BY THE SAME AUTHOR. 
 
 EMILY CHESTER. Tenth Edition. i vol. I2mo, $2.00. 
 OPPORTUNITY. Fourth Edition. i vol. I2mo, $2.00. 
 REGINALD ARCHER. i vol. i2mo, $2.00. 
 
 Uniform editions. Sold separately or together. Sent, POSTPAID, to 
 any address. 
 
 JAMES R. OSCOOD & CO., Publishers, 
 
 131 Tremont Street, Boston.
 
 REGINALD ARCHER. 
 
 A NOVEL. 
 
 BY 
 
 ANNE M. CRANE SEEMULLER, 
 
 AUTHOR OF "EMILY CHESTER" AND "OPPORTUNITY.' 
 
 "The essence of greatness is the perception that virtue is enough." 
 
 BOSTON: 
 JAMES R. OSGOOD & COMPANY, 
 
 LATB TICKNOR & FIELDS, AND FIELDS. OSGOOD, & CO. 
 1871.
 
 Entered, according to Act of Congress, in the year 1871, 
 
 Bv JAMES R. OSGOOD & CO., 
 In the Office of the Librarian of Congress, at Washington. 
 
 Rnstnn : 
 Stereotyped mul Printed du Hand, Avery, & Frye.
 
 THIS STORY 
 
 IS AFFECTIONATELY DEDICATED 
 
 TO MY HUSBAND, 
 
 IN TOKEN OF THE HAPPY DAYS IN WHICH IT WAS WRITTEN.
 
 REGINALD ARCHER. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 " This little pig went to market; 
 This little pig staid at borne ; 
 This little pig got a piece of bread and butter ; 
 
 This little pig got none ; 
 
 This little pig cried, ' Wee, wee, wee I I can't get 
 over the barn-stile I ' " 
 
 IT is no exception to St. Paul's usual wisdom, 
 that, on becoming a man, he " put away childish 
 things ; " for even such slight anachronisms as can be 
 contained in threescore years and ten are generally 
 neither prudent nor profitable. 
 
 But there is another aspect of the subject, which 
 Christ glorified forever when he took little children 
 in his arms and blessed them : and it seems, at times, 
 that we would do well to take our own childhood in 
 our arms, and let it bless us ; going back to those 
 innocent early days when we were both good and 
 glad. It strikes one as almost a necessary part of 
 Charles Lamb's tender heroism, that he remembered 
 
 7
 
 8 REGINALD ARCHER. 
 
 with such love and pity the child he had been ; and, 
 looked at in this light, it would appear better for us 
 not to '.' put away childish things," but to cherish our 
 spring-time recollections, whether of tenderness or 
 of humor. 
 
 Among the latter may be placed " The Melodies of 
 Mother Goose." Belonging properly to* babyhood, 
 the value of these rhymes has so increased to me 
 with increasing years, that it might almost be said I 
 
 " Only hold my treasures truly 
 When it seems as if they passed away." 
 
 These little stories in verse are so full of meaning, 
 that it is a ceaseless pleasure to study them and their 
 applications. It was in thinking of the remarkable 
 power of characterization displayed in the narra- 
 tive which heads this chapter, that I was strongly 
 reminded of the family whose varied fortunes these 
 pages are to relate. The portrait of each member 
 was so strikingly drawn, that the rhymes seemed an 
 allegory to which the clew had just been found. 
 
 In structure, the two families did not differ. Each 
 consisted of five individuals ; and, curiously enough, 
 the order in which the pigs are enumerated corre- 
 sponded with the ages and characters of the young 
 people. From the account, one would suppose the 
 pig family to be "after the order of Melchisedec,
 
 REGINALD ARCHER. 9 
 
 without father or mother," at least, no parents are 
 mentioned ; and the Archers preserved the resem- 
 blance by being orphans. The pigs appeared to have 
 retained their connection with each other, to have 
 lived somewhat in the bonds of unity, in spite of 
 their varied characters and pursuits. So with the 
 Archers. They dwelt as long as possible under the 
 same roof, and to the end were held together by 
 the strong ties of family feeling and family pride, 
 sentiments which have power to override differences 
 in belief, taste, and occupation. The most fitting 
 introduction for each member of this household will 
 be in connection with his or her porcine representa- 
 tive. Let us begin at the beginning. 
 
 " This little pig went to market." 
 
 Enter Tom Archer, the eldest of the family. 
 
 The merchant I take to be like the poet, born, 
 not made. American life, in which most boys are put 
 into clerkships, as into mills, to be ground out a cer- 
 tain product, would seem to contradict this opinion ; 
 but the statement, founded on statistics, that failure 
 comes surely to more than three-fourths of those 
 who go into business, tends in the other direction. 
 True mercantile talent is as distinct, original, and 
 characteristic as musical genius or the poetic faculty. 
 
 Shrewd, clear insight into the facts of a case ; an 
 i*
 
 10 REGINALD ARCHER. 
 
 ability to have an opinion, and to hold it ; above all, 
 an instinct as to the probable result, these stamp 
 a merchant of Nature's own making. The mercantile 
 eye may not range very widely ; but it sees with^ 
 amazing clearness within its own line of vision. 
 One cannot take liberties with the multiplication- 
 table with impunity ; and it demands of its votaries, 
 and, indeed, imparts to them, a degree of its own ex- 
 actitude in their habits of thought. The supply of 
 this special talent seems never to fail. Within a cer- 
 tain number of men, some born prince of the count- 
 ing-room is sure to appear : in each family, there is, 
 almost invariably, a mercantile brother, the little 
 pig who goes to market. 
 
 Tom Archer went thither at a very early age, and 
 found himself the right boy in the right place. He 
 could win all the marbles in the school, and re-invest 
 them in the spare cakes and apples of his compan- 
 ions ; while he drove a thriving trade in the barter 
 of pencils and jack-knives. In those days, he was 
 rich upon nothing a year, and, in time, accumulated 
 a boyish fortune by bold speculation upon an original 
 capital of five cents. Even in his childhood, being a 
 born trader, he found his market everywhere, and 
 went to it. 
 
 Growing up to man's estate, he was, without being 
 handsome, eminently pleasant-looking, though nei-
 
 REGINALD ARCHER. 11 
 
 ther romantic nor imposing in manner or appearance. 
 Small in stature, but well-knit and active in frame, 
 with that physical energy which keeps a man up to 
 the mark, and never permits him to fall behindhand 
 in any thing, he was a ceaseless mill-stone, which 
 required endless grist. He was one of those beings 
 who have a taste for hard work, and who rather 
 enjoy drudgery as a safety-valve for their superfluous 
 vigor. His eyes alone would have shown his temper- 
 ament, apparently taking in at a glance- that which 
 ordinary optics would be moments in perceiving, 
 very bright, cheery gray eyes, that harmonized well 
 with the crisp wave in his brown hair. The good, 
 broad forehead told not only of strong perceptive 
 faculties, but also of a width of thought which does 
 not always belong to such characters as his. Evi- 
 dently good-natured and good-humored, it was yet 
 impossible to doubt the presence of a high, hot tem- 
 per within ; and, though kindly and serviceable to 
 those about him, no one ever took liberties with him, 
 or questioned for an instant that there would be a 
 ready blow behind his word where the case required 
 it. Those in his employ found him a strict, steady 
 master, demanding of them what he required of him- 
 self, a full day's work in every day ; but they de- 
 pended upon his justice, and, if the need were, upon 
 his generosity, with an unshakable faith.
 
 12 REGINALD ARCHER. 
 
 In the matter of his do wnright, ingrained honesty, 
 Tom Archer had greatly the advantage over a char- 
 acter in history which he otherwise strongly resem- 
 bled, I mean that patriarchal prototype of traders, 
 Jacob. This biblical hero's mercantile talent, and 
 his ability to drive a bargain, are undeniable ; in fact, 
 seem far more finely developed than his moral sense. 
 He went to market at every opportunity, carrying with 
 him all available goods, trading in every advantage 
 his position afforded him. His mother's love, and 
 lack of principle ; his brother's reckless nature ; his 
 father's blindness ; his unole's confidence ; his own 
 cunning, and habit of quick observation ; his industry, 
 perseverance, and capacity for ready lying, each 
 and all he used as capital, drawing the highest divi- 
 dends from his investments. So innate was this spirit 
 in the man, that his very prayer and vow to God are 
 but a promise of quid pro quo to the Almighty. Per- 
 haps in this his petitions were scarcely singular ; for 
 most of us demand a direct answer to our supplica- 
 tions, and expect some specified equivalent in return 
 for our prayers. But it required the moral courage 
 of that early period to use such plain words to in- 
 form the Lord in exact terms of the amount of 
 food, clothing, and general assistance, for which his 
 allegiance could be obtained, as Jacob did when he 
 "vowed a vow," and " called the name of the place
 
 REGINALD ARCHER. 13 
 
 Bethel." A man's religion is the keynote to his 
 character; and I imagine few persons have ever 
 spoken out their creeds so unreservedly and truth- 
 fully as did Jacob upon this occasion. 
 
 And yet it is of this cunning, unscrupulous, grasp- 
 ing trader, that the purest, sweetest love-story in the 
 world's history stands recorded. It is not David, 
 poet and singer of Israel, not Solomon, wisest of 
 men, not Moses, prince, hero, and lawgiver, but it is 
 Jacob, who loved one woman, and served for her 
 fourteen years, which " were but as a single day 
 for the love that he bore her ; " whose tenderness 
 and devotion increased down to old age ; who 
 cherished her children after her as he did nothing 
 else in existence ; and who, as his own end drew near, 
 passed over the events of his life to talk of Rachel, 
 and her death and burial. His love for her seems 
 the one flower and bloom of his nature, gaining a 
 strange beauty and strength from the very bareness 
 of the remainder of his being. His faults were 
 many ; but recalling that rare example of faithful 
 devotion, which still lives fair and lovely in the world's 
 heart and recollection, verily women, at least, should 
 judge him leniently and tenderly. 
 
 This exceptional nature was partially but striking- 
 ly reproduced in Tom Archer, the first of my pigs 
 and of my heroes.
 
 14 REGINALD ARCHER. 
 
 * " This little pig staid at home." 
 
 Maria Archer might best be described as the do- 
 mestic virtues incarnate. Even when a pretty young 
 girl, she was evidently born to the career of a home- 
 life, and took to housekeeping as a duck takes to 
 water. Like heaven, order was her first law ; and 
 she hunted down dust as a deadly enemy. Unlike 
 t ordinary mortals, the house-cleaning period was to 
 her a season of pleasure rather than of pain, during 
 which she felt the inspiration of a true vocation. 
 Her administration over the family purse and the 
 family servants gave evidences of genius ; while the 
 quality of the meals was to her truly a crown of 
 glory. No matter how many sisters she had possessed, 
 to Maria every man in the household would have 
 turned instinctively to have a button replaced, to in- 
 quire after his clean collars, or to complain if break- 
 fast were delayed. There is always some such person 
 in every well-constituted domestic circle, some one 
 who gives the real home-element to the fireside ; 
 whom the male members are sure to love most, and 
 treat with least respect. Peculiarly unselfish and 
 affectionate, the small duties and sacrifices of every- 
 day life were her pleasure ; for she possessed the 
 beautiful womanly trait of being happy just in so far 
 as she was needful to some one else. A reticent,
 
 REGINALD ARCHER. 15 
 
 timid woman under all other circumstances, beneath 
 her own roof-tree she was a power : there, and there 
 only, she felt strong, capable, and confident in the 
 discharge of her duty. Unhappy when on the wrong 
 side of her front-door, she took care that such should 
 seldom be the case : in fact, this little pig staid at 
 home. 
 
 But she paid a price for so doing, which increased 
 as years went on. 
 
 She looked so long, so faithfully and steadily, at 
 persons and things around her, and at them alone, 
 that her sight became microscopic. What she saw 
 was undoubtedly there ; but she perceived it far too 
 accurately for her own comfort. She could not learn 
 the sad truth which is daily forced upon us, that 
 life is at best a compromise, and that we are obliged 
 to accept persons as they are, and not as we trusted 
 and hoped they might be. The woman's high, pure 
 conscience made her judge all objects by an abso- 
 lutely fixed standard : she could not receive the 
 measures and rules of this world, and think things 
 right because others so held them. Such persons 
 are necessary to the world's continued existence ; 
 and even to approach such a woman is to let in a 
 ray of heaven's own light upon our murky, earthly 
 atmosphere. Her view of person or act was always 
 that which righteous eyes are compelled to take ;
 
 16 REGINALD ARCHER. 
 
 but she made the woman-like mistake of sometimes 
 expressing her opinion at inopportune moments. 
 The self-control which larger experience would have 
 given, the strength of nerve, and diversion of mind, 
 which excitement and pleasure woulcl have supplied, 
 she missed by her form of life : in fact, it was both 
 to her sorrow and her joy that this little pig staid 
 at home. 
 
 " This little pig got a piece of bread and butter." 
 
 Two points in this small descriptive biography 
 impress me as wonderfully true to life: first, that 
 he neither strove after the object in question, nor 
 worked for it, nor even paid for it, but simply 
 " got " it ; second, that it was " a piece of bread and 
 butter," the material advantages of existence, the 
 satisfactions of time and sense. The line is Reginald 
 Archer's memoir summed up in a single sentence. 
 
 If human beings are merely animals of a higher 
 grade ; if to eat, drink, and be merry, and to-morrow 
 die, be the true philosophy of life, then Reginald 
 was the most successful person I have ever known. 
 All that other men painfully achieve, he seemed to 
 have thrust upon him. Every advantage that can 
 be estimated by avoirdupois-weight, that can be set 
 forth in figures, became his as by natural right. 
 Never exerting himself to gain any thing, that which
 
 REGINALD ARCHER. 17 
 
 he desired drifted towards him as by a species of 
 gravitation. Nature appeared to have striven to 
 send into the world, for once, the perfection of ani- 
 mal creation, giving him every thing but a soul. 
 He was as beautiful as an antique statue ; and to 
 look at him was to feel that ancient Greece should 
 have been his country, and his proper period the 
 days of Aspasia. He would have well suited those 
 pleasure-loving pagans ; for pagan he was himself. 
 That magnificent form ; that absolute freedom and 
 grace of motion ; that classic head and face, with 
 the glittering bronze-brown hair waving off from 
 the white forehead ; those violet-blue eyes, that 
 looked almost black from the darkness of their 
 lashes, to gaze at them was to fancy, that, had he 
 indeed lived among those Greeks, they would have 
 mistaken him for a wandering Apollo. 
 . Reginald little regretted not being born in that 
 far-off time and place. His only sorrow on the sub- 
 ject was, that his advent had not been delayed 
 several centuries, when material life shall have 
 attained greater smoothness than at present ; and, 
 for the same reason, his choice of a birthplace would 
 undoubtedly have been Paris. But, true to his phi- 
 losophy of " taking the best of now and here," he 
 wasted little time in idle lamentings, and " gathered 
 honey all the day from every opening flower," even
 
 18 REGINALD ARCHER. 
 
 though it sprang from the uncongenial soil of the 
 United States of America. 
 
 He had that species of good spirits and apparent 
 good nature which arises from wholesome blood and 
 perfect digestion ; but self-denial and self-sacrifice 
 were things of which he had been born simply in- 
 capable. Amusement, excitement, and the varied 
 forms of physical gratification, were essential to his 
 existence ; and he claimed them with less regard for 
 the feelings and sentiments of others than ordinary 
 mortals would display for insects under their feet. 
 This joyous, debonair gentleman was as remorseless 
 as a law of Nature. If what he did hurt you, 
 " Ah, so much the worse for you ! " he would think, 
 with the sweetest smile in his violet eyes. Reginald 
 only respected those who forced him 'to do so, and 
 only spared those who did not spare him. He in- 
 jured no one, unless to gain some personal advan- 
 tage ; disliking the sight of mental suffering as he 
 did that of poverty or sickness. Of beauty or agree- 
 ability, no one could be a finer or a fitter judge ; 
 but the moral aspect of a case, with reference to his 
 own action, never presented itself to his mind. In 
 this, as hi much else, he was scarcely an Anglo- 
 Saxon ; for it is an exceptional American or English- 
 man who can do wrong without some slight after- 
 regret, without a consciousness of degradation in his
 
 REGINALD ARCHER. 19 
 
 own eyes. I fancy it is only Frenchmen who can sin 
 with absolute serenity. I imagine that to the Gallic 
 race is reserved the blessing of being born free from 
 sufficient conscience to produce occasional discomfort. 
 
 But Reginald Archer was beyond his countrymen, 
 and possessed this happy faculty to. perfection. One 
 recognized its presence at first sight, though disre- 
 garding it, as one generally does those curious fore- 
 warnings. To be introduced to him was to distrust 
 him, despite the charm of his beauty and grace ; to 
 know him a week or a month, be you man, woman, 
 or child, was to lose the very remembrance of such 
 a sensation in blind admiration; to know him for 
 years was to shrink from him with dread, as a beau- 
 tiful monstrosity. Your first, faint foreknowledge 
 that this exquisite animal was soulless and con- 
 scienceless grew then to certainty. 
 
 Still it must be confessed that he seemed to find 
 his loss a gain ; for I have known few persons who* 
 received so large a piece of the bread and butter of 
 life, or who so literally " got " it without toil, with- 
 out money, and without price. 
 
 " This little pig got none." 
 
 The contrast between Arnold Archer and his 
 brother Reginald was so strong, that it struck every
 
 20 REGINALD ARCHER, 
 
 one with whom they came in contact. Whatever 
 one was, the other was not. In appearance, charac- 
 ter, and career, they flatly contradicted each other. 
 If one were a type of the lucky individual, surely 
 the other was the representative of the unlucky man. 
 A long, awkwar$, homely person, never knowing 
 exactly what to do with his hands and feet ; looking 
 ten years older than his real age ; shrinking from 
 observation, and yet possessing a curious facility for 
 being in the way, he contrasted like shadow with 
 his brother's sunshine. Always meaning for the best, 
 and acting for the worst, he certainly was a trial to 
 patience of ordinary proportions. A capacity for 
 living in dreams, of deceiving himself as to facts, was 
 his striking peculiarity, and was at once his bane and 
 his blessing. He never saw person or object as they 
 appeared to the rest of mankind. But I confess I do 
 not feel justified in putting this among his mis- 
 fortunes. Viewing ourselves and our fellow-beings 
 as we are generally compelled to do, I doubt if any 
 change, any escape from the truth, should not be re- 
 garded as an improvement ; any loss of insight, as a 
 blessed blindness. Arnold possessed, in reality, that 
 treasure towards which Charles Lamb aspired, when, 
 asked by Hazlitt and Coleridge which he preferred, 
 " Man as he is, or man as he is to be," he replied, 
 "Man as he is not." There are moments when this
 
 * REGINALD ARCHER. 21 
 
 reply of the pleasant wit seems to me the bitterest 
 cry which can go up from a human heart. Perhaps 
 this ability to see, and see not, was the merciful com- 
 pensation which Providence sent Arnold Archer for 
 all that he lacked in life. Perhaps there are times 
 when most of us would exchange it for all we pos- 
 sess ; when we mourn over lost ignorance as bliss ; 
 when, having learned the value of even a fool's para- 
 dise, we close our eyes desperately, in the vain hope 
 of shutting out that which we have seen but too 
 clearly. Held in bondage by our own perceptive 
 faculty, we grow to envy those who are capable of 
 self-delusion, who are not compelled to see those 
 they love just as they are. 
 
 To Arnold Archer, facts were by no means the 
 stern tyrants they are to most persons. To him, 
 characters and events were, so to speak, clay in the 
 hands of the potter ; and he moulded them to suit 
 his own fancy, firmly believing in the creation of his 
 imagination. 
 
 " Arnold's friends are legitimate objects of wor- 
 ship," Reginald would say with his usual smiling 
 contempt for his brother ; " for they are like nothing 
 in heaven above, nor in the earth beneath, nor hi the 
 waters under the earth. He breaks none of the 
 commandments in bowing down before them." 
 
 Arnold would have done his enemies, had he pos-
 
 22 REGINALD ARCHER. 
 
 sessed any, equal injustice ; would have regarded 
 them as fiends, delighting in congenial, demoniacal 
 society, and suitable for it alone. 
 
 Practically weak as was this character, it was essen- 
 tially poetic. To him, all Nature was a delight, and 
 fed a divine inner thirst ; to him, all beauty, whether 
 of person, thought, or act, made life lovely. He had 
 that apprehension of purity and nobleness which 
 gives the soul the freedom of heaven here and here- 
 after. Dim-sighted as regards this world, he had 
 that higher vision which sees far above and beyond 
 it; perceiving even here the reflected glory of the 
 world to come. 
 
 Arnold had been educated as a physician, and was 
 devoted to the study of his profession, although he 
 was totally unfit for its practice. Punctuality was to 
 him an impossible virtue ; and he lacked in an equal 
 degree that capacity for energetic, steady work, which 
 is essential to success in any pursuit. He chiefly 
 exercised his skill upon a collection of invalided 
 animals, for which he built a species of hospital in 
 the back yard, where he would take infinite pains 
 in curing some sick kitten or lame dog, to grieve 
 over their base desertion of him as soon as they were 
 well. He was an enthusiastic naturalist ; and his 
 greatest delight was to spend day after day in the 
 woods, from which he returned laden with ferns,
 
 REGINALD ARCHER. 23 
 
 leaves, and not agreeable insects : this, of course, to 
 his sister Maria's unspeakable disgust. She was very 
 fond of him, and extremely patient with him upon 
 every other subject ; but upon the question of his 
 leaving his treasures in every portion of the house, 
 however inappropriate, she waged a warfare which 
 knew no truce. 
 
 "Arnold, I cannot have horrible bugs crawling 
 about my parlor and dining-room," she would sol- 
 emnly protest. " Why, they will be walking into the 
 very teacups soon ! I can not and I will not allow 
 it." And there really seemed some justice in her 
 objection. 
 
 Undoubtedly he was an exasperating person with 
 whom to live under the same roof. His idea of the 
 dinner-hour worked upon a sliding scale, according 
 to his appetite or occupation. China and glass ware 
 slipped through his fingers as though to escape his 
 awkward handling ; and to watch his sister Maria, 
 as she saw him wander aimlessly among the fine, 
 fragile ornaments and objects in the drawing-room, 
 placing and replacing them without apparent purpose, 
 was to feel a sincere respect for the self-control which 
 enabled her to restrain her impulse to take them 
 away from him, and set him in the corner as a trouble- 
 some child. 
 
 Reginald's contempt for his brother was so pro-
 
 24 REGINALD ARCHER. 
 
 found, that it seldom reached speech ; but he evi- 
 dently regarded him with the dread one feels of a 
 raw Irish servant permanently attached to the house. 
 The two had no comprehension of each other, and 
 kept apart as far as possible. But it was only another 
 evidence of the strength and generosity of Tom's 
 nature that Arnold was his favorite brother, whom 
 he protected like a child. The elder man's natural 
 impatience and quickness of temper disappeared when 
 his brother became their proper object : he held his 
 protege responsible for nothing. Arnold's practical 
 thinking and acting Tom took upon himself, and, in 
 case of shortcoming, felt that the blame rested on him 
 for not having foreseen the probability, and provided 
 against it. 
 
 " Tom, you treat Arnold as though he were a sort 
 of divine idiot," was Reginald's characteristic criti- 
 cism. "I wish you would take me in hand, and 
 provide for me in the same way. It would save me 
 a great deal of trouble." 
 
 " Thank you, my dear boy," was Tom's cool re- 
 joinder, though his quick, bright eyes darkened as he 
 spoke ; " but I think you are pretty well able to take 
 care of yourself : at least, it won't be the divine ele- 
 ment in your nature which will prevent you from 
 doing so. Let Arnold alone : you have no more com- 
 prehension of him than you have of Sanscrit. But I
 
 REGINALD ARCHER. 25 
 
 wish, with all my heart, that either you or I were as 
 good a man." 
 
 " Thank you back again," Reginald replied laugh- 
 ingly, with unruffled mood ; " but I should wish my 
 share of the desired good to be taken in common 
 sense, if it would be the same to all parties." And 
 the discussion ended at this point, as it always 
 did. 
 
 Finding that Arnold would never succeed in the 
 practice of medicine, and thus gain a livelihood, Tom 
 had taken him into his counting-room, hoping by 
 patience and drill to fit him for the duties of a clerk. 
 But he had signally failed. What his acute mercan- 
 tile mind underwent during the attempt, no one but 
 himself knew. Misdirected letters, important mes- 
 sages forgotten, bank-business deranged, engagements 
 unfulfilled, all these accumulated, until the wonder 
 was that insanity did not ensue in the head of the 
 house. Tom grew nervous if the smallest duty were 
 left to Arnold's care, and gradually diminished his 
 occupations until his place was a sinecure. To keep 
 Arnold out of the office, and to give him as little as 
 possible to do when there, became the tacit under- 
 standing between the chief of the establishment and 
 his clerks. Nothing pleased all parties better than 
 for Arnold to go off on long fishing and naturalizing 
 expeditions ; as, let the press of business be what it
 
 26 REGINALD ARCHER. 
 
 might, it was easier to do his work than to take the 
 chance of his mistakes, or to rectify them. 
 
 " Are you sure you can spare me? " he would ask, 
 having his own ideas of making an honest return for 
 the salary he received ; and indeed, if his unsuccess- 
 ful pains and trouble were calculated, he gave a just 
 equivalent. 
 
 " Certainly, my dear fellow. Go and enjoy your- 
 self as much as possible, and then come home and tell 
 me all about it." And the elder brother would go 
 cheerily back to his counting-room, and put his shoul- 
 der to the wheel with renewed vigor. Thus he 
 supported Arnold, without undermining his upright- 
 ness, or allowing him to feel his dependence. 
 
 With nothing which most men hold as valuable, 
 Arnold Archer was the happiest member of this fam- 
 , ily ; and I am inclined to write him down as the most 
 enviable little pig in my collection. 
 
 " This little pig cried, ' Wee, wee, wee 1 1 can't get over 
 the barn-stile ! ' " 
 
 Reviewing the careers life opens, the conclusion is 
 at all times inevitable, that there are few better 
 methods of providing for one's self than that of join- 
 ing what might be called " the grand army of the in- 
 competents." It may be true that God helps those 
 who help themselves ; but it is certain that the world
 
 REGINALD ARCHER. 27 
 
 proceeds upon the opposite principle. Those fortu- 
 nate individuals who can coolly and consistently act 
 upon the theory that their fellow-beings owe them a 
 living, certainly have strong grounds for the policy of 
 their course. Considered mathematically, the case 
 seems clear. If you work for yourself, you simply 
 have the support of one person ; whereas, if you em- 
 phasize with sufficient persistence your inability to 
 assist yourself, your relations, friends, and even chance 
 acquaintance, will gradually assume that responsibil- 
 ity, and you enlist an indefinite number of individuals 
 into your service. The majority of men and women 
 lack the nerve to allow a fellow-being to suffer the 
 consequences of his own actions, or want of action ; 
 and the amount of sustenance is amazing which can be 
 extracted from the most unwilling support by the sim- 
 ple process of leaning upon it, and refusing to move. 
 In the mind of the person burdened, the first emotion 
 is apt to be extreme irritation ; but almost any one 
 will succumb under steady, unremitting pressure. 
 A quiet despair settles upon the most recalcitrant, 
 when it is found that there are natures analogous to 
 India-rubber, which recover instantly from any blow, 
 leaving you exhausted from your exertion in dealing 
 it. A certain flabbiness will defy the most vigorous 
 effort to make it self-sustaining. If a person will not 
 stand on his feet, to persist in holding him up is too
 
 28 REGINALD ARCHER. 
 
 expensive a process : it is cheaper, in time, strength, 
 money, and temper, to make up one's mind to let him 
 rest comfortably, and feed him as he lies. In fact, a 
 certain incompetency may be regarded as better than 
 a certain competency, and, conjoined to what might 
 be called an infinite receptivity, is one of the finest 
 investments in life. 
 
 The most curious circumstance of the case is, that 
 such persons are almost always popular. It is true 
 that we are apt to like those whom we serve better 
 than those who serve us; and we become attached 
 to individuals who are constantly claiming our aid 
 and attention. They appeal at once to our higher 
 and lower natures in calling upon our generosity and 
 in soothing our vanity. 
 
 Of all persons I have known, Ellen Archer, in 
 her small way, turned her helplessness to greatest 
 account ; her inability serving her more than ability 
 avails others. Unequal to any fixed plan, she 
 merely followed her instinct. But her success was 
 like that of genius: in fact, she might be said to have 
 a striking capacity for incapacity. A pretty, fair 
 little woman, evidently not very strong in mind or 
 body, even indifferent strangers naturally put out 
 their hands to help her ; while, as the youngest mem- 
 ber of the family, her brothers and sister treated her 
 as a child all her life. Had Ellen and Maria lived
 
 REGINALD ARCHER. 29 
 
 together for si^ty years, the elder would have gone 
 on darning her sister's stockings, and otherwise at- 
 tending to her wardrobe, during the entire period. 
 
 Upon Maria fell the whole burden of the house- 
 keeping, the ceaseless worry of meals and domestics : 
 she had to be up betimes, and regulate all her move- 
 ments by the family convenience. On the other 
 hand, Ellen would descend when she pleased, to 
 murmur if the order of the breakfast-table were not 
 perfect, and to be mildly reproachful to Maria for the 
 coldness of the coffee. 
 
 Then would follow the little scene which occurred 
 periodically in that household. 
 
 " Why don't you come down in time if you want 
 things in proper condition?" Maria would say, irri- 
 tated by the injustice of the situation. " It is the 
 least you can do ; for } r ou never help me in any thing. 
 Why can't you take half the housekeeping off my 
 hands ? It is as much your duty as it is mine ; and I 
 can't see why you don't do it." 
 
 " Oh, for Heaven's sake, don't let Ellen have any 
 thing to do with the housekeeping ! " Tom would 
 exclaim, laying down his newspaper in the energy of 
 his horror at the thought. " I should never get my 
 breakfast in time, nor have any thing fit to eat/' 
 using the strongest argument with Maria, with whom 
 Tom's comfort was a sacre,d thing. " Besides, she
 
 30 REGINALD ARCHER. 
 
 
 
 isn't strong enough for it ; " which was not at all the 
 case. 
 
 " I am very fond of my home," Reginald would 
 smoothly remark, saying that which was true only so 
 far as his home afforded him a place where he could 
 do as he pleased, and have every thing he wished, 
 without paying fo it ; " but I cannot consent to sac- 
 rifice my digestion upon the altar of family feeling. 
 If Ellen is to keep this house, my only resource is a 
 restaurant or a hotel." 
 
 " Maria, how can you suggest such a thing, when 
 you know how delicate Ellen is, and how unequal 
 she would be to the exertion ? " even Arnold would 
 join in. 
 
 Meantime, Ellen, not even put to the trouble of 
 arguing her case, would sit like a pretty little martyr, 
 who, when she was reviled, reviled not again, and, 
 when the subject dropped, would enjoy a full meal 
 of every thing that was best upon the table. There, 
 after some faint further protest from Maria, the mat- 
 ter would rest ; and there, indeed, she wished it to 
 remain. The housekeeping was her pride and occu- 
 pation ; and it would have broken her heart to surren- 
 der it to other hands, though she did not wish it 
 made difficult by irregularity in the household. But 
 her grumble was to her, as to most of us, a precious 
 privilege : it worked off the nervousness which
 
 REQINALD ARCHER. 31 
 
 comes from strain upon body or temper, and left 
 her cool and comfortable. Perhaps she availed her- 
 self of the relief too often with regard to evils which 
 experience might have taught her were too radical 
 for her to remedy. 
 
 As far . as Ellen was concerned, her sister had no 
 real wish to put any additional duty upon her ; for 
 she fully participated in the family bondage towards 
 that young person. But, when Maria was exasperat- 
 ed, she had a fashion of speaking out unwelcome 
 truths, which she perceived at all times, but which 
 her amiability generally held in abeyance, and always 
 prevented her from acting upon. Ellen and Reginald 
 kept her permanently provided with such material, 
 though she judged and sentenced her brother for far 
 darker deeds than those peccadilloes, those sins of 
 omission, for which she blamed the poor little pig, 
 who, by nature, could " not get over the barn-stile."
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 IN which of the great cities of the Atlantic coast 
 the Archers resided, it is not necessary to state ; 
 but it was one of the centres of American civilization 
 in which the national character is fully exhibited. "" 
 
 For several generations, the family had possessed 
 cultivation, position, and at least moderate wealth ; 
 and it still maintained that status. The surroundings 
 of these young people had been those which environ 
 most young Americans of good connection : they had 
 been born into that comfortable, unromantic form of 
 existence which is too familiar to need description. 
 The surface of our democratic society is somewhat 
 level for purposes of literature, though beneath it 
 we may find fresher blood and deeper passions than 
 elsewhere. The Archers began life under the ordi- 
 nary auspices. As children, they inhabited a hand- 
 some house in a fashionable neighborhood, were sent 
 to the finest schools, spent money freely, and had not 
 a want ungratified, scarcely a wish restrained. Then 
 and always, they were part of the best society in 
 
 32
 
 REGINALD ARCHER. 33 
 
 their city ; and to be first-class in one's own place is 
 the practical limit of aristocracy, enabling, as it does, 
 the American merchant to meet princes royal upon 
 grounds of equality. In their veins ran both Cavalier 
 and Puritan blood ; and it was curious to watch the 
 predominance of either race in each individual. The 
 old problem of mental and moral inheritance ap- 
 peared in this as in all cases, leaving it unsolved 
 now and always. 
 
 Within these commonplace outward limits occurred 
 the passionate emotions and tragic events of the story 
 I am about to tell ; within these bounds human nature 
 found exercise for its highest and lowest instincts. 
 
 The mother of this family had died when most of 
 her children were at school ; and the father had soon 
 followed her. Just before his decease, Mr. Archer 
 had taken Tom into partnership; and, upon the 
 parent's death, the business and the support of the 
 family had naturally fallen to the son. Thus Tom 
 began life with expenses which almost consumed an 
 income that must have rendered him very wealthy 
 in a few years, had it been allowed to accumulate. 
 Each child had inherited a sum sufficient for educa- 
 tional purposes, and a small annual income. For 
 further dependence, the men had their professions ; 
 and Tom was only too glad to provide a home for his 
 
 sisters. 
 
 2*
 
 34 REGINALD ARCHER. 
 
 But Arnold's doctoring turned out a failure, and 
 Reginald's law a farce ; and then Tom found that 
 the penalty of being able to do a thing is being 
 allowed to do it. As he could afford to sustain 
 the family, it became tacitly settled that he should 
 bear the expenses of an establishment of which his 
 brothers and sisters shared the full benefits. Tom 
 considered this perfectly just, except, perhaps, in 
 the case of Reginald. Some faint doubts occasion- 
 ally arose in his mind as to the propriety of the 
 strong, splendid gentleman deliberately living upon 
 him ; but, being as hospitable as an Arab or a Vir- 
 ginian, he would not have refused daily bread to a 
 stranger, much less to one of his own blood. 
 
 But that which did exasperate him, and which he 
 constantly resisted, was Reginald's cool way of levy- 
 ing contributions upon him in order to purchase 
 luxuries which Tom would have considered entirely 
 beyond his own purse. Reginald could always afford 
 any thing, and scorned to regard the matter of price, 
 though his brother was often compelled to do so. 
 Yet such was Tom's family feeling, that he could 
 not bring himself positively to deny the claims his 
 brother made upon him. He knew that Reginald 
 would manage, in some way, to extract a certain 
 sum of money from him in a given time ; and he 
 made mental allowance for it, as he did for taxes
 
 REGINALD ARCHER. 35 
 
 and household wants, in his estimate of the year's 
 expenses. But he tried to keep it within definite 
 limits by a contest over each demand. 
 
 These small battles always occurred in Tom's 
 private counting-room; where, indeed, most of his 
 confidential talks with his brother took place. 
 
 After his late breakfast, Reginald would array 
 himself in gorgeous apparel, and take his morning 
 walk down town ; generally making Tom's counting- 
 room his resting-place and turning-point. Here he 
 would lounge for a while, smoking his brother's best 
 cigars, reading his newspapers, occupying, his easiest 
 arm-chair, and, if the other were at leisure, talking 
 to him by the hour of any thing which interest- 
 ed them both. Reginald liked nothing better than 
 to chat with Tom ; chiefly because they invariably 
 differed, and because his elder brother always had 
 a strong opinion of him and his sentiments, and used 
 scant ceremony in expressing it. Overfed with 
 flattery, and sick of too ready submission, he relished 
 the conversation of a man who mentally defied him, 
 just as he enjoyed the pursuit of a woman who 
 resisted him. Calmly confident of ultimate victory 
 over both, he thanked both for the momentary stimu- 
 lus and spice they added to his existence. 
 
 Coming in from the fresh morning air, radiant in 
 appearance, and faultless in dress, he would stand
 
 36 REGINALD ARCHER. 
 
 with his back to the fire, and freely criticise all that 
 was before him ; often throwing down the gauntlet for 
 the amusement of seeing how Tom would take it up. 
 
 " Good heavens, Tom ! how can you wear such a 
 coat '? " he one day exclaimed as he scrutinized his 
 brother, and discovered that the garment in question 
 was of the style of the past season. " Why don't 
 )sou buy yourself some new clothes ? " 
 
 " Because I have to pay for yours," was on the 
 tip of Tom's tongue as he glanced quickly up from 
 the letter he was writing. 
 
 Tom Archer was a gentleman, and could not cast 
 past favors in a man's face ; but he looked at his 
 brother for a full moment, sorely tempted to let him 
 hear the truth. Kept comparatively poor by his 
 bounty to this very man, that the other should assume 
 a magnificent disdain, founded upon advantages pur- 
 chased with his money, seemed beyond endurance. 
 Tom had to cool slightly before he could trust him- 
 self to reply. 
 
 " My dear fellow," he said at last, speaking very 
 deliberately, " in the matter of spending money, you 
 have me at an extreme disadvantage. You see, I 
 indulge in that most expensive of all luxuries, I 
 pay my debts. If a man can only make up his mind 
 to dispense with this extravagance, there is scarcely 
 any other he may not enjoy, he has so much spare
 
 REGINALD ARCHER. 37 
 
 change, so much spending-money left free. But, 
 being hampered by such weakness, you must not 
 expect me to compete with those fortunate beings 
 who are entirely free from it. Strangely as the word 
 may strike you, I have sometimes to economize." 
 
 " Ah, indeed ! I am sorry to hear it," Reginald 
 returned, with delightful superiority to any exhibi- 
 tion of emotion or temper on the part of his brother. 
 " But to come back to the matter in question. When 
 you do get a coat, I shall be most happy to choose it 
 for you ; for you know you have very little idea of 
 what is becoming, and still less of what is fashionable. 
 Good-morning ! " And he bowed himself out with a 
 grace and good humor wonderful to behold. 
 
 He wisely concluded that this was scarcely an ap- 
 propriate time to ask for a loan, Reginald always 
 called them loans, as sounding better, as he had 
 intended doing ; but, his needs otherwise his tailor 
 being quite pressing, he came back to the charge 
 on the following day. 
 
 Tom's mercantile instinct, and habit of reading 
 men's faces, usually warned him when Reginald meant 
 money ; and he took a grim pleasure in watching the 
 variety of ways in which his brother would lead up 
 to the subject, in wondering how he would return to 
 the attack each time he fell back defeated before 
 Tom's entire want of comprehension.
 
 38 . REGINALD ARCHER. 
 
 " By heavens ! if he wants my money, he shall ask 
 for it openly," Tom thought, between amusement 
 and irritation. " He sha'n't think I am walking into 
 his traps blindfolded by his flattery. If I must be 
 squeezed like an orange, he shall not imagine I am 
 such a fool as not to know it." 
 
 But Reginald was an experienced tactician, and 
 understood his man perfectly. Letting his real pur- 
 pose rest for the moment, he began the discussion of 
 some subject upon which he and Tom differed totally. 
 Dexterously exciting his brother, he forced him into 
 expressions which were as truthful as they were 
 bitter, but which he knew the other would regret 
 after he had used them. Then, when Tom was a 
 little exhausted by his own energy, and a little re- 
 morseful for his hard words, Reginald said casually, 
 as though it had just occurred to him, 
 
 " By the way, Tom, if you can spare a hundred 
 and fifty dollars, I wish you would lend it to me." 
 
 " I haven't much money to spare, Reginald," the 
 other replied, drawing his breath rather wearily ; "but 
 I will see what I can do." And he turned towards 
 his check-book as he spoke. 
 
 An odd smile came into Reginald's eyes as he saw 
 how accurately he had calculated the instinctive gen- 
 erosity of Tom's nature, which made him never so 
 willing to oblige any one as when he imagined he 
 had been harsh towards him.
 
 REGINALD ARCHER. . 39 
 
 " What do you want the money for ? " the elder 
 man demanded, beginning a regular formula. 
 
 "To pay my tailor," returned the other promptly, 
 well prepared for the catechism he was undergoing. 
 
 " Let me see the bill," Tom went on ; and the other 
 quickly produced the document. 
 
 " Well, I will give you a check, payable to the 
 man's order." And the younger brother soon had 
 the paper in his pocket. 
 
 " Tom," broke out Reginald, with apparent entire 
 irrelevance, after he had been lounging about the 
 office, talking upon general subjects, for half^an hour, 
 but always with the same odd smile half glimmering 
 in his face, " doesn't the Bible say something about 
 the children of this world being wiser in their genera- 
 tion than the children of light ? " 
 
 " Yes," Tom answered slowly, reading his broth- 
 er's meaning far more clearly in his face than the 
 other imagined: "that is the commendation given to 
 the unjust steward ; but I don't think I should care 
 to be an unjust steward, a lying, thieving scoun- 
 drel, even at that price." 
 
 "Perhaps not. But there is a good deal of truth 
 in the remark ; and, upon the whole, I strongly agree 
 with the biblical verdict," Reginald replied. 
 
 " I don't," said Tom ; " at least, I haven't thus far 
 in life. But you must work out the problem before
 
 40 REGINALD ARCHER. 
 
 you can give the exact answer ; and, when I have 
 come to the end of my experience, I will let you 
 know the result." 
 
 " And I'll do the same for you. When I have 
 lived out my life, I will give you my testimony. But 
 I don't think I shall change my opinion," Reginald 
 added carelessly, as he gayly nodded, and went his 
 way. 
 
 He little imagined the manner in which he would 
 fulfil that promise ; he little dreamed of the exacti- 
 tude with which he would keep that pledge. To 
 both mgn the very sun would have lost its light 
 could they have foreseen the hour when those words 
 would again be spoken between them. 
 
 For his close and invariable inquiry as to the 
 application of his money, Tom had his own reasons, 
 well understood on both sides. There were portions 
 of Reginald's life, the mere thought of which raised 
 Tom's righteous wrath and loathing disgust ; rather 
 than be made a party to which, he would have seen 
 every cent he possessed at the bottom of the sea. 
 In the early days, he had begun by sternly refusing 
 to aid Reginald while he led such a life, hoping to 
 keep him in order by keeping him poor. But he 
 found his brother merely spent his own means on his 
 luxuries, open and secret, and went in to debt for his 
 necessities. Then came duns and disgraceful scenes
 
 REGINALD ARCHER. 41 
 
 from creditors, until Tom was whipped into paying 
 what the other owed, merely to save the honor of 
 the name and the family. 
 
 From that time he made up his mind to face the 
 hard fact, that Reginald's existence was beyond his 
 power of purification ; but he resolyed to know the 
 exact use of his money, and to keep his hands clean 
 from even indirect participation in sin. 
 
 Reginald's one aim in life had been personal, phys- 
 ical gratification : he had not an aspiration which 
 really deserved to rank higher than a desire for a 
 good dinner. Even his love of art and elegance was 
 a purely animal instinct ; was literally " the lust of 
 the eye, and the pride of life." He had begun his 
 social career by an intrigue with a great leader of 
 fashion, a woman ten years his senior, whose some- 
 what over-ripe charms, and long experience in their 
 dexterous use, still enabled her to attract most men, 
 and to gratify her omnivorous appetite for admiration. 
 Like himself, at once emotionless and passionate, of 
 cold heart and hot blood, each afforded all that the 
 other craved, without troublesome sentiment to mar 
 or disturb their enjoyment. Strong in her social 
 position, and shielded behind the fact that she had 
 never come to open disgrace, though with scarcely a 
 reputation to lose, she was the person of all his set 
 whom Reginald's keen perception selected for his
 
 42 REGINALD ARCHER. 
 
 pleasure and his profit. As no real feeling had 
 entered into their connection, its dissolution pro- 
 duced neither pain nor anger; and though soon 
 tiring of each other, and passing on to further con- 
 quests, they always remained goad-humored acquaint- 
 ances, willingly giving each other a helping hand on 
 occasion. Both natures were too bare of either con- 
 science or fine feeling to experience shame or sorrow. 
 As neither knew elevation, neither could be conscious 
 of degradation : they shared the comfort and ease of 
 other animals in partaking of 'their lack of any diviner 
 part which would have rendered them capable of 
 suffering for sin. 
 
 As Reginald began, so he went on. Without reg- 
 ular occupation, l\e sought in society his employment 
 and his play. But when Dr. Watts gave utterance 
 to that immortal sentence, that " Satan finds some 
 mischief still for idle hands to do," he announced a 
 fixed law, from which there is no deviation. It truly 
 seems that men must choose between work and wick- 
 edness; and this man chose the latter alternative. 
 Every woman was to him simply an object which 
 could afford him more or less gratification ; and to 
 secure as large a degree as possible of such pleasure 
 was the occupation of his time and thoughts. 
 
 " ' Insatiate Archer ! would not one suffice ? ' " 
 exclaimed one of his companions, using Young's
 
 REGINALD ARCHER. 43 
 
 words, half in jest and half in earnest, when some 
 action of Reginald's slightly shocked even him. 
 
 " No," returned the other quite frankly ; " not if 
 she were the Graces and the Muses combined in one 
 person. No human being is worth loving beyond a 
 certain length of time ; and to me one pretty woman 
 is as good as another, if she has taste enough to like 
 me. On the other hand, I am of the opinion of the 
 lover in the old song, ' If she be not fair to me, 
 what care I how fair she be ? ' I know what stuff 
 women are made of. I give thanks for what I get ; 
 but I am not fool enough to suppose that I have not 
 had predecessors, and will not have successors. I 
 know perfectly well that what a woman grants me 
 she would concede to any one else in the same posi- 
 tion ; and I value her favors accordingly. ' When 
 lovely woman stoops to folly,' it is generally as 
 much to gratify herself as her lover. As to the rest 
 of the fair sinners, I say of them, as St. Paul said of 
 another class of persons, ' They are bought with a 
 price,' and a very cheap one at that. I don't blame 
 any of them : it is just what I should do in their 
 places, and it suits me exactly ; but I don't want to 
 flatter myself, and I like to state things as I see 
 them." 
 
 " Well, my dear boy," said the young man ad- 
 dressed, a little startled at the open avowal of an
 
 44 REGINALD ARCHER. 
 
 opinion upon which he acted daily, " your creed has 
 at least the advantage of fairness and justice. You 
 give women exactly the liberty you claim, and don's 
 think wickedness any worse in them than in your- 
 self." 
 
 " Certainly," answered Reginald. " My dear fel- 
 low, if there be a God, and a definite right and wrong 
 existing in his mind and in our natures, which I am 
 not at all prepared to affirm or deny, being very 
 slightly interested in the matter, I am not such an 
 idiot as to suppose that he will acknowledge any sex 
 in sin ; that he will look at the actor instead of the 
 quality of the act. I have never supposed that the 
 wrath of God, like the wrath of this world, is re- 
 served for the feminine gender ; or that, if there be 
 a judgment-day, men and women will not stand to- 
 gether before him, to be judged by one fixed and 
 equal standard. I hear myself called by rather hard 
 names sometimes : but I am neither a coward nor a 
 lunatic ; and consequently I acknowledge, that, when 
 I commit an act, I abdicate forever my right to 
 criticise it in any one else. Not being of the ' whited- 
 sepulchre ' kind, I don't make myself ridiculous by 
 condemning a woman for enjoying herself as I have 
 done," he coolly wound up. 
 
 " Reginald, do you believe in anything?" broke 
 out his companion.
 
 REGINALD ARCHER. 46 
 
 " What do you mean by any thing ? an hereafter 
 and hell-fire ? I suppose that is what you think I 
 ought to be considering. I believe in cause and 
 effect, and a moral law of gravitation, from which 
 you can no more escape than you can get outside of 
 your own skin, which will take you just where you 
 belong both here and hereafter. As to the next 
 world, I know nothing about it. What I do know 
 is, that in this world, at this moment, the weather is 
 glorious, that" (taking out his watch, and looking at 
 the time) " in three hours I shall have a capital appe- 
 tite for a capital dinner, and that, in the mean time, 
 I have an appointment with the handsomest woman 
 who has come out this season," Concluded this frank 
 sensualist, looking so grandly beautiful, so overflowing 
 with animal life and enjoyment, as he sauntered on 
 through the sunshine, that his companion could only 
 gaze at him with envy and admiration. 
 
 This comrade was that shadow which such men 
 always possess ; that constant associate and assistant 
 selected from the large following they are sure to 
 draw after them. In these days, Leperello's place is 
 generally supplied by some minor Don Juan, who is 
 rather an apprentice to the trade than a hired servant. 
 Knowing that such leaders and followers must both 
 make wealthy marriages as a provision for their 
 advancing years, the latter think their chances
 
 46 REGINALD ARCHER. 
 
 improved by the companionship, hoping to pick up 
 some rich crumb which may fall from the master's 
 table. As a general rule, their aim is entirely beyond 
 them : they fail by hundreds where the one strong, 
 successful nature gains its end, and by middle age 
 wear away into a mental and material poverty, which 
 would be pitiable if it were not contemptible. 
 
 Of this class was Reginald's alter ego, though still 
 in his nine-days' puppyhood, not having opened his 
 eyes to his natural fate. Reginald's utter inferior in 
 pluck and acuteness, he was his superior in the pos- 
 session of some small emotional nature ; and he could 
 not follow his friend entirely in act, far less in asser- 
 tion. Like all moral* cowards, he was more shocked 
 by a broad statement than a black fact, provided the 
 first were made openly, and the latter kept conveni- 
 ently in the shade. Lloyd Truxton, the individual 
 in question, was, to human sight, good for no earthly 
 purpose ; but there were times when Reginald was 
 too much for his nerves, and he began to hesitate as 
 to the road he was walking, to inquire doubtfully of 
 his master whither he was leading. 
 
 " Reg," said the other at last, " do you believe in 
 anybody's real goodness ? " 
 
 "Well, I don't know. That depends," was the 
 answer, beginning rather indifferently. " You know 
 what I think of women ; and as to men, when you
 
 REGINALD ARCHER. 47 
 
 have added the weak ones to the wicked ones, I 
 hardly see that you can find room or material for an- 
 other class. As far as my experience goes, I could 
 catalogue people under those two great heads, if it 
 were not for my brother Tom ; he staggers me ! " 
 Reginald exclaimed, warming up, and growing inter- 
 ested in expressing his opinion. " Tom's the shrewd- 
 est, coolest, pluckiest fellow I have ever seen : there 
 is no such thing as scare in him ; and yet look at the 
 life he leads ! He is a regular Sir Galahad in a count- 
 ing-room, yet able to hold his own against the strong- 
 est of those who tilt against him. Most people's 
 goodness doesn't affect me very greatly : there is a 
 little too much of ' the recompense of the reward 
 about it.' It amuses me to see tfrem intriguing for a 
 high place in heaven, just as they work for an elevat- 
 ed situation here below ; to watch them investing in 
 prospective in the next world, just as they put out 
 means to the best interest in this one : it entertains 
 me to see how the cowards try to dodge the perdition 
 they feel to be the natural consequence of the lives 
 they lead." 
 
 " Well, really, Reginald, I can't say that I blame 
 them very much. I don't suppose any of us want to 
 go to the Devil if we can help it," Lloyd's fellow- 
 feeling prompted him mildly to expostulate. 
 
 " I believe Tom would do what he thought right,
 
 48 REGINALD ARCHER. 
 
 though he believed it would take him straight to hell ! " 
 the other exclaimed so vehemently, that Lloyd looked 
 at him in astonishment. " His religion isn't ' other 
 worldliness,' as Leigh Hunt called it. He is like St. 
 Paul : he ' presses forward to the mark of the prize 
 of his high calling : " not the prize, but the mark, the 
 elevation, is what he strives after. When I attempt 
 to state the sum of life, I am obliged to put Tom 
 down as a certain quantity ; and I confess he alters 
 my reckoning entirely. He's a queer fellow, a 
 very queer fellow ! " 
 
 And his mind went back to a conversation he and 
 his brother had had years before, the mere recollec- 
 tion of which had power to make him silent for a 
 time. 
 
 On that occasion, Tom, who had then some linger- 
 ing faith in Reginald's reformation, had tried the 
 effect of desperate remonstrance, and had come to 
 a definite understanding upon another point. Lead- 
 ing a very busy life, and going only occasionally into 
 society, Tom did not know, and did not care to know, 
 the details of his brother's existence. But exact facts 
 are not needed by acute perceptions ; and sin leaves 
 its dreadful signet, whose impress can be read like a 
 written page. Character is formed by accretion ; and 
 a man's associates, and the story of his life, tell them- 
 selves without words. Reginald was too well bred
 
 REGINALD ARCHER. 49 
 
 to use a coarse expression before a lady ; but the un- 
 conscious, indefinable tone of his conversation, the 
 sentiments and opinions he sometimes let slip, made 
 Tom flush with anger at his end of the table, while 
 Maria colored with shame and sorrow at hers. Gen- 
 erally, she managed to keep silent on such occasions ; 
 but, every now and then, the pent-up, growing indig- 
 nation of weeks would flash out in some biting sen- 
 tence, which would have cut his conscience to the 
 quick had he possessed such an uncomfortable ad- 
 junct. Being exempt from such weakness, she 
 merely disturbed his nerves ; and he would regard 
 her for a little while with a sort of mild detestation, 
 blandly indicating at the same time his pity for her 
 defective temper. 
 
 It was after such an occasion, rather more marked 
 than usual, that Tom spoke out. 
 
 He waited until Reginald dropped into his count- 
 ing-room for the customary morning visit. Leaving his 
 writing-desk, he came and stood with his back to the 
 fire, looking down at the handsome face and figure 
 sitting with such elegant grace in the arm-chair before 
 him. 
 
 "Reginald," he said presently, "I want to say 
 something to you." 
 
 The other glanced quickly up with that radiant 
 smile which seemed shared between his white teeth
 
 50 REGINALD ARCHER. 
 
 and his brilliant eyes, and saw in a moment where 
 the trouble lay. 
 
 " Well, old fellow, what is it ? " he exclaimed, at- 
 tempting to carry this off, as he did all things, by his 
 genial laugh and lordly presence. 
 
 " I am not," Tom went on steadily, looking him 
 straight in the eyes, " moral dry-nurse to you or any 
 other man ; and I don't attempt to preach to you, as 
 I suppose it would do no good. You are my brother, 
 and have a right to share my home ; but I swear to 
 you here, that, if ever again you bring into it even 
 the shadow of your outside existence to insult those 
 who live in it, you walk out of my door, never again 
 to enter it while I breathe ! " 
 
 " Why, you take matters seriously, my dear boy," 
 said Reginald airily. " I have no desire either to in- 
 sult or to incommode Maria ; but she is so ridiculously 
 narrow-minded, you know." 
 
 " Maria is right," Tom broke out hotly, his eyes 
 glowing, and the anger he had been visibly restraining 
 getting the better of him. " I would to Heaven there 
 were more women like her ; for then your trade would 
 fail. Reginald Archer, if you were not my brother, 
 bound to me by ties which I can not and ought not to 
 break, I would never speak to you ; I would never 
 touch your hand ; I would cast you off as an object 
 utterly loathsome to me. Why, man, a dog has in-
 
 REGINALD ARCHER. 51 
 
 
 
 stincts above yours, and would disdain the life you 
 lead : even that brute can love and cling to one object, 
 can hold to one master." 
 
 " Tom," said the other slowly, gathering himself up, 
 and standing before his brother in all his splendid 
 physical superiority, and planting himself, as it were, 
 upon it, " you and I have entirely different aims and 
 pleasures in life. You like to work, and I like to 
 play ; and I am sorry that you will not or can not 
 share my enjoyment." 
 
 " Enjoyment ! " cried ( Tom. " Do you call it 
 pleasure to cultivate the lowest elements of your 
 nature ; to wallow in filth that a clean animal would 
 reject? Do you desire such a present for me, and 
 such a future as it must inevitably produce ? Man, 
 I hope one day to marry a good, innocent woman. 
 What right could I have to ask of her the pure heart 
 and clean hands I could not offer her in return ? Do 
 I want to give my wife her first lesson of evil in 
 actual life ? Do I wish the ghost of my wicked past 
 to haunt my bed and board ? Could I bear to see 
 the woman I loved shrink from me in uncontrollable 
 physical loathing when the slightest taint of what 
 had gone before re-appeared ? I believe in a moral 
 arithmetic, which keeps unfailing account of every 
 action ; and, in footing up the sum of life, facts will 
 no more lie than figures. I can't think that man
 
 52 REGINALD ARCHER. 
 
 
 
 wise who makes such a provision for his old age ; and, 
 if that is what you call happiness, keep it to yourself, 
 for I want none of it." 
 
 " Tom," said Reginald, gazing at his brother with 
 a grave, blank expression, which the other had never 
 before seen in his face, " either you are a fool, or I am 
 one ; and excuse me for saying that I do not much 
 doubt to whom the honor belongs. However, if you 
 happen to be right, I am most infernally wrong. At 
 any rate, if I were not myself, I would be you, one 
 thing or the other, and not a flimsy compromise be- 
 tween the two." 
 
 " Reg," exclaimed Tom, with a thrill through his 
 voice, " do you ever remember our mother, and the 
 pure home she made for us ? Doesn't it sometimes 
 fill you with shame and remorse to think of the good 
 women who have loved you there ? " 
 
 " No," was the cool, quiet reply. " I am not a 
 woman ; and I can't measure myself sufficiently with 
 them for their influence or example to have much 
 effect upon me. But I think of you sometimes, old 
 boy, because you are a man, with the same liberty 
 and the same lot as myself ; and I confess you are a 
 fact hi Nature which I can't quite get over." 
 
 And he laid his hand on his brother's shoulder, and 
 looked down at him, not only with acute mental 
 appreciation, but with something so much like human
 
 REGINALD ARCHER. 53 
 
 feeling, that Tom flushed with pleasure and surprise. 
 He knew ever after, that, if Reginald had possessed a 
 heart, he would have had the first place in it ; that, as 
 much as the man was capable of giving, he received. 
 He never quite forgot that grasp upon his arm. 
 Its memory lingered with him even in the heat of the 
 battle he and his brother were destined to fight : it 
 came strangely back to him when it was the touch of 
 a vanished hand ; when the valley of the shadow of 
 death lay between them.
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 THE old saying runs, that there is a woman at the 
 bottom of every thing If there be an excep- 
 tion to this rule, it certainly is not in the case of 
 novels. In them, at least, the female element is 
 sufficiently felt ; generally forming, not only the foun- 
 dation, but a -large portion of the structure, of the 
 tale. Your heroine is a necessity; and the motive- 
 power "which makes the world go round" here ap- 
 pears in its full proportions : here, at least, women 
 and love receive credit for all they accomplish. Be 
 the lady what she may, she is, ex officio, the centre of 
 the story; and the person about to be introduced 
 to the reader claims attention by that position. 
 
 It was when the lives and characters of the Archer 
 family had reached the phase described that she re- 
 appeared to influence the existence of these brothers ; 
 to win the love of one, and the hand of the other. 
 Connected with their boyhood, and then forgotten, 
 Fate brought her back to mould the manhood of 
 both; used her small hand to shape the career and 
 develop the nature of each. 
 
 54
 
 REGINALD ARCHER. 55 
 
 " I saw a gentleman from California last night," 
 said Tom, one morning, as he took his place at the 
 breakfast-table ; " and he told me that old Col. Mac- 
 alaster died a month or two ago. It carried me back 
 to the old times to hear the name. Don't you re- 
 member the stately way in which he and father used 
 to call each other cousin ? though I defy either of 
 them to trace the relationship. It* is rather odd that 
 we have not heard of his death before. But perhaps 
 Christie has almost forgotten us ; and there was, prob- 
 ably, no one else to let us know." 
 
 " She can scarcely have forgotten us," remarked 
 Maria : " she saw too much of us when she was a 
 little child for that. Why, when they lived in the 
 South, they were here every summer, on their way 
 to the Springs. Perhaps, on the other hand, she may 
 think she has gone out of our recollection. Poor 
 little Christie ! she is entirely alone in the world now. 
 I think I will write to her to-day, and tell her how 
 sorry I am for her." 
 
 " By all means," said Tom. " She used to be very 
 fond of you, Maria." 
 
 " Little Christie can't be little Christie any longer," 
 quietly remarked Reginald, who had looked up with 
 quick interest at Tom's announcement, but had not 
 yet spoken. " I wonder how old she is now." 
 
 " That is very easily determined," answered Maria ; 
 " for she is just Ellen's age.."
 
 56 REGINALD ARCHER. 
 
 " And how old are you, little woman ? " asked 
 Reginald of his sister, who sat lazily eating her break- 
 fast, her sympathy in the sorrows of others being 
 much too mild to affect her appetite even momen- 
 tarily. 
 
 " Eighteen," she replied. 
 
 " Then," said Reginald slowly, " Christie probably 
 has that immense fortune in her own right, and under 
 her own control." 
 
 Tom lifted his head suddenly, caught his brother's 
 eye, and read his thought perfectly. When he looked 
 down upon his plate again, it was with a rather sar- 
 donic smile upon his lips. 
 
 " Ah, that is your idea ! " he thought. " No doubt 
 the money would suit you exactly. But, thank 
 heavens ! she is on the other side of the country ; and 
 I hope most devoutly that she will stay there. If 
 she ever comes within your reach, she will have 
 about the same chance that a bird has before a 
 snake." 
 
 " Christie used to be pretty," Reginald went on 
 presently. " I wonder how she has grown up. I hope 
 she is as much like Ellen in that as she is in age," he 
 added, nodding pleasantly to the person in question, 
 and instinctively using the language of compliment 
 to a woman, even though she were his sister. In 
 this case he spoke the truth ; for Elleii was as pretty
 
 REGINALD ARCHER. 57 
 
 as a lazy little pink-and-white doll could possibly 
 be. Between herself and Reginald there was a 
 decided resemblance both in disposition and appear- 
 ance ; and, as their tastes for pleasure and comfort 
 agreed, they rather liked each other, and always 
 coalesced in family discussions. 
 
 " Christie could never be ugly, with those great 
 dark eyes of hers, and that lovely curling hair, even 
 if her features have changed," said Maria, smiling as 
 the recollection of the pretty, merry child came back 
 to her. 
 
 " I wonder whether she tears her dresses still," 
 laughed Tom. " What a wild, little thing it used to 
 be ! She kept me in perpetual terror for fear she 
 would come to grief and break her neck." 
 
 Poor Tom ! He little imagined how soon his fear 
 for her would be upon him again, or that this time 
 his tenible dread would be that she would break her 
 heart. 
 
 " Don't forget to write to her, Maria," he said, as 
 he lighted his cigar, and left the breakfast-room to go 
 down town to his counting-house ; " and give my love 
 to her when you do so." 
 
 Reginald lingered over his tea and toast, as was his 
 custom, for some time after his brother's departure. 
 He had a certain purpose to accomplish ; but he took 
 his own time, and the means he judged best, for secur- 
 
 3*
 
 58 REGINALD ARCHER, 
 
 ing it. He never hurried, and therefore never lost 
 his acuteness nor his composure. He had seen and 
 understood Tom's look at his mention of Christie's 
 money, though he kept any shade of comprehension 
 from his eyes ; and he knew he must effect his object 
 without his brother's knowledge, and secure its fulfil- 
 ment before the other could interfere. 
 
 He waited until Maria had made her household 
 arrangements for the day and was about to leave the 
 room. Then he spoke. 
 
 " Maria," he said when her hand was on the door- 
 knob, " I shall not go down town before mid-day ; 
 and, if you will write your letter to Christie before 
 then, I will post it myself." 
 
 " Thanks," said his sister, quite touched at this 
 unusual desire to oblige some one besides himself. 
 
 " By the way," he went on, as though the idea had 
 just occurred to him, " don't you think it would be 
 well to ask Christie to pay us a visit ? She is free to 
 go where she pleases ; and I should think she would 
 like to come back to the Atlantic States, if only for 
 change and variety. We are her nearest connec- 
 tions, and ought to show her some kindness and 
 attention. Besides, it will be so pleasant for Ellen to 
 have some companion of her own age ! Poor little 
 Nell doesn't have much fun in life ; and she shall 
 have a good time when Christie comes."
 
 REGINALD ARCHER. 59 
 
 And he stooped down, and smoothed Ellen's curl- 
 ing hair with a real appreciation of its beauty, and 
 an apparent brotherly attention before which he 
 knew Maria would melt like wax. Ellen's welfare 
 was an unanswerable argument with her ; and con- 
 sequently he fully expected the reply he received, 
 at least, the first part of it. 
 
 " I think it would be an excellent plan. Christie 
 can only say ' No,' if she does not care to come ; and, 
 if she would like it, we should be charmed. But," 
 she added, suddenly hesitating, " don't you think we 
 had better speak to Tom about it first ? You know, 
 after all, it is his house." 
 
 " Nonsense ! " exclaimed her brother. " Tom al- 
 ways liked Christie ; and he is as hospitable as he 
 can possibly be. He will be delighted to have her 
 here," deliberately lying with a smooth grace that 
 was inimitable. " Go up stairs and write your let- 
 ter ; and, as I have said, I will post it for you." 
 
 And, thus urged, Maria complied. 
 
 Reginald sat back in his chair, and held up his 
 newspaper as though he were reading it. But he 
 could not have made much progress ; for his eyes 
 rested upon the same spot ; and there was a quiet 
 smile in their depths, that told of a satisfaction as 
 deep as it was undemonstrative. 
 
 He did not return to dinner that day. He wanted
 
 GO REGINALD ARCHER. 
 
 Tom to hear of the invitation which had been sent 
 and to realize his powerlessness to prevent its accept- 
 ance, before they again met, thereby escaping expla- 
 nation or outbreak with liis brother. 
 
 It fell out just as he had calculated. 
 
 " Tom, I have written to Christie," Maria said as 
 soon as she saw him that evening. 
 
 " I am glad to hear it," he answered. " What 
 did you say to her ? " 
 
 " Oh ! I told her how much we sympathized with 
 her, and how well we remembered the old days 
 when she used to stay with us ; and I asked her to 
 come and stay with us again." 
 
 " You did ! " cried Tom, whirling round on her, 
 with a flash in his eyes and a breathlessness in his 
 voice that startled her. 
 
 " Yes," she answered nervously, with surprise at 
 his evident objection to the invitation. " I had no 
 idea that you would not be pleased. Why do you 
 dislike the plan ? " 
 
 " How came you to ask her ? " he demanded, dis- 
 regarding her question, and following his own 
 thoughts. 
 
 " Why, I supposed it would be delightful for us 
 all ; and then Reginald said, what was very true, 
 that it would be so pleasant and useful to Ellen to 
 have a young companion ! "
 
 REGINALD ARCHER. 61 
 
 " Ah ! Reginald suggested it, did he ? I might 
 have known it ! " he exclaimed. " Well, that will 
 do," he added hastily, a moment after, evidently to 
 cut the matter short. And he turned to the win- 
 dow, and gazed out of it for the next five minutes 
 in perfect silence. 
 
 " So Reginald played his trump as soon as my 
 back was turned, and won the trick," thought Tom 
 hotly. 
 
 As his brother had foreseen, he was too acute 
 not to recognize instantly his helplessness in the 
 situation. He was quite sufficiently human for his 
 vanity to tingle at being thus quietly outwitted ; 
 but it was a much higher emotion than injured self- 
 conceit which filled him with sore indignation 
 against the man who had circumvented him, and 
 which made his heart sink with pity for the pretty 
 little girl he remembered with such curious old-time 
 tenderness. 
 
 " Will he win the whole game in the same way, 
 and with the same ease ? " And his own dread an- 
 swered him. 
 
 " Maria," he said quietly when he presently took 
 his place at the table, " if Christie comes, of course 
 we will all welcome her as cordially as we did years 
 ago. But I must tell you, once for all, that I cannot 
 let Reginald direct the affairs of this household in
 
 62 REGINALD ARCHER. 
 
 any thing. I am sorry to say, that you know as 
 well as I do that his guidance would contribute 
 neither to the good nor the happiness of any one 
 
 in it." 
 
 i 
 
 As Reginald well knew, he was safe from any 
 marked outward sign of defeat from Tom. Conse- 
 quently, he entered the breakfasts-room next morn- 
 ing not only with perfect external ease, but much 
 inward comfort. His brother's manner towards him 
 had a quiet little chill in it, which would have 
 affected the nerves of a weaker man. But Reginald 
 carried to perfection the great art of never seeing 
 that which he did not wish to see, and merely 
 noticed the change so far as to cover it with in- 
 creased gayety and good humor. Then, as often 
 before, he seemed to turn the ordinary meal into a 
 banquet by his aesthetic appreciation of the viands, 
 and the intellectual feast he spread before those sur- 
 rounding the table. He carried Ellen, Arnold, and 
 Maria completely away with him ; and even Tom 
 could not help looking at him with a strange love 
 and pride mingling in his sorrow and anger. 
 
 By the earliest return mail, Christie's answer 
 arrived. It read as though tears and smiles had 
 been shed upon it. The poor little woman eagerly 
 grasped, perhaps, the first tender, well-known hand 
 which had been extended to her since her father's 
 death.
 
 REGINALD ARCHER. 63 
 
 " Of course she would come," she wrote, " if they 
 were good enough to love her still, and care to see 
 her. Did they think she could ever forget how kind 
 they had once been to her ? If they could only know 
 how lonely she had been during the past months, 
 they would understand her eagerness to be with 
 those who had once loved her father and herself." 
 
 And then she went on to recall each member of the 
 family with the minuteness of a child's recollection, 
 showing how fresh their memory remained in her 
 warm, innocent heart. 
 
 " She is just the same impetuous little creature she 
 always was," said Tom, laughing softly over the let- 
 ter. " Just look at the headlong handwriting ! I 
 wonder how many, or rather how few, i's are dotted, 
 or 's crossed, in the whole document." 
 
 Except for his intuitions as to Reginald's designs 
 upon the girl and her fortune, Tom thought how glad- 
 ly he would have welcomed her to his home. Even 
 as it was, when he could partially forget his fears, or 
 persuade himself that he had been over-certain of the 
 result, he would look forward with delight to the 
 prospect of seeing her, and grow as eager for her 
 coming as the remainder of the household. 
 
 As for the rest, except Reginald, they talked of 
 little else. He, having gained his purpose, covered 
 His further intentions by apparent indifference. Maria
 
 64 REGINALD ARCHER. 
 
 and Ellen spent much of their time in refurnishing 
 the pleasantest spare-chamber for her occupancy, and 
 daily added some small ornament or engraving to 
 beautify it, or some article of furniture with which 
 to render it more comfortable. 
 
 As for Arnold, he labored for weeks, with an incal- 
 culable amount of industry and skill, upon a wonder- 
 fully-carved cage, in which his sweetest-voiced canary 
 was to hang in Christie's room. He wished to sacri- 
 fice several other small animals at her shrine ; but 
 Maria was compelled to protest, and they compro- 
 mised upon the bird. 
 
 The manufacture of its cage afforded entertainment 
 for the whole family. Such was its elaborateness, and 
 the pains Arnold lavished upon it, that he found him- 
 self so pressed by business as scarcely to have time 
 to partake of his meals regularly. Carrying bits of it 
 about with him, and applying himself thereto regard- 
 less of time or place, Maria could not help faintly 
 intimating, that, considering the chips, dust, and in- 
 jury to tables and chairs, it would have been a de- 
 cided saving to buy a handsome cage. But Tom gave 
 her a quick look, which silenced the sentence before 
 it was half out of her lips. 
 
 He would listen to Arnold's explanations on the 
 subject with the greatest apparent interest ; and 
 would sit and watch him carve, with a loving smile in
 
 REGINALD ARCHER. 65 
 
 his eyes which was beautiful to behold. Reginald 
 would stand and gaze at both with the queerest laugh 
 in the corners of his mouth. Tom's delicate generos- 
 ity and tenderness always touched his brother's aes- 
 thetic perceptions ; and the whole situation curiously 
 stirred his sense of humor. Added to this, it amused 
 him that they should show such earnestness over an 
 arrival which meant so little to them, and so much to 
 him ; that they should be so eager and occupied, and 
 he so idle, and apparently uninterested. 
 
 The time that went by was filled to them all with 
 a pleasant sense of expectation ; and scarcely a day 
 passed without some one reckoning the shortest period 
 which must necessarily elapse before Christie could 
 be with them.
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 TO society, Christie Macalaster was merely re- 
 markable for being the sole heiress to her 
 father's great estate. Her personal attributes were 
 unknown, as she had been brought up in perfect 
 seclusion. Motherless almost from her infancy, 
 Col. Macalaster found his darling child a heavy 
 responsibility. Feeling a busy man's inability to 
 give his daughter a proper woman's training, without 
 time or power to select her associates and shield her 
 from harmful influences, he had adopted the negative 
 system of shutting her out from companionship of 
 almost every kind. Left at first to the care of a 
 faithful nurse, and passing afterwards into the hands 
 of masters and professors who taught her all that 
 educated young ladies are supposed to know, she had 
 grown up entirely apart from the world and ordinary 
 social existence. Her ideas of human nature and 
 life were gathered from poetry, and novels of the 
 better sort ; and what relation they bore to facts 
 may be imagined. 
 
 66
 
 REGINALD ARCHER. 67 
 
 Col. Macalaster's secret dread had been, that his 
 daughter would be married for her wealth ; and he 
 had sought to put off the possibility by delaying her 
 introduction into society as long as possible. The 
 girl's disposition and childlike appearance assisted 
 him in this, and enabled him to regard her, almost to 
 the end, merely as his little pet, requiring from him 
 only love and tenderness. 
 
 A consciousness of her womanhood and his altered 
 duties had just begun to force itself upon him, when 
 death relieved him of this and all other cares ; leav- 
 ing his child to face the world, of which she knew 
 absolutely nothing. 
 
 In those days, the Pacific Railroad was not ; and a 
 journey from California meant sailing through two 
 oceans, instead of flying across a continent as now. 
 Consequently, it was many weeks before Tom re- 
 ceived a telegram from New York stating that 
 Christie was in that city, which she would leave in 
 time to be with them that evening. 
 
 Tom carried home the telegram in triumph, and, 
 after warning them to kill the fatted calf, drove 
 down to the station to meet the train. He felt sure 
 he should know fhe girl, unless she had entirely 
 changed since childhood ; and her letter had been so 
 like her old self, that he could not believe the physi- 
 cal alteration had been very great.
 
 . 68 REGINALD ARCHER. 
 
 He was walking down the car, examining the faces 
 he passed, when a little figure in black sprang up, 
 and, eagerly putting out its hands, exclaimed, 
 
 " Why, it's Tom ! I should have known you any- 
 where ! " 
 
 " And I should have known that you were Chris- 
 tie, if only by your eyes. They are as big and brown 
 as ever," laughed Tom, as he grasped the little 
 hands in both of his. 
 
 " I am so very, very glad to see you ! " the girl 
 went on, her innocent pleasure overflowing at lips 
 and eyes. 
 
 " Not half so delighted as I am to get you back, 1 ' 
 Tom answered eagerly ; and he was surprised at the 
 fervency with which he spoke and felt the sen- 
 tence. 
 
 Half an hour before, he might have said the same 
 words, and meant them ; but those clinging hands, 
 and that sweet, upturned face, with its changeful 
 color and shining eyes, had put a something in them 
 which they would not then have possessed. He 
 gave the girl his arm, and conveyed her to the 
 carriage. 
 
 " It makes me feel like a child once more to have 
 you taking care of me, Tom," she said, after he had 
 made her as comfortable as possible, and they were 
 driving along the streets toward home.
 
 REGINALD ARCHER. 69 
 
 "I am sure you look like very little else," he 
 answered gayly : " and I shall have to pet you and 
 take care of you accordingly; for you evidently 
 can't do it for yourself. See, your furs are falling 
 off now ! " and he drew her wrappings close and 
 warm about her. 
 
 She nestled down into them with a soft little 
 laugh, which Tom thought the sweetest sound he 
 had ever heard. 
 
 "You must be very tired, Christie, with travel- 
 ling so many hours," said he after some further talk, 
 his remark suggested by a smothered gap on the girl's 
 part. " Lay your head on my shoulder, and try to 
 rest for a few moments. I want you to be bright 
 and fresh when we reach home ; and we shall be 
 there in about half an hour." 
 
 The girl laughed, winking like a sleepy kitten ; 
 and finally did as she was told. In a little while, she 
 had dropped into a doze as unruffled as an infant's 
 repose. Tom looked down at her with a curious 
 tenderness stirring his heart. The street-lamps, 
 shedding their light into the carriage from moment 
 to moment, showed him the fair, innocent face in all 
 the soft warmth of slumber. It was a delicately 
 formed and tinted countenance. The small features 
 were so rounded by youth and health as to seem 
 scarcely those of a woman ; while the long lashes
 
 70 REGINALD ARCHER. 
 
 resting upon the pink cheeks, and the lovely rings of 
 curling brown hair, showed that she was a remarka- 
 bly pretty one. 
 
 "I shall have to wake this poor little baby," 
 thought Tom as they approached the house, with un- 
 speakable annoyance at the idea of any change in the 
 situation. 
 
 But Christie spared him the trial ; for, when the 
 carriage stopped, she raised her head, rubbed her 
 eyes, and was herself again almost in a second. 
 
 " Why, you are as gay as a bird ! " exclaimed Tom 
 in astonishment. " So you can fly out of your cage," 
 he added as he took her hand and she sprang to the 
 ground. " Here are the family at the door waiting 
 for you." 
 
 And, in another minute, Christie was quite lost in 
 the mingled embraces of the two girls. 
 
 " Christie dear, I am so delighted to see you, and 
 so glad you are as pretty as ever ! " cried Maria from 
 the depths of her honest, generous heart. 
 
 " Beginning to spoil me already, just as you always 
 did, you dear old thing ! " returned the other, reach- 
 ing up to her shoulders, and giving her a shake which 
 set them instantly upon their old footing. 
 
 Ellen had also noticed Christie's beauty, but had 
 scarcely shared her sister's sentiment regarding it. 
 However, their styles being exactly opposites, she
 
 REGINALD ARCHER. 71 
 
 consoled herself with the idea that they would be 
 effective contrasts rather than eclipsing rivals. Con- 
 sequently, by the time it became her turn to kiss 
 Christie, she could do so with all the good will and 
 enthusiasm of which she was capable. 
 
 Arnold stood disconsolately on the outskirts of 
 the party, intensely conscious of himself, and his in- 
 ability to make himself felt and heard. He beamed 
 upon the new-comer most blandly, but was quite 
 unequal to any further unassisted expression of his 
 feelings. 
 
 " Christie, here is Arnold," said Tom ; as usual, 
 quick to come to his brother's rescue. " Don't you 
 remember him ? " 
 
 " Perfectly," she replied ; " and his cats and dogs 
 too. Do your birds still sing more sweetly, and your 
 flowers grow better, than any one's else? " she asked 
 as sh smiled brightly up at the man. 
 
 Arnold went into, an ecstasy of blushes as he 
 managed to tell her that his pets still existed ; and 
 that, in future, the birds should sing, and the flowers 
 bloom, for her and her pleasure. 
 
 " Why, you are working miracles already, -Chris- 
 tie," laughed Tom, patting his brother's shoulder, 
 " in setting Arnold to making gallant speeches." 
 
 Whereat Arnold became more celestial rosy-red 
 than ever.
 
 72 REGINALD ARCHER. 
 
 Then Christie was taken up stairs to make some 
 preparation for dinner. 
 
 While this scene had been going on below, Regi- 
 nald had been standing in his bedroom, before his 
 dressing-glass, gazing at the magnificent figure and 
 face reflected therein, and giving little effective 
 touches to his evening toilet. The occasion had 
 seemed to him of sufficient importance to make 
 him waver in his choice between two cravats, and 
 only to reach a decision after trying both. He 
 was aware of Christie's arrival ; had heard the as- 
 cending sounds of her greeting : but it was no part 
 of his plan to mingle his welcome with that of the 
 family. He knew the power of a first impression, 
 and he intended to use it. His purpose was to 
 appear before her in all his glory, and stamp his 
 image and superscription upon her nature once and 
 forever. Had she been a poor, pretty girl, with 
 whom he was to be thrown, Reginald would have 
 attempted her conquest as a matter of vanity and 
 habit : being the heiress to nearly a million of dollars, 
 he put his hand to the same work as an affair of 
 business, and very serious business indeed. He had 
 no doubt as to the result ; but he did not wish to risk 
 mistakes or false steps. He well knew that such a 
 fortune is not to be secured every day, even by such 
 a man ; and that it behooved him to do quickly that
 
 REGINALD ARCHER. 73 
 
 which he had to do. Pate, he was in such a good 
 humor, that he was almost inclined to call it Provi- 
 dence, aided by some slight intriguing on his own 
 part, had brought the girl into his hand. Thus 
 placed, he thought, if he did not win her, he de- 
 served to lose her and her fortune. His expendi- 
 tures had been unusually heavy that year, and he 
 was rather tired of extracting cash from Tom : even 
 that slight exertion bore a faint resemblance to work- 
 ing for his living, which made it constitutionally 
 objectionable to him. He had now an opportunity 
 of permanently and splendidly providing for him- 
 self; and he intended to improve it. The largest 
 " piece of bread and butter " he had ever been near 
 was now within his reach ; and, true to his nature, 
 this little pig intended to " get " it. 
 
 " Is Reginald away from home ? " asked Christie 
 while she was dressing, speaking of him in the same 
 familiar tone in which she had addressed the others. 
 " He is the only one of the family I haven't yet seen." 
 
 " No," answered Maria : " he is in the house now. 
 You will meet him presently, at dinner." 
 
 " I remember him as such a tall, handsome boy," 
 Christie chatted on at her ease. 
 
 " Reginald is even more beautiful now than he was 
 then," replied Maria complacently, sharing the family 
 pride in her brother's superb aspect. 
 
 4
 
 74 REGINALD ARCHER. 
 
 " Beautiful ! " exclaimed Christie. " That's a queer 
 word to use in speaking of a man." 
 
 " You won't think so when you see him. He is 
 not like anybody else ; and you can't talk of him in 
 the same way." 
 
 The girl's only reply was a slight movement of the 
 head, as though she were thinking that she scarcely 
 expected to be overwhelmed, no matter what degree 
 of beauty she encountered. Poor child ! she little 
 knew with what she was measuring herself ; that her 
 chance was that of a kitten within stroke of a lion's 
 paw. 
 
 Dinner was served ; and the brothers stood in the 
 dining-room, when the girls came laughing down 
 stairs, and entered the apartment. 
 
 Just before they crossed the threshold, Maria, who 
 was in front, said, 
 
 " Here is Reginald : now you will see him." And 
 Christie stepped forward, intending to greet him as 
 freely and frankly by name as she had done the 
 
 
 
 others. 
 
 He was standing rather apart from the rest, the 
 gas-light blazing upon him, a position he had de- 
 liberately chosen. 
 
 The girl gave one eager, upward look at him, and 
 then suddenly stood still ; while the unsophisticated 
 little creature's eyes grew larger and larger with in- 
 effable astonishment.
 
 REGINALD ARCHER . 75 
 
 Reginald smiled, partly to himself, and partly upon 
 her. He had seen too many worldly women dazzled 
 by his splendor not to think its present effect quite 
 natural upon an inexperienced girl : he was too well 
 accustomed to it to be even flattered. He consid- 
 ered this hop-o-my-thumb very small game ; but 
 its acquisition was necessary to him, and he was 
 well pleased with the success of his initial step. The 
 second after she paused, he came forward with out- 
 stretched hand, and said pleasantly, indicating that 
 her hesitation had been caused by imagining him a 
 stranger, 
 
 " I am entirely forgotten by Miss Macalaster, I 
 suppose. If so, I appeal from her to the Christie of 
 other days, who, I feel sure, will acknowledge me as 
 an old friend." 
 
 She gave him her hand, glancing shyly at him, 
 while the bright color flushed over her face ; and 
 said, with a quaint reserve in her manner, 
 
 " You have changed more than any of your family, 
 Mr. Archer ; and I confess I should not have known 
 you. I don't recognize at all the boy I used to 
 know." 
 
 The thought of her intention to call that mag- 
 nificent individual by his Christian name would have 
 horrified her, had she even remembered it. 
 
 " Then I am so unfortunate as not to be able to
 
 76 REGINALD ARCHER. 
 
 appeal to the past for aid : so I shall have to begin 
 anew, and make friends with Miss Macalaster." 
 And he put out his hand gayly, and took hers again, 
 as though welcoming a new acquaintance. " But 
 I warn you that I shall claim a double measure of 
 friendship from her to compensate for the loss of her 
 predecessor." 
 
 He softly held her hand for a moment longer than 
 was necessary, bowing over it with an exquisite grace 
 which had enchanted women immeasurably beyond 
 Christie Macalaster in strength, and knowledge of life. 
 
 As he lifted his head, he caught his brother's eyes, 
 and saw in them just the expression they had held 
 when Christie's name had first been mentioned in that 
 room months before. Again Tom had recognized 
 his purpose, and again it had filled him with disgust 
 and indignation. He did not analyze his emotions : 
 but he saw innocent helplessness within the power 
 of malign strength ; and, more than ever, the child he 
 had loved seemed calling upon him to protect her. 
 
 Reginald placed Christie between Tom and him- 
 self, and undertook the task of her entertainment, 
 quietly conquering her shyness towards himself. His 
 manner was truly perfect ; so unaffected, so almost 
 boyish in its fresh, genial ease, that, even when he 
 fell into fine speeches, they sounded natural from his 
 lips. It was impossible to realize that Art had any
 
 REGINALD ARCHER. 77 
 
 thing to do with what seemed a triumph of Nature's 
 handiwork. Too profoundly, placidly self-satisfied 
 for self-consciousness, which is the outward evi- 
 dence of secret self-doubt, his mind always seemed 
 full of you, instead of himself. Too well accustomed 
 to his own beauty and grace to remember them 
 definitely, you were constantly crediting him with 
 singular modesty and forbearance in apparently for- 
 getting that which it was impossible for you to forget : 
 you mentally gave him humble thanks for not openly 
 triumphing in a loveliness which held you in bondage 
 even against your will ; which subjugated you afresh 
 each moment by some fresh phase. With a right to 
 overweening vanity, it was no small element of his 
 fascination that no shade of it appeared in his man- 
 ner : even in his early days, when his inward elation 
 must have had the force of novelty, you would have 
 searched in vain for outward evidence of it. Thus, 
 as Tom watched him, he could find no flaw in his 
 brother's armor : his acute intellect compelled him to 
 share the girl's admiration for the man's outward 
 seeming. 
 
 Christie answered Reginald's remarks as easily and 
 brightly as she could ; but the shyness remained. He 
 understood its cause, and was well satisfied with it. 
 She had evidently set him upon a pedestal ; and he 
 knew the advantages of the position too well to wish
 
 78 REGINALD ARCHER. 
 
 to descend, and looked upon her unwonted diffidence 
 as a point gained. 
 
 On the other hand, the girl kept turning to Tom, 
 taking refuge with him, as it were ; drawing him into 
 the conversation as some one with whom she was per- 
 fectly at home. All her mild little sallies were ad- 
 dressed to him : she made gay attempts at repartee, 
 and had all her abilities under her control in speaking 
 to him. Her manner and tone changed so completely, 
 that she seemed two different persons -in talking to 
 the two men. 
 
 Tom talked, and talked well ; in fact, with a shrewd 
 wit, an insight and originality, which were beyond the 
 inexperienced girl's comprehension. Had she been a 
 broad-natured woman of talent, with a deep, wide 
 knowledge of men, she would have turned from the 
 gracious gentleman on the one hand, to the strong, 
 virile nature on the other, choosing, as one might, 
 between cloying sweet and appetizing salt ; she would 
 have perceived instantly that Tom's conversation ex- 
 ceeded Reginald's in matter as far as his brother's 
 excelled his in manner. But Christie was much too 
 young for such clear-sightedness : and indeed I fancy 
 that in early life we all prefer confectionery ; that a 
 taste for sugar-plums in every form is indissoluble 
 from extreme youth. In persons naturally constituted 
 and developed, maturity is required to appreciate and
 
 REGINALD ARCHER. 79 
 
 enjoy the strong meat of the word. At,, a certain 
 age, the mental digestion rejects genuine humor, and 
 vigorous, sinewy statement ; just as the physical pal- 
 ate has no relish for rare roast-beef and dry wine. 
 One almost imagines that a liking for good sense is 
 an acquired taste, not to be gained before a given age 
 or without a given discipline. Consequently, all that 
 gave Tom's conversation its extraordinary merit fell 
 upon ears unfitted to perceive it ; at least, as far as 
 Christie was concerned. 
 
 With Reginald it was quite the reverse. As usual, 
 he delighted in his brother's talking ; answering, and 
 draAving him out, as was his wont. Between his at- 
 tentions of such different kinds, he was like a juggler 
 who keeps two balls flying in the air ; one hand 
 fondling Christie, while the other fenced with Tom. 
 Thus he passed a most agreeable .evening. The girl, 
 as he well knew, would have failed to hold him in- 
 terested for that length of time ; but being mentally 
 excited by some one else, and having made very satis- 
 factory progress towards the end he had in view, he 
 went up stairs that night in perfect humor with him- 
 self and others. 
 
 " She'll do very well," he coolly thought. " She is 
 not brilliant or imposing, to be sure ; but she is ex- 
 tremely pretty, and her eyes and eyelashes would be 
 worth looking at in anybody. She's a refined little
 
 80 REGINALD ARCHER. 
 
 creature, %nd I shall never be ashamed of her ; which 
 is very foBtunate, as I should have felt obliged to 
 swallow her, no matter how unpalatable a morsel she 
 had been. I have had a lifelong horror that I should 
 be compelled, in the end, to marry an ugly woman, or, 
 what is infinitely worse, an underbred one ; though I 
 don't think I could have survived that. Christie 
 lacks style fearfully ; but I can train her to it. I shall 
 tire of her terribly in a few weeks ; but that would be 
 the case no matter what sort of woman I married," 
 he candidly admitted to himself. " I a.m only thank- 
 ful that she has so many advantages ; and, upon the 
 whole, she will do very well," he added, ending where 
 he had begun. 
 
 Settling this matter, he went off into that balmy 
 sleep which seems to prove, in such men, the superior- 
 ity of a good digestion over a good conscience. In the 
 long-run, and at the final settlement, a well-ordered 
 conscience may probably prove the best investment ; 
 but, for the present, a well-conditioned liver certainly 
 appears the true secret of happiness and comfort. It 
 seems the real seat of sensation ; and there is force 
 in the view of existence taken by the dyspeptic, who, 
 for the future state, desired rather a new liver than a 
 new heart. Lord Byron said he " was as good a Chris- 
 tian as his stomach would let him be ; " but upon 
 that point one might claim leave to disagree with his
 
 REGINALD ARCHER. 81 
 
 lordship, as there are a goodly number of dyspeptics 
 on record who differ strikingly from the noble lord in 
 moral character. 
 
 In Reginald's case, health really was, for this world, 
 like faith, " counted to him for righteousness ; " mak- 
 ing him better tempered than many better men. Es- 
 caping all pangs of conscience by possessing none, his 
 perfect constitution saved him from physical qualms, 
 which would have disturbed and might have checked 
 him. As it was, he possessed the double power of 
 sinning like a man, and sleeping like an animal ; and 
 he passed the night in a sweet repose, which his 
 brother Tom, excited and troubled, could not gain, 
 and would have sincerely envied. 
 
 " Maria," exclaimed Christie as the other bade her 
 good-night, " I am so very, very glad I came ! " And 
 the enthusiastic girl threw her arms around her 
 friend, and kissed her again and again. 
 
 Her eyes were shining, and her cheeks glowing 
 with a strange, new life ; while her heart and blood 
 throbbed with a tumultuous sense of pleasure as be- 
 wildering as it was unwonted. A fresh element had 
 entered her quiet, girlish existence ; and she under- 
 stood neither it nor its effect. She tossed restlessly 
 in bed for an hour or two before carrying her dream 
 of happiness from her waking to her sleeping mo- 
 ments, a dream, alas ! baseless in both. 
 
 4*
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 AS that first evening passed, so, in varied forms, 
 passed each evening of the following month. 
 
 To the delight of his sisters, Reginald made his ap- 
 pearance every day at the dinner-table, and remained 
 in the house until the ladies retired for the night ; 
 then away to the club, or elsewhere, to stretch 
 morally, as it were, after the restraint he had im- 
 posed upon himself. 
 
 Christie's mourning precluding her from outside 
 entertainment, the family devoted itself to her amuse- 
 ment ; while Reginald gave his time and attention 
 to the accomplishment of his purpose. Concerning 
 the morning-hours, he acted with his usual perfect 
 tact. After the first day or two, when he had made 
 the desired impression, and satisfied himself that lie 
 had gained an immeasurable start in the race, he 
 ceased to breakfast with the rest of the family. 
 
 " I'll give Tom a chance, especially as it can be of 
 no use to him," Reginald thought, laughing to him- 
 self. " The foolish fellow has tumbled over head 
 
 82
 
 REGINALD ARCHER. 83 
 
 and ears in love with that child ; though I doubt if he 
 knows it himself. Tom is so plucky, that you can 
 scarcely tell how hard he is hit ; but the sharp pain 
 will look out of his eyes sometimes, when Christie is 
 gazing up at me as though I were a great shining 
 angel come down for her special benefit. Some- 
 how, I find I am generally regarded as an angel, 
 from one direction or the other," he meditated, gaz- 
 ing reflectively at his image in the full-length club 
 mirror to see from what the impression was gathered. 
 " I am sorry Tom is going to make a fool of himself 
 about this matter," he thought, coming back to the 
 original subject ; " but I suppose it can't be helped. 
 I can't afford to have him working to defeat me, 
 though : so I will throw him off the scent by appar- 
 ently letting him have his own way. I'll cast a sop 
 to Cerebus, and allow him to have Christie to him- 
 self over the breakfast-table." 
 
 Consequently, the sun always shone for Tom in 
 the morning, let the weather be what it might. 
 Christie would come-down stairs rosy and bright, 
 and chatter to him over his morning-meal until he 
 tasted her sweetness in every morsel, and drank from 
 his cup an elation far more subtile than Mocha can 
 give. At such times she was so thoroughly a part of 
 his home, so near and dear to him, that he forgot his 
 brother, and ceased to fear for her. He was iiot yet
 
 84 REGINALD ARCHER. 
 
 conscious that he was in love with her ; but she 
 seemed to belong to him too completely for any 
 one to dream of taking her away, or to dare at- 
 tempt it. 
 
 Yet with Reginald's coming, and the falling of 
 night, the old shadow would surely appear ; in 
 which would gather darkly, and take form, like a 
 spectre, his dread of his brother and of the future. 
 Had he been aware of the exact truth, his pain and 
 fear would not have been reserved for the latter part 
 of the day ; but he did not know, that as soon as 
 he left the house, carrying with him a vague, sweet 
 happiness, which made all things, even the drudgery 
 of his business, a pleasure to him, Reginald de- 
 scended to receive his share of the feast, spiritual 
 and material. Of course, he demanded that Christie 
 should do for him what she had done for Tom, 
 should sit by him, and entertain him ; should perform 
 pleasant little table-offices for him : all of which she 
 did with a very different feeling and manner from 
 the kindly gayety with which she had served the 
 elder brother. They would linger over the meal 
 for hours, which seemed to Christie like enchanted 
 moments ; and the girl had fallen so completely 
 under his fascination, that she would remain indefi- 
 nitely at his bidding, until Maria was sometimes 
 forced to order them good-naturedly out of the
 
 REGINALD ARCHER. 85 
 
 room, that the household arrangements might pro- 
 ceed. 
 
 Then Reginald would take Christie and Ellen to 
 walk through the gay streets or through the pleas- 
 ant suburbs ; but, let the road or the place be what 
 it would, Christie walked in a lovely fairyland, which 
 shone with a glory and light beyond the splendor of 
 the sun. 
 
 Lloyd Truxton, Reginald's double, was usually 
 attached to these expeditions. To his care Ellen 
 was committed ; this enabling Reginald to devote 
 himself to Christie. 
 
 Tom heard of these walks but rarely, through 
 Ellen's vague mention, which was too indefinite to 
 arrest his attention. Reginald had his own reasons 
 for not bringing them to his brother's notice ; and as 
 for Christie, she could not have forced herself to speak 
 of them. She was too delicately refined, and too 
 thoroughly a woman, to be able to talk of her love, or 
 any thing connected with it. The charm of those 
 weeks was hidden deep in her heart, only to be 
 brought out in secret in the long, still watches of the 
 night, for her own blushing delight. Thus Tom 
 remained ignorant of much that was happening 
 around him : he lost a knowledge of facts which 
 might have spared him, in some degree, the terrible
 
 86 REGINALD ARCHER. 
 
 shock which was coming upon him. Had he known 
 all, the blow, hard and cruel as it must have been 
 under any circumstances, could scarcely have been 
 such a thunderbolt. 
 
 One growing change Tom noticed in Christie, 
 without definitely tracing it to its source. The 
 girl's appearance of extreme youth arose not so much 
 from her size and soft outline as from the expression 
 of her eyes. It was a child's utterly unawakened 
 soul and heart that looked out of them. They were 
 all smile and shine on the surface ; but their clear 
 depths were destitute of any variety of thought or 
 emotion. The girl's nature had the blankness, as 
 well as the fair whiteness, of an unwritten page. 
 Growing up in perfect seclusion, she had the expe- 
 rience neither of feeling nor observation. But Tom 
 noticed an alteration in those eyes. They had be- 
 come capable of other changes than from smiles to 
 frowns. A soft light had grown into them, like the 
 illumination from some hidden, happy thought : the 
 new-born heart of the woman was casting its reflec- 
 tion into them ; and you saw how warm and true and 
 pure was its image. The infinite variety of ex- 
 pression which was one day to be their highest beau- 
 ty, Christie's eyes were, as yet, far from possessing. 
 The soul, like the body, can only come into existence
 
 REGINALD ARCHER. 87 
 
 through travail ; and sorrow and trial and anguish 
 had not yet wrought in her that spiritual birth. 
 What Tom perceived in her was the bright dawn of 
 a new day. That which its meridian would bring 
 forth, or its evening light and shadow disclose, was 
 as darkly hidden in the future from him as from 
 her.
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 riTlHE month had quickly flown by ; and Reginald 
 JL had begun to weary of the work he had set 
 himself, to which he had at first applied himself with 
 some interest. He had read Christie's heart with 
 the ease of a man who was familiar with every lan- 
 guage into which emotions can be translated ; and he 
 felt certain of the result. He considered that he had 
 now served long enough for his wages, and that they 
 ought to be paid him. His creditors had become 
 more pressing than ever, and he felt that what he 
 had to do he had best do quickly. The apple being 
 perfectly ripe, it behooved him to pluck it as speedily 
 as possible. 
 
 Consequently, entering the house late one after- 
 noon, and catching sight of Christie standing alone 
 in the parlor, he coolly resolved to bring matters to a 
 close on the spot. 
 
 The girl had come in from a walk, with her hands 
 full of beautiful flowers she had purchased ; and 
 while Ellen, her companion, had passed on up stairs, 
 
 88
 
 REGINALD ARCHER. 89 
 
 she had entered the drawing-room, and was placing 
 the gay blossoms in vases as a pleasant surprise to 
 Maria. Reginald saw instantly that she was looking 
 even prettier than usual. He was thankful, as ren- 
 dering his task so much the easier; though love- 
 making was, with him, too wonted an occupation ever 
 to be difficult work. Exercise had brought the 
 bright color into her cheeks ; and, having thrown 
 aside her hat, the little curls into which the wind 
 had blown her hair were left visible. 
 
 Reginald came softly behind her, and spoke her 
 name before she knew any one was near her, though 
 she had heard some one enter the front-door. She 
 started slightly, though she did not turn ; but the 
 deep blush which dyed her face, and even her throat, 
 showed that she well knew who was speaking. 
 
 " Christie, are you afraid of me?" Reginald said, 
 softly laughing in answer to her movement, bending 
 over her shoulder as she bent her hot face over the 
 flowers. 
 
 " No, no," she replied nervously, turning partially 
 towards him. 
 
 " Let me see if you are telling the truth," he went 
 on : and, gently touching her face, he drew it upward 
 until he could loot straight down into it with those 
 wonderful eyes which had beguiled so many women 
 to their ruin ; for love of which they had sacrificed
 
 90 REGINALD ARCHER. 
 
 all that is worth possessing in this world or the next, 
 honor and purity here, and salvation hereafter. No 
 wonder she gazed at him, not only as though her free 
 will, but her very life, were being drawn from her. 
 
 Reginald resolved to make short work. He put 
 his arm about the unresisting girl, and drew her to 
 his breast. 
 
 " My darling," he whispered, "if you truly are not 
 afraid of me, will you trust yourself with me forever ? 
 Will you be my little wife ? " 
 
 Had he really loved her, could his tones have been 
 so exquisitely musical ? Could aught but perfect 
 coolness and infinite practice have enabled him to 
 modulate his voice to such lingering tenderness ; to 
 convey such a world of meaning in every word ? 
 
 The sudden, almost unconscious relaxation of the 
 figure in his arms, the absolute surrender of body 
 and soul which it expressed beyond the power of 
 words, gave Reginald the answer he wished. 
 
 " My precious love, my darling wife ! " he mur- 
 mured in return, pressing her close to the calm 
 heart, which never altered its beat for a second, but 
 speaking again with that intonation which thrilled 
 the girl to actual pain. 
 
 She clung to him passionately for a moment, giving 
 mute reply, and mutely expressing all the immeasura- 
 ble love which was throbbing through her heart and
 
 REGINALD ARCHER. 91 
 
 coursing through her veins, and then hid her face 
 more closely than ever in his breast. He stooped, and 
 kissed her again and again ; deriving a very pleasant 
 sensation from the dewy ripeness of the lips and the 
 outlines of the supple young form. The feeling that 
 he had gained the money and accompanying power he 
 had always coveted excited him like wine. He was 
 triumphant, as a man who had reached the aim of his 
 life. He had won, and was in the best possible humor 
 with himself, with her, and with all the world. 
 
 Suddenly the sound of a latch-key in the front- 
 door broke the stillness. 
 
 " That's Tom ! " Reginald exclaimed ; and the situ- 
 ation flashed upon him. 
 
 He resolved in an instant to meet and brave it then 
 and there. What must be done eventually had best 
 be done on the moment. His plan would extricate 
 him neatly from his present position, which he felt 
 would soon bore him ; would relieve him from the 
 ennui of playing the part of lover and engaged man 
 for the evening ; would obviate the nuisance of ex- 
 plaining the affair to his sisters ; and, above all, 
 would carry him swiftly through the announcement 
 which must be made to his brother. 
 
 " Good-by, dearest ! " he said, kissing her. " I had 
 better go now ; but I will see you to-morrow morning. 
 I will tell Tom of our engagement as I go out." 
 And, turning, he left her.
 
 92 REGINALD ARCHER. 
 
 Tom had taken off his hat, and was walking down 
 the hall, when he saw Reginald coming towards him, 
 not only with his accustomed imperial bearing, but 
 with such a light in his eyes, and smile curving his 
 perfect lips, such triumph and security radiating from 
 every line of his beauty, that the truth broke upon 
 Tom like a revelation. 
 
 Then he knew by the awful pain at his heart, as 
 though some hand had clutched it and was tearing it 
 from his body, that he loved Christie Macalaster 
 with all his strong, long-restrained nature ; with the 
 height and depth and breadth of a passion only pos- 
 sible in that rare, exceptionally-powerful man who can 
 love one woman, and her alone for life. This he 
 learned, and, in learning it, knew also that he had lost 
 her forever. 
 
 He stood perfectly still, and awaited his brother's 
 coming, and the words he could almost see upon his 
 lips, as a brave man might stand to receive his exe- 
 cutioner and his death-blow. 
 
 Reginald's keen perception showed him instantly 
 that his brother had perceived the truth ; showed him 
 also what that truth was to him. A sentiment almost 
 like human regret passed through his mind, though it 
 did not accord with his plans to let it become very 
 evident in his manner. 
 
 "Torn," he said gayly, facing his brother's resolute
 
 REGINALD ARCHER. 93 
 
 eyes with some of the same cool gallantry with which 
 he would have charged a battery of guns, " Christie 
 has promised to marry me ; and you shall have the 
 honor of being the first to congratulate me." 
 
 Tom waited a moment until the horrible pain should 
 allow the breath to come back to his lips. Then he 
 spoke, a little slowly, but just as steadily as ever. 
 
 " Reginald," he answered, " I can give you no con- 
 gratulations, and you know it. There is no use in our 
 lying to each other. Christie had better be in her 
 grave than become your wife ; and no one is so well 
 aware of it as yourself. You have taken her from me : 
 but take care how you treat her ; for, by God ! as you 
 deal with her, so will I deal with you." 
 
 " Tom," replied the other, " I am sorry for you ; 
 and I regret, that, in this particular contest, two can- 
 not come off conquerors. But you really ought to 
 have known better than to attempt to play against 
 me. It was an open game ; and I am the winner, 
 At your service ! " And, taking up his hat, he made 
 his brother a superb bow, and passed out of the 
 house. 
 
 The sound of their voices could be heard in the 
 parlor, but not the words spoken ; and these two 
 men alone knew, then or thereafter, what had passed 
 between them. 
 
 A moment after, Christie's figure flitted through
 
 94 REGINALD ARCHER. 
 
 the parlor-door, and came swiftly towards Tom, with, 
 glowing eyes and blushing face, and eager hands 
 extended to him. This motherless, fatherless child, 
 whose very lover had not cared to receive the sweet 
 overflowing of her tenderness upon his breast ; who 
 had not one of her own blood to whom to turn in 
 depth of sorrow, or height of joy, this girl, so rich 
 in gold, and so poor in all else, demanded some out- 
 let for the tide of feeling that was within her, and 
 claimed as confidant the first kindly nature near her. 
 With the strange sarcasm of circumstances, she 
 turned with unconscious cruelty to the one heart 
 which loved her but too well. Coming up to the 
 man, she threw her arms about him with the frank- 
 ness of a child, but with the passion of a woman. 
 
 " Tom, dear Tom ! " she cried, her voice vibrating 
 with the weight of unutterable happiness, " he says 
 he loves me ! " 
 
 She could scarcely realize her own blessedness : it 
 seemed too wonderful to be true ; as, alas ! it was. 
 
 Tom stood like a stone, his teeth set, and every 
 muscle tense and rigid. He knew to whom this 
 warm, clinging embrace really belonged ; he knew 
 whence its fire and sweetness were drawn ; and he 
 sickened and grew faint at the thought. He would 
 share this with no man : all, or nothing ; his, and his 
 alone, or he would none of it. He would stand as
 
 REGINALD ARCHER. 95 
 
 proxy to no one. Let Reginald take his own kisses : 
 he scorned and flung them back even from the wo- 
 man he adored. The refinement of torture was too 
 much. He look the little hands from about his neck, 
 and, firmly holding them in his own, put her at arm's- 
 length. 
 
 " Tom," she said piteously, " you don't love me ; 
 you don't wish me joy ! " 
 
 She was pushing him too far: it was more than 
 human nature could endure. 
 
 " Christie," he exclaimed in desperation, " I pray 
 God to give you all the joy he can bestow ! My 
 darling, my darling ! " he suddenly cried out, break- 
 ing down entirely before those appealing eyes, "I 
 pray that he may love you and protect you as I never 
 can!" 
 
 His strong will was swept utterly away. He 
 caught the girl in his arms, and tasted, for one wild, 
 sweet moment, that bliss of living and loving from 
 which he seemed parting forever. The touch of her 
 hands, the curves of her form, the softness of her 
 cheek, the sweeping lashes and falling hair, thrilled 
 his blood and bones with a mad joy that was the very 
 elixir of life. What could Reginald's bald, worn 
 being know of passion, compared to this nature, 
 which united the fresh, pure vigor of a boy to the 
 deep, broad maturity of a strong man. Tom's na-
 
 96 REGINALD ARCHER. 
 
 ture was capable of a fire, of an intensity of enjoy- 
 ment, which Reginald had never experienced ; his 
 senses brought him gifts and pleasures for which 
 the other sighed in vain. He tasted th'e fulness of 
 this joy so completely, that, for a moment, he forgot 
 it was not to be his. 
 
 But the bitter truth came back upon him full soon. 
 For a second tune he put the girl steadily from him, 
 and gathered his nature again within his grasp. 
 
 So young and inexperienced was she, and, above 
 all, so absorbed in her new-found love and happiness, 
 that she entirely failed to interpret his emotion and 
 its changes. He had kissed her as though he loved ' 
 her ; and she was satisfied, never dreaming of ana- 
 lyzing the quantity of his affection. To her he was 
 the dear friend of her childhood, and, above all, 
 Reginald's brother. All persons and things pertain- 
 ing to her splendid lover were exalted in her eyes ; 
 and she emphasized her relation to them, as bringing 
 her nearer to him. It was this feeling which dic- 
 tated her next words. 
 
 "You will be my brother, then, Tom, my dear 
 brother, when I belong to Reginald ! " 
 
 He looked straight at her, still holding her at arm's- 
 length ; but his face suddenly changed and shrank, 
 as though the words had been a blow. The sentence 
 and the epithet carried a different meaning and les-
 
 REGINALD ARCHER. 97 
 
 son to him from that she had intended. Even in 
 that moment of bitterest trial, he was man enough 
 to know his duty, and to do it. Then and there he 
 made a vow to God, which he kept faithfully until 
 death absolved him. 
 
 " Christie," he said slowly, " you have said it : I 
 will be your brother. Remember that, if you ever 
 need me ; for I shall never forget it." 
 
 Then he dropped her hands, and walked up stairs 
 without another word. 
 
 The girl stood for a moment with that beautiful 
 smile of ineffable happiness upon her lips ; and then, 
 all other recollection being swallowed up in her 
 great joy, she stole away to Maria and Ellen to con- 
 fide it to them, and to receive her warm welcome as 
 their sister. 
 
 5
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 TOM entered his room, and, turning the key in 
 the door, sat quietly down, determined to settle 
 this matter with himself. 
 
 " Her brother ! " that was the word which kept 
 repeating itself in his brain ; that was the standpoint 
 from which he compelled himself to look at every 
 fact and feeling as it arose before him. In spite of 
 the horrible pain at his heart, which never ceased for 
 a moment, he held his will and his intellect to the 
 work of deciding his course apart from all desire or 
 emotion. 
 
 Knowing what he did of Reginald and his life, and 
 what such a marriage must inevitably bring upon 
 Christie, ought he not to make some effort to prevent 
 it? That was the question he had to settle, and 
 settle immediately. The strength of the temptation 
 to separate at any cost the woman he loved from the 
 man he hated ; the fact that Reginald's loss would be, 
 in a certain sense, his gain, would have made Tom 
 resolve to cast such impulse behind him as savoring
 
 REGINALD ARCHER. 99 
 
 too much of low revenge and mean cowardice, except 
 that, in this case, self must not be allowed to enter, 
 however disguised. He must let his personal feeling 
 influence him no more on one side than the other. 
 Here he had no right to be generous towards Regi- 
 nald, and self-denying towards himself, if the result 
 were lack of justice to Christie. 
 
 Yet, reason with himself as he would, he could not 
 help revolting from the work whose motive might 
 appear so mean : he could not but sicken at the pur- 
 pose Reginald would probably attribute to him if he 
 made up his mind to oppose his plans. It was very 
 hard for Tom to do even a seemingly ungenerous 
 act : it was almost like moral death to him even to 
 shade that sense of honor which he had kept so pure 
 and high, that, lilfe all his strong sentiments, it had 
 become a passion. Struggle against it as he would, 
 it was this intense, high-toned pride which influenced 
 him in the end : it was that, at least, which made 
 him perceive so clearly all the arguments against 
 interference. 
 
 "She loves him," thought Tom bitterly, with a 
 thrill through every nerve as he remembered the 
 light that had been upon the girl's face, " she loves 
 him with all her heart ; and what can mortal man 
 effect against that power ? If I could bring myself to 
 tell her in plain terms the loathsome truth, she would
 
 100 REGINALD ARCHER. 
 
 never believe me ; still less would she comprehend 
 me : for what can an innocent woman know of such 
 things, and their inevitable effect ? Pure as she is, 
 what can she know of the true nature of sin? No 
 matter what I told her, it would be to her mere 
 words with vague dictionary meanings. She is too 
 
 absolutely unacquainted with evil to recognize it as 
 
 i 
 
 such when it is presented to her. I suppose she 
 would dream that she could purify and save him ; as 
 though a man could ever be raised by any outside 
 process by any thing but ' working out his own salva- 
 tion.' These pitiable, blessedly ignorant women be- 
 lieve, that as a man can thrust his hand in filth, and 
 afterward wash it white and clean, he can dip his 
 soul and body in sin, and not absorb it into his very 
 essence. My God ! she will learn*differently one day, 
 when she is brought into contact with it, and is 
 forced to see and know the truth. I don't think 
 Reginald will maltreat her ; I don't think he is capa- 
 ble of that : but he will either break her heart, or he 
 will degrade her nature gradually to his own level. 
 My poor little darling, my poor little innocent dar- 
 ling ! " the man moaned out, in such an agony of pity, 
 that his personal pain was for the moment forgotten. 
 Tom was right in his idea that he could not 
 have made Christie really comprehend Reginald's 
 past life. A perfectly pure-minded girl who has
 
 REGINALD ARCHER. 101 
 
 been reared in an innocent home, who carries about 
 with her a spiritual atmosphere into which evil can- 
 not enter, has not the power to take in or understand 
 the actual quality of wickedness. To talk to her of 
 such things is to speak a foreign tongue ; and the 
 words fail to convey their true sense. A knowledge 
 of the worst side of life may be forced upon a woman, 
 or she may roll impurity as a sweet morsel under her 
 tongue ; the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of 
 good and evil may be held to shrinking, recoiling lips, 
 or to those which long after and seize the horrible 
 tainted food : but she must in some way have be- 
 come acquainted with it before any description can 
 appeal to her perception in the slightest degree. 
 That dreadful introduction to sin -must have been 
 undergone before she can recognize it, sadly or gladly 
 as it may be in her nature to do. When Wordsworth 
 sang of that little girl, who, though she had seen the 
 graves of her brothers and sisters, could not take in 
 the idea of death, and believed that they seven were 
 still an unbroken band; when the great poet told 
 that simple story, he conveyed the same deep princi- 
 ple of life, that we have but the ability to compre- 
 hend that which in some degree corresponds to our 
 experience and our nature. Tom knew by instinct 
 that he could no more teach Christie the essential 
 quality of evil than that child could be made to 
 realize death by the mere telling.
 
 102 REGINALD ARCHER. 
 
 Still further : he felt that he could never make his 
 word stand with her against that of her lover ; that 
 what he could affirm Reginald could deny ; and, upon 
 a question of veracity, he knew beforehand which 
 side Christie must take. The more he scrutinized 
 and viewed the matter in every light, the more in- 
 evitably he came to the conclusion that all opposition 
 was useless, and worse than useless. It could not 
 be his duty to make an attempt which would pain 
 Christie severely without benefiting' her ; which 
 would put him forever in a false position towards her, 
 and prevent her from turning to him in that time of 
 trial which he felt would come as surely as that the 
 sun rose and set. 
 
 " But Reginald ought not to be allowed to control 
 her fortune, and to squander it, as he is quite capable 
 of doing," Tom suddenly thought. " It ought to be 
 secured to her ; and, as there is no one to see to it, 
 I suppose I ought to. She has no more idea of money 
 than a baby ; and I can't stand by, and watch her 
 run the risk of being beggared. Reginald always 
 has a certain respect for the person who holds the 
 purse-strings ; and the poor child will need that 
 defence, and every other, when she is in his power. 
 I suppose all I shall get for my effort will be that she 
 will think me mean-spirited and mercenary to take 
 such things into consideration at such a time, not
 
 REGINALD ARCHER. 103 
 
 at all like her romantic lover, who is far too fine for 
 such commonplace trifles as forethought and honesty 
 and justice," he went on in the bitterness of his 
 soul. 
 
 "But what difference can it make now as to what 
 she thinks of me ? Almost any one can act the part 
 of her brother, ' her dear brother,' she called me." 
 And the man's blood throbbed and tingled to his 
 finger-ends as the sensation of the embrace which 
 had preceded her words came suddenly back upon 
 him ; but the warm thrill died away, leaving the 
 same pain at his heart, a pain now sunk to a dull, 
 sickening ache, worse than the sharpest pangs. 
 
 Tom rose slowly to his feet, and prepared to face 
 again his ordinary work- a- day life, with what 
 change in himself, he alone knew. He had settled his 
 account between conscience and circumstances ; he 
 had determined on his own line of conduct from 
 thenceforth; and, so doing, he took up that heavy 
 burden of duty which he bore so simply, so faith- 
 fully, so bravely, until death's dread hand lifted it 
 from his weary shoulders. 
 
 Going down stairs to dinner, he had to undergo 
 the long-drawn torture of listening to the amplifica- 
 tions of pleasure with which Maria and Ellen over- 
 flowed ; still worse, he had to endure the sight of 
 Christie blushing, and casting down her long lashes
 
 104 REGINALD ARCHER. 
 
 in her vain endeavor to hide the radiant happiness 
 that beamed in her eyes. 
 
 Tom bore it steadily and well, as he sat, only rather 
 quiet and weary-looking, at the foot of the table ; but 
 it was very, very hard to bear, when Maria kept ap- 
 pealing to him for sympathy, and for expressions of 
 joy over the aspect their family-affairs had taken. 
 
 " Won't it be delightful, Tom," she would say, 
 " to have Christie near us ? She will never go away 
 now that she is to be our little sister." And Tom 
 tried to smile pleasantly in reply. 
 
 " I haven't heard you wish Christie joy yet," she 
 remarked soon after ; so full of the subject, that she 
 said any thing which occurred to her, merely for the 
 gratification of talking upon it ; thereby torturing her 
 darling brother as his "worst enemy would scarcely 
 have done wittingly. 
 
 " I have told Christie how much happiness I wished 
 her, though I scarcely think she needed telling," he 
 managed to say, turning to the girl, who sat on his 
 right hand. 
 
 " No, indeed ! you have been too good and kind 
 always to fail me now." And the impulsive, happy 
 child made a little movement, as though she intended 
 to spring up and kiss him again in her loving grati- 
 tude. But something in Tom's eyes checked her, she 
 scarcely knew why ; and she returned to her pretence
 
 REGINALD ARCHER. 105 
 
 of eating her dinner, her meal being from the begin- 
 ning a mere farce. 
 
 Again Tom utterly refused to take " the crumbs 
 which fell from the master's table ; " not daring, 
 moreover, to trust himself to receive such a token in 
 the way in which he must then and there accept it. 
 
 Christie's momentary sense of defeat passed away 
 as a ripple disappears from the surface of a flowing 
 river. She could not then have felt? angrily towards 
 an enemy ; and, hi another second, Tom was to her 
 just the Tom of old. 
 
 But he was thankful indeed* when the meal was 
 over. 
 
 "I will leave you ladies to talk over your plans 
 and ideas this evening," he said as they .rose from 
 the table, " as I have some work for to-night. You 
 can tell me of the result to-morrow morning." And, 
 smiling good-by, he left them, and went to his own 
 room. 
 
 " Work to do ! " Yes, he had that work appointed 
 for every human creature, the struggle with and 
 conquest of his own passionate heart and nature ; he 
 had to silence the crying-out of his whole being for 
 gratification which was no longer lawful ; he had to 
 do battle for his own soul. But not in a single night, 
 not in many coming hours of darkness, could that end 
 be attained. 
 
 5*
 
 106 REGINALD ARCHER. 
 
 For the present, mere existence seemed to demand 
 all his strength. Hour after hour, he lay motionless 
 upon his sofa, without definite thought, with the 
 vague hope that the pain at his heart would gradually 
 become less unbearable. Had there been any exer- 
 tion to make, it would have been a relief to employ 
 his thoughts and energies, however trying the action. 
 But there was nothing except to endure. To this 
 quick -thinking, -swiftly - executive man, it was the 
 severest form in which trial could have come. Lying 
 there so silent, so still, it was as though he were 
 firmly holding with his hand some physical wound, 
 in the hope that the life-blood would cease to flow. 
 
 But the long hours that went over him brought 
 little relief. The labor of a lifetime demands a life- 
 tune for its execution.
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 r I iHE next morning, Tom came down stairs before 
 -L his usual time, and swallowed a hasty break- 
 fast, saying that it was necessary for him to be at 
 his counting-room at an early hour. He could not 
 have gone through that meal in its usual form. It 
 had been to him the brightest part of each day ; but 
 now the mere recollection of it made him set his 
 teeth to think how he had befooled himself with false 
 happiness. 
 
 For that, and many other days, he took refuge in his 
 counting-room, toiling there from morning until night 
 until he grew thin and haggard from the strain upon 
 mind and body. He gave his managing-clerk holi- 
 day to leave the city ; and did his work for him, in the 
 mean time, as such work was probably never done be- 
 fore. He went into the minutiae of his affairs, and 
 pushed his business, until his employees wondered 
 and admired, and imagined that he was ambitious of 
 making a fortune in a single year. He was willing to 
 relieve any one of a share of his labor. He seemed 
 
 107
 
 108 REGINALD ARCHER. 
 
 to crave routine, and to seek drudgery ; any thing to 
 prevent him from looking backward or forward, to 
 the past which held so much, or the future which 
 held nothing. It would be difficult to say which he 
 found it hardest to face, the rich fulness of one, or 
 the blank emptiness of the other. 
 
 To occupy himself with the dull detail of the pres- 
 ent moment was his only relief. When all else failed 
 to keep thought and brain bound down, he would fall 
 to casting up accounts, to adding up lines of figures, 
 with the vague hope of gaining some of the insensi- 
 bility of a machine by imitating its regularity. 
 
 " My best friend in life has been the multiplication- 
 table," Tom Archer said years after, when he and all 
 about him had changed completely ; looking back 
 upon his life, and summing up its results. " It has 
 been my salvation in many ways. There have been 
 timesj. when, without it, I do not think I could have 
 lived to talk of it at this moment. I have always 
 held that it was the law of God, and that a sufficient- 
 ly enlightened knowledge of it was a great code of 
 morality. When a man has it well grained into him 
 that twice two will go on making four to all eternity, 
 that it is the fundamental law of the universe, he will 
 hesitate before committing acts which will inevita- 
 bly bring certain results and certain penalties. He 
 can never deceive himself into thinking that cause
 
 REGINALD ARCHER. 109 
 
 and effect can be divorced, or that a soul can sin 
 without suffering for it at some period of its exist- 
 ence. The religion of the multiplication-table may 
 appear a stern one ; but it seems to have a very rocky 
 foundation. I think Christ preached that sermon, 
 and gave out its great text, when he said, ' With what 
 measure ye mete it shall be meted to you again.' An 
 individual who has this article in his creed is com- 
 pelled to hold himself to a terribly strict account, and 
 to recognize just what he is doing when he sins against 
 God and man. The moral aspect of the multiplica- 
 tion-table, its extension into the region of right and 
 wrong, is to me its most appalling power. When I 
 think that spiritual consequences, like material results, 
 are absolutely relentless ; that no amount of pardon, 
 mercy, or reconciliation, can restore a criminal to what 
 he was before he stained his soul ; that nothing can 
 take away from him that dreadful acquaintance with 
 evil, and awakened appetite for it, which tasting the 
 forbidden fruit must give, I get a realization of the 
 awful quality of sin which nothing else . gives me. 
 When I see that moral law of inheritance, that ' the 
 sins of the fathers shall be visited upon the children,' 
 being executed around me every day, the mathemati- 
 cal accuracy with which Nature keeps her accounts 
 fills me with dread of the least deviation from her 
 straight line. If we were sufficiently clear-sighted
 
 110 REGINALD ARCHER. 
 
 and far-sighted, we should do right, if only from sheer 
 selfishness ; we should tremble before our own wrong- 
 doing as before nothing else in heaven or on earth. 
 The multiplication-table is microscopic as well as tel- 
 escopic in its working ; and, like godliness, it is profit- 
 able for this world and the world to come. I suppose 
 it will take far more than a lifetime really to compre- 
 hend it ; but even a faint appreciation is a great ad- 
 vantage. I have tried to serve it faithfully ; and it 
 has been my strength and my support, even when 
 every thing else seemed to fail me." 
 
 And these were indeed times when all save the 
 multiplication in its lowest form, the laying-together 
 of dollars and cents, appeared to have failed Tom 
 Archer. 
 
 Reginald descended the morning after his engage- 
 ment, and for a few hours played the part of devoted 
 lover to perfection. Beautiful, tender, and ardent, 
 he could have made Christie grant almost any request ; 
 and, when he pressed eagerly for the earliest possible 
 marriage, what could the girl do but acquiesce ? His 
 earnestness and impetuosity could only flatter and 
 charm her ; and, had there been any reason to oppose 
 his wish, her purpose would have melted before his 
 soft pleadings. 
 
 " When is my darling to be mine forever ? " he 
 murmured as the girl lay hi his arms. " I shall be
 
 REGINALD ARCHER. Ill 
 
 miserable until I have her entirely to myself. My 
 pet, I am so silly about you, that it makes me wretch- 
 ed to see any one else interest you, or, indeed, come 
 near you." 
 
 This last statement was so purely a flight of fancy, 
 that Reginald was rather pleased with himself for 
 having thought of it, and paid the idea the compli- 
 ment of using it again. It strudsThim as too good a 
 string not to harp upon. 
 
 " If you loved me as I love you, dearest, you would 
 understand and pardon my foolish jealousy, which 
 makes me want to claim every iota of your nature, and 
 claim it instantly. I am haunted by a fear that cir- 
 cumstances, or even death, may come between us, 
 may rob me of you," he went on ardently, even tra- 
 gically, as he clasped her in his arms ; listening to 
 himself meanwhile with a delighted sense of humor, 
 and much inward approbation. 
 
 It tickled him rarely to think how nearly he had 
 spoken the truth in his last sentence, and yet how far 
 he had been from conveying his real meaning: it 
 amused him to see how openly he could state his 
 dread that her fortune would slip through his fingers, 
 without her being any the wiser for his words. 
 
 The girl must have been a stone to have resisted 
 such tender passion and fire as vibrated through his 
 tone, and even through his frame, as he spoke. He
 
 112 REGINALD ARCHER. 
 
 was extremely anxious to bring this matter to the 
 speediest conclusion, thus extricating himself from his 
 financial difficulties ; and he spared no pains to gain 
 his end. 
 
 " My darling, nothing shall part us ! " she ex- 
 claimed in reply, raising herself, and throwing her 
 arms about him with all the passionate devotion of 
 her pure heart. * I should die if you were taken 
 from me ! " 
 
 "Will you marry me immediately, next week?" 
 Reginald instantly asked, descending from his roman- 
 tic elevation, and becoming practical in a second. 
 
 " Yes," she answered freely and fervently : " when- 
 ever you wish it. I will do any thing to show you 
 that I love you as deeply and truly as you can love 
 me." 
 
 Reginald smiled the sweetest smile of absolute sat- 
 isfaction that probably ever sat upon mortal lips. He 
 fully appreciated the unconscious satire of her last 
 words ; but he kept all shadow of amusement out 
 of his face ; and the girl seemed fully justified in her 
 belief, that, as he kissed her, his joy was too deep for 
 utterance. 
 
 He was in such good humor, that, even after he 
 had accomplished the business of the day in winning 
 her consent to an immediate marriage, he wasted fully 
 an hour of his valuable time upon her without any
 
 REGINALD ARCHER. 113 
 
 particular compensation ; giving her loving words and 
 caresses with somewhat the amusement with which 
 one feeds a child on sugar-plums. When at last he 
 went away, it was with the definite agreement, that 
 their wedding was to take place on the Thursday of 
 the following week; leaving less than ten days for 
 preparations. 
 
 Christie's wealth rendered such considerations no 
 obstacle ; as a trousseau of almost any magnificence 
 can be provided as by magic, if one be willing to pay 
 the required price. Christie and Maria and Ellen 
 were kept busy from morning until night. The first 
 was little more than a lay-figure upon which to try 
 clothes ; but she was so constantly needed in that 
 capacity, and to give the final decision in all matters, 
 that she had scarcely an unoccupied moment at her 
 command. Even Reginald saw little of her, except 
 in the evenings, a fact which he outwardly de- 
 plored and secretly rejoiced over, as saving him much 
 attitudinizing and speech-making, much weariness of 
 mind and body. 
 
 They breakfasted together each morning ; and the 
 meal was the same pretty play as usual. Then 
 would follow an hour of lovers' talk and caresses, 
 from which Christie would finally tear herself away, 
 as though she were taking sweetest food from her 
 lips, but from which Reginald departed to his accus-
 
 114 REGINALD ARCHER. 
 
 tomed amusements and occupations with a sense of 
 relief. 
 
 " I could not let you go, dearest," he would whis- 
 per with the softest accent of regret, " except that 
 it will bring you to my arms the earlier. It is only 
 by remembering that we shall soon be together for- 
 ever that I learn to bear the separation now." 
 
 Then he would leave her with a delightful sense of 
 freedom until the dinner-hour called him back to tem- 
 porary servitude. At times, the work was heavy ; but 
 he consoled himself with the business-like consider- 
 ation, that he was purchasing a fortune cheaply, and 
 could well afford to pay the small required price for 
 a week or two. 
 
 He announced his rapidly-approaching marriage at 
 the club and in general society ; and in both it cre- 
 ated a profound sensation. The gay women whose 
 company he most affected rather regretted that he 
 should fetter himself, even slightly, with the bonds of 
 matrimony ; but were more than consoled when they 
 reflected that they would have a rich lover instead 
 of a poor one. He would keep up a magnificent 
 establishment, and could fete them to their hearts' 
 content ; not to mention other advantages, less 
 openly displayed, which they would derive from the 
 increase in his income. They soon ascertained the 
 particulars of his engagement, that his intended wife
 
 REGINALD ARCHER. 115 
 
 was a mere child, whom he was marrying for her 
 wealth ; whom neither he nor they need fear in any 
 respect. She would be a very pleasant member of 
 their set ; too innocent for perception, and too child- 
 like for criticism and contention ; a person to be kept 
 in good humor by caresses and careless compliments, 
 and, in the mean time, to be used as freely as possible. 
 They made up their minds to ride in her carriages, to 
 eat her fine dinners, to hint presents out of her, to 
 manage her to their utmost advantage, and to main- 
 tain their old relationship towards her husband 
 under her little nose. This course of conduct would 
 suit both Reginald and themselves : and, if Christie 
 fell into it gracefully, they would treat her extremely 
 well ; in fact, be her dearest friends. 
 
 Among men, Reginald's avowal of his intention 
 produced mingled emotions. 
 
 When he spoke of his engagement at his club, he 
 was, of course, congratulated by all present, as though 
 his success in life were their darling hope and fondest 
 desire. They were aware of Christie's wealth ; and 
 some had, perhaps, anticipated the result when they 
 heard of her arrival; but none had expected the 
 campaign to be conducted to such rapid and brilliant 
 victory. Many pleasant and flattering things were 
 said to Reginald as the hero of the hour ; and they 
 could not help regarding him with a certain new def-
 
 116 REGINALD ARCHER. 
 
 erence, as the prospective owner of so much money. 
 But scarcely was his back turned, when there broke 
 out audibly that curious discontent which fills the 
 mind of man at any unusual and unexpected success 
 on the part of his brother-man. A certain secret 
 sense of injury, a feeling that one has been taken 
 and the other left without legitimate reason, will 
 insinuate itself into human nature under such cir- 
 cumstances. The other's gain does, in some shadowy 
 way, become your loss ; and you feel aggrieved in so 
 much as something which might possibly have be- 
 come yours has been secured by another. You 
 resent the partiality of circumstances, and feel 
 wronged by fate ; and you vaguely express your sen- 
 timent by being in a bad humor with the world in 
 general, and the fortunate individual in particular. 
 You regard it as a species of swindle that he should 
 fare so much more softly than yourself; and your 
 soul is fired with righteous wrath that he should be 
 so much better paid for being no better than you 
 are. 
 
 " Hang that fellow ! did you ever see such luck ? " 
 exclaimed one of the young men the moment Regi- 
 nald left the room, speaking with an anger and dis- 
 gust which were comical enough to witness, but in 
 which he was perfectly serious and sincere. 
 
 Those around him shared his feeling too entirely
 
 REGINALD ARCHER. 117 
 
 to see any thing amusing in his mood or his remark ; 
 and all broke out in the same strain. 
 
 " Now, I want to know where is the justice of 
 Heaven in letting Reginald Archer draw such a 
 prize," cried out another indignant young person. 
 " He is the worst man I know ; and here he has been 
 given the -very thing of all others that he wanted. 
 The greatest heiress that has been about these parts 
 for years is brought into his very house ; walks 
 right into his hands. I confess I don't understand 
 the dealings of Providence : for that looks to me 
 like putting a premium upon wickedness ; giving a 
 high reward to an evil life." 
 
 The young man's virtuous indignation gained 
 point from the fact that he had modelled his social 
 existence upon Reginald's, and so might reasonably 
 have expected to share the benefits conferred on such 
 a course. 
 
 " I fancy it will be some time before any of us get 
 such a chance of settling ourselves in the world. I 
 suppose we are not quite wicked enough ; that it is 
 only the eminent shiners who get paid so largely," 
 he wound up angrily. 
 
 " So it is Col. Macalaster's daughter whom he is 
 to marry," remarked an elderly gentleman of the 
 old school, who came to the club for a game of 
 whist because he had no family with which to
 
 118 REGINALD ARCHER. 
 
 take refuge, but had nothing in common with the 
 young men around him. " I used to know him years 
 ago ; and this daughter can be little more than a 
 child now. It would have been well if he could 
 have taken her with him when he died, instead of 
 leaving her to that man's mercy," he added sadly. 
 
 " I suppose Reginald will give up his pretty ways, 
 in mere decency, when he is married; he will be 
 ashamed to go on as he now does," suggested one of 
 the company. 
 
 " My young friend," replied the elder gentleman, 
 " neither a man's nor a woman's nature is changed 
 by having a few words said over him or her. What 
 is born in the bone will come out in the flesh. If a 
 man has not sufficient conscience and honor, and 
 fixed standard of right and wrong, to restrain him 
 before his marriage, the wedding-ceremony is no 
 miracle to give them to him. If a far less abandoned 
 man than Reginald Archer plant certain seeds in his 
 nature, they will crop out from time to time in spite 
 of himself; at least, sufficiently to make his wife a 
 very miserable woman, if she possesses conscience, a 
 heart, and high-toned honor, and, above all, is striv- 
 ing honestly to keep her marriage-vow to ' love and 
 honor and reverence him.' No : I say again, that 
 that poor innocent girl had better be lying peacefully 
 by her father's side than be bound for life, not
 
 REGINALD ARCHER. 119 
 
 merely to Reginald Archer, but to any man who has 
 even put his foot upon the course he has walked so 
 long." 
 
 The elder man, who had tried life and proved it, 
 and knew whereof he affirmed, stood facing the 
 whole circle as he spoke, with glowing eyes and 
 vibrating voice : for he was thinking of his own dead 
 daughter, who might have lived for such a fate ; 
 whose loss had once been his heaviest sorrow, but 
 whose death he had learned to cease to regret 
 through watching the fate of other women. The 
 intense feeling, and, above all, the immeasurable con- 
 viction, with which he spoke, and the application of 
 his words to every individual present, made a strange 
 quietude and very uncomfortable sensation creep over 
 that company. It was as though each one had had 
 his own sin and its inevitable consequences presented 
 before him, and found it hard to look it full in the 
 face. 
 
 There was silence for several moments ; and then 
 the elder man, speaking more quietly, said, 
 
 " I remember this girl as a child ; and, if she be 
 of the stuff I take her to be, she will not live very 
 long under the circumstances. She has, at least, that 
 way of escape from him ; which sometimes strikes 
 me as being the only certain resource women have in 
 this world."
 
 120 REGINALD ARCHER. 
 
 And, having said his say, he took up his hat and 
 left the room. 
 
 There was an uncomfortable pause ; and then one 
 of the young men said, with an uneasy laugh, 
 
 "Takes things rather seriously, doesn't the old 
 gentleman ? " 
 
 " Yes," answered several others, glad of any thing 
 which broke the constraint which was upon them all. 
 " He always was a queer fellow, and had odd, old- 
 fashioned notions of things." 
 
 " It's enough to give any one the shivers to hear 
 him talk ! " exclaimed another. 
 
 " He must have known a very different set of * 
 women from that which we live in, to be able to 
 speak and think of them4n that manner," remarke^ * 
 one of the party, rather older than the rest, looking 
 gravely and quietly before him. " I should like to 
 see a woman who was worth all that faith and feel- 
 ing from such a man ; for he is no fool, I can tell 
 you, and knows the world well. I only hope that 
 what he says is one of his peculiar whims ; because, 
 if he be right, we have laid up a pleasant prospect for 
 our old age ; and I suppose most of us have an idea 
 of being good boys one of these days," he added, 
 breaking out into somewhat bitter laughter. " How- 
 ever, we have made our beds; and the best thing 
 will be to lie on them as gracefully as possible."
 
 REGINALD ARCHER. 
 
 " There is one person who will be pleased at this 
 marriage," exclaimed another of the young men, 
 glad to take a different view of the subject ; " and 
 that is Tom Archer," naming the man, of all 
 others, who would have died to prevent it. 
 
 " I wonder how much Reginald has cost him in the 
 last ten years," suggested another. 
 
 " Quite a pretty fortune, I imagine," was the 
 reply. " Reginald has supported himself for a long 
 tune by a dexterous system of taxation both at home 
 and abroad, high tariff and internal revenue ; and 
 Tom represents the latter. I wager you one thing, 
 that it is a tax punctually collected." 
 
 And, with a general laugh, the party broke up. 
 
 Each went his own way ; but each took with him 
 the same vague sense of ill-will towards Reginald, 
 and the same fixed determination to hold to him 
 faithfully until his last dollar should be spent. 
 " Bound together by the strong cohesive attraction 
 of ' private ' plunder," they felt it to be their duty 
 and privilege to obtain, severally and colle'ctively, as 
 large an amount of the great fortune as could be 
 extracted from its owner. They had stood by Regi- 
 nald in his comparative adversity ; and, in his pros- 
 perity, they did not intend to desert him. The pos- 
 session of a rich friend is the next thing to being 
 rich one's self ; and they had no idea of letting any 
 
 6
 
 122 REGINALD ARCHER. 
 
 foolish reticence withhold them from any advantages 
 which might arise therefrom. Reginald's associates 
 eminently belonged to that class of persons who con- 
 sider Christ's injunction, " Ask, arid it shall be given 
 unto you," so good and fitting, that it ought to be 
 applied to this world as well as to the next, and acted 
 upon in reference to their fellow-beings as well as to 
 a higher power. Among the host of individuals 
 whom he called his friends, there was scarcely one 
 who had not already definitely or indefinitely deter- 
 mined to improve his or her fortunes by the other's 
 good fortune. With all the splendor attending the 
 preparations for Christie's wedding, she seemed truly 
 but a poor little lamb being made ready for sacrifice ; 
 and the vultures and cormorants were even now 
 gathering in the distance, scenting their prey.
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 ~r LOYD TRUXTON, having assisted at Regi- 
 . i J nald's courtship from the beginning, had an 
 interest and a sense of triumph in its successful con- 
 clusion. He had a disinterested, doglike attachment 
 to his leader, and a pride in his power and , fascina- 
 tions, which made him delight in his victory, apart 
 from personal considerations ; though these latter 
 were very strong. Reginald having been perfectly 
 free-handed with Tom's money, the inference was 
 that he would be so with Christie's ; and Lloyd natu- 
 rally concluded that there was a rich harvest in store 
 for him. He had almost the sensation of having 
 made a wealthy match himself, and realized more 
 than ever that his best investment in life was stick- 
 ing close to the Archers. He was with them so 
 constantly, that he felt like one of the family, and 
 plumed himself not a little on the connection it was 
 about to make. 
 
 " See here, Truxton," sai'd one of the young men 
 
 at the club, after they had all borne his vicarious da- 
 rn
 
 124 REGINALD ARCHER. 
 
 tion for several'days in silent irritation : " what have 
 you got to do with this wedding, that you are so set 
 up about it ? If Archer were to put on airs, which, 
 I must confess, he doesn't, I could see some reason 
 for it ; but why you are holding up your head so 
 high, I really can't understand." 
 
 " I am sure I was not conscious of putting on any 
 airs," returned Lloyd, suddenly lowering his plumes 
 like a drenched chicken ; " but Reginald is almost 
 like a brother to me, and of course I am glad to see 
 him provide for himself so well." 
 
 It must be admitted that he did not shine in 
 retort. 
 
 " I suppose you intend to make him your brother 
 in reality one of these days, which would account 
 for your deep interest in the family prosperity," sug- 
 gested another speaker. " I saw you playing the 
 devoted to that pretty little sister of his the other 
 morning ; and it struck me as rather a bright idea on 
 your part. I really should not have given you credit 
 for so much perception, or for such a neat combina- 
 tion of your pleasure and profit. Two rich, generous 
 brothers-in-law are not a bad provision in life for such 
 a fellow as you, who will never work for a living, and 
 never be clever enough to marry a fortune," he went 
 on, with that half-contemptuous truthfulness of state- 
 ment to which Lloyd's friends generally treated him.
 
 REGINALD ARCHER. 125 
 
 Lloyd Truxton sat and looked at the man in silence 
 for several minutes, as though an idea were dawning 
 upon him, were gradually penetrating his brain. 
 From his appearance, one would imagine he found it 
 necessary to open his eyes very wide to take in the 
 new-comer. 
 
 " You are very complimentary, I must confess," he 
 presently returned rather meekly by way of reply, 
 not knowing what else to say. 
 
 And, finding that they had reduced him for the 
 present to a convenient and proper level, his attackers 
 drew off then- forces, and allowed him to remain in 
 peace. 
 
 He sat quiet for some time, apparently thinking ; 
 but presently took himself away, carrying with him 
 the suggestion he had received during the discus- 
 sion; for he had, indeed, gained a perfectly fresh 
 thought. 
 
 Ever since Christie's coming, when Reginald had 
 introduced Lloyd into his home for his own purposes, 
 the latter had been carrying on a mild flirtation with 
 Ellen Archer, upon his general principle of flirting 
 with every pretty girl he came near. Their tastes 
 and inclinations agreed ; and, being constantly thrown 
 in her society, he had come to care for her about as 
 much as he was capable of caring for any one except 
 himself. But, having predetermined that matrimony
 
 126 REGINALD ARCHER. 
 
 must be the means of securing him a final support, the 
 idea of marrying Ellen, or any other girl without for- 
 tune, had not entered his mind. 
 
 That little conversation at the club had, however, 
 presented his fancy for her in a new light ; and he was 
 now by no means sure that gratifying his inclination 
 would not be his wisest as well as his most attractive 
 course. That he could neither make money nor 
 marry it, he was beginning strongly to suspect ; and 
 to have the same opinion authoritatively pronounced 
 by others settled the matter with him, as it settles 
 all such questions with weak men who cannot help 
 rating themselves at the valuation of others. Having 
 no inward consciousness of reserved strength, they 
 cannot withstand, even in their own eyes, the decision 
 of their circle : they unconsciously appeal to those 
 around them to learn their own mental and moral 
 weight and measure. Naturally, Lloyd easily ac- 
 quiesced in an opinion towards which he had been 
 experimentally led for some time past. 
 
 It was strongly borne in upon him, that it would 
 be better to secure a certain advantage than to go 
 on striving after an imaginary good which failed to 
 make its appearance. With all his diligence of pur- 
 suit, no woman uniting the two essentials of social 
 position and wealth had yet smiled upon him ; nor did 
 it seem likely that one would be found of sufficiently
 
 REGINALD ARCHER. 127 
 
 peculiar taste to do so. Tom and Reginald in the 
 positions of brothers-in-law with his hold of old 
 friendship upon one, and of family pride and honor 
 upon the other appeared more stable supports 
 than the supposititious heiress who was to rescue him 
 from his slough of despond. He wondered that he 
 had not immediately taken this view of the affair ; 
 and was really thankful to his brother clubman for 
 his sound and sensible advice, even though it had 
 been given in a somewhat insulting manner. That 
 his wishes and his interest should run parallel charmed 
 him ; and he determined to devote himself from that 
 time forward to attaining their common end. 
 
 Perhaps, with all the advantages of the plan, he 
 might not have made up his mind to immediate 
 matrimony but for the curious contagious power of a 
 wedding in the family or connection. Let one person 
 take that plunge, and the other members of his circle 
 seem drawn by some mysterious influence to follow 
 him. He appears to create a species of moral eddy, 
 into which they are attracted almost against their 
 will. Matrimony is certainly, at times, epidemic in 
 its nature, or may be caught, like the measles or the 
 small-pox. Reginald's example influenced Lloyd as 
 much as the pecuniary benefits of his scheme ; and, 
 the elder man having led the way, his trusty adherent 
 felt, in a measure, bound to follow him. As soon as
 
 128 REGINALD ARCHER. 
 
 Reginald declared his intention to marry, the other 
 felt it to be fashionable, a species of social duty 
 which he must neglect no longer; just as he had 
 previously supposed gay bachelorhood to be the finest 
 form of existence. 
 
 It must truly be a wonderful relief to have one's 
 life squared and measured by the simple rule of fol- 
 lowing the lead of some one else ; and the ability 
 and necessity of thinking for one's self has serious 
 penalties, from which, at times, one would willingly 
 be exempt. 
 
 To whatever Reginald announced as the proper 
 course, Lloyd responded amen, even in so grave a 
 matter as taking a wife. The more he considered the 
 plan, the more feasible and pleasant it appeared, until 
 he worked himself into almost an enthusiasm on the 
 subject. Meeting Reginald soon after, he accom- 
 panied him home, and devoted himself almost as 
 openly and ardently to Ellen as Christie's lover did 
 to her. 
 
 Thus he laid siege to the fortress he intended to 
 capture.
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 HE fourth day before the time appointed for the 
 -1- wedding had arrived, and still Tom had not 
 brought himself to speak to Christie upon the subject 
 of securing her fortune to herself ; indeed, had scarce- 
 ly found strength and courage to speak to her at all. 
 But he felt that the attempt must be made ; that in 
 this matter he had no right to spare himself any 
 longer. 
 
 He had managed so successfully to avoid meeting 
 her, that when he came home an hour earlier than 
 usual, and sent word he wished to see her, the girl 
 came down stairs eagerly and gladly to greet him. 
 
 " Tom," she exclaimed, entering the room, her face 
 all smiles and brightness, and her voice thrilling with 
 pleasure, " I had begun to think I should never see 
 you again. Have you been so swallowed up in busi- 
 ness that you could not give me a little of your time, 
 even during the last week I shall be here ? " she 
 asked, with the old quick gesture of putting out her 
 hand as she spoke. 
 
 6* 129
 
 130 REGINALD ARCHER. 
 
 Tom had been standing with his clasped behind 
 him, gazing out of the window, when she entered. 
 At her words he turned round, but kept his hands 
 tightly locked as before ; thus securing the resistance 
 of the temptation to take the soft palm which was 
 offered him. 
 
 " I am very glad to see you, Christie," he said 
 quietly ; and then stopped a moment, thinking how 
 far too glad he was, and wondering whether the 
 gnawing pain at his heart would grow utterly unen- 
 durable, or whether he would be able to bear it dur- 
 ing the five-minutes' conversation which would proba- 
 bly ensue. 
 
 " I have not been able to spend much time with 
 you lately, as I have been very much engrossed," he 
 went on steadily, after an almost imperceptible pause, 
 disregarding, as far as he could, the sorrowful shade 
 of disappointment which came into the large, uplifted 
 eyes at his reticent, cool address ; " but I have come 
 home this afternoon to say something to you which I 
 think ought to be said. Will you sit down and listen 
 tome?" 
 
 He placed a chair, and she silently took it, sur- 
 prised at his expression, and vaguely wondering what 
 might be coming. 
 
 Standing before her with that concentrated look in 
 his face, as though holding himself to his purpose, he 
 went on to explain his meaning.
 
 REGINALD ARCHER. 131 
 
 " I told you, Christie," he proceeded slowly, as 
 though he had thought over and predetermined his 
 words, and wished her to take in their full force, 
 " that I would be your brother ; and, in what I am 
 about to do, I ask you to believe and remember that I 
 think I am acting a brother's part. If your father 
 were here, he would settle that which it now falls to 
 my lot to arrange. But you are alone in the world." 
 (It was fine to see the girl's eyes flash, and her cheeks 
 glow, to hear herself called alone in the world, she, 
 the elect of all women, the beloved of Reginald Ar- 
 cher; who, in possessing him, possessed all things.) 
 " I am compelled to seem to meddle in your affairs. I 
 am constrained to take up that, which, let me assure 
 you, is a very unpleasant duty." 
 
 He was emphatic upon that point in his concentrat- 
 ed earnestness ; for he grew more sore every moment 
 to think that he was forced to appear before her in 
 the light of a coarse intruder ; that she would remem- 
 ber him as a shadow upon her happiest hours ; as one 
 who had brought sordid, pecuniary considerations into 
 her holiest, highest sentiments. 
 
 He had determined to state his purpose as imme- 
 diately and in as few words as possible ; and he pro- 
 ceeded to do so. 
 
 " Before your marriage, I want you to let me have 
 your fortune settled upon yourself, so that no mis-
 
 132 REGINALD ARCHER. 
 
 chance can ever reduce you to poverty ; so that you 
 may have a certain independence of action always 
 secured to you. I ask you to empower me to act in 
 your father's place, and to see that his child's future 
 is made safe against all hazard." 
 
 The girl rose to her feet. There was such splendid 
 indignation in her eyes, such an enthusiasm of con- 
 tempt for his proposition, that Tom's heart swelled 
 with admiration for the fair, generous young creature 
 before him. 
 
 " If you think my father would have asked me to 
 do that which would imply an utter lack of faith and 
 trust in the man I profess to love, you must have 
 known as little of him as you seem to do of his 
 daughter," the clear voice rang out. " Do you im- 
 agine I would offer Reginald such an insult ? that I 
 would even appear to divide our fates ? Why, it is 
 my privilege and my glory that I can give hirn all I 
 have in the world, and that he thinks it worthy of 
 his acceptance. Do you ask me to deprive myself of 
 this happiness ? When I give him myself, would I 
 withhold any miserable money I can bring with me ? 
 If you think such a thing possible, you understand 
 me very little ; for it can never, never be. And Tom, 
 Tom ! to think that you should ask me to do any 
 thing mean and faithless ! you, whom I believed in 
 so entirely ! "
 
 REGINALD ARCHER. 133 
 
 And the girl's voice broke down from its proud 
 anger with a little wailing sob, which smote her 
 listener to the heart. 
 
 It was the first jar upon her faith in humanity ; the 
 first abrasion of her trust in mankind, which was to 
 wear away so surely and steadily ; the first striking 
 of a bare nerve, whose constant thrill was to be the 
 most familiar suffering, the true torture of her life. 
 
 " Christie ! " Tom broke out, " I knew you would 
 misjudge me in this way ; but I thought it right to 
 warn you, regardless of any personal pain. I entreat 
 you to remember that I am older than you, and know 
 men far better ; and, in the face of all you have said 
 and can say, I implore you to follow my advice." 
 
 " Why will you go on insulting me in this way ? " 
 she flashed out, her anger rising again, and what she 
 held to be her righteous wrath overcoming her sor- 
 row. " If I were capable of such an act, I should 
 despise myself for it ! " she exclaimed, the words pass- 
 ing beyond her lips and her self-control : " as it is, I 
 despise you for tempting me to it ! " 
 
 As Christ drove the money-changers out of the 
 temple, so she cast even the shadow of a sordid 
 thought out of the .holy sanctuary of her perfect love 
 and faith. 
 
 If she had struck Tom in the face, he would have 
 flinched less than he did at that one word, while the
 
 134 REGINALD ARCHER. 
 
 color could have sprung no more hotly to his cheeks, 
 He set his teeth as he answered her : 
 
 " I have finished : I shall try no further. You have 
 made your own decision, and must abide the result. 
 Hitherto," he went on with dogged desperation, " I 
 have been able to pray from the depths of my heart 
 that you might live and die in blessed blindness ; and 
 you cannot tempt me to wish that light may burst 
 upon you in all its dreadful power, compelling you 
 to see what I see now. But, Christie," and, un- 
 clasping those tightly-locked hands for the first time, 
 he put them upon her shoulders, and held her firm 
 while he spoke his last sentence, " as surely as we 
 stand here, you will learn the truth. I demand that 
 you shall then remember this hour, and do me tardy 
 justice ; at least, in your own heart. I appeal from 
 this judgment-day to that ; and I can afford to await 
 the verdict." 
 
 And, without another word, he left her. 
 
 Almost maddened by the blow she had struck him, 
 nearly savage with pain, and sense of wrong, he 
 was still conscious of an absolute enthusiasm for the 
 woman who could be so unworldly ; who could feel 
 such indignation, and spurn from her that which she 
 imagined to be meanness, as though it were vile con- 
 tamination. Blinded and mistaken, she was, never- 
 theless, right by a higher law than earthly wisdom ;
 
 REGINALD ARCHER. 135 
 
 she held to a truth which was better than fact ; and 
 Tom's aching heart throbbed with a love for her, a 
 high, pure pride in her, which had never before filled 
 it. As soon as the first wild thrill from her stroke 
 had passed from his frame, he more than forgave 
 her ; he gloried in her for having dealt it. She had 
 enshrined herself in a more exalted place in his 
 thoughts ; and he bowed in humbler, more reverent 
 worship than ever. This almost divine folly of trust- 
 ing youth, this injustice of blessed ignorance, seemed 
 to him priceless, as guaranteeing the truth and honor 
 of a heart that might never be his. 
 
 He was experiencing what Corinne meant when 
 she said, " I would far rather lose my love than my 
 admiration ; " which is tho cry of all natures in which 
 conscience and intellect hold indestructible places. 
 To respect, to admire, to adore freely and utterly, is 
 the dearest joy of which they are capable. That 
 which they worship must be pure and spotless, or 
 their devotion vanishes, and secret pity, if not con- 
 tempt, takes its place. If they find their idol in the 
 dust, or discover earth-stains upon it, the real chain 
 which bound them breaks, though their hearts break 
 with it. They love with their souls ; and their souls 
 must be satisfied. 
 
 Christie and Tom were one day to learn how akin 
 they were in this matter ; that the love of each must
 
 136 REGINALD ARCHER. 
 
 be fed from a higher source than mere animal gratifi- 
 cation, sentiment, even emotion, or it dies. This is, 
 to such natures, the real death : the physical dissolu- 
 tion which follows sooner or later is to them of little 
 consequence. I hold Tom Archer, bereft of all hope 
 and joy, to have been a thrice fortunate and happy 
 being, in that he could absolutely respect the person 
 he loved. 
 
 He himself realized this so thoroughly, that he 
 could meet Christie an hour or two after with no 
 bitterness in his sore heart, or in his grave, quiet man- 
 ner. Dark days were to roll over Christie's head, and 
 a weary road was to be traversed, before she could 
 comprehend him as he comprehended her ; before she 
 could attain such clearness of sight. At present, she 
 did him all the passionate injustice of an undisci- 
 plined heart and an inexperienced brain. 
 
 As soon as he left her, she ran swiftly up stairs, 
 and, locking herself hi her room, threw herself upon 
 the bed in a burst of weeping, which arose partly 
 from nervous re-action, but still more from the pain 
 of the first shock her faith had ever received. That 
 Tom should fail her, and fall so far below what she 
 thought him, if that could be, what else might not 
 give way at any moment ? In her temporary depres- 
 sion, she felt as though every thing were slipping 
 from her grasp. It was her first lesson in distrust ;
 
 REGINALD ARCHER. 137 
 
 and she found it very, very hard. Utter doubt of 
 God and man was the creed she was destined to learn 
 with terrible thoroughness, and then, thank Heaven ! 
 to unlearn forever. 
 
 She lay there, sad and half sick, until she suddenly 
 remembered Reginald would soon come, and that she 
 must go down to meet him. 
 
 She started up hastily to bathe her eyes and to 
 wash away the traces of her tears. The thought 
 that Reginald might demand the cause of her emo- 
 tion, and in some way gain a hint of the subject of 
 the conversation between Tom and herself, made her 
 blush with shame. She shrank from having the idea 
 of money suggested between them, even as the 
 thought of another. She wished to save Reginald 
 from the knowledge that his brother had stooped so 
 far, as well as to shield their love from even the 
 shadow of a mercenary consideration. 
 
 So she bathed and perfumed and powdered her 
 face, with an industry and earnestness which were 
 piteously amusing when one considered their object. 
 
 She succeeded quite well in her purpose, but not 
 so thoroughly as to deceive the acute eyes of either 
 brother when the three met at the dinner-table. 
 Tom did not need any explanation of what he saw 
 before him : he well knew what had produced this 
 effect, and a certain quiet change in her manner
 
 138 REGINALD ARCHER. 
 
 towards him. He had counted on its coming, and 
 was neither surprised nor outwardly discomposed at 
 its appearance. As for Reginald, having an infinite 
 disgust for scenes except of a certain sort, and per- 
 ceiving very soon that her emotion, whatever might 
 be its cause, did not refer to him or endanger his 
 chances of her fortune, he systematically took no 
 notice, and sedulously avoided the bore of an expla- 
 nation. The tender anxiety and jealous scrutiny of 
 a true lover Christie had not greatly to fear, though 
 she had taken such vast pains to blind them. 
 
 A somewhat keener insight into human nature 
 might have spared her exertion, both in these days 
 and those which immediately followed them.
 
 CHAPTER XI. 
 
 ~T~ LOYD TRUXTON dined with the Archers that 
 -J ^ evening; and the final arrangements for the 
 wedding were discussed and decided upon. 
 
 In consideration of Christie's mourning, it was to 
 be a quiet affair. Only a few old friends were invited 
 to the wedding-breakfast ; after which the bride and 
 groom were to go off on a tour of sufficient length to 
 give time for furnishing the magnificent residence 
 which Reginald had secured as their future home. 
 Ellen and Lloyd were to act as bridesmaid and 
 groomsman, greatly to the satisfaction of each ; and 
 the planning of the small details of the occasion kept 
 all those personally interested occupied and eager, 
 full of business and conversation, for hours. 
 
 Tom sat silently by, apparently listening, but 
 really thinking his own weary thoughts. The work 
 of the past week was very evident upon the face thus 
 left open for scrutiny. Accidentally glancing to- 
 wards him, Christie recognized for the first time how 
 worn and haggard was his appearance. She had no 
 
 189
 
 140 REGINALD ARCHER. 
 
 idea of the real cause : but she felt that the outbreak 
 of the afternoon must have additionally depressed 
 an anxious, troubled man ; and she repented having 
 added a burden he was evidently ill able to bear. 
 Looking at him again and again, her womanly heart 
 softened and melted. He had sorely disappointed 
 her. In her childish ignorance of life and of his 
 motives, she imagined that he had fallen forever in 
 her estimation ; but she was sorry she had hurt him. 
 From the spirit of what she had said, she did not 
 waver in the least ; she had no shadow of regret on 
 that point : there was but one course open to her in 
 the matter, and she had taken it. But she wished 
 now that she had put her meaning into less vehement 
 words ; that she had been less violent and personal 
 in her reply. While he was eagerly urging his 
 proposition, she thought only of resisting it by any 
 and all means : now she witnessed their effect with 
 pain, and began to wish for some method of recon- 
 ciliation. 
 
 The arrangements had apparently been completed, 
 when a thought struck Maria. 
 
 " By the way, who is to give away the bride ? We 
 haven't decided that yet." 
 
 " Why, Tom, of course," answered Lloyd. " He 
 is so entirely the proper person, that I never thought 
 of questioning it." .*
 
 REGINALD ARCHER. 141 
 
 At the words, three of his hearers made sudden 
 movements. 
 
 Tom awoke, as it were, and gave a quick, vehe- 
 ment gesture of dissent. 
 
 Reginald turned towards him with a curious 
 expression of countenance, but, for the moment, 
 said nothing. He never wantonly hurt Tom, the 
 only person in the world he hesitated to trample 
 upon for his slightest convenience. His sentiment 
 towards his brother, though one of purely mental ap- 
 preciation, was evidently his nearest approach to an 
 emotion. His acuteness was such, that, heartless 
 himself, he comprehended perfectly what the situa- 
 tion must be to a man who possessed a heart. He 
 had taken the woman Tom loved from him because 
 he held her necessary to himself ; but he had no wish 
 to do his brother any petty injury, or to aggravate 
 the misery of his position if he could well afford to 
 avoid it. Consequently, Reginald remained silent, 
 and did not immediately throw his influence in the 
 scale against Tom. 
 
 Christie had also turned eagerly, and now spoke 
 out earnestly in reply to the negative gesture. 
 
 " O Tom ! I am sure you will do it for us," she 
 exclaimed, coming up to him, delighted to have a 
 chance to speak kindly, to make friends with him 
 again. " There is no one in the world I should like
 
 142 REGINALD ARCHER. 
 
 so well to do that service for me. I have none of 
 my own blood to call upon, and not a friend in the 
 city outside of this house," she added rather pite- 
 ously. 
 
 " Why, Tom, I can't imagine how you can hesi- 
 tate in the matter ! " said Maria almost impatiently. 
 
 " I am not accustomed to making public appear- 
 ances ; I should probably spoil the artistic effect of 
 your arrangements," he answered with rather a bitter 
 smile. " You had better have some one more used to 
 such things. Reginald has plenty of fine friends, 
 jtfith Commanding figures and sonorous voices, who 
 would be glad to serve him on the occasion." 
 
 "How can you talk so?" exclaimed Maria. 
 " They are not Christie's friends, and would be en- 
 tirely out of plade. It is your proper position ; and 
 it will look very singular if you do not fill it." 
 
 " Tom, I am sure you won't refuse," Christie broke 
 in again, " when you recollect that it is the last 
 request I shall make of you." 
 
 The blood flushed up into the man's face at the 
 words and the pleading tone in which they were 
 uttered. He wavered visibly. 
 
 " I am afraid you will have to oblige us in this 
 matter," said Reginald at last. " The family honor 
 requires it, and you will have to lay another sacrifice 
 upon the altar of duty." He laughed slightly as
 
 REGINALD ARCHER. 143 
 
 he spoke, but, nevertheless, watched his brotner 
 closely. 
 
 " Well," said Tom hastily, " I suppose it must be 
 so." And then he gave that slight movement with 
 his hand which he so often used to prevent further 
 discussion of a subject. 
 
 " They thus understood it ; for after Christie had 
 said pleasantly, " Thank you, Tom ; we are both 
 very much obliged to you," they returned to their 
 old places and previous conversation. 
 
 The wedding-presents which Reginald Archer re- 
 ceived within the two days preceding his marriage 
 were a sight to witness. They were so numerous and 
 magnificent, that even that self-complacent gentleman 
 was astonished. Each person felt called upon to 
 send something in proportion, not to Reginald's past 
 status, but to his coming splendor. On such occa- 
 sions, the gifts seem to be graded in exact inverse 
 ratio to the needs of the recipient. The fashionable 
 world is far too pious not to follow the biblical 
 example of giving, to him who has ten talents, ten 
 other talents ; and of taking, from him who has none, 
 even that which he has. Reginald had passed from 
 'the latter position to the former, and was receiving 
 appropriately-different treatment. If his kind friends 
 had presented him with the equivalent cash, he 
 might have lived upon it in luxury for a long period.
 
 144 REGINALD ARCHER. 
 
 Except that the wedding-ceremony seemed the only 
 key to the coffers of his acquaintances, he might 
 have made friendship, instead of matrimony, his 
 means of support. The magnetism of his coming 
 wealth, and the force of fashion, had drawn gold 
 from pockets which would have been very securely 
 fastened against all other extractive powers. 
 
 There is nothing in which the inherent snobbishness 
 of human nature is more fully exemplified than in 
 this matter of wedding-presents. On other occasions, 
 the same principle is, no doubt, equally active ; but it 
 does not equally prank itself up, and attract attention 
 by assuming airs and graces. Ordinarily, it puts on 
 its apron, as it were, and does its dirty work at home ; 
 but on such holiday-times it arrays itself in gorgeous 
 apparel, and seems to cry, " Come and look at me as 
 I go through my genuflexions and offer my prayers 
 and my gifts at the altar of Mammon ! " Few wed- 
 dings, indeed, take place, at which a sermon might 
 not be preached, and a satire spoken, over the 
 presents. 
 
 Reginald perceived the satire, if not the sermon, in 
 his own case. 
 
 An offering of unusual magnificence had been* 
 brought in, and, after much girlish admiration, had 
 been carried off to be put among the other gifts. 
 Reginald watched the departing present with the
 
 REGINALD ARCHER. 145 
 
 queer smile which so often found place in his eyes. 
 Glancing, a moment after, towards Tom, the only other 
 occupant of the room, he saw the shadow of his own 
 thought in his brother's face. 
 
 Reginald broke out into delighted laughter, 
 charmed, as he always was, at their mutual recogni- 
 tion of the humor of any situation. He declared 
 Tom was the only person he could securely count 
 upon to see the fun of any thing. He saved his 
 brightest sayings for him, and, if he fell into a good 
 thing in talking to any one else, felt that it had not 
 fulfilled its mission until he had repeated it to Tom, 
 had seen his mouth twitch with appreciation, and 
 received his dry comment in reply. 
 
 " Tom," he said after a moment, " do you remem- 
 ber that instructive little incident in the history of 
 Job, how, after he had fought through all his poverty 
 and troubles, and become richer and more prosperous 
 than ever, then, and not until then, his friends and 
 relations came to see him, and brought each man of 
 them a piece of money and an ear-ring of gold ? I 
 have always regarded it as one of the finest touches 
 of truth to human nature in all literature. It really 
 is remarkable to perceive, not only how little human- 
 ity has altered, but how perfectly this charming cus- 
 tom has been preserved to the present day." 
 
 And he went off into soft inward laughter, as 
 
 7
 
 146 REGINALD ARCHER. 
 
 though rolling his amusement like a sweet morsel 
 under his tongue. 
 
 " Yes," answered Tom rather grimly, " I can un- 
 understand your appreciation of Job's feelings on 
 that occasion." 
 
 " Precisely," returned the other. " Why, the very 
 man who sent that present slipped out of the club 
 not a month ago to avoid meeting me, for fear I 
 should ask him to lend me money ! which was so 
 much unnecessary exertion on his part ; for you know, 
 Tom," and here Reginald's eyes twinkled, and his 
 voice broke again into laughter, " that I almost 
 always gave you the preference on such occasions, 
 and seldom hurt your feelings by turning to stran- 
 gers." 
 
 "No," responded his brother somewhat sardoni- 
 cally : " it must be admitted, that, in that matter at 
 least, you have faithfully stood by your family." 
 
 " Well, never mind, old fellow ! all that will be 
 over when I am married," Reginald exclaimed care- 
 lessly. 
 
 The change that came over Tom's face, though 
 faint, was so expressive of the throb at his heart, that 
 even this selfish, self-absorbed man recognized it, and 
 hesitated before it. He quickly returned to the sub- 
 ject they had been discussing. 
 
 " Would you believe it ? one of those silver
 
 REGINALD ARCHER. 147 
 
 pitchers came from a person, who, not a long while 
 since, got up and left the room because I trod on his 
 moral toes ! I thought that right enough, if he did 
 not like my way of thinking and talking ; but it 
 strikes me as a little peculiar that he should recognize 
 so suddenly my merits and my claims. It is a pleas- 
 ant, consistent world we live in," he wound up with 
 radiant good temper and charmed sense of humor 
 over that which would have caused a deeper-natured 
 man to sigh, or to smile bitterly. 
 
 " If I had known the extent to which my friends' 
 purses were at my service, it would scarcely have 
 been necessary for me to marry as a provision in 
 life," he was about to exclaim in gay mockery ; but, 
 suddenly remembering to whom he was speaking, he 
 caught himself in time not to thrust his marriage 
 and its mercenary motive again in Tom's face, and so 
 let the subject drop.
 
 CHAPTER XH. 
 
 MARIA, Ellen, and Arnold had each given 
 Christie gifts, bought, of course, with Tom's 
 money, and, at his express private injunction, as hand- 
 some as could be procured. 
 
 But, as yet, he had given her nothing in his own 
 name. 
 
 The night before the marriage, he entered the par- 
 lor with a small box, held almost hidden in the palm 
 of his hand. Maria, Ellen, and Lloyd Truxton, were 
 leaning upon the piano, upon which some newly- 
 arrived presents had been placed ; while upon a sofa, 
 at a little distance, sat Christie and Reginald. 
 
 The girl was looking up at her lover with a pure, 
 tender adoration in the sweet eyes, that a man with 
 a heart and a conscience might willingly have spent 
 a lifetime in striving to deserve. As it was, the per- 
 son to whom it was directed received it with outward 
 tranquillity. Numberless eyes had looked what they 
 called love into his: hot glances and long burning 
 gazes he had drunk hi like fiery wine ; but their heat 
 
 148
 
 REGINALD ARCHER. 149 
 
 and brilliancy were caught from a far different flame, 
 from hell-fire, rather than heaven's light. He 
 remembered them as he sat there, and drew the 
 comparison for himself ; and, doing so, calmly and 
 deliberately decided that he preferred the lurid glare 
 to the soft sunshine then being shed upon him. 
 
 " Fresh air is certainly not my native atmosphere, 
 and I must have something to drink with a little 
 more taste in it than pure water," he thought, ac- 
 knowledging to himself his entire unfitness for any 
 wholesome, natural life. 
 
 " This nurseriness is certainly very pretty, and I 
 suppose there are persons who would find it agree- 
 able ; but really it is too much, or rather too little, 
 for me." And he mentally yawned in unutterable 
 weariness. 
 
 But, with practical good sense, he fell to regarding 
 the material compensations of his marriage, and took 
 comfort. Thus doing, he looked down at the girl so 
 near him with an ineffable expression, which left her 
 nothing to wish for on this side of heaven. 
 
 Tom entered, and saw them before him. 
 
 He had need to be the strong man he was to en- 
 able him to walk quietly up to them, and speak in his 
 usual straightforward manner. His brother's pres- 
 ence suited him, as that which he had to say was 
 intended as pointedly for the man as for the girl ;
 
 150 REGINALD ARCHER. 
 
 and he wished both to remember his words and his 
 meaning. 
 
 They looked up as he stood before them. , 
 
 " Christie," he said, " I have brought you a little 
 gift. I want you to wear it, and, when you look at 
 it, to remember me, and my promise to be your true 
 brother under all circumstances." 
 
 As he finished speaking, his glance left Chris- 
 tie ; and he and his brother looked straight at each 
 other. 
 
 " Recollect, this girl, alone and friendless as she 
 seems, has one head and hand enlisted for ever in her 
 service ; and, for your acts towards her, you will have 
 to reckon with them," was what Tom's look said, as 
 plainly as words could have put it. 
 
 An almost imperceptible movement of Reginald's 
 eyes seemed to sign the contract ; to answer, 
 
 " I am aware of the fact, and I accept the condi- 
 tion." 
 
 " I do not require the presence of any gift to keep 
 me in mind of all your kindness, Tom," Christie 
 exclaimed quickly, unconscious of look or meaning 
 other than appeared on the surface. 
 
 Then she sprang up, and came under the chande- 
 lier to see what the small parcel contained. The 
 rest gathered eagerly around her, curious to know 
 what Tom had brought.
 
 REGINALD ARCHER. 151 
 
 As she lifted the top of the box, the light flashed 
 upon a diamond cross, of such size and beauty that 
 the whole party broke out in one half-inarticulate 
 exclamation of surprise and admiration. Even Regi- 
 nald was startled out of his tranquil toleration of 
 things in general. 
 
 " It is perfectly beautiful ! " he said. " Upon my 
 word, Tom, you give en prince. But you always did 
 that," he added with magnificent but somewhat 
 cheap gratitude, considering their past monetary 
 relations. 
 
 " Tom, I never saw any thing so lovely in my 
 life!" cried Christie, with eyes as brilliant as the 
 jewels from which she looked up. " I don't know 
 how to thank you." 
 
 She made a slight step forward, as though with 
 some idea of expressing by a kiss that which she did 
 not know how to put into words : but Tom turned 
 slightly from her, as though unconscious of her 
 intention ; and she fell back with the same sense of 
 repulse she had experienced several times during the 
 preceding week. 
 
 " I am glad you are pleased," he rejoined with that 
 . weary quietude which had become his habitual man- 
 ner. " I like diamonds, not only because they are so 
 bright and clear, but because nothing can render 
 them otherwise; because no contact with impurity
 
 152 REGINALD ARCHER. 
 
 can make them impure. I sometimes wonder, when 
 I look at persons," he added slowly, as though he 
 were speaking more to himself than to them, and 
 looking at Christie, in spite of himself, with the 
 wistful questioning of an infinite sadness and tender- 
 ness, which must have given the girl some hint of his 
 secret, had she not been wrapped in an enchanted 
 dream, " whether they are like snow, which is 
 merely fair and white until soil touches it, and amal- 
 gamates with it ; or whether they are like diamonds, 
 which nothing can really contaminate. This is the 
 one dreadful doubt in life, and seems to me the 
 great, essential difference between persons." 
 
 And this time he turned quickly and entirely away 
 with what would have been a shuddering sigh, had 
 he not stopped it almost before it had birth. 
 
 " They remind me of dewdrops," said Ellen, taking 
 them in her hand, and looking very prettily senti- 
 mental over them; while she was thinking in her 
 secret heart how devoutly she hoped Tom would see 
 fit to present her with something equally splendid 
 when she came to be married, or sooner, if he thought 
 proper. 
 
 " I am glad he has given her such a handsome 
 present ; for now he can't do less, and he will prob- 
 ably do more, for his own sister," she meditated. 
 
 Ellen's mind was of an eminently practical cast,
 
 REGINALD ARCHER. 153 
 
 and enabled her to escape unpleasant pangs of 
 jealousy by a fine, far-reaching perception of her own 
 interest. 
 
 " They remind me of tears, a cross of tears," said 
 Maria softly, almost under her breath. 
 
 " Maria, hush ! " exclaimed Tom, as though she 
 hurt him, " or you will make me regard my gift as 
 an evil omen, and wish to take it back." 
 
 "No," said Christie earnestly, and this time she 
 put out her hand steadily to Tom, "I shall wear it 
 without any fear, dear Tom ; for it will always have 
 the association you have given it : it will mean to me 
 a purity which can dread no assimilation with evil, 
 because it has nothing in common with evil." 
 
 Gazing at the girl's face with its radiant courage of 
 perfect innocence, but, alas ! of perfect ignorance also, 
 the fear at Tom's heart passed away for a moment. 
 But he had learned the awful power of companion- 
 ship ; and the dread of what she must almost inevi- 
 tably become, through breathing Reginald's moral 
 atmosphere, soon resumed its dominion over him. 
 It held its sway ; when he answered with a grave 
 sadness, 
 
 " If it retain that meaning for you, Christie, I shall 
 indeed think I have given you a good gift ; but, if 
 the talisman lose its power, I warn you I shall know 
 it even sooner than you do," he added suddenly, so 
 
 7*
 
 154 REGINALD ARCHER. 
 
 full of his own thoughts, that he forgot she could not 
 follow them nor his intention. 
 
 The girl's puzzled look of astonishment brought 
 him back to himself. 
 
 " I did not mean to frighten you, my dear," he 
 said, the red blood coming into his. face as he saw- 
 Christie's slight shrinking and Reginald's glance of 
 comprehension ; " but I shall be very glad if my cross 
 will bring back a recollection of me and as many good 
 thoughts as can come with it. Good-night! " he con- 
 cluded, in comprehensive adieu to the party, and left 
 the room. 
 
 The rest soon followed, leaving Reginald and 
 Christie together to take their last parting before 
 they twain should be one flesh. 
 
 " I shall say good-night to you now, darling ; for 
 you must go to sleep very soon, as you will have a 
 fatiguing day to-morrow, and will need all your 
 strength," Reginald said in a very few minutes, in 
 apparent tender consideration for her, and in real 
 consideration for himself. 
 
 He was weary with acting, with keeping up appear- 
 ances before her : moreover, he wanted to go down to 
 the club and meet some friends. 
 
 " It is the last time we shall have to part, dearest," 
 he whispered as he took her in his arms ; and the 
 face upon his breast crimsoned with happy blushes.
 
 REGINALD ARCHER. 155 
 
 " By to-morrow night you will be my precious little 
 wife, and we need never separate." 
 
 " The tone, and quick, passionate pressure as he 
 spoke, were triumphs of dramatic instinct ; of a cer- 
 tain intellectual fidelity which led him to omit no 
 point he considered in character. He satisfied his 
 own taste and critical judgment, and mentally fur- 
 nished his own applause, doing his work with the 
 enthusiasm of a true artist. 
 
 "Reginald," said Christie a moment after, raising - 
 her head in her impetuous fashion, and speaking with 
 a hurried breathlessness which showed her embarrass- 
 ment and difficulty in putting her meaning into 
 words, " I am afraid, that, when I am your wife, you 
 will be miserably disappointed in me. You are so 
 utterly beyond me in every thing, so noble and grand 
 and good, that I can never be like you. But I will 
 try very hard : and oh ! my darling, be patient with 
 me ; for I love you so dearly, so dearly ! " 
 
 The tr-ust and faith, the almost divine aspiration, 
 that was in the uplifted face, silenced even Reginald 
 Archer. He saw, like a revelation, just what her 
 coming life must be : he comprehended just what 
 ho seemed to her now, and how his real character 
 and past life would strike her when she saw them in 
 their true light. Sucli was his perception, that he 
 understood a situation and a nature with neither of
 
 156 REGINALD ARCHER. 
 
 which he had any thing in common ; and, doing so, 
 there came over him the nearest approach to the emo- 
 tion of pity of which he was capable. 
 
 That the virtue of the woman before him was 
 radical, that no temptation could shake it, he did not 
 think, believing it true of no woman under the sun ; 
 but he saw that she was as yet utterly ignorant of 
 evil, and he knew that the tremendous shock of being 
 brought into personal contact with sin in any being 
 she loved would inevitably come upon her. As Tom 
 had said, years before, he was " to give his wife her 
 first lesson in actual evil." He recognized the fact, 
 that her sudden, close introduction to the world, the 
 flesh, and the devil, incarnated in him, would be a 
 trying ordeal, a revolution in all her preconceived 
 ideas. That she would settle down to circumstances, 
 and, incited by his past and present example, learn 
 to join hands with that trinity in pleasant good-fel- 
 lowship, he had no doubt ; but he was quite sorry 
 for what she must first go through, regretting the 
 necessity as he did that of all disturbing occurrences. 
 This conviction, that her shock and scruples would 
 soon pass away, and her life and character rapidly 
 approximate to a comfortable level with his. own, 
 almost instantly re-assured him : so with a kiss, and 
 the sweetest tranquillity of mind and manner, he 
 answered,
 
 REGINALD ARCHER. 157 
 
 " My little pet will not try my patience, I am sure. 
 I am not at all alarmed on the subject." 
 
 " It is no use to open any discussion in the mat- 
 ter," he thought, " even if I could mention such things 
 to her, and if I could afford to tell her the truth. 
 She would comprehend it too little to prepare her for 
 the realization which must come ; and, indeed, I can- 
 not afford the risk, as it is quite possible she might 
 refuse to marry me even now. There is really no 
 measuring the folly of what they call good women ; 
 and, ignorance being bliss in this as in most cases, I 
 certainly shall not deprive her of the blessing sooner 
 than is necessary." 
 
 He fell back upon mute caresses as the safest mode 
 of communication under the circumstances ; and 
 finally, with a kiss and a few appropriately sweet 
 words of adieu, left her. 
 
 The girl went to her chamber to offer up pure, lov- 
 ing prayers for him before she fell into her childlike 
 slumber ; and he, lighting a cigar, walked slowly 
 down to his club, thinking coolly and philosophically 
 of the scene he had just left. 
 
 " Upon my word," he calmly considered, " it is a 
 rather hard case when a woman supposes she is marry- 
 ing a saint, and discovers afterwards that he is a sin- 
 ner; when she imagines she is allying herself with 
 one man, and finds herself tied for life to an entirely
 
 158 . REGINALD ARCHER. 
 
 different person. It never struck me before; for 
 most of the women I have known have had too 
 much experimental knowledge to be capable of any 
 delusions on the subject. But, for any one as igno- 
 rant of ordinary existence as this girl, the enlighten- 
 ment which such a marriage brings must be rather 
 overwhelming," he went on with that interest and 
 impartial justice with which he viewed any fresh 
 problem. " If a man were to make the same dis- 
 covery, I suppose he would feel called upon to shoot 
 her or himself : if he found out that she had taken 
 even one step upon the path I have always trodden, 
 he would have the whole world sympathizing with 
 his wounded honor, and justifying him in any de- 
 gree of abhorrence and vengeance. He would prob- 
 aUy send her to the right-about, as though con- 
 taminating his name and station, even though he 
 had committed the same sin himself countless 
 times ; whereas, if this poor child complains of my 
 past life, and allows it to affect her conduct to- 
 wards me, she will be laughed at for her pains, and 
 considered a morbidly sentimental young person. 
 What a farce it all is ! " and the soft, sweet laughter, 
 which was one of Reginald Archer's chief charms, 
 stirred the quiet night. " Both the girl and the man 
 would, according to my way of thinking, be fools to 
 expect any tiling but what they found, or to care
 
 REGINALD ARCHER. 159 
 
 particularly on the subject ; but I really can't see 
 what greater right of complaint one has than the 
 other." 
 
 And then he smoked his cigar quietly for some 
 time, in a state of gentle resignation at his inability 
 to square his perceptions with generally-accepted 
 social tenets. 
 
 Like most selfish men, he disliked the sight of 
 pain, as unpleasant to himself ; and the fact that his 
 wife, whom he must see more or less, would, for a 
 time, be miserable, and show it, gave him an un- 
 doubted sense of discomfort. 
 
 " This marriage of mine is absurdly incongruous," 
 he thought, with mingled amusement and faint 
 annoyance. " It is a pity I could not let Tom have 
 her ; or that I could not afford, pecuniarily or socially, 
 to marry a woman on my own moral level. Gertrude 
 would really have suited me much better, for she 
 could have taken care of herself; and there was no 
 special contrast between our lives and characters," 
 he went on, alluding to his mistress of the year 
 before, a woman who had spent her life on hire at 
 so much a mouth, for the sake of a finer dress, a 
 better dinner, a softer bed, and an idler existence, 
 than she could have gained by any honest alliance in 
 her own low station. 
 
 " We certainly had far more in common, both in
 
 160 REGINALD ARCHER. 
 
 taste and experience, than Christie and I can have 
 for a long time to come ; but I suppose society would 
 have held up its hands in horror at my legal connec- 
 tion with such a woman, though it winked comforta- 
 bly at my illegal one. However, I have no idea of 
 suffering martyrdom for women here, whatever may 
 come hereafter : so I marry money and position, and 
 let the future take care of itself. Christie will soon 
 get over her inexperience, and console herself like 
 other women ; especially as I shall be neither so 
 selfish nor so unfair as to prevent her from enjoying 
 any of the privileges or pleasures I have claimed for 
 myself, and found so agreeable." 
 
 With this reflection, and the calm satisfaction of the 
 just, he went up the steps of the club-house, and 
 disappeared within, to spend the last hours of the 
 evening with his intimate associates.
 
 CHAPTER XIII. 
 
 CHRISTIE M AC AL ASTER'S wedding-day rose 
 V_y as fair and unclouded as her outward beauty 
 and inward happiness. The golden sunshine of the 
 morning bathed all things in glory, and roused all 
 nature to life and joy. The birds sang ; the sum- 
 mer breezes stole through the trees, whose leafy tops 
 swayed towards each other, and seemed to murmur 
 love songs and secrets in their soft cadences. All 
 tokens were in keeping with the appearance of this 
 marriage, which youth, beauty, wealth, health, and 
 hope united to render brilliant. It seemed an ideally 
 perfect union : what it was, time would show. 
 
 The world, at least, appeared to consider the match 
 a most suitable one<, and smiled upon and congratu- 
 lated the fortunate pair, in whom all the elements 
 of happiness were conjoined. 
 
 One man alone seemed to remember that purity 
 and honor could not sit at this wedding-feast ; that a 
 sinful past must hold place there, casting its shadow 
 not merely over the present, but far into the future. 
 
 161
 
 162 REGINALD ARCHER. 
 
 That chastity and truth were lacking ; that the 
 broken law of God brings its own consequence with 
 absolute inevitability ; that as we sow, thus we must 
 reap, all this apparently troubled no one except 
 the person whose burden and sorrow were heavy 
 enough, God knows, without it. 
 
 Of the hundreds of women who were that morning 
 eagerly discussing Reginald Archer's marriage, there 
 were not many who would have refused to change 
 places with Christie, though knowing, but far from 
 realizing, what Reginald's life had been, and what it 
 had necessarily made him. Women marry men with 
 apparent disregard for their lack of purity, some- 
 times because they know too little, and sometimes 
 because they know too much. With one class, it is 
 the seeming indifference of ignorance ; with the 
 other, it is the real carelessness of experimental 
 knowledge and natural taste. With both orders 
 men like Reginald Archer are particularly successful, 
 though in different ways. And there were many fool- 
 ish, blinded, but not impure hearts, among those who 
 looked kindly upon that groom, and envied the bride 
 her place at his side, women who would have real- 
 ized the misery of a granted prayer, had their wish 
 been given them. Seeing only what is elegant and 
 attractive in a successful , roue, they cannot believe 
 such beautiful sin to be very sinful; or that, as is
 
 REGINALD ARCHER. 163 
 
 inevitably the case, it is a radical part of the na- 
 ture. They build an ideal from outward appearances, 
 and worship it, only to have their dream dissipated, 
 and to learn that evil is the one utterly hideous, cruel 
 fact in the universe. 
 
 A curious variety of beings awoke that morning 
 with this marriage as their first thought. Men who 
 admired and imitated him, who had followed his 
 example to the ruin of soul, body, and estate ; women 
 who had adored him, or who adored him still ; others 
 whom he had inspired with passion, or a sentiment of 
 flattered vanity, or any of the numerous emotions 
 which are classed under the generic term of " love ; " 
 numbers of other persons whom curiosity, his repu- 
 tation, and the wealth of his bride, interested in the 
 matter, each and all remembered in their waking 
 moment that this was Reginald's wedding - day. 
 Sore hearts and light ones, passionate feeling and 
 trivial interest, smothered revengeful anger, and 
 smiling good will and good wishes, the highest blood 
 and fashion of the land, and members of the demi- 
 monde, all these found room in the crowd which 
 assembled in the solemn old church in which Regi- 
 nald Archer and Christie Macalaster were to be made 
 man and wife. It was the social event of the season ; 
 and consequently the unbidden guests were almost 
 numberless : but a strange variety of emotions were
 
 164 REGINALD ARCHER. 
 
 hidden under the obedience to fashion which appar- 
 ently brought them thither. 
 
 An equal difference displayed itself hi the feelings 
 and actions of those more closely connected with the 
 marriage. 
 
 Reginald rose calmly, at his usual late hour, giving 
 himself his ordinary time to dress and to breakfast 
 with extreme comfort. He never allowed himself 
 to be either hurried or delayed in these important 
 operations. 
 
 " Reginald, you remind me of Goethe's expression, 
 * Never hasting, never resting, like a star,' " said 
 Tom one day, when he had watched his brother 
 enjoying his meal with tranquillity under rather try- 
 ing circumstances. 
 
 " Which means, my dear boy," answered the other, 
 " that I have learned the true science of living, and 
 the really important point in life. I never allow my 
 comfort to be interfered with. I see persons occa- 
 sionally who are anxious about their souls ; but I 
 spend my care and pains upon my body, and I find 
 myself repaid more visibly and immediately." 
 
 " Upon my word, I think you are right," exclaimed 
 Tom ; " for I believe you have nothing else." 
 
 " Exactly ! " Reginald responded with the utmost 
 pleasantness. " My physical frame is all that I am at 
 all sure of : so I tre'at it well, and gain as much as
 
 REGINALD ARCHER. 165 
 
 possible from it." And he certainly had the merit of 
 living up to his doctrine. 
 
 He had so perfected his routine, that, even upon his 
 wedding - morning, it admitted of no improvement; 
 and not the slightest agitation marred it or his 
 manner. He surveyed himself leisurely and critical- 
 ly in the glass ; and, without vanity, decided that 
 he had never looked better. His costume he knew 
 to be faultless ; and so all shade of anxiety left his 
 mind. 
 
 Experience seems to show that handsome men are 
 far less vain than ugly ones. They become accus- 
 tomed to their own beauty and its effect, and gradu- 
 ally forget both. Having the tranquillity of certainty, 
 their minds are not led back to the subject by 
 doubt ; and it is a fact, that Reginald Archer thought 
 less of his own appearance that morning than did 
 any one of the hundreds of persons who looked at 
 him. 
 
 Ellen was the only other individual in that house- 
 hold who breakfasted at just her usual hour, and with 
 her usual appetite. Then she retreated to the sacred 
 shades of her own room in company with a hair- 
 dresser and a maid, and was not seen again until the 
 bridal party assembled before starting for the church ; 
 when she appeared in a costume which it had taken 
 her dressmaker days and days to manufacture, and
 
 166 REGINALD ARCHER. 
 
 herself hours to assume. But the result was worth 
 the trouble; for it rendered her beautiful. She 
 passed the same verdict upon herself as she scanned 
 the effect of her labors, and hoped to read fresh evi- 
 dence of the fact in Lloyd Truxton's eyes. It was 
 for his final subjugation, in addition to her desire for 
 general admiration, that she had worked ; not know- 
 ing that he had made up his mind to ask her to 
 marry him upon far more solid grounds than any 
 passing phase of her beauty. But she had her wish 
 in exciting his admiration ; for he met her not only 
 with a gallant compliment, but with a look which 
 said much more than the words, and gave them their 
 value. 
 
 As for Maria, neither she nor any one else knew 
 whether she took any breakfast that morning. After 
 giving general household directions for the comfort 
 of every one else, she hurriedly dressed for the wed- 
 ding, and dismissed herself entirely from her own 
 mind. She knew she appeared as a lady should ; 
 and that was all for which she really cared. She 
 might have been aware, also, that she was a very 
 fine-looking woman, strikingly like Tom, with his 
 waving hair and bright dark eyes, and so could 
 afford to dispense with anxiety in the matter. Then 
 she went to Christie's room to devote the rest of the 
 time to her.
 
 REGINALD ARCHER. 167 
 
 " ' Happy is the bride the sun shines on,' Chris- 
 tie dear," was her salutation as she took the half- 
 dressed girl in her arms and kissed her very ten- 
 derly. 
 
 The sunbeams were streaming through the vine- 
 shaded windows, and dancing upon the floor ; and all 
 things within and without were radiant with the 
 brightness of the summer weather : but it was the 
 light in Christie's face which seemed to illumine 
 her. 
 
 " Child, you look so happy, you scare me ! " ex- 
 claimed Maria involuntarily. 
 
 Christie gave her a slightly-startled glance, a shade 
 coming over her face. 
 
 " No, no ! I didn't mean what I said," the other 
 suddenly retracted, as she saw and regretted the ef- 
 fect of her words. " Be as happy as you can, my 
 darling ; and I pray God you may always be so. 
 And now let us see if we can make you look any 
 lovelier than you do now," she added gayly to change 
 the conversation ; and was soon engrossed in that 
 momentous question. 
 
 Maria had had her own doubts concerning this 
 marriage, which, like Tom, she had kept to herself, 
 from a hopelessness of doing any good by expressing 
 them. As is almost always the case with men's 
 female relatives, she was ignorant of the active crim-
 
 168 REGINALD ARCHER. 
 
 inality of Reginald's life ; but, of the inner character 
 formed by that life, each day gave her evidence in 
 some almost unconscious word, look, or tone. She 
 had the family acuteness of perception, and not only 
 saw that her brother was utterly selfish, but felt, 
 rather than knew, that he was a bad man in more 
 ways than one. This consciousness had secretly 
 overcast her joy at Christie's becoming 'her sister, 
 and made her regard the girl from time to time with 
 an indefinable sentiment of pity and anxiety. 
 
 "It is like a day that is too bright to last. I am 
 afraid the clouds will come before noon, certainly 
 before night. I fear trouble must come to Reginald's 
 wife, let her be what she will ; and how is this poor 
 child to bear it ? " the woman was thinking, in her 
 kind, honest heart, as she turned her kind, honest 
 face, with its brightest smile, towards the girl she was 
 arraying. 
 
 The tender beauty of the young face, the perfect 
 
 
 
 purity and gladness which shone from it like a halo, 
 touched this good woman inexpressibly. With not 
 many years dividing them, a wide difference of expe- 
 rience and character made her feel towards the or- 
 phan-girl almost as her own mother might have done. 
 An infinite desire to protect and shelter and aid her 
 filled Maria ; but it was with a consciousness of en- 
 tire helplessness. It is in such moments of need and
 
 REGINALD ARCHER. 169 
 
 weakness that women carry those they love to the 
 strong arms of the great Father; that they appeal 
 to the only love which is mightier than theirs. In the 
 midst of all this happiness and prosperity, Maria's 
 instinct told her of past sin and coming sorrow : it 
 vaguely forewarned her of danger and. disaster which 
 as yet were not. An impulse she could neither con- 
 trol nor explain, but upon which she looked back 
 with astonishment before another year had rolled 
 round, prompted her next act. 
 
 Christie's toilet was nearly complete, and Maria 
 was giving it a few last touches, when she said to 
 one of the servants, 
 
 "Go down stairs and tell Mr. Reginald that we 
 will be with him in a few moments ; " and, turning to 
 the other attendants, dismissed them upon trivial pre- 
 texts. 
 
 Going quietly to the door, she closed it, and, re- 
 turning, met the girl entirely ready, about to de- 
 scend. 
 
 " Stop a moment, Christie," she said nervously, 
 her face flushing, the tears coming into her eyes, and 
 her tone deepening -with the smothered earnestness 
 with which she spoke. " Say a prayer, my child, be- 
 fore you go : say ' Our Father ; ' say ' Lead us not 
 into temptation, but deliver us from evil ; ' and * For- 
 give us our trespasses as we forgive those who tres-
 
 170 REGINALD ARCHER. 
 
 pass against us.' ' And the woman's voice broke 
 utterly with the last word. 
 
 The appeal went straight from one heart to the 
 other. The girl's face flushed and her lips quivered 
 as the elder woman's had done. The next moment, 
 without a word, she knelt down in her flowing bridal 
 robe, with the white veil covering her beauty like 
 mist, and the sweet, fresh blossoms falling about her 
 dress. Thinking of it afterwards, and of that up- 
 lifted, innocent face, Maria remembered that other 
 wedding-garment of which Christ speaks as worn 
 by those who were bidden to the marriage of the 
 king's son, and which those must wear who enter 
 the kingdom of heaven. At Maria's knee, as in her 
 childish days at that of her old nurse, she repeated 
 the words- which had been upon her baby-lips, and 
 which came to her now as the highest ever uttered 
 on earth. Together those low, quivering voices 
 went through that prayer, so solemn, so tender, 
 and yet so awfully searching, that it leaves no re- 
 cess of the human heart untouched, uncleansed, or 
 unfilled. 
 
 Then Christie rose, and the two left the room in 
 silence. 
 
 " Whatever fate she is going forth to meet, I have 
 given her the best preparation for it," thought the 
 pious, loving woman. " If life is to be a battle to
 
 REGINALD ARCHER. 171 
 
 her, I have put her strongest, truest weapon in her 
 hand: whatever comes, or whatever goes, whether 
 she meet the temptations of pain or of pleasure, so 
 long as she can hold the spirit of that prayer within 
 her, she is safe." 
 
 That firm, triumphant faith which comes from an 
 immovable belief in the ultimate security of right- 
 doing, from an unshakable trust in the infinite power 
 and love above us, sprang up within her; and she 
 followed Christie with a more hopeful heart than she 
 could have believed possible a few moments before. 
 
 When Tom Archer awoke that morning, it was 
 with the same dull aching which had been in 
 his breast ever since that night, when, meeting his 
 brother in the hall, he had seen his triumph in his 
 face, and heard it from his lips. From that time to 
 the present, he had had a sensation of living under 
 a species of nightmare, with which he struggled in 
 vain, but which he hoped to cast off when this mar- 
 riage was over and he should be left in peace. The 
 heavy weight upon him had brought with it a numb- 
 ness to all his sensations ; and his chief feeling on 
 that morning was a consciousness that the next few 
 hours contained for him a task he must accomplish, a 
 trial he must undergo, and that, too, without giving 
 evidence that his office was aught but a pleasure and 
 a pride.
 
 172 REGINALD ARCHER. 
 
 The man's strong, reticent nature prepared itself 
 for the effort. 
 
 " If I can only go through it without letting Regi- 
 nald see what it is to me, if I can only avoid getting 
 up a little dramatic entertainment for his private 
 benefit, it is all I ask," Tom thought, with a dull, 
 heavy anger, no less against himself than his brother. 
 " As for Christie, no matter what I might do, she 
 would not notice it. She does not care enough 
 for me to be conscious of my existence when her 
 radiant lover is present ; and, unless I drop dead at 
 her side, I am quite safe from exciting her obser- 
 vation or comprehension," he added with bitter 
 truth. 
 
 He did not care to try his. strength by meeting 
 Reginald before it was necessary, and so did not leave 
 his room until it was about time to set out for the 
 church. Then he went steadily down stairs to the 
 parlor, where the whole party awaited his coming. 
 
 Reginald turned with apparent carelessness as he 
 heard his brother's step, and gave an almost imper- 
 ceptible glance towards him. 
 
 " He'll do," was his comment of entire satisfaction. 
 " It's just the same old Tom ; the same plucky fellow 
 he always is," he added, with delighted relish for the 
 courage and the effort he perfectly understood : and 
 he had an almost irresistible impulse to go up to his
 
 REGINALD ARCHER. 173 
 
 brother, and make him a magnificent bow, as doing 
 homage before a stronger, braver man than himself. 
 Tom was fated to afford his brother entertainment, 
 let him do what he would. 
 
 But he cared little for Reginald or his criticisms 
 just then : he was looking at Christie. 
 
 The girl stood silent at her lover's side, with her 
 dark eyes raised towards him, yet seeming to be 
 gazing inward rather than outward. 
 
 Her pure white bridal draperies, and the expres- 
 sion upon her face, which was the reflection of 
 those words she had just spoken upon her knees, and 
 the thought of those coming words so soon to be 
 uttered before the altar, these seemed suddenly to 
 have changed the nature of her beauty to a mystic, 
 sacramental holiness, which placed her apart from 
 him, and far above him. 
 
 " She is like one of the angels in heaven," he 
 thought, with that tender, adoring reverence which 
 had always found place in his love. " How dare I 
 profane her, even in thought, with my passion and 
 suffering ! " 
 
 He seemed to leave earthly pain, with other earthly 
 feelings, behind him, as he came within the influence 
 of this absolute purity. Some of its eternal calm 
 passed into his nature, stilling the throbbihgs of his 
 sore heart, and lifting him, for the time, above his
 
 174 REGINALD ARCHER. 
 
 personal sorrow, into a region where it did not ven- 
 ture to intrude. A different man stood before her 
 from the one who had entered the room but a few 
 seconds- before. He did not speak to her : he did not 
 feel worthy to break in upon the thought and feeling 
 which were in her face. 
 
 " Reginald," he said quietly after a moment or 
 two, " if you are ready, we will go." 
 
 " Yes," returned the other : " we shall be just in 
 tune." 
 
 And the whole party entered the carriages, and 
 drove rapidly to the not-distant church. 
 
 As he sat opposite her during that brief drive, 
 Tom disturbed Christie by no word; but he gazed 
 at her with that hungry despair with which we watch 
 those we love when death is coming nearer and 
 nearer each moment to take them from us. We 
 make no vain struggle ; but our awful dumb protest 
 speaks in that last, long look. 
 
 And she ? 
 
 Rapt in a dream of tender love and holy aspira- 
 tion, she was as unconscious of his agony as though 
 she had been indeed one of those angels to whom he 
 had likened her. 
 
 Arriving, alighting, and forming the bridal proces- 
 sion, they left the glowing sunlight without, and 
 entered the shaded aisle of the dim old church.
 
 REGINALD ARCHER. 175 
 
 That strangely-mixed throng turned with bound- 
 less curiosity to see Reginald Archer's bride, the 
 girl of whose face, fortune, and family they had heard 
 so much. There were eyes among them which 
 looked even more earnestly at Reginald himself, 
 eyes which, had he been any other than the 
 man he was, he would not have cared to meet. It 
 would be hard to say how many in that assemblage 
 had loved him, or how many he had professed to 
 love. 
 
 In one of the front pews sat a woman, who, though 
 belonging to neither class, turned, and watched with 
 curious intentness the magnificent man and lovely 
 girl approaching her, a woman who was destined to 
 influence the life of one and the death of the other. 
 One of Marian Lester's few beauties was a rather 
 pretty little hand, which she was then, as always, 
 conspicuously airing. But beyond a dull envy and 
 ill will towards both, and a natural malice, and love 
 of mischief, she had as little reason as they to sup- 
 pose that her hand was to be the instrument to bring 
 down retribution upon Reginald Archer's stately head. 
 Yet thus it was to be. 
 
 " A pretty fool, and a mere child ! I knew how it 
 would be," she whispered, with a hard, cackling 
 little laugh to the lady next her, handsome Mrs. 
 Conrad, her bosom-friend, in whom, the worst form of
 
 176 REGINALD ARCHER. 
 
 fashionable life had not burnt out a constitutional, 
 slipshod good nature. " Just Reginald Archer's won- 
 derful good luck and good sense, to get a great 
 fortune, and no one with it who will be able to inter- 
 fere with him ! " 
 
 " Yes," returned the other gayly : " that mite will 
 have a very small chance if she should attempt to set 
 up any opposition to him, or try to control him. A 
 good many women have made that effort, and failed," 
 she added, speaking a general truth, but not with- 
 out some personal reference to her dear friend at 
 her side, a kindly attention which the other laid 
 by for future repayment, as she always did such 
 things. 
 
 Each hit the other when she could without injury 
 to their outward alliance, which was built upon the 
 firm foundation o"f mutual convenience and advan- 
 tage. Having thrown her little stone, and struck the 
 mark, Mrs. Conrad felt a comfortable elation of 
 spirits, though she knew that her missive would 
 shortly be sent back to her. But they had played 
 this game too long for either to fear mortal wounds. 
 
 " She'll look at her brilliant match somewhat dif- 
 ferently six months from now, unless she has a great 
 deal more sense than I give her credit for," Mrs. 
 Lester coolly remarked, ignoring for the present her 
 friend's side-stroke.
 
 REGINALD ARCHER. 177 
 
 " She is a pretty woman," Mrs. Conrad exclaimed 
 as Christie passed by her to the foot of the altar ; 
 "and Reginald Archer certainly is the handsomest 
 man that ever lived," she added enthusiastically as 
 he went forward and took his place at the girl's 
 side. 
 
 As Tom passed up the church with Christie on 
 his arm, he rigidly held back, as though it had been 
 a physical foe, his intense consciousness of what 
 this ceremony might have meant to him under other 
 circumstances, of the place he might have held 
 in this bridal train. Aware, to his finest fibre, 
 of all her beauty, of the sweep of her garments 
 against him, of the touch of her hand upon his arm, 
 he walked on to the altar, and there gave place to 
 his brother. 
 
 The organ, which had pealed out its joyous wed- 
 ding-march at their entrance, ceased its music, and 
 the glad sounds died away. There came the mo- 
 mentary hush of expectation over the whole audience 
 and edifice ; and then the clergyman's voice rose 
 sonorously above the stillness : 
 
 " Dearly beloved, we are gathered together here, 
 in the sight of God and in the face of this company, 
 to join together this man and this woman in holy 
 matrimony ; which is commended by St. Paul to be 
 honorable among all men, and therefore is not by 
 
 8*
 
 178 REGINALD ARCHER. 
 
 any to be entered into unadvisedly or lightly, but 
 reverently, discreetly, advisedly, soberly, and in the 
 fear of God. Into this holy estate these two per- 
 sons present come now to be joined. If any man 
 can show just cause why they may not lawfully be 
 joined together, let him speak now, or else here- 
 after forever hold his peace." 
 
 " The face of this company " was very curious to 
 contemplate as it leaned forward in eager interest. 
 The dreadful satire of those ceremonial words, in 
 this case, was clear to numbers of those spectators ; 
 and smile, sneer, sorrow, and savage anger, passed like 
 a wave over that sea of countenances. 
 
 In the momentary pause which followed that 
 appeal to any man to show just cause of impediment, 
 how many beating hearts under dumb lips throbbed 
 fearful protest ! how many asserted their claim upon 
 " this man " to be stronger and truer in the sight of 
 God and Nature than that of the woman at his side ! 
 But the Prayer-Book, perhaps discreetly, restricts its 
 demands to the masculine sex, and does not ask the 
 testimony or the opinion of women. 
 
 The service went on, undisturbed by any sound, 
 let the unspoken emotion be what it might. 
 
 Before the awful charge, calling upon them to 
 "answer as at the dreadful day of judgment, when 
 the secret of all hearts shall be disclosed," Reginald
 
 REGINALD ARCHER. 179 
 
 Archer's steady nerves and empty emotional nature 
 quailed as little as did the pure, devout one beside 
 him. Then each soul took upon it that holiest vow 
 of perfect love and constancy, a vow which was 
 to bear so lightly upon one, and with such terrible 
 weight upon the other. 
 
 " Who giveth this woman to be married to this 
 man ? " the minister's voice demanded. And Tom 
 Archer performed his part of giving away, instead of 
 taking to himself, the woman he loved then and for- 
 ever. He scarcely heard the rest of the ceremony ; 
 until, the benediction over, Reginald and Christie 
 Archer arose man and wife. Then he, with the 
 bridal party, passed rapidly out of the church into 
 the carriages, and thus home. 
 
 The wedding-party and the few invited guests 
 were in such gay spirits, that the breakfast passed 
 quickly off in a little whirl of excitement. Tom had 
 not much to say or do beyond a quiet general direc- 
 tion of the affair. 
 
 " If the whole thing were but over ! if they would 
 only go, and leave me in peace ! " was his one senti- 
 ment ; and finally he had his wish. 
 
 In order to reach the train, which left the city at 
 an early hour in the afternoon, they were obliged to 
 cut short both their merry-making and their farewells. 
 
 Christie, in her pretty travelling-dress, was no
 
 180 REGINALD ARCHER. 
 
 longer the separated, almost mystical being she had 
 seemed in her white wedding-garments: she was 
 again the sweet, lovable woman, whom a man might 
 long to take to his heart and to his arms. As such, 
 Tom did not dare to trust himself to give her the 
 affectionate farewell the others were bestowing upon 
 her, and receiving in return. He was, apparently 
 by chance, a little out of the way whenever it would 
 have been his turn to bid her adieu. He seemed en- 
 grossed in giving orders for their comfort and con- 
 venience. She had entered the carriage, and Regi- 
 nald was about to follow, before she noticed the 
 omission. 
 
 " Good-by, dear Tom ! " she exclaimed eagerly, 
 and put out her hand through the window. 
 
 " GooU-by ! " he responded pleasantly, and held her 
 palm for a second, but without leaning forward to 
 kiss her, as she had intended, and as he might easily 
 have done. 
 
 Again, in the height of her joy and gayety, Christie 
 felt that curious little sense of repulse ; but even the 
 memory was swallowed up, a moment after, in the 
 perfection of her happiness. Reginald saw the whole 
 scene, and, with his foot upon the carriage-step, 
 could not resist the temptation to turn back for a 
 final word with his brother. The man's pluck, self- 
 contiol, and rigid sense of right, had an absolute fas-
 
 REGINALD ARCHER. 181 
 
 cination for Reginald, from which he could scarcely 
 tear himself away. 
 
 " Tom," he said, half under his breath, and with- 
 out the slightest preface, "you believe in a moral 
 arithmetic. When all this is balanced, somewhere 
 and at some tune, your account may show rather 
 differently than at present." 
 
 " Good-by ! " Tom answered doggedly, not even 
 looking up at him. He wanted none of this man's 
 condolence, sympathy, or comprehension. He did 
 not wish even to touch his hand : he revolted from 
 him soul and body. All he asked was, that the 
 other should take himself away where he would 
 never be called upon to see or speak to him again. 
 
 " Farewell ! " returned Reginald pleasantly, under- 
 standing his brother's feeling, without in the least 
 degree resenting it; and in another moment the 
 carriage rolled off, and Tom re-entered his own 
 door. 
 
 Changing his dress hastily, and escaping from the 
 few lingering guests and the air of past festivities 
 which pervaded the house, he went down to his 
 place of business, and shut himself up in his pri- 
 vate counting-room. He did not appear again until 
 night. 
 
 He had been looking over his books, he said to the 
 clerk who came in at last to hint politely that he
 
 182 REGINALD ARCHER. 
 
 should like to close the warehouse and take his 
 departure. 
 
 He had spent those hours with ledgers open before 
 
 9 
 
 him; but how they had been really occupied, he 
 alone, if indeed he, could have told.
 
 CHAPTER XIV. 
 
 TOM had believed, that when the marriage was 
 over, and all evidence of it removed from his 
 sight, he should find life more endurable ; he should 
 even attain a certain rest and peace : but he discov- 
 ered that he had been mistaken. Up to this time, he 
 had had occupation for thought: he could at least 
 look forward to what he supposed would put a defi- 
 nite period to his pain. Now there stretched before 
 him an unlimited vista of dull, ceaseless, hopeless tor- 
 ture. The monotony and apparent endlessness of his 
 suffering made it absolutely intolerable. Looking 
 back upon these days in after-life, he sincerely won- 
 dered that he had not taken to hard drinking or to 
 opium-eating to deaden his pain ; or, indeed, that he 
 had not put an end to it and to himself by suicide. 
 With his terrible capacity for feeling and suffering, 
 he had need to be a brave man not to seek such 
 ready refuge : it required all his strong uprightness 
 to enable him to stand in his lot. 
 
 His desolation, his unutterable loneliness, seemed 
 
 183
 
 134 REGINALD ARCHER. 
 
 more than he could endure. It was the one great 
 effort and desire of his proud, sensitive character, 
 to cover his emotion ; and it would have been like 
 death to him to think that those around him recog- 
 nized and watched his struggle. And yet, with the 
 strange inconsistency of the human heart, it gave his 
 suffering its last exquisite touch to find that those 
 who professed to love him, whom he had spent his 
 life in serving, did not regard him sufficiently to be 
 conscious of his grief or his need of their succor. 
 
 Maria, noticing his worn appearance, asked him 
 affectionately, on one or two occasions, whether he 
 were ill; and, receiving a negative reply, said she 
 supposed it was the effect of the warm weather ; that 
 he ought to take take care of himself, and, above 
 all, leave town for a summer trip, as the rest of the 
 family intended to do. He answered, that business 
 would prevent him ; and the subject dropped. 
 
 He had been conscious for some time past that 
 Arnold hung about him, and followed his movements, 
 more like an affectionate dog than ever. He had 
 derived a vague sense of comfort from the fact and 
 from this unobtrusive companionship ; but that his 
 brother had the least comprehension of his situation 
 did not occur to him. That where Maria's strong 
 sense and womanly kindness had failed to apprehend 
 the truth, where Reginald's acuteness had merely
 
 REGINALD ARCHER. 185 
 
 shown him the outside facts of the case, this " divine 
 idiot," as his handsome brother had once called him, 
 should, by the subtile wisdom of love, enter into the 
 secret recesses of his heart, was what Tom little 
 expected or imagined: still less did he dream that 
 Arnold's unskilled hand would be the only one 
 found sufficiently delicate to touch his sore nature 
 without agonizing it ; that his brother alone would 
 know the comforting and strengthening he needed, 
 and bring them to him. 
 
 That awful uncertainty which steals over us from 
 time to time, whether, after all, virtue be more than 
 a name ; whether the worship of Mammon be not 
 wiser than the worship of God ; whether we are not 
 sacrificing all the real good of life to the merest 
 dream and idea, this deadliest of doubts had held 
 Tom in its cruel, paralyzing power for days past. 
 After all, might not his life and its whole principle 
 be a mistake and a delusion ? Might not Reginald be 
 the truly prudent man, and he the miserable fool who 
 was casting from him all that was really worth 
 possessing in existence? Why not give lip his 
 struggle with his lower nature, and get some good 
 out of this world, which was, perhaps, all he should 
 ever know? His striving to hold to his own stan- 
 dard, his self-denial and self - discipline, might be 
 sheer idiocy, for which shrewder men very properly
 
 186 REGINALD ARCHER. 
 
 laughed at and despised him. His life-long devotion 
 to another rule had only brought him to his present 
 lonely wretchedness: why not try the law of the 
 world, the flesh, and the Devil, and see how that 
 worked ? 
 
 He was not a romantic man ; he had no idea of 
 passing for a hero ; not the least intention of doing or 
 saying fine things, or putting them into well-sounding 
 sentences : but as he walked doggedly up the street, 
 with his head down and his hat half over his eyes, 
 bitterly arguing the case with himself, he was fight- 
 ing upon the most terrible of all battle-grounds, 
 that on which we contend with invisible forces ; that 
 on which souls, not bodies, are slain. 
 
 This conflict comes to the noblest and truest as 
 surely as to the feeble and degenerate ; and we learn 
 from it that virtue means literally manhood, the 
 power to fight, to struggle, and even to die, rather 
 than weakly and basely surrender our natures to 
 foes without and foes within. According to the 
 measure of our defeat or victory, we stand before 
 our consciences and our God : we know that we are 
 cowards and weaklings, or brave, true men and 
 women. There is no reversing this decision to our- 
 selves or to others : it stands fatally recorded against 
 us. 
 
 Tom Archer was a strong man, struggling with the
 
 REGINALD ARCHER. 187 
 
 subtlest of temptations as he walked on, through 
 the summer afternoon, through the streets in which 
 the hum of business was beginning to be hushed. 
 The surroundings were strangely incongruous for 
 such a grim closing-in with a man's inner self; but 
 the decisions of one's life have little regard for time 
 or place. The busy porters brushed against him as 
 they closed their warehouses ; draymen and clerks 
 nearly ran over him in their eagerness to get away 
 to their homes ; and merchants nodded to him as they 
 left their counting-rooms for more agreeable regions. 
 
 He was so absorbed in his own thoughts, that he 
 supposed it to be one of these latter who came 
 behind him and spoke. Looking wearily around, he 
 saw that it was his brother Arnold. 
 
 "It is well you were not walking very rapidly, 
 Tom," the other said, " or I could not have caught 
 up with you. I went down to the office to come 
 home with you : but they told me you had just gone ; 
 so I followed." And the long, awkward figure took 
 its place at his side. 
 
 " Thank you," answered Tom. " It was very kind 
 in you to think of it." And then, really unable to 
 carry on a conversation, he lapsed again into his own 
 thoughts. 
 
 Arnold hooked his brother's arm into his own, and 
 brought his thin legs to keep step with the other's
 
 188 REGINALD ARCHER. 
 
 steady pace. Thus they moved on in silence for 
 
 * 
 
 perhaps half an hour ; gradually leaving the crowded, 
 commercial parts of the city, and coming to the 
 broader, quieter streets nearer their home. But 
 Tom seemed as little disposed for conversation then 
 as before. 
 
 Arnold had from time to time been looking down 
 into his brother's face, in his near-sighted, half-blind 
 way, with a singular expression of countenance. 
 Presently he said quietly, though with a curious tone 
 in his voice, which arrested even his brother's wan- 
 dering attention, and brought back his far-distant 
 thoughts, 
 
 " Tom, I went to church with Maria on Sunday 
 morning." 
 
 " Did you ? " returned the other, still rather ab- 
 sently ; striving, as he always did, to interest himself 
 in what interested Arnold, but vaguely wondering 
 why his brother put such emphasis upon such a 
 trivial occurrence. 
 
 " The psalm for the day was that beautiful one 
 about a good man's steps being ordered by the Lord. 
 There was one verse which struck me as never be- 
 fore in my life ; and I have been thinking of it ever 
 since : ' Keep innocency, and take heed unto the 
 thing that is right ; for that shall bring a man peace 
 at last.' "
 
 REGINALD ARCHER. 189 
 
 Tom glanced quickly up at his brother. 
 
 The love, the high faith and earnestness, which 
 vibrated through the voice, were shining clear and 
 bright in the face usually so dreamy, doubtful, and 
 shadowy in expression. The glory and wisdom which 
 are not of this world were in those purblind eyes, 
 making them beautiful and benign ; the majesty of 
 eternal truth covered that gaunt, slouching figure, 
 ennobling it to strength and decision, to power and 
 dignity. It seemed to Tom as though some strong, 
 pure angel had entered that feeble form, and come 
 to his rescue. He stood still for a moment, and 
 gazed at Arnold, but without a word adequate to 
 express the feeling that rushed over him. 
 
 Then again the two walked on in silence. 
 
 There was a great lump in Tom's throat, which 
 kept him speechless. The unbearable weight of his 
 burden seemed lightened ; his sense of utter loneli- 
 ness and desolation passed away. There was at least 
 one being in the world who loved him enough to 
 comprehend him, and suffer with him; who suffi- 
 ciently shared his needs and nature to bring him ten- 
 derest, highest help in his sorest peril. The very 
 weakness of the hand gave it ability to soothe : the 
 lack of worldly skill in his comforter made it possible 
 to accept his comforting. 
 
 There are times when we learn that the feeble
 
 190 REGINALD ARCHER. 
 
 have their peculiar powers and privileges as surely 
 as the strong ; that there are places they may enter, 
 whose gates are barred against the able and successful 
 of this earth. We accept with infinite thankfulness 
 and melting hearts the companionship and sympathy 
 of the one class ; while we steel ourselves against the 
 other, as towards intolerable intrusion. We fear the 
 critical judgment and after-thought of strong-brained 
 persons, however kindly disposed. To most of us 
 there come moments when we absolutely require a 
 fool for a friend, and, in default of him, take to the 
 affection of dumb beasts. At that moment, this 
 " divine idiot " was, by his very worldly incompe- 
 tency, that which no other man alive could have 
 been to Tom. The elder man's gentle .consideration 
 and unselfish care for his brother were recompensed 
 then and there. 
 
 " If I have ever loved him, and tried to make his 
 life peaceful and happy, he has repaid me now a 
 thousand-fold," was Tom's thought, with a tender 
 glow at his frozen, sickened heart, as the two went 
 homeward through the- summer evening air ; was the 
 emotion that filled his .mind for weeks and months 
 that followed. 
 
 Neither by look nor word was further explanation 
 entered into between them ; and the subject, winch 
 was never really absent from the consciousness of
 
 REGINALD ARCHER. 191 
 
 either, was not again alluded to : but the bond and 
 comprehension were no less strong because tacit. 
 Honor and right required that the matter should 
 not be discussed, and that Tom's trouble should be 
 kept to himself, and fought out by himself. Christie 
 was now another man's wife, and must not be pro- 
 faned by any word of his, by any thought, if he 
 could prevent it : so between the two there re- 
 mained only a deep, tender silence. 
 
 They fell into constant association. It was cu- 
 rious how little they said, and yet what a sense 
 of companionship they supplied to each other. It 
 almost seemed that their previous relations were 
 reversed, and that it was Arnold who kept watch 
 and ward over his strong, resolute brother ; tending 
 him spiritually and physically with something be- 
 tween the devotion of a mother to her sick child, 
 and the unreasoning, unquestioning faithfulness of a 
 loving animal. His quiet, contented presence never 
 disturbed Tom, let him be ever so much occupied, 
 outwardly or inwardly. 
 
 " Don't I interrupt you sometimes, Tom ? I am 
 afraid I am often in your way," Arnold once peni- 
 tently and anxiously inquired. 
 
 " Dear boy, you are never in my way. It always 
 rests and comforts me to look at you," Tom an- 
 swered, laying his hand on the other's shoulder, with
 
 192 REGINALD ARCHER. 
 
 a tone and manner which set that matter at rest for 
 ever. 
 
 And thus, upheld by the weakest arm he had ever 
 himself strengthened, Tom lived through these dark, 
 weary days, until his tried nature grew somewhat 
 accustomed to the strain life had laid upon it, until 
 he learned endurance, if not resignation.
 
 CHAPTER XV. 
 
 /CHRISTIE'S honeymoon was over. She had re- 
 V_y turned from her long wedding-tour, and was 
 settled as the mistress of the beautiful home which 
 Reginald's taste and her means had provided. Noth- 
 ing had been omitted to render the house perfect ; all 
 that art could devise, culture suggest, and wealth 
 procure, was there ; and Reginald Archer presided 
 over it with quiet but supreme satisfaction. At 
 last, he had obtained unlimited command of money, 
 and a position and residence which he felt he occu- 
 pied with perfect grace. He knew that he and his 
 surroundings were in admirably artistic keeping, and 
 experienced the calm ease and comfort which that 
 consciousness engenders. 
 
 " The right man in the right place," he thought, 
 and felt that his real life had but just com- 
 menced. 
 
 The ennui of his honeymoon would have been al- 
 most insupportable but for the constant change of 
 scene and association, and the pleasant titillation of 
 
 9 193
 
 194 REGINALD ARCHER. 
 
 his vanity, caused by the impression his appearance 
 everywhere created. 
 
 His manner towards Christie was formed upon a 
 finely-graduated scale, from the lover he had neces- 
 sarily appeared,' to the cool, courteous, and absolutely 
 unrestrained husband he intended to be. The 
 change was so adroitly managed, that Christie, feel- 
 ing the effect in every fibre of her being, could 
 scarcely define or analyze the cause. It was like an 
 almost imperceptible but constant lowering of the 
 temperature, that deadened the warm springs of life 
 within her; it was like a nightmare stealing over 
 her, against whose invisible power she vainly and 
 vaguely struggled. Utterly ignorant of evil, of falsi- 
 ty, of the world and its tenets, of every thing but her 
 own pure nature, and necessarily judging all things 
 by it, she had to work through these barriers to a 
 recognition of facts which an experienced woman 
 would have seen and understood at a glance. She 
 had to discover society-life, and some of its worst 
 phases, as truly as Pascal discovered geometry for 
 himself, ages after it had been known to all the world. 
 The education of most persons, on this point, begins 
 at too early an age, and their teachers are too numer- 
 ous and skilful, to leave much room for the personal 
 finding-out of many things. Still, life comes to all 
 as an unsolved problem ; and to those who attempt it
 
 REGINALD ARCHER. 195 
 
 without rule, training, or tutelage, the solution is diffi- 
 cult and delayed. In this matter, Christie had liter- 
 ally to do her own work ; and circumstances and char- 
 acters around her held her painfully and ceaselessly 
 to the labor. 
 
 Col. Macalaster had bequeathed to his daugh- 
 ter, not merely his large fortune, but the shrewd 
 brain which had accumulated it ; above all, that ca- 
 pacity for original thought, that necessity to form 
 and act upon his own judgment, regardless of the 
 opinions of others, which had been the real cause 
 of his success. Like her father, Christie was com- 
 pelled to think for herself, to believe for herself; 
 to look at things with her own eyes, and weigh them 
 in her own balance. Hitherto an infant in experi- 
 ence, and living wholly in her large, passionate af- 
 fections, her intellect had had no food to stimulate 
 it, no opportunity to act. The brain like the soul 
 of the woman might as yet be called unborn ; but 
 the travail of both had begun. Even her delusions 
 had been essentially her own ; and her perceptions of 
 truth, when in the fulness of time they arrived, 
 would be her own also. 
 
 Her growing, sickening doubt of Reginald's love 
 for her did not at first affect her opinion of him : it 
 only filled her with infinite pain and sorrow. Her 
 fear that she could not be a fitting wife to her hero,
 
 196 REGINALD ARCHER. 
 
 could not satisfy a nature so lofty, so utterly beyond 
 her own, seemed realized. In the perfection of her 
 faith, nothing affected it ; and Reginald's interest in 
 every other woman with whom he came in contact 
 only filled her with sore-hearted shame at her inabil- 
 ity to be all and in all to him. 
 
 Reginald himself thought he acted extremely well ; 
 and in one point he did, setting an example to bet- 
 ter men. Never, then nor to the very end, did he 
 omit the smallest point of courtesy to his wife when 
 in her presence. Pride (which was his nearest ap- 
 proach to principle), taste, and the instinct of good 
 breeding, did not permit him to fail in this matter. 
 Mrs. Reginald Archer was, ex officio, a person to- 
 wards whom all outward ceremonies must be ful- 
 filled by himself and others : their omission towards 
 his wife was an insult to him. If with love, as with 
 the law, it were not the letter which killeth, and the 
 spirit which maketh alive, Christie would, apparent- 
 ly, have had little of which to complain. If one 
 could live on husks, if forms could feed a woman's 
 soul, then the fading-away of hope and light and 
 happiness in her nature would, up to this time, have 
 been causeless. 
 
 A look was gathering in her face which no happy 
 wife can wear. The difference between the child of 
 the past and the woman of the present was very
 
 REGINALD ARCHER. 197 
 
 curious to analyze, it was at once so small, and yet so 
 great. It seemed chiefly in her eyes. From them spoke 
 out the deep disappointment, the trouble and sorrow, 
 she kept otherwise within herself. Dark shadows 
 had come into their depths, and sudden changeful 
 lights upon their surface : their wonderful latent 
 power of expression was rousing into life, and giving 
 token of a nature capable of boundless emotion. No 
 one could now look into them, and make any mistake 
 as to her age ; could ever doubt her ability to suffer, 
 to love, and even to hate. She had not then learned 
 to govern the expression of her eyes ; would probably 
 never learn to do so completely : but her power of 
 repression in other ways was, considering her past 
 habits, nature, and circumstances, something amazing. 
 That wonderful heritage of outward self-control, 
 into the possession of which women come at the call 
 of pride, honor, or delicacy, Christie gained, almost 
 unconsciously, the moment she needed it. She held 
 her clasped hands^ as it were, over her throbbing 
 heart, to still its visible beatings. 
 
 She gave small evidence of her pain to any one, 
 to Reginald least of all. 
 
 To have shown him her heart, by word or look, 
 would have been like crying to him for mercy ; and 
 that she could not do. She could not ask his help 
 if he did not care sufficiently to see her need. She
 
 198 REGINALD ARCHER. 
 
 could go on looking up to him and loving him ; but 
 she could not sue for his love in return : there was a 
 deep, strong pride in the woman, which could not 
 stoop to that ; which made her strive to hide her pain 
 from him like a shame. 
 
 Yet Reginald saw her gradual awakening to the 
 truth, and, as far as was in him, comprehended 
 the effect clearly. He was well satisfied with the 
 result, and could not sufficiently congratulate him- 
 self and her upon what he called " her extreme 
 good sense " in quietly accepting the inevitable, and 
 settling down to the situation without any foolish 
 resistance. He was genuinely thankful to her for 
 sparing him certain scenes he had vaguely dreaded, 
 the form of discomfort he most disliked. 
 
 " It is a strong little face and a brave little spirit," 
 he thought, as he critically surveyed her with the 
 mental justice he did all things. " She has far more 
 force and intellect than I gave her credit for. She 
 needs time and experience to develop her; but I 
 should not be surprised if she turned out something 
 extraordinary. At any rate, it is a blessing that I 
 did not marry a little fool, who would have annoyed 
 me with complaints and tears." 
 
 And Reginald sung a hymn of rejoicing to himself 
 at the prospect of having his matrimonial paths made 
 so smooth, and was more punctiliously courteous to
 
 REGINALD ARCHER. 199 
 
 Christie than ever ; that is, when he was with her, 
 when he was not being more than courteous to some 
 one else. 
 
 But deeper shadows than ever come into a pure 
 sorrow were stealing into Christie's sky even before 
 their return ; before they were settled in their new 
 home-life. 
 
 The faint disturbance of a false faith is the be- 
 ginning of the end. When the tide of righteous 
 distrust is kept back by merely artificial' barriers, 
 it is, after the first crumbling, only a question of 
 time as to when the sea of doubt will rush in. 
 Even a faith which has a foundation is like a 
 magic spell, every thing or nothing, and, once 
 injured, can never regain its pristine perfection. In 
 losing her belief in Reginald's love for her, she 
 had lost more than that : she had parted forever 
 with her capacity for blind belief in any thing.. 
 Doubt had entered in as a slave where he would 
 soon reign as a sovereign. Having once been fear- 
 fully mistaken, and, as she supposed, self-deluded, in 
 giving credence to that which seemed as secure as 
 her own identity, she was forced to suspect and 
 examine every other belief she possessed. "Life's 
 necessary scepticism (in the original sense of the 
 word) had been born within her, with what agony 
 and struggle, she alone knew; and henceforth she
 
 200 REGINALD ARCHER. 
 
 must look at all things with the eyes and the 
 reason God had given her. If what had seemed 
 granite rock under her feet had given way, might 
 not any thing else in heaven or earth prove an illu- 
 sion ? Her day of fond delusions was over : she was 
 compelled to give her intellect, as well as her heart, 
 a place in her existence. 
 
 She had no longer the power to accept blindly even 
 the character of the man she adored, and for whom 
 she would gladly have died. In spite of herself, 
 without realizing the truth concerning him for either 
 past or present, she vaguely grew to feel that the 
 person she had married was not the person she sup- 
 posed him to be. Actual, personal sin was to her so 
 horrible a thing, that she did not dream of imputing 
 it to him ; she would as soon have connected him 
 with any crime against the law of the land : but, shut 
 it out as she might, the knowledge would steal in 
 upon her that their standards of right and wrong 
 differed widely, if not fatally. She held with a death- 
 grasp to her old boundless loyalty and admiration; 
 but the power of truth baffled her efforts. As it 
 were, she had erected a noble temple within her 
 heart fo his homage : she still maintained the splendid 
 edifice ; she chanted the service, and kept the sacred 
 fire burning, with more than devoted care ; but the 
 whole structure was undermined to its fall, though 
 she was unconscious of the fact.
 
 REGINALD ARCHER. 201 
 
 Without being aware of it, Reginald, like all men, 
 displayed his real character in every word, look, and 
 act, to eyes keen and clear enough for the seeing. 
 The change was not in him, but in Christie's mental 
 vision, which was surely but slowly developing to its 
 native power and acuteness. The torture of the pro- 
 cess might be measured by her passionate resistance 
 to it. Reginald did not willingly assist her clear- 
 sightedness. He no longer affected the devotion of a 
 lover; but he preserved the silence, the decent re- 
 spect, which he always maintained before what are 
 called good women. Reginald Archer was a thorough- 
 ly bad man ; but he was also a thoroughly well-bred 
 one. He would calmly ruin a woman for time and 
 eternity ; but he was incapable of offering one what 
 he would have considered an unnecessary insult. He 
 would no more have spoken to Christie of any of the 
 women with whom he had sinned than he would 
 have introduced them to her personally ; he would no 
 more have alluded to one of them in her presence 
 than he would have struck her full in the face ; hold- 
 ing one act as possible in a gentleman as the other. 
 In the distant days, when that which was now the 
 dreadful future had become the dreadful past, and 
 Christie looked back upon her married life as upon 
 a frightful dream, at least she had not this insult to 
 remember forever. 
 
 9*
 
 202 REGINALD ARCHER. 
 
 In this early time, she had only that impalpable some- 
 thing which seems to exhale from the whole nature 
 of a person to guide her newly-awakened perception ; 
 but it was sufficient to bring her far nearer the truth 
 than she knew or comprehended. 
 
 This was the state of feeling and of mind in which, 
 after two months of travel, she returned to the city. 
 No event had happened that she could define, no mis- 
 fortune that she could explain, no grievance that she 
 could put into words ; yet to her all life was changed, 
 and the merry girl who had left her friends upon that 
 bright bridal morning came back to them no more. 
 In her place they found an indefinably altered woman, 
 with whom they had a singular consciousness of mak- 
 ing a new acquaintance.
 
 CHAPTER XVI. 
 
 " rT^OM," said Maria slowly and hesitatingly, and 
 JL then sat silently looking at him for a moment. 
 It was the morning after Reginald's return : she 
 had been at his house to welcome him upon his arri- 
 val, and to make it seem to Christie really like com- 
 ing home. She had dined and spent the evening 
 with them ; and was now, at the breakfast-table, giv- 
 ing Tom an account of every thing connected with 
 her visit. She had told with spirit all that had been 
 said and done, adding the many particulars interest- 
 ing to herself and to her brother. 
 
 But there was one point upon which she had not 
 touched, and upon which he could not question her. 
 Had Christie brought back her pure, happy heart, 
 her blissful blindness? If the truth had begun to 
 break upon her, she would hardly allow the evidence 
 of it to be perceptible even to Maria's kind eyes. 
 Still he waited, he scarcely knew for what, for some 
 chance word or information from which he could 
 draw his own conclusions. The others had left the 
 
 203
 
 204 REGINALD ARCHER. 
 
 table ; but he sat "lingering over his breakfast, though 
 it was past his usual hour for going down to his 
 office. 
 
 " Tom," she said again ; and something in the tone 
 and the perplexed expression in her face forewarned 
 him that what he desired was coming. 
 
 He looked up quickly at her. 
 
 " Perhaps it is merely my imagination, and perhaps 
 it may not strike you in the same light when you see 
 her; but Christie seems to me to be changed." 
 
 " In what way ? " he asked, a catch in his breath 
 making his sentence short. 
 
 " My God ! " he thought, " has it come so soon ? 
 And what is it ? Is it only sorrow, the beginning of 
 a long heart-breaking ? or has the poison of his moral 
 nature contaminated her already ? " 
 
 "I hardly know how to explain it to you," Maria 
 went on doubtfully. " She was quicker and brighter 
 than ever ; talked more and better than I ever knew 
 her to do : yet she did not seem as really gay as she 
 used to at this table. I could not help thinking she 
 was under a kind of constraint, for which I could see 
 no reason," she continued, looking earnestly at her 
 brother ; for she truly loved the girl, and had like- 
 wise boundless faith in Tom's perception, and powers 
 of succor. " Besides, she seemed to have gained a 
 hard side to her character."
 
 REGINALD ARCHER. 205 
 
 " Most things have a hard side, which are not 
 analogous to mush," he answered, with an irritation 
 which was really soreness of heart. He could not 
 bear criticism upon her, let his own judgment be 
 what it might. 
 
 "But you know she used always to think that 
 every one acted from the highest motives ; and last 
 night, from several things she said, I could not help 
 believing that she had changed that opinion. Then 
 she isn't half as affectionate as she used to be ; and, 
 when I kissed her several times at parting, she gave 
 me a curious, questioning little look, which I could 
 not help thinking of all the way home. I can't bear 
 to believe that Christie is growing cold and worldly 
 already; but it really seems so," this good, kind 
 woman went on, with the injustice of ignorance. 
 
 " Tom," she exclaimed a second after, speaking 
 hurriedly, and as though ashamed to give voice to her 
 doubt, " there is no use in our trying to conceal from 
 each other that Reginald is a very selfish man. Do 
 you think it possible that he could have ill treated 
 her, or made her unhappy ? " 
 
 " If you mean," bitterly exclaimed Tom, who had 
 been sitting looking straight before him, with his 
 mouth held firmly shut, " that he has either struck 
 her or starved her, I can answer, No. Further than 
 that I can't guarantee. But whatever may be the
 
 206 REGINALD ARCHER. 
 
 matter, Maria," he added, " you and I can do noth- 
 ing, and ought to say nothing." And he rose wearily, 
 and went off to the daily treadmill of his work, 
 which at least afforded the relief of partial occupa- 
 tion of his thoughts. 
 
 But the effect of Maria's words went with him. 
 The pain and doubt they had re-awakened were busy 
 at his heart as he sat in his counting-room, bending 
 down his faculties to important business-letters and 
 mercantile plans. His chief clerk, who came in to 
 bring him the latest gold-quotations and to receive 
 Ins orders concerning certain importations, listened 
 with admiration to the clear instructions and shrewd 
 reasons Tom gave him for acting in some cases, and 
 refraining in others. 
 
 "What a cool, steady, money -making fellow 
 he is ! " thought the man, looking enthusiastically at 
 the head of the house ; " and what a splendid capaci- 
 ty he has for knowing his own mind, and holding to 
 it ! I suppose he has no nerves, and nothing disturbs 
 him. He's like steel, he's so keen and hard and 
 true," he added, with that loyalty and absolute 
 confidence which Tom inspired in all his subor- 
 dinates. 
 
 To have suspected his chief of heartache, of weary 
 doubt of himself and others, would have struck him 
 as a magnificent joke.
 
 REGINALD ARCHER. 207 
 
 " He isn't very sentimental, to be sure ; and he can 
 speak pretty sharply when there's any shirking around 
 him : but give him time, and he will be worth his 
 millions ; and that's what he cares most for, I sup- 
 pose," was the man's somewhat natural thought as 
 he went off to execute his orders ; and Tom turned 
 again to his writing-desk. 
 
 It was noon before he was again interrupted. 
 
 The door opened, and Reginald entered, just as he 
 had done at about that hour for nearly every day in 
 the past five years. 
 
 " How do you do, Tom ? " he asked in his most 
 charming and charmed manner. " I am really de- 
 lighted to see you ! " and he spoke the exact truth. 
 
 " I am very well," answered Tom quietly, neither 
 rising, nor offering his hand, nor welcoming his 
 brother in any way. He had no pleasure in seeing 
 him there ; and he would make no pretence of it. 
 
 Reginald sank back into his usual seat, which he 
 had long since ascertained to be the most agreeable 
 in the room, and by his peculiar faculty looked 
 more at his ease under these somewhat repressing 
 "circumstances than any one else could have done 
 under the most favorable surroundings. 
 
 " My dear boy," he said airily, " I spare you the 
 trouble of likening me to the bad shilling in the 
 proverb, which was sure to come back; though
 
 208 REGINALD ARCHER. 
 
 the comparison is so in keeping with the general 
 monetary atmosphere of this place, that I cannot 
 help making it. I am perfectly aware that you had 
 much rather I had staid away ; but I have made my 
 first visit in town to you, because I really wanted 
 to see you. The fact is, old boy, I have missed you, 
 as I always do." 
 . Tom looked at his brother. 
 
 The other's liking for him, and persistent clinging 
 to him, were, perhaps, nothing more than refined self- 
 ishness, and love of entertainment ; but, so far as they 
 went, they were certainly genuine : and that strange 
 tie of blood, which lasts so long, and bears unbroken 
 so many strains, faintly stirred again at Tom's heart. 
 Let him be what he might, the man was his brother : 
 he could not utterly divorce himself from him : he 
 must, in a certain degree, accept him, as he did the 
 rest of his lot in life. If he could not distract him 
 from some of his evil purposes, at least he might be 
 able to ward off from innocent heads the conse- 
 quences of the sin and sorrow he foresaw. If he 
 utterly threw him off, as his instinct dictated ; if he 
 shut his doors against him to save himself from the 
 pain and disgust caused even by his presence, might 
 he not repent it in after-days ? Above all, if the time 
 ever came for him to fulfil his promise to Christie, 
 might he not be putting it out of his power to
 
 REGINALD ARCHER. 209 
 
 redeem his pledge ? He would not disguise or com- 
 promise any honest opinion, there or thereafter: 
 but he would control the evidence of his personal 
 revolting ; he would try to put aside his individual 
 share in the situation, and let the outward bond of 
 their relationship and association remain intact. He 
 thought, or rather felt, all this out in the moment he 
 sat silently gazing at his brother. 
 
 Reginald caught the change in Tom's eyes, and, 
 interpreting it, acted upon it instantly. 
 
 " I came in this morning to ask a special favor of 
 you, Tom," he said, " not any of the old kind," 
 he exclaimed a second after, with a laugh, as his own 
 form of expression struck him. " It really gives me 
 a delightfully novel sensation.to come into this room 
 without breaking the tenth commandment, without 
 coveting my neighbor's goods iri the shape of checks 
 and bank-notes." 
 
 As Reginald mentioned the tenth commandment, 
 there flashed upon both men a consciousness of how 
 often one of them broke it outside of that apartment 
 by coveting his neighbor's wife, and what a tremen- 
 dous temptation was now upon the other to do like- 
 wise. But neither cared to show his own thought, 
 nor to recognize that of the other ; and Reginald con- 
 tinued, without change in voice or manner, to give 
 proof of what was in his mind.
 
 210 REGINALD ARCHER. 
 
 " I want you to come and dine with me to- 
 morrow." 
 
 Tom's refusal was written so plainly in his face, 
 that his brother answered it without giving him a 
 chance to put it into words. 9 
 
 " Oh ! you must come ; the family honor demands it," 
 he exclaimed, touching a string which he knew would 
 respond. " It is to be a little house-warming for our 
 intimate friends ; and it would be absolutely disrepu- 
 table for the head of the family to be absent. I can't 
 let you off on my own account, or yours either." 
 
 Had it been any other man whom he wished to 
 secure for his own purposes, and whom he knew to 
 have a tenderness for his wife, he would have coolly 
 used her name and influence to gain him ; but he 
 understood his brother far too well to bring Christie 
 into the discussion. 
 
 Yet it was the thought of her, though not in the 
 way Reginald would have supposed, which was really 
 drawing, almost compelling, Tom to give an affirmative 
 answer. Maria's words in the morning were upon 
 him again in their full force. 
 
 " I must see for myself how much there was in 
 them. I cannot bear the suspense of doubting her ; 
 and, if the worst is coming, I had better know it, and 
 face it beforehand. I shall probably do no more than 
 speak to her : but, if I can watch her for a little
 
 REGINALD ARCHER. 211 
 
 while, I think I can get at the truth ; I can tell 
 whether she is beginning to lower to his level." 
 
 His brother's argument as to what was decorous 
 for the family respectability certainly had its weight ; 
 but it was a far deeper feeling which made him give 
 a partial promise to be present. 
 
 " You know I am not much of a society-man, and 
 I had much rather be left out, Reginald," he de- 
 murred. 
 
 " But you can't be left out ; because who would 
 entertain me ? " the other answered, giving his real 
 reason ; " or play god-father to our first-born party ? " 
 he added, neatly bringing in a somewhat less selfish 
 plea, and transferring the argument to safer grounds. 
 
 "Well, I will think about it," said Tom. But 
 Reginald felt that he had won the day. 
 
 " You*might as well come to it at once ; for I give 
 you fair warning that I will not let you off." 
 
 And then, elated by having gained his wish and a 
 difficult victory, he expended his entire force of fasci- 
 nation upon his brother for a full hour ; enjoying 
 himself inexpressibly, and literally compelling the 
 other to share his pleasure in some degree. 
 
 The old sorrowful, hopeless, generous admiration 
 came over Tom as he looked and listened ; softened 
 his heart, and almost stayed his judgment for the 
 moment.
 
 212 REGINALD ARCHER. 
 
 " Good-by ! " said Reginald at last ; and, with an 
 imperceptible glance at his brother's face to see if it 
 would be safe to do so, he put out his hand to him. 
 
 Tom hesitated visibly ; and then, with a weary 
 sense that it was useless for him to struggle against 
 the tie which connected them, took the other's palm 
 in friendly farewell, as he had supposed he should 
 never do again. And Reginald departed radiant with 
 satisfaction. 
 
 " We are all to dine with Reginald to-morrow, you 
 know," Maria said as they sat round the dinner- 
 table. 
 
 " He called at my counting-room and invited me 
 this morning," was Tom's inconclusive reply. 
 
 " He sent me a special invitation," remarked Ar- 
 nold; "but I hardly think I shall go." And, as he 
 spoke, he seemed to have more than his usual*difficulty 
 in disposing of his long limbs. " Are you going, 
 Tom ? " he asked a little wistfully. 
 
 " Yes, and I am going to take you with me ; for you 
 will certainly enjoy yourself after you get there," 
 Tom answered pleasantly. 
 
 And thus it was that the next night saw the whole 
 party, with Lloyd Truxton added as Ellen's escort, 
 enter Reginald's house. They were rather late, and 
 the company had assembled. Torn had scarcely more 
 than a moment, before the announcement of dinner,
 
 REGINALD ARCHER. 213 
 
 in which to make his salutations to Christie and his 
 swift observation of her. 
 
 She was standing at the head of the room, looking 
 fair and lovely . in her bright evening-dress, from 
 which, at Reginald's express desire, all signs of 
 mourning had been discarded. She was smilingly 
 receiving her friends, and gayly talking to those 
 around her ; but Tom had not reached her before he 
 saw and realized the change of which Maria had 
 spoken. 
 
 " She looks two inches taller and five years older 
 than she did when she went away," he thought in 
 astonishment, " and has more society air and style 
 than I supposed she would ever possess." 
 
 Reginald's prophecy, that Christie would become a 
 very stylish woman, was even then being fulfilled: 
 indeed, he had diligently striven during his short 
 married life to bring about that result. 
 
 Tom had entered the room with a heavy beating at 
 his heart, which made him faint and sick. He had 
 prepared himself for the meeting : but it was no light 
 effort which enabled him to go up that room with the 
 composure of a well-bred gentleman ; to keep his tone 
 and look merely that of pleasant, appropriate cordi- 
 ality. The alteration in her, however, came to his aid. 
 It was possible to greet conventionally the somewhat 
 conventional lady who stood smiling before him, as
 
 214 REGINALD ARCHER. 
 
 she had done before a dozen others ; whose poise was 
 such as scarcely to permit its absence in any one else. 
 
 Again, with the curious adaptability of women, this 
 inexperienced girl filled an unaccustomed rdle with 
 perfect ease and fitness. This was hardly his Christie, 
 the loving, childlike creature, the thought of whom 
 had never left his waking and scarcely his sleeping 
 moments since their parting ; and he found it within 
 his power to address her with perfect steadiness. 
 
 "I am very glad to welcome you home, Christie," 
 he said as he held her hand for a moment. 
 
 "And I. am very glad to be welcomed," she an- 
 swered, with a smile she might have given any one ; 
 and then he stood aside to allow some one else to 
 speak to her. 
 
 He had no time to study her face more closely, for 
 dinner was announced ; and he found that Reginald 
 had secured him at his end of the table, with the 
 next best talker within speaking-distance. The meal 
 was an affair of state, and occupied hours ; and sus- 
 taining his part in the conversation, and apparently 
 engrossed in the topics broached, Tom found much 
 time and opportunity for quiet observation of the 
 fair young face presiding at the other end of the 
 table. She was brightly entertaining those near her ; 
 and he watched the varied expressions which passed 
 over her countenance. But whether it were made
 
 REGINALD ARCHER. 215 
 
 brilliant by smiles, or whether it sank suddenly and 
 apparently unconsciously into a strange, weary grav- 
 ity, from which it emerged just as abruptly, there 
 was always in it that curious new something which 
 it had acquired since their parting, something 
 which the face of old could never have expressed, 
 which the heart of old could never have experi- 
 enced. It was no less plain through, gay ety of lip, 
 and glitter of eye ; it was no more clear when pre- 
 occupied blankness stood in their place. 
 
 " She has acquired the knowledge of good and 
 evil ; but is it bitter, or sweet, to her ? " was the ques- 
 tion which kept rising in his mind. " Her eyes are 
 as bright and clear as ever ; but they are not as frank 
 as they used to be. They have acquired the power 
 to look, yet refuse to be looked into : she has learned 
 merely to see, instead of thinking, feeling, and speak- 
 ing with them, as she once did. She has gained the 
 ability to keep back part of the price ; but what is it 
 she is guarding so carefully ? Is it bitter disappoint- 
 ment that is already graven into her face ? By this 
 time, she must know something of Reginald's real 
 nature, however little she may know of his life ; and 
 that strange change in her face looks to me like the 
 dawning knowledge that there is no love on his side, 
 and, worse still, that there can be no respect on hers 
 I wonder how much she knows of the truth."
 
 216 REGINALD ARCHER. 
 
 And thinking of what that truth was, and gazing 
 at the woman he loved, with its shadow resting upon 
 her even then, his old loathing for his brother rushed 
 over him with such force, that the veiy food upon his 
 lips sickened him. 
 
 " I despise myself for coming here and hobnobbing 
 with him, for eating his salt, knowing what I know, 
 and thinking what I think." 
 
 " Tom, you must be having a ' revery of a bache- 
 lor,' laughed his opposite neighbor, having previously 
 spoken to him without gaining an answer. 
 
 " Not at all," said Tom, smiling, and joining in the 
 general conversation. 
 
 But his thoughts flowed on in their previous chan- 
 nel, the deep undercurrent holding its own beneath 
 the tide of light talk. 
 
 " Starved and hungry-hearted already I And is 
 she trying to satisfy her nature by tasting the impure 
 food Reginald lives on ? He will never stop her ; as 
 indeed, in common justice, he has no right to do, 
 being what he is. But* is she beginning to think 
 that it is better and happier and wiser to make the 
 best of her bad bargain by folio whig his example, 
 and accepting his standard ? " 
 
 At that moment, with this horrible dread con- 
 tracting his heart, Tom Archer, the shrewd, calcu- 
 lating, unromantic trader of the shrewd, calculating,
 
 REGINALD ARCHER. 217 
 
 unromantic nineteenth century, realized what the old 
 Roman must have felt when he slew with his own 
 hand the being he loved best, rather than let her live 
 dishonored. 
 
 " Better in her grave, better that those bridal 
 flowers should be her burial wreath, than that a day 
 which may be coming should ever dawn," he thought 
 literally and sincerely. " She has passed the critical 
 turning in her moral life ; but has she taken the 
 upward, or the downward road ? " And he could 
 give no certain answer. 
 
 The doubt haunted him like an evil spirit, stand- 
 ing between his inward thought and his conscious- 
 ness of the outward world, whispering suspicions 
 between his own careless sentences and quick retorts, 
 and ceaselessly repeating his sad forebodings like the 
 sorrowful refrain of a gay song. 
 
 Tom had noticed at the first moment that Christie 
 wore her diamond cross at her white throat. 
 
 " I wonder if she wears it because it happens to 
 be costly and becoming, or whether it still has any of 
 the associations I tried to connect with it ? " he ques- 
 tioned. " If I could find out that, it would give me 
 the clew I want." 
 
 But divided by the length of that splendid table, 
 with its burden of fruits and flowers, its glittering 
 
 glass and shining silver, and its circle of gay guests, 
 10
 
 218 REGINALD ARCHER. 
 
 he saw little chance to gain his object, even to speak 
 light words to her, far less serious ones. It seemed 
 to him like a dreadful fantasy or demon-dance to see 
 the whole gorgeous effect ; to hear the sweet laughter 
 and merry words, and to know what they covered. 
 Reginald slightly flushed with wine, looking like 
 a radiant demi-god, and talking in the tones of an 
 enchanter, yet being what he was, with such a past 
 at his back ; Christie shining like a star, and beam- 
 ing as brightly, but with a present crushing her 
 nature, and a future darkly gathering in the distance ; 
 himself with his heart bleeding, and his brain tor- 
 turing itself with doubts and fears, yet talking as 
 though life were an endless, merry feast, sending out 
 quick sentences which seemed to scintillate with their 
 own keen brilliancy, the whole scene gave him 
 an impulse to cry out wildly, as though that might 
 break some terrible spell which was upon them. 
 
 " Are we all acting our parts in some mad comedy ? 
 and have we all brought our private demons with us 
 to torture us? " he thought as he glanced round him 
 with a sense of unreality ; persons and things becom- 
 ing almost phantasmagorial before his eyes. 
 
 There are times, when, compelled to maintain an 
 inner and outer character, to feel and act in direct 
 contradiction, our conviction of our own identity 
 wavers. We have a curious sense of duality; and
 
 REGINALD ARCHER. 219 
 
 this slight unsettling of the fundamental point, that 
 we are unchangeably ourselves, gives the most singu- 
 lar feeling of insecurity and incertitude with regard 
 to all else. We fall into a state in which strange 
 fancies and imaginations take hold upon us with a 
 power, which, in ordinary moments, would seem ab- 
 surd. Our customary natures fail to influence us ; 
 and we are revelations to ourselves of our possibili- 
 ties of vagary. Practical, clear-headed Tom Archer 
 was the last man to be susceptible to such fantasies ; 
 but the sensation was none the less strongly upon 
 him : and when, at last, the dinner was over, and he 
 came out into the drawing-room, it was with a feel- 
 ing of awakening from a bad dream. 
 
 It was late ; and, to Tom's great relief, the com- 
 pany soon departed. One by one they left, until 
 only the family remained. 
 
 Reginald, who had been uncommonly gracious to 
 Arnold that evening, partly from whim, and partly 
 because he knew it would please Tom, had taken 
 him, with Lloyd Truxton, to an adjoining room, to 
 show him a new picture. Ellen and Maria had gone 
 up stairs to put on their wrappings ; and thus Tom and 
 Christie were left momentarily alone. He was stand- 
 ing in the cool, softly-lighted hall, when the pretty 
 figure, with its flowing evening draperies, came to the 
 drawing-room door, and, seeing him, joined him.
 
 220 REGINALD ARCHER. 
 
 " Alone, Tom ! " she said brightly, but with the 
 manner she had had all the evening. " I thought you 
 had gone with Reginald to see his last pet purchase." 
 
 " No," he answered: " I preferred staying here, as 
 it was cooler." 
 
 " Then I'll compensate you for your loss by show- 
 ing you a statue, which was his pet purchase before 
 the last. This is the dethroned princess, whose reign 
 was uncommonly long, for she amused him almost a 
 week ! " she exclaimed, turning to a lovely marble at 
 her side, and speaking with a gay mockery, which 
 was very graceful and charming, but through which 
 a faint tone of bitter earnestness jarred like smoth- 
 ered discord. 
 
 Tom made no corresponding movement, and paid 
 little heed to her words, though the tone thrilled 
 through him. His chance had come ; and he seized 
 it, like the resolute man that he was. 
 
 " Christie," he exclaimed, and his voice, more than 
 hi& words, spoke his meaning to the woman, " you 
 still wear my cross ! Is it still the talisman I told 
 you I meant it to be ?" 
 
 The woman gave him one swift glance, so intense 
 that it seemed to read his very soul ; the glance which, 
 alas ! she now gave every thing, that of weigh- 
 ing and testing it to the uttermost before daring to 
 trust it. With his strong, true eyes, Tom Archer
 
 REGINALD ARCHER. 221 
 
 faced her look as he would have faced the highest of 
 all tribunals. 
 
 In another second she had changed as though by 
 magic. All her restrained, acquired manner had 
 dropped from her like a garment ; and she was stand- 
 ing before him with hands tightly clasped, as though 
 to keep back a flood of emotion which would have 
 swept her away, with tears filling the eyes which 
 were raised with such passionate earnestness to his. 
 
 " Tom, dear Tom," said the low, quivering voice, 
 which hardly dared to trust itself, " I thank you for 
 your gift, as I was too ignorant to know how to do 
 when we parted. I have learned its worth and its 
 need ; and J bless and thank you for it ; I " The 
 voice failed, and the head drooped down upon the 
 breast. 
 
 All Tom's mighty love and infinite pity rushed 
 over him, until he shook from head to foot. He put 
 out his arms with a wild desire to take her to his 
 heart, and lavish its pent-up devotion upon her. She 
 did not see the gesture ; and before she raised her 
 head, and partially regained her self-control, he, too, 
 had remembered himself and what was his hard 
 duty. When the sad, sweet eyes looked up at him, 
 they met a glance as sad, but as pure, as her own ; 
 and the strength of a man who has fought a good 
 fight, and conquered, was in them.
 
 222 REGINALD ARCHER. 
 
 " Good-by ! " he said gently. " We may not see each 
 other very often in future ; but whether we meet, 
 or whether we part, remember my promise if you 
 ever need me. Nothing can alter that. And, Chris- 
 tie, so long as you can wear the cross, and carry its 
 lesson in your heart, I shall have no fear for you, let 
 come what will." 
 
 " Tom ! "- cried Reginald's voice, " where are you ? 
 I thought you were coming with us." And he and 
 Arnold and Lloyd came out into the hall also. 
 
 Christie turned to speak to Maria, who was de- 
 scending the stairway ; and Tom made some common- 
 place excuse to his brother for his desertion ; while 
 Reginald began again to talk to him, with the gay 
 eagerness of perfect health and spirits, in a way to 
 lead any one to suppose that he had not spoken 
 during the evening, and was making up for lost time. 
 
 As Lloyd Truxton assisted the ladies into the 
 carriage, Tom turned at the front-door ; looking 
 back into the superb hall to see his far more 
 superb brother standing there in all his pride and 
 glory, and the lovely woman's face beside him gazing 
 forward with sad, wistful eyes. 
 
 " Good-by !" he said, and crossed the threshold; 
 never to recross it until the tragedy of their lives 
 had been lived out, and one of them lay dying. For 
 Tom Archer had learned a deep lesson as he stood
 
 REGINALD ARCHER. 223 
 
 for those few moments at Christie's side ; had found 
 that he could not see her suffer, and make no sign 
 of his love ; had convinced himself that he must put 
 distance between them if he hoped to keep the 
 thought always before him that she was another 
 man's wife.
 
 CHAPTER XVII. 
 
 OF course, with Christie's return, and entrance 
 into society, it became " everybody's " duty 
 to call upon her, a duty performed with extreme 
 alacrity. Fashion, interest, and curiosity, all tended 
 hi the same direction, and produced the same result. 
 Her life gradually became a round of receiving visits, 
 and returning them ; and, as the winter season be- 
 gan, of issuing invitations, and accepting others. 
 
 Reginald's determination that his house should be 
 popular was fully carried out ; and such constant and 
 brilliant entertainment was to be found there, that 
 his friends began to have an impression that a sort 
 of social millennial period had set in. Persons who 
 sincerely hated each other; who had disliked Regi- 
 nald in his poverty, and now envied him in his pros- 
 perity, these eagerly met around his festive board, 
 unable to resist its fascinations. 
 
 " It is quite a case of the lion lying down with the 
 lamb," Reginald answered, as Mrs. Lester laugh- 
 ingly pointed out to him several intimate enemies 
 
 224
 
 REGINALD ARCHER. 225 
 
 taking wine with each other at his table. " Good 
 heavens ! what won't society men and women do for 
 a good dinner and a good time ! and right enough 
 they are," he added with a sort of delighted con- 
 tempt. 
 
 The fact that the remark was supremely true of 
 the person addressed, merely gave it a pleasant 
 piquancy ; for he was aware that she acted upon the 
 advice of Dr. Watts, and " never let her angry pas- 
 sions rise" when it was against her interest to do 
 so. When there was any thing to be gained by 
 Christian forbearance, Mrs. Lester was impervious 
 to any insult short of a blow; and even that she 
 would have ignored if she could have kept the 
 occurrence quiet, or could have told her own ver- 
 sion of the story effectively to society. Reginald 
 could have made no speech to her for which she 
 would have given up the advantages of his house, 
 the fine dinners and fine company she met there, and 
 the occasional convenience of his carriages. He was 
 not afraid that Mrs. Lester would make a personal 
 application of his words, though sure she would 
 carry them to the individuals commented upon at 
 the earliest opportunity ; but he feared them equally 
 little for exactly the same reasons. 
 
 This style of life Reginald enjoyed to the full. It 
 
 was the flower of what he had tasted in the bud : he 
 
 10*
 
 226 REGINALD ARCHER. 
 
 was master where he had previously been guest ; and 
 he liked the position much better. 
 
 He had resumed his old habits and connections, 
 but had thrown a sufficient veil over them to pre- 
 vent their coming to Christie's ears, as he wished to 
 save both himself and her the annoyance of public 
 scandal. Reginald never outwardly offended against 
 good taste, as the re-action jarred upon Ms nerves, and 
 disgusted him with himself. He spent but a small 
 portion of his time within his own doors ; but Chris- 
 tie knew too little of him or of the world for the fact 
 to excite any suspicion on her part. It only showed 
 her sadly that he cared nothing for his home unless 
 it were made brilliant by other persons. She had 
 learned that her marriage was a dreadful mistake, 
 though she still dreamed that it had been an unwit- 
 ting one on his part as on hers. She knew that his 
 character was set to a far lower standard than she 
 had imagined ; but she still loved him passionately, 
 with the enthusiastic admiration which his charm 
 of person and manner hourly called forth. That he 
 had deliberately married her for her money was a 
 thought she had never taken in, with which she 
 would not have insulted the man she even yet be- 
 lieved him to be. His coming step still made her 
 thrill with joy ; but she was so conscious that he did 
 not share her emotion, that his presence brought pain 
 as well as pleasure.
 
 REGINALD ARCHER. 227 
 
 She also found that her own time was very much 
 occupied ; that she had become a part of a social ma- 
 chine which carried her on in spite of herself. She 
 recognized the fact that society has its bond-slaves, 
 and holds them to task-work ; that in her case there 
 had been substituted for the quiet domestic life she 
 loved the laborious public existence she disliked but 
 could not throw off. In this way, Reginald contrived, 
 without apparent plan, that their lives should be 
 passed chiefly apart ; leaving him room for the liberty 
 of action he desired for himself, and which he was 
 perfectly willing to grant to her. Christie's dream 
 of hope and happiness had disappeared as completely 
 as though it had never been. In all the outward 
 splendor of her life, she walked through her routine 
 of duties a hungry-hearted woman ; doubting all 
 around her, but still more doubting herself. 
 
 The women she met, who were so lavish of com- 
 pliment and apparent kindness, were so unlike any 
 thing she had ever known, that, by turns, they 
 charmed, shocked, and bewildered her. Most of 
 them rather liked her, as she was sweet-tempered 
 and perfectly generous ; entering into no rivalries, 
 and offering them favors instead of offences. At first, 
 they had the instinctive shame to put a bridle upon 
 their tongues and restraint upon their actions in her 
 presence ; to let only that part of their natures ap-
 
 228 REGINALD ARCHER. 
 
 pear which was least unlike her own : but, after a 
 little while, the effort was too great. To keep up a 
 part was more than they could afford to do for any 
 one's comfort ; and gradually they disregarded her, 
 and fell back into their old ways. 
 
 This was the case with the worst portion ; and from 
 them she shrank as completely as circumstances 
 would permit. She was too innocently ignorant to 
 comprehend half that was said before her ; but she 
 understood enough to fill her with shame and disgust. 
 However, living in the same circle, she was neces- 
 sarily thrown with them ; especially as they had 
 no scruple in pushing themselves upon her, and in 
 using her and her establishment as far as Reginald 
 would allow it. 
 
 The kinder class of these women compromised the 
 matter with themselves by keeping away from Chris- 
 tie, except on state occasions ; not wishing to annoy 
 " the foolish child," as they considered her, and still 
 less being willing to bore themselves by appearing 
 other than they were. It was a case of oil and water ; 
 and they both felt it. Each was a restraint upon the 
 other, and they were better apart. Those who spoke 
 kindly but half-pityingly of her behind her back 
 were just those of whom she saw least. Consequent- 
 ly, with Christie's many acquaintances, she had no 
 friends, and, in the midst of her constant mingling
 
 REGINALD ARCHER. 229 
 
 with the gay world, was as curiously alone as though 
 a magic circle had been drawn around her. She was 
 conscious at all times that not incessant intercourse 
 and nearness of association lessened in any degree 
 the distance between those who called themselves 
 her friends, but who, in many cases, were more truly 
 her enemies ; for they gradually grew to dislike her 
 with that singular intolerance with which we regard 
 those who make us mentally, physically, and morally 
 uncomfortable . 
 
 To those who had once been what she was now 
 she brought back the memory of pure, innocent days, 
 which seemed like a ghost come to haunt them ; and 
 they hated the unconscious cause of their pain. 
 Others resented the contrast she made with them- 
 selves. Dingy white, and even the paler shades of 
 gray, may look quite fair and pure in certain judi- 
 ciously-managed lights ; but let immaculate snow be 
 brought near them, and they can no longer hope to be 
 mistaken for any thing but what they are. The eye 
 can become so accustomed to a large deviation from 
 the perpendicular, that it may seem almost straight ; 
 but let $he plummet be laid to it, and even self- 
 deception becomes impossible. 
 
 It was this office which Christie unconsciously per- 
 formed for the set of women Reginald had drawn 
 around her, and for which they could not forgive
 
 230 REGINALD ARCHER. 
 
 her. As soon as they found that they could not 
 make her in spirit as well as in form one of them- 
 selves, they instinctively turned upon her passively, 
 if not actively. " He that is not with me is against 
 me," was their necessary motto. 
 
 " No, we none of us love Mrs. Reginald Archer," 
 said Mrs. Lester one day among a set of her inti- 
 mates when Christie's name was mentioned with 
 some half -sneering remark. " She never hurt me 
 particularly : but it sickens me to see any one set up 
 for such a saint ; and I have no faith in people who 
 profess to be so much better than their neighbors. 
 Then she is such a little fool, I lose all patience with 
 her. I believe she thinks that magnificent husband 
 of hers has been as idiotically saintly all his life as 
 she has been, or as they say that rich brother of 
 his professes to be. I should not be surprised if she 
 thought Reginald Archer came out of a sort of 
 moral monastery to marry her. I wonder what she 
 would say if some one were to enlighten her a little 
 as to her handsome husband's past life and her prede- 
 cessors." 
 
 Mrs. Lester cackled as usual ; and the way in 
 which the rest laughed showed that she had ex- 
 pressed the sentiment of the company. 
 
 Her final sentence rested in her own memory, and 
 was probably the first suggestion of her future ac-
 
 REGINALD ARCHER. 231 
 
 tion. It was upon this, her own hint, that she took 
 her first step in that course of interference with the 
 life and affairs of Reginald and Christie -Archer 
 which was to bring dread disaster upon so many 
 heads, laying them in the dust, and some of them 
 under the sod. With sin putting terrible weapons 
 into her hands, she wrought such sorrow, that, by 
 position rather than character, she demands a more 
 minute description than she has hitherto received. 
 
 Marian Lester, let us hope, was an exceptional 
 woman : at least, any society composed of even a 
 large proportion of such persons would soon bring 
 itself to a close ; would end by self-destruction or 
 spontaneous combustion. A small, ugly, clever 
 woman, with a coarse nature, whose force seemed 
 divided into animal passion, a craving for admiration, 
 and a malicious love of mischief, she spread trouble 
 and moral contagion wherever she came. Vain and 
 ambitious, with a sharp eye, a sharp tongue, and a 
 hard, clear perception of her own interest, she had 
 begun life with a determination to succeed ; and that 
 she had not done so was certainly not owing to lack 
 of effort. 
 
 To have filled any one of three roles in life, she 
 would have given what small soul she possessed ; 
 but she soon found they were entirely beyond her. 
 First, she longed to be a leader of society ; but she
 
 232 REGINALD ARCHER. 
 
 had neither the requisite position nor wealth, nor 
 the rare executive genius which takes the place of 
 both : second, a great belle ; but she needed the 
 necessary beauty : third, a distinguished literary 
 woman ; but the entire lack of the essential talent 
 and imagination put an end to any aspirations in 
 that direction. She not only envied all who held 
 these positions, but had a dislike and resentment 
 against them as though they had robbed her of them. 
 Looking round her with shrewd calculation, she in- 
 stinctively felt where her strong point lay, and estab- 
 lished her line of policy. 
 
 To this woman and her class, success means a cer- 
 tain number of men really or apparently attached to 
 their train ; and any power which controls the largest 
 proportion is by them cultivated and used to the 
 uttermost. Attractions of various kinds attract 
 various persons ; but a dexterous ability to rouse 
 the masculine passions by glance and gesture as well 
 as by word ; to put men entirely at their ease, and 
 keep them constantly surprised and amused by an 
 audacious freedom of speech, whose unexpectedness 
 gives it the effect of wit ; to flatter them by ceaseless, 
 boundless, and indiscriminating devotion and atten- 
 tion until their backs are turned, and then with fine 
 mercantile tact to use them for the entertainment 
 and flattery of the next male comer, this seems to
 
 REGINALD ARCHER. 233 
 
 strike almost all heads ; and there are few indeed who 
 cannot be reduced to a momentary allegiance by 
 these means. It is amazing how far a little wit will 
 go when thus used, and what a very large business 
 can be done on a very small capital. It is a clear 
 case of mathematics ; and shrewd women act accord- 
 ingly. 
 
 '* But you loge men's respect," said a good, refined 
 lady to her in her youth, that is, if Marian Lester 
 ever had a youth, and was not born with the spirit 
 of a wicked old woman within her, " and you 
 must confess that you gain no permanent hold upon 
 them." 
 
 "My dear," returned the other with an unspeak- 
 able sneer, " as far as my observation goes, respect is 
 a very mild sentiment in men ; and I have rarely 
 seen a man who was sufficiently influenced by it to 
 make it worth the having. As far as I can see, they 
 chiefly show their respect for such women as you by 
 keeping at a respectful distance. You are quite wel- 
 come to the sentiment, I am sure : I prefer something 
 a little more powerful, and universal in its effect. I 
 agree with the man who said, ' Be virtuous, and you 
 will be happy; but you won't have a good time.' 
 Why, look at it for yourself ! Who are the women 
 men run after ; upon whom they spend their time, their 
 money, their admiration, and what they call their
 
 234 REGINALD ARCHER. 
 
 love ? They are those who have either given up all 
 pretence of chastity, and live serenely in open sin ; 
 or they are those who imitate these as nearly as they 
 can without losing their position in society. No, 
 my dear : you have made a mistake as far as this 
 world is concerned. I hope you may get something 
 in the next ; for you are not using the tools to gain 
 this one." 
 
 And having made her friend exceedingly uncom- 
 fortable, and slightly confused her moral perceptions, 
 Mrs. Lester went away in a delightful frame of mind 
 to pursue her accustomed occupation. 
 
 In classifying the fascinations a woman may possess, 
 it seems necessary to place at the head of the list, 
 before beauty or brilliancy, a genuine love of men. 
 We ordinarily do that well which we do con amore ; 
 and the woman to whom a man of any kind is a boon 
 and a blessing, preferable as a companion to the most 
 charming female alive, is inevitably the one who will 
 be agreeable and entertaining to the largest number 
 of the opposite sex. No masculine stupidity bores 
 her ; nothing in male habiliments comes amiss : she 
 is at least gratified by his presence until something 
 more desirable can be obtained. Consequently, she 
 is in danger of hurting no man's vanity beyond for- 
 giveness by being wearied, and allowing him to sus- 
 pect it. It surrounds a man, as it were, with circum-
 
 235 
 
 ambient flattery, which, like atmospheric pressure, 
 he feels everywhere, without resisting or defining. 
 
 This was the chief dower Nature had bestowed 
 upon Mrs. Lester, apparently not a large fortune, 
 but one which she spent lavishly, and which had the 
 singular advantage of increasing with expenditure. 
 She had probably never committed what is called 
 actual sin : first, because she was too shrewd, and 
 valued the loaves and fishes of this life too highly to 
 risk their loss by detection, even for the gratification 
 of her passions ; and, second, because she was a cow- 
 ard at heart, and still retained some wholesome fear 
 of hell-fire. 
 
 For Mrs. Lester, like so many of her kind, was a 
 rigid church-woman, and fancied she bought exemp- 
 tion from the spirit of the law of God by over-em- 
 phasizing its letter. She put a curious degree of 
 trust in forms and ceremonies, considering how little 
 faith she had in any thing else. She served the Devil 
 laboriously for nearly eleven months of the year, and 
 then imagined that she restored her spiritual alle- 
 giance to its proper balance by ostentatiously serving 
 the Lord during the forty days of Lent. To speak 
 in the language of the turf, she made her book in 
 life by putting most of her money upon the powers 
 below, and then hedging in the opposite direction, so 
 as not to be left out in any contingency. She was
 
 236 REGINALD ARCHER. 
 
 mighty at fairs and fashionable charities (which 
 strike one sometimes as the modern form of buying 
 indulgences), regarding them as a neat combina- 
 tion of the advantages of this world and the next. 
 She held to the value of days and periods ; apparent- 
 ly believing that the Lord is more clear-sighted at 
 one time than another, or that the moral law is inter- 
 mittent in its operation. 
 
 " Mrs. Lester's idea of religion seems to me to be 
 the exact reverse of that of St. Paul," said Christie, 
 after she had learned to know the woman thorough- 
 ly ; " for he said, ' Of the times and seasons, brethren, 
 write I not unto you : ' and they seem all she has any 
 regard for." 
 
 " Yes," Reginald had replied, laughing. " I think 
 her idea is to get all she can here below, and to en- 
 joy herself as much as possible ; then, in the nick of 
 time, and at the last moment, to repent, and ' read 
 her title clear to mansions in the skies.' Nothing 
 less luxurious would content her. I imagine she as- 
 pires to be that one sinner that repenteth, over whom 
 there is to be so much joy in heaven. She wishes 
 to be an eminent and interesting person in both 
 spheres, and to drive the best possible bargain here 
 and hereafter; and, if the thing is practicable, she 
 is a wise woman," he added impartially. 
 
 Then, too, she was a woman of sentiment : they
 
 REGINALD ARCHER. 237 
 
 always are. She professed a devotion to the purely 
 ideal, of which she had about as much conception 
 as she had of the emotions of an archangel. She ob- 
 jected to realistic novels, as being too much like life, 
 and as not supplying her need of association with 
 beings higher and nobler than those of this world. 
 She adored Bulwer and Byron, without sufficient 
 humor or truth herself to perceive the absurdity and 
 falsity of either. 
 
 It was chiefly through her lack of these qualities 
 that she bored Reginald. 
 
 " For a clever woman, Mrs. Lester is the least bear- 
 able person I know, because she is essentially second- 
 rate," he had said long before. " I could forgive her 
 ugliness : but she doesn't know humbug when she 
 sees it ; and that is fatal in a person who must be en- 
 tertaining, or nothing. She has wit ; but she has no 
 real humor : she has plenty of hard common sense ; 
 but it is all hard, and all common," he wound up, 
 littering an epigram which was repeated against her 
 for many a day, and for which she never forgave him. 
 
 He had hurt her vanity ; and, though she accepted 
 every favor she could extract from him, she would 
 have been charmed, at any moment, to bring trouble 
 upon him. 
 
 Really, though, Reginald could not plume himself 
 upon this as a distinction, as she pursued the same
 
 238. REGINALD ARCHER. 
 
 policy, and cherished the same benevolent sentiment, 
 towards most of her acquaintances. Her happiness 
 required the additional element of the unhappiness 
 of some one else. Physically idle, and yet active- 
 minded, she found an occupation in perpetually mak- 
 ing others uncomfortable ; which afforded her the 
 excitement, without the fatigue, which hunting and 
 fishing give to lovers of those sports. 
 
 She had found her natural malice rather a boon, as 
 it added zest to her life, and point to her wit ; and 
 now that she was growing old, and losing the hope 
 of being admired, she expected it to assist her in 
 building up that defence against insignificance in 
 which she intended to take refuge in her old age, 
 the hope of being feared. 
 
 She was not wealthy, and so was compelled to sup- 
 ply the luxuries she would not deny herself by gen- 
 teel blackmail, by broadest hints, or audacious de- 
 mands, for what she wanted. Another system she 
 practised, which seems largely in vogue with her 
 class, she would make trivial presents, chiefly her 
 own handiwork, to gentlemen, and expect costly 
 gifts in return, of whose solid value in cash no one 
 was a better judge. 
 
 A complaisant husband is essential to such a 
 woman and such a career; and this blessing Mrs. 
 Lester possessed. Not being able to make an orna-
 
 REGINALD ARCHER. 239 
 
 mental marriage, she had made a useful one ; and her 
 husband was a slow, quiet man, admirably fitted to 
 do her bidding, to be a sort of watch-dog for her. 
 In return, she relieved him of all trouble of thinking 
 on any subject by doing it for him. 
 
 Upon the whole, her theory of life seemed analo- 
 gous to that of the coachman, who urged as his great- 
 est recommendation his ability to drive nearer than 
 any one else to a precipice without actually going 
 over it. 
 
 It was into the companionship of this woman that 
 Christie's destiny brought her. 
 
 At first, their intercourse had been sufficiently 
 pleasant ; for Mrs. Lester confined the conversation 
 to the discussion of sentiment, in which she believed 
 herself to shine ; and, as a difference in taste is by no 
 means vital, they simply disagreed amicably. But the 
 rdle of decorum soon bored Mrs. Lester ; and her ret- 
 icence cracked and melted like thin ice. Then she 
 began talking of subjects which the younger woman 
 had never heard mentioned, and which she did not 
 know were ever brought into the conversation of de- 
 cent people. Then the innate, immeasurable differ- 
 ence between them appeared : each took her own side, 
 and fought under her own colors. There could be 
 no compromise here ; or the poles are not more sun- 
 dered than were their thoughts and beliefs, their 
 hopes and fears, both for heaven and for earth.
 
 240 REGINALD ARCHER. 
 
 Mrs. Lester was deeply read in the history of cour- 
 tesanship in every form : she was learned in the lives 
 of all the famous wicked women of her own times 
 and past ages. She gloated over such books, and de- 
 lighted to give extracts from their spicy contents ; to 
 retail maxims and anecdotes sandwiched between ap- 
 propriate original remarks. It was to such conversa- 
 tion Christie listened, at first with horror and protest, 
 and then with shrinking disgust. Hitherto Mrs. 
 Lester had had a genuine contempt for Christie, as 
 being too weak and stupid to use the advantages of 
 beauty, wealth, and position, which fate had put into 
 her hand; to utilize her opportunities for winning 
 admiration and social success. As soon as she saw 
 with what scorn and loathing Christie regarded such 
 triumphs as she prided herself upon achieving, she 
 added hatred to her previous feeling. Thus Christie 
 secured an enemy, for whose handling no weapon was 
 too mean and low, no scratch too contemptible, and 
 no blow too unscrupulous. 
 
 The younger woman tried to keep away from her 
 as muoh as possible ; but she was of too much use to 
 Mrs. Lester for the latter to think of giving her up. 
 She enjoyed shocking, and making her uncomfortable, 
 under the guise of extreme intimacy and friendly 
 interest. , 
 
 She liked to come in earlier than ordinary visitors,
 
 REGINALD ARCHER. 241 
 
 and amuse herself with Christie ; partly because she 
 had nothing to do, and partly for the chance of 
 manoeuvring herself into a seat in the other's carriage 
 for a ride down town. She would talk until the 
 younger woman would grow sick and bewildered with 
 a dreadful wonder as to whether this were the true 
 picture of life and society, and whether the men and 
 women around her were all alike, and Mrs. Lester 
 merely more frank than the rest. Her growing dis- 
 trust of all things was never so strong upon her as in 
 Mrs. Lester's presence, whose existence seemed to 
 justify any degree of suspicion. 
 
 It was upon one of these morning-visits in the early 
 winter, that Mrs. Lester, having tried in the cheeriest 
 manner several ways of making Christie uncomforta- 
 ble without adequate success, suddenly recollected her 
 own suggestion of enlightening Mrs. Archer as to her 
 husband's past, giving her a hint of his real character. 
 
 '"I have piped unto you, and you have not danced ; 
 I have mourned unto you, and you have not lamented : ' 
 now I will try another sort of treatment," she sneered 
 to herself. 
 
 They were sitting in the drawing-room ; and, 
 glancing around the apartment for some point from 
 which to start her intended remarks, she caught sight 
 of a picture hanging just above Christie's head, which 
 gave her exactly the hint she wanted. 
 11
 
 242 REGINALD ARCHER. 
 
 It was a small painting of a woman's face ; but its 
 rich, voluptuous beauty, its golden hair and rosy 
 tinting, made it shine from its shaded recess like a 
 living countenance. Her plan was formed in a 
 second, without reference to any thing but the fitness 
 of the accidental weapon for the work she intended 
 it to perform. She began the conversation, vaguely 
 trusting her own dexterity to bring in the point she 
 desired to make. 
 
 Chance favored her. 
 
 " That is a beautiful face, Mrs. Archer," she said 
 by way of commencment. 
 
 "Yes," Christie responded : "it is very handsome." 
 
 " Did you choose the picture ? " was the next re- 
 mark. 
 
 " No : it is Reginald's taste. He saw it the other 
 day, and was so struck with it, that he bought it 
 immediately." 
 
 " Ah," laughed Mrs. Lester, with a world of mean- 
 ing in her look and tone which was almost lost upon 
 the inexperienced woman before her, " very natu- 
 rally ! I could not understand why the face seemed 
 so familiar to me ; but I see it all now." 
 
 Christie looked at her inquiringly, wondering what 
 she was talking about, and why she glanced at her 
 with such a curious leer. 
 
 " Of course you don't perceive the resemblance, as
 
 REGINALD ARCHER. 243 
 
 you have been in this part of the world such a short 
 time ; but if you had ever lived here, and watched 
 the demi-monde driving in the Park, you would see 
 that this picture is almost the portrait of one of 
 them," Mrs. Lester went on in her apparently off- 
 hand way, but glancing covertly at Christie to see 
 if the falsehood she was concocting were having the 
 desired effect. 
 
 But Mrs. Archer was merely gazing at the picture, 
 with a shadow of disgust upon her face which was 
 entirely impersonal ; and the elder woman saw that 
 she must speak very plainly if she wished to accom- 
 plish her object. 
 
 To do Reginald justice, he was utterly incapable 
 of putting any picture of his mistress where his wife 
 could possibly become conscious of its existence. 
 He had absolutely no moral nature and no heart ; but 
 the mere blood in his veins would have saved him 
 from such an act of coarse insult, as it would have 
 preserved him from personal cowardice and petty 
 larceny. Besides this, he was perfectly clear-headed, 
 and so had none of that strange, blind vanity which 
 enables a man to feel complimented by the devotion 
 of a woman to whom complaisance is a profession, 
 and whose support requires her to smile upon some 
 other man if not upon him: he could not feel flat- 
 tered by favors which had been granted to some one
 
 244 REGINALD ARCHER. 
 
 before him in consideration of hard cash. No : Mrs. 
 Lester's falsehood was a libel even against such a 
 man. At least he possessed brain and breeding ; and 
 the accusation was an insult to both. 
 
 "I don't know what has become of this woman; 
 for I have not seen her for a year or two. I heard 
 she went to another city to live. Mr. Archer can 
 probably tell you more about her and her picture, 
 though other people have forgotten her by this time ; 
 but, when she was your husband's mistress, every- 
 body knew her by sight," she wound up airily, as 
 though saying the most natural thing possible, and 
 one from which her preceding words and looks had 
 taken away all abruptness. 
 
 Gazing quietly at the picture, with her profile 
 within Mrs. Lester's range of vision, Christie heard 
 that final sentence. Still looking upward, without 
 sound or motion, she remained during the full mo- 
 ment of silence which followed the speech. If a 
 pistol-shot had gone through her heart, she could 
 have had no more frightful pang, no greater sense of 
 sudden death. With that wonderful self-control 
 which comes to women in dire need, she did what so 
 many women before her have done, spiritually died, 
 and gave no sign. 
 
 Not an eyBlash quivered to show Mrs. Lester how 
 her bolt had sped ; and that lady, after waiting a
 
 REGINALD ARCHER. 245 
 
 minute, found herself obliged to resume the burden 
 of the conversation. 
 
 " Of course, my dear," she said with her custom- 
 ary cackle, "it is not telling tales out of school to 
 mention such a thing to you ; for you must have 
 known something of your husband's life before you 
 married him. It is impossible to have heard Regi- 
 nald Archer's name without some little history 
 attached to it ; and of course you are too sensible 
 to mind such bachelor escapades," she continued 
 genially. "Men will be men, you know; and the only 
 objection I find to it is, that, by the same rule, they 
 don't allow women to be women. I can't see the 
 justice of confining the privilege of sowing wild oats 
 to the masculine gender; and Mr. Archer is one of 
 the few men who have sense and fairness enough to 
 agree with me. And then your husband has always 
 been such a handsome sinner, that nobody could con- 
 demn him," she went on, tiding herself over the 
 inconvenient silence by a flow of words, and literally 
 talking for two. 
 
 " Mrs. Lester," said Christie, after the stillness had 
 been unbroken for several seconds, "I cannot possibly 
 discuss my husband and his affairs with you or any 
 one else." 
 
 The voice was low, though perfectly steady ; but 
 there was a curiously-deadened sound through it, to
 
 24C REGINALD ARCHER. 
 
 which Mrs. Lester listened with curiosity and satis- 
 faction. 
 
 " Certainly, my dear child," she replied, thinking 
 of the tone, and answering the words ; " quite right ! 
 You are a model wife and a modern Griselda, I 
 may say, just the person for Reginald Archer to 
 marry, taking all things into consideration," she 
 sneered with the most cordial manner. 
 
 Christie made no answer. She was looking down 
 now, with her face still somewhat averted from the 
 speaker, who could not exactly determine the damage 
 she had do'ne. 
 
 " Perhaps she is not such a fool after all, and 
 doesn't care more than the rest of us would under 
 the same circumstances. She certainly does not 
 seem very much startled or overcome, and probably 
 it is no great news to her after all ; but she must 
 have been annoyed at my speaking to her of it, be- 
 cause her voice sounded queerly," the kindly creature 
 thought within herself. 
 
 " Are you going down town this morning ? " she 
 asked affectionately, finding she could get nothing 
 further out of the subject. 
 
 " No," was the monosyllable which exhausted 
 Christie's powers of speech. 
 
 " I am sorry ; for I thought we might go together, 
 as I have some shopping to do : but, if you are not 
 going, I shall have to bid you good-morning."
 
 REGINALD ARCHER. 2-17 
 
 Christie turned round and bowed her adieux ; and 
 Mrs. Lester took herself out of the room and out of 
 the house with a strong sense of injustice upon her, 
 in that Christie had afforded her neither the certainty 
 of having cut her to the heart, nor a good story to 
 tell around town, nor even the foundation for a neat 
 dramatic fiction ; and she walked down the street 
 with a discontented sense of having fallen below her 
 customary standard. 
 
 Left alone, Christie quietly reseated herself upon 
 the sofa ; and there, silent and still, with no outward 
 sign but the closely-locked hands, she fought out the 
 great battle of her life ; with what shedding of 
 heart's blood, women like her, and their God, alone 
 know. 
 
 -Let a man put himself in her place ; let him 
 imagine the truth suddenly coming upon him, that 
 the being he had loved and held pure and honorable, 
 the person whose existence was irrevocably inter- 
 locked with his own, was foul and tainted, the 
 rightful property of those who had gone before him ; 
 let him dream of himself as absolutely upright ; and 
 then let him faintly conceive the loathing,' the scorn, 
 the horror and anguish, which were tearing this 
 woman's heart, which were vibrating through every 
 atom of her flesh and blood. 
 
 Differing in all else, Christie and Reginald Archer
 
 248 REGINALD ARCHER. 
 
 had one thing in common, their necessity to look 
 at facts for themselves. The clear intellects of each 
 entirely refused to accept two standards of right and 
 wrong, or to hold that there can be any sex in sin. 
 Infinitely different as were the laws in which they 
 believed and on which they acted, they both possessed 
 the fairness and justice to lay the level alike to all. 
 The absolute scrupulousness of one, and unscrupu- 
 lousness of the other, had brought them to the same 
 clear perception, unclouded by earthly creed or cus- 
 tom. Christie measured her husband and his act by 
 the same immutable law of God which would have 
 been applied to her had she been the criminal ; 
 which she would have used had their positions been 
 reversed, she being the man, and he the woman. 
 No drop of bitterness, which, in like circumstances, 
 would have filled a man's cup to overflowing, was 
 lacking in hers. The fear of being the laughing- 
 stock of a community, which seems to be the most 
 powerful emotion in most masculine minds in similar 
 cases, was, in some degree, spared her ; but, on the 
 other hand, what good man even can measure the 
 agony of a delicate woman's shrinking from unchas- 
 tity and impurity ? Her whole body was one hot 
 blush of shame. She felt scorched by the breath of 
 sin, humiliated and contaminated by her involuntary 
 contact with it. She had a sensation of self-loathing
 
 REGINALD ARCHER. 249 
 
 and self-contempt, as though name and fame and 
 person had been soiled by disgrace, as most men 
 would have felt under like circumstances, although 
 they had long lost the right of so feeling. 
 
 It never occurred to her to doubt Mrs. Lester's 
 words, which were accurate enough as to the main 
 fact they announced, though not as to the supposi- 
 titious likeness they pointed out : their truth came 
 upon her with utter conviction. It seemed the sud- 
 denly-discovered key to all that had been so strange 
 and bewildering since her marriage ; the clew to the 
 dreadful difference between the ideal Reginald she 
 had loved and the real Reginald she had married. 
 The foundation of her faith had crumbled away to 
 its last support ; and, when that was touched, the 
 whole edifice fell in an instant. 
 
 Her feeling towards her husband was one unuttera- 
 ble, boundless sense of revolt and repulsion. What 
 could a love and caresses be to her which had been 
 previously offered to a professional woman not suffi- 
 ciently above an animal to believe even in any obli- 
 gation of chastity ? It was not only such dreadful 
 sin, but such low sin ; and the woman shivered from 
 head to foot with disgust. 
 
 A man, with all this maddening him, would have 
 broken the restraints which bound him, would 
 
 have committed some wild act, and the world would 
 11*
 
 250 REGINALD ARCHER. 
 
 have pitied and justified him. What the braver, truer 
 woman did was to stand in her lot, fighting the mad 
 passion at her heart as though for her soul's salva- 
 tion. Above the wild tumult in her nature, the 
 fundamental conviction of her life began to assert it- 
 self, that, in all this conflict of wrongs, somewhere 
 her duty lay clear and fixed; and that it greatly 
 behooved her to find it and to do it. Long hours 
 had gone by before the blood in her veins had stilled 
 sufficiently to allow her to think, to permit her to 
 be capable of any thing beyond unspeakable sensa- 
 tion. 'The morning had passed into evening; and 
 still she sat hidden in that shadowy recess, with her 
 soul in deadly combat with the fate that had come 
 upon it. Gradually conscience and intellect regained 
 their constitutional sovereignty within her, and spoke 
 out in tones to which she was compelled to listen : 
 " Duty is like death : it comes to you, and to you 
 alone. Its claim is absolute and indestructible, let 
 others do as they will. Their failure "can give you 
 no release ; for your allegiance is not to them, but to 
 yourself and to your God. You have taken upon 
 yourself a vow to love, honor, and obey this man ; 
 and your struggle must now be to keep it to the 
 utmost possibility. You cannot afford to look back, 
 with the present claiming you for its own. Your one 
 great duty in life is to be a good wife ; and you can- 
 not go behind that."
 
 REGINALD ARCHER. 251 
 
 All ! it was bitter, bitter hard for that woman to 
 sit there, and feel the truth evolved from the depths 
 of her nature ; to hear it slowly enunciated as by 
 some terrible relentless power apart from herself. 
 But when the night came, and the darkness fell upon 
 the face of the earth, which was no blacker than that 
 which had been upon her soul at noonday, a light 
 had come unto her steps, and a lamp unto her feet, 
 which could never lead astray ; for it was the light 
 of heaven. 
 
 She had heard herself inquired for from time to 
 time, but without responding, or, indeed, thinking of 
 the flight of the hours : but the servants lighting up 
 the house recalled her to the fact that the dinner- 
 hour was at hand, and that she must make ready to 
 meet the man towards whom her whole emotional 
 nature had changed ; that she must prepare to take 
 the first step in the life of duty she had laid out for 
 herself. 
 
 She rose, and stood for a moment before going out 
 of the room, with a sensation of having returned to 
 earthly existence. Years seemed to have passed over 
 her head ; a great gulf divided her from her old, 
 loving, believing self; and she knew that an utterly 
 different woman would pass out of that apartment 
 from the one who had entered it that morning ; and 
 night and morning are not more unlike than the
 
 v 
 252 REGINALD ARCHER. 
 
 heart she had brought hither and the heart she would 
 take away. 
 
 " God help me ! God help me ! " was the passion- 
 ate cry of that nature, which could turn nowhere else 
 for comfort. 
 
 This was a sorrow and a suffering of which she 
 could speak to no living being. She must fight this 
 battle alone, without human aid ; and she knew it, 
 and applied her brave, steadfast nature to the con- 
 flict. . 
 
 She went up stairs and dressed for dinner, and, 
 descending, entered the dining-room as quietly as 
 though all life had not changed for her since she left 
 it. She found Reginald awaiting her, there being no 
 company that day. He was standing very much as 
 she had first seen him, with the chandelier illumin- 
 ing his splendid beauty ; with the light shining on that 
 white brow, upon which heaven and earth seemed to 
 smile ; -with the blue eyes and the glittering teeth 
 rivalling each other in their brilliancy. 
 
 But the glamour of his loveliness for the first time 
 had no power over her : she had caught sight of his 
 real character, and it seemed to look out at her now 
 as from behind an exquisite mask. She gave herself 
 no time to hesitate : she came forward, and said 
 " Good-evening "in as nearly her ordinary, pleasant 
 tones as she could compel her voice to sound.
 
 REGINALD ARCHER. 253 
 
 " Good-evening," Reginald returned, glancing at 
 her carelessly. But the next moment he looked 
 again with more attention, caught by something in 
 her manner and appearance which he could not 
 quite define. 
 
 " She looks stronger, and more of a woman, than 
 ever before," he thought, " and, by the way, hand- 
 somer too." 
 
 This last consideration occasioned his next move- 
 ment. 
 
 " What's the matter, Christie ? " he asked. " You 
 don't look quite like yourself this evening. You 
 can't be sick, though, with that color in your cheeks, 
 and light in your eyes." And, as he spoke, he put 
 his arm around her, and, stooping idty, kissed her. 
 
 If she had been turned into stone, she could not 
 have been more absolutely motionless than she was 
 while his touch was upon her. No muscle recoiled, 
 no fibre stirred, not even the eyelashes trembled ; 
 but, if ever that woman prayed, she prayed then. 
 Standing silent, with every nerve held rigid, if she 
 had cast herself upon her knees, and cried aloud 
 to Heaven for help, no more agonized, passionate 
 entreaty for strength to keep the spirit as well as the 
 letter of her vow could have gone up to the throne 
 of God. 
 
 Some answer must have been vouchsafed ; for when,
 
 254 REGINALD ARCHER. 
 
 a moment after, Reginald moved away, she passed to 
 her place ; and, when he began talking upon ordinary 
 subjects, she replied gently, even smilingly, though 
 at no very great length. 
 
 " Something has certainly happened to change 
 Christie," Reginald thought more than once as he 
 noticed a fixed look around her mouth and an unnat- 
 ural brilliancy in her dark eyes. " I wonder what 
 it is." 
 
 But being by no means vitally interested in her. 
 emotions, and well aware that his wife might have 
 many causes for inward discomfort which it would 
 be wiser for him to ignore as long as possible, he took 
 no outward notice, but ate his dinner, and chatted 
 pleasantly, with great personal satisfaction. 
 
 When the meal was concluded, he announced that 
 he had an engagement down town, and calmly left 
 his wife to seek companionship in her own thoughts, 
 or consolation from any one who might chance to 
 come in.
 
 CHAPTER XVIII. 
 
 DURING the weeks and months which followed 
 that day, Christie walked her appointed course ; 
 lived the life which seemed so brilliant, and was so in- 
 expressibly lonely. Through all its trials and tempta- 
 tions, she struggled to hold that inner consciousness 
 of right-doing which to her was life, and more than 
 life. To be an honest, loving wife, to stand clear 
 before her own conscience, was the one passionate 
 desire of her whole being. Had Reginald Archer 
 possessed a heart and a conscience, however warped, 
 their existence might still have been peaceful and 
 happy. Her love would have struggled back into a 
 semblance of its early self had he fostered and fed 
 it ; had he given her the great joy of being able to 
 respect him at any time and in any way. A true 
 love dies hard ; and, when duty and devotion go 
 together, they maintain their vitality even when it 
 seems crushed out of them. That blessedness which 
 arises from perfect forgiveness, from taking the spirit 
 of Christ into the very heart, would have come to 
 
 255
 
 256 REGINALD ARCHER. 
 
 Christie, had Reginald had the soul of a man ; 
 had he been any thing but a beautiful, intellectual 
 animal. 
 
 But he was perfectty satisfied with his marital 
 relations. He saw his wife's awakening to his real 
 character, and, perceiving her struggle with herself, 
 regretted it. 
 
 " I owe her a debt of gratitude for accommodating 
 herself so quietly to circumstances ; but it is a great 
 pity the poor child gives herself so much unneces- 
 sary trouble. She had much better amuse herself 
 with some one else," he thought, in his heartless 
 good humor and impartial fairness. " If I supposed 
 she would understand me, I would give her a hint to 
 that effect ; but she is such a little goose, I shall have 
 to let her make her own discoveries, and be happy, or 
 unhappy, after her own fashion. So long as she does 
 not interfere with me, or annoy me with public scan- 
 dals, I don't care what she does," he wound up with 
 perfect sincerity. 
 
 Thus Christie was left to fight her hard battle 
 alone, with only her God to whom to cry for help. 
 This was her one refuge ; and she sought it ceaseless- 
 ly. Through brilliant scenes and varied gayeties, 
 through witty, sometimes shameless companionship, 
 and through solitary hours, her life was one long 
 passionate prayer.
 
 REGINALD ARCHER. 257 
 
 I sometimes wonder that women ever cease pray- 
 ing. To me there is no truer touch of genius in 
 that inimitable story of " The Newcomes " than 
 where the author speaks of Laura Penclennis as 
 " engaged where pious women ever betake them- 
 selves in moments of doubt, of grief, of pain, of sepa- 
 ration, of joy even, or whatsoever other trial. They 
 have but to will, and, as it were, an invisible temple 
 rises around them : their hearts can kneel down 
 there, and they can have an audience with the great, 
 the merciful, the untiring Counsellor and Consoler." 
 
 But for this relief, Christie would have died as these 
 days went on ; for she began to feel that what Regi- 
 nald's life had been in the past it was in the present. 
 Without fixed data to go upon, without testimony 
 which she could offer to reason, much less to law, 
 she believed that the veil of decorum covered the 
 same hideous facts now as before. The last remnant 
 of her love died then and there. She ceased her ter- 
 rible effort to keep breath in its body : she buried the 
 corpse, and hushed down her bitter wail over its 
 grave. She made no pretence of an affection she 
 could never feel again : she scorned to act a lie, as 
 she would have scorned to speak one. She had 
 neither the power- nor visible right to leave her 
 husband ; but, in her own eyes, she was utterly di- 
 vorced from the man who stood in that legal relation
 
 258 REGINALD ARCHER. 
 
 to her, and yet whom she suspected of daily breaking 
 the tie which bound them. 
 
 She did nothing, said nothing ; for she was too 
 clear-sighted not to perceive her own helplessness. 
 She fulfilled each day's duties as they arose : she was 
 the courteous wife of a courteous husband ; the ele- 
 gant mistress of an elegant home ; the gay, agreeable 
 acquaintance of many gay, agreeable persons. But 
 there was growing within her a wild desire for es- 
 cape from an intolerable position. An inexpressible 
 longing to die seized hold upon her. An utter sense 
 of being inadequate to life, as it had come to her, 
 crushed her soul and body. So lonely and so unlike 
 all around her, equally unable to change her nature 
 and standard of right or to alter theirs, she felt that 
 all that was left to her was to go away forever and 
 be at rest. 
 
 This craving for death, and the peace she hoped it 
 would bring, was so intense, that it spoke out in her 
 face. That longing look was in her eyes whenever 
 she was unconscious of observation ; whenever it was 
 not dismissed by an effort of will. Mrs. Lester sel- 
 dom saw it, as Christie was always on her guard in 
 her presence ; but others perceived it, and put their 
 own widely-differing interpretations upon it. 
 
 Shallow, good-natured Mrs. Conrad, finding Mrs. 
 Archer alone one day, with an inexpressible weari-
 
 REGINALD ARCHER. 259 
 
 ness of life upon her face, took up the burden of 
 prophecy on this wise : 
 
 " Mrs. Archer, you are evidently growing moped, 
 and are running down." 
 
 She spoke kindly ; and Christie smiled as she 
 replied that she did not feel very well, and conse- 
 quently was not very bright and gay. 
 
 " You need amusement and excitement more than 
 medicine," the elder lady went on. 
 
 " I can scarcely want excitement in the constant 
 round of gayeties in which we both live," was the 
 reply. 
 
 Her needs were too deep to be discussed with any 
 one, least of all with the woman before her. 
 
 Mrs. Conrad sat looking at her for a moment or 
 two, with a curious expression growing in her face. 
 It was like the faint shadow of some long-gone pain, 
 now only to be recalled by an effort of memory or 
 some strong outside influence. 
 
 " My dear," she suddenly exclaimed, " it's no use : 
 you can't do what you are trying to do. Little as 
 you would think it, I made the attempt once myself ; 
 and I can tell you that it won't answer." 
 
 Christie looked at her in astonishment. Accus- 
 tomed as she was to the lady's inconsequent style of 
 expression and apparent obtuseness of perception, she 
 could not take in her meaning, nor believe that she
 
 200 REGINALD ARCHER. 
 
 was recklessly entering the innermost recesses of her 
 life and nature. 
 
 " It's no use trying to be absolutely devoted to 
 your husband," she went on eagerly and disjointedly ; 
 " because no man is worth it, and no man gives you 
 the same thing in return. Strange as it sounds now, 
 I married for love ; and for six months I did not re- 
 member that another man existed besides my husband. 
 But dear me ! child, I soon found I was having my 
 trouble for my pains ; that I was simply making a fool 
 of myself for nothing. I saw he was amusing himself 
 with other women ; and so all that was left for me was 
 to amuse myself with other men. It was not a very 
 pleasant experience at first ; " and, as the woman spoke, 
 the shadow on her face deepened, and the trivial care- 
 lessness, and hard, worldly lines, faded out for the 
 second : " but I soon got over that ; and now nobody 
 has a better time than I have," she resumed, with 
 almost her accustomed laugh. 
 
 " Mrs. Conrad," said Christie, standing before her 
 with her eyes beginning to glow and her voice to 
 vibrate, " as what you call a good time would have 
 to be purchased with all I hold sacred, I cannot afford 
 to pay the price nor enjoy the profit." 
 
 This was neither a saint nor an angel : it was only 
 a miserable, sore-hearted, tortured woman, striving 
 desperately, above pain and temptation, to hold to
 
 REGINALD ARCHER. 261 
 
 that which was right. f She was not merely resisting 
 and answering the woman before her : she was fighting 
 her own nature, which made the same subtle sugges- 
 tions to her, like the whisperings of an evil spirit. 
 
 " In fairness and justice," it said, " why should you 
 feel called upon to give your husband more than he 
 gives you ? His failure in any part of the contract re- 
 leases you from your corresponding obligation ; and it 
 is silly and senseless in you not to use your just right." 
 
 The temptation was upon her daily, fanning the 
 flame of anger, pride, and revenge, of all the stormy 
 lower passions. With her increased knowledge of 
 life had come a sickening clear-sightedness as to per- 
 sons around her ; and she saw with shrinking dis- 
 gust that there were numbers of men about her whom 
 it needed but a change of expression in her eyes, but 
 the faintest answering look of comprehension or invi- 
 tation, to bring to her side in a base homage whose 
 degree and result would be for her decision. She saw 
 women every day doing this thing with apparently 
 untroubled spirits and consciences ; certainly with 
 uninjured positions. She knew exactly what Mrs. 
 Conrad's advice meant ; and, in replying to her, she 
 wag replying to herself, to the world without, and the 
 flesh and the devil within. 
 
 " My dear child, don't get excited," Mrs. Conrad 
 answered good-humoredly. " I meant no harm. I
 
 262 REGINALD ARCHER. 
 
 only intended to give you a^ little good advice from 
 my own experience. It is no use striving to be unlike 
 other people : if you live in this world, you must be 
 like it, unless you want to be miserable. Devotion, 
 and all that sort of thing, is very well for a little 
 while : and even now I think it would be better worth 
 marrying for than any thing else, if it would only 
 last ; but it never does, and that makes the utter folly 
 of love-matches. Men are all alike : they break what- 
 ever heart a woman has. I hadn't much," she con- 
 tinued with a careless laugh : " so I got off easily. But 
 I am afraid you are taking it rather hard. I don't set 
 up for a wit, as Marian Lester does : but I have learnt 
 one thing in life ; and that is, that, to be happy, you 
 must like a great many persons a little, and not care 
 too much for any one except yourself. Since I have 
 acquired that secret, I have been a contented woman," 
 she announced with perfect sincerity, and without 
 the least idea of sarcasm. 
 
 " Did you find the lesson very difficult to learn, 
 Mrs. Conrad ? " Christie almost involuntarily in- 
 quired with smothered bitterness. 
 
 " Not very," the other replied cheerfully ; " but I 
 am fortunately constituted in being able to make the 
 best of every thing. You see, when I found that love 
 was nothing but a young dream, I had still my house 
 and carriage and all the solid results of my marriage
 
 REGINALD ARCHER. 263 
 
 
 
 to fall back upon, besides the amusements of society. 
 That is the great advantage of a rich match, you 
 have something of permanent existence and value 
 after the illusions fade away. My daughter shall 
 marry money, even if she imagines she is going to 
 break her heart for some poor man ; because I know, 
 that, ten years after, she will be ready to thank me 
 on her knees for what I have done. And I give you 
 the advice now that I shall give her then, amuse 
 yourself, and make the best of life as you find it." 
 
 " Mrs. Conrad," Christie returned slowly, " your 
 ideas of making the best of life and mine differ so 
 entirely, that we can never agree on the subject." 
 
 "Very well, my dear," she responded, with un- 
 ruffled, careless good nature, her temporary interest 
 in the matter dying out: "just as you please. I 
 didn't mean to offend you or hurt you ; for I really 
 like you ; which is more than many of your professed 
 friends do," she went on with heedless truth. 
 " There's Marian Lester, who is always talking against 
 you behind your back ; though, to be sure, she does 
 that to everybody," she added, partly to exalt herself 
 by contrast, and partly upon her general principle of 
 hitting her dear friend whenever she could. 
 
 " By the way, I ought to be at home now," she 
 exclaimed as she looked at her watch, " as I expect 
 company to dinner. Good-by ! " And the volatile
 
 264 REGINALD ARCHER. 
 
 f 
 
 lady went off, and, ten minutes after, had forgotten 
 that the conversation had ever taken place. 
 
 Christie sat and wondered whether this woman and 
 those around her could be right in their estimate of 
 life and humanity. They had certainly worked out 
 the problem further than she had done : they seemed 
 to have the force of logic and fact on their side ; and, 
 differing in disposition, they all agreed as to the result 
 >f their experience. To their weight of argument 
 she could only silently oppose her passionate inward 
 conviction that love and truth are the only great last- 
 ing blessings here as hereafter ; that 'faith and honor 
 must exist in other hearts besides her own ; that, let 
 come what would in this world or the next, purity, 
 devotion, self-abnegation, and forgiveness are un- 
 speakably, infinitely better than all the satisfactions, 
 pleasures, and animal gratifications this earth can 
 offer ; and that they, and they alone, are to be pur- 
 sued as the true life of both soul and body. 
 
 When this belief, born in every fibre of the woman's 
 original being, was crushed out, her moral nature 
 would die a natural death, and she would become, like 
 her husband, a well-bred animal, gratifying her in- 
 stincts with as little sense of sin as now troubled 
 him. Utterly alone in spirit, with the paths of evil 
 made straight before her, it was simply a question 
 between her own soul and herself. She could listen
 
 REGINALD ARCHER. 265 
 
 to the " still small voice " within her, leading her over 
 a weary, desolate road ; or, following the example and 
 teachings of those around her, she could drift with 
 the current over shining seas and through flowery 
 banks. No hand was put out to help her ; no love in 
 her heart, or in another's for her, made right-doing 
 the glory and happiness of existence. The hard, 
 bare choice, uninfluenced by love or fear, was laid 
 before her, and she made it : but it was not strange 
 that with that choice came an unutterable longing to 
 pass away and be at peace ; to share the rest prepared 
 for the people of God. 
 
 Maria, also, had surprised this look in Christie's 
 countenance, and had been perplexed and saddened 
 by it. 
 
 " You must grow very lonely in this great house 
 sometimes, when you are by yourself, Christie," she 
 could not forbear saying. 
 
 " Yes, sometimes," was the indefinite reply ; " but 
 it is generally so full of company, that I am seldom 
 alone for any length of time." 
 
 " Christie," exclaimed Maria abruptly, " it will be 
 a great blessing to you when you have children to 
 occupy your heart and mind." 
 
 " Do you think so?" was the quiet response ; but 
 a subtile something in the tone and manner made 
 
 Maria pause, and then change the subject. 
 12
 
 266 REGINALD ARCHER. 
 
 Christie could not tell the other woman, that, if she 
 thanked God for nothing else, she thanked him from 
 the bottom of her heart that it was not probable that 
 she would bring any child into the world to sin as its 
 father had sinned, or to suffer as she had suffered. 
 
 It was only those who caught glimpses of her inner 
 life who were dimly aware of her real feeling. To 
 the world she became every day more brilliant and 
 agreeable, and consequently more admired. She was 
 gaining a keen, arrowy wit, and a power of expression, 
 which the aggressive members of her set soon learned 
 
 oo 
 
 to respect and avoid. She tried hard to carry Chris- 
 tianity into word as well as deed ; to forgive both 
 speech and act: but she found that self-preservation 
 is the first law of nature ; that she was forced to 
 defend herself, and to teach others to forego the 
 amusement of tormenting her. 
 
 " Upon my word," exclaimed Reginald in delight- 
 ed surprise, " my wife is growing to be the wittiest 
 woman I know ! While she and Tom are alive, I can 
 never lack amusement." And he had a genuine sen- 
 timent of gratitude to Providence, or whatever power 
 had thus provided for his entertainment. 
 
 He liked nothing better than to have a chat with 
 her over the breakfast-table ; and ceased, in conse- 
 quence, to take that meal in his dressing-room. He 
 would discuss the persons they had met the night
 
 REGINALD ARCHER. 267 
 
 before, and listen to her shrewd comments and fine 
 perceptions of character with the same interest that a 
 good play or a well-written novel afforded him. 
 
 " You gave Mrs. Lester a Roland for her Oliver last 
 night," he laughed one morning. 
 
 Christie flushed slightly, with a pained look in her 
 face. 
 
 " I could not help Jt," she answered. " She forced 
 me to teach her that she must let me live in peace." 
 
 " I think you drew sufficient blood to prevent her 
 from trying such a passage of arms with you again," 
 he replied gayly. 
 
 " Mrs. Lester's mistake in life is, that she does not 
 understand human nature well enough to play the 
 game she attempts," Christie said slowly. 
 
 " That is the silliest of all blunders ! " exclaimed 
 Reginald. 
 
 " She always reminds me," she answered, " of a 
 story papa used to tell, because she does not know 
 just what its hero found out. A friend of papa's 
 kicked a man down stairs for cheating at cards, and, 
 five years after, happened to see the same man per- 
 forming the same operation upon another person. 
 ' Why, how is this, my friend? where did you get 
 courage to kick anybody after letting me de it' to 
 you?' 'Ah! my dear sir,' the man answered with 
 the most charming smile, ' you and I know whom to
 
 268 REGINALD ARCHER. 
 
 kick.' Mrs. Lester is just the reverse of this : she 
 doesn't know whom to kick. She tries it upon 
 everybody ; but sometimes she finds herself mistaken 
 as to the proper individual." 
 
 " Precisely ! " returned Reginald with peals of 
 soft laughter. " That story contains the whole prac- 
 tical philosophy of life." 
 
 And he soon after went off to his club to repeat it 
 again and again. 
 
 Thus day by day Christie was compelled to fight, 
 forced to use weapons she hated. She seemed to 
 herself slipping away from all her old ideals, her old 
 aspirations ; and the wit and keenness which others 
 admired were a shame and a sorrow to the woman 
 who possessed them, and who used them in self- 
 defence. If a lamb were thrown among wolves, and 
 lived long enough among them without being de- 
 voured, it would certainly develop teeth and talons, 
 and exercise them after the wolf fashion, from abso- 
 lute necessity. " Lead us not into temptation ; but 
 deliver us from evil." Ah ! the Divine Wisdom and 
 Love well knew how needful was that petition to 
 each frail mortal who walks this sinful, sorrowful 
 earth. 
 
 The. woman who prayed it then, prayed also for 
 deliverance from life and its intolerable burden.
 
 CHAPTER XIX. 
 
 ~T LOYD TRUXTON'S wooing had sped famous- 
 -L-^ ly ; and he and Ellen had been for some time 
 past engaged to be married. 
 
 As yet, Torn knew nothing of the matter. Lloyd 
 had not courage to approach him on the subject, 
 feeling instinctively that he would meet with oppo- 
 sition, and wishing, above all things, to conciliate his 
 future brother-in-law, upon whom he hoped to lean 
 for support. He soon felt that Ellen would be a 
 much more successful advocate than himself ; and to 
 her he confided the difficult task of gaining Tom's 
 consent. 
 
 For such a silly little creature she accomplished it 
 adroitly, working upon her brother's nature with in- 
 stinctive dexterity. 
 
 She waited for him one night when he came in 
 rather late. Noticing a light in the drawing-room 
 after the usual hour, he looked in to see who was 
 there, supposing it might be Arnold sitting up for 
 him. 
 
 269
 
 270 REGINALD ARCHER. 
 
 "You here, Ellen ? " he exclaimed. " Why, how is 
 this, little woman ? You will lose your roses if you 
 sit up so late." 
 
 " I waited to see you, Tom. I wanted to say 
 something to you." 
 
 He had spoketi carelessly, though kindly ; but, as 
 the girl answered, he glanced at her face, and saw 
 that she was -in earnest, and that what was coming 
 was important, at least to her. 
 
 " What is it, my dear ? " he asked pleasantly as he 
 sat down before her. 
 
 Still the girl hesitated, with a flush upon her face ; 
 and Tom saw that it must be something even more 
 serious than he had imagined. 
 
 " Ellen, you are not afraid of me. Whatever you 
 have to say, say it, my dear." 
 
 " Tom," she broke out suddenly, " I am engaged to 
 Lloyd Truxton, and I want you to let me marry him." 
 
 Tom started visibly. He opened his lips as 
 though to make some energetic exclamation ; then 
 slowly closed them, and, sitting back in his chair, 
 looked at her with a weary, pained sadness in his 
 eyes, which would have deeply touched a deeper- 
 natured woman. The girl before him had neither 
 heart nor brain to comprehend his feeling ; but she 
 had the instinctive good sense to say nothing, and to 
 let him speak first.
 
 REGINALD ARCHER. 271 
 
 " Ellen," he said slowly, " I must tell you that 
 Lloyd Truxton is the last person to whom I would 
 wish to see you married ; and I am not at all sure that 
 I ought to give my consent. He is a bad man, and has 
 led a bad life ; and I do not see how any good woman 
 could be happy with him. If I could tell you the 
 whole truth, you would shrink away in disgust from 
 him, instead of wishing to be bound to him forever." 
 
 " He is good enough to be Reginald's intimate 
 friend. I have never heard him say any thing 
 against Lloyd," she answered, with a sullen resent- 
 ment of his words. 
 
 Again Tom hesitated painfully. To lower his 
 brother in his sister's eyes, to exhibit him to her, even 
 partially, in his real light, was what he could scarcely 
 bring himself to do. 
 
 " Unfortunately, Ellen," he said very gravely, 
 " Reginald has no friend whom I would choose as a 
 husband for you ; none, indeed, whom I would select 
 as an acquaintance for myself. I am sorry to say 
 that his standard is not that which any pure man 
 or woman could hold." 
 
 " He can't be so very bad, when he is received and 
 welcomed by the best society, by the finest ladies in 
 the city," Ellen replied, planting herself upon the 
 solid ground of hard fact. 
 
 " I know it," exclaimed Tom bitterly : " so much
 
 272 REGINALD ARCHER. 
 
 the worse for them ! But if you either square your 
 conscience or choose your husband by the rules of 
 what is called ' good society,' I am sorry for you." 
 
 " Tom," she suddenly cried out, abandoning all 
 other ground, and using her one unanswerable argu- 
 ment, " I love him ! " 
 
 A singular change came over the man's face as he 
 heard the words. With however little comprehen- 
 sion of their deep meaning the girl was speaking 
 them, to him they meant all that was real and last- 
 ing in the universe. She had struck his vulnerable 
 point both by nature and circumstances. He uncon- 
 sciously measured the depth of her feeling by his own, 
 and imagined her suffering would be what his had 
 been in the loss of the being he loved. Poor Tom ! 
 he had not the heart to inflict this torture upon any 
 one, least of all upon his weak little sister. 
 
 " My dear," he said very tenderly, " if that really 
 be the case, I have nothing more to say, except to 
 warn you as to Lloyd's true character, and leave you 
 to come to your own decision. But, for God's sake ! 
 don't deceive yourself on either point, and make 
 yourself wretched for life." 
 
 " I have considered the matter well," Ellen an- 
 swered ; " I have thought of nothing else since last 
 summer; and I have determined to marry Lloyd 
 Truxton."
 
 REGINALD ARCHER. 273 
 
 " Then," said Tom wearily, "there is nothing left 
 for me to say or do. Your being my sister affords 
 me no control over you ; but it gives me a deep in- 
 terest in your welfare, and a love for you which can 
 never change, Ellen, as you know without my saying 
 it." 
 
 " I know it, Tom," she replied softly, and, going 
 up to him, kissed him. 
 
 They were not a demonstratively affectionate fam- 
 ily ; and the somewhat unaccustomed action touched 
 Tom's sore, hungry heart. He took the little crea- 
 ture in his arms very lovingly. 
 
 "If he makes you happy, I will try to forgive him 
 his past life ; but I can't see my little sister misera- 
 ble, either without him or with him," he said as he 
 returned her kiss. 
 
 " But, my child," he exclaimed a few moments 
 after, " how does Lloyd expect to take care of you ? 
 I have never heard of his being in any business. 
 Has he any thing to support you on ? " 
 
 " Ah, Tom! " she replied, clinging more closely to 
 him, " we thought you would take care of that." 
 
 A curious chill struck through the man ; and his 
 warm, affectionate clasp loosened suddenly into a 
 formal embrace. 
 
 " Ah ! that's it, is it ? " he thought bitterly. " It 
 
 is money, after all, that this unusual tenderness 
 12*
 
 274 REGINALD ARCHER. 
 
 \ 
 
 means. That is why she asks my consent, instead 
 of coolly acting without it. I am expected to be- 
 stow a yearly income upon the young people with my 
 blessing. Well," he continued to himself, with a 
 sinking sense of disappointment in every thing human 
 and material, " my money might as well go in that 
 way as in any other. It has certainly given me very 
 little happiness ; and, if it can bring it to others, 
 why should I withhold it ? " 
 
 " Ellen," he said quietly after a pause, during 
 which the girl had waited eagerly for the effect of 
 her words, "it is not my duty to support an idle 
 man, nor do I think it best for Lloyd that I should 
 do so ; but, if he is willing to work, I will see that 
 he is very well paid. You are my sister, and have 
 an inalienable, natural claim upon me ; and, if you 
 determine to marry him, I will do what I can for you 
 and your husband. You can tell Lloyd what I say, 
 and let him act as he chooses." 
 
 " Thank you, dear Tom ! " replied Ellen, radiant 
 at having secured this much thus easily, and trusting 
 herself and time to make it much more : " you are 
 always as kind as you can be." 
 
 " Good-night, my dear! " was his only answer; and 
 then he went out of the room and up stairs to bed. 
 
 He did not give her a farewell kiss, nor allow her 
 a chance of thus bidding him adieu. He could not
 
 REGINALD ARCHER. 275 
 
 accept tokens of affection, for which he, at least par- 
 tially, paid in dollars and cents. He was capable of 
 any Quixotic generosity ; he would have given her 
 all he possessed uncalculatingly, almost unthinking- 
 ly, had she really needed it : but this cool balancing 
 of emotion and gold, this deliberate mixing of 
 love and money, sickened him to the heart. If they 
 wanted his cash, let them take it ; but he preferred 
 not accepting the offered payment in return. 
 
 " I am a sort of walking porte-monnaie or check- 
 book ; I believe that is all I am to anybody," he 
 thought, with a disgust equally divided between him- 
 self and those who had systematically traded upon 
 his family feeling. 
 
 Thus thinking, he passed Arnold's chamber. The 
 door was ajar ; and he remembered that such was 
 always the case when he came in late. He entered 
 the apartment, led on by his hunger and thirst for 
 even the sight of something upon whose disinterested 
 truth and love he could absolutely depend. Arnold 
 was lying upon a lounge, fast asleep ; and his brother 
 went up to the couch, and stood looking down upon 
 him. Long, ugly, and ungainly, in any thing but a 
 graceful attitude, he was more lovely in Tom's eyes 
 than the most radiant physical beauty could have 
 made him. He had the strongest impulse to stoop 
 and kiss him, as he might have done to a woman :
 
 276 REGINALD ARCHER. 
 
 as it was, he drew the hair back from the temples 
 with the softest loving touch. 
 
 " He really loves me : he would be the same if I 
 had nothing to give him." And he seemed to rest his 
 world-weary heart and tired eyes by even looking at 
 him. 
 
 " Wake up, my dear boy ! " he said presently : 
 " you'll take cold if you lie here." 
 
 Arnold shook himself, and rose ; a pleasant light 
 coming into his dull eyes as he saw who was arous- 
 ing him. 
 
 " Waiting for me as usual, Arnold ? " Tom asked, 
 with a laugh that had a curious thrill through it. 
 
 " I did not keep very good watch," returned the 
 other ; " but I fell asleep while I was reading." 
 
 " Why do you always sit up for me, 3-011 foolish 
 feUow ? " said Tom, with the same vibration in his 
 tone. 
 
 " Oh ! I don't know," answered the other, half 
 laughing, and coloring slightly ; " but I have a feel- 
 ing that I can rest better when I know that you are 
 safely and peacefully asleep." 
 
 Tom laid his hand on his brother's shoulder, and 
 the two men looked at each other with inexpressible 
 tenderness. Then, with inherent Anglo-Saxon reti- 
 cence, Tom turned quietly away, without a word to 
 give voice to his feeling.
 
 REGINALD ARCHER. 277 
 
 " You can go to your bed now," he said after a 
 moment, " with nothing on your mind ; for I am 
 going to mine. Good-night ! " he added, and went 
 off. 
 
 It was the farewell word he had spoken to his sis- 
 ter but a few moments before ; but what a different 
 meaning it now bore ! The tone was a caress and a 
 blessing ; and it came from a heart whose bitterness 
 and chill had vanished before the warmth and light 
 of love. 
 
 Tom's consent to his marriage, and promise of 
 assistance, being announced to Lloyd, he felt that he 
 had a provision for life. Thus re-enforced, he went 
 to Reginald, and told him his plans and intentions. 
 That gentleman was rather surprised, but acquiesced 
 calmly in the arrangements, as he did in every thing 
 which did not personally incommode him. 
 
 " So Ellen worked Tom up into saying yes, and in 
 agreeing to help to support you both? She's a 
 sharper little thing than I gave her credit for being," 
 Reginald said when Lloyd told him all the circum- 
 stances. " You are certainly not a very great match 
 for her ; but, after all, it is better than having a 
 stranger coming into the family and making things 
 disagreeable. So the marriage suits me well enough ; 
 and I promise you I will do as much for you and 
 Ellen as Tom does," he wound up, magnificently dis-
 
 278 REGINALD ARCHER. 
 
 posing of Christie's money as he had done with that 
 of some one all his life. 
 
 And again Lloyd Truxton thanked his lucky star 
 which had led him to ally himself with the Archers. 
 
 Reginald announced the news to Christie that day 
 at dinner. She did not seem as much astonished as 
 he expected. 
 
 " I imagined something of the kind was going on 
 last summer ; but, as nothing seemed to come of it, 
 I hoped I was mistaken," she said slowly, with a 
 troubled look in her face. 
 
 " Why did you hope you were mistaken ? What 
 is your objection to the match ? " he asked. 
 
 " Oh ! I don't know," she answered evasively, "ex- 
 cept that I don't think he is the sort of man to make 
 a woman happy." 
 
 Reginald knew perfectly what she meant ; but, not 
 caring to discuss the subject, it dropped. 
 
 The next morning, Christie went to Ellen's home, 
 apparently to congratulate her upon her engagement, 
 but really with a different purpose. 
 
 " I cannot let her take such a step in utter blind- 
 ness, as I did," she was thinking as she walked 
 towards the house. " She will neither understand 
 nor believe me, I suppose : but I cannot have it upon 
 my conscience not to give her some idea of the char- 
 acter of the man she wants to marry; some reminder
 
 REGINALD ARCHER. 279 
 
 of the truth, and its inevitable consequences. It can- 
 not be that she knows what she is doing ; and, in the 
 barest justice, some one ought to tell her before it is 
 too late." 
 
 Entering the house, she found Ellen and Maria 
 together. She went through some of the forms and* 
 phrases customary on such occasions ; all of which 
 Ellen received with a cool serenity wonderful to 
 behold. Maria was much the more agitated of the 
 two ; for she was capable of hopes and fears which 
 could not be satisfied by the certainty of a future 
 material support and a matrimonial position. She 
 had a brain to think, and a heart to feel ; and both 
 took a wider range than could have been filled by 
 money and gratified vanity. Lloyd Truxton was no 
 favorite of hers, though she had only heard vaguely 
 of his course of life. She had very little pleasure 
 in this marriage ; though, like Tom, she thought it 
 useless to oppose that which Ellen was determined 
 upon. But she was so generous in her love for her 
 sister, that she showed her interest, and not her 
 anxiety ; and talked cheerfully of an engagement 
 upon which, in her own heart, she sat in sorrowful 
 judgment. 
 
 Thus they talked of Ellen's plans, until Christie 
 began to fear that she would have no opportunity of 
 carrying out her real purpose. She was about to
 
 280 REGINALD ARCHER. 
 
 relinquish her intention, and take her leave, when 
 Maria was called out of the room ; and her chance 
 for speaking unexpectedly came to her. 
 
 " Ellen," she said hurriedly, " when I heard last 
 night of your engagement, I prayed God you might 
 be happy ; but I thought some one ought to tell you 
 the character of the person you have promised to 
 marry, as you must be ignorant of it. I can't see 
 you, unwarned, link yourself to a man who has led 
 an impure life, and who has no idea of honor as 
 regards women. You may hate me for telling you 
 the truth ; but I can't stand by and see you uncon- 
 sciously make yourself wretched." 
 
 In her passionate earnestness, Christie had risen 
 to her feet, and was standing before Ellen, with her 
 voice and her lips quivering, and the tears springing 
 into her eyes. 
 
 The girl looked up coolly at her. 
 
 " Lloyd is Reginald's constant companion, and I 
 suppose is no worse than he is ; yet you found my 
 brother good enough, not only to engage yourself to, 
 but to marry," she returned quietly. 
 
 The color rushed into Christie's face ; and she 
 turned away quickly, almost as though Ellen had 
 struck her. She could not give the answer which 
 sprung to her lips : 
 
 " If I had known even the shadow of the truth,
 
 REGINALD ARCHER. 281 
 
 I would have bitten out my tongue before it should 
 have said yes ; and I judged you by myself." 
 
 She shut her teeth to prevent the words from 
 escaping in spite of her will. 
 
 " Lloyd is just about what men ordinarily are," 
 Ellen went on calmly ; " and most married women 
 seem to get on very well." 
 
 Christie looked silently at her in weary hopeless- 
 ness, and with a contempt which wavered strangely 
 between herself and the girl before her. 
 
 " It would be as well to talk to a blind man of color, 
 or to a deaf man of sound, as to appeal to purity, 
 honor, delicacy, and truth, in a person devoid of moral 
 sense and fine instinct. I am an idiot for my pains," 
 she thought hotly. 
 
 And then came the old subtle doubt, whether, 
 after all, Ellen were not the wiser woman of the 
 two, in taking the best of life that she could get 
 without troubling herself with any higher considera- 
 tions than daily pleasure and daily food. She and 
 Reginald were certainly the most contented persons 
 Christie knew ; and they were surely those who 
 lived most entirely without a care or a thought be- 
 yond animal comfort and gratification. The moral 
 of the story might be instructive ; but it did not tend 
 to strengthen aspiration. Her striving towards a 
 great invisible standard and a more elevated life had
 
 282 REGINALD ARCHER. 
 
 only brought her sorrow and anguish of spirit ; and 
 it was scarcely strange, that, at the moment, she 
 hardly knew which to despise, the girl or herself. 
 
 Maria's re-entrance cut short the conversation ; and, 
 soon after, Christie went back to her splendid home, 
 more heart-sick and weary of life than ever. 
 
 Lloyd Truxton determined to secure his promised 
 pecuniary advantages as soon as possible, and so 
 pressed for an immediate marriage. As Ellen was 
 easily persuaded, he gained his object ; and the prep- 
 arations went speedily forward. Every one lent a 
 helping hand ; even Christie and Tom facilitating 
 that which they could not prevent. Tom offered his 
 sister a very handsome wedding, or the money it 
 would cost invested for her benefit ; and, with unex- 
 pected good sense, she chose the latter. 
 
 Consequently, the end of the month of her engage- 
 ment saw her quietly married ; saw her made Mrs. 
 Lloyd Truxton, greatly to her own satisfaction, if to 
 that of no one else. 
 
 One fact, at -least, concerning this wedding, must 
 not pass unnoticed ; for, in Ellen's eyes, it was a most 
 important item : the diamond cross which Tom pre- 
 sented her was even larger and handsomer than the 
 one he had given Christie. 
 
 Could mortal bliss demand more !
 
 CHAPTER XX. 
 
 ""TTTAS the ball brilliant last night?" asked 
 V V Reginald carelessly, as he and Christie sat 
 at the breakfast-table one morning several weeks 
 after Ellen's marriage. 
 
 He had accompanied his wife and sister to the 
 entertainment, but had soon excused himself and 
 gone off in another direction, leaving them both 
 under Lloyd's care. 
 
 " Yes," she replied, " about what such things 
 usually are. But you missed the chief sensation of 
 the evening } for the new beauty, Mrs. Van Arsdale, 
 came in after you left." 
 
 " Ah, indeed ! " exclaimed Reginald, awakening 
 into sudden interest. " I am sorry I did not see her ; 
 for they have been talking about her at the club for 
 a week. All the men are raving about her singular 
 red-gold hair and her black eyes. Is she still so 
 very handsome ? " 
 
 " Remarkable looking, and extremely, strikingly 
 pretty. She would be beautiful, if she had either 
 sense or soul in her face," Christie replied. 
 
 283
 
 284 REGINALD ARCHER. 
 
 " That is just as I remember her," answered Regi- 
 nald. 
 
 " Why, I did not know you had ever seen her." 
 
 " Oh, yes ! I was introduced to her when she was 
 here five years ago on her bridal trip ; but she was 
 too nearly an unformed girl in those days to show 
 her beauty to advantage. I hear her social education, 
 and knowledge of how to use her charms, have pro- 
 gressed amazingly since then," he added with a laugh. 
 
 " She said she had come to the city to live perma- 
 nently; and she seemed very glad of it." 
 
 " I can imagine so," he exclaimed. " ' No pent-up 
 Utica ' for her any longer." 
 
 " Shall I call on her ? " asked Christie indifferent- 
 ly. " Every one is doing so." 
 
 Reginald paused for a moment before answering ; 
 and a curious expression came into his eyes. 
 
 " Just as you please," he said quietly ; " but, unless 
 you wish to go, I think I would stay away. She is 
 not at all your style ; and I am sure, that, the more 
 you knew her, the less you would like her." 
 
 The moment Mrs. Van Arsdale's residence in the 
 city was announced, Reginald had foreseen possibili- 
 ties of connection between himself and her (as in- 
 deed he did with every beautiful or distinguished 
 woman with whom he seemed likely to be thrown) , 
 which would render it best that she should be cut
 
 REGINALD ARCHER. 
 
 off from intercourse with his wife : so he prudently 
 provided against contingencies, as it were on specu- 
 lation, and discouraged the acquaintanceship, as gen- 
 erally undesirable. 
 
 " Leave her to such women as Mrs. Lester and 
 Mrs. Conrad ; they will suit her much better," he 
 added. 
 
 " She seemed to have left herself to them last 
 night," said Christie, smiling. " They appeared to 
 have fallen into a sort of spiritual triangular em- 
 brace, from what I saw." 
 
 " I understand exactly," laughed Reginald: "they 
 will agree capitally for a little while, until she hap- 
 pens to offend one of them, or stand in her way. 
 Then let her look out ; for they will make her wish 
 she had never seen them. I have watched that game 
 too often not to know it by this time ; and I advise 
 you to keep out of the whole affair." 
 
 Talking in his grand, debonair manner, and grace- 
 fully patronizing the whole social system, Reginald 
 Archer little realized what truth there was in his 
 own words : far less did he dream how terribly it 
 would behoove him to follow his own advice. 
 
 "I am sure I have no desire to know her more 
 intimately, and should be quite satisfied if I were 
 never to hear her name again," Christie answered 
 indifferently.
 
 286 REGINALD ARCHER. 
 
 She would repeat those final careless words again 
 and again in her heart with a strangely-altered feel- 
 ing ; for the days, even the years, were rapidly ap- 
 proaching, when a wild desire never again to have 
 Lucretia Van Arsdale brought back to her conscious- 
 ness would be the great, agonized longing of her 
 life. 
 
 " Very well, then ; don't put her down on your vis- 
 iting-list," Reginald said as he left the room ; and 
 the matter was settled. 
 
 Years ago, I stood looking at a picture by Leonardo 
 da Vinci, with an admiration which was mingled with 
 a curious sense of astonishment. The subject was 
 Herodias' daughter. The hideous, swarthy execu- 
 tioner stood there, offering to Salome the charger 
 upon which lay the pale, bleeding head of the proph- 
 et. Over the girl's shoulder peers the handsome, 
 old, revengeful face of Herodias, with its smile of 
 cruel and complete satisfaction. Passionate triumph 
 over her fallen enemy, the fire of wounded pride, 
 all the emotions of the strong, wicked nature, are in 
 the strong, wicked face. But it is Salome herself 
 who rouses surprise, and rivets attention, by the 
 strange contrast between her trivial slightness and 
 the intensity and strength of the others. Not as she 
 is usually painted an imperious, hot-blooded, superb 
 woman, -sharing her mother's nature, and executing
 
 REGINALD ARCHER. 287 
 
 * 
 
 her will because it is also her own had the great 
 master represented her, but as a delicately, felinely 
 beautiful creature, with a shadow of cold, hard 
 cruelty in the almost meagre lines of face and figure. 
 A slight young girl, radiant with the sheen of red- 
 gold tresses, the dark gleam of drooping, almond- 
 shaped eyes, and the color of scarlet lips drawn some- 
 what closely over glittering teeth, but, withal, a 
 senseless, soulless being, who shocks you, even in 
 that scene, like a monstrosity ; a court-dancer, Avill- 
 ingly doing her mother's bidding, through sheer 
 indifference to any thing beyond her own comfort 
 and pleasure ; destroying a great prophet as gayly as 
 she would have killed a fly, from lack of sufficient 
 brain to comprehend the difference between them, 
 from want of sufficient heart to consider others for a 
 single moment, this, and nothing more. 
 
 She stands extending her lovely arms to receive 
 the charger with its ghastly burden ; her only recog- 
 nition of its horror being, that she slightly turns away 
 her head to save herself the physical annoyance of 
 gazing at any thing disagreeable. The shine in her 
 eyes and the smile upon her lips are those she has 
 brought from dancing before the king ; and the in- 
 toxication of gratified vanity is so strongly upon her, 
 that she seems swaying, almost swooning, with sen- 
 suous delight. The plaudits of king and court are
 
 288 REGINALD ARCHER. 
 
 still ringing in her ears ; and the death-moans of her 
 victim do not even suggest themselves to her remotest 
 consciousness. The shallow, pleasure-adoring nature 
 has only room for self-love and physical gratification : 
 the necessary space for remorse, or suffering for sin, 
 is not in it. The old painter had studied, not merely 
 the deep mysteries of his art, but those of humanity ; 
 he had reached the subtlest truths of each; and I 
 learned afresh from his wondrous hand that the most 
 dangerous of created beings are those soulless sinners 
 who will not know what they do, and who are too 
 absolutely fitted to their lives and occupations ever 
 to turn from them, or to feel degradation in dreadful 
 act or lowest life. Passion fades out, hate relents, 
 revenge sometimes sheathes its weapon ; all the mad, 
 evil impulses of the human heart die a natural death 
 in course of time, or waver before obstacles : but 
 what can ever change vanity, ignorance, and utter 
 levity ? and before what will they stop or stay their 
 course ? Let come what will ; let the prophet of the 
 Lord perish ; let truth and right be trampled in the 
 streets ; let blood flow, and sin and shame follow, 
 Salome will be glad and gay so long as she can dance 
 and be applauded ; so long as she can read admira- 
 tion in the eyes of a goodly Jew or gallant Roman. 
 
 My first sight of Lucretia Van Arsdale gave me 
 so strong a sensation of having seen her before, that
 
 . REGINALD ARCHER. 289 
 
 I could scarcely believe such was not the case. Yet 
 we had never met ; and for a long time I searched 
 in vain for a reason for the strange familiarity of her 
 aspect. Suddenly the recollection of Leonardo da 
 Vinci's picture flashed upon me, and made all clear. 
 The faces and figures were almost identical ; and I 
 lived to know that the characters were no less so. 
 
 This was the woman who was now to cross Regi- 
 nald Archer's path ; who was to bring sorrow and 
 destruction alike to the innocent and the guilty. 
 
 She had been born in one of the smaller Western 
 cities ; and there her husband had married her, a 
 beautiful but unformed girl. There, too, she had lived 
 until she had matured into her present appearance 
 and style. 
 
 Mr. Van Arsdale had adored his wife ; still admired 
 her extravagantly ; and, indeed, loved her as much 
 as it was possible to love such a trivial being after 
 long association. He was a quiet, gray-eyed man, 
 who toiled at his legal profession for money, which 
 his wife had the pleasure of spending. Morally, he 
 was no better and no worse than the majority of men, 
 and led very much their life. He had but two strik- 
 ing characteristics, a capacity for hard work, and 
 for still, concentrated passion. Both temper and 
 heart combined to give him the power to love 
 and to hate with unmeasured intensity. He was a 
 
 13
 
 290 REGINALD ARCHER. 
 
 curiously undemonstrative person ; but it would have 
 been difficult for a keen observer to look at him with- 
 out seeing that it would be as well to allow him to 
 remain so. What little culture she would take, and 
 what social style she had acquired, were chiefly ow- 
 ing to his endeavor; but she had long since passed 
 beyond his control. 
 
 " Van Arsdale has built up his wife," Reginald 
 once laughed ; " but I declare he would have to get 
 on a scaffolding now to reach her, the little lady 
 carries her head so high." And he stated the case 
 very correctly. 
 
 It was the night after his talk with Christie upon 
 the new social star that Reginald entered a ball-room 
 with curiosity and interest roused by the prospect of 
 seeing the much-discussed beauty. He was not dis- 
 appointed. He recognized her, standing near the 
 host, surrounded by a cordon of admirers, the centre 
 of observation. Moving up the room with Christie, 
 he surveyed Mrs. Van Arsdale at his leisure. 
 
 She was one of those women whose radiant color- 
 ing requires none in their dress ; whose tinting be- 
 comes a vivid glory when contrasted against a dead 
 background. She wore this night a dress of rich 
 black lace, with some striking arrangement in her 
 red-gold hair, which gave her the effect of a Spanish 
 beauty. Her slender neck and arms and snowy
 
 REGINALD ARCHER. 291 
 
 shoulders shone like alabaster against their slight 
 shading ; and skin and lips and eyes had a clear bril- 
 liancy of color which was almost magical. Without 
 flower or jewel, she seemed the most splendidly- 
 dressed woman in the room. 
 
 She was evidently enjoying her position to the 
 full ; giving a look to one, a side-glance to another, 
 and a smile to a third ; making each think his favor 
 best Avorth having, with a cool dexterity which 
 showed she had practised the art long and well. As 
 Reginald approached that end of the room to make 
 his salutation to his entertainer, she glanced at him, 
 and then looked again, with the thought that had 
 been in so many women's minds, that he was the 
 handsomest man she had ever seen. 
 
 She remembered him in a moment, and, as Mr. and 
 Mrs. Archer turned from the lady of the house, 
 smiled the sweetest smile upon the wife to attract 
 the attention of the husband. 
 
 " I remember Mrs. Van Arsdale so well, that I 
 presume to hope she has not entirely forgotten me," 
 said Reginald, as he made his superb bow before 
 her ; and she returned it with equal grace and em- 
 pressement. 
 
 As he raised his head, their eyes met ; and that 
 strange, slight look of mutual recognition and under- 
 standing, which always flashes between such a man
 
 292 REGINALD ARCHER. 
 
 and woman, passed swiftly between them, and the 
 beginning of the end had come. That curious 
 glance, and the smile in the depths of the eyes, noti- 
 fies each instantly of the past life and present char- 
 acter of the other. It is as though the devil in each 
 silently looks out, and salutes his fellow in the other. 
 There is no need of further explanation : each knows 
 the old familiar ground, and exactly how any word 
 or act will be received, just the old game ; and the 
 players have the confidence of certainty and long 
 practice. 
 
 Standing quietly by, Christie caught the expres- 
 sion, as she had done so often before. A man seldom 
 makes eyes over his wife's head without her becom- 
 ing aware of the fact, whether he be moved by 
 criminal intent or mere shallow vanity ; and there 
 is scarcely a woman alive whose love will bear such 
 attrition, or who will not learn with startling rapidity 
 the lesson thus conveyed and the art thus taught. 
 Once making up her mind to benefit by the instruc- 
 tion, and practise upon her own account, she soon 
 surpasses her teacher in skill, dexterity, and ardor in 
 the pursuit. Unless, like Reginald Archer, a man be 
 absolutely regardless of his wife's love, attention, or 
 honor, unless he be perfectly willing for her to go to 
 any length that may please her, he is paying a haz- 
 ardous price in setting her such an example ; in mak-
 
 REGINALD ARCHER. 293 
 
 ing her feel, that, let come what will, the initiatory 
 responsibility rests with him. 
 
 But Reginald had long since divorced himself from 
 such weakness and unfairness concerning his wife, 
 and enjoyed himself without fear. 
 
 Christie, like all innocent but original, clear- 
 sighted women, from seeing nothing, had come to see 
 every thing. Nothing escaped her silent observation, 
 nor her terribly truthful interpretation ; and, as she 
 stood talking to the gentleman in front of her, she 
 was quietly watching the by-play between Mrs. Van 
 Arsdale and her husband, with the sensation with 
 which such scenes always filled her. He had no 
 longer any place in her heart, and consequently could 
 not make that -heart ache and bleed : she had none 
 of the ordinary feeling of jealousy, as that necessi- 
 tates some remnant of affection. But when a man 
 or woman has had a great magnanimous faith in an- 
 other, and has seen it pass away forever, there some- 
 times grows, out of very sorrow and shame, a dread- 
 ful sense of bitter humor. To look unshrinkingly at 
 the thing we have worshipped, and see it in its naked 
 outline and natural colors ; to watch it in its blind 
 vanity displaying itself in all its lights, exhibiting 
 more and more with every movement its weakness 
 and coarseness, if not its mean falsity ; holding up to 
 view its shallowness, its triviality, its pitiful suscep-
 
 294 REGINALD ARCHER. 
 
 tibility to flattery from any and every source, to do 
 this sometimes stirs a laughter which is more terrible 
 than burning tears. Love can co-exist with almost 
 every sensation except absolute contempt : that kills 
 it once and forever. The devotion which would be 
 strong and steadfast to resist poverty, temptation, the 
 powers of earth and hell combined for its destruction, 
 will wither like Jonah's gourd at the breath of this 
 subtile sentiment. If it once dimly enters a woman's 
 heart in connection with the man she loves, let him 
 look to it speedily ; for his power over her is going, 
 and going fast. Nothing is so effective nor so 
 permanent in healing heart-wounds: when the full 
 heat of that iron has gone over them, they are indeed 
 cicatrized. 
 
 It was this cruel cure which had come to Christie, 
 enabling her to stand and watch the scene before her 
 with such a terrible perversion of the grief, anger, 
 and shame, which would have naturally filled her 
 heart at the sight. She had long since parted with 
 personal feeling in regard to her husband's conduct ; 
 and its absence told its own wretched tale. 
 
 Special resentment towards Mrs. Van Arsdale did 
 not occur to her. She knew that, if not she, it would 
 only have been some other of the thousand and one 
 bold, if not bad women, which such men meet ready 
 to their hands at every turn. Talking wittily to
 
 REGINALD ARCHER. 295 
 
 those around her, her physical frame was thrilling 
 with disgust : her soul was rilled with the old wild 
 longing to escape by some means from the evil which 
 surrounded her like a tainted atmosphere. That 
 startling difference between a woman's feeling and 
 seeming was seldom greater than then, as Christie's 
 eyes and words both grew brighter, though the glitter 
 of each was that of steel rather than of sunshine. 
 
 Mrs. Van Arsdale was undeniably the great suc- 
 cess of the evening. She had, as it were, the whole 
 company pursuing her ; but Reginald held his own 
 gallantly, keeping the head of the course like a 
 splendid racer. He soon found she was below medi- 
 ocrity in intellect, and did not comprehend half the 
 beautifully-turned compliments he paid her ; but it 
 gave for a little while a piquant spice to the situa- 
 tion to see her turn up her splendid eyes and show 
 her pearly teeth at appropriate moments, as though 
 by instinct, in reply to sentences she did not and 
 could not comprehend. Handsome as she was, he 
 might have tired of this, but that two-thirds of the 
 men in the room were dying to be in his place ; and 
 that sustained the excitement. He had openly en- 
 tered the lists ; and his reputation did not suffer him 
 to leave or to remain, except as winner. Incapable 
 of love at any time, coolly critical of -the woman 
 before him, and conscious of her absolute worthless-
 
 296 REGINALD ARCHER. 
 
 ness except as a fine animal, he and his intimates well 
 knew the work for the next few months which this 
 night was carving out. 
 
 But Reginald seldom cheapened himself by be- 
 stowing too large a portion of his time and attention 
 upon any one, and, before the evening was over, 
 left Mrs. Van Arsdale, and came to that part of the 
 room where his wife, Mrs. Lester, and several other 
 ladies, formed a gay group. Making himself su- 
 premely fascinating to the party, he showed Mrs. 
 Van Arsdale his value among other women. 
 
 But that lady was of a most practical turn of 
 mind, and never wasted her time in even momentary 
 regrets over any one man, let him be what he might. 
 So, turning to the next comer, she lavished upon him 
 the same smiles and meaning glances she had given 
 his predecessor. 
 
 He happened to be a rich young fool, whose money 
 gave him a certain importance in society, which par- 
 doned his stupidity and homeliness in consideration 
 of his prodigality. He was accustomed to the defer- 
 ence he was receiving, and to keeping better men at 
 bay. Except that he was the ugliest, instead of the 
 handsomest man in the room, Mrs. Van Arsdale 
 found him quite as agreeable a companion as the 
 witty, cultivated gentleman who had given place to 
 him; indeed, understanding his conversation much
 
 REGINALD ARCHER. 297 
 
 better, she answered it with much more comfort to 
 herself. 
 
 The group around Reginald looked on with an 
 amusement which he perfectly shared. Reginald's 
 vanity had the rare peculiarity of never injuring his 
 sense of humor, as his vices did not affect his percep- 
 tion nor his sense of justice, traits which place 
 him alone in my memory. The situation tickled his 
 fancy ; and he smiled over it more genuinely, perhaps, 
 than any one present. But even the millionnaire was 
 not allowed to retain his place very long : he was 
 soon crowded away by a set of old society beaux, 
 who had been waiting their opportunity, and who 
 each received the same prodigal welcome. 
 
 "It's all fish that comes to Mrs. Van Arsdale's 
 net," laughed one of the gentlemen who stood by 
 Christie. 
 
 " Did you ever see such a woman ! " exclaimed 
 Mrs. Lester, who was beginning to lose her temper 
 at this entire monopoly of the general attention. 
 " Why, she would make eyes at the archangel Ga- 
 briel ! " 
 
 The tinge of virtuous indignation with which she 
 spoke was, coming from such a source, almost too 
 much for the self-control of the party. Many of 
 them bit their lips to keep down their laughter. 
 
 " Reminds one of the old saying about the pot 
 
 13*
 
 298 REGINALD ARCHER. 
 
 calling the kettle black," whispered the first speaker 
 to Reginald, evidently having a habit of saving 
 himself the wear and tear of original expression by 
 putting his thoughts into proverbs. 
 
 "I think Gabriel would be quite safe from Mrs. 
 Van Arsdale's attentions," said Christie quietly. " I 
 imagine she directs them to human rather than to 
 angelic attractions. But I fancy, that, like some other 
 persons I have known, she acts upon Burns's broad 
 general principle, that ' a man's a man for a' that.' ' : 
 
 There was a laugh, apparently at Mrs. Van Ars- 
 dale's expense ; but it was Mrs. Lester who really 
 paid for the epigram, as she was well aware. Not a 
 few of those who stood round her, who had suffered 
 from her evil tongue", rejoiced in their hearts at the 
 double hit ; and Christie's quotation from Burns 
 was repeated in connection with the elder lady for 
 many a day. 
 
 At his wife's final words Reginald turned around, 
 radiant with delight. Humor and wit charmed him 
 at all times ; and to be the legitimate possessor of 
 the wittiest woman present was always a sweet mor- 
 sel which he rolled under his tongue. 
 
 " Of course you have said the best thing which has 
 been said this evening, Christie ; you always do," he 
 whispered laughingly. " But the idea of Marian 
 Lester objecting to an equal and universal distribu-
 
 REGINALD ARCHER. 299 
 
 tion of favors ! It's too funny ! Angelic characters 
 are not in much danger from either lady, I imagine." 
 
 "And yet I can fancy Mrs. Lester discoursing 
 sentimentally to St. Paul concerning his thorn in the 
 flesh," Christie replied under her breath, " and 
 attempting to build up a flirtation upon that slender 
 foundation." 
 
 Reginald went off into soft, smothered laughter ; 
 and those around him vainly begged to know the 
 cause of his amusement. 
 
 He appreciated the delicate flattery of the fact that 
 his wife was never so brilliant as when alone with 
 him. She talked from genuine interest in her 
 subject, and not to astonish society with mental fire- 
 works ; and consequently was most responsive to the 
 listener who best comprehended her. He had ac- 
 quired, in some degree, that mental belief in and 
 admiration for his wife which he had so long pos- 
 sessed for his brother Tom. But, alas! his feeling 
 was as powerless in one case as in the other to re- 
 strain him from evil, or to control him for good. Not 
 half an hour after, he was again at Mrs. Van Ars- 
 dale's side, with that meaning look and touch of the 
 hand at parting, which were a portion of as cool and 
 deliberate a plan for his self-gratification as the order- 
 ing of his carriage or the eating of his dinner.
 
 CHAPTER XXI. 
 
 INGE the night when T.om had stood under his 
 brother's roof and seen Christie's head droop 
 with grief, he had scrupulously avoided meeting her. 
 He had tested his strength, or rather his weakness, in 
 regard to her ; and he did not dare to let #ny strain 
 come upon his self-control. They met occasionally 
 at his own house ; but he made these encounters as 
 few, short, and quiet as possible. 
 
 Yet, such as they were, he did not recover from 
 them for days after. They quickened the dull pain 
 at his heart, set his nerves quivering and his blood 
 throbbing. What slight ma'stery he had gained over 
 his passionate love he could not afford to imperil, 
 and consequently put a safe distance between them. 
 
 Yet he watched her from afar, sedulously and. 
 ceaselessly, always with one great dread of what he 
 might read in her face. 
 
 "I.s it possible to touch pitch, and not be defiled ? " 
 was the thought ever in his mind. She seemed to 
 him to be undergoing the old ordeal of walking over 
 
 300
 
 REGINALD ARCHER. 301 
 
 hot iron; but would she be unscathed? She was 
 perpetually in his thoughts ; and he took care that she 
 should be often in his sight. He went to operas and 
 theatres where he knew he should see her ; and, in 
 spite of his old keen appreciation of any good perform- 
 ance, neither actress nor singer had power to draw his 
 attention from the face he studied. Occasionally he 
 would accept invitations to balls and parties, and 
 watch her when she little imagined he was near. 
 
 But though he saw many changes in that counte- 
 nance, saw it light up into a brilliancy that had no 
 real warmth or sweetness, and pale into a hungry 
 longing for escape from existence, he looked in vain 
 for the moral fall and spiritual declension he so 
 feared. 
 
 " She is still pure and unsullied in word, thought, 
 and deed." And the man's strong heart, which bled 
 for her pain, gave a great throb of infinite joy and 
 triumph that he could still love and honor and adore 
 her. 
 
 Tom Archer had that native cleanliness of soul 
 from which he could no more have loved an unchaste 
 woman than he could have worshipped an impure 
 God. Had Christie stained mind and body with sin 
 and shame, his love for her would have died, though 
 he died with it. Even had she loved him as he 
 loved her, and had offered to sacrifice her soul for his
 
 302 REGINALD ARCHER. 
 
 sake, to cast herself away for his gratification, she 
 would merely have destroyed her power over him, 
 and made him a free man. She could use no surer 
 means of slaying his deep devotion than by showing a 
 willingness to grant that for which he would never so- 
 licit. He might have gone on sorrowfully adoring the 
 woman he had believed her to be ; but, as for herself, 
 she would have been to him as one dead and buried. 
 Such men cannot love like beasts of the field ; and 
 the woman who falls to that level falls too far for 
 them to follow her. To them literally God is love, 
 and love is God, It is their religion, their aspiration, 
 their hope of heaven here and hereafter. Tom's 
 love took a new lease of life with every look at the 
 pure, sweet face he scrutinized with such terrible 
 keenness ; for it seemed to him, at times, that of a 
 shining angel, drawing him to a nobler, higher man- 
 hood, towards that heaven which is our home. 
 
 In their chance-meetings she tried him sorely by 
 her evident need of him, and longing for his help. 
 
 "We never see you now, Tom," she would say, 
 with that wistful look in her eyes. " When you 
 promised to be my brother, I thought I should have 
 you to turn to at every moment." 
 
 And Tom would be faint and sick as he answered 
 hurriedly, that he had been too much engrossed in 
 business for visiting of any kind. Christie would
 
 REGINALD ARCHER. ". 30J5 
 
 look at him sadly and wearily, as though she were 
 too well accustomed to disappointments to be sur- 
 prised ; and Tom would go away in such an immeas- 
 urable rage and disgust at his brother, that he did 
 not dare to see him for days after. 
 
 Week by week, in her painful solving of the prob- 
 lem of life, Tom grew to have a larger and larger 
 share in Christie's thoughts. Seeing around her bad 
 faith of every kind, husbands deceiving their wives, 
 wives slyly and quietly outwitting their husbands, 
 she naturally turned with almost passionate ardor 
 even to the remembrance of the person in whom her 
 belief was founded as upon a rock. In her doubt of 
 all things, Reginald's trust in Tom strengthened her 
 confidence not a little ; for she fully appreciated her 
 husband's intellectual acuteness and candor. 
 
 " I fancy Diogenes has followers even at this day 
 in his search for an honest man, and that they meet 
 with the same want of success," Christie said bitterly 
 one day when some flagrant occurrence was being 
 commented upon. 
 
 " Not always," returned Reginald with airy sweet- 
 ness. " For myself, I may say that there I have the 
 advantage of Diogenes. I have never made myself 
 ridiculous with lantern in a market-place ; but I have 
 seen what he sought in vain ; which goes to prove that 
 the true philosophy of life is to sit still and let things
 
 304 REGINALD ARCHER. 
 
 come to you, instead of fatiguing yourself by running 
 after them, and missing them at last." 
 
 Reginald liked the sound of his own rich, finely- 
 modulated tones, in which he certainly showed his 
 taste ; and, being always at leisure, was extremely 
 fond of giving out his opinions at any time to a good 
 listener. 
 
 " Yes, I think I have a talent for scepticism equal 
 even to that of Montaigne ; and I hold que sais-je to 
 be the wisest motto ever adopted : but, with all my 
 doubting, I have never been able to doubt Tom." 
 
 " You are right," said Christie. " I had forgotten 
 him when I spoke ; and I beg his pardon sincerely." 
 
 Then she looked at the man before her, and won- 
 dered afresh how, from the same father and mother, 
 could have been created two beings so unlike as him- 
 self and his brother, one of the mysteries which 
 has perplexed wiser, older heads than hers. 
 
 Thus it was, that, though parted from her, Tom 
 still maintained so deep and warm a place in her 
 innermost nature. Unconscious of his limitless devo- 
 tion to her, she still thought of him and wearied for 
 him through long desolate hours, when he little 
 imagined that she recollected his existence. That 
 last private conversation they had had before her 
 marriage, when he had striven to warn and protect 
 her ; when he had demanded, that, looking at persons
 
 REGINALD ARCHER. 305 
 
 and things with enlightened eyes, she should one day 
 do him tardy justice, how it came back to her now ! 
 and how she fulfilled his requirement from the depths 
 of her crushed heart! Weighing all things in the 
 balance, and finding so many wanting, it was small 
 wonder that her soul clung almost convulsively to 
 the only being in whom they had found certain secu- 
 rity and rest. Ah ! Tom was not forgotten, as he 
 sometimes tortured himself by thinking, as the blank 
 days in which he neither saw nor heard of her went 
 wearily on. 
 
 Being a man of general culture and of strong 
 taste for the beautiful, he was naturally fond of all 
 things artistic, but especially of pictures. He car- 
 ried the same perception and clear original judgment 
 into this matter as into his business. He knew a 
 good picture from a bad one, let the surroundings of 
 either be what they might : and Reginald never felt 
 perfectly satisfied with his art-purchases until Tom 
 had given his nod of approbation ; then he felt pre- 
 pared to face critics, professional or amateur. 
 
 Tom liked to hang round old print-shops, and thus 
 pick up bargains in books and engravings which made 
 his brother's mouth water. Thus it was, that a 
 week or two after that evening in Reginald's house, 
 when the sorrowful, upward, appealing look of the 
 woman he loved was haunting him day and night,
 
 306 REGINALD ARCHER. 
 
 he chanced upon a little old line-engraving, which 
 became from that moment a treasure he would 
 have purchased at any price. It was merely a 
 pale, tintless head, so young and innocent as to 
 seem almost that of a child ; but the raised eyes 
 had the tearful, pleading tenderness which has 
 touched the whole world's heart in the face of the 
 Cenci, or rather the foreshadowing of that divine 
 sorrow which is on the brow of the Mater Dolorosa. 
 The likeness to Christie, not only in expression as he 
 had seen her upon that evening, but in actual feature, 
 was very strong. 
 
 Taking it in his hand, he went up to the queer old 
 creature who kept the shop, who had lived among 
 his collection until he parted from each article almost 
 as from a friend. 
 
 " What do you ask for this ? " Tom inquired. 
 
 The old man glanced up pleasantly to see what 
 was in his- hand ; for he and Tom were on the best 
 terms. Having seen it, he pushed his spectacles up on 
 his forehead, and looked curiously at his questioner. 
 
 " So you found out that for yourself ! I have 
 showed it to a good many gentlemen ; but they didn't 
 seem to see much in it," he said dryly. " I am glad 
 you are to have it, though I shall miss it myself." 
 
 And he named a comparatively large price for the 
 small picture, which Tom paid without a word.
 
 REGINALD ARCHER. 
 
 " Put it into this frame," said Tom, selecting the 
 least noticeable one he could find. 
 
 And the old man did so. 
 
 Then Tom took it with him to his private counting- 
 room, and hung it in the shaded recess, just -above 
 the desk where he always sat. There it remained 
 unobserved, except that, occasionally, a man more 
 cultured and quick-sighted than others would happen 
 to be near when the sunlight accidentally fell upon 
 it, and would exclaim, 
 
 " What a beautiful little engraving ! What is it ? " 
 
 " Madonna," Tom would quietly reply ; and the 
 questioner would go away, supposing that he had 
 been looking at a representation of the Virgin. Tom 
 held that he spoke the exact truth ; for she was to 
 him literally Madonna, " my lady," the object of 
 his love, his life, and his prayers. 
 
 About this time there appeared upon his desk, just 
 below the picture, though with no apparent connec- 
 tion with it, a delicate little glass, from which each 
 morning a fresh blossom shed perfume ; just as in 
 other lands they place flowers and burn incense at 
 the shrines of the saints they worship. In the hard, 
 money-getting existence which seemed all that was 
 left to him, that one evidence of his inner life was 
 never allowed to wither, or even to droop. 
 
 " My dear fellow, you must be growing gay or sen-
 
 308 REGINALD ARCHER. 
 
 timental, though you don't look either," laughed one 
 of his fellow-merchants, " with your fresh flower 
 every day." 
 
 " Each one to his taste," replied Tom coolly. 
 " You wear your bouquet in your button-hole in your 
 play-hours ; and I keep mine before me during my 
 working ones." 
 
 " I imagined that it was the flour, rather than the 
 flower, of existence, that both you and I cultivated 
 most extensively, and that it was literally the bread 
 and butter of life which we strove for," his visitor 
 went on. And the young man flattered himself that 
 he had said rather a neat thing, inasmuch as he had 
 come in to inquire about a shipment of wheat. 
 
 Tom smiled, and allowed him to carry away that 
 illusion. 
 
 This was the degree of attention excited by the 
 change in Tom's office, slight to others, but to him 
 every thing. In the long, solitary hours of dream- 
 ing, rather than thinking, which came to him so often 
 with the ebb and flow of business, this picture grew 
 to be a companion. The silent face spoke to him as 
 but one living countenance had power to do. The 
 purity and love and faith which dwelt hi those eyes 
 were a surety of their existence elsewhere : that the 
 heart of humanity had ever conceived them gave 
 proof that they still lived within that heart. That
 
 REGINALD ARCHER. 309 
 
 thing of beauty was to him not merely a joy forever, 
 but a poem, a sermon, a teaching from on high. Life 
 had for him peace, if not happiness," as he sometimes 
 sat at evening and saw the soft sunset light fade 
 away from the face, and remembered the end to all 
 suffering and sorrow ; the close of life itself, when, 
 after the long day's faithful toil, comes the sweet, 
 eternal rest on the bosom of our Father and our 
 God. Among the many descriptions of heaven, Job's 
 sentence, spoken so long ago, seems to me still the 
 best, the one to which human nature's needs turn 
 with surest longing, concerning a place " where the 
 wicked cease from troubling, and the weary are at 
 rest." These were the words Tom thought of when 
 he hoped for another life, for its recompenses, its 
 healing, and its peace. 
 
 Reginald had been sorely disappointed at his broth- 
 er's persistent refusal of all his invitations, and had 
 tried every method to induce him to spend much 
 time at his house : but he found that his effort was 
 useless ; that Tom's quiet, invariable " No " meant 
 exactly what it said. He regretted the fact as much 
 as he could regret any thing ; but was too practical, 
 even in this matter, to waste his strength in fruitless 
 attempts. Tom's manner showed him so unwaver- 
 ingly that he was unwelcome, that even his gay 'com- 
 posure gave way before the resolute pressure ; and
 
 310 REGINALD ARCHER. 
 
 his visits to his brother's office became less frequent. 
 Still he came occasionally for his own amusement ; 
 and Tom had not yet shaken him off. 
 
 Since Reginald's marriage, he had, besides his ques- 
 tionable pleasures, his large establishment, and in- 
 creased social duties, to entertain him, and so did not 
 feel such an absolute need of his brother's wit as 
 hitherto ; and, since Mrs. Van Arsdale had appeared 
 upon the scene, she had occupied his time and atten- 
 tion. His pursuit of her had been so open and eager, 
 that it was the common talk of society ; and people 
 laughed, admired, or denounced, as their ideas of 
 right differed. The devotion of such a man allows 
 but one interpretation ; and such was generally given 
 it. The rumor had reached Tom, rendering him 
 savage against his brother ; for he knew only too 
 well the probability of its truth. 
 
 Reginald had been bowing at Mrs. Van Arsdale's 
 shrine for about two months, and was, perhaps, 
 rather bored by that lady, and indeed by persons 
 and things in general, when one day he lounged 
 into Tom's office, hoping to revive himself by a men- 
 tal tonic. Entering with his radiant grace and shin- 
 ing good humor, Tom physically sickened at the sight 
 of him. He felt as though it would be a direct com- 
 promise with the Devil to have any thing to do with 
 him. It seemed surrendering Ms whole standard of
 
 REGINALD ARCHER. 311 
 
 right even to speak to him ; and, indeed, he scarcely 
 did so, though they had not met for a long while. 
 
 Reginald made himself comfortable as usual, and 
 for five minutes sustained the conversation with the 
 merest monosyllabic assistance from his brother. 
 
 " Upon my word, old fellow, you are crustier than 
 ever this morning," Reginald exclaimed at last with 
 a laugh. " What's the matter ? Is it I, or some- 
 thing else, that is annoying you ? " 
 
 The self-enjoyment, the unruffled self-complacency 
 of the tone, broke down Tom's fast-weakening nerves 
 and patience ; and he turned suddenly upon his 
 brother with eyes that flashed an anger and disgust 
 he could not control. 
 
 " Why do you come here, Reginald ? You know 
 my opinion of you. I have told it to you before ; 
 and why do you tempt me to tell it to you again more 
 strongly than ever ? " 
 
 Reginald looked at Tom very quietly for a moment. 
 He was not at all angry ; in fact, he rather enjoyed 
 the idea of a sharp skirmish. He had what might be 
 called an insatiable appetite for pluck, and a hunger 
 for the gratification of his intellectual curiosity ; and 
 both of these Tom satisfied. 
 
 " Ah ! " he said slowly, " the old trouble breaking 
 out, is it ? and fresh fuel on the fire ! I supposed 
 as much."
 
 312 REGINALD ARCHER. 
 
 The analytical coolness of the words and manner 
 was beyond endurance. 
 
 " Reginald ! " Tom cried out, " I know it is idiotic 
 to attempt to appeal to you, or to stop you in your 
 course ; but I can't help doing it. Man, when I 
 remember that you are my pure mother's son, I 
 almost doubt the God above us." 
 
 " Tom," said the other quietly, " you are too hard 
 on me. This is all the wrong I do, if it be any wrong. 
 You and I are entirely different. But I admit that I 
 have a strong natural appetite for forbidden fruit, 
 while other persons have no constitutional taste for 
 apples." 
 
 Tom's face flushed crimson. 
 
 " Do you imagine," he asked in that low, concen- 
 trated tone to which intense passion always re- 
 duced his voice, " that all pure men and women 
 belong to that latter class ? " 
 
 " By heavens, no ! " exclaimed the other, as he 
 saw the blue veins rise like cords across his brother's 
 temples. " It is not water that runs in your veins, 
 my dear fellow, any more than in mine. I am per- 
 fectly willing to admit that I am the weak man of us 
 two, and that you are the strong one ; that we have 
 about the same passions, and you have the pluck and 
 strength to control them, and I have not. I don't 
 blind myself in this matter, or in any other, if I can
 
 REGINALD ARCHER. 313 
 
 help it. I well know that to hold the helm of your 
 nature through every thing is the great test of man- 
 hood ; and that to allow one's self to be driven by 
 inclination, however swift and fiery, can only be the 
 result of" weakness. Why, I will confess to you, 
 that you once so fired my young ambition, that, for a 
 little while, I attempted to emulate you. Good God ! 
 I can remember it now." And he gave a great sigh 
 of infinite relief, as though the recollection of the 
 weariness of his effort were too much for him even 
 then. 
 
 " However," he wound up, " as I was evidently 
 given no moral nature, I don't see how I can be held 
 responsible for one." 
 
 " I observe that we are all given an immoral na- 
 ture," exclaimed Tom bitterly. " They tell us the 
 kingdom of God is within us ; but I am sure 
 the kingdom of the Devil is there also, and that the 
 coming of temptation is merely the striking of the 
 hour for an emotion to pass into act. The funda- 
 mental passions are in everybody ; and the strongest 
 temptations of humanity come to each and all from 
 within, if not from without. That which is a crime 
 in one can never be a venial offence in another : the 
 line must be laid to all, or to none. The moral law 
 is as inexorable, though as invisible, as the physical 
 one ; and you violate either at your peril. The ten 
 
 14
 
 314 REGINALD ARCHER. 
 
 commandments were written upon tables of stone, 
 not upon India-rubber : they may be broken, but 
 cannot be bent. Reginald Archer, your whole life 
 is entered against you in Nature's great account-book ; 
 and the day of settlement will surely come." 
 
 The man's clinched hand upon his desk, and the 
 low, thrilling tone which carried his tide of words 
 almost involuntarily beyond his lips, were but slight 
 evidences of the tremendous conviction with which 
 he spoke. The very air around them seemed to vi- 
 brate for a moment, as though stirred by his magnetic 
 intensity. Even the imperturbable gentleman before 
 him sat silent, with a grave blankness upon his beau- 
 tiful face. 
 
 " Perhaps you are right," he broke out at last with 
 a slight laugh, " though you and I have differed as 
 radically in theory as in practice : at any rate, what 
 I am I am, and shall be to the end." 
 
 Ah ! they little thought how near that end was, or 
 how swiftly it was coming, as they sat facing each 
 other, the one in his righteous wrath, and the other 
 in his smiling, superb carelessness, and both in the 
 full vigor and heat of manhood. 
 
 Reginald rose to his feet, and gave himself a slight 
 shake, as though finally throwing off a disagreeable 
 subject. He moved about the room in a silence his 
 brother was too heart-sick to break. Presently the
 
 REGINALD ARCHER. 315 
 
 picture above Tom's desk caught his eyes. The after- 
 noon sun was striking straight across it, bringing it 
 out in full relief. He had hitherto been in that room 
 in the morning, when the recess was in shadow, and 
 the picture consequently unnoticeable. It struck his 
 attention for the first time. 
 
 " Why, Tom, what an exquisite little thing ! But 
 you are always picking up something beautiful," he 
 exclaimed, as much by way of diversion from the 
 previous subject as because he really admired the 
 engraving. 
 
 He came and stood by his brother's side to inspect 
 the picture more closely. As he did so, the likeness, 
 and the truth concerning it, flashed upon him. 
 
 " Ah ! " he said slowly, and a curious smile gath- 
 ered round his lips. He saw the whole story as clear- 
 ly as though its minutest details had been told him ; 
 and the mocking fiend within him stirred, and tempted 
 him to try his brother's strength, courage, and virtue 
 to the uttermost. 
 
 " Tom," he said sweetly, " if you object to my com- 
 pany, why don't you go to see Christie sometimes 
 when I am not at home, which is often enough the 
 case. She is very fond of you, and would be de- 
 lighted to see you." 
 
 Tom glanced up suddenly, and caught his brother's- 
 look. He had been sitting at his desk during their
 
 316 REGINALD ARCHER. 
 
 talk ; but he now rose, and turned upon Reginald 
 with a face which was white with suppressed feeling. 
 For a moment, the two gazed straight into each 
 other's eyes ; the dare-devil that was in each seeming 
 to strive to stare the other out of countenance. 
 
 Then Tom drew a long breath, and spoke very 
 slowly. 
 
 " I do not come," he said, " because I hate you, and 
 love your wife ; and you know it as well as I do. 
 And now," he went on, his voice deepening and 
 lowering, " go out of this room, and never come in it, 
 never speak to me again, so long as you live ! I re- 
 nounce you utterly from this hour ! Yes, I mean ex- 
 actly what I say," he added, as Reginald gave him a 
 quick, piercing glance of scrutiny. 
 
 " Evidently," returned the other, instantly making 
 up his mind to the situation, disagreeable as it was 
 to him. " I am sorry for it, Tom ; but, if you will 
 have it so, so let it be. Good-by," he said pleasant- 
 ly, and bowed himself out with the blandest ele- 
 gance, which nothing except his own decapitation 
 could have destroyed. 
 
 And then Tom, vibrating in every fibre, sank down 
 with his head upon his desk, and wondered afresh 
 how this creature could be of his own flesh and 
 blood. 
 
 Looking up, after a long while, to the sad, sweet
 
 REGINALD ARCHER. 317 
 
 face upon the wall above him, there came over him 
 an awful realization of what that pure, high-toned 
 woman's life must be ; and he dimly measured the 
 long torture of her continual association with such a 
 nature by the unendurability of his momentary trial. 
 " My darling ! my poor, innocent darling ! " 
 The words were in his heart at all times ; but they 
 were upon his lips at that moment, with a depth of 
 meaning they had never before possessed.
 
 CHAPTER XXII. 
 
 PERHAPS a month had passed since that pas- 
 sionate parting between the brothers. Regi- 
 nald had spent the time in continuing his open and 
 secret pursuit of Mrs. Van Arsdale. He had at- 
 tained his bad end, and had not yet wearied of his 
 success. He was not particularly elated at his tri- 
 umph; still less was he personally flattered by it. 
 He knew that Mrs. Van Arsdale had been too long 
 criminal in all but act to make the single step left her 
 an extremely difficult affair ; that she had walked to 
 the very edge of the precipice with too many men for 
 it to require wonderful power to induce her finally 
 to pass over it. He did not blind himself to the fact, 
 that in this, as in all such cases, he owed his success 
 to the woman's own nature, and the training of his 
 predecessors, rather than to his attractions. He had 
 an amused perception of the truth, that men and 
 women fall more by temptation from within than 
 from without. 
 
 The affair was growing so apparent and shameless, 
 
 818
 
 REGINALD ARCHER. 319 
 
 that people began to scoff and jeer at Mr. Van Ars- 
 dale behind his back, and to wonder why he, who 
 was known to be neither fpol nor coward, did not 
 take some means of putting an end to the scandal 
 and shame. 
 
 But the truth was, that, of all the community, he 
 was most ignorant of a matter which was skilfully 
 and carefully hidden from him by the persons con- 
 cerned, and about which others lacked both the 
 courage and impertinence to enlighten him. Away 
 from his home all day, how could he know what went 
 on during his absence ? As to his wife's conduct in 
 public when he was by, he had too long and painful 
 an acquaintance with her usual habits and manners 
 to be surprised or startled at their present exhibition. 
 The smiling lie of welcome her face told when he 
 entered his home, her more than accustomed atten- 
 tion to his comfort and pleasure, lulled him deeper in 
 his false security. 
 
 But even he was beginning to have his suspicions 
 of the black truth ; dreading that this was something 
 more than "Lucretia's necessary flirtation," as he 
 had been in the habit of bitterly denominating his 
 wife's constantly-changing love-affairs, which he had 
 so long been compelled to tolerate. A baffled yet 
 subtile perception of the truth was coming over the 
 man ; and those who saw him and his wife and Regi-
 
 320 REGINALD ARCHER. 
 
 nald together saw a strange shadow growing in the 
 husband's face, which boded ill for the ease and 
 enjoyment of the others. 
 
 A wretched being was Lawrence Van Arsdale 
 during those days, with an awful dread at his heart 
 which he could neither prove nor disprove. To in- 
 terfere openly might, perhaps, bring causeless public 
 dishonor upon his name and race ; while to allow the 
 present state of things to go on might be to let 
 shame secretly stain his hearth and home forever. 
 He did not spare words to his wife in private : he 
 gave her terrible warning. But the shallow, pleas- 
 ure-loving woman smiled back at him with such 
 careless, serene gayety, that his doubts seemed for the 
 moment ridiculous. She was so utterly trivial, that 
 she did not realize any pain or disaster the pressure of 
 which was not then upon her. She lacked the sense 
 to recognize her danger, as she needed the conscience 
 and delicacy to understand her degradation, or the 
 intellect to comprehend the man with whom she was 
 dealing. 
 
 She had no feeling of having done any thing spe- 
 cially wrong : she had merely followed her natural 
 instinct and impulse ; and any slight scruples she 
 had hitherto possessed Reginald's arguments had re- 
 moved. The truth is, it is possible to reason one's 
 self into any thing one wishes to believe, and to build
 
 REGINALD ARCHER. 321 
 
 up a strong case from any point of view. For this 
 cause, the woman or man who deliberates is lost. 
 When they leave conscience, which feels, for intellect, 
 which thinks and devises, the result is really won by 
 their wishes. Let them state the sum to their own 
 satisfaction, and the answer is a necessity. Silly as 
 she was, Mrs. Van Arsdale could have made you a 
 respectable argument on the subject from her stand- 
 point, gained from her own experience and her com- 
 petent teachers. 
 
 " Yes," laughed Reginald long before, when some 
 similar person's self-defence was being commented 
 upon, " the arguments of such women, in the present 
 state of society, rather remind me of the fox, who, 
 having lost his tail, tried to persuade his companions 
 that they would be better without theirs. His tes- 
 timony can scarcely be taken as impartial, and his 
 reasons might be somewhat biassed by peculiar cir- 
 cumstances." 
 
 He was right. Tempted by love of luxury, by their 
 own passions, by worldly and physical gratification in 
 some form, they sell themselves to sin for the payment 
 they covet ; and, having irrevocably placed themselves 
 in a position from which they can never recover, they 
 are forced to search diligently for some justification 
 in their own eyes and the eyes of others. They make 
 the most difficult of all attempts, to have their 
 
 14*
 
 822 REGINALD ARCHER. 
 
 cake, and eat their cake. They first do wrong, and 
 then try to reason it into being right. Such an effort 
 is like the witches' habit of repeating the Lord's 
 Prayer backward : it raises evil spirits instead of good 
 ones ; it calls up the powers of darkness rather than 
 of light. Having lost forever the ability to come up 
 to the standard of others, their one chance is to drag 
 that standard down to their own level. They are 
 compelled to say, " Evil, be thou my good : " they are 
 forced to deify their false god, and to draw as many 
 followers as possible to his impure worship. The 
 world holds women of genius who are prostituting it 
 in this cause as they have previously degraded soul 
 and body. Sinning for their own satisfaction, they 
 have parted with the power of choice, and by necessity 
 are so many attorneys, bound to argue the case in one 
 way, and held by that strongest of all retainiug-fees, 
 self-interest. Of such persons, as of all sinful men 
 and women, Christ's long-uttered words remain eter- 
 nally true : " This is their condemnation, that light 
 has come into the world ; but men love darkness 
 rather than light, because their deeds are evil." 
 
 "Whatever were Lloyd Truxton's manifold weak- 
 nesses and falsities, his devotion to Reginald was 
 warm and genuine ; and he felt danger in the air for 
 his friend as a faithful dog scents a foe for his mas- 
 ter, and foresaw the coming trouble which the other
 
 REGINALD ARCHER. 323 
 
 really did not perceive. Reginald had outwitted and 
 outbraved so many men, that he could scarcely real- 
 ize the possibility of meeting his match, and so lived 
 gayly on in confident security. 
 
 But Lloyd went about troubled and depressed, 
 fearing to speak, and be called a fool for his pains, 
 and yet scarcely daring not to give some warning of 
 what seemed so evident to him. 
 
 At last, one night, he could restrain himself no 
 longer. 
 
 It was very late ; and the two sat by themselves in 
 Reginald's smoking-room, the only persons awake 
 in that great silent house. They had come in from a 
 ball, where, as usual, Reginald and Mrs. Van Arsdale 
 had been " the observed of all observers." Lawrence 
 Van Arsdale had stood quietly by and watched both ; 
 but it was with a look dawning in his face which 
 haunted Lloyd still, the influence of which was upon 
 him even now as he sat in that cosey room, when the 
 music, beauty, brilliancy of color and light, all the 
 striking effects of the evening, had passed away. 
 
 Reginald had come in flushed and excited, and had 
 thrown himself upon a lounge, with his cigar in his 
 hand. Lloyd took an easy-chair near him, and began 
 to smoke also. Between them stood a table, upon 
 which was a shaded reading-lamp, that threw its 
 whole light down upon the extended figure on the
 
 324 REGINALD ARCHER. 
 
 couch, revealing in full its magnificent beauty and 
 strength. As Lloyd looked, there suddenly flashed 
 upon his weak brain and imagination, not merely the 
 man he saw, but the man he had seen. Like a reve- 
 lation, he beheld those two meeting in deadly con- 
 flict ; and the picture was colored in blood. 
 
 He could keep back his words no longer. 
 
 " Reginald," he said hesitatingly, " I saw Van Ars- 
 dale watching you to-night ; and upon my soul, if 
 you had seen his face, it would have made you 
 think that you had better take care." 
 
 The man upon the sofa slightly raised himself, and 
 looked at the other with a kind of splendid sur- 
 prise in his eyes. 
 
 What is it in genuine physical courage which com- 
 mands the enthusiasm and respect of every human 
 being ? Is it that the majority of men are born cow- 
 ards, and are impressed by the rarity of the opposite 
 extreme ? or is it that there is something so really 
 noble in the quality which we share with the ani- 
 mals, that we cannot resist its influence ? Be this as 
 it may, Lloyd had never had such a boundless admi- 
 ration for his superior as when he saw Reginald gaz- 
 ing at him with a sort of wonder, pity, and contempt 
 for the being who could imagine him capable of fear. 
 
 " My dear fellow," Reginald said at last in his 
 usual soft tones, " I have not yet added personal
 
 REGINALD ARCHER. 325 
 
 cowardice to my other attractions, and I have no in- 
 tention of so doing. If Mr. Van Arsdale wishes to 
 call me to account, I am quite ready at any and all 
 times. I can say for myself, that I have always been 
 willing to pay for my pleasures ; and I like fairness 
 in all things." 
 
 He had resumed his easy, full-length position by 
 this time, and was indolently smoking as he indo- 
 lently talked. 
 
 " I know that I am not supposed to have cultivated 
 the moral virtues to any very great extent ; but I 
 have a genuine admiration for justice, and I do not 
 consider that I have violated it in this case. I see 
 no reason why I should deny myself for Lawrence 
 Van Arsdale's sake. I know just what he is, what 
 his life has been both at home and abroad. If I am 
 the chief of sinners in this community, he has done 
 things in his day which effectually prevent him from 
 being my judge. The difference between us is 
 merely that of quantity, not of quality." 
 
 "Perhaps he has never looked at the subject in 
 that light," suggested Lloyd. 
 
 " But I have," was Reginald's cool rejoinder, 
 "and I act accordingly ; and, the sooner he learns 
 to take impartial and correct views of himself and 
 others, the better. Why, apart from every thing 
 else," he went on, growing interested in what he was
 
 326 REGINALD ARCHER. 
 
 saying, " I leave it to any one whether a man who 
 has voluntarily and delightedly placed himself in the 
 society of women who have deliberately sold them- 
 selves for luxury can possibly have any genuine dis- 
 approval, disgust, or horror, at sin in itself. Having 
 found such women charming and companionable, 
 why should he be filled with sudden virtuous rage at 
 discovering that his wife merely resembles his chosen 
 friends and associates? Sin has been sweet and 
 luscious enough to him on occasion ; and, now that 
 his position in the affair is slightly altered, what can 
 his moral hysterics mean but wounded pride and 
 injured vanity ? Upon my word, I cannot see that it 
 is my duty, as it is certainly not my pleasure, to be 
 over-careful of those sentiments in any one but my- 
 self ; " and he laughed pleasantly as he spoke. 
 
 " Van Arsdale certainly did not look to-night as 
 though any one were being very considerate of his 
 feelings of any kind," said Lloyd, who could not get 
 that haggard, watching face out of his mind. " He 
 seemed terribly wretched." 
 
 " So much the more fool he ! " returned Reginald, 
 " when he has had all these years to make up his 
 mind to what was inevitably before him when he 
 married such a woman, after setting her such an 
 example. I often wonder what men's intellects can 
 be made of to be capable of such self-delusion. If
 
 REGINALD ARCHER. 327 
 
 Van Arsdale is weak-minded' and selfish enough to 
 wish to deprive his wife of the sugar-plums he liked 
 so well himself, he ought never to have married, or, 
 at least, should have chosen a woman like Christie ; 
 though, really, where he would have found her, I 
 cannot imagine. I am aware that my wife is absurdly 
 wasted on me, and that it is a thousand pities that 
 some of those gentlemen with morbidly susceptible 
 nerves could not have the benefit of such a blessing," 
 he added, as he reflectively watched the blue smoke 
 curl from his cigar. 
 
 Lloyd did not flatter himself that Reginald's flow 
 of words was meant especially for him. He was 
 used to that gentleman's habit of making himself 
 comfortable, and then uttering his sentiments for his 
 own satisfaction, as he was now doing. The younger 
 man's part in these conversations was slightly trying, 
 as he was always under the apprehension that he 
 should misconceive Reginald's idea, and show it in 
 his reply. Consequently he now spoke rather hesi- 
 tatingly as he said, 
 
 " Why, you can't mean, that, if Van Arsdale had 
 been a different man, you would have acted differ- 
 ently about his wife ? " 
 
 Reginald took his cigar out of his mouth, and sat 
 straight up on the sofa before he made any reply. 
 There was something so much like honest fire and
 
 328 REGINALD ARCHER. 
 
 manly earnestness in his face, and in the way in 
 which he drew up his splendid head and person, that 
 Lloyd gazed at him in surprise, and, it must be con- 
 fessed, with some nervousness. 
 
 " I swear to you," he said, and the whole force of 
 the man seemed to go into the tone, " that if my 
 brother Tom, or any man whom I knew beyond all 
 doubt to be like him, had a wife who was Venus and 
 Juno combined, if she were to play the part of 
 Potiphar's wife to me, I would play that of Joseph ; 
 upon my soul I would ! and would feel that I was 
 only doing what the man and common justice alike 
 had a right to demand of me. But the occasion has 
 not yet arisen, and does not arise, my dear boy," he 
 added, his voice changing to a fine, faint sneer, as he 
 returned to his recumbent posture and his cigar. 
 
 Lloyd sat for a moment mute with astonishment, 
 and then, rather fearing to discuss such an unex- 
 pected statement, wisely preserved the same silence 
 a little longer. Then his mind went back to the one 
 thought and dread which had been oppressing him 
 all the evening. 
 
 " It is terrible to think how much trouble women 
 make in the world, and how little real goodness and 
 purity there is among them," he said presently, shak- 
 ing his head with an edifying degree of moral regret. 
 
 " My dear fellow," answered Reginald with ]azy
 
 REGINALD ARCHER. 329 
 
 sweetness, " don't be more of a fool than you can 
 help. When most men criticise women's virtue and 
 shortcomings, it strongly reminds me of a story I 
 once heard told of a great orator, as happening-at an 
 abolition convention a long while ago. A man with 
 negro blood in his veins had arisen, and denounced 
 Gen. Washington as a scoundrel and a thief for own- 
 ing slaves. ' My friend,' returned the aforesaid orator 
 mildly, ' I would not use those epithets in that con- 
 nection, if I were you. It isn't graphic. Because, 
 if you call Gen. Washington a scoundrel, what have 
 you left for Franklin Pierce ? ' Just so, my dear boy, 
 if you call women hard names for a single slip or 
 two, what have you left for yourself? Why, how 
 many have you ever known, not actually upon the 
 streets, who are not, by strict mathematics, far better 
 than you ? " 
 
 " Oh, yes ! but women, you know, women ! It's so 
 different, you know ! " Lloyd cried out eagerly, with 
 his usual fine coherence and logic. 
 
 " Why, and in what way ? " asked 'Reginald pleas- 
 antly. 
 
 " Oh ! you know very well what I mean. I can't 
 explain it to you exactly." 
 
 Reginald laughed softly. 
 
 " No ; and neither can any one else that I have 
 ever seen. I am afraid, for the future, we have got
 
 380 REGINALD ARCHER. 
 
 to give freedom, as well as take it ; that liberty, 
 equality, and fraternity are going to become femi- 
 nine as well as masculine nouns ; and that the great 
 text and battle-cry for the next generation will be 
 the old, succinct proverb, that what is sauce for the 
 goose is sauce for the gander. I fear we shall be 
 obliged to have one level of morality; and, as I do 
 not feel prepared to be very good myself, I have 
 calmly concluded to allow them to be very bad." 
 
 " Yes," persisted Lloyd; " but when a woman does 
 wrong " 
 
 " It's so much more wrong than when a man does 
 it," cut in Reginald ; and his delighted laugh rang out 
 like a bell through the quiet room. " Excuse me : I 
 beg your pardon for laughing at you ; but I really 
 must request you again to be as little of a fool as 
 possible. Your ideas of right and wrong seem to be 
 movable feasts of the Church, Lloyd, and to be amus- 
 ingly influenced by circumstances. You remind me 
 of those of our own countrymen who are models of 
 respectability at home, but whose morality, as soon 
 as they cross the water to France, seems, in Shak- 
 speare's words, to ' suffer a sea-change into some- 
 ' thing rich and strange.' It certainly is delightful to 
 see the way in which human nature can turn and twist 
 and wind again, and fancy itself rather a fine thing 
 after all.
 
 REGINALD ARCHER. 881 
 
 And his infinite enjoyment of the thought was 
 such, that he threw away the end of his cigar, and, 
 instead of taking a fresh one, fell to the sole occupa- 
 tion of contemplating his idea of humanity. 
 
 Lloyd's several attempts at reply and explanation 
 had fallen so short of success, that he scarcely felt 
 equal to another effort in the same direction, and so 
 did not immediately break the silence. 
 
 Presently he took out his watch. 
 
 " Four o'clock," he announced as he looked at it. 
 
 " Is it so late, or rather so early ? " said Reginald, 
 rising. " I think I shall go to bed. Of course, there 
 is a room ready for you, Lloyd, if you want it." 
 
 " No, I think I had rather go home, as Ellen will 
 be wondering where I am." 
 
 "Very well," answered the other, and went with 
 him down to the front-door to fasten it behind him. 
 
 As they stood silent upon the steps, in the still 
 night-air, looking up at the quiet stars in the winter 
 skies, Lloyd was again strangely tempted to repeat 
 his words of warning ; but he literally had not the 
 courage to do so. 
 
 " Good-night ! " he said instead, and went his way 
 with a depression of heart which certainly was not a 
 selfish emotion. 
 
 Then Reginald passed up his broad stairway to his 
 bedroom, untroubled by fear, care, shame, or sorrow.
 
 332 REGINALD ARCHER. 
 
 He had merely followed the instincts and teachings 
 of a perfect physical organization and an acute un- 
 derstanding ; and these had logically brought him to 
 the religion of self-love and the philosophy of a good 
 dinner. This creed satisfying his soulless nature, he 
 lived up to its limits, undisturbed by doubt or dread.
 
 CHAPTER XXIII. 
 
 MRS. LESTER had the fortune, good or bad, 
 to live in a house whose rear commanded a 
 near view of the back of the residence of the Van 
 Arsdales. In the early glory of the friendship be- 
 tween the ladies, this proximity was the cause of 
 constant intercourse. They were continually paying 
 each other little visits to fill up their idle moments ; 
 and, if they wished, could telegraph intelligence from 
 their nearest windows. 
 
 This state of things went on very pleasantly for a 
 few weeks ; but by that time Mrs. Van Arsdale had 
 become the decided belle of the season, and had 
 small leisure to waste upon any thing belonging to 
 the feminine gender. 
 
 Mrs. Lester had striven hard to keep up the inti- 
 macy, pursuing her usual policy of attaching herself 
 to some woman who was usually surrounded by men, 
 and trusting to chance and her own skill to secure 
 such stragglers as could not reach the original at- 
 traction. 
 
 333
 
 334 REGINALD ARCHER. 
 
 But Mrs. Van Arsdale had her own share of femi- 
 nine instinct whenever her power and fascinations 
 were in question. Whatever sense she possessed 
 had been long and diligently applied to the subject ; 
 and upon this particular ground she was quite able 
 to cope with Mrs. Lester. She had no idea of ruling 
 even a slightly divided kingdom, of drawing men 
 together for another woman to secure, of making 
 conquests for some one else to enjoy : above all, she 
 carefully avoided the danger of having some one near 
 her who would partially paralyze the effect of her 
 beauty by emphasizing, through contrast, her mental 
 inferiority. 
 
 Consequently, their mutual devotion fell with 
 alarming rapidity into the sear and yellow leaf, then 
 quickly died. 
 
 When Mrs. Lester called, Mrs. Van Arsdale was 
 very apt to be " not at home," even though the for- 
 mer lady had, from her post of observation, become 
 aware that other visitors had been admitted but a 
 few moments before. The ladies preserved their out- 
 ward familiarity, and "my deared" each other as 
 usual, when they met in society ; but each under- 
 stood that there was now no love lost between them. 
 Mrs. Van Arsdale was so trivial-natured, that even 
 anger and dislike were with her only passing spite- 
 fulness : and she forgot her enmities and enemies as
 
 REGINALD ARCHER. 335 
 
 soon as the latter were out of her sight ; they, like all 
 other considerations, being swallowed up in her self- 
 indulgence and enjoyment of the present pleasure. 
 
 But Mrs. Lester hoarded her wrath and disappoint- 
 ment, to be faithfully repaid to their cause at the 
 earliest opportunity. She awaited her chance, con- 
 fident that occasion would arise upon which she could 
 strike a telling blow. Justice requires one to admit, 
 that, in the mean time, she did not neglect any minor 
 advantage towards the same end, but did Mrs. Van 
 Arsdale all the harm she could in a small way ; pur- 
 suing her policy of injuring each person whom she 
 had failed to utilize for her own purposes. 
 
 It must be confessed that Mrs. Van Arsdale played 
 into her opponent's hand with terrible recklessness ; 
 and, for once in her life, Mrs. Lester found her talent 
 for misrepresentation and slander an almost unneces- 
 sary weapon in her peculiar warfare. It was a case 
 in which truth was stranger than fiction, and facts 
 more damning than falsehoods could be made. 
 
 When Reginald's pursuit of Mrs. Van Arsdale 
 became open, and all society was talking of the liai- 
 son, Mrs. Lester felt that her wished-for chance had 
 arrived. From her windows she could not only 
 watch the house, but, unless the curtains were care- 
 fully closed, could perceive much that went on 
 inside ; thereby learning far more of the doings of
 
 336 REGINALD ARCHER. 
 
 Lawrence Van Arsdale's household at all times than 
 that unfortunate gentleman dreamed of knowing at 
 any period. As the intrigue went on, she followed 
 the portion of it which she could witness, gleefully 
 and greedily ; forming a chain of dark evidence and 
 inference so strong, that the case would probably 
 have held even in a court of law. She sat at her 
 post of lookout, like Sister Anne in her watch-tower, 
 for hours together. Behind some one of her win- 
 dows she was almost sure to be seated during a large 
 portion of the day, waiting for that which chance 
 might bring to her sight. It showed her Reginald 
 entering the house at all hours ; and it displayed to 
 her many of his actions while in it. She gloated 
 over her surveillance of the guilty pair, and revelled 
 in the loathsome work which gratified every passion 
 of her nature. She kept most of her knowledge to 
 herself, accumulating evidence, that it might fall 
 with more crushing weight at the appropriate time. 
 However, from her emanated most of the rumors 
 with which society was rife ; though she took care 
 that the reports should never be traced to their ori- 
 ginal source. 
 
 At last she had collected such proofs as left small 
 doubt of their sin ; as almost forced conviction on the 
 most sceptical mind. Feeling now quite sure of her 
 ground, she resolved to act ; to bring matters to that
 
 REGINALD ARCHER. 337 
 
 climax for the sight of which her soul thirsted. She 
 belonged to that class of women with which the 
 anonymous letter that certain refuge of cowardly 
 malice must surely have originated ; and it was with 
 this weapon that she instinctively resolved to fight. 
 
 The task before her was in every way congenial 
 with her tastes and abilities. She had to state a case, 
 and put the corroborating testimony in such a form 
 as to compel belief in those whom she addressed. 
 She had to make evident that of which there could 
 be no positive certainty ; to lead up so closely to final 
 facts, that they were a simple necessity. Her hard, 
 practical shrewdness exactly fitted her for the under- 
 taking ; and she accomplished it as well as a second- 
 rate criminal lawyer could have done, or rather as his 
 clerk who had long been trained to do dirty work. 
 
 She sat at her desk over the draft of the letter, 
 altering, condensing, and rewriting, until she had a 
 short, succinct document, every word of which went 
 straight to the intended mark. She had devoted an 
 afternoon and evening to the task ; but, when she 
 read it over in its final form, she sat back in her 
 chair with a triumphant feeling of conscious merit, 
 and a sense of time well spent. Then she applied 
 herself to making two fair copies in a well-disguised 
 hand ; an undertaking which her previous practice hi 
 the art rendered easy. 
 
 15
 
 338 REGINALD ARCHER. 
 
 She was thus engaged when her husband entered. 
 She had wisely taken no one into her confidence, 
 fearing to increase the chances of detection; and, 
 indeed, her husband was the last person she ever 
 honored with a knowledge of her secret sentiments 
 and private projects. But not on this, or any other 
 occasion, was she afraid of that disciplined gentle- 
 man displaying any undue curiosity, or pushing his 
 inquiries to an inconvenient length. She went 
 quietly on with her occupation ; and when, after a 
 little while, Mr. Lester said in his heavy way, 
 
 " What are you so busy over, Marian ? " she an- 
 swered calmly, 
 
 " I am writing letters." 
 
 " You seem to require a great deal of paper to do 
 it," he remarked, by way of a ponderous joke, as he 
 looked at the sheets scattered over her table. 
 
 " Yes, I want to make them as interesting as possi- 
 ble," she rejoined coolly. And then she gave her 
 usual cackle of delight over her own thoughts and 
 the pictures they brought up, without the least dread 
 of piquing his curiosity. The well-trained gentle- 
 man subsided into his newspaper ; and Mrs. Lester 
 went on with her work. 
 
 It was soon- completed ; and, gathering up the loose 
 sheets, she locked them carefully away in her desk, 
 and went to bed a contented woman.
 
 REGINALD ARCHER. 389 
 
 She was up by sunrise the next morning. Going 
 back to her desk, she took from it two papers. Put- 
 ting them into envelopes, she addressed one to " Mrs. 
 Reginald Archer," and the other to " Mr. Lawrence 
 Van Arsdale ; " directing them to the residence of 
 each. These she placed in her pocket, and, putting on 
 a bonnet and thick veil, went out for an early walk. 
 Reaching the poorer portion of the town, where she 
 was unknown, she dropped her letters into a street- 
 box, and then made her way swiftly home, to appear 
 at the breakfast-table in such unwonted spirits and 
 appetite, that she felt called upon to explain them 
 by expatiating on the benefits of keeping good hours 
 over night.' 
 
 All day she waited in the same restless excite- 
 ment for the results of her stroke. 
 
 She knew the hour at which the letters would 
 arrive at their destinations ; but, when they would 
 reach the persons for whom they were intended, she 
 could not tell, as a hundred small chances might 
 intervene to delay that event. She sincerely hated 
 nearly every one of the individuals upon whom she 
 hoped to bring ruin ; and the neatness and complete- 
 ness, the circular character, of her revenge, charmed 
 her. She smiled to find herself humming from the 
 French opera, 
 
 " Je vois tout, je sais tout" and then fairly
 
 340 REGINALD ARCHER. 
 
 hugged herself with pleasure to think how true was 
 the quotation in this instance. 
 
 She could not remain within doors, but went out, 
 ostensibly on a shopping-expedition, but really to 
 fill up the time with some sort of motion. But she 
 returned at evening unsatisfied and eager ; for all 
 was quiet, and not even a rumor of trouble had yet 
 stirred society. 
 
 Her impatience was almost intolerable. Yet there 
 was small need for her to wish to hasten the events 
 of the next few hours ; for the catastrophe she had 
 invoked was coming surely and swiftly enough, God 
 knows.
 
 CHAPTER XXIV. 
 
 ON the morning of that day, Christie sat in her 
 room, quietly reading. For the past month or 
 two, she had lived, as it were, in a thick, black cloud 
 of doubt. Its impalpable influence surrounded her 
 at all times. She breathed it with the air ; it min- 
 gled with the food she ate ; and sleep itself coul.d not 
 dissolve its power. Turn which way she would, 
 dark shadows rose, which she could no more reduce 
 to fixed form than she could overcome them or 
 drive them away. It was the intangibility of that 
 which oppressed her which paralyzed her. She 
 could literally do nothing ; for she shrank from bring- 
 ing open shame upon her husband, and its reflection 
 upon herself, by acting upon what might possibly be 
 a mistaken suspicion. 
 
 The woman's delicate pride made it almost like 
 death to think of inviting the world to entertain it- 
 self with the spectacle of her grief and dishonor. 
 Above all, conscience held her in her place, though 
 almost every instinct and passion cried out to her to 
 
 341
 
 342 REGINALD ARCHER. 
 
 desert it. She sank down into a dull endurance, which 
 was as helpless as it was hopeless of happiness. 
 
 Yet she felt that this state of things could not con- 
 tinue, that she could not endure it, and that an end 
 must come by some means ; and, while she filled up 
 her days with mechanically -performed duties, she 
 waited with forewarning instinct for the moment and 
 the circumstance which should cause the breaking 
 of the cloud upon her devoted head. 
 
 That moment and that circumstance had arrived. 
 
 The postman's quick ring was heard ; then the ser- 
 vant's leisurely step ascending the stairway. 
 
 " What is it, George ? " she asked as he stood at 
 the door. 
 
 " A letter for you, ma'am," he answered, and, 
 handing it to her, left the room. 
 
 Christie glanced at the large, coarse envelope and 
 unknown handwriting, and concluded that some 
 tradesman's account was within. She opened it care- 
 lessly, and found, to her surprise, a page of foolscap 
 covered with the same straggling penmanship. Her 
 next idea was that it was a petition for charity ; and, 
 as such, she began to read it. 
 
 As she did so, there came a growing whiteness in 
 her face, and a sickening horror at her heart, which 
 made actual death seem very, very near. 
 
 She went steadily on to the end, and then laid the
 
 *** 
 
 REGINALD ARCHER. 343 
 
 paper down beside her without a sound or a move- 
 ment. Her fears and doubts had become certainties : 
 that which she had previously suspected she now 
 knew ; and not only she, but all the world beside. 
 Her wild longing to die, to escape from the sin and 
 misery and falsity which crushed her on every side, 
 swallowed up all other sensations. Utterly defeated 
 in the battle of life, only let her pass out of exist- 
 ence, and at last be at rest. Broken heart, lost faith, 
 and shattered life, what was there left for her in 
 the wide world ? 
 
 To think of her husband was to think of one sep- 
 arated from her by worse than death. His house 
 was no longer her home : every hour she remained 
 near him and under his roof was a stain upon her 
 purity and a disgrace to her ; . for this clear-sighted, 
 high-hearted woman felt her degradation just as a 
 man would have felt it, and held a complaisant wife 
 to be as sinful and shameful an object as a complai- 
 sant husband. She must go, and that instantly. 
 
 Yet whither, and to whom, could she turn for pro- 
 tection ? 
 
 Motherless, fatherless, and almost friendless, in the 
 midst of her wealth and splendor a sense of despera- 
 tion came over the delicate, gently-nurtured woman, 
 as she realized how alone she was, and how unequal 
 to going out into the world and facing it.
 
 344 REGINALD ARCHER. 
 
 " Whether we meet, or whether we part, remember 
 my promise to be your faithful brother if you ever 
 need me." Tom's words, spoken months before in 
 that house, seemed suddenly to sound in her ears; 
 came back to her with such vivid force, that she could 
 scarcely believe they had not been uttered by a living 
 voice. 
 
 She started to her feet. 
 
 Yes, she would go to him, to the one man whom 
 she knew to be absolutely pure, faithful, and honest ; 
 who had striven to save her from this very agony, 
 and, failing, had given her his pledge for this very 
 hour of trial. If he deceived her, then indeed all 
 would be lost, and she could at least die. 
 
 The whiteness was still upon her face to the very 
 lips, and the large eyes were almost weird in their 
 blank darkness ; and, as she moved silently about 
 the room, it was with that strange quietude of 
 motion which we involuntarily use when Death has 
 entered our home, and filled it with his awful pres- 
 ence. 
 
 She took up the letter, and laid it upon the dress- 
 ing-table, where it could not be overlooked. It 
 would sufficiently explain her action to Reginald, if, 
 indeed, he needed any explanation. For a moment, 
 she gazed down at the writing which had wrought 
 this work ; and then, God help her ! there came into
 
 REGINALD ARCHER. 345 
 
 her heart, above its agony and shame and loathing 
 horror, or rather sprang from them, some such 
 feeling as that with which a slave must regard his 
 freedom-papers, or those Roman criminals bound to 
 decaying corpses may have looked upon the instru- 
 ment which severed their chains. Yes, free at last 
 from that bondage to which duty and conscience" had 
 held her with their resistible power ; separated at 
 last from that sinful life with which hers had seemed 
 irrevocably interlocked. 
 
 She put on her bonnet and shawl, and walked to 
 the door of the room. 
 
 There she turned, and looked back into the apart- 
 ment. A strange, solemn quietude fell upon her as 
 she did so ; for she realized that it was the symbol of 
 her whole present existence, and that she was part- 
 ing from it forever. She lingered a moment or two 
 on the threshold, and then came softly back. 
 
 Kneeling down at the bedside, she slowly whis- 
 pered that prayer which Maria had made her repeat 
 upon her wedding-day ; that awful appeal, "Our 
 Father which art in heaven," which frail human 
 lips may well hesitate to take upon them. In the pres- 
 ence of her God, and weighing the searching mean- 
 ing of the words as she spoke them, she said, " For- 
 give us our trespasses as we forgive those who tres- 
 pass against us." 
 
 15*
 
 346 REGINALD ARCHER. 
 
 It was the act of a pure, righteous woman, striv- 
 ing, as for her soul's salvation, -to fulfil to the utter- 
 most the law of Christ and the highest law of her 
 nature ; but I hold it to be a deed impossible in a 
 woman whose love and respect for her husband had 
 survived until that hour, and had then and there 
 died a violent death. In the wild forces which would 
 have maddened and torn asunder such a soul, God 
 and forgiveness could find little place at that mo- 
 ment, however fully they might regain their holy 
 supremacy in the long, sad, coming years of struggle 
 and self-conquest. True and noble as Christie was, 
 I believe it to have been as much the absence of hu- 
 man love as the presence of divine affection which 
 rendered her capable of then performing this highest 
 act of religion and faith, of Christianity and human- 
 ity. The story of the past the manner in which 
 all devotion to her husband, trust in him, and hope 
 of better things from him, had been literally mur- 
 dered out of her was told by the possibility of that 
 quiet, simple forgiveness, as nothing else on earth 
 could have uttered it. The woman's pardon seemed 
 almost to render pardon from a just and righteous 
 God impossible. Reginald Archer's moral death-sen- 
 tence appeared written in that wrathless renuncia- 
 tion. The woman who had loved him until then 
 would then have hated him ; and he had stricken and
 
 REGINALD ARCHER. 347 
 
 ground the power out of Christie to do either the 
 one or the other. When, at the great judgment-day, 
 Reginald Archer comes to stand at the bar of his 
 Maker to give an account of the deeds done in the 
 body, I hold, that, of all his sins, the most damning 
 will be, that he coolly and systematically made it 
 possible for such a woman to accord him such forgive- 
 ness at such a moment. 
 
 She rose from her knees, went down the stairway, 
 and out of the house. 
 
 Tom Archer was sitting in his private counting- 
 room, where he was always to be found at that hour, 
 so busily engaged at his writing-desk, that he scarcely 
 noticed a knock at the door behind him. It was re- 
 peated before he said carelessly, 
 
 " Come in ! " 
 
 He recognized his clerk's step, and did not turn 
 round until he heard the man say, 
 
 " Mr. Archer, here is a lady who wishes to see 
 you." 
 
 Tom glanced over his shoulder as he quickly rose, 
 and saw a small, graceful figure standing by the door. 
 A veil was over the face ; but there was little need to 
 tell him whose was the pretty, delicate form. All 
 the blood in his body seemed to leap to his heart. 
 
 "Christie ! " he cried out, "Christie ! " 
 
 There was a light in his face, and an irrepressible
 
 348 REGINALD ARCHER. 
 
 throb of joy in his voice, which must have told her 
 the truth, had not the woman's thoughts been far 
 away from any dream of love and happiness. It had 
 been so very long since he had seen her, and this 
 meeting had come upon him so suddenly, that it shook 
 his seU>control further than he knew. He came 
 hurriedly forward to greet her with outstretched 
 hands; but she stood perfectly motionless until the 
 clerk had closed the door upon himself. 
 
 Then, just before Tom reached her, she lifted her 
 veil, and, showing her white face, looked at him with 
 her terribly altered eyes. 
 
 " My God I " cried the man's shocked voice as he 
 stopped short, " what is it ? '' 
 
 But, even as he spoke, the whole truth flashed upon 
 him. 
 
 " Tom, do you remember your promise to be my 
 brother when I needed you ? I am here to claim it ; 
 for that time has come." 
 
 The voice was very low, but held perfectly steady. 
 
 Tom came forward, and taking the little hands in 
 one of his, and laying the other upon them, looked 
 quietly down at her with his strong, true eyes. He 
 made no other answer ; but surely none was needed. 
 
 " Tom, Tom ! " the woman's quivering voice cried, 
 " you are all I have in the world now; " and she sank 
 upon her knees before him in an agony of weeping.
 
 REGINALD ARCHER. 349 
 
 Tom caught her up, and placed her upon the 
 lounge just at hand. 
 
 With his unutterable wrath against the false hus- 
 band raging at his heart, and his inexpressible love 
 for the weeping woman fighting for mastery over 
 every iota of his nature, he remembered, even at 
 that moment, that she was another man's wife. He 
 could not give her the calm, soothing, brotherly 
 caresses natural in her tried friend and near relation 
 under such circumstances ; and he would give her 
 no other. It would be nothing, or all, as he well 
 knew; and he held back his immeasurable love 
 through its very might. 
 
 He did not touch her again, but, when the first 
 nervous violence of her sobbing had spent itself, bent 
 over" her, and spoke with the exquisite gentleness and 
 tenderness he would have used to a delicate, sick 
 child whom he was soothing. 
 
 " I am going to take you home to Maria," he said. 
 
 "Yes," she answered quickly. "I can never go 
 back to him, Tom ; never see him again ! " 
 
 "No," Tom replied quietly, but with a curious 
 hardening around his mouth. "Nor I, either; so 
 help me God ! " he mentally added. 
 
 And yet how soon they would both break that 
 vow ! how terribly soon ! 
 
 Tom went out for a moment to send for a carriage,
 
 350 REGINALD ARCHER. 
 
 and, returning, drew Christie's shawl around her, and 
 dropped her veil over her face, before leading her to 
 the vehicle. Over and beyond his tender care and 
 consideration for her, there had come into his manner 
 a delicate, added deference, which put a fine distance 
 between them. Wearing the crown of helplessness 
 and sorrow, she had become to him almost as a 
 queen, and he her humble and loyal servant. Above 
 all, it greatly behooved his honor, that, placed as 
 she was, no shade of reflection should fall upon her 
 through even momentary lack of care on his part. 
 
 As they passed through the office, the clerks in it 
 wondered who the lady could be whom Mr. Archer 
 was handing out with such grave courtesy. 
 
 " Upon my word, when he chooses, he can be as 
 grand and elegant as his magnificent brother Regi- 
 nald," said one of them, quite expressing the senti- 
 ment of the whole party. 
 
 Entering the carriage, Tom and Christie drove in 
 sad silence to the house from which she had gone 
 forth upon her disastrous marriage-day to return in 
 far worse than widowhood.
 
 CHAPTER XXV. 
 
 IT was eleven o'clock at night when Lawrence 
 Van Arsdale entered his home for the first time 
 since his solitary breakfast ; at which Mrs. Van Ars- 
 dale was, as usual, much too fatigued by the pleas- 
 ures of the previous night's ball to assist. The 
 parlors were dark; and evidently no one was at 
 home. 
 
 " Where is your mistress ? " he asked of the servant 
 who opened the door. 
 
 The man, who knew far more of his master's affairs 
 and position than did that master himself, and who 
 could have given him some startling information, 
 glanced furtively up, and then, looking down, an- 
 swered demurely, 
 
 " She's gone to the opera, sir." 
 
 "Whom did she go with?" inquired the gentle- 
 man quickly. 
 
 " Mr. Archer, sir ; he took dinner here," the ser- 
 vant returned with perfectly disciplined voice and 
 manner. 
 
 351
 
 352 REGINALD ARCHER. 
 
 Mr. Van Arsdale ground something like a bitter 
 oath between his teeth, of which the domestic was 
 decorously oblivious. This household had long since 
 come to such a pass, that the attempt to keep its 
 dissensions from the sight and knowledge of the ser- 
 vants had almost ceased ; and many a fierce outbreak 
 between husband and wife upon matters important 
 and unimportant did these apparently passive beings 
 calmly witness. 
 
 The gentleman went into his library. The ser- 
 vant turned up the gas ; mended the dying fire, which 
 the late spring evenings still rendered pleasant ; and 
 left the apartment. 
 
 Throwing himself into a chair, Mr. Van Arsdale 
 sat blankly staring into the flame, that leaped and 
 smouldered, and then leaped up again, and burnt with 
 a fierce, eager intensity. The fiery light which flick- 
 ered over his face found something there akin to 
 itself. The circumstance he had just heard awoke 
 afresh, as Reginald Archer's very name had power to 
 do, his dark distrust of him and of his wife. Now, 
 as always, racked by suspicion, he yet shirked the 
 confirmation of his own instinctive perception, turn- 
 ing with sickening recoil from such a truth until it 
 should be thrust upon him. With hands bound by 
 the dread of., openly blasting his home and name, 
 except upon one last necessity, he remained passive
 
 REGINALD ARCHER. 353 
 
 and helpless ; but his forced inaction seemed to feed 
 the smothered fire, the dumb anger, within him. 
 His long restraint and almost wilful blindness would 
 surely demand their re-actionary price, were his doubt 
 to become a certainty. 
 
 He had been sitting thus perhaps half an hour, 
 when the servant re-entered. Mr. Van Arsdale 
 rose hurriedly, with some idea that his wife had 
 returned. 
 
 " I forgot to give you this letter^ sir ; it came this 
 morning," the man said, handing him just such a 
 coarse envelope as had reached Christie hours before. 
 
 Slowly, half mechanically, the gentleman broke the 
 enclosure, and glanced at its contents. Suddenly 
 the sight of his wife's name, and, beside it, that of 
 Reginald Archer, fixed his attention ; and he began 
 in earnest to read the paper in his hand. 
 
 The change that came over him made the servant, 
 lingering in vague curiosity, shrink before him in ter- 
 ror. If sullen rage had possessed that face, what 
 was in it now ? If a thirst for blood and vengeance 
 had been growing there, what words could describe 
 it at this moment? Lawrence Van Arsdale, the 
 small man with the pale, square face, and quiet, 
 steel-gray eyes, had disappeared ; and a madman 
 stood in his place, in his immeasurable wrath and 
 power. Then he caught hold of the mantle-piece in,
 
 351 REGINALD ARCHER. 
 
 his mighty effort to control his faculties, which were 
 slipping away from him ; while he opened his parched 
 lips, striving to gain the breath that seemed almost 
 gone from them forever. 
 
 But his self-containment", and his habit of acting 
 upon his determination, ruled him even then. After 
 a brief space of time, he walked out of the room, and 
 straight to his wife's chamber. 
 
 No trace of his past wavering now, but in its 
 place a mad desire> to know the worst, and to face it 
 to the uttermost. Instinct led him to this room in 
 his search for proof of the damning truth or lie. 
 Glancing round the apartment in his undetermined 
 course, he caught sight of a little cabinet, which, it 
 flashed upon him, she always kept locked. 
 
 He tried to force it open, but failed. , 
 
 The reckless woman, silly even in her sin, had 
 thrown down her keys, among other things, upon a 
 table so near, that he saw them, and took the one 
 he needed. 
 
 Within the drawers he found with a character- 
 istic collection of soiled gloves, faded bouquets, bro- 
 ken fans, and similar womanish relics a quantity 
 of notes and letters from numberless men/such as 
 would have bowed any honorable man in the dust 
 with shame, even had "he known that his wife had 
 stopped short of what is called criminality.
 
 REGINALD ARCHER. 8-55 
 
 But Lawrence Van Arsdale threw these aside ; for 
 they were not what he sought. 
 
 At last, in a place by themselves, he came upon 
 some scraps of writing signed " R ; " and he knew 
 instinctively that he had reached his object. 
 
 Without stating in terms the black truth, the notes 
 implied so clearly the guilty connection between his 
 wife and the writer, that any faint hope or doubt to 
 which he might have clung died instantly. 
 
 His hand still held the papers, when there came a 
 sound of the opening front-door, and the soft tones 
 and laughter of a brief, merry parting ; then he 
 heard his wife's quick, light footfall upon the stair- 
 way. Little dreaming of what she was hastening to, 
 the lady was gayly singing a fragment from the opej-a, 
 in imitation of. the prima donna to whom she had 
 just been listening. In another moment she stood in 
 the doorway, with the very smile with which she had 
 parted from Reginald still upon her lips. 
 
 In her brilliant evening-dress and the fulness of 
 her exquisite beauty, with her white bosom, her mar- 
 vellous dark eyes, and glowing hair, she seemed to 
 light up the chamber as she entered it. Never had 
 she looked so like Herodias' daughter as at that mo- 
 ment, radiant and reckless, with deadly elements in 
 conflict so near her. 
 
 " Why, Lawrence ! is it you? You are home ear-
 
 356 REGINALD ARCHER. 
 
 ly,". she said lightly as she came towards him. " I 
 have been to the opera with Mrs. Conrad," she 
 added with a ready lie. 
 
 He was standing with his back to her ; and, in her 
 careless self-absorption, she did not for the moment 
 see what he was doing. Just before she reached 
 him, he turned and faced her, the papers in his hand. 
 
 Then she saw the truth. Fool as she was, she 
 recognized the meaning of that countenance, and 
 read the bloody purpose written in it. 
 
 " Lawrence," she shrieked, " don't kill me ! " 
 
 And, falling on her knees before him, all her gay 
 splendor vanished : she crouched and grovelled upon 
 the ground in abject animal terror. 
 
 He stepped to the door, and locked it behind her. 
 At the action, the woman's heart and strength died 
 within her. Then he came back, and looked down 
 at her. With his wild rage riotous through his 
 blood, the traditions of his whole race and country 
 were still unconsciously controlling him. Without 
 realizing it, his arm hesitated to raise itself to strike 
 a woman, let her sin and his suffering be what they 
 might. Her agony of fear was terrible to witness ; 
 and the man's keen perception showed him, even 
 then, that it was nothing else ; that neither sorrow 
 nor remorse, nor even shame, mingled with it. She 
 dreaded him, not for the wrong she had done him, 
 but for the injury he could still do her.
 
 REGINALD ARCHER. 357 
 
 " Don't kill me, Lawrence ! " she moaned again. 
 
 " Do you think I would let such a shameful crea- 
 ture live ? " he answered ; and the low, fixed tone ter- 
 rified her more than the words. 
 
 As his sentence, and its inexpressible loathing 
 contempt, struck her, the woman suddenly raised 
 her head, and then sprang to her feet. She had 
 given up all hope of her life ; and with despair came 
 its reckless courage. 
 
 " Who and what are you, that you dare to de- 
 spise me ? " she cried out, her words rushing from 
 her lips like a flood. " You have the strength to 
 murder me, and you will do it ; but you lost the 
 right long ago." 
 
 Reginald's teaching had not been in vain ; and 
 she used it with a terrible force, born of her terri- 
 ble necessity. 
 
 " You kill me for that which you taught me to 
 do, which you set me the example of doing. What 
 sin have I committed that you had not enjoyed, 
 and satiated yourself with, long before I ever saw 
 you ? What law of heaven or earth have I broken 
 which you have not broken again and again ? Man ! 
 we are on a level at last ; we are fitting companions 
 for the first time ; and you ought to embrace me 
 now as the proper wife of your bosom ! " And she 
 flung out her beautiful arms to him in mad mock-
 
 358 REGINALD ARCHER. 
 
 ery, while her dreadful laughter rang through the 
 room. 
 
 She had suddenly sprung upon the tremendous 
 vantage-ground of truth, and from it defied and 
 defeated him. 
 
 "And the scribes and Pharisees brought unto him a 
 woman taken in adultery ; and, when they had set her 
 in the midst, they say unto him, Master, this woman 
 was taken in adultery, in the very act. Now, Moses, in 
 the law, commanded that such should be stoned; but 
 what sayest thou ? Jesus stooped down, and with his 
 finger wrote on the ground, 'as though he heard them 
 not. So, when they continued asking him, he lifted up 
 himself, and said unto them, He that is without sin 
 among you, let him cast the first stone at her. And 
 they which heard it, being convicted by their own con- 
 sciences, went out one by one, beginning at the eldest, 
 even unto the last." 
 
 The wretched woman had unconsciously used 
 Christ's own argument ; and the miracle it worked 
 two thousand years ago it wrought again that day. 
 She had literally taken the stone from his hand, 
 leaving him powerless and weaponless. 
 
 The maddened, outraged man before her looked 
 at her with savage purpose for a moment ; then 
 wavered, looked again, and again faltered in his res- 
 olution ; and finally, without another word, turned 
 and left the room.
 
 REGINALD ARCHER. 359 
 
 His wife stood absolutely stunned at the effect of 
 her words and her sudden deliverance. 
 
 Lawrence Van Arsdale went straight back to the 
 library. When he reached it, his dreadful purpose 
 was more clearly graven upon his face than ever. 
 Baffled in his vengeance upon the woman who had 
 wronged him, he turned to wreak its concentrated 
 force upon the man who had wrought his shame. 
 The white, fixed face, with its deadly intent, was 
 made more horrible by its contrast with the quie- 
 tude of his movements. Opening his private secre- 
 tary, he took out_ a small revolver, and carefully load- 
 ed it ; then he put on his hat and went out of the 
 house with as little demonstration as though his er- 
 rand had been of the simplest business-character. 
 
 A quarter of an hour after, he was ringing the 
 bell of Reginald Archer's residence. 
 
 " Is Mr Archer in ? " he inquired of the servant 
 who answered his summons. 
 
 " No, sir," the man replied, noticing that the gen- 
 tleman stood in the shadow, and kept his hat slouched 
 over his face. 
 
 " When will he be at home ? " 
 
 " I really can't say, sir." 
 
 " Where can he probably be found ? " the gentle- 
 
 
 
 man persisted. 
 
 " You may find him at the club," said the servant, 
 suggesting the likeliest place.
 
 360 REGINALD ARCHER. 
 
 " Ah ! " retui-ned Mr. Vau Arsdale, and went has- 
 tily down the steps. 
 
 The servant was right ; for, in one of the smaller 
 rooms of the club-house, Reginald sat at that 
 moment in his glory, surrounded by a number of his 
 particular set, who were sure to be collected there 
 when nothing more agreeable occupied their atten- 
 tion. He was in such unusual spirits, that even 
 those accustomed to his brilliancy looked at him in 
 wondering admiration. He was sitting with his 
 back to the door, but facing a great mirror, loun- 
 ging in his arm-chair with his luxurious grace, and 
 keeping up a strain of witty nonsense which drew 
 peal after peal of laughter from his audience. 
 
 It was upon this scene that Lawrence Van Ars- 
 dale came. 
 
 As he entered, most of those present caught sight 
 of him instantly. They were not nervous men ; but, 
 as they saw his face, a dread struck to their hearts, 
 the forewarning of what they felt was to come. Sud- 
 den silence fell upon that company. Hearing his 
 own voice sounding alone, Reginald looked up in 
 surprise to learn the cause of the quietude ; and then, 
 in the mirror before him, he saw the face and figure 
 advancing behind him. 
 
 Lloyd, who was sitting beside him, started up, cry- 
 ing out in terror,
 
 REGINALD ARCHER. 361 
 
 " Reginald, I knew he would murder you ! It has 
 come at last ! " 
 
 To do Reginald justice, neither his heart nor his 
 pulse quickened their beat perceptibly : he certainly 
 had not attempted a role which he could not fill. 
 Rising calmly, he turned and stood before the man 
 he had dishonored, with the same grand manner and 
 unshakable courtesy with which he would have re- 
 ceived him in his own house. 
 
 For a second the two faced each other, the tall 
 form towering above the smaller one ; yet not a per- 
 son present doubted which was the stronger at that 
 moment. The infinitude of still rage, the immeasura- 
 ble agony that set every nerve and muscle, above all, 
 the power which could keep its hand upon the throat 
 of both, and compel them to bide his time, gave a 
 frightful force to that slight, pale man, as he stood 
 there mute and motionless. 
 
 As for Reginald, those who saw him then never 
 forgot the impression. He remained stamped upon 
 their memories, like the recollection of some wonder- 
 ful statue or picture ; some glorious work of art seen 
 once in a lifetime, and longed for ever after. 
 
 " I have come to kill you ! " Van Arsdale's low 
 voice broke the stillness. 
 
 "Mr. Van Arsdale," Reginald replied, bowing 
 gravely, " if you think I have done you any wrong, I 
 
 16
 
 362 REGINALD ARCHER. 
 
 am quite ready to meet you at any time, and give 
 you the satisfaction customary among gentlemen." 
 
 " Satisfaction ! " Lawrence Van Arsdale's voice 
 had not risen ; but there had come such a terrible 
 thrill through it as would have made almost any 
 man alive, but the one before him, shiver and quail. 
 "Do you imagine I would give you a chance for 
 your life ? You have robbed me of that which was 
 infinitely more than my life ; and I demand yours as 
 the slightest compensation. No ! I shoot you down 
 like any other dangerous beast ; and the world ought 
 to thank me for ridding it of you. As I told you, I 
 have come to kill you ! " 
 
 While speaking, he had stood with his hand appar- 
 ently pressed upon his heart ; but, as he quietly 
 took it away, they saw that it held a pistol. 
 
 Reginald made a quick, violent movement to dash 
 up his assailant's arm, and catch the weapon from 
 his grasp ; but he was too late. The sound of a 
 pistol-shot rang through the room ; and then Regi- 
 nald Archer threw up his arms with a strange, gasp- 
 ing moan, staggered, and fell heavily forward. A 
 cry of horror broke from those around him as they 
 sprang to catch him, and laid him out upon the 
 floor. 
 
 " Dead ? " was the question in their terror-stricken 
 eyes.
 
 REGINALD ARCHER. 363 
 
 Not yet; still breathing, but with a bloody spot 
 on his left side, which made those who knew most 
 of such matters lose all hope. 
 
 " Run for the nearest doctor ! quick, some of you ! " 
 exclaimed the man who soonest recovered his senses ; 
 and more than one sped away to execute his order. 
 
 Lloyd was trying to support Reginald's head, and 
 moaning over him in a half broken-hearted way; 
 when Lawrence Van Arsdale came quietly forward, 
 and gazed steadily down upon the man he had 
 shot. - His face could have grown no paler ; but it 
 was a shade calmer, or rather wearier ; though this 
 was the only change in it. In their absorption in 
 the dying man, the crowd had, for the moment, 
 almost forgotten Van Arsdale ; but now Lloyd sud- 
 denly cried out, 
 
 " Seize him ! hold him ! Don't let him escape ! " 
 
 The bystanders closed in around him; but no 
 one touched him. They had neither the wish nor 
 the power to lay violent hands upon the man, who, 
 each knew in his secret heart, had but executed 
 swift justice. 
 
 An awful smile came into Lawrence Van Arsdale's 
 face. 
 
 " You can't prevent it, gentlemen," he said qui- 
 etly. "I provided a sure way of escape before I 
 came here."
 
 304 REGINALD ARCHER. 
 
 And lifting to his head the revolver, which was still 
 in his hand, he deliberately blew out his brains ; fall- 
 ing, a shattered, bleeding, senseless mass, by the side 
 of the man to whom he had just dealt a slower death. 
 
 Again that cry of horror broke out from those pas- 
 sive witnesses ; and then they stood gazing into each 
 other's eyes, literally paralyzed by the situation. 
 
 The room and the house were rapidly crowding 
 with fresh comers ; for the rumor of Reginald's con- 
 dition had spread with lightning-speed. Presently 
 they raised the dead body, and decently composed it 
 upon a sofa. Then, the doctor arriving, they gave 
 their whole attention to the scarcely more living form 
 upon the floor. The circle of white faces bent breath- 
 lessly forward as the physician knelt by the prostrate 
 figure and made his hasty examination. 
 
 He shook his head slowly and sadly. 
 
 " He is still alive ; but that is all. The wound is 
 mortal. The ball has gone too near the heart for 
 any hope of his life to remain," he said softly, his 
 voice breaking the stillness which closed over them 
 again when it ceased. 
 
 Under the application of stimulants, Reginald grad- 
 ually returned to consciousness, and faintly perceived 
 his situation and surroundings. His instinct of out- 
 ward propriety ruled him even then ; and his disgust 
 at lying there to be stared at was his first sensation.
 
 REGINALD ARCHER. 3C5 
 
 Llo} r d saw his lips move, and bent down to listen. 
 
 " Home ! " was the word he heard. 
 
 Lloyd looked up at the physician. 
 
 " He wants to be moved to his own house," he 
 said. " Is it possible to do it ?" 
 
 " Yes, I think he can bear it. He has amazing 
 physical strength," the doctor replied, and then gave 
 a movement with his eyebrows which plainly said 
 that it made small matter what they did, as the end 
 was inevitable. 
 
 Slowly and carefully they lifted him upon a lounge, 
 and prepared to carry him home. Just as they were 
 leaving the house, Lloyd again saw his lips stir, and 
 again leaned to listen. 
 
 As before, but a single word, 
 
 "Tom!" 
 
 " Yes ! " Lloyd answered eagerly : " I will bring 
 him ! " 
 
 " Quickly ! " the wounded man faintly articulated. 
 
 Lloyd openly hesitated, to leave him ; but Reginald 
 lifted his eyes towards him ; and, dim as they now 
 were, they still had power to enforce his will. 
 
 Knowing that he left his friend in hands as careful 
 as his own, the younger man hastened away to obey 
 that which seemed a dying command.
 
 CHAPTER XXVI. 
 
 TOM ARCHER'S home and its inmates were 
 very quiet that night ; but there was little sleep 
 under his roof. Past midnight, and each one had 
 gone to his or her chamber ; but even the semblance 
 of repose ceased there. 
 
 What might come next, what might be the end 
 of all this, was the dread weighing heavily upon 
 each ; and to each the very air seemed thick and 
 dark with shadows of the future. 
 
 Tom paced . up and down his floor, unable to be 
 still. 
 
 Christie was now, as always, his first overruling 
 thought. Their meeting after months of separa- 
 tion, and her proximity at that moment, would alone 
 have stirred his blood to uncontrollable flow and 
 beat; but, beyond this, his boundless indignation 
 against his brother fired his whole nature. Then 
 he thought also of Van Arsdale. An infinite pity 
 for the man would have possessed him, had he not 
 felt an equally measureless amazement and contempt
 
 REGINALD ARCHER. 367 
 
 for the being who could lift his face to the light, and 
 passively allow such a state of things to continue. 
 
 He was thus walking and thus thinking, when a 
 carriage dashed furiously up to the house ; and there 
 came that violent, imperative ring, which startles us 
 under the most ordinary circumstances as the fore- 
 runner of trouble. He was at the entrance before 
 any servant could possibly reach it ; and the opening 
 of the door brought him face to face with Lloyd's 
 aghast countenance. 
 
 " Van Arsdale has shot Reginald ! He is dying, 
 and he is asking for you ! " Lloyd's breathless lips 
 managed to utter before the other man could unclose 
 his. 
 
 Lloyd's ashen hue was upon Tom also as he stood 
 speechlessly looking at him. He had unconsciously 
 thrown up his arm in dumb protest against the dread- 
 ful fact ; and it remained rigid, as the tide of horror, 
 grief, childish love, that seemed dead and buried, 
 surged within him. 
 
 Then a strange, stilling change came over his face, 
 and his arm dropped heavily to his side. It was as 
 though, over all natural feeling and passion, he had 
 solemnly and deliberately said "Amen ! " for he knew 
 in every recess of his heart and nature, that, placed 
 in the same terrible strait, he would have done the 
 same terrible deed.
 
 368 REGINALD ARCHER. 
 
 " Come ! " said Lloyd : " he may not live to see 
 you!" 
 
 Tom steadied himself for a moment ; and then his 
 practical readiness came back to him. 
 
 " Wait an instant ! " he exclaimed, and went hur- 
 riedly up stairs towards Christie's room. 
 
 He met her rapidly descending. She had heard 
 the arrival, and had even caught the tone of Lloyd's 
 voice ; and the expression of her countenance left 
 Tom little to tell. 
 
 He put his hand firmly upon her shoulder before 
 he spoke, though her eyes cried out, 
 
 " Don't torture me ! tell me instantly ! " 
 
 " Christie," he said, " Van Arsdale has shot him, 
 and he is dying ! " 
 
 Except for his grasp, she would probably have 
 fallen, she trembled so violently, as a low cry caine 
 from her lips ; but her self-restraint stilled the sound 
 almost immediately, and held her shaking frame 
 steady, while she listened for that which she felt 
 would be his next sentence. 
 
 " I am going to him," he said. 
 
 " So am I," her lips formed almost voicelessly. 
 
 " Yes, I came back for you ; but every moment is 
 precious." And, taking her arm, they went hastily 
 to the door. 
 
 But, mindful of her comfort and safety even then,
 
 REGINALD ARCHER. 369 
 
 Tom caught up his travelling-cloak from the hall- 
 table, and drew, it around her as he put her into the 
 carriage. 
 
 Then the vehicle, with those three blanched faces 
 within, again drove furiously through the darkness. 
 
 What a change had passed over that house ! and 
 how strangely unfamiliar her home looked to Christie 
 as she stepped over the threshold she had believed 
 she should never again cross ! The door stood open ; 
 the gas-light flamed garishly out into the night ; the 
 servants moved wildly about, they, like the whole 
 establishment, fallen to sudden disorganization. The 
 hall seemed filled with men, who had either followed 
 the cortege from the club, or had hurried hither from 
 friendship or curiosity. Their eager, agitated talking 
 lowered as they saw Tom enter ; but it ceased en- 
 tirely, and they fell back with grave, pitying defer- 
 ence, as they caught sight of Christie behind him. 
 Not merely a wife, but a terribly-wronged woman ; 
 not only going to her husband's death-bed, but such 
 a death-bed ! from such a cause ! No wonder they 
 made way for her with reverence and sorrowful sym- 
 pathy. 
 
 Torn led her directly to Reginald's room. Within 
 stood five or six men whom he knew to be eminent 
 surgeons, gathered from all parts of the city. They 
 had cleared the apartment of every one else, and were 
 
 16*
 
 370 REGINALD ARCHER. 
 
 bending over a figure on the bed. At the sound of 
 footsteps, one of them looked round, and, recogniz- 
 ing Tom, came quickly out to him. As he saw 
 Christie, the same curious alteration came upon him 
 which had passed over those she had met below ; and 
 he spoke very gently as he answered the question in 
 their dilating eyes. 
 
 " He is alive. The wound would have killed any 
 other man outright ; but he has such wonderful 
 strength and vitality, that he may linger for hours. 
 You can come into the room ; but you had better 
 keep behind him, as he is evidently conscious at 
 times, and any agitation might be instantly fatal." 
 
 They followed him into the chamber, and silently 
 took the places assigned them. 
 
 Almost within reach of their touch lay the stately 
 form which even death seemed to struggle in vain to 
 conquer. They could watch the faint rising and fall- 
 ing of the broad breast ; they could see the eyelids 
 quiver, and then slowly open ; and with what emo- 
 tion at their hearts they did so ! 
 
 How far he was sensible they could not tell ; for 
 he noticed nothing until Lloyd came and stood at the 
 foot of the bed. Then a purpose gathered in his 
 eyes ; and, to the astonishment of those around him, 
 he said quite audibly, 
 
 " Where is he ? "
 
 REGINALD ARCHER. 371 
 
 " Here ! " Lloyd replied ; and Tom stepped to the 
 bedside. 
 
 The downward gaze met the upward for a little 
 while ; for the elder brother was speechless. 
 
 " Your words have come true, Tom," the wounded 
 man's faint voice sounded through the still room ; 
 44 yet I don't think you are glad." 
 
 " Reg, dear Reg ! " Tom cried out ; and with a great 
 sob he fell down upon his knees beside his brother, 
 his head bowing upon the other's hand with passion- 
 ate tenderness and grief. 
 
 A moment after, the doctor's strong grasp upon his 
 shoulder brought him back to himself and the neces- 
 sity of the case. He rose hastily, and strove to regain 
 his self-control. 
 
 The old, sweet smile came upon the dying lips ; 
 but Reginald Archer was Reginald Archer still, and 
 would be himself until the breath left histiody. The 
 smile took a careless, mocking tinge ; and he said, 
 with a gay, defiant tone, which contrasted horribly 
 with the weak voice it used, 
 
 " I am dying like a dog, Tom, but a dog that has 
 had his day! " 
 
 The re-action of his effort overpowered him, and 
 he sank away into exhaustion. 
 
 Thus he lay through the long, dark hours of the 
 night, the large blue eyes looking ever far away
 
 372 REGINALD ARCHER. 
 
 before him, it almost seemed, into that eternity to 
 which he was drawing so near. Who shall say what 
 he saw in that solemn night-watch ? what thoughts 
 of past and future came over him ? what awful light 
 and knowledge of both fell upon him ? 
 
 No change in the man upon the bed ; no change in 
 those who silently sat around him. The night became 
 gray dawn, and the dawn broad day. The rising sun- 
 beams streamed into that room, glorifying even it 
 with their early splendor ; and still no alteration in 
 either watchers or watched. 
 
 Suddenly Reginald made a movement, turned 
 completely over with surprising strength, and looked 
 up at his brother with his old fire and vigor, his 
 accustomed glance and expression. The physician 
 beside him rose hurriedly, and lifted his hand in a 
 warning to the others, which an awful something in 
 Reginald's *face, despite its apparent return to life, 
 made fearfully intelligible. They gathered quickly 
 about him, with a contraction at their hearts, which 
 was sharp physical pain. There was no room for 
 fear now, as there was none for hope ; and, no longer 
 dreading to agitate him, Christie stood directly before 
 him. But he did not seem to notice her : she had 
 been little to him at any time, and now she was 
 nothing. His whole attention was fixed upon his 
 brother.
 
 REGINALD ARCHER. 37o 
 
 " Tom," he said, speaking as distinctly as he had 
 ever done, " about that unjust steward : I am not so 
 sure of his wisdom ; I begin to doubt ; I " 
 
 The voice broke and ceased ; the eyes glazed ; a 
 shiver went over the powerful frame ; and that which, 
 but a second before, had been a living, speaking man, 
 was a corpse.
 
 CHAPTER XXVII. 
 
 T]WO years have passed since that day, and the 
 world goes on as smoothly and joyfully as 
 though such a tragedy had never darkened it. 
 
 To those who witnessed the bloody scene, its influ- 
 ence at first pervaded all existence ; but most of 
 them became accustomed to the sensation, and gradu- 
 ally threw it off, betaking themselves with relief and 
 renewed vigor to their own projects and pleasures. 
 Reginald Archer and Lawrence Van Arsdale soon 
 lay in almost forgotten graves, awaiting the great 
 final judgment which must come to all. 
 
 In Lloyd's weak brain and shallow nature there 
 always remained a certain allegiance to his friend 
 and leader ; and, bad and feeble as he was, he rose 
 above stronger men in that he was capable of faith- 
 fully loving and remembering the dead. Maria, too, 
 still thought tenderly and sadly of the brother of her 
 childhood. But except for these, and Christie and 
 Tom, the wife he had outraged, and the brother to 
 whom he had been a life-long sorrow and disgrace, 
 
 374
 
 REGINALD ARCHER. 375 
 
 Reginald's name would scarcely find a place in the 
 memories of his fellow-beings. 
 
 People wearied of feeling and saying, "What a 
 shocking affair it was ! " and, after dwelling morbidly 
 upon the subject, turned eagerly from it. It first hor- 
 rified, and then bored them ; and, finally, the individ- 
 ual who enabled them to speak of it with ease and 
 comfort, in fact, to derive some amusement from it, 
 was secretly welcomed as a benefactor. The moral 
 of his story, the sermon his course preached, became 
 less oppressive and personal when its point was re- 
 moved and its edge turned by a sarcasm. 
 
 Again Reginald's set was assembled at the club, 
 and his name had been casually mentioned. 
 
 " He did not run a very edifying career,, perhaps ; 
 but he certainly enjoyed himself extremely," said one 
 of the persons present. 
 
 The speaker was a quick-witted, irreproachably 
 fine gentleman, whose morals and manners were 
 Reginald's own; who had fawned upon him and 
 utilized him while living, and who naturally gave 
 him a kick now that he was dead. 
 
 " Somehow, it always seemed to me impossible for 
 that man to die ; but, as soon as the doctor said the 
 heart was touched, I knew the game was up," re- 
 flectively remarked another quondam acquaintance. 
 
 " Yes ; for it was possible that a pistol-ball should
 
 376 REGINALD ARCHER. 
 
 touch his heart, though we should have found it hard 
 to believe any thing else had done so," said the man 
 who had first spoken. " There is, at least, one satis- 
 faction about this affair ; and that is, it settles two 
 points about which we must otherwise have remained 
 in doubt. One is, that Reginald Archer had a heart ; 
 and the other, that Lawrence Van Arsdale had a 
 brain." 
 
 A laugh, at first rather suppressed, but gradually 
 breaking out freety, rose from the company ; and the 
 gentleman was regarded gratefully as having exor- 
 cised a ghost from among them, and put a neat, 
 repeatable witticism in its place. 
 
 Truly Reginald Archer had neither lived nor died 
 in vain. jHe had furnished a Ion-mot to one of his 
 friends, and a laugh to the rest. He would have 
 asked nothing better from them ; and he gave all he 
 would have desired. To the end, a certain justice 
 pervaded the man and his career ; for he got in this 
 instance just what he would have given. 
 
 The guilty woman who had cost him his life went 
 to her own place. ' She openly adopted the existence 
 for which she was naturally fitted. She chose a rich 
 lover, and lives in more luxury than ever before. 
 Her jewels are finer, her dresses more elegant and 
 becoming ; and I am bound to confess, that her satis- 
 faction in life seems to be in equally increased pro-
 
 REGINALD ARCHER. 377 
 
 portion. She lias lost her position in one class of 
 society ; but she has gained a wider sway, and a 
 larger, stronger influence, over another portion of it. 
 Her former female friends, of course, ignore her ex- 
 istence ; but she finds the bad men and lost women, 
 to whose companjr she is restricted, quite as entertain- 
 ing and congenial associates. Above all, she has 
 gained that freedom of action, that license to gratify 
 every impulse and passion of her nature, which the 
 world grants men at their birth, but which a woman 
 can only gain by breaking every social tie. No out- 
 ward punishment has fallen upon Mrs. Van Arsdale ; 
 and I cannot learn that she is troubled by any pang 
 of conscience or remorse. Old age may tell a sadly 
 different tale ; but as yet there is no evidence that 
 she has found sin other than a brilliant speculation 
 both as to pleasure and as to profit. 
 
 As soon as Reginald was buried, Maria took Chris- 
 tie away to a quiet country-house, far from the 
 associations, if not the recollections, of the past. 
 There the stillness, the peace, the fair face of Nature, 
 seemed to hush, if not to heal, the woman's storm- 
 tossed being. It was scarcely grief she felt ; for the 
 true, parting death-pang had come long before, when 
 she discovered that the man she adored had never 
 existed. But, apart from natural pity for his dreadful 
 end, the nervous shock had stunned her ; and time 
 alone could wear away its effect.
 
 378 REGINALD ARCHER.. 
 
 The ineffable calm of the summer-days lulled her 
 to a deeper, more needful rest than sleep ; the cool, 
 fresh brightness of the early morning stilled the 
 bound of those feverish pulses, while it faintly woke 
 to renewed life the youth that was in both heart and 
 blood. The forests put on their autumn glory, and 
 the trees took their radiant, changeful tints ; and still 
 the two lingered in their peaceful retreat, where Tom 
 did not permit them to be disturbed even by him- 
 self. Christie's natural, generous sympathy in those 
 around her began to revive ; her interest in their 
 cares came back ; and the burden of her own sadness 
 seemed lifted from her heart as she took that of others 
 upon it. She occupied herself again in small, daily 
 duties ; and the benefit was hourly visible. Striving 
 to forget recent events, their effect gradually faded 
 away; and her whole married life seemed falling 
 from her like a garment. In many little ways she 
 reminded Maria of the Christie of old, the innocent, 
 emotional child who had originally come to tkeir 
 house. 
 
 The short, dark winter-days brought them back to 
 the city, and saw 'Christie once more an inmate of 
 Tom's house. No thought that she would ever leave 
 it crossed the mind of any one ; for it was her only 
 refuge, and she rested in it as a weary bird in its 
 nest.
 
 REGINALD ARCHER. 379 
 
 Those few persons who gained access to her, and 
 who had greatly wondered what change they would 
 see, found a composed woman, whose lovely face still 
 wore its sweet smile, but whose countenance had a 
 strange capacity for breaking into sudden horror at 
 the least shock, even that of a sharp sound. It is the 
 signet invariably stamped upon those who have ever 
 felt the whole groundwork of their lives sink under 
 them. 
 
 But even this faded in its intensity as the days and 
 weeks began to bring with them a certain re-awaken- 
 ing sense of happiness, which she felt with faint sur- 
 prise, though without comprehending its cause. 
 
 And Tom ? 
 
 It was curious how early his business-engagements 
 now permitted him to leave his office ; how entirely 
 that press of work, which had been the alleged reason 
 of -his spending long, solitary hours in his counting- 
 room, had passed away. He was always at the ser- 
 vice of Christie and Maria : a clerk could invariably 
 fulfil his duties, if he were needed to walk or ride, 
 or attend them in any way. All the woman-like 
 tenderness and thoughtfulness of the strong man 
 found vent at last ; and the charm of contrast gave 
 exquisite beauty to his care. For him, no fairest sum- 
 mer-days had ever held the glorious brightness and 
 warmth that these chill, dark winter-hours contained.
 
 380 REGINALD ARCHER. 
 
 It became evident in his appearance. 
 
 " Tom, you are growing young again," his friends 
 would say as they saw the vigor and health that 
 were bounding through every vein, that spoke out 
 in every glance and movement. And the man 
 flushed as he thought in how much deeper sense 
 were their words true than they imagined. 
 
 With Tom Archer's unbending conscience went 
 his clear, practical sense, preventing his being either 
 sentimental or morbid. At the call of duty, he had 
 sacrificed every desire and passion. When to do oth- 
 erwise would have been sin, he had put the woman 
 he loved utterly out of his life, as far as possible, 
 even, out of his thoughts. Now he felt himself per- 
 fectly free to take her into the innermost recesses 
 of his being, if he could woo her thither. Having 
 the opportunity, he held that he had now also the 
 right, to use every iota of his strength of mind and 
 body to make her love him. He worked towards 
 this end ceaselessly. He provided pleasure for her 
 every hour ; he made himself the light and sunshine 
 of her existence ; and, of his own exquisite thrill 
 of happiness in so doing, who shall tell, who shall 
 tell? 
 
 Like a flower gaining color and opening its petals 
 under the sun, so Christie bloomed into vitality, 
 beauty, and joy, under the warm rays of love ; but
 
 REGINALD ARCHER. 381 
 
 as yet, like the flower, she did not recognize the 
 source of her renewed life. She grew to lean upon 
 Tom in all things ; to think of him constantly; to 
 watch for his coming, and listen for his step : but 
 she had cared so tenderly for him as a brother, that 
 the change did not immediately strike her ; and she 
 loved him as a lover, without knowing it. 
 
 He did not disturb her delusion. He was very 
 cautious : he did not dare to be otherwise, having so 
 much at stake. 
 
 " Shall I ever gain her ? will she ever love me as I 
 love her ? " he would think as the beautiful dark 
 eyes looked up at him, unconscious of the meaning 
 which he felt must be visible in his own. 
 
 The winter passed, the spring went by ; and it was 
 summer before he dared to reply to himself. Then a 
 change came over Christie. The calm sweetness of 
 her manner towards him vanished, and a fitful con- 
 straint took its place : there were times when she 
 nervously avoided him ; when her eyes drooped, and 
 the rich blood flushed to her very brow at his glance, 
 even at the sound of his voice. 
 
 And now Tom Archer resolved to put that ques- 
 tion, which he prayed God he might not be madly 
 deceiving himself in thinking had been answered 
 before it was asked. 
 
 Christie's business-affairs, which Reginald had al-
 
 382 REGINALD ARCHER. 
 
 lowed to go at loose ends in the hands of a careless 
 lawyer, had naturally fallen to Tom's care ; and much 
 time and trouble they cost him. The size of the 
 estate, and its condition, occasioned many consulta- 
 tions and arguments in his office between the 
 lawyer and himself. At these Christie almost always 
 assisted, at least by her presence ; for Tom would 
 take no action without her intelligent assent, as 
 well as her signature to authorize it. 
 
 Thus it happened that he and she were alone 
 in that private office one "stimmer afternoon. The 
 business-matters had been arranged, the lawyer had 
 departed, and the two were left together. Christie 
 was talking a little nervously upon any and all sub- 
 jects, as was her habit now; for she instinctively 
 avoided a silence when no third person was present. 
 They were both standing by his desk ; and her eye 
 happened to rest upon the engraving above it. 
 
 " What a lovely, sad face that is ! " she exclaimed. 
 " You have never told me whose it is," she con- 
 tinued ; " though, the first time I saw it, you said you 
 would do so one day." 
 
 Tom looked quickly at her, with a manner which 
 agitated her strangely. 
 
 " Christie," he said slowly, after a moment, in 
 which the man steadied himself for the great final 
 effort of his life, " when others have asked me that
 
 REGINALD ARCHER. 383 
 
 question, I have always said it was the Madonna. I tell 
 you that it is the woman I love, I reverence, I adore." 
 And the low, concentrated voice sank to a whisper. 
 
 Pain, doubt, and amazement flashed up in the great 
 dark eyes, which shone from the pale face turned 
 towards him. 
 
 " Christie ! " he cried, coming close to her, with all 
 his long-hoarded love and passion breaking beyond 
 his control, " don't you see the likeness ? My dar- 
 ling, my darling ! don't you see that it is yourself? " 
 
 The beautiful eyes faltered and drooped ; the splen- 
 did color rushed over her face ; the sweet, smiling lips 
 quivered ; and her head would have sunk upon her 
 hands, but that it rested elsewhere. For at last 
 ah ! at last Tom Archer held in his strong arms, and 
 close to his throbbing heart, the woman he had loved 
 so passionately, so purely, so faithfully, and so long. 
 
 " Tom," she whispered softly, when his kisses 
 upon lips and cheeks and hands at last allowed her 
 to speak, still almost incredulous of her own happj- 
 ness, " is it really so ? " 
 
 " My darling, it has always been so." 
 
 And then he told her the story of his love and 
 pain and longing, from the moment he had first wel- 
 comed her to his home until this hour which com- 
 pensated for all. 
 
 Tom had waited so long for the prize of his life,
 
 384 REGINALD ARCHER. 
 
 that she could not ask him to wait longer. So one 
 of those beautiful summer mornings witnessed a very 
 quiet bridal ; saw them go away to ramble in green 
 fields, to roam over pleasant hills, there to forget 
 the world, and to share, after their weary trial, the 
 peace and joy of a perfect love. 
 
 Since then, their existence has been the pure home- 
 life for which God and Nature intended good women ; 
 for the great world has small attraction for these two, 
 who have tasted its sweet, and known its bitter. 
 Maria and Arnold still occupy their loved and hon- 
 ored places in Tom's household ; and it would not 
 be easy to discover two persons more genuinely 
 happy than they. 
 
 In the words of the nursery-rhymes with which 
 this story begins, Maria still " stays at home." The 
 holy fireside element being like " the kingdom of God 
 within " her, its blessing must rest wherever she 
 abides ; and she remains in these later, as in earlier 
 days, the good angel of Tom's home. Essential 
 to those she loves, could such a woman ask any thing 
 further in life ? 
 
 Arnold is still " the little pig that got none," 
 none of the bread and butter of material success. 
 Yet what can a man gain from earth or heaven be- 
 yond perfect peace and happiness ? To his unselfish 
 heart it is sufficient joy to watch hour by hour the 
 bliss of the being he loves far better than himself.
 
 REGINALD ARCHER. 385 
 
 Tho honeymoon had long passed, when Tom came 
 home early one evening, as was still his wont, to find 
 his wife dressing for dinner. He leaned against the 
 mirror before which she stood, and watched her put- 
 ting the finishing touches to her toilet. The inno- 
 cent, loving eyes that looked at him were so childlike, 
 that they brought a smile of tender amusement into 
 his own. 
 
 " Christie, do you know how absurdly young you 
 are growing ? " he asked with a laugh as he kissed 
 the sweet mouth. 
 
 His real thought had been, that she had already 
 entered that kingdom of heaven, whose inhabitants 
 must become as little children, and remain so for- 
 ever. 
 
 She echoed his laugh softly, taking his words in 
 their lightest sense. 
 
 " Still young enough to like pretty things," she 
 answered gayly as she took out the bright cross Tom 
 had given her so long before, and fastened it upon 
 her bosom. 
 
 " And there has not been a moment in my darling's 
 life when she could not have worn my talisman," he 
 said gently and slowly as he touched the jewels. 
 
 " Christie," he exclaimed a little wistfully a mo- 
 ment after, his searching gaze going down into the 
 pure depths of the eyes that had no shadow of 
 
 17
 
 386 REGINALD ARCHER. 
 
 thought or memory to conceal, " are you really 
 happy?" 
 
 For his answer, such a radiance, such an adoring 
 love, shone in her face, that words seemed useless. 
 But she spoke them, nevertheless, clinging close to 
 his breast, her voice thrilling with its passionate in- 
 tensity. 
 
 " Tom," she said, " I used to spend my life wish- 
 ing to die ; to go away to some region where I could 
 be good and happy ; to attain the rest and joy of 
 heaven. But Tom, darling Tom ! that is all passed 
 now ; for I feel as though heaven had truly come 
 down to me." 
 
 A* 
 
 PBBSS OF BAND, AVBET, & FETE, COENHILI,, BOSTOIT.