mother's ears. Mr. de Burgh looked delighted, and quite agreed upon the -subject, his lady said more carelessly: "They were nice little monkeys; -the girl good-looking enough, but getting to that dreadful age when she -would require teaching; the boy a puny little fellow, who should be at -the sea if everything was done for him that ought to be done." - -Whereupon, Mr. de Burgh, who took this remark--probably as it was -intended to be--as a reflection upon his own backwardness in forwarding -that arrangement, began an assurance, in way of defence, of Doctor -somebody's preference of his native country's air to that of the -seaside; adding, that it would do the boy much more good to have that -long hair cut off which was exhausting all his strength. Mrs. de Burgh -declared that he was welcome to have it cut off, for what she cared, for -he knew she never interfered in any of his whims, however absurd they -might be. - -And so it went on for a short time, till Mary began to wonder if every -repast was to be seasoned by such agreeable accompaniments, as the -bickerings of this and the preceding conversations. But Eugene Trevor, -who seemed to be accustomed to this sort of thing, managed, laughingly, -to divert the conversation from this exciting topic, and peace was -accordingly restored during the remainder of the meal. - -But how wonderful it was to Mary, that those two beings, whom nature, as -well as fortune, seemed to have crowned with every blessing their bounty -can bestow to make this world a paradise--health, beauty, talents, on -the one hand; wealth, station, princely possessions on the other--should -awaken in her mind feelings of pain and compassion, rather than envy or -admiration--as apparently lacking in so lamentable a degree, that first -great ingredient in the cup of life--_love_. - -How had this come to pass--how had the precious drop been banished from -the draught they were about so joyously to quaff, and which seemed to -sparkle with such glittering lustre when she had seen them last? - -Yet the same changeless heaven was above their heads--and earth should -have been to them a still more thornless paradise. - -Alas! Mary had not learnt to see by sad experience, how often this is -the case with hearts that have once loved with--it might have seemed -undying fervour; affection frittered irreclaimably away in the caprice -and wantonness of unbroken prosperity, - - "Hearts that the world in vain had tried, - And sorrow but more closely tied. - Who stood the storms when waves were rough, - Yet in a sunny hour fall off, - Like ships which have gone down at sea, - When heaven was all serenity." - - * * * * * - -Soon after breakfast Mary went up stairs to write to her aunt and uncle, -then returned and sat with Mrs. de Burgh till luncheon time, when the -gentlemen rejoined them, and after that they all went out together--that -is to say Mr. Trevor and the two ladies, for Mr. de Burgh soon left the -party, to follow his own business and pursuits. - -They visited the garden, the green-houses, strolled through some of the -most shady and picturesque parts of the grounds, conversing pleasantly -the while; and then, rather wearied by their exertions, were about to -place themselves on a seat, beneath the cool shadow of some magnificent -trees, not far from the house, when a servant was seen approaching to -inform Mrs. de Burgh that visitors were in the drawing-room; the -Countess of Patterdale, and the Ladies Marchmont. - -Mrs. de Burgh made a gesture expressive of distaste at this disturbance, -but walked towards the house. Mary did not think it incumbent upon her -to volunteer her assistance in the entertainment of these strangers, so -remained behind; and a few moments after, she saw Eugene Trevor, who had -accompanied his cousin across the lawn, coming back to rejoin her. - -"You see I have followed your example, Miss Seaham," he said, sitting -down beside her, "and have made my escape. Life is too short, in my -opinion, for mortals to be shut up in a room this hot afternoon, making -themselves agreeable to three fashionable fine ladies." - -"But it is rather hard upon Olivia," Mary said, with a smile. - -"Oh, not at all. She is quite equal to the task. A match for all the -fine ladies in the land--are you?" - -"Oh, no!" Mary answered laughing, "not at all; I have had so little -experience in that way." - -"Ah, well! Olivia is quite in her element amongst them; her real delight -is a London season, where she can play that part to perfection: -unfortunately de Burgh's inclinations do not tend that way, particularly -now that he has this improving mania upon him." - -"It is unfortunate that their tastes in this respect do not agree," Mary -rejoined. - -"Very unfortunate," he repeated, regarding his companion with the marked -interest and attention her simplest expressions or observation seemed to -inspire; a peculiarity which, as it had in earlier years excited her -wonder, now made as strong though somewhat more undefined impression on -her feelings. - -The effect it produced was, however, far from being one to embarrass or -constrain--on the contrary, there almost might have seemed to be some -soothing power--some magnetic influence in this "serious inclination" on -the part of Eugene Trevor; for never, with a less unreserved and -uncommunicative companion, had she felt more at ease; had her own -thoughts and feelings been drawn forth with such freedom and -unconstraint. And a calm and pleasant conversation had been carried on -between them for nearly three-quarters of an hour before Mrs. de Burgh -reappeared, complaining of the length of time her visitors had remained. - -Mary did not say anything, though it seemed to her that the complaint -was somewhat unreasonable; but Eugene Trevor scrupled not to declare, -that he never knew these people pay so short a visit before. - -"Ah, it is very well for you to say so, and Mary to think the same," -Mrs. de Burgh said, looking rather curiously from one to the other. "You -two sitting here so comfortably; but it was very cruel of you both to -let me have the whole burden, you Eugene should really have come and -taken the Ladies Marchmont off my hands. I had a good mind to bring them -out here, just to spite you." - -"I am glad you did not," said Eugene Trevor, "or I should have been -obliged to run away, as it is necessary that I should do now, my -dog-cart having been waiting for me, I believe, more than an hour in the -yard." - -"What! are you really going?" exclaimed Mrs. de Burgh. - -"Yes, my father will fidget himself to death if I do not arrive," was -the reply. - -"Well, come again as soon as you can." - -"Oh yes, you may rely upon that. Good bye," and shaking hands with Mary -and his cousin, he left them, and was soon driving rapidly through the -park. - -"You will find it very dull I am afraid, Mary," Mrs. de Burgh said, as, -having watched this departure, she turned slowly to re-enter the house; -"but I hope we shall have some people to-morrow." - -Mary earnestly deprecated such an idea, and with the utmost sincerity. -She felt perfectly contented and happy all that evening, particularly as -there was very tolerable harmony kept up between her cousins. - -Mr. de Burgh inquired at dinner, though with no great interest "what had -become of Trevor?" Mrs. de Burgh answered that he had been obliged to go -home to his father who seemed to be in one of those fidgetty moods, when -he could not bear to be left alone; and Mary asked very simply if he had -no other child? - -"Yes--no--that is to say," hesitated Mrs. de Burgh, looking at her -husband, "one son died a few years ago." - -"And the other--" proceeded Mr. de Burgh, as his wife did not carry on -the reply--but some authoritative look or sign from Mrs. de Burgh which -he seemed to have received, interrupted his intended information, and -only murmuring "Nonsense!" he was silent on the subject. - -"I must drive you over to Montrevor, some day," said Mrs. de Burgh, -addressing Mary; "the place is well worth seeing." - -"I don't agree in that at all," Mr. de Burgh remarked testily--"at -least, not worth knocking up the ponies by so long a drive. What should -you take Mary there for? The old man will not greatly appreciate the -visit, and I do not think there is any other consideration to make it a -desirable excursion." - -Mrs. de Burgh shrugged her shoulders; but as if it was not a subject she -wished brought under discussion, she allowed it to drop for the -present. - - - - -CHAPTER IX. - - You first called my woman's feelings forth, - And taught me love, ere I had dreamed love's name-- - I loved unconsciously.... - At last I learned my heart's deep secret. - - L. E. L. - - -Mrs. de Burgh's expedition the preceding day did not prove without its -fruits. For the next few days, several idle young men of the -neighbourhood, who had nothing better to do, came dropping in to dine or -stay a night or so at Silverton. - -Mr. de Burgh received these guests with much courtesy and kindness; -though apparently regarding them as the visitors of his wife, he left -them almost entirely to her entertainment, and went about his private -occupation as usual with a scientific friend of his own, who arrived at -this time. - -As for Mary, although obliged, considering that this gathering had been -formed chiefly on her account, to show her sense of the attention by -making herself as agreeable as possible, yet before long she began to -feel her exertions in that respect a weariness, rather than a -pleasurable excitement; and that her powers were not equal when placed -in competition with the light and careless spirits around her. Indeed, -so gladly would she hail the intervals which set her at liberty, to -read, or think, or dream, free from such demands, that she began to -suspect very soon that her thirstings after society would easily be -satisfied, and that Mr. Temple need not have been alarmed lest she -should be too much ensnared by its fascinations; in short, that she was -not so sociably inclined in a general way to the degree for which she -had given herself credit. - -One morning, Mary made her escape about an hour before luncheon from the -gay party by whom, since breakfast, she had been surrounded; and seated -herself, with a new book of poetry, at the open window of a room leading -into a little garden, the luscious perfume of whose flowers were wafted -sweetly upon her senses; shaded by the light drapery of the muslin -curtains, the sound of laughing, talking, billiard-balls falling at an -undisturbing distance from her ear-- - - "Oh, close your eyes and strive to see - The studious maid with book on knee!" - -Mary had not long luxuriated in this enjoyment, when a footstep sounded -on the grass without, and a dark shadow obscured the bright light upon -her page. Lifting up her eyes, she saw Eugene Trevor standing before -her. - -He smiled at her start of surprise, and apologised for the abrupt -intrusion. He had expected, he stated, to have found her and his cousin -Olivia in this, Mrs. de Burgh's usual morning-room; and then Mary--the -bright glow with which, although not naturally nervous, this sudden -apparition had coloured her cheek, fading gradually away--told him how -Mrs. de Burgh was engaged in the adjoining room. - -"And you have deserted her?" he said, taking up the book she had laid -down and examining its contents with the greatest apparent interest, -though he only smiled when she asked him if he were fond of poetry, -smiled--and answered, looking into her face, "Some kind," and replaced -the volume; then resting against the window-sill, they conversed on -other subjects, and were still thus engaged when luncheon was announced. - -Eugene Trevor stayed at Silverton that day and part of the next: when -all the rest of the party took their departure, with the exception of -Mr. de Burgh's own particular friend. - -But, somehow or other, Mary had by this time begun to change her mind, -and to think--that after all she might be rather fond of society. - -One circumstance a little surprised and puzzled her, before she had been -very long at Silverton. - -One day, when speaking of Wales, she carelessly mentioned Mr. Temple's -name, and alluded to the college acquaintance that gentleman had -professed to have once subsisted between himself and Mr. de Burgh. But -Mr. de Burgh remembered no person of that name, answering to the slight -description she attempted to give--could not the least recall him to his -recollection, and as Mrs. de Burgh and Eugene Trevor, who happened to be -present, did not seem able to assist his memory in that respect--though -Mary also remembered Mr. Temple to have claimed acquaintance with Mrs. -de Burgh's family, she did not press the point; a certain conscious -embarrassment associated with the object of discussion preventing her -from entering into further particulars, though she thought the -circumstance rather strange and unaccountable. - -Her aunt and uncle mentioned in their first letter that Mr. Temple had -called to see them, and had seemed much interested to hear of her safe -arrival at Silverton; but those relatives did not remain in Wales more -than a week or two after her own departure, therefore with them, -intelligence regarding that most remarkable--and to her, now peculiarly -interesting--person must cease, at least for the time being, she having -no other correspondents at present in the neighbourhood. - - * * * * * - -Beyond such occasional gatherings as the one just described, there was -very little of what could be strictly called company, during the -ensuing month--July--at Silverton; and Mary sometimes smiled to think of -the exaggerated idea Mr. Temple seemed to have formed, concerning the -dangers to which she might be exposed in the evil world she was about to -encounter. Yet how did Mary know whether the weapon of danger he most -deprecated on her account, might not even then be hanging singly over -her head, rendered only still more perilous by the absence of other -exciting and diverting circumstances. - -We said there was not much actual company at Silverton; but besides an -intimate friend or two of Mr. de Burgh's, Eugene Trevor often made his -appearance to luncheon, or to dine and spend a night, so that it became -at last quite a habit of Mrs. de Burgh's to say in the morning, if they -had lost sight of him for many days together: - -"I wonder if Eugene Trevor will turn up to-day!" - -And often did Mary find herself seated near her chamber window, her eye -directed with feelings very far removed from those uneasy thoughts, -which had arisen in her mind the first evening she had there taken up -her position--her eyes directed across the park, along which perchance -the sound of carriage wheels, having previously reached her ears, she -might soon behold Eugene Trevor's well-appointed turn-out, with the fine -blood horse, urged by its impatient master, advancing at a flying pace -towards the house; and then with what ingenuous pleasure would Mary -hasten to make her prettiest toilette, now that there was one who, she -could not but flatter herself, would be far from indifferent to its -effect. Mr. de Burgh, though there might have appeared to be no -particular cordiality existing between him and his wife's cousin, never -by word or manner testified any distaste to the frequency of these -visits, indeed seemed to concern himself very little on the subject. - -At length, however, he did say one day, on Mrs. de Burgh remarking -Eugene's absence to have been a somewhat longer one than usual: "Well! -what of that? It would really seem as if it was impossible to exist a -day without Eugene Trevor. Are _you_ so very fond of this wonderful -Eugene, Mary?" - -Poor Mary! this direct question took her quite by surprise, and she was -unable immediately to reply. - -Mrs. de Burgh came to her rescue. "Oh, never mind him, Mary," she said; -"he only abuses Eugene Trevor because he is my relation, and objects to -his coming here because he knows he is the only person I care for at -all, excepting you Mary, who has entered the house this summer, whilst -these tiresome scientific friends of his infest the place continually." - -"Well, at any rate I am very glad," Mary was able now to say with a -quiet smile, mingled perhaps with a little inward _pique_ towards her -cousin, "that you do not turn the tables upon Louis by objecting to -_his_ relations." - -"Ah, Mary!" said Mr. de Burgh with his most amiable smile, "are you too -taking up the cudgels against me? but I was not aware that I did abuse -or object to any one." - -"Poor Eugene! no wonder he is glad to come over here as often as he can; -it must be terribly dull for him at Montrevor with that old man," -rejoined Mrs. de Burgh. - -"Then why does he stay?" inquired her husband. - -"Why--why--you know Mr. Trevor is ill and cannot bear him to be away. -Eugene's kindness and dutiful behaviour in that respect is an excellent -trait in his character, you must confess." - -"Dutiful behaviour!" murmured Mr. de Burgh rather scornfully, as he -walked away. "Pooh, nonsense! Epsom was a failure, and Goodwood remains -to be proved." - - * * * * * - -One of the reasons which had furnished Mr. de Burgh with an excuse for -remaining quietly at Silverton all that season, and perhaps had much to -do in reconciling his wife to the arrangement, was the fact of Mrs. de -Burgh's situation, promising an addition to their family in the early -part of the winter; and as the heir was far from being a strong child, -the chance of other healthy sons was most acceptable. Therefore, more -care than the gay young wife had ever taken of herself, on previous -occasions, was rendered desirable. - - * * * * * - -"Yes!" Mrs. de Burgh said one day, when she was driving with Mary, in -allusion to these above-mentioned expectations, "I have been patient all -through this season in consequence, although it is provoking that Louis -should so selfishly spend his time, interest, and fortune, in the -improvement, as he calls it, of this property; of one thing, however, I -am quite certain, that he will soon tire of the pursuit, leave -everything half done, and take some other quirk into his head, which, no -doubt, will be equally tiresome--build a yacht perhaps, and station me -and the children at Cowes; whilst he amuses himself with this new toy, -and then is astonished at my being discontented, and amusing myself as I -best may. Oh, Mary!" she added, "when you marry, never give way to your -husband's selfishness in the first instance, or you will find it -annihilating at the last." - -"Did _you_ give way?" inquired Mary, with some archness. - -Mrs. de Burgh laughed. - -"No, I cannot exactly say I did," she replied. "I had not the slightest -idea that Louis would ever have any will but mine; of course, he gave me -reason to suppose so before we married; but ere the honeymoon was over, -I found out my mistake. Anything that did not interfere with his own -pleasure, or inconvenience, I was at liberty to do; but that was not -what I wanted. I expected him to be the slave of my slightest wish." - -"But was not that somewhat unreasonable?" suggested Mary. - -"It certainly proved a mistake; and so we soon began to pull different -ways, and I suppose will do so to the end of the chapter." - -"Oh, my dear Olivia, how can you talk thus, when you and Louis -ought--and do really, I am sure--so to love one another?" Mary -exclaimed, feeling shocked and sorry. - -"Humph it does not signify much what we ought to do, or what lies -_perdue_, when daily and hourly experience makes us most feelingly act -and speak to the contrary. As for Louis, the quiet, unresisting manner -in which he has allowed me to do things other husbands would have soon -prevented, contenting himself with a few cutting words and sneering -inuendoes, does not speak much for the depth of his affection. But the -fact is, there is not much depth of any kind in Louis's nature--no -strength--no firmness of feeling or purpose--nothing to lay hold of -except the whim of the moment, and that melts away before you can get a -very sure grasp. - - "'One foot on land and one on sea, - To one thing constant never.'" - -Although it was somewhat repulsive to Mary's ideas and principles to -hear a wife thus critically expose the weak side of a husband's -character, her naturally quick perception of human nature-- - - "The harvest of a quiet eye," - -as well as the intimate insight now afforded her, by constant -intercourse, into Mr. de Burgh's disposition, made her own this -portraiture to be not incorrectly drawn, and to fancy that much of his -wife's decline of feeling towards her handsome, captivating husband -might have been thus unfavourably influenced by the discovery of these -points of character in her cousin Louis. - -She could imagine in her own case, that however faithfully, if once -beloved, she might have preserved her affection towards such a truly -amiable man, that he was not exactly the being who would ever have very -strongly impressed or awakened any deep and lasting feeling in her -heart-- - - "That love for which a woman's heart - Will beat until it breaks." - -Woman, feelingly conscious of her own comparative infirmity of mind and -disposition, vague, imperfect in idea and purpose, either for good or -evil, naturally inclines towards those of the opposite sex, who carry -out to their fullest extent the distinguishing attributes of their -nature--masculine stability, and strength of purpose and of action; nay, -even to the abuse of this same principle--she is sometimes led more -easily to yield her heart to the influence of the firm and well-defined -character, under whose most common aspect may be detected a current of -fixed purpose, strong, earnest, and undeviating in its course--even -though that course may tend to evil--that character be strong in all, -that unblinded reason must condemn--than to men of Mr. de Burgh's -_calibre_, whose very weaknesses may "lean to virtue's side." Thus many -a Medora becomes linked to a Conrad--many a Minna to a Cleveland. - -With all this, and in spite of that intuitive sympathy which inclines -one woman to side with another, in similar cases of right and wrong, -Mary was far from suffering any such consideration to tend to the -deterioration of her cousin Louis in her eyes. Nay, as far as concerned -the state of feeling to which Mr. de Burgh might have arrived regarding -his wife, the more she saw of him, the more was she led to image to -herself the bitter disappointment--the great provocation which must have -gradually converted into the apparently indifferent and inconsiderate -husband, that naturally most affectionate and amiable of beings. - - "Till fast declining one by one, - The sweetnesses of love were gone, - And eyes forgot the gentle ray - They wore in courtship's sunny day, - And voices lost the tones that shed - A tenderness round all they said, - And hearts so lately mingled seemed - Like broken clouds, or like the stream - That smiling left the mountain's brow - As though the waters ne'er could sever, - Yet ere it reach the plain below - Breaks into floods that part for ever." - -Nor could Mary, though Mrs. de Burgh's extreme kindness to herself made -her easily incline to indulgence and partiality, at all times bring -herself to approve or enter into her feelings or course of conduct, or -be led quite to do, and think as it pleased her beautiful cousin. - -One instance of the kind it may be necessary that we should record, both -as in it our heroine was more personally concerned, and as forming a -more regular link in the chain of our story. - - - - -CHAPTER X. - - Lo! where the paling cheek, the unconscious sigh, - The slower footstep, and the heavier eye, - Betray the burthen of sweet thoughts and mute, - The slight tree bows beneath the golden fruit. - - THE NEW TIMON. - - -It was a beautiful afternoon, in the first week of August, and the two -ladies set off as usual for their afternoon's drive, the little Louisa -seated between them. Mr. de Burgh had been on the steps to see the party -start, himself lifting the child with his usual tenderness into the -carriage--and wishing them a pleasant drive, he casually inquired in -what direction they meant to go. - -"To Morland, I think," answered Mrs. de Burgh carelessly, as she -gathered up the reins, and arranged herself upon her seat. - -"To Morland," he repeated. - -"Yes! have you any objection?" - -"Oh, none whatever!" - -"Well, good bye!" and with a light touch of the whip, the pretty ponies -were put in motion. - -Ere they had proceeded far through the park Mrs. de Burgh said, -laughing: - -"I told him we were going to Morland, but that is not at all my -intention. You need not say anything about it, but I have made up my -mind to drive you to Montrevor. Really I ought to go and see old Uncle -Trevor after his illness; at any rate, I must speak to Eugene, and make -personal inquiries." - -"But why tell Louis that you were going to Morland? Oh, Olivia! do not -drive there to-day," Mary exclaimed in some consternation. - -"Why not," inquired Mrs. de Burgh, looking at her companion in surprise: -"you really do not mean to say that I ought to submit to the absurd -objection Louis expressed the other night upon the subject?" - -Mary could not say with sincerity, that this--or even the unnecessary -deceit which her companion intended to put upon her husband--however -this might have offended her conscience, was the chief cause which now -rendered the proposed excursion so repugnant to her feelings; there was -another, of a nature she could not exactly explain; but which -nevertheless influenced them greatly on this occasion. - -The fact was, upon poor Mary's heart by this time had been worked an -impression far from being of a light or imaginative nature. - -The constant visits of the dark-eyed cousin of Mrs. de Burgh, had -conjured up feelings as far removed from the dream-like fancy of other -days, as is the shadow from the substance, and the very fact of the -existence of such feelings made her painfully susceptible to any -proceeding which might, in the slightest degree, even on the part of -others, make her appear desirous of courting the society of the object -who had awakened them--and of whose corresponding sentiments towards -herself, she had as yet no certain guarantee. - -Mary could not but suspect that this excursion to Montrevor would be -only made by Mrs. de Burgh on her account, and that this might be made -to appear to Eugene Trevor by his cousin; therefore, when Mrs. de Burgh -only laughed at her evident disinclination, she, on the impulse of the -feelings with which the idea inspired her, begged that at any rate, if -her cousin were really bent upon the plan, that she would suffer her to -remain behind. Whereupon Mrs. de Burgh, somewhat coldly drawing in the -reins, begged Mary would do as she pleased; if she really had so great -an objection to going to Montrevor--perhaps she would not mind -returning, as she had a particular wish to go and inquire after her -uncle. - -Mrs. de Burgh indeed offered to drive her back, but Mary said, she would -really like the walk, and accordingly was suffered silently to alight, -feeling perhaps a little inclined to doubt, whether she had not gone -rather too far in thus decidedly carrying out her own way, yet not -liking to give in after she had so strongly expressed her -disinclination. - -Mrs. de Burgh wished her a pleasant walk, and little Louisa knelt upon -the seat and kissed her hand regretfully to her retreating cousin as -they went their several ways. - - * * * * * - -Mary walked slowly, and rather dejectedly back towards the house, -knowing that her cousin Louis, with whom she would fain have avoided the -necessity of giving the reason of her return, had been on the point of -setting off towards a distant part of the grounds when they had left -him. - -Just as she arrived in sight of the mansion, the sound of a horse's feet -met her ear, the next moment a horseman riding up a different approach -to that by which she came, appeared in sight. It was Eugene Trevor. He -immediately perceived her, and dismounting threw his bridle to a servant -standing on the step, and hurried forward to meet her. - -Mary was so totally unprepared for a _rencontre_, which circumstances -rendered at that moment peculiarly embarrassing to her feelings, that -she received Trevor with a coldness and constraint unusual to her -manner; and when he mentioned the fear he had entertained of finding -them out, she merely answered, that Olivia had gone for a drive, but -that Louis was in the grounds, and proposed walking on to find him. -Eugene did not object, so they proceeded in the requisite direction. - -Then he told her that he had come to say good-bye. A friend of his had -engaged a moor in Scotland in partnership with himself, and that he was -therefore obliged to set off in a day or two, not much to his -gratification--for there were many things which made him regret to leave -the neighbourhood just then, and he should be away, he supposed, about a -month. - -Mary was dismayed to feel how her heart sank low at this communication; -she, however, made an effort to rally her spirits; and the subject thus -started, she discussed the delights and merits of the grouse-shooting -and moorland country, with a careless interest which made her inwardly -wonder over her new-found powers of duplicity. - -But they fell in with Mr. de Burgh sooner than she had expected, or -Eugene, perhaps, had hoped; for in spite of any change which he might -have discerned in his companion's manner, his lingering step and earnest -attention plainly demonstrated, that the charm he ever seemed to find in -her society was not decreased. - -Mr. de Burgh was evidently surprised at Mary's re-appearance, but -supposing it was a whim of his wife's to put an end to the intended -drive, on account of Eugene Trevor's visit, and that she too had -returned to the house, he made no further remark upon the subject than -his first exclamation, "What come back already?" - -On hearing of Eugene Trevor's intended excursion, he entered into -conversation with him on the subject. Then he called Eugene's attention -to those alterations he was superintending, into which the former -entered with all due interest and understanding; and his attention thus -engaged, it was not for some time that he was at liberty to turn to -Mary, who stood by in the meantime silent and abstracted. - -He did not remain much longer; he was obliged to return home to meet a -friend, and therefore took leave of Mr. de Burgh and finally of Mary, -lingering a little as if he half hoped to have had a companion in his -walk back towards the house; but finding this was not to be the case, -he went off regretfully alone. - -Mr. de Burgh asked Mary if she felt inclined to extend her walk to a -further part of the estate. She acceded cheerfully to the proposal, for -she fancied her cousin's eye had glanced somewhat anxiously upon her -countenance as they stood silently together after Eugene's departure. -And so they proceeded, making a lengthened circuit which did not bring -them back to the house till a later hour than they had supposed, and -Mrs. de Burgh had by that, time returned. - - * * * * * - -Mary went immediately to her cousin's dressing-room, anxious to do away -with any offended feeling her conduct might have excited. She found Mrs. -de Burgh quite amicably disposed. She began immediately to rally Mary on -the very clever manner in which she had managed her morning's -amusement; she had seen Eugene Trevor, who had told her of the -delightful walk they had taken together. - -"The fact is," Mrs. de Burgh continued, "I did not go to Montrevor after -all. It was too far to go all alone--and returning I met Eugene, and we -had a long chat." - -"He told you, I suppose," said Mary, "that he was going away." - -"Yes, for a month--what shall we do without him in the meantime? By the -bye, I told him, Mary, of _your_ conduct this afternoon." - -"My conduct?" asked Mary in alarm. - -"Yes, your insurmountable objection to a drive to Montrevor." - -"Oh, Olivia!" in a tone of reproach. - -"Yes, I did, indeed; and do you know what he said to this?" - -"No, indeed," Mary anxiously replied. - -"He laughed quite scornfully and said: 'She shall go there some day,' -then spurred his horse and rode off at full speed. Ha! ha! - - "'He laughs and he rides away.' - -Nay, Mary do not look offended. He did not intend anything _very_ -insulting I dare say. Go dear, and rest yourself after this long walk -Louis has dragged you, and which has made you look so pale." - -And thus dismissed, Mary went to her room, but not to take up her usual -window-seat. There would be no interest in looking across the park that -night. No--nor for a great many nights to come. - -Most of that next month passed without much outward change or -excitement. Mrs. de Burgh declared that the extreme dulness made Mary -look quite listless and ill. - -On the first of September, however, there was a shooting party, and a -few other gaieties in the neighbourhood, the country houses beginning -again to fill. - -Mary during this interval of time had received one piece of information, -which rejoiced her greatly, if it did not succeed in making her so -completely happy as she fancied it would have done a month or two -before. - -Her brother Arthur wrote word, that he should be in England towards the -end of the autumn. He gave no very flourishing account of their property -and affairs. He spoke of the necessity for his entering into some -profession, and of his wish of following up the study of the law. But -all was written in as cheerful a strain as if his communication had been -of a contrary nature. - -Who but the young can thus look cheerfully into the face of the grim -monster poverty, and say "be welcome," feeling now that talents which -had otherwise been weighed down beneath the deadening power of -affluence, may now be given eagle wings wherewith to mount above to -honour and renown? For as the German author writes: - -"Riches often weigh more heavily on talents than poverty; but," he -beautifully continues, "Just Providence preserve the old man from want, -for hoary years have already bent him low, and he can no longer stand -upright with the youth, and bear the heavy burden on his head. The old -man needs rest on the earth, ever while he is upon it, for he can use -only the present, and a little bit of the future, and the past does not -reflect for him as in a glass the blooming present." - - * * * * * - -It was not till the middle of September that Eugene Trevor returned. -Mary saw him first again at an archery _fête_ given in the grounds of -Morland, the scene of their former meeting and acquaintance. - -But that it would prove a day coloured by the same bright remembrances, -appeared at first unlikely. - -For some time, Mary feared that the expectations of his being present at -all were doomed to disappointment, for he did not make his appearance -till very late; and Mary walked about with her cousin Louis (who on this -occasion proved a better _chaperon_ than on the former), trying to look -more cheerful than she really felt. - -An hour before dinner, he was discerned among the gay throng, but as Mr. -de Burgh did not direct his course that way, he remained--as Mary was -too easily inclined to imagine, coldly aloof--either she thought -offended, or discouraged by the recollection of the coldness of manner -she had shown towards him on his parting visit, or--(why should she -imagine it otherwise?) the new pursuits and scenes of interests in which -he had been engaged, had effaced all traces of any slight impression she -might have made upon his mind or feelings. - -No greeting passed between them until, on their way to the _déjeûner_, -Eugene passed her with another lady on his arm, and the one they then -exchanged was necessarily slight and hurried, signifying nothing. - -His companion was young and beautiful, and Mary, with pardonable -curiosity, inquired who she was of the gentleman who escorted her. - -She was told it was the young Lady Darlington, lately married, and we -will not say that the substance of this communication was not a relief -to Mary. They sat at the same side of the table, not very far divided, -and Mary's companion must have found her rather an absent neighbour, she -so often discovered her attention directed to what was being said by -Eugene Trevor, though there was nothing very particular to interest an -indifferent listener in his conversation with the young Countess. - -Indeed, even to Mary it might have seemed most satisfactorily -uninteresting, neither did it appear incapable of speedy exhaustion, for -before the close of the repast, the Countess had turned her attention to -her other neighbour, a young captain of the Guards, who seemed to have a -greater flow of small talk at his disposal, whilst Eugene was joining in -general conversation with others of the company, or leaning forward ever -and anon, as if carelessly to review the guests beyond. - -At length, Mary heard some remarks made upon some figs of peculiar -growth, which had appeared upon the table. A few minutes after, a -servant, to whom Trevor had been whispering some directions, brought the -dish containing them round to a lady, a seat or two below, and said, -distinctly enough for Mary to hear: - -"Mr. Trevor sends these, Miss, with his compliments, and hopes you will -take one, as they come from Montrevor." - -The lady, not a very attractive person, acceded to the request, most -graciously bending forward to smile and bow her acknowledgment of the -flattering attention bestowed upon her. - -But Eugene Trevor, who had also bent forward, seemed anything but -gratified. On the contrary, he looked back in an irritated way at the -servant, as if dissatisfied with the manner in which he had performed -his behest; and in a few seconds more he had risen, and was standing -himself behind Mary's chair. - -"That fool of a man," he said, in a suppressed tone, "evidently would -not know a rose from a peony. I told him to take those figs to the young -lady with the blue forget-me-nots in her white bonnet, and he took them -to your neighbour with the unconscionably large china-asters. You must -oblige me by taking one. They come out of my father's hot-house. I had -them picked on purpose to send to Silverton, as I remembered hearing you -say they were your favourite fruit; but Lady Dorington happened to call, -and carried them off for this affair of to-day." - -Mary turned her head, and lifted up her face towards the speaker. A look -met hers from the dark eyes of Eugene Trevor--a look surely possessed of -deeper meaning--which must have been intended to plead a greater boon -than her acceptance of the fruit of his father's garden. And though the -next moment he was gone, and she left with a beating heart to taste the -luscious offering--nay, though he was scarcely many minutes by her side -again that afternoon--for dancing quickly succeeded the repast, and -Trevor did not dance, while Mary's hand was in great request--yet a -feeling of such perfect happiness had suddenly taken possession of her -soul, that she was fully contented to feel that, as he stood apart -amongst those not joining in the dance, Trevor's eye was constantly -following her every movement with earnest, never-diverted attention. - -How strange the secret power which sometimes attracts one towards the -other, two beings of natures the most opposite! - -Perhaps if two individuals had been chosen from amongst that large -assembly, by those who knew them best--who on the score of -incompatibility were least calculated to blend harmoniously together--it -would have been that pure-hearted, single-minded, high-souled girl, -whose ideal standard of the good and beautiful was of so refined and -elevated a nature, a standard hitherto kept intact by the peculiar -circumstances of her youthful existence--from whose very outward aspect -seemed to breathe the undisturbed harmony of her lovely character;--she -and that man, of a corrupted and corrupting world, upon whose brow was -set the mark of many a contracting aim, many a darkening thought, a -debasing pursuit, upon whose soul lay perhaps as dark a stain of actual -crime as any in that company;--yet it seemed that this mysterious -unaccountable power, did from the very first draw their hearts with -sympathetic unison one towards another. - -Well it showed at least that Trevor's soul was not as yet "all evil," -that it could still bow before an image of purity and goodness, such as -was enshrined in Mary's breast, and _she_-- - - "Why did she love him?-- - Curious fool be still-- - Is human love the growth of human will?" - -Absorbed in her happy dreams, Mary drove home that evening with her -cousins, too happy, even, to be much disturbed by that generally most -fruitful source of disturbance, the bitter words passing between her -companions. - -They seemed now to have been provoked by some imprudence of Mrs. de -Burgh's during that day; her husband's animadversions thereupon exciting -the lady's scornful resentment; but its exact nature, Mary had too -little observed Mrs. de Burgh during the day, to be able fully to -understand. - -Mrs. de Burgh, on her part, had been too much occupied with her own -pleasure and interests to attend much to Mary and her concerns; but she -told her, as they parted for the night, that she expected Eugene the -next day to dinner. - -Mary also had received information to the same effect, communicated in -her ear, as she was being handed to the carriage. - -Expectation on this point was, however, doomed to disappointment; the -next evening, about the time that Eugene Trevor generally arrived, when -he was to dine and sleep at the house, a horseman was seen approaching -across the park, which proved to be a servant from Montrevor, mounted on -his master's beautiful chesnut. He was the bearer of a note to Mrs. de -Burgh. - -Eugene Trevor wrote word that in returning home the preceding night, -with a friend, he had received a kick from his companion's horse, and -was now a prisoner to his bed. It was to him a most provoking accident, -on many accounts, but he supposed he must submit to at least a week's -confinement, as the medical man considered it his only chance of a -speedy recovery. Mary looked a little pale at dinner after this -intelligence, but was otherwise as cheerful, as calmly happy, as she had -been since the _fête_. - -Mrs. de Burgh afterwards sent over to inquire after her cousin, and once -Mr. de Burgh, having occasion to ride into the neighbourhood, called to -see Trevor, and brought back word of his progress towards recovery. - -The injury proved, however more tedious than it had at first been -anticipated. October had set in before he was allowed to walk; but still -Mary's spirits did not fail her. - -If "love could live upon one smile for years," much more throughout a -few weeks of such unavoidable and accidental contingency. - - - - -CHAPTER XI. - - I thank thee for that downcast look, and for that blushing cheek, - I would not have thee raise those eyes, I would not have thee speak. - Tho' mute, I deem thee eloquent, I ask no other sign, - While thus thy little hand remains confidingly in mine. - - HAYNES BAYLEY. - - -A friend of Mrs. de Burgh's came to stay at Silverton about this time, a -lady of a certain age. - -She had lately lost her husband. - -Though malicious report spoke her to have loved him little during life, -she now mourned with considerable effect at his decease; and though -there was but the family party--for which circumstance she had been -prepared--staying in the house--this being the first visit she had paid -since her bereavement, she had not yet--though several days had elapsed -since her arrival--been able to muster sufficient nerve to issue from -the luxurious apartments assigned to her. - -Mr. de Burgh maliciously expressed himself fearful that the cap was not -becoming, hearing that the dainty, but not unsubstantial meals so -plentifully partaken of by the fair widow in her retreat, did not well -agree with any very wearing sentiment of grief. - -But Mrs. de Burgh said it was just like his ill-nature on every subject -connected with _her_ friends--and _faute de mieux_, rather enjoyed the -lounge of Mrs. Trevyllian's room, where she spent a great part of her -time. - -One evening, about the end of three weeks after Eugene Trevor's -accident, having remained talking to Mary some time after they had left -the dining-room, Mrs. de Burgh announced herself obliged to go up -stairs to Mrs. Trevyllian, for the rest of the evening, that lady having -made her promise so to do, she being in more than usually bad spirits -that day. - -"I know you do not mind a quiet evening for once," she added, "and I -have already seen you cast many a wistful glance at those books on the -table, whilst I have been talking nonsense; so make yourself comfortable -and if you find it dull come up to us. Mrs. Trevyllian will not mind -you. You will not have Louis' company to-night, for he has ordered -candles in the library, and means to adjourn there with his landscape -gardener when he leaves the dining room." - -Mary was accordingly left in solitary possession of the fair saloon, -through which the soft clear lamps and ruddy fire cast so cheerful a -radiance, feeling quite capable of appreciating the enjoyment, nay -luxury, of occasional solitude of the kind under similar auspices. - -She felt quite sure as she glanced around, when Mrs. de Burgh closed the -door behind her, that the _tête-à-tête_ of Olivia and her friend would -not be intruded upon by her to-night, that for the hour or two before -bed-time she should be well able to wile away her moments more -agreeably; and when in accordance with Mrs. de Burgh's anticipations, -she listened to the retreating voices of Louis and his companion, as -issuing from the dining-room they proceeded to the library, and shut the -door upon them to pore, for the remainder of the evening, over books and -plans--for Mr. L---- had to leave early on the following morning--Mary -obediently followed Mrs. de Burgh's injunction, "to make herself -comfortable," by sinking back on a luxurious _bergère_ on one side of -the fire place, and returning to the perusal of a work she had commenced -that day--whether for the name's-sake we cannot tell--but when my -readers learn its title, they will scarcely wonder if she now proceeded -with almost as much absorbing and abstract interest as if in Madeline's -own words there had been "no more Eugene's in the world than one"--the -strange and mysterious hero of her romantic studies. The book she read -was Eugene Aram. - -Thus engaged, Mary's attention wholly rivetted by the stirring interest -of the story, her taste enchanted by the glowing descriptions; and more -than all, her feelings and sympathies affected by the striking -sentiments of force and pathos with which its pages abound. She must -have become insensible to the existence of common worldly sounds, for -that of the door bell at this unusual hour, made no more impression on -her senses than any other might have done. - -Reclining back in indolent repose, one hand supporting the book, whilst -her other fair girlish arm lay in listless abandonment across the arm of -the chair, she just heard the door of the apartment open, but never -troubled herself to turn her head to look upon the intruder, concluding -that it could be only the servant come to attend to the fire, and not -till he had crossed the room and stood close before her, did she raise -her eyes to behold Eugene Trevor. - -Yes, there he was, standing looking down upon her with a smile on his -lips, provoked, first by the extreme absorption in which he had -surprised her, and then by the gaze of startled wonder, her upraised -countenance expressed. But astonishment soon gave way to other -appearances. If Eugene Trevor had ever reason to doubt the true -impression made by him on Mary Seaham's heart--by this sudden and -unexpected arrival after an interval of absence such as had occurred, -and from causes such as had existed--he had now taken good means to -ascertain its real nature and extent. - -Nothing speaks so truly as to the character and durability of the -feelings we have awakened, than the effect produced by meetings of this -sort. - - "Le plus aimé n'est pas toujours le meilleur reçu," - -some French poet writes, but _rencontres_ of this description admit of -no such refined and delicate subterfuges. The truth must out in glance, -or tone, or countenance, - - "And then if silence does not speak, - Or faltering tongue, or changing cheek-- - There's nothing told." - -And these tell-tale signs were unmistakeably revealed in this unprepared -moment upon poor Mary's countenance, when her lover, for so she had -lately dared to deem him, so unexpectedly appeared before her sight -after three weeks separation. - -She knew him during that time to have been ill, and suffering from a -dangerous and painful accident. She saw him paler, thinner, than she had -ever yet beheld him. They were alone together at this uncommon time and -under these unexpected circumstances, and her heart beat fast with -feelings she had never before experienced. - -And there she sat; the colour fast mounting over cheek and brow, then -leaving them very pale. Her eyes half filled with tears, her half parted -lips unable to falter forth, but incoherently, the words of welcome, of -congratulation, of pleasure at his recovery; which to any other -individual under the same circumstances, nay to himself, but a few weeks -ago, would have flowed so calmly and naturally from her kind warm heart. - -"Eugene Aram" fell unheeded from her hands. To Mary, indeed, at that -moment, "there was but one Eugene in the world." - -Fortunately for her, he in whose presence she now found herself, however -culpable he might be in other points of conduct and of character, was -not one, in this instance, to take a vain and heartless pleasure in the -discovery he thus made. - - "To trifle in cold vanity with all - The warm soul's precious throbs, to whom it is - A triumph that a fond devoted heart - Is breaking for them--who can bear to call - Young flowers into beauty--and then to crush them." - -Nay, still more fortunately for Mary, he was as much in love himself at -this time--perhaps, even still more so--different, totally, in kind, as -that love might be; and that he was loved, unsuspectingly, undeservedly -loved, by one, in his idea, as far above himself in purity and goodness, -as an angel is above a being of this fallen earth--loved even with that -excellence with which "angels love good men," filled his soul, at that -moment, with emotions of a softer, holier nature, than any which, -perhaps, for a long time, it had been his happiness to experience; and a -grateful, almost humbled, exultation, if any such feeling was excited by -the conviction, lit up with a sudden flash of animation, his keen dark -eve. He did not wait for Mary to finish what she had attempted to -express on his account. A moment's earnest abstracted pause ensued, -then moving quickly from his position on the hearth-rug, as if impelled -by a sudden irresistible impulse, he drew a chair close to her's, and -sitting down by her side, at once began. - -Her face was half averted, but he bent down his that she might catch the -low, soft, earnest accents, in which he breathed forth expressions of -his joy at beholding her again--how that she alone had filled his -thoughts during the period of his confinement--how impatiently he had -awaited the moment of liberation--and how, though unavoidably prevented -from leaving home as he had intended, in time for dinner, he could not -bear to delay one night longer after receiving his release, and had -therefore set out even at this eleventh hour--finally, he alluded to the -unexpected delight of finding her thus alone, the circumstance affording -him, as it did, the joyful opportunity of at once expressing in words, -what she must long ere this have inwardly discerned, the admiration, the -respect, the far deeper, tenderer feelings, with which she, almost from -the first moment he beheld her, had inspired him. He knew he was -unworthy to possess so inestimable a treasure, but if any strength or -measure of affection could atone for other imperfections, his surely -might be sufficient to plead in his behalf, did she not disdain the -compensation. - -Poor Mary! Her head sank lower, lower, on her heaving bosom, as one by -one these thrilling words--these fond assurances--came falling on her -ear, or rather sinking into her heart, - - "Like the sweet South - That breathes upon a bank of violets - Stealing and giving odour," - -overpowering it with emotions of only too exquisite a nature. - -Was not her's a happiness rare and almost unexampled, to find the hero -of her maiden meditations thus prove in truth the master and magician of -her fate? - -Yet even in that moment of joyful agitation, was there no swift under -current of thought, and recollection mingling strangely with her -immediate sensations; bringing with it, a certain confusion of feeling -and idea, similar to the one which had broken her slumbers the first -night of her arrival at Silverton? - -Alas! if it was the remembrance of the Welsh hill-side which again -suggested itself, if the image of her rejected lover standing by her -with that suppressed, yet deep and manly grief and disappointment, -expressed upon his noble countenance--might there not have been too a -voice to whisper in her ear, "And what then is there in this man by your -side, that he has thus found favour in your eyes; what superiority and -excellence have you fancied in him, that he is thus chosen when the -other was rejected?" - -But no such voice it seems did speak, or if so, it made itself not -heard. - -The charmed ear is deaf to whom it whispers--the fascinated eye is blind -to whom it would suggest such comparison. - -Yes, blind! Blind as the aged patriarch of old. Jacob is blessed: the -blessing and the birthright is taken from the rightful claimant. "I -have blessed him, yea, and he shall be blessed." - -Mary has not yet spoken, but there is a silence more expressive than -words--and expressive, as that which had followed Mr. Temple's -declaration and so coldly fallen upon his trembling hopes, was, to -Eugene Trevor, the silence which now hung upon her tongue. That blushing -face, those tearful eyes, those smiling lips, spoke all that he desired -to hear. They emboldened him so far as the pressing one of the soft -hands, which now nervously grasped the chair beside him, and though it -trembled, it was not withdrawn; and then the first overpowering flood of -agitation subdued--Mary, her emotion soothed and composed, had told her -love with "virgin pride--" and now sat calmly happy by her lover's side, -listening to his earnest conversation on many points connected with that -future now before them; yes whatever might have been the nature of his -feelings on the occasion, how intense and delicious were _her_ -sensations of happiness; for as it is expressed in the pages of the book -to which we have, in the last chapter, had occasion to allude: - -"In the pure heart of a young girl loving for the first time, love is -far more ecstatic than in man's more fevered nature. Love then and -there, makes the only state of human existence which is at once capable -of calmness and transport." - - - - -CHAPTER XII. - - She hath flung - Her all upon the venture of her vow, - And in her trust leans meekly, like a flower, - By the still river tempted from its stem - And on its bosom floating. - - WILLIS. - - -Mary did not feel quite equal to face her cousin and his friend in her -present state of mind; therefore, on the first movement making itself -heard in the direction of the library, she took alarm and escaped up -stairs, leaving Trevor, who did not suffer the same shamefaceness, to -undergo the encounter alone. Mary first went to her own room, then -shortly after, trying to look as if nothing had happened, proceeded to -Mrs. Trevyllian's apartment, to wish her cousin good night. She found -the ladies both reclining on their respective sofas, and was cordially -welcomed by each, as if by this time they had began to have had enough -of each other's uninterrupted society. - -"Do you know that Mr. Trevor is here?" Mary murmured to her cousin, with -averted countenance. - -"Why, I fancied you had a visitor of some sort," Mrs. de Burgh replied -with a smile of arch significance. "Was I not good to leave you -undisturbed?" she added at the same time in a whisper, trying to catch a -glimpse of Mary's face, whilst Mrs. Trevyllian turned upon it a glance -of such scrutinizing curiosity, that Mary finding this an ordeal, -unendurable for the present, bade them "good night," and made her escape -back to the sheltered sanctity of her solitary chamber, where no -intruding gaze could pierce, to meddle with the shrinking, modest joy, -which overflowed her heart. - -But it seems that Mrs. de Burgh, with all pardonable curiosity, -considering she was not quite unprepared for what Eugene Trevor's visit -would bring forth, had gone down-stairs after Mary left her, and had a -long private conversation with her cousin; for though she did not -disturb her again that night, it being very late before the interview -came to an end; yet the next morning, just as Mary was endeavouring to -clear her senses, and remember whether what had occurred the night -before had been a dream or a reality, Olivia made her appearance to -embrace and congratulate her on the happy intelligence she had received. - -"You cannot imagine, dear Mary," she said, "how pleased I was when -Eugene told me. It is just what I have wished all along. I have always -been very fond of Eugene; all that he required was a good wife, such as -he will find in you; and I feel convinced that he will make you very -happy." - -Mary smiled, as if she too felt perfectly satisfied on this point. - -"Louis," Mrs. de Burgh continued, "will most likely say that he is not -half good enough for you, but I suppose you will not feel much inclined -to agree with him there. As far as that goes, I assure you Eugene thinks -the same, but that is only as it should be, the more humble men's ideas -of themselves, and the more exalted their views of us, the better; they -are not often disposed to hold such doctrine. Of course you cannot -expect that even Eugene, has been, or ever will be, a piece of -perfection in character or conduct; but ah, I see by your face that you -think him so now, at any rate, so what signifies the _has been_, or the -_may be_? Well, you are quite right. 'Sufficient for the day' is my -motto, and, as I said before, I am convinced Eugene will love you as -much as ever wife was loved." - -Mary's beaming eyes spoke indeed her perfect satisfaction, at this -summing up of Mrs. de Burgh's discourse. The rest she heeded not; it -agreed so little with the spirit of her pure and perfect love, and she -then inquired whether "Eugene," (with a blushing smile, as for the -first time she called him by that name,) had made Louis acquainted with -the fact of their engagement. She should be very glad if this were the -case, as she could not keep it a secret for a moment longer from her -kind cousin than was necessary; but Eugene seemed the evening before, -rather to wish that she should delay the communication for a day or two. - -"Yes," replied Mrs. de Burgh, "he told me so last night, and still would -prefer our being silent on the subject just at present. The fact is, he -anticipates some little difficulty in reconciling his father to the idea -of his marriage. Uncle Trevor is rather a strange old man. Besides being -very fond of his son, he may imagine such an event likely to interfere -with the comfort he has in his society at Montrevor, not, of course, -that Eugene would allow that to be any obstacle; but only he thinks, I -dare say, that it is as well to keep the matter as snug as possible, -till he has prepared the old man's mind a little for the change." - -"Oh, of course," Mary said. "It is much better that it should be so. It -is only Louis, who I should not like to keep in the dark longer than was -really necessary, staying as I am in his house, and he being so near and -responsible a relation. Besides, it will be so difficult when Eugene is -here, to prevent letting it appear that something peculiar has -happened." - -Mrs. de Burgh laughed. - -"Well! Eugene seemed to think that he would find it rather difficult -too, and for that reason imagined it better to go away this morning -before breakfast. He gave out last night, what is partly true, that he -only came here _en route_ to M----, where he has business to transact; -he will return home to-night, and begin operations on the old gentleman. -In the meantime, as the most likely means to expedite and facilitate -matters, Eugene has set his heart upon a little plan which he -commissioned me to lay before you, and also to beseech you, with his -most tender love, not to disappoint his wishes on the subject." - -Mary's countenance seemed to say that already his request was granted, -but she paused for further information. - -"He proposes," continued Mrs. de Burgh, "that, perhaps not the next day, -but the one following, you and I should drive over to Montrevor to -luncheon, and that in this way his father, before he knows of anything -being in the wind, should see and know you--and he thinks--as a matter -of course, be charmed and delighted, and so half the battle gained at -once." - -Mary smiled. - -"But what will Louis say to this?" she inquired, "he will object now, I -suppose, as much as formerly, to our driving to Montrevor." - -"_Louis!_ how very good you are Mary, why you are not half in love if -you would allow ought that Louis could say or think, to interfere with -anything in which Eugene is concerned now. But to set your mind at ease -on this point, Louis happens to leave home this morning and does not -return till the next day, so you need not have to tell any stories on -the subject, and perhaps, when you see him again, you may be able to -divulge all, and he have no more business to quarrel with your drives to -Montrevor." - -Mary gave a yielding smile, and we are afraid that even if she had -entertained any conscientious scruples after the above discourse, they -would have melted quite away after the first love-letter she received, -under cover to one addressed to Mrs. de Burgh, from Eugene Trevor on the -following morning. A little note which she wrote in reply, necessarily -settled the point. - -Mr. de Burgh took his departure early the next morning, and his fair -lady ordered the pony carriage to come round at noon the same day, for -their drive to Montrevor, which was more than twelve miles distant. - -"Adieu, happy people, you will have a delightful drive!" sighed Mrs. -Trevyllian, who had actually been emboldened by the absence of gentlemen -to face the sunshine beneath the cover of her crape veil, and to go out -for a stroll upon the lawn. - -And a delightful drive it was, at least to Mary. It would have been so, -even under less favourable auspices, with the same happy prospects at -the end. A visit to her intended, under his father's roof! But even -nature seemed to smile upon her hopes. It was a perfect specimen of an -October day, with the balmy and refreshing warmth, sometimes -characterizing this period of the year; the sky serene and clear, above -their heads, whilst the woods and trees which skirted the roads, along -which they so swiftly sped, were still in one rich golden glow. - -And it was not for Mary, on this happy day, to think, how there wanted -but one chill and wintry blast to lay these thousand glories low. - -She naturally felt a little nervous when she was informed they were -approaching their destination. The trembling happiness of meeting Eugene -for the first time since their last eventful interview, made her heart -beat fast--and then there was her introduction to his father, the -"strange old man," on whom the impression she should make was to her, -for Eugene's sake, of such great importance. - -Mrs. de Burgh, in her conversation, during the drive, touched in great -measure on the subject of this relative. - -She described him as having for years lived a very reclusive life at -Montrevor; and thus to have acquired peculiarities and eccentricities, -even beyond those which in a degree were natural to his habits and -disposition--one of which, by her account, seemed to be an inclination -to the most rigid parsimony, and she prepared Mary to see some signs of -this in the character of their entertainment upon the present occasion. - -"Of course," Mrs. de Burgh added, "Eugene does not much interest himself -in amending such matters at present, and indeed during his father's -life-time--or perhaps till he married--it was of little consequence to -him, and to say the truth, any interference on his part would not have -been of much avail, for an old favourite servant has hitherto held -sovereign sway over the house. However, it will be all very different -some of these days," she added with a smile, "when a Mrs. Eugene Trevor -comes into power." - - - - -CHAPTER XIII. - - I know - She prizes not such trifles as these are: - The gifts she looks from me, are pack'd and lock'd - Up in my heart. - - WINTER'S TALE. - - -They entered at last upon the domain of Montrevor, a very fine estate, -on much the same scale, and not very different in style, to the mansion -of Silverton; a not uncommon similarity which might seem, generally -speaking, to run through the estates and great houses of our several -English counties, almost as much as their distinctive characteristics -are shown forth in the dialect of the common people, and even--as we -fancy--in the style and manners of the superior class of inhabitants. - -But there was one important point which imparted a very opposite aspect -to the two places, and must have at once struck the beholder; whereas -the grounds of Silverton, under the influence of Mr. de Burgh's zealous -exertions, were undergoing the process of improvement--or at least -alteration to a great extent--those of Montrevor, if not quite allowed -to run wild, from neglect, showed at least no signs of anything like -expensive outlay being wasted on their culture, or arrangement; whilst -on the other hand, the frequent sight of naked stumps, interspersed -within the still richly wooded domain, gave rise to the suspicion that -the woodman's axe found no inconsiderable measure of employment there. - -"Yes!" Mrs. de Burgh observed, in allusion to these appearances; "Eugene -does all in his power to prevent too great a dilapidation of this kind; -so the greatest delight the old gentleman can have is a regular -destructive storm, after which he walks about--like a certain duke, -whose propensities where restrained by an entail--chuckling over the -devastations it may have occasioned, and yet I believe he is richer by -far than Louis. I only wish," she added, giving a smart lash to the -ponies, as they started aside from some fallen timber which lay near the -road, "that he would spare his money a little in the same way; or at any -rate, keep it to spend in a more satisfactory manner." - -"Is Eugene the eldest son?" Mary quietly enquired, not the least afraid, -in her unconscious simplicity of heart, lest the demand might have -awakened suspicions that the sight of these fine family possessions had -for the first time suggested the important question. - -"The eldest son. Oh! I will tell you all about that presently. See, here -is the house, and there is Eugene on the anxious look-out." - -And what further thought had Mary as to her lover's primogeniture? - -With glad alacrity, he hastened to meet them when the carriage stopped -before the door, and warm and fervent was the meeting and the welcome he -gave to his gentle, happy betrothed. - -On Mary's part all nervous discomfort seemed to vanish, as handing her -from the carriage he drew her trembling arm within his own, and led her -up the steps into his father's halls, thanking her all the time, with -the most earnest tenderness for having thus acceded to his request. - -"My father," he said, turning to Mrs. de Burgh, as before proceeding -they paused for a few moments together to converse, "is quite prepared -to see you; and a very charming young lady--" looking with an expressive -smile at Mary--"who, I told him, would accompany you; and I suppose -luncheon must be nearly ready, that is to say, if there is anything -prepared deserving of that name, and really I have been so busy this -morning, and am so unaccustomed to eat in this house, that I never -thought of making particular inquiries on the subject. But I suppose -Marryott will give us something." - -"Oh, yes, I dare say!" Mrs. de Burgh rejoined laughing; "and I am so -hungry that I shall not much care what it is, so, that there only is -'something.' I have prepared, Mary, for finding that there will be some -few points of reformation required in the domestic arrangements of -Montrevor; but neither of _you_, of course, can do anything so -unromantic as to eat just at present. Come along! where is my uncle--in -his library?" and she proceeded to lead the way to that apartment. - -In the long, low, and rather gloomy-looking library, on a faded crimson -leather chair before a bureau, or old-fashioned writing-table, with -drawers innumerable, was seated Mr. Trevor, the unconscious -father-in-law elect of Mary Seaham. At the opening of the door, which -instantaneously followed Mrs. de Burgh's knock, he hastily closed one of -the receptacles over which he had seemed to be bending assiduously, and -turning round his head and beholding his visitors, rose to receive -them--giving his wasted hand to his niece, and saying in a weak and -tremulous voice: - -"My dear Olivia, I am very glad to see you." - -"And _I_ overjoyed to behold you again, uncle. It is really an age since -I have had that pleasure; but how excessively well you are looking!" -Then turning towards Mary, she added: "Allow me to introduce Miss -Seaham--Louis' cousin, you know. I think you must remember her mother." - -The old man looked at Mary and bowed with the utmost old-fashioned -courtesy, then begged both ladies to be seated. - -"I really have been intending to drive over to see you, dear uncle, ever -since your illness in the summer," continued Mrs. de Burgh, "but one -thing or the other has prevented me. Besides Louis always persisted that -you would only think me a nuisance, and Eugene," she added, looking at -her cousin, who laughed at the accusation, "really did not much -encourage the contrary idea." - -"Eh, Eugene, is that the case?" responded the old gentleman, with an -attempt at a jocular smile, which sat ill on his naturally careworn, -anxious countenance. "A nice character they seem to give me, and that -young lady," glancing towards Mary, "must look upon me of course as a -sad old churl." - -Mary with a sweet and earnest smile, denied the truth of any such -assumption, and Mr. Trevor looked at her again more attentively, as -almost every one who did look upon her countenance with any degree of -observation, seldom failed to do a second time; not so much for its -beauty as for that "something excellent which wants a name," attracting -still more irresistibly. Mr. Trevor might have been also not a little -struck by the expression of earnest, almost affectionate interest -emanating from the gaze, with which he caught the soft grey eyes of this -young stranger fixed upon his face; "and why does she look at me in -that manner, does the girl want to borrow money?" were exactly the -words which might have seemed to suit the first sharp suspicious glance -with which he marked the circumstance, though diverted irresistibly and -almost instantaneously by the silent magic of her ingenuous countenance. - -Mary could not help regarding Eugene's father with a considerable degree -of interest and attention, but even under indifferent circumstances, she -would not have been quite unimpressed. His long silvery hair falling -nearly to his shoulders--the sort of loose vest he wore, and little -velvet cap covering the baldness of the crown of his head, gave him on -the first _coup d'oeil_ a very venerable and picturesque appearance. -But what on survey most attracted Mary's observation was the likeness, -her loving quick-eyed perception perceived, or fancied she perceived -between the father and son, allowing of course for the changing effects -of age and infirmities, the latter perhaps in as great, if not in a -greater degree in this case, than the former, for Mr. Trevor at this -time was only seventy. - -To the now bent and shrunken form, it was easy to imagine there had once -belonged the manly build and middle height of Eugene. In his voice too, -there was as much similarity of tone, as could have been preserved -between such an unfeebled, time warped instrument, and the full toned -organ of the other. Then there were the same dark, deep-set eyes, though -dimmed and sunken; the same cast of features, though compressed, -sharpened, and marked with signs and characters which she could not -forbear to hope even age and infirmity might never mature on those of -Eugene; for the impression they imparted was on a closer observation, of -a far from agreeable nature. - -"Well, Eugene, are we not to have some luncheon? these ladies must be -hungry after their long drive," the old gentleman said after he had made -civil enquiries as to the length of time Mary had been in the country, -remarked on the weather &c. - -"Yes indeed, Sir, Olivia professes herself very hungry indeed," Eugene -replied, "I will ring the bell and ask if there is anything to be had." - -"Yes, do so pray. Anything to be had," he repeated with a semblance of -anxious hospitality, "of course there is something, Olivia is not to be -starved (with an uneasy smile), eh, Olivia? But do not expect such -feasting as you have at Silverton; we are plain housekeepers here at -present, Eugene and I. My appetite is gone--irretrievably gone--can -scarcely swallow a morsel, and Eugene is not particular. Bachelor fare -suits him--Eh, Eugene?" he added with a facetious chuckle, "is not this -the case?" - -"Certainly, Sir, _at present_" his son replied with a significant laugh, -in which Mrs. de Burgh joined, whilst both stole a glance at Mary, who -cast down her eyes and blushed, though a smile at the same time played -upon her lips. - -A servant then entered, and in answer to the bell, announced that -luncheon was on the table. Mr. Trevor by the manoeuvre of Mrs. de -Burgh, was made to offer his arm to Mary, whilst Eugene having smiled -expressively upon her as she passed, followed with his cousin. - -"What in the world induced you to put us in this dungeon of a room?" he -enquired, turning to the butler, who with one other servant composed -their attendance, as they entered the vast dining room, the door being -thrown open for their reception. - -"Yes, the small room would have done perfectly," said his father, -glancing somewhat uneasily at the moderate fire burning not very -effectually in the cold, bright, spacious grate, "but you and I can dine -here Eugene, to-night--and the other fire," looking at the servant as he -seated himself at the table, "may be let out." - -"Very well, Sir," said the man, as he lifted up the cover of the dish -placed before his master at the top of the long table, which might well -have accommodated fourteen, a space being thereby occasioned between -himself and Mary, and the couple at the bottom, of very formidable -extent; and which seemed irresistably to excite Mrs. de Burgh's mirth, -while Eugene was half angry, half amused at the stupidity and ridiculous -nature of the arrangement. - -"What have you there, Eugene?" Mr. Trevor then demanded, as the bottom -cover was, at the same moment, removed. - -"Potatoes, Sir, hot potatoes, I am glad to say, for we require heat, -here, of some kind, excessively. I shall be glad to yield you and Miss -Seaham, the benefit of their vicinity, and save you the trouble of that -joint. Roland, bring that mutton here," and the small loin being placed -before Eugene, he proceeded to help the ladies, (Eugene was always a -silent observer of these little points,) according to his, now not -inexperienced, estimate of their several tastes and appetites. - -"None for me, Eugene, none for me," Mr. Trevor said, surveying Mary's -small supply, not uncomplacently, and helping himself to a potatoe. -"Never eat meat at this time, you know, and at any time but with a poor -relish. Youth, and health, and spirits, make the best sauces. Eh, Miss -Seaham?" in answer to Mary's glance of pitying concern. - -"The best to be had here, at any rate," laughed the younger Trevor to -his companion, as he impatiently pushed away the cruet-stand, from which -he had vainly been attempting to extract, for his own use, some remnant -of its exhausted contents, "have them replenished immediately I beg," he -added, addressing his servant. "Olivia, pray renew your acquaintance -with your favourite old sherry; it will be many a long day before that -is exhausted. Has Miss Seaham any? Ah, yes!"--with a smile across the -table, which cleared away the momentary cloud that had passed over his -countenance, and he proceeded to pour himself out a glass, and several -others in succession, though his appetite, in other respects, appeared -not much better than his father's. - -Mrs. de Burgh and Eugene seemed to keep up a brisk and animated -conversation, yet it was easy to perceive that they were not inattentive -also to the progress of their opposite neighbours, and that Eugene's eye -was continually directed towards Mary, with earnest solicitude as to her -comfort and entertainment; whilst the complacent smile occasionally -exchanged between him and his cousin, demonstrated their sense of the -satisfactory progress she seemed to be making in the good graces of her -host. For Mr. Trevor appeared in no way uninfected by the peculiar charm -Mary had cast around the son. Her quiet, gentle manners, appeared to -soothe him and set his mind at ease, whilst at the same time, the -intelligent interest and animation in which she entered into all he -said, flattered and pleased him. - -"You must send Miss Seaham some more mutton; you helped her to only -enough to feed a sparrow, you should make allowance for her long drive," -he called out quite reproachfully to his son, as Mary's plate was about -to be removed by the servant. - -"I shall be happy to send Miss Seaham as much as she can possibly eat," -said Eugene demurely, "but," he added, as Mary begged to decline a -second supply, "I fancy she will prefer a slice of that cake I see on -the side table." - -"Cake! is there any cake?" exclaimed the old gentleman, looking round in -doubtful search of this reported, and as it would have seemed, -unexpected and unusual adjunct to his table. - -"Oh, of course," Eugene replied, smiling; "all young ladies like cake, -and Marryott knows that too well not to have supplied Miss Seaham with -one to-day." - -"But Marryott," said the old man, somewhat sharply, "did not know till -this morning that we were to have ladies to luncheon. You did not tell -her till this morning. Eh? How, then, could she have had one made in -time?" - -"Well then, Marryott is a prophetess, for, at any rate, here is a cake, -and a capital one too," the son added, with a little quick impatience in -his tone, though at the same time losing none of the respectful -consideration, ever peculiarly observable in his manner towards his -eccentric old father. - -"Formerly, they used to make me cakes and all sort of good things to -take to school when I was a boy; why, I wonder, are these, as well as -many other good things, now denied me?" Eugene continued, laughing. - -"Because you do not deserve them, I suppose," playfully rejoined Mrs. de -Burgh. - -"I suppose so," he answered rather quickly, a flush passing across his -brow, whilst a slight glance was directed towards Mary, as if -conscience suggested to his secret soul, one of those whispers which -sometimes disturb the proud heart of man in his most careless moments. - -"How, then, are you deserving of this good, best thing you are about to -appropriate to yourself?" - -Perhaps, too, for at the slightest word, "How many thoughts are -stirred," his own careless question might suggest this one reply: - -"And where is she, the fond, the faithful, and unselfish administrator -to the tastes and pleasures of your boyhood--your thoughtless, selfish, -slighting boyhood?--that gentle, excellent being, prized too little on -earth, too soon forgotten in death, to whom, alas! you too seldom had -recourse but when other resources failed you--who gave and did all -unrebukingly, looking for nothing in return--never wearying of doing you -good?" - -"I think sometimes,"--are the words of gentle Charles Lamb--"could I -recall the days that are gone, which amongst them should I choose? Not -those 'merrier days' not 'the pleasant days of hope,' not those -wanderings with a fair-haired maid, which I have so often and so -feelingly regretted, but the days of a mother's fondness for her -schoolboy. What would I give to call her back for _one_ day, on my knees -to ask her pardon for all those little asperities of temper, which from -time to time have given her gentle spirit pain." - -We do not know--we only imagine--we only hope that some such reflections -might have suggested themselves to Trevor's mind, for they are those -which, however unfrequently indulged--like the droppings on a stone, or -as angel's visits, few and far between--cannot leave the heart less hard -than the nether millstone--less unredeemable than the forsaken -reprobate--quite uninfluenced by their softening power, and the careless -words which almost uninterruptedly followed this under current of -thought, no way militates against our hopes and wishes on that -score--for it is by the careless, outward sign that the deep utterance -of the heart is oftenest disguised. - -"Olivia," he continued, as he proceeded to cut the cake, "shall I give -you some? No? Ah, I forgot, married ladies, I observe, seldom do eat -cake;" and he sent round the plate to Mary, whilst Mr. Trevor, though he -still kept his eye curiously fixed on the object of discussion, as if he -could not yet quite reconcile to his mind the phenomenon of its -production, was not ungratified to hear Mary praise it, and finally -consented to taste a piece, in obedience to her recommendation; -pronouncing himself perfectly satisfied with its merits, inasmuch--as it -certainly was not too rich. - -Independently of the natural promptings of her disposition, which would -have led Mary under any circumstances, to pay every amiable and -respectful attention to one of Mr. Trevor's age and circumstances, it -had been certainly her anxious desire on this peculiar occasion to find -favour in the eyes of Eugene's father, and to this effect--to make -herself--as the phrase goes--as agreeable as possible; an endeavour all -must know, in which--when the heart has so dear an interest as in the -present case--it requires no great art or effort to engage _con amore_, -and Mary's time and attention thus employed upon the father, it was not -very often, though we cannot vouch for how often, her thoughts might -have turned in that direction, that she suffered her eyes to wander down -the long table towards the son, unless especially addressed. - -Perhaps she might not feel quite bold enough as yet to brave the -observation of her father-in-law elect in this manner, and it was easy -to discover that Mr. Trevor's sharp anxious glances, were of no -unobservant a character, therefore it certainly happened that when her -eyes did venture to turn from his immediate vicinity, they were oftenest -raised towards an object, upon which it was to be imagined, she might -gaze _ad libitum_, without risk of incurring suspicion or animadversion. -It was one of the family portraits, lining the walls of the spacious -apartment, and hanging over the fire-place, facing where she sat; not -one of the quiet gentlemen in brown lace adorned suits, and powdered -bag wigs, but one whose habiliments pronounced him a warrior of still -earlier date; and by that noble countenance, Mary's eyes might be seen -very frequently attracted, so much so, that towards the close of the -repast, when the servants had retired, Mrs. de Burgh called out, across -the table: - -"Mary, Eugene is quite jealous--that is to say," correcting herself, -"Eugene is very anxious to know whether you have quite lost your heart -to that gallant ancestor of his over the mantelpiece, for it seems to -attract your most earnest interest and attention?" - -Mary smiled. - -"Not quite," she said, "though he is very handsome, I confess; but what -most drew my attention to the picture, is its extreme likeness to a -person with whom I am acquainted." - -"Indeed!" Eugene exclaimed gaily, "well I cannot say that much mends the -matter, does it, Olivia? A likeness to a person Miss Seaham has seen--a -likeness too, she owns so handsome, attracting so much interest and -attention, that we have scarcely had one glance cast upon us all this -long time. We must really make some further enquiries about this -'person.'" - -Mary responded to this fond raillery of her lover by an affectionate -beaming smile, whilst Mr. Trevor in whose mind his son's words did not -appear to awaken any suspicions, began for Mary's edification, to give -an account of the name, birth, parentage and exploits of the warrior in -question; which Mrs. de Burgh and Eugene interrupted, in the midst, by -rising and moving from the table, and the former proposing that they -should take Mary to show her over some parts of the house and gardens. - -Whereupon the old gentleman expressed his fears that they would find all -the rooms worth seeing, "shut, and covered up, and cold--very cold" -(though in truth they could not have been much colder than the one in -which they now found themselves) "and the garden very desolate"--and -then he went off to his library. - - - - -CHAPTER XIV. - - And side by side the lovers sate, - - Their talk was of the future; from the height - Of Hope, they saw the landscape bath'd in light, - And where the golden dimness veil'd the gaze, - Guess'd out the spot, and marked the sites of happy days. - - THE NEW TIMON. - - -Then once more was Eugene at Mary's side, congratulating himself that -the separation from one another--which the stupidity of the servants, -out of practice in anything like civilized entertainments had occasioned -them was over. - -"Is not that flattering, considering who was his partner in this -isolation, as he calls it?" replied Mrs. de Burgh. "Stupidity, not at -all! poor old Richard wished to do us honour, and he thought he could -not do so to greater perfection than by putting us into the largest, -coldest room, and at the longest table. Besides it could not have been -better arranged, for other reasons. How well you got on with Uncle -Trevor, Mary; we see that he is quiet charmed with you already." - -"I fear I have had little time or opportunity as yet to win or merit any -such unqualified approbation," Mary replied, "though I may hope, that in -time,"--looking at Eugene with a smile. - -"Oh, I assure you," interposed Mrs. de Burgh, laughing, "that you did a -great deal in that short time. First of all you fully proved to my uncle -that your appetite was of no formidable dimensions, (I know he holds -mine of old in horror) not greatly above that of a sparrow. Then you -only took a thimble full of wine; and he obtained full assurance that -you had not been in London for ages--had no great longing to go there -at all--had been accustomed, and indeed did, prefer the country; and -therefore he need have no fear--when the truth is broken to him--of -Eugene's being dragged off by you to London every season, his money -squandered, as he fancies my husband's is (I wish, indeed, it was so -squandered) upon hotel-bills and opera boxes! Oh, you did it capitally, -Mary! did she not Eugene?" - -"Olivia is too bad, is she not?" was Eugene's reply, having--during Mrs. -de Burgh's speech--been gazing with a fond smile into the expressive -countenance of his betrothed, as she listened, half amused--half -surprised and shocked, to her cousin's unceremonious ridicule of her -uncle's peculiarities before his son. - -"She is too bad," he continued, "and will give you but a poor idea of -what you may expect in this house; when, of course, everything would be -set on a very different train on your becoming its inmate." - -And Eugene took the hand of his betrothed within his own with such -tender affection, that Mrs. de Burgh began to experience something of -the uncomfortable sensation of feeling herself _de trop_, to which -_chaperones_, or any third person, under similar circumstances, are apt -to be exposed. So she proposed an immediate adjournment, deeming this -the best measure to be adopted for promoting a more comfortable position -of affairs. - -They accordingly proceeded through some of the large apartments, -handsome rooms, for the most part, though covered and shut up, and as -Mr. Trevor had reported, "cold, very cold." Mrs. de Burgh at least found -them so, and Trevor having proposed to show Mary a more pleasant and -habitable room, which he thought she would prefer, Mrs. de Burgh -applauded the plan, and accompanied them up the staircase, but in the -gallery suddenly remembered that she had something particular to say to -Marryott, and adding that she would go and look for her, and return to -them in the boudoir, when they might go out to walk, she left the lovers -alone together. Trevor accordingly proceeded to lead Mary in the -direction of the room thus specified. - -There were pictures on the walls of the corridor through which they -passed, and one of these Mary would fain have waited more particularly -to survey. - -It was a large oil painting, representing a group composed of three -boys, from about the ages of ten to fourteen. One, apparently the -eldest, was mounted on a handsome pony, the reins of which were held by -the second, the most striking in appearance of the party, and whose fine -animated countenance was turned eagerly aside towards the third and -youngest, a dark-haired, dark-eyed little fellow, carrying a cricket-bat -in his hand. A large Newfoundland dog completed the picture. - -"Yes," Trevor said, in answer to the look of interest and half-uttered -enquiry which a glimpse of the painting drew forth from Mary, "that -gentleman with the bat was intended to represent my hopeful self." - -But there was something of constraint in the smile which accompanied, -and in the tone in which he uttered these words, which instinctively -caused Mary to pass on without further demonstration of the wish she -felt to pause for its closer inspection. - -There might be, for aught she knew, some melancholy associations -connected with the brother, she remembered he had lost, perhaps even -with the one still living, but concerning whom she had as yet heard so -little, and to whom she could not help, from that very cause, attaching -the existence of some mystery. But at any rate, she had ascertained that -Eugene was not the eldest son. - -Their course was destined to meet with one other interruption. They -suddenly came upon a remarkable looking woman, tall, and rather -handsomely dressed, with remains of considerable beauty, though now -apparently past fifty. - -Mary at once concluded her to be the Marryott of whom she had heard -previous mention, though the ideas she had formed respecting that -personage were rather of a more venerable and old fashioned looking -person--a housekeeper of the old school, in sweeping serge, high -starched cap, and massive bunches of keys at her girdle. - -She had, however, a kindly smile, and some few gracious words ready for -this--from all she had heard and imagined--old and faithful servant of -the family, who drew back with all due deference to let her young master -and his fair companion pass. - -But Trevor did not testify much more inclination to pause here than he -had showed before the picture; he merely said, _en passant_, -acknowledging her presence by a hasty glance: - -"Oh, Marryott, Mrs. de Burgh has gone to look for you. I want to show -Miss Seaham the boudoir; I suppose the door is open?" - -The woman answered civilly that it was, though she was sorry to say -there was no fire lighted, and they proceeded on their way. - -The room which the happy pair finally entered was indeed of a more -pleasant, and alluring aspect than any Mary had yet seen. The whole -brightness at present pervading the mansion, appeared concentrated -within its walls, for all want of fire was supplied by the genial warmth -the afternoon sunshine emitted through the pleasant window, near to -which Eugene and Mary at once seated themselves, to enjoy under these -auspicious circumstances the first _tête-à-tête_ interview afforded them -since their engagement. - -"This is a pretty room, is it not?" Eugene remarked. - -"Delightful!" Mary replied, looking around her. - -"Yes! and might be made more so," Eugene continued. "The furniture is, -as you see, quite old-fashioned; it has been left much in the same state -ever since my mother died, nearly nine years ago." - -And certainly though that peculiar air pervaded the apartment which -bespoke its original occupation by a woman of refinement, there was very -little in the furniture or decorations, to show that much expense in the -way of modern adornment or improvement had been bestowed upon it, for -many years before the period alluded to by Eugene, or those consisting -but of the simplest nature; since, for the only signs of costliness in -any of its appurtenances it had evidently been indebted to days long -gone by. - -But Mary said (as her eye wandered round with no slight increase of -interest since Eugene's mention of his mother--upon the time-worn -instrument whose notes had probably been so long unawakened, the books -within the carved oak shelves, the _escritoire_, and work-box,) that -she rather liked its simple, old-fashioned appearance. - -Eugene smiled upon her, but said he thought there would be some few -improvements and additions required before the room would be again quite -rendered fit for a lady's occupation. - -"It was your mother's boudoir, then," observed Mary; "how fond you must -be of it." And she seemed to wish to draw him on to give some -particulars of that lost parent, whose memory she doubted not he as -feelingly cherished as she that of her own. And Eugene did then speak a -few words in commendation of the worth and excellence of the deceased -Mrs. Trevor; but still, as had ever been peculiarly the case in his -intercourse with Mary, he seemed to prefer that she should rather be the -speaker. He was never weary of listening to the most trivial -communications she chose to make to him, drew her on, to speak of her -sisters, her brother; everything in the least connected with her past -or present circumstances; whilst it might have seemed from the little he -spoke concerning aught, hearing no reference to the _one event_--his -marriage with herself, sooner or later as it might occur, (for of course -as yet, no time was definitely specified)--that that subject formed the -_nucleus_ around which clustered all interest concerning his own -affairs, past present or to come. - - * * * * * - -The moments thus engaged, as may be imagined, glided quickly and -imperceptibly away, and Mrs. de Burgh's prompt return was neither looked -for nor expected, though nearly an hour had elapsed ere there was any -sign of interruption. Mary and Eugene were leaning together over the -window, which the latter had thrown open a few moments before, for Mary -to gain a better view of the park and woods and church tower, which from -their present post were seen to such advantage, and now were tinged by -the first brilliant tint of the sun's departing radiance with such -glowing hues. - -They were leaning thus out of the window together--of course entirely -engrossed by the beauties of the scene before them--when a sound within -caused them to draw back, and turn their heads, expecting to see Mrs. de -Burgh, but in her stead they beheld old Mr. Trevor standing before them. -Mary taken by surprise looked a little frightened, but Eugene appeared -in no degree disconcerted, however unexpected might be the sight of his -father, in a part of the house to which he now rarely found his way; and -which circumstance rather gave rise to the supposition that some secret -movement of suspicion, that a plot was hatching against him, must have -prompted him to so doing on this present occasion. - -He merely said in the most natural manner: "Oh! Sir, have you come to -look for us? We are waiting for Olivia who has gone to speak to -Marryott. Miss Seaham is delighted with this room and the view from the -window, but she was just suggesting--" - -"What--what?" interposed the old man sharply; "what is there to be done -now? nothing that would improve the prospect I am sure. I did that by -cutting down the trees. No, no young lady," softening his first quick -tone into an attempt at jocoseness, "you come from Silverton, where de -Burgh I hear is playing a fine game, doing grand things with the place; -but it won't do for me, I am content with it as it has been, and now is. -I leave it to Eugene to make ducks and drakes with his property if he -pleases, when I am not here to see it, but," becoming considerably -excited, "I'll have nothing of the sort going on whilst I'm alive, -no--no--not I. Eugene knows that, don't you Eugene? ha, ha!" - -"But my dear Sir, you quite mistook me," Eugene soothingly interposed. -"Miss Seaham far from suggesting any such expensive improvements as you -seem to have taken into your head, was only just now saying," with an -arch smile as he glanced at Mary, "how much more she liked this place in -its present wild and picturesque disarrangement, than in a state of high -and artificial culture. Indeed she is so very simple and unpretending in -her taste, that the only thing she could at all suggest, as I was going -to tell you to make a place like this, as it is now--quite -perfect--would be, plenty of mignonette sown in the beds beneath the -windows, as there used to be round her family house in Wales. If there -was only this, it seems that all the green-house ruinations might go to -the dogs for what she cared." - -Mary smiled, and of course did not attempt a contradiction of those -points in her lover's exculpation which were rather beyond the mark, for -the old man's mind was evidently relieved--his alarm abated. - -"Mignonette!" he repeated, "well, I don't see any harm in that. Yes, -that might be done--easily done; we'll see about it by the spring. It is -a sweet and pleasant thing to have in summer time; we used to have it I -think when your mother was alive," looking at Eugene, "but it's worn out -since--and Eugene and I," again addressing Mary, "are no gardeners. -You've seen the gardens I suppose, though there is little to be seen -now. No! eh? why I thought you were out all this time--where's Olivia? -what's she saying to Marryott? it's getting late and she has a long -drive to take--I am sure it must be four by this time." - -"Oh, my dear Sir, nothing like it, besides there is no hurry; no hurry -whatever. De Burgh's away, so no matter keeping dinner waiting, (not -that I believe Olivia has ever many scruples that way,) even if they are -late. Oh, here she is, now we can go out and look about us a little." - -Mrs. de Burgh showed a little surprise to see her uncle of the party, -but she began to tell him she had been talking to Marryott about a -housemaid she wanted. She then professed her readiness to go out, though -in half an hour they must be setting off home, therefore they might as -well take leave of dear uncle Trevor at once, that they might not have -to disturb him again. - -This they accordingly did when they reached the foot of the stairs, for -Mr. Trevor accompanied them thus far, first staying behind to pull down -the blinds and carefully to shut the boudoir door. - -He shook hands with his niece with some warmth, and with Mary with most -marked politeness, and said, when they thanked him for his kind -reception, that he should be very happy to see them again when they had -any fancy for the drive; and then walked off towards his library, -shutting the door behind him with a noise which was in no slight degree -expressive of relief. The rest of the party then adjourned to the -grounds, their half hour's perambulations extending nearly to an hour. -Then Mrs. de Burgh, professing herself quite tired out, though she sat -some time in the gardener's cottage, (either for her own sake or in -consideration of her companions,) they went back towards the house, and -found the carriage waiting at the door, into which, Mrs. de Burgh having -first had a little private confabulation with Eugene, the two ladies -entered. - -Many last words were exchanged, as Eugene assisted in the arrangement of -the extra wraps round Mary which the evening air rendered requisite; but -they were at length cut short by Mrs. de Burgh's movement of the reins -and the consequent springing forward of the ponies, when he stepped back -and regretfully waved his hand in adieu. - -"Well, Mary, I think we have done very well," Mrs. de Burgh exclaimed, -when they had driven on a few hundred yards. "Now look back and say how -you feel when you fancy yourself, in a few months perhaps, established -mistress of this fine old place." - -Mary turned her head as she was desired, but probably more as an excuse -for taking a last look at Eugene, who she could see slowly withdrawing -back into the house, than for the reason suggested. - -Then indeed she suffered her eye to wander over the wide mansion, but -turning back with a half smile--half sigh--she murmured: - -"I cannot as yet quite realize that idea, dear Olivia." - -"Well, my dear Mary," Mrs. de Burgh gaily replied, "then I hope you may -very soon have it in your power to realize the _fact_." - -After a day of mental excitement and bodily fatigue such as they had -undergone, the ladies did not of course feel equal to keeping up the -animated and unbroken conversation of the morning. Mary for the most -part of the way, lent back in the carriage in the silent indulgence of -the ample source of thought and meditation afforded her by the events -of the day, whilst Mrs. de Burgh drove but weariedly, and after her -first animated address, made but languid attempts at reference or remark -upon the incidents of the visit. - -There was one important communication which she did however make in a -careless quiet way, perhaps owing to the same physical exhaustion, but -which seemed certainly rather disproportionate to the interest and -magnitude of the facts it conveyed. - -"Bye the bye," she said, _à-propos_ to something to which Mary had -alluded concerning Eugene, "I promised to tell you about his brother. -His elder brother, you must know--" - -"Yes," interrupted Mary, "I thought so from the picture I saw at -Montrevor, of Eugene--and, I suppose, his brothers, the youngest of -whom, Eugene pointed out to me as himself." - -"Yes, exactly--did he mention the others?" - -"No, he did not, and I did not like to ask him questions, not knowing -the exact state of the case." - -"No, of course, and the fact is, the subject is a very painful one for -him to touch upon to those unacquainted with his family history--more -particularly to you; but Eugene wishes you to be told all about it. The -truth is, that elder brother, the second you saw in the picture, is -unfortunately deranged--that is to say, is subject to occasional attacks -of insanity, which naturally unfits him for the position he would -otherwise have held as his father's heir; therefore Eugene, ostensibly -speaking, holds that place--indeed his father always treats him, and -some say has unconditionally constituted him his successor, for I -believe the property is mostly unentailed." - -Mary did not make much comment on this revelation, and Mrs. de Burgh -doubtless thought that she received the communication as coolly as she -had herself imparted it; but Mary was far from being at the moment so -entirely unaffected as her cousin might imagine. - -There is a natural horror associated with the idea of a calamity such -as had been related, which more or less revolts the human mind even in -the most indifferent cases, and no wonder that to hear of its being so -closely connected with the being to whom her interests and affections -were so closely linked caused an inward shudder and a dark shadow to -pass across the full-tided happiness of her heart. But as we have said, -she made few comments on the facts imparted, and Mrs. de Burgh therefore -added in the same tone: - -"Louis will no doubt be too glad to bring this forward as one of the -objections he is sure to make against anything he has not himself -concerted or previously approved; but you must not mind him; he is -always full of quirks and fancies. By the bye, when is he to be told?" - -"I hope very soon," said Mary; "Eugene is to write to-morrow or the next -day, if possible, to tell me how his father receives the intelligence, -which he means to break to him by degrees, and at the same time he hopes -to be able to give me leave to inform Louis. I think," she added, -smiling, "that at any rate I shall be allowed to do that; for I have -told him, and he is very good and thinks perhaps I am right--that it -will be far better for him not to come to Silverton again until matters -are more definitively settled--I mean until his father's approval and -sanction have been obtained." - -"How _very_ good of him indeed!" laughed Mrs. de Burgh, with a touch of -sarcasm in her tone. "What a _very_ virtuous being you will make of -Eugene, Mary!" - - - - -CHAPTER XV. - - But should detraction breathe thy name, - The world's reproofs defying; - I'd love thee, laud thee--trust thee still-- - Upon thy truth relying. - - HAYNES BAYLEY. - - -Mr. de Burgh's return was somewhat opportunely delayed until the day -following the one on which he was expected, so that Mary had only for -one evening to maintain the, to her, very repugnant and unaccustomed -system of concealment and comparative dissimulation, to which she was -reduced towards her kind and amiable relative, a course she was ably -assisted in by his wife. The following morning brought a note from -Trevor, written overnight, and despatched before breakfast by a servant; -the substance of which was of a most satisfactory nature. - -He had broken the news to his father, that is to say, had given him to -understand that, sooner or later, it was his intention to take unto -himself a wife; that Mr. Trevor had been, of course, at first, a little -startled and annoyed, and made fidgetty and uneasy by the intelligence; -but that it had seemed no little relief to his mind, when informed that -it was the nice, pretty, gentle, _moderate_ young lady-visitor of the -day before, upon whom his son had fixed his choice; a young lady who, -though of good family and respectable position, possessed no extravagant -tastes or preposterous pretensions; to sum up all, as complete a -contrast as he could wish, to his spoilt, expensive and exacting niece, -whom, allowing for the ties of relationship existing between them, he -had always held in distaste and terror, as one of the most -ill-disciplined of woman, of course according to his own peculiar -notions on the subject. - -In short, whatever difficulty might really have attended his important -revelation to his father, Trevor only brought forward the smooth side of -the matter; and he further desired that no time might be lost in -imparting the intelligence to Mr. de Burgh also, as then he should only -wait her summons to make all speed for Silverton. - -"Why did Trevor's man come scampering here so early?" enquired Mr. de -Burgh at the close of breakfast. - -"He brought a little note for me," replied his wife. - -"What about?" - -"Oh, a little private business of mine own; are you very curious?" she -added, whilst Mary took little Charlie on her knee, to hide her -conscious countenance. "Very well, you may be informed perhaps before -long." - -She uttered all this with more playful and propitiatory suavity of tone -and manner than she often condescended to use towards her husband, -having probably in view her forthcoming interview, for she had proposed -to Mary that she should first take upon herself to break the -intelligence to Mr. de Burgh of _his_ cousin's engagement to _her_ -cousin, Eugene Trevor; an offer to which Mary had willingly acceded. - -Accordingly, very shortly after they parted at the breakfast-table, Mrs. -de Burgh followed her husband into the library, where he had gone to -write his letters. - -Mary, as may be supposed, waited with some degree of nervous anxiety for -the close of this interview--more perhaps than might have seemed -suitable to the occasion, or than she could herself account for. Surely -her cousin Louis was of no such very formidable a character. She tried -to divert her mind during the interval, by occupying herself with the -children, who were playing in the drawing-room, but she soon found the -noisy merriment, and exacting attentions of the little creatures--as we -are, even with the sweetest and most engaging, all apt to do, when the -mind is in any way agitated or over-burdened--an infliction rather than -a relief; so she gladly relinquished them to the nurse, who came to -summon them for their walk; and then as she justly deemed the -_éclaircissement_ between her cousins had lasted quite as long as was -either necessary or desirable, and that it would be less formidable to -join them at once than to wait any longer, in suspense, a formal -summons, she determined to proceed to the library, and soon had carried -this determination into effect. - -Opening the door rather timidly, she found Mrs. de Burgh seated with an -expression of countenance plainly evincing that even a discussion in -which they were neither personally concerned, had not passed off without -giving occasion for altercation between the married pair; but -immediately on perceiving Mary, she smoothed her brow, and exclaiming: -"Oh here she is! well I will leave you together," smiled encouragement -on Mary, and left the room. - -Mr. de Burgh, who it seemed had been perambulating the apartment during -the latter part of his conversation with his wife, and had paused before -the window on Mary's entrance--now turned, and without exactly looking -her in the face, held out his hand as he advanced towards her, saying: - -"Well, I suppose I ought to congratulate you, Mary." - -His countenance too, Mary saw, bore signs of annoyance; but that his -recent quarrel might have effected, and she affectionately placed her -hand in his, and looked her thanks for the implied felicitations, coldly -and cautiously as they were conveyed. - -"You have done a great deal in my absence, I find Mary," he next said, -throwing himself upon a chair. She thought he alluded to the proposal of -Eugene and her acceptance, so answered in her truthful manner, and -somewhat apologetically. - -"Oh, no! not in your absence; that took place a day or two before you -left, but Eugene thought it better that I should--" - -"Oh yes!" he answered with some repressed impatience, "I have heard all -that--I mean to say that you have been taken to Montrevor to see your -future possessions; introduced to the old father--in short, everything -has been so well managed between Trevor and Olivia, that there only -requires the signing and sealing to make the whole thing sure, before -you know _yourself_ very well what you are about." - -"Indeed, Louis?" Mary answered gently, though at the same time -surprised--in spite of Mrs. de Burgh's warning as to the objections she -was sure to encounter--at the tone and tenor of her cousin's words; and -feeling naturally a little hurt and offended, she added "I do not quite -understand you. I assure you, I know very well what I am about." - -"Do you?" he said, with something of the sneering way of which Mrs. de -Burgh so often complained; "I think not--I don't know indeed how you -should--" - -"I have promised to marry one whom I love, and whose love for me I feel -sure is as deep and truthful as my own," Mary replied, the colour -mounting to her brow, and a tear glistening in her eyes, - - "Like a child who never knew but love, - And who words of wrath surprised." - -"Oh, of course! no doubt of all that," he said, much in the same tone. - -"Well! what then, Louis?" she enquired meekly, yet firmly, "Why--what -cause?--" - -"What cause or impediment why these two persons should not be lawfully -joined together in holy wedlock?" repeated her cousin, breaking suddenly -into a more amiable and lively tone and manner, as if not proof against -the gentle manner in which his ungracious strictures were received. "I -will tell you why--he is not good enough for you, Mary, or rather, you -are far too good for him." - -"Is that all?" Mary's quiet smile might have seemed to express, for she -had been previously prepared for this particular objection of her -cousin's, by his wife. - -"_You_ think so, Louis," she replied, "but forgive me if I differ from -that opinion." - -"Yes, I certainly think so," he coldly retorted, "we read in -the bible that 'we are not to be unequally yoked together with -unbelievers,'--nay," as Mary attempted to interrupt him, "I do not speak -literally--Eugene's religious faith may be, for aught I know, as pure as -my own, or yours--but 'what fellowship has righteousness with -unrighteousness, and what companionship has light with darkness--and -what concord hath--'" - -"Louis, Louis!" Mary interposed, the crimson blood mantling her cheeks -and brow, and her gentle eyes flashing fire, "in your exaggerated -estimate of my own worthiness you are unjust, you are injurious towards -Eugene, as well as unkind to me. Yes, is it not unkindness to bring -forth such slighting insinuations against one whom you know I love, must -ever love, and whose wife," she added, lifting up her eyes as if she -felt the compact signed and sealed at least in heaven, "I have promised -to become." - -"Well--well, Mary," Mr. de Burgh soothingly replied; not totally -unaffected by this unwonted demonstration of excited spirit in his calm -and gentle cousin; "I will not ask you not to love Trevor; that I -suppose--indeed, I too plainly see would be crying out to shut the door -after the horse was stolen, but I may--I must advise you," he added with -an expression of great kindness, "as a cousin, feeling himself under -present circumstances almost standing in the place of a brother, to be -in no haste to involve yourself irremediably in so important and -irreparable a step as marriage, without further knowledge, a clearer -insight into the nature of the man who will have the rule and influence -over your whole future destiny. Oh, to see," he continued, with -increased excitement, "how people do rush ignorantly and recklessly upon -this matter, it might seem that the happiness of a whole lifetime was -nothing in comparison to the gratification of a passing fancy, a -temporary infatuation." - -He paused, but Mary made no reply. Her cousin spoke feelingly, no doubt, -he often expressed himself thus warmly after having been provoked more -than usual, or put out of humour by some altercation with his wife. She -thought it might be but the angry insinuations of the excited -moment--for she often hoped, indeed was sure, that beneath this outward -show of bitterness and strife, which bad habit had engendered, in the -intercourse between man and wife--a fund of real, genuine affection, one -towards another, lay deep and dormant in either heart, but especially in -that of the husband's. But what availed all this towards "the mutual -society, help, comfort," which, as the marriage service sets forth, "one -ought to have had towards the other," whilst the most indispensable -requisites to that effect, "to bear and to forbear," were wanting. - -"Husbands love your wives, and be not bitter against them. Wives submit -yourselves to your husbands as unto the Lord." How came it that the -injunctions to which they had both listened at the altar had been so -soon, to all appearances, forgotten or disregarded? - -So Mary, as we have said, made no reply. She only lowered her long dark -lashes, and waited in painful silence the close of her cousin's supposed -philippic, one with which she considered she had no individual concern. -For what had passing fancy or momentary infatuation to do with her own -deep, true, steadfast love? - -Mr. de Burgh receiving no interruption, in a calmer tone continued: - -"And Trevor, he loves you, as he has given good proof, (and for this I -honour and applaud him,) and thus loving you, is of course everything -agreeable, irreproachable in your eyes. But dear Mary, I speak to one -whom I am aware is no rash, unreasonable fool; but a right-judging, -thoughtful, superior woman. What do you know of his real character and -secret qualities? what _can_ you know of the previous tenor of his -life?" - -Mary lifted up her clear truthful eyes to her cousin's face. - -"As to the nature of his character, and the tenor of his life," she -quickly replied, "that surely I can have scarcely cause to doubt or -question. There could not possibly be anything very reproachable in the -character and life of one admitted as a constant and familiar guest in -your house, Louis. True, he is Olivia's cousin; but then again, how fond -she is of that cousin; and though," she added smiling, "you may have -testified no such great affection for him, still how kindly, if not -cordially, you have ever seemed to receive and countenance this -intimate visitor." - -Mr. de Burgh was fairly nonplussed for the moment, by this just, though -simple argument. How indeed, could it be supposed that it should enter -into the thoughts of his pure minded cousin, cautiously and coldly to -observe, watch, or inquire into the life and character of the man to -whom not only her heart had so instinctively and spontaneously -inclined--but her love for whom not only circumstance and opportunity, -but, if not the connivance, to say the least, the tacit approval of -those who were at present responsible for her welfare, had seemed in -every way to encourage and facilitate; and Mr. de Burgh could not quite -comfort his conscience, as he was at first willing to do, by attributing -the blame of this, in his opinion, undesirable issue of affairs to the -foolish, inconsiderate match-making propensities of his wife. There was -no slight misgiving as to culpable, or rather careless negligence on his -own part. - -For when or how had he, with no such allowance for cousinly feeling or -partiality as Mrs. de Burgh--when or how had he, save occasionally by a -few slighting, sneering innuendoes, such as not unfrequently defeat -their own purpose, by strengthening and promoting in the generous mind -of youth the germs of true attachment which previously have been -engendered; how had he--save by those careless and ill judged -means--ever warned, cautioned, or even given his young relative to -understand, ere it was too late, that there was in the favoured cousin -of his wife, and his own cheerful tolerated guest, anything either -reprehensible in himself, or objectionable in their attachment, or even -union? No, absorbed in his own selfish interests, his own pursuits, he -had gone his way "to his farm or to his merchandize," and never given -his mind the trouble to think or care whether much might not be doing -which it would require more than a few strongly expressed adjurations -and highly coloured representations on his part to undo--which, in -short, must cause him practically to prove - - "He might as soon go kindle fire with snow - As seek to quench the fire of love with words." - -He probably thought all this during the short silence which succeeded -Mary's last address; and had at length nothing better to say in reply, -and that with some conscious impatience, than-- - -"Oh, my dear Mary, as to this view of the matter, in the present state -of the world, it would be impossible to shut one's doors or turn one's -back upon many a person, whom we should on the other hand be very sorry -to see more closely associated with those for whom we feel interest or -affection." - -"But of what, then, do you accuse Eugene?" Mary inquired, still with the -quiet confidence of one whose faith and trust are yet unshaken. And Mr. -de Burgh was again at fault. - -There is a natural code of honour subsisting between men of any -generosity of mind, which sensitively withholds them from a direct -exposure of those reprehensible points of conduct or of character for -which they have not openly and to the face of the offender testified -their blame or abhorrence. And to have now coolly set to work, and laid -before the eyes of Mary facts or fancies concerning the man with whom he -had ever lived on terms of friendly intercourse, and so deprive him, as -was at least his desired purpose, of the blessing which, perhaps for -some good end, had been assigned him; all this assumed--when thus by -Mary's question brought so directly to the point--an aspect somewhat of -a dastardly and serpent-like character. - -So, rising from his seat and taking a turn across the room, as if by -movement to assist himself in this dilemma, Louis de Burgh replied: - -"Accuse! why that is rather a strong term to use, Mary. I should not -like to accuse any man, or even to prejudice you against Trevor; but -still, without particularising any enormities, there must be many things -in the life and character of a man, hitherto so entirely given to the -world and its pursuits, which must make him in the eyes of many besides -myself, not exactly the person worthy to become the husband of my pure -and gentle-hearted cousin." - -Mary drooped her eyelids sadly and thoughtfully. Perhaps the -recollection of Mr. Temple, and all that he had brought forward against -this evil world, of which she now heard her lover so decidedly -pronounced the votary, passed before her mind; but of the real nature or -extent of that evil she could form but so obscure and vague an idea, -that in her present state of feeling it only awoke in her heart a more -sorrowful interest, to think that it was Eugene's fate to be exposed to -its dread and grievous influence. - -"Perhaps you think, as women so often flatter themselves," Mr. de Burgh -continued, as she uttered no comment on his words, "that the power of -your _love_ will suffice to reform all that may be amiss." - -"No, no!" interrupted Mary; "believe me, Louis, I have no such -presumptuous expectations--no such reliance on my own influence and -power, to reform, what a higher strength and higher power alone could -effect; but I should indeed have faith and hope--" - -"Oh yes, I daresay, and boundless charity to boot!" interposed her -cousin with a smile; for he began to perceive, perhaps, that he was -making but a bad business of the affair he had taken in hand. "Well, -well, Mary; all I can say is, that if Trevor is destined to possess you, -he will be more fortunate than many a better man, if I may dare so to -express myself before you; for he will, I feel pretty sure, be blessed -with one of those loving and amiable, faithful and obedient wives, such -as the Church directs us to pray that each woman may become who -approaches the altar as a bride, but which petition, I am sorry to say, -we do not in _every case_ see fulfilled." - -"My dear Louis, I fear you are inclined to be very severe to-day on all -(I must thankfully own) except myself; but tell me, if you are not -compelled to confess that I also may hope to possess a loving, amiable, -and faithful husband (obedient, you know, is not enjoined in his case). -You say I do not know enough of Eugene to be convinced of his real -qualities; I think you are mistaken in this. It does not surely require -a very long acquaintance to discern whether a person is amiable; and I -am nearly certain no partial affection would blind me in that respect. I -should say Eugene's temper was perfect--oh! of course you laugh at me--I -do not quite mean perfect, though even if it were not--" - -"Oh no, of course, if he had the temper of the devil--excuse me Mary--I -have no doubt you would be content at present; but I do not wish to say -anything against Trevor's temper, I would not undertake to do so. He is -a good son to all appearance; what kind of husband he will make remains -to be proved." - -"That he will ever love me less than he does now, I cannot, could not -_try_ even to fancy," Mary continued, with a voice tremulous with -feeling; "and now, at least you must confess that his affection for me -is most true, most purely disinterested; that he loves me for myself -alone; or how else would he wish to marry one who possesses neither -beauty, talents, or fortune." - -"By the bye," rejoined Mr. de Burgh, as if the subject had been but -suddenly suggested to his mind by Mary's latter words, "I suppose you -are aware to what circumstances Eugene is indebted for the position he -now, to all appearance, holds as his father's heir?" - -"Yes," Mary responded, rather sadly, "to the mental derangement of his -brother." - -"Yes, that is the plea," Mr. de Burgh coldly replied. - -"But," Mary continued, after a pause, and without having been struck by -any peculiar emphasis her cousin might have placed upon these latter -words, "Olivia, I think, told me at the same time, that this misfortune -was purely accidental, that at least there was no hereditary evil of the -kind existing in the family." - -"Oh, none whatever; most perfectly accidental, I believe," was Mr. de -Burgh's apparently careless rejoinder, as he stood looking out of the -window, as he had done on Mary's entrance. And here the conversation -ended, except that Mary, before leaving the room, approached her cousin, -saying in an affectionate tone: - -"And now, before I go, Louis, you will wish me joy, I am sure." - -"Most certainly, dear Mary," he replied, as he fervently wrung her -proffered hand, "all possible joy and happiness that heaven and earth -can bestow upon you." - -"Thank you very much, dear Louis," Mary replied, "and I may write," she -added, more timidly, "and tell him that he may come; I would not let him -do so again, till I had informed you of our engagement." - -"Oh yes, write of course if you like, most certainly." - -And Mary, again thanking him, left the library, and returned to the -drawing-room. - - - - -CHAPTER XVI. - - She watch'd for him at dawn, and she watched for him at noon, - Tho' well she knew she could not hope to see him come so soon; - She could not rest, but peeping thro' her casement's leafy screen, - She watched the spot where she was told his form would first be seen. - - HAYNES BAYLEY. - - -Mrs. de Burgh looked with some anxiety, and Mrs. Trevyllian, who was -also present, with some curiosity, into the face of Mary as she entered -the apartment; but whatever signs of recent excitement or agitation -might be discerned thereupon, there was a happy smile trembling on her -lips, which told that all was peace and contentment now, and when Mrs. -de Burgh, on contriving to draw her apart, eagerly enquired as to the -issue of her interview, Mary answered: - -"Oh, all is right! Louis is very kind, and he has given me leave to -write immediately to Eugene, and bid him come here." She was -sufficiently satisfied to ask no more questions for the present, and -Mary went upstairs to write her letter. - -When she returned to the drawing-room, Mr. de Burgh had joined the -party, and was standing with his back to the fire, looking rather cross, -while Mrs. de Burgh was smiling with some evidently suppressed triumph. - -"I suppose," she said, with careless ease, "that we may send a servant -on horseback with Mary's letter." - -"Oh, certainly! if Mary wishes it; but I think there is no such -particular hurry, and that it might very well wait till to-morrow. The -horses and servants have had, and are likely to have, plenty to do, with -all this scampering to and fro, between this and Montrevor." - -Mrs. de Burgh remarked that she never knew anything so ill-natured as he -was. Mrs. Trevyllian even looked astonished at such a show of -ungraciousness on the part of the handsome Mr. de Burgh; but Mary said -good humouredly that the post would do quite as well for her letter, and -dropped it quietly into the letter-box on her way to luncheon. - -It was--as it turned out--"quite as well," for Trevor was engaged at -some county meeting that evening--and had been from home, which -prevented his going to Silverton the following day till a short time -before dinner. - - * * * * * - -It was no use now for Mary to take her summer place by the window, and -watch for her lover's arrival, for the shades of the October evening had -almost closed over the scene before the happy time arrived; but the -noise of wheels, along with the quick, sharp sound of the horse's hoofs -gladly saluted her ears, and she was down stairs to meet him ere he had -many minutes reached the drawing-room. - -They were standing together on the hearth-rug when Mr. de Burgh made his -appearance. - -He shook hands with Eugene Trevor with the most perfect cordiality, and -having first rang the bell for dinner, stood beside him conversing in -his usual manner on indifferent subjects, Mary, on his entrance, having -retreated a little into the back-ground, to talk to the children; and -they were thus all spirits and good humour, when Mrs. de Burgh joined -them, accompanied by Mrs. Trevyllian, who had been induced to make one -of the dinner-party, in order that she might be introduced to, and have -an opportunity of beholding Mr. Trevor; she having been--of course in -the strictest confidence--enlightened by Mrs. de Burgh as to the -position of affairs between that gentleman and Miss Seaham. - -At dinner everything went on _à merveille_, sociably and agreeably in -the extreme, and as the two gentlemen left the dining-room, the cheerful -laugh which was heard proceeding from Eugene Trevor's lips told that if -the _great_ subject had been discussed during the _tête-à-tête_ to which -he and Mr. de Burgh had been subjected, nothing but good humour and -friendliness, had been the issue. - -Before their arrival, Mrs. de Burgh and Mrs. Trevyllian had been in deep -admiration of a very beautiful ring, of which the quick eyes of the -former had caught sight during dinner, glittering on Mary's finger, -where it had been placed by her lover on their private meeting that -evening. How Mary prized this first love-gift we may well imagine! - -The rest of the evening proved one of undisturbed serenity and -enjoyment. Mrs. de Burgh seated herself at the piano, and sang over her -most beautiful and touching songs, whilst her husband made himself very -agreeable to Mrs. Trevyllian. - -How Eugene and Mary occupied themselves it is not very difficult to -explain. Mary at least could have entered into the fancy of Madame de -Staël, who depicts her idea of one of the highest felicities that could -be imagined as belonging to that seventh heaven of which an angel was -sent to explore the delights--to be the listening to sweet music by the -side of one's beloved. - -How, too, this evening must have brought to her remembrance that first -night of her arrival at Silverton, when she had listened to those sweet -strains with so much more unmingled, unassociated delight; though even -then, could she have remembered right, something beyond the mere spirit -of the music had faintly stirred her heart in that same hour. - - "That hour when first this glance met thine, - Yet trembled lest it told too much, - The hour when first thy hand pressed mine, - Yet pressed as though it feared to touch, - When some strange voice appeared to say, - That each must rule the other's lot-- - Forget it not!--forget it not!" - - * * * * * - -And so, from this day forward everything with reference to that -engagement, seemed to run on as smoothly towards its projected end as -ever did the course of such "true love." Mr. de Burgh, however he might -continue inwardly to disapprove, appeared to think he had done all that -duty and conscience entitled him to attempt; and that he had no chance -against love and trust, such as had been exhibited by the object on whom -he had made his attack. Even with his wife, he forebore any direct -discussion on the subject after this period, with the exception perhaps -of the following short and pithy colloquy, which some time or other had -occurred. - -"My dear Louis, I really hope you are beginning to think a little better -of this affair." - -"Indeed! you are quite mistaken on that point." - -"At any rate, you have come to the determination that it is a most -foolish, if not most dangerous and presumptuous act, ever to attempt to -mar a match." - -"I have come to the determination that there is _one_ thing more -foolish, dangerous, and presumptuous, namely, to _make_ one." - -"Oh, if you mean to apply that to me, you are quite at fault. You seem -to give me all the credit of this business; I assure you it is more than -I can lay claim to. I never saw a match which seemed more truly one of -those said to be made in heaven. Why, years ago, at that fête at Morland -before we married, I now perfectly remember Eugene telling me after it -was over, that he had never met with a sweeter little girl than that -Miss Seaham, whom he had good-naturedly taken under his charge, and the -first night he met her here, after Mary's arrival, he hardly took his -eyes off her all the evening; whilst Mary tells me she had never -forgotten him since he was so kind to her at that _fête_. But even if it -were not so, I cannot imagine why you should set your face so much -against the marriage." - -"Really!" responded the husband, shrugging his shoulders. - -"No; any one else would think it a splendid match for Mary." - -"I have no doubt of that." - -"And, under her circumstances, so peculiarly desirable." - -"Oh! certainly--peculiarly so." - -"I really think (petulantly) you must be in love with Mary yourself." (A -look of ineffable scorn was the sole response.) "That is to say, if you -_could_ be in love with any one but yourself." - - - - -CHAPTER XVII. - - The rose that all are praising - Is not the rose for me; - Too many eyes are gazing - Upon the costly tree. - But there's a rose in yonder glen - That shuns the gaze of other men, - For me its blossom raising-- - Oh, that's the rose for me! - - HAYNES BAYLEY. - - -And Mary--her love and trust had indeed stood full proof against the -breath of warning and insinuation, which had passed over their strength -and beauty as unavailingly as the breeze across the hardy floweret. - -There is a beautiful description of one of Bulwer's heroines, which so -exactly corresponds with the characteristics of our Mary's nature, that -we hope we may be excused from quoting it here in application to her -case. - -"There was a remarkable _trustingness_, if I may so speak, in her -disposition. Thoughtful and grave as she was by nature, she was yet ever -inclined to the more sanguine colourings of life; she never turned to -the future with fear. A placid sentiment of hope slept at her heart. She -was one, who surrounded herself with a fond and implicit faith to the# -guidance of all she loved and the chances of life. It was a sweet -indolence of the mind which made one of her most beautiful traits of -character. There is something so unselfish in tempers reluctant to -despond. You see that such persons are not occupied with their own -existence--they are not fretting the calm of the present life with the -egotisms of care--of conjecture and calculation: if they learn anxiety, -it is for another; but in the heart of that other how entire is their -trust." - -Thus the constant intercourse which from that day forth was maintained -between them, served but to strengthen the infatuation, (if we are -justified in applying such a term to such genuine affection) of Mary -towards her lover. - -Scarcely a day passed on which Trevor did not arrive to stay, or at -least to spend some hours at Silverton. They walked--and often--for -there was Mrs. de Burgh's beautiful horse now at Mary's disposal--they -rode out together, attended only by a groom. - -One day their discourse happened to fall on the subject of Christian -names, and Trevor was telling Mary how hers was, and ever had been (a -not uncommon taste amongst gentlemen) his greatest favourite. He had -always imagined, that every woman who possessed it must be the epitome -of all that was pure, sweet, and gentle; and of course he gave Mary to -understand that he saw in her, at length, a perfect embodiment of that -idea. - -"And you, Eugene, you have certainly a very beautiful name," Mary -remarked, after listening with a blushing smile to this tender -flattery; and she uttered the name now in question, in accents, which -must certainly have rendered it even to its owner "a very beautiful -name." - -"Oh yes!" he replied, laughing, "a most beautifully romantic, and -uncommon name; one ought to be a great hero to possess it." - -"It was possessed by a very unfortunate hero," Mary replied. - -"Oh! you mean Eugene Aram." - -"Yes! have you read the book?" - -"Why, no; I cannot say that exactly; (with a smile) but I saw that you -were reading it on a certain night of delightful memory; for when you -left me in so cowardly a manner to face your formidable cousin alone, he -found me standing before the fire, deeply absorbed in your late studies, -which I had picked up from the floor, in a jealous way, to see with what -romantic gentleman you had been so deeply occupied on my entrance. Fancy -my relief to discover it was an Eugene. Of course it was for the sake -of his name alone that he won your affections. I was even in hopes that -I might find the lady to have been a Mary, but I saw it was Madeline, -which I thought a great mistake." - -Mary laughed with the sweet laugh which had become so clear and joyous -of late. - -"I could not discover whether the Eugene resembled me in any way," he -continued; "to me he seemed a dark, mysterious sort of fellow." - -"He was, indeed," Mary replied, "but a man of extraordinary genius." - -"So you will not flatter me by the comparison." - -"Flatter you! I do not think you need be ambitious of the compliment. -You know, I suppose, his dreadful end." - -"Oh yes, of course, at least, I know the real villain was hanged for the -murder of Clarke. Well, that would not do for me, certainly: I -willingly concede the genius, if that were all its fruits." - -"No," continued Mary, more seriously, "but there is one person, whom, -above all others I have ever known, might in some points have reminded -me of Eugene Aram, had I read the book before, (the Eugene Aram as -represented in the novel, I mean,) for the real character, it is said, -resembled Bulwer's hero in nothing but his intellect and his crime. Not -that Mr. Temple," she continued, "could be called a dark and mysterious -character, no, for he gave one the idea of being naturally of a -disposition clear and open as the day; but there was a mystery and -impenetrability about his coming to Wales, and his former history. And -then the seclusion and obscurity to which a man of his talents, nobility -of demeanour, seemed to have doomed himself; his great charity; his--" - -"Stop, stop, in mercy, Mary; do you think I can listen to all this, -without bursting with jealousy? Oh, I have no doubt now, that this -noble, excellent, mysterious genius, was a worthy imitation of his -likeness, and is guilty of theft, murder, and all other possible -atrocities." - -Mary smiled at her lover's jesting philippic; but she added with perfect -seriousness: - -"I do not say that Mr. Temple was any such gigantic genius--rather may -he be said to possess a mind which might have arrived at any extent of -acquirement, had, in early life, his powers been rightly tested or -employed; and as to any guilt being attached to his life or character, -the most suspicious person, who had once looked upon his countenance, -could not for a moment have retained such an idea. No, it was easy to -read there, the history of one who had been more 'sinned against than -sinning.'" - -Though Mary said all this with no show of enthusiasm, but in the firm, -quiet manner of one who, irrespectively of personal feeling, would give -all due justice and honour to some highly revered and superior being; -her companion seemed not altogether unmoved by her earnestness; for he -fixed his eyes attentively on her as she spoke, and although he still -assumed a tone of light and playful tenor, there was something of real -anxiety, in the manner in which he demanded how it had possibly -happened--if indeed it had happened, though he could not bear to imagine -the contrary--how it had happened that she was not enchanted into a -second Madeline by this most sublime of Eugene Arams? - -"Because I suppose," Mary gravely responded, "I had not the high taste -and capability of Madeline, for though I honoured and esteemed Mr. -Temple, I did not love him; and when he proposed to me the night before -I left Glan Pennant, I refused him. I have never told this to any one -else--but with you, I suppose," she added with a tender smile, "I must -have no secrets." - -Her smile was returned with a depth of ten-fold love and tenderness; but -Trevor rode on more silently, thoughtfully pondering perhaps on the -privilege which he found thus so peculiarly to have been procured him, -and the why and wherefore such privilege had been awarded to his share. - -There was another point in Mary's disposition greatly in Trevor's -favour--the extreme humility of feeling she entertained concerning -herself, and the consequent exaltation of her lover's prerogatives; that -humility of true love, - - "Which does exalt another o'er itself - With sweet will-worship." - -For beauty especially, of a degree more accordant with her idea of -Trevor's due claims and privileges, she would sometimes in his absence -breathe a sigh. True he had had all the world before him, with plenty of -time and opportunity before he loved her, of choosing from amongst the -most fair and beautiful with whom he must have come in contact; but -still when he came to see her placed in contrast with other women, -might he not, though she was sure it would not make him love her -less--might he not then be struck and mortified perhaps by her -inferiority in that respect. Some such ordeal, however, ere very long it -was given her to prove. - -A very great beauty of the two or three last London seasons, who -happened to be staying in the neighbourhood was amongst the dinner -guests assembled one evening at Silverton. She of course, like all -wandering stars--who under similar casual and unusual circumstances, -shine forth in all their glory, "to be a moment's ornament"--created no -slight degree of sensation amongst the assembled company, especially the -gentlemen; and Miss L---- might certainly have stood the test amongst a -score of beauties as to all outward perfection which the severest -critics could require. The perfection of well moulded features, -brilliant colouring, symmetry of form, all had been bestowed upon her by -bountiful mother nature; and Miss L---- walked and moved this night the -conscious favourite of that very partial and unequal distributer of her -gifts--in short, a very queen and goddess of beauty. - -Mary was perhaps the most enthusiastic amongst her dazzled admirers; for -she, unlike most of the other guests on this occasion, had not been -accustomed to the frequent sight of beauties of every kind and degree, -equally in their turn "the Cinthia of the minute," "the cynosure of -neighbouring eyes." Nor was a shade of envious feeling excited in her -breast by all the sensation and attention of which the dazzling beauty -was made the object. There was nothing in this which could have stirred -the sentiment, even had it been one to which her bosom was more prone. -But she had better reason than she had any idea existed, for this -unconcern; had she but known how there was more real and abiding -influence exercised by the, comparatively speaking, pale, and quiet girl -who, without any pretentions to ostentatious retirement, so calmly and -gently played her part in society--the more real and heartfelt -influence inspired by the nameless charm which she exercised over all -those who approached her; no need, indeed, of envy on her part! - - "It was not mirth, for mirth she was too still; - It was not wit, wit leaves the heart more chill; - But that continuous sweetness, which with ease, - Pleases all round it, from the wish to please." - -No, there was nothing in all this; but still, at times this night, her -dark eyelashes might be seen to droop somewhat sadly and seriously on -her cheek, and once when she raised them and turned a nervous admiring -gaze upon Miss L----, a gentle sigh was breathed unconsciously from her -lips. - -That bright beauty, who was not, as may be supposed, without some of -those beauty airs in which she felt herself privileged to indulge, yet -by no means disdained bestowing a few of her most bewitching smiles, -upon the handsome, and as she had heard reported, eldest son of the -wealthiest commoner of the county, and of course it was not in Trevor's -nature to refuse to submit himself in some degree to the distinguished -favour; besides, although Trevor and his thoughts were with his own Mary -all the evening--and indeed his eyes pretty often too--yet their -publicly unacknowledged engagement did not admit of his paying her that -particular and undivided attention it was his wont to do on other -occasions. - -Eugene was therefore, at the moment when Mary gave that sigh, sunning -himself complacently, if not a little indolently, in the beams of that -radiant beauty's smile and those still more radiant eyes. Mary had no -jealous thought upon the subject; she only sighed and wished that she -possessed but one tenth portion of the beauty's conspicuous charms for -Eugene's sake--for Eugene's glory! - -"She looked down to blush, though she looked up to sigh," for surely she -had caught that glance, so full of fond reassurance with which her -lover tried to attract her earnest, anxious gaze:-- - - "Yes, lift thy eyes, sweet Psyche, what is she - That those soft fringes timidly should fall - Before her, and thy spiritual brow - Be dark, as if her presence were a cloud-- - A loftier gift is thine than she can give, - That queen of beauty, - She may give all that is within her own - Bright cestus--and one silent look of thine, - Like stronger magic, will out-charm it all. - Ay, for the soul is better than its frame, - The spirit than the temple-- - Marvel not - That love leans sadly on his bending wing, - He hath found out the loveliness of mind - And he is spoilt for beauty."[1] - -[Footnote 1: _Psyche before the Tribunal of Venus, by_ N. P. WILLIS.] - -A month since the engagement of Trevor and Mary had passed. Before the -expiration of this period, the latter, with her lover's full consent, -had written to her sisters in Scotland and in Italy, to confide to them -her happy prospects, and from the former she had already received in -return the most affectionate and fervent congratulations, another drop -added to the already well filled cup of Mary's happiness; for before -this, there had been times when she could not but feel regretfully the -want of that real participating sympathy in her joy, which like as in -our sorrow, those bound to us by the ties of close family relationship, -can alone fully and adequately impart. - -The mind, diverted and absorbed by new interests and attractions, may -for a time wander contentedly through other pastures--may find -gratification and satisfaction in the new and flattering friendship of -other hearts; but when that sorrow comes of which the heart alone can -know the bitterness, or that "joy with which the stranger intermeddleth -not,"--then, like the child, who beguiled by the flowers of the fields -to stray far from the parent home, yet when sudden fear assails his -breast, or some bright found treasure fills his little heart with -rapture, flies back at once to pour forth his grief or his ecstacy upon -his mother's bosom--so then he that was lost is found; the recreant -heart or the diverted affections, seldom fail to reassert their power to -testify and prove, that those ties which nature's early associations and -kindred interests have sanctified and connected, alone in such seasons -can suffice to comfort or to satisfy the mind. - -Mary often yearned for that true, lively and affectionate sympathy in -her present joy which it had been her privilege so tenderly, and -cheerfully to impart to each successive sister, when placed under -similar circumstances to her own; and she began to think the necessary -lack of all this on her own account to be certainly one of the worst -consequences which can accrue from being left the last unmarried. - -But every thought and feeling of this kind was soon dispelled and -changed into those of most unalloyed pleasure and delight. - -The long-wished-for and expected news at length arrived. Arthur Seaham -wrote to inform his sister that the next American packet which was to -reach England, would number him amongst its passengers, and accepting -the kind invitation of Mrs. de Burgh, conveyed to him by Mary, he should -immediately upon his disembarkation proceed to Silverton. - -A truce now to every sigh, lest sympathy should fail, that no dear -familiar face was near, in which to see her joy reflected--no dear -familiar voice to repeat the glad echoes of her heart. - -In Arthur, her own beloved brother, how fully she should meet all this! -They two had been sworn friends and special companions from their -earliest childhood to their later youth. Whatever turn their fortunes -took, they were to have shared them together; one home was to have -received them. Where had flown those visions now? But would he not -rejoice in the bright prospects of his favourite sister? - -How he would love Eugene, if only for her sake! what friends he and -Eugene would become--what constant companions should they all be still! -Besides, until her brother's return to England, no important arrangement -could be set on foot with regard to the projected marriage; therefore -her brother's speedy return was on that point alone a subject of -congratulation to the parties interested in that event, and to Trevor of -course more particularly so. - -Now too, Mary would be able to write by the next mail to her sisters in -India, and give them that information it had been deemed at such a -distance, more satisfactory to defer, until the brother's arrival had -placed matters on a more definite and circumstantial footing, and any -day from the week succeeding the receipt of that welcome letter, young -Seaham might make his appearance. - -He would arrive in England perfectly uninformed as to his sister's -engagement; but in the joyful letter he would find awaiting him at the -post-office at Liverpool, Mary had hinted of some news she should have -to break to him when they met, which she was sure would cause him -satisfaction--nay, delight! - -The happy suspense of the interval which ensued may be imagined. Eugene -playfully declared himself quite jealous, though he was at the same time -very properly sympathetic on the occasion, a little fidgetty and anxious -perhaps, as is but natural for those to be who for the first time see -the object of their affections anxiously excited by any feeling or -expectation irrelevant to themselves; and he laughingly declared that it -was his intention to take the opportunity of her brother's first -arrival, to run up to London for a day or two, till the first -effervescence of her ecstasy was past, to spare himself the envious -feelings its contemplation might excite, whilst at the same time he -might prepare his lawyers for the work they soon would have to put in -hand. - -Mary did not much approve this determination; she told him her brother's -arrival would be incomplete unless he were near to participate in her -joy, and make Arthur's immediate acquaintance; but as Trevor more -seriously assured her, that a short absence at that time would be really -indispensable, she submitted with resignation. - -The happy hour at length arrived--the afternoon of the same day in which -the morning paper announced the arrival in port from Canada of the ship -'Columbia,' and amongst its passengers the name of Mr. Seaham--Mary, who -had taken leave of her lover an hour before, and was in her room -recovering from the slight dejection this first parting, even for so -short a period, had necessarily occasioned, heard the carriage-wheels -swiftly sounding along the park, and a post-chaise, bearing evident -marks of travel, soon appeared in sight. - -No need to ask her beating heart who that traveller might be. She -watched it nearer--nearer--her hands clasped together, almost trembling -with the power of that strong delight which overflowed her breast; but -the carriage stopped before the door, and then with almost a cry of -gladness, she had disappeared from the room. - -What would Trevor have said had he seen her then? What indeed! for -perchance he may be amongst the number of those who do not know the -force and purity of natural affection; and how, far from detracting from -other ties, other affections, it is but the fountain in which these have -learnt to flow with a singleness and strength to which those unexercised -in such a school can seldom attain. Perhaps he may be one of those to -whose ear the name of "brother" bears no glad and holy signification. - - - - -CHAPTER XVIII. - - .... Manhood's earliest youth - Shone from the clear eye with a light like truth. - There play'd that fearless smile with which we meet - The sward that hides the swamp before our feet; - The bright on-looking to the Future, ere - Our sins reflect their own dark shadows there. - - THE NEW TIMON. - - -We will not intrude on the first sacred moments of the reunion of the -brother and sister, but rejoin them in the drawing-room, when that -tumultuous period being over, there is something more distinct and -connected in their words and conduct for the reasonable and indifferent -reader to appreciate. - -They are still alone together. Mrs. de Burgh is driving Mrs. -Trevyllian, and Louis out in the grounds; no one, then, is in the house -to break upon their glad communion. - -And it was well; for theirs was indeed a joy in which the stranger -intermeddleth not. Mary, with the glistening drops gladness had called -forth still hanging on her lashes like rain in the sunshine of her -beaming countenance, sits on a low seat, and gazes up in the face of her -tall, handsome brother, as he stands on the hearth-rug, looking down -with caressing interest into her own. - -She tells him he has grown ten times more handsome--that she had no idea -he was so tall. She gazes up into his clear blue eyes, clear, open, -truthful, unshrinking eyes, and it must have been to her like one who -gazes on the blue, pellucid, open vault of our summer heaven, after -having been long accustomed to the dark, uncertain, latent fire of some -tropic sky. - -But of course Mary, had no such defined conceptions. She only felt "the -sense, the spirit, and the light divine at the same moment in those -steadfast eyes," shaded like her own, with the long dark lashes; but -which were not so prone, as hers, to sweep thoughtfully and seriously -his cheek; the glance might wander too, over that high, white, open -brow, as over a pleasant field, which the hand of his Creator had -blessed for the expansion and production of all good seeds of intellect, -intelligence, and virtue. To look there, was to see that no base, -corrupting passion or pursuit had as yet worked their contracting power, -that the commerce with the world and its affairs, in which for so young -a man he had been so intimately and responsibly involved, had served but -to expand and develope the higher, nobler properties of his mind, which -else might longer have been kept in abeyance. But it is the expression -of that mouth--that smile which more than all bespeaks the pure, the -amiable, the genial and pleasant feelings of his nature--attributes -which characterize Arthur Seaham's disposition, in a manner rarely seen -exemplified, though we may in our experience have seen precedented. - -No wonder Mary always doated on this brother, no wonder she looked on -him now with almost an adoring gaze, and marvelled how she had been all -this time so happy and satisfied without him, nay--almost wondered for -one moment how it could have ever come to pass, that she loved another, -better even than himself. - -But if her admiration was thus strongly drawn forth by her brother's -appearance, Arthur Seaham, on his part, seemed none the less struck by -his sister's looks; and brothers, it is well known, are particularly -disposed to be critical on the subject of the personal appearance of -their sisters. - -"But Mary," he suddenly exclaimed, taking his sister gently by the arm -and bringing her face in direct confrontation with his own, "let me look -a little more closely at you. There you sit, staring me out of -countenance, paying me compliments till I do not know where to look, and -yet think yourself to escape all criticism. Now tell me, pray, what has -changed you so? Made you grow so beautiful? Surely you are not the -little pale Welsh mountain flower, I left behind me two years and a half -ago?" - -"Oh, my dear brother," Mary answered, as she laughingly and blushingly -submitted to this inspection, "I assure you I am just the same, just as -much a 'bit of white heath,' as you used flatteringly to call -me--but--but you know when I was agreeably excited you always told me I -was _almost_ pretty, and I am _very_ agreeably excited at present." - -"And have been for the last month or so, I should say," her brother -rejoined, assuming the mock air and tone of a judge, as he gravely -continued his research; "that is to say, judging from the extent of the -influence I see has been exercised upon your face. No, do not tell me, -who have been amongst the shrewd, long-headed Yankees, that any true -sisterly feelings have given such diamond brightness to your eyes, such -radiant beauty to your cheek and brow." - -The young man was right. The change he marked was not the influence of -the present happy hour; a stronger and less recent power had done the -magic work. - -Mary had become, within the last few months, what less partial judges -than a brother might have rightly owned as "almost beautiful." - - "But, Melanie, I little dreamed - What spells the stirring heart may move, - Pygmalion's statue never seemed - More charged with life than she with love. - The pearl-tint of the early dawn - Flush'd into day spring's rosy hue, - The meek moss folded bud of morn, - That opens to the light and dew. - The first and half-seen star of even - Wax'd clear amid the deepening heaven. - Similitudes perchance may be, - But these are changes oftener seen, - And do not image half to me - My sister's change of face and mien; - 'Twas written in her very air - That love had passed and entered there." - -"Well, well," he continued, as he marked the conscious effect his -latter words had made upon his sister's speaking countenance, "tell me -all about it, and what is that very interesting piece of news, you -mentioned in your letter, awaiting my arrival?" - -"Dear, dear Arthur, I am going to be married." - -The young man made a theatrical start backwards, of affected wonder and -amazement. - -"Going to be married!" he repeated, "and how do you know whether I will -give my consent?" - -"Oh, you will! I am sure you will, when you know and hear all about it; -and when you have seen Eugene." - -"Eugene! what a very delightfully romantic name, for my dear little -romantic sister; and who is this Eugene?" - -"Eugene Trevor; the son of Mr. Trevor of Montrevor, in this county." - -"And how long have you been acquainted?" - -"Oh, ever since I came here in June. I had seen him once before, but -that was a long time ago." - -"Well! I suppose, I ought to be very much pleased." - -"Ought! but you are--yes, though you try to look so solemn--you are -delighted at your prophecy--your old _bête noir_ being thus effectually -removed. Namely, that your sisters would be 'old maids.'" - -"Ah! yes--for how could I ever have imagined, that so many eligible -husbands should be picked up amongst the wilds of poor old Wales? But -you--you very sly little thing--when did you ever hear me express a fear -or a wish respecting your marriage?" - -"Never, Sir, because I really believe you thought me quite a hopeless -subject of speculation; that T was cut out irreparably for 'an old -maid.'" - -"And I wish to know," he continued without attending to this -interruption of his sister's, "I wish to know what has become of all the -plans and promises, on which I have been building my hopes and -expectations all this time? What has become of my companion, my -housekeeper; the pleasant peaceful home we were to share together?" - -"Oh, Arthur!" said Mary pleadingly, for though her brother spoke -jestingly, she really thought she saw a liquid drop, dim the clearness -of his eyes. "Oh, dear Arthur!" and she laid her face tenderly on his -shoulder. She could not bear to see what almost brought a reproachful -pang to her heart. "Do not say that; my home, I am sure, may still be, -as much your home whenever you like to make it so. Eugene says the -same--he is quite prepared to love you, as much as I do. Our love, our -companionship, need not be at an end; and you, dear boy! you will like -Eugene so very much, and be quite reconciled to my marrying, when you -see what a husband I shall have." - -"Yes, Mary, if I find him worthy in every respect (but mind--I shall be -very difficult to satisfy on that point) then indeed I shall be fully -reconciled," straining her to his heart, "for I _am_ glad to hear all -this dear girl. What I said was only nonsense--of course I am glad--, I -should be a very selfish fellow were I not rejoiced to hear anything -which is so apparently to your happiness and advantage. Besides," -resuming his gaiety of tone, "for the next few years, I am going to be -so busy amongst old musty papers, and law-books, and folios, that I -should make but a sorry companion for any but the benchers of Gray's -Inn." - -"Then have you really, dear Arthur, made up your mind to study for the -law?" - -"Yes really--why, do you not approve, or do you doubt my ability?" - -"No, Arthur, not your ability to do anything you heartily undertake." - -"Then it is my diligence--my perseverance." - -"No, nor that either; but my dear boy, I cannot bear that you should -have to toil and drudge at such a very irksome profession." - -"Oh, nonsense! you idle girl, that is my own affair. I intend to be a -second Erskine or Eldon. The former, you know, was not called to the bar -till he was eight and twenty, and had no better preparation than I have -had--not so much indeed, for I have already dipped considerably into -Coke, Lyttelton and Blackstone, and long had a leaning that way. Ah! -already I feel mounting on eagle's wings into the very 'marble chair.' -The fact is, the fortune I shall now have remaining from the general -wreck, will enable me to give myself every advantage for the next few -years in my legal studies, as will render me, when I launch forth on my -circuits, not quite dependant on my briefs, which, for the first year or -two may not be so plentiful as, of course, I intend they should be -hereafter. About five hundred a year I shall have, after you girls' -fortunes are paid off." - -"Our fortunes? Oh, Arthur! I am sure neither Jane, Agnes, or myself will -receive or touch our fortunes now. They must be added to yours; and -then I am sure you will be rich enough to work, if you must work, only -for your own amusement." - -"Thank you, dear Mary, but speak for yourself, and do not be in too -great a hurry to do that either, for remember you have another to -consult about this cavalier disposal of your property. No, no, my dear -girl, money will not be despised under any circumstances, depend upon -it. 'All is grist that comes to the mill,' and the larger the mill the -more grist only is required. Besides, I am not going to give a -portionless sister away, when she may have a snug little six thousand to -tack to her _trousseau_." - -"Six thousand! oh, my dear brother, how well you must have managed for -us, thus to have saved so much more of our fortunes than of your own." - -"Oh no, Mary, I did myself full justice, but my sisters' money was in -better funds." - -"Well, for Selina and Alice's sake I am very glad"--Mary begun. - -"But you, are to be so very affluent, that six thousand pounds is but as -a drop in the sea. Trevor, then, is an eldest son, I conclude?" the -brother inquired. - -"Not exactly, but--oh, here is Louis coming, he will be very glad to see -you; he is such a kind, affectionate creature, and has been so very good -to me." - -Young Seaham was warmly welcomed by his cousin Mr. de Burgh, and none -the less so by his wife, when she returned from her drive. There was -something particularly graceful and agreeable in the manner of both Mr. -and Mrs. de Burgh's reception of the guests and friends they entertained -at Silverton; and when it happened, as it did on this occasion, that -their good feeling towards the person or persons in question were in -perfect unison, (a rare occurrence!) they only vied with each other as -to who should show forth most attention and kindness. - -Mrs. de Burgh was delighted with Arthur Seaham's lively and engaging -manners and appearance; Mr. de Burgh fully appreciated the intelligence -and good conduct, with which he had conducted himself throughout the -late trying and difficult course of business in which he had been -engaged, as well as his present praise-worthy determination to embrace -some certain profession--although he was perhaps somewhat surprised at -the obtuse and weighty matters of the law, being the one on which he had -set his mind--as would be indeed all those who only remembered Arthur -Seaham as the rather volatile Eton boy, of lively parts and excellent -capacity, but little application, except in those few points touching -upon his peculiar tastes or inclinations:--or at Oxford, where he had -been for two years and a half, and had quitted it with much the same -opinion as has been recorded of a celebrated historical character, -"rather with the opinion of a young man of parts and liveliness of wit, -than that he had improved it much by industry," and therefore many were -inclined to entertain the very generally conceived idea, that a man of -such calibre could never make a good lawyer. - -But to all doubts and objections of this sort, Seaham had ever his -favourite example, Lord Chancellor Erskine at hand, to demonstrate how a -man who, until his twenty-eighth year, had never looked into a book of -law--who then had rather plied his head with Milton and other English -authors, than with the Greek and Latin classics--and who brought to bear -upon the profession he embraced, no fitter attributes for success than -those which were comprised in a lively imagination, quick observation, -and a logical mind, had risen triumphantly to the very top of the tree. - -Of course the subject of his sister's marriage was the one uppermost in -Arthur's mind just at present, and he listened with eager pleasure to -all Mrs. de Burgh had to say concerning the match, which she of course -made appear arrayed at every point in brightest _couleur de rose_. - -Mr. de Burgh, after his few first cautious remarks upon the subject, was -as silent with regard to it towards the new comer as he seemed to have -made it a rule to be of late to every one; but then, if this at all -struck Seaham, he felt that Mrs. de Burgh really enlarged so much upon -the topic that there remained little more to be said--that gentlemen are -never so interested and diffuse as ladies on these matters, and probably -his cousin thought it better to wait and let Trevor speak for himself in -person, when in a week from the time of his departure--during which -period letters were daily exchanged between the lovers--he returned. - - -END OF VOL. I. - - - LONDON: - Printed by Schulze and Co., 13, Poland Street. - - -[Transcriber's Note: Hyphen and spelling variations within each volume -and between volumes left as printed.] - - - - - -End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Mary Seaham, Volume 1 of 3, by -Elizabeth Caroline Grey - -*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK MARY SEAHAM, VOLUME 1 OF 3 *** - -***** This file should be named 40405-8.txt or 40405-8.zip ***** -This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: - http://www.gutenberg.org/4/0/4/0/40405/ - -Produced by Robert Cicconetti, Mary Meehan and the Online -Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This -file was produced from images generously made available -by The Internet Archive) - - -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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