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+*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 48461 ***
+
+  Price,
+  Ten Cents.      THE ARM CHAIR LIBRARY.       No. 141.
+
+
+
+  [Illustration: _HUSKS_
+
+
+  _By Marion Harland_]
+
+
+
+  F. M. LUPTON, - PUBLISHER, - NEW YORK.
+
+
+
+
+HUSKS.
+
+BY MARION HARLAND.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER I.
+
+
+It was a decided uncompromising rainy day. There were no showers,
+coquetted with by veering winds or dubious mists, that at times grew
+brighter, as if the sun were burning away their lining; but a uniform
+expanse of iron-gray clouds--kept in close, grim column by a steady,
+although not violent east wind--sent straight lines of heavy rain upon
+the earth. The naked trees, that, during the earlier hours of the
+deluge had seemed to shiver for the immature leaf-buds, so unfit to
+endure the rough handling of the storm, now held out still, patient
+arms, the rising sap curdled within their hearts. The gutters were
+brimming streams, and the sidewalks were glazed with thin sheets of
+water.
+
+The block of buildings before which our story pauses, was, as a glance
+would have showed the initiated in the grades of Gotham life, highly
+respectable, even in the rain. On a clear day when the half-folded
+blinds revealed the lace, silken and damask draperies within, when
+young misses and masters--galvanized show-blocks of purple and fine
+linen, that would have passed muster behind the plate-glass of Genin
+or Madame Demorest--tripped after hoops or promenaded the smooth
+pavement; when pretty, jaunty one-horse carriages, and more pretentious
+equipages, each with a pair of prancing steeds, and two "outside
+passengers" in broadcloth and tinsel hatbands, received and discharged
+their loads before the brown-stone fronts--had the afore-mentioned
+spectator chanced to perambulate this not spacious street, he would
+have conceded to it some degree of the fashion claimed for it by its
+inhabitants. There were larger houses and wider pavements to be had for
+the same price a few blocks further on, in more than one direction,
+but these were unanimously voted "less eligible" and "deficient in
+style," in spite of the fact that as good and better materials were
+employed in their construction, and they were in all respects equal in
+external show and inside finish to those in this model quarter. "But
+our block has a certain air--well--I don't know what; but it is just
+the thing, you know, and so convenient! So near the avenue!" would be
+the concluding argument.
+
+The nameless, indescribable charm of the locality lay in the last
+clause. "Just step around the corner and you are in the avenue," said
+the favored dwellers in this vicinity, as the climax in the description
+of their abode, and "that way fashion lies" to every right-minded New
+Yorker of the feminine gender.
+
+But the aristocratic quiet of the neighborhood, rendered oppressive
+and depressing by the gloom of the day, was disturbed by a discordant
+sound--a child's cry, and what was especially martyrizing to refined
+auriculars, the lament had the unmistakable plebeian accent. The
+passionate scream with which the pampered darling of the nursery
+resents interference with his rights and liberty of tyranny or the
+angry remonstrance of his injured playmates, would have been quite
+another species of natural eloquence, as regards both quality and
+force, from the weak, broken wail that sobbed along the wet streets.
+Moreover, what respectable child could be abroad on foot in this
+weather? So, the disrespectable juvenile pursued her melancholy way
+unnoticed and unquestioned until she reached the middle of the square.
+There a face appeared at a window in the second story of a house--which
+only differed from those to its right, left and opposite in the number
+upon the door--vanished and in half a minute more a young lady appeared
+in the sheltered vestibule.
+
+"What is the matter, little girl?"
+
+The tone was not winning, yet the sobs ceased, and the child looked
+up, as to a friendly questioner. She was about eleven years of age, if
+one had judged from her size and form; but her features were pinched
+into unnatural maturity. Her attire was wretched, at its best estate;
+now, soaked by the rain, the dingy hood drooped over her eyes; the dark
+cotton shawl retained not one of its original colors, and the muddy
+dress flapped and dripped about her ankles. Upon one foot she wore an
+old cloth gaiter, probably picked up from an ash heap; the remains of a
+more sorry slipper were tied around the other.
+
+"I am so cold and wet, and my matches is all sp'ilt," she answered in
+a dolorous tone, lifting the corner of a scrap of oil-cloth, which
+covered a basket, tucked for further security under her shawl.
+
+"No wonder! What else could you expect, if you would go out to sell
+them on a day like this? Go down into the area, there, and wait until I
+let you in."
+
+The precaution was a wise one. No servant in that well-regulated
+household would have admitted so questionable a figure as that which
+crept after their young mistress into the comfortable kitchen. The cook
+paused in the act of dissecting a chicken; the butler--on carriage
+days the footman--checked his flirtation with the plump and laughing
+chambermaid, to stare at the wretched apparition. The scrutiny of the
+first named functionary was speedily diverted to the dirty trail left
+by the intruder upon the carpet. A scowl puckered her red face, and
+her wrathful glance included both of the visitants as alike guilty of
+this desecration of her premises. The housemaid rolled up her eyes and
+clasped her hands in dumb show of horror and contempt to her gallant,
+who replied with a shrug and a grin. But not a word of remonstrance or
+inquiry was spoken. It was rather a habit of this young lady's to have
+her own way whenever she could, and that she was bent upon doing this
+now was clear.
+
+"Sit down," she said, bringing up a chair to the fire.
+
+The storm beaten wanderer obeyed, and eagerly held up her sodden feet
+to the red grate.
+
+"Have you no better shoes than those?"
+
+"No, ma'am."
+
+"Humph! Nor dress, nor shawl?"
+
+"No, ma'am."
+
+"Are you hungry?"
+
+A ray shot from the swollen eyes. "Yes, ma'am."
+
+The lady disappeared in the pantry and presently returned with five or
+six slices of bread and butter hastily cut and thickly spread, with
+cheese and cold meat between them.
+
+"Eat!" She thrust them into the match-girl's fingers. "Wait here, while
+I go and look for some clothes for you."
+
+As may be supposed, the insulted oracle of kitchen mysteries improved
+the time of the benefactress's absence by a very plain expression of
+her sentiments towards beggars in general, and this one in particular;
+which harangue was received with applause by her fellow-servants and
+perfect equanimity by its object. She munched her sandwiches with
+greedy satisfaction, watching, the while, the little clouds of steam
+that ascended from her heated toes. She was, to all appearances,
+neither a sensitive nor intelligent child, and had known too much of
+animal want and suffering to allow trifles to spoil her enjoyment of
+whatever physical comfort fell to her lot. Her mother at home could
+scold quite as violently as the cook was now doing, and she was more
+afraid of her anger, because she beat while she berated her. She was
+convinced that she stood in no such peril here, for her protectress was
+one in power.
+
+"Have you eaten enough?" said the clear, abrupt voice behind her, as
+she held two sandwiches in her fingers, without offering to put them to
+her lips.
+
+"Yes, ma'am. May I take 'em home?"
+
+"Certainly, if you like. Stand up and take off your shawl."
+
+She put around the forlorn figure a thick cloak, rusty and obsolete
+in fashion, but which was a warm and ample covering for the child,
+extending to the hem of her dress. The damp elf-locks were hidden by
+a knitted hood, and for the feet there were stockings and shoes and a
+pair of India-rubbers to protect these last from the water.
+
+"Now," said the Humane Society of One, when the refitting was at an
+end, "where do you live? Never mind--I don't care to know that yet!
+Here is a small umbrella--a good one--which belongs to me. I have no
+other for myself when I go out in bad weather. I mean to lend it to
+you, to-day, upon the condition that you will bring it back to-morrow,
+or the first clear day. Will you do it?"
+
+The promise was readily given.
+
+"Here's an old thing, Miss Sarah," ventured the butler, respectfully,
+producing a bulky, ragged cotton umbrella from a corner of the kitchen
+closet. "It's risky--trusting such as that with your nice silk one."
+
+"That will let in the rain, and it is entirely too large for her to
+carry. You understand, child? You are to bring this safely back to me,
+the first time the sun shines. Can you find your way to this house
+again?"
+
+"Oh, yes, ma'am, easy. Thank you, ma'am!"
+
+She dropped an awkward curtsey as Miss Sarah held open the door for her
+to pass, and went out into the rain--warm, dry and shielded against
+further damage from the storm.
+
+Unheeding the significant looks of the culinary cabinet, Sarah Hunt
+turned away and ascended the stairs. She was a striking-looking girl,
+although her features, when in repose, could claim neither beauty of
+form nor expression. Her complexion was dark and pale, with a slight
+tinge of olive, and her hair a deep brown, lips whose compression was
+habitual, an aquiline nose, and eyes that changed from dreamy hazel
+to midnight blackness at the call of mind or feeling, gave marked
+character to her countenance. Her sententious style of address to the
+child she had just dismissed was natural, and usual to her in ordinary
+conversation, as was also the gravity, verging upon sombreness, which
+had not once during the interview relaxed into a smile.
+
+The family sitting-room, her destination at present, and to which we
+will take the liberty of preceding her, was furnished elegantly and
+substantially, and there, leaning back in lounging chairs, were Miss
+Lucy Hunt, the eldest daughter of the household, and her bosom friend,
+Miss Victoria West. Each held and wielded a crochet needle, and had
+upon her lap a basket of many-hued balls of double or single zephyr
+worsted, or Shetland or Saxony wool, or whatever was the fashionable
+article for such pretty trifling at that date. Miss West had completed
+one-quarter of a shawl for herself, white and scarlet, and her friend
+had made precisely the same progress in the arduous manufacture of one
+whose centre was white and its border blue.
+
+"Yours will be the prettiest," remarked Lucy regretfully. "Blue never
+looks well in worsteds. Why, I can't say, I'm sure. It is too bad that
+I can wear so few other colors. But I am such a fright in pink or
+scarlet or any shade of red!"
+
+"As if you could be a fright in anything," returned her companion, with
+seeming indignation.
+
+Lucy smiled, showing a set of faultless teeth that, to a stranger's
+first glance, would have appeared by far the most attractive point of
+her physiognomy. If closer examination discovered that her skin was
+pearly in whiteness and transparency, that her form was exquisite, with
+a sort of voluptuous grace; her hands worthy, in shape and hue, to
+become a sculptor's model; still, in the cold, unflattering light of
+this rainy afternoon her want of color, her light gray eyes, her yellow
+hair, drawn straight back from the broad, low brow, precluded the idea
+that she could ever, with all the accessories of artificial glare,
+dress and animation, be more than a merely pretty girl. Miss West knew
+better, and Lucy realized the power of her own charms with full and
+complete complacency. Secure in this pleasant self-appreciation, she
+could afford to be careless as to her every-day looks and home people.
+She saw and enjoyed the manifest surprise of those who, having seen
+her once in morning deshabille, beheld her afterwards in elaborate
+evening toilet. Then the abundant hair waved in golden ripples about
+the classic head, the most artfully simple of tasteful ornaments--a
+camellia, a rosebud, or a pearl hairpin, its sole adornment; her eyes,
+large, full and soft, were blue instead of gray, while the heat of
+the assembly-room, the excitement of the crowd, or the exultation of
+gratified vanity supplied the rounded cheek with rich bloom and dewy
+vermillion to the lips. But nature's rarest gift to her was her voice,
+a mellow contralto, whose skillful modulations stole refreshingly to
+the senses amid the sharp clash of strained and higher tones, the
+castanet-like jingle which most American belles ring unmercifully
+into the ears of their auditors. Lucy Hunt was not "a great talker,"
+still less was she profound or brilliant when she did speak; yet she
+invariably conveyed the impression to the mind of a new acquaintance of
+a thoroughly cultivated woman, one whose acquirements were far beyond
+her modest exhibition of thought and sentiment. The most commonplace
+phrase came smoothly and roundly from her tongue, and he was censorious
+indeed who was willing to lose the pleasure afforded by its musical
+utterance in weighing its meaning. At school she had never been
+diligent, except in the study of music, and her painstaking in this
+respect was rewarded by the reputation, justly earned, of being the
+finest vocalist in her circle of associates. In society she shone as
+a rising star of the first magnitude; at home she was happy, cheerful
+and indolently amiable. Why should she be otherwise? From her babyhood
+she had been petted and admired by her family, and the world--her
+world--was as ready with its meed of the adulation which was her
+element.
+
+There were, besides the two sisters already introduced to the reader,
+three other children in the Hunt household--a couple of sturdy lads,
+twelve and fourteen years of age, and little Jeannie, a delicate child
+of six, whom Lucy caressed with pet titles and sugar-plums of flattery,
+and Sarah served in secret and idolatrous fondness. This family it was
+Mrs. Hunt's care and pride to rear and maintain, not only in comfort,
+but apparent luxury, upon the salary which her husband received as
+cashier of a prominent city bank, an income sufficient to support
+them in modest elegance, but which few besides Mrs. Hunt could have
+stretched to cover the expense of their ostensible style of living.
+But this notable manager had learned economy in excellent schools,
+primarily as a country girl, whose holiday finery was purchased with
+the proceeds of her own butter-making and poultry-yard; then as the
+brisk, lively wife of the young clerk, whose slender salary had, up
+to the time of his marriage, barely sufficed to pay for his own board
+and clothes, and whose only vested capital was his pen, his good
+character and perfect knowledge of book-keeping. But if his help-meet
+was a clever housewife, she was likewise ambitious. With the exception
+of the sum requisite for the yearly payment of the premium upon Mr.
+Hunt's life insurance policy, their annual expenses devoured every cent
+of their receipts. Indeed, it was currently believed among outsiders
+that they had other resources than the cashier's wages, and Mrs. Hunt
+indirectly encouraged the report that she held property in her own
+right. They lived "as their neighbors did," as "everybody in their
+position in society was bound to do," and "everybody" else was too
+intent upon his personal affairs, too busy with his private train
+of plans and operations to examine closely the cogs and levers and
+boilers of the locomotive Hunt. If it went ahead, and kept upon the
+track assigned it, was always "up to time," and avoided unpleasant
+collisions, it was nobody's business how the steam was gotten up.
+
+Every human plant of note has its parasite, and Miss Lucy Hunt was not
+without hers. There existed no reason in the outward circumstances of
+the two girls why Miss Hunt should not court Miss West rather than Miss
+West toady Miss Hunt. In a business--that is, a pecuniary--point of
+view, the former appeared the more likely state of the case, inasmuch
+as Victoria's father was a stock-broker of reputed wealth, and with a
+probable millionaireship in prospective, if his future good fortune
+equalled his past, while Mr. Hunt, as has been stated, depended
+entirely upon a certain and not an extravagant stipend. But the girls
+became intimate at school, "came out" the same winter at the same
+party, where Lucy created a "sensation," and Victoria would have been
+overlooked but for the sentimental connection between the debutantes.
+Since then, although the confidante would have scouted the imputation
+of interested motives with virtuous indignation of wounded affection,
+she had nevertheless "made a good thing of it," as her respected
+father would have phrased it, by playing hanger-on, second fiddle, and
+trumpeter general to the belle.
+
+"As if you could be a fright in anything," she had said, naturally and
+perhaps sincerely.
+
+Lucy's smile was succeeded by a serious look. "I am sadly tempted
+sometimes! Those lovely peach-blossom hats that you and Sarah wore this
+past winter were absolute trials to my sense of right. And no longer
+ago than Mrs. Crossman's party I was guilty of the sin of coveting the
+complexion that enabled Maria Johnston to wear that sweet rose-colored
+silk, with the lace skirt looped with rosebuds."
+
+"You envy Maria Johnston's complexion? Why don't you go further and
+fall in love with her small eyes and pug nose?" inquired Victoria,
+severely ironical. "I have heard that people were never contented with
+their own gifts, but such a case of blindness as this has never before
+come under my observation."
+
+"No, no! I am not quite so humble with regard to my personal appearance
+as you would make out. Yet"--and the plaintive voice might have been
+the murmur of a grieving angel--"I think that there are compensations
+in the lot of plain people that we know nothing about. They escape the
+censure and unkind remarks that uncharitable and envious women heap
+upon those who happen to be attractive. Now, there is Sarah, who never
+cares a button about her looks, so long as her hair is smooth and her
+dress clean and whole. She hates parties and is glad of any excuse to
+stay out of the parlor when gentlemen call. Give her her books and that
+'snuggery,' as she calls it, of a room upstairs, and she is happier
+than if she were in the gayest company in the world. Who criticises
+her? Nobody is jealous of her face or manners or conversation. And she
+would not mind it if they were."
+
+"She has a more independent nature than yours, my dear. I, for one, am
+rejoiced that you two are unlike. I could not endure to lose my darling
+friend, and somehow I never could understand Sarah; never could get
+near to her, you know."
+
+"I do not wonder at that. It is just so with me, sisters though we are.
+However, Sarah means well, if her manner is blunt and sometimes cold."
+
+The entrance of the person under discussion checked the conversation
+at this point, and both young ladies began to count their stitches
+aloud, to avoid the appearance of the foolish embarrassment that ever
+overtakes a brace of gossips at being thus interrupted.
+
+Sarah's work lay on her stand near the window, where she had thrown it
+when the crying child attracted her notice, and she resumed it now. It
+was a dress for Jeannie. It was a rare occurrence for the second sister
+to fashion anything so pretty and gay for her own wear.
+
+"Have you taken to fancy work at last?" asked Victoria, seeing that the
+unmade skirt was stamped with a rich, heavy pattern for embroidery.
+
+"No!" Sarah did not affect her sister's friend, and did not trouble
+herself to disguise her feelings towards her.
+
+Lucy explained: "She is making it for Jeannie. She does everything for
+that child."
+
+"You are very sisterly and kind, I am sure," Victoria continued,
+patronizingly. "You must quite despise Lucy and myself for thinking
+of and doing so much for ourselves, while you are such a pattern of
+self-denial."
+
+A blaze shot up in Sarah's eye; then she said, coldly: "I am not
+self-denying. Have I ever found fault with you or Lucy for doing as you
+like?"
+
+"Oh, no, my dear. But you take no interest in what we enjoy. I dare
+say, now, you would think it a dull business to work day after day for
+three or four weeks together, crocheting a shawl which may go out of
+fashion before one has a chance to sport it at a watering-place."
+
+"I certainly should!" The curl of the thin upper lip would have
+answered for her had she not spoken.
+
+"And you hate the very sight of shellwork and cone-frames, and Grecian
+painting, and all such vanities?"
+
+"If I must speak the truth, I do--most heartily."
+
+Victoria was not easily turned from her purpose.
+
+"Come, Sarah! Tell us what you would have us, poor trifling, silly
+things, do to kill the time."
+
+"If you must be a murderer, do it in your own way. I have nothing to
+say in the matter."
+
+"Do you mean that time never hangs upon your hands--that you are never
+ennuyee--blasee?"
+
+"Speak English, and I will answer you."
+
+"I want to know," said the persevering tormentor, "if the hum-drum
+books upstairs, your paint-box and your easel are such good company
+that you are contented and happy always when you are with them--if you
+never get cross with yourself and everybody else, and wonder what you
+were put into the world for, and why the world itself was made, and
+wish that you could sleep until doomsday. Do you ever feel like this?"
+
+Sarah lifted her eyes with a wondering, incredulous stare at the
+flippant inquisitor.
+
+"I have felt thus, but I did not suppose that you had."
+
+"Oh, I have a 'blue' turn now and then, but the disease is always more
+dangerous with girls of your sort--the reading, thinking, strong-minded
+kind. And the older you grow, the worse you will get. I haven't as
+much book knowledge as you have, but I know more of the world we live
+in. Take my advice and settle down to woman's right sphere. Drive away
+the vapors with beaux and fancy-work now. By-and-by a husband and an
+establishment will give you something else to think about."
+
+Sarah would have replied, but Lucy broke in with a laugh, light and
+sweet.
+
+"You two are always at cross-questions! Why can't you be satisfied to
+let one another alone? Sarah and I never quarrel, Vic.. We agree to
+disagree. She gives me my way, and I don't meddle with her. If she
+likes the blues (they say some people enjoy them), where's the harm of
+her having them? They never come near me. If I get stupid, I go to bed
+and sleep it off. Don't you think I have done ten rows since breakfast?
+What a godsend a rainy day is, when one has a fascinating piece of work
+on hand!"
+
+Too proud to seem to abandon the field, Sarah sat for half an hour
+longer, stitching steadily away at the complicated tracery upon the
+ground to be worked; then, as the dimmer daylight caused the others to
+draw near to the windows, she pushed aside her table and put by her
+sewing.
+
+"Don't let us drive you away!" said Victoria's mock-polite tones, and
+Lucy added, kindly, "We do not mean to disturb you, Sarah, dear."
+
+"You do not disturb me!" was the reply to the latter. The other had
+neither glance nor word.
+
+Up another flight she mounted to a room, much smaller than that she had
+left and far plainer in its appointments. The higher one went in Mrs.
+Hunt's house the less splendid everything became. In the state spare
+chamber--a story below--nothing of comfort and luxury was wanting,
+from the carved rosewood bedstead, with the regal-looking canopy
+overshadowing its pillows, down to the Bohemian and cut-glass scent
+bottles upon the marble of the dressing-cabinet. Sarah's carpet was
+common ingrain, neither pretty nor new; a cottage bedstead of painted
+wood; bureau and washstand of the same material; two chairs and a small
+table were all the furniture her mother adjudged needful. To these the
+girl had added, from her pittance of pocket-money, a set of hanging
+bookshelves, a portable desk, an easel and two or three good engravings
+that adorned the walls.
+
+She locked the door after her, with a kind of angry satisfaction in
+her face, and going straight to the window leaned upon the sash and
+looked down into the flooded street. Her eyes were dry, but there was
+a heaving in her throat, a tightening of the muscles about the mouth
+that would have made most women weep for very relief. Sarah Hunt would
+have scorned the ease purchased by such weakness. She did not despise
+the sad loneliness that girt her around, any more than the captive
+warrior does his cell of iron or stone, but she held that it would be
+a cowardly succumbing to Fate to wound herself by dashing against the
+grim walls, or bring out their sleeping echoes by womanish wailings.
+So, presently, her throat ached and throbbed no longer, the rigid
+muscles compressed the lips no more than was their wont, the hands
+loosened their vise-like grasp of one another--the brain was free to
+think.
+
+The rain fell still with a solemn stateliness that befitted the coming
+twilight. It was a silent storm for one so heavy. The faint hum of the
+city, the tinkle of the car-bell, three blocks off, arose to her window
+above its plashing fall upon the pavement, and the trickle of the drops
+from sash to sill. A stream of light from the lamp-post at the corner
+flashed athwart the sidewalk, glittered upon the swollen gutter, made
+gold and silver blocks of the paving stones. As if they had waited for
+this signal, other lights now shone out from the windows across the
+way, and from time to time a broad, transient gleam from opening doors
+told of the return of fathers, brothers, husbands from their day's
+employment.
+
+    "In happy homes he sees the light."
+
+What was there in the line that should make the watcher catch her
+breath in sudden pain and lay her hand, with stifled moan, over her
+heart, as she repeated it aloud?
+
+Witness with me, ye maternal Hunts, who read this page--you, the
+careful and solicitous about many things--in nothing more ambitious
+than for the advancement and success in life of your offspring--add
+your testimony to mine that this girl had all that was desirable for
+one of her age and in her circumstances. A house as handsome as her
+neighbors, an education unsurpassed by any of her late school-fellows,
+a "position in society;" a reasonable share of good looks, which only
+required care and cultivation on her part to become really distingue;
+indulgent parents and peaceably inclined brothers and sisters--read
+the list, and solve me, if you can, the enigma of this perturbed
+spirit--this hungering and thirsting after contraband or unattainable
+pleasures.
+
+"Some girls will do so!" Mrs. Hunt assured her husband when he "thought
+that Sarah did not seem so happy as Lucy. He hoped nothing ailed the
+child. Perhaps the doctor had better drop in to see her. Could she be
+fretting for anything, or had her feelings been hurt?"
+
+"Bless your soul, Mr. H. There's nothing the matter with her. She
+always was kind o' queer!" (Mrs. Hunt did not use her company grammar
+every day.) "And she's jest eighteen year old. That's the whole of it!
+She'll come 'round in good time, 'specially if Lucy should marry off
+pretty soon. When Sarah is 'Miss Hunt,' she'll be as crazy for beaux
+and company and as ready to jump at a prime offer as any of 'em. I know
+girls' ways!"
+
+Nor am I prepared to say that Sarah, as she quitted her look-out at the
+high window at the sound of the dinner bell, could have given a more
+satisfactory reason for her discontent and want of spirits.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER II.
+
+
+Mrs. Hunt's china, like her grammar, was of two sorts. When her duty
+to "society" or the necessity of circumstances forced her to be
+hospitable, she "did the thing" well. At a notice of moderate length
+she could get up a handsome, if not a bountiful, entertainment, to
+which no man need have been ashamed to seat his friends, and when the
+occasion warranted the display she grudged not the "other" china, the
+other silver, nor the other table-linen.
+
+She did, however, set her face, like a broad flint, against the
+irregularity of inviting chance visitors to partake of the family
+bread and salt. Intimate as Victoria West was with Lucy, she met only
+a civil show of regretful acquiescence in her proposal to go home as
+the dinner hour approached, and Robbie or Richard Hunt was promptly
+offered to escort her to her abode upon the next block. If she remained
+to luncheon, as she would do occasionally, Lucy, in her hearing, begged
+her mother to excuse them from going down, and to send up two cups
+of tea and a few sandwiches to the sitting-room. This slight repast
+was served by the butler upon a neat little tray, in a tete-a-tete
+service--a Christmas gift to Lucy "from her ever-loving Victoria," and
+sentimentally dedicated to the use of the pair of adopted sisters.
+
+Therefore, Sarah was not surprised to find Victoria gone, despite the
+storm, when she entered the dining-room. An immense crumb-cloth covered
+the carpet; a row of shrouded chairs, packed elbow to elbow, stood
+against the further end of the apartment, and a set of very ordinary
+ones were around the table. The cloth was of whity-brown material, and
+the dishes a motley collection of halt and maimed--for all Mrs. Hunt's
+vigilance could not make servants miraculously careful. There was no
+propriety, however, according to her system of economy, in condemning
+a plate or cup as past service because it had come off second best, to
+the extent of a crack or nick or an amputated handle, in an encounter
+with some other member of the crockery tribe. "While there is life
+there is hope," was, in these cases, paraphrased by her to the effect
+that while a utensil would hold water it was too good to be thrown away.
+
+It was not a sumptuous repast to which Sarah sat down after she had
+placed Jeannie in her high chair and tied the great gingham bib around
+her neck. On the contrary, it came near being a scant provision for
+the healthy appetites of seven people. Before Mr. Hunt, a mild, quiet
+little man, was a dish of stew, which was, in its peculiar line, a
+thing--not of beauty, but wonder.
+
+Only a few days since, as I stood near the stall of a poultry vender in
+market, a lady inquired for chickens.
+
+"Yes, ma'am. Roasting size, ma'am?"
+
+"No. I want them for a fricassee."
+
+"Ah"--with a look of shrewd intelligence. "Then, ma'am, I take it, you
+don't care to have 'em overly tender. Most ladies prefers the old ones
+for fricassee. They come cheaper and very often bile tender."
+
+"Thank you," was the amused rejoinder. "The difference in the price is
+no consideration where the safety of our teeth is concerned."
+
+Mrs. Hunt suffered not these scruples to hinder her negotiations with
+knowing poultry merchants. A cent less per pound would be three cents
+saved upon the chicken, and three cents would buy enough turnips for
+dinner. It is an ignorant housekeeper who needs to be informed that
+stewed chicken "goes further" than the same fowl made into any other
+savory combination. Mrs. Hunt's stews were concocted after a recipe of
+her own invention. Imprimis, one chicken, weight varying from two and a
+half to three pounds; salt pork, a quarter of a pound; gravy abundant;
+dumplings innumerable. It was all "stew," and if Jeannie's share was
+but a bare drumstick, swimming in gravy and buried in boiled dough,
+there was the chicken flavor through the portion.
+
+For classic antecedent the reader is referred to the fable of the
+rose-scented clay.
+
+To leave the principal dish, which justice to Mrs. Hunt's genius would
+not permit me to pass with briefer mention, there were, besides,
+potatoes, served whole (mashed ones required butter and cream), turnips
+and bread, and Mrs. Hunt presided over a shallow platter of pork and
+beans. What was left of that dish would be warmed over to piece out
+breakfast next morning. The children behaved well, and the most minute
+by-law of table etiquette was observed with a strictness that imparted
+an air of ceremonious restraint to the meal. If Mrs. Hunt's young
+people were not in time finished ladies and gentlemen, it was not her
+fault, nor was it for the lack of drilling.
+
+"Do as I tell you; not as I do," were her orders in these matters.
+Since Lucy had completed her education, the mother added, "Look at
+your sister; she is never awkward." This was true. Lucy was born the
+fine lady. Refinement of manner and grace of movement, an instinctive
+avoidance of whatever looked common or underbred were a part of her
+nature. Only the usage of years had accustomed her to her mother's
+somewhat "fussy" ways.
+
+Had she met her in company as Mrs. Anybody else, she would have yielded
+her the right of way with a feeling of amazement and amiable pity that
+one who meant so well should so often overdo the thing she aimed to
+accomplish easily and gracefully. Following out her excellent system
+of training, the worthy dame demanded as diligent and alert watching
+from her butler as if she were having a dinner party. The eggless rice
+pudding was brought on with a state that was absolutely ludicrous; but
+the family were used to the unsubstantial show and took it as a matter
+of course.
+
+After the meal was over Mrs. Hunt withdrew to the kitchen for a short
+conference with the cook and a sharp glance through the closets. It was
+impossible that the abstraction of six slices of bread from the baking
+of the preceding day, three thick pieces of cheese and more than half
+of the cold meat she had decided would, in the form of hash, supply the
+other piece of the breakfast at which the beans were to assist, should
+escape her notice.
+
+Mr. Hunt was reading the evening paper by the droplight in the
+sitting-room, Lucy was busy with her shawl, and Sarah told a simple
+tale in a low voice to Jeannie as she leaned upon her lap, when the
+wife and mother entered, with something like a bluster. All present
+looked up, and each one remarked the cloud upon her brow.
+
+"What is the matter, mother?" said Mr. Hunt, in a tone not free from
+alarm.
+
+"I am worried! That's the whole of it. I am downright vexed with you,
+Sarah, and surprised, too! What upon earth possessed you, child, to
+take that beggar into my kitchen to-day? After all I have told you and
+tried to learn you about these shameful impostors! I declare I was beat
+out when I heard it. And to throw away provisions and clothes upon such
+a brat!"
+
+Lucy opened her great eyes at her sister, and Mr. Hunt looked
+perplexedly towards his favorite, for at heart he was partial to his
+second child.
+
+"I took the poor creature to the fire, mother, because she was wet
+and cold; I fed her because she was hungry; I gave her some old, warm
+clothes of mine because hers were thin and soaked with rain."
+
+"Poor little girl!" murmured Jeannie compassionately.
+
+Sarah's hand closed instantly over the little fingers. The
+simple-hearted babe understood and sympathized with her motive and act
+better than did her wiser elders.
+
+"Oh, I have no doubt she told a pitiful story, and shed enough tears
+to wet her through, if the rain had not done it already. If you listen
+to what these wretches say, and undertake to relieve their wants, you
+will soon have not a dress to your back nor a house over your head. Why
+didn't you send her to some society for the relief of the poor?"
+
+"I did not know where to find one, ma'am."
+
+This plain truth, respectfully uttered, confounded Mrs. Hunt for a
+second.
+
+"Mrs. James is one of the managers in a benevolent association," she
+said, recovering herself. "You had ought to have given your beggar her
+address."
+
+"Even if I had known that fact, mother, the girl would have been
+obliged to walk half a mile in the storm to find this one manager. What
+do you suppose Mrs. James would have done for her that was not in my
+power to perform?"
+
+"She would have asked the child whereabouts she lived, and to-morrow
+she would have gone to hunt her up. If she found all as she had been
+told, which is not likely--these creatures don't give a right direction
+once in ten times--why, she would have brought the case before the
+board at their next meeting, and they would help them, if neither of
+her parents was a drinking character."
+
+"God help the poor!" ejaculated Sarah, energetically. "God help the
+poor, if this is man's style of relieving his starving brother! Mother,
+do you think that hunger pinches any the less when the famished being
+is told that next week or next month may bring him one good meal? Will
+the promise of a bushel of coal or a blanket, to be given ten days
+hence, warm the limbs that are freezing to-night? Is present help for
+present need, then always unsafe, imprudent, insane?"
+
+"That all sounds very fine, my dear." Mrs. Hunt grew cool as her
+daughter waxed warm. "But when you have seen as much of the world as
+I have you will understand how necessary it is to be careful about
+believing all that we hear. Another thing you must not forget, and
+that is that we are not able to give freely, no matter how much
+disposed we may be to do so. It's pretty hard for a generous person
+to say 'No,' but it can't be helped. People in our circumstances must
+learn this lesson." Mrs. Hunt sighed at thought of the curb put upon
+her benevolent desires by bitter necessity. "And, after all, very
+few--you've no idea how few--of these pretended sufferers are really in
+want."
+
+This preluded a recital of sundry barefaced impositions and successful
+swindles practiced upon herself and acquaintances, to which Mr. Hunt
+subjoined certain of his personal experiences, all tending to establish
+the principle that in a vast majority of cases of seeming destitution
+the supplicant was an accomplished rogue and the giver of alms the
+victim of his own soft heart and a villain's wiles. Jeannie drank in
+every syllable, until her ideal beggar quite equalled the ogre who
+would have made a light supper off of Hop-o'-my-Thumb and brothers.
+
+"You gave this match-girl no money, I hope?" said Mrs. Hunt, at length.
+
+"I did not, madam. I had none to give her." Impelled by her
+straightforward sense of honesty that would not allow her to receive
+commendation for prudence she had not shown, she said, bravely: "But I
+lent her my umbrella upon her promise to return it to-morrow."
+
+"Well!"
+
+Mrs. Hunt dropped her hands in her lap, and stared in speechless dismay
+at her daughter. Even her husband felt it his duty to express his
+disapprobation.
+
+"That was very unwise, my daughter. You will never see it again."
+
+"I think differently, father."
+
+"You are too easily imposed upon, Sarah. There is not the least
+probability that your property will be returned. Was it a good
+umbrella?"
+
+"It was the one I always use."
+
+"Black silk, the best make, with a carved ivory handle--cost six
+dollars a month ago!" gasped Mrs. Hunt. "I never heard of such a piece
+of shameful imprudence in all my born days. And I shouldn't wonder if
+you never once thought to ask her where she lived, that you might send
+a police officer after it, if the little thief didn't bring it back to
+you?"
+
+"I did think of it." Sarah paused, then forced out the confession she
+foresaw would subject her to the charge of yet more ridiculous folly.
+"I did think of it, but concluded to throw the girl upon her honor, not
+to suggest the theft to her by insinuating a doubt of her integrity."
+
+Mr. Hunt was annoyed with and sorry for the culprit, yet he could not
+help smiling at this high-flown generosity of confidence. "You are
+certainly the most unsophisticated girl of your age I ever met with,
+my daughter. I shall not mind the loss of the umbrella if it prove to
+be the means of giving you a lesson in human nature. In this world,
+dear, it will not do to wear your heart upon your sleeve. Never believe
+a pretty story until you have had the opportunity to ascertain for
+yourself whether it is true or false." And with these titbits of wordly
+wisdom, the cashier picked up his paper.
+
+"Six dollars! I declare I don't know what to say to you, Sarah!"
+persisted the ruffled mother. "You cannot expect me to buy you another
+umbrella this season. You must give up your walks in damp weather after
+this. I can't say that I'm very sorry for that, though. I never did
+fancy your traipsing off two or three miles, rain or shine, like a
+sewing girl."
+
+"Very well, madam!"
+
+But, steadied by pride as was her voice, her heart sank at the
+possibility of resigning the exercise upon which she deemed that so
+much of her health, physical and mental, depended. These long, solitary
+walks were one of the un-American habits that earned for Sarah Hunt the
+reputation of eccentricity. They were usually taken immediately after
+breakfast, and few in the neighborhood who were abroad or happened
+to look out at that hour, were not familiar with the straight, proud
+figure, habited in its walking dress of gray and black, stout boots,
+and gray hat with black plume. It was a uniform selected by herself,
+and which her mother permitted her to assume, because it "looked
+genteel," and became the wearer. Especially did she enjoy these tramps
+when the threatening storm, in its early stages, kept others of her
+class and sex at home. The untamed spirit found a fierce pleasure in
+wrestling with the wind; the hail that ushered in the snow-storm, as
+it beat in her face, called up lustre to the eye and warm color to the
+cheek. To a soul sickening of the glare and perfume of the artificial
+life to which she was confined, the roughest and wildest aspects of
+nature were a welcome change.
+
+I remember laughing heartily, as I doubt not you did also, dear reader,
+if you saw it, at a cut which appeared several years ago in the Punch
+department of "Harper's Magazine." A "wee toddler," perhaps four years
+old, with a most lack-a-daisical expression upon her chubby visage,
+accosts her grandmother after this fashion: "I am tired of life,
+grandmamma! The world is hollow, and my doll is stuffed with sawdust,
+and if you please, ma'am, I should like to go to a nunnery!"
+
+Yet, that there are natures upon which the feeling of emptiness and
+longing herein burlesqued seizes in mere babyhood is sadly true. And
+what wonder? From their cradles, hundreds of children, in our so-called
+better classes, are fed upon husks. A superficial education, in which
+all that is not showy accomplishment is so dry and uninviting that the
+student has little disposition to seek further for the rich kernel,
+the strong meat of knowledge, is the preparatory course to a premature
+introduction into the world, to many the only phase of life they are
+permitted to see, a scene where all is flash and froth, empty bubbles
+of prizes, chased by men and women with empty heads, and oh, how often
+empty, aching hearts! Outside principles, outside affections, outside
+smiles, and most pitiable of all, outside piety! Penury of heart
+and stomach at home; abroad a parade of reckless extravagance and
+ostentatious profession of fine feeling and liberal sentiments!
+
+"Woe," cried the preacher, "to them that make haste to be rich!" If he
+had lived in our day, in what biting terms of reprobation and contempt
+would he have declaimed against the insane ambition of those who forego
+the solid comforts of judicious expenditure of a moderate income would
+afford; spurn the holy quiet of domestic joys--neglect soul with heart
+culture--in their haste to seem rich, when Providence has seen that
+wealth is not to be desired for them! Out upon the disgusting, indecent
+race and scramble! The worship of the golden calf is bad enough, but
+when this bestial idolatry rises to such a pitch of fanaticism, that in
+thousands of households copies in pinchbeck and plated-ware are set up
+and served, the spectacle is too monstrous in its abomination! This it
+is that crowds our counting-rooms with bankrupts and our state-prisons
+with defaulters; that is fast turning our ball-rooms and other places
+of fashionable rendezvous into vile caricatures of foreign courts,
+foreign manners, and foreign vices; while the people we ape--our
+chosen models and exemplars--hold their side in inextinguishable
+laughter at the grave absurdity of our laborious imitation. It is no
+cause for marvel that, in just retribution, there should be sent a
+panic-earthquake, every three years, to shake men to their senses.
+
+Such was the atmosphere in which Sarah Hunt had always lived. In the
+code subscribed to by her mother, and the many who lived and felt and
+panted and pushed as she did for social distinction, nothing was of
+real, absolute value except the hard cash. Gold and silver were facts.
+All things else were comparative in use and worth. The garment which,
+last winter, no lady felt dressed without, was an obsolete horror this
+season. The pattern of curtains and furniture that nearly drove the
+fortunate purchaser wild with delight, three years back, was now only
+fit for the auction room. In vain might the poor depleted husband plead
+for and extol their beauties. The fiat of fashion had gone forth, and
+his better half seasoned his food with lamentations, and moistened her
+pillow with tears until she carried her point. We have intimated that
+Sarah was a peculiar girl. Whence she derived her vigorous intellect;
+her strong, original turn of thought; her deep heart, was a puzzle
+to those who knew her parents. The mother was energetic, the father
+sensible, but both were commonplace, and followed, like industrious
+puppets, in the wake of others. They were pleased that Sarah brought
+home all the prizes offered at school, and both considered that she
+gained a right, by these victories, to pursue her studies at home,
+provided she did not obtrude her singular views and tastes upon other
+people. Mrs. Hunt sighed, frequently and loudly, in her presence, that
+her genius had not been for shell, or bead, or worsted work, instead of
+for reading volumes, that did not even decorate the show book-case in
+the library.
+
+"If you must have so many books, why don't you pick out them with the
+tasty bindings?" she had asked her daughter more than once. "And I wish
+you would paint some bright, lively pictures, that would look handsome
+on the walls, instead of those queer men and women and cloudy things
+you have got upstairs. I'd have 'em framed right away, and be real
+proud to tell who done them."
+
+Sarah remained proof against such hints and temptation, and, shrinking
+more and more from the uncongenial whirl around her, she turned her
+eager, restless spirit into her secret, inner life, where, at times,
+it was flattered into content by the idealities upon which it was fed;
+at others, ramped and raved, like any other chained wild thing. The
+sweetest drop of pleasure she had tasted for many a day was the thrill
+she experienced when the forlorn object she had rescued from the power
+of the storm stood before her, decently and comfortably clad. The rash
+confidence she had reposed in so suspicious a stranger was the outgoing
+of a heart too noble and true in every impulse to pause, for a moment,
+to speculate upon the chances of another's good or bad faith. The great
+world of the confessedly poor was an unknown field to her--one she
+longed to explore. Her footsteps loitered more often near the entrance
+of some narrow, reeking street or alley, down which she had promised
+her mother not to go, than on the spacious pave, where over-dressed
+women and foppish men halted at, and hung around bewitching shop
+windows. She wondered how such throngs of breathing beings contrived to
+exist in those fetid, cramped quarters; how they lived, spoke, acted,
+felt. The great tie of human brotherhood became daily more tense, as
+she pondered these things in her heart.
+
+On this particular day, as she sat, silent and thoughtful, at her
+needle, the chit-chat of her companions less heeded than the continual
+dropping of the rain without, the wail of the shivering wanderer
+caused a painful vibration through every nerve. The deed was done! the
+experiment was tried. She was ashamed that an event so trivial held
+her eyes waking, far into the night. At least, she said to herself,
+she would not be without a lesson of some kind; would learn whether
+deceit and falsehood prevailed in the lowest, as well as the higher
+ranks of society. If, as she still strove to believe would be the case,
+the child returned the borrowed property, she would make use of her,
+as the means of entering upon a new sphere of research and action.
+After so complete a refutation of her theories respecting the utter
+corruption of all people, who had not enough to eat and to wear, her
+mother could not withhold her consent to her petition that she might
+become a lay-missionary--a present relief committee to a small portion
+of the suffering, toiling, ill-paid masses. She would then have a work
+to do--something to call out energy and engage feeling in healthy
+exercise--and soothed by the romantic vision, she fell asleep with a
+smile upon her lips.
+
+The morning dawned between breaking clouds, that soon left the sky
+clear and bright. All through the day Sarah watched for her visitor
+of the preceding day--watched with nervousness she could not wholly
+conceal, from morn to night, for two, three days--for a week. Then she
+looked no longer while at home; her question, at entering the house,
+after a drive or walk, ceased to be, "Has any thing been left for me?"
+So palpable was her disappointment that her father forbore to make
+any allusion to her loss, and Lucy, albeit she was somewhat obtuse to
+the finer points of her sister's character, good-naturedly interposed
+to change the subject when her mother sought to improve the incident
+to her daughter's edification and future profit. Mr. Hunt was right
+in supposing that the "unsophisticated girl" had learned something.
+Whether she were happier or better for the lesson thus acquired was
+another thing.
+
+Once again Sarah had an opportunity for speech with her delinquent
+protege. Two months later she was passing through a by-street in a
+mean neighborhood, very far up town, in her morning ramble, when her
+progress was arrested, for an instant, by two boys, who ran out of an
+alley across the walk. One overtook the other just in front of the
+lady, and catching him by his ragged collar, threw him down.
+
+"That's right! beat him well! I'll help!" screeched a girl, rushing out
+of the court whence they had come.
+
+Grinning with delight, she flung herself upon the prostrate form and
+commenced a vigorous assault, accompanied by language alike foul and
+profane.
+
+Sarah recognized her instantly, and while she paused in mingled
+amazement and anger, the child looked up and saw her. In a twinkling
+she relinquished her grip of the boy's hair--jumped up and sped back
+into the dirty alley, with the blind haste of guilty fear.
+
+Yes! Mr. Hunt was a wise man, who knew the world, and trebly sage in
+her generation was his spouse. If their daughter had never acknowledged
+this before, she did now, in her disgust and dismay at this utter
+overthrow of her dreams of the virtuous simplicity to be found in lowly
+homes, where riches and fashions were things unknown.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER III.
+
+
+Summer had come to the country with its bloom and its beauty, its
+harvests and its holidays. In town, its fever heat drew noisome smells
+from overcharged sewers, and the black, oily paste to which the shower
+that should have been refreshing had changed the dust of crowded
+thoroughfares. Cleaner pavements, in the higher portions of the city,
+burned through shoe-soles; glass radiated heat to polished stone, and
+stone radiated, in its turn, to brick, that waited until the evening
+to throw off its surplus caloric in hot, suffocating waves that made
+yet more oppressive the close nights. The gay procession of fashionable
+humming birds had commenced their migrations, steamboats and excursion
+craft multiplied at the wharves, and the iron steed put forth all his
+tremendous might to bear onward the long train of self-exiled travelers.
+
+The Hunts, too, must leave town; Lucy must, at all events, have a
+full season, and a brilliant one, if possible, for it was her second
+summer, and much might depend upon it. Her mother would accompany her,
+of course; and equally of course her father could not; that is, he
+must return after escorting them to Saratoga, and spend the remainder
+of the warm months at home. His business would not allow him to take
+an extended vacation. The boys were easily disposed of, being boarded
+every summer at the farmhouse of an early friend of Mr. Hunt, where
+they were acceptable inmates, their clothes as well cared for as they
+were at home, and their morals more diligently cultivated. The younger
+girls caused that excellent manager, their mother, more perplexity.
+This was not the first time she had repented her indiscretion in
+allowing Sarah to "come out" before her elder sister had "gone off."
+But "Sarah was so tall and so womanly in her appearance that it looked
+queer, and would set people to talking if I kept her back," she was
+accustomed to excuse her impolitic move to her friends. This summer she
+realized, as she had not done before, the inconvenience of having two
+full-fledged young ladies upon the carpet at once. Lucy's elegant and
+varied wardrobe, and the certain expenses in prospect for her and her
+chaperon at Spa, seaside, and en route, left a balance in hand of the
+sum allotted for the season's expenditure that was startling in its
+meagerness. Mrs. Hunt was a capital financier, a peerless economist,
+but the exigency taxed her resources to the utmost.
+
+One morning she arose with a lightened heart and a smoother brow.
+"I've settled it!" she exclaimed to her husband, shaking him from his
+matutinal doze.
+
+The "Eureka!" of the Syracusan mathematician was not more lofty in its
+exultation. Forthwith she unfolded to him her scheme. She was a native
+of New Jersey, "the Jarseys" she had heard it called in her father's
+house--had probably thus denominated the gallant little state herself
+in her girlhood. In and around the pretty, quiet village of Shrewsbury
+there were still resident scores of her relatives whose very names she
+had sedulously forgotten. One alone she could not, in conscience or in
+nature, dismiss to such oblivion. This was her elder and only sister,
+long married to a respectable and worthy farmer, and living within a
+mile of "the old place," where both sisters had drawn the first breath
+of life. Twice since Mrs. Hunt had lived in the city had this kind
+friend been summoned on account of the dangerous illness of the former,
+and her presence and nursing had restored peace, order, and health to
+the household. The earlier of these occasions was that of the second
+child's birth, and in the softened mood of her convalescence Mrs. Hunt
+had bestowed upon the babe her sister's name--Sarah Benson--a homely
+appellative she had ofttimes regretted since. At distant and irregular
+intervals, one, two, three years, Mr. or Mrs. Benson visited their
+connections in "York;" but the intercourse grew more difficult and
+broken as time rolled on and the distance widened between the plain
+country folk and their rising relations. Then, again, death had been
+busy in the farmhouse; coffin after coffin, of varying lengths, but
+all short, was lifted over the threshold and laid away in the village
+graveyard, until but one was left to the parents of the seven little
+ones that had been given to them, and to that one nature had denied the
+gifts of speech and hearing. Grief and the infirmities of approaching
+old age disinclined the worthy pair to stir from home, and their
+ambitious sister was too busy in building up a "set" of her own, and
+paving the way for her daughters' distinction, to hide her light for
+ever so short a period in so obscure a corner as her former home.
+
+Aunt Sarah, however, could not forget her nurseling. Every few months
+there arrived some simple token of affectionate remembrance to "the
+child" she had not seen since she wore short frocks and pinafores. The
+reception of a basket of fruit, thus despatched, was the suggestive
+power to Mrs. Hunt's present plan. She had made up her mind, so she
+informed her husband straightway, to write that very day--yes! that
+very forenoon, to "Sister Benson," and inquire whether she would board
+Sarah and Jeannie for a couple of months.
+
+"I don't s'pose she will let me pay board for them, but she will be
+pleased to have 'em as long as they like to stay. It's never been
+exactly convenient for me to let any of the children go there for so
+many years, and it's so fur off. But dear me! sometimes I feel real bad
+about seeing so little of my only sister!"--a heavy sigh. "And there'll
+be the expenses of two saved, out and out, for they won't need a great
+variety of clothes in that out-of-the-way place."
+
+"But how will the girls, Sarah and Jeannie, fancy being sent off so?"
+inquired Mr. Hunt.
+
+"Oh, as to that, it is late in the day for my children to dispute what
+I say shall be done; and Sarah's jest that odd that she'll like this
+notion twenty times better than going to Newport or Saratoga. I know
+her! As to Jeannie, she is satisfied to be with her sister anywhere.
+She is getting thin, too; she looks real peaked, and there's nothing in
+creation so good for ailing children as the salt-water bath. They have
+first-rate still-water bathing not a quarter of a mile from sister's.
+It's jest the thing, I tell you! The wonder is it never came into my
+head before."
+
+Mr. Hunt had his sigh now. "Somehow or other he was always down in the
+mouth when the family broke up for the summer," his wife frequently
+complained, and his lack of sympathy now excited her just ire.
+
+"Upon my word, Mr. H.! anybody would think that I was the poorest
+wife in the world to you to see and hear you whenever I talk to you
+of my plans and household affairs. You look as if you was about to be
+hanged, instead of feeling obliged to me for turning, and twisting,
+and contriving, and studying, day and night, how to save your money,
+and spend what we must lay out to the best advantage. I can tell you
+what--there's few women would make your income go as far as I do."
+
+"I know that, my dear. The question is"--Mr. Hunt paused, cleared his
+throat and strained his nerves for a mighty effort, an unprecedented
+exercise of moral courage--"the question is, Betsy, whether our income
+is stretched in the right direction!" Mistaking the stare of petrified
+incredulity he received for fixed attention, the infatuated man went
+on: "This doubt is always forced upon me when we separate in July,
+some to go to one place, some to another, a broken, wandering family
+for months together. I am growing old, and I love to have my children
+about me; I begin to feel the want of a home. There is Johnson, in
+the ---- Bank, gets five hundred less per annum than I do; yet, after
+living quietly here a few years, he bought himself a snug cottage up
+the river, and has his family there in their own house, everything
+handsome and comfortable about them. I have been in the harness for a
+long while; I expect to die in it. I don't mind work--hard work! but
+it seems to me sometimes that we would all be better satisfied if we
+had more to show, or to hold, for our money; if there were less of this
+straining after appearances, this constant study to make both ends
+meet."
+
+"And it has come to this!" Mrs. Hunt sank into a chair and began to
+cry. "This is my thanks for slaving and toiling for better than twenty
+years to get you and your children a stand in the world! It isn't for
+myself that I care. I can work my fingers to the bone, and live upon
+a crust! I can scrape and save five dollars or so a month! I can bury
+myself in the country! But your children! those dear, sweet girls, that
+have had the best education money can buy, and that to-day visit such
+people as the Murrays, and Sandersons, and Hoopers, and Baylors, and
+meet the Castors and Crinnalls at parties--millionaires, all of 'em,
+the cream of the upper crust! I don't deny that I have been ambitious
+for them, and I did hope that you had something of the same spirit; and
+now to think of your complaining, and moping, and groaning over the
+money you say I've been and wasted; oh! oh! oh!"
+
+"You misunderstand me, my dear; I merely questioned whether we were
+acting wisely in making so much display upon so little substance. We
+are not millionaires, whatever may be said of the girls' visiting
+acquaintances, and I tremble sometimes to think how all this false show
+may end."
+
+Mr. Hunt's borrowed courage had not evaporated entirely.
+
+"That's distrusting Providence, Mr. H.! It's downright sinful, and what
+I shouldn't have looked for from you. I can tell you how it will end.
+If both of us live ten years longer, you will see your daughters riding
+in their own carriages, and leaders of the tong, and your sons among
+the first gentlemen of the city. If this does not turn out true, you
+needn't ever trust my word again. I've set my head upon getting Lucy
+off my hands this summer, and well off; and mark my words, Mr. H., it
+shall be done."
+
+One part of her mother's prophecy was fulfilled in Sarah's manner of
+receiving the proposition so nearly affecting her comfort during the
+summer. Lucy wondered at the cheerful alacrity with which she consented
+to be "hidden away in that horrid bore of a farmhouse," and Jeannie
+cried as her elder sister "supposed that they would eat in Aunt Sarah's
+kitchen, along with the servant men."
+
+"Lucy, be quiet!" interposed her mother. "Your aunt is not a common
+poor person. Mr. Benson is a man of independent means, quite rich for
+the country. They live very nicely, and I have no doubt but that your
+sisters will be happy there."
+
+Sarah had drawn Jeannie to her, and was telling her of the rides and
+walks they would take together, the ducks and chickens they would feed,
+and the merry plunges in the salt water that were to be daily luxuries.
+Ere the recital was concluded, the child was impatient for the hour of
+departure, and indignant when she heard that Aunt Sarah must be heard
+from before they could venture to present themselves, bag and baggage,
+at her door. There was nothing feigned in Sarah's satisfaction; her
+preparations were made with far more pleasure than if she were to
+accompany Lucy. The seclusion that would have been slow death to the
+latter was full of charms for the book-loving sister. Aunt Sarah would
+be kind; the novel phases of human nature she would meet would amuse
+and interest her; and, besides these, there was Jeannie to love and
+pet, and river, field, and grove for studies and society. She panted
+for the country and liberty from the tyrannous shackles of city customs.
+
+Aunt Sarah wrote promptly and cordially, rejecting the offered
+compensation, and begging for her nieces' company as long as they
+could content themselves in so retired a place. Simple-minded as she
+was, she knew enough to be sure that the belles and beaux of the
+neighborhood would be very unsuitable mates for her expected visitors.
+If her own girls had lived, she would have asked nothing higher for
+them in this world than to have them grow up respected, beloved, and
+happy, among the acquaintances and friends of their parents; but
+"Sister Betsy's children had been raised so differently!" she said to
+her husband. "I don't know what we will do to amuse them."
+
+"They will find amusement--never fear," was the farmer's response. "Let
+city folks alone for seeing wonders where those that have lived among
+them all their lives never found anything uncommon. They are welcome
+to the pony whenever they've a mind to ride, and Jim or I will find
+time to drive them around a'most every day; and what with riding, and
+boating, and bathing, I guess they can get rid of the time."
+
+Before the day set for the coming of the guests there appeared upon the
+stage an unexpected and welcome ally to Aunt Sarah's benevolent design
+of making her nieces' sojourn agreeable. This personage we will let the
+good woman herself describe.
+
+"You needn't trouble yourself to fix up for tea, dear," she said to
+Sarah, the afternoon of her arrival, as she prepared to remove her
+traveling dress. "There's nobody here besides husband, and me, and
+Charley, except husband's nephew, Philip Benson, from the South. He
+comes North 'most every summer, and never goes back without paying us a
+visit. He's been here three days now. But he is just as easy as an old
+shoe, and sociable as can be, so you won't mind him."
+
+"Uncle Benson has relatives at the South, then?" said Sarah, seeing
+herself called upon to say something.
+
+"One brother--James. He went to Georgy when he wasn't more than sixteen
+years old, and has lived there ever since. He married a rich wife, I
+believe"--sinking her voice--"and has made money fast, I've heard.
+Philip never says a word about their wealth, but his father owns a
+great plantation, for husband asked him how many acres they worked.
+Then the children--there are four of them--have had fine educations,
+and always spend money freely. Philip is not the sort to boast of
+anything that belongs to him or his. He is a good-hearted boy. He was
+here the August my last daughter--my Betsy--died, and I shall never
+forget how kind and tender he was then. I can't look at him without
+thinking how my Alick would have been just his age if he had lived. One
+was born on the fourth and the other the fifth of the same April."
+
+Keeping up a decent show of interest in these family details, Sarah
+divested Jeannie of her sacque and dress, and substituted a cool blue
+gingham and a muslin apron. Then, as the child was wild to run out of
+doors, she suffered her to go, charging her not to pass the boundary of
+the yard fence. Aunt Sarah was dressed in a second mourning delaine,
+with a very plain cap, and while the heat obliged Sarah to lay aside
+the thick and dusty garment she had worn all day, she had too much
+tact to offer a strong contrast in her own attire to her unpretending
+surroundings. A neat sprigged lawn, modest and inexpensive, was not
+out of place among the old-fashioned furniture of her chamber, nor in
+the "best room," to which they presently descended.
+
+Aunt Sarah ushered her into the apartment with some stiffness of
+ceremony. In truth, she was not herself there often, or long enough to
+feel quite at ease, her property though it was. Alleging the necessity
+of "seeing to the tea," she bade her niece "make herself at home,"
+threw open a blind that she "might see the river," and left her.
+
+First, Sarah looked around the room. It was large and square, and
+had four windows, two in front and two in the rear. The floor was
+covered by a well-saved carpet, of a pattern so antique that it was in
+itself a curiosity; heavy tables of a mahogany dark with age; upright
+chairs, with slippery leathern seats; a ponderous sofa, covered with
+haircloth; small mirrors, with twisted frames, between the windows; two
+black profiles, of life-size, over the mantel, and in the fireplace a
+jar of asparagus boughs, were appointments that might have repelled
+the looker-on, but for the scrupulous, shining cleanliness of every
+article. It was a scene so strange to Sarah that she could not but
+smile as she withdrew her eyes and turned to the landscape commanded by
+her window.
+
+The sight changed the gleam of good-humored amusement to one of more
+heartfelt pleasure. Beyond the grassy walks and flower-borders of the
+garden behind the house lay green meadows, sloping down to the river,
+broad and smooth at this point, so placid now that it mirrored every
+rope and seam of the sails resting quietly upon its surface, and the
+white cottages along the banks, while the banks themselves, with their
+tufts and crowns of foliage, drooping willows and lofty elms, found
+a faithful yet a beautified counterpart in the stream. The reflected
+blush of the crimson west upon its bosom was shot with flickers of
+golden light, and faded in the distance into the blue-gray twilight.
+The air seemed to grow more deliciously cool as the gazer thought of
+the hot, pent-up city, and the beds of thyme and lavender added their
+evening incense.
+
+The hum of cheerful voices joined pleasantly with the soothing
+influences of the hour, and, changing her position slightly, Sarah
+beheld the speakers. Upon a turfy mound, at the foot of an apple tree,
+sat Jeannie beside a gentleman, whose hands she watched with pleased
+interest, as did also a boy of fifteen or thereabouts, who knelt on the
+grass before them. Sarah divined at once that this was her aunt's deaf
+and dumb son. The gentleman was apparently interpreting to Jeannie all
+that passed between himself and the lad, and her gleeful laugh showed
+it to be a lively dialogue. Could this be Mr. Benson's nephew, the
+beardless youth Sarah had pictured him to herself from Aunt Sarah's
+description? He could not have been less than six-and-twenty, had
+dark hair and a close curling beard, an intelligent, handsome face,
+and notwithstanding his loose summer sack and lounging attitude, one
+discerned plainly traces of uncommon grace and strength in his form.
+
+"What is he, I wonder? A gallant, professional beau, who will entangle
+me in my speech, and be an inevitable appendage in the excursions?
+I flattered myself I would be safe from all such drawbacks," thought
+Sarah, in genuine vexation, as she obeyed her aunt's summons to tea.
+
+Perhaps Mr. Benson read as much in her countenance, for, beyond a few
+polite, very unremarkable observations, addressed to her when his hosts
+made it necessary for him to do so, he paid her no visible attention
+during the whole of the evening. The next day he set off, the minute
+breakfast was over, with his gun and game-bag, and was gone until
+sunset.
+
+Sarah sat at her chamber window as he came up to the back door; and,
+screened by the vine trained over the sash, she watched him as he
+tossed his game-bag to Charley and shook hands with Jeannie, who ran up
+to him with the familiarity of an old acquaintance.
+
+"What luck?" questioned his uncle.
+
+"Nothing to boast of, sir; yet enough to repay me for my tramp. I have
+been down to the shore."
+
+"Philip Benson! Well, you beat everything! I suppose you have walked
+as much as ten miles in all!" exclaimed Aunt Sarah, with a sort of
+reproachful admiration.
+
+"I dare say, madam, and am none the worse for it to-night. I am getting
+used to your sand, uncle; it used to tire me, I confess."
+
+He disappeared into the kitchen, probably to perform the ablutions
+needful after his day's walk and work, for it was several minutes
+before he returned. Charley had carried the game-bag to the mound under
+the tree, and was exhibiting its contents--mostly snipe and red-winged
+black birds--to his little cousin.
+
+"It is refreshing to see something in the shape of man that is neither
+an effeminate dandy nor a business machine," soliloquized Sarah.
+"Ten miles on foot! I would like to set that task for certain of our
+Broadway exquisites!"
+
+"She isn't a bit like a city girl!" Aunt Sarah was saying, as she
+followed Philip into the outer air.
+
+"I am glad to hear that she is likely to be a nice companion for you,
+madam. I thought, from her appearance, that you would suit each other,"
+was the reply, certainly respectful enough, but whose lurking accent of
+dry indifference sent the blood to Sarah's face.
+
+Hastily withdrawing from the open window, and beyond the reach of
+the voices that discussed her merits, she waited to recover her
+equanimity before going downstairs. In vain she chided herself for
+her sudden heat. Mortified she was, and even more ashamed of herself
+than angry with the cool young man who had pronounced her to be a
+fitting associate for her excellent but unpolished aunt. While his
+every look and intonation bespoke the educated gentleman, a being as
+different in mental as in physical muscle from the fops who formed her
+sister's train, had he weighed her against the refined woman of his
+own class and clime, and adjudged her this place? At heart she felt
+the injustice, and, stimulated by the sting, arose the resolve that
+he should learn and confess his error. Not tamely or willingly would
+she accept an ignoble station at the hands of one whom she inwardly
+recognized as capable of a true valuation of what she esteemed worthy.
+
+She looked haughty, not humbled, when she took her seat opposite her
+critic at the tea-table. "A nice companion," she was saying over
+to herself. The very phrase, borrowed, as it was, from Aunt Sarah's
+vocabulary, seemed to her seasoned with contempt. She kept down fire
+and scorn, however, when Mr. Benson accosted her with the tritest
+of remarks upon the probable heat of the day in town as contrasted
+with the invigorating breeze, with its faint, delicious sea flavor,
+that rustled the grapevines and fluttered the white curtains at the
+dining-room door and windows. Her answer was not exactly gracious, but
+it advanced the one tempting step beyond a mere reply.
+
+Thus was the ice broken, and for the rest of the meal, Aunt Sarah and
+"Uncle Nathan"--as he requested his nieces to style him--had respite
+from the duty of active entertainment, so far as conversation went. To
+Sarah's surprise, Mr. Benson talked to her almost as he would have done
+to another man. He spoke of notable persons, places, and books--things
+of which she had heard and read--without affectation of reserve or a
+shade of pretension; and to her rejoinders--brief and constrained for
+awhile--then, as she forgot herself in her subject, pertinent, earnest,
+salient, he gave more than courteous heed. It was the unaffected
+interest of an inquirer; the entire attention of one who felt that he
+received more than he gave.
+
+They parted for the night with a bow and a smile that was with each
+a mute acknowledgment of pleasure derived from the companionship of
+the other; and if neither looked forward to the meeting of the morrow
+as a renewal of congenial intercourse, both carried to their rest the
+effects of an agreeable surprise in the events of the evening.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IV.
+
+
+A week had passed since the arrival of the city nieces at the
+farmhouse. An early tea, one of Aunt Sarah's generous and appetizing
+repasts, was over; and through the garden, out at the gate that
+terminated the middle walk, and across the strip of meadow-land, danced
+Charley and Jeannie, followed at a more sedate pace by Philip Benson
+and Sarah. Seven days' rustication had wrought a marked change in the
+town-bred girl. There was a lighter bound in her step, and in her
+cheek a clear, pink glow, while her eyes looked softly, yet brightly,
+from out the shadow of her gypsy hat, a look of half surprise, half
+confidence in her companion's face.
+
+"One week ago," he was saying, "how firmly I made up my mind that
+you and I could never be anything but strangers to each other! How I
+disliked you for coming down here to interfere with my liberty and
+leisure!"
+
+"But even then you thought that I would prove a 'nice companion for
+Aunt Sarah'--perceived my suitableness to her society," was the demure
+reply.
+
+"Who told you that I said so?"
+
+"Not Aunt Sarah herself, although she considered it honest praise. I
+overheard it accidentally from my window, and I can assure you properly
+appreciated the compliment, which, by the way, was more in the tone
+than the words."
+
+"And you were thereby piqued to a different style of behavior. Bravo!
+did ever another seed so worthless bring forth so rich a harvest? I am
+glad I said it! Here is the boat."
+
+It was a pretty little affair--Charley's property and care, and he was
+already in his seat at the bow, oar in hand. Philip helped Sarah in,
+placed Jeannie beside her, and stationing himself upon the middle bench
+took up a second pair of oars. A noiseless dip of the four, and the
+craft glided out into the stream, then up against the tide, the water
+rippling into a foamy wake on either side of the sharp bow. A row was
+now the regular sequel to the day's enjoyments, and to Jeannie, at
+least, the climax of its pleasures.
+
+"Pull that way, please, Mr. Benson!" she cried. "There! right through
+that beautiful red water!"
+
+A skilful sweep brought them to the spot designated, but the crimson
+deserted the wave as they neared it, and left dull gray in its stead.
+
+"It is too bad!" complained the child, pointing back to the track
+of their boat, quivering amidst the fickle radiance she had thought
+to reach by this change of course. "It is behind us and before
+us--everywhere but where we are!"
+
+"Is there a moral in that?" questioned Philip, smiling at Sarah.
+
+"Perhaps so."
+
+A fortnight before, how assured would have been her reply! How gloomy
+her recognition of the analogy! Changed as was her mood, a shade fell
+over her countenance. Was it of apprehension, and did Philip thus
+interpret it?
+
+"I could not love life and this fair world as I do, if I conceded this
+to be universally true," he said. "That there comes, sometimes, a glory
+to the present, besides which the hues of past and future fade and are
+forgotten, I must and will believe. Such, it seems to me, must be the
+rapture of reciprocal and acknowledged affection; the joy of reunion
+after long separation from the beloved one; the bliss of reconciliation
+after estrangement. Have you ever thought how much happier we would be
+if we were to live only in the Now we have, and never strain our eyes
+with searching for, the lights and shades of what may be before us, or
+with 'mournful looking' after what is gone?"
+
+"Yet is this possible?" asked Sarah, earnestly. "Does not the very
+constitution of our natures forbid it? To me that would be a miserably
+tame, dead-level existence over which Hope sheds no enchanting
+illusions; like this river, as we saw it three days ago, cold and
+sombre as the rain-clouds that hung above it. Oh, no! give me anything
+but the chill, neutral tint of such a life as thousands are content to
+lead--people who expect nothing, fear nothing--I had almost said, feel
+nothing!"
+
+"That is because every principle of your being is at war with
+common-places. Tell me frankly, Miss Sarah, did you ever meet another
+woman who had as much character as yourself?"
+
+"I do not know that I understand the full bearing of your question."
+She leaned on the side of the boat, her hand playing in the water, her
+lips working in an irresolute timidity that was oddly at variance with
+their habitual firmness.
+
+"I am aware," she began slowly and gravely, "that I express myself too
+strongly at times; that I am more abrupt in language and action than
+most other girls. I have always been told so; but it is natural to me.
+My character has many rough and sharp edges that need softening and
+rounding"--
+
+"In order to render you one of the pretty automatons, the well-draped,
+thoroughly-oiled pieces of human clockwork that decorates men's
+homes--falsely so called--in these days of gloss and humbug!"
+interrupted Philip with energy. "I am sick to death of the dollish
+'sweet creatures' every boarding-school turns out by the score. I
+understand all the wires that work the dear puppets--flatter myself
+that I can put them through their paces (excuse the slang!) in as
+short a time as any other man of my age in the country. The delightful
+divinities! A little music, and a little less French; a skimming of
+the arts and sciences; and it is a rare thing to meet one who can tell
+an art from a science ten days after she has graduated--a stock of pet
+phrases--all hyperbolical, consequently unmeaning--a glib utterance
+of the same; a steady devotion to balls, beau-catching, gossip, and
+fancy-work; voila the modern fine lady--the stuff we are expected to
+make wives of! Wives! save the mark! I never think of the possibility
+of being thus ensnared without an involuntary repetition of a portion
+of the Litany--'From all such, etc., etc.!'"
+
+He plied his oars with renewed activity for a moment, then suspended
+them to continue, in a softer tone: "And this is the representative
+woman of your Utopia, Miss Sarah?"
+
+"Did I intimate, much less assert, such a heresy?" responded she,
+laughing. "But there is a golden mean somewhere--a union of gentleness
+and energy; of domestic and literary taste; of independence and
+submission. I have seen such in my day dreams. She is my ideal."
+
+"Which you will one day embody. No reproachful looks! This is the
+sincerity of a friend. I have promised never to flatter you again, and
+do not violate the pledge in speaking thus. From my boyhood, I have
+made human nature my study, and it would be hard to convince me that I
+err in this case."
+
+"You do! indeed you do!" exclaimed Sarah, with a look of real pain. "I
+lack the first characteristic of the portrait I have drawn. I am not
+gentle! I never was. I fear that I never will be!"
+
+"Let us hear a competent witness on that head. Jeannie!" to the child,
+who was busy spelling on her fingers to Charley; his nods and smiles to
+her, from the far end of the boat, being more intelligible to her than
+were her attempts to signal her meaning to him. "Jeannie!" repeated
+Philip, as he caught her eye. "Come, and whisper in my ear which of
+your sisters you love the best. Maybe I won't tell tales out of school
+to the one you care least for."
+
+"I don't care who knows!" said the saucy, but affectionate child. "Sis'
+Lucy is the prettiest, and she never scolds me either; but she doesn't
+make my clothes, and tell me nice stories, and help me with my lessons,
+and all that, you know. She isn't my dear, best sister!" And, springing
+up suddenly, she threw her arms around Sarah's neck, with a kiss that
+answered the question with emphasis.
+
+Sarah's lip trembled. The share of affection she had hitherto dared to
+claim as her own had barely sufficed to keep her heart from starving
+outright. She had often dreamed of fulness of love as a stay and
+comfort, as solace and nutriment in a world whose wrong side was ever
+turned to her. Now there dawned upon her the sweetness and beauty of
+a new revelation, the bliss of loving and being beloved. Over life
+floated a warm, purple tinge, like the sunset light upon the river. For
+the first time within the reach of her memory her heart rested!
+
+In the smile whose overflowing gave a tender loveliness to her
+features, Philip saw the effect he had wished and anticipated, and,
+motioning to Charley to let the boat drift with the current, he picked
+up the guitar, that by Sarah's request was always taken along in these
+excursions.
+
+    "The dew is on the blossom,
+      And the young moon on the sea;
+    It is the twilight hour--
+      The hour for you and me;
+    The time when memory lingers
+      Across life's dreary track,
+    When the past floats up before us,
+      And the lost comes stealing back."
+
+It was a love song, inimitable in its purity and tenderness, with just
+the touch of sadness that insured its passage to the heart. Sarah's
+smile was softer, but it was a smile still, as the melody arose on the
+quiet air. When the ballad was concluded, she only said, "Another,
+please!"
+
+Philip sang more than well. Without extraordinary power, his voice had
+a rich and flexible quality of tone and a delicacy of expression that
+never failed to fascinate. To the rapt and listening girl it seemed
+as if time could bring no more delicious fate than thus to glide on
+ever upon this empurpled, enchanted stream, the summer heavens above
+her, and, thrilling ear and soul, the witching lullaby that rocked her
+spirit to dreams of the youth she had never had, the love for which she
+had longed with all the wild intensity, the fervent yearning, her deep
+heart could feel.
+
+Still they floated on with the receding tide, its low washing against
+the sides of their boat filling up the pauses of the music. The burning
+red and gold of the sky cooled into the mellower tints of twilight,
+and the pale curve of the young moon shone with increasing lustre.
+Jeannie fell asleep, her head upon her sister's lap; the dumb boy sat
+motionless as stone, his dark eyes fixed on the moon; there seemed
+some spell upon the little party. Boat after boat passed them, almost
+noiselessly, for far into the clear evening went the tones of the
+singer's voice, and the dullest hearer could not withhold the tribute
+of admiring silence until beyond its reach.
+
+And Sarah, happy in the strange, restful languor that locked her senses
+to all except the blessed present, dreamed on, the music but a part of
+her ideal world, this new and beautiful life. Into it stole presently
+a theme of sadness, a strain of grief, a heart-cry, that, ere she was
+aware, wrung her own heart-strings with anguish.
+
+        "The long, long weary day
+        Is passed in tears away,
+    And still at evening I am weeping.
+        When from my window's height
+        I look out on the night,
+        I am still weeping,
+        My lone watch keeping.
+
+        "When I, his truth to prove,
+        Would trifle with my love,
+    He'd say, 'For me thou wilt be weeping,
+        When, at some future day,
+        I shall be far away;
+        Thou wilt be weeping,
+        Thy lone watch keeping.'
+
+        "Alas! if land or sea
+        Had parted him from me,
+    I would not these sad tears be weeping;
+        But hope he'd come once more,
+        And love me as before;
+        And say, 'Cease weeping,
+        Thy lone watch keeping.'
+
+        "But he is dead and gone,
+        Whose heart was mine alone,
+    And now for him I'm sadly weeping.
+        His face I ne'er shall see,
+        And naught is left to me
+        But bitter weeping,
+        My lone watch keeping."
+
+If ever a pierced and utterly hopeless soul poured forth its plaint
+in musical measure, it was in the wondrously simple and unspeakably
+plaintive air to which these words are set. There breathes in it a
+spirit wail so mournfully sincere that one recognizes its sob in the
+very chords of the accompaniment. The mere murmur of the melody, were
+no words uttered, tells the story of grieving desolation.
+
+Sarah did not move or speak, yet upon her enchanted ground a cloud had
+fallen. She saw the high casement and its tearful gazer into the night,
+a night not of music, and moonlight, and love, but chill, and wet, and
+dreary. Rain dripped from eaves and trees; stone steps and pavements
+caught a ghastly gleam from street lamps; save that sorrowful watcher,
+there was no living creature abroad or awake. She grew cold and sick
+with looking into those despairing eyes; the gloom, the loneliness, the
+woe of that vigil became her own, and her heart sank swooning beneath
+the burden.
+
+As he ceased the song, Philip looked up for some comment or request.
+To his surprise, she only clasped her hands in a gesture that might
+have been either relief from or abandonment to woe, and bowed her head
+upon them. Puzzled, yet flattered by her emotion, he refrained from
+interrupting her; and, resuming his oars, lent the impetus of their
+stroke to that of the tide. Nothing was said until the keel grated upon
+the shelly beach opposite the farmhouse. Then, as Philip stooped to
+lift the unconscious Jeannie, he imagined that he discerned the gleam
+of the sinking moon upon Sarah's dripping eyelashes.
+
+The fancy pursued him after he had gone up to his room. Seated at his
+window, looking out upon the now starlit sky, he smoked more than one
+cigar before his musing fit was ended. It was not the love-reverie
+of a smitten boy. He believed that he had passed that stage of
+sentimentalism ten years before. That Southerner of the male gender
+who has not been consumed by the fires and risen as good as new from
+the ashes of half a dozen never-dying passions before he is eighteen,
+who has not offered the heart and hand, which as often as otherwise
+constitute his chiefest earthly possessions, to some elect fair one by
+the time he is one-and-twenty, is voted "slow" invulnerable. If these
+susceptible sons of a fervid clime did not take to love-making as
+naturally as does a duckling to the pond by the time the eggshell is
+fairly off its head, they would certainly be initiated while in the
+callow state by the rules and customs of society. Courtship is at first
+a pastime, then an art, then when the earnestness of a real attachment
+takes hold of their impassioned natures, it is the one all-absorbing,
+eager pursuit of existence, until rewarded by the acquisition of its
+object or thwarted by the decided refusal of the hard-hearted Dulcinea.
+
+This state of things, this code of Cupid, every Southern girl
+understands, and shapes her conduct accordingly. Sportively, yet
+warily, she plays around the hook, and he is a very fortunate angler
+who does not in the moment of fancied success discover that she has
+carried off the bait as a trophy upon which to feed her vanity, and
+left him to be the laughing-stock of the curious spectators of this
+double game. She is imperturbable to meaning equivoques, receives
+pretty speeches and tender glances at their current value, and not
+until the suit becomes close and ardent, the attachment palpable to
+every one else, and is confessed in so many words, does she allow
+herself to be persuaded that her adorer is "in earnest," and really
+desires to awaken a sympathetic emotion in her bosom.
+
+Philip Benson was no wanton trifler with woman's feelings. On the
+contrary, he had gained the reputation in his circle of an invincible,
+indifferent looker-on of the pseudo and real combats, in Love's name,
+that were continually transpiring around him. Chivalrous in tone,
+gallant in action, as he was, the girls feared while they liked and
+admired him. They called him critical, fastidious, cold; and mockingly
+wondered why he persisted in going into company that, judging the
+future by the past, was so unlikely to furnish him with the consort
+he must be seeking. In reality, he was what he had avowed himself to
+Sarah--a student of human nature; an amateur in this species of social
+research--than which no other so frequently results in the complete
+deception of the inquirer. Certainly no other is so apt to find its
+culmination of devotion in a cold-blooded dissection of motive, morals,
+and sentiment; an unprincipled, reckless application of trial and test
+to the hearts and lives of its victims and final infidelity in all
+human good, except what is concentrated in the inspector's individual,
+personal self. Grown dainty amid the abundant supply of ordinary
+material, he comes at length to disdain common "subjects." Still less
+would he touch one already loathsome in the popular estimation, through
+excess of known and actual crime. But a character fresh and noble from
+the Creator's hand; a soul that dares to think and feel according to
+its innate sense of right; an intellect unhackneyed, not vitiated
+by worldly policy or the dogmas of the schools; a heart, tender and
+delicate--yet passionate in love or abhorrence; what an opportunity is
+here presented for the scalpel, the detective acid, the crucible, the
+microscope! It is not in fallible mortality to resist the temptation,
+and even professors of this ennobling pursuit, whose motto is, "The
+proper study of mankind is Man," are, as they allow with shame and
+confusion of face, themselves mortal. Of all the dignified humbugs of
+the solemn farce of life, deliver me from that creature self-styled "a
+student and judge of character!"
+
+In Sarah Hunt, Philip discovered, to his surprise, a rare "specimen;"
+a volume, each leaf of which revealed new matter of interest. The
+attentions he had considered himself bound to pay her, in order to
+avoid wounding their kind hosts, were soon rendered from a widely
+different motive. It did not occur to him that he was transcending the
+limits of merely friendly courtesy, as prescribed by the etiquette
+of the region in which he was now a sojourner. He was by no means
+deficient in appreciation of his personal gifts; rated his powers of
+pleasing quite as highly as did his warmest admirers, although he had
+the common sense and tact to conceal this; but he would have repelled,
+as an aspersion upon his honor, the charge that he was endeavoring to
+win this young girl's affections, his heart being as yet untouched.
+
+"Was it then altogether whole?" he asked himself to-night, with a
+coolness that should have been an immediate reply to the suggestion.
+
+Side by side, he set two mental portraits, and strove deliberately,
+impartially, to discern any traces of resemblance between the two. The
+future Mrs. Benson was a personage that engrossed much of his thoughts,
+and by long practice in the portrayal of her lineaments, he had brought
+his fancy sketch very nearly to perfection. A tall, Juno-like figure,
+with raven locks, and large, melting eyes, unfathomable as clear;
+features of classic mould; an elastic, yet stately form; a disposition
+in which amiability tempered natural impetuosity, and generous impulse
+gave direction to gentle word and deed; a mind profoundly imbued with
+the love of learning, and in cultivation, if not strength, equal to his
+own; discretion, penetration, and docility combined in such proportions
+as should render her her husband's safest counsellor, yet willing
+follower; and controlling and toning the harmonious whole, a devotion
+to himself only second in degree, not inferior in quality, to worship
+of her Creator. This was the ideal for whose embodiment our reasonable,
+modest Coelebs was patiently waiting. Answer, oh ye expectant,
+incipient Griseldas! who, from your beauteous ranks, will step into the
+prepared niche, and make the goddess a reality?
+
+And how appeared the rival picture in comparison?
+
+"No, no!" he ejaculated, tossing the remnant of his third cigar into
+the garden. "I must seek further for the 'golden mean.' Intellect and
+heart are here, undoubtedly. I must have beauty and grace as well.
+Yet," he continued, relentingly, "there are times when she would be
+quite handsome if she dressed better. It is a pity her love for the
+beautiful does not enter into her choice of wearing apparel!"
+
+In ten minutes more he was asleep, and dreamed that he stood at the
+altar with his long sought ideal, when, as the last binding words were
+spoken, she changed to Sarah Hunt, arrayed in a light blue lawn of last
+year's fashion, that made her look as sallow as a lemon, and, to his
+taste, as little to be desired for "human nature's daily food."
+
+Poor Sarah! The visionary robe was a faithful reflection upon the
+dreamer's mental retina of a certain organdie which had formed a part
+of Lucy's wardrobe the previous summer, and having become antiquated
+in six months' time, was altogether inadmissible in the belle's outfit
+of this season.
+
+"Yet it cost an awful sum when it was new!" reasoned Mrs. Hunt, "and
+will make you a very useful dress while you are with your Aunt Sarah.
+It's too good to cut up for Jeannie!"
+
+"But the color, mother?" objected the unwilling recipient.
+
+"Pooh! who will notice that? Besides, if you had a good complexion, you
+could wear blue as well as anybody."
+
+Sarah's stock of thin dresses was not plentiful, and, recalling this
+observation, she coupled it with the fact that she was growing rosy,
+and dared to equip herself in the azure garment, with what effect she
+did not dream and Mr. Philip Benson did!
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER V.
+
+
+On a pleasant, although rather cloudy forenoon in July, our young
+pleasure-seekers carried into execution a long-talked-of expedition to
+the Deal Beach, distant about ten miles from Shrewsbury.
+
+By Aunt Sarah's arrangement, Charley and Jeannie occupied the back
+seat of the light wagon, and Sarah was to sit by Philip in front,
+that she "might see the country." Having accomplished this apparently
+artless manoeuvre, the good woman handed up to them a portly basket of
+luncheon, and two or three additional shawls, in case of rain or change
+of weather, and bade the gay party "good-bye" with a satisfied glow in
+heart and face. To her guileless apprehension there was no question how
+affairs were progressing between her niece and her nephew-in-law; and
+in sundry conferences on the subject between "husband" and herself, it
+had been agreed that a matrimonial alliance would be the best thing
+that could happen to either of the supposed lovers. In her simple,
+pious soul, the dear old lady already blessed the Providence that had
+accomplished the meeting and intercourse under her roof, while she
+wondered at "the strange things that come about in this world."
+
+Philip had been aware of her innocent attempts to facilitate his suit
+for several days past, and Sarah's blush, as she hesitated before
+accepting the proffered seat by the driver, showed that this move
+was so transparent as to convey the alarm to her also. For a full
+half mile Philip did not speak, except a word now and then to the
+pair of stout grays, who were Uncle Nathan's greatest earthly boast.
+He appeared thoughtful, perhaps perturbed--so Sarah's single stolen
+glance at him showed--and in the eyes that looked straight onward to
+the horizon, there was a hardness she had never seen there before. She
+was surprised, therefore, when he broke the silence by an unimportant
+observation, uttered in his usual friendly tone, and for the remainder
+of the ride was gay and kind, with a show of light-heartedness that was
+not surpassed by the merry children behind them.
+
+There was hardly enough variety in the unpicturesque country bordering
+their route to give the shadow of reasonableness to Aunt Sarah's
+pretext in selecting her namesake's seat, and, despite her escort's
+considerate attentions, Sarah had an uncomfortable ride; while her
+manner evinced more of the haughty reserve of their introduction than
+she had shown at any subsequent stage of their acquaintance. The grays
+traveled well, and a little after noon they were detached from the
+carriage, and tied in the grove of scrub-oaks skirting the beach.
+
+While Philip was busied with them, the others continued their course
+down to the shore; the children, hand-in-hand, skipping over the
+sand-hills, and stopping to pick up stones; Sarah strolling slowly
+after them. She had seen the ocean surf before, but never aught like
+this, with its huge swells of water, a mile in length, gathering
+blackness and height on their landward career; as they struck the
+invisible barriers that commanded, "Thus far and no farther!"
+breaking in white fury, with the leap of a baffled fiend, and a roar
+like thunder, against their resistless opponent, then recoiling,
+sullenly, to gather new force for another, and as useless an attack.
+The beach was wide and uneven, of sand, whose whiteness would have
+glared intolerably had the day been sunny, drifted into hillocks and
+undulating ridges, like the waves of the sea. Here and there the hardy
+heather found a foothold amid the otherwise blank sterility, the green
+patches adding to, rather than lessening the wild, desolate aspect
+of the tract. Fragments of timber were strewn in all directions, and
+Sarah's quick eye perceived that it was not formless, chance driftwood.
+There were hewn beams and shapely spars, and planks in which great iron
+bolts were still fast. When Philip overtook her, she was standing by an
+immense piece of solid wood, lying far beyond the reach of the highest
+summer tides. One end was buried in the sand; the other, bleached by
+sun and wind, and seamed with cracks, was curved like the extremity of
+a bow. Her late embarrassment or hauteur was forgotten in the direct
+earnestness of her appealing look.
+
+"Am I mistaken?" she said, in a low, awed tone. "Is not this the keel
+of a ship?"
+
+"It is. There have been many wrecked on this coast."
+
+"Here!" She glanced from the fierce, bellowing breakers to the
+melancholy testimonials of their destructive might. "I have never heard
+that this was esteemed a dangerous point."
+
+"You can form an imperfect idea of what this beach is in winter,"
+remarked Philip, signing to her to seat herself upon the sand and
+throwing himself down beside her. "I was here once, late in the autumn,
+and saw a vessel go to pieces, scarcely a stone's throw from where we
+are now sitting. The sea was high, the wind blowing a perfect gale,
+and this schooner, having lost one of her most important sails, was at
+the mercy of the elements. She was cast upon the shore, and her crew,
+watching their opportunity, sprang overboard as the waves receded and
+reached firm ground in safety. Then came a monster billow, and lifting
+the vessel farther upon the sand, left her careened towards the land.
+It was pitiful to see the poor thing! So like life were her shudders
+and groans as the cruel surf beat against her, that my heart fairly
+ached. The spray at every dash rose nearly as high as her mast-head,
+and a cataract of water swept over her deck. Piece by piece she broke
+up, and we could only stand and look on, while the scattered portions
+were thrown to our feet. I shall never forget the sight. It taught me
+the truth of man's impotence and nature's strength as I had never read
+it before."
+
+"But there were no lives lost! You were spared the spectacle of that
+most terrible scene in the tragedy of shipwreck?"
+
+"Yes. But the light of many a life has been quenched in that raging
+caldron. A young man, a resident of Shrewsbury, with whom I hunted last
+year, described to me a catalogue of horrors which he had beheld here,
+that has visited me in dreams often since. An emigrant ship was cast
+away on this coast in midwinter. High above the roar of the wind and
+the booming surf was heard the cry of the doomed wretches, perishing
+within hail of the crowd of fellow-beings who had collected at news
+of the catastrophe. The cold was intense; mast and sail and rope were
+coated with ice, and the benumbed, freezing wretches were exposed every
+instant to the torrents of brine that swept over them like sleet. The
+agony was horrible beyond description, but it was soon over. Before the
+vessel parted, the accent of mortal woe was hushed. Not a man survived
+to tell the tale."
+
+For an hour they sat thus and talked. The subject had, for Sarah, a
+fearful fascination, and, led on by her absorbed attention, Philip
+rehearsed to her wonders and stories of the mysterious old ocean, that
+to-day stretched before them, blanched and angry, under the veil of
+summer cloud, until to his auditor there were bitter wailings blent
+with the surge's roar; arms, strained and bare, were tossed above the
+dark, serpent-like swell of water, in unavailing supplication, and
+livid, dead faces stared upon her from beneath the curling crests of
+the breakers.
+
+That day on the Deal Beach! How quietly happy was its seeming! How full
+of event, emotion, fate--was its reality! Charley and Jeannie wandered
+up and down the coast, filling their baskets with shells and pebbles;
+chasing the retiring waves as far as they dared, and scampering back,
+with shrieks of laughter, as the succeeding billow rolled rapidly after
+them; building sand-houses, and digging wells to be filled by salt
+water; exulting greatly when a rough coralline fragment or a jelly-fish
+of unusual dimensions was thrown in their way. They all lunched
+together, seated upon the heather-clumps, around Aunt Sarah's liberal
+hamper.
+
+"Sister," said Jeannie, when the edge of her seaside appetite was
+somewhat blunted by her repast, "I like living here better than in New
+York--don't you?"
+
+"It is more pleasant in summer, my dear."
+
+"But I mean that I am happier here. I wish you would write to mother
+and ask her to let us live here always."
+
+"But what would she do without her baby?" asked Philip, emphasizing the
+last word.
+
+The little lady bridled instantly.
+
+"Cousin Philip, I do wish you would never call me a 'baby' again. I
+am seven years and two weeks old. I could get along very well without
+mother for awhile. Of course, I would go over sometimes and pay her
+a visit and get new dresses. Shrewsbury is a nice place; I would
+like to buy that pretty white house next to Uncle Nathan's, and live
+there--sister and Charley and I--and you--if you would promise not to
+tease me ever."
+
+"Thank you!" said Philip, with admirable gravity, seeming not to notice
+Sarah's heightened color at this proposal of co-partnership. "You are
+very kind to include me in your household arrangements, and nothing
+would please me better, if I could stay here. But you know, Jeannie,
+my dear little cousin, that my home is far away from this quarter of
+the world. I have remained here too long already." There was a touch
+of feeling or nervousness in his voice. "I had a letter last night,
+reminding me that I ought to have left a week ago to join a party of
+friends, whom I promised to meet in New York and travel with them until
+the time for our return to the South."
+
+He did not look at Sarah, but she felt that the explanation was
+intended for her--that, whether intentionally or not, he was preparing
+her for a blow to heart and hope.
+
+"I shall be obliged to leave Shrewsbury and all my friends there
+to-morrow morning, Jeannie."
+
+The child's exclamation of dismay, and Charley's quick, mute
+remonstrance to his cousin, as his playfellow communicated the news to
+him, gave Sarah time to rally firmness and words.
+
+"This is unexpected intelligence," she said, calmly. "We shall miss
+you. Your kindness has, directly and indirectly, been the means of
+affording us much pleasure during our visit to our good aunt. It will
+seem dull when you are gone."
+
+There was a flash in Philip's eye that looked like pleasure--a mixture
+of relief and surprise, as he turned to her.
+
+"I am selfish enough to hope that you will miss me for a time, at
+least. I shall not then be so soon forgotten. We have had some pleasant
+days and weeks together, have we not?"
+
+"I have enjoyed them, assuredly."
+
+She was a little pale, Philip thought, but that might be the effect of
+fatigue. Her cheek was seldom blooming, unless when flushed in animated
+speech, or by brisk exercise. She spoke of his going with politeness,
+that seemed scarce one remove from carelessness; and, man-like, his
+pleasure at the thought that their association in the country house
+had not been followed by the results Aunt Sarah wished and predicted,
+gave way to a feeling of wounded vanity and vexation, that his summer's
+companion could relinquish him so easily. While he repeated to himself
+his congratulations that his friendly and gallant attentions had not
+been misconstrued, had not awakened any inconvenient because futile
+"expectations," he wondered if it were a possibility for a girl of
+so much sense and feeling, such genuine appreciation of his talents
+and tastes, to know him well--even intimately--without experiencing a
+warmer sentiment than mere approval of an agreeable associate's mind
+and manners, and Platonic liking for him on these accounts.
+
+With the respectful familiarity of a privileged acquaintance, he
+drew her hand within his arm as they arose at the conclusion of the
+collation.
+
+"We have yet two hours and more to spend here, before we set out for
+home. We can have one more walk and talk together."
+
+They took but one turn on the beach, and returning to their morning's
+seat beside the half-buried keel tried to talk as they had done then.
+It was hard work, even to the man of the world, the heart-free student
+of human nature. Gradually the conversation languished and died away,
+and for awhile both sat silent, looking out upon the sea. Then Philip's
+gaze came back to his companion--stealthily at first, and, as she
+remained unconscious of his scrutiny, it lingered long and searchingly
+upon features, form and attire.
+
+There were white, tight lines about her mouth, and a slight knitting of
+the brow, that imparted a care-worn look to the young face it pained
+him to see. Her hands were clasped upon her knee, and the fingers were
+bloodless where they interlaced one another. Was she suffering? Was the
+threatened parting the cause of her disquiet? If this were so, what was
+his duty as a man of honor--of common humanity? And if he were forced
+to admit that he held her happiness in his power, and to accept the
+consequences that must ensue from his idle gallantry and her mistaken
+reading of the same, was the thought really repulsive? Would it be a
+total sacrifice of feeling to a sense of right? It was a repetition,
+grave and careful, of the revery of that July night two weeks ago.
+
+Sarah's hat--a broad-brimmed "flat" of brown straw--had fallen back
+upon her shoulders, and the sea breeze played in her hair, raising
+the short and loose strands and giving to the whole a rough, "frowzy"
+look. Her plain linen collar and undersleeves showed her complexion
+and hands to the worst possible advantage. Upon her cheeks, this same
+unfriendly wind had bestowed a coat of tan and a few freckles, that
+were all the more conspicuous from her pallor, while her fingers were
+as brown as a gypsy's. Her gray poplin dress had lost most of its
+original gloss, and being one of Mrs. Hunt's bargains--"a cheap thing,
+but plenty good for that outlandish Shrewsbury"--already betrayed
+its cotton warp by creases that would not be smoothed, and an aspect
+of general limpness--a prophecy of speedy, irremediable shabbiness.
+Cast loosely about her shoulders was a light shawl, green, with black
+sprigs--another bargain; and beyond the skirt of her robe appeared
+the toe and instep of a thick-soled gaiter, very suitable for a tramp
+through damp sand, yet anything but becoming to the foot it protected.
+
+With an impatient shake of the head, involuntary and positive, Philip
+closed his final observation. And cutting off a large splinter from the
+weather-beaten timber against which he leaned, set about trimming it,
+wearing a serious, settled face, that said his mind was fully made up.
+
+What had Sarah seen all this while?
+
+Heavens, over which the films of the forenoon had thickened into dun
+cloud-curtains, stretching above and enwrapping the world; a wild,
+dreary expanse of troubled waters, whose horizon line was lost in the
+misty blending of sea and sky, ever hurrying and heaving to moan out
+their unrest upon the barren beach. In the distance was a solitary
+sail; nearer to the land, a large sea-bird flew heavily against the
+wind. In such mateless, weary night must her life be passed; that lone,
+frail craft was not so hopelessly forlorn upon a gloomy sea, beneath
+a sky that gloomed yet more darkly--as was her heart, torn suddenly
+from its moorings--anchor and rudder and compass gone. Yet who could
+syllable the mighty sorrow of the complaining sea? And were there words
+in human language that could tell the anguish of the swelling flood
+beating within her breast?
+
+"Going away! To-morrow!" For a little space this was all the lament
+she kept repeating over to herself. Pregnant with woe she knew it to
+be, yet it was not until she was allowed to meditate in silence upon
+the meaning of the words that she realized what had truly come upon
+her. She had thrown away all her hope of earthly happiness--risked
+it as madly, lost it as surely, as if she had tossed it--a tangible
+pearl--into the yawning ocean. Her instinct assured her that, were it
+otherwise, the tidings of Philip's intended departure, his suddenly
+formed resolution to leave her, would have been conveyed to her in a
+far different manner. Her keen backward glance penetrated Aunt Sarah's
+simple wiles; his obvious annoyance thereat; his determination to
+save himself from suspicion; his honorable fear lest she, too, should
+imagine him loving, where he was only civil and kind. Yes, it was all
+over! The best thing she could hope to do, the brightest prospect life
+had now for her, was that her secret should remain hers alone, until
+the troubled heart moaned itself into rest which knows no waking.
+She was used to concealment. All her existence, excepting the sweet
+delusive dream of the past three weeks, had been a stern preparation
+for this trial. But she was already weary and faint--fit to lie down
+and die, so intense had been the throe of this one struggle.
+
+"How long is this to last? How long?"
+
+The exclamation actually broke, in an inarticulate murmur, from her
+lips.
+
+"Did you speak?" inquired Philip.
+
+"I think not. I am not sure. I did not intend to do so."
+
+"Grant me credit for my forebearance in not obtruding my prosaic
+talk upon your musings," he went on, playfully. "It was a powerful
+temptation--for I remember, constantly, that this is our last
+opportunity for a genuine heart and head confabulation, such as I shall
+often linger for after I leave you--and sincerity! You have done me
+good, Miss Sarah; taught me Faith, Hope, Charity--a blessed sisterhood!"
+
+"May they ever attend you!"
+
+"Amen! and thank you! And what wish shall I make in return for your
+beautiful benediction?"
+
+"Whatever you like. My desires are not many or extravagant."
+
+"You are wrong. You have a craving heart and a craving mind. May both
+be fed to the full, with food convenient for them--in measures pressed
+down, shaken together and running over."
+
+"Of what? Husks?" was Sarah's unspoken and bitter reply. She could not
+thank him, as he had done her. She only bowed, and, bending forward,
+took up a handful of the fine white sand that formed the shore. Slowly
+sifting it through her fingers, she waited for him to speak again.
+
+Was this careless equanimity real or feigned? The judge of character,
+the harpist upon heart-chords, made the next move--not the candid,
+manly friend.
+
+"I am going to ask a favor of you--a bold one."
+
+"Say on."
+
+"By the time I am ready to retrace my steps southward you will be
+again settled in New York. Will you think me presumptuous if I call at
+your father's house to continue an acquaintance which has been, to me,
+at once agreeable and profitable?"
+
+The fingers were still, suddenly. A warm glow, like sunrise, swept over
+cheek and forehead. A smile, slight but sweet, quivered upon her lips.
+Drowning in the depths, she heard across the billow a hail that spoke
+of hope, life, happiness.
+
+"We will all be glad to see you," she said, with affected composure.
+
+"Not half so glad as I shall be to come. Will you now, while you think
+of it, give me your address?"
+
+He handed her a card and a pencil. She wrote the required direction
+and received in exchange for it the now smooth bit of wood, which had
+afforded occupation to Philip for half an hour past. It was tendered
+in mock ceremony, and accepted smilingly. Upon the gray tablet was
+inscribed "Philip Benson, Deal Beach, July 27th, 1856." A playful or
+thoughtless impulse caused him to extend his hand for it, after she had
+read it, and to add a motto, stale as innocent in his eyes: "Pensez a
+moi!"
+
+"I shall preserve it as a souvenir of the day and place," observed
+Sarah, slipping it into her pocket.
+
+Twilight overtook them before they reached home, and the night was too
+cloudy and damp for a promenade, such as they often had in the garden
+walks and lane, or for the customary family gathering in the long
+porch. Yet Aunt Sarah was surprised that Philip was apparently content
+to spend the evening in the sitting-room, with herself and husband by
+to spoil the tete-a-tete he must be longing for.
+
+Still more confounded was she, when, after her clever strategy of
+coaxing Uncle Nathan into the kitchen, that the coast might be clear,
+she heard Philip's step close behind them.
+
+"I must clean my gun to-night, aunt," he said, taking it from the
+corner. "I shall not have time to do it to-morrow."
+
+With the utmost nonchalance he began the operation, whistling softly
+a lively air over his work. Aunt Sarah gave her partner a look of
+bewildered despair, which he returned by a confirmatory nod, and a
+smile, half comic, half regretful.
+
+After breakfast next morning the nephew-guest said affectionate
+farewells to his relatives and Jeannie; a grave, gentle adieu to Sarah,
+accompanied by a momentary pressure of the hand, that may have meant
+much or little, and upon the snug homestead settled a quiet that was
+dreariness itself to one of its inmates.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VI.
+
+
+Meanwhile, how had the time sped to the nominal head of the Hunt
+household--the solitary, toiling father and husband? The servants were
+dismissed when "the family" left town, although Mr. Hunt continued
+to sleep at home. A peripatetic maid-of-all-work--what the English
+denominate a charwoman--was engaged to come early every morning to
+clear up the only room in the establishment that was used before the
+cashier went out for his breakfast, which he procured at a restaurant
+pretty far down town. The same quiet coffee-house furnished him with
+dinner and an early tea, after which last refreshment he was at
+liberty to pass the evening in whatever manner he liked best. There
+was nothing in the city worth seeing at this season, even if he had
+not lost all taste for shows and gayety. Those of his acquaintances
+who were not absent with their wives and daughters were living like
+himself, furniture in overalls, carpets covered, apartments closed,
+with the exception, perhaps, of one bedroom, and had no place in which
+to receive him if he had been in the habit of visiting, which he was
+not. He was very tired, moreover, by the time night came on, and as the
+heat increased and the days grew longer, his strength waned more and
+more, and his spirits with it. Meekly and uncomplainingly he plodded
+through his routine of bank duties, so steady and so faithful that
+his fellow-workers and customers had come to regard him as a reliable
+fixture, a piece of machinery, whose winding up was self-performed and
+whose accuracy was infallible.
+
+When, therefore, on a sultry August afternoon, he turned to leave his
+desk at the close of business hours, grew terribly pale and dropped
+upon the floor in a fit of death-like faintness, there was great
+consternation, and as much wonder as if no human clock-work had ever
+given out before, under a like process of exhausting demands.
+
+Clumsily, but with the best of intentions, they brought him to his
+senses, and in half an hour or so he was sufficiently recovered to be
+taken home. There was a twitching of the lips that might have passed
+for a sarcastic smile, as he heard the proposal to convey him to his
+house; but he only gave his street and number, and lay silently back
+in the carriage, supported by his friends, two of whom insisted upon
+seeing him safely to his own abode.
+
+"Is this the place? Why, it is all shut up!" exclaimed one of these
+gentlemen as the driver drew up before the dusty steps.
+
+Mrs. Hunt's orders were that the entrance to her mansion should
+present the most desolate air possible during her absence. It had "an
+aristocratical look in the summer time, when everybody but nobodies was
+rusticating."
+
+Again that singular contortion of the mouth, and the master (?) of the
+forlorn-looking habitation prepared to descend, fumbling in his pocket
+for his pass-key.
+
+"I am obliged to you, gentlemen, for your great kindness, and
+will--not--trouble--you--longer."
+
+In trying to raise his hand to his hat for a bow, the ghastly hue again
+overspread his face, and he staggered. Without further parley his two
+aids laid hold of him, one on each side, and supported him into the
+house, up one, two flights of linen-draped stairs, to a back bedroom.
+
+Mrs. Hunt would have let her husband faint on the sidewalk before she
+would have received company in that chamber in its present condition;
+for the handsomest articles of furniture stood covered up in another
+apartment, and their place was supplied by a plain bureau, wash-stand
+and bed belonging to the boys' room, a story higher up. The wisdom of
+this precaution was manifest in the signs of neglect and slovenliness
+displayed on all sides. One could have written his name in the dust
+upon the glass; there was dirt in every corner and under each chair and
+table; the wash-basin was partly full of dirty suds, and the towels
+and counterpane shockingly dingy.
+
+These things were not remarked by the intruders until they had got
+their charge to bed, resisted no longer by him, for he began to
+comprehend his inability to help himself.
+
+"There is no one besides ourselves on the premises, not even a
+servant," one of them said apart to his associate, after a brief
+absence from the room. "If you will stay with him until I come back I
+will go for a doctor."
+
+The invalid caught the last word.
+
+"Indeed, Mr. Hammond, there is no need for you to do anything more--no
+necessity for calling in a physician. I am quite comfortable now, and
+shall be well by morning."
+
+Mr. Hammond, who was a director in the bank, and sincerely honored the
+honest veteran now prostrated by his devoted performance of duty, took
+the hot, tremulous hand in his.
+
+"I cannot allow you to peril your valuable health, my dear sir. Unless
+you positively forbid it, I shall not only call your physician, but
+drop in again myself this evening, and satisfy my mind as to whether
+you require my presence through the night."
+
+He was as good as his word; but no amount of persuasion could induce
+Mr. Hunt to accept his offered watch. He would be "uneasy, unhappy,
+if his young friend sacrificed his own rest so uselessly," and loath
+as he was to leave him to solitude and suffering, Mr. Hammond had to
+yield. At his morning visit, he found the patient more tractable. After
+tedious hours of fevered wakefulness, he had endeavored to rise, only
+to sink back again upon his pillow--dizzy, sick, and now thoroughly
+alarmed at the state of his system. He did not combat his friend's
+proposal to obtain a competent nurse, and to look in on him in person
+as often as practicable; still, utterly refused to allow his wife to be
+written to on the subject of his indisposition.
+
+"I shall be better in a day or two, probably before she could reach me.
+I have never had a spell of illness. It is not likely that this will
+be anything of consequence. I greatly prefer that she should not be
+apprised of this attack."
+
+Mr. Hammond was resolute on his part--the more determined, when the
+physician had paid another visit, and pronounced the malady a low
+fever, that would, doubtless, confine the sick man to his bed for
+several days, if not weeks.
+
+"It is not just to your wife and children, Mr. Hunt, to keep them in
+ignorance of so important a matter!" he urged. "They will have cause to
+feel themselves aggrieved by you, and ill-treated by me, if we practice
+this deception upon them."
+
+Mr. Hunt lay quiet for some minutes.
+
+"Perhaps you are in the right," he said. "Sarah would be wounded, I
+know. I will send for her!" he concluded, with more animation. "She
+will come as soon as she receives the letter."
+
+"Of course she will!" rejoined Mr. Hammond, confidently; "you are not
+able to write. Suffer me to be your amanuensis." He sat down at a
+stand, and took out his pen. "Where is Mrs. Hunt at present?"
+
+"I am not sure. Either at Saratoga or Newport."
+
+Mr. Hammond looked surprised. "But it is necessary, sir, that we should
+know with some degree of certainty, or the letter may miscarry. Perhaps
+it would be well to write to both places."
+
+"The letter! Both places!" repeated Mr. Hunt, with perplexity. "I
+alluded to my daughter Sarah, sir, my second child, who is spending the
+summer with her aunt in Shrewsbury, New Jersey. May I take the liberty
+of asking you to write her a short note, mentioning my sickness in as
+guarded terms as you can use, and requesting her to come up to the city
+for a few days? She has my youngest child--a little girl--with her. If
+she can be contented to remain with her aunt, Sarah had better leave
+her there. She would be an additional burden to her sister if she were
+here."
+
+Whatever Mr. Hammond thought of the marked preference shown to the
+daughter above the wife, he said nothing, but proceeded to indite the
+desired epistle, adding, in a postscript, on his own account, that he
+would take pleasure in meeting Miss Hunt at the wharf, on her arrival,
+and for this purpose would be at the boat each day, until she made her
+appearance in New York.
+
+He went, accordingly, the next afternoon, although very confident that
+she could not have received his letter in season to take that boat. Mr.
+Hunt had proved to him and to himself the utter impossibility of her
+coming, yet his eyes brightened with expectancy as his friend entered,
+and faded into sadness as he reported the ill-success of his errand.
+
+"He is evidently extremely partial to this one of his children,"
+thought Mr. Hammond, as he paced the wharf on the second evening,
+watching, amid noisy hack-drivers and expressmen, for the steamer. "I
+have seen the girls at parties, but do not remember their names. One of
+them is very pretty. I wonder if she is 'Sarah!'"
+
+It was growing dusk as the boat touched the pier. So dim was the light,
+that Mr. Hammond was obliged to station himself close beside the
+gangway, and inspect the features of each lady passenger more narrowly
+than politeness would, in other circumstances, have warranted. They
+hurried across, men and women, tall and short, stout and slender, until
+there tripped towards him the figure of a young girl, attired in a gray
+dress and mantle, and carrying a small traveling bag in her hand. She
+would have passed him, had he not stepped forward and spoken.
+
+"Miss Hunt, I believe!"
+
+In the uncertain twilight, he could see that she grew very pale.
+
+"How is my father?"
+
+There was no preamble of civility or diffidence; no reserve in
+addressing him, a mere stranger; no trembling, preparatory queries; but
+a point-blank question, in a tone whose impatient anguish moved his
+kind heart; a piercing look, that would know the truth then and there!
+
+"He is better, to-day"--and he led her out of the press of the onward
+stream. "He has not been dangerously ill. We hope and believe that he
+will not be."
+
+"Is that true?" Her fingers tightened upon his arm.
+
+"It is! I would not, for the world, deceive you in such a matter."
+
+"I believe you! Thank Heaven! I feared the worst!" She covered her
+face with her hands, and burst into tears.
+
+Hammond beckoned a hackman, close by, and when the short-lived reaction
+of overwrought feeling subsided so far as to allow Sarah to notice
+surrounding objects, she was seated in the carriage, screened from
+curious or impertinent gazers, and her escort was nowhere to be seen.
+Several minutes elapsed before he again showed himself at the window.
+
+"I must trouble you for your checks, Miss Hunt, in order to get your
+baggage."
+
+Already ashamed of her emotion, she obeyed his demand without speaking.
+
+"You have given me but one," he said, turning it over in his hand.
+
+"That is all, sir."
+
+"Indeed! You are a model traveler! I thought no young lady, in these
+days, ever stirred from home without half a dozen trunks." To himself
+he added, "A sensible girl! An exception to most of her sex, in one
+thing, at any rate!"
+
+Sarah sat well back into her corner, as they drove up lighted Broadway,
+and was almost rudely taciturn, while her companion related the
+particulars of her father's seizure and subsequent confinement to his
+room. Yet, that she listened with intense interest, the narrator knew
+by her irregular breathing and immovable attitude. As they neared their
+destination, this fixedness of attention and posture was exchanged for
+an eager restlessness. She leaned forward to look out of the window,
+and when they turned into the last street, quick as was Mr. Hammond's
+motion to unfasten the door of the vehicle, her hand was first upon
+the lock. It was cold as ice, and trembled so much as to be powerless.
+Gently removing it, he undid the catch, and assisted her to alight.
+
+The hired nurse answered their ring, and while Sarah brushed past
+her, and flew up the stairway, Mr. Hammond detained the woman to make
+inquiries and issue directions.
+
+"It is all very dreary-like, sir," she complained. "Everything is
+packed away and locked up. There's no getting at a lump of sugar
+without a hunt for the key, and all he's seemed to care for this
+blessed day, was that his daughter should be made comfortable. He sent
+me out this afternoon to buy biscuits, and sardines, and peaches for
+her tea, and told me where I'd find silver and china. It is not at all
+the thing for him to be worrying at such a rate. He'll be worse for it
+to-morrow, and so I've told him, Mr. Hammond."
+
+"Perhaps not, Mrs. Kerr. His daughter's coming will cheer him and quiet
+him, too, I doubt not. I will not go up now. Please present my regards
+to Mr. Hunt, and say that I will call to-morrow."
+
+He purposely deferred his visit until the afternoon, supposing that
+Miss Hunt might object to his early and unceremonious appearance in
+the realms now under her control; nor when he went did he ascend at
+once to the sick-chamber, as was his custom before the transfer of its
+superintendence. Sending up his name by the nurse, he awaited a formal
+invitation, among the shrouded sofas and chairs of the sitting-room.
+
+"You'll please to walk up, sir!" was the message he received; and the
+woman subjoined, confidentially, "Things is brighter to-day, sir."
+
+They certainly were. With wonderfully little noise and confusion,
+Sarah, assisted by the nurse, had wrought an utter change in the
+desolate apartment. With the exception of the bureau, which had
+been drawn out of sight into the adjoining dressing-room, and the
+bedstead, the common, defaced furniture had disappeared, and its place
+was supplied by more comfortable and elegant articles. The windows
+were shaded, without giving an aspect of gloom to the chamber; the
+bed-coverings were clean and fresh; and the sick man, supported by
+larger and plumper pillows than those among which he had tossed for
+many a weary night, greeted his visitor with a cordial smile and
+outstretched hand.
+
+"I thank you for your kind care of my daughter last evening, sir.
+Sarah, my dear, this is my friend, Mr. Hammond, to whose goodness I am
+so much indebted."
+
+"The debt is mine no less," was the frank reply, as she shook hands
+with her new acquaintance. "We can never thank you sufficiently, Mr.
+Hammond, for all you have done for us, in taking care of him."
+
+"A genuine woman! a dutiful, affectionate daughter!" was now Hammond's
+comment, as he disclaimed all right to her gratitude. "None of your
+sentimental, affected absurdities, with nothing in either head or
+heart!"
+
+This impression was confirmed by daily observation; for politeness
+first, then inclination, induced him to continue his "professional"
+calls, as Sarah styled them. He seemed to divide with her the
+responsibility of her position. Its duties were onerous; but for this
+she did not care. She was strong and active, and love made labor
+light--even welcome to her. A competent cook was inducted into office
+below stairs, and household matters went forward with system and
+despatch. The eye of the mistress, pro tem., was over all; her hand
+ever ready to lift her share of the load, yet her attendance at her
+father's bedside appeared unremitting. His disease, without being
+violent, was distressing and wearing, destroying sleep and appetite,
+and preying constantly upon the nerves. To soothe these, Sarah read and
+talked cheerfully, and often, at his request, sang old-time ballads and
+childish lullabys to court diversion and slumber.
+
+Occasionally Lewis Hammond paused without the door until the strain was
+concluded, drinking in the notes with more pleasure than he was wont to
+feel in listening to the bravuras and startling, astonishing cadenzas
+that were warbled in his ears by the amateur cantatrices of the "best
+circles;" then, when the sounds from within ceased, he delayed his
+entrance some moments longer, lest the songstress should suspect his
+eavesdropping. He ceased to speculate upon the reasons of Mrs. Hunt's
+protracted absence at a time when no true-hearted wife could, from
+choice, remain away from her rightful post. When, at the expiration
+of a fortnight from the day of the attack, the physician declared his
+patient feebly, but surely convalescent, his young friend had decided,
+to his entire satisfaction, that things were best as they were. Mr.
+Hunt had made a most judicious selection from the female portion of his
+family, and what need of more nurses when this one was so efficient
+and willing? He caught himself hoping that the fussy dame he had met
+in society would not abridge her summer's recreation on account of
+an ailing husband. He had designed going to Saratoga himself, for ten
+days or two weeks; but he was very well. It was difficult to get away
+from business, and this affair of Mr. Hunt's enlisted his sympathies
+so deeply, that he could not resolve upon leaving him. If he had never
+before enjoyed the bliss that flows from a disinterested action, he
+tasted it now.
+
+Mrs. Hunt was not kept in total ignorance of what was transpiring at
+home. Sarah had written, cautiously and hopefully, of her father's
+sickness and her recall; repeating Mr. Hunt's wish that his consort
+should not hurry back through mistaken solicitude for his health and
+comfort; and they were taken at their word. A week elapsed before an
+answer arrived--a lengthy missive, that had cost the writer more pains
+and time than the preparation for her annual "crush" generally did. She
+was an indifferent penman, and sadly out of practice; but there was
+much to be said, and "Lucy, of course, circumstanced as she was, could
+not spare time to be her scribe."
+
+This significant phrase quickened Sarah's inborn curiosity; but there
+was nothing for the next three pages that fed or quieted it. They were
+filled with minute directions about housewifery--economical details,
+that would have served as capital illustrations of "Poor Richard's"
+maxims; injunctions, warnings, and receipts sufficient in quantity to
+last a young, frugally-disposed housekeeper for the remainder of her
+natural existence. It was a trial to this exemplary wife and mother,
+she confessed, to absent herself so long from her home duties; but
+circumstances had compelled her to stay at Saratoga. Of their nature,
+Sarah had already been informed in her sister's last letter.
+
+"Which I cannot have received, then"--Sarah interrupted herself to say,
+as she read to her father: "I have not heard from Lucy in four weeks. I
+have thought hard of her for not writing."
+
+ "But," concluded Mrs. Hunt, "matters looks well just now, and I know
+ your father will aggree, when he heers all about our season's work,
+ that our labor and Money has been a good investment. Take care of the
+ keys yourself, Sarah. Be pruedent, keep a sharp Lookout on the cook,
+ and don't negleck your poor father.
+
+     "Your Affectionate mother,
+
+     "E. Hunt."
+
+ "P. S. Your kitchen Girl must have a Great deel of spair Time. Set her
+ to work cleening the House, for you may expeckt us home in two weeks,
+ or maybe Less.
+
+     "E. H."
+
+Lucy had slipped a note in the same envelope--a thin, satiny sheet,
+hardly larger than the little hand that had moved over its perfumed
+page. Her chirography was very running, very light, very ladylike, and,
+we need not say, very italical.
+
+ "Mamma tells me, Sarah dear, that she has given you a hint of how
+ matters are progressing between your humble servant and our particular
+ friend, of whom I wrote in my last. The poor, dear woman flatters
+ herself that it is all her work; but somebody else may have his
+ own opinion, and I certainly have mine. I have had to caution her
+ repeatedly, to prevent her from showing her delight too plainly to my
+ 'Goldfinch,' as Vic. and I have dubbed him. Don't be in a hurry with
+ your congratulations, ma chere. 'There's many a slip 'twixt the cup
+ and the lip;' and although the season is so near over, I may yet see
+ some one whom I like better than His Highness. Vic. has a beau, too--a
+ rich widower, less fascinating than my devoted; but a very agreeable
+ man, without encumbrance, and very much smitten. So we pair off nicely
+ in our rides and promenades, and, entre nous, are quite the talk. You
+ are a good little thing to nurse papa so sweetly--a great deal better
+ than I am. I told my knight of this proof of your excellence the other
+ day, and he said it was only what might have been expected from my
+ sister! Don't you feel flattered? Poor fellow! Love is blind, you know.
+
+ "Love to papa. I am sorry he has been so unwell. I do not imagine
+ that I shall have time to write again before we leave this paradise.
+ We will telegraph you when to expect us. Perhaps I may have an escort
+ home--some one who would like to have a private conference with my
+ respected father. Nous verrons!
+
+     "Lovingly,
+
+     "Lucie."
+
+Mr. Hunt twisted himself uneasily in his arm-chair as his daughter,
+by his desire, reluctantly read aloud the double letter. A shade of
+dissatisfaction and shame clouded his countenance when she finished,
+and he sighed heavily.
+
+"I am glad they are still enjoying themselves," said Sarah, forcing a
+smile. "Lucy has secured a captive too, it appears--one whom she is
+likely to bring home at her chariot wheels."
+
+"In my day daughters were in the habit of consulting their fathers
+before giving decided encouragement to any admirers, strangers
+especially," said Mr. Hunt, with displeasure. "In these times there are
+no parents! There is the 'old man' and 'the Governor,' who makes the
+money his children honor him by wasting, and the 'poor, dear woman,'
+who plays propriety in the belle's flirtations, and helps, or hinders,
+in snaring some booby 'Goldfinch.' It is a lying, cheating, hollow
+world! I have been sick of it for twenty years!"
+
+"Father! my dear father," exclaimed Sarah, kneeling beside him, and
+winding her arms about his neck. "You misjudge your children, and their
+love for you!"
+
+"I believe in you, child! I cannot understand how you have contrived
+to grow up so unlike your sister and your"--The recollection of the
+respect his daughter owed her mother, checked the word.
+
+"You do not deal fairly with Lucy's character, father. She has one of
+the kindest hearts and most amiable dispositions in the world. I wish
+I had caused you as little anxiety as she has. Remember her obedience
+and my wilfulness; her gentleness and my obstinacy, and blush at your
+verdict, Sir Judge!"
+
+She seated herself upon his foot-cushion and rested her chin upon his
+knee, looking archly up in his face. She was surprised and troubled at
+this degree of acrimony in one whose habitual manner was so placid, and
+his judgment so mild; but, for his sake, she was resolute not to show
+her feeling. He laid his hand caressingly upon her shoulder, and sank
+into a revery, profound, and seemingly not pleasant.
+
+Sarah took advantage of his abstraction to remove the wrapper of a
+newspaper received by the same mail that had brought her letters.
+The operation was carefully performed, so as not to invite notice,
+and the envelope laid away in her work-box. She knew well who had
+traced the clear, bold superscription, and what initials composed the
+mysterious cipher in one corner of the cover; nor was this the only
+token of recollection she had from this source. The article marked in
+the number of the literary journal he had selected as the medium of
+correspondence, was an exquisite little poem from an author whose works
+Philip had read to her in the vine-covered porch at Shrewsbury. Slowly,
+longingly she perused it; gathering sweetness from every word, and
+fancying how his intonations would bring out beauties she could not of
+herself discover. Then she took out the wrapper again, and studied the
+postmark. On the former papers he had sent the stamp was illegible, but
+this was easily deciphered--"Albany."
+
+"So near! He is returning homewards!" was the glad reflection that
+flooded her face with joy.
+
+"Sarah!" said her father, abruptly. "Do you ever think of marriage?"
+
+"Sir?" stammered the girl, confused beyond measure.
+
+"I mean, have you imbibed your sister's ideas on this subject? the
+notions of ninety-nine hundredths of girls in your walk of life.
+Do you intend to seek a husband, boldly and unblushingly, in all
+public places? to degrade yourself by practising the arts they
+understand so well to catch an 'eligible' partner, who may repay your
+insincerity and mercenary views by insult and infidelity--at best by
+indifference! Child! you do not know the risk match-making mothers
+and husband-hunting daughters run; the terrible retribution that
+may be--that often is in store for such! I had rather see you and
+your sister dead, than the victims of that most hateful of heartless
+shows--a fashionable marriage! Poor Lucy! poor Lucy!"
+
+"I hope you are distressing yourself without reason, sir. Mother is
+not the person to surrender her child to one whose character and
+respectability are not indisputable. Nor is Lucy sentimental. I do not
+fear her suffering very acutely from any cause."
+
+"I grant that. You would be more to be pitied as an unloved or unloving
+wife, than she. I tremble for you sometimes, when I think of this
+chance. My daughter, when you marry, look beyond the outside show. Seek
+for moral worth and a true heart, instead of dollars and cents!"
+
+"I will! I promise!" said Sarah, her amazement at his earnestness and
+choice of topics combining to shake her voice and constrain her smile.
+"But there is time enough for that, father dear. When the man of heart
+and worth sues for my poor hand, I will refer him to you, and abide
+entirely by your decision."
+
+"Mr. Hammond is downstairs," said the servant at the door. And Sarah,
+gathering up her papers, escaped from the room before he entered.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VII.
+
+
+Mr. Hunt was able to resume his place in the bank several days before
+his wife returned. Uncle Nathan had brought Jeannie home as soon as her
+father could leave his room, and the boys had likewise been written
+for; so that the family reunion was apparently near at hand.
+
+Weak as he was, Mr. Hunt met his spouse and daughter at the depot, and
+the noise of their entrance in the lower hall first apprised Sarah of
+their arrival. To the bound of pleasurable excitement her heart gave at
+the certainty that they had come, succeeded a sigh at the termination
+of the free, yet busy life she had led of late--the probability that
+she would be compelled to resume her old habits of feeling and action.
+Driving back the selfish regret, she ran down to welcome the travellers.
+
+"How well you're looking, Sarah!" said Mrs. Hunt, after kissing her. "I
+declare, if you was to arrange your hair different, and study dress a
+bit, you would come near being right down handsome."
+
+"'Handsome is as handsome does!'" quoted Mr. Hunt, stoutly. "According
+to that rule, she is a beauty."
+
+"Thank you, sir!" said Sarah, bowing low. And she tried to forget,
+in her sister's affectionate greeting, the chill and heart-sickness
+produced by her mother's business-like manner and compliment.
+
+"Having disposed of one daughter, she means to work the other into
+merchantable shape!" was her cynical deduction from the dubious praise
+bestowed upon herself.
+
+Mrs. Hunt pursued her way up the steps, examining and remarking upon
+everything she saw.
+
+"Them stair-rods ain't so clean as they had ought to be, Sarah. I'm
+afraid your girls are careless, or shirks. When did you uncover the
+carpet?"
+
+"Some time ago, mother, while father was sick. There were gentlemen
+calling constantly, and the cover looked shabby, I thought."
+
+"It couldn't be helped, I s'pose; but the carpet is more worn than I
+expected to see it. With the heavy expenses that will be crowding on
+us this fall and winter, we can't afford to get any new things for the
+house."
+
+Lucy, who preceded her sister, glanced back and laughed meaningly. And
+Sarah was very glad that her father had not overheard the observation,
+which confirmed her belief that the beauty's hand was disposed of
+without the form of consultation with her natural and legal guardian.
+
+Dinner was announced by the time the traveling habiliments and dust
+were removed. Sarah had spared no pains to provide a bountiful and
+tasteful repast, at the risk of incurring her mother's reproof for her
+extravagant proclivities. But the dame was in high good-humor, and the
+youthful purveyor received but a single sentence of deprecation.
+
+"I hope you have not been living as high as this all the time, Sarah!"
+
+"No, ma'am. Father's wants and mine were very few. I foresaw that you
+would need substantial refreshment after your journey."
+
+"You was very thoughtful. We both have good appetites, I guess. I know
+that I have."
+
+"Mine will speak for itself," said Lucy.
+
+"You have no idea how that girl has enjoyed everything since she has
+been away," observed Mrs. Hunt to her husband. "There was Vic. West,
+who took it into her head that she ought to look die-away and peaking,
+and refuse food, when her beau was by; but Lu., she just went right
+along and behaved natural, and I'm sure that somebody thought more of
+her for it."
+
+Mr. Hunt's face darkened for a moment; but he could not find fault with
+his eldest child on her first evening at home.
+
+"So you have been quite a belle, Lucy," he said, pleasantly.
+
+"Better than that, Mr. H.!" Mrs. Hunt checked her triumphant
+announcement as the butler re-entered the room. "I shouldn't wonder,"
+she resumed, rather mysteriously, "if Lucy was disposed to settle down
+into a steady, sedate matron after her holiday."
+
+"Don't deceive yourself with that hope!" laughed Lucy.
+
+She was evidently pleased by these not over-delicate allusions to her
+love-affairs, and, like her mother, extremely complacent over the
+result of her recent campaign. Sarah felt that, were she in her place,
+she would shrink from this open jesting upon a sacred subject; still
+she had not expected that her sister would behave differently. Lucy's
+nature was gentle without being fine; affectionate but shallow. She
+would have had no difficulty in attaching herself to any man whom her
+friends recommended as "a good match," provided he were pleasing in
+exterior, and her most devoted servitor.
+
+The sisters had no opportunity of private converse until they adjourned
+to the parlor for the evening. Lucy was very beautiful in a blue silk,
+whose low corsage and short sleeves revealed her superb shoulders and
+rounded arms. Her complexion was a rich carmine, deepening or softening
+with every motion--one would have said, with every breath. Her blue
+eyes fairly danced in a sort of subdued glee, very charming and very
+becoming but altogether unlike the tender, dewy light of "Love's first
+young dream."
+
+"How lovely you have grown, sister!" said Sarah, earnestly. "Oh, Lucy,
+I don't believe you rightly value the gift of beauty--as I would do if
+it were mine!"
+
+"Nonsense!" The dimples, that made her smile so bewitching, broke her
+blushes into rosy waves as the conscious fair one turned her face
+towards the mirror. "I am pleased to hear that I am passable to-night.
+We may have visitors. A friend of ours has expressed a great desire to
+see me in my home--'in the bosom of my family.' Ahem!"
+
+She smoothed out an imaginary wrinkle in her bodice, an excuse for
+tarrying longer before the glass.
+
+"He came to town with you, then?" ventured Sarah.
+
+Lucy nodded.
+
+"And promised to call this evening?"
+
+"Right again, my dear!"
+
+She was graver now, for she had conceived the happy notion of
+appropriating to her own use a cluster of white roses and buds she
+discovered in the vase on the marble slab under the mirror. If anything
+could have enhanced the elegance of her figure and toilet, it was
+the coiffure she immediately set about arranging. The flowers were a
+present to Sarah from Lewis Hammond; but she thought little of him or
+of them, as Lucy laid them first on one, then on the other side of
+head, to try the effect.
+
+"And you really care for him, sister?" came forth in such a timid,
+anxious tone, that Lucy burst into a fit of laughter.
+
+"You dear little modest piece of romantic simplicity! One would suppose
+that you were popping the question yourself, from your behavior. Care
+for him? Why shouldn't I? I need not say 'yes' unless I do, need I?"
+
+"But you take it so coolly! A betrothal is, to me, such a solemn thing."
+
+"And to most other girls, perhaps. (There! if I only had a hair-pin.
+Don't rob yourself! thank you! Isn't that an improvement?) As I was
+saying, why should I pretend to be pensive and doleful, when I am as
+merry as a lark? or lovesick, when I have never lost a meal or an
+hour's sleep from the commencement of the courtship until now? That
+is not my style, Sarah. I am very practical in my views and feelings.
+Not that I don't play talking sentiment in our genuine lovescenes, and
+I really like unbounded devotion on the other side. It is decidedly
+pleasant to be adored. I was surprised to find how I enjoyed it."
+
+"Oh, sister! sister!" Sarah leaned her forehead on the mantel, repelled
+and well-nigh disgusted by this heartless trifling--this avowed
+counterfeit--so abhorrent to her feelings. But Lucy was as much in
+earnest as she could be on such a theme. She went on, unheeding her
+sister's ejaculation.
+
+"You must understand, of course, that we are not positively engaged.
+I gave him--Goldfinch--a good scolding for violating the rules of
+etiquette by addressing me while I was away from home; but it was just
+like him. He is as impulsive as he can live. To punish him I refused to
+answer him until after our return to New York, and his interview with
+father. He would have written to him on the spot, had I not forbidden
+him. He behaved so beautifully, that I consented to his taking charge
+of us to the city, and I suppose the rest must follow in good time. How
+melancholy your face is! Are you very much afflicted at the thought of
+losing me? Why, Sarah! my dear child, are those tears in your eyes? If
+she isn't crying in good earnest!"
+
+And Lucy's musical laugh rolled through the rooms in her enjoyment
+of the joke. What else could it be to her, elate with her success in
+achieving the chief end of woman--the capture of a rich and handsome,
+in every respect an unexceptionable lover?
+
+"Hist!" she said, raising her finger. "He has come! Your eyes are red!
+Run, and make yourself presentable!"
+
+The door opening from the hall into the front parlor, swung on its
+hinges as Sarah gained the comparative obscurity of the third and rear
+room. A strong impulse of interest or curiosity there arrested her
+flight to enable her to get a glimpse of her destined brother-in-law.
+Lucy had not mentioned his proper name, since her earliest letter from
+Newport had eulogized a certain George Finch, a Bostonian, wealthy, and
+attentive to herself. Sarah's backward glance fell upon the visitor as
+he met his queenly bride-elect directly under the blazing chandelier.
+
+It was Philip Benson!
+
+Chained to the spot by weakness or horror, the looker-on stood
+motionless, while the suitor raised the lily fingers he held to his
+lips, and then led Lucy to a seat. His voice broke the spell. As the
+familiar cadences smote her ear, the sharp pain that ran through every
+fiber of her frame awakened Sarah from her stupor.
+
+How she gained her room she never knew; but she had sense enough left
+to direct her flight to this refuge--and, when within, to lock the
+door. Then she threw up her arms with a piteous, wailing cry, and fell
+across the bed, dead for the time to further woe.
+
+Alone and painfully she struggled back to consciousness. Sitting
+upright, she stared wonderingly around her, unable to recollect what
+had stricken her down. The chamber was imperfectly lighted by the rays
+of the street lamp opposite, and with the recognition of objects within
+its narrow limits there crept back to her all that had preceded her
+retreat thither. For the next hour she sat still--her head bowed upon
+her knees, amid the wrecks of her dream world.
+
+Dreary and loveless as had been most of her previous life, she had
+never endured anything like this, unless one miserable hour upon the
+Deal Beach, when Philip broke the tidings of his intended departure,
+were a slight foretaste of the agony, the utter despair, that claimed
+her now for its victim. Since then, she had been hopeful. His promise
+of a visit, the tokens of remembrance he had transmitted to her
+every week, had kept alive memory and expectation, and this was his
+coming! this the occasion she had pictured so fondly, painted with
+the brightest hues Love could borrow from imagination! She had heard
+again the voice that had haunted her dreams, from their parting until
+now--heard it in deeper, softer tones than it had ever taken in speech
+with her; heart-music which told that his seekings and yearnings for
+the one and only beloved were over. And was not her quest of years
+ended likewise? Truly, there are two senses in which every search,
+every combat may be said to be closed; one when the victor grasps his
+prize, or waves aloft his sword in the moment of triumph; the other,
+when, bleeding, maimed, or dying, the vanquished sinks to the earth
+without power to rise!
+
+A tap at her door startled Sarah. She did not stir until it was
+repeated, and her father called her name. A stream of light from the
+hall fell upon her face as she admitted him.
+
+"Daughter, what ails you?" was his exclamation.
+
+"I am not very well, father."
+
+"I should think not, indeed! Come in here and lie down!" He led her to
+the bed, and, lighting the gas in the chamber, came back to her and
+felt her pulse.
+
+She knew what was the direction of his fears; but to correct his
+misapprehension was to subject herself to further questioning.
+Passively she received the pressure of his hand upon her head, the
+gentle stroking of the disordered hair; but when he stooped to kiss
+her, he felt that she trembled.
+
+"Dear child! I shall never forgive myself if you have taken the fever
+from me!"
+
+"I do not fear that, father. My head aches, and I am very tired. I have
+been so busy all day, you know."
+
+"Yes, and for many other days. You are, without doubt, overworked. I
+hope this may prove to be all the matter with you. A night's rest may
+quite cure you."
+
+"Yes sir," she answered, chokingly. "You will excuse me to ----,
+downstairs?"
+
+"Certainly. Would you like to have your mother come up to you?"
+
+"Oh, no, sir! Please tell her there is no need of it. I shall be better
+to-morrow."
+
+"Your sister"--and he looked more serious, instead of smiling--"has a
+visitor. Her friend is an acquaintance of yours, also, it appears--the
+Mr. Benson whom you met at your aunt's in July."
+
+"Yes, sir. I know it."
+
+"I understood you to say that Lucy had never said positively who her
+lover was; but this was not the name you told me of, as the person whom
+you imagined him to be."
+
+"I was misled for a time myself, sir," replied the poor girl, pressing
+her temples between her palms.
+
+"I see that I am tiring you. Forgive me! but it is so natural to
+consult you in everything. I must trouble you with some questions,
+which it is important should be answered to-night, before this
+gentleman and myself have any conversation. Is Mr. Benson a man
+whom you consider worthy of trust? Your mother represents him to be
+enormously wealthy--a reputation I had concluded he possessed, from
+Lucy's pet name for him. It is well that your sister has a prospect
+of marrying advantageously in this respect, for she would never be
+happy in an humble sphere; but antiquated people like myself regard
+other things as of greater consequence in concluding a bargain for a
+lifetime. Is your opinion of Mr. Benson favorable as to disposition,
+principles, and conduct?"
+
+Sarah's head rested on the foot-board of her couch, in weariness or
+pain, as she rejoined: "I saw and heard nothing of him, during our
+intercourse in the country, that was not creditable. His uncle and aunt
+are very partial to him, and speak of his character in high terms.
+Their testimony ought to have weight with you, for they have known him
+from his boyhood up."
+
+"It ought and does. I am relieved to hear all this! very much pleased!"
+said Mr. Hunt, enthusiastically. "I have all confidence in Nathan
+Benson's judgment and integrity. I hope his nephew is as sterling a
+man. Thus far," he continued, playfully, "I have learned but one thing
+to his discredit, and that is, having seen this one of my daughters, he
+could afterwards fall in love with the other."
+
+"I am not beautiful and good like Lucy, father."
+
+"Very dear and lovely in my eyes, my child! Again forgive me for having
+worried your poor head with my inquiries. I was unwilling to decide
+a matter where Lucy's happiness was involved, without obtaining your
+evidence in the case. A last good-night! and God bless you, my dearest,
+best daughter!"
+
+Sarah held up her face for his kiss without attempting to speak. This
+burning ordeal, the harder to endure because unexpected, was over. She
+was as weak as a child with conflicting passions when she arose and
+endeavored to undress. After stooping several times to regain breath
+and strength, she was at last ready to creep into bed, there to lie
+until morning broke, sleepless and suffering.
+
+Her sharpened senses could discern her father's and mother's voices
+in the sitting-room, in confidential talk--interrupted, by-and-by, by
+Lucy's pure, mellow tones, apparently conveying some message to the
+former. Its import was easily surmised, for his step was then heard in
+the hall and on the stairs, until he reached the parlor where Philip
+awaited him. Their conference did not occupy more than twenty minutes,
+which time Lucy spent with her mother--how gayly, Sarah could judge by
+the laugh that, again and again, reached her room. Mr. Hunt returned,
+spoke a few sentences in his calm, grave way, and the closing door was
+followed by a flutter of silk and fall of gliding footsteps, as Lucy
+went down to her now formally and fully betrothed husband.
+
+"Husband!" Yes! it was even so! Henceforth the lives of the pair
+were to be as one in interest, in aims, in affection. Ere long, they
+would have no separate outward existence in the eyes of the world.
+Was his chosen love, then, in a truer and higher sense, his other
+self--the being sought so long and carefully? The pretty fiancee
+would have stretched her cerulean orbs in amazed wonder at the
+ridiculous doubt, and asked, in her matter-of-fact way, how the thing
+could have happened, if it had not been intended? Philip's indignant
+affirmative would have gained fervor from his exultant consciousness of
+possession--so novel and sweet. But one above stairs, taught sagacity
+by the depth of her grief, looked further into the future than did
+they, and read there a different reply.
+
+She heard the clang of the front door as it shut after the young
+lover, and in the still midnight, the echoes, faint and fainter, of
+his retreating footsteps--the same free, light tread she used to
+hearken for in porch and hall of that riverside farm house; and as the
+remembrance came over her she turned her face to the wall, murmuring
+passionately: "Oh! if I could never, never see him again!"
+
+This feeling, whether born of cowardice or desperation, was the ruling
+one, when her mother looked in upon her before breakfast, and expressed
+her concern at finding her still in bed.
+
+"I am not well enough to get up, mother," Sarah said sincerely, and
+Mrs. Hunt, reading in the parched lips and bloodshot eyes proof of the
+justice of the fears her husband had expressed to her the preceding
+evening, resolved that the doctor should see her "before she was two
+hours older."
+
+In vain Sarah entreated that this should not be done, and prophesied
+her recovery without his assistance. For once her parents were a unit
+in sentiment and action, and the physician was summoned to his second
+patient.
+
+"All febrile symptoms were to some extent contagious," he affirmed;
+"and while Mr. Hunt's malady was not generally classed with such,
+it was very possible that his daughter had contracted an analogous
+affection, in her constant attendance upon him."
+
+This decision Sarah dared not overthrow, much as she wished to do so,
+when she saw how it afflicted her father.
+
+Undaunted by any fears of infection, Lucy repaired to her sister's
+chamber when she had despatched her breakfast.
+
+"Isn't it too provoking that you should be sick just at this time?"
+she began, perching herself, school-girl fashion on the foot of the
+bed. "I really admired your staying upstairs last night; but I did not
+dream that you really were not well. I promise you that I made capital
+of your absence. I told Philip (how odd it sounds, doesn't it?) that
+you ran away when he rang the bell, because you had made a fright of
+yourself by crying over the prospect of my leaving you, and that I had
+no doubt that you had grieved yourself into a headache. He wanted to
+know forthwith if you objected to my marrying him; but I said 'No';
+that you were charmed with the match, and preferred him to any other
+admirer I had ever had; but that we--you and I--were so devoted to one
+another, that it was acute agony to us to think of parting. About ten
+o'clock he asked to see father, and they soon settled affairs. When I
+went down again, he tried a little ring on my finger that he always
+wears, and it fitted nicely. So I knew what it meant when he put it
+back upon his own hand, and that with that for a measure he could
+not go wrong in getting the engagement ring. I do hope it will be a
+diamond. Vic. West declares that she would not accept anything else.
+I considered for a while whether I couldn't give him a delicate hint
+on the subject, but I did not see how I could manage it. And don't you
+think, while I was studying about this, he fancied I was sober over
+'the irrevocable step I had taken,' and became miserable and eloquent
+at the suspicion! I wish I could remember all he said! It was more in
+your line than mine! But he is a good, sensible fellow, with all his
+romantic notions. He has a handsome fortune, independent of his father,
+left him by his grandfather, and we are to live in Georgia part of the
+year only, and travel every summer. Mother says his account of his
+prospects and so forth to father was very satisfactory, but she has
+not got at all the particulars yet. Father is so worried about your
+sickness that he cannot spare a thought for anything or anybody else.
+The light from that window hurts your eyes--doesn't it? I will let down
+the shade."
+
+But Sarah lay with her hand protecting her eyes, when her sister
+resumed her position and narration.
+
+"We are to be married in December. He begged hard for an earlier day,
+but I was sure that I could not be ready before then. As it is, we
+shall have to hurry when it comes to the dresses, for, in order to
+get the latest fashions, we must wait until the eleventh hour. Won't
+I 'astonish the natives' down South? I couldn't state this to Philip,
+you know; so I referred him to mother, who is to say, when he asks
+her, that her preference would be to keep me just as long as she
+possibly can. Entre nous, my dear, our good mamma has said truer things
+than this bit of sentiment--but n'importe! These embellishments are
+necessary to such transactions."
+
+Miss West's friendship or curiosity could not endure longer suspense,
+and the intelligence that she was below checked the monologue.
+
+"I will run up again whenever I can," promised Lucy, by way of
+compensation for her abrupt departure, "and keep up your spirits by
+telling you all that I can about our concerns. But Philip is to take me
+to ride this afternoon. I forbade him to come here before then, but I
+don't much think he can stay away. Don't be vexed if you don't see me
+again in some hours. Vic. and I are about to settle our trousseaux. If
+you believe me, we have never been able yet to decide upon the wedding
+dresses!"
+
+And she vanished, warbling delicious roulades from a duet she had
+engaged to sing that evening with her betrothed. She showed herself
+upstairs again, when she was ready for her ride, and the carriage at
+the door--very fair, very bright, and very happy. She was exquisitely
+dressed, and called on her sister to admire her toilet and envy her her
+escort.
+
+Sarah listened to the cheerful exchange of cautions and promises
+between her mother and Philip, at the door beneath her open window, and
+to the rolling wheels that bore them away.
+
+Mrs. Hunt received none of her friends that day, being busy "getting
+things to rights"; and for a like reason she absented herself from
+her child's sickroom, content with sending up Jeannie, now and then,
+to inquire how she was getting on. In the abject loneliness that
+oppressed her, when the first violence of passions had spent itself,
+Sarah would have been relieved in some measure by the society of this
+pet sister, the sole object upon earth, besides her father, that had
+ever repaid her love with anything like equal attachment. But the child
+shrank, like most others of her age, from the quiet dark chamber of
+illness, and longed to follow her mother through the house, in her tour
+of observation and renovation. Sarah detected her restlessness and
+ill-concealed dislike of the confinement imposed upon her by compliance
+with her humble petition--
+
+"Please, Jeannie, stay a little while with your poor sister!" And her
+sensitive spirit turned upon itself, as a final stroke of torture, the
+conviction that here, also, love and care had been wasted.
+
+"Go, then!" she said, rather roughly, as Jeannie wavered, "and you need
+not come up again to-day. I know it is not pleasant for you to be here.
+Tell mother I want nothing but quiet."
+
+"I have had a splendid drive!" said Lucy, rustling her many flounces
+into the door at dusk.
+
+The figure upon the bed made no response by motion or word.
+
+"I do believe she is asleep!" added the intruder, lowering her voice.
+"I suppose she is tired and needs rest." And she went out on tiptoe.
+
+Sarah was awake a minute later, when her father came in to see her.
+She smiled at him, as he "hoped she was better," and asked whether she
+might not get up on the morrow. Mr. Hunt thought not. The doctor's
+opinion was that perfect repose might ward off the worse features of
+the disease. She had better keep to her bed for a couple of days yet,
+even should she feel well enough to be about. He sent up her dinner to
+her room with his own hands; and when she learned this, she strove to
+do some feeble justice to the viands, but without success.
+
+Philip dined with the family that day by special appointment; and,
+shortly after his arrival, Lucy again presented herself in that small
+third-story bedroom.
+
+"Choose! which hand will you take?" she cried, hiding both behind her.
+
+Sarah would make no selection; and, after a little more trifling, the
+elder sister brought into sight two elegant bouquets, and laid them
+beside the invalid.
+
+"This is Philip's present--'a fraternal remembrance,' he told me to
+say. Here is his card. Doesn't he write a lovely hand? The other is
+from your admirer, Mr. Hammond. What a sly puss you were to make such
+a catch as he is, without dropping us a hint! He is rather too sober
+for my notions; but he is getting rich fast, they say. He left those
+flowers at the door himself, and insisted upon seeing father for a
+moment, to know exactly how you were. Cannot you hurry up somewhat, and
+let us have a double wedding? I showed the bouquet to Philip, and told
+him of your conquest, and he was as much pleased at your prospects as
+I was. Did you ever see such magnificent roses? your beau paid five
+dollars, at the lowest computation, for these flowers. I congratulate
+you upon these signs of liberality."
+
+Sarah had heard only a portion of this speech. Her eyes were fixed upon
+the card her sister had put into her hand: "Will Miss Sarah accept this
+trifling token of regard from one who is her stanch friend, and hopes,
+in time, to have a nearer claim upon her esteem?"
+
+"Very neatly turned, is it not?" said Lucy, satisfiedly. She had read
+it on her way upstairs. "What shall I say to him from you?"
+
+"Thank him, and explain that I am not able to write a reply."
+
+This meagre return of compliments assumed a tone both grateful and
+sisterly as Lucy rehearsed it to the donor of the fragrant offering.
+The barest phrase of civility came gracefully and meaningly from her
+tongue. Serene in mind and countenance, she seated herself at the
+piano, and, as Philip took his stand at her side, he wondered if the
+world held another couple more entirely adapted each to the peculiar
+soul-needs of the other, more perfectly happy in the knowledge of
+mutual affection. Like the generality of theorists, your student of
+human nature is prone to grievous error when he reduces his flawless
+system to practice.
+
+In one respect, the two certainly harmonized well. Both loved music;
+both sang finely, and their voices accorded without a jarring note.
+
+Mr. Hunt read the evening papers in Sarah's room; turning and folding
+them with great circumspection, lest their rattling might annoy her,
+and detract from her enjoyment of the music. How could he guess the
+infatuation that caused her to listen greedily to sounds, under whose
+potent spell feeling was writhing and brain reeling? In every pause
+between the songs there arose in her memory two lines of a poem read
+long ago, when or where she knew not:
+
+    "Seek not to soothe that proud, forsaken heart
+    With strains whose sweetness maddens as they fall!"
+
+The performers had just completed a duet, in which each voice supported
+and developed, while blending with the other, when Lucy took up
+the prelude to a simpler lay; repeating it twice over with skilful
+variations, as if she were, meantime, carrying on a colloquy with her
+companion, that delayed the vocal part. This was ended by Philip's
+raising alone the burden of the plaintive German air Sarah remembered
+so truly--"The long, long, weary day."
+
+As his voice, full and strong, with its indescribable and
+irresistible undercurrent of pathos--flowing out here into passionate
+melancholy--swelled and floated through the quiet house, Sarah sat
+upright.
+
+"Father! father!" she whispered, huskily, "I cannot bear that! Shut the
+doors!--all of them, or I shall go mad!"
+
+She was obeyed; Mr. Hunt hurrying down to the parlor to silence the
+lovers, with the representation that Sarah was too nervous to endure
+the excitement of music. For the remainder of the evening, a profound
+stillness pervaded the upper part of the mansion--a silence that,
+to Sarah, throbbed with the melody she had tried to hush; and look
+where she might, she gazed into that rainy, ghastly night--the pale,
+comfortless watcher, the shadowy type of her deeper, more blighting
+sorrow.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VIII.
+
+
+For three days Philip Benson lingered near his beautiful enslaver; on
+the fourth, he carried a sad, yet trustful heart upon his Southern
+journey. Sarah had not seen him once since the evening of his coming.
+Through Lucy, she received his adieux and wishes for her speedy
+recovery. On the next day but one she left her room, and appeared again
+in the family circle--now complete in all its parts.
+
+In that short season of bodily prostration, the work of years had been
+wrought upon her inner life. Outwardly there was little alteration
+save that effected by physical weakness; but in her views of existence
+and character, of affections and motives, the doubter had become the
+skeptic; the dreamer the misanthrope. To the gentle and more womanly
+aspirations that had for a season supplanted the somewhat masculine
+tendencies of her mind and tastes had succeeded a stoicism, like the
+frozen calm of a winter's day, uniform as relentless. This was the
+surface that locked and concealed the lower depths she had sworn should
+be forever covered. Others could and did live without hearts. She could
+thrive as well upon the husks and Sodom apples of this world's goods as
+did they; holding as Life's chief good, complete and final subjugation
+of all genuine emotion, which, at the best, was but the rough ore--fit
+for nothing until purged, refined, and polished in its glitter. She
+found no other creed that suited her present desperate mood so well as
+the heartless code of the thorough worldling--the devotee to show, and
+fashion, and wealth.
+
+Such was her mother, whose domestic virtues were extolled by all who
+knew her; such, behind her mask of tender grace and amiability, the
+sister who had won, by these factitious attractions, the heart for
+which Sarah would have perilled life, sacrificed ease and inclination,
+bowed her proud spirit to the estate of bond-servant to his every
+caprice, become the willing slave to his tyrannical behest. Yet Philip
+Benson was a professed judge of character; a man of sense, education,
+and experience, and, knowing both girls as he did, he had made his
+choice; set the stamp of his approval upon the shining, rather than the
+solid metal. The world, as its young would-be disciple believed she had
+at length learned, was made up of two classes; those who floated, and
+those who sank. To the latter she determined that she would not belong.
+
+These and kindred thoughts were rife in her mind, and stirring up many
+a spring of gall within her bosom, one morning as she lay back in
+an armchair in the sitting-room, listening with secret scorn to the
+prattle of the pair of betrothed maidens--Lucy and her friend. Lucy's
+engagement ring was a diamond, or, rather, a modest cluster of these
+precious stones, whose extreme beauty did not strike the casual eye
+with the startling effect of Victoria's more showy gage d'amour. This
+apparent difference in the value of the two was the source of many
+discussions and considerable heart-burning, disguised, of course, and
+threatened in time to produce a decided coolness between the attached
+wearers of the articles under debate.
+
+On this particular day, Victoria, after some adroit skirmishing,
+brought out as a "poser" the fact that, to lay the question to rest
+without more ado, she had, since their last interview, been to
+Tiffany's, and had her ring valued. Lucy's face was all aglow as her
+soul-sister named the price of her treasure. She clapped her hands
+joyously.
+
+"Isn't that the joke of the season, mother?"--as that personage
+entered. "Don't you think that Vic. was as cunning as we were? She
+carried her ring to Tiffany's yesterday, too. Wouldn't it have been too
+funny if we had met there? Mine came from there, they said, and it cost
+a cool fifty dollars more than yours did, dear!"
+
+Victoria flashed hotly; but further controversy being useless and
+dangerous to her, she acquiesced with assumed carelessness in Lucy's
+proposal that, since both were suited, the rival brilliants should not
+be again referred to as a disputed matter. They accordingly turned to
+the safer and endless conferences upon the trousseaux, whose purchase
+must be commenced immediately.
+
+Their incomplete lists were produced, compared, and lengthened--Mrs.
+Hunt suggesting and amending; Sarah surveying the busy group with the
+same intense disdain she had experienced throughout the conversation.
+
+"Oh, I forgot to tell you! Margaret Hauton called on me yesterday!"
+exclaimed Victoria. "Did she come here, too?"
+
+"Yes; but we were out. What did she say?" queried Lucy, breathlessly.
+
+"Why, the stupid creature never alluded to my engagement; and when I
+mentioned yours, pretended not to have heard of it before. I took care
+she should not go away as ignorant on the subject as she had come,
+and--I know it was wicked in me, but she deserved it--all the time I
+was praising your Goldfinch, and telling how handsome and liberal he
+was, I sat looking at my new ring, slipping it up and down my finger,
+as if I were not thinking of it, but of the giver. She could not help
+seeing it, and, to save her life, she could not keep from changing
+countenance."
+
+"Good!" said Lucy. "Do tell me how she is looking now?"
+
+"Common enough! She had on that everlasting lilac silk, with the
+embroidered flounces, although the style is as old as the hills--and
+that black lace mantle, which, happening to be real, she never leaves
+off until near Christmas. But her hat! black and corn-color. Think
+of it! corn-color against her saffron skin. When I pretend to lead
+society, I hope to dress decently. But I had my revenge for her
+supercilious airs. Mr. Bond--George--called in the afternoon to take
+me to ride. I told you of the handsome span of fast horses he has been
+buying. Well! we concluded to try the Bloomingdale road, and just as
+we were sailing along, like the wind, whom should we overtake but my
+Lady Hauton, lounging her lazy way (she thinks it aristocratic!) on
+the back seat of her father's heavy, clumsy barouche--not a soul in it
+but her mother and herself. Didn't I bow graciously to her as we flew
+by! and again, as we met them creeping along, when we were coming back?
+I wouldn't have missed the chance of mortifying her for a thousand
+dollars."
+
+Lucy laughed, with no sign of disapprobation at the coarse, vindictive
+spirit displayed in this petty triumph of a small soul.
+
+"How many evening dresses have you put down on your paper, Vic.?"
+
+"Half a dozen only. I will get others as I need them. The styles in
+these change so often that I do not care to have too many at a time."
+
+"There you will have the advantage of me," said Lucy, ingenuously. "It
+will not be so easy a matter to replenish my stock of wearable dresses.
+I wish I had asked Philip about the Savannah stores. I wonder if he
+knows anything about them?"
+
+"He ought to--being such a connoisseur in ladies' dress. I declare
+I have been absolutely afraid of him since I heard him say that he
+considered a lady's apparel a criterion of her character."
+
+"He has exquisite taste!" said Lucy, with pardonable pride in her
+lover. "It is a positive pleasure to dress for him. He sees and
+appreciates everything that I could wish to have him notice. He has
+often described to me what I wore, and how I looked and acted the
+evening he fell in love. How little we can guess what is before us! I
+did not care to go to the hop that night, for Mr. Finch was to wait
+on me, and he was so stupid, you know, after we discovered that it
+was a mistake about his being rich. I think I see him now, with his
+red face and short neck! Oh, dear! the fun we had over that poor man!
+I told you--didn't I, Sarah--that we named him Bullfinch, because
+he looked so much like one? When Phil came we called him Goldfinch,
+and the two went by these names among us girls. The Bullfinch heard
+of it, and he was ridiculously angry! So I put on a white tarlatan,
+that one with the double jupe, you know, Vic., festooned with white
+moss rosebuds, and I had nothing but a tea-rose in my hair. I danced
+once with the Bullfinch--one of those solemn quadrilles that are only
+fit for grandmothers--and vowed to myself that I would not stand up
+again, except for a polka or the lancers. While I was sitting down by
+the window, saying 'Yes' and 'No,' when Bullfinch spoke, Mr. Newman
+introduced 'Mr. Benson' to 'Miss Hunt,' and the work was done!"
+
+"No more waltzing, then!" was Victoria's slyly malicious sequel.
+
+"I did not care so much for that as I thought I should!" replied
+easy-tempered Lucy. "You cannot find a man who has not some drawback.
+Before I had a chance for another round, mother there managed to
+telegraph me that my fresh acquaintance was worth catching. She had
+gotten his whole story out of Mrs. Newman. He let me know pretty soon,
+that he had some queer scruples about fancy dances, and I thought it
+best to humor him for one evening, or until I should ascertain whether
+he was really 'taken' or not. I have never repented my self-denial,
+although I grant that it cost me a struggle to give up 'the german.'"
+
+"George lets me waltz to my heart's content," said Victoria. "He is
+the very soul of indulgence. As to laces--I have not a thing fit to
+wear. I must get everything new. I am glad of it! I enjoy shopping for
+them. If I have a passion, it is for laces!"
+
+A sneer curled Sarah's lips, and Victoria happening to glance that way,
+could not mistake its application, whatever she might surmise as to its
+origin.
+
+"I suppose you despise us as a couple of lovesick girls, Sarah?" she
+said, with a simper designed to be sentimental, whereas it was spiteful
+instead.
+
+"I think love the least dangerous of your complaints," was the
+rejoinder.
+
+"What do you mean?"
+
+"Just what I said."
+
+"She means that people do not die of love in these days," exclaimed
+Lucy, whose pleasure-loving nature always shuddered at the idea of
+altercation in her presence; her sensations, during the occasional
+sparrings of her sister and her friend, bearing a strong resemblance
+to those of an innocent white rabbit, into whose burrow a couple of
+belligerent hedgehogs have forced their way.
+
+"You will understand us better one day, when your turn comes," said
+Victoria, with magnanimous condescension. "I shall remind you then of
+your good opinion of us."
+
+"You may."
+
+"I would give anything to have you engaged, just to see how you would
+behave. Would not you, Lucy?"
+
+"Yes; if she were likely to do as well as we are doing. Philip says
+that you have many fine qualities, Sarah. He quite admires you."
+
+The complacent betrothed had none but the most amiable intentions in
+making this patronizing speech; therefore, the angry blood that surged
+over her sister's face at hearing it would have been to her but the
+blush of gratified vanity, had not the sparkle of her eye and the
+contemptuous contortion of her mouth undeceived her.
+
+"Indeed he did say so!" she hastened to repeat. "And he was in earnest!
+He said something else which I don't mind telling, now that he belongs
+to me fast and sure. He said that he sat up until twelve o'clock one
+night after you had been out boating deliberating whether he should be
+smitten with you or not. There!"
+
+The color retreated as quickly as it had come. But for the
+consciousness of Victoria's malicious scrutiny, Sarah could not have
+summoned strength to utter a word.
+
+"An equivocal compliment, I must say!" she retorted, sarcastically.
+"Your gallant Georgian's confessions must have been ample and minute
+indeed, if they comprised such distant approaches to love affairs as
+the one you honor me by mentioning. I do not think that I have ever
+heard of another case where a gentleman considered it necessary to
+enumerate to his fiancee, not merely the ladies he had loved, but those
+whom he had not!" She arose and left the room.
+
+Poor Lucy, rebuffed and overwhelmed, caught her astonished breath with
+a sigh. "Can anybody tell me what I have done now to fret Sarah? She is
+so cross since she was sick!"
+
+"And before, too!" mutely added Victoria's shrug and lifted eyebrows.
+
+"We must bear with her, my dear!" said the prudent mother. "Her nerves
+are affected, the doctor says."
+
+Victoria made random pencillings upon the important list--her thoughts
+in fast pursuit of a notion that had just struck her. She was neither
+witty nor intelligent; but she possessed some natural shrewdness and
+a great deal more acquired cunning. She detested Sarah Hunt, and
+the prospect of obtaining an engine that should humble her arrogant
+spirit was scarcely less tempting than her own chance of effecting an
+advantageous matrimonial settlement.
+
+While she was engaged in defining her suspicion to herself, and
+concerting measures for gathering information with regard to it, Mrs.
+Hunt went out on some household errand, and Lucy was obliged to descend
+to the parlor to see callers.
+
+"Don't go until I come back, Vic.. It is the Dunhams, and they never
+stay long," she said, at quitting her associate.
+
+"Oh, I always make myself at home here, you know, my dear!" was the
+reply.
+
+Jeannie was sitting on a cushion near the chair Sarah had occupied,
+dressing her doll.
+
+"It won't fit!" she cried, fretfully, snatching off a velvet basque she
+had been endeavoring to adjust to the lay-figure.
+
+"Bring it to me! I can fix it!" offered Victoria, winningly. "It's too
+tight just here, you see. I will rip open the seam and alter it. Who
+makes your dolly's clothes?"
+
+She was well aware that but one member of the family ever had leisure
+to bestow upon such follies; but it suited her plan for Jeannie to
+introduce the name.
+
+"Sister Sarah."
+
+"This is a pretty basque. When did she make it?"
+
+"Yesterday."
+
+"Oh! I thought perhaps she did it while you were in the country, and
+that the doll had fattened as much as you did there."
+
+Jeannie laughed heartily.
+
+"You had a nice time there, I suppose?" pursued Victoria.
+
+"I guess we did!" Her eyes danced at the recollection. "A splendid
+time! I wish we lived at Aunt Sarah's! There isn't room for me to move
+in this narrow house."
+
+"Mr. Benson was there a day or two, was he not?"
+
+"Yes, ma'am--a great many days! He took us all around the country in
+Uncle Nathan's carriage. I love him very dearly."
+
+"Did you ever go sailing with him?"
+
+"Every evening, when it was clear, in a pretty rowboat. He used to take
+his guitar along, and sing for us. He sings beautifully! Did you ever
+hear him?"
+
+"Oh, yes! Did your sister always go boating with you?"
+
+The spy, with all her hardihood, lowered her voice, and felt her face
+warm as she put this leading question.
+
+"Yes, ma'am, always. Mr. Benson would not have gone without her, I
+guess."
+
+"Why do you guess so?"
+
+The little girl smiled knowingly. "Because--you won't tell, will you?"
+
+"Why no! Of course I will not."
+
+"Charley said it was a secret, and that I mustn't say anything to
+sister or Mr. Benson about it, for they would be angry."
+
+"Who is Charley?"
+
+"Don't you know? He is Aunt Sarah's son. He is deaf and dumb; but he
+showed me how to spell on my fingers. He is a nice boy"--
+
+"Yes; but what was the secret?"
+
+"He said that Mr. Benson--Cousin Phil I call him when I am talking to
+him--was sister's beau; and he would take me off with him when we went
+to drive or walk, because, you know, they might not like to have me
+hear what they were talking about. They used to talk, and talk, and
+talk! and sister had a great deal more to say, and looked prettier than
+she does at home. I will tell you something else, if you won't ever let
+anybody know it. I never told Aunt Sarah even, only Charley. Sister
+cried ever so long the night after Cousin Phil went away. She woke me
+up sobbing; but I made believe that I was asleep; and in the morning
+her pillow was right wet. Charley said that all ladies that he had read
+about in his books did so when their beaux left them."
+
+"See here, my little lady!" said the dissembler, with a startling
+change of tone. "You are altogether mistaken--you and Charley both!
+Mr. Benson is going to marry your sister Lucy, and never was a beau
+of Sarah's. Be very careful not to talk about Charley's wicked story
+to your father, or mother, or sisters, for they would be very much
+displeased, and maybe punish you for repeating such fibs. Little girls
+ought never to hear or know anything about courting or beaux--it's
+naughty! I won't tell on you, if you will promise never to do so again.
+I am shocked at you! Now take your doll and go!"
+
+The frightened child encountered Lucy at the door. Miss West had
+calculated her time to a minute. Her eyes swimming in tears, her
+features convulsed with the effort to keep back sob and outcry, Jeannie
+started up to her attic playroom. Sarah's door was ajar, and engaged
+as she was with thoughts of her own troubles and insults, she could
+not but remark the expression of her darling's face, in the momentary
+glimpse she had as it passed.
+
+"Jeannie! come back!" she called.
+
+The child hesitated, half way up the next flight. Sarah repeated the
+summons, and seeing that it was not obeyed, went up and took the rebel
+by the hand.
+
+"What is the matter with you?"
+
+A reddening and distortion of visage, and no reply. Her sister led her
+back to her chamber, shut the door, and put her arms around her.
+
+"Tell me what ails you, dear!"
+
+Jeannie fell upon her comforter's neck--the repressed torrent breaking
+through all restraint. "Oh, sister, I can't help crying! Miss Vic. West
+has been scolding me!"
+
+"Scolding you! She! I will go down and speak to her this instant! How
+dared she?"
+
+"No, no! please don't! She told me not to say anything about it."
+
+"The contemptible coward!" said Sarah, between her teeth. "How came you
+to have anything to do with her?"
+
+"Mother and sister Lucy went downstairs, and she said she would alter
+my doll's basque and--and--and"--a fresh burst of lamentation.
+
+"There, that will do, pet! I see that she only made it worse!" soothed
+Sarah, believing that, in the unfinished state of dolly's wardrobe, she
+had discovered the root of the trouble. "Never mind, dear! I will set
+all that to rights directly. Now wipe your eyes, and let me tell you
+something. This afternoon father is to take me to ride, and you shall
+go, too. As for Miss Victoria, we will let her pass, and keep out of
+her way, hereafter."
+
+Secretly, she was very angry--far more so than she was willing to
+have the child suspect. As the patient fingers repaired the effects
+of the original bad fit, and Miss West's meddling, Jeannie stood by,
+thankful and interested, yet ashamed to look her wronged sister in the
+eyes. Not that she had the remotest conception of the mischief that
+might grow out of her imprudent disclosures; but she had broken faith
+with Charley, been accused of tattling and indelicacy, and warned too
+stringently against repeating the offence to suffer her to relieve her
+conscience by a full confession to the being she most loved and honored.
+
+At four o'clock Sarah and her charge were ready, according to Mr.
+Hunt's appointment. The carriage was likewise punctual; but from it
+stepped, not the parent of the expectant girls, but a younger and
+taller man--in short, Mr. Hunt's particular favorite--Lewis Hammond.
+Jeannie, who had stationed herself at an upper window to watch for her
+father's appearance, was still exclaiming over this disappointment, and
+wondering why "Mr. Hammond must call just now to keep sister at home,"
+when the footman brought up a note to Sarah.
+
+It was from Mr. Hunt, explaining the cause of his unlooked-for
+detention at the bank, and stating that Mr. Hammond, whom he had
+met earlier in the day, and acquainted with his design of giving
+his daughter this ride, happened to drop in, and seeing him engaged
+with business, had asked leave to officiate as his substitute in the
+proposed airing. He urged Sarah to take Jeannie along, and not hesitate
+to accept Mr. Hammond's polite attendance, adding, in phrase brief, but
+sincere, how lightly he should esteem his hour of extra labor, if he
+knew that she was not a sufferer by it.
+
+Sarah passed the note to her mother, and drew her shawl about her
+shoulders.
+
+"Of course you'll go!" said Mrs. Hunt, radiant with gratification. "It
+is perfectly proper, and Mr. Hammond is very kind, I'm sure."
+
+She was hurrying towards the door to convey in person her thanks for
+his gallantry, when Sarah spoke firmly and very coolly:
+
+"I will say whatever is necessary to Mr. Hammond, if you please,
+mother. I shall go because father wishes it, and for no other reason.
+Come, Jeannie!"
+
+"Won't she be in your way?" asked Mrs. Hunt, awed, but not extinguished.
+
+"No, madam."
+
+Sarah suffered Mr. Hammond to place her in the carriage, and himself
+opposite to her; and keeping before her mind carefully the fact that he
+was her father's friend, perhaps the savior of his life, she unbent,
+as much as she could, from her distant, ungracious bearing, to sustain
+her part of the conversation. She must have been purblind not to see
+through her mother's wishes, and manoeuvres for their accomplishment;
+but to these views she was persuaded that Mr. Hammond was no party.
+She saw in him a sedate, rather reserved gentleman of thirty-two or
+three, who had passed the heyday of youthful loves and joy; sensible
+and cultivated to an uncommon degree for a man of business--for such he
+emphatically was.
+
+A poor boy in the beginning, he had fortunately attracted the regard
+of a thriving New York merchant, and retained that favor through the
+years that had elevated him from the lowest clerkship to a partnership
+in the now opulent firm. For probity and punctuality no man in the city
+had a higher reputation; but his virtues were of that quiet nature
+which, while they inevitably retain regard once won, are slow to gain
+admiration. To matrimonial speculators, as in financial circles, he
+was known as a "safe chance," and many a prudent mamma on his list
+of acquaintances would have rejoiced had he selected her daughter as
+mistress of his heart and fortune. Whether he was aware of this or not
+could not have been determined by his modest, but dignified deportment.
+He did not avoid company; went whither he was invited, and, when there,
+comported himself like a conscientious member of society, talking,
+dancing, or listening, with as due regard to law and order as he
+manifested in his daily business life. Fast girls called him "awfully
+matter-of-fact," and "terribly sensible"; fast youths of the other sex
+put him down among the "old fogies," and wondered what he did with his
+money. "Could it be possible that he saved it!" He was intimate nowhere
+except in the household of his whilom employer and present partner,
+whose daughters were all married and settled in houses of their own. If
+he had ever cared to look twice at the same lady, the watchful world
+had not yet laid hold of this marvellous departure from his fixed
+habits.
+
+His intercourse with Mr. Hunt's family was, as we know, purely
+accidental in its commencement, and in its earlier stages might have
+been induced by humanity or friendship for the sick father. In Sarah's
+brain there had never arisen a suspicion of any ulterior motives in the
+pointed attentions directed of late to herself. Before Lucy's return,
+the care of her invalid parent and her day-dreams had engrossed heart
+and thought to an extent that precluded much inquiry into other themes.
+Since that memorable night, inward torture had abstracted her mind
+still more from outward impressions.
+
+This afternoon she talked calmly and indifferently to Mr. Hammond,
+without an idea that he made any greater effort to please her. To
+Jeannie she was tender beyond her usual showing, in remembrance of the
+wrong done the sensitive child in the forenoon. Mr. Hammond emulated
+her in kindness to the third member of their party; and in the course
+of their ride, raised himself unwittingly to the rank of rivalship with
+"Cousin Philip," her model gentleman.
+
+Mr. Hunt came out to assist his daughter to alight, upon their
+return. There was a heartiness in his acknowledgment of his deputy's
+politeness, and invitation to enter the house and pass the evening with
+them, which Sarah had seldom heard him employ towards any visitor.
+Mr. Hammond may have remarked it likewise, for his declinature was
+evidently against his inclination, and coupled with a promise to
+call at an early day. His visits were not altogether so agreeable as
+formerly, for he was received in the spacious parlors on a footing
+with other callers, and in the presence of several members of the
+family; still he came repeatedly, with pretext and without, until his
+sentiments and design were a secret to no one except their object.
+
+Wrapped in the sad thoughts that isolated her from the rest of the
+world, even while she made a part of its show, Sarah omitted to mark
+many things that should have been significant signs of undercurrents,
+and tokens of important issues to her and those about her. Lucy had
+ceased to harp perpetually upon her lover's perfections and idolatrous
+flattery to herself, and while the wedding arrangements went vigorously
+forward, the disengaged sister was rarely annoyed by references to
+her taste and demands for her sympathy. There had never existed
+much congeniality between the two, and their common ground was now
+exceedingly narrow. Lucy was gentle and pleasant, peacefully egotistic
+as ever, and Sarah understood her too well to expect active affection
+or disinterestedness. The only part of her behavior to herself to
+which she took mental exception was a certain pitying forbearance, a
+compassionate leniency with respect to her faults and foibles, that had
+grown upon her of late. Once or twice the younger sister had become
+so restive under this gratuitous charity as to reply sharply to the
+whey-like speeches of the mild elder, and, without any appearance of
+wounded feeling, yet with not a word of apology or reason for so doing,
+Lucy had left the apartment, and never hinted at the circumstances
+afterwards.
+
+Lucy was certainly the soul, the very cream of amiability. It
+was unaccountable to her admirers--and they included most of her
+associates--that Lewis Hammond, with his peculiar habits and tastes,
+should prefer that severe-looking, strong-minded Sarah. But, be
+it remembered, that he had learned this love under far different
+influences; in circumstances wholly unlike those in which he now beheld
+its object. His respect for unobtrusive intent and feeling; his longing
+for a home which should be the abode of sacred domestic virtues; and
+the sweet peace that had fled from the habitations frequented only by
+the frivolous, heartless, and vain--these found in the sick-room of
+the father, and the affectionate fidelity of the daughter, something
+so like the embodiment of his fancy of earthly happiness, that he
+accepted as a benignant fate the accident which had admitted him to the
+arcana of their private life. Sarah's temporary illness had taught him
+the meaning of his dreams, by seeming to peril the chances of their
+fulfilment; and from that hour he strove patiently and sedulously, as
+it was his habit, to seek all great ends for the acquisition of the
+heart whose depth he perhaps, of all who knew her, best understood.
+
+The most impatient person of those directly or indirectly concerned
+in the progress of this wooing was Mrs. Hunt. Her husband, with
+unwonted firmness, had forbidden that anyone of the household should
+speak a word in raillery or otherwise to Sarah touching Mr. Hammond's
+intentions. "However earnestly I may desire his success," he said to
+his wife--"and there is no man living whom I would rather call 'son'--I
+would not influence her by the weight of a single syllable. Hers is the
+happiness or the misery of a life with her husband--whomsoever she may
+choose, and hers shall be the entire choice. If she can love and marry
+Lewis Hammond, I shall be gratified; if not, she shall never guess at
+my disappointment."
+
+"La, Mr. H.! you are as foolish and sentimental as the girl herself!
+For my part, I ain't such a saint, and I do say, that if Sarah Hunt
+allows such a catch as this to slip through her fingers, she shall hear
+a piece of my mind!"
+
+"I insist," said Mr. Hunt, with immovable resolution, "that Sarah shall
+be allowed to follow the guidance of her own will in this matter. It is
+not often that I interfere with your plans; but in this one instance I
+must be obeyed!"
+
+With which astounding declaration of equal rights, if not of
+sovereignty, he left his consort to her reflections.
+
+Ignorant of the delicate watchfulness maintained over her by this
+best of friends, Sarah walked on her beclouded way--without hope,
+without one anticipation of any future dissimilar to her present,
+until awakened with a shock by a formal declaration of love from Lewis
+Hammond.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IX.
+
+
+It was at the close of an evening party which both the Hunts attended,
+and where Mr. Hammond's devotion was as marked as anything so modest
+could be, that Sarah felt him slip an envelope into her hand, as he
+put her into the carriage. Surprised as she was at the singularity of
+the occurrence, and disposed to take offence at the familiarity it
+implied, she had yet the presence of mind to conceal the missive from
+Lucy, and talk about other things, until they were set down at home. In
+the privacy of her chamber, she broke the seal and read her first love
+letter.
+
+It was a characteristic composition. If the strong hand had trembled
+above the lines, the clear, clerkly penmanship did not witness to the
+weakness. Nor was there anything in the subject matter that did not
+appear to Sarah as business-like and unimpassioned. It was a frank and
+manly avowal of attachment for her; a compliment implied, rather than
+broadly stated, to her virtues; the traits that had gained his esteem,
+then his love--a deprecatory sentence as to his ability to deserve the
+treasure he dared to ask--and then the question! in plain black and
+white, unequivocal to bluntness, simple and direct to curtness.
+
+"As he would ask the price of a bale of goods!" burst forth Sarah,
+indignant, as she threw the paper on the floor, and buried her burning
+face in her hands.
+
+"That there comes sometimes a glory to the Present, besides which
+the hues of Past and Future fade and are forgotten, I must and will
+believe. Such, it seems to me, must be the rapture of acknowledged and
+reciprocal affection!" This was an echo memory repeated to her soul.
+She saw again the gently gliding river, with its waves of crimson and
+gold; breathed the pure fragrance of the summer evening; floated on,
+towards the sunset, with the loved voice in her ear; the dawn of a
+strange and beautiful life, shedding blissful calm throughout her being.
+
+And from this review, dangerous as it was for one fleeting instant
+sweet, she returned to the proposal that had amazed and angered her.
+Lewis' undemonstrative exterior had misled her, as it did most
+persons, in the estimate of his inner nature. Kind, she was compelled
+to confess that he was, in remembrance of his goodness to her father;
+his demeanor was always gentlemanly, and she had caught here and there
+rumors of his generosity to the needy that prevented a suspicion of
+sordidness. No doubt he was very well in his way, but he wanted to
+marry her! With the intensity of her fiery spirit, her will arose
+against the presumptuous request. It was the natural recoil of the
+woman who already loves, at the suggestion of a union with another
+than the man of her choice; the spontaneous outspeaking of a heart
+whose allegiance vows have been pledged and cannot be nullified. But
+she would not see this. Upon the unfortunate letter and its writer
+descended the storm of passionate repugnance aroused by its contents.
+With the reaction of excited feeling came tears--a plentiful shower
+that relaxed the overwrought nerves, until they were ready to receive
+the benediction of sleep.
+
+Lewis had not asked a written or verbal reply.
+
+ "I will call to take you to drive to-morrow afternoon," he wrote.
+ "Should your decision upon the question I have proposed be favorable,
+ your consent to accompany me in my ride will be understood as a
+ signal that you have accepted my graver suit. If your conclusion is
+ adverse to my hopes, you can signify the same to me in a letter,
+ to be handed me when I ask for you. This course will spare us both
+ embarrassment--perhaps pain. In any event, be assured that you will
+ ever have a firm friend in, Yours truly,
+
+     "Lewis Hammond."
+
+Sarah's lip curled as she reperused this clause of the letter on the
+following morning.
+
+"It is a comfort to know that I have not to answer for the sin of
+breaking my ardent suitor's heart!" she said, as she drew towards
+her the sheet upon which she was to indite her refusal. It was brief
+and courteous--freezing in its punctilious civility, and prepared
+without a pang, or a solitary misgiving that its reception would not
+be philosophically calm. Her design was to intrust it to the footman,
+to be delivered when Mr. Hammond called; and as the hour approached at
+which the expectant was to present himself, she took the note from the
+desk and started downstairs with it.
+
+The sitting-room door was open, and, aware that Victoria West was in
+there with Lucy, Sarah trod very softly as she neared it. Her own name
+arrested her as she was going by. She stopped involuntarily.
+
+"I thought Sarah a girl of better regulated mind," said Victoria, in a
+tone of censorious pity. "Of course she suffers! It is the inevitable
+consequence of an unrequited attachment. Such miserable folly, such
+unpardonable weakness brings its punishment with it. But my sympathies
+are all yours, my dearest. I only wish you were not so sensitive. You
+are not to blame for her blind mistake."
+
+"I cannot help it!" said Lucy, plaintively. "It seems so sad that I
+should be made the means of depriving her of happiness. I wish I had
+never known that she was attached to poor Philip. I can't tell you how
+awkward I feel when any allusion is made in her hearing to the dear
+fellow, or to our marriage."
+
+"I meant it for the best, dear, in telling you of my discovery,"
+replied Victoria, slightly hurt.
+
+"I know that, my dear creature! And it is well that I should not be
+kept in the dark as to the state of her affections. I only hope that
+Philip never penetrated her secret. I should die of mortification for
+her if he were to find it out. It is a lamentable affair--and I am sure
+that he is not in fault. What did you say that you gave for that set of
+handkerchiefs you showed me yesterday?"
+
+"The cheapest things you ever saw! I got them at Stewart's, and they
+averaged six dollars apiece! As to Mr. Benson, I trust, with you, that
+he is as unsuspecting as he seems; but he has remarkable discernment,
+you know. What I could not help seeing, before I had any other proof
+than her behavior, is not likely to have escaped him."
+
+Half an hour later the twain were disturbed in their confidences by
+the sound of wheels stopping before the house, followed by a ring at
+the door. Victoria, ever on the alert, peeped, with feline caution and
+curiosity, around the edge of the curtain.
+
+"What is going to happen? Look, Lucy! Mr. Hammond in a handsome light
+carriage, and driving a lovely pair of horses! I never thought to see
+him go in such style. How well he looks! Take care! he will see you!"
+
+Both dodged as he glanced up at the upper windows; but resumed their
+lookout in time to see the light that was kindled in his face when
+Sarah emerged from the front door. He was at her side in a second,
+to lead her down the steps, and his manner in this movement, and in
+assisting her into the carriage, the more striking in one generally
+so self-contained and deliberate, inspired the pair of initiated
+observers with the same conviction. As the spirited horses disappeared
+into the avenue, the friends drew back from their loophole, and stared
+each other in the eyes, with the simultaneous exclamation--"They are
+engaged!"
+
+They were engaged! Lewis felt it with a glad bound of the heart--but a
+minute before sickening in deadly suspense; felt, as he seated himself
+by her side, that the sorrows of a lonely and struggling youth, the
+years of manhood's isolation and unsatisfied longings, were swept from
+memory by this hour of abundant, unalloyed happiness.
+
+And Sarah felt it! As her hand touched his, at their meeting upon the
+steps, a chill ran through her frame that told the consummation of the
+sacrifice which was to atone for past folly; to silence, and brand as
+a lying rumor, the fearful tale that bruited abroad the revelation of
+that weakness. In her mad horror at the knowledge of its discovery, she
+had rushed upon this alternative. Better an estate of honorable misery,
+than to live on, solitary, disgraced, condemned and pitied by her
+meanest foe! Now that the irreversible step was taken, she experienced
+no sharp regret, no wild impulse of retreat, but a gradual sinking of
+spirit into hopeless apathy.
+
+Her veil concealed her dull eyes and stolid features, and to Lewis'
+happy mood there was nothing surprising or discouraging in her
+disposition to silence. With a tact for which she had not given him
+credit, and did not now value aright, he refrained from any direct
+reference to their altered relation until they were returning homeward.
+Then changing his tone of pleasant chat for one of deeper meaning, he
+said:
+
+"I have dared to hope much--everything--from your consent to become
+my companion for this afternoon. Before I ventured to address you
+directly, I had a long and frank conversation with your father."
+
+"What did he say?" asked Sarah, turning towards him for the first time.
+
+"He referred me to you for my answer, which, he said, must be final and
+positive, since he would never attempt to influence your choice. In the
+event of an affirmative reply from you, he promised that his sanction
+should not be withheld."
+
+Sarah was silent. She comprehended fully her father's warm interest in
+his friend's suit, which the speaker was too diffident to imply, and
+how this expression of his wishes set the seal upon her fate.
+
+"We are poor and proud! Mr. Hammond is rich and seeks to marry me!"
+was her bitter thought. "It is a fine bargain in the eyes of both my
+parents. It would be high treason for me to dispute their will. Mr.
+Hammond has conceived the notion that I am a useful domestic character,
+a good housekeeper and nurse, and he is willing to bid liberally
+for my services. It is all arranged between them! Mine is a passive
+part, to copy Lucy's sweet, submissive ways for a season, for fear of
+frightening away the game, afterwards to attend to my business, while
+he looks after his. I have chosen my lot, and I will abide by it!"
+
+"Have I your permission to call this evening and inform your father of
+my success--may I say of our engagement?" asked Lewis.
+
+"It is best, I suppose, to call things by their right names," replied
+Sarah, in a cold voice, that was to him only coy. He smiled, and was
+about to speak, when she resumed: "Since we are virtually engaged"--she
+caught her breath as she brought out the word--"I see no reason why we
+should hesitate to announce it to those whose right it is to know it."
+
+"Thank you! That was spoken like the noble, unaffected woman you are!
+Will you always be equally sincere with me--Sarah?" His accent trembled
+with excess of emotion in calling the name.
+
+Is it, then, an easy lot that you have chosen, Sarah Hunt? You, whose
+pride and glory it was to be truthful, who spurned whatever assimilated
+in the least degree to deception, what think you of a life where a lie
+meets you on the threshold and must be accepted and perpetuated if you
+would preserve your name and position in his eyes and those of the
+world. "It is the way two-thirds of the married people live!" you were
+saying to yourself, just now. It may be so; but it is none the less a
+career of duplicity, perjury--crime!
+
+"I will endeavor to please you!" she faltered, her face in a flame of
+shame and confusion.
+
+And this was the hue that met Lewis' eye, as her veil was blown aside,
+in her descent to the pavement, a blush he interpreted to suit his own
+wishes. Mr. Hunt appeared in the doorway as she alighted, and read
+in Hammond's smile and joyous salutation all that he most desired to
+learn. When the door was closed upon the departing suitor, the father
+drew his best-beloved child to him, and kissed her, without a word of
+uttered blessing.
+
+"It would break his heart were I to recede now!" thought Sarah, as she
+bore hers--heavy, hard--up to her room.
+
+That evening was the proudest era of Mrs. Hunt's existence. Two
+daughters well engaged--unexceptionably paired off! What mother more
+blest than she? Where could be found other children so dutiful? other
+sons-in-law so acceptable? By breakfast time, next day, she had
+arranged everything--Sarah's trousseau, her house, and the double
+wedding.
+
+Lucy expostulated here. "But, mother, this is the first of November."
+
+"I know that, my dear; but the ceremony will not come off until
+Christmas, and much can be done in six weeks for your sister--your
+work is so forward. Then, again, 'tisn't as if Sarah couldn't get
+everything she needs right here, if she shouldn't have enough. It will
+be tremendously expensive--awful, in fact; but we must make sacrifices.
+We can live economical after you're married and gone, and save enough
+to meet the bills."
+
+"If you please, madam, I prefer a plain outfit and no debts," said
+Sarah's most abrupt tones.
+
+"If you please, my dear, I understand my affairs, and mean to do as I
+think proper," retorted the no less strong-willed mother.
+
+Sarah was not cowed. "And as to the time you set, I cannot agree to
+it. I presume that in this matter I have some voice. I say six months
+instead of six weeks!"
+
+"Very well, my love." Mrs. Hunt went on polishing a tumbler with her
+napkin. She always washed her silver and glass herself. "You must
+settle that with your father and Mr. Hammond. They are crazy for this
+plan. They were talking to me about it last night, and I told them
+that I would engage to have everything ready in time; but you must be
+consulted. I never saw your father more set upon anything. He said to
+me, private, that he did hope that you wouldn't raise any squeamish
+objections, and upset their arrangements."
+
+Mrs. Hunt took up a handful of spoons as composedly as if she had never
+stretched her conscience in her life.
+
+Sarah's head drooped upon the table. She was very, very miserable. In
+her morbid state of mind she did not dream of questioning the accuracy
+of her mother's assertion. That a marriageable single daughter was
+a burden to one parent, she knew but too well; that to this able
+financier the prospect of getting two out of the way, with the eclat
+of a double ceremony that should cost no more than Lucy's nuptials
+would have done, was a stupendous temptation, she also perceived.
+But that the father whom she so loved; whose sickbed she had tended
+so faithfully; whose lonely hours it was her province and delight to
+solace--that he should acquiesce--nay more, rejoice in this indelicate
+haste to get rid of her, was a cruel stab.
+
+"Very well," she said, raising an ashy face. "Let it be as you say. The
+sooner it is over, the better."
+
+This clause was unheeded by her mother and sister. Had they heard it,
+they might have understood it as little as they did the composure
+with which she joined in the work which was begun, without an hour's
+delay. In this trying juncture, Mrs. Hunt came out in all her strength.
+Her sewing machine (she was one of the earliest purchasers of these
+inestimable time, labor, and money savers) went night and day; she
+shopped largely and judiciously, giving orders to tradespeople with the
+air of a princess; "Jewed" her butcher; watched her pantry, and served
+up poorer dinners than ever. Jeannie's winter outfit was ingeniously
+contrived from her sister's cast-off wardrobe; Mr. Hunt's and the boys'
+shirts and socks were patched and darned until but a trifling quantity
+of the original material remained; and this pearl of mothers had her
+two-year-old cloak and last season's hat "done over" for this year's
+wear.
+
+Foremost among the visitors to the Hunts, after this latest engagement
+was made public, was Mrs. Marlow, the wife of Mr. Hammond's benefactor
+and partner. Sarah was out when she called; so Mrs. Hunt received
+her, and discovering very soon that in spite of her husband's wealth
+and her splendid establishment, she was not, as Mrs. Hunt phrased it
+to her daughters, "one mite proud, and thought the world and all of
+Lewis"--the mother opened her heart to her so freely, with regard to
+the prospective weddings and her material anxieties, that Mrs. Marlow
+was emboldened to introduce a subject which had taken hold of her
+thoughts so soon as she heard from Mr. Hammond of his expected marriage.
+
+She had a daughter, resident for the winter in Paris, whose taste in
+female attire was unquestionable, and her good-nature as praiseworthy.
+If Miss Sarah Hunt would prepare a memorandum of such articles as she
+would like to have selected in that emporium of fashion, she would
+promise, for her daughter, that they should be forwarded in time for
+"the occasion."
+
+"Some friends of mine, now abroad, have kindly offered to bring me over
+any quantity of fine dresses with their baggage," said the complaisant
+old lady; "and, as I do not need their services for myself, I can
+smuggle in whatever your daughter may order. You would be surprised at
+the difference in prices here and there--to say nothing of the superior
+excellence and variety of the assortment from which one can choose. My
+friends will return early in December. Therefore, should you like this
+arrangement, I ought to have the list and write my letters to-morrow."
+
+Energetic, fussy, snobbish Mrs. Hunt! She stood an inch taller in
+her shoes at the imagination of this climax to the glory of the dual
+ceremony. "Trousseau ordered directly from Paris!" She seemed already
+to hear the envious and admiring buzz of her set; saw herself the most
+blessed of women--her daughters the brides of the season. She would
+order for Lucy, also; for the longer the list the more importance would
+the future Mrs. Hammond acquire in the sight of her husband's friends.
+They could not know that it was not for her alone. Then, as Mrs. Marlow
+intimated, it would be a saving. Here, like a cold shower-bath, came
+the agonizing query, "Where was the money to come from?" It would
+never do to run in debt to such people as the Marlows. If they were
+hard-pressed shopkeepers, who needed the money, it would be another
+thing. No! the cash in hand, or its representative, must accompany the
+memorandum.
+
+Sarah was secretly pleased at this obstacle, for she despised the
+ostentation and extravagance going on in their hungry household. Strive
+as she did, with wicked pertinacity, to conform herself to the world's
+code, there was as yet too much of the ancient and better leaven left
+to permit more than an outward obedience to the dictates of customs so
+irrational and tyrannical.
+
+That very evening there arrived a letter that settled the question,
+and inflated Mrs. Hunt's collapsed spirits to an expansion hitherto
+unequalled. It was from Aunt Sarah to her namesake niece; a guileless,
+fervent expression of good wishes and unabated affection, and a request
+from "husband" and herself that she would accept the enclosure as a
+mark of that hopeful regard.
+
+"Since our daughters died"--wrote this true and gentle mother--"we have
+always intended to give you just exactly what we would have done one of
+them, as a wedding present--as you were named for me, and I had nursed
+you before your mother ever did, and you seemed in some way to belong
+to us. But since you paid us a visit we have felt nearer to you than
+ever, and seeing that the Lord has prospered us in this world's goods,
+we have made up our minds to give you a double portion, dear, what both
+of our girls would have had, if it had pleased our Father to spare them
+to have homes of their own upon earth. Living is high in New York, but
+we have calculated that what we send will buy your wedding clothes and
+furnish your house."
+
+The enclosed gift, to Sarah's astonishment, was a check upon a city
+bank for a thousand dollars!
+
+"Was there ever such a child for luck?" exclaimed Mrs. Hunt, clapping
+her hands. "What a fortunate thing we sent you down there when we did!
+That was one of my plans, you remember, Mr. H. Really, Lucy, our little
+Sarah understands how to play her cards, after all. I never did you
+justice, my dear daughter. I ain't ashamed to confess it. This puts all
+straight, and is real handsome in sister Benson--more than I expected.
+Go to work right away upon your list, girls! We'll have to set up the
+best part of the night to get it ready. Ah, well! this comes of putting
+one's trust in Providence and going ahead!"
+
+Sarah thought, with aching heart and moistened eyes, of Aunt Sarah's
+mind-pictures of the neat apparel and snug dwelling she deemed proper
+for a young couple just beginning housekeeping, and rebelled at this
+waste, this frivolous expenditure of her love-portion. Mr. Hunt sided
+with her, so far as to urge the propriety of her doing as she pleased
+with what was her exclusive property; but, as in a majority of former
+altercations, their arguments and powers of endurance were no match for
+the determination and mind of the real head of the family. With a sigh
+of pain, disgust, and despair, Mr. Hunt succumbed, and, deserted by her
+ally, Sarah contended but a short time longer ere she yielded up the
+cause of the combat to the indomitable victress.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER X.
+
+
+The bridal day came; frosty and clear, dazzlingly bright, by reason of
+the reflection from the snow, which lay deep and firm upon the ground.
+
+"What a delightful novelty this is, coming to a wedding in a sleigh!"
+lisped one of the triad of bridesmaids, who were to do double duty for
+the sisters. "How very gay it makes one to hear the bells outside! Have
+they come, Vic.?"
+
+Victoria, whose marriage was but one week off, was, true to instinct
+and habit, on the lookout behind the friendly curtain.
+
+She nodded. "Yes--both of them, but not together. What a magnificent
+sleigh that is of the Marlows! They brought Mr. Hammond. See the
+bridegrooms shake hands on the sidewalk! That looks so sweet and
+brotherly! They will be up here almost directly, I suppose."
+
+The attendants immediately began to shake out their robes and stroke
+their white gloves. They were collected in the sitting-room so often
+mentioned, and the sisters were also present. In accordance with the
+ridiculous custom of very parvenu modern marriages, although the
+ceremony was to take place precisely at twelve o'clock, daylight
+was carefully excluded from the parlors below, gas made its sickly
+substitute, and the whole company was in full evening costume.
+
+"Am I all right?" inquired Lucy, with a cautious wave of her flowing
+veil. "Look at me, Vic.!"
+
+"You are perfect, my dearest!" replied the devoted parasite. "How
+I admire your beautiful self-possession! And as for you, Sarah,
+your calmness is wonderful! I fear that I should be terribly
+agitated"--blushing, and casting a meaning smile at Lucy.
+
+Sarah's statuesque repose was broken by a ray of scorn from the
+eye, and a slight disdainful smile. Whatever were the feelings
+working beneath her marble mask, she was not reduced to the depth of
+wretchedness that would humble her to accept the insolent pity couched
+under the pretended praise. She vouchsafed no other reply; but remained
+standing a little apart from the rest; her gloved hands crossed
+carelessly before her; her gaze bent downwards; her whole posture that
+of one who neither waited, nor hoped, nor feared.
+
+"Who would have thought that she could be made such an elegant-looking
+woman?" whispered one of the bridesmaids aside to another.
+
+"She has actually a high-bred air! I never imagined it was in her. So
+much for a Parisian toilette!"
+
+"I am so much afraid that I shall lose my color when we enter the
+room," said Lucy, surveying her pink cheeks in the mirror. "They say it
+is so trying to the nerves, and I am odious when I am pale."
+
+"Never fear, my sweetest. It is more likely that the unavoidable
+excitement will improve your complexion. There they are!" returned
+Victoria, hurriedly, and--unconsciously, no doubt--the three attendants
+and one of the principals in the forthcoming transaction, "struck an
+attitude," as the sound of footsteps approached the door.
+
+Lucy had only time for a whisper--a last injunction--to her faithful
+crony. "Remember to see that my veil and dress hang right when we get
+downstairs." And the masculine portion of the procession marched in in
+order.
+
+Sarah did not look up. She bent her head as the formal exchange of
+salutations was executed, and yielded her hand to the person who took
+it in his warm pressure, and then transferred it to his arm. It was one
+of the freaks, thus denominated by her acquaintances, in which she had
+been indulged, that she desired to have her marriage ceremony precede
+her sister's. She assigned what Lucy at least considered a sufficient
+reason for this caprice.
+
+"Nobody will care to look at me after you stand aside, Lucy. Keep the
+best wine until the last. My only chance of getting an approving glance
+lies in going in before you attract and fix the public gaze."
+
+She had her way. A limited number of select friends were admitted
+to behold "the ceremony;" yet the parlors were comfortably filled,
+excepting in the magical semicircle described by an invisible line, in
+the center of which stood the clergyman in his robes.
+
+Still dull and calm, Sarah went through the brief role that fell to
+her share. "Behaved charmingly," was the unanimous verdict of the
+beholders, and surprised other people, as well as the complimentary
+bridesmaid, by her thoroughbred air and Parisian toilette. Without the
+pause of a second, so perfect was the drill of the performers, the
+wedded pair stepped aside, and made way for the second happy couple.
+Lucy's solicitude on the score of her complexion was needless. As the
+solemn words were commenced, a rosy blush flickered up to its appointed
+resting-place--another and another--until, when Philip released her
+to the congratulatory throng, she was the most enchanting type of a
+radiant Hebe that poet ever sang, or painter burned to immortalize on
+canvas.
+
+Philip stood beside her and sustained his portion of the hand-shaking
+and felicitations until the press diminished, then stepped hastily over
+to where Hammond and his bride were undergoing a similar martyrdom.
+Until this moment Sarah had not looked at, or spoken to him--had never
+met him face to face since their parting in the summer at Aunt Sarah's.
+Now, not aware who it was that approached her, she raised her eyes with
+the serious dignity with which she had received all other salutations,
+and met his downward gaze--full of warm and honest feeling.
+
+"Sister!" he said, and in brotherly fondness he bent towards her, and
+left a kiss upon her mouth.
+
+A hot glow, the lurid red of offended modesty or self-convicted guilt,
+overspread her face; the lips parted, quivered, and closed tightly,
+after an ineffectual effort to articulate; the room swam around her,
+and Mr. Hammond caught her just in time to save her from falling. It
+was Nature's vengeful reaction for the long and unnatural strain upon
+her energies. She did not faint entirely away, although several moments
+elapsed before she regained perfect consciousness of her situation
+and surrounding objects. She had been placed in an easy-chair; her
+head rested against her father's shoulder, and on the other side stood
+Lewis, almost as pale as herself, holding a glass of wine to her lips.
+Around her were grouped her mother, Lucy, and Philip. The guests had
+withdrawn politely to the background, and maintained a respectful
+silence.
+
+"What have I betrayed?" was her first coherent reflection; and, with an
+instinctive perception of the quarter where such disclosures would do
+most harm, her eye turned with a sort of appealing terror to Lewis.
+His heart leaped at the movement, revealing, as he fancied it did,
+dependence upon his strength, recognition of his right to be with and
+nearest to her.
+
+"You are better," he said, with a moved tenderness he could not and
+cared not to restrain.
+
+The words, the manner, were an inexpressible relief to her fears, and
+trying to return his smile, she would have arisen but for her father's
+interposition.
+
+"Sit still," he advised. "Mrs. Hunt, Lucy, Mr. Benson, will you
+entertain our friends? She will be all right in a little while, Mr.
+Hammond."
+
+"Tableaux vivants!" said Lucy's soft, rich voice, as she advanced
+towards the reassured guests. "This is a part of the performance not
+set down in the programme. Quite theatrical, was it not?"
+
+It is very possible that Philip Benson would not have regarded this as
+an apropos or refined witticism, had any one else been the speaker; but
+as the round, liquid tones rolled it forth, and her delicious laugh
+led off the instant revival of mirth and badinage, he marvelled at
+her consummate tact, her happy play of fancy (!), and returned devout
+thanks to the stars that had bestowed upon him this prodigy of grace,
+wit, and beauty. Sarah rallied speedily; and, contrary to the advice of
+her father and husband, maintained her post in the drawing-room during
+all the reception, which continued from half-past twelve to half-past
+two.
+
+It was a gay and shifting scene--a sparkling, murmuring tide, that
+ebbed and flowed to and from the quartette who formed the attractive
+power. Silks, laces, velvets, furs, and diamonds; faces young, old,
+and middle-aged; handsome, fair, and homely; all decked in the same
+conventional holiday smile; bodies tall and short, executing every
+variety of bow and courtesy; voices sweet, sharp, and guttural,
+uttering the senseless formula of congratulation--these were Sarah's
+impressions of the tedious ceremonial. Restored to her rigid composure,
+she too bowed and spoke the word or sentence custom exacted--an
+emotionless automaton in seeming, while Lucy's matchless inflections
+lent interest and beauty to the like nothings, as she rehearsed them
+in her turn; and Philip Benson, having no solicitude for his bride's
+health or ability to endure the fatigue, was collected enough to
+compare the two, and, while exulting in his selection, to commiserate
+the proprietor of the colder and less gifted sister.
+
+At last the trial was over; the hospitable mansion was closed; the
+parlors deserted; the preparation for travelling hurried through;
+and the daughters went forth from their girlhood's home. Philip had
+cordially invited Sarah and Lewis, by letter, to accompany Lucy and
+himself to Georgia; but Sarah would not hear of it, and Lewis, while he
+left the decision to her, was not sorry that she preferred to journey
+instead with him alone. It was too cold to go northward, and the
+Hammond's now proposed to proceed with the others as far as Baltimore,
+there to diverge upon a Western and Southern tour, which was to occupy
+three weeks, perhaps four.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XI.
+
+
+During the month preceding his marriage, Lewis Hammond had spent much
+time and many thoughts in providing and furnishing a house for his
+wife. His coadjutor in this labor of love was not, as one might have
+expected, Mrs. Hunt, but his early friend, Mrs. Marlow. His omission
+of his future mother-in-law, in his committee of consultation, he
+explained to her by representing the number of duties already pressing
+upon her, and his unwillingness to add aught to their weight. But when
+both girls were married and gone, and the work of "getting to rights"
+was all over, this indefatigable woman paid Mrs. Marlow a visit, and
+offered her assistance in completing the arrangements for the young
+housekeepers.
+
+"There is nothing for us to do," said Mrs. Marlow. "Lewis attended
+to the purchase of everything before leaving; and the orders are all
+in the hands of a competent upholsterer whom he has employed, as
+is also the key of the house. I offered to have the house-cleaning
+done, but Lewis refused to let me help him even in this. He is very
+methodical, and rather strict in some of his ideas. When the premises
+are pronounced ready for the occupancy of the future residents, you and
+I will play inspectors, and find as much fault as we can."
+
+Mrs. Hunt went around by the house on her way home. It was new and
+handsome, a brown stone front, with stone balconies and balustrades;
+but three stories high, it was true, yet of ample width and pitch of
+ceiling, and--as she discovered by skirting the square--at least three
+rooms deep all the way up. The location was unobjectionable; not more
+than four blocks from the paternal residence, and in a wider street. On
+the whole, she had no fault to find, provided Mr. Hammond had furnished
+it in such style as she would have recommended. She had her fears lest
+his sober taste in other respects should extend to these matters, and
+hinted something of the kind to her husband.
+
+"I have confidence in Mr. Hammond to believe that he will allow his
+wife every indulgence compatible with his means," was the reply.
+
+Mr. Hunt did not deem it obligatory upon him to state that his
+son-in-law had conferred with him upon numerous questions pertaining to
+Sarah's likes and probable wishes; that he had examined and approved
+of the entire collection of furniture, etc., selected for her use. Why
+should he, how could he, without engendering in his wife's bosom the
+suspicion that he had accounted to him for Lewis' choice of the father
+as an adviser? namely, that the newly-made husband had gained a pretty
+correct estimate of this managing lady's character, her penny-wise and
+pound-foolish policy, and intended to inaugurate altogether a different
+one in his house.
+
+Regardless of Mrs. Marlow's polite insinuation that their room was
+preferable to their company until all things should be in readiness for
+inspection, the ambitious mother made sundry visits to the premises
+while they were being fitted up, and delivered herself of divers
+suggestions and recommendations, which fell like sand on a rock upon
+the presiding man of business.
+
+On the day appointed for the tourists' return, Mrs. Marlow's carriage
+drew up at Mr. Hunt's door, by appointment, to take the mistress of
+the house upon the proposed visit of criticism of her daughter's
+establishment. Mrs. Marlow was in a sunny mood, and indisposed to
+censure, as was evinced by ejaculations of pleasure at the general
+effect of each apartment as they entered, and praise of its component
+parts. Mrs. Hunt was not so undiscriminating. The millionaire's wife
+must not imagine that she was dazzled by any show of elegance, or that
+she was overjoyed at the prospect of her child's having so beautiful
+and commodious a home.
+
+"The everlasting oak and green!" she uttered, as they reached the
+dining-room. "It is a pity Mr. Hammond did not select walnut and
+crimson instead! Green is very unbecoming to Sarah."
+
+"Then we must impress upon her the importance of cultivating
+healthy roses in her cheeks, and wearing bright warm colors. This
+combination--green and oak--is pretty and serviceable, I think. The
+table is very neatly set, Mary," continued Mrs. Marlow, kindly, to the
+tidy serving-maid. "Keep an eye on the silver, my good girl, until
+your mistress comes. Mrs. Hunt, shall we peep into the china closets
+before we go to the kitchen? I have taken the liberty, at Lewis'
+request, of offering to your daughter the service of a couple of my
+protegees, excellent servants, who lived for years with one of my own
+children--Mrs. Morland, now in Paris. They are honest, willing, and, I
+think, competent. The man-servant, if Lewis sees fit to keep one, he
+must procure himself."
+
+The china, glass, and pantries were in capital order; the kitchen well
+stocked, light, and clean, and dinner over the fire.
+
+"You will be punctual to the minute, Katy, please!" was the warning
+here. "Mr. Hammond is particular in the matter of time."
+
+"And you will see that my daughter has a cup of clear, strong coffee!"
+ordered Mrs. Hunt, magisterially. "She is delicate, and accustomed to
+the very best of cookery." And, having demonstrated her importance and
+superior housewifery to the round-eyed cook, she swept out.
+
+To an unprejudiced eye, the whole establishment was without a flaw;
+and, undisturbed by the captious objections of her companion in the
+survey, Mrs. Marlow saw and judged for herself, and carried home with
+her a most pleasing imagination of Lewis' gratification, and Sarah's
+delighted surprise with the scene that was to close their way of cold
+and weariness.
+
+By Mr. Hammond's expressed desire to his father-in-law, there was
+no one except the domestics in the house when they arrived. As the
+carriage stopped, the listening maid opened the door, and a stream of
+radiance shot into the misty night across the wet pavement upon the two
+figures that stepped from the conveyance.
+
+"In happy homes he sees the light." The mental quotation brought back
+to Sarah the vision of that lonely evening, ten months before, when
+she had moaned it in her dreary twilight musings at the window of her
+little room. "Dreary then, hopeless now!" and with this voiceless sigh,
+she crossed the threshold of her destined abode. With a kindly greeting
+to the servants in the hall; Lewis hurried his wife onward, past the
+parlor doors, into a library sitting-room, back of the show apartments,
+warm and bright, smiling a very home welcome.
+
+Here he placed her in a deep cushioned chair, and, pressing her hands
+in his, kissed her, with a heartfelt--"May you be very happy in our
+home, dear wife!"
+
+"Thank you!" she replied. "It is pleasant here, and you are too kind."
+
+"That is impossible where you are concerned. Sit here, while I see to
+the trunks. When they are carried upstairs, you can go to your room.
+Throw off your hat and cloak."
+
+He was very thoughtful of her comfort--too thoughtful, because his love
+made him watchful of her every look, word, and gesture. She was glad
+of the brief respite from this vigilance, that allowed her to bury her
+face in her hands and groan aloud. She had no heart to look around her
+cage. No doubt it was luxurious; the bars softly and richly lined; the
+various arrangements the best of their kind; still, it was nothing but
+a cage--a prison, from which death only could release her.
+
+The trim maid came for her wrappings, and directly afterwards Lewis, to
+take her upstairs.
+
+"Not a very elaborate toilet, dear," he said, as he left her for his
+dressing-room. "You will see no one this evening but our father and
+mother, and they will remember that you have been travelling all day."
+
+When she was ready, it lacked still a quarter of an hour of
+dinner-time, and she acceded to Lewis' proposal that they should go
+over their dwelling. By his order, there were lights in every room.
+The graceful furniture, the well-contrasted hues of the soft carpets,
+the curtains and pictures showed to fine advantage. Every thing was in
+place, from cellar to attic; not a symptom of parsimony or cheapness
+in the whole; and all betokened, besides excellent judgment, such
+conformity to, or unison with her taste, that Sarah, with all her
+heaviness of heart, was pleased. She was touched too with gratitude or
+remorse; for, when they were back in the cozy sitting-room, she laid
+her hand timidly on that of her husband, and said, falteringly:
+
+"I do not deserve that you should take so much pains to gratify me, Mr.
+Hammond."
+
+Over Lewis' face there flushed one of the rare smiles that made him
+positively handsome while they lasted. He grasped the shrinking fingers
+firmly, and drew his wife close to his side.
+
+"Shall I tell you how to repay me for all that I have done, or ever can
+do, to promote your ease and enjoyment?"
+
+"If you please." But her heart sank, as she foresaw some demands upon
+a love that had never existed--a treasure that, to him, was sealed and
+empty; yet whose poverty she dared not avow.
+
+"Call me 'Lewis,' now that we are at home, dear. I cannot realize that
+you are indeed all mine--that our lives are one and the same, while you
+continue that very proper 'Mr. Hammond.'"
+
+"It comes more naturally to my tongue, and don't you think it more
+respectful than--than--the other?"
+
+"I ask no such form of respect from you. I do not fear lest you should
+fail to 'honor and obey' me, you little paragon of duty! Believe me,
+dearest, I fully understand and reverence the modest reserve that has
+not yet ceased to be shyness, in the expression of your sentiments
+towards me. You are not demonstrative by nature. Neither am I. But
+since you are my other self, and there is no living being nearer to
+you than myself, ought we not to overcome this propensity to, or custom
+of, locking up our feelings in our own breasts? Let me begin by a
+confession of one uncomfortable complaint, under which I have labored
+ever since our engagement. Do you know, darling, that I absolutely
+hunger--I cannot give any other name to the longing--I hunger and
+thirst to hear you say that you love me! Do you remember that you
+have never told me in so many words what you have given me other good
+reasons for believing? I need but one thing this evening to fill my cup
+with purest content. It is to have you say--openly, fearlessly, as my
+wife has a right to do--'Lewis, I love you!'"
+
+"It need be a source of no unhappiness to be married to a man whom one
+does not love, provided he is kind and generous!" say match-makers and
+worldly-wise mothers. Perhaps not, after one's conscience is seared in
+callosity by perjuries, and her forehead grown bold as brass; but the
+neophyte in the laudable work of adaptation to such circumstances will
+trip in her words and color awkwardly while acquiring this enviable
+hardihood.
+
+Sarah's head fell, and her face was stained with blushes. One wild
+impulse was to throw herself at the feet of him whom she had wronged
+so foully, and, confessing her mad, wicked deception upon his holiest
+feelings, pray him to send her away--to cast her adrift, and rid
+himself of a curse, while he freed her from the gentle, yet intolerable
+bondage of his love.
+
+"Dinner is ready!" announced the servant. Sarah's senses returned,
+and with them self-control. With a strange smile, she glanced up at
+him--a look he did not understand, yet could not guess was born of
+anguish--and said, with a hesitation that seemed pretty and coquettish
+to him--"Lewis! do you hear? May it please your worship, I am very
+hungry!"
+
+"Tease! I will have my revenge yet! See if I do not!"
+
+Laughing lightly, she eluded his outstretched arm, and sprang past
+him into the hall leading to the dining-room. She assumed the seat at
+the table with a burlesque of dignity, and throughout the meal was
+more talkative and frolicsome than he had ever seen her before. So
+captivated was he by her lively discourse and bright looks, that he
+was sorry to hear the ring, proclaiming the coming of the expected
+visitors. The dessert had not been removed, and the girl was instructed
+to show them immediately into the dining-room.
+
+A toast was drunk to the prosperity of the lately established
+household, and the gentlemen went off to the library.
+
+"Always see to putting away your silver, Sarah!" counselled the mother.
+"And you had ought to get a common set of dinner and breakfast things.
+This china is too nice for every-day use. Of course, Mr. Hammond can
+afford to get more when this is broken; but it's a first-rate rule,
+child, as you'll find, to put your money where it will show most.
+That's the secret of my management. Mr. Hammond must give you an
+allowance for housekeeping and pin-money. Speak to him about it right
+away. Men are more liberal while the honeymoon lasts than they ever
+are afterwards. Strike while the iron is hot. You can't complain of
+your husband, so far. He has set you up very handsome. If I had been
+consulted about furnishing, I would have saved enough off of those
+third-story chambers and the kitchen to buy another pair of mirrors
+for your parlors. The mantel has a bare look. I noticed it directly I
+went in. To be sure, the Parisian ornaments are pretty and tasty, and
+expensive enough--dear knows! but they don't make much of a display."
+
+"I do not like the fashion of lining walls with mirrors," said Sarah,
+in her old, short way; "and am satisfied with the house as it is. Shall
+we join the gentlemen?"
+
+Nothing had ever showed her more plainly the degradation of her false
+position than the confident air her mother wore in making her coarse
+observations, and instructing her as to the method of managing her
+generous, confiding husband. It was the free-masonry of a mercenary
+wife, whose spouse would have been better represented to her mind by
+his money-bag than his own proper person, towards another of the same
+craft, who rated her lawful banker by corresponding rules.
+
+"Will I then really grow to be like her and her associates?" Sarah
+questioned inly. "Will a fine house and its fixtures, will dress and
+equipage and pin-money so increase in importance as to fill this
+aching vacuum in my heart? Will a position in life, and the envy of my
+neighbors, make up to me for the loss of the love of which I used to
+dream, the happiness which the world owes me yet? Is this the coin in
+which it would redeem its promises?"
+
+Mr. Hunt's mild features wore their happiest expression this evening.
+He arose at the ladies' entrance, and beckoned his daughter to a seat
+on the sofa beside him.
+
+"You are a little travel-worn!" he said. "Your cheeks are not very
+ruddy."
+
+"Did you ever see them when they were?" asked Sarah, playfully.
+
+"She was always just that pale when she was a baby," said Mrs. Hunt,
+setting herself in the arm-chair proffered by her son-in-law. "Lucy
+stole all the roses from her." Sarah may have thought that other and
+more grievous thefts had succeeded this doubtful one, but she neither
+looked nor said this. "And that reminds me, Mr. H.! Did you bring
+Lucy's letter for Sarah to read?"
+
+"I did." Mr. Hunt produced it. "Keep it, and read it at your leisure,
+Sarah."
+
+"They are supremely happy, I suppose?" remarked Lewis, with the
+benevolent interest incident to his fellowship of feeling with them.
+
+"For all the world like two turtle-doves!" Mrs. Hunt rejoined. "Their
+letters are a curiosity. It is 'Phil.' and 'Lucy' from one end to the
+other. I mean to save them to show them five years from now. Hot love
+is soon cool, and by-and-by they will settle down as sensible as any of
+the rest of us. You don't begin so, I see, Sarah, and I am pleased at
+it. Between me and you, it's two-thirds of it humbug! There is Victoria
+West that was! She looks ready, in company, to eat up that lean monkey
+of a George Bond. I don't believe but she shows him the other side of
+the picture in private."
+
+Sarah heard her father's suppressed sigh, and felt, without looking
+up, that her husband's eyes sought hers wistfully. The unobservant
+dame pursued her free and easy discourse. Mr. Hammond was "one of the
+family" now, and there was no more occasion for choice grammar or fine
+sentiments before him.
+
+"Not that I blame Victoria for taking him. He was a good offer, and she
+wasn't much admired by the gentlemen--rich as Mr. West is. Mr. Bond
+is twenty-five years older than she is, and wears false teeth and a
+toupee; but I suppose she is willing to overlook trifles. She watches
+out for the main chance, and will help him take care of his money, as
+well as spend it. Vic. is a prudent girl."
+
+"Lucy--Mrs. Benson--was at home when she wrote, was she not?"
+interrogated Mr. Hammond.
+
+"Yes, at his father's. His mother keeps house, and Lucy has nothing
+to do but ride, visit, and entertain company. She says the house is
+crowded the whole time, and she has so many beaux that Philip stands no
+chance of speaking a word to her. She is perfectly happy."
+
+Notwithstanding the various feelings of the listeners, none of them
+could resist this picture of a felicitous honeymoon, so naively spoken.
+Lewis' laugh cleared the vapors from his brow, and the pain at Sarah's
+heart did not hinder her from joining in.
+
+"And the ousted bridegroom, perforce, seeks consolation in the society
+of his fair friends?" said Lewis. "If this is the way young married
+people show the love-sickness you complained of just now, Mrs. Hunt, I
+am content with our more staid ways--eh, Sarah?"
+
+"Quiet ways suit me best," was the answer.
+
+"'Still water runs deep,'" quoted Mrs. Hunt. "I used to worry over your
+stay-at-home habits and eternal study of books, Sarah; but I'm ready to
+say now that you was sensible to behave as you did, as it has turned
+out. I don't mean to flatter Mr. Hammond, but I'd ten times rather you
+had taken him than a dried-up widower like George Bond."
+
+"Thank you!" bowed Lewis, desirous of diverting attention from Sarah's
+growing uneasiness beneath her mother's congratulations.
+
+Mrs. Hunt held on her way. "I never had a fear lest Lucy shouldn't
+marry well. She was pretty and attractive, and knew too much about the
+world to throw herself away for the sake of love in a cottage. But
+now the danger is over, I will allow that I used to mistrust Sarah
+here sometimes. You was just queer enough to fall in love with some
+adventurer with a foreign name, and never a cent in his pocket--yes,
+and marry him, too, in spite of all that could be said and done to
+prevent it. I was forever in a 'feaze' about you; fancying that you was
+born to make an out-and-out love-match--the silliest thing a girl can
+do, in my opinion."
+
+"You never dreamed of her 'taking up,' as the phrase is, with a humdrum
+individual like myself," said Lewis. "Nor, to be candid, did I, for
+a long time, Mrs. Hunt. Yet I cannot say that I regret her action,
+disadvantageous to herself though it was. I wrote to you of our visit
+to New Orleans, did I not, sir?" he continued to Mr. Hunt, inwardly a
+little disgusted by the frank revelations his mamma-in-law was making
+of her principles and plans.
+
+The subject so interesting to most wedded people, so embarrassing to
+one of the present party, was not again introduced during the elder
+couple's stay. When Lewis returned to the library, after seeing them
+out, Sarah sat where he had left her, her hand shading her eyes--deep
+in thought, or overcome by weariness.
+
+"You had better go up to your room, dear," said Lewis. "I wonder you
+are not worn out completely."
+
+She arose to obey; walked as far as the door, then came back to him.
+
+"It may appear strange to you that I should speak openly to such a
+suspicion; but I must beg you not to suppose for an instant that in
+my acceptance of your offer of marriage, I was actuated by mercenary
+motives. You look surprised"--she hurried on yet faster while her
+resolution lasted--"but I could not rest without doing myself this act
+of justice. Much that mother said to-night might--must have led you to
+this conclusion. I would not have you think worse of me than I deserve,
+and of this one act of baseness I am innocent."
+
+"My precious little wife, how excited you are! and over what a
+nonsensical imagination! Suspect you--the noblest as well as the
+dearest of women--of selling yourself, body and soul, for money? Listen
+to my speech now, dear Sarah!"
+
+He sat down and pulled her to his knee. "I esteem you, as I love
+you, above all the rest of your sex--above any other created mortal.
+I know you to be a pure, high-minded woman. When I part with this
+persuasion, may I part also with the life that doubt on this point
+would render wretched! Judge, then, whether it be possible for me to
+link this holy realization of womanhood with the thought of another
+character, which I will describe. I hold that she who enters the
+hallowed state of wedlock through motives of pecuniary interest, or
+ambition, or convenience--indeed, through any consideration save that
+of love, single and entire, for him to whom she pledges her vows,
+stands, in the sight of her Maker and the angels, on a level with the
+most abandoned outcast that pollutes the earth she treads. I shock
+you, I see; but on this subject I feel strongly. I have seen much, too
+much, of fashionable marriages formed for worldly aggrandizement--for
+riches; sometimes in pique at having lost a coveted lover. With my
+peculiar sentiments, I feel that I could endure no heavier curse than
+to contract an alliance like any of these. I repeat it, I believe in
+Woman as God made her and intended she should live, if for no other
+reason than because I recollect my mother, boy as I was when she died;
+and because I know and have you, my true, blessed wife!"
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XII.
+
+
+A year and five months had passed away since the evening when Lewis
+Hammond held his conscience-stricken wife upon his knee, and told
+her--in fervid words that singularly belied his calm and even demeanor
+at other times--of his faith in and love for her, and his abhorrence
+of the sin she felt in her trembling soul that she had committed. Yet
+she had not the superhuman courage required to contradict a trust like
+this. There was no alternative but to keep up the weary, wicked mockery.
+
+"But in all these months she must have learned to care for him!" cries
+Mrs. Common Sense. "There is nothing disagreeable about the man. He is
+not brilliant; yet he has intelligence and feeling, and is certainly
+attached to his wife. I have no doubt but that he indulges her in
+every reasonable request, and comports himself in all respects like an
+exemplary husband."
+
+Granted, to each and every head of your description, my dear madam!
+But, for all that, his obdurate wife had not come to love him. I blush
+to say it; but while we are stripping hearts let us not be squeamish!
+There had been seasons, lasting sometimes for weeks, when her existence
+was a continual warfare between repugnance to him and her sense of
+duty; when she dreaded to hear his step in the hall, and shrank
+inwardly from his caress; watched and fought, until strength and mind
+were well-nigh gone. Mark me! I do not deny that this was as irrational
+as it was reprehensible; but I have never held up my poor Sarah as
+a model of reason or propriety. From the beginning, I have made her
+case a warning. The fates forbid that I should commend it to any as an
+example for imitation! A passionate, proud, reticent girl; a trusting,
+loving, deceived woman; a hopeless, desperate bride--whose heart lay
+like a pulseless stone in her breast at the most ardent love-words of
+her husband, and throbbed with wild, uncontrollable emotion at the
+fraternal tone and kiss of her lost and only love--I have no plea for
+her, save the words of Infinite compassion and Divine knowledge of
+human nature and human woe: "Let him that is without sin among you cast
+the first stone at her!"
+
+The highly respectable firm of which Mr. Hammond was the junior member,
+was adding, if not field to field, thousand to thousand, of the
+wherewithal for the purchase of fields, or, what was better still, city
+lots. Mrs. Lewis Hammond had set up her carriage about a year after her
+marriage; said equipage being a gift from her generous husband on the
+occasion of the first airing of the little "Baby Belle," as she was
+always called in the family. Not until subsequent events had endowed
+it with deeper and saddest interest did Sarah read Aldrich's beautiful
+poem bearing the above title. Lewis' mother's name was Isabella. Her
+grandchild received the same, which became "Belle" on the mother's
+tongue, and then, because it was natural to say "Baby" too, the pretty
+alliteration was adopted.
+
+To a man of Lewis' domestic tastes the advent of this child was a
+source of the liveliest pleasure, and the tiny inmate of his household
+was another and a powerful tie, binding him to a home already dear. But
+to the mother's lonely life, so bare of real comfort or joy--haunted
+by memory and darkened by remorse--the precious gift came like a ray
+of Heaven's purest light, a strain of angel music, saying to care,
+"Sleep!" to hope, "Awake, the morning cometh!" Beneath the sunshine of
+so much love, the infant throve finely, and without being a greater
+prodigy than the nine hundred and ninety-nine miracles of beauty and
+sprightliness who, with it, composed the thousand "blessed babies"
+of the day, was still a pretty, engaging creature, whose gurgling
+laugh and communicative "coo" beguiled the mother's solitude and made
+cheerful the lately silent house.
+
+It was late in the June afternoon, and arrayed in clean white frock,
+broad sash, and shoulder-knots of pink ribbon, the small lady sat on
+her mother's lap at the front window, awaiting the appearance of
+the husband and father. Sarah had altered much since her marriage;
+"improved wonderfully," said her acquaintances. There was still in
+her mien a touch of haughtiness; in her countenance the look that
+spoke profound thought and introspection. Still, when in repose, her
+brow had a cast of seriousness that bordered on melancholy; but over
+her features had passed a change like that wrought by the sculptor's
+last stroke to the statue. The mould was the same--the chiselling
+more clear and fine. Especially after the birth of her child was this
+refining process most apparent in its effects. There was a softness in
+her smile, a gentle sweetness in her voice, as she now talked to the
+babe, directing its attention to the window, lest the father's approach
+should be unnoticed, and he disappointed in his shout of welcome.
+
+"How affected! gotten up for show!" sneered the childless Mrs. Bond, as
+she rolled by in her carriage, on her way to her handsome, cheerless
+home and its cross master.
+
+"She has chosen her position well, at all events," rejoined her
+companion, a neighbor and gossip, who had taken Lucy's place in
+Victoria's confidence.
+
+"Ridiculous!" She spat out the ejaculation from the overflowing of her
+spleen. "I could laugh at her airs, if they did not make me mad! One
+would think, to see her as she sits there, that she had decked herself
+and the child to please a man that she doted upon--like the good wives
+we read of in novels."
+
+"And why shouldn't she be fond of him? He is a good-hearted fellow, and
+lets her do pretty much as she pleases, I imagine, besides waiting on
+her like any lover. I often meet them riding out together. That is more
+than your husband or mine ever does, my dear."
+
+"They go quite as often as we desire their company, I fancy. Mine
+does, I know. Perhaps if we had the reason for parading our conjugal
+devotion that Mrs. Hammond has, we might wheedle our lawful lords into
+taking a seat alongside of us once in a while. There's nothing like
+keeping up appearances, particularly if the reality is lacking. If
+Lewis Hammond knew some of the pretty stories I could tell him about
+Sarah's love-scrapes, he would not look so sublimely contented with his
+three-story paradise. The elegant clothes he piles upon that squaw of
+his are preposterous, and she carries them off as if she had dressed
+well all her days. I tell you, she never looked decent until she put on
+her wedding-dress. You have heard of the fainting-scene that took place
+that morning, I suppose? Old Mother Hunt said it was 'sensibility,'
+and 'nervous agitation;' the company laid it to the heat of the room;
+and I laughed in my sleeve, and said nothing. If that woman aggravates
+me much more, I will remind her of some passages in her experience she
+does not dream that I know."
+
+"Do tell me what you mean? I am dying of curiosity! Did she flirt very
+hard before she was married?"
+
+"She never had the chance. Lewis Hammond was her only offer."
+
+"What was the matter, then?"
+
+"I can't tell you now. It is too long a story. The next time she frets
+me, as she does whenever she crosses my path, maybe you will hear the
+romance. Shall I set you down at your door, or will you enliven me
+by spending the evening with me? I do not expect other company, and
+George falls asleep over his newspaper as soon as he has despatched his
+dinner. Come in, and I will show you the loveliest sofa-pillow you ever
+beheld; a new pattern I have just finished."
+
+"Thank you! I would accept the invitation with pleasure, but I have not
+been home since breakfast, and James makes such a fuss if he does not
+find me in the nursery, tending that whimpering baby, when he comes up
+at night, that it is as much as my life is worth to stay out after six
+o'clock. Anything for peace, you know; and since we wives are slaves,
+it is best to keep on the blind side of our masters."
+
+The day had been warm down town, and as Lewis Hammond stepped from the
+stage at the corner nearest his house, he felt jaded and dispirited--a
+physical depression, augmented by a slight headache. A business
+question which he had talked over with Mr. Marlow, before leaving
+the store, contributed its weight of thoughtfulness, and he was not
+conscious how near he was to his dwelling until, aroused by a sharp tap
+upon the window-pane, he glanced up at the animated tableau framed by
+the sash--the smiling mother, and the babe leaping and laughing, and
+stretching its hands towards him.
+
+"This is the sweetest refreshment a man can ask after his day of toil,"
+he said, when, having kissed his wife and child, he took the latter
+in his arms. He was not addicted to complimentary speeches, and while
+his esteem and attachment for his chosen partner were even stronger
+than they had been in the heart of the month-old bridegroom, he was
+less apt to express them to her now than then. In one respect, and
+only one, his wedded life had brought him disappointment. Unreserved
+confidence and demonstrative affection on his side failed to draw forth
+similar exhibitions of feeling from Sarah. Kind, thoughtful, dutiful,
+scrupulously faithful to him and his interests in word, look, and deed,
+she ever was. Yet he saw that she was a changed being from the fond,
+impulsive daughter, whose ministry in her father's sick-room had won
+for her a husband's love. Her reception of his affectionate advances
+was passive--a reception merely, without apparent return. Never, and he
+had ceased now to ask it, had she once said to him the phrase he had
+craved to hear--"I love you!" Yet he would as soon have questioned the
+reality of his existence as that she did love him. He held inviolate
+his trust in the motive that had induced her to become his wife,
+and in this calm confidence he was fain to rest, in the absence of
+protestations that would have gladdened his soul, while they could
+hardly have strengthened his faith in her affection.
+
+Few wives, however loving, have been more truly cherished than was
+Sarah, and of this she was partially aware. If she had remained
+ignorant of Lewis' sentiments and wishes with regard to herself, until
+the grieved and unrequited love had subsided into the dull aching that
+does not, like a green wound, create, by its very smart, a species
+of excitement that helps one bear the pain; had he glided gradually
+into the joyless routine of her life's duties, and abided his time of
+speaking until he had made himself necessary to her comfort and peace,
+he might have won a willing bride. But what omniscient spirit was there
+to instruct and caution him? He met and loved her, supposing her to be
+as free as himself; like an honest, upright man, he told that love,
+and, without a misgiving placed his honor and his happiness in her
+hands.
+
+Sarah could not have told why she revolved all this in her unquiet
+mind as he sat near her, playing with their child; yet she did think
+of their strange sad history, and from the review arose a feeling
+of pity, sincere, almost tender for him, so worthy and so deceived.
+She remembered with abasement of spirit how often she had been ready
+to hate him as the instrument of her bondage; how wrathful words
+had arisen to her lips at the moment of his greatest kindness; how
+patiently he had borne her coldness; how unflagging was his care of
+and for her. Over the dark, turbulent gulf of the unforgotten past
+that sundered their hearts, she longed, as she had never done before,
+to call to him, and confessing her sin against Heaven and against him,
+to implore pardon for the sake of the spotless babe that smiled into
+the father's face with its mother's eyes. Would he be merciful? Slowly
+and emphatically memory repeated in her ear his denunciation of the
+unloving wife, and courage died before the menaced curse.
+
+"Fudge! Fiddlesticks! what frippery nonsense!" cry out, in a vehement
+storm of indignation, a bevy of the Common Sense connection. "Are we
+not staid and respectable matrons all? Do we not rear our daughters
+virtuously, and teach our sons to honor father as well as mother? Yet
+who of us troubles herself with raking in the cold ashes of her 'long
+ago' for the bones of some dead and gone love--a girlish folly of
+which she would be ashamed now? What cares Mr. Common Sense, among his
+day-books and ledgers, in his study or in his office, how many times
+his now correct helpmeet pledged eternal fidelity to other lovers
+before she put her last crop of wild oats into the ground, and settled
+for life with him? What if some of us, may be all, if driven hard,
+should admit that when we stood up before the minister we underwent
+certain qualms--call them pangs, if you like--at the thought of Tom
+This, or Harry That, or Dick The Other, who, if circumstances had
+permitted, we would have preferred should occupy the place of 'The
+man whom we actually held by the hand!' While men can choose their
+mates, and women can only take such as propose to them, these things
+will happen. After all, who is hurt? You aver that none of you are,
+mesdames, and we would not call your word in question. Ladies so
+conscientious must, of necessity, be veracious, even in love affairs."
+
+"I am a thoughtless animal!" said Lewis at the dinner-table. "There is
+a letter from Lucy! Open it--don't mind me! I will crack your nuts for
+you while you read it."
+
+There was a troubled look in Sarah's eye when she laid it down. "Lucy
+says they are certainly coming North this year--that we may look for
+them in a week from the date of this. This is rather sooner than mother
+expected them. Her housecleaning is late this season, in consequence of
+her rheumatic spell in May."
+
+"Let them come straight here! What should prevent them? There is an
+abundance of room for them--baby, nurse, and all. It will be a grand
+arrangement!" said Lewis, heartily.
+
+Sarah was backward in replying. "Father and mother may object. I would
+not wound them by interference with their guests."
+
+"I will answer that mother will thank us to take care of them until her
+scrubbing and scalding are done. And Lucy would not be willing to risk
+her baby's health in a damp house."
+
+"I will go and see mother to-morrow about it," concluded Sarah. She
+still appeared dubious as to the expediency of the proposed step, a
+thoughtfulness that did not wear away during the whole evening.
+
+The Bensons had not visited New York the preceding year. They were
+detained at the South by a combination of causes, the principal of
+which was the long and fatal illness of Philip's mother. Lucy had
+written repeatedly of her intense desire to see her home once more,
+declaiming against the providences that had thwarted their projects,
+like an impatient, unreasonable child.
+
+"Philip says it is not convenient for him to go just yet," said her
+letter to her sister, "and that our part of the country is as healthy
+as Saratoga itself; but I have vowed that I will not wait one day
+beyond the time I have set. It sets me wild to think of being in
+Broadway again--of visiting and shopping, and seeing you all. We have
+been so dull here since Mrs. Benson's death, and Philip is as solemn as
+a judge. One of his married sisters will stay with the old gentleman
+while we are away. O Sarah, I am sick of housekeeping and baby-nursing!
+It will do well enough for me when I need spectacles and a wig; but
+now, while I am young enough to enjoy life, it is insufferable!"
+
+"Not very domestic, is she?" observed Lewis, folding up the letter,
+which Sarah had handed him. "Ah! it is not every man who has such a
+gem of a wife as I have! It appears to me that the married women of
+these days are not satisfied unless they have a string of beaux as long
+as that of a popular single belle. How is it, little one? Do you ever
+catch yourself wishing that your husband were not such an old-fashioned
+piece of constancy, and would give some other fellow a chance to say a
+pretty thing, when you are in company?"
+
+"I do not complain," said Sarah, demurely.
+
+"Not in words, perhaps; your patience is wonderful in everything. But
+how do you feel when you see your old neighbor, Mrs. Bond, waltzing
+every set with the gayest gallant in the ball-room, while your jailor
+does not like to have you 'polk' at all, and favors your dancing only
+with men whom he knows to be respectable?"
+
+"I feel that Mr. Hammond is a sensible man, and careful of his wife's
+reputation, even in trifles, while Mr. Bond"--
+
+"Go on! finish your sentence!"
+
+"And his lady are a well-matched pair!"
+
+Much as she disliked Victoria, and knowing that she was hated still
+by her, Sarah deemed it a necessary and common act of courtesy to her
+sister's friend to call and apprise her of Lucy's probable visit.
+
+"It is not convenient for mother to receive them for a week yet, on
+account of certain household arrangements," she stated, in making
+known the object of her visit to her ancient enemy. "So you will find
+Lucy at our house, where her friends will be received as if they were
+my own."
+
+"You are very polite, I am sure!" replied Mrs. Bond, smothering her
+displeasure at Sarah's studied civility, and noting, with her quick,
+reptile perceptions, that she was to be tolerated as she fancied Sarah
+would imply, merely as Lucy's early associate. "And the Bensons are to
+be with you! I shall call immediately upon their arrival. Poor, dear
+Lucy! I long to see her. She has had a vast deal of trouble since her
+marriage--has she not?"
+
+"Except the death of her mother-in-law, she has had nothing to trouble
+her that I have heard of," answered Sarah, rising to go.
+
+"My dear creature! what do you call the wear and tear of managing a
+husband, and a pack of unruly servants, and looking after a baby? And
+she was such a belle! I wonder if she is much broken!"
+
+"Come and see!"
+
+Mrs. Hammond was at the parlor door.
+
+"I will--most assuredly! How do you like their being quartered upon
+you? What does that pattern husband of yours say to this?"
+
+"Madam!" said Sarah, surprised and offended by the rude query.
+
+"Oh! I don't mean that it would not be very delightful to you to have
+your sister with you; but there was a foolish rumor, about the time of
+your marriage, that you and Mr. Benson had some kind of a love-passage
+down in the country; and I thought that Mr. Hammond, with his
+particularly nice notions, might retain an unpleasant recollection of
+the story, which would prevent him from being on brotherly terms with
+his old rival. Men are terribly unreasonable mortals, and perfect Turks
+in jealousy! We cannot be too careful not to provoke their suspicions."
+
+Not for the universe would Sarah have betrayed any feeling at this
+insolence, save a righteous and dignified resentment at its base
+insinuations; but the ungovernable blood streamed in crimson violence
+to her temples, and her voice shook when she would have held it firm.
+
+"Mr. Hammond is not one to be influenced by malicious gossip, Mrs.
+Bond, if, indeed, the report you have taken the liberty of repeating
+was ever circulated except by its author. I cannot thank you for your
+warning, as I recognize no occasion for jealousy in my conduct or
+character. I am accountable for my actions to my conscience and my
+husband, and I release you from what you have assumed to be your duty
+of watching and criticising my personal affairs. Good-morning."
+
+"I struck a sore spot! no doubt of that!" soliloquized Mrs. Bond,
+recalling Sarah's start of pain and blush at the indelicate allusion
+to Philip Benson. "That woman stirs up all the bile in my system if I
+talk two minutes with her. If there were half the material to work upon
+in that vain, weak Lucy, that there is in this sister, I would have my
+revenge. As for Lewis Hammond, he is a love-sick fool!"
+
+Sarah's cheeks had not lost their flush, nor had her heart ceased
+its angry throbbings, when she reached home. In the solitude of her
+chamber, she summoned strength and resolution to ask herself the
+question, so long avoided, shunned, as she had imagined, in prudence,
+as she now began to fear, in dread of a truthful reply.
+
+When she married Lewis Hammond, she loved another. Fearful as was this
+sin, it would be yet more terrible were she now to discover a lurking
+fondness, an unconquered weakness for that other, in the heart of the
+trusted wife, the mother who, from that guilty bosom, nourished the
+little being that was, as yet, the embodiment of unsullied purity.
+It was a trying and a perilous task, to unfold deliberately, to pry
+searchingly into the record of that one short month that had held all
+the bloom and fragrance of her life's spring season; to linger over
+souvenirs and compare sensations--a painful and revolting process; but,
+alas! the revulsion was not at memories of that olden time; and as this
+appalling conviction dawned upon her, her heart died within her.
+
+The nurse was arranging Baby Belle for the possible reception of her
+unknown aunt and uncle, that afternoon, when Mrs. Hammond came into
+the nursery, her face as pale and set as marble, and silently lifted
+the child from the girl's lap to her own. For one instant her cheek
+was laid against the velvet of the babe's; the ringlets of fair hair
+mingled with her dark locks, before she set about completing its
+unfinished toilette. With a nicety and care that would have seemed
+overstrained, had other than mother's hands been busied in the work,
+the stockings and slippers were fitted on the plump feet; the sunny
+curls rolled around the fingers of the tiring woman, and brushed back
+from the brow; the worked cambric robe lowered cautiously over the
+head, lest the effect of the coiffure should be marred; the sleeves
+looped up with bands of coral and gold, a necklace, belonging to the
+same set, clasped around the baby's white throat, and she was ready for
+survey.
+
+"Now, Baby Belle and mamma will go down to meet papa!"
+
+And with the little one still clinging to her neck, she met, in the
+lower hall, her husband ushering in Lucy and Philip Benson.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIII.
+
+
+Breakfast was kept back an hour next morning to await Lucy's tardy
+appearance. "She was sadly wearied with her journey," apologized
+Philip, and Sarah begged that she would keep her room and have her
+meals sent up to her--an hospitable offer, which Mr. Benson negatived.
+
+Lucy did look tired and unrefreshed, and, to speak more plainly,
+very cross. Her hair, in its dryest state of pale yellow, was combed
+straight back above her temples; her skin was sallow; her wrapper
+carelessly put on, and its dead white unrelieved by even a bow of
+ribbon at the throat. Involuntarily Lewis glanced from the uninviting
+picture to his household deity, in her neat breakfast-dress of gray
+silk faced with pink, her glossy hair and tranquil features, and said
+to himself, in secret triumph, "Which is now the beauty? None of your
+trumpery ornamental articles for me!"
+
+Philip's eyes were as keen as his host's, and the probability is that
+he instituted a similar comparison, however well his pride succeeded in
+concealing the act and its result. Cutting short his wife's querulous
+plaints of the discomforts of travel, and the horrors of nervous
+sleeplessness, he opened a conversation with Mr. Hammond in the
+subdued, perfectly-managed tones Sarah remembered so well, selecting
+such topics as would interest a business man and a citizen of a
+commercial metropolis. Lucy pouted, and applied herself for consolation
+to her breakfast.
+
+With a strange mingling of emotions, Sarah listened to the dialogue
+between the gentlemen. She was anxious that Lewis should acquit himself
+creditably. Brilliant, like Philip, he could never be; but in sterling
+sense, not many men were his superiors. She had never had cause to
+be ashamed of him; for one so unpretending and judicious was not
+liable to make himself ridiculous. Whence, then, the solicitude with
+which she hung upon his every word? her disappointment when he did
+not equal the ideal reply she had fashioned, as she heard the words
+that called it forth? Several times she joined in the conversation,
+invariably to corroborate Lewis' assertions, or to supply something
+he had omitted to state. Philip Benson was a student of human nature.
+Was his mind sufficiently abstracted from his domestic annoyances to
+divine the motive that Sarah herself only perceived afterwards in
+solitary self-examination? Not love of, or admiration for the intrinsic
+excellence of the man whose name she bore; not fear lest his modesty
+should lessen his merits in the eyes of others; but a selfish dread
+that his acute interlocutor, discerning in him nothing likely to
+attract or win the affection of a woman such as he knew her to be,
+might guess her true reason for marrying Mr. Hammond. The timorous
+progeny of one guilty secret can only be numbered by the minutes during
+which it is borne in the bosom. Like the fabled Lacedæmonian boy,
+Sarah carried the gnawing horror with a fortitude that looked like
+cheerfulness. Habit cannot lighten the weight of a clinging curse; but
+strength and hardness come in time, if the burdened one is not early
+crushed by his load.
+
+The sisters spent most of the day in Lucy's room; the latter stretched
+upon the lounge, as she declared, "completely used up." Mrs. Hunt
+came around early in the forenoon, and into her sympathizing ears the
+spoiled child poured the story of her woes and wrongs; Sarah sitting
+by with a swelling, rebellious heart. With indecorous contempt for
+one of the most binding laws of married state--inviolable secrecy as
+to the faults of the other party to the momentous compact--mother and
+daughter compared notes upon their husbands, and criticised the class
+generally as the most wrong-headed, perverse, and dictatorial of all
+the necessary evils of society.
+
+Mrs. Benson, the elder, and her pleasure-loving daughter-in-law had
+differed seriously several months before the death of the former.
+Philip, while espousing his wife's cause to the rest of his family,
+had, in private, taken her to task for what he considered objectionable
+in her conduct; her heads of offence being mainly extravagant love of
+gay company, and the gallant attentions of gentleman visitors; neglect
+of dress and all efforts to please, when there was no company by; and
+a decided indisposition to share in the household duties, which his
+mother's increasing feebleness made onerous to her.
+
+"Ah, mother!" sighed the interesting complainant, raising herself
+to shake up her pillow, then sinking again upon it. "If girls only
+realized what is before them when they marry, few would be brave
+enough to change their condition. When I picture to myself what I was
+at home--a petted darling--never allowed to inconvenience myself when
+it could possibly be avoided; courted in society; free as air and
+light-hearted as a child; and then think of all that I have endured
+from the unkindness of strangers, and the--well--the want of sympathy
+in him for whom I had given up my dear old home and friends--I ask
+myself why I did not remain single!"
+
+The prudent matchmaker shook her head. "Marriage is a lottery, they
+say, my dear; but I am very sure that single life is a blank. You
+had no fortune, and in the event of your father's death would have
+been almost destitute. I am sorry your father did not insist upon Mr.
+Benson's giving you your own establishment at once. I hope, now the old
+lady is out of the way, you will have things more according to your
+notions."
+
+"Don't you believe that! As if there were not two sisters-in-law,
+living but four miles off, and driving over every other day to 'see how
+pa is.' That means, to see whether Lucy is letting things go to wreck
+and ruin. I understand their spiteful ways! Philip shuts his ears when
+I talk about them; but I am determined that I will not bear much more
+meddling!"
+
+Decidedly, Lucy Benson married was a woeful declension from the
+seraphic spinster depicted in our earlier chapters; but, as in time
+past, so in time present and to come, the sparkling sugar, whose
+integrity and sweetness appeared indestructible, while it was kept
+dry and cool, if dampened, undergoes an acetous fermentation, and the
+delicate sweet-meat, exposed to the air at a high temperature, becomes
+speedily a frothing mass, evolving pungent gases. The pretty doll who
+anticipates, in the connubial state, one long fete-day of adoration
+received, and benign condescension dispensed, is as certain to awake
+from this dream as from any other, and upon the temper in which she
+sustains the disenchantment, depends a vast proportion of her future
+welfare and peace.
+
+Lucy's behavior to her babe was a mixture of childish fondling and
+neglect. Fortunately, the little "Hunt's" special attendant was an
+elderly woman, long established as "Maumer" in the Benson family, and
+her devotion to her charge prevented any present evil effects from his
+mother's incompetence or carelessness. Philip's pride in, and love
+for his boy were extreme. When he came in that evening, Sarah chanced
+to be in the nursery adjoining her chamber, watching and inciting the
+two babies to a game of romps. She held one on each knee, the nurses
+standing by in amused gratification.
+
+"That is surely my little man's voice!" said Philip, as he and Lewis
+came up the stairs.
+
+"Let me see!"--and Mr. Hammond peeped into the playroom. "Walk in!" he
+continued, throwing the door wide open. "Isn't there a pair of them?"
+
+"And a nurse worthy of the twain!" returned Philip. He stooped to the
+invitation of the lifted arms, fluttering, as if the owner would fly to
+his embrace. "What do you say of him, aunty? Is he not a passable boy?"
+
+"More than passable! he is a noble-looking fellow. He resembles you, I
+think," said Sarah, quietly.
+
+"Do you hear that, Hammond? Your wife pronounces me 'more than
+passable--a noble-looking fellow!' So much for an adroit hint. Is she
+given to flattery?"
+
+"Not she!" returned Lewis, laughing. "She never said as much as that
+for my looks in all her life. I have one consolation, however; the
+less she says the more she means!" He went into the dressing-room, and
+Philip, still holding the child, seated himself by Sarah.
+
+"How odd, yet how familiar it seems, to be with you once more, my good
+sister! What a succession of mischances has made us virtual strangers
+for many months past! I had almost despaired of ever holding friendly
+converse with you again. I wonder if your recollections of our visit
+to Aunt Sarah are as vivid as mine. Do you remember that last sad, yet
+dear day on the Deal Beach?"
+
+Baby Belle was standing in her mother's lap, her soft, warm arms about
+her neck; and around the frail, sinking human heart invisible arms, as
+warm and close, were upholding and strengthening it in the moment of
+mortal weakness.
+
+"Very distinctly. Many changes have come to us both since then."
+
+"To me very many! I have grown older in heart than in years." Then,
+evidently fearing that she might otherwise interpret his meaning, he
+subjoined: "We have had a heavy bereavement in our household, you know.
+Your changes have all been happy ones. The enthusiastic, restless girl
+has ripened into the more sedate, yet more blessed wife and mother."
+
+Press your sweet mouth to the convulsed lips, Baby Belle! Veil with
+your silky curls the tell-tale features, whose agitation would
+bewilder, if not betray! Philip was stroking the head of his boy, and
+did not see the uneasiness of his companion.
+
+"Have you heard of Uncle Nathan's death?" she asked, clearing her
+throat.
+
+He looked surprised at the inquiry. "Yes! Aunt Sarah wrote immediately
+to my father."
+
+"Ah! I had forgotten that they were brothers. My memory is treacherous.
+Excuse me! I am wanted in the dining-room!"
+
+Lewis met her just outside the door, and stopped her to bestow the
+evening kiss he had not cared to offer in Philip's presence.
+
+"Why, you are as rosy as a peony!" he said, jestingly. "Has Benson been
+paying you compliments, in return for yours to him? I must look after
+you two, if you carry on at this rate."
+
+With a look he had reason subsequently to recall, but which only
+pleased him at the time, she raised his hand to her lips--a look of
+humility, gratitude, and appeal, such as one might cast upon a slighted
+benefactor--and vanished.
+
+A merry family party gather around the Hammond's generous table, that
+afternoon. All the Hunts were there--from the father down to Jeannie,
+who was fast shooting up into a tall girl, somewhat pert in manner, but
+lovable despite this, at times, unpleasant foible.
+
+"Sister Lucy," she said, after an interval of silence, "Ellen West
+said, at school, to-day that you were a great belle when you were a
+young lady; were you?"
+
+"You must not ask me, Jeannie!" The old smile of conscious beauty stole
+into Lucy's cheeks.
+
+"Was she, sister?" Jeannie referred the case to Sarah.
+
+"Yes, my dear, she was very beautiful," replied the latter, simply.
+
+"She isn't now--not so very handsome, I mean--no handsomer than you
+are, sister!"
+
+"Jeannie! you forget yourself!" interposed Mrs. Hunt.
+
+"Why, mamma, I did not intend to be rude! Only I thought that belles
+were always the prettiest ladies that could be found anywhere."
+
+"By no means!" corrected Lewis, willing to help his wife's pet out of
+a scrape. "There are many descriptions of belles, Jeannie: handsome,
+rich, fast, and intellectual."
+
+"And as papa was not rich, I suppose you were either fast or
+intellectual, sister Lucy!" persisted the child.
+
+"I thought her pretty fast when I tried to catch her," said
+Philip.--"Mrs. Hunt, Mrs. Hammond, Mrs. Benson, have you ladies decided
+in the course of to-day's congress what watering-place is to be made
+the fashion by our clique next month?"
+
+Mrs. Hunt replied that they inclined to Newport; principally on account
+of Lucy and the children, who would all be benefited by the bathing.
+
+Lucy was sure that she should tire of Saratoga or the Catskills in a
+week, whereas she adored the ocean.
+
+"What says Madame Discretion?" said Lewis, merrily, to his wife.
+
+"Except that it would break up the family party, I had rather stay at
+home as long as it is prudent to keep the baby in town; then, if you
+could go with us, spend a month at some mountain farmhouse or seaside
+cottage," she answered.
+
+"Hear! hear!" commanded Philip. "Behold a modern wedded dame who
+prefers seclusion with her liege lord to gayety without him! The age of
+miracles is returning!"
+
+"Is the case, then, so anomalous?" retorted Sarah, the red spot in her
+cheek alone testifying to her embarrassment. "Are your Southern matrons
+all public characters?"
+
+"I can answer that!" said Lucy. "They are slaves! housekeeping
+machines--nothing better!"
+
+"How many more weak places are there in this crust of family chit-chat,
+I should like to be informed!" thought the annoyed and uninitiated
+Hammond. "Here goes for the spot where there is no danger of anybody's
+breaking in!" He spoke aloud. "A tempting proposal was made to me this
+morning. It is considered advisable for one of our firm to go abroad
+for a couple of months, perhaps longer, to divide his time among the
+principal manufacturing districts of England, Scotland, and France.
+Expenses paid by the firm, and the term of absence indefinitely
+prolonged, if the traveler wishes it. Mr. Marlow is tired of crossing
+the ocean, and presses me to accept the mission."
+
+"What did you tell him?"
+
+It was Sarah who spoke in a startled voice that drew general notice to
+her alarmed face. Her concern was a delicious tribute to her husband's
+self-love, if he possessed such a quality. At least he loved her well
+enough to be pleased at her manifest reluctance to have him leave her.
+
+"I told him that I must ask my wife," said he in a meek tone, belied
+by the humorous twinkle in his eye, and loving half-smile about his
+mouth. "See what it is to be one under authority, Benson! A man dare
+not conclude an ordinary business transaction without the approval of
+the powers that be."
+
+When Sarah accompanied her sister to her chamber that night, the passee
+belle put a direct question.
+
+"Tell me, Sarah, are you as much in love with Mr. Hammond as you seem
+to be, or is it all put on for the benefit of outsiders?"
+
+"I am not apt to do anything for the sake of mere show; nor do I care
+for the opinion of 'outsiders,' as you call them," rejoined Sarah,
+amazed at the cool audacity of the inquiry, and disposed to resent
+Lucy's confident expectation that she would avow the cheat, if such
+there were, in her deportment.
+
+"You used to be shockingly independent, I know. What a ridiculously
+honest little puss you were! How you despised all our pretty arts
+and necessary affectations! How you hated our economical mother's
+second-best furniture and dinners! I don't believe Victoria West has
+ever forgiven you for the way in which you used to take to pieces what
+you styled our 'surface talk and surface life!' I thought, however,
+that you had discovered by this time, that one cannot live in the world
+without deceiving herself or other people; I prefer making fools to
+being one. Heigh-ho! this life is a very unsatisfactory business at the
+best. What a heavenly collar that is of yours! One thing I do wish, and
+that is--that my husband were half as fond of me, or as good to me, as
+Lewis is to you!"
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIV.
+
+
+Lewis Hammond had thrown the whole weight of his influence in the
+family conclave into the Newport scale; and to this popular resort
+Sarah went, in July, in company with the Bensons, her mother and
+Jeannie, who was made one of the party at Lewis' request and expense.
+The generous fellow acted in conformity with conscience and judgment in
+this temporary exile of his treasures; and, consistent in his purpose
+of rendering it a pleasure excursion to his wife, he made very light of
+his prospects of lonely widowerhood, representing, instead, the benefit
+she and the babe would draw from the sea-breezes, and his enhanced
+enjoyment of his weekly visits, because they were so far apart. He
+went with them to the shore, at their general flitting, and spent two
+days; saw for himself that those whose comfort was nearest his heart
+were properly accommodated; privately feed chambermaid and waiter,
+with hints of future emolument to accrue to them from special regard
+to the wants of Mrs. Hammond and her infant, and returned to town with
+the unenviable consciousness of having left at least three-fourths of
+himself behind him.
+
+A brisk rush of business beguiled him of the aching, hollow void for
+a few hours after he got back. Not even Baby Belle's accents could be
+heard amid that roar and whir. But at luncheon-time, while waiting for
+his order to be filled at a restaurant, the dreary, solitary void
+overtook him--a fit of unmistakable home-sickness, that yet caused
+him to recoil at the idea of entering the deserted house uptown, when
+evening should oblige him to seek a lodging. How were Sarah and baby
+getting along without him? He was afraid that Lucy was not, in all
+respects, as congenial a companion as he could have wished his wife to
+have, and that Mrs. Hunt's undisguised worldliness, her foolish love
+of fashion and display, would often annoy and mortify her sensible and
+right-judging daughter. Benson was capital company, though--a gentleman
+every inch of him! and very friendly to Sarah. But for her reserved
+manners he would act the part of a real brother to her; in any case, he
+would be kind, and see that she wanted for nothing.
+
+Then--shot into his head by some unseen and unaccountable
+machinery--there darted across his mind a fragment of a conversation he
+had overheard, at entering his parlor, the day before the Bensons left.
+Philip and Lucy were standing before a miniature painting of Sarah and
+her child, completed and brought home a short time previous. Although
+seemingly intent upon the picture, their conversation must have strayed
+far from the starting-point, for the first sentence that reached the
+unintentional listener was a tart, scornful speech from Lucy, that
+could by no stretch of the imagination be made to apply to her sister.
+
+"If you admire her so much, why did you not marry her when you had the
+opportunity? She was willing enough!"
+
+"Take care you do not make me regret that I did not do so!" was
+Philip's stern rejoinder as he turned from her.
+
+The change of position showed him that Lewis was present, and for a
+second his inimitable self-possession wavered. Recovering himself,
+he reverted to the picture, and called upon his host to decide some
+disputed point in its artistic execution which he and Lucy were
+discussing.
+
+"Poor fellow! he has learned that all is not gold that glitters!"
+mused Lewis to the newspaper he was pretending to read. "Lucy had a
+high reputation for amiability before she was Mrs. Benson. There is no
+touchstone like the wedding ring to bring out one's true qualities."
+
+He sat with his back to the entrance of the saloon, and the table
+directly behind him was now taken possession of by three or four new
+arrivals--all gentlemen, and apparently on familiar terms with one
+another. They called for a bountiful lunch, including wine, and plunged
+into a lively, rather noisy talk. Lewis closed his ears, and applied
+himself in earnest to his paper. He started presently at a word he
+could have declared was his name. Restraining the impulse to look
+around and see who of the group was known to him, he yet could not help
+trying to determine this point by their voices. One, a thin falsetto,
+he fancied belonged to George Bond, who was no more of a favorite
+with him than was his better half with Sarah. Lewis regarded him as
+a conceited rattlepate, whose sole talent lay in the art of making
+money--whose glory was his purse. "Why should he be talking about me
+here? Nonsense; I was mistaken!" and another page of the newspaper was
+turned.
+
+"When I leave my wife at Newport, or anywhere else, in the particular
+and brotherly care of one of her former flames, publish me as a crazy
+fool!" said the wiry voice again, almost in the reader's ear.
+
+"He doesn't know old stories as well as you do, perhaps," remarked some
+one.
+
+"I should think not! When my wife pulls the wool over my eyes in that
+style, horsewhip me around town, and I won't cry 'Quarter!' Sister's
+husband or not, I'll be hanged if I would have him in my house for two
+weeks, and he is such a good-looking dog, too!"
+
+He stopped, as if his neighbor had jogged him, as Lewis looked over his
+shoulder in the direction of the gossip. A dead and awkward silence
+ensued, ended at last by the pertinent observation that the "waiter was
+a long time bringing their lunch."
+
+In a maze of angry doubt and incredulity as to the evidence of his
+senses and suspicions, Lewis finished his meal, and stalked out past
+the subdued and now voracious quartette, favoring them with a searching
+look as he went by, which they sustained with great meekness. All the
+afternoon a heavy load lay upon his heart, an indefinable dread he dared
+not analyze; a foreboding he would not face, yet could not dismiss.
+
+"You are blue, Lewis," said Mr. Marlow, kindly, as they started uptown
+together. "This is the worst of having a wife and children; you miss
+them so terribly when they are away. But you will get used to it. Make
+up your mind at the eleventh hour to cross the water, and stay abroad
+three months. You will be surprised to find how easy your mind will
+become after a couple of weeks."
+
+"I am satisfied, sir, without making personal trial of the matter,
+that men become inured to misery, which seemed in the beginning to be
+insupportable."
+
+Mr. Marlow laughed, and they separated.
+
+Lewis sighed as he looked up at the blinds of his house, shut fast
+and grim, and still more deeply as he admitted himself to the front
+hall, that echoed dismally the sound of the closing door. His next
+movement was to walk into the parlor, throw open a shutter, and let
+in the evening light upon the portraits of the dear absent ones.
+There he stood, scanning their faces--eyes and soul full of love and
+longing--until the mellow glow passed away and left them in darkness.
+
+The comfortless evening repast was over, and he betook himself to the
+library, Sarah's favorite room, as it was also his. Her low easy-chair
+stood in its usual place opposite his at the center-table, but her
+workbasket was missing; likewise the book with its silver marker,
+that he was wont to see lying side by side with some volume he had
+selected for his own reading. But one lay there now, and there was
+an odd choking in his throat as he read the title on the back. He
+had expressed a wish for it in Sarah's hearing some days before, and
+her delicate forethought had left it here as a solace and keepsake,
+one that should, while reminding him of her, yet charm away sad
+feelings in her absence. Even in the exterior of the gift, she had
+been regardful of his taste. The binding was solid and rich; no gaudy
+coloring or tawdry gilt; the thick smooth paper and clear type were a
+luxury to touch and sight. Lewis was no sentimentalist in the ordinary
+acceptation of the term, yet he kissed the name his wife had traced
+upon the fly-leaf ere he sat down to employ the evening as she by her
+gift tacitly requested him to do. But it was a useless attempt. The
+book was not in fault, and he should have read it intently if only
+because she had bestowed it; still the hand that held it sank lower and
+lower, until it rested upon his knee, and the reader was the thinker
+instead.
+
+The most prosaic of human beings have their seasons of
+reverie--pleasing or mournful, which are, unknown often to themselves,
+the poetry of their lives. Such was the drama Lewis Hammond was now
+rehearsing in his retrospective dreams.
+
+The wan and weary mother, whom he remembered as always clothed in
+widow's weeds, and toiling in painful drudgery to maintain herself
+and her only boy; who had smiled and wept, rendered thanksgivings and
+uttered prayers for strength, alternately, as she heard Mr. Marlow's
+proposal to protect and help the lad through the world that had borne
+so hardly upon her; who had strained him to her bosom, and shed fast,
+hot tears of speechless anguish at their parting--a farewell that was
+never to be forgotten in any meeting on this side of eternity; this was
+the vision, hers the palladium of love, that had nerved him for the
+close wrestle with fortune, guarded him amid the burning ploughshares
+of temptation, carried him unscathed past the hundred mouths of hell,
+that gape upon the innocent and unwary in all large cities. Cold and
+unsusceptible as he was deemed in society, he kept unpolluted in his
+breast a fresh living stream of genuine romantic feeling, such as we
+are apt to think went out of fashion--aye, and out of being--with the
+belted knights of yore; wealth he had vowed never to squander, never
+reveal, until he should pour it, without one thought of self-reserve,
+upon his wife! He never hinted this to a living creature before the
+moment came for revealing it to the object of his choice. He was a
+"predestined old bachelor!" and "infidel to love and the sex," said and
+believed the gay and frivolous, and he let them talk. His ideal woman,
+his mother's representative and successor--the beauty and crown of
+his existence--was too sacred for the gaze and comment of indifferent
+worldlings. For her he labored and studied and lived; confident in a
+fatalistic belief that, at the right moment, the dream would become a
+reality--the phantasm leave her cloudy height for his arms.
+
+Love so beautiful and intense as this, like snow in its purity, like
+fire in its fervor, cannot be won to full and eloquent utterance but
+by answering love--a sentiment identical in kind, if not equal in
+degree; and Sarah Hammond's estimate of her husband's affection was, in
+consequence of this want in herself, cruelly unjust in its coldness and
+poverty. His patience with her transient fits of gloom or waywardness
+in the early months of their married life; his noble forgetfulness of
+her faults, and grateful acknowledgment of her most trifling effort
+to please him; his unceasing care; his lavish bounty--all these she
+attributed too much to natural amiability and conscientious views
+of duty; too little to his warm regard for her personally. In this
+persuasion she had copied his conduct in externals so far as she
+could; and applauding observers adjudged the mock gem to be a fair and
+equitable equivalent for the rare pearl she had received.
+
+Lest this digression, into which I have been inadvertently betrayed,
+should mislead any with the idea that I have some design of dignifying
+into a hero this respectable, but very commonplace personage, return
+we to him as he hears eleven o'clock rung out by the monitor on the
+mantel, and says to himself, "Baby Belle has been asleep these three
+hours, and mamma, caring nothing for beaux and ball-room, is preparing
+to follow her."
+
+Beaux and ball-room! Pshaw! why should the nonsensical talk of that
+jackanapes, George Bond, come to his mind just then? The whole tenor of
+the remarks that succeeded the name that he imagined was his disproved
+that imagination. But who had left his wife at Newport in the care of a
+"good-looking" brother-in-law? who had been domesticated in the family
+of the deluded husband for a fortnight?
+
+Pshaw again! What concern had he with that scandalous, doubtless
+slanderous tattle?
+
+"Why did you not marry her when you had the opportunity? She was
+willing enough!"
+
+Could Lucy have spoken thus of her sister? Sarah was barely acquainted
+with Philip Benson when Lucy wedded him, having met him but once prior
+to the wedding day at the house of her aunt in the country, from which
+place his own letter, penned by her father's sick-bed, recalled her.
+How far from his thoughts then was the rapid train of consequences that
+followed upon this preliminary act of their intercourse!
+
+Did that scoundrel Bond say "Hammond"? It was not a common name, and
+came quite distinctly to his ears in the high, unpleasant key he
+so disliked. A flush of honest shame arose to his forehead at this
+uncontrollable straying of his ideas to a topic so disagreeable, and so
+often rejected by his mind.
+
+"As if--even had I been the person insulted by his pity--I would
+believe one syllable he said of a woman as far above him in virtue and
+intellect, in everything good and lovable, as the heavens are above
+the earth! I would despise myself as much as I do him if I could lend
+my ear for an instant to so degrading a whisper! I wish I had faced
+him and demanded the whole tale; yet no! that would have been rash and
+absurd. Better as it is! By to-morrow I shall laugh at my ridiculous
+fancies!"
+
+"Scratch! scratch! scratch!" The house was so still in the approaching
+midnight that the slight noise caused him a shock and quiver in the
+excited state of his nerves. The interruption was something between a
+scrape and a rap, three times repeated, and proceeding, apparently,
+from the bookcase at his right. What could it be? He had never seen
+or heard of a mouse on the premises, nor did the sound much resemble
+the nibbling of that animal. Ashamed of the momentary thrill he had
+experienced, he remained still and collected, awaiting its repetition.
+
+"Scratch! scratch! rap!" It was in the bookcase--in the lower part
+where were drawers shut in by solid doors. These he had never explored,
+but knew that his wife kept pamphlets and papers in them. He opened
+the outer doors cautiously, and listened again, until assured by the
+scratching that his search was in the right direction. There were
+three drawers--two deep, the third and upper shallow. This he drew out
+and examined. It contained writing-paper and envelopes, all in good
+order. Nor was there any sign of the intruder amongst the loose music
+and periodicals in the second. The lower one was locked--no doubt
+accidentally, for he had never seen Sarah lock up anything except
+jewels and money. Their servants were honest, and she had no cause to
+fear investigation on his part.
+
+Feeling, rather than arguing thus, he removed the drawer above,
+leaving exposed the locked one, and thrust his hand down into it. It
+encountered the polished surface of a small box or case, which he was
+in the act of drawing through the aperture left by the second drawer,
+when something dark and swift ran over his hand and up his sleeve.
+With a violent start, he dashed the casket to the floor, and another
+energetic fling of his arm dislodged the mouse. His first care was
+to pursue and kill it; his next to examine into the damage it had
+indirectly produced. The box--ebony, lined with sandal-wood--had fallen
+with such force as to loosen the spring, and lay on its side wide open;
+its treasures strewed over the carpet. They were neither numerous, nor
+in themselves valuable. A bouquet of dried flowers, enveloped in silver
+paper, lay nearest Lewis' hand, as he knelt to pick up the scattered
+articles. The paper was tied about the stalks of the flowers with black
+ribbon, and to this was attached a card: "Will Miss Sarah accept this
+trifling token of regard from one who is her stanch friend, and hopes,
+in time, to have a nearer claim upon her esteem?"
+
+The hand was familiar to the reader as Philip Benson's. Why should
+Sarah preserve this, while the many floral tokens of his love which
+she had received were flung away when withered like worthless weeds?
+The pang of jealousy was new--sharp as the death-wrench to the
+heart-strings, cruel as the grave! The card was without date, or he
+would have read, with a different apprehension of its meaning, the
+harmless clause--"And hopes in time to have a nearer claim upon her
+esteem." There was a time, then, when, as Lucy had taunted her husband,
+he might have married her sister! when Sarah loved him, and had reason
+to think herself beloved in return! What was this sable badge but
+the insignia of a bereaved heart, that mourned still in secret the
+faithlessness of her early love, or the adverse fate that had sundered
+him from her, and given him to another?
+
+Crushing the frail, dead stems in his hand, he threw them back into the
+box, and took up a bit of dark gray wood, rough on one side--smoothed
+on the other into a rude tablet. "Philip Benson, Deal Beach, July 27th,
+1856. Pensez a moi!" But ten days before he met her at the wharf in
+New York to take her to her sick father! but three months before she
+plighted her troth to him, promised to wed him, while in spirit she
+was still weeping tears of blood over the inconstant! for he did not
+forget that Philip's engagement to Lucy preceded his own to Sarah by
+eight or nine weeks. There were other relics in the box; a half-worn
+glove, retaining the shape of the manly hand it had inclosed--which, he
+learned afterwards, Philip had left in his chamber at the farm-house
+when he departed to seek gayer scenes; a white shell, upon whose rosy
+lining were scratched with the point of a knife the ominous initials,
+"P. B." and beneath them "S. B. H.," a faded rosebud, and several
+printed slips, cut from the columns of newspapers. He unfolded but two
+of these.
+
+One was an extract from Tennyson's "Maud"--the invitation to the
+garden. Breathlessly, by reason of the terrible stricture tightening
+around his heart, Lewis ran his eyes over the charming whimsical
+morceau. They rested upon and reviewed the last verse:
+
+    "She is coming--my own, my sweet!
+      Were it ever so airy a tread,
+    My heart would hear her and beat;
+      Were it earth in an earthy bed,
+
+    "My dust would hear her and beat;
+      Had I laid for a century dead,
+    Would start and tremble under her feet,
+      And blossom in purple and red."
+
+He did not discriminate now between printed and written verses. These
+were love stanzas sent by another man to his wife, received and
+cherished by her, hidden away with a care that, in itself, bordered
+on criminality, for was not its object the deception of the injured
+husband? The most passionate autograph love-letter could hardly have
+stabbed him more keenly.
+
+The other was Mrs. Browning's exquisite "Portrait."
+
+And here the reader can have an explanation the tortured man could not
+obtain. With the acumen for which Cupid's votaries are proverbial,
+Philip Benson, then at the "summer heat" degree of his flame for
+the Saratoga belle, had recognized in this poem the most correct
+and beautiful description of his lady-love. Curiosity to see if the
+resemblance were apparent to other eyes, and a desire for sympathy
+tempted him to forward it to Sarah. She must perceive the likeness to
+her divine sister, and surmise the sentiment that had induced him to
+send it. A little alteration in the opening stanza was requisite to
+make it a "perfect fit." Thus it was when the change was made:
+
+    "I will paint her as I see her:
+    ---- times have the lilies blown
+    Since she looked upon the sun."
+
+The poetess, guiltless of any intention to cater for the wants of
+grown-up lovers, had written "Ten" in the space made blank by Philip's
+gallantry and real ignorance of his charmer's age. For the rest, the
+"lily-clear face," the "forehead fair and saintly," the "trail of
+golden hair," the blue eyes, "like meek prayers before a shrine," the
+voice that
+
+          "Murmurs lowly
+    As a silver stream may run,
+    Which yet feels you feel the sun,"
+
+were, we may safely assert, quite as much like poor Sarah, when he sent
+the poem, as they were now like the portrait he would--if put upon his
+oath--sketch of his unidealized Lucy.
+
+It was not unnatural then, in Lewis Hammond, to overlook in his present
+state, these glaring discrepancies in the picture as applied by him.
+With a blanched and rigid countenance he put all the things back in the
+box, shut it, and restored it to its place. Then he knelt on the floor
+and hid his face in his wife's chair; and there struggled out into the
+still air of the desecrated hometemple, made sacred by his love and her
+abiding, deep sobs from the strong man's stricken heart--a grief as
+much more fearful than that of widowhood, as the desertion and dishonor
+of the loved one are worse than death.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XV.
+
+
+It was the "grand hop" night at the headquarters of Newport fashion.
+Sarah, characteristically indifferent to gaieties "made to order," had
+determined not to appear below. The air of her room was fresh and pure,
+and a book, yet unread, lay under the lamp upon her table. Her sister
+and mother had withdrawn to dress, when Jeannie's curly head peeped in
+at Mrs. Hammond's door. Her features wore a most woe-begone expression.
+
+"What has gone wrong, Jeannie?" inquired Sarah.
+
+"Why, mamma says that I will be in her way if I go into the ball-room;
+and it will be so stupid to stay out the whole evening, while all the
+other girls can see the dancing and dresses, and hear the music. And
+sister Lucy says that children are 'bores' in company."
+
+"A sad state of affairs, certainly! Perhaps I may persuade mother to
+let you go."
+
+"Yes; but if she does, she will sit close against the wall with a lot
+of other fat old ladies, and they will talk over my head, and squeeze
+me almost to death, besides rumpling my dress; and I so want to wear my
+tucked pink grenadine, sister!"
+
+"And you would like to have me to go down with you; is that it?"
+
+Jeannie's eyes beamed delightedly. "Oh, if you only would!"
+
+Sarah looked down into the eager face and saw, in anticipation, her own
+little Belle imploring some boon, as important to her, as easy to be
+granted by another as this, and consented with a kiss.
+
+"Run away and bring your finery here! Mother is too busy to attend to
+you. Mary can dress you."
+
+The order was obeyed with lightning speed; and Sarah, still holding
+in the excited child the foreshadowing of her darling's girlhood,
+superintended the toilet, while she made herself ready.
+
+"What shall I wear, Jeannie?" she asked carelessly, holding open the
+door of her wardrobe.
+
+"Oh, that lovely fawn-colored silk, please! the one with the black
+lace flounces! It is the prettiest color I ever saw; and I heard Mrs.
+Greyling tell another lady the night you wore it, when brother Lewis
+was here, you know, that it was one of the richest dresses in the room,
+modest as it looked, and that the flounce must have cost a penny!"
+
+"Probably more!"
+
+Sarah proceeded to array herself in the fortunate robe that had won the
+praises of the fashionably distinguished Mrs. Greyling. Her abundant
+dark hair was lighted by two coral sprigs, which formed the heads of
+her hair-pins, and, handkerchief and gloves in hand, she was taking
+a last survey of Jeannie's more brilliant costume, when there came a
+knock at the door.
+
+"Mr. Benson!" said Mary, unclosing it.
+
+"May I come in?" he asked.
+
+The tidy Mary had removed all trace of the recent tiring operations
+from the apartment, which was a compound of parlor and dressing-room, a
+necessary adjunct to the small chamber and smaller nursery, leading out
+of it, at the side and rear.
+
+"You may!" replied Sarah. "Here is an aspirant for ball-room honors,
+who awaits your approval."
+
+"Mademoiselle, que vous etes charmante! I am penetrated with profound
+admiration!" exclaimed the teasing brother-in-law, raising his hands in
+true melodramatic style.
+
+Jeannie laughed and blushed until her cheeks matched the grenadine.
+
+"Mrs. Hunt told me that you had changed your mind, and intended
+to grace the festive scene with your presence," continued Philip,
+addressing Sarah. "She and Lucy are there, and the dancing has begun.
+I came to escort you and our fair debutante here--that is, unless some
+one else has offered his services and been accepted."
+
+"That is not likely, since Mr. Hammond left us in your care. Do not
+your fourfold duties oppress you?"
+
+"Not in the least. If all my charges were as chary of their calls upon
+me as you are, my time would hang heavily upon my hands. No one would
+imagine, from your reluctance to be waited upon, that you had been
+spoiled at home. If Mr. Hammond were here now, he would tell you to
+draw that shawl"--
+
+"It is an opera cloak!" interrupted Jeannie.
+
+"A ball-cloak to-night, then, is it not? I was saying that, although
+the night is not cool for sea air, you had better wrap that mantle
+about your chest and throat as we go out."
+
+Just outside the door a waiter passed them with a note in his hand. He
+stopped, on seeing Philip.
+
+"Mr. Benson! I was on my way to your rooms with this, sir."
+
+Philip stepped back within the parlor to read it by the light. It was a
+line from a friend who had just arrived at another hotel notifying him
+of this fact. It required no reply, and, leaving it upon the table, he
+rejoined his companions.
+
+"See mamma! Isn't it just as I said?" whispered Jeannie, as she
+established herself beside her sister in a comfortable corner that
+commanded a view of the spacious hall and its gay, restless sea of
+figures.
+
+Sarah smiled at discovering her mother sandwiched between two portly
+dowagers; one in purple, the other in lavender silk; all three bobbing
+and waving in their earnest confabulations, in a style that presented
+a ludicrously marked resemblance to the gesticulations of a group of
+Muscovy ducks, on the margin of a mud-puddle, held by them in their
+capacity of a joint-stock company.
+
+"I see that Lucy has taken the floor," observed Philip. "She will not
+thank me for any devoirs I could render her for the next three hours.
+If they get up anything so humble as quadrilles, may I ask the pleasure
+of your company for the set?"
+
+"If you wish it--and my dress is not too grave in hue"--
+
+"And too decorous in its make, you were about to add, I presume;" he
+finished the sentence bluntly. "It forms a refreshing contrast to the
+prevailing style around us."
+
+Lucy here flitted into sight, and her very bare arms and shoulders
+pointed her husband's strictures. A stool, brought into the room for
+the use of some child or invalid looker-on of the festivities, now
+stood empty under Sarah's chair, and Philip, espying it, seized upon
+and drew it forth. When seated, his mouth was nearly on a level with
+Sarah's ear.
+
+"This is pleasant!" he said. "We are quite as much isolated from the
+rest of mankind as if we were sitting among the heathery hillocks on
+Deal Beach. You do not love the visions of those tranquil sunny days as
+I do. You never allude to them voluntarily. Yet you have had less to
+convert your dreams into every-day actualities, tedious and prosaic,
+than I have. I stand in direful need of one of the old lectures,
+inculcating more charity, and less study of complex motives and biassed
+tendencies in the machine we call Man. Begin! I am at your mercy."
+
+"I have forgotten how to deliver them. I am out of practice."
+
+"That is not surprising. Your husband is behind the age he lives
+in--and so are you. You two would make Barnum's fortune, could he ever
+persuade the public of your idiosyncrasies."
+
+"What are you talking about?"
+
+"Look around and through this room, and you will understand one
+part of my meaning. Do you remark the preponderance of married over
+single belles? and that the most tenderly deferential cavaliers are
+husbands, and not dancing with their wives? I could point out to you
+three men, leaders of the ton in this extremely reputable, eminently
+moral assembly, who, it is whispered among the knowing ones, are
+married, and, having left their domestic associations for a season of
+recreation, boldly attach themselves to certain stylish young ladies
+here, and challenge observation, defy public censure, by their marked
+and increasing devotion. I meet them strolling along the beach in the
+morning; riding together in the afternoon; and when not engaged in this
+evening exhibition of toilet and muscle, you will find them pacing the
+moon or star-lit piazza, or, perchance, again sentimentalizing on the
+shore until the witching hour draws near."
+
+"You surprise me!"
+
+"You have no right to be surprised. You have the same thing continually
+before you in your city. Every fashionable hotel or boarding-house
+can supply you with such flirtations by the dozen. A married woman
+who declines the polite services of all gentlemen, except her husband
+and near relatives, is a prude, with false scruples of propriety
+and delicacy. Let her legal partner complain--he is cried out upon
+as a despot, and you can trust the sweet angel of an abused wife to
+elude his vigilance--violence, she terms it--for the future, without
+altering her conduct in aught else. Do you see that pretty woman in
+blue--the one with the madonna-like face? Her tyrant is here but once
+a week--from Saturday until Monday--then hies back to the business he
+loves as well as she does her pleasure. Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday,
+Thursday, Friday, and the forenoon of Saturday, any mustachioed puppy
+may walk, talk, drive, and flirt with her--bask in the rays of those
+liquid orbs. When the rightful lord appears, she is demure as a nun,
+patient as a saint, dutiful as Griselda, to him and him alone. Do you
+begin to understand why I congratulated you upon having a husband
+of the olden stamp? Why, I do from my heart felicitate my friend
+Hammond upon having gained, as a helpmeet, one of that nearly obsolete
+species--Woman!"
+
+Sarah's embarrassment was painful and but indifferently concealed. She
+felt that it was barely excusable, in consideration of his fraternal
+relation to her, for Philip to speak so plainly of this social blemish;
+and altogether unpardonable, while he did not, or could not, prevent
+his wife's participation in the questionable gaieties he assailed
+so unsparingly. Reply she could not, without implicating Lucy in
+her reprobation, and he must perceive her difficulty. This was the
+trouble that lay uppermost. At her heart's core, the uneasy feeling
+she ever experienced in conversation with him; the stirring of the
+entombed love, of whose actual death she had horrible misgivings;
+the incongruous blending of past emotion with present duty, were now
+aggravated by the enforced acceptance of unmerited praise. Her woman's
+instinct, her experience as a wife, told her that the cause of the
+sinful recklessness, the contempt of the true spirit of the marriage
+tie, was not the fruit merely of the vanity and thirst for adulation,
+to which it was properly attributed. With the recollection of her own
+life, the education she had received at home, the hateful, yet even to
+her independent spirit, resistless decrees of society, there swelled up
+within her bosom something akin to Philip's bitter cynicism. Under this
+spur, she spoke.
+
+"And from these signs of the times, you would argue an inherent
+degeneracy of womanhood--a radical change in its composition, such
+as some anatomists tell us has taken place in the structure of our
+bodies--our blood--our very teeth. A dentist, who filled a tooth for me
+the other day, imparted divers scientific items of information to me
+that may illustrate your position. 'Enamel, madam, is not what enamel
+was in the days of our ancestors!' he affirmed pathetically; 'the
+color, the very ingredients of the bone, the calcareous base of the
+teeth, differ sadly from the indestructible molars of fifty years ago.'
+At this passage of his jeremiade, he chanced to touch the nerve in the
+unhappy 'molar' he was excavating, and I am persuaded that I suffered
+as really as my grandmother would have done, had she sat in my place."
+
+She paused, and beat time with her fingers on Jeannie's shoulder to the
+wild, varying waltz that swept the giddy crowd around the room in fast
+and flying circles.
+
+"Your analogy asserts, then, that at heart women are alike in all ages?"
+
+"Why not, as well as men?"
+
+"Then why does not action remain the same, if that be true?"
+
+"Because custom--fashion, if you prefer this name--an unaccountable,
+irresponsible power--owing its birth oftenest to accident or caprice,
+says, 'Do this!' and it is done! be it to perpetrate a cravat-bow, a
+marriage, or a murder!"
+
+Another pause--in which music and dancers seemed sweeping on to sweet
+intoxication--so joyous in their abandon were the gushing strains; so
+swift the whirl of the living ring. The fingers played lightly and
+rapidly on Jeannie's plump shoulder--then rested on a half-beat.
+
+"Yes!" She was looking towards the crowd, but her eye was fixed, and
+her accents slow and grave. "Hearts live and hearts love, while time
+endures. The heart selects its mate in life's springtime, with judgment
+as untaught as that of the silly bird that asks no companion but the
+one the God of Nature has bestowed upon it. But you see not, my good
+brother"--she faced him, a smile wreathing her lip--a strange glitter
+in her eye--"see you not to what woeful disorders these untrained
+desires, this unsophisticated following out of unregulated affections
+would give rise? It would sap the foundations of caste; level all
+wholesome distinctions of society; consign the accomplished daughters
+of palatial halls--hoary with a semi-decade of years--to one-story
+cottages and a maid-of-all work; doom nice young men to the drudgery of
+business for the remainder of their wretched lives, to maintain wives
+whose dowries would not keep their lily-handed lords in French kids
+for a year; cover managing mammas with ignominy, and hasten ambitious
+papas to their costly vaults in--as Dickens has it--'some genteel place
+of interment.' Come what may of blasted hopes and wrecked hearts, the
+decencies of life must be observed. Every heart has its nerve--genuine,
+sensitive, sometimes vulgarly tenacious of life--but there are
+corrosives that will eat it out; fine, deadly wires, that can probe
+and torture and extract it. And when the troublesome thing is finally
+gotten rid of, there is an end to all obstacles to judicious courtships
+and eligible alliances!" She laughed scornfully, and Philip recoiled,
+without knowing why he did so, as he heard her.
+
+"That is all very well, when the nature of the contract is understood
+on both sides," he said, gloomily. "I doubt, however, whether the
+beautiful economy of your system will be appreciated by those whose
+living hearts are bound to the bloodless plaster-casts you describe."
+
+"These accidents will occur in spite of caution on the part of the
+best managers of suitable marriages. By far the larger proportion of
+the shocks inflicted upon polite circles arise from this very cause.
+Pygmalion grows weary of wooing his statue, and wants sympathy in his
+disappointment and loneliness."
+
+The dance was ended. The fantastic variations of the waltz were
+exchanged for a noble march--pealing through the heated rooms like a
+rush of the healthful sea-breeze. The spark died in Sarah's eye. Her
+voice took its habitual pitch.
+
+"I have permitted myself to become excited, and, I am afraid, have said
+many things that I had no right to think--much less to utter. If my
+freedom has displeased you, I am sorry."
+
+"The error--if error there were--was mine," rejoined Philip. "I led the
+conversation into the channel; you, after awhile, followed. I believe
+there is no danger of our misunderstanding each other."
+
+"Darby and Joan! good children in the corner!" cried Lucy, flushed
+with exercise and radiant with good humor, as she promenaded past them
+leaning on the arm of a young West Pointer, a native Southerner and an
+acquaintance of Philip's. If his wife must flirt and frolic, he was
+watchful that she did not compromise him by association with doubtful
+characters. On several occasions, the advances of gay gentlemen, whose
+toilets were more nearly irreproachable than their reputations, had
+been checked by his cool and significant resumption of the husband's
+post beside the belle, and, if need existed, by the prompt withdrawal
+of the unwilling lady from the scene. The cadet laughed, and, convinced
+that she had said a witty thing, Lucy swam by.
+
+"The common sense of our tropes, rodomontades, and allegories is this!"
+said Philip, biting his lip, and speaking in a hard tone. "The only
+safe ground in marriage is mutual, permanent affection. You meant to
+convey the idea that if each of these dressy matrons, humming around
+our ears, had a sincere, abiding love for her husband--and each of
+these gallant benedicts the right kind of regard for his wedded
+Beatrice, the vocation of us corner censors would be gone?"
+
+"Well said, Mr. Interpreter!" she responded, in affected jest.
+
+"This point settled, will you take my arm for a turn through the room
+before the next set is formed? They are talking of quadrilles. I shall
+claim your promise if a set is made up, unless you are not courageous
+enough to brave the public sneer by dancing with your brother. Come,
+Jeannie, and walk with us."
+
+Two sets of quadrilles were arranged at different ends of the saloon.
+Philip led Sarah through one, with Lucy--who considered it a capital
+joke--and her partner vis-a-vis to them, Jeannie, meanwhile, remaining
+by her mother.
+
+The summer nights were short; and, when the dance was over, Sarah
+intimated to her younger sister the propriety of retiring. Mrs. Hunt's
+head ached, and she esteemed the sacrifice comparatively light,
+therefore, that she, too, had to leave the revels and accompany the
+child to her chamber. Sarah's apartments were on the same floor,
+several doors further on. Having said "Good-night" to the others,
+she and Philip walked slowly along the piazza, light as day in the
+moonbeams, until they reached the outer room, the parlor.
+
+"I hope you will experience no ill effects from your dissipation,"
+said Philip, in playful irony. "In a lady of your staid habits, this
+disposition to gaiety is alarming. Absolutely eleven o'clock! What
+will Hammond say when he hears the story? Good-night! Don't let your
+conscience keep you awake!"
+
+Sarah opened the door softly, that she might not startle the
+baby-sleeper in the inner room. The lamp was shining brightly, and by
+it sat--her husband!
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVI.
+
+
+Lewis had entered his wife's room within fifteen minutes after she left
+it. He looked so ill and weary that the girl, Mary, gave a stifled
+scream of fright and surprise.
+
+"Are you sick, sir?" she asked hastily, as he threw off his hat, and
+wiped his pale forehead. "Shall I tell Mrs. Hammond that you are here?
+She went down to the ball-room awhile ago."
+
+"What did you say? No!" replied he, shortly.
+
+His frown, rather than his tone, silenced her. He had picked up the
+envelope Philip had dropped on the table, and his face darkened still
+more. Too proud to question a servant of her mistress' actions and
+associates, he believed that he had gathered from this mute witness
+all that was needful to know. As a privileged habitue of the cosy
+boudoir he had been at such pain to procure and make fit for his wife's
+occupancy, another had sat here and read his evening mail, while
+awaiting her leisure; careless of appearances, since the deceived one
+would not be there to notice them, had tossed this note down with as
+much freedom as he would have done in his own apartment.
+
+Through the open windows poured the distant strains of the band; and,
+seized by a sudden thought, he caught up his hat and strode out, along
+piazzas and through halls, to the entrance door of the ball saloon. As
+Sarah's ill-fortune ordained it, the piercing glance that ran over and
+beyond the crowd of spectators and dancers detected her at the instant
+of Philip's taking his lowly seat at her side. Jeannie's pink attire
+was concealed by the drapery of a lady, whose place in the set then
+forming was directly in front of her. Lewis saw but the two, virtually
+tete-a-tete; and, as he obtained fleeting glimpses of them through the
+shifting throng, marked Philip's energetic, yet confidential discourse,
+and the intentness with which she listened, until, warmed or excited by
+his theme, Sarah lifted her downcast eyes and spoke, with what feeling
+and effect her auditor's varying expression showed.
+
+The gazer stood there like a statue, unheeding the surprised and
+questioning looks cast by passers-by upon his traveling-dress, streaked
+with dust--his sad and settled visage, so unbefitting the scene
+within--while Philip made the tour of the room, with Sarah upon his
+arm, until they took their stations for the dance; he, courteous and
+attentive--she, smiling and happy, more beautiful in her husband's eyes
+than her blonde sister opposite; and he could stay no longer. If Mary
+had thought him sick and cross at his former entrance, she considered
+him savage now, for one who was ordinarily a kind and gentle master.
+
+"You can go to your room!" he ordered, not advised. "I will sit up for
+Mrs. Hammond!"
+
+"I have slept in the nursery, sir, while you were away."
+
+"That cannot be to-night. I will find you some other place."
+
+He had no intention that the anticipated conversation with his wife
+should be overheard.
+
+"I can stay with a friend of mine, sir, only a few doors off."
+
+"Very well!"
+
+Quickly and quietly the nurse arranged the night-lamp and the child's
+food, that her mistress might have no trouble during her absence, and
+went out.
+
+Baby Belle slumbered on, happily wandering through the guileless
+mazes of baby dreamland; one little arm, bared from the sleeve of
+her gown, thrown above her head--the hand of the other cradling her
+cheek. The father ventured to press a light kiss upon the red lips.
+In his desolation, he craved this trifling solace. The child's face
+was contorted by an expression of discomfort, and, still dreaming, she
+murmured, in her inarticulate language, some pettish expression of
+disgust.
+
+"My very child shrinks from me! It is in the blood!" said the unhappy
+man, drawing back from the crib.
+
+If his resolution had waned at sight of the sleeper, it was fixed
+again when he returned to his chair in the outer room. He raised his
+head from his folded arms when he heard Philip and Sarah approaching,
+but did not otherwise alter his position. The low tone of their
+parting words--one soon learned by the sojourners in hotels and
+watering-places, where thin partitions and ventilators abound--was,
+to him, the cautiously repressed voice of affectionate good-nights.
+But one clause was distinct--"What will Hammond say, when he hears the
+story?" They jested thus of him, then. One of them, at least, should
+learn ere long what he would say.
+
+"Lewis, you here!"
+
+Sarah changed color with amazement and vague alarm--emotion that
+paralyzed her momentarily. Then, as she discerned the tokens of
+disorder in his dress and countenance, she hurried forward.
+
+"What has brought you so unexpectedly? Are you sick? Has anything
+happened?"
+
+He did not rise; and, resting her hand on his shoulder, she stooped
+for a kiss. But his stern gaze never moved from hers--anxious and
+inquiring--and his lips were like stone.
+
+"Lewis, speak to me! If you have dreadful news to tell me, for pity's
+sake, do not keep me in suspense!"
+
+"I have nothing to say that will be new to you," he said, without
+relaxing his hard, cold manner, "and not a great deal that ought to
+have been kept back from me when I wished to marry you, believing that
+you had a heart to give me with your hand."
+
+As if struck in the face, Sarah sank back into a chair, speechless and
+trembling.
+
+"Yes! had you been sincere with me then, grieved and disappointed as
+I would have felt, I would have respected you the more, and loved you
+none the less for the disclosure. But when, after a year and a half
+of married life, I learn that the woman I have loved and trusted with
+my whole soul--from whom I have never concealed a thought that it
+could interest her to know--has all the while been playing a false
+part--vowing at the altar to love me and me alone, when she secretly
+idolized another; bearing my name, living beneath my roof, sleeping in
+my bosom--yet thinking of, and caring for him, treasuring his keepsakes
+as the most precious of her possessions--is it strange that, when
+the tongue of a vulgar gossip proclaims my shame in my hearing, and
+other evidence proves what I thought was his vile slander to be true
+as gospel--is it strange, I say, that I am incensed at the deception
+practised upon me--at the infamous outrage of my dearest hopes--my most
+holy feelings?"
+
+She threw herself at his feet, clasped his knees, and implored him,
+chokingly, to "forgive" her. "Oh! if you knew what I have suffered!"
+
+"What you have suffered!" He folded his arms and looked sorrowfully
+down at her crouching figure. "Yes! you were not by nature coarse and
+unfeeling! The violence you have committed upon your heart and every
+principle of delicacy and truth must have cost you pain. Then you loved
+him!"
+
+"Once! a long while ago!" said Sarah, hiding her face in her hands.
+
+"Take care!" There was no softness now in his tone. "Remember that
+I have seen you together day by day, and that glances and actions,
+unnoticed at the time in my stupid blindness, recur to me now with
+terrible meaning. For once, speak the true voice of feeling, and own
+what I know already, that all the love you ever had to give belongs
+still to your sister's husband!"
+
+"I will speak the truth!" Sarah arose and stood before him--face livid
+and eyes burning. "I did love this man! I married you, partly to please
+my parents, partly because I found out that by some means my secret
+had fallen into unscrupulous hands, and I was mad with dread of its
+exposure! It seemed to me that no worse shame could come upon me than
+to have it trumpeted abroad that I had bestowed my love unsought, and
+was ready to die because it was slighted. I have learned since that
+it is far, far worse to live a lie--to despise myself! Oh! that I had
+died then!" She battled with the emotion that threatened to overwhelm
+her and went on. "Once bound to you, it has been my hourly endeavor
+to feel and act as became the faithful wife of a kind, noble man. If,
+sometimes, I have erred in thought--if my feelings have failed me in
+the moment of trial--yet, in word and deed, in look and gesture, I have
+been true to you. No one have I deceived more thoroughly than Philip
+Benson. He never suspected my unfortunate partiality for himself; he
+believes me still, what I would give worlds to become in truth, your
+loyal, loving wife! It is well that you know the truth at last. I do
+not ask you how you have obtained the outlines of a disgraceful story,
+that I have tried a thousand times to tell you, but was prevented by
+the fear of losing your favour forever. This is my poor defence--not
+against your charges, but in palliation of the sin of which they justly
+accuse me. I can say nothing more. Do with me as you will!"
+
+"It is but just to myself that you should hear the circumstances which
+accidentally revealed this matter to me."
+
+He narrated the scene at the restaurant, and the discovery of the
+evening. He evinced neither relenting nor sympathy in the recital. Her
+confession had extinguished the last ray of hope, cherished, though
+unacknowledged by himself, that she might extenuate her error or give
+a more favorable construction to the evidence against her. It was not
+singular that, in the reaction of disappointment, he was ready to
+believe that he had not heard all; to imagine that he could perceive
+throughout her statement a disposition to screen Philip, that was,
+in itself, a proof of disingenuousness, if not deliberate falsehood.
+She denied that he had ever been aware of her attachment or had
+reciprocated it. What meant then those words--"hopes in time to have a
+nearer claim?" What those impassioned verses? What the linking of their
+initials within the shell? the motto on the wooden tablet? While these
+subtle queries were insinuated into his soul by some mocking spirit, he
+concluded the history of the discovery of the casket.
+
+"I have never opened it since the night before I was married," said
+Sarah, with no haste of self-justification. "I put it into the drawer
+the day after we went to our house. It has not been unlocked from that
+day to this."
+
+"Why keep it at all, unless as a memento of one still dear to you?"
+
+"I felt as if I had buried it. I said to myself: 'If the time ever
+comes when I can disinter these relics and show them to my husband,
+without a pang or fear, as mementoes of a dead and almost forgotten
+folly, he shall destroy them, and I shall have gained a victory that
+will insure my lifelong happiness.'"
+
+"And that time has never arrived."
+
+She would have spoken, but her tongue proved traitorous. She crimsoned
+and was silent.
+
+Lewis smiled drearily. "You see that I know you better than you do
+yourself. It is well, as you have said, that I know all at last. I pity
+you! If I could, I would release you from your bondage. As it is, I
+will do all that I can for this end."
+
+"Never!" cried Sarah, shuddering. "Have you forgotten our child?"
+
+"I have not!" His voice shook for a second. "She is all that unites
+us now. For the sake of her future--her good name--an open separation
+ought to be avoided, if possible--if it be inevitable, your conduct
+must not be the ostensible cause. To quiet malicious tongues, you must
+remain here awhile longer under your mother's care. To accomplish the
+same end, I must appear once more in public, and on apparently friendly
+terms with--your brother-in-law. When your mother returns to the city,
+you had best go, too, and to your own house. Your brother Robert is now
+sixteen years old--steady and manly enough to act as your protector.
+Invite him to stay with you, and also Jeannie, if you find it lonely."
+
+"What are you saying? Where will you be that you speak of my choosing
+another protector?"
+
+"A very important one I have proved myself to be!" he returned, with
+the same sad smile. "I have not been able to shield you from invidious
+reports; still less to save you from yourself. I sail for Europe day
+after to-morrow."
+
+"Lewis, you will not! If you ever loved me, do not desert me and our
+child now! I will submit to any punishment but this!" She clung anew to
+his knees as she poured out her prayer.
+
+Not a month ago she had turned pale with fright at the suggestion of
+this voyage. It was sheer acting then! why not now?
+
+"Objections are useless!" he said. "My arrangements are made. I have
+passed my word."
+
+"But you will not leave me in anger! Say that you will forgive me! that
+you will return soon, and this miserable night be forgotten!"
+
+"Shall I tell you when I will return?" He raised her head, and looked
+straight into her eyes. "When you write to me, and tell me that you
+have destroyed the love-tokens in that box; when you bid me come back
+for your sake--not for our child's! Until then, I shall believe that my
+presence would be irksome to you. It is necessary for our house to have
+a resident partner in England. It is my expectation to fill that place
+for some time to come; it shall be for you to say how long."
+
+Bowed as Sarah's spirit was beneath the burst of the long-dreaded
+storm and her accusing conscience, her womanly pride revolted at this
+speech. She had humbled herself in the dust at the feet of a man whom
+she did not love; had borne meekly his reproaches; submitted dumbly
+to the degrading suspicions that far transcended her actual sin; but
+as the idea of her suing servilely for the love she had never yet
+valued; of him, indifferent and independent, awaiting afar off for
+her petition--hers, whom he had abandoned to the scornful sneers of
+the keen-witted hyenas of society; to the cross-examination of her
+distrustful relatives; the stings of remorse; left in one word to
+herself!--as this picture grew up clearly before her mind, the tide of
+feeling turned.
+
+"You reject my prayers and despise my tears!" she said proudly. "You
+refuse to accept of my humiliation. Yet you do not doubt me, as you
+would have me believe that you do! Else you would not dare to trust
+me--the keeper of your honor and your child's fair name--out of your
+sight! I throw back the charge in your teeth, and tell you that your
+conduct gives it the lie! I have asked you--shame on me that I did!--to
+continue to me the shelter of your name and presence; to shield me, a
+helpless woman, more unhappy than guilty, from the ban of the world;
+and you deny me everything but a contemptible shadow of respectability,
+which the veriest fool can penetrate. I would not have you suppose that
+your generous confidence in my integrity"--she brought out the words
+with scathing contempt--"will deter me from sinking to the level you
+are pleased to assign me. If the native dignity of my womanhood, the
+principles I inherit from my father, my love for my innocent babe do
+not hold me back from ruin, be assured that the hope of winning your
+approval will not. To you I make no pledges of reformation; I offer but
+one promise. If you choose to remain abroad until I, in spirit, kiss
+your feet, and pray you to receive a love such as most men are glad to
+win by assiduity of attention, and every pleasing art--which you would
+force into being by wilful and revengeful absence--you will never see
+your native land again until the grass grows upon my grave!"
+
+She paused for breath, and continued more slowly. "While your child
+lives, and I remain her guardian, I will use your means for her
+maintenance--will reside in your house. If she dies, or you take her
+from me, I will not owe you my support for a single day more!"
+
+Lewis grew pallid to his lips; but he, too, was proud, and his stubborn
+will was called into bold exercise.
+
+"Very well! It is in your choice to accede to my propositions, or
+not. A share in all that I have is yours; not only during the child's
+life, but as long as you live. Before I leave America, I shall deposit
+for you in your father's bank a sum which, I hope, you will find
+sufficient to maintain you in comfort. Your father will be my executor
+in this matter. I shall not confide to him the peculiar circumstances
+of my departure, leaving you at liberty to act in this respect, as in
+everything else, according to the dictates of your will and pleasure.
+At the end of a certain term of years specified by law, you can, if
+you wish, procure a divorce; on the ground of my wilful and continued
+desertion of you; in which case, the provision for your support will
+remain unchanged. As to the child--the mother's is the strongest claim.
+I shall never take her from you. Do not let me keep you up longer. It
+is late!"
+
+With a silent inclination of the head, she withdrew, and he cast
+himself upon the sofa, there to lie during the few hours of the night
+that were yet unspent.
+
+He had arisen, and was standing at the window when Sarah entered in the
+morning. But for the dark shadows under the eyes, and the tight-drawn
+look about the mouth, she appeared as usual; and her "Good-morning," if
+cold, was yet polite.
+
+"I imagine," she said, as the gong clashed out its second call, "that
+you wish me to accompany you to breakfast, and to preserve my ordinary
+manner towards you when others are by. Am I right?"
+
+"You are. This is all I ask. The effort will not be a tedious one. I
+leave here at noon."
+
+Arm in arm they directed their steps towards the great dining-hall--to
+the view of the spectator as comfortable and happy a pair as any that
+pursued that route on that summer morning. Together they sat down at
+table, and Mr. Hammond ordered "his lady's" breakfast with his own.
+Mrs. Hunt bustled in shortly after they were seated, full of wonderment
+at having heard from Sarah's maid of her master's unexpected arrival;
+while Jeannie gave his hand a squeeze as hearty as was the welcome in
+her smiling face. The Bensons were always late. So much the better.
+There were more people present to observe the cordial meeting between
+the brothers-in-law, made the more conspicuous by Philip's surprise.
+The genuineness of his good spirits, his easy, unembarrassed manner,
+was the best veil that could have been devised for Sarah's constraint
+and Lewis' counterfeit composure.
+
+It did not escape Philip's eye that Sarah ate nothing, and spoke
+only to avoid the appearance of singularity; and he believed that
+he had discovered the origin of her trouble when Lewis communicated
+his purpose of foreign travel. When the burst of surprise subsided,
+the latter tried successfully to represent his plan as a business
+necessity. Lucy, who never saw an inch beyond her nose--morally and
+mentally speaking--except when her intuitions were quickened by
+self-love, was the questioner most to be dreaded.
+
+"Why don't you go with him?" she inquired of her sister. "He should
+not stir one step without me, if I were in your place. Only think! you
+might spend six months in Paris!"
+
+"How would Baby Belle relish a sea voyage!" returned Sarah.
+
+"Nonsense! How supremely silly! One would suppose that she was the
+only member of the family whose comfort was to be consulted. Rather
+than expose her to the possibility of inconvenience, you will deprive
+yourself of profit and pleasure, and be separated from your husband for
+nobody knows how long. This shows how much these model married people
+really care for one another. When put to the test they are no better
+than we poor sinners, whom everybody calls flirts. Phil, are those
+muffins warm? This one of mine has grown cold while I was talking."
+
+"How are the horses, Benson?" inquired Lewis. "Have they been exercised
+regularly?"
+
+"Yes, and are in capital order. You could have left us no more
+acceptable reminder of yourself than those same fine bays."
+
+"If you have no other engagement, suppose we have them up before the
+light carriage after breakfast, and take a short drive."
+
+"Agreed, with all my heart! unless Mrs. Hammond quarrels with me for
+robbing her of a portion of your last morning with her."
+
+"She will forgive you!" Lewis rejoined, to spare her the effort of
+reply.
+
+From her window Sarah saw them whirl off along the beach in sight of
+the hundreds of spectators on the sands and about the hotels, and
+recognized the ingenuity of this scheme for proclaiming the amicable
+feeling between the two.
+
+"But one more scene, and the hateful mockery is over!" thought the
+wife, as she heard her husband's step outside the door on his return.
+
+She snatched a paper from the table, and seemed absorbed in its
+contents, not looking up at his entrance. Lewis made several turns
+through the room, sighed heavily, and once paused, as if about to
+address her, but changed his mind.
+
+Then sounded from without the fresh, gurgling laugh of a child, and the
+nurse came in with the baby--rosy and bright--from her morning walk on
+the shore. She almost sprang from Mary's hold at sight of her father,
+and dismissing the woman with a word, he took his darling into his
+arms and sat down behind his wife. Inflexibly sullen, Sarah tried not
+to listen, as she would not see them; but she heard every sound: the
+child's soft coo of satisfaction as she nestled in the father's bosom;
+the many kisses he imprinted upon her pure face and mouth with what
+agony Sarah well knew--the irregular respiration, sometimes repressed,
+until its breaking forth was like sobs; and the proud, miserable heart
+confessed reluctantly that, in one respect, his share of their divided
+lot was heavier than hers. She was not to witness his final resignation
+of his idol. Under color of summoning Mary, he carried the infant from
+the room, and came back without her.
+
+"It is time for me to go now, Sarah!"
+
+His voice was calm, and its firmness destroyed what slender
+encouragement she might have drawn from the scene with his child, to
+hope for some modification of his resolution.
+
+"Will you write to me, at regular intervals, to give me news of Belle?"
+
+"Certainly, if such is your wish."
+
+"And yourself? you will be careful of your health, will you not? And if
+I can ever serve you in any way, you will let me know?"
+
+"It is not likely that you can; thank you."
+
+There was a silence of some moments. Sarah stood playing with the
+tassel of her morning robe, pale and composed.
+
+"Sarah!" Lewis took her hand. "We have both been hasty, both violent!
+Unfeeling as you think me, and as I may have seemed in this affair,
+believe me that it almost kills me to part from you so coldly. It is
+not like me to retract a determination, but if you will say now what
+you did last night--'Do not go!' I will stay, and be as good a husband
+to you as I can. Shall we not forgive, and try to forget?"
+
+The demon of resentful pride was not so easily exorcised. At a breath
+of repentance--a suggestion of compromise, the fell legion rallied an
+impregnable phalanx. She was frozen, relentless; her eyes, black and
+haughty, met his with an answer her tongue could not have framed in
+words.
+
+"I have nothing to say!"
+
+"'Nothing!' The ocean must then separate us for years--it may be
+forever!"
+
+"It was your choice. I will not reverse it."
+
+"Not if you knew that if you let me go I would never return?"
+
+"Not if I knew that you would never return!"
+
+Without another word, without a farewell look, or the hand-grasp mere
+strangers exchange, he left her there--the stony monument of her
+ill-directed life and affections; the victim of a worldly mother and a
+backbiting tongue!
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVII.
+
+
+"How gay Mrs. Hammond has grown lately!" said Mrs. Greyling, the
+fashionable critic of the ---- House drawing-room. "Do you see that she
+is actually waltzing to-night? She moves well, too! That pearl-colored
+moire antique is handsome, and must have cost every cent of nine
+dollars a yard. She is partial to heavy silks, it seems. It gives an
+air of sameness to her dress; otherwise she shows very tolerable taste."
+
+"I have heard it said that she was a regular dowdy before she was
+married," observed Mrs. Parton, who was also on the "committee of
+censure"--a self-appointed organization, which found ample employment
+in this crowded nest of pleasure-seekers. "Her husband is perpetually
+making her presents, and she dresses to please him."
+
+"Humph! I distrust these pattern couples! 'My husband doesn't approve
+of my doing this--won't hear of my acting so!' are phrases easily
+learned, and sound so fine that one soon falls into the habit of using
+them. What a flirt Mrs. Benson is! That is the fifth young man she has
+danced with this evening. I pity her husband and baby!"
+
+"He does not look inconsolable! I tell you what my notion is: he may
+love his wife--of course he does--but he admires her sister more. See
+how he watches her! Mrs. Tomes told me that she was standing near him
+the first time Mrs. Hammond waltzed, and that he seemed real worried.
+When the set was through, she came to look for a seat, and he got one
+for her. As she took it, he said something to her which Mrs. Tomes
+could not hear, but she laughed out in his face as saucy as could be,
+and said: 'Oh, I am learning when I am in Rome to do as Romans do!
+Doesn't my elder sister set the example?'"
+
+"He could say nothing then," said Mrs. Greyling. "Those girls played
+their cards well. The Hunts have very little, if anything, besides the
+father's salary, and the family was very obscure."
+
+Mrs. Greyling's paternal progenitor was an opulent soap-boiler, who
+was not ashamed, during her childhood, to drive an unsavory cart from
+one kitchen door to another. But he counted his thousands now by the
+hundred, and his children ranked, as a consequence, among the "upper
+ten."
+
+She continued her charitable remarks: "Somehow the old lady contrived
+to keep up the appearance of wealth, and married both daughters off
+before their second season. Mr. Benson is reputed to be rich; but for
+that matter these Southern planters are all said to be rolling in
+money. Mr. Hammond is certainly making money. Mr. Greyling says he is a
+splendid business man."
+
+"He sailed for Europe a week ago, you know."
+
+"Yes; and since then madame has been the belle of the ball. The old
+story--'When the cat is away, the mice will play.'"
+
+"Sarah," said Philip, an hour later, "will you walk on the balcony with
+me? You are heated, and the air is balmy as Georgian breezes. It will
+do you good."
+
+"Are you going to scold me?" she asked, archly, before she would take
+his arm.
+
+"No. I have no right to do it if I had the disposition."
+
+There was no moon; but the sky was strewed thickly with stars, and the
+white foam of the surf caught and held tremulously the sparkles from
+the bright watchers above. Philip did not appear disposed to converse,
+and Sarah waited for him to begin. Meanwhile, they strolled on and
+on, until the murmur of the ocean was louder than the music of the
+saloon band. The sea moaned to the stars, as it had done to the sunless
+July heavens on that day so memorable in the history of one of the
+pair--the day of shipwreck stories and a real shipwreck--none the less
+disastrous, that the treasures and their loss were hidden from all but
+the bereaved one.
+
+To many it is appointed to lead two lives; to think and feel as well
+as to act a double part; to separate, as inexorably as human will
+can decree, past hopes and joys--past sorrows, and, if practicable,
+past memories from the thoughts and emotions of the to-day in which
+they exist. Thousands keep up the barrier until death ends the need
+of watchfulness and labor; the coffin-lid covers the faithful mask
+that has smiled so patiently and so long above an aching heart. Yet
+dammed up passion is a dangerous thing. If hearts were so constituted
+that they could be drained like pestilential marshes, the flood
+conducted off in harmless and straight channels, then, indeed, might
+hypocrisy rejoice, and sleek decorum sit down at ease. As it is,
+genteel propriety and refined reticence are perpetually endangered by
+the unforeseen swell of some intermittent spring, or the thawing of
+some ice-bound stream, that is liable to overleap or tear away the
+dike--ingulfing in an instant the elaborate structures years of toil
+have cheaply purchased.
+
+Such was the moment when, withdrawing her hand from Philip's arm, Sarah
+struck suddenly--fiercely--upon her breast, and cried: "Oh! why cannot
+I die and end this misery!"
+
+"Sarah!"
+
+"I say I can bear it no longer! Others do not suffer thus! If they do,
+they die, or lose their reason. I will not endure it, I tell you!"
+
+"Sister!"
+
+"Do not call me by that name, Philip Benson! You know better!"
+
+She leaned forward on the balcony railing, her eyes fixed on the sea.
+Her deep, hurried breathing was like the pant of some worried animal,
+gathering strength, and, with it, courage for renewed conflict. To
+her last words the mysterious plaint of the sea lent meaning. Philip,
+too, remembered that barren shore, the tumbling breakers, the solitary
+sea-bird's labored flight landward. Was this his work? It was but a
+flicker of truth--dashed out the next second by a blow of indignant
+will.
+
+"You may forbid me to address you by this title, Sarah; but you cannot
+hinder me from sympathizing with you in your sorrow, and trying to
+befriend you. If my companionship is unwelcome, allow me to conduct you
+to your room. I cannot leave you alone here, where there is continual
+passing."
+
+"You are right. Regard for appearances is the one thing needful," she
+said, mockingly. "I must be a dull scholar if I have not learned that
+I am sane again now--fit to associate with other sane people. If you
+please, we will go to the ball-room instead of upstairs. I am not a
+candidate for solitary confinement yet!"
+
+"Mrs. Hammond, I heard a gentleman inquiring anxiously for you just
+now!" called out a lady, in passing. "He said that you promised to
+dance with him."
+
+"I did. Thank you for reminding me. A little faster, my good brother!"
+
+She hurried him into the saloon, where they were met immediately by
+her would-be partner. Philip, bewildered and uneasy, watched her
+through the evolutions of the dance. She talked rapidly and animatedly,
+keeping her cavalier in a broad smile, and confirming her lately won
+reputation of a wit. Her eyes shone; her color was high; she was
+"really handsome"--as the "censure committee" had occasion to remember
+at a later day, when it was spoken of in a very different tone from
+that employed by a member of the distinguished sisterhood in addressing
+Mrs. Hunt on this night.
+
+"You are a fortunate mother, my dear madam, to have two such brilliant
+daughters. They eclipse the girls entirely."
+
+"I have nothing to complain of in my children, ma'am. I done--I did my
+best by them, and they have repaid me a thousandfold."
+
+"Now, I am ready!" said Sarah, to her brother-in-law. "I release you,
+Mr. Burley!" waving her hand to her late attendant as a princess might
+to a courtier.
+
+Vexed and disturbed by her unsettled manner and queer freaks, Philip
+gave her his arm, and conducted her through the throng.
+
+"Lewis has had fair winds, and must now be nearing the end of his
+voyage," he remarked, as they sauntered along the piazza.
+
+"Ah! he is on the sea to-night! How strange! I had not thought of that!"
+
+"I see nothing wonderful in the idea, as he has not had time to cross
+the Atlantic since he left these shores," returned Philip, dryly. "The
+oddest thing I can think of at present is yourself, Sarah!"
+
+"I am aware of that, Philip. Do not speak harshly to me! You may be
+sorry for it some day."
+
+They were at her door. Her softened manner moved him, and as she
+offered her hand, he took it with fraternal warmth.
+
+"Forgive me, if I was rough! I have not understood you this evening."
+
+"It is not likely that you ever will. Time was--but it is folly to
+allude to that now! Think of me as kindly as you can--will you? You
+have wounded me sometimes, but never knowingly. I cannot say that of
+many others with whom I have had dealings. Good-night."
+
+The little parlor was still. Mrs. Hammond never kept her maid up to
+assist in her disrobing, if she intended remaining out until a late
+hour. Nurse and child were quiet in the adjacent nursery. Closing
+the door of communication, Sarah stripped her hair and arms of their
+ornaments; took off her diamond pin, then her rings, and laid them
+away in her jewelry case; divested herself of her rich dress, and drew
+from her wardrobe a plain, dark wrapper, which she put on. Next she
+sat down at her writing-desk, selected a sheet of paper, and wrote a
+single line--when a thought struck her, and she stopped. A momentary
+irresolution ended in her tearing off a strip containing what she had
+penned, and holding it in the flame of the lamp until it was consumed.
+"Best not! best not!" she muttered. "Doubt may bring comfort to the one
+or two who will need it. Let them doubt! Save appearances if you can,
+my poor mother would say." A smile of unutterable scorn glimmered over
+her face. She pushed away the desk and walked to the window.
+
+From the distant ball-room the throbbing waves of music still rolled
+past on the summer air, and blent with them was the solemn undertone
+of the surf. Did men call its mighty voice a monotone? To her it was
+eloquent of many and awful things--not frightful. What was there of
+terror in thoughts of rest, endless sleep, rocked for ages by the
+rising and falling tide, hushed into dreamless repose by the music of
+the billows? No more of a vain and wearisome life; no more baffled
+aspirations and crushed affections; no more disheartening attempts
+to find and reach the right--to follow in the steep, rugged path of
+duty, and shun the easy, alluring way to which heart and memory were
+ever pointing; no more of stern rebuke and sneering taunt; no more
+galled pride and outraged womanhood; no more lying gayety, smiles, and
+repartee, when the spirit was writhing in impotent agony, longing to
+shriek out its intensity of woe! Only sleep, rest, peace!
+
+"Sleep! rest peace!" She gasped the words feverishly, as they seemed
+to come to her on the breeze. Might she not seek these now! now!
+Not yet! The grounds, the beach were still populous with groups of
+strollers. She would be seen--perhaps recognized--probably frustrated
+in her purpose. Leaning her head against the casement, she sat there an
+hour--not debating, still less wavering in her resolve, only waiting
+until flight would be safe--and thinking! thinking! thinking! until her
+brain whirled.
+
+A thwarted, warped, disjointed existence had hers been from its
+beginning. Denied food suitable for the mental and spiritual need;
+denied sympathy, air, and expression of suffering; under the slow
+torture of this starvation, every avenue to goodness and liberty
+hedged up, and, for the future, temptation, repudiation, loneliness,
+perhaps a sullied name--who could dispute her right to try release by
+one brief pang she alone could feel? Who would miss her? Not the world
+that flattered her wealth and wit, her laces, silks, and diamonds; not
+the mother and sister who worshipped the gilded Juggernaut "Society;"
+not he who was that night sleeping soundly on the same sea that would
+embosom her in her sweeter, deeper slumber. Shocked he might be at an
+event so unexpected and uncommon. His next sensation would be a relief
+at his deliverance from a burden, at his freedom to come and go as he
+liked--no longer banished by her obstinacy and his own. He had loved
+her as most other men do their wives--a bond too weak to bear a heavy
+blow at their self-love. She had sinned beyond forgiveness in his eyes.
+
+Of Philip she thought with a mingling of tenderness and resentment.
+His unthinking gallantry had been the root of her sorest trouble; but
+it was unthinking, not wilful wrong. Nor was she the only sufferer.
+His heart was well-nigh as hungry as hers. Within the past week she
+had seen this more clearly than ever before, and he had felt it!
+Lucy's narrow mind, her insipidity, her inordinate vanity, her selfish
+idolatry of pleasures that wearied him; her disrelish for intellectual
+and domestic enjoyments, displayed in its most objectionable form, in
+her indifference to his company, and her neglect of her child--these
+were working out their legitimate result in his alienation from her,
+and attraction towards the once slighted sister, whose large heart
+and mental gifts he now valued at their true worth. To repel him, as
+much as to drown her cares, Sarah had plunged into the vortex she had
+heretofore avoided. She had heard that there was temporary solace
+in this species of dissipation. The cup was, for her, sparkless and
+bitter, from surface to dregs.
+
+She was saving him with herself by this final step! He would realize
+this truth, in the throe that would shake his soul when he found she
+was gone; perhaps, even in that anguished hour, would bless her for
+having showed to him, while she drove him back from, the abyss they
+were together approaching. It was no idle vaunt she had made to Lewis,
+that the principles inherited from her father would save her from overt
+sin. Thus, thus would she flee the temptation, when the heart had left
+the will to battle unaided.
+
+Her father! the gray old man who was toiling through this summer's
+heat, in his deserted home, as he had through so many summers gone! he
+who had never given her an impatient or angry word--whose pride and
+joy she still was! The stroke would be severe upon him. Yet he would
+not refuse comfort. There were still left to him his boys--fine, manly
+fellows; Jeannie and his baby grandchild--his lost daughter's gift.
+Tears rushed into the hot, wild eyes with this last image, but she
+would not let them flow.
+
+"Is it not better that I should leave her now, when the parting will
+give her no pain, when one little week will blot out my memory entirely
+from her mind, than to wait until she can recollect and miss me?"
+
+The music had ceased. The revellers had dropped away faster than they
+had collected, when once the movement was made to retire. The murmur of
+the deep was the only sound abroad; the stars were the only sentinels.
+Sarah arose, threw a shawl over her head, and cautiously unlocked the
+door. A strong rush of air blew it from her hold, and as she caught
+it, to draw it after her, she trod upon some object lying on the floor.
+Mechanically she stooped to pick it up. It was an infant's shoe, a
+dainty little gaiter, that peeped, during the day, from beneath Baby
+Belle's white skirt. To Sarah's touch it seemed that the lining still
+retained the warmth of the child's foot.
+
+Never, oh, never, was the patter of those baby feet to make glad music
+for the mother's ear! Others must guide and sustain her trial steps;
+others smooth her daily path; others direct the inexperience of the
+girl in the perilous passes where that mother had fallen and perished!
+
+"Oh, may I not bless her before I leave her forever?" she cried to
+stern Resolution. And Conscience rejoined, with meaning severity: "Is
+it you who would breathe a blessing above her purity?"
+
+"Suffer me, then, to take the farewell look I dared not grant myself
+before!"
+
+And while Resolution faltered at the impassioned appeal, she opened the
+nursery door and stole to the side of the crib. The night-lamp shed a
+feeble halo over the table whereon it stood. The rest of the room was
+in darkness. Mary's light bedstead was close to the crib. Was hers that
+hard, short breathing, that sent a start and chill through the hearer?
+A touch to the lamp threw a blaze of light over nurse and child. A
+sharp cry rang through the chamber.
+
+"Mary, Mary! get up!"
+
+The girl sprang to the floor before she comprehended the meaning of the
+alarm. Mrs. Hammond had sunk into a chair beside the crib, from which
+she had snatched her infant. Baby Belle's head was strained back; her
+hands clenched; her limbs stiffened in a death-like spasm. The eyes
+were rolled out of sight under the lids; and the four little teeth--her
+"most precious pearls," the fond mother had called them--were
+hard-locked within the purple lips.
+
+Terrified as she was, Mary had the presence of mind to run for
+assistance. Mrs. Hunt and a physician were soon on the spot, and every
+appliance of the healing art that promised relief to the sufferer was
+used, but with partial effect. Sarah saw nothing but the child; heard
+nothing but the doctor's calm orders.
+
+"You do not try to help her!" she said, impatiently, as a convulsion,
+more fearful than any that had preceded it, seized the delicate frame.
+
+"I could not do more, were it my own child, madam!"
+
+He was an elderly man, whose charity for fashionable mothers was very
+scant, and, having seen Mrs. Hammond in the ball-room the evening
+before, he was not prepared for the solicitude she manifested.
+
+"You had better let the nurse take her!" he said, more gently, as
+Sarah, with difficulty, held down the struggling hands that might do
+hurt to the head and face.
+
+"No! I will have no one touch her but myself!"
+
+The morning broke, the day heightened into noon, and the paroxysms only
+abated in violence as the babe's strength declined. Steadfast to her
+word, the mother had not once resigned her. She had herself immersed
+her in the warm baths, applied the poultices, and administered the
+medicines prescribed. Mrs. Hunt was compassionate and active; Mary
+sorrowful, and prompt with whatever service she could perform; Lucy
+frightened and idle.
+
+Philip, who had often been in the outer room to make inquiries and
+offer aid, if any were required of him, was told, just before sunset,
+that he could go into the chamber. Mrs. Hunt invited him, and the
+information she added gave to his countenance a look of heartfelt
+sadness as he followed her. Sarah sat in the middle of the room, so
+altered that he could scarcely credit the fact of her identity with the
+being he had parted from the previous night. Her eyes were sunken, her
+features sharpened, and her complexion had the dead, grayish hue of an
+old woman's. In her arms lay the babe, and, as she crouched over it,
+her mien of defiant protection suggested to him the idea of a savage
+animal guarding her young. He could not say whether or not she was
+aware of his presence, until he knelt by the dying child and called it
+by name.
+
+"Baby Belle, do you know Uncle Philip?"
+
+The dark eyes, soft still through the gathering film, moved slightly,
+and Sarah said--
+
+"Speak to her again!"
+
+"Will Baby Belle come to uncle?"
+
+This time there was no sign of consciousness. The wee hands clasped in
+the mother's grew colder and colder, and the breath fluttered slowly
+through the parted lips. The end was near, and Philip's pitying accent
+expressed his sense of this.
+
+"Give her to me, dear Sarah! It is not right for you to keep her
+longer."
+
+"She is mine!"
+
+The glare that came to her eye with the three words revealed a
+desperation that would have done battle with the King of Terrors, had
+he appeared in visible shape to claim his victim.
+
+More faintly, slowly, trembled the life over the sweet mouth, and
+the hands, like waxen shapes, lay pulseless in the mother's clasp;
+while through the silent room flowed the dirge of the sea. Shaken by
+the freshening breeze of evening, the shutters of the western window
+swung ajar, letting in a golden ray upon mother and child, and along
+that path of light the untarnished soul of Baby Belle was borne by its
+waiting angel--home!
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVIII.
+
+
+Aunt Sarah sat in the wide porch at the back of her house, knitting
+in hand. It was a still, but not oppressive August afternoon. There
+was not a ruffle on the bright surface of the river, and the long
+meadow grass was as smoothly spread out in the yellow sunshine. From
+the poultry-yard on the left arose a pleasant murmur, and now and then
+a stray hen tiptoed around the end of the house, singing idly as she
+rambled. Charley lay on the green mound--his old reading-room--with
+a book before him, and to him Aunt Sarah's motherly eyes turned most
+frequently. Those kindly orbs were dimmer than they were two summers
+ago, and the gentle face was a thought more pensive. A glance into the
+sitting-room window, from where she sat, would have showed one Uncle
+Nathan's empty arm-chair in the chimney corner, and above it were
+suspended his cane and broad-brimmed hat, just as he had put them off
+when he took his departure for a country where neither shelter nor
+staff is needed. Aunt Sarah's cap had a widow's border now; and in her
+faithful heart there was a sadder void than the death of her children
+had created--loving parent though she was--and yet more plentiful
+springs of sympathy for others bereaved and suffering.
+
+Her rocking-chair was set near the entrance of the hall that bisected
+the dwelling; and the front and back doors being open, she had a fair
+view of the public road, whenever she chose to look up the lane. The
+Shrewsbury stage met the boat at four o'clock, or soon after; and
+hearing a rumbling along the highway, which she knew presaged its
+transit through this end of the village, the old lady leaned forward to
+catch a glimpse of the trunks upon the roof; this being all she could
+distinguish with certainty above the fence.
+
+"Why, it is stopping here!" she ejaculated, getting up to obtain a
+better look. "Who upon earth can it be?"
+
+The coach rolled on, and the passenger for the farm-house came through
+the gate and down the lane. She was dressed in black, wore a crape
+veil, and carried a small hand-trunk. With a hospitable instinct, Aunt
+Sarah advanced to the front porch to meet her, still entirely in the
+dark as to who it could be.
+
+"She has a different look from any of the neighbors; and there's nobody
+in York that would be likely to come to see me, except Betsy's people,
+and it can't be either of her girls!"
+
+At this stage of her cogitations, the visitant reached the step on
+which the hostess stood, and put away the long veil from a face so
+worn and seamed with grief, so hollow-eyed and old, that the good aunt
+screamed outright in her distressed astonishment--
+
+"Sarah, dear child! can this be you?"
+
+"What I am now, Aunt Sarah. May I come in and stay with you a little
+while?"
+
+"Stay with me, poor darling! As long as you like, and welcome! Come
+right in; you don't look fit to stand!"
+
+She was not; for, now that the necessity for exertion was removed, she
+was faint and trembling. Aunt Sarah helped her upstairs to the room she
+had occupied at her former visit, undressed her, and put her to bed.
+Sarah submitted like a child, too much exhausted to resist being made
+an invalid of, or to offer any explanation of her singular apparition.
+She had not slept an hour at a time for many nights; yet when she had
+drunk a cup of tea, and tried to eat a bit of toast her aunt prepared
+and brought up to her, she fell into a profound slumber, which lasted
+until long after sunrise on the following morning. Unclosing her eyes
+then, they rested upon the dear face, shaded by the widow's cap, that
+watched at her bedside. A shadowy phantom of a smile flitted over her
+features at the recognition.
+
+"It was not a dream, then?" she said languidly. "But I have dreamed of
+you often, of late--every night in which I have had any sleep. Aunt
+Sarah, I must tell you why I came to you!"
+
+"Not now, dear," Aunt Sarah hastened to say, seeing the wild stare and
+the cloud return to her countenance. "Wait until you are stronger.
+I will bring up your breakfast, and when you have eaten it, you may
+try to dress, if you like. There will be time enough for your story,
+by-and-by. Charley is in a great fidget to see you."
+
+Sarah submitted to the delay; but it was plain that she was not
+satisfied with it, and that her mind would be easier when once the tale
+was told. Aunt Sarah hindered her no longer a time than sufficed for
+her to take the much needed refreshment, to bathe and dress, and to see
+and exchange a few sentences with Charley, who supported her down to
+the sitting-room. There, resting among the pillows of the lounge, Aunt
+Sarah beside her, with the ubiquitous knitting-work in hand, lest too
+close observation should confuse her niece, the stricken one unfolded
+the whole of her sad history.
+
+No more affecting proof could have been given of her prostrated
+mind and will than this unreserved recital. The secret she had sold
+conscience and liberty to preserve, she communicated now without a
+blush. Here--where she had formed the intimacy that had shadowed so
+darkly her after days--she detailed every step of the wrong course to
+which this weakness was a key; went over all--the stormy parting with
+her husband; her conviction of the mutual peril she and Philip were
+tempting in their daily communion; her resolve of self-destruction--as
+circumstantially as if she were relating the biography of another.
+
+Aunt Sarah, horrified and pitiful by turns, struggled with indifferent
+success to maintain equal composure, and against growing doubts of
+the narrator's sanity. It was a striking and instructive contrast:
+the world-weary woman returning for consolation and advice to the
+simple-minded matron, to whom the artificial existence she now heard
+depicted--its gilded vices and giddy round of vanities; its trials and
+temptations--were a wonderful, a monstrous tale, as foreign to her
+sphere of principles and feelings as if they had transpired in another
+world. But when Sarah came to speak of her child, her manner changed,
+her voice was hoarse and uneven, and over the careworn visage there
+went such alterations of fierceness and heart-breaking sorrow that the
+listening mother, upon whose soul the shadow of her own children's
+graves still lay long and dark, could hear no more in silence.
+
+"My poor girl!" she cried, falling on her knees, and throwing her arms
+around the reclining figure. "Dear child! Our Father in heaven pity and
+comfort you! There is no help in man for such trouble as yours!"
+
+Sarah had not shed a tear in the course of her story. She said
+afterwards that she had not wept since they took her dead baby from
+her clasp; but at this burst of unfeigned sympathy, this gush of
+pure love and compassion, the burning rock was cleft, and a blessed
+flood streamed from it. For some minutes they wept together without
+restraint, and when the more quiet grief of the elder mourner was
+repressed, the other still clung, sobbing to her bosom.
+
+Aunt Sarah held and soothed her as she would have done a sorrowful
+child; stroking away the hair from her forehead, drying and kissing the
+tear-stained cheeks, with many an epithet of fond reassurance.
+
+"Let me finish! There is very little more!" resumed Sarah, keeping
+her aunt's hand fast in both of hers. "We went back to the city, and
+the next day we laid her in Greenwood. We stayed at father's--I would
+not return to the house that used to be mine. Father was very kind,
+and mother meant to be; but she tormented me with suggestions and
+consultations about my black clothes. Lucy was pining to get back to
+Newport. She said it was hot and dull in New York. Philip wanted to
+comfort me, but I shunned him, and I think he was hurt by my conduct;
+but it was best, was it not, Aunt Sarah?"
+
+"Certainly, dear!"
+
+"I had often imagined myself lonely before; but I never dreamed of
+such a horror of desolation as filled my soul during the two days that
+I remained there, after all was over. Twenty times each night I would
+start from a feverish doze, thinking that I heard my baby cry or moan
+as she did in the intervals of those awful convulsions; and then would
+come in upon me, as if I had never felt it until then, the truth that
+I could never see her again, and that my wicked, wicked intention of
+deserting her had brought this judgment upon me. I could not stay
+there, Aunt Sarah! I heard other voices besides my child's in the air,
+and saw strange, grinning faces in the darkness. But the worst was to
+see that, to every one but me, the world was the same that it had ever
+been. Father looked grave when I was in his sight; but the children
+could laugh and talk as if nothing had happened, and I have seen mother
+and Lucy chattering merrily in the room with the dressmaker over my
+new dresses, while they were criticizing the crape trimmings. And I
+had buried my last earthly hope in my baby's grave! Then I remembered
+you, and how you had talked to me of your lost children, and how you
+had assured me of a home in your heart and house whenever I chose to
+claim it, and I believed in you, Aunt Sarah! There are not many whom I
+do trust; but I was sure you never said what you did not mean. I would
+not tell them that I was coming for I feared they would prevent me. I
+slipped out of the house when none of them were at home, and went to
+the nearest hack-stand, where I got into a carriage and drove down to
+the boat."
+
+"My dear, did you leave no letter to let them know where you had gone?"
+
+"No, ma'am. I was afraid they would come or send for me, and I cannot
+go back."
+
+"But your father--your mother! Did you not think how distressed they
+would be when they missed you? And your reputation? What will be said
+when it's known that you have left your father's house, and no one
+knows where you are? You are very weak and tired, dear; but you must
+sit up, right away, and write a note home. Tell them that I will take
+care of you as long as you like to stay with me, but don't lose a
+minute! You may be in time for the afternoon boat."
+
+Sarah obeyed; and the careful old lady hurried Charley off to the boat,
+with directions to place the billet in the hands of the captain, who
+was a personal friend, and could be relied upon to post it directly he
+reached the city.
+
+Mr. Hunt replied without delay. Sarah's absence had given rise
+to the most harrowing conjectures, made plausible by her extreme
+melancholy and fitful behavior since her infant's death. The police
+had been privately notified of her disappearance, and cautiously
+worded advertisements inserted in the papers. He regretted to add
+that Mr. Marlow, who, as Mr. Hammond's nearest friend, was informed
+of the distressing occurrence, had thought proper to communicate the
+intelligence to Mr. H. before Sarah's note arrived, and the steamer
+bearing the letter had sailed. Mr. Hunt expressed himself as entirely
+willing that his daughter should remain in her present retreat until
+her health of mind and body was re-established, but did not conceal his
+disapprobation of the manner of her leaving home.
+
+Aunt Sarah looked concerned as she read this epistle, which her niece
+had passed over to her.
+
+"I am sorry for your husband, my dear. This affliction, coming so close
+upon the other, will be a dreadful blow. It is a pity they did not wait
+awhile, until they knew something of your whereabouts, before writing
+to him.
+
+"I am more sorry that the news must be contradicted," was the reply.
+"As we are now situated, the certainty of my death would be a relief
+to him. This was my reflection that night"--She left the sentence
+unfinished.
+
+"My dear!" Aunt Sarah removed her spectacles, and surveyed her niece
+with her kind, serious eyes. "Have you made up your mind to live
+separate from your husband for the rest of your life?"
+
+"What else should I do, aunt? He will never come back unless I promise
+to love him, and that cannot be."
+
+"That doesn't alter the fact of your duty, as I look at it. You ought
+to make him an offer to do right, at any rate. It would have been
+easier and pleasanter to live with him, if you had felt for him as a
+woman should for the man she marries; but you are married to him, and
+in the sight of the Lord you ought to cleave to him, and him only. That
+is a solemn covenant, dear--'for richer, for poorer; for better, for
+worse!' 'Those whom God hath joined together, let not man put asunder!'
+It doesn't excuse people, who take these vows upon them when the right
+spirit is wanting, that they never thought how awful the engagement
+was. Their obligations are just the same, whether they love or not."
+
+"The responsibility does not rest with me. I performed my duty while
+we were together. The separation was his act, and he must abide the
+consequences. I have erred greatly, Aunt Sarah; but ever since the
+night of our rupture, my conscience has been easy with respect to Mr.
+Hammond. I confessed that I had misled him, and begged his pardon.
+Could I do more?"
+
+"Put the case to yourself, child! Do not be angry if I speak out my
+mind, and use against you some things you have told me. When you saw
+that Philip was growing to like you better and better, and that you
+felt nearer to him every day, why did you determine to die sooner than
+to have things go on so?"
+
+"Because it would have been a crime for us to love each other--infamous
+treachery to my sister, to his wife, for us to name the word between
+us."
+
+"And how would Lucy have felt, if you had come to an understanding and
+spoken out the true feeling of your hearts?"
+
+"Hers is a careless, indolent nature, but this insult would have
+aroused her. She would never have forgiven him or me, had she suspected
+a warmer sentiment on either side than that of friendship."
+
+"But an honorable, affectionate man like your husband, who thought
+his wife the most precious thing in the world, was to forget his
+disappointment, overlook your lack of love and truth towards him, only
+because you allowed that he had found out your real feelings at last,
+and all the excuse you could give was that you could not help them! You
+were the one in fault all the way through, from the day you engaged to
+marry him, up to the minute when you would not say the word he begged
+from you to keep him at home. It is right that all the advance should
+come from you."
+
+High-spirited as Sarah was, she was not angered by this plain-speaking.
+"Faithful are the wounds of a friend;" and she felt that she had but
+this one. Aunt Sarah studied her thoughtful countenance before she
+renewed the argument.
+
+"I am an old-fashioned woman, dear--born and bred in the country,
+where, thank God! I have spent all my life. But I've been thinking
+about your story of the way people act and feel up there in York, and
+maybe in all other great, fine, money-making cities, and my notion is
+just this. I look back of their pushing and straining after riches, and
+show, and worldly vanities; every man for himself, and the one that
+climbs highest, forgetting as soon as he gets there that he was ever
+any lower, and ready to kick over anybody that tries to get alongside
+of him; and I see that they have lost sight of the second great
+commandment--'Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself.' Then I look
+back of this too, and I see where the greatest sin is, and--dear, bear
+with me! I see where you have gone furthest astray. Here's a passage I
+was reading this morning that tells the whole story." She raised the
+Bible from the table, and laid it upon Sarah's lap, pointing as she did
+so to these words enclosed in brackets:
+
+"Because thou hast forgotten the God of thy salvation, and hast not
+been mindful of the rock of thy strength, therefore shalt thou plant
+pleasant plants, and shalt set it with strange slips. In the day thou
+shalt make thy plant to grow, and in the morning shalt thou make thy
+seed to flourish; but the harvest shall be a heap in the day of grief
+and desperate sorrow!"
+
+Mrs. Hunt would have regarded as an insult any expressed doubt of
+her religious principles and practice. She had a desirable pew in
+the fashionable church which was nearest her residence, and, stormy
+Sabbaths excepted, it was generally full at morning service. When her
+children were presentable as to looks, very young babies being seldom
+pretty, they were offered in fine lawn and Valenciennes at the font
+for the rite of baptism; and not a confirmation had passed since her
+daughters were grown, that she did not fancy how interesting they
+would look, kneeling before the surpliced bishop, heads gracefully
+bowed, and the regards of the whole congregation fixed upon them. Sarah
+never could be brought to the performance of the commonest act of
+public worship, unless it was to rise with the rest, when a standing
+posture was prescribed by the prayer-book; and she shocked her mother
+by declaring that she only did this because she was tired of sitting!
+Lucy's serene grace of devoutness was beautiful, if not edifying to
+behold. Those who occupied adjacent pews involuntarily suppressed
+their responses as her mellow tones repeated, with melancholy
+sweetness--"Have mercy upon us, miserable sinners!" And as the melting
+cadences entranced their ears, the lovely penitent was speculating upon
+the probable cost of Miss Hauton's Parisian hat, or coveting Mrs. Beau
+Monde's sable cloak.
+
+If Sarah had even heard of regeneration, it was as a technical phrase
+of the church articles and christening service. Of its practical
+meaning, its inward application, its absolute necessity to the safety
+of the soul, she had as vague a conception as a Parsee or New Zealand
+cannibal would have formed. She had read the Bible in connection with
+rhetorical lectures, and admired it as a noble specimen of Oriental
+literature. What other associations could she have with it? A handsome
+copy of the Holy Scriptures, surmounted by a book of common prayer, lay
+on a stand in Mrs. Hunt's third and rear parlor, and was dusted when a
+like attention was paid to the other ornaments of tables and etageres.
+An Oxford edition, russet antique, formed one of the wedding-gifts of
+each of the sisters, and in due time was laid in pious pomp on its
+purple pillow in the library corner. It was hardly strange, then, that
+the quotation, so apposite to the case in point, should fail to impress
+her very strongly. Aunt Sarah had gone out, deeming solitary reflection
+the best means of enforcing the lesson she had tried to inculcate, and,
+after re-reading the two verses, without further appropriation of their
+meaning, Sarah turned leaf after leaf of the volume, catching here and
+there a sentence of the large print, so grateful to the failing sight
+of her who was its daily student.
+
+"David said unto his servants--'Is the child dead?' And they said, 'He
+is dead!'"
+
+The smitten chord in the mother's heart sent out a ring of pain, and
+her listless hand paused upon the open page. It is a simple story--the
+royal parent's unavailing wrestle with the Chastener, the dread
+end of his suspense, and the affliction, made manifest in the calm
+resignation, the sanctified trust of the mourner. But when received as
+Sarah read it, with the vision of a similar death-scene intermixing
+itself with its unadorned details, the fresh blood still welling from
+the wound made by the tearing away of a portion of one's own life,
+every line is fraught with truth and pathos.
+
+"Can I bring him back again? I shall go to him, but he shall not return
+to me!"
+
+"Go to her! Oh, if I could! My baby! my baby!"
+
+To the low, sad cry succeeded a season of yearning and of tears. It
+was an echo of the wail of the heathen mother who, centuries ago,
+having seen her babes slain before her eyes, cried aloud, in unselfish
+agony, as the sword, reeking with their blood, was plunged into her own
+bosom--"Oh, my children! where are ye?"
+
+Sleep on, in thy lowly bed upon the hillside, sweet Baby Belle! Like
+the pale buds that are fading with thee in thy narrow resting-place,
+thy mission on earth is accomplished. Joy, young freed spirit, if,
+stealing through the melodies of heaven, there comes to thee the
+whisper of that mother's call! Fair lamb! the love that folded thee in
+the Shepherd's arms designed likewise, in recalling thee, to lure the
+wandering parent home!
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIX.
+
+
+ "My Dear Lewis: Before you receive this letter, you will have had the
+ explanation of my disappearance from New York. A merciful Providence
+ directed me, in my partial derangement, to this peaceful retreat. Here
+ I have found rest for body and soul--peace such as the world could
+ never give the heart, even were it not bowed down by a sorrow like
+ mine. Not that I forget past errors; nor that the review does not
+ humble me in the dust. I confess, with shame and bitterness of spirit,
+ my wasted years, my unsanctified affections, my evil passions. But
+ for the assurance of the Father's pardon, the Saviour's loving pity,
+ the black catalogue would strike me dead with horror and anguish. It
+ is a fearful thing to be made to see one's self as she is; to scan
+ in terrified solicitude the record of a life, and find there nothing
+ better than pride, misanthropy, falsehood, hatred of men--rebellion
+ against God. It is a sweet experience to taste, however tremblingly,
+ the consolations of the Friend who invites the weary and heavy-laden
+ to draw near and learn of Him. In His strength--not in that feebleness
+ I once called power--have I resolved to lead a new life. Of the causes
+ which have contributed to produce this change, we will speak more at
+ length when we meet.
+
+ "'When we meet!' Lewis, will you, can you forget your manifold wrongs
+ and come back to me? I do not plead, now, 'for the sake of our child.'
+ Her sinless soul henceforth can know no pain or woe. God saw that I
+ was not worthy of her, and He took her. In the earlier weeks of my
+ selfish mourning, I had no thought of your bereavement. Latterly, I
+ have longed to comfort you, for I know that your heart is riven by
+ this stroke. She was your joy, as she was my angel of peace. Her loss
+ is our common sorrow. Shall it not draw us together? Yet, as I have
+ said, our estrangement cannot now affect her. Thoughtless of evil,
+ she passed away. Had she lived, the Omniscient only knows what grief
+ and mortification might have darkened her pathway. Nor do I desire a
+ reconciliation as a shield from the world's sneer or ban. I hold its
+ applause and its censure alike cheaply. In prosperity, its favors were
+ painted, tasteless fruit; in adversity, it would have fed my starving
+ heart with husks. But for my sake--by the thought of my late and sore
+ repentance; by the remorse that must gnaw my spirit, when I remember
+ your noble trust in me, your unswerving fidelity, your generous love
+ and my base requital of it all; by the sorrow that never leaves me
+ by day or by night--forgive me, and return to the home we have both
+ forsaken! I will serve you very faithfully, my husband! I have gained
+ other and higher views of the marriage relation within a short time
+ past. However presumptuously I may have assumed its responsibilities,
+ however unworthily I performed its duties in former days, I would
+ enter upon our re-engagement with a solemn sense of what I owe to you
+ and to Him who united us. You must have despised me at our parting,
+ and since. Perhaps you have come to think of me with dislike as well
+ as contempt. I will bear this--grievous though the burden will be--as
+ a part of my righteous punishment. I will never murmur--never, even
+ in thought, accuse you of unjust harshness, if you will grant me
+ the opportunity to make what amends I can for all you have lost and
+ suffered through my fault."
+
+Sarah was still far from strong; and wearied as much by the intensity
+of her feelings as by the manual effort of writing, she laid the pen
+down, and leaned back in the cushioned chair. Her table stood in the
+parlor beneath the window overlooking the river. The room was prim
+and clean, as of yore, with its straight lines of chairs; its shining
+specks of mirrors; the grim black profiles above the mantel, and the
+green boughs in the fireplace. The outer scene was in its general
+features, that which the girl had surveyed, with pleased surprise, the
+July evening of her arrival here two years ago.
+
+Only two years! The sufferings and life-lessons of twenty had been
+crowded into that brief space. The meadows were growing sere, as
+if scorching winds had swept over them, and the stream reflected
+truthfully, yet, one could have fancied, sadly, the changing foliage
+fringing its borders. But the sky, with its tender blue and its fleecy
+clouds, ever shifting, yet ever retaining their likeness to one
+another--the river's smooth, steady flow, were the same; fit emblems
+both of them of counsels which are mercy and truth through all their
+workings; of love that abideth forever!
+
+The train of thought was replete with refreshing to the spirit that
+was striving, in prayer and watchfulness, to adhere to the right, to
+accept, with meek submission, all that her cup yet held of pungent
+or nauseous lees. There was no affectation in the humble tone of her
+letter. She would not begin it until she had mastered the stubborn
+remnant of her native pride. It should be nothing to her that her
+husband had wilfully separated himself from her, and refused her
+overtures of reconcilement. If this was unkindness it was all she could
+reproach him with in the course of time they had spent together. He had
+been a true friend, an honorable protector, and dimly still, but more
+justly than ever before, she perceived that into his love for her there
+had entered none of the merely prudential considerations, the cool
+calculations, wherewith she used to account for his choice of herself
+as a helpmeet. Where, in the world's heartless circles, could she point
+out another wife as much indulged, as much honored in public and in
+private, as she once was by him? Mournfully, if not lovingly, she dwelt
+upon the countless evidences of his cordial fulfillment, in letter and
+in spirit, of his part of their mutual engagement, with something of
+the sinking heart the alchemist may have felt when, after he had, by
+a mechanical and habitual fling of his arm, tossed the eagerly-sought
+philosopher's stone into the sea as a worthless pebble, he discovered
+that the divining steel he held had been changed to gold by its touch.
+
+To whom of us has not an experience similar to this come? It may be
+that the eyes which once besought affection with dumb and disregarded
+eloquence are closed and rayless for all future time; the lips that
+told, with modest frankness, how dear we were to hearts we cared
+not then to win, are now but silent dust. Or, perchance, grieved
+by indifference, repelled by unkindness, those hearts have sought
+and found in other loves solace for the pain we, in our blindness
+inflicted. It matters little whether they be dead to all the world, or
+only to us. In either case, the longing and despair of our lonely lives
+are rendered the more unendurable from the flash of tardy truth that
+shows us, side by side with our actual poverty of heart riches, the
+tranquil beauty of the pictured "might have been."
+
+Aunt Sarah had gone on a visit to a neighbor; the hired girl was in
+the distant wash-house; and Charley considered it his duty to linger
+within easy reach of his cousin, should she need him for any purpose.
+To guard her from all chance of intrusion, he stationed himself on
+the front porch steps, with his book on his knee. For an hour he read
+on uninterruptedly; then, glancing up as he turned a leaf, he saw a
+gentleman coming down the gravel walk. He looked thin and anxious,
+and his restless eye wandered from door to windows, as in expectation
+of seeing some one beside the boy. With a ready apprehension of his
+infirmity, only to be accounted for by some prior knowledge of the
+person he saluted, he took from his pocket a card, which he presented
+before he shook hands with the silent host. Charley's intelligent
+face was one beam of pleasure as he read, and his warm grasp showed
+his sympathy in the happiness he fancied was in store for his cousin.
+Inviting the guest by a gesture to follow him, he went softly to the
+parlor-door, tapped lightly--too lightly, indeed, to attract the notice
+of the musing occupant of the room, then drew back the bolt, admitted
+the stranger, and delicately withdrew.
+
+Sarah heard the door open and Charley's retreating footsteps, and,
+supposing that he had peeped in to see that she was comfortable and
+wanted for nothing, she did not look around. The intruder stood still
+one step within the room, as if unable to advance or speak. The
+languid attitude of the figure before him, so unlike the self-poise
+and quiet energy of her former deportment, her black dress, even the
+wasted hands dropped so wearily upon her lap, told of the storm that
+had passed over her, the utter revolution in her life and nature. A
+struggling sigh he could not repress broke from the gazer's breast, and
+Sarah turned hastily towards him. She did not swoon, as he feared she
+would. A thrill, like an electric shock, shook her from head to foot;
+a wild inquiry looked from her eyes; a question or the reality of the
+appearance, succeeding so closely to--did it grow out of her revery?
+
+Lewis put this imagination to flight.
+
+"Sarah!" he said, pressing in his the hands she extended mutely. "They
+told me you were lost, and I hurried home to find you. I could not
+wait for your permission to come to you, when I learned in New York
+that I had a living wife! The loss of the child was heavy enough; but
+this"--He could say no more.
+
+"I am thankful! I am glad that you are here!" A faint, beautiful smile
+shone over her wan features. "And our baby, Lewis! We must remember
+that she is an angel now!"
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XX.
+
+
+To no one except Aunt Sarah were the facts of the estrangement and
+reconciliation of her relatives ever revealed, and within her faithful
+bosom the secret was hidden as securely as in a tomb.
+
+Great was the chagrin of gossips, male and female, when it was known
+that Mrs. Hammond's strange flight from her father's house, which
+had leaked out nobody knew how, and been variously construed into
+an elopement, a freak of derangement, and a deliberate intention
+of suicide, according to the degrees of charity possessed by the
+theorists, was a very innocent and unromantic journey to the country
+home of her favorite aunt and godmother, a lady of ample fortune and
+benevolent heart, who would, in all probability, make her namesake
+her heiress. Under her care, and for the benefit of the seclusion so
+congenial to one in her affliction, and the salt air so necessary for
+the restoration of her impaired health, Mrs. Hammond had remained until
+her husband's return from abroad.
+
+Mrs. Hunt had told Mrs. A., who had told Mrs. B., who repeated it to
+Mrs. C., how he had not stopped in New York an hour after he stepped
+ashore from the "Adriatic." He hurried to the bank, and ascertained
+from Mr. Hunt that his wife was with her aunt, and that a boat which
+would land him near Shrewsbury was to leave in fifteen minutes. So he
+drove down post-haste, and jumped on board of her after the plank had
+been drawn and the wheels began to move. There never was a more devoted
+husband or a more attached pair, Mrs. Hunt affirmed.
+
+"More than she could say for that flirting Mrs. Benson and her other
+half," agreed A., B. and C., unanimously.
+
+"Her conduct at Newport was scandalous, and would have been outrageous
+if he had not watched her like a lynx!" said Mrs. Beau Monde, who had
+never been able to secure one-half as many admirers as had Lucy, and
+hated her as honestly as if they were a couple of Biddies pulling caps
+for Patrick or Murphy.
+
+"I don't see why he should have felt jealous, I am sure. He wasn't
+dying of love for her! That could be seen with half an eye. They say
+he loved Mrs. Hammond before he addressed her sister, and married this
+one out of spite," rejoined Mrs. Townes, who had made beaux yeux at the
+distingue Southerner for three whole evenings, and won only the most
+indifferent glances in requital.
+
+"Mrs. Hammond behaved very prudently!" pronounced Mrs. Greyling, "and
+dressed very well. I suppose Mr. Hammond brought her some elegant
+things from abroad. Pity she is in mourning, and must dress plainly at
+present! If I were in her place--as it was only a baby--I would not
+wear black more than six months, unless it was very becoming."
+
+"She has become very religious, you know," said Mrs. Parton.
+
+"Indeed! People are apt to, I think, when there has been death in the
+family," concluded Mrs. Greyling, pensively. "I remember, when my poor
+sister died, I used to look forward to church and Sunday with real
+pleasure. I could not go anywhere on week-days, you know, although
+there were piles of tickets lying in my card-receiver, and we had just
+taken a box at the opera that very winter! I declare, I should have
+lost the run of the fashions entirely, and forgotten people's faces, if
+I had not gone to church. I dare say, too, that she finds some comfort
+in religion--poor woman! if what the preachers and good books tell us
+be true."
+
+Had Sarah found comfort?
+
+Look we, for reply, to the chastened lustre of the eye, where once
+burned restless fires, like the sunward gaze of the imprisoned eagle;
+to the holy serenity struggling through and finally dispelling the
+clouds of memory and regret that, at times, would roll in between
+her soul and the bright, sustaining hope upon which Faith would have
+its regards forever fixed; to her daily life, sanctified by prayer,
+beneficent in good works, and by its unostentatious loveliness winning
+others, first to admire, then to imitate; to the wifely submission and
+loving kindness of her bearing to her husband, her grateful estimate of
+the affection he lavished upon her, the deep, true tenderness growing
+up in her heart for this fond and noble companion; look we, lastly,
+to the snowy marble guarding that tiny mound in Greenwood, where the
+mother once believed that hope and joy were buried to know no awakening.
+
+    "BABY BELLE,"
+    infant daughter of
+    LEWIS AND SARAH HAMMOND.
+    She went home
+    July 16, 1858, aged 8 months.
+    "Is it well with thee?  Is it well with thy husband?
+    Is it well with the child?"
+    And she answered, "It is well!"
+
+
+[THE END.]
+
+
+
+
+TRANSCRIBER'S NOTE:
+
+Obvious printer errors have been corrected. Otherwise, the author's
+original spelling, punctuation and hyphenation have been left intact.
+
+
+
+
+
+
+End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Husks, by Marion Harland
+
+*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 48461 ***
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+<div class="transnote covernote">
+<p class="center" style="margin-top: 1em; margin-bottom: 1em;">The cover image was restored by the transcriber and is placed in the public domain.</p>
+</div></div>
+
+<hr class="chap" style="page-break-after: always;" />
+
+
+
+
+<h1 style="margin-top: 2em;">HUSKS.<br />
+
+
+
+BY MARION HARLAND.</h1>
+
+
+
+<p class="ph2" style="margin-top: 3em; margin-bottom: 1em;">CHAPTER I.</p>
+
+
+<p>It was a decided uncompromising rainy
+day. There were no showers, coquetted
+with by veering winds or dubious mists,
+that at times grew brighter, as if the sun
+were burning away their lining; but a uniform
+expanse of iron-gray clouds&mdash;kept in
+close, grim column by a steady, although
+not violent east wind&mdash;sent straight lines of
+heavy rain upon the earth. The naked
+trees, that, during the earlier hours of the
+deluge had seemed to shiver for the immature
+leaf-buds, so unfit to endure the rough
+handling of the storm, now held out still,
+patient arms, the rising sap curdled within
+their hearts. The gutters were brimming
+streams, and the sidewalks were glazed
+with thin sheets of water.</p>
+
+<p>The block of buildings before which our
+story pauses, was, as a glance would have
+showed the initiated in the grades of Gotham
+life, highly respectable, even in the
+rain. On a clear day when the half-folded
+blinds revealed the lace, silken and damask
+draperies within, when young misses and
+masters&mdash;galvanized show-blocks of purple
+and fine linen, that would have passed
+muster behind the plate-glass of Genin or
+Madame Demorest&mdash;tripped after hoops or
+promenaded the smooth pavement; when
+pretty, jaunty one-horse carriages, and
+more pretentious equipages, each with a
+pair of prancing steeds, and two "outside
+passengers" in broadcloth and tinsel hatbands,
+received and discharged their loads
+before the brown-stone fronts&mdash;had the
+afore-mentioned spectator chanced to perambulate
+this not spacious street, he would
+have conceded to it some degree of the
+fashion claimed for it by its inhabitants.
+There were larger houses and wider pavements
+to be had for the same price a few
+blocks further on, in more than one direction,
+but these were unanimously voted
+"less eligible" and "deficient in style," in
+spite of the fact that as good and better
+materials were employed in their construction,
+and they were in all respects equal in
+external show and inside finish to those in
+this model quarter. "But our block has a
+certain air&mdash;well&mdash;I don't know what; but
+it is just the thing, you know, and so convenient!
+So near the avenue!" would be
+the concluding argument.</p>
+
+<p>The nameless, indescribable charm of the
+locality lay in the last clause. "Just step
+around the corner and you are in the avenue,"
+said the favored dwellers in this vicinity,
+as the climax in the description of
+their abode, and "that way fashion lies" to
+every right-minded New Yorker of the
+feminine gender.</p>
+
+<p>But the aristocratic quiet of the neighborhood,
+rendered oppressive and depressing
+by the gloom of the day, was disturbed
+by a discordant sound&mdash;a child's cry,
+and what was especially martyrizing to refined
+auriculars, the lament had the unmistakable
+plebeian accent. The passionate
+scream with which the pampered darling
+of the nursery resents interference with his
+rights and liberty of tyranny or the angry
+remonstrance of his injured playmates,
+would have been quite another species of
+natural eloquence, as regards both quality
+and force, from the weak, broken wail that
+sobbed along the wet streets. Moreover,
+what respectable child could be abroad on
+foot in this weather? So, the disrespectable
+juvenile pursued her melancholy way
+unnoticed and unquestioned until she
+reached the middle of the square. There
+a face appeared at a window in the second
+story of a house&mdash;which only differed from
+those to its right, left and opposite in the
+number upon the door&mdash;vanished and in
+half a minute more a young lady appeared
+in the sheltered vestibule.</p>
+
+<p>"What is the matter, little girl?"</p>
+
+<p>The tone was not winning, yet the sobs
+ceased, and the child looked up, as to a
+friendly questioner. She was about eleven
+years of age, if one had judged from her
+size and form; but her features were
+pinched into unnatural maturity. Her attire
+was wretched, at its best estate; now,
+soaked by the rain, the dingy hood drooped
+over her eyes; the dark cotton shawl retained
+not one of its original colors, and
+the muddy dress flapped and dripped about
+her ankles. Upon one foot she wore an old
+cloth gaiter, probably picked up from an
+ash heap; the remains of a more sorry
+slipper were tied around the other.</p>
+
+<p>"I am so cold and wet, and my matches is
+all sp'ilt," she answered in a dolorous tone,
+lifting the corner of a scrap of oil-cloth,
+which covered a basket, tucked for further
+security under her shawl.</p>
+
+<p>"No wonder! What else could you expect,
+if you would go out to sell them on a
+day like this? Go down into the area,
+there, and wait until I let you in."</p>
+
+<p>The precaution was a wise one. No servant
+in that well-regulated household would
+have admitted so questionable a figure as
+that which crept after their young mistress
+into the comfortable kitchen. The
+cook paused in the act of dissecting a chicken;
+the butler&mdash;on carriage days the footman&mdash;checked
+his flirtation with the plump
+and laughing chambermaid, to stare at the
+wretched apparition. The scrutiny of the
+first named functionary was speedily diverted
+to the dirty trail left by the intruder
+upon the carpet. A scowl puckered
+her red face, and her wrathful glance included<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_2" id="Page_2">[2]</a></span>
+both of the visitants as alike guilty
+of this desecration of her premises. The
+housemaid rolled up her eyes and clasped
+her hands in dumb show of horror and
+contempt to her gallant, who replied with
+a shrug and a grin. But not a word of remonstrance
+or inquiry was spoken. It was
+rather a habit of this young lady's to have
+her own way whenever she could, and that
+she was bent upon doing this now was
+clear.</p>
+
+<p>"Sit down," she said, bringing up a chair
+to the fire.</p>
+
+<p>The storm beaten wanderer obeyed, and
+eagerly held up her sodden feet to the red
+grate.</p>
+
+<p>"Have you no better shoes than those?"</p>
+
+<p>"No, ma'am."</p>
+
+<p>"Humph! Nor dress, nor shawl?"</p>
+
+<p>"No, ma'am."</p>
+
+<p>"Are you hungry?"</p>
+
+<p>A ray shot from the swollen eyes. "Yes,
+ma'am."</p>
+
+<p>The lady disappeared in the pantry and
+presently returned with five or six slices
+of bread and butter hastily cut and thickly
+spread, with cheese and cold meat between
+them.</p>
+
+<p>"Eat!" She thrust them into the match-girl's
+fingers. "Wait here, while I go and
+look for some clothes for you."</p>
+
+<p>As may be supposed, the insulted oracle
+of kitchen mysteries improved the time of
+the benefactress's absence by a very plain
+expression of her sentiments towards beggars
+in general, and this one in particular;
+which harangue was received with applause
+by her fellow-servants and perfect
+equanimity by its object. She munched her
+sandwiches with greedy satisfaction,
+watching, the while, the little clouds of
+steam that ascended from her heated toes.
+She was, to all appearances, neither a
+sensitive nor intelligent child, and had
+known too much of animal want and suffering
+to allow trifles to spoil her enjoyment
+of whatever physical comfort fell to
+her lot. Her mother at home could scold
+quite as violently as the cook was now doing,
+and she was more afraid of her anger,
+because she beat while she berated her.
+She was convinced that she stood in no
+such peril here, for her protectress was one
+in power.</p>
+
+<p>"Have you eaten enough?" said the clear,
+abrupt voice behind her, as she held two
+sandwiches in her fingers, without offering
+to put them to her lips.</p>
+
+<p>"Yes, ma'am. May I take 'em home?"</p>
+
+<p>"Certainly, if you like. Stand up and
+take off your shawl."</p>
+
+<p>She put around the forlorn figure a thick
+cloak, rusty and obsolete in fashion, but
+which was a warm and ample covering for
+the child, extending to the hem of her
+dress. The damp elf-locks were hidden by
+a knitted hood, and for the feet there were
+stockings and shoes and a pair of India-rubbers
+to protect these last from the water.</p>
+
+<p>"Now," said the Humane Society of One,
+when the refitting was at an end, "where
+do you live? Never mind&mdash;I don't care to
+know that yet! Here is a small umbrella&mdash;a
+good one&mdash;which belongs to me. I have
+no other for myself when I go out in bad
+weather. I mean to lend it to you, to-day,
+upon the condition that you will bring it
+back to-morrow, or the first clear day.
+Will you do it?"</p>
+
+<p>The promise was readily given.</p>
+
+<p>"Here's an old thing, Miss Sarah," ventured
+the butler, respectfully, producing a
+bulky, ragged cotton umbrella from a corner
+of the kitchen closet. "It's risky&mdash;trusting
+such as that with your nice silk
+one."</p>
+
+<p>"That will let in the rain, and it is entirely
+too large for her to carry. You understand,
+child? You are to bring this
+safely back to me, the first time the sun
+shines. Can you find your way to this
+house again?"</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, yes, ma'am, easy. Thank you,
+ma'am!"</p>
+
+<p>She dropped an awkward curtsey as Miss
+Sarah held open the door for her to pass,
+and went out into the rain&mdash;warm, dry and
+shielded against further damage from the
+storm.</p>
+
+<p>Unheeding the significant looks of the
+culinary cabinet, Sarah Hunt turned away
+and ascended the stairs. She was a striking-looking
+girl, although her features,
+when in repose, could claim neither beauty
+of form nor expression. Her complexion
+was dark and pale, with a slight tinge of
+olive, and her hair a deep brown, lips
+whose compression was habitual, an aquiline
+nose, and eyes that changed from
+dreamy hazel to midnight blackness at the
+call of mind or feeling, gave marked character
+to her countenance. Her sententious
+style of address to the child she had just
+dismissed was natural, and usual to her in
+ordinary conversation, as was also the
+gravity, verging upon sombreness, which
+had not once during the interview relaxed
+into a smile.</p>
+
+<p>The family sitting-room, her destination
+at present, and to which we will take the
+liberty of preceding her, was furnished
+elegantly and substantially, and there,
+leaning back in lounging chairs, were Miss
+Lucy Hunt, the eldest daughter of the
+household, and her bosom friend, Miss Victoria
+West. Each held and wielded a crochet
+needle, and had upon her lap a basket
+of many-hued balls of double or single
+zephyr worsted, or Shetland or Saxony
+wool, or whatever was the fashionable article
+for such pretty trifling at that date.
+Miss West had completed one-quarter of a
+shawl for herself, white and scarlet, and
+her friend had made precisely the same
+progress in the arduous manufacture of
+one whose centre was white and its border
+blue.</p>
+
+<p>"Yours will be the prettiest," remarked
+Lucy regretfully. "Blue never looks well
+in worsteds. Why, I can't say, I'm sure.
+It is too bad that I can wear so few other
+colors. But I am such a fright in pink or
+scarlet or any shade of red!"</p>
+
+<p>"As if you could be a fright in anything,"
+returned her companion, with seeming indignation.</p>
+
+<p>Lucy smiled, showing a set of faultless
+teeth that, to a stranger's first glance,
+would have appeared by far the most attractive
+point of her physiognomy. If
+closer examination discovered that her skin
+was pearly in whiteness and transparency,
+that her form was exquisite, with a sort of
+voluptuous grace; her hands worthy, in
+shape and hue, to become a sculptor's model;
+still, in the cold, unflattering light of
+this rainy afternoon her want of color, her
+light gray eyes, her yellow hair, drawn
+straight back from the broad, low brow,
+precluded the idea that she could ever,
+with all the accessories of artificial glare,
+dress and animation, be more than a merely
+pretty girl. Miss West knew better, and
+Lucy realized the power of her own charms
+with full and complete complacency. Secure
+in this pleasant self-appreciation, she
+could afford to be careless as to her every-day
+looks and home people. She saw and
+enjoyed the manifest surprise of those who,
+having seen her once in morning deshabille,
+beheld her afterwards in elaborate evening
+toilet. Then the abundant hair waved in
+golden ripples about the classic head, the
+most artfully simple of tasteful ornaments&mdash;a
+camellia, a rosebud, or a pearl hairpin,
+its sole adornment; her eyes, large, full and
+soft, were blue instead of gray, while the
+heat of the assembly-room, the excitement
+of the crowd, or the exultation of gratified
+vanity supplied the rounded cheek with
+rich bloom and dewy vermillion to the lips.
+But nature's rarest gift to her was her
+voice, a mellow contralto, whose skillful
+modulations stole refreshingly to the senses
+amid the sharp clash of strained and
+higher tones, the castanet-like jingle which
+most American belles ring unmercifully into
+the ears of their auditors. Lucy Hunt
+was not "a great talker," still less was she
+profound or brilliant when she did speak;
+yet she invariably conveyed the impression
+to the mind of a new acquaintance of a
+thoroughly cultivated woman, one whose
+acquirements were far beyond her modest
+exhibition of thought and sentiment. The
+most commonplace phrase came smoothly
+and roundly from her tongue, and he was
+censorious indeed who was willing to lose
+the pleasure afforded by its musical utterance
+in weighing its meaning. At school
+she had never been diligent, except in the
+study of music, and her painstaking in this
+respect was rewarded by the reputation,
+justly earned, of being the finest vocalist
+in her circle of associates. In society she
+shone as a rising star of the first magnitude;
+at home she was happy, cheerful and
+indolently amiable. Why should she be
+otherwise? From her babyhood she had
+been petted and admired by her family,
+and the world&mdash;her world&mdash;was as ready
+with its meed of the adulation which was
+her element.</p>
+
+<p>There were, besides the two sisters already
+introduced to the reader, three other
+children in the Hunt household&mdash;a couple of
+sturdy lads, twelve and fourteen years of
+age, and little Jeannie, a delicate child of
+six, whom Lucy caressed with pet titles
+and sugar-plums of flattery, and Sarah
+served in secret and idolatrous fondness.
+This family it was Mrs. Hunt's care and
+pride to rear and maintain, not only in
+comfort, but apparent luxury, upon the
+salary which her husband received as
+cashier of a prominent city bank, an income
+sufficient to support them in modest
+elegance, but which few besides Mrs. Hunt
+could have stretched to cover the expense
+of their ostensible style of living. But this
+notable manager had learned economy in
+excellent schools, primarily as a country
+girl, whose holiday finery was purchased
+with the proceeds of her own butter-making
+and poultry-yard; then as the brisk,
+lively wife of the young clerk, whose slender
+salary had, up to the time of his marriage,
+barely sufficed to pay for his own
+board and clothes, and whose only vested
+capital was his pen, his good character
+and perfect knowledge of book-keeping.
+But if his help-meet was a clever housewife,
+she was likewise ambitious. With
+the exception of the sum requisite for the
+yearly payment of the premium upon Mr.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_3" id="Page_3">[3]</a></span>
+Hunt's life insurance policy, their annual
+expenses devoured every cent of their receipts.
+Indeed, it was currently believed
+among outsiders that they had other resources
+than the cashier's wages, and Mrs.
+Hunt indirectly encouraged the report that
+she held property in her own right. They
+lived "as their neighbors did," as "everybody
+in their position in society was bound
+to do," and "everybody" else was too intent
+upon his personal affairs, too busy
+with his private train of plans and operations
+to examine closely the cogs and levers
+and boilers of the locomotive Hunt. If
+it went ahead, and kept upon the track
+assigned it, was always "up to time," and
+avoided unpleasant collisions, it was nobody's
+business how the steam was gotten
+up.</p>
+
+<p>Every human plant of note has its parasite,
+and Miss Lucy Hunt was not without
+hers. There existed no reason in the
+outward circumstances of the two girls
+why Miss Hunt should not court Miss West
+rather than Miss West toady Miss Hunt.
+In a business&mdash;that is, a pecuniary&mdash;point
+of view, the former appeared the more
+likely state of the case, inasmuch as Victoria's
+father was a stock-broker of reputed
+wealth, and with a probable millionaireship
+in prospective, if his future good
+fortune equalled his past, while Mr. Hunt,
+as has been stated, depended entirely upon
+a certain and not an extravagant stipend.
+But the girls became intimate at school,
+"came out" the same winter at the same
+party, where Lucy created a "sensation,"
+and Victoria would have been overlooked
+but for the sentimental connection between
+the debutantes. Since then, although the
+confidante would have scouted the imputation
+of interested motives with virtuous
+indignation of wounded affection, she had
+nevertheless "made a good thing of it," as
+her respected father would have phrased it,
+by playing hanger-on, second fiddle, and
+trumpeter general to the belle.</p>
+
+<p>"As if you could be a fright in anything,"
+she had said, naturally and perhaps
+sincerely.</p>
+
+<p>Lucy's smile was succeeded by a serious
+look. "I am sadly tempted sometimes!
+Those lovely peach-blossom hats that you
+and Sarah wore this past winter were absolute
+trials to my sense of right. And no
+longer ago than Mrs. Crossman's party I
+was guilty of the sin of coveting the complexion
+that enabled Maria Johnston to
+wear that sweet rose-colored silk, with the
+lace skirt looped with rosebuds."</p>
+
+<p>"You envy Maria Johnston's complexion?
+Why don't you go further and fall in love
+with her small eyes and pug nose?" inquired
+Victoria, severely ironical. "I have
+heard that people were never contented
+with their own gifts, but such a case of
+blindness as this has never before come
+under my observation."</p>
+
+<p>"No, no! I am not quite so humble with
+regard to my personal appearance as you
+would make out. Yet"&mdash;and the plaintive
+voice might have been the murmur of a
+grieving angel&mdash;"I think that there are
+compensations in the lot of plain people
+that we know nothing about. They escape
+the censure and unkind remarks that uncharitable
+and envious women heap upon
+those who happen to be attractive. Now,
+there is Sarah, who never cares a button
+about her looks, so long as her hair is
+smooth and her dress clean and whole.
+She hates parties and is glad of any excuse<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_4" id="Page_4">[4]</a></span>
+to stay out of the parlor when gentlemen
+call. Give her her books and that
+'snuggery,' as she calls it, of a room upstairs,
+and she is happier than if she were
+in the gayest company in the world. Who
+criticises her? Nobody is jealous of her
+face or manners or conversation. And she
+would not mind it if they were."</p>
+
+<p>"She has a more independent nature than
+yours, my dear. I, for one, am rejoiced
+that you two are unlike. I could not endure
+to lose my darling friend, and somehow
+I never could understand Sarah; never
+could get near to her, you know."</p>
+
+<p>"I do not wonder at that. It is just so
+with me, sisters though we are. However,
+Sarah means well, if her manner is blunt
+and sometimes cold."</p>
+
+<p>The entrance of the person under discussion
+checked the conversation at this point,
+and both young ladies began to count their
+stitches aloud, to avoid the appearance of
+the foolish embarrassment that ever overtakes
+a brace of gossips at being thus interrupted.</p>
+
+<p>Sarah's work lay on her stand near the
+window, where she had thrown it when the
+crying child attracted her notice, and she
+resumed it now. It was a dress for Jeannie.
+It was a rare occurrence for the second
+sister to fashion anything so pretty
+and gay for her own wear.</p>
+
+<p>"Have you taken to fancy work at last?"
+asked Victoria, seeing that the unmade
+skirt was stamped with a rich, heavy pattern
+for embroidery.</p>
+
+<p>"No!" Sarah did not affect her sister's
+friend, and did not trouble herself to disguise
+her feelings towards her.</p>
+
+<p>Lucy explained: "She is making it for
+Jeannie. She does everything for that
+child."</p>
+
+<p>"You are very sisterly and kind, I am
+sure," Victoria continued, patronizingly.
+"You must quite despise Lucy and myself
+for thinking of and doing so much for ourselves,
+while you are such a pattern of self-denial."</p>
+
+<p>A blaze shot up in Sarah's eye; then she
+said, coldly: "I am not self-denying. Have
+I ever found fault with you or Lucy for
+doing as you like?"</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, no, my dear. But you take no interest
+in what we enjoy. I dare say, now,
+you would think it a dull business to work
+day after day for three or four weeks together,
+crocheting a shawl which may go
+out of fashion before one has a chance to
+sport it at a watering-place."</p>
+
+<p>"I certainly should!" The curl of the
+thin upper lip would have answered for
+her had she not spoken.</p>
+
+<p>"And you hate the very sight of shellwork
+and cone-frames, and Grecian painting,
+and all such vanities?"</p>
+
+<p>"If I must speak the truth, I do&mdash;most
+heartily."</p>
+
+<p>Victoria was not easily turned from her
+purpose.</p>
+
+<p>"Come, Sarah! Tell us what you would
+have us, poor trifling, silly things, do to
+kill the time."</p>
+
+<p>"If you must be a murderer, do it in your
+own way. I have nothing to say in the
+matter."</p>
+
+<p>"Do you mean that time never hangs
+upon your hands&mdash;that you are never ennuyee&mdash;blasee?"</p>
+
+<p>"Speak English, and I will answer you."</p>
+
+<p>"I want to know," said the persevering
+tormentor, "if the hum-drum books upstairs,
+your paint-box and your easel are
+such good company that you are contented
+and happy always when you are with them&mdash;if
+you never get cross with yourself and
+everybody else, and wonder what you were
+put into the world for, and why the world
+itself was made, and wish that you could
+sleep until doomsday. Do you ever feel
+like this?"</p>
+
+<p>Sarah lifted her eyes with a wondering,
+incredulous stare at the flippant inquisitor.</p>
+
+<p>"I have felt thus, but I did not suppose
+that you had."</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, I have a 'blue' turn now and then,
+but the disease is always more dangerous
+with girls of your sort&mdash;the reading, thinking,
+strong-minded kind. And the older
+you grow, the worse you will get. I haven't
+as much book knowledge as you have,
+but I know more of the world we live in.
+Take my advice and settle down to woman's
+right sphere. Drive away the vapors
+with beaux and fancy-work now. By-and-by
+a husband and an establishment will
+give you something else to think about."</p>
+
+<p>Sarah would have replied, but Lucy
+broke in with a laugh, light and sweet.</p>
+
+<p>"You two are always at cross-questions!
+Why can't you be satisfied to let one another
+alone? Sarah and I never quarrel,
+Vic.. We agree to disagree. She gives me
+my way, and I don't meddle with her. If
+she likes the blues (they say some people
+enjoy them), where's the harm of her having
+them? They never come near me. If
+I get stupid, I go to bed and sleep it off.
+Don't you think I have done ten rows
+since breakfast? What a godsend a rainy
+day is, when one has a fascinating piece of
+work on hand!"</p>
+
+<p>Too proud to seem to abandon the field,
+Sarah sat for half an hour longer, stitching
+steadily away at the complicated tracery
+upon the ground to be worked; then,
+as the dimmer daylight caused the others
+to draw near to the windows, she pushed
+aside her table and put by her sewing.</p>
+
+<p>"Don't let us drive you away!" said Victoria's
+mock-polite tones, and Lucy added,
+kindly, "We do not mean to disturb
+you, Sarah, dear."</p>
+
+<p>"You do not disturb me!" was the reply
+to the latter. The other had neither glance
+nor word.</p>
+
+<p>Up another flight she mounted to a room,
+much smaller than that she had left and
+far plainer in its appointments. The higher
+one went in Mrs. Hunt's house the less
+splendid everything became. In the state
+spare chamber&mdash;a story below&mdash;nothing of
+comfort and luxury was wanting, from the
+carved rosewood bedstead, with the regal-looking
+canopy overshadowing its pillows,
+down to the Bohemian and cut-glass scent
+bottles upon the marble of the dressing-cabinet.
+Sarah's carpet was common ingrain,
+neither pretty nor new; a cottage
+bedstead of painted wood; bureau and
+washstand of the same material; two
+chairs and a small table were all the furniture
+her mother adjudged needful. To
+these the girl had added, from her pittance
+of pocket-money, a set of hanging bookshelves,
+a portable desk, an easel and two
+or three good engravings that adorned the
+walls.</p>
+
+<p>She locked the door after her, with a
+kind of angry satisfaction in her face, and
+going straight to the window leaned upon
+the sash and looked down into the flooded
+street. Her eyes were dry, but there was
+a heaving in her throat, a tightening of the
+muscles about the mouth that would have
+made most women weep for very relief.
+Sarah Hunt would have scorned the ease
+purchased by such weakness. She did not
+despise the sad loneliness that girt her
+around, any more than the captive warrior
+does his cell of iron or stone, but she held
+that it would be a cowardly succumbing to
+Fate to wound herself by dashing against
+the grim walls, or bring out their sleeping
+echoes by womanish wailings. So, presently,
+her throat ached and throbbed no longer,
+the rigid muscles compressed the lips
+no more than was their wont, the hands
+loosened their vise-like grasp of one another&mdash;the
+brain was free to think.</p>
+
+<p>The rain fell still with a solemn stateliness
+that befitted the coming twilight. It
+was a silent storm for one so heavy. The
+faint hum of the city, the tinkle of the
+car-bell, three blocks off, arose to her window
+above its plashing fall upon the pavement,
+and the trickle of the drops from
+sash to sill. A stream of light from the
+lamp-post at the corner flashed athwart
+the sidewalk, glittered upon the swollen
+gutter, made gold and silver blocks of the
+paving stones. As if they had waited for
+this signal, other lights now shone out
+from the windows across the way, and
+from time to time a broad, transient gleam
+from opening doors told of the return of
+fathers, brothers, husbands from their
+day's employment.</p>
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">"In happy homes he sees the light."<br /></span>
+</div></div>
+
+<p>What was there in the line that should
+make the watcher catch her breath in sudden
+pain and lay her hand, with stifled
+moan, over her heart, as she repeated it
+aloud?</p>
+
+<p>Witness with me, ye maternal Hunts,
+who read this page&mdash;you, the careful and
+solicitous about many things&mdash;in nothing
+more ambitious than for the advancement
+and success in life of your offspring&mdash;add
+your testimony to mine that this girl had
+all that was desirable for one of her age
+and in her circumstances. A house as
+handsome as her neighbors, an education
+unsurpassed by any of her late school-fellows,
+a "position in society;" a reasonable
+share of good looks, which only required
+care and cultivation on her part to become
+really distingue; indulgent parents and
+peaceably inclined brothers and sisters&mdash;read
+the list, and solve me, if you can, the
+enigma of this perturbed spirit&mdash;this hungering
+and thirsting after contraband or
+unattainable pleasures.</p>
+
+<p>"Some girls will do so!" Mrs. Hunt assured
+her husband when he "thought that
+Sarah did not seem so happy as Lucy. He
+hoped nothing ailed the child. Perhaps the
+doctor had better drop in to see her. Could
+she be fretting for anything, or had her
+feelings been hurt?"</p>
+
+<p>"Bless your soul, Mr. H. There's nothing
+the matter with her. She always was kind
+o' queer!" (Mrs. Hunt did not use her
+company grammar every day.) "And she's
+jest eighteen year old. That's the whole
+of it! She'll come 'round in good time,
+'specially if Lucy should marry off pretty
+soon. When Sarah is 'Miss Hunt,' she'll
+be as crazy for beaux and company and as
+ready to jump at a prime offer as any of
+'em. I know girls' ways!"</p>
+
+<p>Nor am I prepared to say that Sarah, as
+she quitted her look-out at the high window
+at the sound of the dinner bell, could
+have given a more satisfactory reason for
+her discontent and want of spirits.</p>
+
+<hr class="chap" />
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_5" id="Page_5">[5]</a></span></p>
+
+
+
+
+<h2>CHAPTER II.</h2>
+
+
+<p>Mrs. Hunt's china, like her grammar, was
+of two sorts. When her duty to "society"
+or the necessity of circumstances forced
+her to be hospitable, she "did the thing"
+well. At a notice of moderate length she
+could get up a handsome, if not a bountiful,
+entertainment, to which no man need
+have been ashamed to seat his friends,
+and when the occasion warranted the display
+she grudged not the "other" china,
+the other silver, nor the other table-linen.</p>
+
+<p>She did, however, set her face, like a
+broad flint, against the irregularity of inviting
+chance visitors to partake of the
+family bread and salt. Intimate as Victoria
+West was with Lucy, she met only a
+civil show of regretful acquiescence in her
+proposal to go home as the dinner hour
+approached, and Robbie or Richard Hunt
+was promptly offered to escort her to her
+abode upon the next block. If she remained
+to luncheon, as she would do occasionally,
+Lucy, in her hearing, begged her
+mother to excuse them from going down,
+and to send up two cups of tea and a few
+sandwiches to the sitting-room. This slight
+repast was served by the butler upon a
+neat little tray, in a tete-a-tete service&mdash;a
+Christmas gift to Lucy "from her ever-loving
+Victoria," and sentimentally dedicated
+to the use of the pair of adopted sisters.</p>
+
+<p>Therefore, Sarah was not surprised to
+find Victoria gone, despite the storm, when
+she entered the dining-room. An immense
+crumb-cloth covered the carpet; a row of
+shrouded chairs, packed elbow to elbow,
+stood against the further end of the apartment,
+and a set of very ordinary ones were
+around the table. The cloth was of whity-brown
+material, and the dishes a motley
+collection of halt and maimed&mdash;for all Mrs.
+Hunt's vigilance could not make servants
+miraculously careful. There was no propriety,
+however, according to her system
+of economy, in condemning a plate or cup
+as past service because it had come off
+second best, to the extent of a crack or
+nick or an amputated handle, in an encounter
+with some other member of the
+crockery tribe. "While there is life there
+is hope," was, in these cases, paraphrased
+by her to the effect that while a utensil
+would hold water it was too good to be
+thrown away.</p>
+
+<p>It was not a sumptuous repast to which
+Sarah sat down after she had placed Jeannie
+in her high chair and tied the great
+gingham bib around her neck. On the contrary,
+it came near being a scant provision
+for the healthy appetites of seven people.
+Before Mr. Hunt, a mild, quiet little
+man, was a dish of stew, which was, in its
+peculiar line, a thing&mdash;not of beauty, but
+wonder.</p>
+
+<p>Only a few days since, as I stood near
+the stall of a poultry vender in market, a
+lady inquired for chickens.</p>
+
+<p>"Yes, ma'am. Roasting size, ma'am?"</p>
+
+<p>"No. I want them for a fricassee."</p>
+
+<p>"Ah"&mdash;with a look of shrewd intelligence.
+"Then, ma'am, I take it, you don't care to
+have 'em overly tender. Most ladies prefers
+the old ones for fricassee. They come
+cheaper and very often bile tender."</p>
+
+<p>"Thank you," was the amused rejoinder.
+"The difference in the price is no consideration
+where the safety of our teeth is concerned."</p>
+
+<p>Mrs. Hunt suffered not these scruples to<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_6" id="Page_6">[6]</a></span>
+hinder her negotiations with knowing poultry
+merchants. A cent less per pound would
+be three cents saved upon the chicken, and
+three cents would buy enough turnips for
+dinner. It is an ignorant housekeeper who
+needs to be informed that stewed chicken
+"goes further" than the same fowl made
+into any other savory combination. Mrs.
+Hunt's stews were concocted after a recipe
+of her own invention. Imprimis, one
+chicken, weight varying from two and a
+half to three pounds; salt pork, a quarter
+of a pound; gravy abundant; dumplings innumerable.
+It was all "stew," and if Jeannie's
+share was but a bare drumstick,
+swimming in gravy and buried in boiled
+dough, there was the chicken flavor
+through the portion.</p>
+
+<p>For classic antecedent the reader is referred
+to the fable of the rose-scented clay.</p>
+
+<p>To leave the principal dish, which justice
+to Mrs. Hunt's genius would not permit me
+to pass with briefer mention, there were,
+besides, potatoes, served whole (mashed
+ones required butter and cream), turnips
+and bread, and Mrs. Hunt presided over a
+shallow platter of pork and beans. What
+was left of that dish would be warmed
+over to piece out breakfast next morning.
+The children behaved well, and the most
+minute by-law of table etiquette was observed
+with a strictness that imparted an
+air of ceremonious restraint to the meal.
+If Mrs. Hunt's young people were not in
+time finished ladies and gentlemen, it was
+not her fault, nor was it for the lack of
+drilling.</p>
+
+<p>"Do as I tell you; not as I do," were her
+orders in these matters. Since Lucy had
+completed her education, the mother added,
+"Look at your sister; she is never awkward."
+This was true. Lucy was born the
+fine lady. Refinement of manner and grace
+of movement, an instinctive avoidance of
+whatever looked common or underbred
+were a part of her nature. Only the usage
+of years had accustomed her to her mother's
+somewhat "fussy" ways.</p>
+
+<p>Had she met her in company as Mrs.
+Anybody else, she would have yielded her
+the right of way with a feeling of amazement
+and amiable pity that one who meant
+so well should so often overdo the thing
+she aimed to accomplish easily and gracefully.
+Following out her excellent system
+of training, the worthy dame demanded as
+diligent and alert watching from her butler
+as if she were having a dinner party.
+The eggless rice pudding was brought on
+with a state that was absolutely ludicrous;
+but the family were used to the unsubstantial
+show and took it as a matter of course.</p>
+
+<p>After the meal was over Mrs. Hunt withdrew
+to the kitchen for a short conference
+with the cook and a sharp glance through
+the closets. It was impossible that the abstraction
+of six slices of bread from the
+baking of the preceding day, three thick
+pieces of cheese and more than half of the
+cold meat she had decided would, in the
+form of hash, supply the other piece of the
+breakfast at which the beans were to assist,
+should escape her notice.</p>
+
+<p>Mr. Hunt was reading the evening paper
+by the droplight in the sitting-room, Lucy
+was busy with her shawl, and Sarah told a
+simple tale in a low voice to Jeannie as she
+leaned upon her lap, when the wife and
+mother entered, with something like a
+bluster. All present looked up, and each
+one remarked the cloud upon her brow.</p>
+
+<p>"What is the matter, mother?" said Mr.
+Hunt, in a tone not free from alarm.</p>
+
+<p>"I am worried! That's the whole of it. I
+am downright vexed with you, Sarah, and
+surprised, too! What upon earth possessed
+you, child, to take that beggar into my
+kitchen to-day? After all I have told you
+and tried to learn you about these shameful
+impostors! I declare I was beat out
+when I heard it. And to throw away provisions
+and clothes upon such a brat!"</p>
+
+<p>Lucy opened her great eyes at her sister,
+and Mr. Hunt looked perplexedly towards
+his favorite, for at heart he was partial to
+his second child.</p>
+
+<p>"I took the poor creature to the fire,
+mother, because she was wet and cold; I
+fed her because she was hungry; I gave
+her some old, warm clothes of mine because
+hers were thin and soaked with
+rain."</p>
+
+<p>"Poor little girl!" murmured Jeannie
+compassionately.</p>
+
+<p>Sarah's hand closed instantly over the
+little fingers. The simple-hearted babe understood
+and sympathized with her motive
+and act better than did her wiser elders.</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, I have no doubt she told a pitiful
+story, and shed enough tears to wet her
+through, if the rain had not done it already.
+If you listen to what these
+wretches say, and undertake to relieve
+their wants, you will soon have not a dress
+to your back nor a house over your head.
+Why didn't you send her to some society
+for the relief of the poor?"</p>
+
+<p>"I did not know where to find one,
+ma'am."</p>
+
+<p>This plain truth, respectfully uttered,
+confounded Mrs. Hunt for a second.</p>
+
+<p>"Mrs. James is one of the managers in a
+benevolent association," she said, recovering
+herself. "You had ought to have
+given your beggar her address."</p>
+
+<p>"Even if I had known that fact, mother,
+the girl would have been obliged to walk
+half a mile in the storm to find this one
+manager. What do you suppose Mrs.
+James would have done for her that was
+not in my power to perform?"</p>
+
+<p>"She would have asked the child whereabouts
+she lived, and to-morrow she would
+have gone to hunt her up. If she found
+all as she had been told, which is not likely&mdash;these
+creatures don't give a right direction
+once in ten times&mdash;why, she would
+have brought the case before the board at
+their next meeting, and they would help
+them, if neither of her parents was a
+drinking character."</p>
+
+<p>"God help the poor!" ejaculated Sarah,
+energetically. "God help the poor, if this
+is man's style of relieving his starving
+brother! Mother, do you think that hunger
+pinches any the less when the famished
+being is told that next week or next month
+may bring him one good meal? Will the
+promise of a bushel of coal or a blanket,
+to be given ten days hence, warm the
+limbs that are freezing to-night? Is present
+help for present need, then always unsafe,
+imprudent, insane?"</p>
+
+<p>"That all sounds very fine, my dear."
+Mrs. Hunt grew cool as her daughter
+waxed warm. "But when you have seen as
+much of the world as I have you will understand
+how necessary it is to be careful
+about believing all that we hear. Another
+thing you must not forget, and that is that
+we are not able to give freely, no matter
+how much disposed we may be to do so.
+It's pretty hard for a generous person to
+say 'No,' but it can't be helped. People in
+our circumstances must learn this lesson."
+Mrs. Hunt sighed at thought of the curb
+put upon her benevolent desires by bitter
+necessity. "And, after all, very few&mdash;you've
+no idea how few&mdash;of these pretended
+sufferers are really in want."</p>
+
+<p>This preluded a recital of sundry barefaced
+impositions and successful swindles
+practiced upon herself and acquaintances,
+to which Mr. Hunt subjoined certain of
+his personal experiences, all tending to establish
+the principle that in a vast majority
+of cases of seeming destitution the supplicant
+was an accomplished rogue and the
+giver of alms the victim of his own soft
+heart and a villain's wiles. Jeannie drank
+in every syllable, until her ideal beggar
+quite equalled the ogre who would have
+made a light supper off of Hop-o'-my-Thumb
+and brothers.</p>
+
+<p>"You gave this match-girl no money, I
+hope?" said Mrs. Hunt, at length.</p>
+
+<p>"I did not, madam. I had none to give
+her." Impelled by her straightforward
+sense of honesty that would not allow her
+to receive commendation for prudence she
+had not shown, she said, bravely: "But I
+lent her my umbrella upon her promise to
+return it to-morrow."</p>
+
+<p>"Well!"</p>
+
+<p>Mrs. Hunt dropped her hands in her lap,
+and stared in speechless dismay at her
+daughter. Even her husband felt it his
+duty to express his disapprobation.</p>
+
+<p>"That was very unwise, my daughter.
+You will never see it again."</p>
+
+<p>"I think differently, father."</p>
+
+<p>"You are too easily imposed upon, Sarah.
+There is not the least probability that your
+property will be returned. Was it a good
+umbrella?"</p>
+
+<p>"It was the one I always use."</p>
+
+<p>"Black silk, the best make, with a carved
+ivory handle&mdash;cost six dollars a month
+ago!" gasped Mrs. Hunt. "I never heard
+of such a piece of shameful imprudence in
+all my born days. And I shouldn't wonder
+if you never once thought to ask her where
+she lived, that you might send a police
+officer after it, if the little thief didn't bring
+it back to you?"</p>
+
+<p>"I did think of it." Sarah paused, then
+forced out the confession she foresaw
+would subject her to the charge of yet
+more ridiculous folly. "I did think of it,
+but concluded to throw the girl upon her
+honor, not to suggest the theft to her by
+insinuating a doubt of her integrity."</p>
+
+<p>Mr. Hunt was annoyed with and sorry
+for the culprit, yet he could not help
+smiling at this high-flown generosity of
+confidence. "You are certainly the most
+unsophisticated girl of your age I ever met
+with, my daughter. I shall not mind the
+loss of the umbrella if it prove to be the
+means of giving you a lesson in human
+nature. In this world, dear, it will not do
+to wear your heart upon your sleeve.
+Never believe a pretty story until you have
+had the opportunity to ascertain for yourself
+whether it is true or false." And with
+these titbits of wordly wisdom, the cashier
+picked up his paper.</p>
+
+<p>"Six dollars! I declare I don't know
+what to say to you, Sarah!" persisted the
+ruffled mother. "You cannot expect me
+to buy you another umbrella this season.
+You must give up your walks in damp
+weather after this. I can't say that I'm
+very sorry for that, though. I never did<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_7" id="Page_7">[7]</a></span>
+fancy your traipsing off two or three miles,
+rain or shine, like a sewing girl."</p>
+
+<p>"Very well, madam!"</p>
+
+<p>But, steadied by pride as was her voice,
+her heart sank at the possibility of resigning
+the exercise upon which she
+deemed that so much of her health, physical
+and mental, depended. These long,
+solitary walks were one of the un-American
+habits that earned for Sarah Hunt
+the reputation of eccentricity. They were
+usually taken immediately after breakfast,
+and few in the neighborhood who were
+abroad or happened to look out at that
+hour, were not familiar with the straight,
+proud figure, habited in its walking dress
+of gray and black, stout boots, and gray
+hat with black plume. It was a uniform
+selected by herself, and which her mother
+permitted her to assume, because it
+"looked genteel," and became the wearer.
+Especially did she enjoy these tramps
+when the threatening storm, in its early
+stages, kept others of her class and sex
+at home. The untamed spirit found a
+fierce pleasure in wrestling with the wind;
+the hail that ushered in the snow-storm,
+as it beat in her face, called up lustre
+to the eye and warm color to the cheek.
+To a soul sickening of the glare and perfume
+of the artificial life to which she
+was confined, the roughest and wildest
+aspects of nature were a welcome change.</p>
+
+<p>I remember laughing heartily, as I doubt
+not you did also, dear reader, if you saw
+it, at a cut which appeared several years
+ago in the Punch department of "Harper's
+Magazine." A "wee toddler," perhaps four
+years old, with a most lack-a-daisical expression
+upon her chubby visage, accosts
+her grandmother after this fashion: "I
+am tired of life, grandmamma! The world
+is hollow, and my doll is stuffed with
+sawdust, and if you please, ma'am, I
+should like to go to a nunnery!"</p>
+
+<p>Yet, that there are natures upon which
+the feeling of emptiness and longing herein
+burlesqued seizes in mere babyhood is
+sadly true. And what wonder? From their
+cradles, hundreds of children, in our so-called
+better classes, are fed upon husks.
+A superficial education, in which all that is
+not showy accomplishment is so dry and
+uninviting that the student has little disposition
+to seek further for the rich kernel,
+the strong meat of knowledge, is the preparatory
+course to a premature introduction
+into the world, to many the only
+phase of life they are permitted to see, a
+scene where all is flash and froth, empty
+bubbles of prizes, chased by men and
+women with empty heads, and oh, how
+often empty, aching hearts! Outside principles,
+outside affections, outside smiles,
+and most pitiable of all, outside piety!
+Penury of heart and stomach at home;
+abroad a parade of reckless extravagance
+and ostentatious profession of fine feeling
+and liberal sentiments!</p>
+
+<p>"Woe," cried the preacher, "to them
+that make haste to be rich!" If he had
+lived in our day, in what biting terms of
+reprobation and contempt would he have
+declaimed against the insane ambition of
+those who forego the solid comforts of
+judicious expenditure of a moderate income
+would afford; spurn the holy quiet
+of domestic joys&mdash;neglect soul with heart
+culture&mdash;in their haste to seem rich, when
+Providence has seen that wealth is not to
+be desired for them! Out upon the disgusting,
+indecent race and scramble! The<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_8" id="Page_8">[8]</a></span>
+worship of the golden calf is bad enough,
+but when this bestial idolatry rises to such
+a pitch of fanaticism, that in thousands
+of households copies in pinchbeck and
+plated-ware are set up and served, the
+spectacle is too monstrous in its abomination!
+This it is that crowds our counting-rooms
+with bankrupts and our state-prisons
+with defaulters; that is fast turning
+our ball-rooms and other places of
+fashionable rendezvous into vile caricatures
+of foreign courts, foreign manners,
+and foreign vices; while the people we
+ape&mdash;our chosen models and exemplars&mdash;hold
+their side in inextinguishable laughter
+at the grave absurdity of our laborious
+imitation. It is no cause for marvel that,
+in just retribution, there should be sent
+a panic-earthquake, every three years, to
+shake men to their senses.</p>
+
+<p>Such was the atmosphere in which Sarah
+Hunt had always lived. In the code subscribed
+to by her mother, and the many
+who lived and felt and panted and pushed
+as she did for social distinction, nothing
+was of real, absolute value except the
+hard cash. Gold and silver were facts.
+All things else were comparative in use
+and worth. The garment which, last winter,
+no lady felt dressed without, was an
+obsolete horror this season. The pattern
+of curtains and furniture that nearly
+drove the fortunate purchaser wild with
+delight, three years back, was now only
+fit for the auction room. In vain might
+the poor depleted husband plead for and
+extol their beauties. The fiat of fashion
+had gone forth, and his better half seasoned
+his food with lamentations, and
+moistened her pillow with tears until she
+carried her point. We have intimated that
+Sarah was a peculiar girl. Whence she
+derived her vigorous intellect; her strong,
+original turn of thought; her deep heart,
+was a puzzle to those who knew her parents.
+The mother was energetic, the
+father sensible, but both were commonplace,
+and followed, like industrious puppets,
+in the wake of others. They were
+pleased that Sarah brought home all the
+prizes offered at school, and both considered
+that she gained a right, by these
+victories, to pursue her studies at home,
+provided she did not obtrude her singular
+views and tastes upon other people. Mrs.
+Hunt sighed, frequently and loudly, in her
+presence, that her genius had not been
+for shell, or bead, or worsted work, instead
+of for reading volumes, that did not
+even decorate the show book-case in the
+library.</p>
+
+<p>"If you must have so many books, why
+don't you pick out them with the tasty
+bindings?" she had asked her daughter
+more than once. "And I wish you would
+paint some bright, lively pictures, that
+would look handsome on the walls, instead
+of those queer men and women and cloudy
+things you have got upstairs. I'd have
+'em framed right away, and be real proud
+to tell who done them."</p>
+
+<p>Sarah remained proof against such hints
+and temptation, and, shrinking more and
+more from the uncongenial whirl around
+her, she turned her eager, restless spirit into
+her secret, inner life, where, at times, it was
+flattered into content by the idealities upon
+which it was fed; at others, ramped and
+raved, like any other chained wild thing.
+The sweetest drop of pleasure she had
+tasted for many a day was the thrill she
+experienced when the forlorn object she
+had rescued from the power of the storm
+stood before her, decently and comfortably
+clad. The rash confidence she had reposed
+in so suspicious a stranger was the
+outgoing of a heart too noble and true in
+every impulse to pause, for a moment, to
+speculate upon the chances of another's
+good or bad faith. The great world of the
+confessedly poor was an unknown field to
+her&mdash;one she longed to explore. Her footsteps
+loitered more often near the entrance
+of some narrow, reeking street or
+alley, down which she had promised her
+mother not to go, than on the spacious
+pave, where over-dressed women and foppish
+men halted at, and hung around bewitching
+shop windows. She wondered
+how such throngs of breathing beings contrived
+to exist in those fetid, cramped
+quarters; how they lived, spoke, acted,
+felt. The great tie of human brotherhood
+became daily more tense, as she pondered
+these things in her heart.</p>
+
+<p>On this particular day, as she sat, silent
+and thoughtful, at her needle, the
+chit-chat of her companions less heeded
+than the continual dropping of the rain
+without, the wail of the shivering wanderer
+caused a painful vibration through
+every nerve. The deed was done! the experiment
+was tried. She was ashamed that
+an event so trivial held her eyes waking,
+far into the night. At least, she said to
+herself, she would not be without a lesson
+of some kind; would learn whether deceit
+and falsehood prevailed in the lowest, as
+well as the higher ranks of society. If,
+as she still strove to believe would be the
+case, the child returned the borrowed
+property, she would make use of her, as
+the means of entering upon a new sphere
+of research and action. After so complete
+a refutation of her theories respecting the
+utter corruption of all people, who had
+not enough to eat and to wear, her mother
+could not withhold her consent to her
+petition that she might become a lay-missionary&mdash;a
+present relief committee to
+a small portion of the suffering, toiling,
+ill-paid masses. She would then have a
+work to do&mdash;something to call out energy
+and engage feeling in healthy exercise&mdash;and
+soothed by the romantic vision, she
+fell asleep with a smile upon her lips.</p>
+
+<p>The morning dawned between breaking
+clouds, that soon left the sky clear and
+bright. All through the day Sarah watched
+for her visitor of the preceding day&mdash;watched
+with nervousness she could not
+wholly conceal, from morn to night, for
+two, three days&mdash;for a week. Then she
+looked no longer while at home; her question,
+at entering the house, after a drive
+or walk, ceased to be, "Has any thing
+been left for me?" So palpable was her
+disappointment that her father forbore to
+make any allusion to her loss, and Lucy,
+albeit she was somewhat obtuse to the
+finer points of her sister's character, good-naturedly
+interposed to change the subject
+when her mother sought to improve
+the incident to her daughter's edification
+and future profit. Mr. Hunt was right in
+supposing that the "unsophisticated girl"
+had learned something. Whether she were
+happier or better for the lesson thus acquired
+was another thing.</p>
+
+<p>Once again Sarah had an opportunity for
+speech with her delinquent protege. Two
+months later she was passing through a
+by-street in a mean neighborhood, very
+far up town, in her morning ramble, when
+her progress was arrested, for an instant,
+by two boys, who ran out of an alley
+across the walk. One overtook the other
+just in front of the lady, and catching
+him by his ragged collar, threw him down.</p>
+
+<p>"That's right! beat him well! I'll help!"
+screeched a girl, rushing out of the court
+whence they had come.</p>
+
+<p>Grinning with delight, she flung herself
+upon the prostrate form and commenced
+a vigorous assault, accompanied by language
+alike foul and profane.</p>
+
+<p>Sarah recognized her instantly, and while
+she paused in mingled amazement and
+anger, the child looked up and saw her.
+In a twinkling she relinquished her grip
+of the boy's hair&mdash;jumped up and sped
+back into the dirty alley, with the blind
+haste of guilty fear.</p>
+
+<p>Yes! Mr. Hunt was a wise man, who
+knew the world, and trebly sage in her
+generation was his spouse. If their daughter
+had never acknowledged this before,
+she did now, in her disgust and dismay at
+this utter overthrow of her dreams of
+the virtuous simplicity to be found in lowly
+homes, where riches and fashions were
+things unknown.</p>
+
+
+<hr class="chap" />
+
+<h2>CHAPTER III.</h2>
+
+
+<p>Summer had come to the country with
+its bloom and its beauty, its harvests and
+its holidays. In town, its fever heat drew
+noisome smells from overcharged sewers,
+and the black, oily paste to which the
+shower that should have been refreshing
+had changed the dust of crowded thoroughfares.
+Cleaner pavements, in the
+higher portions of the city, burned through
+shoe-soles; glass radiated heat to polished
+stone, and stone radiated, in its turn, to
+brick, that waited until the evening to
+throw off its surplus caloric in hot, suffocating
+waves that made yet more oppressive
+the close nights. The gay procession
+of fashionable humming birds had
+commenced their migrations, steamboats
+and excursion craft multiplied at the
+wharves, and the iron steed put forth all
+his tremendous might to bear onward the
+long train of self-exiled travelers.</p>
+
+<p>The Hunts, too, must leave town; Lucy
+must, at all events, have a full season,
+and a brilliant one, if possible, for it was
+her second summer, and much might depend
+upon it. Her mother would accompany
+her, of course; and equally of course
+her father could not; that is, he must return
+after escorting them to Saratoga, and
+spend the remainder of the warm months at
+home. His business would not allow him
+to take an extended vacation. The boys
+were easily disposed of, being boarded
+every summer at the farmhouse of an
+early friend of Mr. Hunt, where they
+were acceptable inmates, their clothes as
+well cared for as they were at home, and
+their morals more diligently cultivated.
+The younger girls caused that excellent
+manager, their mother, more perplexity.
+This was not the first time she had repented
+her indiscretion in allowing Sarah
+to "come out" before her elder sister had
+"gone off." But "Sarah was so tall and
+so womanly in her appearance that it
+looked queer, and would set people to talking
+if I kept her back," she was accustomed
+to excuse her impolitic move to
+her friends. This summer she realized, as
+she had not done before, the inconvenience
+of having two full-fledged young ladies<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_9" id="Page_9">[9]</a></span>
+upon the carpet at once. Lucy's elegant
+and varied wardrobe, and the certain expenses
+in prospect for her and her chaperon
+at Spa, seaside, and en route, left a
+balance in hand of the sum allotted for
+the season's expenditure that was startling
+in its meagerness. Mrs. Hunt was a
+capital financier, a peerless economist, but
+the exigency taxed her resources to the
+utmost.</p>
+
+<p>One morning she arose with a lightened
+heart and a smoother brow. "I've settled
+it!" she exclaimed to her husband, shaking
+him from his matutinal doze.</p>
+
+<p>The "Eureka!" of the Syracusan mathematician
+was not more lofty in its exultation.
+Forthwith she unfolded to him her
+scheme. She was a native of New Jersey,
+"the Jarseys" she had heard it called in
+her father's house&mdash;had probably thus denominated
+the gallant little state herself
+in her girlhood. In and around the pretty,
+quiet village of Shrewsbury there were still
+resident scores of her relatives whose very
+names she had sedulously forgotten. One
+alone she could not, in conscience or in
+nature, dismiss to such oblivion. This
+was her elder and only sister, long married
+to a respectable and worthy farmer, and
+living within a mile of "the old place,"
+where both sisters had drawn the first
+breath of life. Twice since Mrs. Hunt had
+lived in the city had this kind friend been
+summoned on account of the dangerous
+illness of the former, and her presence
+and nursing had restored peace, order, and
+health to the household. The earlier of
+these occasions was that of the second
+child's birth, and in the softened mood of
+her convalescence Mrs. Hunt had bestowed
+upon the babe her sister's name&mdash;Sarah
+Benson&mdash;a homely appellative she had ofttimes
+regretted since. At distant and irregular
+intervals, one, two, three years,
+Mr. or Mrs. Benson visited their connections
+in "York;" but the intercourse grew
+more difficult and broken as time rolled
+on and the distance widened between the
+plain country folk and their rising relations.
+Then, again, death had been busy
+in the farmhouse; coffin after coffin, of
+varying lengths, but all short, was lifted
+over the threshold and laid away in the
+village graveyard, until but one was left
+to the parents of the seven little ones
+that had been given to them, and to that
+one nature had denied the gifts of speech
+and hearing. Grief and the infirmities of
+approaching old age disinclined the worthy
+pair to stir from home, and their ambitious
+sister was too busy in building up a
+"set" of her own, and paving the way
+for her daughters' distinction, to hide her
+light for ever so short a period in so obscure
+a corner as her former home.</p>
+
+<p>Aunt Sarah, however, could not forget
+her nurseling. Every few months there
+arrived some simple token of affectionate
+remembrance to "the child" she had not
+seen since she wore short frocks and pinafores.
+The reception of a basket of fruit,
+thus despatched, was the suggestive power
+to Mrs. Hunt's present plan. She had
+made up her mind, so she informed her
+husband straightway, to write that very
+day&mdash;yes! that very forenoon, to "Sister
+Benson," and inquire whether she would
+board Sarah and Jeannie for a couple of
+months.</p>
+
+<p>"I don't s'pose she will let me pay board
+for them, but she will be pleased to have
+'em as long as they like to stay. It's never<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_10" id="Page_10">[10]</a></span>
+been exactly convenient for me to let any
+of the children go there for so many years,
+and it's so fur off. But dear me! sometimes
+I feel real bad about seeing so little
+of my only sister!"&mdash;a heavy sigh. "And
+there'll be the expenses of two saved, out
+and out, for they won't need a great variety
+of clothes in that out-of-the-way
+place."</p>
+
+<p>"But how will the girls, Sarah and Jeannie,
+fancy being sent off so?" inquired Mr.
+Hunt.</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, as to that, it is late in the day for
+my children to dispute what I say shall
+be done; and Sarah's jest that odd that
+she'll like this notion twenty times better
+than going to Newport or Saratoga. I
+know her! As to Jeannie, she is satisfied
+to be with her sister anywhere. She is getting
+thin, too; she looks real peaked, and
+there's nothing in creation so good for
+ailing children as the salt-water bath.
+They have first-rate still-water bathing not
+a quarter of a mile from sister's. It's
+jest the thing, I tell you! The wonder
+is it never came into my head before."</p>
+
+<p>Mr. Hunt had his sigh now. "Somehow
+or other he was always down in the mouth
+when the family broke up for the summer,"
+his wife frequently complained, and
+his lack of sympathy now excited her just
+ire.</p>
+
+<p>"Upon my word, Mr. H.! anybody would
+think that I was the poorest wife in the
+world to you to see and hear you whenever
+I talk to you of my plans and household
+affairs. You look as if you was about
+to be hanged, instead of feeling obliged
+to me for turning, and twisting, and contriving,
+and studying, day and night, how
+to save your money, and spend what we
+must lay out to the best advantage. I
+can tell you what&mdash;there's few women
+would make your income go as far as I
+do."</p>
+
+<p>"I know that, my dear. The question
+is"&mdash;Mr. Hunt paused, cleared his throat
+and strained his nerves for a mighty effort,
+an unprecedented exercise of moral
+courage&mdash;"the question is, Betsy, whether
+our income is stretched in the right direction!"
+Mistaking the stare of petrified
+incredulity he received for fixed attention,
+the infatuated man went on: "This doubt
+is always forced upon me when we separate
+in July, some to go to one place, some
+to another, a broken, wandering family
+for months together. I am growing old,
+and I love to have my children about me;
+I begin to feel the want of a home.
+There is Johnson, in the &mdash;&mdash; Bank, gets
+five hundred less per annum than I do;
+yet, after living quietly here a few years,
+he bought himself a snug cottage up the
+river, and has his family there in their
+own house, everything handsome and
+comfortable about them. I have been in
+the harness for a long while; I expect to
+die in it. I don't mind work&mdash;hard work!
+but it seems to me sometimes that we
+would all be better satisfied if we had
+more to show, or to hold, for our money;
+if there were less of this straining after
+appearances, this constant study to make
+both ends meet."</p>
+
+<p>"And it has come to this!" Mrs. Hunt
+sank into a chair and began to cry. "This
+is my thanks for slaving and toiling for
+better than twenty years to get you and
+your children a stand in the world! It
+isn't for myself that I care. I can work
+my fingers to the bone, and live upon a
+crust! I can scrape and save five dollars
+or so a month! I can bury myself in the
+country! But your children! those dear,
+sweet girls, that have had the best education
+money can buy, and that to-day visit
+such people as the Murrays, and Sandersons,
+and Hoopers, and Baylors, and meet
+the Castors and Crinnalls at parties&mdash;millionaires,
+all of 'em, the cream of the
+upper crust! I don't deny that I have
+been ambitious for them, and I did hope that
+you had something of the same spirit;
+and now to think of your complaining,
+and moping, and groaning over the money
+you say I've been and wasted; oh! oh! oh!"</p>
+
+<p>"You misunderstand me, my dear; I
+merely questioned whether we were acting
+wisely in making so much display upon
+so little substance. We are not millionaires,
+whatever may be said of the girls'
+visiting acquaintances, and I tremble
+sometimes to think how all this false
+show may end."</p>
+
+<p>Mr. Hunt's borrowed courage had not
+evaporated entirely.</p>
+
+<p>"That's distrusting Providence, Mr. H.!
+It's downright sinful, and what I shouldn't
+have looked for from you. I can tell you
+how it will end. If both of us live ten
+years longer, you will see your daughters
+riding in their own carriages, and leaders
+of the tong, and your sons among the first
+gentlemen of the city. If this does not
+turn out true, you needn't ever trust my
+word again. I've set my head upon getting
+Lucy off my hands this summer, and well
+off; and mark my words, Mr. H., it shall
+be done."</p>
+
+<p>One part of her mother's prophecy was
+fulfilled in Sarah's manner of receiving the
+proposition so nearly affecting her comfort
+during the summer. Lucy wondered at
+the cheerful alacrity with which she consented
+to be "hidden away in that horrid
+bore of a farmhouse," and Jeannie cried as
+her elder sister "supposed that they would
+eat in Aunt Sarah's kitchen, along with the
+servant men."</p>
+
+<p>"Lucy, be quiet!" interposed her mother.
+"Your aunt is not a common poor person.
+Mr. Benson is a man of independent
+means, quite rich for the country. They
+live very nicely, and I have no doubt but
+that your sisters will be happy there."</p>
+
+<p>Sarah had drawn Jeannie to her, and
+was telling her of the rides and walks
+they would take together, the ducks and
+chickens they would feed, and the merry
+plunges in the salt water that were to be
+daily luxuries. Ere the recital was concluded,
+the child was impatient for the
+hour of departure, and indignant when she
+heard that Aunt Sarah must be heard
+from before they could venture to present
+themselves, bag and baggage, at her door.
+There was nothing feigned in Sarah's satisfaction;
+her preparations were made
+with far more pleasure than if she were to
+accompany Lucy. The seclusion that would
+have been slow death to the latter was
+full of charms for the book-loving sister.
+Aunt Sarah would be kind; the novel
+phases of human nature she would meet
+would amuse and interest her; and, besides
+these, there was Jeannie to love and pet,
+and river, field, and grove for studies and
+society. She panted for the country and
+liberty from the tyrannous shackles of
+city customs.</p>
+
+<p>Aunt Sarah wrote promptly and cordially,
+rejecting the offered compensation, and
+begging for her nieces' company as long
+as they could content themselves in so retired
+a place. Simple-minded as she was,
+she knew enough to be sure that the
+belles and beaux of the neighborhood
+would be very unsuitable mates for her
+expected visitors. If her own girls had
+lived, she would have asked nothing higher
+for them in this world than to have
+them grow up respected, beloved, and
+happy, among the acquaintances and
+friends of their parents; but "Sister Betsy's
+children had been raised so differently!"
+she said to her husband. "I don't
+know what we will do to amuse them."</p>
+
+<p>"They will find amusement&mdash;never fear,"
+was the farmer's response. "Let city folks
+alone for seeing wonders where those that
+have lived among them all their lives
+never found anything uncommon. They
+are welcome to the pony whenever they've
+a mind to ride, and Jim or I will find time
+to drive them around a'most every day;
+and what with riding, and boating, and
+bathing, I guess they can get rid of the
+time."</p>
+
+<p>Before the day set for the coming of the
+guests there appeared upon the stage an
+unexpected and welcome ally to Aunt
+Sarah's benevolent design of making her
+nieces' sojourn agreeable. This personage
+we will let the good woman herself describe.</p>
+
+<p>"You needn't trouble yourself to fix up
+for tea, dear," she said to Sarah, the afternoon
+of her arrival, as she prepared to
+remove her traveling dress. "There's nobody
+here besides husband, and me, and
+Charley, except husband's nephew, Philip
+Benson, from the South. He comes North
+'most every summer, and never goes back
+without paying us a visit. He's been here
+three days now. But he is just as easy as
+an old shoe, and sociable as can be, so
+you won't mind him."</p>
+
+<p>"Uncle Benson has relatives at the South,
+then?" said Sarah, seeing herself called
+upon to say something.</p>
+
+<p>"One brother&mdash;James. He went to Georgy
+when he wasn't more than sixteen
+years old, and has lived there ever since.
+He married a rich wife, I believe"&mdash;sinking
+her voice&mdash;"and has made money fast,
+I've heard. Philip never says a word
+about their wealth, but his father owns a
+great plantation, for husband asked him
+how many acres they worked. Then the
+children&mdash;there are four of them&mdash;have had
+fine educations, and always spend money
+freely. Philip is not the sort to boast of
+anything that belongs to him or his. He
+is a good-hearted boy. He was here the
+August my last daughter&mdash;my Betsy&mdash;died,
+and I shall never forget how kind and
+tender he was then. I can't look at him
+without thinking how my Alick would
+have been just his age if he had lived.
+One was born on the fourth and the other
+the fifth of the same April."</p>
+
+<p>Keeping up a decent show of interest in
+these family details, Sarah divested Jeannie
+of her sacque and dress, and substituted
+a cool blue gingham and a muslin
+apron. Then, as the child was wild to run
+out of doors, she suffered her to go, charging
+her not to pass the boundary of the
+yard fence. Aunt Sarah was dressed in
+a second mourning delaine, with a very
+plain cap, and while the heat obliged Sarah
+to lay aside the thick and dusty garment
+she had worn all day, she had too much
+tact to offer a strong contrast in her own
+attire to her unpretending surroundings.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_11" id="Page_11">[11]</a></span>
+A neat sprigged lawn, modest and inexpensive,
+was not out of place among the
+old-fashioned furniture of her chamber,
+nor in the "best room," to which they
+presently descended.</p>
+
+<p>Aunt Sarah ushered her into the apartment
+with some stiffness of ceremony. In
+truth, she was not herself there often, or
+long enough to feel quite at ease, her
+property though it was. Alleging the necessity
+of "seeing to the tea," she bade
+her niece "make herself at home," threw
+open a blind that she "might see the
+river," and left her.</p>
+
+<p>First, Sarah looked around the room. It
+was large and square, and had four windows,
+two in front and two in the rear.
+The floor was covered by a well-saved
+carpet, of a pattern so antique that it
+was in itself a curiosity; heavy tables of
+a mahogany dark with age; upright chairs,
+with slippery leathern seats; a ponderous
+sofa, covered with haircloth; small mirrors,
+with twisted frames, between the
+windows; two black profiles, of life-size,
+over the mantel, and in the fireplace a jar
+of asparagus boughs, were appointments
+that might have repelled the looker-on, but
+for the scrupulous, shining cleanliness of
+every article. It was a scene so strange
+to Sarah that she could not but smile as
+she withdrew her eyes and turned to the
+landscape commanded by her window.</p>
+
+<p>The sight changed the gleam of good-humored
+amusement to one of more heartfelt
+pleasure. Beyond the grassy walks
+and flower-borders of the garden behind
+the house lay green meadows, sloping
+down to the river, broad and smooth at
+this point, so placid now that it mirrored
+every rope and seam of the sails resting
+quietly upon its surface, and the white
+cottages along the banks, while the banks
+themselves, with their tufts and crowns
+of foliage, drooping willows and lofty elms,
+found a faithful yet a beautified counterpart
+in the stream. The reflected blush of
+the crimson west upon its bosom was
+shot with flickers of golden light, and
+faded in the distance into the blue-gray
+twilight. The air seemed to grow more
+deliciously cool as the gazer thought of
+the hot, pent-up city, and the beds of
+thyme and lavender added their evening
+incense.</p>
+
+<p>The hum of cheerful voices joined pleasantly
+with the soothing influences of the
+hour, and, changing her position slightly,
+Sarah beheld the speakers. Upon a turfy
+mound, at the foot of an apple tree, sat
+Jeannie beside a gentleman, whose hands
+she watched with pleased interest, as did
+also a boy of fifteen or thereabouts, who
+knelt on the grass before them. Sarah
+divined at once that this was her aunt's
+deaf and dumb son. The gentleman was
+apparently interpreting to Jeannie all that
+passed between himself and the lad, and
+her gleeful laugh showed it to be a lively
+dialogue. Could this be Mr. Benson's
+nephew, the beardless youth Sarah had
+pictured him to herself from Aunt Sarah's
+description? He could not have been less
+than six-and-twenty, had dark hair and
+a close curling beard, an intelligent, handsome
+face, and notwithstanding his loose
+summer sack and lounging attitude, one
+discerned plainly traces of uncommon grace
+and strength in his form.</p>
+
+<p>"What is he, I wonder? A gallant, professional
+beau, who will entangle me in
+my speech, and be an inevitable appendage<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_12" id="Page_12">[12]</a></span>
+in the excursions? I flattered myself I
+would be safe from all such drawbacks,"
+thought Sarah, in genuine vexation, as she
+obeyed her aunt's summons to tea.</p>
+
+<p>Perhaps Mr. Benson read as much in
+her countenance, for, beyond a few polite,
+very unremarkable observations, addressed
+to her when his hosts made it necessary
+for him to do so, he paid her no visible
+attention during the whole of the evening.
+The next day he set off, the minute breakfast
+was over, with his gun and game-bag,
+and was gone until sunset.</p>
+
+<p>Sarah sat at her chamber window as he
+came up to the back door; and, screened
+by the vine trained over the sash, she
+watched him as he tossed his game-bag to
+Charley and shook hands with Jeannie,
+who ran up to him with the familiarity of
+an old acquaintance.</p>
+
+<p>"What luck?" questioned his uncle.</p>
+
+<p>"Nothing to boast of, sir; yet enough to
+repay me for my tramp. I have been
+down to the shore."</p>
+
+<p>"Philip Benson! Well, you beat everything!
+I suppose you have walked as much
+as ten miles in all!" exclaimed Aunt Sarah,
+with a sort of reproachful admiration.</p>
+
+<p>"I dare say, madam, and am none the
+worse for it to-night. I am getting used
+to your sand, uncle; it used to tire me, I
+confess."</p>
+
+<p>He disappeared into the kitchen, probably
+to perform the ablutions needful after
+his day's walk and work, for it was several
+minutes before he returned. Charley
+had carried the game-bag to the mound
+under the tree, and was exhibiting its contents&mdash;mostly
+snipe and red-winged black
+birds&mdash;to his little cousin.</p>
+
+<p>"It is refreshing to see something in
+the shape of man that is neither an effeminate
+dandy nor a business machine,"
+soliloquized Sarah. "Ten miles on foot! I
+would like to set that task for certain of
+our Broadway exquisites!"</p>
+
+<p>"She isn't a bit like a city girl!" Aunt
+Sarah was saying, as she followed Philip
+into the outer air.</p>
+
+<p>"I am glad to hear that she is likely to
+be a nice companion for you, madam. I
+thought, from her appearance, that you
+would suit each other," was the reply, certainly
+respectful enough, but whose lurking
+accent of dry indifference sent the
+blood to Sarah's face.</p>
+
+<p>Hastily withdrawing from the open window,
+and beyond the reach of the voices
+that discussed her merits, she waited to
+recover her equanimity before going downstairs.
+In vain she chided herself for her
+sudden heat. Mortified she was, and even
+more ashamed of herself than angry with
+the cool young man who had pronounced
+her to be a fitting associate for her excellent
+but unpolished aunt. While his
+every look and intonation bespoke the
+educated gentleman, a being as different in
+mental as in physical muscle from the
+fops who formed her sister's train, had
+he weighed her against the refined woman
+of his own class and clime, and adjudged
+her this place? At heart she felt the injustice,
+and, stimulated by the sting, arose
+the resolve that he should learn and confess
+his error. Not tamely or willingly
+would she accept an ignoble station at the
+hands of one whom she inwardly recognized
+as capable of a true valuation of
+what she esteemed worthy.</p>
+
+<p>She looked haughty, not humbled, when
+she took her seat opposite her critic at
+the tea-table. "A nice companion," she
+was saying over to herself. The very
+phrase, borrowed, as it was, from Aunt
+Sarah's vocabulary, seemed to her seasoned
+with contempt. She kept down fire and
+scorn, however, when Mr. Benson accosted
+her with the tritest of remarks upon the
+probable heat of the day in town as contrasted
+with the invigorating breeze, with
+its faint, delicious sea flavor, that rustled
+the grapevines and fluttered the white curtains
+at the dining-room door and windows.
+Her answer was not exactly gracious,
+but it advanced the one tempting
+step beyond a mere reply.</p>
+
+<p>Thus was the ice broken, and for the
+rest of the meal, Aunt Sarah and "Uncle
+Nathan"&mdash;as he requested his nieces to
+style him&mdash;had respite from the duty of
+active entertainment, so far as conversation
+went. To Sarah's surprise, Mr. Benson
+talked to her almost as he would have
+done to another man. He spoke of notable
+persons, places, and books&mdash;things of which
+she had heard and read&mdash;without affectation
+of reserve or a shade of pretension;
+and to her rejoinders&mdash;brief and constrained
+for awhile&mdash;then, as she forgot
+herself in her subject, pertinent, earnest,
+salient, he gave more than courteous heed.
+It was the unaffected interest of an inquirer;
+the entire attention of one who felt
+that he received more than he gave.</p>
+
+<p>They parted for the night with a bow
+and a smile that was with each a mute
+acknowledgment of pleasure derived from
+the companionship of the other; and if
+neither looked forward to the meeting of
+the morrow as a renewal of congenial
+intercourse, both carried to their rest the
+effects of an agreeable surprise in the
+events of the evening.</p>
+
+
+
+<hr class="chap" />
+
+
+<h2>CHAPTER IV.</h2>
+
+
+<p>A week had passed since the arrival of
+the city nieces at the farmhouse. An
+early tea, one of Aunt Sarah's generous
+and appetizing repasts, was over; and
+through the garden, out at the gate that
+terminated the middle walk, and across
+the strip of meadow-land, danced Charley
+and Jeannie, followed at a more sedate
+pace by Philip Benson and Sarah. Seven
+days' rustication had wrought a marked
+change in the town-bred girl. There was
+a lighter bound in her step, and in her
+cheek a clear, pink glow, while her eyes
+looked softly, yet brightly, from out the
+shadow of her gypsy hat, a look of half
+surprise, half confidence in her companion's
+face.</p>
+
+<p>"One week ago," he was saying, "how
+firmly I made up my mind that you and
+I could never be anything but strangers
+to each other! How I disliked you for
+coming down here to interfere with my liberty
+and leisure!"</p>
+
+<p>"But even then you thought that I
+would prove a 'nice companion for Aunt
+Sarah'&mdash;perceived my suitableness to her
+society," was the demure reply.</p>
+
+<p>"Who told you that I said so?"</p>
+
+<p>"Not Aunt Sarah herself, although she
+considered it honest praise. I overheard
+it accidentally from my window, and I can
+assure you properly appreciated the compliment,
+which, by the way, was more in
+the tone than the words."</p>
+
+<p>"And you were thereby piqued to a different
+style of behavior. Bravo! did ever
+another seed so worthless bring forth so
+rich a harvest? I am glad I said it! Here
+is the boat."</p>
+
+<p>It was a pretty little affair&mdash;Charley's
+property and care, and he was already in
+his seat at the bow, oar in hand. Philip
+helped Sarah in, placed Jeannie beside her,
+and stationing himself upon the middle
+bench took up a second pair of oars. A
+noiseless dip of the four, and the craft
+glided out into the stream, then up against
+the tide, the water rippling into a foamy
+wake on either side of the sharp bow.
+A row was now the regular sequel to the
+day's enjoyments, and to Jeannie, at least,
+the climax of its pleasures.</p>
+
+<p>"Pull that way, please, Mr. Benson!" she
+cried. "There! right through that beautiful
+red water!"</p>
+
+<p>A skilful sweep brought them to the
+spot designated, but the crimson deserted
+the wave as they neared it, and left dull
+gray in its stead.</p>
+
+<p>"It is too bad!" complained the child,
+pointing back to the track of their boat,
+quivering amidst the fickle radiance she
+had thought to reach by this change of
+course. "It is behind us and before us&mdash;everywhere
+but where we are!"</p>
+
+<p>"Is there a moral in that?" questioned
+Philip, smiling at Sarah.</p>
+
+<p>"Perhaps so."</p>
+
+<p>A fortnight before, how assured would
+have been her reply! How gloomy her
+recognition of the analogy! Changed as
+was her mood, a shade fell over her countenance.
+Was it of apprehension, and did
+Philip thus interpret it?</p>
+
+<p>"I could not love life and this fair
+world as I do, if I conceded this to be
+universally true," he said. "That there
+comes, sometimes, a glory to the present,
+besides which the hues of past and future
+fade and are forgotten, I must and will
+believe. Such, it seems to me, must be the
+rapture of reciprocal and acknowledged
+affection; the joy of reunion after long
+separation from the beloved one; the bliss
+of reconciliation after estrangement. Have
+you ever thought how much happier we
+would be if we were to live only in the
+Now we have, and never strain our eyes
+with searching for, the lights and shades
+of what may be before us, or with 'mournful
+looking' after what is gone?"</p>
+
+<p>"Yet is this possible?" asked Sarah,
+earnestly. "Does not the very constitution
+of our natures forbid it? To me that
+would be a miserably tame, dead-level
+existence over which Hope sheds no enchanting
+illusions; like this river, as we
+saw it three days ago, cold and sombre as
+the rain-clouds that hung above it. Oh,
+no! give me anything but the chill, neutral
+tint of such a life as thousands are content
+to lead&mdash;people who expect nothing,
+fear nothing&mdash;I had almost said, feel nothing!"</p>
+
+<p>"That is because every principle of your
+being is at war with common-places. Tell
+me frankly, Miss Sarah, did you ever meet
+another woman who had as much character
+as yourself?"</p>
+
+<p>"I do not know that I understand the
+full bearing of your question." She leaned
+on the side of the boat, her hand playing
+in the water, her lips working in an irresolute
+timidity that was oddly at variance
+with their habitual firmness.</p>
+
+<p>"I am aware," she began slowly and
+gravely, "that I express myself too strongly
+at times; that I am more abrupt in
+language and action than most other girls.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_13" id="Page_13">[13]</a></span>
+I have always been told so; but it is
+natural to me. My character has many
+rough and sharp edges that need softening
+and rounding"&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>"In order to render you one of the pretty
+automatons, the well-draped, thoroughly-oiled
+pieces of human clockwork that decorates
+men's homes&mdash;falsely so called&mdash;in
+these days of gloss and humbug!" interrupted
+Philip with energy. "I am sick to
+death of the dollish 'sweet creatures' every
+boarding-school turns out by the score. I
+understand all the wires that work the
+dear puppets&mdash;flatter myself that I can put
+them through their paces (excuse the
+slang!) in as short a time as any other
+man of my age in the country. The delightful
+divinities! A little music, and
+a little less French; a skimming of the
+arts and sciences; and it is a rare thing
+to meet one who can tell an art from a
+science ten days after she has graduated&mdash;a
+stock of pet phrases&mdash;all hyperbolical,
+consequently unmeaning&mdash;a glib utterance
+of the same; a steady devotion to balls,
+beau-catching, gossip, and fancy-work;
+voila the modern fine lady&mdash;the stuff we
+are expected to make wives of! Wives!
+save the mark! I never think of the possibility
+of being thus ensnared without an
+involuntary repetition of a portion of the
+Litany&mdash;'From all such, etc., etc.!'"</p>
+
+<p>He plied his oars with renewed activity
+for a moment, then suspended them to continue,
+in a softer tone: "And this is the
+representative woman of your Utopia, Miss
+Sarah?"</p>
+
+<p>"Did I intimate, much less assert, such
+a heresy?" responded she, laughing. "But
+there is a golden mean somewhere&mdash;a union
+of gentleness and energy; of domestic and
+literary taste; of independence and submission.
+I have seen such in my day
+dreams. She is my ideal."</p>
+
+<p>"Which you will one day embody. No
+reproachful looks! This is the sincerity
+of a friend. I have promised never to
+flatter you again, and do not violate the
+pledge in speaking thus. From my boyhood,
+I have made human nature my
+study, and it would be hard to convince
+me that I err in this case."</p>
+
+<p>"You do! indeed you do!" exclaimed
+Sarah, with a look of real pain. "I lack
+the first characteristic of the portrait I
+have drawn. I am not gentle! I never
+was. I fear that I never will be!"</p>
+
+<p>"Let us hear a competent witness on
+that head. Jeannie!" to the child, who
+was busy spelling on her fingers to Charley;
+his nods and smiles to her, from the
+far end of the boat, being more intelligible
+to her than were her attempts to signal
+her meaning to him. "Jeannie!" repeated
+Philip, as he caught her eye. "Come, and
+whisper in my ear which of your sisters
+you love the best. Maybe I won't tell
+tales out of school to the one you care
+least for."</p>
+
+<p>"I don't care who knows!" said the
+saucy, but affectionate child. "Sis' Lucy is
+the prettiest, and she never scolds me
+either; but she doesn't make my clothes,
+and tell me nice stories, and help me with
+my lessons, and all that, you know. She
+isn't my dear, best sister!" And, springing
+up suddenly, she threw her arms around
+Sarah's neck, with a kiss that answered
+the question with emphasis.</p>
+
+<p>Sarah's lip trembled. The share of affection
+she had hitherto dared to claim as
+her own had barely sufficed to keep her<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_14" id="Page_14">[14]</a></span>
+heart from starving outright. She had
+often dreamed of fulness of love as a stay
+and comfort, as solace and nutriment in
+a world whose wrong side was ever turned
+to her. Now there dawned upon her the
+sweetness and beauty of a new revelation,
+the bliss of loving and being beloved. Over
+life floated a warm, purple tinge, like the
+sunset light upon the river. For the first
+time within the reach of her memory her
+heart rested!</p>
+
+<p>In the smile whose overflowing gave a
+tender loveliness to her features, Philip
+saw the effect he had wished and anticipated,
+and, motioning to Charley to let
+the boat drift with the current, he picked
+up the guitar, that by Sarah's request was
+always taken along in these excursions.</p>
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">"The dew is on the blossom,<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">And the young moon on the sea;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">It is the twilight hour&mdash;<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">The hour for you and me;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">The time when memory lingers<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">Across life's dreary track,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">When the past floats up before us,<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">And the lost comes stealing back."<br /></span>
+</div></div>
+
+<p>It was a love song, inimitable in its
+purity and tenderness, with just the touch
+of sadness that insured its passage to the
+heart. Sarah's smile was softer, but it
+was a smile still, as the melody arose on the
+quiet air. When the ballad was concluded,
+she only said, "Another, please!"</p>
+
+<p>Philip sang more than well. Without extraordinary
+power, his voice had a rich
+and flexible quality of tone and a delicacy
+of expression that never failed to fascinate.
+To the rapt and listening girl it
+seemed as if time could bring no more
+delicious fate than thus to glide on ever
+upon this empurpled, enchanted stream,
+the summer heavens above her, and, thrilling
+ear and soul, the witching lullaby that
+rocked her spirit to dreams of the youth
+she had never had, the love for which she
+had longed with all the wild intensity,
+the fervent yearning, her deep heart could
+feel.</p>
+
+<p>Still they floated on with the receding
+tide, its low washing against the sides of
+their boat filling up the pauses of the
+music. The burning red and gold of the
+sky cooled into the mellower tints of
+twilight, and the pale curve of the young
+moon shone with increasing lustre. Jeannie
+fell asleep, her head upon her sister's
+lap; the dumb boy sat motionless as stone,
+his dark eyes fixed on the moon; there
+seemed some spell upon the little party.
+Boat after boat passed them, almost noiselessly,
+for far into the clear evening went
+the tones of the singer's voice, and the
+dullest hearer could not withhold the
+tribute of admiring silence until beyond its
+reach.</p>
+
+<p>And Sarah, happy in the strange, restful
+languor that locked her senses to all except
+the blessed present, dreamed on, the
+music but a part of her ideal world, this
+new and beautiful life. Into it stole presently
+a theme of sadness, a strain of
+grief, a heart-cry, that, ere she was aware,
+wrung her own heart-strings with anguish.</p>
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i4">"The long, long weary day<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">Is passed in tears away,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">And still at evening I am weeping.<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">When from my window's height<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">I look out on the night,<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">I am still weeping,<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">My lone watch keeping.<br /></span>
+</div><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i4">"When I, his truth to prove,<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">Would trifle with my love,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">He'd say, 'For me thou wilt be weeping,<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">When, at some future day,<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">I shall be far away;<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">Thou wilt be weeping,<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">Thy lone watch keeping.'<br /></span>
+</div><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i4">"Alas! if land or sea<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">Had parted him from me,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">I would not these sad tears be weeping;<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">But hope he'd come once more,<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">And love me as before;<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">And say, 'Cease weeping,<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">Thy lone watch keeping.'<br /></span>
+</div><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i4">"But he is dead and gone,<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">Whose heart was mine alone,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">And now for him I'm sadly weeping.<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">His face I ne'er shall see,<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">And naught is left to me<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">But bitter weeping,<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">My lone watch keeping."<br /></span>
+</div></div>
+
+<p>If ever a pierced and utterly hopeless
+soul poured forth its plaint in musical
+measure, it was in the wondrously simple
+and unspeakably plaintive air to which
+these words are set. There breathes in it
+a spirit wail so mournfully sincere that one
+recognizes its sob in the very chords of
+the accompaniment. The mere murmur of
+the melody, were no words uttered, tells
+the story of grieving desolation.</p>
+
+<p>Sarah did not move or speak, yet upon
+her enchanted ground a cloud had fallen.
+She saw the high casement and its tearful
+gazer into the night, a night not of music,
+and moonlight, and love, but chill, and
+wet, and dreary. Rain dripped from eaves
+and trees; stone steps and pavements
+caught a ghastly gleam from street lamps;
+save that sorrowful watcher, there was
+no living creature abroad or awake. She
+grew cold and sick with looking into those
+despairing eyes; the gloom, the loneliness,
+the woe of that vigil became her own, and
+her heart sank swooning beneath the
+burden.</p>
+
+<p>As he ceased the song, Philip looked up
+for some comment or request. To his surprise,
+she only clasped her hands in a
+gesture that might have been either relief
+from or abandonment to woe, and bowed
+her head upon them. Puzzled, yet flattered
+by her emotion, he refrained from interrupting
+her; and, resuming his oars,
+lent the impetus of their stroke to that
+of the tide. Nothing was said until the
+keel grated upon the shelly beach opposite
+the farmhouse. Then, as Philip
+stooped to lift the unconscious Jeannie, he
+imagined that he discerned the gleam of
+the sinking moon upon Sarah's dripping
+eyelashes.</p>
+
+<p>The fancy pursued him after he had
+gone up to his room. Seated at his window,
+looking out upon the now starlit sky,
+he smoked more than one cigar before
+his musing fit was ended. It was not the
+love-reverie of a smitten boy. He believed
+that he had passed that stage of sentimentalism
+ten years before. That Southerner
+of the male gender who has not been
+consumed by the fires and risen as good
+as new from the ashes of half a dozen
+never-dying passions before he is eighteen,
+who has not offered the heart and hand,
+which as often as otherwise constitute his
+chiefest earthly possessions, to some elect
+fair one by the time he is one-and-twenty,
+is voted "slow" invulnerable. If these
+susceptible sons of a fervid clime did not
+take to love-making as naturally as does
+a duckling to the pond by the time the
+eggshell is fairly off its head, they would
+certainly be initiated while in the callow
+state by the rules and customs of society.
+Courtship is at first a pastime, then an
+art, then when the earnestness of a real
+attachment takes hold of their impassioned
+natures, it is the one all-absorbing,
+eager pursuit of existence, until rewarded
+by the acquisition of its object or thwarted
+by the decided refusal of the hard-hearted
+Dulcinea.</p>
+
+<p>This state of things, this code of Cupid,
+every Southern girl understands, and
+shapes her conduct accordingly. Sportively,
+yet warily, she plays around the hook,
+and he is a very fortunate angler who
+does not in the moment of fancied success
+discover that she has carried off the bait
+as a trophy upon which to feed her vanity,
+and left him to be the laughing-stock of
+the curious spectators of this double game.
+She is imperturbable to meaning equivoques,
+receives pretty speeches and tender glances
+at their current value, and not until the
+suit becomes close and ardent, the attachment
+palpable to every one else, and is
+confessed in so many words, does she
+allow herself to be persuaded that her
+adorer is "in earnest," and really desires
+to awaken a sympathetic emotion in her
+bosom.</p>
+
+<p>Philip Benson was no wanton trifler with
+woman's feelings. On the contrary, he had
+gained the reputation in his circle of an
+invincible, indifferent looker-on of the
+pseudo and real combats, in Love's name,
+that were continually transpiring around
+him. Chivalrous in tone, gallant in action,
+as he was, the girls feared while they
+liked and admired him. They called him
+critical, fastidious, cold; and mockingly
+wondered why he persisted in going into
+company that, judging the future by the
+past, was so unlikely to furnish him with
+the consort he must be seeking. In reality,
+he was what he had avowed himself to
+Sarah&mdash;a student of human nature; an
+amateur in this species of social research&mdash;than
+which no other so frequently results
+in the complete deception of the inquirer.
+Certainly no other is so apt to find its
+culmination of devotion in a cold-blooded
+dissection of motive, morals, and sentiment;
+an unprincipled, reckless application
+of trial and test to the hearts and lives
+of its victims and final infidelity in all
+human good, except what is concentrated
+in the inspector's individual, personal self.
+Grown dainty amid the abundant supply
+of ordinary material, he comes at length
+to disdain common "subjects." Still less
+would he touch one already loathsome in
+the popular estimation, through excess of
+known and actual crime. But a character
+fresh and noble from the Creator's hand;
+a soul that dares to think and feel according
+to its innate sense of right; an intellect
+unhackneyed, not vitiated by worldly
+policy or the dogmas of the schools; a
+heart, tender and delicate&mdash;yet passionate
+in love or abhorrence; what an opportunity
+is here presented for the scalpel, the detective
+acid, the crucible, the microscope! It
+is not in fallible mortality to resist the
+temptation, and even professors of this ennobling
+pursuit, whose motto is, "The
+proper study of mankind is Man," are, as
+they allow with shame and confusion of
+face, themselves mortal. Of all the dignified
+humbugs of the solemn farce of life,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_15" id="Page_15">[15]</a></span>
+deliver me from that creature self-styled
+"a student and judge of character!"</p>
+
+<p>In Sarah Hunt, Philip discovered, to his
+surprise, a rare "specimen;" a volume, each
+leaf of which revealed new matter of interest.
+The attentions he had considered
+himself bound to pay her, in order to avoid
+wounding their kind hosts, were soon rendered
+from a widely different motive. It
+did not occur to him that he was transcending
+the limits of merely friendly courtesy,
+as prescribed by the etiquette of the
+region in which he was now a sojourner.
+He was by no means deficient in appreciation
+of his personal gifts; rated his powers
+of pleasing quite as highly as did his
+warmest admirers, although he had the
+common sense and tact to conceal this;
+but he would have repelled, as an aspersion
+upon his honor, the charge that he was
+endeavoring to win this young girl's affections,
+his heart being as yet untouched.</p>
+
+<p>"Was it then altogether whole?" he
+asked himself to-night, with a coolness
+that should have been an immediate reply
+to the suggestion.</p>
+
+<p>Side by side, he set two mental portraits,
+and strove deliberately, impartially, to
+discern any traces of resemblance between
+the two. The future Mrs. Benson was a
+personage that engrossed much of his
+thoughts, and by long practice in the
+portrayal of her lineaments, he had brought
+his fancy sketch very nearly to perfection.
+A tall, Juno-like figure, with raven
+locks, and large, melting eyes, unfathomable
+as clear; features of classic mould;
+an elastic, yet stately form; a disposition
+in which amiability tempered natural impetuosity,
+and generous impulse gave direction
+to gentle word and deed; a mind
+profoundly imbued with the love of learning,
+and in cultivation, if not strength,
+equal to his own; discretion, penetration,
+and docility combined in such proportions
+as should render her her husband's safest
+counsellor, yet willing follower; and controlling
+and toning the harmonious whole,
+a devotion to himself only second in degree,
+not inferior in quality, to worship
+of her Creator. This was the ideal for
+whose embodiment our reasonable, modest
+C&#339;lebs was patiently waiting. Answer, oh
+ye expectant, incipient Griseldas! who,
+from your beauteous ranks, will step into
+the prepared niche, and make the goddess
+a reality?</p>
+
+<p>And how appeared the rival picture in
+comparison?</p>
+
+<p>"No, no!" he ejaculated, tossing the
+remnant of his third cigar into the garden.
+"I must seek further for the 'golden
+mean.' Intellect and heart are here, undoubtedly.
+I must have beauty and grace
+as well. Yet," he continued, relentingly,
+"there are times when she would be quite
+handsome if she dressed better. It is a
+pity her love for the beautiful does not
+enter into her choice of wearing apparel!"</p>
+
+<p>In ten minutes more he was asleep, and
+dreamed that he stood at the altar with
+his long sought ideal, when, as the last
+binding words were spoken, she changed
+to Sarah Hunt, arrayed in a light blue
+lawn of last year's fashion, that made her
+look as sallow as a lemon, and, to his
+taste, as little to be desired for "human
+nature's daily food."</p>
+
+<p>Poor Sarah! The visionary robe was a
+faithful reflection upon the dreamer's
+mental retina of a certain organdie which
+had formed a part of Lucy's wardrobe<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_16" id="Page_16">[16]</a></span>
+the previous summer, and having become
+antiquated in six months' time, was altogether
+inadmissible in the belle's outfit of
+this season.</p>
+
+<p>"Yet it cost an awful sum when it was
+new!" reasoned Mrs. Hunt, "and will make
+you a very useful dress while you are with
+your Aunt Sarah. It's too good to cut up
+for Jeannie!"</p>
+
+<p>"But the color, mother?" objected the
+unwilling recipient.</p>
+
+<p>"Pooh! who will notice that? Besides, if
+you had a good complexion, you could wear
+blue as well as anybody."</p>
+
+<p>Sarah's stock of thin dresses was not
+plentiful, and, recalling this observation,
+she coupled it with the fact that she was
+growing rosy, and dared to equip herself
+in the azure garment, with what effect she
+did not dream and Mr. Philip Benson did!</p>
+
+
+
+<hr class="chap" />
+
+<h2>CHAPTER V.</h2>
+
+
+<p>On a pleasant, although rather cloudy
+forenoon in July, our young pleasure-seekers
+carried into execution a long-talked-of
+expedition to the Deal Beach, distant
+about ten miles from Shrewsbury.</p>
+
+<p>By Aunt Sarah's arrangement, Charley
+and Jeannie occupied the back seat of the
+light wagon, and Sarah was to sit by
+Philip in front, that she "might see the
+country." Having accomplished this apparently
+artless manoeuvre, the good woman
+handed up to them a portly basket of
+luncheon, and two or three additional
+shawls, in case of rain or change of
+weather, and bade the gay party "good-bye"
+with a satisfied glow in heart and
+face. To her guileless apprehension there
+was no question how affairs were progressing
+between her niece and her nephew-in-law;
+and in sundry conferences on the
+subject between "husband" and herself,
+it had been agreed that a matrimonial alliance
+would be the best thing that could
+happen to either of the supposed lovers.
+In her simple, pious soul, the dear old
+lady already blessed the Providence that
+had accomplished the meeting and intercourse
+under her roof, while she wondered
+at "the strange things that come
+about in this world."</p>
+
+<p>Philip had been aware of her innocent
+attempts to facilitate his suit for several
+days past, and Sarah's blush, as she hesitated
+before accepting the proffered seat
+by the driver, showed that this move was
+so transparent as to convey the alarm to
+her also. For a full half mile Philip did
+not speak, except a word now and then
+to the pair of stout grays, who were Uncle
+Nathan's greatest earthly boast. He appeared
+thoughtful, perhaps perturbed&mdash;so
+Sarah's single stolen glance at him showed&mdash;and
+in the eyes that looked straight onward
+to the horizon, there was a hardness
+she had never seen there before. She was
+surprised, therefore, when he broke the
+silence by an unimportant observation, uttered
+in his usual friendly tone, and for
+the remainder of the ride was gay and
+kind, with a show of light-heartedness that
+was not surpassed by the merry children
+behind them.</p>
+
+<p>There was hardly enough variety in the
+unpicturesque country bordering their
+route to give the shadow of reasonableness
+to Aunt Sarah's pretext in selecting her
+namesake's seat, and, despite her escort's
+considerate attentions, Sarah had an uncomfortable
+ride; while her manner evinced
+more of the haughty reserve of their introduction
+than she had shown at any subsequent
+stage of their acquaintance. The
+grays traveled well, and a little after noon
+they were detached from the carriage, and
+tied in the grove of scrub-oaks skirting the
+beach.</p>
+
+<p>While Philip was busied with them, the
+others continued their course down to the
+shore; the children, hand-in-hand, skipping
+over the sand-hills, and stopping to pick
+up stones; Sarah strolling slowly after
+them. She had seen the ocean surf before,
+but never aught like this, with its huge
+swells of water, a mile in length, gathering
+blackness and height on their landward
+career; as they struck the invisible
+barriers that commanded, "Thus far and
+no farther!" breaking in white fury, with
+the leap of a baffled fiend, and a roar like
+thunder, against their resistless opponent,
+then recoiling, sullenly, to gather new
+force for another, and as useless an attack.
+The beach was wide and uneven, of
+sand, whose whiteness would have glared
+intolerably had the day been sunny, drifted
+into hillocks and undulating ridges, like
+the waves of the sea. Here and there the
+hardy heather found a foothold amid the
+otherwise blank sterility, the green patches
+adding to, rather than lessening the wild,
+desolate aspect of the tract. Fragments of
+timber were strewn in all directions, and
+Sarah's quick eye perceived that it was
+not formless, chance driftwood. There
+were hewn beams and shapely spars, and
+planks in which great iron bolts were still
+fast. When Philip overtook her, she was
+standing by an immense piece of solid
+wood, lying far beyond the reach of the
+highest summer tides. One end was buried
+in the sand; the other, bleached by sun
+and wind, and seamed with cracks, was
+curved like the extremity of a bow. Her
+late embarrassment or hauteur was forgotten
+in the direct earnestness of her appealing
+look.</p>
+
+<p>"Am I mistaken?" she said, in a low,
+awed tone. "Is not this the keel of a
+ship?"</p>
+
+<p>"It is. There have been many wrecked
+on this coast."</p>
+
+<p>"Here!" She glanced from the fierce, bellowing
+breakers to the melancholy testimonials
+of their destructive might. "I
+have never heard that this was esteemed
+a dangerous point."</p>
+
+<p>"You can form an imperfect idea of
+what this beach is in winter," remarked
+Philip, signing to her to seat herself upon
+the sand and throwing himself down beside
+her. "I was here once, late in the
+autumn, and saw a vessel go to pieces,
+scarcely a stone's throw from where we
+are now sitting. The sea was high, the
+wind blowing a perfect gale, and this
+schooner, having lost one of her most important
+sails, was at the mercy of the elements.
+She was cast upon the shore, and
+her crew, watching their opportunity,
+sprang overboard as the waves receded
+and reached firm ground in safety. Then
+came a monster billow, and lifting the vessel
+farther upon the sand, left her careened
+towards the land. It was pitiful to see the
+poor thing! So like life were her shudders
+and groans as the cruel surf beat against
+her, that my heart fairly ached. The spray
+at every dash rose nearly as high as her
+mast-head, and a cataract of water swept
+over her deck. Piece by piece she broke
+up, and we could only stand and look on,
+while the scattered portions were thrown
+to our feet. I shall never forget the sight.
+It taught me the truth of man's impotence
+and nature's strength as I had never read
+it before."</p>
+
+<p>"But there were no lives lost! You were
+spared the spectacle of that most terrible
+scene in the tragedy of shipwreck?"</p>
+
+<p>"Yes. But the light of many a life has
+been quenched in that raging caldron. A
+young man, a resident of Shrewsbury, with
+whom I hunted last year, described to me
+a catalogue of horrors which he had beheld
+here, that has visited me in dreams often
+since. An emigrant ship was cast away
+on this coast in midwinter. High above the
+roar of the wind and the booming surf was
+heard the cry of the doomed wretches, perishing
+within hail of the crowd of fellow-beings
+who had collected at news of the
+catastrophe. The cold was intense; mast
+and sail and rope were coated with ice,
+and the benumbed, freezing wretches were
+exposed every instant to the torrents of
+brine that swept over them like sleet. The
+agony was horrible beyond description, but
+it was soon over. Before the vessel parted,
+the accent of mortal woe was hushed. Not
+a man survived to tell the tale."</p>
+
+<p>For an hour they sat thus and talked.
+The subject had, for Sarah, a fearful fascination,
+and, led on by her absorbed attention,
+Philip rehearsed to her wonders
+and stories of the mysterious old ocean,
+that to-day stretched before them, blanched
+and angry, under the veil of summer cloud,
+until to his auditor there were bitter wailings
+blent with the surge's roar; arms,
+strained and bare, were tossed above the
+dark, serpent-like swell of water, in unavailing
+supplication, and livid, dead faces
+stared upon her from beneath the curling
+crests of the breakers.</p>
+
+<p>That day on the Deal Beach! How quietly
+happy was its seeming! How full of
+event, emotion, fate&mdash;was its reality! Charley
+and Jeannie wandered up and down the
+coast, filling their baskets with shells and
+pebbles; chasing the retiring waves as far
+as they dared, and scampering back, with
+shrieks of laughter, as the succeeding billow
+rolled rapidly after them; building
+sand-houses, and digging wells to be filled
+by salt water; exulting greatly when a
+rough coralline fragment or a jelly-fish of
+unusual dimensions was thrown in their
+way. They all lunched together, seated
+upon the heather-clumps, around Aunt Sarah's
+liberal hamper.</p>
+
+<p>"Sister," said Jeannie, when the edge of
+her seaside appetite was somewhat blunted
+by her repast, "I like living here better
+than in New York&mdash;don't you?"</p>
+
+<p>"It is more pleasant in summer, my
+dear."</p>
+
+<p>"But I mean that I am happier here. I
+wish you would write to mother and ask
+her to let us live here always."</p>
+
+<p>"But what would she do without her
+baby?" asked Philip, emphasizing the last
+word.</p>
+
+<p>The little lady bridled instantly.</p>
+
+<p>"Cousin Philip, I do wish you would never
+call me a 'baby' again. I am seven
+years and two weeks old. I could get
+along very well without mother for awhile.
+Of course, I would go over sometimes and
+pay her a visit and get new dresses.
+Shrewsbury is a nice place; I would like
+to buy that pretty white house next to
+Uncle Nathan's, and live there&mdash;sister and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_17" id="Page_17">[17]</a></span>
+Charley and I&mdash;and you&mdash;if you would promise
+not to tease me ever."</p>
+
+<p>"Thank you!" said Philip, with admirable
+gravity, seeming not to notice Sarah's
+heightened color at this proposal of co-partnership.
+"You are very kind to include
+me in your household arrangements, and
+nothing would please me better, if I could
+stay here. But you know, Jeannie, my
+dear little cousin, that my home is far
+away from this quarter of the world. I
+have remained here too long already."
+There was a touch of feeling or nervousness
+in his voice. "I had a letter last
+night, reminding me that I ought to have
+left a week ago to join a party of friends,
+whom I promised to meet in New York
+and travel with them until the time for
+our return to the South."</p>
+
+<p>He did not look at Sarah, but she felt
+that the explanation was intended for her&mdash;that,
+whether intentionally or not, he was
+preparing her for a blow to heart and
+hope.</p>
+
+<p>"I shall be obliged to leave Shrewsbury
+and all my friends there to-morrow morning,
+Jeannie."</p>
+
+<p>The child's exclamation of dismay, and
+Charley's quick, mute remonstrance to his
+cousin, as his playfellow communicated the
+news to him, gave Sarah time to rally firmness
+and words.</p>
+
+<p>"This is unexpected intelligence," she
+said, calmly. "We shall miss you. Your
+kindness has, directly and indirectly, been
+the means of affording us much pleasure
+during our visit to our good aunt. It will
+seem dull when you are gone."</p>
+
+<p>There was a flash in Philip's eye that
+looked like pleasure&mdash;a mixture of relief
+and surprise, as he turned to her.</p>
+
+<p>"I am selfish enough to hope that you
+will miss me for a time, at least. I shall
+not then be so soon forgotten. We have
+had some pleasant days and weeks together,
+have we not?"</p>
+
+<p>"I have enjoyed them, assuredly."</p>
+
+<p>She was a little pale, Philip thought, but
+that might be the effect of fatigue. Her
+cheek was seldom blooming, unless when
+flushed in animated speech, or by brisk exercise.
+She spoke of his going with politeness,
+that seemed scarce one remove from
+carelessness; and, man-like, his pleasure
+at the thought that their association in
+the country house had not been followed
+by the results Aunt Sarah wished and predicted,
+gave way to a feeling of wounded
+vanity and vexation, that his summer's
+companion could relinquish him so easily.
+While he repeated to himself his congratulations
+that his friendly and gallant
+attentions had not been misconstrued, had
+not awakened any inconvenient because
+futile "expectations," he wondered if it
+were a possibility for a girl of so much
+sense and feeling, such genuine appreciation
+of his talents and tastes, to know him
+well&mdash;even intimately&mdash;without experiencing
+a warmer sentiment than mere approval
+of an agreeable associate's mind and
+manners, and Platonic liking for him on
+these accounts.</p>
+
+<p>With the respectful familiarity of a privileged
+acquaintance, he drew her hand
+within his arm as they arose at the conclusion
+of the collation.</p>
+
+<p>"We have yet two hours and more to
+spend here, before we set out for home.
+We can have one more walk and talk together."</p>
+
+<p>They took but one turn on the beach,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_18" id="Page_18">[18]</a></span>
+and returning to their morning's seat beside
+the half-buried keel tried to talk as
+they had done then. It was hard work,
+even to the man of the world, the heart-free
+student of human nature. Gradually
+the conversation languished and died away,
+and for awhile both sat silent, looking out
+upon the sea. Then Philip's gaze came
+back to his companion&mdash;stealthily at first,
+and, as she remained unconscious of his
+scrutiny, it lingered long and searchingly
+upon features, form and attire.</p>
+
+<p>There were white, tight lines about her
+mouth, and a slight knitting of the brow,
+that imparted a care-worn look to the
+young face it pained him to see. Her hands
+were clasped upon her knee, and the fingers
+were bloodless where they interlaced
+one another. Was she suffering? Was the
+threatened parting the cause of her disquiet?
+If this were so, what was his duty
+as a man of honor&mdash;of common humanity?
+And if he were forced to admit that he
+held her happiness in his power, and to accept
+the consequences that must ensue
+from his idle gallantry and her mistaken
+reading of the same, was the thought really
+repulsive? Would it be a total sacrifice
+of feeling to a sense of right? It was a
+repetition, grave and careful, of the revery
+of that July night two weeks ago.</p>
+
+<p>Sarah's hat&mdash;a broad-brimmed "flat" of
+brown straw&mdash;had fallen back upon her
+shoulders, and the sea breeze played in her
+hair, raising the short and loose strands
+and giving to the whole a rough, "frowzy"
+look. Her plain linen collar and undersleeves
+showed her complexion and hands
+to the worst possible advantage. Upon her
+cheeks, this same unfriendly wind had bestowed
+a coat of tan and a few freckles,
+that were all the more conspicuous from
+her pallor, while her fingers were as brown
+as a gypsy's. Her gray poplin dress had
+lost most of its original gloss, and being
+one of Mrs. Hunt's bargains&mdash;"a cheap
+thing, but plenty good for that outlandish
+Shrewsbury"&mdash;already betrayed its cotton
+warp by creases that would not be
+smoothed, and an aspect of general limpness&mdash;a
+prophecy of speedy, irremediable
+shabbiness. Cast loosely about her shoulders
+was a light shawl, green, with black
+sprigs&mdash;another bargain; and beyond the
+skirt of her robe appeared the toe and instep
+of a thick-soled gaiter, very suitable
+for a tramp through damp sand, yet anything
+but becoming to the foot it protected.</p>
+
+<p>With an impatient shake of the head, involuntary
+and positive, Philip closed his
+final observation. And cutting off a large
+splinter from the weather-beaten timber
+against which he leaned, set about trimming
+it, wearing a serious, settled face,
+that said his mind was fully made up.</p>
+
+<p>What had Sarah seen all this while?</p>
+
+<p>Heavens, over which the films of the
+forenoon had thickened into dun cloud-curtains,
+stretching above and enwrapping
+the world; a wild, dreary expanse of troubled
+waters, whose horizon line was lost
+in the misty blending of sea and sky, ever
+hurrying and heaving to moan out their
+unrest upon the barren beach. In the distance
+was a solitary sail; nearer to the
+land, a large sea-bird flew heavily against
+the wind. In such mateless, weary night
+must her life be passed; that lone, frail
+craft was not so hopelessly forlorn upon a
+gloomy sea, beneath a sky that gloomed
+yet more darkly&mdash;as was her heart, torn
+suddenly from its moorings&mdash;anchor and
+rudder and compass gone. Yet who could
+syllable the mighty sorrow of the complaining
+sea? And were there words in
+human language that could tell the anguish
+of the swelling flood beating within
+her breast?</p>
+
+<p>"Going away! To-morrow!" For a little
+space this was all the lament she kept repeating
+over to herself. Pregnant with woe
+she knew it to be, yet it was not until she
+was allowed to meditate in silence upon
+the meaning of the words that she realized
+what had truly come upon her. She had
+thrown away all her hope of earthly happiness&mdash;risked
+it as madly, lost it as surely,
+as if she had tossed it&mdash;a tangible pearl&mdash;into
+the yawning ocean. Her instinct assured
+her that, were it otherwise, the tidings
+of Philip's intended departure, his
+suddenly formed resolution to leave her,
+would have been conveyed to her in a far
+different manner. Her keen backward
+glance penetrated Aunt Sarah's simple
+wiles; his obvious annoyance thereat; his
+determination to save himself from suspicion;
+his honorable fear lest she, too,
+should imagine him loving, where he was
+only civil and kind. Yes, it was all over!
+The best thing she could hope to do, the
+brightest prospect life had now for her,
+was that her secret should remain hers
+alone, until the troubled heart moaned itself
+into rest which knows no waking. She
+was used to concealment. All her existence,
+excepting the sweet delusive dream of
+the past three weeks, had been a stern
+preparation for this trial. But she was already
+weary and faint&mdash;fit to lie down and
+die, so intense had been the throe of this
+one struggle.</p>
+
+<p>"How long is this to last? How long?"</p>
+
+<p>The exclamation actually broke, in an inarticulate
+murmur, from her lips.</p>
+
+<p>"Did you speak?" inquired Philip.</p>
+
+<p>"I think not. I am not sure. I did not
+intend to do so."</p>
+
+<p>"Grant me credit for my forebearance in
+not obtruding my prosaic talk upon your
+musings," he went on, playfully. "It was
+a powerful temptation&mdash;for I remember,
+constantly, that this is our last opportunity
+for a genuine heart and head confabulation,
+such as I shall often linger for after
+I leave you&mdash;and sincerity! You have done
+me good, Miss Sarah; taught me Faith,
+Hope, Charity&mdash;a blessed sisterhood!"</p>
+
+<p>"May they ever attend you!"</p>
+
+<p>"Amen! and thank you! And what wish
+shall I make in return for your beautiful
+benediction?"</p>
+
+<p>"Whatever you like. My desires are not
+many or extravagant."</p>
+
+<p>"You are wrong. You have a craving
+heart and a craving mind. May both be
+fed to the full, with food convenient for
+them&mdash;in measures pressed down, shaken
+together and running over."</p>
+
+<p>"Of what? Husks?" was Sarah's unspoken
+and bitter reply. She could not thank
+him, as he had done her. She only bowed,
+and, bending forward, took up a handful of
+the fine white sand that formed the shore.
+Slowly sifting it through her fingers, she
+waited for him to speak again.</p>
+
+<p>Was this careless equanimity real or
+feigned? The judge of character, the harpist
+upon heart-chords, made the next move&mdash;not
+the candid, manly friend.</p>
+
+<p>"I am going to ask a favor of you&mdash;a
+bold one."</p>
+
+<p>"Say on."</p>
+
+<p>"By the time I am ready to retrace my
+steps southward you will be again settled
+in New York. Will you think me presumptuous
+if I call at your father's house
+to continue an acquaintance which has
+been, to me, at once agreeable and profitable?"</p>
+
+<p>The fingers were still, suddenly. A warm
+glow, like sunrise, swept over cheek and
+forehead. A smile, slight but sweet, quivered
+upon her lips. Drowning in the depths,
+she heard across the billow a hail that
+spoke of hope, life, happiness.</p>
+
+<p>"We will all be glad to see you," she
+said, with affected composure.</p>
+
+<p>"Not half so glad as I shall be to come.
+Will you now, while you think of it, give
+me your address?"</p>
+
+<p>He handed her a card and a pencil. She
+wrote the required direction and received
+in exchange for it the now smooth bit of
+wood, which had afforded occupation to
+Philip for half an hour past. It was tendered
+in mock ceremony, and accepted
+smilingly. Upon the gray tablet was inscribed
+"Philip Benson, Deal Beach, July
+27th, 1856." A playful or thoughtless impulse
+caused him to extend his hand for it,
+after she had read it, and to add a motto,
+stale as innocent in his eyes: "Pensez a
+moi!"</p>
+
+<p>"I shall preserve it as a souvenir of the
+day and place," observed Sarah, slipping
+it into her pocket.</p>
+
+<p>Twilight overtook them before they
+reached home, and the night was too
+cloudy and damp for a promenade, such as
+they often had in the garden walks and
+lane, or for the customary family gathering
+in the long porch. Yet Aunt Sarah was
+surprised that Philip was apparently content
+to spend the evening in the sitting-room,
+with herself and husband by to spoil
+the tete-a-tete he must be longing for.</p>
+
+<p>Still more confounded was she, when,
+after her clever strategy of coaxing Uncle
+Nathan into the kitchen, that the coast
+might be clear, she heard Philip's step
+close behind them.</p>
+
+<p>"I must clean my gun to-night, aunt," he
+said, taking it from the corner. "I shall
+not have time to do it to-morrow."</p>
+
+<p>With the utmost nonchalance he began
+the operation, whistling softly a lively air
+over his work. Aunt Sarah gave her partner
+a look of bewildered despair, which he
+returned by a confirmatory nod, and a
+smile, half comic, half regretful.</p>
+
+<p>After breakfast next morning the nephew-guest
+said affectionate farewells to his
+relatives and Jeannie; a grave, gentle adieu
+to Sarah, accompanied by a momentary
+pressure of the hand, that may have meant
+much or little, and upon the snug homestead
+settled a quiet that was dreariness
+itself to one of its inmates.</p>
+
+
+
+<hr class="chap" />
+
+<h2>CHAPTER VI.</h2>
+
+
+<p>Meanwhile, how had the time sped to the
+nominal head of the Hunt household&mdash;the
+solitary, toiling father and husband? The
+servants were dismissed when "the family"
+left town, although Mr. Hunt continued
+to sleep at home. A peripatetic
+maid-of-all-work&mdash;what the English denominate
+a charwoman&mdash;was engaged to
+come early every morning to clear up the
+only room in the establishment that was
+used before the cashier went out for his
+breakfast, which he procured at a restaurant
+pretty far down town. The same
+quiet coffee-house furnished him with dinner<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_19" id="Page_19">[19]</a></span>
+and an early tea, after which last refreshment
+he was at liberty to pass the
+evening in whatever manner he liked best.
+There was nothing in the city worth seeing
+at this season, even if he had not lost all
+taste for shows and gayety. Those of his
+acquaintances who were not absent with
+their wives and daughters were living like
+himself, furniture in overalls, carpets covered,
+apartments closed, with the exception,
+perhaps, of one bedroom, and had no
+place in which to receive him if he had
+been in the habit of visiting, which he was
+not. He was very tired, moreover, by the
+time night came on, and as the heat increased
+and the days grew longer, his
+strength waned more and more, and his
+spirits with it. Meekly and uncomplainingly
+he plodded through his routine of bank
+duties, so steady and so faithful that his
+fellow-workers and customers had come to
+regard him as a reliable fixture, a piece
+of machinery, whose winding up was self-performed
+and whose accuracy was infallible.</p>
+
+<p>When, therefore, on a sultry August afternoon,
+he turned to leave his desk at the
+close of business hours, grew terribly pale
+and dropped upon the floor in a fit of
+death-like faintness, there was great consternation,
+and as much wonder as if no
+human clock-work had ever given out before,
+under a like process of exhausting
+demands.</p>
+
+<p>Clumsily, but with the best of intentions,
+they brought him to his senses, and in half
+an hour or so he was sufficiently recovered
+to be taken home. There was a twitching
+of the lips that might have passed for a
+sarcastic smile, as he heard the proposal
+to convey him to his house; but he only
+gave his street and number, and lay silently
+back in the carriage, supported by his
+friends, two of whom insisted upon seeing
+him safely to his own abode.</p>
+
+<p>"Is this the place? Why, it is all shut
+up!" exclaimed one of these gentlemen as
+the driver drew up before the dusty steps.</p>
+
+<p>Mrs. Hunt's orders were that the entrance
+to her mansion should present the
+most desolate air possible during her absence.
+It had "an aristocratical look in the
+summer time, when everybody but nobodies
+was rusticating."</p>
+
+<p>Again that singular contortion of the
+mouth, and the master (?) of the forlorn-looking
+habitation prepared to descend,
+fumbling in his pocket for his pass-key.</p>
+
+<p>"I am obliged to you, gentlemen, for your
+great kindness, and will&mdash;not&mdash;trouble&mdash;you&mdash;longer."</p>
+
+<p>In trying to raise his hand to his hat for
+a bow, the ghastly hue again overspread
+his face, and he staggered. Without further
+parley his two aids laid hold of him,
+one on each side, and supported him into
+the house, up one, two flights of linen-draped
+stairs, to a back bedroom.</p>
+
+<p>Mrs. Hunt would have let her husband
+faint on the sidewalk before she would
+have received company in that chamber in
+its present condition; for the handsomest
+articles of furniture stood covered up in
+another apartment, and their place was
+supplied by a plain bureau, wash-stand and
+bed belonging to the boys' room, a story
+higher up. The wisdom of this precaution
+was manifest in the signs of neglect and
+slovenliness displayed on all sides. One
+could have written his name in the dust
+upon the glass; there was dirt in every corner
+and under each chair and table; the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_20" id="Page_20">[20]</a></span>
+wash-basin was partly full of dirty suds,
+and the towels and counterpane shockingly
+dingy.</p>
+
+<p>These things were not remarked by the
+intruders until they had got their charge
+to bed, resisted no longer by him, for he
+began to comprehend his inability to help
+himself.</p>
+
+<p>"There is no one besides ourselves on
+the premises, not even a servant," one of
+them said apart to his associate, after a
+brief absence from the room. "If you will
+stay with him until I come back I will go
+for a doctor."</p>
+
+<p>The invalid caught the last word.</p>
+
+<p>"Indeed, Mr. Hammond, there is no need
+for you to do anything more&mdash;no necessity
+for calling in a physician. I am quite comfortable
+now, and shall be well by morning."</p>
+
+<p>Mr. Hammond, who was a director in
+the bank, and sincerely honored the honest
+veteran now prostrated by his devoted
+performance of duty, took the hot, tremulous
+hand in his.</p>
+
+<p>"I cannot allow you to peril your valuable
+health, my dear sir. Unless you positively
+forbid it, I shall not only call your
+physician, but drop in again myself this
+evening, and satisfy my mind as to
+whether you require my presence through
+the night."</p>
+
+<p>He was as good as his word; but no
+amount of persuasion could induce Mr.
+Hunt to accept his offered watch. He
+would be "uneasy, unhappy, if his young
+friend sacrificed his own rest so uselessly,"
+and loath as he was to leave him to
+solitude and suffering, Mr. Hammond had
+to yield. At his morning visit, he found
+the patient more tractable. After tedious
+hours of fevered wakefulness, he had endeavored
+to rise, only to sink back again
+upon his pillow&mdash;dizzy, sick, and now thoroughly
+alarmed at the state of his system.
+He did not combat his friend's proposal
+to obtain a competent nurse, and to look
+in on him in person as often as practicable;
+still, utterly refused to allow his wife to be
+written to on the subject of his indisposition.</p>
+
+<p>"I shall be better in a day or two, probably
+before she could reach me. I have
+never had a spell of illness. It is not likely
+that this will be anything of consequence.
+I greatly prefer that she should not be
+apprised of this attack."</p>
+
+<p>Mr. Hammond was resolute on his part&mdash;the
+more determined, when the physician
+had paid another visit, and pronounced the
+malady a low fever, that would, doubtless,
+confine the sick man to his bed for several
+days, if not weeks.</p>
+
+<p>"It is not just to your wife and children,
+Mr. Hunt, to keep them in ignorance of so
+important a matter!" he urged. "They
+will have cause to feel themselves aggrieved
+by you, and ill-treated by me, if
+we practice this deception upon them."</p>
+
+<p>Mr. Hunt lay quiet for some minutes.</p>
+
+<p>"Perhaps you are in the right," he said.
+"Sarah would be wounded, I know. I will
+send for her!" he concluded, with more
+animation. "She will come as soon as she
+receives the letter."</p>
+
+<p>"Of course she will!" rejoined Mr. Hammond,
+confidently; "you are not able to
+write. Suffer me to be your amanuensis."
+He sat down at a stand, and took out his
+pen. "Where is Mrs. Hunt at present?"</p>
+
+<p>"I am not sure. Either at Saratoga or
+Newport."</p>
+
+<p>Mr. Hammond looked surprised. "But it
+is necessary, sir, that we should know
+with some degree of certainty, or the letter
+may miscarry. Perhaps it would be
+well to write to both places."</p>
+
+<p>"The letter! Both places!" repeated Mr.
+Hunt, with perplexity. "I alluded to my
+daughter Sarah, sir, my second child, who
+is spending the summer with her aunt in
+Shrewsbury, New Jersey. May I take the
+liberty of asking you to write her a short
+note, mentioning my sickness in as guarded
+terms as you can use, and requesting
+her to come up to the city for a few days?
+She has my youngest child&mdash;a little girl&mdash;with
+her. If she can be contented to remain
+with her aunt, Sarah had better
+leave her there. She would be an additional
+burden to her sister if she were
+here."</p>
+
+<p>Whatever Mr. Hammond thought of the
+marked preference shown to the daughter
+above the wife, he said nothing, but proceeded
+to indite the desired epistle, adding,
+in a postscript, on his own account, that
+he would take pleasure in meeting Miss
+Hunt at the wharf, on her arrival, and for
+this purpose would be at the boat each
+day, until she made her appearance in
+New York.</p>
+
+<p>He went, accordingly, the next afternoon,
+although very confident that she could not
+have received his letter in season to take
+that boat. Mr. Hunt had proved to him
+and to himself the utter impossibility of her
+coming, yet his eyes brightened with expectancy
+as his friend entered, and faded
+into sadness as he reported the ill-success
+of his errand.</p>
+
+<p>"He is evidently extremely partial to
+this one of his children," thought Mr. Hammond,
+as he paced the wharf on the second
+evening, watching, amid noisy hack-drivers
+and expressmen, for the steamer. "I
+have seen the girls at parties, but do not
+remember their names. One of them is
+very pretty. I wonder if she is 'Sarah!'"</p>
+
+<p>It was growing dusk as the boat touched
+the pier. So dim was the light, that Mr.
+Hammond was obliged to station himself
+close beside the gangway, and inspect the
+features of each lady passenger more narrowly
+than politeness would, in other circumstances,
+have warranted. They hurried
+across, men and women, tall and
+short, stout and slender, until there
+tripped towards him the figure of a young
+girl, attired in a gray dress and mantle,
+and carrying a small traveling bag in her
+hand. She would have passed him, had
+he not stepped forward and spoken.</p>
+
+<p>"Miss Hunt, I believe!"</p>
+
+<p>In the uncertain twilight, he could see
+that she grew very pale.</p>
+
+<p>"How is my father?"</p>
+
+<p>There was no preamble of civility or
+diffidence; no reserve in addressing him, a
+mere stranger; no trembling, preparatory
+queries; but a point-blank question, in a
+tone whose impatient anguish moved his
+kind heart; a piercing look, that would
+know the truth then and there!</p>
+
+<p>"He is better, to-day"&mdash;and he led her
+out of the press of the onward stream.
+"He has not been dangerously ill. We
+hope and believe that he will not be."</p>
+
+<p>"Is that true?" Her fingers tightened
+upon his arm.</p>
+
+<p>"It is! I would not, for the world, deceive
+you in such a matter."</p>
+
+<p>"I believe you! Thank Heaven! I feared
+the worst!" She covered her face with
+her hands, and burst into tears.</p>
+
+<p>Hammond beckoned a hackman, close by,
+and when the short-lived reaction of overwrought
+feeling subsided so far as to allow
+Sarah to notice surrounding objects, she
+was seated in the carriage, screened from
+curious or impertinent gazers, and her
+escort was nowhere to be seen. Several
+minutes elapsed before he again showed
+himself at the window.</p>
+
+<p>"I must trouble you for your checks,
+Miss Hunt, in order to get your baggage."</p>
+
+<p>Already ashamed of her emotion, she
+obeyed his demand without speaking.</p>
+
+<p>"You have given me but one," he said,
+turning it over in his hand.</p>
+
+<p>"That is all, sir."</p>
+
+<p>"Indeed! You are a model traveler! I
+thought no young lady, in these days, ever
+stirred from home without half a dozen
+trunks." To himself he added, "A sensible
+girl! An exception to most of her sex,
+in one thing, at any rate!"</p>
+
+<p>Sarah sat well back into her corner, as
+they drove up lighted Broadway, and was
+almost rudely taciturn, while her companion
+related the particulars of her father's
+seizure and subsequent confinement
+to his room. Yet, that she listened with
+intense interest, the narrator knew by her
+irregular breathing and immovable attitude.
+As they neared their destination,
+this fixedness of attention and posture was
+exchanged for an eager restlessness. She
+leaned forward to look out of the window,
+and when they turned into the last street,
+quick as was Mr. Hammond's motion to
+unfasten the door of the vehicle, her hand
+was first upon the lock. It was cold as ice,
+and trembled so much as to be powerless.
+Gently removing it, he undid the catch,
+and assisted her to alight.</p>
+
+<p>The hired nurse answered their ring, and
+while Sarah brushed past her, and flew up
+the stairway, Mr. Hammond detained the
+woman to make inquiries and issue directions.</p>
+
+<p>"It is all very dreary-like, sir," she complained.
+"Everything is packed away and
+locked up. There's no getting at a lump
+of sugar without a hunt for the key, and
+all he's seemed to care for this blessed
+day, was that his daughter should be made
+comfortable. He sent me out this afternoon
+to buy biscuits, and sardines, and
+peaches for her tea, and told me where I'd
+find silver and china. It is not at all the
+thing for him to be worrying at such
+a rate. He'll be worse for it to-morrow,
+and so I've told him, Mr. Hammond."</p>
+
+<p>"Perhaps not, Mrs. Kerr. His daughter's
+coming will cheer him and quiet him, too,
+I doubt not. I will not go up now. Please
+present my regards to Mr. Hunt, and say
+that I will call to-morrow."</p>
+
+<p>He purposely deferred his visit until the
+afternoon, supposing that Miss Hunt might
+object to his early and unceremonious appearance
+in the realms now under her
+control; nor when he went did he ascend
+at once to the sick-chamber, as was his
+custom before the transfer of its superintendence.
+Sending up his name by the
+nurse, he awaited a formal invitation,
+among the shrouded sofas and chairs of
+the sitting-room.</p>
+
+<p>"You'll please to walk up, sir!" was the
+message he received; and the woman subjoined,
+confidentially, "Things is brighter
+to-day, sir."</p>
+
+<p>They certainly were. With wonderfully<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_21" id="Page_21">[21]</a></span>
+little noise and confusion, Sarah, assisted
+by the nurse, had wrought an utter change
+in the desolate apartment. With the exception
+of the bureau, which had been
+drawn out of sight into the adjoining
+dressing-room, and the bedstead, the common,
+defaced furniture had disappeared,
+and its place was supplied by more comfortable
+and elegant articles. The windows
+were shaded, without giving an aspect
+of gloom to the chamber; the bed-coverings
+were clean and fresh; and the
+sick man, supported by larger and plumper
+pillows than those among which he had
+tossed for many a weary night, greeted his
+visitor with a cordial smile and outstretched
+hand.</p>
+
+<p>"I thank you for your kind care of my
+daughter last evening, sir. Sarah, my dear,
+this is my friend, Mr. Hammond, to whose
+goodness I am so much indebted."</p>
+
+<p>"The debt is mine no less," was the
+frank reply, as she shook hands with her
+new acquaintance. "We can never thank
+you sufficiently, Mr. Hammond, for all
+you have done for us, in taking care of
+him."</p>
+
+<p>"A genuine woman! a dutiful, affectionate
+daughter!" was now Hammond's comment,
+as he disclaimed all right to her
+gratitude. "None of your sentimental, affected
+absurdities, with nothing in either
+head or heart!"</p>
+
+<p>This impression was confirmed by daily
+observation; for politeness first, then inclination,
+induced him to continue his
+"professional" calls, as Sarah styled them.
+He seemed to divide with her the responsibility
+of her position. Its duties were
+onerous; but for this she did not care. She
+was strong and active, and love made labor
+light&mdash;even welcome to her. A competent
+cook was inducted into office below stairs,
+and household matters went forward with
+system and despatch. The eye of the mistress,
+pro tem., was over all; her hand
+ever ready to lift her share of the load,
+yet her attendance at her father's bedside
+appeared unremitting. His disease,
+without being violent, was distressing and
+wearing, destroying sleep and appetite,
+and preying constantly upon the nerves.
+To soothe these, Sarah read and talked
+cheerfully, and often, at his request, sang
+old-time ballads and childish lullabys to
+court diversion and slumber.</p>
+
+<p>Occasionally Lewis Hammond paused
+without the door until the strain was concluded,
+drinking in the notes with more
+pleasure than he was wont to feel in listening
+to the bravuras and startling, astonishing
+cadenzas that were warbled in
+his ears by the amateur cantatrices of the
+"best circles;" then, when the sounds from
+within ceased, he delayed his entrance
+some moments longer, lest the songstress
+should suspect his eavesdropping. He
+ceased to speculate upon the reasons of
+Mrs. Hunt's protracted absence at a time
+when no true-hearted wife could, from
+choice, remain away from her rightful
+post. When, at the expiration of a fortnight
+from the day of the attack, the
+physician declared his patient feebly, but
+surely convalescent, his young friend had
+decided, to his entire satisfaction, that
+things were best as they were. Mr. Hunt
+had made a most judicious selection from
+the female portion of his family, and what
+need of more nurses when this one was so
+efficient and willing? He caught himself
+hoping that the fussy dame he had met in<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_22" id="Page_22">[22]</a></span>
+society would not abridge her summer's
+recreation on account of an ailing husband.
+He had designed going to Saratoga himself,
+for ten days or two weeks; but he
+was very well. It was difficult to get away
+from business, and this affair of Mr.
+Hunt's enlisted his sympathies so deeply,
+that he could not resolve upon leaving
+him. If he had never before enjoyed the
+bliss that flows from a disinterested action,
+he tasted it now.</p>
+
+<p>Mrs. Hunt was not kept in total ignorance
+of what was transpiring at home.
+Sarah had written, cautiously and hopefully,
+of her father's sickness and her recall;
+repeating Mr. Hunt's wish that his
+consort should not hurry back through
+mistaken solicitude for his health and
+comfort; and they were taken at their
+word. A week elapsed before an answer
+arrived&mdash;a lengthy missive, that had cost
+the writer more pains and time than the
+preparation for her annual "crush" generally
+did. She was an indifferent penman,
+and sadly out of practice; but there
+was much to be said, and "Lucy, of course,
+circumstanced as she was, could not spare
+time to be her scribe."</p>
+
+<p>This significant phrase quickened Sarah's
+inborn curiosity; but there was nothing
+for the next three pages that fed or
+quieted it. They were filled with minute
+directions about housewifery&mdash;economical
+details, that would have served as capital
+illustrations of "Poor Richard's" maxims;
+injunctions, warnings, and receipts sufficient
+in quantity to last a young, frugally-disposed
+housekeeper for the remainder of
+her natural existence. It was a trial to
+this exemplary wife and mother, she confessed,
+to absent herself so long from her
+home duties; but circumstances had compelled
+her to stay at Saratoga. Of their
+nature, Sarah had already been informed
+in her sister's last letter.</p>
+
+<p>"Which I cannot have received, then"&mdash;Sarah
+interrupted herself to say, as she
+read to her father: "I have not heard from
+Lucy in four weeks. I have thought hard
+of her for not writing."</p>
+
+<blockquote>
+
+<p>"But," concluded Mrs. Hunt, "matters
+looks well just now, and I know your
+father will aggree, when he heers all about
+our season's work, that our labor and
+Money has been a good investment. Take
+care of the keys yourself, Sarah. Be
+pruedent, keep a sharp Lookout on the
+cook, and don't negleck your poor father.</p>
+
+<p style="text-align: left; margin-top: 1em; margin-bottom: 1em;">"Your Affectionate mother,</p> <p style="text-align: right;">"E. Hunt."&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;</p>
+
+<p style="margin-top: 1em;">"P. S. Your kitchen Girl must have a
+Great deel of spair Time. Set her to work
+cleening the House, for you may expeckt
+us home in two weeks, or maybe Less.</p>
+
+<p style="text-align: right; margin-top: 1em; margin-bottom: 1em;">"E. H."&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;</p>
+</blockquote>
+
+<p>Lucy had slipped a note in the same envelope&mdash;a
+thin, satiny sheet, hardly larger
+than the little hand that had moved over
+its perfumed page. Her chirography was
+very running, very light, very ladylike,
+and, we need not say, very italical.</p>
+
+<blockquote>
+
+<p>"Mamma tells me, Sarah dear, that she
+has given you a hint of how matters are
+progressing between your humble servant
+and our particular friend, of whom I wrote
+in my last. The poor, dear woman flatters
+herself that it is all her work; but somebody
+else may have his own opinion, and I
+certainly have mine. I have had to caution
+her repeatedly, to prevent her from showing
+her delight too plainly to my 'Goldfinch,'
+as Vic. and I have dubbed him.
+Don't be in a hurry with your congratulations,
+ma chere. 'There's many a slip
+'twixt the cup and the lip;' and although
+the season is so near over, I may yet see
+some one whom I like better than His
+Highness. Vic. has a beau, too&mdash;a rich
+widower, less fascinating than my devoted;
+but a very agreeable man, without encumbrance,
+and very much smitten. So
+we pair off nicely in our rides and promenades,
+and, entre nous, are quite the talk.
+You are a good little thing to nurse papa
+so sweetly&mdash;a great deal better than I am.
+I told my knight of this proof of your
+excellence the other day, and he said it
+was only what might have been expected
+from my sister! Don't you feel flattered?
+Poor fellow! Love is blind, you know.</p>
+
+<p>"Love to papa. I am sorry he has been
+so unwell. I do not imagine that I shall
+have time to write again before we leave
+this paradise. We will telegraph you when
+to expect us. Perhaps I may have an
+escort home&mdash;some one who would like to
+have a private conference with my respected
+father. Nous verrons!</p>
+
+<p style="text-align: left; margin-top: 1em; margin-bottom: 1em;">"Lovingly,</p> <p style="text-align: right;">"Lucie."&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;</p>
+</blockquote>
+
+<p>Mr. Hunt twisted himself uneasily in his
+arm-chair as his daughter, by his desire,
+reluctantly read aloud the double letter.
+A shade of dissatisfaction and shame
+clouded his countenance when she finished,
+and he sighed heavily.</p>
+
+<p>"I am glad they are still enjoying themselves,"
+said Sarah, forcing a smile. "Lucy
+has secured a captive too, it appears&mdash;one
+whom she is likely to bring home at her
+chariot wheels."</p>
+
+<p>"In my day daughters were in the habit
+of consulting their fathers before giving
+decided encouragement to any admirers,
+strangers especially," said Mr. Hunt, with
+displeasure. "In these times there are no
+parents! There is the 'old man' and 'the
+Governor,' who makes the money his children
+honor him by wasting, and the 'poor,
+dear woman,' who plays propriety in the
+belle's flirtations, and helps, or hinders,
+in snaring some booby 'Goldfinch.' It is
+a lying, cheating, hollow world! I have
+been sick of it for twenty years!"</p>
+
+<p>"Father! my dear father," exclaimed
+Sarah, kneeling beside him, and winding
+her arms about his neck. "You misjudge
+your children, and their love for you!"</p>
+
+<p>"I believe in you, child! I cannot understand
+how you have contrived to grow up
+so unlike your sister and your"&mdash;The
+recollection of the respect his daughter
+owed her mother, checked the word.</p>
+
+<p>"You do not deal fairly with Lucy's
+character, father. She has one of the kindest
+hearts and most amiable dispositions in
+the world. I wish I had caused you as
+little anxiety as she has. Remember her
+obedience and my wilfulness; her gentleness
+and my obstinacy, and blush at your
+verdict, Sir Judge!"</p>
+
+<p>She seated herself upon his foot-cushion
+and rested her chin upon his knee, looking
+archly up in his face. She was surprised
+and troubled at this degree of
+acrimony in one whose habitual manner
+was so placid, and his judgment so mild;
+but, for his sake, she was resolute not
+to show her feeling. He laid his hand
+caressingly upon her shoulder, and sank
+into a revery, profound, and seemingly not
+pleasant.</p>
+
+<p>Sarah took advantage of his abstraction
+to remove the wrapper of a newspaper
+received by the same mail that had brought
+her letters. The operation was carefully
+performed, so as not to invite notice, and
+the envelope laid away in her work-box.
+She knew well who had traced the clear,
+bold superscription, and what initials composed
+the mysterious cipher in one corner
+of the cover; nor was this the only token
+of recollection she had from this source.
+The article marked in the number of the
+literary journal he had selected as the
+medium of correspondence, was an exquisite
+little poem from an author whose
+works Philip had read to her in the vine-covered
+porch at Shrewsbury. Slowly,
+longingly she perused it; gathering sweetness
+from every word, and fancying how
+his intonations would bring out beauties
+she could not of herself discover. Then
+she took out the wrapper again, and studied
+the postmark. On the former papers
+he had sent the stamp was illegible, but
+this was easily deciphered&mdash;"Albany."</p>
+
+<p>"So near! He is returning homewards!"
+was the glad reflection that flooded her
+face with joy.</p>
+
+<p>"Sarah!" said her father, abruptly. "Do
+you ever think of marriage?"</p>
+
+<p>"Sir?" stammered the girl, confused beyond
+measure.</p>
+
+<p>"I mean, have you imbibed your sister's
+ideas on this subject? the notions of ninety-nine
+hundredths of girls in your walk
+of life. Do you intend to seek a husband,
+boldly and unblushingly, in all public
+places? to degrade yourself by practising
+the arts they understand so well to catch
+an 'eligible' partner, who may repay your
+insincerity and mercenary views by insult
+and infidelity&mdash;at best by indifference!
+Child! you do not know the risk match-making
+mothers and husband-hunting
+daughters run; the terrible retribution that
+may be&mdash;that often is in store for such!
+I had rather see you and your sister dead,
+than the victims of that most hateful of
+heartless shows&mdash;a fashionable marriage!
+Poor Lucy! poor Lucy!"</p>
+
+<p>"I hope you are distressing yourself without
+reason, sir. Mother is not the person to
+surrender her child to one whose character
+and respectability are not indisputable. Nor
+is Lucy sentimental. I do not fear her suffering
+very acutely from any cause."</p>
+
+<p>"I grant that. You would be more to be
+pitied as an unloved or unloving wife,
+than she. I tremble for you sometimes,
+when I think of this chance. My daughter,
+when you marry, look beyond the outside
+show. Seek for moral worth and a
+true heart, instead of dollars and cents!"</p>
+
+<p>"I will! I promise!" said Sarah, her
+amazement at his earnestness and choice
+of topics combining to shake her voice
+and constrain her smile. "But there is
+time enough for that, father dear. When
+the man of heart and worth sues for my
+poor hand, I will refer him to you, and
+abide entirely by your decision."</p>
+
+<p>"Mr. Hammond is downstairs," said the
+servant at the door. And Sarah, gathering
+up her papers, escaped from the room
+before he entered.</p>
+
+
+
+<hr class="chap" />
+
+<h2>CHAPTER VII.</h2>
+
+
+<p>Mr. Hunt was able to resume his place in
+the bank several days before his wife returned.
+Uncle Nathan had brought Jeannie
+home as soon as her father could leave
+his room, and the boys had likewise been<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_23" id="Page_23">[23]</a></span>
+written for; so that the family reunion
+was apparently near at hand.</p>
+
+<p>Weak as he was, Mr. Hunt met his
+spouse and daughter at the depot, and the
+noise of their entrance in the lower hall
+first apprised Sarah of their arrival. To
+the bound of pleasurable excitement her
+heart gave at the certainty that they had
+come, succeeded a sigh at the termination
+of the free, yet busy life she had led of
+late&mdash;the probability that she would be
+compelled to resume her old habits of feeling
+and action. Driving back the selfish
+regret, she ran down to welcome the travellers.</p>
+
+<p>"How well you're looking, Sarah!" said
+Mrs. Hunt, after kissing her. "I declare,
+if you was to arrange your hair different,
+and study dress a bit, you would come
+near being right down handsome."</p>
+
+<p>"'Handsome is as handsome does!'"
+quoted Mr. Hunt, stoutly. "According to
+that rule, she is a beauty."</p>
+
+<p>"Thank you, sir!" said Sarah, bowing
+low. And she tried to forget, in her sister's
+affectionate greeting, the chill and
+heart-sickness produced by her mother's
+business-like manner and compliment.</p>
+
+<p>"Having disposed of one daughter, she
+means to work the other into merchantable
+shape!" was her cynical deduction
+from the dubious praise bestowed upon
+herself.</p>
+
+<p>Mrs. Hunt pursued her way up the steps,
+examining and remarking upon everything
+she saw.</p>
+
+<p>"Them stair-rods ain't so clean as they
+had ought to be, Sarah. I'm afraid your
+girls are careless, or shirks. When did you
+uncover the carpet?"</p>
+
+<p>"Some time ago, mother, while father
+was sick. There were gentlemen calling
+constantly, and the cover looked shabby,
+I thought."</p>
+
+<p>"It couldn't be helped, I s'pose; but the
+carpet is more worn than I expected to
+see it. With the heavy expenses that will
+be crowding on us this fall and winter,
+we can't afford to get any new things for
+the house."</p>
+
+<p>Lucy, who preceded her sister, glanced
+back and laughed meaningly. And Sarah
+was very glad that her father had not
+overheard the observation, which confirmed
+her belief that the beauty's hand was disposed
+of without the form of consultation
+with her natural and legal guardian.</p>
+
+<p>Dinner was announced by the time the
+traveling habiliments and dust were removed.
+Sarah had spared no pains to
+provide a bountiful and tasteful repast, at
+the risk of incurring her mother's reproof
+for her extravagant proclivities. But the
+dame was in high good-humor, and the
+youthful purveyor received but a single
+sentence of deprecation.</p>
+
+<p>"I hope you have not been living as high
+as this all the time, Sarah!"</p>
+
+<p>"No, ma'am. Father's wants and mine
+were very few. I foresaw that you would
+need substantial refreshment after your
+journey."</p>
+
+<p>"You was very thoughtful. We both
+have good appetites, I guess. I know that
+I have."</p>
+
+<p>"Mine will speak for itself," said Lucy.</p>
+
+<p>"You have no idea how that girl has
+enjoyed everything since she has been
+away," observed Mrs. Hunt to her husband.
+"There was Vic. West, who took
+it into her head that she ought to look die-away
+and peaking, and refuse food, when<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_24" id="Page_24">[24]</a></span>
+her beau was by; but Lu., she just went
+right along and behaved natural, and I'm
+sure that somebody thought more of her
+for it."</p>
+
+<p>Mr. Hunt's face darkened for a moment;
+but he could not find fault with his eldest
+child on her first evening at home.</p>
+
+<p>"So you have been quite a belle, Lucy,"
+he said, pleasantly.</p>
+
+<p>"Better than that, Mr. H.!" Mrs. Hunt
+checked her triumphant announcement as
+the butler re-entered the room. "I shouldn't
+wonder," she resumed, rather mysteriously,
+"if Lucy was disposed to settle down into
+a steady, sedate matron after her holiday."</p>
+
+<p>"Don't deceive yourself with that hope!"
+laughed Lucy.</p>
+
+<p>She was evidently pleased by these not
+over-delicate allusions to her love-affairs,
+and, like her mother, extremely complacent
+over the result of her recent campaign.
+Sarah felt that, were she in her
+place, she would shrink from this open
+jesting upon a sacred subject; still she
+had not expected that her sister would
+behave differently. Lucy's nature was gentle
+without being fine; affectionate but
+shallow. She would have had no difficulty
+in attaching herself to any man whom her
+friends recommended as "a good match,"
+provided he were pleasing in exterior, and
+her most devoted servitor.</p>
+
+<p>The sisters had no opportunity of private
+converse until they adjourned to the
+parlor for the evening. Lucy was very
+beautiful in a blue silk, whose low corsage
+and short sleeves revealed her superb
+shoulders and rounded arms. Her complexion
+was a rich carmine, deepening or
+softening with every motion&mdash;one would
+have said, with every breath. Her blue
+eyes fairly danced in a sort of subdued
+glee, very charming and very becoming
+but altogether unlike the tender, dewy
+light of "Love's first young dream."</p>
+
+<p>"How lovely you have grown, sister!"
+said Sarah, earnestly. "Oh, Lucy, I don't
+believe you rightly value the gift of beauty&mdash;as
+I would do if it were mine!"</p>
+
+<p>"Nonsense!" The dimples, that made her
+smile so bewitching, broke her blushes into
+rosy waves as the conscious fair one
+turned her face towards the mirror. "I
+am pleased to hear that I am passable
+to-night. We may have visitors. A friend
+of ours has expressed a great desire to
+see me in my home&mdash;'in the bosom of my
+family.' Ahem!"</p>
+
+<p>She smoothed out an imaginary wrinkle
+in her bodice, an excuse for tarrying longer
+before the glass.</p>
+
+<p>"He came to town with you, then?" ventured
+Sarah.</p>
+
+<p>Lucy nodded.</p>
+
+<p>"And promised to call this evening?"</p>
+
+<p>"Right again, my dear!"</p>
+
+<p>She was graver now, for she had conceived
+the happy notion of appropriating to
+her own use a cluster of white roses and
+buds she discovered in the vase on the
+marble slab under the mirror. If anything
+could have enhanced the elegance of her
+figure and toilet, it was the coiffure she immediately
+set about arranging. The flowers
+were a present to Sarah from Lewis Hammond;
+but she thought little of him or of
+them, as Lucy laid them first on one, then
+on the other side of head, to try the
+effect.</p>
+
+<p>"And you really care for him, sister?"
+came forth in such a timid, anxious tone,
+that Lucy burst into a fit of laughter.</p>
+
+<p>"You dear little modest piece of romantic
+simplicity! One would suppose that you
+were popping the question yourself, from
+your behavior. Care for him? Why
+shouldn't I? I need not say 'yes' unless I
+do, need I?"</p>
+
+<p>"But you take it so coolly! A betrothal
+is, to me, such a solemn thing."</p>
+
+<p>"And to most other girls, perhaps.
+(There! if I only had a hair-pin. Don't
+rob yourself! thank you! Isn't that an improvement?)
+As I was saying, why should
+I pretend to be pensive and doleful, when I
+am as merry as a lark? or lovesick, when I
+have never lost a meal or an hour's sleep
+from the commencement of the courtship
+until now? That is not my style, Sarah.
+I am very practical in my views and feelings.
+Not that I don't play talking sentiment
+in our genuine lovescenes, and I
+really like unbounded devotion on the other
+side. It is decidedly pleasant to be adored.
+I was surprised to find how I enjoyed it."</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, sister! sister!" Sarah leaned her
+forehead on the mantel, repelled and well-nigh
+disgusted by this heartless trifling&mdash;this
+avowed counterfeit&mdash;so abhorrent to
+her feelings. But Lucy was as much in
+earnest as she could be on such a theme.
+She went on, unheeding her sister's ejaculation.</p>
+
+<p>"You must understand, of course, that we
+are not positively engaged. I gave him&mdash;Goldfinch&mdash;a
+good scolding for violating the
+rules of etiquette by addressing me while
+I was away from home; but it was just like
+him. He is as impulsive as he can live. To
+punish him I refused to answer him until
+after our return to New York, and his interview
+with father. He would have written
+to him on the spot, had I not forbidden
+him. He behaved so beautifully, that I
+consented to his taking charge of us to the
+city, and I suppose the rest must follow in
+good time. How melancholy your face is!
+Are you very much afflicted at the thought
+of losing me? Why, Sarah! my dear child,
+are those tears in your eyes? If she isn't
+crying in good earnest!"</p>
+
+<p>And Lucy's musical laugh rolled through
+the rooms in her enjoyment of the joke.
+What else could it be to her, elate with her
+success in achieving the chief end of woman&mdash;the
+capture of a rich and handsome,
+in every respect an unexceptionable lover?</p>
+
+<p>"Hist!" she said, raising her finger. "He
+has come! Your eyes are red! Run, and
+make yourself presentable!"</p>
+
+<p>The door opening from the hall into the
+front parlor, swung on its hinges as Sarah
+gained the comparative obscurity of the
+third and rear room. A strong impulse of
+interest or curiosity there arrested her
+flight to enable her to get a glimpse of her
+destined brother-in-law. Lucy had not
+mentioned his proper name, since her earliest
+letter from Newport had eulogized a
+certain George Finch, a Bostonian,
+wealthy, and attentive to herself. Sarah's
+backward glance fell upon the visitor as he
+met his queenly bride-elect directly under
+the blazing chandelier.</p>
+
+<p>It was Philip Benson!</p>
+
+<p>Chained to the spot by weakness or horror,
+the looker-on stood motionless, while
+the suitor raised the lily fingers he held to
+his lips, and then led Lucy to a seat. His
+voice broke the spell. As the familiar cadences
+smote her ear, the sharp pain that
+ran through every fiber of her frame awakened
+Sarah from her stupor.</p>
+
+<p>How she gained her room she never
+knew; but she had sense enough left to direct
+her flight to this refuge&mdash;and, when
+within, to lock the door. Then she threw
+up her arms with a piteous, wailing cry,
+and fell across the bed, dead for the time
+to further woe.</p>
+
+<p>Alone and painfully she struggled back
+to consciousness. Sitting upright, she
+stared wonderingly around her, unable to
+recollect what had stricken her down. The
+chamber was imperfectly lighted by the
+rays of the street lamp opposite, and with
+the recognition of objects within its narrow
+limits there crept back to her all that had
+preceded her retreat thither. For the next
+hour she sat still&mdash;her head bowed upon
+her knees, amid the wrecks of her dream
+world.</p>
+
+<p>Dreary and loveless as had been most of
+her previous life, she had never endured
+anything like this, unless one miserable
+hour upon the Deal Beach, when Philip
+broke the tidings of his intended departure,
+were a slight foretaste of the agony, the
+utter despair, that claimed her now for its
+victim. Since then, she had been hopeful.
+His promise of a visit, the tokens of remembrance
+he had transmitted to her
+every week, had kept alive memory and
+expectation, and this was his coming! this
+the occasion she had pictured so fondly,
+painted with the brightest hues Love could
+borrow from imagination! She had heard
+again the voice that had haunted her
+dreams, from their parting until now&mdash;heard
+it in deeper, softer tones than it had
+ever taken in speech with her; heart-music
+which told that his seekings and
+yearnings for the one and only beloved
+were over. And was not her quest of years
+ended likewise? Truly, there are two senses
+in which every search, every combat may
+be said to be closed; one when the victor
+grasps his prize, or waves aloft his sword
+in the moment of triumph; the other,
+when, bleeding, maimed, or dying, the vanquished
+sinks to the earth without power
+to rise!</p>
+
+<p>A tap at her door startled Sarah. She did
+not stir until it was repeated, and her
+father called her name. A stream of light
+from the hall fell upon her face as she admitted
+him.</p>
+
+<p>"Daughter, what ails you?" was his exclamation.</p>
+
+<p>"I am not very well, father."</p>
+
+<p>"I should think not, indeed! Come in
+here and lie down!" He led her to the bed,
+and, lighting the gas in the chamber, came
+back to her and felt her pulse.</p>
+
+<p>She knew what was the direction of his
+fears; but to correct his misapprehension
+was to subject herself to further questioning.
+Passively she received the pressure of
+his hand upon her head, the gentle stroking
+of the disordered hair; but when he stooped
+to kiss her, he felt that she trembled.</p>
+
+<p>"Dear child! I shall never forgive myself
+if you have taken the fever from me!"</p>
+
+<p>"I do not fear that, father. My head
+aches, and I am very tired. I have been so
+busy all day, you know."</p>
+
+<p>"Yes, and for many other days. You are,
+without doubt, overworked. I hope this
+may prove to be all the matter with you.
+A night's rest may quite cure you."</p>
+
+<p>"Yes sir," she answered, chokingly.
+"You will excuse me to &mdash;&mdash;, downstairs?"</p>
+
+<p>"Certainly. Would you like to have your
+mother come up to you?"</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, no, sir! Please tell her there is no
+need of it. I shall be better to-morrow."</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_25" id="Page_25">[25]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>"Your sister"&mdash;and he looked more serious,
+instead of smiling&mdash;"has a visitor. Her
+friend is an acquaintance of yours, also, it
+appears&mdash;the Mr. Benson whom you met at
+your aunt's in July."</p>
+
+<p>"Yes, sir. I know it."</p>
+
+<p>"I understood you to say that Lucy had
+never said positively who her lover was;
+but this was not the name you told me of,
+as the person whom you imagined him to
+be."</p>
+
+<p>"I was misled for a time myself, sir,"
+replied the poor girl, pressing her temples
+between her palms.</p>
+
+<p>"I see that I am tiring you. Forgive me!
+but it is so natural to consult you in everything.
+I must trouble you with some questions,
+which it is important should be answered
+to-night, before this gentleman and
+myself have any conversation. Is Mr. Benson
+a man whom you consider worthy of
+trust? Your mother represents him to be
+enormously wealthy&mdash;a reputation I had
+concluded he possessed, from Lucy's pet
+name for him. It is well that your sister
+has a prospect of marrying advantageously
+in this respect, for she would never be
+happy in an humble sphere; but antiquated
+people like myself regard other things as of
+greater consequence in concluding a bargain
+for a lifetime. Is your opinion of Mr.
+Benson favorable as to disposition, principles,
+and conduct?"</p>
+
+<p>Sarah's head rested on the foot-board of
+her couch, in weariness or pain, as she rejoined:
+"I saw and heard nothing of him,
+during our intercourse in the country, that
+was not creditable. His uncle and aunt are
+very partial to him, and speak of his character
+in high terms. Their testimony ought
+to have weight with you, for they have
+known him from his boyhood up."</p>
+
+<p>"It ought and does. I am relieved to hear
+all this! very much pleased!" said Mr.
+Hunt, enthusiastically. "I have all confidence
+in Nathan Benson's judgment and
+integrity. I hope his nephew is as sterling
+a man. Thus far," he continued, playfully,
+"I have learned but one thing to his discredit,
+and that is, having seen this one of
+my daughters, he could afterwards fall in
+love with the other."</p>
+
+<p>"I am not beautiful and good like Lucy,
+father."</p>
+
+<p>"Very dear and lovely in my eyes, my
+child! Again forgive me for having worried
+your poor head with my inquiries. I
+was unwilling to decide a matter where
+Lucy's happiness was involved, without
+obtaining your evidence in the case. A
+last good-night! and God bless you, my
+dearest, best daughter!"</p>
+
+<p>Sarah held up her face for his kiss without
+attempting to speak. This burning
+ordeal, the harder to endure because unexpected,
+was over. She was as weak as a
+child with conflicting passions when she
+arose and endeavored to undress. After
+stooping several times to regain breath and
+strength, she was at last ready to creep
+into bed, there to lie until morning broke,
+sleepless and suffering.</p>
+
+<p>Her sharpened senses could discern her
+father's and mother's voices in the sitting-room,
+in confidential talk&mdash;interrupted, by-and-by,
+by Lucy's pure, mellow tones, apparently
+conveying some message to the
+former. Its import was easily surmised,
+for his step was then heard in the hall and
+on the stairs, until he reached the parlor
+where Philip awaited him. Their conference
+did not occupy more than twenty minutes,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_26" id="Page_26">[26]</a></span>
+which time Lucy spent with her
+mother&mdash;how gayly, Sarah could judge by
+the laugh that, again and again, reached
+her room. Mr. Hunt returned, spoke a few
+sentences in his calm, grave way, and the
+closing door was followed by a flutter of
+silk and fall of gliding footsteps, as Lucy
+went down to her now formally and fully
+betrothed husband.</p>
+
+<p>"Husband!" Yes! it was even so!
+Henceforth the lives of the pair were to be
+as one in interest, in aims, in affection.
+Ere long, they would have no separate outward
+existence in the eyes of the world.
+Was his chosen love, then, in a truer and
+higher sense, his other self&mdash;the being
+sought so long and carefully? The pretty
+fiancee would have stretched her cerulean
+orbs in amazed wonder at the ridiculous
+doubt, and asked, in her matter-of-fact
+way, how the thing could have happened,
+if it had not been intended? Philip's indignant
+affirmative would have gained fervor
+from his exultant consciousness of possession&mdash;so
+novel and sweet. But one above
+stairs, taught sagacity by the depth of her
+grief, looked further into the future than
+did they, and read there a different reply.</p>
+
+<p>She heard the clang of the front door as
+it shut after the young lover, and in the
+still midnight, the echoes, faint and fainter,
+of his retreating footsteps&mdash;the same free,
+light tread she used to hearken for in porch
+and hall of that riverside farm house; and
+as the remembrance came over her she
+turned her face to the wall, murmuring
+passionately: "Oh! if I could never, never
+see him again!"</p>
+
+<p>This feeling, whether born of cowardice
+or desperation, was the ruling one, when
+her mother looked in upon her before
+breakfast, and expressed her concern at
+finding her still in bed.</p>
+
+<p>"I am not well enough to get up,
+mother," Sarah said sincerely, and Mrs.
+Hunt, reading in the parched lips and
+bloodshot eyes proof of the justice of the
+fears her husband had expressed to her the
+preceding evening, resolved that the doctor
+should see her "before she was two hours
+older."</p>
+
+<p>In vain Sarah entreated that this should
+not be done, and prophesied her recovery
+without his assistance. For once her
+parents were a unit in sentiment and action,
+and the physician was summoned to
+his second patient.</p>
+
+<p>"All febrile symptoms were to some extent
+contagious," he affirmed; "and while
+Mr. Hunt's malady was not generally
+classed with such, it was very possible that
+his daughter had contracted an analogous
+affection, in her constant attendance upon
+him."</p>
+
+<p>This decision Sarah dared not overthrow,
+much as she wished to do so, when she saw
+how it afflicted her father.</p>
+
+<p>Undaunted by any fears of infection,
+Lucy repaired to her sister's chamber when
+she had despatched her breakfast.</p>
+
+<p>"Isn't it too provoking that you should be
+sick just at this time?" she began, perching
+herself, school-girl fashion on the foot
+of the bed. "I really admired your staying
+upstairs last night; but I did not dream
+that you really were not well. I promise
+you that I made capital of your absence.
+I told Philip (how odd it sounds, doesn't
+it?) that you ran away when he rang the
+bell, because you had made a fright of
+yourself by crying over the prospect of my
+leaving you, and that I had no doubt that
+you had grieved yourself into a headache.
+He wanted to know forthwith if you
+objected to my marrying him; but I said
+'No'; that you were charmed with the
+match, and preferred him to any other admirer
+I had ever had; but that we&mdash;you and
+I&mdash;were so devoted to one another, that it
+was acute agony to us to think of parting.
+About ten o'clock he asked to see
+father, and they soon settled affairs. When
+I went down again, he tried a little ring
+on my finger that he always wears, and it
+fitted nicely. So I knew what it meant
+when he put it back upon his own hand,
+and that with that for a measure he could
+not go wrong in getting the engagement
+ring. I do hope it will be a diamond. Vic.
+West declares that she would not accept
+anything else. I considered for a while
+whether I couldn't give him a delicate hint
+on the subject, but I did not see how I
+could manage it. And don't you think,
+while I was studying about this, he fancied
+I was sober over 'the irrevocable step I
+had taken,' and became miserable and eloquent
+at the suspicion! I wish I could remember
+all he said! It was more in your
+line than mine! But he is a good, sensible
+fellow, with all his romantic notions. He
+has a handsome fortune, independent of his
+father, left him by his grandfather, and we
+are to live in Georgia part of the year only,
+and travel every summer. Mother says his
+account of his prospects and so forth to
+father was very satisfactory, but she has
+not got at all the particulars yet. Father
+is so worried about your sickness that he
+cannot spare a thought for anything or
+anybody else. The light from that window
+hurts your eyes&mdash;doesn't it? I will let down
+the shade."</p>
+
+<p>But Sarah lay with her hand protecting
+her eyes, when her sister resumed her position
+and narration.</p>
+
+<p>"We are to be married in December. He
+begged hard for an earlier day, but I was
+sure that I could not be ready before then.
+As it is, we shall have to hurry when it
+comes to the dresses, for, in order to get
+the latest fashions, we must wait until the
+eleventh hour. Won't I 'astonish the natives'
+down South? I couldn't state this to
+Philip, you know; so I referred him to
+mother, who is to say, when he asks her,
+that her preference would be to keep me
+just as long as she possibly can. Entre
+nous, my dear, our good mamma has said
+truer things than this bit of sentiment&mdash;but
+n'importe! These embellishments are
+necessary to such transactions."</p>
+
+<p>Miss West's friendship or curiosity could
+not endure longer suspense, and the intelligence
+that she was below checked the
+monologue.</p>
+
+<p>"I will run up again whenever I can,"
+promised Lucy, by way of compensation
+for her abrupt departure, "and keep up
+your spirits by telling you all that I can
+about our concerns. But Philip is to take
+me to ride this afternoon. I forbade him to
+come here before then, but I don't much
+think he can stay away. Don't be vexed if
+you don't see me again in some hours.
+Vic. and I are about to settle our trousseaux.
+If you believe me, we have never
+been able yet to decide upon the wedding
+dresses!"</p>
+
+<p>And she vanished, warbling delicious
+roulades from a duet she had engaged to
+sing that evening with her betrothed. She
+showed herself upstairs again, when she
+was ready for her ride, and the carriage at
+the door&mdash;very fair, very bright, and very
+happy. She was exquisitely dressed, and
+called on her sister to admire her toilet
+and envy her her escort.</p>
+
+<p>Sarah listened to the cheerful exchange
+of cautions and promises between her
+mother and Philip, at the door beneath her
+open window, and to the rolling wheels
+that bore them away.</p>
+
+<p>Mrs. Hunt received none of her friends
+that day, being busy "getting things to
+rights"; and for a like reason she absented
+herself from her child's sickroom, content
+with sending up Jeannie, now and then, to
+inquire how she was getting on. In the
+abject loneliness that oppressed her, when
+the first violence of passions had spent itself,
+Sarah would have been relieved in
+some measure by the society of this pet
+sister, the sole object upon earth, besides
+her father, that had ever repaid her love
+with anything like equal attachment. But
+the child shrank, like most others of her
+age, from the quiet dark chamber of illness,
+and longed to follow her mother
+through the house, in her tour of observation
+and renovation. Sarah detected her
+restlessness and ill-concealed dislike of the
+confinement imposed upon her by compliance
+with her humble petition&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>"Please, Jeannie, stay a little while with
+your poor sister!" And her sensitive spirit
+turned upon itself, as a final stroke of torture,
+the conviction that here, also, love
+and care had been wasted.</p>
+
+<p>"Go, then!" she said, rather roughly, as
+Jeannie wavered, "and you need not come
+up again to-day. I know it is not pleasant
+for you to be here. Tell mother I want
+nothing but quiet."</p>
+
+<p>"I have had a splendid drive!" said Lucy,
+rustling her many flounces into the door at
+dusk.</p>
+
+<p>The figure upon the bed made no response
+by motion or word.</p>
+
+<p>"I do believe she is asleep!" added the
+intruder, lowering her voice. "I suppose
+she is tired and needs rest." And she went
+out on tiptoe.</p>
+
+<p>Sarah was awake a minute later, when
+her father came in to see her. She smiled
+at him, as he "hoped she was better," and
+asked whether she might not get up on the
+morrow. Mr. Hunt thought not. The doctor's
+opinion was that perfect repose might
+ward off the worse features of the disease.
+She had better keep to her bed for a couple
+of days yet, even should she feel well
+enough to be about. He sent up her dinner
+to her room with his own hands; and
+when she learned this, she strove to do
+some feeble justice to the viands, but without
+success.</p>
+
+<p>Philip dined with the family that day by
+special appointment; and, shortly after his
+arrival, Lucy again presented herself in
+that small third-story bedroom.</p>
+
+<p>"Choose! which hand will you take?" she
+cried, hiding both behind her.</p>
+
+<p>Sarah would make no selection; and,
+after a little more trifling, the elder sister
+brought into sight two elegant bouquets,
+and laid them beside the invalid.</p>
+
+<p>"This is Philip's present&mdash;'a fraternal remembrance,'
+he told me to say. Here is
+his card. Doesn't he write a lovely hand?
+The other is from your admirer, Mr. Hammond.
+What a sly puss you were to make
+such a catch as he is, without dropping us
+a hint! He is rather too sober for my notions;
+but he is getting rich fast, they say.
+He left those flowers at the door himself,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_27" id="Page_27">[27]</a></span>
+and insisted upon seeing father for a moment,
+to know exactly how you were.
+Cannot you hurry up somewhat, and let us
+have a double wedding? I showed the bouquet
+to Philip, and told him of your conquest,
+and he was as much pleased at your
+prospects as I was. Did you ever see such
+magnificent roses? your beau paid five dollars,
+at the lowest computation, for these
+flowers. I congratulate you upon these
+signs of liberality."</p>
+
+<p>Sarah had heard only a portion of this
+speech. Her eyes were fixed upon the card
+her sister had put into her hand: "Will
+Miss Sarah accept this trifling token of regard
+from one who is her stanch friend,
+and hopes, in time, to have a nearer claim
+upon her esteem?"</p>
+
+<p>"Very neatly turned, is it not?" said
+Lucy, satisfiedly. She had read it on her
+way upstairs. "What shall I say to him
+from you?"</p>
+
+<p>"Thank him, and explain that I am not
+able to write a reply."</p>
+
+<p>This meagre return of compliments assumed
+a tone both grateful and sisterly as
+Lucy rehearsed it to the donor of the fragrant
+offering. The barest phrase of civility
+came gracefully and meaningly from her
+tongue. Serene in mind and countenance,
+she seated herself at the piano, and, as
+Philip took his stand at her side, he wondered
+if the world held another couple
+more entirely adapted each to the peculiar
+soul-needs of the other, more perfectly
+happy in the knowledge of mutual affection.
+Like the generality of theorists, your
+student of human nature is prone to grievous
+error when he reduces his flawless
+system to practice.</p>
+
+<p>In one respect, the two certainly harmonized
+well. Both loved music; both sang
+finely, and their voices accorded without a
+jarring note.</p>
+
+<p>Mr. Hunt read the evening papers in
+Sarah's room; turning and folding them
+with great circumspection, lest their rattling
+might annoy her, and detract from
+her enjoyment of the music. How could
+he guess the infatuation that caused her to
+listen greedily to sounds, under whose potent
+spell feeling was writhing and brain
+reeling? In every pause between the songs
+there arose in her memory two lines of a
+poem read long ago, when or where she
+knew not:</p>
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">"Seek not to soothe that proud, forsaken heart<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">With strains whose sweetness maddens as they fall!"<br /></span>
+</div></div>
+
+<p>The performers had just completed a
+duet, in which each voice supported and
+developed, while blending with the other,
+when Lucy took up the prelude to a
+simpler lay; repeating it twice over with
+skilful variations, as if she were, meantime,
+carrying on a colloquy with her companion,
+that delayed the vocal part. This
+was ended by Philip's raising alone the
+burden of the plaintive German air Sarah
+remembered so truly&mdash;"The long, long,
+weary day."</p>
+
+<p>As his voice, full and strong, with its
+indescribable and irresistible undercurrent
+of pathos&mdash;flowing out here into passionate
+melancholy&mdash;swelled and floated through
+the quiet house, Sarah sat upright.</p>
+
+<p>"Father! father!" she whispered, huskily,
+"I cannot bear that! Shut the doors!&mdash;all
+of them, or I shall go mad!"</p>
+
+<p>She was obeyed; Mr. Hunt hurrying down<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_28" id="Page_28">[28]</a></span>
+to the parlor to silence the lovers, with the
+representation that Sarah was too nervous
+to endure the excitement of music. For
+the remainder of the evening, a profound
+stillness pervaded the upper part of the
+mansion&mdash;a silence that, to Sarah, throbbed
+with the melody she had tried to hush; and
+look where she might, she gazed into that
+rainy, ghastly night&mdash;the pale, comfortless
+watcher, the shadowy type of her deeper,
+more blighting sorrow.</p>
+
+
+
+<hr class="chap" />
+
+<h2>CHAPTER VIII.</h2>
+
+
+<p>For three days Philip Benson lingered
+near his beautiful enslaver; on the fourth,
+he carried a sad, yet trustful heart upon
+his Southern journey. Sarah had not seen
+him once since the evening of his coming.
+Through Lucy, she received his adieux and
+wishes for her speedy recovery. On the
+next day but one she left her room, and
+appeared again in the family circle&mdash;now
+complete in all its parts.</p>
+
+<p>In that short season of bodily prostration,
+the work of years had been wrought upon
+her inner life. Outwardly there was little
+alteration save that effected by physical
+weakness; but in her views of existence
+and character, of affections and motives,
+the doubter had become the skeptic; the
+dreamer the misanthrope. To the gentle
+and more womanly aspirations that had for
+a season supplanted the somewhat masculine
+tendencies of her mind and tastes had
+succeeded a stoicism, like the frozen calm
+of a winter's day, uniform as relentless.
+This was the surface that locked and concealed
+the lower depths she had sworn
+should be forever covered. Others could
+and did live without hearts. She could
+thrive as well upon the husks and Sodom
+apples of this world's goods as did they;
+holding as Life's chief good, complete and
+final subjugation of all genuine emotion,
+which, at the best, was but the rough ore&mdash;fit
+for nothing until purged, refined, and
+polished in its glitter. She found no other
+creed that suited her present desperate
+mood so well as the heartless code of the
+thorough worldling&mdash;the devotee to show,
+and fashion, and wealth.</p>
+
+<p>Such was her mother, whose domestic
+virtues were extolled by all who knew her;
+such, behind her mask of tender grace and
+amiability, the sister who had won, by
+these factitious attractions, the heart for
+which Sarah would have perilled life, sacrificed
+ease and inclination, bowed her
+proud spirit to the estate of bond-servant
+to his every caprice, become the willing
+slave to his tyrannical behest. Yet
+Philip Benson was a professed judge of
+character; a man of sense, education, and
+experience, and, knowing both girls as he
+did, he had made his choice; set the stamp
+of his approval upon the shining, rather
+than the solid metal. The world, as its
+young would-be disciple believed she had
+at length learned, was made up of two
+classes; those who floated, and those who
+sank. To the latter she determined that
+she would not belong.</p>
+
+<p>These and kindred thoughts were rife in
+her mind, and stirring up many a spring
+of gall within her bosom, one morning as
+she lay back in an armchair in the sitting-room,
+listening with secret scorn to the
+prattle of the pair of betrothed maidens&mdash;Lucy
+and her friend. Lucy's engagement
+ring was a diamond, or, rather, a modest
+cluster of these precious stones, whose extreme
+beauty did not strike the casual eye
+with the startling effect of Victoria's more
+showy gage d'amour. This apparent difference
+in the value of the two was the
+source of many discussions and considerable
+heart-burning, disguised, of course,
+and threatened in time to produce a decided
+coolness between the attached wearers
+of the articles under debate.</p>
+
+<p>On this particular day, Victoria, after
+some adroit skirmishing, brought out as a
+"poser" the fact that, to lay the question
+to rest without more ado, she had, since
+their last interview, been to Tiffany's, and
+had her ring valued. Lucy's face was all
+aglow as her soul-sister named the price of
+her treasure. She clapped her hands joyously.</p>
+
+<p>"Isn't that the joke of the season,
+mother?"&mdash;as that personage entered.
+"Don't you think that Vic. was as cunning
+as we were? She carried her ring to
+Tiffany's yesterday, too. Wouldn't it have
+been too funny if we had met there? Mine
+came from there, they said, and it cost a
+cool fifty dollars more than yours did,
+dear!"</p>
+
+<p>Victoria flashed hotly; but further controversy
+being useless and dangerous to
+her, she acquiesced with assumed carelessness
+in Lucy's proposal that, since both
+were suited, the rival brilliants should not
+be again referred to as a disputed matter.
+They accordingly turned to the safer and
+endless conferences upon the trousseaux,
+whose purchase must be commenced immediately.</p>
+
+<p>Their incomplete lists were produced,
+compared, and lengthened&mdash;Mrs. Hunt suggesting
+and amending; Sarah surveying
+the busy group with the same intense disdain
+she had experienced throughout the
+conversation.</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, I forgot to tell you! Margaret Hauton
+called on me yesterday!" exclaimed
+Victoria. "Did she come here, too?"</p>
+
+<p>"Yes; but we were out. What did she
+say?" queried Lucy, breathlessly.</p>
+
+<p>"Why, the stupid creature never alluded
+to my engagement; and when I mentioned
+yours, pretended not to have heard
+of it before. I took care she should not go
+away as ignorant on the subject as she had
+come, and&mdash;I know it was wicked in me,
+but she deserved it&mdash;all the time I was
+praising your Goldfinch, and telling how
+handsome and liberal he was, I sat looking
+at my new ring, slipping it up and
+down my finger, as if I were not thinking
+of it, but of the giver. She could not help
+seeing it, and, to save her life, she could
+not keep from changing countenance."</p>
+
+<p>"Good!" said Lucy. "Do tell me how she
+is looking now?"</p>
+
+<p>"Common enough! She had on that everlasting
+lilac silk, with the embroidered
+flounces, although the style is as old as the
+hills&mdash;and that black lace mantle, which,
+happening to be real, she never leaves off
+until near Christmas. But her hat! black
+and corn-color. Think of it! corn-color
+against her saffron skin. When I pretend
+to lead society, I hope to dress decently.
+But I had my revenge for her supercilious
+airs. Mr. Bond&mdash;George&mdash;called in the
+afternoon to take me to ride. I told you
+of the handsome span of fast horses he has
+been buying. Well! we concluded to try
+the Bloomingdale road, and just as we
+were sailing along, like the wind, whom
+should we overtake but my Lady Hauton,
+lounging her lazy way (she thinks it
+aristocratic!) on the back seat of her
+father's heavy, clumsy barouche&mdash;not a
+soul in it but her mother and herself.
+Didn't I bow graciously to her as we flew
+by! and again, as we met them creeping
+along, when we were coming back? I
+wouldn't have missed the chance of mortifying
+her for a thousand dollars."</p>
+
+<p>Lucy laughed, with no sign of disapprobation
+at the coarse, vindictive spirit
+displayed in this petty triumph of a small
+soul.</p>
+
+<p>"How many evening dresses have you put
+down on your paper, Vic.?"</p>
+
+<p>"Half a dozen only. I will get others as
+I need them. The styles in these change
+so often that I do not care to have too
+many at a time."</p>
+
+<p>"There you will have the advantage of
+me," said Lucy, ingenuously. "It will not
+be so easy a matter to replenish my stock
+of wearable dresses. I wish I had asked
+Philip about the Savannah stores. I wonder
+if he knows anything about them?"</p>
+
+<p>"He ought to&mdash;being such a connoisseur
+in ladies' dress. I declare I have been
+absolutely afraid of him since I heard him
+say that he considered a lady's apparel a
+criterion of her character."</p>
+
+<p>"He has exquisite taste!" said Lucy,
+with pardonable pride in her lover. "It is
+a positive pleasure to dress for him. He
+sees and appreciates everything that I
+could wish to have him notice. He has
+often described to me what I wore, and
+how I looked and acted the evening he fell
+in love. How little we can guess what is
+before us! I did not care to go to the hop
+that night, for Mr. Finch was to wait on
+me, and he was so stupid, you know, after
+we discovered that it was a mistake about
+his being rich. I think I see him now, with
+his red face and short neck! Oh, dear! the
+fun we had over that poor man! I told
+you&mdash;didn't I, Sarah&mdash;that we named him
+Bullfinch, because he looked so much like
+one? When Phil came we called him Goldfinch,
+and the two went by these names
+among us girls. The Bullfinch heard of it,
+and he was ridiculously angry! So I put on
+a white tarlatan, that one with the double
+jupe, you know, Vic., festooned with white
+moss rosebuds, and I had nothing but a
+tea-rose in my hair. I danced once with
+the Bullfinch&mdash;one of those solemn quadrilles
+that are only fit for grandmothers&mdash;and
+vowed to myself that I would not
+stand up again, except for a polka or the
+lancers. While I was sitting down by the
+window, saying 'Yes' and 'No,' when Bullfinch
+spoke, Mr. Newman introduced 'Mr.
+Benson' to 'Miss Hunt,' and the work was
+done!"</p>
+
+<p>"No more waltzing, then!" was Victoria's
+slyly malicious sequel.</p>
+
+<p>"I did not care so much for that as I
+thought I should!" replied easy-tempered
+Lucy. "You cannot find a man who has
+not some drawback. Before I had a chance
+for another round, mother there managed
+to telegraph me that my fresh acquaintance
+was worth catching. She had gotten
+his whole story out of Mrs. Newman. He
+let me know pretty soon, that he had
+some queer scruples about fancy dances,
+and I thought it best to humor him for
+one evening, or until I should ascertain
+whether he was really 'taken' or not. I
+have never repented my self-denial, although
+I grant that it cost me a struggle
+to give up 'the german.'"</p>
+
+<p>"George lets me waltz to my heart's<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_29" id="Page_29">[29]</a></span>
+content," said Victoria. "He is the very
+soul of indulgence. As to laces&mdash;I have not
+a thing fit to wear. I must get everything
+new. I am glad of it! I enjoy shopping
+for them. If I have a passion, it is for
+laces!"</p>
+
+<p>A sneer curled Sarah's lips, and Victoria
+happening to glance that way, could not
+mistake its application, whatever she might
+surmise as to its origin.</p>
+
+<p>"I suppose you despise us as a couple of
+lovesick girls, Sarah?" she said, with a
+simper designed to be sentimental, whereas
+it was spiteful instead.</p>
+
+<p>"I think love the least dangerous of
+your complaints," was the rejoinder.</p>
+
+<p>"What do you mean?"</p>
+
+<p>"Just what I said."</p>
+
+<p>"She means that people do not die of love
+in these days," exclaimed Lucy, whose
+pleasure-loving nature always shuddered at
+the idea of altercation in her presence; her
+sensations, during the occasional sparrings
+of her sister and her friend, bearing a
+strong resemblance to those of an innocent
+white rabbit, into whose burrow a couple
+of belligerent hedgehogs have forced their
+way.</p>
+
+<p>"You will understand us better one day,
+when your turn comes," said Victoria,
+with magnanimous condescension. "I shall
+remind you then of your good opinion of
+us."</p>
+
+<p>"You may."</p>
+
+<p>"I would give anything to have you engaged,
+just to see how you would behave.
+Would not you, Lucy?"</p>
+
+<p>"Yes; if she were likely to do as well as
+we are doing. Philip says that you have
+many fine qualities, Sarah. He quite admires
+you."</p>
+
+<p>The complacent betrothed had none but
+the most amiable intentions in making this
+patronizing speech; therefore, the angry
+blood that surged over her sister's face at
+hearing it would have been to her but the
+blush of gratified vanity, had not the
+sparkle of her eye and the contemptuous
+contortion of her mouth undeceived her.</p>
+
+<p>"Indeed he did say so!" she hastened to
+repeat. "And he was in earnest! He said
+something else which I don't mind telling,
+now that he belongs to me fast and sure.
+He said that he sat up until twelve o'clock
+one night after you had been out boating
+deliberating whether he should be smitten
+with you or not. There!"</p>
+
+<p>The color retreated as quickly as it had
+come. But for the consciousness of Victoria's
+malicious scrutiny, Sarah could not
+have summoned strength to utter a word.</p>
+
+<p>"An equivocal compliment, I must say!"
+she retorted, sarcastically. "Your gallant
+Georgian's confessions must have been
+ample and minute indeed, if they comprised
+such distant approaches to love
+affairs as the one you honor me by mentioning.
+I do not think that I have ever
+heard of another case where a gentleman
+considered it necessary to enumerate to his
+fiancee, not merely the ladies he had loved,
+but those whom he had not!" She arose
+and left the room.</p>
+
+<p>Poor Lucy, rebuffed and overwhelmed,
+caught her astonished breath with a sigh.
+"Can anybody tell me what I have done
+now to fret Sarah? She is so cross since
+she was sick!"</p>
+
+<p>"And before, too!" mutely added Victoria's
+shrug and lifted eyebrows.</p>
+
+<p>"We must bear with her, my dear!" said<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_30" id="Page_30">[30]</a></span>
+the prudent mother. "Her nerves are affected,
+the doctor says."</p>
+
+<p>Victoria made random pencillings upon
+the important list&mdash;her thoughts in fast
+pursuit of a notion that had just struck
+her. She was neither witty nor intelligent;
+but she possessed some natural
+shrewdness and a great deal more acquired
+cunning. She detested Sarah Hunt, and the
+prospect of obtaining an engine that should
+humble her arrogant spirit was scarcely
+less tempting than her own chance of effecting
+an advantageous matrimonial settlement.</p>
+
+<p>While she was engaged in defining her
+suspicion to herself, and concerting measures
+for gathering information with regard
+to it, Mrs. Hunt went out on some household
+errand, and Lucy was obliged to descend
+to the parlor to see callers.</p>
+
+<p>"Don't go until I come back, Vic.. It is
+the Dunhams, and they never stay long,"
+she said, at quitting her associate.</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, I always make myself at home
+here, you know, my dear!" was the reply.</p>
+
+<p>Jeannie was sitting on a cushion near the
+chair Sarah had occupied, dressing her
+doll.</p>
+
+<p>"It won't fit!" she cried, fretfully,
+snatching off a velvet basque she had
+been endeavoring to adjust to the lay-figure.</p>
+
+<p>"Bring it to me! I can fix it!" offered
+Victoria, winningly. "It's too tight just
+here, you see. I will rip open the seam
+and alter it. Who makes your dolly's
+clothes?"</p>
+
+<p>She was well aware that but one member
+of the family ever had leisure to bestow
+upon such follies; but it suited her plan for
+Jeannie to introduce the name.</p>
+
+<p>"Sister Sarah."</p>
+
+<p>"This is a pretty basque. When did she
+make it?"</p>
+
+<p>"Yesterday."</p>
+
+<p>"Oh! I thought perhaps she did it while
+you were in the country, and that the doll
+had fattened as much as you did there."</p>
+
+<p>Jeannie laughed heartily.</p>
+
+<p>"You had a nice time there, I suppose?"
+pursued Victoria.</p>
+
+<p>"I guess we did!" Her eyes danced at
+the recollection. "A splendid time! I
+wish we lived at Aunt Sarah's! There
+isn't room for me to move in this narrow
+house."</p>
+
+<p>"Mr. Benson was there a day or two,
+was he not?"</p>
+
+<p>"Yes, ma'am&mdash;a great many days! He
+took us all around the country in Uncle
+Nathan's carriage. I love him very dearly."</p>
+
+<p>"Did you ever go sailing with him?"</p>
+
+<p>"Every evening, when it was clear, in a
+pretty rowboat. He used to take his guitar
+along, and sing for us. He sings beautifully!
+Did you ever hear him?"</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, yes! Did your sister always go boating
+with you?"</p>
+
+<p>The spy, with all her hardihood, lowered
+her voice, and felt her face warm as she
+put this leading question.</p>
+
+<p>"Yes, ma'am, always. Mr. Benson
+would not have gone without her, I
+guess."</p>
+
+<p>"Why do you guess so?"</p>
+
+<p>The little girl smiled knowingly. "Because&mdash;you
+won't tell, will you?"</p>
+
+<p>"Why no! Of course I will not."</p>
+
+<p>"Charley said it was a secret, and that I
+mustn't say anything to sister or Mr. Benson
+about it, for they would be angry."</p>
+
+<p>"Who is Charley?"</p>
+
+<p>"Don't you know? He is Aunt Sarah's
+son. He is deaf and dumb; but he showed
+me how to spell on my fingers. He is a
+nice boy"&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>"Yes; but what was the secret?"</p>
+
+<p>"He said that Mr. Benson&mdash;Cousin Phil I
+call him when I am talking to him&mdash;was
+sister's beau; and he would take me off
+with him when we went to drive or walk,
+because, you know, they might not like to
+have me hear what they were talking
+about. They used to talk, and talk, and
+talk! and sister had a great deal more to
+say, and looked prettier than she does at
+home. I will tell you something else, if you
+won't ever let anybody know it. I never
+told Aunt Sarah even, only Charley. Sister
+cried ever so long the night after
+Cousin Phil went away. She woke me up
+sobbing; but I made believe that I was
+asleep; and in the morning her pillow was
+right wet. Charley said that all ladies
+that he had read about in his books did so
+when their beaux left them."</p>
+
+<p>"See here, my little lady!" said the dissembler,
+with a startling change of tone.
+"You are altogether mistaken&mdash;you and
+Charley both! Mr. Benson is going to
+marry your sister Lucy, and never was a
+beau of Sarah's. Be very careful not to
+talk about Charley's wicked story to your
+father, or mother, or sisters, for they
+would be very much displeased, and maybe
+punish you for repeating such fibs. Little
+girls ought never to hear or know anything
+about courting or beaux&mdash;it's
+naughty! I won't tell on you, if you will
+promise never to do so again. I am
+shocked at you! Now take your doll and
+go!"</p>
+
+<p>The frightened child encountered Lucy at
+the door. Miss West had calculated her
+time to a minute. Her eyes swimming in
+tears, her features convulsed with the
+effort to keep back sob and outcry, Jeannie
+started up to her attic playroom. Sarah's
+door was ajar, and engaged as she was
+with thoughts of her own troubles and insults,
+she could not but remark the expression
+of her darling's face, in the momentary
+glimpse she had as it passed.</p>
+
+<p>"Jeannie! come back!" she called.</p>
+
+<p>The child hesitated, half way up the next
+flight. Sarah repeated the summons, and
+seeing that it was not obeyed, went up and
+took the rebel by the hand.</p>
+
+<p>"What is the matter with you?"</p>
+
+<p>A reddening and distortion of visage, and
+no reply. Her sister led her back to her
+chamber, shut the door, and put her arms
+around her.</p>
+
+<p>"Tell me what ails you, dear!"</p>
+
+<p>Jeannie fell upon her comforter's neck&mdash;the
+repressed torrent breaking through
+all restraint. "Oh, sister, I can't help crying!
+Miss Vic. West has been scolding me!"</p>
+
+<p>"Scolding you! She! I will go down and
+speak to her this instant! How dared
+she?"</p>
+
+<p>"No, no! please don't! She told me not to
+say anything about it."</p>
+
+<p>"The contemptible coward!" said Sarah,
+between her teeth. "How came you to
+have anything to do with her?"</p>
+
+<p>"Mother and sister Lucy went downstairs,
+and she said she would alter my
+doll's basque and&mdash;and&mdash;and"&mdash;a fresh burst
+of lamentation.</p>
+
+<p>"There, that will do, pet! I see that she
+only made it worse!" soothed Sarah, believing
+that, in the unfinished state of dolly's
+wardrobe, she had discovered the root of
+the trouble. "Never mind, dear! I will set
+all that to rights directly. Now wipe your
+eyes, and let me tell you something. This
+afternoon father is to take me to ride, and
+you shall go, too. As for Miss Victoria,
+we will let her pass, and keep out of her
+way, hereafter."</p>
+
+<p>Secretly, she was very angry&mdash;far more
+so than she was willing to have the child
+suspect. As the patient fingers repaired
+the effects of the original bad fit, and Miss
+West's meddling, Jeannie stood by, thankful
+and interested, yet ashamed to look her
+wronged sister in the eyes. Not that she
+had the remotest conception of the mischief
+that might grow out of her imprudent disclosures;
+but she had broken faith with
+Charley, been accused of tattling and indelicacy,
+and warned too stringently
+against repeating the offence to suffer her
+to relieve her conscience by a full confession
+to the being she most loved and
+honored.</p>
+
+<p>At four o'clock Sarah and her charge
+were ready, according to Mr. Hunt's appointment.
+The carriage was likewise
+punctual; but from it stepped, not the
+parent of the expectant girls, but a
+younger and taller man&mdash;in short, Mr.
+Hunt's particular favorite&mdash;Lewis Hammond.
+Jeannie, who had stationed herself
+at an upper window to watch for her
+father's appearance, was still exclaiming
+over this disappointment, and wondering
+why "Mr. Hammond must call just now to
+keep sister at home," when the footman
+brought up a note to Sarah.</p>
+
+<p>It was from Mr. Hunt, explaining the
+cause of his unlooked-for detention at the
+bank, and stating that Mr. Hammond,
+whom he had met earlier in the day, and
+acquainted with his design of giving his
+daughter this ride, happened to drop in,
+and seeing him engaged with business, had
+asked leave to officiate as his substitute in
+the proposed airing. He urged Sarah to
+take Jeannie along, and not hesitate to accept
+Mr. Hammond's polite attendance,
+adding, in phrase brief, but sincere, how
+lightly he should esteem his hour of extra
+labor, if he knew that she was not a sufferer
+by it.</p>
+
+<p>Sarah passed the note to her mother, and
+drew her shawl about her shoulders.</p>
+
+<p>"Of course you'll go!" said Mrs. Hunt,
+radiant with gratification. "It is perfectly
+proper, and Mr. Hammond is very kind,
+I'm sure."</p>
+
+<p>She was hurrying towards the door to
+convey in person her thanks for his gallantry,
+when Sarah spoke firmly and very
+coolly:</p>
+
+<p>"I will say whatever is necessary to Mr.
+Hammond, if you please, mother. I shall
+go because father wishes it, and for no
+other reason. Come, Jeannie!"</p>
+
+<p>"Won't she be in your way?" asked Mrs.
+Hunt, awed, but not extinguished.</p>
+
+<p>"No, madam."</p>
+
+<p>Sarah suffered Mr. Hammond to place her
+in the carriage, and himself opposite to
+her; and keeping before her mind carefully
+the fact that he was her father's friend,
+perhaps the savior of his life, she unbent,
+as much as she could, from her distant,
+ungracious bearing, to sustain her part of
+the conversation. She must have been
+purblind not to see through her mother's
+wishes, and manoeuvres for their accomplishment;
+but to these views she was persuaded
+that Mr. Hammond was no party.
+She saw in him a sedate, rather reserved<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_31" id="Page_31">[31]</a></span>
+gentleman of thirty-two or three, who had
+passed the heyday of youthful loves and
+joy; sensible and cultivated to an uncommon
+degree for a man of business&mdash;for such
+he emphatically was.</p>
+
+<p>A poor boy in the beginning, he had fortunately
+attracted the regard of a thriving
+New York merchant, and retained that
+favor through the years that had elevated
+him from the lowest clerkship to a partnership
+in the now opulent firm. For probity
+and punctuality no man in the city had a
+higher reputation; but his virtues were of
+that quiet nature which, while they inevitably
+retain regard once won, are slow
+to gain admiration. To matrimonial speculators,
+as in financial circles, he was known
+as a "safe chance," and many a prudent
+mamma on his list of acquaintances would
+have rejoiced had he selected her daughter
+as mistress of his heart and fortune.
+Whether he was aware of this or not could
+not have been determined by his modest,
+but dignified deportment. He did not
+avoid company; went whither he was invited,
+and, when there, comported himself
+like a conscientious member of society,
+talking, dancing, or listening, with as due
+regard to law and order as he manifested
+in his daily business life. Fast girls called
+him "awfully matter-of-fact," and "terribly
+sensible"; fast youths of the other
+sex put him down among the "old fogies,"
+and wondered what he did with his money.
+"Could it be possible that he saved it!"
+He was intimate nowhere except in the
+household of his whilom employer and
+present partner, whose daughters were all
+married and settled in houses of their own.
+If he had ever cared to look twice at the
+same lady, the watchful world had not yet
+laid hold of this marvellous departure
+from his fixed habits.</p>
+
+<p>His intercourse with Mr. Hunt's family
+was, as we know, purely accidental in its
+commencement, and in its earlier stages
+might have been induced by humanity or
+friendship for the sick father. In Sarah's
+brain there had never arisen a suspicion
+of any ulterior motives in the pointed attentions
+directed of late to herself. Before
+Lucy's return, the care of her invalid parent
+and her day-dreams had engrossed
+heart and thought to an extent that precluded
+much inquiry into other themes.
+Since that memorable night, inward torture
+had abstracted her mind still more
+from outward impressions.</p>
+
+<p>This afternoon she talked calmly and indifferently
+to Mr. Hammond, without an
+idea that he made any greater effort to
+please her. To Jeannie she was tender beyond
+her usual showing, in remembrance
+of the wrong done the sensitive child in the
+forenoon. Mr. Hammond emulated her in
+kindness to the third member of their
+party; and in the course of their ride,
+raised himself unwittingly to the rank of
+rivalship with "Cousin Philip," her model
+gentleman.</p>
+
+<p>Mr. Hunt came out to assist his daughter
+to alight, upon their return. There was a
+heartiness in his acknowledgment of his
+deputy's politeness, and invitation to enter
+the house and pass the evening with them,
+which Sarah had seldom heard him employ
+towards any visitor. Mr. Hammond may
+have remarked it likewise, for his declinature
+was evidently against his inclination,
+and coupled with a promise to call at an
+early day. His visits were not altogether
+so agreeable as formerly, for he was received<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_32" id="Page_32">[32]</a></span>
+in the spacious parlors on a footing
+with other callers, and in the presence of
+several members of the family; still he
+came repeatedly, with pretext and without,
+until his sentiments and design were a
+secret to no one except their object.</p>
+
+<p>Wrapped in the sad thoughts that isolated
+her from the rest of the world, even while
+she made a part of its show, Sarah omitted
+to mark many things that should have been
+significant signs of undercurrents, and
+tokens of important issues to her and
+those about her. Lucy had ceased to harp
+perpetually upon her lover's perfections
+and idolatrous flattery to herself, and while
+the wedding arrangements went vigorously
+forward, the disengaged sister was rarely
+annoyed by references to her taste and demands
+for her sympathy. There had never
+existed much congeniality between the two,
+and their common ground was now exceedingly
+narrow. Lucy was gentle and pleasant,
+peacefully egotistic as ever, and Sarah
+understood her too well to expect active
+affection or disinterestedness. The only
+part of her behavior to herself to which
+she took mental exception was a certain
+pitying forbearance, a compassionate leniency
+with respect to her faults and foibles,
+that had grown upon her of late. Once
+or twice the younger sister had become so
+restive under this gratuitous charity as to
+reply sharply to the whey-like speeches of
+the mild elder, and, without any appearance
+of wounded feeling, yet with not a
+word of apology or reason for so doing,
+Lucy had left the apartment, and never
+hinted at the circumstances afterwards.</p>
+
+<p>Lucy was certainly the soul, the very
+cream of amiability. It was unaccountable
+to her admirers&mdash;and they included most of
+her associates&mdash;that Lewis Hammond, with
+his peculiar habits and tastes, should prefer
+that severe-looking, strong-minded
+Sarah. But, be it remembered, that he had
+learned this love under far different influences;
+in circumstances wholly unlike
+those in which he now beheld its object.
+His respect for unobtrusive intent and
+feeling; his longing for a home which
+should be the abode of sacred domestic virtues;
+and the sweet peace that had fled
+from the habitations frequented only by
+the frivolous, heartless, and vain&mdash;these
+found in the sick-room of the father, and
+the affectionate fidelity of the daughter,
+something so like the embodiment of his
+fancy of earthly happiness, that he accepted
+as a benignant fate the accident
+which had admitted him to the arcana of
+their private life. Sarah's temporary illness
+had taught him the meaning of his
+dreams, by seeming to peril the chances of
+their fulfilment; and from that hour he
+strove patiently and sedulously, as it was
+his habit, to seek all great ends for the
+acquisition of the heart whose depth he
+perhaps, of all who knew her, best understood.</p>
+
+<p>The most impatient person of those directly
+or indirectly concerned in the progress
+of this wooing was Mrs. Hunt. Her
+husband, with unwonted firmness, had forbidden
+that anyone of the household should
+speak a word in raillery or otherwise to
+Sarah touching Mr. Hammond's intentions.
+"However earnestly I may desire
+his success," he said to his wife&mdash;"and
+there is no man living whom I would
+rather call 'son'&mdash;I would not influence her
+by the weight of a single syllable. Hers is
+the happiness or the misery of a life with
+her husband&mdash;whomsoever she may choose,
+and hers shall be the entire choice. If she
+can love and marry Lewis Hammond, I
+shall be gratified; if not, she shall never
+guess at my disappointment."</p>
+
+<p>"La, Mr. H.! you are as foolish and sentimental
+as the girl herself! For my part,
+I ain't such a saint, and I do say, that if
+Sarah Hunt allows such a catch as this to
+slip through her fingers, she shall hear a
+piece of my mind!"</p>
+
+<p>"I insist," said Mr. Hunt, with immovable
+resolution, "that Sarah shall be allowed
+to follow the guidance of her own
+will in this matter. It is not often that I
+interfere with your plans; but in this one
+instance I must be obeyed!"</p>
+
+<p>With which astounding declaration of
+equal rights, if not of sovereignty, he left
+his consort to her reflections.</p>
+
+<p>Ignorant of the delicate watchfulness
+maintained over her by this best of friends,
+Sarah walked on her beclouded way&mdash;without
+hope, without one anticipation of any
+future dissimilar to her present, until
+awakened with a shock by a formal declaration
+of love from Lewis Hammond.</p>
+
+
+
+<hr class="chap" />
+
+<h2>CHAPTER IX.</h2>
+
+
+<p>It was at the close of an evening party
+which both the Hunts attended, and where
+Mr. Hammond's devotion was as marked
+as anything so modest could be, that Sarah
+felt him slip an envelope into her hand, as
+he put her into the carriage. Surprised as
+she was at the singularity of the occurrence,
+and disposed to take offence at the
+familiarity it implied, she had yet the
+presence of mind to conceal the missive
+from Lucy, and talk about other things,
+until they were set down at home. In the
+privacy of her chamber, she broke the seal
+and read her first love letter.</p>
+
+<p>It was a characteristic composition. If
+the strong hand had trembled above the
+lines, the clear, clerkly penmanship did not
+witness to the weakness. Nor was there
+anything in the subject matter that did not
+appear to Sarah as business-like and unimpassioned.
+It was a frank and manly
+avowal of attachment for her; a compliment
+implied, rather than broadly stated,
+to her virtues; the traits that had gained
+his esteem, then his love&mdash;a deprecatory
+sentence as to his ability to deserve the
+treasure he dared to ask&mdash;and then the
+question! in plain black and white, unequivocal
+to bluntness, simple and direct to
+curtness.</p>
+
+<p>"As he would ask the price of a bale of
+goods!" burst forth Sarah, indignant, as
+she threw the paper on the floor, and
+buried her burning face in her hands.</p>
+
+<p>"That there comes sometimes a glory to
+the Present, besides which the hues of
+Past and Future fade and are forgotten, I
+must and will believe. Such, it seems to
+me, must be the rapture of acknowledged
+and reciprocal affection!" This was an
+echo memory repeated to her soul. She saw
+again the gently gliding river, with its
+waves of crimson and gold; breathed the
+pure fragrance of the summer evening;
+floated on, towards the sunset, with the
+loved voice in her ear; the dawn of a
+strange and beautiful life, shedding blissful
+calm throughout her being.</p>
+
+<p>And from this review, dangerous as it
+was for one fleeting instant sweet, she
+returned to the proposal that had
+amazed and angered her. Lewis' undemonstrative
+exterior had misled her, as it did
+most persons, in the estimate of his inner
+nature. Kind, she was compelled to confess
+that he was, in remembrance of his
+goodness to her father; his demeanor was
+always gentlemanly, and she had caught
+here and there rumors of his generosity to
+the needy that prevented a suspicion of
+sordidness. No doubt he was very well in
+his way, but he wanted to marry her!
+With the intensity of her fiery spirit, her will
+arose against the presumptuous request.
+It was the natural recoil of the woman
+who already loves, at the suggestion of a
+union with another than the man of her
+choice; the spontaneous outspeaking of a
+heart whose allegiance vows have been
+pledged and cannot be nullified. But she
+would not see this. Upon the unfortunate
+letter and its writer descended the storm
+of passionate repugnance aroused by its
+contents. With the reaction of excited
+feeling came tears&mdash;a plentiful shower that
+relaxed the overwrought nerves, until they
+were ready to receive the benediction of
+sleep.</p>
+
+<p>Lewis had not asked a written or verbal
+reply.</p>
+
+<blockquote>
+
+<p>"I will call to take you to drive to-morrow
+afternoon," he wrote. "Should your decision
+upon the question I have proposed be favorable,
+your consent to accompany me in my ride will
+be understood as a signal that you have
+accepted my graver suit. If your conclusion is
+adverse to my hopes, you can signify the same
+to me in a letter, to be handed me when I ask
+for you. This course will spare us both
+embarrassment&mdash;perhaps pain. In any event, be
+assured that you will ever have a firm friend
+in, Yours truly,</p>
+
+<p>
+"Lewis Hammond."<br />
+</p></blockquote>
+
+<p>Sarah's lip curled as she reperused this
+clause of the letter on the following morning.</p>
+
+<p>"It is a comfort to know that I have not
+to answer for the sin of breaking my ardent
+suitor's heart!" she said, as she drew
+towards her the sheet upon which she was
+to indite her refusal. It was brief and
+courteous&mdash;freezing in its punctilious civility,
+and prepared without a pang, or a
+solitary misgiving that its reception would
+not be philosophically calm. Her design
+was to intrust it to the footman, to be delivered
+when Mr. Hammond called; and as
+the hour approached at which the expectant
+was to present himself, she took
+the note from the desk and started downstairs
+with it.</p>
+
+<p>The sitting-room door was open, and,
+aware that Victoria West was in there
+with Lucy, Sarah trod very softly as she
+neared it. Her own name arrested her as
+she was going by. She stopped involuntarily.</p>
+
+<p>"I thought Sarah a girl of better regulated
+mind," said Victoria, in a tone of
+censorious pity. "Of course she suffers!
+It is the inevitable consequence of an unrequited
+attachment. Such miserable folly,
+such unpardonable weakness brings its
+punishment with it. But my sympathies
+are all yours, my dearest. I only wish you
+were not so sensitive. You are not to
+blame for her blind mistake."</p>
+
+<p>"I cannot help it!" said Lucy, plaintively.
+"It seems so sad that I should be made the
+means of depriving her of happiness. I
+wish I had never known that she was attached
+to poor Philip. I can't tell you how<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_33" id="Page_33">[33]</a></span>
+awkward I feel when any allusion is made
+in her hearing to the dear fellow, or to
+our marriage."</p>
+
+<p>"I meant it for the best, dear, in telling
+you of my discovery," replied Victoria,
+slightly hurt.</p>
+
+<p>"I know that, my dear creature! And it
+is well that I should not be kept in the
+dark as to the state of her affections. I
+only hope that Philip never penetrated her
+secret. I should die of mortification for her
+if he were to find it out. It is a lamentable
+affair&mdash;and I am sure that he is not in
+fault. What did you say that you gave
+for that set of handkerchiefs you showed
+me yesterday?"</p>
+
+<p>"The cheapest things you ever saw! I
+got them at Stewart's, and they averaged
+six dollars apiece! As to Mr. Benson, I
+trust, with you, that he is as unsuspecting
+as he seems; but he has remarkable discernment,
+you know. What I could not
+help seeing, before I had any other proof
+than her behavior, is not likely to have
+escaped him."</p>
+
+<p>Half an hour later the twain were disturbed
+in their confidences by the sound of
+wheels stopping before the house, followed
+by a ring at the door. Victoria, ever on
+the alert, peeped, with feline caution and
+curiosity, around the edge of the curtain.</p>
+
+<p>"What is going to happen? Look, Lucy!
+Mr. Hammond in a handsome light carriage,
+and driving a lovely pair of horses!
+I never thought to see him go in such
+style. How well he looks! Take care! he
+will see you!"</p>
+
+<p>Both dodged as he glanced up at the
+upper windows; but resumed their lookout
+in time to see the light that was
+kindled in his face when Sarah emerged
+from the front door. He was at her side in
+a second, to lead her down the steps, and
+his manner in this movement, and in assisting
+her into the carriage, the more
+striking in one generally so self-contained
+and deliberate, inspired the pair of initiated
+observers with the same conviction. As
+the spirited horses disappeared into the
+avenue, the friends drew back from their
+loophole, and stared each other in the eyes,
+with the simultaneous exclamation&mdash;"They
+are engaged!"</p>
+
+<p>They were engaged! Lewis felt it with a
+glad bound of the heart&mdash;but a minute before
+sickening in deadly suspense; felt, as
+he seated himself by her side, that the sorrows
+of a lonely and struggling youth, the
+years of manhood's isolation and unsatisfied
+longings, were swept from memory by
+this hour of abundant, unalloyed happiness.</p>
+
+<p>And Sarah felt it! As her hand touched
+his, at their meeting upon the steps, a
+chill ran through her frame that told the
+consummation of the sacrifice which was
+to atone for past folly; to silence, and
+brand as a lying rumor, the fearful tale
+that bruited abroad the revelation of that
+weakness. In her mad horror at the knowledge
+of its discovery, she had rushed upon
+this alternative. Better an estate of
+honorable misery, than to live on, solitary,
+disgraced, condemned and pitied by her
+meanest foe! Now that the irreversible
+step was taken, she experienced no sharp
+regret, no wild impulse of retreat, but a
+gradual sinking of spirit into hopeless
+apathy.</p>
+
+<p>Her veil concealed her dull eyes and
+stolid features, and to Lewis' happy mood
+there was nothing surprising or discouraging<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_34" id="Page_34">[34]</a></span>
+in her disposition to silence. With a
+tact for which she had not given him
+credit, and did not now value aright, he
+refrained from any direct reference to
+their altered relation until they were returning
+homeward. Then changing his
+tone of pleasant chat for one of deeper
+meaning, he said:</p>
+
+<p>"I have dared to hope much&mdash;everything&mdash;from
+your consent to become my companion
+for this afternoon. Before I ventured
+to address you directly, I had a long and
+frank conversation with your father."</p>
+
+<p>"What did he say?" asked Sarah, turning
+towards him for the first time.</p>
+
+<p>"He referred me to you for my answer,
+which, he said, must be final and positive,
+since he would never attempt to influence
+your choice. In the event of an affirmative
+reply from you, he promised that his
+sanction should not be withheld."</p>
+
+<p>Sarah was silent. She comprehended
+fully her father's warm interest in his
+friend's suit, which the speaker was too
+diffident to imply, and how this expression
+of his wishes set the seal upon her fate.</p>
+
+<p>"We are poor and proud! Mr. Hammond
+is rich and seeks to marry me!" was her
+bitter thought. "It is a fine bargain in the
+eyes of both my parents. It would be high
+treason for me to dispute their will. Mr.
+Hammond has conceived the notion that I
+am a useful domestic character, a good
+housekeeper and nurse, and he is willing
+to bid liberally for my services. It is all
+arranged between them! Mine is a passive
+part, to copy Lucy's sweet, submissive
+ways for a season, for fear of frightening
+away the game, afterwards to attend to my
+business, while he looks after his. I have
+chosen my lot, and I will abide by it!"</p>
+
+<p>"Have I your permission to call this
+evening and inform your father of my success&mdash;may
+I say of our engagement?" asked
+Lewis.</p>
+
+<p>"It is best, I suppose, to call things by
+their right names," replied Sarah, in a cold
+voice, that was to him only coy. He smiled,
+and was about to speak, when she resumed:
+"Since we are virtually engaged"&mdash;she
+caught her breath as she brought out
+the word&mdash;"I see no reason why we should
+hesitate to announce it to those whose
+right it is to know it."</p>
+
+<p>"Thank you! That was spoken like the
+noble, unaffected woman you are! Will you
+always be equally sincere with me&mdash;Sarah?"
+His accent trembled with excess
+of emotion in calling the name.</p>
+
+<p>Is it, then, an easy lot that you have
+chosen, Sarah Hunt? You, whose pride
+and glory it was to be truthful, who
+spurned whatever assimilated in the least
+degree to deception, what think you of a
+life where a lie meets you on the threshold
+and must be accepted and perpetuated if
+you would preserve your name and position
+in his eyes and those of the world. "It is
+the way two-thirds of the married people
+live!" you were saying to yourself, just
+now. It may be so; but it is none the less
+a career of duplicity, perjury&mdash;crime!</p>
+
+<p>"I will endeavor to please you!" she faltered,
+her face in a flame of shame and
+confusion.</p>
+
+<p>And this was the hue that met Lewis'
+eye, as her veil was blown aside, in her
+descent to the pavement, a blush he interpreted
+to suit his own wishes. Mr. Hunt
+appeared in the doorway as she alighted,
+and read in Hammond's smile and joyous
+salutation all that he most desired to learn.
+When the door was closed upon the departing
+suitor, the father drew his best-beloved
+child to him, and kissed her, without
+a word of uttered blessing.</p>
+
+<p>"It would break his heart were I to recede
+now!" thought Sarah, as she bore hers&mdash;heavy,
+hard&mdash;up to her room.</p>
+
+<p>That evening was the proudest era of
+Mrs. Hunt's existence. Two daughters
+well engaged&mdash;unexceptionably paired off!
+What mother more blest than she? Where
+could be found other children so dutiful?
+other sons-in-law so acceptable? By
+breakfast time, next day, she had arranged
+everything&mdash;Sarah's trousseau, her house,
+and the double wedding.</p>
+
+<p>Lucy expostulated here. "But, mother,
+this is the first of November."</p>
+
+<p>"I know that, my dear; but the ceremony
+will not come off until Christmas,
+and much can be done in six weeks for
+your sister&mdash;your work is so forward.
+Then, again, 'tisn't as if Sarah couldn't get
+everything she needs right here, if she
+shouldn't have enough. It will be tremendously
+expensive&mdash;awful, in fact; but
+we must make sacrifices. We can live
+economical after you're married and gone,
+and save enough to meet the bills."</p>
+
+<p>"If you please, madam, I prefer a plain
+outfit and no debts," said Sarah's most
+abrupt tones.</p>
+
+<p>"If you please, my dear, I understand my
+affairs, and mean to do as I think proper,"
+retorted the no less strong-willed mother.</p>
+
+<p>Sarah was not cowed. "And as to the
+time you set, I cannot agree to it. I presume
+that in this matter I have some
+voice. I say six months instead of six
+weeks!"</p>
+
+<p>"Very well, my love." Mrs. Hunt went on
+polishing a tumbler with her napkin. She
+always washed her silver and glass herself.
+"You must settle that with your father
+and Mr. Hammond. They are crazy for
+this plan. They were talking to me about
+it last night, and I told them that I would
+engage to have everything ready in time;
+but you must be consulted. I never saw
+your father more set upon anything. He
+said to me, private, that he did hope that
+you wouldn't raise any squeamish objections,
+and upset their arrangements."</p>
+
+<p>Mrs. Hunt took up a handful of spoons as
+composedly as if she had never stretched
+her conscience in her life.</p>
+
+<p>Sarah's head drooped upon the table. She
+was very, very miserable. In her morbid
+state of mind she did not dream of questioning
+the accuracy of her mother's assertion.
+That a marriageable single
+daughter was a burden to one parent, she
+knew but too well; that to this able financier
+the prospect of getting two out of the
+way, with the eclat of a double ceremony
+that should cost no more than Lucy's
+nuptials would have done, was a stupendous
+temptation, she also perceived. But
+that the father whom she so loved; whose
+sickbed she had tended so faithfully; whose
+lonely hours it was her province and delight
+to solace&mdash;that he should acquiesce&mdash;nay
+more, rejoice in this indelicate haste to
+get rid of her, was a cruel stab.</p>
+
+<p>"Very well," she said, raising an ashy
+face. "Let it be as you say. The sooner
+it is over, the better."</p>
+
+<p>This clause was unheeded by her mother
+and sister. Had they heard it, they might
+have understood it as little as they did the
+composure with which she joined in the
+work which was begun, without an hour's
+delay. In this trying juncture, Mrs. Hunt
+came out in all her strength. Her sewing
+machine (she was one of the earliest purchasers
+of these inestimable time, labor,
+and money savers) went night and day; she
+shopped largely and judiciously, giving orders
+to tradespeople with the air of a princess;
+"Jewed" her butcher; watched her
+pantry, and served up poorer dinners than
+ever. Jeannie's winter outfit was ingeniously
+contrived from her sister's cast-off
+wardrobe; Mr. Hunt's and the boys' shirts
+and socks were patched and darned until
+but a trifling quantity of the original material
+remained; and this pearl of mothers
+had her two-year-old cloak and last season's
+hat "done over" for this year's wear.</p>
+
+<p>Foremost among the visitors to the Hunts,
+after this latest engagement was made
+public, was Mrs. Marlow, the wife of Mr.
+Hammond's benefactor and partner. Sarah
+was out when she called; so Mrs. Hunt
+received her, and discovering very soon
+that in spite of her husband's wealth and
+her splendid establishment, she was not,
+as Mrs. Hunt phrased it to her daughters,
+"one mite proud, and thought the world
+and all of Lewis"&mdash;the mother opened her
+heart to her so freely, with regard to the
+prospective weddings and her material
+anxieties, that Mrs. Marlow was emboldened
+to introduce a subject which had
+taken hold of her thoughts so soon as she
+heard from Mr. Hammond of his expected
+marriage.</p>
+
+<p>She had a daughter, resident for the
+winter in Paris, whose taste in female
+attire was unquestionable, and her good-nature
+as praiseworthy. If Miss Sarah
+Hunt would prepare a memorandum of
+such articles as she would like to have
+selected in that emporium of fashion, she
+would promise, for her daughter, that they
+should be forwarded in time for "the occasion."</p>
+
+<p>"Some friends of mine, now abroad, have
+kindly offered to bring me over any quantity
+of fine dresses with their baggage,"
+said the complaisant old lady; "and, as I
+do not need their services for myself, I
+can smuggle in whatever your daughter
+may order. You would be surprised at the
+difference in prices here and there&mdash;to say
+nothing of the superior excellence and
+variety of the assortment from which one
+can choose. My friends will return early
+in December. Therefore, should you like
+this arrangement, I ought to have the
+list and write my letters to-morrow."</p>
+
+<p>Energetic, fussy, snobbish Mrs. Hunt!
+She stood an inch taller in her shoes at
+the imagination of this climax to the
+glory of the dual ceremony. "Trousseau
+ordered directly from Paris!" She seemed
+already to hear the envious and admiring
+buzz of her set; saw herself the most
+blessed of women&mdash;her daughters the brides
+of the season. She would order for Lucy,
+also; for the longer the list the more importance
+would the future Mrs. Hammond
+acquire in the sight of her husband's
+friends. They could not know that it was
+not for her alone. Then, as Mrs. Marlow
+intimated, it would be a saving. Here,
+like a cold shower-bath, came the agonizing
+query, "Where was the money to come
+from?" It would never do to run in debt
+to such people as the Marlows. If they
+were hard-pressed shopkeepers, who needed
+the money, it would be another thing.
+No! the cash in hand, or its representative,
+must accompany the memorandum.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_35" id="Page_35">[35]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>Sarah was secretly pleased at this obstacle,
+for she despised the ostentation and
+extravagance going on in their hungry
+household. Strive as she did, with wicked
+pertinacity, to conform herself to the
+world's code, there was as yet too much
+of the ancient and better leaven left to
+permit more than an outward obedience to
+the dictates of customs so irrational and
+tyrannical.</p>
+
+<p>That very evening there arrived a letter
+that settled the question, and inflated Mrs.
+Hunt's collapsed spirits to an expansion
+hitherto unequalled. It was from Aunt
+Sarah to her namesake niece; a guileless,
+fervent expression of good wishes and unabated
+affection, and a request from "husband"
+and herself that she would accept
+the enclosure as a mark of that hopeful
+regard.</p>
+
+<p>"Since our daughters died"&mdash;wrote this
+true and gentle mother&mdash;"we have always
+intended to give you just exactly what
+we would have done one of them, as a
+wedding present&mdash;as you were named for
+me, and I had nursed you before your
+mother ever did, and you seemed in some
+way to belong to us. But since you paid
+us a visit we have felt nearer to you than
+ever, and seeing that the Lord has prospered
+us in this world's goods, we have
+made up our minds to give you a double
+portion, dear, what both of our girls would
+have had, if it had pleased our Father to
+spare them to have homes of their own
+upon earth. Living is high in New York,
+but we have calculated that what we send
+will buy your wedding clothes and furnish
+your house."</p>
+
+<p>The enclosed gift, to Sarah's astonishment,
+was a check upon a city bank for a
+thousand dollars!</p>
+
+<p>"Was there ever such a child for luck?"
+exclaimed Mrs. Hunt, clapping her hands.
+"What a fortunate thing we sent you down
+there when we did! That was one of my
+plans, you remember, Mr. H. Really, Lucy,
+our little Sarah understands how to play
+her cards, after all. I never did you justice,
+my dear daughter. I ain't ashamed
+to confess it. This puts all straight, and
+is real handsome in sister Benson&mdash;more
+than I expected. Go to work right away
+upon your list, girls! We'll have to set
+up the best part of the night to get it
+ready. Ah, well! this comes of putting
+one's trust in Providence and going
+ahead!"</p>
+
+<p>Sarah thought, with aching heart and
+moistened eyes, of Aunt Sarah's mind-pictures
+of the neat apparel and snug dwelling
+she deemed proper for a young couple
+just beginning housekeeping, and rebelled
+at this waste, this frivolous expenditure
+of her love-portion. Mr. Hunt sided with
+her, so far as to urge the propriety of her
+doing as she pleased with what was her
+exclusive property; but, as in a majority
+of former altercations, their arguments and
+powers of endurance were no match for
+the determination and mind of the real
+head of the family. With a sigh of pain,
+disgust, and despair, Mr. Hunt succumbed,
+and, deserted by her ally, Sarah contended
+but a short time longer ere she yielded
+up the cause of the combat to the indomitable
+victress.</p>
+
+
+
+<hr class="chap" />
+
+<h2>CHAPTER X.</h2>
+
+
+<p>The bridal day came; frosty and clear,
+dazzlingly bright, by reason of the reflection<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_36" id="Page_36">[36]</a></span>
+from the snow, which lay deep
+and firm upon the ground.</p>
+
+<p>"What a delightful novelty this is, coming
+to a wedding in a sleigh!" lisped one
+of the triad of bridesmaids, who were to
+do double duty for the sisters. "How very
+gay it makes one to hear the bells outside!
+Have they come, Vic.?"</p>
+
+<p>Victoria, whose marriage was but one
+week off, was, true to instinct and habit,
+on the lookout behind the friendly curtain.</p>
+
+<p>She nodded. "Yes&mdash;both of them, but not
+together. What a magnificent sleigh that
+is of the Marlows! They brought Mr.
+Hammond. See the bridegrooms shake
+hands on the sidewalk! That looks so
+sweet and brotherly! They will be up here
+almost directly, I suppose."</p>
+
+<p>The attendants immediately began to
+shake out their robes and stroke their
+white gloves. They were collected in the
+sitting-room so often mentioned, and the
+sisters were also present. In accordance
+with the ridiculous custom of very parvenu
+modern marriages, although the ceremony
+was to take place precisely at twelve
+o'clock, daylight was carefully excluded
+from the parlors below, gas made its sickly
+substitute, and the whole company was in
+full evening costume.</p>
+
+<p>"Am I all right?" inquired Lucy, with a
+cautious wave of her flowing veil. "Look
+at me, Vic.!"</p>
+
+<p>"You are perfect, my dearest!" replied
+the devoted parasite. "How I admire your
+beautiful self-possession! And as for you,
+Sarah, your calmness is wonderful! I fear
+that I should be terribly agitated"&mdash;blushing,
+and casting a meaning smile at Lucy.</p>
+
+<p>Sarah's statuesque repose was broken by a
+ray of scorn from the eye, and a slight disdainful
+smile. Whatever were the feelings
+working beneath her marble mask, she
+was not reduced to the depth of wretchedness
+that would humble her to accept
+the insolent pity couched under the pretended
+praise. She vouchsafed no other
+reply; but remained standing a little apart
+from the rest; her gloved hands crossed
+carelessly before her; her gaze bent downwards;
+her whole posture that of one who
+neither waited, nor hoped, nor feared.</p>
+
+<p>"Who would have thought that she could
+be made such an elegant-looking woman?"
+whispered one of the bridesmaids aside to
+another.</p>
+
+<p>"She has actually a high-bred air! I
+never imagined it was in her. So much
+for a Parisian toilette!"</p>
+
+<p>"I am so much afraid that I shall lose
+my color when we enter the room," said
+Lucy, surveying her pink cheeks in the
+mirror. "They say it is so trying to the
+nerves, and I am odious when I am pale."</p>
+
+<p>"Never fear, my sweetest. It is more
+likely that the unavoidable excitement will
+improve your complexion. There they
+are!" returned Victoria, hurriedly, and&mdash;unconsciously,
+no doubt&mdash;the three attendants
+and one of the principals in the
+forthcoming transaction, "struck an attitude,"
+as the sound of footsteps approached
+the door.</p>
+
+<p>Lucy had only time for a whisper&mdash;a last
+injunction&mdash;to her faithful crony. "Remember
+to see that my veil and dress
+hang right when we get downstairs." And
+the masculine portion of the procession
+marched in in order.</p>
+
+<p>Sarah did not look up. She bent her head
+as the formal exchange of salutations was
+executed, and yielded her hand to the person
+who took it in his warm pressure, and
+then transferred it to his arm. It was one
+of the freaks, thus denominated by her
+acquaintances, in which she had been indulged,
+that she desired to have her marriage
+ceremony precede her sister's. She
+assigned what Lucy at least considered a
+sufficient reason for this caprice.</p>
+
+<p>"Nobody will care to look at me after
+you stand aside, Lucy. Keep the best wine
+until the last. My only chance of getting
+an approving glance lies in going in before
+you attract and fix the public gaze."</p>
+
+<p>She had her way. A limited number of
+select friends were admitted to behold "the
+ceremony;" yet the parlors were comfortably
+filled, excepting in the magical semicircle
+described by an invisible line, in the
+center of which stood the clergyman in his
+robes.</p>
+
+<p>Still dull and calm, Sarah went through
+the brief role that fell to her share. "Behaved
+charmingly," was the unanimous
+verdict of the beholders, and surprised
+other people, as well as the complimentary
+bridesmaid, by her thoroughbred air and
+Parisian toilette. Without the pause of a
+second, so perfect was the drill of the performers,
+the wedded pair stepped aside,
+and made way for the second happy couple.
+Lucy's solicitude on the score of her complexion
+was needless. As the solemn words
+were commenced, a rosy blush flickered
+up to its appointed resting-place&mdash;another
+and another&mdash;until, when Philip released
+her to the congratulatory throng, she was
+the most enchanting type of a radiant Hebe
+that poet ever sang, or painter burned to
+immortalize on canvas.</p>
+
+<p>Philip stood beside her and sustained his
+portion of the hand-shaking and felicitations
+until the press diminished, then
+stepped hastily over to where Hammond
+and his bride were undergoing a similar
+martyrdom. Until this moment Sarah had
+not looked at, or spoken to him&mdash;had never
+met him face to face since their parting
+in the summer at Aunt Sarah's. Now, not
+aware who it was that approached her, she
+raised her eyes with the serious dignity
+with which she had received all other salutations,
+and met his downward gaze&mdash;full
+of warm and honest feeling.</p>
+
+<p>"Sister!" he said, and in brotherly fondness
+he bent towards her, and left a kiss
+upon her mouth.</p>
+
+<p>A hot glow, the lurid red of offended
+modesty or self-convicted guilt, overspread
+her face; the lips parted, quivered,
+and closed tightly, after an ineffectual effort
+to articulate; the room swam around
+her, and Mr. Hammond caught her just in
+time to save her from falling. It was Nature's
+vengeful reaction for the long and
+unnatural strain upon her energies. She
+did not faint entirely away, although several
+moments elapsed before she regained
+perfect consciousness of her situation and
+surrounding objects. She had been placed
+in an easy-chair; her head rested against
+her father's shoulder, and on the other
+side stood Lewis, almost as pale as herself,
+holding a glass of wine to her lips.
+Around her were grouped her mother,
+Lucy, and Philip. The guests had withdrawn
+politely to the background, and
+maintained a respectful silence.</p>
+
+<p>"What have I betrayed?" was her first
+coherent reflection; and, with an instinctive
+perception of the quarter where such
+disclosures would do most harm, her eye
+turned with a sort of appealing terror to
+Lewis. His heart leaped at the movement,
+revealing, as he fancied it did, dependence
+upon his strength, recognition of his right
+to be with and nearest to her.</p>
+
+<p>"You are better," he said, with a moved
+tenderness he could not and cared not to
+restrain.</p>
+
+<p>The words, the manner, were an inexpressible
+relief to her fears, and trying to
+return his smile, she would have arisen
+but for her father's interposition.</p>
+
+<p>"Sit still," he advised. "Mrs. Hunt,
+Lucy, Mr. Benson, will you entertain our
+friends? She will be all right in a little
+while, Mr. Hammond."</p>
+
+<p>"Tableaux vivants!" said Lucy's soft,
+rich voice, as she advanced towards the
+reassured guests. "This is a part of the
+performance not set down in the programme.
+Quite theatrical, was it not?"</p>
+
+<p>It is very possible that Philip Benson
+would not have regarded this as an apropos
+or refined witticism, had any one else been
+the speaker; but as the round, liquid tones
+rolled it forth, and her delicious laugh led
+off the instant revival of mirth and badinage,
+he marvelled at her consummate tact,
+her happy play of fancy (!), and returned
+devout thanks to the stars that had bestowed
+upon him this prodigy of grace,
+wit, and beauty. Sarah rallied speedily;
+and, contrary to the advice of her father
+and husband, maintained her post in the
+drawing-room during all the reception,
+which continued from half-past twelve to
+half-past two.</p>
+
+<p>It was a gay and shifting scene&mdash;a sparkling,
+murmuring tide, that ebbed and
+flowed to and from the quartette who
+formed the attractive power. Silks, laces,
+velvets, furs, and diamonds; faces young,
+old, and middle-aged; handsome, fair, and
+homely; all decked in the same conventional
+holiday smile; bodies tall and short, executing
+every variety of bow and courtesy;
+voices sweet, sharp, and guttural, uttering
+the senseless formula of congratulation&mdash;these
+were Sarah's impressions of the tedious
+ceremonial. Restored to her rigid composure,
+she too bowed and spoke the word
+or sentence custom exacted&mdash;an emotionless
+automaton in seeming, while Lucy's
+matchless inflections lent interest and
+beauty to the like nothings, as she rehearsed
+them in her turn; and Philip Benson,
+having no solicitude for his bride's
+health or ability to endure the fatigue, was
+collected enough to compare the two, and,
+while exulting in his selection, to commiserate
+the proprietor of the colder and
+less gifted sister.</p>
+
+<p>At last the trial was over; the hospitable
+mansion was closed; the parlors deserted;
+the preparation for travelling hurried
+through; and the daughters went forth
+from their girlhood's home. Philip had
+cordially invited Sarah and Lewis, by letter,
+to accompany Lucy and himself to
+Georgia; but Sarah would not hear of it,
+and Lewis, while he left the decision to her,
+was not sorry that she preferred to journey
+instead with him alone. It was too cold
+to go northward, and the Hammond's now
+proposed to proceed with the others as far
+as Baltimore, there to diverge upon a
+Western and Southern tour, which was to
+occupy three weeks, perhaps four.</p>
+
+
+
+<hr class="chap" />
+
+<h2>CHAPTER XI.</h2>
+
+
+<p>During the month preceding his marriage,
+Lewis Hammond had spent much time and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_37" id="Page_37">[37]</a></span>
+many thoughts in providing and furnishing
+a house for his wife. His coadjutor in
+this labor of love was not, as one might
+have expected, Mrs. Hunt, but his early
+friend, Mrs. Marlow. His omission of his
+future mother-in-law, in his committee of
+consultation, he explained to her by representing
+the number of duties already
+pressing upon her, and his unwillingness to
+add aught to their weight. But when both
+girls were married and gone, and the work
+of "getting to rights" was all over, this
+indefatigable woman paid Mrs. Marlow a
+visit, and offered her assistance in completing
+the arrangements for the young
+housekeepers.</p>
+
+<p>"There is nothing for us to do," said Mrs.
+Marlow. "Lewis attended to the purchase
+of everything before leaving; and the
+orders are all in the hands of a competent
+upholsterer whom he has employed, as is
+also the key of the house. I offered to
+have the house-cleaning done, but Lewis
+refused to let me help him even in this.
+He is very methodical, and rather strict
+in some of his ideas. When the premises
+are pronounced ready for the occupancy
+of the future residents, you and I will
+play inspectors, and find as much fault as
+we can."</p>
+
+<p>Mrs. Hunt went around by the house on
+her way home. It was new and handsome,
+a brown stone front, with stone balconies
+and balustrades; but three stories high,
+it was true, yet of ample width and pitch
+of ceiling, and&mdash;as she discovered by skirting
+the square&mdash;at least three rooms deep
+all the way up. The location was unobjectionable;
+not more than four blocks
+from the paternal residence, and in a wider
+street. On the whole, she had no fault
+to find, provided Mr. Hammond had furnished
+it in such style as she would have
+recommended. She had her fears lest his
+sober taste in other respects should extend
+to these matters, and hinted something
+of the kind to her husband.</p>
+
+<p>"I have confidence in Mr. Hammond to
+believe that he will allow his wife every
+indulgence compatible with his means,"
+was the reply.</p>
+
+<p>Mr. Hunt did not deem it obligatory upon
+him to state that his son-in-law had conferred
+with him upon numerous questions
+pertaining to Sarah's likes and probable
+wishes; that he had examined and approved
+of the entire collection of furniture,
+etc., selected for her use. Why should he,
+how could he, without engendering in his
+wife's bosom the suspicion that he had
+accounted to him for Lewis' choice of the
+father as an adviser? namely, that the
+newly-made husband had gained a pretty
+correct estimate of this managing lady's
+character, her penny-wise and pound-foolish
+policy, and intended to inaugurate altogether
+a different one in his house.</p>
+
+<p>Regardless of Mrs. Marlow's polite insinuation
+that their room was preferable to
+their company until all things should be
+in readiness for inspection, the ambitious
+mother made sundry visits to the premises
+while they were being fitted up, and delivered
+herself of divers suggestions and
+recommendations, which fell like sand on
+a rock upon the presiding man of business.</p>
+
+<p>On the day appointed for the tourists'
+return, Mrs. Marlow's carriage drew up at
+Mr. Hunt's door, by appointment, to take
+the mistress of the house upon the proposed
+visit of criticism of her daughter's
+establishment. Mrs. Marlow was in a<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_38" id="Page_38">[38]</a></span>
+sunny mood, and indisposed to censure, as
+was evinced by ejaculations of pleasure at
+the general effect of each apartment as they
+entered, and praise of its component parts.
+Mrs. Hunt was not so undiscriminating.
+The millionaire's wife must not imagine
+that she was dazzled by any show of elegance,
+or that she was overjoyed at the
+prospect of her child's having so beautiful
+and commodious a home.</p>
+
+<p>"The everlasting oak and green!" she uttered,
+as they reached the dining-room.
+"It is a pity Mr. Hammond did not select
+walnut and crimson instead! Green is very
+unbecoming to Sarah."</p>
+
+<p>"Then we must impress upon her the importance
+of cultivating healthy roses in
+her cheeks, and wearing bright warm
+colors. This combination&mdash;green and oak&mdash;is
+pretty and serviceable, I think. The
+table is very neatly set, Mary," continued
+Mrs. Marlow, kindly, to the tidy serving-maid.
+"Keep an eye on the silver, my
+good girl, until your mistress comes. Mrs.
+Hunt, shall we peep into the china closets
+before we go to the kitchen? I have taken
+the liberty, at Lewis' request, of offering
+to your daughter the service of a couple
+of my protegees, excellent servants, who
+lived for years with one of my own children&mdash;Mrs.
+Morland, now in Paris. They are
+honest, willing, and, I think, competent.
+The man-servant, if Lewis sees fit to keep
+one, he must procure himself."</p>
+
+<p>The china, glass, and pantries were in
+capital order; the kitchen well stocked,
+light, and clean, and dinner over the fire.</p>
+
+<p>"You will be punctual to the minute,
+Katy, please!" was the warning here.
+"Mr. Hammond is particular in the matter
+of time."</p>
+
+<p>"And you will see that my daughter has
+a cup of clear, strong coffee!" ordered Mrs.
+Hunt, magisterially. "She is delicate, and
+accustomed to the very best of cookery."
+And, having demonstrated her importance
+and superior housewifery to the round-eyed
+cook, she swept out.</p>
+
+<p>To an unprejudiced eye, the whole establishment
+was without a flaw; and, undisturbed
+by the captious objections of her
+companion in the survey, Mrs. Marlow saw
+and judged for herself, and carried home
+with her a most pleasing imagination of
+Lewis' gratification, and Sarah's delighted
+surprise with the scene that was to close
+their way of cold and weariness.</p>
+
+<p>By Mr. Hammond's expressed desire to
+his father-in-law, there was no one except
+the domestics in the house when they arrived.
+As the carriage stopped, the listening
+maid opened the door, and a stream
+of radiance shot into the misty night
+across the wet pavement upon the two
+figures that stepped from the conveyance.</p>
+
+<p>"In happy homes he sees the light." The
+mental quotation brought back to Sarah
+the vision of that lonely evening, ten
+months before, when she had moaned it in
+her dreary twilight musings at the window
+of her little room. "Dreary then,
+hopeless now!" and with this voiceless
+sigh, she crossed the threshold of her destined
+abode. With a kindly greeting to
+the servants in the hall; Lewis hurried
+his wife onward, past the parlor doors,
+into a library sitting-room, back of the
+show apartments, warm and bright, smiling
+a very home welcome.</p>
+
+<p>Here he placed her in a deep cushioned
+chair, and, pressing her hands in his,
+kissed her, with a heartfelt&mdash;"May you
+be very happy in our home, dear wife!"</p>
+
+<p>"Thank you!" she replied. "It is pleasant
+here, and you are too kind."</p>
+
+<p>"That is impossible where you are concerned.
+Sit here, while I see to the trunks.
+When they are carried upstairs, you can
+go to your room. Throw off your hat and
+cloak."</p>
+
+<p>He was very thoughtful of her comfort&mdash;too
+thoughtful, because his love made
+him watchful of her every look, word, and
+gesture. She was glad of the brief respite
+from this vigilance, that allowed her to
+bury her face in her hands and groan
+aloud. She had no heart to look around
+her cage. No doubt it was luxurious; the
+bars softly and richly lined; the various
+arrangements the best of their kind; still,
+it was nothing but a cage&mdash;a prison, from
+which death only could release her.</p>
+
+<p>The trim maid came for her wrappings,
+and directly afterwards Lewis, to take her
+upstairs.</p>
+
+<p>"Not a very elaborate toilet, dear," he
+said, as he left her for his dressing-room.
+"You will see no one this evening but our
+father and mother, and they will remember
+that you have been travelling all day."</p>
+
+<p>When she was ready, it lacked still a
+quarter of an hour of dinner-time, and she
+acceded to Lewis' proposal that they
+should go over their dwelling. By his
+order, there were lights in every room.
+The graceful furniture, the well-contrasted
+hues of the soft carpets, the curtains and
+pictures showed to fine advantage. Every
+thing was in place, from cellar to attic;
+not a symptom of parsimony or cheapness
+in the whole; and all betokened, besides
+excellent judgment, such conformity to, or
+unison with her taste, that Sarah, with
+all her heaviness of heart, was pleased.
+She was touched too with gratitude or
+remorse; for, when they were back in the
+cozy sitting-room, she laid her hand timidly
+on that of her husband, and said,
+falteringly:</p>
+
+<p>"I do not deserve that you should take
+so much pains to gratify me, Mr. Hammond."</p>
+
+<p>Over Lewis' face there flushed one of the
+rare smiles that made him positively handsome
+while they lasted. He grasped the
+shrinking fingers firmly, and drew his wife
+close to his side.</p>
+
+<p>"Shall I tell you how to repay me for
+all that I have done, or ever can do, to
+promote your ease and enjoyment?"</p>
+
+<p>"If you please." But her heart sank, as
+she foresaw some demands upon a love
+that had never existed&mdash;a treasure that,
+to him, was sealed and empty; yet whose
+poverty she dared not avow.</p>
+
+<p>"Call me 'Lewis,' now that we are at
+home, dear. I cannot realize that you are
+indeed all mine&mdash;that our lives are one and
+the same, while you continue that very
+proper 'Mr. Hammond.'"</p>
+
+<p>"It comes more naturally to my tongue,
+and don't you think it more respectful
+than&mdash;than&mdash;the other?"</p>
+
+<p>"I ask no such form of respect from
+you. I do not fear lest you should fail to
+'honor and obey' me, you little paragon
+of duty! Believe me, dearest, I fully understand
+and reverence the modest reserve
+that has not yet ceased to be shyness, in
+the expression of your sentiments towards
+me. You are not demonstrative by nature.
+Neither am I. But since you are
+my other self, and there is no living being
+nearer to you than myself, ought we not
+to overcome this propensity to, or custom
+of, locking up our feelings in our own
+breasts? Let me begin by a confession of
+one uncomfortable complaint, under which
+I have labored ever since our engagement.
+Do you know, darling, that I absolutely
+hunger&mdash;I cannot give any other name to
+the longing&mdash;I hunger and thirst to hear
+you say that you love me! Do you remember
+that you have never told me in so
+many words what you have given me other
+good reasons for believing? I need but
+one thing this evening to fill my cup with
+purest content. It is to have you say&mdash;openly,
+fearlessly, as my wife has a right
+to do&mdash;'Lewis, I love you!'"</p>
+
+<p>"It need be a source of no unhappiness
+to be married to a man whom one does
+not love, provided he is kind and generous!"
+say match-makers and worldly-wise
+mothers. Perhaps not, after one's conscience
+is seared in callosity by perjuries,
+and her forehead grown bold as brass; but
+the neophyte in the laudable work of
+adaptation to such circumstances will trip
+in her words and color awkwardly while
+acquiring this enviable hardihood.</p>
+
+<p>Sarah's head fell, and her face was
+stained with blushes. One wild impulse
+was to throw herself at the feet of him
+whom she had wronged so foully, and,
+confessing her mad, wicked deception upon
+his holiest feelings, pray him to send her
+away&mdash;to cast her adrift, and rid himself
+of a curse, while he freed her from the
+gentle, yet intolerable bondage of his love.</p>
+
+<p>"Dinner is ready!" announced the servant.
+Sarah's senses returned, and with
+them self-control. With a strange smile,
+she glanced up at him&mdash;a look he did not
+understand, yet could not guess was born
+of anguish&mdash;and said, with a hesitation
+that seemed pretty and coquettish to him&mdash;"Lewis!
+do you hear? May it please your
+worship, I am very hungry!"</p>
+
+<p>"Tease! I will have my revenge yet!
+See if I do not!"</p>
+
+<p>Laughing lightly, she eluded his outstretched
+arm, and sprang past him into
+the hall leading to the dining-room. She
+assumed the seat at the table with a burlesque
+of dignity, and throughout the meal
+was more talkative and frolicsome than he
+had ever seen her before. So captivated
+was he by her lively discourse and bright
+looks, that he was sorry to hear the ring,
+proclaiming the coming of the expected
+visitors. The dessert had not been removed,
+and the girl was instructed to show
+them immediately into the dining-room.</p>
+
+<p>A toast was drunk to the prosperity of
+the lately established household, and the
+gentlemen went off to the library.</p>
+
+<p>"Always see to putting away your silver,
+Sarah!" counselled the mother. "And you
+had ought to get a common set of dinner
+and breakfast things. This china is too
+nice for every-day use. Of course, Mr.
+Hammond can afford to get more when
+this is broken; but it's a first-rate rule,
+child, as you'll find, to put your money
+where it will show most. That's the secret
+of my management. Mr. Hammond must
+give you an allowance for housekeeping
+and pin-money. Speak to him about it
+right away. Men are more liberal while
+the honeymoon lasts than they ever are
+afterwards. Strike while the iron is hot.
+You can't complain of your husband, so
+far. He has set you up very handsome.
+If I had been consulted about furnishing,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_39" id="Page_39">[39]</a></span>
+I would have saved enough off of those
+third-story chambers and the kitchen to
+buy another pair of mirrors for your parlors.
+The mantel has a bare look. I
+noticed it directly I went in. To be sure,
+the Parisian ornaments are pretty and tasty,
+and expensive enough&mdash;dear knows! but
+they don't make much of a display."</p>
+
+<p>"I do not like the fashion of lining walls
+with mirrors," said Sarah, in her old, short
+way; "and am satisfied with the house as
+it is. Shall we join the gentlemen?"</p>
+
+<p>Nothing had ever showed her more plainly
+the degradation of her false position
+than the confident air her mother wore in
+making her coarse observations, and instructing
+her as to the method of managing
+her generous, confiding husband. It
+was the free-masonry of a mercenary wife,
+whose spouse would have been better represented
+to her mind by his money-bag
+than his own proper person, towards another
+of the same craft, who rated her
+lawful banker by corresponding rules.</p>
+
+<p>"Will I then really grow to be like her
+and her associates?" Sarah questioned inly.
+"Will a fine house and its fixtures, will dress
+and equipage and pin-money so increase in
+importance as to fill this aching vacuum
+in my heart? Will a position in life, and the
+envy of my neighbors, make up to me
+for the loss of the love of which I used to
+dream, the happiness which the world owes
+me yet? Is this the coin in which it would
+redeem its promises?"</p>
+
+<p>Mr. Hunt's mild features wore their happiest
+expression this evening. He arose at
+the ladies' entrance, and beckoned his
+daughter to a seat on the sofa beside him.</p>
+
+<p>"You are a little travel-worn!" he said.
+"Your cheeks are not very ruddy."</p>
+
+<p>"Did you ever see them when they
+were?" asked Sarah, playfully.</p>
+
+<p>"She was always just that pale when
+she was a baby," said Mrs. Hunt, setting
+herself in the arm-chair proffered by her
+son-in-law. "Lucy stole all the roses from
+her." Sarah may have thought that other
+and more grievous thefts had succeeded
+this doubtful one, but she neither looked
+nor said this. "And that reminds me, Mr.
+H.! Did you bring Lucy's letter for Sarah
+to read?"</p>
+
+<p>"I did." Mr. Hunt produced it. "Keep
+it, and read it at your leisure, Sarah."</p>
+
+<p>"They are supremely happy, I suppose?"
+remarked Lewis, with the benevolent interest
+incident to his fellowship of feeling
+with them.</p>
+
+<p>"For all the world like two turtle-doves!"
+Mrs. Hunt rejoined. "Their letters are a
+curiosity. It is 'Phil.' and 'Lucy' from one
+end to the other. I mean to save them to
+show them five years from now. Hot love
+is soon cool, and by-and-by they will settle
+down as sensible as any of the rest of us.
+You don't begin so, I see, Sarah, and I am
+pleased at it. Between me and you, it's
+two-thirds of it humbug! There is Victoria
+West that was! She looks ready, in company,
+to eat up that lean monkey of a
+George Bond. I don't believe but she
+shows him the other side of the picture
+in private."</p>
+
+<p>Sarah heard her father's suppressed sigh,
+and felt, without looking up, that her husband's
+eyes sought hers wistfully. The
+unobservant dame pursued her free and
+easy discourse. Mr. Hammond was "one
+of the family" now, and there was no
+more occasion for choice grammar or fine
+sentiments before him.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_40" id="Page_40">[40]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>"Not that I blame Victoria for taking
+him. He was a good offer, and she wasn't
+much admired by the gentlemen&mdash;rich as
+Mr. West is. Mr. Bond is twenty-five years
+older than she is, and wears false teeth
+and a toupee; but I suppose she is willing
+to overlook trifles. She watches out for
+the main chance, and will help him take
+care of his money, as well as spend it.
+Vic. is a prudent girl."</p>
+
+<p>"Lucy&mdash;Mrs. Benson&mdash;was at home when
+she wrote, was she not?" interrogated Mr.
+Hammond.</p>
+
+<p>"Yes, at his father's. His mother keeps
+house, and Lucy has nothing to do but
+ride, visit, and entertain company. She
+says the house is crowded the whole time,
+and she has so many beaux that Philip
+stands no chance of speaking a word to
+her. She is perfectly happy."</p>
+
+<p>Notwithstanding the various feelings of
+the listeners, none of them could resist
+this picture of a felicitous honeymoon, so
+naively spoken. Lewis' laugh cleared the
+vapors from his brow, and the pain at
+Sarah's heart did not hinder her from
+joining in.</p>
+
+<p>"And the ousted bridegroom, perforce,
+seeks consolation in the society of his fair
+friends?" said Lewis. "If this is the way
+young married people show the love-sickness
+you complained of just now, Mrs.
+Hunt, I am content with our more staid
+ways&mdash;eh, Sarah?"</p>
+
+<p>"Quiet ways suit me best," was the answer.</p>
+
+<p>"'Still water runs deep,'" quoted Mrs.
+Hunt. "I used to worry over your stay-at-home
+habits and eternal study of books,
+Sarah; but I'm ready to say now that you
+was sensible to behave as you did, as it
+has turned out. I don't mean to flatter
+Mr. Hammond, but I'd ten times rather
+you had taken him than a dried-up widower
+like George Bond."</p>
+
+<p>"Thank you!" bowed Lewis, desirous of
+diverting attention from Sarah's growing
+uneasiness beneath her mother's congratulations.</p>
+
+<p>Mrs. Hunt held on her way. "I never
+had a fear lest Lucy shouldn't marry well.
+She was pretty and attractive, and knew
+too much about the world to throw herself
+away for the sake of love in a cottage.
+But now the danger is over, I will allow
+that I used to mistrust Sarah here sometimes.
+You was just queer enough to fall
+in love with some adventurer with a
+foreign name, and never a cent in his
+pocket&mdash;yes, and marry him, too, in spite
+of all that could be said and done to
+prevent it. I was forever in a 'feaze'
+about you; fancying that you was born to
+make an out-and-out love-match&mdash;the silliest
+thing a girl can do, in my opinion."</p>
+
+<p>"You never dreamed of her 'taking up,'
+as the phrase is, with a humdrum individual
+like myself," said Lewis. "Nor, to be
+candid, did I, for a long time, Mrs. Hunt.
+Yet I cannot say that I regret her action,
+disadvantageous to herself though it was.
+I wrote to you of our visit to New Orleans,
+did I not, sir?" he continued to Mr. Hunt,
+inwardly a little disgusted by the frank
+revelations his mamma-in-law was making
+of her principles and plans.</p>
+
+<p>The subject so interesting to most wedded
+people, so embarrassing to one of the
+present party, was not again introduced
+during the elder couple's stay. When Lewis
+returned to the library, after seeing them
+out, Sarah sat where he had left her, her
+hand shading her eyes&mdash;deep in thought, or
+overcome by weariness.</p>
+
+<p>"You had better go up to your room,
+dear," said Lewis. "I wonder you are not
+worn out completely."</p>
+
+<p>She arose to obey; walked as far as the
+door, then came back to him.</p>
+
+<p>"It may appear strange to you that I
+should speak openly to such a suspicion;
+but I must beg you not to suppose for an
+instant that in my acceptance of your
+offer of marriage, I was actuated by
+mercenary motives. You look surprised"&mdash;she
+hurried on yet faster while her resolution
+lasted&mdash;"but I could not rest without
+doing myself this act of justice. Much
+that mother said to-night might&mdash;must
+have led you to this conclusion. I would
+not have you think worse of me than I
+deserve, and of this one act of baseness I
+am innocent."</p>
+
+<p>"My precious little wife, how excited you
+are! and over what a nonsensical imagination!
+Suspect you&mdash;the noblest as well as
+the dearest of women&mdash;of selling yourself,
+body and soul, for money? Listen to my
+speech now, dear Sarah!"</p>
+
+<p>He sat down and pulled her to his knee.
+"I esteem you, as I love you, above all
+the rest of your sex&mdash;above any other
+created mortal. I know you to be a pure,
+high-minded woman. When I part with
+this persuasion, may I part also with
+the life that doubt on this point would
+render wretched! Judge, then, whether it
+be possible for me to link this holy realization
+of womanhood with the thought of
+another character, which I will describe.
+I hold that she who enters the hallowed
+state of wedlock through motives of pecuniary
+interest, or ambition, or convenience&mdash;indeed,
+through any consideration
+save that of love, single and entire, for
+him to whom she pledges her vows, stands,
+in the sight of her Maker and the angels,
+on a level with the most abandoned outcast
+that pollutes the earth she treads. I
+shock you, I see; but on this subject I
+feel strongly. I have seen much, too much,
+of fashionable marriages formed for worldly
+aggrandizement&mdash;for riches; sometimes
+in pique at having lost a coveted lover.
+With my peculiar sentiments, I feel that
+I could endure no heavier curse than to
+contract an alliance like any of these. I
+repeat it, I believe in Woman as God made
+her and intended she should live, if for
+no other reason than because I recollect
+my mother, boy as I was when she died;
+and because I know and have you, my
+true, blessed wife!"</p>
+
+
+
+<hr class="chap" />
+
+<h2>CHAPTER XII.</h2>
+
+
+<p>A year and five months had passed away
+since the evening when Lewis Hammond
+held his conscience-stricken wife upon his
+knee, and told her&mdash;in fervid words that
+singularly belied his calm and even demeanor
+at other times&mdash;of his faith in and
+love for her, and his abhorrence of the
+sin she felt in her trembling soul that she
+had committed. Yet she had not the superhuman
+courage required to contradict a
+trust like this. There was no alternative
+but to keep up the weary, wicked mockery.</p>
+
+<p>"But in all these months she must have
+learned to care for him!" cries Mrs. Common
+Sense. "There is nothing disagreeable
+about the man. He is not brilliant;
+yet he has intelligence and feeling, and
+is certainly attached to his wife. I have
+no doubt but that he indulges her in every
+reasonable request, and comports himself
+in all respects like an exemplary husband."</p>
+
+<p>Granted, to each and every head of your
+description, my dear madam! But, for all
+that, his obdurate wife had not come to
+love him. I blush to say it; but while we
+are stripping hearts let us not be squeamish!
+There had been seasons, lasting
+sometimes for weeks, when her existence
+was a continual warfare between repugnance
+to him and her sense of duty; when
+she dreaded to hear his step in the hall,
+and shrank inwardly from his caress;
+watched and fought, until strength and
+mind were well-nigh gone. Mark me! I
+do not deny that this was as irrational as
+it was reprehensible; but I have never held
+up my poor Sarah as a model of reason or
+propriety. From the beginning, I have
+made her case a warning. The fates forbid
+that I should commend it to any as an
+example for imitation! A passionate,
+proud, reticent girl; a trusting, loving, deceived
+woman; a hopeless, desperate bride&mdash;whose
+heart lay like a pulseless stone in
+her breast at the most ardent love-words
+of her husband, and throbbed with wild,
+uncontrollable emotion at the fraternal
+tone and kiss of her lost and only love&mdash;I
+have no plea for her, save the words of
+Infinite compassion and Divine knowledge
+of human nature and human woe: "Let
+him that is without sin among you cast
+the first stone at her!"</p>
+
+<p>The highly respectable firm of which Mr.
+Hammond was the junior member, was
+adding, if not field to field, thousand to
+thousand, of the wherewithal for the purchase
+of fields, or, what was better still,
+city lots. Mrs. Lewis Hammond had set
+up her carriage about a year after her
+marriage; said equipage being a gift from
+her generous husband on the occasion of
+the first airing of the little "Baby Belle,"
+as she was always called in the family.
+Not until subsequent events had endowed
+it with deeper and saddest interest did
+Sarah read Aldrich's beautiful poem bearing
+the above title. Lewis' mother's name
+was Isabella. Her grandchild received the
+same, which became "Belle" on the mother's
+tongue, and then, because it was natural
+to say "Baby" too, the pretty alliteration
+was adopted.</p>
+
+<p>To a man of Lewis' domestic tastes the
+advent of this child was a source of the
+liveliest pleasure, and the tiny inmate of
+his household was another and a powerful
+tie, binding him to a home already dear.
+But to the mother's lonely life, so bare
+of real comfort or joy&mdash;haunted by memory
+and darkened by remorse&mdash;the precious gift
+came like a ray of Heaven's purest light,
+a strain of angel music, saying to care,
+"Sleep!" to hope, "Awake, the morning
+cometh!" Beneath the sunshine of so much
+love, the infant throve finely, and without
+being a greater prodigy than the nine hundred
+and ninety-nine miracles of beauty
+and sprightliness who, with it, composed
+the thousand "blessed babies" of the day,
+was still a pretty, engaging creature, whose
+gurgling laugh and communicative "coo"
+beguiled the mother's solitude and made
+cheerful the lately silent house.</p>
+
+<p>It was late in the June afternoon, and
+arrayed in clean white frock, broad sash,
+and shoulder-knots of pink ribbon, the
+small lady sat on her mother's lap at the
+front window, awaiting the appearance of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_41" id="Page_41">[41]</a></span>
+the husband and father. Sarah had altered
+much since her marriage; "improved wonderfully,"
+said her acquaintances. There
+was still in her mien a touch of haughtiness;
+in her countenance the look that
+spoke profound thought and introspection.
+Still, when in repose, her brow had a cast
+of seriousness that bordered on melancholy;
+but over her features had passed a
+change like that wrought by the sculptor's
+last stroke to the statue. The mould was
+the same&mdash;the chiselling more clear and
+fine. Especially after the birth of her
+child was this refining process most apparent
+in its effects. There was a softness
+in her smile, a gentle sweetness in her
+voice, as she now talked to the babe,
+directing its attention to the window, lest
+the father's approach should be unnoticed,
+and he disappointed in his shout of welcome.</p>
+
+<p>"How affected! gotten up for show!"
+sneered the childless Mrs. Bond, as she
+rolled by in her carriage, on her way to
+her handsome, cheerless home and its cross
+master.</p>
+
+<p>"She has chosen her position well, at all
+events," rejoined her companion, a neighbor
+and gossip, who had taken Lucy's
+place in Victoria's confidence.</p>
+
+<p>"Ridiculous!" She spat out the ejaculation
+from the overflowing of her spleen.
+"I could laugh at her airs, if they did
+not make me mad! One would think, to
+see her as she sits there, that she had
+decked herself and the child to please a
+man that she doted upon&mdash;like the good
+wives we read of in novels."</p>
+
+<p>"And why shouldn't she be fond of him?
+He is a good-hearted fellow, and lets her
+do pretty much as she pleases, I imagine,
+besides waiting on her like any lover. I
+often meet them riding out together. That
+is more than your husband or mine ever
+does, my dear."</p>
+
+<p>"They go quite as often as we desire
+their company, I fancy. Mine does, I
+know. Perhaps if we had the reason for
+parading our conjugal devotion that Mrs.
+Hammond has, we might wheedle our lawful
+lords into taking a seat alongside of
+us once in a while. There's nothing like
+keeping up appearances, particularly if
+the reality is lacking. If Lewis Hammond
+knew some of the pretty stories I could
+tell him about Sarah's love-scrapes, he
+would not look so sublimely contented with
+his three-story paradise. The elegant
+clothes he piles upon that squaw of his are
+preposterous, and she carries them off as
+if she had dressed well all her days. I tell
+you, she never looked decent until she
+put on her wedding-dress. You have heard
+of the fainting-scene that took place that
+morning, I suppose? Old Mother Hunt
+said it was 'sensibility,' and 'nervous agitation;'
+the company laid it to the heat of
+the room; and I laughed in my sleeve, and
+said nothing. If that woman aggravates
+me much more, I will remind her of some
+passages in her experience she does not
+dream that I know."</p>
+
+<p>"Do tell me what you mean? I am dying
+of curiosity! Did she flirt very hard before
+she was married?"</p>
+
+<p>"She never had the chance. Lewis Hammond
+was her only offer."</p>
+
+<p>"What was the matter, then?"</p>
+
+<p>"I can't tell you now. It is too long a
+story. The next time she frets me, as she
+does whenever she crosses my path, maybe
+you will hear the romance. Shall I set<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_42" id="Page_42">[42]</a></span>
+you down at your door, or will you enliven
+me by spending the evening with me? I
+do not expect other company, and George
+falls asleep over his newspaper as soon as
+he has despatched his dinner. Come in,
+and I will show you the loveliest sofa-pillow
+you ever beheld; a new pattern I
+have just finished."</p>
+
+<p>"Thank you! I would accept the invitation
+with pleasure, but I have not been
+home since breakfast, and James makes
+such a fuss if he does not find me in the
+nursery, tending that whimpering baby,
+when he comes up at night, that it is as
+much as my life is worth to stay out after
+six o'clock. Anything for peace, you know;
+and since we wives are slaves, it is best
+to keep on the blind side of our masters."</p>
+
+<p>The day had been warm down town, and
+as Lewis Hammond stepped from the stage
+at the corner nearest his house, he felt
+jaded and dispirited&mdash;a physical depression,
+augmented by a slight headache. A business
+question which he had talked over
+with Mr. Marlow, before leaving the store,
+contributed its weight of thoughtfulness,
+and he was not conscious how near he
+was to his dwelling until, aroused by a
+sharp tap upon the window-pane, he
+glanced up at the animated tableau framed
+by the sash&mdash;the smiling mother, and the
+babe leaping and laughing, and stretching
+its hands towards him.</p>
+
+<p>"This is the sweetest refreshment a man
+can ask after his day of toil," he said,
+when, having kissed his wife and child, he
+took the latter in his arms. He was not
+addicted to complimentary speeches, and
+while his esteem and attachment for his
+chosen partner were even stronger than
+they had been in the heart of the month-old
+bridegroom, he was less apt to express
+them to her now than then. In one respect,
+and only one, his wedded life had
+brought him disappointment. Unreserved
+confidence and demonstrative affection on
+his side failed to draw forth similar exhibitions
+of feeling from Sarah. Kind,
+thoughtful, dutiful, scrupulously faithful
+to him and his interests in word, look,
+and deed, she ever was. Yet he saw that
+she was a changed being from the fond,
+impulsive daughter, whose ministry in her
+father's sick-room had won for her a husband's
+love. Her reception of his affectionate
+advances was passive&mdash;a reception
+merely, without apparent return. Never,
+and he had ceased now to ask it, had she
+once said to him the phrase he had craved
+to hear&mdash;"I love you!" Yet he would as
+soon have questioned the reality of his existence
+as that she did love him. He held
+inviolate his trust in the motive that had
+induced her to become his wife, and in
+this calm confidence he was fain to rest,
+in the absence of protestations that would
+have gladdened his soul, while they could
+hardly have strengthened his faith in her
+affection.</p>
+
+<p>Few wives, however loving, have been
+more truly cherished than was Sarah, and
+of this she was partially aware. If she
+had remained ignorant of Lewis' sentiments
+and wishes with regard to herself,
+until the grieved and unrequited love had
+subsided into the dull aching that does not,
+like a green wound, create, by its very
+smart, a species of excitement that helps
+one bear the pain; had he glided gradually
+into the joyless routine of her life's duties,
+and abided his time of speaking until he
+had made himself necessary to her comfort
+and peace, he might have won a willing
+bride. But what omniscient spirit was
+there to instruct and caution him? He met
+and loved her, supposing her to be as free
+as himself; like an honest, upright man,
+he told that love, and, without a misgiving
+placed his honor and his happiness
+in her hands.</p>
+
+<p>Sarah could not have told why she revolved
+all this in her unquiet mind as he
+sat near her, playing with their child; yet
+she did think of their strange sad history,
+and from the review arose a feeling of
+pity, sincere, almost tender for him, so
+worthy and so deceived. She remembered
+with abasement of spirit how often she
+had been ready to hate him as the instrument
+of her bondage; how wrathful
+words had arisen to her lips at the moment
+of his greatest kindness; how patiently
+he had borne her coldness; how
+unflagging was his care of and for her.
+Over the dark, turbulent gulf of the unforgotten
+past that sundered their hearts,
+she longed, as she had never done before,
+to call to him, and confessing her sin
+against Heaven and against him, to implore
+pardon for the sake of the spotless
+babe that smiled into the father's face
+with its mother's eyes. Would he be
+merciful? Slowly and emphatically memory
+repeated in her ear his denunciation of
+the unloving wife, and courage died before
+the menaced curse.</p>
+
+<p>"Fudge! Fiddlesticks! what frippery nonsense!"
+cry out, in a vehement storm of
+indignation, a bevy of the Common Sense
+connection. "Are we not staid and respectable
+matrons all? Do we not rear our
+daughters virtuously, and teach our sons
+to honor father as well as mother? Yet
+who of us troubles herself with raking in
+the cold ashes of her 'long ago' for the
+bones of some dead and gone love&mdash;a girlish
+folly of which she would be ashamed now?
+What cares Mr. Common Sense, among his
+day-books and ledgers, in his study or in
+his office, how many times his now correct
+helpmeet pledged eternal fidelity to other
+lovers before she put her last crop of wild
+oats into the ground, and settled for life
+with him? What if some of us, may be
+all, if driven hard, should admit that when
+we stood up before the minister we underwent
+certain qualms&mdash;call them pangs,
+if you like&mdash;at the thought of Tom This,
+or Harry That, or Dick The Other, who,
+if circumstances had permitted, we would
+have preferred should occupy the place of
+'The man whom we actually held by the
+hand!' While men can choose their mates,
+and women can only take such as propose
+to them, these things will happen. After
+all, who is hurt? You aver that none of
+you are, mesdames, and we would not
+call your word in question. Ladies so
+conscientious must, of necessity, be veracious,
+even in love affairs."</p>
+
+<p>"I am a thoughtless animal!" said Lewis
+at the dinner-table. "There is a letter
+from Lucy! Open it&mdash;don't mind me! I
+will crack your nuts for you while you
+read it."</p>
+
+<p>There was a troubled look in Sarah's
+eye when she laid it down. "Lucy says
+they are certainly coming North this year&mdash;that
+we may look for them in a week
+from the date of this. This is rather
+sooner than mother expected them. Her
+housecleaning is late this season, in consequence
+of her rheumatic spell in May."</p>
+
+<p>"Let them come straight here! What
+should prevent them? There is an abundance
+of room for them&mdash;baby, nurse, and
+all. It will be a grand arrangement!" said
+Lewis, heartily.</p>
+
+<p>Sarah was backward in replying. "Father
+and mother may object. I would not
+wound them by interference with their
+guests."</p>
+
+<p>"I will answer that mother will thank
+us to take care of them until her scrubbing
+and scalding are done. And Lucy would
+not be willing to risk her baby's health in
+a damp house."</p>
+
+<p>"I will go and see mother to-morrow
+about it," concluded Sarah. She still appeared
+dubious as to the expediency of the
+proposed step, a thoughtfulness that did
+not wear away during the whole evening.</p>
+
+<p>The Bensons had not visited New York
+the preceding year. They were detained at
+the South by a combination of causes, the
+principal of which was the long and fatal
+illness of Philip's mother. Lucy had written
+repeatedly of her intense desire to see
+her home once more, declaiming against
+the providences that had thwarted their
+projects, like an impatient, unreasonable
+child.</p>
+
+<p>"Philip says it is not convenient for him
+to go just yet," said her letter to her sister,
+"and that our part of the country is
+as healthy as Saratoga itself; but I have
+vowed that I will not wait one day beyond
+the time I have set. It sets me wild
+to think of being in Broadway again&mdash;of
+visiting and shopping, and seeing you all.
+We have been so dull here since Mrs. Benson's
+death, and Philip is as solemn as a
+judge. One of his married sisters will stay
+with the old gentleman while we are away.
+O Sarah, I am sick of housekeeping and
+baby-nursing! It will do well enough for
+me when I need spectacles and a wig;
+but now, while I am young enough to
+enjoy life, it is insufferable!"</p>
+
+<p>"Not very domestic, is she?" observed
+Lewis, folding up the letter, which Sarah
+had handed him. "Ah! it is not every
+man who has such a gem of a wife as I
+have! It appears to me that the married
+women of these days are not satisfied unless
+they have a string of beaux as long
+as that of a popular single belle. How is
+it, little one? Do you ever catch yourself
+wishing that your husband were not
+such an old-fashioned piece of constancy,
+and would give some other fellow a chance
+to say a pretty thing, when you are in
+company?"</p>
+
+<p>"I do not complain," said Sarah, demurely.</p>
+
+<p>"Not in words, perhaps; your patience is
+wonderful in everything. But how do you
+feel when you see your old neighbor, Mrs.
+Bond, waltzing every set with the gayest
+gallant in the ball-room, while your jailor
+does not like to have you 'polk' at all, and
+favors your dancing only with men whom
+he knows to be respectable?"</p>
+
+<p>"I feel that Mr. Hammond is a sensible
+man, and careful of his wife's reputation,
+even in trifles, while Mr. Bond"&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>"Go on! finish your sentence!"</p>
+
+<p>"And his lady are a well-matched pair!"</p>
+
+<p>Much as she disliked Victoria, and knowing
+that she was hated still by her, Sarah
+deemed it a necessary and common act
+of courtesy to her sister's friend to call
+and apprise her of Lucy's probable visit.</p>
+
+<p>"It is not convenient for mother to receive
+them for a week yet, on account of
+certain household arrangements," she<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_43" id="Page_43">[43]</a></span>
+stated, in making known the object of her
+visit to her ancient enemy. "So you will
+find Lucy at our house, where her friends
+will be received as if they were my own."</p>
+
+<p>"You are very polite, I am sure!" replied
+Mrs. Bond, smothering her displeasure at
+Sarah's studied civility, and noting, with
+her quick, reptile perceptions, that she was
+to be tolerated as she fancied Sarah would
+imply, merely as Lucy's early associate.
+"And the Bensons are to be with you! I
+shall call immediately upon their arrival.
+Poor, dear Lucy! I long to see her. She
+has had a vast deal of trouble since her
+marriage&mdash;has she not?"</p>
+
+<p>"Except the death of her mother-in-law,
+she has had nothing to trouble her that I
+have heard of," answered Sarah, rising to
+go.</p>
+
+<p>"My dear creature! what do you call
+the wear and tear of managing a husband,
+and a pack of unruly servants, and looking
+after a baby? And she was such a belle!
+I wonder if she is much broken!"</p>
+
+<p>"Come and see!"</p>
+
+<p>Mrs. Hammond was at the parlor door.</p>
+
+<p>"I will&mdash;most assuredly! How do you
+like their being quartered upon you? What
+does that pattern husband of yours say to
+this?"</p>
+
+<p>"Madam!" said Sarah, surprised and offended
+by the rude query.</p>
+
+<p>"Oh! I don't mean that it would not be
+very delightful to you to have your sister
+with you; but there was a foolish rumor,
+about the time of your marriage, that you
+and Mr. Benson had some kind of a love-passage
+down in the country; and I
+thought that Mr. Hammond, with his particularly
+nice notions, might retain an unpleasant
+recollection of the story, which
+would prevent him from being on brotherly
+terms with his old rival. Men are terribly
+unreasonable mortals, and perfect Turks
+in jealousy! We cannot be too careful not
+to provoke their suspicions."</p>
+
+<p>Not for the universe would Sarah have
+betrayed any feeling at this insolence, save
+a righteous and dignified resentment at its
+base insinuations; but the ungovernable
+blood streamed in crimson violence to her
+temples, and her voice shook when she
+would have held it firm.</p>
+
+<p>"Mr. Hammond is not one to be influenced
+by malicious gossip, Mrs. Bond, if,
+indeed, the report you have taken the liberty
+of repeating was ever circulated except
+by its author. I cannot thank you for
+your warning, as I recognize no occasion
+for jealousy in my conduct or character.
+I am accountable for my actions to my
+conscience and my husband, and I release
+you from what you have assumed to be
+your duty of watching and criticising my
+personal affairs. Good-morning."</p>
+
+<p>"I struck a sore spot! no doubt of that!"
+soliloquized Mrs. Bond, recalling Sarah's
+start of pain and blush at the indelicate
+allusion to Philip Benson. "That woman
+stirs up all the bile in my system if I talk
+two minutes with her. If there were half
+the material to work upon in that vain,
+weak Lucy, that there is in this sister, I
+would have my revenge. As for Lewis
+Hammond, he is a love-sick fool!"</p>
+
+<p>Sarah's cheeks had not lost their flush,
+nor had her heart ceased its angry throbbings,
+when she reached home. In the
+solitude of her chamber, she summoned
+strength and resolution to ask herself the
+question, so long avoided, shunned, as she<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_44" id="Page_44">[44]</a></span>
+had imagined, in prudence, as she now
+began to fear, in dread of a truthful reply.</p>
+
+<p>When she married Lewis Hammond, she
+loved another. Fearful as was this sin, it
+would be yet more terrible were she now to
+discover a lurking fondness, an unconquered
+weakness for that other, in the
+heart of the trusted wife, the mother who,
+from that guilty bosom, nourished the
+little being that was, as yet, the embodiment
+of unsullied purity. It was a trying
+and a perilous task, to unfold deliberately,
+to pry searchingly into the record of that
+one short month that had held all the
+bloom and fragrance of her life's spring
+season; to linger over souvenirs and compare
+sensations&mdash;a painful and revolting
+process; but, alas! the revulsion was not
+at memories of that olden time; and as
+this appalling conviction dawned upon her,
+her heart died within her.</p>
+
+<p>The nurse was arranging Baby Belle for
+the possible reception of her unknown aunt
+and uncle, that afternoon, when Mrs.
+Hammond came into the nursery, her face
+as pale and set as marble, and silently
+lifted the child from the girl's lap to her
+own. For one instant her cheek was laid
+against the velvet of the babe's; the ringlets
+of fair hair mingled with her dark
+locks, before she set about completing its
+unfinished toilette. With a nicety and
+care that would have seemed overstrained,
+had other than mother's hands been busied
+in the work, the stockings and slippers
+were fitted on the plump feet; the sunny
+curls rolled around the fingers of the
+tiring woman, and brushed back from the
+brow; the worked cambric robe lowered
+cautiously over the head, lest the effect
+of the coiffure should be marred; the
+sleeves looped up with bands of coral and
+gold, a necklace, belonging to the same
+set, clasped around the baby's white throat,
+and she was ready for survey.</p>
+
+<p>"Now, Baby Belle and mamma will go
+down to meet papa!"</p>
+
+<p>And with the little one still clinging to
+her neck, she met, in the lower hall, her
+husband ushering in Lucy and Philip Benson.</p>
+
+
+
+<hr class="chap" />
+
+<h2>CHAPTER XIII.</h2>
+
+
+<p>Breakfast was kept back an hour next
+morning to await Lucy's tardy appearance.
+"She was sadly wearied with her journey,"
+apologized Philip, and Sarah begged that
+she would keep her room and have her
+meals sent up to her&mdash;an hospitable offer,
+which Mr. Benson negatived.</p>
+
+<p>Lucy did look tired and unrefreshed, and,
+to speak more plainly, very cross. Her
+hair, in its dryest state of pale yellow, was
+combed straight back above her temples;
+her skin was sallow; her wrapper carelessly
+put on, and its dead white unrelieved
+by even a bow of ribbon at the throat.
+Involuntarily Lewis glanced from the uninviting
+picture to his household deity, in
+her neat breakfast-dress of gray silk faced
+with pink, her glossy hair and tranquil
+features, and said to himself, in secret
+triumph, "Which is now the beauty? None
+of your trumpery ornamental articles for
+me!"</p>
+
+<p>Philip's eyes were as keen as his host's,
+and the probability is that he instituted
+a similar comparison, however well his
+pride succeeded in concealing the act and
+its result. Cutting short his wife's querulous
+plaints of the discomforts of travel,
+and the horrors of nervous sleeplessness,
+he opened a conversation with Mr. Hammond
+in the subdued, perfectly-managed
+tones Sarah remembered so well, selecting
+such topics as would interest a business
+man and a citizen of a commercial metropolis.
+Lucy pouted, and applied herself
+for consolation to her breakfast.</p>
+
+<p>With a strange mingling of emotions,
+Sarah listened to the dialogue between the
+gentlemen. She was anxious that Lewis
+should acquit himself creditably. Brilliant,
+like Philip, he could never be; but in sterling
+sense, not many men were his superiors.
+She had never had cause to be
+ashamed of him; for one so unpretending
+and judicious was not liable to make himself
+ridiculous. Whence, then, the solicitude
+with which she hung upon his every
+word? her disappointment when he did not
+equal the ideal reply she had fashioned, as
+she heard the words that called it forth?
+Several times she joined in the conversation,
+invariably to corroborate Lewis' assertions,
+or to supply something he had
+omitted to state. Philip Benson was a
+student of human nature. Was his mind
+sufficiently abstracted from his domestic
+annoyances to divine the motive that Sarah
+herself only perceived afterwards in solitary
+self-examination? Not love of, or admiration
+for the intrinsic excellence of the
+man whose name she bore; not fear lest
+his modesty should lessen his merits in
+the eyes of others; but a selfish dread that
+his acute interlocutor, discerning in him
+nothing likely to attract or win the affection
+of a woman such as he knew her to
+be, might guess her true reason for marrying
+Mr. Hammond. The timorous progeny
+of one guilty secret can only be numbered
+by the minutes during which it is borne
+in the bosom. Like the fabled Laced&aelig;monian
+boy, Sarah carried the gnawing
+horror with a fortitude that looked like
+cheerfulness. Habit cannot lighten the
+weight of a clinging curse; but strength
+and hardness come in time, if the burdened
+one is not early crushed by his load.</p>
+
+<p>The sisters spent most of the day in
+Lucy's room; the latter stretched upon the
+lounge, as she declared, "completely used
+up." Mrs. Hunt came around early in the
+forenoon, and into her sympathizing ears
+the spoiled child poured the story of her
+woes and wrongs; Sarah sitting by with
+a swelling, rebellious heart. With indecorous
+contempt for one of the most binding
+laws of married state&mdash;inviolable
+secrecy as to the faults of the other party
+to the momentous compact&mdash;mother and
+daughter compared notes upon their husbands,
+and criticised the class generally as
+the most wrong-headed, perverse, and dictatorial
+of all the necessary evils of society.</p>
+
+<p>Mrs. Benson, the elder, and her pleasure-loving
+daughter-in-law had differed seriously
+several months before the death of
+the former. Philip, while espousing his
+wife's cause to the rest of his family, had,
+in private, taken her to task for what he
+considered objectionable in her conduct;
+her heads of offence being mainly extravagant
+love of gay company, and the gallant
+attentions of gentleman visitors; neglect of
+dress and all efforts to please, when there
+was no company by; and a decided indisposition
+to share in the household duties,
+which his mother's increasing feebleness
+made onerous to her.</p>
+
+<p>"Ah, mother!" sighed the interesting
+complainant, raising herself to shake up
+her pillow, then sinking again upon it.
+"If girls only realized what is before them
+when they marry, few would be brave
+enough to change their condition. When I
+picture to myself what I was at home&mdash;a
+petted darling&mdash;never allowed to inconvenience
+myself when it could possibly be
+avoided; courted in society; free as air
+and light-hearted as a child; and then
+think of all that I have endured from the
+unkindness of strangers, and the&mdash;well&mdash;the
+want of sympathy in him for whom I
+had given up my dear old home and friends&mdash;I
+ask myself why I did not remain single!"</p>
+
+<p>The prudent matchmaker shook her head.
+"Marriage is a lottery, they say, my dear;
+but I am very sure that single life is a
+blank. You had no fortune, and in the
+event of your father's death would have
+been almost destitute. I am sorry your
+father did not insist upon Mr. Benson's
+giving you your own establishment at
+once. I hope, now the old lady is out of
+the way, you will have things more according
+to your notions."</p>
+
+<p>"Don't you believe that! As if there were
+not two sisters-in-law, living but four
+miles off, and driving over every other day
+to 'see how pa is.' That means, to see
+whether Lucy is letting things go to
+wreck and ruin. I understand their spiteful
+ways! Philip shuts his ears when I
+talk about them; but I am determined that
+I will not bear much more meddling!"</p>
+
+<p>Decidedly, Lucy Benson married was a
+woeful declension from the seraphic spinster
+depicted in our earlier chapters; but,
+as in time past, so in time present and to
+come, the sparkling sugar, whose integrity
+and sweetness appeared indestructible,
+while it was kept dry and cool, if dampened,
+undergoes an acetous fermentation,
+and the delicate sweet-meat, exposed to
+the air at a high temperature, becomes
+speedily a frothing mass, evolving pungent
+gases. The pretty doll who anticipates, in
+the connubial state, one long fete-day of
+adoration received, and benign condescension
+dispensed, is as certain to awake from
+this dream as from any other, and upon
+the temper in which she sustains the disenchantment,
+depends a vast proportion
+of her future welfare and peace.</p>
+
+<p>Lucy's behavior to her babe was a mixture
+of childish fondling and neglect. Fortunately,
+the little "Hunt's" special attendant
+was an elderly woman, long established
+as "Maumer" in the Benson family,
+and her devotion to her charge prevented
+any present evil effects from his mother's
+incompetence or carelessness. Philip's
+pride in, and love for his boy were extreme.
+When he came in that evening,
+Sarah chanced to be in the nursery adjoining
+her chamber, watching and inciting
+the two babies to a game of romps.
+She held one on each knee, the nurses
+standing by in amused gratification.</p>
+
+<p>"That is surely my little man's voice!"
+said Philip, as he and Lewis came up the
+stairs.</p>
+
+<p>"Let me see!"&mdash;and Mr. Hammond peeped
+into the playroom. "Walk in!" he continued,
+throwing the door wide open.
+"Isn't there a pair of them?"</p>
+
+<p>"And a nurse worthy of the twain!"
+returned Philip. He stooped to the invitation
+of the lifted arms, fluttering, as if
+the owner would fly to his embrace. "What<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_45" id="Page_45">[45]</a></span>
+do you say of him, aunty? Is he not a
+passable boy?"</p>
+
+<p>"More than passable! he is a noble-looking
+fellow. He resembles you, I think,"
+said Sarah, quietly.</p>
+
+<p>"Do you hear that, Hammond? Your
+wife pronounces me 'more than passable&mdash;a
+noble-looking fellow!' So much for an
+adroit hint. Is she given to flattery?"</p>
+
+<p>"Not she!" returned Lewis, laughing.
+"She never said as much as that for my
+looks in all her life. I have one consolation,
+however; the less she says the more
+she means!" He went into the dressing-room,
+and Philip, still holding the child,
+seated himself by Sarah.</p>
+
+<p>"How odd, yet how familiar it seems, to
+be with you once more, my good sister!
+What a succession of mischances has made
+us virtual strangers for many months past!
+I had almost despaired of ever holding
+friendly converse with you again. I wonder
+if your recollections of our visit to
+Aunt Sarah are as vivid as mine. Do you
+remember that last sad, yet dear day on
+the Deal Beach?"</p>
+
+<p>Baby Belle was standing in her mother's
+lap, her soft, warm arms about her neck;
+and around the frail, sinking human heart
+invisible arms, as warm and close, were
+upholding and strengthening it in the
+moment of mortal weakness.</p>
+
+<p>"Very distinctly. Many changes have
+come to us both since then."</p>
+
+<p>"To me very many! I have grown older
+in heart than in years." Then, evidently
+fearing that she might otherwise interpret
+his meaning, he subjoined: "We have had
+a heavy bereavement in our household,
+you know. Your changes have all been
+happy ones. The enthusiastic, restless girl
+has ripened into the more sedate, yet more
+blessed wife and mother."</p>
+
+<p>Press your sweet mouth to the convulsed
+lips, Baby Belle! Veil with your silky curls
+the tell-tale features, whose agitation
+would bewilder, if not betray! Philip was
+stroking the head of his boy, and did not
+see the uneasiness of his companion.</p>
+
+<p>"Have you heard of Uncle Nathan's
+death?" she asked, clearing her throat.</p>
+
+<p>He looked surprised at the inquiry. "Yes!
+Aunt Sarah wrote immediately to my
+father."</p>
+
+<p>"Ah! I had forgotten that they were
+brothers. My memory is treacherous. Excuse
+me! I am wanted in the dining-room!"</p>
+
+<p>Lewis met her just outside the door,
+and stopped her to bestow the evening kiss
+he had not cared to offer in Philip's presence.</p>
+
+<p>"Why, you are as rosy as a peony!" he
+said, jestingly. "Has Benson been paying
+you compliments, in return for yours to
+him? I must look after you two, if you
+carry on at this rate."</p>
+
+<p>With a look he had reason subsequently
+to recall, but which only pleased him at
+the time, she raised his hand to her lips&mdash;a
+look of humility, gratitude, and appeal,
+such as one might cast upon a slighted
+benefactor&mdash;and vanished.</p>
+
+<p>A merry family party gather around the
+Hammond's generous table, that afternoon.
+All the Hunts were there&mdash;from the father
+down to Jeannie, who was fast shooting
+up into a tall girl, somewhat pert in manner,
+but lovable despite this, at times, unpleasant
+foible.</p>
+
+<p>"Sister Lucy," she said, after an interval
+of silence, "Ellen West said, at school, to-day<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_46" id="Page_46">[46]</a></span>
+that you were a great belle when you
+were a young lady; were you?"</p>
+
+<p>"You must not ask me, Jeannie!" The
+old smile of conscious beauty stole into
+Lucy's cheeks.</p>
+
+<p>"Was she, sister?" Jeannie referred the
+case to Sarah.</p>
+
+<p>"Yes, my dear, she was very beautiful,"
+replied the latter, simply.</p>
+
+<p>"She isn't now&mdash;not so very handsome, I
+mean&mdash;no handsomer than you are, sister!"</p>
+
+<p>"Jeannie! you forget yourself!" interposed
+Mrs. Hunt.</p>
+
+<p>"Why, mamma, I did not intend to be
+rude! Only I thought that belles were always
+the prettiest ladies that could be
+found anywhere."</p>
+
+<p>"By no means!" corrected Lewis, willing
+to help his wife's pet out of a scrape.
+"There are many descriptions of belles,
+Jeannie: handsome, rich, fast, and intellectual."</p>
+
+<p>"And as papa was not rich, I suppose
+you were either fast or intellectual, sister
+Lucy!" persisted the child.</p>
+
+<p>"I thought her pretty fast when I tried to
+catch her," said Philip.&mdash;"Mrs. Hunt, Mrs.
+Hammond, Mrs. Benson, have you ladies
+decided in the course of to-day's congress
+what watering-place is to be made the
+fashion by our clique next month?"</p>
+
+<p>Mrs. Hunt replied that they inclined to
+Newport; principally on account of Lucy
+and the children, who would all be benefited
+by the bathing.</p>
+
+<p>Lucy was sure that she should tire of
+Saratoga or the Catskills in a week,
+whereas she adored the ocean.</p>
+
+<p>"What says Madame Discretion?" said
+Lewis, merrily, to his wife.</p>
+
+<p>"Except that it would break up the family
+party, I had rather stay at home as
+long as it is prudent to keep the baby
+in town; then, if you could go with us,
+spend a month at some mountain farmhouse
+or seaside cottage," she answered.</p>
+
+<p>"Hear! hear!" commanded Philip. "Behold
+a modern wedded dame who prefers
+seclusion with her liege lord to gayety
+without him! The age of miracles is returning!"</p>
+
+<p>"Is the case, then, so anomalous?" retorted
+Sarah, the red spot in her cheek
+alone testifying to her embarrassment.
+"Are your Southern matrons all public
+characters?"</p>
+
+<p>"I can answer that!" said Lucy. "They
+are slaves! housekeeping machines&mdash;nothing
+better!"</p>
+
+<p>"How many more weak places are there
+in this crust of family chit-chat, I should
+like to be informed!" thought the annoyed
+and uninitiated Hammond. "Here goes for
+the spot where there is no danger of anybody's
+breaking in!" He spoke aloud. "A
+tempting proposal was made to me this
+morning. It is considered advisable for one
+of our firm to go abroad for a couple of
+months, perhaps longer, to divide his time
+among the principal manufacturing districts
+of England, Scotland, and France.
+Expenses paid by the firm, and the term
+of absence indefinitely prolonged, if the
+traveler wishes it. Mr. Marlow is tired
+of crossing the ocean, and presses me to
+accept the mission."</p>
+
+<p>"What did you tell him?"</p>
+
+<p>It was Sarah who spoke in a startled
+voice that drew general notice to her
+alarmed face. Her concern was a delicious
+tribute to her husband's self-love, if he
+possessed such a quality. At least he
+loved her well enough to be pleased at her
+manifest reluctance to have him leave her.</p>
+
+<p>"I told him that I must ask my wife,"
+said he in a meek tone, belied by the
+humorous twinkle in his eye, and loving
+half-smile about his mouth. "See what it
+is to be one under authority, Benson! A
+man dare not conclude an ordinary business
+transaction without the approval of
+the powers that be."</p>
+
+<p>When Sarah accompanied her sister to
+her chamber that night, the passee belle
+put a direct question.</p>
+
+<p>"Tell me, Sarah, are you as much in
+love with Mr. Hammond as you seem to
+be, or is it all put on for the benefit of
+outsiders?"</p>
+
+<p>"I am not apt to do anything for the
+sake of mere show; nor do I care for the
+opinion of 'outsiders,' as you call them,"
+rejoined Sarah, amazed at the cool audacity
+of the inquiry, and disposed to resent
+Lucy's confident expectation that she
+would avow the cheat, if such there were,
+in her deportment.</p>
+
+<p>"You used to be shockingly independent,
+I know. What a ridiculously honest little
+puss you were! How you despised all our
+pretty arts and necessary affectations!
+How you hated our economical mother's
+second-best furniture and dinners! I don't
+believe Victoria West has ever forgiven
+you for the way in which you used to
+take to pieces what you styled our 'surface
+talk and surface life!' I thought, however,
+that you had discovered by this time, that
+one cannot live in the world without deceiving
+herself or other people; I prefer
+making fools to being one. Heigh-ho! this
+life is a very unsatisfactory business at the
+best. What a heavenly collar that is of
+yours! One thing I do wish, and that is&mdash;that
+my husband were half as fond of
+me, or as good to me, as Lewis is to you!"</p>
+
+
+
+<hr class="chap" />
+
+<h2>CHAPTER XIV.</h2>
+
+
+<p>Lewis Hammond had thrown the whole
+weight of his influence in the family conclave
+into the Newport scale; and to this
+popular resort Sarah went, in July, in
+company with the Bensons, her mother
+and Jeannie, who was made one of the
+party at Lewis' request and expense. The
+generous fellow acted in conformity with
+conscience and judgment in this temporary
+exile of his treasures; and, consistent in
+his purpose of rendering it a pleasure excursion
+to his wife, he made very light
+of his prospects of lonely widowerhood,
+representing, instead, the benefit she and
+the babe would draw from the sea-breezes,
+and his enhanced enjoyment of his weekly
+visits, because they were so far apart. He
+went with them to the shore, at their general
+flitting, and spent two days; saw for
+himself that those whose comfort was
+nearest his heart were properly accommodated;
+privately feed chambermaid and waiter,
+with hints of future emolument to accrue
+to them from special regard to the
+wants of Mrs. Hammond and her infant,
+and returned to town with the unenviable
+consciousness of having left at least three-fourths
+of himself behind him.</p>
+
+<p>A brisk rush of business beguiled him of
+the aching, hollow void for a few hours
+after he got back. Not even Baby Belle's
+accents could be heard amid that roar
+and whir. But at luncheon-time, while
+waiting for his order to be filled at a
+restaurant, the dreary, solitary void overtook
+him&mdash;a fit of unmistakable home-sickness,
+that yet caused him to recoil at the
+idea of entering the deserted house uptown,
+when evening should oblige him to
+seek a lodging. How were Sarah and baby
+getting along without him? He was afraid
+that Lucy was not, in all respects, as congenial
+a companion as he could have
+wished his wife to have, and that Mrs.
+Hunt's undisguised worldliness, her foolish
+love of fashion and display, would
+often annoy and mortify her sensible and
+right-judging daughter. Benson was capital
+company, though&mdash;a gentleman every
+inch of him! and very friendly to Sarah.
+But for her reserved manners he would
+act the part of a real brother to her; in
+any case, he would be kind, and see that
+she wanted for nothing.</p>
+
+<p>Then&mdash;shot into his head by some unseen
+and unaccountable machinery&mdash;there darted
+across his mind a fragment of a conversation
+he had overheard, at entering his
+parlor, the day before the Bensons left.
+Philip and Lucy were standing before a
+miniature painting of Sarah and her child,
+completed and brought home a short time
+previous. Although seemingly intent upon
+the picture, their conversation must have
+strayed far from the starting-point, for
+the first sentence that reached the unintentional
+listener was a tart, scornful
+speech from Lucy, that could by no stretch
+of the imagination be made to apply to
+her sister.</p>
+
+<p>"If you admire her so much, why did
+you not marry her when you had the opportunity?
+She was willing enough!"</p>
+
+<p>"Take care you do not make me regret
+that I did not do so!" was Philip's stern
+rejoinder as he turned from her.</p>
+
+<p>The change of position showed him that
+Lewis was present, and for a second his
+inimitable self-possession wavered. Recovering
+himself, he reverted to the picture,
+and called upon his host to decide some
+disputed point in its artistic execution
+which he and Lucy were discussing.</p>
+
+<p>"Poor fellow! he has learned that all
+is not gold that glitters!" mused Lewis to
+the newspaper he was pretending to read.
+"Lucy had a high reputation for amiability
+before she was Mrs. Benson. There is no
+touchstone like the wedding ring to bring
+out one's true qualities."</p>
+
+<p>He sat with his back to the entrance of
+the saloon, and the table directly behind
+him was now taken possession of by three
+or four new arrivals&mdash;all gentlemen, and
+apparently on familiar terms with one another.
+They called for a bountiful lunch,
+including wine, and plunged into a lively,
+rather noisy talk. Lewis closed his ears,
+and applied himself in earnest to his paper.
+He started presently at a word he
+could have declared was his name. Restraining
+the impulse to look around and
+see who of the group was known to him,
+he yet could not help trying to determine
+this point by their voices. One, a thin
+falsetto, he fancied belonged to George
+Bond, who was no more of a favorite with
+him than was his better half with Sarah.
+Lewis regarded him as a conceited rattlepate,
+whose sole talent lay in the art of
+making money&mdash;whose glory was his purse.
+"Why should he be talking about me here?
+Nonsense; I was mistaken!" and another
+page of the newspaper was turned.</p>
+
+<p>"When I leave my wife at Newport, or
+anywhere else, in the particular and brotherly
+care of one of her former flames,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_47" id="Page_47">[47]</a></span>
+publish me as a crazy fool!" said the wiry
+voice again, almost in the reader's ear.</p>
+
+<p>"He doesn't know old stories as well as
+you do, perhaps," remarked some one.</p>
+
+<p>"I should think not! When my wife
+pulls the wool over my eyes in that style,
+horsewhip me around town, and I won't
+cry 'Quarter!' Sister's husband or not,
+I'll be hanged if I would have him in my
+house for two weeks, and he is such a
+good-looking dog, too!"</p>
+
+<p>He stopped, as if his neighbor had jogged
+him, as Lewis looked over his shoulder
+in the direction of the gossip. A dead and
+awkward silence ensued, ended at last
+by the pertinent observation that the
+"waiter was a long time bringing their
+lunch."</p>
+
+<p>In a maze of angry doubt and incredulity
+as to the evidence of his senses and suspicions,
+Lewis finished his meal, and
+stalked out past the subdued and now voracious
+quartette, favoring them with a
+searching look as he went by, which they
+sustained with great meekness. All the
+afternoon a heavy load lay upon his heart,
+an indefinable dread he dared not analyze;
+a foreboding he would not face, yet could
+not dismiss.</p>
+
+<p>"You are blue, Lewis," said Mr. Marlow,
+kindly, as they started uptown together.
+"This is the worst of having a wife and
+children; you miss them so terribly when
+they are away. But you will get used to
+it. Make up your mind at the eleventh
+hour to cross the water, and stay abroad
+three months. You will be surprised to
+find how easy your mind will become after
+a couple of weeks."</p>
+
+<p>"I am satisfied, sir, without making personal
+trial of the matter, that men become
+inured to misery, which seemed in the beginning
+to be insupportable."</p>
+
+<p>Mr. Marlow laughed, and they separated.</p>
+
+<p>Lewis sighed as he looked up at the
+blinds of his house, shut fast and grim, and
+still more deeply as he admitted himself
+to the front hall, that echoed dismally the
+sound of the closing door. His next movement
+was to walk into the parlor, throw
+open a shutter, and let in the evening light
+upon the portraits of the dear absent ones.
+There he stood, scanning their faces&mdash;eyes
+and soul full of love and longing&mdash;until the
+mellow glow passed away and left them in
+darkness.</p>
+
+<p>The comfortless evening repast was over,
+and he betook himself to the library, Sarah's
+favorite room, as it was also his. Her
+low easy-chair stood in its usual place opposite
+his at the center-table, but her workbasket
+was missing; likewise the book with
+its silver marker, that he was wont to see
+lying side by side with some volume he had
+selected for his own reading. But one lay
+there now, and there was an odd choking
+in his throat as he read the title on the
+back. He had expressed a wish for it in
+Sarah's hearing some days before, and her
+delicate forethought had left it here as a
+solace and keepsake, one that should, while
+reminding him of her, yet charm away sad
+feelings in her absence. Even in the exterior
+of the gift, she had been regardful
+of his taste. The binding was solid and
+rich; no gaudy coloring or tawdry gilt; the
+thick smooth paper and clear type were a
+luxury to touch and sight. Lewis was no
+sentimentalist in the ordinary acceptation
+of the term, yet he kissed the name his
+wife had traced upon the fly-leaf ere he sat
+down to employ the evening as she by her<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_48" id="Page_48">[48]</a></span>
+gift tacitly requested him to do. But it
+was a useless attempt. The book was not
+in fault, and he should have read it intently
+if only because she had bestowed it;
+still the hand that held it sank lower and
+lower, until it rested upon his knee, and
+the reader was the thinker instead.</p>
+
+<p>The most prosaic of human beings have
+their seasons of reverie&mdash;pleasing or mournful,
+which are, unknown often to themselves,
+the poetry of their lives. Such was
+the drama Lewis Hammond was now rehearsing
+in his retrospective dreams.</p>
+
+<p>The wan and weary mother, whom he remembered
+as always clothed in widow's
+weeds, and toiling in painful drudgery to
+maintain herself and her only boy; who
+had smiled and wept, rendered thanksgivings
+and uttered prayers for strength, alternately,
+as she heard Mr. Marlow's proposal
+to protect and help the lad through
+the world that had borne so hardly upon
+her; who had strained him to her bosom,
+and shed fast, hot tears of speechless anguish
+at their parting&mdash;a farewell that
+was never to be forgotten in any meeting
+on this side of eternity; this was the vision,
+hers the palladium of love, that had nerved
+him for the close wrestle with fortune,
+guarded him amid the burning ploughshares
+of temptation, carried him unscathed
+past the hundred mouths of hell,
+that gape upon the innocent and unwary
+in all large cities. Cold and unsusceptible
+as he was deemed in society, he kept unpolluted
+in his breast a fresh living stream
+of genuine romantic feeling, such as we are
+apt to think went out of fashion&mdash;aye, and
+out of being&mdash;with the belted knights of
+yore; wealth he had vowed never to squander,
+never reveal, until he should pour it,
+without one thought of self-reserve, upon
+his wife! He never hinted this to a living
+creature before the moment came for revealing
+it to the object of his choice. He
+was a "predestined old bachelor!" and "infidel
+to love and the sex," said and believed
+the gay and frivolous, and he let them talk.
+His ideal woman, his mother's representative
+and successor&mdash;the beauty and crown
+of his existence&mdash;was too sacred for the
+gaze and comment of indifferent worldlings.
+For her he labored and studied and lived;
+confident in a fatalistic belief that, at the
+right moment, the dream would become a
+reality&mdash;the phantasm leave her cloudy
+height for his arms.</p>
+
+<p>Love so beautiful and intense as this, like
+snow in its purity, like fire in its fervor,
+cannot be won to full and eloquent utterance
+but by answering love&mdash;a sentiment
+identical in kind, if not equal in degree;
+and Sarah Hammond's estimate of her husband's
+affection was, in consequence of this
+want in herself, cruelly unjust in its coldness
+and poverty. His patience with her
+transient fits of gloom or waywardness in
+the early months of their married life; his
+noble forgetfulness of her faults, and grateful
+acknowledgment of her most trifling effort
+to please him; his unceasing care; his
+lavish bounty&mdash;all these she attributed too
+much to natural amiability and conscientious
+views of duty; too little to his warm
+regard for her personally. In this persuasion
+she had copied his conduct in externals
+so far as she could; and applauding observers
+adjudged the mock gem to be a
+fair and equitable equivalent for the rare
+pearl she had received.</p>
+
+<p>Lest this digression, into which I have
+been inadvertently betrayed, should mislead
+any with the idea that I have some design
+of dignifying into a hero this respectable,
+but very commonplace personage, return
+we to him as he hears eleven o'clock rung
+out by the monitor on the mantel, and says
+to himself, "Baby Belle has been asleep
+these three hours, and mamma, caring
+nothing for beaux and ball-room, is preparing
+to follow her."</p>
+
+<p>Beaux and ball-room! Pshaw! why should
+the nonsensical talk of that jackanapes,
+George Bond, come to his mind just then?
+The whole tenor of the remarks that succeeded
+the name that he imagined was his
+disproved that imagination. But who had
+left his wife at Newport in the care of a
+"good-looking" brother-in-law? who had
+been domesticated in the family of the deluded
+husband for a fortnight?</p>
+
+<p>Pshaw again! What concern had he
+with that scandalous, doubtless slanderous
+tattle?</p>
+
+<p>"Why did you not marry her when you
+had the opportunity? She was willing
+enough!"</p>
+
+<p>Could Lucy have spoken thus of her sister?
+Sarah was barely acquainted with
+Philip Benson when Lucy wedded him,
+having met him but once prior to the wedding
+day at the house of her aunt in the
+country, from which place his own letter,
+penned by her father's sick-bed, recalled
+her. How far from his thoughts then was
+the rapid train of consequences that followed
+upon this preliminary act of their
+intercourse!</p>
+
+<p>Did that scoundrel Bond say "Hammond"?
+It was not a common name, and
+came quite distinctly to his ears in the high,
+unpleasant key he so disliked. A flush of
+honest shame arose to his forehead at this
+uncontrollable straying of his ideas to a
+topic so disagreeable, and so often rejected
+by his mind.</p>
+
+<p>"As if&mdash;even had I been the person insulted
+by his pity&mdash;I would believe one syllable
+he said of a woman as far above him
+in virtue and intellect, in everything good
+and lovable, as the heavens are above the
+earth! I would despise myself as much as
+I do him if I could lend my ear for an instant
+to so degrading a whisper! I wish
+I had faced him and demanded the whole
+tale; yet no! that would have been rash
+and absurd. Better as it is! By to-morrow
+I shall laugh at my ridiculous fancies!"</p>
+
+<p>"Scratch! scratch! scratch!" The house
+was so still in the approaching midnight
+that the slight noise caused him a shock
+and quiver in the excited state of his
+nerves. The interruption was something
+between a scrape and a rap, three times repeated,
+and proceeding, apparently, from
+the bookcase at his right. What could it
+be? He had never seen or heard of a
+mouse on the premises, nor did the sound
+much resemble the nibbling of that animal.
+Ashamed of the momentary thrill he
+had experienced, he remained still and collected,
+awaiting its repetition.</p>
+
+<p>"Scratch! scratch! rap!" It was in the
+bookcase&mdash;in the lower part where were
+drawers shut in by solid doors. These he
+had never explored, but knew that his wife
+kept pamphlets and papers in them. He
+opened the outer doors cautiously, and listened
+again, until assured by the scratching
+that his search was in the right direction.
+There were three drawers&mdash;two deep,
+the third and upper shallow. This he drew
+out and examined. It contained writing-paper
+and envelopes, all in good order.
+Nor was there any sign of the intruder
+amongst the loose music and periodicals in
+the second. The lower one was locked&mdash;no
+doubt accidentally, for he had never
+seen Sarah lock up anything except jewels
+and money. Their servants were honest,
+and she had no cause to fear investigation
+on his part.</p>
+
+<p>Feeling, rather than arguing thus, he
+removed the drawer above, leaving exposed
+the locked one, and thrust his hand down
+into it. It encountered the polished surface
+of a small box or case, which he was
+in the act of drawing through the aperture
+left by the second drawer, when
+something dark and swift ran over his
+hand and up his sleeve. With a violent
+start, he dashed the casket to the floor,
+and another energetic fling of his arm
+dislodged the mouse. His first care was to
+pursue and kill it; his next to examine
+into the damage it had indirectly produced.
+The box&mdash;ebony, lined with sandal-wood&mdash;had
+fallen with such force as to loosen
+the spring, and lay on its side wide open;
+its treasures strewed over the carpet.
+They were neither numerous, nor in themselves
+valuable. A bouquet of dried flowers,
+enveloped in silver paper, lay nearest
+Lewis' hand, as he knelt to pick up the
+scattered articles. The paper was tied
+about the stalks of the flowers with black
+ribbon, and to this was attached a card:
+"Will Miss Sarah accept this trifling token
+of regard from one who is her stanch
+friend, and hopes, in time, to have a
+nearer claim upon her esteem?"</p>
+
+<p>The hand was familiar to the reader as
+Philip Benson's. Why should Sarah preserve
+this, while the many floral tokens of
+his love which she had received were flung
+away when withered like worthless weeds?
+The pang of jealousy was new&mdash;sharp as
+the death-wrench to the heart-strings,
+cruel as the grave! The card was without
+date, or he would have read, with a
+different apprehension of its meaning, the
+harmless clause&mdash;"And hopes in time to
+have a nearer claim upon her esteem."
+There was a time, then, when, as Lucy
+had taunted her husband, he might have
+married her sister! when Sarah loved him,
+and had reason to think herself beloved
+in return! What was this sable badge but
+the insignia of a bereaved heart, that
+mourned still in secret the faithlessness
+of her early love, or the adverse fate that
+had sundered him from her, and given him
+to another?</p>
+
+<p>Crushing the frail, dead stems in his
+hand, he threw them back into the box,
+and took up a bit of dark gray wood,
+rough on one side&mdash;smoothed on the other
+into a rude tablet. "Philip Benson, Deal
+Beach, July 27th, 1856. Pensez a moi!"
+But ten days before he met her at the
+wharf in New York to take her to her
+sick father! but three months before she
+plighted her troth to him, promised to
+wed him, while in spirit she was still
+weeping tears of blood over the inconstant!
+for he did not forget that Philip's engagement
+to Lucy preceded his own to
+Sarah by eight or nine weeks. There were
+other relics in the box; a half-worn glove,
+retaining the shape of the manly hand it
+had inclosed&mdash;which, he learned afterwards,
+Philip had left in his chamber at the
+farm-house when he departed to seek gayer
+scenes; a white shell, upon whose rosy
+lining were scratched with the point of a<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_49" id="Page_49">[49]</a></span>
+knife the ominous initials, "P. B." and
+beneath them "S. B. H.," a faded rosebud,
+and several printed slips, cut from
+the columns of newspapers. He unfolded
+but two of these.</p>
+
+<p>One was an extract from Tennyson's
+"Maud"&mdash;the invitation to the garden.
+Breathlessly, by reason of the terrible
+stricture tightening around his heart, Lewis
+ran his eyes over the charming whimsical
+morceau. They rested upon and reviewed
+the last verse:</p>
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">"She is coming&mdash;my own, my sweet!<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">Were it ever so airy a tread,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">My heart would hear her and beat;<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">Were it earth in an earthy bed,<br /></span>
+</div><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">"My dust would hear her and beat;<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">Had I laid for a century dead,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Would start and tremble under her feet,<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">And blossom in purple and red."<br /></span>
+</div></div>
+
+<p>He did not discriminate now between
+printed and written verses. These were
+love stanzas sent by another man to his
+wife, received and cherished by her, hidden
+away with a care that, in itself, bordered
+on criminality, for was not its object the
+deception of the injured husband? The
+most passionate autograph love-letter
+could hardly have stabbed him more
+keenly.</p>
+
+<p>The other was Mrs. Browning's exquisite
+"Portrait."</p>
+
+<p>And here the reader can have an explanation
+the tortured man could not obtain.
+With the acumen for which Cupid's
+votaries are proverbial, Philip Benson, then
+at the "summer heat" degree of his flame
+for the Saratoga belle, had recognized in
+this poem the most correct and beautiful
+description of his lady-love. Curiosity to
+see if the resemblance were apparent to
+other eyes, and a desire for sympathy
+tempted him to forward it to Sarah. She
+must perceive the likeness to her divine
+sister, and surmise the sentiment that had
+induced him to send it. A little alteration
+in the opening stanza was requisite to
+make it a "perfect fit." Thus it was when
+the change was made:</p>
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">"I will paint her as I see her:<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">---- times have the lilies blown<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Since she looked upon the sun."<br /></span>
+</div></div>
+
+<p>The poetess, guiltless of any intention to
+cater for the wants of grown-up lovers,
+had written "Ten" in the space made
+blank by Philip's gallantry and real ignorance
+of his charmer's age. For the rest,
+the "lily-clear face," the "forehead fair
+and saintly," the "trail of golden hair,"
+the blue eyes, "like meek prayers before
+a shrine," the voice that</p>
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i6">"Murmurs lowly<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">As a silver stream may run,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Which yet feels you feel the sun,"<br /></span>
+</div></div>
+
+<p>were, we may safely assert, quite as much
+like poor Sarah, when he sent the poem,
+as they were now like the portrait he
+would&mdash;if put upon his oath&mdash;sketch of his
+unidealized Lucy.</p>
+
+<p>It was not unnatural then, in Lewis
+Hammond, to overlook in his present state,
+these glaring discrepancies in the picture
+as applied by him. With a blanched and
+rigid countenance he put all the things
+back in the box, shut it, and restored it
+to its place. Then he knelt on the floor
+and hid his face in his wife's chair; and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_50" id="Page_50">[50]</a></span>
+there struggled out into the still air of the
+desecrated hometemple, made sacred by
+his love and her abiding, deep sobs from
+the strong man's stricken heart&mdash;a grief
+as much more fearful than that of widowhood,
+as the desertion and dishonor of the
+loved one are worse than death.</p>
+
+
+
+<hr class="chap" />
+
+<h2>CHAPTER XV.</h2>
+
+
+<p>It was the "grand hop" night at the
+headquarters of Newport fashion. Sarah,
+characteristically indifferent to gaieties
+"made to order," had determined not to
+appear below. The air of her room was
+fresh and pure, and a book, yet unread,
+lay under the lamp upon her table. Her
+sister and mother had withdrawn to dress,
+when Jeannie's curly head peeped in at
+Mrs. Hammond's door. Her features wore
+a most woe-begone expression.</p>
+
+<p>"What has gone wrong, Jeannie?" inquired
+Sarah.</p>
+
+<p>"Why, mamma says that I will be in her
+way if I go into the ball-room; and it
+will be so stupid to stay out the whole
+evening, while all the other girls can see
+the dancing and dresses, and hear the
+music. And sister Lucy says that children
+are 'bores' in company."</p>
+
+<p>"A sad state of affairs, certainly! Perhaps
+I may persuade mother to let you
+go."</p>
+
+<p>"Yes; but if she does, she will sit close
+against the wall with a lot of other fat
+old ladies, and they will talk over my
+head, and squeeze me almost to death,
+besides rumpling my dress; and I so want
+to wear my tucked pink grenadine, sister!"</p>
+
+<p>"And you would like to have me to
+go down with you; is that it?"</p>
+
+<p>Jeannie's eyes beamed delightedly. "Oh,
+if you only would!"</p>
+
+<p>Sarah looked down into the eager face
+and saw, in anticipation, her own little
+Belle imploring some boon, as important
+to her, as easy to be granted by another
+as this, and consented with a kiss.</p>
+
+<p>"Run away and bring your finery here!
+Mother is too busy to attend to you. Mary
+can dress you."</p>
+
+<p>The order was obeyed with lightning
+speed; and Sarah, still holding in the excited
+child the foreshadowing of her darling's
+girlhood, superintended the toilet,
+while she made herself ready.</p>
+
+<p>"What shall I wear, Jeannie?" she asked
+carelessly, holding open the door of her
+wardrobe.</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, that lovely fawn-colored silk, please!
+the one with the black lace flounces! It
+is the prettiest color I ever saw; and I
+heard Mrs. Greyling tell another lady the
+night you wore it, when brother Lewis
+was here, you know, that it was one of
+the richest dresses in the room, modest
+as it looked, and that the flounce must
+have cost a penny!"</p>
+
+<p>"Probably more!"</p>
+
+<p>Sarah proceeded to array herself in the
+fortunate robe that had won the praises
+of the fashionably distinguished Mrs.
+Greyling. Her abundant dark hair was
+lighted by two coral sprigs, which formed
+the heads of her hair-pins, and, handkerchief
+and gloves in hand, she was taking
+a last survey of Jeannie's more brilliant
+costume, when there came a knock at the
+door.</p>
+
+<p>"Mr. Benson!" said Mary, unclosing it.</p>
+
+<p>"May I come in?" he asked.</p>
+
+<p>The tidy Mary had removed all trace of the
+recent tiring operations from the apartment,
+which was a compound of parlor
+and dressing-room, a necessary adjunct
+to the small chamber and smaller nursery,
+leading out of it, at the side and rear.</p>
+
+<p>"You may!" replied Sarah. "Here is an
+aspirant for ball-room honors, who awaits
+your approval."</p>
+
+<p>"Mademoiselle, que vous etes charmante!
+I am penetrated with profound admiration!"
+exclaimed the teasing brother-in-law,
+raising his hands in true melodramatic
+style.</p>
+
+<p>Jeannie laughed and blushed until her
+cheeks matched the grenadine.</p>
+
+<p>"Mrs. Hunt told me that you had
+changed your mind, and intended to grace
+the festive scene with your presence,"
+continued Philip, addressing Sarah. "She
+and Lucy are there, and the dancing has
+begun. I came to escort you and our fair
+debutante here&mdash;that is, unless some one
+else has offered his services and been accepted."</p>
+
+<p>"That is not likely, since Mr. Hammond
+left us in your care. Do not your fourfold
+duties oppress you?"</p>
+
+<p>"Not in the least. If all my charges were
+as chary of their calls upon me as you
+are, my time would hang heavily upon
+my hands. No one would imagine, from
+your reluctance to be waited upon, that
+you had been spoiled at home. If Mr.
+Hammond were here now, he would tell
+you to draw that shawl"&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>"It is an opera cloak!" interrupted Jeannie.</p>
+
+<p>"A ball-cloak to-night, then, is it not?
+I was saying that, although the night is
+not cool for sea air, you had better wrap
+that mantle about your chest and throat
+as we go out."</p>
+
+<p>Just outside the door a waiter passed
+them with a note in his hand. He stopped,
+on seeing Philip.</p>
+
+<p>"Mr. Benson! I was on my way to
+your rooms with this, sir."</p>
+
+<p>Philip stepped back within the parlor
+to read it by the light. It was a line from
+a friend who had just arrived at another
+hotel notifying him of this fact. It required
+no reply, and, leaving it upon the
+table, he rejoined his companions.</p>
+
+<p>"See mamma! Isn't it just as I said?"
+whispered Jeannie, as she established herself
+beside her sister in a comfortable corner
+that commanded a view of the spacious
+hall and its gay, restless sea of
+figures.</p>
+
+<p>Sarah smiled at discovering her mother
+sandwiched between two portly dowagers;
+one in purple, the other in lavender silk;
+all three bobbing and waving in their
+earnest confabulations, in a style that
+presented a ludicrously marked resemblance
+to the gesticulations of a group of
+Muscovy ducks, on the margin of a mud-puddle,
+held by them in their capacity of
+a joint-stock company.</p>
+
+<p>"I see that Lucy has taken the floor,"
+observed Philip. "She will not thank me
+for any devoirs I could render her for
+the next three hours. If they get up anything
+so humble as quadrilles, may I ask
+the pleasure of your company for the set?"</p>
+
+<p>"If you wish it&mdash;and my dress is not
+too grave in hue"&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>"And too decorous in its make, you were
+about to add, I presume;" he finished the
+sentence bluntly. "It forms a refreshing
+contrast to the prevailing style around
+us."</p>
+
+<p>Lucy here flitted into sight, and her very
+bare arms and shoulders pointed her husband's
+strictures. A stool, brought into
+the room for the use of some child or
+invalid looker-on of the festivities, now
+stood empty under Sarah's chair, and
+Philip, espying it, seized upon and drew it
+forth. When seated, his mouth was nearly
+on a level with Sarah's ear.</p>
+
+<p>"This is pleasant!" he said. "We are
+quite as much isolated from the rest of
+mankind as if we were sitting among the
+heathery hillocks on Deal Beach. You do
+not love the visions of those tranquil sunny
+days as I do. You never allude to them
+voluntarily. Yet you have had less to
+convert your dreams into every-day actualities,
+tedious and prosaic, than I have.
+I stand in direful need of one of the old
+lectures, inculcating more charity, and less
+study of complex motives and biassed tendencies
+in the machine we call Man. Begin!
+I am at your mercy."</p>
+
+<p>"I have forgotten how to deliver them.
+I am out of practice."</p>
+
+<p>"That is not surprising. Your husband
+is behind the age he lives in&mdash;and so are
+you. You two would make Barnum's fortune,
+could he ever persuade the public of
+your idiosyncrasies."</p>
+
+<p>"What are you talking about?"</p>
+
+<p>"Look around and through this room,
+and you will understand one part of my
+meaning. Do you remark the preponderance
+of married over single belles? and
+that the most tenderly deferential cavaliers
+are husbands, and not dancing with their
+wives? I could point out to you three
+men, leaders of the ton in this extremely
+reputable, eminently moral assembly, who,
+it is whispered among the knowing ones,
+are married, and, having left their domestic
+associations for a season of recreation,
+boldly attach themselves to certain
+stylish young ladies here, and challenge
+observation, defy public censure, by their
+marked and increasing devotion. I meet
+them strolling along the beach in the
+morning; riding together in the afternoon;
+and when not engaged in this evening
+exhibition of toilet and muscle, you will
+find them pacing the moon or star-lit
+piazza, or, perchance, again sentimentalizing
+on the shore until the witching hour
+draws near."</p>
+
+<p>"You surprise me!"</p>
+
+<p>"You have no right to be surprised. You
+have the same thing continually before
+you in your city. Every fashionable hotel
+or boarding-house can supply you with
+such flirtations by the dozen. A married
+woman who declines the polite services of
+all gentlemen, except her husband and
+near relatives, is a prude, with false
+scruples of propriety and delicacy. Let
+her legal partner complain&mdash;he is cried out
+upon as a despot, and you can trust the
+sweet angel of an abused wife to elude
+his vigilance&mdash;violence, she terms it&mdash;for
+the future, without altering her conduct in
+aught else. Do you see that pretty woman
+in blue&mdash;the one with the madonna-like
+face? Her tyrant is here but once a week&mdash;from
+Saturday until Monday&mdash;then hies
+back to the business he loves as well as
+she does her pleasure. Monday, Tuesday,
+Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, and the
+forenoon of Saturday, any mustachioed
+puppy may walk, talk, drive, and flirt with
+her&mdash;bask in the rays of those liquid orbs.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_51" id="Page_51">[51]</a></span>
+When the rightful lord appears, she is
+demure as a nun, patient as a saint, dutiful
+as Griselda, to him and him alone.
+Do you begin to understand why I congratulated
+you upon having a husband
+of the olden stamp? Why, I do from my
+heart felicitate my friend Hammond upon
+having gained, as a helpmeet, one of that
+nearly obsolete species&mdash;Woman!"</p>
+
+<p>Sarah's embarrassment was painful and
+but indifferently concealed. She felt that
+it was barely excusable, in consideration
+of his fraternal relation to her, for Philip
+to speak so plainly of this social blemish;
+and altogether unpardonable, while he did
+not, or could not, prevent his wife's participation
+in the questionable gaieties he
+assailed so unsparingly. Reply she could
+not, without implicating Lucy in her reprobation,
+and he must perceive her difficulty.
+This was the trouble that lay uppermost.
+At her heart's core, the uneasy
+feeling she ever experienced in conversation
+with him; the stirring of the entombed
+love, of whose actual death she
+had horrible misgivings; the incongruous
+blending of past emotion with present
+duty, were now aggravated by the enforced
+acceptance of unmerited praise. Her
+woman's instinct, her experience as a wife,
+told her that the cause of the sinful
+recklessness, the contempt of the true
+spirit of the marriage tie, was not the
+fruit merely of the vanity and thirst for
+adulation, to which it was properly attributed.
+With the recollection of her
+own life, the education she had received at
+home, the hateful, yet even to her independent
+spirit, resistless decrees of society,
+there swelled up within her bosom something
+akin to Philip's bitter cynicism. Under
+this spur, she spoke.</p>
+
+<p>"And from these signs of the times, you
+would argue an inherent degeneracy of
+womanhood&mdash;a radical change in its composition,
+such as some anatomists tell us
+has taken place in the structure of our
+bodies&mdash;our blood&mdash;our very teeth. A dentist,
+who filled a tooth for me the other
+day, imparted divers scientific items of
+information to me that may illustrate your
+position. 'Enamel, madam, is not what
+enamel was in the days of our ancestors!'
+he affirmed pathetically; 'the color, the
+very ingredients of the bone, the calcareous
+base of the teeth, differ sadly from
+the indestructible molars of fifty years
+ago.' At this passage of his jeremiade, he
+chanced to touch the nerve in the unhappy
+'molar' he was excavating, and I am persuaded
+that I suffered as really as my
+grandmother would have done, had she
+sat in my place."</p>
+
+<p>She paused, and beat time with her fingers
+on Jeannie's shoulder to the wild,
+varying waltz that swept the giddy crowd
+around the room in fast and flying circles.</p>
+
+<p>"Your analogy asserts, then, that at
+heart women are alike in all ages?"</p>
+
+<p>"Why not, as well as men?"</p>
+
+<p>"Then why does not action remain the
+same, if that be true?"</p>
+
+<p>"Because custom&mdash;fashion, if you prefer
+this name&mdash;an unaccountable, irresponsible
+power&mdash;owing its birth oftenest to accident
+or caprice, says, 'Do this!' and it is done!
+be it to perpetrate a cravat-bow, a marriage,
+or a murder!"</p>
+
+<p>Another pause&mdash;in which music and
+dancers seemed sweeping on to sweet intoxication&mdash;so
+joyous in their abandon were
+the gushing strains; so swift the whirl of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_52" id="Page_52">[52]</a></span>
+the living ring. The fingers played lightly
+and rapidly on Jeannie's plump shoulder&mdash;then
+rested on a half-beat.</p>
+
+<p>"Yes!" She was looking towards the
+crowd, but her eye was fixed, and her
+accents slow and grave. "Hearts live and
+hearts love, while time endures. The heart
+selects its mate in life's springtime, with
+judgment as untaught as that of the silly
+bird that asks no companion but the one
+the God of Nature has bestowed upon it.
+But you see not, my good brother"&mdash;she
+faced him, a smile wreathing her lip&mdash;a
+strange glitter in her eye&mdash;"see you not
+to what woeful disorders these untrained
+desires, this unsophisticated following out
+of unregulated affections would give rise?
+It would sap the foundations of caste;
+level all wholesome distinctions of society;
+consign the accomplished daughters of
+palatial halls&mdash;hoary with a semi-decade
+of years&mdash;to one-story cottages and a maid-of-all
+work; doom nice young men to
+the drudgery of business for the remainder
+of their wretched lives, to maintain
+wives whose dowries would not keep their
+lily-handed lords in French kids for a
+year; cover managing mammas with ignominy,
+and hasten ambitious papas to
+their costly vaults in&mdash;as Dickens has it&mdash;'some
+genteel place of interment.' Come
+what may of blasted hopes and wrecked
+hearts, the decencies of life must be observed.
+Every heart has its nerve&mdash;genuine,
+sensitive, sometimes vulgarly tenacious
+of life&mdash;but there are corrosives that
+will eat it out; fine, deadly wires, that
+can probe and torture and extract it. And
+when the troublesome thing is finally gotten
+rid of, there is an end to all obstacles
+to judicious courtships and eligible alliances!"
+She laughed scornfully, and Philip
+recoiled, without knowing why he did so,
+as he heard her.</p>
+
+<p>"That is all very well, when the nature
+of the contract is understood on both
+sides," he said, gloomily. "I doubt, however,
+whether the beautiful economy of
+your system will be appreciated by those
+whose living hearts are bound to the
+bloodless plaster-casts you describe."</p>
+
+<p>"These accidents will occur in spite of
+caution on the part of the best managers
+of suitable marriages. By far the larger
+proportion of the shocks inflicted upon
+polite circles arise from this very cause.
+Pygmalion grows weary of wooing his
+statue, and wants sympathy in his disappointment
+and loneliness."</p>
+
+<p>The dance was ended. The fantastic
+variations of the waltz were exchanged
+for a noble march&mdash;pealing through the
+heated rooms like a rush of the healthful
+sea-breeze. The spark died in Sarah's
+eye. Her voice took its habitual pitch.</p>
+
+<p>"I have permitted myself to become excited,
+and, I am afraid, have said many
+things that I had no right to think&mdash;much
+less to utter. If my freedom has displeased
+you, I am sorry."</p>
+
+<p>"The error&mdash;if error there were&mdash;was
+mine," rejoined Philip. "I led the conversation
+into the channel; you, after awhile,
+followed. I believe there is no danger of
+our misunderstanding each other."</p>
+
+<p>"Darby and Joan! good children in the
+corner!" cried Lucy, flushed with exercise
+and radiant with good humor, as she
+promenaded past them leaning on the
+arm of a young West Pointer, a native
+Southerner and an acquaintance of
+Philip's. If his wife must flirt and frolic,
+he was watchful that she did not compromise
+him by association with doubtful
+characters. On several occasions, the advances
+of gay gentlemen, whose toilets
+were more nearly irreproachable than their
+reputations, had been checked by his cool
+and significant resumption of the husband's
+post beside the belle, and, if need
+existed, by the prompt withdrawal of the
+unwilling lady from the scene. The cadet
+laughed, and, convinced that she had said
+a witty thing, Lucy swam by.</p>
+
+<p>"The common sense of our tropes, rodomontades,
+and allegories is this!" said
+Philip, biting his lip, and speaking in a
+hard tone. "The only safe ground in marriage
+is mutual, permanent affection. You
+meant to convey the idea that if each of
+these dressy matrons, humming around
+our ears, had a sincere, abiding love for
+her husband&mdash;and each of these gallant
+benedicts the right kind of regard for his
+wedded Beatrice, the vocation of us corner
+censors would be gone?"</p>
+
+<p>"Well said, Mr. Interpreter!" she responded,
+in affected jest.</p>
+
+<p>"This point settled, will you take my
+arm for a turn through the room before
+the next set is formed? They are talking
+of quadrilles. I shall claim your promise
+if a set is made up, unless you are not
+courageous enough to brave the public
+sneer by dancing with your brother. Come,
+Jeannie, and walk with us."</p>
+
+<p>Two sets of quadrilles were arranged at
+different ends of the saloon. Philip led
+Sarah through one, with Lucy&mdash;who considered
+it a capital joke&mdash;and her partner
+vis-a-vis to them, Jeannie, meanwhile, remaining
+by her mother.</p>
+
+<p>The summer nights were short; and,
+when the dance was over, Sarah intimated
+to her younger sister the propriety of retiring.
+Mrs. Hunt's head ached, and she
+esteemed the sacrifice comparatively light,
+therefore, that she, too, had to leave the
+revels and accompany the child to her
+chamber. Sarah's apartments were on the
+same floor, several doors further on. Having
+said "Good-night" to the others, she
+and Philip walked slowly along the piazza,
+light as day in the moonbeams, until they
+reached the outer room, the parlor.</p>
+
+<p>"I hope you will experience no ill effects
+from your dissipation," said Philip, in
+playful irony. "In a lady of your staid
+habits, this disposition to gaiety is alarming.
+Absolutely eleven o'clock! What will
+Hammond say when he hears the story?
+Good-night! Don't let your conscience
+keep you awake!"</p>
+
+<p>Sarah opened the door softly, that she
+might not startle the baby-sleeper in the
+inner room. The lamp was shining brightly,
+and by it sat&mdash;her husband!</p>
+
+
+
+<hr class="chap" />
+
+<h2>CHAPTER XVI.</h2>
+
+
+<p>Lewis had entered his wife's room within
+fifteen minutes after she left it. He
+looked so ill and weary that the girl,
+Mary, gave a stifled scream of fright and
+surprise.</p>
+
+<p>"Are you sick, sir?" she asked hastily,
+as he threw off his hat, and wiped his pale
+forehead. "Shall I tell Mrs. Hammond that
+you are here? She went down to the ball-room
+awhile ago."</p>
+
+<p>"What did you say? No!" replied he,
+shortly.</p>
+
+<p>His frown, rather than his tone, silenced
+her. He had picked up the envelope
+Philip had dropped on the table, and his
+face darkened still more. Too proud to
+question a servant of her mistress' actions
+and associates, he believed that he had
+gathered from this mute witness all that
+was needful to know. As a privileged
+habitue of the cosy boudoir he had been
+at such pain to procure and make fit for
+his wife's occupancy, another had sat here
+and read his evening mail, while awaiting
+her leisure; careless of appearances, since
+the deceived one would not be there to
+notice them, had tossed this note down
+with as much freedom as he would have
+done in his own apartment.</p>
+
+<p>Through the open windows poured the
+distant strains of the band; and, seized by
+a sudden thought, he caught up his hat
+and strode out, along piazzas and through
+halls, to the entrance door of the ball
+saloon. As Sarah's ill-fortune ordained it,
+the piercing glance that ran over and beyond
+the crowd of spectators and dancers
+detected her at the instant of Philip's
+taking his lowly seat at her side. Jeannie's
+pink attire was concealed by the drapery
+of a lady, whose place in the set then
+forming was directly in front of her.
+Lewis saw but the two, virtually tete-a-tete;
+and, as he obtained fleeting glimpses
+of them through the shifting throng,
+marked Philip's energetic, yet confidential
+discourse, and the intentness with which
+she listened, until, warmed or excited by
+his theme, Sarah lifted her downcast eyes
+and spoke, with what feeling and effect her
+auditor's varying expression showed.</p>
+
+<p>The gazer stood there like a statue, unheeding
+the surprised and questioning
+looks cast by passers-by upon his traveling-dress,
+streaked with dust&mdash;his sad and
+settled visage, so unbefitting the scene
+within&mdash;while Philip made the tour of the
+room, with Sarah upon his arm, until
+they took their stations for the dance; he,
+courteous and attentive&mdash;she, smiling and
+happy, more beautiful in her husband's
+eyes than her blonde sister opposite; and
+he could stay no longer. If Mary had
+thought him sick and cross at his former
+entrance, she considered him savage now,
+for one who was ordinarily a kind and
+gentle master.</p>
+
+<p>"You can go to your room!" he ordered,
+not advised. "I will sit up for Mrs. Hammond!"</p>
+
+<p>"I have slept in the nursery, sir, while
+you were away."</p>
+
+<p>"That cannot be to-night. I will find
+you some other place."</p>
+
+<p>He had no intention that the anticipated
+conversation with his wife should be overheard.</p>
+
+<p>"I can stay with a friend of mine, sir,
+only a few doors off."</p>
+
+<p>"Very well!"</p>
+
+<p>Quickly and quietly the nurse arranged
+the night-lamp and the child's food, that
+her mistress might have no trouble during
+her absence, and went out.</p>
+
+<p>Baby Belle slumbered on, happily wandering
+through the guileless mazes of baby
+dreamland; one little arm, bared from
+the sleeve of her gown, thrown above her
+head&mdash;the hand of the other cradling her
+cheek. The father ventured to press a
+light kiss upon the red lips. In his desolation,
+he craved this trifling solace. The
+child's face was contorted by an expression
+of discomfort, and, still dreaming,
+she murmured, in her inarticulate language,
+some pettish expression of disgust.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_53" id="Page_53">[53]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>"My very child shrinks from me! It is
+in the blood!" said the unhappy man,
+drawing back from the crib.</p>
+
+<p>If his resolution had waned at sight of
+the sleeper, it was fixed again when he
+returned to his chair in the outer room.
+He raised his head from his folded arms
+when he heard Philip and Sarah approaching,
+but did not otherwise alter his position.
+The low tone of their parting words&mdash;one
+soon learned by the sojourners in
+hotels and watering-places, where thin
+partitions and ventilators abound&mdash;was, to
+him, the cautiously repressed voice of affectionate
+good-nights. But one clause was
+distinct&mdash;"What will Hammond say, when
+he hears the story?" They jested thus of
+him, then. One of them, at least, should
+learn ere long what he would say.</p>
+
+<p>"Lewis, you here!"</p>
+
+<p>Sarah changed color with amazement and
+vague alarm&mdash;emotion that paralyzed her
+momentarily. Then, as she discerned the
+tokens of disorder in his dress and countenance,
+she hurried forward.</p>
+
+<p>"What has brought you so unexpectedly?
+Are you sick? Has anything happened?"</p>
+
+<p>He did not rise; and, resting her hand
+on his shoulder, she stooped for a kiss.
+But his stern gaze never moved from hers&mdash;anxious
+and inquiring&mdash;and his lips were
+like stone.</p>
+
+<p>"Lewis, speak to me! If you have dreadful
+news to tell me, for pity's sake, do
+not keep me in suspense!"</p>
+
+<p>"I have nothing to say that will be new
+to you," he said, without relaxing his
+hard, cold manner, "and not a great deal
+that ought to have been kept back from
+me when I wished to marry you, believing
+that you had a heart to give me with your
+hand."</p>
+
+<p>As if struck in the face, Sarah sank
+back into a chair, speechless and trembling.</p>
+
+<p>"Yes! had you been sincere with me
+then, grieved and disappointed as I would
+have felt, I would have respected you the
+more, and loved you none the less for
+the disclosure. But when, after a year
+and a half of married life, I learn that
+the woman I have loved and trusted with
+my whole soul&mdash;from whom I have never
+concealed a thought that it could interest
+her to know&mdash;has all the while been playing
+a false part&mdash;vowing at the altar to love
+me and me alone, when she secretly idolized
+another; bearing my name, living beneath
+my roof, sleeping in my bosom&mdash;yet
+thinking of, and caring for him, treasuring
+his keepsakes as the most precious of her
+possessions&mdash;is it strange that, when the
+tongue of a vulgar gossip proclaims my
+shame in my hearing, and other evidence
+proves what I thought was his vile slander
+to be true as gospel&mdash;is it strange, I say,
+that I am incensed at the deception practised
+upon me&mdash;at the infamous outrage of
+my dearest hopes&mdash;my most holy feelings?"</p>
+
+<p>She threw herself at his feet, clasped his
+knees, and implored him, chokingly, to
+"forgive" her. "Oh! if you knew what I
+have suffered!"</p>
+
+<p>"What you have suffered!" He folded
+his arms and looked sorrowfully down at
+her crouching figure. "Yes! you were not
+by nature coarse and unfeeling! The violence
+you have committed upon your
+heart and every principle of delicacy and
+truth must have cost you pain. Then you
+loved him!"</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_54" id="Page_54">[54]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>"Once! a long while ago!" said Sarah,
+hiding her face in her hands.</p>
+
+<p>"Take care!" There was no softness
+now in his tone. "Remember that I have
+seen you together day by day, and that
+glances and actions, unnoticed at the time
+in my stupid blindness, recur to me now
+with terrible meaning. For once, speak
+the true voice of feeling, and own what
+I know already, that all the love you
+ever had to give belongs still to your
+sister's husband!"</p>
+
+<p>"I will speak the truth!" Sarah arose
+and stood before him&mdash;face livid and eyes
+burning. "I did love this man! I married
+you, partly to please my parents,
+partly because I found out that by some
+means my secret had fallen into unscrupulous
+hands, and I was mad with dread
+of its exposure! It seemed to me that no
+worse shame could come upon me than
+to have it trumpeted abroad that I had
+bestowed my love unsought, and was ready
+to die because it was slighted. I have
+learned since that it is far, far worse to
+live a lie&mdash;to despise myself! Oh! that I
+had died then!" She battled with the
+emotion that threatened to overwhelm her
+and went on. "Once bound to you, it has
+been my hourly endeavor to feel and act
+as became the faithful wife of a kind,
+noble man. If, sometimes, I have erred
+in thought&mdash;if my feelings have failed me
+in the moment of trial&mdash;yet, in word and
+deed, in look and gesture, I have been
+true to you. No one have I deceived more
+thoroughly than Philip Benson. He never
+suspected my unfortunate partiality for
+himself; he believes me still, what I would
+give worlds to become in truth, your loyal,
+loving wife! It is well that you know
+the truth at last. I do not ask you how
+you have obtained the outlines of a disgraceful
+story, that I have tried a thousand
+times to tell you, but was prevented
+by the fear of losing your favour forever.
+This is my poor defence&mdash;not against your
+charges, but in palliation of the sin of
+which they justly accuse me. I can say
+nothing more. Do with me as you will!"</p>
+
+<p>"It is but just to myself that you should
+hear the circumstances which accidentally
+revealed this matter to me."</p>
+
+<p>He narrated the scene at the restaurant,
+and the discovery of the evening. He
+evinced neither relenting nor sympathy in
+the recital. Her confession had extinguished
+the last ray of hope, cherished,
+though unacknowledged by himself, that
+she might extenuate her error or give a
+more favorable construction to the evidence
+against her. It was not singular
+that, in the reaction of disappointment, he
+was ready to believe that he had not
+heard all; to imagine that he could perceive
+throughout her statement a disposition
+to screen Philip, that was, in itself,
+a proof of disingenuousness, if not deliberate
+falsehood. She denied that he had ever
+been aware of her attachment or had
+reciprocated it. What meant then those
+words&mdash;"hopes in time to have a nearer
+claim?" What those impassioned verses?
+What the linking of their initials within
+the shell? the motto on the wooden tablet?
+While these subtle queries were insinuated
+into his soul by some mocking spirit, he
+concluded the history of the discovery of
+the casket.</p>
+
+<p>"I have never opened it since the night
+before I was married," said Sarah, with no
+haste of self-justification. "I put it into
+the drawer the day after we went to our
+house. It has not been unlocked from
+that day to this."</p>
+
+<p>"Why keep it at all, unless as a memento
+of one still dear to you?"</p>
+
+<p>"I felt as if I had buried it. I said to
+myself: 'If the time ever comes when I
+can disinter these relics and show them to
+my husband, without a pang or fear, as
+mementoes of a dead and almost forgotten
+folly, he shall destroy them, and I shall
+have gained a victory that will insure my
+lifelong happiness.'"</p>
+
+<p>"And that time has never arrived."</p>
+
+<p>She would have spoken, but her tongue
+proved traitorous. She crimsoned and was
+silent.</p>
+
+<p>Lewis smiled drearily. "You see that
+I know you better than you do yourself.
+It is well, as you have said, that I know
+all at last. I pity you! If I could, I would
+release you from your bondage. As it is,
+I will do all that I can for this end."</p>
+
+<p>"Never!" cried Sarah, shuddering. "Have
+you forgotten our child?"</p>
+
+<p>"I have not!" His voice shook for a
+second. "She is all that unites us now.
+For the sake of her future&mdash;her good name&mdash;an
+open separation ought to be avoided,
+if possible&mdash;if it be inevitable, your conduct
+must not be the ostensible cause. To
+quiet malicious tongues, you must remain
+here awhile longer under your mother's
+care. To accomplish the same end, I must
+appear once more in public, and on apparently
+friendly terms with&mdash;your brother-in-law.
+When your mother returns to the
+city, you had best go, too, and to your
+own house. Your brother Robert is now
+sixteen years old&mdash;steady and manly
+enough to act as your protector. Invite
+him to stay with you, and also Jeannie, if
+you find it lonely."</p>
+
+<p>"What are you saying? Where will you
+be that you speak of my choosing another
+protector?"</p>
+
+<p>"A very important one I have proved
+myself to be!" he returned, with the same
+sad smile. "I have not been able to shield
+you from invidious reports; still less to
+save you from yourself. I sail for Europe
+day after to-morrow."</p>
+
+<p>"Lewis, you will not! If you ever loved
+me, do not desert me and our child now!
+I will submit to any punishment but this!"
+She clung anew to his knees as she poured
+out her prayer.</p>
+
+<p>Not a month ago she had turned pale
+with fright at the suggestion of this
+voyage. It was sheer acting then! why
+not now?</p>
+
+<p>"Objections are useless!" he said. "My
+arrangements are made. I have passed
+my word."</p>
+
+<p>"But you will not leave me in anger!
+Say that you will forgive me! that you
+will return soon, and this miserable night
+be forgotten!"</p>
+
+<p>"Shall I tell you when I will return?"
+He raised her head, and looked straight
+into her eyes. "When you write to me,
+and tell me that you have destroyed the
+love-tokens in that box; when you bid
+me come back for your sake&mdash;not for our
+child's! Until then, I shall believe that
+my presence would be irksome to you. It
+is necessary for our house to have a resident
+partner in England. It is my expectation
+to fill that place for some time
+to come; it shall be for you to say how
+long."</p>
+
+<p>Bowed as Sarah's spirit was beneath
+the burst of the long-dreaded storm and
+her accusing conscience, her womanly
+pride revolted at this speech. She had
+humbled herself in the dust at the feet of
+a man whom she did not love; had borne
+meekly his reproaches; submitted dumbly
+to the degrading suspicions that far transcended
+her actual sin; but as the idea of
+her suing servilely for the love she had
+never yet valued; of him, indifferent and
+independent, awaiting afar off for her petition&mdash;hers,
+whom he had abandoned to the
+scornful sneers of the keen-witted hyenas
+of society; to the cross-examination of
+her distrustful relatives; the stings of
+remorse; left in one word to herself!&mdash;as
+this picture grew up clearly before her
+mind, the tide of feeling turned.</p>
+
+<p>"You reject my prayers and despise my
+tears!" she said proudly. "You refuse to
+accept of my humiliation. Yet you do not
+doubt me, as you would have me believe
+that you do! Else you would not dare to
+trust me&mdash;the keeper of your honor and
+your child's fair name&mdash;out of your sight!
+I throw back the charge in your teeth,
+and tell you that your conduct gives it the
+lie! I have asked you&mdash;shame on me that
+I did!&mdash;to continue to me the shelter of
+your name and presence; to shield me, a
+helpless woman, more unhappy than guilty,
+from the ban of the world; and you deny
+me everything but a contemptible shadow
+of respectability, which the veriest fool
+can penetrate. I would not have you suppose
+that your generous confidence in my
+integrity"&mdash;she brought out the words with
+scathing contempt&mdash;"will deter me from
+sinking to the level you are pleased to
+assign me. If the native dignity of my
+womanhood, the principles I inherit from
+my father, my love for my innocent babe
+do not hold me back from ruin, be assured
+that the hope of winning your approval
+will not. To you I make no pledges of
+reformation; I offer but one promise. If
+you choose to remain abroad until I, in
+spirit, kiss your feet, and pray you to receive
+a love such as most men are glad
+to win by assiduity of attention, and every
+pleasing art&mdash;which you would force into
+being by wilful and revengeful absence&mdash;you
+will never see your native land again
+until the grass grows upon my grave!"</p>
+
+<p>She paused for breath, and continued
+more slowly. "While your child lives, and
+I remain her guardian, I will use your
+means for her maintenance&mdash;will reside in
+your house. If she dies, or you take her
+from me, I will not owe you my support
+for a single day more!"</p>
+
+<p>Lewis grew pallid to his lips; but he,
+too, was proud, and his stubborn will was
+called into bold exercise.</p>
+
+<p>"Very well! It is in your choice to accede
+to my propositions, or not. A share
+in all that I have is yours; not only during
+the child's life, but as long as you live.
+Before I leave America, I shall deposit
+for you in your father's bank a sum which,
+I hope, you will find sufficient to maintain
+you in comfort. Your father will be
+my executor in this matter. I shall not
+confide to him the peculiar circumstances
+of my departure, leaving you at liberty
+to act in this respect, as in everything
+else, according to the dictates of your
+will and pleasure. At the end of a certain
+term of years specified by law, you can,
+if you wish, procure a divorce; on the
+ground of my wilful and continued desertion
+of you; in which case, the provision<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_55" id="Page_55">[55]</a></span>
+for your support will remain unchanged.
+As to the child&mdash;the mother's is
+the strongest claim. I shall never take
+her from you. Do not let me keep you
+up longer. It is late!"</p>
+
+<p>With a silent inclination of the head, she
+withdrew, and he cast himself upon the
+sofa, there to lie during the few hours of
+the night that were yet unspent.</p>
+
+<p>He had arisen, and was standing at the
+window when Sarah entered in the morning.
+But for the dark shadows under the
+eyes, and the tight-drawn look about the
+mouth, she appeared as usual; and her
+"Good-morning," if cold, was yet polite.</p>
+
+<p>"I imagine," she said, as the gong clashed
+out its second call, "that you wish me
+to accompany you to breakfast, and to
+preserve my ordinary manner towards
+you when others are by. Am I right?"</p>
+
+<p>"You are. This is all I ask. The effort
+will not be a tedious one. I leave here
+at noon."</p>
+
+<p>Arm in arm they directed their steps
+towards the great dining-hall&mdash;to the view
+of the spectator as comfortable and happy
+a pair as any that pursued that route on
+that summer morning. Together they sat
+down at table, and Mr. Hammond ordered
+"his lady's" breakfast with his own. Mrs.
+Hunt bustled in shortly after they were
+seated, full of wonderment at having heard
+from Sarah's maid of her master's unexpected
+arrival; while Jeannie gave his
+hand a squeeze as hearty as was the welcome
+in her smiling face. The Bensons
+were always late. So much the better.
+There were more people present to observe
+the cordial meeting between the brothers-in-law,
+made the more conspicuous by
+Philip's surprise. The genuineness of his
+good spirits, his easy, unembarrassed manner,
+was the best veil that could have
+been devised for Sarah's constraint and
+Lewis' counterfeit composure.</p>
+
+<p>It did not escape Philip's eye that Sarah
+ate nothing, and spoke only to avoid the
+appearance of singularity; and he believed
+that he had discovered the origin of her
+trouble when Lewis communicated his purpose
+of foreign travel. When the burst of
+surprise subsided, the latter tried successfully
+to represent his plan as a business
+necessity. Lucy, who never saw an inch
+beyond her nose&mdash;morally and mentally
+speaking&mdash;except when her intuitions were
+quickened by self-love, was the questioner
+most to be dreaded.</p>
+
+<p>"Why don't you go with him?" she inquired
+of her sister. "He should not stir
+one step without me, if I were in your
+place. Only think! you might spend six
+months in Paris!"</p>
+
+<p>"How would Baby Belle relish a sea
+voyage!" returned Sarah.</p>
+
+<p>"Nonsense! How supremely silly! One
+would suppose that she was the only member
+of the family whose comfort was to
+be consulted. Rather than expose her to
+the possibility of inconvenience, you will
+deprive yourself of profit and pleasure, and
+be separated from your husband for nobody
+knows how long. This shows how
+much these model married people really
+care for one another. When put to the
+test they are no better than we poor
+sinners, whom everybody calls flirts. Phil,
+are those muffins warm? This one of mine
+has grown cold while I was talking."</p>
+
+<p>"How are the horses, Benson?" inquired
+Lewis. "Have they been exercised regularly?"</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_56" id="Page_56">[56]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>"Yes, and are in capital order. You
+could have left us no more acceptable reminder
+of yourself than those same fine
+bays."</p>
+
+<p>"If you have no other engagement, suppose
+we have them up before the light
+carriage after breakfast, and take a short
+drive."</p>
+
+<p>"Agreed, with all my heart! unless Mrs.
+Hammond quarrels with me for robbing
+her of a portion of your last morning with
+her."</p>
+
+<p>"She will forgive you!" Lewis rejoined,
+to spare her the effort of reply.</p>
+
+<p>From her window Sarah saw them whirl
+off along the beach in sight of the hundreds
+of spectators on the sands and
+about the hotels, and recognized the ingenuity
+of this scheme for proclaiming
+the amicable feeling between the two.</p>
+
+<p>"But one more scene, and the hateful
+mockery is over!" thought the wife, as she
+heard her husband's step outside the door
+on his return.</p>
+
+<p>She snatched a paper from the table, and
+seemed absorbed in its contents, not looking
+up at his entrance. Lewis made several
+turns through the room, sighed heavily,
+and once paused, as if about to address
+her, but changed his mind.</p>
+
+<p>Then sounded from without the fresh,
+gurgling laugh of a child, and the nurse
+came in with the baby&mdash;rosy and bright&mdash;from
+her morning walk on the shore. She
+almost sprang from Mary's hold at sight
+of her father, and dismissing the woman
+with a word, he took his darling into his
+arms and sat down behind his wife. Inflexibly
+sullen, Sarah tried not to listen,
+as she would not see them; but she heard
+every sound: the child's soft coo of satisfaction
+as she nestled in the father's
+bosom; the many kisses he imprinted upon
+her pure face and mouth with what agony
+Sarah well knew&mdash;the irregular respiration,
+sometimes repressed, until its breaking
+forth was like sobs; and the proud, miserable
+heart confessed reluctantly that,
+in one respect, his share of their divided
+lot was heavier than hers. She was not
+to witness his final resignation of his idol.
+Under color of summoning Mary, he carried
+the infant from the room, and came
+back without her.</p>
+
+<p>"It is time for me to go now, Sarah!"</p>
+
+<p>His voice was calm, and its firmness
+destroyed what slender encouragement she
+might have drawn from the scene with
+his child, to hope for some modification of
+his resolution.</p>
+
+<p>"Will you write to me, at regular intervals,
+to give me news of Belle?"</p>
+
+<p>"Certainly, if such is your wish."</p>
+
+<p>"And yourself? you will be careful of
+your health, will you not? And if I can
+ever serve you in any way, you will let
+me know?"</p>
+
+<p>"It is not likely that you can; thank
+you."</p>
+
+<p>There was a silence of some moments.
+Sarah stood playing with the tassel of her
+morning robe, pale and composed.</p>
+
+<p>"Sarah!" Lewis took her hand. "We
+have both been hasty, both violent! Unfeeling
+as you think me, and as I may
+have seemed in this affair, believe me that
+it almost kills me to part from you so
+coldly. It is not like me to retract a determination,
+but if you will say now what
+you did last night&mdash;'Do not go!' I will stay,
+and be as good a husband to you as I
+can. Shall we not forgive, and try to forget?"</p>
+
+<p>The demon of resentful pride was not so
+easily exorcised. At a breath of repentance&mdash;a
+suggestion of compromise, the fell
+legion rallied an impregnable phalanx. She
+was frozen, relentless; her eyes, black and
+haughty, met his with an answer her
+tongue could not have framed in words.</p>
+
+<p>"I have nothing to say!"</p>
+
+<p>"'Nothing!' The ocean must then separate
+us for years&mdash;it may be forever!"</p>
+
+<p>"It was your choice. I will not reverse
+it."</p>
+
+<p>"Not if you knew that if you let me go
+I would never return?"</p>
+
+<p>"Not if I knew that you would never return!"</p>
+
+<p>Without another word, without a farewell
+look, or the hand-grasp mere strangers
+exchange, he left her there&mdash;the stony
+monument of her ill-directed life and affections;
+the victim of a worldly mother
+and a backbiting tongue!</p>
+
+
+
+<hr class="chap" />
+
+<h2>CHAPTER XVII.</h2>
+
+
+<p>"How gay Mrs. Hammond has grown
+lately!" said Mrs. Greyling, the fashionable
+critic of the &mdash;&mdash; House drawing-room.
+"Do you see that she is actually waltzing
+to-night? She moves well, too! That pearl-colored
+moire antique is handsome, and
+must have cost every cent of nine dollars
+a yard. She is partial to heavy silks, it
+seems. It gives an air of sameness to
+her dress; otherwise she shows very tolerable
+taste."</p>
+
+<p>"I have heard it said that she was a
+regular dowdy before she was married,"
+observed Mrs. Parton, who was also on
+the "committee of censure"&mdash;a self-appointed
+organization, which found ample
+employment in this crowded nest of pleasure-seekers.
+"Her husband is perpetually
+making her presents, and she dresses to
+please him."</p>
+
+<p>"Humph! I distrust these pattern
+couples! 'My husband doesn't approve of
+my doing this&mdash;won't hear of my acting
+so!' are phrases easily learned, and sound
+so fine that one soon falls into the habit
+of using them. What a flirt Mrs. Benson
+is! That is the fifth young man she has
+danced with this evening. I pity her husband
+and baby!"</p>
+
+<p>"He does not look inconsolable! I tell
+you what my notion is: he may love his
+wife&mdash;of course he does&mdash;but he admires
+her sister more. See how he watches her!
+Mrs. Tomes told me that she was standing
+near him the first time Mrs. Hammond
+waltzed, and that he seemed real worried.
+When the set was through, she came to
+look for a seat, and he got one for her.
+As she took it, he said something to her
+which Mrs. Tomes could not hear, but she
+laughed out in his face as saucy as could
+be, and said: 'Oh, I am learning when I
+am in Rome to do as Romans do! Doesn't
+my elder sister set the example?'"</p>
+
+<p>"He could say nothing then," said Mrs.
+Greyling. "Those girls played their cards
+well. The Hunts have very little, if anything,
+besides the father's salary, and the
+family was very obscure."</p>
+
+<p>Mrs. Greyling's paternal progenitor was
+an opulent soap-boiler, who was not
+ashamed, during her childhood, to drive
+an unsavory cart from one kitchen door
+to another. But he counted his thousands
+now by the hundred, and his children
+ranked, as a consequence, among the "upper
+ten."</p>
+
+<p>She continued her charitable remarks:
+"Somehow the old lady contrived to keep
+up the appearance of wealth, and married
+both daughters off before their second
+season. Mr. Benson is reputed to be rich;
+but for that matter these Southern planters
+are all said to be rolling in money.
+Mr. Hammond is certainly making money.
+Mr. Greyling says he is a splendid business
+man."</p>
+
+<p>"He sailed for Europe a week ago, you
+know."</p>
+
+<p>"Yes; and since then madame has been
+the belle of the ball. The old story&mdash;'When
+the cat is away, the mice will
+play.'"</p>
+
+<p>"Sarah," said Philip, an hour later, "will
+you walk on the balcony with me? You
+are heated, and the air is balmy as Georgian
+breezes. It will do you good."</p>
+
+<p>"Are you going to scold me?" she asked,
+archly, before she would take his arm.</p>
+
+<p>"No. I have no right to do it if I had
+the disposition."</p>
+
+<p>There was no moon; but the sky was
+strewed thickly with stars, and the white
+foam of the surf caught and held tremulously
+the sparkles from the bright watchers
+above. Philip did not appear disposed
+to converse, and Sarah waited for him to
+begin. Meanwhile, they strolled on and on,
+until the murmur of the ocean was louder
+than the music of the saloon band. The
+sea moaned to the stars, as it had done
+to the sunless July heavens on that day
+so memorable in the history of one of the
+pair&mdash;the day of shipwreck stories and a
+real shipwreck&mdash;none the less disastrous,
+that the treasures and their loss were
+hidden from all but the bereaved one.</p>
+
+<p>To many it is appointed to lead two
+lives; to think and feel as well as to act
+a double part; to separate, as inexorably
+as human will can decree, past hopes and
+joys&mdash;past sorrows, and, if practicable,
+past memories from the thoughts and emotions
+of the to-day in which they exist.
+Thousands keep up the barrier until death
+ends the need of watchfulness and labor;
+the coffin-lid covers the faithful mask that
+has smiled so patiently and so long above
+an aching heart. Yet dammed up passion
+is a dangerous thing. If hearts were so
+constituted that they could be drained
+like pestilential marshes, the flood conducted
+off in harmless and straight channels,
+then, indeed, might hypocrisy rejoice,
+and sleek decorum sit down at ease. As it
+is, genteel propriety and refined reticence
+are perpetually endangered by the unforeseen
+swell of some intermittent spring, or
+the thawing of some ice-bound stream,
+that is liable to overleap or tear away the
+dike&mdash;ingulfing in an instant the elaborate
+structures years of toil have cheaply purchased.</p>
+
+<p>Such was the moment when, withdrawing
+her hand from Philip's arm, Sarah
+struck suddenly&mdash;fiercely&mdash;upon her breast,
+and cried: "Oh! why cannot I die and end
+this misery!"</p>
+
+<p>"Sarah!"</p>
+
+<p>"I say I can bear it no longer! Others
+do not suffer thus! If they do, they die,
+or lose their reason. I will not endure it,
+I tell you!"</p>
+
+<p>"Sister!"</p>
+
+<p>"Do not call me by that name, Philip
+Benson! You know better!"</p>
+
+<p>She leaned forward on the balcony railing,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_57" id="Page_57">[57]</a></span>
+her eyes fixed on the sea. Her deep, hurried
+breathing was like the pant of some worried
+animal, gathering strength, and, with
+it, courage for renewed conflict. To her
+last words the mysterious plaint of the
+sea lent meaning. Philip, too, remembered
+that barren shore, the tumbling breakers,
+the solitary sea-bird's labored flight landward.
+Was this his work? It was but a
+flicker of truth&mdash;dashed out the next second
+by a blow of indignant will.</p>
+
+<p>"You may forbid me to address you by
+this title, Sarah; but you cannot hinder
+me from sympathizing with you in your sorrow,
+and trying to befriend you. If my
+companionship is unwelcome, allow me to
+conduct you to your room. I cannot leave
+you alone here, where there is continual
+passing."</p>
+
+<p>"You are right. Regard for appearances
+is the one thing needful," she said, mockingly.
+"I must be a dull scholar if I have
+not learned that I am sane again now&mdash;fit to
+associate with other sane people. If you
+please, we will go to the ball-room instead
+of upstairs. I am not a candidate
+for solitary confinement yet!"</p>
+
+<p>"Mrs. Hammond, I heard a gentleman
+inquiring anxiously for you just now!"
+called out a lady, in passing. "He said
+that you promised to dance with him."</p>
+
+<p>"I did. Thank you for reminding me.
+A little faster, my good brother!"</p>
+
+<p>She hurried him into the saloon, where
+they were met immediately by her would-be
+partner. Philip, bewildered and uneasy,
+watched her through the evolutions of the
+dance. She talked rapidly and animatedly,
+keeping her cavalier in a broad smile, and
+confirming her lately won reputation of
+a wit. Her eyes shone; her color was
+high; she was "really handsome"&mdash;as the
+"censure committee" had occasion to remember
+at a later day, when it was
+spoken of in a very different tone from
+that employed by a member of the distinguished
+sisterhood in addressing Mrs.
+Hunt on this night.</p>
+
+<p>"You are a fortunate mother, my dear
+madam, to have two such brilliant daughters.
+They eclipse the girls entirely."</p>
+
+<p>"I have nothing to complain of in my
+children, ma'am. I done&mdash;I did my best
+by them, and they have repaid me a thousandfold."</p>
+
+<p>"Now, I am ready!" said Sarah, to her
+brother-in-law. "I release you, Mr. Burley!"
+waving her hand to her late attendant
+as a princess might to a courtier.</p>
+
+<p>Vexed and disturbed by her unsettled
+manner and queer freaks, Philip gave
+her his arm, and conducted her through
+the throng.</p>
+
+<p>"Lewis has had fair winds, and must
+now be nearing the end of his voyage,"
+he remarked, as they sauntered along the
+piazza.</p>
+
+<p>"Ah! he is on the sea to-night! How
+strange! I had not thought of that!"</p>
+
+<p>"I see nothing wonderful in the idea, as
+he has not had time to cross the Atlantic
+since he left these shores," returned Philip,
+dryly. "The oddest thing I can think of at
+present is yourself, Sarah!"</p>
+
+<p>"I am aware of that, Philip. Do not
+speak harshly to me! You may be sorry
+for it some day."</p>
+
+<p>They were at her door. Her softened
+manner moved him, and as she offered her
+hand, he took it with fraternal warmth.</p>
+
+<p>"Forgive me, if I was rough! I have
+not understood you this evening."</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_58" id="Page_58">[58]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>"It is not likely that you ever will. Time
+was&mdash;but it is folly to allude to that now!
+Think of me as kindly as you can&mdash;will
+you? You have wounded me sometimes,
+but never knowingly. I cannot say that
+of many others with whom I have had
+dealings. Good-night."</p>
+
+<p>The little parlor was still. Mrs. Hammond
+never kept her maid up to assist in
+her disrobing, if she intended remaining
+out until a late hour. Nurse and child
+were quiet in the adjacent nursery. Closing
+the door of communication, Sarah
+stripped her hair and arms of their ornaments;
+took off her diamond pin, then her
+rings, and laid them away in her jewelry
+case; divested herself of her rich dress,
+and drew from her wardrobe a plain, dark
+wrapper, which she put on. Next she
+sat down at her writing-desk, selected a
+sheet of paper, and wrote a single line&mdash;when
+a thought struck her, and she
+stopped. A momentary irresolution ended
+in her tearing off a strip containing what
+she had penned, and holding it in the
+flame of the lamp until it was consumed.
+"Best not! best not!" she muttered.
+"Doubt may bring comfort to the one or
+two who will need it. Let them doubt!
+Save appearances if you can, my poor
+mother would say." A smile of unutterable
+scorn glimmered over her face. She pushed
+away the desk and walked to the window.</p>
+
+<p>From the distant ball-room the throbbing
+waves of music still rolled past on the
+summer air, and blent with them was
+the solemn undertone of the surf. Did men
+call its mighty voice a monotone? To her
+it was eloquent of many and awful things&mdash;not
+frightful. What was there of terror
+in thoughts of rest, endless sleep, rocked
+for ages by the rising and falling tide,
+hushed into dreamless repose by the music
+of the billows? No more of a vain and
+wearisome life; no more baffled aspirations
+and crushed affections; no more disheartening
+attempts to find and reach the right&mdash;to
+follow in the steep, rugged path of
+duty, and shun the easy, alluring way to
+which heart and memory were ever pointing;
+no more of stern rebuke and sneering
+taunt; no more galled pride and outraged
+womanhood; no more lying gayety, smiles,
+and repartee, when the spirit was writhing
+in impotent agony, longing to shriek out
+its intensity of woe! Only sleep, rest,
+peace!</p>
+
+<p>"Sleep! rest peace!" She gasped the
+words feverishly, as they seemed to come
+to her on the breeze. Might she not
+seek these now! now! Not yet! The
+grounds, the beach were still populous
+with groups of strollers. She would be
+seen&mdash;perhaps recognized&mdash;probably frustrated
+in her purpose. Leaning her head
+against the casement, she sat there an
+hour&mdash;not debating, still less wavering in
+her resolve, only waiting until flight would
+be safe&mdash;and thinking! thinking! thinking!
+until her brain whirled.</p>
+
+<p>A thwarted, warped, disjointed existence
+had hers been from its beginning. Denied
+food suitable for the mental and spiritual
+need; denied sympathy, air, and expression
+of suffering; under the slow torture of this
+starvation, every avenue to goodness and
+liberty hedged up, and, for the future,
+temptation, repudiation, loneliness, perhaps
+a sullied name&mdash;who could dispute
+her right to try release by one brief pang
+she alone could feel? Who would miss her?
+Not the world that flattered her wealth
+and wit, her laces, silks, and diamonds;
+not the mother and sister who worshipped
+the gilded Juggernaut "Society;" not he
+who was that night sleeping soundly on
+the same sea that would embosom her in
+her sweeter, deeper slumber. Shocked he
+might be at an event so unexpected and
+uncommon. His next sensation would be
+a relief at his deliverance from a burden,
+at his freedom to come and go as he liked&mdash;no
+longer banished by her obstinacy and
+his own. He had loved her as most other
+men do their wives&mdash;a bond too weak to
+bear a heavy blow at their self-love. She
+had sinned beyond forgiveness in his eyes.</p>
+
+<p>Of Philip she thought with a mingling
+of tenderness and resentment. His unthinking
+gallantry had been the root of
+her sorest trouble; but it was unthinking,
+not wilful wrong. Nor was she the only
+sufferer. His heart was well-nigh as hungry
+as hers. Within the past week she
+had seen this more clearly than ever before,
+and he had felt it! Lucy's narrow
+mind, her insipidity, her inordinate vanity,
+her selfish idolatry of pleasures that
+wearied him; her disrelish for intellectual
+and domestic enjoyments, displayed in its
+most objectionable form, in her indifference
+to his company, and her neglect of her
+child&mdash;these were working out their legitimate
+result in his alienation from her, and
+attraction towards the once slighted sister,
+whose large heart and mental gifts
+he now valued at their true worth. To
+repel him, as much as to drown her cares,
+Sarah had plunged into the vortex she had
+heretofore avoided. She had heard that
+there was temporary solace in this species
+of dissipation. The cup was, for her,
+sparkless and bitter, from surface to dregs.</p>
+
+<p>She was saving him with herself by this
+final step! He would realize this truth,
+in the throe that would shake his soul
+when he found she was gone; perhaps,
+even in that anguished hour, would
+bless her for having showed to him, while
+she drove him back from, the abyss they
+were together approaching. It was no
+idle vaunt she had made to Lewis, that
+the principles inherited from her father
+would save her from overt sin. Thus,
+thus would she flee the temptation, when
+the heart had left the will to battle unaided.</p>
+
+<p>Her father! the gray old man who was
+toiling through this summer's heat, in his
+deserted home, as he had through so many
+summers gone! he who had never given
+her an impatient or angry word&mdash;whose
+pride and joy she still was! The stroke
+would be severe upon him. Yet he would
+not refuse comfort. There were still left
+to him his boys&mdash;fine, manly fellows; Jeannie
+and his baby grandchild&mdash;his lost
+daughter's gift. Tears rushed into the hot,
+wild eyes with this last image, but she
+would not let them flow.</p>
+
+<p>"Is it not better that I should leave her
+now, when the parting will give her no
+pain, when one little week will blot out my
+memory entirely from her mind, than to
+wait until she can recollect and miss me?"</p>
+
+<p>The music had ceased. The revellers had
+dropped away faster than they had collected,
+when once the movement was made
+to retire. The murmur of the deep was
+the only sound abroad; the stars were
+the only sentinels. Sarah arose, threw a
+shawl over her head, and cautiously unlocked
+the door. A strong rush of air
+blew it from her hold, and as she caught
+it, to draw it after her, she trod upon
+some object lying on the floor. Mechanically
+she stooped to pick it up. It was an
+infant's shoe, a dainty little gaiter, that
+peeped, during the day, from beneath
+Baby Belle's white skirt. To Sarah's
+touch it seemed that the lining still retained
+the warmth of the child's foot.</p>
+
+<p>Never, oh, never, was the patter of those
+baby feet to make glad music for the
+mother's ear! Others must guide and sustain
+her trial steps; others smooth her
+daily path; others direct the inexperience
+of the girl in the perilous passes where
+that mother had fallen and perished!</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, may I not bless her before I leave
+her forever?" she cried to stern Resolution.
+And Conscience rejoined, with meaning
+severity: "Is it you who would breathe
+a blessing above her purity?"</p>
+
+<p>"Suffer me, then, to take the farewell
+look I dared not grant myself before!"</p>
+
+<p>And while Resolution faltered at the
+impassioned appeal, she opened the nursery
+door and stole to the side of the crib.
+The night-lamp shed a feeble halo over the
+table whereon it stood. The rest of the
+room was in darkness. Mary's light bedstead
+was close to the crib. Was hers
+that hard, short breathing, that sent a
+start and chill through the hearer? A
+touch to the lamp threw a blaze of light
+over nurse and child. A sharp cry rang
+through the chamber.</p>
+
+<p>"Mary, Mary! get up!"</p>
+
+<p>The girl sprang to the floor before she
+comprehended the meaning of the alarm.
+Mrs. Hammond had sunk into a chair
+beside the crib, from which she had
+snatched her infant. Baby Belle's head
+was strained back; her hands clenched;
+her limbs stiffened in a death-like spasm.
+The eyes were rolled out of sight under
+the lids; and the four little teeth&mdash;her
+"most precious pearls," the fond mother
+had called them&mdash;were hard-locked within
+the purple lips.</p>
+
+<p>Terrified as she was, Mary had the presence
+of mind to run for assistance. Mrs.
+Hunt and a physician were soon on the
+spot, and every appliance of the healing
+art that promised relief to the sufferer
+was used, but with partial effect. Sarah
+saw nothing but the child; heard nothing
+but the doctor's calm orders.</p>
+
+<p>"You do not try to help her!" she said,
+impatiently, as a convulsion, more fearful
+than any that had preceded it, seized the
+delicate frame.</p>
+
+<p>"I could not do more, were it my own
+child, madam!"</p>
+
+<p>He was an elderly man, whose charity
+for fashionable mothers was very scant,
+and, having seen Mrs. Hammond in the
+ball-room the evening before, he was not
+prepared for the solicitude she manifested.</p>
+
+<p>"You had better let the nurse take her!"
+he said, more gently, as Sarah, with difficulty,
+held down the struggling hands
+that might do hurt to the head and face.</p>
+
+<p>"No! I will have no one touch her but
+myself!"</p>
+
+<p>The morning broke, the day heightened
+into noon, and the paroxysms only
+abated in violence as the babe's strength
+declined. Steadfast to her word, the
+mother had not once resigned her. She
+had herself immersed her in the warm
+baths, applied the poultices, and administered
+the medicines prescribed. Mrs.
+Hunt was compassionate and active; Mary
+sorrowful, and prompt with whatever service<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_59" id="Page_59">[59]</a></span>
+she could perform; Lucy frightened
+and idle.</p>
+
+<p>Philip, who had often been in the outer
+room to make inquiries and offer aid, if
+any were required of him, was told, just
+before sunset, that he could go into the
+chamber. Mrs. Hunt invited him, and the
+information she added gave to his countenance
+a look of heartfelt sadness as he
+followed her. Sarah sat in the middle of
+the room, so altered that he could scarcely
+credit the fact of her identity with the
+being he had parted from the previous
+night. Her eyes were sunken, her features
+sharpened, and her complexion had the
+dead, grayish hue of an old woman's. In
+her arms lay the babe, and, as she
+crouched over it, her mien of defiant protection
+suggested to him the idea of a
+savage animal guarding her young. He
+could not say whether or not she was
+aware of his presence, until he knelt by
+the dying child and called it by name.</p>
+
+<p>"Baby Belle, do you know Uncle Philip?"</p>
+
+<p>The dark eyes, soft still through the
+gathering film, moved slightly, and Sarah
+said&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>"Speak to her again!"</p>
+
+<p>"Will Baby Belle come to uncle?"</p>
+
+<p>This time there was no sign of consciousness.
+The wee hands clasped in the
+mother's grew colder and colder, and the
+breath fluttered slowly through the parted
+lips. The end was near, and Philip's pitying
+accent expressed his sense of this.</p>
+
+<p>"Give her to me, dear Sarah! It is not
+right for you to keep her longer."</p>
+
+<p>"She is mine!"</p>
+
+<p>The glare that came to her eye with the
+three words revealed a desperation that
+would have done battle with the King of
+Terrors, had he appeared in visible shape
+to claim his victim.</p>
+
+<p>More faintly, slowly, trembled the life
+over the sweet mouth, and the hands, like
+waxen shapes, lay pulseless in the mother's
+clasp; while through the silent room
+flowed the dirge of the sea. Shaken by
+the freshening breeze of evening, the
+shutters of the western window swung
+ajar, letting in a golden ray upon mother
+and child, and along that path of light
+the untarnished soul of Baby Belle was
+borne by its waiting angel&mdash;home!</p>
+
+<hr class="chap" />
+
+<h2>CHAPTER XVIII.</h2>
+
+
+<p>Aunt Sarah sat in the wide porch at the
+back of her house, knitting in hand. It
+was a still, but not oppressive August
+afternoon. There was not a ruffle on the
+bright surface of the river, and the long
+meadow grass was as smoothly spread out
+in the yellow sunshine. From the poultry-yard
+on the left arose a pleasant murmur,
+and now and then a stray hen tiptoed
+around the end of the house, singing
+idly as she rambled. Charley lay on the
+green mound&mdash;his old reading-room&mdash;with
+a book before him, and to him Aunt
+Sarah's motherly eyes turned most frequently.
+Those kindly orbs were dimmer
+than they were two summers ago, and the
+gentle face was a thought more pensive.
+A glance into the sitting-room window,
+from where she sat, would have showed
+one Uncle Nathan's empty arm-chair in the
+chimney corner, and above it were suspended
+his cane and broad-brimmed hat,
+just as he had put them off when he took
+his departure for a country where neither
+shelter nor staff is needed. Aunt Sarah's<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_60" id="Page_60">[60]</a></span>
+cap had a widow's border now; and in
+her faithful heart there was a sadder void
+than the death of her children had created&mdash;loving
+parent though she was&mdash;and yet
+more plentiful springs of sympathy for
+others bereaved and suffering.</p>
+
+<p>Her rocking-chair was set near the entrance
+of the hall that bisected the dwelling;
+and the front and back doors being
+open, she had a fair view of the public
+road, whenever she chose to look up the
+lane. The Shrewsbury stage met the boat
+at four o'clock, or soon after; and hearing
+a rumbling along the highway, which she
+knew presaged its transit through this
+end of the village, the old lady leaned
+forward to catch a glimpse of the trunks
+upon the roof; this being all she could distinguish
+with certainty above the fence.</p>
+
+<p>"Why, it is stopping here!" she ejaculated,
+getting up to obtain a better look.
+"Who upon earth can it be?"</p>
+
+<p>The coach rolled on, and the passenger
+for the farm-house came through the gate
+and down the lane. She was dressed in
+black, wore a crape veil, and carried a
+small hand-trunk. With a hospitable instinct,
+Aunt Sarah advanced to the front
+porch to meet her, still entirely in the dark
+as to who it could be.</p>
+
+<p>"She has a different look from any of
+the neighbors; and there's nobody in York
+that would be likely to come to see me,
+except Betsy's people, and it can't be
+either of her girls!"</p>
+
+<p>At this stage of her cogitations, the
+visitant reached the step on which the
+hostess stood, and put away the long veil
+from a face so worn and seamed with
+grief, so hollow-eyed and old, that the
+good aunt screamed outright in her distressed
+astonishment&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>"Sarah, dear child! can this be you?"</p>
+
+<p>"What I am now, Aunt Sarah. May I
+come in and stay with you a little while?"</p>
+
+<p>"Stay with me, poor darling! As long as
+you like, and welcome! Come right in;
+you don't look fit to stand!"</p>
+
+<p>She was not; for, now that the necessity
+for exertion was removed, she was faint
+and trembling. Aunt Sarah helped her upstairs
+to the room she had occupied at her
+former visit, undressed her, and put her
+to bed. Sarah submitted like a child, too
+much exhausted to resist being made an
+invalid of, or to offer any explanation of
+her singular apparition. She had not slept
+an hour at a time for many nights; yet
+when she had drunk a cup of tea, and
+tried to eat a bit of toast her aunt prepared
+and brought up to her, she fell into
+a profound slumber, which lasted until
+long after sunrise on the following morning.
+Unclosing her eyes then, they rested
+upon the dear face, shaded by the widow's
+cap, that watched at her bedside. A shadowy
+phantom of a smile flitted over her
+features at the recognition.</p>
+
+<p>"It was not a dream, then?" she said
+languidly. "But I have dreamed of you
+often, of late&mdash;every night in which I have
+had any sleep. Aunt Sarah, I must tell
+you why I came to you!"</p>
+
+<p>"Not now, dear," Aunt Sarah hastened to
+say, seeing the wild stare and the cloud
+return to her countenance. "Wait until
+you are stronger. I will bring up your
+breakfast, and when you have eaten it,
+you may try to dress, if you like. There
+will be time enough for your story, by-and-by.
+Charley is in a great fidget to see
+you."</p>
+
+<p>Sarah submitted to the delay; but it was
+plain that she was not satisfied with it,
+and that her mind would be easier when
+once the tale was told. Aunt Sarah hindered
+her no longer a time than sufficed
+for her to take the much needed refreshment,
+to bathe and dress, and to see and
+exchange a few sentences with Charley,
+who supported her down to the sitting-room.
+There, resting among the pillows
+of the lounge, Aunt Sarah beside her, with
+the ubiquitous knitting-work in hand, lest
+too close observation should confuse her
+niece, the stricken one unfolded the whole
+of her sad history.</p>
+
+<p>No more affecting proof could have been
+given of her prostrated mind and will than
+this unreserved recital. The secret she had
+sold conscience and liberty to preserve,
+she communicated now without a blush.
+Here&mdash;where she had formed the intimacy
+that had shadowed so darkly her after
+days&mdash;she detailed every step of the wrong
+course to which this weakness was a
+key; went over all&mdash;the stormy parting
+with her husband; her conviction of the
+mutual peril she and Philip were tempting
+in their daily communion; her resolve of
+self-destruction&mdash;as circumstantially as if
+she were relating the biography of another.</p>
+
+<p>Aunt Sarah, horrified and pitiful by
+turns, struggled with indifferent success to
+maintain equal composure, and against
+growing doubts of the narrator's sanity.
+It was a striking and instructive contrast:
+the world-weary woman returning for consolation
+and advice to the simple-minded
+matron, to whom the artificial existence
+she now heard depicted&mdash;its gilded vices
+and giddy round of vanities; its trials and
+temptations&mdash;were a wonderful, a monstrous
+tale, as foreign to her sphere of principles
+and feelings as if they had transpired in
+another world. But when Sarah came to
+speak of her child, her manner changed,
+her voice was hoarse and uneven, and
+over the careworn visage there went such
+alterations of fierceness and heart-breaking
+sorrow that the listening mother, upon
+whose soul the shadow of her own children's
+graves still lay long and dark, could
+hear no more in silence.</p>
+
+<p>"My poor girl!" she cried, falling on her
+knees, and throwing her arms around the
+reclining figure. "Dear child! Our Father
+in heaven pity and comfort you! There
+is no help in man for such trouble as
+yours!"</p>
+
+<p>Sarah had not shed a tear in the course
+of her story. She said afterwards that
+she had not wept since they took her dead
+baby from her clasp; but at this burst of
+unfeigned sympathy, this gush of pure
+love and compassion, the burning rock was
+cleft, and a blessed flood streamed from
+it. For some minutes they wept together
+without restraint, and when the more quiet
+grief of the elder mourner was repressed,
+the other still clung, sobbing to her bosom.</p>
+
+<p>Aunt Sarah held and soothed her as she
+would have done a sorrowful child; stroking
+away the hair from her forehead,
+drying and kissing the tear-stained cheeks,
+with many an epithet of fond reassurance.</p>
+
+<p>"Let me finish! There is very little
+more!" resumed Sarah, keeping her aunt's
+hand fast in both of hers. "We went back
+to the city, and the next day we laid her in
+Greenwood. We stayed at father's&mdash;I
+would not return to the house that used
+to be mine. Father was very kind, and
+mother meant to be; but she tormented
+me with suggestions and consultations
+about my black clothes. Lucy was pining
+to get back to Newport. She said it was
+hot and dull in New York. Philip wanted
+to comfort me, but I shunned him, and I
+think he was hurt by my conduct; but
+it was best, was it not, Aunt Sarah?"</p>
+
+<p>"Certainly, dear!"</p>
+
+<p>"I had often imagined myself lonely before;
+but I never dreamed of such a horror
+of desolation as filled my soul during the
+two days that I remained there, after all
+was over. Twenty times each night I
+would start from a feverish doze, thinking
+that I heard my baby cry or moan as she
+did in the intervals of those awful convulsions;
+and then would come in upon
+me, as if I had never felt it until then,
+the truth that I could never see her again,
+and that my wicked, wicked intention of
+deserting her had brought this judgment
+upon me. I could not stay there, Aunt
+Sarah! I heard other voices besides my
+child's in the air, and saw strange, grinning
+faces in the darkness. But the worst
+was to see that, to every one but me, the
+world was the same that it had ever been.
+Father looked grave when I was in his
+sight; but the children could laugh and
+talk as if nothing had happened, and I
+have seen mother and Lucy chattering
+merrily in the room with the dressmaker
+over my new dresses, while they were
+criticizing the crape trimmings. And I
+had buried my last earthly hope in my
+baby's grave! Then I remembered you,
+and how you had talked to me of your lost
+children, and how you had assured me of
+a home in your heart and house whenever
+I chose to claim it, and I believed in you,
+Aunt Sarah! There are not many whom
+I do trust; but I was sure you never said
+what you did not mean. I would not tell
+them that I was coming for I feared they
+would prevent me. I slipped out of the
+house when none of them were at home,
+and went to the nearest hack-stand, where
+I got into a carriage and drove down to
+the boat."</p>
+
+<p>"My dear, did you leave no letter to let
+them know where you had gone?"</p>
+
+<p>"No, ma'am. I was afraid they would
+come or send for me, and I cannot go
+back."</p>
+
+<p>"But your father&mdash;your mother! Did you
+not think how distressed they would be
+when they missed you? And your reputation?
+What will be said when it's known
+that you have left your father's house,
+and no one knows where you are? You are
+very weak and tired, dear; but you must
+sit up, right away, and write a note home.
+Tell them that I will take care of you
+as long as you like to stay with me, but
+don't lose a minute! You may be in time
+for the afternoon boat."</p>
+
+<p>Sarah obeyed; and the careful old lady
+hurried Charley off to the boat, with directions
+to place the billet in the hands of
+the captain, who was a personal friend,
+and could be relied upon to post it directly
+he reached the city.</p>
+
+<p>Mr. Hunt replied without delay. Sarah's
+absence had given rise to the most harrowing
+conjectures, made plausible by her
+extreme melancholy and fitful behavior
+since her infant's death. The police had
+been privately notified of her disappearance,
+and cautiously worded advertisements
+inserted in the papers. He regretted
+to add that Mr. Marlow, who, as<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_61" id="Page_61">[61]</a></span>
+Mr. Hammond's nearest friend, was informed
+of the distressing occurrence, had
+thought proper to communicate the intelligence
+to Mr. H. before Sarah's note arrived,
+and the steamer bearing the letter
+had sailed. Mr. Hunt expressed himself
+as entirely willing that his daughter should
+remain in her present retreat until her
+health of mind and body was re-established,
+but did not conceal his disapprobation
+of the manner of her leaving home.</p>
+
+<p>Aunt Sarah looked concerned as she read
+this epistle, which her niece had passed
+over to her.</p>
+
+<p>"I am sorry for your husband, my dear.
+This affliction, coming so close upon the
+other, will be a dreadful blow. It is a
+pity they did not wait awhile, until they
+knew something of your whereabouts, before
+writing to him.</p>
+
+<p>"I am more sorry that the news must
+be contradicted," was the reply. "As we
+are now situated, the certainty of my
+death would be a relief to him. This was
+my reflection that night"&mdash;She left the
+sentence unfinished.</p>
+
+<p>"My dear!" Aunt Sarah removed her
+spectacles, and surveyed her niece with
+her kind, serious eyes. "Have you made
+up your mind to live separate from your
+husband for the rest of your life?"</p>
+
+<p>"What else should I do, aunt? He will
+never come back unless I promise to love
+him, and that cannot be."</p>
+
+<p>"That doesn't alter the fact of your
+duty, as I look at it. You ought to make
+him an offer to do right, at any rate. It
+would have been easier and pleasanter to
+live with him, if you had felt for him as a
+woman should for the man she marries;
+but you are married to him, and in the
+sight of the Lord you ought to cleave to
+him, and him only. That is a solemn covenant,
+dear&mdash;'for richer, for poorer; for
+better, for worse!' 'Those whom God hath
+joined together, let not man put asunder!'
+It doesn't excuse people, who take these
+vows upon them when the right spirit is
+wanting, that they never thought how
+awful the engagement was. Their obligations
+are just the same, whether they love
+or not."</p>
+
+<p>"The responsibility does not rest with
+me. I performed my duty while we were
+together. The separation was his act, and
+he must abide the consequences. I have
+erred greatly, Aunt Sarah; but ever since
+the night of our rupture, my conscience
+has been easy with respect to Mr. Hammond.
+I confessed that I had misled him,
+and begged his pardon. Could I do more?"</p>
+
+<p>"Put the case to yourself, child! Do not
+be angry if I speak out my mind, and
+use against you some things you have told
+me. When you saw that Philip was growing
+to like you better and better, and that
+you felt nearer to him every day, why did
+you determine to die sooner than to have
+things go on so?"</p>
+
+<p>"Because it would have been a crime
+for us to love each other&mdash;infamous treachery
+to my sister, to his wife, for us to
+name the word between us."</p>
+
+<p>"And how would Lucy have felt, if you
+had come to an understanding and spoken
+out the true feeling of your hearts?"</p>
+
+<p>"Hers is a careless, indolent nature, but
+this insult would have aroused her. She
+would never have forgiven him or me,
+had she suspected a warmer sentiment
+on either side than that of friendship."</p>
+
+<p>"But an honorable, affectionate man like<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_62" id="Page_62">[62]</a></span>
+your husband, who thought his wife the
+most precious thing in the world, was to
+forget his disappointment, overlook your
+lack of love and truth towards him, only
+because you allowed that he had found
+out your real feelings at last, and all the
+excuse you could give was that you could
+not help them! You were the one in fault
+all the way through, from the day you
+engaged to marry him, up to the minute
+when you would not say the word he
+begged from you to keep him at home.
+It is right that all the advance should
+come from you."</p>
+
+<p>High-spirited as Sarah was, she was not
+angered by this plain-speaking. "Faithful
+are the wounds of a friend;" and she felt
+that she had but this one. Aunt Sarah
+studied her thoughtful countenance before
+she renewed the argument.</p>
+
+<p>"I am an old-fashioned woman, dear&mdash;born
+and bred in the country, where, thank
+God! I have spent all my life. But I've
+been thinking about your story of the way
+people act and feel up there in York, and
+maybe in all other great, fine, money-making
+cities, and my notion is just this.
+I look back of their pushing and straining
+after riches, and show, and worldly vanities;
+every man for himself, and the one
+that climbs highest, forgetting as soon as
+he gets there that he was ever any lower,
+and ready to kick over anybody that tries
+to get alongside of him; and I see that
+they have lost sight of the second great
+commandment&mdash;'Thou shalt love thy neighbor
+as thyself.' Then I look back of this
+too, and I see where the greatest sin is,
+and&mdash;dear, bear with me! I see where
+you have gone furthest astray. Here's a
+passage I was reading this morning that
+tells the whole story." She raised the
+Bible from the table, and laid it upon
+Sarah's lap, pointing as she did so to
+these words enclosed in brackets:</p>
+
+<p>"Because thou hast forgotten the God
+of thy salvation, and hast not been mindful
+of the rock of thy strength, therefore
+shalt thou plant pleasant plants, and shalt
+set it with strange slips. In the day thou
+shalt make thy plant to grow, and in the
+morning shalt thou make thy seed to
+flourish; but the harvest shall be a heap
+in the day of grief and desperate sorrow!"</p>
+
+<p>Mrs. Hunt would have regarded as an insult
+any expressed doubt of her religious
+principles and practice. She had a desirable
+pew in the fashionable church which
+was nearest her residence, and, stormy
+Sabbaths excepted, it was generally full
+at morning service. When her children
+were presentable as to looks, very young
+babies being seldom pretty, they were offered
+in fine lawn and Valenciennes at
+the font for the rite of baptism; and not
+a confirmation had passed since her daughters
+were grown, that she did not fancy
+how interesting they would look, kneeling
+before the surpliced bishop, heads gracefully
+bowed, and the regards of the whole
+congregation fixed upon them. Sarah
+never could be brought to the performance
+of the commonest act of public worship,
+unless it was to rise with the rest, when
+a standing posture was prescribed by the
+prayer-book; and she shocked her mother
+by declaring that she only did this because
+she was tired of sitting! Lucy's
+serene grace of devoutness was beautiful,
+if not edifying to behold. Those who occupied
+adjacent pews involuntarily suppressed
+their responses as her mellow
+tones repeated, with melancholy sweetness&mdash;"Have
+mercy upon us, miserable sinners!"
+And as the melting cadences entranced
+their ears, the lovely penitent was
+speculating upon the probable cost of Miss
+Hauton's Parisian hat, or coveting Mrs.
+Beau Monde's sable cloak.</p>
+
+<p>If Sarah had even heard of regeneration,
+it was as a technical phrase of the church
+articles and christening service. Of its
+practical meaning, its inward application,
+its absolute necessity to the safety of the
+soul, she had as vague a conception as a
+Parsee or New Zealand cannibal would
+have formed. She had read the Bible in
+connection with rhetorical lectures, and
+admired it as a noble specimen of Oriental
+literature. What other associations could
+she have with it? A handsome copy of the
+Holy Scriptures, surmounted by a book
+of common prayer, lay on a stand in Mrs.
+Hunt's third and rear parlor, and was
+dusted when a like attention was paid to
+the other ornaments of tables and etageres.
+An Oxford edition, russet antique, formed
+one of the wedding-gifts of each of the
+sisters, and in due time was laid in pious
+pomp on its purple pillow in the library
+corner. It was hardly strange, then, that
+the quotation, so apposite to the case in
+point, should fail to impress her very
+strongly. Aunt Sarah had gone out, deeming
+solitary reflection the best means of
+enforcing the lesson she had tried to inculcate,
+and, after re-reading the two
+verses, without further appropriation of
+their meaning, Sarah turned leaf after leaf
+of the volume, catching here and there a
+sentence of the large print, so grateful to
+the failing sight of her who was its daily
+student.</p>
+
+<p>"David said unto his servants&mdash;'Is the
+child dead?' And they said, 'He is dead!'"</p>
+
+<p>The smitten chord in the mother's heart
+sent out a ring of pain, and her listless
+hand paused upon the open page. It is a
+simple story&mdash;the royal parent's unavailing
+wrestle with the Chastener, the dread end
+of his suspense, and the affliction, made
+manifest in the calm resignation, the sanctified
+trust of the mourner. But when
+received as Sarah read it, with the vision
+of a similar death-scene intermixing itself
+with its unadorned details, the fresh blood
+still welling from the wound made by the
+tearing away of a portion of one's own
+life, every line is fraught with truth and
+pathos.</p>
+
+<p>"Can I bring him back again? I shall
+go to him, but he shall not return to me!"</p>
+
+<p>"Go to her! Oh, if I could! My baby!
+my baby!"</p>
+
+<p>To the low, sad cry succeeded a season of
+yearning and of tears. It was an echo of
+the wail of the heathen mother who, centuries
+ago, having seen her babes slain before
+her eyes, cried aloud, in unselfish
+agony, as the sword, reeking with their
+blood, was plunged into her own bosom&mdash;"Oh,
+my children! where are ye?"</p>
+
+<p>Sleep on, in thy lowly bed upon the hillside,
+sweet Baby Belle! Like the pale
+buds that are fading with thee in thy narrow
+resting-place, thy mission on earth is
+accomplished. Joy, young freed spirit, if,
+stealing through the melodies of heaven,
+there comes to thee the whisper of that
+mother's call! Fair lamb! the love that
+folded thee in the Shepherd's arms designed
+likewise, in recalling thee, to lure
+the wandering parent home!</p>
+
+<hr class="chap" />
+
+<h2>CHAPTER XIX.</h2>
+
+
+<blockquote>
+
+<p>"My Dear Lewis: Before you receive this letter,
+you will have had the explanation of my disappearance
+from New York. A merciful Providence
+directed me, in my partial derangement, to this
+peaceful retreat. Here I have found rest for body
+and soul&mdash;peace such as the world could never
+give the heart, even were it not bowed down by
+a sorrow like mine. Not that I forget past errors;
+nor that the review does not humble me in the
+dust. I confess, with shame and bitterness of
+spirit, my wasted years, my unsanctified affections,
+my evil passions. But for the assurance of the
+Father's pardon, the Saviour's loving pity, the
+black catalogue would strike me dead with horror
+and anguish. It is a fearful thing to be made to
+see one's self as she is; to scan in terrified solicitude
+the record of a life, and find there nothing
+better than pride, misanthropy, falsehood, hatred
+of men&mdash;rebellion against God. It is a sweet experience
+to taste, however tremblingly, the consolations
+of the Friend who invites the weary and
+heavy-laden to draw near and learn of Him. In
+His strength&mdash;not in that feebleness I once called
+power&mdash;have I resolved to lead a new life. Of the
+causes which have contributed to produce this
+change, we will speak more at length when we
+meet.</p>
+
+<p>"'When we meet!' Lewis, will you, can you
+forget your manifold wrongs and come back to me?
+I do not plead, now, 'for the sake of our child.'
+Her sinless soul henceforth can know no pain or
+woe. God saw that I was not worthy of her, and
+He took her. In the earlier weeks of my selfish
+mourning, I had no thought of your bereavement.
+Latterly, I have longed to comfort you, for I
+know that your heart is riven by this stroke. She
+was your joy, as she was my angel of peace. Her
+loss is our common sorrow. Shall it not draw us
+together? Yet, as I have said, our estrangement
+cannot now affect her. Thoughtless of evil, she
+passed away. Had she lived, the Omniscient only
+knows what grief and mortification might have
+darkened her pathway. Nor do I desire a reconciliation
+as a shield from the world's sneer or ban.
+I hold its applause and its censure alike cheaply.
+In prosperity, its favors were painted, tasteless
+fruit; in adversity, it would have fed my starving
+heart with husks. But for my sake&mdash;by the
+thought of my late and sore repentance; by the
+remorse that must gnaw my spirit, when I remember
+your noble trust in me, your unswerving fidelity,
+your generous love and my base requital of it
+all; by the sorrow that never leaves me by day or
+by night&mdash;forgive me, and return to the home we
+have both forsaken! I will serve you very faithfully,
+my husband! I have gained other and higher
+views of the marriage relation within a short time
+past. However presumptuously I may have assumed
+its responsibilities, however unworthily I
+performed its duties in former days, I would enter
+upon our re-engagement with a solemn sense of
+what I owe to you and to Him who united us.
+You must have despised me at our parting, and
+since. Perhaps you have come to think of me with
+dislike as well as contempt. I will bear this&mdash;grievous
+though the burden will be&mdash;as a part of
+my righteous punishment. I will never murmur&mdash;never,
+even in thought, accuse you of unjust harshness,
+if you will grant me the opportunity to make
+what amends I can for all you have lost and suffered
+through my fault."</p></blockquote>
+
+<p>Sarah was still far from strong; and wearied as
+much by the intensity of her feelings as by the
+manual effort of writing, she laid the pen down,
+and leaned back in the cushioned chair. Her table
+stood in the parlor beneath the window overlooking
+the river. The room was prim and clean, as of
+yore, with its straight lines of chairs; its shining
+specks of mirrors; the grim black profiles above
+the mantel, and the green boughs in the fireplace.
+The outer scene was in its general features, that
+which the girl had surveyed, with pleased surprise,
+the July evening of her arrival here two years ago.</p>
+
+<p>Only two years! The sufferings and life-lessons
+of twenty had been crowded into that brief space.
+The meadows were growing sere, as if scorching
+winds had swept over them, and the stream reflected<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_63" id="Page_63">[63]</a></span>
+truthfully, yet, one could have fancied,
+sadly, the changing foliage fringing its borders.
+But the sky, with its tender blue and its fleecy
+clouds, ever shifting, yet ever retaining their likeness
+to one another&mdash;the river's smooth, steady
+flow, were the same; fit emblems both of them of
+counsels which are mercy and truth through all
+their workings; of love that abideth forever!</p>
+
+<p>The train of thought was replete with refreshing
+to the spirit that was striving, in prayer and watchfulness,
+to adhere to the right, to accept, with
+meek submission, all that her cup yet held of
+pungent or nauseous lees. There was no affectation
+in the humble tone of her letter. She would
+not begin it until she had mastered the stubborn
+remnant of her native pride. It should be nothing
+to her that her husband had wilfully separated
+himself from her, and refused her overtures of
+reconcilement. If this was unkindness it was all
+she could reproach him with in the course of time
+they had spent together. He had been a true
+friend, an honorable protector, and dimly still, but
+more justly than ever before, she perceived that
+into his love for her there had entered none of the
+merely prudential considerations, the cool calculations,
+wherewith she used to account for his choice
+of herself as a helpmeet. Where, in the world's
+heartless circles, could she point out another wife
+as much indulged, as much honored in public and
+in private, as she once was by him? Mournfully,
+if not lovingly, she dwelt upon the countless evidences
+of his cordial fulfillment, in letter and in
+spirit, of his part of their mutual engagement, with
+something of the sinking heart the alchemist may
+have felt when, after he had, by a mechanical and
+habitual fling of his arm, tossed the eagerly-sought
+philosopher's stone into the sea as a worthless
+pebble, he discovered that the divining steel he
+held had been changed to gold by its touch.</p>
+
+<p>To whom of us has not an experience similar to
+this come? It may be that the eyes which once
+besought affection with dumb and disregarded eloquence
+are closed and rayless for all future time;
+the lips that told, with modest frankness, how dear
+we were to hearts we cared not then to win, are
+now but silent dust. Or, perchance, grieved by
+indifference, repelled by unkindness, those hearts
+have sought and found in other loves solace for the
+pain we, in our blindness inflicted. It matters little
+whether they be dead to all the world, or only
+to us. In either case, the longing and despair of
+our lonely lives are rendered the more unendurable
+from the flash of tardy truth that shows us, side
+by side with our actual poverty of heart riches, the
+tranquil beauty of the pictured "might have been."</p>
+
+<p>Aunt Sarah had gone on a visit to a neighbor;
+the hired girl was in the distant wash-house; and
+Charley considered it his duty to linger within
+easy reach of his cousin, should she need him for
+any purpose. To guard her from all chance of intrusion,
+he stationed himself on the front porch
+steps, with his book on his knee. For an hour he
+read on uninterruptedly; then, glancing up as he
+turned a leaf, he saw a gentleman coming down
+the gravel walk. He looked thin and anxious, and
+his restless eye wandered from door to windows, as
+in expectation of seeing some one beside the boy.
+With a ready apprehension of his infirmity, only to
+be accounted for by some prior knowledge of the
+person he saluted, he took from his pocket a card,
+which he presented before he shook hands with the
+silent host. Charley's intelligent face was one
+beam of pleasure as he read, and his warm grasp
+showed his sympathy in the happiness he fancied
+was in store for his cousin. Inviting the guest by
+a gesture to follow him, he went softly to the parlor-door,
+tapped lightly&mdash;too lightly, indeed, to attract
+the notice of the musing occupant of the
+room, then drew back the bolt, admitted the
+stranger, and delicately withdrew.</p>
+
+<p>Sarah heard the door open and Charley's retreating
+footsteps, and, supposing that he had peeped
+in to see that she was comfortable and wanted for
+nothing, she did not look around. The intruder
+stood still one step within the room, as if unable
+to advance or speak. The languid attitude of the
+figure before him, so unlike the self-poise and
+quiet energy of her former deportment, her black
+dress, even the wasted hands dropped so wearily<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_64" id="Page_64">[64]</a></span>
+upon her lap, told of the storm that had passed
+over her, the utter revolution in her life and
+nature. A struggling sigh he could not repress
+broke from the gazer's breast, and Sarah turned
+hastily towards him. She did not swoon, as he
+feared she would. A thrill, like an electric shock,
+shook her from head to foot; a wild inquiry looked
+from her eyes; a question or the reality of the
+appearance, succeeding so closely to&mdash;did it grow
+out of her revery?</p>
+
+<p>Lewis put this imagination to flight.</p>
+
+<p>"Sarah!" he said, pressing in his the hands she
+extended mutely. "They told me you were lost,
+and I hurried home to find you. I could not wait
+for your permission to come to you, when I learned
+in New York that I had a living wife! The loss
+of the child was heavy enough; but this"&mdash;He
+could say no more.</p>
+
+<p>"I am thankful! I am glad that you are here!"
+A faint, beautiful smile shone over her wan features.
+"And our baby, Lewis! We must remember
+that she is an angel now!"</p>
+
+
+
+<hr class="chap" />
+
+<h2>CHAPTER XX.</h2>
+
+
+<p>To no one except Aunt Sarah were the facts of
+the estrangement and reconciliation of her relatives
+ever revealed, and within her faithful bosom the
+secret was hidden as securely as in a tomb.</p>
+
+<p>Great was the chagrin of gossips, male and
+female, when it was known that Mrs. Hammond's
+strange flight from her father's house, which had
+leaked out nobody knew how, and been variously
+construed into an elopement, a freak of derangement,
+and a deliberate intention of suicide, according
+to the degrees of charity possessed by the
+theorists, was a very innocent and unromantic
+journey to the country home of her favorite aunt
+and godmother, a lady of ample fortune and
+benevolent heart, who would, in all probability,
+make her namesake her heiress. Under her care,
+and for the benefit of the seclusion so congenial
+to one in her affliction, and the salt air so necessary
+for the restoration of her impaired health,
+Mrs. Hammond had remained until her husband's
+return from abroad.</p>
+
+<p>Mrs. Hunt had told Mrs. A., who had told Mrs.
+B., who repeated it to Mrs. C., how he had not
+stopped in New York an hour after he stepped
+ashore from the "Adriatic." He hurried to the
+bank, and ascertained from Mr. Hunt that his wife
+was with her aunt, and that a boat which would
+land him near Shrewsbury was to leave in fifteen
+minutes. So he drove down post-haste, and jumped
+on board of her after the plank had been drawn
+and the wheels began to move. There never was
+a more devoted husband or a more attached pair,
+Mrs. Hunt affirmed.</p>
+
+<p>"More than she could say for that flirting Mrs.
+Benson and her other half," agreed A., B. and C.,
+unanimously.</p>
+
+<p>"Her conduct at Newport was scandalous, and
+would have been outrageous if he had not watched
+her like a lynx!" said Mrs. Beau Monde, who had
+never been able to secure one-half as many admirers
+as had Lucy, and hated her as honestly as
+if they were a couple of Biddies pulling caps for
+Patrick or Murphy.</p>
+
+<p>"I don't see why he should have felt jealous, I
+am sure. He wasn't dying of love for her! That
+could be seen with half an eye. They say he loved
+Mrs. Hammond before he addressed her sister, and
+married this one out of spite," rejoined Mrs.
+Townes, who had made beaux yeux at the distingue
+Southerner for three whole evenings, and won only
+the most indifferent glances in requital.</p>
+
+<p>"Mrs. Hammond behaved very prudently!" pronounced
+Mrs. Greyling, "and dressed very well. I
+suppose Mr. Hammond brought her some elegant
+things from abroad. Pity she is in mourning, and
+must dress plainly at present! If I were in her
+place&mdash;as it was only a baby&mdash;I would not wear
+black more than six months, unless it was very
+becoming."</p>
+
+<p>"She has become very religious, you know,"
+said Mrs. Parton.</p>
+
+<p>"Indeed! People are apt to, I think, when
+there has been death in the family," concluded
+Mrs. Greyling, pensively. "I remember, when my
+poor sister died, I used to look forward to church
+and Sunday with real pleasure. I could not go
+anywhere on week-days, you know, although there
+were piles of tickets lying in my card-receiver, and
+we had just taken a box at the opera that very
+winter! I declare, I should have lost the run of
+the fashions entirely, and forgotten people's faces,
+if I had not gone to church. I dare say, too,
+that she finds some comfort in religion&mdash;poor
+woman! if what the preachers and good books tell
+us be true."</p>
+
+<p>Had Sarah found comfort?</p>
+
+<p>Look we, for reply, to the chastened lustre of
+the eye, where once burned restless fires, like the
+sunward gaze of the imprisoned eagle; to the holy
+serenity struggling through and finally dispelling
+the clouds of memory and regret that, at times,
+would roll in between her soul and the bright, sustaining
+hope upon which Faith would have its regards
+forever fixed; to her daily life, sanctified by
+prayer, beneficent in good works, and by its unostentatious
+loveliness winning others, first to admire,
+then to imitate; to the wifely submission and
+loving kindness of her bearing to her husband, her
+grateful estimate of the affection he lavished upon
+her, the deep, true tenderness growing up in her
+heart for this fond and noble companion; look we,
+lastly, to the snowy marble guarding that tiny
+mound in Greenwood, where the mother once believed
+that hope and joy were buried to know no
+awakening.</p>
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">"BABY BELLE,"<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">infant daughter of<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">LEWIS AND SARAH HAMMOND.<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">She went home<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">July 16, 1858, aged 8 months.<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">"Is it well with thee?  Is it well with thy husband?<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Is it well with the child?"<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">And she answered, "It is well!"<br /></span>
+</div></div>
+
+
+<p class="center" style="margin-top: 1em; margin-bottom: 1em;">[THE END.]</p>
+
+
+
+<hr class="chap" />
+
+
+
+<div class="transnote">
+
+<p class="ph2">TRANSCRIBER'S NOTE:</p>
+
+<p> Obvious printer errors have been corrected. Otherwise,
+the author's original spelling, punctuation and hyphenation
+have been left intact.</p>
+</div>
+
+<div>*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 48461 ***</div>
+</body>
+</html>
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+Project Gutenberg (https://www.gutenberg.org) public repository for
+eBook #48461 (https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/48461)
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+The Project Gutenberg EBook of Husks, by Marion Harland
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and most
+other parts of the world 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.  If you are not located in the United States, you'll have
+to check the laws of the country where you are located before using this ebook.
+
+Title: Husks
+
+Author: Marion Harland
+
+Release Date: March 11, 2015 [EBook #48461]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK HUSKS ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by Chris Whitehead, Demian Katz and the Online
+Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (Images
+courtesy of the Digital Library@Villanova University
+(http://digital.library.villanova.edu/))
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+  Price,
+  Ten Cents.      THE ARM CHAIR LIBRARY.       No. 141.
+
+
+
+  [Illustration: _HUSKS_
+
+
+  _By Marion Harland_]
+
+
+
+  F. M. LUPTON, - PUBLISHER, - NEW YORK.
+
+
+
+
+HUSKS.
+
+BY MARION HARLAND.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER I.
+
+
+It was a decided uncompromising rainy day. There were no showers,
+coquetted with by veering winds or dubious mists, that at times grew
+brighter, as if the sun were burning away their lining; but a uniform
+expanse of iron-gray clouds--kept in close, grim column by a steady,
+although not violent east wind--sent straight lines of heavy rain upon
+the earth. The naked trees, that, during the earlier hours of the
+deluge had seemed to shiver for the immature leaf-buds, so unfit to
+endure the rough handling of the storm, now held out still, patient
+arms, the rising sap curdled within their hearts. The gutters were
+brimming streams, and the sidewalks were glazed with thin sheets of
+water.
+
+The block of buildings before which our story pauses, was, as a glance
+would have showed the initiated in the grades of Gotham life, highly
+respectable, even in the rain. On a clear day when the half-folded
+blinds revealed the lace, silken and damask draperies within, when
+young misses and masters--galvanized show-blocks of purple and fine
+linen, that would have passed muster behind the plate-glass of Genin
+or Madame Demorest--tripped after hoops or promenaded the smooth
+pavement; when pretty, jaunty one-horse carriages, and more pretentious
+equipages, each with a pair of prancing steeds, and two "outside
+passengers" in broadcloth and tinsel hatbands, received and discharged
+their loads before the brown-stone fronts--had the afore-mentioned
+spectator chanced to perambulate this not spacious street, he would
+have conceded to it some degree of the fashion claimed for it by its
+inhabitants. There were larger houses and wider pavements to be had for
+the same price a few blocks further on, in more than one direction,
+but these were unanimously voted "less eligible" and "deficient in
+style," in spite of the fact that as good and better materials were
+employed in their construction, and they were in all respects equal in
+external show and inside finish to those in this model quarter. "But
+our block has a certain air--well--I don't know what; but it is just
+the thing, you know, and so convenient! So near the avenue!" would be
+the concluding argument.
+
+The nameless, indescribable charm of the locality lay in the last
+clause. "Just step around the corner and you are in the avenue," said
+the favored dwellers in this vicinity, as the climax in the description
+of their abode, and "that way fashion lies" to every right-minded New
+Yorker of the feminine gender.
+
+But the aristocratic quiet of the neighborhood, rendered oppressive
+and depressing by the gloom of the day, was disturbed by a discordant
+sound--a child's cry, and what was especially martyrizing to refined
+auriculars, the lament had the unmistakable plebeian accent. The
+passionate scream with which the pampered darling of the nursery
+resents interference with his rights and liberty of tyranny or the
+angry remonstrance of his injured playmates, would have been quite
+another species of natural eloquence, as regards both quality and
+force, from the weak, broken wail that sobbed along the wet streets.
+Moreover, what respectable child could be abroad on foot in this
+weather? So, the disrespectable juvenile pursued her melancholy way
+unnoticed and unquestioned until she reached the middle of the square.
+There a face appeared at a window in the second story of a house--which
+only differed from those to its right, left and opposite in the number
+upon the door--vanished and in half a minute more a young lady appeared
+in the sheltered vestibule.
+
+"What is the matter, little girl?"
+
+The tone was not winning, yet the sobs ceased, and the child looked
+up, as to a friendly questioner. She was about eleven years of age, if
+one had judged from her size and form; but her features were pinched
+into unnatural maturity. Her attire was wretched, at its best estate;
+now, soaked by the rain, the dingy hood drooped over her eyes; the dark
+cotton shawl retained not one of its original colors, and the muddy
+dress flapped and dripped about her ankles. Upon one foot she wore an
+old cloth gaiter, probably picked up from an ash heap; the remains of a
+more sorry slipper were tied around the other.
+
+"I am so cold and wet, and my matches is all sp'ilt," she answered in
+a dolorous tone, lifting the corner of a scrap of oil-cloth, which
+covered a basket, tucked for further security under her shawl.
+
+"No wonder! What else could you expect, if you would go out to sell
+them on a day like this? Go down into the area, there, and wait until I
+let you in."
+
+The precaution was a wise one. No servant in that well-regulated
+household would have admitted so questionable a figure as that which
+crept after their young mistress into the comfortable kitchen. The cook
+paused in the act of dissecting a chicken; the butler--on carriage
+days the footman--checked his flirtation with the plump and laughing
+chambermaid, to stare at the wretched apparition. The scrutiny of the
+first named functionary was speedily diverted to the dirty trail left
+by the intruder upon the carpet. A scowl puckered her red face, and
+her wrathful glance included both of the visitants as alike guilty of
+this desecration of her premises. The housemaid rolled up her eyes and
+clasped her hands in dumb show of horror and contempt to her gallant,
+who replied with a shrug and a grin. But not a word of remonstrance or
+inquiry was spoken. It was rather a habit of this young lady's to have
+her own way whenever she could, and that she was bent upon doing this
+now was clear.
+
+"Sit down," she said, bringing up a chair to the fire.
+
+The storm beaten wanderer obeyed, and eagerly held up her sodden feet
+to the red grate.
+
+"Have you no better shoes than those?"
+
+"No, ma'am."
+
+"Humph! Nor dress, nor shawl?"
+
+"No, ma'am."
+
+"Are you hungry?"
+
+A ray shot from the swollen eyes. "Yes, ma'am."
+
+The lady disappeared in the pantry and presently returned with five or
+six slices of bread and butter hastily cut and thickly spread, with
+cheese and cold meat between them.
+
+"Eat!" She thrust them into the match-girl's fingers. "Wait here, while
+I go and look for some clothes for you."
+
+As may be supposed, the insulted oracle of kitchen mysteries improved
+the time of the benefactress's absence by a very plain expression of
+her sentiments towards beggars in general, and this one in particular;
+which harangue was received with applause by her fellow-servants and
+perfect equanimity by its object. She munched her sandwiches with
+greedy satisfaction, watching, the while, the little clouds of steam
+that ascended from her heated toes. She was, to all appearances,
+neither a sensitive nor intelligent child, and had known too much of
+animal want and suffering to allow trifles to spoil her enjoyment of
+whatever physical comfort fell to her lot. Her mother at home could
+scold quite as violently as the cook was now doing, and she was more
+afraid of her anger, because she beat while she berated her. She was
+convinced that she stood in no such peril here, for her protectress was
+one in power.
+
+"Have you eaten enough?" said the clear, abrupt voice behind her, as
+she held two sandwiches in her fingers, without offering to put them to
+her lips.
+
+"Yes, ma'am. May I take 'em home?"
+
+"Certainly, if you like. Stand up and take off your shawl."
+
+She put around the forlorn figure a thick cloak, rusty and obsolete
+in fashion, but which was a warm and ample covering for the child,
+extending to the hem of her dress. The damp elf-locks were hidden by
+a knitted hood, and for the feet there were stockings and shoes and a
+pair of India-rubbers to protect these last from the water.
+
+"Now," said the Humane Society of One, when the refitting was at an
+end, "where do you live? Never mind--I don't care to know that yet!
+Here is a small umbrella--a good one--which belongs to me. I have no
+other for myself when I go out in bad weather. I mean to lend it to
+you, to-day, upon the condition that you will bring it back to-morrow,
+or the first clear day. Will you do it?"
+
+The promise was readily given.
+
+"Here's an old thing, Miss Sarah," ventured the butler, respectfully,
+producing a bulky, ragged cotton umbrella from a corner of the kitchen
+closet. "It's risky--trusting such as that with your nice silk one."
+
+"That will let in the rain, and it is entirely too large for her to
+carry. You understand, child? You are to bring this safely back to me,
+the first time the sun shines. Can you find your way to this house
+again?"
+
+"Oh, yes, ma'am, easy. Thank you, ma'am!"
+
+She dropped an awkward curtsey as Miss Sarah held open the door for her
+to pass, and went out into the rain--warm, dry and shielded against
+further damage from the storm.
+
+Unheeding the significant looks of the culinary cabinet, Sarah Hunt
+turned away and ascended the stairs. She was a striking-looking girl,
+although her features, when in repose, could claim neither beauty of
+form nor expression. Her complexion was dark and pale, with a slight
+tinge of olive, and her hair a deep brown, lips whose compression was
+habitual, an aquiline nose, and eyes that changed from dreamy hazel
+to midnight blackness at the call of mind or feeling, gave marked
+character to her countenance. Her sententious style of address to the
+child she had just dismissed was natural, and usual to her in ordinary
+conversation, as was also the gravity, verging upon sombreness, which
+had not once during the interview relaxed into a smile.
+
+The family sitting-room, her destination at present, and to which we
+will take the liberty of preceding her, was furnished elegantly and
+substantially, and there, leaning back in lounging chairs, were Miss
+Lucy Hunt, the eldest daughter of the household, and her bosom friend,
+Miss Victoria West. Each held and wielded a crochet needle, and had
+upon her lap a basket of many-hued balls of double or single zephyr
+worsted, or Shetland or Saxony wool, or whatever was the fashionable
+article for such pretty trifling at that date. Miss West had completed
+one-quarter of a shawl for herself, white and scarlet, and her friend
+had made precisely the same progress in the arduous manufacture of one
+whose centre was white and its border blue.
+
+"Yours will be the prettiest," remarked Lucy regretfully. "Blue never
+looks well in worsteds. Why, I can't say, I'm sure. It is too bad that
+I can wear so few other colors. But I am such a fright in pink or
+scarlet or any shade of red!"
+
+"As if you could be a fright in anything," returned her companion, with
+seeming indignation.
+
+Lucy smiled, showing a set of faultless teeth that, to a stranger's
+first glance, would have appeared by far the most attractive point of
+her physiognomy. If closer examination discovered that her skin was
+pearly in whiteness and transparency, that her form was exquisite, with
+a sort of voluptuous grace; her hands worthy, in shape and hue, to
+become a sculptor's model; still, in the cold, unflattering light of
+this rainy afternoon her want of color, her light gray eyes, her yellow
+hair, drawn straight back from the broad, low brow, precluded the idea
+that she could ever, with all the accessories of artificial glare,
+dress and animation, be more than a merely pretty girl. Miss West knew
+better, and Lucy realized the power of her own charms with full and
+complete complacency. Secure in this pleasant self-appreciation, she
+could afford to be careless as to her every-day looks and home people.
+She saw and enjoyed the manifest surprise of those who, having seen
+her once in morning deshabille, beheld her afterwards in elaborate
+evening toilet. Then the abundant hair waved in golden ripples about
+the classic head, the most artfully simple of tasteful ornaments--a
+camellia, a rosebud, or a pearl hairpin, its sole adornment; her eyes,
+large, full and soft, were blue instead of gray, while the heat of
+the assembly-room, the excitement of the crowd, or the exultation of
+gratified vanity supplied the rounded cheek with rich bloom and dewy
+vermillion to the lips. But nature's rarest gift to her was her voice,
+a mellow contralto, whose skillful modulations stole refreshingly to
+the senses amid the sharp clash of strained and higher tones, the
+castanet-like jingle which most American belles ring unmercifully
+into the ears of their auditors. Lucy Hunt was not "a great talker,"
+still less was she profound or brilliant when she did speak; yet she
+invariably conveyed the impression to the mind of a new acquaintance of
+a thoroughly cultivated woman, one whose acquirements were far beyond
+her modest exhibition of thought and sentiment. The most commonplace
+phrase came smoothly and roundly from her tongue, and he was censorious
+indeed who was willing to lose the pleasure afforded by its musical
+utterance in weighing its meaning. At school she had never been
+diligent, except in the study of music, and her painstaking in this
+respect was rewarded by the reputation, justly earned, of being the
+finest vocalist in her circle of associates. In society she shone as
+a rising star of the first magnitude; at home she was happy, cheerful
+and indolently amiable. Why should she be otherwise? From her babyhood
+she had been petted and admired by her family, and the world--her
+world--was as ready with its meed of the adulation which was her
+element.
+
+There were, besides the two sisters already introduced to the reader,
+three other children in the Hunt household--a couple of sturdy lads,
+twelve and fourteen years of age, and little Jeannie, a delicate child
+of six, whom Lucy caressed with pet titles and sugar-plums of flattery,
+and Sarah served in secret and idolatrous fondness. This family it was
+Mrs. Hunt's care and pride to rear and maintain, not only in comfort,
+but apparent luxury, upon the salary which her husband received as
+cashier of a prominent city bank, an income sufficient to support
+them in modest elegance, but which few besides Mrs. Hunt could have
+stretched to cover the expense of their ostensible style of living.
+But this notable manager had learned economy in excellent schools,
+primarily as a country girl, whose holiday finery was purchased with
+the proceeds of her own butter-making and poultry-yard; then as the
+brisk, lively wife of the young clerk, whose slender salary had, up
+to the time of his marriage, barely sufficed to pay for his own board
+and clothes, and whose only vested capital was his pen, his good
+character and perfect knowledge of book-keeping. But if his help-meet
+was a clever housewife, she was likewise ambitious. With the exception
+of the sum requisite for the yearly payment of the premium upon Mr.
+Hunt's life insurance policy, their annual expenses devoured every cent
+of their receipts. Indeed, it was currently believed among outsiders
+that they had other resources than the cashier's wages, and Mrs. Hunt
+indirectly encouraged the report that she held property in her own
+right. They lived "as their neighbors did," as "everybody in their
+position in society was bound to do," and "everybody" else was too
+intent upon his personal affairs, too busy with his private train
+of plans and operations to examine closely the cogs and levers and
+boilers of the locomotive Hunt. If it went ahead, and kept upon the
+track assigned it, was always "up to time," and avoided unpleasant
+collisions, it was nobody's business how the steam was gotten up.
+
+Every human plant of note has its parasite, and Miss Lucy Hunt was not
+without hers. There existed no reason in the outward circumstances of
+the two girls why Miss Hunt should not court Miss West rather than Miss
+West toady Miss Hunt. In a business--that is, a pecuniary--point of
+view, the former appeared the more likely state of the case, inasmuch
+as Victoria's father was a stock-broker of reputed wealth, and with a
+probable millionaireship in prospective, if his future good fortune
+equalled his past, while Mr. Hunt, as has been stated, depended
+entirely upon a certain and not an extravagant stipend. But the girls
+became intimate at school, "came out" the same winter at the same
+party, where Lucy created a "sensation," and Victoria would have been
+overlooked but for the sentimental connection between the debutantes.
+Since then, although the confidante would have scouted the imputation
+of interested motives with virtuous indignation of wounded affection,
+she had nevertheless "made a good thing of it," as her respected
+father would have phrased it, by playing hanger-on, second fiddle, and
+trumpeter general to the belle.
+
+"As if you could be a fright in anything," she had said, naturally and
+perhaps sincerely.
+
+Lucy's smile was succeeded by a serious look. "I am sadly tempted
+sometimes! Those lovely peach-blossom hats that you and Sarah wore this
+past winter were absolute trials to my sense of right. And no longer
+ago than Mrs. Crossman's party I was guilty of the sin of coveting the
+complexion that enabled Maria Johnston to wear that sweet rose-colored
+silk, with the lace skirt looped with rosebuds."
+
+"You envy Maria Johnston's complexion? Why don't you go further and
+fall in love with her small eyes and pug nose?" inquired Victoria,
+severely ironical. "I have heard that people were never contented with
+their own gifts, but such a case of blindness as this has never before
+come under my observation."
+
+"No, no! I am not quite so humble with regard to my personal appearance
+as you would make out. Yet"--and the plaintive voice might have been
+the murmur of a grieving angel--"I think that there are compensations
+in the lot of plain people that we know nothing about. They escape the
+censure and unkind remarks that uncharitable and envious women heap
+upon those who happen to be attractive. Now, there is Sarah, who never
+cares a button about her looks, so long as her hair is smooth and her
+dress clean and whole. She hates parties and is glad of any excuse to
+stay out of the parlor when gentlemen call. Give her her books and that
+'snuggery,' as she calls it, of a room upstairs, and she is happier
+than if she were in the gayest company in the world. Who criticises
+her? Nobody is jealous of her face or manners or conversation. And she
+would not mind it if they were."
+
+"She has a more independent nature than yours, my dear. I, for one, am
+rejoiced that you two are unlike. I could not endure to lose my darling
+friend, and somehow I never could understand Sarah; never could get
+near to her, you know."
+
+"I do not wonder at that. It is just so with me, sisters though we are.
+However, Sarah means well, if her manner is blunt and sometimes cold."
+
+The entrance of the person under discussion checked the conversation
+at this point, and both young ladies began to count their stitches
+aloud, to avoid the appearance of the foolish embarrassment that ever
+overtakes a brace of gossips at being thus interrupted.
+
+Sarah's work lay on her stand near the window, where she had thrown it
+when the crying child attracted her notice, and she resumed it now. It
+was a dress for Jeannie. It was a rare occurrence for the second sister
+to fashion anything so pretty and gay for her own wear.
+
+"Have you taken to fancy work at last?" asked Victoria, seeing that the
+unmade skirt was stamped with a rich, heavy pattern for embroidery.
+
+"No!" Sarah did not affect her sister's friend, and did not trouble
+herself to disguise her feelings towards her.
+
+Lucy explained: "She is making it for Jeannie. She does everything for
+that child."
+
+"You are very sisterly and kind, I am sure," Victoria continued,
+patronizingly. "You must quite despise Lucy and myself for thinking
+of and doing so much for ourselves, while you are such a pattern of
+self-denial."
+
+A blaze shot up in Sarah's eye; then she said, coldly: "I am not
+self-denying. Have I ever found fault with you or Lucy for doing as you
+like?"
+
+"Oh, no, my dear. But you take no interest in what we enjoy. I dare
+say, now, you would think it a dull business to work day after day for
+three or four weeks together, crocheting a shawl which may go out of
+fashion before one has a chance to sport it at a watering-place."
+
+"I certainly should!" The curl of the thin upper lip would have
+answered for her had she not spoken.
+
+"And you hate the very sight of shellwork and cone-frames, and Grecian
+painting, and all such vanities?"
+
+"If I must speak the truth, I do--most heartily."
+
+Victoria was not easily turned from her purpose.
+
+"Come, Sarah! Tell us what you would have us, poor trifling, silly
+things, do to kill the time."
+
+"If you must be a murderer, do it in your own way. I have nothing to
+say in the matter."
+
+"Do you mean that time never hangs upon your hands--that you are never
+ennuyee--blasee?"
+
+"Speak English, and I will answer you."
+
+"I want to know," said the persevering tormentor, "if the hum-drum
+books upstairs, your paint-box and your easel are such good company
+that you are contented and happy always when you are with them--if you
+never get cross with yourself and everybody else, and wonder what you
+were put into the world for, and why the world itself was made, and
+wish that you could sleep until doomsday. Do you ever feel like this?"
+
+Sarah lifted her eyes with a wondering, incredulous stare at the
+flippant inquisitor.
+
+"I have felt thus, but I did not suppose that you had."
+
+"Oh, I have a 'blue' turn now and then, but the disease is always more
+dangerous with girls of your sort--the reading, thinking, strong-minded
+kind. And the older you grow, the worse you will get. I haven't as
+much book knowledge as you have, but I know more of the world we live
+in. Take my advice and settle down to woman's right sphere. Drive away
+the vapors with beaux and fancy-work now. By-and-by a husband and an
+establishment will give you something else to think about."
+
+Sarah would have replied, but Lucy broke in with a laugh, light and
+sweet.
+
+"You two are always at cross-questions! Why can't you be satisfied to
+let one another alone? Sarah and I never quarrel, Vic.. We agree to
+disagree. She gives me my way, and I don't meddle with her. If she
+likes the blues (they say some people enjoy them), where's the harm of
+her having them? They never come near me. If I get stupid, I go to bed
+and sleep it off. Don't you think I have done ten rows since breakfast?
+What a godsend a rainy day is, when one has a fascinating piece of work
+on hand!"
+
+Too proud to seem to abandon the field, Sarah sat for half an hour
+longer, stitching steadily away at the complicated tracery upon the
+ground to be worked; then, as the dimmer daylight caused the others to
+draw near to the windows, she pushed aside her table and put by her
+sewing.
+
+"Don't let us drive you away!" said Victoria's mock-polite tones, and
+Lucy added, kindly, "We do not mean to disturb you, Sarah, dear."
+
+"You do not disturb me!" was the reply to the latter. The other had
+neither glance nor word.
+
+Up another flight she mounted to a room, much smaller than that she had
+left and far plainer in its appointments. The higher one went in Mrs.
+Hunt's house the less splendid everything became. In the state spare
+chamber--a story below--nothing of comfort and luxury was wanting,
+from the carved rosewood bedstead, with the regal-looking canopy
+overshadowing its pillows, down to the Bohemian and cut-glass scent
+bottles upon the marble of the dressing-cabinet. Sarah's carpet was
+common ingrain, neither pretty nor new; a cottage bedstead of painted
+wood; bureau and washstand of the same material; two chairs and a small
+table were all the furniture her mother adjudged needful. To these the
+girl had added, from her pittance of pocket-money, a set of hanging
+bookshelves, a portable desk, an easel and two or three good engravings
+that adorned the walls.
+
+She locked the door after her, with a kind of angry satisfaction in
+her face, and going straight to the window leaned upon the sash and
+looked down into the flooded street. Her eyes were dry, but there was
+a heaving in her throat, a tightening of the muscles about the mouth
+that would have made most women weep for very relief. Sarah Hunt would
+have scorned the ease purchased by such weakness. She did not despise
+the sad loneliness that girt her around, any more than the captive
+warrior does his cell of iron or stone, but she held that it would be
+a cowardly succumbing to Fate to wound herself by dashing against the
+grim walls, or bring out their sleeping echoes by womanish wailings.
+So, presently, her throat ached and throbbed no longer, the rigid
+muscles compressed the lips no more than was their wont, the hands
+loosened their vise-like grasp of one another--the brain was free to
+think.
+
+The rain fell still with a solemn stateliness that befitted the coming
+twilight. It was a silent storm for one so heavy. The faint hum of the
+city, the tinkle of the car-bell, three blocks off, arose to her window
+above its plashing fall upon the pavement, and the trickle of the drops
+from sash to sill. A stream of light from the lamp-post at the corner
+flashed athwart the sidewalk, glittered upon the swollen gutter, made
+gold and silver blocks of the paving stones. As if they had waited for
+this signal, other lights now shone out from the windows across the
+way, and from time to time a broad, transient gleam from opening doors
+told of the return of fathers, brothers, husbands from their day's
+employment.
+
+    "In happy homes he sees the light."
+
+What was there in the line that should make the watcher catch her
+breath in sudden pain and lay her hand, with stifled moan, over her
+heart, as she repeated it aloud?
+
+Witness with me, ye maternal Hunts, who read this page--you, the
+careful and solicitous about many things--in nothing more ambitious
+than for the advancement and success in life of your offspring--add
+your testimony to mine that this girl had all that was desirable for
+one of her age and in her circumstances. A house as handsome as her
+neighbors, an education unsurpassed by any of her late school-fellows,
+a "position in society;" a reasonable share of good looks, which only
+required care and cultivation on her part to become really distingue;
+indulgent parents and peaceably inclined brothers and sisters--read
+the list, and solve me, if you can, the enigma of this perturbed
+spirit--this hungering and thirsting after contraband or unattainable
+pleasures.
+
+"Some girls will do so!" Mrs. Hunt assured her husband when he "thought
+that Sarah did not seem so happy as Lucy. He hoped nothing ailed the
+child. Perhaps the doctor had better drop in to see her. Could she be
+fretting for anything, or had her feelings been hurt?"
+
+"Bless your soul, Mr. H. There's nothing the matter with her. She
+always was kind o' queer!" (Mrs. Hunt did not use her company grammar
+every day.) "And she's jest eighteen year old. That's the whole of it!
+She'll come 'round in good time, 'specially if Lucy should marry off
+pretty soon. When Sarah is 'Miss Hunt,' she'll be as crazy for beaux
+and company and as ready to jump at a prime offer as any of 'em. I know
+girls' ways!"
+
+Nor am I prepared to say that Sarah, as she quitted her look-out at the
+high window at the sound of the dinner bell, could have given a more
+satisfactory reason for her discontent and want of spirits.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER II.
+
+
+Mrs. Hunt's china, like her grammar, was of two sorts. When her duty
+to "society" or the necessity of circumstances forced her to be
+hospitable, she "did the thing" well. At a notice of moderate length
+she could get up a handsome, if not a bountiful, entertainment, to
+which no man need have been ashamed to seat his friends, and when the
+occasion warranted the display she grudged not the "other" china, the
+other silver, nor the other table-linen.
+
+She did, however, set her face, like a broad flint, against the
+irregularity of inviting chance visitors to partake of the family
+bread and salt. Intimate as Victoria West was with Lucy, she met only
+a civil show of regretful acquiescence in her proposal to go home as
+the dinner hour approached, and Robbie or Richard Hunt was promptly
+offered to escort her to her abode upon the next block. If she remained
+to luncheon, as she would do occasionally, Lucy, in her hearing, begged
+her mother to excuse them from going down, and to send up two cups
+of tea and a few sandwiches to the sitting-room. This slight repast
+was served by the butler upon a neat little tray, in a tete-a-tete
+service--a Christmas gift to Lucy "from her ever-loving Victoria," and
+sentimentally dedicated to the use of the pair of adopted sisters.
+
+Therefore, Sarah was not surprised to find Victoria gone, despite the
+storm, when she entered the dining-room. An immense crumb-cloth covered
+the carpet; a row of shrouded chairs, packed elbow to elbow, stood
+against the further end of the apartment, and a set of very ordinary
+ones were around the table. The cloth was of whity-brown material, and
+the dishes a motley collection of halt and maimed--for all Mrs. Hunt's
+vigilance could not make servants miraculously careful. There was no
+propriety, however, according to her system of economy, in condemning
+a plate or cup as past service because it had come off second best, to
+the extent of a crack or nick or an amputated handle, in an encounter
+with some other member of the crockery tribe. "While there is life
+there is hope," was, in these cases, paraphrased by her to the effect
+that while a utensil would hold water it was too good to be thrown away.
+
+It was not a sumptuous repast to which Sarah sat down after she had
+placed Jeannie in her high chair and tied the great gingham bib around
+her neck. On the contrary, it came near being a scant provision for
+the healthy appetites of seven people. Before Mr. Hunt, a mild, quiet
+little man, was a dish of stew, which was, in its peculiar line, a
+thing--not of beauty, but wonder.
+
+Only a few days since, as I stood near the stall of a poultry vender in
+market, a lady inquired for chickens.
+
+"Yes, ma'am. Roasting size, ma'am?"
+
+"No. I want them for a fricassee."
+
+"Ah"--with a look of shrewd intelligence. "Then, ma'am, I take it, you
+don't care to have 'em overly tender. Most ladies prefers the old ones
+for fricassee. They come cheaper and very often bile tender."
+
+"Thank you," was the amused rejoinder. "The difference in the price is
+no consideration where the safety of our teeth is concerned."
+
+Mrs. Hunt suffered not these scruples to hinder her negotiations with
+knowing poultry merchants. A cent less per pound would be three cents
+saved upon the chicken, and three cents would buy enough turnips for
+dinner. It is an ignorant housekeeper who needs to be informed that
+stewed chicken "goes further" than the same fowl made into any other
+savory combination. Mrs. Hunt's stews were concocted after a recipe of
+her own invention. Imprimis, one chicken, weight varying from two and a
+half to three pounds; salt pork, a quarter of a pound; gravy abundant;
+dumplings innumerable. It was all "stew," and if Jeannie's share was
+but a bare drumstick, swimming in gravy and buried in boiled dough,
+there was the chicken flavor through the portion.
+
+For classic antecedent the reader is referred to the fable of the
+rose-scented clay.
+
+To leave the principal dish, which justice to Mrs. Hunt's genius would
+not permit me to pass with briefer mention, there were, besides,
+potatoes, served whole (mashed ones required butter and cream), turnips
+and bread, and Mrs. Hunt presided over a shallow platter of pork and
+beans. What was left of that dish would be warmed over to piece out
+breakfast next morning. The children behaved well, and the most minute
+by-law of table etiquette was observed with a strictness that imparted
+an air of ceremonious restraint to the meal. If Mrs. Hunt's young
+people were not in time finished ladies and gentlemen, it was not her
+fault, nor was it for the lack of drilling.
+
+"Do as I tell you; not as I do," were her orders in these matters.
+Since Lucy had completed her education, the mother added, "Look at
+your sister; she is never awkward." This was true. Lucy was born the
+fine lady. Refinement of manner and grace of movement, an instinctive
+avoidance of whatever looked common or underbred were a part of her
+nature. Only the usage of years had accustomed her to her mother's
+somewhat "fussy" ways.
+
+Had she met her in company as Mrs. Anybody else, she would have yielded
+her the right of way with a feeling of amazement and amiable pity that
+one who meant so well should so often overdo the thing she aimed to
+accomplish easily and gracefully. Following out her excellent system
+of training, the worthy dame demanded as diligent and alert watching
+from her butler as if she were having a dinner party. The eggless rice
+pudding was brought on with a state that was absolutely ludicrous; but
+the family were used to the unsubstantial show and took it as a matter
+of course.
+
+After the meal was over Mrs. Hunt withdrew to the kitchen for a short
+conference with the cook and a sharp glance through the closets. It was
+impossible that the abstraction of six slices of bread from the baking
+of the preceding day, three thick pieces of cheese and more than half
+of the cold meat she had decided would, in the form of hash, supply the
+other piece of the breakfast at which the beans were to assist, should
+escape her notice.
+
+Mr. Hunt was reading the evening paper by the droplight in the
+sitting-room, Lucy was busy with her shawl, and Sarah told a simple
+tale in a low voice to Jeannie as she leaned upon her lap, when the
+wife and mother entered, with something like a bluster. All present
+looked up, and each one remarked the cloud upon her brow.
+
+"What is the matter, mother?" said Mr. Hunt, in a tone not free from
+alarm.
+
+"I am worried! That's the whole of it. I am downright vexed with you,
+Sarah, and surprised, too! What upon earth possessed you, child, to
+take that beggar into my kitchen to-day? After all I have told you and
+tried to learn you about these shameful impostors! I declare I was beat
+out when I heard it. And to throw away provisions and clothes upon such
+a brat!"
+
+Lucy opened her great eyes at her sister, and Mr. Hunt looked
+perplexedly towards his favorite, for at heart he was partial to his
+second child.
+
+"I took the poor creature to the fire, mother, because she was wet
+and cold; I fed her because she was hungry; I gave her some old, warm
+clothes of mine because hers were thin and soaked with rain."
+
+"Poor little girl!" murmured Jeannie compassionately.
+
+Sarah's hand closed instantly over the little fingers. The
+simple-hearted babe understood and sympathized with her motive and act
+better than did her wiser elders.
+
+"Oh, I have no doubt she told a pitiful story, and shed enough tears
+to wet her through, if the rain had not done it already. If you listen
+to what these wretches say, and undertake to relieve their wants, you
+will soon have not a dress to your back nor a house over your head. Why
+didn't you send her to some society for the relief of the poor?"
+
+"I did not know where to find one, ma'am."
+
+This plain truth, respectfully uttered, confounded Mrs. Hunt for a
+second.
+
+"Mrs. James is one of the managers in a benevolent association," she
+said, recovering herself. "You had ought to have given your beggar her
+address."
+
+"Even if I had known that fact, mother, the girl would have been
+obliged to walk half a mile in the storm to find this one manager. What
+do you suppose Mrs. James would have done for her that was not in my
+power to perform?"
+
+"She would have asked the child whereabouts she lived, and to-morrow
+she would have gone to hunt her up. If she found all as she had been
+told, which is not likely--these creatures don't give a right direction
+once in ten times--why, she would have brought the case before the
+board at their next meeting, and they would help them, if neither of
+her parents was a drinking character."
+
+"God help the poor!" ejaculated Sarah, energetically. "God help the
+poor, if this is man's style of relieving his starving brother! Mother,
+do you think that hunger pinches any the less when the famished being
+is told that next week or next month may bring him one good meal? Will
+the promise of a bushel of coal or a blanket, to be given ten days
+hence, warm the limbs that are freezing to-night? Is present help for
+present need, then always unsafe, imprudent, insane?"
+
+"That all sounds very fine, my dear." Mrs. Hunt grew cool as her
+daughter waxed warm. "But when you have seen as much of the world as
+I have you will understand how necessary it is to be careful about
+believing all that we hear. Another thing you must not forget, and
+that is that we are not able to give freely, no matter how much
+disposed we may be to do so. It's pretty hard for a generous person
+to say 'No,' but it can't be helped. People in our circumstances must
+learn this lesson." Mrs. Hunt sighed at thought of the curb put upon
+her benevolent desires by bitter necessity. "And, after all, very
+few--you've no idea how few--of these pretended sufferers are really in
+want."
+
+This preluded a recital of sundry barefaced impositions and successful
+swindles practiced upon herself and acquaintances, to which Mr. Hunt
+subjoined certain of his personal experiences, all tending to establish
+the principle that in a vast majority of cases of seeming destitution
+the supplicant was an accomplished rogue and the giver of alms the
+victim of his own soft heart and a villain's wiles. Jeannie drank in
+every syllable, until her ideal beggar quite equalled the ogre who
+would have made a light supper off of Hop-o'-my-Thumb and brothers.
+
+"You gave this match-girl no money, I hope?" said Mrs. Hunt, at length.
+
+"I did not, madam. I had none to give her." Impelled by her
+straightforward sense of honesty that would not allow her to receive
+commendation for prudence she had not shown, she said, bravely: "But I
+lent her my umbrella upon her promise to return it to-morrow."
+
+"Well!"
+
+Mrs. Hunt dropped her hands in her lap, and stared in speechless dismay
+at her daughter. Even her husband felt it his duty to express his
+disapprobation.
+
+"That was very unwise, my daughter. You will never see it again."
+
+"I think differently, father."
+
+"You are too easily imposed upon, Sarah. There is not the least
+probability that your property will be returned. Was it a good
+umbrella?"
+
+"It was the one I always use."
+
+"Black silk, the best make, with a carved ivory handle--cost six
+dollars a month ago!" gasped Mrs. Hunt. "I never heard of such a piece
+of shameful imprudence in all my born days. And I shouldn't wonder if
+you never once thought to ask her where she lived, that you might send
+a police officer after it, if the little thief didn't bring it back to
+you?"
+
+"I did think of it." Sarah paused, then forced out the confession she
+foresaw would subject her to the charge of yet more ridiculous folly.
+"I did think of it, but concluded to throw the girl upon her honor, not
+to suggest the theft to her by insinuating a doubt of her integrity."
+
+Mr. Hunt was annoyed with and sorry for the culprit, yet he could not
+help smiling at this high-flown generosity of confidence. "You are
+certainly the most unsophisticated girl of your age I ever met with,
+my daughter. I shall not mind the loss of the umbrella if it prove to
+be the means of giving you a lesson in human nature. In this world,
+dear, it will not do to wear your heart upon your sleeve. Never believe
+a pretty story until you have had the opportunity to ascertain for
+yourself whether it is true or false." And with these titbits of wordly
+wisdom, the cashier picked up his paper.
+
+"Six dollars! I declare I don't know what to say to you, Sarah!"
+persisted the ruffled mother. "You cannot expect me to buy you another
+umbrella this season. You must give up your walks in damp weather after
+this. I can't say that I'm very sorry for that, though. I never did
+fancy your traipsing off two or three miles, rain or shine, like a
+sewing girl."
+
+"Very well, madam!"
+
+But, steadied by pride as was her voice, her heart sank at the
+possibility of resigning the exercise upon which she deemed that so
+much of her health, physical and mental, depended. These long, solitary
+walks were one of the un-American habits that earned for Sarah Hunt the
+reputation of eccentricity. They were usually taken immediately after
+breakfast, and few in the neighborhood who were abroad or happened
+to look out at that hour, were not familiar with the straight, proud
+figure, habited in its walking dress of gray and black, stout boots,
+and gray hat with black plume. It was a uniform selected by herself,
+and which her mother permitted her to assume, because it "looked
+genteel," and became the wearer. Especially did she enjoy these tramps
+when the threatening storm, in its early stages, kept others of her
+class and sex at home. The untamed spirit found a fierce pleasure in
+wrestling with the wind; the hail that ushered in the snow-storm, as
+it beat in her face, called up lustre to the eye and warm color to the
+cheek. To a soul sickening of the glare and perfume of the artificial
+life to which she was confined, the roughest and wildest aspects of
+nature were a welcome change.
+
+I remember laughing heartily, as I doubt not you did also, dear reader,
+if you saw it, at a cut which appeared several years ago in the Punch
+department of "Harper's Magazine." A "wee toddler," perhaps four years
+old, with a most lack-a-daisical expression upon her chubby visage,
+accosts her grandmother after this fashion: "I am tired of life,
+grandmamma! The world is hollow, and my doll is stuffed with sawdust,
+and if you please, ma'am, I should like to go to a nunnery!"
+
+Yet, that there are natures upon which the feeling of emptiness and
+longing herein burlesqued seizes in mere babyhood is sadly true. And
+what wonder? From their cradles, hundreds of children, in our so-called
+better classes, are fed upon husks. A superficial education, in which
+all that is not showy accomplishment is so dry and uninviting that the
+student has little disposition to seek further for the rich kernel,
+the strong meat of knowledge, is the preparatory course to a premature
+introduction into the world, to many the only phase of life they are
+permitted to see, a scene where all is flash and froth, empty bubbles
+of prizes, chased by men and women with empty heads, and oh, how often
+empty, aching hearts! Outside principles, outside affections, outside
+smiles, and most pitiable of all, outside piety! Penury of heart
+and stomach at home; abroad a parade of reckless extravagance and
+ostentatious profession of fine feeling and liberal sentiments!
+
+"Woe," cried the preacher, "to them that make haste to be rich!" If he
+had lived in our day, in what biting terms of reprobation and contempt
+would he have declaimed against the insane ambition of those who forego
+the solid comforts of judicious expenditure of a moderate income would
+afford; spurn the holy quiet of domestic joys--neglect soul with heart
+culture--in their haste to seem rich, when Providence has seen that
+wealth is not to be desired for them! Out upon the disgusting, indecent
+race and scramble! The worship of the golden calf is bad enough, but
+when this bestial idolatry rises to such a pitch of fanaticism, that in
+thousands of households copies in pinchbeck and plated-ware are set up
+and served, the spectacle is too monstrous in its abomination! This it
+is that crowds our counting-rooms with bankrupts and our state-prisons
+with defaulters; that is fast turning our ball-rooms and other places
+of fashionable rendezvous into vile caricatures of foreign courts,
+foreign manners, and foreign vices; while the people we ape--our
+chosen models and exemplars--hold their side in inextinguishable
+laughter at the grave absurdity of our laborious imitation. It is no
+cause for marvel that, in just retribution, there should be sent a
+panic-earthquake, every three years, to shake men to their senses.
+
+Such was the atmosphere in which Sarah Hunt had always lived. In the
+code subscribed to by her mother, and the many who lived and felt and
+panted and pushed as she did for social distinction, nothing was of
+real, absolute value except the hard cash. Gold and silver were facts.
+All things else were comparative in use and worth. The garment which,
+last winter, no lady felt dressed without, was an obsolete horror this
+season. The pattern of curtains and furniture that nearly drove the
+fortunate purchaser wild with delight, three years back, was now only
+fit for the auction room. In vain might the poor depleted husband plead
+for and extol their beauties. The fiat of fashion had gone forth, and
+his better half seasoned his food with lamentations, and moistened her
+pillow with tears until she carried her point. We have intimated that
+Sarah was a peculiar girl. Whence she derived her vigorous intellect;
+her strong, original turn of thought; her deep heart, was a puzzle
+to those who knew her parents. The mother was energetic, the father
+sensible, but both were commonplace, and followed, like industrious
+puppets, in the wake of others. They were pleased that Sarah brought
+home all the prizes offered at school, and both considered that she
+gained a right, by these victories, to pursue her studies at home,
+provided she did not obtrude her singular views and tastes upon other
+people. Mrs. Hunt sighed, frequently and loudly, in her presence, that
+her genius had not been for shell, or bead, or worsted work, instead of
+for reading volumes, that did not even decorate the show book-case in
+the library.
+
+"If you must have so many books, why don't you pick out them with the
+tasty bindings?" she had asked her daughter more than once. "And I wish
+you would paint some bright, lively pictures, that would look handsome
+on the walls, instead of those queer men and women and cloudy things
+you have got upstairs. I'd have 'em framed right away, and be real
+proud to tell who done them."
+
+Sarah remained proof against such hints and temptation, and, shrinking
+more and more from the uncongenial whirl around her, she turned her
+eager, restless spirit into her secret, inner life, where, at times,
+it was flattered into content by the idealities upon which it was fed;
+at others, ramped and raved, like any other chained wild thing. The
+sweetest drop of pleasure she had tasted for many a day was the thrill
+she experienced when the forlorn object she had rescued from the power
+of the storm stood before her, decently and comfortably clad. The rash
+confidence she had reposed in so suspicious a stranger was the outgoing
+of a heart too noble and true in every impulse to pause, for a moment,
+to speculate upon the chances of another's good or bad faith. The great
+world of the confessedly poor was an unknown field to her--one she
+longed to explore. Her footsteps loitered more often near the entrance
+of some narrow, reeking street or alley, down which she had promised
+her mother not to go, than on the spacious pave, where over-dressed
+women and foppish men halted at, and hung around bewitching shop
+windows. She wondered how such throngs of breathing beings contrived to
+exist in those fetid, cramped quarters; how they lived, spoke, acted,
+felt. The great tie of human brotherhood became daily more tense, as
+she pondered these things in her heart.
+
+On this particular day, as she sat, silent and thoughtful, at her
+needle, the chit-chat of her companions less heeded than the continual
+dropping of the rain without, the wail of the shivering wanderer
+caused a painful vibration through every nerve. The deed was done! the
+experiment was tried. She was ashamed that an event so trivial held
+her eyes waking, far into the night. At least, she said to herself,
+she would not be without a lesson of some kind; would learn whether
+deceit and falsehood prevailed in the lowest, as well as the higher
+ranks of society. If, as she still strove to believe would be the case,
+the child returned the borrowed property, she would make use of her,
+as the means of entering upon a new sphere of research and action.
+After so complete a refutation of her theories respecting the utter
+corruption of all people, who had not enough to eat and to wear, her
+mother could not withhold her consent to her petition that she might
+become a lay-missionary--a present relief committee to a small portion
+of the suffering, toiling, ill-paid masses. She would then have a work
+to do--something to call out energy and engage feeling in healthy
+exercise--and soothed by the romantic vision, she fell asleep with a
+smile upon her lips.
+
+The morning dawned between breaking clouds, that soon left the sky
+clear and bright. All through the day Sarah watched for her visitor
+of the preceding day--watched with nervousness she could not wholly
+conceal, from morn to night, for two, three days--for a week. Then she
+looked no longer while at home; her question, at entering the house,
+after a drive or walk, ceased to be, "Has any thing been left for me?"
+So palpable was her disappointment that her father forbore to make
+any allusion to her loss, and Lucy, albeit she was somewhat obtuse to
+the finer points of her sister's character, good-naturedly interposed
+to change the subject when her mother sought to improve the incident
+to her daughter's edification and future profit. Mr. Hunt was right
+in supposing that the "unsophisticated girl" had learned something.
+Whether she were happier or better for the lesson thus acquired was
+another thing.
+
+Once again Sarah had an opportunity for speech with her delinquent
+protege. Two months later she was passing through a by-street in a
+mean neighborhood, very far up town, in her morning ramble, when her
+progress was arrested, for an instant, by two boys, who ran out of an
+alley across the walk. One overtook the other just in front of the
+lady, and catching him by his ragged collar, threw him down.
+
+"That's right! beat him well! I'll help!" screeched a girl, rushing out
+of the court whence they had come.
+
+Grinning with delight, she flung herself upon the prostrate form and
+commenced a vigorous assault, accompanied by language alike foul and
+profane.
+
+Sarah recognized her instantly, and while she paused in mingled
+amazement and anger, the child looked up and saw her. In a twinkling
+she relinquished her grip of the boy's hair--jumped up and sped back
+into the dirty alley, with the blind haste of guilty fear.
+
+Yes! Mr. Hunt was a wise man, who knew the world, and trebly sage in
+her generation was his spouse. If their daughter had never acknowledged
+this before, she did now, in her disgust and dismay at this utter
+overthrow of her dreams of the virtuous simplicity to be found in lowly
+homes, where riches and fashions were things unknown.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER III.
+
+
+Summer had come to the country with its bloom and its beauty, its
+harvests and its holidays. In town, its fever heat drew noisome smells
+from overcharged sewers, and the black, oily paste to which the shower
+that should have been refreshing had changed the dust of crowded
+thoroughfares. Cleaner pavements, in the higher portions of the city,
+burned through shoe-soles; glass radiated heat to polished stone, and
+stone radiated, in its turn, to brick, that waited until the evening
+to throw off its surplus caloric in hot, suffocating waves that made
+yet more oppressive the close nights. The gay procession of fashionable
+humming birds had commenced their migrations, steamboats and excursion
+craft multiplied at the wharves, and the iron steed put forth all his
+tremendous might to bear onward the long train of self-exiled travelers.
+
+The Hunts, too, must leave town; Lucy must, at all events, have a
+full season, and a brilliant one, if possible, for it was her second
+summer, and much might depend upon it. Her mother would accompany her,
+of course; and equally of course her father could not; that is, he
+must return after escorting them to Saratoga, and spend the remainder
+of the warm months at home. His business would not allow him to take
+an extended vacation. The boys were easily disposed of, being boarded
+every summer at the farmhouse of an early friend of Mr. Hunt, where
+they were acceptable inmates, their clothes as well cared for as they
+were at home, and their morals more diligently cultivated. The younger
+girls caused that excellent manager, their mother, more perplexity.
+This was not the first time she had repented her indiscretion in
+allowing Sarah to "come out" before her elder sister had "gone off."
+But "Sarah was so tall and so womanly in her appearance that it looked
+queer, and would set people to talking if I kept her back," she was
+accustomed to excuse her impolitic move to her friends. This summer she
+realized, as she had not done before, the inconvenience of having two
+full-fledged young ladies upon the carpet at once. Lucy's elegant and
+varied wardrobe, and the certain expenses in prospect for her and her
+chaperon at Spa, seaside, and en route, left a balance in hand of the
+sum allotted for the season's expenditure that was startling in its
+meagerness. Mrs. Hunt was a capital financier, a peerless economist,
+but the exigency taxed her resources to the utmost.
+
+One morning she arose with a lightened heart and a smoother brow.
+"I've settled it!" she exclaimed to her husband, shaking him from his
+matutinal doze.
+
+The "Eureka!" of the Syracusan mathematician was not more lofty in its
+exultation. Forthwith she unfolded to him her scheme. She was a native
+of New Jersey, "the Jarseys" she had heard it called in her father's
+house--had probably thus denominated the gallant little state herself
+in her girlhood. In and around the pretty, quiet village of Shrewsbury
+there were still resident scores of her relatives whose very names she
+had sedulously forgotten. One alone she could not, in conscience or in
+nature, dismiss to such oblivion. This was her elder and only sister,
+long married to a respectable and worthy farmer, and living within a
+mile of "the old place," where both sisters had drawn the first breath
+of life. Twice since Mrs. Hunt had lived in the city had this kind
+friend been summoned on account of the dangerous illness of the former,
+and her presence and nursing had restored peace, order, and health to
+the household. The earlier of these occasions was that of the second
+child's birth, and in the softened mood of her convalescence Mrs. Hunt
+had bestowed upon the babe her sister's name--Sarah Benson--a homely
+appellative she had ofttimes regretted since. At distant and irregular
+intervals, one, two, three years, Mr. or Mrs. Benson visited their
+connections in "York;" but the intercourse grew more difficult and
+broken as time rolled on and the distance widened between the plain
+country folk and their rising relations. Then, again, death had been
+busy in the farmhouse; coffin after coffin, of varying lengths, but
+all short, was lifted over the threshold and laid away in the village
+graveyard, until but one was left to the parents of the seven little
+ones that had been given to them, and to that one nature had denied the
+gifts of speech and hearing. Grief and the infirmities of approaching
+old age disinclined the worthy pair to stir from home, and their
+ambitious sister was too busy in building up a "set" of her own, and
+paving the way for her daughters' distinction, to hide her light for
+ever so short a period in so obscure a corner as her former home.
+
+Aunt Sarah, however, could not forget her nurseling. Every few months
+there arrived some simple token of affectionate remembrance to "the
+child" she had not seen since she wore short frocks and pinafores. The
+reception of a basket of fruit, thus despatched, was the suggestive
+power to Mrs. Hunt's present plan. She had made up her mind, so she
+informed her husband straightway, to write that very day--yes! that
+very forenoon, to "Sister Benson," and inquire whether she would board
+Sarah and Jeannie for a couple of months.
+
+"I don't s'pose she will let me pay board for them, but she will be
+pleased to have 'em as long as they like to stay. It's never been
+exactly convenient for me to let any of the children go there for so
+many years, and it's so fur off. But dear me! sometimes I feel real bad
+about seeing so little of my only sister!"--a heavy sigh. "And there'll
+be the expenses of two saved, out and out, for they won't need a great
+variety of clothes in that out-of-the-way place."
+
+"But how will the girls, Sarah and Jeannie, fancy being sent off so?"
+inquired Mr. Hunt.
+
+"Oh, as to that, it is late in the day for my children to dispute what
+I say shall be done; and Sarah's jest that odd that she'll like this
+notion twenty times better than going to Newport or Saratoga. I know
+her! As to Jeannie, she is satisfied to be with her sister anywhere.
+She is getting thin, too; she looks real peaked, and there's nothing in
+creation so good for ailing children as the salt-water bath. They have
+first-rate still-water bathing not a quarter of a mile from sister's.
+It's jest the thing, I tell you! The wonder is it never came into my
+head before."
+
+Mr. Hunt had his sigh now. "Somehow or other he was always down in the
+mouth when the family broke up for the summer," his wife frequently
+complained, and his lack of sympathy now excited her just ire.
+
+"Upon my word, Mr. H.! anybody would think that I was the poorest
+wife in the world to you to see and hear you whenever I talk to you
+of my plans and household affairs. You look as if you was about to be
+hanged, instead of feeling obliged to me for turning, and twisting,
+and contriving, and studying, day and night, how to save your money,
+and spend what we must lay out to the best advantage. I can tell you
+what--there's few women would make your income go as far as I do."
+
+"I know that, my dear. The question is"--Mr. Hunt paused, cleared his
+throat and strained his nerves for a mighty effort, an unprecedented
+exercise of moral courage--"the question is, Betsy, whether our income
+is stretched in the right direction!" Mistaking the stare of petrified
+incredulity he received for fixed attention, the infatuated man went
+on: "This doubt is always forced upon me when we separate in July,
+some to go to one place, some to another, a broken, wandering family
+for months together. I am growing old, and I love to have my children
+about me; I begin to feel the want of a home. There is Johnson, in
+the ---- Bank, gets five hundred less per annum than I do; yet, after
+living quietly here a few years, he bought himself a snug cottage up
+the river, and has his family there in their own house, everything
+handsome and comfortable about them. I have been in the harness for a
+long while; I expect to die in it. I don't mind work--hard work! but
+it seems to me sometimes that we would all be better satisfied if we
+had more to show, or to hold, for our money; if there were less of this
+straining after appearances, this constant study to make both ends
+meet."
+
+"And it has come to this!" Mrs. Hunt sank into a chair and began to
+cry. "This is my thanks for slaving and toiling for better than twenty
+years to get you and your children a stand in the world! It isn't for
+myself that I care. I can work my fingers to the bone, and live upon
+a crust! I can scrape and save five dollars or so a month! I can bury
+myself in the country! But your children! those dear, sweet girls, that
+have had the best education money can buy, and that to-day visit such
+people as the Murrays, and Sandersons, and Hoopers, and Baylors, and
+meet the Castors and Crinnalls at parties--millionaires, all of 'em,
+the cream of the upper crust! I don't deny that I have been ambitious
+for them, and I did hope that you had something of the same spirit; and
+now to think of your complaining, and moping, and groaning over the
+money you say I've been and wasted; oh! oh! oh!"
+
+"You misunderstand me, my dear; I merely questioned whether we were
+acting wisely in making so much display upon so little substance. We
+are not millionaires, whatever may be said of the girls' visiting
+acquaintances, and I tremble sometimes to think how all this false show
+may end."
+
+Mr. Hunt's borrowed courage had not evaporated entirely.
+
+"That's distrusting Providence, Mr. H.! It's downright sinful, and what
+I shouldn't have looked for from you. I can tell you how it will end.
+If both of us live ten years longer, you will see your daughters riding
+in their own carriages, and leaders of the tong, and your sons among
+the first gentlemen of the city. If this does not turn out true, you
+needn't ever trust my word again. I've set my head upon getting Lucy
+off my hands this summer, and well off; and mark my words, Mr. H., it
+shall be done."
+
+One part of her mother's prophecy was fulfilled in Sarah's manner of
+receiving the proposition so nearly affecting her comfort during the
+summer. Lucy wondered at the cheerful alacrity with which she consented
+to be "hidden away in that horrid bore of a farmhouse," and Jeannie
+cried as her elder sister "supposed that they would eat in Aunt Sarah's
+kitchen, along with the servant men."
+
+"Lucy, be quiet!" interposed her mother. "Your aunt is not a common
+poor person. Mr. Benson is a man of independent means, quite rich for
+the country. They live very nicely, and I have no doubt but that your
+sisters will be happy there."
+
+Sarah had drawn Jeannie to her, and was telling her of the rides and
+walks they would take together, the ducks and chickens they would feed,
+and the merry plunges in the salt water that were to be daily luxuries.
+Ere the recital was concluded, the child was impatient for the hour of
+departure, and indignant when she heard that Aunt Sarah must be heard
+from before they could venture to present themselves, bag and baggage,
+at her door. There was nothing feigned in Sarah's satisfaction; her
+preparations were made with far more pleasure than if she were to
+accompany Lucy. The seclusion that would have been slow death to the
+latter was full of charms for the book-loving sister. Aunt Sarah would
+be kind; the novel phases of human nature she would meet would amuse
+and interest her; and, besides these, there was Jeannie to love and
+pet, and river, field, and grove for studies and society. She panted
+for the country and liberty from the tyrannous shackles of city customs.
+
+Aunt Sarah wrote promptly and cordially, rejecting the offered
+compensation, and begging for her nieces' company as long as they
+could content themselves in so retired a place. Simple-minded as she
+was, she knew enough to be sure that the belles and beaux of the
+neighborhood would be very unsuitable mates for her expected visitors.
+If her own girls had lived, she would have asked nothing higher for
+them in this world than to have them grow up respected, beloved, and
+happy, among the acquaintances and friends of their parents; but
+"Sister Betsy's children had been raised so differently!" she said to
+her husband. "I don't know what we will do to amuse them."
+
+"They will find amusement--never fear," was the farmer's response. "Let
+city folks alone for seeing wonders where those that have lived among
+them all their lives never found anything uncommon. They are welcome
+to the pony whenever they've a mind to ride, and Jim or I will find
+time to drive them around a'most every day; and what with riding, and
+boating, and bathing, I guess they can get rid of the time."
+
+Before the day set for the coming of the guests there appeared upon the
+stage an unexpected and welcome ally to Aunt Sarah's benevolent design
+of making her nieces' sojourn agreeable. This personage we will let the
+good woman herself describe.
+
+"You needn't trouble yourself to fix up for tea, dear," she said to
+Sarah, the afternoon of her arrival, as she prepared to remove her
+traveling dress. "There's nobody here besides husband, and me, and
+Charley, except husband's nephew, Philip Benson, from the South. He
+comes North 'most every summer, and never goes back without paying us a
+visit. He's been here three days now. But he is just as easy as an old
+shoe, and sociable as can be, so you won't mind him."
+
+"Uncle Benson has relatives at the South, then?" said Sarah, seeing
+herself called upon to say something.
+
+"One brother--James. He went to Georgy when he wasn't more than sixteen
+years old, and has lived there ever since. He married a rich wife, I
+believe"--sinking her voice--"and has made money fast, I've heard.
+Philip never says a word about their wealth, but his father owns a
+great plantation, for husband asked him how many acres they worked.
+Then the children--there are four of them--have had fine educations,
+and always spend money freely. Philip is not the sort to boast of
+anything that belongs to him or his. He is a good-hearted boy. He was
+here the August my last daughter--my Betsy--died, and I shall never
+forget how kind and tender he was then. I can't look at him without
+thinking how my Alick would have been just his age if he had lived. One
+was born on the fourth and the other the fifth of the same April."
+
+Keeping up a decent show of interest in these family details, Sarah
+divested Jeannie of her sacque and dress, and substituted a cool blue
+gingham and a muslin apron. Then, as the child was wild to run out of
+doors, she suffered her to go, charging her not to pass the boundary of
+the yard fence. Aunt Sarah was dressed in a second mourning delaine,
+with a very plain cap, and while the heat obliged Sarah to lay aside
+the thick and dusty garment she had worn all day, she had too much
+tact to offer a strong contrast in her own attire to her unpretending
+surroundings. A neat sprigged lawn, modest and inexpensive, was not
+out of place among the old-fashioned furniture of her chamber, nor in
+the "best room," to which they presently descended.
+
+Aunt Sarah ushered her into the apartment with some stiffness of
+ceremony. In truth, she was not herself there often, or long enough to
+feel quite at ease, her property though it was. Alleging the necessity
+of "seeing to the tea," she bade her niece "make herself at home,"
+threw open a blind that she "might see the river," and left her.
+
+First, Sarah looked around the room. It was large and square, and
+had four windows, two in front and two in the rear. The floor was
+covered by a well-saved carpet, of a pattern so antique that it was in
+itself a curiosity; heavy tables of a mahogany dark with age; upright
+chairs, with slippery leathern seats; a ponderous sofa, covered with
+haircloth; small mirrors, with twisted frames, between the windows; two
+black profiles, of life-size, over the mantel, and in the fireplace a
+jar of asparagus boughs, were appointments that might have repelled
+the looker-on, but for the scrupulous, shining cleanliness of every
+article. It was a scene so strange to Sarah that she could not but
+smile as she withdrew her eyes and turned to the landscape commanded by
+her window.
+
+The sight changed the gleam of good-humored amusement to one of more
+heartfelt pleasure. Beyond the grassy walks and flower-borders of the
+garden behind the house lay green meadows, sloping down to the river,
+broad and smooth at this point, so placid now that it mirrored every
+rope and seam of the sails resting quietly upon its surface, and the
+white cottages along the banks, while the banks themselves, with their
+tufts and crowns of foliage, drooping willows and lofty elms, found
+a faithful yet a beautified counterpart in the stream. The reflected
+blush of the crimson west upon its bosom was shot with flickers of
+golden light, and faded in the distance into the blue-gray twilight.
+The air seemed to grow more deliciously cool as the gazer thought of
+the hot, pent-up city, and the beds of thyme and lavender added their
+evening incense.
+
+The hum of cheerful voices joined pleasantly with the soothing
+influences of the hour, and, changing her position slightly, Sarah
+beheld the speakers. Upon a turfy mound, at the foot of an apple tree,
+sat Jeannie beside a gentleman, whose hands she watched with pleased
+interest, as did also a boy of fifteen or thereabouts, who knelt on the
+grass before them. Sarah divined at once that this was her aunt's deaf
+and dumb son. The gentleman was apparently interpreting to Jeannie all
+that passed between himself and the lad, and her gleeful laugh showed
+it to be a lively dialogue. Could this be Mr. Benson's nephew, the
+beardless youth Sarah had pictured him to herself from Aunt Sarah's
+description? He could not have been less than six-and-twenty, had
+dark hair and a close curling beard, an intelligent, handsome face,
+and notwithstanding his loose summer sack and lounging attitude, one
+discerned plainly traces of uncommon grace and strength in his form.
+
+"What is he, I wonder? A gallant, professional beau, who will entangle
+me in my speech, and be an inevitable appendage in the excursions?
+I flattered myself I would be safe from all such drawbacks," thought
+Sarah, in genuine vexation, as she obeyed her aunt's summons to tea.
+
+Perhaps Mr. Benson read as much in her countenance, for, beyond a few
+polite, very unremarkable observations, addressed to her when his hosts
+made it necessary for him to do so, he paid her no visible attention
+during the whole of the evening. The next day he set off, the minute
+breakfast was over, with his gun and game-bag, and was gone until
+sunset.
+
+Sarah sat at her chamber window as he came up to the back door; and,
+screened by the vine trained over the sash, she watched him as he
+tossed his game-bag to Charley and shook hands with Jeannie, who ran up
+to him with the familiarity of an old acquaintance.
+
+"What luck?" questioned his uncle.
+
+"Nothing to boast of, sir; yet enough to repay me for my tramp. I have
+been down to the shore."
+
+"Philip Benson! Well, you beat everything! I suppose you have walked
+as much as ten miles in all!" exclaimed Aunt Sarah, with a sort of
+reproachful admiration.
+
+"I dare say, madam, and am none the worse for it to-night. I am getting
+used to your sand, uncle; it used to tire me, I confess."
+
+He disappeared into the kitchen, probably to perform the ablutions
+needful after his day's walk and work, for it was several minutes
+before he returned. Charley had carried the game-bag to the mound under
+the tree, and was exhibiting its contents--mostly snipe and red-winged
+black birds--to his little cousin.
+
+"It is refreshing to see something in the shape of man that is neither
+an effeminate dandy nor a business machine," soliloquized Sarah.
+"Ten miles on foot! I would like to set that task for certain of our
+Broadway exquisites!"
+
+"She isn't a bit like a city girl!" Aunt Sarah was saying, as she
+followed Philip into the outer air.
+
+"I am glad to hear that she is likely to be a nice companion for you,
+madam. I thought, from her appearance, that you would suit each other,"
+was the reply, certainly respectful enough, but whose lurking accent of
+dry indifference sent the blood to Sarah's face.
+
+Hastily withdrawing from the open window, and beyond the reach of
+the voices that discussed her merits, she waited to recover her
+equanimity before going downstairs. In vain she chided herself for
+her sudden heat. Mortified she was, and even more ashamed of herself
+than angry with the cool young man who had pronounced her to be a
+fitting associate for her excellent but unpolished aunt. While his
+every look and intonation bespoke the educated gentleman, a being as
+different in mental as in physical muscle from the fops who formed her
+sister's train, had he weighed her against the refined woman of his
+own class and clime, and adjudged her this place? At heart she felt
+the injustice, and, stimulated by the sting, arose the resolve that
+he should learn and confess his error. Not tamely or willingly would
+she accept an ignoble station at the hands of one whom she inwardly
+recognized as capable of a true valuation of what she esteemed worthy.
+
+She looked haughty, not humbled, when she took her seat opposite her
+critic at the tea-table. "A nice companion," she was saying over
+to herself. The very phrase, borrowed, as it was, from Aunt Sarah's
+vocabulary, seemed to her seasoned with contempt. She kept down fire
+and scorn, however, when Mr. Benson accosted her with the tritest
+of remarks upon the probable heat of the day in town as contrasted
+with the invigorating breeze, with its faint, delicious sea flavor,
+that rustled the grapevines and fluttered the white curtains at the
+dining-room door and windows. Her answer was not exactly gracious, but
+it advanced the one tempting step beyond a mere reply.
+
+Thus was the ice broken, and for the rest of the meal, Aunt Sarah and
+"Uncle Nathan"--as he requested his nieces to style him--had respite
+from the duty of active entertainment, so far as conversation went. To
+Sarah's surprise, Mr. Benson talked to her almost as he would have done
+to another man. He spoke of notable persons, places, and books--things
+of which she had heard and read--without affectation of reserve or a
+shade of pretension; and to her rejoinders--brief and constrained for
+awhile--then, as she forgot herself in her subject, pertinent, earnest,
+salient, he gave more than courteous heed. It was the unaffected
+interest of an inquirer; the entire attention of one who felt that he
+received more than he gave.
+
+They parted for the night with a bow and a smile that was with each
+a mute acknowledgment of pleasure derived from the companionship of
+the other; and if neither looked forward to the meeting of the morrow
+as a renewal of congenial intercourse, both carried to their rest the
+effects of an agreeable surprise in the events of the evening.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IV.
+
+
+A week had passed since the arrival of the city nieces at the
+farmhouse. An early tea, one of Aunt Sarah's generous and appetizing
+repasts, was over; and through the garden, out at the gate that
+terminated the middle walk, and across the strip of meadow-land, danced
+Charley and Jeannie, followed at a more sedate pace by Philip Benson
+and Sarah. Seven days' rustication had wrought a marked change in the
+town-bred girl. There was a lighter bound in her step, and in her
+cheek a clear, pink glow, while her eyes looked softly, yet brightly,
+from out the shadow of her gypsy hat, a look of half surprise, half
+confidence in her companion's face.
+
+"One week ago," he was saying, "how firmly I made up my mind that
+you and I could never be anything but strangers to each other! How I
+disliked you for coming down here to interfere with my liberty and
+leisure!"
+
+"But even then you thought that I would prove a 'nice companion for
+Aunt Sarah'--perceived my suitableness to her society," was the demure
+reply.
+
+"Who told you that I said so?"
+
+"Not Aunt Sarah herself, although she considered it honest praise. I
+overheard it accidentally from my window, and I can assure you properly
+appreciated the compliment, which, by the way, was more in the tone
+than the words."
+
+"And you were thereby piqued to a different style of behavior. Bravo!
+did ever another seed so worthless bring forth so rich a harvest? I am
+glad I said it! Here is the boat."
+
+It was a pretty little affair--Charley's property and care, and he was
+already in his seat at the bow, oar in hand. Philip helped Sarah in,
+placed Jeannie beside her, and stationing himself upon the middle bench
+took up a second pair of oars. A noiseless dip of the four, and the
+craft glided out into the stream, then up against the tide, the water
+rippling into a foamy wake on either side of the sharp bow. A row was
+now the regular sequel to the day's enjoyments, and to Jeannie, at
+least, the climax of its pleasures.
+
+"Pull that way, please, Mr. Benson!" she cried. "There! right through
+that beautiful red water!"
+
+A skilful sweep brought them to the spot designated, but the crimson
+deserted the wave as they neared it, and left dull gray in its stead.
+
+"It is too bad!" complained the child, pointing back to the track
+of their boat, quivering amidst the fickle radiance she had thought
+to reach by this change of course. "It is behind us and before
+us--everywhere but where we are!"
+
+"Is there a moral in that?" questioned Philip, smiling at Sarah.
+
+"Perhaps so."
+
+A fortnight before, how assured would have been her reply! How gloomy
+her recognition of the analogy! Changed as was her mood, a shade fell
+over her countenance. Was it of apprehension, and did Philip thus
+interpret it?
+
+"I could not love life and this fair world as I do, if I conceded this
+to be universally true," he said. "That there comes, sometimes, a glory
+to the present, besides which the hues of past and future fade and are
+forgotten, I must and will believe. Such, it seems to me, must be the
+rapture of reciprocal and acknowledged affection; the joy of reunion
+after long separation from the beloved one; the bliss of reconciliation
+after estrangement. Have you ever thought how much happier we would be
+if we were to live only in the Now we have, and never strain our eyes
+with searching for, the lights and shades of what may be before us, or
+with 'mournful looking' after what is gone?"
+
+"Yet is this possible?" asked Sarah, earnestly. "Does not the very
+constitution of our natures forbid it? To me that would be a miserably
+tame, dead-level existence over which Hope sheds no enchanting
+illusions; like this river, as we saw it three days ago, cold and
+sombre as the rain-clouds that hung above it. Oh, no! give me anything
+but the chill, neutral tint of such a life as thousands are content to
+lead--people who expect nothing, fear nothing--I had almost said, feel
+nothing!"
+
+"That is because every principle of your being is at war with
+common-places. Tell me frankly, Miss Sarah, did you ever meet another
+woman who had as much character as yourself?"
+
+"I do not know that I understand the full bearing of your question."
+She leaned on the side of the boat, her hand playing in the water, her
+lips working in an irresolute timidity that was oddly at variance with
+their habitual firmness.
+
+"I am aware," she began slowly and gravely, "that I express myself too
+strongly at times; that I am more abrupt in language and action than
+most other girls. I have always been told so; but it is natural to me.
+My character has many rough and sharp edges that need softening and
+rounding"--
+
+"In order to render you one of the pretty automatons, the well-draped,
+thoroughly-oiled pieces of human clockwork that decorates men's
+homes--falsely so called--in these days of gloss and humbug!"
+interrupted Philip with energy. "I am sick to death of the dollish
+'sweet creatures' every boarding-school turns out by the score. I
+understand all the wires that work the dear puppets--flatter myself
+that I can put them through their paces (excuse the slang!) in as
+short a time as any other man of my age in the country. The delightful
+divinities! A little music, and a little less French; a skimming of
+the arts and sciences; and it is a rare thing to meet one who can tell
+an art from a science ten days after she has graduated--a stock of pet
+phrases--all hyperbolical, consequently unmeaning--a glib utterance
+of the same; a steady devotion to balls, beau-catching, gossip, and
+fancy-work; voila the modern fine lady--the stuff we are expected to
+make wives of! Wives! save the mark! I never think of the possibility
+of being thus ensnared without an involuntary repetition of a portion
+of the Litany--'From all such, etc., etc.!'"
+
+He plied his oars with renewed activity for a moment, then suspended
+them to continue, in a softer tone: "And this is the representative
+woman of your Utopia, Miss Sarah?"
+
+"Did I intimate, much less assert, such a heresy?" responded she,
+laughing. "But there is a golden mean somewhere--a union of gentleness
+and energy; of domestic and literary taste; of independence and
+submission. I have seen such in my day dreams. She is my ideal."
+
+"Which you will one day embody. No reproachful looks! This is the
+sincerity of a friend. I have promised never to flatter you again, and
+do not violate the pledge in speaking thus. From my boyhood, I have
+made human nature my study, and it would be hard to convince me that I
+err in this case."
+
+"You do! indeed you do!" exclaimed Sarah, with a look of real pain. "I
+lack the first characteristic of the portrait I have drawn. I am not
+gentle! I never was. I fear that I never will be!"
+
+"Let us hear a competent witness on that head. Jeannie!" to the child,
+who was busy spelling on her fingers to Charley; his nods and smiles to
+her, from the far end of the boat, being more intelligible to her than
+were her attempts to signal her meaning to him. "Jeannie!" repeated
+Philip, as he caught her eye. "Come, and whisper in my ear which of
+your sisters you love the best. Maybe I won't tell tales out of school
+to the one you care least for."
+
+"I don't care who knows!" said the saucy, but affectionate child. "Sis'
+Lucy is the prettiest, and she never scolds me either; but she doesn't
+make my clothes, and tell me nice stories, and help me with my lessons,
+and all that, you know. She isn't my dear, best sister!" And, springing
+up suddenly, she threw her arms around Sarah's neck, with a kiss that
+answered the question with emphasis.
+
+Sarah's lip trembled. The share of affection she had hitherto dared to
+claim as her own had barely sufficed to keep her heart from starving
+outright. She had often dreamed of fulness of love as a stay and
+comfort, as solace and nutriment in a world whose wrong side was ever
+turned to her. Now there dawned upon her the sweetness and beauty of
+a new revelation, the bliss of loving and being beloved. Over life
+floated a warm, purple tinge, like the sunset light upon the river. For
+the first time within the reach of her memory her heart rested!
+
+In the smile whose overflowing gave a tender loveliness to her
+features, Philip saw the effect he had wished and anticipated, and,
+motioning to Charley to let the boat drift with the current, he picked
+up the guitar, that by Sarah's request was always taken along in these
+excursions.
+
+    "The dew is on the blossom,
+      And the young moon on the sea;
+    It is the twilight hour--
+      The hour for you and me;
+    The time when memory lingers
+      Across life's dreary track,
+    When the past floats up before us,
+      And the lost comes stealing back."
+
+It was a love song, inimitable in its purity and tenderness, with just
+the touch of sadness that insured its passage to the heart. Sarah's
+smile was softer, but it was a smile still, as the melody arose on the
+quiet air. When the ballad was concluded, she only said, "Another,
+please!"
+
+Philip sang more than well. Without extraordinary power, his voice had
+a rich and flexible quality of tone and a delicacy of expression that
+never failed to fascinate. To the rapt and listening girl it seemed
+as if time could bring no more delicious fate than thus to glide on
+ever upon this empurpled, enchanted stream, the summer heavens above
+her, and, thrilling ear and soul, the witching lullaby that rocked her
+spirit to dreams of the youth she had never had, the love for which she
+had longed with all the wild intensity, the fervent yearning, her deep
+heart could feel.
+
+Still they floated on with the receding tide, its low washing against
+the sides of their boat filling up the pauses of the music. The burning
+red and gold of the sky cooled into the mellower tints of twilight,
+and the pale curve of the young moon shone with increasing lustre.
+Jeannie fell asleep, her head upon her sister's lap; the dumb boy sat
+motionless as stone, his dark eyes fixed on the moon; there seemed
+some spell upon the little party. Boat after boat passed them, almost
+noiselessly, for far into the clear evening went the tones of the
+singer's voice, and the dullest hearer could not withhold the tribute
+of admiring silence until beyond its reach.
+
+And Sarah, happy in the strange, restful languor that locked her senses
+to all except the blessed present, dreamed on, the music but a part of
+her ideal world, this new and beautiful life. Into it stole presently
+a theme of sadness, a strain of grief, a heart-cry, that, ere she was
+aware, wrung her own heart-strings with anguish.
+
+        "The long, long weary day
+        Is passed in tears away,
+    And still at evening I am weeping.
+        When from my window's height
+        I look out on the night,
+        I am still weeping,
+        My lone watch keeping.
+
+        "When I, his truth to prove,
+        Would trifle with my love,
+    He'd say, 'For me thou wilt be weeping,
+        When, at some future day,
+        I shall be far away;
+        Thou wilt be weeping,
+        Thy lone watch keeping.'
+
+        "Alas! if land or sea
+        Had parted him from me,
+    I would not these sad tears be weeping;
+        But hope he'd come once more,
+        And love me as before;
+        And say, 'Cease weeping,
+        Thy lone watch keeping.'
+
+        "But he is dead and gone,
+        Whose heart was mine alone,
+    And now for him I'm sadly weeping.
+        His face I ne'er shall see,
+        And naught is left to me
+        But bitter weeping,
+        My lone watch keeping."
+
+If ever a pierced and utterly hopeless soul poured forth its plaint
+in musical measure, it was in the wondrously simple and unspeakably
+plaintive air to which these words are set. There breathes in it a
+spirit wail so mournfully sincere that one recognizes its sob in the
+very chords of the accompaniment. The mere murmur of the melody, were
+no words uttered, tells the story of grieving desolation.
+
+Sarah did not move or speak, yet upon her enchanted ground a cloud had
+fallen. She saw the high casement and its tearful gazer into the night,
+a night not of music, and moonlight, and love, but chill, and wet, and
+dreary. Rain dripped from eaves and trees; stone steps and pavements
+caught a ghastly gleam from street lamps; save that sorrowful watcher,
+there was no living creature abroad or awake. She grew cold and sick
+with looking into those despairing eyes; the gloom, the loneliness, the
+woe of that vigil became her own, and her heart sank swooning beneath
+the burden.
+
+As he ceased the song, Philip looked up for some comment or request.
+To his surprise, she only clasped her hands in a gesture that might
+have been either relief from or abandonment to woe, and bowed her head
+upon them. Puzzled, yet flattered by her emotion, he refrained from
+interrupting her; and, resuming his oars, lent the impetus of their
+stroke to that of the tide. Nothing was said until the keel grated upon
+the shelly beach opposite the farmhouse. Then, as Philip stooped to
+lift the unconscious Jeannie, he imagined that he discerned the gleam
+of the sinking moon upon Sarah's dripping eyelashes.
+
+The fancy pursued him after he had gone up to his room. Seated at his
+window, looking out upon the now starlit sky, he smoked more than one
+cigar before his musing fit was ended. It was not the love-reverie
+of a smitten boy. He believed that he had passed that stage of
+sentimentalism ten years before. That Southerner of the male gender
+who has not been consumed by the fires and risen as good as new from
+the ashes of half a dozen never-dying passions before he is eighteen,
+who has not offered the heart and hand, which as often as otherwise
+constitute his chiefest earthly possessions, to some elect fair one by
+the time he is one-and-twenty, is voted "slow" invulnerable. If these
+susceptible sons of a fervid clime did not take to love-making as
+naturally as does a duckling to the pond by the time the eggshell is
+fairly off its head, they would certainly be initiated while in the
+callow state by the rules and customs of society. Courtship is at first
+a pastime, then an art, then when the earnestness of a real attachment
+takes hold of their impassioned natures, it is the one all-absorbing,
+eager pursuit of existence, until rewarded by the acquisition of its
+object or thwarted by the decided refusal of the hard-hearted Dulcinea.
+
+This state of things, this code of Cupid, every Southern girl
+understands, and shapes her conduct accordingly. Sportively, yet
+warily, she plays around the hook, and he is a very fortunate angler
+who does not in the moment of fancied success discover that she has
+carried off the bait as a trophy upon which to feed her vanity, and
+left him to be the laughing-stock of the curious spectators of this
+double game. She is imperturbable to meaning equivoques, receives
+pretty speeches and tender glances at their current value, and not
+until the suit becomes close and ardent, the attachment palpable to
+every one else, and is confessed in so many words, does she allow
+herself to be persuaded that her adorer is "in earnest," and really
+desires to awaken a sympathetic emotion in her bosom.
+
+Philip Benson was no wanton trifler with woman's feelings. On the
+contrary, he had gained the reputation in his circle of an invincible,
+indifferent looker-on of the pseudo and real combats, in Love's name,
+that were continually transpiring around him. Chivalrous in tone,
+gallant in action, as he was, the girls feared while they liked and
+admired him. They called him critical, fastidious, cold; and mockingly
+wondered why he persisted in going into company that, judging the
+future by the past, was so unlikely to furnish him with the consort
+he must be seeking. In reality, he was what he had avowed himself to
+Sarah--a student of human nature; an amateur in this species of social
+research--than which no other so frequently results in the complete
+deception of the inquirer. Certainly no other is so apt to find its
+culmination of devotion in a cold-blooded dissection of motive, morals,
+and sentiment; an unprincipled, reckless application of trial and test
+to the hearts and lives of its victims and final infidelity in all
+human good, except what is concentrated in the inspector's individual,
+personal self. Grown dainty amid the abundant supply of ordinary
+material, he comes at length to disdain common "subjects." Still less
+would he touch one already loathsome in the popular estimation, through
+excess of known and actual crime. But a character fresh and noble from
+the Creator's hand; a soul that dares to think and feel according to
+its innate sense of right; an intellect unhackneyed, not vitiated
+by worldly policy or the dogmas of the schools; a heart, tender and
+delicate--yet passionate in love or abhorrence; what an opportunity is
+here presented for the scalpel, the detective acid, the crucible, the
+microscope! It is not in fallible mortality to resist the temptation,
+and even professors of this ennobling pursuit, whose motto is, "The
+proper study of mankind is Man," are, as they allow with shame and
+confusion of face, themselves mortal. Of all the dignified humbugs of
+the solemn farce of life, deliver me from that creature self-styled "a
+student and judge of character!"
+
+In Sarah Hunt, Philip discovered, to his surprise, a rare "specimen;"
+a volume, each leaf of which revealed new matter of interest. The
+attentions he had considered himself bound to pay her, in order to
+avoid wounding their kind hosts, were soon rendered from a widely
+different motive. It did not occur to him that he was transcending the
+limits of merely friendly courtesy, as prescribed by the etiquette
+of the region in which he was now a sojourner. He was by no means
+deficient in appreciation of his personal gifts; rated his powers of
+pleasing quite as highly as did his warmest admirers, although he had
+the common sense and tact to conceal this; but he would have repelled,
+as an aspersion upon his honor, the charge that he was endeavoring to
+win this young girl's affections, his heart being as yet untouched.
+
+"Was it then altogether whole?" he asked himself to-night, with a
+coolness that should have been an immediate reply to the suggestion.
+
+Side by side, he set two mental portraits, and strove deliberately,
+impartially, to discern any traces of resemblance between the two. The
+future Mrs. Benson was a personage that engrossed much of his thoughts,
+and by long practice in the portrayal of her lineaments, he had brought
+his fancy sketch very nearly to perfection. A tall, Juno-like figure,
+with raven locks, and large, melting eyes, unfathomable as clear;
+features of classic mould; an elastic, yet stately form; a disposition
+in which amiability tempered natural impetuosity, and generous impulse
+gave direction to gentle word and deed; a mind profoundly imbued with
+the love of learning, and in cultivation, if not strength, equal to his
+own; discretion, penetration, and docility combined in such proportions
+as should render her her husband's safest counsellor, yet willing
+follower; and controlling and toning the harmonious whole, a devotion
+to himself only second in degree, not inferior in quality, to worship
+of her Creator. This was the ideal for whose embodiment our reasonable,
+modest Coelebs was patiently waiting. Answer, oh ye expectant,
+incipient Griseldas! who, from your beauteous ranks, will step into the
+prepared niche, and make the goddess a reality?
+
+And how appeared the rival picture in comparison?
+
+"No, no!" he ejaculated, tossing the remnant of his third cigar into
+the garden. "I must seek further for the 'golden mean.' Intellect and
+heart are here, undoubtedly. I must have beauty and grace as well.
+Yet," he continued, relentingly, "there are times when she would be
+quite handsome if she dressed better. It is a pity her love for the
+beautiful does not enter into her choice of wearing apparel!"
+
+In ten minutes more he was asleep, and dreamed that he stood at the
+altar with his long sought ideal, when, as the last binding words were
+spoken, she changed to Sarah Hunt, arrayed in a light blue lawn of last
+year's fashion, that made her look as sallow as a lemon, and, to his
+taste, as little to be desired for "human nature's daily food."
+
+Poor Sarah! The visionary robe was a faithful reflection upon the
+dreamer's mental retina of a certain organdie which had formed a part
+of Lucy's wardrobe the previous summer, and having become antiquated
+in six months' time, was altogether inadmissible in the belle's outfit
+of this season.
+
+"Yet it cost an awful sum when it was new!" reasoned Mrs. Hunt, "and
+will make you a very useful dress while you are with your Aunt Sarah.
+It's too good to cut up for Jeannie!"
+
+"But the color, mother?" objected the unwilling recipient.
+
+"Pooh! who will notice that? Besides, if you had a good complexion, you
+could wear blue as well as anybody."
+
+Sarah's stock of thin dresses was not plentiful, and, recalling this
+observation, she coupled it with the fact that she was growing rosy,
+and dared to equip herself in the azure garment, with what effect she
+did not dream and Mr. Philip Benson did!
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER V.
+
+
+On a pleasant, although rather cloudy forenoon in July, our young
+pleasure-seekers carried into execution a long-talked-of expedition to
+the Deal Beach, distant about ten miles from Shrewsbury.
+
+By Aunt Sarah's arrangement, Charley and Jeannie occupied the back
+seat of the light wagon, and Sarah was to sit by Philip in front,
+that she "might see the country." Having accomplished this apparently
+artless manoeuvre, the good woman handed up to them a portly basket of
+luncheon, and two or three additional shawls, in case of rain or change
+of weather, and bade the gay party "good-bye" with a satisfied glow in
+heart and face. To her guileless apprehension there was no question how
+affairs were progressing between her niece and her nephew-in-law; and
+in sundry conferences on the subject between "husband" and herself, it
+had been agreed that a matrimonial alliance would be the best thing
+that could happen to either of the supposed lovers. In her simple,
+pious soul, the dear old lady already blessed the Providence that had
+accomplished the meeting and intercourse under her roof, while she
+wondered at "the strange things that come about in this world."
+
+Philip had been aware of her innocent attempts to facilitate his suit
+for several days past, and Sarah's blush, as she hesitated before
+accepting the proffered seat by the driver, showed that this move
+was so transparent as to convey the alarm to her also. For a full
+half mile Philip did not speak, except a word now and then to the
+pair of stout grays, who were Uncle Nathan's greatest earthly boast.
+He appeared thoughtful, perhaps perturbed--so Sarah's single stolen
+glance at him showed--and in the eyes that looked straight onward to
+the horizon, there was a hardness she had never seen there before. She
+was surprised, therefore, when he broke the silence by an unimportant
+observation, uttered in his usual friendly tone, and for the remainder
+of the ride was gay and kind, with a show of light-heartedness that was
+not surpassed by the merry children behind them.
+
+There was hardly enough variety in the unpicturesque country bordering
+their route to give the shadow of reasonableness to Aunt Sarah's
+pretext in selecting her namesake's seat, and, despite her escort's
+considerate attentions, Sarah had an uncomfortable ride; while her
+manner evinced more of the haughty reserve of their introduction than
+she had shown at any subsequent stage of their acquaintance. The grays
+traveled well, and a little after noon they were detached from the
+carriage, and tied in the grove of scrub-oaks skirting the beach.
+
+While Philip was busied with them, the others continued their course
+down to the shore; the children, hand-in-hand, skipping over the
+sand-hills, and stopping to pick up stones; Sarah strolling slowly
+after them. She had seen the ocean surf before, but never aught like
+this, with its huge swells of water, a mile in length, gathering
+blackness and height on their landward career; as they struck the
+invisible barriers that commanded, "Thus far and no farther!"
+breaking in white fury, with the leap of a baffled fiend, and a roar
+like thunder, against their resistless opponent, then recoiling,
+sullenly, to gather new force for another, and as useless an attack.
+The beach was wide and uneven, of sand, whose whiteness would have
+glared intolerably had the day been sunny, drifted into hillocks and
+undulating ridges, like the waves of the sea. Here and there the hardy
+heather found a foothold amid the otherwise blank sterility, the green
+patches adding to, rather than lessening the wild, desolate aspect
+of the tract. Fragments of timber were strewn in all directions, and
+Sarah's quick eye perceived that it was not formless, chance driftwood.
+There were hewn beams and shapely spars, and planks in which great iron
+bolts were still fast. When Philip overtook her, she was standing by an
+immense piece of solid wood, lying far beyond the reach of the highest
+summer tides. One end was buried in the sand; the other, bleached by
+sun and wind, and seamed with cracks, was curved like the extremity of
+a bow. Her late embarrassment or hauteur was forgotten in the direct
+earnestness of her appealing look.
+
+"Am I mistaken?" she said, in a low, awed tone. "Is not this the keel
+of a ship?"
+
+"It is. There have been many wrecked on this coast."
+
+"Here!" She glanced from the fierce, bellowing breakers to the
+melancholy testimonials of their destructive might. "I have never heard
+that this was esteemed a dangerous point."
+
+"You can form an imperfect idea of what this beach is in winter,"
+remarked Philip, signing to her to seat herself upon the sand and
+throwing himself down beside her. "I was here once, late in the autumn,
+and saw a vessel go to pieces, scarcely a stone's throw from where we
+are now sitting. The sea was high, the wind blowing a perfect gale,
+and this schooner, having lost one of her most important sails, was at
+the mercy of the elements. She was cast upon the shore, and her crew,
+watching their opportunity, sprang overboard as the waves receded and
+reached firm ground in safety. Then came a monster billow, and lifting
+the vessel farther upon the sand, left her careened towards the land.
+It was pitiful to see the poor thing! So like life were her shudders
+and groans as the cruel surf beat against her, that my heart fairly
+ached. The spray at every dash rose nearly as high as her mast-head,
+and a cataract of water swept over her deck. Piece by piece she broke
+up, and we could only stand and look on, while the scattered portions
+were thrown to our feet. I shall never forget the sight. It taught me
+the truth of man's impotence and nature's strength as I had never read
+it before."
+
+"But there were no lives lost! You were spared the spectacle of that
+most terrible scene in the tragedy of shipwreck?"
+
+"Yes. But the light of many a life has been quenched in that raging
+caldron. A young man, a resident of Shrewsbury, with whom I hunted last
+year, described to me a catalogue of horrors which he had beheld here,
+that has visited me in dreams often since. An emigrant ship was cast
+away on this coast in midwinter. High above the roar of the wind and
+the booming surf was heard the cry of the doomed wretches, perishing
+within hail of the crowd of fellow-beings who had collected at news
+of the catastrophe. The cold was intense; mast and sail and rope were
+coated with ice, and the benumbed, freezing wretches were exposed every
+instant to the torrents of brine that swept over them like sleet. The
+agony was horrible beyond description, but it was soon over. Before the
+vessel parted, the accent of mortal woe was hushed. Not a man survived
+to tell the tale."
+
+For an hour they sat thus and talked. The subject had, for Sarah, a
+fearful fascination, and, led on by her absorbed attention, Philip
+rehearsed to her wonders and stories of the mysterious old ocean, that
+to-day stretched before them, blanched and angry, under the veil of
+summer cloud, until to his auditor there were bitter wailings blent
+with the surge's roar; arms, strained and bare, were tossed above the
+dark, serpent-like swell of water, in unavailing supplication, and
+livid, dead faces stared upon her from beneath the curling crests of
+the breakers.
+
+That day on the Deal Beach! How quietly happy was its seeming! How full
+of event, emotion, fate--was its reality! Charley and Jeannie wandered
+up and down the coast, filling their baskets with shells and pebbles;
+chasing the retiring waves as far as they dared, and scampering back,
+with shrieks of laughter, as the succeeding billow rolled rapidly after
+them; building sand-houses, and digging wells to be filled by salt
+water; exulting greatly when a rough coralline fragment or a jelly-fish
+of unusual dimensions was thrown in their way. They all lunched
+together, seated upon the heather-clumps, around Aunt Sarah's liberal
+hamper.
+
+"Sister," said Jeannie, when the edge of her seaside appetite was
+somewhat blunted by her repast, "I like living here better than in New
+York--don't you?"
+
+"It is more pleasant in summer, my dear."
+
+"But I mean that I am happier here. I wish you would write to mother
+and ask her to let us live here always."
+
+"But what would she do without her baby?" asked Philip, emphasizing the
+last word.
+
+The little lady bridled instantly.
+
+"Cousin Philip, I do wish you would never call me a 'baby' again. I
+am seven years and two weeks old. I could get along very well without
+mother for awhile. Of course, I would go over sometimes and pay her
+a visit and get new dresses. Shrewsbury is a nice place; I would
+like to buy that pretty white house next to Uncle Nathan's, and live
+there--sister and Charley and I--and you--if you would promise not to
+tease me ever."
+
+"Thank you!" said Philip, with admirable gravity, seeming not to notice
+Sarah's heightened color at this proposal of co-partnership. "You are
+very kind to include me in your household arrangements, and nothing
+would please me better, if I could stay here. But you know, Jeannie,
+my dear little cousin, that my home is far away from this quarter of
+the world. I have remained here too long already." There was a touch
+of feeling or nervousness in his voice. "I had a letter last night,
+reminding me that I ought to have left a week ago to join a party of
+friends, whom I promised to meet in New York and travel with them until
+the time for our return to the South."
+
+He did not look at Sarah, but she felt that the explanation was
+intended for her--that, whether intentionally or not, he was preparing
+her for a blow to heart and hope.
+
+"I shall be obliged to leave Shrewsbury and all my friends there
+to-morrow morning, Jeannie."
+
+The child's exclamation of dismay, and Charley's quick, mute
+remonstrance to his cousin, as his playfellow communicated the news to
+him, gave Sarah time to rally firmness and words.
+
+"This is unexpected intelligence," she said, calmly. "We shall miss
+you. Your kindness has, directly and indirectly, been the means of
+affording us much pleasure during our visit to our good aunt. It will
+seem dull when you are gone."
+
+There was a flash in Philip's eye that looked like pleasure--a mixture
+of relief and surprise, as he turned to her.
+
+"I am selfish enough to hope that you will miss me for a time, at
+least. I shall not then be so soon forgotten. We have had some pleasant
+days and weeks together, have we not?"
+
+"I have enjoyed them, assuredly."
+
+She was a little pale, Philip thought, but that might be the effect of
+fatigue. Her cheek was seldom blooming, unless when flushed in animated
+speech, or by brisk exercise. She spoke of his going with politeness,
+that seemed scarce one remove from carelessness; and, man-like, his
+pleasure at the thought that their association in the country house
+had not been followed by the results Aunt Sarah wished and predicted,
+gave way to a feeling of wounded vanity and vexation, that his summer's
+companion could relinquish him so easily. While he repeated to himself
+his congratulations that his friendly and gallant attentions had not
+been misconstrued, had not awakened any inconvenient because futile
+"expectations," he wondered if it were a possibility for a girl of
+so much sense and feeling, such genuine appreciation of his talents
+and tastes, to know him well--even intimately--without experiencing a
+warmer sentiment than mere approval of an agreeable associate's mind
+and manners, and Platonic liking for him on these accounts.
+
+With the respectful familiarity of a privileged acquaintance, he
+drew her hand within his arm as they arose at the conclusion of the
+collation.
+
+"We have yet two hours and more to spend here, before we set out for
+home. We can have one more walk and talk together."
+
+They took but one turn on the beach, and returning to their morning's
+seat beside the half-buried keel tried to talk as they had done then.
+It was hard work, even to the man of the world, the heart-free student
+of human nature. Gradually the conversation languished and died away,
+and for awhile both sat silent, looking out upon the sea. Then Philip's
+gaze came back to his companion--stealthily at first, and, as she
+remained unconscious of his scrutiny, it lingered long and searchingly
+upon features, form and attire.
+
+There were white, tight lines about her mouth, and a slight knitting of
+the brow, that imparted a care-worn look to the young face it pained
+him to see. Her hands were clasped upon her knee, and the fingers were
+bloodless where they interlaced one another. Was she suffering? Was the
+threatened parting the cause of her disquiet? If this were so, what was
+his duty as a man of honor--of common humanity? And if he were forced
+to admit that he held her happiness in his power, and to accept the
+consequences that must ensue from his idle gallantry and her mistaken
+reading of the same, was the thought really repulsive? Would it be a
+total sacrifice of feeling to a sense of right? It was a repetition,
+grave and careful, of the revery of that July night two weeks ago.
+
+Sarah's hat--a broad-brimmed "flat" of brown straw--had fallen back
+upon her shoulders, and the sea breeze played in her hair, raising
+the short and loose strands and giving to the whole a rough, "frowzy"
+look. Her plain linen collar and undersleeves showed her complexion
+and hands to the worst possible advantage. Upon her cheeks, this same
+unfriendly wind had bestowed a coat of tan and a few freckles, that
+were all the more conspicuous from her pallor, while her fingers were
+as brown as a gypsy's. Her gray poplin dress had lost most of its
+original gloss, and being one of Mrs. Hunt's bargains--"a cheap thing,
+but plenty good for that outlandish Shrewsbury"--already betrayed
+its cotton warp by creases that would not be smoothed, and an aspect
+of general limpness--a prophecy of speedy, irremediable shabbiness.
+Cast loosely about her shoulders was a light shawl, green, with black
+sprigs--another bargain; and beyond the skirt of her robe appeared
+the toe and instep of a thick-soled gaiter, very suitable for a tramp
+through damp sand, yet anything but becoming to the foot it protected.
+
+With an impatient shake of the head, involuntary and positive, Philip
+closed his final observation. And cutting off a large splinter from the
+weather-beaten timber against which he leaned, set about trimming it,
+wearing a serious, settled face, that said his mind was fully made up.
+
+What had Sarah seen all this while?
+
+Heavens, over which the films of the forenoon had thickened into dun
+cloud-curtains, stretching above and enwrapping the world; a wild,
+dreary expanse of troubled waters, whose horizon line was lost in the
+misty blending of sea and sky, ever hurrying and heaving to moan out
+their unrest upon the barren beach. In the distance was a solitary
+sail; nearer to the land, a large sea-bird flew heavily against the
+wind. In such mateless, weary night must her life be passed; that lone,
+frail craft was not so hopelessly forlorn upon a gloomy sea, beneath
+a sky that gloomed yet more darkly--as was her heart, torn suddenly
+from its moorings--anchor and rudder and compass gone. Yet who could
+syllable the mighty sorrow of the complaining sea? And were there words
+in human language that could tell the anguish of the swelling flood
+beating within her breast?
+
+"Going away! To-morrow!" For a little space this was all the lament
+she kept repeating over to herself. Pregnant with woe she knew it to
+be, yet it was not until she was allowed to meditate in silence upon
+the meaning of the words that she realized what had truly come upon
+her. She had thrown away all her hope of earthly happiness--risked
+it as madly, lost it as surely, as if she had tossed it--a tangible
+pearl--into the yawning ocean. Her instinct assured her that, were it
+otherwise, the tidings of Philip's intended departure, his suddenly
+formed resolution to leave her, would have been conveyed to her in a
+far different manner. Her keen backward glance penetrated Aunt Sarah's
+simple wiles; his obvious annoyance thereat; his determination to
+save himself from suspicion; his honorable fear lest she, too, should
+imagine him loving, where he was only civil and kind. Yes, it was all
+over! The best thing she could hope to do, the brightest prospect life
+had now for her, was that her secret should remain hers alone, until
+the troubled heart moaned itself into rest which knows no waking.
+She was used to concealment. All her existence, excepting the sweet
+delusive dream of the past three weeks, had been a stern preparation
+for this trial. But she was already weary and faint--fit to lie down
+and die, so intense had been the throe of this one struggle.
+
+"How long is this to last? How long?"
+
+The exclamation actually broke, in an inarticulate murmur, from her
+lips.
+
+"Did you speak?" inquired Philip.
+
+"I think not. I am not sure. I did not intend to do so."
+
+"Grant me credit for my forebearance in not obtruding my prosaic
+talk upon your musings," he went on, playfully. "It was a powerful
+temptation--for I remember, constantly, that this is our last
+opportunity for a genuine heart and head confabulation, such as I shall
+often linger for after I leave you--and sincerity! You have done me
+good, Miss Sarah; taught me Faith, Hope, Charity--a blessed sisterhood!"
+
+"May they ever attend you!"
+
+"Amen! and thank you! And what wish shall I make in return for your
+beautiful benediction?"
+
+"Whatever you like. My desires are not many or extravagant."
+
+"You are wrong. You have a craving heart and a craving mind. May both
+be fed to the full, with food convenient for them--in measures pressed
+down, shaken together and running over."
+
+"Of what? Husks?" was Sarah's unspoken and bitter reply. She could not
+thank him, as he had done her. She only bowed, and, bending forward,
+took up a handful of the fine white sand that formed the shore. Slowly
+sifting it through her fingers, she waited for him to speak again.
+
+Was this careless equanimity real or feigned? The judge of character,
+the harpist upon heart-chords, made the next move--not the candid,
+manly friend.
+
+"I am going to ask a favor of you--a bold one."
+
+"Say on."
+
+"By the time I am ready to retrace my steps southward you will be
+again settled in New York. Will you think me presumptuous if I call at
+your father's house to continue an acquaintance which has been, to me,
+at once agreeable and profitable?"
+
+The fingers were still, suddenly. A warm glow, like sunrise, swept over
+cheek and forehead. A smile, slight but sweet, quivered upon her lips.
+Drowning in the depths, she heard across the billow a hail that spoke
+of hope, life, happiness.
+
+"We will all be glad to see you," she said, with affected composure.
+
+"Not half so glad as I shall be to come. Will you now, while you think
+of it, give me your address?"
+
+He handed her a card and a pencil. She wrote the required direction
+and received in exchange for it the now smooth bit of wood, which had
+afforded occupation to Philip for half an hour past. It was tendered
+in mock ceremony, and accepted smilingly. Upon the gray tablet was
+inscribed "Philip Benson, Deal Beach, July 27th, 1856." A playful or
+thoughtless impulse caused him to extend his hand for it, after she had
+read it, and to add a motto, stale as innocent in his eyes: "Pensez a
+moi!"
+
+"I shall preserve it as a souvenir of the day and place," observed
+Sarah, slipping it into her pocket.
+
+Twilight overtook them before they reached home, and the night was too
+cloudy and damp for a promenade, such as they often had in the garden
+walks and lane, or for the customary family gathering in the long
+porch. Yet Aunt Sarah was surprised that Philip was apparently content
+to spend the evening in the sitting-room, with herself and husband by
+to spoil the tete-a-tete he must be longing for.
+
+Still more confounded was she, when, after her clever strategy of
+coaxing Uncle Nathan into the kitchen, that the coast might be clear,
+she heard Philip's step close behind them.
+
+"I must clean my gun to-night, aunt," he said, taking it from the
+corner. "I shall not have time to do it to-morrow."
+
+With the utmost nonchalance he began the operation, whistling softly
+a lively air over his work. Aunt Sarah gave her partner a look of
+bewildered despair, which he returned by a confirmatory nod, and a
+smile, half comic, half regretful.
+
+After breakfast next morning the nephew-guest said affectionate
+farewells to his relatives and Jeannie; a grave, gentle adieu to Sarah,
+accompanied by a momentary pressure of the hand, that may have meant
+much or little, and upon the snug homestead settled a quiet that was
+dreariness itself to one of its inmates.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VI.
+
+
+Meanwhile, how had the time sped to the nominal head of the Hunt
+household--the solitary, toiling father and husband? The servants were
+dismissed when "the family" left town, although Mr. Hunt continued
+to sleep at home. A peripatetic maid-of-all-work--what the English
+denominate a charwoman--was engaged to come early every morning to
+clear up the only room in the establishment that was used before the
+cashier went out for his breakfast, which he procured at a restaurant
+pretty far down town. The same quiet coffee-house furnished him with
+dinner and an early tea, after which last refreshment he was at
+liberty to pass the evening in whatever manner he liked best. There
+was nothing in the city worth seeing at this season, even if he had
+not lost all taste for shows and gayety. Those of his acquaintances
+who were not absent with their wives and daughters were living like
+himself, furniture in overalls, carpets covered, apartments closed,
+with the exception, perhaps, of one bedroom, and had no place in which
+to receive him if he had been in the habit of visiting, which he was
+not. He was very tired, moreover, by the time night came on, and as the
+heat increased and the days grew longer, his strength waned more and
+more, and his spirits with it. Meekly and uncomplainingly he plodded
+through his routine of bank duties, so steady and so faithful that
+his fellow-workers and customers had come to regard him as a reliable
+fixture, a piece of machinery, whose winding up was self-performed and
+whose accuracy was infallible.
+
+When, therefore, on a sultry August afternoon, he turned to leave his
+desk at the close of business hours, grew terribly pale and dropped
+upon the floor in a fit of death-like faintness, there was great
+consternation, and as much wonder as if no human clock-work had ever
+given out before, under a like process of exhausting demands.
+
+Clumsily, but with the best of intentions, they brought him to his
+senses, and in half an hour or so he was sufficiently recovered to be
+taken home. There was a twitching of the lips that might have passed
+for a sarcastic smile, as he heard the proposal to convey him to his
+house; but he only gave his street and number, and lay silently back
+in the carriage, supported by his friends, two of whom insisted upon
+seeing him safely to his own abode.
+
+"Is this the place? Why, it is all shut up!" exclaimed one of these
+gentlemen as the driver drew up before the dusty steps.
+
+Mrs. Hunt's orders were that the entrance to her mansion should
+present the most desolate air possible during her absence. It had "an
+aristocratical look in the summer time, when everybody but nobodies was
+rusticating."
+
+Again that singular contortion of the mouth, and the master (?) of the
+forlorn-looking habitation prepared to descend, fumbling in his pocket
+for his pass-key.
+
+"I am obliged to you, gentlemen, for your great kindness, and
+will--not--trouble--you--longer."
+
+In trying to raise his hand to his hat for a bow, the ghastly hue again
+overspread his face, and he staggered. Without further parley his two
+aids laid hold of him, one on each side, and supported him into the
+house, up one, two flights of linen-draped stairs, to a back bedroom.
+
+Mrs. Hunt would have let her husband faint on the sidewalk before she
+would have received company in that chamber in its present condition;
+for the handsomest articles of furniture stood covered up in another
+apartment, and their place was supplied by a plain bureau, wash-stand
+and bed belonging to the boys' room, a story higher up. The wisdom of
+this precaution was manifest in the signs of neglect and slovenliness
+displayed on all sides. One could have written his name in the dust
+upon the glass; there was dirt in every corner and under each chair and
+table; the wash-basin was partly full of dirty suds, and the towels
+and counterpane shockingly dingy.
+
+These things were not remarked by the intruders until they had got
+their charge to bed, resisted no longer by him, for he began to
+comprehend his inability to help himself.
+
+"There is no one besides ourselves on the premises, not even a
+servant," one of them said apart to his associate, after a brief
+absence from the room. "If you will stay with him until I come back I
+will go for a doctor."
+
+The invalid caught the last word.
+
+"Indeed, Mr. Hammond, there is no need for you to do anything more--no
+necessity for calling in a physician. I am quite comfortable now, and
+shall be well by morning."
+
+Mr. Hammond, who was a director in the bank, and sincerely honored the
+honest veteran now prostrated by his devoted performance of duty, took
+the hot, tremulous hand in his.
+
+"I cannot allow you to peril your valuable health, my dear sir. Unless
+you positively forbid it, I shall not only call your physician, but
+drop in again myself this evening, and satisfy my mind as to whether
+you require my presence through the night."
+
+He was as good as his word; but no amount of persuasion could induce
+Mr. Hunt to accept his offered watch. He would be "uneasy, unhappy,
+if his young friend sacrificed his own rest so uselessly," and loath
+as he was to leave him to solitude and suffering, Mr. Hammond had to
+yield. At his morning visit, he found the patient more tractable. After
+tedious hours of fevered wakefulness, he had endeavored to rise, only
+to sink back again upon his pillow--dizzy, sick, and now thoroughly
+alarmed at the state of his system. He did not combat his friend's
+proposal to obtain a competent nurse, and to look in on him in person
+as often as practicable; still, utterly refused to allow his wife to be
+written to on the subject of his indisposition.
+
+"I shall be better in a day or two, probably before she could reach me.
+I have never had a spell of illness. It is not likely that this will
+be anything of consequence. I greatly prefer that she should not be
+apprised of this attack."
+
+Mr. Hammond was resolute on his part--the more determined, when the
+physician had paid another visit, and pronounced the malady a low
+fever, that would, doubtless, confine the sick man to his bed for
+several days, if not weeks.
+
+"It is not just to your wife and children, Mr. Hunt, to keep them in
+ignorance of so important a matter!" he urged. "They will have cause to
+feel themselves aggrieved by you, and ill-treated by me, if we practice
+this deception upon them."
+
+Mr. Hunt lay quiet for some minutes.
+
+"Perhaps you are in the right," he said. "Sarah would be wounded, I
+know. I will send for her!" he concluded, with more animation. "She
+will come as soon as she receives the letter."
+
+"Of course she will!" rejoined Mr. Hammond, confidently; "you are not
+able to write. Suffer me to be your amanuensis." He sat down at a
+stand, and took out his pen. "Where is Mrs. Hunt at present?"
+
+"I am not sure. Either at Saratoga or Newport."
+
+Mr. Hammond looked surprised. "But it is necessary, sir, that we should
+know with some degree of certainty, or the letter may miscarry. Perhaps
+it would be well to write to both places."
+
+"The letter! Both places!" repeated Mr. Hunt, with perplexity. "I
+alluded to my daughter Sarah, sir, my second child, who is spending the
+summer with her aunt in Shrewsbury, New Jersey. May I take the liberty
+of asking you to write her a short note, mentioning my sickness in as
+guarded terms as you can use, and requesting her to come up to the city
+for a few days? She has my youngest child--a little girl--with her. If
+she can be contented to remain with her aunt, Sarah had better leave
+her there. She would be an additional burden to her sister if she were
+here."
+
+Whatever Mr. Hammond thought of the marked preference shown to the
+daughter above the wife, he said nothing, but proceeded to indite the
+desired epistle, adding, in a postscript, on his own account, that he
+would take pleasure in meeting Miss Hunt at the wharf, on her arrival,
+and for this purpose would be at the boat each day, until she made her
+appearance in New York.
+
+He went, accordingly, the next afternoon, although very confident that
+she could not have received his letter in season to take that boat. Mr.
+Hunt had proved to him and to himself the utter impossibility of her
+coming, yet his eyes brightened with expectancy as his friend entered,
+and faded into sadness as he reported the ill-success of his errand.
+
+"He is evidently extremely partial to this one of his children,"
+thought Mr. Hammond, as he paced the wharf on the second evening,
+watching, amid noisy hack-drivers and expressmen, for the steamer. "I
+have seen the girls at parties, but do not remember their names. One of
+them is very pretty. I wonder if she is 'Sarah!'"
+
+It was growing dusk as the boat touched the pier. So dim was the light,
+that Mr. Hammond was obliged to station himself close beside the
+gangway, and inspect the features of each lady passenger more narrowly
+than politeness would, in other circumstances, have warranted. They
+hurried across, men and women, tall and short, stout and slender, until
+there tripped towards him the figure of a young girl, attired in a gray
+dress and mantle, and carrying a small traveling bag in her hand. She
+would have passed him, had he not stepped forward and spoken.
+
+"Miss Hunt, I believe!"
+
+In the uncertain twilight, he could see that she grew very pale.
+
+"How is my father?"
+
+There was no preamble of civility or diffidence; no reserve in
+addressing him, a mere stranger; no trembling, preparatory queries; but
+a point-blank question, in a tone whose impatient anguish moved his
+kind heart; a piercing look, that would know the truth then and there!
+
+"He is better, to-day"--and he led her out of the press of the onward
+stream. "He has not been dangerously ill. We hope and believe that he
+will not be."
+
+"Is that true?" Her fingers tightened upon his arm.
+
+"It is! I would not, for the world, deceive you in such a matter."
+
+"I believe you! Thank Heaven! I feared the worst!" She covered her
+face with her hands, and burst into tears.
+
+Hammond beckoned a hackman, close by, and when the short-lived reaction
+of overwrought feeling subsided so far as to allow Sarah to notice
+surrounding objects, she was seated in the carriage, screened from
+curious or impertinent gazers, and her escort was nowhere to be seen.
+Several minutes elapsed before he again showed himself at the window.
+
+"I must trouble you for your checks, Miss Hunt, in order to get your
+baggage."
+
+Already ashamed of her emotion, she obeyed his demand without speaking.
+
+"You have given me but one," he said, turning it over in his hand.
+
+"That is all, sir."
+
+"Indeed! You are a model traveler! I thought no young lady, in these
+days, ever stirred from home without half a dozen trunks." To himself
+he added, "A sensible girl! An exception to most of her sex, in one
+thing, at any rate!"
+
+Sarah sat well back into her corner, as they drove up lighted Broadway,
+and was almost rudely taciturn, while her companion related the
+particulars of her father's seizure and subsequent confinement to his
+room. Yet, that she listened with intense interest, the narrator knew
+by her irregular breathing and immovable attitude. As they neared their
+destination, this fixedness of attention and posture was exchanged for
+an eager restlessness. She leaned forward to look out of the window,
+and when they turned into the last street, quick as was Mr. Hammond's
+motion to unfasten the door of the vehicle, her hand was first upon
+the lock. It was cold as ice, and trembled so much as to be powerless.
+Gently removing it, he undid the catch, and assisted her to alight.
+
+The hired nurse answered their ring, and while Sarah brushed past
+her, and flew up the stairway, Mr. Hammond detained the woman to make
+inquiries and issue directions.
+
+"It is all very dreary-like, sir," she complained. "Everything is
+packed away and locked up. There's no getting at a lump of sugar
+without a hunt for the key, and all he's seemed to care for this
+blessed day, was that his daughter should be made comfortable. He sent
+me out this afternoon to buy biscuits, and sardines, and peaches for
+her tea, and told me where I'd find silver and china. It is not at all
+the thing for him to be worrying at such a rate. He'll be worse for it
+to-morrow, and so I've told him, Mr. Hammond."
+
+"Perhaps not, Mrs. Kerr. His daughter's coming will cheer him and quiet
+him, too, I doubt not. I will not go up now. Please present my regards
+to Mr. Hunt, and say that I will call to-morrow."
+
+He purposely deferred his visit until the afternoon, supposing that
+Miss Hunt might object to his early and unceremonious appearance in
+the realms now under her control; nor when he went did he ascend at
+once to the sick-chamber, as was his custom before the transfer of its
+superintendence. Sending up his name by the nurse, he awaited a formal
+invitation, among the shrouded sofas and chairs of the sitting-room.
+
+"You'll please to walk up, sir!" was the message he received; and the
+woman subjoined, confidentially, "Things is brighter to-day, sir."
+
+They certainly were. With wonderfully little noise and confusion,
+Sarah, assisted by the nurse, had wrought an utter change in the
+desolate apartment. With the exception of the bureau, which had
+been drawn out of sight into the adjoining dressing-room, and the
+bedstead, the common, defaced furniture had disappeared, and its place
+was supplied by more comfortable and elegant articles. The windows
+were shaded, without giving an aspect of gloom to the chamber; the
+bed-coverings were clean and fresh; and the sick man, supported by
+larger and plumper pillows than those among which he had tossed for
+many a weary night, greeted his visitor with a cordial smile and
+outstretched hand.
+
+"I thank you for your kind care of my daughter last evening, sir.
+Sarah, my dear, this is my friend, Mr. Hammond, to whose goodness I am
+so much indebted."
+
+"The debt is mine no less," was the frank reply, as she shook hands
+with her new acquaintance. "We can never thank you sufficiently, Mr.
+Hammond, for all you have done for us, in taking care of him."
+
+"A genuine woman! a dutiful, affectionate daughter!" was now Hammond's
+comment, as he disclaimed all right to her gratitude. "None of your
+sentimental, affected absurdities, with nothing in either head or
+heart!"
+
+This impression was confirmed by daily observation; for politeness
+first, then inclination, induced him to continue his "professional"
+calls, as Sarah styled them. He seemed to divide with her the
+responsibility of her position. Its duties were onerous; but for this
+she did not care. She was strong and active, and love made labor
+light--even welcome to her. A competent cook was inducted into office
+below stairs, and household matters went forward with system and
+despatch. The eye of the mistress, pro tem., was over all; her hand
+ever ready to lift her share of the load, yet her attendance at her
+father's bedside appeared unremitting. His disease, without being
+violent, was distressing and wearing, destroying sleep and appetite,
+and preying constantly upon the nerves. To soothe these, Sarah read and
+talked cheerfully, and often, at his request, sang old-time ballads and
+childish lullabys to court diversion and slumber.
+
+Occasionally Lewis Hammond paused without the door until the strain was
+concluded, drinking in the notes with more pleasure than he was wont to
+feel in listening to the bravuras and startling, astonishing cadenzas
+that were warbled in his ears by the amateur cantatrices of the "best
+circles;" then, when the sounds from within ceased, he delayed his
+entrance some moments longer, lest the songstress should suspect his
+eavesdropping. He ceased to speculate upon the reasons of Mrs. Hunt's
+protracted absence at a time when no true-hearted wife could, from
+choice, remain away from her rightful post. When, at the expiration
+of a fortnight from the day of the attack, the physician declared his
+patient feebly, but surely convalescent, his young friend had decided,
+to his entire satisfaction, that things were best as they were. Mr.
+Hunt had made a most judicious selection from the female portion of his
+family, and what need of more nurses when this one was so efficient
+and willing? He caught himself hoping that the fussy dame he had met
+in society would not abridge her summer's recreation on account of
+an ailing husband. He had designed going to Saratoga himself, for ten
+days or two weeks; but he was very well. It was difficult to get away
+from business, and this affair of Mr. Hunt's enlisted his sympathies
+so deeply, that he could not resolve upon leaving him. If he had never
+before enjoyed the bliss that flows from a disinterested action, he
+tasted it now.
+
+Mrs. Hunt was not kept in total ignorance of what was transpiring at
+home. Sarah had written, cautiously and hopefully, of her father's
+sickness and her recall; repeating Mr. Hunt's wish that his consort
+should not hurry back through mistaken solicitude for his health and
+comfort; and they were taken at their word. A week elapsed before an
+answer arrived--a lengthy missive, that had cost the writer more pains
+and time than the preparation for her annual "crush" generally did. She
+was an indifferent penman, and sadly out of practice; but there was
+much to be said, and "Lucy, of course, circumstanced as she was, could
+not spare time to be her scribe."
+
+This significant phrase quickened Sarah's inborn curiosity; but there
+was nothing for the next three pages that fed or quieted it. They were
+filled with minute directions about housewifery--economical details,
+that would have served as capital illustrations of "Poor Richard's"
+maxims; injunctions, warnings, and receipts sufficient in quantity to
+last a young, frugally-disposed housekeeper for the remainder of her
+natural existence. It was a trial to this exemplary wife and mother,
+she confessed, to absent herself so long from her home duties; but
+circumstances had compelled her to stay at Saratoga. Of their nature,
+Sarah had already been informed in her sister's last letter.
+
+"Which I cannot have received, then"--Sarah interrupted herself to say,
+as she read to her father: "I have not heard from Lucy in four weeks. I
+have thought hard of her for not writing."
+
+ "But," concluded Mrs. Hunt, "matters looks well just now, and I know
+ your father will aggree, when he heers all about our season's work,
+ that our labor and Money has been a good investment. Take care of the
+ keys yourself, Sarah. Be pruedent, keep a sharp Lookout on the cook,
+ and don't negleck your poor father.
+
+     "Your Affectionate mother,
+
+     "E. Hunt."
+
+ "P. S. Your kitchen Girl must have a Great deel of spair Time. Set her
+ to work cleening the House, for you may expeckt us home in two weeks,
+ or maybe Less.
+
+     "E. H."
+
+Lucy had slipped a note in the same envelope--a thin, satiny sheet,
+hardly larger than the little hand that had moved over its perfumed
+page. Her chirography was very running, very light, very ladylike, and,
+we need not say, very italical.
+
+ "Mamma tells me, Sarah dear, that she has given you a hint of how
+ matters are progressing between your humble servant and our particular
+ friend, of whom I wrote in my last. The poor, dear woman flatters
+ herself that it is all her work; but somebody else may have his
+ own opinion, and I certainly have mine. I have had to caution her
+ repeatedly, to prevent her from showing her delight too plainly to my
+ 'Goldfinch,' as Vic. and I have dubbed him. Don't be in a hurry with
+ your congratulations, ma chere. 'There's many a slip 'twixt the cup
+ and the lip;' and although the season is so near over, I may yet see
+ some one whom I like better than His Highness. Vic. has a beau, too--a
+ rich widower, less fascinating than my devoted; but a very agreeable
+ man, without encumbrance, and very much smitten. So we pair off nicely
+ in our rides and promenades, and, entre nous, are quite the talk. You
+ are a good little thing to nurse papa so sweetly--a great deal better
+ than I am. I told my knight of this proof of your excellence the other
+ day, and he said it was only what might have been expected from my
+ sister! Don't you feel flattered? Poor fellow! Love is blind, you know.
+
+ "Love to papa. I am sorry he has been so unwell. I do not imagine
+ that I shall have time to write again before we leave this paradise.
+ We will telegraph you when to expect us. Perhaps I may have an escort
+ home--some one who would like to have a private conference with my
+ respected father. Nous verrons!
+
+     "Lovingly,
+
+     "Lucie."
+
+Mr. Hunt twisted himself uneasily in his arm-chair as his daughter,
+by his desire, reluctantly read aloud the double letter. A shade of
+dissatisfaction and shame clouded his countenance when she finished,
+and he sighed heavily.
+
+"I am glad they are still enjoying themselves," said Sarah, forcing a
+smile. "Lucy has secured a captive too, it appears--one whom she is
+likely to bring home at her chariot wheels."
+
+"In my day daughters were in the habit of consulting their fathers
+before giving decided encouragement to any admirers, strangers
+especially," said Mr. Hunt, with displeasure. "In these times there are
+no parents! There is the 'old man' and 'the Governor,' who makes the
+money his children honor him by wasting, and the 'poor, dear woman,'
+who plays propriety in the belle's flirtations, and helps, or hinders,
+in snaring some booby 'Goldfinch.' It is a lying, cheating, hollow
+world! I have been sick of it for twenty years!"
+
+"Father! my dear father," exclaimed Sarah, kneeling beside him, and
+winding her arms about his neck. "You misjudge your children, and their
+love for you!"
+
+"I believe in you, child! I cannot understand how you have contrived
+to grow up so unlike your sister and your"--The recollection of the
+respect his daughter owed her mother, checked the word.
+
+"You do not deal fairly with Lucy's character, father. She has one of
+the kindest hearts and most amiable dispositions in the world. I wish
+I had caused you as little anxiety as she has. Remember her obedience
+and my wilfulness; her gentleness and my obstinacy, and blush at your
+verdict, Sir Judge!"
+
+She seated herself upon his foot-cushion and rested her chin upon his
+knee, looking archly up in his face. She was surprised and troubled at
+this degree of acrimony in one whose habitual manner was so placid, and
+his judgment so mild; but, for his sake, she was resolute not to show
+her feeling. He laid his hand caressingly upon her shoulder, and sank
+into a revery, profound, and seemingly not pleasant.
+
+Sarah took advantage of his abstraction to remove the wrapper of a
+newspaper received by the same mail that had brought her letters.
+The operation was carefully performed, so as not to invite notice,
+and the envelope laid away in her work-box. She knew well who had
+traced the clear, bold superscription, and what initials composed the
+mysterious cipher in one corner of the cover; nor was this the only
+token of recollection she had from this source. The article marked in
+the number of the literary journal he had selected as the medium of
+correspondence, was an exquisite little poem from an author whose works
+Philip had read to her in the vine-covered porch at Shrewsbury. Slowly,
+longingly she perused it; gathering sweetness from every word, and
+fancying how his intonations would bring out beauties she could not of
+herself discover. Then she took out the wrapper again, and studied the
+postmark. On the former papers he had sent the stamp was illegible, but
+this was easily deciphered--"Albany."
+
+"So near! He is returning homewards!" was the glad reflection that
+flooded her face with joy.
+
+"Sarah!" said her father, abruptly. "Do you ever think of marriage?"
+
+"Sir?" stammered the girl, confused beyond measure.
+
+"I mean, have you imbibed your sister's ideas on this subject? the
+notions of ninety-nine hundredths of girls in your walk of life.
+Do you intend to seek a husband, boldly and unblushingly, in all
+public places? to degrade yourself by practising the arts they
+understand so well to catch an 'eligible' partner, who may repay your
+insincerity and mercenary views by insult and infidelity--at best by
+indifference! Child! you do not know the risk match-making mothers
+and husband-hunting daughters run; the terrible retribution that
+may be--that often is in store for such! I had rather see you and
+your sister dead, than the victims of that most hateful of heartless
+shows--a fashionable marriage! Poor Lucy! poor Lucy!"
+
+"I hope you are distressing yourself without reason, sir. Mother is
+not the person to surrender her child to one whose character and
+respectability are not indisputable. Nor is Lucy sentimental. I do not
+fear her suffering very acutely from any cause."
+
+"I grant that. You would be more to be pitied as an unloved or unloving
+wife, than she. I tremble for you sometimes, when I think of this
+chance. My daughter, when you marry, look beyond the outside show. Seek
+for moral worth and a true heart, instead of dollars and cents!"
+
+"I will! I promise!" said Sarah, her amazement at his earnestness and
+choice of topics combining to shake her voice and constrain her smile.
+"But there is time enough for that, father dear. When the man of heart
+and worth sues for my poor hand, I will refer him to you, and abide
+entirely by your decision."
+
+"Mr. Hammond is downstairs," said the servant at the door. And Sarah,
+gathering up her papers, escaped from the room before he entered.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VII.
+
+
+Mr. Hunt was able to resume his place in the bank several days before
+his wife returned. Uncle Nathan had brought Jeannie home as soon as her
+father could leave his room, and the boys had likewise been written
+for; so that the family reunion was apparently near at hand.
+
+Weak as he was, Mr. Hunt met his spouse and daughter at the depot, and
+the noise of their entrance in the lower hall first apprised Sarah of
+their arrival. To the bound of pleasurable excitement her heart gave at
+the certainty that they had come, succeeded a sigh at the termination
+of the free, yet busy life she had led of late--the probability that
+she would be compelled to resume her old habits of feeling and action.
+Driving back the selfish regret, she ran down to welcome the travellers.
+
+"How well you're looking, Sarah!" said Mrs. Hunt, after kissing her. "I
+declare, if you was to arrange your hair different, and study dress a
+bit, you would come near being right down handsome."
+
+"'Handsome is as handsome does!'" quoted Mr. Hunt, stoutly. "According
+to that rule, she is a beauty."
+
+"Thank you, sir!" said Sarah, bowing low. And she tried to forget,
+in her sister's affectionate greeting, the chill and heart-sickness
+produced by her mother's business-like manner and compliment.
+
+"Having disposed of one daughter, she means to work the other into
+merchantable shape!" was her cynical deduction from the dubious praise
+bestowed upon herself.
+
+Mrs. Hunt pursued her way up the steps, examining and remarking upon
+everything she saw.
+
+"Them stair-rods ain't so clean as they had ought to be, Sarah. I'm
+afraid your girls are careless, or shirks. When did you uncover the
+carpet?"
+
+"Some time ago, mother, while father was sick. There were gentlemen
+calling constantly, and the cover looked shabby, I thought."
+
+"It couldn't be helped, I s'pose; but the carpet is more worn than I
+expected to see it. With the heavy expenses that will be crowding on
+us this fall and winter, we can't afford to get any new things for the
+house."
+
+Lucy, who preceded her sister, glanced back and laughed meaningly. And
+Sarah was very glad that her father had not overheard the observation,
+which confirmed her belief that the beauty's hand was disposed of
+without the form of consultation with her natural and legal guardian.
+
+Dinner was announced by the time the traveling habiliments and dust
+were removed. Sarah had spared no pains to provide a bountiful and
+tasteful repast, at the risk of incurring her mother's reproof for her
+extravagant proclivities. But the dame was in high good-humor, and the
+youthful purveyor received but a single sentence of deprecation.
+
+"I hope you have not been living as high as this all the time, Sarah!"
+
+"No, ma'am. Father's wants and mine were very few. I foresaw that you
+would need substantial refreshment after your journey."
+
+"You was very thoughtful. We both have good appetites, I guess. I know
+that I have."
+
+"Mine will speak for itself," said Lucy.
+
+"You have no idea how that girl has enjoyed everything since she has
+been away," observed Mrs. Hunt to her husband. "There was Vic. West,
+who took it into her head that she ought to look die-away and peaking,
+and refuse food, when her beau was by; but Lu., she just went right
+along and behaved natural, and I'm sure that somebody thought more of
+her for it."
+
+Mr. Hunt's face darkened for a moment; but he could not find fault with
+his eldest child on her first evening at home.
+
+"So you have been quite a belle, Lucy," he said, pleasantly.
+
+"Better than that, Mr. H.!" Mrs. Hunt checked her triumphant
+announcement as the butler re-entered the room. "I shouldn't wonder,"
+she resumed, rather mysteriously, "if Lucy was disposed to settle down
+into a steady, sedate matron after her holiday."
+
+"Don't deceive yourself with that hope!" laughed Lucy.
+
+She was evidently pleased by these not over-delicate allusions to her
+love-affairs, and, like her mother, extremely complacent over the
+result of her recent campaign. Sarah felt that, were she in her place,
+she would shrink from this open jesting upon a sacred subject; still
+she had not expected that her sister would behave differently. Lucy's
+nature was gentle without being fine; affectionate but shallow. She
+would have had no difficulty in attaching herself to any man whom her
+friends recommended as "a good match," provided he were pleasing in
+exterior, and her most devoted servitor.
+
+The sisters had no opportunity of private converse until they adjourned
+to the parlor for the evening. Lucy was very beautiful in a blue silk,
+whose low corsage and short sleeves revealed her superb shoulders and
+rounded arms. Her complexion was a rich carmine, deepening or softening
+with every motion--one would have said, with every breath. Her blue
+eyes fairly danced in a sort of subdued glee, very charming and very
+becoming but altogether unlike the tender, dewy light of "Love's first
+young dream."
+
+"How lovely you have grown, sister!" said Sarah, earnestly. "Oh, Lucy,
+I don't believe you rightly value the gift of beauty--as I would do if
+it were mine!"
+
+"Nonsense!" The dimples, that made her smile so bewitching, broke her
+blushes into rosy waves as the conscious fair one turned her face
+towards the mirror. "I am pleased to hear that I am passable to-night.
+We may have visitors. A friend of ours has expressed a great desire to
+see me in my home--'in the bosom of my family.' Ahem!"
+
+She smoothed out an imaginary wrinkle in her bodice, an excuse for
+tarrying longer before the glass.
+
+"He came to town with you, then?" ventured Sarah.
+
+Lucy nodded.
+
+"And promised to call this evening?"
+
+"Right again, my dear!"
+
+She was graver now, for she had conceived the happy notion of
+appropriating to her own use a cluster of white roses and buds she
+discovered in the vase on the marble slab under the mirror. If anything
+could have enhanced the elegance of her figure and toilet, it was
+the coiffure she immediately set about arranging. The flowers were a
+present to Sarah from Lewis Hammond; but she thought little of him or
+of them, as Lucy laid them first on one, then on the other side of
+head, to try the effect.
+
+"And you really care for him, sister?" came forth in such a timid,
+anxious tone, that Lucy burst into a fit of laughter.
+
+"You dear little modest piece of romantic simplicity! One would suppose
+that you were popping the question yourself, from your behavior. Care
+for him? Why shouldn't I? I need not say 'yes' unless I do, need I?"
+
+"But you take it so coolly! A betrothal is, to me, such a solemn thing."
+
+"And to most other girls, perhaps. (There! if I only had a hair-pin.
+Don't rob yourself! thank you! Isn't that an improvement?) As I was
+saying, why should I pretend to be pensive and doleful, when I am as
+merry as a lark? or lovesick, when I have never lost a meal or an
+hour's sleep from the commencement of the courtship until now? That
+is not my style, Sarah. I am very practical in my views and feelings.
+Not that I don't play talking sentiment in our genuine lovescenes, and
+I really like unbounded devotion on the other side. It is decidedly
+pleasant to be adored. I was surprised to find how I enjoyed it."
+
+"Oh, sister! sister!" Sarah leaned her forehead on the mantel, repelled
+and well-nigh disgusted by this heartless trifling--this avowed
+counterfeit--so abhorrent to her feelings. But Lucy was as much in
+earnest as she could be on such a theme. She went on, unheeding her
+sister's ejaculation.
+
+"You must understand, of course, that we are not positively engaged.
+I gave him--Goldfinch--a good scolding for violating the rules of
+etiquette by addressing me while I was away from home; but it was just
+like him. He is as impulsive as he can live. To punish him I refused to
+answer him until after our return to New York, and his interview with
+father. He would have written to him on the spot, had I not forbidden
+him. He behaved so beautifully, that I consented to his taking charge
+of us to the city, and I suppose the rest must follow in good time. How
+melancholy your face is! Are you very much afflicted at the thought of
+losing me? Why, Sarah! my dear child, are those tears in your eyes? If
+she isn't crying in good earnest!"
+
+And Lucy's musical laugh rolled through the rooms in her enjoyment
+of the joke. What else could it be to her, elate with her success in
+achieving the chief end of woman--the capture of a rich and handsome,
+in every respect an unexceptionable lover?
+
+"Hist!" she said, raising her finger. "He has come! Your eyes are red!
+Run, and make yourself presentable!"
+
+The door opening from the hall into the front parlor, swung on its
+hinges as Sarah gained the comparative obscurity of the third and rear
+room. A strong impulse of interest or curiosity there arrested her
+flight to enable her to get a glimpse of her destined brother-in-law.
+Lucy had not mentioned his proper name, since her earliest letter from
+Newport had eulogized a certain George Finch, a Bostonian, wealthy, and
+attentive to herself. Sarah's backward glance fell upon the visitor as
+he met his queenly bride-elect directly under the blazing chandelier.
+
+It was Philip Benson!
+
+Chained to the spot by weakness or horror, the looker-on stood
+motionless, while the suitor raised the lily fingers he held to his
+lips, and then led Lucy to a seat. His voice broke the spell. As the
+familiar cadences smote her ear, the sharp pain that ran through every
+fiber of her frame awakened Sarah from her stupor.
+
+How she gained her room she never knew; but she had sense enough left
+to direct her flight to this refuge--and, when within, to lock the
+door. Then she threw up her arms with a piteous, wailing cry, and fell
+across the bed, dead for the time to further woe.
+
+Alone and painfully she struggled back to consciousness. Sitting
+upright, she stared wonderingly around her, unable to recollect what
+had stricken her down. The chamber was imperfectly lighted by the rays
+of the street lamp opposite, and with the recognition of objects within
+its narrow limits there crept back to her all that had preceded her
+retreat thither. For the next hour she sat still--her head bowed upon
+her knees, amid the wrecks of her dream world.
+
+Dreary and loveless as had been most of her previous life, she had
+never endured anything like this, unless one miserable hour upon the
+Deal Beach, when Philip broke the tidings of his intended departure,
+were a slight foretaste of the agony, the utter despair, that claimed
+her now for its victim. Since then, she had been hopeful. His promise
+of a visit, the tokens of remembrance he had transmitted to her
+every week, had kept alive memory and expectation, and this was his
+coming! this the occasion she had pictured so fondly, painted with
+the brightest hues Love could borrow from imagination! She had heard
+again the voice that had haunted her dreams, from their parting until
+now--heard it in deeper, softer tones than it had ever taken in speech
+with her; heart-music which told that his seekings and yearnings for
+the one and only beloved were over. And was not her quest of years
+ended likewise? Truly, there are two senses in which every search,
+every combat may be said to be closed; one when the victor grasps his
+prize, or waves aloft his sword in the moment of triumph; the other,
+when, bleeding, maimed, or dying, the vanquished sinks to the earth
+without power to rise!
+
+A tap at her door startled Sarah. She did not stir until it was
+repeated, and her father called her name. A stream of light from the
+hall fell upon her face as she admitted him.
+
+"Daughter, what ails you?" was his exclamation.
+
+"I am not very well, father."
+
+"I should think not, indeed! Come in here and lie down!" He led her to
+the bed, and, lighting the gas in the chamber, came back to her and
+felt her pulse.
+
+She knew what was the direction of his fears; but to correct his
+misapprehension was to subject herself to further questioning.
+Passively she received the pressure of his hand upon her head, the
+gentle stroking of the disordered hair; but when he stooped to kiss
+her, he felt that she trembled.
+
+"Dear child! I shall never forgive myself if you have taken the fever
+from me!"
+
+"I do not fear that, father. My head aches, and I am very tired. I have
+been so busy all day, you know."
+
+"Yes, and for many other days. You are, without doubt, overworked. I
+hope this may prove to be all the matter with you. A night's rest may
+quite cure you."
+
+"Yes sir," she answered, chokingly. "You will excuse me to ----,
+downstairs?"
+
+"Certainly. Would you like to have your mother come up to you?"
+
+"Oh, no, sir! Please tell her there is no need of it. I shall be better
+to-morrow."
+
+"Your sister"--and he looked more serious, instead of smiling--"has a
+visitor. Her friend is an acquaintance of yours, also, it appears--the
+Mr. Benson whom you met at your aunt's in July."
+
+"Yes, sir. I know it."
+
+"I understood you to say that Lucy had never said positively who her
+lover was; but this was not the name you told me of, as the person whom
+you imagined him to be."
+
+"I was misled for a time myself, sir," replied the poor girl, pressing
+her temples between her palms.
+
+"I see that I am tiring you. Forgive me! but it is so natural to
+consult you in everything. I must trouble you with some questions,
+which it is important should be answered to-night, before this
+gentleman and myself have any conversation. Is Mr. Benson a man
+whom you consider worthy of trust? Your mother represents him to be
+enormously wealthy--a reputation I had concluded he possessed, from
+Lucy's pet name for him. It is well that your sister has a prospect
+of marrying advantageously in this respect, for she would never be
+happy in an humble sphere; but antiquated people like myself regard
+other things as of greater consequence in concluding a bargain for a
+lifetime. Is your opinion of Mr. Benson favorable as to disposition,
+principles, and conduct?"
+
+Sarah's head rested on the foot-board of her couch, in weariness or
+pain, as she rejoined: "I saw and heard nothing of him, during our
+intercourse in the country, that was not creditable. His uncle and aunt
+are very partial to him, and speak of his character in high terms.
+Their testimony ought to have weight with you, for they have known him
+from his boyhood up."
+
+"It ought and does. I am relieved to hear all this! very much pleased!"
+said Mr. Hunt, enthusiastically. "I have all confidence in Nathan
+Benson's judgment and integrity. I hope his nephew is as sterling a
+man. Thus far," he continued, playfully, "I have learned but one thing
+to his discredit, and that is, having seen this one of my daughters, he
+could afterwards fall in love with the other."
+
+"I am not beautiful and good like Lucy, father."
+
+"Very dear and lovely in my eyes, my child! Again forgive me for having
+worried your poor head with my inquiries. I was unwilling to decide
+a matter where Lucy's happiness was involved, without obtaining your
+evidence in the case. A last good-night! and God bless you, my dearest,
+best daughter!"
+
+Sarah held up her face for his kiss without attempting to speak. This
+burning ordeal, the harder to endure because unexpected, was over. She
+was as weak as a child with conflicting passions when she arose and
+endeavored to undress. After stooping several times to regain breath
+and strength, she was at last ready to creep into bed, there to lie
+until morning broke, sleepless and suffering.
+
+Her sharpened senses could discern her father's and mother's voices
+in the sitting-room, in confidential talk--interrupted, by-and-by, by
+Lucy's pure, mellow tones, apparently conveying some message to the
+former. Its import was easily surmised, for his step was then heard in
+the hall and on the stairs, until he reached the parlor where Philip
+awaited him. Their conference did not occupy more than twenty minutes,
+which time Lucy spent with her mother--how gayly, Sarah could judge by
+the laugh that, again and again, reached her room. Mr. Hunt returned,
+spoke a few sentences in his calm, grave way, and the closing door was
+followed by a flutter of silk and fall of gliding footsteps, as Lucy
+went down to her now formally and fully betrothed husband.
+
+"Husband!" Yes! it was even so! Henceforth the lives of the pair
+were to be as one in interest, in aims, in affection. Ere long, they
+would have no separate outward existence in the eyes of the world.
+Was his chosen love, then, in a truer and higher sense, his other
+self--the being sought so long and carefully? The pretty fiancee
+would have stretched her cerulean orbs in amazed wonder at the
+ridiculous doubt, and asked, in her matter-of-fact way, how the thing
+could have happened, if it had not been intended? Philip's indignant
+affirmative would have gained fervor from his exultant consciousness of
+possession--so novel and sweet. But one above stairs, taught sagacity
+by the depth of her grief, looked further into the future than did
+they, and read there a different reply.
+
+She heard the clang of the front door as it shut after the young
+lover, and in the still midnight, the echoes, faint and fainter, of
+his retreating footsteps--the same free, light tread she used to
+hearken for in porch and hall of that riverside farm house; and as the
+remembrance came over her she turned her face to the wall, murmuring
+passionately: "Oh! if I could never, never see him again!"
+
+This feeling, whether born of cowardice or desperation, was the ruling
+one, when her mother looked in upon her before breakfast, and expressed
+her concern at finding her still in bed.
+
+"I am not well enough to get up, mother," Sarah said sincerely, and
+Mrs. Hunt, reading in the parched lips and bloodshot eyes proof of the
+justice of the fears her husband had expressed to her the preceding
+evening, resolved that the doctor should see her "before she was two
+hours older."
+
+In vain Sarah entreated that this should not be done, and prophesied
+her recovery without his assistance. For once her parents were a unit
+in sentiment and action, and the physician was summoned to his second
+patient.
+
+"All febrile symptoms were to some extent contagious," he affirmed;
+"and while Mr. Hunt's malady was not generally classed with such,
+it was very possible that his daughter had contracted an analogous
+affection, in her constant attendance upon him."
+
+This decision Sarah dared not overthrow, much as she wished to do so,
+when she saw how it afflicted her father.
+
+Undaunted by any fears of infection, Lucy repaired to her sister's
+chamber when she had despatched her breakfast.
+
+"Isn't it too provoking that you should be sick just at this time?"
+she began, perching herself, school-girl fashion on the foot of the
+bed. "I really admired your staying upstairs last night; but I did not
+dream that you really were not well. I promise you that I made capital
+of your absence. I told Philip (how odd it sounds, doesn't it?) that
+you ran away when he rang the bell, because you had made a fright of
+yourself by crying over the prospect of my leaving you, and that I had
+no doubt that you had grieved yourself into a headache. He wanted to
+know forthwith if you objected to my marrying him; but I said 'No';
+that you were charmed with the match, and preferred him to any other
+admirer I had ever had; but that we--you and I--were so devoted to one
+another, that it was acute agony to us to think of parting. About ten
+o'clock he asked to see father, and they soon settled affairs. When I
+went down again, he tried a little ring on my finger that he always
+wears, and it fitted nicely. So I knew what it meant when he put it
+back upon his own hand, and that with that for a measure he could
+not go wrong in getting the engagement ring. I do hope it will be a
+diamond. Vic. West declares that she would not accept anything else.
+I considered for a while whether I couldn't give him a delicate hint
+on the subject, but I did not see how I could manage it. And don't you
+think, while I was studying about this, he fancied I was sober over
+'the irrevocable step I had taken,' and became miserable and eloquent
+at the suspicion! I wish I could remember all he said! It was more in
+your line than mine! But he is a good, sensible fellow, with all his
+romantic notions. He has a handsome fortune, independent of his father,
+left him by his grandfather, and we are to live in Georgia part of the
+year only, and travel every summer. Mother says his account of his
+prospects and so forth to father was very satisfactory, but she has
+not got at all the particulars yet. Father is so worried about your
+sickness that he cannot spare a thought for anything or anybody else.
+The light from that window hurts your eyes--doesn't it? I will let down
+the shade."
+
+But Sarah lay with her hand protecting her eyes, when her sister
+resumed her position and narration.
+
+"We are to be married in December. He begged hard for an earlier day,
+but I was sure that I could not be ready before then. As it is, we
+shall have to hurry when it comes to the dresses, for, in order to
+get the latest fashions, we must wait until the eleventh hour. Won't
+I 'astonish the natives' down South? I couldn't state this to Philip,
+you know; so I referred him to mother, who is to say, when he asks
+her, that her preference would be to keep me just as long as she
+possibly can. Entre nous, my dear, our good mamma has said truer things
+than this bit of sentiment--but n'importe! These embellishments are
+necessary to such transactions."
+
+Miss West's friendship or curiosity could not endure longer suspense,
+and the intelligence that she was below checked the monologue.
+
+"I will run up again whenever I can," promised Lucy, by way of
+compensation for her abrupt departure, "and keep up your spirits by
+telling you all that I can about our concerns. But Philip is to take me
+to ride this afternoon. I forbade him to come here before then, but I
+don't much think he can stay away. Don't be vexed if you don't see me
+again in some hours. Vic. and I are about to settle our trousseaux. If
+you believe me, we have never been able yet to decide upon the wedding
+dresses!"
+
+And she vanished, warbling delicious roulades from a duet she had
+engaged to sing that evening with her betrothed. She showed herself
+upstairs again, when she was ready for her ride, and the carriage at
+the door--very fair, very bright, and very happy. She was exquisitely
+dressed, and called on her sister to admire her toilet and envy her her
+escort.
+
+Sarah listened to the cheerful exchange of cautions and promises
+between her mother and Philip, at the door beneath her open window, and
+to the rolling wheels that bore them away.
+
+Mrs. Hunt received none of her friends that day, being busy "getting
+things to rights"; and for a like reason she absented herself from
+her child's sickroom, content with sending up Jeannie, now and then,
+to inquire how she was getting on. In the abject loneliness that
+oppressed her, when the first violence of passions had spent itself,
+Sarah would have been relieved in some measure by the society of this
+pet sister, the sole object upon earth, besides her father, that had
+ever repaid her love with anything like equal attachment. But the child
+shrank, like most others of her age, from the quiet dark chamber of
+illness, and longed to follow her mother through the house, in her tour
+of observation and renovation. Sarah detected her restlessness and
+ill-concealed dislike of the confinement imposed upon her by compliance
+with her humble petition--
+
+"Please, Jeannie, stay a little while with your poor sister!" And her
+sensitive spirit turned upon itself, as a final stroke of torture, the
+conviction that here, also, love and care had been wasted.
+
+"Go, then!" she said, rather roughly, as Jeannie wavered, "and you need
+not come up again to-day. I know it is not pleasant for you to be here.
+Tell mother I want nothing but quiet."
+
+"I have had a splendid drive!" said Lucy, rustling her many flounces
+into the door at dusk.
+
+The figure upon the bed made no response by motion or word.
+
+"I do believe she is asleep!" added the intruder, lowering her voice.
+"I suppose she is tired and needs rest." And she went out on tiptoe.
+
+Sarah was awake a minute later, when her father came in to see her.
+She smiled at him, as he "hoped she was better," and asked whether she
+might not get up on the morrow. Mr. Hunt thought not. The doctor's
+opinion was that perfect repose might ward off the worse features of
+the disease. She had better keep to her bed for a couple of days yet,
+even should she feel well enough to be about. He sent up her dinner to
+her room with his own hands; and when she learned this, she strove to
+do some feeble justice to the viands, but without success.
+
+Philip dined with the family that day by special appointment; and,
+shortly after his arrival, Lucy again presented herself in that small
+third-story bedroom.
+
+"Choose! which hand will you take?" she cried, hiding both behind her.
+
+Sarah would make no selection; and, after a little more trifling, the
+elder sister brought into sight two elegant bouquets, and laid them
+beside the invalid.
+
+"This is Philip's present--'a fraternal remembrance,' he told me to
+say. Here is his card. Doesn't he write a lovely hand? The other is
+from your admirer, Mr. Hammond. What a sly puss you were to make such
+a catch as he is, without dropping us a hint! He is rather too sober
+for my notions; but he is getting rich fast, they say. He left those
+flowers at the door himself, and insisted upon seeing father for a
+moment, to know exactly how you were. Cannot you hurry up somewhat, and
+let us have a double wedding? I showed the bouquet to Philip, and told
+him of your conquest, and he was as much pleased at your prospects as
+I was. Did you ever see such magnificent roses? your beau paid five
+dollars, at the lowest computation, for these flowers. I congratulate
+you upon these signs of liberality."
+
+Sarah had heard only a portion of this speech. Her eyes were fixed upon
+the card her sister had put into her hand: "Will Miss Sarah accept this
+trifling token of regard from one who is her stanch friend, and hopes,
+in time, to have a nearer claim upon her esteem?"
+
+"Very neatly turned, is it not?" said Lucy, satisfiedly. She had read
+it on her way upstairs. "What shall I say to him from you?"
+
+"Thank him, and explain that I am not able to write a reply."
+
+This meagre return of compliments assumed a tone both grateful and
+sisterly as Lucy rehearsed it to the donor of the fragrant offering.
+The barest phrase of civility came gracefully and meaningly from her
+tongue. Serene in mind and countenance, she seated herself at the
+piano, and, as Philip took his stand at her side, he wondered if the
+world held another couple more entirely adapted each to the peculiar
+soul-needs of the other, more perfectly happy in the knowledge of
+mutual affection. Like the generality of theorists, your student of
+human nature is prone to grievous error when he reduces his flawless
+system to practice.
+
+In one respect, the two certainly harmonized well. Both loved music;
+both sang finely, and their voices accorded without a jarring note.
+
+Mr. Hunt read the evening papers in Sarah's room; turning and folding
+them with great circumspection, lest their rattling might annoy her,
+and detract from her enjoyment of the music. How could he guess the
+infatuation that caused her to listen greedily to sounds, under whose
+potent spell feeling was writhing and brain reeling? In every pause
+between the songs there arose in her memory two lines of a poem read
+long ago, when or where she knew not:
+
+    "Seek not to soothe that proud, forsaken heart
+    With strains whose sweetness maddens as they fall!"
+
+The performers had just completed a duet, in which each voice supported
+and developed, while blending with the other, when Lucy took up
+the prelude to a simpler lay; repeating it twice over with skilful
+variations, as if she were, meantime, carrying on a colloquy with her
+companion, that delayed the vocal part. This was ended by Philip's
+raising alone the burden of the plaintive German air Sarah remembered
+so truly--"The long, long, weary day."
+
+As his voice, full and strong, with its indescribable and
+irresistible undercurrent of pathos--flowing out here into passionate
+melancholy--swelled and floated through the quiet house, Sarah sat
+upright.
+
+"Father! father!" she whispered, huskily, "I cannot bear that! Shut the
+doors!--all of them, or I shall go mad!"
+
+She was obeyed; Mr. Hunt hurrying down to the parlor to silence the
+lovers, with the representation that Sarah was too nervous to endure
+the excitement of music. For the remainder of the evening, a profound
+stillness pervaded the upper part of the mansion--a silence that,
+to Sarah, throbbed with the melody she had tried to hush; and look
+where she might, she gazed into that rainy, ghastly night--the pale,
+comfortless watcher, the shadowy type of her deeper, more blighting
+sorrow.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VIII.
+
+
+For three days Philip Benson lingered near his beautiful enslaver; on
+the fourth, he carried a sad, yet trustful heart upon his Southern
+journey. Sarah had not seen him once since the evening of his coming.
+Through Lucy, she received his adieux and wishes for her speedy
+recovery. On the next day but one she left her room, and appeared again
+in the family circle--now complete in all its parts.
+
+In that short season of bodily prostration, the work of years had been
+wrought upon her inner life. Outwardly there was little alteration
+save that effected by physical weakness; but in her views of existence
+and character, of affections and motives, the doubter had become the
+skeptic; the dreamer the misanthrope. To the gentle and more womanly
+aspirations that had for a season supplanted the somewhat masculine
+tendencies of her mind and tastes had succeeded a stoicism, like the
+frozen calm of a winter's day, uniform as relentless. This was the
+surface that locked and concealed the lower depths she had sworn should
+be forever covered. Others could and did live without hearts. She could
+thrive as well upon the husks and Sodom apples of this world's goods as
+did they; holding as Life's chief good, complete and final subjugation
+of all genuine emotion, which, at the best, was but the rough ore--fit
+for nothing until purged, refined, and polished in its glitter. She
+found no other creed that suited her present desperate mood so well as
+the heartless code of the thorough worldling--the devotee to show, and
+fashion, and wealth.
+
+Such was her mother, whose domestic virtues were extolled by all who
+knew her; such, behind her mask of tender grace and amiability, the
+sister who had won, by these factitious attractions, the heart for
+which Sarah would have perilled life, sacrificed ease and inclination,
+bowed her proud spirit to the estate of bond-servant to his every
+caprice, become the willing slave to his tyrannical behest. Yet Philip
+Benson was a professed judge of character; a man of sense, education,
+and experience, and, knowing both girls as he did, he had made his
+choice; set the stamp of his approval upon the shining, rather than the
+solid metal. The world, as its young would-be disciple believed she had
+at length learned, was made up of two classes; those who floated, and
+those who sank. To the latter she determined that she would not belong.
+
+These and kindred thoughts were rife in her mind, and stirring up many
+a spring of gall within her bosom, one morning as she lay back in
+an armchair in the sitting-room, listening with secret scorn to the
+prattle of the pair of betrothed maidens--Lucy and her friend. Lucy's
+engagement ring was a diamond, or, rather, a modest cluster of these
+precious stones, whose extreme beauty did not strike the casual eye
+with the startling effect of Victoria's more showy gage d'amour. This
+apparent difference in the value of the two was the source of many
+discussions and considerable heart-burning, disguised, of course, and
+threatened in time to produce a decided coolness between the attached
+wearers of the articles under debate.
+
+On this particular day, Victoria, after some adroit skirmishing,
+brought out as a "poser" the fact that, to lay the question to rest
+without more ado, she had, since their last interview, been to
+Tiffany's, and had her ring valued. Lucy's face was all aglow as her
+soul-sister named the price of her treasure. She clapped her hands
+joyously.
+
+"Isn't that the joke of the season, mother?"--as that personage
+entered. "Don't you think that Vic. was as cunning as we were? She
+carried her ring to Tiffany's yesterday, too. Wouldn't it have been too
+funny if we had met there? Mine came from there, they said, and it cost
+a cool fifty dollars more than yours did, dear!"
+
+Victoria flashed hotly; but further controversy being useless and
+dangerous to her, she acquiesced with assumed carelessness in Lucy's
+proposal that, since both were suited, the rival brilliants should not
+be again referred to as a disputed matter. They accordingly turned to
+the safer and endless conferences upon the trousseaux, whose purchase
+must be commenced immediately.
+
+Their incomplete lists were produced, compared, and lengthened--Mrs.
+Hunt suggesting and amending; Sarah surveying the busy group with the
+same intense disdain she had experienced throughout the conversation.
+
+"Oh, I forgot to tell you! Margaret Hauton called on me yesterday!"
+exclaimed Victoria. "Did she come here, too?"
+
+"Yes; but we were out. What did she say?" queried Lucy, breathlessly.
+
+"Why, the stupid creature never alluded to my engagement; and when I
+mentioned yours, pretended not to have heard of it before. I took care
+she should not go away as ignorant on the subject as she had come,
+and--I know it was wicked in me, but she deserved it--all the time I
+was praising your Goldfinch, and telling how handsome and liberal he
+was, I sat looking at my new ring, slipping it up and down my finger,
+as if I were not thinking of it, but of the giver. She could not help
+seeing it, and, to save her life, she could not keep from changing
+countenance."
+
+"Good!" said Lucy. "Do tell me how she is looking now?"
+
+"Common enough! She had on that everlasting lilac silk, with the
+embroidered flounces, although the style is as old as the hills--and
+that black lace mantle, which, happening to be real, she never leaves
+off until near Christmas. But her hat! black and corn-color. Think
+of it! corn-color against her saffron skin. When I pretend to lead
+society, I hope to dress decently. But I had my revenge for her
+supercilious airs. Mr. Bond--George--called in the afternoon to take
+me to ride. I told you of the handsome span of fast horses he has been
+buying. Well! we concluded to try the Bloomingdale road, and just as
+we were sailing along, like the wind, whom should we overtake but my
+Lady Hauton, lounging her lazy way (she thinks it aristocratic!) on
+the back seat of her father's heavy, clumsy barouche--not a soul in it
+but her mother and herself. Didn't I bow graciously to her as we flew
+by! and again, as we met them creeping along, when we were coming back?
+I wouldn't have missed the chance of mortifying her for a thousand
+dollars."
+
+Lucy laughed, with no sign of disapprobation at the coarse, vindictive
+spirit displayed in this petty triumph of a small soul.
+
+"How many evening dresses have you put down on your paper, Vic.?"
+
+"Half a dozen only. I will get others as I need them. The styles in
+these change so often that I do not care to have too many at a time."
+
+"There you will have the advantage of me," said Lucy, ingenuously. "It
+will not be so easy a matter to replenish my stock of wearable dresses.
+I wish I had asked Philip about the Savannah stores. I wonder if he
+knows anything about them?"
+
+"He ought to--being such a connoisseur in ladies' dress. I declare
+I have been absolutely afraid of him since I heard him say that he
+considered a lady's apparel a criterion of her character."
+
+"He has exquisite taste!" said Lucy, with pardonable pride in her
+lover. "It is a positive pleasure to dress for him. He sees and
+appreciates everything that I could wish to have him notice. He has
+often described to me what I wore, and how I looked and acted the
+evening he fell in love. How little we can guess what is before us! I
+did not care to go to the hop that night, for Mr. Finch was to wait
+on me, and he was so stupid, you know, after we discovered that it
+was a mistake about his being rich. I think I see him now, with his
+red face and short neck! Oh, dear! the fun we had over that poor man!
+I told you--didn't I, Sarah--that we named him Bullfinch, because
+he looked so much like one? When Phil came we called him Goldfinch,
+and the two went by these names among us girls. The Bullfinch heard
+of it, and he was ridiculously angry! So I put on a white tarlatan,
+that one with the double jupe, you know, Vic., festooned with white
+moss rosebuds, and I had nothing but a tea-rose in my hair. I danced
+once with the Bullfinch--one of those solemn quadrilles that are only
+fit for grandmothers--and vowed to myself that I would not stand up
+again, except for a polka or the lancers. While I was sitting down by
+the window, saying 'Yes' and 'No,' when Bullfinch spoke, Mr. Newman
+introduced 'Mr. Benson' to 'Miss Hunt,' and the work was done!"
+
+"No more waltzing, then!" was Victoria's slyly malicious sequel.
+
+"I did not care so much for that as I thought I should!" replied
+easy-tempered Lucy. "You cannot find a man who has not some drawback.
+Before I had a chance for another round, mother there managed to
+telegraph me that my fresh acquaintance was worth catching. She had
+gotten his whole story out of Mrs. Newman. He let me know pretty soon,
+that he had some queer scruples about fancy dances, and I thought it
+best to humor him for one evening, or until I should ascertain whether
+he was really 'taken' or not. I have never repented my self-denial,
+although I grant that it cost me a struggle to give up 'the german.'"
+
+"George lets me waltz to my heart's content," said Victoria. "He is
+the very soul of indulgence. As to laces--I have not a thing fit to
+wear. I must get everything new. I am glad of it! I enjoy shopping for
+them. If I have a passion, it is for laces!"
+
+A sneer curled Sarah's lips, and Victoria happening to glance that way,
+could not mistake its application, whatever she might surmise as to its
+origin.
+
+"I suppose you despise us as a couple of lovesick girls, Sarah?" she
+said, with a simper designed to be sentimental, whereas it was spiteful
+instead.
+
+"I think love the least dangerous of your complaints," was the
+rejoinder.
+
+"What do you mean?"
+
+"Just what I said."
+
+"She means that people do not die of love in these days," exclaimed
+Lucy, whose pleasure-loving nature always shuddered at the idea of
+altercation in her presence; her sensations, during the occasional
+sparrings of her sister and her friend, bearing a strong resemblance
+to those of an innocent white rabbit, into whose burrow a couple of
+belligerent hedgehogs have forced their way.
+
+"You will understand us better one day, when your turn comes," said
+Victoria, with magnanimous condescension. "I shall remind you then of
+your good opinion of us."
+
+"You may."
+
+"I would give anything to have you engaged, just to see how you would
+behave. Would not you, Lucy?"
+
+"Yes; if she were likely to do as well as we are doing. Philip says
+that you have many fine qualities, Sarah. He quite admires you."
+
+The complacent betrothed had none but the most amiable intentions in
+making this patronizing speech; therefore, the angry blood that surged
+over her sister's face at hearing it would have been to her but the
+blush of gratified vanity, had not the sparkle of her eye and the
+contemptuous contortion of her mouth undeceived her.
+
+"Indeed he did say so!" she hastened to repeat. "And he was in earnest!
+He said something else which I don't mind telling, now that he belongs
+to me fast and sure. He said that he sat up until twelve o'clock one
+night after you had been out boating deliberating whether he should be
+smitten with you or not. There!"
+
+The color retreated as quickly as it had come. But for the
+consciousness of Victoria's malicious scrutiny, Sarah could not have
+summoned strength to utter a word.
+
+"An equivocal compliment, I must say!" she retorted, sarcastically.
+"Your gallant Georgian's confessions must have been ample and minute
+indeed, if they comprised such distant approaches to love affairs as
+the one you honor me by mentioning. I do not think that I have ever
+heard of another case where a gentleman considered it necessary to
+enumerate to his fiancee, not merely the ladies he had loved, but those
+whom he had not!" She arose and left the room.
+
+Poor Lucy, rebuffed and overwhelmed, caught her astonished breath with
+a sigh. "Can anybody tell me what I have done now to fret Sarah? She is
+so cross since she was sick!"
+
+"And before, too!" mutely added Victoria's shrug and lifted eyebrows.
+
+"We must bear with her, my dear!" said the prudent mother. "Her nerves
+are affected, the doctor says."
+
+Victoria made random pencillings upon the important list--her thoughts
+in fast pursuit of a notion that had just struck her. She was neither
+witty nor intelligent; but she possessed some natural shrewdness and
+a great deal more acquired cunning. She detested Sarah Hunt, and
+the prospect of obtaining an engine that should humble her arrogant
+spirit was scarcely less tempting than her own chance of effecting an
+advantageous matrimonial settlement.
+
+While she was engaged in defining her suspicion to herself, and
+concerting measures for gathering information with regard to it, Mrs.
+Hunt went out on some household errand, and Lucy was obliged to descend
+to the parlor to see callers.
+
+"Don't go until I come back, Vic.. It is the Dunhams, and they never
+stay long," she said, at quitting her associate.
+
+"Oh, I always make myself at home here, you know, my dear!" was the
+reply.
+
+Jeannie was sitting on a cushion near the chair Sarah had occupied,
+dressing her doll.
+
+"It won't fit!" she cried, fretfully, snatching off a velvet basque she
+had been endeavoring to adjust to the lay-figure.
+
+"Bring it to me! I can fix it!" offered Victoria, winningly. "It's too
+tight just here, you see. I will rip open the seam and alter it. Who
+makes your dolly's clothes?"
+
+She was well aware that but one member of the family ever had leisure
+to bestow upon such follies; but it suited her plan for Jeannie to
+introduce the name.
+
+"Sister Sarah."
+
+"This is a pretty basque. When did she make it?"
+
+"Yesterday."
+
+"Oh! I thought perhaps she did it while you were in the country, and
+that the doll had fattened as much as you did there."
+
+Jeannie laughed heartily.
+
+"You had a nice time there, I suppose?" pursued Victoria.
+
+"I guess we did!" Her eyes danced at the recollection. "A splendid
+time! I wish we lived at Aunt Sarah's! There isn't room for me to move
+in this narrow house."
+
+"Mr. Benson was there a day or two, was he not?"
+
+"Yes, ma'am--a great many days! He took us all around the country in
+Uncle Nathan's carriage. I love him very dearly."
+
+"Did you ever go sailing with him?"
+
+"Every evening, when it was clear, in a pretty rowboat. He used to take
+his guitar along, and sing for us. He sings beautifully! Did you ever
+hear him?"
+
+"Oh, yes! Did your sister always go boating with you?"
+
+The spy, with all her hardihood, lowered her voice, and felt her face
+warm as she put this leading question.
+
+"Yes, ma'am, always. Mr. Benson would not have gone without her, I
+guess."
+
+"Why do you guess so?"
+
+The little girl smiled knowingly. "Because--you won't tell, will you?"
+
+"Why no! Of course I will not."
+
+"Charley said it was a secret, and that I mustn't say anything to
+sister or Mr. Benson about it, for they would be angry."
+
+"Who is Charley?"
+
+"Don't you know? He is Aunt Sarah's son. He is deaf and dumb; but he
+showed me how to spell on my fingers. He is a nice boy"--
+
+"Yes; but what was the secret?"
+
+"He said that Mr. Benson--Cousin Phil I call him when I am talking to
+him--was sister's beau; and he would take me off with him when we went
+to drive or walk, because, you know, they might not like to have me
+hear what they were talking about. They used to talk, and talk, and
+talk! and sister had a great deal more to say, and looked prettier than
+she does at home. I will tell you something else, if you won't ever let
+anybody know it. I never told Aunt Sarah even, only Charley. Sister
+cried ever so long the night after Cousin Phil went away. She woke me
+up sobbing; but I made believe that I was asleep; and in the morning
+her pillow was right wet. Charley said that all ladies that he had read
+about in his books did so when their beaux left them."
+
+"See here, my little lady!" said the dissembler, with a startling
+change of tone. "You are altogether mistaken--you and Charley both!
+Mr. Benson is going to marry your sister Lucy, and never was a beau
+of Sarah's. Be very careful not to talk about Charley's wicked story
+to your father, or mother, or sisters, for they would be very much
+displeased, and maybe punish you for repeating such fibs. Little girls
+ought never to hear or know anything about courting or beaux--it's
+naughty! I won't tell on you, if you will promise never to do so again.
+I am shocked at you! Now take your doll and go!"
+
+The frightened child encountered Lucy at the door. Miss West had
+calculated her time to a minute. Her eyes swimming in tears, her
+features convulsed with the effort to keep back sob and outcry, Jeannie
+started up to her attic playroom. Sarah's door was ajar, and engaged
+as she was with thoughts of her own troubles and insults, she could
+not but remark the expression of her darling's face, in the momentary
+glimpse she had as it passed.
+
+"Jeannie! come back!" she called.
+
+The child hesitated, half way up the next flight. Sarah repeated the
+summons, and seeing that it was not obeyed, went up and took the rebel
+by the hand.
+
+"What is the matter with you?"
+
+A reddening and distortion of visage, and no reply. Her sister led her
+back to her chamber, shut the door, and put her arms around her.
+
+"Tell me what ails you, dear!"
+
+Jeannie fell upon her comforter's neck--the repressed torrent breaking
+through all restraint. "Oh, sister, I can't help crying! Miss Vic. West
+has been scolding me!"
+
+"Scolding you! She! I will go down and speak to her this instant! How
+dared she?"
+
+"No, no! please don't! She told me not to say anything about it."
+
+"The contemptible coward!" said Sarah, between her teeth. "How came you
+to have anything to do with her?"
+
+"Mother and sister Lucy went downstairs, and she said she would alter
+my doll's basque and--and--and"--a fresh burst of lamentation.
+
+"There, that will do, pet! I see that she only made it worse!" soothed
+Sarah, believing that, in the unfinished state of dolly's wardrobe, she
+had discovered the root of the trouble. "Never mind, dear! I will set
+all that to rights directly. Now wipe your eyes, and let me tell you
+something. This afternoon father is to take me to ride, and you shall
+go, too. As for Miss Victoria, we will let her pass, and keep out of
+her way, hereafter."
+
+Secretly, she was very angry--far more so than she was willing to
+have the child suspect. As the patient fingers repaired the effects
+of the original bad fit, and Miss West's meddling, Jeannie stood by,
+thankful and interested, yet ashamed to look her wronged sister in the
+eyes. Not that she had the remotest conception of the mischief that
+might grow out of her imprudent disclosures; but she had broken faith
+with Charley, been accused of tattling and indelicacy, and warned too
+stringently against repeating the offence to suffer her to relieve her
+conscience by a full confession to the being she most loved and honored.
+
+At four o'clock Sarah and her charge were ready, according to Mr.
+Hunt's appointment. The carriage was likewise punctual; but from it
+stepped, not the parent of the expectant girls, but a younger and
+taller man--in short, Mr. Hunt's particular favorite--Lewis Hammond.
+Jeannie, who had stationed herself at an upper window to watch for her
+father's appearance, was still exclaiming over this disappointment, and
+wondering why "Mr. Hammond must call just now to keep sister at home,"
+when the footman brought up a note to Sarah.
+
+It was from Mr. Hunt, explaining the cause of his unlooked-for
+detention at the bank, and stating that Mr. Hammond, whom he had
+met earlier in the day, and acquainted with his design of giving
+his daughter this ride, happened to drop in, and seeing him engaged
+with business, had asked leave to officiate as his substitute in the
+proposed airing. He urged Sarah to take Jeannie along, and not hesitate
+to accept Mr. Hammond's polite attendance, adding, in phrase brief, but
+sincere, how lightly he should esteem his hour of extra labor, if he
+knew that she was not a sufferer by it.
+
+Sarah passed the note to her mother, and drew her shawl about her
+shoulders.
+
+"Of course you'll go!" said Mrs. Hunt, radiant with gratification. "It
+is perfectly proper, and Mr. Hammond is very kind, I'm sure."
+
+She was hurrying towards the door to convey in person her thanks for
+his gallantry, when Sarah spoke firmly and very coolly:
+
+"I will say whatever is necessary to Mr. Hammond, if you please,
+mother. I shall go because father wishes it, and for no other reason.
+Come, Jeannie!"
+
+"Won't she be in your way?" asked Mrs. Hunt, awed, but not extinguished.
+
+"No, madam."
+
+Sarah suffered Mr. Hammond to place her in the carriage, and himself
+opposite to her; and keeping before her mind carefully the fact that he
+was her father's friend, perhaps the savior of his life, she unbent,
+as much as she could, from her distant, ungracious bearing, to sustain
+her part of the conversation. She must have been purblind not to see
+through her mother's wishes, and manoeuvres for their accomplishment;
+but to these views she was persuaded that Mr. Hammond was no party.
+She saw in him a sedate, rather reserved gentleman of thirty-two or
+three, who had passed the heyday of youthful loves and joy; sensible
+and cultivated to an uncommon degree for a man of business--for such he
+emphatically was.
+
+A poor boy in the beginning, he had fortunately attracted the regard
+of a thriving New York merchant, and retained that favor through the
+years that had elevated him from the lowest clerkship to a partnership
+in the now opulent firm. For probity and punctuality no man in the city
+had a higher reputation; but his virtues were of that quiet nature
+which, while they inevitably retain regard once won, are slow to gain
+admiration. To matrimonial speculators, as in financial circles, he
+was known as a "safe chance," and many a prudent mamma on his list
+of acquaintances would have rejoiced had he selected her daughter as
+mistress of his heart and fortune. Whether he was aware of this or not
+could not have been determined by his modest, but dignified deportment.
+He did not avoid company; went whither he was invited, and, when there,
+comported himself like a conscientious member of society, talking,
+dancing, or listening, with as due regard to law and order as he
+manifested in his daily business life. Fast girls called him "awfully
+matter-of-fact," and "terribly sensible"; fast youths of the other sex
+put him down among the "old fogies," and wondered what he did with his
+money. "Could it be possible that he saved it!" He was intimate nowhere
+except in the household of his whilom employer and present partner,
+whose daughters were all married and settled in houses of their own. If
+he had ever cared to look twice at the same lady, the watchful world
+had not yet laid hold of this marvellous departure from his fixed
+habits.
+
+His intercourse with Mr. Hunt's family was, as we know, purely
+accidental in its commencement, and in its earlier stages might have
+been induced by humanity or friendship for the sick father. In Sarah's
+brain there had never arisen a suspicion of any ulterior motives in the
+pointed attentions directed of late to herself. Before Lucy's return,
+the care of her invalid parent and her day-dreams had engrossed heart
+and thought to an extent that precluded much inquiry into other themes.
+Since that memorable night, inward torture had abstracted her mind
+still more from outward impressions.
+
+This afternoon she talked calmly and indifferently to Mr. Hammond,
+without an idea that he made any greater effort to please her. To
+Jeannie she was tender beyond her usual showing, in remembrance of the
+wrong done the sensitive child in the forenoon. Mr. Hammond emulated
+her in kindness to the third member of their party; and in the course
+of their ride, raised himself unwittingly to the rank of rivalship with
+"Cousin Philip," her model gentleman.
+
+Mr. Hunt came out to assist his daughter to alight, upon their
+return. There was a heartiness in his acknowledgment of his deputy's
+politeness, and invitation to enter the house and pass the evening with
+them, which Sarah had seldom heard him employ towards any visitor.
+Mr. Hammond may have remarked it likewise, for his declinature was
+evidently against his inclination, and coupled with a promise to
+call at an early day. His visits were not altogether so agreeable as
+formerly, for he was received in the spacious parlors on a footing
+with other callers, and in the presence of several members of the
+family; still he came repeatedly, with pretext and without, until his
+sentiments and design were a secret to no one except their object.
+
+Wrapped in the sad thoughts that isolated her from the rest of the
+world, even while she made a part of its show, Sarah omitted to mark
+many things that should have been significant signs of undercurrents,
+and tokens of important issues to her and those about her. Lucy had
+ceased to harp perpetually upon her lover's perfections and idolatrous
+flattery to herself, and while the wedding arrangements went vigorously
+forward, the disengaged sister was rarely annoyed by references to
+her taste and demands for her sympathy. There had never existed
+much congeniality between the two, and their common ground was now
+exceedingly narrow. Lucy was gentle and pleasant, peacefully egotistic
+as ever, and Sarah understood her too well to expect active affection
+or disinterestedness. The only part of her behavior to herself to
+which she took mental exception was a certain pitying forbearance, a
+compassionate leniency with respect to her faults and foibles, that had
+grown upon her of late. Once or twice the younger sister had become
+so restive under this gratuitous charity as to reply sharply to the
+whey-like speeches of the mild elder, and, without any appearance of
+wounded feeling, yet with not a word of apology or reason for so doing,
+Lucy had left the apartment, and never hinted at the circumstances
+afterwards.
+
+Lucy was certainly the soul, the very cream of amiability. It
+was unaccountable to her admirers--and they included most of her
+associates--that Lewis Hammond, with his peculiar habits and tastes,
+should prefer that severe-looking, strong-minded Sarah. But, be
+it remembered, that he had learned this love under far different
+influences; in circumstances wholly unlike those in which he now beheld
+its object. His respect for unobtrusive intent and feeling; his longing
+for a home which should be the abode of sacred domestic virtues; and
+the sweet peace that had fled from the habitations frequented only by
+the frivolous, heartless, and vain--these found in the sick-room of
+the father, and the affectionate fidelity of the daughter, something
+so like the embodiment of his fancy of earthly happiness, that he
+accepted as a benignant fate the accident which had admitted him to the
+arcana of their private life. Sarah's temporary illness had taught him
+the meaning of his dreams, by seeming to peril the chances of their
+fulfilment; and from that hour he strove patiently and sedulously, as
+it was his habit, to seek all great ends for the acquisition of the
+heart whose depth he perhaps, of all who knew her, best understood.
+
+The most impatient person of those directly or indirectly concerned
+in the progress of this wooing was Mrs. Hunt. Her husband, with
+unwonted firmness, had forbidden that anyone of the household should
+speak a word in raillery or otherwise to Sarah touching Mr. Hammond's
+intentions. "However earnestly I may desire his success," he said to
+his wife--"and there is no man living whom I would rather call 'son'--I
+would not influence her by the weight of a single syllable. Hers is the
+happiness or the misery of a life with her husband--whomsoever she may
+choose, and hers shall be the entire choice. If she can love and marry
+Lewis Hammond, I shall be gratified; if not, she shall never guess at
+my disappointment."
+
+"La, Mr. H.! you are as foolish and sentimental as the girl herself!
+For my part, I ain't such a saint, and I do say, that if Sarah Hunt
+allows such a catch as this to slip through her fingers, she shall hear
+a piece of my mind!"
+
+"I insist," said Mr. Hunt, with immovable resolution, "that Sarah shall
+be allowed to follow the guidance of her own will in this matter. It is
+not often that I interfere with your plans; but in this one instance I
+must be obeyed!"
+
+With which astounding declaration of equal rights, if not of
+sovereignty, he left his consort to her reflections.
+
+Ignorant of the delicate watchfulness maintained over her by this
+best of friends, Sarah walked on her beclouded way--without hope,
+without one anticipation of any future dissimilar to her present,
+until awakened with a shock by a formal declaration of love from Lewis
+Hammond.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IX.
+
+
+It was at the close of an evening party which both the Hunts attended,
+and where Mr. Hammond's devotion was as marked as anything so modest
+could be, that Sarah felt him slip an envelope into her hand, as he
+put her into the carriage. Surprised as she was at the singularity of
+the occurrence, and disposed to take offence at the familiarity it
+implied, she had yet the presence of mind to conceal the missive from
+Lucy, and talk about other things, until they were set down at home. In
+the privacy of her chamber, she broke the seal and read her first love
+letter.
+
+It was a characteristic composition. If the strong hand had trembled
+above the lines, the clear, clerkly penmanship did not witness to the
+weakness. Nor was there anything in the subject matter that did not
+appear to Sarah as business-like and unimpassioned. It was a frank and
+manly avowal of attachment for her; a compliment implied, rather than
+broadly stated, to her virtues; the traits that had gained his esteem,
+then his love--a deprecatory sentence as to his ability to deserve the
+treasure he dared to ask--and then the question! in plain black and
+white, unequivocal to bluntness, simple and direct to curtness.
+
+"As he would ask the price of a bale of goods!" burst forth Sarah,
+indignant, as she threw the paper on the floor, and buried her burning
+face in her hands.
+
+"That there comes sometimes a glory to the Present, besides which
+the hues of Past and Future fade and are forgotten, I must and will
+believe. Such, it seems to me, must be the rapture of acknowledged and
+reciprocal affection!" This was an echo memory repeated to her soul.
+She saw again the gently gliding river, with its waves of crimson and
+gold; breathed the pure fragrance of the summer evening; floated on,
+towards the sunset, with the loved voice in her ear; the dawn of a
+strange and beautiful life, shedding blissful calm throughout her being.
+
+And from this review, dangerous as it was for one fleeting instant
+sweet, she returned to the proposal that had amazed and angered her.
+Lewis' undemonstrative exterior had misled her, as it did most
+persons, in the estimate of his inner nature. Kind, she was compelled
+to confess that he was, in remembrance of his goodness to her father;
+his demeanor was always gentlemanly, and she had caught here and there
+rumors of his generosity to the needy that prevented a suspicion of
+sordidness. No doubt he was very well in his way, but he wanted to
+marry her! With the intensity of her fiery spirit, her will arose
+against the presumptuous request. It was the natural recoil of the
+woman who already loves, at the suggestion of a union with another
+than the man of her choice; the spontaneous outspeaking of a heart
+whose allegiance vows have been pledged and cannot be nullified. But
+she would not see this. Upon the unfortunate letter and its writer
+descended the storm of passionate repugnance aroused by its contents.
+With the reaction of excited feeling came tears--a plentiful shower
+that relaxed the overwrought nerves, until they were ready to receive
+the benediction of sleep.
+
+Lewis had not asked a written or verbal reply.
+
+ "I will call to take you to drive to-morrow afternoon," he wrote.
+ "Should your decision upon the question I have proposed be favorable,
+ your consent to accompany me in my ride will be understood as a
+ signal that you have accepted my graver suit. If your conclusion is
+ adverse to my hopes, you can signify the same to me in a letter,
+ to be handed me when I ask for you. This course will spare us both
+ embarrassment--perhaps pain. In any event, be assured that you will
+ ever have a firm friend in, Yours truly,
+
+     "Lewis Hammond."
+
+Sarah's lip curled as she reperused this clause of the letter on the
+following morning.
+
+"It is a comfort to know that I have not to answer for the sin of
+breaking my ardent suitor's heart!" she said, as she drew towards
+her the sheet upon which she was to indite her refusal. It was brief
+and courteous--freezing in its punctilious civility, and prepared
+without a pang, or a solitary misgiving that its reception would not
+be philosophically calm. Her design was to intrust it to the footman,
+to be delivered when Mr. Hammond called; and as the hour approached at
+which the expectant was to present himself, she took the note from the
+desk and started downstairs with it.
+
+The sitting-room door was open, and, aware that Victoria West was in
+there with Lucy, Sarah trod very softly as she neared it. Her own name
+arrested her as she was going by. She stopped involuntarily.
+
+"I thought Sarah a girl of better regulated mind," said Victoria, in a
+tone of censorious pity. "Of course she suffers! It is the inevitable
+consequence of an unrequited attachment. Such miserable folly, such
+unpardonable weakness brings its punishment with it. But my sympathies
+are all yours, my dearest. I only wish you were not so sensitive. You
+are not to blame for her blind mistake."
+
+"I cannot help it!" said Lucy, plaintively. "It seems so sad that I
+should be made the means of depriving her of happiness. I wish I had
+never known that she was attached to poor Philip. I can't tell you how
+awkward I feel when any allusion is made in her hearing to the dear
+fellow, or to our marriage."
+
+"I meant it for the best, dear, in telling you of my discovery,"
+replied Victoria, slightly hurt.
+
+"I know that, my dear creature! And it is well that I should not be
+kept in the dark as to the state of her affections. I only hope that
+Philip never penetrated her secret. I should die of mortification for
+her if he were to find it out. It is a lamentable affair--and I am sure
+that he is not in fault. What did you say that you gave for that set of
+handkerchiefs you showed me yesterday?"
+
+"The cheapest things you ever saw! I got them at Stewart's, and they
+averaged six dollars apiece! As to Mr. Benson, I trust, with you, that
+he is as unsuspecting as he seems; but he has remarkable discernment,
+you know. What I could not help seeing, before I had any other proof
+than her behavior, is not likely to have escaped him."
+
+Half an hour later the twain were disturbed in their confidences by
+the sound of wheels stopping before the house, followed by a ring at
+the door. Victoria, ever on the alert, peeped, with feline caution and
+curiosity, around the edge of the curtain.
+
+"What is going to happen? Look, Lucy! Mr. Hammond in a handsome light
+carriage, and driving a lovely pair of horses! I never thought to see
+him go in such style. How well he looks! Take care! he will see you!"
+
+Both dodged as he glanced up at the upper windows; but resumed their
+lookout in time to see the light that was kindled in his face when
+Sarah emerged from the front door. He was at her side in a second,
+to lead her down the steps, and his manner in this movement, and in
+assisting her into the carriage, the more striking in one generally
+so self-contained and deliberate, inspired the pair of initiated
+observers with the same conviction. As the spirited horses disappeared
+into the avenue, the friends drew back from their loophole, and stared
+each other in the eyes, with the simultaneous exclamation--"They are
+engaged!"
+
+They were engaged! Lewis felt it with a glad bound of the heart--but a
+minute before sickening in deadly suspense; felt, as he seated himself
+by her side, that the sorrows of a lonely and struggling youth, the
+years of manhood's isolation and unsatisfied longings, were swept from
+memory by this hour of abundant, unalloyed happiness.
+
+And Sarah felt it! As her hand touched his, at their meeting upon the
+steps, a chill ran through her frame that told the consummation of the
+sacrifice which was to atone for past folly; to silence, and brand as
+a lying rumor, the fearful tale that bruited abroad the revelation of
+that weakness. In her mad horror at the knowledge of its discovery, she
+had rushed upon this alternative. Better an estate of honorable misery,
+than to live on, solitary, disgraced, condemned and pitied by her
+meanest foe! Now that the irreversible step was taken, she experienced
+no sharp regret, no wild impulse of retreat, but a gradual sinking of
+spirit into hopeless apathy.
+
+Her veil concealed her dull eyes and stolid features, and to Lewis'
+happy mood there was nothing surprising or discouraging in her
+disposition to silence. With a tact for which she had not given him
+credit, and did not now value aright, he refrained from any direct
+reference to their altered relation until they were returning homeward.
+Then changing his tone of pleasant chat for one of deeper meaning, he
+said:
+
+"I have dared to hope much--everything--from your consent to become
+my companion for this afternoon. Before I ventured to address you
+directly, I had a long and frank conversation with your father."
+
+"What did he say?" asked Sarah, turning towards him for the first time.
+
+"He referred me to you for my answer, which, he said, must be final and
+positive, since he would never attempt to influence your choice. In the
+event of an affirmative reply from you, he promised that his sanction
+should not be withheld."
+
+Sarah was silent. She comprehended fully her father's warm interest in
+his friend's suit, which the speaker was too diffident to imply, and
+how this expression of his wishes set the seal upon her fate.
+
+"We are poor and proud! Mr. Hammond is rich and seeks to marry me!"
+was her bitter thought. "It is a fine bargain in the eyes of both my
+parents. It would be high treason for me to dispute their will. Mr.
+Hammond has conceived the notion that I am a useful domestic character,
+a good housekeeper and nurse, and he is willing to bid liberally
+for my services. It is all arranged between them! Mine is a passive
+part, to copy Lucy's sweet, submissive ways for a season, for fear of
+frightening away the game, afterwards to attend to my business, while
+he looks after his. I have chosen my lot, and I will abide by it!"
+
+"Have I your permission to call this evening and inform your father of
+my success--may I say of our engagement?" asked Lewis.
+
+"It is best, I suppose, to call things by their right names," replied
+Sarah, in a cold voice, that was to him only coy. He smiled, and was
+about to speak, when she resumed: "Since we are virtually engaged"--she
+caught her breath as she brought out the word--"I see no reason why we
+should hesitate to announce it to those whose right it is to know it."
+
+"Thank you! That was spoken like the noble, unaffected woman you are!
+Will you always be equally sincere with me--Sarah?" His accent trembled
+with excess of emotion in calling the name.
+
+Is it, then, an easy lot that you have chosen, Sarah Hunt? You, whose
+pride and glory it was to be truthful, who spurned whatever assimilated
+in the least degree to deception, what think you of a life where a lie
+meets you on the threshold and must be accepted and perpetuated if you
+would preserve your name and position in his eyes and those of the
+world. "It is the way two-thirds of the married people live!" you were
+saying to yourself, just now. It may be so; but it is none the less a
+career of duplicity, perjury--crime!
+
+"I will endeavor to please you!" she faltered, her face in a flame of
+shame and confusion.
+
+And this was the hue that met Lewis' eye, as her veil was blown aside,
+in her descent to the pavement, a blush he interpreted to suit his own
+wishes. Mr. Hunt appeared in the doorway as she alighted, and read
+in Hammond's smile and joyous salutation all that he most desired to
+learn. When the door was closed upon the departing suitor, the father
+drew his best-beloved child to him, and kissed her, without a word of
+uttered blessing.
+
+"It would break his heart were I to recede now!" thought Sarah, as she
+bore hers--heavy, hard--up to her room.
+
+That evening was the proudest era of Mrs. Hunt's existence. Two
+daughters well engaged--unexceptionably paired off! What mother more
+blest than she? Where could be found other children so dutiful? other
+sons-in-law so acceptable? By breakfast time, next day, she had
+arranged everything--Sarah's trousseau, her house, and the double
+wedding.
+
+Lucy expostulated here. "But, mother, this is the first of November."
+
+"I know that, my dear; but the ceremony will not come off until
+Christmas, and much can be done in six weeks for your sister--your
+work is so forward. Then, again, 'tisn't as if Sarah couldn't get
+everything she needs right here, if she shouldn't have enough. It will
+be tremendously expensive--awful, in fact; but we must make sacrifices.
+We can live economical after you're married and gone, and save enough
+to meet the bills."
+
+"If you please, madam, I prefer a plain outfit and no debts," said
+Sarah's most abrupt tones.
+
+"If you please, my dear, I understand my affairs, and mean to do as I
+think proper," retorted the no less strong-willed mother.
+
+Sarah was not cowed. "And as to the time you set, I cannot agree to
+it. I presume that in this matter I have some voice. I say six months
+instead of six weeks!"
+
+"Very well, my love." Mrs. Hunt went on polishing a tumbler with her
+napkin. She always washed her silver and glass herself. "You must
+settle that with your father and Mr. Hammond. They are crazy for this
+plan. They were talking to me about it last night, and I told them
+that I would engage to have everything ready in time; but you must be
+consulted. I never saw your father more set upon anything. He said to
+me, private, that he did hope that you wouldn't raise any squeamish
+objections, and upset their arrangements."
+
+Mrs. Hunt took up a handful of spoons as composedly as if she had never
+stretched her conscience in her life.
+
+Sarah's head drooped upon the table. She was very, very miserable. In
+her morbid state of mind she did not dream of questioning the accuracy
+of her mother's assertion. That a marriageable single daughter was
+a burden to one parent, she knew but too well; that to this able
+financier the prospect of getting two out of the way, with the eclat
+of a double ceremony that should cost no more than Lucy's nuptials
+would have done, was a stupendous temptation, she also perceived.
+But that the father whom she so loved; whose sickbed she had tended
+so faithfully; whose lonely hours it was her province and delight to
+solace--that he should acquiesce--nay more, rejoice in this indelicate
+haste to get rid of her, was a cruel stab.
+
+"Very well," she said, raising an ashy face. "Let it be as you say. The
+sooner it is over, the better."
+
+This clause was unheeded by her mother and sister. Had they heard it,
+they might have understood it as little as they did the composure
+with which she joined in the work which was begun, without an hour's
+delay. In this trying juncture, Mrs. Hunt came out in all her strength.
+Her sewing machine (she was one of the earliest purchasers of these
+inestimable time, labor, and money savers) went night and day; she
+shopped largely and judiciously, giving orders to tradespeople with the
+air of a princess; "Jewed" her butcher; watched her pantry, and served
+up poorer dinners than ever. Jeannie's winter outfit was ingeniously
+contrived from her sister's cast-off wardrobe; Mr. Hunt's and the boys'
+shirts and socks were patched and darned until but a trifling quantity
+of the original material remained; and this pearl of mothers had her
+two-year-old cloak and last season's hat "done over" for this year's
+wear.
+
+Foremost among the visitors to the Hunts, after this latest engagement
+was made public, was Mrs. Marlow, the wife of Mr. Hammond's benefactor
+and partner. Sarah was out when she called; so Mrs. Hunt received
+her, and discovering very soon that in spite of her husband's wealth
+and her splendid establishment, she was not, as Mrs. Hunt phrased it
+to her daughters, "one mite proud, and thought the world and all of
+Lewis"--the mother opened her heart to her so freely, with regard to
+the prospective weddings and her material anxieties, that Mrs. Marlow
+was emboldened to introduce a subject which had taken hold of her
+thoughts so soon as she heard from Mr. Hammond of his expected marriage.
+
+She had a daughter, resident for the winter in Paris, whose taste in
+female attire was unquestionable, and her good-nature as praiseworthy.
+If Miss Sarah Hunt would prepare a memorandum of such articles as she
+would like to have selected in that emporium of fashion, she would
+promise, for her daughter, that they should be forwarded in time for
+"the occasion."
+
+"Some friends of mine, now abroad, have kindly offered to bring me over
+any quantity of fine dresses with their baggage," said the complaisant
+old lady; "and, as I do not need their services for myself, I can
+smuggle in whatever your daughter may order. You would be surprised at
+the difference in prices here and there--to say nothing of the superior
+excellence and variety of the assortment from which one can choose. My
+friends will return early in December. Therefore, should you like this
+arrangement, I ought to have the list and write my letters to-morrow."
+
+Energetic, fussy, snobbish Mrs. Hunt! She stood an inch taller in
+her shoes at the imagination of this climax to the glory of the dual
+ceremony. "Trousseau ordered directly from Paris!" She seemed already
+to hear the envious and admiring buzz of her set; saw herself the most
+blessed of women--her daughters the brides of the season. She would
+order for Lucy, also; for the longer the list the more importance would
+the future Mrs. Hammond acquire in the sight of her husband's friends.
+They could not know that it was not for her alone. Then, as Mrs. Marlow
+intimated, it would be a saving. Here, like a cold shower-bath, came
+the agonizing query, "Where was the money to come from?" It would
+never do to run in debt to such people as the Marlows. If they were
+hard-pressed shopkeepers, who needed the money, it would be another
+thing. No! the cash in hand, or its representative, must accompany the
+memorandum.
+
+Sarah was secretly pleased at this obstacle, for she despised the
+ostentation and extravagance going on in their hungry household. Strive
+as she did, with wicked pertinacity, to conform herself to the world's
+code, there was as yet too much of the ancient and better leaven left
+to permit more than an outward obedience to the dictates of customs so
+irrational and tyrannical.
+
+That very evening there arrived a letter that settled the question,
+and inflated Mrs. Hunt's collapsed spirits to an expansion hitherto
+unequalled. It was from Aunt Sarah to her namesake niece; a guileless,
+fervent expression of good wishes and unabated affection, and a request
+from "husband" and herself that she would accept the enclosure as a
+mark of that hopeful regard.
+
+"Since our daughters died"--wrote this true and gentle mother--"we have
+always intended to give you just exactly what we would have done one of
+them, as a wedding present--as you were named for me, and I had nursed
+you before your mother ever did, and you seemed in some way to belong
+to us. But since you paid us a visit we have felt nearer to you than
+ever, and seeing that the Lord has prospered us in this world's goods,
+we have made up our minds to give you a double portion, dear, what both
+of our girls would have had, if it had pleased our Father to spare them
+to have homes of their own upon earth. Living is high in New York, but
+we have calculated that what we send will buy your wedding clothes and
+furnish your house."
+
+The enclosed gift, to Sarah's astonishment, was a check upon a city
+bank for a thousand dollars!
+
+"Was there ever such a child for luck?" exclaimed Mrs. Hunt, clapping
+her hands. "What a fortunate thing we sent you down there when we did!
+That was one of my plans, you remember, Mr. H. Really, Lucy, our little
+Sarah understands how to play her cards, after all. I never did you
+justice, my dear daughter. I ain't ashamed to confess it. This puts all
+straight, and is real handsome in sister Benson--more than I expected.
+Go to work right away upon your list, girls! We'll have to set up the
+best part of the night to get it ready. Ah, well! this comes of putting
+one's trust in Providence and going ahead!"
+
+Sarah thought, with aching heart and moistened eyes, of Aunt Sarah's
+mind-pictures of the neat apparel and snug dwelling she deemed proper
+for a young couple just beginning housekeeping, and rebelled at this
+waste, this frivolous expenditure of her love-portion. Mr. Hunt sided
+with her, so far as to urge the propriety of her doing as she pleased
+with what was her exclusive property; but, as in a majority of former
+altercations, their arguments and powers of endurance were no match for
+the determination and mind of the real head of the family. With a sigh
+of pain, disgust, and despair, Mr. Hunt succumbed, and, deserted by her
+ally, Sarah contended but a short time longer ere she yielded up the
+cause of the combat to the indomitable victress.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER X.
+
+
+The bridal day came; frosty and clear, dazzlingly bright, by reason of
+the reflection from the snow, which lay deep and firm upon the ground.
+
+"What a delightful novelty this is, coming to a wedding in a sleigh!"
+lisped one of the triad of bridesmaids, who were to do double duty for
+the sisters. "How very gay it makes one to hear the bells outside! Have
+they come, Vic.?"
+
+Victoria, whose marriage was but one week off, was, true to instinct
+and habit, on the lookout behind the friendly curtain.
+
+She nodded. "Yes--both of them, but not together. What a magnificent
+sleigh that is of the Marlows! They brought Mr. Hammond. See the
+bridegrooms shake hands on the sidewalk! That looks so sweet and
+brotherly! They will be up here almost directly, I suppose."
+
+The attendants immediately began to shake out their robes and stroke
+their white gloves. They were collected in the sitting-room so often
+mentioned, and the sisters were also present. In accordance with the
+ridiculous custom of very parvenu modern marriages, although the
+ceremony was to take place precisely at twelve o'clock, daylight
+was carefully excluded from the parlors below, gas made its sickly
+substitute, and the whole company was in full evening costume.
+
+"Am I all right?" inquired Lucy, with a cautious wave of her flowing
+veil. "Look at me, Vic.!"
+
+"You are perfect, my dearest!" replied the devoted parasite. "How
+I admire your beautiful self-possession! And as for you, Sarah,
+your calmness is wonderful! I fear that I should be terribly
+agitated"--blushing, and casting a meaning smile at Lucy.
+
+Sarah's statuesque repose was broken by a ray of scorn from the
+eye, and a slight disdainful smile. Whatever were the feelings
+working beneath her marble mask, she was not reduced to the depth of
+wretchedness that would humble her to accept the insolent pity couched
+under the pretended praise. She vouchsafed no other reply; but remained
+standing a little apart from the rest; her gloved hands crossed
+carelessly before her; her gaze bent downwards; her whole posture that
+of one who neither waited, nor hoped, nor feared.
+
+"Who would have thought that she could be made such an elegant-looking
+woman?" whispered one of the bridesmaids aside to another.
+
+"She has actually a high-bred air! I never imagined it was in her. So
+much for a Parisian toilette!"
+
+"I am so much afraid that I shall lose my color when we enter the
+room," said Lucy, surveying her pink cheeks in the mirror. "They say it
+is so trying to the nerves, and I am odious when I am pale."
+
+"Never fear, my sweetest. It is more likely that the unavoidable
+excitement will improve your complexion. There they are!" returned
+Victoria, hurriedly, and--unconsciously, no doubt--the three attendants
+and one of the principals in the forthcoming transaction, "struck an
+attitude," as the sound of footsteps approached the door.
+
+Lucy had only time for a whisper--a last injunction--to her faithful
+crony. "Remember to see that my veil and dress hang right when we get
+downstairs." And the masculine portion of the procession marched in in
+order.
+
+Sarah did not look up. She bent her head as the formal exchange of
+salutations was executed, and yielded her hand to the person who took
+it in his warm pressure, and then transferred it to his arm. It was one
+of the freaks, thus denominated by her acquaintances, in which she had
+been indulged, that she desired to have her marriage ceremony precede
+her sister's. She assigned what Lucy at least considered a sufficient
+reason for this caprice.
+
+"Nobody will care to look at me after you stand aside, Lucy. Keep the
+best wine until the last. My only chance of getting an approving glance
+lies in going in before you attract and fix the public gaze."
+
+She had her way. A limited number of select friends were admitted
+to behold "the ceremony;" yet the parlors were comfortably filled,
+excepting in the magical semicircle described by an invisible line, in
+the center of which stood the clergyman in his robes.
+
+Still dull and calm, Sarah went through the brief role that fell to
+her share. "Behaved charmingly," was the unanimous verdict of the
+beholders, and surprised other people, as well as the complimentary
+bridesmaid, by her thoroughbred air and Parisian toilette. Without the
+pause of a second, so perfect was the drill of the performers, the
+wedded pair stepped aside, and made way for the second happy couple.
+Lucy's solicitude on the score of her complexion was needless. As the
+solemn words were commenced, a rosy blush flickered up to its appointed
+resting-place--another and another--until, when Philip released her
+to the congratulatory throng, she was the most enchanting type of a
+radiant Hebe that poet ever sang, or painter burned to immortalize on
+canvas.
+
+Philip stood beside her and sustained his portion of the hand-shaking
+and felicitations until the press diminished, then stepped hastily over
+to where Hammond and his bride were undergoing a similar martyrdom.
+Until this moment Sarah had not looked at, or spoken to him--had never
+met him face to face since their parting in the summer at Aunt Sarah's.
+Now, not aware who it was that approached her, she raised her eyes with
+the serious dignity with which she had received all other salutations,
+and met his downward gaze--full of warm and honest feeling.
+
+"Sister!" he said, and in brotherly fondness he bent towards her, and
+left a kiss upon her mouth.
+
+A hot glow, the lurid red of offended modesty or self-convicted guilt,
+overspread her face; the lips parted, quivered, and closed tightly,
+after an ineffectual effort to articulate; the room swam around her,
+and Mr. Hammond caught her just in time to save her from falling. It
+was Nature's vengeful reaction for the long and unnatural strain upon
+her energies. She did not faint entirely away, although several moments
+elapsed before she regained perfect consciousness of her situation
+and surrounding objects. She had been placed in an easy-chair; her
+head rested against her father's shoulder, and on the other side stood
+Lewis, almost as pale as herself, holding a glass of wine to her lips.
+Around her were grouped her mother, Lucy, and Philip. The guests had
+withdrawn politely to the background, and maintained a respectful
+silence.
+
+"What have I betrayed?" was her first coherent reflection; and, with an
+instinctive perception of the quarter where such disclosures would do
+most harm, her eye turned with a sort of appealing terror to Lewis.
+His heart leaped at the movement, revealing, as he fancied it did,
+dependence upon his strength, recognition of his right to be with and
+nearest to her.
+
+"You are better," he said, with a moved tenderness he could not and
+cared not to restrain.
+
+The words, the manner, were an inexpressible relief to her fears, and
+trying to return his smile, she would have arisen but for her father's
+interposition.
+
+"Sit still," he advised. "Mrs. Hunt, Lucy, Mr. Benson, will you
+entertain our friends? She will be all right in a little while, Mr.
+Hammond."
+
+"Tableaux vivants!" said Lucy's soft, rich voice, as she advanced
+towards the reassured guests. "This is a part of the performance not
+set down in the programme. Quite theatrical, was it not?"
+
+It is very possible that Philip Benson would not have regarded this as
+an apropos or refined witticism, had any one else been the speaker; but
+as the round, liquid tones rolled it forth, and her delicious laugh
+led off the instant revival of mirth and badinage, he marvelled at
+her consummate tact, her happy play of fancy (!), and returned devout
+thanks to the stars that had bestowed upon him this prodigy of grace,
+wit, and beauty. Sarah rallied speedily; and, contrary to the advice of
+her father and husband, maintained her post in the drawing-room during
+all the reception, which continued from half-past twelve to half-past
+two.
+
+It was a gay and shifting scene--a sparkling, murmuring tide, that
+ebbed and flowed to and from the quartette who formed the attractive
+power. Silks, laces, velvets, furs, and diamonds; faces young, old,
+and middle-aged; handsome, fair, and homely; all decked in the same
+conventional holiday smile; bodies tall and short, executing every
+variety of bow and courtesy; voices sweet, sharp, and guttural,
+uttering the senseless formula of congratulation--these were Sarah's
+impressions of the tedious ceremonial. Restored to her rigid composure,
+she too bowed and spoke the word or sentence custom exacted--an
+emotionless automaton in seeming, while Lucy's matchless inflections
+lent interest and beauty to the like nothings, as she rehearsed them
+in her turn; and Philip Benson, having no solicitude for his bride's
+health or ability to endure the fatigue, was collected enough to
+compare the two, and, while exulting in his selection, to commiserate
+the proprietor of the colder and less gifted sister.
+
+At last the trial was over; the hospitable mansion was closed; the
+parlors deserted; the preparation for travelling hurried through;
+and the daughters went forth from their girlhood's home. Philip had
+cordially invited Sarah and Lewis, by letter, to accompany Lucy and
+himself to Georgia; but Sarah would not hear of it, and Lewis, while he
+left the decision to her, was not sorry that she preferred to journey
+instead with him alone. It was too cold to go northward, and the
+Hammond's now proposed to proceed with the others as far as Baltimore,
+there to diverge upon a Western and Southern tour, which was to occupy
+three weeks, perhaps four.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XI.
+
+
+During the month preceding his marriage, Lewis Hammond had spent much
+time and many thoughts in providing and furnishing a house for his
+wife. His coadjutor in this labor of love was not, as one might have
+expected, Mrs. Hunt, but his early friend, Mrs. Marlow. His omission
+of his future mother-in-law, in his committee of consultation, he
+explained to her by representing the number of duties already pressing
+upon her, and his unwillingness to add aught to their weight. But when
+both girls were married and gone, and the work of "getting to rights"
+was all over, this indefatigable woman paid Mrs. Marlow a visit, and
+offered her assistance in completing the arrangements for the young
+housekeepers.
+
+"There is nothing for us to do," said Mrs. Marlow. "Lewis attended
+to the purchase of everything before leaving; and the orders are all
+in the hands of a competent upholsterer whom he has employed, as
+is also the key of the house. I offered to have the house-cleaning
+done, but Lewis refused to let me help him even in this. He is very
+methodical, and rather strict in some of his ideas. When the premises
+are pronounced ready for the occupancy of the future residents, you and
+I will play inspectors, and find as much fault as we can."
+
+Mrs. Hunt went around by the house on her way home. It was new and
+handsome, a brown stone front, with stone balconies and balustrades;
+but three stories high, it was true, yet of ample width and pitch of
+ceiling, and--as she discovered by skirting the square--at least three
+rooms deep all the way up. The location was unobjectionable; not more
+than four blocks from the paternal residence, and in a wider street. On
+the whole, she had no fault to find, provided Mr. Hammond had furnished
+it in such style as she would have recommended. She had her fears lest
+his sober taste in other respects should extend to these matters, and
+hinted something of the kind to her husband.
+
+"I have confidence in Mr. Hammond to believe that he will allow his
+wife every indulgence compatible with his means," was the reply.
+
+Mr. Hunt did not deem it obligatory upon him to state that his
+son-in-law had conferred with him upon numerous questions pertaining to
+Sarah's likes and probable wishes; that he had examined and approved
+of the entire collection of furniture, etc., selected for her use. Why
+should he, how could he, without engendering in his wife's bosom the
+suspicion that he had accounted to him for Lewis' choice of the father
+as an adviser? namely, that the newly-made husband had gained a pretty
+correct estimate of this managing lady's character, her penny-wise and
+pound-foolish policy, and intended to inaugurate altogether a different
+one in his house.
+
+Regardless of Mrs. Marlow's polite insinuation that their room was
+preferable to their company until all things should be in readiness for
+inspection, the ambitious mother made sundry visits to the premises
+while they were being fitted up, and delivered herself of divers
+suggestions and recommendations, which fell like sand on a rock upon
+the presiding man of business.
+
+On the day appointed for the tourists' return, Mrs. Marlow's carriage
+drew up at Mr. Hunt's door, by appointment, to take the mistress of
+the house upon the proposed visit of criticism of her daughter's
+establishment. Mrs. Marlow was in a sunny mood, and indisposed to
+censure, as was evinced by ejaculations of pleasure at the general
+effect of each apartment as they entered, and praise of its component
+parts. Mrs. Hunt was not so undiscriminating. The millionaire's wife
+must not imagine that she was dazzled by any show of elegance, or that
+she was overjoyed at the prospect of her child's having so beautiful
+and commodious a home.
+
+"The everlasting oak and green!" she uttered, as they reached the
+dining-room. "It is a pity Mr. Hammond did not select walnut and
+crimson instead! Green is very unbecoming to Sarah."
+
+"Then we must impress upon her the importance of cultivating
+healthy roses in her cheeks, and wearing bright warm colors. This
+combination--green and oak--is pretty and serviceable, I think. The
+table is very neatly set, Mary," continued Mrs. Marlow, kindly, to the
+tidy serving-maid. "Keep an eye on the silver, my good girl, until
+your mistress comes. Mrs. Hunt, shall we peep into the china closets
+before we go to the kitchen? I have taken the liberty, at Lewis'
+request, of offering to your daughter the service of a couple of my
+protegees, excellent servants, who lived for years with one of my own
+children--Mrs. Morland, now in Paris. They are honest, willing, and, I
+think, competent. The man-servant, if Lewis sees fit to keep one, he
+must procure himself."
+
+The china, glass, and pantries were in capital order; the kitchen well
+stocked, light, and clean, and dinner over the fire.
+
+"You will be punctual to the minute, Katy, please!" was the warning
+here. "Mr. Hammond is particular in the matter of time."
+
+"And you will see that my daughter has a cup of clear, strong coffee!"
+ordered Mrs. Hunt, magisterially. "She is delicate, and accustomed to
+the very best of cookery." And, having demonstrated her importance and
+superior housewifery to the round-eyed cook, she swept out.
+
+To an unprejudiced eye, the whole establishment was without a flaw;
+and, undisturbed by the captious objections of her companion in the
+survey, Mrs. Marlow saw and judged for herself, and carried home with
+her a most pleasing imagination of Lewis' gratification, and Sarah's
+delighted surprise with the scene that was to close their way of cold
+and weariness.
+
+By Mr. Hammond's expressed desire to his father-in-law, there was
+no one except the domestics in the house when they arrived. As the
+carriage stopped, the listening maid opened the door, and a stream of
+radiance shot into the misty night across the wet pavement upon the two
+figures that stepped from the conveyance.
+
+"In happy homes he sees the light." The mental quotation brought back
+to Sarah the vision of that lonely evening, ten months before, when
+she had moaned it in her dreary twilight musings at the window of her
+little room. "Dreary then, hopeless now!" and with this voiceless sigh,
+she crossed the threshold of her destined abode. With a kindly greeting
+to the servants in the hall; Lewis hurried his wife onward, past the
+parlor doors, into a library sitting-room, back of the show apartments,
+warm and bright, smiling a very home welcome.
+
+Here he placed her in a deep cushioned chair, and, pressing her hands
+in his, kissed her, with a heartfelt--"May you be very happy in our
+home, dear wife!"
+
+"Thank you!" she replied. "It is pleasant here, and you are too kind."
+
+"That is impossible where you are concerned. Sit here, while I see to
+the trunks. When they are carried upstairs, you can go to your room.
+Throw off your hat and cloak."
+
+He was very thoughtful of her comfort--too thoughtful, because his love
+made him watchful of her every look, word, and gesture. She was glad
+of the brief respite from this vigilance, that allowed her to bury her
+face in her hands and groan aloud. She had no heart to look around her
+cage. No doubt it was luxurious; the bars softly and richly lined; the
+various arrangements the best of their kind; still, it was nothing but
+a cage--a prison, from which death only could release her.
+
+The trim maid came for her wrappings, and directly afterwards Lewis, to
+take her upstairs.
+
+"Not a very elaborate toilet, dear," he said, as he left her for his
+dressing-room. "You will see no one this evening but our father and
+mother, and they will remember that you have been travelling all day."
+
+When she was ready, it lacked still a quarter of an hour of
+dinner-time, and she acceded to Lewis' proposal that they should go
+over their dwelling. By his order, there were lights in every room.
+The graceful furniture, the well-contrasted hues of the soft carpets,
+the curtains and pictures showed to fine advantage. Every thing was in
+place, from cellar to attic; not a symptom of parsimony or cheapness
+in the whole; and all betokened, besides excellent judgment, such
+conformity to, or unison with her taste, that Sarah, with all her
+heaviness of heart, was pleased. She was touched too with gratitude or
+remorse; for, when they were back in the cozy sitting-room, she laid
+her hand timidly on that of her husband, and said, falteringly:
+
+"I do not deserve that you should take so much pains to gratify me, Mr.
+Hammond."
+
+Over Lewis' face there flushed one of the rare smiles that made him
+positively handsome while they lasted. He grasped the shrinking fingers
+firmly, and drew his wife close to his side.
+
+"Shall I tell you how to repay me for all that I have done, or ever can
+do, to promote your ease and enjoyment?"
+
+"If you please." But her heart sank, as she foresaw some demands upon
+a love that had never existed--a treasure that, to him, was sealed and
+empty; yet whose poverty she dared not avow.
+
+"Call me 'Lewis,' now that we are at home, dear. I cannot realize that
+you are indeed all mine--that our lives are one and the same, while you
+continue that very proper 'Mr. Hammond.'"
+
+"It comes more naturally to my tongue, and don't you think it more
+respectful than--than--the other?"
+
+"I ask no such form of respect from you. I do not fear lest you should
+fail to 'honor and obey' me, you little paragon of duty! Believe me,
+dearest, I fully understand and reverence the modest reserve that has
+not yet ceased to be shyness, in the expression of your sentiments
+towards me. You are not demonstrative by nature. Neither am I. But
+since you are my other self, and there is no living being nearer to
+you than myself, ought we not to overcome this propensity to, or custom
+of, locking up our feelings in our own breasts? Let me begin by a
+confession of one uncomfortable complaint, under which I have labored
+ever since our engagement. Do you know, darling, that I absolutely
+hunger--I cannot give any other name to the longing--I hunger and
+thirst to hear you say that you love me! Do you remember that you
+have never told me in so many words what you have given me other good
+reasons for believing? I need but one thing this evening to fill my cup
+with purest content. It is to have you say--openly, fearlessly, as my
+wife has a right to do--'Lewis, I love you!'"
+
+"It need be a source of no unhappiness to be married to a man whom one
+does not love, provided he is kind and generous!" say match-makers and
+worldly-wise mothers. Perhaps not, after one's conscience is seared in
+callosity by perjuries, and her forehead grown bold as brass; but the
+neophyte in the laudable work of adaptation to such circumstances will
+trip in her words and color awkwardly while acquiring this enviable
+hardihood.
+
+Sarah's head fell, and her face was stained with blushes. One wild
+impulse was to throw herself at the feet of him whom she had wronged
+so foully, and, confessing her mad, wicked deception upon his holiest
+feelings, pray him to send her away--to cast her adrift, and rid
+himself of a curse, while he freed her from the gentle, yet intolerable
+bondage of his love.
+
+"Dinner is ready!" announced the servant. Sarah's senses returned,
+and with them self-control. With a strange smile, she glanced up at
+him--a look he did not understand, yet could not guess was born of
+anguish--and said, with a hesitation that seemed pretty and coquettish
+to him--"Lewis! do you hear? May it please your worship, I am very
+hungry!"
+
+"Tease! I will have my revenge yet! See if I do not!"
+
+Laughing lightly, she eluded his outstretched arm, and sprang past
+him into the hall leading to the dining-room. She assumed the seat at
+the table with a burlesque of dignity, and throughout the meal was
+more talkative and frolicsome than he had ever seen her before. So
+captivated was he by her lively discourse and bright looks, that he
+was sorry to hear the ring, proclaiming the coming of the expected
+visitors. The dessert had not been removed, and the girl was instructed
+to show them immediately into the dining-room.
+
+A toast was drunk to the prosperity of the lately established
+household, and the gentlemen went off to the library.
+
+"Always see to putting away your silver, Sarah!" counselled the mother.
+"And you had ought to get a common set of dinner and breakfast things.
+This china is too nice for every-day use. Of course, Mr. Hammond can
+afford to get more when this is broken; but it's a first-rate rule,
+child, as you'll find, to put your money where it will show most.
+That's the secret of my management. Mr. Hammond must give you an
+allowance for housekeeping and pin-money. Speak to him about it right
+away. Men are more liberal while the honeymoon lasts than they ever
+are afterwards. Strike while the iron is hot. You can't complain of
+your husband, so far. He has set you up very handsome. If I had been
+consulted about furnishing, I would have saved enough off of those
+third-story chambers and the kitchen to buy another pair of mirrors
+for your parlors. The mantel has a bare look. I noticed it directly I
+went in. To be sure, the Parisian ornaments are pretty and tasty, and
+expensive enough--dear knows! but they don't make much of a display."
+
+"I do not like the fashion of lining walls with mirrors," said Sarah,
+in her old, short way; "and am satisfied with the house as it is. Shall
+we join the gentlemen?"
+
+Nothing had ever showed her more plainly the degradation of her false
+position than the confident air her mother wore in making her coarse
+observations, and instructing her as to the method of managing her
+generous, confiding husband. It was the free-masonry of a mercenary
+wife, whose spouse would have been better represented to her mind by
+his money-bag than his own proper person, towards another of the same
+craft, who rated her lawful banker by corresponding rules.
+
+"Will I then really grow to be like her and her associates?" Sarah
+questioned inly. "Will a fine house and its fixtures, will dress and
+equipage and pin-money so increase in importance as to fill this
+aching vacuum in my heart? Will a position in life, and the envy of my
+neighbors, make up to me for the loss of the love of which I used to
+dream, the happiness which the world owes me yet? Is this the coin in
+which it would redeem its promises?"
+
+Mr. Hunt's mild features wore their happiest expression this evening.
+He arose at the ladies' entrance, and beckoned his daughter to a seat
+on the sofa beside him.
+
+"You are a little travel-worn!" he said. "Your cheeks are not very
+ruddy."
+
+"Did you ever see them when they were?" asked Sarah, playfully.
+
+"She was always just that pale when she was a baby," said Mrs. Hunt,
+setting herself in the arm-chair proffered by her son-in-law. "Lucy
+stole all the roses from her." Sarah may have thought that other and
+more grievous thefts had succeeded this doubtful one, but she neither
+looked nor said this. "And that reminds me, Mr. H.! Did you bring
+Lucy's letter for Sarah to read?"
+
+"I did." Mr. Hunt produced it. "Keep it, and read it at your leisure,
+Sarah."
+
+"They are supremely happy, I suppose?" remarked Lewis, with the
+benevolent interest incident to his fellowship of feeling with them.
+
+"For all the world like two turtle-doves!" Mrs. Hunt rejoined. "Their
+letters are a curiosity. It is 'Phil.' and 'Lucy' from one end to the
+other. I mean to save them to show them five years from now. Hot love
+is soon cool, and by-and-by they will settle down as sensible as any of
+the rest of us. You don't begin so, I see, Sarah, and I am pleased at
+it. Between me and you, it's two-thirds of it humbug! There is Victoria
+West that was! She looks ready, in company, to eat up that lean monkey
+of a George Bond. I don't believe but she shows him the other side of
+the picture in private."
+
+Sarah heard her father's suppressed sigh, and felt, without looking
+up, that her husband's eyes sought hers wistfully. The unobservant
+dame pursued her free and easy discourse. Mr. Hammond was "one of the
+family" now, and there was no more occasion for choice grammar or fine
+sentiments before him.
+
+"Not that I blame Victoria for taking him. He was a good offer, and she
+wasn't much admired by the gentlemen--rich as Mr. West is. Mr. Bond
+is twenty-five years older than she is, and wears false teeth and a
+toupee; but I suppose she is willing to overlook trifles. She watches
+out for the main chance, and will help him take care of his money, as
+well as spend it. Vic. is a prudent girl."
+
+"Lucy--Mrs. Benson--was at home when she wrote, was she not?"
+interrogated Mr. Hammond.
+
+"Yes, at his father's. His mother keeps house, and Lucy has nothing
+to do but ride, visit, and entertain company. She says the house is
+crowded the whole time, and she has so many beaux that Philip stands no
+chance of speaking a word to her. She is perfectly happy."
+
+Notwithstanding the various feelings of the listeners, none of them
+could resist this picture of a felicitous honeymoon, so naively spoken.
+Lewis' laugh cleared the vapors from his brow, and the pain at Sarah's
+heart did not hinder her from joining in.
+
+"And the ousted bridegroom, perforce, seeks consolation in the society
+of his fair friends?" said Lewis. "If this is the way young married
+people show the love-sickness you complained of just now, Mrs. Hunt, I
+am content with our more staid ways--eh, Sarah?"
+
+"Quiet ways suit me best," was the answer.
+
+"'Still water runs deep,'" quoted Mrs. Hunt. "I used to worry over your
+stay-at-home habits and eternal study of books, Sarah; but I'm ready to
+say now that you was sensible to behave as you did, as it has turned
+out. I don't mean to flatter Mr. Hammond, but I'd ten times rather you
+had taken him than a dried-up widower like George Bond."
+
+"Thank you!" bowed Lewis, desirous of diverting attention from Sarah's
+growing uneasiness beneath her mother's congratulations.
+
+Mrs. Hunt held on her way. "I never had a fear lest Lucy shouldn't
+marry well. She was pretty and attractive, and knew too much about the
+world to throw herself away for the sake of love in a cottage. But
+now the danger is over, I will allow that I used to mistrust Sarah
+here sometimes. You was just queer enough to fall in love with some
+adventurer with a foreign name, and never a cent in his pocket--yes,
+and marry him, too, in spite of all that could be said and done to
+prevent it. I was forever in a 'feaze' about you; fancying that you was
+born to make an out-and-out love-match--the silliest thing a girl can
+do, in my opinion."
+
+"You never dreamed of her 'taking up,' as the phrase is, with a humdrum
+individual like myself," said Lewis. "Nor, to be candid, did I, for
+a long time, Mrs. Hunt. Yet I cannot say that I regret her action,
+disadvantageous to herself though it was. I wrote to you of our visit
+to New Orleans, did I not, sir?" he continued to Mr. Hunt, inwardly a
+little disgusted by the frank revelations his mamma-in-law was making
+of her principles and plans.
+
+The subject so interesting to most wedded people, so embarrassing to
+one of the present party, was not again introduced during the elder
+couple's stay. When Lewis returned to the library, after seeing them
+out, Sarah sat where he had left her, her hand shading her eyes--deep
+in thought, or overcome by weariness.
+
+"You had better go up to your room, dear," said Lewis. "I wonder you
+are not worn out completely."
+
+She arose to obey; walked as far as the door, then came back to him.
+
+"It may appear strange to you that I should speak openly to such a
+suspicion; but I must beg you not to suppose for an instant that in
+my acceptance of your offer of marriage, I was actuated by mercenary
+motives. You look surprised"--she hurried on yet faster while her
+resolution lasted--"but I could not rest without doing myself this act
+of justice. Much that mother said to-night might--must have led you to
+this conclusion. I would not have you think worse of me than I deserve,
+and of this one act of baseness I am innocent."
+
+"My precious little wife, how excited you are! and over what a
+nonsensical imagination! Suspect you--the noblest as well as the
+dearest of women--of selling yourself, body and soul, for money? Listen
+to my speech now, dear Sarah!"
+
+He sat down and pulled her to his knee. "I esteem you, as I love
+you, above all the rest of your sex--above any other created mortal.
+I know you to be a pure, high-minded woman. When I part with this
+persuasion, may I part also with the life that doubt on this point
+would render wretched! Judge, then, whether it be possible for me to
+link this holy realization of womanhood with the thought of another
+character, which I will describe. I hold that she who enters the
+hallowed state of wedlock through motives of pecuniary interest, or
+ambition, or convenience--indeed, through any consideration save that
+of love, single and entire, for him to whom she pledges her vows,
+stands, in the sight of her Maker and the angels, on a level with the
+most abandoned outcast that pollutes the earth she treads. I shock
+you, I see; but on this subject I feel strongly. I have seen much, too
+much, of fashionable marriages formed for worldly aggrandizement--for
+riches; sometimes in pique at having lost a coveted lover. With my
+peculiar sentiments, I feel that I could endure no heavier curse than
+to contract an alliance like any of these. I repeat it, I believe in
+Woman as God made her and intended she should live, if for no other
+reason than because I recollect my mother, boy as I was when she died;
+and because I know and have you, my true, blessed wife!"
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XII.
+
+
+A year and five months had passed away since the evening when Lewis
+Hammond held his conscience-stricken wife upon his knee, and told
+her--in fervid words that singularly belied his calm and even demeanor
+at other times--of his faith in and love for her, and his abhorrence
+of the sin she felt in her trembling soul that she had committed. Yet
+she had not the superhuman courage required to contradict a trust like
+this. There was no alternative but to keep up the weary, wicked mockery.
+
+"But in all these months she must have learned to care for him!" cries
+Mrs. Common Sense. "There is nothing disagreeable about the man. He is
+not brilliant; yet he has intelligence and feeling, and is certainly
+attached to his wife. I have no doubt but that he indulges her in
+every reasonable request, and comports himself in all respects like an
+exemplary husband."
+
+Granted, to each and every head of your description, my dear madam!
+But, for all that, his obdurate wife had not come to love him. I blush
+to say it; but while we are stripping hearts let us not be squeamish!
+There had been seasons, lasting sometimes for weeks, when her existence
+was a continual warfare between repugnance to him and her sense of
+duty; when she dreaded to hear his step in the hall, and shrank
+inwardly from his caress; watched and fought, until strength and mind
+were well-nigh gone. Mark me! I do not deny that this was as irrational
+as it was reprehensible; but I have never held up my poor Sarah as
+a model of reason or propriety. From the beginning, I have made her
+case a warning. The fates forbid that I should commend it to any as an
+example for imitation! A passionate, proud, reticent girl; a trusting,
+loving, deceived woman; a hopeless, desperate bride--whose heart lay
+like a pulseless stone in her breast at the most ardent love-words of
+her husband, and throbbed with wild, uncontrollable emotion at the
+fraternal tone and kiss of her lost and only love--I have no plea for
+her, save the words of Infinite compassion and Divine knowledge of
+human nature and human woe: "Let him that is without sin among you cast
+the first stone at her!"
+
+The highly respectable firm of which Mr. Hammond was the junior member,
+was adding, if not field to field, thousand to thousand, of the
+wherewithal for the purchase of fields, or, what was better still, city
+lots. Mrs. Lewis Hammond had set up her carriage about a year after her
+marriage; said equipage being a gift from her generous husband on the
+occasion of the first airing of the little "Baby Belle," as she was
+always called in the family. Not until subsequent events had endowed
+it with deeper and saddest interest did Sarah read Aldrich's beautiful
+poem bearing the above title. Lewis' mother's name was Isabella. Her
+grandchild received the same, which became "Belle" on the mother's
+tongue, and then, because it was natural to say "Baby" too, the pretty
+alliteration was adopted.
+
+To a man of Lewis' domestic tastes the advent of this child was a
+source of the liveliest pleasure, and the tiny inmate of his household
+was another and a powerful tie, binding him to a home already dear. But
+to the mother's lonely life, so bare of real comfort or joy--haunted
+by memory and darkened by remorse--the precious gift came like a ray
+of Heaven's purest light, a strain of angel music, saying to care,
+"Sleep!" to hope, "Awake, the morning cometh!" Beneath the sunshine of
+so much love, the infant throve finely, and without being a greater
+prodigy than the nine hundred and ninety-nine miracles of beauty and
+sprightliness who, with it, composed the thousand "blessed babies"
+of the day, was still a pretty, engaging creature, whose gurgling
+laugh and communicative "coo" beguiled the mother's solitude and made
+cheerful the lately silent house.
+
+It was late in the June afternoon, and arrayed in clean white frock,
+broad sash, and shoulder-knots of pink ribbon, the small lady sat on
+her mother's lap at the front window, awaiting the appearance of
+the husband and father. Sarah had altered much since her marriage;
+"improved wonderfully," said her acquaintances. There was still in
+her mien a touch of haughtiness; in her countenance the look that
+spoke profound thought and introspection. Still, when in repose, her
+brow had a cast of seriousness that bordered on melancholy; but over
+her features had passed a change like that wrought by the sculptor's
+last stroke to the statue. The mould was the same--the chiselling
+more clear and fine. Especially after the birth of her child was this
+refining process most apparent in its effects. There was a softness in
+her smile, a gentle sweetness in her voice, as she now talked to the
+babe, directing its attention to the window, lest the father's approach
+should be unnoticed, and he disappointed in his shout of welcome.
+
+"How affected! gotten up for show!" sneered the childless Mrs. Bond, as
+she rolled by in her carriage, on her way to her handsome, cheerless
+home and its cross master.
+
+"She has chosen her position well, at all events," rejoined her
+companion, a neighbor and gossip, who had taken Lucy's place in
+Victoria's confidence.
+
+"Ridiculous!" She spat out the ejaculation from the overflowing of her
+spleen. "I could laugh at her airs, if they did not make me mad! One
+would think, to see her as she sits there, that she had decked herself
+and the child to please a man that she doted upon--like the good wives
+we read of in novels."
+
+"And why shouldn't she be fond of him? He is a good-hearted fellow, and
+lets her do pretty much as she pleases, I imagine, besides waiting on
+her like any lover. I often meet them riding out together. That is more
+than your husband or mine ever does, my dear."
+
+"They go quite as often as we desire their company, I fancy. Mine
+does, I know. Perhaps if we had the reason for parading our conjugal
+devotion that Mrs. Hammond has, we might wheedle our lawful lords into
+taking a seat alongside of us once in a while. There's nothing like
+keeping up appearances, particularly if the reality is lacking. If
+Lewis Hammond knew some of the pretty stories I could tell him about
+Sarah's love-scrapes, he would not look so sublimely contented with his
+three-story paradise. The elegant clothes he piles upon that squaw of
+his are preposterous, and she carries them off as if she had dressed
+well all her days. I tell you, she never looked decent until she put on
+her wedding-dress. You have heard of the fainting-scene that took place
+that morning, I suppose? Old Mother Hunt said it was 'sensibility,'
+and 'nervous agitation;' the company laid it to the heat of the room;
+and I laughed in my sleeve, and said nothing. If that woman aggravates
+me much more, I will remind her of some passages in her experience she
+does not dream that I know."
+
+"Do tell me what you mean? I am dying of curiosity! Did she flirt very
+hard before she was married?"
+
+"She never had the chance. Lewis Hammond was her only offer."
+
+"What was the matter, then?"
+
+"I can't tell you now. It is too long a story. The next time she frets
+me, as she does whenever she crosses my path, maybe you will hear the
+romance. Shall I set you down at your door, or will you enliven me
+by spending the evening with me? I do not expect other company, and
+George falls asleep over his newspaper as soon as he has despatched his
+dinner. Come in, and I will show you the loveliest sofa-pillow you ever
+beheld; a new pattern I have just finished."
+
+"Thank you! I would accept the invitation with pleasure, but I have not
+been home since breakfast, and James makes such a fuss if he does not
+find me in the nursery, tending that whimpering baby, when he comes up
+at night, that it is as much as my life is worth to stay out after six
+o'clock. Anything for peace, you know; and since we wives are slaves,
+it is best to keep on the blind side of our masters."
+
+The day had been warm down town, and as Lewis Hammond stepped from the
+stage at the corner nearest his house, he felt jaded and dispirited--a
+physical depression, augmented by a slight headache. A business
+question which he had talked over with Mr. Marlow, before leaving
+the store, contributed its weight of thoughtfulness, and he was not
+conscious how near he was to his dwelling until, aroused by a sharp tap
+upon the window-pane, he glanced up at the animated tableau framed by
+the sash--the smiling mother, and the babe leaping and laughing, and
+stretching its hands towards him.
+
+"This is the sweetest refreshment a man can ask after his day of toil,"
+he said, when, having kissed his wife and child, he took the latter
+in his arms. He was not addicted to complimentary speeches, and while
+his esteem and attachment for his chosen partner were even stronger
+than they had been in the heart of the month-old bridegroom, he was
+less apt to express them to her now than then. In one respect, and
+only one, his wedded life had brought him disappointment. Unreserved
+confidence and demonstrative affection on his side failed to draw forth
+similar exhibitions of feeling from Sarah. Kind, thoughtful, dutiful,
+scrupulously faithful to him and his interests in word, look, and deed,
+she ever was. Yet he saw that she was a changed being from the fond,
+impulsive daughter, whose ministry in her father's sick-room had won
+for her a husband's love. Her reception of his affectionate advances
+was passive--a reception merely, without apparent return. Never, and he
+had ceased now to ask it, had she once said to him the phrase he had
+craved to hear--"I love you!" Yet he would as soon have questioned the
+reality of his existence as that she did love him. He held inviolate
+his trust in the motive that had induced her to become his wife,
+and in this calm confidence he was fain to rest, in the absence of
+protestations that would have gladdened his soul, while they could
+hardly have strengthened his faith in her affection.
+
+Few wives, however loving, have been more truly cherished than was
+Sarah, and of this she was partially aware. If she had remained
+ignorant of Lewis' sentiments and wishes with regard to herself, until
+the grieved and unrequited love had subsided into the dull aching that
+does not, like a green wound, create, by its very smart, a species
+of excitement that helps one bear the pain; had he glided gradually
+into the joyless routine of her life's duties, and abided his time of
+speaking until he had made himself necessary to her comfort and peace,
+he might have won a willing bride. But what omniscient spirit was there
+to instruct and caution him? He met and loved her, supposing her to be
+as free as himself; like an honest, upright man, he told that love,
+and, without a misgiving placed his honor and his happiness in her
+hands.
+
+Sarah could not have told why she revolved all this in her unquiet
+mind as he sat near her, playing with their child; yet she did think
+of their strange sad history, and from the review arose a feeling
+of pity, sincere, almost tender for him, so worthy and so deceived.
+She remembered with abasement of spirit how often she had been ready
+to hate him as the instrument of her bondage; how wrathful words
+had arisen to her lips at the moment of his greatest kindness; how
+patiently he had borne her coldness; how unflagging was his care of
+and for her. Over the dark, turbulent gulf of the unforgotten past
+that sundered their hearts, she longed, as she had never done before,
+to call to him, and confessing her sin against Heaven and against him,
+to implore pardon for the sake of the spotless babe that smiled into
+the father's face with its mother's eyes. Would he be merciful? Slowly
+and emphatically memory repeated in her ear his denunciation of the
+unloving wife, and courage died before the menaced curse.
+
+"Fudge! Fiddlesticks! what frippery nonsense!" cry out, in a vehement
+storm of indignation, a bevy of the Common Sense connection. "Are we
+not staid and respectable matrons all? Do we not rear our daughters
+virtuously, and teach our sons to honor father as well as mother? Yet
+who of us troubles herself with raking in the cold ashes of her 'long
+ago' for the bones of some dead and gone love--a girlish folly of
+which she would be ashamed now? What cares Mr. Common Sense, among his
+day-books and ledgers, in his study or in his office, how many times
+his now correct helpmeet pledged eternal fidelity to other lovers
+before she put her last crop of wild oats into the ground, and settled
+for life with him? What if some of us, may be all, if driven hard,
+should admit that when we stood up before the minister we underwent
+certain qualms--call them pangs, if you like--at the thought of Tom
+This, or Harry That, or Dick The Other, who, if circumstances had
+permitted, we would have preferred should occupy the place of 'The
+man whom we actually held by the hand!' While men can choose their
+mates, and women can only take such as propose to them, these things
+will happen. After all, who is hurt? You aver that none of you are,
+mesdames, and we would not call your word in question. Ladies so
+conscientious must, of necessity, be veracious, even in love affairs."
+
+"I am a thoughtless animal!" said Lewis at the dinner-table. "There is
+a letter from Lucy! Open it--don't mind me! I will crack your nuts for
+you while you read it."
+
+There was a troubled look in Sarah's eye when she laid it down. "Lucy
+says they are certainly coming North this year--that we may look for
+them in a week from the date of this. This is rather sooner than mother
+expected them. Her housecleaning is late this season, in consequence of
+her rheumatic spell in May."
+
+"Let them come straight here! What should prevent them? There is an
+abundance of room for them--baby, nurse, and all. It will be a grand
+arrangement!" said Lewis, heartily.
+
+Sarah was backward in replying. "Father and mother may object. I would
+not wound them by interference with their guests."
+
+"I will answer that mother will thank us to take care of them until her
+scrubbing and scalding are done. And Lucy would not be willing to risk
+her baby's health in a damp house."
+
+"I will go and see mother to-morrow about it," concluded Sarah. She
+still appeared dubious as to the expediency of the proposed step, a
+thoughtfulness that did not wear away during the whole evening.
+
+The Bensons had not visited New York the preceding year. They were
+detained at the South by a combination of causes, the principal of
+which was the long and fatal illness of Philip's mother. Lucy had
+written repeatedly of her intense desire to see her home once more,
+declaiming against the providences that had thwarted their projects,
+like an impatient, unreasonable child.
+
+"Philip says it is not convenient for him to go just yet," said her
+letter to her sister, "and that our part of the country is as healthy
+as Saratoga itself; but I have vowed that I will not wait one day
+beyond the time I have set. It sets me wild to think of being in
+Broadway again--of visiting and shopping, and seeing you all. We have
+been so dull here since Mrs. Benson's death, and Philip is as solemn as
+a judge. One of his married sisters will stay with the old gentleman
+while we are away. O Sarah, I am sick of housekeeping and baby-nursing!
+It will do well enough for me when I need spectacles and a wig; but
+now, while I am young enough to enjoy life, it is insufferable!"
+
+"Not very domestic, is she?" observed Lewis, folding up the letter,
+which Sarah had handed him. "Ah! it is not every man who has such a
+gem of a wife as I have! It appears to me that the married women of
+these days are not satisfied unless they have a string of beaux as long
+as that of a popular single belle. How is it, little one? Do you ever
+catch yourself wishing that your husband were not such an old-fashioned
+piece of constancy, and would give some other fellow a chance to say a
+pretty thing, when you are in company?"
+
+"I do not complain," said Sarah, demurely.
+
+"Not in words, perhaps; your patience is wonderful in everything. But
+how do you feel when you see your old neighbor, Mrs. Bond, waltzing
+every set with the gayest gallant in the ball-room, while your jailor
+does not like to have you 'polk' at all, and favors your dancing only
+with men whom he knows to be respectable?"
+
+"I feel that Mr. Hammond is a sensible man, and careful of his wife's
+reputation, even in trifles, while Mr. Bond"--
+
+"Go on! finish your sentence!"
+
+"And his lady are a well-matched pair!"
+
+Much as she disliked Victoria, and knowing that she was hated still
+by her, Sarah deemed it a necessary and common act of courtesy to her
+sister's friend to call and apprise her of Lucy's probable visit.
+
+"It is not convenient for mother to receive them for a week yet, on
+account of certain household arrangements," she stated, in making
+known the object of her visit to her ancient enemy. "So you will find
+Lucy at our house, where her friends will be received as if they were
+my own."
+
+"You are very polite, I am sure!" replied Mrs. Bond, smothering her
+displeasure at Sarah's studied civility, and noting, with her quick,
+reptile perceptions, that she was to be tolerated as she fancied Sarah
+would imply, merely as Lucy's early associate. "And the Bensons are to
+be with you! I shall call immediately upon their arrival. Poor, dear
+Lucy! I long to see her. She has had a vast deal of trouble since her
+marriage--has she not?"
+
+"Except the death of her mother-in-law, she has had nothing to trouble
+her that I have heard of," answered Sarah, rising to go.
+
+"My dear creature! what do you call the wear and tear of managing a
+husband, and a pack of unruly servants, and looking after a baby? And
+she was such a belle! I wonder if she is much broken!"
+
+"Come and see!"
+
+Mrs. Hammond was at the parlor door.
+
+"I will--most assuredly! How do you like their being quartered upon
+you? What does that pattern husband of yours say to this?"
+
+"Madam!" said Sarah, surprised and offended by the rude query.
+
+"Oh! I don't mean that it would not be very delightful to you to have
+your sister with you; but there was a foolish rumor, about the time of
+your marriage, that you and Mr. Benson had some kind of a love-passage
+down in the country; and I thought that Mr. Hammond, with his
+particularly nice notions, might retain an unpleasant recollection of
+the story, which would prevent him from being on brotherly terms with
+his old rival. Men are terribly unreasonable mortals, and perfect Turks
+in jealousy! We cannot be too careful not to provoke their suspicions."
+
+Not for the universe would Sarah have betrayed any feeling at this
+insolence, save a righteous and dignified resentment at its base
+insinuations; but the ungovernable blood streamed in crimson violence
+to her temples, and her voice shook when she would have held it firm.
+
+"Mr. Hammond is not one to be influenced by malicious gossip, Mrs.
+Bond, if, indeed, the report you have taken the liberty of repeating
+was ever circulated except by its author. I cannot thank you for your
+warning, as I recognize no occasion for jealousy in my conduct or
+character. I am accountable for my actions to my conscience and my
+husband, and I release you from what you have assumed to be your duty
+of watching and criticising my personal affairs. Good-morning."
+
+"I struck a sore spot! no doubt of that!" soliloquized Mrs. Bond,
+recalling Sarah's start of pain and blush at the indelicate allusion
+to Philip Benson. "That woman stirs up all the bile in my system if I
+talk two minutes with her. If there were half the material to work upon
+in that vain, weak Lucy, that there is in this sister, I would have my
+revenge. As for Lewis Hammond, he is a love-sick fool!"
+
+Sarah's cheeks had not lost their flush, nor had her heart ceased
+its angry throbbings, when she reached home. In the solitude of her
+chamber, she summoned strength and resolution to ask herself the
+question, so long avoided, shunned, as she had imagined, in prudence,
+as she now began to fear, in dread of a truthful reply.
+
+When she married Lewis Hammond, she loved another. Fearful as was this
+sin, it would be yet more terrible were she now to discover a lurking
+fondness, an unconquered weakness for that other, in the heart of the
+trusted wife, the mother who, from that guilty bosom, nourished the
+little being that was, as yet, the embodiment of unsullied purity.
+It was a trying and a perilous task, to unfold deliberately, to pry
+searchingly into the record of that one short month that had held all
+the bloom and fragrance of her life's spring season; to linger over
+souvenirs and compare sensations--a painful and revolting process; but,
+alas! the revulsion was not at memories of that olden time; and as this
+appalling conviction dawned upon her, her heart died within her.
+
+The nurse was arranging Baby Belle for the possible reception of her
+unknown aunt and uncle, that afternoon, when Mrs. Hammond came into
+the nursery, her face as pale and set as marble, and silently lifted
+the child from the girl's lap to her own. For one instant her cheek
+was laid against the velvet of the babe's; the ringlets of fair hair
+mingled with her dark locks, before she set about completing its
+unfinished toilette. With a nicety and care that would have seemed
+overstrained, had other than mother's hands been busied in the work,
+the stockings and slippers were fitted on the plump feet; the sunny
+curls rolled around the fingers of the tiring woman, and brushed back
+from the brow; the worked cambric robe lowered cautiously over the
+head, lest the effect of the coiffure should be marred; the sleeves
+looped up with bands of coral and gold, a necklace, belonging to the
+same set, clasped around the baby's white throat, and she was ready for
+survey.
+
+"Now, Baby Belle and mamma will go down to meet papa!"
+
+And with the little one still clinging to her neck, she met, in the
+lower hall, her husband ushering in Lucy and Philip Benson.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIII.
+
+
+Breakfast was kept back an hour next morning to await Lucy's tardy
+appearance. "She was sadly wearied with her journey," apologized
+Philip, and Sarah begged that she would keep her room and have her
+meals sent up to her--an hospitable offer, which Mr. Benson negatived.
+
+Lucy did look tired and unrefreshed, and, to speak more plainly,
+very cross. Her hair, in its dryest state of pale yellow, was combed
+straight back above her temples; her skin was sallow; her wrapper
+carelessly put on, and its dead white unrelieved by even a bow of
+ribbon at the throat. Involuntarily Lewis glanced from the uninviting
+picture to his household deity, in her neat breakfast-dress of gray
+silk faced with pink, her glossy hair and tranquil features, and said
+to himself, in secret triumph, "Which is now the beauty? None of your
+trumpery ornamental articles for me!"
+
+Philip's eyes were as keen as his host's, and the probability is that
+he instituted a similar comparison, however well his pride succeeded in
+concealing the act and its result. Cutting short his wife's querulous
+plaints of the discomforts of travel, and the horrors of nervous
+sleeplessness, he opened a conversation with Mr. Hammond in the
+subdued, perfectly-managed tones Sarah remembered so well, selecting
+such topics as would interest a business man and a citizen of a
+commercial metropolis. Lucy pouted, and applied herself for consolation
+to her breakfast.
+
+With a strange mingling of emotions, Sarah listened to the dialogue
+between the gentlemen. She was anxious that Lewis should acquit himself
+creditably. Brilliant, like Philip, he could never be; but in sterling
+sense, not many men were his superiors. She had never had cause to
+be ashamed of him; for one so unpretending and judicious was not
+liable to make himself ridiculous. Whence, then, the solicitude with
+which she hung upon his every word? her disappointment when he did
+not equal the ideal reply she had fashioned, as she heard the words
+that called it forth? Several times she joined in the conversation,
+invariably to corroborate Lewis' assertions, or to supply something
+he had omitted to state. Philip Benson was a student of human nature.
+Was his mind sufficiently abstracted from his domestic annoyances to
+divine the motive that Sarah herself only perceived afterwards in
+solitary self-examination? Not love of, or admiration for the intrinsic
+excellence of the man whose name she bore; not fear lest his modesty
+should lessen his merits in the eyes of others; but a selfish dread
+that his acute interlocutor, discerning in him nothing likely to
+attract or win the affection of a woman such as he knew her to be,
+might guess her true reason for marrying Mr. Hammond. The timorous
+progeny of one guilty secret can only be numbered by the minutes during
+which it is borne in the bosom. Like the fabled Lacedæmonian boy,
+Sarah carried the gnawing horror with a fortitude that looked like
+cheerfulness. Habit cannot lighten the weight of a clinging curse; but
+strength and hardness come in time, if the burdened one is not early
+crushed by his load.
+
+The sisters spent most of the day in Lucy's room; the latter stretched
+upon the lounge, as she declared, "completely used up." Mrs. Hunt
+came around early in the forenoon, and into her sympathizing ears the
+spoiled child poured the story of her woes and wrongs; Sarah sitting
+by with a swelling, rebellious heart. With indecorous contempt for
+one of the most binding laws of married state--inviolable secrecy as
+to the faults of the other party to the momentous compact--mother and
+daughter compared notes upon their husbands, and criticised the class
+generally as the most wrong-headed, perverse, and dictatorial of all
+the necessary evils of society.
+
+Mrs. Benson, the elder, and her pleasure-loving daughter-in-law had
+differed seriously several months before the death of the former.
+Philip, while espousing his wife's cause to the rest of his family,
+had, in private, taken her to task for what he considered objectionable
+in her conduct; her heads of offence being mainly extravagant love of
+gay company, and the gallant attentions of gentleman visitors; neglect
+of dress and all efforts to please, when there was no company by; and
+a decided indisposition to share in the household duties, which his
+mother's increasing feebleness made onerous to her.
+
+"Ah, mother!" sighed the interesting complainant, raising herself
+to shake up her pillow, then sinking again upon it. "If girls only
+realized what is before them when they marry, few would be brave
+enough to change their condition. When I picture to myself what I was
+at home--a petted darling--never allowed to inconvenience myself when
+it could possibly be avoided; courted in society; free as air and
+light-hearted as a child; and then think of all that I have endured
+from the unkindness of strangers, and the--well--the want of sympathy
+in him for whom I had given up my dear old home and friends--I ask
+myself why I did not remain single!"
+
+The prudent matchmaker shook her head. "Marriage is a lottery, they
+say, my dear; but I am very sure that single life is a blank. You
+had no fortune, and in the event of your father's death would have
+been almost destitute. I am sorry your father did not insist upon Mr.
+Benson's giving you your own establishment at once. I hope, now the old
+lady is out of the way, you will have things more according to your
+notions."
+
+"Don't you believe that! As if there were not two sisters-in-law,
+living but four miles off, and driving over every other day to 'see how
+pa is.' That means, to see whether Lucy is letting things go to wreck
+and ruin. I understand their spiteful ways! Philip shuts his ears when
+I talk about them; but I am determined that I will not bear much more
+meddling!"
+
+Decidedly, Lucy Benson married was a woeful declension from the
+seraphic spinster depicted in our earlier chapters; but, as in time
+past, so in time present and to come, the sparkling sugar, whose
+integrity and sweetness appeared indestructible, while it was kept
+dry and cool, if dampened, undergoes an acetous fermentation, and the
+delicate sweet-meat, exposed to the air at a high temperature, becomes
+speedily a frothing mass, evolving pungent gases. The pretty doll who
+anticipates, in the connubial state, one long fete-day of adoration
+received, and benign condescension dispensed, is as certain to awake
+from this dream as from any other, and upon the temper in which she
+sustains the disenchantment, depends a vast proportion of her future
+welfare and peace.
+
+Lucy's behavior to her babe was a mixture of childish fondling and
+neglect. Fortunately, the little "Hunt's" special attendant was an
+elderly woman, long established as "Maumer" in the Benson family, and
+her devotion to her charge prevented any present evil effects from his
+mother's incompetence or carelessness. Philip's pride in, and love
+for his boy were extreme. When he came in that evening, Sarah chanced
+to be in the nursery adjoining her chamber, watching and inciting the
+two babies to a game of romps. She held one on each knee, the nurses
+standing by in amused gratification.
+
+"That is surely my little man's voice!" said Philip, as he and Lewis
+came up the stairs.
+
+"Let me see!"--and Mr. Hammond peeped into the playroom. "Walk in!" he
+continued, throwing the door wide open. "Isn't there a pair of them?"
+
+"And a nurse worthy of the twain!" returned Philip. He stooped to the
+invitation of the lifted arms, fluttering, as if the owner would fly to
+his embrace. "What do you say of him, aunty? Is he not a passable boy?"
+
+"More than passable! he is a noble-looking fellow. He resembles you, I
+think," said Sarah, quietly.
+
+"Do you hear that, Hammond? Your wife pronounces me 'more than
+passable--a noble-looking fellow!' So much for an adroit hint. Is she
+given to flattery?"
+
+"Not she!" returned Lewis, laughing. "She never said as much as that
+for my looks in all her life. I have one consolation, however; the
+less she says the more she means!" He went into the dressing-room, and
+Philip, still holding the child, seated himself by Sarah.
+
+"How odd, yet how familiar it seems, to be with you once more, my good
+sister! What a succession of mischances has made us virtual strangers
+for many months past! I had almost despaired of ever holding friendly
+converse with you again. I wonder if your recollections of our visit
+to Aunt Sarah are as vivid as mine. Do you remember that last sad, yet
+dear day on the Deal Beach?"
+
+Baby Belle was standing in her mother's lap, her soft, warm arms about
+her neck; and around the frail, sinking human heart invisible arms, as
+warm and close, were upholding and strengthening it in the moment of
+mortal weakness.
+
+"Very distinctly. Many changes have come to us both since then."
+
+"To me very many! I have grown older in heart than in years." Then,
+evidently fearing that she might otherwise interpret his meaning, he
+subjoined: "We have had a heavy bereavement in our household, you know.
+Your changes have all been happy ones. The enthusiastic, restless girl
+has ripened into the more sedate, yet more blessed wife and mother."
+
+Press your sweet mouth to the convulsed lips, Baby Belle! Veil with
+your silky curls the tell-tale features, whose agitation would
+bewilder, if not betray! Philip was stroking the head of his boy, and
+did not see the uneasiness of his companion.
+
+"Have you heard of Uncle Nathan's death?" she asked, clearing her
+throat.
+
+He looked surprised at the inquiry. "Yes! Aunt Sarah wrote immediately
+to my father."
+
+"Ah! I had forgotten that they were brothers. My memory is treacherous.
+Excuse me! I am wanted in the dining-room!"
+
+Lewis met her just outside the door, and stopped her to bestow the
+evening kiss he had not cared to offer in Philip's presence.
+
+"Why, you are as rosy as a peony!" he said, jestingly. "Has Benson been
+paying you compliments, in return for yours to him? I must look after
+you two, if you carry on at this rate."
+
+With a look he had reason subsequently to recall, but which only
+pleased him at the time, she raised his hand to her lips--a look of
+humility, gratitude, and appeal, such as one might cast upon a slighted
+benefactor--and vanished.
+
+A merry family party gather around the Hammond's generous table, that
+afternoon. All the Hunts were there--from the father down to Jeannie,
+who was fast shooting up into a tall girl, somewhat pert in manner, but
+lovable despite this, at times, unpleasant foible.
+
+"Sister Lucy," she said, after an interval of silence, "Ellen West
+said, at school, to-day that you were a great belle when you were a
+young lady; were you?"
+
+"You must not ask me, Jeannie!" The old smile of conscious beauty stole
+into Lucy's cheeks.
+
+"Was she, sister?" Jeannie referred the case to Sarah.
+
+"Yes, my dear, she was very beautiful," replied the latter, simply.
+
+"She isn't now--not so very handsome, I mean--no handsomer than you
+are, sister!"
+
+"Jeannie! you forget yourself!" interposed Mrs. Hunt.
+
+"Why, mamma, I did not intend to be rude! Only I thought that belles
+were always the prettiest ladies that could be found anywhere."
+
+"By no means!" corrected Lewis, willing to help his wife's pet out of
+a scrape. "There are many descriptions of belles, Jeannie: handsome,
+rich, fast, and intellectual."
+
+"And as papa was not rich, I suppose you were either fast or
+intellectual, sister Lucy!" persisted the child.
+
+"I thought her pretty fast when I tried to catch her," said
+Philip.--"Mrs. Hunt, Mrs. Hammond, Mrs. Benson, have you ladies decided
+in the course of to-day's congress what watering-place is to be made
+the fashion by our clique next month?"
+
+Mrs. Hunt replied that they inclined to Newport; principally on account
+of Lucy and the children, who would all be benefited by the bathing.
+
+Lucy was sure that she should tire of Saratoga or the Catskills in a
+week, whereas she adored the ocean.
+
+"What says Madame Discretion?" said Lewis, merrily, to his wife.
+
+"Except that it would break up the family party, I had rather stay at
+home as long as it is prudent to keep the baby in town; then, if you
+could go with us, spend a month at some mountain farmhouse or seaside
+cottage," she answered.
+
+"Hear! hear!" commanded Philip. "Behold a modern wedded dame who
+prefers seclusion with her liege lord to gayety without him! The age of
+miracles is returning!"
+
+"Is the case, then, so anomalous?" retorted Sarah, the red spot in her
+cheek alone testifying to her embarrassment. "Are your Southern matrons
+all public characters?"
+
+"I can answer that!" said Lucy. "They are slaves! housekeeping
+machines--nothing better!"
+
+"How many more weak places are there in this crust of family chit-chat,
+I should like to be informed!" thought the annoyed and uninitiated
+Hammond. "Here goes for the spot where there is no danger of anybody's
+breaking in!" He spoke aloud. "A tempting proposal was made to me this
+morning. It is considered advisable for one of our firm to go abroad
+for a couple of months, perhaps longer, to divide his time among the
+principal manufacturing districts of England, Scotland, and France.
+Expenses paid by the firm, and the term of absence indefinitely
+prolonged, if the traveler wishes it. Mr. Marlow is tired of crossing
+the ocean, and presses me to accept the mission."
+
+"What did you tell him?"
+
+It was Sarah who spoke in a startled voice that drew general notice to
+her alarmed face. Her concern was a delicious tribute to her husband's
+self-love, if he possessed such a quality. At least he loved her well
+enough to be pleased at her manifest reluctance to have him leave her.
+
+"I told him that I must ask my wife," said he in a meek tone, belied
+by the humorous twinkle in his eye, and loving half-smile about his
+mouth. "See what it is to be one under authority, Benson! A man dare
+not conclude an ordinary business transaction without the approval of
+the powers that be."
+
+When Sarah accompanied her sister to her chamber that night, the passee
+belle put a direct question.
+
+"Tell me, Sarah, are you as much in love with Mr. Hammond as you seem
+to be, or is it all put on for the benefit of outsiders?"
+
+"I am not apt to do anything for the sake of mere show; nor do I care
+for the opinion of 'outsiders,' as you call them," rejoined Sarah,
+amazed at the cool audacity of the inquiry, and disposed to resent
+Lucy's confident expectation that she would avow the cheat, if such
+there were, in her deportment.
+
+"You used to be shockingly independent, I know. What a ridiculously
+honest little puss you were! How you despised all our pretty arts
+and necessary affectations! How you hated our economical mother's
+second-best furniture and dinners! I don't believe Victoria West has
+ever forgiven you for the way in which you used to take to pieces what
+you styled our 'surface talk and surface life!' I thought, however,
+that you had discovered by this time, that one cannot live in the world
+without deceiving herself or other people; I prefer making fools to
+being one. Heigh-ho! this life is a very unsatisfactory business at the
+best. What a heavenly collar that is of yours! One thing I do wish, and
+that is--that my husband were half as fond of me, or as good to me, as
+Lewis is to you!"
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIV.
+
+
+Lewis Hammond had thrown the whole weight of his influence in the
+family conclave into the Newport scale; and to this popular resort
+Sarah went, in July, in company with the Bensons, her mother and
+Jeannie, who was made one of the party at Lewis' request and expense.
+The generous fellow acted in conformity with conscience and judgment in
+this temporary exile of his treasures; and, consistent in his purpose
+of rendering it a pleasure excursion to his wife, he made very light of
+his prospects of lonely widowerhood, representing, instead, the benefit
+she and the babe would draw from the sea-breezes, and his enhanced
+enjoyment of his weekly visits, because they were so far apart. He
+went with them to the shore, at their general flitting, and spent two
+days; saw for himself that those whose comfort was nearest his heart
+were properly accommodated; privately feed chambermaid and waiter,
+with hints of future emolument to accrue to them from special regard
+to the wants of Mrs. Hammond and her infant, and returned to town with
+the unenviable consciousness of having left at least three-fourths of
+himself behind him.
+
+A brisk rush of business beguiled him of the aching, hollow void for
+a few hours after he got back. Not even Baby Belle's accents could be
+heard amid that roar and whir. But at luncheon-time, while waiting for
+his order to be filled at a restaurant, the dreary, solitary void
+overtook him--a fit of unmistakable home-sickness, that yet caused
+him to recoil at the idea of entering the deserted house uptown, when
+evening should oblige him to seek a lodging. How were Sarah and baby
+getting along without him? He was afraid that Lucy was not, in all
+respects, as congenial a companion as he could have wished his wife to
+have, and that Mrs. Hunt's undisguised worldliness, her foolish love
+of fashion and display, would often annoy and mortify her sensible and
+right-judging daughter. Benson was capital company, though--a gentleman
+every inch of him! and very friendly to Sarah. But for her reserved
+manners he would act the part of a real brother to her; in any case, he
+would be kind, and see that she wanted for nothing.
+
+Then--shot into his head by some unseen and unaccountable
+machinery--there darted across his mind a fragment of a conversation he
+had overheard, at entering his parlor, the day before the Bensons left.
+Philip and Lucy were standing before a miniature painting of Sarah and
+her child, completed and brought home a short time previous. Although
+seemingly intent upon the picture, their conversation must have strayed
+far from the starting-point, for the first sentence that reached the
+unintentional listener was a tart, scornful speech from Lucy, that
+could by no stretch of the imagination be made to apply to her sister.
+
+"If you admire her so much, why did you not marry her when you had the
+opportunity? She was willing enough!"
+
+"Take care you do not make me regret that I did not do so!" was
+Philip's stern rejoinder as he turned from her.
+
+The change of position showed him that Lewis was present, and for a
+second his inimitable self-possession wavered. Recovering himself,
+he reverted to the picture, and called upon his host to decide some
+disputed point in its artistic execution which he and Lucy were
+discussing.
+
+"Poor fellow! he has learned that all is not gold that glitters!"
+mused Lewis to the newspaper he was pretending to read. "Lucy had a
+high reputation for amiability before she was Mrs. Benson. There is no
+touchstone like the wedding ring to bring out one's true qualities."
+
+He sat with his back to the entrance of the saloon, and the table
+directly behind him was now taken possession of by three or four new
+arrivals--all gentlemen, and apparently on familiar terms with one
+another. They called for a bountiful lunch, including wine, and plunged
+into a lively, rather noisy talk. Lewis closed his ears, and applied
+himself in earnest to his paper. He started presently at a word he
+could have declared was his name. Restraining the impulse to look
+around and see who of the group was known to him, he yet could not help
+trying to determine this point by their voices. One, a thin falsetto,
+he fancied belonged to George Bond, who was no more of a favorite
+with him than was his better half with Sarah. Lewis regarded him as
+a conceited rattlepate, whose sole talent lay in the art of making
+money--whose glory was his purse. "Why should he be talking about me
+here? Nonsense; I was mistaken!" and another page of the newspaper was
+turned.
+
+"When I leave my wife at Newport, or anywhere else, in the particular
+and brotherly care of one of her former flames, publish me as a crazy
+fool!" said the wiry voice again, almost in the reader's ear.
+
+"He doesn't know old stories as well as you do, perhaps," remarked some
+one.
+
+"I should think not! When my wife pulls the wool over my eyes in that
+style, horsewhip me around town, and I won't cry 'Quarter!' Sister's
+husband or not, I'll be hanged if I would have him in my house for two
+weeks, and he is such a good-looking dog, too!"
+
+He stopped, as if his neighbor had jogged him, as Lewis looked over his
+shoulder in the direction of the gossip. A dead and awkward silence
+ensued, ended at last by the pertinent observation that the "waiter was
+a long time bringing their lunch."
+
+In a maze of angry doubt and incredulity as to the evidence of his
+senses and suspicions, Lewis finished his meal, and stalked out past
+the subdued and now voracious quartette, favoring them with a searching
+look as he went by, which they sustained with great meekness. All the
+afternoon a heavy load lay upon his heart, an indefinable dread he dared
+not analyze; a foreboding he would not face, yet could not dismiss.
+
+"You are blue, Lewis," said Mr. Marlow, kindly, as they started uptown
+together. "This is the worst of having a wife and children; you miss
+them so terribly when they are away. But you will get used to it. Make
+up your mind at the eleventh hour to cross the water, and stay abroad
+three months. You will be surprised to find how easy your mind will
+become after a couple of weeks."
+
+"I am satisfied, sir, without making personal trial of the matter,
+that men become inured to misery, which seemed in the beginning to be
+insupportable."
+
+Mr. Marlow laughed, and they separated.
+
+Lewis sighed as he looked up at the blinds of his house, shut fast
+and grim, and still more deeply as he admitted himself to the front
+hall, that echoed dismally the sound of the closing door. His next
+movement was to walk into the parlor, throw open a shutter, and let
+in the evening light upon the portraits of the dear absent ones.
+There he stood, scanning their faces--eyes and soul full of love and
+longing--until the mellow glow passed away and left them in darkness.
+
+The comfortless evening repast was over, and he betook himself to the
+library, Sarah's favorite room, as it was also his. Her low easy-chair
+stood in its usual place opposite his at the center-table, but her
+workbasket was missing; likewise the book with its silver marker,
+that he was wont to see lying side by side with some volume he had
+selected for his own reading. But one lay there now, and there was
+an odd choking in his throat as he read the title on the back. He
+had expressed a wish for it in Sarah's hearing some days before, and
+her delicate forethought had left it here as a solace and keepsake,
+one that should, while reminding him of her, yet charm away sad
+feelings in her absence. Even in the exterior of the gift, she had
+been regardful of his taste. The binding was solid and rich; no gaudy
+coloring or tawdry gilt; the thick smooth paper and clear type were a
+luxury to touch and sight. Lewis was no sentimentalist in the ordinary
+acceptation of the term, yet he kissed the name his wife had traced
+upon the fly-leaf ere he sat down to employ the evening as she by her
+gift tacitly requested him to do. But it was a useless attempt. The
+book was not in fault, and he should have read it intently if only
+because she had bestowed it; still the hand that held it sank lower and
+lower, until it rested upon his knee, and the reader was the thinker
+instead.
+
+The most prosaic of human beings have their seasons of
+reverie--pleasing or mournful, which are, unknown often to themselves,
+the poetry of their lives. Such was the drama Lewis Hammond was now
+rehearsing in his retrospective dreams.
+
+The wan and weary mother, whom he remembered as always clothed in
+widow's weeds, and toiling in painful drudgery to maintain herself
+and her only boy; who had smiled and wept, rendered thanksgivings and
+uttered prayers for strength, alternately, as she heard Mr. Marlow's
+proposal to protect and help the lad through the world that had borne
+so hardly upon her; who had strained him to her bosom, and shed fast,
+hot tears of speechless anguish at their parting--a farewell that was
+never to be forgotten in any meeting on this side of eternity; this was
+the vision, hers the palladium of love, that had nerved him for the
+close wrestle with fortune, guarded him amid the burning ploughshares
+of temptation, carried him unscathed past the hundred mouths of hell,
+that gape upon the innocent and unwary in all large cities. Cold and
+unsusceptible as he was deemed in society, he kept unpolluted in his
+breast a fresh living stream of genuine romantic feeling, such as we
+are apt to think went out of fashion--aye, and out of being--with the
+belted knights of yore; wealth he had vowed never to squander, never
+reveal, until he should pour it, without one thought of self-reserve,
+upon his wife! He never hinted this to a living creature before the
+moment came for revealing it to the object of his choice. He was a
+"predestined old bachelor!" and "infidel to love and the sex," said and
+believed the gay and frivolous, and he let them talk. His ideal woman,
+his mother's representative and successor--the beauty and crown of
+his existence--was too sacred for the gaze and comment of indifferent
+worldlings. For her he labored and studied and lived; confident in a
+fatalistic belief that, at the right moment, the dream would become a
+reality--the phantasm leave her cloudy height for his arms.
+
+Love so beautiful and intense as this, like snow in its purity, like
+fire in its fervor, cannot be won to full and eloquent utterance but
+by answering love--a sentiment identical in kind, if not equal in
+degree; and Sarah Hammond's estimate of her husband's affection was, in
+consequence of this want in herself, cruelly unjust in its coldness and
+poverty. His patience with her transient fits of gloom or waywardness
+in the early months of their married life; his noble forgetfulness of
+her faults, and grateful acknowledgment of her most trifling effort
+to please him; his unceasing care; his lavish bounty--all these she
+attributed too much to natural amiability and conscientious views
+of duty; too little to his warm regard for her personally. In this
+persuasion she had copied his conduct in externals so far as she
+could; and applauding observers adjudged the mock gem to be a fair and
+equitable equivalent for the rare pearl she had received.
+
+Lest this digression, into which I have been inadvertently betrayed,
+should mislead any with the idea that I have some design of dignifying
+into a hero this respectable, but very commonplace personage, return
+we to him as he hears eleven o'clock rung out by the monitor on the
+mantel, and says to himself, "Baby Belle has been asleep these three
+hours, and mamma, caring nothing for beaux and ball-room, is preparing
+to follow her."
+
+Beaux and ball-room! Pshaw! why should the nonsensical talk of that
+jackanapes, George Bond, come to his mind just then? The whole tenor of
+the remarks that succeeded the name that he imagined was his disproved
+that imagination. But who had left his wife at Newport in the care of a
+"good-looking" brother-in-law? who had been domesticated in the family
+of the deluded husband for a fortnight?
+
+Pshaw again! What concern had he with that scandalous, doubtless
+slanderous tattle?
+
+"Why did you not marry her when you had the opportunity? She was
+willing enough!"
+
+Could Lucy have spoken thus of her sister? Sarah was barely acquainted
+with Philip Benson when Lucy wedded him, having met him but once prior
+to the wedding day at the house of her aunt in the country, from which
+place his own letter, penned by her father's sick-bed, recalled her.
+How far from his thoughts then was the rapid train of consequences that
+followed upon this preliminary act of their intercourse!
+
+Did that scoundrel Bond say "Hammond"? It was not a common name, and
+came quite distinctly to his ears in the high, unpleasant key he
+so disliked. A flush of honest shame arose to his forehead at this
+uncontrollable straying of his ideas to a topic so disagreeable, and so
+often rejected by his mind.
+
+"As if--even had I been the person insulted by his pity--I would
+believe one syllable he said of a woman as far above him in virtue and
+intellect, in everything good and lovable, as the heavens are above
+the earth! I would despise myself as much as I do him if I could lend
+my ear for an instant to so degrading a whisper! I wish I had faced
+him and demanded the whole tale; yet no! that would have been rash and
+absurd. Better as it is! By to-morrow I shall laugh at my ridiculous
+fancies!"
+
+"Scratch! scratch! scratch!" The house was so still in the approaching
+midnight that the slight noise caused him a shock and quiver in the
+excited state of his nerves. The interruption was something between a
+scrape and a rap, three times repeated, and proceeding, apparently,
+from the bookcase at his right. What could it be? He had never seen
+or heard of a mouse on the premises, nor did the sound much resemble
+the nibbling of that animal. Ashamed of the momentary thrill he had
+experienced, he remained still and collected, awaiting its repetition.
+
+"Scratch! scratch! rap!" It was in the bookcase--in the lower part
+where were drawers shut in by solid doors. These he had never explored,
+but knew that his wife kept pamphlets and papers in them. He opened
+the outer doors cautiously, and listened again, until assured by the
+scratching that his search was in the right direction. There were
+three drawers--two deep, the third and upper shallow. This he drew out
+and examined. It contained writing-paper and envelopes, all in good
+order. Nor was there any sign of the intruder amongst the loose music
+and periodicals in the second. The lower one was locked--no doubt
+accidentally, for he had never seen Sarah lock up anything except
+jewels and money. Their servants were honest, and she had no cause to
+fear investigation on his part.
+
+Feeling, rather than arguing thus, he removed the drawer above,
+leaving exposed the locked one, and thrust his hand down into it. It
+encountered the polished surface of a small box or case, which he was
+in the act of drawing through the aperture left by the second drawer,
+when something dark and swift ran over his hand and up his sleeve.
+With a violent start, he dashed the casket to the floor, and another
+energetic fling of his arm dislodged the mouse. His first care was
+to pursue and kill it; his next to examine into the damage it had
+indirectly produced. The box--ebony, lined with sandal-wood--had fallen
+with such force as to loosen the spring, and lay on its side wide open;
+its treasures strewed over the carpet. They were neither numerous, nor
+in themselves valuable. A bouquet of dried flowers, enveloped in silver
+paper, lay nearest Lewis' hand, as he knelt to pick up the scattered
+articles. The paper was tied about the stalks of the flowers with black
+ribbon, and to this was attached a card: "Will Miss Sarah accept this
+trifling token of regard from one who is her stanch friend, and hopes,
+in time, to have a nearer claim upon her esteem?"
+
+The hand was familiar to the reader as Philip Benson's. Why should
+Sarah preserve this, while the many floral tokens of his love which
+she had received were flung away when withered like worthless weeds?
+The pang of jealousy was new--sharp as the death-wrench to the
+heart-strings, cruel as the grave! The card was without date, or he
+would have read, with a different apprehension of its meaning, the
+harmless clause--"And hopes in time to have a nearer claim upon her
+esteem." There was a time, then, when, as Lucy had taunted her husband,
+he might have married her sister! when Sarah loved him, and had reason
+to think herself beloved in return! What was this sable badge but
+the insignia of a bereaved heart, that mourned still in secret the
+faithlessness of her early love, or the adverse fate that had sundered
+him from her, and given him to another?
+
+Crushing the frail, dead stems in his hand, he threw them back into the
+box, and took up a bit of dark gray wood, rough on one side--smoothed
+on the other into a rude tablet. "Philip Benson, Deal Beach, July 27th,
+1856. Pensez a moi!" But ten days before he met her at the wharf in
+New York to take her to her sick father! but three months before she
+plighted her troth to him, promised to wed him, while in spirit she
+was still weeping tears of blood over the inconstant! for he did not
+forget that Philip's engagement to Lucy preceded his own to Sarah by
+eight or nine weeks. There were other relics in the box; a half-worn
+glove, retaining the shape of the manly hand it had inclosed--which, he
+learned afterwards, Philip had left in his chamber at the farm-house
+when he departed to seek gayer scenes; a white shell, upon whose rosy
+lining were scratched with the point of a knife the ominous initials,
+"P. B." and beneath them "S. B. H.," a faded rosebud, and several
+printed slips, cut from the columns of newspapers. He unfolded but two
+of these.
+
+One was an extract from Tennyson's "Maud"--the invitation to the
+garden. Breathlessly, by reason of the terrible stricture tightening
+around his heart, Lewis ran his eyes over the charming whimsical
+morceau. They rested upon and reviewed the last verse:
+
+    "She is coming--my own, my sweet!
+      Were it ever so airy a tread,
+    My heart would hear her and beat;
+      Were it earth in an earthy bed,
+
+    "My dust would hear her and beat;
+      Had I laid for a century dead,
+    Would start and tremble under her feet,
+      And blossom in purple and red."
+
+He did not discriminate now between printed and written verses. These
+were love stanzas sent by another man to his wife, received and
+cherished by her, hidden away with a care that, in itself, bordered
+on criminality, for was not its object the deception of the injured
+husband? The most passionate autograph love-letter could hardly have
+stabbed him more keenly.
+
+The other was Mrs. Browning's exquisite "Portrait."
+
+And here the reader can have an explanation the tortured man could not
+obtain. With the acumen for which Cupid's votaries are proverbial,
+Philip Benson, then at the "summer heat" degree of his flame for
+the Saratoga belle, had recognized in this poem the most correct
+and beautiful description of his lady-love. Curiosity to see if the
+resemblance were apparent to other eyes, and a desire for sympathy
+tempted him to forward it to Sarah. She must perceive the likeness to
+her divine sister, and surmise the sentiment that had induced him to
+send it. A little alteration in the opening stanza was requisite to
+make it a "perfect fit." Thus it was when the change was made:
+
+    "I will paint her as I see her:
+    ---- times have the lilies blown
+    Since she looked upon the sun."
+
+The poetess, guiltless of any intention to cater for the wants of
+grown-up lovers, had written "Ten" in the space made blank by Philip's
+gallantry and real ignorance of his charmer's age. For the rest, the
+"lily-clear face," the "forehead fair and saintly," the "trail of
+golden hair," the blue eyes, "like meek prayers before a shrine," the
+voice that
+
+          "Murmurs lowly
+    As a silver stream may run,
+    Which yet feels you feel the sun,"
+
+were, we may safely assert, quite as much like poor Sarah, when he sent
+the poem, as they were now like the portrait he would--if put upon his
+oath--sketch of his unidealized Lucy.
+
+It was not unnatural then, in Lewis Hammond, to overlook in his present
+state, these glaring discrepancies in the picture as applied by him.
+With a blanched and rigid countenance he put all the things back in the
+box, shut it, and restored it to its place. Then he knelt on the floor
+and hid his face in his wife's chair; and there struggled out into the
+still air of the desecrated hometemple, made sacred by his love and her
+abiding, deep sobs from the strong man's stricken heart--a grief as
+much more fearful than that of widowhood, as the desertion and dishonor
+of the loved one are worse than death.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XV.
+
+
+It was the "grand hop" night at the headquarters of Newport fashion.
+Sarah, characteristically indifferent to gaieties "made to order," had
+determined not to appear below. The air of her room was fresh and pure,
+and a book, yet unread, lay under the lamp upon her table. Her sister
+and mother had withdrawn to dress, when Jeannie's curly head peeped in
+at Mrs. Hammond's door. Her features wore a most woe-begone expression.
+
+"What has gone wrong, Jeannie?" inquired Sarah.
+
+"Why, mamma says that I will be in her way if I go into the ball-room;
+and it will be so stupid to stay out the whole evening, while all the
+other girls can see the dancing and dresses, and hear the music. And
+sister Lucy says that children are 'bores' in company."
+
+"A sad state of affairs, certainly! Perhaps I may persuade mother to
+let you go."
+
+"Yes; but if she does, she will sit close against the wall with a lot
+of other fat old ladies, and they will talk over my head, and squeeze
+me almost to death, besides rumpling my dress; and I so want to wear my
+tucked pink grenadine, sister!"
+
+"And you would like to have me to go down with you; is that it?"
+
+Jeannie's eyes beamed delightedly. "Oh, if you only would!"
+
+Sarah looked down into the eager face and saw, in anticipation, her own
+little Belle imploring some boon, as important to her, as easy to be
+granted by another as this, and consented with a kiss.
+
+"Run away and bring your finery here! Mother is too busy to attend to
+you. Mary can dress you."
+
+The order was obeyed with lightning speed; and Sarah, still holding
+in the excited child the foreshadowing of her darling's girlhood,
+superintended the toilet, while she made herself ready.
+
+"What shall I wear, Jeannie?" she asked carelessly, holding open the
+door of her wardrobe.
+
+"Oh, that lovely fawn-colored silk, please! the one with the black
+lace flounces! It is the prettiest color I ever saw; and I heard Mrs.
+Greyling tell another lady the night you wore it, when brother Lewis
+was here, you know, that it was one of the richest dresses in the room,
+modest as it looked, and that the flounce must have cost a penny!"
+
+"Probably more!"
+
+Sarah proceeded to array herself in the fortunate robe that had won the
+praises of the fashionably distinguished Mrs. Greyling. Her abundant
+dark hair was lighted by two coral sprigs, which formed the heads of
+her hair-pins, and, handkerchief and gloves in hand, she was taking
+a last survey of Jeannie's more brilliant costume, when there came a
+knock at the door.
+
+"Mr. Benson!" said Mary, unclosing it.
+
+"May I come in?" he asked.
+
+The tidy Mary had removed all trace of the recent tiring operations
+from the apartment, which was a compound of parlor and dressing-room, a
+necessary adjunct to the small chamber and smaller nursery, leading out
+of it, at the side and rear.
+
+"You may!" replied Sarah. "Here is an aspirant for ball-room honors,
+who awaits your approval."
+
+"Mademoiselle, que vous etes charmante! I am penetrated with profound
+admiration!" exclaimed the teasing brother-in-law, raising his hands in
+true melodramatic style.
+
+Jeannie laughed and blushed until her cheeks matched the grenadine.
+
+"Mrs. Hunt told me that you had changed your mind, and intended
+to grace the festive scene with your presence," continued Philip,
+addressing Sarah. "She and Lucy are there, and the dancing has begun.
+I came to escort you and our fair debutante here--that is, unless some
+one else has offered his services and been accepted."
+
+"That is not likely, since Mr. Hammond left us in your care. Do not
+your fourfold duties oppress you?"
+
+"Not in the least. If all my charges were as chary of their calls upon
+me as you are, my time would hang heavily upon my hands. No one would
+imagine, from your reluctance to be waited upon, that you had been
+spoiled at home. If Mr. Hammond were here now, he would tell you to
+draw that shawl"--
+
+"It is an opera cloak!" interrupted Jeannie.
+
+"A ball-cloak to-night, then, is it not? I was saying that, although
+the night is not cool for sea air, you had better wrap that mantle
+about your chest and throat as we go out."
+
+Just outside the door a waiter passed them with a note in his hand. He
+stopped, on seeing Philip.
+
+"Mr. Benson! I was on my way to your rooms with this, sir."
+
+Philip stepped back within the parlor to read it by the light. It was a
+line from a friend who had just arrived at another hotel notifying him
+of this fact. It required no reply, and, leaving it upon the table, he
+rejoined his companions.
+
+"See mamma! Isn't it just as I said?" whispered Jeannie, as she
+established herself beside her sister in a comfortable corner that
+commanded a view of the spacious hall and its gay, restless sea of
+figures.
+
+Sarah smiled at discovering her mother sandwiched between two portly
+dowagers; one in purple, the other in lavender silk; all three bobbing
+and waving in their earnest confabulations, in a style that presented
+a ludicrously marked resemblance to the gesticulations of a group of
+Muscovy ducks, on the margin of a mud-puddle, held by them in their
+capacity of a joint-stock company.
+
+"I see that Lucy has taken the floor," observed Philip. "She will not
+thank me for any devoirs I could render her for the next three hours.
+If they get up anything so humble as quadrilles, may I ask the pleasure
+of your company for the set?"
+
+"If you wish it--and my dress is not too grave in hue"--
+
+"And too decorous in its make, you were about to add, I presume;" he
+finished the sentence bluntly. "It forms a refreshing contrast to the
+prevailing style around us."
+
+Lucy here flitted into sight, and her very bare arms and shoulders
+pointed her husband's strictures. A stool, brought into the room for
+the use of some child or invalid looker-on of the festivities, now
+stood empty under Sarah's chair, and Philip, espying it, seized upon
+and drew it forth. When seated, his mouth was nearly on a level with
+Sarah's ear.
+
+"This is pleasant!" he said. "We are quite as much isolated from the
+rest of mankind as if we were sitting among the heathery hillocks on
+Deal Beach. You do not love the visions of those tranquil sunny days as
+I do. You never allude to them voluntarily. Yet you have had less to
+convert your dreams into every-day actualities, tedious and prosaic,
+than I have. I stand in direful need of one of the old lectures,
+inculcating more charity, and less study of complex motives and biassed
+tendencies in the machine we call Man. Begin! I am at your mercy."
+
+"I have forgotten how to deliver them. I am out of practice."
+
+"That is not surprising. Your husband is behind the age he lives
+in--and so are you. You two would make Barnum's fortune, could he ever
+persuade the public of your idiosyncrasies."
+
+"What are you talking about?"
+
+"Look around and through this room, and you will understand one
+part of my meaning. Do you remark the preponderance of married over
+single belles? and that the most tenderly deferential cavaliers are
+husbands, and not dancing with their wives? I could point out to you
+three men, leaders of the ton in this extremely reputable, eminently
+moral assembly, who, it is whispered among the knowing ones, are
+married, and, having left their domestic associations for a season of
+recreation, boldly attach themselves to certain stylish young ladies
+here, and challenge observation, defy public censure, by their marked
+and increasing devotion. I meet them strolling along the beach in the
+morning; riding together in the afternoon; and when not engaged in this
+evening exhibition of toilet and muscle, you will find them pacing the
+moon or star-lit piazza, or, perchance, again sentimentalizing on the
+shore until the witching hour draws near."
+
+"You surprise me!"
+
+"You have no right to be surprised. You have the same thing continually
+before you in your city. Every fashionable hotel or boarding-house
+can supply you with such flirtations by the dozen. A married woman
+who declines the polite services of all gentlemen, except her husband
+and near relatives, is a prude, with false scruples of propriety
+and delicacy. Let her legal partner complain--he is cried out upon
+as a despot, and you can trust the sweet angel of an abused wife to
+elude his vigilance--violence, she terms it--for the future, without
+altering her conduct in aught else. Do you see that pretty woman in
+blue--the one with the madonna-like face? Her tyrant is here but once
+a week--from Saturday until Monday--then hies back to the business he
+loves as well as she does her pleasure. Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday,
+Thursday, Friday, and the forenoon of Saturday, any mustachioed puppy
+may walk, talk, drive, and flirt with her--bask in the rays of those
+liquid orbs. When the rightful lord appears, she is demure as a nun,
+patient as a saint, dutiful as Griselda, to him and him alone. Do you
+begin to understand why I congratulated you upon having a husband
+of the olden stamp? Why, I do from my heart felicitate my friend
+Hammond upon having gained, as a helpmeet, one of that nearly obsolete
+species--Woman!"
+
+Sarah's embarrassment was painful and but indifferently concealed. She
+felt that it was barely excusable, in consideration of his fraternal
+relation to her, for Philip to speak so plainly of this social blemish;
+and altogether unpardonable, while he did not, or could not, prevent
+his wife's participation in the questionable gaieties he assailed
+so unsparingly. Reply she could not, without implicating Lucy in
+her reprobation, and he must perceive her difficulty. This was the
+trouble that lay uppermost. At her heart's core, the uneasy feeling
+she ever experienced in conversation with him; the stirring of the
+entombed love, of whose actual death she had horrible misgivings;
+the incongruous blending of past emotion with present duty, were now
+aggravated by the enforced acceptance of unmerited praise. Her woman's
+instinct, her experience as a wife, told her that the cause of the
+sinful recklessness, the contempt of the true spirit of the marriage
+tie, was not the fruit merely of the vanity and thirst for adulation,
+to which it was properly attributed. With the recollection of her own
+life, the education she had received at home, the hateful, yet even to
+her independent spirit, resistless decrees of society, there swelled up
+within her bosom something akin to Philip's bitter cynicism. Under this
+spur, she spoke.
+
+"And from these signs of the times, you would argue an inherent
+degeneracy of womanhood--a radical change in its composition, such
+as some anatomists tell us has taken place in the structure of our
+bodies--our blood--our very teeth. A dentist, who filled a tooth for me
+the other day, imparted divers scientific items of information to me
+that may illustrate your position. 'Enamel, madam, is not what enamel
+was in the days of our ancestors!' he affirmed pathetically; 'the
+color, the very ingredients of the bone, the calcareous base of the
+teeth, differ sadly from the indestructible molars of fifty years ago.'
+At this passage of his jeremiade, he chanced to touch the nerve in the
+unhappy 'molar' he was excavating, and I am persuaded that I suffered
+as really as my grandmother would have done, had she sat in my place."
+
+She paused, and beat time with her fingers on Jeannie's shoulder to the
+wild, varying waltz that swept the giddy crowd around the room in fast
+and flying circles.
+
+"Your analogy asserts, then, that at heart women are alike in all ages?"
+
+"Why not, as well as men?"
+
+"Then why does not action remain the same, if that be true?"
+
+"Because custom--fashion, if you prefer this name--an unaccountable,
+irresponsible power--owing its birth oftenest to accident or caprice,
+says, 'Do this!' and it is done! be it to perpetrate a cravat-bow, a
+marriage, or a murder!"
+
+Another pause--in which music and dancers seemed sweeping on to sweet
+intoxication--so joyous in their abandon were the gushing strains; so
+swift the whirl of the living ring. The fingers played lightly and
+rapidly on Jeannie's plump shoulder--then rested on a half-beat.
+
+"Yes!" She was looking towards the crowd, but her eye was fixed, and
+her accents slow and grave. "Hearts live and hearts love, while time
+endures. The heart selects its mate in life's springtime, with judgment
+as untaught as that of the silly bird that asks no companion but the
+one the God of Nature has bestowed upon it. But you see not, my good
+brother"--she faced him, a smile wreathing her lip--a strange glitter
+in her eye--"see you not to what woeful disorders these untrained
+desires, this unsophisticated following out of unregulated affections
+would give rise? It would sap the foundations of caste; level all
+wholesome distinctions of society; consign the accomplished daughters
+of palatial halls--hoary with a semi-decade of years--to one-story
+cottages and a maid-of-all work; doom nice young men to the drudgery of
+business for the remainder of their wretched lives, to maintain wives
+whose dowries would not keep their lily-handed lords in French kids
+for a year; cover managing mammas with ignominy, and hasten ambitious
+papas to their costly vaults in--as Dickens has it--'some genteel place
+of interment.' Come what may of blasted hopes and wrecked hearts, the
+decencies of life must be observed. Every heart has its nerve--genuine,
+sensitive, sometimes vulgarly tenacious of life--but there are
+corrosives that will eat it out; fine, deadly wires, that can probe
+and torture and extract it. And when the troublesome thing is finally
+gotten rid of, there is an end to all obstacles to judicious courtships
+and eligible alliances!" She laughed scornfully, and Philip recoiled,
+without knowing why he did so, as he heard her.
+
+"That is all very well, when the nature of the contract is understood
+on both sides," he said, gloomily. "I doubt, however, whether the
+beautiful economy of your system will be appreciated by those whose
+living hearts are bound to the bloodless plaster-casts you describe."
+
+"These accidents will occur in spite of caution on the part of the
+best managers of suitable marriages. By far the larger proportion of
+the shocks inflicted upon polite circles arise from this very cause.
+Pygmalion grows weary of wooing his statue, and wants sympathy in his
+disappointment and loneliness."
+
+The dance was ended. The fantastic variations of the waltz were
+exchanged for a noble march--pealing through the heated rooms like a
+rush of the healthful sea-breeze. The spark died in Sarah's eye. Her
+voice took its habitual pitch.
+
+"I have permitted myself to become excited, and, I am afraid, have said
+many things that I had no right to think--much less to utter. If my
+freedom has displeased you, I am sorry."
+
+"The error--if error there were--was mine," rejoined Philip. "I led the
+conversation into the channel; you, after awhile, followed. I believe
+there is no danger of our misunderstanding each other."
+
+"Darby and Joan! good children in the corner!" cried Lucy, flushed
+with exercise and radiant with good humor, as she promenaded past them
+leaning on the arm of a young West Pointer, a native Southerner and an
+acquaintance of Philip's. If his wife must flirt and frolic, he was
+watchful that she did not compromise him by association with doubtful
+characters. On several occasions, the advances of gay gentlemen, whose
+toilets were more nearly irreproachable than their reputations, had
+been checked by his cool and significant resumption of the husband's
+post beside the belle, and, if need existed, by the prompt withdrawal
+of the unwilling lady from the scene. The cadet laughed, and, convinced
+that she had said a witty thing, Lucy swam by.
+
+"The common sense of our tropes, rodomontades, and allegories is this!"
+said Philip, biting his lip, and speaking in a hard tone. "The only
+safe ground in marriage is mutual, permanent affection. You meant to
+convey the idea that if each of these dressy matrons, humming around
+our ears, had a sincere, abiding love for her husband--and each of
+these gallant benedicts the right kind of regard for his wedded
+Beatrice, the vocation of us corner censors would be gone?"
+
+"Well said, Mr. Interpreter!" she responded, in affected jest.
+
+"This point settled, will you take my arm for a turn through the room
+before the next set is formed? They are talking of quadrilles. I shall
+claim your promise if a set is made up, unless you are not courageous
+enough to brave the public sneer by dancing with your brother. Come,
+Jeannie, and walk with us."
+
+Two sets of quadrilles were arranged at different ends of the saloon.
+Philip led Sarah through one, with Lucy--who considered it a capital
+joke--and her partner vis-a-vis to them, Jeannie, meanwhile, remaining
+by her mother.
+
+The summer nights were short; and, when the dance was over, Sarah
+intimated to her younger sister the propriety of retiring. Mrs. Hunt's
+head ached, and she esteemed the sacrifice comparatively light,
+therefore, that she, too, had to leave the revels and accompany the
+child to her chamber. Sarah's apartments were on the same floor,
+several doors further on. Having said "Good-night" to the others,
+she and Philip walked slowly along the piazza, light as day in the
+moonbeams, until they reached the outer room, the parlor.
+
+"I hope you will experience no ill effects from your dissipation,"
+said Philip, in playful irony. "In a lady of your staid habits, this
+disposition to gaiety is alarming. Absolutely eleven o'clock! What
+will Hammond say when he hears the story? Good-night! Don't let your
+conscience keep you awake!"
+
+Sarah opened the door softly, that she might not startle the
+baby-sleeper in the inner room. The lamp was shining brightly, and by
+it sat--her husband!
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVI.
+
+
+Lewis had entered his wife's room within fifteen minutes after she left
+it. He looked so ill and weary that the girl, Mary, gave a stifled
+scream of fright and surprise.
+
+"Are you sick, sir?" she asked hastily, as he threw off his hat, and
+wiped his pale forehead. "Shall I tell Mrs. Hammond that you are here?
+She went down to the ball-room awhile ago."
+
+"What did you say? No!" replied he, shortly.
+
+His frown, rather than his tone, silenced her. He had picked up the
+envelope Philip had dropped on the table, and his face darkened still
+more. Too proud to question a servant of her mistress' actions and
+associates, he believed that he had gathered from this mute witness
+all that was needful to know. As a privileged habitue of the cosy
+boudoir he had been at such pain to procure and make fit for his wife's
+occupancy, another had sat here and read his evening mail, while
+awaiting her leisure; careless of appearances, since the deceived one
+would not be there to notice them, had tossed this note down with as
+much freedom as he would have done in his own apartment.
+
+Through the open windows poured the distant strains of the band; and,
+seized by a sudden thought, he caught up his hat and strode out, along
+piazzas and through halls, to the entrance door of the ball saloon. As
+Sarah's ill-fortune ordained it, the piercing glance that ran over and
+beyond the crowd of spectators and dancers detected her at the instant
+of Philip's taking his lowly seat at her side. Jeannie's pink attire
+was concealed by the drapery of a lady, whose place in the set then
+forming was directly in front of her. Lewis saw but the two, virtually
+tete-a-tete; and, as he obtained fleeting glimpses of them through the
+shifting throng, marked Philip's energetic, yet confidential discourse,
+and the intentness with which she listened, until, warmed or excited by
+his theme, Sarah lifted her downcast eyes and spoke, with what feeling
+and effect her auditor's varying expression showed.
+
+The gazer stood there like a statue, unheeding the surprised and
+questioning looks cast by passers-by upon his traveling-dress, streaked
+with dust--his sad and settled visage, so unbefitting the scene
+within--while Philip made the tour of the room, with Sarah upon his
+arm, until they took their stations for the dance; he, courteous and
+attentive--she, smiling and happy, more beautiful in her husband's eyes
+than her blonde sister opposite; and he could stay no longer. If Mary
+had thought him sick and cross at his former entrance, she considered
+him savage now, for one who was ordinarily a kind and gentle master.
+
+"You can go to your room!" he ordered, not advised. "I will sit up for
+Mrs. Hammond!"
+
+"I have slept in the nursery, sir, while you were away."
+
+"That cannot be to-night. I will find you some other place."
+
+He had no intention that the anticipated conversation with his wife
+should be overheard.
+
+"I can stay with a friend of mine, sir, only a few doors off."
+
+"Very well!"
+
+Quickly and quietly the nurse arranged the night-lamp and the child's
+food, that her mistress might have no trouble during her absence, and
+went out.
+
+Baby Belle slumbered on, happily wandering through the guileless
+mazes of baby dreamland; one little arm, bared from the sleeve of
+her gown, thrown above her head--the hand of the other cradling her
+cheek. The father ventured to press a light kiss upon the red lips.
+In his desolation, he craved this trifling solace. The child's face
+was contorted by an expression of discomfort, and, still dreaming, she
+murmured, in her inarticulate language, some pettish expression of
+disgust.
+
+"My very child shrinks from me! It is in the blood!" said the unhappy
+man, drawing back from the crib.
+
+If his resolution had waned at sight of the sleeper, it was fixed
+again when he returned to his chair in the outer room. He raised his
+head from his folded arms when he heard Philip and Sarah approaching,
+but did not otherwise alter his position. The low tone of their
+parting words--one soon learned by the sojourners in hotels and
+watering-places, where thin partitions and ventilators abound--was,
+to him, the cautiously repressed voice of affectionate good-nights.
+But one clause was distinct--"What will Hammond say, when he hears the
+story?" They jested thus of him, then. One of them, at least, should
+learn ere long what he would say.
+
+"Lewis, you here!"
+
+Sarah changed color with amazement and vague alarm--emotion that
+paralyzed her momentarily. Then, as she discerned the tokens of
+disorder in his dress and countenance, she hurried forward.
+
+"What has brought you so unexpectedly? Are you sick? Has anything
+happened?"
+
+He did not rise; and, resting her hand on his shoulder, she stooped
+for a kiss. But his stern gaze never moved from hers--anxious and
+inquiring--and his lips were like stone.
+
+"Lewis, speak to me! If you have dreadful news to tell me, for pity's
+sake, do not keep me in suspense!"
+
+"I have nothing to say that will be new to you," he said, without
+relaxing his hard, cold manner, "and not a great deal that ought to
+have been kept back from me when I wished to marry you, believing that
+you had a heart to give me with your hand."
+
+As if struck in the face, Sarah sank back into a chair, speechless and
+trembling.
+
+"Yes! had you been sincere with me then, grieved and disappointed as
+I would have felt, I would have respected you the more, and loved you
+none the less for the disclosure. But when, after a year and a half
+of married life, I learn that the woman I have loved and trusted with
+my whole soul--from whom I have never concealed a thought that it
+could interest her to know--has all the while been playing a false
+part--vowing at the altar to love me and me alone, when she secretly
+idolized another; bearing my name, living beneath my roof, sleeping in
+my bosom--yet thinking of, and caring for him, treasuring his keepsakes
+as the most precious of her possessions--is it strange that, when
+the tongue of a vulgar gossip proclaims my shame in my hearing, and
+other evidence proves what I thought was his vile slander to be true
+as gospel--is it strange, I say, that I am incensed at the deception
+practised upon me--at the infamous outrage of my dearest hopes--my most
+holy feelings?"
+
+She threw herself at his feet, clasped his knees, and implored him,
+chokingly, to "forgive" her. "Oh! if you knew what I have suffered!"
+
+"What you have suffered!" He folded his arms and looked sorrowfully
+down at her crouching figure. "Yes! you were not by nature coarse and
+unfeeling! The violence you have committed upon your heart and every
+principle of delicacy and truth must have cost you pain. Then you loved
+him!"
+
+"Once! a long while ago!" said Sarah, hiding her face in her hands.
+
+"Take care!" There was no softness now in his tone. "Remember that
+I have seen you together day by day, and that glances and actions,
+unnoticed at the time in my stupid blindness, recur to me now with
+terrible meaning. For once, speak the true voice of feeling, and own
+what I know already, that all the love you ever had to give belongs
+still to your sister's husband!"
+
+"I will speak the truth!" Sarah arose and stood before him--face livid
+and eyes burning. "I did love this man! I married you, partly to please
+my parents, partly because I found out that by some means my secret
+had fallen into unscrupulous hands, and I was mad with dread of its
+exposure! It seemed to me that no worse shame could come upon me than
+to have it trumpeted abroad that I had bestowed my love unsought, and
+was ready to die because it was slighted. I have learned since that
+it is far, far worse to live a lie--to despise myself! Oh! that I had
+died then!" She battled with the emotion that threatened to overwhelm
+her and went on. "Once bound to you, it has been my hourly endeavor
+to feel and act as became the faithful wife of a kind, noble man. If,
+sometimes, I have erred in thought--if my feelings have failed me in
+the moment of trial--yet, in word and deed, in look and gesture, I have
+been true to you. No one have I deceived more thoroughly than Philip
+Benson. He never suspected my unfortunate partiality for himself; he
+believes me still, what I would give worlds to become in truth, your
+loyal, loving wife! It is well that you know the truth at last. I do
+not ask you how you have obtained the outlines of a disgraceful story,
+that I have tried a thousand times to tell you, but was prevented by
+the fear of losing your favour forever. This is my poor defence--not
+against your charges, but in palliation of the sin of which they justly
+accuse me. I can say nothing more. Do with me as you will!"
+
+"It is but just to myself that you should hear the circumstances which
+accidentally revealed this matter to me."
+
+He narrated the scene at the restaurant, and the discovery of the
+evening. He evinced neither relenting nor sympathy in the recital. Her
+confession had extinguished the last ray of hope, cherished, though
+unacknowledged by himself, that she might extenuate her error or give
+a more favorable construction to the evidence against her. It was not
+singular that, in the reaction of disappointment, he was ready to
+believe that he had not heard all; to imagine that he could perceive
+throughout her statement a disposition to screen Philip, that was,
+in itself, a proof of disingenuousness, if not deliberate falsehood.
+She denied that he had ever been aware of her attachment or had
+reciprocated it. What meant then those words--"hopes in time to have a
+nearer claim?" What those impassioned verses? What the linking of their
+initials within the shell? the motto on the wooden tablet? While these
+subtle queries were insinuated into his soul by some mocking spirit, he
+concluded the history of the discovery of the casket.
+
+"I have never opened it since the night before I was married," said
+Sarah, with no haste of self-justification. "I put it into the drawer
+the day after we went to our house. It has not been unlocked from that
+day to this."
+
+"Why keep it at all, unless as a memento of one still dear to you?"
+
+"I felt as if I had buried it. I said to myself: 'If the time ever
+comes when I can disinter these relics and show them to my husband,
+without a pang or fear, as mementoes of a dead and almost forgotten
+folly, he shall destroy them, and I shall have gained a victory that
+will insure my lifelong happiness.'"
+
+"And that time has never arrived."
+
+She would have spoken, but her tongue proved traitorous. She crimsoned
+and was silent.
+
+Lewis smiled drearily. "You see that I know you better than you do
+yourself. It is well, as you have said, that I know all at last. I pity
+you! If I could, I would release you from your bondage. As it is, I
+will do all that I can for this end."
+
+"Never!" cried Sarah, shuddering. "Have you forgotten our child?"
+
+"I have not!" His voice shook for a second. "She is all that unites
+us now. For the sake of her future--her good name--an open separation
+ought to be avoided, if possible--if it be inevitable, your conduct
+must not be the ostensible cause. To quiet malicious tongues, you must
+remain here awhile longer under your mother's care. To accomplish the
+same end, I must appear once more in public, and on apparently friendly
+terms with--your brother-in-law. When your mother returns to the city,
+you had best go, too, and to your own house. Your brother Robert is now
+sixteen years old--steady and manly enough to act as your protector.
+Invite him to stay with you, and also Jeannie, if you find it lonely."
+
+"What are you saying? Where will you be that you speak of my choosing
+another protector?"
+
+"A very important one I have proved myself to be!" he returned, with
+the same sad smile. "I have not been able to shield you from invidious
+reports; still less to save you from yourself. I sail for Europe day
+after to-morrow."
+
+"Lewis, you will not! If you ever loved me, do not desert me and our
+child now! I will submit to any punishment but this!" She clung anew to
+his knees as she poured out her prayer.
+
+Not a month ago she had turned pale with fright at the suggestion of
+this voyage. It was sheer acting then! why not now?
+
+"Objections are useless!" he said. "My arrangements are made. I have
+passed my word."
+
+"But you will not leave me in anger! Say that you will forgive me! that
+you will return soon, and this miserable night be forgotten!"
+
+"Shall I tell you when I will return?" He raised her head, and looked
+straight into her eyes. "When you write to me, and tell me that you
+have destroyed the love-tokens in that box; when you bid me come back
+for your sake--not for our child's! Until then, I shall believe that my
+presence would be irksome to you. It is necessary for our house to have
+a resident partner in England. It is my expectation to fill that place
+for some time to come; it shall be for you to say how long."
+
+Bowed as Sarah's spirit was beneath the burst of the long-dreaded
+storm and her accusing conscience, her womanly pride revolted at this
+speech. She had humbled herself in the dust at the feet of a man whom
+she did not love; had borne meekly his reproaches; submitted dumbly
+to the degrading suspicions that far transcended her actual sin; but
+as the idea of her suing servilely for the love she had never yet
+valued; of him, indifferent and independent, awaiting afar off for
+her petition--hers, whom he had abandoned to the scornful sneers of
+the keen-witted hyenas of society; to the cross-examination of her
+distrustful relatives; the stings of remorse; left in one word to
+herself!--as this picture grew up clearly before her mind, the tide of
+feeling turned.
+
+"You reject my prayers and despise my tears!" she said proudly. "You
+refuse to accept of my humiliation. Yet you do not doubt me, as you
+would have me believe that you do! Else you would not dare to trust
+me--the keeper of your honor and your child's fair name--out of your
+sight! I throw back the charge in your teeth, and tell you that your
+conduct gives it the lie! I have asked you--shame on me that I did!--to
+continue to me the shelter of your name and presence; to shield me, a
+helpless woman, more unhappy than guilty, from the ban of the world;
+and you deny me everything but a contemptible shadow of respectability,
+which the veriest fool can penetrate. I would not have you suppose that
+your generous confidence in my integrity"--she brought out the words
+with scathing contempt--"will deter me from sinking to the level you
+are pleased to assign me. If the native dignity of my womanhood, the
+principles I inherit from my father, my love for my innocent babe do
+not hold me back from ruin, be assured that the hope of winning your
+approval will not. To you I make no pledges of reformation; I offer but
+one promise. If you choose to remain abroad until I, in spirit, kiss
+your feet, and pray you to receive a love such as most men are glad to
+win by assiduity of attention, and every pleasing art--which you would
+force into being by wilful and revengeful absence--you will never see
+your native land again until the grass grows upon my grave!"
+
+She paused for breath, and continued more slowly. "While your child
+lives, and I remain her guardian, I will use your means for her
+maintenance--will reside in your house. If she dies, or you take her
+from me, I will not owe you my support for a single day more!"
+
+Lewis grew pallid to his lips; but he, too, was proud, and his stubborn
+will was called into bold exercise.
+
+"Very well! It is in your choice to accede to my propositions, or
+not. A share in all that I have is yours; not only during the child's
+life, but as long as you live. Before I leave America, I shall deposit
+for you in your father's bank a sum which, I hope, you will find
+sufficient to maintain you in comfort. Your father will be my executor
+in this matter. I shall not confide to him the peculiar circumstances
+of my departure, leaving you at liberty to act in this respect, as in
+everything else, according to the dictates of your will and pleasure.
+At the end of a certain term of years specified by law, you can, if
+you wish, procure a divorce; on the ground of my wilful and continued
+desertion of you; in which case, the provision for your support will
+remain unchanged. As to the child--the mother's is the strongest claim.
+I shall never take her from you. Do not let me keep you up longer. It
+is late!"
+
+With a silent inclination of the head, she withdrew, and he cast
+himself upon the sofa, there to lie during the few hours of the night
+that were yet unspent.
+
+He had arisen, and was standing at the window when Sarah entered in the
+morning. But for the dark shadows under the eyes, and the tight-drawn
+look about the mouth, she appeared as usual; and her "Good-morning," if
+cold, was yet polite.
+
+"I imagine," she said, as the gong clashed out its second call, "that
+you wish me to accompany you to breakfast, and to preserve my ordinary
+manner towards you when others are by. Am I right?"
+
+"You are. This is all I ask. The effort will not be a tedious one. I
+leave here at noon."
+
+Arm in arm they directed their steps towards the great dining-hall--to
+the view of the spectator as comfortable and happy a pair as any that
+pursued that route on that summer morning. Together they sat down at
+table, and Mr. Hammond ordered "his lady's" breakfast with his own.
+Mrs. Hunt bustled in shortly after they were seated, full of wonderment
+at having heard from Sarah's maid of her master's unexpected arrival;
+while Jeannie gave his hand a squeeze as hearty as was the welcome in
+her smiling face. The Bensons were always late. So much the better.
+There were more people present to observe the cordial meeting between
+the brothers-in-law, made the more conspicuous by Philip's surprise.
+The genuineness of his good spirits, his easy, unembarrassed manner,
+was the best veil that could have been devised for Sarah's constraint
+and Lewis' counterfeit composure.
+
+It did not escape Philip's eye that Sarah ate nothing, and spoke
+only to avoid the appearance of singularity; and he believed that
+he had discovered the origin of her trouble when Lewis communicated
+his purpose of foreign travel. When the burst of surprise subsided,
+the latter tried successfully to represent his plan as a business
+necessity. Lucy, who never saw an inch beyond her nose--morally and
+mentally speaking--except when her intuitions were quickened by
+self-love, was the questioner most to be dreaded.
+
+"Why don't you go with him?" she inquired of her sister. "He should
+not stir one step without me, if I were in your place. Only think! you
+might spend six months in Paris!"
+
+"How would Baby Belle relish a sea voyage!" returned Sarah.
+
+"Nonsense! How supremely silly! One would suppose that she was the
+only member of the family whose comfort was to be consulted. Rather
+than expose her to the possibility of inconvenience, you will deprive
+yourself of profit and pleasure, and be separated from your husband for
+nobody knows how long. This shows how much these model married people
+really care for one another. When put to the test they are no better
+than we poor sinners, whom everybody calls flirts. Phil, are those
+muffins warm? This one of mine has grown cold while I was talking."
+
+"How are the horses, Benson?" inquired Lewis. "Have they been exercised
+regularly?"
+
+"Yes, and are in capital order. You could have left us no more
+acceptable reminder of yourself than those same fine bays."
+
+"If you have no other engagement, suppose we have them up before the
+light carriage after breakfast, and take a short drive."
+
+"Agreed, with all my heart! unless Mrs. Hammond quarrels with me for
+robbing her of a portion of your last morning with her."
+
+"She will forgive you!" Lewis rejoined, to spare her the effort of
+reply.
+
+From her window Sarah saw them whirl off along the beach in sight of
+the hundreds of spectators on the sands and about the hotels, and
+recognized the ingenuity of this scheme for proclaiming the amicable
+feeling between the two.
+
+"But one more scene, and the hateful mockery is over!" thought the
+wife, as she heard her husband's step outside the door on his return.
+
+She snatched a paper from the table, and seemed absorbed in its
+contents, not looking up at his entrance. Lewis made several turns
+through the room, sighed heavily, and once paused, as if about to
+address her, but changed his mind.
+
+Then sounded from without the fresh, gurgling laugh of a child, and the
+nurse came in with the baby--rosy and bright--from her morning walk on
+the shore. She almost sprang from Mary's hold at sight of her father,
+and dismissing the woman with a word, he took his darling into his
+arms and sat down behind his wife. Inflexibly sullen, Sarah tried not
+to listen, as she would not see them; but she heard every sound: the
+child's soft coo of satisfaction as she nestled in the father's bosom;
+the many kisses he imprinted upon her pure face and mouth with what
+agony Sarah well knew--the irregular respiration, sometimes repressed,
+until its breaking forth was like sobs; and the proud, miserable heart
+confessed reluctantly that, in one respect, his share of their divided
+lot was heavier than hers. She was not to witness his final resignation
+of his idol. Under color of summoning Mary, he carried the infant from
+the room, and came back without her.
+
+"It is time for me to go now, Sarah!"
+
+His voice was calm, and its firmness destroyed what slender
+encouragement she might have drawn from the scene with his child, to
+hope for some modification of his resolution.
+
+"Will you write to me, at regular intervals, to give me news of Belle?"
+
+"Certainly, if such is your wish."
+
+"And yourself? you will be careful of your health, will you not? And if
+I can ever serve you in any way, you will let me know?"
+
+"It is not likely that you can; thank you."
+
+There was a silence of some moments. Sarah stood playing with the
+tassel of her morning robe, pale and composed.
+
+"Sarah!" Lewis took her hand. "We have both been hasty, both violent!
+Unfeeling as you think me, and as I may have seemed in this affair,
+believe me that it almost kills me to part from you so coldly. It is
+not like me to retract a determination, but if you will say now what
+you did last night--'Do not go!' I will stay, and be as good a husband
+to you as I can. Shall we not forgive, and try to forget?"
+
+The demon of resentful pride was not so easily exorcised. At a breath
+of repentance--a suggestion of compromise, the fell legion rallied an
+impregnable phalanx. She was frozen, relentless; her eyes, black and
+haughty, met his with an answer her tongue could not have framed in
+words.
+
+"I have nothing to say!"
+
+"'Nothing!' The ocean must then separate us for years--it may be
+forever!"
+
+"It was your choice. I will not reverse it."
+
+"Not if you knew that if you let me go I would never return?"
+
+"Not if I knew that you would never return!"
+
+Without another word, without a farewell look, or the hand-grasp mere
+strangers exchange, he left her there--the stony monument of her
+ill-directed life and affections; the victim of a worldly mother and a
+backbiting tongue!
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVII.
+
+
+"How gay Mrs. Hammond has grown lately!" said Mrs. Greyling, the
+fashionable critic of the ---- House drawing-room. "Do you see that she
+is actually waltzing to-night? She moves well, too! That pearl-colored
+moire antique is handsome, and must have cost every cent of nine
+dollars a yard. She is partial to heavy silks, it seems. It gives an
+air of sameness to her dress; otherwise she shows very tolerable taste."
+
+"I have heard it said that she was a regular dowdy before she was
+married," observed Mrs. Parton, who was also on the "committee of
+censure"--a self-appointed organization, which found ample employment
+in this crowded nest of pleasure-seekers. "Her husband is perpetually
+making her presents, and she dresses to please him."
+
+"Humph! I distrust these pattern couples! 'My husband doesn't approve
+of my doing this--won't hear of my acting so!' are phrases easily
+learned, and sound so fine that one soon falls into the habit of using
+them. What a flirt Mrs. Benson is! That is the fifth young man she has
+danced with this evening. I pity her husband and baby!"
+
+"He does not look inconsolable! I tell you what my notion is: he may
+love his wife--of course he does--but he admires her sister more. See
+how he watches her! Mrs. Tomes told me that she was standing near him
+the first time Mrs. Hammond waltzed, and that he seemed real worried.
+When the set was through, she came to look for a seat, and he got one
+for her. As she took it, he said something to her which Mrs. Tomes
+could not hear, but she laughed out in his face as saucy as could be,
+and said: 'Oh, I am learning when I am in Rome to do as Romans do!
+Doesn't my elder sister set the example?'"
+
+"He could say nothing then," said Mrs. Greyling. "Those girls played
+their cards well. The Hunts have very little, if anything, besides the
+father's salary, and the family was very obscure."
+
+Mrs. Greyling's paternal progenitor was an opulent soap-boiler, who
+was not ashamed, during her childhood, to drive an unsavory cart from
+one kitchen door to another. But he counted his thousands now by the
+hundred, and his children ranked, as a consequence, among the "upper
+ten."
+
+She continued her charitable remarks: "Somehow the old lady contrived
+to keep up the appearance of wealth, and married both daughters off
+before their second season. Mr. Benson is reputed to be rich; but for
+that matter these Southern planters are all said to be rolling in
+money. Mr. Hammond is certainly making money. Mr. Greyling says he is a
+splendid business man."
+
+"He sailed for Europe a week ago, you know."
+
+"Yes; and since then madame has been the belle of the ball. The old
+story--'When the cat is away, the mice will play.'"
+
+"Sarah," said Philip, an hour later, "will you walk on the balcony with
+me? You are heated, and the air is balmy as Georgian breezes. It will
+do you good."
+
+"Are you going to scold me?" she asked, archly, before she would take
+his arm.
+
+"No. I have no right to do it if I had the disposition."
+
+There was no moon; but the sky was strewed thickly with stars, and the
+white foam of the surf caught and held tremulously the sparkles from
+the bright watchers above. Philip did not appear disposed to converse,
+and Sarah waited for him to begin. Meanwhile, they strolled on and
+on, until the murmur of the ocean was louder than the music of the
+saloon band. The sea moaned to the stars, as it had done to the sunless
+July heavens on that day so memorable in the history of one of the
+pair--the day of shipwreck stories and a real shipwreck--none the less
+disastrous, that the treasures and their loss were hidden from all but
+the bereaved one.
+
+To many it is appointed to lead two lives; to think and feel as well
+as to act a double part; to separate, as inexorably as human will
+can decree, past hopes and joys--past sorrows, and, if practicable,
+past memories from the thoughts and emotions of the to-day in which
+they exist. Thousands keep up the barrier until death ends the need
+of watchfulness and labor; the coffin-lid covers the faithful mask
+that has smiled so patiently and so long above an aching heart. Yet
+dammed up passion is a dangerous thing. If hearts were so constituted
+that they could be drained like pestilential marshes, the flood
+conducted off in harmless and straight channels, then, indeed, might
+hypocrisy rejoice, and sleek decorum sit down at ease. As it is,
+genteel propriety and refined reticence are perpetually endangered by
+the unforeseen swell of some intermittent spring, or the thawing of
+some ice-bound stream, that is liable to overleap or tear away the
+dike--ingulfing in an instant the elaborate structures years of toil
+have cheaply purchased.
+
+Such was the moment when, withdrawing her hand from Philip's arm, Sarah
+struck suddenly--fiercely--upon her breast, and cried: "Oh! why cannot
+I die and end this misery!"
+
+"Sarah!"
+
+"I say I can bear it no longer! Others do not suffer thus! If they do,
+they die, or lose their reason. I will not endure it, I tell you!"
+
+"Sister!"
+
+"Do not call me by that name, Philip Benson! You know better!"
+
+She leaned forward on the balcony railing, her eyes fixed on the sea.
+Her deep, hurried breathing was like the pant of some worried animal,
+gathering strength, and, with it, courage for renewed conflict. To
+her last words the mysterious plaint of the sea lent meaning. Philip,
+too, remembered that barren shore, the tumbling breakers, the solitary
+sea-bird's labored flight landward. Was this his work? It was but a
+flicker of truth--dashed out the next second by a blow of indignant
+will.
+
+"You may forbid me to address you by this title, Sarah; but you cannot
+hinder me from sympathizing with you in your sorrow, and trying to
+befriend you. If my companionship is unwelcome, allow me to conduct you
+to your room. I cannot leave you alone here, where there is continual
+passing."
+
+"You are right. Regard for appearances is the one thing needful," she
+said, mockingly. "I must be a dull scholar if I have not learned that
+I am sane again now--fit to associate with other sane people. If you
+please, we will go to the ball-room instead of upstairs. I am not a
+candidate for solitary confinement yet!"
+
+"Mrs. Hammond, I heard a gentleman inquiring anxiously for you just
+now!" called out a lady, in passing. "He said that you promised to
+dance with him."
+
+"I did. Thank you for reminding me. A little faster, my good brother!"
+
+She hurried him into the saloon, where they were met immediately by
+her would-be partner. Philip, bewildered and uneasy, watched her
+through the evolutions of the dance. She talked rapidly and animatedly,
+keeping her cavalier in a broad smile, and confirming her lately won
+reputation of a wit. Her eyes shone; her color was high; she was
+"really handsome"--as the "censure committee" had occasion to remember
+at a later day, when it was spoken of in a very different tone from
+that employed by a member of the distinguished sisterhood in addressing
+Mrs. Hunt on this night.
+
+"You are a fortunate mother, my dear madam, to have two such brilliant
+daughters. They eclipse the girls entirely."
+
+"I have nothing to complain of in my children, ma'am. I done--I did my
+best by them, and they have repaid me a thousandfold."
+
+"Now, I am ready!" said Sarah, to her brother-in-law. "I release you,
+Mr. Burley!" waving her hand to her late attendant as a princess might
+to a courtier.
+
+Vexed and disturbed by her unsettled manner and queer freaks, Philip
+gave her his arm, and conducted her through the throng.
+
+"Lewis has had fair winds, and must now be nearing the end of his
+voyage," he remarked, as they sauntered along the piazza.
+
+"Ah! he is on the sea to-night! How strange! I had not thought of that!"
+
+"I see nothing wonderful in the idea, as he has not had time to cross
+the Atlantic since he left these shores," returned Philip, dryly. "The
+oddest thing I can think of at present is yourself, Sarah!"
+
+"I am aware of that, Philip. Do not speak harshly to me! You may be
+sorry for it some day."
+
+They were at her door. Her softened manner moved him, and as she
+offered her hand, he took it with fraternal warmth.
+
+"Forgive me, if I was rough! I have not understood you this evening."
+
+"It is not likely that you ever will. Time was--but it is folly to
+allude to that now! Think of me as kindly as you can--will you? You
+have wounded me sometimes, but never knowingly. I cannot say that of
+many others with whom I have had dealings. Good-night."
+
+The little parlor was still. Mrs. Hammond never kept her maid up to
+assist in her disrobing, if she intended remaining out until a late
+hour. Nurse and child were quiet in the adjacent nursery. Closing
+the door of communication, Sarah stripped her hair and arms of their
+ornaments; took off her diamond pin, then her rings, and laid them
+away in her jewelry case; divested herself of her rich dress, and drew
+from her wardrobe a plain, dark wrapper, which she put on. Next she
+sat down at her writing-desk, selected a sheet of paper, and wrote a
+single line--when a thought struck her, and she stopped. A momentary
+irresolution ended in her tearing off a strip containing what she had
+penned, and holding it in the flame of the lamp until it was consumed.
+"Best not! best not!" she muttered. "Doubt may bring comfort to the one
+or two who will need it. Let them doubt! Save appearances if you can,
+my poor mother would say." A smile of unutterable scorn glimmered over
+her face. She pushed away the desk and walked to the window.
+
+From the distant ball-room the throbbing waves of music still rolled
+past on the summer air, and blent with them was the solemn undertone
+of the surf. Did men call its mighty voice a monotone? To her it was
+eloquent of many and awful things--not frightful. What was there of
+terror in thoughts of rest, endless sleep, rocked for ages by the
+rising and falling tide, hushed into dreamless repose by the music of
+the billows? No more of a vain and wearisome life; no more baffled
+aspirations and crushed affections; no more disheartening attempts
+to find and reach the right--to follow in the steep, rugged path of
+duty, and shun the easy, alluring way to which heart and memory were
+ever pointing; no more of stern rebuke and sneering taunt; no more
+galled pride and outraged womanhood; no more lying gayety, smiles, and
+repartee, when the spirit was writhing in impotent agony, longing to
+shriek out its intensity of woe! Only sleep, rest, peace!
+
+"Sleep! rest peace!" She gasped the words feverishly, as they seemed
+to come to her on the breeze. Might she not seek these now! now!
+Not yet! The grounds, the beach were still populous with groups of
+strollers. She would be seen--perhaps recognized--probably frustrated
+in her purpose. Leaning her head against the casement, she sat there an
+hour--not debating, still less wavering in her resolve, only waiting
+until flight would be safe--and thinking! thinking! thinking! until her
+brain whirled.
+
+A thwarted, warped, disjointed existence had hers been from its
+beginning. Denied food suitable for the mental and spiritual need;
+denied sympathy, air, and expression of suffering; under the slow
+torture of this starvation, every avenue to goodness and liberty
+hedged up, and, for the future, temptation, repudiation, loneliness,
+perhaps a sullied name--who could dispute her right to try release by
+one brief pang she alone could feel? Who would miss her? Not the world
+that flattered her wealth and wit, her laces, silks, and diamonds; not
+the mother and sister who worshipped the gilded Juggernaut "Society;"
+not he who was that night sleeping soundly on the same sea that would
+embosom her in her sweeter, deeper slumber. Shocked he might be at an
+event so unexpected and uncommon. His next sensation would be a relief
+at his deliverance from a burden, at his freedom to come and go as he
+liked--no longer banished by her obstinacy and his own. He had loved
+her as most other men do their wives--a bond too weak to bear a heavy
+blow at their self-love. She had sinned beyond forgiveness in his eyes.
+
+Of Philip she thought with a mingling of tenderness and resentment.
+His unthinking gallantry had been the root of her sorest trouble; but
+it was unthinking, not wilful wrong. Nor was she the only sufferer.
+His heart was well-nigh as hungry as hers. Within the past week she
+had seen this more clearly than ever before, and he had felt it!
+Lucy's narrow mind, her insipidity, her inordinate vanity, her selfish
+idolatry of pleasures that wearied him; her disrelish for intellectual
+and domestic enjoyments, displayed in its most objectionable form, in
+her indifference to his company, and her neglect of her child--these
+were working out their legitimate result in his alienation from her,
+and attraction towards the once slighted sister, whose large heart
+and mental gifts he now valued at their true worth. To repel him, as
+much as to drown her cares, Sarah had plunged into the vortex she had
+heretofore avoided. She had heard that there was temporary solace
+in this species of dissipation. The cup was, for her, sparkless and
+bitter, from surface to dregs.
+
+She was saving him with herself by this final step! He would realize
+this truth, in the throe that would shake his soul when he found she
+was gone; perhaps, even in that anguished hour, would bless her for
+having showed to him, while she drove him back from, the abyss they
+were together approaching. It was no idle vaunt she had made to Lewis,
+that the principles inherited from her father would save her from overt
+sin. Thus, thus would she flee the temptation, when the heart had left
+the will to battle unaided.
+
+Her father! the gray old man who was toiling through this summer's
+heat, in his deserted home, as he had through so many summers gone! he
+who had never given her an impatient or angry word--whose pride and
+joy she still was! The stroke would be severe upon him. Yet he would
+not refuse comfort. There were still left to him his boys--fine, manly
+fellows; Jeannie and his baby grandchild--his lost daughter's gift.
+Tears rushed into the hot, wild eyes with this last image, but she
+would not let them flow.
+
+"Is it not better that I should leave her now, when the parting will
+give her no pain, when one little week will blot out my memory entirely
+from her mind, than to wait until she can recollect and miss me?"
+
+The music had ceased. The revellers had dropped away faster than they
+had collected, when once the movement was made to retire. The murmur of
+the deep was the only sound abroad; the stars were the only sentinels.
+Sarah arose, threw a shawl over her head, and cautiously unlocked the
+door. A strong rush of air blew it from her hold, and as she caught
+it, to draw it after her, she trod upon some object lying on the floor.
+Mechanically she stooped to pick it up. It was an infant's shoe, a
+dainty little gaiter, that peeped, during the day, from beneath Baby
+Belle's white skirt. To Sarah's touch it seemed that the lining still
+retained the warmth of the child's foot.
+
+Never, oh, never, was the patter of those baby feet to make glad music
+for the mother's ear! Others must guide and sustain her trial steps;
+others smooth her daily path; others direct the inexperience of the
+girl in the perilous passes where that mother had fallen and perished!
+
+"Oh, may I not bless her before I leave her forever?" she cried to
+stern Resolution. And Conscience rejoined, with meaning severity: "Is
+it you who would breathe a blessing above her purity?"
+
+"Suffer me, then, to take the farewell look I dared not grant myself
+before!"
+
+And while Resolution faltered at the impassioned appeal, she opened the
+nursery door and stole to the side of the crib. The night-lamp shed a
+feeble halo over the table whereon it stood. The rest of the room was
+in darkness. Mary's light bedstead was close to the crib. Was hers that
+hard, short breathing, that sent a start and chill through the hearer?
+A touch to the lamp threw a blaze of light over nurse and child. A
+sharp cry rang through the chamber.
+
+"Mary, Mary! get up!"
+
+The girl sprang to the floor before she comprehended the meaning of the
+alarm. Mrs. Hammond had sunk into a chair beside the crib, from which
+she had snatched her infant. Baby Belle's head was strained back; her
+hands clenched; her limbs stiffened in a death-like spasm. The eyes
+were rolled out of sight under the lids; and the four little teeth--her
+"most precious pearls," the fond mother had called them--were
+hard-locked within the purple lips.
+
+Terrified as she was, Mary had the presence of mind to run for
+assistance. Mrs. Hunt and a physician were soon on the spot, and every
+appliance of the healing art that promised relief to the sufferer was
+used, but with partial effect. Sarah saw nothing but the child; heard
+nothing but the doctor's calm orders.
+
+"You do not try to help her!" she said, impatiently, as a convulsion,
+more fearful than any that had preceded it, seized the delicate frame.
+
+"I could not do more, were it my own child, madam!"
+
+He was an elderly man, whose charity for fashionable mothers was very
+scant, and, having seen Mrs. Hammond in the ball-room the evening
+before, he was not prepared for the solicitude she manifested.
+
+"You had better let the nurse take her!" he said, more gently, as
+Sarah, with difficulty, held down the struggling hands that might do
+hurt to the head and face.
+
+"No! I will have no one touch her but myself!"
+
+The morning broke, the day heightened into noon, and the paroxysms only
+abated in violence as the babe's strength declined. Steadfast to her
+word, the mother had not once resigned her. She had herself immersed
+her in the warm baths, applied the poultices, and administered the
+medicines prescribed. Mrs. Hunt was compassionate and active; Mary
+sorrowful, and prompt with whatever service she could perform; Lucy
+frightened and idle.
+
+Philip, who had often been in the outer room to make inquiries and
+offer aid, if any were required of him, was told, just before sunset,
+that he could go into the chamber. Mrs. Hunt invited him, and the
+information she added gave to his countenance a look of heartfelt
+sadness as he followed her. Sarah sat in the middle of the room, so
+altered that he could scarcely credit the fact of her identity with the
+being he had parted from the previous night. Her eyes were sunken, her
+features sharpened, and her complexion had the dead, grayish hue of an
+old woman's. In her arms lay the babe, and, as she crouched over it,
+her mien of defiant protection suggested to him the idea of a savage
+animal guarding her young. He could not say whether or not she was
+aware of his presence, until he knelt by the dying child and called it
+by name.
+
+"Baby Belle, do you know Uncle Philip?"
+
+The dark eyes, soft still through the gathering film, moved slightly,
+and Sarah said--
+
+"Speak to her again!"
+
+"Will Baby Belle come to uncle?"
+
+This time there was no sign of consciousness. The wee hands clasped in
+the mother's grew colder and colder, and the breath fluttered slowly
+through the parted lips. The end was near, and Philip's pitying accent
+expressed his sense of this.
+
+"Give her to me, dear Sarah! It is not right for you to keep her
+longer."
+
+"She is mine!"
+
+The glare that came to her eye with the three words revealed a
+desperation that would have done battle with the King of Terrors, had
+he appeared in visible shape to claim his victim.
+
+More faintly, slowly, trembled the life over the sweet mouth, and
+the hands, like waxen shapes, lay pulseless in the mother's clasp;
+while through the silent room flowed the dirge of the sea. Shaken by
+the freshening breeze of evening, the shutters of the western window
+swung ajar, letting in a golden ray upon mother and child, and along
+that path of light the untarnished soul of Baby Belle was borne by its
+waiting angel--home!
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVIII.
+
+
+Aunt Sarah sat in the wide porch at the back of her house, knitting
+in hand. It was a still, but not oppressive August afternoon. There
+was not a ruffle on the bright surface of the river, and the long
+meadow grass was as smoothly spread out in the yellow sunshine. From
+the poultry-yard on the left arose a pleasant murmur, and now and then
+a stray hen tiptoed around the end of the house, singing idly as she
+rambled. Charley lay on the green mound--his old reading-room--with
+a book before him, and to him Aunt Sarah's motherly eyes turned most
+frequently. Those kindly orbs were dimmer than they were two summers
+ago, and the gentle face was a thought more pensive. A glance into the
+sitting-room window, from where she sat, would have showed one Uncle
+Nathan's empty arm-chair in the chimney corner, and above it were
+suspended his cane and broad-brimmed hat, just as he had put them off
+when he took his departure for a country where neither shelter nor
+staff is needed. Aunt Sarah's cap had a widow's border now; and in her
+faithful heart there was a sadder void than the death of her children
+had created--loving parent though she was--and yet more plentiful
+springs of sympathy for others bereaved and suffering.
+
+Her rocking-chair was set near the entrance of the hall that bisected
+the dwelling; and the front and back doors being open, she had a fair
+view of the public road, whenever she chose to look up the lane. The
+Shrewsbury stage met the boat at four o'clock, or soon after; and
+hearing a rumbling along the highway, which she knew presaged its
+transit through this end of the village, the old lady leaned forward to
+catch a glimpse of the trunks upon the roof; this being all she could
+distinguish with certainty above the fence.
+
+"Why, it is stopping here!" she ejaculated, getting up to obtain a
+better look. "Who upon earth can it be?"
+
+The coach rolled on, and the passenger for the farm-house came through
+the gate and down the lane. She was dressed in black, wore a crape
+veil, and carried a small hand-trunk. With a hospitable instinct, Aunt
+Sarah advanced to the front porch to meet her, still entirely in the
+dark as to who it could be.
+
+"She has a different look from any of the neighbors; and there's nobody
+in York that would be likely to come to see me, except Betsy's people,
+and it can't be either of her girls!"
+
+At this stage of her cogitations, the visitant reached the step on
+which the hostess stood, and put away the long veil from a face so
+worn and seamed with grief, so hollow-eyed and old, that the good aunt
+screamed outright in her distressed astonishment--
+
+"Sarah, dear child! can this be you?"
+
+"What I am now, Aunt Sarah. May I come in and stay with you a little
+while?"
+
+"Stay with me, poor darling! As long as you like, and welcome! Come
+right in; you don't look fit to stand!"
+
+She was not; for, now that the necessity for exertion was removed, she
+was faint and trembling. Aunt Sarah helped her upstairs to the room she
+had occupied at her former visit, undressed her, and put her to bed.
+Sarah submitted like a child, too much exhausted to resist being made
+an invalid of, or to offer any explanation of her singular apparition.
+She had not slept an hour at a time for many nights; yet when she had
+drunk a cup of tea, and tried to eat a bit of toast her aunt prepared
+and brought up to her, she fell into a profound slumber, which lasted
+until long after sunrise on the following morning. Unclosing her eyes
+then, they rested upon the dear face, shaded by the widow's cap, that
+watched at her bedside. A shadowy phantom of a smile flitted over her
+features at the recognition.
+
+"It was not a dream, then?" she said languidly. "But I have dreamed of
+you often, of late--every night in which I have had any sleep. Aunt
+Sarah, I must tell you why I came to you!"
+
+"Not now, dear," Aunt Sarah hastened to say, seeing the wild stare and
+the cloud return to her countenance. "Wait until you are stronger.
+I will bring up your breakfast, and when you have eaten it, you may
+try to dress, if you like. There will be time enough for your story,
+by-and-by. Charley is in a great fidget to see you."
+
+Sarah submitted to the delay; but it was plain that she was not
+satisfied with it, and that her mind would be easier when once the tale
+was told. Aunt Sarah hindered her no longer a time than sufficed for
+her to take the much needed refreshment, to bathe and dress, and to see
+and exchange a few sentences with Charley, who supported her down to
+the sitting-room. There, resting among the pillows of the lounge, Aunt
+Sarah beside her, with the ubiquitous knitting-work in hand, lest too
+close observation should confuse her niece, the stricken one unfolded
+the whole of her sad history.
+
+No more affecting proof could have been given of her prostrated
+mind and will than this unreserved recital. The secret she had sold
+conscience and liberty to preserve, she communicated now without a
+blush. Here--where she had formed the intimacy that had shadowed so
+darkly her after days--she detailed every step of the wrong course to
+which this weakness was a key; went over all--the stormy parting with
+her husband; her conviction of the mutual peril she and Philip were
+tempting in their daily communion; her resolve of self-destruction--as
+circumstantially as if she were relating the biography of another.
+
+Aunt Sarah, horrified and pitiful by turns, struggled with indifferent
+success to maintain equal composure, and against growing doubts of
+the narrator's sanity. It was a striking and instructive contrast:
+the world-weary woman returning for consolation and advice to the
+simple-minded matron, to whom the artificial existence she now heard
+depicted--its gilded vices and giddy round of vanities; its trials and
+temptations--were a wonderful, a monstrous tale, as foreign to her
+sphere of principles and feelings as if they had transpired in another
+world. But when Sarah came to speak of her child, her manner changed,
+her voice was hoarse and uneven, and over the careworn visage there
+went such alterations of fierceness and heart-breaking sorrow that the
+listening mother, upon whose soul the shadow of her own children's
+graves still lay long and dark, could hear no more in silence.
+
+"My poor girl!" she cried, falling on her knees, and throwing her arms
+around the reclining figure. "Dear child! Our Father in heaven pity and
+comfort you! There is no help in man for such trouble as yours!"
+
+Sarah had not shed a tear in the course of her story. She said
+afterwards that she had not wept since they took her dead baby from
+her clasp; but at this burst of unfeigned sympathy, this gush of
+pure love and compassion, the burning rock was cleft, and a blessed
+flood streamed from it. For some minutes they wept together without
+restraint, and when the more quiet grief of the elder mourner was
+repressed, the other still clung, sobbing to her bosom.
+
+Aunt Sarah held and soothed her as she would have done a sorrowful
+child; stroking away the hair from her forehead, drying and kissing the
+tear-stained cheeks, with many an epithet of fond reassurance.
+
+"Let me finish! There is very little more!" resumed Sarah, keeping
+her aunt's hand fast in both of hers. "We went back to the city, and
+the next day we laid her in Greenwood. We stayed at father's--I would
+not return to the house that used to be mine. Father was very kind,
+and mother meant to be; but she tormented me with suggestions and
+consultations about my black clothes. Lucy was pining to get back to
+Newport. She said it was hot and dull in New York. Philip wanted to
+comfort me, but I shunned him, and I think he was hurt by my conduct;
+but it was best, was it not, Aunt Sarah?"
+
+"Certainly, dear!"
+
+"I had often imagined myself lonely before; but I never dreamed of
+such a horror of desolation as filled my soul during the two days that
+I remained there, after all was over. Twenty times each night I would
+start from a feverish doze, thinking that I heard my baby cry or moan
+as she did in the intervals of those awful convulsions; and then would
+come in upon me, as if I had never felt it until then, the truth that
+I could never see her again, and that my wicked, wicked intention of
+deserting her had brought this judgment upon me. I could not stay
+there, Aunt Sarah! I heard other voices besides my child's in the air,
+and saw strange, grinning faces in the darkness. But the worst was to
+see that, to every one but me, the world was the same that it had ever
+been. Father looked grave when I was in his sight; but the children
+could laugh and talk as if nothing had happened, and I have seen mother
+and Lucy chattering merrily in the room with the dressmaker over my
+new dresses, while they were criticizing the crape trimmings. And I
+had buried my last earthly hope in my baby's grave! Then I remembered
+you, and how you had talked to me of your lost children, and how you
+had assured me of a home in your heart and house whenever I chose to
+claim it, and I believed in you, Aunt Sarah! There are not many whom I
+do trust; but I was sure you never said what you did not mean. I would
+not tell them that I was coming for I feared they would prevent me. I
+slipped out of the house when none of them were at home, and went to
+the nearest hack-stand, where I got into a carriage and drove down to
+the boat."
+
+"My dear, did you leave no letter to let them know where you had gone?"
+
+"No, ma'am. I was afraid they would come or send for me, and I cannot
+go back."
+
+"But your father--your mother! Did you not think how distressed they
+would be when they missed you? And your reputation? What will be said
+when it's known that you have left your father's house, and no one
+knows where you are? You are very weak and tired, dear; but you must
+sit up, right away, and write a note home. Tell them that I will take
+care of you as long as you like to stay with me, but don't lose a
+minute! You may be in time for the afternoon boat."
+
+Sarah obeyed; and the careful old lady hurried Charley off to the boat,
+with directions to place the billet in the hands of the captain, who
+was a personal friend, and could be relied upon to post it directly he
+reached the city.
+
+Mr. Hunt replied without delay. Sarah's absence had given rise
+to the most harrowing conjectures, made plausible by her extreme
+melancholy and fitful behavior since her infant's death. The police
+had been privately notified of her disappearance, and cautiously
+worded advertisements inserted in the papers. He regretted to add
+that Mr. Marlow, who, as Mr. Hammond's nearest friend, was informed
+of the distressing occurrence, had thought proper to communicate the
+intelligence to Mr. H. before Sarah's note arrived, and the steamer
+bearing the letter had sailed. Mr. Hunt expressed himself as entirely
+willing that his daughter should remain in her present retreat until
+her health of mind and body was re-established, but did not conceal his
+disapprobation of the manner of her leaving home.
+
+Aunt Sarah looked concerned as she read this epistle, which her niece
+had passed over to her.
+
+"I am sorry for your husband, my dear. This affliction, coming so close
+upon the other, will be a dreadful blow. It is a pity they did not wait
+awhile, until they knew something of your whereabouts, before writing
+to him.
+
+"I am more sorry that the news must be contradicted," was the reply.
+"As we are now situated, the certainty of my death would be a relief
+to him. This was my reflection that night"--She left the sentence
+unfinished.
+
+"My dear!" Aunt Sarah removed her spectacles, and surveyed her niece
+with her kind, serious eyes. "Have you made up your mind to live
+separate from your husband for the rest of your life?"
+
+"What else should I do, aunt? He will never come back unless I promise
+to love him, and that cannot be."
+
+"That doesn't alter the fact of your duty, as I look at it. You ought
+to make him an offer to do right, at any rate. It would have been
+easier and pleasanter to live with him, if you had felt for him as a
+woman should for the man she marries; but you are married to him, and
+in the sight of the Lord you ought to cleave to him, and him only. That
+is a solemn covenant, dear--'for richer, for poorer; for better, for
+worse!' 'Those whom God hath joined together, let not man put asunder!'
+It doesn't excuse people, who take these vows upon them when the right
+spirit is wanting, that they never thought how awful the engagement
+was. Their obligations are just the same, whether they love or not."
+
+"The responsibility does not rest with me. I performed my duty while
+we were together. The separation was his act, and he must abide the
+consequences. I have erred greatly, Aunt Sarah; but ever since the
+night of our rupture, my conscience has been easy with respect to Mr.
+Hammond. I confessed that I had misled him, and begged his pardon.
+Could I do more?"
+
+"Put the case to yourself, child! Do not be angry if I speak out my
+mind, and use against you some things you have told me. When you saw
+that Philip was growing to like you better and better, and that you
+felt nearer to him every day, why did you determine to die sooner than
+to have things go on so?"
+
+"Because it would have been a crime for us to love each other--infamous
+treachery to my sister, to his wife, for us to name the word between
+us."
+
+"And how would Lucy have felt, if you had come to an understanding and
+spoken out the true feeling of your hearts?"
+
+"Hers is a careless, indolent nature, but this insult would have
+aroused her. She would never have forgiven him or me, had she suspected
+a warmer sentiment on either side than that of friendship."
+
+"But an honorable, affectionate man like your husband, who thought
+his wife the most precious thing in the world, was to forget his
+disappointment, overlook your lack of love and truth towards him, only
+because you allowed that he had found out your real feelings at last,
+and all the excuse you could give was that you could not help them! You
+were the one in fault all the way through, from the day you engaged to
+marry him, up to the minute when you would not say the word he begged
+from you to keep him at home. It is right that all the advance should
+come from you."
+
+High-spirited as Sarah was, she was not angered by this plain-speaking.
+"Faithful are the wounds of a friend;" and she felt that she had but
+this one. Aunt Sarah studied her thoughtful countenance before she
+renewed the argument.
+
+"I am an old-fashioned woman, dear--born and bred in the country,
+where, thank God! I have spent all my life. But I've been thinking
+about your story of the way people act and feel up there in York, and
+maybe in all other great, fine, money-making cities, and my notion is
+just this. I look back of their pushing and straining after riches, and
+show, and worldly vanities; every man for himself, and the one that
+climbs highest, forgetting as soon as he gets there that he was ever
+any lower, and ready to kick over anybody that tries to get alongside
+of him; and I see that they have lost sight of the second great
+commandment--'Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself.' Then I look
+back of this too, and I see where the greatest sin is, and--dear, bear
+with me! I see where you have gone furthest astray. Here's a passage I
+was reading this morning that tells the whole story." She raised the
+Bible from the table, and laid it upon Sarah's lap, pointing as she did
+so to these words enclosed in brackets:
+
+"Because thou hast forgotten the God of thy salvation, and hast not
+been mindful of the rock of thy strength, therefore shalt thou plant
+pleasant plants, and shalt set it with strange slips. In the day thou
+shalt make thy plant to grow, and in the morning shalt thou make thy
+seed to flourish; but the harvest shall be a heap in the day of grief
+and desperate sorrow!"
+
+Mrs. Hunt would have regarded as an insult any expressed doubt of
+her religious principles and practice. She had a desirable pew in
+the fashionable church which was nearest her residence, and, stormy
+Sabbaths excepted, it was generally full at morning service. When her
+children were presentable as to looks, very young babies being seldom
+pretty, they were offered in fine lawn and Valenciennes at the font
+for the rite of baptism; and not a confirmation had passed since her
+daughters were grown, that she did not fancy how interesting they
+would look, kneeling before the surpliced bishop, heads gracefully
+bowed, and the regards of the whole congregation fixed upon them. Sarah
+never could be brought to the performance of the commonest act of
+public worship, unless it was to rise with the rest, when a standing
+posture was prescribed by the prayer-book; and she shocked her mother
+by declaring that she only did this because she was tired of sitting!
+Lucy's serene grace of devoutness was beautiful, if not edifying to
+behold. Those who occupied adjacent pews involuntarily suppressed
+their responses as her mellow tones repeated, with melancholy
+sweetness--"Have mercy upon us, miserable sinners!" And as the melting
+cadences entranced their ears, the lovely penitent was speculating upon
+the probable cost of Miss Hauton's Parisian hat, or coveting Mrs. Beau
+Monde's sable cloak.
+
+If Sarah had even heard of regeneration, it was as a technical phrase
+of the church articles and christening service. Of its practical
+meaning, its inward application, its absolute necessity to the safety
+of the soul, she had as vague a conception as a Parsee or New Zealand
+cannibal would have formed. She had read the Bible in connection with
+rhetorical lectures, and admired it as a noble specimen of Oriental
+literature. What other associations could she have with it? A handsome
+copy of the Holy Scriptures, surmounted by a book of common prayer, lay
+on a stand in Mrs. Hunt's third and rear parlor, and was dusted when a
+like attention was paid to the other ornaments of tables and etageres.
+An Oxford edition, russet antique, formed one of the wedding-gifts of
+each of the sisters, and in due time was laid in pious pomp on its
+purple pillow in the library corner. It was hardly strange, then, that
+the quotation, so apposite to the case in point, should fail to impress
+her very strongly. Aunt Sarah had gone out, deeming solitary reflection
+the best means of enforcing the lesson she had tried to inculcate, and,
+after re-reading the two verses, without further appropriation of their
+meaning, Sarah turned leaf after leaf of the volume, catching here and
+there a sentence of the large print, so grateful to the failing sight
+of her who was its daily student.
+
+"David said unto his servants--'Is the child dead?' And they said, 'He
+is dead!'"
+
+The smitten chord in the mother's heart sent out a ring of pain, and
+her listless hand paused upon the open page. It is a simple story--the
+royal parent's unavailing wrestle with the Chastener, the dread
+end of his suspense, and the affliction, made manifest in the calm
+resignation, the sanctified trust of the mourner. But when received as
+Sarah read it, with the vision of a similar death-scene intermixing
+itself with its unadorned details, the fresh blood still welling from
+the wound made by the tearing away of a portion of one's own life,
+every line is fraught with truth and pathos.
+
+"Can I bring him back again? I shall go to him, but he shall not return
+to me!"
+
+"Go to her! Oh, if I could! My baby! my baby!"
+
+To the low, sad cry succeeded a season of yearning and of tears. It
+was an echo of the wail of the heathen mother who, centuries ago,
+having seen her babes slain before her eyes, cried aloud, in unselfish
+agony, as the sword, reeking with their blood, was plunged into her own
+bosom--"Oh, my children! where are ye?"
+
+Sleep on, in thy lowly bed upon the hillside, sweet Baby Belle! Like
+the pale buds that are fading with thee in thy narrow resting-place,
+thy mission on earth is accomplished. Joy, young freed spirit, if,
+stealing through the melodies of heaven, there comes to thee the
+whisper of that mother's call! Fair lamb! the love that folded thee in
+the Shepherd's arms designed likewise, in recalling thee, to lure the
+wandering parent home!
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIX.
+
+
+ "My Dear Lewis: Before you receive this letter, you will have had the
+ explanation of my disappearance from New York. A merciful Providence
+ directed me, in my partial derangement, to this peaceful retreat. Here
+ I have found rest for body and soul--peace such as the world could
+ never give the heart, even were it not bowed down by a sorrow like
+ mine. Not that I forget past errors; nor that the review does not
+ humble me in the dust. I confess, with shame and bitterness of spirit,
+ my wasted years, my unsanctified affections, my evil passions. But
+ for the assurance of the Father's pardon, the Saviour's loving pity,
+ the black catalogue would strike me dead with horror and anguish. It
+ is a fearful thing to be made to see one's self as she is; to scan
+ in terrified solicitude the record of a life, and find there nothing
+ better than pride, misanthropy, falsehood, hatred of men--rebellion
+ against God. It is a sweet experience to taste, however tremblingly,
+ the consolations of the Friend who invites the weary and heavy-laden
+ to draw near and learn of Him. In His strength--not in that feebleness
+ I once called power--have I resolved to lead a new life. Of the causes
+ which have contributed to produce this change, we will speak more at
+ length when we meet.
+
+ "'When we meet!' Lewis, will you, can you forget your manifold wrongs
+ and come back to me? I do not plead, now, 'for the sake of our child.'
+ Her sinless soul henceforth can know no pain or woe. God saw that I
+ was not worthy of her, and He took her. In the earlier weeks of my
+ selfish mourning, I had no thought of your bereavement. Latterly, I
+ have longed to comfort you, for I know that your heart is riven by
+ this stroke. She was your joy, as she was my angel of peace. Her loss
+ is our common sorrow. Shall it not draw us together? Yet, as I have
+ said, our estrangement cannot now affect her. Thoughtless of evil,
+ she passed away. Had she lived, the Omniscient only knows what grief
+ and mortification might have darkened her pathway. Nor do I desire a
+ reconciliation as a shield from the world's sneer or ban. I hold its
+ applause and its censure alike cheaply. In prosperity, its favors were
+ painted, tasteless fruit; in adversity, it would have fed my starving
+ heart with husks. But for my sake--by the thought of my late and sore
+ repentance; by the remorse that must gnaw my spirit, when I remember
+ your noble trust in me, your unswerving fidelity, your generous love
+ and my base requital of it all; by the sorrow that never leaves me
+ by day or by night--forgive me, and return to the home we have both
+ forsaken! I will serve you very faithfully, my husband! I have gained
+ other and higher views of the marriage relation within a short time
+ past. However presumptuously I may have assumed its responsibilities,
+ however unworthily I performed its duties in former days, I would
+ enter upon our re-engagement with a solemn sense of what I owe to you
+ and to Him who united us. You must have despised me at our parting,
+ and since. Perhaps you have come to think of me with dislike as well
+ as contempt. I will bear this--grievous though the burden will be--as
+ a part of my righteous punishment. I will never murmur--never, even
+ in thought, accuse you of unjust harshness, if you will grant me
+ the opportunity to make what amends I can for all you have lost and
+ suffered through my fault."
+
+Sarah was still far from strong; and wearied as much by the intensity
+of her feelings as by the manual effort of writing, she laid the pen
+down, and leaned back in the cushioned chair. Her table stood in the
+parlor beneath the window overlooking the river. The room was prim
+and clean, as of yore, with its straight lines of chairs; its shining
+specks of mirrors; the grim black profiles above the mantel, and the
+green boughs in the fireplace. The outer scene was in its general
+features, that which the girl had surveyed, with pleased surprise, the
+July evening of her arrival here two years ago.
+
+Only two years! The sufferings and life-lessons of twenty had been
+crowded into that brief space. The meadows were growing sere, as
+if scorching winds had swept over them, and the stream reflected
+truthfully, yet, one could have fancied, sadly, the changing foliage
+fringing its borders. But the sky, with its tender blue and its fleecy
+clouds, ever shifting, yet ever retaining their likeness to one
+another--the river's smooth, steady flow, were the same; fit emblems
+both of them of counsels which are mercy and truth through all their
+workings; of love that abideth forever!
+
+The train of thought was replete with refreshing to the spirit that
+was striving, in prayer and watchfulness, to adhere to the right, to
+accept, with meek submission, all that her cup yet held of pungent
+or nauseous lees. There was no affectation in the humble tone of her
+letter. She would not begin it until she had mastered the stubborn
+remnant of her native pride. It should be nothing to her that her
+husband had wilfully separated himself from her, and refused her
+overtures of reconcilement. If this was unkindness it was all she could
+reproach him with in the course of time they had spent together. He had
+been a true friend, an honorable protector, and dimly still, but more
+justly than ever before, she perceived that into his love for her there
+had entered none of the merely prudential considerations, the cool
+calculations, wherewith she used to account for his choice of herself
+as a helpmeet. Where, in the world's heartless circles, could she point
+out another wife as much indulged, as much honored in public and in
+private, as she once was by him? Mournfully, if not lovingly, she dwelt
+upon the countless evidences of his cordial fulfillment, in letter and
+in spirit, of his part of their mutual engagement, with something of
+the sinking heart the alchemist may have felt when, after he had, by
+a mechanical and habitual fling of his arm, tossed the eagerly-sought
+philosopher's stone into the sea as a worthless pebble, he discovered
+that the divining steel he held had been changed to gold by its touch.
+
+To whom of us has not an experience similar to this come? It may be
+that the eyes which once besought affection with dumb and disregarded
+eloquence are closed and rayless for all future time; the lips that
+told, with modest frankness, how dear we were to hearts we cared
+not then to win, are now but silent dust. Or, perchance, grieved
+by indifference, repelled by unkindness, those hearts have sought
+and found in other loves solace for the pain we, in our blindness
+inflicted. It matters little whether they be dead to all the world, or
+only to us. In either case, the longing and despair of our lonely lives
+are rendered the more unendurable from the flash of tardy truth that
+shows us, side by side with our actual poverty of heart riches, the
+tranquil beauty of the pictured "might have been."
+
+Aunt Sarah had gone on a visit to a neighbor; the hired girl was in
+the distant wash-house; and Charley considered it his duty to linger
+within easy reach of his cousin, should she need him for any purpose.
+To guard her from all chance of intrusion, he stationed himself on
+the front porch steps, with his book on his knee. For an hour he read
+on uninterruptedly; then, glancing up as he turned a leaf, he saw a
+gentleman coming down the gravel walk. He looked thin and anxious,
+and his restless eye wandered from door to windows, as in expectation
+of seeing some one beside the boy. With a ready apprehension of his
+infirmity, only to be accounted for by some prior knowledge of the
+person he saluted, he took from his pocket a card, which he presented
+before he shook hands with the silent host. Charley's intelligent
+face was one beam of pleasure as he read, and his warm grasp showed
+his sympathy in the happiness he fancied was in store for his cousin.
+Inviting the guest by a gesture to follow him, he went softly to the
+parlor-door, tapped lightly--too lightly, indeed, to attract the notice
+of the musing occupant of the room, then drew back the bolt, admitted
+the stranger, and delicately withdrew.
+
+Sarah heard the door open and Charley's retreating footsteps, and,
+supposing that he had peeped in to see that she was comfortable and
+wanted for nothing, she did not look around. The intruder stood still
+one step within the room, as if unable to advance or speak. The
+languid attitude of the figure before him, so unlike the self-poise
+and quiet energy of her former deportment, her black dress, even the
+wasted hands dropped so wearily upon her lap, told of the storm that
+had passed over her, the utter revolution in her life and nature. A
+struggling sigh he could not repress broke from the gazer's breast, and
+Sarah turned hastily towards him. She did not swoon, as he feared she
+would. A thrill, like an electric shock, shook her from head to foot;
+a wild inquiry looked from her eyes; a question or the reality of the
+appearance, succeeding so closely to--did it grow out of her revery?
+
+Lewis put this imagination to flight.
+
+"Sarah!" he said, pressing in his the hands she extended mutely. "They
+told me you were lost, and I hurried home to find you. I could not
+wait for your permission to come to you, when I learned in New York
+that I had a living wife! The loss of the child was heavy enough; but
+this"--He could say no more.
+
+"I am thankful! I am glad that you are here!" A faint, beautiful smile
+shone over her wan features. "And our baby, Lewis! We must remember
+that she is an angel now!"
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XX.
+
+
+To no one except Aunt Sarah were the facts of the estrangement and
+reconciliation of her relatives ever revealed, and within her faithful
+bosom the secret was hidden as securely as in a tomb.
+
+Great was the chagrin of gossips, male and female, when it was known
+that Mrs. Hammond's strange flight from her father's house, which
+had leaked out nobody knew how, and been variously construed into
+an elopement, a freak of derangement, and a deliberate intention
+of suicide, according to the degrees of charity possessed by the
+theorists, was a very innocent and unromantic journey to the country
+home of her favorite aunt and godmother, a lady of ample fortune and
+benevolent heart, who would, in all probability, make her namesake
+her heiress. Under her care, and for the benefit of the seclusion so
+congenial to one in her affliction, and the salt air so necessary for
+the restoration of her impaired health, Mrs. Hammond had remained until
+her husband's return from abroad.
+
+Mrs. Hunt had told Mrs. A., who had told Mrs. B., who repeated it to
+Mrs. C., how he had not stopped in New York an hour after he stepped
+ashore from the "Adriatic." He hurried to the bank, and ascertained
+from Mr. Hunt that his wife was with her aunt, and that a boat which
+would land him near Shrewsbury was to leave in fifteen minutes. So he
+drove down post-haste, and jumped on board of her after the plank had
+been drawn and the wheels began to move. There never was a more devoted
+husband or a more attached pair, Mrs. Hunt affirmed.
+
+"More than she could say for that flirting Mrs. Benson and her other
+half," agreed A., B. and C., unanimously.
+
+"Her conduct at Newport was scandalous, and would have been outrageous
+if he had not watched her like a lynx!" said Mrs. Beau Monde, who had
+never been able to secure one-half as many admirers as had Lucy, and
+hated her as honestly as if they were a couple of Biddies pulling caps
+for Patrick or Murphy.
+
+"I don't see why he should have felt jealous, I am sure. He wasn't
+dying of love for her! That could be seen with half an eye. They say
+he loved Mrs. Hammond before he addressed her sister, and married this
+one out of spite," rejoined Mrs. Townes, who had made beaux yeux at the
+distingue Southerner for three whole evenings, and won only the most
+indifferent glances in requital.
+
+"Mrs. Hammond behaved very prudently!" pronounced Mrs. Greyling, "and
+dressed very well. I suppose Mr. Hammond brought her some elegant
+things from abroad. Pity she is in mourning, and must dress plainly at
+present! If I were in her place--as it was only a baby--I would not
+wear black more than six months, unless it was very becoming."
+
+"She has become very religious, you know," said Mrs. Parton.
+
+"Indeed! People are apt to, I think, when there has been death in the
+family," concluded Mrs. Greyling, pensively. "I remember, when my poor
+sister died, I used to look forward to church and Sunday with real
+pleasure. I could not go anywhere on week-days, you know, although
+there were piles of tickets lying in my card-receiver, and we had just
+taken a box at the opera that very winter! I declare, I should have
+lost the run of the fashions entirely, and forgotten people's faces, if
+I had not gone to church. I dare say, too, that she finds some comfort
+in religion--poor woman! if what the preachers and good books tell us
+be true."
+
+Had Sarah found comfort?
+
+Look we, for reply, to the chastened lustre of the eye, where once
+burned restless fires, like the sunward gaze of the imprisoned eagle;
+to the holy serenity struggling through and finally dispelling the
+clouds of memory and regret that, at times, would roll in between
+her soul and the bright, sustaining hope upon which Faith would have
+its regards forever fixed; to her daily life, sanctified by prayer,
+beneficent in good works, and by its unostentatious loveliness winning
+others, first to admire, then to imitate; to the wifely submission and
+loving kindness of her bearing to her husband, her grateful estimate of
+the affection he lavished upon her, the deep, true tenderness growing
+up in her heart for this fond and noble companion; look we, lastly,
+to the snowy marble guarding that tiny mound in Greenwood, where the
+mother once believed that hope and joy were buried to know no awakening.
+
+    "BABY BELLE,"
+    infant daughter of
+    LEWIS AND SARAH HAMMOND.
+    She went home
+    July 16, 1858, aged 8 months.
+    "Is it well with thee?  Is it well with thy husband?
+    Is it well with the child?"
+    And she answered, "It is well!"
+
+
+[THE END.]
+
+
+
+
+TRANSCRIBER'S NOTE:
+
+Obvious printer errors have been corrected. Otherwise, the author's
+original spelling, punctuation and hyphenation have been left intact.
+
+
+
+
+
+
+End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Husks, by Marion Harland
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+      The Project Gutenberg eBook of Husks, by Marion Harland.
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+<pre>
+
+The Project Gutenberg EBook of Husks, by Marion Harland
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and most
+other parts of the world 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.  If you are not located in the United States, you'll have
+to check the laws of the country where you are located before using this ebook.
+
+Title: Husks
+
+Author: Marion Harland
+
+Release Date: March 11, 2015 [EBook #48461]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK HUSKS ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by Chris Whitehead, Demian Katz and the Online
+Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (Images
+courtesy of the Digital Library@Villanova University
+(http://digital.library.villanova.edu/))
+
+
+
+
+
+
+</pre>
+
+
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 450px;">
+<img src="images/cover-image.jpg" id="coverpage" width="450" height="593" alt="Cover for Husks" />
+<div class="transnote covernote">
+<p class="center" style="margin-top: 1em; margin-bottom: 1em;">The cover image was restored by the transcriber and is placed in the public domain.</p>
+</div></div>
+
+<hr class="chap" style="page-break-after: always;" />
+
+
+
+
+<h1 style="margin-top: 2em;">HUSKS.<br />
+
+
+
+BY MARION HARLAND.</h1>
+
+
+
+<p class="ph2" style="margin-top: 3em; margin-bottom: 1em;">CHAPTER I.</p>
+
+
+<p>It was a decided uncompromising rainy
+day. There were no showers, coquetted
+with by veering winds or dubious mists,
+that at times grew brighter, as if the sun
+were burning away their lining; but a uniform
+expanse of iron-gray clouds&mdash;kept in
+close, grim column by a steady, although
+not violent east wind&mdash;sent straight lines of
+heavy rain upon the earth. The naked
+trees, that, during the earlier hours of the
+deluge had seemed to shiver for the immature
+leaf-buds, so unfit to endure the rough
+handling of the storm, now held out still,
+patient arms, the rising sap curdled within
+their hearts. The gutters were brimming
+streams, and the sidewalks were glazed
+with thin sheets of water.</p>
+
+<p>The block of buildings before which our
+story pauses, was, as a glance would have
+showed the initiated in the grades of Gotham
+life, highly respectable, even in the
+rain. On a clear day when the half-folded
+blinds revealed the lace, silken and damask
+draperies within, when young misses and
+masters&mdash;galvanized show-blocks of purple
+and fine linen, that would have passed
+muster behind the plate-glass of Genin or
+Madame Demorest&mdash;tripped after hoops or
+promenaded the smooth pavement; when
+pretty, jaunty one-horse carriages, and
+more pretentious equipages, each with a
+pair of prancing steeds, and two "outside
+passengers" in broadcloth and tinsel hatbands,
+received and discharged their loads
+before the brown-stone fronts&mdash;had the
+afore-mentioned spectator chanced to perambulate
+this not spacious street, he would
+have conceded to it some degree of the
+fashion claimed for it by its inhabitants.
+There were larger houses and wider pavements
+to be had for the same price a few
+blocks further on, in more than one direction,
+but these were unanimously voted
+"less eligible" and "deficient in style," in
+spite of the fact that as good and better
+materials were employed in their construction,
+and they were in all respects equal in
+external show and inside finish to those in
+this model quarter. "But our block has a
+certain air&mdash;well&mdash;I don't know what; but
+it is just the thing, you know, and so convenient!
+So near the avenue!" would be
+the concluding argument.</p>
+
+<p>The nameless, indescribable charm of the
+locality lay in the last clause. "Just step
+around the corner and you are in the avenue,"
+said the favored dwellers in this vicinity,
+as the climax in the description of
+their abode, and "that way fashion lies" to
+every right-minded New Yorker of the
+feminine gender.</p>
+
+<p>But the aristocratic quiet of the neighborhood,
+rendered oppressive and depressing
+by the gloom of the day, was disturbed
+by a discordant sound&mdash;a child's cry,
+and what was especially martyrizing to refined
+auriculars, the lament had the unmistakable
+plebeian accent. The passionate
+scream with which the pampered darling
+of the nursery resents interference with his
+rights and liberty of tyranny or the angry
+remonstrance of his injured playmates,
+would have been quite another species of
+natural eloquence, as regards both quality
+and force, from the weak, broken wail that
+sobbed along the wet streets. Moreover,
+what respectable child could be abroad on
+foot in this weather? So, the disrespectable
+juvenile pursued her melancholy way
+unnoticed and unquestioned until she
+reached the middle of the square. There
+a face appeared at a window in the second
+story of a house&mdash;which only differed from
+those to its right, left and opposite in the
+number upon the door&mdash;vanished and in
+half a minute more a young lady appeared
+in the sheltered vestibule.</p>
+
+<p>"What is the matter, little girl?"</p>
+
+<p>The tone was not winning, yet the sobs
+ceased, and the child looked up, as to a
+friendly questioner. She was about eleven
+years of age, if one had judged from her
+size and form; but her features were
+pinched into unnatural maturity. Her attire
+was wretched, at its best estate; now,
+soaked by the rain, the dingy hood drooped
+over her eyes; the dark cotton shawl retained
+not one of its original colors, and
+the muddy dress flapped and dripped about
+her ankles. Upon one foot she wore an old
+cloth gaiter, probably picked up from an
+ash heap; the remains of a more sorry
+slipper were tied around the other.</p>
+
+<p>"I am so cold and wet, and my matches is
+all sp'ilt," she answered in a dolorous tone,
+lifting the corner of a scrap of oil-cloth,
+which covered a basket, tucked for further
+security under her shawl.</p>
+
+<p>"No wonder! What else could you expect,
+if you would go out to sell them on a
+day like this? Go down into the area,
+there, and wait until I let you in."</p>
+
+<p>The precaution was a wise one. No servant
+in that well-regulated household would
+have admitted so questionable a figure as
+that which crept after their young mistress
+into the comfortable kitchen. The
+cook paused in the act of dissecting a chicken;
+the butler&mdash;on carriage days the footman&mdash;checked
+his flirtation with the plump
+and laughing chambermaid, to stare at the
+wretched apparition. The scrutiny of the
+first named functionary was speedily diverted
+to the dirty trail left by the intruder
+upon the carpet. A scowl puckered
+her red face, and her wrathful glance included<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_2" id="Page_2">[2]</a></span>
+both of the visitants as alike guilty
+of this desecration of her premises. The
+housemaid rolled up her eyes and clasped
+her hands in dumb show of horror and
+contempt to her gallant, who replied with
+a shrug and a grin. But not a word of remonstrance
+or inquiry was spoken. It was
+rather a habit of this young lady's to have
+her own way whenever she could, and that
+she was bent upon doing this now was
+clear.</p>
+
+<p>"Sit down," she said, bringing up a chair
+to the fire.</p>
+
+<p>The storm beaten wanderer obeyed, and
+eagerly held up her sodden feet to the red
+grate.</p>
+
+<p>"Have you no better shoes than those?"</p>
+
+<p>"No, ma'am."</p>
+
+<p>"Humph! Nor dress, nor shawl?"</p>
+
+<p>"No, ma'am."</p>
+
+<p>"Are you hungry?"</p>
+
+<p>A ray shot from the swollen eyes. "Yes,
+ma'am."</p>
+
+<p>The lady disappeared in the pantry and
+presently returned with five or six slices
+of bread and butter hastily cut and thickly
+spread, with cheese and cold meat between
+them.</p>
+
+<p>"Eat!" She thrust them into the match-girl's
+fingers. "Wait here, while I go and
+look for some clothes for you."</p>
+
+<p>As may be supposed, the insulted oracle
+of kitchen mysteries improved the time of
+the benefactress's absence by a very plain
+expression of her sentiments towards beggars
+in general, and this one in particular;
+which harangue was received with applause
+by her fellow-servants and perfect
+equanimity by its object. She munched her
+sandwiches with greedy satisfaction,
+watching, the while, the little clouds of
+steam that ascended from her heated toes.
+She was, to all appearances, neither a
+sensitive nor intelligent child, and had
+known too much of animal want and suffering
+to allow trifles to spoil her enjoyment
+of whatever physical comfort fell to
+her lot. Her mother at home could scold
+quite as violently as the cook was now doing,
+and she was more afraid of her anger,
+because she beat while she berated her.
+She was convinced that she stood in no
+such peril here, for her protectress was one
+in power.</p>
+
+<p>"Have you eaten enough?" said the clear,
+abrupt voice behind her, as she held two
+sandwiches in her fingers, without offering
+to put them to her lips.</p>
+
+<p>"Yes, ma'am. May I take 'em home?"</p>
+
+<p>"Certainly, if you like. Stand up and
+take off your shawl."</p>
+
+<p>She put around the forlorn figure a thick
+cloak, rusty and obsolete in fashion, but
+which was a warm and ample covering for
+the child, extending to the hem of her
+dress. The damp elf-locks were hidden by
+a knitted hood, and for the feet there were
+stockings and shoes and a pair of India-rubbers
+to protect these last from the water.</p>
+
+<p>"Now," said the Humane Society of One,
+when the refitting was at an end, "where
+do you live? Never mind&mdash;I don't care to
+know that yet! Here is a small umbrella&mdash;a
+good one&mdash;which belongs to me. I have
+no other for myself when I go out in bad
+weather. I mean to lend it to you, to-day,
+upon the condition that you will bring it
+back to-morrow, or the first clear day.
+Will you do it?"</p>
+
+<p>The promise was readily given.</p>
+
+<p>"Here's an old thing, Miss Sarah," ventured
+the butler, respectfully, producing a
+bulky, ragged cotton umbrella from a corner
+of the kitchen closet. "It's risky&mdash;trusting
+such as that with your nice silk
+one."</p>
+
+<p>"That will let in the rain, and it is entirely
+too large for her to carry. You understand,
+child? You are to bring this
+safely back to me, the first time the sun
+shines. Can you find your way to this
+house again?"</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, yes, ma'am, easy. Thank you,
+ma'am!"</p>
+
+<p>She dropped an awkward curtsey as Miss
+Sarah held open the door for her to pass,
+and went out into the rain&mdash;warm, dry and
+shielded against further damage from the
+storm.</p>
+
+<p>Unheeding the significant looks of the
+culinary cabinet, Sarah Hunt turned away
+and ascended the stairs. She was a striking-looking
+girl, although her features,
+when in repose, could claim neither beauty
+of form nor expression. Her complexion
+was dark and pale, with a slight tinge of
+olive, and her hair a deep brown, lips
+whose compression was habitual, an aquiline
+nose, and eyes that changed from
+dreamy hazel to midnight blackness at the
+call of mind or feeling, gave marked character
+to her countenance. Her sententious
+style of address to the child she had just
+dismissed was natural, and usual to her in
+ordinary conversation, as was also the
+gravity, verging upon sombreness, which
+had not once during the interview relaxed
+into a smile.</p>
+
+<p>The family sitting-room, her destination
+at present, and to which we will take the
+liberty of preceding her, was furnished
+elegantly and substantially, and there,
+leaning back in lounging chairs, were Miss
+Lucy Hunt, the eldest daughter of the
+household, and her bosom friend, Miss Victoria
+West. Each held and wielded a crochet
+needle, and had upon her lap a basket
+of many-hued balls of double or single
+zephyr worsted, or Shetland or Saxony
+wool, or whatever was the fashionable article
+for such pretty trifling at that date.
+Miss West had completed one-quarter of a
+shawl for herself, white and scarlet, and
+her friend had made precisely the same
+progress in the arduous manufacture of
+one whose centre was white and its border
+blue.</p>
+
+<p>"Yours will be the prettiest," remarked
+Lucy regretfully. "Blue never looks well
+in worsteds. Why, I can't say, I'm sure.
+It is too bad that I can wear so few other
+colors. But I am such a fright in pink or
+scarlet or any shade of red!"</p>
+
+<p>"As if you could be a fright in anything,"
+returned her companion, with seeming indignation.</p>
+
+<p>Lucy smiled, showing a set of faultless
+teeth that, to a stranger's first glance,
+would have appeared by far the most attractive
+point of her physiognomy. If
+closer examination discovered that her skin
+was pearly in whiteness and transparency,
+that her form was exquisite, with a sort of
+voluptuous grace; her hands worthy, in
+shape and hue, to become a sculptor's model;
+still, in the cold, unflattering light of
+this rainy afternoon her want of color, her
+light gray eyes, her yellow hair, drawn
+straight back from the broad, low brow,
+precluded the idea that she could ever,
+with all the accessories of artificial glare,
+dress and animation, be more than a merely
+pretty girl. Miss West knew better, and
+Lucy realized the power of her own charms
+with full and complete complacency. Secure
+in this pleasant self-appreciation, she
+could afford to be careless as to her every-day
+looks and home people. She saw and
+enjoyed the manifest surprise of those who,
+having seen her once in morning deshabille,
+beheld her afterwards in elaborate evening
+toilet. Then the abundant hair waved in
+golden ripples about the classic head, the
+most artfully simple of tasteful ornaments&mdash;a
+camellia, a rosebud, or a pearl hairpin,
+its sole adornment; her eyes, large, full and
+soft, were blue instead of gray, while the
+heat of the assembly-room, the excitement
+of the crowd, or the exultation of gratified
+vanity supplied the rounded cheek with
+rich bloom and dewy vermillion to the lips.
+But nature's rarest gift to her was her
+voice, a mellow contralto, whose skillful
+modulations stole refreshingly to the senses
+amid the sharp clash of strained and
+higher tones, the castanet-like jingle which
+most American belles ring unmercifully into
+the ears of their auditors. Lucy Hunt
+was not "a great talker," still less was she
+profound or brilliant when she did speak;
+yet she invariably conveyed the impression
+to the mind of a new acquaintance of a
+thoroughly cultivated woman, one whose
+acquirements were far beyond her modest
+exhibition of thought and sentiment. The
+most commonplace phrase came smoothly
+and roundly from her tongue, and he was
+censorious indeed who was willing to lose
+the pleasure afforded by its musical utterance
+in weighing its meaning. At school
+she had never been diligent, except in the
+study of music, and her painstaking in this
+respect was rewarded by the reputation,
+justly earned, of being the finest vocalist
+in her circle of associates. In society she
+shone as a rising star of the first magnitude;
+at home she was happy, cheerful and
+indolently amiable. Why should she be
+otherwise? From her babyhood she had
+been petted and admired by her family,
+and the world&mdash;her world&mdash;was as ready
+with its meed of the adulation which was
+her element.</p>
+
+<p>There were, besides the two sisters already
+introduced to the reader, three other
+children in the Hunt household&mdash;a couple of
+sturdy lads, twelve and fourteen years of
+age, and little Jeannie, a delicate child of
+six, whom Lucy caressed with pet titles
+and sugar-plums of flattery, and Sarah
+served in secret and idolatrous fondness.
+This family it was Mrs. Hunt's care and
+pride to rear and maintain, not only in
+comfort, but apparent luxury, upon the
+salary which her husband received as
+cashier of a prominent city bank, an income
+sufficient to support them in modest
+elegance, but which few besides Mrs. Hunt
+could have stretched to cover the expense
+of their ostensible style of living. But this
+notable manager had learned economy in
+excellent schools, primarily as a country
+girl, whose holiday finery was purchased
+with the proceeds of her own butter-making
+and poultry-yard; then as the brisk,
+lively wife of the young clerk, whose slender
+salary had, up to the time of his marriage,
+barely sufficed to pay for his own
+board and clothes, and whose only vested
+capital was his pen, his good character
+and perfect knowledge of book-keeping.
+But if his help-meet was a clever housewife,
+she was likewise ambitious. With
+the exception of the sum requisite for the
+yearly payment of the premium upon Mr.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_3" id="Page_3">[3]</a></span>
+Hunt's life insurance policy, their annual
+expenses devoured every cent of their receipts.
+Indeed, it was currently believed
+among outsiders that they had other resources
+than the cashier's wages, and Mrs.
+Hunt indirectly encouraged the report that
+she held property in her own right. They
+lived "as their neighbors did," as "everybody
+in their position in society was bound
+to do," and "everybody" else was too intent
+upon his personal affairs, too busy
+with his private train of plans and operations
+to examine closely the cogs and levers
+and boilers of the locomotive Hunt. If
+it went ahead, and kept upon the track
+assigned it, was always "up to time," and
+avoided unpleasant collisions, it was nobody's
+business how the steam was gotten
+up.</p>
+
+<p>Every human plant of note has its parasite,
+and Miss Lucy Hunt was not without
+hers. There existed no reason in the
+outward circumstances of the two girls
+why Miss Hunt should not court Miss West
+rather than Miss West toady Miss Hunt.
+In a business&mdash;that is, a pecuniary&mdash;point
+of view, the former appeared the more
+likely state of the case, inasmuch as Victoria's
+father was a stock-broker of reputed
+wealth, and with a probable millionaireship
+in prospective, if his future good
+fortune equalled his past, while Mr. Hunt,
+as has been stated, depended entirely upon
+a certain and not an extravagant stipend.
+But the girls became intimate at school,
+"came out" the same winter at the same
+party, where Lucy created a "sensation,"
+and Victoria would have been overlooked
+but for the sentimental connection between
+the debutantes. Since then, although the
+confidante would have scouted the imputation
+of interested motives with virtuous
+indignation of wounded affection, she had
+nevertheless "made a good thing of it," as
+her respected father would have phrased it,
+by playing hanger-on, second fiddle, and
+trumpeter general to the belle.</p>
+
+<p>"As if you could be a fright in anything,"
+she had said, naturally and perhaps
+sincerely.</p>
+
+<p>Lucy's smile was succeeded by a serious
+look. "I am sadly tempted sometimes!
+Those lovely peach-blossom hats that you
+and Sarah wore this past winter were absolute
+trials to my sense of right. And no
+longer ago than Mrs. Crossman's party I
+was guilty of the sin of coveting the complexion
+that enabled Maria Johnston to
+wear that sweet rose-colored silk, with the
+lace skirt looped with rosebuds."</p>
+
+<p>"You envy Maria Johnston's complexion?
+Why don't you go further and fall in love
+with her small eyes and pug nose?" inquired
+Victoria, severely ironical. "I have
+heard that people were never contented
+with their own gifts, but such a case of
+blindness as this has never before come
+under my observation."</p>
+
+<p>"No, no! I am not quite so humble with
+regard to my personal appearance as you
+would make out. Yet"&mdash;and the plaintive
+voice might have been the murmur of a
+grieving angel&mdash;"I think that there are
+compensations in the lot of plain people
+that we know nothing about. They escape
+the censure and unkind remarks that uncharitable
+and envious women heap upon
+those who happen to be attractive. Now,
+there is Sarah, who never cares a button
+about her looks, so long as her hair is
+smooth and her dress clean and whole.
+She hates parties and is glad of any excuse<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_4" id="Page_4">[4]</a></span>
+to stay out of the parlor when gentlemen
+call. Give her her books and that
+'snuggery,' as she calls it, of a room upstairs,
+and she is happier than if she were
+in the gayest company in the world. Who
+criticises her? Nobody is jealous of her
+face or manners or conversation. And she
+would not mind it if they were."</p>
+
+<p>"She has a more independent nature than
+yours, my dear. I, for one, am rejoiced
+that you two are unlike. I could not endure
+to lose my darling friend, and somehow
+I never could understand Sarah; never
+could get near to her, you know."</p>
+
+<p>"I do not wonder at that. It is just so
+with me, sisters though we are. However,
+Sarah means well, if her manner is blunt
+and sometimes cold."</p>
+
+<p>The entrance of the person under discussion
+checked the conversation at this point,
+and both young ladies began to count their
+stitches aloud, to avoid the appearance of
+the foolish embarrassment that ever overtakes
+a brace of gossips at being thus interrupted.</p>
+
+<p>Sarah's work lay on her stand near the
+window, where she had thrown it when the
+crying child attracted her notice, and she
+resumed it now. It was a dress for Jeannie.
+It was a rare occurrence for the second
+sister to fashion anything so pretty
+and gay for her own wear.</p>
+
+<p>"Have you taken to fancy work at last?"
+asked Victoria, seeing that the unmade
+skirt was stamped with a rich, heavy pattern
+for embroidery.</p>
+
+<p>"No!" Sarah did not affect her sister's
+friend, and did not trouble herself to disguise
+her feelings towards her.</p>
+
+<p>Lucy explained: "She is making it for
+Jeannie. She does everything for that
+child."</p>
+
+<p>"You are very sisterly and kind, I am
+sure," Victoria continued, patronizingly.
+"You must quite despise Lucy and myself
+for thinking of and doing so much for ourselves,
+while you are such a pattern of self-denial."</p>
+
+<p>A blaze shot up in Sarah's eye; then she
+said, coldly: "I am not self-denying. Have
+I ever found fault with you or Lucy for
+doing as you like?"</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, no, my dear. But you take no interest
+in what we enjoy. I dare say, now,
+you would think it a dull business to work
+day after day for three or four weeks together,
+crocheting a shawl which may go
+out of fashion before one has a chance to
+sport it at a watering-place."</p>
+
+<p>"I certainly should!" The curl of the
+thin upper lip would have answered for
+her had she not spoken.</p>
+
+<p>"And you hate the very sight of shellwork
+and cone-frames, and Grecian painting,
+and all such vanities?"</p>
+
+<p>"If I must speak the truth, I do&mdash;most
+heartily."</p>
+
+<p>Victoria was not easily turned from her
+purpose.</p>
+
+<p>"Come, Sarah! Tell us what you would
+have us, poor trifling, silly things, do to
+kill the time."</p>
+
+<p>"If you must be a murderer, do it in your
+own way. I have nothing to say in the
+matter."</p>
+
+<p>"Do you mean that time never hangs
+upon your hands&mdash;that you are never ennuyee&mdash;blasee?"</p>
+
+<p>"Speak English, and I will answer you."</p>
+
+<p>"I want to know," said the persevering
+tormentor, "if the hum-drum books upstairs,
+your paint-box and your easel are
+such good company that you are contented
+and happy always when you are with them&mdash;if
+you never get cross with yourself and
+everybody else, and wonder what you were
+put into the world for, and why the world
+itself was made, and wish that you could
+sleep until doomsday. Do you ever feel
+like this?"</p>
+
+<p>Sarah lifted her eyes with a wondering,
+incredulous stare at the flippant inquisitor.</p>
+
+<p>"I have felt thus, but I did not suppose
+that you had."</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, I have a 'blue' turn now and then,
+but the disease is always more dangerous
+with girls of your sort&mdash;the reading, thinking,
+strong-minded kind. And the older
+you grow, the worse you will get. I haven't
+as much book knowledge as you have,
+but I know more of the world we live in.
+Take my advice and settle down to woman's
+right sphere. Drive away the vapors
+with beaux and fancy-work now. By-and-by
+a husband and an establishment will
+give you something else to think about."</p>
+
+<p>Sarah would have replied, but Lucy
+broke in with a laugh, light and sweet.</p>
+
+<p>"You two are always at cross-questions!
+Why can't you be satisfied to let one another
+alone? Sarah and I never quarrel,
+Vic.. We agree to disagree. She gives me
+my way, and I don't meddle with her. If
+she likes the blues (they say some people
+enjoy them), where's the harm of her having
+them? They never come near me. If
+I get stupid, I go to bed and sleep it off.
+Don't you think I have done ten rows
+since breakfast? What a godsend a rainy
+day is, when one has a fascinating piece of
+work on hand!"</p>
+
+<p>Too proud to seem to abandon the field,
+Sarah sat for half an hour longer, stitching
+steadily away at the complicated tracery
+upon the ground to be worked; then,
+as the dimmer daylight caused the others
+to draw near to the windows, she pushed
+aside her table and put by her sewing.</p>
+
+<p>"Don't let us drive you away!" said Victoria's
+mock-polite tones, and Lucy added,
+kindly, "We do not mean to disturb
+you, Sarah, dear."</p>
+
+<p>"You do not disturb me!" was the reply
+to the latter. The other had neither glance
+nor word.</p>
+
+<p>Up another flight she mounted to a room,
+much smaller than that she had left and
+far plainer in its appointments. The higher
+one went in Mrs. Hunt's house the less
+splendid everything became. In the state
+spare chamber&mdash;a story below&mdash;nothing of
+comfort and luxury was wanting, from the
+carved rosewood bedstead, with the regal-looking
+canopy overshadowing its pillows,
+down to the Bohemian and cut-glass scent
+bottles upon the marble of the dressing-cabinet.
+Sarah's carpet was common ingrain,
+neither pretty nor new; a cottage
+bedstead of painted wood; bureau and
+washstand of the same material; two
+chairs and a small table were all the furniture
+her mother adjudged needful. To
+these the girl had added, from her pittance
+of pocket-money, a set of hanging bookshelves,
+a portable desk, an easel and two
+or three good engravings that adorned the
+walls.</p>
+
+<p>She locked the door after her, with a
+kind of angry satisfaction in her face, and
+going straight to the window leaned upon
+the sash and looked down into the flooded
+street. Her eyes were dry, but there was
+a heaving in her throat, a tightening of the
+muscles about the mouth that would have
+made most women weep for very relief.
+Sarah Hunt would have scorned the ease
+purchased by such weakness. She did not
+despise the sad loneliness that girt her
+around, any more than the captive warrior
+does his cell of iron or stone, but she held
+that it would be a cowardly succumbing to
+Fate to wound herself by dashing against
+the grim walls, or bring out their sleeping
+echoes by womanish wailings. So, presently,
+her throat ached and throbbed no longer,
+the rigid muscles compressed the lips
+no more than was their wont, the hands
+loosened their vise-like grasp of one another&mdash;the
+brain was free to think.</p>
+
+<p>The rain fell still with a solemn stateliness
+that befitted the coming twilight. It
+was a silent storm for one so heavy. The
+faint hum of the city, the tinkle of the
+car-bell, three blocks off, arose to her window
+above its plashing fall upon the pavement,
+and the trickle of the drops from
+sash to sill. A stream of light from the
+lamp-post at the corner flashed athwart
+the sidewalk, glittered upon the swollen
+gutter, made gold and silver blocks of the
+paving stones. As if they had waited for
+this signal, other lights now shone out
+from the windows across the way, and
+from time to time a broad, transient gleam
+from opening doors told of the return of
+fathers, brothers, husbands from their
+day's employment.</p>
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">"In happy homes he sees the light."<br /></span>
+</div></div>
+
+<p>What was there in the line that should
+make the watcher catch her breath in sudden
+pain and lay her hand, with stifled
+moan, over her heart, as she repeated it
+aloud?</p>
+
+<p>Witness with me, ye maternal Hunts,
+who read this page&mdash;you, the careful and
+solicitous about many things&mdash;in nothing
+more ambitious than for the advancement
+and success in life of your offspring&mdash;add
+your testimony to mine that this girl had
+all that was desirable for one of her age
+and in her circumstances. A house as
+handsome as her neighbors, an education
+unsurpassed by any of her late school-fellows,
+a "position in society;" a reasonable
+share of good looks, which only required
+care and cultivation on her part to become
+really distingue; indulgent parents and
+peaceably inclined brothers and sisters&mdash;read
+the list, and solve me, if you can, the
+enigma of this perturbed spirit&mdash;this hungering
+and thirsting after contraband or
+unattainable pleasures.</p>
+
+<p>"Some girls will do so!" Mrs. Hunt assured
+her husband when he "thought that
+Sarah did not seem so happy as Lucy. He
+hoped nothing ailed the child. Perhaps the
+doctor had better drop in to see her. Could
+she be fretting for anything, or had her
+feelings been hurt?"</p>
+
+<p>"Bless your soul, Mr. H. There's nothing
+the matter with her. She always was kind
+o' queer!" (Mrs. Hunt did not use her
+company grammar every day.) "And she's
+jest eighteen year old. That's the whole
+of it! She'll come 'round in good time,
+'specially if Lucy should marry off pretty
+soon. When Sarah is 'Miss Hunt,' she'll
+be as crazy for beaux and company and as
+ready to jump at a prime offer as any of
+'em. I know girls' ways!"</p>
+
+<p>Nor am I prepared to say that Sarah, as
+she quitted her look-out at the high window
+at the sound of the dinner bell, could
+have given a more satisfactory reason for
+her discontent and want of spirits.</p>
+
+<hr class="chap" />
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_5" id="Page_5">[5]</a></span></p>
+
+
+
+
+<h2>CHAPTER II.</h2>
+
+
+<p>Mrs. Hunt's china, like her grammar, was
+of two sorts. When her duty to "society"
+or the necessity of circumstances forced
+her to be hospitable, she "did the thing"
+well. At a notice of moderate length she
+could get up a handsome, if not a bountiful,
+entertainment, to which no man need
+have been ashamed to seat his friends,
+and when the occasion warranted the display
+she grudged not the "other" china,
+the other silver, nor the other table-linen.</p>
+
+<p>She did, however, set her face, like a
+broad flint, against the irregularity of inviting
+chance visitors to partake of the
+family bread and salt. Intimate as Victoria
+West was with Lucy, she met only a
+civil show of regretful acquiescence in her
+proposal to go home as the dinner hour
+approached, and Robbie or Richard Hunt
+was promptly offered to escort her to her
+abode upon the next block. If she remained
+to luncheon, as she would do occasionally,
+Lucy, in her hearing, begged her
+mother to excuse them from going down,
+and to send up two cups of tea and a few
+sandwiches to the sitting-room. This slight
+repast was served by the butler upon a
+neat little tray, in a tete-a-tete service&mdash;a
+Christmas gift to Lucy "from her ever-loving
+Victoria," and sentimentally dedicated
+to the use of the pair of adopted sisters.</p>
+
+<p>Therefore, Sarah was not surprised to
+find Victoria gone, despite the storm, when
+she entered the dining-room. An immense
+crumb-cloth covered the carpet; a row of
+shrouded chairs, packed elbow to elbow,
+stood against the further end of the apartment,
+and a set of very ordinary ones were
+around the table. The cloth was of whity-brown
+material, and the dishes a motley
+collection of halt and maimed&mdash;for all Mrs.
+Hunt's vigilance could not make servants
+miraculously careful. There was no propriety,
+however, according to her system
+of economy, in condemning a plate or cup
+as past service because it had come off
+second best, to the extent of a crack or
+nick or an amputated handle, in an encounter
+with some other member of the
+crockery tribe. "While there is life there
+is hope," was, in these cases, paraphrased
+by her to the effect that while a utensil
+would hold water it was too good to be
+thrown away.</p>
+
+<p>It was not a sumptuous repast to which
+Sarah sat down after she had placed Jeannie
+in her high chair and tied the great
+gingham bib around her neck. On the contrary,
+it came near being a scant provision
+for the healthy appetites of seven people.
+Before Mr. Hunt, a mild, quiet little
+man, was a dish of stew, which was, in its
+peculiar line, a thing&mdash;not of beauty, but
+wonder.</p>
+
+<p>Only a few days since, as I stood near
+the stall of a poultry vender in market, a
+lady inquired for chickens.</p>
+
+<p>"Yes, ma'am. Roasting size, ma'am?"</p>
+
+<p>"No. I want them for a fricassee."</p>
+
+<p>"Ah"&mdash;with a look of shrewd intelligence.
+"Then, ma'am, I take it, you don't care to
+have 'em overly tender. Most ladies prefers
+the old ones for fricassee. They come
+cheaper and very often bile tender."</p>
+
+<p>"Thank you," was the amused rejoinder.
+"The difference in the price is no consideration
+where the safety of our teeth is concerned."</p>
+
+<p>Mrs. Hunt suffered not these scruples to<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_6" id="Page_6">[6]</a></span>
+hinder her negotiations with knowing poultry
+merchants. A cent less per pound would
+be three cents saved upon the chicken, and
+three cents would buy enough turnips for
+dinner. It is an ignorant housekeeper who
+needs to be informed that stewed chicken
+"goes further" than the same fowl made
+into any other savory combination. Mrs.
+Hunt's stews were concocted after a recipe
+of her own invention. Imprimis, one
+chicken, weight varying from two and a
+half to three pounds; salt pork, a quarter
+of a pound; gravy abundant; dumplings innumerable.
+It was all "stew," and if Jeannie's
+share was but a bare drumstick,
+swimming in gravy and buried in boiled
+dough, there was the chicken flavor
+through the portion.</p>
+
+<p>For classic antecedent the reader is referred
+to the fable of the rose-scented clay.</p>
+
+<p>To leave the principal dish, which justice
+to Mrs. Hunt's genius would not permit me
+to pass with briefer mention, there were,
+besides, potatoes, served whole (mashed
+ones required butter and cream), turnips
+and bread, and Mrs. Hunt presided over a
+shallow platter of pork and beans. What
+was left of that dish would be warmed
+over to piece out breakfast next morning.
+The children behaved well, and the most
+minute by-law of table etiquette was observed
+with a strictness that imparted an
+air of ceremonious restraint to the meal.
+If Mrs. Hunt's young people were not in
+time finished ladies and gentlemen, it was
+not her fault, nor was it for the lack of
+drilling.</p>
+
+<p>"Do as I tell you; not as I do," were her
+orders in these matters. Since Lucy had
+completed her education, the mother added,
+"Look at your sister; she is never awkward."
+This was true. Lucy was born the
+fine lady. Refinement of manner and grace
+of movement, an instinctive avoidance of
+whatever looked common or underbred
+were a part of her nature. Only the usage
+of years had accustomed her to her mother's
+somewhat "fussy" ways.</p>
+
+<p>Had she met her in company as Mrs.
+Anybody else, she would have yielded her
+the right of way with a feeling of amazement
+and amiable pity that one who meant
+so well should so often overdo the thing
+she aimed to accomplish easily and gracefully.
+Following out her excellent system
+of training, the worthy dame demanded as
+diligent and alert watching from her butler
+as if she were having a dinner party.
+The eggless rice pudding was brought on
+with a state that was absolutely ludicrous;
+but the family were used to the unsubstantial
+show and took it as a matter of course.</p>
+
+<p>After the meal was over Mrs. Hunt withdrew
+to the kitchen for a short conference
+with the cook and a sharp glance through
+the closets. It was impossible that the abstraction
+of six slices of bread from the
+baking of the preceding day, three thick
+pieces of cheese and more than half of the
+cold meat she had decided would, in the
+form of hash, supply the other piece of the
+breakfast at which the beans were to assist,
+should escape her notice.</p>
+
+<p>Mr. Hunt was reading the evening paper
+by the droplight in the sitting-room, Lucy
+was busy with her shawl, and Sarah told a
+simple tale in a low voice to Jeannie as she
+leaned upon her lap, when the wife and
+mother entered, with something like a
+bluster. All present looked up, and each
+one remarked the cloud upon her brow.</p>
+
+<p>"What is the matter, mother?" said Mr.
+Hunt, in a tone not free from alarm.</p>
+
+<p>"I am worried! That's the whole of it. I
+am downright vexed with you, Sarah, and
+surprised, too! What upon earth possessed
+you, child, to take that beggar into my
+kitchen to-day? After all I have told you
+and tried to learn you about these shameful
+impostors! I declare I was beat out
+when I heard it. And to throw away provisions
+and clothes upon such a brat!"</p>
+
+<p>Lucy opened her great eyes at her sister,
+and Mr. Hunt looked perplexedly towards
+his favorite, for at heart he was partial to
+his second child.</p>
+
+<p>"I took the poor creature to the fire,
+mother, because she was wet and cold; I
+fed her because she was hungry; I gave
+her some old, warm clothes of mine because
+hers were thin and soaked with
+rain."</p>
+
+<p>"Poor little girl!" murmured Jeannie
+compassionately.</p>
+
+<p>Sarah's hand closed instantly over the
+little fingers. The simple-hearted babe understood
+and sympathized with her motive
+and act better than did her wiser elders.</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, I have no doubt she told a pitiful
+story, and shed enough tears to wet her
+through, if the rain had not done it already.
+If you listen to what these
+wretches say, and undertake to relieve
+their wants, you will soon have not a dress
+to your back nor a house over your head.
+Why didn't you send her to some society
+for the relief of the poor?"</p>
+
+<p>"I did not know where to find one,
+ma'am."</p>
+
+<p>This plain truth, respectfully uttered,
+confounded Mrs. Hunt for a second.</p>
+
+<p>"Mrs. James is one of the managers in a
+benevolent association," she said, recovering
+herself. "You had ought to have
+given your beggar her address."</p>
+
+<p>"Even if I had known that fact, mother,
+the girl would have been obliged to walk
+half a mile in the storm to find this one
+manager. What do you suppose Mrs.
+James would have done for her that was
+not in my power to perform?"</p>
+
+<p>"She would have asked the child whereabouts
+she lived, and to-morrow she would
+have gone to hunt her up. If she found
+all as she had been told, which is not likely&mdash;these
+creatures don't give a right direction
+once in ten times&mdash;why, she would
+have brought the case before the board at
+their next meeting, and they would help
+them, if neither of her parents was a
+drinking character."</p>
+
+<p>"God help the poor!" ejaculated Sarah,
+energetically. "God help the poor, if this
+is man's style of relieving his starving
+brother! Mother, do you think that hunger
+pinches any the less when the famished
+being is told that next week or next month
+may bring him one good meal? Will the
+promise of a bushel of coal or a blanket,
+to be given ten days hence, warm the
+limbs that are freezing to-night? Is present
+help for present need, then always unsafe,
+imprudent, insane?"</p>
+
+<p>"That all sounds very fine, my dear."
+Mrs. Hunt grew cool as her daughter
+waxed warm. "But when you have seen as
+much of the world as I have you will understand
+how necessary it is to be careful
+about believing all that we hear. Another
+thing you must not forget, and that is that
+we are not able to give freely, no matter
+how much disposed we may be to do so.
+It's pretty hard for a generous person to
+say 'No,' but it can't be helped. People in
+our circumstances must learn this lesson."
+Mrs. Hunt sighed at thought of the curb
+put upon her benevolent desires by bitter
+necessity. "And, after all, very few&mdash;you've
+no idea how few&mdash;of these pretended
+sufferers are really in want."</p>
+
+<p>This preluded a recital of sundry barefaced
+impositions and successful swindles
+practiced upon herself and acquaintances,
+to which Mr. Hunt subjoined certain of
+his personal experiences, all tending to establish
+the principle that in a vast majority
+of cases of seeming destitution the supplicant
+was an accomplished rogue and the
+giver of alms the victim of his own soft
+heart and a villain's wiles. Jeannie drank
+in every syllable, until her ideal beggar
+quite equalled the ogre who would have
+made a light supper off of Hop-o'-my-Thumb
+and brothers.</p>
+
+<p>"You gave this match-girl no money, I
+hope?" said Mrs. Hunt, at length.</p>
+
+<p>"I did not, madam. I had none to give
+her." Impelled by her straightforward
+sense of honesty that would not allow her
+to receive commendation for prudence she
+had not shown, she said, bravely: "But I
+lent her my umbrella upon her promise to
+return it to-morrow."</p>
+
+<p>"Well!"</p>
+
+<p>Mrs. Hunt dropped her hands in her lap,
+and stared in speechless dismay at her
+daughter. Even her husband felt it his
+duty to express his disapprobation.</p>
+
+<p>"That was very unwise, my daughter.
+You will never see it again."</p>
+
+<p>"I think differently, father."</p>
+
+<p>"You are too easily imposed upon, Sarah.
+There is not the least probability that your
+property will be returned. Was it a good
+umbrella?"</p>
+
+<p>"It was the one I always use."</p>
+
+<p>"Black silk, the best make, with a carved
+ivory handle&mdash;cost six dollars a month
+ago!" gasped Mrs. Hunt. "I never heard
+of such a piece of shameful imprudence in
+all my born days. And I shouldn't wonder
+if you never once thought to ask her where
+she lived, that you might send a police
+officer after it, if the little thief didn't bring
+it back to you?"</p>
+
+<p>"I did think of it." Sarah paused, then
+forced out the confession she foresaw
+would subject her to the charge of yet
+more ridiculous folly. "I did think of it,
+but concluded to throw the girl upon her
+honor, not to suggest the theft to her by
+insinuating a doubt of her integrity."</p>
+
+<p>Mr. Hunt was annoyed with and sorry
+for the culprit, yet he could not help
+smiling at this high-flown generosity of
+confidence. "You are certainly the most
+unsophisticated girl of your age I ever met
+with, my daughter. I shall not mind the
+loss of the umbrella if it prove to be the
+means of giving you a lesson in human
+nature. In this world, dear, it will not do
+to wear your heart upon your sleeve.
+Never believe a pretty story until you have
+had the opportunity to ascertain for yourself
+whether it is true or false." And with
+these titbits of wordly wisdom, the cashier
+picked up his paper.</p>
+
+<p>"Six dollars! I declare I don't know
+what to say to you, Sarah!" persisted the
+ruffled mother. "You cannot expect me
+to buy you another umbrella this season.
+You must give up your walks in damp
+weather after this. I can't say that I'm
+very sorry for that, though. I never did<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_7" id="Page_7">[7]</a></span>
+fancy your traipsing off two or three miles,
+rain or shine, like a sewing girl."</p>
+
+<p>"Very well, madam!"</p>
+
+<p>But, steadied by pride as was her voice,
+her heart sank at the possibility of resigning
+the exercise upon which she
+deemed that so much of her health, physical
+and mental, depended. These long,
+solitary walks were one of the un-American
+habits that earned for Sarah Hunt
+the reputation of eccentricity. They were
+usually taken immediately after breakfast,
+and few in the neighborhood who were
+abroad or happened to look out at that
+hour, were not familiar with the straight,
+proud figure, habited in its walking dress
+of gray and black, stout boots, and gray
+hat with black plume. It was a uniform
+selected by herself, and which her mother
+permitted her to assume, because it
+"looked genteel," and became the wearer.
+Especially did she enjoy these tramps
+when the threatening storm, in its early
+stages, kept others of her class and sex
+at home. The untamed spirit found a
+fierce pleasure in wrestling with the wind;
+the hail that ushered in the snow-storm,
+as it beat in her face, called up lustre
+to the eye and warm color to the cheek.
+To a soul sickening of the glare and perfume
+of the artificial life to which she
+was confined, the roughest and wildest
+aspects of nature were a welcome change.</p>
+
+<p>I remember laughing heartily, as I doubt
+not you did also, dear reader, if you saw
+it, at a cut which appeared several years
+ago in the Punch department of "Harper's
+Magazine." A "wee toddler," perhaps four
+years old, with a most lack-a-daisical expression
+upon her chubby visage, accosts
+her grandmother after this fashion: "I
+am tired of life, grandmamma! The world
+is hollow, and my doll is stuffed with
+sawdust, and if you please, ma'am, I
+should like to go to a nunnery!"</p>
+
+<p>Yet, that there are natures upon which
+the feeling of emptiness and longing herein
+burlesqued seizes in mere babyhood is
+sadly true. And what wonder? From their
+cradles, hundreds of children, in our so-called
+better classes, are fed upon husks.
+A superficial education, in which all that is
+not showy accomplishment is so dry and
+uninviting that the student has little disposition
+to seek further for the rich kernel,
+the strong meat of knowledge, is the preparatory
+course to a premature introduction
+into the world, to many the only
+phase of life they are permitted to see, a
+scene where all is flash and froth, empty
+bubbles of prizes, chased by men and
+women with empty heads, and oh, how
+often empty, aching hearts! Outside principles,
+outside affections, outside smiles,
+and most pitiable of all, outside piety!
+Penury of heart and stomach at home;
+abroad a parade of reckless extravagance
+and ostentatious profession of fine feeling
+and liberal sentiments!</p>
+
+<p>"Woe," cried the preacher, "to them
+that make haste to be rich!" If he had
+lived in our day, in what biting terms of
+reprobation and contempt would he have
+declaimed against the insane ambition of
+those who forego the solid comforts of
+judicious expenditure of a moderate income
+would afford; spurn the holy quiet
+of domestic joys&mdash;neglect soul with heart
+culture&mdash;in their haste to seem rich, when
+Providence has seen that wealth is not to
+be desired for them! Out upon the disgusting,
+indecent race and scramble! The<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_8" id="Page_8">[8]</a></span>
+worship of the golden calf is bad enough,
+but when this bestial idolatry rises to such
+a pitch of fanaticism, that in thousands
+of households copies in pinchbeck and
+plated-ware are set up and served, the
+spectacle is too monstrous in its abomination!
+This it is that crowds our counting-rooms
+with bankrupts and our state-prisons
+with defaulters; that is fast turning
+our ball-rooms and other places of
+fashionable rendezvous into vile caricatures
+of foreign courts, foreign manners,
+and foreign vices; while the people we
+ape&mdash;our chosen models and exemplars&mdash;hold
+their side in inextinguishable laughter
+at the grave absurdity of our laborious
+imitation. It is no cause for marvel that,
+in just retribution, there should be sent
+a panic-earthquake, every three years, to
+shake men to their senses.</p>
+
+<p>Such was the atmosphere in which Sarah
+Hunt had always lived. In the code subscribed
+to by her mother, and the many
+who lived and felt and panted and pushed
+as she did for social distinction, nothing
+was of real, absolute value except the
+hard cash. Gold and silver were facts.
+All things else were comparative in use
+and worth. The garment which, last winter,
+no lady felt dressed without, was an
+obsolete horror this season. The pattern
+of curtains and furniture that nearly
+drove the fortunate purchaser wild with
+delight, three years back, was now only
+fit for the auction room. In vain might
+the poor depleted husband plead for and
+extol their beauties. The fiat of fashion
+had gone forth, and his better half seasoned
+his food with lamentations, and
+moistened her pillow with tears until she
+carried her point. We have intimated that
+Sarah was a peculiar girl. Whence she
+derived her vigorous intellect; her strong,
+original turn of thought; her deep heart,
+was a puzzle to those who knew her parents.
+The mother was energetic, the
+father sensible, but both were commonplace,
+and followed, like industrious puppets,
+in the wake of others. They were
+pleased that Sarah brought home all the
+prizes offered at school, and both considered
+that she gained a right, by these
+victories, to pursue her studies at home,
+provided she did not obtrude her singular
+views and tastes upon other people. Mrs.
+Hunt sighed, frequently and loudly, in her
+presence, that her genius had not been
+for shell, or bead, or worsted work, instead
+of for reading volumes, that did not
+even decorate the show book-case in the
+library.</p>
+
+<p>"If you must have so many books, why
+don't you pick out them with the tasty
+bindings?" she had asked her daughter
+more than once. "And I wish you would
+paint some bright, lively pictures, that
+would look handsome on the walls, instead
+of those queer men and women and cloudy
+things you have got upstairs. I'd have
+'em framed right away, and be real proud
+to tell who done them."</p>
+
+<p>Sarah remained proof against such hints
+and temptation, and, shrinking more and
+more from the uncongenial whirl around
+her, she turned her eager, restless spirit into
+her secret, inner life, where, at times, it was
+flattered into content by the idealities upon
+which it was fed; at others, ramped and
+raved, like any other chained wild thing.
+The sweetest drop of pleasure she had
+tasted for many a day was the thrill she
+experienced when the forlorn object she
+had rescued from the power of the storm
+stood before her, decently and comfortably
+clad. The rash confidence she had reposed
+in so suspicious a stranger was the
+outgoing of a heart too noble and true in
+every impulse to pause, for a moment, to
+speculate upon the chances of another's
+good or bad faith. The great world of the
+confessedly poor was an unknown field to
+her&mdash;one she longed to explore. Her footsteps
+loitered more often near the entrance
+of some narrow, reeking street or
+alley, down which she had promised her
+mother not to go, than on the spacious
+pave, where over-dressed women and foppish
+men halted at, and hung around bewitching
+shop windows. She wondered
+how such throngs of breathing beings contrived
+to exist in those fetid, cramped
+quarters; how they lived, spoke, acted,
+felt. The great tie of human brotherhood
+became daily more tense, as she pondered
+these things in her heart.</p>
+
+<p>On this particular day, as she sat, silent
+and thoughtful, at her needle, the
+chit-chat of her companions less heeded
+than the continual dropping of the rain
+without, the wail of the shivering wanderer
+caused a painful vibration through
+every nerve. The deed was done! the experiment
+was tried. She was ashamed that
+an event so trivial held her eyes waking,
+far into the night. At least, she said to
+herself, she would not be without a lesson
+of some kind; would learn whether deceit
+and falsehood prevailed in the lowest, as
+well as the higher ranks of society. If,
+as she still strove to believe would be the
+case, the child returned the borrowed
+property, she would make use of her, as
+the means of entering upon a new sphere
+of research and action. After so complete
+a refutation of her theories respecting the
+utter corruption of all people, who had
+not enough to eat and to wear, her mother
+could not withhold her consent to her
+petition that she might become a lay-missionary&mdash;a
+present relief committee to
+a small portion of the suffering, toiling,
+ill-paid masses. She would then have a
+work to do&mdash;something to call out energy
+and engage feeling in healthy exercise&mdash;and
+soothed by the romantic vision, she
+fell asleep with a smile upon her lips.</p>
+
+<p>The morning dawned between breaking
+clouds, that soon left the sky clear and
+bright. All through the day Sarah watched
+for her visitor of the preceding day&mdash;watched
+with nervousness she could not
+wholly conceal, from morn to night, for
+two, three days&mdash;for a week. Then she
+looked no longer while at home; her question,
+at entering the house, after a drive
+or walk, ceased to be, "Has any thing
+been left for me?" So palpable was her
+disappointment that her father forbore to
+make any allusion to her loss, and Lucy,
+albeit she was somewhat obtuse to the
+finer points of her sister's character, good-naturedly
+interposed to change the subject
+when her mother sought to improve
+the incident to her daughter's edification
+and future profit. Mr. Hunt was right in
+supposing that the "unsophisticated girl"
+had learned something. Whether she were
+happier or better for the lesson thus acquired
+was another thing.</p>
+
+<p>Once again Sarah had an opportunity for
+speech with her delinquent protege. Two
+months later she was passing through a
+by-street in a mean neighborhood, very
+far up town, in her morning ramble, when
+her progress was arrested, for an instant,
+by two boys, who ran out of an alley
+across the walk. One overtook the other
+just in front of the lady, and catching
+him by his ragged collar, threw him down.</p>
+
+<p>"That's right! beat him well! I'll help!"
+screeched a girl, rushing out of the court
+whence they had come.</p>
+
+<p>Grinning with delight, she flung herself
+upon the prostrate form and commenced
+a vigorous assault, accompanied by language
+alike foul and profane.</p>
+
+<p>Sarah recognized her instantly, and while
+she paused in mingled amazement and
+anger, the child looked up and saw her.
+In a twinkling she relinquished her grip
+of the boy's hair&mdash;jumped up and sped
+back into the dirty alley, with the blind
+haste of guilty fear.</p>
+
+<p>Yes! Mr. Hunt was a wise man, who
+knew the world, and trebly sage in her
+generation was his spouse. If their daughter
+had never acknowledged this before,
+she did now, in her disgust and dismay at
+this utter overthrow of her dreams of
+the virtuous simplicity to be found in lowly
+homes, where riches and fashions were
+things unknown.</p>
+
+
+<hr class="chap" />
+
+<h2>CHAPTER III.</h2>
+
+
+<p>Summer had come to the country with
+its bloom and its beauty, its harvests and
+its holidays. In town, its fever heat drew
+noisome smells from overcharged sewers,
+and the black, oily paste to which the
+shower that should have been refreshing
+had changed the dust of crowded thoroughfares.
+Cleaner pavements, in the
+higher portions of the city, burned through
+shoe-soles; glass radiated heat to polished
+stone, and stone radiated, in its turn, to
+brick, that waited until the evening to
+throw off its surplus caloric in hot, suffocating
+waves that made yet more oppressive
+the close nights. The gay procession
+of fashionable humming birds had
+commenced their migrations, steamboats
+and excursion craft multiplied at the
+wharves, and the iron steed put forth all
+his tremendous might to bear onward the
+long train of self-exiled travelers.</p>
+
+<p>The Hunts, too, must leave town; Lucy
+must, at all events, have a full season,
+and a brilliant one, if possible, for it was
+her second summer, and much might depend
+upon it. Her mother would accompany
+her, of course; and equally of course
+her father could not; that is, he must return
+after escorting them to Saratoga, and
+spend the remainder of the warm months at
+home. His business would not allow him
+to take an extended vacation. The boys
+were easily disposed of, being boarded
+every summer at the farmhouse of an
+early friend of Mr. Hunt, where they
+were acceptable inmates, their clothes as
+well cared for as they were at home, and
+their morals more diligently cultivated.
+The younger girls caused that excellent
+manager, their mother, more perplexity.
+This was not the first time she had repented
+her indiscretion in allowing Sarah
+to "come out" before her elder sister had
+"gone off." But "Sarah was so tall and
+so womanly in her appearance that it
+looked queer, and would set people to talking
+if I kept her back," she was accustomed
+to excuse her impolitic move to
+her friends. This summer she realized, as
+she had not done before, the inconvenience
+of having two full-fledged young ladies<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_9" id="Page_9">[9]</a></span>
+upon the carpet at once. Lucy's elegant
+and varied wardrobe, and the certain expenses
+in prospect for her and her chaperon
+at Spa, seaside, and en route, left a
+balance in hand of the sum allotted for
+the season's expenditure that was startling
+in its meagerness. Mrs. Hunt was a
+capital financier, a peerless economist, but
+the exigency taxed her resources to the
+utmost.</p>
+
+<p>One morning she arose with a lightened
+heart and a smoother brow. "I've settled
+it!" she exclaimed to her husband, shaking
+him from his matutinal doze.</p>
+
+<p>The "Eureka!" of the Syracusan mathematician
+was not more lofty in its exultation.
+Forthwith she unfolded to him her
+scheme. She was a native of New Jersey,
+"the Jarseys" she had heard it called in
+her father's house&mdash;had probably thus denominated
+the gallant little state herself
+in her girlhood. In and around the pretty,
+quiet village of Shrewsbury there were still
+resident scores of her relatives whose very
+names she had sedulously forgotten. One
+alone she could not, in conscience or in
+nature, dismiss to such oblivion. This
+was her elder and only sister, long married
+to a respectable and worthy farmer, and
+living within a mile of "the old place,"
+where both sisters had drawn the first
+breath of life. Twice since Mrs. Hunt had
+lived in the city had this kind friend been
+summoned on account of the dangerous
+illness of the former, and her presence
+and nursing had restored peace, order, and
+health to the household. The earlier of
+these occasions was that of the second
+child's birth, and in the softened mood of
+her convalescence Mrs. Hunt had bestowed
+upon the babe her sister's name&mdash;Sarah
+Benson&mdash;a homely appellative she had ofttimes
+regretted since. At distant and irregular
+intervals, one, two, three years,
+Mr. or Mrs. Benson visited their connections
+in "York;" but the intercourse grew
+more difficult and broken as time rolled
+on and the distance widened between the
+plain country folk and their rising relations.
+Then, again, death had been busy
+in the farmhouse; coffin after coffin, of
+varying lengths, but all short, was lifted
+over the threshold and laid away in the
+village graveyard, until but one was left
+to the parents of the seven little ones
+that had been given to them, and to that
+one nature had denied the gifts of speech
+and hearing. Grief and the infirmities of
+approaching old age disinclined the worthy
+pair to stir from home, and their ambitious
+sister was too busy in building up a
+"set" of her own, and paving the way
+for her daughters' distinction, to hide her
+light for ever so short a period in so obscure
+a corner as her former home.</p>
+
+<p>Aunt Sarah, however, could not forget
+her nurseling. Every few months there
+arrived some simple token of affectionate
+remembrance to "the child" she had not
+seen since she wore short frocks and pinafores.
+The reception of a basket of fruit,
+thus despatched, was the suggestive power
+to Mrs. Hunt's present plan. She had
+made up her mind, so she informed her
+husband straightway, to write that very
+day&mdash;yes! that very forenoon, to "Sister
+Benson," and inquire whether she would
+board Sarah and Jeannie for a couple of
+months.</p>
+
+<p>"I don't s'pose she will let me pay board
+for them, but she will be pleased to have
+'em as long as they like to stay. It's never<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_10" id="Page_10">[10]</a></span>
+been exactly convenient for me to let any
+of the children go there for so many years,
+and it's so fur off. But dear me! sometimes
+I feel real bad about seeing so little
+of my only sister!"&mdash;a heavy sigh. "And
+there'll be the expenses of two saved, out
+and out, for they won't need a great variety
+of clothes in that out-of-the-way
+place."</p>
+
+<p>"But how will the girls, Sarah and Jeannie,
+fancy being sent off so?" inquired Mr.
+Hunt.</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, as to that, it is late in the day for
+my children to dispute what I say shall
+be done; and Sarah's jest that odd that
+she'll like this notion twenty times better
+than going to Newport or Saratoga. I
+know her! As to Jeannie, she is satisfied
+to be with her sister anywhere. She is getting
+thin, too; she looks real peaked, and
+there's nothing in creation so good for
+ailing children as the salt-water bath.
+They have first-rate still-water bathing not
+a quarter of a mile from sister's. It's
+jest the thing, I tell you! The wonder
+is it never came into my head before."</p>
+
+<p>Mr. Hunt had his sigh now. "Somehow
+or other he was always down in the mouth
+when the family broke up for the summer,"
+his wife frequently complained, and
+his lack of sympathy now excited her just
+ire.</p>
+
+<p>"Upon my word, Mr. H.! anybody would
+think that I was the poorest wife in the
+world to you to see and hear you whenever
+I talk to you of my plans and household
+affairs. You look as if you was about
+to be hanged, instead of feeling obliged
+to me for turning, and twisting, and contriving,
+and studying, day and night, how
+to save your money, and spend what we
+must lay out to the best advantage. I
+can tell you what&mdash;there's few women
+would make your income go as far as I
+do."</p>
+
+<p>"I know that, my dear. The question
+is"&mdash;Mr. Hunt paused, cleared his throat
+and strained his nerves for a mighty effort,
+an unprecedented exercise of moral
+courage&mdash;"the question is, Betsy, whether
+our income is stretched in the right direction!"
+Mistaking the stare of petrified
+incredulity he received for fixed attention,
+the infatuated man went on: "This doubt
+is always forced upon me when we separate
+in July, some to go to one place, some
+to another, a broken, wandering family
+for months together. I am growing old,
+and I love to have my children about me;
+I begin to feel the want of a home.
+There is Johnson, in the &mdash;&mdash; Bank, gets
+five hundred less per annum than I do;
+yet, after living quietly here a few years,
+he bought himself a snug cottage up the
+river, and has his family there in their
+own house, everything handsome and
+comfortable about them. I have been in
+the harness for a long while; I expect to
+die in it. I don't mind work&mdash;hard work!
+but it seems to me sometimes that we
+would all be better satisfied if we had
+more to show, or to hold, for our money;
+if there were less of this straining after
+appearances, this constant study to make
+both ends meet."</p>
+
+<p>"And it has come to this!" Mrs. Hunt
+sank into a chair and began to cry. "This
+is my thanks for slaving and toiling for
+better than twenty years to get you and
+your children a stand in the world! It
+isn't for myself that I care. I can work
+my fingers to the bone, and live upon a
+crust! I can scrape and save five dollars
+or so a month! I can bury myself in the
+country! But your children! those dear,
+sweet girls, that have had the best education
+money can buy, and that to-day visit
+such people as the Murrays, and Sandersons,
+and Hoopers, and Baylors, and meet
+the Castors and Crinnalls at parties&mdash;millionaires,
+all of 'em, the cream of the
+upper crust! I don't deny that I have
+been ambitious for them, and I did hope that
+you had something of the same spirit;
+and now to think of your complaining,
+and moping, and groaning over the money
+you say I've been and wasted; oh! oh! oh!"</p>
+
+<p>"You misunderstand me, my dear; I
+merely questioned whether we were acting
+wisely in making so much display upon
+so little substance. We are not millionaires,
+whatever may be said of the girls'
+visiting acquaintances, and I tremble
+sometimes to think how all this false
+show may end."</p>
+
+<p>Mr. Hunt's borrowed courage had not
+evaporated entirely.</p>
+
+<p>"That's distrusting Providence, Mr. H.!
+It's downright sinful, and what I shouldn't
+have looked for from you. I can tell you
+how it will end. If both of us live ten
+years longer, you will see your daughters
+riding in their own carriages, and leaders
+of the tong, and your sons among the first
+gentlemen of the city. If this does not
+turn out true, you needn't ever trust my
+word again. I've set my head upon getting
+Lucy off my hands this summer, and well
+off; and mark my words, Mr. H., it shall
+be done."</p>
+
+<p>One part of her mother's prophecy was
+fulfilled in Sarah's manner of receiving the
+proposition so nearly affecting her comfort
+during the summer. Lucy wondered at
+the cheerful alacrity with which she consented
+to be "hidden away in that horrid
+bore of a farmhouse," and Jeannie cried as
+her elder sister "supposed that they would
+eat in Aunt Sarah's kitchen, along with the
+servant men."</p>
+
+<p>"Lucy, be quiet!" interposed her mother.
+"Your aunt is not a common poor person.
+Mr. Benson is a man of independent
+means, quite rich for the country. They
+live very nicely, and I have no doubt but
+that your sisters will be happy there."</p>
+
+<p>Sarah had drawn Jeannie to her, and
+was telling her of the rides and walks
+they would take together, the ducks and
+chickens they would feed, and the merry
+plunges in the salt water that were to be
+daily luxuries. Ere the recital was concluded,
+the child was impatient for the
+hour of departure, and indignant when she
+heard that Aunt Sarah must be heard
+from before they could venture to present
+themselves, bag and baggage, at her door.
+There was nothing feigned in Sarah's satisfaction;
+her preparations were made
+with far more pleasure than if she were to
+accompany Lucy. The seclusion that would
+have been slow death to the latter was
+full of charms for the book-loving sister.
+Aunt Sarah would be kind; the novel
+phases of human nature she would meet
+would amuse and interest her; and, besides
+these, there was Jeannie to love and pet,
+and river, field, and grove for studies and
+society. She panted for the country and
+liberty from the tyrannous shackles of
+city customs.</p>
+
+<p>Aunt Sarah wrote promptly and cordially,
+rejecting the offered compensation, and
+begging for her nieces' company as long
+as they could content themselves in so retired
+a place. Simple-minded as she was,
+she knew enough to be sure that the
+belles and beaux of the neighborhood
+would be very unsuitable mates for her
+expected visitors. If her own girls had
+lived, she would have asked nothing higher
+for them in this world than to have
+them grow up respected, beloved, and
+happy, among the acquaintances and
+friends of their parents; but "Sister Betsy's
+children had been raised so differently!"
+she said to her husband. "I don't
+know what we will do to amuse them."</p>
+
+<p>"They will find amusement&mdash;never fear,"
+was the farmer's response. "Let city folks
+alone for seeing wonders where those that
+have lived among them all their lives
+never found anything uncommon. They
+are welcome to the pony whenever they've
+a mind to ride, and Jim or I will find time
+to drive them around a'most every day;
+and what with riding, and boating, and
+bathing, I guess they can get rid of the
+time."</p>
+
+<p>Before the day set for the coming of the
+guests there appeared upon the stage an
+unexpected and welcome ally to Aunt
+Sarah's benevolent design of making her
+nieces' sojourn agreeable. This personage
+we will let the good woman herself describe.</p>
+
+<p>"You needn't trouble yourself to fix up
+for tea, dear," she said to Sarah, the afternoon
+of her arrival, as she prepared to
+remove her traveling dress. "There's nobody
+here besides husband, and me, and
+Charley, except husband's nephew, Philip
+Benson, from the South. He comes North
+'most every summer, and never goes back
+without paying us a visit. He's been here
+three days now. But he is just as easy as
+an old shoe, and sociable as can be, so
+you won't mind him."</p>
+
+<p>"Uncle Benson has relatives at the South,
+then?" said Sarah, seeing herself called
+upon to say something.</p>
+
+<p>"One brother&mdash;James. He went to Georgy
+when he wasn't more than sixteen
+years old, and has lived there ever since.
+He married a rich wife, I believe"&mdash;sinking
+her voice&mdash;"and has made money fast,
+I've heard. Philip never says a word
+about their wealth, but his father owns a
+great plantation, for husband asked him
+how many acres they worked. Then the
+children&mdash;there are four of them&mdash;have had
+fine educations, and always spend money
+freely. Philip is not the sort to boast of
+anything that belongs to him or his. He
+is a good-hearted boy. He was here the
+August my last daughter&mdash;my Betsy&mdash;died,
+and I shall never forget how kind and
+tender he was then. I can't look at him
+without thinking how my Alick would
+have been just his age if he had lived.
+One was born on the fourth and the other
+the fifth of the same April."</p>
+
+<p>Keeping up a decent show of interest in
+these family details, Sarah divested Jeannie
+of her sacque and dress, and substituted
+a cool blue gingham and a muslin
+apron. Then, as the child was wild to run
+out of doors, she suffered her to go, charging
+her not to pass the boundary of the
+yard fence. Aunt Sarah was dressed in
+a second mourning delaine, with a very
+plain cap, and while the heat obliged Sarah
+to lay aside the thick and dusty garment
+she had worn all day, she had too much
+tact to offer a strong contrast in her own
+attire to her unpretending surroundings.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_11" id="Page_11">[11]</a></span>
+A neat sprigged lawn, modest and inexpensive,
+was not out of place among the
+old-fashioned furniture of her chamber,
+nor in the "best room," to which they
+presently descended.</p>
+
+<p>Aunt Sarah ushered her into the apartment
+with some stiffness of ceremony. In
+truth, she was not herself there often, or
+long enough to feel quite at ease, her
+property though it was. Alleging the necessity
+of "seeing to the tea," she bade
+her niece "make herself at home," threw
+open a blind that she "might see the
+river," and left her.</p>
+
+<p>First, Sarah looked around the room. It
+was large and square, and had four windows,
+two in front and two in the rear.
+The floor was covered by a well-saved
+carpet, of a pattern so antique that it
+was in itself a curiosity; heavy tables of
+a mahogany dark with age; upright chairs,
+with slippery leathern seats; a ponderous
+sofa, covered with haircloth; small mirrors,
+with twisted frames, between the
+windows; two black profiles, of life-size,
+over the mantel, and in the fireplace a jar
+of asparagus boughs, were appointments
+that might have repelled the looker-on, but
+for the scrupulous, shining cleanliness of
+every article. It was a scene so strange
+to Sarah that she could not but smile as
+she withdrew her eyes and turned to the
+landscape commanded by her window.</p>
+
+<p>The sight changed the gleam of good-humored
+amusement to one of more heartfelt
+pleasure. Beyond the grassy walks
+and flower-borders of the garden behind
+the house lay green meadows, sloping
+down to the river, broad and smooth at
+this point, so placid now that it mirrored
+every rope and seam of the sails resting
+quietly upon its surface, and the white
+cottages along the banks, while the banks
+themselves, with their tufts and crowns
+of foliage, drooping willows and lofty elms,
+found a faithful yet a beautified counterpart
+in the stream. The reflected blush of
+the crimson west upon its bosom was
+shot with flickers of golden light, and
+faded in the distance into the blue-gray
+twilight. The air seemed to grow more
+deliciously cool as the gazer thought of
+the hot, pent-up city, and the beds of
+thyme and lavender added their evening
+incense.</p>
+
+<p>The hum of cheerful voices joined pleasantly
+with the soothing influences of the
+hour, and, changing her position slightly,
+Sarah beheld the speakers. Upon a turfy
+mound, at the foot of an apple tree, sat
+Jeannie beside a gentleman, whose hands
+she watched with pleased interest, as did
+also a boy of fifteen or thereabouts, who
+knelt on the grass before them. Sarah
+divined at once that this was her aunt's
+deaf and dumb son. The gentleman was
+apparently interpreting to Jeannie all that
+passed between himself and the lad, and
+her gleeful laugh showed it to be a lively
+dialogue. Could this be Mr. Benson's
+nephew, the beardless youth Sarah had
+pictured him to herself from Aunt Sarah's
+description? He could not have been less
+than six-and-twenty, had dark hair and
+a close curling beard, an intelligent, handsome
+face, and notwithstanding his loose
+summer sack and lounging attitude, one
+discerned plainly traces of uncommon grace
+and strength in his form.</p>
+
+<p>"What is he, I wonder? A gallant, professional
+beau, who will entangle me in
+my speech, and be an inevitable appendage<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_12" id="Page_12">[12]</a></span>
+in the excursions? I flattered myself I
+would be safe from all such drawbacks,"
+thought Sarah, in genuine vexation, as she
+obeyed her aunt's summons to tea.</p>
+
+<p>Perhaps Mr. Benson read as much in
+her countenance, for, beyond a few polite,
+very unremarkable observations, addressed
+to her when his hosts made it necessary
+for him to do so, he paid her no visible
+attention during the whole of the evening.
+The next day he set off, the minute breakfast
+was over, with his gun and game-bag,
+and was gone until sunset.</p>
+
+<p>Sarah sat at her chamber window as he
+came up to the back door; and, screened
+by the vine trained over the sash, she
+watched him as he tossed his game-bag to
+Charley and shook hands with Jeannie,
+who ran up to him with the familiarity of
+an old acquaintance.</p>
+
+<p>"What luck?" questioned his uncle.</p>
+
+<p>"Nothing to boast of, sir; yet enough to
+repay me for my tramp. I have been
+down to the shore."</p>
+
+<p>"Philip Benson! Well, you beat everything!
+I suppose you have walked as much
+as ten miles in all!" exclaimed Aunt Sarah,
+with a sort of reproachful admiration.</p>
+
+<p>"I dare say, madam, and am none the
+worse for it to-night. I am getting used
+to your sand, uncle; it used to tire me, I
+confess."</p>
+
+<p>He disappeared into the kitchen, probably
+to perform the ablutions needful after
+his day's walk and work, for it was several
+minutes before he returned. Charley
+had carried the game-bag to the mound
+under the tree, and was exhibiting its contents&mdash;mostly
+snipe and red-winged black
+birds&mdash;to his little cousin.</p>
+
+<p>"It is refreshing to see something in
+the shape of man that is neither an effeminate
+dandy nor a business machine,"
+soliloquized Sarah. "Ten miles on foot! I
+would like to set that task for certain of
+our Broadway exquisites!"</p>
+
+<p>"She isn't a bit like a city girl!" Aunt
+Sarah was saying, as she followed Philip
+into the outer air.</p>
+
+<p>"I am glad to hear that she is likely to
+be a nice companion for you, madam. I
+thought, from her appearance, that you
+would suit each other," was the reply, certainly
+respectful enough, but whose lurking
+accent of dry indifference sent the
+blood to Sarah's face.</p>
+
+<p>Hastily withdrawing from the open window,
+and beyond the reach of the voices
+that discussed her merits, she waited to
+recover her equanimity before going downstairs.
+In vain she chided herself for her
+sudden heat. Mortified she was, and even
+more ashamed of herself than angry with
+the cool young man who had pronounced
+her to be a fitting associate for her excellent
+but unpolished aunt. While his
+every look and intonation bespoke the
+educated gentleman, a being as different in
+mental as in physical muscle from the
+fops who formed her sister's train, had
+he weighed her against the refined woman
+of his own class and clime, and adjudged
+her this place? At heart she felt the injustice,
+and, stimulated by the sting, arose
+the resolve that he should learn and confess
+his error. Not tamely or willingly
+would she accept an ignoble station at the
+hands of one whom she inwardly recognized
+as capable of a true valuation of
+what she esteemed worthy.</p>
+
+<p>She looked haughty, not humbled, when
+she took her seat opposite her critic at
+the tea-table. "A nice companion," she
+was saying over to herself. The very
+phrase, borrowed, as it was, from Aunt
+Sarah's vocabulary, seemed to her seasoned
+with contempt. She kept down fire and
+scorn, however, when Mr. Benson accosted
+her with the tritest of remarks upon the
+probable heat of the day in town as contrasted
+with the invigorating breeze, with
+its faint, delicious sea flavor, that rustled
+the grapevines and fluttered the white curtains
+at the dining-room door and windows.
+Her answer was not exactly gracious,
+but it advanced the one tempting
+step beyond a mere reply.</p>
+
+<p>Thus was the ice broken, and for the
+rest of the meal, Aunt Sarah and "Uncle
+Nathan"&mdash;as he requested his nieces to
+style him&mdash;had respite from the duty of
+active entertainment, so far as conversation
+went. To Sarah's surprise, Mr. Benson
+talked to her almost as he would have
+done to another man. He spoke of notable
+persons, places, and books&mdash;things of which
+she had heard and read&mdash;without affectation
+of reserve or a shade of pretension;
+and to her rejoinders&mdash;brief and constrained
+for awhile&mdash;then, as she forgot
+herself in her subject, pertinent, earnest,
+salient, he gave more than courteous heed.
+It was the unaffected interest of an inquirer;
+the entire attention of one who felt
+that he received more than he gave.</p>
+
+<p>They parted for the night with a bow
+and a smile that was with each a mute
+acknowledgment of pleasure derived from
+the companionship of the other; and if
+neither looked forward to the meeting of
+the morrow as a renewal of congenial
+intercourse, both carried to their rest the
+effects of an agreeable surprise in the
+events of the evening.</p>
+
+
+
+<hr class="chap" />
+
+
+<h2>CHAPTER IV.</h2>
+
+
+<p>A week had passed since the arrival of
+the city nieces at the farmhouse. An
+early tea, one of Aunt Sarah's generous
+and appetizing repasts, was over; and
+through the garden, out at the gate that
+terminated the middle walk, and across
+the strip of meadow-land, danced Charley
+and Jeannie, followed at a more sedate
+pace by Philip Benson and Sarah. Seven
+days' rustication had wrought a marked
+change in the town-bred girl. There was
+a lighter bound in her step, and in her
+cheek a clear, pink glow, while her eyes
+looked softly, yet brightly, from out the
+shadow of her gypsy hat, a look of half
+surprise, half confidence in her companion's
+face.</p>
+
+<p>"One week ago," he was saying, "how
+firmly I made up my mind that you and
+I could never be anything but strangers
+to each other! How I disliked you for
+coming down here to interfere with my liberty
+and leisure!"</p>
+
+<p>"But even then you thought that I
+would prove a 'nice companion for Aunt
+Sarah'&mdash;perceived my suitableness to her
+society," was the demure reply.</p>
+
+<p>"Who told you that I said so?"</p>
+
+<p>"Not Aunt Sarah herself, although she
+considered it honest praise. I overheard
+it accidentally from my window, and I can
+assure you properly appreciated the compliment,
+which, by the way, was more in
+the tone than the words."</p>
+
+<p>"And you were thereby piqued to a different
+style of behavior. Bravo! did ever
+another seed so worthless bring forth so
+rich a harvest? I am glad I said it! Here
+is the boat."</p>
+
+<p>It was a pretty little affair&mdash;Charley's
+property and care, and he was already in
+his seat at the bow, oar in hand. Philip
+helped Sarah in, placed Jeannie beside her,
+and stationing himself upon the middle
+bench took up a second pair of oars. A
+noiseless dip of the four, and the craft
+glided out into the stream, then up against
+the tide, the water rippling into a foamy
+wake on either side of the sharp bow.
+A row was now the regular sequel to the
+day's enjoyments, and to Jeannie, at least,
+the climax of its pleasures.</p>
+
+<p>"Pull that way, please, Mr. Benson!" she
+cried. "There! right through that beautiful
+red water!"</p>
+
+<p>A skilful sweep brought them to the
+spot designated, but the crimson deserted
+the wave as they neared it, and left dull
+gray in its stead.</p>
+
+<p>"It is too bad!" complained the child,
+pointing back to the track of their boat,
+quivering amidst the fickle radiance she
+had thought to reach by this change of
+course. "It is behind us and before us&mdash;everywhere
+but where we are!"</p>
+
+<p>"Is there a moral in that?" questioned
+Philip, smiling at Sarah.</p>
+
+<p>"Perhaps so."</p>
+
+<p>A fortnight before, how assured would
+have been her reply! How gloomy her
+recognition of the analogy! Changed as
+was her mood, a shade fell over her countenance.
+Was it of apprehension, and did
+Philip thus interpret it?</p>
+
+<p>"I could not love life and this fair
+world as I do, if I conceded this to be
+universally true," he said. "That there
+comes, sometimes, a glory to the present,
+besides which the hues of past and future
+fade and are forgotten, I must and will
+believe. Such, it seems to me, must be the
+rapture of reciprocal and acknowledged
+affection; the joy of reunion after long
+separation from the beloved one; the bliss
+of reconciliation after estrangement. Have
+you ever thought how much happier we
+would be if we were to live only in the
+Now we have, and never strain our eyes
+with searching for, the lights and shades
+of what may be before us, or with 'mournful
+looking' after what is gone?"</p>
+
+<p>"Yet is this possible?" asked Sarah,
+earnestly. "Does not the very constitution
+of our natures forbid it? To me that
+would be a miserably tame, dead-level
+existence over which Hope sheds no enchanting
+illusions; like this river, as we
+saw it three days ago, cold and sombre as
+the rain-clouds that hung above it. Oh,
+no! give me anything but the chill, neutral
+tint of such a life as thousands are content
+to lead&mdash;people who expect nothing,
+fear nothing&mdash;I had almost said, feel nothing!"</p>
+
+<p>"That is because every principle of your
+being is at war with common-places. Tell
+me frankly, Miss Sarah, did you ever meet
+another woman who had as much character
+as yourself?"</p>
+
+<p>"I do not know that I understand the
+full bearing of your question." She leaned
+on the side of the boat, her hand playing
+in the water, her lips working in an irresolute
+timidity that was oddly at variance
+with their habitual firmness.</p>
+
+<p>"I am aware," she began slowly and
+gravely, "that I express myself too strongly
+at times; that I am more abrupt in
+language and action than most other girls.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_13" id="Page_13">[13]</a></span>
+I have always been told so; but it is
+natural to me. My character has many
+rough and sharp edges that need softening
+and rounding"&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>"In order to render you one of the pretty
+automatons, the well-draped, thoroughly-oiled
+pieces of human clockwork that decorates
+men's homes&mdash;falsely so called&mdash;in
+these days of gloss and humbug!" interrupted
+Philip with energy. "I am sick to
+death of the dollish 'sweet creatures' every
+boarding-school turns out by the score. I
+understand all the wires that work the
+dear puppets&mdash;flatter myself that I can put
+them through their paces (excuse the
+slang!) in as short a time as any other
+man of my age in the country. The delightful
+divinities! A little music, and
+a little less French; a skimming of the
+arts and sciences; and it is a rare thing
+to meet one who can tell an art from a
+science ten days after she has graduated&mdash;a
+stock of pet phrases&mdash;all hyperbolical,
+consequently unmeaning&mdash;a glib utterance
+of the same; a steady devotion to balls,
+beau-catching, gossip, and fancy-work;
+voila the modern fine lady&mdash;the stuff we
+are expected to make wives of! Wives!
+save the mark! I never think of the possibility
+of being thus ensnared without an
+involuntary repetition of a portion of the
+Litany&mdash;'From all such, etc., etc.!'"</p>
+
+<p>He plied his oars with renewed activity
+for a moment, then suspended them to continue,
+in a softer tone: "And this is the
+representative woman of your Utopia, Miss
+Sarah?"</p>
+
+<p>"Did I intimate, much less assert, such
+a heresy?" responded she, laughing. "But
+there is a golden mean somewhere&mdash;a union
+of gentleness and energy; of domestic and
+literary taste; of independence and submission.
+I have seen such in my day
+dreams. She is my ideal."</p>
+
+<p>"Which you will one day embody. No
+reproachful looks! This is the sincerity
+of a friend. I have promised never to
+flatter you again, and do not violate the
+pledge in speaking thus. From my boyhood,
+I have made human nature my
+study, and it would be hard to convince
+me that I err in this case."</p>
+
+<p>"You do! indeed you do!" exclaimed
+Sarah, with a look of real pain. "I lack
+the first characteristic of the portrait I
+have drawn. I am not gentle! I never
+was. I fear that I never will be!"</p>
+
+<p>"Let us hear a competent witness on
+that head. Jeannie!" to the child, who
+was busy spelling on her fingers to Charley;
+his nods and smiles to her, from the
+far end of the boat, being more intelligible
+to her than were her attempts to signal
+her meaning to him. "Jeannie!" repeated
+Philip, as he caught her eye. "Come, and
+whisper in my ear which of your sisters
+you love the best. Maybe I won't tell
+tales out of school to the one you care
+least for."</p>
+
+<p>"I don't care who knows!" said the
+saucy, but affectionate child. "Sis' Lucy is
+the prettiest, and she never scolds me
+either; but she doesn't make my clothes,
+and tell me nice stories, and help me with
+my lessons, and all that, you know. She
+isn't my dear, best sister!" And, springing
+up suddenly, she threw her arms around
+Sarah's neck, with a kiss that answered
+the question with emphasis.</p>
+
+<p>Sarah's lip trembled. The share of affection
+she had hitherto dared to claim as
+her own had barely sufficed to keep her<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_14" id="Page_14">[14]</a></span>
+heart from starving outright. She had
+often dreamed of fulness of love as a stay
+and comfort, as solace and nutriment in
+a world whose wrong side was ever turned
+to her. Now there dawned upon her the
+sweetness and beauty of a new revelation,
+the bliss of loving and being beloved. Over
+life floated a warm, purple tinge, like the
+sunset light upon the river. For the first
+time within the reach of her memory her
+heart rested!</p>
+
+<p>In the smile whose overflowing gave a
+tender loveliness to her features, Philip
+saw the effect he had wished and anticipated,
+and, motioning to Charley to let
+the boat drift with the current, he picked
+up the guitar, that by Sarah's request was
+always taken along in these excursions.</p>
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">"The dew is on the blossom,<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">And the young moon on the sea;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">It is the twilight hour&mdash;<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">The hour for you and me;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">The time when memory lingers<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">Across life's dreary track,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">When the past floats up before us,<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">And the lost comes stealing back."<br /></span>
+</div></div>
+
+<p>It was a love song, inimitable in its
+purity and tenderness, with just the touch
+of sadness that insured its passage to the
+heart. Sarah's smile was softer, but it
+was a smile still, as the melody arose on the
+quiet air. When the ballad was concluded,
+she only said, "Another, please!"</p>
+
+<p>Philip sang more than well. Without extraordinary
+power, his voice had a rich
+and flexible quality of tone and a delicacy
+of expression that never failed to fascinate.
+To the rapt and listening girl it
+seemed as if time could bring no more
+delicious fate than thus to glide on ever
+upon this empurpled, enchanted stream,
+the summer heavens above her, and, thrilling
+ear and soul, the witching lullaby that
+rocked her spirit to dreams of the youth
+she had never had, the love for which she
+had longed with all the wild intensity,
+the fervent yearning, her deep heart could
+feel.</p>
+
+<p>Still they floated on with the receding
+tide, its low washing against the sides of
+their boat filling up the pauses of the
+music. The burning red and gold of the
+sky cooled into the mellower tints of
+twilight, and the pale curve of the young
+moon shone with increasing lustre. Jeannie
+fell asleep, her head upon her sister's
+lap; the dumb boy sat motionless as stone,
+his dark eyes fixed on the moon; there
+seemed some spell upon the little party.
+Boat after boat passed them, almost noiselessly,
+for far into the clear evening went
+the tones of the singer's voice, and the
+dullest hearer could not withhold the
+tribute of admiring silence until beyond its
+reach.</p>
+
+<p>And Sarah, happy in the strange, restful
+languor that locked her senses to all except
+the blessed present, dreamed on, the
+music but a part of her ideal world, this
+new and beautiful life. Into it stole presently
+a theme of sadness, a strain of
+grief, a heart-cry, that, ere she was aware,
+wrung her own heart-strings with anguish.</p>
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i4">"The long, long weary day<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">Is passed in tears away,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">And still at evening I am weeping.<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">When from my window's height<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">I look out on the night,<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">I am still weeping,<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">My lone watch keeping.<br /></span>
+</div><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i4">"When I, his truth to prove,<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">Would trifle with my love,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">He'd say, 'For me thou wilt be weeping,<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">When, at some future day,<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">I shall be far away;<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">Thou wilt be weeping,<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">Thy lone watch keeping.'<br /></span>
+</div><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i4">"Alas! if land or sea<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">Had parted him from me,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">I would not these sad tears be weeping;<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">But hope he'd come once more,<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">And love me as before;<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">And say, 'Cease weeping,<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">Thy lone watch keeping.'<br /></span>
+</div><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i4">"But he is dead and gone,<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">Whose heart was mine alone,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">And now for him I'm sadly weeping.<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">His face I ne'er shall see,<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">And naught is left to me<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">But bitter weeping,<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">My lone watch keeping."<br /></span>
+</div></div>
+
+<p>If ever a pierced and utterly hopeless
+soul poured forth its plaint in musical
+measure, it was in the wondrously simple
+and unspeakably plaintive air to which
+these words are set. There breathes in it
+a spirit wail so mournfully sincere that one
+recognizes its sob in the very chords of
+the accompaniment. The mere murmur of
+the melody, were no words uttered, tells
+the story of grieving desolation.</p>
+
+<p>Sarah did not move or speak, yet upon
+her enchanted ground a cloud had fallen.
+She saw the high casement and its tearful
+gazer into the night, a night not of music,
+and moonlight, and love, but chill, and
+wet, and dreary. Rain dripped from eaves
+and trees; stone steps and pavements
+caught a ghastly gleam from street lamps;
+save that sorrowful watcher, there was
+no living creature abroad or awake. She
+grew cold and sick with looking into those
+despairing eyes; the gloom, the loneliness,
+the woe of that vigil became her own, and
+her heart sank swooning beneath the
+burden.</p>
+
+<p>As he ceased the song, Philip looked up
+for some comment or request. To his surprise,
+she only clasped her hands in a
+gesture that might have been either relief
+from or abandonment to woe, and bowed
+her head upon them. Puzzled, yet flattered
+by her emotion, he refrained from interrupting
+her; and, resuming his oars,
+lent the impetus of their stroke to that
+of the tide. Nothing was said until the
+keel grated upon the shelly beach opposite
+the farmhouse. Then, as Philip
+stooped to lift the unconscious Jeannie, he
+imagined that he discerned the gleam of
+the sinking moon upon Sarah's dripping
+eyelashes.</p>
+
+<p>The fancy pursued him after he had
+gone up to his room. Seated at his window,
+looking out upon the now starlit sky,
+he smoked more than one cigar before
+his musing fit was ended. It was not the
+love-reverie of a smitten boy. He believed
+that he had passed that stage of sentimentalism
+ten years before. That Southerner
+of the male gender who has not been
+consumed by the fires and risen as good
+as new from the ashes of half a dozen
+never-dying passions before he is eighteen,
+who has not offered the heart and hand,
+which as often as otherwise constitute his
+chiefest earthly possessions, to some elect
+fair one by the time he is one-and-twenty,
+is voted "slow" invulnerable. If these
+susceptible sons of a fervid clime did not
+take to love-making as naturally as does
+a duckling to the pond by the time the
+eggshell is fairly off its head, they would
+certainly be initiated while in the callow
+state by the rules and customs of society.
+Courtship is at first a pastime, then an
+art, then when the earnestness of a real
+attachment takes hold of their impassioned
+natures, it is the one all-absorbing,
+eager pursuit of existence, until rewarded
+by the acquisition of its object or thwarted
+by the decided refusal of the hard-hearted
+Dulcinea.</p>
+
+<p>This state of things, this code of Cupid,
+every Southern girl understands, and
+shapes her conduct accordingly. Sportively,
+yet warily, she plays around the hook,
+and he is a very fortunate angler who
+does not in the moment of fancied success
+discover that she has carried off the bait
+as a trophy upon which to feed her vanity,
+and left him to be the laughing-stock of
+the curious spectators of this double game.
+She is imperturbable to meaning equivoques,
+receives pretty speeches and tender glances
+at their current value, and not until the
+suit becomes close and ardent, the attachment
+palpable to every one else, and is
+confessed in so many words, does she
+allow herself to be persuaded that her
+adorer is "in earnest," and really desires
+to awaken a sympathetic emotion in her
+bosom.</p>
+
+<p>Philip Benson was no wanton trifler with
+woman's feelings. On the contrary, he had
+gained the reputation in his circle of an
+invincible, indifferent looker-on of the
+pseudo and real combats, in Love's name,
+that were continually transpiring around
+him. Chivalrous in tone, gallant in action,
+as he was, the girls feared while they
+liked and admired him. They called him
+critical, fastidious, cold; and mockingly
+wondered why he persisted in going into
+company that, judging the future by the
+past, was so unlikely to furnish him with
+the consort he must be seeking. In reality,
+he was what he had avowed himself to
+Sarah&mdash;a student of human nature; an
+amateur in this species of social research&mdash;than
+which no other so frequently results
+in the complete deception of the inquirer.
+Certainly no other is so apt to find its
+culmination of devotion in a cold-blooded
+dissection of motive, morals, and sentiment;
+an unprincipled, reckless application
+of trial and test to the hearts and lives
+of its victims and final infidelity in all
+human good, except what is concentrated
+in the inspector's individual, personal self.
+Grown dainty amid the abundant supply
+of ordinary material, he comes at length
+to disdain common "subjects." Still less
+would he touch one already loathsome in
+the popular estimation, through excess of
+known and actual crime. But a character
+fresh and noble from the Creator's hand;
+a soul that dares to think and feel according
+to its innate sense of right; an intellect
+unhackneyed, not vitiated by worldly
+policy or the dogmas of the schools; a
+heart, tender and delicate&mdash;yet passionate
+in love or abhorrence; what an opportunity
+is here presented for the scalpel, the detective
+acid, the crucible, the microscope! It
+is not in fallible mortality to resist the
+temptation, and even professors of this ennobling
+pursuit, whose motto is, "The
+proper study of mankind is Man," are, as
+they allow with shame and confusion of
+face, themselves mortal. Of all the dignified
+humbugs of the solemn farce of life,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_15" id="Page_15">[15]</a></span>
+deliver me from that creature self-styled
+"a student and judge of character!"</p>
+
+<p>In Sarah Hunt, Philip discovered, to his
+surprise, a rare "specimen;" a volume, each
+leaf of which revealed new matter of interest.
+The attentions he had considered
+himself bound to pay her, in order to avoid
+wounding their kind hosts, were soon rendered
+from a widely different motive. It
+did not occur to him that he was transcending
+the limits of merely friendly courtesy,
+as prescribed by the etiquette of the
+region in which he was now a sojourner.
+He was by no means deficient in appreciation
+of his personal gifts; rated his powers
+of pleasing quite as highly as did his
+warmest admirers, although he had the
+common sense and tact to conceal this;
+but he would have repelled, as an aspersion
+upon his honor, the charge that he was
+endeavoring to win this young girl's affections,
+his heart being as yet untouched.</p>
+
+<p>"Was it then altogether whole?" he
+asked himself to-night, with a coolness
+that should have been an immediate reply
+to the suggestion.</p>
+
+<p>Side by side, he set two mental portraits,
+and strove deliberately, impartially, to
+discern any traces of resemblance between
+the two. The future Mrs. Benson was a
+personage that engrossed much of his
+thoughts, and by long practice in the
+portrayal of her lineaments, he had brought
+his fancy sketch very nearly to perfection.
+A tall, Juno-like figure, with raven
+locks, and large, melting eyes, unfathomable
+as clear; features of classic mould;
+an elastic, yet stately form; a disposition
+in which amiability tempered natural impetuosity,
+and generous impulse gave direction
+to gentle word and deed; a mind
+profoundly imbued with the love of learning,
+and in cultivation, if not strength,
+equal to his own; discretion, penetration,
+and docility combined in such proportions
+as should render her her husband's safest
+counsellor, yet willing follower; and controlling
+and toning the harmonious whole,
+a devotion to himself only second in degree,
+not inferior in quality, to worship
+of her Creator. This was the ideal for
+whose embodiment our reasonable, modest
+C&#339;lebs was patiently waiting. Answer, oh
+ye expectant, incipient Griseldas! who,
+from your beauteous ranks, will step into
+the prepared niche, and make the goddess
+a reality?</p>
+
+<p>And how appeared the rival picture in
+comparison?</p>
+
+<p>"No, no!" he ejaculated, tossing the
+remnant of his third cigar into the garden.
+"I must seek further for the 'golden
+mean.' Intellect and heart are here, undoubtedly.
+I must have beauty and grace
+as well. Yet," he continued, relentingly,
+"there are times when she would be quite
+handsome if she dressed better. It is a
+pity her love for the beautiful does not
+enter into her choice of wearing apparel!"</p>
+
+<p>In ten minutes more he was asleep, and
+dreamed that he stood at the altar with
+his long sought ideal, when, as the last
+binding words were spoken, she changed
+to Sarah Hunt, arrayed in a light blue
+lawn of last year's fashion, that made her
+look as sallow as a lemon, and, to his
+taste, as little to be desired for "human
+nature's daily food."</p>
+
+<p>Poor Sarah! The visionary robe was a
+faithful reflection upon the dreamer's
+mental retina of a certain organdie which
+had formed a part of Lucy's wardrobe<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_16" id="Page_16">[16]</a></span>
+the previous summer, and having become
+antiquated in six months' time, was altogether
+inadmissible in the belle's outfit of
+this season.</p>
+
+<p>"Yet it cost an awful sum when it was
+new!" reasoned Mrs. Hunt, "and will make
+you a very useful dress while you are with
+your Aunt Sarah. It's too good to cut up
+for Jeannie!"</p>
+
+<p>"But the color, mother?" objected the
+unwilling recipient.</p>
+
+<p>"Pooh! who will notice that? Besides, if
+you had a good complexion, you could wear
+blue as well as anybody."</p>
+
+<p>Sarah's stock of thin dresses was not
+plentiful, and, recalling this observation,
+she coupled it with the fact that she was
+growing rosy, and dared to equip herself
+in the azure garment, with what effect she
+did not dream and Mr. Philip Benson did!</p>
+
+
+
+<hr class="chap" />
+
+<h2>CHAPTER V.</h2>
+
+
+<p>On a pleasant, although rather cloudy
+forenoon in July, our young pleasure-seekers
+carried into execution a long-talked-of
+expedition to the Deal Beach, distant
+about ten miles from Shrewsbury.</p>
+
+<p>By Aunt Sarah's arrangement, Charley
+and Jeannie occupied the back seat of the
+light wagon, and Sarah was to sit by
+Philip in front, that she "might see the
+country." Having accomplished this apparently
+artless manoeuvre, the good woman
+handed up to them a portly basket of
+luncheon, and two or three additional
+shawls, in case of rain or change of
+weather, and bade the gay party "good-bye"
+with a satisfied glow in heart and
+face. To her guileless apprehension there
+was no question how affairs were progressing
+between her niece and her nephew-in-law;
+and in sundry conferences on the
+subject between "husband" and herself,
+it had been agreed that a matrimonial alliance
+would be the best thing that could
+happen to either of the supposed lovers.
+In her simple, pious soul, the dear old
+lady already blessed the Providence that
+had accomplished the meeting and intercourse
+under her roof, while she wondered
+at "the strange things that come
+about in this world."</p>
+
+<p>Philip had been aware of her innocent
+attempts to facilitate his suit for several
+days past, and Sarah's blush, as she hesitated
+before accepting the proffered seat
+by the driver, showed that this move was
+so transparent as to convey the alarm to
+her also. For a full half mile Philip did
+not speak, except a word now and then
+to the pair of stout grays, who were Uncle
+Nathan's greatest earthly boast. He appeared
+thoughtful, perhaps perturbed&mdash;so
+Sarah's single stolen glance at him showed&mdash;and
+in the eyes that looked straight onward
+to the horizon, there was a hardness
+she had never seen there before. She was
+surprised, therefore, when he broke the
+silence by an unimportant observation, uttered
+in his usual friendly tone, and for
+the remainder of the ride was gay and
+kind, with a show of light-heartedness that
+was not surpassed by the merry children
+behind them.</p>
+
+<p>There was hardly enough variety in the
+unpicturesque country bordering their
+route to give the shadow of reasonableness
+to Aunt Sarah's pretext in selecting her
+namesake's seat, and, despite her escort's
+considerate attentions, Sarah had an uncomfortable
+ride; while her manner evinced
+more of the haughty reserve of their introduction
+than she had shown at any subsequent
+stage of their acquaintance. The
+grays traveled well, and a little after noon
+they were detached from the carriage, and
+tied in the grove of scrub-oaks skirting the
+beach.</p>
+
+<p>While Philip was busied with them, the
+others continued their course down to the
+shore; the children, hand-in-hand, skipping
+over the sand-hills, and stopping to pick
+up stones; Sarah strolling slowly after
+them. She had seen the ocean surf before,
+but never aught like this, with its huge
+swells of water, a mile in length, gathering
+blackness and height on their landward
+career; as they struck the invisible
+barriers that commanded, "Thus far and
+no farther!" breaking in white fury, with
+the leap of a baffled fiend, and a roar like
+thunder, against their resistless opponent,
+then recoiling, sullenly, to gather new
+force for another, and as useless an attack.
+The beach was wide and uneven, of
+sand, whose whiteness would have glared
+intolerably had the day been sunny, drifted
+into hillocks and undulating ridges, like
+the waves of the sea. Here and there the
+hardy heather found a foothold amid the
+otherwise blank sterility, the green patches
+adding to, rather than lessening the wild,
+desolate aspect of the tract. Fragments of
+timber were strewn in all directions, and
+Sarah's quick eye perceived that it was
+not formless, chance driftwood. There
+were hewn beams and shapely spars, and
+planks in which great iron bolts were still
+fast. When Philip overtook her, she was
+standing by an immense piece of solid
+wood, lying far beyond the reach of the
+highest summer tides. One end was buried
+in the sand; the other, bleached by sun
+and wind, and seamed with cracks, was
+curved like the extremity of a bow. Her
+late embarrassment or hauteur was forgotten
+in the direct earnestness of her appealing
+look.</p>
+
+<p>"Am I mistaken?" she said, in a low,
+awed tone. "Is not this the keel of a
+ship?"</p>
+
+<p>"It is. There have been many wrecked
+on this coast."</p>
+
+<p>"Here!" She glanced from the fierce, bellowing
+breakers to the melancholy testimonials
+of their destructive might. "I
+have never heard that this was esteemed
+a dangerous point."</p>
+
+<p>"You can form an imperfect idea of
+what this beach is in winter," remarked
+Philip, signing to her to seat herself upon
+the sand and throwing himself down beside
+her. "I was here once, late in the
+autumn, and saw a vessel go to pieces,
+scarcely a stone's throw from where we
+are now sitting. The sea was high, the
+wind blowing a perfect gale, and this
+schooner, having lost one of her most important
+sails, was at the mercy of the elements.
+She was cast upon the shore, and
+her crew, watching their opportunity,
+sprang overboard as the waves receded
+and reached firm ground in safety. Then
+came a monster billow, and lifting the vessel
+farther upon the sand, left her careened
+towards the land. It was pitiful to see the
+poor thing! So like life were her shudders
+and groans as the cruel surf beat against
+her, that my heart fairly ached. The spray
+at every dash rose nearly as high as her
+mast-head, and a cataract of water swept
+over her deck. Piece by piece she broke
+up, and we could only stand and look on,
+while the scattered portions were thrown
+to our feet. I shall never forget the sight.
+It taught me the truth of man's impotence
+and nature's strength as I had never read
+it before."</p>
+
+<p>"But there were no lives lost! You were
+spared the spectacle of that most terrible
+scene in the tragedy of shipwreck?"</p>
+
+<p>"Yes. But the light of many a life has
+been quenched in that raging caldron. A
+young man, a resident of Shrewsbury, with
+whom I hunted last year, described to me
+a catalogue of horrors which he had beheld
+here, that has visited me in dreams often
+since. An emigrant ship was cast away
+on this coast in midwinter. High above the
+roar of the wind and the booming surf was
+heard the cry of the doomed wretches, perishing
+within hail of the crowd of fellow-beings
+who had collected at news of the
+catastrophe. The cold was intense; mast
+and sail and rope were coated with ice,
+and the benumbed, freezing wretches were
+exposed every instant to the torrents of
+brine that swept over them like sleet. The
+agony was horrible beyond description, but
+it was soon over. Before the vessel parted,
+the accent of mortal woe was hushed. Not
+a man survived to tell the tale."</p>
+
+<p>For an hour they sat thus and talked.
+The subject had, for Sarah, a fearful fascination,
+and, led on by her absorbed attention,
+Philip rehearsed to her wonders
+and stories of the mysterious old ocean,
+that to-day stretched before them, blanched
+and angry, under the veil of summer cloud,
+until to his auditor there were bitter wailings
+blent with the surge's roar; arms,
+strained and bare, were tossed above the
+dark, serpent-like swell of water, in unavailing
+supplication, and livid, dead faces
+stared upon her from beneath the curling
+crests of the breakers.</p>
+
+<p>That day on the Deal Beach! How quietly
+happy was its seeming! How full of
+event, emotion, fate&mdash;was its reality! Charley
+and Jeannie wandered up and down the
+coast, filling their baskets with shells and
+pebbles; chasing the retiring waves as far
+as they dared, and scampering back, with
+shrieks of laughter, as the succeeding billow
+rolled rapidly after them; building
+sand-houses, and digging wells to be filled
+by salt water; exulting greatly when a
+rough coralline fragment or a jelly-fish of
+unusual dimensions was thrown in their
+way. They all lunched together, seated
+upon the heather-clumps, around Aunt Sarah's
+liberal hamper.</p>
+
+<p>"Sister," said Jeannie, when the edge of
+her seaside appetite was somewhat blunted
+by her repast, "I like living here better
+than in New York&mdash;don't you?"</p>
+
+<p>"It is more pleasant in summer, my
+dear."</p>
+
+<p>"But I mean that I am happier here. I
+wish you would write to mother and ask
+her to let us live here always."</p>
+
+<p>"But what would she do without her
+baby?" asked Philip, emphasizing the last
+word.</p>
+
+<p>The little lady bridled instantly.</p>
+
+<p>"Cousin Philip, I do wish you would never
+call me a 'baby' again. I am seven
+years and two weeks old. I could get
+along very well without mother for awhile.
+Of course, I would go over sometimes and
+pay her a visit and get new dresses.
+Shrewsbury is a nice place; I would like
+to buy that pretty white house next to
+Uncle Nathan's, and live there&mdash;sister and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_17" id="Page_17">[17]</a></span>
+Charley and I&mdash;and you&mdash;if you would promise
+not to tease me ever."</p>
+
+<p>"Thank you!" said Philip, with admirable
+gravity, seeming not to notice Sarah's
+heightened color at this proposal of co-partnership.
+"You are very kind to include
+me in your household arrangements, and
+nothing would please me better, if I could
+stay here. But you know, Jeannie, my
+dear little cousin, that my home is far
+away from this quarter of the world. I
+have remained here too long already."
+There was a touch of feeling or nervousness
+in his voice. "I had a letter last
+night, reminding me that I ought to have
+left a week ago to join a party of friends,
+whom I promised to meet in New York
+and travel with them until the time for
+our return to the South."</p>
+
+<p>He did not look at Sarah, but she felt
+that the explanation was intended for her&mdash;that,
+whether intentionally or not, he was
+preparing her for a blow to heart and
+hope.</p>
+
+<p>"I shall be obliged to leave Shrewsbury
+and all my friends there to-morrow morning,
+Jeannie."</p>
+
+<p>The child's exclamation of dismay, and
+Charley's quick, mute remonstrance to his
+cousin, as his playfellow communicated the
+news to him, gave Sarah time to rally firmness
+and words.</p>
+
+<p>"This is unexpected intelligence," she
+said, calmly. "We shall miss you. Your
+kindness has, directly and indirectly, been
+the means of affording us much pleasure
+during our visit to our good aunt. It will
+seem dull when you are gone."</p>
+
+<p>There was a flash in Philip's eye that
+looked like pleasure&mdash;a mixture of relief
+and surprise, as he turned to her.</p>
+
+<p>"I am selfish enough to hope that you
+will miss me for a time, at least. I shall
+not then be so soon forgotten. We have
+had some pleasant days and weeks together,
+have we not?"</p>
+
+<p>"I have enjoyed them, assuredly."</p>
+
+<p>She was a little pale, Philip thought, but
+that might be the effect of fatigue. Her
+cheek was seldom blooming, unless when
+flushed in animated speech, or by brisk exercise.
+She spoke of his going with politeness,
+that seemed scarce one remove from
+carelessness; and, man-like, his pleasure
+at the thought that their association in
+the country house had not been followed
+by the results Aunt Sarah wished and predicted,
+gave way to a feeling of wounded
+vanity and vexation, that his summer's
+companion could relinquish him so easily.
+While he repeated to himself his congratulations
+that his friendly and gallant
+attentions had not been misconstrued, had
+not awakened any inconvenient because
+futile "expectations," he wondered if it
+were a possibility for a girl of so much
+sense and feeling, such genuine appreciation
+of his talents and tastes, to know him
+well&mdash;even intimately&mdash;without experiencing
+a warmer sentiment than mere approval
+of an agreeable associate's mind and
+manners, and Platonic liking for him on
+these accounts.</p>
+
+<p>With the respectful familiarity of a privileged
+acquaintance, he drew her hand
+within his arm as they arose at the conclusion
+of the collation.</p>
+
+<p>"We have yet two hours and more to
+spend here, before we set out for home.
+We can have one more walk and talk together."</p>
+
+<p>They took but one turn on the beach,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_18" id="Page_18">[18]</a></span>
+and returning to their morning's seat beside
+the half-buried keel tried to talk as
+they had done then. It was hard work,
+even to the man of the world, the heart-free
+student of human nature. Gradually
+the conversation languished and died away,
+and for awhile both sat silent, looking out
+upon the sea. Then Philip's gaze came
+back to his companion&mdash;stealthily at first,
+and, as she remained unconscious of his
+scrutiny, it lingered long and searchingly
+upon features, form and attire.</p>
+
+<p>There were white, tight lines about her
+mouth, and a slight knitting of the brow,
+that imparted a care-worn look to the
+young face it pained him to see. Her hands
+were clasped upon her knee, and the fingers
+were bloodless where they interlaced
+one another. Was she suffering? Was the
+threatened parting the cause of her disquiet?
+If this were so, what was his duty
+as a man of honor&mdash;of common humanity?
+And if he were forced to admit that he
+held her happiness in his power, and to accept
+the consequences that must ensue
+from his idle gallantry and her mistaken
+reading of the same, was the thought really
+repulsive? Would it be a total sacrifice
+of feeling to a sense of right? It was a
+repetition, grave and careful, of the revery
+of that July night two weeks ago.</p>
+
+<p>Sarah's hat&mdash;a broad-brimmed "flat" of
+brown straw&mdash;had fallen back upon her
+shoulders, and the sea breeze played in her
+hair, raising the short and loose strands
+and giving to the whole a rough, "frowzy"
+look. Her plain linen collar and undersleeves
+showed her complexion and hands
+to the worst possible advantage. Upon her
+cheeks, this same unfriendly wind had bestowed
+a coat of tan and a few freckles,
+that were all the more conspicuous from
+her pallor, while her fingers were as brown
+as a gypsy's. Her gray poplin dress had
+lost most of its original gloss, and being
+one of Mrs. Hunt's bargains&mdash;"a cheap
+thing, but plenty good for that outlandish
+Shrewsbury"&mdash;already betrayed its cotton
+warp by creases that would not be
+smoothed, and an aspect of general limpness&mdash;a
+prophecy of speedy, irremediable
+shabbiness. Cast loosely about her shoulders
+was a light shawl, green, with black
+sprigs&mdash;another bargain; and beyond the
+skirt of her robe appeared the toe and instep
+of a thick-soled gaiter, very suitable
+for a tramp through damp sand, yet anything
+but becoming to the foot it protected.</p>
+
+<p>With an impatient shake of the head, involuntary
+and positive, Philip closed his
+final observation. And cutting off a large
+splinter from the weather-beaten timber
+against which he leaned, set about trimming
+it, wearing a serious, settled face,
+that said his mind was fully made up.</p>
+
+<p>What had Sarah seen all this while?</p>
+
+<p>Heavens, over which the films of the
+forenoon had thickened into dun cloud-curtains,
+stretching above and enwrapping
+the world; a wild, dreary expanse of troubled
+waters, whose horizon line was lost
+in the misty blending of sea and sky, ever
+hurrying and heaving to moan out their
+unrest upon the barren beach. In the distance
+was a solitary sail; nearer to the
+land, a large sea-bird flew heavily against
+the wind. In such mateless, weary night
+must her life be passed; that lone, frail
+craft was not so hopelessly forlorn upon a
+gloomy sea, beneath a sky that gloomed
+yet more darkly&mdash;as was her heart, torn
+suddenly from its moorings&mdash;anchor and
+rudder and compass gone. Yet who could
+syllable the mighty sorrow of the complaining
+sea? And were there words in
+human language that could tell the anguish
+of the swelling flood beating within
+her breast?</p>
+
+<p>"Going away! To-morrow!" For a little
+space this was all the lament she kept repeating
+over to herself. Pregnant with woe
+she knew it to be, yet it was not until she
+was allowed to meditate in silence upon
+the meaning of the words that she realized
+what had truly come upon her. She had
+thrown away all her hope of earthly happiness&mdash;risked
+it as madly, lost it as surely,
+as if she had tossed it&mdash;a tangible pearl&mdash;into
+the yawning ocean. Her instinct assured
+her that, were it otherwise, the tidings
+of Philip's intended departure, his
+suddenly formed resolution to leave her,
+would have been conveyed to her in a far
+different manner. Her keen backward
+glance penetrated Aunt Sarah's simple
+wiles; his obvious annoyance thereat; his
+determination to save himself from suspicion;
+his honorable fear lest she, too,
+should imagine him loving, where he was
+only civil and kind. Yes, it was all over!
+The best thing she could hope to do, the
+brightest prospect life had now for her,
+was that her secret should remain hers
+alone, until the troubled heart moaned itself
+into rest which knows no waking. She
+was used to concealment. All her existence,
+excepting the sweet delusive dream of
+the past three weeks, had been a stern
+preparation for this trial. But she was already
+weary and faint&mdash;fit to lie down and
+die, so intense had been the throe of this
+one struggle.</p>
+
+<p>"How long is this to last? How long?"</p>
+
+<p>The exclamation actually broke, in an inarticulate
+murmur, from her lips.</p>
+
+<p>"Did you speak?" inquired Philip.</p>
+
+<p>"I think not. I am not sure. I did not
+intend to do so."</p>
+
+<p>"Grant me credit for my forebearance in
+not obtruding my prosaic talk upon your
+musings," he went on, playfully. "It was
+a powerful temptation&mdash;for I remember,
+constantly, that this is our last opportunity
+for a genuine heart and head confabulation,
+such as I shall often linger for after
+I leave you&mdash;and sincerity! You have done
+me good, Miss Sarah; taught me Faith,
+Hope, Charity&mdash;a blessed sisterhood!"</p>
+
+<p>"May they ever attend you!"</p>
+
+<p>"Amen! and thank you! And what wish
+shall I make in return for your beautiful
+benediction?"</p>
+
+<p>"Whatever you like. My desires are not
+many or extravagant."</p>
+
+<p>"You are wrong. You have a craving
+heart and a craving mind. May both be
+fed to the full, with food convenient for
+them&mdash;in measures pressed down, shaken
+together and running over."</p>
+
+<p>"Of what? Husks?" was Sarah's unspoken
+and bitter reply. She could not thank
+him, as he had done her. She only bowed,
+and, bending forward, took up a handful of
+the fine white sand that formed the shore.
+Slowly sifting it through her fingers, she
+waited for him to speak again.</p>
+
+<p>Was this careless equanimity real or
+feigned? The judge of character, the harpist
+upon heart-chords, made the next move&mdash;not
+the candid, manly friend.</p>
+
+<p>"I am going to ask a favor of you&mdash;a
+bold one."</p>
+
+<p>"Say on."</p>
+
+<p>"By the time I am ready to retrace my
+steps southward you will be again settled
+in New York. Will you think me presumptuous
+if I call at your father's house
+to continue an acquaintance which has
+been, to me, at once agreeable and profitable?"</p>
+
+<p>The fingers were still, suddenly. A warm
+glow, like sunrise, swept over cheek and
+forehead. A smile, slight but sweet, quivered
+upon her lips. Drowning in the depths,
+she heard across the billow a hail that
+spoke of hope, life, happiness.</p>
+
+<p>"We will all be glad to see you," she
+said, with affected composure.</p>
+
+<p>"Not half so glad as I shall be to come.
+Will you now, while you think of it, give
+me your address?"</p>
+
+<p>He handed her a card and a pencil. She
+wrote the required direction and received
+in exchange for it the now smooth bit of
+wood, which had afforded occupation to
+Philip for half an hour past. It was tendered
+in mock ceremony, and accepted
+smilingly. Upon the gray tablet was inscribed
+"Philip Benson, Deal Beach, July
+27th, 1856." A playful or thoughtless impulse
+caused him to extend his hand for it,
+after she had read it, and to add a motto,
+stale as innocent in his eyes: "Pensez a
+moi!"</p>
+
+<p>"I shall preserve it as a souvenir of the
+day and place," observed Sarah, slipping
+it into her pocket.</p>
+
+<p>Twilight overtook them before they
+reached home, and the night was too
+cloudy and damp for a promenade, such as
+they often had in the garden walks and
+lane, or for the customary family gathering
+in the long porch. Yet Aunt Sarah was
+surprised that Philip was apparently content
+to spend the evening in the sitting-room,
+with herself and husband by to spoil
+the tete-a-tete he must be longing for.</p>
+
+<p>Still more confounded was she, when,
+after her clever strategy of coaxing Uncle
+Nathan into the kitchen, that the coast
+might be clear, she heard Philip's step
+close behind them.</p>
+
+<p>"I must clean my gun to-night, aunt," he
+said, taking it from the corner. "I shall
+not have time to do it to-morrow."</p>
+
+<p>With the utmost nonchalance he began
+the operation, whistling softly a lively air
+over his work. Aunt Sarah gave her partner
+a look of bewildered despair, which he
+returned by a confirmatory nod, and a
+smile, half comic, half regretful.</p>
+
+<p>After breakfast next morning the nephew-guest
+said affectionate farewells to his
+relatives and Jeannie; a grave, gentle adieu
+to Sarah, accompanied by a momentary
+pressure of the hand, that may have meant
+much or little, and upon the snug homestead
+settled a quiet that was dreariness
+itself to one of its inmates.</p>
+
+
+
+<hr class="chap" />
+
+<h2>CHAPTER VI.</h2>
+
+
+<p>Meanwhile, how had the time sped to the
+nominal head of the Hunt household&mdash;the
+solitary, toiling father and husband? The
+servants were dismissed when "the family"
+left town, although Mr. Hunt continued
+to sleep at home. A peripatetic
+maid-of-all-work&mdash;what the English denominate
+a charwoman&mdash;was engaged to
+come early every morning to clear up the
+only room in the establishment that was
+used before the cashier went out for his
+breakfast, which he procured at a restaurant
+pretty far down town. The same
+quiet coffee-house furnished him with dinner<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_19" id="Page_19">[19]</a></span>
+and an early tea, after which last refreshment
+he was at liberty to pass the
+evening in whatever manner he liked best.
+There was nothing in the city worth seeing
+at this season, even if he had not lost all
+taste for shows and gayety. Those of his
+acquaintances who were not absent with
+their wives and daughters were living like
+himself, furniture in overalls, carpets covered,
+apartments closed, with the exception,
+perhaps, of one bedroom, and had no
+place in which to receive him if he had
+been in the habit of visiting, which he was
+not. He was very tired, moreover, by the
+time night came on, and as the heat increased
+and the days grew longer, his
+strength waned more and more, and his
+spirits with it. Meekly and uncomplainingly
+he plodded through his routine of bank
+duties, so steady and so faithful that his
+fellow-workers and customers had come to
+regard him as a reliable fixture, a piece
+of machinery, whose winding up was self-performed
+and whose accuracy was infallible.</p>
+
+<p>When, therefore, on a sultry August afternoon,
+he turned to leave his desk at the
+close of business hours, grew terribly pale
+and dropped upon the floor in a fit of
+death-like faintness, there was great consternation,
+and as much wonder as if no
+human clock-work had ever given out before,
+under a like process of exhausting
+demands.</p>
+
+<p>Clumsily, but with the best of intentions,
+they brought him to his senses, and in half
+an hour or so he was sufficiently recovered
+to be taken home. There was a twitching
+of the lips that might have passed for a
+sarcastic smile, as he heard the proposal
+to convey him to his house; but he only
+gave his street and number, and lay silently
+back in the carriage, supported by his
+friends, two of whom insisted upon seeing
+him safely to his own abode.</p>
+
+<p>"Is this the place? Why, it is all shut
+up!" exclaimed one of these gentlemen as
+the driver drew up before the dusty steps.</p>
+
+<p>Mrs. Hunt's orders were that the entrance
+to her mansion should present the
+most desolate air possible during her absence.
+It had "an aristocratical look in the
+summer time, when everybody but nobodies
+was rusticating."</p>
+
+<p>Again that singular contortion of the
+mouth, and the master (?) of the forlorn-looking
+habitation prepared to descend,
+fumbling in his pocket for his pass-key.</p>
+
+<p>"I am obliged to you, gentlemen, for your
+great kindness, and will&mdash;not&mdash;trouble&mdash;you&mdash;longer."</p>
+
+<p>In trying to raise his hand to his hat for
+a bow, the ghastly hue again overspread
+his face, and he staggered. Without further
+parley his two aids laid hold of him,
+one on each side, and supported him into
+the house, up one, two flights of linen-draped
+stairs, to a back bedroom.</p>
+
+<p>Mrs. Hunt would have let her husband
+faint on the sidewalk before she would
+have received company in that chamber in
+its present condition; for the handsomest
+articles of furniture stood covered up in
+another apartment, and their place was
+supplied by a plain bureau, wash-stand and
+bed belonging to the boys' room, a story
+higher up. The wisdom of this precaution
+was manifest in the signs of neglect and
+slovenliness displayed on all sides. One
+could have written his name in the dust
+upon the glass; there was dirt in every corner
+and under each chair and table; the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_20" id="Page_20">[20]</a></span>
+wash-basin was partly full of dirty suds,
+and the towels and counterpane shockingly
+dingy.</p>
+
+<p>These things were not remarked by the
+intruders until they had got their charge
+to bed, resisted no longer by him, for he
+began to comprehend his inability to help
+himself.</p>
+
+<p>"There is no one besides ourselves on
+the premises, not even a servant," one of
+them said apart to his associate, after a
+brief absence from the room. "If you will
+stay with him until I come back I will go
+for a doctor."</p>
+
+<p>The invalid caught the last word.</p>
+
+<p>"Indeed, Mr. Hammond, there is no need
+for you to do anything more&mdash;no necessity
+for calling in a physician. I am quite comfortable
+now, and shall be well by morning."</p>
+
+<p>Mr. Hammond, who was a director in
+the bank, and sincerely honored the honest
+veteran now prostrated by his devoted
+performance of duty, took the hot, tremulous
+hand in his.</p>
+
+<p>"I cannot allow you to peril your valuable
+health, my dear sir. Unless you positively
+forbid it, I shall not only call your
+physician, but drop in again myself this
+evening, and satisfy my mind as to
+whether you require my presence through
+the night."</p>
+
+<p>He was as good as his word; but no
+amount of persuasion could induce Mr.
+Hunt to accept his offered watch. He
+would be "uneasy, unhappy, if his young
+friend sacrificed his own rest so uselessly,"
+and loath as he was to leave him to
+solitude and suffering, Mr. Hammond had
+to yield. At his morning visit, he found
+the patient more tractable. After tedious
+hours of fevered wakefulness, he had endeavored
+to rise, only to sink back again
+upon his pillow&mdash;dizzy, sick, and now thoroughly
+alarmed at the state of his system.
+He did not combat his friend's proposal
+to obtain a competent nurse, and to look
+in on him in person as often as practicable;
+still, utterly refused to allow his wife to be
+written to on the subject of his indisposition.</p>
+
+<p>"I shall be better in a day or two, probably
+before she could reach me. I have
+never had a spell of illness. It is not likely
+that this will be anything of consequence.
+I greatly prefer that she should not be
+apprised of this attack."</p>
+
+<p>Mr. Hammond was resolute on his part&mdash;the
+more determined, when the physician
+had paid another visit, and pronounced the
+malady a low fever, that would, doubtless,
+confine the sick man to his bed for several
+days, if not weeks.</p>
+
+<p>"It is not just to your wife and children,
+Mr. Hunt, to keep them in ignorance of so
+important a matter!" he urged. "They
+will have cause to feel themselves aggrieved
+by you, and ill-treated by me, if
+we practice this deception upon them."</p>
+
+<p>Mr. Hunt lay quiet for some minutes.</p>
+
+<p>"Perhaps you are in the right," he said.
+"Sarah would be wounded, I know. I will
+send for her!" he concluded, with more
+animation. "She will come as soon as she
+receives the letter."</p>
+
+<p>"Of course she will!" rejoined Mr. Hammond,
+confidently; "you are not able to
+write. Suffer me to be your amanuensis."
+He sat down at a stand, and took out his
+pen. "Where is Mrs. Hunt at present?"</p>
+
+<p>"I am not sure. Either at Saratoga or
+Newport."</p>
+
+<p>Mr. Hammond looked surprised. "But it
+is necessary, sir, that we should know
+with some degree of certainty, or the letter
+may miscarry. Perhaps it would be
+well to write to both places."</p>
+
+<p>"The letter! Both places!" repeated Mr.
+Hunt, with perplexity. "I alluded to my
+daughter Sarah, sir, my second child, who
+is spending the summer with her aunt in
+Shrewsbury, New Jersey. May I take the
+liberty of asking you to write her a short
+note, mentioning my sickness in as guarded
+terms as you can use, and requesting
+her to come up to the city for a few days?
+She has my youngest child&mdash;a little girl&mdash;with
+her. If she can be contented to remain
+with her aunt, Sarah had better
+leave her there. She would be an additional
+burden to her sister if she were
+here."</p>
+
+<p>Whatever Mr. Hammond thought of the
+marked preference shown to the daughter
+above the wife, he said nothing, but proceeded
+to indite the desired epistle, adding,
+in a postscript, on his own account, that
+he would take pleasure in meeting Miss
+Hunt at the wharf, on her arrival, and for
+this purpose would be at the boat each
+day, until she made her appearance in
+New York.</p>
+
+<p>He went, accordingly, the next afternoon,
+although very confident that she could not
+have received his letter in season to take
+that boat. Mr. Hunt had proved to him
+and to himself the utter impossibility of her
+coming, yet his eyes brightened with expectancy
+as his friend entered, and faded
+into sadness as he reported the ill-success
+of his errand.</p>
+
+<p>"He is evidently extremely partial to
+this one of his children," thought Mr. Hammond,
+as he paced the wharf on the second
+evening, watching, amid noisy hack-drivers
+and expressmen, for the steamer. "I
+have seen the girls at parties, but do not
+remember their names. One of them is
+very pretty. I wonder if she is 'Sarah!'"</p>
+
+<p>It was growing dusk as the boat touched
+the pier. So dim was the light, that Mr.
+Hammond was obliged to station himself
+close beside the gangway, and inspect the
+features of each lady passenger more narrowly
+than politeness would, in other circumstances,
+have warranted. They hurried
+across, men and women, tall and
+short, stout and slender, until there
+tripped towards him the figure of a young
+girl, attired in a gray dress and mantle,
+and carrying a small traveling bag in her
+hand. She would have passed him, had
+he not stepped forward and spoken.</p>
+
+<p>"Miss Hunt, I believe!"</p>
+
+<p>In the uncertain twilight, he could see
+that she grew very pale.</p>
+
+<p>"How is my father?"</p>
+
+<p>There was no preamble of civility or
+diffidence; no reserve in addressing him, a
+mere stranger; no trembling, preparatory
+queries; but a point-blank question, in a
+tone whose impatient anguish moved his
+kind heart; a piercing look, that would
+know the truth then and there!</p>
+
+<p>"He is better, to-day"&mdash;and he led her
+out of the press of the onward stream.
+"He has not been dangerously ill. We
+hope and believe that he will not be."</p>
+
+<p>"Is that true?" Her fingers tightened
+upon his arm.</p>
+
+<p>"It is! I would not, for the world, deceive
+you in such a matter."</p>
+
+<p>"I believe you! Thank Heaven! I feared
+the worst!" She covered her face with
+her hands, and burst into tears.</p>
+
+<p>Hammond beckoned a hackman, close by,
+and when the short-lived reaction of overwrought
+feeling subsided so far as to allow
+Sarah to notice surrounding objects, she
+was seated in the carriage, screened from
+curious or impertinent gazers, and her
+escort was nowhere to be seen. Several
+minutes elapsed before he again showed
+himself at the window.</p>
+
+<p>"I must trouble you for your checks,
+Miss Hunt, in order to get your baggage."</p>
+
+<p>Already ashamed of her emotion, she
+obeyed his demand without speaking.</p>
+
+<p>"You have given me but one," he said,
+turning it over in his hand.</p>
+
+<p>"That is all, sir."</p>
+
+<p>"Indeed! You are a model traveler! I
+thought no young lady, in these days, ever
+stirred from home without half a dozen
+trunks." To himself he added, "A sensible
+girl! An exception to most of her sex,
+in one thing, at any rate!"</p>
+
+<p>Sarah sat well back into her corner, as
+they drove up lighted Broadway, and was
+almost rudely taciturn, while her companion
+related the particulars of her father's
+seizure and subsequent confinement
+to his room. Yet, that she listened with
+intense interest, the narrator knew by her
+irregular breathing and immovable attitude.
+As they neared their destination,
+this fixedness of attention and posture was
+exchanged for an eager restlessness. She
+leaned forward to look out of the window,
+and when they turned into the last street,
+quick as was Mr. Hammond's motion to
+unfasten the door of the vehicle, her hand
+was first upon the lock. It was cold as ice,
+and trembled so much as to be powerless.
+Gently removing it, he undid the catch,
+and assisted her to alight.</p>
+
+<p>The hired nurse answered their ring, and
+while Sarah brushed past her, and flew up
+the stairway, Mr. Hammond detained the
+woman to make inquiries and issue directions.</p>
+
+<p>"It is all very dreary-like, sir," she complained.
+"Everything is packed away and
+locked up. There's no getting at a lump
+of sugar without a hunt for the key, and
+all he's seemed to care for this blessed
+day, was that his daughter should be made
+comfortable. He sent me out this afternoon
+to buy biscuits, and sardines, and
+peaches for her tea, and told me where I'd
+find silver and china. It is not at all the
+thing for him to be worrying at such
+a rate. He'll be worse for it to-morrow,
+and so I've told him, Mr. Hammond."</p>
+
+<p>"Perhaps not, Mrs. Kerr. His daughter's
+coming will cheer him and quiet him, too,
+I doubt not. I will not go up now. Please
+present my regards to Mr. Hunt, and say
+that I will call to-morrow."</p>
+
+<p>He purposely deferred his visit until the
+afternoon, supposing that Miss Hunt might
+object to his early and unceremonious appearance
+in the realms now under her
+control; nor when he went did he ascend
+at once to the sick-chamber, as was his
+custom before the transfer of its superintendence.
+Sending up his name by the
+nurse, he awaited a formal invitation,
+among the shrouded sofas and chairs of
+the sitting-room.</p>
+
+<p>"You'll please to walk up, sir!" was the
+message he received; and the woman subjoined,
+confidentially, "Things is brighter
+to-day, sir."</p>
+
+<p>They certainly were. With wonderfully<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_21" id="Page_21">[21]</a></span>
+little noise and confusion, Sarah, assisted
+by the nurse, had wrought an utter change
+in the desolate apartment. With the exception
+of the bureau, which had been
+drawn out of sight into the adjoining
+dressing-room, and the bedstead, the common,
+defaced furniture had disappeared,
+and its place was supplied by more comfortable
+and elegant articles. The windows
+were shaded, without giving an aspect
+of gloom to the chamber; the bed-coverings
+were clean and fresh; and the
+sick man, supported by larger and plumper
+pillows than those among which he had
+tossed for many a weary night, greeted his
+visitor with a cordial smile and outstretched
+hand.</p>
+
+<p>"I thank you for your kind care of my
+daughter last evening, sir. Sarah, my dear,
+this is my friend, Mr. Hammond, to whose
+goodness I am so much indebted."</p>
+
+<p>"The debt is mine no less," was the
+frank reply, as she shook hands with her
+new acquaintance. "We can never thank
+you sufficiently, Mr. Hammond, for all
+you have done for us, in taking care of
+him."</p>
+
+<p>"A genuine woman! a dutiful, affectionate
+daughter!" was now Hammond's comment,
+as he disclaimed all right to her
+gratitude. "None of your sentimental, affected
+absurdities, with nothing in either
+head or heart!"</p>
+
+<p>This impression was confirmed by daily
+observation; for politeness first, then inclination,
+induced him to continue his
+"professional" calls, as Sarah styled them.
+He seemed to divide with her the responsibility
+of her position. Its duties were
+onerous; but for this she did not care. She
+was strong and active, and love made labor
+light&mdash;even welcome to her. A competent
+cook was inducted into office below stairs,
+and household matters went forward with
+system and despatch. The eye of the mistress,
+pro tem., was over all; her hand
+ever ready to lift her share of the load,
+yet her attendance at her father's bedside
+appeared unremitting. His disease,
+without being violent, was distressing and
+wearing, destroying sleep and appetite,
+and preying constantly upon the nerves.
+To soothe these, Sarah read and talked
+cheerfully, and often, at his request, sang
+old-time ballads and childish lullabys to
+court diversion and slumber.</p>
+
+<p>Occasionally Lewis Hammond paused
+without the door until the strain was concluded,
+drinking in the notes with more
+pleasure than he was wont to feel in listening
+to the bravuras and startling, astonishing
+cadenzas that were warbled in
+his ears by the amateur cantatrices of the
+"best circles;" then, when the sounds from
+within ceased, he delayed his entrance
+some moments longer, lest the songstress
+should suspect his eavesdropping. He
+ceased to speculate upon the reasons of
+Mrs. Hunt's protracted absence at a time
+when no true-hearted wife could, from
+choice, remain away from her rightful
+post. When, at the expiration of a fortnight
+from the day of the attack, the
+physician declared his patient feebly, but
+surely convalescent, his young friend had
+decided, to his entire satisfaction, that
+things were best as they were. Mr. Hunt
+had made a most judicious selection from
+the female portion of his family, and what
+need of more nurses when this one was so
+efficient and willing? He caught himself
+hoping that the fussy dame he had met in<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_22" id="Page_22">[22]</a></span>
+society would not abridge her summer's
+recreation on account of an ailing husband.
+He had designed going to Saratoga himself,
+for ten days or two weeks; but he
+was very well. It was difficult to get away
+from business, and this affair of Mr.
+Hunt's enlisted his sympathies so deeply,
+that he could not resolve upon leaving
+him. If he had never before enjoyed the
+bliss that flows from a disinterested action,
+he tasted it now.</p>
+
+<p>Mrs. Hunt was not kept in total ignorance
+of what was transpiring at home.
+Sarah had written, cautiously and hopefully,
+of her father's sickness and her recall;
+repeating Mr. Hunt's wish that his
+consort should not hurry back through
+mistaken solicitude for his health and
+comfort; and they were taken at their
+word. A week elapsed before an answer
+arrived&mdash;a lengthy missive, that had cost
+the writer more pains and time than the
+preparation for her annual "crush" generally
+did. She was an indifferent penman,
+and sadly out of practice; but there
+was much to be said, and "Lucy, of course,
+circumstanced as she was, could not spare
+time to be her scribe."</p>
+
+<p>This significant phrase quickened Sarah's
+inborn curiosity; but there was nothing
+for the next three pages that fed or
+quieted it. They were filled with minute
+directions about housewifery&mdash;economical
+details, that would have served as capital
+illustrations of "Poor Richard's" maxims;
+injunctions, warnings, and receipts sufficient
+in quantity to last a young, frugally-disposed
+housekeeper for the remainder of
+her natural existence. It was a trial to
+this exemplary wife and mother, she confessed,
+to absent herself so long from her
+home duties; but circumstances had compelled
+her to stay at Saratoga. Of their
+nature, Sarah had already been informed
+in her sister's last letter.</p>
+
+<p>"Which I cannot have received, then"&mdash;Sarah
+interrupted herself to say, as she
+read to her father: "I have not heard from
+Lucy in four weeks. I have thought hard
+of her for not writing."</p>
+
+<blockquote>
+
+<p>"But," concluded Mrs. Hunt, "matters
+looks well just now, and I know your
+father will aggree, when he heers all about
+our season's work, that our labor and
+Money has been a good investment. Take
+care of the keys yourself, Sarah. Be
+pruedent, keep a sharp Lookout on the
+cook, and don't negleck your poor father.</p>
+
+<p style="text-align: left; margin-top: 1em; margin-bottom: 1em;">"Your Affectionate mother,</p> <p style="text-align: right;">"E. Hunt."&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;</p>
+
+<p style="margin-top: 1em;">"P. S. Your kitchen Girl must have a
+Great deel of spair Time. Set her to work
+cleening the House, for you may expeckt
+us home in two weeks, or maybe Less.</p>
+
+<p style="text-align: right; margin-top: 1em; margin-bottom: 1em;">"E. H."&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;</p>
+</blockquote>
+
+<p>Lucy had slipped a note in the same envelope&mdash;a
+thin, satiny sheet, hardly larger
+than the little hand that had moved over
+its perfumed page. Her chirography was
+very running, very light, very ladylike,
+and, we need not say, very italical.</p>
+
+<blockquote>
+
+<p>"Mamma tells me, Sarah dear, that she
+has given you a hint of how matters are
+progressing between your humble servant
+and our particular friend, of whom I wrote
+in my last. The poor, dear woman flatters
+herself that it is all her work; but somebody
+else may have his own opinion, and I
+certainly have mine. I have had to caution
+her repeatedly, to prevent her from showing
+her delight too plainly to my 'Goldfinch,'
+as Vic. and I have dubbed him.
+Don't be in a hurry with your congratulations,
+ma chere. 'There's many a slip
+'twixt the cup and the lip;' and although
+the season is so near over, I may yet see
+some one whom I like better than His
+Highness. Vic. has a beau, too&mdash;a rich
+widower, less fascinating than my devoted;
+but a very agreeable man, without encumbrance,
+and very much smitten. So
+we pair off nicely in our rides and promenades,
+and, entre nous, are quite the talk.
+You are a good little thing to nurse papa
+so sweetly&mdash;a great deal better than I am.
+I told my knight of this proof of your
+excellence the other day, and he said it
+was only what might have been expected
+from my sister! Don't you feel flattered?
+Poor fellow! Love is blind, you know.</p>
+
+<p>"Love to papa. I am sorry he has been
+so unwell. I do not imagine that I shall
+have time to write again before we leave
+this paradise. We will telegraph you when
+to expect us. Perhaps I may have an
+escort home&mdash;some one who would like to
+have a private conference with my respected
+father. Nous verrons!</p>
+
+<p style="text-align: left; margin-top: 1em; margin-bottom: 1em;">"Lovingly,</p> <p style="text-align: right;">"Lucie."&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;</p>
+</blockquote>
+
+<p>Mr. Hunt twisted himself uneasily in his
+arm-chair as his daughter, by his desire,
+reluctantly read aloud the double letter.
+A shade of dissatisfaction and shame
+clouded his countenance when she finished,
+and he sighed heavily.</p>
+
+<p>"I am glad they are still enjoying themselves,"
+said Sarah, forcing a smile. "Lucy
+has secured a captive too, it appears&mdash;one
+whom she is likely to bring home at her
+chariot wheels."</p>
+
+<p>"In my day daughters were in the habit
+of consulting their fathers before giving
+decided encouragement to any admirers,
+strangers especially," said Mr. Hunt, with
+displeasure. "In these times there are no
+parents! There is the 'old man' and 'the
+Governor,' who makes the money his children
+honor him by wasting, and the 'poor,
+dear woman,' who plays propriety in the
+belle's flirtations, and helps, or hinders,
+in snaring some booby 'Goldfinch.' It is
+a lying, cheating, hollow world! I have
+been sick of it for twenty years!"</p>
+
+<p>"Father! my dear father," exclaimed
+Sarah, kneeling beside him, and winding
+her arms about his neck. "You misjudge
+your children, and their love for you!"</p>
+
+<p>"I believe in you, child! I cannot understand
+how you have contrived to grow up
+so unlike your sister and your"&mdash;The
+recollection of the respect his daughter
+owed her mother, checked the word.</p>
+
+<p>"You do not deal fairly with Lucy's
+character, father. She has one of the kindest
+hearts and most amiable dispositions in
+the world. I wish I had caused you as
+little anxiety as she has. Remember her
+obedience and my wilfulness; her gentleness
+and my obstinacy, and blush at your
+verdict, Sir Judge!"</p>
+
+<p>She seated herself upon his foot-cushion
+and rested her chin upon his knee, looking
+archly up in his face. She was surprised
+and troubled at this degree of
+acrimony in one whose habitual manner
+was so placid, and his judgment so mild;
+but, for his sake, she was resolute not
+to show her feeling. He laid his hand
+caressingly upon her shoulder, and sank
+into a revery, profound, and seemingly not
+pleasant.</p>
+
+<p>Sarah took advantage of his abstraction
+to remove the wrapper of a newspaper
+received by the same mail that had brought
+her letters. The operation was carefully
+performed, so as not to invite notice, and
+the envelope laid away in her work-box.
+She knew well who had traced the clear,
+bold superscription, and what initials composed
+the mysterious cipher in one corner
+of the cover; nor was this the only token
+of recollection she had from this source.
+The article marked in the number of the
+literary journal he had selected as the
+medium of correspondence, was an exquisite
+little poem from an author whose
+works Philip had read to her in the vine-covered
+porch at Shrewsbury. Slowly,
+longingly she perused it; gathering sweetness
+from every word, and fancying how
+his intonations would bring out beauties
+she could not of herself discover. Then
+she took out the wrapper again, and studied
+the postmark. On the former papers
+he had sent the stamp was illegible, but
+this was easily deciphered&mdash;"Albany."</p>
+
+<p>"So near! He is returning homewards!"
+was the glad reflection that flooded her
+face with joy.</p>
+
+<p>"Sarah!" said her father, abruptly. "Do
+you ever think of marriage?"</p>
+
+<p>"Sir?" stammered the girl, confused beyond
+measure.</p>
+
+<p>"I mean, have you imbibed your sister's
+ideas on this subject? the notions of ninety-nine
+hundredths of girls in your walk
+of life. Do you intend to seek a husband,
+boldly and unblushingly, in all public
+places? to degrade yourself by practising
+the arts they understand so well to catch
+an 'eligible' partner, who may repay your
+insincerity and mercenary views by insult
+and infidelity&mdash;at best by indifference!
+Child! you do not know the risk match-making
+mothers and husband-hunting
+daughters run; the terrible retribution that
+may be&mdash;that often is in store for such!
+I had rather see you and your sister dead,
+than the victims of that most hateful of
+heartless shows&mdash;a fashionable marriage!
+Poor Lucy! poor Lucy!"</p>
+
+<p>"I hope you are distressing yourself without
+reason, sir. Mother is not the person to
+surrender her child to one whose character
+and respectability are not indisputable. Nor
+is Lucy sentimental. I do not fear her suffering
+very acutely from any cause."</p>
+
+<p>"I grant that. You would be more to be
+pitied as an unloved or unloving wife,
+than she. I tremble for you sometimes,
+when I think of this chance. My daughter,
+when you marry, look beyond the outside
+show. Seek for moral worth and a
+true heart, instead of dollars and cents!"</p>
+
+<p>"I will! I promise!" said Sarah, her
+amazement at his earnestness and choice
+of topics combining to shake her voice
+and constrain her smile. "But there is
+time enough for that, father dear. When
+the man of heart and worth sues for my
+poor hand, I will refer him to you, and
+abide entirely by your decision."</p>
+
+<p>"Mr. Hammond is downstairs," said the
+servant at the door. And Sarah, gathering
+up her papers, escaped from the room
+before he entered.</p>
+
+
+
+<hr class="chap" />
+
+<h2>CHAPTER VII.</h2>
+
+
+<p>Mr. Hunt was able to resume his place in
+the bank several days before his wife returned.
+Uncle Nathan had brought Jeannie
+home as soon as her father could leave
+his room, and the boys had likewise been<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_23" id="Page_23">[23]</a></span>
+written for; so that the family reunion
+was apparently near at hand.</p>
+
+<p>Weak as he was, Mr. Hunt met his
+spouse and daughter at the depot, and the
+noise of their entrance in the lower hall
+first apprised Sarah of their arrival. To
+the bound of pleasurable excitement her
+heart gave at the certainty that they had
+come, succeeded a sigh at the termination
+of the free, yet busy life she had led of
+late&mdash;the probability that she would be
+compelled to resume her old habits of feeling
+and action. Driving back the selfish
+regret, she ran down to welcome the travellers.</p>
+
+<p>"How well you're looking, Sarah!" said
+Mrs. Hunt, after kissing her. "I declare,
+if you was to arrange your hair different,
+and study dress a bit, you would come
+near being right down handsome."</p>
+
+<p>"'Handsome is as handsome does!'"
+quoted Mr. Hunt, stoutly. "According to
+that rule, she is a beauty."</p>
+
+<p>"Thank you, sir!" said Sarah, bowing
+low. And she tried to forget, in her sister's
+affectionate greeting, the chill and
+heart-sickness produced by her mother's
+business-like manner and compliment.</p>
+
+<p>"Having disposed of one daughter, she
+means to work the other into merchantable
+shape!" was her cynical deduction
+from the dubious praise bestowed upon
+herself.</p>
+
+<p>Mrs. Hunt pursued her way up the steps,
+examining and remarking upon everything
+she saw.</p>
+
+<p>"Them stair-rods ain't so clean as they
+had ought to be, Sarah. I'm afraid your
+girls are careless, or shirks. When did you
+uncover the carpet?"</p>
+
+<p>"Some time ago, mother, while father
+was sick. There were gentlemen calling
+constantly, and the cover looked shabby,
+I thought."</p>
+
+<p>"It couldn't be helped, I s'pose; but the
+carpet is more worn than I expected to
+see it. With the heavy expenses that will
+be crowding on us this fall and winter,
+we can't afford to get any new things for
+the house."</p>
+
+<p>Lucy, who preceded her sister, glanced
+back and laughed meaningly. And Sarah
+was very glad that her father had not
+overheard the observation, which confirmed
+her belief that the beauty's hand was disposed
+of without the form of consultation
+with her natural and legal guardian.</p>
+
+<p>Dinner was announced by the time the
+traveling habiliments and dust were removed.
+Sarah had spared no pains to
+provide a bountiful and tasteful repast, at
+the risk of incurring her mother's reproof
+for her extravagant proclivities. But the
+dame was in high good-humor, and the
+youthful purveyor received but a single
+sentence of deprecation.</p>
+
+<p>"I hope you have not been living as high
+as this all the time, Sarah!"</p>
+
+<p>"No, ma'am. Father's wants and mine
+were very few. I foresaw that you would
+need substantial refreshment after your
+journey."</p>
+
+<p>"You was very thoughtful. We both
+have good appetites, I guess. I know that
+I have."</p>
+
+<p>"Mine will speak for itself," said Lucy.</p>
+
+<p>"You have no idea how that girl has
+enjoyed everything since she has been
+away," observed Mrs. Hunt to her husband.
+"There was Vic. West, who took
+it into her head that she ought to look die-away
+and peaking, and refuse food, when<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_24" id="Page_24">[24]</a></span>
+her beau was by; but Lu., she just went
+right along and behaved natural, and I'm
+sure that somebody thought more of her
+for it."</p>
+
+<p>Mr. Hunt's face darkened for a moment;
+but he could not find fault with his eldest
+child on her first evening at home.</p>
+
+<p>"So you have been quite a belle, Lucy,"
+he said, pleasantly.</p>
+
+<p>"Better than that, Mr. H.!" Mrs. Hunt
+checked her triumphant announcement as
+the butler re-entered the room. "I shouldn't
+wonder," she resumed, rather mysteriously,
+"if Lucy was disposed to settle down into
+a steady, sedate matron after her holiday."</p>
+
+<p>"Don't deceive yourself with that hope!"
+laughed Lucy.</p>
+
+<p>She was evidently pleased by these not
+over-delicate allusions to her love-affairs,
+and, like her mother, extremely complacent
+over the result of her recent campaign.
+Sarah felt that, were she in her
+place, she would shrink from this open
+jesting upon a sacred subject; still she
+had not expected that her sister would
+behave differently. Lucy's nature was gentle
+without being fine; affectionate but
+shallow. She would have had no difficulty
+in attaching herself to any man whom her
+friends recommended as "a good match,"
+provided he were pleasing in exterior, and
+her most devoted servitor.</p>
+
+<p>The sisters had no opportunity of private
+converse until they adjourned to the
+parlor for the evening. Lucy was very
+beautiful in a blue silk, whose low corsage
+and short sleeves revealed her superb
+shoulders and rounded arms. Her complexion
+was a rich carmine, deepening or
+softening with every motion&mdash;one would
+have said, with every breath. Her blue
+eyes fairly danced in a sort of subdued
+glee, very charming and very becoming
+but altogether unlike the tender, dewy
+light of "Love's first young dream."</p>
+
+<p>"How lovely you have grown, sister!"
+said Sarah, earnestly. "Oh, Lucy, I don't
+believe you rightly value the gift of beauty&mdash;as
+I would do if it were mine!"</p>
+
+<p>"Nonsense!" The dimples, that made her
+smile so bewitching, broke her blushes into
+rosy waves as the conscious fair one
+turned her face towards the mirror. "I
+am pleased to hear that I am passable
+to-night. We may have visitors. A friend
+of ours has expressed a great desire to
+see me in my home&mdash;'in the bosom of my
+family.' Ahem!"</p>
+
+<p>She smoothed out an imaginary wrinkle
+in her bodice, an excuse for tarrying longer
+before the glass.</p>
+
+<p>"He came to town with you, then?" ventured
+Sarah.</p>
+
+<p>Lucy nodded.</p>
+
+<p>"And promised to call this evening?"</p>
+
+<p>"Right again, my dear!"</p>
+
+<p>She was graver now, for she had conceived
+the happy notion of appropriating to
+her own use a cluster of white roses and
+buds she discovered in the vase on the
+marble slab under the mirror. If anything
+could have enhanced the elegance of her
+figure and toilet, it was the coiffure she immediately
+set about arranging. The flowers
+were a present to Sarah from Lewis Hammond;
+but she thought little of him or of
+them, as Lucy laid them first on one, then
+on the other side of head, to try the
+effect.</p>
+
+<p>"And you really care for him, sister?"
+came forth in such a timid, anxious tone,
+that Lucy burst into a fit of laughter.</p>
+
+<p>"You dear little modest piece of romantic
+simplicity! One would suppose that you
+were popping the question yourself, from
+your behavior. Care for him? Why
+shouldn't I? I need not say 'yes' unless I
+do, need I?"</p>
+
+<p>"But you take it so coolly! A betrothal
+is, to me, such a solemn thing."</p>
+
+<p>"And to most other girls, perhaps.
+(There! if I only had a hair-pin. Don't
+rob yourself! thank you! Isn't that an improvement?)
+As I was saying, why should
+I pretend to be pensive and doleful, when I
+am as merry as a lark? or lovesick, when I
+have never lost a meal or an hour's sleep
+from the commencement of the courtship
+until now? That is not my style, Sarah.
+I am very practical in my views and feelings.
+Not that I don't play talking sentiment
+in our genuine lovescenes, and I
+really like unbounded devotion on the other
+side. It is decidedly pleasant to be adored.
+I was surprised to find how I enjoyed it."</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, sister! sister!" Sarah leaned her
+forehead on the mantel, repelled and well-nigh
+disgusted by this heartless trifling&mdash;this
+avowed counterfeit&mdash;so abhorrent to
+her feelings. But Lucy was as much in
+earnest as she could be on such a theme.
+She went on, unheeding her sister's ejaculation.</p>
+
+<p>"You must understand, of course, that we
+are not positively engaged. I gave him&mdash;Goldfinch&mdash;a
+good scolding for violating the
+rules of etiquette by addressing me while
+I was away from home; but it was just like
+him. He is as impulsive as he can live. To
+punish him I refused to answer him until
+after our return to New York, and his interview
+with father. He would have written
+to him on the spot, had I not forbidden
+him. He behaved so beautifully, that I
+consented to his taking charge of us to the
+city, and I suppose the rest must follow in
+good time. How melancholy your face is!
+Are you very much afflicted at the thought
+of losing me? Why, Sarah! my dear child,
+are those tears in your eyes? If she isn't
+crying in good earnest!"</p>
+
+<p>And Lucy's musical laugh rolled through
+the rooms in her enjoyment of the joke.
+What else could it be to her, elate with her
+success in achieving the chief end of woman&mdash;the
+capture of a rich and handsome,
+in every respect an unexceptionable lover?</p>
+
+<p>"Hist!" she said, raising her finger. "He
+has come! Your eyes are red! Run, and
+make yourself presentable!"</p>
+
+<p>The door opening from the hall into the
+front parlor, swung on its hinges as Sarah
+gained the comparative obscurity of the
+third and rear room. A strong impulse of
+interest or curiosity there arrested her
+flight to enable her to get a glimpse of her
+destined brother-in-law. Lucy had not
+mentioned his proper name, since her earliest
+letter from Newport had eulogized a
+certain George Finch, a Bostonian,
+wealthy, and attentive to herself. Sarah's
+backward glance fell upon the visitor as he
+met his queenly bride-elect directly under
+the blazing chandelier.</p>
+
+<p>It was Philip Benson!</p>
+
+<p>Chained to the spot by weakness or horror,
+the looker-on stood motionless, while
+the suitor raised the lily fingers he held to
+his lips, and then led Lucy to a seat. His
+voice broke the spell. As the familiar cadences
+smote her ear, the sharp pain that
+ran through every fiber of her frame awakened
+Sarah from her stupor.</p>
+
+<p>How she gained her room she never
+knew; but she had sense enough left to direct
+her flight to this refuge&mdash;and, when
+within, to lock the door. Then she threw
+up her arms with a piteous, wailing cry,
+and fell across the bed, dead for the time
+to further woe.</p>
+
+<p>Alone and painfully she struggled back
+to consciousness. Sitting upright, she
+stared wonderingly around her, unable to
+recollect what had stricken her down. The
+chamber was imperfectly lighted by the
+rays of the street lamp opposite, and with
+the recognition of objects within its narrow
+limits there crept back to her all that had
+preceded her retreat thither. For the next
+hour she sat still&mdash;her head bowed upon
+her knees, amid the wrecks of her dream
+world.</p>
+
+<p>Dreary and loveless as had been most of
+her previous life, she had never endured
+anything like this, unless one miserable
+hour upon the Deal Beach, when Philip
+broke the tidings of his intended departure,
+were a slight foretaste of the agony, the
+utter despair, that claimed her now for its
+victim. Since then, she had been hopeful.
+His promise of a visit, the tokens of remembrance
+he had transmitted to her
+every week, had kept alive memory and
+expectation, and this was his coming! this
+the occasion she had pictured so fondly,
+painted with the brightest hues Love could
+borrow from imagination! She had heard
+again the voice that had haunted her
+dreams, from their parting until now&mdash;heard
+it in deeper, softer tones than it had
+ever taken in speech with her; heart-music
+which told that his seekings and
+yearnings for the one and only beloved
+were over. And was not her quest of years
+ended likewise? Truly, there are two senses
+in which every search, every combat may
+be said to be closed; one when the victor
+grasps his prize, or waves aloft his sword
+in the moment of triumph; the other,
+when, bleeding, maimed, or dying, the vanquished
+sinks to the earth without power
+to rise!</p>
+
+<p>A tap at her door startled Sarah. She did
+not stir until it was repeated, and her
+father called her name. A stream of light
+from the hall fell upon her face as she admitted
+him.</p>
+
+<p>"Daughter, what ails you?" was his exclamation.</p>
+
+<p>"I am not very well, father."</p>
+
+<p>"I should think not, indeed! Come in
+here and lie down!" He led her to the bed,
+and, lighting the gas in the chamber, came
+back to her and felt her pulse.</p>
+
+<p>She knew what was the direction of his
+fears; but to correct his misapprehension
+was to subject herself to further questioning.
+Passively she received the pressure of
+his hand upon her head, the gentle stroking
+of the disordered hair; but when he stooped
+to kiss her, he felt that she trembled.</p>
+
+<p>"Dear child! I shall never forgive myself
+if you have taken the fever from me!"</p>
+
+<p>"I do not fear that, father. My head
+aches, and I am very tired. I have been so
+busy all day, you know."</p>
+
+<p>"Yes, and for many other days. You are,
+without doubt, overworked. I hope this
+may prove to be all the matter with you.
+A night's rest may quite cure you."</p>
+
+<p>"Yes sir," she answered, chokingly.
+"You will excuse me to &mdash;&mdash;, downstairs?"</p>
+
+<p>"Certainly. Would you like to have your
+mother come up to you?"</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, no, sir! Please tell her there is no
+need of it. I shall be better to-morrow."</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_25" id="Page_25">[25]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>"Your sister"&mdash;and he looked more serious,
+instead of smiling&mdash;"has a visitor. Her
+friend is an acquaintance of yours, also, it
+appears&mdash;the Mr. Benson whom you met at
+your aunt's in July."</p>
+
+<p>"Yes, sir. I know it."</p>
+
+<p>"I understood you to say that Lucy had
+never said positively who her lover was;
+but this was not the name you told me of,
+as the person whom you imagined him to
+be."</p>
+
+<p>"I was misled for a time myself, sir,"
+replied the poor girl, pressing her temples
+between her palms.</p>
+
+<p>"I see that I am tiring you. Forgive me!
+but it is so natural to consult you in everything.
+I must trouble you with some questions,
+which it is important should be answered
+to-night, before this gentleman and
+myself have any conversation. Is Mr. Benson
+a man whom you consider worthy of
+trust? Your mother represents him to be
+enormously wealthy&mdash;a reputation I had
+concluded he possessed, from Lucy's pet
+name for him. It is well that your sister
+has a prospect of marrying advantageously
+in this respect, for she would never be
+happy in an humble sphere; but antiquated
+people like myself regard other things as of
+greater consequence in concluding a bargain
+for a lifetime. Is your opinion of Mr.
+Benson favorable as to disposition, principles,
+and conduct?"</p>
+
+<p>Sarah's head rested on the foot-board of
+her couch, in weariness or pain, as she rejoined:
+"I saw and heard nothing of him,
+during our intercourse in the country, that
+was not creditable. His uncle and aunt are
+very partial to him, and speak of his character
+in high terms. Their testimony ought
+to have weight with you, for they have
+known him from his boyhood up."</p>
+
+<p>"It ought and does. I am relieved to hear
+all this! very much pleased!" said Mr.
+Hunt, enthusiastically. "I have all confidence
+in Nathan Benson's judgment and
+integrity. I hope his nephew is as sterling
+a man. Thus far," he continued, playfully,
+"I have learned but one thing to his discredit,
+and that is, having seen this one of
+my daughters, he could afterwards fall in
+love with the other."</p>
+
+<p>"I am not beautiful and good like Lucy,
+father."</p>
+
+<p>"Very dear and lovely in my eyes, my
+child! Again forgive me for having worried
+your poor head with my inquiries. I
+was unwilling to decide a matter where
+Lucy's happiness was involved, without
+obtaining your evidence in the case. A
+last good-night! and God bless you, my
+dearest, best daughter!"</p>
+
+<p>Sarah held up her face for his kiss without
+attempting to speak. This burning
+ordeal, the harder to endure because unexpected,
+was over. She was as weak as a
+child with conflicting passions when she
+arose and endeavored to undress. After
+stooping several times to regain breath and
+strength, she was at last ready to creep
+into bed, there to lie until morning broke,
+sleepless and suffering.</p>
+
+<p>Her sharpened senses could discern her
+father's and mother's voices in the sitting-room,
+in confidential talk&mdash;interrupted, by-and-by,
+by Lucy's pure, mellow tones, apparently
+conveying some message to the
+former. Its import was easily surmised,
+for his step was then heard in the hall and
+on the stairs, until he reached the parlor
+where Philip awaited him. Their conference
+did not occupy more than twenty minutes,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_26" id="Page_26">[26]</a></span>
+which time Lucy spent with her
+mother&mdash;how gayly, Sarah could judge by
+the laugh that, again and again, reached
+her room. Mr. Hunt returned, spoke a few
+sentences in his calm, grave way, and the
+closing door was followed by a flutter of
+silk and fall of gliding footsteps, as Lucy
+went down to her now formally and fully
+betrothed husband.</p>
+
+<p>"Husband!" Yes! it was even so!
+Henceforth the lives of the pair were to be
+as one in interest, in aims, in affection.
+Ere long, they would have no separate outward
+existence in the eyes of the world.
+Was his chosen love, then, in a truer and
+higher sense, his other self&mdash;the being
+sought so long and carefully? The pretty
+fiancee would have stretched her cerulean
+orbs in amazed wonder at the ridiculous
+doubt, and asked, in her matter-of-fact
+way, how the thing could have happened,
+if it had not been intended? Philip's indignant
+affirmative would have gained fervor
+from his exultant consciousness of possession&mdash;so
+novel and sweet. But one above
+stairs, taught sagacity by the depth of her
+grief, looked further into the future than
+did they, and read there a different reply.</p>
+
+<p>She heard the clang of the front door as
+it shut after the young lover, and in the
+still midnight, the echoes, faint and fainter,
+of his retreating footsteps&mdash;the same free,
+light tread she used to hearken for in porch
+and hall of that riverside farm house; and
+as the remembrance came over her she
+turned her face to the wall, murmuring
+passionately: "Oh! if I could never, never
+see him again!"</p>
+
+<p>This feeling, whether born of cowardice
+or desperation, was the ruling one, when
+her mother looked in upon her before
+breakfast, and expressed her concern at
+finding her still in bed.</p>
+
+<p>"I am not well enough to get up,
+mother," Sarah said sincerely, and Mrs.
+Hunt, reading in the parched lips and
+bloodshot eyes proof of the justice of the
+fears her husband had expressed to her the
+preceding evening, resolved that the doctor
+should see her "before she was two hours
+older."</p>
+
+<p>In vain Sarah entreated that this should
+not be done, and prophesied her recovery
+without his assistance. For once her
+parents were a unit in sentiment and action,
+and the physician was summoned to
+his second patient.</p>
+
+<p>"All febrile symptoms were to some extent
+contagious," he affirmed; "and while
+Mr. Hunt's malady was not generally
+classed with such, it was very possible that
+his daughter had contracted an analogous
+affection, in her constant attendance upon
+him."</p>
+
+<p>This decision Sarah dared not overthrow,
+much as she wished to do so, when she saw
+how it afflicted her father.</p>
+
+<p>Undaunted by any fears of infection,
+Lucy repaired to her sister's chamber when
+she had despatched her breakfast.</p>
+
+<p>"Isn't it too provoking that you should be
+sick just at this time?" she began, perching
+herself, school-girl fashion on the foot
+of the bed. "I really admired your staying
+upstairs last night; but I did not dream
+that you really were not well. I promise
+you that I made capital of your absence.
+I told Philip (how odd it sounds, doesn't
+it?) that you ran away when he rang the
+bell, because you had made a fright of
+yourself by crying over the prospect of my
+leaving you, and that I had no doubt that
+you had grieved yourself into a headache.
+He wanted to know forthwith if you
+objected to my marrying him; but I said
+'No'; that you were charmed with the
+match, and preferred him to any other admirer
+I had ever had; but that we&mdash;you and
+I&mdash;were so devoted to one another, that it
+was acute agony to us to think of parting.
+About ten o'clock he asked to see
+father, and they soon settled affairs. When
+I went down again, he tried a little ring
+on my finger that he always wears, and it
+fitted nicely. So I knew what it meant
+when he put it back upon his own hand,
+and that with that for a measure he could
+not go wrong in getting the engagement
+ring. I do hope it will be a diamond. Vic.
+West declares that she would not accept
+anything else. I considered for a while
+whether I couldn't give him a delicate hint
+on the subject, but I did not see how I
+could manage it. And don't you think,
+while I was studying about this, he fancied
+I was sober over 'the irrevocable step I
+had taken,' and became miserable and eloquent
+at the suspicion! I wish I could remember
+all he said! It was more in your
+line than mine! But he is a good, sensible
+fellow, with all his romantic notions. He
+has a handsome fortune, independent of his
+father, left him by his grandfather, and we
+are to live in Georgia part of the year only,
+and travel every summer. Mother says his
+account of his prospects and so forth to
+father was very satisfactory, but she has
+not got at all the particulars yet. Father
+is so worried about your sickness that he
+cannot spare a thought for anything or
+anybody else. The light from that window
+hurts your eyes&mdash;doesn't it? I will let down
+the shade."</p>
+
+<p>But Sarah lay with her hand protecting
+her eyes, when her sister resumed her position
+and narration.</p>
+
+<p>"We are to be married in December. He
+begged hard for an earlier day, but I was
+sure that I could not be ready before then.
+As it is, we shall have to hurry when it
+comes to the dresses, for, in order to get
+the latest fashions, we must wait until the
+eleventh hour. Won't I 'astonish the natives'
+down South? I couldn't state this to
+Philip, you know; so I referred him to
+mother, who is to say, when he asks her,
+that her preference would be to keep me
+just as long as she possibly can. Entre
+nous, my dear, our good mamma has said
+truer things than this bit of sentiment&mdash;but
+n'importe! These embellishments are
+necessary to such transactions."</p>
+
+<p>Miss West's friendship or curiosity could
+not endure longer suspense, and the intelligence
+that she was below checked the
+monologue.</p>
+
+<p>"I will run up again whenever I can,"
+promised Lucy, by way of compensation
+for her abrupt departure, "and keep up
+your spirits by telling you all that I can
+about our concerns. But Philip is to take
+me to ride this afternoon. I forbade him to
+come here before then, but I don't much
+think he can stay away. Don't be vexed if
+you don't see me again in some hours.
+Vic. and I are about to settle our trousseaux.
+If you believe me, we have never
+been able yet to decide upon the wedding
+dresses!"</p>
+
+<p>And she vanished, warbling delicious
+roulades from a duet she had engaged to
+sing that evening with her betrothed. She
+showed herself upstairs again, when she
+was ready for her ride, and the carriage at
+the door&mdash;very fair, very bright, and very
+happy. She was exquisitely dressed, and
+called on her sister to admire her toilet
+and envy her her escort.</p>
+
+<p>Sarah listened to the cheerful exchange
+of cautions and promises between her
+mother and Philip, at the door beneath her
+open window, and to the rolling wheels
+that bore them away.</p>
+
+<p>Mrs. Hunt received none of her friends
+that day, being busy "getting things to
+rights"; and for a like reason she absented
+herself from her child's sickroom, content
+with sending up Jeannie, now and then, to
+inquire how she was getting on. In the
+abject loneliness that oppressed her, when
+the first violence of passions had spent itself,
+Sarah would have been relieved in
+some measure by the society of this pet
+sister, the sole object upon earth, besides
+her father, that had ever repaid her love
+with anything like equal attachment. But
+the child shrank, like most others of her
+age, from the quiet dark chamber of illness,
+and longed to follow her mother
+through the house, in her tour of observation
+and renovation. Sarah detected her
+restlessness and ill-concealed dislike of the
+confinement imposed upon her by compliance
+with her humble petition&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>"Please, Jeannie, stay a little while with
+your poor sister!" And her sensitive spirit
+turned upon itself, as a final stroke of torture,
+the conviction that here, also, love
+and care had been wasted.</p>
+
+<p>"Go, then!" she said, rather roughly, as
+Jeannie wavered, "and you need not come
+up again to-day. I know it is not pleasant
+for you to be here. Tell mother I want
+nothing but quiet."</p>
+
+<p>"I have had a splendid drive!" said Lucy,
+rustling her many flounces into the door at
+dusk.</p>
+
+<p>The figure upon the bed made no response
+by motion or word.</p>
+
+<p>"I do believe she is asleep!" added the
+intruder, lowering her voice. "I suppose
+she is tired and needs rest." And she went
+out on tiptoe.</p>
+
+<p>Sarah was awake a minute later, when
+her father came in to see her. She smiled
+at him, as he "hoped she was better," and
+asked whether she might not get up on the
+morrow. Mr. Hunt thought not. The doctor's
+opinion was that perfect repose might
+ward off the worse features of the disease.
+She had better keep to her bed for a couple
+of days yet, even should she feel well
+enough to be about. He sent up her dinner
+to her room with his own hands; and
+when she learned this, she strove to do
+some feeble justice to the viands, but without
+success.</p>
+
+<p>Philip dined with the family that day by
+special appointment; and, shortly after his
+arrival, Lucy again presented herself in
+that small third-story bedroom.</p>
+
+<p>"Choose! which hand will you take?" she
+cried, hiding both behind her.</p>
+
+<p>Sarah would make no selection; and,
+after a little more trifling, the elder sister
+brought into sight two elegant bouquets,
+and laid them beside the invalid.</p>
+
+<p>"This is Philip's present&mdash;'a fraternal remembrance,'
+he told me to say. Here is
+his card. Doesn't he write a lovely hand?
+The other is from your admirer, Mr. Hammond.
+What a sly puss you were to make
+such a catch as he is, without dropping us
+a hint! He is rather too sober for my notions;
+but he is getting rich fast, they say.
+He left those flowers at the door himself,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_27" id="Page_27">[27]</a></span>
+and insisted upon seeing father for a moment,
+to know exactly how you were.
+Cannot you hurry up somewhat, and let us
+have a double wedding? I showed the bouquet
+to Philip, and told him of your conquest,
+and he was as much pleased at your
+prospects as I was. Did you ever see such
+magnificent roses? your beau paid five dollars,
+at the lowest computation, for these
+flowers. I congratulate you upon these
+signs of liberality."</p>
+
+<p>Sarah had heard only a portion of this
+speech. Her eyes were fixed upon the card
+her sister had put into her hand: "Will
+Miss Sarah accept this trifling token of regard
+from one who is her stanch friend,
+and hopes, in time, to have a nearer claim
+upon her esteem?"</p>
+
+<p>"Very neatly turned, is it not?" said
+Lucy, satisfiedly. She had read it on her
+way upstairs. "What shall I say to him
+from you?"</p>
+
+<p>"Thank him, and explain that I am not
+able to write a reply."</p>
+
+<p>This meagre return of compliments assumed
+a tone both grateful and sisterly as
+Lucy rehearsed it to the donor of the fragrant
+offering. The barest phrase of civility
+came gracefully and meaningly from her
+tongue. Serene in mind and countenance,
+she seated herself at the piano, and, as
+Philip took his stand at her side, he wondered
+if the world held another couple
+more entirely adapted each to the peculiar
+soul-needs of the other, more perfectly
+happy in the knowledge of mutual affection.
+Like the generality of theorists, your
+student of human nature is prone to grievous
+error when he reduces his flawless
+system to practice.</p>
+
+<p>In one respect, the two certainly harmonized
+well. Both loved music; both sang
+finely, and their voices accorded without a
+jarring note.</p>
+
+<p>Mr. Hunt read the evening papers in
+Sarah's room; turning and folding them
+with great circumspection, lest their rattling
+might annoy her, and detract from
+her enjoyment of the music. How could
+he guess the infatuation that caused her to
+listen greedily to sounds, under whose potent
+spell feeling was writhing and brain
+reeling? In every pause between the songs
+there arose in her memory two lines of a
+poem read long ago, when or where she
+knew not:</p>
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">"Seek not to soothe that proud, forsaken heart<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">With strains whose sweetness maddens as they fall!"<br /></span>
+</div></div>
+
+<p>The performers had just completed a
+duet, in which each voice supported and
+developed, while blending with the other,
+when Lucy took up the prelude to a
+simpler lay; repeating it twice over with
+skilful variations, as if she were, meantime,
+carrying on a colloquy with her companion,
+that delayed the vocal part. This
+was ended by Philip's raising alone the
+burden of the plaintive German air Sarah
+remembered so truly&mdash;"The long, long,
+weary day."</p>
+
+<p>As his voice, full and strong, with its
+indescribable and irresistible undercurrent
+of pathos&mdash;flowing out here into passionate
+melancholy&mdash;swelled and floated through
+the quiet house, Sarah sat upright.</p>
+
+<p>"Father! father!" she whispered, huskily,
+"I cannot bear that! Shut the doors!&mdash;all
+of them, or I shall go mad!"</p>
+
+<p>She was obeyed; Mr. Hunt hurrying down<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_28" id="Page_28">[28]</a></span>
+to the parlor to silence the lovers, with the
+representation that Sarah was too nervous
+to endure the excitement of music. For
+the remainder of the evening, a profound
+stillness pervaded the upper part of the
+mansion&mdash;a silence that, to Sarah, throbbed
+with the melody she had tried to hush; and
+look where she might, she gazed into that
+rainy, ghastly night&mdash;the pale, comfortless
+watcher, the shadowy type of her deeper,
+more blighting sorrow.</p>
+
+
+
+<hr class="chap" />
+
+<h2>CHAPTER VIII.</h2>
+
+
+<p>For three days Philip Benson lingered
+near his beautiful enslaver; on the fourth,
+he carried a sad, yet trustful heart upon
+his Southern journey. Sarah had not seen
+him once since the evening of his coming.
+Through Lucy, she received his adieux and
+wishes for her speedy recovery. On the
+next day but one she left her room, and
+appeared again in the family circle&mdash;now
+complete in all its parts.</p>
+
+<p>In that short season of bodily prostration,
+the work of years had been wrought upon
+her inner life. Outwardly there was little
+alteration save that effected by physical
+weakness; but in her views of existence
+and character, of affections and motives,
+the doubter had become the skeptic; the
+dreamer the misanthrope. To the gentle
+and more womanly aspirations that had for
+a season supplanted the somewhat masculine
+tendencies of her mind and tastes had
+succeeded a stoicism, like the frozen calm
+of a winter's day, uniform as relentless.
+This was the surface that locked and concealed
+the lower depths she had sworn
+should be forever covered. Others could
+and did live without hearts. She could
+thrive as well upon the husks and Sodom
+apples of this world's goods as did they;
+holding as Life's chief good, complete and
+final subjugation of all genuine emotion,
+which, at the best, was but the rough ore&mdash;fit
+for nothing until purged, refined, and
+polished in its glitter. She found no other
+creed that suited her present desperate
+mood so well as the heartless code of the
+thorough worldling&mdash;the devotee to show,
+and fashion, and wealth.</p>
+
+<p>Such was her mother, whose domestic
+virtues were extolled by all who knew her;
+such, behind her mask of tender grace and
+amiability, the sister who had won, by
+these factitious attractions, the heart for
+which Sarah would have perilled life, sacrificed
+ease and inclination, bowed her
+proud spirit to the estate of bond-servant
+to his every caprice, become the willing
+slave to his tyrannical behest. Yet
+Philip Benson was a professed judge of
+character; a man of sense, education, and
+experience, and, knowing both girls as he
+did, he had made his choice; set the stamp
+of his approval upon the shining, rather
+than the solid metal. The world, as its
+young would-be disciple believed she had
+at length learned, was made up of two
+classes; those who floated, and those who
+sank. To the latter she determined that
+she would not belong.</p>
+
+<p>These and kindred thoughts were rife in
+her mind, and stirring up many a spring
+of gall within her bosom, one morning as
+she lay back in an armchair in the sitting-room,
+listening with secret scorn to the
+prattle of the pair of betrothed maidens&mdash;Lucy
+and her friend. Lucy's engagement
+ring was a diamond, or, rather, a modest
+cluster of these precious stones, whose extreme
+beauty did not strike the casual eye
+with the startling effect of Victoria's more
+showy gage d'amour. This apparent difference
+in the value of the two was the
+source of many discussions and considerable
+heart-burning, disguised, of course,
+and threatened in time to produce a decided
+coolness between the attached wearers
+of the articles under debate.</p>
+
+<p>On this particular day, Victoria, after
+some adroit skirmishing, brought out as a
+"poser" the fact that, to lay the question
+to rest without more ado, she had, since
+their last interview, been to Tiffany's, and
+had her ring valued. Lucy's face was all
+aglow as her soul-sister named the price of
+her treasure. She clapped her hands joyously.</p>
+
+<p>"Isn't that the joke of the season,
+mother?"&mdash;as that personage entered.
+"Don't you think that Vic. was as cunning
+as we were? She carried her ring to
+Tiffany's yesterday, too. Wouldn't it have
+been too funny if we had met there? Mine
+came from there, they said, and it cost a
+cool fifty dollars more than yours did,
+dear!"</p>
+
+<p>Victoria flashed hotly; but further controversy
+being useless and dangerous to
+her, she acquiesced with assumed carelessness
+in Lucy's proposal that, since both
+were suited, the rival brilliants should not
+be again referred to as a disputed matter.
+They accordingly turned to the safer and
+endless conferences upon the trousseaux,
+whose purchase must be commenced immediately.</p>
+
+<p>Their incomplete lists were produced,
+compared, and lengthened&mdash;Mrs. Hunt suggesting
+and amending; Sarah surveying
+the busy group with the same intense disdain
+she had experienced throughout the
+conversation.</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, I forgot to tell you! Margaret Hauton
+called on me yesterday!" exclaimed
+Victoria. "Did she come here, too?"</p>
+
+<p>"Yes; but we were out. What did she
+say?" queried Lucy, breathlessly.</p>
+
+<p>"Why, the stupid creature never alluded
+to my engagement; and when I mentioned
+yours, pretended not to have heard
+of it before. I took care she should not go
+away as ignorant on the subject as she had
+come, and&mdash;I know it was wicked in me,
+but she deserved it&mdash;all the time I was
+praising your Goldfinch, and telling how
+handsome and liberal he was, I sat looking
+at my new ring, slipping it up and
+down my finger, as if I were not thinking
+of it, but of the giver. She could not help
+seeing it, and, to save her life, she could
+not keep from changing countenance."</p>
+
+<p>"Good!" said Lucy. "Do tell me how she
+is looking now?"</p>
+
+<p>"Common enough! She had on that everlasting
+lilac silk, with the embroidered
+flounces, although the style is as old as the
+hills&mdash;and that black lace mantle, which,
+happening to be real, she never leaves off
+until near Christmas. But her hat! black
+and corn-color. Think of it! corn-color
+against her saffron skin. When I pretend
+to lead society, I hope to dress decently.
+But I had my revenge for her supercilious
+airs. Mr. Bond&mdash;George&mdash;called in the
+afternoon to take me to ride. I told you
+of the handsome span of fast horses he has
+been buying. Well! we concluded to try
+the Bloomingdale road, and just as we
+were sailing along, like the wind, whom
+should we overtake but my Lady Hauton,
+lounging her lazy way (she thinks it
+aristocratic!) on the back seat of her
+father's heavy, clumsy barouche&mdash;not a
+soul in it but her mother and herself.
+Didn't I bow graciously to her as we flew
+by! and again, as we met them creeping
+along, when we were coming back? I
+wouldn't have missed the chance of mortifying
+her for a thousand dollars."</p>
+
+<p>Lucy laughed, with no sign of disapprobation
+at the coarse, vindictive spirit
+displayed in this petty triumph of a small
+soul.</p>
+
+<p>"How many evening dresses have you put
+down on your paper, Vic.?"</p>
+
+<p>"Half a dozen only. I will get others as
+I need them. The styles in these change
+so often that I do not care to have too
+many at a time."</p>
+
+<p>"There you will have the advantage of
+me," said Lucy, ingenuously. "It will not
+be so easy a matter to replenish my stock
+of wearable dresses. I wish I had asked
+Philip about the Savannah stores. I wonder
+if he knows anything about them?"</p>
+
+<p>"He ought to&mdash;being such a connoisseur
+in ladies' dress. I declare I have been
+absolutely afraid of him since I heard him
+say that he considered a lady's apparel a
+criterion of her character."</p>
+
+<p>"He has exquisite taste!" said Lucy,
+with pardonable pride in her lover. "It is
+a positive pleasure to dress for him. He
+sees and appreciates everything that I
+could wish to have him notice. He has
+often described to me what I wore, and
+how I looked and acted the evening he fell
+in love. How little we can guess what is
+before us! I did not care to go to the hop
+that night, for Mr. Finch was to wait on
+me, and he was so stupid, you know, after
+we discovered that it was a mistake about
+his being rich. I think I see him now, with
+his red face and short neck! Oh, dear! the
+fun we had over that poor man! I told
+you&mdash;didn't I, Sarah&mdash;that we named him
+Bullfinch, because he looked so much like
+one? When Phil came we called him Goldfinch,
+and the two went by these names
+among us girls. The Bullfinch heard of it,
+and he was ridiculously angry! So I put on
+a white tarlatan, that one with the double
+jupe, you know, Vic., festooned with white
+moss rosebuds, and I had nothing but a
+tea-rose in my hair. I danced once with
+the Bullfinch&mdash;one of those solemn quadrilles
+that are only fit for grandmothers&mdash;and
+vowed to myself that I would not
+stand up again, except for a polka or the
+lancers. While I was sitting down by the
+window, saying 'Yes' and 'No,' when Bullfinch
+spoke, Mr. Newman introduced 'Mr.
+Benson' to 'Miss Hunt,' and the work was
+done!"</p>
+
+<p>"No more waltzing, then!" was Victoria's
+slyly malicious sequel.</p>
+
+<p>"I did not care so much for that as I
+thought I should!" replied easy-tempered
+Lucy. "You cannot find a man who has
+not some drawback. Before I had a chance
+for another round, mother there managed
+to telegraph me that my fresh acquaintance
+was worth catching. She had gotten
+his whole story out of Mrs. Newman. He
+let me know pretty soon, that he had
+some queer scruples about fancy dances,
+and I thought it best to humor him for
+one evening, or until I should ascertain
+whether he was really 'taken' or not. I
+have never repented my self-denial, although
+I grant that it cost me a struggle
+to give up 'the german.'"</p>
+
+<p>"George lets me waltz to my heart's<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_29" id="Page_29">[29]</a></span>
+content," said Victoria. "He is the very
+soul of indulgence. As to laces&mdash;I have not
+a thing fit to wear. I must get everything
+new. I am glad of it! I enjoy shopping
+for them. If I have a passion, it is for
+laces!"</p>
+
+<p>A sneer curled Sarah's lips, and Victoria
+happening to glance that way, could not
+mistake its application, whatever she might
+surmise as to its origin.</p>
+
+<p>"I suppose you despise us as a couple of
+lovesick girls, Sarah?" she said, with a
+simper designed to be sentimental, whereas
+it was spiteful instead.</p>
+
+<p>"I think love the least dangerous of
+your complaints," was the rejoinder.</p>
+
+<p>"What do you mean?"</p>
+
+<p>"Just what I said."</p>
+
+<p>"She means that people do not die of love
+in these days," exclaimed Lucy, whose
+pleasure-loving nature always shuddered at
+the idea of altercation in her presence; her
+sensations, during the occasional sparrings
+of her sister and her friend, bearing a
+strong resemblance to those of an innocent
+white rabbit, into whose burrow a couple
+of belligerent hedgehogs have forced their
+way.</p>
+
+<p>"You will understand us better one day,
+when your turn comes," said Victoria,
+with magnanimous condescension. "I shall
+remind you then of your good opinion of
+us."</p>
+
+<p>"You may."</p>
+
+<p>"I would give anything to have you engaged,
+just to see how you would behave.
+Would not you, Lucy?"</p>
+
+<p>"Yes; if she were likely to do as well as
+we are doing. Philip says that you have
+many fine qualities, Sarah. He quite admires
+you."</p>
+
+<p>The complacent betrothed had none but
+the most amiable intentions in making this
+patronizing speech; therefore, the angry
+blood that surged over her sister's face at
+hearing it would have been to her but the
+blush of gratified vanity, had not the
+sparkle of her eye and the contemptuous
+contortion of her mouth undeceived her.</p>
+
+<p>"Indeed he did say so!" she hastened to
+repeat. "And he was in earnest! He said
+something else which I don't mind telling,
+now that he belongs to me fast and sure.
+He said that he sat up until twelve o'clock
+one night after you had been out boating
+deliberating whether he should be smitten
+with you or not. There!"</p>
+
+<p>The color retreated as quickly as it had
+come. But for the consciousness of Victoria's
+malicious scrutiny, Sarah could not
+have summoned strength to utter a word.</p>
+
+<p>"An equivocal compliment, I must say!"
+she retorted, sarcastically. "Your gallant
+Georgian's confessions must have been
+ample and minute indeed, if they comprised
+such distant approaches to love
+affairs as the one you honor me by mentioning.
+I do not think that I have ever
+heard of another case where a gentleman
+considered it necessary to enumerate to his
+fiancee, not merely the ladies he had loved,
+but those whom he had not!" She arose
+and left the room.</p>
+
+<p>Poor Lucy, rebuffed and overwhelmed,
+caught her astonished breath with a sigh.
+"Can anybody tell me what I have done
+now to fret Sarah? She is so cross since
+she was sick!"</p>
+
+<p>"And before, too!" mutely added Victoria's
+shrug and lifted eyebrows.</p>
+
+<p>"We must bear with her, my dear!" said<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_30" id="Page_30">[30]</a></span>
+the prudent mother. "Her nerves are affected,
+the doctor says."</p>
+
+<p>Victoria made random pencillings upon
+the important list&mdash;her thoughts in fast
+pursuit of a notion that had just struck
+her. She was neither witty nor intelligent;
+but she possessed some natural
+shrewdness and a great deal more acquired
+cunning. She detested Sarah Hunt, and the
+prospect of obtaining an engine that should
+humble her arrogant spirit was scarcely
+less tempting than her own chance of effecting
+an advantageous matrimonial settlement.</p>
+
+<p>While she was engaged in defining her
+suspicion to herself, and concerting measures
+for gathering information with regard
+to it, Mrs. Hunt went out on some household
+errand, and Lucy was obliged to descend
+to the parlor to see callers.</p>
+
+<p>"Don't go until I come back, Vic.. It is
+the Dunhams, and they never stay long,"
+she said, at quitting her associate.</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, I always make myself at home
+here, you know, my dear!" was the reply.</p>
+
+<p>Jeannie was sitting on a cushion near the
+chair Sarah had occupied, dressing her
+doll.</p>
+
+<p>"It won't fit!" she cried, fretfully,
+snatching off a velvet basque she had
+been endeavoring to adjust to the lay-figure.</p>
+
+<p>"Bring it to me! I can fix it!" offered
+Victoria, winningly. "It's too tight just
+here, you see. I will rip open the seam
+and alter it. Who makes your dolly's
+clothes?"</p>
+
+<p>She was well aware that but one member
+of the family ever had leisure to bestow
+upon such follies; but it suited her plan for
+Jeannie to introduce the name.</p>
+
+<p>"Sister Sarah."</p>
+
+<p>"This is a pretty basque. When did she
+make it?"</p>
+
+<p>"Yesterday."</p>
+
+<p>"Oh! I thought perhaps she did it while
+you were in the country, and that the doll
+had fattened as much as you did there."</p>
+
+<p>Jeannie laughed heartily.</p>
+
+<p>"You had a nice time there, I suppose?"
+pursued Victoria.</p>
+
+<p>"I guess we did!" Her eyes danced at
+the recollection. "A splendid time! I
+wish we lived at Aunt Sarah's! There
+isn't room for me to move in this narrow
+house."</p>
+
+<p>"Mr. Benson was there a day or two,
+was he not?"</p>
+
+<p>"Yes, ma'am&mdash;a great many days! He
+took us all around the country in Uncle
+Nathan's carriage. I love him very dearly."</p>
+
+<p>"Did you ever go sailing with him?"</p>
+
+<p>"Every evening, when it was clear, in a
+pretty rowboat. He used to take his guitar
+along, and sing for us. He sings beautifully!
+Did you ever hear him?"</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, yes! Did your sister always go boating
+with you?"</p>
+
+<p>The spy, with all her hardihood, lowered
+her voice, and felt her face warm as she
+put this leading question.</p>
+
+<p>"Yes, ma'am, always. Mr. Benson
+would not have gone without her, I
+guess."</p>
+
+<p>"Why do you guess so?"</p>
+
+<p>The little girl smiled knowingly. "Because&mdash;you
+won't tell, will you?"</p>
+
+<p>"Why no! Of course I will not."</p>
+
+<p>"Charley said it was a secret, and that I
+mustn't say anything to sister or Mr. Benson
+about it, for they would be angry."</p>
+
+<p>"Who is Charley?"</p>
+
+<p>"Don't you know? He is Aunt Sarah's
+son. He is deaf and dumb; but he showed
+me how to spell on my fingers. He is a
+nice boy"&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>"Yes; but what was the secret?"</p>
+
+<p>"He said that Mr. Benson&mdash;Cousin Phil I
+call him when I am talking to him&mdash;was
+sister's beau; and he would take me off
+with him when we went to drive or walk,
+because, you know, they might not like to
+have me hear what they were talking
+about. They used to talk, and talk, and
+talk! and sister had a great deal more to
+say, and looked prettier than she does at
+home. I will tell you something else, if you
+won't ever let anybody know it. I never
+told Aunt Sarah even, only Charley. Sister
+cried ever so long the night after
+Cousin Phil went away. She woke me up
+sobbing; but I made believe that I was
+asleep; and in the morning her pillow was
+right wet. Charley said that all ladies
+that he had read about in his books did so
+when their beaux left them."</p>
+
+<p>"See here, my little lady!" said the dissembler,
+with a startling change of tone.
+"You are altogether mistaken&mdash;you and
+Charley both! Mr. Benson is going to
+marry your sister Lucy, and never was a
+beau of Sarah's. Be very careful not to
+talk about Charley's wicked story to your
+father, or mother, or sisters, for they
+would be very much displeased, and maybe
+punish you for repeating such fibs. Little
+girls ought never to hear or know anything
+about courting or beaux&mdash;it's
+naughty! I won't tell on you, if you will
+promise never to do so again. I am
+shocked at you! Now take your doll and
+go!"</p>
+
+<p>The frightened child encountered Lucy at
+the door. Miss West had calculated her
+time to a minute. Her eyes swimming in
+tears, her features convulsed with the
+effort to keep back sob and outcry, Jeannie
+started up to her attic playroom. Sarah's
+door was ajar, and engaged as she was
+with thoughts of her own troubles and insults,
+she could not but remark the expression
+of her darling's face, in the momentary
+glimpse she had as it passed.</p>
+
+<p>"Jeannie! come back!" she called.</p>
+
+<p>The child hesitated, half way up the next
+flight. Sarah repeated the summons, and
+seeing that it was not obeyed, went up and
+took the rebel by the hand.</p>
+
+<p>"What is the matter with you?"</p>
+
+<p>A reddening and distortion of visage, and
+no reply. Her sister led her back to her
+chamber, shut the door, and put her arms
+around her.</p>
+
+<p>"Tell me what ails you, dear!"</p>
+
+<p>Jeannie fell upon her comforter's neck&mdash;the
+repressed torrent breaking through
+all restraint. "Oh, sister, I can't help crying!
+Miss Vic. West has been scolding me!"</p>
+
+<p>"Scolding you! She! I will go down and
+speak to her this instant! How dared
+she?"</p>
+
+<p>"No, no! please don't! She told me not to
+say anything about it."</p>
+
+<p>"The contemptible coward!" said Sarah,
+between her teeth. "How came you to
+have anything to do with her?"</p>
+
+<p>"Mother and sister Lucy went downstairs,
+and she said she would alter my
+doll's basque and&mdash;and&mdash;and"&mdash;a fresh burst
+of lamentation.</p>
+
+<p>"There, that will do, pet! I see that she
+only made it worse!" soothed Sarah, believing
+that, in the unfinished state of dolly's
+wardrobe, she had discovered the root of
+the trouble. "Never mind, dear! I will set
+all that to rights directly. Now wipe your
+eyes, and let me tell you something. This
+afternoon father is to take me to ride, and
+you shall go, too. As for Miss Victoria,
+we will let her pass, and keep out of her
+way, hereafter."</p>
+
+<p>Secretly, she was very angry&mdash;far more
+so than she was willing to have the child
+suspect. As the patient fingers repaired
+the effects of the original bad fit, and Miss
+West's meddling, Jeannie stood by, thankful
+and interested, yet ashamed to look her
+wronged sister in the eyes. Not that she
+had the remotest conception of the mischief
+that might grow out of her imprudent disclosures;
+but she had broken faith with
+Charley, been accused of tattling and indelicacy,
+and warned too stringently
+against repeating the offence to suffer her
+to relieve her conscience by a full confession
+to the being she most loved and
+honored.</p>
+
+<p>At four o'clock Sarah and her charge
+were ready, according to Mr. Hunt's appointment.
+The carriage was likewise
+punctual; but from it stepped, not the
+parent of the expectant girls, but a
+younger and taller man&mdash;in short, Mr.
+Hunt's particular favorite&mdash;Lewis Hammond.
+Jeannie, who had stationed herself
+at an upper window to watch for her
+father's appearance, was still exclaiming
+over this disappointment, and wondering
+why "Mr. Hammond must call just now to
+keep sister at home," when the footman
+brought up a note to Sarah.</p>
+
+<p>It was from Mr. Hunt, explaining the
+cause of his unlooked-for detention at the
+bank, and stating that Mr. Hammond,
+whom he had met earlier in the day, and
+acquainted with his design of giving his
+daughter this ride, happened to drop in,
+and seeing him engaged with business, had
+asked leave to officiate as his substitute in
+the proposed airing. He urged Sarah to
+take Jeannie along, and not hesitate to accept
+Mr. Hammond's polite attendance,
+adding, in phrase brief, but sincere, how
+lightly he should esteem his hour of extra
+labor, if he knew that she was not a sufferer
+by it.</p>
+
+<p>Sarah passed the note to her mother, and
+drew her shawl about her shoulders.</p>
+
+<p>"Of course you'll go!" said Mrs. Hunt,
+radiant with gratification. "It is perfectly
+proper, and Mr. Hammond is very kind,
+I'm sure."</p>
+
+<p>She was hurrying towards the door to
+convey in person her thanks for his gallantry,
+when Sarah spoke firmly and very
+coolly:</p>
+
+<p>"I will say whatever is necessary to Mr.
+Hammond, if you please, mother. I shall
+go because father wishes it, and for no
+other reason. Come, Jeannie!"</p>
+
+<p>"Won't she be in your way?" asked Mrs.
+Hunt, awed, but not extinguished.</p>
+
+<p>"No, madam."</p>
+
+<p>Sarah suffered Mr. Hammond to place her
+in the carriage, and himself opposite to
+her; and keeping before her mind carefully
+the fact that he was her father's friend,
+perhaps the savior of his life, she unbent,
+as much as she could, from her distant,
+ungracious bearing, to sustain her part of
+the conversation. She must have been
+purblind not to see through her mother's
+wishes, and manoeuvres for their accomplishment;
+but to these views she was persuaded
+that Mr. Hammond was no party.
+She saw in him a sedate, rather reserved<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_31" id="Page_31">[31]</a></span>
+gentleman of thirty-two or three, who had
+passed the heyday of youthful loves and
+joy; sensible and cultivated to an uncommon
+degree for a man of business&mdash;for such
+he emphatically was.</p>
+
+<p>A poor boy in the beginning, he had fortunately
+attracted the regard of a thriving
+New York merchant, and retained that
+favor through the years that had elevated
+him from the lowest clerkship to a partnership
+in the now opulent firm. For probity
+and punctuality no man in the city had a
+higher reputation; but his virtues were of
+that quiet nature which, while they inevitably
+retain regard once won, are slow
+to gain admiration. To matrimonial speculators,
+as in financial circles, he was known
+as a "safe chance," and many a prudent
+mamma on his list of acquaintances would
+have rejoiced had he selected her daughter
+as mistress of his heart and fortune.
+Whether he was aware of this or not could
+not have been determined by his modest,
+but dignified deportment. He did not
+avoid company; went whither he was invited,
+and, when there, comported himself
+like a conscientious member of society,
+talking, dancing, or listening, with as due
+regard to law and order as he manifested
+in his daily business life. Fast girls called
+him "awfully matter-of-fact," and "terribly
+sensible"; fast youths of the other
+sex put him down among the "old fogies,"
+and wondered what he did with his money.
+"Could it be possible that he saved it!"
+He was intimate nowhere except in the
+household of his whilom employer and
+present partner, whose daughters were all
+married and settled in houses of their own.
+If he had ever cared to look twice at the
+same lady, the watchful world had not yet
+laid hold of this marvellous departure
+from his fixed habits.</p>
+
+<p>His intercourse with Mr. Hunt's family
+was, as we know, purely accidental in its
+commencement, and in its earlier stages
+might have been induced by humanity or
+friendship for the sick father. In Sarah's
+brain there had never arisen a suspicion
+of any ulterior motives in the pointed attentions
+directed of late to herself. Before
+Lucy's return, the care of her invalid parent
+and her day-dreams had engrossed
+heart and thought to an extent that precluded
+much inquiry into other themes.
+Since that memorable night, inward torture
+had abstracted her mind still more
+from outward impressions.</p>
+
+<p>This afternoon she talked calmly and indifferently
+to Mr. Hammond, without an
+idea that he made any greater effort to
+please her. To Jeannie she was tender beyond
+her usual showing, in remembrance
+of the wrong done the sensitive child in the
+forenoon. Mr. Hammond emulated her in
+kindness to the third member of their
+party; and in the course of their ride,
+raised himself unwittingly to the rank of
+rivalship with "Cousin Philip," her model
+gentleman.</p>
+
+<p>Mr. Hunt came out to assist his daughter
+to alight, upon their return. There was a
+heartiness in his acknowledgment of his
+deputy's politeness, and invitation to enter
+the house and pass the evening with them,
+which Sarah had seldom heard him employ
+towards any visitor. Mr. Hammond may
+have remarked it likewise, for his declinature
+was evidently against his inclination,
+and coupled with a promise to call at an
+early day. His visits were not altogether
+so agreeable as formerly, for he was received<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_32" id="Page_32">[32]</a></span>
+in the spacious parlors on a footing
+with other callers, and in the presence of
+several members of the family; still he
+came repeatedly, with pretext and without,
+until his sentiments and design were a
+secret to no one except their object.</p>
+
+<p>Wrapped in the sad thoughts that isolated
+her from the rest of the world, even while
+she made a part of its show, Sarah omitted
+to mark many things that should have been
+significant signs of undercurrents, and
+tokens of important issues to her and
+those about her. Lucy had ceased to harp
+perpetually upon her lover's perfections
+and idolatrous flattery to herself, and while
+the wedding arrangements went vigorously
+forward, the disengaged sister was rarely
+annoyed by references to her taste and demands
+for her sympathy. There had never
+existed much congeniality between the two,
+and their common ground was now exceedingly
+narrow. Lucy was gentle and pleasant,
+peacefully egotistic as ever, and Sarah
+understood her too well to expect active
+affection or disinterestedness. The only
+part of her behavior to herself to which
+she took mental exception was a certain
+pitying forbearance, a compassionate leniency
+with respect to her faults and foibles,
+that had grown upon her of late. Once
+or twice the younger sister had become so
+restive under this gratuitous charity as to
+reply sharply to the whey-like speeches of
+the mild elder, and, without any appearance
+of wounded feeling, yet with not a
+word of apology or reason for so doing,
+Lucy had left the apartment, and never
+hinted at the circumstances afterwards.</p>
+
+<p>Lucy was certainly the soul, the very
+cream of amiability. It was unaccountable
+to her admirers&mdash;and they included most of
+her associates&mdash;that Lewis Hammond, with
+his peculiar habits and tastes, should prefer
+that severe-looking, strong-minded
+Sarah. But, be it remembered, that he had
+learned this love under far different influences;
+in circumstances wholly unlike
+those in which he now beheld its object.
+His respect for unobtrusive intent and
+feeling; his longing for a home which
+should be the abode of sacred domestic virtues;
+and the sweet peace that had fled
+from the habitations frequented only by
+the frivolous, heartless, and vain&mdash;these
+found in the sick-room of the father, and
+the affectionate fidelity of the daughter,
+something so like the embodiment of his
+fancy of earthly happiness, that he accepted
+as a benignant fate the accident
+which had admitted him to the arcana of
+their private life. Sarah's temporary illness
+had taught him the meaning of his
+dreams, by seeming to peril the chances of
+their fulfilment; and from that hour he
+strove patiently and sedulously, as it was
+his habit, to seek all great ends for the
+acquisition of the heart whose depth he
+perhaps, of all who knew her, best understood.</p>
+
+<p>The most impatient person of those directly
+or indirectly concerned in the progress
+of this wooing was Mrs. Hunt. Her
+husband, with unwonted firmness, had forbidden
+that anyone of the household should
+speak a word in raillery or otherwise to
+Sarah touching Mr. Hammond's intentions.
+"However earnestly I may desire
+his success," he said to his wife&mdash;"and
+there is no man living whom I would
+rather call 'son'&mdash;I would not influence her
+by the weight of a single syllable. Hers is
+the happiness or the misery of a life with
+her husband&mdash;whomsoever she may choose,
+and hers shall be the entire choice. If she
+can love and marry Lewis Hammond, I
+shall be gratified; if not, she shall never
+guess at my disappointment."</p>
+
+<p>"La, Mr. H.! you are as foolish and sentimental
+as the girl herself! For my part,
+I ain't such a saint, and I do say, that if
+Sarah Hunt allows such a catch as this to
+slip through her fingers, she shall hear a
+piece of my mind!"</p>
+
+<p>"I insist," said Mr. Hunt, with immovable
+resolution, "that Sarah shall be allowed
+to follow the guidance of her own
+will in this matter. It is not often that I
+interfere with your plans; but in this one
+instance I must be obeyed!"</p>
+
+<p>With which astounding declaration of
+equal rights, if not of sovereignty, he left
+his consort to her reflections.</p>
+
+<p>Ignorant of the delicate watchfulness
+maintained over her by this best of friends,
+Sarah walked on her beclouded way&mdash;without
+hope, without one anticipation of any
+future dissimilar to her present, until
+awakened with a shock by a formal declaration
+of love from Lewis Hammond.</p>
+
+
+
+<hr class="chap" />
+
+<h2>CHAPTER IX.</h2>
+
+
+<p>It was at the close of an evening party
+which both the Hunts attended, and where
+Mr. Hammond's devotion was as marked
+as anything so modest could be, that Sarah
+felt him slip an envelope into her hand, as
+he put her into the carriage. Surprised as
+she was at the singularity of the occurrence,
+and disposed to take offence at the
+familiarity it implied, she had yet the
+presence of mind to conceal the missive
+from Lucy, and talk about other things,
+until they were set down at home. In the
+privacy of her chamber, she broke the seal
+and read her first love letter.</p>
+
+<p>It was a characteristic composition. If
+the strong hand had trembled above the
+lines, the clear, clerkly penmanship did not
+witness to the weakness. Nor was there
+anything in the subject matter that did not
+appear to Sarah as business-like and unimpassioned.
+It was a frank and manly
+avowal of attachment for her; a compliment
+implied, rather than broadly stated,
+to her virtues; the traits that had gained
+his esteem, then his love&mdash;a deprecatory
+sentence as to his ability to deserve the
+treasure he dared to ask&mdash;and then the
+question! in plain black and white, unequivocal
+to bluntness, simple and direct to
+curtness.</p>
+
+<p>"As he would ask the price of a bale of
+goods!" burst forth Sarah, indignant, as
+she threw the paper on the floor, and
+buried her burning face in her hands.</p>
+
+<p>"That there comes sometimes a glory to
+the Present, besides which the hues of
+Past and Future fade and are forgotten, I
+must and will believe. Such, it seems to
+me, must be the rapture of acknowledged
+and reciprocal affection!" This was an
+echo memory repeated to her soul. She saw
+again the gently gliding river, with its
+waves of crimson and gold; breathed the
+pure fragrance of the summer evening;
+floated on, towards the sunset, with the
+loved voice in her ear; the dawn of a
+strange and beautiful life, shedding blissful
+calm throughout her being.</p>
+
+<p>And from this review, dangerous as it
+was for one fleeting instant sweet, she
+returned to the proposal that had
+amazed and angered her. Lewis' undemonstrative
+exterior had misled her, as it did
+most persons, in the estimate of his inner
+nature. Kind, she was compelled to confess
+that he was, in remembrance of his
+goodness to her father; his demeanor was
+always gentlemanly, and she had caught
+here and there rumors of his generosity to
+the needy that prevented a suspicion of
+sordidness. No doubt he was very well in
+his way, but he wanted to marry her!
+With the intensity of her fiery spirit, her will
+arose against the presumptuous request.
+It was the natural recoil of the woman
+who already loves, at the suggestion of a
+union with another than the man of her
+choice; the spontaneous outspeaking of a
+heart whose allegiance vows have been
+pledged and cannot be nullified. But she
+would not see this. Upon the unfortunate
+letter and its writer descended the storm
+of passionate repugnance aroused by its
+contents. With the reaction of excited
+feeling came tears&mdash;a plentiful shower that
+relaxed the overwrought nerves, until they
+were ready to receive the benediction of
+sleep.</p>
+
+<p>Lewis had not asked a written or verbal
+reply.</p>
+
+<blockquote>
+
+<p>"I will call to take you to drive to-morrow
+afternoon," he wrote. "Should your decision
+upon the question I have proposed be favorable,
+your consent to accompany me in my ride will
+be understood as a signal that you have
+accepted my graver suit. If your conclusion is
+adverse to my hopes, you can signify the same
+to me in a letter, to be handed me when I ask
+for you. This course will spare us both
+embarrassment&mdash;perhaps pain. In any event, be
+assured that you will ever have a firm friend
+in, Yours truly,</p>
+
+<p>
+"Lewis Hammond."<br />
+</p></blockquote>
+
+<p>Sarah's lip curled as she reperused this
+clause of the letter on the following morning.</p>
+
+<p>"It is a comfort to know that I have not
+to answer for the sin of breaking my ardent
+suitor's heart!" she said, as she drew
+towards her the sheet upon which she was
+to indite her refusal. It was brief and
+courteous&mdash;freezing in its punctilious civility,
+and prepared without a pang, or a
+solitary misgiving that its reception would
+not be philosophically calm. Her design
+was to intrust it to the footman, to be delivered
+when Mr. Hammond called; and as
+the hour approached at which the expectant
+was to present himself, she took
+the note from the desk and started downstairs
+with it.</p>
+
+<p>The sitting-room door was open, and,
+aware that Victoria West was in there
+with Lucy, Sarah trod very softly as she
+neared it. Her own name arrested her as
+she was going by. She stopped involuntarily.</p>
+
+<p>"I thought Sarah a girl of better regulated
+mind," said Victoria, in a tone of
+censorious pity. "Of course she suffers!
+It is the inevitable consequence of an unrequited
+attachment. Such miserable folly,
+such unpardonable weakness brings its
+punishment with it. But my sympathies
+are all yours, my dearest. I only wish you
+were not so sensitive. You are not to
+blame for her blind mistake."</p>
+
+<p>"I cannot help it!" said Lucy, plaintively.
+"It seems so sad that I should be made the
+means of depriving her of happiness. I
+wish I had never known that she was attached
+to poor Philip. I can't tell you how<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_33" id="Page_33">[33]</a></span>
+awkward I feel when any allusion is made
+in her hearing to the dear fellow, or to
+our marriage."</p>
+
+<p>"I meant it for the best, dear, in telling
+you of my discovery," replied Victoria,
+slightly hurt.</p>
+
+<p>"I know that, my dear creature! And it
+is well that I should not be kept in the
+dark as to the state of her affections. I
+only hope that Philip never penetrated her
+secret. I should die of mortification for her
+if he were to find it out. It is a lamentable
+affair&mdash;and I am sure that he is not in
+fault. What did you say that you gave
+for that set of handkerchiefs you showed
+me yesterday?"</p>
+
+<p>"The cheapest things you ever saw! I
+got them at Stewart's, and they averaged
+six dollars apiece! As to Mr. Benson, I
+trust, with you, that he is as unsuspecting
+as he seems; but he has remarkable discernment,
+you know. What I could not
+help seeing, before I had any other proof
+than her behavior, is not likely to have
+escaped him."</p>
+
+<p>Half an hour later the twain were disturbed
+in their confidences by the sound of
+wheels stopping before the house, followed
+by a ring at the door. Victoria, ever on
+the alert, peeped, with feline caution and
+curiosity, around the edge of the curtain.</p>
+
+<p>"What is going to happen? Look, Lucy!
+Mr. Hammond in a handsome light carriage,
+and driving a lovely pair of horses!
+I never thought to see him go in such
+style. How well he looks! Take care! he
+will see you!"</p>
+
+<p>Both dodged as he glanced up at the
+upper windows; but resumed their lookout
+in time to see the light that was
+kindled in his face when Sarah emerged
+from the front door. He was at her side in
+a second, to lead her down the steps, and
+his manner in this movement, and in assisting
+her into the carriage, the more
+striking in one generally so self-contained
+and deliberate, inspired the pair of initiated
+observers with the same conviction. As
+the spirited horses disappeared into the
+avenue, the friends drew back from their
+loophole, and stared each other in the eyes,
+with the simultaneous exclamation&mdash;"They
+are engaged!"</p>
+
+<p>They were engaged! Lewis felt it with a
+glad bound of the heart&mdash;but a minute before
+sickening in deadly suspense; felt, as
+he seated himself by her side, that the sorrows
+of a lonely and struggling youth, the
+years of manhood's isolation and unsatisfied
+longings, were swept from memory by
+this hour of abundant, unalloyed happiness.</p>
+
+<p>And Sarah felt it! As her hand touched
+his, at their meeting upon the steps, a
+chill ran through her frame that told the
+consummation of the sacrifice which was
+to atone for past folly; to silence, and
+brand as a lying rumor, the fearful tale
+that bruited abroad the revelation of that
+weakness. In her mad horror at the knowledge
+of its discovery, she had rushed upon
+this alternative. Better an estate of
+honorable misery, than to live on, solitary,
+disgraced, condemned and pitied by her
+meanest foe! Now that the irreversible
+step was taken, she experienced no sharp
+regret, no wild impulse of retreat, but a
+gradual sinking of spirit into hopeless
+apathy.</p>
+
+<p>Her veil concealed her dull eyes and
+stolid features, and to Lewis' happy mood
+there was nothing surprising or discouraging<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_34" id="Page_34">[34]</a></span>
+in her disposition to silence. With a
+tact for which she had not given him
+credit, and did not now value aright, he
+refrained from any direct reference to
+their altered relation until they were returning
+homeward. Then changing his
+tone of pleasant chat for one of deeper
+meaning, he said:</p>
+
+<p>"I have dared to hope much&mdash;everything&mdash;from
+your consent to become my companion
+for this afternoon. Before I ventured
+to address you directly, I had a long and
+frank conversation with your father."</p>
+
+<p>"What did he say?" asked Sarah, turning
+towards him for the first time.</p>
+
+<p>"He referred me to you for my answer,
+which, he said, must be final and positive,
+since he would never attempt to influence
+your choice. In the event of an affirmative
+reply from you, he promised that his
+sanction should not be withheld."</p>
+
+<p>Sarah was silent. She comprehended
+fully her father's warm interest in his
+friend's suit, which the speaker was too
+diffident to imply, and how this expression
+of his wishes set the seal upon her fate.</p>
+
+<p>"We are poor and proud! Mr. Hammond
+is rich and seeks to marry me!" was her
+bitter thought. "It is a fine bargain in the
+eyes of both my parents. It would be high
+treason for me to dispute their will. Mr.
+Hammond has conceived the notion that I
+am a useful domestic character, a good
+housekeeper and nurse, and he is willing
+to bid liberally for my services. It is all
+arranged between them! Mine is a passive
+part, to copy Lucy's sweet, submissive
+ways for a season, for fear of frightening
+away the game, afterwards to attend to my
+business, while he looks after his. I have
+chosen my lot, and I will abide by it!"</p>
+
+<p>"Have I your permission to call this
+evening and inform your father of my success&mdash;may
+I say of our engagement?" asked
+Lewis.</p>
+
+<p>"It is best, I suppose, to call things by
+their right names," replied Sarah, in a cold
+voice, that was to him only coy. He smiled,
+and was about to speak, when she resumed:
+"Since we are virtually engaged"&mdash;she
+caught her breath as she brought out
+the word&mdash;"I see no reason why we should
+hesitate to announce it to those whose
+right it is to know it."</p>
+
+<p>"Thank you! That was spoken like the
+noble, unaffected woman you are! Will you
+always be equally sincere with me&mdash;Sarah?"
+His accent trembled with excess
+of emotion in calling the name.</p>
+
+<p>Is it, then, an easy lot that you have
+chosen, Sarah Hunt? You, whose pride
+and glory it was to be truthful, who
+spurned whatever assimilated in the least
+degree to deception, what think you of a
+life where a lie meets you on the threshold
+and must be accepted and perpetuated if
+you would preserve your name and position
+in his eyes and those of the world. "It is
+the way two-thirds of the married people
+live!" you were saying to yourself, just
+now. It may be so; but it is none the less
+a career of duplicity, perjury&mdash;crime!</p>
+
+<p>"I will endeavor to please you!" she faltered,
+her face in a flame of shame and
+confusion.</p>
+
+<p>And this was the hue that met Lewis'
+eye, as her veil was blown aside, in her
+descent to the pavement, a blush he interpreted
+to suit his own wishes. Mr. Hunt
+appeared in the doorway as she alighted,
+and read in Hammond's smile and joyous
+salutation all that he most desired to learn.
+When the door was closed upon the departing
+suitor, the father drew his best-beloved
+child to him, and kissed her, without
+a word of uttered blessing.</p>
+
+<p>"It would break his heart were I to recede
+now!" thought Sarah, as she bore hers&mdash;heavy,
+hard&mdash;up to her room.</p>
+
+<p>That evening was the proudest era of
+Mrs. Hunt's existence. Two daughters
+well engaged&mdash;unexceptionably paired off!
+What mother more blest than she? Where
+could be found other children so dutiful?
+other sons-in-law so acceptable? By
+breakfast time, next day, she had arranged
+everything&mdash;Sarah's trousseau, her house,
+and the double wedding.</p>
+
+<p>Lucy expostulated here. "But, mother,
+this is the first of November."</p>
+
+<p>"I know that, my dear; but the ceremony
+will not come off until Christmas,
+and much can be done in six weeks for
+your sister&mdash;your work is so forward.
+Then, again, 'tisn't as if Sarah couldn't get
+everything she needs right here, if she
+shouldn't have enough. It will be tremendously
+expensive&mdash;awful, in fact; but
+we must make sacrifices. We can live
+economical after you're married and gone,
+and save enough to meet the bills."</p>
+
+<p>"If you please, madam, I prefer a plain
+outfit and no debts," said Sarah's most
+abrupt tones.</p>
+
+<p>"If you please, my dear, I understand my
+affairs, and mean to do as I think proper,"
+retorted the no less strong-willed mother.</p>
+
+<p>Sarah was not cowed. "And as to the
+time you set, I cannot agree to it. I presume
+that in this matter I have some
+voice. I say six months instead of six
+weeks!"</p>
+
+<p>"Very well, my love." Mrs. Hunt went on
+polishing a tumbler with her napkin. She
+always washed her silver and glass herself.
+"You must settle that with your father
+and Mr. Hammond. They are crazy for
+this plan. They were talking to me about
+it last night, and I told them that I would
+engage to have everything ready in time;
+but you must be consulted. I never saw
+your father more set upon anything. He
+said to me, private, that he did hope that
+you wouldn't raise any squeamish objections,
+and upset their arrangements."</p>
+
+<p>Mrs. Hunt took up a handful of spoons as
+composedly as if she had never stretched
+her conscience in her life.</p>
+
+<p>Sarah's head drooped upon the table. She
+was very, very miserable. In her morbid
+state of mind she did not dream of questioning
+the accuracy of her mother's assertion.
+That a marriageable single
+daughter was a burden to one parent, she
+knew but too well; that to this able financier
+the prospect of getting two out of the
+way, with the eclat of a double ceremony
+that should cost no more than Lucy's
+nuptials would have done, was a stupendous
+temptation, she also perceived. But
+that the father whom she so loved; whose
+sickbed she had tended so faithfully; whose
+lonely hours it was her province and delight
+to solace&mdash;that he should acquiesce&mdash;nay
+more, rejoice in this indelicate haste to
+get rid of her, was a cruel stab.</p>
+
+<p>"Very well," she said, raising an ashy
+face. "Let it be as you say. The sooner
+it is over, the better."</p>
+
+<p>This clause was unheeded by her mother
+and sister. Had they heard it, they might
+have understood it as little as they did the
+composure with which she joined in the
+work which was begun, without an hour's
+delay. In this trying juncture, Mrs. Hunt
+came out in all her strength. Her sewing
+machine (she was one of the earliest purchasers
+of these inestimable time, labor,
+and money savers) went night and day; she
+shopped largely and judiciously, giving orders
+to tradespeople with the air of a princess;
+"Jewed" her butcher; watched her
+pantry, and served up poorer dinners than
+ever. Jeannie's winter outfit was ingeniously
+contrived from her sister's cast-off
+wardrobe; Mr. Hunt's and the boys' shirts
+and socks were patched and darned until
+but a trifling quantity of the original material
+remained; and this pearl of mothers
+had her two-year-old cloak and last season's
+hat "done over" for this year's wear.</p>
+
+<p>Foremost among the visitors to the Hunts,
+after this latest engagement was made
+public, was Mrs. Marlow, the wife of Mr.
+Hammond's benefactor and partner. Sarah
+was out when she called; so Mrs. Hunt
+received her, and discovering very soon
+that in spite of her husband's wealth and
+her splendid establishment, she was not,
+as Mrs. Hunt phrased it to her daughters,
+"one mite proud, and thought the world
+and all of Lewis"&mdash;the mother opened her
+heart to her so freely, with regard to the
+prospective weddings and her material
+anxieties, that Mrs. Marlow was emboldened
+to introduce a subject which had
+taken hold of her thoughts so soon as she
+heard from Mr. Hammond of his expected
+marriage.</p>
+
+<p>She had a daughter, resident for the
+winter in Paris, whose taste in female
+attire was unquestionable, and her good-nature
+as praiseworthy. If Miss Sarah
+Hunt would prepare a memorandum of
+such articles as she would like to have
+selected in that emporium of fashion, she
+would promise, for her daughter, that they
+should be forwarded in time for "the occasion."</p>
+
+<p>"Some friends of mine, now abroad, have
+kindly offered to bring me over any quantity
+of fine dresses with their baggage,"
+said the complaisant old lady; "and, as I
+do not need their services for myself, I
+can smuggle in whatever your daughter
+may order. You would be surprised at the
+difference in prices here and there&mdash;to say
+nothing of the superior excellence and
+variety of the assortment from which one
+can choose. My friends will return early
+in December. Therefore, should you like
+this arrangement, I ought to have the
+list and write my letters to-morrow."</p>
+
+<p>Energetic, fussy, snobbish Mrs. Hunt!
+She stood an inch taller in her shoes at
+the imagination of this climax to the
+glory of the dual ceremony. "Trousseau
+ordered directly from Paris!" She seemed
+already to hear the envious and admiring
+buzz of her set; saw herself the most
+blessed of women&mdash;her daughters the brides
+of the season. She would order for Lucy,
+also; for the longer the list the more importance
+would the future Mrs. Hammond
+acquire in the sight of her husband's
+friends. They could not know that it was
+not for her alone. Then, as Mrs. Marlow
+intimated, it would be a saving. Here,
+like a cold shower-bath, came the agonizing
+query, "Where was the money to come
+from?" It would never do to run in debt
+to such people as the Marlows. If they
+were hard-pressed shopkeepers, who needed
+the money, it would be another thing.
+No! the cash in hand, or its representative,
+must accompany the memorandum.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_35" id="Page_35">[35]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>Sarah was secretly pleased at this obstacle,
+for she despised the ostentation and
+extravagance going on in their hungry
+household. Strive as she did, with wicked
+pertinacity, to conform herself to the
+world's code, there was as yet too much
+of the ancient and better leaven left to
+permit more than an outward obedience to
+the dictates of customs so irrational and
+tyrannical.</p>
+
+<p>That very evening there arrived a letter
+that settled the question, and inflated Mrs.
+Hunt's collapsed spirits to an expansion
+hitherto unequalled. It was from Aunt
+Sarah to her namesake niece; a guileless,
+fervent expression of good wishes and unabated
+affection, and a request from "husband"
+and herself that she would accept
+the enclosure as a mark of that hopeful
+regard.</p>
+
+<p>"Since our daughters died"&mdash;wrote this
+true and gentle mother&mdash;"we have always
+intended to give you just exactly what
+we would have done one of them, as a
+wedding present&mdash;as you were named for
+me, and I had nursed you before your
+mother ever did, and you seemed in some
+way to belong to us. But since you paid
+us a visit we have felt nearer to you than
+ever, and seeing that the Lord has prospered
+us in this world's goods, we have
+made up our minds to give you a double
+portion, dear, what both of our girls would
+have had, if it had pleased our Father to
+spare them to have homes of their own
+upon earth. Living is high in New York,
+but we have calculated that what we send
+will buy your wedding clothes and furnish
+your house."</p>
+
+<p>The enclosed gift, to Sarah's astonishment,
+was a check upon a city bank for a
+thousand dollars!</p>
+
+<p>"Was there ever such a child for luck?"
+exclaimed Mrs. Hunt, clapping her hands.
+"What a fortunate thing we sent you down
+there when we did! That was one of my
+plans, you remember, Mr. H. Really, Lucy,
+our little Sarah understands how to play
+her cards, after all. I never did you justice,
+my dear daughter. I ain't ashamed
+to confess it. This puts all straight, and
+is real handsome in sister Benson&mdash;more
+than I expected. Go to work right away
+upon your list, girls! We'll have to set
+up the best part of the night to get it
+ready. Ah, well! this comes of putting
+one's trust in Providence and going
+ahead!"</p>
+
+<p>Sarah thought, with aching heart and
+moistened eyes, of Aunt Sarah's mind-pictures
+of the neat apparel and snug dwelling
+she deemed proper for a young couple
+just beginning housekeeping, and rebelled
+at this waste, this frivolous expenditure
+of her love-portion. Mr. Hunt sided with
+her, so far as to urge the propriety of her
+doing as she pleased with what was her
+exclusive property; but, as in a majority
+of former altercations, their arguments and
+powers of endurance were no match for
+the determination and mind of the real
+head of the family. With a sigh of pain,
+disgust, and despair, Mr. Hunt succumbed,
+and, deserted by her ally, Sarah contended
+but a short time longer ere she yielded
+up the cause of the combat to the indomitable
+victress.</p>
+
+
+
+<hr class="chap" />
+
+<h2>CHAPTER X.</h2>
+
+
+<p>The bridal day came; frosty and clear,
+dazzlingly bright, by reason of the reflection<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_36" id="Page_36">[36]</a></span>
+from the snow, which lay deep
+and firm upon the ground.</p>
+
+<p>"What a delightful novelty this is, coming
+to a wedding in a sleigh!" lisped one
+of the triad of bridesmaids, who were to
+do double duty for the sisters. "How very
+gay it makes one to hear the bells outside!
+Have they come, Vic.?"</p>
+
+<p>Victoria, whose marriage was but one
+week off, was, true to instinct and habit,
+on the lookout behind the friendly curtain.</p>
+
+<p>She nodded. "Yes&mdash;both of them, but not
+together. What a magnificent sleigh that
+is of the Marlows! They brought Mr.
+Hammond. See the bridegrooms shake
+hands on the sidewalk! That looks so
+sweet and brotherly! They will be up here
+almost directly, I suppose."</p>
+
+<p>The attendants immediately began to
+shake out their robes and stroke their
+white gloves. They were collected in the
+sitting-room so often mentioned, and the
+sisters were also present. In accordance
+with the ridiculous custom of very parvenu
+modern marriages, although the ceremony
+was to take place precisely at twelve
+o'clock, daylight was carefully excluded
+from the parlors below, gas made its sickly
+substitute, and the whole company was in
+full evening costume.</p>
+
+<p>"Am I all right?" inquired Lucy, with a
+cautious wave of her flowing veil. "Look
+at me, Vic.!"</p>
+
+<p>"You are perfect, my dearest!" replied
+the devoted parasite. "How I admire your
+beautiful self-possession! And as for you,
+Sarah, your calmness is wonderful! I fear
+that I should be terribly agitated"&mdash;blushing,
+and casting a meaning smile at Lucy.</p>
+
+<p>Sarah's statuesque repose was broken by a
+ray of scorn from the eye, and a slight disdainful
+smile. Whatever were the feelings
+working beneath her marble mask, she
+was not reduced to the depth of wretchedness
+that would humble her to accept
+the insolent pity couched under the pretended
+praise. She vouchsafed no other
+reply; but remained standing a little apart
+from the rest; her gloved hands crossed
+carelessly before her; her gaze bent downwards;
+her whole posture that of one who
+neither waited, nor hoped, nor feared.</p>
+
+<p>"Who would have thought that she could
+be made such an elegant-looking woman?"
+whispered one of the bridesmaids aside to
+another.</p>
+
+<p>"She has actually a high-bred air! I
+never imagined it was in her. So much
+for a Parisian toilette!"</p>
+
+<p>"I am so much afraid that I shall lose
+my color when we enter the room," said
+Lucy, surveying her pink cheeks in the
+mirror. "They say it is so trying to the
+nerves, and I am odious when I am pale."</p>
+
+<p>"Never fear, my sweetest. It is more
+likely that the unavoidable excitement will
+improve your complexion. There they
+are!" returned Victoria, hurriedly, and&mdash;unconsciously,
+no doubt&mdash;the three attendants
+and one of the principals in the
+forthcoming transaction, "struck an attitude,"
+as the sound of footsteps approached
+the door.</p>
+
+<p>Lucy had only time for a whisper&mdash;a last
+injunction&mdash;to her faithful crony. "Remember
+to see that my veil and dress
+hang right when we get downstairs." And
+the masculine portion of the procession
+marched in in order.</p>
+
+<p>Sarah did not look up. She bent her head
+as the formal exchange of salutations was
+executed, and yielded her hand to the person
+who took it in his warm pressure, and
+then transferred it to his arm. It was one
+of the freaks, thus denominated by her
+acquaintances, in which she had been indulged,
+that she desired to have her marriage
+ceremony precede her sister's. She
+assigned what Lucy at least considered a
+sufficient reason for this caprice.</p>
+
+<p>"Nobody will care to look at me after
+you stand aside, Lucy. Keep the best wine
+until the last. My only chance of getting
+an approving glance lies in going in before
+you attract and fix the public gaze."</p>
+
+<p>She had her way. A limited number of
+select friends were admitted to behold "the
+ceremony;" yet the parlors were comfortably
+filled, excepting in the magical semicircle
+described by an invisible line, in the
+center of which stood the clergyman in his
+robes.</p>
+
+<p>Still dull and calm, Sarah went through
+the brief role that fell to her share. "Behaved
+charmingly," was the unanimous
+verdict of the beholders, and surprised
+other people, as well as the complimentary
+bridesmaid, by her thoroughbred air and
+Parisian toilette. Without the pause of a
+second, so perfect was the drill of the performers,
+the wedded pair stepped aside,
+and made way for the second happy couple.
+Lucy's solicitude on the score of her complexion
+was needless. As the solemn words
+were commenced, a rosy blush flickered
+up to its appointed resting-place&mdash;another
+and another&mdash;until, when Philip released
+her to the congratulatory throng, she was
+the most enchanting type of a radiant Hebe
+that poet ever sang, or painter burned to
+immortalize on canvas.</p>
+
+<p>Philip stood beside her and sustained his
+portion of the hand-shaking and felicitations
+until the press diminished, then
+stepped hastily over to where Hammond
+and his bride were undergoing a similar
+martyrdom. Until this moment Sarah had
+not looked at, or spoken to him&mdash;had never
+met him face to face since their parting
+in the summer at Aunt Sarah's. Now, not
+aware who it was that approached her, she
+raised her eyes with the serious dignity
+with which she had received all other salutations,
+and met his downward gaze&mdash;full
+of warm and honest feeling.</p>
+
+<p>"Sister!" he said, and in brotherly fondness
+he bent towards her, and left a kiss
+upon her mouth.</p>
+
+<p>A hot glow, the lurid red of offended
+modesty or self-convicted guilt, overspread
+her face; the lips parted, quivered,
+and closed tightly, after an ineffectual effort
+to articulate; the room swam around
+her, and Mr. Hammond caught her just in
+time to save her from falling. It was Nature's
+vengeful reaction for the long and
+unnatural strain upon her energies. She
+did not faint entirely away, although several
+moments elapsed before she regained
+perfect consciousness of her situation and
+surrounding objects. She had been placed
+in an easy-chair; her head rested against
+her father's shoulder, and on the other
+side stood Lewis, almost as pale as herself,
+holding a glass of wine to her lips.
+Around her were grouped her mother,
+Lucy, and Philip. The guests had withdrawn
+politely to the background, and
+maintained a respectful silence.</p>
+
+<p>"What have I betrayed?" was her first
+coherent reflection; and, with an instinctive
+perception of the quarter where such
+disclosures would do most harm, her eye
+turned with a sort of appealing terror to
+Lewis. His heart leaped at the movement,
+revealing, as he fancied it did, dependence
+upon his strength, recognition of his right
+to be with and nearest to her.</p>
+
+<p>"You are better," he said, with a moved
+tenderness he could not and cared not to
+restrain.</p>
+
+<p>The words, the manner, were an inexpressible
+relief to her fears, and trying to
+return his smile, she would have arisen
+but for her father's interposition.</p>
+
+<p>"Sit still," he advised. "Mrs. Hunt,
+Lucy, Mr. Benson, will you entertain our
+friends? She will be all right in a little
+while, Mr. Hammond."</p>
+
+<p>"Tableaux vivants!" said Lucy's soft,
+rich voice, as she advanced towards the
+reassured guests. "This is a part of the
+performance not set down in the programme.
+Quite theatrical, was it not?"</p>
+
+<p>It is very possible that Philip Benson
+would not have regarded this as an apropos
+or refined witticism, had any one else been
+the speaker; but as the round, liquid tones
+rolled it forth, and her delicious laugh led
+off the instant revival of mirth and badinage,
+he marvelled at her consummate tact,
+her happy play of fancy (!), and returned
+devout thanks to the stars that had bestowed
+upon him this prodigy of grace,
+wit, and beauty. Sarah rallied speedily;
+and, contrary to the advice of her father
+and husband, maintained her post in the
+drawing-room during all the reception,
+which continued from half-past twelve to
+half-past two.</p>
+
+<p>It was a gay and shifting scene&mdash;a sparkling,
+murmuring tide, that ebbed and
+flowed to and from the quartette who
+formed the attractive power. Silks, laces,
+velvets, furs, and diamonds; faces young,
+old, and middle-aged; handsome, fair, and
+homely; all decked in the same conventional
+holiday smile; bodies tall and short, executing
+every variety of bow and courtesy;
+voices sweet, sharp, and guttural, uttering
+the senseless formula of congratulation&mdash;these
+were Sarah's impressions of the tedious
+ceremonial. Restored to her rigid composure,
+she too bowed and spoke the word
+or sentence custom exacted&mdash;an emotionless
+automaton in seeming, while Lucy's
+matchless inflections lent interest and
+beauty to the like nothings, as she rehearsed
+them in her turn; and Philip Benson,
+having no solicitude for his bride's
+health or ability to endure the fatigue, was
+collected enough to compare the two, and,
+while exulting in his selection, to commiserate
+the proprietor of the colder and
+less gifted sister.</p>
+
+<p>At last the trial was over; the hospitable
+mansion was closed; the parlors deserted;
+the preparation for travelling hurried
+through; and the daughters went forth
+from their girlhood's home. Philip had
+cordially invited Sarah and Lewis, by letter,
+to accompany Lucy and himself to
+Georgia; but Sarah would not hear of it,
+and Lewis, while he left the decision to her,
+was not sorry that she preferred to journey
+instead with him alone. It was too cold
+to go northward, and the Hammond's now
+proposed to proceed with the others as far
+as Baltimore, there to diverge upon a
+Western and Southern tour, which was to
+occupy three weeks, perhaps four.</p>
+
+
+
+<hr class="chap" />
+
+<h2>CHAPTER XI.</h2>
+
+
+<p>During the month preceding his marriage,
+Lewis Hammond had spent much time and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_37" id="Page_37">[37]</a></span>
+many thoughts in providing and furnishing
+a house for his wife. His coadjutor in
+this labor of love was not, as one might
+have expected, Mrs. Hunt, but his early
+friend, Mrs. Marlow. His omission of his
+future mother-in-law, in his committee of
+consultation, he explained to her by representing
+the number of duties already
+pressing upon her, and his unwillingness to
+add aught to their weight. But when both
+girls were married and gone, and the work
+of "getting to rights" was all over, this
+indefatigable woman paid Mrs. Marlow a
+visit, and offered her assistance in completing
+the arrangements for the young
+housekeepers.</p>
+
+<p>"There is nothing for us to do," said Mrs.
+Marlow. "Lewis attended to the purchase
+of everything before leaving; and the
+orders are all in the hands of a competent
+upholsterer whom he has employed, as is
+also the key of the house. I offered to
+have the house-cleaning done, but Lewis
+refused to let me help him even in this.
+He is very methodical, and rather strict
+in some of his ideas. When the premises
+are pronounced ready for the occupancy
+of the future residents, you and I will
+play inspectors, and find as much fault as
+we can."</p>
+
+<p>Mrs. Hunt went around by the house on
+her way home. It was new and handsome,
+a brown stone front, with stone balconies
+and balustrades; but three stories high,
+it was true, yet of ample width and pitch
+of ceiling, and&mdash;as she discovered by skirting
+the square&mdash;at least three rooms deep
+all the way up. The location was unobjectionable;
+not more than four blocks
+from the paternal residence, and in a wider
+street. On the whole, she had no fault
+to find, provided Mr. Hammond had furnished
+it in such style as she would have
+recommended. She had her fears lest his
+sober taste in other respects should extend
+to these matters, and hinted something
+of the kind to her husband.</p>
+
+<p>"I have confidence in Mr. Hammond to
+believe that he will allow his wife every
+indulgence compatible with his means,"
+was the reply.</p>
+
+<p>Mr. Hunt did not deem it obligatory upon
+him to state that his son-in-law had conferred
+with him upon numerous questions
+pertaining to Sarah's likes and probable
+wishes; that he had examined and approved
+of the entire collection of furniture,
+etc., selected for her use. Why should he,
+how could he, without engendering in his
+wife's bosom the suspicion that he had
+accounted to him for Lewis' choice of the
+father as an adviser? namely, that the
+newly-made husband had gained a pretty
+correct estimate of this managing lady's
+character, her penny-wise and pound-foolish
+policy, and intended to inaugurate altogether
+a different one in his house.</p>
+
+<p>Regardless of Mrs. Marlow's polite insinuation
+that their room was preferable to
+their company until all things should be
+in readiness for inspection, the ambitious
+mother made sundry visits to the premises
+while they were being fitted up, and delivered
+herself of divers suggestions and
+recommendations, which fell like sand on
+a rock upon the presiding man of business.</p>
+
+<p>On the day appointed for the tourists'
+return, Mrs. Marlow's carriage drew up at
+Mr. Hunt's door, by appointment, to take
+the mistress of the house upon the proposed
+visit of criticism of her daughter's
+establishment. Mrs. Marlow was in a<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_38" id="Page_38">[38]</a></span>
+sunny mood, and indisposed to censure, as
+was evinced by ejaculations of pleasure at
+the general effect of each apartment as they
+entered, and praise of its component parts.
+Mrs. Hunt was not so undiscriminating.
+The millionaire's wife must not imagine
+that she was dazzled by any show of elegance,
+or that she was overjoyed at the
+prospect of her child's having so beautiful
+and commodious a home.</p>
+
+<p>"The everlasting oak and green!" she uttered,
+as they reached the dining-room.
+"It is a pity Mr. Hammond did not select
+walnut and crimson instead! Green is very
+unbecoming to Sarah."</p>
+
+<p>"Then we must impress upon her the importance
+of cultivating healthy roses in
+her cheeks, and wearing bright warm
+colors. This combination&mdash;green and oak&mdash;is
+pretty and serviceable, I think. The
+table is very neatly set, Mary," continued
+Mrs. Marlow, kindly, to the tidy serving-maid.
+"Keep an eye on the silver, my
+good girl, until your mistress comes. Mrs.
+Hunt, shall we peep into the china closets
+before we go to the kitchen? I have taken
+the liberty, at Lewis' request, of offering
+to your daughter the service of a couple
+of my protegees, excellent servants, who
+lived for years with one of my own children&mdash;Mrs.
+Morland, now in Paris. They are
+honest, willing, and, I think, competent.
+The man-servant, if Lewis sees fit to keep
+one, he must procure himself."</p>
+
+<p>The china, glass, and pantries were in
+capital order; the kitchen well stocked,
+light, and clean, and dinner over the fire.</p>
+
+<p>"You will be punctual to the minute,
+Katy, please!" was the warning here.
+"Mr. Hammond is particular in the matter
+of time."</p>
+
+<p>"And you will see that my daughter has
+a cup of clear, strong coffee!" ordered Mrs.
+Hunt, magisterially. "She is delicate, and
+accustomed to the very best of cookery."
+And, having demonstrated her importance
+and superior housewifery to the round-eyed
+cook, she swept out.</p>
+
+<p>To an unprejudiced eye, the whole establishment
+was without a flaw; and, undisturbed
+by the captious objections of her
+companion in the survey, Mrs. Marlow saw
+and judged for herself, and carried home
+with her a most pleasing imagination of
+Lewis' gratification, and Sarah's delighted
+surprise with the scene that was to close
+their way of cold and weariness.</p>
+
+<p>By Mr. Hammond's expressed desire to
+his father-in-law, there was no one except
+the domestics in the house when they arrived.
+As the carriage stopped, the listening
+maid opened the door, and a stream
+of radiance shot into the misty night
+across the wet pavement upon the two
+figures that stepped from the conveyance.</p>
+
+<p>"In happy homes he sees the light." The
+mental quotation brought back to Sarah
+the vision of that lonely evening, ten
+months before, when she had moaned it in
+her dreary twilight musings at the window
+of her little room. "Dreary then,
+hopeless now!" and with this voiceless
+sigh, she crossed the threshold of her destined
+abode. With a kindly greeting to
+the servants in the hall; Lewis hurried
+his wife onward, past the parlor doors,
+into a library sitting-room, back of the
+show apartments, warm and bright, smiling
+a very home welcome.</p>
+
+<p>Here he placed her in a deep cushioned
+chair, and, pressing her hands in his,
+kissed her, with a heartfelt&mdash;"May you
+be very happy in our home, dear wife!"</p>
+
+<p>"Thank you!" she replied. "It is pleasant
+here, and you are too kind."</p>
+
+<p>"That is impossible where you are concerned.
+Sit here, while I see to the trunks.
+When they are carried upstairs, you can
+go to your room. Throw off your hat and
+cloak."</p>
+
+<p>He was very thoughtful of her comfort&mdash;too
+thoughtful, because his love made
+him watchful of her every look, word, and
+gesture. She was glad of the brief respite
+from this vigilance, that allowed her to
+bury her face in her hands and groan
+aloud. She had no heart to look around
+her cage. No doubt it was luxurious; the
+bars softly and richly lined; the various
+arrangements the best of their kind; still,
+it was nothing but a cage&mdash;a prison, from
+which death only could release her.</p>
+
+<p>The trim maid came for her wrappings,
+and directly afterwards Lewis, to take her
+upstairs.</p>
+
+<p>"Not a very elaborate toilet, dear," he
+said, as he left her for his dressing-room.
+"You will see no one this evening but our
+father and mother, and they will remember
+that you have been travelling all day."</p>
+
+<p>When she was ready, it lacked still a
+quarter of an hour of dinner-time, and she
+acceded to Lewis' proposal that they
+should go over their dwelling. By his
+order, there were lights in every room.
+The graceful furniture, the well-contrasted
+hues of the soft carpets, the curtains and
+pictures showed to fine advantage. Every
+thing was in place, from cellar to attic;
+not a symptom of parsimony or cheapness
+in the whole; and all betokened, besides
+excellent judgment, such conformity to, or
+unison with her taste, that Sarah, with
+all her heaviness of heart, was pleased.
+She was touched too with gratitude or
+remorse; for, when they were back in the
+cozy sitting-room, she laid her hand timidly
+on that of her husband, and said,
+falteringly:</p>
+
+<p>"I do not deserve that you should take
+so much pains to gratify me, Mr. Hammond."</p>
+
+<p>Over Lewis' face there flushed one of the
+rare smiles that made him positively handsome
+while they lasted. He grasped the
+shrinking fingers firmly, and drew his wife
+close to his side.</p>
+
+<p>"Shall I tell you how to repay me for
+all that I have done, or ever can do, to
+promote your ease and enjoyment?"</p>
+
+<p>"If you please." But her heart sank, as
+she foresaw some demands upon a love
+that had never existed&mdash;a treasure that,
+to him, was sealed and empty; yet whose
+poverty she dared not avow.</p>
+
+<p>"Call me 'Lewis,' now that we are at
+home, dear. I cannot realize that you are
+indeed all mine&mdash;that our lives are one and
+the same, while you continue that very
+proper 'Mr. Hammond.'"</p>
+
+<p>"It comes more naturally to my tongue,
+and don't you think it more respectful
+than&mdash;than&mdash;the other?"</p>
+
+<p>"I ask no such form of respect from
+you. I do not fear lest you should fail to
+'honor and obey' me, you little paragon
+of duty! Believe me, dearest, I fully understand
+and reverence the modest reserve
+that has not yet ceased to be shyness, in
+the expression of your sentiments towards
+me. You are not demonstrative by nature.
+Neither am I. But since you are
+my other self, and there is no living being
+nearer to you than myself, ought we not
+to overcome this propensity to, or custom
+of, locking up our feelings in our own
+breasts? Let me begin by a confession of
+one uncomfortable complaint, under which
+I have labored ever since our engagement.
+Do you know, darling, that I absolutely
+hunger&mdash;I cannot give any other name to
+the longing&mdash;I hunger and thirst to hear
+you say that you love me! Do you remember
+that you have never told me in so
+many words what you have given me other
+good reasons for believing? I need but
+one thing this evening to fill my cup with
+purest content. It is to have you say&mdash;openly,
+fearlessly, as my wife has a right
+to do&mdash;'Lewis, I love you!'"</p>
+
+<p>"It need be a source of no unhappiness
+to be married to a man whom one does
+not love, provided he is kind and generous!"
+say match-makers and worldly-wise
+mothers. Perhaps not, after one's conscience
+is seared in callosity by perjuries,
+and her forehead grown bold as brass; but
+the neophyte in the laudable work of
+adaptation to such circumstances will trip
+in her words and color awkwardly while
+acquiring this enviable hardihood.</p>
+
+<p>Sarah's head fell, and her face was
+stained with blushes. One wild impulse
+was to throw herself at the feet of him
+whom she had wronged so foully, and,
+confessing her mad, wicked deception upon
+his holiest feelings, pray him to send her
+away&mdash;to cast her adrift, and rid himself
+of a curse, while he freed her from the
+gentle, yet intolerable bondage of his love.</p>
+
+<p>"Dinner is ready!" announced the servant.
+Sarah's senses returned, and with
+them self-control. With a strange smile,
+she glanced up at him&mdash;a look he did not
+understand, yet could not guess was born
+of anguish&mdash;and said, with a hesitation
+that seemed pretty and coquettish to him&mdash;"Lewis!
+do you hear? May it please your
+worship, I am very hungry!"</p>
+
+<p>"Tease! I will have my revenge yet!
+See if I do not!"</p>
+
+<p>Laughing lightly, she eluded his outstretched
+arm, and sprang past him into
+the hall leading to the dining-room. She
+assumed the seat at the table with a burlesque
+of dignity, and throughout the meal
+was more talkative and frolicsome than he
+had ever seen her before. So captivated
+was he by her lively discourse and bright
+looks, that he was sorry to hear the ring,
+proclaiming the coming of the expected
+visitors. The dessert had not been removed,
+and the girl was instructed to show
+them immediately into the dining-room.</p>
+
+<p>A toast was drunk to the prosperity of
+the lately established household, and the
+gentlemen went off to the library.</p>
+
+<p>"Always see to putting away your silver,
+Sarah!" counselled the mother. "And you
+had ought to get a common set of dinner
+and breakfast things. This china is too
+nice for every-day use. Of course, Mr.
+Hammond can afford to get more when
+this is broken; but it's a first-rate rule,
+child, as you'll find, to put your money
+where it will show most. That's the secret
+of my management. Mr. Hammond must
+give you an allowance for housekeeping
+and pin-money. Speak to him about it
+right away. Men are more liberal while
+the honeymoon lasts than they ever are
+afterwards. Strike while the iron is hot.
+You can't complain of your husband, so
+far. He has set you up very handsome.
+If I had been consulted about furnishing,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_39" id="Page_39">[39]</a></span>
+I would have saved enough off of those
+third-story chambers and the kitchen to
+buy another pair of mirrors for your parlors.
+The mantel has a bare look. I
+noticed it directly I went in. To be sure,
+the Parisian ornaments are pretty and tasty,
+and expensive enough&mdash;dear knows! but
+they don't make much of a display."</p>
+
+<p>"I do not like the fashion of lining walls
+with mirrors," said Sarah, in her old, short
+way; "and am satisfied with the house as
+it is. Shall we join the gentlemen?"</p>
+
+<p>Nothing had ever showed her more plainly
+the degradation of her false position
+than the confident air her mother wore in
+making her coarse observations, and instructing
+her as to the method of managing
+her generous, confiding husband. It
+was the free-masonry of a mercenary wife,
+whose spouse would have been better represented
+to her mind by his money-bag
+than his own proper person, towards another
+of the same craft, who rated her
+lawful banker by corresponding rules.</p>
+
+<p>"Will I then really grow to be like her
+and her associates?" Sarah questioned inly.
+"Will a fine house and its fixtures, will dress
+and equipage and pin-money so increase in
+importance as to fill this aching vacuum
+in my heart? Will a position in life, and the
+envy of my neighbors, make up to me
+for the loss of the love of which I used to
+dream, the happiness which the world owes
+me yet? Is this the coin in which it would
+redeem its promises?"</p>
+
+<p>Mr. Hunt's mild features wore their happiest
+expression this evening. He arose at
+the ladies' entrance, and beckoned his
+daughter to a seat on the sofa beside him.</p>
+
+<p>"You are a little travel-worn!" he said.
+"Your cheeks are not very ruddy."</p>
+
+<p>"Did you ever see them when they
+were?" asked Sarah, playfully.</p>
+
+<p>"She was always just that pale when
+she was a baby," said Mrs. Hunt, setting
+herself in the arm-chair proffered by her
+son-in-law. "Lucy stole all the roses from
+her." Sarah may have thought that other
+and more grievous thefts had succeeded
+this doubtful one, but she neither looked
+nor said this. "And that reminds me, Mr.
+H.! Did you bring Lucy's letter for Sarah
+to read?"</p>
+
+<p>"I did." Mr. Hunt produced it. "Keep
+it, and read it at your leisure, Sarah."</p>
+
+<p>"They are supremely happy, I suppose?"
+remarked Lewis, with the benevolent interest
+incident to his fellowship of feeling
+with them.</p>
+
+<p>"For all the world like two turtle-doves!"
+Mrs. Hunt rejoined. "Their letters are a
+curiosity. It is 'Phil.' and 'Lucy' from one
+end to the other. I mean to save them to
+show them five years from now. Hot love
+is soon cool, and by-and-by they will settle
+down as sensible as any of the rest of us.
+You don't begin so, I see, Sarah, and I am
+pleased at it. Between me and you, it's
+two-thirds of it humbug! There is Victoria
+West that was! She looks ready, in company,
+to eat up that lean monkey of a
+George Bond. I don't believe but she
+shows him the other side of the picture
+in private."</p>
+
+<p>Sarah heard her father's suppressed sigh,
+and felt, without looking up, that her husband's
+eyes sought hers wistfully. The
+unobservant dame pursued her free and
+easy discourse. Mr. Hammond was "one
+of the family" now, and there was no
+more occasion for choice grammar or fine
+sentiments before him.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_40" id="Page_40">[40]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>"Not that I blame Victoria for taking
+him. He was a good offer, and she wasn't
+much admired by the gentlemen&mdash;rich as
+Mr. West is. Mr. Bond is twenty-five years
+older than she is, and wears false teeth
+and a toupee; but I suppose she is willing
+to overlook trifles. She watches out for
+the main chance, and will help him take
+care of his money, as well as spend it.
+Vic. is a prudent girl."</p>
+
+<p>"Lucy&mdash;Mrs. Benson&mdash;was at home when
+she wrote, was she not?" interrogated Mr.
+Hammond.</p>
+
+<p>"Yes, at his father's. His mother keeps
+house, and Lucy has nothing to do but
+ride, visit, and entertain company. She
+says the house is crowded the whole time,
+and she has so many beaux that Philip
+stands no chance of speaking a word to
+her. She is perfectly happy."</p>
+
+<p>Notwithstanding the various feelings of
+the listeners, none of them could resist
+this picture of a felicitous honeymoon, so
+naively spoken. Lewis' laugh cleared the
+vapors from his brow, and the pain at
+Sarah's heart did not hinder her from
+joining in.</p>
+
+<p>"And the ousted bridegroom, perforce,
+seeks consolation in the society of his fair
+friends?" said Lewis. "If this is the way
+young married people show the love-sickness
+you complained of just now, Mrs.
+Hunt, I am content with our more staid
+ways&mdash;eh, Sarah?"</p>
+
+<p>"Quiet ways suit me best," was the answer.</p>
+
+<p>"'Still water runs deep,'" quoted Mrs.
+Hunt. "I used to worry over your stay-at-home
+habits and eternal study of books,
+Sarah; but I'm ready to say now that you
+was sensible to behave as you did, as it
+has turned out. I don't mean to flatter
+Mr. Hammond, but I'd ten times rather
+you had taken him than a dried-up widower
+like George Bond."</p>
+
+<p>"Thank you!" bowed Lewis, desirous of
+diverting attention from Sarah's growing
+uneasiness beneath her mother's congratulations.</p>
+
+<p>Mrs. Hunt held on her way. "I never
+had a fear lest Lucy shouldn't marry well.
+She was pretty and attractive, and knew
+too much about the world to throw herself
+away for the sake of love in a cottage.
+But now the danger is over, I will allow
+that I used to mistrust Sarah here sometimes.
+You was just queer enough to fall
+in love with some adventurer with a
+foreign name, and never a cent in his
+pocket&mdash;yes, and marry him, too, in spite
+of all that could be said and done to
+prevent it. I was forever in a 'feaze'
+about you; fancying that you was born to
+make an out-and-out love-match&mdash;the silliest
+thing a girl can do, in my opinion."</p>
+
+<p>"You never dreamed of her 'taking up,'
+as the phrase is, with a humdrum individual
+like myself," said Lewis. "Nor, to be
+candid, did I, for a long time, Mrs. Hunt.
+Yet I cannot say that I regret her action,
+disadvantageous to herself though it was.
+I wrote to you of our visit to New Orleans,
+did I not, sir?" he continued to Mr. Hunt,
+inwardly a little disgusted by the frank
+revelations his mamma-in-law was making
+of her principles and plans.</p>
+
+<p>The subject so interesting to most wedded
+people, so embarrassing to one of the
+present party, was not again introduced
+during the elder couple's stay. When Lewis
+returned to the library, after seeing them
+out, Sarah sat where he had left her, her
+hand shading her eyes&mdash;deep in thought, or
+overcome by weariness.</p>
+
+<p>"You had better go up to your room,
+dear," said Lewis. "I wonder you are not
+worn out completely."</p>
+
+<p>She arose to obey; walked as far as the
+door, then came back to him.</p>
+
+<p>"It may appear strange to you that I
+should speak openly to such a suspicion;
+but I must beg you not to suppose for an
+instant that in my acceptance of your
+offer of marriage, I was actuated by
+mercenary motives. You look surprised"&mdash;she
+hurried on yet faster while her resolution
+lasted&mdash;"but I could not rest without
+doing myself this act of justice. Much
+that mother said to-night might&mdash;must
+have led you to this conclusion. I would
+not have you think worse of me than I
+deserve, and of this one act of baseness I
+am innocent."</p>
+
+<p>"My precious little wife, how excited you
+are! and over what a nonsensical imagination!
+Suspect you&mdash;the noblest as well as
+the dearest of women&mdash;of selling yourself,
+body and soul, for money? Listen to my
+speech now, dear Sarah!"</p>
+
+<p>He sat down and pulled her to his knee.
+"I esteem you, as I love you, above all
+the rest of your sex&mdash;above any other
+created mortal. I know you to be a pure,
+high-minded woman. When I part with
+this persuasion, may I part also with
+the life that doubt on this point would
+render wretched! Judge, then, whether it
+be possible for me to link this holy realization
+of womanhood with the thought of
+another character, which I will describe.
+I hold that she who enters the hallowed
+state of wedlock through motives of pecuniary
+interest, or ambition, or convenience&mdash;indeed,
+through any consideration
+save that of love, single and entire, for
+him to whom she pledges her vows, stands,
+in the sight of her Maker and the angels,
+on a level with the most abandoned outcast
+that pollutes the earth she treads. I
+shock you, I see; but on this subject I
+feel strongly. I have seen much, too much,
+of fashionable marriages formed for worldly
+aggrandizement&mdash;for riches; sometimes
+in pique at having lost a coveted lover.
+With my peculiar sentiments, I feel that
+I could endure no heavier curse than to
+contract an alliance like any of these. I
+repeat it, I believe in Woman as God made
+her and intended she should live, if for
+no other reason than because I recollect
+my mother, boy as I was when she died;
+and because I know and have you, my
+true, blessed wife!"</p>
+
+
+
+<hr class="chap" />
+
+<h2>CHAPTER XII.</h2>
+
+
+<p>A year and five months had passed away
+since the evening when Lewis Hammond
+held his conscience-stricken wife upon his
+knee, and told her&mdash;in fervid words that
+singularly belied his calm and even demeanor
+at other times&mdash;of his faith in and
+love for her, and his abhorrence of the
+sin she felt in her trembling soul that she
+had committed. Yet she had not the superhuman
+courage required to contradict a
+trust like this. There was no alternative
+but to keep up the weary, wicked mockery.</p>
+
+<p>"But in all these months she must have
+learned to care for him!" cries Mrs. Common
+Sense. "There is nothing disagreeable
+about the man. He is not brilliant;
+yet he has intelligence and feeling, and
+is certainly attached to his wife. I have
+no doubt but that he indulges her in every
+reasonable request, and comports himself
+in all respects like an exemplary husband."</p>
+
+<p>Granted, to each and every head of your
+description, my dear madam! But, for all
+that, his obdurate wife had not come to
+love him. I blush to say it; but while we
+are stripping hearts let us not be squeamish!
+There had been seasons, lasting
+sometimes for weeks, when her existence
+was a continual warfare between repugnance
+to him and her sense of duty; when
+she dreaded to hear his step in the hall,
+and shrank inwardly from his caress;
+watched and fought, until strength and
+mind were well-nigh gone. Mark me! I
+do not deny that this was as irrational as
+it was reprehensible; but I have never held
+up my poor Sarah as a model of reason or
+propriety. From the beginning, I have
+made her case a warning. The fates forbid
+that I should commend it to any as an
+example for imitation! A passionate,
+proud, reticent girl; a trusting, loving, deceived
+woman; a hopeless, desperate bride&mdash;whose
+heart lay like a pulseless stone in
+her breast at the most ardent love-words
+of her husband, and throbbed with wild,
+uncontrollable emotion at the fraternal
+tone and kiss of her lost and only love&mdash;I
+have no plea for her, save the words of
+Infinite compassion and Divine knowledge
+of human nature and human woe: "Let
+him that is without sin among you cast
+the first stone at her!"</p>
+
+<p>The highly respectable firm of which Mr.
+Hammond was the junior member, was
+adding, if not field to field, thousand to
+thousand, of the wherewithal for the purchase
+of fields, or, what was better still,
+city lots. Mrs. Lewis Hammond had set
+up her carriage about a year after her
+marriage; said equipage being a gift from
+her generous husband on the occasion of
+the first airing of the little "Baby Belle,"
+as she was always called in the family.
+Not until subsequent events had endowed
+it with deeper and saddest interest did
+Sarah read Aldrich's beautiful poem bearing
+the above title. Lewis' mother's name
+was Isabella. Her grandchild received the
+same, which became "Belle" on the mother's
+tongue, and then, because it was natural
+to say "Baby" too, the pretty alliteration
+was adopted.</p>
+
+<p>To a man of Lewis' domestic tastes the
+advent of this child was a source of the
+liveliest pleasure, and the tiny inmate of
+his household was another and a powerful
+tie, binding him to a home already dear.
+But to the mother's lonely life, so bare
+of real comfort or joy&mdash;haunted by memory
+and darkened by remorse&mdash;the precious gift
+came like a ray of Heaven's purest light,
+a strain of angel music, saying to care,
+"Sleep!" to hope, "Awake, the morning
+cometh!" Beneath the sunshine of so much
+love, the infant throve finely, and without
+being a greater prodigy than the nine hundred
+and ninety-nine miracles of beauty
+and sprightliness who, with it, composed
+the thousand "blessed babies" of the day,
+was still a pretty, engaging creature, whose
+gurgling laugh and communicative "coo"
+beguiled the mother's solitude and made
+cheerful the lately silent house.</p>
+
+<p>It was late in the June afternoon, and
+arrayed in clean white frock, broad sash,
+and shoulder-knots of pink ribbon, the
+small lady sat on her mother's lap at the
+front window, awaiting the appearance of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_41" id="Page_41">[41]</a></span>
+the husband and father. Sarah had altered
+much since her marriage; "improved wonderfully,"
+said her acquaintances. There
+was still in her mien a touch of haughtiness;
+in her countenance the look that
+spoke profound thought and introspection.
+Still, when in repose, her brow had a cast
+of seriousness that bordered on melancholy;
+but over her features had passed a
+change like that wrought by the sculptor's
+last stroke to the statue. The mould was
+the same&mdash;the chiselling more clear and
+fine. Especially after the birth of her
+child was this refining process most apparent
+in its effects. There was a softness
+in her smile, a gentle sweetness in her
+voice, as she now talked to the babe,
+directing its attention to the window, lest
+the father's approach should be unnoticed,
+and he disappointed in his shout of welcome.</p>
+
+<p>"How affected! gotten up for show!"
+sneered the childless Mrs. Bond, as she
+rolled by in her carriage, on her way to
+her handsome, cheerless home and its cross
+master.</p>
+
+<p>"She has chosen her position well, at all
+events," rejoined her companion, a neighbor
+and gossip, who had taken Lucy's
+place in Victoria's confidence.</p>
+
+<p>"Ridiculous!" She spat out the ejaculation
+from the overflowing of her spleen.
+"I could laugh at her airs, if they did
+not make me mad! One would think, to
+see her as she sits there, that she had
+decked herself and the child to please a
+man that she doted upon&mdash;like the good
+wives we read of in novels."</p>
+
+<p>"And why shouldn't she be fond of him?
+He is a good-hearted fellow, and lets her
+do pretty much as she pleases, I imagine,
+besides waiting on her like any lover. I
+often meet them riding out together. That
+is more than your husband or mine ever
+does, my dear."</p>
+
+<p>"They go quite as often as we desire
+their company, I fancy. Mine does, I
+know. Perhaps if we had the reason for
+parading our conjugal devotion that Mrs.
+Hammond has, we might wheedle our lawful
+lords into taking a seat alongside of
+us once in a while. There's nothing like
+keeping up appearances, particularly if
+the reality is lacking. If Lewis Hammond
+knew some of the pretty stories I could
+tell him about Sarah's love-scrapes, he
+would not look so sublimely contented with
+his three-story paradise. The elegant
+clothes he piles upon that squaw of his are
+preposterous, and she carries them off as
+if she had dressed well all her days. I tell
+you, she never looked decent until she
+put on her wedding-dress. You have heard
+of the fainting-scene that took place that
+morning, I suppose? Old Mother Hunt
+said it was 'sensibility,' and 'nervous agitation;'
+the company laid it to the heat of
+the room; and I laughed in my sleeve, and
+said nothing. If that woman aggravates
+me much more, I will remind her of some
+passages in her experience she does not
+dream that I know."</p>
+
+<p>"Do tell me what you mean? I am dying
+of curiosity! Did she flirt very hard before
+she was married?"</p>
+
+<p>"She never had the chance. Lewis Hammond
+was her only offer."</p>
+
+<p>"What was the matter, then?"</p>
+
+<p>"I can't tell you now. It is too long a
+story. The next time she frets me, as she
+does whenever she crosses my path, maybe
+you will hear the romance. Shall I set<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_42" id="Page_42">[42]</a></span>
+you down at your door, or will you enliven
+me by spending the evening with me? I
+do not expect other company, and George
+falls asleep over his newspaper as soon as
+he has despatched his dinner. Come in,
+and I will show you the loveliest sofa-pillow
+you ever beheld; a new pattern I
+have just finished."</p>
+
+<p>"Thank you! I would accept the invitation
+with pleasure, but I have not been
+home since breakfast, and James makes
+such a fuss if he does not find me in the
+nursery, tending that whimpering baby,
+when he comes up at night, that it is as
+much as my life is worth to stay out after
+six o'clock. Anything for peace, you know;
+and since we wives are slaves, it is best
+to keep on the blind side of our masters."</p>
+
+<p>The day had been warm down town, and
+as Lewis Hammond stepped from the stage
+at the corner nearest his house, he felt
+jaded and dispirited&mdash;a physical depression,
+augmented by a slight headache. A business
+question which he had talked over
+with Mr. Marlow, before leaving the store,
+contributed its weight of thoughtfulness,
+and he was not conscious how near he
+was to his dwelling until, aroused by a
+sharp tap upon the window-pane, he
+glanced up at the animated tableau framed
+by the sash&mdash;the smiling mother, and the
+babe leaping and laughing, and stretching
+its hands towards him.</p>
+
+<p>"This is the sweetest refreshment a man
+can ask after his day of toil," he said,
+when, having kissed his wife and child, he
+took the latter in his arms. He was not
+addicted to complimentary speeches, and
+while his esteem and attachment for his
+chosen partner were even stronger than
+they had been in the heart of the month-old
+bridegroom, he was less apt to express
+them to her now than then. In one respect,
+and only one, his wedded life had
+brought him disappointment. Unreserved
+confidence and demonstrative affection on
+his side failed to draw forth similar exhibitions
+of feeling from Sarah. Kind,
+thoughtful, dutiful, scrupulously faithful
+to him and his interests in word, look,
+and deed, she ever was. Yet he saw that
+she was a changed being from the fond,
+impulsive daughter, whose ministry in her
+father's sick-room had won for her a husband's
+love. Her reception of his affectionate
+advances was passive&mdash;a reception
+merely, without apparent return. Never,
+and he had ceased now to ask it, had she
+once said to him the phrase he had craved
+to hear&mdash;"I love you!" Yet he would as
+soon have questioned the reality of his existence
+as that she did love him. He held
+inviolate his trust in the motive that had
+induced her to become his wife, and in
+this calm confidence he was fain to rest,
+in the absence of protestations that would
+have gladdened his soul, while they could
+hardly have strengthened his faith in her
+affection.</p>
+
+<p>Few wives, however loving, have been
+more truly cherished than was Sarah, and
+of this she was partially aware. If she
+had remained ignorant of Lewis' sentiments
+and wishes with regard to herself,
+until the grieved and unrequited love had
+subsided into the dull aching that does not,
+like a green wound, create, by its very
+smart, a species of excitement that helps
+one bear the pain; had he glided gradually
+into the joyless routine of her life's duties,
+and abided his time of speaking until he
+had made himself necessary to her comfort
+and peace, he might have won a willing
+bride. But what omniscient spirit was
+there to instruct and caution him? He met
+and loved her, supposing her to be as free
+as himself; like an honest, upright man,
+he told that love, and, without a misgiving
+placed his honor and his happiness
+in her hands.</p>
+
+<p>Sarah could not have told why she revolved
+all this in her unquiet mind as he
+sat near her, playing with their child; yet
+she did think of their strange sad history,
+and from the review arose a feeling of
+pity, sincere, almost tender for him, so
+worthy and so deceived. She remembered
+with abasement of spirit how often she
+had been ready to hate him as the instrument
+of her bondage; how wrathful
+words had arisen to her lips at the moment
+of his greatest kindness; how patiently
+he had borne her coldness; how
+unflagging was his care of and for her.
+Over the dark, turbulent gulf of the unforgotten
+past that sundered their hearts,
+she longed, as she had never done before,
+to call to him, and confessing her sin
+against Heaven and against him, to implore
+pardon for the sake of the spotless
+babe that smiled into the father's face
+with its mother's eyes. Would he be
+merciful? Slowly and emphatically memory
+repeated in her ear his denunciation of
+the unloving wife, and courage died before
+the menaced curse.</p>
+
+<p>"Fudge! Fiddlesticks! what frippery nonsense!"
+cry out, in a vehement storm of
+indignation, a bevy of the Common Sense
+connection. "Are we not staid and respectable
+matrons all? Do we not rear our
+daughters virtuously, and teach our sons
+to honor father as well as mother? Yet
+who of us troubles herself with raking in
+the cold ashes of her 'long ago' for the
+bones of some dead and gone love&mdash;a girlish
+folly of which she would be ashamed now?
+What cares Mr. Common Sense, among his
+day-books and ledgers, in his study or in
+his office, how many times his now correct
+helpmeet pledged eternal fidelity to other
+lovers before she put her last crop of wild
+oats into the ground, and settled for life
+with him? What if some of us, may be
+all, if driven hard, should admit that when
+we stood up before the minister we underwent
+certain qualms&mdash;call them pangs,
+if you like&mdash;at the thought of Tom This,
+or Harry That, or Dick The Other, who,
+if circumstances had permitted, we would
+have preferred should occupy the place of
+'The man whom we actually held by the
+hand!' While men can choose their mates,
+and women can only take such as propose
+to them, these things will happen. After
+all, who is hurt? You aver that none of
+you are, mesdames, and we would not
+call your word in question. Ladies so
+conscientious must, of necessity, be veracious,
+even in love affairs."</p>
+
+<p>"I am a thoughtless animal!" said Lewis
+at the dinner-table. "There is a letter
+from Lucy! Open it&mdash;don't mind me! I
+will crack your nuts for you while you
+read it."</p>
+
+<p>There was a troubled look in Sarah's
+eye when she laid it down. "Lucy says
+they are certainly coming North this year&mdash;that
+we may look for them in a week
+from the date of this. This is rather
+sooner than mother expected them. Her
+housecleaning is late this season, in consequence
+of her rheumatic spell in May."</p>
+
+<p>"Let them come straight here! What
+should prevent them? There is an abundance
+of room for them&mdash;baby, nurse, and
+all. It will be a grand arrangement!" said
+Lewis, heartily.</p>
+
+<p>Sarah was backward in replying. "Father
+and mother may object. I would not
+wound them by interference with their
+guests."</p>
+
+<p>"I will answer that mother will thank
+us to take care of them until her scrubbing
+and scalding are done. And Lucy would
+not be willing to risk her baby's health in
+a damp house."</p>
+
+<p>"I will go and see mother to-morrow
+about it," concluded Sarah. She still appeared
+dubious as to the expediency of the
+proposed step, a thoughtfulness that did
+not wear away during the whole evening.</p>
+
+<p>The Bensons had not visited New York
+the preceding year. They were detained at
+the South by a combination of causes, the
+principal of which was the long and fatal
+illness of Philip's mother. Lucy had written
+repeatedly of her intense desire to see
+her home once more, declaiming against
+the providences that had thwarted their
+projects, like an impatient, unreasonable
+child.</p>
+
+<p>"Philip says it is not convenient for him
+to go just yet," said her letter to her sister,
+"and that our part of the country is
+as healthy as Saratoga itself; but I have
+vowed that I will not wait one day beyond
+the time I have set. It sets me wild
+to think of being in Broadway again&mdash;of
+visiting and shopping, and seeing you all.
+We have been so dull here since Mrs. Benson's
+death, and Philip is as solemn as a
+judge. One of his married sisters will stay
+with the old gentleman while we are away.
+O Sarah, I am sick of housekeeping and
+baby-nursing! It will do well enough for
+me when I need spectacles and a wig;
+but now, while I am young enough to
+enjoy life, it is insufferable!"</p>
+
+<p>"Not very domestic, is she?" observed
+Lewis, folding up the letter, which Sarah
+had handed him. "Ah! it is not every
+man who has such a gem of a wife as I
+have! It appears to me that the married
+women of these days are not satisfied unless
+they have a string of beaux as long
+as that of a popular single belle. How is
+it, little one? Do you ever catch yourself
+wishing that your husband were not
+such an old-fashioned piece of constancy,
+and would give some other fellow a chance
+to say a pretty thing, when you are in
+company?"</p>
+
+<p>"I do not complain," said Sarah, demurely.</p>
+
+<p>"Not in words, perhaps; your patience is
+wonderful in everything. But how do you
+feel when you see your old neighbor, Mrs.
+Bond, waltzing every set with the gayest
+gallant in the ball-room, while your jailor
+does not like to have you 'polk' at all, and
+favors your dancing only with men whom
+he knows to be respectable?"</p>
+
+<p>"I feel that Mr. Hammond is a sensible
+man, and careful of his wife's reputation,
+even in trifles, while Mr. Bond"&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>"Go on! finish your sentence!"</p>
+
+<p>"And his lady are a well-matched pair!"</p>
+
+<p>Much as she disliked Victoria, and knowing
+that she was hated still by her, Sarah
+deemed it a necessary and common act
+of courtesy to her sister's friend to call
+and apprise her of Lucy's probable visit.</p>
+
+<p>"It is not convenient for mother to receive
+them for a week yet, on account of
+certain household arrangements," she<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_43" id="Page_43">[43]</a></span>
+stated, in making known the object of her
+visit to her ancient enemy. "So you will
+find Lucy at our house, where her friends
+will be received as if they were my own."</p>
+
+<p>"You are very polite, I am sure!" replied
+Mrs. Bond, smothering her displeasure at
+Sarah's studied civility, and noting, with
+her quick, reptile perceptions, that she was
+to be tolerated as she fancied Sarah would
+imply, merely as Lucy's early associate.
+"And the Bensons are to be with you! I
+shall call immediately upon their arrival.
+Poor, dear Lucy! I long to see her. She
+has had a vast deal of trouble since her
+marriage&mdash;has she not?"</p>
+
+<p>"Except the death of her mother-in-law,
+she has had nothing to trouble her that I
+have heard of," answered Sarah, rising to
+go.</p>
+
+<p>"My dear creature! what do you call
+the wear and tear of managing a husband,
+and a pack of unruly servants, and looking
+after a baby? And she was such a belle!
+I wonder if she is much broken!"</p>
+
+<p>"Come and see!"</p>
+
+<p>Mrs. Hammond was at the parlor door.</p>
+
+<p>"I will&mdash;most assuredly! How do you
+like their being quartered upon you? What
+does that pattern husband of yours say to
+this?"</p>
+
+<p>"Madam!" said Sarah, surprised and offended
+by the rude query.</p>
+
+<p>"Oh! I don't mean that it would not be
+very delightful to you to have your sister
+with you; but there was a foolish rumor,
+about the time of your marriage, that you
+and Mr. Benson had some kind of a love-passage
+down in the country; and I
+thought that Mr. Hammond, with his particularly
+nice notions, might retain an unpleasant
+recollection of the story, which
+would prevent him from being on brotherly
+terms with his old rival. Men are terribly
+unreasonable mortals, and perfect Turks
+in jealousy! We cannot be too careful not
+to provoke their suspicions."</p>
+
+<p>Not for the universe would Sarah have
+betrayed any feeling at this insolence, save
+a righteous and dignified resentment at its
+base insinuations; but the ungovernable
+blood streamed in crimson violence to her
+temples, and her voice shook when she
+would have held it firm.</p>
+
+<p>"Mr. Hammond is not one to be influenced
+by malicious gossip, Mrs. Bond, if,
+indeed, the report you have taken the liberty
+of repeating was ever circulated except
+by its author. I cannot thank you for
+your warning, as I recognize no occasion
+for jealousy in my conduct or character.
+I am accountable for my actions to my
+conscience and my husband, and I release
+you from what you have assumed to be
+your duty of watching and criticising my
+personal affairs. Good-morning."</p>
+
+<p>"I struck a sore spot! no doubt of that!"
+soliloquized Mrs. Bond, recalling Sarah's
+start of pain and blush at the indelicate
+allusion to Philip Benson. "That woman
+stirs up all the bile in my system if I talk
+two minutes with her. If there were half
+the material to work upon in that vain,
+weak Lucy, that there is in this sister, I
+would have my revenge. As for Lewis
+Hammond, he is a love-sick fool!"</p>
+
+<p>Sarah's cheeks had not lost their flush,
+nor had her heart ceased its angry throbbings,
+when she reached home. In the
+solitude of her chamber, she summoned
+strength and resolution to ask herself the
+question, so long avoided, shunned, as she<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_44" id="Page_44">[44]</a></span>
+had imagined, in prudence, as she now
+began to fear, in dread of a truthful reply.</p>
+
+<p>When she married Lewis Hammond, she
+loved another. Fearful as was this sin, it
+would be yet more terrible were she now to
+discover a lurking fondness, an unconquered
+weakness for that other, in the
+heart of the trusted wife, the mother who,
+from that guilty bosom, nourished the
+little being that was, as yet, the embodiment
+of unsullied purity. It was a trying
+and a perilous task, to unfold deliberately,
+to pry searchingly into the record of that
+one short month that had held all the
+bloom and fragrance of her life's spring
+season; to linger over souvenirs and compare
+sensations&mdash;a painful and revolting
+process; but, alas! the revulsion was not
+at memories of that olden time; and as
+this appalling conviction dawned upon her,
+her heart died within her.</p>
+
+<p>The nurse was arranging Baby Belle for
+the possible reception of her unknown aunt
+and uncle, that afternoon, when Mrs.
+Hammond came into the nursery, her face
+as pale and set as marble, and silently
+lifted the child from the girl's lap to her
+own. For one instant her cheek was laid
+against the velvet of the babe's; the ringlets
+of fair hair mingled with her dark
+locks, before she set about completing its
+unfinished toilette. With a nicety and
+care that would have seemed overstrained,
+had other than mother's hands been busied
+in the work, the stockings and slippers
+were fitted on the plump feet; the sunny
+curls rolled around the fingers of the
+tiring woman, and brushed back from the
+brow; the worked cambric robe lowered
+cautiously over the head, lest the effect
+of the coiffure should be marred; the
+sleeves looped up with bands of coral and
+gold, a necklace, belonging to the same
+set, clasped around the baby's white throat,
+and she was ready for survey.</p>
+
+<p>"Now, Baby Belle and mamma will go
+down to meet papa!"</p>
+
+<p>And with the little one still clinging to
+her neck, she met, in the lower hall, her
+husband ushering in Lucy and Philip Benson.</p>
+
+
+
+<hr class="chap" />
+
+<h2>CHAPTER XIII.</h2>
+
+
+<p>Breakfast was kept back an hour next
+morning to await Lucy's tardy appearance.
+"She was sadly wearied with her journey,"
+apologized Philip, and Sarah begged that
+she would keep her room and have her
+meals sent up to her&mdash;an hospitable offer,
+which Mr. Benson negatived.</p>
+
+<p>Lucy did look tired and unrefreshed, and,
+to speak more plainly, very cross. Her
+hair, in its dryest state of pale yellow, was
+combed straight back above her temples;
+her skin was sallow; her wrapper carelessly
+put on, and its dead white unrelieved
+by even a bow of ribbon at the throat.
+Involuntarily Lewis glanced from the uninviting
+picture to his household deity, in
+her neat breakfast-dress of gray silk faced
+with pink, her glossy hair and tranquil
+features, and said to himself, in secret
+triumph, "Which is now the beauty? None
+of your trumpery ornamental articles for
+me!"</p>
+
+<p>Philip's eyes were as keen as his host's,
+and the probability is that he instituted
+a similar comparison, however well his
+pride succeeded in concealing the act and
+its result. Cutting short his wife's querulous
+plaints of the discomforts of travel,
+and the horrors of nervous sleeplessness,
+he opened a conversation with Mr. Hammond
+in the subdued, perfectly-managed
+tones Sarah remembered so well, selecting
+such topics as would interest a business
+man and a citizen of a commercial metropolis.
+Lucy pouted, and applied herself
+for consolation to her breakfast.</p>
+
+<p>With a strange mingling of emotions,
+Sarah listened to the dialogue between the
+gentlemen. She was anxious that Lewis
+should acquit himself creditably. Brilliant,
+like Philip, he could never be; but in sterling
+sense, not many men were his superiors.
+She had never had cause to be
+ashamed of him; for one so unpretending
+and judicious was not liable to make himself
+ridiculous. Whence, then, the solicitude
+with which she hung upon his every
+word? her disappointment when he did not
+equal the ideal reply she had fashioned, as
+she heard the words that called it forth?
+Several times she joined in the conversation,
+invariably to corroborate Lewis' assertions,
+or to supply something he had
+omitted to state. Philip Benson was a
+student of human nature. Was his mind
+sufficiently abstracted from his domestic
+annoyances to divine the motive that Sarah
+herself only perceived afterwards in solitary
+self-examination? Not love of, or admiration
+for the intrinsic excellence of the
+man whose name she bore; not fear lest
+his modesty should lessen his merits in
+the eyes of others; but a selfish dread that
+his acute interlocutor, discerning in him
+nothing likely to attract or win the affection
+of a woman such as he knew her to
+be, might guess her true reason for marrying
+Mr. Hammond. The timorous progeny
+of one guilty secret can only be numbered
+by the minutes during which it is borne
+in the bosom. Like the fabled Laced&aelig;monian
+boy, Sarah carried the gnawing
+horror with a fortitude that looked like
+cheerfulness. Habit cannot lighten the
+weight of a clinging curse; but strength
+and hardness come in time, if the burdened
+one is not early crushed by his load.</p>
+
+<p>The sisters spent most of the day in
+Lucy's room; the latter stretched upon the
+lounge, as she declared, "completely used
+up." Mrs. Hunt came around early in the
+forenoon, and into her sympathizing ears
+the spoiled child poured the story of her
+woes and wrongs; Sarah sitting by with
+a swelling, rebellious heart. With indecorous
+contempt for one of the most binding
+laws of married state&mdash;inviolable
+secrecy as to the faults of the other party
+to the momentous compact&mdash;mother and
+daughter compared notes upon their husbands,
+and criticised the class generally as
+the most wrong-headed, perverse, and dictatorial
+of all the necessary evils of society.</p>
+
+<p>Mrs. Benson, the elder, and her pleasure-loving
+daughter-in-law had differed seriously
+several months before the death of
+the former. Philip, while espousing his
+wife's cause to the rest of his family, had,
+in private, taken her to task for what he
+considered objectionable in her conduct;
+her heads of offence being mainly extravagant
+love of gay company, and the gallant
+attentions of gentleman visitors; neglect of
+dress and all efforts to please, when there
+was no company by; and a decided indisposition
+to share in the household duties,
+which his mother's increasing feebleness
+made onerous to her.</p>
+
+<p>"Ah, mother!" sighed the interesting
+complainant, raising herself to shake up
+her pillow, then sinking again upon it.
+"If girls only realized what is before them
+when they marry, few would be brave
+enough to change their condition. When I
+picture to myself what I was at home&mdash;a
+petted darling&mdash;never allowed to inconvenience
+myself when it could possibly be
+avoided; courted in society; free as air
+and light-hearted as a child; and then
+think of all that I have endured from the
+unkindness of strangers, and the&mdash;well&mdash;the
+want of sympathy in him for whom I
+had given up my dear old home and friends&mdash;I
+ask myself why I did not remain single!"</p>
+
+<p>The prudent matchmaker shook her head.
+"Marriage is a lottery, they say, my dear;
+but I am very sure that single life is a
+blank. You had no fortune, and in the
+event of your father's death would have
+been almost destitute. I am sorry your
+father did not insist upon Mr. Benson's
+giving you your own establishment at
+once. I hope, now the old lady is out of
+the way, you will have things more according
+to your notions."</p>
+
+<p>"Don't you believe that! As if there were
+not two sisters-in-law, living but four
+miles off, and driving over every other day
+to 'see how pa is.' That means, to see
+whether Lucy is letting things go to
+wreck and ruin. I understand their spiteful
+ways! Philip shuts his ears when I
+talk about them; but I am determined that
+I will not bear much more meddling!"</p>
+
+<p>Decidedly, Lucy Benson married was a
+woeful declension from the seraphic spinster
+depicted in our earlier chapters; but,
+as in time past, so in time present and to
+come, the sparkling sugar, whose integrity
+and sweetness appeared indestructible,
+while it was kept dry and cool, if dampened,
+undergoes an acetous fermentation,
+and the delicate sweet-meat, exposed to
+the air at a high temperature, becomes
+speedily a frothing mass, evolving pungent
+gases. The pretty doll who anticipates, in
+the connubial state, one long fete-day of
+adoration received, and benign condescension
+dispensed, is as certain to awake from
+this dream as from any other, and upon
+the temper in which she sustains the disenchantment,
+depends a vast proportion
+of her future welfare and peace.</p>
+
+<p>Lucy's behavior to her babe was a mixture
+of childish fondling and neglect. Fortunately,
+the little "Hunt's" special attendant
+was an elderly woman, long established
+as "Maumer" in the Benson family,
+and her devotion to her charge prevented
+any present evil effects from his mother's
+incompetence or carelessness. Philip's
+pride in, and love for his boy were extreme.
+When he came in that evening,
+Sarah chanced to be in the nursery adjoining
+her chamber, watching and inciting
+the two babies to a game of romps.
+She held one on each knee, the nurses
+standing by in amused gratification.</p>
+
+<p>"That is surely my little man's voice!"
+said Philip, as he and Lewis came up the
+stairs.</p>
+
+<p>"Let me see!"&mdash;and Mr. Hammond peeped
+into the playroom. "Walk in!" he continued,
+throwing the door wide open.
+"Isn't there a pair of them?"</p>
+
+<p>"And a nurse worthy of the twain!"
+returned Philip. He stooped to the invitation
+of the lifted arms, fluttering, as if
+the owner would fly to his embrace. "What<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_45" id="Page_45">[45]</a></span>
+do you say of him, aunty? Is he not a
+passable boy?"</p>
+
+<p>"More than passable! he is a noble-looking
+fellow. He resembles you, I think,"
+said Sarah, quietly.</p>
+
+<p>"Do you hear that, Hammond? Your
+wife pronounces me 'more than passable&mdash;a
+noble-looking fellow!' So much for an
+adroit hint. Is she given to flattery?"</p>
+
+<p>"Not she!" returned Lewis, laughing.
+"She never said as much as that for my
+looks in all her life. I have one consolation,
+however; the less she says the more
+she means!" He went into the dressing-room,
+and Philip, still holding the child,
+seated himself by Sarah.</p>
+
+<p>"How odd, yet how familiar it seems, to
+be with you once more, my good sister!
+What a succession of mischances has made
+us virtual strangers for many months past!
+I had almost despaired of ever holding
+friendly converse with you again. I wonder
+if your recollections of our visit to
+Aunt Sarah are as vivid as mine. Do you
+remember that last sad, yet dear day on
+the Deal Beach?"</p>
+
+<p>Baby Belle was standing in her mother's
+lap, her soft, warm arms about her neck;
+and around the frail, sinking human heart
+invisible arms, as warm and close, were
+upholding and strengthening it in the
+moment of mortal weakness.</p>
+
+<p>"Very distinctly. Many changes have
+come to us both since then."</p>
+
+<p>"To me very many! I have grown older
+in heart than in years." Then, evidently
+fearing that she might otherwise interpret
+his meaning, he subjoined: "We have had
+a heavy bereavement in our household,
+you know. Your changes have all been
+happy ones. The enthusiastic, restless girl
+has ripened into the more sedate, yet more
+blessed wife and mother."</p>
+
+<p>Press your sweet mouth to the convulsed
+lips, Baby Belle! Veil with your silky curls
+the tell-tale features, whose agitation
+would bewilder, if not betray! Philip was
+stroking the head of his boy, and did not
+see the uneasiness of his companion.</p>
+
+<p>"Have you heard of Uncle Nathan's
+death?" she asked, clearing her throat.</p>
+
+<p>He looked surprised at the inquiry. "Yes!
+Aunt Sarah wrote immediately to my
+father."</p>
+
+<p>"Ah! I had forgotten that they were
+brothers. My memory is treacherous. Excuse
+me! I am wanted in the dining-room!"</p>
+
+<p>Lewis met her just outside the door,
+and stopped her to bestow the evening kiss
+he had not cared to offer in Philip's presence.</p>
+
+<p>"Why, you are as rosy as a peony!" he
+said, jestingly. "Has Benson been paying
+you compliments, in return for yours to
+him? I must look after you two, if you
+carry on at this rate."</p>
+
+<p>With a look he had reason subsequently
+to recall, but which only pleased him at
+the time, she raised his hand to her lips&mdash;a
+look of humility, gratitude, and appeal,
+such as one might cast upon a slighted
+benefactor&mdash;and vanished.</p>
+
+<p>A merry family party gather around the
+Hammond's generous table, that afternoon.
+All the Hunts were there&mdash;from the father
+down to Jeannie, who was fast shooting
+up into a tall girl, somewhat pert in manner,
+but lovable despite this, at times, unpleasant
+foible.</p>
+
+<p>"Sister Lucy," she said, after an interval
+of silence, "Ellen West said, at school, to-day<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_46" id="Page_46">[46]</a></span>
+that you were a great belle when you
+were a young lady; were you?"</p>
+
+<p>"You must not ask me, Jeannie!" The
+old smile of conscious beauty stole into
+Lucy's cheeks.</p>
+
+<p>"Was she, sister?" Jeannie referred the
+case to Sarah.</p>
+
+<p>"Yes, my dear, she was very beautiful,"
+replied the latter, simply.</p>
+
+<p>"She isn't now&mdash;not so very handsome, I
+mean&mdash;no handsomer than you are, sister!"</p>
+
+<p>"Jeannie! you forget yourself!" interposed
+Mrs. Hunt.</p>
+
+<p>"Why, mamma, I did not intend to be
+rude! Only I thought that belles were always
+the prettiest ladies that could be
+found anywhere."</p>
+
+<p>"By no means!" corrected Lewis, willing
+to help his wife's pet out of a scrape.
+"There are many descriptions of belles,
+Jeannie: handsome, rich, fast, and intellectual."</p>
+
+<p>"And as papa was not rich, I suppose
+you were either fast or intellectual, sister
+Lucy!" persisted the child.</p>
+
+<p>"I thought her pretty fast when I tried to
+catch her," said Philip.&mdash;"Mrs. Hunt, Mrs.
+Hammond, Mrs. Benson, have you ladies
+decided in the course of to-day's congress
+what watering-place is to be made the
+fashion by our clique next month?"</p>
+
+<p>Mrs. Hunt replied that they inclined to
+Newport; principally on account of Lucy
+and the children, who would all be benefited
+by the bathing.</p>
+
+<p>Lucy was sure that she should tire of
+Saratoga or the Catskills in a week,
+whereas she adored the ocean.</p>
+
+<p>"What says Madame Discretion?" said
+Lewis, merrily, to his wife.</p>
+
+<p>"Except that it would break up the family
+party, I had rather stay at home as
+long as it is prudent to keep the baby
+in town; then, if you could go with us,
+spend a month at some mountain farmhouse
+or seaside cottage," she answered.</p>
+
+<p>"Hear! hear!" commanded Philip. "Behold
+a modern wedded dame who prefers
+seclusion with her liege lord to gayety
+without him! The age of miracles is returning!"</p>
+
+<p>"Is the case, then, so anomalous?" retorted
+Sarah, the red spot in her cheek
+alone testifying to her embarrassment.
+"Are your Southern matrons all public
+characters?"</p>
+
+<p>"I can answer that!" said Lucy. "They
+are slaves! housekeeping machines&mdash;nothing
+better!"</p>
+
+<p>"How many more weak places are there
+in this crust of family chit-chat, I should
+like to be informed!" thought the annoyed
+and uninitiated Hammond. "Here goes for
+the spot where there is no danger of anybody's
+breaking in!" He spoke aloud. "A
+tempting proposal was made to me this
+morning. It is considered advisable for one
+of our firm to go abroad for a couple of
+months, perhaps longer, to divide his time
+among the principal manufacturing districts
+of England, Scotland, and France.
+Expenses paid by the firm, and the term
+of absence indefinitely prolonged, if the
+traveler wishes it. Mr. Marlow is tired
+of crossing the ocean, and presses me to
+accept the mission."</p>
+
+<p>"What did you tell him?"</p>
+
+<p>It was Sarah who spoke in a startled
+voice that drew general notice to her
+alarmed face. Her concern was a delicious
+tribute to her husband's self-love, if he
+possessed such a quality. At least he
+loved her well enough to be pleased at her
+manifest reluctance to have him leave her.</p>
+
+<p>"I told him that I must ask my wife,"
+said he in a meek tone, belied by the
+humorous twinkle in his eye, and loving
+half-smile about his mouth. "See what it
+is to be one under authority, Benson! A
+man dare not conclude an ordinary business
+transaction without the approval of
+the powers that be."</p>
+
+<p>When Sarah accompanied her sister to
+her chamber that night, the passee belle
+put a direct question.</p>
+
+<p>"Tell me, Sarah, are you as much in
+love with Mr. Hammond as you seem to
+be, or is it all put on for the benefit of
+outsiders?"</p>
+
+<p>"I am not apt to do anything for the
+sake of mere show; nor do I care for the
+opinion of 'outsiders,' as you call them,"
+rejoined Sarah, amazed at the cool audacity
+of the inquiry, and disposed to resent
+Lucy's confident expectation that she
+would avow the cheat, if such there were,
+in her deportment.</p>
+
+<p>"You used to be shockingly independent,
+I know. What a ridiculously honest little
+puss you were! How you despised all our
+pretty arts and necessary affectations!
+How you hated our economical mother's
+second-best furniture and dinners! I don't
+believe Victoria West has ever forgiven
+you for the way in which you used to
+take to pieces what you styled our 'surface
+talk and surface life!' I thought, however,
+that you had discovered by this time, that
+one cannot live in the world without deceiving
+herself or other people; I prefer
+making fools to being one. Heigh-ho! this
+life is a very unsatisfactory business at the
+best. What a heavenly collar that is of
+yours! One thing I do wish, and that is&mdash;that
+my husband were half as fond of
+me, or as good to me, as Lewis is to you!"</p>
+
+
+
+<hr class="chap" />
+
+<h2>CHAPTER XIV.</h2>
+
+
+<p>Lewis Hammond had thrown the whole
+weight of his influence in the family conclave
+into the Newport scale; and to this
+popular resort Sarah went, in July, in
+company with the Bensons, her mother
+and Jeannie, who was made one of the
+party at Lewis' request and expense. The
+generous fellow acted in conformity with
+conscience and judgment in this temporary
+exile of his treasures; and, consistent in
+his purpose of rendering it a pleasure excursion
+to his wife, he made very light
+of his prospects of lonely widowerhood,
+representing, instead, the benefit she and
+the babe would draw from the sea-breezes,
+and his enhanced enjoyment of his weekly
+visits, because they were so far apart. He
+went with them to the shore, at their general
+flitting, and spent two days; saw for
+himself that those whose comfort was
+nearest his heart were properly accommodated;
+privately feed chambermaid and waiter,
+with hints of future emolument to accrue
+to them from special regard to the
+wants of Mrs. Hammond and her infant,
+and returned to town with the unenviable
+consciousness of having left at least three-fourths
+of himself behind him.</p>
+
+<p>A brisk rush of business beguiled him of
+the aching, hollow void for a few hours
+after he got back. Not even Baby Belle's
+accents could be heard amid that roar
+and whir. But at luncheon-time, while
+waiting for his order to be filled at a
+restaurant, the dreary, solitary void overtook
+him&mdash;a fit of unmistakable home-sickness,
+that yet caused him to recoil at the
+idea of entering the deserted house uptown,
+when evening should oblige him to
+seek a lodging. How were Sarah and baby
+getting along without him? He was afraid
+that Lucy was not, in all respects, as congenial
+a companion as he could have
+wished his wife to have, and that Mrs.
+Hunt's undisguised worldliness, her foolish
+love of fashion and display, would
+often annoy and mortify her sensible and
+right-judging daughter. Benson was capital
+company, though&mdash;a gentleman every
+inch of him! and very friendly to Sarah.
+But for her reserved manners he would
+act the part of a real brother to her; in
+any case, he would be kind, and see that
+she wanted for nothing.</p>
+
+<p>Then&mdash;shot into his head by some unseen
+and unaccountable machinery&mdash;there darted
+across his mind a fragment of a conversation
+he had overheard, at entering his
+parlor, the day before the Bensons left.
+Philip and Lucy were standing before a
+miniature painting of Sarah and her child,
+completed and brought home a short time
+previous. Although seemingly intent upon
+the picture, their conversation must have
+strayed far from the starting-point, for
+the first sentence that reached the unintentional
+listener was a tart, scornful
+speech from Lucy, that could by no stretch
+of the imagination be made to apply to
+her sister.</p>
+
+<p>"If you admire her so much, why did
+you not marry her when you had the opportunity?
+She was willing enough!"</p>
+
+<p>"Take care you do not make me regret
+that I did not do so!" was Philip's stern
+rejoinder as he turned from her.</p>
+
+<p>The change of position showed him that
+Lewis was present, and for a second his
+inimitable self-possession wavered. Recovering
+himself, he reverted to the picture,
+and called upon his host to decide some
+disputed point in its artistic execution
+which he and Lucy were discussing.</p>
+
+<p>"Poor fellow! he has learned that all
+is not gold that glitters!" mused Lewis to
+the newspaper he was pretending to read.
+"Lucy had a high reputation for amiability
+before she was Mrs. Benson. There is no
+touchstone like the wedding ring to bring
+out one's true qualities."</p>
+
+<p>He sat with his back to the entrance of
+the saloon, and the table directly behind
+him was now taken possession of by three
+or four new arrivals&mdash;all gentlemen, and
+apparently on familiar terms with one another.
+They called for a bountiful lunch,
+including wine, and plunged into a lively,
+rather noisy talk. Lewis closed his ears,
+and applied himself in earnest to his paper.
+He started presently at a word he
+could have declared was his name. Restraining
+the impulse to look around and
+see who of the group was known to him,
+he yet could not help trying to determine
+this point by their voices. One, a thin
+falsetto, he fancied belonged to George
+Bond, who was no more of a favorite with
+him than was his better half with Sarah.
+Lewis regarded him as a conceited rattlepate,
+whose sole talent lay in the art of
+making money&mdash;whose glory was his purse.
+"Why should he be talking about me here?
+Nonsense; I was mistaken!" and another
+page of the newspaper was turned.</p>
+
+<p>"When I leave my wife at Newport, or
+anywhere else, in the particular and brotherly
+care of one of her former flames,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_47" id="Page_47">[47]</a></span>
+publish me as a crazy fool!" said the wiry
+voice again, almost in the reader's ear.</p>
+
+<p>"He doesn't know old stories as well as
+you do, perhaps," remarked some one.</p>
+
+<p>"I should think not! When my wife
+pulls the wool over my eyes in that style,
+horsewhip me around town, and I won't
+cry 'Quarter!' Sister's husband or not,
+I'll be hanged if I would have him in my
+house for two weeks, and he is such a
+good-looking dog, too!"</p>
+
+<p>He stopped, as if his neighbor had jogged
+him, as Lewis looked over his shoulder
+in the direction of the gossip. A dead and
+awkward silence ensued, ended at last
+by the pertinent observation that the
+"waiter was a long time bringing their
+lunch."</p>
+
+<p>In a maze of angry doubt and incredulity
+as to the evidence of his senses and suspicions,
+Lewis finished his meal, and
+stalked out past the subdued and now voracious
+quartette, favoring them with a
+searching look as he went by, which they
+sustained with great meekness. All the
+afternoon a heavy load lay upon his heart,
+an indefinable dread he dared not analyze;
+a foreboding he would not face, yet could
+not dismiss.</p>
+
+<p>"You are blue, Lewis," said Mr. Marlow,
+kindly, as they started uptown together.
+"This is the worst of having a wife and
+children; you miss them so terribly when
+they are away. But you will get used to
+it. Make up your mind at the eleventh
+hour to cross the water, and stay abroad
+three months. You will be surprised to
+find how easy your mind will become after
+a couple of weeks."</p>
+
+<p>"I am satisfied, sir, without making personal
+trial of the matter, that men become
+inured to misery, which seemed in the beginning
+to be insupportable."</p>
+
+<p>Mr. Marlow laughed, and they separated.</p>
+
+<p>Lewis sighed as he looked up at the
+blinds of his house, shut fast and grim, and
+still more deeply as he admitted himself
+to the front hall, that echoed dismally the
+sound of the closing door. His next movement
+was to walk into the parlor, throw
+open a shutter, and let in the evening light
+upon the portraits of the dear absent ones.
+There he stood, scanning their faces&mdash;eyes
+and soul full of love and longing&mdash;until the
+mellow glow passed away and left them in
+darkness.</p>
+
+<p>The comfortless evening repast was over,
+and he betook himself to the library, Sarah's
+favorite room, as it was also his. Her
+low easy-chair stood in its usual place opposite
+his at the center-table, but her workbasket
+was missing; likewise the book with
+its silver marker, that he was wont to see
+lying side by side with some volume he had
+selected for his own reading. But one lay
+there now, and there was an odd choking
+in his throat as he read the title on the
+back. He had expressed a wish for it in
+Sarah's hearing some days before, and her
+delicate forethought had left it here as a
+solace and keepsake, one that should, while
+reminding him of her, yet charm away sad
+feelings in her absence. Even in the exterior
+of the gift, she had been regardful
+of his taste. The binding was solid and
+rich; no gaudy coloring or tawdry gilt; the
+thick smooth paper and clear type were a
+luxury to touch and sight. Lewis was no
+sentimentalist in the ordinary acceptation
+of the term, yet he kissed the name his
+wife had traced upon the fly-leaf ere he sat
+down to employ the evening as she by her<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_48" id="Page_48">[48]</a></span>
+gift tacitly requested him to do. But it
+was a useless attempt. The book was not
+in fault, and he should have read it intently
+if only because she had bestowed it;
+still the hand that held it sank lower and
+lower, until it rested upon his knee, and
+the reader was the thinker instead.</p>
+
+<p>The most prosaic of human beings have
+their seasons of reverie&mdash;pleasing or mournful,
+which are, unknown often to themselves,
+the poetry of their lives. Such was
+the drama Lewis Hammond was now rehearsing
+in his retrospective dreams.</p>
+
+<p>The wan and weary mother, whom he remembered
+as always clothed in widow's
+weeds, and toiling in painful drudgery to
+maintain herself and her only boy; who
+had smiled and wept, rendered thanksgivings
+and uttered prayers for strength, alternately,
+as she heard Mr. Marlow's proposal
+to protect and help the lad through
+the world that had borne so hardly upon
+her; who had strained him to her bosom,
+and shed fast, hot tears of speechless anguish
+at their parting&mdash;a farewell that
+was never to be forgotten in any meeting
+on this side of eternity; this was the vision,
+hers the palladium of love, that had nerved
+him for the close wrestle with fortune,
+guarded him amid the burning ploughshares
+of temptation, carried him unscathed
+past the hundred mouths of hell,
+that gape upon the innocent and unwary
+in all large cities. Cold and unsusceptible
+as he was deemed in society, he kept unpolluted
+in his breast a fresh living stream
+of genuine romantic feeling, such as we are
+apt to think went out of fashion&mdash;aye, and
+out of being&mdash;with the belted knights of
+yore; wealth he had vowed never to squander,
+never reveal, until he should pour it,
+without one thought of self-reserve, upon
+his wife! He never hinted this to a living
+creature before the moment came for revealing
+it to the object of his choice. He
+was a "predestined old bachelor!" and "infidel
+to love and the sex," said and believed
+the gay and frivolous, and he let them talk.
+His ideal woman, his mother's representative
+and successor&mdash;the beauty and crown
+of his existence&mdash;was too sacred for the
+gaze and comment of indifferent worldlings.
+For her he labored and studied and lived;
+confident in a fatalistic belief that, at the
+right moment, the dream would become a
+reality&mdash;the phantasm leave her cloudy
+height for his arms.</p>
+
+<p>Love so beautiful and intense as this, like
+snow in its purity, like fire in its fervor,
+cannot be won to full and eloquent utterance
+but by answering love&mdash;a sentiment
+identical in kind, if not equal in degree;
+and Sarah Hammond's estimate of her husband's
+affection was, in consequence of this
+want in herself, cruelly unjust in its coldness
+and poverty. His patience with her
+transient fits of gloom or waywardness in
+the early months of their married life; his
+noble forgetfulness of her faults, and grateful
+acknowledgment of her most trifling effort
+to please him; his unceasing care; his
+lavish bounty&mdash;all these she attributed too
+much to natural amiability and conscientious
+views of duty; too little to his warm
+regard for her personally. In this persuasion
+she had copied his conduct in externals
+so far as she could; and applauding observers
+adjudged the mock gem to be a
+fair and equitable equivalent for the rare
+pearl she had received.</p>
+
+<p>Lest this digression, into which I have
+been inadvertently betrayed, should mislead
+any with the idea that I have some design
+of dignifying into a hero this respectable,
+but very commonplace personage, return
+we to him as he hears eleven o'clock rung
+out by the monitor on the mantel, and says
+to himself, "Baby Belle has been asleep
+these three hours, and mamma, caring
+nothing for beaux and ball-room, is preparing
+to follow her."</p>
+
+<p>Beaux and ball-room! Pshaw! why should
+the nonsensical talk of that jackanapes,
+George Bond, come to his mind just then?
+The whole tenor of the remarks that succeeded
+the name that he imagined was his
+disproved that imagination. But who had
+left his wife at Newport in the care of a
+"good-looking" brother-in-law? who had
+been domesticated in the family of the deluded
+husband for a fortnight?</p>
+
+<p>Pshaw again! What concern had he
+with that scandalous, doubtless slanderous
+tattle?</p>
+
+<p>"Why did you not marry her when you
+had the opportunity? She was willing
+enough!"</p>
+
+<p>Could Lucy have spoken thus of her sister?
+Sarah was barely acquainted with
+Philip Benson when Lucy wedded him,
+having met him but once prior to the wedding
+day at the house of her aunt in the
+country, from which place his own letter,
+penned by her father's sick-bed, recalled
+her. How far from his thoughts then was
+the rapid train of consequences that followed
+upon this preliminary act of their
+intercourse!</p>
+
+<p>Did that scoundrel Bond say "Hammond"?
+It was not a common name, and
+came quite distinctly to his ears in the high,
+unpleasant key he so disliked. A flush of
+honest shame arose to his forehead at this
+uncontrollable straying of his ideas to a
+topic so disagreeable, and so often rejected
+by his mind.</p>
+
+<p>"As if&mdash;even had I been the person insulted
+by his pity&mdash;I would believe one syllable
+he said of a woman as far above him
+in virtue and intellect, in everything good
+and lovable, as the heavens are above the
+earth! I would despise myself as much as
+I do him if I could lend my ear for an instant
+to so degrading a whisper! I wish
+I had faced him and demanded the whole
+tale; yet no! that would have been rash
+and absurd. Better as it is! By to-morrow
+I shall laugh at my ridiculous fancies!"</p>
+
+<p>"Scratch! scratch! scratch!" The house
+was so still in the approaching midnight
+that the slight noise caused him a shock
+and quiver in the excited state of his
+nerves. The interruption was something
+between a scrape and a rap, three times repeated,
+and proceeding, apparently, from
+the bookcase at his right. What could it
+be? He had never seen or heard of a
+mouse on the premises, nor did the sound
+much resemble the nibbling of that animal.
+Ashamed of the momentary thrill he
+had experienced, he remained still and collected,
+awaiting its repetition.</p>
+
+<p>"Scratch! scratch! rap!" It was in the
+bookcase&mdash;in the lower part where were
+drawers shut in by solid doors. These he
+had never explored, but knew that his wife
+kept pamphlets and papers in them. He
+opened the outer doors cautiously, and listened
+again, until assured by the scratching
+that his search was in the right direction.
+There were three drawers&mdash;two deep,
+the third and upper shallow. This he drew
+out and examined. It contained writing-paper
+and envelopes, all in good order.
+Nor was there any sign of the intruder
+amongst the loose music and periodicals in
+the second. The lower one was locked&mdash;no
+doubt accidentally, for he had never
+seen Sarah lock up anything except jewels
+and money. Their servants were honest,
+and she had no cause to fear investigation
+on his part.</p>
+
+<p>Feeling, rather than arguing thus, he
+removed the drawer above, leaving exposed
+the locked one, and thrust his hand down
+into it. It encountered the polished surface
+of a small box or case, which he was
+in the act of drawing through the aperture
+left by the second drawer, when
+something dark and swift ran over his
+hand and up his sleeve. With a violent
+start, he dashed the casket to the floor,
+and another energetic fling of his arm
+dislodged the mouse. His first care was to
+pursue and kill it; his next to examine
+into the damage it had indirectly produced.
+The box&mdash;ebony, lined with sandal-wood&mdash;had
+fallen with such force as to loosen
+the spring, and lay on its side wide open;
+its treasures strewed over the carpet.
+They were neither numerous, nor in themselves
+valuable. A bouquet of dried flowers,
+enveloped in silver paper, lay nearest
+Lewis' hand, as he knelt to pick up the
+scattered articles. The paper was tied
+about the stalks of the flowers with black
+ribbon, and to this was attached a card:
+"Will Miss Sarah accept this trifling token
+of regard from one who is her stanch
+friend, and hopes, in time, to have a
+nearer claim upon her esteem?"</p>
+
+<p>The hand was familiar to the reader as
+Philip Benson's. Why should Sarah preserve
+this, while the many floral tokens of
+his love which she had received were flung
+away when withered like worthless weeds?
+The pang of jealousy was new&mdash;sharp as
+the death-wrench to the heart-strings,
+cruel as the grave! The card was without
+date, or he would have read, with a
+different apprehension of its meaning, the
+harmless clause&mdash;"And hopes in time to
+have a nearer claim upon her esteem."
+There was a time, then, when, as Lucy
+had taunted her husband, he might have
+married her sister! when Sarah loved him,
+and had reason to think herself beloved
+in return! What was this sable badge but
+the insignia of a bereaved heart, that
+mourned still in secret the faithlessness
+of her early love, or the adverse fate that
+had sundered him from her, and given him
+to another?</p>
+
+<p>Crushing the frail, dead stems in his
+hand, he threw them back into the box,
+and took up a bit of dark gray wood,
+rough on one side&mdash;smoothed on the other
+into a rude tablet. "Philip Benson, Deal
+Beach, July 27th, 1856. Pensez a moi!"
+But ten days before he met her at the
+wharf in New York to take her to her
+sick father! but three months before she
+plighted her troth to him, promised to
+wed him, while in spirit she was still
+weeping tears of blood over the inconstant!
+for he did not forget that Philip's engagement
+to Lucy preceded his own to
+Sarah by eight or nine weeks. There were
+other relics in the box; a half-worn glove,
+retaining the shape of the manly hand it
+had inclosed&mdash;which, he learned afterwards,
+Philip had left in his chamber at the
+farm-house when he departed to seek gayer
+scenes; a white shell, upon whose rosy
+lining were scratched with the point of a<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_49" id="Page_49">[49]</a></span>
+knife the ominous initials, "P. B." and
+beneath them "S. B. H.," a faded rosebud,
+and several printed slips, cut from
+the columns of newspapers. He unfolded
+but two of these.</p>
+
+<p>One was an extract from Tennyson's
+"Maud"&mdash;the invitation to the garden.
+Breathlessly, by reason of the terrible
+stricture tightening around his heart, Lewis
+ran his eyes over the charming whimsical
+morceau. They rested upon and reviewed
+the last verse:</p>
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">"She is coming&mdash;my own, my sweet!<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">Were it ever so airy a tread,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">My heart would hear her and beat;<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">Were it earth in an earthy bed,<br /></span>
+</div><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">"My dust would hear her and beat;<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">Had I laid for a century dead,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Would start and tremble under her feet,<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">And blossom in purple and red."<br /></span>
+</div></div>
+
+<p>He did not discriminate now between
+printed and written verses. These were
+love stanzas sent by another man to his
+wife, received and cherished by her, hidden
+away with a care that, in itself, bordered
+on criminality, for was not its object the
+deception of the injured husband? The
+most passionate autograph love-letter
+could hardly have stabbed him more
+keenly.</p>
+
+<p>The other was Mrs. Browning's exquisite
+"Portrait."</p>
+
+<p>And here the reader can have an explanation
+the tortured man could not obtain.
+With the acumen for which Cupid's
+votaries are proverbial, Philip Benson, then
+at the "summer heat" degree of his flame
+for the Saratoga belle, had recognized in
+this poem the most correct and beautiful
+description of his lady-love. Curiosity to
+see if the resemblance were apparent to
+other eyes, and a desire for sympathy
+tempted him to forward it to Sarah. She
+must perceive the likeness to her divine
+sister, and surmise the sentiment that had
+induced him to send it. A little alteration
+in the opening stanza was requisite to
+make it a "perfect fit." Thus it was when
+the change was made:</p>
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">"I will paint her as I see her:<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">---- times have the lilies blown<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Since she looked upon the sun."<br /></span>
+</div></div>
+
+<p>The poetess, guiltless of any intention to
+cater for the wants of grown-up lovers,
+had written "Ten" in the space made
+blank by Philip's gallantry and real ignorance
+of his charmer's age. For the rest,
+the "lily-clear face," the "forehead fair
+and saintly," the "trail of golden hair,"
+the blue eyes, "like meek prayers before
+a shrine," the voice that</p>
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i6">"Murmurs lowly<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">As a silver stream may run,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Which yet feels you feel the sun,"<br /></span>
+</div></div>
+
+<p>were, we may safely assert, quite as much
+like poor Sarah, when he sent the poem,
+as they were now like the portrait he
+would&mdash;if put upon his oath&mdash;sketch of his
+unidealized Lucy.</p>
+
+<p>It was not unnatural then, in Lewis
+Hammond, to overlook in his present state,
+these glaring discrepancies in the picture
+as applied by him. With a blanched and
+rigid countenance he put all the things
+back in the box, shut it, and restored it
+to its place. Then he knelt on the floor
+and hid his face in his wife's chair; and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_50" id="Page_50">[50]</a></span>
+there struggled out into the still air of the
+desecrated hometemple, made sacred by
+his love and her abiding, deep sobs from
+the strong man's stricken heart&mdash;a grief
+as much more fearful than that of widowhood,
+as the desertion and dishonor of the
+loved one are worse than death.</p>
+
+
+
+<hr class="chap" />
+
+<h2>CHAPTER XV.</h2>
+
+
+<p>It was the "grand hop" night at the
+headquarters of Newport fashion. Sarah,
+characteristically indifferent to gaieties
+"made to order," had determined not to
+appear below. The air of her room was
+fresh and pure, and a book, yet unread,
+lay under the lamp upon her table. Her
+sister and mother had withdrawn to dress,
+when Jeannie's curly head peeped in at
+Mrs. Hammond's door. Her features wore
+a most woe-begone expression.</p>
+
+<p>"What has gone wrong, Jeannie?" inquired
+Sarah.</p>
+
+<p>"Why, mamma says that I will be in her
+way if I go into the ball-room; and it
+will be so stupid to stay out the whole
+evening, while all the other girls can see
+the dancing and dresses, and hear the
+music. And sister Lucy says that children
+are 'bores' in company."</p>
+
+<p>"A sad state of affairs, certainly! Perhaps
+I may persuade mother to let you
+go."</p>
+
+<p>"Yes; but if she does, she will sit close
+against the wall with a lot of other fat
+old ladies, and they will talk over my
+head, and squeeze me almost to death,
+besides rumpling my dress; and I so want
+to wear my tucked pink grenadine, sister!"</p>
+
+<p>"And you would like to have me to
+go down with you; is that it?"</p>
+
+<p>Jeannie's eyes beamed delightedly. "Oh,
+if you only would!"</p>
+
+<p>Sarah looked down into the eager face
+and saw, in anticipation, her own little
+Belle imploring some boon, as important
+to her, as easy to be granted by another
+as this, and consented with a kiss.</p>
+
+<p>"Run away and bring your finery here!
+Mother is too busy to attend to you. Mary
+can dress you."</p>
+
+<p>The order was obeyed with lightning
+speed; and Sarah, still holding in the excited
+child the foreshadowing of her darling's
+girlhood, superintended the toilet,
+while she made herself ready.</p>
+
+<p>"What shall I wear, Jeannie?" she asked
+carelessly, holding open the door of her
+wardrobe.</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, that lovely fawn-colored silk, please!
+the one with the black lace flounces! It
+is the prettiest color I ever saw; and I
+heard Mrs. Greyling tell another lady the
+night you wore it, when brother Lewis
+was here, you know, that it was one of
+the richest dresses in the room, modest
+as it looked, and that the flounce must
+have cost a penny!"</p>
+
+<p>"Probably more!"</p>
+
+<p>Sarah proceeded to array herself in the
+fortunate robe that had won the praises
+of the fashionably distinguished Mrs.
+Greyling. Her abundant dark hair was
+lighted by two coral sprigs, which formed
+the heads of her hair-pins, and, handkerchief
+and gloves in hand, she was taking
+a last survey of Jeannie's more brilliant
+costume, when there came a knock at the
+door.</p>
+
+<p>"Mr. Benson!" said Mary, unclosing it.</p>
+
+<p>"May I come in?" he asked.</p>
+
+<p>The tidy Mary had removed all trace of the
+recent tiring operations from the apartment,
+which was a compound of parlor
+and dressing-room, a necessary adjunct
+to the small chamber and smaller nursery,
+leading out of it, at the side and rear.</p>
+
+<p>"You may!" replied Sarah. "Here is an
+aspirant for ball-room honors, who awaits
+your approval."</p>
+
+<p>"Mademoiselle, que vous etes charmante!
+I am penetrated with profound admiration!"
+exclaimed the teasing brother-in-law,
+raising his hands in true melodramatic
+style.</p>
+
+<p>Jeannie laughed and blushed until her
+cheeks matched the grenadine.</p>
+
+<p>"Mrs. Hunt told me that you had
+changed your mind, and intended to grace
+the festive scene with your presence,"
+continued Philip, addressing Sarah. "She
+and Lucy are there, and the dancing has
+begun. I came to escort you and our fair
+debutante here&mdash;that is, unless some one
+else has offered his services and been accepted."</p>
+
+<p>"That is not likely, since Mr. Hammond
+left us in your care. Do not your fourfold
+duties oppress you?"</p>
+
+<p>"Not in the least. If all my charges were
+as chary of their calls upon me as you
+are, my time would hang heavily upon
+my hands. No one would imagine, from
+your reluctance to be waited upon, that
+you had been spoiled at home. If Mr.
+Hammond were here now, he would tell
+you to draw that shawl"&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>"It is an opera cloak!" interrupted Jeannie.</p>
+
+<p>"A ball-cloak to-night, then, is it not?
+I was saying that, although the night is
+not cool for sea air, you had better wrap
+that mantle about your chest and throat
+as we go out."</p>
+
+<p>Just outside the door a waiter passed
+them with a note in his hand. He stopped,
+on seeing Philip.</p>
+
+<p>"Mr. Benson! I was on my way to
+your rooms with this, sir."</p>
+
+<p>Philip stepped back within the parlor
+to read it by the light. It was a line from
+a friend who had just arrived at another
+hotel notifying him of this fact. It required
+no reply, and, leaving it upon the
+table, he rejoined his companions.</p>
+
+<p>"See mamma! Isn't it just as I said?"
+whispered Jeannie, as she established herself
+beside her sister in a comfortable corner
+that commanded a view of the spacious
+hall and its gay, restless sea of
+figures.</p>
+
+<p>Sarah smiled at discovering her mother
+sandwiched between two portly dowagers;
+one in purple, the other in lavender silk;
+all three bobbing and waving in their
+earnest confabulations, in a style that
+presented a ludicrously marked resemblance
+to the gesticulations of a group of
+Muscovy ducks, on the margin of a mud-puddle,
+held by them in their capacity of
+a joint-stock company.</p>
+
+<p>"I see that Lucy has taken the floor,"
+observed Philip. "She will not thank me
+for any devoirs I could render her for
+the next three hours. If they get up anything
+so humble as quadrilles, may I ask
+the pleasure of your company for the set?"</p>
+
+<p>"If you wish it&mdash;and my dress is not
+too grave in hue"&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>"And too decorous in its make, you were
+about to add, I presume;" he finished the
+sentence bluntly. "It forms a refreshing
+contrast to the prevailing style around
+us."</p>
+
+<p>Lucy here flitted into sight, and her very
+bare arms and shoulders pointed her husband's
+strictures. A stool, brought into
+the room for the use of some child or
+invalid looker-on of the festivities, now
+stood empty under Sarah's chair, and
+Philip, espying it, seized upon and drew it
+forth. When seated, his mouth was nearly
+on a level with Sarah's ear.</p>
+
+<p>"This is pleasant!" he said. "We are
+quite as much isolated from the rest of
+mankind as if we were sitting among the
+heathery hillocks on Deal Beach. You do
+not love the visions of those tranquil sunny
+days as I do. You never allude to them
+voluntarily. Yet you have had less to
+convert your dreams into every-day actualities,
+tedious and prosaic, than I have.
+I stand in direful need of one of the old
+lectures, inculcating more charity, and less
+study of complex motives and biassed tendencies
+in the machine we call Man. Begin!
+I am at your mercy."</p>
+
+<p>"I have forgotten how to deliver them.
+I am out of practice."</p>
+
+<p>"That is not surprising. Your husband
+is behind the age he lives in&mdash;and so are
+you. You two would make Barnum's fortune,
+could he ever persuade the public of
+your idiosyncrasies."</p>
+
+<p>"What are you talking about?"</p>
+
+<p>"Look around and through this room,
+and you will understand one part of my
+meaning. Do you remark the preponderance
+of married over single belles? and
+that the most tenderly deferential cavaliers
+are husbands, and not dancing with their
+wives? I could point out to you three
+men, leaders of the ton in this extremely
+reputable, eminently moral assembly, who,
+it is whispered among the knowing ones,
+are married, and, having left their domestic
+associations for a season of recreation,
+boldly attach themselves to certain
+stylish young ladies here, and challenge
+observation, defy public censure, by their
+marked and increasing devotion. I meet
+them strolling along the beach in the
+morning; riding together in the afternoon;
+and when not engaged in this evening
+exhibition of toilet and muscle, you will
+find them pacing the moon or star-lit
+piazza, or, perchance, again sentimentalizing
+on the shore until the witching hour
+draws near."</p>
+
+<p>"You surprise me!"</p>
+
+<p>"You have no right to be surprised. You
+have the same thing continually before
+you in your city. Every fashionable hotel
+or boarding-house can supply you with
+such flirtations by the dozen. A married
+woman who declines the polite services of
+all gentlemen, except her husband and
+near relatives, is a prude, with false
+scruples of propriety and delicacy. Let
+her legal partner complain&mdash;he is cried out
+upon as a despot, and you can trust the
+sweet angel of an abused wife to elude
+his vigilance&mdash;violence, she terms it&mdash;for
+the future, without altering her conduct in
+aught else. Do you see that pretty woman
+in blue&mdash;the one with the madonna-like
+face? Her tyrant is here but once a week&mdash;from
+Saturday until Monday&mdash;then hies
+back to the business he loves as well as
+she does her pleasure. Monday, Tuesday,
+Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, and the
+forenoon of Saturday, any mustachioed
+puppy may walk, talk, drive, and flirt with
+her&mdash;bask in the rays of those liquid orbs.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_51" id="Page_51">[51]</a></span>
+When the rightful lord appears, she is
+demure as a nun, patient as a saint, dutiful
+as Griselda, to him and him alone.
+Do you begin to understand why I congratulated
+you upon having a husband
+of the olden stamp? Why, I do from my
+heart felicitate my friend Hammond upon
+having gained, as a helpmeet, one of that
+nearly obsolete species&mdash;Woman!"</p>
+
+<p>Sarah's embarrassment was painful and
+but indifferently concealed. She felt that
+it was barely excusable, in consideration
+of his fraternal relation to her, for Philip
+to speak so plainly of this social blemish;
+and altogether unpardonable, while he did
+not, or could not, prevent his wife's participation
+in the questionable gaieties he
+assailed so unsparingly. Reply she could
+not, without implicating Lucy in her reprobation,
+and he must perceive her difficulty.
+This was the trouble that lay uppermost.
+At her heart's core, the uneasy
+feeling she ever experienced in conversation
+with him; the stirring of the entombed
+love, of whose actual death she
+had horrible misgivings; the incongruous
+blending of past emotion with present
+duty, were now aggravated by the enforced
+acceptance of unmerited praise. Her
+woman's instinct, her experience as a wife,
+told her that the cause of the sinful
+recklessness, the contempt of the true
+spirit of the marriage tie, was not the
+fruit merely of the vanity and thirst for
+adulation, to which it was properly attributed.
+With the recollection of her
+own life, the education she had received at
+home, the hateful, yet even to her independent
+spirit, resistless decrees of society,
+there swelled up within her bosom something
+akin to Philip's bitter cynicism. Under
+this spur, she spoke.</p>
+
+<p>"And from these signs of the times, you
+would argue an inherent degeneracy of
+womanhood&mdash;a radical change in its composition,
+such as some anatomists tell us
+has taken place in the structure of our
+bodies&mdash;our blood&mdash;our very teeth. A dentist,
+who filled a tooth for me the other
+day, imparted divers scientific items of
+information to me that may illustrate your
+position. 'Enamel, madam, is not what
+enamel was in the days of our ancestors!'
+he affirmed pathetically; 'the color, the
+very ingredients of the bone, the calcareous
+base of the teeth, differ sadly from
+the indestructible molars of fifty years
+ago.' At this passage of his jeremiade, he
+chanced to touch the nerve in the unhappy
+'molar' he was excavating, and I am persuaded
+that I suffered as really as my
+grandmother would have done, had she
+sat in my place."</p>
+
+<p>She paused, and beat time with her fingers
+on Jeannie's shoulder to the wild,
+varying waltz that swept the giddy crowd
+around the room in fast and flying circles.</p>
+
+<p>"Your analogy asserts, then, that at
+heart women are alike in all ages?"</p>
+
+<p>"Why not, as well as men?"</p>
+
+<p>"Then why does not action remain the
+same, if that be true?"</p>
+
+<p>"Because custom&mdash;fashion, if you prefer
+this name&mdash;an unaccountable, irresponsible
+power&mdash;owing its birth oftenest to accident
+or caprice, says, 'Do this!' and it is done!
+be it to perpetrate a cravat-bow, a marriage,
+or a murder!"</p>
+
+<p>Another pause&mdash;in which music and
+dancers seemed sweeping on to sweet intoxication&mdash;so
+joyous in their abandon were
+the gushing strains; so swift the whirl of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_52" id="Page_52">[52]</a></span>
+the living ring. The fingers played lightly
+and rapidly on Jeannie's plump shoulder&mdash;then
+rested on a half-beat.</p>
+
+<p>"Yes!" She was looking towards the
+crowd, but her eye was fixed, and her
+accents slow and grave. "Hearts live and
+hearts love, while time endures. The heart
+selects its mate in life's springtime, with
+judgment as untaught as that of the silly
+bird that asks no companion but the one
+the God of Nature has bestowed upon it.
+But you see not, my good brother"&mdash;she
+faced him, a smile wreathing her lip&mdash;a
+strange glitter in her eye&mdash;"see you not
+to what woeful disorders these untrained
+desires, this unsophisticated following out
+of unregulated affections would give rise?
+It would sap the foundations of caste;
+level all wholesome distinctions of society;
+consign the accomplished daughters of
+palatial halls&mdash;hoary with a semi-decade
+of years&mdash;to one-story cottages and a maid-of-all
+work; doom nice young men to
+the drudgery of business for the remainder
+of their wretched lives, to maintain
+wives whose dowries would not keep their
+lily-handed lords in French kids for a
+year; cover managing mammas with ignominy,
+and hasten ambitious papas to
+their costly vaults in&mdash;as Dickens has it&mdash;'some
+genteel place of interment.' Come
+what may of blasted hopes and wrecked
+hearts, the decencies of life must be observed.
+Every heart has its nerve&mdash;genuine,
+sensitive, sometimes vulgarly tenacious
+of life&mdash;but there are corrosives that
+will eat it out; fine, deadly wires, that
+can probe and torture and extract it. And
+when the troublesome thing is finally gotten
+rid of, there is an end to all obstacles
+to judicious courtships and eligible alliances!"
+She laughed scornfully, and Philip
+recoiled, without knowing why he did so,
+as he heard her.</p>
+
+<p>"That is all very well, when the nature
+of the contract is understood on both
+sides," he said, gloomily. "I doubt, however,
+whether the beautiful economy of
+your system will be appreciated by those
+whose living hearts are bound to the
+bloodless plaster-casts you describe."</p>
+
+<p>"These accidents will occur in spite of
+caution on the part of the best managers
+of suitable marriages. By far the larger
+proportion of the shocks inflicted upon
+polite circles arise from this very cause.
+Pygmalion grows weary of wooing his
+statue, and wants sympathy in his disappointment
+and loneliness."</p>
+
+<p>The dance was ended. The fantastic
+variations of the waltz were exchanged
+for a noble march&mdash;pealing through the
+heated rooms like a rush of the healthful
+sea-breeze. The spark died in Sarah's
+eye. Her voice took its habitual pitch.</p>
+
+<p>"I have permitted myself to become excited,
+and, I am afraid, have said many
+things that I had no right to think&mdash;much
+less to utter. If my freedom has displeased
+you, I am sorry."</p>
+
+<p>"The error&mdash;if error there were&mdash;was
+mine," rejoined Philip. "I led the conversation
+into the channel; you, after awhile,
+followed. I believe there is no danger of
+our misunderstanding each other."</p>
+
+<p>"Darby and Joan! good children in the
+corner!" cried Lucy, flushed with exercise
+and radiant with good humor, as she
+promenaded past them leaning on the
+arm of a young West Pointer, a native
+Southerner and an acquaintance of
+Philip's. If his wife must flirt and frolic,
+he was watchful that she did not compromise
+him by association with doubtful
+characters. On several occasions, the advances
+of gay gentlemen, whose toilets
+were more nearly irreproachable than their
+reputations, had been checked by his cool
+and significant resumption of the husband's
+post beside the belle, and, if need
+existed, by the prompt withdrawal of the
+unwilling lady from the scene. The cadet
+laughed, and, convinced that she had said
+a witty thing, Lucy swam by.</p>
+
+<p>"The common sense of our tropes, rodomontades,
+and allegories is this!" said
+Philip, biting his lip, and speaking in a
+hard tone. "The only safe ground in marriage
+is mutual, permanent affection. You
+meant to convey the idea that if each of
+these dressy matrons, humming around
+our ears, had a sincere, abiding love for
+her husband&mdash;and each of these gallant
+benedicts the right kind of regard for his
+wedded Beatrice, the vocation of us corner
+censors would be gone?"</p>
+
+<p>"Well said, Mr. Interpreter!" she responded,
+in affected jest.</p>
+
+<p>"This point settled, will you take my
+arm for a turn through the room before
+the next set is formed? They are talking
+of quadrilles. I shall claim your promise
+if a set is made up, unless you are not
+courageous enough to brave the public
+sneer by dancing with your brother. Come,
+Jeannie, and walk with us."</p>
+
+<p>Two sets of quadrilles were arranged at
+different ends of the saloon. Philip led
+Sarah through one, with Lucy&mdash;who considered
+it a capital joke&mdash;and her partner
+vis-a-vis to them, Jeannie, meanwhile, remaining
+by her mother.</p>
+
+<p>The summer nights were short; and,
+when the dance was over, Sarah intimated
+to her younger sister the propriety of retiring.
+Mrs. Hunt's head ached, and she
+esteemed the sacrifice comparatively light,
+therefore, that she, too, had to leave the
+revels and accompany the child to her
+chamber. Sarah's apartments were on the
+same floor, several doors further on. Having
+said "Good-night" to the others, she
+and Philip walked slowly along the piazza,
+light as day in the moonbeams, until they
+reached the outer room, the parlor.</p>
+
+<p>"I hope you will experience no ill effects
+from your dissipation," said Philip, in
+playful irony. "In a lady of your staid
+habits, this disposition to gaiety is alarming.
+Absolutely eleven o'clock! What will
+Hammond say when he hears the story?
+Good-night! Don't let your conscience
+keep you awake!"</p>
+
+<p>Sarah opened the door softly, that she
+might not startle the baby-sleeper in the
+inner room. The lamp was shining brightly,
+and by it sat&mdash;her husband!</p>
+
+
+
+<hr class="chap" />
+
+<h2>CHAPTER XVI.</h2>
+
+
+<p>Lewis had entered his wife's room within
+fifteen minutes after she left it. He
+looked so ill and weary that the girl,
+Mary, gave a stifled scream of fright and
+surprise.</p>
+
+<p>"Are you sick, sir?" she asked hastily,
+as he threw off his hat, and wiped his pale
+forehead. "Shall I tell Mrs. Hammond that
+you are here? She went down to the ball-room
+awhile ago."</p>
+
+<p>"What did you say? No!" replied he,
+shortly.</p>
+
+<p>His frown, rather than his tone, silenced
+her. He had picked up the envelope
+Philip had dropped on the table, and his
+face darkened still more. Too proud to
+question a servant of her mistress' actions
+and associates, he believed that he had
+gathered from this mute witness all that
+was needful to know. As a privileged
+habitue of the cosy boudoir he had been
+at such pain to procure and make fit for
+his wife's occupancy, another had sat here
+and read his evening mail, while awaiting
+her leisure; careless of appearances, since
+the deceived one would not be there to
+notice them, had tossed this note down
+with as much freedom as he would have
+done in his own apartment.</p>
+
+<p>Through the open windows poured the
+distant strains of the band; and, seized by
+a sudden thought, he caught up his hat
+and strode out, along piazzas and through
+halls, to the entrance door of the ball
+saloon. As Sarah's ill-fortune ordained it,
+the piercing glance that ran over and beyond
+the crowd of spectators and dancers
+detected her at the instant of Philip's
+taking his lowly seat at her side. Jeannie's
+pink attire was concealed by the drapery
+of a lady, whose place in the set then
+forming was directly in front of her.
+Lewis saw but the two, virtually tete-a-tete;
+and, as he obtained fleeting glimpses
+of them through the shifting throng,
+marked Philip's energetic, yet confidential
+discourse, and the intentness with which
+she listened, until, warmed or excited by
+his theme, Sarah lifted her downcast eyes
+and spoke, with what feeling and effect her
+auditor's varying expression showed.</p>
+
+<p>The gazer stood there like a statue, unheeding
+the surprised and questioning
+looks cast by passers-by upon his traveling-dress,
+streaked with dust&mdash;his sad and
+settled visage, so unbefitting the scene
+within&mdash;while Philip made the tour of the
+room, with Sarah upon his arm, until
+they took their stations for the dance; he,
+courteous and attentive&mdash;she, smiling and
+happy, more beautiful in her husband's
+eyes than her blonde sister opposite; and
+he could stay no longer. If Mary had
+thought him sick and cross at his former
+entrance, she considered him savage now,
+for one who was ordinarily a kind and
+gentle master.</p>
+
+<p>"You can go to your room!" he ordered,
+not advised. "I will sit up for Mrs. Hammond!"</p>
+
+<p>"I have slept in the nursery, sir, while
+you were away."</p>
+
+<p>"That cannot be to-night. I will find
+you some other place."</p>
+
+<p>He had no intention that the anticipated
+conversation with his wife should be overheard.</p>
+
+<p>"I can stay with a friend of mine, sir,
+only a few doors off."</p>
+
+<p>"Very well!"</p>
+
+<p>Quickly and quietly the nurse arranged
+the night-lamp and the child's food, that
+her mistress might have no trouble during
+her absence, and went out.</p>
+
+<p>Baby Belle slumbered on, happily wandering
+through the guileless mazes of baby
+dreamland; one little arm, bared from
+the sleeve of her gown, thrown above her
+head&mdash;the hand of the other cradling her
+cheek. The father ventured to press a
+light kiss upon the red lips. In his desolation,
+he craved this trifling solace. The
+child's face was contorted by an expression
+of discomfort, and, still dreaming,
+she murmured, in her inarticulate language,
+some pettish expression of disgust.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_53" id="Page_53">[53]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>"My very child shrinks from me! It is
+in the blood!" said the unhappy man,
+drawing back from the crib.</p>
+
+<p>If his resolution had waned at sight of
+the sleeper, it was fixed again when he
+returned to his chair in the outer room.
+He raised his head from his folded arms
+when he heard Philip and Sarah approaching,
+but did not otherwise alter his position.
+The low tone of their parting words&mdash;one
+soon learned by the sojourners in
+hotels and watering-places, where thin
+partitions and ventilators abound&mdash;was, to
+him, the cautiously repressed voice of affectionate
+good-nights. But one clause was
+distinct&mdash;"What will Hammond say, when
+he hears the story?" They jested thus of
+him, then. One of them, at least, should
+learn ere long what he would say.</p>
+
+<p>"Lewis, you here!"</p>
+
+<p>Sarah changed color with amazement and
+vague alarm&mdash;emotion that paralyzed her
+momentarily. Then, as she discerned the
+tokens of disorder in his dress and countenance,
+she hurried forward.</p>
+
+<p>"What has brought you so unexpectedly?
+Are you sick? Has anything happened?"</p>
+
+<p>He did not rise; and, resting her hand
+on his shoulder, she stooped for a kiss.
+But his stern gaze never moved from hers&mdash;anxious
+and inquiring&mdash;and his lips were
+like stone.</p>
+
+<p>"Lewis, speak to me! If you have dreadful
+news to tell me, for pity's sake, do
+not keep me in suspense!"</p>
+
+<p>"I have nothing to say that will be new
+to you," he said, without relaxing his
+hard, cold manner, "and not a great deal
+that ought to have been kept back from
+me when I wished to marry you, believing
+that you had a heart to give me with your
+hand."</p>
+
+<p>As if struck in the face, Sarah sank
+back into a chair, speechless and trembling.</p>
+
+<p>"Yes! had you been sincere with me
+then, grieved and disappointed as I would
+have felt, I would have respected you the
+more, and loved you none the less for
+the disclosure. But when, after a year
+and a half of married life, I learn that
+the woman I have loved and trusted with
+my whole soul&mdash;from whom I have never
+concealed a thought that it could interest
+her to know&mdash;has all the while been playing
+a false part&mdash;vowing at the altar to love
+me and me alone, when she secretly idolized
+another; bearing my name, living beneath
+my roof, sleeping in my bosom&mdash;yet
+thinking of, and caring for him, treasuring
+his keepsakes as the most precious of her
+possessions&mdash;is it strange that, when the
+tongue of a vulgar gossip proclaims my
+shame in my hearing, and other evidence
+proves what I thought was his vile slander
+to be true as gospel&mdash;is it strange, I say,
+that I am incensed at the deception practised
+upon me&mdash;at the infamous outrage of
+my dearest hopes&mdash;my most holy feelings?"</p>
+
+<p>She threw herself at his feet, clasped his
+knees, and implored him, chokingly, to
+"forgive" her. "Oh! if you knew what I
+have suffered!"</p>
+
+<p>"What you have suffered!" He folded
+his arms and looked sorrowfully down at
+her crouching figure. "Yes! you were not
+by nature coarse and unfeeling! The violence
+you have committed upon your
+heart and every principle of delicacy and
+truth must have cost you pain. Then you
+loved him!"</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_54" id="Page_54">[54]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>"Once! a long while ago!" said Sarah,
+hiding her face in her hands.</p>
+
+<p>"Take care!" There was no softness
+now in his tone. "Remember that I have
+seen you together day by day, and that
+glances and actions, unnoticed at the time
+in my stupid blindness, recur to me now
+with terrible meaning. For once, speak
+the true voice of feeling, and own what
+I know already, that all the love you
+ever had to give belongs still to your
+sister's husband!"</p>
+
+<p>"I will speak the truth!" Sarah arose
+and stood before him&mdash;face livid and eyes
+burning. "I did love this man! I married
+you, partly to please my parents,
+partly because I found out that by some
+means my secret had fallen into unscrupulous
+hands, and I was mad with dread
+of its exposure! It seemed to me that no
+worse shame could come upon me than
+to have it trumpeted abroad that I had
+bestowed my love unsought, and was ready
+to die because it was slighted. I have
+learned since that it is far, far worse to
+live a lie&mdash;to despise myself! Oh! that I
+had died then!" She battled with the
+emotion that threatened to overwhelm her
+and went on. "Once bound to you, it has
+been my hourly endeavor to feel and act
+as became the faithful wife of a kind,
+noble man. If, sometimes, I have erred
+in thought&mdash;if my feelings have failed me
+in the moment of trial&mdash;yet, in word and
+deed, in look and gesture, I have been
+true to you. No one have I deceived more
+thoroughly than Philip Benson. He never
+suspected my unfortunate partiality for
+himself; he believes me still, what I would
+give worlds to become in truth, your loyal,
+loving wife! It is well that you know
+the truth at last. I do not ask you how
+you have obtained the outlines of a disgraceful
+story, that I have tried a thousand
+times to tell you, but was prevented
+by the fear of losing your favour forever.
+This is my poor defence&mdash;not against your
+charges, but in palliation of the sin of
+which they justly accuse me. I can say
+nothing more. Do with me as you will!"</p>
+
+<p>"It is but just to myself that you should
+hear the circumstances which accidentally
+revealed this matter to me."</p>
+
+<p>He narrated the scene at the restaurant,
+and the discovery of the evening. He
+evinced neither relenting nor sympathy in
+the recital. Her confession had extinguished
+the last ray of hope, cherished,
+though unacknowledged by himself, that
+she might extenuate her error or give a
+more favorable construction to the evidence
+against her. It was not singular
+that, in the reaction of disappointment, he
+was ready to believe that he had not
+heard all; to imagine that he could perceive
+throughout her statement a disposition
+to screen Philip, that was, in itself,
+a proof of disingenuousness, if not deliberate
+falsehood. She denied that he had ever
+been aware of her attachment or had
+reciprocated it. What meant then those
+words&mdash;"hopes in time to have a nearer
+claim?" What those impassioned verses?
+What the linking of their initials within
+the shell? the motto on the wooden tablet?
+While these subtle queries were insinuated
+into his soul by some mocking spirit, he
+concluded the history of the discovery of
+the casket.</p>
+
+<p>"I have never opened it since the night
+before I was married," said Sarah, with no
+haste of self-justification. "I put it into
+the drawer the day after we went to our
+house. It has not been unlocked from
+that day to this."</p>
+
+<p>"Why keep it at all, unless as a memento
+of one still dear to you?"</p>
+
+<p>"I felt as if I had buried it. I said to
+myself: 'If the time ever comes when I
+can disinter these relics and show them to
+my husband, without a pang or fear, as
+mementoes of a dead and almost forgotten
+folly, he shall destroy them, and I shall
+have gained a victory that will insure my
+lifelong happiness.'"</p>
+
+<p>"And that time has never arrived."</p>
+
+<p>She would have spoken, but her tongue
+proved traitorous. She crimsoned and was
+silent.</p>
+
+<p>Lewis smiled drearily. "You see that
+I know you better than you do yourself.
+It is well, as you have said, that I know
+all at last. I pity you! If I could, I would
+release you from your bondage. As it is,
+I will do all that I can for this end."</p>
+
+<p>"Never!" cried Sarah, shuddering. "Have
+you forgotten our child?"</p>
+
+<p>"I have not!" His voice shook for a
+second. "She is all that unites us now.
+For the sake of her future&mdash;her good name&mdash;an
+open separation ought to be avoided,
+if possible&mdash;if it be inevitable, your conduct
+must not be the ostensible cause. To
+quiet malicious tongues, you must remain
+here awhile longer under your mother's
+care. To accomplish the same end, I must
+appear once more in public, and on apparently
+friendly terms with&mdash;your brother-in-law.
+When your mother returns to the
+city, you had best go, too, and to your
+own house. Your brother Robert is now
+sixteen years old&mdash;steady and manly
+enough to act as your protector. Invite
+him to stay with you, and also Jeannie, if
+you find it lonely."</p>
+
+<p>"What are you saying? Where will you
+be that you speak of my choosing another
+protector?"</p>
+
+<p>"A very important one I have proved
+myself to be!" he returned, with the same
+sad smile. "I have not been able to shield
+you from invidious reports; still less to
+save you from yourself. I sail for Europe
+day after to-morrow."</p>
+
+<p>"Lewis, you will not! If you ever loved
+me, do not desert me and our child now!
+I will submit to any punishment but this!"
+She clung anew to his knees as she poured
+out her prayer.</p>
+
+<p>Not a month ago she had turned pale
+with fright at the suggestion of this
+voyage. It was sheer acting then! why
+not now?</p>
+
+<p>"Objections are useless!" he said. "My
+arrangements are made. I have passed
+my word."</p>
+
+<p>"But you will not leave me in anger!
+Say that you will forgive me! that you
+will return soon, and this miserable night
+be forgotten!"</p>
+
+<p>"Shall I tell you when I will return?"
+He raised her head, and looked straight
+into her eyes. "When you write to me,
+and tell me that you have destroyed the
+love-tokens in that box; when you bid
+me come back for your sake&mdash;not for our
+child's! Until then, I shall believe that
+my presence would be irksome to you. It
+is necessary for our house to have a resident
+partner in England. It is my expectation
+to fill that place for some time
+to come; it shall be for you to say how
+long."</p>
+
+<p>Bowed as Sarah's spirit was beneath
+the burst of the long-dreaded storm and
+her accusing conscience, her womanly
+pride revolted at this speech. She had
+humbled herself in the dust at the feet of
+a man whom she did not love; had borne
+meekly his reproaches; submitted dumbly
+to the degrading suspicions that far transcended
+her actual sin; but as the idea of
+her suing servilely for the love she had
+never yet valued; of him, indifferent and
+independent, awaiting afar off for her petition&mdash;hers,
+whom he had abandoned to the
+scornful sneers of the keen-witted hyenas
+of society; to the cross-examination of
+her distrustful relatives; the stings of
+remorse; left in one word to herself!&mdash;as
+this picture grew up clearly before her
+mind, the tide of feeling turned.</p>
+
+<p>"You reject my prayers and despise my
+tears!" she said proudly. "You refuse to
+accept of my humiliation. Yet you do not
+doubt me, as you would have me believe
+that you do! Else you would not dare to
+trust me&mdash;the keeper of your honor and
+your child's fair name&mdash;out of your sight!
+I throw back the charge in your teeth,
+and tell you that your conduct gives it the
+lie! I have asked you&mdash;shame on me that
+I did!&mdash;to continue to me the shelter of
+your name and presence; to shield me, a
+helpless woman, more unhappy than guilty,
+from the ban of the world; and you deny
+me everything but a contemptible shadow
+of respectability, which the veriest fool
+can penetrate. I would not have you suppose
+that your generous confidence in my
+integrity"&mdash;she brought out the words with
+scathing contempt&mdash;"will deter me from
+sinking to the level you are pleased to
+assign me. If the native dignity of my
+womanhood, the principles I inherit from
+my father, my love for my innocent babe
+do not hold me back from ruin, be assured
+that the hope of winning your approval
+will not. To you I make no pledges of
+reformation; I offer but one promise. If
+you choose to remain abroad until I, in
+spirit, kiss your feet, and pray you to receive
+a love such as most men are glad
+to win by assiduity of attention, and every
+pleasing art&mdash;which you would force into
+being by wilful and revengeful absence&mdash;you
+will never see your native land again
+until the grass grows upon my grave!"</p>
+
+<p>She paused for breath, and continued
+more slowly. "While your child lives, and
+I remain her guardian, I will use your
+means for her maintenance&mdash;will reside in
+your house. If she dies, or you take her
+from me, I will not owe you my support
+for a single day more!"</p>
+
+<p>Lewis grew pallid to his lips; but he,
+too, was proud, and his stubborn will was
+called into bold exercise.</p>
+
+<p>"Very well! It is in your choice to accede
+to my propositions, or not. A share
+in all that I have is yours; not only during
+the child's life, but as long as you live.
+Before I leave America, I shall deposit
+for you in your father's bank a sum which,
+I hope, you will find sufficient to maintain
+you in comfort. Your father will be
+my executor in this matter. I shall not
+confide to him the peculiar circumstances
+of my departure, leaving you at liberty
+to act in this respect, as in everything
+else, according to the dictates of your
+will and pleasure. At the end of a certain
+term of years specified by law, you can,
+if you wish, procure a divorce; on the
+ground of my wilful and continued desertion
+of you; in which case, the provision<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_55" id="Page_55">[55]</a></span>
+for your support will remain unchanged.
+As to the child&mdash;the mother's is
+the strongest claim. I shall never take
+her from you. Do not let me keep you
+up longer. It is late!"</p>
+
+<p>With a silent inclination of the head, she
+withdrew, and he cast himself upon the
+sofa, there to lie during the few hours of
+the night that were yet unspent.</p>
+
+<p>He had arisen, and was standing at the
+window when Sarah entered in the morning.
+But for the dark shadows under the
+eyes, and the tight-drawn look about the
+mouth, she appeared as usual; and her
+"Good-morning," if cold, was yet polite.</p>
+
+<p>"I imagine," she said, as the gong clashed
+out its second call, "that you wish me
+to accompany you to breakfast, and to
+preserve my ordinary manner towards
+you when others are by. Am I right?"</p>
+
+<p>"You are. This is all I ask. The effort
+will not be a tedious one. I leave here
+at noon."</p>
+
+<p>Arm in arm they directed their steps
+towards the great dining-hall&mdash;to the view
+of the spectator as comfortable and happy
+a pair as any that pursued that route on
+that summer morning. Together they sat
+down at table, and Mr. Hammond ordered
+"his lady's" breakfast with his own. Mrs.
+Hunt bustled in shortly after they were
+seated, full of wonderment at having heard
+from Sarah's maid of her master's unexpected
+arrival; while Jeannie gave his
+hand a squeeze as hearty as was the welcome
+in her smiling face. The Bensons
+were always late. So much the better.
+There were more people present to observe
+the cordial meeting between the brothers-in-law,
+made the more conspicuous by
+Philip's surprise. The genuineness of his
+good spirits, his easy, unembarrassed manner,
+was the best veil that could have
+been devised for Sarah's constraint and
+Lewis' counterfeit composure.</p>
+
+<p>It did not escape Philip's eye that Sarah
+ate nothing, and spoke only to avoid the
+appearance of singularity; and he believed
+that he had discovered the origin of her
+trouble when Lewis communicated his purpose
+of foreign travel. When the burst of
+surprise subsided, the latter tried successfully
+to represent his plan as a business
+necessity. Lucy, who never saw an inch
+beyond her nose&mdash;morally and mentally
+speaking&mdash;except when her intuitions were
+quickened by self-love, was the questioner
+most to be dreaded.</p>
+
+<p>"Why don't you go with him?" she inquired
+of her sister. "He should not stir
+one step without me, if I were in your
+place. Only think! you might spend six
+months in Paris!"</p>
+
+<p>"How would Baby Belle relish a sea
+voyage!" returned Sarah.</p>
+
+<p>"Nonsense! How supremely silly! One
+would suppose that she was the only member
+of the family whose comfort was to
+be consulted. Rather than expose her to
+the possibility of inconvenience, you will
+deprive yourself of profit and pleasure, and
+be separated from your husband for nobody
+knows how long. This shows how
+much these model married people really
+care for one another. When put to the
+test they are no better than we poor
+sinners, whom everybody calls flirts. Phil,
+are those muffins warm? This one of mine
+has grown cold while I was talking."</p>
+
+<p>"How are the horses, Benson?" inquired
+Lewis. "Have they been exercised regularly?"</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_56" id="Page_56">[56]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>"Yes, and are in capital order. You
+could have left us no more acceptable reminder
+of yourself than those same fine
+bays."</p>
+
+<p>"If you have no other engagement, suppose
+we have them up before the light
+carriage after breakfast, and take a short
+drive."</p>
+
+<p>"Agreed, with all my heart! unless Mrs.
+Hammond quarrels with me for robbing
+her of a portion of your last morning with
+her."</p>
+
+<p>"She will forgive you!" Lewis rejoined,
+to spare her the effort of reply.</p>
+
+<p>From her window Sarah saw them whirl
+off along the beach in sight of the hundreds
+of spectators on the sands and
+about the hotels, and recognized the ingenuity
+of this scheme for proclaiming
+the amicable feeling between the two.</p>
+
+<p>"But one more scene, and the hateful
+mockery is over!" thought the wife, as she
+heard her husband's step outside the door
+on his return.</p>
+
+<p>She snatched a paper from the table, and
+seemed absorbed in its contents, not looking
+up at his entrance. Lewis made several
+turns through the room, sighed heavily,
+and once paused, as if about to address
+her, but changed his mind.</p>
+
+<p>Then sounded from without the fresh,
+gurgling laugh of a child, and the nurse
+came in with the baby&mdash;rosy and bright&mdash;from
+her morning walk on the shore. She
+almost sprang from Mary's hold at sight
+of her father, and dismissing the woman
+with a word, he took his darling into his
+arms and sat down behind his wife. Inflexibly
+sullen, Sarah tried not to listen,
+as she would not see them; but she heard
+every sound: the child's soft coo of satisfaction
+as she nestled in the father's
+bosom; the many kisses he imprinted upon
+her pure face and mouth with what agony
+Sarah well knew&mdash;the irregular respiration,
+sometimes repressed, until its breaking
+forth was like sobs; and the proud, miserable
+heart confessed reluctantly that,
+in one respect, his share of their divided
+lot was heavier than hers. She was not
+to witness his final resignation of his idol.
+Under color of summoning Mary, he carried
+the infant from the room, and came
+back without her.</p>
+
+<p>"It is time for me to go now, Sarah!"</p>
+
+<p>His voice was calm, and its firmness
+destroyed what slender encouragement she
+might have drawn from the scene with
+his child, to hope for some modification of
+his resolution.</p>
+
+<p>"Will you write to me, at regular intervals,
+to give me news of Belle?"</p>
+
+<p>"Certainly, if such is your wish."</p>
+
+<p>"And yourself? you will be careful of
+your health, will you not? And if I can
+ever serve you in any way, you will let
+me know?"</p>
+
+<p>"It is not likely that you can; thank
+you."</p>
+
+<p>There was a silence of some moments.
+Sarah stood playing with the tassel of her
+morning robe, pale and composed.</p>
+
+<p>"Sarah!" Lewis took her hand. "We
+have both been hasty, both violent! Unfeeling
+as you think me, and as I may
+have seemed in this affair, believe me that
+it almost kills me to part from you so
+coldly. It is not like me to retract a determination,
+but if you will say now what
+you did last night&mdash;'Do not go!' I will stay,
+and be as good a husband to you as I
+can. Shall we not forgive, and try to forget?"</p>
+
+<p>The demon of resentful pride was not so
+easily exorcised. At a breath of repentance&mdash;a
+suggestion of compromise, the fell
+legion rallied an impregnable phalanx. She
+was frozen, relentless; her eyes, black and
+haughty, met his with an answer her
+tongue could not have framed in words.</p>
+
+<p>"I have nothing to say!"</p>
+
+<p>"'Nothing!' The ocean must then separate
+us for years&mdash;it may be forever!"</p>
+
+<p>"It was your choice. I will not reverse
+it."</p>
+
+<p>"Not if you knew that if you let me go
+I would never return?"</p>
+
+<p>"Not if I knew that you would never return!"</p>
+
+<p>Without another word, without a farewell
+look, or the hand-grasp mere strangers
+exchange, he left her there&mdash;the stony
+monument of her ill-directed life and affections;
+the victim of a worldly mother
+and a backbiting tongue!</p>
+
+
+
+<hr class="chap" />
+
+<h2>CHAPTER XVII.</h2>
+
+
+<p>"How gay Mrs. Hammond has grown
+lately!" said Mrs. Greyling, the fashionable
+critic of the &mdash;&mdash; House drawing-room.
+"Do you see that she is actually waltzing
+to-night? She moves well, too! That pearl-colored
+moire antique is handsome, and
+must have cost every cent of nine dollars
+a yard. She is partial to heavy silks, it
+seems. It gives an air of sameness to
+her dress; otherwise she shows very tolerable
+taste."</p>
+
+<p>"I have heard it said that she was a
+regular dowdy before she was married,"
+observed Mrs. Parton, who was also on
+the "committee of censure"&mdash;a self-appointed
+organization, which found ample
+employment in this crowded nest of pleasure-seekers.
+"Her husband is perpetually
+making her presents, and she dresses to
+please him."</p>
+
+<p>"Humph! I distrust these pattern
+couples! 'My husband doesn't approve of
+my doing this&mdash;won't hear of my acting
+so!' are phrases easily learned, and sound
+so fine that one soon falls into the habit
+of using them. What a flirt Mrs. Benson
+is! That is the fifth young man she has
+danced with this evening. I pity her husband
+and baby!"</p>
+
+<p>"He does not look inconsolable! I tell
+you what my notion is: he may love his
+wife&mdash;of course he does&mdash;but he admires
+her sister more. See how he watches her!
+Mrs. Tomes told me that she was standing
+near him the first time Mrs. Hammond
+waltzed, and that he seemed real worried.
+When the set was through, she came to
+look for a seat, and he got one for her.
+As she took it, he said something to her
+which Mrs. Tomes could not hear, but she
+laughed out in his face as saucy as could
+be, and said: 'Oh, I am learning when I
+am in Rome to do as Romans do! Doesn't
+my elder sister set the example?'"</p>
+
+<p>"He could say nothing then," said Mrs.
+Greyling. "Those girls played their cards
+well. The Hunts have very little, if anything,
+besides the father's salary, and the
+family was very obscure."</p>
+
+<p>Mrs. Greyling's paternal progenitor was
+an opulent soap-boiler, who was not
+ashamed, during her childhood, to drive
+an unsavory cart from one kitchen door
+to another. But he counted his thousands
+now by the hundred, and his children
+ranked, as a consequence, among the "upper
+ten."</p>
+
+<p>She continued her charitable remarks:
+"Somehow the old lady contrived to keep
+up the appearance of wealth, and married
+both daughters off before their second
+season. Mr. Benson is reputed to be rich;
+but for that matter these Southern planters
+are all said to be rolling in money.
+Mr. Hammond is certainly making money.
+Mr. Greyling says he is a splendid business
+man."</p>
+
+<p>"He sailed for Europe a week ago, you
+know."</p>
+
+<p>"Yes; and since then madame has been
+the belle of the ball. The old story&mdash;'When
+the cat is away, the mice will
+play.'"</p>
+
+<p>"Sarah," said Philip, an hour later, "will
+you walk on the balcony with me? You
+are heated, and the air is balmy as Georgian
+breezes. It will do you good."</p>
+
+<p>"Are you going to scold me?" she asked,
+archly, before she would take his arm.</p>
+
+<p>"No. I have no right to do it if I had
+the disposition."</p>
+
+<p>There was no moon; but the sky was
+strewed thickly with stars, and the white
+foam of the surf caught and held tremulously
+the sparkles from the bright watchers
+above. Philip did not appear disposed
+to converse, and Sarah waited for him to
+begin. Meanwhile, they strolled on and on,
+until the murmur of the ocean was louder
+than the music of the saloon band. The
+sea moaned to the stars, as it had done
+to the sunless July heavens on that day
+so memorable in the history of one of the
+pair&mdash;the day of shipwreck stories and a
+real shipwreck&mdash;none the less disastrous,
+that the treasures and their loss were
+hidden from all but the bereaved one.</p>
+
+<p>To many it is appointed to lead two
+lives; to think and feel as well as to act
+a double part; to separate, as inexorably
+as human will can decree, past hopes and
+joys&mdash;past sorrows, and, if practicable,
+past memories from the thoughts and emotions
+of the to-day in which they exist.
+Thousands keep up the barrier until death
+ends the need of watchfulness and labor;
+the coffin-lid covers the faithful mask that
+has smiled so patiently and so long above
+an aching heart. Yet dammed up passion
+is a dangerous thing. If hearts were so
+constituted that they could be drained
+like pestilential marshes, the flood conducted
+off in harmless and straight channels,
+then, indeed, might hypocrisy rejoice,
+and sleek decorum sit down at ease. As it
+is, genteel propriety and refined reticence
+are perpetually endangered by the unforeseen
+swell of some intermittent spring, or
+the thawing of some ice-bound stream,
+that is liable to overleap or tear away the
+dike&mdash;ingulfing in an instant the elaborate
+structures years of toil have cheaply purchased.</p>
+
+<p>Such was the moment when, withdrawing
+her hand from Philip's arm, Sarah
+struck suddenly&mdash;fiercely&mdash;upon her breast,
+and cried: "Oh! why cannot I die and end
+this misery!"</p>
+
+<p>"Sarah!"</p>
+
+<p>"I say I can bear it no longer! Others
+do not suffer thus! If they do, they die,
+or lose their reason. I will not endure it,
+I tell you!"</p>
+
+<p>"Sister!"</p>
+
+<p>"Do not call me by that name, Philip
+Benson! You know better!"</p>
+
+<p>She leaned forward on the balcony railing,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_57" id="Page_57">[57]</a></span>
+her eyes fixed on the sea. Her deep, hurried
+breathing was like the pant of some worried
+animal, gathering strength, and, with
+it, courage for renewed conflict. To her
+last words the mysterious plaint of the
+sea lent meaning. Philip, too, remembered
+that barren shore, the tumbling breakers,
+the solitary sea-bird's labored flight landward.
+Was this his work? It was but a
+flicker of truth&mdash;dashed out the next second
+by a blow of indignant will.</p>
+
+<p>"You may forbid me to address you by
+this title, Sarah; but you cannot hinder
+me from sympathizing with you in your sorrow,
+and trying to befriend you. If my
+companionship is unwelcome, allow me to
+conduct you to your room. I cannot leave
+you alone here, where there is continual
+passing."</p>
+
+<p>"You are right. Regard for appearances
+is the one thing needful," she said, mockingly.
+"I must be a dull scholar if I have
+not learned that I am sane again now&mdash;fit to
+associate with other sane people. If you
+please, we will go to the ball-room instead
+of upstairs. I am not a candidate
+for solitary confinement yet!"</p>
+
+<p>"Mrs. Hammond, I heard a gentleman
+inquiring anxiously for you just now!"
+called out a lady, in passing. "He said
+that you promised to dance with him."</p>
+
+<p>"I did. Thank you for reminding me.
+A little faster, my good brother!"</p>
+
+<p>She hurried him into the saloon, where
+they were met immediately by her would-be
+partner. Philip, bewildered and uneasy,
+watched her through the evolutions of the
+dance. She talked rapidly and animatedly,
+keeping her cavalier in a broad smile, and
+confirming her lately won reputation of
+a wit. Her eyes shone; her color was
+high; she was "really handsome"&mdash;as the
+"censure committee" had occasion to remember
+at a later day, when it was
+spoken of in a very different tone from
+that employed by a member of the distinguished
+sisterhood in addressing Mrs.
+Hunt on this night.</p>
+
+<p>"You are a fortunate mother, my dear
+madam, to have two such brilliant daughters.
+They eclipse the girls entirely."</p>
+
+<p>"I have nothing to complain of in my
+children, ma'am. I done&mdash;I did my best
+by them, and they have repaid me a thousandfold."</p>
+
+<p>"Now, I am ready!" said Sarah, to her
+brother-in-law. "I release you, Mr. Burley!"
+waving her hand to her late attendant
+as a princess might to a courtier.</p>
+
+<p>Vexed and disturbed by her unsettled
+manner and queer freaks, Philip gave
+her his arm, and conducted her through
+the throng.</p>
+
+<p>"Lewis has had fair winds, and must
+now be nearing the end of his voyage,"
+he remarked, as they sauntered along the
+piazza.</p>
+
+<p>"Ah! he is on the sea to-night! How
+strange! I had not thought of that!"</p>
+
+<p>"I see nothing wonderful in the idea, as
+he has not had time to cross the Atlantic
+since he left these shores," returned Philip,
+dryly. "The oddest thing I can think of at
+present is yourself, Sarah!"</p>
+
+<p>"I am aware of that, Philip. Do not
+speak harshly to me! You may be sorry
+for it some day."</p>
+
+<p>They were at her door. Her softened
+manner moved him, and as she offered her
+hand, he took it with fraternal warmth.</p>
+
+<p>"Forgive me, if I was rough! I have
+not understood you this evening."</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_58" id="Page_58">[58]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>"It is not likely that you ever will. Time
+was&mdash;but it is folly to allude to that now!
+Think of me as kindly as you can&mdash;will
+you? You have wounded me sometimes,
+but never knowingly. I cannot say that
+of many others with whom I have had
+dealings. Good-night."</p>
+
+<p>The little parlor was still. Mrs. Hammond
+never kept her maid up to assist in
+her disrobing, if she intended remaining
+out until a late hour. Nurse and child
+were quiet in the adjacent nursery. Closing
+the door of communication, Sarah
+stripped her hair and arms of their ornaments;
+took off her diamond pin, then her
+rings, and laid them away in her jewelry
+case; divested herself of her rich dress,
+and drew from her wardrobe a plain, dark
+wrapper, which she put on. Next she
+sat down at her writing-desk, selected a
+sheet of paper, and wrote a single line&mdash;when
+a thought struck her, and she
+stopped. A momentary irresolution ended
+in her tearing off a strip containing what
+she had penned, and holding it in the
+flame of the lamp until it was consumed.
+"Best not! best not!" she muttered.
+"Doubt may bring comfort to the one or
+two who will need it. Let them doubt!
+Save appearances if you can, my poor
+mother would say." A smile of unutterable
+scorn glimmered over her face. She pushed
+away the desk and walked to the window.</p>
+
+<p>From the distant ball-room the throbbing
+waves of music still rolled past on the
+summer air, and blent with them was
+the solemn undertone of the surf. Did men
+call its mighty voice a monotone? To her
+it was eloquent of many and awful things&mdash;not
+frightful. What was there of terror
+in thoughts of rest, endless sleep, rocked
+for ages by the rising and falling tide,
+hushed into dreamless repose by the music
+of the billows? No more of a vain and
+wearisome life; no more baffled aspirations
+and crushed affections; no more disheartening
+attempts to find and reach the right&mdash;to
+follow in the steep, rugged path of
+duty, and shun the easy, alluring way to
+which heart and memory were ever pointing;
+no more of stern rebuke and sneering
+taunt; no more galled pride and outraged
+womanhood; no more lying gayety, smiles,
+and repartee, when the spirit was writhing
+in impotent agony, longing to shriek out
+its intensity of woe! Only sleep, rest,
+peace!</p>
+
+<p>"Sleep! rest peace!" She gasped the
+words feverishly, as they seemed to come
+to her on the breeze. Might she not
+seek these now! now! Not yet! The
+grounds, the beach were still populous
+with groups of strollers. She would be
+seen&mdash;perhaps recognized&mdash;probably frustrated
+in her purpose. Leaning her head
+against the casement, she sat there an
+hour&mdash;not debating, still less wavering in
+her resolve, only waiting until flight would
+be safe&mdash;and thinking! thinking! thinking!
+until her brain whirled.</p>
+
+<p>A thwarted, warped, disjointed existence
+had hers been from its beginning. Denied
+food suitable for the mental and spiritual
+need; denied sympathy, air, and expression
+of suffering; under the slow torture of this
+starvation, every avenue to goodness and
+liberty hedged up, and, for the future,
+temptation, repudiation, loneliness, perhaps
+a sullied name&mdash;who could dispute
+her right to try release by one brief pang
+she alone could feel? Who would miss her?
+Not the world that flattered her wealth
+and wit, her laces, silks, and diamonds;
+not the mother and sister who worshipped
+the gilded Juggernaut "Society;" not he
+who was that night sleeping soundly on
+the same sea that would embosom her in
+her sweeter, deeper slumber. Shocked he
+might be at an event so unexpected and
+uncommon. His next sensation would be
+a relief at his deliverance from a burden,
+at his freedom to come and go as he liked&mdash;no
+longer banished by her obstinacy and
+his own. He had loved her as most other
+men do their wives&mdash;a bond too weak to
+bear a heavy blow at their self-love. She
+had sinned beyond forgiveness in his eyes.</p>
+
+<p>Of Philip she thought with a mingling
+of tenderness and resentment. His unthinking
+gallantry had been the root of
+her sorest trouble; but it was unthinking,
+not wilful wrong. Nor was she the only
+sufferer. His heart was well-nigh as hungry
+as hers. Within the past week she
+had seen this more clearly than ever before,
+and he had felt it! Lucy's narrow
+mind, her insipidity, her inordinate vanity,
+her selfish idolatry of pleasures that
+wearied him; her disrelish for intellectual
+and domestic enjoyments, displayed in its
+most objectionable form, in her indifference
+to his company, and her neglect of her
+child&mdash;these were working out their legitimate
+result in his alienation from her, and
+attraction towards the once slighted sister,
+whose large heart and mental gifts
+he now valued at their true worth. To
+repel him, as much as to drown her cares,
+Sarah had plunged into the vortex she had
+heretofore avoided. She had heard that
+there was temporary solace in this species
+of dissipation. The cup was, for her,
+sparkless and bitter, from surface to dregs.</p>
+
+<p>She was saving him with herself by this
+final step! He would realize this truth,
+in the throe that would shake his soul
+when he found she was gone; perhaps,
+even in that anguished hour, would
+bless her for having showed to him, while
+she drove him back from, the abyss they
+were together approaching. It was no
+idle vaunt she had made to Lewis, that
+the principles inherited from her father
+would save her from overt sin. Thus,
+thus would she flee the temptation, when
+the heart had left the will to battle unaided.</p>
+
+<p>Her father! the gray old man who was
+toiling through this summer's heat, in his
+deserted home, as he had through so many
+summers gone! he who had never given
+her an impatient or angry word&mdash;whose
+pride and joy she still was! The stroke
+would be severe upon him. Yet he would
+not refuse comfort. There were still left
+to him his boys&mdash;fine, manly fellows; Jeannie
+and his baby grandchild&mdash;his lost
+daughter's gift. Tears rushed into the hot,
+wild eyes with this last image, but she
+would not let them flow.</p>
+
+<p>"Is it not better that I should leave her
+now, when the parting will give her no
+pain, when one little week will blot out my
+memory entirely from her mind, than to
+wait until she can recollect and miss me?"</p>
+
+<p>The music had ceased. The revellers had
+dropped away faster than they had collected,
+when once the movement was made
+to retire. The murmur of the deep was
+the only sound abroad; the stars were
+the only sentinels. Sarah arose, threw a
+shawl over her head, and cautiously unlocked
+the door. A strong rush of air
+blew it from her hold, and as she caught
+it, to draw it after her, she trod upon
+some object lying on the floor. Mechanically
+she stooped to pick it up. It was an
+infant's shoe, a dainty little gaiter, that
+peeped, during the day, from beneath
+Baby Belle's white skirt. To Sarah's
+touch it seemed that the lining still retained
+the warmth of the child's foot.</p>
+
+<p>Never, oh, never, was the patter of those
+baby feet to make glad music for the
+mother's ear! Others must guide and sustain
+her trial steps; others smooth her
+daily path; others direct the inexperience
+of the girl in the perilous passes where
+that mother had fallen and perished!</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, may I not bless her before I leave
+her forever?" she cried to stern Resolution.
+And Conscience rejoined, with meaning
+severity: "Is it you who would breathe
+a blessing above her purity?"</p>
+
+<p>"Suffer me, then, to take the farewell
+look I dared not grant myself before!"</p>
+
+<p>And while Resolution faltered at the
+impassioned appeal, she opened the nursery
+door and stole to the side of the crib.
+The night-lamp shed a feeble halo over the
+table whereon it stood. The rest of the
+room was in darkness. Mary's light bedstead
+was close to the crib. Was hers
+that hard, short breathing, that sent a
+start and chill through the hearer? A
+touch to the lamp threw a blaze of light
+over nurse and child. A sharp cry rang
+through the chamber.</p>
+
+<p>"Mary, Mary! get up!"</p>
+
+<p>The girl sprang to the floor before she
+comprehended the meaning of the alarm.
+Mrs. Hammond had sunk into a chair
+beside the crib, from which she had
+snatched her infant. Baby Belle's head
+was strained back; her hands clenched;
+her limbs stiffened in a death-like spasm.
+The eyes were rolled out of sight under
+the lids; and the four little teeth&mdash;her
+"most precious pearls," the fond mother
+had called them&mdash;were hard-locked within
+the purple lips.</p>
+
+<p>Terrified as she was, Mary had the presence
+of mind to run for assistance. Mrs.
+Hunt and a physician were soon on the
+spot, and every appliance of the healing
+art that promised relief to the sufferer
+was used, but with partial effect. Sarah
+saw nothing but the child; heard nothing
+but the doctor's calm orders.</p>
+
+<p>"You do not try to help her!" she said,
+impatiently, as a convulsion, more fearful
+than any that had preceded it, seized the
+delicate frame.</p>
+
+<p>"I could not do more, were it my own
+child, madam!"</p>
+
+<p>He was an elderly man, whose charity
+for fashionable mothers was very scant,
+and, having seen Mrs. Hammond in the
+ball-room the evening before, he was not
+prepared for the solicitude she manifested.</p>
+
+<p>"You had better let the nurse take her!"
+he said, more gently, as Sarah, with difficulty,
+held down the struggling hands
+that might do hurt to the head and face.</p>
+
+<p>"No! I will have no one touch her but
+myself!"</p>
+
+<p>The morning broke, the day heightened
+into noon, and the paroxysms only
+abated in violence as the babe's strength
+declined. Steadfast to her word, the
+mother had not once resigned her. She
+had herself immersed her in the warm
+baths, applied the poultices, and administered
+the medicines prescribed. Mrs.
+Hunt was compassionate and active; Mary
+sorrowful, and prompt with whatever service<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_59" id="Page_59">[59]</a></span>
+she could perform; Lucy frightened
+and idle.</p>
+
+<p>Philip, who had often been in the outer
+room to make inquiries and offer aid, if
+any were required of him, was told, just
+before sunset, that he could go into the
+chamber. Mrs. Hunt invited him, and the
+information she added gave to his countenance
+a look of heartfelt sadness as he
+followed her. Sarah sat in the middle of
+the room, so altered that he could scarcely
+credit the fact of her identity with the
+being he had parted from the previous
+night. Her eyes were sunken, her features
+sharpened, and her complexion had the
+dead, grayish hue of an old woman's. In
+her arms lay the babe, and, as she
+crouched over it, her mien of defiant protection
+suggested to him the idea of a
+savage animal guarding her young. He
+could not say whether or not she was
+aware of his presence, until he knelt by
+the dying child and called it by name.</p>
+
+<p>"Baby Belle, do you know Uncle Philip?"</p>
+
+<p>The dark eyes, soft still through the
+gathering film, moved slightly, and Sarah
+said&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>"Speak to her again!"</p>
+
+<p>"Will Baby Belle come to uncle?"</p>
+
+<p>This time there was no sign of consciousness.
+The wee hands clasped in the
+mother's grew colder and colder, and the
+breath fluttered slowly through the parted
+lips. The end was near, and Philip's pitying
+accent expressed his sense of this.</p>
+
+<p>"Give her to me, dear Sarah! It is not
+right for you to keep her longer."</p>
+
+<p>"She is mine!"</p>
+
+<p>The glare that came to her eye with the
+three words revealed a desperation that
+would have done battle with the King of
+Terrors, had he appeared in visible shape
+to claim his victim.</p>
+
+<p>More faintly, slowly, trembled the life
+over the sweet mouth, and the hands, like
+waxen shapes, lay pulseless in the mother's
+clasp; while through the silent room
+flowed the dirge of the sea. Shaken by
+the freshening breeze of evening, the
+shutters of the western window swung
+ajar, letting in a golden ray upon mother
+and child, and along that path of light
+the untarnished soul of Baby Belle was
+borne by its waiting angel&mdash;home!</p>
+
+<hr class="chap" />
+
+<h2>CHAPTER XVIII.</h2>
+
+
+<p>Aunt Sarah sat in the wide porch at the
+back of her house, knitting in hand. It
+was a still, but not oppressive August
+afternoon. There was not a ruffle on the
+bright surface of the river, and the long
+meadow grass was as smoothly spread out
+in the yellow sunshine. From the poultry-yard
+on the left arose a pleasant murmur,
+and now and then a stray hen tiptoed
+around the end of the house, singing
+idly as she rambled. Charley lay on the
+green mound&mdash;his old reading-room&mdash;with
+a book before him, and to him Aunt
+Sarah's motherly eyes turned most frequently.
+Those kindly orbs were dimmer
+than they were two summers ago, and the
+gentle face was a thought more pensive.
+A glance into the sitting-room window,
+from where she sat, would have showed
+one Uncle Nathan's empty arm-chair in the
+chimney corner, and above it were suspended
+his cane and broad-brimmed hat,
+just as he had put them off when he took
+his departure for a country where neither
+shelter nor staff is needed. Aunt Sarah's<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_60" id="Page_60">[60]</a></span>
+cap had a widow's border now; and in
+her faithful heart there was a sadder void
+than the death of her children had created&mdash;loving
+parent though she was&mdash;and yet
+more plentiful springs of sympathy for
+others bereaved and suffering.</p>
+
+<p>Her rocking-chair was set near the entrance
+of the hall that bisected the dwelling;
+and the front and back doors being
+open, she had a fair view of the public
+road, whenever she chose to look up the
+lane. The Shrewsbury stage met the boat
+at four o'clock, or soon after; and hearing
+a rumbling along the highway, which she
+knew presaged its transit through this
+end of the village, the old lady leaned
+forward to catch a glimpse of the trunks
+upon the roof; this being all she could distinguish
+with certainty above the fence.</p>
+
+<p>"Why, it is stopping here!" she ejaculated,
+getting up to obtain a better look.
+"Who upon earth can it be?"</p>
+
+<p>The coach rolled on, and the passenger
+for the farm-house came through the gate
+and down the lane. She was dressed in
+black, wore a crape veil, and carried a
+small hand-trunk. With a hospitable instinct,
+Aunt Sarah advanced to the front
+porch to meet her, still entirely in the dark
+as to who it could be.</p>
+
+<p>"She has a different look from any of
+the neighbors; and there's nobody in York
+that would be likely to come to see me,
+except Betsy's people, and it can't be
+either of her girls!"</p>
+
+<p>At this stage of her cogitations, the
+visitant reached the step on which the
+hostess stood, and put away the long veil
+from a face so worn and seamed with
+grief, so hollow-eyed and old, that the
+good aunt screamed outright in her distressed
+astonishment&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>"Sarah, dear child! can this be you?"</p>
+
+<p>"What I am now, Aunt Sarah. May I
+come in and stay with you a little while?"</p>
+
+<p>"Stay with me, poor darling! As long as
+you like, and welcome! Come right in;
+you don't look fit to stand!"</p>
+
+<p>She was not; for, now that the necessity
+for exertion was removed, she was faint
+and trembling. Aunt Sarah helped her upstairs
+to the room she had occupied at her
+former visit, undressed her, and put her
+to bed. Sarah submitted like a child, too
+much exhausted to resist being made an
+invalid of, or to offer any explanation of
+her singular apparition. She had not slept
+an hour at a time for many nights; yet
+when she had drunk a cup of tea, and
+tried to eat a bit of toast her aunt prepared
+and brought up to her, she fell into
+a profound slumber, which lasted until
+long after sunrise on the following morning.
+Unclosing her eyes then, they rested
+upon the dear face, shaded by the widow's
+cap, that watched at her bedside. A shadowy
+phantom of a smile flitted over her
+features at the recognition.</p>
+
+<p>"It was not a dream, then?" she said
+languidly. "But I have dreamed of you
+often, of late&mdash;every night in which I have
+had any sleep. Aunt Sarah, I must tell
+you why I came to you!"</p>
+
+<p>"Not now, dear," Aunt Sarah hastened to
+say, seeing the wild stare and the cloud
+return to her countenance. "Wait until
+you are stronger. I will bring up your
+breakfast, and when you have eaten it,
+you may try to dress, if you like. There
+will be time enough for your story, by-and-by.
+Charley is in a great fidget to see
+you."</p>
+
+<p>Sarah submitted to the delay; but it was
+plain that she was not satisfied with it,
+and that her mind would be easier when
+once the tale was told. Aunt Sarah hindered
+her no longer a time than sufficed
+for her to take the much needed refreshment,
+to bathe and dress, and to see and
+exchange a few sentences with Charley,
+who supported her down to the sitting-room.
+There, resting among the pillows
+of the lounge, Aunt Sarah beside her, with
+the ubiquitous knitting-work in hand, lest
+too close observation should confuse her
+niece, the stricken one unfolded the whole
+of her sad history.</p>
+
+<p>No more affecting proof could have been
+given of her prostrated mind and will than
+this unreserved recital. The secret she had
+sold conscience and liberty to preserve,
+she communicated now without a blush.
+Here&mdash;where she had formed the intimacy
+that had shadowed so darkly her after
+days&mdash;she detailed every step of the wrong
+course to which this weakness was a
+key; went over all&mdash;the stormy parting
+with her husband; her conviction of the
+mutual peril she and Philip were tempting
+in their daily communion; her resolve of
+self-destruction&mdash;as circumstantially as if
+she were relating the biography of another.</p>
+
+<p>Aunt Sarah, horrified and pitiful by
+turns, struggled with indifferent success to
+maintain equal composure, and against
+growing doubts of the narrator's sanity.
+It was a striking and instructive contrast:
+the world-weary woman returning for consolation
+and advice to the simple-minded
+matron, to whom the artificial existence
+she now heard depicted&mdash;its gilded vices
+and giddy round of vanities; its trials and
+temptations&mdash;were a wonderful, a monstrous
+tale, as foreign to her sphere of principles
+and feelings as if they had transpired in
+another world. But when Sarah came to
+speak of her child, her manner changed,
+her voice was hoarse and uneven, and
+over the careworn visage there went such
+alterations of fierceness and heart-breaking
+sorrow that the listening mother, upon
+whose soul the shadow of her own children's
+graves still lay long and dark, could
+hear no more in silence.</p>
+
+<p>"My poor girl!" she cried, falling on her
+knees, and throwing her arms around the
+reclining figure. "Dear child! Our Father
+in heaven pity and comfort you! There
+is no help in man for such trouble as
+yours!"</p>
+
+<p>Sarah had not shed a tear in the course
+of her story. She said afterwards that
+she had not wept since they took her dead
+baby from her clasp; but at this burst of
+unfeigned sympathy, this gush of pure
+love and compassion, the burning rock was
+cleft, and a blessed flood streamed from
+it. For some minutes they wept together
+without restraint, and when the more quiet
+grief of the elder mourner was repressed,
+the other still clung, sobbing to her bosom.</p>
+
+<p>Aunt Sarah held and soothed her as she
+would have done a sorrowful child; stroking
+away the hair from her forehead,
+drying and kissing the tear-stained cheeks,
+with many an epithet of fond reassurance.</p>
+
+<p>"Let me finish! There is very little
+more!" resumed Sarah, keeping her aunt's
+hand fast in both of hers. "We went back
+to the city, and the next day we laid her in
+Greenwood. We stayed at father's&mdash;I
+would not return to the house that used
+to be mine. Father was very kind, and
+mother meant to be; but she tormented
+me with suggestions and consultations
+about my black clothes. Lucy was pining
+to get back to Newport. She said it was
+hot and dull in New York. Philip wanted
+to comfort me, but I shunned him, and I
+think he was hurt by my conduct; but
+it was best, was it not, Aunt Sarah?"</p>
+
+<p>"Certainly, dear!"</p>
+
+<p>"I had often imagined myself lonely before;
+but I never dreamed of such a horror
+of desolation as filled my soul during the
+two days that I remained there, after all
+was over. Twenty times each night I
+would start from a feverish doze, thinking
+that I heard my baby cry or moan as she
+did in the intervals of those awful convulsions;
+and then would come in upon
+me, as if I had never felt it until then,
+the truth that I could never see her again,
+and that my wicked, wicked intention of
+deserting her had brought this judgment
+upon me. I could not stay there, Aunt
+Sarah! I heard other voices besides my
+child's in the air, and saw strange, grinning
+faces in the darkness. But the worst
+was to see that, to every one but me, the
+world was the same that it had ever been.
+Father looked grave when I was in his
+sight; but the children could laugh and
+talk as if nothing had happened, and I
+have seen mother and Lucy chattering
+merrily in the room with the dressmaker
+over my new dresses, while they were
+criticizing the crape trimmings. And I
+had buried my last earthly hope in my
+baby's grave! Then I remembered you,
+and how you had talked to me of your lost
+children, and how you had assured me of
+a home in your heart and house whenever
+I chose to claim it, and I believed in you,
+Aunt Sarah! There are not many whom
+I do trust; but I was sure you never said
+what you did not mean. I would not tell
+them that I was coming for I feared they
+would prevent me. I slipped out of the
+house when none of them were at home,
+and went to the nearest hack-stand, where
+I got into a carriage and drove down to
+the boat."</p>
+
+<p>"My dear, did you leave no letter to let
+them know where you had gone?"</p>
+
+<p>"No, ma'am. I was afraid they would
+come or send for me, and I cannot go
+back."</p>
+
+<p>"But your father&mdash;your mother! Did you
+not think how distressed they would be
+when they missed you? And your reputation?
+What will be said when it's known
+that you have left your father's house,
+and no one knows where you are? You are
+very weak and tired, dear; but you must
+sit up, right away, and write a note home.
+Tell them that I will take care of you
+as long as you like to stay with me, but
+don't lose a minute! You may be in time
+for the afternoon boat."</p>
+
+<p>Sarah obeyed; and the careful old lady
+hurried Charley off to the boat, with directions
+to place the billet in the hands of
+the captain, who was a personal friend,
+and could be relied upon to post it directly
+he reached the city.</p>
+
+<p>Mr. Hunt replied without delay. Sarah's
+absence had given rise to the most harrowing
+conjectures, made plausible by her
+extreme melancholy and fitful behavior
+since her infant's death. The police had
+been privately notified of her disappearance,
+and cautiously worded advertisements
+inserted in the papers. He regretted
+to add that Mr. Marlow, who, as<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_61" id="Page_61">[61]</a></span>
+Mr. Hammond's nearest friend, was informed
+of the distressing occurrence, had
+thought proper to communicate the intelligence
+to Mr. H. before Sarah's note arrived,
+and the steamer bearing the letter
+had sailed. Mr. Hunt expressed himself
+as entirely willing that his daughter should
+remain in her present retreat until her
+health of mind and body was re-established,
+but did not conceal his disapprobation
+of the manner of her leaving home.</p>
+
+<p>Aunt Sarah looked concerned as she read
+this epistle, which her niece had passed
+over to her.</p>
+
+<p>"I am sorry for your husband, my dear.
+This affliction, coming so close upon the
+other, will be a dreadful blow. It is a
+pity they did not wait awhile, until they
+knew something of your whereabouts, before
+writing to him.</p>
+
+<p>"I am more sorry that the news must
+be contradicted," was the reply. "As we
+are now situated, the certainty of my
+death would be a relief to him. This was
+my reflection that night"&mdash;She left the
+sentence unfinished.</p>
+
+<p>"My dear!" Aunt Sarah removed her
+spectacles, and surveyed her niece with
+her kind, serious eyes. "Have you made
+up your mind to live separate from your
+husband for the rest of your life?"</p>
+
+<p>"What else should I do, aunt? He will
+never come back unless I promise to love
+him, and that cannot be."</p>
+
+<p>"That doesn't alter the fact of your
+duty, as I look at it. You ought to make
+him an offer to do right, at any rate. It
+would have been easier and pleasanter to
+live with him, if you had felt for him as a
+woman should for the man she marries;
+but you are married to him, and in the
+sight of the Lord you ought to cleave to
+him, and him only. That is a solemn covenant,
+dear&mdash;'for richer, for poorer; for
+better, for worse!' 'Those whom God hath
+joined together, let not man put asunder!'
+It doesn't excuse people, who take these
+vows upon them when the right spirit is
+wanting, that they never thought how
+awful the engagement was. Their obligations
+are just the same, whether they love
+or not."</p>
+
+<p>"The responsibility does not rest with
+me. I performed my duty while we were
+together. The separation was his act, and
+he must abide the consequences. I have
+erred greatly, Aunt Sarah; but ever since
+the night of our rupture, my conscience
+has been easy with respect to Mr. Hammond.
+I confessed that I had misled him,
+and begged his pardon. Could I do more?"</p>
+
+<p>"Put the case to yourself, child! Do not
+be angry if I speak out my mind, and
+use against you some things you have told
+me. When you saw that Philip was growing
+to like you better and better, and that
+you felt nearer to him every day, why did
+you determine to die sooner than to have
+things go on so?"</p>
+
+<p>"Because it would have been a crime
+for us to love each other&mdash;infamous treachery
+to my sister, to his wife, for us to
+name the word between us."</p>
+
+<p>"And how would Lucy have felt, if you
+had come to an understanding and spoken
+out the true feeling of your hearts?"</p>
+
+<p>"Hers is a careless, indolent nature, but
+this insult would have aroused her. She
+would never have forgiven him or me,
+had she suspected a warmer sentiment
+on either side than that of friendship."</p>
+
+<p>"But an honorable, affectionate man like<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_62" id="Page_62">[62]</a></span>
+your husband, who thought his wife the
+most precious thing in the world, was to
+forget his disappointment, overlook your
+lack of love and truth towards him, only
+because you allowed that he had found
+out your real feelings at last, and all the
+excuse you could give was that you could
+not help them! You were the one in fault
+all the way through, from the day you
+engaged to marry him, up to the minute
+when you would not say the word he
+begged from you to keep him at home.
+It is right that all the advance should
+come from you."</p>
+
+<p>High-spirited as Sarah was, she was not
+angered by this plain-speaking. "Faithful
+are the wounds of a friend;" and she felt
+that she had but this one. Aunt Sarah
+studied her thoughtful countenance before
+she renewed the argument.</p>
+
+<p>"I am an old-fashioned woman, dear&mdash;born
+and bred in the country, where, thank
+God! I have spent all my life. But I've
+been thinking about your story of the way
+people act and feel up there in York, and
+maybe in all other great, fine, money-making
+cities, and my notion is just this.
+I look back of their pushing and straining
+after riches, and show, and worldly vanities;
+every man for himself, and the one
+that climbs highest, forgetting as soon as
+he gets there that he was ever any lower,
+and ready to kick over anybody that tries
+to get alongside of him; and I see that
+they have lost sight of the second great
+commandment&mdash;'Thou shalt love thy neighbor
+as thyself.' Then I look back of this
+too, and I see where the greatest sin is,
+and&mdash;dear, bear with me! I see where
+you have gone furthest astray. Here's a
+passage I was reading this morning that
+tells the whole story." She raised the
+Bible from the table, and laid it upon
+Sarah's lap, pointing as she did so to
+these words enclosed in brackets:</p>
+
+<p>"Because thou hast forgotten the God
+of thy salvation, and hast not been mindful
+of the rock of thy strength, therefore
+shalt thou plant pleasant plants, and shalt
+set it with strange slips. In the day thou
+shalt make thy plant to grow, and in the
+morning shalt thou make thy seed to
+flourish; but the harvest shall be a heap
+in the day of grief and desperate sorrow!"</p>
+
+<p>Mrs. Hunt would have regarded as an insult
+any expressed doubt of her religious
+principles and practice. She had a desirable
+pew in the fashionable church which
+was nearest her residence, and, stormy
+Sabbaths excepted, it was generally full
+at morning service. When her children
+were presentable as to looks, very young
+babies being seldom pretty, they were offered
+in fine lawn and Valenciennes at
+the font for the rite of baptism; and not
+a confirmation had passed since her daughters
+were grown, that she did not fancy
+how interesting they would look, kneeling
+before the surpliced bishop, heads gracefully
+bowed, and the regards of the whole
+congregation fixed upon them. Sarah
+never could be brought to the performance
+of the commonest act of public worship,
+unless it was to rise with the rest, when
+a standing posture was prescribed by the
+prayer-book; and she shocked her mother
+by declaring that she only did this because
+she was tired of sitting! Lucy's
+serene grace of devoutness was beautiful,
+if not edifying to behold. Those who occupied
+adjacent pews involuntarily suppressed
+their responses as her mellow
+tones repeated, with melancholy sweetness&mdash;"Have
+mercy upon us, miserable sinners!"
+And as the melting cadences entranced
+their ears, the lovely penitent was
+speculating upon the probable cost of Miss
+Hauton's Parisian hat, or coveting Mrs.
+Beau Monde's sable cloak.</p>
+
+<p>If Sarah had even heard of regeneration,
+it was as a technical phrase of the church
+articles and christening service. Of its
+practical meaning, its inward application,
+its absolute necessity to the safety of the
+soul, she had as vague a conception as a
+Parsee or New Zealand cannibal would
+have formed. She had read the Bible in
+connection with rhetorical lectures, and
+admired it as a noble specimen of Oriental
+literature. What other associations could
+she have with it? A handsome copy of the
+Holy Scriptures, surmounted by a book
+of common prayer, lay on a stand in Mrs.
+Hunt's third and rear parlor, and was
+dusted when a like attention was paid to
+the other ornaments of tables and etageres.
+An Oxford edition, russet antique, formed
+one of the wedding-gifts of each of the
+sisters, and in due time was laid in pious
+pomp on its purple pillow in the library
+corner. It was hardly strange, then, that
+the quotation, so apposite to the case in
+point, should fail to impress her very
+strongly. Aunt Sarah had gone out, deeming
+solitary reflection the best means of
+enforcing the lesson she had tried to inculcate,
+and, after re-reading the two
+verses, without further appropriation of
+their meaning, Sarah turned leaf after leaf
+of the volume, catching here and there a
+sentence of the large print, so grateful to
+the failing sight of her who was its daily
+student.</p>
+
+<p>"David said unto his servants&mdash;'Is the
+child dead?' And they said, 'He is dead!'"</p>
+
+<p>The smitten chord in the mother's heart
+sent out a ring of pain, and her listless
+hand paused upon the open page. It is a
+simple story&mdash;the royal parent's unavailing
+wrestle with the Chastener, the dread end
+of his suspense, and the affliction, made
+manifest in the calm resignation, the sanctified
+trust of the mourner. But when
+received as Sarah read it, with the vision
+of a similar death-scene intermixing itself
+with its unadorned details, the fresh blood
+still welling from the wound made by the
+tearing away of a portion of one's own
+life, every line is fraught with truth and
+pathos.</p>
+
+<p>"Can I bring him back again? I shall
+go to him, but he shall not return to me!"</p>
+
+<p>"Go to her! Oh, if I could! My baby!
+my baby!"</p>
+
+<p>To the low, sad cry succeeded a season of
+yearning and of tears. It was an echo of
+the wail of the heathen mother who, centuries
+ago, having seen her babes slain before
+her eyes, cried aloud, in unselfish
+agony, as the sword, reeking with their
+blood, was plunged into her own bosom&mdash;"Oh,
+my children! where are ye?"</p>
+
+<p>Sleep on, in thy lowly bed upon the hillside,
+sweet Baby Belle! Like the pale
+buds that are fading with thee in thy narrow
+resting-place, thy mission on earth is
+accomplished. Joy, young freed spirit, if,
+stealing through the melodies of heaven,
+there comes to thee the whisper of that
+mother's call! Fair lamb! the love that
+folded thee in the Shepherd's arms designed
+likewise, in recalling thee, to lure
+the wandering parent home!</p>
+
+<hr class="chap" />
+
+<h2>CHAPTER XIX.</h2>
+
+
+<blockquote>
+
+<p>"My Dear Lewis: Before you receive this letter,
+you will have had the explanation of my disappearance
+from New York. A merciful Providence
+directed me, in my partial derangement, to this
+peaceful retreat. Here I have found rest for body
+and soul&mdash;peace such as the world could never
+give the heart, even were it not bowed down by
+a sorrow like mine. Not that I forget past errors;
+nor that the review does not humble me in the
+dust. I confess, with shame and bitterness of
+spirit, my wasted years, my unsanctified affections,
+my evil passions. But for the assurance of the
+Father's pardon, the Saviour's loving pity, the
+black catalogue would strike me dead with horror
+and anguish. It is a fearful thing to be made to
+see one's self as she is; to scan in terrified solicitude
+the record of a life, and find there nothing
+better than pride, misanthropy, falsehood, hatred
+of men&mdash;rebellion against God. It is a sweet experience
+to taste, however tremblingly, the consolations
+of the Friend who invites the weary and
+heavy-laden to draw near and learn of Him. In
+His strength&mdash;not in that feebleness I once called
+power&mdash;have I resolved to lead a new life. Of the
+causes which have contributed to produce this
+change, we will speak more at length when we
+meet.</p>
+
+<p>"'When we meet!' Lewis, will you, can you
+forget your manifold wrongs and come back to me?
+I do not plead, now, 'for the sake of our child.'
+Her sinless soul henceforth can know no pain or
+woe. God saw that I was not worthy of her, and
+He took her. In the earlier weeks of my selfish
+mourning, I had no thought of your bereavement.
+Latterly, I have longed to comfort you, for I
+know that your heart is riven by this stroke. She
+was your joy, as she was my angel of peace. Her
+loss is our common sorrow. Shall it not draw us
+together? Yet, as I have said, our estrangement
+cannot now affect her. Thoughtless of evil, she
+passed away. Had she lived, the Omniscient only
+knows what grief and mortification might have
+darkened her pathway. Nor do I desire a reconciliation
+as a shield from the world's sneer or ban.
+I hold its applause and its censure alike cheaply.
+In prosperity, its favors were painted, tasteless
+fruit; in adversity, it would have fed my starving
+heart with husks. But for my sake&mdash;by the
+thought of my late and sore repentance; by the
+remorse that must gnaw my spirit, when I remember
+your noble trust in me, your unswerving fidelity,
+your generous love and my base requital of it
+all; by the sorrow that never leaves me by day or
+by night&mdash;forgive me, and return to the home we
+have both forsaken! I will serve you very faithfully,
+my husband! I have gained other and higher
+views of the marriage relation within a short time
+past. However presumptuously I may have assumed
+its responsibilities, however unworthily I
+performed its duties in former days, I would enter
+upon our re-engagement with a solemn sense of
+what I owe to you and to Him who united us.
+You must have despised me at our parting, and
+since. Perhaps you have come to think of me with
+dislike as well as contempt. I will bear this&mdash;grievous
+though the burden will be&mdash;as a part of
+my righteous punishment. I will never murmur&mdash;never,
+even in thought, accuse you of unjust harshness,
+if you will grant me the opportunity to make
+what amends I can for all you have lost and suffered
+through my fault."</p></blockquote>
+
+<p>Sarah was still far from strong; and wearied as
+much by the intensity of her feelings as by the
+manual effort of writing, she laid the pen down,
+and leaned back in the cushioned chair. Her table
+stood in the parlor beneath the window overlooking
+the river. The room was prim and clean, as of
+yore, with its straight lines of chairs; its shining
+specks of mirrors; the grim black profiles above
+the mantel, and the green boughs in the fireplace.
+The outer scene was in its general features, that
+which the girl had surveyed, with pleased surprise,
+the July evening of her arrival here two years ago.</p>
+
+<p>Only two years! The sufferings and life-lessons
+of twenty had been crowded into that brief space.
+The meadows were growing sere, as if scorching
+winds had swept over them, and the stream reflected<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_63" id="Page_63">[63]</a></span>
+truthfully, yet, one could have fancied,
+sadly, the changing foliage fringing its borders.
+But the sky, with its tender blue and its fleecy
+clouds, ever shifting, yet ever retaining their likeness
+to one another&mdash;the river's smooth, steady
+flow, were the same; fit emblems both of them of
+counsels which are mercy and truth through all
+their workings; of love that abideth forever!</p>
+
+<p>The train of thought was replete with refreshing
+to the spirit that was striving, in prayer and watchfulness,
+to adhere to the right, to accept, with
+meek submission, all that her cup yet held of
+pungent or nauseous lees. There was no affectation
+in the humble tone of her letter. She would
+not begin it until she had mastered the stubborn
+remnant of her native pride. It should be nothing
+to her that her husband had wilfully separated
+himself from her, and refused her overtures of
+reconcilement. If this was unkindness it was all
+she could reproach him with in the course of time
+they had spent together. He had been a true
+friend, an honorable protector, and dimly still, but
+more justly than ever before, she perceived that
+into his love for her there had entered none of the
+merely prudential considerations, the cool calculations,
+wherewith she used to account for his choice
+of herself as a helpmeet. Where, in the world's
+heartless circles, could she point out another wife
+as much indulged, as much honored in public and
+in private, as she once was by him? Mournfully,
+if not lovingly, she dwelt upon the countless evidences
+of his cordial fulfillment, in letter and in
+spirit, of his part of their mutual engagement, with
+something of the sinking heart the alchemist may
+have felt when, after he had, by a mechanical and
+habitual fling of his arm, tossed the eagerly-sought
+philosopher's stone into the sea as a worthless
+pebble, he discovered that the divining steel he
+held had been changed to gold by its touch.</p>
+
+<p>To whom of us has not an experience similar to
+this come? It may be that the eyes which once
+besought affection with dumb and disregarded eloquence
+are closed and rayless for all future time;
+the lips that told, with modest frankness, how dear
+we were to hearts we cared not then to win, are
+now but silent dust. Or, perchance, grieved by
+indifference, repelled by unkindness, those hearts
+have sought and found in other loves solace for the
+pain we, in our blindness inflicted. It matters little
+whether they be dead to all the world, or only
+to us. In either case, the longing and despair of
+our lonely lives are rendered the more unendurable
+from the flash of tardy truth that shows us, side
+by side with our actual poverty of heart riches, the
+tranquil beauty of the pictured "might have been."</p>
+
+<p>Aunt Sarah had gone on a visit to a neighbor;
+the hired girl was in the distant wash-house; and
+Charley considered it his duty to linger within
+easy reach of his cousin, should she need him for
+any purpose. To guard her from all chance of intrusion,
+he stationed himself on the front porch
+steps, with his book on his knee. For an hour he
+read on uninterruptedly; then, glancing up as he
+turned a leaf, he saw a gentleman coming down
+the gravel walk. He looked thin and anxious, and
+his restless eye wandered from door to windows, as
+in expectation of seeing some one beside the boy.
+With a ready apprehension of his infirmity, only to
+be accounted for by some prior knowledge of the
+person he saluted, he took from his pocket a card,
+which he presented before he shook hands with the
+silent host. Charley's intelligent face was one
+beam of pleasure as he read, and his warm grasp
+showed his sympathy in the happiness he fancied
+was in store for his cousin. Inviting the guest by
+a gesture to follow him, he went softly to the parlor-door,
+tapped lightly&mdash;too lightly, indeed, to attract
+the notice of the musing occupant of the
+room, then drew back the bolt, admitted the
+stranger, and delicately withdrew.</p>
+
+<p>Sarah heard the door open and Charley's retreating
+footsteps, and, supposing that he had peeped
+in to see that she was comfortable and wanted for
+nothing, she did not look around. The intruder
+stood still one step within the room, as if unable
+to advance or speak. The languid attitude of the
+figure before him, so unlike the self-poise and
+quiet energy of her former deportment, her black
+dress, even the wasted hands dropped so wearily<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_64" id="Page_64">[64]</a></span>
+upon her lap, told of the storm that had passed
+over her, the utter revolution in her life and
+nature. A struggling sigh he could not repress
+broke from the gazer's breast, and Sarah turned
+hastily towards him. She did not swoon, as he
+feared she would. A thrill, like an electric shock,
+shook her from head to foot; a wild inquiry looked
+from her eyes; a question or the reality of the
+appearance, succeeding so closely to&mdash;did it grow
+out of her revery?</p>
+
+<p>Lewis put this imagination to flight.</p>
+
+<p>"Sarah!" he said, pressing in his the hands she
+extended mutely. "They told me you were lost,
+and I hurried home to find you. I could not wait
+for your permission to come to you, when I learned
+in New York that I had a living wife! The loss
+of the child was heavy enough; but this"&mdash;He
+could say no more.</p>
+
+<p>"I am thankful! I am glad that you are here!"
+A faint, beautiful smile shone over her wan features.
+"And our baby, Lewis! We must remember
+that she is an angel now!"</p>
+
+
+
+<hr class="chap" />
+
+<h2>CHAPTER XX.</h2>
+
+
+<p>To no one except Aunt Sarah were the facts of
+the estrangement and reconciliation of her relatives
+ever revealed, and within her faithful bosom the
+secret was hidden as securely as in a tomb.</p>
+
+<p>Great was the chagrin of gossips, male and
+female, when it was known that Mrs. Hammond's
+strange flight from her father's house, which had
+leaked out nobody knew how, and been variously
+construed into an elopement, a freak of derangement,
+and a deliberate intention of suicide, according
+to the degrees of charity possessed by the
+theorists, was a very innocent and unromantic
+journey to the country home of her favorite aunt
+and godmother, a lady of ample fortune and
+benevolent heart, who would, in all probability,
+make her namesake her heiress. Under her care,
+and for the benefit of the seclusion so congenial
+to one in her affliction, and the salt air so necessary
+for the restoration of her impaired health,
+Mrs. Hammond had remained until her husband's
+return from abroad.</p>
+
+<p>Mrs. Hunt had told Mrs. A., who had told Mrs.
+B., who repeated it to Mrs. C., how he had not
+stopped in New York an hour after he stepped
+ashore from the "Adriatic." He hurried to the
+bank, and ascertained from Mr. Hunt that his wife
+was with her aunt, and that a boat which would
+land him near Shrewsbury was to leave in fifteen
+minutes. So he drove down post-haste, and jumped
+on board of her after the plank had been drawn
+and the wheels began to move. There never was
+a more devoted husband or a more attached pair,
+Mrs. Hunt affirmed.</p>
+
+<p>"More than she could say for that flirting Mrs.
+Benson and her other half," agreed A., B. and C.,
+unanimously.</p>
+
+<p>"Her conduct at Newport was scandalous, and
+would have been outrageous if he had not watched
+her like a lynx!" said Mrs. Beau Monde, who had
+never been able to secure one-half as many admirers
+as had Lucy, and hated her as honestly as
+if they were a couple of Biddies pulling caps for
+Patrick or Murphy.</p>
+
+<p>"I don't see why he should have felt jealous, I
+am sure. He wasn't dying of love for her! That
+could be seen with half an eye. They say he loved
+Mrs. Hammond before he addressed her sister, and
+married this one out of spite," rejoined Mrs.
+Townes, who had made beaux yeux at the distingue
+Southerner for three whole evenings, and won only
+the most indifferent glances in requital.</p>
+
+<p>"Mrs. Hammond behaved very prudently!" pronounced
+Mrs. Greyling, "and dressed very well. I
+suppose Mr. Hammond brought her some elegant
+things from abroad. Pity she is in mourning, and
+must dress plainly at present! If I were in her
+place&mdash;as it was only a baby&mdash;I would not wear
+black more than six months, unless it was very
+becoming."</p>
+
+<p>"She has become very religious, you know,"
+said Mrs. Parton.</p>
+
+<p>"Indeed! People are apt to, I think, when
+there has been death in the family," concluded
+Mrs. Greyling, pensively. "I remember, when my
+poor sister died, I used to look forward to church
+and Sunday with real pleasure. I could not go
+anywhere on week-days, you know, although there
+were piles of tickets lying in my card-receiver, and
+we had just taken a box at the opera that very
+winter! I declare, I should have lost the run of
+the fashions entirely, and forgotten people's faces,
+if I had not gone to church. I dare say, too,
+that she finds some comfort in religion&mdash;poor
+woman! if what the preachers and good books tell
+us be true."</p>
+
+<p>Had Sarah found comfort?</p>
+
+<p>Look we, for reply, to the chastened lustre of
+the eye, where once burned restless fires, like the
+sunward gaze of the imprisoned eagle; to the holy
+serenity struggling through and finally dispelling
+the clouds of memory and regret that, at times,
+would roll in between her soul and the bright, sustaining
+hope upon which Faith would have its regards
+forever fixed; to her daily life, sanctified by
+prayer, beneficent in good works, and by its unostentatious
+loveliness winning others, first to admire,
+then to imitate; to the wifely submission and
+loving kindness of her bearing to her husband, her
+grateful estimate of the affection he lavished upon
+her, the deep, true tenderness growing up in her
+heart for this fond and noble companion; look we,
+lastly, to the snowy marble guarding that tiny
+mound in Greenwood, where the mother once believed
+that hope and joy were buried to know no
+awakening.</p>
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">"BABY BELLE,"<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">infant daughter of<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">LEWIS AND SARAH HAMMOND.<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">She went home<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">July 16, 1858, aged 8 months.<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">"Is it well with thee?  Is it well with thy husband?<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Is it well with the child?"<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">And she answered, "It is well!"<br /></span>
+</div></div>
+
+
+<p class="center" style="margin-top: 1em; margin-bottom: 1em;">[THE END.]</p>
+
+
+
+<hr class="chap" />
+
+
+
+<div class="transnote">
+
+<p class="ph2">TRANSCRIBER'S NOTE:</p>
+
+<p> Obvious printer errors have been corrected. Otherwise,
+the author's original spelling, punctuation and hyphenation
+have been left intact.</p>
+</div>
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+<pre>
+
+
+
+
+
+End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Husks, by Marion Harland
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+</pre>
+
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