AT LAST MARION HARLAND THE LIBRARY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA GIFT OF Mrs. George Papashvily THE SELECT NOVELS OF MARION HARLAND ALONE. MY LITTLE LOVE. HIDDEN PATH. PHEMIE S TEMPTATION. MOSS SIDE. THE EMPTY HEART. NEMESIS. FROM MY YOUTH UP. MIRIAM. HELEN GARDNER, SUNNY BANK. HUSBANDS AND HOMES. RUBY S HUSBAND. JESSAMINE. AT LAST. TRUE AS STEEL. " The Novels of Marion Harland are of surpassing ex cellence. By intrinsic power of character-draw ing and descriptive facility, they hold the reader s attention with the most intense interest and fascination." POPULAR EDITION doth Bound, Price 50 cts. each, and sent FKEB by mail, on receipt of price. G. W. Dillingham Co., Publishers NEW YORK AT LAST. BY MARION HARLAND, AUTHOR OF ALONE," "HIDDEN PATH," "NEMESIS," "Moss SIDE/ " MIRIAM, 14 EMPTY T J HART," " HKLKN GARDNER," " SUNNVBANK," " HUSBANDS -NU HOMBS," " RUBV S HUSBAND," " PHfiMlE s TEMPTATION," ETC.. ETC. NEW YORK: G. W. DiUingham Co.. Publishers. Entered according to Act of Congress in the year 1870, by M. VIRGINIA TERHUNE JL- the Office of the Librarian of Congress at Washington D. C Copyright 1898, by M. VIRGINIA TERHUMK. GIFT CONTENTS. OHAPTKB IL OF OOKFTDKHCRfi . OHAPTKE HZ. UHWHOUWOMB V OHAPTIB rr. <( FOTOTOBD UFOH A BOCK " GHAPTm T. OLXAH CHAPTER TL OKATT O* PmxniACT? .. OHAPTBE YH. V lit OHAFTHB YIZL PACK AX nai Wmww .... 140 CHAPTER DL HB DKFABTJTH or DAJUDTBM . 033 VQNTKNT& X. CHAPTER XL Ei us RMBOPMB ....., 104 CHAPTER ZZL AUBT ItAffgwr. WJCDH UVGEABrrUOiB . . . 81t OHAPTS& JUIiTUf IdUUWJL , 887 CHAPTER HT. ffil CHAPTER IV, QOOD &AMABKAM ....*.. 178 CHAPTER XVL THB Honor Houm Ml CHAPTER XTIL TBAM ... CHAPTER JLVLLL nr TKB An . CHAPTER XQL AT LAST. OHAPTEB I. HKWIJC8S BOSKS. KB. RACHEL BUTTON was a born match maker, and she had cultivated the gift by di J- gent practice. As the sight of a tendrilled vine suggests the need and fitness of a trellis, and a rtray glove invariably brings to mind the thought of its absent fellow, so every disengaged spinster of mar riageable age was an appeal pathetic and sure to the dear woman s helpful sympathy, and her whole soul went out in compassion over such " nice " and on appropriated bachelors as crossed her orbit, like blind and dizzy comets. Her propensity, and her Conscientious indulgence of the same, were proverbial among her acquaintances, but no one not even prudish and fearsome maideni of altogether uncertain age, and prudent mammas, &9WLX88 JSO8JS& alive to expediency and decorum - had eve* labelled her " Dangerous," while with young people she was a universal favorite. Although, with an eye single to her hobby, she regarded a man as an uninteresting molecule of animated nature, unless circumstances war ranted her in recognizing in him the possible lover of ome waiting fair one, and it was notorious that she reprobated as worse than useless positively demoral iring, in fact such friendships between young persona of opposite sexes as held out no earnest of prospective betrothal, she was confidante-general to half the girls in the county, and a standing advisory committee of one upon all points relative to their associations with the beaux of the region. The latter, on their side, paid their court to the worthy and influential widow as punc tiliously, if not so heartily, as did their gentle friends. Not that the task was disagreeable. At fifty years of age, Mrs. Button was plump and comely ; her fair curia unf aded, and still full and glossy ; her blue eyes capa ble of languishing into moist appreciation of a wofui heart-history, or sparkling rapturously at the news of a triumphant wooing ; her little fat hands were swift and graceful, and her complexion so infantine in its clear white and pink a to lead many to believe and some I need not say of which gender to practise clandes tinely upon the story that she had bathed her face in warm milk, night and morning, for forty years Th fiore sagacious averred, however, that the secret of hei DXWLX8S MOOM& continued youth lay in her kindly, unwitnered m her loving thoughtfulness for others* weal, and her avoidance, upon philosophical and religious grenade, of whatever approximated the discontented retrospection which goes with the multitude by the name of self- examination. Our bonnie widow had her foibles and vanities, bnt the first were amiable, the latter superficial and harm less, usually rather pleasant than objectionable. She was very proud, for instance, of her success in the pro fession she had taken up, and which she pursued con amore; very jealous for the reputation for connubial felicity of those she had aided to couple in the leash matrimonial, and more uncharitable toward malicious meddlers or thoughtless triflers with the course of true love ; more implacable to match-breakers than to the most atrocious phases of schism, heresy, and sedition in church or state, against which she had, from her child hood, been taught to pray. The remotest allusion to a divorce case threw her into a cold perspiration, and apologies for such legal severance of the hallowed bond were commented upon as rank and noxious blas phemy, to which no Christian s>r virtuous woman thould lend her ear for an instant If she had ever entertained " opinions " hinting at the allegorical na ture of the Mosaic account of the Fall, her theory would unquestionably have been that Satan s insidious whisper to the First Mother prated of the beauties of 10 DSWLS88 ROSES. feminine individuality, and enlarged upon the feaffibil ; ty of an elopement from Adam and a separate main tenance upon the knowledge-giving, forbidden fruit Upon second marriages supposing the otherwise indissoluble tie to have been cut- by Death she wai a trifle less severe, but it was generally understood that she had grave doubts as to their propriety unless ir exceptional cases. "When there is a family of motherless children, and the father is himself young, it seems hard to require him to live alone for the rest of his life," she would allow candidly. " Not that I pretend to say that a con nection formed through prudential motives is a real marriage in the sight of Heaven. Only that there is no human law against it. And the odds are as eight to ten that an efficient hired housekeeper would render his home more comfortable, and his children happier than would a stepmother. As for a woman marrying twice" her gentle tone and eyes growing stern! r decisive "it is difficult for one to tolerate the idea. That is, if she really loved her first husband. If not, the may plead this as some excuse for making the ven ture poor thing 1 But whether, even then, she has the moral right to lessen some good girl s chances f getting a husband by taking two for herself, has ever been and must remain a mooted question in my mind." Pier conduct in this respect was thoroughly oonaiifc DEWLE8B BOBS8. 11 cnt with her avowed principles. She was (mi tidily when her husdand died, after living happily with hei for ten years. Her only child had preceded him to the grare four years before, and the attractive Delict of Frederic Button, comfortably jointured and without incumbrance of near relatives, would have become a toast with gay bachelors and enterprising widowers, but for the quiet propriety of her demeanor, and the steadiness with which she insisted for the most part, tacitly upon her right to be considered a married woman still. " Once Frederic s wife always his ! " was the sole burden of her answer to a proposal of marriage re ceived when she was forty-five, and the discomfited suitor filed it in his memory alongside of Caesar s hack neyed war dispatch. She had laid off crape and bombazine at the close of 4 Jie first lustrum of her widowhood as inconvenient and unwholesome wear, but never assumed colored apparel On the morning on which our story opens, she took her seat at the breakfast-table in her nephew s house of which she was matron and supervisor-in-chief clad in * white cambric wrapper, belted with black ; her collar fastened with a mourning-pin of Frederic s hair, and a lace cap, trimmed with black ribbon, set above her lux uriant tresses. She looked fresh and bright as the early September iay, with her sunny face and in her daintily-neat attire, as she arranged ? ups and saneen ii DfWLMBS MO&M& for seven people upon the waiter before her, instructing the butler, at the same time, to ring the bell again foi those she was to serve. She was very busy and happj at that date. The neighborhood was gay, after ta open-hearted, open-handed style of hospitality that dis tinguished the brave old days of Virginia plantation- life. A merry troup of maidens and cavaliers visited by invitation one homestead after another, crowding bedrooms beyond the capacity of any chambers of equal size to be found in the land, excepting in a country house in the Old Dominion; surrounding bountiful tables with smiling visages and restless tongues ; dancing, walking, driving, and singing away the long, warm days, that seemed all too short to the fcoberest and plainest of the company ; which sped by tike dream-hours to most of the number. Winston Aylett, owner and tenant of the ancient mansion of Ridgeley the great house of a neighbor hood where small houses and men of narrow means were infrequent had gone North about the first of June, upon a tour of indefinite length, but which was certainly to include Newport, the lakes, and Niagara, and wag still absent, tiia aunt, Mrs. Button, and hii only sister, Mabel, did the honors of his home in hii stead, and, if the truth must be admitted, more accept ably to their guests than he had ever succeeded in do ing. For a week past, the house had been tolerably well filled - - ditto Mr*. Button s hauda ; ditto her great LSWLMB8 J30SMA 1* warm heart. Had she not three iove affaire, in ent but encouraging stages of progression, under hei roof and her patronage And were not all three, to ter apprehension, matches worthy of Heaven s making, tnd her co-operation ? A devout Episcopalian, she wai vet an unquestioning believer in predestination and "special Providences" and what but Providence had brought together the dear creatures now basking in the benignant beam of her smile, sailing smoothly toward the haven of Wedlock before the prospering breezes of Circumstance (of her manufacture)? While putting sugar and cream into the cups in tended for the happy pairs, she reviewed the situation i apidly in her mind, and sketched the day s manoeu vres. First, there was the case of Tom Barksdale and Imo- gene Tabb highly satisfactory and creditable to all the parties concerned in it, but not romantic. Tom, a sturdy young planter, who had studied law while at the Uni versity, but never practised it, being already provided for by his opulent father, had visited his relatives, the Tabbs, in August, and straightway fallen in love with the cue iiigle daughter of his second cousin a pretty, tmiahle girl, who would inherit a neat fortune at her f<arent s death, and whose pedigree became identica 1 with that of the Earksdales a couple of generation! back, and was therefore unimpeachable. The friendi on both sides were enchanted ; the lovers fully par- * i DEWLS88 SOSS& r.a.ded that they were made for one ancther> an opia- ion cordially endorsed by Mrs. Button, and they could coirfer with no higher authority. Next came Alfred Branch and Kosa Tazewell in cipient, but promising at this juncture, inasmuch af Rosa had lately smiled more encouragingly upon hei timid wooer than she had deigned to do before thej were domesticated at Ridgeley. Mrs. Sutton did no1 approve of unmaidenly forwardness. The woman whc would unsought be won, would have fared ill in hei esteem. Her lectures upon the beauties and advan tages of a modest, yet alluring reserve, were cut up into familiar and much-prized quotations among hei disciples, and were acted upon the more willingly foi the prestige that surrounded her exploits as high priestess of Hymen. But Rosa had been too coy to Alfred s evident devotion almost repellent at sea sons. Had these rebuffs not alternated with attacks of remorse, during which the exceeding gentleness of hex demeanor gradually pried the crushed hopes of her adorer out of the slough, and cleansed their drooping plumes of mud, the courtship would have fallen through, ere Mrs. Sutton could bring her skill to bear upon it. Guided, and yet soothed by her velvet rein, Rosa really seemed to become more steady. She wai assuredly more thoughtful, and there was no better iign of Cupid s advance upon the outworks of a girFi heart than reverie. If her fits of musing were a shade DSWLSSS BQ8X& 14 too pensive, the experienced eye of the observer de scried no cause for discouragement in this feature, R-Dea was a spoiled, wayward child, freakish and fa chievous, to whom liberty was too dear to be resigned without a sigh. By and by, she would wear her shackles as ornaments, like all other sensible and lov ing "vomen. Thus preaching to Alfred, when he confided to her the fluctuations of rapture and despair that were his lot in his intercourse with the sometimes radiant and inviting, sometimes forbidding sprite, whose wings he would fain bind with his embrace, and thus reassuring herself, when perplexed by a flash of Rosa s native per- verseness, Mrs. Button was sanguine that all would come right in the end. What was to be would be, and despite the rapids in their wooing, Alfred would find in Rosa a faithful, affectionate little wife, while she could never hope to secure a better, more indulgent, and, in most respects, more eligible, partner than the A /Letts well-to-do, well-looking neighbor. But the couple who occupied the central foreground of our match-maker s thoughts were her niece, Mabel Aylett, and her own departed husband s namesake, Frederic Chilton. She dilated to herself and to Mabel with especial gusto upon the " wonderful leadirg," the mward whisper that had prompted her to propose a trip to the Rockbridge Alum Springs early in July. Neither she nor Mabel was ailing in the slightest de 16 &MWLX88 M08K gree, but ahe imagined they would be the brighter fot a glimpse of the mountains and the livelier scenes of that pleasant Spa and whom should they meet there but the son of "dear Frederic s" old friend, Mr. Chil- <on ? and of course they saw a great deal of him and the rest followed as Providence meant it should. " The rest " expressed laconically the essence ol numberless walks by moonlight and starlight ; in numerable dances in the great ball-room, and the sweeter, more interesting confabulations that made the young people better acquainted in four weeks than would six years of conventional calls and small-talk. They stayed the month out, although "Aunt Eachel " had, upon their arrival, named a fortnight as the ex treme limit of their sojourn. Frederic Chilton was their escort to Eastern Virginia, and remained a week at Eidgeley perhaps to recover from the fatigue of the journey. So soon as he returned to Philadelphia, in which place he had lately opened a law-office, he wrote to Mabel, declaring his affection for her, and su ing for reciprocation. She granted him a gracious re ply, and sanctioned by fond, sympathetic Aunt Rachel, in the absence of Mabel s brother and guardian, the correspondence was kept up Driskly until Frederic 5 ! second visit in September. Ungenerous gossips, en vious of her talents and influence, had occasionally sneered at Mrs. Sutton s appropriation of the credit of other alliances but this one was her handiwork be- JDMWLSaS JSOAS& 17 yond dispute hers and Providence s. SLe never for* got the partnership. She had carried Ler head more erect, and there was a brighter sparkle in her blue orbi since the evening Mabel had come blnshingly to her room, Fred s proposal in her hand to ask counsel and congratulations. Everybody saw through the dis creet veil with which she flattered herself she con cealed her exultation when others than the affianced twain were by and while nobody was so unkind aa to expose the thinness of the pretence, she was given to understand in many and gratifying ways that her masterpiece was considered, in the Aylett circle, a suitable crown to the achievements that had preceded It. Mabel was popular and beloved, and her betrothed, in appearance and manner, in breeding and intelli gence, justified Mrs. Button s pride in her niece s choice. The old lady colored up, witli the quick, vi/id rose* dnt of sudden and real pleasure that rarely outlive* early girlhood, when the first respondent to the break fast-bell proved to be her Frederic s god-son. " You are always punctual ! I wish you would teach the good habit to some other people," she said, after answering his cordial " good-morn:ng." " None of us deserve to be praised on that score, to day," rejoined he, looking at his watch. " I did not twake until the dreising-bell rang. Our riding-party was out late last night The extreme beauty of tht 18 DBWLX88 S08JS& evening beguiled TIB into going further than we im tended, when we set out." " Yes ! you young folks are falling into shockingly irregular habits take unprecedented liberties with me and with Time ! " shaking her head. " If Winston do not return soon, you will set my mild rule entirely at defiance." Chilton laughed but was serious the next instant " 1 expected confidently to meet him at this visit," fie said, glancing at the door to guard against being ,.verheard. " Should he not return to-day, ought I not. nefore leaving this to-morrow, to write to him, since De is legally his sister s guardian ? It is, you and she tell me, a mere form, but one that should not be dis pensed with any longer." " That may be so. Winston is rigorous in requiring ^hat is due to his position is, in some respects, a fear ful formalist. But he will hardly oppose your wishes *rid Mabel s. He has her real happiness at heart, I be lieve, although he is, at times, an over-strict and exact ing guardian perhaps to counterbalance my indul gent policy. He ifl unlike any other young man I know." " His sister is very much attached to him." u She loves him I was about to say, preposterously. Her implicit belief in and obedience to him have in creased hie self-confidence into a dogmatic assertion oi infallibility. But " fearing ehe might create an usi DSWLE88 B08JX& II fortunate impression upon the listener s mind ston has grounds for his good opinion of himself. Hi* character is unblemished his principles and aims are excellent. Only " relapsing hopelessly into the con^ Mential strain in which most of the conference had been carried " between ourselves, my dear Frederic, I am never quite easy with these patterns to the rest of human-kind. I should even prefer a tiny vein of depravity to such very rectangular virtue." rt You are seldom ill at ease, if human perfection u all that renders you uncomfortable," responded Fred eric. " There are not many in whose composition one cannot trace, not a tiny, but a broad vein of Adamic nature. What a delicious morning!" he added, eauntering to the window. "And how sorry I am for those who did not get up in time to enjoy the freshness of its beauty ! " cried a gay voice from the portico, and Mabel entered by the glass door behind him her hands loaded with roses, herself so beaming that her lover refrained with dim culty from kissing the saucy mouth then and there. He did take both her hands, under pretext of reliev ing her of the flowers, and Aunt Rachel judiciously turned her back upon them, and began a diligent search in the beaufet for a vase. " Do you expect us to believe that yon have been cuore industrious than we I As if we did not know that you br oed the gardener to have a bouquet cut and 80 D&WLS88 &08JS& laid ready for yon at the back-door/* Frederic charged upon the matutinal Flora. "Else, where are othei evidences of your stroll, in dew-sprinkled draperief .nd wet feet $ Confess that you ran down stairs just two minutes ago! Now that 1 come to think of it, I a in positive that 1 heard you, while Mrs. Button was lamenting your drowsy proclivities after sunrise." " I have been sitting in the summer-house for an hour reading I " protested Mabel, wondrously re signed to the detention, after a single, and not violent attempt at release. If you had opened your shutters you must have seen me. But I knew I was secure from observation on that side of the house, at least un til eight o clock, about which time the glories of the uew day usually penetrate very tightly-closed lids. As to dew there isn t a drop upon grass or blossom And, by the same token, we shall have a storm withii* twenty-four hours." " Is that true I That is a meteorological presage ) never heard of until now." " There is a moral in it, which I leave you to study < /ut for yourself, while I arrange the roses I and not the gardener gathered." In a whisper, she subjoined " Let me go ! Some one i& corning I " and in a second more was at the side hoard, hurrying the flowers into the antique chin* bowl, destined to grace the centre of the breakfast tab**. DXWLB&S XGff&S. 91 " Good-morning, Miss Rosa. You are just in sea son to enjoy the society of your sister," Frederic said, lightly, pointing to the billows of mingled white and red, tossing under Mabel s fingers. The new-comer approached the sideboard, leaned languidly upon her elbow, and picked up a half -blown bud at random from the pile. " They are scentless I " she complained. " Because dewless 1 " replied Mabel, with profound gravity. " It is the tearful heart that gives out the sweetest fragrance." <k I have more faith in sunshine," interrupted Rosa, a tinge of contempt in her smile and accent. " Or to drop metaphors, at which I always bungle it ig my belief that it is easy for happy people to be good. All this talk about the sweetness of crushed blossoms, throwing their fragranoe from the wounded part, and the riven sandal-tree, and the blessed uses of adversity, is outrageous balderdash, according to my doctrine. A buried thing is but one degree better than a dead one. What it is the fashion of poets and sentimen talists to call perfume, ia the odor of incipient de cay," are illustrating your position by means of my poor oriental pearl," remonstrated Mabel, playfully, arresting the hand that was beating the life and wnite- ness out of the floweret upon the marble top of th beaufet. "Take this hardy gtant de batoill**, in- 22 DEWL38* stead. My bouquet inmst have a cluster of pear ji 01 heart" " What a fierce crimson f " Frederic remarked upc* the widely-opened ?^ee Miss Tazeweil received iii place of the delicate bud. " That must be the 4 hue angry, yet brave, which, Mr. George, Herbert asserta, * bids the rash gazer wipe his eye. " u More poetical nonsense I " said Rosa, deliberately tearing the bold " g6a/nt " to pieces down to the bare stem, " unless he meant to be comic, and intimate that the gazer was so rash as to come too near the bush, and ran a thorn into the pupil." No one answered, except by the indulgent Bmile that usually greeted her sallies, however absurd, among those accustomed to the spoiled child*! vagaries. Mabel was making some leisurely additions to her bouquet in the shape of ribbon grass smd pendent ivy sprays, coaxing these with persuasive touches to trai 1 over the edge and entwine the pedeutal of the salve; on which her bowl was elevated ; her head set slightl v on one side, her lips apart ia a smile of enjoyment in her work and in herself. It was a picture the lovei studied fondly one that hung forever thereafter in his gallery of mental portraits. Beyond a pair of fine gray eyes, the pliant grace of her figure and the buoy ant carriage of youth, health, and a glad heart, Mabel a pretensions to beauty were comparatively few, said the world. Frederic Chilton had, nevertheless, fallen IB DSWLSS8 BOSX8. 28 kovc with her at sight, and considered her, now t the handsomest woman of his acquaintance. Hei dress was a simple lawn a sheer white fabric, with bunches of purple grass Ixand up with yellow wheat, scattered over it ; her hair was lustrous and abund&n^ and her face, besides being happy, was frank and in telligent, with wonderful mobility of expression. In temperament and sentiment ; in capacity for, and in demonstration of affection, she suited Frederic to the finest fibre of his mind and heart. He, for one, did not c^rp at Aunt Rachel s declaration that they werp intended to spend time and eternity together. Still, Mabel Aylett was not a belle, and Eosa Taze- well was. Callow collegians and enterprising young merchants from the city ; sunbrowned owners of spread ing acres and hosts of laborers ; students and practi tioners of lav and medicine, and an occasional theo- logue, had broken their hearts for perhaps a month at a time, for love of her, since she was a school -girl in abort dresses. Yet there had been a date very fai back in the acquaintanceship of each of these with the charmer, when he had marvelled at the infatuation which had blinded her previous adorers. She was " a neat little thing," with her round waifit, her tiny hands and feet and roguish eye but there was nothing else remarkable about her features, and in coloring, the pic ture was too dark for his taste, Why, she might b mistaken for a Creole ! And each critic held fast to DBWLE88 ROBB& iiife expressed opinion until the roguish eyes met hit directly and with meaning, and he found himself div ing into the bright, shimmering wells, and drowning still ecstatically before he reached the bottom whence streamed the light of passionate feeling, strik ing upward through the surface. What her glanoei did not effect was done by her dazzling smile and musi* cal voice. As one of her victims swore, " It was a dearei delight to be rejected by her than to be accepted by a dozen other girls she did the thing up so hand somely I And yet, do you know, sir, I could have shot myself for a barbarous brute when I saw the pitying tears standing upon her lashes, and heard the tremor in her sweet tones, as she begged me to forgive her for not loving me ! n Those she had once captivated never quite rid them selves of the glamour of her arts ; remained her trusty squires, ready to serve, or to defend her always after ward. Aunt Rachel, latent, during the short pause, upon the movements of the servant who was setting the smoking breakfast upon the table, glanced around when all was properly arranged, to summon the two to their places but something in Rosa s attitude and countenance held her momentarily speechless. Mabel till bent over her roses, in smiling interest, and Fred* eric Chilton was watching her but not as the third DMWLX88 B08X& 2$ person of the group about the beaufet watched them both between her half-closed lids, her black brows close together, and the glittering teeth visible under the curling upper lip. " She looked like a panther lying in wait for her f rey ! " Mrs. Sutton said to her niece, many months later, in attempting to describe the scene. " Or like a bright-eyed snake coiled for a spring. The sight of her sent shivers all down my spine." Her interruption of the tableau sounded oddly *brapt to ears used to her pleasant accents. " Come, young people I how long are you going to keep me waiting ? Breakfast is cooling fast ! " " I beg your pardon, Auntie ! I did not notice that it had been brought in," apologized Mabel, drawing oack, that Frederic might lift the loaded salver care* fully to its place upon the board. As they were closing about this, they were joined by Messrs. Barksdale and Branch, Miss Tabb delaying her appearance until the repast was nearly over, and meet ing the raillery of the party upon her late rising with the sweet, soft smile her cousin-betrothed admired is the indication of unadulterated amiability. The breakfast-hour, always pleasant, was to-day particu- :ai ly merry. Kosa led off in the laughing debates, the play of repartee, friendly jest, and anecdote that incit ed all to mirth and speech, and tempted them to linger s DEWLBB8 S08S8. around the table long after the business of the meal wa concluded. " This is the perfection of country life I " said Fred eric Chilton, when, at last, there was a movement tc end the sitting. " But it spoils one fearfully for the everyday practicalities of the city a Northern city, especially." " Better stay where yon are, then, instead of desert ing our ranks to-morrow," suggested Rosa, gliding by his side out upon the long portico at the end of the house. " What does your nature crave that Ridgeley cannot supply $ " " Work, and a career ! " " You still feel the need of these ? " significantly. " Otherwise I were no man ! " " You are right ! " Her disdainful eyes wandered to the farther end of the portico, where Alfred Branch, in his natty suit of white grasscloth, plucked at his ebon whiskers with ontanned fingers, and talked society nothings with the ever-complaisant Imogene. " Come what may, you, Mr. Chilton, have occupation for thought and hands ; are not tied down to a detest" able routine of vapid pleasures and common-place people I " " You are erery independent woman and man i as free in this respect as myself, Miss Rosa. &eed be a slave to conventionality unless he choose," 3JSWLX88 808B& S7 She made a gesture that was like twisting a chain tapon her wrist. " Yon iuow you are not sincere in saying that 1 wondered, moreover, when you were railing at the practicalities of city life, if you were learning, like the rest of the men, to accommodate your talk to your audience. Where is the use of your trying to disguise the truth that all women are slaves ? I used to envy you when I was in Philadelphia, last winter, when you pleaded business engagements as an excuse for declin ing invitations to dinner-parties and balls. Now, if a woman defies popular decrees by refusing to exhibit herself for the popular entertainment, the horrible whisper is forthwith circulated that she has been dis appointed, and is hiding her green wound in her sewing-room or oratory. Disappointed, forsooth! That is what they say of every girl who is not married to somebody by the time she is twenty-five. It matters not whether she cares for him or not. Having but on* object in existence, there can be but one species of dis appointment. Marry she must, or be pitied/" with a stinging emphasis on the last word. Tom Barksdale and Mabel were pacing the portico from end to end, chatting with the cheerful familiarity of old friends. Catching some of this energetic sen tence, Mabel looked over her shoulder. " Who of us is fated tc be pitied, did you say, Root dear!" $3 vawussa &Q&B& " flever yourself ! " was the curt reply. " Beit corn- tent with that assurance." Her restless fingers began to gather the red leavef that already variegated the fob age of the creeper shad ing tne porch. Strangely indisposed to answer her animadversions upon the world s judgment of her se*, or to acknowledge the implied compliment to his be trothed, Frederic watched the lithe, dark haads, as thej overflowed with the vermilion trophies of autumn. The September sunshine sifted through the vines in patches upon the floor ; the low laughter and blended voices of the four talkers ; the echo of Tom s manly tread, and Mabel s lighter footfall, were all jocund music, befitting the brightness of the day and world. What was the spell by which this pettish girl who stood by him, her luminous eyes fixed in sardonic melancholy upon the promenaders, while she rubUsJ the dying leaves into atoms between her palms had stamped scenes and sounds with immortality, yet thrilled him with the indefinite sense of unreality and dread one feels in scanning the lineaments of the beloved dead I Rad her nervous folly infected him? What absurd phantasy was here, and what hi concern in her whims? A stifled cry from Mabel aroused him to active at tention. A gentlemen had stepped from the houM upon the piazza, and after bending to kiss her, ihaking hands with her companion*. DMWLX88 1KMUE& 99 4 The Grand Mogul ! " muttered Koea, with a court it ri mace, and not offering to stir in the direction of the gtraiiger. In another moment Mabel had led nim up to hei lover, and introduced, in her pretty, ladylike way, ano bravely enough, considering her bluahea, u Mr. Ghiltaft * to u my brother, Mr. Wiwtun CHAPTER IL 4H KZOHAJTOX >tf OONFTDEH OM. o you know notning of this gentleman D6 yond what he luu told you of his character and antecedents t " Aunt RacKel had knocked at the door of her aephew s study after dinner, on the day of hi* return, and asked for an interview. " Although I k&ow you must be very busy with your accounts, and o forth, having been away from the plantation for u \<y*g 9 ashe said, deprecatingly, yet ac cepting the invitation to enter. Mr. Aylett s eye left here as he replied that he wai quite at liberty to listen to whatever she had to say, but his manner was entirely his own polished and cooL Family tradition had it that he was natuially a man of strong passions and violent temper, but since hit college days, he had never, as far as living mortal could testify, lifted the impassive mask he wore, at the bid ding of anger, surprise, or alarm. He ran all hi tilts and he wa? not a non-combatant by any meant AIT EXCHANGE OP CONFIDENCES. 31 with locked vistr. In person, he was commanding in stature ; hie features were symmetrical ; his bearing high-bred. TTis conversation was sensible, but nevei brilliant or animated. In his own household he wai calmly despotic ; in his county, respected and unpopu lar one of whom nobody dared speak ill, yet whom nobody had reason to love. There was a single per son who believed herself to be an exception to thil rule. This was his sister MabeL Some said she wor shipped him in default of any other object upon which whe could expend the wealth of her young, ardent heart ; others, that his strong will enforced her homage. The fact of her devotion WAS undeniable, and upon hii appreciation of this Aunt .Rachel built her expectations of a favorable hearing when she volunteered to prepare the way for Mr. Chilton s formal application for the hand of her nephew s ward. Between herself and Winston there existed little real liking and less affinity. She was useful to him, and his tolerance of her society was courteous, but she understood perfectly that he secretly despised many of her views and aetHns, as, indeed, he did those of most women. Her present mission was undertaken for the love she bore Mabel and her sister. It was not kind to send the girl to tell her own story. It was neither kind nor fair to subject their guest to the ordeal of an unheralded disclosure of his sentiments and aspirations, with the puissant lord of Ridgeley as sole auditor. 13 AN 2C&CHAN&B Of " Fred would never get over the first impression oi your brother s chilling reserve," said the self -appointed envoy to Mabel, when she insisted that her affianced would plead his cause more eloquently than a third person could. " For, you, must confess, my love, that Winston, although in most respects a model to other young men, is unapproachable by strangers." As she said. " your accounts and so forth," she looked at the table from whicn Mr. Aylett had arisen to set a chair for her. There was a pile of account-books at the side against the wall, but they were shut, and over heaped by pamphlets and newspapers; while "before the owner s seat lay an open portfolio, an unfinished letter within it Winston wiped his pen with delibera tion, closed the portfolio, snapped to the spring-top of his inkstand, and finally wheeled his office chaii away from the desk to face his visitor. " Is it upon business that you wish to speak to me ! * He always disdained circumlocution, prided himafjj a pen the directness and simplicity of his address. This acted now as a dissuasive to the sentimental address Mrs. Button had meditated as a means of winning the flinty walls behind which his social affections and sympathies were supposed to be intrenched Had her mission been in behalf of any other cause, she would hav drawn off her forces upon some pretext, and effected an ignominious retreat. Nerved by the thought of AJff EXOHANQS OP OONPIDSNOS& 33 Mabel s bashfulness and solicitude, and Frederic s gtraagerhood, she stood to her guns. Winston heard her stor y v from the not very coherent preamble, to the warm and unqualified endorsement of Frederic Chilton g credentials, and her moved mention of the mutual attachment of the youthful pair, and never changed his attitude, or manifested any incline tion to stay the narration by question or comment When she ceased speaking, his physiognomy denoted no emotion whatever Yet, Mabel was his nearest liv ing relative. She had been bequeathed to his care, when only ten years old, by the will of their dying father, and grown up under his eye as his child, rather than a sister. And he was hearing, for the first time, of her desire to quit the home they had shared together from her birth, for the protection and companionship of another. Mrs. Button thought herself pretty well versed in " Winston s ways," but she had expected to detect a shade of softness in the cold, never-bright eyes and anticipated another rejoinder than the sentence that stands at the head of this chapter. " And so you know nothing of this gentleman be^ yond what he has told you of his character and antece dents \ " he said the slender white fingers, his aunt fancied, looked cruel even in their idleness, lightly linked together, while hifl elbows rested upon the anni of his chair. * My dear Winston ! wnat a question i Haven t 1 t* 34 AN EXCHANGE OF CONFIDENCES. told yo i that he is my husband s namesake and god son I 1 was at his fathers hjuse a score of times, at least, in dear Frederic s life-time. It was a charming place, and I never saw a more lovely family. I reco* lect this boy perfectly, as was very natural, seeing thai his name was such a compliment to my husband. He was a fine, manly little fellow, and the eldest son. The christening-feast was postponed, for some reason I do not now remember, until he was two years old. It was a very fine affair. The company was composed of the very elite of that part of Maryland, and the Bishop himself baptized the two babies Frederic, and a younger sister. I know all about him, you see, instead of nothing ! " "What was the date of this festival?" asked Win ston s unwavering voice. " Let me see ! We had been married seven years that fall. It must have been in the winter of 18 ." " Twenty-three years ago ! " said Winston, yet more quietly. " Doubtless, your intimacy with this estimable and distinguished family continued up to the time of your husband s death ? " " It did." "And afterward f" Mrs. Sutton s color waned, and her voice sank, as the inquisition proceeded. " Dear Frederic s " death wai not the subject she would have chosen of her free- will to discuss with this man cf steel and ice. AN EXCHANGE Of Q^NFID&fOSS. 31 u 1 never visited them again. I could not * If she hoped to retain a semblance cf composure, fche must shift her ground. " I returned to my father s house, which was, aa you know, more remote from the borders of Mary land " " You kept up a correspondence, perhaps I " Win ston interposed, overlooking her agitation as irrelevant *> the matter under investigation. " i\o! For many months I wrote no letters at all and Mr. Chilton was never a punctual correspondent The best of friends are apt to be dilatory in such re spects, as they advance in life." "I gather, then, from what you have admitted" there was no actual stress upon the word, but it stood obnoxiously apart from the remainder of the sentence. to Mrs. Button s auriculars "from what yon have admitted, that for twenty years you have lost sight of this gentleman and his relatives, and that you might never have remembered the circumstance of theii ^dstence, had he not introduced himself to you at the Brings this summer." " You are mistaken, there ! " corrected the widow, wagerly. " Rosa Tazewell introduced him to Mabel at the Orst * hop she Mabel attended there. He is rery unassuming. He would never have forced him self upon my notice. I was struck by his appearance and resemblance to his father, and inquired of Mabe AN 8XCJBJLNGS 09 who he was. The rocc^nition followed m * matter &f ooure," u He waa an *oq n*mUue* of Mis* Taueweli dia yon 4 V e she knew him very well when she was vimt ing in Piiiladelphia iast winter" 44 Aud proffered the introduction to Mabel?" the faintest imaginable glimmer of sarcastic amusement in his eyes, but none in his accent " He requested it, 1 believe." 44 That is more probable. Excuse my frankness, aunt, when 1 say that it would have been more in con Bonance with the laws controlling the conduct of really thoroughbred people, had your paragon I use the ?rra in no offensive sense applied to me, instead of <> you, for permission to pay his addresses to iny ward. I am willing to ascribe this blunder, however, to ignor ance of the code of polite society, and not to intentional disrespect, since you represent the gentleman as ami% ble and well-meaning. 1 am, furthermore, willing to examine his certificates of character and means, with & view to determining what are his recommendations U my Bitter s preference, over and above bail-rooin graces and the fact that he is Mr. Button s namesake, and whether it will be safe and advisable to grant my con gent to their marriage. Whatever is for Mabel s re*i welfare shall be done, while i cannot but wish, that her choice had fallen upon some one nearer Jboine Aff EXCHANGE *f CONV^DS,^OB& 87 The prosecution of inquirie* aa to the reputation 01 one whose residence ia so distant, < a difficult and delicate task." " If yon will only talk to him for ten minutes he will remove your scruples, satisfy you that all is at it should be," asserted Mrs. Button, more confidently to him than herself. " I trust it will be as you say but credulity is not my besetting sin. I am ready to see the gentleman at any hour you and he may see fit to appoint." " I will send Mr. Chttton to you at once, then." MM. Button collected the scattering remnants of hope and resolution, that she might deal a parting shot. " Winston is an awful trial to my temper, although he never loses his own," she was wont to soliloquize, in the lack of & confidante to whom she could expatiate upon his eccentricities and general untowardness. His marked avoidance of Frederic s name in this conference savored to her of insulting meaning. She had rather he had coupled it with opprobious epithets whenever be referred to him, than spoken of him as " this " or ki that gentleman." If he took this high and chilly tone with Mabel s wooer, there was no telling what might be the result of the affair. " Don t mind him if he is stiff and uncompromising for a while," she enjoined upon Frederic, in apprising him of the seignior s readiness to grant him andienca " It is only his wav, and he is Mabel e brother." 38 IT EXUHANQti OP CONFIDENCES. I will bear the latter hint in mind," rejoined th young man, with the gay, affectionate smile he often bestowed upon her. u I don t believe he can awe me into resignation of my purpose, or provoke me into dislike of the rest of the family." Mabel was in her aunt s room, plying her with queries, hard to be evaded, touching the tenor and consequences of her recent negotiations, when a servant brought a message from her brother. She was wanted in the study. The girl turned very white, as she pre pared to obey, without an idea of delay or of refusal. " O Auntie ! what if he should order me to give Frederic up ! " she ejaculated, pausing at the door, in an agony of trepidation. " I never disobeyed him in my life." " He will not do that, dear, never fear 1 He can find no pretext for such summary proceedings. And should he oppose your wishes, be firm of purpose, and do not forsake your affianced husband," advised the old lady, solemnly. " There is a duty which takes precedence, in the sight of Heaven and man, of that you owe your brother. Remember this, and take courage." Mabel s roses returned in profusion, when, upon entering the arbiter s dread presence, she saw Frederic Ohilton, standing on the opposite side of the table f ron that at which sat her brother at his ease, his white fin gers still idly interlaced, his pale patrician fao emotionless as that of the bust of Apollo npon the toy AN EXCHANGE OP 30NPIDENOE& 3S *>f the bookcase behind him. It was Frederic who led her to a chair, when she stopped, trembling midway the apartment, and his touch upon her arm inspirited her to raise her regards to Winston s countenance *t the sound of his voice. " I have sent for you, Mabel, that I may repeat iii youi hearing the reply I have returned to Mr. Chilton s application for my sanction to your engagement I should say, perhaps, to your reciprocal attachment The betrothal of a minor without the consent, positive or implied, of her parent or guardian is, as I have just explained to Mr. Chilton, but an empty name in this State. 1 have promised, then, not to oppose your mar riage, provided the inquiries I shall institute concern ing Mr. Cliilton s previous life, his character, and his ability to maintain you in comfort, are answered satis factorily. He will understand and excuse my pertina city upon this point when he reflects upon the value of the stake involved in this transaction." In all their intercourse, Frederic had no more gra cious notice from Mabel s brother than this semi- apology, delivered with stately condescension, and i courtly bow in his direction. It sounded very grand to Mabel, whose fears of opposition or severity from her Mentor had shaken courage and nerves into pitiable distress. Frederic eculd desire nothing more affable than Winston s smile ; BO more abundant encouragement than was afforded by iU AN SXOKANQB OF hife voluntary pledge. Had not the thought savored oi disloyalty to her lover, she would have confessed her self disappointed that his reply did not effervesce * ith gratitude, that his deportment was distant, his ton? constrained. "I appreciate the last-named consideration, Mr, Aylett, 1 believe, thoroughly, as you do. I have al ready told you that I invite, not shirk, the investigation you propose. I now repeat my offer of whatever facil ity is at my command for carrying this on. No hon orable man could do less. Unless I mistake, you wis.h now to see your sister alone." He bent his head slightly, and without other and especial salutation to his betrothed, withdrew. Odd, white dints came and went in Winston s nos trils the one and unerring facial sign of displeasure he ever exhibited, if we except a certain hardening of eye and contour that chiselled his lineaments into a yet closer resemblance to marble. " He is very sensitive and proud, I know," faltered Mabel, hastily marking these, and understanding what they portended. " You need not like him the less on that account, always provided that the supports of his pride are legit imate aud substantial," answered her brother, care lessly transferring to his tablets several names from * iheet of paper upon the table the addresses of per on* to whom Frederic had Deferred him for confirma AS XZOHANQB OF ^ tion of his statements regarding his social and prof e* ttonal standing. " I hope, for your sake, Mabel," he pursued, pocket ing the memoranda, " that this affair may be speedil* and agreeably adjusted; while I cannot deny ;hat I deprecate the unseemly haste with which Mrs. Suttor and her ally have urged it on, in my absence. Had they intended to court suspicion, they could not have done it more effectually. You could not have had A more injudicious ckaperone to the Springs." " Indeed, brother, she was not to blame," began the generous girl, forgetting her embarrassment in zealous defence of the aunt she loved. " It was not she who presented me to Mr. Chilton, and she has never at tempted to bias my decision in any manner." " I have heard the history in detail." Had hia breeding been less fine, he would have yawned in her face. " I know that you are indebted for Mr. Chilton 8 acquaintanceship to Miss Tazewell s generosity. But in strict justice, Mrs. Sutton should be held responsi ble for whatever unhappiness may arise from the inti macy You were left by myself in her charge." " I do not believe it will end unhappily," Mabel was moved to reply, with spirit that became her better than the shyness she had heretofore displayed, or the sub missive demeanor usual with her in t&te-d-tites witb her guardian. He smiled in caln? superiority. *2 AN EXCHANGE >P CGNFID2N(.1L& " I have expressed my hope to that effect Of ejt pectations it will be time enough to speak wAen I am better informed upon divers points. I am not one to take mach for granted, am less sanguine than my romantic aunt, or even tha.1 my more practical sister. Assuming, however, that all is as you would have it* your wish would be, I suppose, for an early marriage ? " There has been little said about that," responded Mabel, reddening then rallying to add smilingly - ** such an arrangement would have involved the taking for granted a good many things your consent among them." "Winston passed over the addenda. "But that little, especially when uttered by Mr. Chilton, trenched upon the inexpediency of long en gageinents did it not ? " Mabel was mute, her eyes downcast. " I agree with him there, at any rate. Yon are nineteen years of age ; he twenty-five. Your proper,*^ is unincumbered, and can be transferred to your keep ing at very short notice. Mr. Chilton represents that Ids income from his patrimonial estate, eked out by professional gains, is sufficient to warrant him in aaarrying forthwith. I shall see that no time is lost in imking the inquiries upon which depends the progress af the negotiation. Business calls me North in a week or ten days, I shall stop a day in Philadelphia, and nettle your affair " AJU EXCHANGE OP VONPIDENOE8. 43 The frightfully business-like manner of disposing of her happiness appalled the listener into silence. The loss of Frederic ; the destruction of her love-dream ; the weary years of lonely wretchedness that would fol low the bereavement, were to him only unimportant incidentals to her " affair ; " weighed in the scale of hii impartial judgment no more than would anconsidered dust. For the first time in the life to which he had been the guiding-star, she ventured to wonder if the unswerving rectitude that had elevated him above the ^evel of other men, in her esteem and affection, were so glorious a thing after all ; if a tempering, not of human frailty, but of charity for the shortcomings, sympathy for the needs, of ordinary mortals, would not subdue the effulgence of his talents and virtues into mild lus tre, more tolerable to the optics of fallible beholders Unsuspicious, with all his astuteness, of her sacri- ^egious doubts, Winston proceeded : " In the event of your marriage, you would desire, no doubt, that Mrs. Sutton should take up her abode with you ? You would find her useful in many ways, and she would get on amicably with her husband i godson." " I do not think she expects to go with me," an swered Mabel, staggered by his cooHy confident air. " 1 certainly have never entertained the idea. I im- Bgined that she would remain with you, while needed her service* . w 44 AN EXOHAXQB OP OCWFIZBNOB8. " That will not be long. I shall be married on fch* 10th of October." "Married! brother!" starting np in amazemaat u You are not in earnest I " " I should not jest upon such a theme," replied Whr fcton, in grave rebuke. " My plans are definitely laid. It is not my purpose to keep them secret a day longer. I meant to communicate them to yourself and Mr*. Button this afternoon, but yours claimed precedence." Mabel sat down again, totally confounded, and strug gling hard with her tears. The thought of her broth er s marriage was not in itself disagreeable. She had often lamented his insensibility to the attractions of such women as she fancied would add to his happiness, and grace the high place to which his wife would be exalted. She never liked to hear him called invulner able; repelled the hypothesis of his incurable bache lorhood as derogatory to his heart and head. This UD )ooked-f or intelligence, had it reached her in a differ ent way, would have delighted as much as it astonished ber. The fear lest her consent to wed Frederic and leave Ridgeley might be tUe occasion of discomfort and aadne&s to her forsaken brother had shadowed all bei visions of future bliss. She ought to have hailed with unmixed satisfaction the certainty that he woild no* miss her sisterly ministrations, or feel the need of kef companionship in that of one nearer and dearer than was his child-ward. She had striven not to reeei*t* AN JCJLUHANGSl OP CONFIDENCES. 46 even in her own mind, LIB cavalier treatmeLt oi hei lover ; had hearkened respectfully and without domut co his unsympathizing calculations of what was possfbit and what feasible in the project of her union with the man of her choice. For how could he know anything if the palpitations, the anxieties, the raptures of love, when he was a stranger to the touch of a kindred emotion ? He meant well ; he had her welfare in view, nnf ortunate as was his style of discussing the mean* for insuring this for he loved her dearly, dearly t She must never question this, although he had dealt the comfortable persuasion a cruel blow ; wounded he? in a vital part by withholding from her the eircum stance of his attachment and betrothal until the near approach of the wedding day rendered continued se crecy inexpedient. No softening memory of his affi anced had inclined him to listen with kindly warmth to her timid avowals, or Frederic s manly protestations .)f their mutual attachment. He recognized no analogy In the two cases ; stood aloof from them in the flush of his successful love, as if he had never knowr the pregnant meaning of the word. Smarting under the *ense ^ ^ujury to pride and affection, her language, when she could trust her voice, was a protest that, in Winston s judgment, ill beseemed her age and station. " Why did you not tell ine of this earlier, brother f it was unjust and unkind to keep me in the dark until 46 AN EXCHANGE W CONFIDENCES. " You forget yourself, Mabel. 1 am not ander obli Cation to account to you for my actions." He said it composedly, as if stating a ti uth wholly disconnected with feeling on his part or on hers, " I have given you the information to which you r^ fer, in season for you to make ample preparation for my wife s reception. And, mark me, she must see no sulkiness, no airs of strangeness or intolerance, because I have managed a matter that concerns me chiefly, aa seemed to me best. Say the same to Mrs. Button, if you please ; also that I will submit to no dictation, and ask no advice." Mabel s anger seldom outlived its utterance. The hot sparkle in her eye was quenched by moisture, as she laid her hand caressingly upon her brother s. " Winston 1 you cannot suppose that we could be wanting in cordiality to any one whom you love, much less to your wife. Let her come when she may, she wiD be heartily welcomed by us both. But thia has fallei suddenly upon me, and I am a little out of sorts to-day, I believe excited and nervous and, O, my darling 1 my oldest and best of friends ! I hope your ?ove will bring to you the happiness you deserve." The tears had their course, at last, bathing the hand she bowed to kiss. The simple ardor of the outbreak would have affected many men to a show of responsive weakness. Even Winston Aylett s physiognomy WM AN EXCHANGE OF CONFIDENCES. W more human and less statuesque, as Le patted Lev head, and bade her be composed. " If you persist in enacting Mobe, I shall belicv* ?bat you are chagrined at the prospect of having the sister yon have repeatedly besought me to give you," Le said, playfully for him. " You have not asked sue her name, and where she lives. What has become uf your curiosity? I never knew it to be quiescent before." " I thought you would tell me whatever it was best *or me to know," replied Mabel, drying her eyes. If she had said that she was too well-trained to assail him with interrogatories he had not invited, it w^uld have been nearer the mark. " There is nothing relating to her which I desire to conceal," he rejoined, with some stiffness, "or she would never have become my promised wife. She is a Miss Dorrance, the daughter of a widow residing h? the vicinity of Boston, Massachusetts. I met her first at Trenton Falls, where a happy accident brought me into association with her party. I travelled with them to the Lakes and among the White Mountains, and, * r hile in Boston, visited her daily. We were betrothed a week ago, and having, as I have observed, an aver sion to protracted engagements, I prevailed upon her to appoint the tenth of next month as our marriago day. There you have the story in brief. I have not Mrs. Button s talents as a raconteur, nor *8 AN BXGHANQB Cf CONFIDENCES. to torn hearts inside out I 01 the edification of her an* Jitors." " Does she Miss Dorrance look like anybody 1 know \ " asked Mabel, hesitating to declare herself dis satisfied with the skeleton love-tale, yet nacertain how to learn more. " A roundabout way of asking if she is passable in appearance," Winston said, with his smile of conscious superiority. "Judge for yourself I " taking from his Docket a miniature. " How beautiful I What a very handsome woman! w the sister exclaimed at sight of the pictured face. " You are correct. She is, moreover, a thorough lady, and highly-educated. Eidgeley will have a queenly mistress. The likeness is considered faithful, tint it does not do her justice." He took it from Mabel, and they scanned it to gether ; she resting against his shoulder. She felt his chest heave twice ; heard him swallow spasmodically hi the suppression of some mighty emotion, and the palpaole effort drew her very near to him. She never doubted from that monent, what she h*d more cause in after days to believe, that he loved the woman he had won with a fervor of passion that seemed foreign to his temperament as the evidence of it was to hit conduct. The September sun was near the horizon, and be tween the bowed shutters one slender, gilded arrow ^ EXOHAX&S OP GONPIDSNG&& 41 allot athwart the portrait, producing a marvellctui anc sinister change in its expression. The large, limpid eyes became shallow and cunning ; the smile lurking about the month was the more treacherous and deadly for its sweetness; while the burnished coils of haif brushed away from the temples had the opaline tint! and sinuous roll of a serpent. Mabel shrank back before the horror of the abrard imagination. Winston raised the picture to kift lip* liypeerle<nl" * CHAPTER IDL UNWHOLESOME VAFOJBS* JOBRANCE I "repeated Frederic, after hi b* trothed, when she rehearsed to him in theii moonlight promenade upon the piazza the lead ing incidents of her brother s wooing. "She lives near Boston, yoa say, and her mother is a widow ? r " Yes. What have you ever heard about her?" "Nothing whatever, I was startled by the name bxit very foolishly 1 I once knew a family of Dor ranees i$ew Yorkeis but the father, a retiral nava officer, was alive, and all the daughters w*>re married The youngest of them would be, by taia time, much <Ader than you judge the original of the miniature to be." " She is not more than twenty-two, at the most," Ma bel was sure. Frederic s hurried articulation and abstracted man ner excited her curiosity, and unrestrained by Winston s curb, it was net * quiescent." The thought tpoken 00 soon as it w*s formed. (CO) UNWHOLESOME FAPOfti 51 " There was something unpleasant in yoiyr intercourse with them, then? or something objectionable in the peo* pie themselves? Could they have been relatives ol this widow and her daughter ? The name is net a com mon one to my ears," " Nor to mine ; yet we have no proof to sustain yoar supposition. I should be very sorry " He stopped. Mabel studied his perturbed countenance "with aug mented uneasiness. " Was not the family respectable ?" " Perfectly, my shrewd little catechist ! " seeming to shake off an uncomfortable incubus, as he laughed down at her serious face. " They vaunted themselves upon the antiquity of their line, and were more liberal in allusions to departed grandeur than was quite well- bred. When I knew them they were not wealthy, or in what they would have called society. Indeed, th mother kept a private boarding-house near the law schrx)! I attended There were several sons very decent, enterprising fellows. But one lived at home, and a daughter, the wife of a lietienant in the navy, whom I never saw. I boarded with them for six months, or thereabout." u You never saw the daughter I How was that ? " " I must have expressed myself awkwardly if I con veyed any such idea. I did not meet the seafaring husband who was off upon a long cruise. Tho wife 1 i>2 UVWHOUKOMM VAPOS& met constantly knew very welL You need not Loclr at me so intently, love } as if yon feared that some dark mystery lurked behind this matter-of-fact recitaL II 1 do not tell you every event of my former lif 3, it it not because it was vile. I could not sustain the light of your innocent eyes if I had ever been guilty of aught dishonorable or criminal. But even the follies and mistakes of a young man s early career are not fit themes for your ears. And I was no wiser, no more * ary, than other youths of the same age ; was apt to Believe that fair which was only specious, and that I might play, uninjured, with edged tools. Nor had I seen you then, my treasure my snow-drop of purity! Mabel ! do you know how solemn a thing it is to be loved and trusted by a man, as I love and confide in you ? It terrifies me when I think of the absoluteness of my dependence upon your fidelity of how rich I *m in having you how poor, wretched, and miserable I should be without you. I shall not draw a free breath until you are mine beyond the chance of recalL" " Nobody eke wante me I " breathed Mabel in his ear, Beetling within the arm that enfolded and held her tightly hi the corner of the piazza shaded by the creeper. " The danger of losing me is not imniiiient o-night, at all events," she resumed, presently, with a touch of the sportivenees that lent her manner an airy charu in lighter talk than that which had engrossed ber for the past hour. UNWHOLESOME VAPOS& 53 The evening was warm and still to sultriness, and the moonlight, filtered into pensive pallor through a low-lying haze, yet sufficed to show how confidingly Imogene leaned upon her attendant in sauntering dowm the long main alley of the garden. Rosa was at the piano in the parlor, singing to the enamored Alfred Mrs. Button had withdrawn to her own room to rumi nate upon the astounding disclosure of her nephew s engagement, while Winston bent over his study-table busy with the interrupted letter his aunt had seen ii his portfolio. " There is no one here who has the leisure or thr disposition to contest your rights, you perceive," said Mabel, running through a laughing summary of theii companions occupations. "Betrothals are epidemic in this household and neighborhood," Winston wa writing. " There are no fewer than three pairs of turtles cooing down stairs *a I pen this to you, my bird of paradise. The case thut next to mine to ours commands my interest is that of my sister. I came home to learn that the little Ma bel i used to hold on my knee had entered into an angagement conditional upon my sanction with that traditional tricky personage, a Philadelphia lawyer a Mr. Frederic Chilton, at the do*r of whose manifold perfections, as set forth by my Minacious aunt, you may lay the blame of this delayed epistle. I know of this aspirant to th dignity of brotherhood 54 UNWHOLESOME VAPOS& with myself, saving the facts that he is tolerably good looking, claims to be the scion of an old Maryland family, and that self-conceit is apparently his predomi nant quality." "What is that?" asked Frederic, halting before the windows, of the drawing-room, as a wild, sorrowful strain, like the wail of a breaking heart, arose upon the waveless air. Rosa was a vocalist of note in her circle, and she had tKtver rendered anything with more effect than she did tlse song to which even the preoccupied strollers among the garden borders stayed their steps to listen. Through the open casement Mabel and her lover could see the face of the musician, slightly uplifted toward the moonlight ; her eyes, dark and dreamy, as under the cloud of many years of weary waiting and final hopelessness. Her articulation waw always pure, but *,he passionate emphasis of every word constrained the breathless attention of her audience to the close of the limple lay : "Thy taunt, was oone the maglo yeU By which my thoughts ware bound ; And burning dream* of light and IOTB Were wakened by the round. My heart beat qniok when With idle prawe or blame, Awoke ite deepest thrill of joy To tremble at thy name. "Long years, long years have And altered is thy brow ; And we who met HO fondly once Most meet aa Ktrwwrrrp wow. UNWHOLESOME VAPOB& 5* The friend* of yore come rmod i But talk no more of thee, Twore idle e en to wish it now, For what art thon to m*f " * Tet rtffl thy name thy My lonely bosom flllfl, Like an eoho that hath tort Itaelf Among the distant hilla, That still, with melancholy note, Keepe faintly lingering on, When the joyons sound that woke ft flnl Li gone forever gome !* " A ieai xmceit that last verse, and the music u t fair mutatu n of a dying bugle-echo 1 " said Winston Ay let! to himself, resuming the writing he had sus pended for a minute. " That girl should take to the stage. If one did not know better, her eyes and sing ing together wculd delude him into the idea that she had a heart. Honest Alfred evidently believes that dhe has, and that the patient labor of love will win it for himself. Bah I * Frederic and Mabel retired noiselessly from their post of observation, as 4 honest Alfred " made a motion to take in his the hand lying prone and passive upon the finger-board. They exchanged a smile, significant and tender, in withdrawing. " We understand the signs ^f the times," whispered Frederic, at the upper turn of their prcmen&de. Heaven bless all true lovers under the sun ! " " Don t 1 " said Kosa, vehemently, snatching away hor hand from her suitor s hold. " Leave me alone I [f you touch me again I shall scream! I think yov 56 UBWHOLS80MX VAPQJUL were made up without nerves, either in the heart or is the brain if you hare any ! n Before the aghast Alfred rallied from the recoil oc casioned by her gesture and words, her feet were pat tering over the oaken hall and staircase in rapid retreat to her chamber. "You are really happy, then I" queried Mabel "Quite content?" "Did I not tell you awhile ago that I was not satis fied ? " returned Chilton. " Two months since I should, in anticipation of this hour, have declared that it would be fraught with unalloyed rapture. I was happier yes terday than I am to-day. It is not merely that we must part to-morrow, or that your brother s precaution ary measures and disapproval- of what nas passed be tween us have acted like a shower-bath to the fervor of my newly born hopes. I am willing that my life should be subjected to the utmost rigor of his researches, and another month, at farthest, will reunite us. Nor do 1 believe in presentiments. I am more inclined to at tribute the uneasiness that has hovered over me all the day to physical causes. We will call it a mild splenetic case, induced by the sultry weather, and the very slo% tm coming of the storm presaged by your dewiest roses." He laughed naturally and pleasantly. Having con fessed to what he regarded as a ridiculous succumbing of his buoyant spirit to atmospheric influences, h* VAPOB& 7 ofl the nightmare a* if it had neiwr aat apos him. Mabel was grave stilL kt There is something weirdly oppressive in the night.* she said, in a low, awed tone. " But the burden you describe has weighed me down since morning. While Rosa was singing, I felt suddenly removed from you by a horrid gulf. What if all this should be the prepara tion to iia for some impending danger? " " Sweet ! these are unwholesome vapors of the im agination. Nothing can be a disaster that leaves ns to one another," was the text of Frederic s fond soothing; and by the time Mrs. Sutton descended from her cham ber of meditation, to remind Imogene that the seeds of ague and fever lurked in the river-fogs, the couple from the piazza came into the lighted parlor, all smile* and animation, wondering, jocosely, what had become of the recent occupants of the apartment. Neither reappeared until breakfast-time next morn ing. Rosa was like freshly-poured champagne, in sweet and sparkle. Alfred, rueful and limp, as if the drip ping clouds that veri&ed Mabel s prediction had soaked Mm all night. He was dry and comfortable to carry out the figure within twenty minutes after his be ta ved fluttered, like a tame canary, into the chair next his own in five more, was more truly her slave, liv ing in, and upon her smiles adoring her very caprices as he had never admired another woman s virtues thaa 58 UyWBOLSaOMS VAPOSb. he had been prior to the brief, I at tempest aoufi scene over night. She was the life of the party assembled in the dining-room. Imogc^e had caught cold, walk ing bareheaded in the evening air, and Tom condoled with her upon her influenza and sore-throat too sin cerely to do justice to the rest of his friends and hii breakfast. Mr. Aylett was never talkative, and his un varying, soulless politeness to all produced the conserv- ng effect upon chill and low spirits that the atmosphere jf a refrigerator does upon whatever is placed within it Mrs. Button s motherly heart was yearning pity ingly over the lovers who were soon to be sundered, while Mabel s essay at cheerful equanimity imposed apon nobody s credulity. Frederic comported himself like a man the more courageously because the host s cold eye was upon him, and he surmised that sighs and sentimentality would meet very scant indulgence in that quarter. Moreover, he was not so unreasonable as to descry insupportable hardships in this parting. By agreement with Mr. Aylett and his sister, he was, if all went prosperously, to revisit Ridgeley at the end of six wee^s, when his design was to entreat his betrothed to name the wedding day. The prospect might well sup port him under the present trial. He bore Rosa s bad inage gallantly, tossing back sprightly and telling re joinders that called forth the smiling applause of the auditors, and commanded her respectful recognition <f him as a f oeman worthy of her steeL UNWHOLESOME VAPOJS& 5f " Nine o clock," said Winston, at length, consulting his watch, and pushing back his chair. " Tie carriage will be at the door in fifteen minutes, Mi. Chilton. The road is heavy this morning, and the stage passes the village at ten." " I shall be ready," responded Frederic. " I am sorry four carriage and coachman must be exposed to the rain." " That is nothing. They are ued to it. I never al ter my plan of travel on account of the weather, how ever severe the storm. This warm rain can hurt nobody." " It is pouring hard," remarked Mrs. Button, solicit ously. 4i And that stage is wretchedly uncomfortable in the best weather. I wish you could be persuaded to stay with us until it clears off, Mr. Chilton, and" making a bold push "I am sure my nephew concurs in my desire." " Mr. Chiltoii should require no verbal assurance ol my hospitable feelings toward him and my other guests," said Mr. Aylett, frigidly smooth as ice-cream. u If I forbear to press him to prolong his stay, it is in recollection of the golden law laid down for the direc tion of hosts l Welcome the coming, speed the part ing guest. " " 7ou are both very kind, but I must go,* Frederic replied, concisely and civilly, following Mabel into the j>arlor, whither the other visitors were fabled to have te- 60 CWWXOLX80XS VAPOS& paired. As he had guessed, his betrothed was the only person there ; the quartette having dispersed with kindly tact, for which he gave then) due credit " Don t think hardly of ine, dear," he began, seating himself beside her on the sofa. " Allow me to offer you a few of the finest cigars 1 have enjoyed for many years," said Mr. Aylett, enter ing in season to check Frederic s movement to encircle Mabel s drooping form with his arm. " You smoke, I believe ? You may have an opportunity of indulging in this solace in an empty stage. At least, there is lit tle probability that you will be denied the luxury by the presence of lady passengers. I procured those in Havana, last winter. In case you should like them well enough to order some for yourself, I will give you the address of the merchant from whom I purchased them." He wrote a line upon a card, as he might sign a beg gar s petition with a supercilious parade of benevc lence and passed it to the other, who accepted i* with a phrase of acknowledgment neither hearty nor grateful. Then the master of the nouse paced the floor with a slow, regular step, his hands behind him ; his countenance placidly ruminative, his thought* ap* pareritly engaged with anything rather than the pail upon the corner-sofa, whose leave-taking he had mer cilessly marred. Frederic dumb and furious ; Mabel equally dumb and amazed to alarm, knowing as eh* VAPORS. did that her brother s actions were never purposelesa, tat still, their hands clasped stealthily amid the folds of Mabel s dress ; their eyes saying the dear and passion ate things forbidden to their tongues. Neither would feign indifference, or attempt a lame dialogue upon other topics than those that filled their minds. Mr. Aylett was not one to pay outward heed to hints when he chose to ignore them. He kept up his walk until the carriage was driven around to the front door, in formed the parting guest that it awaited his commands, likewise that he would need all the time that remained to him if he hoped to catch the stage ; without leaving the room, called to a servant to bring down Mr. Chil ton s baggage, and did not lo*e sight of his sister s Zover until the last farewell was said, and Frederic be stowed inside the vehicle. There was nothing offen sively officious or malicious in all this. Having declared as an incontrovertible dogma, that a ward could f orn* no engagement without the formal sanction of her le gal guardian, he saw fit to put the seal upon the decis ion at this, their adieu, in a manner they were not likely to forget. An hour s harangue would not have imbued them with the sense of hig authority, his determination to exercise it, and thir impotency to resist it, as did this practical lesson* Mrs. Suttcn could scarcely restrain her tearful re monstrances againat what was, to her p*rc*Mion, as 62 UNWHOLESOME FJPOK& act of arbitrary and wanton cruelty, and other specta tors had their views upon the subject " Very inconsiderate in Aylett ! I wonder how 1 would like the same game to be played upon himself I" /**. lamented Alfred, aside, to his Dulcinea. Her lip curled in disdainful amusement. " As if he had ever done an inconsiderate thing since he put off long clothes ! There is method in ail this, if we were clever enough to fathom it." Within herself, she determined that she would solve the enigma before she was a week older. Frederic cast one hasty, eager look at the portico, as the carriage turned out of the yard. Mabel stood in the foreground, her figure framed by the climbing roses drooping over the front steps. She was very ale, and, forgetful for the moment of the observation of the bystanders, leaned slightly forward, her eyes strained apon the carriage-window one hand laid upon he/ heart, the other resting against the pillar nearest her, as for support. She waved her handkerchief, in re sponse to his smile and lifted hat, and simultaneously with this interchange of adieuT her brother took hei ;>y the arm. " You are getting wet there, Mabel ! Come into the house It is well I have come back to look after you P OHAPTEK IV. U FOUNDED UPON A BOCK." <g*3 foTSf F Mrs. Sutton had raised horrified eyes and de^ ^ M i spairing hands upon learning the date of her nephew s proposed marriage, it was because she \s> miscalculated his executive abilities, and the en ergy she had never until now seen fairly put forth. W ithin three days after his return, the homestead was *live with masons, carpenters, painters, and upholster - are, engaged by the prompt bridegroom on his passage through Kichmond ; and so explicit were his orders as to the minutest detail of the work appointed to each, that he could safeV leave the scene of action at the time appointed for the flying trio northward, to which he had referred in his dialogue with Mabel on the afternoon of his arrival. The party of visitors had emigrated to other regions. a couple of days after Frederic Chilton s departure, with the exception of Rosa Tazewell, who accepted Mabel s invitation to prolong her sojourn, the moie willingly since she " flattered herscif *h could be of M - FOUNDED UPON A ROW use in the general upheaving of the ancient found* tions, and establishment of the new. If there was one thing she enjoyed above another, it was a tremea ous bustle a lively revolution." She made her boast of personal utility good by in stalling herself forthwith as Mrs. Button s aid-de-camp, and rendering herself so far indispensable in the work of reconstruction that Mr. Aylett deigned to ask her aot to desert her post in his absence. " Yours is the genius of renovation, Miss Bosa," the potentate was pleased to say in his handsomest style. " Do not, I beg of you, forsake my aunt and sister in their need. Let me feel that I leave one head as th motive-power of the multitudinous hands." She agreed, in the same strain, to oblige him a decision greeted with satisfaction by the pair in whos* behalf he besought her friendly offices. The versatile invention and deft fingers of the little brunette were welcome to the heavily-taxed housekeeper, as were her gay good-humor and words of cheer and affection kr he younger of her companions. The two girls became Kiore confidential in tax. days than eighteen years of neighborly intercoune had sufficed to make them. Mabel s innate delicacy and excellent common sense would, in ordinary circumstances, have barred effusive ness upon the theme nearest her heart, but love at nineteen is rarely discreet, even when the persuasive! to communicati^enefl are lose powerful than were A HQCX* the sorcery of Rosa s sympathy and the confession! that paved the way to answering and trustful com municativeness on her friend s part They were having what she called "a good, long comforting, as well as comfortable chat" over theii sewing in Mabel s chamber on the afternoon of the eighth day of Winston s absence. The weather waa lovely, with the mellow brightness and balmy airs that make Virginian antumns a joy and glory nntil Novem ber is half spent, and the atmosphere held, at sunset, the warmth and much of the radiance which had set the day a perfect gem in the heart of the golden month. Into the eastern windows gazed the full moon, a crimson globe upon the hazy horizon, while Venua lay, large and tremulous, among the dying fires of thu west. " i Lovers love the western star, " quoted Kosa, mer rily, taking Mabel s work from her and throwing it upon the bed. " Come and enjoy the holy hour with me." They leaned together upon the window-sill, their young faces tinted by the changeful hues of the sky, both thoughtful and mute, until Rosa broke the silence by a ^ary sigh. "O Mabel, you should be a happy, happy girl; blessed among women. Yon can lore freely and joyously and have pride and faith in the one be 66 "FOUZTDBD UPON A JBOGJC" 4< As you will some day," rejoined the ether, draw ing nearer to her, "when you, in your turn, shall know the unspeakable sweetness of unquestioning faith of utter dependence L.pon him to whom TOO have given your heart" Utter dependence I " echoed Eosa. " That would mean utter wreck of heart, hope everything should the anchor give way. It is a hazardous experiment, ma belle I " The other looked down at her with simple f earless- ices. u <For it was founded upon a rock ! " she repeated softly ; yet the exultant ring of her accent vibrated upon the ear like a joyous challenge. Rosa s fretful movement was involuntary. " Mine would drag in the sand at every turn of the tide, every rise of the wind, if I were to follow your advice, and say yes to the pertinacious Alfred," she said reproachfully. " Don t say advice, dear ! " corrected the other. " i Dnly endeavored to convince you that there must be 1* tent tenderness beneath your sufferance of Mr. Branch * devotion ; that if you really were averse to the thought of marrying him, you could not take pleasure in his society or enjoy the marks of his attachment which are apparent to you and to everybody else." " Can t you understand," said the beauty, petulantly, * that it is one thing to flirt with a man in public, and 7 another to cherish his image in private f Theie is no better touchstone of affection than the Holiness and calm of an honr lite this. If Frederic were with yon, the scene would be the fairer, the season more sacred for its association with thoughts of him and hin love. Whereas, my Alfred s adoring platitudes would disgust me with the sunset, with the world, and with myself, for permitting him to haunt my presence and hang upon my smile foppish barnacle that he is 1 If ron knew how I despise myself sometimes ! " " Dear Rosa ! I shall never try again to persuade that you care for him as a woman should for the man GOD intended her to marry. But why not act worthily of yourself justly to him, and reject him decid edly?" " Because " her face shrewd and wilful as it had been sorrowful just now "I am by no means certain that I can do better than to marry him. He is rich, good-looking (so people say !), well-born, gentlemanly. and pleasant of temper. An imposing array of ad van tages, you see ! I might go further, and fare very much wor&s. We shall not expect to pass our days in gazing at eunsete and walking in the moonlight, you know. It is not every woman who can marry the man ehe iores best. While the right to select and to woo it osurped by the masculine portion of the community, it must, perforce, be Hobson s choice with an uncounta ble majority of femininea. 1 ahould not complain 88 VQUN&SID UPON A BOOK. 1 The stall allotted to me bj Hobson alas Fate might hold a worse-conditioned animal than my WOT* shipping swain." " What a wicked rattle you are ! " Mabel said, affect ing to box her ears. u I could not lore yon if I be lieved you to be in earnest. As to your figure of the Btabled steed this disapproving customer has the consolation that she need not accept him, unless she wishes to do so. She has the invaluable privilege of saying 4 no as often and obstinately as she pleases." " I deny it," said Ttoea, perversely. " Parents, in this age, do not make a custom of locking up refractory daughters in nunneries or garrets until they consent to wed Baron Buncombe or my Lord Nozoo, but there are, nevertheless, compulsory marriages in plenty. Society warns me to make a creditable match, upon penalty, if 1 decline, of being pointed out to the suc ceeding and a fast-succeeding generation it is ! as a disappointed old maid a pass^e belle, who squan dered her capital of fascinations, and has become i* pauper upon public toleration, while my mother, sisters, and brothers are growing impatient at my many and profitless flirtations, and anxious to see me settled. My mother s pet text, since I was sixteen, has been her prayerful desire that I, the last of her nestlings, should m*ke choice of a tenable bough and helpful partner, and set up a separate establishment before she dies. When that event occurs, I shall be, in effect, homeless "FOUNDS JTOJT A - a boarder around upon my rebukeful relatives, who 1 always thought how my trifling would end, and wbo will be forever scribbling vanitas vanitatum? upon the tombstone of my departed youth my day of beaux and offers. You may shake your head aad look heroic with all your might! You are no better off than I, should your brother see cause to refuse his con sent to your marriage with Mr. Chilton. He could, and probably would, coerce you into another alliance before you were twenty-one. There are so many ways * letting the life out of a woman s heart, when it is already faint from disappointment I The spirit is oftener broken by unyielding, but not seemingly cruel pressure, than by outrageous violence. And Winston would show himself an adept in such arts, if occasion otfered." u Kosa Tazewell I you are speaking of my brother, my friend and benefactor! one of the best, noblest, most disinterested creatures Heaven ever made I " cried Mabel, erect and indignant. "You have no warrant 1 shall never give you the right to asperse him in my presence. He is incapable of cruelty or unfair ness. It is my duty to obey him, but it is no less a pleasure, for he is a hundred-fold wiser and better than I am knows far more truly what is for my real ad- *antage. As to his conduct in this affair of Frederic and myself, you cannot deny that it baa been generous 70 "FOUNDS!* UPON A ROOK* and consistent throughout. He has been nations never harsh 1 " 1 So!" said Rosa, scrutinizing the flnnhed counte nance of the other, her own full of intense meaning, c< you ha/ve had your misgivings I " Mabel reddened more warmly. " Misgivings ! What do you mean I " " That the uncalled-for vehemence of your defence is a proof of disturbed confidence, of wanting belief ir the infallibility of your semi-deity. The trailing robee of divinity have been blown aside by a chance breath of suspicion, and you had a glimpse of the clay feet I am glad of it. Scepticism is the parent of rebellion, and the time is coming when fealty to your betrothed may demand disloyalty to the power that now is." Mabel s smile was meant to be careless, but it wat only uneasy, and gave the lie direct to her assevera tion. " I have no apprehensions of such a conflict. Win atom s word is as good as another man s oath. It i& | lodged to my marriage with Frederic Chilton, in the event of the prosperous issue of his inquiries into his Frederic s, character and prospects. That these will be answered favorably, I have the word of another, who ii every whit as trustworthy. Where is there room lot .loubt?" Tb hinnette shook her head unconvinced. "FOUNDED UPON A BOOK" 71 " Have your own way ! I can afford to abide tht ihowing of the logic of events." "And II" retorted Mabel, hastily, tinning from her, without attempting to dissemble her chagrin, to answer a knock at the door. It was a servant, with two letters. The annoyance passed from her brow, like the sheerest mist, as she read the superscriptions one in her brother s hand writing, the other in Frederic s. Rosa interfered to prevent the breaking of the seals. " I am going to leave yon to the undisturbed enjoy ment of your feast," she said, in her most winsome manner. " But won t it taste the sweeter if your antepast is the delight of forgiveness ? Say you are not angry with me mia cara ! " " You are a ridiculous child ! " Mabel bent to kiss the pleading lips, then the great, melting eyes. " Who could be out of temper with you for half a minute at a time ? You did try my patience with your nonsense, but since it was nonsense, I have forgotten it all, and love you none the less for your prankish humor yon " She calls my prophe des humbug turns a deaf eai to my warnings 1 " cried the incorrigible rattle, clasp ing her hands above her head and rolling her eyes tragically. "I have a lively appreciation, at this 5n T2 itant, of Cassandra s agonies whan Troilna named kflr our mad water! WMl wwt Lot w pay tatfcM Of tfeftt Laughing anew at her frantic rush frcm the cham ber, Mabel sat down in the broad window-seat to read her love-letter. Frederic was too manly in feeling and habit of a^eech to deal in florid rhapsodies, but each line had its message from hi* heart to hers. He loved her purely and in truth, and there was not a sentence that did not tell her this, by inference, if not directly. He trusted her and this, too, he told her, more as a hus band might the wife of years than a lover of her he ad won so lately. Their hopea were the same and their lives, and she dwelt longest upon the sketched pians for the future of these. It brought hi closer to her than anything else put her secret and reluctant imaginations of evil, and Rosa s daring insinuations, out of sight and recollection. She read slowly, and with frequent pauses, that she might take in the ex quisite flavor of this and that phrase of endearment; et before herself in beauty and distinctness ""he scene* he portrayed as the adornment of the prospect which was theirs. The second and yet more deliberate perusal over, aha folded the sheet with lingering touches to every cor POUNDEL JPOJf A &OCX+" 78 ner thrust it into the envelope, and drew it forth again to peep once more at the signature " Forever and truly, your own Frederic ; " pressed it to her lipa, then to her heart, and bestowed it securely in her writ ing-desk, before ihe unclosed .ler brother s epistle. With her finger upon the seal a big drop of red wax, like a petrified blood-gout, stamped with *he Aylett coat-of-arms she leaned through the casement to watch for the flutter of Rosa s white dress among the van-colored maples shading the lawn sang a t^ear, sweet second to the song that ascended to her ef rie : Wmy weep ye tj th tide ? m wed y* to my yooagert ma, Amd j* Miudl be hi. brUa. As4 jt shall be hit bride, Udye, BM outnaly to t* seen ; Bert y tl loot the tmn tew* fe* fr Jok > Ha0U0M. n " MY DEAR MABEL " [wrote the lord of Ridgeley] * I wish you, so soon as you receive this, to communicate with Jenkyns and Smythe concerning the new parlor furniture I ordered from them. In talking it over, Clara and I have decided that it had better be covered with maroon, instead of green, as you advised. I en close a sample of damask which they must match ex actly. I would write direct to them, but think it likely that Jenkyns, the managing man of the firm, is in your neighborhood at this time- He told me, when I wai in town, of his intention to visit Mrs. Wilson, his nater, H "FOUNDED UPON A JKXHC" I believe, who lives on the White Oak read, about three miles from Ridgeley. Send for him, and put the samples into his hands. If he cannot get the precise color in Richmond, let him order it from New York " The carpets for the parlor, dining-room, and Clara s chamber I have bought in Lowell. Clara accompanied tne thither, and gave me the benefit of her taste in the selection. I have resolved, also, to purchase wall paper in Boston to match these. Say as much to Jenkyns. I shall have the boxes directed to his care and instruct him further respecting making the car pets and hanging the paper when I return. " Ask Roberts (the mason) whether it will be practi cable to build a fire-place in the large lower hall Another chimney would be an unsightly appendage to the roof, but Clara agrees with me, since studying the plan of the house I brought on for her inspection, that a nue could be run through the closet in your room into the rear one of the west chimneys. She thinke the ball must be freezing cold in winter, and caugk* eagerly at my idea that a blazing fire at one end would lighten the sombre effect of the oaken wainscot and lofty ceiling. I proposed to tear down the pan elling, but she was horrified at the thought. I could not take more pride and interest in preserving the antique character of the home of my forefathers than does she. She will have it that the hall, thus improved, and hung with a few old pictures, some bits of ancient UPON A BOOK. 9 75 armor, and carpeted with marooL and green, will be truly baronial. You and she will agree admirably in your enthusiastic love of the venerable, and in yom aesthetic tastes. I congratulate myself hourly upon my good fortune in securing such a companion for myself, and such an instructress for yourself. You cannot fail U derive infinite benefit from intercourse with her. " This brings me to another subject to which I desire to call your immediate attention. I wish her to select a couple of dresses suitable for your wear on the night of our reception-party, and at others which will, un doubtedly, be given in our honor. She objects to do ing this unless I obtain from you a written request that she should thus aid me. She fears you may con sider her action premature and officious. Write to her at once, requesting her to do this sisterly favor foi you, setting forth your distance from the city, the mea gre assortment of the goods to be had in the Richmond stores, etc., and giving her carte blanche as to cost and st yle. It will be an inestimable advantage to your ap pearance on the occasions named should she oblige you in this particular. I earnestly desire that you should .ook your best at your introduction to her." " * Maroon and green I J a baronial hall, and new party dresses for insignificant me!" Mabel stopped to aay aloud in great amusement " What would my sage brother have paid to such paltry memoranda sK monthi 76 "FOUNDED UPON A &OCX.* ago f He is an apt scholar, or he has an able teacher. Ah, well 1 love is a marvellous transmogrifier I " "With this apothegm from the storehouse of her late ly acquired wisdom, she passed to the next paragraph " Now for another matter about which I meant to write to you yesterday, but I was prevented by our ex pedition to Lowell. The evenings I of course devote to Clara. I have not been so engrossed by my own *ery important concerns as to neglect yours. I stopped a day in Philadelphia, illy as I could afford the time, to make such investigations as I could, without ex- siting invidious suspicion, into the character of the per son whom I found domesticated at Ridgeley on my re- tarn from my summer tour. The information I picked np in that cautious city was go meagre and tantalizing *6 to provoke me into the belief that he had selected his references with an eye to the slenderness of their knowledge of his personal history. Accident, however, has since placed within my reach a means of learning all that I wish to know. Without wearying you with explanations, which, indeed, I have no time to write being engaged to drive out with Clara in an hour from this time I will transcribe a portion of a letter re eeived by me, two days since, from a gentleman of un exceptional standing, and upon whose word you aamy safely depend. M He Myf : In n&j t* jour qnerat M to my ic- FOUNDED UfO9 A SOC3L* 77 quaintanoeship with one Frederic Chilton, cow practising lawyer in the city of Phiadelphia, I would, if conscience permitted, repay your frankness by ev sion of a disagreeable truth. But in the circumirtan ^es which induced your appeal, I have no option. Hes itation or concealment would be unkind and dishonor able. I knew the man yon speak of well I may say intimately, while we were fellow-students in the - law school, in 18 . He was then what I have bu* too much reason for believing him at this day r plausible, unprincipled man of pleasure. Our inter course, which commenced at the card-table, terminated with a severe horsewhipping I administered to him in punishment of an offence offered a married lady a relative of my own. Taking advantage of the pro tracted absence of her husband, who was a naval officer, he offered her many attentions, received by herself aa tokens of innocent and friendly regard, until he forgot himself so far as to make her open and* insulting prtv posals, even urging her to consent to an elopement, and threatening, in the event of her refusal, to ruin her by infamous calumnies. Her father was infirm ; her hus band in a foreign land. His base persecution would have met with no chastisement, had not I espoused the terrified woman s cause These are the bare facts of the case. He merited a flogging as ycu, a chivalric Virginian, will admit. I a Northern man, with cool er blood, but I h"pe, as true a sense of honor and right -FOUNDED UPON A ROOK" as y >ur own inflicted this, as I am prepared to teati fy before any number of witnesses. " [Mabel was reading very fast, her eyes Lurrying from side to side of the page, her face blanching, and he? hands more numb with every word.] " The above is a verbatim copy of that portion of my friend s letter which pertains to your affair," continued Mr. Aylett. " I shall write to Mrs. Button s prottgt by the mail that carries this, informing him of my oppor tune discovery, through no instrumentality of his pro viding, of the poverty of his claims to the title of gen tleman, and the audacity of his pretensions to my sister s hand. Have what letters, etc., you have received from him ready packed to return to his address when I come home. My principal regret, in the review of the un fortunate entanglement, is that he ever visited Ridgeley and was known in the vicinity as your suitor. You frill suffer from this, in the future, moie than you can now suppose. A woman hardly ever outlives such a stigma. " You may expect me on Thursday next, the 21gt,at which time I hope to see most of the alterations I have ordered in an encouraging state of forwardness. Should Jenkyns be in town when you get thie, write out my directions clearly and in full, and send them, with iam- ple of damask, by mail. * Your affectionate brother, ATUHT" "POUNDED UPON A ROOK" 7f TUe clammy, nerveless hands dropped the fatal bheet below them into Mabel s lap. She did not cry out or moan. Things sti^cken to the heart gener ally fall dumbly. It was not her cramped position within the windownseat that paralyzed her limbs, nor the chill of the twilight that crept through vein and ;>one. For one sick second she believed herself to be dying, and would not have stirred a muscle or spoken a syllable to save the life which had suddenly grown o worthless worthless, since she was never to see Frederic again ; be no more to him than if she had never laid her head upon his bosom; never felt hii kisses upon lip and forehead ; never lived npon his vords of love as rapt mortals, admitted in trances to the banquet of the gods, eat ambrosia, and drink to di- * inest ecstacy of nectar the elixir of immortal life and joy, sparkling in golden chalices. She hai had her dream ravishing and brief Out the awakening was terrible as the struggle back to life from a swoon or deathful lethargy. As to think ing, I believe nobody thin Ira at such aeastns. Nature brinks in speechless horror at sight of the descending weight, and when it has fallen, lies motionless, gasping ; .n breath to enable her to support the intolerable an guish, not speculating how to avert the next stroke. Frederic and she were parted ! Had not Winston said nof And when was he known to reverse a verd ctf so "poumEZ vpojy A ROOK* She had nothing to do but git still and let the irate rt go over her head. Rosa was seated upon the upper step of the west porch, her chin cradled in her hand, her elbow on hei knee, gazing on the darkening sky, and crooning Scotch ballads in a pensive, dreamy way. Mabel, from her perch, eyed her as if she were a creature belonging to another world seen dimly, and comprehended yet more imperfectly. Yet it could not have been half an hour thirty fleeting minutes since the two had talked as dear friends out of the fulness of their hearts Where were the hopes and happy memories that had made hers then a garden of pleasant things, a fruitful field which Heaven had blessed ? In that little inch of time, the flood had come and taken them all away. Would the dry aching in her throat and chest ever be less? Tears had gushed freely and healthfully after her last leave-taking with Frederic the lookeC farewell, which was all Winston s surveillance had granted them. She had been wounded then by her brother s singular want of tact or feeling. She had not the spirit to resent anything to-night, unless it wem that God haa made and suffered to live a being so wretched and useless as herself. She supposed it waa wicked but she did not care ! She ought to be re signed to the mysterious dispensations of Providence that was the prescribed phraseology of pious people. She had heard the cant times without number. What "FOUNDS? UPON A BOCK* 81 more would they have than her utter destitution of love and bliss ? Was she not miserable enough to satisfy the sternest believer in purgatorial purification ? to ap pease the wrath even of Him who had wrought her desolation ? It must be the judgment of a retributive Deity upon her idolatrous affection that she was bear ing her worship of Frederic. Yes, she had loved him ; she loved him now better than she did anything else upon earth better than she did anything in Heaven. In the partial insanity of her woe and despair, she lifted her gray face and vacant eyes to the vast, empty vault, beyond which dwelt her Maker afar off, and said the words aloud spat them at Him through hard, ashy lips. " I love him 1 I love hinrr I You have taken him from me but I will love him for all that ! " Heaven or Fate her blasphemous mood did not distinguish the one from the other was a robber Her brother was pitiless as the death that would not answer to her calL Between them she was bereaved. It was but a touch the lightest breath of natural feeling that broke up the hot crust, that shut down the fountain of tears Rosa s voice, tuneful *ind sad as a nightingale s, chanting the border-lays she loved &c well: " When I ga oat at m. Or walk at morning air, Ilk nutling brasb wfD worn to my I mmd to ow 4* POUNDED VPON A Then TT1 ! t dwrm and 017, And lire Mmth the two. And when lewf fU* in my tep, ni otf it word from thaa" 81ie had snog it herself to Frederic the night befon he left her, and as she nnished the artlees ballad, h* tcxik her in his arms and kissed her. As he would never do again ! " My darling ! my darling ! " she cried aloud. Then the grief -drops came in a flood. CHAPTER V. GLBAN HAND8. servant who summoned Mabel to brought down word that she was not feeling well, and did not wish any. " Not well I Bless me 1 " exclaimed Mrs. Snt- ton, starting up. " Rosa, love, excuse me for three sec onds, please. I must see what is the matter. I do hope there is no bad news from " (arrested by the recollection that there were servants in the room, she substituted for the name upon her lipe) "in her letters." " I don t think she i much sick ma am," said the maid. " She is a-settin in the window." "Where I left her with her letters, an hour and more ago," observed Rosa. " Don t Larry back if she needs you, Aunt Rachel I will make myself at home ; shall not mind eating alone for once." Notwithstanding the array of dainties before her, she only nibbled the edge of a cream biscuit with her little white teeth, and crumbled the rest of it upo bef 81 CUEAff plate in listlessness or profound and active leverie. while the hostess was away. She, toe, had her conjee/- tures and her anxieties a knotty problem to work out, and the longer she pondered the more confident was she that she had grasped at least one filament of die clue leading to elucidation. Mabel had not stirred from her place sat yet with her brother s letter in her lap, her hands lying heavily upon it, although her muslin dress was ghostly in the stream of moonlight flowing across the cham ber. She had wept her eyes dry, and her voice wa& monotonous, but unfaltering. u I am not really sick, aunt, but I have no appetite, and having a great deal to think of, I preferred stay ing here to going to the table," was her answer to Mrs Button s inquiries. " Your hands are cold and lifeless as clay, my child. What is the matter ? It is not like you to be moping up here, alone in the dark." "Won t you lea-re me to myself for a while, and keep Rosa down-stairs ? " asked Mabel, more patiently than peevishly. " Before bed-time I will see you in your room, and we can talk of what has disturbed me." " My daughter," murmured the gentle-hearted chap crone, trying to draw the erect head to her ahoulder as she stood by her niece. Mabel resisted the kindly force. HANDS. 8$ " No, no, aunt I cannot bear that yet I ha re just begun to think connectedly, and petting would unnerra me." This was strange talk from the frank-hearted child she Lad reared from babyhood, and while she desisted from further attempts at consolation, Aunt Rachel took a very sober visage back to the supper-room with her, and as little appetite as Rosa had manifested. The meal was quickly over, and by way of obeying the second part of Mabel s behest, the innocent diplo matist begged Rosa to go to the piano. "I always enjoy your delightful music, my dear. It makes the house more lively." "Thank you, dear Mrs. Sutton. I should take pleasure in obliging you ; but if Mabel is out of sorts. I don t believe she will care to have the house lively to-night," was the amiable rejoinder. "Moreover, 1 arn dying to finish David Copper-field. Will you al low me to curl myself up in the big chair here, and read for an hour ? " Mrs. Button gave a consent that was almost glad in its alacrity, and pretended to occupy herself with the newspapers brought by the evening mail, until she judged that Mabel had had season in which to com pose hei thoughts. Then she muttered something about " breakfast," " muffins," and " Daphne," caught up her key-basket, and bustled out. Rosa s book fell from before her face at the Bound S6 CLEAN EA3D& t>f the closing door. The liquid ey eft were turbid ; her features moved by some passion mightier far than curiosity or compassion for her friend s distress. " I have done nothing literally nothing, to bring Vhis on ! " was the reflection which brought most calno to her agitated mind. " If it should be as I think, J ain guiltless of treachery. My skirts are clear. My hands are clean ! Yet there have been moments when I could have dipped them in blood that this end might be attained ! " Too restless to remain quiet, she tossed her book aside and wandered from side to side of the room, halting frequently to hearken for Mrs. Button s return, or Borne noise from the conference chamber that might alleviate her suspense. " I tried to put her on her guard," she broke forth at length, bent, it would seem, upon self -justification against an invisible accuser. " I saw aversion in Win ston s eye the day he came home to find the other here. He would never forgive his slave the presump tion of choosing a husband for herself. Did f not tell her so? Yet this has caught her like a rabbit in a trap unprepared f ^r endurance or resistance. The spiritless baby! "Would I give him up, except witb life, if he loved me as he does her? " It was not a baby s face that was confronting Mrs. Button s just then. It was no weak, spiritless slave who sustained the pelting shower of her comments, he* OLfAJf HANDS. 87 wonderment and her entreaties that Mabel would re fuse to abide by her brother s decision her guardian though he was and if she would not write to Fred- 2iio with her own hand, empower her aunt to apply io him for *n explanation of the disgraceful mystery. " We should condemn no man unheard," she argued. " It is but fa. : r to give him an opportunity of telling ais side of the story." " Winston s letter will inform him of what and by ,rhom he is accused," said MabeL " He will have the opportunity you speak of. 1 should not be content witL my brother s action, were this not so. I have been ever the whole ground again and again, since sunset We you and I are powerless. This story is either Lrue or false. If what we have read really happened, what could arise from our correspondence with the offer-der against honor and virtue ? It would but complicate difficulties. If he is unjustly accused, he can prove it, and put his slanderers to shame with out our prompting*. Our interference would be an in- Hmation that he needed our championship." * 1 believe he will dear hinself of every stain," re turned Mrs. Button earnestly. " This is either a vile plot concocted by some secswt 5oe, or the Frederic Chil- ton mentioned here," pushing the letter away from he* on the table, with a gesture of loathing, " is another person." * Tfcat is very unlikely f " OLMAJT HAJTDK Miibel leaned her forehead wearily upon hw lia&d and did not finish the sentence immediately " I will be candid with you, aunt, upon this subject} as I have tried to be in every other confidence witi* which I have burdened you. Frederic Chilton was i student in the law-school, which was also attended bj Winston s correspondent, and at the date specified bj him. I have reason to think there was something un pleasant something he wished to conceal from me, and perhaps from everybody else, connected with Lis stay there. He referred to it ambiguously on the last evening of his visit here, as a folly, a youthful indiscretion. I have the impression, moreover, that & married woman was mixed up in this trouble, what ever it was a lady, some years older than himself, whose husband, a naval officer, was absent upon a lon^ cruise. This may be the germ of the story related here, and it may have nothing whatever to do viiii it. ? * In saying "here," she pointed to the letter. Both avoided touching it as it lay between them, Le big seal uppermost, and looking more like bright, fresh blood than ever, in the lamplight. " My dear, all this proves nothing absolutely nothing except that the shock and ovei-much soli tary musing have made you morbid and unreasonable." Mrs. Sutton assumed a collected air, and delivered herself wrJi the mien of one who was determined te in bruit to no trifling, and to credit no scrap of e\\ VLSAjy EAND&, 99 deuce against her friend which counter-reasoning could set aside. " My husband s godson we must remember he i* that, Mabel ! could never be guilty of the infamous onduct ascribed to this Chilton by Winston Aylett s tiionymous friend. I <wn accounted a tolerable judge of cnaracter, and I maintain that it is a moral impossibility for my instincts and experience to be so utterly at fault as these two men would make you be lieve. As to the corroboration of your ( impression/ that would be consummate nonsense in the eye of the law. Let us sift the pros and cons of this affair as ra tional, unprejudiced beings should not jump at con elusions. And I must say, Mabel " was the consis tent peroration of this address, uttered in a mildly- aggrieved tone, while the blue eyes began to shine through a rising fog " it seems to me very singu lar really wounds me is not what I looked for in you that you should rank yourself with my pool boy s enemies ! " " I, his enemy I " The word was a sharp cry not loud, but telling of unf athomed deeps of anguish, from ike verge of which the listener drew back with a shud- dei. " I would have married him without a single glance at the past! Let him but say it is untrue all that you fear and they declare, and I would dislie- lieve this tale, instantly and utterly, though a thousand swore to the truth of it Or, let him be al] OLE AN KAND& that they say, I would marry him .o-night, if I had the right to do it. But I promised and to promise with an Aylett is to fulfil that I woild be ruled by my guardian s will, should the investigation, to which Frederic himself did not object, terminate unfavorably for my hopes, and contrary to his declaration/ " It was a rash promise, and such are better broken than kept." " Your Bible, Aunt Rachel to-night, I cannot call >t mine I commends him who swears to his own heart and changes cot," replied the niece, with restored steadiness. " It would have been the same had I re fused my consent to Winston s proposal. I am a mi nor, and who would wp.it two years for me ? " u Anybody who loved you, provided your trust in him equalled his in you," said Mrs. Button, slyly. Mabel s answer was direct. " You want me to say that I do not believe this tale of Mr. Chilton s early errors ; to brand it as a mistake or fabrication. You insinuate that, in reserving my sentence until I shall have heard both sides of it, I feliow myself unworthy of the love of a true man ; be tray of what mean stuS my affection i* made. I sup pose blind faith is sublime ! But for my part, I had -ather be loved in spite of my kncwn faults, than re vive wilfully ignorant worship." The daring stroke at Mrs. Satton i hypothesis oi the CLEAN EAND& 91 inseparable union between esteem and affection, excited her into an impolitic admission. " My child, you make my blood ran cold ! You do not mean that you could love a man for whose charac ter you had no respect I " u There is a difference between learning to love and continuing to love," said Mabel, sententiously. u But we have had enough of useless talk, aunt. In two 4ays more Winston will be here. Until then, let mat ^ere remain as they are. You can tell Rosa as much T as little as you like of what has happened. She must suspect that something has gone awry. To-mor row, I will look up this Mr. Jenkyns, and deliver the messages with which I am charged likewise consult the mason about the * baronial fireplace," smiling bit* terly. " You never saw another creature so altered as she is, v Mrs Button bewailed to Rosa, in rehearsing the scene. If this thing should turn out to be true, she is ruined and heart-broken for life. She will become a cold, cynical, unfeeling woman a feminine copy of her granite brother." " If ! " reiterated Rosa, testily. " There ia not one syllable of truth in it from Alpha to Omega ! I know he is your nephew, and that it is one of the Medo-Per- aian laws of Ridgeley that the king can do no wrong; but I woul I sooner believe that Winston Aylett in vented the slander throughout, than question Fred CLEAN HAND& Clulton s integrity. There is feral play somewhere, ai you will discover in time or out of it ! " To Mabel, Frederic s spirited champion said never a word of the event that 1: eld their eyes waking unt dawn each motionless as sleepless lest her bed -fel low should discover her real state. " I have had no share in causing the rupture. I am not called upon to heal it," meditated she. "In this, the law of self-preservation is my surest guide." Her resolve to remain neutral was sharply and un expectedly tested the next afternoon. The two girls went out for a ramble about fou* o clock, taking the beaten foot-path that led through cultivated fields, and between wooded hills, to a small post-town two miles distant. The day was sunless, but not chilly, and when they had outwalked the hearing of the murmur of rural life that pervaded the bari yard and adjacent " quarters," the silence was oppre^ give, except when broken by the whirr of a partridge the melancholy caw of the crows, scared from thei, feast upon the scattered gra ns knocked from over-ripe ears of corn during the recent " fodder-pulling," and^ as they neared it, by the fretting of a rapid brook over its stony bottom. The pretence of secial converse had been gi?en ap before the friends cleared the first field beyond the or chard. Rosa s exquisite tact withheld her from ob truding commonplaces upon the attention of a mina CLEAN HA1TD&. 88 torn by suspense distracted between disappointment and outraged pride, and Mabel had not besought her sympathy in her grievous strait. They walked on swiftly, the one staring straight forward, yet seeing nothing; the other, although thoughtful, losing not one feature of the landscape the light-gray sky, the encircling forest, the yellow broom-straw clothing the hill-sides, the crooked fences, lined with purple brush, golden-rod, black-bearded alder and sumach, flaming with scarlet berry cones and motley leaves. It wag tier principle and habit to seize upon whatever morsels of delight were dropped in her way, and she had a taste for attractive bits of scenery, as for melody There was no reason why the evil estate of her com panion should debar her from quiet enjoyment of the autumn day. She was sorry that Mabel was suffering. It was unpleasant to see pain or grief. Smiles were prettier than glum looks. She hoped she had enough humanity about her to enable her to recognize these facts. But, in her soul, she despised the girl for her tacit acquiescence in her brother s decree ; contemned her yet more for her partial credence of the rumor of lier lover s unworthiness. It was as well, taking these things into account, that Mabel was not communica tive with regard to the great change that had befallen her since this hour yesterday, when she had exnlt- Ingly proclaimed that her trust WM u founded upon m rock." 94 CUBAN 3AJW& ** Fan win et mutdbiU sernper fominaf" reflected Rosa, who knew that much Latin and attracted by the waving of the bright grasses beneath the waves of the rivulet they were crossing, she stopped to lean ovei the railing and poke them aside from the stones with a chincapin switch she had picked np a little way hack. Mabel did not look around ; apparently did not ob serve that she walked on alone. " I dare say she would not miss me for the next mile ! " soliloquized the idle lounger, snatching foam- flakes fiom their nestling-places behind the rocks, and watching them as they danced down the stream. Something, whiter and more regular in shape than they, lay upon the margin of the brook, partly con cealed by a clump of sedge. A letter, with the address uppermost! Rosa s optics were keen. She easily made out the direction upon the envelope fron% where she stood. It was Frederic Chilton s name in Mrs. Button s quaint, old-fashioned " back-hand " chir- ography. An hour before, as Rosa now recollected, she had seen, from her window, a negro man take the path to the village, arranging some papers iu the crown of his tattered straw hat. He had dropped this, the most important of all, probably in stooping to drink from his hollowed palms at the spring-strearo However this might be, there it lay the warnimg to che calumniated lover that his traducers were making VLBAtf KAXDa. 93 cleaa (or foul) work with his fair fame in the quar ter where he wished to stand at his best ; perhaps cit ing him to appear and answer the damaging charge* ia person before the same tribunal. " If she would only let me drop him a friendly line asking him, for her sake, to contradict this horrid slander!" the distraught matron had sighed, last night, in her recapitulatioD of the conversation with her ob durate niece. " But she will not hear of it." " I hardly think he would like it either," Rosa had rejoined. " It would hint at distrust on your part or on hers. Mr. Aylett s letter should be sufficient to elicit the defence you crave." " You are in the right, perhaps 1 " But Mrs. Suttoi had looked miserably discontented. " Yet to be frank with you, Rosa, Winston is not apt to be conciliatory in his measures when he takes it into his head that the family honor is assailed. I am afraid he has written haughtily, if not insolently, to poor Frederic." Rosa hid no doubt of this, even while she answered, u Neither haughtiness nor downright insolence would prevent a man who has so much at stake as has Mr. Ghilton, from taking instant steps to re-establish hint- self in the respect of the family he desires to enter. Thifi is a very delicate matter tabs what view of it we may. Hadn t you better wait ft fw days before you interfere? Nothing can be lost by prudent delay." OLJSAjy HANDS. u And 1 suppose Winston would be very much dis pleased at my officioueness, as he would term it," had been Mrs. Button s reluctant concession to her young * discreet counsels. " But it is very hard to re- quiet, and see everything going to destruction about one ! " She had evidently reconsidered her resolution to let things take their wrong-headed course, and in virtue *f her prerogatives as match-maker and mender, had ,nrust her oar into the very muddy whirlpool boiling *bout the bark of her darling s happiness. Kosa wrought out this chain of sequences, with many other links, stretching far past present exigen cies and possibilities, ere Mabel s figure disappeared r>ehind the shoulder of the hill rising beyond the prook. Should Frederic Chilton receive that letter, bi less than a week in three days, perhaps, for he ^as a man prompt to resolve and to do he would present himself at Eidgeley to speak in his own be half an event Rosa considered eminently undesira ble. Certainly Mabel s pusillanimity merited no such reward. She had no right to question the rectitude of one she professed to love, nor her aunt the right to act as mediator. If Mabel Aylett, with her sound aeriae and judgment, and her inherent strength of will, would not hold fast to her faitii in her affianced hus band, and defy her brother tc sunder them, let her lose that which she prized so lightly. CLEAN HANDS. V\ If the epistle, soaking slowly there in the wet, had been committed to Rosa s charge, she would have icorned to intercept it ; would hare deposited it safely and punctually in the post-office. As it was, if she left it alone, Frederic would never get it, and Mra Button remain unconscious of its fate unless some other passer-by should perceive and rescue it from il legibility and dissolution ; unless Mabel should espy it on their return-walk, or, coming back, the next mo ment, to seek her truant mate, catch sight of the snowy leaflet of peace in its snuggery under the sedge. A startled partridge flew over Rosa s head from the thither rising ground, and in the belief that he was the harbinger ol the approach she dreaded, she dislodged the envelope from its covert, with a qaick touch of sier little wand, and it floated down the stream. Slowly all too gradually at first. swinging lazily around in the eddies, catching, now against a jutting etono, now entangled by a blade of grass Rosa g heart in her throat as she watched it, lest Mabel s foot steps should be audible upon the rocky path, Mabel * hat appear above the spur of the hilL Then the chan nel caught it, whirled it over and over, faster and faster, and sucked it downward. Mrs. Sutton was at the tea-table with the girls that evening, when Johnson, the sable Mercury, showed himself at the door, to inform his superior that he " fiF>t everything at de ato ghe sent him fur to buy. OLSAN RAJTD& " You mailed the letters, Johnson i * odd the mOi mistress, rather anxiously. " All on dem, Mistis ! " u The unconscionable liar ! " thought Kosa, virtuously^ u he ought to be flogged ! But it is none of my bulk aess to contradict him." did mot aay now, " My hand* we dm I * CHAPTER YL GRAFT OB |OITK letter notifies me, in general term*, that the answers returned to yonr inquiries as to my antecedents and present reputation are the re verse of satisfactory. Yon feel constrained, you add, in view of the information thus obtained, to interdict my further intercourse with your sister or any other member of your family. Since I cannot battle with shadows, or refute insinuations the drift of whicJt I do not in the least comprehend, may I trouble yop to put the allegations to watch you ret^r inrc * definite and tangible shape ? Let me know who are my ac cusers, and what are the iniquities with which they iharge me. The worst criminal against human and divine laws has the right to demand thus much before he is convicted and sentenced. "As to your prohibition of my continued correspond ence with Miss Aylett, I shall consider her my prom ised wife, and write to her regularly as such, until you made good your indictment against me, or unti] 100 V&AJWtS DIPLOMACY? I receive the assurance under her own hand and seal tha+ my conduct in thud addressing her i obnoxious to herself. "I have the honor, sir, of signing myself a Your obedient servant, u FXEDEBIO 8. OHILTOH.* The cool contempt of the reply to his imperative di missal of whatever claims the presumptuous adventurer nis aunt had encouraged believed he had upon Ma bel s notice or affection, was likely to irk Winston Aylett as more intemperate language could not It did more. It baffled him, for a time. He could, and he meant, to withhold the lover s letter from his sister s eyes. He could and upon this also he was deter mined command her, in the masterful manner that heretofore had never failed to work submission, never to meet, speak, or write again to the man he almost nated ; will her to forget her childish fancy for hia handsome face and glozing arts, and in the fulness of time, to bestow her in marriage upon a partner of hig own providing. He had no misgivings as to his ability to accomplish all this, if the blackguard aforesaid could be kept out of her way unt : l that remedial agent, Time, and lawful authority had a chance to do their work. But he was ^penly defied to prevent communication between the betrothed pair, unless hie ir junction had GRAFT -OR JUPLOMACrf 101 Mabel s endorsement; and, upon alightiEg fivm the stage at the village, on his return to Ridgeley, he had taken from the post-office, along with the imper.inent missive addressed to himself, one for Mabel, super scribed by the same hand. From the first, he had no intention of transferring it to the keeping of the proper owner. It was forwarded in direct disobedience to hu commands, and the writer should be made to under stand the futility of opposition to these. For severa 1 hours, his only purpose respecting it was to enclose it, unopened, in an envelope directed by himself, and send it back to the audacious author, by the next mail. He was balked in this project by no fastidious scruples as to his right thus to dispose of his ward s property. Nature, or what he assumed was natural affection, concurred with duty in urging him to hinder an alli ance by which Mabel s happiness would be imperilled and her relatives scandalized. But when, in the soli tude of his study, he vouchsafed a second reading to Frederic s letter, preparatory to the response he de signed should annihilate his hopes and chastise his im pudence, a doubt of the efficacy of his schemes attacked him for the first time. " Under her own hand and teal," were terms the explicitness of which commended them to his grave consideration. His next thought Hras to oblige Mabel to indite a formal renunciation of her unworthy suitor. There were several objection! to this measure. lft * VBAPT- OB DIPLOMACY f Firstly, he disliked whatever smacked cf scenic effect, and women were apt to get up scenes hyster ics, attitudes, and the like upon trivial provocation. He wanted to get the thing over quietly and soon. Secondly, he was not very sure that he should find in Mabel the docile puppet she had appeared to him for so many years of tutelage. She had matured marvel lously of late. Her very manner of meeting him that afternoon impressed him by its self-possession and freedom from the emotion that used to gush from eyes and lips, in happy tears, and broken, delighted greet ing at his approach. For aught he knew to the con trary, she might have accepted his fiat as just, if not merciful, and not a dream of rebellion been fostered thereby. The grave tranquillity of her demeanoi might arise from the chastening influences of the mortification she had sustained, and a consciousness of ill-desert that bred humility. He would fain have be lieved all this, but until he broached the subject to her, his incertitude could not be removed, and in a step so momentous as that which hu meditated, it behooved him to try well the solidity of the ground beneath him. Lastly, our blood-prince of the kingdom of Ridge- ley was, whether he confessed it or not, acting under orders. u Be very tolerant with that poor little deceived sis ter of yours ! " hi&jtancJe had implored, her diamond GRAFTOR DIPLOMACY? 1CJ eyes bedimined by quick-springing damps of eration. " Eecollect that the consciousness of wasted love is always harder to bear than what is commonly known as bereavement. If you find her refractory, be patient and persuasive, instead of dictatorial. Craft often effects what overt violence would attempt in vain." " Craft ! " The word struck unpleasantly upon th Virginia lordling s ear, and he echoed it with a suspio "on of a frown upon his brow. " I am not an adept in Chicanery 1 " " But you are a born diplomatist 1 " seductively. " And because I am of the same credulous sex as our mis taken little darling, you will not proceed to open war fare with her, even should she be loth to resign her lover \ It is the glory of the strong to show charity to the weak and erring." For her sake, then, our flattened diplomatist would try the effect of guile, instead of brutality, upon the helpless girl, the balance of whose fate was grasped by Ids shapely hand. For one base second, the idea of attempting an imitation of his sister s handwriting flashed through his mind. But he was a gentleman, and forgery is not a gentlemanly vice, any more than is counterfeiting bank-notes. Finally, the author of craft the subtle, refined virtue bepraised by hit bride-elect the devil came to hia help. Mabel, like most other girls, had a dainty and CRAFT OR DIPLOMAOT* tastic taste in the matter of letter-paper and ei*T8lopii She used none but French stationery, stamped with her monogram a curious device, wrought in two colors and at the top of each sheet stood out in bas- relief the Ajlett crest. With these harmless whimgie* Frederic was, without doubt, familiar. If his letter were returned to him, wrapped in a blank page, taken from her pap^tiere and within one of her enve lopes, it would not signify so much whose handwrit ing was upon the exterior. Pa/pStiere and writing, desk were in Mabel s bed-room, but she was in the parlor, practising an instrumental duet with Rosa a favorite with Miss Dorrance. Winston had brought it south with him, and asked hitj sister to learn it forth with, in just the accent he used to employ when pre scribing what studies she should pursue at school There was nothing in his errand that he should be ashamed of, he reminded himself with impatient se verity, as he traversed the upper hall on tip-toe to the western chamber. He had, on sundry previous occa sions, sought, in the receptacles he was about to ran- B&^lr, for sealing-wax, pencils, and the like trifles. Manel was too wise a woman not to keep her secret* nnder lock and key, and if there were private docu ments left in his way, he was too honorable to pry into them. Shutting the door cautiously, that the snap and blaze might not betray him, he struck a wax match. CELaJT-OB DZPLJMAOYf 105 warranted to burn a minute-and-a-half, and raised the lid of the desk. His unseen but wily coadjutof bad guided him cunningly. In fingering a heap of envelopes in order to find one large enough for his purpose, he brought to light one addressed to " Mr. Frederic Chilton, Box 910, Philadelphia, Penn." Upon the reverse was a small blot that had com- demned it in Mabel s sight, as unfit to be sent to her most valued correspondent, and which she had not observed before writing the direction. Selecting an other, she had thrown this back carelessly into the desk, meaning to burn it when it should be convenient, and forgotten all about it. The livid dints were deep and restless in "Winston s nostrils, as seen by the light of the tiny taper he raised to extinguish, when his prize was secured. The devil supplied him with another crafty hint, as he was IL the act of folding one edge of Frederic s letter that it might fit into the new cover. Why not strip off the letter entirely, that it might seem to have been opened, read, and then flung back upon the writer s hands with contumely ? Half-way measures were unsafe and fool ish. Stratagem, to be efficient, should t not only deft, but thorough ; else it was bungling, not diplo macy. His hand did not shake in divesting the closely- written sheet of its wrapping, but in one respect hi* behavior was in consonance with the gentlemanly in fitincts he raunted as a proof of pure old blood. H 8* 106 f&AFT- OR DIPLOMACY? tiverte>l his eyes lest he should see a line the lover had penned to his mistress. The letter slipped smoothly into the quarters prepared for it smoothly as Satan f mark usually goes on until his tool has made his dam intion sure. * Well done 1 " said Diabolus. 4< That was a clever hit 1 " chimed in his assistant, complacently, after he had put the sealed envelope in to his portfolio for safe-keeping, and burned the torn one he had removed. "Nobody but an idiot or a oadman would persist in following a girl up after such a quietus." He replied to Frederic s note to himself shortly and with disdain, using the third person throughout, and informing Mr. Chilton with unmistakable distinctness that Miss Aylett had offered no opposition whatever to her brother s will in this unfortunate affair. So far as he Mr. Aylett could judge, her views coincided exactly with his own. Mr. Chilton s letters and pres ents should be returned to him at an early day, and jhus should be finished the closing chapter of a volume which ought never to have been begun. All this done to his mind, he set the door of hia room ajar, and watched for Mabel s passage to hers. He had not to wait long. The young ladies had fallen into habits of early retiring of late a marked change from their olden fashion of singing and talk ing out the midnight hour. Himself unseen, Mr GRAFT OR DIPLOMAQYf 107 Aylett scrutinized the two mounting the stairs aide by B ide Kosa s dark, mobile face, arch with smiles, while she chattered over a bit of country gossip she had heard that afternoon from a visitor, and the weary ealia of Mabel s visage, the drooping eyelids, and^ when appealed to directly by her volatile comrade, the measured, not melancholy cadence of her answer. The girl had had a sore fight, and won a Pyrrhian vic tory. She was not vanquished, but she was worsted. Some men, upon appreciating what this meant, and how her grief had been wrought, would have had direful vis- ttiiigs of conscience, surrendered themselves to the mas tery of doubts as to the righteousness and humanity oi stringent action such as he had just consummated. He was not unmoved. He really loved his only sister, aa proud, selfish men love those of their own lineage who have never disputed their supremacy, and derogated from their importance. He said something under his breath before he called her, but the curse was not upon himself. " The low-bred hound I " he muttered. " This is hia joiiig!" Mabel halted at the stair-head, the blood suddenly and utterly forsaking her cheeks when he spoke her name, although his address was purposely kind, and, he thought, inviting U 0an you spare me a moment?" he continued, tmilingly, to win her advance. v I will not detair iOS ORAPT~Q& DJPLCMAOTf you long. I know you are agonizing to aave your talk out, Miss Bosa." Rosa laughed, with a saucy "etort, and turned into her chamber. Mabel entered hei brother s, and without speaking, took the seat he offered. She was to be sentenced, and she must reserve her forces to sustain the pain without a groan. "You saw Jenkyns did you not?" began Mr. Aylett, with the manner of one at peace with himself, and those of his fellow-men whose existence he chose to acknowledge. " I did. He made memoranda of your orders, and said all should be done as yon wished." " I ordered the masons, this evening, to begin the hall-chimney to-morrow. While the work is going on, you had better occupy some other bed-room. I shall hurry it forward, day and night, or it will not b done in season for us when we return from our bridal- tour. The carpets must be down, and the paper dry by the fifteenth at farthest Clara bought your dresses, and offers to have them made, if you will send her an accurate measurement. Yon are about her height, al though not so well-proportioned. Your figure is an gular, where hers is round. She is your senior by &*- eral years, yet one might easily mistake her foj a girl of twenty, her complexion is so fresh. Her twenty fire years show themselyet in nothing except her O&AFTOM DIPLOMA JT 9 of manner, maturity of thought, and elegwice of dio tion." He would have sneered at thia strain in anither u hypeibolical and fatuous. The absurdity of it in hie mouth consisted mainly in the cool arrogance of the Assumption that whatever belonged to him was abcve adverse criticism, and would be maligned if it were referred to without appending an encomium. Much of fervor might and did mingle in his thoughts of her he was to wed, but none warmed his enumeration of her perfections. He did nothing con amore, unless it were exalting the dignity and glory of the Aylett name, and maintaining his right to support their an cient honors. Mabel did not respond to his gratuitous praise of the fair and benevolent Clara. While he was talking, be seemed to recede a great way from her; his tones to ring hollowly upon her hearing, his form to grow tndistinct. Was he playing with her suspense, or oould it be that he a being with heart and nerves like hers, had no conception of the rack on which she was stretched no suspicion that every one of his de liberate sentences was a turn of the screw that re doubled her torture? The Ayletts were a strong- willed race, and she repressed all sign of Buffering save intense pallor; made this less palp&ble by screening her eyes from the lamp-light with a papc* she took 110 CRAFT CH DIPLOMACY t from the table, and thereby throwing her features deep shadow. " But it is not my intention to trouble you witk matters that concern me alone," he pursued, without varying his intonations. " As I anticipated, Mr. Chil- ton declines explaining the ngly story relative to hit earlier career of dissipation and deceit, which I for warded to you. He indulges, instead, in a tirade of personal abuse touching my right to control you, de claring his purpose to pursue you with letters and at tentions until he shall be discarded by yourself. We will not stay to discuss the gentlemanliness and deli cacy of his behavior in this regard. I merely declare, that, having had a fair opportunity of honest confes sion or denial of statements detrimental to his princi ples and pursuits, and having shirked both, he has olaced himself outside the pale of respectful consider ation. Has he written to you since his receipt of my letter?" "No!" Mabel was staring at a figure in the carpet, on a line with her feet Had she regarded her brother never so attentively, she would have detected m> change in his countenance. He did not prepare ques tions without also studying how to deHver them. " I am glad he has the moial decency to forbear Carrying out his threat of persecution." He could say it with the greater hardihood in the CRAFT- OS DIPLOMAVY* 111 remembrance that the " persecutioL " had oeen at tempted. " I wish he had written 1 " rejoined Mabel, abruptly, b~o without passion. " He was right to protest against fcooepting his dismissal from any other than myself ." She had not removed her eyes from the spot on the carpet, or lowered the paper screen. She looked like a statue and spoke like an automaton. Mr. Aylett s nostrils quivered ominously. " Is it your wish to recommence the correspondence I have ended ? " " You know that I wonld strike off my right hand sooner than do it But if he had written to me, I should have answered his letter, if it had been only to bid him farewell. Since he has not chosen to do this, I cannot take the initiative." If Winston had never entertained a favorable opin ion of his own sagacity prior to hearing this avowal, it would have forced itself upon him now. How timely was the thought, how felicitous the accident, that had aided him to ward off the disaster of renewed inter course I Involuntarily his fingers crept nearer to the closed portfolio. " No good could have come of that I n returned he coldly. " When an amputation is to be performed, wise people submit to it without useless preliminaries. The exchange of farewell* in this case wonld b inei 1 12 CRAFT OR DXPLOJfAOTf pedient in the highest degree. Yen would compro mise yourself by continued acknowledgment of thii fellow s acquaintance. My will is that you and th world should forget, as soon as it can be done, that you ever saw or heard of him. The connection was de grading." "Do* t abuse him, brother! Let the knowledge that we are parted forever, satisfy your resentment Since he has not appealed to me from your verdict, I am left to suppose that, upon second thoughts, he has resolved to acquiesce in your wilL I do not blame him for the change of purpose." Still impassive in feature and voice, still not withdrawing her fixed gaze from that one point upon the floor. "He, too, hae pride, and it matches yours. I do not say mine. 1 question, sometimes, if I have any." " If your conjecture be correct, you cannot object te return the letters you have already received from him," said Winston, pressing on to the conclusion of a disagreeable business. a Since you are net likely to add to your stock of these valuables, you do not care to retain them, I suppose ? I believe the rule is total surrender of souvenirs when a rupture is prcnounced hopeless." " I shall keep them a week longer ! " She assigned no reason for the resolution, and her manner, without b^ng sullen, aggravated her brother ORAFI -OR DIPLOMACY? 113 wrath, the effiuaion of which was & withering sneer. " Your hope in his repentance is creditable to the strength or weakness of woman s love. But have your way. The illustrious record of his former life ii a powerful argument in favor of clemency. In a week, then 1 " He nodded dismissal, wheeled his chair around to the table, dipped a pen in the standish, and pnlled an account-book toward him. He was surprised and not pleased, nevertheless, that Mabel retired without other reply than a simple " Good-night," said without temper, or any evidence Df excitement. A month before, a milder sarcasm, the lightest breath of reproof, would have brought her to is feet in a paroxysm of tears, to implore pardon for her contumacy, and to promise obedience for all time to come. She was getting beyond his control the while she offered no open resistance to his govern ment. Was sorrowful shame, or her infatuation for the adventurer he cursed in his heart by his gods, the influence that was petrifying her into this unlovely caricature of her once bright and affectionate self ? She presented herself, unsummoned, in his study at the expiration of the period she had designated, a pac- quet iii her hand, neatly done up and sealed. " I will trouble you to direct it," was all she said, a fihe kid it before him. CRAFT OR ITPLOMACYf u Tliis is done of your own free will remember I * he said, impressively. " In after years, should you b ao unreasonable as to regret it, there must be no mis conception on the subject between us. If you wish, *t this, the eleventh hour, to draw back, I shall not op- pose you." " You will write the address, then, if you please ! > was M&bc? s reply, showing him the surface intended for it. Then she left him. "A sensible girl, after all! a genuine Aylett, in frill and stoicism I " commented the master of the situ ation, beginning in his round, legible characters, the inscription he hoped never to trace again. * So endeth her first lesson in Cupid s manual !" He never knew that Mrs. Sutton had bolstered the Aylett will and stoicism into stanchness at this clos ing scene. In a fit of despondency, she had that morn ing imparted to Mabel the fact that she had written to Frederic, ten days before, and had no answer, although ehe had besought an immediate one. ki 1 have expected him confidently every day for a week," she lamented. "1 didn t suppose he would stay at Ridgeley, after what has happened ; but there s the hotel in the village, and, as I told him, he could accomplish more by an hour s talk with you than by fifty letters. It is very mysterious his continued si lence ! He always appeared BO frank and reasonable CRAFT OR JDJPLOMAOTf Nothing else like it has ever occurred in my experi *nce and I have had a great deal, my dear ! " " I am sorry you wrote, aunt," replied Mabel, eor row fully dignified. " Sorry you have subjected your- a-elf to unnecessary mortification. I am past feeling it for uivself. We cannot longer doubt that Mr. Chilton desires to hold no further communication with any of Within the hour she made up the parquet and rigd it to her brother. CHAPTER TIL WA68AIL. LMOST sixteen months had passed since the dewless September morning, when Mabel had gathered roses in the garden walks, and hen brother s return had shaken the dew with the bloom from her young heart It was the evening of Christmas-day, and the tide of wassail,the blaze of yule, were high at Ridgeley. Without, the fall of snow that had commenced at sundown, was waxing heavier and the wind fiercer. In-doors, fires roam* and crackled upon every hearth ; there was a stir a* busy or merry life in every room. About the spacioiu fire place in the f< baronial " hall was a wide semicircle of young people, and before that in the parlor, a cluster of elders, whose graver talk was enlivened, from time to time, by the peals of laughter that tossed into jubil ant surf the stream of the juniors converse. Nearest the mantel, on the left wing of the line, sat the three months^ bride, Imogene Barksdale, placid, dove eyed, and smiling as of yore, very comely witk futi WAJS&AIL. Ill her expression of satisfied prettinese nobody called vanity, and bedecked in her "second day s dress" of azure eiik and her bridal ornaments. Her husband hovered on the outside of the ring, now pulling the floating curls of a girl-cousin (every third girl IE, the country was his cousin, once, twice, or thrice-remcved, and none resented the liberties he, as a married man, was pleased to take), anon whispering in the ear of a bashful maiden interrogatories as to her latest admirer or rumored engagement; oftenest leaning upon the back of his wife s chair, a listener to what was going on, his hand lightly toucning her lace-veiled shoulders, until her head gradually inclined against his arm. They were a loving couple, and not shy of testifying their content to the world. " They remind me irresistibly of a pair of plump babies sucking at opposite ends of a stick of sugar candy!" Rosa Tazewell said aside to the hostess, as the latter paused beside her on her way through the aall to the parlor. "The candy is very sweet!" replied Mrs. Aylett, charitably, but laughing at the conceit the low, musi(ial laugh that was at once girlish in its gleeful- ness, yet perfectly well-bred. Mr. Aylett heard it from his stand on the parlor- rug, and sent a quick glance in that direction. It was slow in returning to the group surrounding him. He had married a beautiful woman sc said every- 118 WAJ3SALL body and a fascinating, as even everybody s wild did not dispute. In his sight, she was simply and entirely worthy of the distinction he had bestowed upon her ; an adornment to Kidgeley and his name. From their wedding-day, his deportment toward her had been the same as it was to-night attentive, but never officious ; deferential, yet far removed from sesr- viiity ; a manner that, without approximating uxorious- ness, yet impressed the spectator with the conviction that she was with him first and dearest among women } a partner of whom, if that were possible, he was more proud than fond and of the depth and reality of his affection there could be no question. She declined to seat herself in the circle, although warmly importuned by her guests thus to add bril liancy to their joyous party, yet recaained standing near Rosa, interested and amused by the running fire of compliment and badinage that wecS to make up the hilarious confusion. If the family iracord had been consulted, the truth that she had counted her thirty- eecond summer would have astonished her husband, with her new neighbors. Apparently she was not over twenty-five. Her chestnut hair was a marvel for brightness and profusion, her broad brow smooth and ^hite, her figure, as Winston had described it to hia sister, rounded, even to voluptuousness, yet supple as it had been at fifteen. In her cheeks, too, the blushes fluctuated readily and softJy, and whec she miled t he7 WAS/SAIL 119 teeth showed like those of a little child in ause and purity. Her voice matched her beauty well, never loud, always melodious, with a peculiar, gliding, legato movement of the graceful sentences, for the pleasing dfect of which she was indebted partly to Nature, and much more to Art. She appeared on this evening in a green silk dress, matronly in shade and general style, but not devoid of coquettish arrangement in the square corsage, the opening of which was filled with foam- like puffs of thulle, threatening, when her bust heaved in mirth or animated speech, to overflow the sheeny boundaries. A chaplet of ivy-leaves encircled her head, and trailed upon one shoulder ; her bracelets were heavy, chased gold without gems of any kind; a single diamond glittered a point of prismatic light at her throat Her wedding-ring was her only other ornament. " Very aweet, I grant you, and very flavorless," ru- turned Rosa. "And alarmingly apt to turn sour upo* the stomach. I had rather be fed upon pepper lozei " You should have been born in the Spice Islands," aaid the hostess, tapping the dark cheek with her fore finger. " But we could not spare you firm our wassail- cup to-night, my dear Lady Pimento I" She bent slightly, that the flattery might reach no other ear. She may not have known that Rosa s Creole skin was at a wretched disadvantage, as seen against ^00 WASSAIL. tne green silk background ; bnt others noticed it, and thought how few complexions were comparable to the wearer s. She had the faculty of converting into a fofl Dearly every woman who approached her. "Thank you! So I am pimento, am I?" queried Rosa, pertly. " And each of us is to personate some condiment sweet, ardent, or aromatic in the exhil arating drav*ght ! Which shall Mr. Harrison here be! " That is a line of a college drinking-song ! " The speaker was a young man of eight-and-twenty ; who sat between Rosa and Mabel, and whose atten tions to the latter were marked. Of medium height, with sandy hair and whiskers, high cheek-bones, that gave a Gaelic cast to his physiognomy ; which was re markable for nothing in particular when at rest, and followed somewhat tardily the operations of his mind when he talked, he would probably have been the least likely person present to rivet a stranger s notice bnt for the circumstance that he played shadow to the host s sister and was Mrs. Aylett s brother. With regard to the feeling entertained by the former of those ladioi fcr him, there were many and diverse opinions, but his fester s partiality was unequivocally exhibited. Of her three brothers, this the youngest, the least handsome, and the only bachelor was her favorite. She took pains to apprise his fellow-guesti of this WABRAIL. 1*1 faot by petting him openly, and exerting her finest artifices to bring him out in becoming color*, " It is." she answered Him now, admiringly. " What a memory yon have, my dear Herbert 1 .Now I am sever positive with whom to credit a quotation. 1 recollect, since you ha^e spoken, that your famous quartette-club used to render that with much 4clat y and how it was encored at the brilliant private concert you gave in behalf of some popular charity or other." Thus encouraged, Mr. Dorrancc proceeded to enlarge the fragment : Now, noM, jolly red MM ! Where got yon tnmt jolly red MM? Nutmeg and ginger, cinnamon and These gave me tola Jolly red MM. You did not quote the third line correctly, Miss Tazewell" " Never having been a college bacchanalian, I am excusable for the inaccuracy," she retorted. "I did not even know where I picked up the foolish bit Having ascertained the origin to be of doubtful respectability, I shall never use it again." " Mj sister has alluded to our quartette-club," pur sued Mr. Dorrance, turning from the caustic beauty to Mabel, without noticing the impertinent thrust " It was the most successful thing of the kind I ever knew of, being composed of thoroughly-trained musicians amateurs, of course and practising nothing but classic 122 WASSAIL. music, the productions of the best masters. There u something both instructive and elevating in such an association," " Especially when the theme of their consideration i& the < Jolly Ked Nose, " interposed the wicked minx at his other elbow. Two giddy girls tittered, unawed by Mrs. Aylett * proximity and her brother s owl-like stare at his critic. " You may not be aware, Miss Tazewell, that the lyric to which you have reference is celebrated, both for its antiquity, and the pleasing harmonies that must ever commend it to the taste of the true lover of music; although I allow that to a disciple of the modern and more flimsy school of this glorious art, it may seen; puerile and ridiculous," he remarked, in grandiose pat ronage. Then, again to Mabel, " There were four ol us as I said all students. What is it, Clara ? " * I have dropped my bracelet upon the floor, between you and Miss Tazewell," stooping to shake out Rosa s full akirta, from which the trinket fell with a clinking Bound. Three gentlemen darted forward to pick it up, but ker husband noted approvingly that, while she accepted it graciously from the lucky finder, and thanked the others for their kindly interest in the fate of her " ban ble," she held out her arm to her brother, that be might clasp it again in its place. Affable always, winning whomsoever she chose to admiration of her personal WASSAIL. 123 mental endowments, she never departed from mat ronly decorum. The company agreed silently, or in guarded asides, that she was charming. No tongue even the most reckless or venomous ever lisped the dread word, levity, in connection with her name. u Take care, my dear brother ! you will pinch me I " those near heard her say, and she twisted the golden circlet that the clasp might be uppermost. Rosa s alert ear caught the hurried murmnr which succeeded, and was muffled, so to speak, by her affec tionate smile of gratitude. " What were you about to say t Will you never learn prudence ? " " The dove has talons, then ? " mused the eavesdrop per. " But what was he in danger of revealing ? " If the interdicted revelation had connection, close o? remote, with the famous quartette club, he kept well away from it after this reminder, beginning, when ha resumed his seat, to discourse upon the comparative excellence of wood and coal fires, of open chimney- places and stoves. Mrs. Aylett smiled an engaging and regretful " au rvvoir " to the circle, and passed on to look after th oorni ort and pleasure of her elder visitors, and Rosa soon dir^covered that her awakened curiosity would be in no wise appeased by listening to the steady, patter ing drone of Mr. Dorrance s oration. Oratorical ho to a degree that excited the secret amusement of WAMAJL. the facile Southern youths about him. With them, tht art of light conversation had been a study from boy hood, the topics suitable for and pleasing to ladies ears carefully culled and adroitly handled. To amuse and entertain was their main object. Erudite disserta tions upon science and literature ; abstruse arguments - whatever resembled a moral thesis, a political, reli gious, or philosophical lecture met with the sure ban of ridicule from them, as from the fair whose devoted Cavaliers they were. If they laughed, when it was safe and not impolitic to do so, at the ponderous elocution of the Northern barrister, they marvelled exceedingly more at Mabel s indulgence of his attentions. That a girl, who, in virtue of her snug fortune and attractive face, her blood and her breeding, might, as they put it> have the " pick of the county," if she wanted a hus band, should lend a willing ear to the pompous plati tudes, the heavy rolling periods of this alien to her native State a man without grace of manner or beauty in their nomenclature, " a solemn prig," de fied all ingemdty of explanation, was an increasing wonder outlasting the prescribed nine days. He rode with the ill assurance of one who, accustomed to the nawdust floor, treadmill round, and enclosing walls of a city riding-Bchool, was bewildered by the unequal roads *nd free air of the breezy country. He talked learn edly of hur ingj quoting written authorities upon thif or that point, of whom the unenlightened Virginiaiif WAJS&AJL. 1S5 had nevei heard, much less read ; equipped himself for the sport in a bewildering arsenal of new-fangled guns, game-bags, shot-pouches, and powder-horns, with numerous belts, diagonal, perpendicular, and horizontal, and in the field carried his gun d la Winkle ; never, bj any happy accident, brought down his bird, but was continually outraging sporting rules by firing out of time, and flushing coveys prematurely by unseasonable talking and precipitate strides in advance of his dis gusted companions Yet he was not a f ooL In the discussion of graver matters politics, law, and history that arose in the smoking-room, he was not to be put down by more fluent tongues ; demolished sophistry by solid reason ing, impregnable assertions, and an array of facts that might be prolix, but was always formidable in short, sustained fully the character ascribed to him by hia brother-in-law, of a " thoroughly sensible fellow." "No genius, I allow I" Mr. Aylett would add, in speaking of his wife s bantling among his compatriots, u but a man whose industry and sound practical knowl edge of every branch of his profession will make for him the fortune and name genius rarely wins." With the younger ^dies, his society was, it is super fluous to observe, at the lowest premium civility and aative kindliness of disposition would permit them ta declare by the nameless and innumerable methods in which th3 deai creatures are proficient To Boea Tmz# 126 WAJSBAUL well lie could not be anything better than a target for the arrows of her satire, or the whetstone, npon th un} ielding surface of which she sharpened them. But dhe shewed her prudential foresight in never laughing at Min when out of his sight, and in Mabel s. AJ long ago as the night of Mr. Aylett s wedding-party at Ridgeley, her sharp eyes had seen, or she fancied they did, that the hum-drum groomsman was mightily cap- *-ivated by the daughter of the house, and she had Uivined that Mrs. Aylett s clever ruses for throwing the two together were the outworks of her design for uniting, by a double bond, the houses of Dorrance and Aylett. She knew, furthermore, that Herbert Dorrance had travelled with the Ridgeley family for three weeks in October, and that he had now been domesticated at the homestead for ten days. Mrs. Aylett s show of fondness for him was laughable, considering what an uninteresting specimen of masculinity he was ; but the handsome dame was too worldly-wise, too sage a judge of quuipro quo, to entice him to waste so much of the time he was addicted to announcing was money to aim, for the sake of a good so intangible as sisterly ientimentality. Unless there were ttome substantial and remunera tive ulterior object to be gained by his tarrying in the neighborhood, cunning floea believed that " dear Ber tie " would have been packed off to Buffalo, or what ever outlandish place he lived in, BO soon a0 the bridal WAB&A1L. 127 festivities were over, and not showed his straw-colored whiskers again in Virginia in three years, at least, in- Bteac of running dowr to the plantation every three months. " If such an ingredient as the compound, double- listilled es&ence of flatness is to be infused into the wassail-cup, it is he who will supply it ! " thought the spicy damsel, with a bewitching shrug of the plump shoulder nearest him, while engaged in a lively play of words with a gentleman on her other hand. " What can possess Mabel to encourage him systematically ir her decorous style, passes my powers of divination. Maybe she means to use him acs a poultice for her bruised heart. In that case, insipidity would be no objection." Mabel had not the air of one whose heart is bruised or torn. That she had gained in queenliness within the past year was not evidence of austerity or the cal lousness that ensues upon the healing of a wound. The Ayletts were a stately race, and the few who, while she was in her teens, had carped at her lack of ^ncte because of her disposition to choose friends from the walks of life lower than her own, and criticised as un becoming the playful familiarity that caused under lings and plebeians the publicans and sinners of the aristocrat s creed to worship the ground on which she trod the censors in the court of etiquette eea- ferred upon her altered demeanor the patent of thcii WASSAIL. approbation, averring, fcr the thousandth time, that good blood would assert itself in the long run and bring forth the respectable fruits of refinement, self appreciation, and condescension. The change hai come over her by perceptible, but not violent, stagea of progression, dating Mrs. Button saw with pain; Cosa, with enforced respect from the sunset hour in whicn she had read her brother s sentence of condem nation upon her then betrothed, now estranged, lover. After that one evening, she had not striven to concea) herself and her hurt in solitude. Neither had she bor rowed from desperation a brazen helmet to hide th forehead the cruel letter had, for a brief space, laid low in the dust of anguished humiliation. If a whisper of her disappointment and the attend ant incidents crept through the ranks of her associates, it died away for want of confirmation in her clear level-lidded eyes, elastic footfall and the willingness and frequency with which she appeared and played her part in the various scenes of gayety that made the winter succeeding her brother s marriage one long to be remembered by the plecvsure-seekers of the vicinity, She had not disdained the assistance of her sister-in- law s judgment and experience in the choice of the dresses that were to grace these merry-makings, and, thanks to her own naturally excellent taste, now tacitly disputed the palm of elegant attire with that lady. Her ChrUtmaft costnme, which, in many othert of hei 13* age,, would have baen objected to by critical fashionista, as old-maidisL. and grave, yet set off her pale complex ion none of the Aylette were rosy after they reached man s or woman s estate and heightened her d<i* tingut bearing into regal grace. Yet it was only a heavy black silk, rich and glossy as satin, cut, as waa then the universal rule of evening dresa, tolerably low in tho neck, with short sleeves ; bunches of pomegranate- blossoms and buds for breast and shoulder-knots, and among the classic braids of her dark hair a half -wreath of the same, She had the valuable gift of sitting still without stiffness, and not fidgetting with fan, bouquet, or hand kerchief, as she listened or talked. Kosa s mercurial temperament betrayed itself, every instant, in the bird-like turn of her small head, the fluttering or chafing of her brown fingers, and not unfrequently by an impatient stamp, or other movement of her foot that exposed fairy toe and instep. Contemplation of the one rested and refreshed the observer ; of the other, amused and excited him. Mr. Dorrance s phleg- inatic nature found supreme content in dwelling upon the incarnation of patrician tranquillity at his right hand, and he regarded the actions of his frisk j would- be tormentor very much as a placid, well-gorged sal mon would survey, from his bed of ease upon the bot torn of a stream, the gyrations of a painted dragon fly overhead. WAJS&A1L. A lull in the general conversation the reaction after a hearty laugh at a happy repartee gave othen besides Mabel the opportunity of profiting by hit learned remarks. " But does not that seem to you a short-sighted pol icy," he was urging upon his auditor, with the assist ance of a thumb and forefinger of one hand, joined as upon a pinch of snuff, and tapping the centre of the other palm ; " does not that appear inexcusable profli gacy of extravagance, which fells and consumes whole surface forests of magnificent trees virgin growth - (I use the term as it is usually applied, although, philosophically considered, it is inaccurate) giants, vvhich centuries will not replace, instead of seeking beneath the superficial covering of mould, nourishing these, for the exhaustless riches, carboniferous remains of antediluvian woods, hidden in the bowels of youi mountains, and underlying your worn-out fields?" Kosa was shaking with internal laughter she would give no escape except through her dancing eyes. Indeed, Mr. Dorrance s was the only staid counte nance there, as Mabel said, pleasantly, moving her chaii beyond the bounds of the ring, "I, for one, :!nd the combustion of the upper forest- growth too powerful, just at this instant. This ir a genuine Ohristmas-storm is it not ? Listen to the wind ? " ITJ the stillness enjoined by her gesture, the growl ol WASSAIL. 131 the blast in the chimney and in the grove ; the groan ing, Sapping, and creaking of the tree tranches; the pelth g sleet and the rattle of casements *?! rrar tSw house brought to the least imaginative a picture of out-door desolatron and fireside comfort that prolonged the hush of attention. Tom Barksdale s pretty wife slipped her hand covertly into his tight grasp, and their smile was of mutual congratulation that they were brightly and warmly housed and together. Rosa, pre ternatnrally grave and quiet, lapsed into a profound study of the mountain of red-hot embers. Several young ladies shuddered audibly, as well as visibly, and were reassured by a whispered word, 01 the slightest conceivable movement of their gallants chairs nearer their own. " I think we have the grandest storms at Ridgeley that visit our continent," resumed Mabel thoughtful! y, " I suppose because the house stands so high. The vvind never sounds to me anywhere else as it doeu here on winter nights." Yielding to the weird attraction of the scene in voked by her fancy, she arose and walked to the window at the eastern extremity of the hall, pulling adde the curtain that she might peer *nto the wild darkness. The crimson light of the burning logs and the lamp rays threw a strongly denned shadow of her figure upon the piazza floor, d ttinct as that projected by a aolar microscope upon a sheeted wall ; 133 i*ent loijg, searching rays into the austj Call tf tht snow, past the spot from which she had her Last glimpse of Frederic Chilton, so many, many monthi agone, showing the black outline of the gate where he had looked back to lift his hat to her. What was there in the wintry night and thick tempest to recall the warmth and odor of that moist September morning, the smell of the dripping roses overhead, the balmy humidity of every breath she drew i What in her present companion that remind ed her of the loving clasp that had thrilled her heart into palpitation? the earnest depth of the eyes that held hers during the one sharp, yet sweet moment of parting eyes that pledged the fealty of her lover s soul, and demanded hers then and forever? His con science might have been sullied by crimes more heinous than those charged upon him by her brother and hu friends ; he might he had let her go easily, as one resigns his careless hold upon a paltry, unprized toy ; but when her hand had rested thus in his, and his paa- sionate regards penetrated her soul, he loved her, alone and entirely ! She would fold this conviction to hei torpid heart for a little while before she turned herself away thially from the memories of that love-summer and battle-autumn of her existence. If it arousrd in the skilled thing some slight pangs of sentiency, it would do her no hurt to realize through these that it bad onoe beeri alive. WAJ8&A12* 131 She saw a shadow approaching to join i fcelf to hen upon the wliitened floor without, before Mr. Doirance interrupted her reverie by words. " The fury of the tempest you admire proves its p ternity," he said, with a manifest effort at lightness. " It emanates from the vast magazines of frost, snow, and wintry wind that lie far to the north-east even of my home, and that is in a region you would think drear and inhospitable after the more clement airs of of your native State." " "We have very cold weather in Virginia sometimes," returned Mabel, still scanning the sentinel gate-posta, and the pyramidal arbor-vitas trees flanking them. Her gaze was a mournful farewell, but she neglect ed none of the amenities of hospitality. She was used to talking commonplaces. " We feel it all the more, too, on account of the mildness of the greater part of the winter," she sub joined. " Allow me !" said the other, looping back the cur tain she had until now held in her hand. " Whereaa our systems are braced by a more uniform temperature to endure the severity of our froste. and high, keeu blasts." " I suppose so," assented Mabel, mechanically, and unconscious as himself that meaning glances were stol en at them from the fireside circle, while the hum nd conversation was continuous ard louder, for th* WASSAIL. good-natured intent on tke speakers part *.o ftftoid th supposed lovers the chance of carrying on their dia logue unheard. " But our houses are very comfortable often very beautiful," Mr. Dorrance persevered, keeping to the veent of his game, as a trained pointer scours a stubble- field, narrowing his beat at every circuit ; " and the hearts of those who live in them are warm and con stant. It ie not always true that The oold in clia* ueooldia btoo*; Their lore can nazce desenre th naa I have thought sometimes that that feeling is strongest and most enduring, the demonstration of which ia guarded and infrequent, as the deepest portion of the channel is the most quiet." If his philosophical and scientific talk were heavy arid solid, his poetry and metaphors were ponderous and labored. Yet Mabel listened to him now, neither facing nor avoiding him, looking down at her hands, aid, one above the other, upon the window-sill, the Image of maidenly and courteous attention. Why should she affect diffidence, or seek to escape what she had foreseen for weeks, and made no effort to ward off ? She had come to the conclusion in October iliat Herbert Dorrance would, when the forms he con sidered indispensable to regular courtship had been through with, ask her to marry him, and coolly WAJSSJJTL. 132 taken her resolution to accept him. This morning, on the reception of a handsome Christmas gift from him, and discovering in his actions something more pointed than his customary punctilious devoirs, and in his dil- acticism the outermost of the closing circle of pursuit, Bbe had furthermore concluded that his happy thought was to celebrate the festal season by his betrothnent. She was quite ready for the declaration, which, she anticipated, would be pompous and formal. She would have excused him from " doing " the poetical part of it ; but, since it was on the programme, it was not her province to interfere. " I am no enthusiast," he next averred. Rosa would have said, very unnecessarily " the tricks of sighing lovers are beyond or beneath my imitation . I could not write a sonnet to my mistress eyebrow, or move her to tearful pity by sounding declarations of my ad- >ration of her peerless charms, and my anguish at the oare imagination of the possibility that these wonHd ever be another s. But, so far as the earnest affection and sincere esteem of an honest man can satisfy the requirements of a good woman s heart, yours shall be filled, Mabel, if you will be my wife. I have admired you from the first day of our meeting. For six months 1 have been truly attached to you, and seriously medi tated tliis declaration. Your brother is satisfied with the exhibit I have made of my affairs ai*d my prospects, and sanction* my addresses. 1 can maiutain you more 136 WA&8AJCL. thai, comfortably, and it shall be one of the principal aims of my life to consult your welfare in all my plani for my own advancement. I have been settled in the large and flourishing city of Albany about seven year% and ignoring the trammels of mock humility, let me Bay to you have, within that period, gained to a flattering extent the confidence of the most respecta ble portion of the community ; have built up an ex cellent and growing business connection, and secured the entree of the best society there. These are the pecuniary and social aspects of the alliance I propose for your consideration. Through my sister, and by means of the intimate association into which her mar riage with your brother has drawn you and myself, you have been enabled, within the twelvemonth that has elapsed since our introduction, one to the other, to learn whatever you wished to know with respect to my personal character, my tastes, temper, and habits. It has given me heartfelt pleasure to discover that these are, in the main, analogous to your own. I have built upon this similarity or harmony would be the better word sanguine hopes of our future happiness, should you see your way clear to accept my proffered hand, consent to link your future with mine." " I beg to lay the ouse in Walcot Square, the busi Dess and myself, before Miss Summerson, for her ac ceptance," said magnanimous Mr. Gupt>y, thus clinch WAJS8ATL 187 Ing his declaration that "the image he had supposed was eradicated from his art wag not eradicated." It was more in keeping with Rosa s character than Mabel s to recollect the comic scene in the book they had read together lately, but the latter did remembe* it at this instant, and despite the momentous issues involved in her immediate action, was strongly tempted to laugh in her wooer s solemn face. Then so abrupt and fearful are the transitions from the extremes of one emotion to another arose before her another picture. As in a dissolving view, she beheld herself walking with Frederic Chilton ID the moonlighted alleys of the garden ; midsummei flowers blooming to the right and left, her head droop ing, in shy happiness, as the lily-bell bows to shed its freight of dew ; his face glowing with the ardor ol verbal confession of that he had already sought to ex press by letter heard his fervent, pleading murmur, " Mabel ! look up, my darling ! and tell me again that you will not send me away beggared and starving. I cannot yet believe in the reality of my bliss ! " These were the love-words of an u enthusiast " these The vision vanished at the short, hard breath she drew in unclasping her locked hands, and lifting her jjrave, tranquil eyes to the level of her suitor s. " I will follow your examplt in repudiating spunouf Mr. Don-fence, Yl believe you to be a good WAA8AIL. true mai r and that the attachment you profess for mt is sincere. I believe, moreover, that my chances of se curing real peace of mind will be fairer, should^Ijsonv >alt" myself to your guardianship, than if I were to srir- render my affections to the keeping of one whose vows were mo. ? e impassioned, who, professing to adore me. at. a divinity, should yet be destitute, of your high moral principle and stainless honor. When I was younger and more rash in judgment and feeling, I was led into a sad mistake by the evidence of eye, ear, and a girl s imagination. I ought to tell you this, if you have not already heard the story. I will not deceive you into the persuasion that I can ever feel for you, or , any other man, the love, or \vhat I thought was love, i knew in the few brief weeks of my early betrothal. Hut you must know how that ended, and I have no de sire to repeat the mad experiment of risking my earthly all upon one throw of fate. If friendship jj&^ teem, and the resolve to show myself a worthy recipi ent of your generous confidence will content you, else shall be as you wish." In her determination to be candid, to leave him in Sio uncertainty as to her actual sentiments, she had concerted a response but a degree less stilted than Hiip proposal. She would have been ashamed of it had do appeared less gratified. ills dull eyes brightened; his face flushed and Beamed with unfeigned delight, and in his tr*msport WAJ3&AZL. 139 he said the most natural a ad graceful thing that evei escaped him during his wooing. " I am content I The second love of Mabel Aylett raust ever be more to me than the first of any other woman ! " True, he nearly spoiled all the next minute, by pro ducing from his pocket a wee velvet case, from which he extracted a valuable diamond ring, and proceeded, then and there, in the shadow of the accommodat ing curtain, to fit it upon her finger. He had fore seen that she would not be hardly won, and with characteristic providence had prepared himself for the event. The blood leaped to Mabel s temples and the fire to her eye, at the prompt seal set by the practical non- enthusiast upon the contract, but she bit her lip, and submitted after a second of thought. He owed his. exemption from rebuke to her memory of his latest utterance. She could not mistake the tone of genuine feeling, and she overlooked the breach of taste that followed ; treasured up the heart-saying as one of the few souvenirs she cared to preserve of his courtship. a If he is content, I need not be miserable," was the consolatory reflection with which she took upon herself her new and binding obligations CHAPTER VIEL /HI FACE AT THE WINDOW. KS. AYLETT was in her best feather tha* night ; the suave chatelaine, the dutiful con sort ; the tactful warder of the interesting pair whose movements she had not ceased to watch from the moment they took their places with the party about the fire-place in the hall until she, alone of all the company, saw Herbert Dorrance draw the dia mond signet from its receptacle, and the sparkle of the jewel as it slipped to its abiding-place upon Mabel s finger. Lest something unusual in their look or behavior should excite the suspicions of their companions, make them the focus of inquisitive observation and whispered remark, the diplomate passed again into the hall, sweeping along in advance of them when they deserted their curtained recess, and would have joined the rest of the company. "Are we to have no dancing this evening !" shs taid, in hospitable solicitude. " It wants an hour yet of (140) THSFAGMATTHS VZ2WOW. supper-time. The exercise will do you all good> par ticularly the young ladies, who have not stirred beyond the piazzas to-day. I have been waiting for an invit*- tbn to play for yon, but my desire for your welfare lias overcome native humility. Will you accept my services as your musician ? " The suggestion was acceded to by acclamation, and -virile one gentleman led her to the grand piano which stood between the front windows of the drawing-room, and another opened a music-book which she named, a *et was quickly formed in the long apartment, the soberer portion of the crowd ranging themselves along the walls as lookers-on. Mrs. Aylett was a proficient in dance-music. She never volunteered to perform that which she was not conscious of doing well. She had occasionally taken the floor for a single quadrille, to oblige a favored gusst always a middle-aged or elderly gentleman or moved through a cotillion with ease and spirit aa partner to her husband, but she declined dancing, as a nil 3; was altogether indifferent to the amusement, wh le she delighted to oblige her friends by playing for them whenever and as long as they required her aid Without saying, in so many words, that she dis approved of the waltz for unmarried ladies, and frowned upon promiscuous danciig for matrons, sh yet managed to regulate the social code vf the neigh- THE FAOE JLT ISE WINDOW. borhood in both these respects, was imitated quoted ay the most discreet of chaperones and belles. Mr, Dorrance was Mabel s partner ; Kosa stood ap with Randolph Harrison, a gay youth, whc. was hex latest attach^ / Tom Barksdale lei out a blushing, ye! sprightly school-girl, and Imogene was his vis-a-vis ^ supported by an ancient admirer, who had comforted himself for her preference for another man by falling in love with a prettier woman. The room was deco rated with garlands of running cedar a vine known in higher latitudes as " ground-pine," and which car peted acres of the Ridgeley woods. The vases on the mantel were filled with holly, and other gayly colored berry boughs, while roses, lemon and orange blossoms, mignonette and violets from the conservatory were set about on tables and brackets, blending fresher and more wholesome odors with those of the Parisian ex tracts wafted from the ladies dresses and handker* chiefs. Mi\ Aylett had accidentally, it would seem hia wife understood that the action was premeditated stationed himself at an angle to the piano that allowed him a fair view of her, and d ? d not grudge the merri est bachelor there his share of enjoyment, while he could keep furtive watch upc n the changeful counte nance, the Sappho-like head, and the \lelicate handi which one could have thought made the music, rather than did the obedient keys they touched. The wedded THE FACE AT iEB WINDOW. lovers Lad Uste and pride in equal proportions, and a parade of their satisfaction in one another for the edifi cation or amusement of indifferent spectators would have been revolting to both, but the ray that sped from half -averted eyes, from time to time, and was returned by a kindling glance, also shot sidelong beneath dropped lashes, said more to each other than would a quarto volume of stereotyped protestations and care&s- es, such a? T3m Barksdale dealt out profusely to his beauteous Imogene. Clearly, neither Mr. nor Mis. Winston Aylett was fond of sugar-candy. Mabel s faith in the sincerity of her sister-in-law** agreeable sayings and ways was not invariable nor absolute. She liked her after a certain fashion ; got along swimmingly with her, the amazed public decided " so much better than could have been expected, and than was customary with relations by marriage, and not by descent ; " yet her more upright nature and different training helped her to detect the petty artifices witL which Clara cajoled the unwary, moulded the plastic at her will. But she had never questioned the reality of her love for Winston. As a wife, her deportment was exemplary, her devotion too freely and consistently rendered to have its spring in policy or affectation, She gloried in her handsome, courtly lord, and in hi* attachment for herself. Whether she would have es pied the same causes for loving exultat on in hin* ? had be been a poor clergymac or merchant s clerk, was ao 144 THS PAOB AT TBS WHn)OW. irrelevant consideration. The master of Kidgelej not to be contemplated apart from the possessions and dignities that were his inalienable pedestal. Clara Dorrance was a clever woman, and she had given these lire weight in accepting his hand ; and they may hv had their influence in moving her to unceasing, yet unobtrusive endeavor to make herself still more neces sary to his happiness, to strengthen her hold upon him by every means an affectionate and beloved wife has t her command. She had done well for herself she *ras thinking while he concluded as silently within himself that the slight pensiveness tempering the ex pressive face was its loveliest dress. She beautiful and penniless, ambitious, and a devotee of pleasure yet dependent for food and clothing upon her mother s life-interest in an estate, not one penny of which would revert to her children .t her decease; without kindred and without society *n the elegant suburb they had inhabited for four or five years, might have been elated at a less brilliant inatch than that she had made. The u best people " of the aforesaid suburb were exclusive ; slww to form intimacies with their unaccredited neighbors, and very hasty in breaking them at the faintest whiff of a doubt ful or tainted reputation. And of the second best the Dorrances had kept themselves clear. Having met and captivated her wealthy lover on a rarely fortunate summer jaunt, made in company with her PAOa AT TStt WINDOW. elde&i brother, his wife, and two relatives of the last-named, Clara did not repel him or disgust the beet people of Boxbury by indiscreet raptures over, 3r exhibition of, her prize. "I feel with yon an invincible repugnance te throwing open onr hearts to the inspection of th unsympathizing world, at the most sacred moment of our lives," she said, in stating her preference for a quiet morning-wedding, a family breakfast, and instant departure upon their bridal-trip. "If I be- gin to invite my friends and neighbors, our cottage lawn and garden included would not contain them, and after all were asked whom I could remem ber, as many more wonld be mortally offended at being forgotten." The bridegroom gladly acquiescing, with a com pliment to her womanly delicacy, the ceremony waa performed in the presence of the bride s nearest rel atives ; an elegant repast was served, at which the Dorrance plate made an imposing show, and Clara turned her back upon the scenes and reminiscences of her past life to commence the world anew. Yes, she had done very well for herself how wonderfully well she knew Ijetter than did any one eke, and at this date she had fresh cause for self- gratulation. Through her, Herbert, her favorite bro ther, was likely to form an alliance which would be a timely and substantial stepping-stone to his ag> I ^ THE FAOS AT THB WINDOW. gi-andizernent and wealth. There were more reasons why she should hold her head higher why the blood should clothe her cheek with a richer carmine, and a smile encircle the month, as one swift glance toot in the spacious, luxurious room, thronged with well- dressed aristocrats, her husband the stateliest, most honored of them all, yet her fond thrall; the splen did apparel in which his wealth had bedecked her, the queen of the scene more reasons, I say, for the ineffable thrill of pleasure that coursed, a rapid, in toxicating stream, through her veins, than grateful affection for the author of all these goods. With a Sybarite s dread of pain and loneliness, she seldom trusted herself to look at the dark curtain in the background, against which her latter-day glories shone the more dazzlingly. But to-night she felt safe upon her throne sat, the lady of kingdoms, sultana in the realm of her spouse s heart and in his domain, and could stare full upon the past could measure, without shuddering, the height of her actual and as sumed estate above Mr. Aylett stepped forward in haste and concern at the deadly pallor that overspread her face the look of horror, fear, loathing, before which smile and brightness fled, blasted into wretchedness. The revel lers stopped in their giddy measure at the discordant jangle, preluding a dead silence. Mabel, chancing in the evolutions of the set to bt THE FACE AT TES WINDOW. 147 nearest the window, and noting the directioi. of the fainting woman s eyes, was qnick enough to se a shadow flit across the yellcir square of light upon th snowy floor of the portico a man s shape, as * t ap peared to her, crouching and slinking cat of view into the darkness. " She saw something, or somebody, through the window, and was frightened," she said, in a low voice, checking Tom Barksdale and another gentleman, who would have pressed with the inconsiderate crowd toward the senseless figure Mr. Aylett had laid upon the sofa. " Will you see what it was? " The request cleared the room directly of all the men of the assembly, with the exception of Winston and Dr. Eitchie, a young physician, who was superintend ing the administration of restoratives to Mrs. Aylett. She was reviving rapidly when the search party gave in their report. There were fresh tracks upon the piazza, and these they had traced to the back o* the house, losing them there in the drifting snow, the wind blowing like a hurricane, and ploughing what had fallen and what was descecjiizjg into constantly ^banging heaps. But the watch-dogs had been un~ Chained, and four of the negro men detailed as senti nels, the gentlemen engaging to make the round of the premises again before bed-time. The Affect of thk communicatioE was the reverse of tranquillizing upon the patient. Tbe wild, terrified 14:8 THB FAGS AT THS WINDOW. look in her eye resembled the unreasoning fear oi lunacy aa she seized her husband s arm. " Indeed, indeed they must not. It is not right or safe to make such a serious matter of my foolish nervousness. I am not sure there was any one there ! It was probably an optical delusion. I was plunged in a reverie, thinking of happy, peaceful, lovely things " with the sickly feint of a meaning smile into his face " and, happening to look at the win dow, I fancied that I saw " with all her self -com mand her voice failed here, and she put her hand before her eyes for a moment before she could go on " I thought I saw something ! It may have been a human face it may have been the shadow of the cur tains, or the reflection of the lights upon the glass ; but it startled me, appearing so abruptly. Please say no more about it. If it was a living creature, it must have been one of the servants, tempted by curiosity to peep at the dancers." " It will prove to be a costly indulgence to him, if I can discover who the rascal was," said Mr. Aylett, de cisively. " I would not have had you so startled for the worth of all the lazy hounds on the premises." His wife laid her hand upon his. * It is Christmas night, my love, and the poor fellow i excusable. He showed excellent taste. It tras veiy pretty scene. I shall not soon forgive myself for thi owing it into such admired disord er. Miss Scott w - - TUX FAGS AT THIS WINDOW. U9 [to a musical spinster] " may 1 tax your politeneai BO far as to ask you to take my seat at the piano ? I aaiiot go to my room for a few minutes," raising her finger smilingly to her displaced ivy wreath. u If you won Id testify your tolerance of my folly, please go on with your amusement. I shall be encouraged to re turn when I hear the music." Her collected, urbane self once more, she took her husband s arm, and passed through the opening rankf of her friends, bowing to this side and that, with apologetic banter and graceful words of regret sti)- very pale, but changed in no other respect. " A singular episode in an evening s entertainment,* said Mr. Dorrance, leading Mabel to her stand in the re-forming set. " I never knew Clara to succumb be fore to any type of syncope or asphyxia. She is a woman of remarkable nerve and courage. And, by the way, how preposterous is the common use of tb,e word nervous. The ablest lexicographers define it as i strong, well-strung, full of nerve, whereas, in ordi nary parlance, it has come to signify the very opposite of these. When I speak of a nervous speaker or writer, for example, what do 1 mean ? " " One who imbibes uii wholesomely large quantitiei of strum* green tea, and sees hobgoblins peering at her through the window-panes!" said Rosa, sarcastically artier, tripping by in season to overhear this clause of his a mail -talk. THE VAO& AT TM& WINDOW. Mabel s imperturbable good-breeding prevented em barrassment or resentment at the interruption. At heart, she was vexed that Rosa should omit no oppor tunity of shooting privily and audaciously at her prao tical admirer, but to betray her appreciation of the im pertinence would be to subject herself to imputations of sensitiveness on his account. " I saw the hobgoblin without the aid of green tea," she rejoined. " There was really some one upon the porch, but why the apparition should scare Clara out of her wits, I cannot divine. The negro is an incura ble Paul Pry, and, next to dancing a Christmas jig himself, is the pleasure of seeing others do it." Mrs. Aylett verified her brother s encomium upon her nerve by reappearing in the sakx>n by the time another set was over, and just befos*? the announce ment of supper, radiant and self-possoaped, prepared to do double social duty to atone for ti#> Iright she had caused, and the temporary damp her woon had cast over the festivities. The revel went joyously forward Csaristnias-gamei and incantations, the dexterous introduction, by a jo cose old gentleman, 01 a mistletoe-boagh into the fes toons draping the chandelier, and divers other tricks, all of which were taken in excellent part by* the vie tinjs thereof, and vociferously applauded by the spectators. The great hall-clock had rung out twelvt strokes, and twr or three methodical seniors were be THE FAOE AT THE WINDOW. 151 ginning to whisper to one another their intention to take French leave of the indefatigable juniors and eek their couches, when a contused tumult arose from the yard barking and shouts, a^d voices in angry or eager dispute. Unmindful of the nipping air, the ladies flew to the windows and raised them, while the gentlemen, in a body, rushed out upon the porch, many to the lawn the scene of the disturbance. " They have caught him I " " There are several of them a gang of thieves, no doubt!" " No ! I see but one ! They are bringing him to the house ! " were morsels of information passed over the shoulders of the foremost rank of inquisitive fair ones to the rear, but none were able to answer the returning inquiries. "Who is it?" What does he look like 1 " " Does he offer any resistance t " " Do you suppose he is a burglar, or only a common ragrant?" " I thought the Ridgeley grounds were never infested by prowling beggars, or other vagabonds," said a lady to Mrs. Aylett, who prudently remained near the fire, even then shivering with the cold, and casting uneasy fooks at the windows. " Mr. Aylett is a model to hi* brother magistrates ii 152 THE PAOS AT TOS WINDOW. his treatment of such nuisances," remarked anothei " His name is a terror to strollers, whether they be organ-grinders, pedlers, or incendiaries." Mrs. Aylett, excessively pale, applied her vinaigrette to her nose, and trembled yet more violently. " I believe he is very strict," she assented. " But I am really afraid those ladies will take cold ! The snow-air is piercing. And they are most of them heated with dancing. Cannot we prevail upon them to close the windows, now that the mysterious prowler is secured ? We shall hear all about him when the gentlemen return, and they will not stay out of doort longer than is necessary." They began to pour back into the room, while she was speaking, laughing, and talking, all together shaking the snow-powder from their hair and hands, and anathematizing the cold and their thin boots. The particulars of the midnight disturbance went quickly disseminated. The ebon sentinels had, di rected by the barking of their canine associates, dis covered, under a holly hedge on one side of the yard, a man lying upon the earth, and almost buried in the snow he seemed not to have strength to threw off. He was either drunk or so nearly frozen as to be incapable of answering coherently their demands as to what was his name and what his business upon the premises, The interrogations of the gentlemen and the ungentle thakingfl administered by big captors elicited nothing THS FAOS AT THS WINDOW. 158 bat groans and muttered oaths. He could not, or would not, walk without support, and to leave him where he was, or to turn him adrift into +he public road, would be certain death. Therefore Mr. Aylett had ordered him to be confined for the night in a <arret room. In the morning he might be examined to more purpose. " But he ought to have a fire, and something hot and nourishing to drink!" exclaimed Mrs. Button, upon hearing the story. " He will freeze in that barn of a place poor wretch I " " I imagine he has no need of additional stimulants," said Mrs. Aylett, dryly, again resorting to her smelling- bottle. " From what the gentlemen say, I judge that he had laid in a supply of caloric sufficient to last through the night. And the first use he would make of fire would be to burn the house over our heads. His lodgings are certainly more comfortable than those selected by himself. There is little danger of hi* finding fault with them. What manner of looking creature is he?" " An unkempt vagabond ! " rejoined Eandolph Har rison, rubbing his blue fingers before the fire. " Hia clothes are ragged, and frozen stiff. I suppose he has been out in the storm ever since it set in. There were icicles upon his beard and hair, his hat having fallen off. It is a miracle he did not freeze to death long It is a bitter night" 154 THJL FACE AT THE WHfDOW. " Did you say he was an old man ? " inquired tht hostess languidly, from the depths of her easy chair. "He is not a young one, for his hair is grizzled Hut we will form ourselves into a court of inquiry in the morning, with Mr. Aylett as presiding officer have in the nocturnal wanderer, and hear what ac count he can give of himself. Who knows what ro rnaiitic history we may hear one that may become a Christmas legend in after years ? " u You will get nothing more sensational than the confessions of a hen-roost robber, I suspect," said Mrs Aylett, more wearily than was consistent with her r6U of attentive hostess. Her husband noticed the tokens of exhaustion, and interposed to spare her further exertion. " Our friends will excuse you if you retire without delay, Clara. You still feel the effects of your agita tion and faintness." This was the signal for a general dispersion of the ladies the gentlemen, or most of them, adjourning to the smoking-room. Since the late extraordinary influx of visitors, Mabel bad shared her aunt s chamber, but, instead of seeking this now, she went straight from the parlor to the sup- per-rooin, where she found, as she had expected, Mrs. Button in the height of business, directing the setting of the oreakfast-table, clearing away the debris of the evening feast, and counting the iilver with unusual THE FAOS AT THE WINDOW. , lest a stray fork or spoon had, Ly some hocta> pocus knjwn to the class, been slipped imto the pocket of the supposititious burglar. " Aunt," began Mabel, drawing her aside, " that poor wretch up-stairs must be cared for. It is the height of cruelty to lock him up in a fireiess room, without provisions or dry clothing. If he should die, would we be guiltless ? " Mrs. Sutton g benevolent physiognomy was per plexed. " Didn t I say as much in the other room, before everybody, my dear? And didn t she put me down with one of her magisterial sentences ? She is mistress here not you or I. Besides, Winston has the key of that east garret in his pocket, and I would not be the one to ask him for it, since he has had his wife s opin- k)n upon the subject of humanity to prisoners." "I shall not trouble him with my petition. I dis covered by accident, when I was a child, that the key of the north room would open that door If I order, upon my own responsibility, that a cup of hot coffee, Mid some bread and meat be taken up to him, you will not deny them to me, 1 suppose ? " " Certainly not, my child 1 but I dare not send a servant with them. Winston s orders were pos thre they all tell me that not a 3oul should attempt to acid communication with him. And what he says hi 156 THE FACE AT THE WIlfDOW. " Then," replied Winston s sister, with a spark of hie spirit, "I will take the waiter up myself. I cannot sleep with this horror hanging over me the fear leet through my neglect or cowardice, a fellow-being whose only offence against society, so far as we know s is his dropping down in a faint or stupor under a hedg on the Ridgeley plantation should lose his life." " Your feelings are only what I should expect from you, my love ; but think twice before you go upstairs yourself ! It would be considered an outrageous im propriety, were it found out." " Lees outrageous than to let a stranger perish for want of such attention as one would vouchsafe to a stray dog?" questioned Mabel, with a queer smile. " Roger I pour me out a bowl of coffee at once. Put it on a waiter with a plate of bread and butter o* stay! oysters will be more warming and nourishing I am very sure that Daphne is keeping a saucepanfu; hot for her supper and yours. Hurry 1 " The waiter, whose wife was the cook, ducked hia nead with a grin confirmatory of his young mistress shrewd suspicion, and vanished to obey her orders, never dreaming out she wanted the edibles for he* private consumption. He enjoyed late and Lot aup- pers, and why not she ? Thanks to this persuasion, th coffee was strong, clear, and boiling, the oysters done to a turn, and smoking from the saucepan. Taking the tray from him, with a gracious " Thank THS PAOS AT THE WINDG W. 167 you ! This is just as it should be," Mabel negatived his offer to carry it to her room, and started up-staira Mrs. Button followed with a lighted candle " Winston or no Winston, you shall not face thai desperado alone," she said, obstinately. " There is no telling what he may do murder you, perhaps, or at least knock you down in order to escape. Winston talks as if he were the captain of the forty thieves." " He is pretty well hors de combat now, at any rate, 1 sjailed Mabel, but allowing her aunt to precede hei with the light to the upper floor. "And should he offer violence scalding coffee may defend me aa effectually as Morgiana s boiling oil routed the gang. My captain had to be carried up-stairs by four servants, who left him upon a pile of old mattresses in one cor ner of the room. Here we are I " They were in a wide hall at the top of the house, the un ceiled rafters above their heacu, carpetless boards beneath their feet. Mabel set her waiter upon a worm-eaten, iron-bound chest, and went further down the passage to get the key of the north room. Her light footstep stirred dismal echoes in the dark corners ; the wind screamed through every crack and keyhole, like a legion of piping devils ; rumbled lugu briously over the steep roof. The one candl* flickering in the draught showed Mabel s white bust and anni, like those oi a phantom, beaming through a cloud of 158 THE FACE AT TRS WINDOW. blackness, when she stooped to try the key in the lock of the prison-chamber. After fitting it, she knocked before she turned it in the rusty wards again, and more loudly then spoke, putting her lips close tj the key-hole : " We are friends, and have brought you supper Oan we come in ? " There was no answer, and with a beating heart she anlocked the door, pushed it ajar, and motioned to Aunt Rachel to hold her candle up, that she might gain a view of the interior. The wan, uncertain rays revealed the heap of mat tresses, and upon them what looked like a mass of rough, wet clothing, without sound or motion. " He is pretending to be asleep ! Take care ! " whis pered Mrs. Button, trying to restrain Mabel as she pressed by her into the room. " He is dead, I fear ! " was the low answer. Forgetful of her nephew s prohibition and her recent fears, the good widow entered, and leaned anxiously over the stranger s form. A tall, gaunt man, clad in threadbare garments, which hing loosely upon the shrunken breast and arms, black hair and beard, mot tied with white, ragged, and unshorn, and dank from axposure to the snow and sleet ; a chalky- white face, wdth closed and sunken eyes, sharpened nose, and promi- aent cheek-bones this was what they beheld as th candle flamed up steadily in the comparatively still THE FACE AT THE WINDOW. 159 air of the ceiled apartment. The miserable coat wa buttoned up to his chin, and the shreds of a coarse woollen comforter, torn from his throat at his capture, gtill hung about his shoulders. His clothes were sod den with wet, as Harrison had said, and the solitary pretence at rendering him comfortable for the night, had been the act of a negro, who contemptuously flung an old blanket across his nether limbs before leaving him to his lethargic slumbers. He had not moved since they tossed him, like a worthless sack, upon this sorry resting-place, but lay an unsightly huddle of arms, legs, and head, such as was never achieved, much less continued, by any one save a drunken man or a corpse Mabel ended the awed silence. " This is torpor not sleep, nor yet death," she said, without recoiling from the pitiful wreck. Indeed, as she spoke, she bent to feel his pulse ; held the emaciated wrist in her warm fingers until she could Determine whether the feeble stroke were a reality, o? a trick of the imagination. " Dr. Ritchie should see him immediately. He is in the smoking-room. If yon call him out, it will excite less remark than if I were to do it. Don t let WinBton guess why you want him," were her directions to her armt, uttered quickly, but distinctly. " \ ou will not stay here ! At least, gc into tme hall! What will the doctor think? " "I shall remain where I am. The poor creator* if 160 THM FAOM AT THS WINDOW, too far gone to presume upon my condescension," with a faint sarcastic emphasis. At Mrs. Button s return with the physician, she per ceived that her niece had not awaited her coming in sentimental idleness. A thick woollen coverlet was wrapped about the prostrate figure, and Mabel, upon her knees on the dusty hearth, was applying the candle to a heap of waste paper and bits of board she had ferreted out in closets and cuddy-holes. It caught and blazed up hurriedly in season to facilitate the doctor s examination of the patient, thrown so oddly upon his care. Mrs. Sutton had not neglected, in her haste, to procure a warm shawl from her room, and she folded it about the girl s shoulders, whispering an entreaty that she wo?ild go to bed, and leave the man to her management and Dr. Ritchie. Mabel waved her off impatiently. " Presently I when I hear how he ia ! " moving toward the comfortless couch. The physician looked around at the rustle of her dress, his pleasant face perturbed, and perhaps re morseful. " This is a bad business ! I wish I had examined him when he was brought in. There would have been more hope of doing something for him then. But, to tell the truth, I was one of the five or six prudent fel lows who stayed upon the piazza, and witnessed thf capture from a distance. I had no idea of the man * THE PACE AT TEE WINDOW. 161 real situation. Mrs. Button 1 can 1 have brandy, hot water, and mustard at once I Miss Mabel ! may 1 trouble you to call your brother? He ought to be advised of this unforeseen turn of affairs." His emissaries were prompt. In less than ten min utes, all the appliances the household could furnish for the restoration of the failing life were at his command. An immense fire roared in the long-disused chimney ; warm blankets, bottles of hot water and mustard-poul tices were prepared by a corps of officious servants ; the master of the mansion, with three or four friends af his heels, and a half -smoked cigar in his hand, had looked in for a moment, to hope that Dr. Ritchie would not hesitate to order whatever was needed, and to predict a favorable result as the meed of his skiil. Half an hour after her brother s visit, Mabel tapped at the door to inquire how the patient was, and whether she could be of use in any way. She still wore her evening dress, and the fire of excitement had not gon out in her eyes and complexion. "Don t sit up longer," said the doctor, with the authority of an old friend. " It will not benefit your protfyd for you to have a headache, pale cheeks, and heavy eyes to-morrow, while it will render others, whose claims upon you are stronger, very miserable." She thanked him laconically for his thoughtf ulness, and bade him "good-night," without a responsive gleam of playfulness. Her heart was weighed dcwu 182 THS FA.CZ AT TLE WINUO W. with sick horror. The Almost certainty of which ha spoke with professional coolness, was to her, who had never within her recollection stood beside a death-bed, & thing too frightful to be anticipated without dread, however its terrors might be alleviated by affection and wealth. As the finale of their Christmas frolic perhaps the consequence of wilful neglect in those who should have known better than to abandon the wanderer to the ravages of hunger, cold, and intoxica tion the idea was ghastly beyond description. She was about to diverge from the main hall on the second floor into the lateral passage leading to Mrs. Button s room in the wing, when her name was called tn A gentle, guarded key by her tiiter-in-law, CHAPTEB DL BIB DEPABTETH IN DABKNE8& "OME inl I want to talk to yon I" said Aylett, beckoning Mabel into her chamber, from f the door of which she had hailed her. " Sii owij^ my pooi giri ? You are white a a sheet with fatigue. I cannot see why you should hav been Buffered tc kuow anything about this very disngreeable jccnrrence. And Emmeline has been teiMng me that Mrs. Button aorpMniy * y> go up into that Arctic "It was my choice. Aunt Ilachel weit along to carry the light and to keep me company. Sns would nave dissuaded me from the enterprise if she could, responded Mabel, sinking into the low, cushioned 3hair before the fire, which the mistress of the luxurious apartment had juat wheeled forward for her, and con fessing to herself, for the first time, that she was rhillj and very tired. "But where were the ^rvants, my dear? Surely you are not required, in your brother s house, to per 164 OS DEPARTETB /2V DAU&JBM& form snch menial services as taking food and medicini to a sick vagrant." " Winston had forbidden them to go near the room. I wish I had gone up earlier. I might have been th means of saving a life which, however worthless it mj$ fieeru to us, must be of value to seme one." "Is he so far gone?" The inquiry was hoarsely whispered, ani the speaker leaned back in her f auteuil, a spark of fierce eagerness in her dilated eyes, Mabel, in her own anxiety, di<* not consider overstrained solicitude in behalf of a dis reputable stranger. She had more sympathy with it than with the relapse into apparent nonchalance that succeeded her repetition of the doctor s report. " He does not think the unfortunate wretch will re vive, even temporarily, then?" commented the lady, conventionally compassionate, playing with her ringed angers, turning her diamond solitaire in various direc lions to catch the firelight. " How unlucky he should have strayed upon our grounds 1 Was he on his wa} to the village?" "Who can sayt Not he, assuredly. He has not spoken a coherent word. Dr. Ritchie thinks he will never be conscious again." w 1 am afraid the event will mar our holiday gayetiea to some extent, stranger though he Is ! " deplored the hostess. "Some people are superstitious about such things. His must have been the spectral visage I saw HE DKPA RTETH 1* DJL&KNB8& 165 at the window. I was sure it was that of a white man, although Winston tried to persuade me to the contrary ." "It is dreadful!" ejaculated Mabel energetically. w He, poor homeless wayfarer, perishing with cold and want in the very light of our summer-like rooms ; get ting his only glimpse of the fires that would have brought back vitality to hia freezing body through closed windows ! Then to be hunted down by dogs, and locked up by more unfeeling men, as if he were a wavenous beast, instead of a suffering fellow-mortal I I nail always feel as if I were, in some measure, charge able with his death should he die. Heaven forgive IM our selfish thoughtlessness, our criminal disregard of our brother s life I" "I understood you to say there was no hope I " intei i apted Mrs. Aylett. " So Dr. Kitchie declares. But I cannot bear to be lieveit!" She pressed her fingers upon her eyeballs as if she vrould exclude some horrid vision. " My dear sister 1 your nerves have been cruelly tried. To-morrow, you will see this matter and everything else through a different medium. As for the object of your amiable pity, he is, without doubt, some low, dissipated creature, of whom the world will be well rid." "I am not certain of that. Thexe are traces of something like refinement and gentle breeding about 166 HB JEPABiETB IN him in all his squalor and unconsciousness. I noticed his hands particularly. They are slender ani long, and his features in youth and health must have beext handsome. Dr. Ritchie thought the same. Who can tell that his wife is not mourning his absence to-night^ as the fondest woman under this roof would regret hei husband s disappearance ? And she may never learn when and how he died never visit his grave ! " " I have lived in this wicked world longer than you have, my sweet Mabel ; so you must not quarrel with me if these fancy pictures do not move me as they do your guileless heart," said Mrs. Aylett, the sinister shadow of a mocking smile playing about her mouth. " Nor must you be offended with me for suggesting as a pen dant to your crayon sketch of widowhood and desola tion the probability that the decease of a drunken thief or beggar cannot be a serious bereavement, even to his nearest of kin. Women who are beaten and trampled under foot by those who should be their comf ort and protection are generally relieved when they take to vagrancy as a profession. It may be that this man s wife, if she were cognizant of his condition, would not lift a finger, or take a step to prolong his life for one hour. Such things have been." " More shame to human nature that they have I w was the impetuous rejoinder. " In every true woman i heart there most be tender memories of buried love*, Set their death have been natural or violent." HB DEPA&TETH N DAZKNE88. 167 "So says your gentler nature. There are women - ind I believe they are in the majority in this crooked lower sphere in whose hearts the monument to de parted affection when love is indeed no more .A * hatred that can never die. But we have wandered ai* immense distance from the unlucky chicken-thief or burglar overhead. Dr. Ritchie s sudden and ostenta tious attack of philanthropy will hardly beguile him into watching over his charge a guardian angel in dress-coat and white silk neck-tie until morning ? " "Mammy is to relieve Kim so soon as he is con vinced that human skill can do nothing for his relief," said Mabel very gravely. Her sister-in-law s high spirits and jocular tone jarred upon her most disagreeably, but she tried to beai in mind in what dissimilar circumstances they had passed the last hour. If Clara appeared unfeeling, and her remarks were distinguished by less taste thaa was customary in one so thoroughly bred, it was be cause the exhilaration of the evening was yet upoi her, and she had not seen the death s-head prone up dn the pillows in the cheerless attic. Thoughts of pov erty and dying beds wer unseemly in this apartment when the very warmth and fragrance of the air told of fostering and sheltering love. The heavy curtains did not sway in the blast that hurled its whole fuiy against the windows ; the furniture was handsome, and in per fect harmony with the darl;, yet glowing hues of tht 168 HE DEPAMTEZH IN DA&KNBB&. carpet, and with the tinted walls. A. tall dressing mirror let into a recess reflected the picture, brilliant with firelight that colored the shadows themselves; lengthened into a deep perspective the apparent ex tent of the chamber and showed, like a fine old paint ing, the central figure in the vista. Mrs. Aylett had exchanged her evening dress for a cashmere wrapper, the dark-blue ground of which was enlivened by a Grecian pattern of gold and scarlet ; aer unbound hair draped her shoulders, and framed Her arch face, as she threaded the bronze ripples with her fingers. She looked contented, restful, compla cent in herself and her belongings one whom Time had touched lovingly as he swept by, and whom sor fcOw had forgotten. " .Not asleep yet ! " was her husband s exclamation, entering before anything further passed between the two women ; and when his sister started up, with an apology for being found there at so late an hour, he added, more reproachfully than he ever spoke to his wife, "You should not have kept her up, Mabel! Her strength has been too much taxed already to-night. I hoped and believed that she had been in bed and asleep for an hour." "Don t blame her I* said Mrs. Aylett, hastily. "I sidled her in as she was proceeding to bed in the most decorous manner possible. I may as well own the truth of my weakness. I was nervo isly wakeful the OS DEPARTETH IN DARKNJR8& effect, in part, of the ultra-strong coffee Dr. Bitdhie ad vised me to drink at supper-time in part, of the silly sensation I got up to terrify my friends So I maneu vered to secure a fireside companion until you should have dispatched your cigar. Gossip is as pleasant a sedative to ladies as is a prime Havana to their lords." "And what is the latest morceau?" inquired Mr Aylett, indulgently, when Mabel had gone. He was standing by his wife s chair, and she leaned her head against him, her bright eyes uplifted to his, faer hair falling in a long, burnished fringe over his arm a fond, sparkling siren, whom no man, with living blood in his veins, could help stooping to kiss before her lips had shaped a reply. " You wouldn t think it an appetizing morsel ! But 1 listened with interest to our unsophisticated Mabel s Account of her Quixotic expedition to what will, I fore see, be the haunted chamber of Eidgeley in the nex fc , generation. Her pencha/nt for adventure has, I su&- pect, embellished her portrait of the hapless house breaker." "A common-looking tramp 1" returned Winston, disdainfully. "As villanous a dog in physiognomy nd dress as I ever saw 1 Such an one as generally draws hi last breath where he drew the first - - in a ditch or jail; and too seldom, for the peace and safety of society, finds his noblest earthly elevation upon a gallows. It is a nuisance, though, having him pay thif 170 &E DEPAJttVETH IN DAZXNE88. debt . Nature nobody but Nature would trust him in my house. There must be an inquest and a commotion. The whole thing is an insufferable Sore. Ritchie has given him up, and gone to bed, eaving old Phillis on the watch, with unlimited rations of whiskey, and a pile of fire-wood higher than herself. But I did not mean that you should hear Miything about this dirty business. It is not fit for my darling s ears. Mabel showed even less than her usual discretion in detailing the incidents of her ad venture to you." Flattery of his sister had never been a failing with him, but, since his marriage, the occasions were mani fold in which her inferiority to his wife was so glaring as to elicit a verbal expression of disapproval. It was remarkable that Clara s advocacy of Mabel s cause, at these times, BO frequently failed to alter his purpose of Censure or to mitigate it, since, in all other respects, her influence over him was more firmly established each day and hour. Old Phillis, Mabel s nurse and the doctress of the plantation albeit a less zealous devotee than her master had intimated of the potent beverages left within her reach, ostensibly for the use of her patient. he revive sufficiently to swallow a few drops yet toe drowsy from the fatigues of the day, sun dry cups of Christmas egg-nogg, and the obesity ol age, to maintain alert vigil orer one she in common EM DEPARTETH IN DARKNB8& 17J with her fellow-servitors, scorned as an aggravated *pecimen of the always and ever-to-be despicable ge nus, " poor white folks." There was next to nothing for her to do when the fire had been replenished, the Votties of hot water renewed at the feet and heart, and fresh mustard draughts wound about the almost pulse less limbs of the dying stranger. She did contrive to keep Somnus at arm s length for a while longer, by a minute examination of his upper clothing, which, by Dr. Ritchie s directions, had been removed, that the remedies might be more conveniently applied, and the heated blankets the sooner infuse a vital glow through the storm-beaten frame. The ancient crone took them up with the tips of her fingers ragged coat, vest, and pantaloons rummaged in the same contemptuous fashion every pocket, and kicked over the worn, soaked boots with the toe of her leather brogan, sniff ing her disappointment at the worthlessness of the habiliments and the result of her search. u Fit fur nothin but to bury his poor carcuss in ! " she grunted, and had recourse to her own plethoric pocket for a clay pipe and a bag of tobacco. This lighted by a coal from the hearth, she tied ft ^^ond handkerchief over that she wore, turban- wise, on her head, mumbling something about " cold ears ? and * rheumatiz ; " settled herself in a rush-bottomed chair, put her feet upon the rounds of another, ard was 172 HE DEPAItrETH IN DARK2STES8. idarly on duty, prepared for any emergency, and to bt alarmed at nothing that might occur. So strict was the discipline she established over her telf in fifteen minutes, that she did not stir at the creaking of the bolt, or the shriller warning of the un- oiled hinges, as the door moved cautiously back, and a cloaked form became dimly visible in the opening. A survey of the inside of the chamber, the unmoving nurse and her senseless charge, with the fumes of Drandy and tobacco, reassured the visitant. Her stock tngless f edt were thrust into wadded slippers ; over hei white night-dress was a dark-blue wrapper, and, in ad* dition to this protection against the cold, she was en veloped in a great shawl, disposed like a cowl about her head. Without rustle or incautious mis-step she gained the side of the improvised bed, and leaned over it. The face of the occupant was turned slightly tow ard the left shoulder, and away from the light. The apparition raised herself, with a gesture of impatience, caught the candle from the rickety table at the head of the mattress, snuffed it hurriedly, and again stooped toward the recumbent figure, with it in her hand. It was then that the vigilant watcher unclosed her flabby lids, slowly, and without start or exclamation, much as a dozing cat blinks when a **edder sparkle from the fire dazzles her out of dreams One hard wink, one bewildered stare, and Phillis was awake and vary. Her chin sank yet lower upon her chest, but HE DJtPARTETH IF VAKRJff8& 1T3 the black eyee were rolled upward \mtil they bore directly upon the strange tableau. The shawl had dropped from the lady s head, and the candle ehone broadly npon her features, as upon the lick man s pio file. Apparently dissatisfied with this view, she slip ped her disengaged hand under the cheek which WM downward, and drew his face around into full sight. w And bless your soul, honey I" Aunt Phillis told her young mistress, long afterward, " you never se* sech a look as was on hern while her eyes was that bright and big, they was jist like live coals sot in a lump of dough she growed so white ! " Nevertheless the spy could return the candle to its place upon the table without perceptible tremor of lip or limb, and after bestowing one scrutinizing glance npon the nurse, who was fast asleep beneath it, she went to the heap of damp clothing. These she lifted one by one less gingerly than Phillis had done, and ransacked every likely hiding-place of papers o? valuables, going through the operation with a rapic* dexterity that astounded the old woman s weak mind, and made her ashamed of her own clumsiness. An ticipating the final stealthy look in her direction, the heavy lida fell once again, and were not raised until the rusty bolt passed gratingly into the socket, and eh felt that ihe place was deserted by all save herself and the dying stroller. She wag in no danger of dozing upon her post aftat HE DEPARTETH IN this visitation. For the few hours of darkness that yet remained) she sat in her chair, her elbows upon her knees, smoking, and pondering upon wnat she usd witnessed, varying her occupations by feeding tie fire and such care of the patient as she considered ad> is*- ble ; likening, in her rude, yet excitable imagination^ the rumbling of the gale in the chimney and across the roof -tree, to the roll of the chariot- wheels which were to carry away the parting soul ; the tap and rat tle of sleet and wind at the windows to the summons of demons, impatient at Death s delay. u The Lord send him an easy death, and let him go up, instead of down 1 " she groaned aloud, once. But the dubious shake of the head accompanying the benevolent petition betokened her disbelief in the possibility of a favorable reply. In her articles of faith it was only by a miracle that a " no-account white man," picked up out of the highway, and whose pock ^ts were barren as were those she had examined, could get an impetus in that direction. The stormy dawn was revealing, with dreary dis tinctness, the shabby disorder of the lumber-room, when Dr. Ritchie appeared in his dressing-gown, rubbing hi eyes, and yawning audibly. "Gone hey?" was his comment upon the ne- gress movements. She had bound a strip of linen about the lank jaws ; rambed back the grizzled ha r froir the sorehead intc HE DEPA&TETb. llf D A&KNR3& 17& leek respectability; crossed the hai.ds at t&e wrista, as only dead hands are ever laid; stra ghtened the limbs, and was in the act of spreading a clean sheet ver her finished work. Nigh upon an hour since, e. / she responded, respectfully. " He did jet revive at aU after I left him 9 " " Not a breath or a motion, sir. He went off at th last jist as easy as a lamb. Never tried to say nothin , ,or opened his eyes after you went down. Twould a reen a pity ef you had a lost more sleep a-settin up vith him. Ah, well, poor soul I taint for us to say whar he is now. I would hope he is in glory, ef I could. I spose the Almighty knows, and that s enough." The doctor arrested her hand when she would have covered the face. " He must have been a fine-looking fellow in his day I " he said, more to himself than to her. " But he has lived fast, burned himself up alive with liquor."" " I didn t call nobody, sir, to help me, cause nobody couldn t do no good, and I was afeared of wakin the gentlemen and ladies, a trottin up and dow*i stairs," continued Phillis, bent upon exculpating herself from all blame in the affair, and mistaking his momentary pensiveiiess for displeasuie. " You were quite right, ild lady 1 All the doc con and medicines in the world cotild not havo pulled him 176 HE LEPAETETR SN DARKNESS. through after the drink arid the snow had bad their way with him for so many hours poor devil I WeL I 111 go back to bed now, and finish my mcrning nap." He was at the threshold when he bethought himself of a final injunction. "You had better keep an eye upon these things, Aunty I " pointing to the coat and other garments she had ranged upon chairs to dry in front of the fire. " There will be a coroner s inquest, I suppose, and there may be papers in his pockets which will tell who he was and where he belonged. When you are through in here, lock the door and take out the key and if yoa can help it, don t let a whisper of this get abroad before breakfast. It will spoil the ladies appetites If anybody asks how he is, say < a little better. He can t be worse off than he was in life, let him be where he may." "Yes, sir," answered Phillis, in meek obedience " But I don t think he was the kind his folks would care to keep track on, nor the sort that carries valeyble papers round with em," " I reckon you are not far out of the way there ! * laughed the doctor, subduedly, lest the echo in the empty hall might reach the sleepers on the second floor, and ha ran lightly down the garret steps. The inquest sat that afternoon. It was a leisure season with planters, and a jury was easily collected by tpecial messengers twelve jolly neighbors, who were SB DXPARTETH IN DARKNE8& 177 aot Averse to the prospect of a glass of Mrs. Suttoii i famous egg-nogg, and a social smoke around the fire in the great dining-room, even though these were pre faced by ten minutes solemn discussion over the re- mains of the nameless wayfarer. His shirt was marked with some illegible characters, done in faded ink, which four of the jury spelled out as "James Knowlton," three others made up into " Jonas Lamson," and the remaining five declined de ciphering at all Upon one sock were the letters " R AL," upon the f eUow, " G. B." With these unavailable exceptions, there was literally no clue to his name, pro fession, or residence, to be gathered from his person or appareL The intelligent jury brought in a unanimous verdict " Name unknown. Died from the effects of drink and exposure ; " the foreman pulled the sheet again over the blank, chalky face, and the shivering dozen wound their way to the warmer regions, wher* the expected confection awaited them. Their decorous carousal was at its height, and the ladies, one and all, had sought their respective rooms to recuperate their wearied energies by a loll, if not a siesta, that they might be in trim for the evening s enjoyment (Christmas lasted a whole week at Ridge- ley) wnen four strapping field hands, barefooted, that their tramp might not break the epicurean slum- bers, brought down from the desolate upper chamber % rough pine cofiin, manufactured and screwed tight 178 HE EEPABTJSTH IN DARKNS&a. by the plantation carpenter, and after halting a minute in the back porch to pull on their boots, took their way across the lawn and fields to the servants* burial-place. This was in a pine grove, two furlongs or more from the garden fence, forming the lower enclosure of the mansion grounds. The intervening dell was knee-deep in drifted snow, the hillside bare in spots, and ridged high in others, where the wind-currents had swirled from base to summit. The passage was a toilsome one, and the stalwart bearers halted several times to uhift their light burden before they laid it down upon the mound of mixed snow and red clay at the mouth of the grave. Half-a-dozen others were waiting there to assist in ihe interment, and at the head of the pit etood a white-headed negro, shaking with palsy and cold the colored chaplain of the region, who, more out of custom and superstition than a sense of religious responsibility least of all motives, through respect for the dead had braved the inclement weather to Bay a prayer over the wanderer s last home. The storm had abated at noon, and the snow no Ion ger fell, but there had been no sunshine through all the gloomy day, and the clouds were now mustering thickly again to battle, while the rising gale in the pine-tops was hoarse and wrathful. Far as the eye could reach were untrodden fields of snow ; gently-roll ing hills, studded with shrc ,>s and tinged in patches by russet bristles of broom-straw ; the river swollen inte HJS DSPARTSTH IN DARKNESS. blackness between the white bajaks, and the irk hon son of forest seeming to uphold the gray firmament To the right of the spectator, who stood on the emi nence occupied by the cemetery, lay Eidgeley, with ita environing outhouses, crowning the most ambitioua height of the chain, the sraoke from its chimneys and those of the village of cabins beating laboriously up ward, to be borne down at last by the lowering mass of chilled vapor. The coffin was deposited in its place with scant show of reverence, and without removing their hats, the by standers leaned on their spades, and looked to the preacher for the ceremony that was to authorize them to hurry through with their distasteful task. That the gloom of the hour and scene, and the utter f orlornness of all the accompaniments of what was meant for Christian burial, had stamped themselves upon the mind and heart of the unlettered slave, was evident from the brief sentences he quavered out joining his withered hands and raising his bleared eyes toward the threatening heavens : u Lord ! what is man, that thoa art mindful of him f For that which bef alleth man befalleth beasts even one thing befalleth them. All go unto one place ; all we of the dust, and all tur^ to dust again. Who knoweth the spirit of man that goeth upward, and the spirit of the beast that goeth downward to the eai AL I Man cometh in with vanity and departeth in darkness 180 me BBPABTBTH IN DARKNB8& and his name shall be covered with darkness. The dead know not anything, for the memory of them is forgotten. Also their love, and their hatred, and theb envy is now perished, neither have they a portion for ever in anything that is done under the sun. "Lord! teach us to number our days, that we may apply our hearts unto wisdom. Oh, spare me, that 1 may recover strength, ere I go hence and be no more ! " In the name of the FATHER, SON, and HOLT GHOST dust to dust, and ashes to ashes ! Amen 1 " " By the way, Mr. Aylett, the poor wretch up-stairs should be buried at the expense of the county," re marked the coroner, before taking leave of Ridgeley and the egg-nogg bowL " I will take the poor-house on my way home, and tell the overseer to send a coffin and a cart over in the morning. You don t care to have the corpse in the house longer than necessary, 1 take it? The sooner he is in the Potter s Field, thi more agreeable for you and everybody else." Mr. Aylett pointed through the back window at the irindrng path across the fields. A ahort line of black dots was seen coming along it, in the direction of the house. As they neared it they were discovered to be men, each with a hoe or shores upon his shoulder. " The deed is done I " said tbe master, smiling. " My good fellows there havn spared the county the expense, rut DJffABTMTH IN DA&KNX8& 181 and the overseer the trouble of this little matter. Ai for the Potter s Field, a place in my servants burying* ground is quite as respectable, and more convenient in this weather." The jurors were grouped about the fire in the baro niai hall, buttoning up overcoats and splatterdashes, and drawing on their riding-gloves, all having come on horseback. In the midst of the general bepraisement of their host s gentlemanly and liberal conduct, Mrs. Aylett swam down the staircase, resplendent in silver- gray satin, pearl necklace and bracelets, orange flowerg and cainelias in her hair semi-bridal attire, that be came her as nothing else ever had done. " My dear madam," said the foreman of the inquest a courtly disciple of the old school of manner, and phraseology as the august body of freeholders parted to either side to leave her a passage-way to the fire place " your husband is a happy man, and his wife should be a happy woman in having won the affection of such a model of chivalry" stating succinctly the late proof the " model " had offered to an admiring world of his chivalric principles. The delicate hand stole to its resti*g-place upon her lord s arm, as the lady answered, her ingenuous eye* suffused with the emotion that gave but the more sweetness to her smile. " I am a happy woman, Mr. Nelson! I think then 1 82 ES DSPARTETH IN DARK2fE8 i* not a prouder or more blessed wife in all the iaa4 than I am this evening." Laugh, jest, and dance ruled the fleeting hours in the halls of the old country-house that night, and the pre siding genius of the revel was still the beautiful hostess never more beautiful, never so winning be fore. No one noticed that, by her orders, or her hus band s, the window through which she had beheld the goblin visage was closely curtained. Or, this may have been an accidental disposition of the drapery, since no trace of her momentary alarm remained in \er countenance or demeanor. /n the kitchen a double allowance of toddy waa served out, by their master s orders, to the men who ? md taken part in the interment on tta hill-top. And, in their noisy talk over their potation* tne vagrant w** scarcely mentioned. Only the pines, hoarser in their sow^fc, by reason of the falling snow that clogged their fo^sghs, chanted * requiem above the rough hillock at tfcssF feet. " Man cometh in with vanity, and dsparteth in dark iudtt, and hit name is covered with darrneg ! * CEAFTEB X. BOSA* a jew appearance." "Whccanshebe?" " Unique is she not ? " were queries bandied t^r from one to another of the various parties of guests scattered through the extensive parlors of the most fashionable of Washington hotels, at the entrance ftf a company of five or six late arrivals. All the per *>ns composing it were well dressed, and had the car riage of people of means and breeding. Beyond thia there was nothing noteworthy about any of them, ex- jepiing the youngest of the three ladies cf what seemed to be a family group. When they stopped for consul tation upon their plans for this, their first evening in the capital, directly beneath the central chandelier of the largest drawing-room^ she stood, unintentionally, periLips, upon the outside of the little circle, and not exerting herself to feign interest in the parley, sought amuiioment in a keen, but polite survey of the aaaenv bly , uppar^iitly hi no wise disconcerted at the volley of gJaaces she encountered in returp. 184 JBOSUL If she were always in the same looks aha wore just now, she must have been pretty well inured to batteriei of admiration by this date in her sunny life. She was below the medium of woman s stature, round and pli ant in form and limbs ; in complexion dark as a gypsy but with a clear skin that let the rise and fall of the blood beneath be marked as distinctly as in that of the fairest blonde. Her eyes were brown or black, it was hard to say which, so changeful were their lights and shades ; and her other features, however unclassic in mould, if criticised separately, taken as a whole, formed a picture of surpassing fascination. If her eyes and cleft chin meant mischief, her mouth engaged to make amends by smiles and seductive words, more sweet than honey, because their flavor would never clog upon him who tasted thereof. Her attire was striking it would have been bizarre upon any other lady in the room, but it enhanced the small stranger s beauty. A black robe India silk or silk grenadine, or som* other light and lustrous material was bespangled with butterflies, gilded, green, and crimson, the many folds of the skirt flowing to the carpet in a train de signed to add to apparent height, and, in front, allow ing an enchanting glimpse of a tiny slipper, high in th instep, and tapering prettily toward the ,x>e. In her hair were glints of a curiously-wrought chain, wound under and among the bandeaux ; on her wrists, plump and dimpled as a baby s, more chain-work of the likt precious metal, ending in tinkling fringe that swung, glittering, to and fro, with the restless motion of the elfin hands, she never ceased to clasp and chafe and fret one with the other, while she thus stood and awaited the decision of her companions. But instead of detracting from the charm of her appearance, the seemingly unconscious gesture only heightened it. It was the overflow of the exuberant vitality that throbbed redly in her cheeks, flashed in her eye, and made buoyant her step. "What an artless sprite it is !" said one old gentle man, who had stared at her from the instant of hei entrance, in mute enjoyment, to the great amusement of his more knowing nephews. " All but the artless 1" rejoined one of the sophisti cated youngsters. " She is gotten up too well for that. Ten to one she is an experienced stager, who calculates to a nicety the capabilities of every twist of her silky hair and twinkle of an eyelash. Hallo I that is gush ing nicely done, if it isn t almost equal to the gen uine thing, in fact" The ambiguous compliment was provoked by a cnange of scene and a new actor, that opened other optics than his lazy ones to their extremest extent. A gentleman had come in alone and quietly a tall, manly personage, whose serious countenance had : ust time to soften into a smile of recognition before th black -robed fairy flew up to him both handi ex- her face one glad sunbeam of surprise anJ welcome. " You here ! n she exclaimed, in a low, thrilling tone, shedding into his the nnclouded rays of her glorious eyes, while one of her hands lingered in his friendly hold. " This is almost too good to be true ! When did yon come ? How long are you going to stay? and what did you come for? Yours is the only familiar physiognomy I have beheld since our arrival, \nd my eyes were becoming ravenous for a sight of remembered things. Which reminds me " coloring bewitchingly, with an odd mixture of mirth and cha grin in smile and voice " that I have been getting up quite a little show on my own account, forgetful of les r&glea, and I suppose the horrified lookers-on think of les mcsurs. May I atone for my inadvertence by presenting you, in good and regular form, to my some what shocked, but very respectable, relatives? Did you know that I was in Congress this year that is, Mr. Mason, my aunt s husband, is an Honorable, and I am here with them ? " The gentleman gave her his arm, and they strolled leisurely in the direction of the party she had deserted oo unceremoniously. a I did not know it, but I am glad to learn that yoi are to make a long visit to the city. I have business that may detain me here Cor a week perhaps a fort XOAA. 18? night/ 7 was his answer to the first qnestica she scJfered him thus to honor. Then the introduction to Mr. and Mrs. Mason, theii married daughter, Mrs. Cunningham, and her husband, ras performed. The Member s wife was a portly, good-natured Virginia matron, whose ruling desire to make all about her comfortable as herself, sometimes led to contretemps that were trying to the subjects of her kindness, and would have been distressing to her, had she ever, by any chance, guessed what she had done. She opened the social game now, by saying, agree ably : " Your name is not a strange one to us, Mr. Chilton. We have often heard you spoken of in the most affectionate terms by our friends, but not near neighbors, the Ayletts, of Ridgeley, county. Is it lang since you met or heard from them? " " Some months, madam. I hope they were in their usual health when you last saw them ? " Receiving her affirmative reply with a courteous bow, and the assurance that he was " happy to hear it," Mr. Chilton turned to Rosa, and engaged her in con versation upon divers popular topics of the day, all of which she was caref~il should conduct them in the op posite direction fron? Ridgeley, and his affectionate in timates, the Ayletts, He appreciated and was grate ful for her tact and delicacy. Her unaffected pleasure at meeting him liad been as pleasant as it was unlooked- for, aware as he was, from Mabel s letter immediately 18S BO&A. preceding the rapture of their engagement, Aat BOM must have been staying with her when it occurred The slander that had blackened him in the esteem of his betrothed had, he naturally supposed, injured hit reputation beyond hope of retrieval with her acquaint ances. Ttosa,her bosom companion, could not but have heard the whole history, yet met him with undirnin ished cordiality, as a valued friend. Either the Ay letts had been unnaturally discreet, or the faith of th* interesting girl in his integrity was firmer and bette* worth preserving than he had imagined in the past Perhaps, too, since he was but mortal man, although one whose heritage in the school of experience had been of the sternest, he was not entirely insensible to the privilege of promenading the long suite of apart ments with the prettiest girl of the season hanging upon his arm, and granting her undivided attention to all that he said, indifferent to, or unmindful of, th* flattering notice she attracted. Over and above all these recommendations to hh peculiar regard was her association with the happy days of his early love. Not an intonation, not a look of hers, but reminded him of Ridgeley and of Mabel. It was a perilous indulgence this recurrence to ft dream he had vowed to forget, bat the temptation had befallen him suddenly, and he surrendered himself to the intoxication. Yes 1 she was going to the P eeid exit s levee thai 1*9 evening, Bout said, A oort of raree-show wit it not 1 with the Chief Magistrate for head mountebank He was worse off in one respect than the poorest cot tager in the nation he was commonly reported to gov ern, inasmuch as he had not the right to invite whom he pleased to his house, and when the mob overran his premises he must treat all with equal affability. She pitied his wife 1 She would rather, if the choice were offered her, be one of the revolving wax dummies used in shop- windows for showing the latest style of evening Costume and hair-dressing for the dolls had no witi of their own to begin with, and were not expected to say clever things, as the President s consort was, after she had lost hers in the crush of the aforesaid mo\\ who eyed her freely as an appendage to their chattel, the man they had bought by their votes, and put in the highest seat in the Republic. No ! she was not provided with an escort ,to the White House. She did not know three people in Washington beside her rela tives, and, looking forward to creeping into the pala- Latial East Boom at her uncle s back, or in the shadow of her cousin s husband, the vision of enjoyment had not been exactly enrapturing but, her companion s proposal to join their party and help elbow the crowd away from her, lent a different coloring to the horizon, But again flushing prettily was he certaic that the expedition would not bore him f Doubtless, he had had some other engagement in prospect for he 190 evening, before he stumbled over her. He ar^ht t know her well enough not to disguise nia real wishes by gallant phrases. " I have never been otherwise than sincere with you, 7 Frederic said, honestly ; " I had thought of going to the levee alone, as a possible method of whiling away an idle evening. If you will allow me to accompany you thither, I shall be gratified shall derive actual pleasure from the motley scene. It will not be the only time you and I have studied varieties of physi ognomy and character in a mixed assembly. Do you recollect the hops at the Rockbridge Alum Springs ? " " I do," replied Rosa, laconically and very soberly. He thought she suppressed a sigh in saying It She was a warm-hearted little creature with all her vagaries, and he wa less inclined to reject her unob trusive sympathy than if a more sedate or prudent person had proffered it It was certain he could not have selected a more en tertaining associate for that evening. She amused him in spite of the painf al recollections revived by their intercourse. She did not pass unobserved in the dense crowd that packed the lower floor of the White House. Her face, all glee and sparkle, the varied music of her soft Southern tongue, her becoming attire were, in turn, the subject of eulogistic comment among the most distinguished oounoiaeeurg present. It was GO* AO&A. 191 probable that these should all be unheaid by her cav* Her, or that he should listen to them with profound indifference. He was astonished, therefore, when she protested thai she had had " enough of it," and proposed that the;* should extricate themselves from the press and go home. It was contrary to the commonly received tenets of hia sex respecting the insatiable nature of feminine vanity, that she should weary so soon of adulation which would have rendered a light head dizzy. Mrs. Mason was not ready to leave the halls of mirth. She had met scores of old friends, and was having a " nice, sociable time " in a corner, while Mrs. Cunningham had " not begun to enjoy herself, looking at the queer people and the superb dresses." Of course, they had no objection to their wilfrJ relative doing as she liked, but did not conceal their amazement at her bad taste. " Take the carriage, dear 1 You ll find it around out there somewhere," drawled the easy-tempered aunt "And let Thomas come back for us. He will be in time an hour from this." " "Would it be an unpardonable infraction of eti - quette if we were to walk home ? " questioned Kosa of Mi*. Chilton, when they were out of Mr. Mason s bear ing. " The night is very mild." " But your feet Are they not too lightly shod far thft pavement f " 192 MOSA. " I left a pair of thick gaiters in the dressing-room xrhich I wore in the carriage." * Then I will be answerable for the breach of eti quette, should it ever be found out," was the reply, and Rosa disappeared into the tiring-room to equip herself for the walk. It was a lovely night for December moonlighted and bland as October, and neither manifested a disposi tion to accelerate the saunter into which they had fallen t their first step beyond the portico. Kosa dropped aer rattling tone, and began to talk seriously and sen sibly of the scene they had left, the flatness of fash tonable society after the freshness of novelty had passed from it, and her preference for home life and *ried friends. " Yet I always rate these the more truly after a peep At a different sphere," she said. " Our Old Virginia 3ountry-house is never so dear and fair at any other time as when I return to it after playing at fine lady abroad for a month or six weeks. I used to fret at the ojonotony of my daily existence ; think my simple pleasures tame. I am thankful that I go back to them, M I grow older, as one does to pure, cold water, after drinking strong wine." " You are blessed in having this fountain to which you may resort in your heart-drought," answered Frederic, sadly. " The gods do not often deny the gift of home and domestic affections to woman. It is an exception 19* to a universal rule when a man who oas reached thirty without building a nest for himself, has a pleasant shel ter spared, or offered to him elsewhere." " Yet yon would weary, in a week, of the indolent, aimless life led by most of our youthful heirs expect ant and apparent," returned Rosa. " I remember once telling you howl envied you for having work and a career. I was youthful then myself and foolish as immature," " I recollect I n and there was no more talk for eev tjral squares. Rosa was getting alarmed at the thought of her te merity in reverting to this incident in their former in- cercourse, and meditating the expediency of entering *pon an apology, which might, after all, augment, *Ather than correct the mischief she had done, when Frederic accosted her as if there had been no hiatus in the dialogue. "I recollect!" he repeated, just as before. "It was upon the back piazza at Ridgeley, after breakfast on that warm September morning, when the air was a sil very haze, and there was no dew upon the roses. I, too, have grown older I trust, wiser and stronger since I talked so largely of my career what I hoped to be and to do. When did you eee her Miss Ay- lett," abruptly, and with a total change of manner. "The Rubicon is forded," thought Rosa, compla cently, the while her compassion for him wag sincere 1*4 JBQ&l and strong. " He can never shut his heart inexorably against me after this." Aloud, she replied after an instant s hesitation, de signed to prepare him for what was to follow "1 was with Mabel for several days last May. We havi not met since." " She is alive and well ? " he asked, anxio ci An inexplicable something in her mannei warned hi that all was not right. "She is or was, when I last heard newt of her; we do not correspond. She does not live at Kidgeley now." There she stopped, before adding the apex to the nicely graduated climax. " Not live with her brother I I do not understand.*" " Have you not heard of her marriage ? " "No!" He did not reel or tremble, but sne felt that th bolt had pierced a vital part, and wisely forbore tc offer consolation he could not hear. But when he would have parted with her at the door of her uncle s parlor, she saw how deadly pale he was, and put her hands into his, beseechingly. "Come in I I cannot let you go until you hare said that you forgive me I " There were tears in her eyes, and in her coaxing accents, and he yielded to the gentle face that sought to lead him into the room. It was fearfal agony that tontrarted hit forehead and lipa when he wonli have gpoken reassuringly, and they were drops of genuine commiseration that drenched the girl s cheeks while the listened. "T have nothing to forgive you I You have been all kindness and consideration I ought not to have asked questions, but I believed myself when I boasted of iny strength. I thought the bitterness of the heart s death had passed. Now, I know I never de spaired before! Great Heavens I how I loved that woman ! and this is the end ! " He walked to the other side of the room. Kosa durst not follow him even with her eyes. She sat, her face concealed by her handkerchief, weeping many tears for him more for herself, until she heard his step close beside her, and he seated himself upon her sofa. " Rosa 1 dear friend I my sympathizing little sister I 1 shall not readily gain my own pardon for having dis tressed you so sorely. When you can do it with com parative ease to yourself, I want you to tell me one or two things more, and then we will never allude to irreparable bygones again." " I ain ready ! " removing her soaked cambric, and forcing a fluttering smile that might show how com posed she was ; " don t think of me 1 i was only grieved for your sake, and sorry because I had unwittingly hurt you, I was in hopes I imagined " "That I had outlived my disappointment! Yo laid, that same September day, that women hid theii green wonnds in sewing rooms and oratories. Mina should have been cauterized long ago, by other and harsher means, yon think. It seldom bleeds but to night, I had not time to ward off the point of the knife and it touched a taw spot. Don t let me frighten yon I now that the worst is upon me, I must be calmer presently. You were at Ridgeley, in Sep ember, a year since, when she who was then Miss Aylett " compelling himself to the articulation of the sentence that signified the later change "received her brother s command to reject me ? " "I was." " He would never tell me upon what evil ~eport hit prohibition was based. He was more communicative with his sister, I suppose ? " And Kosa, following the example of other women and men who vaunt their principles more highly than she did hers, made a frank disclosure of part of the truth and held her tongue as to the rest. " I couldn t help seeing that something was wrong, for Mabel, who, up to the receipt of her brother s letter and one from you that came by the same mail, had been very cheerful and talkative, suddenly grew more uerioui and reserved than was her habit at any time; but she told me nathing whatever, never mentioned fonr name again in my hearing Mrs. Button did hint JRMUL if? to me her fear hat Mr. Aylett had heard something prejudicial to your character, which had greatly dis pleased him and shocked Mabel, but even she was un accountably reticent. Intense as was my anxiety to iearn the particulars of the story, and upon what evi dence they were induced to believe it, I dared not press my inquiry into what it was plain they intended to guard as a family secret." His reply was just what she had foreseen and guarded against. u It would have been a kind and worthy deed, had you written to warn me of my danger, and advised me to make my defence in person. As it was, I waa thrown off roughly and pitilessly my demand upon the brother for the particulars of the accusation against me my appeal to the sister loving and earnest as words could make it for permission to visit her and learn from her own lips that she trusted or disowned me, were alike disregarded. Mr. Aylett s response was a second letter, more coldly insulting than the first hers, the return of my last, after she had opened and read it, then the surrender of my gifts, letters, notes, everything that could remind her that we nad ever met and loved. Mrs. Button, too, my father s old and firm friend, deserted me in my extremity. And she must have been acquainted with the character and extent oi the charges preferred against me. I had hoped bettei tking* from her, if only because I bear her dead hu* 19* &QSA. band s name. Did she never j*peak iu 7001 bearing of writing to me I " "She did but said, in the next breath, that it would be useless, since the minds of the others were fully made up. I knew she thought Winston arbi trary, and Mabel credulous ; but she was afraid to in terfere. As for myself, what could I have told you that you had not already heard ? I could only hope that the cloud was not heavy, and would soon blow aver. From the hour in which it cast the first shadow upon her, Mabel was estranged from me the decline of our intimacy commenced. The Ayletts take pride in keeping their own counsel. Winston, who never liked me, and whom I detested, was as confidential with me in this affair as my old playfellow and school mate. Believe me when I declare that if my interces sion could have availed aught with her, I would have run the risk of her displeasure and Winston s anath emas by offering it." " I do believe you 1 Nor need you expatiate to me upon the obduracy of the Aylett pride. Surely, no one living has more reason than I to comprehend how anreasoning and implacable I find it is. I looked for injustice at Winston Aylett s hands. I read him truly in our only private interview. Insolent, vain, despotic wedded to his dogmas, and intolerant of others opinion, he disliked me because I refused to play 1hi abedieat vassal to his will and requirements; stood up- &Q&A. right as one man should in the presence of a brother* mortal, instead of cringing at his lordship s footstool But he was powerless to do more than annoy me with out his sister s co-operation." "She stood in great, almost slavish, awe of him,* urged Rosa, in extenuation of Mabel s infidelity. "Aye!" savagely. "And love was not strong enough to cast out fear! She was justifiable if she hesitated to entrust herself and her happiness to the Keeping of one she had known but two months. It Fas prudent not false in her to weigh, to the finest grain, the evidence furnished by her brother to prove my unfitness to be her husband. But having done all this, she should have remembered that I had rights also. It was infamous, cowardly, cruel beyond degree, to cast her vote against me without giving me a chance of self -exculpation. Her hand not his struck the dagger into my back I " Again Rosa s fingers involuntarily (?) stole into his, to recall him to a knowledge of where he was, and there were fresh tears, ready to fall from her gazelle eyes, when his agitation began to subside. " My poor child 1 " he said, penitently. " I am be having like a madman, you like a pitying angel ! We will have no more scenes, and you mi\8t oblige me by forgetting this one, as fast as may be. From to-night Mabel Aylett is to me as if she had never been. To nobody except yourself have I betrayed the secret of 00 my hurt. After thi. when yon thick of t, believ* that it is a hurt no longer." Rosa "had out" her fit of crying when he went away, betaking herself to her chamber and locking the door that her aunt might not surprise her while the traces of tears disfigured her cheeks. But she was anything but broken-hearted, and only slightly sore in spirit in the retrospect of what had ensued upon her communication to the discarded lover. He had, in deed, given more evidence of his unconquered passion for Mabel than she had expected. His undisguised pleasure in renewed companionship with herself ; hi* excellent spirits during the greater part of the even ing ; his unembarrassed reply to her aunt s malapropos observation, and fluent chat upon other themes, had misled her into the hope that the ungenerous and un civil conduct of the Ayletts had disgusted and alien ated him from sister, no less than from brother. I 4 was a disappointment to discover that it cost him a ter rible effort to pronounce Mabel s name, while the ab rupt intelligence of her marriage had distracted him to Incoherent ravings, which had nearly amounted to curses upon the authors of his pain. " And all for a woman who could bring herself, aftei being engaged to Frederic Chilton, to marry that dolt of a Dorrance " she said, indignantly. " I wonder if iie would have been consoled or chagrined had I painted the portrait of the man who had superseded 301 him. It IB as well that I did not make the experiment He would be magnanimong enough when he cooled $lown which he will do by to-morrow morning to pity her, and that is next to the last thing I want him to do. Thank goodness I the denouement is over, and the topic an interdicted one from this time forth. Now for the verification or refutation of the saying that a heart is most easily caught in the rebound. There was some jargon we learned at school about the angle of incidence being equal to that of reflection. You see, my dearly beloved self," nodding with re turning sauciness at her image in the mirror before which she was combing her hair, "I undertake thia business in the spirit of philosophical investigation." She needed to keep her courage up by these and the like whimsical conceits, when the forenoon of the next day passed away without a glimpse of Mr. Chilton- He had not yet left his card for the Masons, nor called to inquire after her health, when the summons sounded to the five o clock dinner. A horrible apprehension seized and devoured her heart by the time the dessert was brought on, and there were no signs of his appear ance. He had, ashamed to meet her after last night s exposure of his weakness, or dreading the power of the reminiscences the sight of her would awaken, left the city without coming to say " Farewell" Thai i, she had driven him from her forever ! * 202 ROSA. The room went around with her ja a dizzy wa! tz, the notion crossed her brain. " The sight and smell of all these sweets make me rick, Annt Mary," she said, rising from the table * My head acLas awfully ! May I go to my room and lie down!" " Try some of this nice lemon-ice, my love I " pre scribed the plump matron. "The acid will set yon all straight. No ? You don t think you are going to have a chill, do you ? Father ! " nudging her husband who was burying his spoon in a Charlotte Kusse, u this dear child doesn t want any dessert. Won t yon pilot her through the crowd ? " "Only to the door, uncle! Then come back to your dinner ! " Kosa made answer to his disconcerted Btare. "I can find my way to my chamber without help." She could have done it, had she been in possession of her accustomed faculties. But between the har rowing suspicion that engrossed her mind and the nervous moisture that gathered in her eyes with each gtep, she mounted a story too high, and did not per ceive her blunder until, happening to think that hei apartment must lie somewhere in the region she had gained, she consulted the numbers upon the adjacent doors, and saw that she had wandered a hundred roomi out of her way. She stopped short to consider which 208 oi the corridors, stretching in gas-lit rotas en tJthe? hand, would conduct her soonest to the desired haven, when a gentleman emerging from a chamber dose by directly upon her train. CHAPTER XL IN THE BEBOUHD. BEG your pardon ! " said a deep, familiar Then the formality vanished from face and ad dress. " Is this you f " holding ont his hand in hearty friendliness that instantly dispelled Kosa p forebodings. " What or whom are yon seeking in these wilds?" The crystal beads glistened upon her lashes in the fulness and joy of her deliverance from doubt and fear, and before she could twinkle them back, broke into smaller brilliants upon her cheeks and the bosom of her dress. It was very babyish and foolish, but it is to be questioned whether she could have contrived a more telling situation had she studied it for a month. " What is it ! " inquired Frederic, kindly, not releas ing the fingers that twitched, more than struggled, in his. " Have you been frightened ? " "Yes," with grieved, but fearless simplicity rt l was frightened because I thought I had offended you perhaps driven you away and that I should nevei m TSM be Able to ask your forgiveness for my cruel abrupt ness last night I In thinking about and worrying OTCT this, I somehow lost my way, and was just trying to remember by what route I reached this strange neigh borhood, when your appearance startled me." "You did not know, then, that this is Bachelor*! Hall the haunt of unmated Benedicts, wifeless vis itors to the city, and celibate M. C. s?" he rejoined, pleasantly. " Let me be your guide to more desirable as well as more accessible quarters ! " On the stairs he bent to scan her blushing counta nance. " How am I to punish you for your naughty distrust of my friendship and common sense 1 I have been too busy all day to spare a minute for social pleasure. I dined at two o clock, having an appointment at three, returned at half -past five, and was just coming down to your parlor to look you up. Another bit of unimport ant news, with which I should not have annoyed you if you had not merited a little vexation by your pre posterous fancies, is, that, instead of taking an early train to Philadelphia, I have to-day entered into en gagements that will oblige me to prolong my stay in this place untr the first of February." He looked bright and cheerful, ready for sport or badinage. Rosa caught herself wondering maisy times during that evening, and the succeeding days f thai three weeks they passed urder the same roof, it she 806 OT THE REBOUND. had dreamed of not beheld with her bodJy optics that one stormy burst of passion which had been hit farewell to the hope of a final reconciliation with Mabel Aylett. He never spoke of her again, or referred, in the moet distant manner, to his visit at Ridgeley. The omission was an agreeable one to Eosa for several rea sons. Silence, she believed, was to oblivion as a means to an end. Judging from herself, she adopted the the ory that people were apt to forget what they never talked of themselves, nor heard mentioned by others. Furthermore, she was relieved from the necessity of concocting diplomatic evasions, dexterously skirting the truth, to say nothing of plump falsehoods. These last cost her conscience some unpleasant twinges. To avoid narrating in full what had happened was a work of art. A downright lie was a stroke of heavy business, unsuit- ed to her airy genius and when the Aylett-Chilton complication was upon the topis, it was difficult to avoid undertaking such. For three weeks, then, Mr. Frederic Chilton and the Virginian belle visited concert, theatre, and assembly- room in company, sat side by side in the spectators gal- ery of House and Senate chamber, walked in daylight along the broad avenues from one magnificent distance to another, and on hom>evening8 which wero not many chatted together familiarly, the well-pleased thought M>nfvkmtiaUy, by the fireside in the Or THE REBGUNL. S07 family parlor. It must not be inferred from then* con gtant intercourse that he had the field entirely to him. sell Gallants of divers pretensions first-class, me iiocre, and contemptible considered with a practical eye to " settlement," hovered about the fascinating witch as moths about a gas-burner, and had no citable cause of complaint of non-appreciation, inasmuch as she shed equal light upon all, save one. " My very old friend, Mr. Chilton," she was wont to denominate him in conversation with those who inwardly called them- eelves fools for their jealousy of a man of whom she ffpoke thus frankly, with never a stammer or blush; yet they acknowledged to themselves all the while that they were both suspicious and envious of his superior advantages. However backward Frederic may have been in the beginning to- monopolize the notice and time of his " sisterly friend," he was not an insensate block, who could not perceive and value the compli ment paid him by her partiality ever apparent, but never unmaidenly. Impute it to whatever motive he !night, the distinction titillated his van ty, touched, at least, the outermost covering of his heart. It mignt be pity, it might be pleasant, mournful memories of other days it was most likely of all a sincere platonic af fection for one with tastes and feelings akin to here that g*ve lustre to her eyes, and gentle meaning to her wnile when he drew near. At any rate, it would be churlish not to accept the preference these conreyed, 208 17 THM RXBOUNV. and to like her and hia position as her chosen knight better every day ; it was inevitable that he should mar vel not without melancholy at the flight of tim that brought so soon the day of parting. The Masons, with himself, were engaged to attei i a large party on the last evening of January. Without analyzing the impulse that constrained him to do so, he *<id refrained from reminding Rosa that his stay in Washington was so nearly over, and, with masculine consistency, he was half disposed to be affronted thai she had forgotten what he had said to her of its extent He had never seen her more lively in more radiant spirits and looks -than she was upon the night of the 30th. He had dropped into her aunt s parlor about ten o clock, and detected lloea in the act of dragging her new ball-dress from the box in which the mantua maker had sent it home. " Conceive, if you can but you can t, being a man what I have undergone for an hour and tnore I " she cried, at seeing him. " My treasure the darlingest love of a dress I have ever ordered was brought in exactly two seconds before a brace of honorables lum bering machines that they are ! knocked at the door. So, lest they should brand me as a frivolous doll (as if anybody with a soul, and an infinitesimal degree of .ove for the beautiful, could help admiring the divine thing !), I pushed the poor box under the sofa, and there it hai lain in ignominious neglect, like a pearl of Of THM SJfSOUNJk 909 purest ray serene smothered in an oyster, all the time they were here. I was purposely cross and stupid, too, in the hope of getting rid of them the sooner. If yo despise what most of your imdiscriminating sex call fancy articles, consider a woman s fondness for a Far- ifihing robe despicable and irrational, Mr. Chilton, yon need not look this way. You could hardly have severer certainly not a more appropriate punish ment." " You depreciate my aesthetic proclivities," he re joined, catching her tone. " You would not trust irn bungling fingers to help excavate the gem, I know; but I may surely use my eyes admire, as we bid children do with my hands behind my back." Notwithstanding his boast of knowingness in the mysteries of feminine apparel, he could not have told of what material the divine robe was made except that it was some shiny white stuff, with wide embroid ery upon the flounces. But Eosa, her aunt, and cousin had gone into ecstacies over it, and instigated by kind hearted Mrs. Mason, the enraptured owner had rushed off to Mrs. Mason s chamber to try it on, returning presently in full array, elate at the "perfect fit," and insisting apon a unanimous declaration that she " had never before worn anything one-thousandth part aa becoming." "It is a winsome, fantastic, enchanting little being!" remarked Mr. Chilton, in solilocuy at hit 310 Of THB R&30UJX&, dressing-table, the next evening. "I hope she enjoy the gathering to-night, as she hopes to do. Will he miss ine at the next she attends ? " Then laughing at the sentimental visage portrayed apon the mirror " It would be the acme of ludicrous folly for me to disturb myself on that score. We have had a pleasart time together she and I and to morrow it will be over. There is the whole story ex cept that, in a month I shall cease to think of her, un- *tsss her name is accidentally uttered in my hearing I wish I could forget some other things as easily ! and she will probably be the affianced darling of one of the lumbering Honorables the elder and homelier of the brace, I fancy, since he is the wealthier, and the humming-bird should have a fitting cage." Expressing in his composed lineaments and firm stride nothing like disconsolateness at the programme, he flung his cloak over his arm, took his white gloves in his hand, cast a passing glance at the glass to se* that his whiskers and hair were in order, and ran dowr. the two flights of stairs lying between Bachelor s Ha nd the Masons private parlor. u Come in f " said a plaintive voice, in answer to his knock. Bosa was alone in the cosy apartment. She wai curled up in a great padded chair, set upon the hearth rug. Her dress was a plain black silk; she wore a owlet shawl, and her head-gear was some odd, but m THE RXBQUN& 211 difitractingly pretty construction of white lace, a square folded in two unequal triangles, and knotted loosely, handkerchief -wise, the points in front, under her chin. "Not ready!" exclaimed Frederic, in merry re proach, u You, the model of punctual women 1 " " I am not going ! " sighed the humming-bird, dol orously. " I have had a horrid sore throat all day and a headache and Aunt Mary got frightened, and forbade me to put my head out of doors." " That is a heart-rending affliction 1 And coul 1 you aot send the incomparable dress as your rep/<^enta rive?" " Don t laugh 1 " she said, jerking away her Lead. " I cannot bear it to-night - - not that I care the millionth part of a fig for all the parties in Christendom ; and as for the dress, you think that I haven t * soul above such frippery and gewgaws: but I wisL I had never seen it I shall never wear it as long as I live 1 " And out came the laced cambric to absorb the gath ering dew. " There is something in this I do not understand," said Frederic, setting a chair for himself close to hen, " Are you really suffering ? I imagined that yours wa a case of simple cold, and that Mrs. Mason advised yot* to remain indoors chiefly on account of the weather. It is raining hard f " " I am glad it is I " she replied, with the manner of one bereft of honan sympathy, and extracting gloomy 213 ux raa delight from the unison of nature with her Jioibid brooding*. " And my throat isn t nearly so painful ai I made Aunt Mary believe. I did not want to go out Parties are an awful bore when one is sad-hearted." "You really must forgive me!" said Frederic, at she twitched her face away again at the laugh he could not suppress. " But sadness and you should not be thought of in the same week. Honestly, now ! is not the inimitable fabric you sported for five minutes las* night, at the bottom of what appears to you a fathom less abyss of woe? Have you tried the efficacy o* rational consolation in the thought of how many more parties there will be this winter to which you can wear it ? The Secretary of State is to give one in ten days, which is to be the sensation of the season. That of to night is, in comparison, as a caucus to a general con vention." " I shall never put on the hateful thing again. If Julia Cunningham chooses to bedizen herself in it, she is welcome to it flounces Ld all. Yet I did like it I I had hoped but no matter what I You had better be going, Mr. Chilton, Aunt and the rest of them went three-quarters of an hour ago." " Does a dress go out of fashion in so short a time ?" persisted innocent Frederic, bent upon mitigating her sorrow. " If my memory serves me aright, I have seen ladies wear the same ball-dress several times In the urne winter n U9 THE &EBOU8&. 213 u You will never see this on me," snapped Rosa, her eyes ominously fiery again. " Did yen heai me advtet you of the lateness of the hour I " "Suppose I decline appearing at all in the festa aeene I " said the gentleman. " I shall not be missed. I will just run down and dismiss the carriage then, with your permission, will return and spend the eve ning here*" Her cheeks looked as if they had been touched with wet vermilion, when he resumed his place near her, %nd the folds of the handkerchief in her hand hung more limply. " I ought not to allow this sacrifice I " she faltered gratefully. " Because I hava the vapors, I have no right to keep you within reach of the infection. It ii ehamefully, wickedly selfish 1 " " It is no such thing 1 " he contradicted. " If you would know the truth, I was, myself, averse to attend ing this * crush. But for your indisposition, I should hail with unmixed pleasure the chance that releases me from the obligation to form a part of the throng. It is far more in consonance with my feelings to pass this, our last evening together, as we have spent so many others, in quiet talk at this fireside. I had not sup posed it possible that I could ever feel so much at home in a hDtel a Washington caravansary especially M! have with in the last three weeks. Do you know, me have you not burdened your memory with such un- 214 I2f THti important memoranda as the fact, that I must set my face Philadelphia- ward tomorrow t " " I had not dreamed that the time was BO near at band it seemed such a little while since the evening of onr arrival until I happened, last night, after you left us, to take up Mrs. Rogers invitation-card for this evening. Then, I recollected I " Her listless resignation had in it something piteous, and the lever of compassion impelled him to further efforts of cheer. " I have to thank you for all the enjoyment of my visit to this, heretofore to me, dismal city. If you should ever visit Philadelphia as I earnestly hope you will you must acquaint me with your where abouts immediately upon your arrivmL I should be sorry to think that our friendship is -^ end here and now." " As well here and now, as anywksre and at any time I " returned Rosa, yet more recignedly. " And the end must come, sooner or later. s fhis was what i was saying over to myself when you came in. I am a fool a baby to mind it I" angrily dashing away the obtrusive brine from her mournful eyelids. a I wish you would leave me alone for a few minutes, Mr, Chilton, until I can behave myself I " For a second it seemed that her companion would taka hm at her word, BO puzzled and troubled was hi? IN THB REBOUND. 215 countenance, and he moved slightly, as about to cbey the petulant behest ; then sat stilL " I have found no fault in your behavior I " he said, (90 coolly to please Kosa s notion, " I know you despise me I " she burst forth, chok jagiy. " I fcelievs I am hysterical, and the more I rail at my stupidity and folly, the more unmanageable my nerves if it is my nerves that are out of order be come. But I have been so happy, so content aaid grateful, lately ! And everything will be so different after after to-morrow ! " Her voice had failed to a sobbing whisper, and tb diaphanous cambric veiled her bowed face. Frederic Chilton did not stir a finger or attempt to speak for a full minute, but in that minute he thought a volume, felt acutely. This, then, was what he had been doing in his hours of relaxation from the business which had occupied his mind tc the banishment of nearly every other consid eration ; that had driven into comparative obscurity thw old gnawing grief which had incorporated itself with his being ! The intimacy with a beautiful, sprightly girl had been a holiday diversion to him after arduous brain-labor, recreation sought conscientiously and sys tematically, that his mental powers might be clearer and fresher for the next day s toil in court and among perplexing records; in hunting up tit.es and disputed property, and proving their validity. He had gained 916 Df TOM &XBQU29& the cause that had brought him to the capital, and sows him BO much fatigue and anxiety, and was prond of hi* success. But what of this other piece cf work ? Would not the most cold-blooded flirt, who ever prated oi fidelity, when he meant betrayal and desertion, blush to father this business ? And she, poor, guileless lamb, must bear the pain, the mortification, perhaps the con tumely, which ought to be his in seven-fold measure I " Stay, Kosa !" he said, huskily, when she attempted *o rise. " Do not leave me yet. I may not be alto gether so unworthy, so basely callous as I have given you reason to suppose. Can it be that I have miscon strued what you have said, or do you really care that on/ separation is BO near? I had not thought of this." "I understand." She lowered her flag of distrest and confronted him sorrowfully, not in resentment * You believed me incapable of deep and lasting feel ing ; saw in me no more than the world does, a giddy coquette, feather-haired and shallow-hearted. Be it so. Perhaps it is best that you should not be undeceived- Such injustice and prejudice are the penalties a woman must suffer who wears a tinsel cloak over her finei affections admits but few, sometimes but one, to hei sanctum sanctorum. The gushing, loving, extensively- loving class fare batter. You have been very kind and attentive to me in my strangerhood here, Mr. Chilton, I must always revert to your conduct with gratitude Of TOM BMBOtTNZL 81? By the way" a hysterical laugh breaking into her dignified acknowledgment of benefit* received *that h the game, in substance, that yon said to me a while ago, isn t it t So we are even owe each other uothing." " Except to lore one another." The solemn accenta hashed her reckless prattle. " Rosa, can you learn this lesson!" She had shrank down sunk is not the word to convey an idea of the prostration of strength, the col lapse of resolution, expressed by the figure cowering in the deep chair, its face upborne and hidden by the shaking hands. They were cold as ice, Frederic felt, when he would have drawn them aside. " We will have no foolish reserves, my child. Much, if not all, the happiness of our future lives may de pend upon our perfect sincerity now. You do not require to be told how poor is the offering of my heart. You are the only person who has ever entered into the secret of ite emptiness and desolation; seen blight, where there should be bloom; ashes, where liaine ahould glow. But such as it is, it is yours, if you wil] have it. If you are willing to trust yourself with me, I will cherish as I now honor you, truly and forever ; leave no means untried that can add to your happiness. Dare you make the venture ? " Her unstudied caress was beautiful and pathetic in its lowliness of humility and earnest affection tew 218 U THE REBOUND. earnest for the commonplace outlet of words. It was to slip to her knees at his feet, and kiss his hand, thau lay her cheek upon it, as some dumb, devoted thing might do. Then she was lifted into his arms, and kissed with * fervor she mistook for awakening passion, and her neart bounded more madly in the belief that her vic tory was complete, that he would henceforward be hers in feeling as in name. Yet the words breathed into her ear as her head rested upon his bosom might have taught her the fal lacy of her conviction and her hopes. " My noble, faithful girl I What have I to offer yoTi hi payment for all this 3 " " I ask nothing, except the right to be with, and t erve yon 1 " responded Eosa. And aho thought she spoke the whole truth foi CHAPTER TTT T AUHT KACHEL WAXES UNCHARITABLE. SLY, artful, treacherous jade?" articulated Mrs. Button, energetically. " I have no patience with her. And they say she is so overjoyed at her conquest that she trumpets the engagement everywhere. Such shameless carrying on I never heard of. If she ever crosses my path I shall treat her to some wholesome truths." "What good would that do, aunt?" asked Mabea Dorrance, without raising her head from her sewing, " And what has she done that should incense you or any one else against her? She was free to choose a husband, and we have no right to cavil at her choice. I hope she will be very happy. I used to love her we loved each other very fondly once. There are some excellent traits in Rosa s character, and when she ie once married she will be less volatile." " Don t you believe it Her flightiness and insincer ity are ingrain 1 I believed in her once myself she had such beguiling ways, it was hard to disapprove of 0U0) AUNT RACHEL WAXES UNCHARITABLE. anything she said or did. Bat I was secretly aware, all the time, that there was a radical defect in hei composition. A woman who has been engaged, or a* good as engaged, to six or eight different men, cannot retain much purity of mind or strength of affection, I heard you tell her yourself once that such unscrupu lous flirtation and bandying of hearts were profane touches that rubbed the down from the peach." That was the extravagant talk of a silly, romantic irl," replied Mabel, with a smile that changed to a sigh before the sentence was finished. " I was some what given to lecturing other people, in those days, upon subjects of which I knew little or nothing. Nine men out of ten care little how roughly the peach has been rubbed, provided the flavor is not injured to their taste. It is only once in a great while that yon meet with one whose palate is so nice that he can de tect the difference between fruit that has been hawked through the market and that just picked from the tree. First love is a myth at which rational people laugh." " Perhaps so," said Mrs. Sutton dubiously. In view of the circumstances of Mabel s marriage, she felt that it behooved her to be circumspect in con demnation of transferred affections. " But that docs not alter the fact of Kosa TazewelPi infamous behavior to Alfred Branch and others of her beaux. Isn t the poor fellow drinking himself Into his grave, all through his disappointment ? And 1UNT &AOHXL WAXES UNCH3ITABtJL 221 hjere she is going to be as honored a wife as if she had never perjured herself, or mined an honest, loving man s prospects for life 1 " Mabel went on with her work, and did not reply. " I have had uncomfortable suspicions about certain passages in her intercourse with us, since I heard thia news," continued Mrs. Button, edging her chair toward her niece, and dropping her voice. u I am afraid I can date the beginning of her cruelty to Alfred back to that September she spent here --to the latter part of it, I mean. Little scenes come to my memory that caused me trifling uneasiness then. I shall never for get, for instance, how she eyed you, the morning Win ston came home so unexpectedly." And she described the incident recorded in the lat ter part of our opening chapter. " Can it be," she pursued, " that she had even then designs upon the man she is about to marry! She knew all the circumstances of the trouble that ensued, and if disposed to be meddlesome, she had the mean* at her command." * I told her nothing," said Mabel briefly. * But she pumped me pretty effectually," confessed the aunt shamefacedly. " I thought there could be no harm in giving her a synopsis of the case she being your intimate friend." Another gleam of pensive amusement crossed Ma bel s face. She knew too well the nature of her 222 AUJfT RAOHJSL WAXES UXCHAHFTABLX aunt s " synopsis " to doubt that Eosa was conversant with every phase of the affair, concerning which he* OWE lips had been so sternly sealed. " You nave nothing with which to reproach your- aelf ," she said, tranquilly. " She marries with her eyes " Yon don t imagine for one instant that she wonld be annoyed by any such scruples as beset you ! " cried Mrs. Button scoffingly. " Why, the woman would soon er go to the altar with a handsome, dashing libertine, who had broken hearts by the dozen, than marry a quiet, honest Christian, who had never breathed oi love to any ears except hers. The aim of her life is to create or experience a sensation. I don t quite see how she could hare made trouble in that sad affair, but I should like to be positive that she did not." " You may safely acquit her of that sin," rejoined MabeL " There was neither need nor room for her in terference. Whatever may have been her inclination, she was shrewd enough to perceive that the natural course of events was bringing about the desired end if it were a desirable one to her without her help or hindrance. But, aunt ! doesn t it strike you that this IB a very profitless talk, and very uncharitable f It is a sorry task, this volunteering our assistance to the dead past to bury "ts dead. And I, for one, have too much bound up in the future to offer my servicei in the painful work. Look ! is not this pretty !" ATTRT RACHEL WAXE8 UNOHARITABLB. 223 She was embroidering a white merino cloak for *n Infant, in a pattern so rich and elaborate, that Mrs. But ton groaned in commingled admiration and sympathy as fihe inspected it. "You are throwing time and strength away upon this work ! " she expostulated. " I don t know another lady in yonr circumstances who would not take hei friends advice, and put out all the sewing you need to have done. But your eyes and fingers have labored tncessantly for six months upon the finest work you jould devise, and you begin to look like a shadow. I don t wonder Mr. Dorrance seems uneasy sometimes. He complained this morning that you did not tabs nongh exercise in the open air." u He is not anxious, nor should he be. I am well, *nd stronger than you will believe. As to the work, it has been one great delight of my existence during the period you speak of. I could not endure that anybody but myself should assist in fashioning the dainty, tiny garments that make my hope an almost present reality Every stitch seems to bring nearer the fulfilment cl the dear promise. I only regret that this is the last of the set. I shall be at a loss for occupation for the next t^o months. And I fear from something Her bert said to-day, that he does not intend for jae tc re turn to Albany until the spring fairly opens. Dr. Wli liana* has been talking to him about my cough." 824 AUNT RACHEL WAXES UNCHARITABLE. u Dr. Williams is a fussy old woman* an<? Mr. Dor ranee " began Mrs. Button. Mabel quietly took up the word. "Mr. Dorrance is ignorant of diseases and medicine*, as men usually are who have not studied these with a view to practise upon themselves or others. I have aid that he is not really uneasy; but he says, and with truth, that the Northern March and April are raw and cold, and will try my strength severely Winston and Clara share in his fears. It is very kinc> hi them to tender me the hospitalities of their house for so long a time, but I should feel more at home in my own, during my illness and convalescence." " Why not tell your husband this plainly 1 " * Because it might bias his judgment and embarrass his action. I am willing to do as he thinks best." There were not many subjects upon which Mrs. But ton was irascible, but she patted the floor with he* foot now as if this was one of them her discontent finding vent at length in what she regarded as a per* fiostly safe query. " Will he remain with you!" " He cannot His business is large and increasing He can afford but this one fortnight vacation." " How do you expect to get along without him I" " I expect my dear old aunt to come often and sec me," said Mabel affectionately, parrying the catechism * Clara iuggeeted, of her own accord, when th* exteu AUNT RACHEL WAXES UNCHARITABLE. 221 ion of my visit was discussed, that you siiould be in vited to be with me late in April and I don t want yon to refuse. Do yon understand, and mean to be complaisant? You are all the mother I have ever known, auntie." " My lamb ! you need not fear lest I shall not im prove every opportunity of seeing and comforting you. I shall return a civil and grateful reply to Mrs. Aylett s invitation, for your sake 1 and for the same reason try and remember, while I remain her guest, that her right to be and to reign at Ridgeley is superior to yours or mine." The good lady was not to be harshly censured if she now and then, in private confabulation with her favorite, let fall a remark which was the reverse of complimentary to her niece-in-law. Mabel s marriage was the signal for a radical reorganization of the Ridge- ley domestic establishment, by which Mrs. Sutton wag reduced from the busy, responsible situation of house keeper to the unenviable one of unnoticed and uncon- aulted supernumerary. " Not that I wish you to desert your old quarten, still less to feel like a stranger with us," said Mrs. Ay- lett graciously, while she affixed fthim ng brass labels to the keys of closets, sideboards, and store-rooms the keys Aunt Rachel could distinguish from one another, and all others in the world, in the darkest night, without any label* whatever; which had growc 226 AUNT RACHEL WAXES UNCHARITABLE. smooth and bright by many years friction of her nim. ble fingers. "But Mr. Aylett wishes me to assume the real, as well as nomiral, government of the estab lishment" Mrs. Aylett was fond of the poiysj liable as conveying better than any Dther term she could em ploy the grandeur of her position as BaroEess oi Bidgeley. " He insists that the servants are growing worthless and refractory under the rule of so many. Hereafter this is his law, not mine hereafter, those attached to the house department are to come to me about their orders, and the plantation workmen to him. I shall undoubtedly have much trouble in curing the satellites appointed to me of their irregular habits, and reducing them to something resembling system ; but Winston s extreme dissatisfaction with the anarchy that prevailed under the ancien regime moves me to the undertaking." "They have always for generations back, I may gay been called excellent servants; faithful in the discharge of their duties, and attached to their owners," returned Mrs. Button tremulously. " And since I have been in charge ever since my dear sister s death, I have done my best with them, as with everything else committed by my nephew to my care. But of course I have nothing to urge against your plan. If can help you in any way " "Thank you! You are extremely khid, my dear madam," honeyedly. " But 1 should be ashamed and AVNT &AOHEL WAXES UNCHARITABLE. 227 sorry to be compelled to call upon you for assistance in performing what yau have done so easily and suo cessfully for fifteen years. I must learn confidence in my own powers, if I would be respected by underlings* They would be quick to detect the power behind the throne ; let me hold counsel with you ever so secretly, and my authority would be weakened by the discovery. I have not the vanity to believe that my maiden at tempt at housewifery will be attended by the distinc tion that has crowned yours, but practice will perfect in this, as in other labors. And my dear Mrs. Button, Mr. Aylett bids me say, in his name, as it gives me pleasure to do in my own, that although your occupa tion is gone, you are ever welcome to a home at Ridgeley, free of all expense. It is our hope that you may still content yourself here, even if Mabel has gone from the nest. I suppose, however, nothing will satisfy her, when she goes to housekeeping, but having you with her as a permanent institution. My brother inti mated as much to me before his marriage." Declining with mild ha,utew, that gave great, but secret amusement to her would-be benefactress, the liandsome offer of a free asylum, Mrs. Button went to live with a cousin of her late husband s, whose snug plantation was situated about twelve miles from the Aylett place, and in the neighborhood of the Taze wells. It was a pleasant, but not a permanent arrangement she g v e out to her numerous friends, any of whom 228 AUNT 8ACBML WAJLS8 UNOHARITABLM would have accounted themsebes favored by an to ceptance of a home for life in their families. " Kidgeiey was changed and lonely since Mabel s de parture, and her own habits were too active to be con formed to those of so small a household. Indeed, there was nothing for her to do there any longer, so she waf glad to avail herself of Mrs. William Button s invita tion to stay a while with her. The children made the house so lively. In the fall, the house Mr. Dorrance was having built for his Southern bride would be ready for them, and Mabel s claim upon her aunt s society and services must take precedence of all others." The fall came, and Mabel wrote detailed descrip tions of the beautiful home Herbert had prepared for her; wiote, moreover, with more feeling and anima tion, of the new and precious hopes of happiness held out to her loving heart in the prospect of what the spring would give into her arms, but said nothing of her aunt s coming to her for the winter, or for an in definite period, the bounds of which were to be set only by her beloved relative s wishes. The omission was trying enough to the foster-mother s heart and patience, even while she believed the knowledge of it to be confined to herself. She could still hold up her head bravely among her kindred and acquaintances, and talk of the a dear child s " good fortune and contentment with it ; how popular and beloved she was among them, and what an elegant house her generous husband had be AUNT RACHBL WAXES mrtEAKTABLS. 229 stowed upon her ; could still hint at the instability of her own plans, and the possibility that she night, at any day or hour, determine to leave her native State and follow her " daughter " into what the latter represented was not an nnpleasant exile. An end was put to this innocent deception for, if any deception can be termed innocent, it is surely that by which he who practises it is himself begoiled the blameless guile was then arrested by a story repeated to her by her indignant hosts, as having emanated directly from Mrs. Aylett. She had given expression, publicly, at a large dinner-party, to her amazement and pity at the self-delusion under which " poor, dear Mrs. Sutton " labored, in expecting to take up her residence with Mr and Mrs. Dorrance. " My brother laments her hallucination as much, if not more than his wife does," she said, in her best modulations of creamy compassion. " But, indeed, my dear Mrs. Branch, they are not accountable for it. Not a syllable has ever escaped either of them which a rea sonable person could construe into a request that she should become an inmate of their household. So careful have they been to avoid exciting her expeeta* tions in this regard, that they have refrained from ex tending to her an invitation for even a month. Those who are most familiar with the poor lady s peculiaritiet do not require to be told how ill-advised would be thf Arrangement she desires. Mabel is a thorough y sensi 230 AUNT RAOHSL WAXES UN ble woman, and too devoted a wife to advocate any thing so injudicious, while her husband is naturally jealous for her dignity and the inviolability of her an- vhority in her own house. Mrs. Button left Ridgeley IB opposition to our earnest entreaties that she would spend the evening of her days with us. I was assured then, as I am now, that she would receive the same love and respect nowhere else. But she could not brook the semblance of interference with her rule where she had reigned so long and irresponsibly. And while we may deplore, we can hardly find fault with this weakness. It must have been a trial and not an ordinary one to be obliged, at her age, to resign the sceptre she had swayed for upward of fifteen years." " * Their words are smoother than oil, but in their mouths is a drawn sword, " quoted Mrs. Button, in meek protest against the%sugared malice of this slandei when it was told to her. " This is none of Mabel s do ings. She loves me dearly as ever, but one might as well hope to move the Blue Ridge as to teach that prag matical husband of hers to consult her wishes and her good, before he does his own. His head is hard as a flint, and his heart never mind 1 Heaven forgive me if I am unjust to him I I should be thankful that he does not really irean to misuse my darling Now, my dears, you see how undesirable an inmate of any house I art rated to be. If you wish to retract your offer cf hiding-place for my old head, I shall not take it AUNT RACHEL WAXES Z72I CHARITABLE. 2-31 Thanka to Providence and my dear Frederic I have enough to maintain me decently anywhere in this country. I shall never be chargeable to anybody for my food, victuals, and lodgings. If you are willing to let me board here and do odd stitches for the chil dren when they tear their aprons and rub out the kueea of their trowsers just to keep me out of mischief, you understand ! I promise to be as little officious in housewifely concerns as it is in my nature to be." William Sutton and his wife a woman who was both sagacious and amiable reiterated their assurances that she could not confer a greater boon upon them than by remaining where she was, and with them she had staged until Mr. Aylett sent over the Kidgeley car riage, one day in the third week in February, with a note from Mabel, begging her aunt to present herself, without needless delay, at the homestead, since she was not reckoned sufficiently strong to attempt the uneven and muddy roads that still separated them. Mrs. Aylett also dispatched a billet by the coachman, the graceful burden of which was the same as that of Mabel s peti tion, and the two long-sundered friends were speedily together; fellow-partakers of a bount ful and pains taking hospitality, which kept them continually in mind that they were guests, and not at home. The dialogue relative to Rosa Tazewell s matrimonial project took place 01 the third day of Mrs. Sutton i visit, in Mabel s chamber, and when the former, having AUNTBAOHEL WAXSS UNCHARITA3UL talked off the topmost bubbles of her righteous wrath, :ecollected several very important letters business and friendly she ought to have written a week ago, and trotted off to her room where she could perform the neglected duty without visible and outward tempta tion to that she was more fond of doing to wit, talk ing the young wife continued to work steadily, and with apparent composure. It was not a bright face on which the light from the western windows fell, yet it was not unhappy. She had never pretended to herself that her marriage was a step toward happiness, bat she had believed that it would secure to her a larger share- of peace, immunity from disturbance, and indepen dence of thought and action, than fell to her lot in her brother s house, and for these negative benefits she longed wearily. Mr. Aylett was not wantonly or openly unkind to hia ward, and ungenerous persecution was utterly incom patible with the temper and habits of his lady wife, bat between them they had contrived to make the girl s life very miserable. It was Winston s cue adopted, let us hope, from the strict sense of duty he avowed had ever actuated him in his treatment of the charge bequeathed him by his father to deport himself with calm, seldom-relaxed severity to one who had showed herself to be entirely unworthy of confidence ; to ex ercise unremitting surveillance upon her personal aa> ociation with young people o*ut of the family and bet AUNT RACHEL WAXES U1TOHARITABHS. correspondence, and to curb by look and oral reprooi the most distant approach to what he condemned as in discreet levity. In a thousand ways many of them ingenious, and all severe, she was made to feel the cur tailment of her liberty, and given to understand that it was the just retribution of her unlucky love-affair with an unprincipled adventurer. Mrs. Aylett professed to discountenance this policy to be Mabel s secret friend and ally, while she deemed it unwise to combat her husband s will by overt measures for his sister s protec tion. Thus, for a year, the object of his real displeasure and her affected commiseration lived under a cloud, too proud to complain of her thraldom, but feeling it every second ; mourning, in the seclusion of the trebly barred chambers of her heart, over her shattered idol and squandered affections, and fancying, in the morbid distrust engendered by the discovery of her lover s basts- ness, and the weight of her brother s unsparing repn - bation of her insane imprudence, that she descried ia every face, save Aunt Rachel s, contempt or rebuke for the faux pas that had so nearly cast a stigma upon her dame and lineage. In Herbert Dorrance s honest admiration and assid- *^oufl courtship the most suspicious scrutiny could de tect BD tincture of either of these feelings, and it waa not long before she took refuge in his society from the risk of being wounded and angered by the supposed 234 AUNT BAOHBL W 1XE8 UNCHA3ITABLJBL exhibition of them in others. Here was one man who could not but know of her folly, in all its length, breadth, and depth, who was a witness of her daily chastisement for it at her guardian s hands, yet who esteemed her onsullied by the unworthy attachment, undegraded by pmrishment. Gratitude had a powerful auxiliary in her feverish longing to escape from scenes that kept alive to the quick, memories she would have annihilated, had her ability been commensurate with her wilL All other associations with the house in which she, and her father before her, had been born, and in which she had passed her childhood and girlish days, were overrun by the thickly thronging and pertinacious recollections of the two short weeks Frederic Chilton had spent there with her. He haunted her walks and drives ; trod, by her side, the resounding floor of the vine-covered portico , sat with her in parlor and halls ; sang to her accompani ment when she would have exorcised the phantom by music was always, whenever and wherever he appeared -the tender, ingenuous, manly youth she had loved and reverenced as the impersonation of her ideal lord; the demi-god whom she had worshipped, Aeart and soul set, in her exulting imagination no lower than <he ingels* and beheld in the end, with besmirched brow and debased mien, a disgraced sensualist, not merely a deceiver of another woman s innocent confidence, and ler tempter to dishonor and wretchedness, but * pol AUNT RACHEL WAXES UNCHABITABLB. 235 troon a whipped coward who had not dared to lift voice or pen in denial or extenuation of his crime. The law of reaction is of more nearly universal *p plication in moral and in physical science than men an willing to believe. We have seen how cunningly BOM calculated upon it, and wiser people than she, every day, attribute the most momentous actions cf their ivoi to its influence. " My advice to every woman is to marry for good ness simple integrity of word and deed ! " said a rady, once in my hearing. She was an excellent scholar, attractive in person and in manner, gifted in conversation and opulent in purse. Her hand had been sought in marriage by more than one, and in early womanhood she had made choice among her suitors of a man whose plausible exterior was the screen of a black heart and infamous life. Con vinced of her mistake barely in time to escape copart nership in his stained name and ruined fortunes, she set up the history of her deadly peril as a beacon to others as ardent and unwary as her old-time self. Either to put a double point upon the moral, or to insure her self against similar mishap in the future, she wedded an amiable and correct fool, a mere incidental in the work of human creation, who was as incapable of mak ing his mark upon the age that produced him as an angle-worm is of lettering solid granite Mabel s husband was not a simpleton, or charao 236 AUNT BAOHSL WAXES JNVHAIUYABLB. terlesa ; bnt if he had been, his prospects of suoceeg would not have been materially damaged by her knowl edge of his deficiencies. A union with him was a eafe investment, and mnst be several degrees more support able than was her position at Ridgeley, banned by its owner and patronized by his wife. I neither excuse nor blame her for thns deciding and transacting. Should I censure, a majority of my readers nearly all of the masculine portion would pick holes in my un practical philosophy, scout my reasoning as illogical brand my conclusions as pernicious winding up their protest with the sigh of the mazed disciples, when stunned by the great Teacher s deliverance upon the Bubject of divorce, " If the case of the man be so vrith his wife, it is not good to marry ! " Which dogma I likewise decline to dispute falling back thankfully upon the blessed stronghold of unam bitious story-tellers namely, that my vocation is to describe what is not make fancy-sketches of millen nial days, when rectitude shall be the best, because most remunerative policy ; when sincerity shall bewis om proven and indisputable, and consistency the rule of human faith and practice the world over, in stead of being, aa it now i*, one of the lost (or new UQ vented) fine arte. CHAPTER XXXL JTXJU8 LENNOX. |OU are puttin your eyes out, workin so stiddy, honey, and it s gettin* dark." Mabel aroused herself from her Intent atti tude, and looked at the window. There was a brassy glimmer in the cloudy west; the rest of the tky was covered by thick vapors. " The days are still very short," she said, folding her work, and becoming aware that her eyes ached from 3ong and close study of the intricate pattern. It was Mammy Phillis who had interrupted her rev erie, and she now laid an armful of seasoned hickory wood upon the hearth, and set herself about mending the fire, taking up the ashes which had accumulated rinoe morning, putting the charred sticks together, and collecting the embers into a compact bed. "We re goin to have fallin* weather fore long," ghe observed, oracularly. "The wind has changed ence dinner, and when the wind whirls about on a fudden, we upon this ridge is the fust to find it out (Btt) 238 JULlOcf LENNOX. I most see that them lazy chil len, Lem and lazy, filli your wood-box to-night with dry wood ; I d be loth to have yon ketch cold while yon are here." " Yon are very good, Mammy, bnt why do yea tronble yourself to attend to my fire? Yon should have sent np Lem with that great load of logs." " I ain t easy withont I see to you myself, at least once a day. It minds me of the good ole times to wait upon yon. O, Lord I how long ? " shaking her tartan turban with a portentous groan, her chin almost scraping the hearth, as she stooped to blow into the crater of fiery coals. Mabel was too well versed in the customs of th race and class to take alarm at the mysterious invoca tion. She watched the old woman s movements in a sort of pensive amusement at the recollection of an incident of her childhood, brought vividly to her mind by the servant s air and exclamation. She was playing in the yard one day, when "Mammy emerged from her cottage-door, and came toward her, with a batcr of sweet cakes she had just baked for her nursling. In crossing the gravel walk leading to the tf house," she struck her toe against the brick facing of this, and the cakes flew in all directions. "Good Lord! my poor toe and my poor chile i cakes!" wai her vehenrent interjection ; and as sne Dent to $c%ther np the cookies, she grunted cut th* JULIUS LBXWOJL ame adjuration, coupled with " my pocr ole back I n a negress stock subject of complaint, let her be fcnt twenty years old and as strong as an ox. " Mammy 1 " said the privileged child, reprovingly, ** I thought you were too good a Cktistian to break the oommandments in that way. You shouldn t take the Lord s name in vain." " Gracious I Sugar-pie I how you talk I Ef I don t call pon Him in time of trouble, who can I ask to help me ? " was the confident reply. With no thought of any more formidable cause of outcry than a cramp in the much-quoted spine, Mabel dreamed on sketchily and indolently, enjoying the sight of the once-familiar process of building a wood-fire, until the yellow serpents of flame crept, red-tongued through the interstices of the lower logs, and the larger and upper began to sing the low, drowsy tune, more suggestive of home-cheer and fireside comfort than th shrill, monotonous chirp of the famots cricket on thi hearth. The pipe-clayed bricks on which the andirons rested were next swept clean ; the hearth-brush hung np or. its nail, and the architect of the edifice stepped back with a satisfied nod. " 1 have often wished for a glimpse of one of your beautiful fires, Mammy, since I have been in Albany," iaid Mabel, kindly. "Our rooms and halls are aU heated \y furnaces. An open fireplace would be a novelty to Northerner*, and such a roaring, blazing JULIUS pile of hard wood as that, be considered an unpardon* ble extravagance." "Humph! I never did have no pinion of them people." Phillifl tossed her turban and cocked her prominent chin. "It s all make money, and save] save | If I was lowed to go with yon, I ll be bound I d see you have sech things as you ve been customed to. The new folks, them what corned from nothin %nd nowhar, and made every dollar they can call their >wn with their own hands, don t know how to feel for and look after real ladies." " You are wrong about that, if you mean that I have not every comfort I could ask. My house is warm in the bitterest weather, and far more handsomely fur nished than this. And I have many kind friends. I like the Northern people, and so would you, if you knew them well." " They send dreadful poor samples down this way, then," muttered Phillis, significantly. " And, some as perterds to be somebody is nobody, or wuss, ef the truth was known. Don t talk to me bout em, Miss Mabel, darling! Twas a mighty black day for us when one on em fust laid eyes upon Mars Wicston. You ve hearn, ain t you, that my house is to be tore down, and I m to go into the quarters long with Ihe field hands and sich like common trash ? So long aa our skins is all the same color, some folks can t see no difference in TUL" JULTUB I had not heard it I am sorry. Mabel spoke earnestly, for " Mammy s house," a neat cottage a story-and-a-half high, embowered in tcxmst-trees, and with a thrifty, although aged garden honeysuckle clambering all over the front, was to her one of the dearest pictures of her early days. She <5ould see herself , now the motherless babe whom Aunt Rachel and Mammy had never let feel her orphanage sitting on the door-step, bedecking her loll with the odorous pink-and-white blossoms in sum- aaer time, and in autumn with the light-red berries. "Why is that done! " she asked. "I spiles the prospect, honey!" fiercely ironical " Northern folks has tender eyes, and I hurts em me and my poor little house what ole marster built for me when Mars Winston was a *>aby, and your blessed ma couldn t be easy thout I was near her we spiles the prospect ! So, it must be knocked down and carted away for rubbish to build pig-pens, I spose, and me sent off to live mong low-lived niggers, seen as I ve always held myself above. She ain t never put it into Mars Winston s head to cut down the trees that sheta off the "prospect" of the colored people s burying- ground from her winder. There s some things she d as lief not see. I oughtn t to mind this so much, I know, for I ain t got long for to stay here nohow, but I did hope to die in my nest ! " sobbing tahind her apron. 242 JULTUB LSHTSTOS. "I am very sorry more grieved than you COB think ! " repeated MabeL " If I could help you in any aray, I would But I cannot 1 " "Bless your heart! Don t I know that, dear! Here, you ain t got no more power nor me. But J was a-thinkin that maybe you wouldn t think me toe old for a miss when you come to want one, and cculd manage to take me with you when you went home Fse a heap of wear in me yit, and there ain t nothing Txrat babies I don t understand." Mabel colored painfully. " If I had my way " she began then altered hco plan of reply. " I could not enter into such an ar rangement without consulting Mr. Dorrance, Mammy and I am afraid he would not think as favorably of r as you and I do. He has been brought up with differ ent ideas, you see." An interjection capable of as many and as varied meanings in the mouth of a colored woman of he? stamp as was little Jean Baptiste s et altro I " It sig nified now "I comprehend a great deal more than you want ine to perceive you poor, downtrodden angel!" " ITm-Awm. I always did say he was his rister a own brother --for all they don t look a bit alike What s born into a man never comes out ! " " Mr. Dorranoe i* my husband, Mammy ! I thai] JULIUS LENNOX 243 not let you speak disrespectfully of birr.. He doea what he believes to be right and jnst," returned Mabel ternly. u I ain t a-goin to arger that with yon, my sugar plum 1 Yon re right to stand up for him. I beg your pardon ef I ve seemed sassy or hurt your feelin a. And I dar* say, there mayn t be nothin wuss bout him nor his outside. And that don t matter so much, ef people s insides is clean and straight in the sight of the Lord. But her outside is all that s decent about her, ef you ll listen to me " u You are forgetting yourself again ! " said Mabel, unable to suppress a smile. " Mrs. Aylett is your mis tress " The woman s queer behavior arrested the remon strance. Stepping on tiptoe to the door she locked it, and approached her young mistress with an ostentatious attempt at treading lightly, shaking her head and pursing up her mouth in token of secrecy, while she fumbled in her bosom for something that seemed hard to get at. Drawing it forth at last she laid it in Ma bel s lap a small leather wallet, glossy with use, tat tered at the corners, and tied up with a bit of dirty twine. " What is this, and what am I to do with it?" Mabel shrank from touching it, so foul and general! j disreputable was its appearance. 844 JUUVa LSNNGX. " Keep both your ears open, dearie, aad Fll tell 701 aUIknow!" And with infinite prolixity and numerous digression! the recounted how, in removing tke sodden clothing *>f the unknown man who had been picked up on the lawn on that memorable stormy Chistmas night, more than a year before, this had slipped from an inner breast-pocket of the coat, " right into her hand." Not caring to disturb the doctor s examination of his pa tent, or to tempt the cupidity of her fellow-servants l>y starting the notion that there might be other valua bles hidden in the articles they handled so carelessly, she had pocketed it, unobserved by them, guessing that tt would be of service at the inquest. Her purpose of producing it then was, according to her showing, teversed by Mrs. Aylett s stolen visit to the chamber *nd minute inspection of garments she would not have touched unless urged to the disagreeable task "by some mighty consideration of duty, self-interest, or fear. " Then, thinks I" Phillis stated the various steps of her reasoning " you wouldn t take the trouble to pull over them nasty, muddy close, thout you expected to get some good out on em, or was afeard of somethin or nother fallin into somebody else s hands. Whichsomever this mought be, twasn t iny business to be gittin up a row and a to-do before the crowner and all them gentlemen. Least said soonest mended, says I to myself, and keep* mnm about the JULIUS LSNNCX. 241 wliole thing what I d got, and what I d seen Bui when I come to think it all over arterward, I wai skeered for true at what I d done, and for fear Han 9 Winston wouldn t like it What reason could I give him for hidin of the pocketbook, ef 1 give it np to him ? Ef I tole all the truth, shdd be mad as a March hare, and like as not face me down that all I had said was a dream or a lie, or that I was drunk that night and couldn t see straight. I d hearn her tell too many fibs with a smooth tongue and a sweet smile not to be sure of that ! So, all I should git for my care of the repertation of my f am ly would be her ill-will, and to be cused by other people of stealin , and for the rest of my days she d do all she could to spite me. For I m sure as I stand here, Miss Mabel, that she knew, or thought she knew, somethin bout that poor, despisable wretch that died up in the garret. What else brought him a-spyin round here, and what was there to make her faint when she ketehed sight of him a-lookin in at her through the winder) and what could a sent her upstars when everybody else wag asleep, fur to haul his close about, and poke them fine white fingers of hern into his pockets, and pull hia whiskery face over to the light BO S to see it better! Depend pon it, there s a bad story at the bottom of tMj somewhere. I ve hearn of many a sich that came of gentlemens marrying f orringers what nobody knowed anything about Anyhow, I want you to take keer of JULIUB LXfflTQJL this ere pocketbook. Ef I was to die all of a suddent and twas found mong my things, some mischief mought be hatched ont on it It s safer in your hands nor it is in mine. Now, I ll jest light your lamp, and yon can xamine it, and pitch it into the fire, ef you like, when you re through." In a cooler moment Mabel would have hesitated tc obey the advice of an ignorant, prejudiced person, her inferior in station and intelligence. But in the whirl df astonishment, incredulity, ana speculation created by the tale she had heard, she untied the string which formed the primitive fastening of the worn wallet, and unclosed it The main compartment contained four tickets, issued by as many different pawnbrokers, testifying that such and such articles had been deposited with them for and in consideration of moneys advanced by them to Thomas Lindsay; a liquor-seller s seme against Wil liam Jones unpaid; and a taverf; bill, in which brandy and water, whiskey and mint^ftleps, were the principal items charged against Edmund Jackson. This last was the only paper which bore the indorse ment " Kec d payment," and this circumstance had, probably, led to its preservation. The adjoining di vision of the wallet was sewed up with stout black thread and Mabel had to resort to her scissors before she could get at its contents. These were a couple of worn envelopes, crumpled and dog-eared, and atair ed JULIUS zjEzrarox 247 with liquor or salt water, but still bearing the address, in a feminine hand, of "Lieutenant Julius Lennox, 0". S. N." In addition to this, one was directed to Havana, Cuba ; the other to Calcutta, in care of a mercantile or banking -house at each place. A third cover bore the superscription, " CBETIFIOATE," in bold characters. The negress watchful eyes dilated with greedy ex pectancy at Mrs. Dorrance s ghastly face when this last had been examind, but she was foiled if she hoped for any valuable addition to her store of information, or anything resembling elucidation of her pet mystery. " It will take me some time to read all these," re marked Mabel, still scanning the half -sheet she held " You had better not wait, Mammy. They are safe with me. No one else shall see them, and no harm can come to you through them." She promised mechanically what she supposed would soonest buy for her privacy and needed quiet, and gave no heed to the manifest disappointment of her visitor. When she was at last alone, Mrs. Dorrance relocked ! he door, and bent close to the lamp, as if more light upon the surface of the document would tend to clear ap the terrible secret thus strangely committed to her discretion and mercy. The paper was a certificate, drawn up in regular form, and signed by a clergyman, whose address was appended below, in a different hand 248 JULIUS LENNOX. writing of a marriage between Julius Lennox and Clara Louise Dorrance. " Her very name ! " repeated the whitening lips. a 1 remember asking her once what die ( L in her signa ture stood for." But while she said it, there was a look in the read er*s eye that bespoke inability or reluctance to grappk with the revelation threatened by the discovery. " The letters may tell me more I " she added, in the same frightened whisper, refolding the certificate. They did for they were in the long, sloping chi rography of her sister-in-law, and signed " Your ever- fond, but lonely wife." Each contained, moreover, al lusions to "Ellis," to " Clermont," to "Julia," and to " Herbert " all family names in the Dorrance con nection ; spoke gratefully of her parents kindness tc his " poor Louise " in the absence of " her beloved Ju lius;" and was liberally spiced with passionate pro testations of her inconsolableness and yearnings for hia return. Both were dated ten years back, and the paper was yellow with time, besides being creased and thumbed as by many readings. "What am I to do! > thought Mabel, sinking into her chair, trembling all over with terror and incerti tude. If there were one sentiment in Winston Ayletfi heart that equalled his haughtiness, it was love for hi* wife. But could it be that he had totally forgottev JTUTJUS LXNNQX S49 pride and his habitual caution in the selection of the woman who was to be the partner of his home, fortune, and reputation possibly the mother of children who were to perpetaate the noble name he bore ? By what miracle of unrighteous craft, what subornation of wit nesses, what concealments, what barefaced and unscru pulous falsehoods had this adventuress been imposed upon him as unmarried, when the evidence of her for mer wedlock was held by a low stroller a drunken wretch who might betray it in an unguarded or insane hour, and who, judging from his exterior, would not be averse to publishing or selling the information if he could make more money by doing this than by pre serving the secret And how came he by these papers I Confused, partly by his numerous aliases, more by incapacity to conceive of such depth and complication of horror as were revealed by the idea, the perplexed thinker did not, for a while, admit to herself the possi bility that the nameless vagabond may have been Clara** living husband, instead of a mercenary villain who had secured surreptitiously the proofs of a marriage she wished the world to forget. Having learned that she had wedded, a second time, in her maiden name, and that her antecedents were unsuspected in her present home, the thought of extorting a bribe to continued si lence, from the wealthy lady of Kidgeley, would have occurred to any common rascal with more audacity than princr ple. It was but a spu-k the merest poinl 950 JULIUS LSNNOJL of light that showed her the verge of the precipice tow ard which one link after another of the chain of cir cumstantial evidence was dragging her. Groping dizzily among her recollection* of that Christmas night, there gleamed luridly upon her the vision of Mrs. Aylett s strange smile, as she said, " It may be that his wife, if she were cognizant of his con dition, would not lift a finger or take a step to save hi life, or to prolong it for an hour I " Then, in response to Mabel s indignant reply the momentary passion darting from her hitherto languor ous orbs, and vibrating in her accents, in adding 4 There are women in whose hearts the monument to departed affection is a hatred that can never die." If this man were a stranger, from whom she had nothing to fear, why her extraordinary agitation at see- Ing him, even imperfectly, through the window ? She must have known him well to recognize him in the darkness and at that fleeting glimpse. Perhaps she had believed him dead, until then 1 This would ac count for her clandestine visit to his chamber, to which Mrs. Sutton and her niece had gone, without effort at concealment ; explain the iigid examination of his clothing ensuing upon her scrutiny of his features. u I must be mad ! " Mabel said, here, pressing her hand to her head. " There does net live the woman, however wicked and hypocritical, who could sit at ease ID the midflt of ill-gotten luxury, on an inclement JULIUS LSNNOJL 251 uight, and talk smilingly of other things, if she suspect* ed that one she had known, much less loved, lay dying in wretchedness and solitude so near her." The vagrant was some evil-disposed spy, whose per son Clara knew, and whose intentions she had reason to dread were unfriendly. Had she dared for she wai daring to attempt this nefarious plot against the fair fame and happiness of an honorable gentleman, her family would not have become her accomplices. They could not have blinded themselves to the perils of the enterprise, the extreme probabilities of detection, the consequences of Winston s anger. Herbert, at least, vrould have forbidden the unlawful deceit. When his jister was wedded to Winston, he believed that her first husband was no longer in the land of the living as ihe must also have done, " For he is a good an upright man I " thought the *if e. " But he was privy to the fact of her previous caarriage! Why have I never heard of it? He has invariably spoken of Clara as having lived single in her mother s house up to the date of her union with my brother." She could not but remember, likewise, that there was a certain tone about the Dorrance connection she had never quite comprehended or liked a reticence with respect to details of family history, while they were voluble upon generalities, over-fond of lauding one another s exploits, virtues, and accomplishments ; refer- 253 JULIUS LXNNQX. ring in wonderful pride to "our beloved fathta," and extolling " our precious mother," who, by the way, wai so little in request among the children, that she had, since Clara s marriage, occupied apartments in a second rate boarding-house in Boston. Mabel, when ocnvinced of the futility of her hope of having Aunt Rachel with her, had proposed to offer Mrs. Dorrance a house in the commodious mansion of her youngest son ; but Heibert, with no show of gratification at what he must have known was a sacrifice of her inclinations, had coolly reasoned down the suggestion. The whole tribe if she excepted her husband, and perhaps Clara had, to her perception, a tinge of Bohemianism, although all were in comfortable circumstances, and lived showily. Mabel had often chided herself for uncharitable judg ment and groundless prejudice, in admitting these im pressions of her relatives-in-law ; but they returned up on her in this twilight Teverie with the force of convic tions she was, each moment, less able to combat. What darker secret lay back of the concealment her rectitude of principle and sense of justice declared to be unjust ifiable? and might not this concerted and persistent reserve imply others yet more culpable ? It showed her correct estimate of her brother s char acter, that she never for a second accused him of con- nival: ce in the deceit practised upon his relations and neighbors. He would not have scrupled to wed widow, knowing and acknowledging her to be such. JULIUS zjurzrcx 63 Nothing not love, tenfold more ardent and irrational than that he felt for his siren wife could have wrought upon him to introduce to the world, as Mrs. Aylett of Ridgeley, one who had been hef ore married, and wai ashamed, for any cause whatever, to avow this. The blemish left by the acrid breath of common scandal upon a woman s fame was to him ineffaceable by any process yet discovered by pitying man or angels. The maligned one may not have erred from the straitest road of virtue and discretion, but she had been " talked about," and was no consort for him. In his State and caste, private marriages were things disallowed, and but one shade more respectable than liasons that did not pretend to the sanctity of wedlock. "What would he say when the contents of this dingy pocket-book were spread before him ? Ought his sister to do this ? Could she ? He had not earned compassionate con sideration from her by any act of gentleness and for bearauce. He had handled the lopping-knif e without ruth, and let the gaping wounds bleed as long as the bitter ichor would ooae from her heart She had learned hardness and self-control from the lesson, but not vin- dictiveness. Now that the power was hers to visit upon his haughty spirit something of the humiliaticc and iistresi he had not spared her; that it was her turn to harangue upon mesaUiances and love-matches, and want of circumspect investigation into early reorda Before committing one s self to a contract of marriage JTULIUB *he recoiled at the thought ; felt, in her exceeding pity for the trustful husbasd, a stirring of the love she Lad he^^elf once borne him in the days when the changed homestead was her world, and its master a king among men. And yet and yet was it the truest friendship the most prudent course to prolong the ignorance which left him liable at any moment to be shocked into the perpetration of some desperate deed by the discovery, through some other channel, of his wife s perfidy, and &e abominable mare that had been woven about him! CHAPTER JLtV. ABEL was still turning the vexed qnertion d right and expediency over in her fast-heating brain, the next evening, as she sat in the parlor, and feigned to hearken to the diligent duett- practising going on at the piano, her husband and Mrs Ajlett being the performers. Mrs. Sutton had gone home that afternoon, engaging to return for a longer sojourn in the course of a month. Mr. Aylett read his newspaper at one side of the cen tre table, and his sister employed her fingers and eyes at the other with a trifle of fancy-work an anti macassar she was crocheting for hei hostess. Her in dustrious or fidgetty habits were chronic and inveterate, and people, oi remarking upon them, did not Deflect that this species of restlessness is in itself a disease, seldom analyzed, more seldom cured. There are few students or physicians of human nature, in this world of superficial observers, who go deep ecough into the tpringi of man s action to distinguish the extern** (959) 256 "BO&ff J3EAD." lymptoms of heart-cancer from ossification, or to learn the difference between satiety and atrophy. A night of nervous sleeplessness, a day of irresolution and Iread, had aggravated almost beyond her control tin restlessness which in Mabel was the unerring indica tion of unhealthiness of mind and body. To sit still was impracticable; to talk connectedly and easily would soon be as difficult. She was glad to see Aunt Rachel go immeasurably relieved when a musical evening was proposed by the brother and sister, second ing the motion with alacrity that called forth a pleased smile from the one, and a look of surprised inquisitive ness from the other. " You have grown more fond of instrumental music/ aaid Mrs. Aylett, half interrogatively. " You used a) ways to prefer vocaL" " Try me and see what an appreciative listener I am," rejoined Mabel, with a sickly smile, and the concert commenced. Overmuch thought upon the revelation of the pre- eediBg day had begotten in her, fears of the imminence of the danger to Winston s peace of mind a persua iion that the bird* of the air and the restless air itself might bear to him the news she still withheld. Mammy had averred, upon her cross-examination, that "not a living soul had ever seen the wallet " sin Be it fell from the dying man s pocket an affirmation Mabel could "3Q&N JDJSAD" 957 not decide whether to believe or discredit If she could but be certain that the secret was all hers t She trembled guiltily when her brother folded hii last paper, and sauntered around to the back r.f her chair, leaning npon it, while he affected to be interested in her work, and the too-ready scarlet blood pulsed now hotly in her cheeks with each moment of his mute observation. " I heard a piece of news to-day," he said, presently, in his most even tone ; bnt Mabel s start npon her seat was almost a leap, while her fingers moved faster and more irregularly. " I suspect, from your unsettled demeanor this even ing, that it reached you before it did me," continued he. " I can attribute your badly suppressed pertuba- tion to no other cause. Mrs. Button is such an indef at- igable gossip, that this item could hardly have passed her by. Has she told you that Bosa TazeweU is short ly to become Mrs. Qulton!" "She has." He thought she was nerving herself to a simulation of hardihood, and the long-indulged habit of censor ship was strong upon him. I had trusted, until to-day, Mabel, that you had conquered that disgraceful weakness," he resumed, yet more pitilessly. Domination was one of his besetting sins. He never aw a helpleai or cowering thing without feeling th* "BOW DXAD." inclination to set his foot upon it, and the letst shew of resistan 30 in snch, piqned him into despotism, " I was aware that it was not dead when you JMUT- ried a man worth a thousand such scoundrels as thai fellow in Philadelphia. I believed that the sentimeni was powerful in impelling you to that marriage, and that this irrevocable measure would be an antidote tx* the evil. It was a wise course, and I commended you for pursuing it But I am too well read in your coun tenance and moods not to see that there is something far amiss with you. You have been playing a part for twenty-four hours, and you have played it wretchedly. Tour nervous flutters and laugh, your sudden changes of complexion, and the incoherence of your language, would betray you to the least penetrating observer. I caution you to be on your guard lest your husband should take just offence at all this. The need of dis simulation is the evidence that something is radically wrong in your moral nature, and is derogatory to your lawful partner. I am ashamed to remind you of the golden niftirim of wedded life that without perfect and mutual confidence there can be no substantial hap piness. Does Dorrance know of your escapade at the Springs?" " If you refer to my engagement to Mr. Ghilton, I told him of it before our marriage." " I rejoice to hear it am pleased at this one proof tf good sense and right feeling," in lofty patronage "BOBN DEAD" 2*9 You owed him no lees. You have, without doubt been informed long since how I obtained the most im portant proof against that villain ? " " I have not heard Mr. Chilton s name in a yea. 01* til yesterday," said Mabel, the scarlet spots ceasing to dicker, and her voice hard as was his own. Unable to interpret her sudden steadiness of de meanor and accent, Winston leaped to the irritating conclusion that she was sullen, and meditated a defiant retreat from this untimely usurpation of his olden an- hority. " It was injudicious miserably ill-judged in Dor- ranee not to acquaint you with this. I have always feared lest his indulgence might not be the most salu tary method of repressing your self-will and pride of opinion. You, more than any other woman I know, require the tight rein of vigilant discipline. I inti mated as much to Dorrance when he asked my consent to your engagement. But this is his lookout, not mine. What I began to say was that, in my opinion, he would have acted more sensibly had he not encour aged your squeamish repugnance to talking of youi early fault and its mortifying consequences." " Fortunately for me, my husband is a man of feel ing and delicacy I * Mabel was graded to boast. "I 8.id to him, the evening of our betrothal, that the sub ject you have cnosen to revive to-night was painful tc 260 "00&2T XUK1ZX* me, and he haw respected the reluctance you BOH- denm." "He would have overcome it more quickly and thoroughly had he informed you that he had had th honor of horse-whipping your ci-devant betrothed I" sneered Winston, with white dinted nostrils. "That he was the author of the letter, a portion of which I copied for your perusal, when I announced the disso lution of your provisional engagement the main agent, in effect, of the rupture, since but for him I should have had much difficulty in proving what I had believed from the beginning that the rascal ought to be shot for presuming to think of you in any othei light than as the merest acquaintance. And he should never have been that, had I been with you that un lucky summer." " We have been over that ground so often, Winston, that both of us should be tolerably familiar with it," rejoined Mabel, decidedly. " I prefer that, instead o* reviewing the circumstances of what you term mj early fault, you should show me the evidence of your singular assertion respecting Mr. Dorrance s agency in a matter in which he could not at that time have had the slightest personal interest. Or, shall I ask him ? It is an enigma to me." Without other answer than a contemptuous laugh, Winston left the room, unnoticed by the musicians. But before she could form a conjecture as to th* to&AD" 261 meaning of his abrupt movement, he was back *ith a letter in his hand. r< Documentary testimony ! " he said, shortly, passing It to her. " I should have forwarded it entire, instead of transcribing an extract, but for Clara s fear lest yon should be led thereby to dislike her brother before yon had ever seen him. I take it there is no danger oi prejudicing you against him now ! n The letter was from Herbert Dorrance, and began thus: AYUCTT: "Dewr Sir, Your favor of the 15th, enclosed io *ne from my sister, reached me this morning." Then followed the eayposd of Frederic Chilton s mis deeds, which Winston had transferred to his own epis tle to Mabel, as the leading argument in his refusal to ganctiou her engagement. Mabel read it through without flinching; then turned over to the first page and put her finger upon a paragraph. " Who was the lady here mentioned ? " Mr. Aylett shrugged his fine shoulders. " I have never interested myself to inquire. Beyond the statement cf your friend s rascality, the story wai tothing to me." "Herbert!" "BOW DRADS The ringing call sharp and clear -checked the pianists in the middle of a bar. " Step here a moment, if you please ! " The novelty of the imperative tone and the glittei jf his wife s eyes moved Mr. Dorrance to more prompt compliance than he would have adjudged to be dignified and husbandly in the case of another man. Mabel held out the letter at his approach, still point ing to the passage she had asked her brother to ex* plain. " To whom does this refer ? Who was the relative whose husband was a naval officer ? " Herbert Dorrance s constitutional phlegm was a val nable ally in the very contracted quarters into which this question drove him, but his sister was his deliv erer. Affecting forgetfulness of the letter and its con tents, he glanced down one page, Mrs. Aylett leaning upon his arm, and reading with him. " 1 don t think you need mind telling the name, here and at this late day, Herbert," she said, seriously ind slowly, "provided Mabel will never repeat the story when it can do harm. Have you never heard %ny of us speak of poor Ellen Lester, my mother^ niece, who died several years before your marriage 1 " fcccoeting her sister-in-law, with a face so devoid of aught resembling cowardly or guilty fears, thai M* "BORN DEAD." 263 bel s brain, tried and shaken, tottered into disbelief f her own wild surmises. Net that I remember I " * la that so? Yet it might easily have been. She accompanied her husband upon his last voyage, and the ship was never heard of again. Her parents aie dead, too, BO there are few to cherish her memory She was a school-fellow of mine, and Herbert loved her as a sister " Mabel was gasing fixedly at her husband s stolid countenance and averted eyes, and made no rejoinder nntil the silent intensity of her regards compelled him to look up. Heading distrust and alarm in these, he shook off his sister s warning hold. " When you wish to catechise me upon family mat ters, Mabel, it is my wish that you should do it in pri vate," he said, roughly. "Then you shall learn ail that it concerns you to know. There are subjects into which only prurient curiosity cares to pry." " I beg your pardon ! " answered Mabel, quietly. " I have but to say, in self -defence, that I did rot ask to see the letter." "It is a matter of profound indifference to me whether you did or not," was the reply. " For aught that I know or cared, you may have read iC a year and a half ago. I retract nothing that is set d vm ther*, Clara, shall we go on with our music ? " G landing around stealthily at the finale of tK * 264 "JKUBT DMA&* ho saw that Mabel s chair was vacant, and Mr. was reading composedly beneath the lamp. Clara made the same discovery at the same moment, r*id canie forward laughing to her husband. " What had you been saying to our dear, excitable Mabel, that challenged the introduction of that unfor tunate document ? " "Told her of Frederic Chilton s intended mar riage I " curtly, and without laying aside his volume. " Preposterous I " " I agree with you but it is the truth." Herbert stood apart glowing at the fire. " You must have approached the subject unskil fully," urged the peacemaker. " These old aores are oest left alone." " It is best for married woman to have none," re ported Winston, doggedly. " She does not persist in doubting his unworthiness, does she?" queried the wife, aside, but not so cau tiously that her brother did not hear her. He wheeled about suddenly. " She shall believe it, or call me a liar to my face! " he uttered, angrily. " I will put a stop to this senti mental f oily ! " "You are late in begmning your reforms," observed Mr. Aylett, dryly. " You are a loss sensible man than I give you sredit tar being, if you ever begin!" interposed his water. "JWWfct JCUUA* 16* "Leave Mabel to herself until the recovers from the ehock if it be one of this intelligence. The surest means of keeping alive a dying coal is to stii and blow upon it And even we" lifting the heavy Locks of her husband s hair in playful dalliance "even we are mortal We have had our peccadilloes and our repentances, and have now our little coixseal ments of affairs that would interest nobody but onr selves. Do you hear what I am saying, Herbert I Leave off your high tragedy airs and attend to reason, %s expressed in your sister s advice. While your wife is my invalid guest, I will not have her subjected to any inquisitorial process. There is a time for every thing under the sun, saith the preacher. This is the neason for tender forbearance, and if need be, of for giveness." Herbert blessed her humane tolerance in his alarmed neart, when Mabel awoke from her troubled slumbers at midnight, in extreme pain, that culminated before dawn, in convulsions. Two physicians were hastily summoned, and when Mrs. Button arrived abo^it noon, she met Phillis out side the door of the sick-chamber, carrying a lifeless infant in her arms, and weeping bitterly. This was the end of the months of hopeful longing and glad anticipation which were Heaven s messengers of healing and comfort to the sick and lonely heart The cunningly-fashioned robes were never to have * 266 "HOKZT 3RAD* wearer, the clasping arms to remain gtLL empty. C*a wondrous mystery past finding out ct the humaa Bonl! Had the lungs once heaved with breath, the heart given one throb ; the eyes caught one beam of Heaven s light ere they were sealed fast in etern* darkness, she, who travailed with the infant through the inexpressible agony of birth, would have been writ ten a mother among women; have had the right ac corded her, without the cavil of formalist or the dis putations of science, to claim the precious thing as hei own still a living baby-spirit that had fluttered back to the bosom of the Almighty Father, after alighting, for one painful moment, upon the confines of the lowei world. As it was, custom ordained that there should be no mourning for what had never really been. An guish, hope, and the patient love at which we do not scoff when the mother-bird broods over the eggs that may never hatch these were to be no more named or remembered. In silence and without sympathy she must endure her disappointment. The tenderest woman about whose knees cluster living children, and who has sowed in tears the blessed seed, that in the resuirection-morn shall be gathered in beauteous rheaves of richest recompense would smile in pity ing contempt over the tiny headstone which should be lettered " Bom Dead." All this and much more Mabel was to learn with the return of health and reason, but she lay now, like DXA1) 267 who had passed for herself the narrow sea that aeparates the Now from the Hereafter ; her feature! chiselled into the unmoving outlines of a waxen .anage, only a feeble flutter of breath and pulse telling that this was lethargy, not death. They watcned her aL night, Mrs. Button on one side and Phillis on the other, the family physician stealing in with slippered tread from hour to hour, to note with his sensitive touch if the few poor drops of vital blood yet trickled from veins to heart, always with the same directions, " Give her the stimulant while she can swallow it. It is the only hope of saving her." Armed with this, the two devoted women fought the Destroyer, praying inaudibly, while they wrought, for the life of the child they had reared to her sor rowful womanhood. u IIJs asleep, and so is she ! " whispered Fhillis, once, pointing alternately to the adjoining room where Herbert Dorrance awaited the issue of this criticaJ stage of his wife s illness, and to Mrs. Aylett s chamber across the halL " The Lord forgive em both 1 It won t be they two that will shed many tears if so be fche doesn t see the light of another day the mar- dercd lamb ! They tormented the life out of her. I passed by her room last night before bed-time, ard heard her a-sobl; in and t-albV to herself, and walkin up and down the floor, and tftey a-bangin way on tht pyano down in the parlor I " "BORN DEAD." The faithful creature s prejudice wronged one of the hated pair. Mrs. Aylett s slumbers upon her downy couch might be none the less serene for her sister-in-law*g danger, but Herbert s was the sleep of exhaustion, not uallousness. He had been np all the previous night, md racked by the wildest anxiety throughout the in tervening day, and to compass this vigil was beyond his physical powers. Mabel would not miss him, and he could do nothing for her would only be in the way, oeing totally unpractised in the art of nursing, he reasoned ; and there was no telling what new draught upon his strength the morrow might bring. He would just lie down for an hour ; then he would be fresh for whatever service might be required of him. With this prudent resolve, he threw himself along the bed in the spare-room, and was oblivious of everything sub lunary until sunrise. " If there should be any change, call me ! " Mrs. ^ylett had enjoined, plaintively. " Winston will not hear of my sitting up, but I shall not close my eyes all night, so do not hesitate to disturb me, if I can be of afoy use whatever." Which, it is idle to remark, was the last thing either of the nurses thought of doing. If their darling were, in truth, dying, they were the fittest persona to receive her latest sigh ; for had they not been present at her birth, and did not her mother go to glory from their supporting anoan t BOMXf aSAD," 36* There was a change, and not a favorable one, befcw iaybreak. Tne patient, from nmtterings ani restlesf tarts, passed into violent delirium, laughing, crying, and singing in a style so opposed to the prescribed di agnosis of her case, as to lash the provincial doctor to his wits end, and extinguish hi Aunt Kachel p s sanguine heart the faint hope to which she had clung until now. Herbert, awakened finally by the turbulent sounds from the room he had been told must be kept perfectly quiet, jumped up, and showed himself, with disordered hair and blinking eyes, in the door of coinmunicatioD just as Mabel struggled to rise, and pleaded weepingly with those who held her down that they would restore her child to her. " I had her hi my arms not a moment ago ! " she insisted. " See ! the print of her little head is here on my breast ! You have taken her away among you t I saw it all those who ordered that it should be done and those who did it, when I was too weak to hold her, or to keep them back ! " And passing from the height of furious invective to deadly and earnest calm, she told them off upon her fingers. "Clara Aylett! Kosa TareweU! Winston Aylett! (he married Clara Louise Dorrance, you know *) Her bert Dorrance I Julius Lennox ! " The household was astir by this time, and Mrs. Ay lett entered from the hall as \JKT brother did from hit 270 "BOW DEAD." bedroom. There was but one spectator who was eiently composed to note and marvel at the scared look exchanged by the two at the sound of toe last name. This was Mr. Aylett, who, from his position behind hig wife, had an excellent view of all the actors in the excit ing tableau before she fell back, swooning, in hii arms. He was alone with her in their chamber when she re- vived, and the earliest effort of her restored conscious ness was to seize both his hands in hers, and scan his face searchingly it would seem agonizingly until his fond smile dispelled the unspoken dread. " Ah ! " she murmured, hiding her face upon his bosom, " she is still alive, then ! I thought I thought " a mighty sob " Don t despise your weak, eilly wife, darling 1 but it was very terrible ! I believed it was the last struggle, and was appalled at the sight And my poor Herbert ! he was frightfully overcome Did you notice him I Will you send him to me, dear I I can soothe him better than any one else prepare him for what is, I fear, inevitable. I shall not give way again to my terrors." The brother and sister were still together when word was brought, two hours later, that Mabel had fallen ; n- to a profound sleep a good oinen, the doctor said. " Thank Heaven 1 " ejaculated Herbert, fervently, his eyes softening until he timed away to conceal hi* emotion. "BC&N 4JE4A" 271 He was haggard with solicitude, while Mrs. Ayletfi healthful bloom betokened slight interest in the :er mination of the seizure, a glance at which had thrown ber into a faint. Nor did she echo the thanksgiving She waited until the messenger had gone, and contin ued the conversation her entrance had interrupted. " I incline to the belief that she caught the name, in some manner, on Christmas before last. He was delirious, too, and although doctor and nurse reported .hat he did not speak articulately after he was brought <n, she may have heard more than they. From what has been told me, I gather that she was in the room with him alone, while Mrs. Button was down-stairs looking for Dr. Ritchie. In a lucid interval he may have given his name possibly some particulars of his history. Unless are you positive there has been no indiscretion on your part, or that others may have talked negligently to her, because she was a mem ber of the family ? " " There are topics of which we your mother, wa ter, and brothers never speak, even to one another. You may trust us that far," rejoined Herbert, em phatically. " Nor do I see what we can do, except wait for other proof that Mabel really knows anything beyond a name she has picked up at random and never, to my knowledge, repeated, save in her ravings. Should ghe recover, the test can be easily applied, and we cat judge then, how to handle the dilemma." ST2 "BGEN J3JLU3." " Should she recover ! " He said the words reluct antly, as loth to express the doubt. His sister s lips twitched nervously into a sinistei smile. It was as if she would have whispered, had she dared, " Heaven forbid I " " You have chosen a toilsome and a perilous path, Clara," he resumed, by and by. " I do not wonder that you are, with all your courage and sanguine trust in your own powers, sometimes disquieted, and often weary." u Who says that I am ever weary ? And did you aver know me to disquiet myself in vain ? " with the low, musical ripple of laughter that belonged to her bonniest mood. " Had I been born in the classic age, I should have been a devout disciple of Epicurus. Don t imagine that my success has not, thus far, amply repaid me for my toil and ingenuity. Having lived upon excitement all my days, I should starv* without it Pleasure, like safety, is the dearer for be tag plucked from that evergreen nettle, Danger t " CHAPTER THE GOOD HE snows of ten winters had powdered the name less stranger s grave in the servant s burial- ground of the Ridgeley plantation. For nin years the wallet taken from his person had lain unopened in a hidden drawer of Mabel Dorrance i escritoire, and the half -guessed secret been hidden in her breast. Mammy Phillis had followed her mistres* to the tomb, six months after her removal from b&* beloved cottage to the despised " quarters." She neve* held up her head from the day of her degradation^ died from a broken heart, murmured those who best knew her of a "fit of spleen," said Mrs. Aylett, in cool reprehension of her Tmmii.Tmp.r1y vassal Mabel had guarded the mystery well. Her husband examined her covertly, as he thought; awkwardly, ac cording to her ideas with regard to the vagaries of her delirium, and was foiled by the grave simplicity of her manner and replies. u All she knows or remembers is substantially thii," 18 078) 274 TUB GOOD SAMA&SIAff. Herbert jotted down in his notes for his sister s peru- b*] : " she has associated in some way she cannot teL exactly how or why the nair e with the tramp who died in the garret. She is net sore that it was hii iesignatbn. Thinks it was not, or that, if used by him, *.. was an alias. Has an impression that it was marked apon his clothing, or upon a paper found in his pocket. Showed no agitation and little interest in the subject, except when she inquired if I saw the stranger at all living or dead. Was glad I could reply truly, No. Answer seemed to gratify her, which you may consider a disagreeable augury. Am convinced that her illness resulted from natural and unavoidable causes that neither F C nor J L had any connection with it. It will be months before mind and body recover their tone." " Lawyerly 1 ergo, absurd and unsatisfactory ! " pro nounced the reader, to whom the foregoing leaf had been committed on the morning ef her brother s de parture with his slowly-convalescing wife for their Albany home. "But until the nettle pricks more nearly, I shall continue to enjoy my roses." They had blossomed thickly about her path during this decade. Her matronly beaaty was the wonder and praise of the community. The changing seasons that had bleached the locks upon her husband s temples and heightened his forehead had spared the Ironzed chestnut of her luxuriant tresses. Her figure was larger and TEE GOOD 8AXARITAN. 27* fuller, but graceful, and more qaeenly than ol jore if that could be. There was not an untunefiL inflec tion in her voice, or a furrow between her brows. Under her careful management the homestead wore every year an air of increased elegance. No other furniture for many miles on both sides of the river could compare with hers; no other servants were BO well-trained, no grounds so beautifully ornamented and trimly kept. " But for all that Ridgeley is a lonely, desolate place to me," said Mrs. Sutton, one early spring morning to her niece and crony, Mrs. William Sutton. " A house without children is worse than a last year s bird s nest. It is a riddle to me how Clara Aylett contrives to occupy her time." " She should have some of these socks to darn, if it hangs upon her hands," replied Mrs. William, humor ously, running her five fingers through the toe of one she had just picked up from the great willow basket set between the two upon the porch-floor. " The Lord isn t very apt to make mothers out of that sort of material," said the elder lady. *Nor fathers out of Winston Ayletts. They are so wrapped up k their self-consequence as to have no thought foi others." "Yet they say Mr. Aylett regrets that he has no heir. It is a great pity Mabel lost her only child a* fc7*> THS GOOD SAMARITAN. she did. The family will become extinct in another generation. It is such a noble estate, too I " " Large families were never the rule among the Ay ietts," responded Aunt Rachel. " Bnt I did hope My dear Mabel would be an exception to the rest in thin respect. She would adopt a little girl, but her husband will not consent. Those Dorrances are a cold-hearted race. He, too, is heaping up riches, without knowing who shall gather them. Heigh-ho ! " Her darning-needle quilted the yawning heel of Tommy Button s sock with precision and celerity, and she ruminated silently upon the vicissitudes and fail ures of mortal life until she was interrupted by Mrs. William s exclamation : " There is Mrs. Tazewell s carriage at the gate, and the driver has a letter in his hand. I hope the old lady is not worse I " Aunt Eachel met the man at the steps, with neigh borly anxiety. u How is your mistress, Jack ! " " Bout the same, ma am. But Miss Rosa she came last night very unexpected, and it kinder worsted Mistis to see her so poorly. This note is from Miss ttosa. ma am, and I am to take back an answer." Mrs. Button read it standing in the porch the icented leaflet that had a look of the writer all over it froin the scarlet monogram at the top of the sheet and upon the envelope, to the flourish of the signature TRS GOOD SAMABITAJr* T. <7." the curl of the C carried around the rest like a medallion frame : 44 DEAR, GOOD Auisrr I&AOHEL, I have come to Old Virginia to try and shake off an uncomfortable cougli which has haunted me all winter. The Northern quacks can do nothing for me. One ray of this de licious sunshine is worth ail their nostrums. I wai not prepared to find mamma helpless, or I should nol have descended upon her so unceremoniously. Being here, I cannot retreat in good order or with safety to my health, nor without wounding her. Frederic must return to Philadelphia next week, by which time 1 hope to be quite invigorated. Now for my audaciout proposal. Can you come over and tell me how to gel well in the quickest and least troublesome way ? Dea? Auntie! you loved me once. When you see what poor, spiritless shadow I have grown or lessened to be, you will care a little bit for me again, for tht sake of lang syne." Mrs. Button wiped her spectacles and gave the not* to her niece. u There is but one thing for me to do, you see, my dear. Jack 1 I shall be ready in twenty minutes." If the line of duty wavered before her sight during the three-mile drive, it lay straignt and distinct ahead of her when the atood ID lioaa s chamber. THE QOOJj "My child I" she ejaculated, upon the thresholds u you did not tell me that you were confined to your bed!" " I ought not to be ! " The rebellious pout and tone were Rosa s, as were also the black eyes unnaturally large and bright though they were but the pretty lips were wan, and strained by lines of pain ; the pomegranate flush was no longer variable, and was nestled in hollows, and the hands were wasted to translucency. " I am quite strong enough to be up, wad would be, if my tyrannical doctors and their tractable tool, my lord and master, had not decreed that I shall lie here until midday, if I am very obedient ; eat ^iy meals ; take their poisonous medicines, and abstain trom coughing. If I offend in any of these particulars * am not to rise until three o clock when they are i an especially glum humor not at all that day. Sat now you ar* here, we shall combat them valorousl* Dear Auntie I s putting the thin arms about the old fogy s plump neck, and laughing through a spring raL of tears, "how gcod and safe it is to be with you again ! And you are the same kind, lovely darling ! no cider by a day no aglier by a solitary wrinkle 1 I couldn t sleep last aight, for fearing you would not come to me ! " " You should not have doubted it, dear ! " said the motherly voice, blithe as affectionate, while soft, agile finger* undid the tight embrace, and commenced, from THE SOOD SAMARITAN. 879 the force of habit, to arrange the tumbled bed-clothes. " Wherever I can be of most use is the place in which I wish to be." " I snow you have always lived for others," answered Rosa, with an involuntary sigh, a shadow glooming her eyes. " For whom else should I live and work ? " laughed Mrs. Sutton, in her cheerful, guileless fashion. " My personal wants are few and easily supplied, and I like to be busy. I account it a privilege to be able to fuss about my friends when they are ailing." By way of doing as she liked, she attacked the dis orderly room. Rosa s three trunks stood in a row against the wall all of them open the tray of the largest lying beside it upon the carpet, the lid of this thrown back and the contents in utter confusion ; laces hanging over the sides and trailing upon the floor. A Basket of medicines was uppermost in the next trunk, crushing a confused medley of collars, ribbons, gloves, and handkerchiefs. A dressing-gown lay upon the leat ot one chair, a skirt over the back of another ; boots and slippers peeped from the valance of the an tique bedstead ; there was a formidable array of bottles upon mantel and bureau conspicuous among them cod-liver oil, cologne, acd laudanum incongruous appendages to the various appliances cf trie toilette scattered between them, Mrs. Sutton understood it all the hurry and agit* 280 THB GOOD SAMA&TTAJf. tion of the unlooked-for arrival; the faintness and prostration of the consumptive ; the restless night, and the well-meant but inefficient ministrations of negroei in an establishment where the mistress had been feeble for years, and was now chained to her room and chaii by paralysis. "And Rosa was always an indolent flyabout in health ; accustomed to have a score of servants at her heels to pick up whatever she dropped or threw aside," she said to herself. " My Mabel was a pink of neat ness and order compared with her. Dear me ! here is a bottle of oil, cracked, and an immense grease-spot in the front breadth of a splendid silk dress! I hope these things do not annoy her as they would me I " Whether the universal disarray made Rosa uncom fortable or not, she enjoyed the aspect of the tidj apartment, when her nurse brought her noiseless labor* to a close by exchanging her night-gown for a flanneu wrapper; putting clean linen upon her and the bed; combing the tangled hair and washing her hands, wrists, and face in tepid water, interfused with co logne. " It prevents a sick person from taemg cold wneu bathed, and freshens her up wonderfully, I think," wai her explanation of the fragrant preparation. u You freshen me more than all things else com* bined!" said Rosa, gratefully. "Ah, auntie! how often I have thought of, and wished for you thii GOOD BAMABFTAX. 281 tedious and dismal winter! I need to spend entire weeks in bed, attended by a horrid hired nurse, who took snuff and drank - ugh I and snnbbed and terrified me whenever I as she described it * took a notion into my head ; that is, when I asked for something she thought was too troublesome for her ladyship to prepare, or wanted Fred to stay all night in my roorn^ or sit by me in the evening, and pet me. She * couldn t bear to have men around, cluttering up everything ! " he would growl the instant his back was turned, with a deal more of the same talk, until I was afraid to ask him to take a seat the next time he came in. He was continually bringing home baskets of fruit, and game, and bouquets for me. She let me have the flowers, but she ate nine-tenths of the nice things herself, I never suspecting her, and he was too delicate to ask if 1 enjoyed his presents. At length he surprised her in &e act of devouring a bunch of hot-house grapes, for wrhich he had paid almost their weight in gold, and then all came to light, and he sent her off in a hurry. Poor Fred, there were great tears in his eyes when he learned what persecution I had undergone, rather thaa "ex him by complaints." " It would have been better had you told him sooner, dear t It would have spared you and him much suffer- ing" " J knew how engrossed he was by nis business, and how ignorant he was of household or medical matter* 232 THB GOOD SAMARITAN. and I savud him all the bother I conic 3 I have tried, in some things and some times, to DO a good wife, A ant Kachel ! But often I have failed, O, how egre giously \ and n beginning to weep " the thought piereee my heart by day and by night. What if I never have an opportunity of doing any better, cl covering up the traces of my footsteps ? " Mrs. Button patted the wasted hand with her cool one, but essayed no other soothing. " Where is your husband now ? I understood from four note that he was with you." " He rode over to Dr. Bitchie s this morning, directly he had given me my breakfast. He thinks highly of his skill, and he would not be contented without bring ing him to see me. I really believe he is anxious I should get well 1 Strange isn t it ? when I am such a burden upon his mind and hands." Aunt Kachel smiled. " Not at all strange, you ridiculous child I Two of the most dearly-loved wives I ever knew were invalids, and bedridden, not for wetLs only, but for years. You can best show your grati .ade for his affection and kind ness by getting better rapidly while he is here, that he may leave you with a lighter heart." " He is kind ! too kind ! " murmured Kosa, compos ing herself among the cushions, as if to sleep. She wa& quiet so long that Mrs. Sutton had leisure for acme reflections rotating to her own personal THS GOOD SAMARITAN. 883 in the somewhat embarrassing position she occupied. She had never seen Frederic Chilton from the day ho left Kidgeley as Mabel s betrothed. His visits to the neighborhood since his marriage had been few and brief, and she had studied to avoid him whenever she happened to be with the William Buttons during one of these. He might hava guessed her design, or un wittingly favored it on hi* >wn account. The meeting could not be more pleasant to him than to her. But why had he allowed his wife to send for her ? The alteration in him must indeed be great, if he could, without a conflict with resentful and painful memories, bow his pride to sue for the services of a relative of the Ayletts, and formerly one of their household, even in such a cause as that which now commanded her sym pathies. At this point of her cogitation she became aware that Rosa s eyes were wide open, and staring at her with a whimsical blending of curiosity, melancholy, and gratification. " Aunt Rachel I w she said, bluntly, " you are a *ery good woman ! the best and most forgiving human being I ever heard of. I should not feel one particle of surprise to see you float up gently through the roof, at any minute cap, spectacles, and all translated to the society of your sister angels and no question asked by St Peter at the gate of Paradise 1 " "My love I" 284 THS atOD SAMARITAN. Well as she knew her erratic disposition and tyle of speech, Mrs. Button moved her hand toward th* patient s pulse. " I am not raving ! I speak the words of truth and soberness very sad soberness, too ! Believing as you do that Frederic was once the cause of much sorrow to you and to one you loved, and having no reason to mre one iota for me, but rather to distrust me, you nevertheless obey my call upon you for service, as if I had every right to make it. And when here, you trea* me just as you would Mabel, were her situation as de plorable, her need equal to mine." " Why shouldn t I ? " questioned Mrs. Button, simplj , " I have no ground for a quarrel with you. And if 1 had well, the truth is, my dear, I have a poor memory for such things ! " Rosa caught at the scarcely perceptible emphasis upon the " you, " and disregarded the remainder of the re mark. "You cannot yet acquit Frederic of wrong-doing I Indeed, Mrs. Button, he has been foully wronged among you. It is not because he is my husband that I say this. Mabel s name has never passed his lips - - nor mine in his hearing, since I became his wifte. And every one of the family has been equally guarded when he was by. I doubt, sometimes, if he has ever heard whom she married or where she lives so care fully hag he shunned every reference to her or any of TBS GOOD &AMAM1TAJ9. fche Kidgeley people. During the nine years fire have lived togethei, he has given me no cause to susjiect that he ever thinks of her, or laments the broken engage ment. If I have made myself wretched by imagining the contrary, it was my fault, not his my foolish, wicked jealousy. I would scorn to imply a doubt of his integrity, by reminding him of the charges pre ferred against him by Winston Aylett, and believed by bis sister much less ask him to contradict them. I never put any faith in them from the outset. It com forts me to recollect that my confidence in him stood fast when everybody else distrusted him my noble, slandered darling! But my declaration of his inno cence is founded upon his blameless life and upright principles. No one could be with him as 1 have been, and doubt him. He is a perfect man if there was ever a sinless mortal great-hearted, gentle, and sin cere. Do not I know this ? Have I not proved him lo the utmost I n Her rapid, impassioned declamation was ended by ft c >pious flood of grief that provoked a frightful fit of coughing. When this was subdued she was weaker than a, year-old infant, and lay between stupor and dreaming for so long a time, that Mrs, Suttcn became alarmed. There must be no repetition of this scene. She must ward off similar mishaps by whatever measures -jb.e could force or cajole her conscience into adopting. Rosa s state was more precarious than her account had 286 THE GOOD BAMASTTAJf. led her friend to believe, or than the nurse s experienced eye had seen at. their meeting. The main hope of lite recovery was in the warmer climate and assidnotu attendance. Above all, she should not be allowed to exhaust herself by talMng, or hysterical paroxysm She had no more self-control than a child, and she most be treated aa such. Mrs. Button s Jesuitical re solve was to humor her by every imaginable device ; even to feigned friendship for Frederic Chilton. Fortified by this resolution, she heard, without any show of pride or trepidation, the clatter of horses hoofs in the yard ; the sound of voices below stairs, as Mr. Chilton ushered the physician into the parlor, and the light, careful tread with which he mounted to his wife s apartment. His momentary pause at the entrance, and surprised look at beholding the other tenant of the chamber, were the best passport to her indulgence ho could have desired. It was clear to her instantly that poor Rosa s passion for manoeuvring had survived the wreck of health and prostration of spirits. She haa never chosen the straight path if she could find a crooked or a by-road, and her project for obtaining Mrs, Button s services and company had been put into exe cution, without consultation with her husband. How ever reprehensible this might be in the abstract, it wa* not in the kind old soul to betray her, as she advanced, placidly and civilly, to reassure the startled mar. "How are you, Mr, Chilton I You hardly expected THS GOO& SAMARITAN. 287 to meet me here, I suppose ? Bnt I am & real neighbor of Mrs. Tazewell now, and hearing that Koea was sick, I came over to see if I could do anything for her, knowing how infirm her mother is. " " You are very kind 1 " He grasped her hand moic lightly than he intended, or was conscious of. u We were ignorant ourselves of Mrs. TazewelPs true con dition. Mrs. Chilton s sisters have forwarded more en couraging reports to her of her mother s illness than they would have been warranted in doing by anything except the fear that a faithful account would operate injuriously upon the daughter s health. I should have chosen some other home for my wife, had I known the actual state of affairs here. Change of scene and cli mate was imperatively demanded." He spoke low and rapidly hardly above his breath ; out the black eyes, unclosing, flashed upon him. " So you have come back!" said Eosa s weak voice u Yon stayed away an eternity ! " Her coquettish displeasure and the asperity of hei accent contrasted BO oddly with her vehemently ex pressed attachment for her husband and extolnient of hia virtues, that Mrs. Sutton regarded her in speecLeai amazement. She submitted to his kiss, without return ing it even raising her hand pettishly as to repel fur ther endearments. " I should have died of the blue devils if Aunt Eachel hadn t, by the merest accident, heard that I was ailing, and driven over, like the Good 288 THS GOOD BAMA&ITAJf. Samaritan she is, to take pity upon me in my deatita tion ; to pour oil not cod-liver into my wounds, and wine into my mouth. She is better than all the men- doctors that were ever created ; so if you have brought /our bearded Esculapius home with you, you may tell him, with my compliments, that I won t see Kim yet awhile. He was an old beau of mine, and I hope J have too much respect for what I used to be, to let hiir get a glimpse of me until Dr. Button has set me up in wetter flesh and looks. She brought me some enchant ing jelly one of her magical preparations for the amelioration of human misery, and I am to have a bowl of her unparalleled chicken-broth for dinner. I wish dinner-time were come ! the very thought makes tae ravenous. I am to do nothing for a week, but eat, think, and sleep, at the end of which period I shall be dismissed as thoroughly cured. So, Mr. Chilton, you jan go back to your beloved clients whenever you ;>lease!" To Mrs. Button s apprehension this was an infelici tous introduction of herself to the husband s toleration. Certainly, she did not know many men who would have parried the thrusts at themselves with the dexterity he manifested, and acknowledged her merits and kindly offices willingly and gracefully. He did not apologize for his protracted absence, nor insist upon conveying his physician to the sick-chamber; but he chatted for five minutes or thereabouts upon such topics as lit THE GOOD SAMARITAN. 289 knew would entertain the captions invalid, and finally arose from the bed-side, where he had been sitting, fondling her hot hands, with a good-humored laugh. " But all the while I am enjoying myself hers, the hirsute Galen aforesaid is munching the invisible salad of the solitary in the parlor ! I am to eject him incontinently, am I ? My conscience will not let me withhold the admission, when I do this, that my wife s judgment in the matter of medical attendants is vastly superior to mine. While Mrs. Sutton is so good as to *emain with you, you are right in thinking that yon have need of no other physician." Aunt Kachel would have entered a disclaimer, but Rosa spoke before Bhe could open her mouth. "I didn t say that, Frederic 1 There was never iuch another impatient and inconsiderate creature upon the globe as yourself. It would be unpardonably rude in us to send the man away, if he is a charlatan, without letting him see me. Have him up, by all means, and let us hear wh it priggish nonsense he has to say. He will feel the easier when it is done." Dr. Ritchie s private report to Mrs. Sutton, who ac companied him to the lower floor, under color of seeing that he was served with luncheon, was discouraging. The disease had made fearful inroads upon a constitu tion that had never been robust, and the nervous excitr ability of the patient was likely to accelerate horde- dine. She might linger for several months. It woiild If 290 THE OCOD SAMARITAN. not surprise him to hear that she had died within twelve hours after his visit. It was but fair and professional he added, that he should, through Mrs. Sutton, ad vise Mr. Chilton of her state, although, unless he wert mistaken, he had already anticipated his verdict. This Mrs. Sutton found was the case, when she ea- Bayed that evening to insure him against the awful shock of his wife s unexpected dissolution. " She has never been entirely well since tLe death of our second child, a year ago, " he said. " The little one was buried on a very stormy day, and the mother would not be dissuaded from going to the cemetery The severe cold, acting upon a system enfeebled by grief, induced an attack of pneumonia. Dr. Ritchie but coincides with every other physician I have con suited." " It is a pity you are obliged to leave her so soon," observed the sympathizing nurse. " Although she maj be more comfortable a week hence than she is now." "A week 1 I had no intention of returning in lesa than a month s time. I made all my arrangements to that effect before leaving home. Rosa s reference to my desire to go back to my clients was sheer badin age " smiling mournfully. " You have heard her talk often enough to understand how little of earnest there is in the raillery." More insincerity ! For, contradic- tory as it may appear, Mrs. Sutton felt constrained to believe his unsupported word, in opposition to hia wif ft THE GOOD 3AMA&ITAJ/. 991 written assertion that he designed to return to hit prac tice the ensuing week. " She thought I would be more apt to come if 1 im agined that he would soon be gone ! " was her grieved reflection. " If she could oeguile me hither by this as surance, she trusted to her coaxings and my compassion to retain me. O Eosa I Rosa ! cannot even the honefft bour teach you to be truthful!" CHAPTER XVL THX HONEST HOUB. HE ahadow of death drew on apace to the sight of all, save the consumptive, and her semi-imbe cile mother. These seemed alike blind to the fatal symptoms that were more strongly denned with every passing day. The paralytic sat in her wheeled chair, in the March sunshine, at the window of her chamber, and talked droningly of other times and paltry pleasures to that one of her daughters or grand children whose turn it was to minister to her comfort and amusement, and insisted upon having all the neigh borhood news repeated in her dull ear with wearisome -to the narrator amplifications and reiterations, shaking with childish laughter at the humorous pas sages, and whimpering at the pathetic. Iloea cheated time cf heaviness by unceasing demands upon her at tendants for service and diversion. Unable to sleep, except at long intervals, in snatches of fitful dozing; he had A horror of being alone for an instant, from until dawn ; was ingenious in contrivance! to THE HONJS8T ffOJTM. 393 prise an unwary watcher nodding upon aer pott; plenteous and plaintive in lamentations, if the devica succeeded. Fifty times a night her pillows must be shaken, her drink, food, or medicine given, and after each of these offices had been performed, occurred the petition : " Now sit where I can see you whenever I cpen my eyes! It drives me crazy to imagine for a mo ment that I am by myself. I want to be sure all the while that some living human being is near at hand. I have such frightful dreams I I awake always with the impression that I am drowning or suffocating, or floating away into a sea of darkness alone ! " With the light of day, her spirits revived, and her hopes of speedy recovery. " You need not grudge waiting upon me now, for I shall be up and about shortly well and spry as the best of you ! " she would say. " And while I am play- ing invalid, I mean to have my quantum of attention. I have been avaricious of devotion all my life, and thi* is a golden chance that may never happen again." Her husband she would not willingly suffer to leave her for an instant But for Mrs. Button s management and kindly authority, he would have been condemned to take his meals at her bedside and from the same tray with herself. She would be removed from the bed to the lounge by no other arms than his, and at ny hour of the twenty-four he was liable to be called 294 THS 30XTB8T UOUB. upon to read, sing, or talk her into compos are. Varia ble as ever in mood and fancy, and more capricious hi the exhibition of these, she was fond, sullen, teasing, and mirthful with him as the humor of the moment dictated ; sometimes assailing him with reproaches for his indifference and want of regard for her wishes and tastes, now that she was no longer young, pretty, and sprightly ; at others, clinging to him with protestations of repentance and love, bewailing her waywardness and imploring his forbearance; then, taking him to *ask for the slightest inadvertence the spilling of a drop of her medicine or jarring of her sofa or bed ; anon lauding him to the skies as the most skilful nurse she had, and enjoining upon all about her to render verbal testimonial to his irreproachableness as husband and man oh 1 it was a wearisome, oftentimes a re volting duty to listen to and bear with it all keep in mind though one did that the intolerable restlessness preluded centuries of dreamless repose. Mrs. Button could endure everything eke better and she believed that it was the same with Frederic than the needless and puerile trickery to which Rosa resorted to achieve the most trivial purposes. If she wished that one of her sisters should pass the day with her, or to sit up for a part of the night, she worked upon her by means of others intercessions, or broached ihe subject by covert passages, the end of which, she flattered herself, was successfully masked, until her THE HONEST HOUR. train was ready for explosion. Did she set her f anej upon any particular article of diet, the sanne tort~ouf course was pursued to present the delicacy in questior? to the mind of him or her who, she designed, should be the provider. Under her sauciest rattle of fun or per versity lurked some subtle meaning. She had either some end to subserve, or wanted to possess herself of some bit of information she could have gained sooner and more easily by direct inquiry. Cajolery and in trigue had become a second nature, stronger than the original ; and it never occurred to her that her wiles, in her mental and bodily decadence, were transparent as they had once been artful. A discovery, made on the fourth day of her visit, ex cited Mrs. Button s sympathies in behalf of the much enduring husband to a pitch it required long and serious pondering upon the wife s weakness and critical condition to restrain from indignant demonstration. Rosa was sleeping more soundly than usual under the influence of an anodyne, and Frederic, with a whispered apology to his coadjutor, went into the next oom, leaving the door ajar. From her seat, Mrs. Snt ton had a distinct view of him in an opposite mirror a circumstance of which she was not aware for several minutes. Happening, then, to look up from her knit ting she saw that he was writing, and half an hour af terward that he was leaning back in his chair, looking Rt something in the hollow of his hand, a mingling cl 290 TBS HONEST BOWL sack love and sadness in his countenance that she felt it would be unlawful prying into his most sacred feel ings for her to watch him longer. He turned his head at the slight rustle she made in removing to another part of the room, and beckoned to her. At her ap proach, he arose and held out a morocco case, contain ing the miniature of a child a bright-eyed, delicate- featured girl of seven or eight summers exquisitely painted. " You have never seen my little Florence, I think ? " "I have not She is pretty and resembles you strongly." He did not color or laugh at the unconscious com pliment, or seem pleased at her praise of his darling. Instead, there crept over his face a shade of more painful sadness, darkening his eyes and compressing his lip, as he answered " So every one says. She is the dearest child in the world a sunbeam of gladness in any house amia ble, affectionate, and intelligent. I wish you would read her last letter to me. She is a better correspon dent than many grown people." Then, smiling, apolo getically, "If my commendation seem overstrained, you will excuse a father s partiality." The letter although the unformed chirograph/ betrayed the writer s inexperience in pen-practice was correctly spelled and easy hi style, crowded witn loving messages to " dear papa and mainma ; " relating TSS HOB&BT HOU& 997 anecdotes of school and home life, and wnile e rpresa- ive of her longings for her parents return, professing willingness to stay where she was "until mamma should be well enongh to come back." " I pray every night that God will cure her, and make us all happy again," she wrote. " I dreamed one night last week that I saw her dressed for a party, all rosy and funny and laughing, as she used to be, and that she kissed me, and put her arm around me, and called me baby Florence and little one, in her sweet voice. Wasn t it strange ? I awoke myself crying, I was so happy ! I do try to be brave, and not fret about what cannot be helped, papa, because I promised you I would ; but sometimes it is right hard work. It is always easier for a whole day after I get one of your nice, long letters. It is not quite as good as having real talk with you, but it is the best treat I can haye when you are away." Mrs. Sutton wiped her eyes. :t The dear child I " she said, in the subdued toner habitual to the frequenters of the sick-room. "No wonder you want to see herl Why didn t you give her a holiday, and bring her to Virginia with you ? " tt I dreaded the effect of a child s high animal spint and thoughtless bustle upon her mother s health" the shadow thickening into trouble. " The next oest thing to having her with me is to know that she ifl and lovingly looked after by my married siater, ia* 298 TBS HONEST HOVB. of whom she is very fond. Florence is merrier, Jf net mlwaye happier, with her young cousins than if she were condemned to the repression and joyless routine of a house where the care of the sick is the most en grossing business to all." The more Mrs. Sutton meditated upon this conversa tion, the more enigmatical it appeared that the mother never spoke of missing her only living child never pined for the sound of her vivacious talk and the sight of her winning ways. Curiosity her strong love f 01 All children, and a lively interest in Florence and Florence s father, the two who assuredly did feel the reparation got the ascendency over discretion that night, when Rosa, too nervous to sleep, begged her to talk, " to scare away the horrors miat were sitting, a blue-black brood, upon her pillow." " Your little daughter would be an endless source of entertainment to you if she were here," said downright Aunt Eachel, with no show of circumlocution. " I am surprised you do not send for her." "Children of that age are a nuisance I" returned &osa, peevishly. " And of all tiresome ones that I ever saw, Florence is the most trying. She doesn t talk after I bid her hold her tongue, but her big, solemn eyes see and her ears hear all that passes. If there ia one thing that pushes me nearer to the verge of dia- traction than another it is to have my own wordi quoted to me when I have forgotten that I ever uttered THE HOAtfS? HOUR 299 them. And she literal little bore I is always pre tending to take all that I say in earnest. If I were to tell her to go to Guinea, it is my belief she wonld put on her bonnet, cloak, and gloves, pocket a biscuit for luncheon and a story-book to reaa by the way, and set out forthwith, asking the first decent-looking man she met in the street at what wharf she would find a vesse. bound for Africa." Mrs. Sutton was obliged to laugh. " She must be a truthful, sincere little thing ! " " Didn t I tell you she is too outrageously literal and unimaginative f Just let me give you an example of aow she tires and vexes me. One day, about a fort night before I left home, she set her heart upon spend ing the whole of Saturday afternoon with me. Her father objected, for he understands, if he does not sympathise with me, what a trial she is to flesh and spirit. But I was moderately comfortable, and my nerves were less unruly than wraal, so I said we would try and get on together. " No sooner had he gone than the catechism com menced : " * Now, maTyim^ what can I do to amuse you 1 9 " She talks like a woman of fifty. u < What should you propose if I were to leave it tt jrouf I asked. " I suppose, said my Lady Citabort, that it would 800 TUB HONB8T SOUS. excite you too much to talk, so I had betier read aloud. What book do yon prefer! "I named one a novel I had not finished and resigned myself to martyrdom. She reads fluently her father says prettily ; but the piping voice rasped my auriculars to the quick, and I soon stopped the ex hibition. Then we essayed conversation, but our range of themes was limited, and a dismal silence succeedea to a short dialogue. By and by I told her that I was sleepy, hoping she would take the hint and leave my room. " Then, mamma, I will just get my work-basket, and sit here, as still as a mouse, and prevent all dis turbance. " With that, she gets out her miniature thimble and scissors, and falls to work upon a paii of slippers she was embroidering for her father s birthday present, sitting up, starched and prim as an old maid, her lips pursed, and her forehead gravely consequential. 1 couJd not close my eyes without seeing her still, like an undersized nightmare, her hair smooth to the least hair, her dress neat to the smallest fold, stitching, stitching, the affected, conceited marmoset t "At last I said: " Put down your sewing, Florence, and look out of the window at the people going by. You must be very tired. * Not in the least, mamma, dear, answered Miss TBS HONSST HOUJBL, 801 Pert I like to work, and there is nothing interesting going on outside. " 1 tossed and sighed, and she was by me in a sec ond. " * Darling mamma 1 my poor, sweet little mother ! * in her reed-like chirp ; can I do nothing to make you feel better? putting her hands upon my head and stroking my face until my flesh crawled. " Yes, said I, out of all patience. * Take yourself off, and don t let me see you again until to-morrow morning ! You kill me with your teasing. ; < And would you believe it ? she just put up her sewing in the basket and went directly out, without a tear or a murmur, and when her father came home he could not prevail upon her, by commands or persua sions, to accompany him further than the door of m> chamber. So he, who won t admit that she can do any thing wrong, instead of whipping her for her obstinacy, as he ought to have done, guessed she had some rea son for her disobedience which she did not like to tell, and interrogated poor, persecuted me. When he had heard my version of the manner in which we had pent the afternoon, he only said, I should have fore seen this. But the child she is only a child, Rosa ! did her best! and he looked so mournful that I, knowing he blamed me for his bantling s freak cf tern per, told him plainly that he cared a thousand tunes more for this diminutive bundle of hypocrisy Jhan hit 302 TS2B HONStSl HOI S. ever did for me, and that his absurd fa rorifosiL fast begetting in me a positive dislike for her. 1 couldn t endure the sight of the sulky little mischief- maker for a week after her complaint of barbarity had brought the look into his face I knew so well." " O Kosa, she is your own flesh and blood I and, ai her father said, a mere baby yet ! You said, too, that she refused to assign any cause to him for her singular conduct." " She might better have made open outcry than have left upon his mind the impression that I had banished her cruelly and unnecessarily. But I despair of giv ing you an idea of how provoking she can be. She la a Chilton, through and through, in feature, manner, and disposition one of those* goody children, you know ! a class of animals that are simply intolerable to me. She is too precocious and unbaby-like to be in the least interesting. You should have seen my little Violet to understand what a constant disappointment Florence is. She was myself in miniature, and more over the most witching, prankish, peppery elf that was ever made. The best trait in Florence s character was her love for her baby-sister. She gave up everything to her while she was alive, and they told me that she would not eat, and scarcely slept, for days after her death. Her father will have it that she is singularly sensitive, and has marvellous depths of feeling ; but if this be so, it IB queer I never found it out Nobody THE HONJSST JSOUB. eoiud help adoring Violet my sweet, lost, beautiful angel ! The hysterical sobs were pumping np the tears new in hot torrents, and these Mrs. Sutton was fain to as suage by loving arts she would not but for the dan ger of allowing them to flow have been in the tem per to employ, so full was her heart of yearning pity for the hardly-used babe, and displeasure at the mother s weak selfishness. It was easier to forgive and forget Rosa s sins ; to lessen, in the retrospect, her worst faults into foibles, than it would have been to overlook the more venal failings of one less mercurial, and whose personal fascinations did not equal hers. Ere the close of another day, Mrs. Sutton had ex cused her unnatural insensibility to her child s virtues And affection, by representing to herself how fearfully disease had warped judgment and perception; had sast over the enormities she could not palliate the pall of solemn remembrance of the truth that death s dark door was already as surely shut between mother and daughter, as if the grave held the former. A week of cliill March rains and wind was disastrous to the pa tient, who had seemed to draw her main supplies of Btrength from the sunshine admitted freely to her room, with the spring air, redolent with the delicious odors of the freshly-turned earth, the budding trees and early blossoms from the garden heneath her win dowa. She shrank and shivered under the ungenia &04 1OT HONX8T HOWBL iky, while the drizzling mist soaked life and aniir* toon out of the fragile body. Occasional fits of de lirium, increased difficulty of breathing, and a steady declrae of the slender remains of vital force, warned her attendants that their care would not be required much longer. She was still obstinate in her disbelief of the grave nature of her malady. The most distant reference to her decease would arouse her to angry refutation of the hinted doubt of her recovery, ai>* excited her to offer proof of her declaration that she was less ill than others supposed ; she would summon up a poor counterfeit of energy and mirth, more ghastly than her previous lassitude ; deny that she suffered from any cause, save the unfailing nervous depression consequent upon the unfavorable weather. Then came a day on which the sun looked forth with augmented splendor from his sombrely curtained pavilion ; when the naked branches of the deciduous trees, the serried lances of the evergreens, and the broad leaves of the tent-like magnolias the pride of the Tazewell place shone as from a bath of molten silver. The battered flowers ventured into later and healthier bloom, and a robin, swinging upon the lilao pray nearest Rosa s window, sang blithe greeting to the reinstated spring. Rosa heard him opened her eyes, and smiled. " One maybe the very same used to sing there overy morning when 1 was a girl used to awake ma TOM EONS8T HOUJL 805 from my second nap. I oould sleep all night then, and never dream once 1 " A messenger had been sent, at daybreak, for her sis* ters and brother, who resided several miles away, but as yet Mrs. Button and Frederic were her only nurses, She had dozed almost constantly during the night, and been delirious when awakened to take nourishment or tonics, muttering senseless and disconnected words, and moaning in pain, the location and nature of which she could not describe to the solicitous watchers. " I remember that Mabel and I," she continued, dreamily, after a long pause then correcting herself, "I ask your pardon, Frederic! I said I wouldn t speak of her ever again to you, but we were so much together in those days. Moreover, it has troubled me at times, that you did not know who your real friends were, and she did like you and and what am I saying ! You shouldn t let me run on so ! " She raised her hand with difficulty, and tried to wipe away the film gathering over her dilated eyes. " Never mind, my darling ! Do not attempt to talk 1 You are too weak and tired I " said her husband, ten derly. "Tired!" catching at the word. "That is it! There is nothing else the matter, whatever Dr. Kitchie and the rest of them may say. Tired ! for how many years I have been that! It seems like a thousand. This world is a tiresome place to most people, I think 306 TBS HOJSTE8T 30VR I Ehall never forget how jaded Mabel looked tl&t week," breaking off, as before, with a frightened start, such as a dreamer gives when he fancies he is falling from an immeasurable height. " Indeed, Fred, dear I * feeling for his hand upon the coverlet, " I did not mean to wound or offend you. It was a terrible ordeal for you, my Isve ! But you came out of it as silve* seven times refined- That is what the text says isn 1 it! And you and Aunt Rachel are friends once more! That is one good deed I have done. I hope it will be recorded up there ! Heaven knows there are not so many that I can afford to have one overlooked ! " Another season of dozing, and she awoke, rubbing her hands feebly together, as to cleanse them. "My hands ought to be whiter purer I I know what ails them. I should have picked up the letter she Mrs. Button wrote you. But I loved you so even then!" beseechingly. " You will not hate me when I am gone ! I mean when you get back to Philadelphia, and I am well enough to be left here. I was sure, if you got it, you would come to Ridgeley, and I let it go down the stream down down! Frederic!" " I am here, dearest ! " slipping his arm under, and raising her, as her shrill ry rang out, and she grasped the empty air. " Rosa, my wife ! " " I thought I was strangling in the water ! I an) four wife -T- am I not! She couldn t take you front* TBS HONBST BOWEL me if she were here. I vreh she were I 1 alwaji liked MaleL She was a good, true woman but she did not love you as I did I " Panting for breath, she leaned upon her husband j i breast, and her eyelids fell together again. Only for a moment I Then a smile fond, sweet, and peni tent played among the ashy shadows encircling her mouth. "Poor little Florence! I am sorry I was cross to her. Tell her so, papal" Her husband stooped to kiss her, laid her back upon the pillows closed the sightless eyes, and left Mrs. Button alon* with the dead. CHAPTER XVIL AFFIX JTUri KKN TRASS. [LD Mrs. Tazewell has departed this life at bwtf* said Winston Aylett, entering his own parlci one bleak November evening on his return from the village post-office. " I met AL Branch on the road just now. For a wonder he was sober in honor of the occasion, I suppose. He and Gus. Tabb are to git up with the corpse to-night." u When did she die t " queried his wife, drawing her skirts aside, that he might get nearei the fire. "At twelve o clock to-day. That is, she ceased the unprofitable business of respiration at tb*t hour. She died, virtually, five years ago. She has been little better than a mummy for that period." " Poor old lady ! " said Mabel Dorrance, regretfully, from her corner of the hearth. "Hers wa a kind heart, while she could think and act intelligently. One of ray earliest recollections is of the dainties with which she used to ply me when I visited Kosa. She was an indulgent parent and mistress, yet I suppose few (K*) AJFTMB FIFTEEN TJSAS& even of those moat nearly related to her will mourn he* "It would be very foolMi if they did!" Mr. Aylett picked up the tongs to mend the fire. " And very on- natural did they not rejoin at being rid of a burden. The old place has been going to destruction all these years, and it could not be sold while she cumbered the upper earth." No one replied directly to this delicate and f eeling observation, and Mrs. Aylett presently diverted th Conversation slightly by saying, " And Alfred Branch has gone to tender his service! to the family I There is something romantic in his con ttaney to a memory. From the day 01 Eosa s death, he has embraced every chance of testifying his respecl tor and wish to serve her friends. He is a saddei wrecK than was Mrs. TazewelL You would hardly recognize him, MabeL His hair and beard are whit* as those < a man of sixty-five, and his face bloated oul of <dl comeliness." "White heat!" interjected Mr. Aylett. "He can not last much longer." "And all because * pretty girl said him Nay! * pursued the wife. Mr. Aylett and Mr. Dorrance made characteristic responses in a breath, " Th* greater blockhead he ! " said one. The rther," His was never* rightly danced BIO AffTMS FIFTEEN TSAS& I suspect I always thought him weak and imprest ble." " Are your adjectives synonymous ? " asked Mrs, Ay lett playfully. "Generally!" Her brother had been reading at a distant window, while the daylight sufficed to show hi the type of his book He now laid it by, and came forward intc the redder circle of radiance cast by the burning logs. He was in his forty-third year, saturnine of visage, coldly monotonous in accent, a business machine that did its work in good, substantial style, and undertook no u fancy jobs." He had amassed a handsome fortune, built a handsome house, and married * handsome wo man, all of which appendages to hi* consequence he contemplated with grim complacency. As regarded spiritual likeness, mutual affection, ancl assimilation of feeling and opinion, he and his wife jbed receded, the one from the other, in the fourteen years of their wedded life. There had been no Decided rupture. Both disliked altercations, and where imdical opposition of sentiment existed, they avoided the unsafe ground by tacit consent. Mabel s uniform policy was that cf outward submission to the mandates of her chie u After all, it makes little difference ! " she fell into the habit of saying in the earlier years of matronhood, and he interpreted her listless acquiescence in hi* de cree* as faith in the soundness of his judgment, AFTER FIFTEEN TSAS& 311 die infallibility of his decisions. No woman of sense and spirit ever becomes an exemplar in unquestioning obedience to a mortal man, unless through apathy fatal torpor of mind or heart Of this fact in moral history our respectable barrister was happily ignorant He was no better versed in the lore of the heart femi nine than when he accepted Mabel Aylett s esteem and friendly regard in lieu of the shy, but ardent attach ment a betrothed maiden should have for the one she means to make her husband. He respected her thoroughly, and loved her better than he did anybody else. She was the one woman he recognized as his sister s superior supremacy due to the influence of single-minded integrity and modest dignity. What Mabel said, he believed without gainsay ing ; while Clara s clever dicta required winnowing tc separate the probably spurious from the possibly true. If his t/>ne, ^ addressing his wife, was seldom affec tionate, it was never careless, as that which replied to his sister s raillery. "Generally," he said in Ms metallic, unmodulated voice. " The man who would cast away health, useful ness, and fortune in his chagrin at not winning th hand of a shallow-pated, volatile flirt, must be both aillj and susceptible." " Eosa Tazewell may have been shallow of heart, but she was not of pate," anawered Mr. Aylett, with a cold sneei. u She was a fair plotter, and \u>t fickle of pro AJTTSS FIFTEEN TKAJS& pose whai she had her desires upon a much-cov ifced object Her marriage proved that She meant to cap tivate Chilton before she had known him a month yes, and to marry \\\rt\ J as she finally did. Her inter mediate conquests were but the practice that was to perfect her in her profession. Does anybody know, by the way, if he has ever taken a second wife to his be reaved bosom?" A brief silence, then Mrs. Aylett said, negligently, 1 1 think not Mrs. Trent, Rosa s sister, was expatiating to me a month since upon the beauty and accomplish ments of his daughter, and she said nothing of a step mother. Father and child live with a married sister of Mrs. Chilton, I believe." " I had not heard that Rosa left a child," remarked Mabel, interested. " I understood that two died before the mother." " Only one and that the younger. Miss Florence is now twelve years old, Mrs. Trent says. I saw her at church once, when she was visiting her grandmother and aunts. She is really passable Irt very unlike her mother." Mabel did not join in the desultory talk that engaged the others until supper-time. There was a broken string in her heart, that jangled painfully when touched by an incautious hand. "Twelve years old I" she was saying, inwardly * My darling would have been thirteen, had she lived t * AJPTKB PIFTEKff TSAJS& S18 And then flitted before her fancy a girlish f arm, with pure, loving eyes, and a voice melodious as a mocking-bird s. Warm arms were abont her neck, and a round, soft cheek laid against hers as no human arms and face would ever caress her her, the child less, whose had been the hopes, fears, pains never the recompence of maternity. She had been to the graveyard that day secretly, lest her husband should frown, Clara wonder, and Win ston sneer at her love for and memory of that which had *ever existed, according to their rendering of the term. She had trimmed the wire-grass out of the little hollow, above which the mound had not been renewed since the day of her baby s burial, and, trusting to the infre- quency of others visits to the neglected enclosure, had laid a bunch of white rose-buds over the unmarked lust she accounted still a part of her heart, neath Arhich it had lain so long. People said she had never teen a mother ; never had had a living child ; had no hope of seeing it in heaven. God and she knew better. " Clara, I wish you to attend Mrs. Tazewell s funeral thte afternoon," said Mr. Aylett at breakfast the next day but one after this. " There were invidious remarks made upon your non-appearance at her daughter s, and I do not choose that my family shall furnish food fat neighborhood scandal " 14 814 AFTSB VIPTXBJy YBAB& " My dear Winston, yon must recollect what an in gufferable headache I had that day." " Don t have one to-day," ordered her husband lacoB ically. " Mabel, do yon care to go ? " " By all means. I would not fail, even m seeming, in rendering respect to one I used to like so much, and whose kindness to me was unvarying. You have no objection, Herbert ? " "None. I may accompany you the day being fine, and the roads in tolerable order." The funeral was conducted with the disregard of what are, in other regions, established customs that dis tinguish such occasions in the rural districts of Vir ginia. Written notices had been sent out, far and near, the day before, announcing that the services would begin at two o clock, but when the Aylett party arrived at a quarter of an hour before the time specified, there was no appearance of regular exercises of any kind. A dozen carriges besides theirs were clustered about the front gate, and a long line of saddle-horses tethered to the fence. Knots of gentlemen in riding costume dotted the lawn and porches, and within-doors ladiefi at, or walked at their ease in the parlor and dinmg room, or gathered in silent tearfulness around the open coffin in the wide central hall The bed-room of the deceased was a roomy apart AFTMR FIFTEEN YBAB& 511 *nent in a wing of the building, and to th a Mabel was summon ad before she could seat herself elsewhere. " Miss Mary s compliments and love, ma ain ; and she lays won t you please step in thar, and set with Mistis* friends and relations ? " was the audible message deliv ered to her by Mrs. Trent s spry waiting-maid. Herbert looked dubious, and Mrs. Aylett enlarged ner fine eyes in a manner that might mean either su percilioiisness or well-bred amazement. But Mabel was neither surprised nor doubtful as to the proper course for her to pursue. Time was when she was as much at home here as Rosa herself, and Mrs. TazewelFs partiality for her was shared by others of the family. That she had met none of them in ten or twelve years, did not at a season like the present dampen their affec tion. They would rather on this account seize upon the opportunity of honoring publicly their mother s old favorite. The chamber was less light than the hall she traversed to reach it. She recognized Mary Trent, the daughter next in age to Rosa, who fell upon her neck in a sobbing em brace, then the other sisters and their brother, Morton Tazewell, with his wife, and was formally presented to their children. Finally she turned inquiringly toward a gentleman who stood against the window opposite the door, with * little girl beside Mm. AJmeS PIFTSSN TRASS. Confused beyond measure, as the hithertc cnthought- of consequences of her impulsive action in sending at her friend rushed upon her mind, Mrs. Trent talterea out: "I forgot I You must excuse me, but I was anxious to see you. My brother-in-law, Mr. Chilton. He arrived yesterday not having heard of mother s death." And for the first time since they looked their pas- fcionate farewell into each other s eyes under the rose- arch of the portico at Ridgeley, on that rainy summer morning, the two who had been lovers again touched hands. " I hope you are quite well, Mr. Chilton," said Ma bel s firm, gentle voice. "Is this your daughter?* kissing the serious-faced child on the forehead, and looking intently into her eyes in the hope of discovering a resemblance to her mother. Then she went back to a chair next to Mrs. Trent s, and began to talk softly of the event that had called them together, not glancing again at the window until the outer hall was stilled, that the clergyman might begin the funeral prayer. u The services will be concluded at the grave," WM the announcement that succeeded the sermon ; and there followed the shuffling of the bearers feet, and their measured tramp across the floor and down the steps of the back porch. AFTER PIFTB3EN TRAS& 817 TLe daughters and daughter-in-law let fall their and pulled on their gloves, and Herbert Dorrance beckoned somewhat impatiently to his wife from the parlor door. While she was on her way to join him, she saw his complexion vary to a greenish sallow, hi* mouth work spasmodically, and his eyes sink in anger or dismay. Winston Aylett likewise noted and knew it, for the same look of abject terror he had observed upon th hard Scotch face when Mabel enumerated upon he* fingers those she accused of having robbed her of he* babe. The wife attributed it to displeasure at seeing Fred eric Chilton among the mourners. Her whilom guardian, never charitable overmuch, inclined the more to the belief begotten within him by other inci dents, to wit : that his brother-in-law s talk was more doughty than his deeds, and his real sentiment upon beholding the man he boasted of having flogged as a libertine and coward, was physical dread for his own safety. Watchful alike of the other party to the an cient quarrel, he was rewarded by the sight of Chilton s irrepressible start and frown, when Mabel put her hand within her husband s arm, and stood awaiting the formation of the procession. The discarded lover gazed steadfastly into Dorrance s countenance in pan- ing to his place, in recognition that scouted asaiiailwitj 318 AFTER WDfTESN YBABO* with salutation, but his eye did net waver or his ooloi fade. " I would not be afraid to wager that this ie but another version of the fable of the statue of the man rampart and the lion couchant," thought Mr. Aylett, following with his wife in the funeral train down the grass-grown alley leading through the garden to the family burying-ground. " It would be an entertaining study of human veracity if I could hear Chilton s story, and compare the two. He is either an audacious ras cal, or there is something back of all that I have heard which will not bear the light." It was not remorse at the thought of the total altera tion in his sister s life and feelings that had grown out of this imperfect or false evidence, but simple curiosity to inspect the lineaments and note the actions of the aool rascal whose audacity commanded his admiration, and note his bearing in the event of his coming into closer contact with his former foe, that prompted him to single him out for scrutiny among those whose rela tionship to the deceased secured them places nearest the grave. For a time the widower was gravely quiet, holding his child s hand and looking down steadfastly into the pit at his feet, perhaps remembering more vividly thar anything else a certain sunny day in March, many years back, when another fissure yawned close by, where now & green mound the ridged acar with AFTR& FIFTEEN TEAMS. 819 which the earth had closed the wound in her jreast and a stately shaft of white marble were all that re mained to the world of " Rosa, wife of Frederic Chil ton." But, while the mould was being heaped upoB the coffin, he raised his eyes, and let them rove aim lessly over the crowd, neither avoiding nor courting ob servation the cursory regard of a man who had nc strong interest in any person or group there. They changed singularly in resting upon the family from iftidgeley. A stare of stupefaction gave place to living dres of angry suspicion and amazement lurid flame that testified its violence in the reddening of cheeka ind brow, in the dilating nostril and quivering lips. Then he passed his hand downward over his features, evidently conscious of their distortion, and striving after a semblance of equanimity, and looked again in stern fixity, not at her from whom he had been parted in the early summer of his manhood, nor at his success ful rival, nor yet at the guardian who had offered him gratuitous insult in addition to the injury of refusing to permit his ward s marriage with a disgraced adven turer but at Mrs. Aylett, the chdtdoMc of Eidgeley, the wife whose serene purity had never been blemishei by a doubting breath; chaste and polished matron \ the admired copy for younger and less discreet, but not more beautiful women. He surveyed her boldly if the imagination had not seeded preposterous Mr, Aylett would have said scornfully, as he might study 520 AFTER FIFTEEN TEAS& the face and figure of some abandoned wretch who had accosted him in the public thoroughfare as an acquaint anee. A haughty and uncontrollable gesture from the hUA band succeeded in diverting the offender s notice to himself for one instant not more. But in that flash he detected a shade of difference in the expression that irked him ; a ray, that was inquiry, sharp and eager, tempered by compassion,, yet still contemptuous. All this passed in less time than it has taken me to write a line descriptive of the pantomime. The mound was shaped, and the decorously mournful train turned from it to retrace their course to the house, Frederic Chilton imitating the example of those about him, but moving like a sleep-walker, his brows corrrugated and eyes sightless to all surrounding objects. He had awakened when the Ridgeley carriage drove to th door. Mrs. Sutton detained Mabel in one of the uppe/ chambers to concert plans for a visit to the homestead while the Dorrances should be there. Aunt and niece liad not met since the arrival of the latter in Virginia, a fortnight before, the elder lady being in constant at tendance upon Mrs. TazewelL " This is very stupid I And I am getting hungry I* Baia Mrs. Aylett, aside to her lord, as she stood near a front window, tapping the floor with her feet, while vehicle after vehicle received its load and rolled off. * We shall be the last on the ground. Herbert I can t FIFTEEN rsAS& 321 you intimate to Mabel that we are impatient o> be gone ! " u I don t know where she is 1 n growled the brother, for onco non-complaisant to her behest, and not stirring from the chair in the corner into which he had dropped at his entrance. Hifl head hung npon his breast, and he appeared to study the lining of his hat-crown, balancing the brim by his forefingers between his knees. Mrs. Aylett had lowered her veil in the burying-ground or on her way thither, but it was a flimsy mass of black lace richly wrought, yet insufficient to hide the paleness of the upper part of her visage. Mr. Aylett watched and wondered, with but one definite idea in his brain be yond the resolve to ferret out the entire mystery in hia stealthy, taciturn fashion. Herbert Dorrance had been, in some manner, compromised by his association with this Chilton, had reason to dread exposure from hint, %nd his sister was the confidante of his guilty secret. " I shall know all about it in due season," thought the master of himself and his dependents. Not that he meant to extort or wheedle it from hii consort s keeping, but he had implicit faith in his own detective talents. u Here she is at last t " he said, when Mabel came down the staircase, holding Aunt Rachel s hand, and talking low and earnestly, her noble face and eves 14* 222 AFTER FIFTEEN TSAS& gliding step a refreshing contrast to Airs. Ayle, t s nas* vousness and Herbert s dogged sullenness. " 1 am sorry I have kept you BO long, bnt there will be less dust than if we had gone sooner. The other carriages will have had time to get ont of our way, 1 * she said, pleasantly. "Winston," coming np to her brother, and speaking in an undertone, "will it be quite convenient for you to send for Aunt Rachel on aext Friday ? " " Entirely 1 The carriage shall be at your service at any hour or day you wish," with more cordiality than was common with him. However treacherous others might be in their re serve and half -confessions, here was one who had never deceived him or knowingly misled him to believe hei better, or otherwise, than she was. Honesty and truth were stamped upon her face by a life-long practice of these homely virtues not by meretricious arts. It was tardy justice, but he rendered it without grudging, if not heartily. A few words passed as to the hour at which the car- riage was to call for Mrs. Sutton, and Mabel kissed her "Good-by," the others shaking hands with her, and with three or four of the Tazewell kinsmen who offici ated as masters of ceremonies, and Mrs. Aylett made an impatient movement toward the front steps. Directly in her rou f e, leaning against a pillar of the old-fashioned porch, was Frederic Chilton, no longer FIFTEEN TEAB& 323 dreamy and perplexed, but on the alert rith eye and ear not losing one sound of her voice, or trick ol feature. She inclined her head slightly and courte ously, the notice due a friend of the house she, as g ass i, was about to leave. He did not bow, nor relax the rigor of his watch. Only, when she was seated in the carriage, he bent respectfully and mutely before Mabel, who followed her hostess, and paying as littl* attention to the two gentlemen as they did to him walked up to Mrs. Button, and said something inauci ble to the bystanders. As they drove out of the yard, the Eidgeley quartette saw the pair saunter, side by side, to the extreme end of the portico, apparently to be out of hearing of the rest, but no one remarked aloud upon the renewed intimacy and then confiden tial attitude. " If it is anything very startling, the old gossip will aever keep it to herself," Mr. Aylett congratulated himself, while his wife s complexion paled gradually to bloodlessness, and Herbert sat back in nis corner, sulky and dumb. "And the ia coming to o* on Friday!" XVHJL IN TBJS AOL only malady that put Herbert Dorranee in frequent and unpleasant remembrance of hii mortality was a fierce headache, which had of late years gupervened npon any imprudence in diet, and upon excessive agitation of mind or physical exertion. Hin invariable custom, when he awoke at morning with one of these, was to trace it to its sup posed source, and after determining that it was noth ing more than might have been expected from the eir cumstance, to commit himself to his wife s nursing for the day. She ought, therefore, to have been surprised when, while admitting that the pain in his head was intense, he yet, on the morrow succeeding Mrs. TazewelTf funeral, persisted in rising and dressing for breakfast " it must have been the roast duck at dinner yester day," he calmly and languidly explained the attack. u It w* fat, and the stuffing reeked with butter, sage, ar>4 onion. An ostrich could not hare digested it I IS TBX A13L WAS tirti, too, and should not have emten heartily f even the plainest f ood." Mabel neither opposed nor sustained the theory She had slept so ill herself as to know how restless he had been ; had heard his hardly suppressed sighs and tossings to and fro, infallible indications with him of serious perturbation. Had his discomfort been bodily only, he would have felt no compunction in calling her to his aid, as he had done scores of time*. Her sleepless hours had also been fraught with melan choly disquiet Putting away from her with firm ness begotten by virtue born of will and so much of this thoughtfulness as pertained to the bygone days with which Frederic Chilton was insepara ble associated, she yet deliberated seriously upon the expediency of speaking out courageously to Herbert of the relation this man had once borne to her, the inci dents of their recent meeting, and the effect she saw was produced upon her husband s mind by the sight of him. " If we would have this negative happiness continue, this matter ought to be settled at once and f orever," she said, inwardly. " He must not suspect me of weak and wicked clinging to the phantoms of my youth; most believe that I do not hasbor a regret or wish in compatible with my duty as his wife. I will avail myself of the first favorable moment to assume aim of the folly of his fears and of his discomfort" 326 THUJTLJKS 119 JZUf AJUL Another consideration the natural sequence of her conviction of his unhappiness was a touching appeal to her woman s heart. If he had not loved her more fervently than his phlegmatic temperament and unde monstrative bearing would induce one to suppose, h would not dread the rekindling of her olden fancy for another. The image of him who, she had confessed, had taught her the depth and weight of her own affec tions, whom she had loved as she had never professed to care for him, would not have haunted his pillow to ehase sleep, and torture him with forebodings. " I must make him comprehend that Mabel Aylett at twenty, wilful, romantic, and undisciplined, was a different being from the woman who has called him 4 husband, without a blush, for fourteen years! " It was these recollections that softened her kindly tones to tenderness ; made the pressure of her hand upon his temples a caress, rather than a manual appli ance for deadening pain ; while she combated his in tention of appearing at the breakfast-table. " Lie down upon the sofa ! " she entreated. " Let me bring up a cup of strong coffee lor you ; then Oarfcen the room, and chafe your head un*il you fall asleep, ihice you turn a deaf ear to all proposals of mustard foot-baths and Dr. Van Orden s panacea pills." " No ! " stubbornly. " Aylett and Clara would think it strange. They do not understand how a slight irreg- olarity of diet or habit can produce such a result THUXDZR Of FES AIR. 337 They would attribute it to other causes. 1 may feel better when I have taken something nourishing." The dreaded critics received the tidings of his i^idis position without cavil at its imputed origin ; treated the whole subject with comparative indifference, which would have mortified him a week ago, but seemed now to assuage his unrest The breakfast hour was a quiet one. Herbert could not attempt the form of eating > despite his expressed hope of the curative effects of nourishment, and sipped his black coffee at tedious in tervals of pain, looking more ill after each. Mabel was silent, and regardful of his suffering, while Mrs, Aylett toyed with the tea-cup, broke her biscuit into small heaps of crumbs upon her plate, and under her visor of ennui and indolent musing, kept her eye upon her vis-a-vis, whose face was opaque ice ; and his intona tions, when he deigned to speak, meant nothing save hat he was controller of his own meditations, and rould not be meddled with. " You are not well enough to ride over to the Court house with me, Dorrance 1 " he said, interrogatively, his meal despatched. " It is court-day, you know ! * ( = What do you say, Mabel?" was Herbert s clumsy reference to his nurse. " Don t you think I might ven ture!" " I would not, if I were in your place," she replied, autiously dissuasive. "The day is raw, and then ST THS A&L will be rain before evening. Dampness always aggra vates neuralgia." "It is neuralgia, then, is it!" queried Winston, shortly, drawing on his boots. Ilis sister looked np surprised. " What else should it bef " " Nothing unless the symptoms indicate softening of the brain ! " he rejoined, with his slight, dissonant laugh. " In either case, your decision is wise. He is better off in your custody than he would be abroad. I hope I shall find yon convalescent when I return Good morning 1 " His wife accompanied him to the outer door. "It is chilly!" she shivered, as this was opened " Are you warmly clad, love ? " feeling his overcoat. " And don t forget your umbrella." Her hand had not left his shoulder, and, in offering a parting kiss, she leaned her head there also. " I wish you would not go ! " she said impulsivelT and sincerely. "WTiy?" * I cannot say except that I dread to be left aiont all day. You may laugh at me, but I feel as if some thing terrible were hanging over me or you. The spiritual oppression is like the physical presentiment sensitive temperaments suffer when a thunder-storm if brooding, but not ready to break Yet I can refer my fears to no known cause. 11 IN TBS A/S That i folly." Mr. Aylett bit off the and of a jigar, and i&l" in his vest pocket for a match-safe. " Yon shonld be able always to assign a reason ior the fear as well as the hope that is in yon. Yon have no idea, you say, from what recent event yonr prognosti cation takes its vhne ? " She laughed, and straightened her fine neck. " From the same imprudence that has consigned poor Herbert to the house for the day, I suspect a late and heavy dinner, I had the nightmare twice before norning. Von will be home to supper f " "Yes." Hesitating upon the monosyllable, he took hold of her elbows, so as to bring her directly before him, and searched her countenance until it was dyed with blushes. " Why do yon color so furiously ? n he asked in rail lery that had a sad or sardonic accent " I was about to ask if you would be inconsolable if I never came back. Perhaps your presentiment points to some such fatality. These little accidents have happened in bet ter-regulated families than ours." " Winston!" She gasped and blanched in pain or terror. "What is tne matter! Havel hurt you!" relea* ing his grasp. " Yes here!" laying his hand upon her heart thi beautiful eyes terrified and pathetic *s those of ^30 TRUXCDBR IN THS AUL wounded deer. " For the love of Heaven, never et&b Die again with such suggestions. When you die, 1 shall not care to live. When you cease to love me, 1 shall wish we had died together on our marriage- day aay husband ! " He let her twine her arms about his neck, laid hi cheek to her brow, clasped her tightly and kissed her impetuously, madly, again and yet again disengaged himself, and ran down the steps. She was standing on the top one, still flushed and breathless from the vio lence of his embrace, when he looked back from the (*ate, her commanding figure framed by the embower ing creepers, as Mabel s girlish shape had been when Frederic Chilton waved his farewell to her from the ^ame spot. Did either of them think of it, or would either have reckoned it an ominous coincidence, if the remem brance of that long-ago parting had presented itself then and there ? Herbert spent the day upon the lounge hi the family sitting-room a cosy retreat, between the parlor and the conservatory, which had been added to the lower floor in the reign of the present queen. Her brother s seizure was no trifling ailment. Alternations of stupor and racking spasms of pain defied, for several hours, his wife s application of the remedies she hai found efficacious in foimer attack*. Her ultimate resort was chloroform, and by the liberal use ot this, relaxation THUNDER IN THE >^ 851 j<f t lie tenfie nerves and a sleep that resen. Died healing repose were induced by the middle of tbe afternoon, Tlie weather continued to threaten rain, although nor* had fallen as yet, and the wind moaned lugubriously in the leafless branches of the great walnut before the end window of the narrow apartment It was a grand tree, the patriarch of the grove that sheltered the house from the north winds. Mabel, relieved from watch fulness, and to some extent from anxiety, by her hus band s profound slumber, lay back in her chair with a tong-drawn sigh, and looked out at the naked limbs of the wrestling giant the majestic sway and reel she Deed to note with fthilfHah awe and thought of many things which had befallen her since then, until the steady rocking of the boughs and hum of the Novem ber breeze soothed her into languor then drowsiness then oblivion. She awoke in alarm at the sense of something hurt- fid or startling hovering near her. The fire had been trimmed before she slept, and now flamed up gayly ; the window was dusky, as were the distant corners of the room, and Herbert was gai- ing steadfastly at her. "I fell asleep without knowing it I am sorry! Have you wanted anything? How long have you been awake I " " Only a few minutes, my dearest t " with no change in the meameric intentness of his gaze. "I want 332 TUV3DB& IN THS AZ& nothing more than to have yon always near me. 5Toa nave been a good, faithful wife, Mabel, better and nobler a thousandfold nobler than I deserved. I have thought it all over while you were sleeping BO tranquilly in my sight. I wish my conscience were void of evil to all mankind as is yours. I awoke with an odd and awful impression upon my mind. The firelight flamed in a bright stream between your chair and me and 1 must have dreamed it or the chlo rofonn had affected my head I thought it was 9 river of light dividing us ! You were a calm, whil* angel who had entered into rest uncaring for and forgetful of me. I was lost, homeless, wandering for ever and ever ! " Had her prosaic spouse addressed her in a rhythmic improvisation, Mabel could not have been more as tounded. " You are dreaming yet ! " she said, kneeling by him and binding his temples with her cool, firm palms * When we are divided, it will be by a ctark not a bright river." "Until death do us part!" Herbert repeated, thoughtfully. "I wish I could hear you say, orce, that you do not regret that clause of your marriage vow. I was not your heart s choice, you knrrw, Mabel, however decided may have been the approval of your friends and of your judgment. The thought oppresses me a* it did not in the first years of our wedded life.* TMUNDSH Uf THE AI& 835 "- am glad you have spoken of th, ;> began the rife. " I would disabuse your mind n " Al 1 in the dark!" exclaimed Mrs. Aylett, at th door. " And what a stifling odor of chloroform 1 " Mabel got up, and drew a heavy travelling-shaw* tfeat covered Herbert s lower limbs over his arms and chest. " I will open the window ! " she said, depreciatingly. A sluice of cold air rushed in, beating the blaze this <ray and that, puffing ashes from the hearth into the *oom, and eliciting from Mrs. Aylett what would have been a peevish interjection in another woman. " My dear sister ! the remedy is worse than the of fence. Chloroform is preferable to creosote, or what ever abominable element is the principal ingredient of smoke and cold 1 The thermometer must be down to the freezing-point ! " Mabel lowered the Bash. "You have been sitting in a room without fire, I suspect The temperature here is delightful I am sorry we have exiled yon from such comfortable quarters." "Don t speak of it! I cannot endure to sit here alone or anywhere else. I have slept most of the afternoon. How the wind blows! I wish Winston were at home." "It is a dark afternoon. He seldom return* from *>urt so early a* thia. It ia not aix yet" 434 THumsR nr TBS AOL Mabel still essayed pacification of the other** raffled mood. "You are better, I see," Mrs. Aylett said abrupUy to her brother. " You were not subject to these spells formerly. People generally outlive constitution*. headaches so I have noticed. It is queer youn should occur so often and wax more violent each time. You should have medical advice before they ripen into a more serious disorder." Herbert shaded his eyes from the fire, and lay with out replying, until his wife believed he had relapsed into a doze. She was convinced of her mistake by his saying, slowly and distinctly, " You do not enter into Clara s whole meaning, Ma bel. We have been careful, all of us, never to tell yon that our father was imbecile by the time he was fifty and died, in his sixtieth year, of the disease you brother named this morning softening of the brain L of all his children, am most like him physically. If it be true that this danger menaces me, you should be informed of it, and know, furthermore, that it is incur* able." Mabel also paused before answering. " I cannot assent to the hypothesis of your inherited malady, Herbert. These headaches may mean nothing. But let that be as it may, you shoalo have told me ol this before." THUNDER Of THB AIR. 88& a You see," broke in Mrs. Ayletf s triumphant sar casm. " The reward of your maiden attempt at njn- gal confidence is reproof. What haye I warned yoi from the beginning ? " "Not reproof," corrected Mabel, in mild decision. " My knowledge of the secret he deemed it wise and kind to withhold would have gained for him my sym pathy, and my more constant and intelligent care 01 his health. It is the hidden fear that grows and mul tiplies itself most rapidly. Before it is killed it must be dragged to the light." "That is your hypothesis," was the bright retort W 3 Dorrances have justly earned a reputation for dis cretion by the excellent preservation of our own se crets, and those committed to our keeping by our friends. My motto is, tell others nothing about your self which they cannot learn without your confession. An autobiography is always either a bore or a blundei Not that I would regulate the number and nature of your divulgations to your wife, Herbert. As to Win ston s unlucky hit this morning, it was mere fortuity. I have never felt myself called upon to enlighten him in family secrets, and his is an incurious disposition. He never asks idle questions. He has a marvellous faculty of striking home-blows in the dark, but that IB no reason why one should betray his wound by crying out Apropos to darkness, may I ring for a lamp, 01 will the light hurt your eyes?" 336 THUND8H Of TEH AJOL "The Hre-l%it ifl more trying," rejtined Maoel, pushing a screen before the sofa, and placing herseli where she could, in its shadow, bold her husband s hand. It was cold and limp when she lifted it, but tight ened upon hers with the instinctive grip of gratitude too profound to be uttered. She had never been so near loving him as at the instant in which he believed he had incurred her ever- tasting displeasure. Generosity and pity were fast tmdoing the petrifying influences of her early disap pointment, their mutual reserve, and tacit misunder standings. If half he feared were true, his need of ner affection, her counsel and companionship were dire. Whatever wrong he had done her by keeping back the >dle of hereditary infirmity, he had suffered more from the act than she could ever do. Who knew how much of what she, with others, mistook for constitutional phlegm and studied austerity, was the outward sign of the battle between dread of his inherited doom and the resolve of an iron will to defy natural laws and the sentence of destiny herself, and hold reason upon her rickety throne! Heaven s gentlest and kindest angels were busy with Mabel Dorrance s heart in that reverie, and, as they wrought, the cloud that had rested there for fifteen years broke into rainbow smiles that illumined her countenance into the similitude of the THUNDBM Of TBS AOL 87 " I bless Thee, Father, the All-wise and Ever-merci fnl, that she is safe ! " was her voiceless thanksgiving. No more bitter tears over the lonely, sunken grave 1 no more nearkening, with aching, never-to-be-satisfied ears for the patter of the " little feet that never trod." The great sorrow of her life that had been good in His sight was at length a blessing in hers. Her " hereaf ter n of knowledge of His doings had come to her in this world. "Does it rain, Petert" questioned Mra. Aylett of oie lad who brought in lights. "Yes, ma am. It s beginnin to storm powerful 1* he said, respectfully communicative. " Your master has not come I n "No, ma am," " See that the lantern over the great gate is lighted, and that some one is ready to take his horse. And, Peter," as he was going out, "tell Thomas not to bring in supper until Mr. Aylett returns." She moved to the window, bowed her hands on either side of her eyes to exclude the radiance within, and strained them into the black, black night " He will have a dark and a disagreeable ride," aha wdd, coining back to the fire. Her uneasiness was so palpable as to excite Mabel i compassion. " Every step of the road is familiar to him, and he ii tocustorned to night rides," fthe said, encouragingly. 33& THUNDSU IN TBS AOL "Yea, afewntly. a But he will be very wet Han the rain 1 " It plashed against the north window, and tinkled upon the tin roof of the conservatory, and Mabel, though aware of her brother s habitual disregard of wind and weather, could not but eympathize with the wifely concern evinced by the sober physiognomy and unsettled demeanor of one generally so calm. She ob served, now, that her sister-in-law was arrayed moie richly than usual, and her attire was always handsome and tasteful A deep purple silk, trimmed upon skirt and waist with velvet bands of darker purple, showed off her clear skin to fine advantage, and was saved from monotony of effect by a headdress of lace and buff ribbons. A stately and a comely matron, she was bedight for her lord s return ; weighed as heavy each minute that detained him from her arms. She was still standing by the low mantel, her urn resting lightly upon it, the fire-blaze bringing out lus trous reflections hi hex drapery and hair, and tinging her pensive cheek with youthful carmine, when hes husband en ieredL ntf APTICR irnt. NEMESIS. : T was a peculiarity of Winston Aylett that hi waus never discomposed in seeming, however embarrassing or distressing might be his posi tion. In his childhood he was one to whom, to use the common phrase, dirt would not stick. His face was clean and fair, his hands smooth, and his hair in order after rough and tumble experiences that sent his companions home begrimed, ragged, and un kempt frights. To-night, he had ridden a dozen miles in the teeth of the storm, and made no pause before appearing before his wife and sister, except to lay off his hat and overcoat in the hall But had he expected to encounter a roomful of ladies, his costume could not have been more unexceptionable. His linen was pure and fresh, even to the narrow tine of wristband edging his coat sleeve ; his clearly eat patrician features were tranquil in every line and tint ; his step was the light, yet deliberate stride of an athlete without passion or bravado. Conscious power, (OB) 40 inexorable will, and thorough self-command wen stamped upon him from crown to foot, and his saluta tion to the small family party accompanied a smile as mirthless and cold as were his eyes. Mrs. Aylett advanced a step, not more, and returned the bow that comprehended all present, with a pleased, not rapturous welcome. " We were beginning to fear lest you might be wet," she said, emulating his polite equanimity. Genuine tact is always chameleon-like in quality. " It rains quite fast, does it not t " "The storm is increasing, but I experienced no inconvenience from it, thank you." He sat down in his favorite arm-chair, and spread his fingers before the fire. " I am happy to see you so very much better n to Herbert. " There were many kind inquiries for you at the court-house to-day. Dr. Ritchie wanted to know if you had ever taken nux vomica for thes* neuralgic turns. I invited him to come in with me and prescribe for you, but he said he must push on home, so we parted at the outer gate." So affable as almost to put others at their ease in hii company, he chatted until supper was announced ; re gretted civilly Herbert s inability to go to the table, and gave his sister his arm into the dining-room, Mrs, Aylett following in their wake. If he did not eat heartily, he pnuseo, in gentlemanly moderation, tlw viands selected by hit consort for his delectation after his wet ride, and pleaded a late dinner as the reason of his present abstinence. Then they adjourned to the apartment where they had left Mr. Dorrance, and the host produced his cigar-case. "Mabel says that smoke never offends your olfac tories, or affects your head unpleasantly, when you are suffering from this nervous affection," he said to Her bert " On the contrary, it often acts as a sedative," was the reply. Winston lighted a cigar with an allumette from a bronze taper-stand a Christmas gift from his wife, which she kept supplied with fanciful spiles twisted and fringed into a variety of shapes; drew several long breaths to be certain that the fire had taken hold of the heart of the Havana, tossed the pretty paper into the embers, and resumed his seat in the chimney corner. " A sedative is a good thing for people who allow their nerves to get out of gear," he remarked, dryly wid leisurely, puffing contentedly in the middle and at the end of the sentence. " But he who does this sub verts the order of the ruler a&d the ruled. I supposed I had nerves once, but it is an age since they have dared molest me. I know that I had my impulse! when I was younger." He stopped to fillip the ash forming upon the i# 842 ni ted end of his cigar, performing the operation with nicety, using the extreme tip of his middle-finger nail over the salver attached for the purpose to the bronze Bmokinflr-set. o " I obeyed one, above a dozen years ago. I learned only to-day that it was rash and unwise, and to how much evil it may lead." " Not a very active evil, if you have just discovered it to be such." The speaker was his sister. Herbert was motionless upon his couch. Mrs. Aylett, in the lounging-chair at the opposite side of the hearth from her husband, was cutting the leaves of a new magazine he had brought from the post-office, and did not seem to hear his re mark. " Tou reason upon the assumption %at ignorance is oliss," said Mr. Aylett. "Allow nm to express the opinion that the adage embodying tibat idea is the refuge of cowards and fools. No mater how grievous a bankrupt a man may be financially or in spirit, he is craven or a blockhead to shrink the Investigation of his accounts. Which allusion to bankruptcy brings me to the recital of a choicely offensive bit of scandal I heard to-day. It is seldom that I give heed to the like, but the delicious rottenness revealed by this tale enforced my hearing, and fixed the details in my mind. I could not but think, as I rode home of the acees- torieB which would add effectiveness, to-night, to my 848 second-hand narrative. I had the whole scene, which is now before me, in my mind s eye the warm fire light and the shaded lamp brightening all within, while the rain pattered without ; the interesting inva lid over there gradually stirring into interest as the atory progressed ; you, Mabel, calmly and critically at* tentive ; and my Lady Aylett, too proud to look the desire she really feels to handle the lovely carrion." " Your figures are not provocative of insatiable ap petite," returned his wife, with inimitable sang-froid^ staying her paper knife that she might examine an engraving. " Your appetite needs further excitants, then I So did mine until I began to suspect that the history might be authentic, and not a figment of the racon teur s imagination. The hero s name at first disposed me to set down the entire relation as a fiction. It IB romantic enough to perfume a three-volume novel Julius Lennox ! " Mabel s instinctive thought was for her husband, but in turning to him she could not but notice that Mjrs. Aylett sat motionless, the paper-cutter between two leaves, and her left hand pressed hard upon the upper, but without attempting to sever them. Herbert twisted his head upon the pillow until he faced the back of the sofa, and a convulsion went through him, hardly quellod by the clasp of Mabel i band upon his, 344 NEMESIS. a 3 dins Lennox!" reiterated Mr. Aylett, betweei the fragrant puffs, " A lieutenant in the navy tht good-looking, bnt, as the sequel proved, not over-steady, spouse of a lady who was the daughter of another nara/ officer of similar rank. The latter was compelled t* leave the service on account of incipient idiocy, and retired, upon half -pay, to an unfashionable quarter oi a certain great city, where his wife, a smart Yankee, opened a boarding-house for law and medical students, and contrived not only to keep the souls and bodies of her family together, but to marry off her two still sin gle daughters the one to a barrister, the other to a physician. The lovely Louise Lennox a pretty allit eration, is it not? remained meanwhile under the paternal roof, her husband s ship being absent most of the time, and the handsome Julius having unlimited privileges in the line condemned by "Black-eyed Susan " in her parting interview with her sailor lover finding a mistress in every port. It is woman s nature and wisdom to seek consolation for such afflictions as the deprivation of the beloved one f iociety, and the almost certainty that he is basking nifl faithless self in the sunlight of another s eyes Our heroine, being at once ardent and philosoph ical, put the lex talionis into force by falling in love with one of her mother s lodgers, a spng of the legaj profession. The favored youth so says my edition of the romance remained preternatnrally uncon 346 <? ".ions of the sentiment he had inspired, attributing hoi manifestations of partiality to platonic regard, until she opened his modest eyes by proposing an elopement. He had completed his professional studies, taken out a Lcense to practise law, was about to quit her and the city, and the no-longer-adored Julius was comrag home a wreck hi health and purse upon a six months leave of absence. It must be owned the Lady Louise had some excuse for a measure that seemed to have amazed and horrified her cidsbeo. Recoiling from the proposition and herself with the virtuous indignation that is ever aroused in the manly bosom by similar advances, he packed up his trunk, double-locked it and his heart, paid his bill, and decamped from the dan gerous precincte. "Ignoble conclusion to a tender affair; but not sc devoid of tragicality as would seem. Infuriated at the desertion of this modern Joseph, Louise, the lorn, avenged the slight offered her charms by declaring to her youngest brother, the only one who resided in the same city with herself, that Joseph had made dishonora ble proposals to her a proceeding which demonstrates that the feminine character has withstood the prover- oially changing effects of time from age to age. My narrative is but a later and a Gentile version of the Jewish novelette to which I have referred. The r6U of Potiphar was cast for the unsophisticated brother, ho, being unable to immure the unimpressible Joeepfe maaaia. in the Tombs, attempted the only meaiiB of redress thai remained to him, to wit : Personal chastisement "And here," continued the narrator, yet more slowly, " I find myself perplexed by the discrepancy between the statement I have had to-day and one ci this section of the story furnished ine several year* since. In the latter the indignant fraternal relative flogged the would-be betrayer within a quarter of an inch of his life. The other account reverses the posi tion of the parties, and makes Joseph the incorruptible also the invincible. However this may have been, the adventure seems to have quenched the loving Louise s brilliancy for a season. We hear no more of her until after her father s decease, when she re-enters the lists of Cupid in another State, as the blushing and still beautiful virgin-betrothed of a man of birth and means, who woos and weds her under her maiden cognomen the entire family, including the valiant brother who figured as whippee or whipper, in the castigation exploit being accomplices in the righte ous fraud. I might, did I not fear being prolix, tell of sundry side-issues growing out of the main stalk of this plot, such as the ingenious manoauvres by which the promising couple of conspirators averted, upon the eve of the sister s bridal, the threatened exposJ of their machinations to entrap the wealthy lover. Suffice it fa say that the duped husband (by brevet) lived for a de- tade anil a half in the placid enjoyment of the igno ranee which my sagacious sister here is disposed to confound with rational bliss nor is he quite sure, to this day, whether spouse No. 1 of the partner of hit bosom still lives, or by clearance in what court of in famy or justice she managed to shuffle off her real name, and win a right to resume the title of spinster." He lighted a fresh cigar, and for the space of per haps a minute, a dead and ominous silence prevailed. Mabel, pallid and faint at heart, could not take her eyes from his countenance, with its cruel smile, frozen, shallow eyes, and the deep white dints coming and going in his nostrils. He had judged without partiality. He would COB demn without mercy. He would punish without remorse. Herbert still faced the back of the lounge, but he had slipped his hand from the relaxing hold of hers, and pressed it over his eyes. She could not seek to possess herself of it again. Winston was not the only dupe of the nefarious fraud, the betrayal of which had overtaken the guilty pair thus late in their career of duplicity. Yet, however severely she had suffered m heart from their falsehood and her brother s intolerance, no stain would rest upon her name, while, terminate at the affair might, the disgraceful revelation would ship wreck her brother s happiness for life, if not bring up on the old homestead a storm of scandal that would leave no more trace of the honorable reputation hereto- 348 fore borne by it* owners than remained of the smiling plenty of the cities of the plain after the fiery wrath of the Lord had overthrown them. Mrs. Aylett resumed the suspended operation of cutting the leaves of her new monthly ; fluttered there to be certain that none were overlooked ; laid down the periodical ; brushed the scattered bits of paper from her Bilken skirt, and retaining the paper-knife a costly toy of mother-of-pearl and silver changed her posi tion so as to look her husband directly in the eye. 44 1 believe I can give you the information you lack, she said, in curiously constrained accents, the concen tration of some feeling to which she could or would no grant other vent. "Clara Louise Lennox obtained a divorce from her first husband on the grounds of drunkenness, failu j to maintain her, infidelity, and personal ill-usage. He came home from sea, as you have said, the battered ruin of a mam,, fallen beyond hope of redemption. There was no law, written or moral, which obliged her, when once freed from it, to carry about with her and thrust upon the notice of others the loathsome body of death typified by his name and her matronly title. She commenced life anew at her father s death, contrary, let me say to the advice of all her friends, if I except the mother, who could refuse nothing to her favorite (laughter. The scheme wai boldly conceived. Yon have admitted that it was suc- cenfully carried out. In New York the family wen 341 act known beyond the circle with which they disdained to associate when the lodging-house business was aban doned. There were a thousand chances to one that in her new abode Miss Dorranee would be identified by some busybody with the divorced Mrs. Lennox. She risked her fortunes upon the one chance, and won. I do not expect you to believe that the impostor was moved by any other consideration in contracting her second marriage than the wish to seek the more exalted sphere of society and influence which Fate had hither to denied her. You would sneer were I to hint, how ever remotely, at a regard for her high-born suitor the , but dissipated officer had never awakened Air. Aylctt lifted hifl hand, smiling more evilly oefore. " Excuse the interruption ! but after your statement of the fact that such sentimental asseverations would be futile, you waste time in recapitulating the loves of the lady aforementioned, and we in hearing them. I think I express the opinion of the audience fit, but few when I say that we require no other evidence ^han that afforded by the story I have told of Mrs. Len nox s susceptibility and capacity for affection. We are willing to take for granted that the latter was illimita ble." " A* yon like!" idly tapping tha naili of her left 350 JHUUEBJS hand with the knife. " IB there anything else pertain* Ing to this history into which you would like to inquire I * It was a sight to curdle the blood about one s heart, this due! between husband and wife, with double-edged blades, wreathed with flowers. Mr. Aylett s attitude >f lazy indifference was not exceeded by Clara s proud languor. He laughed a little at the last question. " 1 have speculated somewhat having nothing else m particular to engage my mind on my way home upon the point I named just now, and upon one other akin to it. All that the novel needs to round it off neatly is an encounter between the real and the quasi consorts. I cannot specify them by name, in conse quence of the uncertainty I have mentioned. One was a lond-Jide husband the other a bogus article, let New York divorce laws decide what they will, provided always that the fallen Julius had not bidden farewell to this lower earth before his loyal Louise plighted her faith to her Southern gallant Death is the Alexander of the universe. There ifl no retying the knots he ha cut" From the pertinacity with which he returned to the q lection one could discern his actual anxiety to have it settled. Mabel understood that the only salve of possible application to his outraged pride and love was the discovery that Clara had been really a widow when to* wedded her. The divorce and subsequent decepfc om man&u. S5l were sins of heinous dye against his ideas of respecta bility and unspotted honor, but he would never f orgiva the woman who had had two living husbands, freed from the former though she was by a legal fiction. No one saw this more clearly than did she whoa* fate trembled upon the next words she should utter. With all her hardihood, she hesitated to reply. Lux ury, wealth, and station were on one side ; degradation and poverty on the other. The solitary hope of rein statement in the affection, if not the esteem, of him she loved truly as it was in her to love anything beside her self, was arrayed against the certainty of alienation and the tearful odds of ignominious banishment. Her answer, under the presure of the warring emo tions, was a semitone lower, and less distinctly enunci ated than those that had gone before it " The ddnodement you propose for your romance is impracticable. Julius Lennox died before the date of the second marriage." Herbert drew himself to a sitting posture by clutch- bg the back of the lounge. His red eyes and tumbled hair made him look more like a mad than a sick man, u In the name of Heaven," he demanded hoarsely, " have we not had enough lies, every one of which has been a blunder, and a fatal one ? I told you, years ago, that the scene of this evening was a mere question of time*, that, withcut a miracle, an edifice fornded upon iniquity and cemented by falsehood must eroah yon before yon could lay the top-stone. Yon would not be warned yon held on your way without hesitation or compunction, and now yon would add to sin fatuity. Do you suppose that after what your husband hai learned of your nntruthfulness he will accept your assertion on any subject without inquiry ? And, how many in your own family and out of it although these may not know you by the name you now bear are cognizant of the fact that Julius Lennox was alive for almost fifteen months after you became Mrs. Aylett?" Mabel s arm was about his neck, her hand upon hii mouth. " No more I no more I if yon love me ! " she whispered in an agony. " Should he guess all, he would murder her!" " You are prepared to certify that he is dead now, ars you, Mr. Dorrancet " queried Winston, suspicion! cf this by-play. I am!" sulkily. " It Li a pity ! " was the ambiguous rejoinder. Something clicked upon the hearth. It was the fragments of the toy stiletto, broken by an unoon troll able twitch of the small fingers that held it Then Mrs. Aylett arose, pale at a ghott, but unqnail ing in eye or mien. NEMB8I& SB* " May I know your lordahip s pleainre respecting your cast-off minion f " "In the morning, yes!" glancing np diadainfnlly * Me&utimo, let mo wiah you * good-night iw^ happj CHAPTER XX. DTDIAJ* BUKMKE. O, no! my dear!" said Mrs. Button, earoertlj " I am shocked and astonished that you should ever Kave labored under such a delusion. Fred eric told me the story, and a dreadful one it was, the day old Mrs. Tazewell was buried. Wasn t it won derful that he never knew whom Winston had married until he saw her leaning upon his arm m the grave yard? .Be recognized Mr. Dorrance in the house, but supposed him to be a visitor at Ridgeley and a relative of Mrs. Aylett, having heard that hei maiden name waa Dorrance. As to his being your husband, it did not at first occur to him, so bewildered was he by your meet ing and the thoughts awakened by it. But at sight of her the truth rushed over him, nearly depriving bi of his wits, fle soon got out of me all that I knew, and by putting this and that together, we made out the mystery. I was so grieved and indignant and horrified that I was for sending him forthwith to Winston, that he might clear himself of the shocking changes thej (854) OTDJAN BUMMSOL 851 had preferred against him, by exposing the motives of his accusers. But he was stubborn and independent 4 It can do no good now, he said. Fifteen years ago this discovery would have been my temporal salvation. And Dorrance is Mabel s husband. I cannot touch him without wounding her. I could not reconcile thii mode of reasoning with my conscience. If wron had been done, it ought to be righted. I did not sleep a wink all night. I wept over my noble, generous, slan dered boy, and over you, my darling! but my chief thought was anger at the shameless depravity, the cold blooded cruelty of the brazen-faced adventuress who sat in your angel mother s place. For aught Frederic or I knew, her real husband was still alive. He had never heard of the divorce, you see, and the circum stance of her marrying Winston under her maiden name looked black " Well 1 I pondered upon the horrible affair until I could hold my peace no longer. Frederic and Flor ence went home >vith Mary Trent next morning, and knowing that Winston must pass the upper gate on his way to court, [ put en my bonnet soon after break fast, and strolled in that direction. By and by he rode up, stopped his horse, and began to talk so soci ably that before I quite knew what 1 was doing, I waa in the middle of my story. I wonder now how I did it, but I was excited, and he listened so patiently, questioned a* quietly, that I did not realize, for sever*] 856 OFDIAB 8UMMX& hours afterward, what a b!aze I must have kindled IB his heart and home, whether he believed me or not. The next thing I heard was not, as I expected, that he and his wife had quarrelled, or that he was going to challenge Frederic for having belied him, but that poor Dorrance was very ill with some affection of the brain. It was not until a year later just after his death that people began to talk about the strange carryings-on at Kidgeley; how Mr. and Mrs. Aylett occupied separate apartments, and never sat, or walked, or rode together, or spoke to one another, even at table, unless there were visitors present. Nobody could im agine what caused the estrangement, and for the sake of the family honor I guarded my tongue. She must be a wretcked woman, if all of this be true. She ia breaking fast under it, in spite of her pride and skill in concealment I ought not to pity her when I re member how wicked she has been ; but there is a look hi her eye when she is not laughing or talking that gives me the heart-ache." "She is very unhappy!" replied Mabel, sighing. u And so, I doubt not, is Winston, although he wiD not own it, and affects to ignore the fact of her failing health and spirits. It is one of those miserably deli cate family complications with which the nearest of kin cannot meddle. They are very kind to me, and I think my visits have been a comfort to Clara. The tolitode of the great house is a terrible trial to one to INDIAN SUMMER. 357 fond of company. For days together sometime* she does not exchange a word with anybody except th ervants. It is a dreary, wretched evening of an am bitious life. I ventured to tell Winston, last week, that this would probably be my last visit to Ridgeley, since I was to be married next month. " To Mr. Chilton, I suppose ?" he said. I answered, "Yes!" "You must be almost forty," he next remarked. " You have worn passably well, but yon are no longer young." "I am thirty-seven! " said L "Well!" he answered. "You are certainly old enough to know your own business best." " That was all that passed. But I was glad to remem ber, as I looked at his whitening hair and bowed shoul der, that Frederic had not as I was foolish enough to suppose for awhile told him the story that had blighted his life. Not that I could have blamed him had he done this. He had endured so much obloquy, suffered so keenly and so long, that almost any retalia tory measure would have been pardonable." Herbert Dorrance s widow was, as had been said, OB * farewell visit to her native State, and after spending a week at Hidgeley was concluding a pleasanter so journ of the same length at William. Button s. In an other month her home in Philadelphia was to be the refuge of her aunt s declining years a prospect that 858 INDIAN SUMMS& delighted her as much as it afflicted those among whom this most benevolent and lovable of match makers had dwelt during Mabel s first marriage. The marriage it was now her constant purpose to forget not a difficult task in the happiness that dif fused an Indian summer glow over her maturity of years and heart After Herbert s death she had con tinued to reside in Albany, devoting herself so SOOD as she recovered from the fatigue of mind and body consequent upon her severe and protracted duties as nurse to the scarcely less painful work of attending his mother, who had contracted the seeds of consump tion in the bleak sea-air of Boston, Grateful for an abode in the house of one who performed a daughter s part to her when her own children were content to commit her to the care of hirelings, the old lady lin gered six months, and died, blessing her benefactress and engaging, in singleness of belief in the affection hifc wife had borne him, " to tell Herbert how good she had been to his mother." None of the Dorrances could wag a tongue against their sister-in-law, when, at the expiration of her yei of widowhood, she wrote to them, to announce net " re-engagement" to Frederic Chilton. She had been a faithful wife to their brother in sickness and imbe cility ; a ministering angel to their parent, and there was now no tie to bind her to their interest They WDIAN smaixa. *59 had a way of taking care of themselves, ard it JTM not surprising if she had learned it They behaved charmingly this pair of elderly lovers said the young Buttons when Mr. Chilton arrived to escort his affianced back to Albany on the day succeeding the conversation from which I have taken the foregoing extracts, while Aunt Kachel s deat old face was one beam of gratification. " All my matches turn out well in the long run ! " she boasted, with modest exultation. " I don t under take the management of them, unless I am very sure that they are already projected in Heaven. And when they are, my loves, a legion of evil spirits or, what is just as bad, of wicked men and women, can not hinder everything from coming right at last" While she was relating, in the same sanguinely pioui spirit, the tales that most entrance young girls, and at which their seniors smile in cynicism, or in tender rec ollection, as their own lives have contradicted or veri fied her theory of love s teachings and love s omnipo tence, Frederic and Mabel, forgetting time and care> separation and sorrow, in the calm delight of reunion, were strolling upon the piazza in the starlight of a fwrf ect June evening. They stopped talking by tacit consent, by and by, to listen to Amy Button, a girl of eighteen, the vocalist of the flock, who was testing her voice and proficiency m reading music at sight by trying one after another of A volume of old songs which belonged te ksi mother. This was the Terse that enchained the prontonadenf Attention : But rtfl! thj mum, thy Mj lonely bwwm fill*; Uk MI echo that hath lort ftMif Among the distant hflV That tffl, with nwiancboly nete, Keepg faintly lingering on, When the jojrotw aoond that vote tt tm e ! " u It is seventeen years since we heard it together, dearest ! " said Frederic, bending to kiss the tear-laden eyes. " And I can say to yon now, what I did not, while poor Kosa lived, own to myself that, try to bush it though I did, in all that time the lost echo *fas never stilL" Her answer was prompt, and the sweeter for the blent sigh and smile which were her tribute to the Past, and greeting to the Future : u An echo no longer, but a continuous airaiB of *f haart- music I " 14 DAY USE RETURN TO DESK FROM WHICH BORROWED LOAN DEPT. This book is due on the last date stamped below, or on the date to which renewed. Renewed books are subject to immediate recall. REC D LD FEB OEC23W9 3* REC D LD DEC 2 0*69-- OCT 81984 ?, DEC is M83 , EU 2^986 CIRCULATION DEPTjJJL 06 1963 LD 21A-50m-4, 59 (A1724slO)476B .General L ibrary GENERAL LIBRARY -U.C. BERKELEY 6000207130