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+The Project Gutenberg EBook of Honor Edgeworth, by Vera
+
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+
+Title: Honor Edgeworth
+
+Author: Vera
+
+Release Date: July, 2005 [EBook #8448]
+[Yes, we are more than one year ahead of schedule]
+[This file was first posted on July 11, 2003]
+
+Edition: 10
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ISO-Latin-1
+
+*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK HONOR EDGEWORTH ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by Juliet Sutherland, David King
+and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team
+
+
+
+
+HONOR EDGEWORTH;
+
+or
+
+OTTAWA'S PRESENT TENSE,
+
+BY
+
+"VERA."
+
+"An honest tale speeds best, being plainly told."
+
+SHAKESPEARE
+
+
+
+OTTAWA:
+A. S. WOODBURN.
+
+
+Entered according to Act of Parhament of Canada, in the year one
+thousand eight hundred and eighty-two, by A S WOODBURN, in the Office of
+the Minister of Agriculture and Statistics at Ottawa.
+
+PREFACE.
+
+
+In these days of plenty, when books of every subject and nature have
+become as commonly familiar to men as the blades of grass by the
+roadside, it seems superfluous to say any word of introduction or
+explanation on ushering a volume into the world of letters; but, lest
+the question arise as regards the direct intention or motive of an
+author, it is always safer that he make a plain statement of his object,
+in the preface page of his work, thus making sure that he will be
+rightly interpreted by his readers.
+
+In the unpretending volume entitled "Honor Edgeworth," or "Ottawa's
+Present Tense," the writer has not proposed to make any display of the
+learning she has acquired by a few years' study, and she would therefore
+seek to remove, in anticipation, any impression the reader may be
+inclined to harbor, of her motives having been either selfish or
+uncharitable.
+
+The world of art and science is already aglow with the dazzling beauty
+of the genius of her many patrons,--the world of letters has in our day
+a population as thick as the stars in the heavens, or the grains of sand
+on the beach--and hence it is that rivalry is almost a _passé_ stimulant
+in this sphere; the heroes and heroines of the pen aim at individual,
+independent and not comparative, merit. In nine cases out of ten, the
+author of a work, apart from the gratification it gives himself to
+indulge his faculties, and whatever influence for better or worse his
+opinions may have, in the political social or religious world, knows no
+other aim.
+
+In "Honor Edgeworth" the sole and sincere motive of the authoress has
+been to hold up to the mass the little picture of society, in one of its
+most marked phases, that she has sketched, as she watched its freaks and
+caprices from behind the scenes.
+
+Ottawa, in this work, is taken merely as a representative of all other
+fashionable cities, for the simple reason that it is better known to the
+writer than any other city of social repute. Her object in publishing
+the volume at all, if not clearly defined throughout the work, may be
+discovered here: it is primarily, to attract the attention of those who,
+if they wished, could exercise a beneficial influence over the sphere in
+which they live, to the moral depravities that at present are allowed so
+passively to float on the surface of the social tide. It would with the
+same word appeal to the minds and hearts of those women who are
+satisfied to remain slaves to the exactions of an unscrupulous society,
+at the sacrifice of their most womanly impulses, and their noblest
+energies; and would also remind some reckless sons of Ottawa, of how
+miserably they are contributing towards the future prosperity of their
+country, by adopting, as the only aim of their lives, the paltry
+ambition of an unworthy self-indulgence.
+
+The predominant feeling throughout the entire composition has been one
+of pure philanthropy, as the authoress desires to benefit her
+fellow-creatures, in as far as it lies in her very limited power. The
+book has not been composed with any other ambition than the one
+mentioned; it aspires to no position on the scroll as a literary work of
+merit; it is going forth clad in its humble garment of deficiencies and
+faults, to perform, if possible, the little mission appointed it. When
+it falls into the hands of an impartial reader, it asks only the
+reception and appreciation it merits, in proportion to that given by one
+another to society's patrons,--in other words, it would ask to be dealt
+with as generously as the world's sycophants deal with the faults and
+foibles of their fashionable friends.
+
+Any imaginative person, choosing to use his pen, knows full well that
+the sensational department of letters, in our day, affords a freer and
+fuller scope than has ever been tolerated before; it is therefore left
+to the author's own choice to secure his favorites, numerously and
+easily, if he but pay attention to give his work the exact tinge of the
+"_couleur locale_" which predominates in the spot where his plot is
+laid; but because the eye of the critic has become familiar with such
+unworthy productions as these, it must scan with more eager justice any
+pages which are a happy exception to this miserable reality; it must not
+hesitate to discern whether the motive has been merely to arouse
+emotional tendencies, by clothing life's dangerous forms in unreal
+fascinations, or (where the author's hand, guided by his unsullied
+heart, has taken up the quill as a mighty weapon) to preserve or defend
+the morals of his country.
+
+Let not the over-sinister reader censure the writer of "Honor Edgeworth"
+because she has appeared to him to subject to a merciless criticism,
+society in several of her moods; her object has not been to dwell upon
+the good points of her subject, for she knows too well that they will
+never be neglected; it is the drawbacks and the failings of the pampered
+goddess, Society, that need to be borne in mind and carefully dealt
+with, and unfortunately, in our day, her enamored victims voluntarily
+blindfold themselves to her evil influence, and extravagantly magnify
+the extent of her good.
+
+Without another word of justification, therefore, does the authoress of
+this little work, send out her simple, humble donation towards the
+social refornation that is so sorely needed in our day.
+
+Whether the seed be sown on fertile or on barren ground, time alone, the
+unraveler of all hidden truths, will tell; coming years will break the
+secret to the authoress as she would want to know it, in the meantime
+she makes her most respectful curtsey to the world of readers, wishing
+her humble effort a _bon voyage._
+
+
+
+CHAPTER I
+
+
+  "His life was gentle, and the elements
+  So mixed in him, that nature might stand up
+  And say to all the world, THIS WAS A MAN"
+
+  --Shakespeare.
+
+It is night! Not the cold, wet, chilly night, that is settling down on
+the forlorn-looking city outside; not the cheerless night, that makes
+the news-boy gather his rags more closely about him, and stand under the
+projecting doorway of some dilapidated, tenantless building, as he cries
+"_Free Press_, only two cents:" not the awful night on which the gaunt
+haggard children, who thrive on starvation, crouch shiveringly around
+the last hissing fagot on the fire-place, with big, hungry eyes
+wandering over the low ceiling and the mouldy walls, or resting
+perchance on the wet, dirty panes, with their stuffings of tattered
+clothing, or gazing in a wilder longing still, on the bare shelves and
+the empty bread-box: Oh no! There are no such nights as these in
+reality; such a scene never existed out of the imaginations of men;
+there are no cries rending the very heavens this night for bread while
+handfuls are being flung to pet poodles or terriers. There are no
+benumbed limbs aching in the dingy corners of half-tumbled down houses,
+no wrinkled, aged jaws chattering, no infants moaning at their mother's
+breasts with cold, while many a pampered lady grows peevish and
+irritated, if Dobbs forgets the jars of warm water for the end of her
+cosy bed. Merciful God! and _this_ is to live! But no! _this_ is to
+dream!
+
+I said it was night, so it was, but the heavy curtains were drawn, the
+gas was lighted, the grate-fire roared up the chimney, the lounge was
+supplied with its cushions, the _fauteuil_ was drawn up to the
+fender-stool, the decanter and glass stood on the silver salver and in
+his velvet slippers and embroidered cap, Henry Rayne smoked the "pipe of
+peace" before his cheerful fire. As we intrude upon him in his
+sanctuary, he lays down his meerschaum, stretches his toasted limbs, and
+extending his hand touches the little silver bell on the table beside
+him; simultaneously, good old Mrs. Potts' slippers clap up the basement
+stairs, and her head popping in at the door, betrays her face full of
+broad smiles as she utters her well learned words of announcement.
+
+"Is't annything ye'd be wantin sur?"
+
+"Yes Potts," Rayne answers, still lying back among his crimson cushions,
+"Go and ask Fitts if he called for the mail at my office to-day. He
+knows what his duty is when I am not well enough to be stirring"
+
+"Och, doan't fret Misther Rayne sur, shure he did bring the little
+bundles, ivery wan o' them, an' it's meself jest knows whare to lay the
+palm o' me hand on 'em this very minit 'idout troubln Mr. Fitts at all,
+at all," and away she darted again on a clatter down the inlaid passage
+to the letter box, and gathering up the contents, brought them back to
+her master's sitting-room. She was eyeing them closely as she laid them
+down beside him, exclaiming half audibly as she did so "Well now thin:
+that I may niver die iv it isn't jest the quarest thing in life!"
+
+"What is that, Potts?" Henry Rayne asked good naturedly. "Well, yer
+honor," began his confiding old servant shyly, "I larned to do many's
+the nate job in me day, but if gettin' th' inside o' these in, 'ithout
+tearin' th' outsides don't bang all iver I larnt, my name's not Johanna
+Potts," and as she spoke she looked curiously at the bundle of letters
+before her. Potts' good sayings were never lost on her generous master,
+and this was no exception; he leaned back on his chair and fairly shook
+with laughter. "Why Potts:" he said at last, "You don't mean to say you
+never saw envelopes before they were sealed, do you?"
+
+"Faith it's not the only thing I've lived to this 'ithout seein" Potts
+answered resignedly.
+
+"Well, I must show you Potts," her master said kindly, and there and
+then he took the trouble to explain to good ignorant Mrs. Potts how "th'
+insides were got in 'ithout tearin' th' outsides," and greatly satisfied
+with her new information, she clattered off down stairs, shaking her
+head all the while, and repeating absently to herself "Well now, there's
+nothin' can bate 'em, nothin' at all, at all."
+
+As soon as Henry Rayne was alone again, he poked the now smouldering
+fire into a bright blaze, drew his chair close to the table and began in
+a business-like way to break the seals of his letters and packages and
+as he sits in his cosy room, with the gas light falling on his pleasing
+face, we will take the liberty to sketch his form and features in their
+most natural state. They are those of a stout, well built, good humored
+sort of man, of about fifty, with just enough of the "silver threads"
+among his curly black locks to show that he had met with a little of the
+tear and wear of life--just a few lines of sadness on his clean shaved
+face, but for all that, looking the jolly, good sort of fellow that
+everyone acknowledged him to be, with a tender heart and a ready hand
+for the unfortunate, always honest and upright, yet thoroughly practical
+and business-like in all his undertakings. Henry Rayne was descended
+from a good old English family, whose name he bore proudly and
+honorably, and many an interesting anecdote he was wont to tell at his
+dinner table of the "Stephens," "Edwards," and "Henrys," of the bygone
+generations of "Raynes."
+
+With his private life was connected a sad little secret. He had been a
+young man in his day, and the charms of the weaker sex had not fallen
+vainly on his susceptible soul, oh dear no! Henry Rayne had loved once,
+earnestly and well, and had offered his proud name and comfortable
+fortune to the object of his devotion, but though he, to day, was the
+same hale hearty Henry Rayne of the past, the young bud he had cherished
+so fondly, lay withered in the churchyard far away in old England. Death
+had come between them, and in the grief that followed, Rayne outlived
+his susceptibilities, preferring to dwell fondly on the memory of the
+old tie, than to reopen his heart to any new appeal. But a day came when
+Henry Rayne had to incline his ear again to the winning voice of a
+woman, when his forced indifference had to give place to the old warmth
+and the old enthusiasm, when the withering heart revived and bloomed
+afresh under the tender influence of a woman's smile, a woman's care and
+a woman's sympathy. Of the causes of this happy revival we will have to
+deal in the course of our narrative. Let us return to the scene by the
+fireside where Henry Rayne sits opening his letters.
+
+Three or four dry-as-dust laconic productions, of no earthly interest to
+anyone but the unromantic writers, one formal note soliciting a generous
+subscription to an hospital fund, two postal cards, one begging his
+patronage towards the tailoring department of an up-town dry goods
+store, and the other notifying him of a meeting of prominent citizens to
+be held in the City Hall, a couple of newspapers and legal documents,
+and there remained still two letters, less formidable looking, less
+business-like than the rest.
+
+As he tore open one of these he chuckled a low laugh to himself,
+saying--
+
+"It's Guy, the rascal, I suppose he has just been dunned for some little
+account that requires immediate payment, it must be some mercenary cloud
+that hangs over him." He was right, it was only another of these little
+periodicals that Guy Elersley was accustomed to "drop" his uncle, mainly
+to ask after his health and welfare, generally sliding in a P. S. which
+explained the last difficulty in his balance account with the tailor or
+boarding-house keeper; but Mr. Rayne made no objection, he never tired
+of indulging this handsome nephew of his, for besides being of an
+upright and affectionate disposition, his uncle loved him as the only
+child of a favorite deceased sister, since whose death, which happened
+when Guy was a mere child, Henry Rayne had been at once a kind,
+indulgent uncle and a just solicitous father to the boy.
+
+But this particular letter which Mr. Rayne now glanced over, had another
+object besides the post-script and the uncle's health.
+
+"I write so soon after my last," he says, "to tell you that I met a
+gentleman in the Windsor House the other night who interested me for a
+full hour in an account of an old friend of yours, this fellow's name is
+Orbury, it appears he was in Europe some years ago and was one of a
+company of card players one evening in a hotel at Dublin, when, out of a
+conversation of miscellaneous details, came a very jeering remark, made
+by some one present, relative to some rascally act under discussion. 'It
+is worthy' said the speaker 'of a man named Rayne, whom I blush to own
+was once a school-fellow of mine.'--But the words were scarcely uttered
+when some one beside the speaker brought the back of a sinewy hand a
+little forcibly across his face, telling him at the same time to measure
+the words he dealt out on an honorable man's name. Of course a scene
+ensued, everybody present was of respectable standing and the thing
+assumed a serious look. Not to interrupt the game, the two antagonists
+left the room to settle their difference elsewhere, and everyone
+wondered who the ardent defender of the man 'Rayne' could be.
+
+"After a while the interesting unknown returned holding his handkerchief
+to a wound in his temple which bled profusely, and having apologized to
+those present for the interruption he had caused, he proceeded to inform
+them that Henry Rayne stood in such a relation with him, as justified
+him in silencing any man who took his name in jest; the little wound he
+had just received, he thought was well earned, when he knew he had the
+satisfaction of horse-whipping the meanest man in creation, 'for any
+other offence, gentlemen' said the stranger 'I could not lay hands on
+him, for "he that toucheth pitch shall be defiled" but to pronounce my
+friend's name in a slanderous lie, I could not endure. Perhaps,' he
+continued, 'it is like kicking a man when he's down, to tell you now,
+gentlemen, that the fellow who had just maligned an honest man was once
+thrashed within an inch of his life by this same Henry Rayne at college,
+for a cowardly, disrespectful deed of his towards some lady friends of
+ours. The hatred born of the moment that he lay in the dust of the
+college yard, with the finger of scorn raised at him from every hand,
+has never flickered in its steadiness. As you see, he thought to gratify
+himself somewhat by abusing this gentleman when he saw no friend of the
+absent one near, but he will likely look the next time before he speaks,
+and now,' said he, taking his hat, 'once more I apologize and express my
+regret at having been forced to disturb you, but I feel that you will
+easily forgive me under the circumstances,' and dear uncle, what do you
+think, but every man there shook him by the hand and stroked him on the
+shoulder, speaking his praises loudly and all they knew of the
+chivalrous stranger was that he was a transient guest at the house, who
+was passing through Dublin on his way farther south, and that his name
+was 'Edgeworth.' So is this not an exciting piece of news, dear uncle;
+think while you are living placidly in America, your wrongs are being
+enthusiastically righted in the old world."
+
+Henry Rayne laid down the letter and looked steadily into the fire. What
+a torrent memory had let loose upon him! he lived the old years all over
+again, he saw the dear familiar scenes buried in the half-burned coals,
+the smiling associations of the past. "Poor Bob" he said, "and I have
+never seen him once in all these years, to think he should have stood by
+me now as he did that day at college when I punished that rascal
+Tremaine. How I wish I could find him out! good honest friend that he
+is, can I ever repay him, I wonder, for this noble action done me?" Here
+Rayne lost himself in a long reverie, he went over the days of his
+boyhood again, and as he thought, a smile half sad stole over his face,
+and in the end a tear was actually glistening in each eye. It was the
+old old story over again, memory weeping over dead joys, experience
+sighing for the happy long ago. The same influence was upon him now as
+guided the pen of Blair when it wrote "How painful the remembrance of
+joys departed never to return," and as inspired Byron when he sighed
+"Ah, happy years! once more who would not be a boy?"
+
+We may wonder how long Henry Rayne would have sat motionless in his
+chair by the fireside, with his inclined head resting on his hand, while
+he brooded over the years of his life and clasped anew in their old
+warmth, hands that had long grown cold, either in the gloominess of
+death, or for need of the responsive touch, from those that were
+extended to them in far-off climes; but as the clock struck eleven Fitts
+appeared in the doorway, breaking the spell by asking his master if he
+"need replenish the grate before retiring?" "Yes--No," replied Mr.
+Rayne, "you may go Fitts, I want nothing else to-night."
+
+Drawing a long sigh, he gathered up the scattered letters and was about
+to consign them to the flames but in turning to do so, he knocked his
+arm violently against the back of his chair, dropping them all again at
+his feet. Stooping to gather them, he noticed for the first time the
+heavy letter with the foreign post-marks and large legible hand-writing
+which, had it not been for this timely accident, would have been thrust
+unconsciously into the fire, thus forcing our narrative to close here,
+but instead he raised it hurriedly, throwing the rest back on the floor,
+and scrutinized it with a searching, confused look, but the more he saw
+it the more it puzzled him, he was evidently in the dark: finally he
+tore it open and readjusting his gold spectacles, straightened out its
+creases and began to read.
+
+It was a very long time afterwards, when the paper dropped from the
+cold, trembling hands of Henry Rayne; a sort of stupor had been creeping
+slowly over him while he read; now he had finished the last word but he
+did not move, the coals had fallen to ashes, the wind had risen and
+howled around the house, the room had grown chilly and damp, the rain
+lashed in huge drops against the panes, but Henry Rayne saw not, felt
+not, heeded not, he was far far away by the side of an esteemed friend,
+he was swearing a vow of eternal friendship, and was accepting gladly,
+gratefully from his hands a precious charge, a weighty responsibility--
+how could he hesitate? he was pouring out all the consolation and
+sympathy of his ardent soul to the man he had loved as a boy, and he
+never felt the chill that was stiffening all his joints, he never heeded
+the ceaseless patter of the dreary rain. The clock had stopped and the
+fire had gone out, and still he sat crouched in his chair, with the
+strange letter lying listlessly between his fingers.
+
+What a queer phase of life was dawning upon him! what a strange mission
+was coming to him from over the seas! what freak had destiny taken to
+send him his nephew's letter with its interesting detail, and this other
+one, on the same night! Guy's letter brought back an old friend in the
+freshness and vigor of his youth, with hand uplifted to defend _him_,
+this other one revealed the same dear friend, but worn and wasted from
+premature age, with the daring hand laid quietly on his breast, sleeping
+the last long sleep--yes; this puzzling letter had been traced by the
+feeble hand of Robert Edgeworth and had been forwarded to Henry Rayne at
+his death. It contained an anxious, serious request. It asked of Henry
+Rayne to open his heart and home, to the only child of an old friend, to
+father an orphan girl for the sake of "old times," and the happy "long
+ago." It would not have meant much for some others, but it seemed the
+greatest of all responsibilities to Henry Rayne, who had become an utter
+stranger to the female sex, and who had settled down in an old
+bachelor's home for the rest of his life. He tried to think it all out,
+but the fragile form of a young, beautiful girl, glided between him and
+his thought, and he saw upon her face the sweet, sad smile, of a
+parentless child pleading for protection. He was lost--he was dreaming;
+he never stirred for hours, until the dawn streaked in between the drawn
+curtains, giving the room an unnatural look, with its glare of gas-light
+and the straggling rays of the misty morning's sun crossing one another,
+until "Potts" stole down with her slippers under her arm, and in her
+bewilderment at the sight of the gas-light, put her head in at the door.
+
+When she saw her master's firm, set face and vacant eyes, and the
+letters laying around the floor, her heart gave a bound, and she
+screamed outright.
+
+Henry Rayne raised his head, rubbed his eyes, and tried to stretch his
+limbs, now numb with the damp dullness of the night. Potts had run to
+him and was asking the "matter," with dilated eyes and anxious voice.
+
+"Don't be afraid, Potts," he said at last, "I have been reading a very
+very strange letter, and I forgot the hours, I will go and lie down now;
+don't make any fuss about it, and I'll tell you the important news after
+breakfast."
+
+Poor Potts went off to the kitchen shaking her head as usual, and
+murmuring to herself all the while, such exclamations as "Well, well
+now." "That's quare now." "Well to be sure." It was with her brain quite
+in a whirl that she went about her morning duties, wondering very much
+what could have come over her master, to make him forget to go to bed.
+When Fitts came in at the back door, with an armful of wood, Mrs. Potts
+could not conceal her gratification at having been the first to discover
+the secret, and she rattled on (to herself, as it were) with her back
+turned to Fitts, "Well shure 'tis the quarest thing in life--all through
+the night, too; dear, oh dear! Such a life's enough to turn one gray in
+no time."
+
+"What have you there all to yourself now, dear Mrs. Potts," came from
+Fitts as he flung the wood into the box, "come now, I heard you, what's
+throublin', what's inside your purty border this time, your mind I
+mane?"
+
+"Be off with you now mister Fitts; 'tis other people's minds that's
+bothered, an' I'm only sorry for it: but y'ell know soon enough; the
+master 'ill tell ye when he sees fit, and ye can be preparin' for it
+till then."
+
+"Well now, that's funny," says he. "How did _you_ come to know anything
+since last night?" and there was a suspicion of jealousy in his voice,
+"I left the master meself the last thing, last night, an' he's not up
+this mornin' yet, so what are ye dhrivin' at?"
+
+"I know what I know," said the irritating Potts, "and I'm sorry I can't
+tell ye but its a saycret yet awhile; be patient."
+
+"Who wants to know it anyway?" said Fitts, who was quite vexed now, "I'm
+sure _I_ don't," and he went out with a slight intimation that he had
+securely closed the door behind him.
+
+At nine o'clock Henry Rayne came downstairs, looking tired and pale, and
+instead of his usual hearty breakfast, he merely drank a cup of warm
+coffee. He had just finished this, and was balancing his spoon on the
+edge of his cup, as he cogitated upon the strange mission that had been
+thrust upon him, when Potts came in to serve his "second cup," but
+instead of this, he bade her summons Fitts, that he had something to
+tell them both. When a few moments later Henry Rayne turned to confront
+his servants, who stood expectant before him, his troubled face and
+serious air made them start perceptibly; in an earnest tone he said,
+
+"I have received an important letter from a friend of mine, who has died
+since the writing thereof; he has entrusted me with the care of his only
+child, and to comply with his dying request I must make immediate
+preparations to leave home, for I have a long way to travel before I can
+accomplish his desire; I therefore want you to understand that I may be
+a very long or a very short while away from home, but I wish you both to
+serve me as faithfully on this occasion as you have on all others. Don't
+talk about my absence more than you can help; I can give all the
+necessary explanation on my return." "Potts," he said, addressing the
+solemn looking old woman separately, "you must renovate the house a
+little, I think; those spare bedrooms must be well aired and touched up
+somewhat, for we will need them henceforth. My little charge happens to
+be a girl, and unless you can contribute towards making things to her
+liking, I am lost. Spare no expense to make the house comfortable in
+every respect, for the _protégée_ of mine is a lady, I know. And you,
+Fitts," he continued, turning to the dignified male servant, "will, I am
+sure, lend a hand towards the general improvement. See that the phaeton
+and sleighs be in good order, and, in fact, I think you will each do
+your duties well, without my enumerating them. You know I have full
+confidence in both of you, and I think you will not abuse of it." The
+two devoted attendants answered sincerely, each with a suspicion of
+moisture in their eyes that answered Mr. Rayne more than anything else.
+
+On the following afternoon Mr. Rayne left Ottawa, on his extended trip,
+much to the surprise of his friends, and according to promise, his
+servants displayed the greatest discretion possible. Within the week,
+Mr. Fitts was delighted to receive news from his master, informing him
+that in a few days he would sail for Liverpool.
+
+The voyage across the majestic ocean, was a fair and enjoyable one, and
+Mr. Rayne spent the days out on the deck of the splendid "Parisian,"
+smoking and thinking, and wondering at the unusual turn things had taken
+for him, since last he crossed that same Atlantic. He was anxious to
+know how it would all end, and whether he would be able for this new
+responsibility brought to him so suddenly. Heaven had not willed him the
+experience of a wedded life, and so he resolved to devote himself to
+this little charge as though she were his own flesh and blood; he would
+teach her to give him a father's love, and if he could help it, she
+would never know the want of a father's care.
+
+The first duty of Henry Rayne, on landing at Liverpool, was to consult
+the letter of his deceased friend, and write to the address given
+therein, to inform the parties alluded to, of his arrival. Special
+mention was made of one, "Anne Palmer," who was spoken of highly, as a
+faithful and trustworthy woman, who had nursed the child from her
+infancy. This gratified Henry Rayne immensely, for he resolved, at any
+cost, to secure her, knowing how necessary her long and untiring
+attendance must have made her to the girl's existence.
+
+A reply to his kind letter reached Henry Rayne some days before he had
+expected it, informing him that Honor Edgeworth and her maid had left on
+the day following the receipt of his letter, and would shortly join him
+at Liverpool. Such indeed was the case, for even as Henry Rayne read the
+words over to himself, as fast as steam and water could carry her, Honor
+Edgeworth was travelling away from her native home. She saw not, heeded
+not, the passengers, the scenery, the bustle, and confusion that
+surrounded her; she only leant her head on the shoulder of her old
+nurse, and wept silent, bitter tears all the while. Poor Nanette strove
+hard to console her in her woe, but the swelling never left the pretty
+eyes, and the sighs never ceased escaping from the dainty lips during
+the whole voyage.
+
+"It is such a queer destiny, Nanette," she said repeatedly, "this man
+may hate me. He was only a boy when papa knew him; perhaps he has grown
+up a wicked man that will detest me, you know Nanette, people change a
+great deal sometimes."
+
+"Don't fret, my beauty," was all the disconsolate woman could say. "You
+may be sure your father did not act in the dark, where his little girl
+was concerned. He had great trouble in finding the gentleman's address
+at all, so you may be sure he looked for other information at the same
+time."
+
+"Yes, I suppose he did," Honor sighed, half resignedly. "What the end
+will be, time will tell."
+
+From London they telegraphed to Mr. Rayne, telling him of their safe
+arrival thus far, and seized with an insuperable impatience to become
+known to his little _protégée_, he answered them immediately, that he
+would meet them in Manchester. The night was wet and dark and cheerless,
+as Nanette and her pretty charge rolled into this large manufacturing
+city of England. All the other passengers had hurried out, they alone
+remained, careless whether they went or stayed, sadly and listlessly,
+they proceeded to gather up their little belongings, dashing away as
+they did so, scalding tears that welled into their eyes.
+
+"Are you ready, love?" Nanette asked plaintively, turning towards Honor.
+
+"Yes I am," the girl answered with a sigh, "ready for the battle of
+life--come along, Nanette."
+
+Just as she uttered the words, and before she had stepped from the
+railway carriage, the guard, accompanied by a gentleman, thrust his head
+in, and hurriedly announcing "Mr. Rayne, ladies," darted off again,
+leaving them together. The long looked for moment had arrived: the first
+meeting, upon which so many thoughts were spent by all three, was
+already over. Honor Edgeworth raised her eyes to the gentleman
+announced, and a smile of infinite relief broke over her face; Mr Rayne
+raised his hat to the younger lady, and a mysterious smile of infinite
+admiration stole over his face. He broke the silence by addressing
+Nanette.
+
+"I presume, madam," he began, "you are the person in charge of Miss
+Edgeworth, the young lady recommended to my future care?" and before she
+had time to answer, he had extended both hands to Honor.
+
+"Yes, sir," said Nanette, a little nervously, "I give into your hands
+all that I hold dearest in life;" and then, lowering her voice, she
+continued, almost to herself, "I can go back again to my poor old home,
+but the sunshine is gone out of it forever."
+
+Henry Rayne looked quickly up at her: he was assisting Honor out, as she
+spoke.
+
+"Is it possible that you are not coming to Canada with us?"' he asked in
+a confounded tone.
+
+"Ah, sir!" answered the poor creature, "I will go in heart, indeed, but
+there was no provision made to send me all the way with the child."
+
+"Oh this can never be," Henry Rayne interrupted, hurriedly, "I have
+intended from the first, that you should not be left. Come, come, we
+will manage everything smoothly by and by. Do not leave one another now,
+unnecessarily, when you have been together all your lives." There was a
+shout of delight from both, and clasped in each other's arms, never to
+part again, they thanked God sincerely for His goodness to them, so far.
+
+"The dear child, sir, I'd have died without her." Nanette sobbed through
+the tears of joy.
+
+"Of course you would," Henry Rayne answered, handing them into the
+carriage that awaited them. He cast an admiring glance on "the child" in
+question, as he sat himself opposite to her on the leather buttoned seat
+of the hack. If "child" she must be, she would undoubtedly prove an
+interesting one, for she was now, to all appearances, in her seventeenth
+year, and showed promises of future development into a splendid woman.
+For the first few moments Nanette never ceased her protestations of
+gratitude, and when at last she finished them in a great sob behind her
+handkerchief, Honor looked sweetly up in Mr. Rayne's face and said.
+
+"Your first act, dear guardian, was one of unsolicited kindness. What
+will after years bring, when we have learned to respect and love you,
+and do you good turns as well? The future seems so bright, now that
+Nanette is coming, for," she explained "you must know, Mr. Rayne, she is
+the only mother I have ever known, and when dear papa lived he treated
+Nanette just as he would a member of his own family."
+
+"And I will never be the one to make the first difference," answered Mr.
+Rayne. "My house is large; I am a crusty old bachelor, with no other tie
+binding me to the world, except this new link that has just filled me
+with a desire to live anew from this out. All I have is at your
+disposal: you must make yourself perfectly at home with me. I don't know
+much about winning the confidence and hearts of young girls now, but I
+shall expect you to come to me with yours, because henceforth you are
+going to be all my own."
+
+"I do not wish to dispute it, Mr. Rayne," Honor answered sweetly, "but I
+have a presentiment that you are going to spoil me."
+
+"Oh I won't be _very_ cross with you, unless you steal my spectacles or
+court my footman, or do anything like that," Henry Rayne answered
+playfully.
+
+Thus, in the pleasantest manner possible, were the first hours of their
+_rencontre_ spent. When their drive ended, they alighted before a
+handsome hotel, ablaze with light, where a tempting supper awaited them.
+Henry Rayne, fancying that it was the right thing to do to young girls
+who had been travelling a great deal, told Honor she must retire
+immediately. "We have our lives long to chat," he said, "so rest
+yourselves well to night"
+
+When they had reached their rooms, Honor turned with a bright smile on
+her face, and said to Nanette,
+
+"Don't you think he will be just lovely and kind, dear Nanette? He is a
+perfect gentleman."
+
+"God bless him," answered Nanette, "he is a good man and has a good
+heart, and we must never have him regret what he has done for us."
+
+"Well, it is a great weight off my mind anyhow," said Honor, with a sigh
+of relief, "I am full of hopes now for the future, and I know we cannot
+help loving dear kind Mr. Rayne;" and over such enthusiastic words Honor
+and Nanette fell into their deep calm sleep.
+
+All this time Henry Rayne was smoking quietly in the parlor below, and
+thinking of the lovely face that was going to shed its radiance
+henceforth on his silent home. Already he longed for the morning to
+come, that he might look on it again. In the course of his meditation, a
+thought came to him, which had not suggested itself before, and it was
+this:
+
+"If the world should choose to attach its own interpretation to this new
+relationship, if a word was cast afloat which could scatter the germs of
+a suspicion, what then? If those venomous tongues that keep the world
+buzzing with scandal chose to attack _her_, how was he to prevent it?" A
+cloud overshadowed his face, there was a momentary pang in his heart,
+but he consoled himself that he had thought of it in time--he would defy
+the world, his manner towards her would dare gossiping tongues, he was
+nearly three times her age now, and had his life not been such as could
+defy the babbling of the whole world?
+
+But it was only the old tale, a woman's name is a tempting bit to
+society, in one of its particular phases, though, of course, even
+society in this, its calumniated epoch yet retains its discrimination,
+its rules are not so arbitrary as its enemies declare them, and its
+heart is _at times_ susceptible to the pleadings of misfortune for
+mercy. Woman, alas! has her fallen sister on every rung of the social
+ladder, though from general appearances one would be led to judge, that
+wealth and position and fame, claim virtue as all their own, it seems,
+that vice and error thrive only where poverty and ignorance and
+destitution abide, is this so? Ye who know the secrets of a fashionable
+world, ye, who have seen laid bare, the hearts full of secrets of
+pampered ladies, and pretentious dames, say, are they so guileless, so
+spotless, so blameless as society would have them? Is it only the poor
+seamstress, or the working-girl that is human enough to err? Is it only
+the breast which heaves under tatters and rags, that bears the impress
+of the trembling hand that has struck the _"mea culpa"_ in its woe? O, I
+doubt it, I for one deny it. True it is, painfully, shamefully true it
+is, that the "nobodies" of the world who meet misfortune are mercilessly
+forced to stand in the corridors of time, that those, who domineer in
+virtue, may ostentatiously compassionate them, but will such a paltry
+show of charity as this, blind the world, as it tries to do? Let us hope
+not. Let the pampered daughter of wealth and social fame, who goes
+astray, share the pitiless fate of the beggar who does likewise, or,
+better still, let the beggar be shown such mercy, and justification and
+pardon as is granted her sister in high life. In the sight of God crime
+is the one color, why not so with men? If anything, vice repels far more
+forcibly, when attired in its velvets and silks, than when it looks out
+from scanty rags, which after all, may be turned more easily to sack
+cloth. Who can doubt that there are hundreds of outcasts, living in
+persistent wrong doing, on account of this lack of humanity, this total
+abstinence of Christian charity, whose exercise could redeem just as
+many as its scarcity ruins. Poor foolish souls! Why need they thirst for
+mercy or sympathy that is human, know they not, that they are as
+justified in spurning the world's great ones, as those great ones are in
+spurning them. What can human mercy avail them, after all, is there not
+a Good Shepherd, so eager, so ready, so anxious to grant forgiveness for
+the asking? Why do ye not seek Him, ye whom a rigorous society has cast
+out of its pale? be not content to live on as drudges and slaves to such
+a heartless world when there is a harvest for you to gather so near, and
+you have only to learn the words of Him who spoke truth and wisdom
+themselves to encourage you onward, that "there is more joy in heaven
+over the conversion of one sinner than at the perseverance of
+_ninety-nine just_."
+
+
+
+CHAPTER II.
+
+
+  "Ah poor child, with heart of woman
+     Solitary, quiet, grave;
+  Strong of will and firm of purpose
+     Self absorbed in silence brave"
+
+A page or two, of the record of time, turned over unnoticed, will not be
+missed out of the careers of our characters, it will include the days
+that have elapsed since that night that Honor Edgeworth lay wide awake
+on her pillow, playing with the shadowy visions of a possible future, as
+they danced around her bed, since that night in Manchester, when Nanette
+slept so contentedly and Henry Rayne smoked in moody silence by the
+fire-place in the hotel parlor. When we become interested again, it is a
+clear, bright day, blue and white threads of filmy loveliness flit along
+the sky, a soft, gentle breeze is blowing, and over the restless waves
+of the broad Atlantic the "Parisian" is skipping gracefully. She is
+nearing the port, and many are the anxious, weary faces that turn
+landward with a sigh upon their lips.
+
+Among the others that are gathered here and there on her broad decks, on
+this lovely glorious afternoon, we are compelled to notice the graceful,
+slender form, of a young girl, who sits a little away from the others,
+with her head leaning on her folded hands, and her sad eyes resting on
+the troubled waters in a fixed, but vacant stare, she is thinking, it is
+evident, and thinking deeply, there is not a muscle moving in her
+handsome face, her lips are set, her chin is slightly raised, the loose
+locks are blowing with the wind now and then from off her brow, but her
+eyes ever seek the deepest depth of the green blue sea. She might be a
+perfect statue, only for the gentle heaving of her breast, that rises
+and falls in little sighs.
+
+Every one has noticed her, but none would intrude upon her in this
+reverie, that seems to be her normal state, her face has assumed that
+expression of intense emotion that could fascinate the most unwilling
+victim, and indeed they are very few who are not willing to pay a
+tribute at that shrine, while she in her unconsciousness, is living the
+long sunny hours, down in the bottomless sea, trying to penetrate it
+with the eyes of her soul, trying to fathom the fathomless, to
+understand the mysterious, and to shape into existence the uncreated,
+these are the strange things that rivet the gaze of Honor Edgeworth on
+the spray of the billows below. At last she starts up, as if in broken
+slumber, and turns suddenly 'round.
+
+Two heavy hands have been laid on her slender shoulders, two eyes full
+of glowing admiration are turned upon her, and Henry Rayne, in a low,
+loving voice says in her ear:
+
+"Come back to the deck of the 'Parisian' Honor for a little while, you
+have been down with the 'whales and little fishes' long enough now."
+
+Her eyes filled with tenderness as she looked up to the good face
+bending over her.
+
+"Oh Mr. Rayne, is it you?" she said "I was wondering where you were, is
+Nanette sleeping yet?"
+
+"Yes, my dear," he answered, drawing a seat near hers, "and I've been
+amused by the little window there for fifteen minutes, wondering what
+there was existing capable of making any one strike such a thoughtful
+attitude as yours."
+
+"Why, Mr. Rayne, all I could condense into my poor little brain at once,
+is not worth attracting your grand attention. But, I love to think: I
+have so many little ethereal friends that flock around me when I sit
+down to think, they are all my ideals, you know." She continued,
+clasping her hands enthusiastically, "In that little world of thought,
+where I drift so often in the day, there is none of that coldness nor
+selfishness that characterizes your material world. We are all equal,
+and we love one another so much! I don't know when it fascinated me
+first, but it seems so natural to me now to steal away there from the
+din of active life. But how is it _you_ always catch me just when I've
+forgotten that there is any reality at all?"
+
+"Because, I suppose," laughed Mr. Rayne "you are always in that state of
+blissful forgetfulness, and if you don't mind yourself you'll fall into
+a chronic state of dreaming, and then be no more to us than a veritable
+somnambulist, now, you wouldn't like that, would you?"
+
+"Oh, there is no fear of that, I am not spiritual enough yet to abandon
+stern reality altogether, but I fancy you will often tire of me before
+you grow quite accustomed to my strange caprices?"
+
+"Why my dear little Honor, is that the color you would have me paint
+your future? surely not. If Destiny has raised my hand to blend the
+colors in the fair scenery of your life, I will stain the canvas a
+'_couleur de rose_,' and make it a lovely thing to contemplate, if I
+possibly can, so do not ever sigh to-day for to-morrow, know beforehand
+that it will be just as you will have it."
+
+"Ah, ha! Mr. Rayne, who is waxing romantic now," the girl cried
+playfully, "I'm so glad to have caught you once. But do you know, I
+sometimes wonder, if all these days have not really been spent in my
+fairy land, for things have happened as harmoniously as though life were
+not a series of discords at its best, Nanette was not forced to leave
+me, and you did not get bored at my eccentricities, and I liked you so
+much right away, and our safe journey, and everything together."
+
+"Well, I hope it will convince you my child," said Rayne earnestly,
+"that life in its common-place acceptation is not so dreadful as you
+have pronounced it--wait a while--a little practical experience will
+serve to persuade you, that there are a few redeeming traits in the big,
+nasty world after all, and will force you to give up these wild theories
+of idealism that are strangely out of place in a young girl of our
+period."
+
+"So many tell me that," said Honor distractedly, "but I can't know of
+course, just yet, what difference all the complicated circumstances that
+wind themselves around other girl's lives, will make in mine, if they
+change me at all, they must make an entirely different person of me, and
+if they are baffled, I will only be stronger and more obstinate than
+ever in my own views. Either of these must be my destiny, as yet I know
+no partiality towards either one, but I think it is because I feel so
+safe in myself that I defy other influences to do their worst."
+
+"Well, dear," said Mr. Rayne, rising, "You won't blame me for the
+consequences, when you really want my opinion I'll give it to you, I'll
+try to show you fairly and honestly both sides of the picture of life, I
+would like to see you stand by its colossal works of art, you may
+perhaps care to imitate the artists. All that is great and good within
+my reach, you will see, and yet, I think it wise that you should turn
+from the luxury of wealth and self-indulgence now and then, to look
+unshrinkingly upon the squalid misery and wantonness that haunt the
+greater half of the world. But, come, we will go inside, the air is
+somewhat chilly, and if Nanette intends to wake at all, she must be
+looking for us now."
+
+Leaning on the arm of her guardian, Honor slowly walked towards the door
+of the entrance, followed by many an admiring glance from the other
+passengers. They found Nanette rubbing her tell-tale eyes, and avowing
+that she had not "slept a wink" all day.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Under the roof of Henry Rayne's comfortable house everything has
+undergone a change, there is a primness and a fitness about the rooms
+that used not to be there, a cosy look peeps out from every turn and
+corner of the well-furnished apartments. The pantry shelves are whole
+rows of temptations. Very tame lions looking meekly out with their
+"jelly" eyes, and rare birds perched in trembling dignity on some
+pudding that has come "beautifully" out of the mould. In fact it seems
+that good Mrs. Potts has converted her whole "receipt book" into shelves
+of substantial and dainty representatives, but such fruitful
+contemplations as these will surely rouse one to action, and appropriate
+"action" in a well-filled pantry forebodes merciless slaughter for these
+culinary imitations of animal life.
+
+Upstairs appeals less dangerously to the material element. It is neat
+and enticing everywhere. There is the sitting room where Mr. Rayne spent
+his long, thoughtful night under the gaslight with Robert Edgeworth's
+letter lying between his numbed fingers. The fire burns there cheerfully
+now--there is no other light than that cast by the fitful flames which
+leap and dwindle in shadows through the twilight that lingers still,
+huge fanciful phantoms skipping over the walls and the ceiling and
+floor, a little flickering subdued light that trembles on the great arm
+chairs. "Flo" is curled up, with both ends saluting one another, on the
+velvet rug before the fender, and at a civil distance away is a purring
+bundle of gray and white pussy, with her paws doubled in and her eyes
+blinking at the half-burned coals. There is a bird cage in each window,
+and an odd little lullaby chirp or the grating of the little iron swings
+is the only sound besides the loosening and falling of the embers every
+now and then.
+
+Opposite to this is the large drawing room with its deep bay window, its
+rich carpet and massive furnishings. Not the stiff formal looking parlor
+of a lone bachelor, but the comfortable, tastily arranged room of a man
+who had confided such things to the better judgment and defter hands of
+a woman. There are fine statues and splendid paintings, and
+_bric-a-brac_ enough to deceive anyone into believing it to be the home
+of a bevy of girls. There is a grand piano in the end of the room, and a
+violin in its case in the corner--this latter had been the faithful
+companion of Henry Rayne through many years of his life, and held as
+conspicuous a place in his drawing room as it did in his esteem.
+Upstairs again, we find the strangest little room of all. A girl's
+bedroom, richly, handsomely furnished, a heavy carpet of dark colored
+pattern covers the floor, a massive walnut set is also there, a cosy
+lounge is crossways in the corner, near the bay window, which is a
+perfect little conservatory of blooming flowers. A handsome pair of
+brackets adorn the tinted walls, holding on one side a fine statue of
+the "Blessed Virgin and Child," and on the other that of a "Guardian
+Angel." Hanging opposite the bed is an oil painting of "Mater Dolorosa,"
+besides sundry little chromos and photographs that destroy the monotony
+of bare walls. There is nothing left to wish for--beauty, utility,
+grandeur have been harmoniously blended here, and this is the nook that
+Henry Rayne offers Honor Edgeworth, one worthy of a princess, indeed.
+Mrs. Potts had promised herself that nothing should be left undone on
+the arrival of the travellers, and very well she kept her word too. When
+the violent ring of the bell that announced their coming echoed through
+the house, Mrs. Potts had only to roll down the sleeves of her best
+wincey and button them at her wrists. The clattering slippers had been
+superannuated, and a neat pair of prunella gaiters showed their patent
+toes from under the hem of her cleanest gown. A broad grin of
+unmistakeable joy lights up the old creature's face as she hastens to
+welcome her master, and this changes to a solemn look of profound
+admiration as Henry Rayne presents her to Honor Edgeworth, and asks her
+to show the young lady to her room.
+
+"You must make yourself at home, Honor, for the present, with things as
+they are. After a while we can make things more comfortable, may be, but
+this is my little home as it was intended for the last days of an old
+bachelor, to be spent all by himself," and as he spoke, Henry laughed
+out right, and beckoned her to follow Mrs. Potts.
+
+When Honor stood upon the rich red rug at the threshold of her door, she
+uttered a low exclamation of wonder.
+
+"This can't be for me, Mrs. Potts" she said, folding her hands and
+looking in dismay around her.
+
+"Indeed it is, miss, and not a bit too good is it aither, for yer jewel
+ov a face to smile on. Och, shure it'll be doin' me old eyes good from
+this out to be lookin' at yer purty face. But come now, miss, you must
+be bate out entirely wid the joultin 'o the cars. Let me onfasten them
+things for ye."
+
+Mrs. Potts was quite at home with the "dear young lady" all at once. As
+she helped to undo the girl's wrappings she grew less shy and reserved,
+and prattled on, "Shure it'll be the life o' the master altogether, to
+have ye around the big house that was allays so lonesome like for the
+wont ov a lady like yerself is, to cheer it up."
+
+"I hope I may do that," said Honor earnestly, "for Mr. Rayne deserves
+all the comfort it is in our power to give him."
+
+"Oh, troth! yer right there, missy, an' its only half what he desarves
+the whole of us together could give him, but shure, if we give him all
+we're able, an' our good intinshions along wid that, he won't be the man
+to grumble at that same."
+
+Honor began to understand the character of this old servant immediately.
+She recognized all those traits that invariably betray the Irish
+nationality. Such whole-souled creatures are of too universal a type
+ever to be mistaken.
+
+"Well, then, ye'r ready now, miss, are you?" Mrs. Potts queried when all
+was over. "Well, if ye like, ye can go an' wait for the ould lady, for
+she's not fixed up yet, an' I'll jist run and throw an eye over the
+table, ye know, I'm Jack of all thrades for a while."
+
+"Go, my good woman, by all means," Honor answered, "we will be down
+directly; don't wait for us."
+
+Potts, who rather suspected an odor of over-done victuals, bounded down
+to the kitchen, leaving Honor in Nanette's care. Nanette's room was next
+to Honor's, and had been used as a sort of spare room up to the present
+time. It was now intensely comfortable and neat, without anything costly
+or expensive which could make poor Nanette feel out of her element.
+
+"Is Mr. Rayne not the very impersonation of goodness itself, Nanny
+dear?" said Honor. She was standing with her back to the door, watching
+her old nurse undoing their valises, when she uttered this exclamation.
+
+"Come now, Honor, spare a fellow when he's right behind you," said the
+good-natured voice of the person thus eulogized. Honor started around,
+looking very pretty in her confusion.
+
+"I thought 'listeners never heard well of themselves,'" said she in a
+pout, "but this time it seems to be reversed."
+
+"And you won't take it back for all that," said he, "the oldest of us
+likes a little praise now and then, you may as well let me keep it."
+
+"Oh yes indeed, Mr. Rayne, you may have that little bit, for you know
+how good you are and how kind to me."
+
+"Well, that will do after tea, but just now we will give our attention
+to something more substantial; come Honor--come Nanette."
+
+"Don't wait for me sir," the old nurse answered respectfully, "I'll find
+Mrs. Potts in the kitchen and we'll sip our tea together there."
+
+Henry Rayne looked quickly at Honor and detected the slightest shadow of
+a disappointment flitting across her face, this decided him.
+
+"It is my intention that you and Potts will not be quite such good
+friends," he said, "I am sure that Honor would rather you made the tea
+at our table."
+
+"Don't appeal to me," Honor answered as she met his enquiring glance,
+"it is superfluous, you always anticipate my wishes. I've never drunk
+another cup but the tea Nanette made."
+
+"Nor shall you, so long as we are spared a happy trinity," cried Henry
+Rayne, "so let's be off, I cry--to tea--to tea--to tea."
+
+
+
+CHAPTER III.
+
+
+  The Autumn clouds are flying,
+  Homeless over me,
+  The homeless birds are crying,
+  In the naked tree.
+  --_George Macdonald_
+
+It was a very pleasant, little _tableau_ that followed, those three
+happy souls, gathered around a well-spread table laughing and chatting
+merrily. Honor no longer felt any timidity or reserve before Mr. Rayne,
+his advanced years commanded a confidence and trust that she would have
+otherwise perhaps been slow to give, and the unlimited generosity he
+betrayed in even anticipating her every wish, gave her no opportunity to
+feel that she was under the patronage of a perfect stranger. He had
+shown himself as a kind, indulgent father from the first, and was as
+solicitous about her as though she had been his very own, or that he had
+been accustomed to administer to the wants and wishes of a young
+unripened girl all his life. But this is no mystery to the interpreter
+of the human heart. Henry Rayne could hardly act otherwise to any lone
+helpless creature without sacrificing the impulses of his own generous,
+noble soul, and trampling upon the desire that continually influenced
+him towards being the direct cause of happiness and comfort to others.
+Taking away any supernatural motive that might lead him to such generous
+action, yet leaves the deed a worthy one, and the heart a Christian one,
+for, to gratify others was to gratify himself, and this alone is
+characteristic of a great soul. As the orphan child of a friend of his
+youth, I doubt not that Henry Rayne would protect her at his life's
+peril. We all know what a firm knot it is that binds the sympathetic
+souls of rollicking college "chums" which, tied once, is tied forever.
+It has always been so; it is one of those strictly conservative
+principles that grows with mankind in every generation, and is yet never
+found extravagant, if not because of the noble character of the
+sentiment itself, at least because our forefathers never condemned it,
+and the world generally continues to favor such an alliance. Such was
+the nature of the staunch friendship that existed between Henry Rayne
+and Bob Edgeworth, a friendship that had only strengthened itself by
+pledges and vows, as the youths shook hands in a fond farewell over the
+threshold of their college home.
+
+From the day on which Honor Edgeworth settled in her new home, life
+began to assume its most indulgent phase. Everything around her met her
+eye for the first time, no sorrowful associations hung in misty veils
+over anything that entered into the charms of her new life. Nanette was
+the only breathing, living testimony of the years that had gone, and the
+home of her childhood that she had left forever. A few old books of
+literature and of music, a few little trifling souvenirs from her dead
+mother's jewel box, an inlaid mahogony writing-desk and a miniature
+likeness of her proud handsome father, were all the visible reminders
+she now held of the fair, sunny home, under the far foreign skies.
+
+Mr Rayne resumed his duties immediately on his return, and lost no time
+in propagating among his most intimate and influential friends, the
+story of the odd legacy left him by a "distant relation." At first Mr.
+Rayne feared greatly that Honor would find the days long and tedious,
+while he was absent and unable to ferret out distraction for her, but he
+grew resigned very soon when she assured him how much more to her taste
+it was to have the quiet hours of the day to herself, and "in fact," she
+said, "as the occasion presented itself, she would beg of Mr. Rayne not
+to expect her to share in any amusement, at least for some time, for
+besides the mourning she wore for her father, her knowledge of the
+country and its customs was not yet sufficient to satisfy her with
+herself," and putting it to him as a request, she knew it would be
+acceded to on the spot.
+
+The light of the summer days had begun to wane. The leaves had begun to
+turn. Out door pleasures were being forsaken for the seat by the
+fireside The world looked as if 'twere waiting. The autumn months had a
+particular effect on Honor Edgeworth, she would stand at the window, and
+look sadly through the panes at the red and yellow leaves falling
+softly, noiselessly down to the cold wet ground, and a shiver would pass
+through her as she realized even in this the mortality that hangs like
+an unseen pall over all things below. Just a moment ago, a pretty golden
+leaf danced on the bough, but the cold wind, surrounding it, bore it
+away on its fated pinions down into the cold stiff gutter, where it was
+either trampled heedlessly down by the reckless passer-by, or wafted
+farther away out of sight, left to wither and die by the roadside. But,
+perhaps not, either, maybe the slender, delicate hand of an admirer of
+nature stooped to gather the fallen leaf, to wipe the dust from its
+golden front, and lay it tenderly by as a souvenir of the dead year, to
+lie among the gathered blossoms of some dear one's grave, with bitter
+tears of sad remembrance and grief to bathe it, as its evening dew. And
+is not this life! How many golden leaves are hurled into the mire of
+sin, and upon how much marvellous beauty the heavy foot of worldly scorn
+is stamped forever! How many pretty little amber leaves drift on through
+the cold wide world, until their beauty is spent, and until wrecked and
+faded they lay themselves down by the withered blades to die. But oh!
+there are again those stainless leaves that glide into the fingers of
+the Great Gatherer of Beauty, to find in His compassion and His mercy a
+refuge from the coldest blasts. The pity is that these last are, like
+the leaves of the Autumn trees, the scarcest in number; or, after all is
+the happy life of one summer month, price enough for a "forever" of
+withered beauty and faded grace?
+
+Poor Honor turned away with a heavy sigh; she could not learn a cheerful
+lesson from nature's gigantic book, she had stood by the window for
+nearly an hour in silent communion with the dumb eloquent world: there
+was a strange empty feeling in her heart, that she longed to stifle,
+somehow her reverie had made her feel a little lonesome, for whom she
+knew not. She was now tasting a little of Life's bitter sweet, and like
+every other girl of eighteen, was madly wishing for the _dénouement_ to
+come. Poor foolish eighteen! Why will you extract from Destiny the pain
+that will be yours soon enough: not contented to be free, unfettered,
+and all your own? You want a sad change, you make an unwise bargain. Do
+not envy the future its darkness, nor the "to be" its mystery, it is
+painful enough that in time your poor weary eyes must weep salt bitter
+tears as they view the unravelling of each. The love that you long for
+to-day is coming to you, slowly but surely, out of the iron heart of
+Destiny, but beware! Were it not for Love there would be no hatred, were
+it not for Fidelity there would be no deception, were it not for
+Happiness there would be no misery. "'Tis Heaven to love," as love-sick
+poets have sung. But 'tis Hell to love as well, as love duped wretches
+have wailed......
+
+Turning from the window, Honor Edgeworth sighed as deep a sigh as if a
+pain had dwelt within her heart--she was telling herself that she must
+wait and hope, hope and realize, and so when it did not come to-day, she
+only sighed again as she laid her weary head upon its pillow, and
+whispered "To-morrow." When she turned towards the firelight to shut out
+the cheerless vision of the dreary world from her tired eyes, she
+started to notice how quickly the shadows had crept over the room. She
+could see them chasing one another by the quivering light of the grate,
+and as the silent voices of the gloaming whispered to her heart, her
+eyes lit up with an unusual brightness and her lips broke apart in a
+slow dreamy smile. It was nearly six by the marble clock on the mantel,
+Mr. Rayne would be home in another little while, and with this thought
+she turned languidly to the _étagère_ in the corner, in her search for
+distraction, and drew from a shelf a small volume which attracted her
+eye. She then poked a large black coal until it sent a bright lurid
+flame up the chimney, and filled the room with a cheerful light: slowly,
+almost tastelessly, she proceeded to turn the pages over, scanning here
+and there a line or two; at length, smiling, she said to herself, "I
+used to know these verses long ago. I wonder if I have forgotten them."
+
+She stood up as she spoke, and glancing at the first word, folded her
+hands behind her back still holding the volume, with one finger inserted
+on this particular part. She leaned one shoulder gently against the
+mantel-corner and looked into the fire. Why did she not look towards the
+window? A moment before, the garden gate had closed noiselessly behind
+the tall, well-built figure of a man, who before entering the house, had
+turned to look aimlessly in at the large square window from which was
+reflected the warm light of the grate. But how soon his eyes became
+riveted to the spot standing in front of the fire was the fairest
+creature he had ever looked on before, the fitful flames were casting
+their light upon her handsome face, her eyes looked almost wild to-night
+in their sadness, and her cheeks had an unusual glow. Standing with her
+hands behind her back, she showed to advantage the perfect _contour_ of
+her figure, and while he feasted his eyes on her physical loveliness he
+caught a little word in a sweet sad voice, that recalled lines he was
+fond of repeating himself; he strained every nerve to catch the tones
+within. Knowing the verses himself enabled him to understand her readily
+as she quoted--
+
+  "I have said my life is a beautiful thing,"
+  "I will crown me with its flowers;
+  I will sing of its glory all day long,
+  For my harp is young and sweet and strong,
+  And the passionate power within my song
+  Shall thrill all the golden hours;
+  And over the sand and over the stone
+  Forever and ever the waves rolled on."
+
+She paused a moment, and puckering her brow slightly as if in an effort
+to remember, she continued,
+
+  "For under the sky there is not for me,
+  A kindred soul or sympathy,
+  Must I stand alone in Life's busy crowd
+  A living heart in a death-like shroud,
+  And the voice of my wailing o'er sand and stone,
+  Must it die on the waves as they e'er roll on."
+
+"That verse is her own," said the still watcher at the window.
+
+The girl's voice faded to a sigh, she drew her hands apart and opened
+the book again, the face outside pressed more eagerly still against the
+cold pane.
+
+"Why!" she suddenly exclaimed, "the words are all marked in pencil!
+underlined, just where I have been accustomed to emphasize them, does
+Mr. Rayne?--Oh impossible.--Whose can it be?" She turned impatiently to
+the fly-leaf and there in a clear masculine hand she saw, "G. E. from
+the only true friend and bitter enemy he has in the world--himself."
+
+The book fell from her fingers. She looked earnestly into the fire, and
+a sad expression stole over her face.
+
+"G. E.! Who was G. E.? Who was it that seemed to sympathise with her
+already? Who else in the world considered one's self a friend and an
+enemy, except herself?" She was beginning to long for him, to feel a
+loneliness for this kindred soul, as if he had come into her life and
+then had gone suddenly out of it again, leaving her in a melancholy
+despair. And as she sat there, lost in a long, tangled reverie, the
+eager face vanished from the window, for another figure strode up the
+little avenue, and quietly opening the door, passed in. Then the tall
+young stranger emerged from his hiding place, and noiselessly went out
+through the rustic gateway, trampling beneath his feet, the fallen
+leaves, over whose inevitable fate, Honor had spent so many sighs; but
+his heart was beating quickly, and his face was aglow with a new-lit
+flame. A strange transformation had apparently settled over all his
+surroundings. The moon was mounting over the house-tops and shedding a
+pale, soft light on his way. The world looked fairer and brighter far,
+than it did a little while ago. The tall trees swaying their naked
+boughs on the chill night air of mid-autumn, only gave out a responsive
+sigh to the new longing within his breast, and the crisp rustling of the
+withered leaves only chimed in harmoniously with the echo of the love
+lay that was lingering on the chords of his heart; and where the moon in
+her silent loveliness cast shadows here and there on his way, he saw a
+vision of the loveliest face that ever haunted a mortal; and wherever
+quietude reigned profound, he heard the echo of the grave sweet voice
+saying:
+
+  "Must I stand alone in life's busy crowd,
+  A living heart in a death-like shroud?"
+
+And then his heart burst out its passionate "No." He had not recognized
+those responsive emotions in that lovely girl to forget them so soon
+again, he had been searching for them too long not to prize them now. He
+had thought he was anchoring at despair, and now that a star broke
+through the clouded heavens, beckoning him on, was he mad to scorn the
+hope that lay within his grasp? No, indeed, and that very night, under
+the immediate impulse of his new-born emotions, Guy Elersley made up his
+mind.
+
+We cannot be surprised at this sudden change in Guy, although it was the
+most unexpected and unlooked for circumstance that could possibly have
+come to him. Falling in and out of love is almost so certain a portion
+of our destiny, that we should never be surprised by it. We know of love
+as we do of death, that it is to come some day, if not now, by and by.
+We wait for it without expecting it, we recognize the symptoms that
+foretell its approach, but of its real bearing on our future lives, we
+can tell nothing. Time alone, as it unravels the strange mysteries,
+shows us in what way our love can prove a blessing or a curse. If we
+were so constituted, in general, as to make up our minds coolly and
+calculatingly, to fall in love sensibly, but no, with most of us, a
+look, a word, a pressure of the hand, a sigh, a flower or some such
+trifling thing, has sufficed to plunge us hoplessly into the delirium of
+"love." Dreamy eyes that fascinate us, pretty words that gratify us,
+little signs of preference, have been the prices of human hearts from
+time immemorial. The pity is, that love so often dies of its own excess,
+making the dreamy eyes fiery with anger and hatred, turning the pretty
+words into violent reproaches, and substituting the deeds of preference
+by coldness and neglect. 'Tis better to have hated all our lives, than
+to learn the lesson from a blighted love. Life is never bitter, but for
+those whose misplaced love has caused their faith in men to wither,
+filling their hearts with that hopelessness of regret, by which misery
+is recognised in any of its disguises. But these are inconsistent
+reflections, when proceeding from such suggestive sources as "first
+love," "moonlight quietude," etc. Let us draw a veil across them for the
+present. If there must be bitter drops in the deep chalice, let us not
+spoil the taste of the sweeter ones, by anticipating the loathsomeness
+of the rest. In another sense we may cry "let us live to-day, for
+to-morrow we die."
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IV.
+
+
+  "We talked with open heart and tongue,
+  Affectionate and true,
+  A pair of friends though I was young"
+ --Wordsworth.
+
+The morning following Guy's visit to his uncle's window panes, as Henry
+Rayne was sipping his rich brown chocolate, with Honor and Nanette, at
+breakfast, Fitts brought in a note and laid it before his master. The
+usual broad smile came over Rayne's face, as he recognized his nephew's
+handwriting.
+
+"So he's in town," he soliloquized, as he opened the folds of the crisp
+paper and read:
+
+    "Dear Uncle,
+    I came to town last evening, and wish to see you when you
+    will be quite alone.
+    Guy."
+
+"There's an ansur wanted, sur," Fitts said timidly.
+
+"Oh, say this afternoon at five, Fitts, that will do."
+
+Evidently, it was not Mr. Rayne's intention to mention the existence of
+his nephew yet, to his new comers, for he quietly slipped the little
+note into his pocket and said no more of it. The day wore on, and at
+five o'clock Fitts brought around the "ponies" to take "Miss Honor" for
+a drive. They had scarcely gone a block away, before Guy Elersley opened
+the gate leading up to his uncle's house, and admitted himself. He went
+into the sitting-room, but it was empty, that is, his uncle was not
+there, or any other living intruder; but there arose between him and the
+gloomy coals, the same sweet face and graceful figure that had kept a
+ceaseless vigil over his slumber last night. The same sad voice filled
+the room with its wailing echo, and as he listened again to its
+appealing pathos, he strode idly towards the little _étagère_ and took
+up his little volume from which he had seen her read. A strong impulse
+rose within him. He imagined himself under the same spell as the
+romantic hero of "Led Astray," and taking out his pencil, he traced at
+the bottom of the page, under the words she had recited, this little
+verse:
+
+  "There is another life I long to meet,
+  Without which life _my_ life is incomplete.
+  Oh sweeter self! like me, thou art astray,
+  Trying with all thy heart to find the way
+  To mine. Straying, like mine, to find the breast,
+  On which alone can weary heart find rest."
+
+He had scarcely closed and replaced the book, when the door opened and
+his uncle bustled in.
+
+"Hallo, Guy! dear old boy, welcome! welcome!" and Henry Rayne extended
+both hands to his nephew as he spoke. "And so here you are in Ottawa,
+eh? What's the trouble now?" and before seating himself to chat, Henry
+Rayne poked the fire into a roaring blaze.
+
+"No trouble this time, uncle, at least no 'yellow envelopes' trouble,
+but I've been promised an appointment in the Civil Service, and I've
+come to you for the 'slap on the back' that makes a fellow stiff when
+he's in there. Now you know it's all right for a petty clerk in those
+solemn Parliament Buildings, when he has an uncle that is precious to
+the government, for the thousands he owns and that he can scarce count.
+This is why I ask you to come forward, for your assistance is all I
+want, to make a neat little job of the whole thing. Just snap _your_
+fingers over my head, and none will dare oppose me. It is not the career
+I had planned, you know, uncle, but 'half a loaf is better than a whole
+loafer,' and that is what I threatened to be, if I remained a student in
+Montreal any longer. The boys are too jolly there in proportion to their
+means, and I pride myself I escaped in time. I'd just as soon live on
+the bounty of the people for a while, and eat my lunch perched on an
+office stool, with plenty of good ice water at hand, and a chance of a
+cosy 'smoke' now and then, if I don't burn out my pockets hiding the
+pipe when the dignified 'Boss' approaches."
+
+"Well, well, well, Guy, you are a reckless boy, you know I could have
+secured you a position in the Civil Service long ago, but you aimed
+still higher and--missed the mark. I thought you had chosen a profession
+exacting too much labor for a lover of self-indulgence such as you are;
+however, I suppose you don't want me to say a single word of rebuke now,
+and I have grown so accustomed to spoiling you, that I must only give
+in. You can make yourself easy as far as I am concerned, I will make
+matters all right."
+
+"You're the best old uncle that ever had a sister married to the father
+of a fellow like me," Guy said, shaking the hand of his benefactor
+warmly, "and by and by, when I'm a clever cabinet minister, I'll show
+you what gratitude is."
+
+"I am afraid such a 'by and by' as that is as far in the past as it is
+in the future," Henry Rayne said, laughing.
+
+"Oh well, if I am not clever enough to be a solemn minister, they'll
+make a Lieutenant-Governor of me, or a Judge, Lieutenant-Governor
+Elersley! By Jove the name was intended to be worn with a title!"
+
+"Well, when you're done all these nonsensical licenses, you are giving
+your common sense, I will tell you something nice," Mr. Rayne
+interrupted, as Guy rattled off his idle chat. In a moment Guy's limbs
+that had been lying carelessly around in the vicinity of his chair, were
+jerked into a respectable sitting posture, as leaning his face eagerly
+towards his uncle he asked:
+
+"Something to tell me? Now that is a surprise; I generally do all the
+talking when I come here."
+
+"Well," Henry Rayne began slowly, and with a look of unusual merriment
+twinkling in his eyes, "It has taken a long time you see for this
+surprise to come, but it was worth the trouble of waiting. May be you
+think that at fifty years all the romance has died out of a man's life,
+but I am going to show you that such is not the case." (Great Heavens!
+Guy thought, has the dear old man fallen in love?) "A new life has begun
+of late for me; henceforth, my love, that has been all yours, must be
+divided I have assumed a series of new and trying duties--"
+
+"Pardon me, uncle; but you don't mean--you can't possibly be insinuating
+that you have--have--have done such a desperate thing as to--"
+
+"I have indeed, Guy. I suppose you thought I had no soft corner left in
+my heart that would be a ready victim to a woman's wiles? but I had, you
+see." There was a mischevious twinkle in the old man's eye as he spoke.
+This joke on his clever nephew amused him immensely, while poor Guy was
+feeling the tight clutch of despair upon his heart Of all the horrors
+conceivable, Guy had never dreamt of such a thing as his uncle's
+marriage, and now it was quite evident that his words implied this
+terrible catastrophe. He saw the long cherished project of his insured
+welfare passing away so noiselessly from him, dropping through a wedding
+ring into the clutching fingers of a new-born heir. And when it struck
+him that the beautiful vision he had feasted his eyes upon last evening
+was, undoubtedly, the fair destroyer of his every hope, a conflict of
+violent feelings began to gnaw at his poor heart, making a genuine
+picture of woeful misery out of the laughing face of a moment before,
+but he battled against his moral foes, at least--he must not show his
+uncle that any selfishness of his could mar the sincerity of his
+felicitations.
+
+"I suppose I am justified in congratulating you?" Guy said in a tone
+something like that in which one says "'Tis nothing," when three hundred
+pounds of fashionable humanity apologises for having left its foot print
+on our toes.
+
+"I know that you do congratulate me warmly," Guy's uncle said,
+emphatically, "and indeed it is as much for your sake, nearly, as for my
+own that I rejoice, the benefit will be divided between us." Guy didn't
+see how--unless his uncle fell into the ordinary routine of wedded life,
+and grew regretful by degrees--he could share those sentiments very
+plentifully, but his better nature still revolted against such
+selfishness, and obeying a generous impulse, he stood up and shook his
+uncle warmly by the hand.
+
+"I am glad indeed, uncle," he said sincerely, "that at last your earthly
+happiness is complete. It was poor gratification to you, to trust to me
+for an ample return for all your unmerited kindness. You deserved some
+one more faithful and more demonstrative than I. This new tie you have
+formed will, of course, exclude me from a great portion if not from all
+of your heart, but, at least, I can still continue to appreciate and
+love you as though there had been no change. After all, it is the most
+natural thing in the world for a man to marry."
+
+"Who's married?" Henry Rayne exclaimed in astonishment.
+
+"Why, yourself, to be sure," Guy answered, "I was alluding to you."
+
+Henry Rayne threw back his curly head and laughed heartily and loud; Guy
+looked on in open-mouthed astonishment, suspecting a temporary
+aberration of mind in his uncle.
+
+"Oh! that is a splendid one," Mr. Rayne cried slapping his knees
+violently, and blinking away the tears that were gathering in his eyes
+from excessive laughter. "You had just better circulate such a piece of
+slander about me, and see how it would be received, why, the dogs on the
+road would laugh at your simple credulity." Then assuming a becoming air
+of mock gravity the old man continued, "This is terrible, Guy, that you
+should openly accuse me of such a serious piece of forgetfulness is, I
+fear, more than I can readily forgive--I dare say I do a great many
+surprising things now and then--but to get married--Oh no, Guy, you
+wrong me--wrong me terribly."
+
+Guy had to laugh at this, though still lost in the mystery.
+
+"Perhaps now that you have laughed quite enough at rue, you will kindly
+explain all," he said in an anxious tone.
+
+"Well, the truth is, Guy," his uncle began in earnest, "there is a woman
+at the bottom of it, of course, and though I have pledged myself at the
+altar of friendship to love and protect her, there is no such thing as
+'till death do us part' in the transaction. I have been left the odd
+legacy of an only daughter by an old school-friend of mine," Guy blushed
+inwardly, and felt guilty, "she is a dear, lovely little creature, and
+will, I am sure, make my home a different one altogether, from what
+solitary bachelordom has brought it to. I hope you will agree, both of
+you, I know you will like her just as soon as you see her, you have no
+idea how lovely she is." (Oh fie! Elersley! how innocent you look).
+
+"Well, really uncle, you are a little more demonstrative over female
+superiority than I would expect," Guy said lazily, as if he had made up
+his mind that he would not be so enthusiastic.
+
+"Because she deserves it," Mr. Rayne said, earnestly. "Don't think, my
+boy," he continued, "that I am a perfect old ogre with regard to women,
+for I am not, I have travelled over and seen more of the world than you,
+and I know the difference, vast and mysterious as it is, that lies
+between woman and _woman_. The word, has, of all words, two meanings,
+the most antithetical and contradictory, one is the limit of the
+Beautiful, the other the limit of the Repulsive; one is synonymous with
+purity, truth and excellence, and the other with vice and diplomacy. The
+world is often imposed upon when the latter counterfeits the former. Men
+are dazzled by the glitter and gaudy show of the pretended, and pass by,
+unnoticed, the less flashy attractions of the real, but I pride myself
+that I have never been deceived in this way. The girl that I have
+brought to my home is as genuine a sample of noble, good, pure and
+honorable women, as could exist, if you had known her father I would
+tell you, she is Bob Edgeworth's child and you could not then doubt the
+truth of all I say."
+
+"Edgeworth?" Guy queried, "It seems to me I have heard that name
+before."
+
+"It was you who revived all my precious memories of him," Henry Rayne
+said thoughtfully. "That letter you wrote me before leaving Montreal,
+telling me of an interview you had with a traveller who had seen
+Edgeworth defend me so bravely and gallantly abroad, was the first I had
+heard of my dear old friend for many many years."
+
+"Oh yes, I remember now!" Guy exclaimed, "but how in the world did he
+trace you up after all these years?"
+
+"That was easy enough, I am happy to say. I am pretty well known now,
+and Edgeworth took the most direct way to me, by applying to our family
+solicitors at home, but I blame him for not having sought me while he
+had his health and strength--he is dead now, poor fellow, and all he had
+prized in this world he has left to me. When I wrote you, that important
+business called me to Europe, I was starting to execute the first part
+of my friend's dying request. I did not talk about it much beforehand,
+but now that we are safely back, the whole world is free to know that I
+am in charge of the sweetest girl under the sun, let who can, deny it,
+if you are as anxious to meet her as I was, stay and drink tea with us
+this evening--they are out driving now, but they wont be much longer--do
+stay."
+
+"Not this evening," Guy said hastily, as he rose, "I am not prepared,
+uncle, besides, she is strange yet, and it is as well not to thrust too
+many new faces on her at once, you can mention my name to her if you
+will, she will feel more at home when we meet." There was a pause of a
+moment, and then Guy, as he appropriated a cigar from a china stand that
+tempted him close by, resumed, "this certainly is a strange, unlooked-
+for incident in your hum-drum life, but it is also a very fortunate one,
+since she is such a comfort to you and such an acquisition to your
+home--I fancy, from your description she could scarcely be otherwise. I
+hope we will all be an agreeable and sociable family yet, and now, if I
+don't want to be caught, I had better be off at once," saying which,
+Henry Rayne's handsome nephew shook himself out of comfort's wrinkles,
+lighted his cheroot, put on his becoming hat, bade his uncle a temporary
+"good bye," and departed.
+
+I would undertake too common-place a theme, were I to try and interpret
+the feelings that struggled for ascendancy in the breast of Guy
+Elersley. How many pens have been stowed away rusty and old from having
+told no other tale than that of new-born love? How many gray-haired
+bards have tuned their lay to the sighs from the human breast under the
+"first loves" influence? How many eyes, even among those that rest upon
+this very page, have wept the overflowing of their hearts away, at the
+moment that love's first whispers stole into their souls? How many tired
+and weary hands are folded on the laps of those who are sitting in the
+twilight of their years dreaming all over again in bitter joy their
+"Loves young dream?" Ah! they are many indeed! and so it is superfluous
+almost to tell the world what it is to love for the first time. That
+trembling existence that is balancing on Hope and Despair, is an
+experience so well learned that no one thinks of telling it. It is a
+strange part of destiny, that even those who have never heard what it is
+to love, are not surprised when called to teach it to themselves.
+Instinctively, we hide our emotion, we steady our hand, we check our
+words. There is the pity; there are grand unspoken thoughts, burning in
+the souls of many to-day, that may never reach the threshold of the
+lips. Men are gliding through the world disinterestedly, day by day, and
+they know not, often care not to know, that there are devoted hearts
+existing on their memories alone. There are pretty blue eyes weeping
+over the "garden gate" where "some one" is "waiting" and "wishing in
+vain." Let them weep. There are miseries in life, that can be learned
+only by many repetitions. If they don't break the heart at first they
+perseveringly "try again."
+
+If my belief be not a popular one, I hardly like to be the first to
+preach it, but it seems to me that few can study society as it is
+to-day, without concluding very disagreable things; one of these is the
+deplorable fact that, in our day, the purest selfishness seems to have
+established itself as the source and promoter of, not only the
+indifferent, but the apparently best impulses of the human heart. It is
+a pity indeed, that our analysing tendency has been so strengthened by
+cultivation, for most often, by prying into the very remotest origin and
+causes of things we learn a lesson that for ourselves or the world would
+have been infinitely better unlearned. Hence it is trait in our own day
+we are not satisfied that certain lavish displays of generosity pass for
+Christian charity, simply, and without more ado. We will not look upon
+the givers, with an admiring eye, and spend our enthusiasm, on a
+religion which teaches the love of our neighbor so effectively, oh no!
+we must "open the drum to find where the noise is kept," and how,
+unfortunately, often, do we find, that practical virtues, or at least,
+what are so called by the world, have nothing more solid at base than
+the hollow drum. It sounds deplorable, to say that nineteenth century
+charity is a Dead Sea apple, even the guilty ones will not like to hear
+that they have subscribed to this fund, or built that asylum, through
+policy, or as an advertisement, or for the less harmful but still
+unworthy reason that they like to give something, when there is plenty
+around them. Nevertheless, is it not true that in all countries, in our
+own little city, there are men, who drive the starving beggar from their
+doors, and who yet head a public charity list handsomely. There are
+people, who, under their parson's eye, wear down-cast look and thump
+their breasts, but, who behind his back, would much sooner thump any one
+else's breast, or cast down any other person's eyes. There are members
+of high society, who feel it their duty to set good example for their
+social inferiors, and so they feast and dance and gratify themselves all
+through the hours of the night, and then in half spoiled frizzes and
+sleepy looks repair to church in the early morning. This may all be
+right enough, but if so, there is more than one version of right and
+wrong, and that is impossible. This omnipotent selfishness has even
+crept into our loves. Men kiss the dainty finger tips of their
+lady-loves, to-day, with a passionate fondness that is proportionate to
+the bulk of lucre that dainty hand can hold. The words "be mine" so
+sweetly answered by fair trusting damsels, are addressed to them,
+because estates and dowries cannot speak of themselves, and must
+consequently be wooed and won by proxy. The divine institution as
+marriage was wont to be considered, is better understood in our day as a
+"linking transaction", a "speculation in the matrimonial market," or for
+the man alone, he is either "spliced" or "fleeced."
+
+At least our century has succeeded in one thing: it is the grandest
+parody on all that is lofty, or elevated or holy, it is an unparalleled
+burlesque on any exalted sentiment or practical good. Every ennobling
+tendency, every redeeming trait is cunningly caricatured, and so
+cleverly ridiculed that is impossible to respect them afterwards. It is
+hard to tell what another era may bring forth of good, but it is certain
+that ours has killed, to the very possibility of a future regeneration,
+every germ and atom of solid morality, that sustained it. Perhaps that
+is what was wanted, the end may be achieved now. It has been clearly and
+undeniably proved to the world, that there is no longer any God, there
+is no eternity, no atonement, no recompense. We are left to wonder whose
+business it was to call some of us into this miserable existence, to
+take us out of it again before we have culled any real happiness, and
+send us back to--Well, we are not allowed to say where, because there is
+some inconsistency mixed up with it, but we are sure to go there at all
+events.
+
+This may seem a most exaggerated deviation from the smooth course of the
+narrative, but in reality it is not so. The little reflections made may
+serve to remind the reader, that those great universal movements,
+social, political and religious, floating as they are at random in the
+atmosphere, cannot fail, when breathed by our youth to develop into
+substance with their growth, and to manifest their poisonous influences
+later, in the lives of their wretched victims. After pondering over such
+reminders for a moment or more, there will be no call for surprise, when
+our young men are pictured in their true colors. The mind need not
+hesitate to enquire, when it views youth and manhood, beautiful and
+_blasé_, attractive and cynical, credulous to simplicity in many things,
+and infidels in the one great act of faith that alone merits anything.
+
+From the taint of this evil, and all its sorrowful consequences I am
+tempted to exempt Guy Elersley, so handsome, so young, so winning; but I
+cannot give the lie to obstinate reality. Of course, Guy Elersley was
+not a bad man, he was exactly what most young men of to-day are--what
+you, my reader, know them to be, what all the world, but themselves,
+know them to be. Guy thought he "wasn't such a bad sort of fellow at
+all," and yet in every movement of his, one could detect him--the victim
+of the age. He had never professed any direct code of belief. He would
+have been very much offended if any one called him an "atheist." He knew
+there was some reason why a fellow should go to church now and then, and
+not be everlastingly doing mischief. He confided to himself in strict
+secret that "to die" was about the very last thing he'd like to do; but,
+somehow, such serious considerations as these never lingered long, a
+good cigar or "half-a-glass" easily sufficing to turn the current of his
+thought into a more pleasant course. He had all the "might-have-beens"
+in the collection of qualities that he possessed, to make any one sorry,
+but as fast as a new trait developed itself in him, he put it to the
+worst possible advantage, and made those who took an interest in him
+intensely sorry for his grave mistakes.
+
+He had early fallen in with the tide, and learned to love _himself_
+before and above all else.
+
+One hardly likes to say that this new born enthusiasm of his was a
+selfish gratification, and yet in its radical sense it was thoroughly
+so. He delighted in it because of the benefit it brought himself. He had
+long felt a void within his heart, a want or craving for something,
+something indefinite, intangible certainly--something that no sensual
+indulgence could appease, that no light pleasure could distract, and now
+all at once it seemed to him that long-felt vacuum was filling up. A
+something, just as ethereal as his craving had been, was creeping into
+his heart. It felt like the liquid music of a low, serious voice, or it
+may have been a passion, such as he had seen in the depths of two large,
+sad, gray eyes, or it might have been the soft soothing influence of a
+sweet, dreamy smile. It was just as abstract as any of these, and yet
+just as fascinating and just as exquisite. This was Love for him, a
+beautiful but a dreadful thing! feeding his hungry soul and quenching
+his heart's awful thirst, yet swaying him with a merciless tyranny, for
+love caresses with one hand and smites with the other. If it can be the
+exponent of certain delicate phases in our spiritual nature, it can
+also, alas! almost smother the good it does by the pain it so cruelly
+inflicts. It has a double mission, for in the cry of joy that escapes
+the lips under its influence there is an echo of pain and despair, and
+hence it is that love is so violent a passion. If it were a pleasure
+only to love, we could never prize the object of our wild affection as
+when it has cost us sighs and tears, and anxiety untold.
+
+It was thus Guy Elersley ruminated as he sauntered through the streets
+this sear October day, whistling silently to himself, and knocking the
+clotted leaves recklessly from side to side with his slender cane. He
+was persuading himself that at last his destiny was beginning to
+accomplish itself. She would surely see the lines he had traced for her
+eye in the book he had been reading, and if she were what he supposed
+her to be, they would be an eloquent appeal in his behalf--but. Here the
+misery came in--
+
+  "Love was never yet without
+  The pang, the agony, the doubt."
+
+What if she never reciprocated?--if there did not linger in her breast a
+single responsive sigh? But he dared not ask. What then? Not until hope
+had quite faded away and left the bare, truthful reality to confront him
+by itself.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER V.
+
+
+  "And then I met with one who was my fate, he saw
+  me and I knew
+  'Twas Love, like swift lightning darted through
+  My spirit 'ere I thought, my heart was won--
+  Spell-bound to his, forever and forever!"
+
+In this interesting meanwhile, life was unfolding its strange mysteries
+just as unexpectedly to Honor Edgeworth as to Guy Elersley. After she
+had returned from her pleasant drive, a half hour after Guy's departure
+from his uncle's house, dinner was announced, immediately after which
+Mr. Rayne had to excuse himself, having had an engagement "up town."
+Honor, left to her own resources for distractions, repaired, as usual,
+to the sitting room, and seated herself on the floor before the grate.
+Her eyes assumed their old hazy look, she clasped her hands over her
+knees and looked vacantly into the fire. What a strange girl this was!
+So dreamy, so pensive. She was reasoning with herself now as she often
+did, trying to feel thankful for all the good things with which her life
+was blest, but though she acknowledged to herself that youth and health,
+and comfort and kind friends were grand gifts of Providence, she could
+not stifle the dissatisfaction that filled her as she yearned for
+"something else." She could not say what it was, only she knew that she
+yearned for a gratification that is not found in any of those things
+that she enjoyed so profusely.
+
+Oh, that "something else!" Why do we not stop and gather it by the
+roadside we are passing now? We will not find it farther on. That which
+is enticing us onward is only the illusionary flicker of a will
+o'-the-wisp! We will stretch out our hands too late--when we have been
+caught in its fatal snares, and then in the darkness and misery that
+will surround us, we will feel how foolish we have been, and our cries
+of despair and distress will be echoed back to our own ears in sounds of
+mockery and scorn. Let us not build upon that "something else" that is
+always buried in the to-morrows, for we are losing the present and
+risking the future thereby.
+
+Poor Honor, after thinking until her head sank wearily upon her
+shoulder, sighed and rose up, pacing the room with her hands behind her
+back. As she passed by the little _etagere_ she smiled curiously, and
+stretching out her hand drew towards her Guy's book of poetic
+selections. As she slid the pages through her delicate fingers, she
+murmured slowly--
+
+  "I have said that my life is a terrible thing,
+  All ruined and-"
+
+She stopped suddenly, for her eyes had fallen on the pencil marks traced
+under these little verses she was accustomed to recite--her heart gave a
+sudden bound--
+
+  "Oh, sweeter self, like me art thou astray"
+
+She quoted the words in bewilderment. What did it mean? There was no one
+in the house to write such meaning words there! That pretty, legible
+penmanship did not correspond with anyone's she had ever known--except--
+where was it she had noticed something just the same? Suddenly she
+remembered. On the fly-leaf of the book were words traced in the same
+hand. She turned over the leaves and compared them. There was no
+doubting their identity. It was, then, G. E. who had written this
+passionate little quotation. "G. E. How strange" she muttered. Was it
+her "fairy prince" had come to visit her while she was away? She could
+not fathom it--some hidden meaning lay stowed away under those pretty
+words. "They were not there when last I had the book, of that I am
+sure," Honor said meditatively. "Some one has been in here since, and
+that 'some one' sympathises with me, that 'some one,' I feel, is my
+long-sought ideal. Has destiny changed its frown into a smile at last
+for this lone, eccentric girl, I wonder?" She dropped her hands
+negligently, still clasping the mysterious volume, and looked wistfully
+into the space before her. She was undergoing the change that comes over
+each of us as soon as we yield our hearts to the strange influence that
+fascinates them. We have been told that "Love is a great transformer,"
+and if we had never heard it we would have found it out for ourselves.
+
+Honor Edgeworth, sitting alone in the cosy enclosures of a cushioned
+_fauteuil_, thought out the queer circumstance that had visited her
+to-night; never noticing how fast time flitted by, never heeding the
+stillness of advancing night, until Mr. Rayne's late arrival roused her
+from her reverie, and brought her suddenly back from the sunlight of her
+dreams to the grim darkness of the reality. Kissing him a sleepy good-
+night, Honor left the room, henceforth haunted by the spirits of her
+earliest conceptions of love, and went silently, almost gloomily, up to
+her own handsome little room, bringing to her friendly pillow all the
+hazardous hopes and fears, and interesting experiences of a love unborn
+but well conceived.
+
+In the gray of the following morning, the angels of slumber on their
+upward flight must have borne one another an interesting message, for
+Honor's guardian spirit had noted the happy smile creeping over her
+face, as in her dreams she saw the noble hero of her waking reverie--and
+Guy, as he tossed restlessly on his pillow, betrayed to his "silent
+watcher" a heart overflowing with a new-born love for a creature to whom
+he had yet spoken no word. And how those angels must have smiled,
+knowing, as they did, that 'ere another day had passed those two would
+have met, to recognize in one another the destiny of each!
+
+"It will soon be four o'clock," Honor said to herself on the afternoon
+of this same day, looking, as she spoke, towards the delicately tinted
+window-sill. She had whiled away so many afternoons in this little
+_boudoir_, or family sitting room, that she could tell by the progress
+of the sun on the broad sill when to expect Mr. Rayne home from his
+office. "He will be here in half-an-hour," she soliloquized, then
+looking aimlessly around for distraction, Honor spied a half-knitted
+stocking and a ponderous looking pair of gold-mounted spectacles lying
+carefully on a side table. Smiling mischievously, she adjusted the
+glasses, very low down on her nose, for of course she can see much
+better _over_ than through them, and unwinding a yard or two of the
+wool, tucked the ball professionally under her arm, and began slowly to
+penetrate the intricate mysteries of "narrowing the gore." She had just
+seated herself in the great rocking chair, when a very familiar sort of
+tap at the door caused her to look up. She thought to make a joke for
+Fitts, and feigned "Nanette" accordingly--she dropped her head on her
+shoulder, slowly moving her needles all the while--and with closed lids,
+and mouth half-way open, she considered the _tableau_ perfect. The knock
+was not repeated, but she knew that the door had been opened. For a few
+seconds longer she remained in her interesting attitude, and then
+considering that Fitts was rather slow to appreciate a joke, she opened
+her eyes, and was about to close her mouth, but the exclamation of
+surprise that rose to her lips, kept it wide open for a second or two
+longer. The blankest of blank stupid wonder looked out from her eyes
+over the old-fashioned, gold-rimmed spectacles.
+
+"I hope you won't think I am intruding," said the person at the door,
+"but being quite at home in the house, and having received no answer
+when I announced myself, I thought I might admit myself here as usual."
+
+Honor detected an effort in the speaker's voice to refrain from laughing
+outright, and did not feel too comfortable at the success of her joke.
+
+"Did you--did you wish to see Mr. Rayne?" she stammered, dragging the
+unsightly spectacles off her nose, and throwing them back on the table.
+
+"I certainly expected he was here," the stranger answered mischievously,
+"but I had mistaken you for him on coming suddenly in."
+
+Honor felt mortified, while her companion evidently was very much
+amused. She looked at him suddenly, her pretty face suffused with
+blushes, but on raising her eyes they met his in a quick glance--the
+large, passionate gray and the deep, dreamy blue penetrated each other's
+depths in an instant--only during one short breath, and then Honor's
+fell. She had been about to speak, but the mischief in his look reminded
+her of the absurdity of this _recontre_, and she could only turn aside,
+and show him by her shaking shoulders that she was forced to laugh.
+
+At last the situation became too ridiculous, and Honor, between
+smothered fits of laughter, said,
+
+"If you have made any appointment with Mr. Rayne, he will not detain
+you, I know. Be seated; I will enquire if he has yet arrived"
+
+"Do not trouble yourself," her companion answered. "My uncle, Mr. Rayne
+makes no ceremony for me, I assure I you. I must only await his
+pleasure. But lest I have disturbed you--"
+
+"Not at all," Honor interrupted, "I was only amusing myself."
+
+"We may as well not be strangers," Guy said, courteously advancing
+towards Honor, "for we are likely to meet very often henceforward. I am
+Mr. Rayne's nephew, his sister's son, and I was the only toy in the big
+nursery of his heart until Miss Edgeworth appeared, which young lady I
+think I have at present the honor to address."
+
+Honor bowed, and, extending her hand, said in her sweetest voice--
+
+"For Mr. Rayne's sake we must certainly be friends,"--then feeling a
+little more at home with her visitor, she continued, "As no one comes in
+here unannounced, I ventured to attempt a little disguise this
+afternoon. I mistook your knock for some one's of the household, and had
+just struck the last attitude of my assumed character when you caught
+me--I hope the effect on your nerves was nothing serious," and as she
+spoke this in her bewitching confusion Guy felt like taking her up in
+his arms, little bundle of blushes and smiles as she looked, and
+devouring her, but before he had time for word or action, the door
+opened again, and this time Henry Rayne bustled in, glaring in
+bewilderment upon them--
+
+"Why! You two young rascals, how did you come together? Here you've
+cheated me out of anticipated pleasure by finding one another out behind
+my back--this is too bad!" and Mr. Rayne as he spoke looked suspiciously
+at each of them.
+
+"Oh, Mr. Rayne," and "Really, uncle," broke simultaneously from their
+lips, and then Guy, advancing, explained the interesting circumstances
+of their premature introduction.
+
+"Well, it's just as well," Henry Rayne said, laughing, "we are all to be
+the one family henceforth, and the sooner it began the better--sit down
+Honor--sit down my boy," continued he, drawing chairs towards the fire,
+"come Guy, tell us the news, you have nothing else to do but gather it."
+
+It was all over and done, those hands that had been groping in the
+darkness for so long, had met at length in one another's clasp. True it
+was, that no word had yet betrayed the feeling of either heart, no
+action, no sign had been made, and yet each knew full well that they had
+met at a threshold which they were both destined to cross, hand in hand.
+It was not presumption on either side, but each felt so truly that it
+would be easy now to love, that they had met. It seemed as though one
+had sought the other for a long tune, and that now they had met never,
+never to part.
+
+It will avail us nothing to dwell upon the details that made up the
+happy days of Honor Edgeworth's life after her meeting with Guy
+Elersley. To those who know what it is to breathe, live, and act under
+the soothing influence of a first love, the page would be a superfluous
+one, and to those for whom such a blessed phase of life is yet among the
+things to be, mine must not be the pen that will spoil the luxury
+thereof by anticipating its joy--and again, to the wrinkled brows and
+aching hearts for which such a thing lies among the "might have beens,"
+oh, I will not surely speak--I see their blinding tears--I hear a long,
+mournful sigh--somebody's fate is cursed, somebody's hope is trampled,
+somebody's heart is withered and dead! There remain only those who live
+their love-days in a holy remembrance, those who, in going backward
+through time go
+
+  "--hand in hand
+  With spirits from the shadowland,"
+
+and to those I whisper the words of our poet, and say--
+
+  "'Tis better to have loved and lost,
+  Than never to have loved at all."
+
+All I will say is, that the sun which set upon the world on the day
+when, for the first time, Guy and Honor linked hands, never, since nor
+before, went down upon any two creatures who were more thoroughly
+satisfied with themselves than were these two.
+
+When Guy left Mr. Rayne's house, the evening was far spent--and such an
+evening! If an exclamation point cannot imply its happiness it must
+remain a mystery. Long after he had bade his earnest "good-night," Honor
+and her guardian sat together over the dying coals and chatted
+pleasantly. It was their custom to hold this nightly gossip no matter at
+how late an hour their visitors left them.
+
+"And so that is my brave nephew for you," Henry Rayne said, as Honor
+stood up and placed her chair against the wall, "How do you like him?"
+
+Like him? If he could have seen her averted face--her eyes--her mouth!
+
+"Don't you ask an opinion a little soon?" she replied, so carelessly,
+that the shrewdest observer would be baffled.
+
+"Well, I don't mean to ask you if you're crazy about him, or anything
+like that," Mr. Rayne said, half-laughing, "but do you take to him, do
+you think you will be _friends_? That's what I'd like to know."
+
+"Oh," she exclaimed, disguising her excitement in a smile of surprise,
+"I do not doubt that, at least so far as _I_ am concerned, I have been
+friends with more--with less--I mean with more--no, with _less_
+intereresting people."
+
+"Gracious! it seems to have puzzled you if you have," Henry Rayne said,
+mischievously, as he saw her color and grow impatient with herself, "you
+seem at a loss to know on what equality you would put poor Guy's
+interest"
+
+"Now, you needn't teaze, just because I'm dreadfully sleepy and can't
+talk right; I won't say another word, only--Good-night," and kissing him
+brusquely on the cheek, she skipped out of the room.
+
+But the subject had not dropped through with these remarks.
+
+The following day as Honor sat in the library alone, Mr. Rayne bustled
+in, and sat down beside her, as he said, to read her some interesting
+item from the morning _Citizen_, but instead of leaving her again, Honor
+saw that he was lingering in the room purposely. (I wonder if anyone
+ever yet loitered around a place pretendingly to no purpose without
+immediately betraying that he was full of purpose.) After Henry Rayne
+had looked at the titles of several books, and gazed vacantly at the
+paintings that decorated the walls, and raised the cover of a massive
+ink-stand just to drop it again, he made a bold stroke and began his
+subject as though it had only entered his head at that very moment.
+
+"Honor," he said somewhat timidly, "I was going to ask you to do
+something, last night, but you left me so suddenly that I had to put it
+off."
+
+"Oh, I am so sorry," Honor answered, raising her lace frame to her
+mouth, not to hide her face, but only to bite off an obstinate knot of
+thread that provoked her. "Is it too late, now?" she queried anxiously,
+looking at him.
+
+"Oh, no; it's not too late. It's about Guy."
+
+"Guy?"
+
+"Yes."
+
+"Why, what can _I_ have to do with Guy?"
+
+"Well, I just want you to promise me you will do all you are able. If
+you do that, I can almost promise you I will never ask you to do me a
+favor again."
+
+The puzzled, asking look in her gray eyes deepened, a curious smile
+stole round her lips.
+
+"I need not tell you how strange this is to me," she said slowly, "you
+must know that you proposed an enigma which I cannot solve."
+
+"Come here, Honor," Mr. Rayne said seriously. She laid down her work and
+went towards him. He was sitting in a velvet arm-chair, and she knelt
+beside him, with her white, delicate hands clasped on the ruby
+upholstering. He put one arm gently around her, and as he smoothed her
+wavy hair with one hand, he asked her earnestly,
+
+"Honor, you know how much good is done in the world by mere contact, do
+you not?"
+
+"Of course I do, Mr. Rayne; good and evil alike have been kept
+circulating from the beginning by individuals."
+
+"That is so. Well, now, don't you think it is a pity when there is a
+very susceptible person, one who would be good if he was led, or who
+would be wicked if he was led--don't you think it a pity, I ask, that
+such a person as that should go to ruin because there is no good
+influence open to him in his life?"
+
+"Undoubtedly," the girl answered seriously. "But Mr. Rayne, no one need
+be wicked if he wishes to be good, evil is not forced on us you know."
+
+"I know that, my child, but we are not always as strong as our
+inclinations--the spirit is one thing and the flesh another. Now, I want
+to appoint you a mission--you are a good girl, and your pleasure is in
+doing good. Supposing you would favor me by doing good at my request?"
+
+Honor started a little, and looked enquiringly into his face.
+
+"You know you have only to tell me your wish, dear Mr. Rayne. I wish I
+could have anticipated it; but as that could not be, I pray you tell me
+immediately. What can I do for you worth the asking?"
+
+"I want you to promise me that you will begin right away to work your
+influence over Guy." The color rose to her cheeks, and the smile faded
+out of her eyes and mouth. "This, mind, is a profound secret, Guy has
+neither father nor mother--he has no home, nor no real friends. I, like
+the rest, have spoiled him but God has sent me you in time. I know that
+my dead sister would rebuke me severely were she to see her boy, my
+charge, so reckless and so dissipated. But I fancy it is not so much my
+fault--my influence could never change him much.--I want you, for my
+sake, to try yours. You have only to meet him often, and talk with him.
+If he has eyes at all he must see in our practical life all the theories
+he has heard preached to him so often. Show him in all the indirect ways
+you can, how foolish and frivolous are the ways of society to-day. He is
+a clever boy, and susceptible, and your trouble will not be lost. Come,
+now, will you promise me only to try, for my sake?"
+
+"How you exaggerate the capacity of a weak woman," she said a little
+sadly, then, after a moment's pause, she continued--"It is no trifling
+mission you appoint to me, Mr. Rayne; it is full of responsibilities.
+But there!" and she clapped her little hand firmly into his, "That means
+my strongest resolution--I will do my best You can ask no more."
+
+"God bless you" the old man murmured slowly, squeezing the slender
+fingers tenderly between both his hands, "I am sure you will never
+regret it."
+
+No other word was spoken. Henry Rayne had left the room, and Honor stood
+there alone--stood with folded hands and dreamy eyes--thinking. What a
+strange request this had been! How was she going to fulfil her promise
+without betraying the real impulse that had spurred her to make it? How
+was she going to work her way into his confidence, and yet guard her
+own? Oh, if this were a task for Mr. Rayne's sake only, how easily she
+would convert it into a pleasure--but she had promised, that cancelled
+all her misgivings. She would do it now, if it were in woman's power,
+she would make it her duty, and with a resolute will and an anxious
+heart, surely the accomplishment would not prove too hard--"Only--if I
+had not seen my want supplied in him--if I had not recognized in him the
+hero of my life's dream. Oh, Guy! What a joy it will be to me if I can
+teach you to come to me, turning your back upon gaiety, and pleasure,
+and temptation, to sit by my side, when the voice of a more powerful
+tempter is stifling mine. What joy for me then!--but no, I am wrong!--it
+is not my gratification I have been sent to seek; this is a mere duty.
+If I had loathed you at this moment, my duty is still the same. Just
+now, it is not _your_ sake nor _mine_--it is Henry Rayne's."
+
+The door opened slowly and the croaky voice of the old male servant
+broke upon her reverie.
+
+"Beg pardon Miss, but dinner is served."
+
+Heroically she stowed away her emotions, the old pleasant smile stole
+back into its home, and with a beaming face and cheerful step she passed
+into the dining-room.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VI.
+
+
+  "Oh the snow, the beautiful snow
+  Filling the sky and the earth below.'
+
+"It will be a stormy night I think," Honor says, shrugging her pretty
+shoulders behind the window-blind she is just lowering, "I wish I had
+the stout brawny arms of a man to-night...."
+
+"Around your waist?" says a voice from behind her, and, suiting the
+action to the word, some one encircles her slender waist with "stout
+brawny arms."
+
+"Guy! I have told you in plain English that I will not allow you to take
+such freedom with me. _This_ time, I say, '_Je vous difends
+sirieusementde mettre vos bras...._'"
+
+"Oh! that's enough, by Jove, you'd drive a fellow crazy if he'd listen
+to you long enough, with your recitals on maidenly propriety. Now,
+there's Miss Bella Dash--many a season's belle--just chuckles with
+delight when I get this broad cloth sleeve fairly around her blue satin
+basque"
+
+"Oh! I dare say! but society gives 'poetical licences' to her adopted
+children, which outside of her pale would be simply atrocious. If Bella
+Dash saw your coat sleeve around Betsy, the house-maid's basque, it
+would mean another thing altogether, though Betsy's eyes are as fine as
+Miss Bella's any day. Besides, you must have learned by now that the
+'Bella Dash's' of Ottawa society to-day are _nothing_ to me. My sympathy
+for _my_ sex goes out to the whole species and when I offer it to
+individuals, I exclude the 'Miss Dash's' that make the '_tableaux
+vivants_' of the modern drawing-room."
+
+"By Jove! that is a fine speech Honor; now see here between you and me
+(I might also add the only two sensible people in Ottawa) what do you
+think would become of us young enthusiastic fellows if all the 'girls'
+stood on their high-heeled dignity like you? Why of course the
+monasteries and lunatic asylums would have more to do, and by and by,
+the lunatic asylum would have it all; but destiny is not so cruel a
+tyrant as you, so she makes your haughty kind the exception and not the
+rule."
+
+Honor laughed, a low curious laugh, and said "Then she is very kind to
+_me_ to have made me realize soon enough how much too worthy I am to be
+any man's pastime, a toy for him to play with until the paint is rubbed
+off--then to be flung aside for something new. If that is all Bella Dash
+and her prototypes, are worth in your estimation, it is no wonder they
+are proud, and no wonder they hold their heads high enough to sniff the
+air over the heads of girls, who, were you to use their names as you do
+Miss Dash's, would level you to the ground."
+
+"My most supreme stand-offish friend, I hope sincerely you won't preach
+any of these theories around our gay little city. Why, the young ladies
+here are just a jolly crowd, who don't transmogrify their whole faces
+because a fellow likes to spoon now and then to kill time. By Jove!
+you'd spoil the fun for the winter, and as soon as spring came the whole
+male element of Ottawa City would 'make' for the fresh pastures of the
+North-West."
+
+"That is a worthy declaration Mr. Elersly, I must say. I hope you are
+aware that in speaking thus, you risk the good opinion of your
+respectable sensible friends--if you have any--outside of this house. It
+is cold so near the window, let me pass please. I prefer a seat by the
+fire to this stupid argument here in the window recess."
+
+The mischievous smile died out of Guy's handsome face, as he looked
+earnestly into the beautiful eyes of the girl standing by him.
+
+"Oh yes, of course" said he, with a sigh, "anything is stupid in _my_
+company, although I come to you when I'm in good spirits for sympathy,
+as well as when I'm 'blue' for consolation: you always find it dull and
+stupid, and you don't hesitate to tell me either. If I bore you so
+dreadfully, I'll be off."
+
+Honor looked up suddenly; she stretched out her hand and laid it on his
+shoulder; her voice was changed and earnest as she said. "Stay Guy, and
+we'll talk it over in a friendly way. There are two seats by the grate,
+and I will be very amiable--I promise you."
+
+There was a moment of hesitation--temptation--both ways for Guy. At last
+he looked up, saying: "I'm really sorry, Honor, but I made an engagement
+for eight o'clock, and I've only ten minutes to walk over half a mile;
+so we'll have to postpone our little '_veillée_.'"
+
+She turned from him and looked into the fire "Very well," she answered
+quietly, "the night is stormy, but I suppose you don't mind that."
+
+"Not much," a fellow has to humour the weather for the weather won't
+humour him.
+
+"But by Jove! its eight o'clock," said Guy, looking at his watch, "and
+I'll be puckering my patrician brow to invent an excuse for this delay.
+So 'ta-ta.'"
+
+"Good night," Honor said in a low voice, extending her hand as Guy
+approached the fire to light his cigar. Another moment, and the young
+girl was alone with her thoughts.
+
+We might stop here and wonder at the mysterious conventionality that is
+influencing all our lives now-a-days. It is not a deception, and yet its
+consequences are often the same. Here was a striking instance of its
+existence. It might have been noticed from the beginning of the last
+interview that Honor and Guy had grown somewhat more familiar with one
+another. It was Mr. Rayne's doings, for had he not interfered, the same
+cold mysterious distance would still have been between them; but there
+was no sacrifice too great where he was concerned, and it was purely for
+his sake the young people dispensed with the formality of their early
+acquaintance. And yet, how superficial this familiarity was on both
+sides! Just now, look at them--read their thoughts--see their hearts.
+
+Guy closed the front door with a heavy bang and went out into the street
+troubled. He was talking to himself: "Such a farce, by Jove! one would
+think she was a little sister, by the way I try to speak, and if she
+only knew how I struggle to suffocate the passion that rises within me,
+when she looks up so earnestly out of her big dreaming eyes; it is sheer
+folly and I'll go mad if it must continue--and yet--if uncle ever
+suspected my love he would separate us then and there. But it is
+dangerous dust I am flinging in his eyes by being free and easy with her
+in this way. In a little while more I won't be able to trust myself, and
+God help me then. Confound those Teazle girls, only for their invitation
+I would have stayed with Honor to-night, but a fellow belongs to every
+one in this city before himself, and I can't expect to escape"
+
+  "Alas! for the rarity
+  Of Christian charity
+  Under the sun."
+
+By this time he was mounting the steps of his boarding-house, and he
+flung the butt of his cigar violently at a gaunt spare cat that just
+ventured its pinched countenance from under the verandah. As he turned
+the latch-key, he was indulging in a strain of "In the gloaming, oh! my
+darling" as though he were the happiest of living creatures.
+
+For some moments after Guy left his uncle's house Honor sat motionless
+reading the coals. She was troubled: Mr. Rayne expected her to be able
+to entice his nephew away from these never ending parties of pleasure,
+and she could not. If she did not care for him quite so much, her task
+would indeed be easier, indifference spurs on so to a task that is mere
+duty. How miserable she was, here, all alone, on his account, while he,
+where was he spending these moments fraught with so much anxiety for
+her?
+
+At this juncture Mr. Rayne bustled in and, somewhat surprised to find
+his little girl alone, he took the seat Honor had placed for Guy, and
+settled himself for a comfortable fireside chat.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VII.
+
+
+  "The lamps shone o'er fair women and brave men:
+  A thousand hearts beat happily: and when
+  Music arose with its voluptuous swell,
+  Soft eyes looked love to eyes which spake again,
+  And all went merry as a marriage-bell."
+  --_Byron_.
+
+Let us now contrast the two pictures which present themselves to the
+imagination on this stormy winter evening. One is quiet, usual,
+familiar; the other is noisy, glittering, but also familiar. One is the
+drawing-room in Mr. Rayne's comfortable house, with the gaslight falling
+gently over the silent room--it is not turned very high. Mr. Rayne is
+dozing in an arm-chair. His hands are folded across his breast, and his
+limbs are extended at full length--he is dreaming. Honor is seated at
+the piano, stealing her slender fingers over the ivory keys. It is a
+low, rippling strain--_Valse des Soupirs_--such as fairies might bring
+from their magic touch. 'Tis the music of her own heart--the sound of
+her sighs, and she plays on softly, heedlessly. She is lost in the
+ecstacy of her own reverie.
+
+We turn to the other side of the picture. Noisy strains of dance music,
+merry peals of laughter, little snatches of society gossip, beaming
+faces, silk and lace and flimsy loveliness, bouquets and gloves, trains,
+handkerchiefs, fans and flirtation, all in a sweet confusion. This is
+Ottawa at its best, as every one allows when the Misses Teazle throw
+aside their family portals for their annual ball. Every one is there--
+married and single, young and old, homely and pretty, rich and--(no! not
+rich and poor), the rich only, the powerful only, the most influential
+papas and the best-dressed mammas that Ottawa can afford, and the
+"juveniles" get in on pa's and ma's qualifications. It is the first
+private ball since the opening of Parliament, and every one feels very
+fresh for pleasure. The Misses Teazle themselves look charming (what
+hostesses ever did not in Ottawa?) and the rest vie with one another.
+
+We are somewhat confused on our entrance into the brilliant room, but
+some glaring objects attract our attention, thereby kindly taking that
+look of vacant bewilderment out of our eyes. We have often wondered what
+the scene was like inside those closed shutters, and here we are now,
+transported all at once to the very midst of the interesting
+proceedings.
+
+There is a group near the door that we readily take in, in our first
+sweeping glance round the room. Mrs. Mountainhead, a lady prodigiously
+inclined to embonpoint, looking exceedingly warm and uncomfortable, is
+the central figure. Her two daughters and their attendant cavaliers are
+also there. But it is plain to see that Mrs. Mountainhead does not enjoy
+the ball. She stands in holy awe of her aristocratic daughters, who are
+just "fresh" from a very modern boarding-school. Every word she utters
+has an accompanying look thrown either to the short-sighted full-
+complexioned eldest daughter or to the slim, unprepossessing younger
+one, seeking approval from their responsive glances. And, after all,
+poor Mamma Mountainhead, in her ruby velvet and Chantilly lace, has, by
+far, more brains of her own--if she could get a license to use them--
+than either of her daughters have ever admitted within the limits of
+their well-frizzed heads. But who is the apparently devoted admirer of
+Miss Gerty Mountainhead, who is leaning over her chair from behind, with
+the top of his aquiline nose in ridiculous proximity to her very red
+face? Who but Mr. Guy Elersley? There he is, whispering all kinds of
+nothings into the blushing, susceptible ear of dear Miss Gerty, never
+heeding the thought of the lonely girl at the piano in the quiet home of
+his uncle.
+
+Then there is a silvery laugh, and you hear the words--"Well, between
+the Racquet court and the skating rink, and calls, and going out, what
+do you think I could ever do? Why, the day is not half long enough as it
+is."
+
+"Surely not, Miss Dash," a deep voice makes answer in a tone of quiet
+amusement, "you must be dreadfully worried in trying to make things
+harmonize. You are so tired at night that half the morning must go for
+repose, and then--"
+
+Here the speakers moved on and it was seen that Bella Dash was happy on
+the arm of a wealthy bachelor who was fast becoming interesting to all
+female friends, mamas and daughters. It is easy to see at a glance that
+every one is fooling every one else, and the male element in the room is
+absorbing all the real fun.
+
+With the exception of a few newly-appointed civil servants who have
+"made their calls" and run an account at the tailors, the other
+gentlemen are mostly well-versed in the drawing-room slang and will
+certainly not bore their fair partners by discussing anything outside of
+Rideau Hall, or the other fashionable and interesting haunts of gay
+winter festivities. These gallant knights are easily distinguished
+looking around the ball room with half-closed eyes (they are mostly
+short-sighted), or parading their audible element through the room with
+such a lazy drawl--beautifully substituting the _r's_ with a perfectly
+Italianized "aw."
+
+Among these indispensables, were Jack Fairmay, Willie Airey and a great
+many more of our "Sparks Street" elegants. How much better they look on
+a freezing afternoon with their noses blue and their fur caps pulled
+comfortably down over their ears, than in the painfully proper looking
+long-tailed broad cloth and white kids, exactions of society's absolute
+laws.
+
+All the blondes and brunettes of Centre Town and Upper Town and Sandy
+Hill, all the "tony" Post Office clerks, all the young, flourishing,
+embryo and genuine lawyers, doctors, engineers, rich lumber merchants,
+and civil servants, _ad infinitum_ were there.
+
+What a gay picture! What an interesting sight! Who would not love Ottawa
+for its self-made gouty papas and its fat, airy, comfortable mamas?
+Think of the wonderful influence of these thoroughly Christian women on
+the sphere in which they shine. Even in this one gathering can we not
+realize how the improvements and customs of the day cast their benign
+influence over a mighty world, through the rising generation. Those dear
+pretty pink and white dimpled darlings done up in "illusion" and silks,
+how happy it makes one feel only to look at them! This must be the
+nature of the remarks, Guy and another male friend exchange in the bay
+window. Let us draw nearer.
+
+"You're wrong, Bob my dear," Guy is saying, "I agree with you they do
+look like fish-hooks strung in a row, but I heard Miss Nellie Teazle
+tell Mrs. John Prim, that that was the 'Montagu' style; so excuse me for
+contradicting you."
+
+"Oh! don't mention it, the name almost redeems the folly of the thing.
+By the way Elersley, you have been 'going it' in rather a pronounced way
+with Miss Mountainhead to-night. Is it too soon to be the first to
+congratulate?"
+
+"Oh Lord!" Guy smothers the exclamation under his heavy moustache. "You
+might try the names of all the dear ones in succession on me. They're
+just immensely jolly, you know, but I never heard of a young Ottawaite
+in his sane sober senses, go choose his future wife in a ballroom."
+
+Just here, Miss Dash comes up and throws a coquettish look at Guy
+through the opening in the curtains. He nods a temporary good-bye to his
+companion and goes off to claim the next waltz which Miss Dash has
+promised him, and, oh Guy! naughty boy! if he is not saying over the
+identical pretty nothings to Miss Bella, that are yet filling the heart
+of Miss Mountainhead. with a delicious souvenir of him.
+
+In another corner of the room Bob Apley is "spooning" most suggestively
+with the same Miss MacArgent whose "fish-hooks" he has just been
+ridiculing so mercilessly. This of course is pardonable according to the
+world's wise indulgent maxims, especially when we consider that Miss
+MacArgent's father's income, daily, is almost identical with the amount
+of dollars and cents that find their way to the pockets of the
+impecunious Bob in a whole year.
+
+Besides Emily is rather a good-looking specimen of the "foreign" belles
+that winter in Ottawa, and some one even said last winter that one of
+the Governor-General's Aides-de Camp and she--oh! we all know how the
+green-eyed monster tortured the hearts of the poor belles of countless
+seasons, when they saw their indisputable rights usurped by a
+comparative stranger. The two Misses Begg, for instance, who have been
+twenty-five and twenty-six respectively for the last eight years,
+waiting for the turn in their lives, that will never come, have cause
+for bitter complaint. The same faces are here that are ever on
+exhibition as the champion tennis player, the champion skater, another
+an unrivalled waltzer, and some more distinguished vocalists and
+instrumental performers. These grow wearisome once the novelty wears
+off. There is nothing in them besides the foam that blows away after a
+little and leaves no trace of its once august presence.
+
+We will make our adieus gladly to the affected civil servants, the young
+embryo professionals, the rich independent bachelors, the corpulent
+papas and mamas, the famous tennis, skating, singing, dancing and
+playing heroines, and go joyfully back to the snug little parlor of
+Henry Rayne, where sits the only one sensible girl we have seen
+to-night.
+
+She has ceased playing, and is now sitting by a low table with her
+lovely head bent earnestly over a lap full of wool-work. The little
+clock goes ticking on through the noiseless moments that come and go and
+still her busy fingers ply hurriedly through the stitches. At last it is
+ten o'clock and instinctively she rises, puts away her wools and needle,
+and goes over to the chair which yet supports the sleeping figure of
+Henry Rayne.
+
+"Good night, Grandpapa," she says softly in his ear.
+
+He hears the low sweet whisper. Her voice would penetrate the depth of
+death itself for him, he fancies. She said "Grandpapa." She only calls
+him that when she is sad, whenever a sense of bitter loneliness fills
+her heart, making her miss a kind mother and her dear handsome father
+most.
+
+He opens his eyes instantly and raises his hand to draw the pretty bowed
+head closer still to his.
+
+"Good-night, my dear little child. How stupid of me to have dozed here
+all night leaving you by yourself."
+
+"Don't fret, Grandpa dear, I love your company, and all that, but
+remember I am never less alone than when alone, and an evening by myself
+is never lost to me."
+
+"No, my pretty one, but you must grow tired some day thinking so
+incessantly, I must try and distract you; it is dreadful of me to keep
+you housed up, so secluded, when there is so much for your youth and
+beauty to enjoy outside. May be I'm responsible for many a sigh you've
+heaved lately, but it never struck me you see, my pretty darling, that
+our sentiments and sympathies run so widely apart, it is not very
+surprising if an old prosy bachelor should forget to ferret out the
+pleasures of youth, to bestow them on a fair young beautiful thing like
+you,"
+
+"Oh-ho, now dear old Grandpa, you have been sleeping and dreaming of
+somebody you are mistaking for me. Don't fret for not spoiling me more
+than you do. I am pampered enough dear knows. Good-night, I am sleepy
+too, and I think a night's rest would not be detrimental to either of
+us, eh grandfather?" and kissing him tenderly on both cheeks, she
+skipped out through the open doorway and ran up to her own little room.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VIII.
+
+
+  Grace was in all her steps
+  Heaven in her eye
+  In every gesture, dignity and love.
+                              --_Milton._
+
+There was no nonsense about Honor Edgeworth. Anyone should like her.
+There may have been traits in her character that would elicit no
+sympathy from some, but they either forget the extraordinary
+circumstances that influenced her young life, or else they are
+prejudiced against such individuals as she, whose eyes are widely opened
+to all the existing follies and extravagances of her species.
+
+Honor would have grown up and bloomed to ornament a far fairer land than
+Canada, her too enthusiastic nature would have been infinitely better
+developed in another world, but it is useless to sit down and mourn over
+the "might have beens" that are always such a loss to us, because we see
+them, devoid of all the disadvantages realization brings to bear on our
+own sad experience.
+
+Honor was not even one of those exceptionable women created, not out of
+the slime of the earth, but conceived in the romantic mind of some
+extravagant novelist, and brought into the world by his magic pen. No
+indeed, she had certainly a beautiful face, almost a faultless face, but
+how many have cursed the day when first they knew their own beauty! How
+many look back over pages and pages of awful crimes and shameful deeds,
+and the index page, the starting point, is their beautiful face. So do
+not be too hasty in envying the physical perfection or loveliness of
+others. Rejoice that you have it not; the want of it must be your
+salvation. Know well that if it is not yours, it is because the
+possession and consciousness thereof would lead you to evil, and it is
+one of those things for which God has his own wise ends.
+
+Perhaps if Honor had mixed with the feminine world more intimately she
+would not be the standard of maidenly modesty and reserve that she was
+in her nineteenth year; but in her there was an utter absence of that
+self-sufficiency and loudness that is painfully prominent now-a-days in
+the very city we inhabit. And yet in all her meekness and mildness if
+you by look or word injured the extreme sense of delicacy that was the
+under current of all her movements, then--she reared her aristocratic
+chin high in the air and looked down upon you in such scorn and anger,
+as wounded innocence alone can assume. One curl of that splendid lip,
+one flash from that cold grey eye and you did not take long to feel how
+basely you had lowered yourself, and that a pardon craved on your knees
+could scarce half atone for the offence.
+
+What a loss to the social world that women of her stamp are not more
+plentiful! What on earth else can redress social evils if not the
+redeeming influence of good Christian determined women? Why should they
+not hold the key to the good impulses, the moral treasures of mankind as
+well as they wind themselves into the evil nature by enticing the
+susceptible, dealing out gratification to the willing, and dragging
+souls blindfolded into an irremediable eternity?
+
+Physiognomists tell us, if we can not observe it for ourselves, that
+there exists not only that universal difference among things, which
+makes genus, species, classes, etc., but that even among individuals
+there is no perfect resemblance found. There are the general prominent
+traits that serve to classify them, but perhaps there is more difference
+among the individuals of a species, when examined minutely, than there
+would be between individuals of a different genus.
+
+This is so true of the human species, which is difficult to judge
+individually on account of the incessant mysterious hidden workings of
+that ever active faculty of the soul, which manifests itself so
+differently to other eyes through actions and words of greater or less
+import.
+
+This is a digression, but, it came from contemplating the singular
+beauty of one woman's soul, among the tarnished multitude of victims to
+that social levity and those superficial virtues that society honors,
+and with which our modern fashionable women persuade themselves they are
+doing marvels in the world of good.
+
+If I make a paragon of Honor Edgeworth, it is because I can defy any
+broad-minded, unprejudiced critic to find a single grievous fault in her
+character.
+
+Besides the ordinary cultivation of her mind in all its faculties, Honor
+had another and a nobler ambition. She had acquired all the requisite
+knowledge to fit her for any station in life, from that of a nursery
+governess to that of the highest lady in the land. Her learning was not
+a smattering of this and that--a few words of German, a great deal too
+many of her own tongue, a well-studied enthusiasm for Tennyson and
+Longfellow, and may be now and then a word for the "Lake" school poets.
+Who has not met in their long or short run of experience with the modern
+graduate who "perfectly idolized" Tennyson or Byron, who "raved" about
+Shelley's poetical mysticism, or who was "fairly enchanted" with
+Goethe's deep romanticism. In some of her peculiar phases she even
+reckons as items of her illimitable knowledge selections from her
+"favorites" among the French romantics, or the realistic school may be
+more to her taste. She rolls up her eyes for Mozart and Beethoven and
+Gottschalk, but her heart thumps for Offenbach, Lamothe or Strauss. To
+make herself "interesting" in society she has "burned the midnight oil"
+over "David Copperfield," "Dombey and Son," "Jane Eyre," "East Lynne,"
+"Endymion" and other popular volumes as they gain fame. She can sing
+snatches from all the finest operas, in Italian, German or French. She
+can dance the Boston and Rush Polka with unrivalled grace, she can flirt
+and affect the most becoming airs, she never misses a _matinee_ or
+evening performance at the Grand Opera House; she can do the
+"grape-vine" exquisitely on her silver-plated skates, and can toss the
+tennis ball with wonderful dexterity.
+
+All this relates to the effects of the superficial cultivation that our
+women are getting in this century. A mind polished so that the "rough"
+cannot manifest itself, a little veneering of knowledge and showy
+accomplishments, but a heart, alas!--ignored and neglected; the source
+of all womanly perfection blocked up and destroyed--that is the
+sacrifice that will alone appease the world in its most sensual phase of
+to-day, the sacrifice complete and universal of women's hearts. Ah! how
+soon they nourish the briers and thistles of cold indifference and
+unchristian feeling. In opposition to this sad spectacle I come back to
+Honor Edgeworth by her bedside, on her knees, at her evening prayer.
+Here is a woman who has moulded her heart according to the law of
+Christ. "Be ye perfect, as your Heavenly Father is perfect." Here is a
+woman who is learned, wise and simple, gay, light-hearted and pious,
+confiding and discreet, one who can redeem the loss of many because
+temptation assailed her and left her the victor.
+
+Long after Honor lay sleeping peacefully, her pink cheeks buried in the
+soft pillows, Mr. Rayne sat thinking in the armchair below. It was
+growing painfully evident to him that his darling _protégée_ was now
+budding into all the fullness and maturity of womanhood, and had she
+been his own daughter he would have introduced her formally into society
+by now. This was what troubled him. He did not relish the idea of
+sending this fair delicate morsel out among the chills and dangers of a
+cold world. And yet, if influenced by this good intention, he deprived
+her of the seeming advantages that active life in society affords, and
+if in later years she would reproach him as the cause of some misfortune
+or other, what would these probably groundless fears avail him in his
+defence? She was old enough to know danger, and she had spoken to him
+already of the world as though her experience of it was great and
+sufficient. Perhaps all she needed for a final confirmation of her
+opinions of the degradation of that same world was a trial of it. And
+should he wrong her by depriving her of it through a false motive?
+
+Whatever way he turned the argument it looked like a dilemma. He should
+either send her "out" or not. If he pursued the former course, the
+advantages were six, the disadvantages half-a-dozen. If the latter, the
+advantages were twelve, the disadvantages a dozen, so that he found
+himself almost unequal to the solution of the problem.
+
+Bye-and-bye however, he resolved to come to some conclusion, and thus by
+getting angry with himself, he narrowed the two inclinations into one,
+and that assumed the shape of a final decision to give her the same
+chances as Ottawa's other comfortable daughters.
+
+Once his resolution was made, matters grew easy. He would write to a
+widowed cousin who was living a seceded life in Western Ontario,
+inducing her to share his home, and the responsibility that weighed upon
+him of giving his adopted child her due.
+
+This lady had mourned her departed husband in solitary seclusion for
+nigh eight years, and it struck Mr. Rayne on this eventful evening that
+may be she would find pleasure in a change.
+
+Thus was Honor's destiny slowly deciding itself in the troubled mind of
+her benefactor while she lay blissfully unconcious, fast asleep among a
+heap of downy pillows, with one fair hand thrown carelessly over her
+head and a little stray curl or two nestling on her warm flushed brow.
+
+Satisfied with his final judgment, Mr. Rayne called for a light and
+escorted himself to the downy arms of his comfortable bed, and when we
+next take a peep--for of course we've not intruded for the few moments
+he was saying his prayers--he is snoring the snore of the truly heavy
+sleeper, and his big good-natured face scarcely discernible among
+night-cap, pillows and sheets, easily convinces one of the indisputable
+quiescence of the mind's consciousness in slumber.
+
+Is it not almost equivalent to the acomplishment of the deed itself when
+we have fallen asleep the night before with the resolution of performing
+it on the morrow? Is not the wrong almost redressed when we have
+promised our selves to right it at any cost on the morrow? Is not the
+thought itself equal to the vow if we know that with the morning's sun
+we shall rise to make it in reality? One feels all the satisfaction of a
+deed accomplished in anticipation, and God be thanked for this, for how
+many weary souls must have made their last night on earth endurable, by
+the peace of mind that such resolutions infallibly bring.
+
+This explains the comfort and utter heedlessness of Mr Rayne's slumber
+after such a miserable time as he passed arguing against himself in his
+drawing-room. He had vowed that he would broach the tender subject to
+Honor the very next day, and thus free himself from any more hours of
+self-reproach.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IX.
+
+
+  "They say the maxim is not new,
+   That good and evil mixed must be
+  In every thing this world can show."
+
+                           --_Patty_
+
+The next morning dawned a calm, mild day. The snow was knee-deep on the
+ground and covered the housetops with a thick soft mantle. On how many
+utterly different scenes the stray sunbeams rested that winter morning.
+Nearly all the heroines of Miss Teazle's ball were sunk in heavy, tired
+slumber, in rooms strewn with laces and flowers and other fragments of
+last night's dissipation. The poor over-exerted mammas are neither able
+to rise nor to sleep, and their pitiably puckered brows and sour looking
+faces would excite the sympathy of the most cynical misanthrope.
+
+And yet, perhaps if not reminded, some readers would be tasteless enough
+to overlook the noble sacrifice these mothers were making of the comfort
+of their lives in order to "chaperone" their stylish daughters to all
+the haunts of pleasure. These poor fashionable women must indeed drain
+life's cup of bitterness to the dregs, if we can judge from the worldly
+girl's soliloquy.
+
+  Who rigs herself in satins light,
+  And goes to parties every night,
+  To chaperone her daughters bright?
+    My mother
+
+  Who eats late suppers to her grief,
+  Of jellied turkeys and roast beef,
+  And finds no dyspeptic relief
+    My mother
+
+  Who tries to talk with pompous air,
+  And saturates with dye her hair,
+  To gratify her daughters fair?
+    My mother
+
+  Who snubs our neighbor Mrs. Bell,
+  In poorer days we knew so well,
+  And tales of woe did often tell?
+    My mother
+
+  Who calls at Ridleau and all round,
+  Where rank and titles do abound,
+  And boasts of cousins newly found?
+    My mother
+
+  Who fears to bow to poorer kin,
+  For fear her daughters will begin
+  To growl and scold as though 'twere sin!
+    My mother.
+
+I give the intelligent reader ten minutes to pause and moralize after
+digestion.
+
+I anticipate the look of stupid wonder that must necessarily envelope
+the face. If there is so much in individual influence in the lower
+circle, what can one expect from the multitude that must submit to a
+thousand other decrees coming imperatively from the infallible (?) lips
+of society herself? How can we do otherwise than substitute for truth
+and simplicity, deception and affectation? What else can we do but fail
+to recognise one another in the characters we are forced to assume? Is
+it surprising that good and wise men from their corners of seclusion
+call the world degenerate, and wonder at the persistent wrong-doing of
+those who are the work of such merciful hands? Strange to say, most of
+us know, or pretend to know, that life is all deception; that the world
+itself, and those who belong to it are essentially, almost necessarily,
+selfish; that the goodness and charity which circulate at rare intervals
+are only the superfluidities of comfort, proceeding from no generous
+impulse whatever. It is not dealt out at the sacrifice of a crust of
+bread. It is given so that it may not be left.
+
+Oh, the weakness of humanity after nineteen centuries of fortification!
+Oh, the despicable degradation of a race conceived in an Eternal Mind,
+created by an Infinite Hand, redeemed by the voluntary sacrifice of a
+God, and sanctified by the Spirit that pervades the universe!
+
+Knowing this, realizing this, as most of us do, why do we not make a
+move towards independence? Not the independence of the State, that
+gratifies the paltry ambition of thousands, not that social independence
+whose meaning has of late been so shamefully misapplied, not even the
+individual independence that satisfies many. These are but names. I mean
+that independence that leaves one unfettered by one's self, that makes
+one victor over one's own evil tendencies and impulses--for man has no
+enemy so cunning as himself. If he cannot conquer his own inclinations
+to error, how is he going to subdue them in others?
+
+If we are slaves, mentally and morally to our sensual selves--if we
+raise the material element above the spiritual within us, we then lose
+the right of opinion on good or evil, for a man that is passion's slave
+is the mouth-piece of evil, and an active agent of the enemy of mankind!
+If we open our volumes of literature, every page bears a reflection of
+some kind on these things.
+
+For instance, see what a great writer says, speaking of the deception in
+life:
+
+         "I am weary
+  Of the bewildering masquerade of life--
+  Where strangers walk as friends and friends as strangers,
+  Where whispers overhead betray false hearts;
+  And through the mazes of the crowd we chase
+  Some form of loveliness that smiles and beckons.
+  And cheats us with fair words, to leave us
+  A mockery and a jest, maddened, confused--
+  Not knowing friend from foe."
+
+Every one who chooses to think at all has a thought in common on the
+question. In a biography of George Eliot, Hutton speaks of the manners
+of good society as "a kind of social costume or disguise which is in
+fact much more effective in concealing how much of depth ordinary
+characters have, and in restraining the expression of universal human
+instincts and feelings, than in hiding individualities the
+distinguishing inclinations, talents, bias and tastes of those who
+assume them. After all, what we care chiefly to know of men and women is
+not so much their special bias or tastes as the general depths and mass
+of the human nature that is in them--the breadth and power of their
+life, its comprehensiveness of grasp, its tenacity of instinct, its
+capacity for love and its need for trust."
+
+I fear we will never find this among the leading men and women of our
+day. Great minds, like George Eliot's, when they wish to spend their
+genius in written books, will leave the lighted hall where refinement
+and _bon-ton_ hold their nightly revels, and will descend to the huts of
+laborers and mechanics that form one distinct phase of English life.
+Like Charlotte Bronte, and some others, she seeks substance for her work
+in a true, open character, and that is rarely found among the educated
+classes, who learn from books to unlearn the lessons of nature.
+
+We will now leave the "lollipop" darlings of material nature and pass on
+out of their dishevelled untidy rooms, leaving their painted faces and
+powdered heads to spin out the late morning among the blankets,--and
+seek gratification elsewhere. It is breakfast-time in Henry Rayne's
+house and the curling steam rises in graceful clouds from the hot tasty
+dishes that Mrs. Potts concocts with so much art. Honor, Nanette and Mr.
+Rayne are as usual the only participants of the wholesome things. Honor
+has just come in, fresh and rosy, all smiles as she steps up to Mr.
+Rayne's chair with a cheery good-morning. Then kneeling beside her
+guardian, and looking into his kindly face, she says shyly:
+
+"I have something to tell you all, a surprise, and don't begin breakfast
+before you know it. If I were not a little orphan this morning, I would
+let it pass likely, but having only you and Nanette I must tell you,
+that you may not spare your kind wishes for me. To-day is my twentieth
+birthday!"
+
+Mr. Rayne rose instantly to his feet and his eyes looked suspiciously
+moist as he kissed her tenderly on the brow. Then Honor turned to
+Nanette, but the poor woman was weeping mournfully in her blue
+handkerchief.
+
+"I'll never forgive myself," she was saying, "to have forgotten your
+birthday above everything else, and your dear kind father when he gave
+you to me, a tiny thing in my arms, said, 'she will be a year the 24th
+February, don't ever forget the day,' and there it slipped from me this
+time and I never thought of it."
+
+Honor flung her arms round the old creature's neck and drowned her
+reproaches in a volley of kisses.
+
+"Don't mind that Nanny dear, say you wish me a good Christian life for
+the next year and you will have done your duty."
+
+"God grant it you, my pretty child."
+
+"Amen," answered Mr. Rayne's deep voice as he left the room.
+
+Honor looked up surprised, but in a few moments her guardian returned
+with a morocco jewel case in his hands. He placed it in hers, saying,
+"My you live to wear it out in goodness and virtue, and may God spare
+you from the snares of this wicked world."
+
+With trembling fingers Honor opened the little box which revealed to
+view a spangling collection of diamonds. It was an oval locket,
+profusely set with diamonds with her initials turned artfully on the
+surface. Inside were the miniature pictures of her father and mother.
+She laid down the costly gift and went over to her benefactor with
+tear-dimmed eyes. She put both her slender arms around his neck and
+pressed one long fervent kiss upon the old man's brow.
+
+"Are you determined, dear Mr. Rayne, to put me under an everlasting
+obligation to you? Are you not satisfied with bestowing those tokens
+that I might in time repay by constant love and care, without forcing
+such a splendid gift as this on me? Really your kindness begins to make
+me uncomfortable, for it is amounting to a debt I can never repay. And
+where did you get these dear, dear pictures, and how did you have it
+ready and all for my birthday?"
+
+"Well, my dear, say we sit down and I'll answer all your questions to
+the music of knives and forks. I have had a miniature likeness of your
+father in my possession for many years, and it had often struck me, if I
+could but procure one of your mother's too, how it would please me to
+have them set together in a locket for you. The other day I was taken
+nicely out of my dilemma by finding an old-fashioned locket of yours by
+the fire in the library. I borrowed it for the short space of a few days
+until I had copies taken from it, and then Nanette kindly slipped it
+back into your jewel-case for me. I then ordered the little receptacle
+that you have admired so much and I only received the whole last night.
+Strangely enough too, that it should have come just in time. I would
+have given it to you immediately anyway, because of something I am going
+to discuss with you in the library after breakfast."
+
+Honor was still looking intently down at the open case beside her plate
+when he finished the last sentence, but she looked up suddenly as he
+ceased, with a glance of eager inquiry in her eyes.
+
+"It may startle you, Honor, or may not, but we'll see to that."
+
+A little more rattling of plates and cutlery, a few more clouds of steam
+from the rich coffee, a series of disconnected gay sentences and
+ejaculations and the meal was over. The grave tones of Mr. Rayne's voice
+filled the room in a prayer of thanksgiving, and with the last echo of
+the "Amen," Honor and her guardian came out from the dining-room into
+the library arm in arm.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER X.
+
+
+         "Her life, I said
+  Will be a volume wherein I have read
+  But the first chapters, and no longer see
+  To read the rest of the dear history."
+                                   --_Longfellow_
+
+Honor had just taken up her crocheting and was plying her needle busily
+when Mr Rayne drew his heavy leathern chair opposite to the fire and
+began:
+
+"Well, my dear little girl, here you are a young woman all at once on my
+hands, and to me you are yet the childish little thing you were three
+years ago in the railway carriage at the Manchester Depot. But the world
+won't see things to suit a short-sighted old bachelor like me, and
+according to that omnipotent, omniscient world, it is now my duty to
+introduce you into society, to bring you 'out' into Ottawa life, that
+you may make a display of all the accomplishments which fortune has
+bestowed upon you. I will introduce you to a world that will not
+hesitate in appreciating all the physical, mental, and moral beauty, you
+may choose to display in it. My duty will then be completed for another
+while. Now what is your opinion on it? You will have Mrs. D'Alberg, my
+widowed cousin from Guelph, to chaperone you, you have 'carte blanche'
+as regards toilet expenditure, and my house is open and at your service
+henceforth."
+
+All along a smile of slow astonishment had been creeping over Honor's
+beautiful face, but instead of any showy enthusiasm either way, as Mr.
+Rayne had certainly expected, she straightened out the rosette of lace
+work on her knee and clapped it with her little palm. Then drawing a
+long breath she said:
+
+"So! it has come to this. Well, my dear Mr. Rayne, if my position in
+your house exacts an _entree_ into society, I most willingly go forth to
+it, though had you never spoken of it, it had never entered my mind. I
+am prejudiced, it is true, against society, but I defy its influence
+over me. Every woman owes her mite to the social world, and consequently
+I owe mine, so as soon as you wish it Mr. Rayne, I am yours to command."
+
+She had scarcely finished the words when the door was flung open and the
+words and air of "I'll live for love or die" filled the room. He was
+just continuing "I'll live for lo--"
+
+"O pardon, a hundred thousand times, Miss Edgeworth and uncle, I didn't
+really think the room was inhabited at such an early hour in the
+morning, but the fact that it is, only enchants me all the more, I
+assure you."
+
+"Well, well, Guy, you are a 'case.' How are you this morning? Have you
+breakfasted?"
+
+"Well, uncle, I thank you; and to your second kind query, I respectfully
+beg to inform you that I helped to clear away Mrs. Best's table this
+morning very perceptibly. Not that I had any particular relish for her
+compositions--which were yesterday's lunch and last night's dinner done
+over _a la Francay_--Rooshan-hash-up! but then a fellow by natural
+instinct owes himself the indispensable duty of eating his breakfast,
+and as a slave to duty, I, this morning, about an hour ago, ate my
+breakfast."
+
+"Well, for goodness sake! as a duty to your fellow-creatures talk sense.
+Here, sit down," Mr. Rayne continued, rising himself, "I must excuse
+myself for half-an-hour. I've not had a look at the _Citizen_ yet, and I
+must be off soon to official duties."
+
+Guy Elersley was well satisfied to be a substitute in Mr. Rayne's vacant
+chair. He had not laid himself out for such good luck when he turned
+into his uncle's on this eventful morning, so his appreciation was
+consequently all the more vivid.
+
+"You're bright and early, Honor, for a young lady on a winter morning,"
+he said, as he drew his chair towards the fire.
+
+"Not unusually so for Honor Edgeworth--and that means a young lady,
+doesn't it?"
+
+"That's right; snub a fellow right and left when he forgets to isolate
+you from the whole living, breathing creation. Then you are not bright
+and early--will that do?"
+
+"My dear Mr. Elersley," said Honor, in a provokingly placid way, "don't
+exert yourself so violently in contradicting your own free, unextracted
+observations. You can amuse me in a dozen other different ways as well."
+
+"Oh, bother! Come now, Honor, leave off that ice water business, and
+give a fellow a word of welcome after being out in the cold. Put away
+that bundle of thread you're fooling with there this half-hour. You have
+not taken your eyes from off it yet, nor spoken a decent word since I
+came in."
+
+"Oh, dear!" said Honor, drawing a feigned sigh, "I suppose when a
+child's spoiled it's spoiled, that's all, and you must humor it." "Now,"
+folding up her work, "what have you to say worth the trouble you've
+given me?"
+
+"Oh nothing I could tell you would be that in your opinion. I was at a
+big 'shine' last night at Miss Teazle's, and feasted my eyes on all
+Ottawa has to show in the way of female loveliness."
+
+"And you have come to spend the gush of your emotions consequent to such
+a feast on me, have you?"
+
+"No, Honor, I have not. I did see deuced pretty girls, but the emotion,
+as you call it, vanished as I handed the last fair bundle of shawls into
+her carriage. While the light burns, you know, the moth hangs around it,
+but when the flame goes out, spent in a weary flicker, after 'braving
+it' for a whole night, the moth goes to roost, when he has not been
+singed, or otherwise personally damaged without insurance. Well, what
+are you thinking of now? when you cross your arms, bury your gaze in the
+fire and strike your slipper with such measured beat on the fender, I
+know you're not paying much attention to what I am saying."
+
+She drew a long breath as though no answer were required, and then in a
+quiet, low tone she said,
+
+"Guy, do not talk in that light way of any woman. I know what you men
+have long accustomed yourselves to believe--that woman was made
+purposely for your pleasure; 'Man for God only, _she_ for God in
+him,'--but, all the same that does not exact the ratification of Heaven.
+If my sisters of Ottawa society, with whom you one moment amuse
+yourself, and the next amuse your listeners with a recital of their
+follies, are weak enough to seek to gratify you and your kind, 'tis not
+that such a weakness is a natural inheritance, for every woman who
+realizes her true worth, knows what a grand mission is before her, and
+consequently crushes such an absurd theory as fashionable women are
+brought up to believe from their infancy. Perhaps I am too sensitive on
+this point, if such a thing could be, but it is the awful wrong which is
+being done to our sex that fires my indignation thus. And then there are
+those poor deluded 'ornamental women' who sanction that outrage on their
+own dignity by sitting with folded hands, taking in all the nonsense
+which is dealt out to them when they should gather up their skirts and
+shrink away from you as their inveterate enemies. False faces lead them
+astray, but there are others who see behind them."
+
+"Yes, by Jove! And you are one who can see through the hair of a
+fellow's head. Well, Honor, it's plain to see, that you and I cannot
+agree. There's an involuntary performance of 'rhyme' for you, excuse me
+for so doing, but I could not withhold it. I said that we don't agree,
+and it is true. You are quite too tremendously proper for me, and I am
+just too 'galoptiously' awful for you. So begin to maul that wool over
+again, and I'll go to my respectable office in the respectable Eastern
+Block, and there I am sure of finding half-a-dozen eager friends with
+their pens behind their ears wheeled around on their office stools,
+quite ready to hear all the 'news' that you reject with such dignity."
+
+"Then go. Sow your seed in fertile ground; but if you speak so lightly
+of any woman in presence of an office full of men, as you do to me, I
+cry,--shame on you and your listeners."
+
+She had taken the soft bundle of crochet work in her lap again, and as
+she bent her indignant face over its intricate stitches, Guy could not
+help acknowledging to himself, that this was the fairest vision man had
+ever beheld. How was it that her name never crossed his lips in fun? He
+would have torn the tongue from its roots before uttering hers in jest.
+He stood at the door, with the knob in his hand, trying to extract one
+word of earnest friendship from her, but the serious frown never relaxed
+itself on her brow, and her mouth was set and stern. He could not stand
+this. He thought if it was only any other girl--any of Miss Teazle's
+heroines, he could pooh-pooh it so easily, but Honor was not one of them
+at all--his heart told him that. He left his place at the door and was
+at her side instantly. She looked quietly up and said nothing. He felt
+as though the words would not come, and the wee small voice said
+"another time," so he merely reassumed his old way, and said:
+
+"Good morning, Honor. Don't send a fellow off in the blues. Come now,
+smile just the least little bit and speed me away with a charitable
+word." Then the sweet red lips parted, and looking up from her work, she
+said:
+
+"I absolve you, Guy. Good morning."
+
+"Well, I'll make hay while the sun shines, and be off, for if I delay a
+minute I shall have a dozen more pardons to ask. By, bye!"
+
+He closed the door and was gone, but though his hurried steps brought
+him further and further away from the form he loved, yet his thoughts
+were of her, his heart beat for her, and his memory dwelt upon each
+little word she had spoken.
+
+Honor sat as most of us do very often in our lives, with the same smile
+on her face which had absolved Guy at parting. If we meet a friend and
+are pleased, the smile of recognition lingers on our faces long after he
+has passed. If we have heard a pleasant word, the gratification is
+evident on our countenances, long after the words have died; and the
+same with unpleasant or sorrowful things. I suppose our memory is
+necessarily a slow faculty, and only revives the expression of our
+emotion just as that caused by the first experience is dying away. Any
+one could tell by Honor's face, that she was thinking of pleasant
+things. Thence we may know it was no 'clairvoyant' tendency on the part
+of Mr. Rayne, that on entering the room the ne moment, he exclaimed:
+
+"So you're spinning your threads in the sunlight, my pet, are you?"
+
+Honor started--"Sunlight? Yes, I think the sun will be up presently."
+
+"Oh, you distracted child! I am talking of the sunlight of your
+thoughts." Here both joined in a hearty laugh, and Mr. Rayne having
+thrown aside the well dissected _Citizen_, re-deposited himself in the
+arm-chair by Honor's side. He came too to make hay while the sun shone,
+and the smile on Honor's face indicated that much.
+
+"You see, that fellow Guy interrupted us just in the beginning of our
+discourse--but perhaps it was just as well, for something has since
+happened that throws a new light on the subject. With this morning's
+mail came a document from Turin to me, from your father's bankers,
+Honor. It seems from the copy of an original letter written by your
+father, that he wished to test my friendship by holding me responsible
+for his daughter's welfare and comfort, and he therefore apparently
+represented you to me as entirely dependent on my bounty. Even as such,
+it was an immense gratification to me to take you, and at the risk of
+all I own nou I could not let you go, but it seems your diplomatic
+father--and my best friend--had arranged it so, that if, after a short
+period, I had performed the duties of a true friend towards you,
+supplying you with the necessary comforts and wants out of my own
+pocket, that on your birthday at the end of that time, which is to-day,
+this document should be forarded to me. The surprising and intensely
+gratifying news concerns only you, it makes not the slightest matter to
+me," and so speaking, he handed her the least formidable looking letter
+of a pile of correspondence. She read it with dilated eyes and confused
+look generally, and laid it down only with this difference actually to
+her, that she had in her own realization, in one short moment been
+suddenly transformed from Mr. Rayne's dependent waif into a richly
+endowed heiress, independent and free. A small change indeed for Honor
+Edgeworth. It had not power to chisel in finer style the features of her
+handsome face, nor the power to direct into her heart a purer, holier or
+more worthy sense of duty than already reigned there. No, it could make
+her no better. Hers was not a nature susceptible to the ready influences
+of evil, and so she experienced none of that material delight which
+generally is the result of such a change for the world's ordinary ones.
+The only gratification it afforded her was, that now she could repay Mr.
+Rayne for his untiring kindness, she could deck Nanette in "decent"
+attire, and give such little alms as she longed to distribute with Mr.
+Rayne's money. She folded the letter carefully back into its primitive
+creases and handed it to Mr. Rayne, saying,
+
+"I thought I should have had to repay your unlimited kindness to me by
+love, sincerity and gratitude alone; and though this would have been an
+easy debt to liquidate, so far as my sentiments went, yet, it seems
+Providence has not tired of heaping favors upon my head, and I can add
+to my other offering this new found treasure. But I think, Mr Rayne, had
+this gold mine never opened beneath our feet, we would still be the same
+to one another, I know"--and as she spoke she rose and threw herself
+into the old man's arms--"you, who have been both parents to me when I
+was alone and penniless, who surrounded me with comforts and luxuries,
+cannot now be cold to me because I no longer need to be dependent. You
+have made your home and your kind watchfulness a necessity to me, now
+will you not let us be the same as ever with one another? I do not want
+to be a rich heiress if I must thereby cease to be 'your own Honor,' and
+'your own favorite.'"
+
+The old man's eyes were wet with tears. He pressed the girlish figure
+close to him and kissed the fair, flushed cheek.
+
+"We will speak no more of it, darling," he said, "let it be as though
+nothing had happened, only you must no longer hesitate to accept the
+many little favors that, up to this, you persistently refused--
+henceforth _I_ am _yours_ to command when you want something. But, about
+your _début_ child, I want you to consult some one else on that matter,
+for you must be as fine to look at as all the rest. You can be ready as
+soon as you please, for Mrs D'Alberg will be here shortly, I requested
+an immediate answer."
+
+Honor looked thoughtfully into the fire. "This is all so strange," she
+said, "but Destiny is Destiny, I suppose, and Fate is Fate."
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XI.
+
+
+  "A sadder and a wiser man
+  He rose the morrow--morn."
+       --Coleridge
+
+"Well, I did not think this at the very worst," Mr. Rayne said over a
+newly received letter to Honor. "Here's the long expected news from
+Guelph, and my cousin says she would find it so convenient for you to go
+up, just for a week and she would come back with you. There are so many
+things for her to settle, and besides you would see a little bit of life
+in the meantime. Now, how in the world are we going to live without
+sunshine or daylight for a week, eh?"
+
+"Oh, Mr. Rayne, you spoil me! But, does Mrs. D'Alberg really want me to
+go to her? If it is not very far away, and you have no particular
+objection, I think I'd rather like to go."
+
+"Of course you would," echoed the generous words of Henry Rayne, "and
+why would'nt you? I am too selfish to live. It will make a nice little
+trip and you'll feel all the more refreshed when you get back. But,
+think of how soon you must go--to-morrow morning at the latest, I tell
+you. So, now be active, my dear. Run and tell Nanette to get your things
+ready, and I'll drop a note to Guy to come and make himself useful."
+
+Honor bounded off under the influence of the first experience of a new
+anticipation--that of shifting the scenes, for no matter how short an
+act. She was going among new faces for a little while. What a break in
+the monotony of her present quiet life.
+
+When the hastily written note reached Guy's boarding-house, he was
+absent. It was as a rule rather hard to find Guy when he was wanting;
+but, I doubt if he ever regretted his absence more than be did on this
+particular night. I would not care to shock my innocent readers
+unnecessarily by telling the hours that brought Guy Elersley to his room
+that night, nor the circumstances that caused him to dream such
+frightful things through his broken slumber. Some of them either from
+having been there before or from close observation could suspect one of
+Guy's worst failings at the sight of his dim sleepy eyes, his straggling
+cravat and half-buttoned coat, as well as by the thick utterances he
+hummed to himself, intended no doubt for the familiar strains of his
+favorite "Warrior Bold" or "In the Gloaming," but, nevertheless
+differing from them as much as they resembled them.
+
+Oh, Guy! who, among your high-toned lady friends on Sparks Street
+to-morrow will recognize in you the fast midnight rambler, that the pale
+winter moon and the cold silent stars see in you to-night? You, the
+brilliant one of Ottawa's best drawing-rooms, ejaculating all the hard
+words you know, because you can't open the door with a lead pencil, nor
+find the handle on the wrong side. How well you have learned the art of
+veneering your character! Is it then such a breach of Christian charity
+to discuss on open pages, Guy Elersley by daylight, and Guy Elersley by
+lamplight? Any one given to moralizing, may surely ask the ladies of
+Ottawa, if they have ever stopped to think those simple things over. If
+all their acknowledged purity, dignity and womanly attraction were worth
+no more than to lay them within the ready grasp of the sons of this
+century of materialism! Do they never realize how infinitely superior
+they are to the men of their own days, and do they ever treat them with
+the contempt and indifference that are at best their due? If such were
+indeed the case, woman would be more independent in her social standing
+than she is to-day, but, I blush to say it--there are those among
+Ottawa's fair ones, who are flattered by the attentions and compliments
+of such as live these two lives of daylight and lamp-light;--flattered
+that an arm should encircle their waists in the dance, which is unworthy
+of cleaning the shoes they wear, or sweeping the ground they
+tread,--flattered by the attentions and flighty words falling from lips
+across whose threshold comes the foul breath of sin and dissipation.
+Such is the dignity of the youth of our century; such is the brazen
+insolence which causes them to establish themselves as the social equals
+of well bred women.
+
+Oh, for the long sought day of woman's emancipation, when she will be
+free, in her own right, to scorn from the pedestal of her superiority,
+the audacity of the man who shows himself by daylight to the world to be
+that high society exacts from him, but whose superficial virtues set
+with the evening sun, leaving in their temporary dwelling place, the
+craving of material nature to be gratified. Such are the heroes of our
+popular novels, such are the heroes of our actual society, such are our
+male relatives, and yet women seem to be satisfied that things should
+remain thus. If every woman would determine within herself to accomplish
+the whole or part of the grand mission that is at the mercy of her own
+hands, how soon would we have cause to rejoice and thank Providence for
+the great reformation in morals which must be a necessary consequence of
+such a determination?
+
+Perhaps it is wandering too far away from a simple recital, and giving
+more than its real depth to the tenor of our Ottawa society, to indulge
+in this strain. If it be just as pleasant, we will return to Guy who has
+gained admission by this time. He goes over to the table that stands
+opposite his bedroom door. He has left matches and lamp convenient, and
+proceeds to light them. The first thing which attracted his stupid
+glance was the note in his uncle's handwriting, lying conspicuously on
+the white linen cover. But this was, after Guy's nightly carousing--the
+most usual thing in the world, and with a word that signified how
+secondary his uncle's note was, beside the attempt to reach the bed, he
+pushed it carelessly aside and proceeded to get himself out of his
+clothes as well as his nervous limbs permitted him. We may be a "little
+hard" on Guy's species _selon_ the current ideas of justice. We know
+that many are addressed through Guy Elersley, and this indirect way is
+adopted of telling them how far below the mark of feminine appreciation
+they fall in attempting to throw dust in our eyes. As if every
+circumstance of the times was not calculated to impress more firmly upon
+us how unworthy the world is becoming of us. We may hold out our hands
+one to another, for there is none else worthy to give the responsive
+grasp. Young men of the nineteenth century, be assured that because you
+are tolerated in society, and because ladies deign to blend their lives
+in a measure with yours, it does not follow that they approve of the
+masques you are wearing, and which deceive yourselves far more than they
+do others. On the contrary, it foretells the advent of the day of our
+freedom, for, in the performance of our respective social duties towards
+you, we make the last acts of humiliation to complete the sacrifice
+before the reward is given us. Of course, if we met Guy Elersley
+to-morrow morning, the fetters of society would force us to feign an
+utter ignorance of such a mode of living among our gentlemen friends. We
+must take it for granted that from sunset till sunrise, Guy was not
+"sleeping the sleep of the Bacchanal," and we need not fear that _he_
+will betray himself.
+
+With aching head and parched lips, Guy Elersley opened his eyes on the
+tell-tale surroundings of his room the morning after "the night before."
+With the first break of sleep in the quivering of his lashes memory was
+at work. So long as she remains a faithful servant at all, her mission
+is waylaying us early and late. From the confused state of things around
+him, Guy gathered that he must have reached his resting place under
+difficulties, his feet reposed luxuriantly on the downy pillows, while
+his poor head was resting on the spare end of Mrs Best's second worst
+mattress. That his vest lay in an unpretending heap on the floor, from
+which his watch had rolled resignedly into an old slipper, did not
+disconcert him so much as his having left his new gaiters where the
+household puppy conveniently got at them destroying any possibility of a
+future reunion of their parts.
+
+If a man ever wishes to repent of his yesterdays, let him contemplate
+them all over during his waking hours in the morning. Then, indeed, is
+his time. He becomes ashamed before the monotonous rose-bushes that
+speck the wall, and as his wandering orbs scan the picture-nails and the
+cobwebs in search of distraction, he will realize the necessity of
+amendment more fully than the eloquence of a multitude could paint it.
+It was the weariness of this new realization that caused Guy to stretch
+out his hand for his uncle's neglected note of last night, seeking as he
+thought, something therein that need not remind a fellow of what he knew
+"deuced" well already. As his glance fell on the page, his brow
+contracted into a slow puzzled look, and as he finished the last word he
+started up. It was now after nine o'clock and Honor was far on her
+journey. The note was dated 5 p.m. He would have received it time enough
+if he had not squandered away his hours from his room, but now she was
+gone and there was no excuse he could offer to satisfy himself.
+
+It is necessary that we should part from some friends to know how much
+we love them, and this necessity visited Guy in its most cruel phase.
+Poor fellow!--After all, he was so much the victim of circumstances. The
+consciousness of his own weakness only made him weaker, and his
+knowledge of the infidelity and inconsistency in his character only
+caused him to resist, as useless, impulses towards stability and
+firmness. Now he regretted with his whole soul that he had not come home
+like any christian, at a proper bed-time, then he would have learned the
+news soon enough to have bade her good-bye. Even if he had read it when
+he saw it for the first time, the news it bore would have dispelled the
+mist that other influences had gathered around his senses. What could he
+do now? He must make the best of a very bad case and go immediately to
+his uncle's house where he expected to hear some tidings of the girl he
+loved.
+
+If any man ever looked thoroughly disgusted with himself in his life,
+Guy Elersley surely did, on this eventful morning, as he sauntered along
+from his boarding-house to Mr. Rayne's. His sentiments were most likely
+those that form an item of the very smallest experience, when its victim
+is forced to realize that he has made a very unwilling sacrifice
+voluntarily; that he himself is the remote, proximate, direct and
+indirect cause of his own misfortune. Still, this was the only room for
+hope left in Guy. So long as a man condemns himself before his own
+tribunal, making of his inner self the truthful witness and impartial
+judge, those interested in his spiritual welfare may know that there is
+yet a lingering susceptibility, to a better influence than that which
+caused him to do wrong. That such a susceptibility does yet flicker in
+the hearts of Ottawa's young sons, I have reason to hope; for there is
+an impulse in some of us that leads us into the minds and souls of one
+another, there to deposit a judgment or a sympathy, or whatever our
+nature suggests at sight of our neighbor's failings. In obeying such an
+impulse one can easily peer through the conventional veil which screens
+such phases of human character under the meaningless appellations of
+"Blues," or "Indisposition." They are truly the visible effect of a
+secret hidden cause, which is sometimes brought to the surface by the
+magnetic power of one who has studied human faces and characters. So,
+_en passant_, it may be as well to kindly suggest to such "blue" friends
+that it were often better to lay bare the veritable cause of such a
+gloomy feeling, for those before whom they wear the veil are surely
+persons whose opinion they esteem or whose judgment they fear, and if so
+they are not so easily blinded as one would think, their deception only
+serves to render them still more odious. Yet there is no blame to Guy
+for having gone on his way this morning in such a mood. When he met Miss
+Dash at the first crossing it was the most natural thing in the world
+for him to say, "this 'dyspeptic' feeling causes it all," when she
+stared in open-eyed wonder at his worn out face and variegated eyes. It
+was breakfast-time when he closed his uncle's door after him, and he was
+sure to obtain _téte-à-téte_ alone with the old man, now that Honor was
+gone, but he did not think the picture would have changed, into such a
+sad one as presented itself to his eyes when he opened the door of the
+breakfast-room. Mr. Rayne was sitting moodily in his chair, staring
+vacantly at his untasted meal, with his hands folded listlessly before
+him. At the sound of a voice he smiled and started, but on seeing the
+intruder the brightness died out again, and he only said, "Good-morning,
+my boy," in a very quiet tone.
+
+"So you are all alone once more, uncle," said Guy, trying to make the
+best attempt he could under the circumstances, "Honor's flight was
+rather sudden, wasn't it?"
+
+"Too sudden to secure your services when they were needed, I think."
+
+"Well, yes, uncle, I was not in when your note came, and only saw it
+this morning for the first time, when it was too late to do anything,
+but I am really sorry. Will she not be back in a day or two?"
+
+"I hope so. I hope so," Mr. Rayne answered, more to himself than to Guy.
+"I had grown quite accustomed to the darling."
+
+"Yes, so had I," said Guy, under his moustache, "but" (aloud) "the
+little trip will make quite a change for her, and the time won't be long
+until her return."
+
+A few more very laconic remarks followed, and then Guy began to think it
+was rather stupid, and in consequence made a move towards the door. This
+made matters a little brighter, for Mr. Rayne became more animated, and
+turning his chair towards the receding figure of his nephew, said,
+
+"Hold on a minute, Guy, I want you before you go," and to lessen the
+moments of waiting, he raised his cup and drank it at one long draught,
+then he rose and led Guy into the cosy library opposite.
+
+Whenever Mr. Rayne was about to impose any new duty on his nephew, he
+assumed a stern air that showed a tendency towards the imperative,
+rather than the interrogative. He had never said, "Guy, will you do this
+or that," it was always, "Guy, I wish you to do this--you must do such a
+thing for me," and accustomed to the like from his early youth, Guy
+never sought to hesitate, or dispute his uncle's will in anything.
+Whenever Mr. Rayne pushed his glasses up on his forehead and began by
+saying, "I am getting old and work is no longer light," Guy recognised
+the _avant-coureur_ of some new duty devolving upon him, and this was a
+phase of this morning's experience.
+
+"I wish copies made of all these documents, Guy," said his uncle in a
+business tone, while one hand rested on a prosy looking heap of legal
+forms, "and as it is serious work I cannot leave it out of my
+possession, so you must come in during your spare hours, now that Honor
+is away, and help me to write them over; it will keep us both busy
+during her absence, and leave us free on her return. I will expect you
+this evening before tea, and to make matters more convenient for all
+hands, I wish you to remain here until Honor's return. You may occupy
+the spare room, and time will not be quite so dull as otherwise."
+
+"Very well, uncle," said Guy; but oh! what a hornble misery crept into
+his heart at the mention of such a thing. Visions of all the most
+outrageous difficulties possible, in the career of a fast young man,
+rose before his mind, and the consciousness of his lack of courage
+caused a shudder to pass through his frame. It must have been apparent,
+that Mr. Rayne entertained suspicions of this "boy," and resolved to
+stand between him and immediate danger if he could. This might have been
+Guy's salvation, if his eyes had not been blinded by the delusive
+flattery of the world to which he belonged. He only bowed under it as
+the most weighty of his crosses, and trusted to that fate that often
+shields the wrong-doer from observation, to turn the tables in his
+favor.
+
+It was painfully evident to Guy this morning, that his uncle was in very
+stern humor, and that nothing but square dealing on his own part could
+sustain even the trembling balance that existed between them. One word,
+one little wrong deed now, and Guy fancied the fertile looking future
+realizing itself to him in that awful destitution which haunts the
+average civil servant, who has no pillar of pedigree to sustain him. It
+was the hardest policy of his life, to gather all his visible deeds
+under the approval of his good uncle, and yet he tried to bear these
+things patiently as one might a kick from the King. He saw a fair vision
+among the "to be's," if he behaved himself, and is not such an aim as
+that, the only one in the sunset of the nineteenth century?
+
+Feeling "all over," as he thought, he left his uncle's house that
+morning filled with a firmer conviction than ever, that he was one of
+the world's unfortunates. Try as hard as we will, it is tough work
+living up to other people's principles, for now and then the most clever
+of us fail to interpret them aright and accordingly commit a fault.
+
+It seemed rather cruel to poor Guy, as he sauntered along towards his
+office, that the plans he had so easily made for the next fortnight's
+distraction, should be frustrated thus in a moment. It is so "deuced"
+hard for a conceited sensitive fellow to bear the taunts of his more
+free and independent companions, when he is forced to decline their
+invitation to "come along." It is not natural that a man, able to stand
+his ground against evil counsellors, showing himself morally superior to
+them, should then fear their insolent remarks, or their unchristian
+judgment. We know it, each one for himself, that when we jibe or
+ridicule a good impulse in another, it is evidence of our weakness and
+incapacity to experience the same feeling ourselves, and it is the
+momentary hatred of envy that suggests a taunt or a mocking word on the
+firm resolution of our companion. But unless the conscience of youth be
+not obliterated now while it is so weak, the world fears there can be no
+other such chance again, and what else can hush its "wee small voice,"
+like the ring of sarcasm or the jeering of brave cowards?
+
+Guy's was one of those pliable souls that bent under every influence
+alike. How then, could he endure the scorn of "the boys" when he must
+tell them that his spare moments were already occupied? He began to miss
+Honor already, because one word from her would have spurred him on to
+duty; but, like his fate, she must be away when he needed her most. What
+must she have thought of his absence at the hour of her departure? She
+would, no doubt, accept it as an indisputable proof of his indifference
+to her, and this scalded his sensitive nature more than anything.
+
+Accompanied by these refreshing cogitations, Guy reached his comfortable
+office, but oh "how painfully plain an index to his troubled soul was
+his worried face." All day he stumbled over office stools, spilt ink,
+made countless mistakes in his calculations, and, as a consequence,
+smashed pens and used unsparingly all those little monosyllables that
+seem to grow spontaneously on the tongue's end of an enraged man. His
+difficulties were beginning in earnest; he had consented to join a party
+of merry-makers to drive to Aylmer that night, and he could see no
+possible outlet through which he might escape. He had thought of seeing
+some of the "fellows" at four o'clock, and of telling them in some
+off-hand way of his change of determination; but even this little
+gratification was denied him, for emerging from his office door, the
+first one he came across was Mr. Rayne. There was that hopeless
+resignation, which dire necessity forces, in the very tone of Guy's
+voice as he addressed his uncle, but now, whether he would or not he
+must yield. Every circumstance showed him plainly how fettered he really
+was, although his spirit yearned to belong in gain as well as m name, to
+that band of "Acephah" that walked the streets of Ottawa, free men under
+their unpaid-for ulsters and seal caps. No wonder the conversation
+between Guy and his uncle consisted of a series of laconic
+monosyllables. The one was drinking the bitter dregs of life's awful
+difficulties; the other absent-minded and sad, thinking of the dear
+absent one who held within her hands the happiness of his life.
+
+Who would have interpreted these things on this bright sunny afternoon
+as Mr. Rayne and his nephew walked side by side along Sparks Street,
+through the gay, bustling crowd of pedestrians and sleighs? The young
+ladies went home and told one another that they had met Guy Elersley,
+and that he looked "just splendid," whilst all the time his brain was on
+fire from trying to solve his dilemma.
+
+They were reaching Mr. Rayne's house, and Guy, accumulating all the
+moral courage of his soul, resolved to do the worst. He would go
+willingly to work and try to find a pleasure in honest labor for Honor's
+sake. He was realizing, in spite of himself, the truth that had dawned
+on "Adam Bede," that "all passion becomes strength when it has an outlet
+from the narrow limits of our personal lot, in the labor of our right
+arm, the cunning of our right hand, or the still creative activity of
+our thought." Had he only but had the whisper of encouragement from any
+one he esteemed while in this vacillating mood, that would indeed have
+been a turning point in his career, but it seemed that a good impulse
+for Guy Elersley vaticinated infallibly an evil action. The fact that he
+had tried to vanquish himself by going willingly and deliberately to
+work, only waylaid him with numberless enticing temptations, alluring
+him on to the forbidden pleasures upon which he had turned his back.
+What is there so resistless and so fatally fascinating in those pastimes
+which are indulged in after nightfall by our young men? Is it the
+staunch proof that it seems to be, of the entire annihilation of
+conscience? Is it so certainly the spiritual death that it seems to
+be?--and if so, what sad, sad wreck! Is there no one whose influence can
+lead those stray sheep back to the fold? No mother, no sister, no lady
+love to plead as a woman's eloquence alone can plead, in behalf of that
+fair young soul exposed to every danger? Is there no volume among that
+superb collection of books open to all Ottawaites, that would not
+satisfy you, young foolish souls, by your midnight coals, burning your
+midnight oils, if you must needs burn both? What advantage is there in
+facing every peril of the material and spiritual darkness, that you must
+make a daily habit thereof? Is not this the case, that you never entered
+upon such a course of life alone? Some one was there who beckoned you on
+his way. Some one pooh-poohed your scruples, and smoothed down with
+false words the obstacles that your conscience raised. You never left
+your father's house alone to squander the hours of midnight's sacred
+silence in wrong doing Then I hope you will never forget the debt of
+gratitude you must owe to such a counsellor and friend.
+
+Then comes
+
+  "The tangled web we weave
+   When first we practice to deceive."
+
+At first you were a little unfortunate, may be. If you could not reach
+home without elbowing some one's pane of glass, or getting into a scrape
+of a more or less serious nature, you were helped out of all trouble by
+those steadfast allies who contributed gladly towards making your
+deception a masterpiece of its kind.
+
+After such reflections one is inclined to pity rather than condemn the
+weakness to which Guy Elersley resigned himself such a voluntary victim.
+
+When he entered the library in his uncle's house, he began to be
+comforted by his luxurious surroundings, the same bright fire burned
+that Honor loved to see and the easy chairs and soft rich carpet
+suggested satisfaction to the most discontented. A few minutes of fussy
+preparations and the gloomy twain were immersed in dry business. Apart
+from the monotonous scratching of their hurried pens there was but an
+occassional short remark uttered until the welcome sound of the tea-bell
+broke the spell of sullenness that had fallen on both.
+
+After a short but comparatively lively intermission they returned to
+their papers and re-attacked them diligently. Poor Guy's heart was
+beginning to thump. It would soon be eight o'clock, and it seemed to him
+in spite of all good arguments to the contrary that "a promise was a
+promise," and that by staying in to-night he was breaking one almost
+unnecessarily. The minute hand on the electro-plated clock was fast
+wending its way towards the half hour after seven, and as his eyes
+followed its quick movement he felt a hurried palpitation accompany
+every second on its flight to eternity.
+
+Suddenly Mr. Rayne laid down his pen and rested his bald head in his
+hands. Guy looked up surprised, and as he did so, his uncle rose from
+his seat saying. "I have another attack of neuralgia to-night, Guy, and
+cannot continue this work as I expected. Try, however, to finish these
+single copies for me to-night. I must retire; I am really unable to
+endure these pains any longer without rest."
+
+"Indeed uncle, I am very sorry for that," Guy said, but I fear that
+though it was "_malgré lui_," still there lurked the faintest sense of
+intense gratification in his heart on hearing these words. "You
+certainly will be better in bed uncle, will I help you upstairs."
+
+"Thank you, I'm not so weak as that. Remain here and finish those for
+me, they will be needed to-morrow and must be ready."
+
+With these words he turned to leave the room, but just as though through
+inspiration, he stood with the half-open door behind him and said in a
+stern imperative tone,--
+
+"Guy, mind you do not go out this evening; when you are tired writing
+you will find plenty of distraction indoors, do you hear?"
+
+"I do, sir," Guy answered coldly, and then the old man closed the door
+and went up-stairs leaving his distracted nephew in the wildest of
+moods.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XII.
+
+
+  For a sweet voice had whispered hope to me.
+    Had through my darkness shed a kindly ray:
+  It said "The past is fixed immutably,
+    Yet there is comfort in the coming day."
+                                     --_Household Words_
+
+It was a cold stormy blustering day. The fierce north wind was moaning
+and wailing in piteous shrieks around the corners, and through the bare
+swaying branches of the tall elms. It was a dreary scene to look upon
+from a car window, and yet it was rather a cheerful face that peered
+through the tiny panes into the stormy surroundings outside. Honor was
+thinking deeply, a medley of sad and pleasant things, and she smiled and
+grew pensive alternately. She had thought of Guy, and of how pleasant it
+would be after all to have him there beside her, but she did not trust
+herself far into the subject. The doubtful halo that encircled all Guy's
+latest actions towards her was not the sweetest of memories, and yet
+this lovely girl would not whisper even to her own most secret soul, the
+words, "I love him." It was so girl-like for her to cherish that secret,
+and yet not acknowledge it to herself as a secret. She loved to rehearse
+to herself in silence every look and word and action of Guy's. She
+pondered wearily over the _ennui_ of the hours, when he was not by her,
+and she longed so much to question herself about the sudden blushes and
+heart-beatings, when she recognized his step in the hall, or heard his
+deep voice greet her at the door. She knew that his little book with the
+scribbled verse from "Led Astray" was very often in her hands when he
+was not there, and yet when the "little voice" asked "Is it love?" She
+hid her face in her hands and said, "Oh no."
+
+All these things she reviewed at leisure on this cold wintry morning, as
+she was being borne swiftly on to her destination. She could scarcely
+get accustomed to the idea that she was the same Honor Edgeworth, that
+had come a short time ago, alone and friendless to Mr. Rayne's house.
+And as she sped on leaving each dancing drifting snow-flake far behind,
+she became tangled up again in the web of fanciful reflections that had
+so often led her far far away into those transcendental regions of
+thought where Venus, and Cupid, and Calliope, and other sister muses
+bask in filmy clouds of golden maze. Here she realized among her ideal
+heroes and heroines, life as she wished it to be. Perhaps this was why
+her inclinations were just a little skeptical when she viewed life in
+its matter-of-fact phases.
+
+Honor was started from her reverie by a loud long shriek from the
+engine, and seeing the other passengers gather up their fragments of
+baggage she followed suit. A few moments more and they were ushered into
+the depot at Guelph. All the usual bustle, talk and confusion
+characteristic of railway stations were noticeable here. Omnibus drivers
+shouted in _crescendo_ the names of their respective hotels. Poor Honor
+scarcely knew what to do. Cries of "Royal Hotel," "Windsor House,"
+"Sleigh Miss," deafened her ears on all sides, but great was her relief
+when a prim middle-aged lady accompanied by a half bashful youth stepped
+up to her smilingly and said:
+
+"My dear I think you are my guest. Miss Edgeworth?"
+
+"That is my name," Honor said, and then the prim lady handed Honor a
+card inscribed "Mde. Jean d'Alberg."
+
+They became friends immediately and no wonder under the circumstances.
+Circumstances have so much to do with the turn and tide of our busy
+lives. We can make a friend of the most hideous creature in an hour of
+dire necessity.
+
+Honor was just thinking she might have fared so much worse than come
+across a lady such as Madame d'Alberg proved to be. To look at her one
+could read the evidences of worldliness in her face. This woman had
+graced many a drawing-room as Senator d'Alberg's wife, and when the
+session time called her to the capital many a fair-haired damsel of
+eighteen summers had envied the fine face and faultless figure, that had
+captivated even the fastidious nature of the dignified Senator.
+
+To-day, although somewhat older, the ordinary critic and observer could
+still detect no flaw of age or tendency to fade in the sparkling black
+eyes and fair delicate complexion. As Honor saw almost at a first
+glance, this woman's theory of life began and ended in "self." Not so
+much as to exclude any impulse towards sympathy or generosity. By no
+means--if there remained anything, after one had satisfied one's own
+wants, then let that surplus go to the less fortunate, according to the
+owners impulse whether limited or great.
+
+In matters less material Madame d'Alberg took as director the great
+authority of Shakspeare, and none can tell how many countless times she
+justified herself by repeating in the most suasory tone this little
+extract from Hamlet:
+
+  "This above all to thine own self be true
+   And it must follow as the night the day
+   Thou cans't not then be false to any man."
+
+This was an end worth attaining surely, and so easily won as by being
+fair with one's self.
+
+Honor and her new friend chatted gaily all the way. The awkward youth
+had received instructions about the baggage. Thus freed from all
+inconvenience and responsibility, these two became as conversant and as
+communicative as if they had known each other for years.
+
+Let it not shock the scrupulous reader to know that, in point of fact,
+Madame d'Alberg did not really care a straw for either Henry Rayne or
+his beautiful _protégée_, only insomuch as their existence was conducive
+to her own personal welfare. It was no effort whatever for her, to love
+in that subdued sort of way in which we are expected by the Church to
+"love our neighbor as ourselves." To be amiable and agreeable to all was
+by far more convenient to her than to play the _role_ of a grumbler, and
+so long as she could count on her smiles being worth their
+representatives in substance to her, her countenance was fairly suffused
+therewith and her purse or her mouth open for the proceeds. Such women
+generally live easily--die easily enough too, and scarcely ever leave a
+memory of any sort behind them.
+
+The first points of criticism that suggested themselves to this
+world-bred woman on seeing Honor were such as never entered the head of
+any other acquaintance the girl made before or after Madame d'Alberg's.
+This lady, physiognomist from tact and experience, sought to learn from
+the expression and features of Honor's countenance, whether their hidden
+depths held any of that diplomacy and finesse that are the inevitable
+characteristics of society's most brilliant graduates. Not that it would
+have mattered one iota to this indifferent creature, for she never
+interested herself particularly in anyone, but if certain latent
+tendencies in this girl could actually be brought to the surface so as
+to sympathize with her own, would it not be as well for them to join
+hands and share the spoils? As yet, however, she thought there was no
+telling, she must wait and see.
+
+The drive from the depot was short, and to Honor's great delight the
+merry sleigh-bells stopped jingling as they drew up to the neatest and
+cosiest looking cottage imaginable. The first greeting on entering was
+the sight of a roaring fire and the next the intensely gratifying
+welcome of cups steaming at the end of a neat but well-spread table.
+
+Honor's own room reminded her somewhat of the one in Ottawa, except that
+the idea of exquisite comfort was more pronounced in everything here. In
+this respect Honor found Madame d'Alberg different from that other class
+of society women whose ideas of self-gratification are far subservient
+to the requisites of _bon-ton_ and fashion, and who endure heroically
+the discomfort of the latest absurdities in articles of toilet and
+street wear.
+
+This was the only point in which Jean d'Alberg did not acknowledge the
+tyrannical yoke of society. Anything that tended to exclude the supreme
+ease and comfort of her home was discarded by her, and no one ever dared
+to find any fault therein.
+
+After a hearty luncheon by the grate fire, Honor and Madame d'Alberg
+drew up their chairs closer to the fender and began to talk familiarly.
+The wind still whistled and shrieked around the street corners; little
+blinding atoms of snow drifted violently in the air, and it made one
+freeze just to watch the muffled pedestrians as they sped along with
+their heads bowed against the sleet and wind, holding their half-frozen
+ears, stamping their feet or pinching the ends of their blue noses.
+
+"The day is too stormy for outdoor amusements, my dear," said Jean
+d'Alberg, as she poked the fire, "so I must try to distract you as much
+as possible in the house."
+
+"That will be an easy matter if you like," said Honor, "do but leave me
+lost in these spacious cushions, before that cheerful fire, and I can
+prophesy the treat that is in store for me."
+
+Mde. d'Alberg smiled slowly. She turned and took from a small wicker
+basket near her a bundle of misty looking thread and lace, and with her
+needle in one hand and the end of her thread between her teeth, she
+said,
+
+"Whether you know it or not, my dear, you have given me a big peep into
+your character by that much of an assertion."
+
+Honor looked suddenly up. She was beginning to feel a little nervous
+with this cool, calculating, all-seeing woman. But not to show what she
+felt, she sank back imperceptibly among the cushions, and answered, with
+an effort at in difference,
+
+"I hope I betray my good symptoms first, at least to strangers who are
+inclined to judge from appearances."
+
+The elder lady looked interested. Her face wore a half-pleasing,
+half-teasing expression, but like Honor she was seeking to veneer the
+real truth under assumed veils at the same time that she was dying to
+draw out the latent phases of her companion's nature.
+
+"The word 'good,'" she said, stitching rapidly, "is such a mysterious
+one, and has in these days of general improvement, secured for itself a
+relative meaning which benefits as many as it injures, and particularly,
+as regards one's personal virtues or defects, which are many or few
+according to the disposition of the speaker towards the one spoken of.
+Nevertheless I must tell you that your tendency to dreaminess, and your
+exalted ideas of sentiment, are what mostly constitute the modern young
+lady. Take those elements out of human life, and one-third of our
+fiction volumes crumble on the shelf. Society limps into retirement, for
+her most prominent limbs have been amputated. The curtain must drop for
+good on the stage, for there is no other part for actors to play in the
+nineteenth century. Our streets would be almost desolate, except for
+fussy businessmen and market women, and those dear few privileged ones,
+who have the priceless reputation of being _sans coeur_."
+
+Honor grew deeply interested. She had not expected to find such a woman
+as this. Mr. Rayne had spoken of her as one does of any superannuated
+person or thing that is always on hand if wanted. It was such a long
+time since she had indulged in any such abstract conversations, that it
+was with renewed delight she hailed her turn to speak.
+
+"I think it only fair," said she, looking straight into the fire, "that
+I should take my turn at interpreting you."
+
+"By all means, my dear; what have you found worth finding?"
+
+"Well, I think," said Honor, speaking slowly and emphatically, "that
+fifteen or twenty years ago you could not have spoken those words, for I
+recognize, as far as a limited observation and a small experience allow
+me, the ruin of a heart full of sentiment, under the new structure that
+you present to the world to-day, and I also think that at that time you
+must have felt a superfluity of emotion. Your craving was for trust, for
+confidence and love, and the cynicism of your words now means something
+like sour grapes. Don't be offended, dear Madame d'Alberg, the thoughts
+suggest themselves. If you do not despise sentiment and romance, because
+they did not yield you what you sought from them, then I throw up my
+perception as faulty, and my judgment as something worse."
+
+She had not moved her eyes from their fixed gaze on the coals, but as no
+answer came from her companion, she looked across in expectation. The
+work lay still in her lap, but her face had grown dreamy and sad. The
+sudden silence woke her, and she turned to meet Honor's steadfast gaze.
+The thin compressed lips parted slightly in a nervous motion, and Honor
+thought she could see a struggle for ascendancy in the workings of the
+usually calm face. Suddenly, a tear dropped from each downcast lid, and
+then the die was cast. Jean d'Alberg drew her chair closer to the young
+girl, and clasped her hands over her pile of work; then, looking
+straight at the fire, she began--
+
+"Whatever power has inspired you, you have touched a spring over which
+the cobwebs of wilful neglect have lain during twenty years. It must be
+because you are so good and pure, that the truth, such as I am striving
+to hide, is so plain to you. You have uttered the secret of my life in
+the simple words you spoke. Twenty years ago, I was a young and
+beautiful girl, with a heart as full of susceptibilities and a mind as
+full of ambition as any one of you to-day. My face was beautiful, and I
+knew it; my figure was faultless, I knew that too. But vanity never
+entered into my heart for a moment. I had a dream that kept such
+trifling thoughts away. I wanted to endear myself to some one. I wanted
+to make some one so utterly dependent on me, that a separation should be
+almost death to him. Where I got this crazy longing I could not tell
+exactly, but it seized me like a mania. I felt that such must be my
+fate, or a lifelong of misery instead. While I was in the heat of this
+emotion my father told me to prepare myself, that I was to appear with
+him at the grand military ball of the season. This was the great event
+of the year in our town, for a detachment of British troops always
+stayed over for the occasion. The girls of the old country, at that
+time, were different from what they are now on this continent. Most of
+us had, as a rule, those conservative fathers, whose ideas of maidenly
+propriety had been handed down to them from unknown ages, and from
+constant preaching on the subject, I, like most others, grew into their
+way of thinking, but I did not, all the same, ever censure an impulsive
+girl who, by gratifying her own caprice, violated these stern views of
+her father's."
+
+It was getting dark in the little sitting room. At this point of her
+story Jean d'Alberg rose, and going over towards the window that faced
+the west she rolled up the blind to let in the last wintry rays of the
+setting sun. Then, coming back, she rang for the maid to bring more
+coals, for the fire was dying out.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIII.
+
+
+  "Alas, how easily things go wrong,
+  A sigh too much or a kiss too long,
+  And there comes a mist and a blinding rain,
+  And life is never the same again."
+                               --_George McDonald_
+
+When all was comfortably arranged once more, Jean d'Alberg resumed her
+seat and her story:
+
+"The eventful night of the ball came at last, and I know not what
+nervous presentiment caused me to fasten my palest crush roses in my
+hair, and to take from their old resting place the diamonds set in heavy
+gold, that my maternal grandmother had worn ages before. I knew full
+well, as I leaned on the arm of my tall, dignified father that night,
+that he recognized in me more strongly than ever, the likeness to his
+dead wife, my mother. The only feeling of pride that visited me was when
+I knew that my father was proud of me as his daughter and his dead
+wife's living image. My father was an officer in the --th regiment and,
+as a matter of course, I was to be treated with more than ordinary
+courtesy. When we entered the ballroom at the lower end I could hear
+suppressed whispers on all sides. It was my first appearance in any
+public place, and even if I had not been there, all eyes would have been
+riveted on my handsome father, who looked the embodiment of manliness
+and nobility in his regimentals. Perhaps it was the haughty tone of his
+voice, when he introduced his 'daughter' to the hostess of the evening,
+that caused them to look upon me with no little wonder. Any way I became
+painfully conscious that we were isolated, as it were, from all the
+others, and the blush of confusion and excitement that suffused my face,
+was, as they told me afterwards, my finest feature. I had scarcely
+finished paying my respects to the hostess, when my father was
+surrounded by friends who greeted him earnestly, yet distantly. To each
+of these I was presented in turn, and agreed to dance once with each of
+them.
+
+"But I had not yet ceased to feel that nervous presentiment that had
+haunted me all the evening. Suddenly, the low, sweet strains of a waltz
+vibrated through the room, and gay, laughing couples wheeled off into
+its dizzy maze. Among my many partners, none had secured the first waltz
+and I was beginning to congratulate myself that I could take a good view
+of everything and everybody before commencing my first dance. While I
+was scanning the room--'
+
+Here a large coal fell into the ashes causing both ladies to start.
+Madame d'Alberg poked the glowing embers into a cheerful blaze, and
+moved closer to the work-table, and as her fingers traced imaginary
+patterns on its surface, she resumed her story in the same sad
+monotonous voice.
+
+"I said I raised my eyes to scan the room, but as I did so the blush
+faded quickly out of my face, and a cold shiver crept through me. I felt
+for the first time the sensation which all persons experience at some
+interval in their lives. It was the same as when we know without
+looking, that someone is watching our movements, the same that causes us
+to _feel_ the approach of someone, though we may have been persuaded
+that such a one was far away. I felt that I was being stared at, and
+following a sudden impulse, I looked towards the shaded recess of a
+large window, and there I saw the tall figure of a man dressed in
+uniform, with medals and stars upon his breast; his eyes, the largest,
+deepest, and most passionate blue I have ever seen, were riveted upon
+me. As soon as he perceived that I was conscious of his attention he
+left the recess, and though my eyes did not follow him, I felt that his
+every step brought him closer to where we stood. At last my heart seemed
+to give one great leap, for I heard him address my father in a low sad
+voice full of meaning and pathos. The next instant I was bowing at the
+sound of both our names, to the handsome stranger. The first glances we
+exchanged must have told a tale, for I read in the limitless depths of
+his sad blue eyes, all that mysterious, silent pain that entreats and
+commands a woman's sympathy; he in his turn must have seen in mine the
+ready response to the calm pleading of his own.
+
+"I cannot remember the first words that passed between us. It was the
+mute language of soul speaking unto soul that had charmed me, and the
+next thing I realized was, that we had glided in with the laughing
+throng of merry dancers, among them, but not of them.
+
+"Our steps suited exactly, and as fate would have it, the music was the
+dreamiest and most suggestive I had ever heard. We never spoke a word,
+but he must have felt my heart throbbing against his breast, like a
+captive bird, struggling for its freedom. For once, when all was
+excitement and pleasure, he pressed my hand ever so little, and I felt
+his warm breath very near my flushed cheek. All the emotion that had
+ever rested latent within me, struggled through the fetters that moment,
+and I felt that now I loved, madly and hopelessly, and that as it had
+all been born of a second, so might one other second break my heart.
+
+"While such reflections chased one another through my confused brain, my
+partner led me mechanically into the long narrow conservatory to the
+left. Outlines of rich and delicately fragrant plants were visible in
+the soft hazy light that pervaded the spot, and we were near enough to
+the ball room to hear the subdued strains of orchestra music that yet
+filled the air. I dared not trust myself to silence, so I said, trying
+to assume the most indifferent tone.
+
+"'How pleasant it is in here!'
+
+"I'll never forget the distracted far-away look in his eyes as he
+answered in that dangerously, low, sweet voice.
+
+"'Pleasant? Yes, when the heart is young and untried, all that is
+beautiful touches it with pleasure, but the heart that is withered and
+dead, gets its sweetest pain from the very same source.'
+
+"To say I did not understand him would not be quite true. We English
+girls, who have lived with stern fathers, and with no mother for the
+best part of our lives, seem to learn by intuition, the saddest phases
+of a life's experience. We personify the heroes of our old books, until
+the worst of written fates, become as natural to us as though such had
+been items of our own existence. And so I knew immediately, that this
+man's life had been blighted bitterly. Some awful storm cloud had shaded
+the sunniest portion of his life, and the memory of that affliction
+would cast an immortal gloom over the rest.
+
+"After he had uttered those strange words he looked calmly into my face.
+What could I do? I had too often persuaded myself that a woman is the
+weakest of all things, under the influence of a first love I could
+summon no moral courage now to my assistance, and, childlike, I thought
+this great, sad looking man would never betray to another how
+efficaciously he had worked his influence over me. Yielding to these
+resistless impulses, I drew a little closer to his stalwart form, and
+then he took my hand in both of his, and I could not help showing what
+all the passion of a lifetime was, when concentrated into one awful
+moment of existence. I only looked up into those full dreamy eyes, and
+said, 'Why are you so sad?'
+
+"There must have been in those few words, eloquence enough to teach even
+his heart the truth, for he rose, and stooping over me, he said in a
+voice that sounded like a sigh, 'I am sad for the same reason that you
+will cause others to be some day, if not more careful and land. Do not
+sadden and ruin as worthy a heart as mine.' Then before I realized my
+position, there was but the memory in my heart of his lips having
+touched mine, followed by the feeling of secret dread and horror, that
+sprung from the awe in which I stood, of my father. I woke suddenly from
+the listless apathy that came over me. I looked up with all the emotion
+of fear, excitement and love visible in my face, looked to find the pale
+angry countenance of my father before me, with all the insulted dignity
+and slighted authority he felt, pictured therein.
+
+"He did not say much just then. He trusted to the power of his look to
+wither the heart within me. He told me sternly, to procure my wraps,
+that I must leave immediately, we could pass out unnoticed by the side
+door. In a few moments we were in our carriage, rolling in solemn
+silence along the road that led to our homestead. My father spoke not a
+word, and I could not imagine any fate ill enough to befall me, before
+his wrath would subside. I planned no excuses; I promised myself not to
+vacillate in any way when accused, I knew that neither attempt would
+blind my rigid parent for an instant. When we reached our home, my
+father with all his usual courtesy, helped me to dismount, and gathering
+my superfluous wraps himself, he gave me his arm and led me into the
+house. But all this only foreboded the determination, changeless and
+cruel, that comes from the cold deliberate anger of a just, stern man.
+When I reached my room, I heard the bell rung for Donnelly, our old
+housekeeper, and then my heart quaked in earnest with its fearful
+presentiment. I could not stand it any longer, so I stole down stairs,
+dressed as I was in my white brocaded ball-dress, and hid myself behind
+the folding-doors that stood half open between the drawing-room, which
+was in darkness, and my father's study, where a single gas-jet was
+lighting. I had scarcely gathered in my skirts in breathless terror,
+when I heard the cold, sonorous voice of my father speaking in low grave
+tones. Our faithful old housekeeper standing by him, looked scared and
+white. I strained my ears to overhear the conversation, but failed to do
+so. Only as the old servant passed out I heard her say, 'It is not for
+me to dictate sir, but I hope you'll think better of this before it is
+too late--for her dead mother's sake.'
+
+"I was mortified beyond expression. A servant was pleading for me,
+before my own father, and he refusing to listen! No wonder I felt the
+blood rushing hotly to my face. No wonder that I was too proud to wait
+quietly there for him to punish me at will. He had been severe and
+exacting all his life, but there was a limit to his authority. The very
+worst possible anticipations crowded into my brain, when I saw the tears
+falling unrestrained from poor Donnelly's eyes, as she turned to leave
+the man with whom all remonstrance was vain. I stole out from my
+hiding-place again, and on reaching the hall I saw the bundle of shawls
+my father had carried in for me. A sudden impulse inspired me, I wrapped
+myself in their woollen folds as best I could, I turned the great bolts
+of the front door noiselessly, and went out into the cold, chilly
+starlight, without a friend or a home, shivering, and not having where
+to lay my head."
+
+Here she paused, and the intense malice and scorn that sparkled in her
+fine black eyes almost frightened Honor Edgeworth. When she resumed her
+story, her tone was more calm and subdued.
+
+"I walked on," she continued, "until my feet and hands were numb with
+cold. The north-east wind pierced its bitterness through my bared
+breast; I pulled the shawl tighter around me, clutching as I did so, a
+circlet of diamonds, that would have purchased all the comforts in the
+land for me, and yet I was alone and freezing. He was comfortable and
+warm, whose cruelty had driven me into the street, and yet I was his own
+flesh and blood. He could listen to the wailing of the winter wind, and
+know that it was the pitiful cry of his child--his daughter, and yet
+remain unmoved. It was then I missed the tender solicitude of a mother,
+and I looked up into the cold silence of the stars, seeking in their
+still, watchful expression, some stimulus, for I thought I must go mad,
+or lie down to die on the earth's frozen bosom. I did not rashly censure
+anyone for my misfortune, but that night the coldness and cruelty of
+life, as it unravelled itself to me, blighted every womanly sentiment
+within my heart. From that moment dates the cynicism that marked my
+after life. My old self died out, and the flickering flame that started
+afresh into existence, was no longer the quiet subdued one of older days
+I had passed from a gay happy girl, into a hardened reckless woman, and
+I have never regretted it.
+
+"Cold, and miserable, and friendless, I went in search of a refuge, to
+an old nurse of mine, who lived at a short distance from the spot to
+which I had wandered. I reached the house and looked in the narrow
+window. A greasy looking candle burned on the rough table, casting
+flickering shadows around the low ceiling and walls, over the pewter
+dishes and shining delf. It was a kind of comfort to my poor heart, when
+I saw old Nanny herself, seated on a rocking chair before the fire. I
+can never forget the expression of genuine horror that covered the old
+creature's face, as she saw me at the door of her little cottage,
+shivering in my ball dress.
+
+"'Is it Miss Jean?' she said, with both hands up in consternation, 'sure
+I declare its more like the ghost of our dead sweet mother comin' to me
+this blessed night, as I just sat thinkin of her.'
+
+"In silence I entered and crouched by Nanny's cheerful fire. Great
+Heavens! as I review the agony and pain of those moments of my
+existence, I wonder that I ever survived it. I did all that was left me
+under the circumstances. I made a truthful declaration to Nanny and then
+left it to her to do what she wished with me--but I weary you child,
+with these details," Mde. d'Albert said, hesitating slightly. But Honor,
+with the flush of excitement on her cheek, begged of her companion to
+continue. Thus pressed, she proceeded "Whether it was Nanny's intention
+to befriend me or not, I was thrust upon her, for a slow fever followed
+the chills and shivering that had seized me, and for seven long weeks I
+lay between life and death on Nanny's neat old bed. On the third morning
+of the seventh week I regained consciousness, experiencing all that
+vacant wonder at the strange surroundings of Nanny's little room. My
+memory was struggling with the confusion and exhaustion, brought on by
+my illness, but I did not care to think. I turned my head peevishly
+away, and closed my eyes again. When next I opened them it was growing
+dusk, large grey shadows were trooping out over the little room, leaving
+but the outlines of Nanny's old-fashioned furniture, visible through
+their mist. A small, broad clock was ticking out its monotonous notes
+from the mantle-piece, and the crackling noise of the fire somewhat
+relieved the great stillness.
+
+"While I was thinking, Nanny's stooped figure cast a shadow across the
+doorway, and came stealthily over to my bed. I can yet see the look of
+relief and thanksgiving that came into her dear old face, when she saw
+that I recognized her. She bent over me smiling, and I stretched out my
+arms and clasped them around her neck. That night she sat at the foot of
+my bed, and we talked matters over. Despite all her arguments and
+entreaties to the contrary, I was determined to leave her as soon as my
+health allowed me. In the course of our conversation, Nanny alluded to
+the night of my separation from my father, to see how it would affect
+me. As I never changed nor moved a muscle, she came nearer and knelt
+before me. I knew by the strange look on her kind old face, that there
+were words on her tongue's end, awaiting utterance.
+
+"'What is it, Nanny?' I said, 'speak it out, there is nothing now that
+can wound my heart--it is free to the worst treatment of fate. It is
+like the deserted nest in the tall pine tree. The summer of its life is
+over, now the wind may howl around it and the cold snowflakes fill it
+up. The birds it once cherished have deserted it, and left it to its
+fate alone.'
+
+"Poor Nanny's eyes were overflowing, as with a faltering voice she said,
+
+"'O, my poor child, to think your mother's daughter should ever come to
+this! But, there now, like a good girl, don't talk like that; it'll all
+blow over some day, and ye'll go back to the old house where I nursed
+you in my arms a tiny thing, and your mother before you, Now the big,
+tall man is gone far away, the troubles will cease, please God, and all
+will be right.'
+
+"I looked sharply up 'What big tall man, Nanny?' I asked, and my heart
+beat violently as I waited for an answer.
+
+"'Oh, sure,' said she, rising up, 'ye were too weak to tell ye of it,
+but wait a bit, an' I'll show ye now.'
+
+"She went over to the old mantle-piece and pulled from behind a curious
+looking box, a small envelope. Then, bringing the candle nearer my bed,
+she handed me the letter and left the room.
+
+"Its contents were only what helped me towards action. I had not
+expected this, and yet it had not surprised me in the least. It informed
+me that my hero had left for the continent; that owing to a series of
+unfortunate events in his early life he had vowed solemnly never to
+marry. The worst troubles that had ever befallen him had been on account
+of a woman he had loved, and he had voluntarily cast the sex out of his
+life for evermore. In that letter he bade me a strange and last
+farewell."
+
+When Jean d'Alberg finished speaking her face wore an expression of half
+indifference and half regret, as though the very last flicker of an old
+smouldering flame had suddenly darted up, and then died out in the ashes
+and the darkness. As the sound of the last echo of her voice ceased
+vibrating in the silent room, she awoke from the revival of memory's
+lethargy, and her face resumed all its wonted coldness and calmness. She
+looked at Honor almost suspiciously, and said in a low breath,
+
+"I cannot explain how I have been coaxed into this confiding mood with
+you, child as you are."
+
+She seemed to be awakening from a stupid dream, and she was tangled in a
+strange mystery. Honor recognized the feeling as a very common one. It
+is the doubt that often interrupts us in our confidences, lest the
+depository of our secret be not a safe one. It is generally a proof of
+the importance, greater or less, of what we confide.
+
+Honor sat upright, and womanlike, took both Jean's hands in hers,
+saying--
+
+"Do not be uneasy; I know your heart. I have not a great experience such
+as yours, but the experience of thought and emotion are not unknown to
+me. You have been miserable, and even to-day it is not too late to
+sympathize with you."
+
+Jean d'Alberg laughed--a low, incredulous, skeptical laugh, that
+half-frightened Honor.
+
+"Do not talk of sympathy any more," she said, "such things are soap
+bubbles, beautiful to look at from a little distance, but stretch your
+hand out to grasp them, and what remains? No, no, Honor, give up that
+foolish game. You see by my tale that I have gone through the fire. I
+need scarcely tell you with what result. I rose from my bed of sickness
+with a heart of flint and a will of iron. I worked honorably and
+honestly to bring myself to this country, where there is true
+encouragement for industry and perseverance, to this Canada, which is
+the pride and glory of England, and whose arms are extended in an
+admirable hospitality to the homeless exiles and fugitives of the world.
+Here there is labor for all honest hands, and gratification for all
+honest hearts, and God cannot but bless and cause to prosper, a country
+so just, so encouraging and so kind.
+
+"I was not long here when I first met Mr d'Alberg. He seemed taken with
+me, but my heart felt not the slightest passing emotion towards him. In
+the end he became satisfied to accept me as I was, and though I never
+wore out my sleeves caressing him, still I made him a tolerably good
+wife, until death wooed and won him from me, leaving me to live on the
+plenty he had accumulated in a lifetime. I am now neither happy nor
+miserable, I neither despair nor hope, I am waiting for time to do its
+best or worst, I am prepared for either. Life or death offer me equal
+fascinations, I seek nothing but what chance sends me, I have comforts,
+and in my way I enjoy them, that is all I want. Let me give you now one
+word of advice; live, act, and die, independently of every other person
+and circumstance but yourself and your own immediate concerns, for the
+mask of life is very deceptive, and we are not always strong enough to
+bear the stroke when it falls."
+
+A heavy sigh followed these last words and then all was over. The long,
+intricate story of a lifetime, had been breathed out. The shadows of the
+wintry evening were trooping noiselessly from the corners of the room,
+and to the quiet observer there was nothing extraordinary to be read
+from the surroundings. Honor looked serious, but this was nothing new
+with her. Jean d'Alberg looked sadder than usual, though not with such a
+bitter sadness as one finds in the face of an ordinary heroine, who
+reviews the mockeries of her past for another woman. Were the verdict
+just, it should call them both sensible women.
+
+It seemed such an unnatural and inconsistent sound when the demure old
+woman-servant appeared in the doorway and announced supper.
+
+But these two women rose and went to the dining-room as mechanically as
+though they had just been discussing the last "poke" bonnet or Mother
+Hubbard mantle, in the most usual way imaginable. However, a new tie
+bound them together now, and though no direct allusion, was afterwards
+made by either party to the strange narrative, yet their sympathy so
+strong, though new-born, manifested itself in the look and actions of
+each, and they became what the world called "staunch friends."
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIV.
+
+
+  "Would you had thought twice,
+  Ah! if you had but follow'd my advice."
+                                     --_Byron._
+
+We left Guy in Mr. Rayne's study, in sore trouble as to how he could
+evade the task set him, and join his rioting friends in their proposed
+amusement. He scratched his head and made countless agonizing grimaces;
+he walked the room in long strides, until his patience had reached an
+almost impossible limit. Then he thought better of it, and decided to
+hold a calm, cool and collected council with himself. It was plain to
+his one-sided judgment that he was called upon to act, and to act
+immediately. But this was easier said than done. It is simple enough for
+a fellow to strike splendid chords on the piano, merely by ear, or in a
+moment of impromptu genius he may construct some wonderful little piece
+of mechanism; Guy felt that he could achieve countless feats such as
+these, but he'd be blessed if he could master a double-locked window, or
+door, through any innate talent, on a dark night, when every one is just
+asleep sound enough to start at the slightest noise. He had persuaded
+himself, by means of such fallacies, as come unbidden to the susceptible
+heart in the hour of temptation, that he must go out to-night by fair
+means or foul. Once decided, he did not hesitate to act, every one had
+retired, and surely he might steal out unobserved. The chances were he
+could get back the same way, and there would be nothing more about his
+little escapade. Noiselessly, stealthily, he collected the articles of
+his street wear, and rolling them up in a bundle, laid them by the
+window. Then nervously, and fearfully, he began the work of undoing the
+fierce looking bolt over the window. Every one of those queer little
+noises, the voices of the night, seemed to Guy the words of his uncle
+reproaching him with his disobedience. Once as he was just about to
+raise the lower part of the window, a coal gave away in the grate, and
+the rattle that followed its fall made him quake with fear.
+
+Finally all was silent as Guy held his breath in eager listening, and
+making a desperate attempt he lifted the ponderous frame slowly and
+secured it above. Directly under it was the roof of a small balcony that
+shaded the side of the house. In the summer time it was covered with
+green vines, which climbed to the very top, but now the stiff withered
+leaves and dry branches, rustled and cracked in a horrible way as Guy
+threw down first his bundle, and then proceeded to follow it himself
+"the devils' children, have the devils' luck," it is said, and it
+certainly often looks as if that luck was the luckiest of all.
+
+Without scratch, or hindrance of any kind, Elersley reached the ground,
+and as he buttoned up his overcoat, matters commenced to look
+beautifully smooth and easy. He half-expected that the jolly dogs had
+started on their trip without him, but he was sure of finding company in
+a great many other places besides, if the first failed him. He was
+emerging in all possible haste from the gate-way of his uncle's house
+when he was accosted by the police-man on beat in that vicinity. Here
+was a "fix." Guy was almost in despair, and it was only on producing
+cards, and letters, and other substantial proofs of his identity that he
+was left go. He made a quiet determination to have a good time after
+such hardships as he had endured, and indeed his determination did not
+fall too short of the mark. It would scarcely interest the readers to
+follow Guy Elersley any farther than the gloomy street corner to-night;
+though perhaps many of them may have often followed his prototype in
+spirit to such haunts as midnight revellers frequent. Did we accompany
+him we would have to tear away that opaque barrier, that many young
+polished gentlemen, have built up before the eyes of their _day_
+acquaintances; we would have to call forth tears of bitter bitter
+anguish, from trusting sorrowing mothers, who are at this same moment
+praying God on bended knees, to save their wild wayward boys. We would
+pierce the hearts of many pure confiding girls, who are buried in dreams
+of future happiness, and who would not dare suspect the awful truths
+that are born of the midnight hours. There are, therefore, too many
+innocent ones interested; too many mothers to wail; too many sisters to
+bow their heads in shame; too many young loving hearts that would burst
+were one to spell out the truth in legible characters. "They have eyes
+and they see not," let us mercifully leave them in their blindness.
+
+Think of all that Guy had encountered to gratify the paltry ambition
+born of a moment s passionate desire; a soul so young, almost fresh from
+the hands of the Creator, and yet to be so covered with iniquities! How
+soon he had learned to jest and laugh at good, and to make his religion
+the worship of the senses. Saying with Byron,
+
+  "Man being reasonable, must get drunk,
+   The best of lift is but intoxication,"
+
+and striving to find in the wine-cup, the satisfaction that our inner
+nature craves, trying to feed a soul, hungry for the beauties and
+perfections of the invisible world, with the poisonous food of
+sensuality. Let us say to it with Shakspeare,
+
+  "O thou invisible spirit of wine,
+   If thou hast no name to be known by
+   Let us call thee 'devil.'"
+
+And lest these words betray any of the personal indignation that
+suggests itself at the moment the reflections upon such lives are
+indulged in, the voice of this same great poet ran be heard again
+telling in his emphatic terms,
+
+  "I could a tale unfold whose lightest word
+   Would harrow up thy soul, freeze thy young blood,
+   Make thy two eyes like stars start from their spheres,
+   The knotted and combined locks to part,
+   And each particular hair to stand on end
+   Like quills upon the fretful porcupine."
+
+But we have only to look around us intelligently to find the secret out
+ourselves. Society is at the acme of sensuality; it has reached the
+strangest antithetical condition. It is degraded in its excessive
+refinement; it is coarse and repulsive in its cultivation, it is
+ignorant in its enlightenment. Necessarily all this is the effect of a
+cause, but such a pitiful cause! The total wreck of man's best element.
+The once individual corruption has spread its fearful contagion until it
+has become universal; falsehood is disguised in truth, vice in virtue,
+and fraud and diplomacy in honesty. If women are expected to live in
+blissful ignorance of this movement, that expectation is a crowning
+audacity, for woman's life is destined to be one of action, and she will
+not sacrifice her noble mission through purely human motives. She means
+to save her brother, her lover, her husband, her son, even if the effort
+includes the forfeiture of her title of woman in the eyes of society.
+
+Thus it is, we have been persuaded into an unpremeditated leniency
+towards the sterner sex, blotting out the pictures of their vicious
+lives, not indeed to spare them in the very least, but only to save the
+blush, the sigh, the tear of many a woman whose heart is nigh enough to
+breaking without a stronger hand striking the last blow in the cruel
+work of laying bare the awful, the contemptible reality which fills
+their lives with bitterness and heart-burnings.
+
+We will, then, caution and advise without explaining, and call on our
+co-laborers to make a grand effort towards reformation, telling them
+that from the heart of the great cities there rises a wail of sorrow and
+desolation, that must fall on their ears like a cry of distress from the
+poor suffering stricken ones, that they must rise bravely,
+spontaneously, and joining hands they must come nobly to the rescue. It
+is their lawful, binding duty to reclaim. We must save from the wreck at
+least those "little ones" that are growing up around us, "for of such is
+the Kingdom of Heaven." Why need they ever know the experience that is
+drunk in the wine cup? Why must they, too, walk in the well-printed
+footsteps of vice that their elders are treading before them? They must
+not; they shall not; they dare not! if they have noble women to direct
+them, to inspire them with great and holy and generous thoughts, to draw
+them round the family fireside, to gratify their eager hearts with
+innocent amusements that elevate the mind and bring the soul nearer to
+God. Where are the mothers now, who, like Blanche of Castile, can say to
+their sons, "My child, I would rather see thee dead at my feet than that
+thou shouldst offend God mortally." Alas! if in our city alone, mothers
+were to re-echo that wish and have it granted, many a strong youth would
+be laid in his coffin before night!
+
+Mothers and sisters will ask, "What can one woman do by herself?" What
+good? If every mother sends a St. Louis to eternity before her, is not
+that a magnificent influence on society, and who denies it? Be not
+discouraged then--withdraw the misplaced sympathies that have been
+enlisted by thrilling manuscripts or exciting anecdotes in the cause of
+missions and religious undertakings abroad. At home, within your own
+most intimate circle you have a mighty field for your labors. Hearts to
+which you are closely attached are sadly in need of your attention, and
+while you are so solicitous in providing for corporal necessities and
+comforts, forget not the poverty, the destitution of the moral nature.
+Wrap the robe of innocence and repentance round the heart that is naked
+and susceptible to all the influences of foul weather. Go bravely forth
+in the bark of divine charity and save the soul that is tossing
+helplessly on an angry sea, without food or support or safety, plunging
+into irremediable debauchery, as Guy Elersley is to-night.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XV.
+
+
+  "Praising what is lost
+   Makes the remembrance dear."
+
+The cold, cloudy night was just at us period of transition when the
+misty grey of a foggy morning was slowly extending over the quiet city.
+A light fall of snow covered the rough fences and the bare branches, and
+a chilly, freezing atmosphere weighed heavily down upon the earth. There
+was scarcely a sound to be heard. Now and then the still measured tread
+of a solitary policeman, or the pitiful chirp of some homeless sparrow
+under the eaves of a neighboring house broke the monotonous silence of
+the early dawn. But suddenly another sound burst out upon the great
+stillness, it was the clock from the Parliament Tower striking the hour
+of three. The last vibrations had scarcely died out when the figures of
+two men, arm-in-arm, came round the corner. There is a well-known little
+_on dit_ which says "when two men walk arm-in-arm it is more than
+probable that one is sober," but it was the exception and not the rule
+that applied this morning. Both were seemingly under the same influence
+and to the same degree. Though the sight had its revolting side, still
+one was also inclined to laugh at the ridiculous appearance they
+presented. One was short, but had all the disadvantages of his failing
+compensated in his breadth. The other was, as I have often described him
+before--tall and slim, our brave Guy Elersley. His features were barely
+visible, owing to the manner in which he wore his hat, which would
+willingly repose on his shoulders only for an occasional jerk upwards
+from the owner. His affectionate friend with the pronounced tendency to
+_embonpoint_, tried to persuade himself that his head was really
+covered, although Guy's hat, to do its most generous, could never shield
+more than the extreme top of his hair. Snatches of their conversation
+only reassure the looker-on of the absurdity of the situation. The
+good-natured looking companion, whose name was Morrison Jones, said in
+the most usual tone in the world--
+
+"I think we're getting home kind of late, Guy," at which Guy laughed
+unreasonably long, and then added,
+
+"Ye-s, he'l (l-ate) me up, by Jove!" and then Jones clapped Guy, saying,
+
+"Here now! no more of this," and both went off into a ridiculous duet of
+laughter, that sounded harshly on the stilly air of the peaceful night.
+
+Arrived at the gate of Mr. Rayne's house both young men stood, and
+Morrison Jones who seemed a little bit the wiser of the two addressed
+Guy in fatherly terms.
+
+"Here now, Elersley, this is twice I've seen you home to night and I
+won't do it any more. It's time for honest people to be in bed, and I
+think I'll go to mine."
+
+"Mine-(d) you do," said Guy slamming the gate after him, forgetting his
+usual precautions in the unseemly mirth caused by his vulgar attempt at
+wit. Thus unceremoniously he left his friend to wander back alone
+through the dismal street.
+
+Guy was just in that delightful state when a fellow is at peace with all
+the world, when he feels ready to share his last shilling with his
+brother, and thus in perfect good humor, he was making a drunken attempt
+to render the "Tar's Farewell." He wandered on blissfully until he
+reached the balcony beneath the library window. Here he paused and
+looked up, but to his dismay found that the window had been closed since
+his departure. The muddled state of his brain prevented him from
+suspecting that he had been discovered. He only knew that he felt the
+cold chills of the dawn all through his frame and he could not help
+longing for the pillows and warm blankets above. He walked around to the
+back of the house and there began to deliberate. "First--second--yes
+third" was his window, but he must do it noiselessly for there was
+danger in the attempt. By degrees he mounted as far as the window sill
+in tolerable good humor, singing "Pull away my boys," and then making
+another firm clutch on to some other projection he would squeeze out in
+a constrained voice, "Pull away." Finally the window was tried and
+yielded--happy lot. He resumed his song mixing it up with "Nancy Lee,"
+"And every day," here the window went up another little bit, for it was
+very stiff, "when I'm away," and he rested it on his shoulder, "she'll,"
+here his uncertain balance gave way, and as--"pray for me" escaped his
+lips in frightened tones, he stumbled head foremost into the room.
+
+He remained there motionless for a few minutes, wondering what he was
+doing all in a heap on the floor, but suddenly the whole appalling
+nature of his misfortune burst upon him in its most dreadful aspect
+There before him, standing erect with a lamp in his hand, was Mr. Rayne,
+viewing him with all the withering contempt of a cold stern man. Dazzled
+at first by the light he started up from his recumbent position, and as
+he did so, the reflection of his frightful appearance greeted him from
+the mirror opposite.
+
+It would not do to spoil by an attempt at description the conflict of
+emotions that rent his breast at that moment. It is far better imagined.
+He, there on the floor, after failing miserably in an attempt to steal
+in, when he had promised his uncle not to go out, his uncle standing
+now, petrified, before him, having caught him in the disgraceful act of
+stealing an entry. Mr. Rayne looked down upon him with all the bitter
+contempt an honorable man can show to dishonesty; he spoke but a few
+words in a harsh grating tone--
+
+"I see you have contrived to preserve your bones unbroken in this
+attempt, although you have shattered your word and my future trust in
+you beyond reparation."
+
+Then he closed the door and went back to his own room, his face still
+wearing that painfully serious expression it had scarcely ever worn
+before.
+
+Guy began the disagreeable act of gathering himself up as soon as the
+unpleasant novelty of his uncle's apparition had died away, and as each
+succeeding moment forced on him, with his returning consciousness, the
+awful reality of his condition, he began to feel that unenviable
+sensation of distraction, which is almost akin to despair. He tried to
+shape things so as they might form some excuse, but it was miserably
+vain. Matters were decidedly against him. He had told his uncle that he
+would not go out, and the next thing, he is found stumbling in a back
+window at three o'clock in the morning. As Guy reviewed the situation
+over and over in his perplexed thought, he found how mistaken he had
+been indeed, thus to fool with the man on whom he depended for his
+future welfare. A hearty, though half selfish regret, seized him, and
+the broad day broke into the room before he closed his eyes in sleep.
+
+At eight o'clock he woke with a start from very unpleasant dreams, just
+to face more terrible and more unpleasant things in reality. Guy showed
+more moral courage on this occasion than he had ever before shown in his
+life. He rose with a fixed determination as to his plan of action. He
+dressed with his usual care, and was downstairs before his uncle.
+Sitting by the fire in the dining-room, he took up the morning _Citizen_
+and began to read. Suddenly the door opened and the room seemed to fill
+with the chilly presence of Mr. Rayne. Guy never moved, yet he felt that
+the cold piercing glance of his angry relative was upon him. At last,
+unable to bear it any longer, he flung the unread paper from him and
+confronted his uncle. The latter looked fully ten years older, so
+serious and stern an expression did his face wear on this gloomy
+morning. Guy began to feel sorrier than ever, but the old man merely
+raised his hand, and pointing to the doer, said--
+
+"Go, sir, it was not worth your while to spurn me thus, at this period
+of my years; but you knew that my principle is 'an eye for an eye and a
+tooth for a tooth,' and so, sir, I give you your reward. Go from my
+house, for I withdraw all relationship between us; and remember, I will
+never forgive this insult to my authority, from one on whom I had
+lavished all my heart's affections."
+
+A flush rose to the young man's forehead, and he burned to say something
+in self-justification, but his uncle's wrath was great and so he merely
+answered in a quiet tone,
+
+"As you say, uncle," then before he left the room he turned again,
+adding, "you have been young yourself, uncle, and you may regret this
+precipitation when the memory of your own follies comes back to you. As
+I have been the wrong-doer, I accept your sentence, which all the same
+cannot cancel in me the remembrance of your many kindnesses." And thus,
+without a word of farewell from either, these two parted, that a little
+while before had been all the world to one another.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVI.
+
+
+  "O absence! what a torment wouldst thou prove,
+  Wer't not that thy sour leisure gives sweet leave
+  To entertain the time with thoughts of love."
+                                --_Shakespeare_.
+
+"And so you think of going back to Ottawa so soon? Well, I suppose the
+magnet is hidden somewhere, that draws you towards it," and Jean
+d'Alberg laughed playfully as she turned to address her words to Honor,
+who was yet buried in the snowy linen of her comfortable bed.
+
+Honor clasped her hands over her head and smiled a little sadly, saying:
+
+"Yes, I like Ottawa--more than I thought I did, and if it is just the
+same to you I think we need make no longer delay here."
+
+"My dear child," Mrs. d'Alberg said as she brushed a long switch of
+auburn hair very briskly, "I thought I explained to you sufficiently
+that all things are perfectly alike to me. I will certainly go as soon
+as you wish, so don't wait for my decision."
+
+"I suppose you will think me capricious and hard to please dear Jean,
+but somehow I feel a little lonely for Ottawa."
+
+Jean smiled meaningly as she answered "Well I suppose it is a case of
+reciprocity at its best and what you miss most must be what misses you
+most, therefore it becomes your duty as well as your pleasure to restore
+matters to their former equilibrium without further delay."
+
+This was most pleasant encouragement for Honor who could scarcely
+reconcile herself to pass another single day away, once she had secured
+the consent of her hostess. And so for the remainder of the week these
+two good friends made all necessary preparations for their proposed
+journey on next Monday morning.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+It was not with the slightest inclination to regret that Honor watched
+the scenes, familiar since the last few weeks, fade rapidly now from
+their view, and yet as each station brought them closer still to Ottawa,
+she began to fear that sharp eyes like Madame d'Alberg's would guess the
+real reason of such a premature return. However, it was better thus than
+that she should be solicitous about Guy, for she knew of what he was
+capable when the reins of safe guidance were not drawn in by a sure and
+steady hand. She understood so easily the nature of the temptations that
+assailed him. She cannot be described better than in the words of the
+poet Lowell, who says
+
+    "She was a woman; one in whom
+  The spring-time of her childish years
+  Hath never lost its fresh perfume
+  Tho' knowing well that life hath room
+    For many blights and many tears."
+
+The two lady travellers spoke little during the journey. Each was sunk
+in an interesting reverie, cogitating and moralising according to their
+capacities, and the circumstances so entirely different that caused
+their thoughts to take the courses they did.
+
+Is it not a gift from God that we are in ourselves a multitude of
+beings, able to gather ourselves in from the eyes of the world and mix
+with a whole host of ideal characters of our imagination. Perhaps it
+sounds a selfish thing when spoken, but the writer speaks from personal
+experience, having spent many happy hours in self-communion, tasting the
+full sweetness thereof.
+
+It was a great relief to Honor when she recognized Fitts at the depot
+awaiting their arrival with Mr. Rayne's own comfortable sleigh. After
+all, even in the little events of a life-time, we can learn how prone we
+are to cling to old familiar things, that fill our memories with fondest
+associations and nestle the closest to our heart's core, and we say with
+Walter Scott: "The eye may wish a change, but the heart never."
+
+Honor strove hard to conceal her emotion, almost as much from her own
+self as from those around her. Here was one of those little deceptions,
+which make up the human life. How can we complain if we are led astray
+by others when we are so ready to lead ourselves astray?
+
+The meeting between Honor and Mr. Rayne was such as amused Jean d'Alberg
+considerably. It was "no wonder," she said, "that some people had to
+give up all their sentiment when there was so much wasted by others." As
+for herself, she was quite content to thrust three of her gloved fingers
+into her male cousin's broad palm, greeting him with the coolest "How
+d'ye do," after a separation of years.
+
+Honor looked the perfect embodiment of happiness, but though her face
+beamed with smiles and her voice laughed out its gayest accents, she was
+not nearly so free from pain as one might be led to think. She had
+expected to find another form among those who had welcomed her back, her
+eyes hungered for a smile she could not see, and her poor heart thirsted
+for a word from that voice she could not hear. Only to nestle her hand
+lovingly within his, only to look up into his big dreamy eyes, only to
+hear him say, even in his old jesting way, "How we've missed you," and
+the dull, sick feeling of disappointment that now filled her heart would
+melt quickly away. Maybe he was hiding in some convenient spot waiting
+to be missed. But why did not some one speak of him? She dared not trust
+herself to pronounce his name, and so she went up to her room without
+having solved the mystery of his non-appearance.
+
+The reader who has not had the experience, can, without being too
+imaginative, readily understand the sentiment that so completely
+controlled Honor Edgeworth. All the bright, happy illusions in which she
+had basked of late had rested on the doubtful, yet hopeful hypothesis
+that Guy loved her. How many times she argued against herself, striving
+to find occasions on which he had shown any indifference towards her,
+but in the end, a sweet smile em eloped her face, and the pleasantest
+conviction of a young life seemed to thrust itself upon her. She was
+forced to tell herself that his eyes never turned from her, until they
+had looked into hers with that deep penetrative glance that makes us
+feel that a soul is looking into another soul. His hand had never been
+drawn away from hers until she had detected that slight, almost
+unwilling pressure that has only one meaning. When the tongue will not
+be the outlet of our thought, may we not have recourse to those
+inarticulate words that await utterance in the eye's fond depths, and in
+the hand's warm pressure?
+
+So Honor asked herself from day to day, and she read her little story in
+the lines:
+
+  "We spoke not of our love,
+   But in our mutual silence it was felt
+   In its intense, absorbing happiness."
+
+And after all those days when she had been building up her fairy castle,
+there came the crisis of to-day, which shook the faith on which her
+edifice was built, and laid it in shattered ruins at her feet. Yet, with
+this new-born grief at her heart she must go down among those who cared
+not, to laugh and be merry, although her voice in her own ears sounded
+like a long lonely sigh.
+
+She left her room half-an-hour afterwards to repair to the drawing-room,
+but even as she walked along the corridors, now half shrouded in the
+shadows of evening, she expected to be surprised at every turning by the
+sudden appearance of Guy. She felt lonelier now though back among the
+scenes for which she had longed with a mighty longing, when hundreds of
+railroad miles had separated her from them. And then she grew impatient
+with herself for giving in to appearances. She who had prided herself so
+much on her courage to give up so easily now. Stirred by this new
+reflection, she ran lightly down the broad oaken stairway and entered
+the drawing-room, her face suffused with smiles.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVII.
+
+
+  "It is one thing to be tempted,
+   Another thing to fall."
+                       --Shakespeare.
+
+The clock of the Parliament Tower was pealing out the last stroke of
+four, and almost simultaneously there emerged from all three Buildings,
+young men, old men and middle-aged men, all looking as weary and
+hard-worked as civil servants ought to look.
+
+They did not turn back once to gaze on the spot where the long, dreary
+hours had been spent, outside that office door life assumed another and
+an entirely different phase for the government clerk. Even the memory of
+the lawyer's clerks and "duns" from various parts of the city were left
+buried within these sacred precints until the next day, and one and all
+with a light step wended their way down the Square towards Sparks
+street.
+
+Among the crowd might be noticed a group of young men that are loitering
+down the broad steps of the Eastern Block, most of them carry light
+canes and all of them are smoking good cigars. As I have said they are
+young men every one of them, and they are fast young men every one of
+them, and they are likewise inconveniently short of money are these
+good-looking fast young men. In fact they are a great many things that
+are too numerous and too uninteresting to mention.
+
+But to Miss Dash and her friend Miss McArgent, who are walking up
+Wellington street at this moment, they are the most important group of
+individuals in the whole human menagerie.
+
+Emily McArgent wants to pretend she does not see them, but Miss Dash
+would not willingly sacrifice all those bows for worlds, and so she
+gives her plush bonnet a graceful toss upwards and brings it back to its
+place as her face becomes wreathed with smiles.
+
+"I had to bow, Emily," Bella Dash says, persuasively, "for they saw us,
+but if I meet Walter Burnett alone I'll cut him sure. The idea of asking
+me for the fourth dance last night, and then spooning it off with that
+made-up thing that's stopping at the Bramwell's!"
+
+"You mean Miss Elliott," says Emily a little spitefully, "why I find her
+rather a pretty girl, and it certainly looks as if Mr Burnett meant to
+deposit all his wealth at her feet."
+
+"Well, I'm sure," rejoined Miss Bella, in genuine indignation, "she'll
+soon find out whether he's in earnest or not. It isn't the first nor the
+fiftieth time that Walter Burnett has made girls believe he was in love
+with them, but anyway," continued Bella, in supreme disgust, "it is just
+killing, the way the fellows act in Ottawa, they must always fall in
+love with strange girls that visit here, and when the scrape up enough
+pluck and money to venture on a proposal they go right off to Montreal
+or Toronto or somewhere, just as if there were not good enough for them
+here."
+
+"Well, my dear, you can't force a man's taste," Emily says in a
+satisfied tone, and no wonder that it affects her so little, because
+there are proposals on all sides of a girl who has money, is
+good-looking, and the daughter of an Hon. gentlemen besides.
+
+Miss Dash is beginning to grow a little cynical. She has walked Sparks
+Street for the last eight or ten years, not missed a ball or party, or
+other entertainment during that period, that could bring her under
+public notice. She has played Lawn Tennis times and again, and has even
+won a Governor-General's prize, she has gone on expeditions of pleasure
+with Canada's most distinguished aristocrats and somehow, she is still
+in "maiden meditation, fancy free."
+
+Occasionally her indignation rises to the surface, and at such times she
+reveals her sentiments rather recklessly. She is in this complaining
+mood to-day, but she half suspects that Miss McArgent, is inwardly
+enjoying her discomfiture, and so quickly changes the subject.
+
+"I wonder what has become of Guy Elersley; Emily. do you know?" she asks
+in a puzzled tone. "He was not at any of the parties these three weeks.
+Perhaps he is ill or out of town."
+
+"Couldn't tell you," Emily answers, "but they say he is particularly
+interested in that young girl that lives at his uncle's. I daresay she
+knows something about his non-appearance among other young ladies. They
+say she is exceedingly pretty, Bella have you seen her?"
+
+"Yes, I saw her face in church under the ugliest bonnet you ever saw,
+and I met her on the Richmond Road the other day, driving Mr Rayne's
+ponies. She looked reserved, but perhaps she is a nice girl. Hardly the
+kind that Guy Elersley would like though, he's such a flirt, he flirted
+with me once till mamma thought--"
+
+"How d'ye do," here the talkative young lady interrupted herself to
+smile on Bob Apley and Jack Fairmay who were sauntering past them, and
+for awhile the subject of her interesting flirtation fell through.
+
+They had walked on as far as the Montreal Bank during this conversation,
+and here they met Willie Airey who was talking to a handsome young
+stranger in military uniform.
+
+The two ladies bowed and passed on.
+
+"Did you see the new arrival," asked Miss Dash, looking questioningly at
+her friend, "who is he, I wonder?"
+
+"He looks like some of the Military College fellows," said Emily
+McArgent, a little more composedly, "I wish Willie Airey would bring him
+along."
+
+"Let's pass them again," Bella suggested, "and perhaps he will."
+
+Both young ladies deliberately stood, looked for a minute into the
+nearest shop window, and then retraced their steps to pass the handsome
+stranger again. As soon as they were within view, Bella cast such
+admiring eyes on the face that had attracted her so, that the owner of
+it, drawing his well scented cigar from his lips, asked his friend.
+
+"I say, Airey, who are those young ladies just passed?"
+
+"Those two, right here," said Airey, following his friend's glance, "are
+Miss McArgent and Miss Dash."
+
+"Aw they pretty girls?" pursued Vivian Standish, replacing his Havana in
+his handsome mouth.
+
+"Well," Airey answered, laughing, "_entre nous_, you know, Standish,
+when girls are well off and help to keep up the whole sport of the
+season, it is no harm to swear they are lovely, when you're sure they'll
+hear it again."
+
+"Oh, of course not! That's a serious duty sometimes. And are those two
+of your hospitable entertainers?"
+
+"Yes, by Jove they don't let the fun run down. They are jolly to kill
+time with, but upon my word, I find the greater number of girls in
+society here are very insipid. If you can't talk nonsense to them, they
+can't talk anything else to you. And though we fellows knock a good deal
+of fun out of their parties, etc., still, we've earned it by the time
+we've talked over all the little gossip of the day with them, flirted a
+little, escorted them to some opera or other, and minded ourselves to
+say nothing but what was most flattering, when speaking of them."
+
+"Well I should think you had," answered his friend, with a low laugh,
+"you can get something more than that, with less trouble, elsewhere."
+
+"Yes, but half a loaf is better than none," rejoined Airey, "and these
+young ladies are not so bad when one is in the humor to be amused."
+
+Just as he finished speaking, he noticed a familiar form walking
+steadily on in front. He clapped his hand heavily down on the shoulder
+of him he recognized, and shouted.
+
+"Hallo, Elersley," in genuine surprise.
+
+Guy started and looked around. Poor fellow! Already the traits of
+sadness were visible in his handsome face. He only parted his lips
+slightly as he turned to greet his friend.
+
+"What, in the name of all that's nice, have you been doing with
+yourself, Guy? We've missed you awfully."
+
+"I dare say, I have been a little quiet lately," Guy answered. "I am
+busy at present, but I don't think I need complain of it. I am feeling
+better than if I were living more on the streets."
+
+Vivian Standish laughed the laziest sort of drawl.
+
+"Now Elersley, don't take to moralizing--you were never made for it,
+your face would get so deuced eloquent looking, that the rest of us
+would lose all our present chances."
+
+But Guy neither smiled nor spoke, and this set his friends wondering.
+
+On reaching the corner, Will Airey took an arm of each of his
+companions, and said:
+
+"Come along boys to see the tumblers. Come Elersley."
+
+"Thank you, no," said Guy, releasing his arm, "I am very busy and must
+get back to my room. _Au plaísir!_ Good afternoon!" and he was gone.
+
+Willie Airey looked after him and then at Vivian Standish, and gave a
+long, low whistle.
+
+"There's something up there, by Jove," he said, tossing his head in the
+direction Guy had taken. "If Elersley has started a reform, it is time
+for the retail dealers in 'gratifications' to close up, for it is a sure
+sign we must all follow him."
+
+Vivian Standish looked thoughtful for a moment, saying, as he drew a
+long breath, "I wish to Heaven we could, for upon my word I'm sick of my
+own life. Anything would be better than the existence we fellows try to
+drag out. I think we are all fools who do not do as Elersley has done
+to-night, and I for another refuse the treat with thanks."
+
+So instead of repairing to the familiar marble counter inside a familiar
+glass door, these two spoilt darlings of sensuality joined Miss Bella
+Dash and her friend, and escorted them home, much to the intense
+gratification of the first-named young lady.
+
+Without complimenting himself at all on the moral victory he had
+achieved, Guy Elersley walked along, sunk in deep reflection. His long
+strides brought him over many crossings and round many corners, till at
+length he stopped before a demure, respectable looking hall door.
+Thrusting a key into the lock, he opened it and stepped into the hall,
+from which place he admitted himself into a small and silent apartment.
+Guy's room presented a strange spectacle. Suits of clothes, shirt boxes,
+silk handkerchiefs, slippers, boots, ties, books, cigars and a host of
+other male appendages, were lying around on the bed, and chairs, and
+floor, in fact, every available resting place had been taken advantage
+of. In the midst of this confusion stood a large Saratoga, wide open.
+Guy was evidently "packing up" this time, not because he had been
+"dunned" for half-a-year's board, though that would have been no new
+item in his well-patched-up experience. He was going away, and I doubt
+if ever a man felt half so sorry for being "naughty" as Guy Elersley
+felt on this particular evening.
+
+One by one he folded away all his possessions into the depths of his
+trunk, and when at last the chaotic mass of belongings had crept into a
+tidy space, he looked around--that last surveying glance one gives to
+see that nothing has been left out. Nothing had been left out, so he
+took down his overcoat, that was hanging on a peg behind the door, and
+he began to turn out the pockets.
+
+As he did so the most melancholy of smiles crept over his sad face, and
+drawing out his hand, his eyes fell on a small, narrow band of chestnut
+hair, fastened with a gold clasp, on which were engraved in large
+characters the initials, "H. E."
+
+A struggle ensued. The memories he had buried forever, as he thought,
+surged upon him now in all their force, and almost overwhelmed him. He
+took the little bracelet in both his hands and looked at it tenderly,
+longingly. He had not thought it possible that any woman could ever have
+filled his heart with so much bitterness--the bitterness of remorse and
+repentance. He who had flirted and fooled with almost every girl he had
+met, now felt what it was to have met with one who was the embodiment of
+goodness and purity and truth. Her sweet face haunted him through all
+his misery. He knew she would be wondering about him, they had been such
+good _friends_. After all, must he go away? Perhaps never to see her
+again, without knowing whether she would miss him or not. Oh! at least,
+pain and sorrow and suffering are not so crushing when one is loved. It
+is something when the head is weary with its thoughts of anguish to
+pillow it on the sympathizing bosom of one who loves us; it is in the
+deep, imploring gaze of the eyes that watch us with a tender solicitude,
+that one learns an easy lesson of resignation, it is in the warm
+pressure of the hand whose power it is to make our pulses throb, that
+one gathers the courage for action in the moment of distress, and the
+who have never been loved are they who suffer indeed.
+
+Guy felt that he loved Honor Edgeworth in a way which involved his own
+future happiness, and yet how could he ascertain whether he might hope
+or not? Reader, do you know that it is a dreadful thing to love in
+silence and in doubt? The victim of such a cruel fate wonders at the
+mysterious Providence which dooms him to spend his most violent emotions
+in a fruitless combat with himself, gaining no returns for the
+lavishness of his soul's affection, for if God is love, love is surely
+mystery.
+
+Still holding the precious little bracelet in his trembling hands, Guy
+stood thinking and wondering. We are too prone, in our cool and
+passionless moments, to judge harshly of the deeds that are done under
+the influence of strong emotion, and for this reason many would condemn
+Guy for his weakness on this occasion, for as he stood, the large,
+round, tears rose to his eyes, and he tasted for the first time, the
+over-flowing bitterness of a heart that is tried. At last he seemed to
+have learned from this little talisman the proper thing to do, for going
+over to the table that stood by the window, he sat down, and drawing a
+sheet of paper to him, took his pen between his nervous fingers, and
+began to write.
+
+"Honor darling, there are a few little words waiting to be said that you
+must be good enough to hear. If I spoke them, they would sound like
+choking sobs, as I write them, know that they are written with tears.
+Honor, you cannot but feel what it is that I am longing to say. You who
+understand the human heart so well, will not exact that I should break
+the iron bonds of a cruel discretion, to let you know that which is
+often best understood unsaid. By my own folly, I have placed the barrier
+of distance between us. I go from this place in a few hours more--where?
+God knows. And for what? He likewise alone can tell. But there is a
+determination in my heart that was never there before--a stimulant
+causing it to beat in heavy throbs, and each throb echoes your name.
+Maybe you call mine a worthless love, I cannot tell, I wish I could.
+There is one little word, my guardian angel, that will fill me with
+courage if your lips will but pronounce it. It is "Hope." Remember in
+any case, that whatever I shall do of right or good will be on account
+of your redeeming influence, and that the day on which I first met you
+is in my memory, the day of my salvation. If you have any little word of
+encouragement for me, my friend, the bearer of this message, will kindly
+have it sent me. You have taught me to hope once, Honor, do not crush
+the passion you have awakened, for though it be vainly--wildly--madly, I
+do hope now. I hope and wait.
+
+                          Anxiously and lovingly yours,
+
+                                                       GUY."
+
+It was done. Only a few scratches of his pen to interpret the misery of
+his soul, but how stiff it sounded! He has scarcely been able to
+restrain the gusts of emotions that lay in ready words on the threshold
+of his lips. But first he must know whether it was all despair for him
+in the doubtful future before pouring out all the fullness of his heart.
+He had scarcely finished the last stroke of his letter when a tap was
+heard at the door, followed by the appearance of a familiar face, the
+owner of which entered the room and approached Guy without waiting for
+an invitation.
+
+"Hallo! Elersley, what in the name of all that's wonderful are you at
+now?"
+
+Guy looked suddenly up, but he could not hide the worn and pained
+expression that covered his face. His voice assumed a cheerfulness, he
+was far from feeling as he bade his friend be seated.
+
+"The room is in a queer state," he said, "but you wont mind that."
+
+"Well I mind it a good deal, if it means what it looks like--are you
+off?
+
+"Yes," answered Guy in a steady tone, "I am leaving Ottawa to-morrow,
+it's a cursed hole for a fellow to live in, and I'm sorry I did not find
+it out before."
+
+"Well, upon my word," said Standish, throwing one leg over the end of
+Guy's trunk, "you _are_ a queer fellow. What's going wrong that you are
+so blue about matters? I thought you were an enviable sort of fellow,
+with a snug little prospect before you, and here you are, as down in the
+mouth as if you hadn't a hope in the world. What's up old boy?"
+
+Guy turned his back to the window, and leaned against the writing table
+with both hands.
+
+"Oh! things have gone a little roughly that's all, and I prefer new
+pastures when there are troubles in the old ones. I have been a little
+foolish, I suppose, and now I am reaping my reward."
+
+His face grew pitiably serious as he turned to Vivian saying:
+
+"There's only one little matter I am leaving unsettled, Standish, and
+will you manage it for me? I cannot do it myself."
+
+"By all means Elersley. Who is he? The tailor or--"
+
+"Oh nonsense!" interrupted Guy impatiently, "it is nothing of that kind.
+I have a note here to be carefully delivered, and I would ask you to see
+to it for me."
+
+"A young lady eh?" Standish replied good-humoredly, as he took the
+offered letter. "I thought there was surely a woman at the bottom of it.
+Egad!" he continued under his moustache, "we owe them a long debt of
+revenge, as the cause of all our grievous and petty wrongs. However,"
+this more cheerfully, "you can trust this to me. But talking business,
+Guy are you actually going away?"
+
+"And why need it surprise you so," asked Guy, peevishly, "what are the
+railroads for, if not to take us miles away from the scenes we love or
+hate? I certainly am going, and I have never realized until this moment
+what I owe to the kind friends I have met during my sojourn here. If I
+have solved the bitter mysteries of hidden sinful life, I owe a word of
+gratitude to some worthy companions."
+
+Here the memory of all he had lost through his own recklessness, rushed
+upon him and before his emotion subsided, he had cursed in bitter terms
+the false deceitful friends, who had lured him from his innocence into
+vice and depravity.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVIII.
+
+
+  "With goddess-like demeanour forth she went
+    Not unattended, for on her as queen,
+  A pomp of winning graces waited still.
+    And from about her shot darts of desire
+  Into all eyes to wish her still in sight."
+
+"Are the ladies at home?"
+
+"Yes. Will you come inside?" said Fitts, with his politest bow, as he
+extended an exquisite little card receiver towards his visitors.
+
+Then came a few moments of great bustle and confusion, and an
+accumulation of seal-skins and brocaded silks was ushered into the
+drawing-room of Mr. Rayne's house.
+
+It was reception day for Aunt Jean and Honor, and both were looking
+remarkably well in their most becoming costumes, amid their rich
+surroundings.
+
+Aunt Jean advanced slightly to meet two ladies as they entered the room,
+and "How d'ye do?" passed from one to another, as they deposited their
+expensive habiliments and precious humanity into comfortable
+"_fauteuits_." Then, while Mrs. d'Alberg tried to sustain a conversation
+with the elder and more substantial of the two, the younger lady, though
+not exceedingly childish, drew herself towards Honor, and addressed her
+patronizingly.
+
+Here were people who were actual exclamation points in the social
+grammar. Their imposing appearance forced one to hold one's breath, and
+yet Dame Rumor, who deals in wholesale whispering at Ottawa, told one,
+with her hand to her mouth, that not so many years ago, Mr. Atkinson
+Reid was solving the mysteries of existence, inside a scarlet shirt,
+antique trousers, high boots and a conical straw hat. Only lately,
+comparatively speaking, had he discarded the one-storey frame house, in
+a decidedly un-aristrocratic and objectionable neighborhood, where,
+nevertheless, fortune was first pleased to smile benignly on his efforts
+to keep the old leathern purse well filled, and where his now precious,
+airy, nervous, affected daughters first saw their porridge and potatoes.
+Things went well in the unpretentious little abode, and by and by Johnny
+Reid was able to indulge in sundry luxuries of life, that naturally
+belonged to a more advanced stage of civilization than is assumed in the
+hut of the ordinary shanty-man or wood-cutter. Years were stealing on,
+and Ottawa was growing up into a respectable size, and at last one day
+Johnny Reid made up his mind to abandon his rough work, since his
+accumulated wealth now allowed him to employ substitutes. With these
+glittering coins, that represented so many strokes of a heavy axe from a
+strong arm, and so many drops of sweat from an overheated brow, he would
+go into the heart of the city and buy finery and style and
+accomplishments for Maria, and Nellie, and Sarah, and the old woman
+herself as well, and life would bear fruit at last to him, after all his
+hard toil and bitter experience.
+
+And this is the origin of one of Ottawa's stateliest mansions of to-day,
+of some of society's most dashing heroines, of John Peter's fine livery
+and cosy seat behind the best team of gilt-harnessed horses that trot
+the streets of the Capital, of the best and most sumptuous
+entertainments that are given in our hospitable City, and of the honest
+old gentleman himself who from this period must be recognized as John
+Atkinson Reid Esq., with a decade of distinguished antecedents that
+every one knows without even hearing their names.
+
+Poor Mrs. Reid dreaded the new responsibilities with which her sudden
+acquirement of means threatened her, but her daughters fresh from the
+most fashionable of Canadian educational establishments, undertook to
+supply for maternal deficiencies by checking their untutored mother, the
+very many times they deem it necessary, thus making the last epoch of
+this ill-fated lady's life, a grand piece of misery and terror.
+
+Just now Miss Sadie Reid is fidgeting nervously with a gold and pearl
+card case held within her primrose kids, that are peeping through the
+outlets of her brocaded Mother Hubbard dolman. She feels a little ill at
+ease beside Miss Edgeworth, who is so self-possessed and unapproachable
+to the stylish Miss Reid. The conversation is the same immortal
+collection of exclamations and enquiries that one hears everywhere in
+fashionable circles in Ottawa.
+
+Miss Reid remarks in an almost flattering tone: "Why you don't look at
+all tired, Miss Edgeworth, after the MacArgent's ball."
+
+"I do not tire myself ever when I can help it," Honor says, "and this
+occasion came under my rule. I left early and rested well."
+
+"Did you really?" is the reply. "Well, you see, I couldn't have done
+that. I was engaged for every single dance and it would have been
+'dreadfully atrocious' if I left before the end. We dined at Government
+House last night again and to-night there is an 'at Home' at the
+Bellemare's, but I suppose I will meet you there. Really it is
+'dreadfully distressing' for one to be obliged to go out so much. I am
+sure you are to be envied, Miss Edgeworth, to be able to keep so quiet."
+
+"I wonder that you realize how fortunate I am," said Honor calmly, "I
+thought our spheres lay so widely apart that you considered my lot as
+unfortunate as I do yours."
+
+"Oh! dear no'" said Miss Saidie, "It is 'positively agonizing' to live
+as we do in such constant demand; I suppose you will feel it soon
+though, now you've come out. You have no idea of what is before you."
+
+"Excuse me, Miss Reid," interrupted Honor, "but I think I have a very
+fair one. I have learned already that when a girl creeps into her first
+ball-dress she is like a cabinet minister getting into power, she has a
+great many troubles worse than trains to drag after her."
+
+Miss Reid found this remark exceedingly funny, and laughed rather
+immoderately, Honor thought; but just then Nanette came in with the
+dainty cups of tea, and so created a slight diversion in the
+conversation.
+
+As Miss Reid has told the reader Honor Edgeworth had really "come out,"
+with Madame d'Alberg and Mr. Rayne as _chaperones_, and had made a great
+sensation. She was the same calm, beautiful, composed girl as ever,
+though a remarkable unseen change had come over her. If anything, it had
+only given more dignity and grace to her bearing, more music and pathos
+to her voice, and a more sympathetic and attractive expression to her
+face. Jean d'Alberg had not failed to notice it, and with her usual keen
+instinct had readily divined the cause, but she never spoke of it. She
+grew kinder, if possible, to the silent girl, and was satisfied for the
+present to hope for better things.
+
+This bright afternoon, Honor felt more cynical than usual, and the
+conversation with her frivolous guests did not at all tend to improve
+her humor.
+
+The Reids had just left the door, tucked into their comfortable
+conveyance, when two gentlemen were announced. Honor recognized them as
+some of those whom she had met since her _entree_ into society, but she
+neither knew of, nor cared for the admiration that was so freely
+bestowed on her by them.
+
+When they were seated, Honor found that Mr. Standish was nearest her,
+and therefore she addressed herself to him. He could be the most
+nonsensical soul in the world when he felt like it or he could talk the
+dryest common sense that ever found its way into the wisest of heads,
+and thus he made his society pleasant to feather-brains, and _savants_
+alike.
+
+He was well up in almost every accomplishment. According to the girls,
+he could dance--oh his dancing was heavenly, his singing was equally
+good, and as for flirting, why he could kill a dozen female hearts with
+one of those pleading, dreamy, distracted looks, that he sometimes made
+use of among his lady friends. He knew all the genus and species of
+small-talk, and when it came to compliments and pretty little nothings,
+he was without a rival. He could take his turn at tennis and come off
+favorably. He could ride splendidly and skate admirably, in fact, he had
+made merciless havoc with the girls' hearts, with all his
+accomplishments and attractions, and such a fever of envy and jealousy
+and eager gossip as he created among his fair friends was something so
+"desperately horrid" (as they would put it) that one could almost hate
+him for it, and to tell the truth, many of his rivals, who were quite in
+the shade beside him, did hate him most cordially.
+
+This manner and bearing of his, he looked upon as a _passe-partout_, and
+there was certainly one item in his character that outshadowed all the
+rest, namely his conceit, or self-sufficiency which was constantly
+asserting itself in his every look and action.
+
+Vivian Standish was a thorough man of the world--I use the word in its
+most literal acceptation. He was one of those cool, keen, calculating,
+diplomatic men, who never lose their presence of mind, who never
+hesitate, and yet are never precipitate, who always say the right thing
+in the right time, and to the right people. No one knew anything of his
+antecedents, but somehow, he carried an acceptable sort of reputation on
+his face.
+
+Guy Elersley had done many foolish things, but foremost among them all
+was, his having made a friend of a man who was as obscure and
+incomprehensible to him as the most profound ethical mystery.
+
+They got on very well together, however. Guy found Vivian all that one
+fellow expects another to be, consequently they soon became fast
+"chums." Now this is no light word at least in Ottawa. If you give a
+fellow to understand that you are his friend, it means, "thro' fire and
+water," if anything ever meant it. Ottawa is one of the most unfortunate
+places in the world for some people to live in. It is pregnant with
+snares and scrapes for budding manhood, and there is redemption in
+nothing, if not in the steady arm or well filled pocket of a friend.
+According to these notions, Guy and Vivian had played saviour to one
+another on sundry occasions. The last confidence reposed was the note
+that Guy had given Standish to deliver in, "Honor Edgeworth's own
+hands," before his departure on that eventful night when we left the two
+friends chatting over Guy's new troubles and plans for the future.
+
+Vivian Standish had drawn in the comfort of his cigar in rather anxious
+breaths, as he walked back alone in the starlight after leaving his
+friend. He detested things that puzzled and crossed him, and nothing
+under the sun could have puzzled him more than the sudden change that
+had come over Guy Elersley. He had been such a happy, careless, daring
+sort of fellow all his life; and now, all at once, a gloom of skepticism
+seemed to settle down on him, extinguishing the light of hope and energy
+which had previously marked his character. This, Standish concluded, was
+no meaningless nor ordinary effect, there must be a cause for this
+newer, more thoughtful mood. Had he forfeited his claim to the long-
+expected legacy of Henry Rayne's wealth? Had Honor Edgworth any thing to
+do with it? Perhaps he never answered these questions even to himself on
+this silent night. He walked on quietly till he came to a streetlamp,
+whose yellow radiance threw fitful gleams around the lonely street. Here
+he stopped and deliberately unbuttoning his overcoat, took out the note
+that Guy had confided to his care, tore it open and coolly read, word
+for word, the passionate declaration held therein. He laughed a low
+little chuckle, with his cigar between his teeth, and muttered to
+himself, "not so bad by Jove, not a bad game at all." Then without a
+trace of shame or compunction on his face, he calmly tore the precious
+paper into little pieces which he carefully placed in his vest pocket.
+Then he buttoned up his coat, and putting both hands in his pockets he
+walked steadily on, still scenting the air with his expensive cigar, and
+wearing all the while such a look of lazy amusement as betrayed nothing
+whatever of what might be going on inside of those handsome features.
+
+Vivian Standish was a man of impulse and inspiration; but, strange to
+say, his impulse or inspiration invariably moved him the right way. I
+use right, as meaning personal advantages or victory for himself. His
+latest "inspiration" led him to reflect on the possible and very
+gratifying advantages he might secure for himself by marrying well. "But
+then," thought he, "girls are such diabolical ninnies that everything
+which does not come under the shadow of some big church or fat parson is
+vicious in their eyes." In spite of this conviction, he had weighed his
+chances and possessions against every possible drawback, and, with his
+usual conceit, he fancied the road was beautifully clear.
+
+Here we have him then with the self-appointed mission of choosing a
+wife. No man had ever held within his soul such volumes of deep
+sentiment as he could call into his eyes when the occasion required it,
+and no knight of the age of chivalry ever wooed a fair lady with such
+winning words and courteous deeds as Vivian Standish could bring to his
+aid, when he so wished it.
+
+This is an age replete with valuable opportunities for cunning people,
+and they are the losers who cannot take advantage of the world's
+susceptibility and weakness, by turning its folly to their own personal
+advantage and especial benefit.
+
+Vivian Standish had not a genius for everything alike. He never in the
+world could have created himself an apostle of aestheticism, though he
+found out later that there was more money than exalted enthusiasm in the
+business He never could have bothered about a flying machine, or spent
+his time discovering hair renewers or cures for rheumatism, but he could
+speculate with the wealth that nature and a little art had given him, in
+the gold mines of the comfortable houses that were open to him. With a
+little tinge of communism and a great deal of egotism in his nature he
+concluded that he had as good a right to the gold and silver of those
+gouty fathers and mothers as they had, and he was going to prove it too.
+
+With this insight into his character, which is rather a long parenthesis
+than a direct deviation from my story, we can see Vivian Standish in his
+true colors, and we can, therefore, easily guess the object of his visit
+to Mr. Rayne's house on this particular afternoon. No ordinary observer
+could have detected any other than a purely conventional motive in this
+call.
+
+He had met Miss Edgeworth, and had solicited the favor from her of
+allowing him to call at her residence. Every other young fellow had done
+nearly the same thing, and he himself had acted in the same manner
+towards many other young ladies. But we, who are permitted to look
+behind the screens while this little drama is going on, can say more
+about his true motives. His clever way of reasoning had led Vivian
+Standish to believe that Guy Elersley had forfeited every right to his
+uncle's wealth, and without knowing anything of Honor's own fortune, he
+concluded that it was worth a fellow's while to secure her, as the most
+indirect, but about the most truly lawful way of getting the "old
+fellow's" money.
+
+It was this determination that had caused him to cast the fractions of
+Guy's love letter into the fire when he reached his room on that
+eventful night. He excused himself very easily on the plea that there
+was no earthly use in encouraging this love affair, when there were
+neither hard cash nor good prospects to wind it up with. Elersley had
+had his chance and missed it. Now, why wouldn't some less fortunate dog
+take his rejected luck and put it to better account? There is no verdict
+so prompt as the one a man pronounces over a case of "my own good or
+another fellow's." And Vivian Standish made up his mind, in plain
+English, to I do "square business."
+
+"Square business" to him meant something very delightful to the average
+society girl. Courteous manners, marked attentions, openly expressed
+admiration, and slavery almost if she proved exacting. But Standish had
+an idea, and not a too comfortable one about the character of the girl
+he had to deal with. And so this afternoon, he presented himself before
+her with all the charm of a studied negligence which attracts in spite
+of one's self. He was very careful about all that passed, as yet he was
+only groping in the dark. If he once knew whether she loved Guy or not,
+his game would be an easy one, and this was the first problem he set
+himself to solve. He spoke to her of a great many things before he
+ventured on the subject that interested him most. When he did finally
+broach it, he merely asked in a simple sort of way:
+
+"Have you heard any news of--a--our mutual friend, Mr. Elersley?"
+
+The die was cast. He had only this instrument with which to apply his
+skill, and had he used it well or not? The sound of this name was the
+"Open Sesame" to Honor's heartful of secrets, and Standish scanned her
+face with a look of penetrating inquiry as he pronounced it. But men are
+fools. Honor Edgeworth was a woman and a woman's face is not an index to
+woman's soul. Truly her slender fingers clutched each other nervously
+until the golden circlets around them nigh entered the tender flesh. But
+who felt that besides herself? It is a woman's own fault if she is not
+appreciated to-day, for men will never know from her lips of the hundred
+moral victories she achieves daily. Even those ordinary common-place
+females who make the dresses and trim the hats of the creatures our men
+adore, even these do their inner selves more violence in one short day
+than a man endures for a life time. Give me a man for courage, if you
+will, for power of action, if you will, but give me a woman with a heart
+for an unrivalled endurance and fortitude.
+
+Vivian Standish cool, keen, deliberating, could read nothing in his
+companion's face, and thus baffled, he began inwardly to wonder what
+would be his next course.
+
+Honor looked at him in the most provokingly composed way and said dryly:
+
+"You may give the word 'friend' a rather extensive meaning for aught I
+know. Things have grown into such an exaggerated state, now-a-days, that
+a commonly sensible person is lost towards understanding them."
+
+Standish winced.
+
+"Which may infer that I am not on intimate terms with my common sense,"
+he thought, and aloud:
+
+"I will retract the word if you please, and consider you and Mr.
+Elersley as strangers."
+
+Strangers! that was true, deep down in her heart, but with her lips she
+said:
+
+"By no means, Guy Elersley and I have ceased to be strangers from the
+first moment we met. But this can not interest you. Let us talk of
+something else. Do you enjoy the last of the season here?"
+
+"Very much indeed," he replied, but without the slightest warmth, as he
+was inwardly wondering at this girl's conduct, so different from the
+others. At this stage of his critical distraction, his friend rose and
+shook hands with Madame d'Alberg, then advanced to make his adieux to
+Honor. This necessitated Vivian's doing so likewise, and if ever Vivian
+Standish's hand clasped another's emphatically, it did on this occasion.
+He just gathered the soft white fingers of this strange haughty girl
+within his own, and held them for an instant in that trusting longing
+way that had done him good service many a time before, then he laid them
+quietly away, with a look of eloquent pleading in his eyes and a simple
+"Good-bye" on his handsome lips.
+
+It was six o'clock at last. The gas was lit, the curtains drawn, and the
+familiar and just now welcome sound of dishes was coming from the
+dining-room across the hall. Mr. Rayne was expected every minute, and
+Mrs. d'Alberg and Honor were loitering the moments of waiting around the
+drawing-room.
+
+"Well, aunt Jean," said Honor, lazily placing her hand on the back of
+the arm-chair in which the lady addressed was seated, (she had chosen to
+call her "aunt" since she was to appear in society as her charge), "what
+do you propose doing to-night? Do you care at all to go to the
+Bellemare's?"
+
+"Oh, I don't know," Mrs. d'Alberg replied, "one place is as attractive
+as another for me. You will see plenty of people and nonsense, and you
+may as well be wearied all at once with these things as to foster the
+spirit by degrees. You will meet Miss Mountainhead or Miss Dash, or Miss
+Reid some of these days, and if you can't talk about this one's
+'kettledrum' and that one's 'at home' you will be bored to death by
+hearing their version of it, so you might as well do one thing as the
+other. You'll see that Mr. Standish too, by-the-way! Do you know, I like
+him, Honor, it is a stamp you seldom see."
+
+"Really, aunt Jean," Honor was smiling, "this looks suspicious. You
+should be blind to your favorite stamps by now. But about this other
+thing, since we've accepted we had better go, as you say, boring one's
+self to death, or being bored by other people is much the same thing, so
+we may as well resign ourselves and make the best of it."
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Vivian Standish was puzzled more than ever when he left Mr. Rayne's
+house. He had counted on meeting an ordinary society girl, but had been
+greatly, though not at all unpleasantly disappointed.
+
+He did not dislike Honor Edgeworth in any way. He felt rather attracted
+towards her than otherwise, but he felt uneasy about the little plans he
+had cherished and encouraged for so long.
+
+An hour or so after leaving her, he was in his own room, comfortably
+installed in an easy chair drawn up to the window, with his velvet
+slippers resting on the sill and the graceful clouds of smoke curling
+upwards from his handsome mouth and surrounding his languid form. There
+is not very much to look at from the window of a Bank street boarding
+house, and yet a passer-by at this moment would have thought this
+elegant young man was deeply interested either in the dilapidated
+representations of "Hazel Kirke" that adorned a straggling fence
+opposite, or in the music (?) which a classic looking organ-grinder was
+trying to eke out of his instrument to the time of the "Marseillaise,"
+to the great delight of the customary crowd of youngsters who surrounded
+him.
+
+But Vivian Standish rarely wasted his faculties on such matter-of-fact
+things, while there were other projects of a more personal advantage
+awaiting his consideration. He was wishing heartily at that moment that
+some girls had not one-quarter of the brains that nature had
+improvidently endowed them with, but this being a hopeless hope, he
+occupied himself in trying to discover the best way in which to deal
+with a person so gifted.
+
+A fellow in a boarding-house is a most unfortunate creature, being never
+quite free from the intrusion of a host of friends. Vivian felt this
+unpleasant truth in all its intensity. His interesting cogitation was
+cut short in a little while by the entrance of a bevy of comrades, and
+he had to come down and stand at the front door, to flirt and "carry on"
+with the girls that passed, and otherwise contribute towards the
+amusement of the crowd.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIX.
+
+
+  "Come now; what masks, what dances shall we have
+   To wear away this long age of three hours
+   Between our after-supper and bed-time."
+
+Perhaps it was owing to Honor's apparent indifference that Henry Rayne
+refrained from giving a full account of Guy Elersley's disappearance
+from among them. He had insinuated something about the misunderstanding
+that had arisen between his nephew and himself, but the subject was a
+painful one, and unless pressed for further information, he preferred to
+remain silent altogether about it.
+
+Honor had taken counsel with herself and had acted very wisely in
+consequence. She assured herself that it was presumption to suppose that
+Guy loved her. She had no direct proof of such a sentiment existing.
+Their whole period of acquaintance and companionship had been tinged
+with romance, but it would have been the same, had she been any one
+else. It was almost the certain fate of two young people thrown together
+as they had been to "fall in love." Yet he had given her no definable
+cause to count on him as an admirer or lover. He had not even gone to
+the depôt on the morning of her departure, or shown himself in any
+marked way, concerned about her; so she resolved to quietly stow away
+the items of her past that wound themselves around his name or memory,
+and to begin another life strengthened by this new experience. There is
+something of a Spartan endurance in a heroic woman. She can carry inside
+the fairest face, the battered wreck of the fondest heart, and even if
+we must call this deception, surely it is a virtue. She adopts her sad
+misfortune as a responsibility akin to duty, and it is a gratification
+and a solace to herself to know that she suffers alone and in silence.
+
+Honor did not allow this strange turn of things to influence her life
+visibly. She had learned a new chapter of that mysterious volume that
+destiny holds open to all men, but it did not seem new to her. She was
+one of those people who, from acute observation on those who have
+gathered the fruit of a long experience, or from a study of those
+authors whom we know as direct interpreters of the human heart, had
+acquired that inner knowledge and experience of things which, in its
+moral effect on the system, is equivalent to the actual tasting of the
+same phases of life. She had prepared herself to meet trials and
+disappointments in the very heart of her comforts. What other fruit can
+be born of a selfish, scheming world? But she thought she had discovered
+a sympathetic bond between her own and this other young soul. Guy did
+not seem to her as the rest of his kind. At times, when his better
+nature was aroused, he gave expression to the noblest and most exalted
+feeling. He had the one failing, however, of being easily led--and there
+are so many persons to lead astray in Ottawa city, and so many places to
+lead to, that it takes a very strong arm or a very eloquent voice or a
+very subtle influence to counteract the effect of evil company on one we
+love. Honor could not encourage thoughts of distrust towards Guy. The
+memory of their happy friendship always stood between her and her
+censure of him, but still she could not cancel the thoughts of all he
+might have done and did not do. No word, no sign, no message to assure
+her that he had clung to her memory as a bright spot in his misfortune;
+and she would lay back in her bed at night, thinking, wondering and
+puzzling herself about the strange, mysterious things that could
+transpire while this big, revolving machine of ours turned once around.
+
+There was a kind of subdued excitement in the upper front rooms of Henry
+Rayne's house to-night. It had been decided to go to the Bellemare's,
+and all this extra confusion was only about the toilets. Nanette was
+showering ejaculations of the profoundest admiration on Honor, who,
+robed in black satin, stood before a tall mirror adjusting her skirt.
+
+It was almost provoking to see the cool, calm way in which she went
+through the different stages of "dressing." Her brocaded satin fitted
+exquisitely to her slender waist, and ended over her shoulders in a
+sqnare cut, whose gatherings of such Spanish lace lay in dazzling
+contrast to her snowy neck and arms.
+
+A pair of diamond screws were fastened in her ears, but apart from these
+she wore no other jewel. Before leaving her room, however, she plucked
+the bursting bud of a white rose that grew in a dainty pot on the window
+sill, and with a spray of its leaves fastened it at her breast. She was
+ready before aunt Jean or Mr. Rayne, so she stole down to the dimly-
+lighted drawing-room to while away the waiting moments in playing
+dreamy chords and half-remembered snatches of pensive airs.
+
+Aunt Jean was a most fastidious woman, and dressed according to certain
+rules and regulations, any aberration from which was a gross mistake not
+to be tolerated. Henry Rayne, for an old man, was also uncommonly
+exacting. He spoiled, on an average, a dozen white ties nightly when he
+decided on going out, and it was a task to insert his shirt studs in a
+way that would satisfy him. When Honor had time to arrange things in the
+afternoon, all went smoothly enough; but for him to dress on a short
+notice meant a good deal of trouble to his household.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+The brilliant light of a dozen chandeliers is flooding the ball-room at
+Elmhurst. The walls of the spacious apartment are decked with festive
+decorations. The air is heavy with rich perfumes, soft, sweet strains of
+dance music float through the crowded rooms, and women, the fairest,
+richest and noblest are gliding by on the arms of their interested
+partners. Every face is smiling, some are perfectly happy, some are
+perfectly wretched, some are perfectly indifferent--but all are smiling,
+all look pleased. Even Miss Dash and a few other friends, who look
+suspiciously like wall-flowers, smile broadly at the least amusing
+remark, just as though they were not being consumed with jealousy and
+disappointment. They talk eagerly and gladly to deaf old members of
+Parliament and stuffy bachelors, whom they hate more intensely than ever
+after the evening is over. Fans are waving in every direction, the
+great, broad, heavy "coolers" of the fat mammas, who are just dying from
+heat and exhaustion; and the pretty, feathery, spangled things, behind
+which is whispered many a coquettish word by the pretty lips of gay
+young girls; and the poor, ill-used one's of the wall-flowers, that are
+either being bitten viciously at the safest end, or that fly impatiently
+through the air, cooling the puckered brows of disappointed belles.
+
+Everyone is there who is "anything." The Bellemares are very well known
+in Ottawa. Strangers point to their splendid mansion, situate a little
+way outside the city limits, and ask, "Who can live there?" And the
+resident of Ottawa tells all he knows. Mr Joseph Bellemare, one of our
+great lumber merchants, is the proprietor of that grand residence. He
+has plenty of money and comfort, a small family--a marriageable daughter
+and two sons--who help to diminish very considerably the family
+treasure. The house is finely adapted for large entertainments, having
+immense rooms for reception, and dancing and refreshments. Then there
+was the handsome library, the conservatory and billiard room, all with
+little _tête-a-tête_ nooks and corners in which spoony lovers might take
+refuge for hours, without being noticed.
+
+There were lawns and groves, and boats and fishing for the delightful
+summer-time. In fact, nature and art had both contributed largely
+towards rendering this superb dwelling-place one of the finest, and most
+attractive in the whole country around.
+
+Nature however, with characteristic inconsistency, had never intended
+Miss Louise Bellemare, for a beauty. But nature proposes, and art
+disposes.
+
+There are those among that crowd of beauty and _éclat_ to-night, who
+would not attempt to dispute the omnipotence of Belladonna, or
+_blanc-de-perle_, or any other item of the homely girl's toilet
+repertoire, for it would have gladdened the eyes of the inventors of
+these cosmetics, if they could have beheld for an instant the charming
+effect produced, by the skilful use of their Helps to Beauty.
+
+It is now quite on the late side of nine o'clock, and the night's sport
+has fairly begun. Young men, pencils in hands are standing before their
+favorite acquaintances, soliciting the favor of "at least one 'dance,'
+for me, you know." The first waltz is in full progress. The inviting
+strains of the "Loved and Lost," are floating through the air, and the
+room is alive with the "poetry of motion." Just at this moment Honor
+Edgeworth passes from the Reception Room, across the Hall, leaning on
+Mr. Rayne's arm, and into the Ball-room. No one makes any pronounced
+interruption to their occupation as she enters, but somehow the buzz
+seems to abate considerably, and the voices seem to dwindle into a
+whisper.
+
+There are different reasons for this proceeding. The girls' reason is a
+natural one. She is new in society, very attractive, and her presence
+thrusts itself on them as a warning. They don't see what she wants among
+Ottawa _coteries_, born and bred, no one knows where. But the men's
+reason is also a very natural one. They are a little tired of
+continually meeting the same fair faces wherever they go. A woman is to
+them like a good thing that won't wear out. They do not wish to give up
+either altogether, but they weary at the sight of them, and so long as
+they can substitute them for any other--whether inferior in merit, or
+not so provokingly durable, they are happy, with the knowledge of
+course, that the other is always on hand when they require it. This
+flattering opinion that fashionable men entertain of most fashionable
+women is what is richly deserved by them, for women who flatter and
+spoil men as they are flattered, and spoiled in Ottawa, can expect
+nothing else. A suit of clothes of respectable tweed, or broadcloth, is
+the object of more spare enthusiasm than a whole collection of moral
+qualities in a rival woman.
+
+This explains why the male element of Ottawa society is extremely
+gratified to hail such an interesting acquisition to their circle as
+Honor Edgeworth. The other girls are "dreadfully disgusted" to note the
+sensation she creates, and instead of looking at her openly, they
+pretend to be a million times better occupied while they are peeping at
+her behind each others' backs, and over each others' heads. There is
+something to look at after all. Honor is surrounded immediately and
+those who have not met her before, flock around the hostess, and Mr.
+Rayne, in the hope of obtaining an introduction. But Honor displays no
+more sign of gratification at this lavish display of admiration, than if
+it had been an every day occurrence of her life. She gives each anxious
+solicitor a dance without any of the condescending airs of other ladies,
+and her programme is almost full when some one brushes through the crowd
+and addresses her hastily.
+
+"Miss Edgeworth, not too late am I?"
+
+She looks up and sees Vivian Standish before her, as handsome a picture
+as ever riveted any one's gaze. She smiles a bewitching smile of assumed
+despair.
+
+"What am I to do," she asks in perplexity, "I have only one dance to
+divide between two of you," and she turns to another importunate
+claimant, a diminutive man, very well inclined to _embonpoint_ who wears
+red whiskers and spectacles, "I think you were first Mr Vernon" she
+says, smiling graciously, as she confronts his homely face.
+
+Vivian's face was clouding perceptibly when some one laid his hand on
+Vernon's arm, and drew him aside, apparently not noticing that he was
+engaged, Vivian had a friend around that time.
+
+"Mr. Vernon does not evidently appreciate my partiality for him," Honor
+says laughingly, looking straight into Vivian's eyes.
+
+"And yet you would throw away on him, the favors I crave to obtain."
+
+He said this half reproachfully, half eagerly. She placed her dainty
+little programme in his hand, and smiled when he returned it, to find he
+had written, "Lucky Vivian S." opposite the promised waltz.
+
+I wonder if any realization in life thrusts itself so forcibly upon us,
+as that of the flight of time. Our dearest and most precious moments do
+not dare to linger with us an added instant, but hasten on with
+ceaseless flow to lose themselves in eternity's gulf. Only the hours of
+sorrow seem to halt in their flight. The clock never ticks so slow and
+measured a stroke as during the night of waiting, or watching. Then the
+rules of time become reversed, and in a lonely vigil one counts by
+heart-throbs, sixty hours in every slow, slow minute. The very moments,
+laden with gaiety and pleasure, that are dropping so quickly into the
+lap of the forever from out the Bellemare's lighted halls, are surely
+dragging painfully and slowly, for the weary watcher of death-beds, for
+the poor and shivering, for the deserted wife, for the orphan child, for
+the chained prisoner. This is the mystery of life, this is the
+many-sided picture of existence, and yet, this strange world is a
+masterpiece of a just and merciful Creator.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XX.
+
+
+  If all the year were playing holiday,
+  To sport would he as tedious as to work;
+  But when they seldom come they wish'd-for come.
+                                          --_Shakespeare_
+
+From the moment the Canadian Pacific R'y train leaves Ottawa in the
+early morning, the interested traveller can easily feast his eyes on the
+modest little villages and rival towns, a whole succession of which
+greet him from the capital to Montreal and thence to Quebec city. These
+juvenile country towns at once thrust the idea of repose upon the city
+folks who may chance to visit them. The best of these boast of, at most,
+a dozen wealthy, respectable residents, a village street of antagonistic
+merchants, a post office, an established inn, a mayor, a doctor, the
+minister, and the priest, bad roads and spare sidewalks. One would never
+suspect any of these villages to be guilty of any romance whatever,
+everybody seems to have attained the summit of human ambition, and life
+flows on in an uninterrupted serenity that is fatal to the nervous
+system of our enterprising city geniuses. Yet, there have been wonderful
+things done among these rural scenes. There are volumes whose title
+pages unfold nothing of the mysterious tales that are hidden and bound
+up within them.
+
+We must cross the broad green fields and enter the old-fashioned houses,
+we must repair to the white-washed church on Sunday and kneel in the
+high-backed pews, we must talk over our tumblers to the fat proprietor
+of the solitary hotel, if we want to gather the interesting details that
+characterize the village. They are the same "yesterday, and to-day and
+forever." Nothing new happens, and the old traditions never grow stale.
+
+Between the cities of Montreal and Quebec, on the south shore of the
+River St. Lawrence, among what are familiarly known as the "townships,"
+sleeps a little French village of the stamp I have just described. Rows
+of white-washed houses of the same pattern are to be seen here and there
+in the only street it boasts of, and scattered through the broad open
+fields are other residences of more or less importance. All the long
+summer days the sun glares down so hotly upon the dried straggling
+fences and the dusty village road, that scarcely a living creature
+animates the scene. The residents close their doors, and leave down the
+folds of green paper that deck each small window of their houses, and
+abandon the world to sundry pedestrians, who are forced by cruel
+necessity into the scorched street an occasional bare-footed urchin on
+his way to the grocery shop with a deformed pitcher to be filled with
+molasses, or a spare woman or two gabbling at the counters or doors of
+the miserable shops that follow one another in dingy succession through
+the street. But one is not to judge the place from this cheerless
+picture, by no means, for, apart from the neighborhood I have described,
+this is one of the prettiest villages in the Townships. It loses its
+charms only on the spot where man has interfered with Nature's plans, in
+trying to provide accommodations for the settlers. The trees have been
+cut down, and the fresh, green forest converted into a dry, dusty
+street, cheered all through the hot afternoon by the dreary chirp of a
+grasshopper, or the buzz of countless millions of healthy flies that
+swarm around the very doors and surroundings of provision depots.
+Outside of this, in any direction one chooses to go, the scenery is
+attractive and beautiful; the trees are tall and thick and abundant,
+meeting overhead, and enclosing cool, shady avenues, which seem to wind
+in an endless stretch through the forest shades. Birds twitter and carol
+sweetly as they flit unseen from twig to twig of the tall waving elms,
+and one would be apt to forget the existence of human beings, were it
+not for an occasional interruption of this peaceful monotony, in the way
+of a cozy cottage, whose gables peep through the foliage, the lowing of
+cattle, or the sweet, clear song of some village maid, as she saunters
+through the broad rich fields, with her pail held towards the impatient
+cows, and her large plaited straw bonnet thrown recklessly on the back
+of her head, or being twisted by its safe strings on the fingers of the
+idle hand. Amidst such enchanting scenery one forgets the dusty village,
+one loses the hum and buzz in the comforting notes that Nature warbles
+to herself. Everything is so cool and refreshing and quiet. The weariest
+heart sighs from actual relief when transported to a paradise like
+this--and no wonder.
+
+Many, many miles from the village, by the "Elm Road," is one of the
+prettiest and most delightful and loneliest spots that nestle on the
+bosom of the earth. An almost oppressive silence reigns in the woods,
+and nothing seems to stir visibly. You can hear the wind playing its
+softest melody through the tops of the great trees, but the leaves
+farther down only sway noiselessly in a graceful silence. It might be
+too lonely, only for the variety and perfection that Nature displays at
+every step and turn ferns and mosses, and little woodland flowers which
+never bud outside the shady forest, greet one at every instant, and a
+feeling so peaceful and composed steals over the soul that the place
+becomes hallowed to those who have yielded to its powerful influence.
+All at once, one can perceive traces of habitation, a neat enclosure of
+rustic boughs borders the avenue, and the grass on either side is even
+and trim, then comes a large rustic gate leading into a gravel walk,
+having here and there, under some shady oak, a garden chair or lounge,
+and a little table all of the same picturesque rustic wood, then comes a
+gorgeous _parterre_ of flowers, which load the air with their rich and
+heavy perfumes, and directly behind this is a low broad stone dwelling
+that one might have expected to turn upon from the very first. Great
+thick vines of Virginia creepers climb the sides and front of the house.
+Green and yellow canaries in cages hanging from the verandah, send the
+octaves of their warblings far back into the woods. It is as fair a
+picture as ever an artist longed to produce on canvas, one of those
+dwelling-places which seem to us suggestive of and consistent with
+nothing else but exquisite peace, comfort and happiness, and though we
+have no reason for imagining it to be a depository of perfect
+contentment, we yet repel any idea that might suggest itself to us of
+empty cupboards inside those walls, of a scolding wife in those cozy
+rooms, or of washing days in that picturesque little kitchen.
+
+The mind naturally harbors only ideas of that lazy sort of comfort that
+of necessity comes from such surroundings as these. This is "Sleepy
+Cottage," of which all the villagers spoke in enthusiastic terms, and
+indeed, it must be said, "Sleepy Cottage" would have done credit to
+towns and cities of more popular fame than the humble little village of
+the Eastern Townships. Were it anywhere else it could open its beautiful
+gates to an appreciative public, while here it slept quietly away almost
+without interruption. At present its only occupants were an aged
+gentleman and a girl of about nineteen summers, a maid servant and the
+old gardener, "Carlo," the Maltese cat, and the birds.
+
+The story, as well as it is known, was that Monsieur and Madame de
+Maistre had come from old France fifteen years ago and settled at
+"Sleepy Cottage", that Josephine, their little four-year-old daughter,
+had been kept in almost total seclusion all her life under the tuition
+of a French governess whom they got no one knew where, and that the
+first glance the villagers had of her was at the funeral of Madame de
+Maistre, which took place when Josephine was in her sixteenth year. Her
+extraordinary beauty and dignity had so impressed the simple villagers
+at that time that they never forgot it, and though they had seen her but
+very seldom in the three subsequent years, the memory of her sweet face
+never left them yet.
+
+One cool summer evening, a number of the old male residents of the
+village had gathered around the broad steps of the "Traveller's Inn,"
+and were disposing of themselves on the inverted soap boxes and low
+wooden stools that adorned the front of the public door, as best they
+could, one or two paring, with studied attention, ends of thick sticks,
+with which they had provided themselves before sitting down, others
+resting their elbows on their knees, and holding the capacious bowls of
+their black stumpy pipes in their big brawny hands, others again drawing
+figures in the light dust that covered the space between the impromptu
+seats and the sidewalk, and all chatting in a friendly sort of way,
+alike on the latest and the oldest items of interest. Just now, they
+were discussing the mystery of the young girl's seclusion at Sleepy
+Cottage when they were suddenly interrupted by a crowd of five young
+fellows who had crossed, unperceived, the fields leading from the depot,
+and now sought admission to the "Traveller's Inn."
+
+The men near the door, as they rose in silence to make the passage free,
+looked at each other in mute wonder, and threw enquiring glances after
+the figures of the strangers as they crossed the threshold of the inn.
+They were five tall, well built, good looking young men, with all the
+traits of city life about them. Had a whole army of soldiers invaded the
+"Traveller's Inn" at this moment it could scarcely surprise the
+spectators more than did the appearance of these young fellows.
+
+They enquired of the thunderstruck proprietor whether he had rooms to
+accommodate them for a few days, and he had just nerve enough to tell
+them that if they could manage with three rooms, that many were at their
+service.
+
+Appearing quite satisfied with this arrangement, they had supper
+ordered.
+
+It was not in immediate readiness, so while the life was being hurried
+out of the maid in the kitchen, the new-comers went outside and fell in
+with the crowd at the door step.
+
+One of the new arrivals, the most striking looking of all, and with whom
+we will have to deal more particularly afterwards, addressed the
+reserved sages on behalf of all the rest.
+
+"I suppose we surprised you this evening," said he, laughing, and
+throwing one leg over a vacant soap box, just as any of the natives
+would have done, "but our being here surprises ourselves as much as it
+does you. We come from the McGill College in Montreal, and we are going
+far into the depths of your forest here to look for a few week's sport."
+
+The group of listeners appeared a little more reconciled to the
+intrusion by this explanation of it, and after a few moments of awkward
+silence, old Joe Bentley, who was near the speaker, said:
+
+"Welcome, gentlemen! Ye're welcome to the village, and good sport ye can
+promise yerselves if ye'll go the right way about it."
+
+"Then we must hope," put in a second of the students, "that some of you
+who know will not be above giving us a word of advice."
+
+"The Lord forbid," ejaculated old Bentley in a most serious tone. "And
+the very best spot in the country is the spot we were talkin' of as ye
+came along. It's out by the 'Sleepy Cottage.' If ye can get that strange
+Frenchman to leave you through his grounds, ye never had such shooton'
+an' fishin as there is a couple of miles up on the other side of them."
+
+"Who is the strange Frenchman?" asked the first speaker, as he felt in
+his vest pocket for a match to light his cigar.
+
+"He'm. Give us an easier one than that to answer," said Martin Doyle, a
+crude, suspecting farmer, who smoked sullenly on the end of a bench.
+"How is dacent people, who lived here all their lives, to know who them
+invaders is that comes in on people with their quare notions and ways,
+never showing the daylight to the child God gave 'em till she's a fine
+young woman on their hands, and never spakin' a word to other folk, as
+if honest men wasn't their betters any day."
+
+The new-comers smiled from one to another. It is so consistent with the
+character of these country people to guard against and suspect, rather
+than trust unknown people who come among them wrapped in a mystery of
+any sort.
+
+"This is strange," said another student in a tone calculated to elicit
+all the information about the "invader," that the rustics were willing
+to give.
+
+"Well," said Joe Bentley, in a more christian-like tone, "people has no
+business talkin' only of what they know, but we all know that some
+fourteen or fifteeen years ago, this man that lives in Sleepy Cottage
+now, kem here with his wife and baby, and took up living in the country.
+Off and on since that day we've seen the old man himself around the
+village, but Madame kept close enough from that day till the day of her
+death which happened about three years ago, when she was buried in the
+graveyard over, and that was when we first saw the girl ever since the
+day they brought her a tiny thing in their arms from off the cars. Dan
+Sloan, and some more of the fellows that goes shooting and fishin'
+through the grounds, says they saw her a little girl growing up, with a
+pinched-nosed, starved looking mamselle for a governess, hawking her
+around them grounds an snatchin' her off if they came within a mile of
+her."
+
+Here the farmer removed his pipe and gave a long whiff of smoke, then
+replacing it in his mouth, he continued "We were all jest talkin' of him
+as ye came along, an' if ye wan't sport ye'll have to ask the old
+fellow, to let ye through his grounds, and then mebbe ye'll know more
+about him than we do ourselves."
+
+The young city fellows did not at all dislike the idea of the adventure
+that was in store for them. They were summoned to supper shortly after
+old Joe Bentley had finished his narrative, and resolving to enlist the
+good wishes of the villagers at any cost they deposited a round sum of
+money on the battered counter of the humble "bar," to "treat the crowd,"
+they said as they passed under the low doorway into the dining-room.
+
+It was rather a noisy meal, and Sarah's best attempt at ham and eggs,
+vanished in the most practical appreciation, that five young college
+students can show when hungry. They discussed the recent topic of Sleepy
+Cottage over their cold apple pie and strawberries and cream, and they
+all decided that it was the most romantic thing in the world, that they
+should be just brought to the gates of the prison wherein pined a maiden
+fair, through the cruelty of an unmerciful father. They manufactured
+quite a novel out of the details, and laid themselves out with a will to
+unravel the plot, or die in the attempt.
+
+"I'd bet my bottom dollar," said one student, as he drained his glass of
+lager beer, "that ye Prince of Hearts," will be the one to see this,
+"Lady fair," the first.
+
+"We don't dispute it," joined in the rest, "he's the devil for working
+his way into the favor of women."
+
+Here they all looked at him who had addressed the villagers first, and
+accused him of outdoing their grandest attempts in the siege of hearts.
+They called him "_Bijou_" and whether it was his name or not, he
+appeared quite satisfied with it. He seemed to be a little superior to
+the rest, judging by the deference and courtesy they showed him above
+what existed among themselves, and he, amiable and pleasant always,
+laughed good-naturedly at their words of praise, and little insinuations
+of assumed jealousy. They had come down to this quiet village on a
+"jamboree," and we all know more or less what students mean by that. It
+would be both unnecessary and uninteresting however to give an account
+in detail of these young fellows' adventures during their sojourn in the
+country; that part alone which affects the rest of our story, is the one
+we will dwell upon.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXI.
+
+
+  "Full many a flower is born to blush unseen
+   And waste its sweetness on the desert air."
+                    --_Gray_
+
+It was a hot, sultry afternoon, and even in the woods of Sleepy Cottage
+the breezes that ruffled the thick foliage were not so refreshing as
+usual. The door of the house was open, and on two large easy chairs on
+the vine-covered verandah were seated Alphonse de Maistre and his pretty
+daughter.
+
+The old man wore large green glasses over his eyes, and his hands were
+folded as he sat quietly there, listening to the birds and inhaling the
+fragrance of the rich flowers which adorned the pretty garden.
+
+Josephine lay with her head resting on the cushioned back of her chair,
+her fingers inserted between the pages of a volume she had just been
+reading. Both were silent for a considerable time. At length the old man
+spoke.
+
+"_Es-tu là Fifine, tu ne parles pas?_"
+
+"I am here in body," answered the girl in French, "but not in mind, not
+in heart."
+
+"Always the same," the old man replied, with a tinge of sadness in his
+tone. "I thought you would learn wisdom before this, but you do not.
+What do you want that I have not given you, except company?"
+
+"And what is all you have given me, beside that? I want what the beggars
+in my books have--liberty. You are not young, you are no longer sanguine
+and hopeful, while my poor heart is bursting with the fullness you will
+not let me spend. A living death like mine's a cruelty, a tyranny that
+God and man must condemn."
+
+"Must I tell you again," asked her father passionately, "that you are
+differently situated from other girls? Do you not know that at your
+birth a woman who had been your mother's enemy cursed you and wished you
+trouble, and shame, and anxiety, and that I in my boundless love for
+you, will protect you in spite of fate, from such a destiny. The fear of
+such a thing being realized has sent your mother to a premature grave.
+You are now entering upon the age that is capable of framing your whole
+life, and why not reconcile yourself to the belief, that the world,
+which is dazzling you with its gaudy show, is false and delusive. It is
+a tinsel glitter, Josephine, the wreck of the innocent and good, turn
+your back on it for my sake if not for your precious own."
+
+There was a pathos in the old man's voice that would have moved any
+young heart but the rebellious one of the girl he addressed. There was a
+feeling nigh to despair in his words when he spoke to her of herself.
+
+The real case was, that she was betrothed already to a man of whom she
+knew nothing whatever. It was a contract as any other, and though every
+discretion was used before forming it, yet Josephine would not become
+reconciled to the idea.
+
+This man, chosen by her father, was a distant relative of her own, and
+had been reserved for her in order that certain possessions might remain
+in the family. She had grown up with this idea, but it was extremely
+repulsive to her. She detested and despised in anticipation this man,
+whom she had been taught to think of as her future husband, and over and
+over she bemoaned the tyranny and cruelty of those who had kept her a
+prisoner all her young life.
+
+There are in France, women who betray supernatural power in foreseeing
+the future as well as in performing sundry inexplicable feats. They are
+looked upon as magicians and are invariably associated with the
+influence of the evil one. It had been the fate of Alphonse de Maistre's
+wife to incur the inveterate displeasure of one of these persons, and on
+the day on which her first and only child was born, Dame Feu-Rouge,
+obtaining admission in disguise to the bed-side of Madame de Maistre,
+pronounced a fearful malediction on the sleeping form of the infant
+Josephine, to be realized in later years, when, to use her own words,
+"she would have grown up in beauty, like a fair, ripened fruit that is
+rotten at the core."
+
+This cast a heavy gloom over the household of the de Maistres, and
+though not an over susceptible, nor superstitious family, they could not
+shake off the presentiment, that hung like a pall over their lives. They
+decided to leave France, and to seek out seclusion in the backwoods of
+the new world, where the preservation of their child would be to them,
+an easy matter. It was before they left their native country, that the
+marriage contract was signed between Josephine de Maistre and Horace
+Lefevre, the children being then four and six years of age,
+respectively.
+
+Up to this time, nothing had disturbed the peaceful monotony of their
+new home, but, all day as Alphonse de Maistre prematurely aged and gray,
+sat nursing the grief that had lately visited him in the death of his
+wife, this girl, for whom he had sacrificed all, grumbled and sighed for
+the dangers, from which, it had cost him so much to rescue her.
+
+To add to the heavy burden of sorrow that afflicted him, Alphonse de
+Maistre had to sacrifice, that which contributed most towards making his
+present home endurable, his eye-sight. It had been failing rapidly for
+years, and finally became totally extinguished after the death of his
+faithful, broken-hearted wife.
+
+Even this appealing condition of his, failed to reconcile the wayward
+girl, to the life he had chosen her to lead; the great pity was, that
+proper care had not been taken to screen those pleasures altogether from
+the eyes that had been forbidden to feast upon them. Through volumes of
+romances, and love-songs, Fifine had gathered a knowledge of what it is
+to live unfettered, in that world of privileges which she could see only
+through iron bars. Her governess too, had abused the confidence placed
+in her by the parents of the girl, and had sung the praises of that
+world outside, until Fifine yearned to cast aside her fetters, and mix
+in with the lively throng. She had all the qualities of a worldly girl
+latent within her and a strong feeling of vanity about her personal
+attractions, and though she resigned herself to never being able to be
+seen by any one, she was just as fastidious about the fit of a costume
+she would wear as any Parisian lady of _haut ton_.
+
+It always irritated Josephine de Maistre, to hear her father allude to
+the unfortunate cloud that darkened her young life, she always raged and
+cried and said it was "_bêtises_" and on this occasion she listened no
+more patiently than on any other; she sprung nervously from the chair,
+and clasping her hands behind her back, raised her shapely head to
+address a large green parrot, that was whistling in his great iron cage,
+on the verandah beside her,--"Poor Poll, Pretty Poll"--came from the
+thin, pretty coral lips. Poll, thrust his head on one side, and looked
+almost calculatingly upon the _svelte_ figure of his mistress, and said
+in a meaning croak, "come to dinner--the guest is hungry."
+
+"Greedy Poll," said Fifine, stepping in through the open French window,
+into the dining-room; she emerged a second later, holding a tempting
+cracker, between her dainty fingers, she opened the cage door and then
+lay back again in her cosy chair, having placed the cracker between her
+own lips. Poll, was quite used to being thus trusted, and stepping
+majestically out, he perched himself on the shapely shoulder of the
+young girl, and picked the cracker from its dainty resting place.
+
+A few quiet moments ensued, disturbed only by the crunching noise of
+Poll's beak in the much relished biscuit, when suddenly Fifine gave a
+great exclamation of surprise, and darted off her seat. Poll, had abused
+the trust he had so long respected, and had flown off to quite a little
+distance from the house.
+
+"What is the matter?" the old man asked, leaning forward anxiously in
+his chair.
+
+"The naughty Poll has flown away," Fifine answered, "but he cannot go
+far, Preston clipped his lordship's wings a very short time ago--I will
+get my hat and follow him."
+
+In another instant, Josephine, in the daintiest of garden-hats tied
+under her pretty chin, was chasing her truant bird through the wood. She
+had soon reached the limit of the house-grounds, for, though Poll was
+unable to fly far at the time, he skipped ahead most provokingly, just
+as Fifine neared him, and called out in his lustiest croaks, "poor Poll,
+poor Fifine, Poll wants a cracker, Fifine wants a beau--beau, oh dear,
+ha, ha, ha." The color had risen to the brunettes pretty cheeks, and her
+eyes had grown a little wild-looking, from the chase, her hat had fallen
+back on her shoulders, and the breeze played teazingly with the dark
+waves of her hair that bordered her perfect brow, she was looking up at
+a twig above her head, whereon was perched the provoking bird, and as
+she ran heedlessly towards it, her foot became entangled in a net-work
+of withered branches that lay in the long grass, and with a cry of pain
+she fell foremost, on the ragged edge of an old tree stump that stood
+between her and the soft harmless ground.
+
+Had it been the most imaginative chapter of a dime novel, things could
+not have happened more opportunely than they did. Just as the echo of
+the girls cry of distress died in the distance, there was a crackling
+noise of the branches near by, and a man, young and handsome, with
+sporting tackle wound around him, stood beside the prostrate form of
+Fifine de Maistre.
+
+"The d--l? this is a surprise," said the handsome stranger kneeling down
+on one knee, and untying the ribbons of the large-leafed hat, from the
+throat of the girl. She was turned from him, but he could see a tiny
+stream of crimson blood oozing from beneath the hidden face, and
+slinging aside his sporting regalia he raised the unconscious form in
+his arms, and looked enquiringly on the still features.
+
+We can forgive the wasted moments of speechless admiration that
+followed, before he tried to restore consciousness to the inanimate
+girl, for her beauty had struck him into silent wonder, and being a man,
+what could he do but stare and admire. There is no appeal so eloquent to
+the heart of a man as that of a female face of perfect beauty, and when
+that face is clouded by pain or sorrow, or distress of any kind, a man
+can no longer control himself.
+
+In this instance our hero had hit upon a nest of temptations--first, he
+moistened the corner of his silk handkerchief from a flask of water he
+carried with him, to bathe the throbbing temples, and to wipe away the
+blood that had disfigured the pretty face. The wound was fortunately a
+very slight one, and a little treatment sufficed. Having done this, he
+hesitated a moment and gazed lovingly on the still, motionless features
+and form of the strange girl, and then, weak, susceptible, unworthy
+mortal that he was, he bowed his handsome face over her, until two pairs
+of handsome, well curved lips had met in a--stolen kiss.
+
+After this, he balanced a flask of brandy tenderly and carefully over
+the pale, set mouth, the even features puckered into an ugly grimace as
+the spirits moistened the tongue, then her bosom heaved with a great
+fretful sigh, and she raised the closed lids, slowly and tremblingly
+displaying to the expectant gaze of her attendant the loveliest pair of
+dark eyes he had ever seen.
+
+There was a great, vacant stare of stupid wonder for the first instant
+of returning consciousness, then Fifine, starting up as if from a
+nightmare, looked bewilderingly around her in a puzzled, dazed sort of
+way.
+
+"Are you better?" asked the deep, musical voice of the stranger so
+eagerly that Fifine realized at once that something must have gone
+wrong. She raised herself up with a great effort, and looked around in
+blank wonder.
+
+It is not hard to understand how she felt, she, who had never in all her
+life known what it is to receive the simplest act of courtesy from
+anyone, now opening her eyes in a lonely wood to find the strong arms of
+a handsome man supporting her carefully, and holding her head tenderly
+against his breast for repose. Unschooled though she was in the general
+items of conventionality, she yet had enough womanly instinct in her to
+form a perfectly correct calculation of her own, on the strange things
+that had just transpired.
+
+She felt, while she viewed her handsome hero with that first enquiring
+glance, that already they were something more than mere strangers to one
+another. What is there in a little stolen kiss to work such a wonderful
+change in one? How is it that, though perhaps unable to define
+everything clearly, a woman can always feel, always know when a man has
+tried his influence over her thus far?--for influence it certainly is,
+when a woman has given to the man she is capable of loving, permission
+to touch his lips to hers, she has at the same time bowed in voluntary
+slavery under his yoke forever. It is an experience that is never a
+past, and yet all that has happened before it becomes a blank in the
+heart, life dates anew from this circumstance, and "is never the same
+again." This was the nature of the sudden change that had come over our
+little heroine--the strange romanticism and novelty of the whole scene
+impressed her visibly.
+
+"Better?" she queried, "Oh, yes. Polly!" and she looked up towards the
+fated tree that had caused her fall, then realizing her position, she
+turned to her deliverer, and in a slightly embarrassed tone, said, "I
+suppose I owe my thanks to Monsieur for aiding me to recover. I was
+hunting my parrot who escaped from his cage, and met this misfortune
+while chasing him through this untidy wood."
+
+As she spoke, she raised her tiny, jewelled hand to her face,
+complaining of a pain in the vicinity of the wound that had been so
+lovingly dressed, and in trying to advance towards her hat, that hung on
+the projecting twig of a tree a faint little cry of suffering escaped
+her. She had injured her ankle too, and was unable to stand on one foot
+in consequence.
+
+During all this time our young hero was being consumed by admiration for
+the lovely young girl. Such eyes! Such a whole face! Such a figure! She
+was fit to clasp in his strong arms and be borne home in a few strides--
+such a precious little burden she looked. But this he scarcely dared to
+do just now. Fifine realized her situation as quickly as if she had
+planned it all beforehand. In spite of the pain and injuries received,
+she could not help feeling intensely gratified at the romantic turn
+things had taken. What was the dearest parrot on earth beside a real
+live young man, handsome and _chic_, and with eyes and bearing just like
+the heroes in her French novels? Whatever way she might have reached
+home under ordinary circumstances, these were too promising to have her
+rely on her own capacity, and to make this understood, she made another
+attempt to walk, but apparently with less success than at first. Her
+silent admirer drew a step nearer, and held his arm towards her.
+
+"Do let me assist you," he pleaded, "those little feet were never
+intended for the branches and boughs of a rough wood like this."
+
+Fifine had never learned how to judge a man by his smallest words and
+lightest actions. She knew nothing of the thousand little deeds that are
+done by the counterfeit gentleman, which the real one would spurn with
+contempt, hence it did not seem at all like taking an advantage of her
+to hear this one address her with such an open compliment.
+
+The effect was to his benefit. He saw immediately that this was a young
+girl, hopelessly unschooled in the rules I and regulations of the modern
+art of coquetry, and so his smile, half hidden, looked as though he
+meant to repay himself for this amusing trouble.
+
+"Do you live far from here?" was his next question to Fifine who had
+become quite resigned to her happy misfortune by now.
+
+"Not far, if I was alone and well, but," she added almost coquettishly,
+"having to trouble you to escort me will make the distance seem twice as
+long."
+
+Her companion looked amused, he tucked her arm still more firmly within
+his, and drew her quite close to him. She had put on her hat again and
+looked sweeter than ever as they began the return home. He took up the
+conversation at her last words and said in a sorry tone.
+
+"It is a pity we show so soon that our tastes are so entirely different.
+However, you will excuse me if I say it is your fault. Now, I prize this
+walk back just for the reason you assign for disliking it. You find it
+long because I am with you, and I will find it short just because you
+are with me."
+
+Such words as these went straight to Fifine's susceptible heart; her
+most exaggerated dreams had never led her this far. She looked at him
+doubtfully, but it was no dream, she was actually leaning on the strong
+arm of a live man, listening to words, such as the most devoted Romeo
+might address to his idolized Juliet.
+
+"But if I must agree with you," she said, "I must still disagree with
+myself, remembering that while I may never see you again, I must live
+all my life with myself. Besides I wonder if I could enjoy anything;
+that word was surely not made for me, I have never known it yet."
+
+She was skilled as any adventuress in the art of captivating. If
+confidence and a recital of petty woes, from the tempting lips of a
+fatally beautiful girl, do not appeal most strongly to a man's heart,
+nothing will. Besides, consider the influence of circumstances. When
+that pretty girl and you are wholly isolated from every other man and
+pretty girl in creation, and she is making you realize by her dependence
+on you, how easily wrongs are righted, and how much strength there is in
+that strong arm of yours, who is to answer for the consequences? Men are
+such one sided creatures, they either lean all over on the heart side or
+altogether on the other. If their extravagance is the former, you can do
+anything you like with them, if you only go the right way about it,
+whilst if the other prevail, it is a hopeless case of barrenness against
+all your best endeavors. Fortunately most young men of our day lose
+balance on the _left_ side and give all up to their intense emotions.
+They have never learned the A B C of self-denial, and they make an act
+of resignation first and then plunge into trouble.
+
+Fifine's enthusiastic admirer felt at this moment like opening his
+heart, and closing her up in its safe fetters forevermore, and I fancy
+Fifine would as soon have had it as any other nook at the present
+moment, but neither spoke of it. They were making slow progress along
+their homeward path, and the suggestive surroundings and interesting
+circumstances were too much for the unsuspecting girl. She burst into a
+lively strain of confidence extracted by the answer her companion made
+to her last despairing remark about enjoying herself.
+
+"My dear young lady, what has Fortune, so very partial to you in all
+things, left undone in your enviable life?"
+
+There was so much of seeming pathos in his voice that Fifine could not
+doubt the implied sincerity of his tone, so she unsealed the secrets of
+her life, telling him all, except the unhappy cause which forced her
+father to bring her into such entire seclusion.
+
+Many of my readers must have guessed, by now, that he whom the students
+at the Travellers' Inn called "Bijou," and he who is now making
+desperate love to Fifine de Maistre, are identical.
+
+Just as the "boys" had said, "the Prince" was sure to break the spell,
+that fettered the life of the beautiful recluse. He had been on his way
+to her father, to seek his permission for himself and his fellow
+students to pass through his grounds, when all at once a new experience
+presented itself and he found himself talking all sorts of nice
+nonsense, to a "deuced pretty girl."
+
+It is needless to dwell on the details of the first meeting between
+those two. Fifine had thought it wiser to leave her charming escort at
+the rustic gate, insinuating that he might come at any other time to
+visit her father, and that there was no necessity to speak of what had
+transpired in the wood.
+
+"But, Mademoiselle," said "Bijou" as he leaned languidly over the gate
+that stood between them, "are you going to dismiss me like this, as soon
+as I have discovered the charm of your presence? If your father objects
+why could you not visit this spot unknown to him; I must see you again,
+at any cost."
+
+He grasped the tiny, white hand that drooped over the gate, and looked
+her pleadingly in the eyes.
+
+Fifine was dreaming. All the wild fanciful illusions with which she had
+brightened the dark days of her young life, seemed to be realizing
+themselves in a bright procession before her eyes. Here was that ideal
+lover with whom she had so often rambled through those solitary grounds
+in fancy--here he was in reality telling his tale of love into her ready
+ear. Here was the voice she had heard in her dreams, and there were the
+deep dark eyes that had haunted her out of the page of Eugène Sue's
+novel, through the long, long days of her loneliness. Compensation
+seemed within easy grasp. She looked up, into the face of the man before
+her, and the die was cast. She recognized there a power from which she
+could never fly. She shivered slightly as she realised that he was
+master of her will, in spite of herself almost. He saw his advantage, he
+knew before this how such an ascendancy profits the owner, and his eyes
+sparkled anew with a light which to other eyes than Fifine's would not
+have been wholly attractive.
+
+The world is full of such people and their victims. We look upon a face
+under whose steady gaze we stagger; there are eyes we cannot encounter
+in a full unflinching look; there are hands whose touch thrills and
+weakens us, there are voices which sink into our souls, and mesmerize us
+at their will. Let the circumstances be what they may, we cannot forget
+the influence that thus haunts our lives.
+
+Poor Fifine had not learned life's lesson wisely. She thought that after
+the first love came the "wedding ring," and then days, and weeks, and
+years of highest joy. What did this unsophisticated child know of clubs
+and bar-rooms and gambling houses, of city lamp-posts, and midnight
+serenades. What business has any woman knowing it for that matter? so
+long as she can render an account of every dollar and hour she spends in
+the day, what is it to her whether her "lawful wedded husband" chooses
+to watch the stars all night or not. But after all it is time woman
+learned better sense, it is her privilege to accept or reject this life
+of uncertainty, and yet, like Fifine, she looks lovingly, admiringly on
+the pictures bright side only, and fancies "Life's enchanted cup
+sparkling" all the way down.
+
+The words of consent had passed the threshold of Josephine de Maistre's
+lips. She felt her hands pressed warmly as she uttered them, and the
+next instant she was limping alone up the garden walk, her sweet face
+beaming with unsuppressed smiles, and her hat hanging carelessly over
+her shapely shoulders.
+
+There was no one in view when she reached the house, but perched on the
+little iron swing in his pretty cage was Poll, swaying himself
+complacently to and fro, and looking at his mistress first with one eye
+and then the other. Fifine spoke not a word, but gathering all the
+dainties out of the well-supplied cage, passed into the house, leaving
+the famished bird without a morsel wherewith to gratify himself.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXII.
+
+
+  "Oh what a tangled web we weave
+  When first we practise to deceive."
+
+Are you feeling well enough to entertain the old man to-night?" said the
+plaintive voice of Alphonse de Maistre, as father and daughter resumed
+their seats on the verandah, after the simple evening meal was over.
+
+"Oh yes," Fifine answered quickly, "my foot scarcely pains at all now,
+it will be nothing serious, I think, after all." Then in her sweet low
+voice she commenced to read to her blind old parent who sat in a
+listening attitude with his hands folded in his lap.
+
+Suddenly the firm voice of the young girl wavered, she stammered and
+grew distracted. There were footsteps in the distance that made her
+heart beat violently. It was three days since her accident in the wood,
+and she was anxiously looking forward to a second interview with her
+lover. A moment after, her face was suffused with blushes as she found
+herself confronted by the handsome stranger.
+
+"Pardon, Monsieur," he said addressing the old man, "I have taken the
+liberty to call on you, to solicit permission for myself and some
+friends to pass through your grounds on our way to the upper woods."
+
+The voice startled the old man. The words were few and to the point; the
+speaker had evidently not sought a pretext for familiar intercourse, but
+his voice had too much of the city cultivation about it to please him
+entirely. His first thought was of Fifine.
+
+"Are you there, daughter?" he asked stretching forth his hand, to make
+assurance doubly sure.
+
+Fifine caught it in her gentle grasp and drew nearer to him.
+
+"Tell this stranger in his native tongue," he said slowly, "that your
+father is blind and cannot see him, but that he will trust him and grant
+the permission he asks, if he will leave immediately, Preston can show
+them the road."
+
+"I will spare mademoiselle the painful recital," interrupted the young
+man, now speaking in French, "for I have understood Monsieur her
+father."
+
+"Who is this man, Fifine?" De Maistre asked nervously. "Is he from the
+village?"
+
+"I know not, _mon pére_," she answered, trying to be calm, and then to
+the surprise of all, a loud laugh echoed in the evening air, and the
+voice of the truant parrot called out from the cage above their heads.
+
+"Ha, ha, ha! he kissed her in the wood, Fifine, give Poll his cracker,
+polly wants a cracker." The girl's face was dyed with scarlet--and the
+young man's eyes looked daggers at the mischievous bird. There was an
+awkward silence for a moment and then "Bijou" with characteristic
+diplomacy exclaimed:
+
+"What an amusing bird, he speaks uncommonly well, though his words are
+not very appropriate, certainly."
+
+A shadow passed over the face of the blind listener, a momentary pang
+shot through his breast, he clasped his hands convulsively, then turning
+to the stranger he said in a steady voice:
+
+"Never mind the bird, he says queer things at times. Sir, I grant you
+the permission you come to seek, my gardener, Preston, will await you at
+whatever time you appoint, and conduct you through. Good-evening, Sir."
+
+Taking this for dismissal, "Bijou" raised his hat, slightly pressed the
+hand of the beautiful Fifine, and the next moment he was gone.
+
+A strange and awkward silence followed his departure. Much might have
+been said on such an unusual occurrence as this, yet neither chose to
+speak.
+
+At last the evening sun as though weary of the quiet scene, gathered all
+his truant rays out of the tree tops and from the purple mountain
+summit, and sunk to rest behind the sombre clouds that twilight spread
+across the sky. Then Fifine who longed to be alone, kissed her father
+good-night and retired to her own little room, after telling the servant
+to light a lamp and take her father to his chamber.
+
+The story of Fifine de Maistre's life, from the time of her adventure in
+the wood, until six months after, would be to the unsympathetic, the
+most monotonous series of details imaginable. There is no bore like a
+man or woman who is in love, to those whose precious privilege it never
+can be, to be guilty of such a natural offence. A man never tires of any
+one so quickly as he does of some fellow who is "mashed," and girls who
+are not engaged never count her who is, as strictly one of themselves.
+
+This therefore may be constituted as a plea for refraining to dwell upon
+the time so laden with exquisite joy to Josephine de Maistre, the time
+that made up the days and nights of this period of her life at Sleepy
+Cottage. She had worked out such fallacious reasonings as justified her
+in the end, in holding clandestine meetings with her romantic lover, and
+so, each night when she had finished reading to her father, she stole
+quietly away to the rustic gate, at the end of the shrubbery, there to
+lend a willing ear to protestations of love and devotion, from the lips
+upon whose threshhold she knew, hung the words of her future destiny.
+
+Things had gone thus far, when one night, Fifine in her old humor, was
+grumbling against the loneliness of her existence, and giving expression
+to her discontent in most touching terms. Her chivalrous adorer looked
+the picture of intense sympathy, as he lay stretched in the long grass
+at her feet.
+
+"Fifine," said he, and something in his voice and eyes thrilled her to
+the very heart, "my darling, your words are loaded with pain for me; why
+do you grumble who should be happy amidst these surroundings. If your
+life were as blank and prospectless as mine, you might have good reason
+indeed to sigh and complain. You see, a man has to rough it with body
+and soul. It's not so hard to keep our bodies up, but the task is for
+the heart. Men should have no hearts, or else some one to love them
+always and well. I could gather so much courage in a worthy love."
+
+The girl, poor simple child, was touched. She drew nearer to Bijou whose
+handsome head lay nestling against the rustic bench where she was
+sitting. He was watching the quick, nervous heaving of her breast, and
+he could see a slight tremor in the well-curved lip. She fell upon her
+knees before him, and as she spoke, two large round tears flowed over
+her pretty checks.
+
+"But Bijou, do you not know that I love you as worthily as I know how,
+that life with you is all the world to me, and without you it is a
+miserable blank."
+
+Then she laid her bowed head on his shoulder, and sobbed convulsively.
+
+There was a curious expression in the man's face, as he raised the girl
+and made her sit beside him. Then taking both her hands in his, he said,
+in a low tone--
+
+"Fifine, I was only waiting those words from your lips. They fill my
+vacant life with sweet and pleasant dreams, but in our case, as in all
+others, 'the course of love can not run smoothly.' You see I gave up my
+college course after I had met you, and since that time I have been
+thrown on the world's mercy, almost a penniless waif. I have no wealth
+to offer you, no luxury of any kind, no abundance, but love and
+devotion, and that cannot satisfy you."
+
+"O Bijou!" the girl cried out in a passionate tone, "you wrong me, you
+do indeed. Give me your full heart and your empty hands. I am rich in
+the world's wealth, let me share it with you; give me that abundance of
+love you speak of, and I will be--Oh! so satisfied!"
+
+A sinister smile passed over the averted face of the stranger, but the
+next moment, his arm stole around the slender waist, and raising the
+tear-stained face to his own, he pressed a long lingering kiss on the
+warm lips.
+
+"If you will have it so," he said, "my love makes me selfish enough to
+comply, we can make each other happy by following such a course, is that
+not enough? If I had sufficient means at my disposal, I could complete
+all arrangements immediately, and there would be no further suspense for
+either of us."
+
+"But, Bijou, see how fortune has favored us. Last Tuesday was my
+birthday, and papa, to reconcile me to my fate, gave me a cheque for my
+whole dowry, which I was not to have had for two years more. You can see
+how circumstances favor our attachment."
+
+"It looks like it darling; I hope we are doing the right thing," and his
+voice implied a painful sense of conscientiousness.
+
+Before parting they agreed to meet once more. Fifine persisted in
+offering her wealth, and Bijou did not decline. She might bring him the
+cheque at their next meeting and trust to his fond affection for the
+rest. He then bade her a tender farewell, and as she watched his
+departing footsteps, she was delighted when he turned a last time,
+sajing gayly, "_Au revoir, ma petite, à demain._" Then he disappeared in
+a bend of the road, and she walked slowly back to the house, lost in the
+delicious labyrinths of loves young dream.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXIII.
+
+
+  "Oh, Love' before thy glowing shrine
+     My early vows were paid--
+   My hopes, my dreams, my heart was thine
+     But these are now decayed."
+                   --_Byron_
+
+It was a dark, heavy evening in midsummer. Great volumes of leaden gray
+clouds were piling one over the other in the sulky sky, the air was
+laden with an unshed moisture, and a threatening breeze rustled through
+the dry, dusty leaves of the crowded elms. There was an unnatural
+stillness in Nature--everything looked drowsy and tired, the boughs
+swayed and nodded, and the flowers hung their sleepy heads like worn-out
+midnight watchers.
+
+Fifine had hoped madly for the storm to keep off, and now as her fleet
+steps brought her nearer the rendezvous at the end of the avenue, her
+heart misgave her, and an indescribable feeling of awe, that had
+something of a dread presentiment in it, filled her very soul. She
+pressed the cherished gift for her lover close against her heaving
+breast, and when she reached the shady nook where they were accustomed
+to meet, her breath was coming in wild gasps, and her eyes were dilated
+far beyond their natural size. She was a little too soon, but in her
+anxiety, watchmg the clouds, the moments sped quickly by, until the
+arrival of the man she so madly adored.
+
+He could not restrain a look of admiration as his eyes rested on her
+dark beauty. She had put on her daintiest bonnet, with cardinal ribbons
+tied under her chin, and a bunch of crushed camellias of the same
+becoming hue nestled against her shell-like ear. A light cashmere
+overdress surmounted a petticoat of crimson velvet, and tiny jewels were
+fastened at her ears and throat. The flush of excitement that mantled
+her fair young face, lent an additional charm to her countenance, as she
+looked into her lover's face with all the eagei joy and confidence that
+filled her heart.
+
+Bijou looked a little more serious than usual, as he knocked the ashes
+from the end of his cigar.
+
+"_Ma foi_, you are enchanting to-night, Josephine," said he by way of
+greeting, "but as it looks like a storm, we must make business brisk. I
+have come to-night, Fifine," he said, taking her hand, "to ask a proof
+of the words you I uttered last night. I want you to show me bravely
+that you do think a little of me."
+
+"Only say the word, Bijou. Anything that is in my power. I will do
+it--anything that is not her voice faltered.
+
+"Is not what?" he asked very tenderly, bending over her, and then she
+regretted having doubted him. How could _he_ ask her anything that was
+not right? Poor Fifine.
+
+"Never mind," she stammered, "I will do anything I can to prove the
+truth of last nights words."
+
+"Darling" was the muttered answer "Come here, Fifine, nearer to me, I
+have something to show to your eyes alone--something that has no real
+worth at present, but I which will be a sacred thing in a little while."
+
+Fifine, her eyes open wide, and a curious expression of wonder in her
+face, bent over his broad shoulder. She saw nestling in its bed of ruby
+velvet, a plain gold band, tiny as her slender finger, but rich and
+heavy.
+
+She was slow to understand this silent surprise, and only said in a
+girlish way,
+
+"How lovely it is."
+
+Then Bijou looked earnestly at her, and his voice was almost mournful as
+he said.
+
+"If it is beautiful as it lies there in its folds of velvet, meaningless
+and comparatively useless, what would it be, do you think, were it a
+bond of union between two kindred souls--if it laid the duties of love,
+honor and submission on one, those of love, respect and kindness on the
+other, if it were the outward sign of a man's intense devotion and the
+safeguard of a woman's honor, if it was a love that bound two creatures
+to each other first, and then to their Creator--what then, Fifine?"
+
+"Oh, Bijou '" she cried, "you excite me with such grave speeches. If it
+were all these things it would indeed be sacred."
+
+"Come, Fifine, you have said you will do my wish; let me place this
+golden band upon your ringer, and insure you to me for the days to
+come."
+
+What sensational story she had ever read could equal this? Was ever any
+thing so purely romantic or exalted? In that moment all the dreary days
+of her lonely life seemed blotted out by the exquisite realization of a
+new happiness that was stealing over her. But still, there was an inward
+struggle in her soul. Thoughts of her father's wrath thrust themselves
+between her and her gratification. She lifted up her hands in fear, and
+said in a hushed voice.
+
+"Bijou, I do indeed love you, but _this_ I dare not do, _this_ is too
+much. It is all so sudden, so soon." She recoiled a little as she spoke,
+and his face darkened ominously.
+
+"Then your words were false!" he said in a cold, cruel voice, "and since
+you have deceived me I will ask nothing more. I did not deserve this
+from you, but we part in time."
+
+He stood proudly up and prepared to leave. There was a struggle in the
+breast of his victim--that he could see. In another moment she was close
+beside him.
+
+"Do not go, Bijou," she said piteously, "after you have taught me to
+love you as I do, oh! do not leave Fifine. Tell me what you wish, my
+Bijou I am ready to do your will."
+
+There was an unpleasant smile of triumph stealing over his handsome
+mouth. He stretched forth his hand, and took her trembling one in his.
+
+"You must wear this golden band," he said, "as a token of my
+earnestness, this will bind us one to another Let me see it on your
+dainty hand."
+
+But she shrank again from his grasp. She was frightfully agitated. The
+low angry rumble of distant thunder was in her ears, the trees were
+swaying to and fro, and the leaves were turned upon their stems--the
+storm was drawing nearer!
+
+At last she spoke again.
+
+"You cannot mean, that I must become your wife in this strange way,
+Bijou," her voice was husky and trembling, "you have not the power."
+
+He smothered a curse, and his brow contracted. "Power? why have I not
+power as well as another? are the cold words of a ceremony more binding
+than the outpourings of a burning heart? Of what avail are cold
+formalities to souls that are blended already in devotion and love?"
+
+"Hush Bijou," she interposed, frightened at his vehemence, "such words
+are a profanation. A marriage ceremony could not increase our love, but
+it is indispensable all the same."
+
+He saw she was firm and that the concession must come from him.
+
+"I see you are a slave to public opinion and church authority," he said,
+"but this need not be an obstacle between us and our cherished plans. It
+is growing late now, but if we make good speed, we could reach the
+village before, dark, and secure the indispensable"--he laid a peculiar
+stress on the word, "though unnecessary services of the curate".
+
+"But my father--the hour," cried the distracted girl.
+
+"They of course are of more consequence than your love and your
+promise," he answered coldly, "decide Fifine, for I am impatient. Your
+home or your love, separation or your promise."
+
+There was a moment of irresolution, but only one, ere the deluded girl
+yielded everything to the object of her insane devotion. A satisfied
+look stole over his face as he drew her arm within his, and prepared to
+leave the place.
+
+Fifine knew very little of the village roads. Bijou though not residing
+in the place more than three months, led through the thickest and most
+unfrequented paths. It was growing dark. A yellowish sort of twilight, a
+forerunner of the storm, was now giving place to a heavy pall of black,
+that was stealing a descent, noiseless and quiet as a snowflake over the
+earth. The stillness was doubly oppressive to the unfortunate girl, who
+leaning on the arm of the handsome Bijou, passed out through the quiet
+rustic gate, leaving her home and her father amid such rich
+surroundings, to brave the world with a man of whom she knew nothing,
+save that she loved him madly, and that his name was Bijou.
+
+Outside the garden gate, at a little distance, stood a small covered
+buggy, and a horse, the latter tied to a tree and pawing the ground with
+irritation. Fifine was a little surprised.
+
+"I provided for the best or worst," Bijou said untying the restless
+animal, and helping Josephine to enter the carriage. Then silence fell
+on them again. They drove very fast, for the darkness was thickening and
+Bijou required all his tact, to engineer his horse safely through the
+path. Fifine at times would forget the rashness of the step she had just
+taken, and would fancy herself back under the old trees that, each
+moment, were being left farther and farther behind, until some short
+words from Bijou, broke the spell of her reverie and hurled her back
+into the strange reality.
+
+They drove for a very long time, and at last Fifine could discern little
+lights twinkling in the distance, through the dark surroundings.
+
+"How long it is!" she said once, a little wearily.
+
+"Patience," Bijou answered, "we are near enough now," and then silence
+fell again, which was unbroken until the horse; steaming and panting,
+stopped before the door of a small house. The room into which he led her
+was low and scantily furnished, and only the dim light of a tallow
+candle, helped to make things discernible through the awful blackness
+that had settled down. Great leaping shadows danced over the low-ceiling
+and dingy walls, looking like mocking fiends to the despairing girl,
+whose heart was filled with a nameless terror at the consequences of her
+own rashness. But Bijou held her hand firmly within his own, and spoke
+reassuring words all the while. The clergyman advanced from a corner of
+the room--a tall spare man whose features being entirely new to
+Josephine, were scarcely discernible in the dim, unsteady light of the
+candle. He seemed not surprised at their coming, which in itself
+surprised Fifine very much. He coolly and systematically proceeded to
+"tie the marriage knot." His voice was terribly monotonous, and the
+words sounded more like a "_Dies irae_" in a _requiem_ service, than
+those whose mission it was to crown the happiness of two young hearts.
+
+They had scarce begun the solemn service, when a great flash of
+lightning filled the small close room, followed by a roar of thunder
+that drowned for a time the sepulchral voice of the clergyman. Fifine
+drew nearer to her lover and looked pleadingly into his face. But
+something in his eyes chilled and repelled her, she knew not why.
+
+The storm increased, great peals of boisterous thunder rolled over their
+heads, the rain so long pent up, came pattering down m fury around them.
+The ceremony however was progressing, the binding words were sounding
+through the dingy little room, the ring was nestling now on Fifine's
+trembling finger, the closing sentence was being uttered, when a wild
+flash of greenish lightning crossed the little window near them, filling
+the room with its lurid glare, lending a most unearthly appearance to
+the pallid faces of the two men before her. A horrible feeling came over
+her, but it did not last long. As the flash disappeared, a gush of wind
+entered a broken pane, the candle went blank out before her stupid gaze,
+and she forgot everything in that one instant, for a merciful Providence
+took away her consciousness, and with a shriek she fell, a motionless
+heap on the floor.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXIV.
+
+
+  My curdling blood, my madd'ning brain,
+  In silent anguish I sustain
+  And still thy heart, without partaking
+  One pang, exults--while mine is breaking
+                                      --Byron.
+
+She turned on her side and woke, at least she opened her eyes in a wide
+stare, but could see nothing. All was black, opaque darkness around her.
+She raised herself on her elbow, her back ached, her head ached, every
+joint was stiffened. What could it mean? Had she fallen out of bed, she
+wondered? She tried to move but could not. She called "Anna! Papa!" but
+her voice sent back a mocking echo from the black stillness, no maid, no
+parent, hearkened to her cry. She looked all around. A colorless
+emptiness surrounded her. She stretched out her feeble hand, but nothing
+answered to her eager search. Was she alone in a creation from which the
+sun had been cancelled? Where was her memory? What had she done last?
+She tried to think. She had been painting--oh yes! but it grew so dark
+she had to give it up. She must have fallen asleep after it, she began
+to think consolingly, but no! she had gone into her own little room and
+put on her daintiest apparel; she remembered pinning the bunch of
+camellias in her bonnet. But even this was no clue, she forgot after
+that. Was she in the open air or indoors? She could feel no breath or
+breeze, nor was there anything within reach to reassure her. She was too
+puzzled just now to feel much frightened. She only wanted to think.
+Instinctively she raised her hand to her head, and then--memory came
+back with one full swoop as she felt the heavy golden band on her
+finger. A painful rehearsal of all she had done passed before her eyes,
+and when she remembered the fatal flash of lightning and the darkness
+that followed, she fell shrieking back on the hard floor. She knew now
+that she was alone in the dark dingy little house, that had terrified
+her so much at first. She raised herself again, tremblingly, and
+supported her reclining form on her hand, her arm resting on the cold
+boards. "But I am not alone," she said reassuringly; "Bijou is here,"
+then raising her voice a little, she called "Bijou! Bijou!" but the
+silent chamber only sent back a dismal echo of her own voice. Then
+louder still she cried "Bijou! Bijou! Bijou!" her voice gathering
+courage as the maddening truth forced itself on her bewildered brain.
+Still no answer. She grew terrified at having broken the awful
+stillness. She strained her eyes to peer through the cruel darkness that
+enveloped her. No use--it was only looking through one blackness into
+another. She covered her weeping face with her little trembling hands,
+moaning and wailing as she rocked herself to and fro on the hard floor.
+Poor girl! She was only one of the million victims of that folly which
+rules universal girl-hood to-day. She had not been taught the lesson of
+life as every girl should know it. Like others of her age, all over the
+wide world, here in our own flourishing city as well, she had been given
+the elements of a valuable knowledge to play with, and fool with, and
+yawn over to her heart's content. This was all.
+
+According to popular ideas, there are so many other things to be
+instilled into young girl's heads of primary importance, that education
+takes its own course, and enthusiastic mothers stay up half the night
+curling the flaxen hair, or paring the promising eyelashes of their
+pretty babies, but what becomes of the little heart that is growing wild
+for want of a tender solicitous hand to cultivate its helpless soil?
+What is the use? A handful of caramels goes a far longer way towards
+calming a fit of juvenile temper than a word of effective remonstrance,
+that will only spoil the pretty face, on mama's reception day too, or
+just before some liliputian tea-party. True it is that it is far more
+universal a practice than in former years to send one's children to
+school. But where does the advantage come in? The embryo woman is packed
+off to the most stylish boarding-school, she must be allowed a thousand
+deviations from the rules, on account of weak nerves or some equally
+imaginary disorder. She picks up in her hours of good humor a smattering
+of French and German, music or elocution, painting and fancy-work, but
+these painful superficialities only ruin the girl, who, had she been
+left without those oppressive appendages, would be an honest whole-
+hearted woman. Instead of this, our drawing-rooms are crowded with
+affected, insipid girls, who, being girls, are fair enough to view, but
+whose minds and hearts are prudently closed to inspection. These are the
+perfections of lollipop misses who left home for boarding-school, five,
+six or eight years ago, and come back conceited ninnies, who imagine
+every good-looking man must be appropriated, whether he will or not, as
+their slavish adorer.
+
+These are no untrue assertions. Ask anyone of sound, natural judgment,
+how many sensible, edifying, worthy women are found at once in a
+ball-room or concert-room, or any other rendezvous of fashionable
+society. The answer, if not convincing, would at least be surprising.
+And yet, every year, numbers of these golden-haired, blue eyed girls
+leave the altar on the arm of some well-to-do young fellow, his, until
+death, and no one in the admiring throng of spectators doubts that the
+sequel of this bright day's doings will be one of endless felicity. But
+they are deceived. It is the wife's lack of sympathy in the hour of
+distress, her incapacity to solace the troubled mind and heart of the
+man who has loved her, that drives the young husband from his home, to
+seek distraction in the bottomless wine-cup. It is a repulsive picture,
+but a true one, and those who have not seen it yet for themselves will
+meet the stern reality some day, perhaps, before very long.
+
+These deviatory details may enable the readers to understand more fully,
+and to condemn less readily the actions of Josephine de Maistre. She had
+placed unbounded confidence in the man who had come to her with his
+well-learned tales of love. She was young, susceptible and
+inexperienced, and had not thought that night should close in upon her
+bright, beautiful, cloudless day. But it was different now. The
+impulsive, generous, confiding nature was slowly being moulded by the
+hand of a bitter experience, into a skeptical mistrust of humanity,
+dreadful to see in a woman. All the careless years of her girlhood
+passed in mockery before her eyes to-night, until her poor heart was
+nigh bursting with pent-up sorrow and grief. She dropped her cold clammy
+hands into her lap and sat upright in the darkness. How long had she
+been here? Was it an hour, a day, or a week? How long must she remain
+here now? She felt in her breast for her pocket-book, and a look of
+undying scorn stole into her eyes when she found it was gone. She was
+penniless, alone, helpless; would this darkness ever dissipate. If she
+could only die, or go mad, or sleep again, she thought, as she threw
+herself passionately on the floor moaning and sobbing most piteously.
+Suddenly she sprang up again, maddened by pain, suspense and fear.
+Holding out her trembling arms in the darkness, she screamed
+despairingly, appealingly, "Bijou, my lover, my traitor, where are you?
+Come back and free me from this awful terror, rescue me, or kill me,
+anything--oh anything but this frightful solitude."
+
+Still no sound answered her despairing accents as she dashed herself
+recklessly back on the floor, weeping and sobbing afresh. Then there was
+a moment or two of heavy silence, for it is in silence the heart breaks.
+After that the girl sat up again, with her feet tucked under her skirts.
+She brushed back her matted hair from her swollen face and clasping her
+hands over her knees, she filled the small dark room with a sharp
+ringing laugh. It was something horrible to hear--a voice once so soft
+and plaintive, now grating out shrill accents in a hard mocking tone.
+
+"Ha, ha, ha," she sneered, "the brave monsieur Bijou, how he played with
+_la folle Fifine_. Was he not too sure perhaps? Fifine can love, but oh!
+more delicious, Fifine can hate! yes hate!! hate!!!" she repeated with a
+malicious pleasure, emphasizing the word, "and she can curse _le beau
+Bijou_."
+
+"Oh!" she cried joining her hands in an iron grip, "may sickness and
+poverty and misfortune waylay him! may he love one who will break his
+heart! may this life be to him a temporary hell, to prepare for the
+eternal one in the next! Ha, ha, that is good Fifine, _pourtant, le beau
+Bijou_ would be vexed to hear that, he would be shocked. We'll tell a
+secret to this brave young man. The world is big, Bijou, and Fifine is
+only a small weak child, but she loves to hate, and she loves revenge.
+She will walk till her feet are blistered, and her body worn and tired,
+but she will find Bijou, she owes him a little debt and she must pay it.
+She gives the devil his due, ha, ha, ha," and the wild unearthly laugh
+resounded once more through the dismal darkened chamber. In this
+horrible strain she continued chattering to herself and menacing Bijou,
+until suddenly she stopped short and bent over in a listening attitude.
+A sound had caught her ear. Something had broken the frightful silence
+besides her rambling maniacal chatter. Some other animate thing was
+within her hearing. She was breathless for many moments as she glared,
+eyes and mouth open, in the direction from which the sound had
+proceeded. She listened devouringly and could now distinctly hear a slow
+regular breathing, somewhere near, but which way she could not tell. Her
+flesh crept with a new fear. She dreaded being alone, and yet she
+preferred solitude to the knowledge that some one was coming to her in
+the darkness. She crawled on her knees a few paces forward, but as the
+sound decreased she crept silently back in the opposite direction. Still
+she could not hear more distinctly.
+
+She therefore made a great stride towards another point, and now she
+could hear very plainly the regular breaths coming and going as of one
+in deep sleep. This suspense was worse than any. She laid herself out on
+the floor, rested her elbows on the boards and buried her chin in her
+palms. Wild thoughts of hatred and revenge chased one another through
+her unsteady mind, but still she could discern nothing but this tranquil
+respiration. She was weakening now. It must have been three hours from
+the time she awoke first, and yet there was no sign of light or life,
+nothing but this strange breathing, wherever it was. She was growing
+drowsy and threw herself back on the floor, with one fair white arm
+thrown over her head. She had advanced considerably to the left of the
+room, though the impenetrable darkness did not allow her to know it. Her
+breast heaved in great irregular sighs, and her long lashes drooped
+wearily over her tired eyes. Another moment and sleep would have come in
+its precious mercy to solace the poor afflicted soul, the wild staring
+eyes had been subdued into drowsiness, and the angel of balm was coaxing
+the tired limbs into repose, when a loud sigh broke upon the sleep-
+inducing silence, and disturbed the unfortunate Fifine. She opened her
+eyes suddenly again and waited for a repetition. This time she heard
+several queer sounds, like scratching and eating. Overcome at last by
+suspense, she started up, but in doing so, she knocked her head
+violently against some object that stood close by her. In her madness
+she never heeded the pain, but stretched out her hands for something to
+lean against, when fortunately she laid one of them on a stumpy
+candlestick, in the saucer of which she found a couple of greasy
+matches. A cry of joy escaped her as she struck a light, as quickly as
+her nervous fingers and glad excitement allowed her. At least now the
+horrible spell of darkness and uncertainty was broken. The candle hardly
+took at first, but as she watched it eagerly, with both hands around the
+timid spark, it spluttered and flared up into a tall lanky flame that
+made her surroundings look visible, if not bright.
+
+It was the same little room to which Bijou had brought her for her
+wedding, she did not know how long ago. Now that she looked at it in a
+calm, keen scrutiny, she noticed that these stray pieces of homely,
+furniture had been thrown around, merely to give the place the
+appearance of being inhabited. No one had lived there for a long time,
+anyone could see. Great tangled cobwebs hung all over the wall and
+celling, and one corner of the miserable apartment was a perfect pool,
+from rain that had dropped through the defective roof. When Fifine had
+taken in these surroundings in her quick, searching glance, she tried to
+discern the source of the noises she had heard. This was an easy matter.
+Very near to where she stood, was a long dingy door that closed with a
+latch, and from behind this Fifine heard the sounds still issuing.
+Prepared for the worst, she got down on her knees and holding the candle
+a little way above her head, she raised the latch and pushed the door
+violently in. The next instant a great shaggy dog was bounding around
+her, lashing his paws on the floor and attempting to lick her hands and
+face. She smiled a little first when she remembered her fear, but her
+next feeling was one of joy, at the new and strange companionship, which
+might yet prove of service to her. Laying the candle down upon the
+floor, she drew the animal towards her and began to examine him. He was
+a large, well-built, glossy-haired fellow, with earnest eyes and a long,
+loose tongue, that hung a great way out of his mouth. Around his shaggy
+neck was a silver collar, on which was engraved "Sailor," and the two
+large initials, "N.B.," and after further scrutiny, she deciphered on
+the margin of the band, "I. Kennedy, Engraver, St. Paul St, Montreal."
+She threw her arms wildly about the animal and hugged him
+affectionately. At least she had a clue. In her new joy she quite
+forgone very precaution she had planned before, but now she was brought
+back from her ecstasy by remarking that her candle was almost burnt out.
+She had no other, and she must be content to sit there and await day
+break, or escape while there was yet a spark of light. She seized this
+last hope, for taking the dog by the collar, she dragged him towards the
+door of exit, and as she tried to undo the fastenings, she talked wildly
+to herself and to him. The door was fastened on the outside, proof
+positive, that she had been knowingly and heartlessly bound within those
+wretched walls. This excited all her latent hatred again, and with the
+mad strength of defiance and revenge, she tried to tear the fastenings
+apart with her naked fingers. She toiled bravely and fast. The light of
+the candle was leaping up and down, threatening to expire. Only once or
+twice did she pause to fling back the dishevelled hair that blinded her
+eyes, but at last she was rewarded, for with one supreme effort she
+succeeded in dragging in the door, and opening for herself a passage
+into the outside world.
+
+"Not, bad Fifine," she laughed, as the night air swept in on her
+feverish head, "we'll get _le beau Bijou_ yet. He'll say Fifine is mad,
+but we'll see--Fifine is not mad--she hates him though, and she will
+kill him, ha! ha!"
+
+She walked about chattering wildly, holding Sailor by his collar, and
+saying senseless things to him every now and then. At last, when she had
+gone a long way without being able to discern a path, she sank down to
+rest near a clump of trees. Twining her arms round Sailor's shaggy neck,
+she laid her head on his warm body and soon fell into a heavy dreamless
+slumber.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXV.
+
+
+  Yes! there are real mourners--I have seen
+  A fair, sad girl, mild-suffering; and serene.
+                                      --Crabbe.
+
+The gray of the morning was stealing out from behind the tree-tops,
+filling the woodland with a dim uncertain light. The tall spectral forms
+and great crouching figures of the darkness, now proved to be the limbs
+and broken trunks of gigantic trees. With the misty light of the morning
+all the ghouls and goblins of the night left the lonely forest and
+retreated to their secret abodes until dusk would come again.
+
+A cold cheerless change was coming over the earth and two equestrians
+trotting silently through the wood, at this early hour, shivered and
+shook in the raw air of the morning. They spoke very little. The elder
+one was smoking, the other was looking moodily on before him. Presently
+the former stretched himself far on one side of his horse and thrust his
+head enquiringly forward. He took his pipe from his mouth and looked
+again.
+
+"Philip, my son, what do you see there?"
+
+"Where?" the other asked indifferently.
+
+"Inside those twisted trees."
+
+Philip glanced in the direction indicated, and in an instant was
+dismounted. He gave the reins to his companion and walked briskly to the
+spot that had excited their attention. When he reached the place he
+halted suddenly and looked aghast. An exclamation of horror escaped his
+lips. He bent over the object and beheld the figure of a human being,
+clad in female attire, sleeping on the crouched body of a great
+Newfoundland dog. But the arms and fingers that encircled and clutched
+the faithful animal were daubed with blood, and here and there on the
+fretful face of the sleeper were dried patches of crimson. The matted
+hair fell loosely round the regular features, but the picture on the
+whole was at once the strangest and most touching one it was possible to
+see. Philip turned silently and beckoned his companion to approach. Then
+both of them bent curiously over the form of the girl to ascertain
+whether she slept a temporary or an eternal sleep, and when her distinct
+breathing convinced them that life was not extinct, they called her and
+tried to awaken her. For a long time their efforts were vain. Nothing
+seemed capable of dispelling the stupor that had settled over her. She
+only tossed her head wearily from one side to the other when they spoke,
+and frowned peevishly, as though their words annoyed her. Once she
+raised her blood-stained hand and the two men saw with renewed surprise
+that she wore a wedding ring on her slender finger. This touched them
+anew, and they resolved to move her between them to the village, where a
+doctor could be consulted and her wants be carefully attended to.
+
+But when they laid their hands upon her the dog showed his teeth
+threateningly, growling angrily in their faces. At the sound of her
+defender's voice, the girl lifted her eyelids and glared wildy at the
+two figures standing above her. She tightened her greedy hold around the
+animal's neck and screamed:
+
+"Don't touch him, don't dare--he--and my revenge--all that's
+left--revenge! Ha, ha, ha.--"
+
+Her voice died out and her eyes closed drowsily again. The two men
+stared at one another in mute surprise. Then the younger of the two,
+making a last effort, bent over her and said coaxingly:
+
+"Let me take you off the damp ground, you'll have your death of cold,"
+
+She started and looked strangely at him.
+
+"Not death," she said in a tone of defiance, "not death until I have
+done my work."
+
+"Tell us your name, good woman," the older man put in, not heeding her
+last remark.
+
+"Name? I have no name now--outcast--_jolle_-if you like. But I will win
+my name back, I will--"
+
+"Of course you will," sad one consolingly, looking at his companion and
+tapping his forehead knowingly.
+
+"Come, we will begin right away; let us go now," and he raised himself
+up to start.
+
+With a little coaxing and reassurance, they persuaded her to lean on
+them and rise up, but the poor little face became distorted and the eyes
+closed languidly as if she suffered intensely. She stood bravely up
+however, but in a moment she tottered and sank back again. Her
+companions saw that their efforts were useless in her present condition,
+so it was decided that while the elder man remained to watch her, the
+younger one should gallop to the village and secure the assistance
+necessary to transport her from this lonely spot.
+
+Unfortunately the path chosen by Bijou on the night of her elopement
+with him, led to a succession of roads which wound almost interminably
+through woods and fields adjoining another village, situated some miles
+distant from the one they had left. This settlement was called "The
+Lower Farms." It was to this place that Philip Campbell and his uncle
+Douglas were travelling on that morning when they found Fifine in the
+wood. Bijou had made a very round-about trip, bringing the girl at least
+twenty miles from her own neighborhood, and leaving her in a spot where,
+if found, she would be looked upon as a resident of the Lower Farms.
+
+With all possible speed, Philip Campbell rode into the village, going
+straight to the doctor of the place, to whom he confided their strange
+_rencontre_. Half an hour later, the zealous man of medicine with his
+attendant and Phil, were journeying back to the spot where Douglas
+Campbell kept kindly watch over the unfortunate female.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXVI.
+
+
+  "Jukes and earls, and diamonds and pearls
+  And pretty girls was spoorting there.
+  And some beside (the rogues) I spied,
+  Behind the winches coorting there."
+                          --Thackeray.
+
+"This is our waltz, Miss Edgeworth, are you prepared?" asked Vivian
+Standish, as he bowed before the girl in black satin, who was conversing
+gayly with a fine-looking elderly gentleman.
+
+"So soon," Honor said, somewhat surprised, "why, I thought--"
+
+"Yes, I know you did," he interrupted gayly, "but do listen to that
+music."
+
+Honor rose, thus appealed to, and smiling an adieu to her first
+companion, she thrust her round white arm into Vivian's, as he led her
+triumphantly into the ball-room, where many couples were already on the
+floor.
+
+"See, we have lost some of it already," he exclaimed, putting his arm
+around her slender waist. They had to wait another minute thus, to allow
+more formidable couples to move past them, recruits in "the
+terpsichorean art" who were ploughing their ways agonizingly through the
+crowd, leading their warm fat partners on the laces and frills of other
+ladies' dresses. As Honor and Vivian joined the moving mass, they
+attracted many admiring glances. They were well matched in size, both
+good-looking, and remarkably fine dancers, and as they glided here and
+there many criticizing whispers followed them.
+
+Little Miss McCable, who has the reputation of being one of Ottawa's
+best dancers, bites her lower lips sarcastically, as an admirer of Miss
+Edgeworth's asks her, "does she not find her dancing faultless," and
+declares she "kaunt see what there is so striking about her."
+
+But heedless of those who surround them, Vivian leads his fair partner
+through the crowd, as the strains of waltzes picked from "Olivette" and
+"Patience," flood the ball-room. Any girl may boast of being free from
+susceptibilities of a disastrous kind, but few girls _à la mode_ to-day
+can overcome the resistless fascination of a dreamy waltz, and Honor
+Edgeworth who was the very poetry of motion in herself, was lost to
+everything else but her waltz at this moment--how well Vivian Standish
+guided, she thought--how well he held himself! how _distingué_ he
+looked!
+
+He had begun to puzzle her a little, and though she certainly did not
+like him, there was a sort of strange attraction for her in his voice,
+appearance and manner. I wonder if men can know what there is in a
+voice?
+
+It is a precious talisman that serves at all times, and the one
+infallible means a man has to find his way to a woman's heart, for a
+woman never forgets the pathos, and sweetness of a voice that has called
+her "his own."
+
+Vivian Standish had a voice to covet and to envy, he said the most
+matter-of-fact thing in a way that captivated the most careless
+listener, and the girls declared that when he spoke to them they were
+"perfectly distracted." Ottawa is the most interesting spot on earth for
+a person of any extraordinary ability to gain notoriety. If it is a girl
+the male element is effervescing all at once, men fall in love with her
+in turns, she is almost devoured with attention at evening parties, and
+visits all the suggestive nooks, and sits on the stairs with the
+handsomest and toniest of Ottawa's "big boys;" even married men get the
+craze, for Ottawa boasts of quite a little circle of benedicts, who are
+not slaves to petty prejudices inflicted as a rule on the married, and
+though not open advocates of "Free Love," they take all the privileges
+that hang around the border limit, for they do not doubt, but that any
+one might know when they are seen escorting pretty flirts, riding,
+driving, or walking through such delightful walks as "Beechwood," or
+"Richmond Road," that the topic of conversation is painfully appropriate
+to their vocations, and as a proof if any one were to join them, at the
+moment, they would be either admiring nature or art, or anything in fact
+but each other.
+
+It makes as much difference in Ottawa as well as elsewhere, whether a
+young lady be only an instructress of music, but exceedingly pretty, or
+the daughter of a cabinet minister with a homely face and awkward gait.
+A man is a man in spite of society's most binding laws; but
+circumstances are so delightfully blended when a girl is rich,
+good-looking, clever--and disengaged, it is the chance of a lifetime,
+and were it not that such "chances" as these, usurp the opportunites of
+Ottawa's patient and less endowed girls, there would be fewer of these
+old young ladies, who haunt the drawing rooms and public balls of our
+city, year after year with the same result. Two or three years ought to
+satisfy any girl of ordinary ambition, and yet there are tireless
+maidens who only remain in their ninth or tenth winter, because of some
+petty constitutional ailing, that makes a better excuse than saying,
+"there's no use trying any more, I'm a year older this year and have
+less chance," and so they begin to settle into a sound resignation, and
+snub the more presentable daughters of social inferiors; they either
+turn into first-class Sunday school teachers, and denounce the pomps of
+a world whose excess has brought them to solitary womanhood, or they
+make unrivalled depositaries and disseminators of the local news of
+their little sphere, but they are as admirable an invention as any
+other, as they have many hours of leisure to engage in charitable and
+other occupations. There are plenty of these amiable "everlastings" at
+Mr. Bellemare's to-night, some of them apparently much appreciated, for
+while their homely, ungainly figures are whirled around the room on the
+arm of some calculating youth, fresh blooming girls must bite the ends
+of their feathery fans in a passion of disappointment, as they stand
+against the wall, or admire the pictures or statuary, or it does not
+matter what, so long as they need not look straight into the fun they
+cannot share. What a glorious epoch of womanly dignity, independence and
+worthiness! It is a picture one likes to draw for the contemplative
+admirers of the age.
+
+A girl who makes up her mind to "go out" after leaving school, is I
+think, the most foolish and wretched girl under the sun, unless her
+parents or other relations have either a political, social or money
+influence to strengthen her, for many a daughter looks regretfully back
+upon the foolish steps which led her by contact into a world of fashion
+and flummery.
+
+The exquisite ball-dress came home one night with the little paper from
+"Cheapside," or the "Argyle House," bearing its value represented in
+high numbers; a big account was opened in those dangerous books, a
+necessary affliction nevertheless, where the daughters will be
+"fashionable" and persist in having the same indulgences as the
+daughters of those who have less manners by far, but who can substitute
+good breeding easily by an abundance of "filthy lucre." In a ball-room,
+she is alone in a multitude, most often wishing heartily she were rolled
+comfortably in the blankets of her cosy bed, she may be a nice girl, men
+admire her as a rule, but men are too dependent in Ottawa to declare
+their opinions openly, when they thereby tread upon society's corns.
+
+Although this is naturally a democratic country, social ostracism is not
+unknown amongst us. The daughter of any one who "keeps a window," or is
+at all engaged in trade, is as effectually excluded from society as if
+she were a moral leper, and although her attainments, intellectually and
+otherwise, be far superior to those of her more favored sister, (who is
+very frequently both stupid and uninteresting), her chances of an
+invitation are small indeed, until her father is in a position to head a
+subscription list or an election fund, and then, presto! all the
+insuperable difficulties that previously existed, magically disappear.
+
+The brainless families of representative men, must of course monopolise
+attention, if all the rest went to eternal perdition, and what does it
+matter how vexedly a fellow tugs his moustache over the insipid drawl of
+some "powerful" man's daughter, while he eyes most enviously the form of
+her less safely established sister, and wishes to--he was some other
+fellow, and not himself.
+
+Honor Edgeworth, strange to say, beautiful, and courted though she was
+in Ottawa, failed to catch any sweetness therein. While such a thing was
+new, it amused her, but already the shallow novelty had worn off, and it
+had become monotonous. Perhaps, if things were different, she could have
+entered with more relish into her world of gay distractions, but she
+knew, beforehand, that there are voids and vacancies in the heart, that
+can never be filled by the trivial pleasures of high life. When the eye
+has begun to scan the world for a particular face and form that it loves
+to look upon, it instinctively shuns both crowded rooms and festive
+halls.
+
+This was why Honor looked so indifferent to the sensation she created
+this evening at the Bellemare's, gliding through the ball-room on the
+arm of the handsomest man present, but for all that her mind was not
+lazy, she was thinking deeply enough the while, leaning on the stalwart
+shoulder of Vivian Standish, drinking in the suggestive strains of the
+music to which they danced. Honor was also yielding to the influence of
+memory that had been awakened within her, that memory that pensively
+turned backwards the unforgotten pages of her past, filling her with a
+sad discontent, that soon betrayed itself in the wearied expression of
+impatience which stole into her eyes and over her whole face, and while
+so many girls around her, could have hated her for her luck, she sighed
+heavily under her rich brocades, and whispered to herself, "others look
+so completely happy, why need things be so different with me?"
+
+Presently the arm that encircled her slender waist released its
+pressure, and a sad earnest voice, said in a half anxious tone, into the
+pretty pink ear:
+
+"Why do you look so worried and fretful, are you tired?"
+
+"No--yes--a little," she answered wearily.
+
+"Let me get you some refreshment," was the solicitous rejoinder. "Come
+in here, Miss Edgeworth, see how cosy and appropriate it looks."
+
+Mechanically she yielded, and on the arm of her admirer passed into a
+spot which was a veritable artificial summer. It may not seem consistent
+with the rest of Honor Edgeworth's character, to say that, though
+defiant and independent, with regard to every other influence in life,
+she found herself unable to battle against the strange and unpleasant
+feeling, that invariably filled her in the company of this man.
+
+She had read and heard of "will power," and of the strength of the moral
+character asserting itself, despite the most gigantic efforts on the
+part of the victim, and though she was not inclined to raise this petty
+instance to the dignity of such wonderful manifestations, it yet savored
+of mystery to her, and thrust a repulsive consciousness of her own moral
+weakness upon her.
+
+She was a "good girl," in the broadest sense; there was no nest of
+social vices inside that fair, honest face; the diplomacy and duplicity
+of fashion were unknown to her guileless heart, she was solid worth in
+every way, even while she sat under the broad leaves of rare branches,
+toying with her silver spoon, and listening to the earnest voice beside
+her. The wavy, chestnut braids that bound her shapely head, were natures
+own great gift to her, and had never been stowed away in idleness during
+the hours of her _deshabille_: the little tide of pink that ebbed and
+flowed over her fair face had never lain condensed within box or bottle
+upon her dressing-table, her face and form in all their loveliness were
+genuine, the double row of white even teeth, that gave a great charm to
+her pretty mouth, had never dreamed their early days away in dental
+show-cases, nor bathed all night by a toothless maiden's bed-side in a
+glass of water; much less did she ever tempt herself to encourage the
+authors of those wonderful advertisements that grace our daily papers,
+and which introduce to the world, renowned dimple makers, nose refiners,
+and other improvers of personal deficiencies.
+
+It was perhaps the freshness of her beauty and the originally of her
+manner, that attracted her many satellites around her.
+
+Lady Fullerton asks, "Is not beauty power?" and should I undertake to
+interpret the answer of the multitude I could but say--"it is."
+
+There was not one in creation who knew better how to wield his weapons
+than did Vivian Standish. Many a time he had smiled inwardly at seeing
+the fruitless struggles of his victims to appear unmoved by his winning
+ways, but now, for once, he was balancing his precious judgment on a
+doubt. He was not too sure, but that this frank, clear, virtuous girl
+could read him through. Sometimes he felt uncomfortable. Just now, he
+felt as dogged as any ambitious school-boy ever did over an obstinate
+theorem in Euclid--here was a problem--there were all the rules for its
+clear solution, yet the answer never would come right. Perhaps he was
+preparing for another attempt, as he drew his chair closer to her and
+looked into her face, while they sat in the spot of all spots, the most
+flattering to his designs.
+
+She greeted this new movement with a look of sudden surprise, but,
+unheeding, he bent over her slightly and said in his same provokingly
+sweet way:
+
+"Why did you wear that cruel little rose-bud to-night, Miss Edgeworth?"
+
+This is the sort of pleasant thing that Honor dislikes: whose memory or
+anticipation is always sweeter than the actual experience. She did not
+look at him this time, but still, toying with her spoon and glass, she
+answered slowly:
+
+"Because--I like it best of all the flowers--"
+
+"On account of its--" interrupted Vivian, and then paused, looked at
+her, and waited,
+
+"Yes, exactly," Honor said, looking straight into his deep eyes, this
+time. "It is on that very account."
+
+"I was going to say--'meaning'--" he almost whispered back.
+
+"Well--?" Honor drawled indifferently.
+
+"Take it off then--it is the only unbecoming thing about you."
+
+"I infer," returned Honor, slightly arching her brows, "that you expect
+me to obey your word of command?"
+
+"Which I spoke without the meanest right to do so, I suppose?" Vivian
+said humbly, "in that case, I cancel it and apologize."
+
+"That is still, almost another command," she retorted provokingly.
+
+"How so?" asked her listener, becoming interested.
+
+"For pardon," Honor said, "I never knew a man who did not flatter
+himself that his apology satisfied for the grossest indiscretion."
+
+He stood aimlessly up, and knocked a withered leaf of oleander from a
+tall branch that scented the spot where they were sitting, but instead
+of returning to his seat, he leaned his crossed arms on the back of her
+broad chair, and looking down on her, answered:
+
+"Why are you a little less generous to us, poor unfortunates than you
+are to every one else?"
+
+He was so gentle to her, he could not reproach her with a fault, and he
+had therefore called this a less degree of generosity.
+
+Honor began to feel the effects of playing with dangerous tools, but
+without knowing that such an experience, is the greatest danger that can
+beset an untried life.
+
+"How rashly you do presume, Mr. Standish," said Honor, "as if you could
+tell, positively, what I thought of 'you poor unfortunates.'"
+
+"As if you could help showing us, your lack of appreciation in every
+possible way," he returned, still leaning on the cushioned back of the
+chair, where she rested her head languidly.
+
+"Then, let it be so, for if you judge me by my action only, without
+bringing any of your own calculations to bear, I will be satisfied with
+the result."
+
+"Miss Edgeworth," began he, changing his tone to one of curious interest
+and earnestness, "have you a bosom friend?"
+
+Honor looked suddenly up at him, and grew serious.
+
+"I have acquaintances who presume to question me, as though they had the
+rights of one," she said, sinking lazily back in her chair.
+
+"Then, they usurp _somebody's_ privileges, by so doing--do they not?"
+
+The girl looked indignantly at him, and only withdrew her powerful
+glance slowly, as she said:
+
+"Mr. Standish, I find it strange, that you should think me utterly
+different from other girls; pray, undeceive yourself I have my friends,
+and loves, and follies, and caprices like the rest and will have all my
+life. I expect to to be just as foolish in my love affairs some day, as
+you men generally consider most girls to be."
+
+"I hope so," he answered meaningly, and as she rose to leave the
+conservatory, for another dance, she heard him mutter: "for my sake."
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXVII.
+
+
+  "He whom thou fearest will, to ease its pain,
+   Lay his cold hand upon thy aching heart,
+   Soothe the terrors of thy troubled brain,
+   And bid the shadows of earth's griefs depart."
+                                             --_A Proctor_
+
+"You had better watch him closely, Mrs. Pratt, his condition is
+precarious, and as he has been thrown on your hands, do not treat him
+shabbily--"
+
+"You ken bet I'll not," said the matronly female, who stood half hidden
+in the humble doorway, from which Dr. Belford had just made his exit.
+"Lawks, doctor dear, I'll have an eye to him, jest as if he was my very
+own. It'ud not be me 'at would neglec' any Christian that fate had
+thrown on me hands."
+
+"I thought so," said the doctor, half apologetically. "I'll call again
+shortly," and then, gathering in the fringe of his carriage apron, Dr.
+Belford bade Mrs. Pratt a temporary farewell, and was off.
+
+The small shabby brown door closed gently enough, and separated Mrs.
+Pratt from the whole moving mass of animate confusion that reigned in
+the streets outside. As she stopped, on her way through the narrow
+passage within, to straighten the rag mat at the door of the front room,
+she sighed perplexedly and soliloquized resignedly:
+
+"Fever! above all things else--bless the sickness--likely as not it
+could be the death o' me, and yet, how could I send the lad away or go
+back on him now."
+
+A hissing noise from the kitchen, transported the meditative Mrs. Pratt
+in a wonderful hurry from her philanthropic reasoning to a saucepan of
+potatoes that were bubbling furiously in the water, over a good fire in
+her cracked cooking stove; but though she busied herself with her daily
+duties for the next hour, her face was unusually serious, and her mind
+agitated. She was reflecting earnestly on the new charge that had been
+thrust upon her, and wondering whether a tough old woman who had never
+had the measles could escape the contagion of typhoid fever,
+
+Mrs. Pratt had a small faded cottage all to herself, the substantial
+token of the late John Pratt's esteem, before he left for his long
+journey to the better land; and though the locality was a poor one, and
+the neighbors noisy and rough, this particular dwelling impressed one
+strongly with in idea of the "shabby genteel" in all its painful
+gentility, and also filled the heart with a ready sympathy for the "old
+decency" that yet survived within those paintless, sunburnt shutters,
+and those faded, pitted walls.
+
+But inside this uncomfortable appearance of washed-out brick and
+well-ripened wood, there was comfort and cleanliness and quiet. The
+front room, with its stiff cane rocker and chairs, its round table and
+well-adorned mantelpiece, its cretonne-covered lounge and tapestry
+carpet, was not a bad sample at all, of a drawing-room in a third-rate
+boarding house.
+
+Upstairs, on the first and highest story, were three small, but
+scrupulously neat rooms, two of which looked out into the street, and
+the other into the common yard of some dozen neighbors. In the largest
+apartment of all, which was the aristocratic bedroom, was a narrow, iron
+bedstead, a little square, antique bureau, an open wash-stand, with a
+prim white basin set into a hole in it to fit, and a clean diaper towel,
+folded respectably across the pitcher that did not match the bowl. The
+boards, though bare, were yellow as gold. The faded shutters were
+closed, and failing hooks were fastened to a nail in the shabby sill by
+a piece of aged pink tape. On a small table by the bed-side, were
+bottles and tumblers and remnants of rough delicacies, that bespoke
+sickness.
+
+The loud, heavy breathing of an invalid, was all that disturbed the
+quiet of Mrs. Pratt's best room, and this came irregularly, but
+oppressed and labored, from the prostrate form on the little iron bed
+behind the door.
+
+Over the spotless linen of the warm bed, two hot, washed hands were
+lying, and buried in the small, soft pillows, was the flashed, feverish
+face of a young man. His brow was contracted and every feature bore the
+impress of the foul disease that had made him its victim. The dry,
+parched lips moved eagerly at intervals, and the thin fingers clutched
+one another in feverish excitement; the drowsy lids were only half
+closed, and great drops of perspiration were standing out on the poor
+flushed face.
+
+Care and intense anxiety were legibly traced on the well carved
+features. The mouth was drawn in at its corners, the brow was furrowed
+by deep lines, and the black hair was well sprinkled with the grey dust
+of a hard and a bitter experience acquired on the road of life's
+fatiguing duties.
+
+This sad, silent young man was well known in the neighborhood as "Mrs.
+Pratt's boarder," and when, after defying a serious indisposition for
+days, he came home one night to his little room, a helpless victim to
+its ravages, everyone said they were truly sorry, and counselled Mrs.
+Pratt to treat him "decent." Here he lay through long, sleepy, sultry
+days, dozing and raving, and tossing in the madness and delirium of
+fever, and suffering terribly, through endless nights of suffocation and
+torment.
+
+Poor Mrs. Pratt had done her best, nobly and well, she had called in the
+doctor of best repute, and had advanced the "coppers" herself, such
+trust had she placed in the young fellow, wherewith to provide him with
+the necessary remedies and delicacies. When he was "real" bad she sat up
+herself to watch, and invited the widow Brady or some other interesting
+neighbor to keep her company.
+
+Dr. Belford was a man of unrivalled skill in his profession, and to say
+the best of him was a true friend to the needy and the poor. No hour of
+the night was too late for him to answer their pleading cry, and hence
+it was that he became the very idol of the destitute of a great city.
+
+He had come into Chapel Alley, at Mrs. Pratt's anxious request, and had
+pronounced her lodger, to be in the height of "typhoid fever." The case
+was even more dangerous than he cared to pretend, and the circumstances
+that had driven a respectable young fellow, such as his patient looked,
+to seek lodgings in a dilapidated quarter like Chapel Alley were such as
+engaged his sympathies at once.
+
+The days were stretching into weeks, and still the poor suffering
+victim, raved and tossed in mad fever on his narrow bed. Dr. Belford was
+looking serious as he left the sickroom one afternoon, after watching
+his patient attentively for nearly an hour: he cautioned Mrs. Pratt, in
+an earnest voice to attend carefully to the invalid, impressing on her
+how serious a crisis was approaching.
+
+He left the house a little troubled, telling Mrs. Pratt to leave her
+door unlocked, for he intended to return as often as possible through
+the night, to the bed-side of the patient.
+
+Noiselessly, almost breathlessly, the good woman stole around her little
+house in stocking feet, as she journeyed with fresh or re-made
+delicacies and medicines from the little kitchen below to the close
+sick-room above.
+
+She was faithful in moistening the parched lips, and in administering
+the remedies, with an edifying punctuality, and in fact, all the major
+and minor duties of a nurse were admirably attended to, by the
+whole-souled creature, who had taken this heavy responsibility upon
+herself.
+
+It was close on ten o'clock of the night of this critical day on which
+Dr. Belford had left Mrs. Pratt's house with such a troubled look, and
+this charitable matron having completed all her arrangements for the
+night, deposited a small lamp with a heavy green shade of paper, on the
+bureau in the sick-room, and drawing a tall straight wooden rocker close
+to the window, settled herself, stocking and needles in hand to "knit
+out" the hours of her lonesome vigil.
+
+       *       *        *       *        *
+
+On the heavily carved door of a square house on one of the most stylish
+avenues of New York City, was a silver plate, bearing the familiar name
+of "Dr. Belford." There was magnificence on all sides of this, his
+splendid home, and yet this good man spent all his days, and most of his
+nights in the squalid and repulsive quarters of the great city. He was a
+man of untold wealth and cared but little, whether his profession
+yielded him additional wealth or not, he had understood the great
+misfortunes of life, and had toiled with an iron will, to benefit those
+to whom an unfortunate fate had taught the bitter lessons of poverty and
+destitution.
+
+The mansion which bore his name on its elegant door, was now a blaze of
+gas-light; the heavy curtains, shaded the grandeur of the spacious
+drawing-room, but the apartment opposite had its tall windows thrown
+open to the evening breeze. This was Dr. Belford's office, splendidly
+furnished, and comfortably situated, countless rows of ponderous volumes
+lined the walls, and over the rest of the spacious room were scattered
+heavy pieces of office furniture, that lay around in solemn imposing
+neatness.
+
+Standing before a succession of bound volumes was a young man, with his
+hands folded behind his back and his head raised enquiringly to the
+books above him, he was passing over their titles in a quick review, and
+had just laid his hand in evident gratification on one of them, when a
+long shrill, silvery tinkle, made him start: "No use, I suppose," he
+muttered to himself, "I must be on the 'go.'"
+
+A tall, thin man, like an icicle in livery, appeared in the doorway at
+this moment, and delivered a note into his expectant hand. The young
+fellow tore it open and read.
+
+MY DEAR BOY,--
+            The case I have been summoned to attend here is a
+matter of life or death, I cannot possibly leave the house before
+morning. Will you, therefore, attend to the "typhoid fever" case, I
+spoke to you of, in Chapel Alley, for to-night, and oblige,
+
+                                                    J. D. BELFORD.
+
+"Humph!" said he, as he finished the last words, "I need to smarten up a
+little, it is now after ten: something serious must be up," he
+soliloquized, "or Doctor would never neglect that 'fever' patient, he is
+so interested in."
+
+Slipping his feet, clad in their red silk hose, from the daintiest of
+velvet slippers, the young doctor drew on his fine walking-shoes, turned
+down the gas a little, closed the office window, and taking his hat from
+the rack behind the door, hurried out.
+
+In a moment, the carriage was around, and stepping in he ordered Barnes
+to drive him quickly to Mrs. Pratt's humble abode in Chapel Alley.
+
+The dark, close by-ways and lanes impressed the young doctor forcibly,
+after leaving the broad, paved thoroughfares flooded with electric
+light, and used, though he was, to those sights, the repetition caused
+him invariably to shrink within himself and close his eyes upon their
+repulsiveness.
+
+At length they drew in towards the solitary house; from whose small
+upper window came the faint glimmer, cast through the slits in the
+shutter, by the dim light of the lonely watcher.
+
+As the young doctor stood at the door, he could hear the loud talk and
+wild cries of the invalid above, he laid his hand on the shabby handle,
+when yielding to his touch, the door opened with a little creaking
+noise--Mrs. Pratt, leaning over the rickety balustrade above, whispered:
+
+"Come straight up, doctor, he's awful bad!"
+
+The lively young doctor took all of Mrs. Prate's stairway in two
+moderate leaps and was at her side instantly. A moment of explanation
+consoled the troubled looking woman for the appearance of a stranger in
+Dr. Belford's stead, and then on tip toe they turned into the sick room.
+
+"He's been a fright altogether doctor," said Mrs. Pratt, raising her
+withered hands in an attitude of wonder "sich ravin' an' shoutin' and
+kerryings on I never see before--and I thought you'd ha' never come."
+
+When the door of the sick-room was opened an expression of extreme pity
+crossed the young man's face: that anyone should burn with a merciless
+fever in the close confines of this narrow little space, touched him
+deeply. He turned and looked at the restless invalid, but the light of
+the small hand lamp was dim and he could not see very distinctly.
+
+"Hold the lamp nearer, my good woman," he said in the most earnest
+professional manner, and as obedient Mrs. Pratt raised it high above her
+frilled cap, the doctor turned his eager glance on the prostrate figure
+before him.
+
+The light now fell upon the flushed features of the sick man. His
+agitation had all ceased, and there lingered but a little expression of
+peevishness and anxiety, but his whole condition bespoke sickness and
+suffering.
+
+A change, sudden and wonderful, flashed over the stern features of the
+doctor, he staggered just a step, and then bent lower over the face of
+the invalid--there--within the close narrow limits of a poor sick-room,
+in a squalid locality, one stricken down by a loathsome disease, the
+other there to alleviate his pain, did two fellow students meet for the
+first time since the long years ago when they had crossed the threshold
+of their school-room as boyish "chums" each to take his road in the
+great thoroughfare of life--yes--there was no mistaking it--those were
+the well remembered features of Nicholas Bencroft and no other. The
+doctor was lost in reflections when Mrs. Pratt impatiently interrupted
+him with--
+
+"Well doctor--he ain't much worse, I hope?"
+
+"He is no better," the doctor answered seriously, "he is at the crisis
+of his disease now. I will wait and watch with you to-night," he added,
+"go down like a good woman and tell my driver he can leave, I will watch
+until morning."
+
+Mrs. Pratt was a very scrupulous woman, for a widow, and thought it
+quite hazardous enough to watch a sick man all alone, besides
+encumbering her mind with one that was very alive and well--and so she
+took upon herself to insinuate something of her alarm to the young
+doctor. But a little persuasion went a long way with susceptible Mrs.
+Pratt, and when the doctor had told her that he recognized an old friend
+in her sick lodger, she begged a thousand pardons and became very
+submissive.
+
+While they watched by the bed-side of the unfortunate man, Mrs. Pratt
+grew communicative, and told the doctor how this sad young man came to
+her one hot Saturday evening and asked her for lodgings--how she had
+thought him "sort o' nice" and "took to him" and had had him now for
+near a twelve-month--that he had paid "reglar" and gave no trouble until
+the night the fever "struck him down"--his name was Bencroft, she knew,
+and his linen was well marked with a N. an' a B. in "real good
+writin"--and finally, how she hoped he'd soon get better, for his own
+sake and other peoples, "so she did."
+
+When they looked at the sleeper again, he was peaceful and unoppressed,
+his breathing was feebler and less labored, and while they stood
+whispering at the foot of his bed, he gave a great sigh and opened his
+heavy lids languidly.
+
+The doctor hastened to his side: the wild delirium had passed away,
+leaving the worried face of the sufferer calmer and quieter, he opened
+up his large lustrous eyes and said in a plaintive tone.--
+
+"Thirsty--so thirsty!"
+
+Mrs. Pratt raised the glass to his parched lips, and clutching her hands
+in his own feverish grasp, he pressed the goblet to his mouth and drank
+a devouring draught.
+
+It was true that his wanderings and delirium had ceased. Mrs. Pratt
+looked meaningly at the doctor and whispered hopefully: "he is better?"
+but, professional-like, the doctor remained silent, and only looked very
+seriously on. The invalid dropped back again among his pillows, and fell
+into a deep sleep.
+
+The night was now well nigh spent: outside in the leaden dawn, an odd,
+faint, sleepy twitter disturbed the silence, and an odd pedestrian's
+footsteps echoed, through the still street.
+
+When this natural sleep stole over the weak and wornout invalid, the
+doctor bade Mrs. Pratt a "good morning" for a while, telling her she
+might expect him back in four or five hour's time.
+
+"If your patient should wake," he added, "question him a little to
+ascertain whether he is entirely free from the illusions of his delirium
+or not--" and then with a puzzled wondering look upon his handsome face,
+the young doctor passed out of Mrs. Pratt's close, shabby house into the
+deserted street.
+
+Thoughts and memories of the past, he had stowed so resignedly away,
+flooded his mind as he strode onward, he had dreamed until last night
+that the ghost of his by-gone days would haunt him no more, and when he
+had learned to live without his memories on the associations of the
+frequent past, he was brought forward again to meet, face to face, a
+forcible reminder of his yesterdays. "Poor Nicholas!" he soliloquized,
+"what can have befallen him, that this should be his end? I thought
+there was nothing left in life that could surprise me, and yet here is
+something that really does."
+
+The days and scenes of his college life passed in a sorrowful panorama
+before the misty eyes of the young man as he strode along the silent
+street in the gray of the early morning, and as the beginning and the
+close of this happy period were reviewed before him, they passed into
+another phase of his life and clouded the frank young, face with a
+shadow of regret and pain--"at least"--he muttered to himself--"I might
+have spared myself this, after I had taught myself that it was madness
+to remember and wisdom to forget."
+
+A trio of midnight revelers, deserting their haunt of debauchery on a
+dilapidated street corner, here interrupted the strain of his
+meditation, and as he raised his eyes to look upon the ragged figures,
+and bloated, forbidden countenances of these men, there passed over his
+pensive features, a look of contentment and resignation which said--"At
+least, if my life has been a bitter and an unfortunate one, I have been
+spared these rags and this degradation. And yet," he continued, as he
+walked rapidly along the by-ways and thoroughfares of the great city,
+"it is a wonder that I escaped it, for in my time we were just as
+degraded, only we disguised our hideousness under the garb of
+respectability." Then a look of bitter, almost hopeless disappointment
+came over his face, as he told himself secretly, "And I struggled
+against all these propensities, fought with and overcame all these
+follies for the sake of _her_, who has cast me so easily, so willingly
+out of her life." He was turning the broad paved corner that led to Dr
+Belford's house, and quickening his step he reached the door just as the
+old doctor himself was passing out into the hall.
+
+"Hallo!" said the old gentleman in genuine surprise, "where have you
+been carousing until such an hour?"
+
+There was evidently a familiarity between these two that spoke of strong
+regard on the part of the younger, and of a fatherly fondness and
+interest in that of the elder doctor. An explanation followed which
+gratified Dr. Belford immensely.
+
+"Since the danger looks less, my boy," he said, "and that you wish to
+attend him, I see no reason why you shouldn't. I've trusted you with as
+serious cases already."
+
+With this they parted, each tired and weary with his midnight vigils,
+repaired to rest until the full stir of the morning that was just
+breaking.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXVIII.
+
+
+  "I have a bitter thought--a snake
+     That used to string my life to pain;
+   I strove to cast it far away,
+   But every night and every day
+     It crawled back to my heart again."
+
+"You are unusually early this morning," said a pale, handsome woman
+crossing the threshold of the elegant dining-room, where the silver and
+crystal and tempting viands stood in inviting array on the massive
+table.
+
+The lady wore a loose dark wrapper, girdled at the waist, and her thick
+hair, prematurely grey, was drawn back from her large, intelligent brow,
+and secured in graceful coils at the back of her shapely neck.
+
+"I have a case of unusual interest, dear Mrs. Belford--that explains it;
+at least I have stolen one from Dr. Belford, and with his ordinary
+kindness, he does not insist on reclaiming it."
+
+"Well, I don't object," Mrs. Belford replied gayly, "only I hope you can
+manage to get through quickly, for I have an engagement for you early
+this afternoon, and I would not relish a disappointment in the least."
+
+The young doctor looked proudly at the handsome woman as she spoke, then
+drawing himself up to his full height, as he surveyed himself in the
+mirror, "You may rely on me," he said with his most courteous bow, as he
+took his hat and left the room, with a last "good morning" to Mrs.
+Belford.
+
+       *       *        *       *        *
+
+"Deary me, but I'm glad you're well again," said good Mrs. Pratt, as she
+leaned over the now restored patient. "I thought ye were a goner sure,
+till comin' on mornin'. An' how do ye feel now, there's a good boy?"
+
+The pained look on the sufferer's face passed into something of a smile,
+as he answered in a low, weak voice,
+
+"Much better, I thank you," then the old, troubled shade returned to his
+flushed features, as he asked anxiously, "Will the doctor come soon
+again? I want him particularly this time."
+
+The pleading words were scarcely uttered when the rickety door creaked
+once more on its hinges. The stairs were taken in a jump, and the doctor
+stood at the door of his patient's room.
+
+Mrs Pratt thrust out her anxious head, and whispered,
+
+"He's alright, an' wants ye very bad this very minnit."
+
+Laying his hat and cane on the "ottoman," (an old soap box costumed in
+faded chinz), the doctor entered the room and approached the bed of the
+sick man.
+
+Taking advantage of the occasion, Mrs. Pratt now fairly "tired out,"
+escorted herself to the adjoining room and laid her weary bones on the
+uninviting "settee," that was the hallowed source of all the pleasant
+dreams, that haunted her daily siestas for many a year.
+
+The bright vivid glare of the mid-summer sun, was condensed into a
+subdued light, as it stole through the little scorched shutters, that
+adorned Mrs. Pratt's front windows. The doctor drew an old-fashioned
+chair, close to the bed side and addressed his patient cheerily:
+
+"Well, you are much better, this morning, I think?"
+
+The restless head turned with a quick movement towards the speaker. The
+bright feverishly lustrous eyes dwelt in dilated wonder on the face
+before them, there was a nervous twitching about the dry lips. Then the
+tired eyes closed languidly and the plaintive voice said:
+
+"My mind is wandering; I am not a school-boy now."
+
+The doctor knew there was a recognition, and taking the burning hand in
+his, he said tenderly:
+
+"Yes, Nicholas Bencroft, we will be school-boys again if you like. Those
+were happy days; let us go over them together once more."
+
+A strange, sad expression flitted across the invalid's face. He turned
+completely round and peered into the face of his companion. Then
+stretching out both feverish white hands, he cried out:
+
+"Yes, thank God! Elersley, it's you; you have come just in time."
+
+"Open the window and let me have a breath of fresh air," said the sick
+man after their greetings were over. "I have something to tell you that
+is weighing me down with grief, and promise me, dear old fellow, that
+you will leave no stone unturned to do the right things, that I will
+point out to you presently."
+
+"If it is in human power, Bencroft, how can you doubt the eagerness of
+one old chum to serve another?"
+
+"But I have done an awful wrong and you may loathe me and desert me when
+you see me self-condemned."
+
+The despairing tones of the weak voice touched every sympathetic chord
+in the heart of his listener.
+
+"I don't care what you may have done," he cried, enthusiastically, "let
+me help you all I can, you will not ask an impossibility I know."
+
+The invalid heaved a labored sigh, and began his story.
+
+"If I knew I had yet a year of health and life before me, I would not
+trouble any one to undo the black and dishonorable knot, that these
+guilty hands have tied, but I know too well that but little strength is
+left me. To begin at the beginning, Guy," he said, looking eagerly into
+the kind face of his listener, "boys make foolish attachments at school,
+that they sometimes regret all their lives. This, as you know, was my
+misfortune. Whatever diabolical attraction there was in that one man for
+me, I never could tell. All you fellows ridiculed me for it, but some
+evil fascination, though I did not so qualify it at that time, held me
+to him in spite of myself. The rest of you, wiser than I, learned to
+look upon his handsome face and polished manners as a clever mask, but I
+was blinded and could not see like the rest. You know how many foolish
+acts I did during those college years to serve him. Oh! if I had only
+known then that I was laying the foundation of my future misery with my
+own willing hands," and the speaker's large eyes flashed with a hatred
+and defiance that made his plain face look grand and handsome.
+
+"I left school a year before my father died, and I had just become
+initiated in his business at the time of his demise. I admit it was
+rather a heavy undertaking for one so young as I was then, to continue
+the extensive business my father had so successfully carried on for
+years.
+
+"But I was encouraged by hopeful relatives and did not myself dread any
+untoward consequences. Things went on quite smoothly, and I was making
+money fast, when one day I was nearly stunned to death, on seeing my old
+college chum walk in the office door. He looked handsomer than ever and
+greeted me very cordially, with just a touch of the old condescension in
+his manner. I was, of course, delighted to see him. We talked over old
+days freely and familiarly. Finally I saw the drift of his visit. He
+represented to me that he had invested largely, at the advice of some
+friends, in the lands of the great North-West, but had lost a great deal
+by the speculation. In his despair, the first friend he thought of was
+myself. He got around me in his old way, and before he left my office
+that morning I had loaned him, madman that I was, the sum of five
+thousand dollars, without any question whatever of security. He swore to
+me that I might rely on him to deal honestly with me, and, blinded by
+the old infatuation, I gave him a cheque for the amount and sent him
+away contented. Give me a drink, Guy, and fix up my pillows, please."
+The young doctor did these things as gently as a woman, and without
+interrupting the strain of confidence, sat down patiently again and
+resumed his listening attitude.
+
+"Months glided by," continued the invalid, "and no one was any the wiser
+of the rash act I had committed, but now that I had leisure to repent,
+it worried me greatly, and I could not shake off the depression it
+caused. The time was approaching when a heavy payment would fall due and
+I was in daily agony, waiting for the remittance of my loan, but,
+needless to say, it never came. I wrote to the address he had left me,
+but no answer was forthcoming.
+
+"Within a few days of the date on which I had to meet this heavy
+payment, the load of anxiety that pressed upon me was suddenly lightened
+by the sudden re-appearance of my friend in my office. His smiles
+succeeded in reassuring me once more, and in breathless suspense, I
+drank in every word he uttered. He spoke of a great many unnecessary
+things first, and then concluded by saying in the coolest manner
+possible:
+
+"'I fear you will be a little disappointed about your money, but I will
+not be able to pay you for some time yet.'
+
+"I stood petrified at his audacity. My first impulse was to seize him by
+the throat and pay myself in blood, but when I looked at his handsome
+face my determination vanished. He looked curiously at me in return, and
+asked in a tone like one who is feeling his way:
+
+"'Are you safe in your business?'
+
+"'Good God!' I cried, exasperated, 'I was until I saw your face. You
+will be my ruin.'
+
+"He seemed to look sorry all at once, then brightening a little he said:
+
+"'There is only one way in which I can help you, but you must lend a
+hand yourself.'
+
+"'What is it?' I cried, eagerly, hopefully.
+
+"'I am going to be married,' he answered gravely, 'to a wealthy heiress,
+and as soon as her money is in my possession, I will pay you back your
+own.'
+
+"There was nothing repulsive to me in this prospect. I was awake only to
+the vital interests of the welfare of my mother and family, that
+depended on my faithful discharge of the duties of my responsible
+position.
+
+"Seizing him eagerly by the arm, I asked him, 'When will she marry you?'
+
+"'There's the rub,' he answered perplexedly. 'When do you want the
+money?'
+
+"'I must choose between my money and absolute ruin on Thursday,' I said,
+'and this is Tuesday; I leave the rest to your honor and your heart.'
+
+"'Well, the case is this,' he said, looking at me fixedly, 'she will not
+marry me in her own town; we will therefore take a trip elsewhere, but
+the difficulty is, I don't know yet where to go. If, however'--and he
+leaned on the railing of my desk and looked at me with a searching
+glance,--'if you want your money badly you can have it in this way:
+There is a small vacant house, distant some miles from her residence,
+and thither we could drive at any time. Why could'nt you, robed as a
+curate, perform the marriage ceremony, and secure your money? We could
+be properly married at any other time, though you are as good a one to
+tie the knot as any other.'
+
+"The villain looked at me steadily. He was turning his old power of
+fascination to account. What was the whole blighted life of this
+unfortunate heiress to the ruin and disgrace that my failure would bring
+down on myself, my mother and sisters. I did not hesitate, with this
+thought uppermost in my mind.
+
+"'I will do this thing,' I said determinedly, 'whatever it costs me.'
+
+"He directed me accordingly to leave Montreal, the seat of my business,
+in the morning and reach the little village in the townships, where his
+other victim lived, before noon. We would meet there, he would drive me
+out to the parsonage, _pro tem_, and give it a look of habitation before
+bringing his bride there. We purchased a few dilapidated pieces of
+furniture from neighboring farmers and laid our little plot
+successfully. It surprised me to think of him as capable of doing such a
+villainous thing, and looking so calm and collected all the time. He
+smoked inveterately, and occasionally sang or whistled some careless
+tune, as though his heart felt not a feather-weight of care or sin. In
+the evening I was installed in the vacant house, with no living creature
+near but the great black dog I had brought with me from home, and who
+had always followed me for years, everywhere I went. However, I stowed
+even him into a dark recess, that was guarded by a little rickety door
+that fastened with a rusty lock. It was a black awful night, nature gave
+vent to her just indignation in every way I sat there, feeling already
+guilty and remorseful, until near nine o'clock. Then hearing the roll of
+a distant carriage, I tried to busy myself around, and look as
+domesticated as possible under the circumstances. I thought I should
+give up and lose all at the sight of the pretty, innocent, trustful
+child for whom he had planned this hideous deception. But I was as
+pitiable a victim myself as she, and the thought of my impending ruin
+drove every feeling of humanity out of my heart. We began the mock
+ceremony, slowly and solemnly. We had just reached the most critical
+part when a great flash of lightning leaped in at the broken window,
+stunning both of us and prostrating the girl. The candle went black out,
+leaving us in total darkness. When I recovered from the shock, the noise
+and elemental din were such that I could distinguish nothing. I waited a
+moment or two and then spoke. I received no answer. Half maddened, I got
+up and struck a fresh light, and looked around me. The traitor, the
+doubly-dyed villain had gone, he had taken the horse, and there was not
+a trace of him left. He had secured the unfortunate girl's money through
+the instrumentality of one who had violated every principle of honor and
+justice, to save the name and social standing of those who were
+dependent on him. I suppose I did not deserve to die then. I was given
+days and nights of endless duration in which to live over and over
+again, the agony and despair of that bitter experience. What was I to
+do? I had not secured my money, but I had this additional misfortune on
+my conscience: I had wrecked the life of a fair young girl, and had the
+hitherto spotless page of my dealings with my fellow-creatures, stamped
+with a foul indelible stain, that cried shame and retribution on my
+whole generation. I fled--of course--when the hasty realization of my
+misdeeds forced itself into my mind. I was frantic and desperate as I
+tried to make my way through the thicket, and at last on arriving at the
+village, I took the midnight train and travelled to a town in the State
+of Maine. From this place I wrote to my creditors, confessing my
+financial difficulties, and begging of them not to seek me out, nor take
+any further interest in me, as I had resolved to begin my blighted life
+over again, in a strange land among strange people. I tried O, Elersley!
+God knows how hard, to earn honest bread, but I did not deserve success,
+and so God refused to bless my labor. I left Maine, and came here to New
+York, two years ago. I turned my hand to everything, but the bitter
+sting of misfortune was at the bottom of all. I tried my pen, recently,
+for my limbs seemed incompetent for any active service, but sitting here
+in this little narrow room, through the long night, trying to invent
+some gay little snatch of fiction out of the store of a mind so crushed
+and oppressed, was too bitter a mockery to last very long. My fair
+fashionable heroines looked at me in my dreams with eyes blood-shot and
+revengeful, saying, 'This is what you have brought me to.' For I
+suppose, Elersley, that girl never did a day's good since. Her fate has
+been constantly preying on my mind. I have spent a life of wretched
+expiation already in this world, God only knows what awaits me in the
+next. I have studiously avoided the sex I have outraged by this deed,
+feeling myself an outcast and a traitor in their presence. I have turned
+my back on the few haunts of pleasure that were open to me, for the
+sound of my own voice in gaiety, frightened and reproached me. As for
+_him_ Elersley, though I have not seen him, nor heard of him, since, yet
+I know he is revelling in the luxury of his ill-gotten wealth."
+
+The sick man stopped a moment, and let the tired lids droop languidly
+over the dark eyes, then opening them again, he looked full into Guy's
+pale face. When he resumed his voice was nervous and weak.
+
+"You have now the truthful story of my woe," he said, brokenly, "are you
+still willing to help me?"
+
+The question brought Elersley back from his wanderings.
+
+"Do you tell me truthfully that this is the villany of the boy we
+pampered so at school?"
+
+"That is the story of Vivian Standish's cowardly conduct," said
+Bencroft, in a tone of deep resentment.
+
+"Good Heavens!" muttered Guy, "who can tell what more he has been able
+to do? Give me your hand Bencroft. As you have been the dupe of a
+blackguard who disguised his villany under the mask of friendship, I
+will stand to you. Will you allow me to write down this confession over
+your own signature, lest a nuncupative testimony be not sufficient to
+condemn him. We will call in Mrs. Pratt to witness the signing of the
+paper." Guy's suggestion was immediately followed out. The invalid
+grasped the pen with wonderful strength, and signed his name in a firm
+legible hand to the document. Mrs. Pratt, looking as dignified as the
+occasion required, affixed her mark, and so did the widow Brady, who
+just happened to "drop in." Guy rose and looked at his watch. It was
+past eleven now, and he had still other duties to attend to before
+keeping his word with Mrs. Belford.
+
+"Are you going," the invalid asked impatiently, making an effort to rise
+in his narrow bed. "Look here Elersley," he cried, "I want to thank you,
+to praise you, if I could, but my poor voice is shattered and weak. If I
+could only crawl on my knees before you in gratitude, how gladly I would
+do it, but I will never leave this poor little home of mine alive; my
+heart is broken and my spirit is worn out. Only tell me you will search
+the world for the pretty French girl he called 'Fifine,' and tell her
+the story of my life, my grief and remorse. Punish her deceiver as he
+deserves and come to my lonely grave at the last and whisper to me that
+retribution has come. Until then I cannot rest. Oh Guy! there is no
+misery like the misery of a life whose dark shadows haunt it's victim
+perpetually. Look at her!--there she is now--oh! so angry and sullen;
+ugh!--she is cursing me--threatening me--tell her, for God's sake, Guy,
+tell her to spare the sick, wasted man--see--she is coming nearer to
+me--save me--save me--" and in wild shrieks and tossings, Nicholas
+Bencroft plunged back again into the mad delirium of the fever.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXIX.
+
+
+  "Love is a great transformer."
+                       --_Shakespeare._
+
+The reader must understand what it is to experience sensations such as
+flitted through Guy Elersley's breast at this period of his life's
+_dénouement_. Any of us who have fallen in with the tide of the great
+living world, know that the draughts of gall and the drops of nectar
+reach our lips from the same chalice: our noblest love has often been
+the parent of our most sinful hatred, and we have cursed in despairing
+tones the very scenes, days, persons and associations that once
+constituted the fondest memories of our hearts.
+
+We have a great antithetical existence before us, but the beauty of
+experience can only be seen by the backward glance, 'tis when we turn
+our sad and tear-dimmed eyes to look over our bended shoulders at the
+thorny way that bears the impress of our weary feet, that we can feel
+what a grand and salutary prayer our lips might make by substituting the
+murmur and the cry of pain by a holy accent which should be a "fiat."
+
+The strain of mournful confidence that had passed between these reunited
+friends brought its own bitterness to Guy Elersley's heart. How
+unfortunate it was that on the eve of his departure from his former
+home, Vivian Standish should have been the one of all others he had
+trusted with his little message of love!
+
+Guy passed over in silent, painful review, the details of his recent
+career. How well he remembered the pain and disappointment that had
+driven him away from Ottawa city.
+
+He had thought once that such a conflict of emotions would kill a
+stronger man than he, but
+
+  "Nothing in the world beside,
+  Is stronger than the heart when tried."
+
+To begin a new life on the wreck of an old one is a very hard and
+painful task, and one that Guy Elersley, above every other living
+creature, would never have attempted unless when influenced by so strong
+and pushing and stimulating a power as the love of a good woman--this
+alone, it was that worked reformation in Guy Elersley: from
+contemplating her pure and noble soul, he had been seized with an
+ambition to grow like her, her word and example sickened him of his old
+pursuits until he wondered and wept over the sacrifice he had so
+heedlessly made of his youth and character.
+
+He left the scene of his temptations, and in close, quiet study in the
+great, stirring city of New York, he slowly, but surely and steadily
+rebuilt the wreck and ruin of his younger days. He had devoted himself
+once before to the study of medicine, but had given it up in a moment of
+foolish frivolity for an occupation far less worthy, but now he returned
+to his volumes of science with a vow of perseverance on his lips and a
+dogged determination in his heart.
+
+He had been fortunate enough to form the acquaintance of Dr. Belford,
+who, taking a fancy to the studious boy, offered to receive him under
+his special charge and instruct him more fully in the profession he had
+adopted.
+
+Guy attributed each new phase of luck that overtook him now to the same
+unseen power which seemed to sway his life of late. Under Dr. Belford he
+worked diligently and well and finished the career in medicine he had so
+recklessly interrupted before for other pursuits.
+
+Through all the trials and difficulties of his new life, Guy felt
+himself sustained by a lingering hope that seemed to buoy him up against
+every depression, and thus for many long months he toiled assiduously
+under the influence of that shallow hope until each day seemed to prove
+to him more clearly than another, that all the best endeavors of a
+lifetime cannot restore a trust once broken, or a confidence once
+shattered.
+
+Even this bitter realization he strove to gather into his resignation;
+he had grown prematurely wise and learned, and had taught himself to
+accept in submission the apparently unjust decree of destiny.
+
+But sometimes when he came home tired and weary at nightfall and laid
+his head, full of aching thoughts, on his pillow to rest, capricious
+fate released him from his skeptic views of life; the hard lines faded
+from around his handsome mouth, and a slow smile, as of old, crept back
+there from its exile, for when he was tired or sad, a fair vision
+invariably stood beside him and smoothed away the traces of care from
+his face. He could feel the velvety touch of her dainty hands, and see
+the beauty of her consoling smile whenever he closed his eyes in a weary
+doze on the reality of his present life, but when he raised his lids the
+spell broke suddenly, and New York and Ottawa were a hopeless distance
+of cruel miles apart.
+
+He had never once doubted that Vivian Standish would deliver his parting
+message, and the only bitterness of his better life had been her
+silence, cold and cruel, after that appeal his heart had made, before
+leaving. But now the thought struck him all at once: may be she had
+never received this little messenger of his devotion. Could any man so
+base as Vivian Standish had proved himself to be, commit, by the merest
+chance, an honest or a just action? He doubted it; at least he gave
+himself the benefit of the new uncertainty, and resolved to work out
+this intricate problem to its bitter end or die in the attempt.
+
+       *       *        *       *        *
+
+"Because I love you," said the low sweet voice of Vivian Standish, as he
+paced very slowly, with Honor Edgeworth, by his side, up and down
+through the crowd that had assembled on Carder's Square, to enjoy the
+excellent music of the Governor-General's Foot Guards' Band which was
+filling the evening air with its dreamy strains.
+
+These two, were like every other couple present, in a crowd and yet
+isolated: the "band night" is one, so full of generous encouragement, to
+the growing sentiment of our young city, that one is forced into an
+appreciation of its benefits, whether one is inclined or not.
+
+Long before the appointed hour for playing, animated couples form a
+solemn procession, along the streets and grounds which surround our
+dignified "Drill Shed," but it is just as the twilight begins to draw
+itself into the corners of the far-off sky, and over the half distinct
+gables, and chimney tops of the imposing buildings that rear up their
+solemn spires, against the sky, that the suggestive strains of a "Blue
+Alsatian," or "Loved and Lost" act, powerfully as a third agent of
+affinity, in bringing the hitherto shy and reticent couples nearer than
+ever, and in linking the obstinate little hands of a moment before,
+firmly in that of the love-sick adorer.
+
+Every one goes to hear the band, big and little, men and women, young,
+and old, though, what old people, and little brothers or sisters want
+there, is more than half the "grown up" sons and daughters can tell.
+
+It is all well enough to coax your uninteresting little brother of
+fifteen, with a double supply of sponge cake at tea, if you have no one
+else in view to escort you to the "band," but why in the name of all
+that is provoking, does he not know, that his duty is done, when he is
+supplanted by some one's bigger brother, who has a moustache and smokes
+cigars.
+
+Honor Edgeworth had no unsophisticated youthful kin, to try their
+clinging propensities on her, her "aunt Jean" brought her everywhere,
+and everywhere they went, they found Vivian Standish. It gratified the
+old lady immensely to see how Honor "took" among her friends, it
+gratified her, in proportion, as it stung, a great many mature young
+ladies, who rather disliked, in any emphatic way, to see a new source of
+attraction deposited in their midst.
+
+Ottawa has come to a deplorable state of depression, with regard to
+"matrimonial transactions;" it is now of vital importance to young
+ladies, who have an ambition to distinguish themselves at the altar of
+Hymen, that they take "masculine tastes," as the axis around which is to
+revolve, in graceful motion, the actions of their daily lives; but for
+this no one need think of censuring Ottawa's noble women, their conduct
+is not so servile or dependent as the unfair critic would like to paint
+it. We must not forget, the truth of the little by-word, that
+"circumstances alter cases," what is perfectly justifiable in Ottawa
+would be "abominably atrocious" in many other Canadian cities.
+
+Every one knows, that in the capital of our splendid Dominion, there is
+the finest collection of young men, that creation can afford--they are
+numerous, handsome, wealthy, sensible, specimens of what youth should
+be, (in their own opinion), and with the knowledge of all their
+qualities combined, these precious creatures, are just conceited enough,
+to make sure, that there will always be, at least one for each in the
+whole city, who will appreciate such a display of accomplishments and
+qualities, as they monopolize.
+
+One can easily understand therefore, how flattered a girl must feel,
+even, though she is the daughter of a wealthy father, and enjoys a
+comfortable home, when one of these distinguished beings comes to invade
+her heart, with his abundance of personal charms and scarcity of
+personal wealth; some girls never survive it; they die of ecstatic
+emotion in a week, and are consigned to a premature grave; others
+outlive it into the practical phases of wedded life, to the intense
+mortification of their husbands.
+
+We will now return to the groups of unfettered maidens, from Upper Town,
+Centre Town, Sandy Hill and Lower Town, that are enlivening the band
+scene to-night, many have given Honor Edgeworth, a pardonable word of
+very reserved criticism, of course they know her numerous advantages,
+men spoke of them right to their faces, but that never made them feel
+badly; who ever met a girl yet who felt the least put out, if one rival
+of hers, had a dozen admirers or more to her none?
+
+But Honor was most undeserving of all the attention she received, for
+she neither appreciated the gallant endeavors of her male admirers to
+make themselves agreeable to her, nor cared an iota for the jealousies
+or slighting remarks that passed the lips of her girl contemporaries.
+
+It was Jean d'Alberg who saw it all, and feasted maliciously on the
+"sour grapes" looks and words of Honor's less fortunate acquaintances.
+Honor had hoped that Vivian Standish would not join them that evening,
+for she amused herself as well with a great many others, and even found
+him uninteresting at times, but Aunt Jean would not support her at all
+here. She had assured herself long ago that Vivian and Honor were well
+made and mated, and that nothing could be more harmonious than their
+union. With this idea uppermost, she did everything in her power (which
+was a great deal) to throw them together, and she had not made any
+mistake, as far as her calculations of the man's character went--she was
+perfectly right in imagining that he was one who knew thoroughly how to
+"improve an opportunity."
+
+Honor had to acknowledge that in no way did Vivian Standish offend or
+displease her, but still his manner fatigued and worried her--everyone
+else admired and appreciated him more than she did, and yet he
+faithfully and persistently thrust himself upon her, always polished,
+amiable and pleasant, but still, painfully eccentric in some way she
+could not fully define nor analyze.
+
+To-night, as usual, just as an old friend had coaxed Jean d'Alberg into
+a lively conversation, Vivian Standish came quietly through the crowd,
+scenting the air with his fine cigar, which he smoked with a sleepy sort
+of relish, and stood beside Honor.
+
+She knew perfectly well he was beside her, she felt him before he
+advanced at all, but when she turned suddenly to look at him, her face
+wore as blank an expression of astonishment as if he had been a ghost.
+
+"You?" she exclaimed; "how is it that we seem to be travelling
+invariably towards the same point?" she asked then, in the strangest
+tone possible--but he was equal to her. He removed his cigar from
+between his handsome lips, and with a lazy sort of determination in his
+action and words, he slid his arm into hers, and bending down close to
+her ear, asked--
+
+"Do you really ask me why I am constantly travelling to the spot where
+you are?"
+
+"That is something like what I did ask, if I remember well," the girl
+answered with provoking indifference.
+
+"Then it is--because--I love you!" he whispered, almost huskily.
+
+The band continued to fill the balmy air with its sweet, suggestive
+strains. Sounds of laughter and mirth reached them from all sides;
+Vivian was less of his well-controlled self than ever to-night, but
+Honor was just as cold and indifferent as if the handsomest and most
+popular young man in Ottawa had slighted her instead of avowing his
+unsought love for her.
+
+"Do you hear?" he asked, on seeing her remain persistently indifferent.
+
+"I am not at all hard of hearing, Mr Standish, I assure you," was the
+cruel answer.
+
+"And is that all the word you have to say in return?" he asked in a tone
+of wretched surprise.
+
+"You are toying with very serious words," she answered earnestly, "and
+this is neither time nor place for it. Let us speak of something else."
+
+"May I continue smoking?" he then asked, as coolly as if they had been
+his first words to her. "If you object, Honor, don't mind saying so. May
+I at least call you Honor?"
+
+"You overpower me and yourself with such a multitude of questions," the
+girl answered languidly, "but since you ask me permissions which I grant
+a great many others, I will not refuse you.."
+
+"Thank you," he said almost sarcastically, "when we are hungry we take
+the crust that is flung to us, though the dainty morsel served on a
+crystal plate satisfies us best. What _is_ the matter to-night, Honor,
+you seem worried and peevish?"
+
+The sudden change of tone, from the moralizing to that of anxious
+enquiry, amused Honor.
+
+"I generally seem in that way until I have been in your company for a
+while," she answered with such a careless, meaningless tone, that he
+pronounced her a hopeless little _sans coeur_ with a sigh, and dropped
+the subject.
+
+Vivian Standish was plainly courting Mr. Rayne's _protégée_, and a great
+deal had to be said in consequence. With his carefully learned manners,
+Standish had worked a successful conspiracy against retribution. He had
+coolly stowed away any disagreeable souvenirs of his past life, and
+troubled no more about them. He veneered his whole character with such
+an engaging mansuetude as served to deceive the most penetrative of
+those he met, and not even the most suspicious of his Ottawa
+acquaintances had ever insinuated that a surface so calm and unruffled
+as his could ever cover a phase of character which could be nocent or
+even objectionable in the least degree. Some disliked him for reasons
+they could not define, and had in consequence to refrain from expressing
+their antipathy. Many were jealous of him, and the majority admired him
+freely.
+
+He was one of those "clever" men who had taken the trouble to analyze
+and solve the intricate though simple problem of existence, and to adapt
+this precious knowledge wisely and carefully to his own especial selfish
+benefit.
+
+It takes a rogue to understand a rogue, and the reason of Vivian
+Standish's complete success in playing off his counterfeit manners, was
+because he had chosen to display them within a circle where shrewd or
+suspecting observation never found its way. He saw clearly what a field
+lay open to him in the drawing-room, and the delightful company of
+Ottawa's _élite_. All he had to do was to introduce himself to this
+"tony" little city fashionably dressed, and with that self-sufficient
+reserve that characterizes the "high toned." He registered at the
+"Russell," and walked Sparks street every afternoon with a haughty step,
+looking as conceited and interesting as possible. He drank in the local
+chat with eyes and ears open, before making any uncertain move; then he
+sought the acquaintance of the fashionable young men of the city--they
+are easily traced. One has but to run over the list of their
+aristocratic names on the pages of the visitors' register at Government
+House, or they are the noted presidents, patrons or members of some
+"awfully nice" club, "you know!" or they are very well represented in
+the business books of certain well known tailoring establishments; and
+if none of these are sufficient, the Court register has a voice now and
+then whose suasory accents could convince anyone.
+
+But nothing in these discoveries would surprise Vivian Standish, for
+there was little left savouring of "hard experience" that he had not
+passed through at one time or other of his agitated career. He was no
+stranger to the secrets of a little city like Ottawa. They are good
+enough to frighten small boys and women. He, who had plunged into the
+very heart of the mysteries of life as they are found in the grand
+metropolises of the whole world, rather interested the comparatively
+innocent and unsophisticated youth of the Canadian capital, who
+recognized in him a graduate of that school of experience whose
+dangerous knowledge was being tasted, as a novelty, yet by them.
+Inwardly he smiled at the susceptibilities of the youths he came across;
+he saw mirrored in them the youth of every other corner and nationality
+of the globe. Worldling though he was, he was capable of very wise
+reflections, and was given to moralizing in a sort of way. He never made
+it a premeditated point to draw any unschooled youth into wrong; he did
+not seek to make any innocent one the victim of an evil influence, as
+many do who seem to be very active agents of the Author of Evil
+himself,--young people who cannot gloat over their own spiritual ruin
+until they have dragged the foolish, weak souls of unsuspecting victims
+into the wreck they covet for themselves. He was satisfied to be
+virtuously discreet among the unsuspecting, and be highly companionable
+among those who were wiser in folly. He was glad to recognize Elersley
+in a strange city, and Guy, friendly and hospitable ever, took him into
+his charge until he had him thoroughly initiated into the ways of his
+adopted life.
+
+Guy's room was the scene of many a jovial merry-making for successive
+nights after Vivian's arrival, and if cigar stumps and empty bottles
+were ever indicative of rollicking bachelor hospitality, they surely
+told the tale emphatically of Guy, for a very respectable heap of such
+_restants_ generally made one conspicuous feature of next morning's
+"cleaning up"
+
+Standish was a jolly fellow, and the others took to him readily; he
+smoked, drank, jested, or indulged in any other imaginable pastime that
+was proposed, thus showing himself a complete sympathizer with his
+new-made friends.
+
+When he stepped into the "feminine" circle, he was equally well
+received, he was so entirely different in his attractions from the stale
+_beaux_ that had introduced him to their lady friends. His first words
+invariably made impression, and everything he said or did was stamped
+with the quietest, most languid, and yet most thoroughly fascinating
+style, that victims were ready to fall unsought before him. There was a
+resistless power in the deep, dreamy look his beautiful eyes constantly
+affected, and in the unsteady strength of his shapely hand, as it
+happened, no matter how inadvertently, to touch the dainty fingers of
+some susceptible belle; and even if his personal advantages failed him
+completely, there yet remained his most powerful attraction--his voice.
+Ottawa girls had never heard such original and such pleasant little
+nothings as Vivian Standish told them at every moment of his
+conversation, and the perfect cultivation of the voice that thrilled
+their blessed little hearts with its resistless accents, induced many a
+fair and blushing maiden to hand him over her conquered heart, as a
+pitiable trophy that he had so fairly and yet so mercilessly won.
+
+But Vivian Standish, in coming among the Ottawaites, had not been
+attracted for the purpose of making such havoc among feminine hearts.
+Any man can do that, in any place, and under any circumstances, if he
+has a mind to. A woman to him, was a useless and troublesome appendage,
+after he had kissed the dainty hand that had emptied its substantial
+treasure into his roomy pockets. Courtesy, like every other quality he
+had taken the trouble to acquire, had its matter-of-fact mission to
+perform, towards accomplishing a great part of his mercenary purposes,
+and hence the sacrifices he so often made cheerfully and admirably for
+the gratification of some idolized daughter who was sole heiress to a
+comfortable dozen of thousands.
+
+His lucky genius had not driven him on to Ottawa for nothing, of this he
+assured himself emphatically when he found out that Honor Edgeworth was
+likely to substitute Guy Elersley in his uncle's favor, and find
+herself, some day, rolling in wealth that had been scraped together by
+the hands of those who had not owed her a single debt of gratitude; to
+his reason such unfair freaks of destiny called loudly for resentment;
+he claimed a right of monopoly as well as this more fortunate girl, and
+he meant to exercise it too, though as quietly and noiselessly as
+possible, he flattered himself, and encouraged his project with the
+universal male belief, that a few little wild words of sentiment, and
+marked attentions, suffice to level the trivial fortifications of any
+woman's heart; his study was to make the right impression on the
+responsible guardians of his choice, that his appeal, when made, should
+be encouraged by these all-important voices. In this he attained a
+splendid success, but his plots and plans were too clever for his own
+management, and entrapped him in that very place, where he considered
+himself most strongly fortified.
+
+Henry Rayne, now growing weaker and older, had been as easily influenced
+by the assumed manners of this adventurer as was any indiscreet woman;
+the glitter, to his eyes, now dimmed and obscured by age, was that of
+the solid metal, and the well-studied phrases and words that came so
+blandly from the deceptive lips duped the old man pitifully.
+
+Jean d'Alberg herself had caught the contagion, and smiled pleasant
+greetings to him when he visited at Mr. Rayne's house; there was only
+Honor who evaded the cunning trap, but even she was blinded a good deal.
+Although the eternal fitness of things made it impossible that such
+antithetical natures should ever blend in a harmony of any sort, he was
+still fortunate enough not to produce the discord that would seem to
+arise very naturally from such an unsympathetic contact.
+
+Honor, without liking Vivian Standish, endured him well enough, and
+enjoyed his clever conversations very well; she could not guess the
+fierceness of the moral struggle that was taking place, as he calmly and
+calculatingly planned her doom. She only felt a little of that repulsion
+that purity and innocence naturally feel when brought into contact with
+vice and guilt, for our moral natures have a special instinct of their
+own, which attracts or repels characters whose influence upon them may
+be beneficial or injurious, thus often causing us to dislike or distrust
+persons without any apparent cause.
+
+There was only one extra reason why Honor Edgeworth, above so many
+others, failed to yield herself a ready victim to the wiles of this
+fascinating man, and that was because her heart, unlike the generality
+of those tiresome appendages, was closed to petition. She had learned to
+love once, truly and warmly, and the gay, young, reckless hero whom she
+had silently but devotedly honored at the secret shrine of her unsullied
+heart, had suddenly passed out of her life, without a sign, or a token,
+or a word, leaving her to weep over the wasted treasure of sentiment she
+had so greedily hoarded up for him alone; not that this caused her to
+lose her faith in man or vow to live a life of solitary sceptic
+amendment for having indulged a foolish passion in her early days, but
+because she firmly believed the object of her fond regard to be at heart
+a worthy one, and because she felt that her happy lively sentiment,
+becoming spent and weary, had only laid itself obscurely away, to taste
+the hopeful sweetness of a "love's young dream,"--by and bye, she
+promised herself, when her "fairy prince" came back, and woke up the
+sleeping cupid from his bed of sighs, the world would be happier and
+brighter, and full of pleasure unalloyed forevermore. So in the lonely
+meanwhile, little words of kind regard, and little deeds of gallant
+courtesy, seemed to her as only forerunners or harbingers of what was
+coming to her out of the "to be" from the lips and hands of her absent
+lover.
+
+Such a way of viewing things naturally influenced this girl's character
+and brought her back to that distracted existence, that contact with
+practical life had almost annihilated. Her old meditative propensities
+stole upon her again, it was nothing new now to see her with folded
+hands and dreamy eyes that looked vacantly into the space before them.
+
+A wonderful change was also coming over Henry Rayne; he who had spent a
+good fifty years of his life in active service for society, now began to
+feel, like countless others who had gone before him, that after all, the
+most he could claim as the wages of honest fame and honor, were the
+cushioned depths of an invalid chair, the first grade, to the narrow bed
+where he would sleep his eternal sleep.
+
+The old man was growing daily weaker and more childish, having never
+known any of those influences through life, which become identical with
+the very existence of those who have tasted them in wedded life, Henry
+Rayne found himself in the sunset of his years with scarcely a tie to
+bind him to the world for which he had done so much. There was only
+Honor, who stood out in relief from the monotonous experience of his
+life, and invited him to tarry a little longer on the border-line of
+time; every moment that passed into eternity now seemed to bring this
+girl nearer and nearer to his heart, for it was necessary, that at least
+in death, he should learn the lesson of sacrifice, that had been so
+well-spared him through life.
+
+With the first warnings of his decline, Henry Rayne had learned to
+realize how cold and bitter and cruel a world this world would be to his
+little _protégée_ when he had left her, and for that reason he occupied
+himself altogether, in the latter years of his life, in studying and
+promoting a welfare for this precious charge, that would survive himself
+for, may be long years of a lonesome life.
+
+With this intimate knowledge of the old man's heart, one can perhaps
+understand the partiality with which Vivian Standish was received into
+the home of Henry Rayne, as a constant visitor.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXX.
+
+
+  Oh, to be idle one spring day!
+  To muse in wood or meadow;
+  Glide down the river 'twixt the play
+  Of sun and trembling shadow.
+  I'd see all wonders neath the stream,
+  The pebbles and vex'd grasses;
+  I'd lean across the boat and dream,
+  As each scene slowly passes.
+                              --A. L. B
+
+The bright, golden summer days were growing scarcer and scarcer; band
+nights experiences were fast becoming items of the past--that past which
+had realized itself so strangely to poor Honor. She had hoped
+sanguinely, trustingly, and now it seemed that fate would bring her
+defiant proofs of its iron will in spite of herself.
+
+She had not taken it as a sign of inconstancy, that Guy had never sent
+the smallest message of encouragement to her, but rather tried to weave
+it in as a sprig of the laurel crown she daily wove in silent sadness,
+for her truant lover, when he would return, full of happy explanations,
+to claim her all his own.
+
+Vivian was as constant and devoted when the leaves began to turn, as
+when the leaves began to bud. This was perhaps the most intricate plot
+of his scheming life, but he was proving himself equal to it: he was
+probing his way slowly and quietly into the well guarded sanctum of
+Honor Edgeworth's heart, trying to accumulate every energy of his soul
+into one eloquent appeal to her obstinate nature.
+
+The gorgeous colors of the western sky were fading dimly one evening,
+behind the misty mountain tops. It was towards the end of August, a
+lovely evening, such as comes back to us before the autumn, as a
+reminder of the closing season.
+
+Vivian Standish, pausing suddenly, rested his oars on the placid water,
+and contemplated in silence, the figure of Honor Edgeworth, reclining on
+the cushioned seat of his handsome boat. They had rowed a long way up
+the canal, and any sentimental readers who have been there, either
+alone, with only the memory of some dearer one, or still better, in the
+actual company of some strangely loved acquaintance, will not hesitate,
+in pronouncing this still, cool, shady retreat, one of the most
+suggestive spots on earth. If anyone's untiring devotion and wildest
+appeals have not, up to this, made any impression upon the being one
+loves, the very best remedy is to launch a cosy boat into this very
+canal, and pull with a mighty strength for four or five miles up from
+the "deep cut." Soon a sequestered paradise is reached, where the bended
+boughs interlacing, whisper, in caressing, rustling to each other, over
+the narrow stream of rippling water below, here pause and wait. There is
+a hush whose voice is more eloquent than any human appeal. The low
+gurgling music of the little waves that creep techily over and under the
+hanging boughs that teaze and obstruct them in their onward passage, the
+crowded leaves, rubbing their swaying heads affectionately together; the
+gentle wind resting in sighs of relief upon the graceful tree tops, and
+sending its messages of love from bough to bough, until it spends itself
+upon the quiet bosom of the waters below; the love-sick birds that woo
+our beauteous nature in this, her bewitching costume, with their rich
+and rarest warblings, vie with one another in chanting from their
+ruffled throats their little tales of ecstasy and love, all teach us
+clearly, that out in the busy world there is no witchery like this.
+
+In the open sunlight, nature dons her every day attire, but in the shady
+retreat of these, her chosen spots, she coquettishly arrays herself in
+most resistless costumes.
+
+While one pauses, leaning on his oars amid such scenes as this, one
+cannot but feel like flirting very earnestly with nature; the
+surrounding beauty cannot help reflecting some of its liveliness upon
+the admirers, and the stray, "tangled" sunbeams that lose one another in
+the thick foliage cannot but give a new love-light to the eyes that
+linger thoughtfully upon them. So that the first impulse to admire
+nature being gratified, each finds a consequent impulse towards natural
+admiration, creeping into the heart. _She_ looks questioningly into
+_his_ eyes, and if _he_ knows anything he will respond appropriately,
+and after that, each finds out that the other is one of the most
+enhancing elements of the beautiful that they have been contemplating
+all the while.
+
+To Honor Edgeworth, it was the most delightful treat possible, to drink
+in the beauty and elegance of such surroundings, to this at least, her
+heart was never closed--it was easy enough to battle against the hoarse
+voice of temptation in the busy world, but here, all was different, this
+was a spot created, not for the art and acceptations of conventionality,
+but for the freedom ahd expansion of the heart and soul.
+
+To lie in a recumbent attitude and feel the gentle breath of the breeze,
+playing among her yielding curls, or listen to it, whispering its
+effective lullaby into her ears, to drink such a long draught of
+nature's own narcotic, as would steal her away from the world of
+reality, closing her drowsy lids upon the actual, and unfolding to her
+in tempting dreams, the realizations of all her exaggerated, but
+cherished ideals, this was the luxury of living, this made life worth
+prizing, worth striving for in Honor Edgeworth's eyes.
+
+There are many beside her, who are fond of being nursed into this drowsy
+state by some such delightful influence. People, there are, who without
+ever acknowledging their weakness, for such a thing, are often seized
+with the strangest moods and cravings, a longing for sweet words, or
+tender caresses, or something correspondingly emotional in the abstract
+fills them up, they would like to lie lazily by some smouldering fire,
+on an easy couch, and have some gentle hand to smoothe away the wrinkles
+from their brows, or some loving voice to whisper suggestive little
+trifles, into their willing ears: when they see a flood of moonlight
+filling the earth with its soft stillness, they immediately long to
+animate the scene by their own presence, but, with some treasured
+beauty, leaning on one arm, and looking bewitchingly into their love-lit
+eyes, every emotional sight, sound or feeling, brings to them the
+possible intensity of a gratified love, the fruits, they _might_ gather
+from their own sentiment, if they had power to indulge it. This is why
+we meet so many dreamy, romantic girls, who are ever on the _qui vive_,
+expecting the hero, with deep eyes and heavy moustaches, that never
+comes. Girls who see more beauty, and poetry, and romance, in the
+distant "red light of a cigar" twinkling through the darkness, on some
+quiet night, than in all the stars of heaven combined; girls who expect
+that every silent, handsome man, who gives them a passing glance (of
+aimless curiosity) is a wonderful character, just stepped over the
+threshold of some of Ouida's or The Duchess' volumes, ready to seize
+them in his steady arms, if they sprain an ankle, or faint over some
+fright; ready to rescue them from some terrible accident, and then fall
+violently in love, marry them, but, unlike the book, in reality, "live
+in miserable wretchedness for ever after."
+
+Such also are those _yearning_ men, who are ever taking flights into the
+delightful world of the ideal--men, who try, with a pair of plentiful
+eyes, to conquer "female heartdom," who think to find the "open sesame"
+to that valuable depository, by knocking the practical element out of
+life, and by grasping at chance, in the dim, soulful, dreamy, intense,
+abstract world of thought. Men, who the punster would say in the dewy
+twilight or still moonlight, are _pie_ously all for _soul_, but who in
+the raw early afternoon are _sole_ly all for _pie_.
+
+But from a suspicion of an inclination to such influence, I must surely
+except Vivian Standish, he could neither see, hear or feel any
+fascination in those things, and yet, he was not without knowing, that
+herein lay the weak point of souls more susceptible than his own; he was
+cunning enough to know, that a young lady is at the limit of all her
+reason and control, when ushered into such a spot, as that which he had
+chosen as a resting-place during their row, on this eventful evening.
+
+But with all his precious knowledge, there were a few very simple
+things, which Vivian Standish had never learned; he understood other
+people perfectly, it is true, human nature, was as legible to him, as
+the plainest book, as a rule, he read faces, as he would the morning-
+paper, and yet, strange to say, he knew less of his own self than he did
+of any one--he was clever enough to veneer his character well, that
+others might not know him, but apart from that he was a mystery to
+himself--he had certain instinctive ideas of his own bias and
+inclinations; he knew every positive quality or defect he had, and in
+that same he had plenty to remember, but he never asked himself, whether
+he was proof against every passing circumstance or not; he met them
+generally, with an admirable collectedness and _sang-froid_, but,
+depending on the spur of the moment is not the safest thing in a person
+of his pursuits. The cleverest diplomatists and adventurers have been
+betrayed by themselves and so was he.
+
+While he sat, watching the contemplative features of the girl in the
+boat before him, something, in the clear depths of the admiring eyes,
+struck him; there was an expression of infinite longing over her face,
+her mouth was drawn into a sad smile, and her hands were folded
+listlessly on her lap: a few withering daisies and butter-cups, that she
+had snatched an hour before as they skimmed along the shore, lay
+carelessly between her fingers, and the loose ties of her broad hat were
+fluttering on the breeze, under her pretty, upturned chin. If ever
+repentance could have worked its influence over a guilty soul, it could
+not have found a moment more propitious than this, wherein to accomplish
+its task, the very last susceptibility of a heart, hardened and inured
+to sin was struggling to assert itself, a long, unheeded impulse, was
+trying to shake away the fetters of vice and crime, and free itself to
+noble action.
+
+The fierce combat between his good and evil spirits waged for an
+instant, he must either fall before this commanding angel, or crush with
+a mighty blow, and forever, the already weak agent of good, whose "wee
+small voice" tantalized him strangely at this moment.
+
+But while he hesitated, his destiny decided itself; a new phase suddenly
+substituted his calculating indifference, he felt a strong, jealous
+passion flooding his whole soul, he saw the beauty of Honor Edgeworth's
+face by an entirely new light, he scorned the suspicion--but the truth
+was terribly bare, he had been caught in his own meshes--he loved this
+girl. It did not steal upon him, nor come by slow degrees, but rushed in
+a crushing torrent of realization, into his heart. All the words of
+devotedness and admiration, that he had spoken to her of late, were only
+a mockery, to what his passion suggested now.
+
+Love, to so many others an enviable blessing, threatened to be a
+miserable portion for him, for naturally enough, coming to him as it did
+through the channels of the soul, it had to partake of the unholy nature
+of these unhealthy and corrupt by-ways; and hence instead of the pure,
+buoyant emotion that fills the honest breast, in the redeeming passion
+of its first exalted love, there rushed into the heart of Vivian
+Standish, a poisonous torrent of insuperable desire, that held him like
+an iron-bound victim, foaming and struggling in his own chains. A look
+of devouring admiration flashed from his fiery eyes over the face of the
+girl. She was thinking; thinking something pleasant, something
+fascinating, thinking of someone agreeable to her thought--who was not
+_he_, this he knew, and a crushing feeling of envy, worse than the worst
+hatred, filled him. Whose memory did he, by his own voluntary action,
+awake within her by bringing her to this spot? who was it, conjured by
+her, sat between them, or perhaps substituted him altogether? "Egad," he
+stifled, between his teeth, "I must know the worst of this." With a
+voice that bespoke a terrible power of self-command, Vivian, blandly
+broke this heavy silence--
+
+"I need not ask if you enjoy yourself, Honor, I can see that?"
+
+The girl turned her head slowly towards him, as if loth to raise her
+eyes from the visionary world, that fascinated her, and smiling, as if
+in sad remembrance, answered abstractedly,
+
+"Yes, I am easily influenced by such surroundings as these," and as she
+spoke she waved her hand with a graceful gesture that took in her
+picturesque environs.
+
+"That _movement_, included me, I wonder if the _words_ did as well," he
+said quickly, and so huskily, that Honor looked up a little startled.
+
+"Well--yes, you too," she said laughingly, though a little stiffly, "you
+must suppose that you have your share of influence over me as well as
+every other thing and person associated with my life."
+
+"Only as well, as every other thing, eh?" he interrupted sneeringly,
+"only as well, as a terrier dog--or a dutiful servant--or a well-cooked
+dinner, I suppose, is that it?" and leaning over on his oars, he looked
+savagely into the trembling girl's face.
+
+Honor straightened herself into a stiff, sitting posture, and looking
+indignantly into his eyes, answered haughtily--
+
+"Mr. Standish, you have rather a strange way of jesting to-day, might I
+trouble you to resume your old self, at least while I am obliged to be
+with you?" but his eyes only rivetted themselves still more greedily
+upon her, and his hands trembled still more nervously, as he clutched
+the oars.
+
+"Jesting?" he said in a mocking tone, "jesting, did you say? No Honor, I
+have jested all my life, but I swear to you, that now I am in terrible
+earnest, do not provoke me at this moment, for I can scarcely hold
+myself responsible, hereafter, for what I may do--it is your work that I
+am in such a state, not mine--come now--tell me, of whom were you
+thinking when I spoke to you a moment ago? I must know it or you regret
+it--tell me?"
+
+A slow withering smile of sublime contempt, crept into the handsome face
+of the threatened girl--
+
+"Spare your _brutem fulmen_, Mr. Standish, I pray you," she said in
+pitiful sarcasm, "you will not terrify me--I must say, that I did not
+require this emphatic proof to convince me of how thorough a gentleman
+you are, I could have believed without it, but I think if your intention
+was to take advantage of respectable circumstances and gain a noble
+victory for yourself, you might possibly find easier terms yet than
+those which oppose you now, get some one who defies you infinitely less
+than I do; you need not then trouble to bray so loud." And as she
+finished speaking, she turned her head, in languid disgust away from the
+peering face of her companion, and carelessly paddled the tips of three
+dainty fingers in the quiet water, at the same time humming a gay little
+selection to herself. Her perfect ease and composure disconcerted him,
+not a little, it certainly was the most efficacious way of bringing him
+back to his polished senses again.
+
+But though the first madness of his attack, was gradually subsiding, he
+still sat silently gazing into her face, until becoming somewhat
+concerned, Honor looked coldly back into his searching face and said
+with the most provoking supineness, in her tone.
+
+"When you have gratified your eyes sufficiently with their insolent
+occupation, will you be kind enough to either row me yourself, or allow
+me to row myself back to the boat-house, or anywhere convenient to the
+shore?"
+
+This awoke him to the actual state of things; he straightened his oars,
+and made sundry other preparations to start, but as he leaned forward to
+take the first backward stroke, he looked steadily into her face and
+said in a husky, almost defiant tone,
+
+"Dust, like this, can never blind my eyes, but resign yourself, for Guy
+Elersley and you will never meet again." In spite of herself, Honor was
+startled a little; a greyish shadow flitted across her face, her lips
+trembled for an instant, and a wincing expression shot from her eyes,
+the words sounded so much like a prophecy of evil, how could he say them
+so emphatically unless he knew something, could it be possible that Guy
+was dead? Oh no, she would not yield to such a gloomy idea of the
+possible, this man was only trying to frighten her--but frightened she
+would not be, she suddenly recollected herself, and in a splendid manner
+answered him,--
+
+"Indeed, Mr. Standish! Although you introduce a strangely inappropriate
+subject, I must say your intelligence grieves me, for I like Guy
+Elersley exceedingly well, and should be heartily sorry were I given to
+credit your statements with the slightest suspicion of truth."
+
+He had begun to congratulate himself that, at last, he had secured her
+unawares, but the last remark confounded him altogether--baffled in
+every attempt he gave up trying to threaten her, and resolved to come
+back now, if he could, at least to her former favor.
+
+Carefully smothering all his latent passion of jealousy and rage, he
+addressed his next words in tones of such humiliation and regret as took
+Honor by the greatest surprise.
+
+"Honor, what have I done?" he said seriously and sorrowfully, "have I
+forgotten your dignity in the intensity of my emotion?"
+
+"It was your own you forgot," she interrupted, "or you could never have
+forgotten mine, but then one can't be too hard on a person for
+forgetting such mere trifles, I don't blame you, yours is so
+insignificant, that I often forget it myself."
+
+"I deserve it all, Honor, go on--I have been a brute I see--but it was
+not I, it was the demon of jealousy within me, will you not say that you
+absolve me Honor, for believe me I knew not what I did?"
+
+Something of actual despair rung from his voice, he bowed his face with
+its pained expression, and Honor believed him sincere, perhaps, after
+all the man was beside himself she thought, he who had never before made
+the most pardonable breach of etiquette or courtesy.
+
+The jealousy that was the evident cause of his strongest utterance, was
+perhaps, what any woman can forgive her lover's rival most easily, for
+it gives a spice to love, so with a little appeal to her womanly
+sympathies, Honor thawed out, and answered his miserable
+self-condemnations in forgiving but reserved terms.
+
+"Do not trouble yourself so," she said half consolingly. "I assure you,
+your words have had no effect in the world on me; if I thought
+differently of you, they would have meant more, but as it is, console
+yourself that you have injured no one half so much, as you have
+yourself."
+
+The ambiguous words deceived him--he looked gladly up and exclaimed--
+
+"You are an angel, Honor!" but he had not understood the deep meaning of
+her thought, he did not know, that, when we love, truly and devotedly,
+or even cherish and esteem some one, an unkind word or a cruel retort,
+from those lips to us, makes a breach, which no forgiving phrases can
+ever right again. When the heart that loves has been wounded by the hand
+it adores, no remedy can ever fully heal the rankled spot, where the
+poisoned arrow has lodged. We can forgive the injury of one, whom we
+have never cherished nor loved, we can treat with indifference the
+slights of those we care little about, but it takes an angel's mercy, an
+infinite fortitude, a supernatural test of our moral strength to raise
+up again the golden idol that one word of cruel unkindness, has
+shattered within our hearts.
+
+It was nearly dusk when Honor and Vivian Standish landed at Mr. Rayne's
+boat-house, near the bridge. The night air was growing cooler, and the
+stars were breaking through the cloudless sky in quiet succession.
+
+With the tenderest of solicitude, Vivian carefully placed Honor's wrap
+around her shoulders, and gently assisting her up the steep ascent of
+the boat-house stairs, he stole his hand under the knotted fringe of the
+warm shawl, and thrust it within her arm.
+
+Honor, for a great many reasons, chose to sign a treaty of peace with
+Vivian Standish. She suspected that he knew, perhaps more than he cared
+to show, of her attachment for Guy, and if a word of unmeaning
+forgiveness, could serve to buy him over, she did not hesitate in
+purchasing discretion with such counterfeit coins, for she cared little,
+if she were exalted or not in such opinions as his.
+
+Thus, they proceeded, quite amicably on their homeward way, both in an
+unusually good humor. There is a auspicious feature about such suddenly
+assumed gaiety, that cannot but amuse the disinterested participator;
+when either in such a case as that of Vivian Standish we wish thereby to
+drown the memory of a recent mistake or blunder, by indulging in loud
+mirth, that distracts the mind from the unpleasantness just experienced,
+or when we are under the painful influence of some personal trouble, be
+it a substantial loss of any sort, or the more unfortunate burden, cast
+upon us by any social stigma, then, when the whole world, learning of
+our misfortune extends its hand in stinging sympathy, and looks with
+painful enquiry of curious compassion, to see "how we take it," what a
+piercing spur we thrust into our pride, to drive into it that forced
+merriment and happy resignation, which we blindly hope will stand for
+indifference in the eyes of a criticising society, at all times, it is
+neccessarily a short-lived effort, and so it was in the case of those
+two young people. When they reached Mr. Rayne's house, and separated at
+the gate, the masks fell immediately, and each went his way laughing at
+the absurd mockeries of life, by which, we cheat one another face to
+face, at those ridiculous attempts at veneering, through which it is as
+easy to see, as through a pane of polished glass, and yet, to which we
+have constant recourse, as though the human heart were more presentable
+in its mean disguises of truth and honesty, than when laid bare, in the
+actual existing state, of diplomacy, selfishness, and deceit.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXXI.
+
+
+  "But all was false and hollow, though his tongue
+  Dropt manna; and could make the worse appear
+  The better reason."
+                        --_Milton._
+
+"I will surely be recognized by some one, if I stay here this evening,"
+Guy said, as he brushed his hair and readjusted his cravat, before a
+neat mirror in one of the prim bed-rooms of a Sparks street boarding-
+house. "I had better seek some way of keeping myself ahide for awhile,
+until I find out, how love-matters are progressing in a certain
+quarter," and as he soliloquized, he turned to the open window that
+faced the busy street, just in time to catch a glimpse of the "street
+car," as it hurried by. There was a placard in conspicuous letters on
+either side announcing to the public that a "moonlight excursion would
+take place, that night _per_ steamer '_Peerless_.'"
+
+This suggested itself to Guy as one way of spending his dull evening in
+tolerable comfort. He looked at his watch, and found it wanted yet a
+quarter to half-past seven. He looked out at the dull gray sky, "I don't
+think fair Luna under whose patronage they give their excursion, will
+favor them with her presence to-night," he muttered in a satisfied
+voice, "and for that I thank her profusely."
+
+He opened his large valise, that lay beside the bed and took from its
+respectable inside, a handful of good cigars, these he deposited in his
+coat-pocket, he then thrust his head into a large rimmed felt hat, that
+partially covered his features, and otherwise gave him an appearance of
+disguise, and having carefully closed both window and door of his tidy
+room, went quietly out.
+
+Down through the familiar streets, where he had so often strolled a few
+little years ago, he strolled again to-night, but how different a man!
+The usual processions of the working-class were thickening as the "after
+tea," leisure hours advanced: the "loafers" of the old type with soft
+slouched hats bent over their eyes, and with mouths full of very strong
+tobacco and language were posed artistically here and there in classic-
+looking groups, at the corners of Sparks and its intersecting streets.
+Cabmen lounged around the vicinity of Dufferin Bridge, as it were in the
+very postures he had seen them take, when last he strolled along that
+path, a dissipated, reckless, love-sick youth. But it gratified him
+to-night beyond anything, as he looked in critical survey from corner to
+corner of the "Russell," to recognize among that never failing gathering
+which haunts the thresholds of this flourishing hotel, the "friends of
+his youth" without _him_. He had not realized the step he had taken,
+until these scenes brought back the past so forcibly, to lay it beside
+the prosperous present. How many times had he stood idly before those
+doors, reckoning it worthy sport indeed, to pass unscrupulous remarks on
+passers-by behind his half-smoked cheroot: he cast a sympathetic look,
+as he thought, at a couple of unsuspecting girls, who just then were
+making their way along that thoroughfare, and his face said very
+plainly, "Well, you hardly know poor creatures, what noble jests your
+tiny feet, and tiny waists, and faces and figures, your gait and your
+dress, are causing for that high-minded audience across the way."
+
+Sussex street had its same quaint, deserted, look, except that the
+different stocks in the melancholy business establishments looked a
+little more fly-stained, and time-worn, the sausages and meat-pies in
+the restaurant windows were a trifle staler looking, and more suggestive
+of sea-sickness; the thriving hotels, and boarding-houses were a degree
+dingier, time having laid his dusty finger unmolested, on their
+muslin-screened windows, telling a woeful tale of laziness and neglect.
+
+At last the bright broad "Ottawa," came in view, sparkling and rippling
+in the red sunset, like a mass of liquid gems.
+
+The majestic "Peerless," was at her old post near the wharf looking as
+comfortable and as inviting as ever: the same Notice stood out in all
+its faulty spelling, where pleasure-boats were for hire, and all the
+bright yellow sawdust which of late years has so deeply wounded the
+delicate enthusiasm of the aesthete, traced in golden letters its story
+of industry and honest labor, on one of nature's unwritten pages. The
+decks of the favorite "Peerless" were already well-filled with
+excursionists, who looked over the firm balustrades at the numbers of
+eager pleasure-seekers who still poured down the steps leading to the
+boat. Pulling his broad brimmed hat more definitely over his face, Guy
+fell in behind a group of descending people, and reached the boat barely
+in time, for as he stepped on board, the captain followed, the men
+hauled in the gang-way, the last shrill whistle deafened the ears of the
+passengers, those on the shore who watched the pleasant proceedings, now
+waved their handkerchiefs and hats, there was a great paddling and
+splashing until the steamer turned out into the broad river, then
+quietly, gracefully and lightly, she skipped along the clear calm water,
+just as the evening shadows were veiling the turrets and spires of
+surrounding edifices in their heavy mist.
+
+Soon the wharf and its anxious spectators faded from view, then by
+degrees the towers and gables of the Parliament Buildings dropped into
+the shadowy distance, the tall pine trees along the shore receded within
+clouds of dark, smoky, blue, little twinkling lights sprung from the
+gathering darkness along the water's edge; the twilight was growing into
+black night, and the tame pleasures on board were developing into wild
+merriment.
+
+There was no moon, but this is not necessarily a great disappointment,
+provided her absence does not foretell rain. A very dark night on deck,
+with strains of dreamy music echoing from the lighted apartment within,
+does not seem to the young couples seated by the railing outside,
+looking into the blue-black waves, as the most tiresome and unsuggestive
+circumstance in life.
+
+Fully protected by this impenetrable darkness, Guy made his way to a
+secluded corner of the deck, where, besides being isolated and free from
+observation, he could both hear and see the merriment that was now at
+its height within. A soft, sleepy sort of breeze was blowing from the
+water, and now and then heated participators of the dance drew near the
+little windows to catch the cool breath of heaven as it stole in.
+
+Guy sat silently and pensively smoking his expensive cigars, planning
+and plotting all sorts of things to the accompaniment of bewitching
+strains of twittering waltz music and peals of merry laughter from
+within. He became distracted now and then in spite of himself, wandering
+away from his important mental problems to yield to the influence of
+association and remembrance which stole over him in a sad sort of
+pleasant way. Here was just the kind of evening he had _once_ enjoyed
+immensely, and might possibly enjoy again; there were all the same faces
+he had seen countless times upon countless occasions before laughing and
+chatting merrily. One or two couples out of the crowd who had been in
+the first grade of love-sickness when he last saw them, now seemed to
+belong more emphatically to one-another than before, and the sadder but
+wiser looking fellows who followed some of these developed ladies about
+gallantly, were loaded with satchels and shawls and other feminine
+tackle which strangely became them in Guy's eyes; they danced less,
+flirted less than they used in Guy's days, but then matrimony has its
+martyrs and its sacrifices, like every other institution, and the thorns
+and roses grow on the one branch. Some are unfortunate enough indeed in
+culling the matrimonial nosegay, for very soon the over-mature rose
+falls in withered beauty to the ground, leaf by leaf, and the
+disconsolate admirer stands open-mouthed and sorry, with a bare stalk of
+healthy thorns between his finger and thumb, but it is mostly his own
+doing, for even if his fair enchantress has spared him the disagreeable
+necessity of "popping the question," she had left him the power to
+decline.
+
+Guy learned more of practical life from his nook in the dark on this
+festive night, than a year's ordinary observation could ever have taught
+him. He shook his head in amused pity once or twice as he recognized
+some of his "old friends" among the gay crowd; how well he knew of old
+that some of those civil servants had likely made the tour of whole
+departments that afternoon to borrow the half-dollar admission fee that
+granted them all this pleasure to-night, fellows who had been rollicking
+all their lives, who had not hesitated over anything, who would as soon
+fall in love with a troupe of bouncing actresses, and follow them around
+from city to city, as they would eat their dinner, and yet he could see
+the gratification of unsuspecting girls as these destitute enthusiasts
+sought and enjoyed their company. It amused Guy to see some of them
+actually looking serious, as they led some fair creature on their arm
+through the moving circle of the dance; or bent suspiciously over the
+chair of some golden-haired beauty on the deck. Guy tried to improvise a
+consistent sequel to these little love-signs, but it grew ridiculous
+naturally enough, he gathered all these interesting little circumstances
+within the limits of "a plain gold ring," but these are "deuced" narrow
+limits for two healthy people and one small income to thrive in.
+
+He tried to imagine the placid pretty faces of the patient pampered
+blondes and brunettes, if these same devoted ones, now so interesting as
+lovers, were to come home some luckless evening as prosy husbands and
+say "Eva," or "Bee," or "Ada, it's all up with us now, the bailiff will
+be here in the morning, I knew this sort of high life couldn't last--"
+and then to fling himself down in democratic contempt on the parlor
+sofa, with its dainty tidies and cushions of "appliqué" or pale-blue
+satin, and use its rosewood or mahogany framework as the commonest
+bootjack. Of course a fellow is always sure that these ornamental little
+wives have no other consolation for themselves or any one else, but in
+the copious tears that swell up into their pretty eyes, they must sit
+down and sob to break their dear little hearts with every now and then a
+hysterical sentence from behind the dainty lawn handkerchief, saying
+"what will everyone think? What will Lady Featherly say? We wont be
+asked to any more 'at homes' now, and the ball at 'Rideau' is next week,
+oh dear--boo--hoo--hoo!" Of course the merciless husband gets mad
+because his poor little helpless wife sees fit to weep over a fate that
+must disgrace her in the eyes of the social world. She wouldn't mind
+being refused everywhere for "credit" as long as they had enough to eat
+and "kept up appearances," and she knows very well that no one will
+believe her when she says she and "Percy" gave up house-keeping as a
+"nuisance." Then there are those who will be delighted over her reverse,
+the ones she never would invite to her five o'clock teas or evening
+parties, will chuckle now over her misfortune, she tells herself
+bitterly. How can she do without servants, she who has never brushed her
+own hair all her single life. She can only cry and be sorry she ever
+married. She is so unequal to such awful responsibilities. Asking
+herself what she _could_ do to assist "Percy" in this catastrophe, only
+gives her another fresh grief to realize. She sees that lawn-tennis is a
+useless accomplishment before the bailiffs threat, dancing or singing,
+or good looks are equally worthless in such a dilemma, high-toned
+friends are of no avail, they drop the acquaintance generally, under
+such circumstances.
+
+The helpless little beauties must then break their hearts in grief, they
+cannot do what less accomplished or less fashionable girls would be able
+to do in such a moment, how could anyone expect them to say, "Let us
+dismiss the servant, I know my household duties as well as she,
+henceforth _I_ will make your shirts and knit your stockings, leave off
+these expensive places of amusement, I have not been accustomed to them
+and can live without them." How can they do this who have lived a single
+life so inconsistent with the acquirement of such rude accomplishments
+as characterize the daughters of respectable but far less fashionable
+citizens than their fathers. A sudden stop in the dreamy waltz hurled
+Guy back from the mysteries of the future he had undertaken to unravel,
+he laughed inwardly as he re-settled himself comfortably on his chair,
+at the vagaries his fancy had indulged in at the sad expense of these
+unconscious couples, who were as happy in their present state of mutual
+appreciation as though no cloud however dark and heavy in the coming
+future could dim the brightness of this hour.
+
+'T'were hard to tell what other extravagant freaks Guy may not have
+indulged in after this, for the orchestra had ceased grating its
+instruments into accord, and was inviting the dancers to join in a gay
+"Rush Polka," but the sound of voices near him caught his ear suddenly
+and he started up in a listening attitude. There was no mistaking--he
+leaned farther away from the little window from whence streamed a flood
+of lamplight, and holding his breath, he listened eagerly for the next
+words.
+
+"I was inclined to call for Honor," said one, "but I felt so certain of
+meeting her here that I deemed it unnecessary."
+
+The words came plainly, not loudly, but distinctly to Guy's hearing as
+they crossed Vivian Standish's lips; he recognized the bland deceptive
+voice and set his teeth in contempt; he had come to Ottawa, for the sole
+purpose of hunting up this gallant hero and a kind fortune had placed
+him within his very hands. Another voice broke the ensuing silence, one
+that had a great effect on Guy, for he could only remember the familiar
+strains of his uncle's voice by its ruins, it was weak and tremulous and
+uncertain, its saddened tones touched Guy considerably.
+
+"You see," the old man was saying "you never can rely much on girls,
+Honor was taken with such a bad headache to-night that she preferred we
+would leave her behind, Madame d'Alberg insisted on my coming, since I
+was well enough for the first time in a long while."
+
+"Certainly, you should not have missed the trip," Vivian answered, "but
+I am sorry that Honor should be indisposed, I wanted her particularly
+to-night."
+
+So--thought Guy, it has come to this--"Honor"--how pat it came from his
+vicious lips. He made up his mind at this juncture to listen to every
+word, feeling sure to find some valuable clue before this night was
+over. The voice of assumed anxiety broke from Vivian's lips and
+interrupted Guy's thought.
+
+"I hope you are on the way to complete recovery at last Mr. Rayne," he
+said, "really I begin to feel anxious about you."
+
+Guy fancied the old man shaking his head in the usual contemplative way
+as the words came--
+
+"Oh no, my dear boy, my system has completely broken up now, my decline
+is a matter of months only, now."
+
+Vivian was about to protest, when Mr. Rayne continued:
+
+"And I don't mind much, time was when I felt life full of
+responsibilities that cheered me on, but now--my old age is almost a
+blank--"
+
+Guy understood this illusion and winced, the unsteady voice still
+continued:
+
+"Since Honor's welfare in the dim future, when I shall be dead and gone,
+promises to be safe, I have had no reluctance to die. I lived for her."
+
+At these words Guy strained every nerve in his body and listened
+devouringly. Vivian spoke next,
+
+"What surprises me," he said "is that Honor has not been snatched away
+long before this."
+
+"She's a strange girl," Mr. Rayne answered pensively, "she does not take
+fancies easily, she has treated open admirers with such provoking
+coldness since she has 'come out' that I wonder at her having a friend
+left."
+
+"That is what weakens my hope," said Vivian Standish, in a splendid
+mockery of despair. "I fear that she might meet my proposal with the
+same indifference, and thus make my life a miserable blank."
+
+The color rushed to Guy's face, and then faded as suddenly away.
+"Infernal villain!" he muttered, and it was only by an extraordinary
+effort he conquered the impulse to spring upon the person of this vile
+adventurer, and strangle him then and there. What providential influence
+had brought him back to Ottawa at such a crisis, he asked himself.
+
+"Well," he heard his uncle say distractedly, "I have not broached the
+subject to her yet. She is a strange disposition and cannot be treated
+like others of her age and sex. I think the better plan would be, for
+you to deserve her love first, and from what we have all seen of you, I
+reckon that will not be the hardest of tasks. This is September--if you
+wish, after three months longer, I will speak to her, and tell her my
+opinion of you."
+
+"How can I ever thank you or repay you sufficiently, dear Mr. Rayne,"
+was the answer Guy heard to this painful speech of his uncle's. "I have
+no fear," continued the hypocrite, anxiously, "except," and he
+hesitated--"that she may have loved already--that is the only obstacle I
+dread."
+
+"I don't think it," said Henry Rayne. "I'm sure she has not--who could
+she have loved?"
+
+"You ought to know," continued Standish "whether at any time of her life
+she has met with some-one she preferred to any other. Do you think for
+instance," and his voice lowered so that Guy could scarcely catch its
+accents "that there was anything between her and--your nephew, Guy
+Elersley?"
+
+Guy's face wore the strangest expression of contempt and pain, as he
+leaned nearer still to the side from whence the voices came. He could
+see them now--dark shadows only on the misty outline of the night. They
+were leaning with their backs against the small green railing, each
+smoking a cigar. Guy crouched nearer the protecting wall, and waited
+patiently for the issue of this strange _rencontre_. His uncle was
+silent for a second, and the uncertain voice with which he answered
+Vivian's last remark, pained him severely.
+
+"Why do you think that?" he asked, almost huskily, "That never struck my
+mind, and if it had, I assure you, Standish, much as I esteem you, I
+would have kept that boy by me. If I suspected that Honor would ever
+love him, my life's happiness would have been complete."
+
+Guy's eyes were growing moist.
+
+"It is only natural," said the smooth, bland voice of Vivian Standish
+"that you should like to encourage the welfare of your own, but I must
+say, that Guy Elersley did not make a proper use of the advantages
+fortune threw in his way." Guy agreed sadly here "I think he was a
+little ungrateful besides, in return for your kindness, for I had always
+understood from him, that in his eyes, you were worth only the wealth
+you would leave him at your death. I don't want to run down the absent
+ones, but all the same, I must say, that Elersley had his faults."
+
+Guy ground his teeth in smothered hatred.
+
+"Spare me this, Standish," said the old man pleadingly, "for in spite of
+all that has happened, I cannot teach myself to forget how I loved this
+boy all his life, fondly and foolishly, and if he were within my arm's
+grasp at this moment, I doubt whether I would not take him back to me
+again as warmly as ever, for I never cease to reproach myself for having
+treated him so severely for so small an offence."
+
+"It is your excessive mercy and goodness that cause you this regret,"
+Vivian said, "for you surely were lenient to him in your justice after
+all."
+
+"Let us drop his name," interrupted the old man, "it has not crossed my
+lips for years, but now that your suggestion brings back the past to me,
+I am puzzled and surprised a little. I remember now, how Honor carefully
+collected every little trifling belonging of Guy's that had been left at
+our house, and carried them to her own room, where they have laid since.
+I thought at the time, it was to spare me the pain of coming across
+them, as she had heard something of our dispute; but now, I recognize
+the possibility of there having been a more pitiful motive. She never
+utters his name either. I wonder have I done them both the awful wrong
+of thrusting myself between their young hearts, and spoiling the happy
+ambition of their lives--may God help me to repair it if I have!"
+
+Guy's head fell wearily on his folded arms that rested on the back of a
+vacant chair in front of him. This was such a painful scene to witness
+in silence that he felt himself almost overcome. He never cherished
+Honor so wildly or devotedly as he did at this moment. The details that
+fell from the lips of his uncle were items of a sad, sweet tale for
+him--he no longer doubted of her faithful love for him now.
+
+Lest Mr. Rayne should become too remorseful for the injustice he had
+done these young people, Vivian hastened to speak in a reassuring voice.
+
+"But it is plain, Mr. Rayne, if your nephew thought anything of this
+girl, he would have sent her some word or token of regard at parting, in
+spite of you or anyone else, that might encourage or sustain her love
+during their separation. This he did not think it worth his while to do,
+which is almost proof positive that he cared very little for her."
+
+"Heaven help me to bear this!" was Guy's inarticulate prayer as those
+last words reached his ears. "Of all the infamous blackguards and
+disreputable scoundrels I ever met"--here he stopped, and listened
+again. They had resumed the topic of Vivian's proposal.
+
+"I tell you," said Mr. Rayne wearily, "to visit and court her for three
+months longer, anyway. At the end of that time you can propose if you
+will, and I will give my consent readily. I am glad to hear you say you
+have means enough to hold you independent of my little girl's fortune. I
+would not like to see her wedded for her dowry."
+
+"The wealth of character and beauty is her real dowry, Mr. Rayne," the
+hypocrite replied, "Any other is worthless before that."
+
+"Aye, aye! you are right there, my boy," added Mr. Rayne, shaking his
+head pensively. Then changing his tone suddenly said, "I feel a little
+chilly here, Vivian, my boy; let us go inside."
+
+"Take my arm, Mr. Rayne, and let me feel that in even so little a thing
+I can make myself useful to you."
+
+They passed in silently where the lamp light and music and merry sounds
+flooded the gay rooms. Guy bent forward as they closed the little glass
+door behind them, and caught a glimpse of the changed, wasted,
+melancholy old man he loved so well, leaning on the traitorous arm of a
+tall, straight, handsome one, who was associated with the bitterest
+feelings of hatred and revenge within his breast.
+
+How he longed to be away from this merry-making crowd, where he could
+lay his wearied head to rest, and where the mockery of life might cease
+to taunt him for a little while. Only one thought saved him and
+encouraged him through all--the thought that _she_ had not forgotten
+him, in spite of the base treachery practised by the man he had trusted.
+Through all his painful realizations, this angelic face of his beloved,
+soothed and comforted and cheered him until he felt a new strength in
+his arm and a new fire in his heart, urging him on to retributive
+action.
+
+Out of all that crowd of merry-makers that landed back on the Queen's
+Wharf, close on to midnight of that night, not one had noticed the
+solitary figure under the broad felt hat, though his very friends
+jostled and elbowed past him in the throng.
+
+Stepping ashore, he hired a carriage and drove rapidly away. He had
+spent an evening with all the old faces after an absence of years, and
+not one of his many friends and acquaintances suspected Guy Elersley any
+nearer than the possible distance of the unknown.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXXII.
+
+
+  "Was I deceived or did a sable cloud
+  Turn forth her silver lining on the night?"
+                                                --_Milton_
+
+"Three months! three months!" Guy said in a low, puzzled voice, as he
+lay wide awake on his bed, turning and twisting all the circumstances of
+his recent discoveries over and over in his head. "I can never stay here
+all that time. Besides, I have a good deal to do." He thought over it a
+little while longer, and then looking quite satisfied, he turned himself
+comfortably on the other side and went deliberately off into a peaceful
+sleep.
+
+Three months never appear to us to contain half of their real length
+when we have much to consider and much to do in a given time of that
+duration. One month had already elapsed, during whose flight Guy had
+made some important discoveries.
+
+He had traced up the bogus parsonage, and had even found, by some lucky
+accident, the residence of Philip Campbell, the rescuer of Fifine de
+Maistre. The "Lower Farms" is, of all secluded spots, about the most
+secluded, and people went there just as Guy did--through curiosity. It
+tempted Guy in his search as being the most direct route from the house
+where the extraordinary wedding had taken place. He had been sitting in
+the small public room of the village inn a few hours after his arrival,
+hiding his anxious face behind the folds of the country weekly
+newspaper, when the conversation of a group of men at the counter in the
+corner interested him.
+
+"Take somethin', doctor," said one burly, good-natured fellow to an aged
+person of apparent dignity and respectability, "you must feel all out o'
+sorts after this day's work."
+
+"Not a bit," said the man addressed, "we doctors grow quite accustomed
+to such sights when we have reached my age in the profession."
+
+"I dare say, indeed, doctor," said a credulous looking youth, who was
+rubbing his unshaved chin and lips with the broad back of a sunburnt
+hand, "ye must have interestin' sights now and then doctor, though wan
+'ud think there wudd'nt be much fuss in a place like this, barrin' it
+comes from folks' own contrariness, like Michael Doyle's daughter
+to-day--the world knows if they'd stuck to the old style, like their
+dacenter neighbors, and burnt their safe tallow candles, Maggie Doyle
+wuddn't be shrivelled up to a crisp to-night from coal ile 'splosions.
+We all told 'em so!"--wound up this matter-of-fact youth, after
+reviewing in a few words the sad fate of one of the village girls, who
+had, the night previous, met her death through a lamp explosion that had
+set fire to her clothes.
+
+"'Tis sad to see a young woman the victim of death," the doctor said
+reflectively. "I get quite overcome myself when I see them suffer. I
+have never forgotten the pitiful sight of the young woman we picked up
+in the bush leading from the 'Grey House' one morning about three years
+ago."
+
+This familiar allusion of the old doctor's to his experience of that
+eventful day was as well understood by every one there as it was by
+himself, but somehow such persons of eminence as doctors or curates of
+small villages always find the rustic inhabitants ready to appreciate
+their tales, were it their hundredth repetition. Fortunately for Guy,
+some rough sycophant expressed himself interested in the allusion, and
+asked a question or two, which succeeded in bringing out for about the
+sixtieth time from the doctor's lips the whole story of Josephine de
+Maistre's rescue. Guy strained his ears as he leaned sideways to hear
+the interesting details. He could scarcely conceal his agitation as each
+precious item dropped from the aged doctor's lips. Finally, Guy laid
+down his paper and approached the listening group.
+
+"I have overheard your strange story," he said, addressing the venerable
+man of medicine, "and being of your profession myself, I naturally
+interest myself in your experience. Did your unfortunate patient die?"
+he tried to ask in the most careless curiosity.
+
+The village doctor looked condescendingly on the intruder, and the
+others in dumb courtesy moved aside to let the new comer through.
+
+"No, she did not die," the doctor answered, rubbing his hands, "but
+though she recovered her bodily health, her mind was terribly deranged.
+None of us could glean anything of importance from her wild answers, she
+was foolishly inconsistent in everything, but when she spoke of her
+'revenge' and of 'Bijou,' whoever that was."
+
+Guy felt as if his heart had bounded into his mouth, and had to muster
+all the moral courage he could to prevent his betraying himself, his
+tone was a masterpiece of affected indifference when he asked,--
+
+"Do you know what became of this poor victim after she left here?"
+
+"Oh, we did not lose sight of her," said the doctor, in a tone which
+insinuated that a suspicion of such neglect insulted the dignity of his
+profession, "by no means. When she had recovered her physical health
+under our treatment, we had her transferred to 'Beauport,' where she was
+sure to be well treated--It was as sad a case on the whole, I think, as
+was ever recorded," mused the would-be wise and experienced physician,
+and as Guy agreed with him, he strolled lazily towards the door, and in
+another moment had quitted the inn.
+
+Guy felt himself now to be the direct depository of a great mission,
+which his conscience bade him fulfil right away. Just as hurriedly and
+as anxiously as if he were hastening to the death-bed of his nearest
+relative, Guy took the very next train down to Quebec, resolving
+silently to spend every exertion he was capable of in this precious
+duty, or die.
+
+In the fiercest battles of our daily lives, there are only two incitants
+which can never fail to give our heart a hope, our hope a courage, our
+courage a strength, and our strength whatever possible success can be
+wrung from fate under such circumstances; these are, the two great
+influences of hatred--and of love. There is no strength so fierce, so
+terrible as the hater's, just as there is no strength so steady, so
+hopeful, so ambitious, as that which guides the lover's hand. We would
+do a great many hard and trying things for our love's sake, but those
+things which the righteous could never do--even for their love--are the
+better sweets of an active hatred. Love has its limits, but hatred--its
+only sweetness is its infinity, its boundless freedom, and its endless
+resources.
+
+There was something of both these stimulants pressing Guy Elersley
+onward to determined action. All the mighty strength of years of subdued
+love and sincerest devotion spurred him hopefully on, and all the
+crushing power of a few days' hatred goaded him on to merciless action.
+He stowed away that other every-day life of his, and assumed this new
+phase of his existence dutifully and well. The reward stood in the
+distance, smiling and beckoning, though 'tis true that his eyes could
+only discover the familiar outlines of his heart's idol through the
+doubtful mists of the "possible", but it were as well to spend his
+pent-up emotions in this way as have them crushed from his heart by a
+merciless blow of fate, in bitter disappointment.
+
+It would scarcely interest the reader to follow Guy Elersley in his
+rambles, from the time he passed out of the dingy doorway of the village
+public-house until he drew up, after a long drive, before the imposing
+entrance of "Beauport Asylum." The bracing air of the country road that
+leads to this establishment had had a most beneficial effect on Guy's
+temperament, and therefore as he alighted from his _calèche_, his step
+had resumed something of its old lightness, and his face had lost some
+of its serious expression.
+
+Guy cogitated sadly as he sauntered quietly up the gravel walks that
+lead to the main entrance of the edifice. With its air of quiet and
+peaceful dignity, its beautiful paths, and _parterres_ of blooming
+flowers, its fountains and grottoes, none could suspect that its
+melancholy mission was to shelter the noblest work of an Infinite hand
+in a wrecked and shattered state. There are collected the precious,
+priceless ruins of the masterpieces of the Artist of Life; an assemblage
+of ruins over which the most hardened cannot refrain from weeping, were
+it their very last tear.
+
+Before making any inquiries, Guy passed silently as any ordinary visitor
+through the different apartments of the "women's ward," carefully
+studying and scrutinizing any young or beautiful faces that might answer
+the purpose, he was there to serve: but a pained expression of growing
+disappointment like despair was settling on his face, as he scanned the
+last group of quiet, staring countenances that remained to be seen.
+There was nothing in all that mass of wrecked humanity which satisfied
+him.
+
+Quiet, reserved women, looked up into his face with a meaningless gaze
+as he passed from one to another in his eager search, turning their
+heads stupidly in his direction, as they knitted their well-shaped
+stockings diligently; other dishevelled, drivelling imbeciles, gathered
+up in the corners of benches or on the floors, raised their empty eyes
+to look carelessly out through masses of tumbled hair at him, and then
+with some half articulate chuckle to clasp their hands tightly around
+their knees again, and drop their heads into their laps.
+
+From these harmless, foolish victims, Guy passed eagerly on to the more
+thrilling presence of the maniacs, but even here, though wild shrieks
+and dark threatening looks greeted him on all sides, he could not find a
+clue to assist in unravelling his secret plot. There were loud toned
+viragos who screached and roared in fearful imprecations and appealed to
+unknown people, victims of the demon alcohol--there were the dark,
+sullen, silent ones, brooding over their imaginary or real wrongs, and
+weeping and moaning piteously--there were the dangerous, careless and
+happy victims, who filled the dismal cells with their heart-rending
+peals of wild laughter, that fall upon the heart like the loneliest
+knell--there were the apparently quiet, religious ones who addressed
+their Creator in ceaseless, meaningless prayer, crying for forgiveness
+and mercy, but there was no bright, pretty French child, who called for
+"Bijou" or her "revenge," and this discouraged Guy very much. Presently
+addressing the guide, who escorted him through these apartments of
+living death, Guy said:
+
+"Have you no cases of love mania, one younger than these?" waving his
+hand, as he spoke, in the direction of the rooms he had just visited.
+
+The middle-aged guide shook her head sadly and said:
+
+"Not at present, Sir, the last one of that sort, died a few months after
+admission.
+
+Guy's heart sank as heavily as a lump of lead within his breast.
+
+"Died?" he reiterated in a tone which bespoke a faint hope that the
+other had made some mistake.
+
+"Yes, Sir, poor thing," said the pensive-looking woman addressed, "she
+was a beautiful sight to look upon too, such a pretty face, and such
+slender little hands, she was very melancholy for three or four months,
+and then died."
+
+"Do you know the circumstances that brought about her derangement?"
+asked Guy, almost in despair of ever solving the tangled problem now.
+
+"I think, if I don't mistake," quietly answered his informant, twirling
+her thumbs, "that her husband had deserted her, and then committed
+suicide, although they had been married but a year."
+
+Guy grasped this as the straw to which he might yet cling, and looking
+hurriedly up at the demure woman who stood watching him silently, he
+interrupted:
+
+"Pardon my inquisitiveness, madam, but I am in search of a friend, who,
+I was told, was sent here nearly three years ago, being at that time the
+unfortunate victim of a love episode."
+
+Guy fancied the reserved matron was casting covert glances at himself,
+and he fairly staggered as she said in a long breath--
+
+"The pity is, you young gentleman don't repent in time. Where's the use
+o' looking for the girl, now, she's mad; why didn't ye leave her her
+senses when she had 'em?"
+
+"My dear woman," Guy gasped, with dilated eyes, "_I_ am not the party to
+blame, _I_ am only a friend of the young lady's, I am sorry you should
+consider me guilty of such a serious crime!"
+
+"Oh, beg your pardon, sir," the woman interrupted coolly, "but its not
+such a great mistake of mine, I'll be bound the young gentleman as has
+had his finger in the pie, is just as sleek and fine to look at outside
+as yourself," then meditatively "there's no trusting young men by their
+looks now-a-days."
+
+Guy could not shirk the truth of this, for Vivian Standish's "outside"
+was far more polished than his own, and he therefore accepted the
+woman's tame apology and calmed down.
+
+"I would give anything I own, that would assist me in recovering her,"
+he said, so earnestly, that his matter-of-fact guide rested her lean
+chin in her hollow palm, and agreed to "think" for his benefit.
+
+After a second or two fraught with extreme anxiety for Guy, the woman
+asked:
+
+"Do you know of anything particular to trace her by?"
+
+Guy recalled the village doctor's account and quickly told her, that,
+the circumstances connected with her mania had so impressed her, that
+she continually talked of revenge, frequently using the name "Bijou,"
+"she had also," he continued, a little less hopefully, and more
+reluctantly, "a large Newfoundland dog with her, when she left the
+doctor's house on the 'Lower Farms'"
+
+"Ah, now I know!" the quiet matron exclaimed in subdued surprise, "the
+young lady with the dog, sure enough--sure enough, but we don't count
+her somehow," said the woman, interrupting her exclamation of surprise.
+
+"I am so glad that you remember at last," said Guy, whose heart was
+throbbing with anxiety while she spoke, "do tell me all you remember of
+her, like a good woman."
+
+"Well, you see," the provokingly slow woman began, "I was just serving
+my first year, and I was full of pity and sympathy for the poor souls I
+saw in trouble--though I become quite used to 'em now--and this young
+creature in particular went straight to my heart. I was good to her, and
+she took to me, and we became fast friends; she never would give up the
+great big dog, and he clung to her in return for all he was worth, but
+one day this sweet creature called me, and says she, 'don't be uneasy
+about me Mrs. Hammond, there is nothing very wrong with my brain,' says
+she, 'I've had a very bad attack of brain fever,' says she, 'and I feel
+its effects sometimes yet, but that will soon pass away,' says she, 'and
+I'll be as right as ever again,' I did not mind this," continued the
+narrator addressing Guy confidentially, "for the worst of them sometimes
+talk as sensible as you or me, but, for all that, I hoped in my heart
+'twas the truth, and I kept on coming to see her, and talking common
+sense to her, like I would to you or any other sensible folk, and by and
+bye, I found out that her own predictions was true, and that she had
+quite recovered her senses. We reported this, and the attending
+physician agreed with us, and we were all mighty glad, sir," the woman
+said kindly "for the sweet girl's own sake."
+
+"And what became of her then?" asked Guy, impatiently, unable to await
+the woman's pleasure to hear the happy sequel.
+
+"Well sir," continued she, "the young lady said she had neither money
+nor friends, and expressed a wish to retire to some place, where she
+could practice acts of gratitude to the Almighty, for having saved her
+from the threatened fate of madness. She did not tell us quite as plain
+as that what her intentions were, but we soon found out, so unless
+anything unusual happened, you will find her yet, cloistered voluntarily
+in the home of some pious ladies who dwell on the outskirts of the city.
+Anyone will drive you there; you are on the road now; it is far enough
+on the outskirts of the town, but a pleasant drive for all that, and
+sure, sir, I, for one, wish you the best of success in your
+undertaking."
+
+"Thank you, my good woman, a thousand times I thank you. You have
+lightened a great burden from my heart, and I will not forget it
+either," and as he showered his protestations of gratitude on the head
+of the gratified matron, he bowed himself out, and beat a hasty retreat
+back to his carriage.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXXIII.
+
+
+  "Then gently scan your brother man,
+  Still gentler sister woman.
+  Tho' they may gang a kennin' wrang,
+  To step aside is human."
+  --_Burns._
+
+"Is it the little home on the hill?" said the half-indignant _calèche_
+driver, "well, to be sure I know it as well as I do the nose on my face;
+step in sur, and: you'll soon see if I do or not."
+
+Jumping hastily up, Guy settled himself for, as he hoped, the last drive
+to the first part of the success he strove so hard to win.
+
+Quebec, as every tourist has acknowledged, is a "fine old place," and
+now that his heart was somewhat lighter, Guy allowed himself to realize,
+like the others, that he had indeed come to a "fine old place," and one
+whose memory threatened to cling around his heart for the remaining
+years of his life. Many thoughts filled his busy brain as he rattled
+along in his two-wheeled conveyance over the country roads, drinking in
+the freshness and beauty of his rural surroundings, and yielding gladly
+to the bracing currents of country air that swept past his troubled
+face, cooling and refreshing him considerably.
+
+By and by, growing a little curious about the nature of the place to
+which he had ordered this man to drive him, he leaned forward a little
+and asked the broad-faced Irishman, who was lilting a merry tune to
+himself as they jaunted along.
+
+"What sort of a place is this we are driving to, Pat."
+
+"Och, faith yer honor, mebbe 'tis dhrivin' to the divil we are, for all
+Pat knows. G'long there, Sally."
+
+"But I mean the convent, Pat, surely his devilship does not intrude
+there?"
+
+"Oh thin, the Lord forbid," Pat answered as he, turned the contents of
+his battered felt hat towards Guy; this characteristic piece of
+head-wear was just completing that interesting transformation that is
+the inevitable fate of all long-lived black felts, viz. to develop
+themselves into a promising green, which is quite in its place on the
+head of an Irish hackman.
+
+Guy thought it worth his while to interest himself in the fellow, and
+asked rather curiously--
+
+"You are a Catholic Pat, are you not?"
+
+"Faith I niver was anything else since I was anything at all," was the
+contented reply. "I got my honest name in a Catholic chapel in th' ould
+sod, an' I'll take it as honest as I got it, to a Catholic churchyard
+when I die."
+
+"That's right," said Guy, half seriously, though slightly amused at the
+strange way the fellow spoke his determination.
+
+"Have you ever been to this place, we are going to, Pat?"
+
+"Troth there isn't an inch nor a fut o' ground in all Quaybec that this
+ould nag and meself didn't explore some time or other."
+
+"Who runs the institution?" Guy queried next.
+
+"The divil a run it iver got as long as I know it," said Pat, as he
+gathered up his shabby whip, to the accompaniment of some snack of his
+oily tongue, which succeeded miserably in inducing his languid old mare
+to stretch her angular supports over more space at a time, "tis allays
+bin standin in the wan spot since me father was a lad, and that's longer
+ago nor I can remember, seein' that they put off rearing me up 'till the
+rest was all grown up an' out o' the way."
+
+Guy could not refrain from smiling at the droll way in which his
+companion handled a subject, he had learned before, and therefore
+to-day's experience was nothing new to him, that direct questions will
+never get direct answers from an illiterate Irishman, and so he resigned
+himself beforehand to the ordeal he was passing through at present.
+
+By and by however, Pat drew forth from a depository of doubtful
+cleanliness and respectability, a short, black pipe, that fitted
+becomingly between his plentiful lips. Then after a moment's hesitation,
+he said doubtfully, over the sea-green shoulder of his ancient
+broad-cloth.
+
+"I suppose, sir, you're something of a smoker?"
+
+Taking this as one way of asking a permission to indulge, Guy answered
+readily. "Indeed I am, Mr. Crowley, that precious weed and myself are
+not strangers, at all."
+
+"So then, ye carry it about with you, as well as meself?" he said, with
+a timid chuckle. Guy agreed that he did, just to satisfy him; the next
+moment the forefinger and thumb of the amusing Pat Crowley, in all their
+innocence of toilet attentions, were thrust into the depths of his
+waistcoat pocket, from whence they unearthed a solitary match;
+instinctively he flourished this on the leg of his baggy trousers, and
+applied the flame to the empty briar-root, that protruded on its short
+stem from his substantial mouth; but after a vain puff or two, he flung
+it impatiently away and replaced the time worn pipe within the flavored
+precincts of his waistcoat pocket.
+
+Guy, who watched these interesting proceedings in silent amusement,
+could not subdue the curiosity which prompted him to say.
+
+"I thought you were going to have a smoke for yourself, Mr. Crowley?"
+
+"H'm, so did I, meself," returned Pat.
+
+"And why don't you? I don't object."
+
+"Och divil a thing but smoke was in the insthrument, bad luck to
+it,--however sir, as ye say ye carry the tabakky about wid ye, take a
+loan o' the pipe an' welcome, for 'twould never be Pat Crowley, 'ud sit
+down with that in his pocket, that could make another man happy, and him
+not wantin' it nayther."
+
+The hint had the desired affect. Guy's face broke into a broad smile, as
+the true meaning of the words showed itself.
+
+"I have the tobacco he said, and no pipe as you suspect, and your moral
+is mine, too Crowley, so here's the tobacco and use your pipe to the
+best of its advantages old fellow."
+
+As Crowley's gratified smile wrinkled over his face and rested in
+emphatic creases around his eyes, he readjusted the dwarfed pipe between
+his sallow teeth, and Guy heard him mutter, as he leaned forward to rest
+the lines, while he rubbed the little shavings between his brawny hands.
+"Ye're a dacent mother's son, ivery inch o'you, so ye are."
+
+When the curling clouds of smoke, piled upwards over Crowley's head from
+Guy's good tobacco, the "nag" was touched up, with a multiplied emphasis
+on the technical snack, and was kept trotting to the utmost limit of her
+lazy agility during the remainder of the drive. Crowley must have
+repented his own surliness in the stingy information he gave, respecting
+the place they were driving to, for, settling himself in a safe heap on
+the leather cushion of his semi-respectable conveyance, he began:
+
+"This house, yer honor, that we're dhrivin to, mebbe, you'd like to
+know, now that I do remember that I know somethin' of it, 'tis the
+natest little hole in Quaybec, though I don't think many knows much
+about it, ye see, it doesn't belong to any reg'lar nuns, them allays
+does good, and so does these, although they remind me more of the 'old
+maid,' they live in what they call 'volunthry sayclusion,' an faith it
+don't matther a hang to the world what they live in, I belave there's no
+love lost between 'em an' the world, leastways no one knows where they
+came from, an' there's not manny as tries to find out, they do be
+singin' an' prayin' an' carryin' on wid all sorts o' religis capers, and
+in troth, I think meself, that Pat Crowley's battered ould sowl 'ud look
+as fine in Heaven any day, that is, if it ever gets there."
+
+"I daresay, Pat," Guy answered, "you are a very good man no doubt."
+
+"I'm not good, bad luck to me," the old fellow returned half gruffly,
+"but faith if I do the 'ould boy' a turn now and thin, it's sore agin me
+grain, an' I'm not without tellin' him so, but shure he's the very divil
+for plaguing the best natured man in creation, unto doin' mischief."
+
+Guy laughed outright at this original declaration and said teasingly:--
+
+"You should run away from the devil, Crowley, like the ladies in this
+little retreat, and wisely shun temptation in such seclusion."
+
+"Troth, the deuce a temptation 'ud iver bother thim, while there was
+anyone else to be had, divil a one o' them 'ud be there at all, if they
+iver got the temptation to marry, och I know all about 'volunthry
+sayclusion,' I'd do it meself rather than be an ould maid."
+
+"I think," Guy said, laughing, "that you are in as much danger of one of
+these, as the other, but you should be a little more partial to these
+virtuous ladies than you are. I'll not speak any more of them, lest you
+should condemn them altogether."
+
+"Well, sir," said the old cabman, rising from his seat, "ye may go in
+now and judge for yerself, here's the blessed saintly spot itself and a
+dale more snug and genteel it looks than my little house. Now, I'd bet
+me Sunday brogues, 'tis yerself'll be sorry such fine young women 'ud
+believe in volunthary sayclusion. When you get inside them walls ye'll
+see that 'tis jokin' I was, an' that there's fine specimins of beauty
+and gentility there that 'ud make quare havic among your own kind, if
+they remained outside," he said laughing broadly, and poking the end of
+his whip into Guy.
+
+"I dare say, Crowley, but my mission here is strictly a charitable one,
+and I don't intend to let anything else distract me from it," said Guy,
+good humoredly, and as Crowley knotted the cracked leather lines around
+a trimly painted post that stood by the entrance, Guy closed the modest
+little gate and walked steadily up the gravel path, to the long low
+square building that stood before him. There were even rows of small
+windows, tastily but simply decked in muslin screens and showing dainty
+bows of spotless ribbons; a few pots of blooming plants standing outside
+on the broad flat sills lent a charm to the quiet beauty of the shining
+panes and the muslin screens. Neat beds in the front of the house were
+covered with the richest flowers, and well trimmed lawns sloping away at
+either side of the spacious building, thrust the idea of primness on the
+intruder. As a limit to the grounds were groves of tall thick trees
+encircling all the well-kept _parterre_ within.
+
+There was a low, broad verandah in front of the house whose steps Guy
+had just mounted, and when about to drop the shining knocker he held in
+his hand, the saddest, sweetest strains of a human voice he had ever
+heard, arrested the movement. He laid the heavy "dog's head" quietly
+back and walked a couple of steps towards the end of the platform, which
+commanded a view of the rear lawn, with its summer-houses, and vines,
+and rockeries, and all such lovely elements, which contributed towards
+making the rustic nook a veritable paradise.
+
+Glancing stealthily through the green lattice-work that separated him
+from the grounds, Guy saw, with intense admiration and wonder, the
+figure of a young and lovely girl, seated on a low rustic bench, with a
+great, shaggy dog crouched at her feet. She held within her dainty
+hands, a small book covered in black cloth, and swinging from the end of
+which was a long silk tape and a medal, with which her delicate fingers
+were toying carelessly. Presently she closed the little volume, bound
+the long tape around it, securing it with the tiny medal, then folding
+her hands, she raised her eyes, and in the saddest, sweetest and
+clearest tones, her musical voice warbled the words,--
+
+  "Mother pure and mother mild
+   Hear the wailing of thy child.
+   Listen to my pleading cry,
+   Hearken to my heart's deep sigh--"
+                          _Ora pro me_
+
+The dreamy, dark eyes rested for a moment in their upturned attitude,
+the slender hands remained clasped tightly together, but only while the
+echo lingered of the sweet, sad voice, which had stolen from her lips as
+a breathing anthem from on high. Guy was mesmerized--lost to everything
+but the one vision which fascinated his gaze; he had ever been
+susceptible to beauty's influence--with some people, the silent
+contemplation of breathing beauty becomes a wild passion, and in Guy
+Elersley, appreciation of such eloquent loveliness was bordering on this
+superlative limit--and yet there was so little art about the being he
+was devouring with such greedy eyes. She wore a plain, neat costume of
+drab serge, a deep linen collar fastened high at her throat, and deep
+bands of the same at her wrists; her rich, dark hair was short and crept
+in large negligent waves over her shapely head, her face was very pale,
+which contrasted favorably with the dark hair and eyes, and the deep
+rich color of her well-curved lips. The close-fitting spencer jacket was
+gathered in with a very broad belt at her small waist, and the neat,
+heavy skirt fell in uninterrupted, plain folds to her ankles. Suddenly,
+while Guy watched her, she started as if waking from a lethargy, and
+turning to the animal that crouched lovingly beside her, she said,--
+
+"Come Sailor dear, we are late for study hour."
+
+Instinctively the brute roused and shook his shaggy fur at the sound of
+her voice, looking up trustfully into the kind face of his mistress.
+With a light and fleet step, Fifine turned towards the side entrance of
+the building, wherein she and her faithful companion vanished in a
+moment, leaving Guy petrified with silent wonder and admiration on the
+other side of the lattice work.
+
+It would be impossible to describe the conflict of emotions that passed
+through Guy Elersley's breast at this moment; the bitter indignation he
+had felt up to this for Vivian Standish was nothing when compared with
+the inveterate contempt and hatred that substituted it at sight of this
+lovely wrecked flower, which he saw pining and withering in beautiful
+decline, far away from the world she could so easily have dazzled. It
+was with a dangerous light in his eyes, and a threatening vow in his
+heart, that Guy knocked this time at the broad hall door. His call was
+answered by an elderly woman of quiet, reserved appearance, who neither
+seemed surprised nor concerned by his visit. In as respectful and
+business-like a manner as possible, Guy asked for the lady directress of
+the institution, and was immediately shown by this silent noiseless
+woman into an apartment at the right, where she left him to wait alone
+in his wonder for a few moments.
+
+The room was scrupulously neat, and tolerably well-furnished, but there
+was a painful simplicity and provoking fitness and quaintness about the
+things he saw, that upset his nerves uncomfortably. Every element of
+furniture was so intensely appropriate, and consistent with all the
+surroundings; the silence was so settled and sacred, and the noiseless
+tread of the inmates, as they glided here and there through the
+passages, almost irritated him. He was soon distracted from these trying
+observations, however, by the entrance of a dignified haughty-looking
+woman of about forty years; she was attired in the same simple costume
+which he had just admired on the young girl in the garden, except that
+her hair, sprinkled here and there with silver threads, was tucked
+neatly under an old-fashioned head-dress of muslin that strangely became
+her handsome face. Still standing a little inside the door-way, this
+cold, reserved woman looked enquiringly, and waited for Guy to speak his
+errand, whatever it might be.
+
+"I have intruded here," Guy began with not too much confidence in his
+colloquial powers, "to enquire for a young girl named Josephine de
+Maistre, who, I am told was admitted here some time ago. I do not know
+the young lady personally," Guy frankly avowed, "nor have I ever spoken
+to her; but I have been entrusted with a very serious duty to discharge
+relative to her, and if it be not encroaching on your rules, I would be
+glad to interview the young lady."
+
+An answer came in cold words, from an unmoved face:
+
+"It is not our custom," the stately woman began, "to admit young male
+visitors to our home without urgent cause for so doing. Show me that you
+are justified in seeking a deviation from our custom, and I will grant
+it."
+
+Guy fidgeted with his watch chain, and with a little hesitation which
+shewed how much he dreaded any indiscretion on his part, he asked,
+
+"Are you acquainted with any details of Miss de Maistre's life before
+her coming here?"
+
+With the same placid face, his companion answered,
+
+"I know everything--she has had no secret from me."
+
+"Then I am safe in broaching the subject to you," Guy answered more
+freely, and accordingly, in as brief terms as possible, he confided his
+mission to this haughty woman, leaving her then to judge for herself
+whether the responsibility bequeathed him by dying lips justified or not
+his intrusion within this quiet home. When he had finished, the set brow
+of his listener relaxed a little, into an almost involuntary expression
+of interest.
+
+"You may see her presently," said the stern lady, "I am glad you have
+come so soon. It was very hard to persuade her at first that God's
+retribution would come time enough, she was so eager to avenge her
+wrongs with her own hand, but now that she has fully conquered her
+sinful desire for vengeance, God thinks fit to act. I will send her to
+you directly," and with these words she swept noiselessly out through
+the shadowy doorway, leaving Guy tangled up in the strangest sensations.
+
+There was a moment of suspense before the dignified woman re-appeared,
+leading the beautiful heroine of his vision in the grounds into Guy's
+presence. There was a melancholy beauty in that face, whose memory never
+after ceased to haunt his heart. Something so appealingly sorrowful, and
+yet so coldly sad, that one pitied and admired and loved in the one
+glance. The long, dark lashes that fringed the white lids, and rested
+languidly on the pallid cheeks, every now and then shaded the deepest,
+dreamiest and most mournful eyes Guy had ever seen, and the subdued
+passion and smothered emotion that the keen glance might detect
+trembling on her full, red lips, was grander to Guy than anything else
+human he could conceive. Then the large, creeping waves of the dry, dark
+hair that encircled her intelligent brow, and nestled around her
+well-formed ears to her shapely neck behind, capped the climax of Guy's
+rapturous admiration.
+
+The childish simplicity with which she stood before him coupled so
+strangely with a mien of reserve and independence, put Guy greatly at a
+loss to know how he was to take this strange creature. There was no
+conceit, no vanity, no empty pride accompanying all that dazzling
+beauty. Guy allowed that at one time this face must have worn becomingly
+the expression of coquetry--may be there was once a pleasure in showing
+this face to its best advantage, with the assistance of studied apparel,
+but now! all that was a buried past. There was now a look of wild,
+natural beauty that had not been fettered by rules of fashion or style;
+no attempt at effect in the plain, simple costume that clung so
+becomingly to her _svelte_ figure. No artful use was made of those
+perfect features; she looked like a child-woman--so sweet, so innocent,
+so simple, and yet so grand, so sad, so serious.
+
+Guy stretched forth his hand in a friendly way, as she entered, saying,
+
+"We are strangers in one way, Mademoiselle de Maistre, but in a thousand
+ways we are very good friends, at least, such is my disposition towards
+you."
+
+She placed her small, tender hand in his, and scanned his face a little
+doubtingly.
+
+The majestic lady "directress" encircling the girl in her arms, said
+earnestly,
+
+"I will leave you with this gentleman; trust him, my dear, he is your
+friend," and then she very considerately left the room.
+
+Guy, on finding himself alone with the object of his search, entered
+into business immediately.
+
+His voice was touchingly respectful and sympathetic as he addressed
+Fifine.
+
+"I hope," he began, "that you will not object to my recalling certain
+events of your past life, mademoiselle. I have been commissioned to bear
+you a message, relative to a detail of your unusually sad experience,
+but I would first like to know that it does not pain you too much to
+hear your past repeated."
+
+"Oh, sir!" she said, clasping her hands and looking devoutly up, "don't
+spare me on that account. When we have been able to do wrong, we should
+be able to bear the consequences, whatever they be. Besides, my past has
+never been a past to me--all is as vivid to-day as it was in the first
+hours of my experience. I have only memory left me from that frightful
+past."
+
+"Then we may as well proceed to the point immediately," added Guy, who
+was feeling slightly uncomfortable over the task.
+
+"I am a doctor by profession, mademoiselle, and have, for the last few
+years, been practising in the city of New York. Some months ago I was
+summoned to the bed-side of a man in typhoid fever, in whom I recognized
+an old school friend. He was evidently delighted at the freak of good
+fortune that brought us together, for, as he told me, there was a secret
+gnawing at his heart, that he longed to disclose. I sat down beside him
+and heard, mademoiselle, from his fevered lips, the shameful account of
+a wedding ceremony, of which you were such an unfortunate victim."
+
+Fifine was clutching her fingers convulsively, and there was a look of
+suppression in her sad face that touched Guy, he was, however, anxious
+to get through with his disagreeable tale, and hurried on.
+
+"He bade me seek you out, mademoiselle, only to tell you that since that
+eventful night, he has wandered through life, dogged and shadowed by a
+cruel remorse, which ultimately laid him on the bed where I found him.
+One thing he craved with his dying lips, mademoiselle, that the message
+be borne you from him, of your freedom; that you be told how that
+ceremony was a mockery, null and void, and after this disclosure, if
+pardon were possible, that you might try to forgive him his blind share
+in the disgraceful deed. The person I allude to, mademoiselle, was the
+pretended clergyman who married you that night." He looked now into the
+struggling face beside him, he knew the conflict that was raging in that
+soul. The trembling lips parted while he watched, and he heard the low
+murmur of a sanctified soul, as it breathed. "As we forgive them that
+trespass against us," she answered back the look of anxious enquiry he
+cast upon her face for a moment, and then cried:
+
+"Do you say I am free? Not bound to anyone? Untrammelled all this time
+that I have lived in imaginary slavery, oh, how much I have suf--" but
+she checked the impulse that bade her murmur, and said instead, "because
+I have done wrong myself, I can forgive. _I_ know how the guilty heart
+craves for pardon, how the loaded conscience aches for relief, and
+therefore, you can take my entire forgiveness back to the penitent who
+asks it. After all," she continued, in a sort of soliloquy, "forgiveness
+_is_ easier than revenge."
+
+"You are a noble little soul," said Guy, touched by the piety and fervor
+of this blighted little heart.
+
+"Ah, sir! it is not that," Fifine said regretfully, "I might have been
+that, if I had lived contentedly among the comforts, where God had so
+generously placed me, and not sighed to adopt a world of sin and shame,
+rather than sacrifice it. I can never be that now. I have killed my poor
+loving father: I have blighted my life--there is only penance and
+atonement now to bid me hope," then passing her hand wearily over her
+eyes, she exclaimed in a long sigh, "So strange, all this! I thought
+that ugly chapter was over and done with, for everyone but me. And this
+man that sent you, who is he?" queried she.
+
+In words as brief and clear as possible, Guy told her the story of his
+night by Nicholas Bencroft's bed-side, dwelling emphatically upon the
+pitiful effects that remorse and reverses had left, where innocence and
+prosperity had once been. The girl's face clouded at intervals, as she
+listened to the strange, touching recital, and she felt a sympathy in
+the end, for this other poor victim, who, like herself, had been led
+into evil, blindfolded.
+
+After a long, long interval, Guy rose to depart, not however, without
+having made every arrangement with Fifine that was necessary to render
+her justice, and give Vivian Standish his due. Even towards this latter,
+she would not now indulge feelings of her old hatred. She asked that he
+be dealt with as leniently as possible, "for, sir," she argued, "the
+wicked are wicked only because of their weakness. They are _so_ much
+weaker than the good; and just as the man of physical strength is
+merciful with one who is physically weak, so should the rule apply to
+moral strength, and let him who can brave temptation deal gently with
+the poor, weak sinner." And then they parted to the time, Fifine having
+agreed to seek permission to enable her to take any active steps that
+should be deemed necessary for the rendering of calm, quiet justice to
+Vivian Standish's victims.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXXIV.
+
+
+  When Peace and Mercy, banish'd from the plain,
+  Sprung on the viewless winds to heaven again
+  All, all forsook the friendless, guilty mind,
+  But Hope the charmer, hunger'd still behind.
+              --_Campbell_.
+
+The gold and amber leaves, turned their withered edges inward, and fell,
+in sear, crisp decay, from the half-naked trees. The flowers were all
+dead. The songs of the summer birds were entirely hushed, and thus
+stripped of all its rustic beauty, Ottawa stood, in mid-autumn, awaiting
+the pleasure of winter.
+
+It was the season, which of all others, appealed most eloquently to
+Honor Edgeworth's heart, to her, the season of "falling leaves" and
+"moaning winds," was nature's most sympathetic response, gratifying, as
+it did, the melancholy tendency in her nature.
+
+The dear, dead summer, had fled into that vast eternity. Little,
+trifling experiences, that at one time meant almost nothing, looked
+precious and eloquent, now that her eyes viewed them, with that backward
+glance, which one casts so sorrowfully on the things that are receding
+from them forever. Little words she had heard, little kindnesses she had
+felt, little songs she had sung, aye, and even little tears she had
+shed! all were wafted back for one delightful moment of sweet regret.
+She stood by the window again, as she did a year ago, two and three
+years ago, as she would, likely, in years to come, sunk in a reverie,
+watching the leaves fall, as they fell a twelve-month since; the leaves
+were just the same, the sky seemed still unchanged, the wind chanted the
+same weird, lonely lamentation, only _she_ was different, something had
+come into her life in that interval of years, and had gone out of it
+again, leaving it so desolate, so aimless, so blank! She had had a good
+draught from the cup of life, since that other autumn evening, when she
+stood at this very window, moralising on the transient nature of all
+mortal things. She had drunk deeply enough to know, that for souls like
+hers, happiness, is scattered among briars and thorns; she was a wiser,
+a sadder, perhaps even a better girl, this autumn day, but she was not
+happier, oh no!
+
+In a slow, solemn procession, the items of her years' experience, passed
+before her eyes, between the dead leaves and the closed window pane, she
+saw a panorama of memory. She was looking back with a sorrowful
+gratification upon the work of a couple of twelve-months, sighing now
+and then, smiling now and then, but never very happy over the suggestive
+souvenirs.
+
+Altogether, Honor Edgeworth, had nothing of the superficialities, which
+characterize the majority of Ottawa young ladies, who have the "splendid
+advantages," and "glorious times" that she enjoyed. One was easily
+convinced, on knowing her, that riches and light pleasures, such as
+delight the average society girl, could not constitute her happiness,
+she shared these things out of a sense of duty, because it was customary
+for girls in her position to do so, but principally because Mr. Rayne
+had expressed a wish to that effect. She had been, and not unknowingly,
+the subject of sublime envy for a whole season in Ottawa, and had
+created no little _furore_ in a succession of stylish watering-places
+during the summer spell, and yet, here she was, after all that, in the
+face of another winter of gaiety and excitement, with the same cold
+indifference in her heart, and the same reserve and dignity in her
+manner.
+
+Henry Rayne, was fast declining in health. The exertions of an active
+life were beginning to tell seriously on him, his heart troubled him,
+and his head troubled him, and Honor's future troubled him more than
+either. He continually worried and thought over the time, when he would
+not be nigh to protect her, or guide her: her welfare was about the only
+mental problem he tried to solve, as he sat through the long hours of
+the day wrapped up in a cushioned _fauteuil_.
+
+Vivian Standish, still flickered around the flame awaiting his doom;
+there was hope for him, while Henry Rayne regarded him, in the favorable
+light he did. His past career, seemed to have become a blank to him now,
+he could not understand how retribution had not caught up to him in the
+race, and so dropped trying to: he did not fear Bencroft, for his share
+of the guilt was about equal, but the magnanimity, or idiocy, of the
+"little one" if she had survived, he thought to be very convenient; of
+course, if through his instrumentality, she had passed into a fairer and
+a better land, why so much the better for all parties concerned. He had
+held himself on the "look out" for months after his vile commission,
+ready, for the first insinuation of his guilt, that went abroad, but now
+that the period had lengthened into years, and he had pretty nearly
+exhausted the wages of his deed, he felt a sort of protection, and
+blotted out all uncomfortable reminiscenses from his memory. He had laid
+himself out, now, to play another little game, but this game, in its
+_dénouement_ had surprised him more than he expected.
+
+Being a conceited fellow, he did not relish indifference, much less,
+marked coldness, nearly so well, as the pronounced admiration, with
+which he was wont to be received, but with all his attractions and
+efforts, he could only extract the most rigid politeness from Honor
+Edgeworth. "Bad beginning," he thought, as he tugged his long
+moustaches, and smiled superciliously with his handsome lips and dreamy
+eyes. Vivian Standish, for so many years, by profession a deceiver, had
+at length, made a false step which compromised himself seriously, as
+quietly and neatly, and securely as he had ever entrapped any victim, he
+was now entrapping himself in his own very meshes. Very coldly and
+mechanically indeed, he had planned his courtship with Honor Edgeworth,
+a thing, in his intentions to be a pure calculating process, a
+speculation, and now unknown to himself, almost unfelt by himself, his
+low ambition had led him into a snare; he began to grow uncomfortable
+under the calm, steady gaze of this dignified girl, he measured his
+words, and restricted himself generally, which in itself, was the
+strangest possible thing for him to do. He began to feel, that to lose
+her now, would make something more than a pecuniary difference to him,
+he had transferred the object of his craving from her dowry to herself,
+and to feel that he really wanted something which in any way could add
+to his material comfort, was, in itself the most powerful stimulus, that
+Vivian Standish had ever known. The fact that he worked out his own
+gratification sustained him through many a discouragement; may be it
+will cause no one to wonder either, for when one has gone through fire
+and water for someone else, one's heart clings almost involuntarily to
+him ever after, one's interest never dies out where his welfare is at
+stake.
+
+It had been thus, with Vivian Standish, but the object of his daring
+deeds had been his own other self; that never satisfied nature of
+humanity, which, continually cries for more, that unreasonable element
+of our existence, that is not content, when we have dipped our trembling
+hands in the sluggish, sullied waters of sin and shame, to gather the
+little bright deceptive flower they craved to hold, something that looks
+so tempting and precious on the dangerous water's edge, but which when
+gathered becomes offensive, and is cast so recklessly aside. How many of
+us there are, that sit in moody silence, grieving and wondering over our
+own ingratitude to ourselves; peevishly grumbling at our moral poverty,
+scanning with pitying disgust the persistent weakness of our natures,
+sighing with a hopeless resignation over a miserable destiny of broken
+resolutions and vain attempts, and wondering when it will all end, and
+relieve our burdened souls.
+
+Vivian Standish, had become a moral wreck, more by accident than by
+nature. Phrenologists would scarcely have defined his handsome features
+as indicative of wickedness in the soul, but the victim of a mistaken
+vocation, has always been known to carry his propensities to the very
+worst limit; ending generally when all hope is vain, and amendment an
+impossibility. Sometimes one does hear of the evil-doer being overtaken
+in his dark course by the voice of conscience; a warning whisper, from
+some spirit-like voice, has occasionally stayed the hand of the
+murderer, the self-destroyer, the robber, or the drunkard; but I fear,
+it is a more familiar thing, to every one of us, to know, that when a
+man has once determinedly begun his downward course, it is rarely, he
+stops at the precipice; if he has risked great things on one occasion,
+he will hazard greater dangers on many occasions, never waiting, never
+halting, to think or to regret until he reach the final hazard which is
+life itself, consequently death itself, and then the awful sequel which
+is hushed, or whispered in a trembling breath, like a horrible ghost
+story, the consequences of eternal darkness, and agony, and despair.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+The winter set in at Ottawa, the cold north-east winds blew over the
+bare streets and through the naked trees for days and weeks, and then,
+the soft, white, noiseless snowflakes stole over the desolate city,
+making it suddenly as bright and lively and cheerful, as it had been
+dreary and melancholy before.
+
+December, with snow and cold, and icicles and sleighbells, substituted
+the lovely "fall," and turned the wearisome scenes of summer remnants,
+into the gay, sparkling picture of lively winter.
+
+It was December, and Honor Edgeworth's lover had not proposed yet. Henry
+Rayne had still serious misgivings relative to Honor's real sentiments,
+which prevented him from encouraging Standish to take the final step.
+All through the summer and autumn months, Honor and he had been thrown a
+great deal together, he had given up his occupations elsewhere, and was
+now permanently established at Ottawa; in the mornings, when Honor drove
+or walked up town, to do her shopping, she often met him, either
+lunching at the confectioners, or coming out of the Post Office, or
+standing aimlessly at the Russell House entrance: invariably, he joined
+her, carrying all her small parcels, if she walked, or helping her in
+and out of her tiny phaeton if she drove. Every eye, any way trained in
+matrimonial calculations had given its knowing wink, at these two, which
+translated from eye-language means, "they're going it," or "that's a
+match:" other girls who did their shopping all by themselves, sighed
+wearily at "some people's luck," and turned their heads purposely aside,
+to admire some grand display of millinery, or jewellery, or whatever
+distraction was at hand.
+
+In the evenings, Love's "at home" hour, these two were always together,
+and if it was not to escort her to some place of entertainment, Vivian
+whiled the delicious hours away strolling leisurely around the grounds
+of Mr. Rayne's house by Honor's side--thrown sleepily on some rustic
+bench beside her, with his well-flavored cigar between his handsome
+lips, and the dreamiest sort of love looks floating between his
+half-closed, deeply-fringed lids, muttering half audibly those thrilling
+little nothings that seem so consistent with pretty ears, and a
+half-averted, blushing face in the autumn twilight. When the evenings
+grew too chilly, even with a provokingly becoming wrap and tiny skull
+cap, perched on the back of her head, Honor and her devoted admirer
+spent their time within doors, playing, singing, or chatting
+suspiciously with their feet on the fender. Honor had never thought it
+necessary to question the propriety of encouraging this intimacy with a
+man whom she would never love, it seemed quite pleasant to her to have
+some one who could talk intelligently and make himself generally
+interesting, always by her--satisfying herself that she might safely
+measure his sentiments of regard by her own, and, therefore, never
+dreaming of any serious result from their amusing pastimes.
+
+There are so many girls in Ottawa that like very much having an admirer,
+an ardent lover even, if he suits their fancy enough to make other girls
+jealous, or even worthier-minded girls can comfortably endure an
+intelligent, accomplished young fellow to pay them these snug little
+attentions for a whole season. There is something in a certain species
+of the genus girl which quite overcomes her at times, when she feels so
+lonely and so blue that nothing in all sublime creation can restore her
+but the soothing odor of a cigar, the deep, earnest accents of a certain
+smoker of that cigar, and the clasp of the strong, firm hand that has
+placed that delightful weed between those suggestive lips,--when on a
+winter evening she steals alone into the drawing room and lowers the
+vulgar glare of the gas until everything is misty and undefined as her
+own heart, and then throwing herself on the spacious _fauteuil_ before
+the grate fire, soars into the world of her imagination, and is happy
+with her heart's idol for a few dreamy hours, or depositing herself
+carelessly on a cosy sofa, she throws her arms over her shapely head,
+and spins away at the cobwebs of her thoughts and wishes, and regrets,
+but always on the _qui vive_, listening for _a_ step, _a_ voice, and
+wondering now and then, with a start, whether it was the very material
+door-gong that she heard, or only the dim, intangible echo of a wild
+wish in her agitated heart. Oh! you little group of "teens," there is a
+day coming! Brush away those filmy cobwebs of your pleasant dreams; they
+are hiding your reality. Shut out that mass of "tangled sunbeams" that
+interrupts your future; there is a pall over the heart, now bounding in
+its untold delight. There are tears in the dreamy, wistful eyes; there
+is suffering portrayed on the pretty face; the spirit of anguish keeps
+its steady guard at the threshold of those smiling lips--but--what have
+I done? Oh! forgive me, youth now tangled in those golden meshes. I
+unsay the words, mine must not be the tyrant hand to tear away the
+screen a merciful Father has placed between you and what is to come. No!
+no! smile and dream and hope and wait on.
+
+One evening, as Henry Rayne lay reclining among his cushions before the
+glowing coals, Honor and Jean d'Alberg burst in upon him in his
+solitude, full of fresh, blooming spirits, laughing and feeling numb
+with cold.
+
+"Here? you selfish old pet," Honor said, running towards him, "toasting
+your limbs by the fire, so cosily, when your little girl is freezing on
+the streets, starved and numb!"
+
+The old man leaned back his white head on the velvet upholstering, and
+looked lovingly into the bright, happy, blushing face of the girl
+standing behind him, then taking both her little "frozen" hands in his
+dry, warm ones, he squeezed them tenderly, saying--
+
+"To be sure, you are numb, you lovely little witch. Have you been firing
+snow-balls, or shovelling snow or what?"
+
+"Most likely," Honor answered with mock dignity, "a young lady aspiring
+to the wisdom of her twenties is sure to spend her time firing
+snow-balls against the fence."
+
+"Oh, no of-_fence_ to you, frozen queen," Henry Rayne interrupted,
+looking shyly up to see how his pun was appreciated.
+
+"Not a bad attempt for a dull mind at all," the girl said laughingly,
+"don't forget it, and I'll give you a chance to use it again, when
+there's more appreciation in the room than there is just now."
+
+"Come, come, you little humbug, take off that gigantic sacque, and sit
+down here; _upun_ my word I won't make any more of those nasty _jeu de
+mots_."
+
+"Oh, I see you are a hopeless case," Honor said, sighing heavily, at the
+same time undoing lazily the great seal fastenings of her seal coat, as
+he bade her. She then drew out the long pins from her velvet "poke" and
+removed that becoming article from her head.
+
+"Give them to Jean," Mr. Rayne said, motioning backward, "she will be
+going up directly."
+
+"It is well she has transferred herself to that place already," Honor
+replied, "or she would not be too flattered to think that her presence
+had made such a little impression all the while."
+
+As she delivered this little speech, she touched her dainty fingers to
+the bell beside her, and when Nanette appeared in the doorway, she gave
+her her costly bundle of street wear to carry away upstairs, and as the
+faithful attendant piled them respectfully on her arm, Honor prepared to
+seat herself beside her guardian, for a "little chat."
+
+"Well, I hope you're ready at last, dear knows it does take a time for
+you females to get out of your finery," Henry Rayne said in assumed
+impatience.
+
+"There now, don't grumble out in 'sour grapes' style," Honor replied,
+playfully, "you can't blame anyone if you did not happen to be a nice
+young girl, to wear poke bonnets and jerseys, and becoming little
+nothings--we know you poor unfortunate males are half dead with envy,
+when you contrast your clumsy suits, every one's the same to look at,
+with the endless variety of our costumes, but all the same you can't say
+it's anyone's particular fault that you have all been great grizzly
+men."
+
+"Well, upon my word," Henry Rayne laughed in astonishment, "I hope you
+have an idea of your sex--come, stop that silly babble about men pining
+for a transformation, and sit you down here near me; I want to talk of
+something more reasonable than that. Surely you're ready now?"
+
+"Yes, quite--oh! but wait one minute--Nanette," she called, balancing
+herself on her dainty toes, towards the door, "I'll take my handkerchief
+from my muff, please,--there," as she shook out the dainty scented folds
+of a lawn handkerchief, "I am quite, quite, quite ready--begin when
+_you_ like, and end when I like."
+
+She drew over a tiny footstool and sat upon it, and nestled her head on
+the arm of Henry Rayne's chair. Lovingly he stole his trembling hand
+over it, and as he toyed with her graceful curls, he began to tell her
+his little secrets--
+
+"Honor, you've been going out a great deal of late," he began,
+
+"Oh, don't lecture me for always being out late," she interrupted,
+provokingly.
+
+"Now don't you say another word, little puss, until your elders
+consent."
+
+"Very well then, cross elder, go on," said she, taking his hand in hers
+and rubbing it gently up and down her velvet cheek.
+
+"But perhaps you feel like prattling a little, after coming in," he
+interrupted, half regretfully, "so, let you begin, tell me where you've
+been this afternoon, and what you saw, and all about it, and when I've
+shown you by example what a patient listener is, I shall expect a return
+of courtesy when my turn comes."
+
+"Well, if it isn't just dreadful to have to yield to the caprices of
+some people," murmured Honor, with pretended resignation, and then
+glancing reassuringly up at the kind old face above her, she began--
+
+"This afternoon, didn't you know, we went to the matinee--Miss Reid, Mr.
+Apley, Aunt Jean, Vivian and the _charming_ Miss Edgeworth, all
+together.
+
+"To the matinee, eh little one? And did you like it?"
+
+"Well, I love the theatre, any way," argued Honor, "and so I liked the
+performance to-day, it was rather--exalted."
+
+"Exalted, was it?" Henry Rayne said in a listening sort of repetition,
+"how exalted?"
+
+"Oh, first a love match--vows of fidelity--a wedding--a neglected
+wife--a husband that flirts--then quarrels, and tears, and rage, and
+despair, and the other party that is always a handsome man, to
+sympathize with the afflicted wife, then jealousy, threats and a duel,
+and the love match all over again."
+
+"Well, well," laughed Mr. Rayne, "that is as well as if I saw it all. I
+think you take to 'exalted' phases of the drama--don't you, little one?"
+
+"Well, you see," she said, shaking her head wisely, "other people's
+miseries and misfortunes, seem so romantic and exalted to us--there's
+the secret; I'm sure there's nothing we girls relish more than the story
+of some newly-wedded pair that disagree, of a wife who pines in
+sentimental solitude, or revenges herself in tragic retribution--that is
+great excitement for us--but amiable as any of us are, I don't think
+we'd consent to make romance for our girl friends at such a cost as
+that, do you?"
+
+"Well, I rather hope you would not," Mr. Rayne answered, with a smile.
+
+"How true it is though," Honor continued, "that we are all so much
+better adapted to bear one another's burdens of life than we are our
+own, we are always ready to say 'If we were they, we should never have
+done such and such things in such and such circumstances,' and after
+all, I do not think that in our own emergencies, we do one whit better,
+do you?"
+
+"You are right there, child," her guardian answered, reflectively,
+"under our trying circumstances we always want to do our best, and yet
+our neighbors cannot help fancying that in our places they could have
+exercised so much more discretion than we--that is the way we make
+mistakes in life, attributing force and virtue to ourselves, which could
+only make themselves manifest were we in other people's shoes."
+
+"Now, you think just like I do, I am so glad, because Vivian didn't, he
+said he thought other people, at least _some_ other people, always did
+things infinitely better than he could do them."
+
+"Did he?" queried Mr. Rayne, with a mischievous chuckle, "well, I
+suppose that those '_some other people_' actually can, in his eyes. I
+wonder who he meant?"
+
+"I am sure I don't know," said Honor, tapping her foot nervously on the
+shining fender, "but we both agreed that if such a thing happened in
+real life as was represented on the stage to-day, the man who thus
+slighted and neglected any woman he had promised to cherish and love,
+should be punished just as far as justice and humanity could go in
+punishing him."
+
+"That is certainly true," said Mr, Rayne, "the punishment, in my eyes,
+should equal the crime, and the crime, I think, is unpardonable--but
+come now, we've talked enough about these awful things; I want my
+turn--you see--Honor, this is the fifth of December."
+
+"Yes."
+
+"And Christmas will be in three weeks more."
+
+"I guess I know that," Honor said meaningly.
+
+"Well, I want you to do me a big favor this Christmas."
+
+"Really?" said Honor, in surprise, "What big favor can I do for you?"
+
+"I want you and Jean to organize--"
+
+"What?"
+
+"A splendid, big, grand--"
+
+"Christmas pudding?"
+
+"Not quite--but a 'stunning' ball, a real stylish ball; ask everyone you
+know; throw the doors wide open and give an entertainment with great
+_éclat_. You must empty the drawing-room quite out, have the orchestra
+engaged, and a _menu_ that will outrival everything. I want a jolly,
+rattling Christmas merriment that everyone will remember ..."
+
+Honor looked quickly up, and said in a tone of astonishment:
+
+"Well, dear old baby, I hope you have a queer notion at last--why, that
+would be no end of fuss and worry and trouble."
+
+"No matter," he answered, "get help everywhere for everything. I told
+you first, because you can coax aunt Jean better than I can, don't 'go
+back on me' now, after I've confided my little plan to you. I expect a
+great deal of help from you."
+
+"All right then," said Honor, striking one tightly clenched little hand
+down on the open palm of the other, "if it costs so much that we will
+all have to sell out and beg for New Year's, you need not blame me; I'll
+give you all the help you want, don't fear, but when the fun is over, I
+hope you won't have too much trouble to help yourself."
+
+"Never mind the consequences," her guardian answered good-humoredly.
+
+And so it was settled that there would be a grand ball at Mr. Rayne's
+house during Christmas week; the invitations were issued and busy
+preparations begun by all hands. The long drawing room and library were
+opened into one, and all their furniture conveyed into other apartments.
+The dining room and comfortable morning room, or family _boudoir_, were
+also opened into one large refreshment room. The little study under the
+balcony (down which Guy had climbed on the eventful night of his
+escapade) was fitted up for a _tête-a-tête_ corner, with comfortable
+arm-chairs, bird cages and sweet smelling plants. Then there were
+decorations made of palm and flags, and millions of sundry other things
+to crowd into a little space of time.
+
+Vivian saw little of Honor during these days of endless fuss and bustle,
+but he appeared satisfied to sit and chat quietly with Henry Rayne, who
+was unable to share in the general riot and confusion. There seemed to
+have sprung a strange intimacy between these two men, and this link was
+no other than Honor Edgeworth, in fact, she was so dear to the heart of
+her kind guardian that it warmed to anyone who showed an interest in
+her. One evening as Vivian and Mr. Rayne chatted together in the
+latter's study, Honor broke in upon them, holding between her dainty
+hands a steaming bowl of broth, which she commanded Mr. Rayne to "devour
+there and then." Obediently as a child, he supped the wholesome draught,
+and when he had drained the last spoonful, she kissed him hurriedly on
+the brow and bustled out again, smiling pleasantly, and telling her
+guardian he was "a real good boy."
+
+When the door had closed upon her, Henry Rayne, turning to Vivian, said
+half sadly.
+
+"She is the sweetest girl under the sun, I think my heart would break
+without her."
+
+"Then I think you might sympathise more ardently with me," the young man
+answered, half doggedly, "I am nearly tired of waiting for that
+opportunity that never comes."
+
+"Don't blame me, boy, before you know," was the serious retort, "I am
+trying my skill in your cause all this while. It is solely in your
+interest that I have planned this Christmas festivity. I can imagine no
+moment more propitious for the pleading of your cause, than one snatched
+from the confusion and excitement of such an hour, when the heart is
+made suggestive by strains of music and peals of laughter and sounds of
+gaiety and gladness everywhere."
+
+"You are right," Vivian said, smiling. "I did not give you credit
+though, for so much sentimentality."
+
+"It is not that," the old man answered sadly. "No, my dear boy, but, no
+matter how capricious and fickle time is, it cannot alter the heart.
+What is love to-day, was love in my day, and for ages before, and will
+be to the end of time. It is a very universal passion, and is easily
+aroused. A note of music, a breath, a sigh or a little pressure of the
+hand may be enough to call it out from its hidden nook within the heart.
+You can't tell me what it is to love, my boy, nor can I tell you, though
+we've both passed through the experience, the explicable part is a
+prominent part, I admit, if we analyse the little creeping sensations of
+gladness, that a touch of her hand, no matter how inadvertent, or the
+steady gaze of her deep eyes, could cause us to feel. Why, my dear boy,
+I am an old man now, but my memory is young yet, and I dwell on this
+dear page of my past, with the same feelings of gratification that
+animate you on your first experience. I don't know now, any more than I
+did then, though I'm an older and a wiser man, what there is in a
+woman's clear eye, a woman's voice or a woman's hand, to make us shiver
+and creep, and unman us the way they do; but perhaps 'tis the mystery
+makes the charm, if so, may it never be unravelled, for a fellow's love
+days are about the only things which can compensate him for the misery
+of the rest of his life."
+
+This, contrary to appearances, fell as gall on the heart of Vivian
+Standish, he who had never loved with a pure, unsullied devotion,
+grieved to hear of the joys of one who had. It is bad enough, that
+certain luxuries of life have been denied us, either through our own
+folly or the still less bitter interference of others. How much worse it
+becomes when we are forced to listen to the story of their worth, from
+those who have gained what we have so recklessly lost! Such words as
+those addressed by Henry Rayne, were perhaps the only ones that could
+impress the hardened heart of Vivian Standish with a hatred for the
+crimes and follies of his life.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXXV.
+
+
+  My latest found--
+  Heaven's last, best gift.
+  My ever new delight
+                --_Milton_
+
+Christmas Eve of 188-, with all its soft, fleecy snow, its merry sleigh
+bells, its decorations, its plenty and its poverty, its rejoicings and
+its wailings, its hopes and its fears--the day of huge, warm fires and
+smouldering faggots, of sumptuous dinners and scanty crusts, the night
+of all others, that the satisfied thanksgiving of the rich, and the
+heart-rending craving of the pauper, meet at the throne of God.
+
+At noon of this bright, merry Christmas Eve, among the many passengers
+on board the mid-day train that rushed into the Union Depot, was one who
+interests us more than all the business fathers, school girls, or
+college students, or other absent members of Ottawa families, returning
+to spend Christmas with their friends. He is a young, good-looking man,
+in a long sealskin coat and cap. As the bell ceases its clanging on
+reaching the platform, he seems to pull his cap down purposely, and
+otherwise to gather himself into the plushy depths of his warm furs, he
+hires the first cabman that accosts him, shoves in his heavy valise,
+which is all the baggage he has, and in a gruff sort of voice, orders to
+be driven to the "Albion Hotel." There is nothing surprising in it at
+all, the gentleman certainly looks like a "Russell House" patronizer,
+but then the "Albion" is quiet and secluded, and perhaps this gentleman
+prefers it to the endless noises of greater hotels. The gratified
+cabman, happy over his hasty bargain, which delivered him from a half
+hour's stamping of feet and clapping of his fur covered hands, never
+cares to wonder whether the occupant of his sleigh is a disguised
+swindler or an Earl _in-cog_, but jingles his sleigh bells hurriedly in
+the direction of Nicholas street.
+
+Christmas Eve, with a pale, clear moon, shining placidly down on the
+still, white features of nature; the tall, bare boughs, sprinkled with
+the afternoon's flakes, are showing out brightly in the silver light of
+the Christmas moon, great soft feathery masses of white clouds chase
+fair Luna through the deep ethereal blue of the heaven's vault.
+
+From every respectable direction in the city, sleighs are speeding
+merrily along with their dainty bundles of woollen wraps and tucked-up
+skirts. Prim young gentlemen, in their shiny swallow-tails, with their
+creaseless white cravats and little scarlet buds in their buttonholes,
+work their way into top coats and fur jackets, and dropping their
+latch-keys into their breast pockets, start off, all going in the same
+direction, towards the grand dwelling on Sandy Hill, that everyone knows
+to be Henry Rayne's.
+
+Apart from Rideau Hall, which is the grand centre of all festivities and
+pleasures, for those who sojourn in Ottawa during the winter months,
+there are a few other places whose very names are pleasant to the ear,
+on account of the warm hospitality they suggest, but were Ottawa in
+general, far more sociable and hospitable a city than it is, we would
+scarcely consider that it merited any special eulogy on that account,
+for, if it were willing to profit by the great advantages it enjoys over
+other cities, of learning how to render itself agreeable, generous and
+worthy, in its social relationship with its people, it could not follow
+a more admirable example than is set by its much esteemed, much beloved
+ruler.
+
+The pity is, that the old enthusiasts, and the early promoters of
+Bytown's prosperity, could not have lived to see the day, on which their
+little town became an important city, the capital of a grand Dominion,
+and the home of Royalty. That His Excellency the Marquis of Lorne, and
+his Royal Consort, the Princess Louise, should come amongst us to take
+up their abode, is in itself a proud boast, not alone for Ottawa, but
+for Canada at large, but that in their amiable condescension, they
+should throw open the portals of their home, and receive with such
+gracious and unaffected courtesy, their humble inferiors, overflows the
+heart of Canadian society with intense gratification.
+
+What a suasory example it is for those, who through some freak of
+fortune, being enabled to shake off the dust of honest toil and
+industry, are very ready to look downward with contempt upon the rank
+they have just left. What must they think of our noble, hospitable
+Governor, and Her Royal Highness Princess Louise, who so amiably and
+courteously receive social inferiors within their home? How can _they_
+feed themselves with a shallow pride, and affect a ridiculous
+superiority, when the daughter of Her Most Gracious Majesty, Queen
+Victoria, will condescend to assemble under her own roof, persons of a
+social grade so far removed from her own.
+
+But in profiting by this lavish display of hospitality, Canada contracts
+a debt, and incurs an obligation, which she will not hesitate to pay
+generously and willingly, with profoundest love, admiration and loyalty.
+Such names as those of our Governor-General and of his Royal Consort,
+become engraven upon the heart of the country, for future generations to
+revere, honor and admire.
+
+We will now return to the remote cause of these just reflections, to the
+residence of Henry Rayne, who is indeed one of Ottawa's distinguished
+entertainers.
+
+Floods of brilliant gas-light stream out through the windows,
+illuminating the shaded avenue and blending with the modest light of the
+full moon outside. Inside the air is heavy with the perfumes of
+decorations and blooming flowers. Exquisitely made adornings greet one
+at every turning. In a room opposite to the drawing room, are Jean
+d'Alberg and Honor Edgeworth, ready to receive their guests: the former
+looks very imposing in a dress of myrtle green plush and pale blue,
+brocaded satin, which is most becomingly made, and which, with a pair of
+diamond earrings and a matronly little head dress, comprises her whole
+_toilette_.
+
+Honor is a marvel of feminine loveliness, her brow as white as marble,
+and her hair creeping over it in its chestnut waves, has a beautiful
+effect; there is an enhancing flush of excitement on her cheeks, and her
+eyes sparkle with unusual brilliancy. Attired in a long flowing dress of
+white waterplush and satin, from which hang on all sides, little
+trembling fringes of delicate white pearls, Honor is more like a vision
+of the supernatural than anything real. Where her costly robe falls in
+graceful folds to her dainty shoes and sweeps over the floor for yards
+behind, it is literally covered with natural rosebuds and sprigs of
+heliotrope that rival with the loveliness of her whom they adorn. Her
+bare white neck is encircled by strings of tiny pearls, coils of pearls
+are also twisted in her dark brown hair, making her a breathing goddess
+of loveliness and wonder, as she stands awaiting her guests' arrivals.
+
+"I will have time to run and say a word to dear Mr. Rayne," Honor says,
+gathering up her handsome skirt and skipping out of the room, she races
+up the stairs with the recklessness of a child in its morning wrapper
+and knocks timidly at the door of the temporary sitting-room above. At
+the faint sound of "come in" she pushes open the door and stands in all
+her splendid array before Mr. Rayne.
+
+"Do you know, I wish so much you could come down stairs," she said
+techily, "I am lonesome every second for you," and kneeling on one knee
+beside him, the lovely girl encircled the old man's neck with her bare
+white arms, caressing him childishly.
+
+"Oh, ho!--come now, don't begin to play your little frauds on me, how
+lonely you are to be sure, looking like a queen in a vision, and ready
+to break a hundred hearts, be off, you are a dear little humbug, ha ha
+ha."
+
+There was something of the old humor of long ago in the laugh that Mr.
+Rayne directed into Honor's pretty pink and white ear.
+
+"What a voice!" Honor exclaimed in mock horror, "truly, you've quite
+deafened me with that terrible shout," and she frowned pettishly,
+putting her little gloved hands sympathisingly to her ears.
+
+"Well, that will hold for a while," he answered mischievously, "you need
+not trouble yourself coming up to hear me again for a while."
+
+"You mean old darling," the girl returned playfully, "I'll go down
+stairs and not think of you once more all night," and in another instant
+she was re-established below in all her dignity, while the pressure of
+her lips yet lingered in a sweet impression on Henry Rayne's cheek.
+
+In an hour from that time the quiet, vacant apartments of Mr. Rayne's
+house were crowded with a fashionable and merry throng. Young faces
+beamed with gladness as they glided under the "mistletoe" with their
+partners, to the strains of dreamy waltzes. The programmes were all
+filled by now, and the evening's pleasures fully started. Everyone raved
+about Honor, and with reason, it was quite amusing to see how
+demonstrative the majority of the young ladies present tried to be with
+her, intending that this lavish display should be interpreted by the
+rest as a mark of the familarity which existed between them and Henry
+Rayne's handsome _protégée_.
+
+Miss Sadie Reid, Miss Dash and Miss Mountainhead, and all last season's
+heroines were there, it is the best and worst feature of Ottawa society,
+that, like a circus, if you attend one fashionable entertainment, you
+have attended them all, the _belles_ of one ball are the _belles_ of
+another, and the wall-flowers of one are the wall-flowers of another.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+"Honor, whose waltz is this?" said Vivian Standish, pausing before her
+and looking admiringly into her eyes.
+
+"Oh dear, I don't know," said Honor in assumed despair, "I've lost my
+programme and am thrown quite on the mercy and veracity of my gentlemen
+friends. I regret to say--if you say this is yours--I cant refuse it,
+for I've neither programme nor memory to prove the contrary."
+
+"I hope you may regain neither to-night, for I think, I must make you
+remember, you've promised me, all the other waltzes, to-night."
+
+"Indeed, I doubt, if even this is yours," retorted she, "I've given you
+one already."
+
+"It is a wonder you remember," he said, a little sadly. "Surely you do
+not regret it--any way this one is mine, and we are losing golden
+moments, all this while--come--" encircling her waist, and as the music
+made an appropriate _crescendo_, she heard him add in muffled
+enthusiasm, "My darling."
+
+After waltzing a delightful, ten minutes or so, Vivian very artfully
+stopped, at the exit which led to the suggestive little _boudoir_
+outside, and stole away, with Honor on his arm, into a quiet recess,
+near the tall French window, from whence the moon-lit, snow-covered
+gardens were plainly visible, the gas-light inside was burning ever so
+low, a sweet sleepy sort of perfume filled the room, strains of a German
+waltz were creeping in twittering echoes into the little corner where
+this handsome couple had seated themselves, the critical moment had
+come. It was now, or never.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXXVI.
+
+
+  But happy they, the happiest of their kind
+    Whom gentle stars unite, and in one fate
+  Their hearts, their fortunes, and their beings blend
+
+  --_Thomson _
+
+Guy Elersley, had long ago abandoned the noctivagent tendencies, that
+had only saddened and distracted his life, but to-night, as the clock
+struck nine, he deliberately closed the book he had been reading, with a
+heavv sigh, lit a cigar, and getting himself into his furs, he strolled
+noiselessly out, the great doorway of the quiet hotel and commenced an
+onward journey at a brisk pace. He heeded neither the flood of subdued
+light, that hung like a veil of hallowed glory over the earth, on this
+bright Christmas Eve, nor the busy pedestrians, who hurried to and fro,
+with well-filled baskets for to-morrow's celebrations. He did heed an
+odd beggar-child who stopped, to hold towards him a Christmas number of
+the "_Free Press_," for a penny, or who still more appealingly extended
+a little bare frozen hand for charity. He had not far to go on this
+nights' ramble, but he walked thoughtfully along, like one, on a serious
+errand, the old familiar sights of other days distracted him somewhat,
+his eyes wandered mechanically over the walls of the little church of
+St. Alban, the martyr, whose angular spire, stood prominently out in the
+clear moonlight. A corner away from this, and the glittering roof of St
+Joseph's Church attracted his gaze, he was passing close by it now, and
+a strange instinct directed his steps towards it; he pushed open the
+yielding door, and stood in the streaming moonlight, among vacant pews,
+and holy stillness. The Christmas decorations were just discernible by
+the flickering light of the sanctuary lamp, and from the windows and
+altars of the quiet little church, the faces of hallowed saints looked
+down in their venerable simplicity, making the moonlight that made
+visible their holy smiles, sanctified and imposing. Guy Elersley had
+many qualities, both good and evil, but he was as innocent of church-
+going, as he was of murder; of that, at least no one had ever yet
+accused him, nevertheless there was a dormant religious enthusiasm in
+that young breast, which needed but the touch of the right hand on the
+yielding chords of a full heart, to call forth the melodious strains of
+an impromptu chant of praise from the creature to his Creator. The soul
+of our youth of to-day, resembles in many cases a musical instrument,
+which stands in its grandeur and magnificence, unopened and untouched,
+the cobwebs of neglect grow over the elegant framework, the dust of ages
+cloud its wonderful beauty, because there are no hands to touch its
+magic strings, and call forth the hidden melody it contains, some day,
+the silence is broken by hazard, a note has been touched, which repeats
+and echoes its sweet melancholy, with such an eager pathos, that one
+regrets the many years of wasted ecstacies, which time has consumed, and
+which might have brightened a lonely life, if the secret had but been
+known. To-night, for the first time in his life, the chords of
+Elersley's heart, almost rusted, from their wearisome rest gave out such
+a soul-stirring melody, that he wondered himself at his susceptibility,
+he crept into one of the pews near him, and bowing down his head upon
+his trembling hands, he burst forth in a series of mental prayer, when
+he raised his eyes again, it seemed to him that an angel had come, and
+stolen away every burden of his life a calm, peaceful feeling had crept
+into his soul, banishing all the fears and anxieties of a moment before,
+he felt as if in the darkness, a bright star had broken forth, showing
+him the way to a better and a happier life, and as he pondered, he
+suddenly remembered that this was Christmas Eve, that in truth to-night
+a glorious star had risen, which would shed its hallowed light over all
+Christendom, and bring "Peace on earth to men of good-will."
+
+He walked out of the holy edifice, feeling as he had never felt before
+in all his life--telling himself how much of life's sweetness he had
+thrown away in miserable exchange for its bitterness and gall. But
+though no word of determination or promise formed itself upon his lips,
+he felt a resolution filling him of future amendment, a desire to seek
+after the strange sweetness he had experienced to-night, and in this
+mood he pursued his way.
+
+He too was attracted to-night towards the light and the music and the
+merry-making of Mr. Rayne's house.
+
+A host of overwhelming recollections swam before his eyes as he neared
+the place; there, from the gate, he could see the fated balcony which
+had tempted and facilitated his stealthy exit on that wretched night
+when he had broken his uncle's stern command.
+
+"It looks festive," he murmurs sadly, opening the gate noiselessly and
+striding up the frozen pathway, "but why need it pain me so?" he said,
+as if finishing a soliloquy, which would reproach his relations for so
+easily renouncing his memory.
+
+Slowly and noiselessly he stole up the crusty walk until he found
+himself outside the tall French window in the recess under the moonlit
+balcony. He could hear the strains of music and the peals of merry
+laughter--bitter mockery at such a moment! He knew that while he
+suffered in suspense outside, _she_ was the object of much admiration
+within, that the words of false flatterers charmed her ear, and the
+smile of pretended devotion gratified her heart. A man can bear much,
+but as it is in his love that he shows himself strongest, it is also--
+alas!--in his love that he is weakest. A true woman, then, must never
+encourage a passion in the heart of a man which she will not share with
+him to the very end. There are some things in life we can jest about and
+make trifles of, but we must spare the human heart. There is no jest, no
+levity appropriate where that is concerned. Not but that hundreds of
+heart-less beauties have toyed laughingly with such playthings all their
+lives--they have always done it, they do it still, and will likely
+continue to do it so long as the world remains what it is; but, all the
+same, we can never cease to regret that a woman should ever make such a
+vile mistake, she, whose mission in this life is one of heart, should
+never stoop to misapply the advantages that a wise Creator has confided
+to her, and whereby she finds her way directly to people's
+susceptibilities, to conquer them for a good cause for their sakes, her
+own sake, and God's.
+
+Guy was sadder than ever to-night, for besides the customary melancholy
+of his life, he was under the painful influence, and in the very
+presence of pregnant associations, gone-by days were doubly visible and
+clear to him under the shadow of this dear old home that he had so
+recklessly sacrificed.
+
+The snow was carefully swept away from the low, broad steps, and the
+thick covering of matting was comfortably visible in the moonlight. Guy
+stood to scan the brilliantly illuminated windows: There were figures
+gliding here and there through the rooms and corridors, shadows flitted
+to and fro, little strains of far-off music crept into his ears--nothing
+definable, certainly, sometimes just one deep note of the bass violin,
+or a little shrill twittering of a noisy part, but it made his poor
+heart ache, and it filled him with those unshed tears of smothered
+emotion that are spilled like gall upon the heart that no one sees. He
+had been watching for only a few moments, when a grating noise startled
+him. He slid into the shadow of a broad pillar, which supported the
+portico, and there stood still and expectant. A little silvery laugh
+right inside the window went straight to his heart, then followed a word
+or two in a musical masculine voice, then a strong effort, and yielding
+to it, the long French window opened with a creak.
+
+Up to this Guy had had some chance of escaping, but now as he narrowed
+himself into the limits of the shadow cast by the huge pillar, he saw
+two figures advance and lean against the opposite casements of the open
+doors. At the same moment the moon sailed out from behind a pile of
+snowy clouds, and Guy Elersley saw with his greedy eyes--in all her
+loveliness, in all her dignity, in all her feminine grace--Honor
+Edgeworth, his heart's long-cherished idol, but she was not alone.
+Beside her was the tall, stalwart figure of a man in evening dress,
+whose head was inclined towards her, whose eyes were seeking hers with a
+tender expression of sentiment in their depths. In a moment Guy had
+caught the outlines of that face, and instinctively he clutched his hand
+and bit his lip, for he had recognized Vivian Standish flirting with the
+girl _he_ loved. Her hand was now in his, and he was drawing her closer
+to him. The impulse filled Guy to dart forward and level those guilty
+arms that dared to encircle the sacred form of one so good and pure as
+she, in their sinful embrace, but he quelled it, determining, at any
+cost, to hear the issue of this strange _rencontre_--it would be the
+verdict upon which hung the life or death of his dearest hopes.
+
+"Honor," he heard Vivian say, "you will surely take cold here in this
+open window."
+
+"Nonsense," Honor said indignantly, "a fine night like this? I am not so
+susceptible as you think, nor as fragile a piece as I look."
+
+Still toying distractedly with her little jeweled hand, Vivian
+continued:
+
+"You may not be susceptible to cold, but you should be to warmth, such
+as my heart offers you, the heat of love's immortal flame--Honor--can
+you give me no hope that will make the future worth living for?"
+
+"Surely," she answered seriously, "you have not lived such a worthless
+life, all these years, as leaves the future a perfect blank for you."
+
+Guy fancied how Standish must have winced uncomfortably at her words, he
+wondered at the provokingly composed way, in which he answered her.
+
+"It is not that exactly," he said, "though I am not at all surprised
+that you should think it of me, but, somehow, all the ambitions that
+have hitherto stimulated me, seem now to have dwindled into a secondary
+importance, of course, it is nothing to you, that my life has become one
+long miserable suspense, since destiny has thrown us together, because
+our little happinesses are no sacrifice in your great eyes, you cannot
+feel the smallest sympathy for a victim such as I, if it were a little
+terrier, you had unconsciously wounded, you would take it caressingly in
+your arms, and make a gentle atonement for your fault, but there is a
+difference between little terrier pups and human hearts, like mine--"
+
+"Is there?" Honor said with a cutting sarcasm, which delighted Guy's
+heart, "you really are giving me a piece of information which I should
+never have gained from my own personal conclusions. But, have we not had
+enough of this romantic nonsense, Mr Standish? I think they have begun
+another dance."
+
+"I don't care if they have," the handsome lover cried huskily, clasping
+Honor's hands passionately, and looking into her face with a sort of
+hopeless defiance, "I have a word to say, that has been long enough
+hanging unsaid upon my lips--hear me now--you must--Honor--I love
+you--and I want you to become my wife."
+
+There was a breathless pause of a second--Guy feared the beatings of his
+heart would betray him--hungrily he waited to catch the word that would
+fall from Honor Edgeworth's lips--his rage, his contempt, his
+indignation, had all subsided during this interval of terrible
+suspense--he had forgotten for that little moment the depravity of the
+man before him, he only knew, that in Honor's eyes, this was a dashing,
+handsome, fascinating young fellow, and that the great crisis of his own
+life as upon him--one other minute and over the vista of coming years,
+would have settled a pall of hopeless darkness or a flood of gorgeous
+sunshine--he listened in smothered breaths, the moon hid herself behind
+a dark, curling cloud, he could not see now, but he heard the voice,
+that had filled his heart for years, speak out m firm and clear, though
+gentle accents.
+
+"Mr. Standish," Honor said, "will you kindly release my hands from your
+uncomfortable grasp," his hands immediately fell by his sides, "I will
+not say your precipitation surprises me," she continued coldly,
+"somehow, nothing, that _you could_ do, would actually surprise me, but
+I must say it displeases me. One instant, suffices for me, to review my
+conduct towards you, since the hour of our first meeting, and I can find
+absolutely nothing therein, which could have encouraged or even
+sanctioned you, in such a wild plan as this--you cannot be quite
+yourself to-night--let us forget this unpleasant episode, and return to
+the ball-room. I regret having come here at all."
+
+"And you think I suppose, that I will pocket my emotions with such a
+dismissal as this? Are you a tyrant altogether?" he asked in terrible
+anxiety--then suddenly changing his tone, he appealed, "Honor, you know
+it is not we who control our destinies, it is not we who create or guide
+our propensities, is it _my_ fault that I have fallen in love with you?
+Is it your fault that you are beautiful and loveable and grand? I have
+striven with a mighty struggle to overcome my passion, but fate had
+another will. You are a woman--kind, good and true, you profess to
+understand the human heart; now mine is before you in all its blank
+misery--be merciful Honor--I will love you and cherish you all my life
+long--I will be your most devoted friend--I will sacrifice every evil
+for your sake, and learn from you how to do what is right and good--say
+you will consent to take me and let me not face the future with despair
+in my soul--do not raise my hand in temptation, for remember if the
+heart cannot grant life it can grant death," Honor gasped--Guy opened
+his eyes, and tried to read the face of this mysterious man. Even Guy,
+schooled as he was in the catalogue of this unfortunate's crimes, almost
+pitied him now, and had she been an unsuspecting girl, would most
+certainly have yielded to his passionate request--he could scarcely
+expect that Honor would act otherwise, until her voice broke the awful
+silence and said,--
+
+"No more of this, Mr Standish! You are speaking the language of the
+wicked, and it is offensive to me; if you value my regard at all, do not
+strive to lessen it--you have been plain and abrupt with me, let me be
+the same with you--I can never be more to you than I am at this moment--
+all the devotion and love you offer me is no temptation, I may tell you
+though, it most likely will yet flatter a worthier girl than I, your
+name may yet be gladly shared by a better deserving woman, this I
+earnestly wish you--but as I can never, positively never, be a degree
+nearer to you than I am to-night, let us drop this painful subject, and
+bury it with the other follies of our past."
+
+Vivian Standish stood up straight and grand-looking before Honor, as she
+spoke the foregoing words. He was, evidently, not prepared for this, he
+hesitated for one instant, deliberating with himself, and as Guy saw his
+mortification and disappointment, he could not help feeling that in one
+of their successes depended the other's misfortune--he began to hope
+again; he could see the struggle in the face of the rejected suitor, he
+might have pitied him in the end but for the words of sneering retort
+that burst from the white lips at this same instant,--
+
+"Well, it was not my luck to be the first--poor me! How could I have the
+audacity to seek a hand that is waiting for another's grasp? But though
+you scarcely deserve it, Miss Honor, I will tell you to give up
+cherishing the forbidden image that fills your heart--a man whom your
+kind guardian has turned--"
+
+Guy winced, and Honor, raising her bare white arm in the moonlight, in
+an imposing gesture, cried,
+
+"Stop, sir! How dare you address me thus? I have answered your
+questions, be kind enough to leave me now, your presence is growing
+distasteful."
+
+"I knew that would hurt," was the jeering retort, "but bless your little
+heart, give him up, it is an empty ambition to pine over, he cares no
+more for you than that pillar there," pointing to the one which
+concealed Guy, "but then there is more romance about forbidden--"
+
+"Leave me, I command you, before I am provoked to speak my mind as
+plainly as you deserve to hear it," then, pointing inward, she repeated
+emphatically, "Go!" and with a broad smile of mock courtesy he bowed
+before her, kissed his hand insolently to her, and saying,
+
+"You dear little thing, I really half like you," he skipped towards the
+ball-room, leaving her alone in her excitement.
+
+The noise and merriment had not ceased all this while though this little
+room was quiet and deserted, whether the guests had suspected who the
+occupants were, and in consequence kept at a respectable distance; or
+whether it was just as pleasant to deposit themselves around on the
+stairways and in the corridors, during the intervals of the dance, I can
+scarcely tell, but in any case the cosy _boudoir_ was, left entirely to
+the young hostess and her admirer.
+
+When Vivian had passed into the ball-room again, Honor turned in, and
+sank into a low chair by the window, she touched one opened half,
+peevishly with her tiny slipper, to shut out the night air that had
+begun to chill her; a loose white downy wrap that she had thrown over
+her shoulders hung negligently to one side, leaving one round white arm
+bare, her head rested languidly back on the crimson cushions of her
+chair, the little fringes of pearls that nestled at her bosom on her low
+bodice, shivered and trembled as she breathed. The gas burned very low
+within, and with its subdued light only helped to make Honor still more
+like a spectre than she was. Guy, standing quite close to the panes,
+could see the gray pallor that had come over her agitated face, her eyes
+wore that far-off look that is not of earth, as if she were peering
+through the impenetrable, into mysteries beyond, he leaned forward
+breathlessly, noiselessly, and looked into the room, she was
+alone--quite alone, looking pale, and ill, and tired--Oh, how he longed
+to comfort and protect her! how his heart ached for the right to do so!
+
+"What are men made of, and what puzzling secret tendency is common to
+every human heart, that such situations as this totally overcome it?
+What is there in the smile of a woman, in the glance of her eye, in the
+sound of her voice, to speak so eloquently to man's susceptibilities;
+why does one woman never see this power in another, nor one man in his
+fellow-man? Is it a portion of ourselves that we recognize in those we
+love, that their loss is our wreck and their gain, our fortune? Oh
+mysterous mysteries of the human soul, ye taunt us and teaze us, but ye
+are our life, our happiness, and our hope, may we never solve your
+fascinating secrets, 'tis their obscurity is their charm."
+
+Guy was a strong-minded, unromantic fellow, truly enough, but as he
+looked in upon the graceful reclining figure of the girl he loved, lying
+still and thoughtful among the cushions of her chair, his heart was just
+as inflamed as any victim's of sentiment, his passion filled him, welled
+up to his very lips so violent, so strong, that it burst its feeble
+limits and broke out in one resistless word, "Honor" the very sound of
+his own voice startled Guy, he could have rushed from the spot into
+oblivion forever, had not the still reclining figure grown suddenly
+animate, like a spark of electric fluid the word vibrated through her
+whole frame, she started suddenly up with an expression of blank dismay
+on her face.
+
+"Honor," he repeated, more calmly this time, "do not be frightened, it
+is only I."
+
+"You! Guy Elersley," she almost gasped, looking full into his eyes, with
+a half wistful gaze.
+
+"Yes, Guy Elersley," he answered, a little sadly, "am I intruding?"
+
+"It is not that," she said hesitatingly, "but your presence surprises me
+so, I thought you were--"
+
+"Miles away, no doubt," he interrupted, "but now that I am really here,
+am I ever so little welcome?"
+
+"You do not need to ask that," Honor said a little formally, "I think
+the name of the house is too well-known to necessitate such a question."
+
+"Oh, Honor, you know I do not mean that, why don't you spare me a
+little?" Then looking anxiously around the room, he asked, "am I safe
+here, to speak to you without fear of being seen or interrupted?"
+
+"May be not," she faltered. "We had better go outside."
+
+She drew the thick heavy folds of her white wrap over her head and
+shoulders, and stepped out under the shelter of the portico. When they
+reached the farthest end she stood, and said in amused surprise--
+
+"What business of terrible importance could have brought you here in
+this way?"
+
+"I cannot tell you that immediately," he answered seriously, "but you
+will know it by and bye, Honor," taking her hands in his, and looking
+meaningly into the deep gray eyes, "will you be vexed if I tell you that
+I have just overheard your conversation with Vivian Standish?"
+
+"Not half so much as he would be," she answered good-humoredly, "have
+you been playing eaves-dropping?"
+
+"In a sort of a way, yes, I was startled by you both, while stealing an
+entrance, and I slid behind that pillar there for protection, and of
+course had to stop there then."
+
+"If I remember now, Vivian's words compromised you sadly so, for he
+spoke rather deprecatingly of the regard that pillar had for me, he must
+have known you were there?"
+
+Guy wondered if Honor was playing coquette with him now, he could not
+take his eyes off her, she looked so bewitching and lovely, wound up in
+her soft white wrappings.
+
+"You are jesting now," he said with a sad earnestness, "Honor, if I had
+come to tell you, that after many months of suspense and sacrifice, I
+had sought my way back to you, to tell you that, all my hopes and
+aspirations were incapable of realization without you, that life would
+never be more than an empty dream, unless I had won you, would you pity
+me, and believe me, and relieve me?"
+
+As he spoke, he pressed her slender little hands tightly, and looked
+hungrily, pleadingly into her large dreamy eyes. She looked suddenly up,
+and their glances met, may be for four or five seconds, their eyes
+remained in this fixed gaze, then, there were no words required, Guy
+Elersley had read his answer clearly, unmistakeably; gently, tenderly,
+lovingly he placed his arms around her, and gathered her into his close
+embrace, he felt her shiver in his strong arms, then suddenly
+remembering himself, he asked--
+
+"Are you cold, Honor?"
+
+"Cold! so near your heart as this, is it cold enough to freeze me?"
+
+"Try it," he whispered, "Oh Honor, could it be possible that life holds
+so much enchantment for me yet, are you going to let yourself be won by
+such an unworthy admirer as I am, but at least, I can swear to you, that
+I have never yet loved any creature as I have you," then interrupting
+himself as it were, he asked teazingly--"By the way, who is this _other_
+fellow that Standish accused you of loving?--first, is it true that you
+did love him?"
+
+Honor fidgeted for a second or so, and then looking shyly up into Guy's
+face, said--
+
+"I hope you won't be vexed, but I am afraid it is a little true I assure
+you, I could not help loving him."
+
+"Well, this interests me somewhat," Guy muttered in assumed jealousy.
+"Who is he, what is he like, what is his name?"
+
+"Oh, he is not very nice," Honor retorted coquettishly, "quite plain,
+almost homely, I should say, but I can't give his name, he did not give
+it to _me_--yet."
+
+"Oh, he didn't eh?" Guy said in a voice of gay enthusiasm, "well have
+you contemplated what you will do when he offers it to you?"
+
+"Well, I suppose, it would be rude to refuse him, and it is one of those
+particular cases, where I would not like to make the slightest breach of
+etiquette."
+
+"How considerate you are. Well, come now, tell me his name--you must?"
+
+"If I must, I must, I suppose, but I am sure he would be vexed, if he
+knew that I told another man his name, on a moonlight night, in that
+other man's arms, his name is--," and while she hesitated, she looked
+mischievously up into his radiant face, and then hung her pretty head
+half shyly, saying, "Oh, _you_ know--his name is--Jones!" She turned
+away her blushing face after this, and Guy, who never felt so happy in
+all his life before, laughed merrily over her little joke, then stooping
+to the pretty lips, yet sweet with their delicious confession, he stole
+the first long kiss of love! A very strong mark of his affection, if we
+believe, like Byron, that "a kisses strength, we think, should be
+reckoned by its length." Then the merriment died out of each passionate
+face, Honor's society gravity passed like a quick shadow over her
+radiant features; placing both her hands on Guy's strong heaving breast,
+she raised her wistful face to his, and said so seriously,
+
+"Guy--what has passed between us to-night, has formed the crisis of our
+lives. We have told one another of our loves, and now we must remember,
+that whatever comes or goes, we belong by a sacred right, exclusively
+one to another. We have laid bare our lives' secrets, our confidence has
+been mutual, let us never forget the responsibilities that these avowals
+entail, I believe we are both happy to-night, and I hope it is only the
+beginning of a sequel of many such nights and days."
+
+Guy held her beautiful face in his hands and said in loving earnest--
+
+"You have spoken the very words of my own heart, Honor, not until my
+soul gives up the capacity to love on earth, will I for one instant
+prove faithless to the pledge I have spoken to-night." As they walked
+slowly back to the open window, Guy took occasion to ask Honor, whether
+she had cared in the least degree for Vivian Standish; Honor only looked
+up smilingly, and said--
+
+"Don't be jealous of the regard I have bestowed upon him, poor fellow,
+he deserved it all, but after this, I fear, he may not get exactly his
+due, however, I have done with him for the rest of my life."
+
+"I have a little dealing to do with him," Guy said meaningly, "and the
+only condition upon which I could have shown him any leniency, would be
+that you had ever cared for him; I am glad to know you have not."
+
+"I would not say it, to bring him rigid justice at your hands," Honor
+interrupted, "but still I would rather declare, that I am entirely
+innocent of ever having had the slightest penchant in that direction."
+
+"I will not prevent you from making that a boast," Guy answered, "but I
+might have known, that there could never exist any affinity between you
+two."
+
+They had reached the doorway now, and Guy took the little hand Honor
+extended within his own--
+
+"Good night," he said, and then rubbing her fingers caressingly between
+his warm palms, he said reproachfully:
+
+"I have kept you too long, have I not, your hands are so cold?"
+
+"Never mind that," she answered sadly, "that is not the coldness which
+makes us suffer most, if you never make me feel any other coldness than
+this, we will be good friends all our lives."
+
+"Trust me," he answered earnestly, "that time will never come, Honor,
+when my coldness will chill you, the coldness of death will come upon me
+first."
+
+Then their lips met again, and with a fond good-night, they parted.
+
+Honor stole back to the little room within. She had not been an hour
+away altogether, and yet it seemed to her she was a dozen whole years
+older in experience. The night air had brought a ruddy glow into her
+pale face, and the happy tale of love just gathered from Guy's lips had
+kindled a light of dazzling beauty in her eyes.
+
+When she returned to the ball room, leaning on the arm of a fussy old
+bachelor whom she had intercepted on the way, everyone noticed how
+bright and happy she looked, and the would-be sages shook their heads
+and envied Vivian Standish in their hearts for having captured such a
+prize of rare beauty and goodness.
+
+It seemed quite _apropos_ also that Vivian and Honor should evade one
+another for the rest of the night, this they did, though not in a
+remarkable way, for Honor was too worldly-wise to betray herself before
+a ball-room full of people. Their mutual separation gave other young
+enthusiasts ample chance to amuse themselves with each other.
+
+Vivian Standish moved through the crowd with the same placid, self
+sufficient smile that he always wore, he was just as interesting and as
+gay as ever, and to the delight of all the young "fancy free" ladies,
+sought their society more generously during the rest of this evening at
+Mr. Rayne's than he had ever done since rumor linked him with Honor
+Edgeworth.
+
+Miss Mountainhead, who had always had a wild enthusiasm for Vivian
+Standish without ever being able to form his acquaintance, followed his
+graceful figure greedily with her calculating eyes through the crowded
+room to-night. She felt that before this entertainment ended she would
+have met and spoken to him, and she was beginning to exult therein
+already. As she sat cogitating thus, a group of young men formed
+themselves a little in front of her: looking up, she saw Vivian
+Standish, who was amusing the rest, with some droll quotation. Little
+did she realize what she was contemplating in this deceptive face, what
+a perfect practitioner he was in the art of seeming and appearing,
+commanding his outside as he did, with an ease that did him credit! No
+one except Honor in all that gay coterie, had ever seen him disconcerted
+or in a dilemma, even at this very moment, who could tell? not even Miss
+Mountainhead, who studied him so closely, that he was racked by painful
+emotions while he was causing merriment to this little group of friends.
+
+It was a splendid opportunity for Miss Gerty's introduction. Bob Apley,
+her cousin, stood very near her listening to the fun. He knew perfectly
+well how she longed for this gratification, and yet he would not give it
+to her now when he had such a golden opportunity. She had waited long
+enough for him to seek her out, but all in vain she resolved not to let
+this night pass without satisfying herself.
+
+While she seemingly listened with all cold serenity of countenance to
+Madame d'Alberg's commonplace remarks, she quietly stretched out her
+blue satin slipper and proceeded to impress her negligent cousin with
+the fact that she wanted him to fulfil an old promise of his; not
+heeding her first gentle reminder, she turned her face with its eager
+listening expression, very pronouncedly to Madame d'Alberg and repeated
+the movement with an increased emphasis, resolved to make him notice her
+before she gave up.
+
+With a curious, puzzled expression on his face, Vivian Standish turned
+to see who could be paying such marked attentions to his shining
+"pomps," but his surprise only augmented a hundred-fold on seeing the
+guilty slipper of a young lady with whom he was not acquainted. She was
+fanning herself violently as he turned, and without looking back she
+muttered behind her fan in his direction "can't you introduce me?"
+
+The whole situation burst upon him in a moment, he knew her to be
+acquainted with every other one in the crowd but himself, and her satin
+slipper had mistaken him, in its errand, for her "cousin Bob," leaving
+the impression on his foot. It was too good a situation to forfeit, so
+taking Bob Apley by the shoulder, he turned him around and said--"Miss
+Mountainhead, allow me to introduce my friend Mr Apley." The poor girl
+looked aghast; her confusion left her speechless.
+
+"Is this not the one?" Vivian queried provokingly, "you see I didn't
+understand from dainty slipper, which friend you could mean."
+
+He had managed that no one heard the joke besides Apley and themselves,
+but she looked more to be pitied over it than any sea-sick maiden she
+blushed and stammered, and got confused by turns, until Vivian artfully
+shifted the topic and asked her for the pleasure of the next dance.
+
+The night sped on, and the Christmas festivities at Mr. Rayne's came to
+a close. No one was any the wiser of the difference that it had caused
+between Honor and Vivian, each had succeeded well in deceiving curious
+eyes, and in puzzling the suspicious, jealous ones who surrounded them.
+
+Amid many glad greetings of "merry Christmas," Honor's guests departed
+after having enjoyed a most glorious evening in the house of her
+hospitable guardian.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXXVII.
+
+
+  "The true
+  And steadfast love of years,
+  The kindly, that from childhood grew,
+  The faithful to our tears"
+
+  _--Mrs Heman_
+
+The day after the ball, to the great grief of his devoted household,
+Henry Rayne was much weaker than usual. His tasty, tempting breakfast
+went back untouched to the kitchen. Although he had not gone down last
+night to the scene of gaiety below, his intimate and privileged friends
+had visited him in his own apartments above, and the reaction of this
+excitement had assumed alarming features to-day.
+
+Honor hastened to his side the moment she had finished a hurried toilet.
+She got herself impatiently into a wrapper of dark red cashmere, which
+fastened at the waist with cords and heavy tassels. A little ruffle of
+lace bound her throat, and her feet were thrust into dainty slippers,
+her beautiful hair hung in two long braids down her back, making a
+perfect picture of her _en deshabille_. She walked stealthily to the
+door of the sick room, and seeing the dim eyes of her loved invalid
+looking at her, wide open, she ventured in. She advanced slowly to the
+large chair on which he sat, and half-seating herself on the cushioned
+arm, she threw her arms around his neck and asked in a melancholy voice,
+"how he felt this morning?"
+
+"They tell me you are not so well, to-day, is that true, dear old pet,
+when I have come to wish you the brightest, happiest Christmas day that
+will be spent on earth?"
+
+The dim eyes of the old man turned lovingly on her for a moment, his
+lips trembled and his voice was suspiciously shaky as he answered,
+
+"Oh, 'tis nothing to dread, my darling; I am only a little weaker,
+that's all."
+
+"Yes; but that's a great deal," Honor retorted, "and we must try all we
+can to restore you before to-morrow. You were getting on so nicely. I
+wonder what can have made the difference."
+
+"Why, you'll quite spoil me," the gentle voice tried to say jestingly,
+but the eyes closed languidly and the head drooped helplessly back among
+the cushions. Two great, round tears stood in Honors eyes, she bowed her
+head over the suffering form, and kissed the clammy brow of the
+invalid--she tried to say something of encouragment, but great sobs of
+stifled anguish choked the passage in her throat.
+
+A moment after, the sick man raised his lids wearily and looked on the
+girl's clouded face.
+
+"My dear little one," he faltered, as he saw the wet lashes and the
+trembling lips, "I think, after all, you love your old friend a little
+bit."
+
+Honor tried to smile through her tears--it was like a little rainbow
+bursting through the clouds. She knelt down beside him, and looking up
+earnestly into his face, said,
+
+"You _must_ get better, if 'twere only for my sake. I did not realize
+before as I do now how essential you are to my very existence. I shudder
+to imagine life without you, and yet if you do not eat and nourish
+yourself during these days, you cannot--" but she would not say the
+fearful word--her head fell on his shoulder, and she burst into tears.
+
+"My darling!" muttered the unsteady voice of the invalid, "life was
+never so seductive to me as it is now, there was a time when I did not
+much mind whether I lived or died, but that was before I had you,--since
+you have begun to share my solitary life, turning it's dark, dreary
+nights into days of happy brightness, I have seen it with other eyes. I
+have resigned my days as they passed, one by one, with a greedy,
+unwilling resignation, because I had learned to prize them and to love
+them, after I had prized and loved you; but, now!--if I must give them
+up all at once and forever, I am not going to grumble." A low sob of
+suppressed pain escaped the girl's lips. "I have had more comfort in
+this world than I ever counted upon," he continued, "I have not known
+poverty or destitution, and since a merciful Creator has spared me from
+so many briars and thorns of life, I must be doubly resigned to leave
+the comforts I have so undeservedly enjoyed, and obey His call."
+
+"Oh! dear Mr. Rayne!" sobbed the girl, "do not, pray do not speak like
+that, you are so low-spirited to-day. You will be quite well yet, you
+are strong enough to battle with a little illness. Don't say you are
+going to leave me so willingly--such a thing would break my heart," and
+bowing her head on her folded arms, she wept silently and bitterly.
+
+After a moment of painful pause, Henry Rayne raised the drooped head and
+said in a tender, loving accent,
+
+"We are distressing one another, my darling, run away now, and distract
+yourself elsewhere. I have much to think about." Honor turned to do as
+she was bid, but she had barely reached the door when she heard the
+feeble voice of her guardian calling her back. When she stood before him
+again, his eyes wore a pensive, distracted look, and his voice was
+wonderfully serious, as he asked,
+
+"Honor, do you love me now, think you, just as you would have loved your
+own father, had he lived?"
+
+Clasping her hands in an attitude of thoughtful attention, she answered,
+
+"Have you had any reason to doubt it, my more than father?--have I, in
+word or deed, ever caused the slightest shade of disappointment to
+darken your brow, that you deem this question necessary?"
+
+"Tis none of these, my little one," he answered tenderly, "but your
+words reassure me, and I like to hear you say them"--then changing his
+tone suddenly, to one of pleading enquiry, he asked. "If I were to wish
+you to do me a great favor, Honor, which involved the sacrifice of your
+own feelings, and the risk of your future happiness, but that, I did so,
+merely on account of my great love for you, do you think, you could be
+so unselfish, so grand, as to slight every other consideration for mine,
+and grant me my wild wish?"
+
+With a little wistful, puzzled look on her face, she answered "There is
+no word of binding promise, that it is possible for my lips to utter,
+nor no deed bespoken before its committal, by your request or command,
+that you may not consider, as wholly yours beforehand, for the
+confidence that you have deserved I should place in you, assures me,
+that you will ask nothing of me, which is not thoroughly consistent with
+my welfare and happiness."
+
+"What a noble creature you are!" the old man exclaimed faintly, then
+turning, and looking her tenderly in the face, he said "I understand,
+then, that very soon, when I make a request of you, you will not deny me
+the extreme gratification of giving my request due consideration?"
+
+Impulsively, frankly, innocently, Honor thrust her little hands into
+those of her guardian, and smiling half sadly, said "A promise is a
+promise--there is mine."
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXXVIII.
+
+
+  "Hark! the word by Christmas spoken,
+  Let the sword of wrath be broken,
+  Let the wrath of battle cease,
+  Christmas hath no word but--Peace"
+
+Christmas day was unusually gloomy at Mr Rayne's this year, but it was
+quite a voluntary stillness, that reigned there; no one felt gay, or
+happy, while the loved master of the house was so low. Jean d'Alberg
+stole around in velvet slippers, and the others scarcely moved at all,
+as for Honor, she lived in the _boudoir_ below stairs lying awake on the
+cosy lounge, dreaming all sorts of day dreams, while she awaited the end
+of this painful interruption in their domestic happiness.
+
+The sky was slightly overcast with soft, gray clouds, but the day was
+fine, and Honor watched the happier passers-by, through the large window
+opposite, with a lazy, aimless interest.
+
+Vivian did not come at all, as might have been expected, in fact the day
+was one of the most unusual, that had ever been passed within the walls
+of this cheerful home.
+
+Circumstances mould our lives so strangely and capriciously, that we are
+ever doing things, which in after moments surprise ourselves those
+unplanned, unplotted, spontaneous deeds of ours that spring from the
+natural source of action, directly as it is influenced by some passing
+circumstance of moment! These are where the true character is betrayed,
+and the mind and heart laid bare, in their most genuine state.
+Afterwards, when everything is past and done, we can judge of ourselves
+at will, we can regret the golden opportunities, we so foolishly
+squandered, or we can wonder at the strength and magnanimity, that we
+had unconsciously displayed in the hour of trial. Only, we know, that
+such little moments of an existence have but one passage through time,
+and their foot-prints are indelible, on that well-trodden shore, be
+they, then pleasant or bitter, to think upon, they must hold their place
+in our memory, but once, and forever, there is no going back over the
+mistaken path; the weak steps that have faltered and staggered where
+they should have been firm and strong, may act as melancholy guides, for
+the future, but their own deformity is as immortal as the spirit.
+
+This period of Honor Edgeworth's life, fully exemplified these strange
+theories, as she lay, during the long, dreary hours of these anxious
+days, peering, with the eyes of her soul, into the dark and mystic
+realms of the unrealized. There are moments when we seem to coax stern
+destiny, into a lively confidence, and in one passing glimpse, she shows
+us many closely-written pages of the "to be."
+
+Experience comes to us in a reverie, or in a dream, and we raise
+ourselves up from that couch, in a stupid wonder, but our hair has
+turned white, hard lines mark the once smooth features, we are sadder,
+wiser, more cautious men, but I doubt if it has made us any better. The
+halo of golden sunlight that hope sheds over the future, has a holier
+influence over our present life, than the shadows of suspicion and
+distrust, with which anticipations of evil and darkness, cloud the vista
+of coming years.
+
+For a young girl, the possible phases that life may assume is one long
+mystery and dread. She knows that while she sits in patience and
+quietude, her destiny is being surely and irrevocably woven by other
+hands. She will have no bread to earn, no battle to brave, no struggle
+to conquer, the thorns and briars on the path far ahead are trampled by
+other feet, and plucked by other hands, and when the miles have been
+cleared and trodden, the unknown laborer comes forth from his obscurity,
+and humbly asks her to arise from her quiet nook, to shake off the
+inactivity of her maidenhood, and to tread the beaten path with him.
+
+After this, if a stray obstacle comes in the way, there are two pairs of
+hands to gather, two pair of feet to trample whatever obstructs the
+smoothness of their onward path, each growing stronger and more willing
+for the others sake, 'till they reach the tedious journey's end, content
+and happy.
+
+All this Honor tried to see clearly and impartially. It had pleased
+destiny to send back him whom she loved more than all the world besides,
+and to send him back unaltered, except that he was handsomer, truer, and
+more devoted than ever.
+
+The precious secret, that she had guarded for so long, and with such a
+jealous care, had been coaxed from its hiding-place over the threshold
+of her lips, and henceforth life meant something vastly different from
+what it had hitherto been. She had died, as it were, to her old self,
+she would be re-created to that life of holy mysteries, henceforth a
+double mission awaited her, double hopes, double fears, those little
+untried hands--and she raised them before her--must work two shares in
+the task of life, but there was no discouragement in the thought. Those
+who have loved as earnestly as she did, will understand why, for there
+is a secret courage, and a secret strength, for those who have learned
+to cherish the image of another, and to work out another's welfare.
+
+There is a fortitude born on the altar-step, whereon the wedded pair has
+knelt, to speak the marriage vows, that none but the wedded can know,
+that none but souls bound together in a holy wedlock can understand, the
+fortitude that endures in the breast of a woman, through all the fierce
+struggles of her married life, that dies only with the last long sigh of
+relief at the hour of physical death, that is unquenched by the ashes of
+misery and woe that fall on its flickering flame, from time to time, the
+fortitude that thrives on sacrifice and endurance, and which if governed
+by christian motives, becomes a pass-port for the tried soul, before
+Heaven's far-off gate.
+
+Honor felt beforehand, that the active life which lay untouched in the
+future for her, was to be sweeter, and happier far, than the passive
+existence of her girlhood. Matrimony, in her eyes, was a state of such
+sublime responsibilities, that she could spare her thoughts to no other
+consideration during these dreary hours of anxious solitude.
+
+She spent her whole days in sketching the hereafter, just as she would
+have it. Already she was planning her wifely duties, and asking herself
+how she should learn to be always as interesting and as dear to her
+husband as she was to her lover. She invented modes of amusement and
+distraction, that would make home cheerful and fascinating for him,
+resolving within herself, that, if it lay in woman's power, to attract
+and bind a man's heart to his fireside, in preference to the old haunts
+of his pleasures, she would do it.
+
+Two days of close, concentrated, uninterrupted thought, did not leave
+Honor unchanged. Her face grew serious in its beauty, her step was
+slower, her conversation less gay, and the distraction of visiting a
+sick-room, caused no happy re-action to her pensiveness.
+
+It was now the twenty-seventh of December, a wet, rainy, raw day, fine,
+straight lines of persistent rain fell with a dreary drip on the snow's
+hard crust, pedestrians with their frozen umbrellas, slipped and slid
+along in ill-humor; shop-girls and others, who were out from sheer
+necessity, sped along with smileless faces, and frozen ulster-tails,
+sulking as they jerked from one icy elevation to another in the flooded
+slippery walk, and raising their upper lips in ungraceful curves, as
+their straightened curls stood out in painful stiffness, or fell in wet,
+clinging bits over their eyes.
+
+Honor shuddered, and shrugged her shoulders as she turned away from the
+window, and threw herself into a large chair beside the lounge whereon
+was the sleeping form of her invalid guardian. The girls' face wore a
+look of dread and anxiety, something of painful impatience hovered
+around her mouth, and her eyes looked tired and sad, as she laid her
+head languidly back among the cushions.
+
+"How long he sleeps!" she murmured anxiously, "I don't like this
+listlessness that has come over him lately; he dozes now all the time."
+Then springing quietly up, she stole over to the low couch, and stooped
+down beside the sleeping figure, she rested her chin thoughtfully in her
+hand and looked earnestly and lovingly into his face. The eyes were only
+half closed, the breathing was loud and labored, now and then the lips
+moved convulsively, as if in an effort to speak. Something so unnatural
+and so forboding dwelt on his kind, dear features, that a racking pain
+seized the girl's heart as she looked, her throat filled up, and hot,
+blinding tears welled into her eyes.
+
+What is there sadder or more painful, than the quiet, tearful vigils
+that some dear one keeps by the sick bed of the unconscious invalid.
+With scalding tears in her eyes, and a burning misery in her heart, the
+sorrowful mother stoops over the doomed form of her sleeping child,
+gently chafing the fevered hands, tenderly cooling the flushed and
+fevered brow; softly pressing the trembling lips on the clammy cheek of
+her darling, driving back her agony with a heroic cruelty, lest a sob or
+a sigh, or a falling tear disturb the quiet slumber of the little one
+she loves. A mother and her child, a wife and her husband are never
+drawn so closely together, one never seems so truly a part of the other,
+as during a moment like this. It seems her baby has never looked so
+fair, so faultless in its mother's eyes, as when 'tis viewed through the
+blinding tears, that its sufferings and illness have brought into those
+searching eyes. A husband's follies and trifling neglects are never so
+generously forgiven and forgotten, as when, on bended knee, the wife he
+has loved peers greedily, devouringly into the shadowy face, when
+clouded by suffering and pain and so it is through all the grades of
+binding love we never know how dear our parent, brother, sister, friend
+or lover is, until we have watched the weakened forms struggling with
+some dread disease, the filmy eyes are then so full of mute appeal, the
+faint accents of the poor weak voice thrill our hearts with sympathy and
+love, the pressure of the feeble hand is most powerful in drawing us
+back, soul to soul, and heart to heart, as though neither of us had ever
+done such a very human thing, as to wrong one another. Honor tried to
+think, while she watched through her tears, what it would be to live,
+without this precious friend forever nigh, to guide and comfort her. In
+all the days of their happiness together, they had never spoken of the
+time when a separation must come the farthest flight her fancy ever
+took, into the distant future, still found her existence blended with
+Henry Rayne's. To her, he was now no older, no weaker than he was that
+day, long ago, when first she laid her eyes upon him; and now the
+horrible possibility of a cruel separation, thrust itself between her
+tears and the quiet unconscious face before her.
+
+While she watched, sunk in a melancholy reverie, the bell of the hall
+door gave a great ring, which startled her suddenly, it also awoke the
+sleeper who looked vacantly into the tear-stained face, and smiled
+sadly. Honor got on her knees, and looked anxiously at the worn features
+"How do you feel, my dearest?" she said with an effort to be calm, "Any
+better?"
+
+"I shall soon be better than I ever was before," he answered quietly,
+but so seriously that Honor suspected the terrible meaning of his words.
+
+"Don't you feel at all livelier or stronger?" she asked in a despairing
+tone. "You know you were so down-hearted yesterday. Do say you feel a
+little relieved?" But before he could answer, Fitts appeared in the
+doorway, with the letters and packages of the morning delivery. Two were
+for Honor, and all the rest were Henry Rayne's. She had only given a
+careless glance at hers, but that sufficed to make her heart beat a
+great deal faster, and her eyes to sparkle suspiciously. Stooping over
+the figure of the invalid, she kissed the heated brow gently, and went
+out, leaving him with his important correspondence. She stole down to
+the library and gathered herself into a great easy chair, and then,
+drawing her letters deliberately from her pocket, she broke their seals
+and straightened out their creases. One was a delicate little note from
+a girl-friend, which, at any other time, would have been a pleasant
+distraction, but which was now refolded and replaced in its dainty
+envelope, unappreciated and uncared for. The other--oh, the other! with
+its dear familiar outlines, looking almost lovingly into her eyes--"My
+darling Honor," just as his voice pronounced it. Her hands trembled
+slightly while they held the quivering sheet, from which she read in
+silent rapture. When she had finished, and looked at it, and examined it
+over and over again, she dropped her hands carelessly in her lap and
+said half aloud.
+
+"What _is_ the mystery in all this? I must write and tell him when we
+expect Vivian again. This is queer! but then Guy knows best--oh yes! Guy
+surely knows best."
+
+Towards five o'clock of this same afternoon Vivian Standish was
+announced by Fitts. To every ones surprise, Mr. Rayne admitted him to
+his presence, though he was feeling more debilitated and ill than usual,
+and what was more astonishing still, they remained for upwards of two
+hours closeted in close conversation. They never raised their voices nor
+made themselves heard during the whole interview, but talked steadily
+and quietly all the while. Finally Madame d'Alberg, thinking the
+exertion too much for her patient, bustled into the room and intimated
+as much to Vivian in the mildest possible terms.
+
+As she expected, Henry Rayne was much weakened by the effort and refused
+to speak or take any nourishment for the rest of the afternoon. He dozed
+lazily and languidly until nine o'clock, and then waking somewhat
+refreshed, he turned towards Jean d'Alberg, who sat knitting by his
+side, and smiled pleasantly.
+
+"I hope I see you in a better humor than before, you dear old bear," she
+said quizzingly. "I thought you would eat me up a while ago for bringing
+you a bowl of rich broth"
+
+"I suppose I do bore you at times, Jean," he said penitently.
+
+"Well, I should say you did," she sighed in mock heroism, "why, you are
+the crossest, and crankiest and sulkiest patient it was ever a woman's
+misfortune to nurse. Come now--I am going to dose you with this beef
+tea, just for refusing me awhile ago." Her quick blustering way always
+amused and aroused him, and he yielded more easily to her than to the
+others, but her hand was somewhat nervous to-day as she administered the
+nourishing liquid. She, too, saw the ominous shadows of a serious change
+in the pale, wasted face.
+
+"Why, you are as feeble almost as myself!" he tried to exclaim, "see how
+your hand shakes."
+
+"It is that knitting," she answered distractedly, "but I must finish
+those silk stockings for Honor's New Year's gift, so I hurry them up
+while I can sit in here alone."
+
+"For Honor, eh!" he said so pathetically, that the words moved her. "I
+believe you love her too, Jean?"
+
+"Indeed I do, Henry, she is half my life to me now."
+
+"Thank God," he said, falling back on the pillows, "she will not be so
+utterly alone when I--" but he turned his face to the wall and stifled
+the terrible word.
+
+Jean shuddered. Suddenly he turned back again, and looking very
+earnestly at the motherly woman beside him, he began:
+
+"You will be good and generous to her all her life, will you not, Jean?
+Spare her all the pain and care and trouble you can, poor little one,
+she cannot bear much, cherish her always as you do to-day and she will
+not be ungrateful. Remember that she was all I had in life: property,
+riches and fame were as naught to me, except inasmuch as they were
+conducive to her welfare. And now that I must give them all up--"
+
+"Whatever can you mean, Henry Rayne, talking such nonsense; it is a
+shame, you are the very one will bury us all yet."
+
+He shook his head feebly. "No Jean, I will never see the spring-time,"
+he said sadly. "Life is dear to me," he continued, "I would not now
+renounce it if I need not, but there is an Almighty will to whose power
+the mightiest mortal must yield without complaint. I have tasted life's
+bitter and sweet for three-score years and more, and I must not grumble
+now when I am called to leave down my weapons and tools. Other hands
+must tackle the unfinished task, my share is completed."
+
+"You are depressed in spirits to-day," said Jean d'Alberg consolingly,
+"the sun has gone down, and the darkness always makes you feel blue, but
+to-morrow you will have abandoned these gloomy reflections."
+
+"I will never abandon them now, until they be realised facts to me," he
+interrupted wearily--then in a low soliloquy he rambled on, "oh, Honor,
+Honor! it is only you who beckon me back from the road to eternity, and
+poor weak mortal that I am, I sigh for you, in preference to the bright
+promises of a land, where I can benefit you more than I ever could
+here;" then addressing Jean again, he said, "will you tell Honor that I
+will speak a few serious words with her in the morning--you can tell her
+too, for fear she would be surprised, that Vivian will be present at the
+time."
+
+"I will Henry," Jean d'Alberg answered quietly, rising to prepare the
+invalid's drinks. As the darkness crept down over the cold, dark
+streets, Mr Rayne swallowed his evening remedies and retired for the
+night.
+
+As soon as her charge was snugly gathered into bed, Jean d'Alberg,
+leaving Fitts in his dressing-room, went quietly in search of Honor. She
+found her sitting on a low stool, before the grate in the sitting-room,
+with her elbows resting on her knees and her head buried in both hands.
+stealing behind her she drew back the bowed head, and looked into the
+girl's eyes.
+
+"Tears!" she said in amazement, "why are you in tears, my darling?"
+
+"Don't think me weak and foolish, dear aunt Jean," Honor said, trying to
+laugh it off, "but I was thinking if Mr. Rayne, as I sat here alone, and
+with the thoughts, the tears came."
+
+Jean looked more serious, than Honor had hoped to see her as she said.
+
+"Well, my dear, trouble comes to the best of us, some time in life. If
+you hadn't it now, you would have it later, and it makes a less painful
+and durable impression on the heart while it is young."
+
+"But, dear aunt Jean," faltered the girl, looking imploringly into the
+elder woman's face, "do you really think that Mr. Rayne is _seriously_
+ill, I mean--" and as the tears flooded her eyes, Jean d'Alberg kissed
+her fondly and answered,
+
+"My dear little girl, he is in God's hands, could he be in better?
+Whatever is best for him, that kind Father will give to him, let us hope
+and pray--I have just come to you with a message from him--"
+
+"Oh! what is it?" Honor interrupted eagerly.
+
+"He merely said, that he wanted to speak a few words to you in the
+morning," she said unpretendingly, then going towards the door, she
+looked over her shoulder, and added, in such an artful, careless tone,
+"and Vivian Standish will be there too, I understand."
+
+The light in the room was dim and subdued, or Jean d'Alberg would have
+noticed a strange expression flit across Honor's face at the mention of
+this news, but the turned down light protected her.
+
+Jean d'Alberg had undergone a wonderful transformation since the day on
+which she took up her residence in Henry Rayne's house. A little
+susceptibility was yet flickering, at that time, in the heart that had
+grown so hardened and selfish, and she had brought it to a spot, where
+such lingering propensities were easily fanned by every passing
+circumstance, fanned and fed, until the broad flame was forced to burst
+out afresh, and consume the harshness and bitterness that had once dwelt
+with them. Her former virtues budded now anew into a second childhood,
+adorning her advancing years with gentle, lovable, womanly attributes,
+that endeared her to every one she knew, and rendered her indispensable
+to Honor who had learned to find in her all the qualities of a kind,
+good mother.
+
+Thinking this message that she had just brought Honor needed
+consideration, Aunt Jean very properly made a trifling excuse to leave
+the room, much to the distracted girl's relief and satisfaction.
+
+"So--the hour has come," she thought bitterly, when she was left alone,
+"he has appealed to the only one for whose sake he knows I would lay
+down my very life" and out of this bitter reflection, the meaning of the
+strange interview she had held with her guardian so shortly before
+rushed upon her in an entirely new light. _Now_ she knew what Mr Rayne
+meant by the "favor," which involved the sacrifice of personal feeling
+and inclination. Yes, _now_ she recognized herself the dupe of the man
+she had so proudly rejected still, in all the bitterness of her
+reflection she had not felt one reproach against Henry Rayne suggest
+itself within her. She knew him too well now, to suspect anything else
+than that in some way he too was tangled in deceptive webs. If a promise
+from her lips was spoken at his request, she knew that the motive within
+his heart was nothing, if not her personal happiness, her future
+welfare, or her gratification for the moment. Still, all that could not
+cancel the obstinate fact now so bare before her, that in giving her
+word to her guardian at the time it was sought, she had given the lie to
+her own heart, and had signed the death warrant of her own most sanguine
+hopes. Now she must leave her destiny to chance. She would keep her
+promise--aye, to the very letter--if nothing happened before this
+terrible to-morrow, she would lay her life at the feet of her
+benefactor, to dispose of it as he deemed best. Guy Elersley was the man
+she loved, the only being in the whole wide world that influenced her
+life, but if it were her fate to be the victim of deception then with
+the mightiest strength of a womans will will she would cast his image
+out of her heart forever. She would live for the man she loathed, a life
+of voluntary martyrdom. The struggle would benefit her in any case. If
+it were too violent an exertion for her moral nature, it would, in its
+pitiless mercy relieve her of her burden of life, and fold her weak
+hands over her broken heart forever. If, on the contrary, her moral and
+physical strength held bravely out to the painful end, the struggle
+would cease after the crisis, and leave her unburdened, unfettered,
+hardened, cynical, cold, selfish, but unsusceptible, and incapable of
+ever being influenced again by any sentiment or passion, and this
+terrible experience promised, in any case to visit her but once in her
+whole lifetime.
+
+While she thought, she remembered the little note Guy had written her
+that morning, telling her to let him know when her next meeting with
+Vivian Standish should take place. Instinctively she rose up, as if to
+leave the room. What could it matter now to either her or Guy whether
+they had ever loved each other or not? Was it not the only misery of her
+life that her love had come between her and the will of her kind
+guardian? Duty is such a sober piece of heroism when one's affections,
+one's very heart-core are not its sacrifice. The conscientious can go
+bravely forth to the stern call of duty, the obedient follow out
+unhesitatingly its command, the virtuous seek it out to accomplish it,
+but when apart from these moral qualities the heart stands out, a weak
+victim of passion, that passion that clings to the things it loves, that
+lives because they live, when a heart thus circumstanced is assailed on
+both sides, when love and duty put forth their respective claims, who
+sneers because the noblest, grandest heart gives itself up vith a groan
+of wretched resignation to the fascination of its love? Men may talk,
+pens may write, bards may sing of magnanimous deeds in the abstract. In
+theory we are most of us saints, if we had been our neighbors, we would
+never have had a fault, but being each one our own miserable,
+unfortunate self, we must fling ourselves into the open arms of
+temptation, at the same moment that contrition fills our heart for the
+rash deed.
+
+Of Honor Edgeworth the reader might expect wonderful moral courage. May
+be, he too has faith in the fallacious doctrine of worldlings--that he
+believes good souls have not their struggles. The world generally shrugs
+its shoulders in the face of the virtuous, and declares that in the
+hearts of the good there is no moral struggle equal to that which quakes
+the breast of the evil-doer, but to assure itself of its terrible error,
+it must play the part of the publican and learn to subdue its passions
+under a mask.
+
+Honor had determined upon doing the right thing, but she was not perfect
+enough to stifle the burning sensations that were caused by such a
+determination. She turned from where she stood and walked mechanically
+towards the window. The ceaseless drip, drip of the rain on the frozen
+ground had nothing in it to comfort her, it was pitch dark, and with a
+shrug and a shiver, she turned wearily away with a long, sobbing sigh
+and left the room. She crossed the hall into the library, which was
+quite deserted, though the gas burned, and a bright fire cast shadows on
+the ceiling and walls around. Throwing herself into an arm-chair before
+Henry Rayne's handsome _ecritoire,_ she drew from a tiny drawer a
+delicate sheet of note paper, upon which her trembling hand, traced
+nervously--
+
+"My DEAR GUY--"
+
+Then without waiting or thinking a moment, she hastily wrote on--
+
+"I have just received the intelligence that I am to be interviewed
+to-morrow morning by Mr Rayne and Vivian Standish. It may be
+rather late to tell you now, but I did not hear of it until a
+few moments ago. Mr Rayne never leaves his room before eleven,
+when he sometimes comes down for lunch--that will probably be
+the hour of the interview.
+
+"I see no earthly use in sending you this information, except
+that you have asked me to do so, and _you_ know best.
+                                      Ever your devoted
+                                                    HONOR."
+
+She folded it, and sealed it in a dainty little envelope, then thrusting
+it into her pocket she went quietly into the kitchen and closed the
+door.
+
+Mrs Potts, sitting artistically on the edge of a yellow-scoured kitchen
+table, opened her small eyes in blank astonishment at the unexpected
+visitor. She was surrounded by clippings and sheets of paper, which she
+scolloped quite tastily to fit the broad shelves of her tidy dresser. As
+soon, however, as Honor crossed the threshold of her _sanctum_, she
+skipped down with an agility that would have done credit to a woman
+twenty years her junior, and wiping the palms of her accommodating hands
+emphatically in her blue-check apron, she advanced to receive Honor's
+orders.
+
+"Go upstairs like a good soul, Potts," said Honor, in a hushed voice,
+"and walk very quietly, and tell Fitts I want him in the library."
+
+"I will, Miss," the old woman said respectfully, and as she stole up the
+back stairway on her errand, Honor returned as softly to the library,
+where she stood by the window awaiting Fitts.
+
+In another moment, the door opened, and with his most respectful bow,
+the man-servant entered the room. Honor's face was serious, and her gaze
+searching as she asked:
+
+"Fitts, will you do a little favor for me, without telling any one of
+it?"
+
+"I'm sorry, ye'd think it needful to ask me, Miss Honor, I'd rather,
+ye'd kno right well, that I'm only too proud when you ordher me, let
+alone, axm' me, as if I as your equals," and the poor fellow, looking
+half sorry as he spoke, touched the girl's heart.
+
+"Well, Fitts, I must first tell you a great secret, which I am sure you
+will be glad to hear," Honor said a little gaily Fitts scratched his ear
+and looked embarassed, "Mr. Elersley is back again in Ottawa."
+
+"Och don't I hope, 'tis yerself is in airnist, Miss Honor," the old man
+answered between smiles and tears, "is this really the truth?"
+
+"Without a doubt, Fitts, and to prove it for yourself, I am going to
+send you to him with this little note, he is staying at the 'Albion,' it
+is not far, see him yourself, it will please you both; I do not like to
+ask you to go out on such a dreadful night, but the message is
+important."
+
+"It will be the powerful queer night, Miss Honor, when I'll not like to
+go out on your little errands, and more particular when it's to see Mr.
+Guy that I have loved since he was a lad."
+
+"You are a good, devoted servant, Fitts," she answered, "go now, and
+don't be long, for you may be wanted."
+
+The man looked proudly at himself as he thrust her dainty note carefully
+into his inside pocket, and without further ado left the room.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXXIX.
+
+
+   "But bitter hours come to all,
+   When even truths like these will pall,
+   Sick hearts for humbler comfort call,
+   The cry wrung from thy spirits' pain,
+   May echo on some far off plain,
+   And guide a wanderer home again."
+                          --Proctor.
+
+Next morning, it was a bright and cheerful sun that streamed mat Honor's
+window, the rain had all passed away, and the air was mild and
+refreshing. Hastily dressing herself, Honor hurried to Mr. Rayne's door
+to ascertain how he had passed the night, but as she reached it, she met
+Aunt Jean coming out, with her forefinger on her lip, and whispering
+"Sh--sh--" in such premature warning, that Honor looked bewildered as
+she enquired the cause.
+
+"He is sleeping nicely now, run off, we must not disturb him, it is such
+a natural little sleep," Madame d'Alberg said in a low voice.
+
+"Oh, is that it?" Honor exclaimed in great relief, as she turned
+willingly away and followed Aunt Jean down the broad stairway.
+
+They took their silent little breakfast together, and then as Jean rose,
+to busy herself about the morning occupations, Honor bundled up a mass
+of pale blue wool, which she was resolving into a cloud, and went off to
+the library.
+
+How long she sat there she could hardly say--every now and then she
+discovered herself, with her hands resting idly on her work, and her
+eyes gazing vacantly into the space before her; faces, figures, scenes,
+were passing backward and forward, as she watched, sensations of every
+kind racked her whole being--but it is not surprising at all, when one
+considers her in her true light.
+
+People, like her, who have a tendency to intensity in all things have it
+most of all, in their loves, and hatreds, and no one can understand the
+nature of her emotions, but those who are themselves intense lovers or
+intense haters. He who has all his life, loved in a calm, cool,
+collected sort of way, has never known the acme of moral endurance.
+
+Maybe, the love that I allude to, is not felt more than once in a score
+of years, by any individual of a community, now-a-days love has been
+transformed as much as it was in other days, a transformer, men have
+invaded that dark solemn forest of the soul, where certain passions
+roamed in hungry fury, wild, and unfettered, these have been secured, in
+our day, and have been tamed and domesticated; our children play with,
+and fondle, these monsters, that were so dreaded in earlier centuries by
+gray-haired mortals; let them beware, there is a hypocrisy in this,
+since hypocrisy is coexistent with life in any of its phases, and some
+day, the petted tiger or lion will not feel like play, his old nature
+will seek to assert itself, and then woe to the victim of this terrible
+caprice.
+
+A sudden stamping in the hall outside, brought Honor quickly back to
+stern reality the footsteps vanished up the stairway, and she winced
+uncomfortably as she told herself it was Vivian Standish. Resolving to
+remain where she was until sent for, she re-applied herself vigorously
+to her work and avoided further distraction, but what was her amazement
+when, a few moments later, the door behind her opened, and Henry Rayne,
+leaning on the arm of Vivian Standish, entered the room. A cry of
+genuine surprise burst from her lips, as, scattering her mass of
+wool-work on the floor, she rushed to her guardian's side with joyful
+greetings.
+
+"Oh, I am so glad," she cried, "to see you downstairs this morning, how
+much better you must feel?"
+
+The feeble old man tried to smile cheerfully back as he said:
+
+"I have made this effort for your sake, my dear, whether I go back up
+those stairs again with a light or a heavy heart, depends on you."
+
+A shadow flitted over her face, then looking in supreme disgust on the
+man beside them, she answered,
+
+"On _me_? Then you know very well that your heart will be as light as a
+feather, going back."
+
+"Get me a chair, Vivian, boy," said the feeble voice of the invalid,
+turning toward Standish. He moved a step to do so, and had his hand on a
+low cushioned _fauteuil_, when Honor rushed before him and laid her hand
+on the other arm of the chair.
+
+"How can you ask a stranger to serve you, when I am by," she asked, half
+choked with sobs, of Henry Rayne, "What have I done to merit this?"
+
+As she clutched the opposite side of the chair, her eyes and Vivian's
+met, there was a flash of contempt and a look of defiant love, and then,
+with all her woman's strength, she wrestled the chair from his strong
+hold, and placed it behind her guardian. She refused to sit herself, the
+folding-doors leading to the drawing-room were partially closed and she
+stood against them, toying nervously with the massive handle near her.
+When quiet was restored, Henry Rayne began to speak. He seemed to pass,
+unnoticed, the confusion of a moment before, and said in the gentlest
+accents, addressing the girl.
+
+"Honor, we have come here this morning for the purpose of deciding a
+question which, of late, has received very serious consideration from
+your friend here, and myself. I am now growing old and feeble, and have
+all the indications of an early decay in my constitution. Since the
+first moment that you were given me as a responsibility and a grave
+charge, my mind has been in a constant worry, lest, in the smallest
+degree, I would not render you your due as your own father would have
+done. In all matters, I have tried, as well as I knew how, to place
+myself in that very relationship to you, and if I have not succeeded I
+could never know from you, for you have always been a kind, grateful,
+considerate daughter. What I am about to discuss now, is the very last
+thing, relative to you, that will abide by my decision. I have, since my
+recent illness, considered everything that could assist me in securing
+your welfare, before I go, and as well as my eager, though maybe, not
+overwise judgment can direct me, I think I have adopted the best plan of
+all, it needs only your sanction to complete it and set my mind at rest.
+I will not remind you of your promise to me, because, on second thought,
+I have learned that to ask you to sacrifice your own heart for my sake,
+would be enough to taunt me in the other world, so I will merely appeal,
+showing you that with what discretion some sixty odd years of tough
+experience have given me, I presume I can direct you now."
+
+The girl, standing motionless by the doorway, looked her guardian fully
+in the face; she struggled for a moment, a secret, hidden struggle, and
+then answered calmly: "My dear Mr Rayne, do you not know, that such an
+appeal as this, is unnecessary? If you have something to command of me,
+state it plainly, clearly, I will understand it better. You have, it is
+true, guided me with faultless judgment and discretion, you have been
+kind, and solicitous and careful from the first moment we lived
+together. What is it you now ask in return? What do I owe you for such
+devotion?"
+
+There was a faint ring of reproach in the words, as she uttered
+them--something which sounded as if she had said "yes, 'tis true you
+have done all this for me, but was your motive no worthier than to trust
+to these influences, for a power over me in the future?"
+
+A trifle sadder in his accent, Henry Rayne answered, "Do not put it like
+that Honor you pain me. It is not a debt--no, no! you have generously
+paid me, and overpaid the attention I lavished on you, but now, what I
+want to complete my earthly happiness is this." He beckoned to Vivian,
+and taking a hand of each, was about to join them, when Honor drew hers
+suddenly away, and turned pale with agitation.
+
+"I understand," she said huskily, "you wish me to marry _that_" pointing
+in Vivian's face. "Well, as there is nothing which I could refuse you, I
+must not refuse you this. It is well you have not asked me to love him,
+or to respect him, for that is beyond me, but if he wishes to secure me,
+after what he has learned from my own lips, he deserves that I should
+wed him, and the consequences of such a harmonious union."
+
+Vivian never moved a muscle; he sat silently, quietly listening to it
+all. Henry Rayne interrupted gently.
+
+"You are excited, Honor, and hence it is you speak thus, you will think
+better of it later. Do you promise me, then, to accept Vivian Standish
+as your husband, showing your faith in my discretion, and proving
+yourself dutiful to the end?"
+
+There was a pause of a second, the word was on the girl's lips; one
+other moment and her destiny was sealed: but suddenly a cry of
+"Villain!" broke through the doorway, and simultaneously, Guy Elersley
+appeared on the scene.
+
+"Villain!" he cried, collaring Vivian Standish, "how can you stand there
+and hear this girl give up her name and her honor, into such vile
+keeping. You are a coward and a blackguard, and I will prove it."
+
+Vivian Standish grasping the back of a chair, stared in furious
+amazement. Honor, with delighted surprise on her face, now stood
+defiantly up and looked proudly on, and Henry Rayne rubbed his misty
+eyes wonderingly, and peered into the face of the new-comer. An
+exclamation of great joy burst from Honor's lips.
+
+"Guy!" she cried, "you are just in time."
+
+"Guy!" repeated the old man, "did someone say Guy? Quick, tell me where
+is Guy? Guy! Guy!" and with the words the feeble head drooped upon his
+throbbing bosom, the eyelids closed wearily, he raised his wasted hands
+to his aching temples, and with a long, heavy sigh, fell backwards.
+
+Everything else was forgotten, for the ten minutes it took to revive Mr.
+Rayne. Honor, trembling with fright, supported his head on her bosom,
+and spoke appealingly to him. After a little his eyelids quivered and
+opened, he breathed again and sat up.
+
+"Are you better?" Honor asked, bending over him in great eagerness.
+
+"Yes, my dear," he answered kindly, "I am all right now, but where is
+Guy?"
+
+"Here I am," Guy said, advancing a step, "I hope you will pardon the
+manner in which I have entered your house, after years of absence, but I
+have come, and only just in time to vindicate the wrongs of poor, duped
+victims, and to rescue innocence from the foul grasp of corruption."
+
+"What do you mean, Guy?" his uncle asked in curious consternation.
+
+"I mean to tell my pain and my regret at knowing that while you have
+forbidden the shelter and comforts of your home to those of your own
+blood, who have committed deeds of harmless rashness, you have been
+welcoming and fostering with lavish generosity under your roof a vile
+man--a wolf in sheep's clothing!"
+
+"May I, as seeming somewhat concerned, ask who this is?" Vivian
+interrupted in the blandest tones, laying his arm on Guy's shoulder.
+
+"'Tis yourself" Guy cried, shaking him violently off, "you coward!
+villain! rogue!"
+
+"Guy, you mystify me," Henry Rayne said in strange wonder, "pray
+explain. Whatever can you mean by such queer conduct?"
+
+"'Tis a painful task, uncle, but I must do it. This man, in whom you
+have placed your trust, has foully wronged you. He thrust himself upon
+you with his deceiving manners, and you were content to take him thus.
+You never questioned him about the past, nor did he care to inform you
+of his swindling career."
+
+Honor trembled and turned pale. Vivian's eyes flashed fire, and he
+ground his teeth, while Henry Rayne only gazed in a stupid sort of
+wonder, while Guy enumerated these dreadful things.
+
+"He was not content," Guy continued, "to shake off that past, reeking
+with loathsome and dishonorable crimes, but he brought his knavery
+within these respectable walls--he dared to pay his attentions to your
+ward, and speak words of forbidden love into her ears, while the crime
+of having enticed as young and respectable a girl from her comfortable
+home, to swindle her out of thousands of dollars, which she owned, yet
+lay unexpiated on the black chapter of his heart."
+
+Guy scarcely pronounced the words when Vivian Standish sprang in mad
+fury towards him, crying--
+
+"Liar! slanderer!--your words are false!"
+
+"Pardon me, sir," Guy said, in mock courtesy, "for contradicting you,
+but" (going towards the door) "if you will allow me, I will prove my
+_false_ statements."
+
+All eyes followed him, and to their blank amazement, there stepped into
+the library from the room outside, a beautiful and sad looking young
+girl, plainly but neatly clad, and who was followed by two professional
+looking men, who stood on either side of her.
+
+Vivian Standish gave one quick, searching glance at the features of the
+young girl, and Honor saw in a moment how every tinge of color died out
+of his face, a grey, unearthly shadow crept over it, and his features
+assumed a set expression of misery which almost excited her to pity.
+
+"Do you recognize this _gentleman_, mademoiselle?" Guy said, addressing
+the girl, and pointing in mock civility to Vivian.
+
+"Oh! yes, sir--I do indeed," she answered in a sweet, melancholy voice,
+"it is Bijou--see! he recognizes me!"
+
+All eyes were turned on Vivian Standish. He trembled violently. He
+looked up once, while they all stared him so suspiciously, and that look
+was directed towards Honor; he saw her clear grey eyes buried in his
+tell-tale face. He leaned against the tall back of a chair unsteadily,
+hesitated a moment, and then addressing Henry Rayne, said, in a husky
+and trembling voice,
+
+"It would not avail me much to try my defence under these crushing
+circumstances, Mr Rayne, but at least I can have my say as well as the
+others. I admit that in years gone by, I was guilty of many things of
+which you did not suspect me, but a man is not supposed to disgrace
+himself for his whole life because he has at one time committed
+extravagant follies. I thought I had buried my past forever, or I should
+never have taken advantage of your hospitality as I have. Guilty as I
+was, I could not help being influenced by the fascination that bound me
+to your home--the resistless attractions of that girl," pointing to
+Honor. "I leave it now, disgraced, condemned, but at least, you, who are
+all so blameless, can consent not to crush me entirely. In administering
+justice, be a little kind, my misery is bitter enough--God knows!"
+
+Then Fifine de Maistre stepped forward and laid her hand on the shoulder
+of the wretched man.
+
+"Vivian Standish," she said, "you have wronged me, inasmuch as a man can
+wrong a woman; you have driven my good father to any early grave, and
+blighted every hope I had for the future, and though my heart lies
+shrivelled and dead where _you_ have left it, _I_ forgive you!"
+
+At these words, the look of hard contempt in every eye, melted into one
+of glowing admiration; tears stood in Honor's eyes, though she had worn
+such a merciless expression before, and Vivian Standish as he raised his
+face from his trembling hands, looked calmer and more resigned, he
+turned his eyes on the slight figure standing beside him, and said in a
+nervous voice of emotion,
+
+"May God bless you, Fifine, you can never regret these words."
+
+Henry Rayne's feeble voice was the next to be heard.
+
+"This strange, painful news," he said, "is a greater shock to me than
+anything else in the world that I could hear of. I have received you
+Standish, and treated you as an intimate friend of my family, and had
+you in return, confined your deceptions to myself, I might yet have
+forgiven you; but knowingly, to extend your treachery to that innocent
+and unsuspecting girl, aware, as you were that she was all in all to me,
+is a base ingratitude that living or dying, _I_ will never forgive. What
+would she have become? blighted in hopes, ruined in prospects for life,
+and by my urgent request too, that, she would have been very soon, but
+for--you," he said, turning towards Guy, "you, my boy, have saved my
+heart from breaking, though I did not deserve it from you. I suppose it
+is too late to seek your forgiveness now after I have judged you so
+hastily, and punished you so severely, but God knows, I have repented of
+it many a time since."
+
+His voice broke down, into a weak sob, and he bowed his head.
+
+"You think too harshly of me, uncle dear," Guy said, advancing, "for I
+have long ago forgotten the past; the day I left your house I took my
+first step to good fortune, and I have never regretted your severity
+since, though it pained me much at the time. It has all blown happily
+over now, however, and I have tried in a measure to atone for the folly
+of my past, let us learn a lesson for the future from the
+misunderstanding, but in every other respect let us forget that it has
+ever occurred."
+
+"Bless you, my noble boy," were the words his uncle answered, "you are a
+treasure, and I am proud to own you."
+
+Meantime, the other two gentlemen, stood watching the strange
+proceeding, until Guy, remembering them, said--addressing all present--
+
+"These gentlemen will explain their own presence."
+
+Whereupon, one of them, the most respectable of the two, stated in
+brief, business like terms, that "he had been the family lawyer of the
+Bencroft's for many years, and that previous to his recent demise,
+Nicholas Bencroft had laid information with him, against one Vivian
+Standish, for swindling him out of a considerable sum of money, and that
+he had come there to see the man identified by the one who knew him
+best--it being unnecessary now, to tell him, he concluded, that the
+punishment of his crime awaited him," he then drew back to make clear
+the way for his companion, who, as he advanced said,
+
+"And I sir, am the person engaged by the father of this young lady,
+previous to his death, to hunt up the mystery of his daughters'
+disappearance. The whole catalogue of her wrongs and misfortunes being
+attributed to you, you are my prisoner, until your trial has taken
+place."
+
+"May God help me!" came in heart-rending tones from the bowed face of
+the accused man. "It has all come down upon me together," he moaned,
+raising his trembling hands to his throbbing temples, then with one
+pitiful, appealing, contrite look he scanned the faces of all those
+present, and gave himself voluntarily up, a guilty man, a culprit. He
+was escorted out of the house where he had shone as a star in the days
+of his freedom, out of the spot which held all that his poor miserable
+heart could care for now. Vivian Standish, the bright comet of Ottawa's
+gay season, seated in a corner of that covered sleigh, on that bright
+morning, was a hopeless, ruined man, outcast, dejected, wretched.
+
+Fifine de Maistre, in her sad voice, spoke a touching farewell to Honor
+and Guy and Henry Rayne. The holy resignation of her words, and the
+Christian spirit in which she forgave her wrongs, had strangely edified
+her hearers. Mr. Rayne and Honor pressed her very hard to remain and
+share their hospitality longer, but this she gently declined to do, and
+with affectionate, grateful thanks to all, and to Guy in particular, she
+left the house in company with the serious looking elderly lady, who
+awaited her, the last but one of the interesting personages who had
+appeared in the closing scene of the strange drama of "a culprits life."
+
+When quiet was restored, and the din of accusing voices had ceased,
+Henry Rayne looked proudly up at the manly young fellow who stood before
+him, and said,
+
+"Guy, I can never thank God sufficiently for having sent you so
+fortunately, in time to interrupt the course of the terrible destiny
+that I was forcing on to my poor little girl. A little longer would have
+made all the difference of a lifetime--a young life shattered and
+crushed in its bloom, and some day _she_ would be justified in cursing
+my memory and my name, after I had tried, in blind love, to secure her
+unalloyed happiness. I cannot live to return you, in deeds of active
+merit, compensation for the good you have done me--that I know and
+regret, but in some way I must find a means of acknowledging all I owe
+you, my dear boy." Here he hesitated a little, and looking from one to
+the other of the young people standing before him, resumed.
+
+"I suppose I am more unworthy than ever, to express a wish or a hope
+now, but let me tell you, before I die, of the wild wish that animated
+my heart to the very end, the gratification of which, would be the
+summit of my earthly expectations."
+
+"What is it?" and "speak it!" broke, simultaneously, from the young
+people's lips.
+
+"'Tis this," he said, stretching out his feeble hands, and taking one of
+each in their nervous clasp, "'tis to join together both those little
+hands, by these, my old, trembling ones, that would so unconsciously
+have wronged them to knit them together in one holy link, that I might
+fasten, with the last remnant of my lifes strength--that is the old
+man's ambition now, the ambition of long ago, re-awakened and revived,
+the plan conceived before the clouds of dissension gathered over our
+happy home the plan re-conceived when the dark clouds have melted away
+into obscurity, and threaten us no more."
+
+The hands thus joined, this time lay willingly clasped together. Honor
+did not seek to snatch hers from the light, warm grasp that held it a
+prisoner, while Guy gathered in the little trembling fingers into his
+strong palm, as the miser does the yellow gold he has long coveted. The
+lovers looked meaningly at one another and then Guy, whose eyes were
+brimful of unspoken emotion answered his uncle saying,
+
+"You had said you could not live to compensate me for what I have just
+done. Now, let me tell you that twere worth a whole life-time of wrongs
+and misfortunes to me, if compensation meant _this_" and with these
+words he brought his other hand over the willing little captive he
+already held in one. "It has been the dream of my life too, uncle," he
+continued, "it has been the only hope that encouraged me through weary
+scenes of strife and disappointment, and if I can receive it from your
+own hand, and with your blessing, my cup of bliss vill indeed be filled
+to overflowing."
+
+"And you, little one?" Henry Rayne faltered, looking up at Honor through
+his tearful eyes.
+
+"I?" the girl answered with blushing, averted face, "It is the most I
+had over hoped for. Therein my happiness also dwells."
+
+The old man bowed his head for an instant, and then raised his eyes and
+scanned the face of his _protégée_ curiously.
+
+"Do you mean to tell me," he asked in profound astonishment, "that you
+have loved Guy Elersley through all these years?"
+
+"That I have," she answered firmly.
+
+"But--" began he.
+
+"I know what you would say," she interrupted quietly. "That a moment ago
+I was ready to sacrifice my love, to belie my heart, to crush my fondest
+hope--and that is true, indeed. I was a friendless, helpless, orphan
+child when you took me under your care, and watched me, and guided me,
+and gave me every comfort your happy home afforded, in everything you
+have proved yourself the most devoted friend in the world and knowing
+this, feeling, realizing this, as I did, could I on the mere account of
+natural prejudice, deny you the favor you asked of me so humbly? What
+was my love, my ambition, my hope, to my duty towards you, the
+representative of my dead father? Nothing at all. I did it miserably,
+badly, I know. I clung to my heart's inclination with the very last
+breath of freedom I drew, and then when I had trampled it, though so
+cowardly, I felt that I had done my very best to repay you your
+devotedness and kindness. If destiny has pleased to show us that she was
+only trying us, we at least have given proof to one another of our
+confidence and love--but I earnestly hope that never again will destiny
+play the same game with our hearts."
+
+A low sob broke from the old man's lips. As she finished, he drew her
+gently towards him, and in a voice that shook with pain and emotion, he
+began:
+
+"Oh, Honor! my dear little one. How could you have tortured your poor
+noble little heart like this? What terrible things I must have made you
+do unthinkingly? and I dreaming all the while it was my boundless love
+alone that influenced me. But believe me, child these feeble, wrinkled
+hands would burn heroically over the slowest fire before they could be
+raised in voluntary tyranny over you. I would rather far that these dim
+eyes became stone blind to the light of heaven than that they should
+cast one glance of undue reproach upon you. Aye, and my very heart would
+break within me rather than it should foster one sentiment that was not
+love for you, and yet, feeling thus, I was driving you to ruin and
+wreck. Instinct taught you the terrible truth, and you would blight your
+life rather than not suit the whims of a thoughtless old man. How can I
+ever look you in the face again? Oh! my dearest child, this indeed is
+too much--too much--too much" and sobbing violently, the bowed head,
+with its snow-white locks, fell on the shoulder of the tearful girl
+kneeling beside the old man's chair. In her gentlest, most childish and
+winning way, Honor, brightening up her countenance, said to her
+disconsolate guardian,
+
+"Well, if you are really sorry, as you pretend, it is not a very good
+proof that you love me as much as you say."
+
+At this the bowed head was raised, and a glance of hopeful enquiry cast
+on the girl's face.
+
+"Well, it is this way," Honor continued, answering it: "you see, if
+Vivian Standish had never been encouraged by you, he would never have
+come here at all, and Guy would never have been alarmed about us, and
+would not have come back at all, and then, of course, we would never
+have all been reunited. I would be a gloomy, grumbling old maid, that
+could never be happy, and life would have been painfully glum for the
+future, whereas,"--and here the old, care-worn face smiled, as it
+watched the good, kind features of the girl--"you brought everything to
+a beautiful crisis, by pretending to force another man on me, for I
+really don't believe now, you meant me to marry him at all," she said,
+laughing outright, and kissing away the remnants of the old man's grief
+from his sorrowful face.
+
+"You are an angel of consolation, besides everything else," was all that
+Mr. Rayne could answer to her pretty speech, but he clasped again the
+hands of the two young people he loved, and in an earnest, pious tone,
+he said:
+
+"I give you, one to another: may you live to gladden and comfort one
+another's hearts, through a long, prosperous and holy life; and
+remember, that each time you dwell upon the memory of the old man, who
+was foolish, only in his wild love for you both, that he has begged of
+God on this day, to sanction this humble blessing by one from on high,
+and that the desire for your future welfares, was the very last desire
+he had satisfied in this life and now, my children, I will leave you, I
+am tired and worn out, and would like to rest. Will you each lend me an
+arm, as though no estrangement had ever come between us? Come! forgive
+the old man. Come, Honor! come, Guy! 'tis the last time I will ask you
+to assist me up these stairs."
+
+"Do not say such ugly, ominous words, dear Mr Rayne," Honor pleaded,
+sliding her arm in a fond way into his, and with Guy on the other side
+of him, the old man, smiling happily, was assisted back to his pillows,
+whence, it may as well be said, he never rose again.
+
+The excitement of Vivian Standish's capture and arrest, with the
+unexpected circumstances of Guy's return, and Honor's great sacrifice,
+had only served to hasten the slow progress of a fatal illness. For days
+after, he weakened gradually, but hopelessly, yet filled with such a
+holy resignation and peaceful endurance, as could not help softening the
+terrible grief that would have been resistless, had he suffered without
+fortitude or hope.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XL.
+
+
+                   Man's uncertain life.
+  So like a ram-drop, hanging on the bough.
+  Amongst ten thousand of its sparkling kindred,
+  The remnants of some passing thunder shower,
+  Which have their moments dropping one by one,
+  And which shall soonest lose its perilous hold,
+  We cannot guess.
+                   --J Baillie
+
+The tired, spent moments of the old year's midnight, were crawling into
+eternity, the fierce December wind was sighing out its wearied farewell
+over the frozen streets; the thick white frosts were gathering on the
+window panes, in crystal shrubs and icy forests; December was howling,
+in a spectral voice, the ominous cry of the "Banshee," in anticipation
+of the old year's death. It was well nigh the hour of another day's
+dawn, but in the house of Henry Rayne everyone was astir. In the old,
+familiar home, where we have intruded so often upon happy inmates in
+their joy, we now steal an entrance, to witness the gloom, the
+stillness, the oppressive silence of an awful grief. There is a wasted
+hand lying over the neat counterpane: it is clammy and feeble, there is
+a feverish brow, tossing on a downy pillow, parched lips, dim eyes,
+shadowy features, are now what we recognise, instead of the good-
+natured, smiling face of Henry Rayne, there is labored breathing,
+causing the weak breast to heave and fall in heavy sobs, there is the
+sound of stifled weeping and half muttered prayers from those who kneel
+around his bed. Honor is kneeling at the head, with blanched face,
+clutching her clasped hands nervously, while her pale lips repeat a
+supplication for him who is dying before her. Guy, on the opposite side,
+stands peering eagerly into the face of the doomed one he loves,
+watching and waiting for the last terrible change that will ever come.
+Jean d'Alberg, kneeling at the foot, with her face buried in her hands,
+is stifling the tears and sobs that burst from her weary eyes and
+breast, and at a little distance away, the two faithful servants are
+weeping and praying over the last of him, whom they had learned to
+cherish and idolize.
+
+Suddenly the dim eyes grow somewhat bright, a sweet smile hovers around
+the mouth of the dying man, he makes a feeble effort to take the hand of
+his little girl in his. Honor sees it, and quietly lays her cold hand in
+his, she is conscious of a weak pressure, which almost breaks the bounds
+of her heroic endurance. Then the dying glance is turned on Guy, and the
+same effort repeated, he too lays his trembling hand in that of the
+dying man, beside Honor's, with its last feeble effort they feel the
+hand of the man they had each loved as a parent attempt to link theirs
+together, when that is done he tries to move his lips, bending low over
+him. Honor can catch the words, "Love--one--another," and then the voice
+fails, after that, she hears stray, broken syllables, "happy," "memory,"
+and "at last."
+
+Guy, taking Honor's hands in both his, across the death-bed, pledges his
+love for life in a tone so clear and loud that the dying man can hear
+it, for he smiles, and looks at each, and with the half-stifled words of
+his blessing, he closes his weary, languid eyes, and his spirit passes
+away.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+All the toil and worry of life have perished with that last long sigh,
+no more work awaits those weary hands, so Honor crosses them
+reverentially on the still breast. His dying smile lingered on his dear
+kind face, even in death, and people as they came and went wiped away a
+tear and said, "it was easily seen the old man had died with an
+unburdened conscience." Every one regretted the demise of such an
+estimable man, the daily papers came out next morning and evening with
+lengthy obituaries and tributes to the memory of one who was known to be
+such a valued citizen. The funeral was one of, if not the longest, that
+was ever seen in the streets of Ottawa, and every man who joined the
+solemn procession was a genuine mourner for the kind-hearted deceased.
+
+People stared and wondered at seeing Guy returned, but they were also
+very glad, for he was a universal favorite with those who had known him
+before.
+
+Through all her bitter grief Honor had shed no tear, though every tinge
+of color had faded out of her face, and her eyes grew wild and vacant in
+their gaze. When the bustle, and excitement had all subsided,
+immediately after the death of Mr. Rayne, Honor had stolen into the room
+where he lay, in the depths of a handsome coffin, sleeping his eternal
+sleep, and throwing herself on her knees beside him, she bowed down her
+head until her own fair, warm cheek rested against the icy cold face of
+the dead man she loved, here she neither wept nor moaned, but in silent,
+tearless anguish mourned over her departed friend. She gently chafed the
+stiff, cold hands with hers, and smoothed back the silver hair from his
+marble brow, there was a load of crushing weight and pain and care down
+deep in her poor heart, but still no tear would come to her burning
+eyes. By and bye, when she had spent nearly an hour beside the lifeless
+figure she loved so fondly, Guy missed her, and suspecting her
+whereabouts, came stealthily to the door of the room where their dead
+relative lay, it was closed, but yielded to his gentle pressure, and
+opened noiselessly,--sure enough, there she was, still lying beside the
+dead smiling face, but now she was speaking, in a low, murmuring tone,
+such heart-rending words as brought the tears to Guy's own eyes while he
+listened, unnoticed.
+
+"Lonely?" she was saying, in a long sigh, "Oh, yes, poor Honor will
+often be very lonely for her dear friend and parent, she will look for
+him in all the dear, familiar nooks where once she loved to see him, but
+she will always be disappointed, he will never, never see her nor speak
+to her again. Oh, I might have known," she rambled on, "that this was
+too much happiness for me--but dear, dear Mr Rayne, open your beautiful
+eyes and look at me. Just once again, in the old way--we are alone now,
+will you not say a little word to poor Honor?--See how I kiss you right
+on your dear lips, like of old, but your lips are so cold, I do not
+believe you feel or care for my kiss--"
+
+Guy could stand this no longer, he feared the girl's mind would become
+demented if allowed to continue in such a strain; he stole over, and
+putting his arms gently around her, he drew her away from the figure of
+the dead man--
+
+"Honor," he whispered, "you must come away now, this will harm you--you
+look so tired and ill already, you must take great care of yourself
+darling,--for my sake, do." Very mechanically she obeyed, and turned
+away. Guy felt as if in this mutual sorrow, they had been drawn closer
+together than any other tie could bring them; he raised the pallid,
+serious face, and kissed it tenderly, saying--
+
+"You must bear up, my darling, for you know what a great grief it would
+be to him, to know that you suffered so."
+
+"Trust me, Guy," she answered softly, "I will brave it--but then you
+know, he was my father, and I loved him."
+
+"Yes, that is all true, my love, but you must remember he is better off,
+and he has left his blessing with us, for all our lives."
+
+"And we will merit it, Guy, will we not, he was so good, so kind, so
+true?"
+
+"That we will, Honor, I swear it, I will never forget the pledge I spoke
+into his dying ears."
+
+"Nor I," she answered, in a whisper.
+
+They left the room together, and Honor stole away to her own quarters;
+she saw no more of her dear guardian after that, until the funeral day,
+when she pressed the last long kiss of eternal farewell on his cold,
+unfeeling lips, that was the scene which racked her poor tried heart
+with all the sharpest pangs that grief doth know she fancied, at that
+moment her endurance must yield, and her heart break, but she remembered
+dimly having been carried away to another room, and when she saw and
+felt again, all was over.
+
+       *       *       *       *      *
+
+Two days after the interment of Henry Rayne, Guy and Honor sat chatting
+quietly together in the little sitting-room from whose window, Guy had
+caught the first glimpses of Honor, on that autumn evening long ago. In
+a close-fitting dress of heavy black, Honor looked more imposing and
+dignified than ever: her face was very pale, and there were deep, dark
+lines under her sad eyes. Guy too was serious, though handsome and
+careful as ever; their grief it is true, had thrown a heavy pall over
+the happiness of their new love, but still, each, felt, that it had
+served only to draw them still closer together, they were now all in all
+to one another.
+
+"You are looking pale, and ill, my darling," Guy said, rising and
+throwing himself on the handsome fender-stool at her feet, "I hope you
+are going to try and regain your former health and spirits very soon."
+
+"Oh, yes indeed, I intend to, Guy," she answered sweetly, "I can do that
+easily, for your sake."
+
+"Don't forget that you are exclusively mine, now," he said looking
+straight up into her clear, gray eyes, "and very soon, I want to let
+every one know it too." Honor smiled sadly.
+
+"Foolish boy," she said, half in soliloquy, "you will have enough of me
+all your life, take your time now," while she spoke thus, she was
+burying her gaze in a beautiful little ring, which she twisted
+thoughtfully around her finger, without lifting her eyes, she said in
+such a serious tone.
+
+"Guy--I hope you have not forgotten, to balance well in your mind, all
+the consequences and penalties of the step you are in such a hurry to
+take--remember that all is not so smooth and tempting as one sees it
+through the illusionary eyes of a first love. After all, we women, are
+only human and as likely to err as any one else; let us not then deceive
+ourselves, that sometimes in our lives, little thorns will not cross our
+path, and little storm-clouds obscure our bright, warm sun--if you have
+not prepared yourself for this, it is not now too late--better give in
+at the brink of a precipice than risk a fall--"
+
+"Honor--your words are strange--maybe true, but not appropriate here, it
+was your voice, your example, that recalled me from the downward path of
+recklessness I was pursuing when I met you, I was haunted by your look,
+and your words always stood between me and evil, at last I fled, I ran
+away from temptation, I sought a new field of action, I worked in it,
+ever in the presence of your dear face, looking into your deep eyes,
+listening to your sweet voice, success awaited me, I rose, higher and
+higher; prosperity lavished her favors on me, I worked hard to redeem
+the name I had tarnished, and thanks to you, my noble darling, I have
+succeeded!"
+
+"You exaggerate a woman's influence, Guy, I admit that there are women
+who are grand enough for this, but they are very rare; woman, it is
+true, has much in her power, a great deal in her ambition, but to
+accomplish all that you say, one needs a loftier stimulant, a worthier
+motive, than a woman's love."
+
+"Ah! 'tis not you who have tasted the experience," he answered, "'tis I,
+and now, I answer safely, when asked by a less fortunate man, the secret
+of my success, 'Go, seek the society of high-minded, noble women, you
+will learn your duty, from their lips, as none others can teach it,' and
+believe me, Honor, this I know to have been the rescue of many, and you
+are the indirect source of all this good. If then, I have learned so
+much as a stranger to you, is it likely I can ever regret the fortunate
+step that will bring me under the immediate guidance of your hand and
+heart? Ah no! Honor, I will never again know what regret is."
+
+"So be it," she answered seriously, looking into the fire, "but why I
+spoke, is, because so many, in fact nearly every one, enters the
+marriage vocation now-a-days, as though twere a trifling risk, as though
+to a woman it were not fraught with the sublimest responsibilities it is
+possible for the noblest woman to assume, as though it were indeed,
+nothing more, than the gratification of having secured a husband, the
+fuss of an elaborate trousseau or the _éclat_ of a wedding ceremony. Why
+are our cities so plentiful of sin and shame, and wrecked youth, if not,
+because of women who never considered the serious importance of their
+vocation as mothers, who were unworthy their title of wives, who tired
+of their self-assumed duties. If any of these destinies awaited me, Guy,
+I would rather die to-night, than risk them--the thought makes me
+shudder."
+
+"You, Honor?" he said, viewing her with very evident admiration, "such a
+destiny as that for _you,_ you are jesting, for since you can save, and
+reclaim others, you know, you are above every taint of evil yourself."
+
+"You still persist in your obstinate view, eh?" she said, smiling.
+"Well, remember, I warned you in time. I hope there will never be cause
+for regret in the future."
+
+It was growing late as they sat there talking quietly. The sun-streaks
+vanished from the window sill; the dark, grey shadows of twilight began
+to steal around them, but they scarcely heeded the change. They loved
+one another now with that pure and ardent love which finds all
+satisfaction, and all comfort in it's own existence. They had not shown
+their attachment in wild enthusiasm or showy demonstration, but it is
+not the largest flames that burn the most intensely. The love that lies
+quietly, unspoken in the heart, the love that endures in silence, that
+strengthens in solitude, that thrives in hope, is the truest and
+holiest, and most exalted love of which the human heart is susceptible.
+Such love never dies. As it has lived, so there comes a time, sooner or
+later, when the heart's dream may safely float on the surface of the
+deep, honest eyes, and the heart's desire flow in fitting terms over the
+unsullied lips. Such a love invariably brings its own reward.
+
+The darkness had nearly spread its thickness from ceiling to floor, when
+Jean d'Alberg put her head in at the sitting room door, and exclaimed,
+
+"Well, upon my word; such 'two spoons' I never did see in all my life!"
+
+Both young people looked up and smiled.
+
+"If you'll please to substitute two spoons for _tea_-spoons you may come
+to the dining-room now, for tea is quite ready," she said, disappearing
+out the doorway again. Hand-in-hand Guy and Honor rose, and went out to
+patronize Aunt Jean's comfortable table.
+
+Three months after this, on a wild March morning, Guy Elersley and Honor
+Edgeworth became man and wife. It was a very quiet little wedding in the
+early, early morning, without any guests or spectators save the priest,
+who tied the marriage knot, Dr. and Mrs. Belford, of New York, Madame
+d'Alberg and Anne Palmer, or "Nanette."
+
+There was a tempting breakfast for the littie party after the ceremony,
+to prepare which, good Mrs. Potts had put the very best of her abilities
+to the test, and before noon of the same day, Honor and her husband,
+with Nanette and Aunt Jean, were rolling along to their new home.
+
+Mrs. Potts and the faithful Fitts followed later in the season with the
+furniture and belongings, and all were established in a home full of
+pleasant distractions and promising happiness but under the same old
+management as ever, and bound by the same old ties of long ago.
+
+Ottawa began to miss Henry Rayne and his household, and many a word of
+kind remembrance was uttered as a friendly tribute to their memory.
+
+The wonderful story of Vivian Standish's disgrace never found its way in
+detail into the gossipping circles of the capital, although there were a
+few who shook their heads and winked their eyes and affected to know all
+about it.
+
+Josephine de Maistre had gone back to the peace and comfort of her
+seclusion, after the critical interview, and no one of Mr. Raynes
+household had betrayed the secret. There were only a few little
+unavoidable words afloat, by which the curious public of Ottawa could
+surmise why Honor Edgeworth had so coldly rejected her handsome suitor
+at the last moment, and why Guy Elersley had come back in the nick of
+time, to be reinstated in his uncle's favor.
+
+Honor was the recipient of many dainty notes of well-worded
+congratulations, and the sweetest sounding--like Miss Dash's and Miss
+Reid's--were those whose writers envied with a great bitterness the luck
+of Henry Rayne's _protégée_.
+
+I need not follow the course of events farther than this, although
+strongly tempted to tell of certain stylish weddings that followed this
+one in busy succession. My pen would be kinder, if it might, than
+merciless. Fate to my other heroines, who are threatened to remain
+"fancy free" for a deplorable number of years to come, and after
+that--forever.
+
+The married life of Honor Edgeworth could not but be consistent with her
+single life. In peace, happiness and prosperity, and in the enjoyment of
+health, wealth and mutual devotedness, we leave our worthy hero and his
+worthy wife.
+
+May our destinies,--as they unroll themselves from the scroll of time,
+be as promising, as salutary, and as well deserved as theirs.
+
+THE END.
+
+
+
+
+
+End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Honor Edgeworth, by Vera
+
+*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK HONOR EDGEWORTH ***
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