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Title: Wanderings of a beauty : A tale of the real and the ideal
Author: James, Mrs. Edwin
Language: English
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*** Start of this LibraryBlog Digital Book "Wanderings of a beauty : A tale of the real and the ideal" ***
[Illustration:
Eng^d. by W. G. Jackman, N.Y. from a Miniature by Thorburn.
NEW YORK, CARLETON, PUBLISHER, 1863.
]
------------------------------------------------------------------------
WANDERINGS OF A BEAUTY.
A Tale
OF
THE REAL AND THE IDEAL.
BY
+MRS+. +EDWIN JAMES+.
“O tu, eui feo la sorte
Dono infelice di belezza, ond’hai
Funesta dote, d’infiniti guai.”
FILICAJA.
[Illustration]
New York:
_Carleton, Publisher, 413 Broadway_.
(LATE RUDD & CARLETON.)
MDCCCLXIII.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1863,
+BY+ +GEO. W. CARLETON+,
In the Clerk’s Office of the District Court for the Southern District of
New York.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
TO
SIR EDWARD LYTTON BULWER LYTTON, BART.,
IN TOKEN OF
PROFOUND ADMIRATION FOR HIS GENIUS,
AND
SYMPATHY WITH HIS OPINIONS,
THIS WORK
+Is Inscribed+,
BY
THE AUTHOR.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
CONTENTS.
----------
CHAPTER PAGE
I.—Introductory 9
II.—Courtship 18
III.—The Stepfather 28
IV.—The Bridal 36
V.—A Railway Journey 43
VI.—Home Scenes 50
VII.—Presentation to the Queen 59
VIII.—Foreign Travel 68
IX.—Florence 76
X.—Coquetry 85
XI.—First Love 95
XII.—Death 105
XIII.—Naples and the Neapolitans 112
XIV.—I Promessi Sposi 120
XV.—The Grotto of Egeria 127
XVI.—Rossini 136
XVII.—The Star of Destiny 145
XVIII.—A Serious Chapter 153
XIX.—Leaves from a Lady’s Diary 161
XX.—The Sister of Mercy 170
XXI.—Ella 177
XXII.—The Proposal 184
XXIII.—Loved in Vain 193
XXIV.—Correspondence 200
XXV.—The Baronet 207
XXVI.—Three Months of Married Life 215
XXVII.—Fifth Avenue Hotel 225
XXVIII.—Shadows 230
XXIX.—Foregleams 236
XXX.—Conclusion 242
[Illustration]
------------------------------------------------------------------------
EVELYN TRAVERS;
OR,
+WANDERINGS OF A BEAUTY+.
----------
CHAPTER I.
+INTRODUCTORY+
ALTHOUGH linked by no ties of kindred to the fair subject of this
biographical sketch, the author may at least claim to have loved her
with a love passing that of a sister—to have fully appreciated her rare
endowments of mind and person, and, alas! to have had too frequent
occasion to chide her girlish follies, and, in after life, to weep over
her more womanly failings. Beauty has ever, and justly, been styled “a
fatal gift.” From the classic Helen to the lovely and unhappy Mary
Stuart, and in more modern times the matchless and queenly Antoinette of
France all these, and others of lesser note, have furnished us with
abundant examples of the cruel destiny of those who possess this much
coveted distinction. For my part, I can only be too thankful for having
been endowed by nature with a face which the most indulgent of my
friends could but term pleasing, and which a casual acquaintance might
call plain. Enemies I never had; I was not sufficiently handsome.
When I first met Evelyn Travers we were both inmates of a Parisian
“Pension de demoiselles.” Although four years my junior, her precocious
intellect and superior talents led her to prefer the society of the
elder girls to that of those of her own age. Our mutual passion for
music threw us constantly together, and another circumstance contributed
still further to cement a friendship which has never since diminished.
We were both alone in the world. My own beloved parents I had lost. My
father fell in India, in the field, and my broken-hearted mother only
survived her voyage homeward to expire in the arms of her only child. It
was at that time of bitter trial, that the loving devotion of Evelyn to
her friend earned for her a debt of gratitude which can never be repaid.
For days and nights did my sweet young nurse watch by my bedside. I
would take neither medicine nor sustenance, except from her hands. It is
enough to say that I recovered, and have since centered all the
affection of my heart on the gentle and tender being to whom I owe my
life. She, poor child, was equally alone with myself. A father’s love
she had never known, for Mr. Travers died when his only child was an
infant; and his young widow, in a too hasty second union forgot her duty
towards her first-born, and placed her exclusive affection on the young
progeny with which she was annually blessing her second husband. The
mother of Evelyn, being a woman of a very inferior order of mind to her
daughter, with the best intentions in the world could never have duly
appreciated her. One very sore subject with the Dale family was the
knowledge that Evelyn must eventually inherit the whole of her mother’s
jointure, in addition to her own fortune, while the sole heritage of her
half-brothers and sisters would be the paternal debts, which were
considerable. All these circumstances combined to induce the unloved
girl to centre her heart anywhere rather than on her nearest kindred;
she felt that even school was more to her like home than the house of
her stepfather, and dreaded the hour when she would be forced to leave
the shelter of its walls for so uncongenial a spot as Warenne Vicarage.
How often in the quiet noon, or in the fragrant August evenings of our
brief autumn vacation, have we together paced the gravelled path of the
school garden, as I with friendly counsels enforced by my four years’
seniority, endeavored to reconcile the weeping child to her lot, to
impress upon her mind the duty of seeking the flowers that grow by the
pathway of life rather than the thorns, with which they are ever
intermingled. I must not, however, omit to describe my heroine, whom I
confess to have regarded with eyes somewhat partial—for to me she was
the type of all that is most lovely in woman. Imagine, then, features of
such faultless regularity that except in a statue, rarely, if ever, have
I looked upon their like—a complexion slightly tinged with brown, but so
transparent that the color deepened at every movement, and varied with
each passing word. Pencilled brows, overarching long almond-shaped eyes,
whose predominant expression in repose was one of pensive
thoughtfulness, but which in moments of mirth, actually sparkled and
danced with fun, as the dimples of laughter broke over her cheek, and
the lips parted to show the pearls within. Imagine, too, hair of the
softest texture, and of that peculiar shade of brown which looks bright
in the sunbeam, but dark in the shade, and a fairy figure which if as
yet somewhat too thin, gave full promise in after life, of ripening into
the rounded perfection of maturity. Such is the portrait of Evelyn
Travers, when in her sixteenth year she left school, and, accompanied by
her faithful mentor, (as she would playfully term me) returned to the
residence of her mother.
Warenne Vicarage was a fine old house, full of queer old gables, built
in what is termed the Elizabethian style. It stood far back in its own
grounds, which were parcelled out into flower garden, orchard, and
vegetable garden—also there was a charming walk called “the glebe,” a
series of meadows sloping upward, bounded by a pleasant green path and a
hedge fragrant with the sweetbrier-rose and eglantine. In this lover’s
walk, did we two friends pass many a long hour, weaving sweet fancies,
as hope, that lovely but deceitful syren, lifted for us, with fairy
wand, the curtain of futurity. Happy is it for us, that in youth, the
far-off horizon ever appears to be bathed in sunshine! In the dawn of
life we are like a rose, our illusions the leaves; these drop, one by
one, as we bear the burden and heat of the day—and in the evening who
would recognize that flower which looked so lovely, and yielded so sweet
a perfume, when sprinkled with the dew of earliest morning? In truth, a
little poesy was needed, to enable us to support our surroundings with
becoming philosophy. The Rev. Mr. Dale, the Vicar, had in his younger
days been a military man, and even in the army had the reputation of
being _fast_. Indeed, so fast had he been, that it was as a ruined
spendthrift that he addressed the handsome, but imprudent young widow,
who later became his wife. We fear that in the eyes of the admiring
lover the lady’s jointure was by no means the least of her attractions.
“_Veni, Vidi, Vici_,” was his watchword, and in less than six weeks from
the commencement of their acquaintance the happy pair entered into the
bliss of the honey-moon. Matrimony somewhat sobers a man. The reckless
spendthrift remembering the old adage, “The greater the sinner the
greater the saint,” commenced studying divinity, with a view to entering
the church; for, as his newly-made wife very justly observed to her
lord, “A nice parsonage would save house-rent.” In less than two years,
therefore, Mr. and Mrs. Dale were installed in a small house attached to
a curacy.
As time passed onward the reverend gentleman began to evince decided Low
Church tendencies; the reason of this became shortly apparent on his
receiving from an evangelical elderly maiden lady in the parish, the
presentation to a very fat living, which was intended as a provision for
her Puseyite nephew, who was by reason of his disappointment driven into
the arms of the Church of Rome. From this moment the Vicar became quite
a saint—in his own estimation at least—and to prove his “title to the
skies” he condemned every one who did not share his theological opinions
to the infernal regions.—Here let me make one observation, which is that
although I have met many of all creeds, who devoutly believe in eternal
punishment—_for their neighbors_—and who are quite annoyed if any
presume to throw a doubt on this dogma of their several churches, I have
never as yet met _one_ who expected _himself_ to be eternally lost, or
who did not profess the hope of salvation he denied to others.
Accordingly the Vicar asserted about seven times a day on an average,
that _he_ was _sure_ of Heaven whatever he had done, or might yet do,
because _Christ died for him_. This pernicious doctrine is, sad to say,
frequently held by what in England is termed the Low Church or
evangelical party, in contradistinction to the High Church and
Puseyites, who are considered, especially the latter, to favor too much
the Romish doctrine of the necessity of good works. All our neighbors,
no matter how amiable or charitable, were pitilessly black-balled by Mr.
Dale as children of the Evil One. Alas, that a minister of our Divine
Master should so far forget that great precept, “Judge not that ye be
not judged.” Alas! that he should thus ignore the apostolic teachings
and forget that “charity _thinketh no evil_.” Our society was naturally
much restricted; two or three half-starved curates and a few
long-visaged ladies of “undoubted piety” were alone permitted
occasionally to taste of the hospitality of the Vicar. Hence too we were
condemned to be present at long family prayers, with scripture
expoundings, and nasal hymn-singing twice a day. A lecture in church, a
couple of prayer-meetings, and another to consider prophecy, we were
also expected to attend every week in the cottage of some elect brother
or sister.
Evelyn, ever impetuous, almost took a disgust to Religion held up to her
example in so distasteful a form. She was young and ardent, and her
judgment was that of a child. “Oh, Mary!” she would exclaim, “CAN Heaven
be made up of such people?—if so, surely, surely it will not be a very
pleasant place.” In after years my readers will perceive that the
sentiments of my by no means faultless heroine were greatly modified on
many subjects.
Thus passed the summer and autumn. I had arranged (by the payment of a
small annual sum) to make my friend’s home my own. I confess to
entertaining the hope, that Evelyn, surrounded by such uncongenial
spirits, would remain unmarried at least four or five years, when, in my
girlish ideas, I considered we should, or certainly I should, be very
old, and sufficiently steady, having joined our incomes, to fly away
together to sunny Italy. It was, however, otherwise ordained.
[Illustration]
------------------------------------------------------------------------
CHAPTER II.
+COURTSHIP+
ONE morning at breakfast, on opening the letter-bag, Mrs. Dale announced
to her husband that her nephew, Captain Travers, of the *** Lancers, had
just returned from India, and proposed paying them a visit at Christmas.
Had the Vicar been a devout Catholic, he would doubtless have crossed
himself, as it was he gave a kind of holy groan, and rolled up his
forehead, as he was wont to do when any very obstinate sinner was
mentioned. The lady, however, pressed her point, and at length a
reluctant consent was given, together with the expression of a
despairing hope that the visit of this probable child of Satan might
eventually “be blessed” to the saving of his soul. Mrs. Dale, whose
piety was by no means so lively as that of her husband, was only too
happy to have an occasion for arraying herself in some of the elegant
new dresses she had surreptitiously procured at the nearest town. She
therefore lost no time in answering the gallant captain by letter that
they would be delighted to welcome him to Warenne Vicarage. I perceived
that Evelyn was much preoccupied by her cousin’s projected visit; our
life was so monotonous that any change was welcome, and a young and
dashing officer of cavalry could not fail to be an acquisition to our
very limited and somewhat dull clerical circle. Frequently I interrupted
her day dreams, begging her not to imagine she was about to meet her
“beau ideal”—the hero of her young imaginings—or she would surely be
disappointed. With a bright blush she would reply, “You know, dear Mary,
how high is my standard of perfection, and that I hope never to marry
unless I meet one I can not only love, but respect and revere above all
created beings. Yet,” she added with a sigh, “how in this isolated spot
may I ever hope to meet with such a man? unless indeed,” smiling archly,
“my gallant cousin prove to be my own true knight,” and springing
lightly across the room to her harp, she would commence singing, in a
rich contralto voice, Mrs. Norton’s exquisite ballad, “Love not, ye
hapless sons of clay,” or perhaps one of Moores’ delicious national
airs.—She was one of the few gifted individuals who have “tears in the
voice,” so deep was the pathos, so intense the feeling, she threw into
both words and melody; like Orpheus, she might have charmed even the
rocks. Thus passed the days till Christmas time drew nigh, with its
promise of turkeys, roast beef, mince pies and plum puddings. Mrs. Dale
“on household thoughts intent,” spent many an hour in superintending the
preparation of mince meat, sausages, and other delicacies, for country
folks make all these luxuries at home. Of course your humble servant was
pressed into the service, but our heroine, who detested the details of
the “ménage,” (for which she was always and with reason scolded by her
mother), continued to practice her harp and her singing, and to write
her foolish, romantic thoughts in her journal, utterly heedless of all
sublunary matters, and alike inattentive to the maternal rëproofs and to
the more gentle remonstrances of her Mentor. At length the long-expected
and anxiously desired day dawned bleak and cheerless in appearance, but
fraught with sunshine to the now cheerful party at the Vicarage. Our
usual two o’clock dinner was postponed to the hour of half-past five to
suit the more aristocratic habits of the young officer. Even Mr. Dale
fetched from the cellar a bottle of his oldest port, and the whole house
wore an air of unaccustomed festivity. Precisely at half-past four, the
roll of a carriage and a loud ring at the door-bell, announced the much
desired arrival. The usual kindly greetings over, the visitor was
ushered to the guest-chamber. I had just completed my toilet, and
wishing to ascertain if Evelyn had done the same, entered her apartment.
I was quite struck by her extreme beauty. She was robed in an
exquisitely-fitting dinner costume of blue silk, which suited well with
her delicate features and bright but soft complexion. A scarf of white
tulle was gracefully flung around her shoulders, I may add, in the words
of Byron,
“Her glossy hair was braided o’er a brow
Bright with intelligence—”
And one camelia from the green-house, of the softest pink, reposed on
her rich and wavy tresses. I do not think that Evelyn was then aware how
very lovely she was, and this unconsciousness of effect greatly enhanced
her charms. “How nice you look, dear Mary,” were her words, as she
placed her arm within mine and we descended to the drawing-room. Mrs.
Dale was already there, looking very handsome in a dress of black satin,
her dark hair in short curls under a pretty cap of blond and flowers.
She was still a remarkably fine woman, and had she been less stout,
would by no means have looked her age. A few moments and our newly
arrived guest entered, ushered in by the Vicar. Captain Edward Travers
was a young man of gentleman-like manners and prepossessing appearance.
He was dressed in the height of fashion, which in England means a
well-cut coat, white waistcoat, an irreproachable neck-tie, and
well-fitting polished boots. As the captain shook hands with us, his
smile displayed a fine set of teeth—his eyes likewise were good, and
altogether, my first impressions respecting him were agreeable. An
evangelical curate completed the party, and to Evelyn’s horror took her
in to dinner—the principal guest, of course, being seated at the right
hand of the lady of the house. Dinner passed off; and shortly after the
removal of the cloth the ladies retired, and the gentlemen remained to
finish their wine—a remnant to my mind of the barbarous ages.
In the evening, Evelyn and myself played duetts on the harp and piano.
She also sang to my accompaniment various pretty ballads, both English
and German. Meanwhile Captain Travers talked much—too much, I thought,
during the music—to Mrs. Dale; and at ten precisely the entrance of the
servants for family prayers put an end for that day to our occupations.
On retiring, Evelyn sought my room. “Well, Mary,” said she, “what think
you of my cousin?”
“He appears pleasant and good natured,” said I. “And you?”
“Oh! all I know is, that you need not imagine I have found my ideal
knight.”
“He is, however, good-looking?”
“Yes—has fine eyes.”
“Yes—and above all,” I added, laughing, “a most becoming moustache.”
“Oh! decidedly—I confess to a weakness for moustache; one may then be
quite sure the man is no curate—eh! Mary?—But he talks too much, and
evidently cares not for music.”
Like a couple of school-girls, we continued to chatter till near
midnight, when, declaring I was half asleep, I playfully ejected the
young lady by main force from my room, and was soon in the land of
dreams.
A week passed, and our guest was to leave on the morrow. I had ceased to
think about him, except as one of those common-place individuals, of
whom the best description is, that “there is nothing in him.” He
appeared much pleased with the society of his aunt, seeming greatly to
prefer it to that of his cousin. I was therefore surprised, the last
evening, to see him bending over Evelyn’s harp, and addressing her for
some time in a low voice. I soon concluded he was explaining to her some
of the delights of the hunting-field, or, perhaps, expatiating on the
scarcity of game this season, and paid no further attention to them.
Judge, then, how utterly amazed I was, to learn from Evelyn, that her
cousin had proposed, and that she had not positively rejected him.
“Good heavens!” I exclaimed, “you have not been half so foolish! No—I
will not believe it; there must be some mistake. Repeat me the
conversation, dear Evelyn.”
“Perhaps, Mary, you will smile at the originality of the affair. After
many words about nothing, and ‘apropos’ to less, he suddenly said, ‘I
think I shall sell out, and go abroad. Will you consent to come with me,
and make me happy?’ Imagine my surprise.—What could I say, except that I
did not know him sufficiently well, and that I would speak to my
mother—always having understood that is the manner in which young ladies
reply to proposals, unless they are really in love—which, of course,
Mary, I am not. Now you know all that has passed. I shall, after
consulting mama, make my definite decision; to-morrow, probably, will
decide my fate.”
She left me, and I passed a sleepless night; for I perceived no promise
of happiness for her, in so hasty an engagement. I sincerely trusted her
mother would dissuade her from committing so sad a folly, and anxiously
awaited the events of the coming day.
After breakfast, I saw poor Evelyn led into the drawing-room, like a
lamb to the slaughter, by her mother, and left alone with the young man.
Suspense was becoming unbearable, when, after about an hour had elapsed,
Evelyn flew to my room, and flung herself into my arms:
“Oh, dearest,” she said, sobbing, “my only true friend, let me confide
in you. Last night I went, as you know, to mama’s room, and told her
all, adding that I did not love him, and felt no inclination to marry.
She chid me, saying I ought to consider myself fortunate—that she could
not imagine _why_ I did not love so charming a young fellow, and adding,
that ‘love _before_ marriage was quite unnecessary, as every well
brought up girl was sure to love her husband when once she had become a
wife.’ My mother concluded by saying that if I were so silly as not to
accept my cousin, she would take no further trouble to introduce me into
society, and that I must make up my mind to live here all my life. So
you see, Mary, I was in a measure forced to say, that if on further
acquaintance, I could like him, I would be his wife.”
“My poor darling,” said I, smoothing her soft hair, “better bear your
present troubles than blindly rush into, perhaps, far greater sorrow.”
“Mary,” replied Evelyn, “do not think me childish, but I cannot endure
this methodistical house. Besides, I long to see the world—to go to
balls, the opera, theatres. Better to be really unhappy than die of
_ennui_. The stormiest sea is surely superior to a stagnant pool.
Besides, he is really fond of me. You should have seen how his hand
trembled.”
I ventured to interrupt her here, and to suggest that the hand
occasionally shook at breakfast, also, when there was no apparent cause.
“For shame, Mary,” she said, (though I do not think she then understood
my fears,) “indeed I feel certain he adores me. I shall be petted, and
spoiled; I will do my duty, and try to make him happy. Oh! I will be a
model wife.”
Tears had already given place to smiles and dimples, on the face of my
sweet friend, and the hope of a happier future had brought light to her
eyes, and renewed bloom to her cheek. I could not find it in my heart to
dash her joy, so I twined my arms around her, reiterating my fervent
wishes for her happiness, and adding, that whether for weal or woe, she
would ever find a firm friend, and a loving sister, in Mary Mildmay.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
CHAPTER III.
+THE STEPFATHER+
IN order that our readers may comprehend the motives by which some of
the actors in this our drama of real life were actuated, we must cast a
retrospective glance at the past and view our heroine in her infancy, as
the only and beloved child of a doting father. Mr. Travers married late
in life a pretty, penniless girl, and found himself in failing health
with a young wife and infant daughter to provide for. Had this child
been a son, he would have been heir to landed estates entailed in the
male line, but to a girl Mr. Travers could only leave a sum of money he
possessed in the funds, and of this, he settled the half on his widow
for life with reversion to Evelyn at her mother’s death; the remainder
was left as a marriage portion to the former, or, if unmarried, she was
to come into the full control of her property on attaining the age of
eighteen, Mrs. Travers acting as sole guardian of her daughter. A
codicil to the will, with pardonable family pride, expressed the wish
that Evelyn might marry the son of the testator’s half brother, Edward,
who must eventually become the possessor of the whole entailed family
property. Thus having, as he thought, secured the welfare and happiness
of his unconscious babe, the noble father and loyal husband was called
to a better and a happier world, where we trust he may hereafter hold
sweet communion with his child when the trials and troubles of her
mortal life shall be at an end.
Let us now return to our present hero and the lady of his dreams. In
consequence of the state of affairs Captain Edward Travers prolonged his
stay at the Vicarage another ten days, during which time the youthful
pair took daily walks about the grounds we have already described. In
the evening they sat indefatigably together, and to judge by the absence
of conversation when in the house, I should say they must have exhausted
all topics of interest during their morning strolls, for they literally
appeared to have nothing to say to each other. I confess to quite a
feeling of relief, as I watched the phaeton drive through the large
front gates of the Vicarage, _en route_ for the railway station, bearing
the young officer away. I hoped that absence would _not_ in this case,
“make the heart grow fonder,” but that Evelyn would permit her better
judgment to influence her, and perceive she was on the eve of committing
an irretrievable folly. I was confirmed in this opinion, on observing
the blank look of surprise, even mortification, on her mobile
countenance, as she perused her first love letter, an event usually so
delightful to a young girl, and then, without a word, placed the
interesting missive in the hands of her mother. That lady, it appeared,
was decidedly a friend to the absent. She glanced over the letter,
exclaiming, as she read it:—
“Dear fellow; how he loves you, Evelyn. See how his hand trembled from
excitement; the writing is almost illegible.”
And so, in very truth, was it, and horribly ill-spelled, if that too, be
a symptom of the tender passion. The letter, however, commenced, “My
darling Evelyn,” and ended, “Yours for life.”
Now, let me ask you young ladies of sweet sixteen, would not your pretty
little heads have been slightly turned, if you had for the first time in
your lives, been thus addressed by a good-looking, rich young officer,
with real moustaches? And this too, even though the orthography of the
epistle might have been somewhat defective. My heroine, though full of
intelligence, somewhat lacked that invaluable quality—plain, common
sense. Nor was she in any way above the faults and weaknesses of her age
and sex. Let not my readers then be surprised if she permitted her own
charity, and the writer’s evident attachment, to “cover a multitude of
(_grammatical_) sins.” One thing was self-evident from the tone of the
gallant captain’s correspondence, namely: that he considered Evelyn as
his _fiancée_, and wrote as an accepted suitor.
The letter was duly answered, and shortly after another made its
appearance, which, to judge by its defective style, argued no diminution
of the tender passion, for the lover’s head and hand evidently partook
of the agitated state of his heart, always interpreting these signs as
favorably as did our lovely heroine and her amiable mother. On handing
the second of these interesting documents to his stepdaughter, the Rev.
Mr. Dale expressed the wish for a few moments’ conversation with her in
his study. So, immediately, after breakfast we bent our steps thither,
for Evelyn, who dreaded above all things a _tête-à-tête_ with the Vicar,
had insisted on my accompanying her.
I was with some difficulty admitted into the sanctum. We seated
ourselves and prepared for a sermon. Meanwhile I was secretly rejoicing
in the idea that the captain’s attentions would surely be put an end to,
on the plea of his being one of the “children of this world.”
“My dear Evelyn,” solemnly began the reverend gentleman, “I wish to know
your exact position as regards your cousin.”
“I thought, sir, mama had informed you.”
“Yes, my dear, your mother mentioned to me very properly, that Travers
had asked your hand, but she also added that no definite reply had been
given to the young man. Has anything since occurred to alter your
sentiments?”
“No sir; they are the same as before, or, rather, perhaps I ought to
say”—turning very red and trembling visibly—“I—I——”
“Well, child,” said the Vicar, smiling, “you like him rather better,
eh?”
“Oh, no sir,” said poor Evelyn, almost in tears. “Since I have read his
letters I fear—indeed—I—”
“Evelyn,” said Mr. Dale, severely, “I am surprised at your conduct; you
have gone farther than a modest girl ought, with any man who is not to
be her husband. Your reputation—if you do not now marry—is lost. You
will acquire the name of flirt and jilt, and no honorable man will ever
again look at you.”
“But, sir, how could I know whether I should like him?”
“I tell you, young lady,” said her stepfather, “as one who knows the
world, and can speak with authority, you have been too much together,
and I will add, that as in your unconverted state, you could never hope
to marry a Christian, you should consider yourself _most fortunate_ in
having attached to you so amiable a worldling. Now, say no more, foolish
child,” (kissing her brow with some show of affection. “Go to your
mother, talk all this over with her, and may God bless you.”
We were leaving the room, when Mr. Dale called Evelyn back, and I heard
him tell her, that she must, now that she was going to be married,
prepare also to become a woman of business; adding, “but your mother
will explain all”—then, in a louder voice, “Mind, child, _I_ have
nothing to do with it.”
Evelyn joined Mrs. Dale, who usually sat working in her morning room.
The result of their conference (to which I was not admitted,) was, that
a letter was dispatched from his future _belle-mère_, to Captain
Travers, giving her formal consent to his projected union with her
daughter; and, two days later, I was sent to Paris, on a visit to the
dear old school, with full and ample instructions as to the _Corbeille
de mariage_, which the fair _fiancée_ was to provide for herself. Nor
was the little business affair alluded to by the Rev. Mr. Dale
forgotten. A letter of instructions was written by Evelyn, under her
mother’s dictation, to her solicitors, Messrs. Takeall & Co., the result
of which was highly advantageous to the reverend gentleman.
Let us charitably hope, that in thus sacrificing a young, beautiful, and
talented daughter, to a man she did not love, Mrs. Dale was in a measure
actuated by her desire to fulfil the dying wish of Evelyn’s father. We
fear, however, that another less praiseworthy motive had some influence
on her decision.
By no means so saint-like as her spouse, this lady had a great hankering
after forbidden pleasure, and she doubtless thought in her inmost heart,
that a yearly visit to a gay and worldly house, she might, in fact, term
her second home, would be a most agreeable change from the rather
monotonous society of the elect. If such were her idea, she was doomed
to disappointment.
Early in the morning of the eventful day, Evelyn was summoned to the
sitting room of her mother. She was there introduced to the very
respectable legal adviser of the family, Mr. Takeall, a gentleman of
some fifty summers, with a pair of uncomfortable, restless eyes, whose
expression was somewhat concealed by a pair of spectacles.
“Well, well, young lady,” said the man of law, very blandly; “so we are
going to be married, are we?—and we wish to be quite a woman of
business, do we? That’s right—that’s right. Now, here’s just a _little_
paper, to which we must put our name—of course, with mama’s
sanction—quite so?” looking at Mrs. Dale, who made a signal in the
affirmative.
The worthy attorney then proceeded to business. He emptied his large
blue bag of various parchments, sealed with large red seals, and tied
with red tape. Among these, (as I afterwards learned,) was a deed by
which Evelyn signed away in favor of her stepfather and his children,
her interest in the reversion of her mother’s fortune. This small sum of
£15,000 had long been coveted by the Vicar. The manner of obtaining it,
worldlings would be apt to call swindling; the reverend gentleman,
probably, termed it, “ministering to the necessities of the saints.” Be
this as it may, it was none the less an illegal transaction, and caused,
eventually, a complete break between the Travers and Dale families.
The signatures duly affixed, the wily attorney took hold of both the
young girl’s hands. “And now, my fair client,” said he, “you have been
generous—very generous—a good daughter, very. Allow me, my good young
lady, to wish you every happiness; and pray remember, Messrs. Takeall &
Co. will be only too happy to serve you in any way in their power.”
“Thank you, sir,” replied the poor victim, struggling to free her hands,
which the bland lawyer kept shaking; “but you forget that a bride must
dress.”
“Quite so—quite so,” said Mr. Takeall, releasing her. And as she left
the room, he continued, in his most caressing tones, “That’s a good
girl, my dear Mrs. Dale—a _very_ good girl. You have reason to be proud
of your daughter, madam—quite so, quite so,” as he rolled up parchments
and papers, and stowed them away in his capacious bag.
[Illustration]
------------------------------------------------------------------------
CHAPTER IV.
+THE BRIDAL+
THOUGH the morning of the wedding had dawned serene and cloudless, the
glare of the treacherous sun of May, was accompanied by the cutting east
wind, so prevalent in England in that month—fit emblem of the chequered
course of married life, the transient joys of which are but too apt to
wither beneath the chill breezes of disappointment. My young lady
readers, _never marry in May_—that reputed most unlucky month for
hymeneal ceremonies. As far as my experience goes, I have invariably
seen this popular superstition verified by the result.
The wedding of the two cousins was quiet and private, the guests invited
being restricted to the immediate relatives and connexions of the young
couple. The bride, who was in high beauty, wore over a petticoat of
white glacé silk a richly-embroidered robe of India muslin, the gift of
her husband, who had brought it from India. Her wreath and bouquet were
of real orange flowers and myrtle, and a veil of the most delicate lace
enveloped her youthful form, as in a cloud. Her two young sisters, a
friend and myself, in white tarletan, trimmed with pink, and looking
like rose-buds around a queenly white moss-rose, formed the bridal
train; and six little girls from the Sunday school, dressed in white,
strewed flowers in their beloved teacher’s path. Evelyn, “the observed
of all observers,” did not, I think, appear fully to realize the
solemnity of the occasion, though I fancied I perceived a slight shudder
pass through her frame, as the irrevocable words were uttered, which
fixed her destiny forever. I, for my part, could not shake off a certain
gloom, by no means appropriate to so festive an occasion; but I tried
hard to be cheerful: and it was not until the last farewells were
spoken, and Evelyn smiling, but tearful, was seated in her britschka, by
the side of her good-looking young husband, that I sought the solitude
of my chamber, and gave full and unrestrained vent to my feelings.
Evelyn’s first letters, though short, were happy and hopeful. She made a
tour of about six weeks in the northern counties of England, visiting
also a part of Scotland.
Soon after her return to the house of her husband, which, my readers
will remember, was also that of her beloved, though unknown father, I
received from my friend a long letter, which I shall proceed to
transcribe, that she may speak for herself:
EVELYN TRAVERS TO MARY MILDMAY.
The Abbey, Woodlands, Derbyshire, }
July ——, 18——. }
You upbraid me for my long silence and short letters, my own
Mary, forgetting that I have been, for the last few weeks,
incessantly on the move, besides having suffered, with becoming
patience, that infliction miscalled “the honey-moon,” which,
with the exception of courtship, is certainly the dullest and
most unprofitable period of one’s life. Now that I am settled in
my new home, or rather, shall I not say, in my beloved _old_
home, (for was it not that of my father?) I can sit down and
endeavor to fulfil your wishes, by giving you a detailed account
of all you may desire to know.
First, then, this is the dearest old place in the
world—inexpressibly so to me, for the sake of that dear father,
whom, though unknown, I love better than any living thing. Even
as I write, I have his full-length portrait before me—of
life-size, and so like my impression of him, that I should have
recognized it anywhere. Yes, there are the mild blue eyes, the
noble features, the intellectual brow, I have frequently seen
bending over my couch in my dreams, when I felt happy—_so_ happy
in the thought that, though absent in body, he might, perhaps,
still be permitted, by a mysterious Providence, to guide and
guard his daughter. My husband and myself have an apartment in
the left wing of the old Abbey, which is completely overgrown
with ivy. We have a bed-chamber, with two dressing-rooms
attached—a smoking cabinet for Edward, full of guns, and
ugly-looking hooks to torment the poor fishes; and worse than
all—I regret to say—the chimney is ornamented with hideous old
pipes, of all shapes and sizes. There is, of course, a drawing
room, and the sweetest boudoir for me. This completes our suite
of apartments. Stay—I am wrong. There is yet another room, with
hangings of blue and white, (your favorite colors) which I have
already named, Mary’s “Canserie,” in the fond hope it will
shortly be occupied by her. Am I wrong? My boudoir is quite a
“ladye’s bower,” its latticed windows, overlooking the flower
garden, include also a more distant view of the park, with a
glimpse of the blue hills of Derbyshire, the lordly Peak
towering far above his companions in the dim and distant
horizon. Our beautiful Woodlands well deserves its name; the
Park is rich in its old ancestral trees, and abounds in grassy
knolls; and a river, sparkling and clear as crystal, filled with
trout, meanders through the grounds, preserving the freshness
and enhancing the beauty of the scene.
Fortunate creature, I think I hear you exclaim, and truly, I can
imagine no happier lot than to have called such a place by the
sweet name of home in my girlhood.
But, alas! as it is, I envy the deer, the birds, the flowers,
their freedom. Oh, Mary! when starting on my first journey as a
wife, you placed in my hands a volume of Byron, your parting
remembrance, you little thought what a fatal gift it would prove
to me. It has opened a new field of romance, and from a child
your poor Evelyn has sprung into womanhood. I now know the kind
feeling I bear towards my husband is not worthy the name of
_love_. How then could I continue to deceive him by permitting
him to believe the contrary? No; I thought it my duty to confess
to him that I never did, and never could love him. And he—loves
me better than his dog, and a little less than his horse.
What a prospect, when one is not yet seventeen! You will tell me
no one is to blame but myself. I deny this. I am the creature of
circumstance, and could not have done otherwise than I have
done. But to return to our family circle. You saw my
father-in-law at the wedding; a good-hearted, frank, generous,
but somewhat rough, country squire, who makes a great pet of his
new daughter. His wife, a tall, lanky, uninteresting lady, with
stony eyes, who studies nothing but her own health, fancying
herself a confirmed invalid. She lives almost entirely in her
own apartments, only occasionally appearing at dinner, to which
she does, however, most ample justice. This is the only time she
ever sees the good squire, her husband, and even then she is
barely civil to him. Not a very good example for us young
people. Both parents dote on their only son, and each appears
jealous of the other’s influence over him. My father-in-law,
with Edward, sometimes sit too long over their wine, usually,
indeed, not making their appearance in the drawing-room till it
is almost time to think of retiring for the night, and then they
throw themselves into an arm chair or on a sofa and fall asleep.
It is not, as you may suppose, very amusing for me, and only
makes me pine the more for your society. Do you remember, Mary,
how you used to tease me and tell me I was not going to marry a
man, “but a pair of moustaches?” Well, I confess, they may have
had a trifle to do with it, but only just imagine my horror:
Edward appeared yesterday morning at breakfast shorn of his
honors, and on my exclamation of natural disgust, he informed me
that his name having appeared in the gazette as having sold out
of the army, he was no longer entitled as a civilian, to wear
moustaches. I never thought my husband _clever_, I knew he did
not care for music, nor understand poetry, but I _did_ fancy him
good-looking, and now, Mary, the worst is to come—I actually
think him ugly—his long upper-lip, robbed of its greatest
ornament, has such a sullen, almost sulky expression, when he is
serious or asleep, that I actually shudder when I look at him.
You who are so sensible, and so _posée_—excuse a most expressive
French word—will perhaps not understand this, and will certainly
blame me, and yet all these feelings are involuntary. And now,
dear Mary, hasten here to your foolish, unhappy, childish, but
certainly loving, friend, who will count the weary hours till
she can welcome you to her new home.
Your attached
EVELYN.
[Illustration]
------------------------------------------------------------------------
CHAPTER V.
+A RAILWAY JOURNEY+
THE country homes of old England, standing amid their ancestral trees,
what visions of quiet happiness do they recall to my mind! Memory loves
to linger before thy hospitable portal, oh, Rookwood! and hear once more
the kindly greeting of the amiable and affectionate family, some of
whose members, alas! now sleep their last sleep—the others are dead, at
least to me; for
“The absent are the dead, for they are cold,
And ne’er can we what once we did behold;
And they are changed—”
Far more so, than the departed, who ever watch us with their loving
eyes, changeless, immortal.
A verdant spot in life’s desert was that dear home to me, whose halls
ever resounded with the cheerful laughter of its happy and beloved
inmates—the sisters all that women ought to be—the brothers, noble,
manly, and gallant as the knights of old—the venerable father,
indulgent, yet firm as a rock—the mother, whom I never knew, excepting
by her portrait, a lovely countenance, gentle and tender as a Madonna of
Raphael.
Each nook and dell of that fair Park is engraven on my heart of hearts.
On this grassy slope, I walked with Mary, as she bent her steps toward
the village, where the poor awaited her with blessings. In yonder
pleasant path, Anne, the wit of the family, almost killed me with
laughter. On that gently-rising eminence, the hounds threw off—and
there, after a hard day’s run, William, the eldest son, who was ever in
at the death, presented my delighted self with the brush. Under the
shade of those wavy beeches, which every moment strewed their leaves in
our path, did the graceful and chivalrous George teach the timid school
girl to ride, or rather, to manage her rein; he was a very Bayard on
horseback, and a kind horse-master to boot. He loved to see the noble
animals well and judiciously treated, whether on the road or in the
stable. I remember a saying he had, which amused us all immensely—it was
this:
“Never ’ammer your ’unter along a ’ard road—if you wish to ’ammer along
a ’ard road, ’ire a ’ack and ’ammer ’im.”
George was handsome, accomplished, and good—to my girlish fancy, a very
“_preux chevalier, sans peur et sans reproche_”—but he was a decided
lady’s man, and, of course, a passionate and rather general admirer of
beauty. I knew I was not handsome, so I never again accepted an
invitation to join that dear and happy circle; and thus ended the one
romance of my life.
But this is a digression. My readers will remember the very pressing
invitation I had received from Mrs. Edward Travers, to join her at
Woodlands; nevertheless, I judged it unadvisable, for the present, to
accede to her wishes, trusting that, thrown entirely on her husband for
society, the young wife might, in time, learn to consider him as her
first and best friend. It was, therefore, not until the first week in
October, that I started from Warenne Vicarage, at about 7 A. M., for the
railway station, in order to take the train, which met the express from
London, as this was the only one which would enable me to reach
Woodlands the same evening.
It was one of those lovely and soft, yet fresh mornings peculiar to our
climate, at this season of the year, when the sky, though serene, is not
cloudless, and the air is at the same time balmy and exhilarating, and,
as it were, charged with vitality. The white hoar frost clung like gems
to the blades of grass, and caused the varied tints of the Autumn leaves
to appear still more fresh and glowing.
I, for my part, confess to feeling great delight in railway
travelling—the commencement of a journey, especially if the end of it
promises pleasure, always raises my spirits in fine weather.
In England, this mode of locomotion is more than comfortable—it is
luxurious. The termini and the stations are so well ordered, that you
may obtain your ticket at your ease, without that rushing and pushing
incident to all other European countries. If you have to wait the train,
you do so in a clean and comfortable room in winter with a large fire;
or, if a lady, you can remain in an inner room, with dressing-room
attached, where you may command the services of a female attendant. The
first class waiting rooms are, of course, much better than those of the
second and third classes, though these also have every reasonable
convenience. Should the carriages be in waiting at the terminus, (which
is usually the case) the traveller, after securing his ticket, may
instantly take his place, and, arranging his dressing-case, wraps, &c.,
comfortably ensconce himself in his seat, before the arrival of the less
punctual passengers. If our traveller have taken a first-class ticket,
he will find, even if he has filled a second place with his necessary
encumbrances, he will rarely be disturbed; for those who in England can
afford to pay for the best accommodations, are usually of a class to
whom good manners are habitual—they will, therefore, rather seek another
seat than put a fellow-passenger to inconvenience. The railway companies
being most liberal with their carriages, the chances are, if you arrive
early and manage well, you will always secure room for your legs. Six
places are the usual complement of each first-class compartment; these
have elastic cushions, and are partitioned off with arms, like an
easy-chair, so as to allow the occupant of each seat to lean back. The
French arrangements are still more commodious—while the German second
class, “Wagen,” is equal in comfort to the English and French first
class carriages. These latter, in Germany, are literally small “salons,”
containing a sofa, arm-chairs, centre-table, and even large and handsome
mirrors on the walls.
What a contrast to the American cars! Surely, Madame de Staël must have
had prophetic vision of these odious vehicles, when she declared
travelling to be “_Le plus triste plaisir de la vie_”—for I can testify,
that the old _diligence_, with its numerous inconveniences, is as the
gates of Paradise, compared to the straight-backed benches of cotton
velvet, the stuffy atmosphere, and the miscellaneous and unsavory
company in a Yankee car! The _coupé_ of a diligence, at least, permits
of cleanliness and privacy; but where, Oh! ye Goths and Vandals, may we
take refuge, in this land of “liberty and equality”—but _not_
“fraternity”—from squalling babies, tobacco-juice, spittoons, and the
great unwashed?
My readers, even though Americans, must pardon these observations. There
are very many fine institutions in this splendid country; but there is
also much room for improvement.
The American steamboats can “whip all others out of creation;” but land
travelling leaves much to be desired. All these thoughts might possibly
have passed through the writer’s mind, had she been an American, as she
flew, with the speed of the wind, through the green and
highly-cultivated meadows of Merry England, seated in the luxurious
_fauteuil_ of a first-class carriage.
The journey was without incident or accident. On reaching the
Derby-junction station, the train for that Shire, was, in railway
phrase, “shunted” on to the midland-counties line. A sandwich and a cup
of coffee, hastily swallowed, and away flew the train, at the speed of
sixty miles an hour, through a rich country, diversified by hill, wood,
and water—all glowing in the beams of the now setting sun. One hour
more, and we stop. I catch a glimpse of the most coquettish little hat
in the world, shading a radiant and lovely young face. Springing out, I
am caught and kissed, and hurried into a carriage in waiting. One
moment, and John, the footman, touching his hat, says: “Please, ma’am,
the luggage is all right.” A pretty, silvery voice at my side, replies:
“Very well—home.” John mounts the box, and Evelyn and myself are once
more together and alone.
[Illustration]
------------------------------------------------------------------------
CHAPTER VI.
+HOME SCENES+
EVELYN’S home was comfortable without being luxurious, and well suited
to a family of moderate fortune. Charmingly situate, in the loveliest of
England’s midland counties, the house, originally an old monastery,
stood in the midst of a richly wooded though not very extensive park.
The amusements at Woodlands, as is the case more or less all over
England, were more suitable to gentlemen than to the fairer sex. They
consisted, principally, of hunting, shooting, and fishing in some of the
trout streams hard by. The Squire, as he was usually termed, with his
son, Captain Travers, constantly availed themselves of these facilities
for sport; consequently we ladies were left almost entirely on our own
resources. An occasional dinner party, to which we were expected to
drive out some ten or twelve miles, in full evening costume, perhaps on
a snowy night, formed the only variety to our rather monotonous life.
These dinner parties were altogether “flat, stale and unprofitable.” The
usual codfish, with oyster sauce, saddle of mutton, and boiled chicken
or turkey, were served up, and flavored by such conversation as the
following:
“A fine day for scent, eh, Squire?”
“Glorious; were you in at the death?”
“I should say so. By Jove! my mare’s a clipper, I can tell you.”
“Smith, your grey rather swerved at that fence.”
“Why, yes; my fool of a groom physicked him only a week since, and the
fence was, a stiff-un, but he’s a very devil to go.”
Or thus:
“I say, gov’n’r,” (the slang term for father,) “how many birds d’ye say
we bagged to-day?”
“Well, fifteen brace.”
“No, twenty, I tell ye, all fine uns.”
“That dog of yours, Travers, is a capital setter, and no mistake. What’s
his pedigree?”
“Oh, he was got by Tommy out of Fairstar.”
“I should like a pup of his, by Jove!”
After dinner, on the adjournment of the ladies to the drawing-room, the
sporting talk commences in right earnest, the wine circulating even more
briskly than before. The married ladies meanwhile stand around a roaring
fire warming their satin-clad feet; they complain to each other of the
delinquencies of their servants, or boast of the beauty and precocity of
their children. The entrance, presently, of coffee, puts an end to
general conversation, as the ladies collect into smaller groups to wait
for tea and the gentlemen. The matrons and elderly maidens perhaps
indulge in a little scandal as they sip the fragrant beverage. The more
juvenile damsels talk of balls, past and future, and of the delightful
partners who may have fallen to their lot. Some would be Grisi,
“inglorious,” though not, alas! “mute,” possibly attacks the open piano
with a violence that makes you almost imagine she is venting her spite
upon the innocent instrument, and then in a cracked but stentorian
voice, she commences to shout, “Sing me the songs that to me were so
dear, long, LONG ago, long, LONG ago,” accentuating the dashed
expletives by a shriller scream even than before. At about half-past ten
enter the lords of the creation, with highly flushed faces, and
vociferating loudly, the words, “my good fellow,” “horse,” “dog,” “my
mare,” “that pointer,” still forming the burden of their song. Very
slight attention falls to the share of the ladies. A young curate,
perhaps, stands beside the piano, turning the leaves of the music-book
for the squalling songstress. A whist table is frequently formed, but at
eleven a move is made, and by half-past, the carriage of the last guest
has usually rolled from the door.
The cause of Captain Travers’ shaking hand was now but too apparent. The
captain, I regret to say, seldom, if ever, returned home from these
dinners perfectly sober, and the old squire, though rejoicing in a
stronger head than his son, was but too often more than “a little
elevated.” Latterly the propensity of young Edward Travers became so
uncontrollable that no invitations ever came from the best houses in the
neighborhood to Woodlands, a very great slight to one of the oldest
families in the county.
Our readers may readily imagine that though blessed with every outward
advantage of person and position, our heroine felt more alone even than
when cloistered within the walls of Warrenne Vicarage. Then at least she
might hope for a brighter future; now to hope were a crime, for would it
not involve the death of another, and that other a husband. The marriage
tie, in its spiritual and inner sense, is, indeed, as we are taught to
believe, an inheritance from Paradise; it supposes the perfect union of
the sexes, so that two separate existences become virtually one
individual. Neither would be complete without the other. Force blends
with weakness; firmness with gentleness; and mutual love and confidence
is the crowning bliss of all.—But observe the reverse of the picture,
alas! far more common than the other side. The hourly clash of angry
tempers and selfish desires, brutality and neglect on the part of the
husband, met by reproaches from the wife, and yet with all this, and
perhaps the vice of intoxication in addition, the wretched pair must
drag out a miserable existence till “death do them part.” Happy those
countries where divorce is permitted for other, though not slighter
causes than infidelity!
I mentioned that Evelyn, as a girl, was scarcely aware either of her
beauty or of her extreme power of fascination. Now that she had become a
married child, older women spoiled her, telling her she had thrown
herself away, and that with advantages of person and fortune such as
hers, she might have aspired to become a duchess, or, as Evelyn added
with a sigh, “I might, had I waited, have met with one worthy of my
love, and have become a happy, instead of an unloving and therefore
wretched wife.” Often have I contrasted Rookwood—beloved home of the
intelligent, the refined, the sympathetic—with the scarcely less
beautiful Woodlands, the abode of uncongenial spirits.
“Trifles,” says a modern female writer,[1] “make the sum of
human-things;” and _she was right_. Happiness depends more on the hourly
nothings of existence than we are fain to believe, and a continual
dripping of water will wear away the hardest rock. The great sorrows of
life are rare; its intense joys rarer still; we have it in our power to
embitter our own lot and that of others, or to be to them as a
ministering angel and thus bring a blessing on ourselves. Did the young
wife prepare to buy a new dress, her husband would term it useless
extravagance, and refuse to furnish her with the means for procuring it,
even though these were actually of her own money. When she wished for a
drive, the horses were required to go to cover, or they had a cough, or
were in physic. Did Evelyn in the evening place herself at her harp, and
sing in her sweetest and most thrilling tones, some of Moore’s plaintive
melodies, or of Mrs. Hemans’ beautiful songs, the “thank you, my dear,”
of the kind but unappreciative Squire, would be echoed by a loud snore
from his sleeping son, just in the most effective part of the
performance. Later, when her health became delicate, as the prospect of
maternity dawned upon her, even the visits of a physician in an “illness
common to all women,” as the Captain amiably remarked, were an
unnecessary expense. Let not my readers imagine this was “malice
prepense”—it was only _selfishness_—that bane of married life.
Footnote 1:
Mrs. Hannah More.
Edward Travers was the only son of foolish parents. His mother, selfish
herself, and inconsiderate as to consequences, fostered his youthful
vices; and even on the rare occasions when the father thought it
necessary to correct his boy, the silly and ill-tempered wife ever took
the son’s part against the husband she so much disliked, and endeavored
to compensate, by a larger slice of cake or an extra glass of wine, that
which she did not scruple to impress on the lad’s mind as unjustifiable
harshness on the part of the governor. Thus trained up “in the way he
should” not “go,” can it be wondered at, if he was innately though
unintentionally selfish, and utterly regardless of the feelings of the
wife, whose sympathies he never had? Mrs. Travers, Sen’r. also did all
she could to foment the dissensions which constantly arose between the
two who should have been as _one_. Even the birth of a daughter failed
to cement a breach, which widened every day. A son would have been
welcomed with joy by the family, as heir to estates entailed in the male
line, but a girl was considered as a useless and expensive encumbrance,
by all but the young mother herself.
After the birth of my little god-daughter, coldness and indifference
became actual dislike. Evelyn and her husband scarcely ever spoke, and a
virtual separation took place between them. I remained some time at the
Abbey, being loth to leave my friend under such trying circumstances.
Evelyn endeavored to beguile the time by cultivating her taste for
music; we also studied together various volumes, both of ancient and
modern history, and even sounded the depths of natural philosophy and
astronomy. Poetry and light literature, she said, made her melancholy,
as they portrayed untrue pictures of life—especially with regard to love
and marriage. She never would be persuaded to peruse any tale which
finished happily; but stories of misfortune, ending in separation or
death, she read with avidity.
This was a most unhealthy state of mind. Evelyn’s feelings were
exceedingly embittered towards her mother and stepfather, whom she
considered to have occasioned the terrible mistake of her life. Her
husband she pitied with a feeling akin to contempt, knowing that, with a
common-place wife, he might have become a better and a happier man, but
confessing herself totally unsuited to him. She would not, however,
attempt in any way to brighten his path; neither would she endeavor to
wean him from his intemperate habits, which, unhappily, became daily
more confirmed. I could not but blame, though my heart bled for poor
Evelyn; for I felt that, sooner or later, she would learn how that for
each and all of our wrong doings, and even for our sins of omission, a
just retribution awaits us, either here or hereafter.
[Illustration]
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CHAPTER VII.
+PRESENTATION TO THE QUEEN+
THE drama of real life, like that represented nightly on the mimic
stages of our theatres, naturally divides itself into acts and scenes.
Will our kind and gracious readers be pleased to imagine themselves now
sitting before the drop-curtain, which has just closed over the first
act of our piece? In order to put them into an indulgent humor, let
fancy place them in the best and most commodious of private boxes,
where, ensconced in the most luxurious of lounges, and (if a lady)
looking most charming in an opposite mirror, they may placidly and
patiently await the rising of the curtain. Then let my fair and friendly
reader turn, in imagination, to the play book, and find that a period of
some ten years is supposed to have elapsed between the first and second
acts of our drama; let her point this out to her companion, whom we will
suppose to be _the_ gentleman without whom even the most interesting
plot would prove insipid. Then let the fair lady and her admirer turn to
our little stage, and give us their undivided attention.
The curtain slowly rises, disclosing a gay and brilliant scene, the
presence chamber at the Court of Victoria—that lady, even more royal by
her virtues, than through her exalted position, though that were of the
highest ever filled by woman. Graceful and gracious stands the Queen, to
receive the homage of the fairest and the noblest of the land. Her royal
husband is beside her, in the prime of manly beauty. In a semi-circle,
glittering with diamonds, and gold, and scarlet, stand the illustrious
princes and princesses of the blood; and still farther in the
background, appears a scarcely less dazzling group of court beauties and
gallant cavaliers in attendance upon the royal party. The beauteous
Duchess of Wellington, whose long dark lashes veil eyes whose lustre
sorrow and disappointment have somewhat dimmed; the brilliant Lady
Jocelyn, the queenly Duchess of Southerland, all are there in attendance
on their beloved Sovereign. The _coup d’œuil_ is splendid; but few who
pass before that august circle dare raise their eyes to admire it. A
moment, and the Lord Chamberlain receives a card, and announces the name
of a lady to be presented to her Majesty. The lady, robed in white,
steps gracefully forward, and makes a deep and respectful obeisance to
the Queen; another, equally graceful, but somewhat less humble to the
royal circle, and then backing slowly out of the presence chamber,
receives the train on her arm from a page in waiting—when, no longer
under the immediate eye of majesty, she is permitted to walk in the
manner which nature intended. A whisper of admiration is heard from many
a young scion of nobility and officer present.
“How beautiful!”
“Who is she?”
“She must be a married woman.”
“Ah! it is the new Russian Princess they talk so much about.”
“No—it is Baroness What’s-her-name—you know who I mean—they say the Duke
of Devonshire is smitten with her.”
“I say, Melville, who _is_ that pretty creature?”
The young guardsman either did not, or would not reply, though he soon
set the matter at rest by advancing toward the fair object of all this
crossfire.
“How are you, Mrs. Travers?” said he. “Allow me to pilot you through the
crowd.”
“Thank you, Col. Melville—I shall most gladly avail myself of your
escort to my carriage.”
“How did you get through the presentation?”
“Very well. Her Majesty appeared in a most gracious mood, and the Prince
looked splendidly handsome.”
“As _you_ do to-day—_you_ are the true Queen of the drawing-room.” Then,
in a lower voice—“Oh, Evelyn, let us hasten from this place. I cannot
hear that another than myself should even see you, now that our time
together is so short.”
“We shall meet again ere long I trust,” she replied.
“With what coolness and indifference you speak of our parting. Ah, it
was not so when at Woodlands you—”
Evelyn’s cheek flushed, and her eyes took a displeased expression.
“How selfish you men are! You well know that I am not going abroad for
my own pleasure, but that I am ordered to Italy to recruit my
health.—Why, then, blame me for that which is inevitable?”
“Blame _you_, Evelyn?” and the young heart throbbed, and the earnest
eyes filled with a sorrowful indignation.
The two walked on in silence—and never did mortal pair, since the days
of our first parents, appear outwardly more suited to each other.
Evelyn is still all that we have painted her in early life—though the
varying blush of girlhood has given place to the fresh bloom of matured
womanhood, and the figure once slight to a fault has acquired that
voluptuous roundness, united with grace peculiar to the women of
Andalusia—for Evelyn’s mother was of Spanish extraction. Col. Melville
is the perfect type of an aristocratic Englishman—tall and muscular, yet
slight; of a noble military bearing, and a face whose faultless
regularity of feature might rival even with that of his fair companion;
hair of a light brown, curling naturally like the locks of “the god of
the etherial bow;” whiskers of the same shade; deep-set eyes, where
sincerity sat enthroned—and a countenance expressive of goodness and
feeling, still flushed with the glow of youth.
Such is the description of the cavalier, leaning on whose manly arm, our
heroine threaded her way through the crowded reception rooms of the
Palace of St. James.
“Mrs. Travers’ carriage stops the way,” cries a voice outside.
The name is taken up, and re-echoed again and again, till it is given as
“Travers’ carriage,” “Travers’ Brougham,” “Towers’ coming out.”
Evelyn, hastily cloaking, has sprung into her Clarence, but not before a
tender glance and a bewitching smile, accompanied by a hurried “you will
dine with me to-morrow, my last evening,” has quite restored the young
guardsman to equanimity.
Let us leave our heroine to the society of her own thoughts, and look
once more through memory’s glass into the long vista of the past. Many
characters who have once figured in these pages, are now no longer
living. Mrs. Dale has died, a heart-broken woman, most ungratefully
treated by the husband for whom she had sacrificed her child, and her
own, and much of her daughter’s fortune. The by no means disconsolate
widower shortly after married one of the most devoted of his many female
worshippers—and his present wife rivals, it is said, even that great
saint in sanctity. The good old Squire has gone to his final account.
Peace be with his ashes!—for his vices were born of circumstance, his
virtues were his own.
Evelyn is now a widow. Let us drop a veil over the closing scenes of the
life of one whose deathbed was invaded by the baleful spectres of
delirium tremens. Let us hope that, though disliking her husband, the
wife shrank not from her duty when the poor sufferer’s moans resounded
through the chamber of sickness. I have reason to know Evelyn was
dissatisfied with herself, when the end came—at last unexpectedly,
almost suddenly: but I will fain hope she judged too harshly her
involuntary shortcomings. I know, also, that if she in any way failed in
her duty, her sin has not remained unpunished.
Old Mrs. Travers still lives, or rather vegetates, like some elderly
animal of the feline species, who passes her time in spitting at any
more juvenile pussy who ventures across her august path. She has gone to
live—I know not where, and care still less. Sweet Woodlands, no longer
the abode of a Travers, has passed to a very distant connexion of the
family. Evelyn consequently is still condemned to be without kith and
kin in the world. When, therefore, under the advice of the family
physician, she decided on a prolonged sojourn in Italy, a letter was at
once despatched to secure myself as a travelling companion. I was then,
and am still—shall I confess it?—AN OLD MAID—for I was past thirty, and
unmarried.
I gladly accepted Evelyn’s proposal to accompany her, but made it a
condition that little Ella, her only child, should be my especial
charge, thus relieving her mother of some little care and
responsibility.
The evening preceding our departure, we dined at our hotel, in company
with Colonel Reginald Melville; and, as he had politely brought us a box
for Covent Garden, we left instantly after dinner, in order not to lose
the commencement of the opera.
Whilst my ears were drinking in the magnificent harmonies of the
“_Benediction des Poignards_,” in the Huguenots, and my breath was
suspended as the delicious tones of the matchless Mario rang through the
house, in the exquisite final _duo_, I naturally turned to Evelyn, whom
I knew to be passionately fond of music as myself, and to be even a
better judge of it scientifically than I am, I met her entranced look:
but I saw that Colonel Melville had eyes and ears only for her.
“She was his sight;
For his eye saw with hers, and followed hers;
Which colored all his objects—she was his life,
The ocean to the river of his thoughts,
Which terminated all.”
There was a subdued sorrow in his look, which touched me deeply. Does
she love him? I thought, as I watched her bright and beaming glance, all
untroubled by the thought of the morrow’s parting; or, can it be that
she is heartless, the friend of my youth, whom I have loved, and still
love so dearly? Methinks, if she _have_ a heart, she cannot but be
touched by a devotion so deep. Oh, true woman—
“In our hours of ease,
Uncertain, coy, and hard to please,”
Who can fathom the depths of thy soul? My sympathies from that night
were with Melville, and I determined any influence I might have over
Evelyn, should be exerted in favor of this, her true knight.
[Illustration]
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CHAPTER VIII.
+FOREIGN TRAVEL+
ON the very loveliest of summer mornings, in the leafy month of June,
Evelyn and myself, with the little fair-haired Ella, a maid, and a
courier, started by the mail train for Dover. We were in the highest
spirits, and anticipated much enjoyment in our projected journey.
If a shade of tender melancholy lingered on the cheek of my fair
companion, at the thought of her recent parting with a handsome and
devoted admirer, it was soon dissipated as she called to mind his
promise to join us, either at Venice or Florence, as soon as his
military duties would permit him to take advantage of the usual autumn
regimental leave.
Our journey through “_la belle France_” was a hurried one. Our first
halt was at Vevay, on the Lake of Geneva. Here we remained a few days,
enjoying the view of the snow-capped mountains—Mont Blanc, like a hoary
giant, faintly discerned in the distance. We made a pilgrimage to “Sweet
Clarens,” rendered far more interesting through the graphic pen of our
own immortal Byron, than as the abode of that disgusting
sensualist—Rousseau, whose writings, (such of them, at least, as I have
seen), I utterly abhor.
I may be permitted here to remark, that, apart from its exquisite poetic
beauties, we found Childe Harold the best and truest of descriptive
guide books, for a work of true genius in poetry as in music, though
capable of satisfying the highest intellectual requirements, is also
adapted to interest and please the million.
At Vevay we engaged a vetturino to take us over the magnificent Simplon
pass to the head of the Lake of Como, whence we intended crossing in the
steamer to the town, which takes its name from the lake, and is situated
at its lower extremity.
The pass of the Simplon presents to the traveller every variety of
scenery, from the verdant and flowery valley, with its murmuring brook
and rich pasturage, to the rugged and barren heights, where eternal snow
usurps the place of vegetation, and the ear is constantly assailed by
the crash of the avalanche, as it leaps from crag to crag and is finally
lost in some unfathomable abyss, into whose depths the sun never
penetrates.
Our journey usually commenced at sunrise. Having taken a cup of coffee,
or a glass of delicious new milk, we entered the carriage, enjoying the
exquisite freshness and fragrance of the morning air. At about eleven, a
two-hours’ rest for the horses brought us to some shady road-side inn,
where a breakfast of mountain trout, fresh caught from the stream, and
perhaps a chamois cutlet awaited us. Much less tempting fare would, as
my readers may imagine, have had ample justice done to it, under such
favorable circumstances for exciting an appetite.
Between one and two our second start was made. Our route, perhaps, then
led through a forest of pines, rendered doubly aromatic by the magnetism
of the sun’s beams; or, it might be, the bed of a torrent skirted our
path, which we had more than once to cross, on the most picturesque of
bridges. The road over this grandly terrible pass is sufficiently wide
to admit of two _diligences_ passing abreast, without any danger of
falling down the awful precipice, which ever yawns on one side of the
road, and sometimes on either. To construct such a route over such a
mountain, it required the genius of a Napoleon to conceive and to
execute; and each step taken by the Alpine traveller, whether his way
lie over the Splügen, the Cenis, or the still finer and more easy
Simplon pass, must raise his admiration for the herculean labors of this
wonder-working architect.
Between five and six, we halted for the night, probably in the vicinity
of some cataract, the rushing of whose waters lulled us to that sweet
sleep which was ever ready to come to our pillow. As far as my
experience goes, these little way-side inns, frequented by _vetturini_
are by far the cleanest, best, and cheapest I ever entered; and from our
large city hotels, I have frequently looked back to their homely
comforts with regret.
Our prolonged journey permitted my turning the conversation,
occasionally, on Colonel Melville. I learned from Evelyn, that her
acquaintance with him commenced in rather a romantic manner. He was
hunting in their neighborhood, and in taking a leap, his horse fell with
him, and he had the misfortune to break his leg. Captain Travers, who
witnessed the accident, ordered Melville to be carried to Woodlands,
where, unable to be moved without risk, he remained for six weeks
confined to his bed. Evelyn tended him through his illness, and a strong
sympathy springing up between them, he became a constant and welcome
guest at the Abbey, until old Mrs. Travers, lynx-eyed as are most
dowagers, perceiving a growing attachment between the parties, persuaded
her son to be rude to Melville, and to suspect the prudence of his wife.
Provoked at her mother-in-law’s ill-nature, and angry at the unjust
aspersions of her husband, Evelyn confessed that she had kept up a
clandestine correspondence with the young man, by letter, and also had
occasionally met him alone in the park. She added, that, aware of her
unhappiness, Melville had presumed even to speak to her of marriage,
should she ever regain her freedom. Since her widowhood, however, she
told me she had forbidden him ever to allude to the subject of their
future union till a decent time should have elapsed since the death of
her husband.
I was glad to receive her confidence, but thought it my duty to chide
her imprudence, in permitting herself, as a married woman, clandestine
meetings with an avowed lover. I showed her, that however innocent her
feelings and intentions, her husband would have had a right to suspect
the worst, adding that even to Col. Melville she had given but too much
occasion to think lightly of her discretion, but that I trusted having
proved that she loved him to the very verge of imprudence, she would
later become to him the most faithful and modest of wives. Whatever
reply Evelyn might have made, was cut short by Ella’s exclamation—
“See, mama! how lovely!”
We looked—and there lay the beauteous Como, with her waters of sapphire,
sparkling as if gemmed with a thousand diamonds, in the beams of the
mid-day sun, her banks studded with innumerable villas, white as Parian
marble. We reached Colico in time to take the steamer to the foot of the
lake. At the small town of Como we found the train waiting to convey us
to Milan.
I will not here detain my readers to describe the fine Cathedral, with
its lofty dome, filled with that “dim religious light,” which insensibly
recalls us from the multiform distractions of daily life, and disposes
the mind to devotion. I pity the man who could enter such an edifice
without breathing a prayer, however short, to the Author of all good. I
do not envy him, if he could leave that sacred building, and not feel,
at least momentarily, the desire to become “a wiser and a better man.”
We remained but one day in Milan—just glanced at Padua, Mantua,
Verona—all interesting cities in themselves, but still more so from the
association of their names in the divine comedies of the “sweet swan of
Avon,” our own immortal Shakespeare.—These fair cities were powerless to
arrest our steps. A fever was upon our spirits, which brooked not
delay—and wherefore? Beautiful city of my dreams! thou “sea Cybele,”
rising from the blue waters of the Adriatic, with thy numerous palaces
and thy countless spires, gleaming so white in the pure Italian
moonlight—was it not to look upon thy loveliness as in a vision, that we
pressed onward, and still onward, as the young lover to greet his
beloved. The stormy ocean kisses thy marble feet in homage—wert thou not
his bride of old?—Thou most silent Queen, dost thou mourn in voiceless
grief the decay of thy sculptured halls, once so brilliant in the
festive scene, ere yet untrodden by the armed heel of the ruthless
Saxon? Or dost thou weep in thy desolation for thy dark-eyed sons, whose
godlike brows are bowed down, and whose cheeks pale beneath the yoke of
the stranger? Oh, Garibaldi! hero of the lion heart, how long wilt thou
leave her in her anguish, a slave amid slaves!
Fairy-like and unreal appeared that city to us, and yet so like my young
imaginings, that I sometimes doubted whether I actually beheld fair
Venice with my waking eyes. Those hearse-like gondolas, how silently do
they thread the streets; only the ceaseless plash of the water is heard
on the steps of the palaces—now, alas! crumbling into ruins. Looking on
the Piazza di San Marco, I could not divest myself of the idea that I
beheld a scene at the opera—there was the Basilico, the costumes, the
moonlight—all that I had seen so frequently portrayed at Covent Garden,
and her Majesty’s theatre. Nor was music wanting to complete the
illusion. Airs from Marino Faliero, Othello, and other familiar strains,
were played by the Austrian band; and as we sipped our coffee, or ate
our ices, seated under the trees in this beautiful piazza, Evelyn would
declare that it was not possible to live at Venice without an _Amoroso_,
and even my old maidhood confessed that the softly voluptuous breezes,
the dream-like beauty of the city, the seclusion of the gondolas—all
spake to the fancy, of love, mystery, and romance.
[Illustration]
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CHAPTER IX.
+FLORENCE+
SUMMER had now given place to Autumn, with its treasures of corn and
wine; not that pallid season, half-summer, half-winter, of our more
northern climes—but the glowing Autumn of Italy, when the purple
clusters of grapes hang pendent from the trellised arbor of vine-leaves
over-head; when the orange groves are fragrant with their golden fruit,
and the luscious fig and dark olive grove invite the traveller to
refreshment and repose.
On quitting Venice, we had decided on retracing our steps, in order to
visit the cities we had not yet seen. From Genoa we followed the
beautiful coast road to Pisa, whence we took rail to Florence, arriving
there towards the latter part of September. We thus had time to visit
the various galleries and artistic curiosities of the city of the
Medici, previously to the commencement of the fashionable season, when
Florence is usually thronged with strangers. We engaged a fine
apartment—“primo piano”—(first floor) on the Lungo L’Arno, considered
the best situation by strangers, though not by the Florentines
themselves, who call it unhealthy. Nor are they wrong—for the Arno, like
the Tiber, is a yellow, dirty stream, unpoetic to the eye, and
frequently most unsavory to another sense. Florence nevertheless well
deserves her name of “La bella.” The town is built on either side of the
river, which is spanned by five exquisitely light and well proportioned
bridges, each of which differs in the style of its architecture from the
others. These bridges unite the two cities as it were into one. As is
usual, one side of the river monopolizes the rank and fashion of
Florence, although the grand ducal palace of Pitti is situate on its
opposite and quieter border. Our first visit was of course to the
“Palazzo d’egli Uffizis,” to view the celebrated Venus de Medicis. We
expected much, and were therefore of course disappointed. The figure is
artistically perfect; perhaps this very perfection causes the effect to
be cold and unsympathetic. The face, too, is entirely without
expression. She resembles rather a young nymph of Diana than the goddess
of love and beauty, whose voluptuous charms are far better portrayed in
the statue called the Venus of the Capitol in Rome—infinitely superior,
in my opinion, to her Florentine sister.
At the Pitti Palace, we spent hours wrapped in silent contemplation
before that superhuman painting, the divine Madonna della Seggiola of
Raphael Sanzio. Most of my readers will be familiar with the copies of
this picture, but these, one and all will give them but a very imperfect
idea of the original, _which cannot be reproduced_. The features and
complexion may, it is true, be copied—but who but the immortal Raphael
could represent the infinitely tender and happy, yet half wondering look
of the young mother, as she clasps that mysterious Babe to her virgin
breast! Who but he might portray those dove-like eyes, welling over with
maternal love? Verily it was given to that wondrous poet-painter alone
to reveal to mortal sight the spotless Mary, who “kept all these things,
and pondered them in her heart.” And even he must have used as his brush
a plume fresh plucked from an angel’s wing, all bright and glowing with
the hues of Paradise. Observe, too, the look of thought, far beyond his
years, which almost casts the shadow of coming sorrow over the baby brow
of that divine Infant. Genius, highest gift of heaven! how glorious are
thy works!—how godlike thy mission upon earth!
Strangers were now fast pouring into Florence, and the winter was
expected to be unusually brilliant. Col. Melville arrived, and became
the constant companion of our walks and drives, and a welcome guest at
our dinner table. Evelyn treated him kindly—at times almost as an
accepted lover, whilst at others she appeared to weary of his society,
and to long for change and excitement. Highly fitted to shine in the
_salon_, and passionately fond of amusement, our heroine had never, as
yet, been able fully to gratify her taste for the world, which from the
very novelty of its pleasures to her, now became her idol. An
all-engrossing affection, it may be imagined, like that of Melville,
rather nettled and annoyed her; she hated restraint, desired to be
uncontrolled mistress of her actions, to dance when and with whom she
pleased, and to accept the homage of the favored few. I will do her the
justice to say she never cared to attract the notice of the million, and
had a perfect horror of the street admiration so usual on the Continent.
Melville was jealous. He could not view with calmness the smiles of the
lady of his love lavished on another. He would leave the room—perhaps
the house—and not return, till a small, rose-colored missive would once
again recall him to the side of his fair tormentor.
With all this, Evelyn was not a deliberate coquette. She admired and
esteemed Melville, and appreciated his devotion with her whole heart—but
unhappily she fell into that fatal mistake common to beauties, that
affection such as his, is of every day occurrence, and to be considered
merely as the meed due to her charms. How frequently do the lovely of
our sex thus make shipwreck of their happiness, not knowing how _very
few_ are capable of feeling the true sentiment of love, and how
priceless therefore is the heart of an honorable man. Alas! in bitter
suffering, and with tears of blood, do they expiate their supreme
folly!—they then, when too late, perceive how they have flung away the
purest gold for mere tinsel, and now they must starve for the want of
that bread of life which can alone satisfy the famished heart, and which
that once despised gold would have purchased.
The plain woman is wiser. _She_ does not trample on the heart that loves
her; and thus her lot is frequently a brighter one than that of her
fairer, though less fortunate sister, doomed to mourn in silence and
loneliness the neglected happiness of the past.
What would that weary one now give for one glance, in which soul answers
to soul—for one word uttered even in reproach, by lips which, in the
past, breathed but tenderness and love? Alas, alas!—it is too late—_too
late_—and the haughty and once-petted beauty is forever alone with the
spectre of by-gone days!
Like all women who have been accustomed to much attention from the
opposite sex, Evelyn looked for impossibilities. The future husband her
fancy painted, was to unite high station and wealth, and every advantage
of mind and person, with, of course, a heart entirely devoted to her.
“That love,” says the Hon. Mrs. Norton, in her beautiful and romantic
novel, “Stuart of Dunleith,” “which at once satisfies the soul, the
intellect, the heart and the senses, is met with once, and once only in
life.” I quote from memory, and consequently express the sentiments of
the gifted author in my own words. But, is it so? _I think not._ Perfect
happiness is not to be found on earth; therefore, let my lady readers be
content, if they meet one who unites three—aye, even two of these
requisites, combined with sincere attachment—let her not then despise
her lover, but rather wear him in her heart of hearts.
The grand ducal court of Florence was, at the time we were there, one of
the pleasantest and most aristocratic _réunions_ of aristocratic Europe.
Any stranger, once presented there by his minister, was invited to all
the balls, concerts, and receptions which were given weekly through the
entire winter season.
The Grand Duke Leopold, a most excellent old man, and greatly beloved by
a large circle of the nobility, was adored by the poor, whose sick-beds
he frequently visited in person. The Grand Duchess, his consort, a
Princess of Naples, though much younger than her husband, had ever borne
a perfectly unblemished reputation. Her imperial highness was a
remarkably fine woman, with the most beautifully-formed shoulders I ever
beheld. She was most gracious, and at the same time dignified in her
manners, and always had a kind and affable word for the ladies whom she
recognized as frequent attendants at her receptions.
The youthful imperial family were worthy of their royal parents. The two
elder Arch-Dukes, although mere boys, were distinguished in the ballroom
for their graceful and amiable manners, and for their skill in the
dance, of which they were passionately fond, as is usual with youths of
their age. The heir-apparent had lately brought home his young and
beautiful bride, a Princess of Saxony. Alas! who could have imagined, in
a few short years, that lovely girl would be laid in an early
grave!—this august family would be forever exiled from their native
soil! Even now, I see the poor old man; his white hairs, powerless to
protect him from insult, bowed down with sorrow—yet struggling manfully
with his grief, in order to console his weeping consort, Grand
Duchess—now in name only. I see the faithful _guardia nobile_ press
around the carriages, to spare the beloved and venerated family the
gibes and sneers of the ladies (women are ever the most cruel) who had
so frequently partaken of their sovereign’s hospitality, but who now
were congregated at the gate of the city, to smile at a misfortune
which, however possible its ultimate benefits to Italy, had fallen on
innocent heads.
The government of Leopold of Tuscany was almost of too paternal a
character. There were literally no police. I never heard of any spies;
and the obnoxious Austrian soldiers had long been sent back to their own
country. _Why_ the Florentines preferred their country being turned into
a province of Piedmont, and governed by a Viceroy, instead of remaining
an independent State, I am at a loss to imagine; nor can I make out
wherefore they disliked their excellent Sovereign and his amiable
family. No good has, for the present, resulted from their bloodless
revolution. Let us, however, hope the day may dawn, which will see fair
Italy once more a nation, united under one head. Then, perhaps, Florence
herself may derive the benefit she has not yet reaped from her change of
rulers.
[Illustration]
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CHAPTER X.
+COQUETRY+
ALL Florence was talking of the _Bal Costumé_ to be given at the _Casino
de’ Nobili_ to H. R. H. the Count of Syracuse, a Neapolitan Prince,
brother to the Grand Duchess, and at present on a visit to his Imperial
sister at the Palazzo Pitti. The ladies were endeavoring each to outvie
the other in the novelty and richness of their costumes. The Grand Ducal
family were to represent their ancient predecessors on the throne of
Florence, the rich and princely family of Medici. The notorious and once
lovely Lady C—— F——, it was known would appear as Pomona, her dress to
be looped up with bunches of fruit interspersed with diamonds, to
represent the dew. A beautiful Florentine duchess, it was whispered,
would personify the “Queen of Hearts;” but so well did her modiste keep
the secret that none could guess either the fashion or color of her
robe, which proves that women _can_ be trusted, at least in so important
an affair as that of the toilette. Counting on her fresh beauty, and
conscious that she could not hope to out-blaze her fair rivals in
jewelry, Evelyn wisely preferred to be unique in the simplicity of her
costume. She therefore chose the becoming dress of a peasant girl of
Frascati, in the environs of Rome. Her corset of cherry-colored velvet,
laced over a chemisette of plaited muslin, displayed to advantage the
rounded waist and perfectly modelled shoulders. The full petticoat of
blue silk trimmed with rows of ribbon to match the corsage, just cleared
the well-turned ankle, and fully discovered the little Spanish foot with
its arched instep. The hair, wrapped around the head, was fastened in a
rich knot by two pins of diamond, and one large brilliant clasped the
narrow band of red velvet which encircled her throat. The peasant’s
apron, and bows of ribbon of blue and silver completed a costume in
which the wearer looked scarcely more than eighteen. I accompanied my
friend _en Marquise_, as this required but little exercise of the fancy,
in which (as regards dress) I am lamentably deficient. Colonel Melville
(whose leave expired very shortly), was to wear the uniform of his
corps, and to meet us at the ball.
Evelyn’s toilette was a decided success; a murmur of admiration
accompanied us as we threaded our way through the brilliant crowd of
officers and gaily attired young nobles who thronged the vestibule and
ante-rooms of the building. After some difficulty we succeeded in
reaching the upper end of the ball room, where on a slightly elevated
dais were seated the Imperial family. The Grand Duchess, as the
celebrated Catherine de Medicis in a magnificent costume of the middle
ages, was literally one blaze of jewels. On perceiving Evelyn—who was
rather a favorite—she beckoned her to approach, and graciously
complimented her on the good taste and simplicity of her attire. The
Count Syracuse, who was a great admirer of beauty, then stepped forward
and engaged the pretty Frascatana for a quadrille. The Prince, who,
though somewhat stout, was a remarkably fine-looking man, appeared to
the utmost advantage as Lorenzo de Medicis.—His extremely fascinating
manners, together with his exalted rank, rendered him (if report speak
true) almost irresistible with the female sex. But he was by no means a
constant lover; he might with truth say, with a celebrated French roué:
“_Moi je suis fidèle à tout le monde._”
The count devoted himself to his “Cynthia of the minute,” and scarcely
left her side, much to the disgust and envy of many a noble signora, who
longed in vain for even one glance of passing admiration from the
illustrious Don Giovanni, who had no eyes but for his simple Zerlina.
Evelyn gave herself up to the intoxication of gratified vanity, and
appeared to be as much charmed with her royal cavalier as he was taken
with her. Had not the prince been a married man, I believe she would
have aspired even to an alliance with royalty, for the recent choice of
the French Emperor had contributed to turn the head of many a beauty. As
it was, to permit such marked attention from a Prince, whose success
with ladies was proverbial, could not but be detrimental to a virtuous
woman’s reputation. Thus reflecting, I turned to seek Melville. Poor
fellow! he was leaning against a fluted column the very statue of
despair. In his expressive countenance you might see depicted all the
tortures of jealousy and mortified pride. I advanced towards him and
touched his elbow. He started as from a dream, made a few polite and
common-place observations, and before I could speak a word, had vanished
from the room. I still thought he would return, as was his wont, to
escort us to the refreshment table, for Evelyn’s Italian adorers were
usually too intently occupied in discussing the excellent supper and
wines provided by their royal host, to have time to attend to the wants
of any fair lady.
The Count Syracuse was forced to accompany the Imperial party to supper.
He therefore brought his lovely partner all glowing with the triumphs
and excitement of the dance to my side. Evelyn passed her arm within
mine.
“Let us seek Reginald Melville,” said she, “you will doubtless be glad
of some refreshment.”
“Ah! dear Evelyn,” I replied, “I fear your imprudent coquetry has caused
much suffering to-night.”
“He is foolish to be so jealous,” replied she; “does he wish me to speak
to no one, and to make myself disagreeable in society?”
“But to remain so long with one man,” I remonstrated.
“Oh! a _Prince_, you know; how could I refuse? Indeed, Melville is most
unreasonably exacting, and you encourage him. I should detest so jealous
a husband. No; if he cannot bear to see a woman admired, let him choose
a plain wife.”
Her levity vexed me, for I could not imagine a pleasure that necessarily
entailed pain upon others. But then, remember, _I am not a beauty_.
We sought Melville in every room; he was nowhere to be found. Evelyn was
evidently piqued; she became _distraite_, and answered at random the
various compliments and observations addressed to her. She refused all
invitations to dance, and had Melville now seen her, the destiny of two
lives might have been changed. How often do we of the weaker sex wrap
ourselves in our woman’s pride and carefully conceal our true feelings
from the being we respect and esteem most upon earth. How frequently
even in our moments of apparent cruelty and caprice do we in the depth
of our soul resolve one day by the devotion of a life to make full and
ample amends for the momentary pangs we may have caused! Thrice happy
they who may be permitted to put these good resolves into practice ere
it be _too late_.
We remained but a short time at the now distasteful ball. On the morrow
Evelyn had a nervous headache and kept her room. Although she had given
orders that no one was to be admitted, I perceived her look of
disappointment when the name of Colonel Melville was missing from the
pile of cards and notes brought by her maid in the evening to her
bedside.
The following day, being quite restored, she arose and dressed with more
than usual care and good taste. I saw that she expected Melville would
call, that being his last day in Florence, and I doubted not that when
he came all would go well—and I might have to congratulate two happy
affianced lovers. Evelyn was restless and abstracted. She tried to sing,
but was out of voice; she took up a book, but did not get farther than
the title-page; her eyes wandered perpetually towards the French
_pendule_ on the mantel-piece; at last she rose impatiently, and stated
her intention of driving to the Cascines, that loveliest of promenades,
unsurpassed even by the far-famed “Bois de Boulogne.”
At that moment there was a loud ring at the entrance door of the
apartment. My heart beat in sympathy with that of Evelyn, who turned
pale as death. The servant did not at once answer the door—five long
minutes of suspense, and the ring was again repeated. At length the door
was opened. A manly step was heard, and H. R. H. the Count of Syracuse
entered.
Evelyn trembled visibly, but mastered her emotion, and received her
royal visitor with graceful dignity. Though I perceived the Prince
greatly desired my absence, I thought it wiser to remain with my friend,
whose agitation I feared might be interpreted too favorably.
About ten minutes after the Prince’s arrival, another ring at the bell
was heard. This time a well-known voice enquired—
“Is Mrs. Travers at home?”
A short colloquy with the servant followed, and we heard the door of the
apartment closed. I looked towards Evelyn. Her vexation was so evident
that the Prince asked if she were ill, I was obliged to come to the
rescue—and declared, with truth, that she had kept her room the
preceding day, and was scarcely sufficiently recovered to do the honors
to His Royal Highness.
The Count took the hint, and paid us that time but a short visit. The
moment he had quitted, the servant brought in on a small waiter, Col.
Melville’s card, with P. P. C. in the corner. We questioned the man—
“Did the Colonel say he would call again?”
“No, signora.”
“Did he state when he was leaving?”
“No, signora.”
“Well then, what _did_ he say?” I exclaimed, wishing to spare Evelyn the
pain of asking.
“The Colonel asked if the signora was alone. I told him Sna. Altezza
Reale was with the signora. The signore then said, Give this card to the
signora. That is all, ladies.”
It was then near five, the hour of departure of the train. The servant
was sent to inquire if the Colonel left that evening. He returned with
the message—“_Il Colonello è partito già_”—“the Colonel is already
gone.”
Evelyn’s disappointment turned to anger. Her pride was offended, and she
determined to punish Melville by encouraging the visits of her Royal
admirer—a very dangerous game!
“For slander’s mark was ever yet the fair,
The ornament of beauty is suspect,
A crow that flies in heaven’s sweetest air.”
Her charms and success had made our heroine many enemies, especially
among her own sex, and envious tongues were busy with her fair fame. She
was termed a heartless jilt, and her conduct towards Melville was
commented on in the severest terms.
In Italy no woman ought to permit any marked attention from one of the
opposite sex, if she would preserve an unblemished reputation. The
innocent frankness of my countrywomen, and of the American ladies, is
liable to be sadly misconstrued by the idle and languid Italian “lions,”
who lounge away their time at the doors of the different cafes, and
discuss the appearance and character of the ladies, as they pass in
their carriages toward the Lungo L’Arno and Cascines.
Evelyn, whose conduct had been, and still was, most indiscreet, being,
moreover, without a protector, was especially the mark for scandal.
Women who would have given the world to have been able to do as she did,
were the first to blame her imprudence; and the young Florentine
exquisites, who had never yet succeeded in winning a smile from “_la
bella Inglese_,” now invented all kinds of cruel and false reports
concerning her. The frequent visits of the Count Syracuse were reported
to the Grand Duchess, who henceforth looked coldly upon Evelyn, and the
ladies of society were only too happy to have it in their power to
mortify one who had excited their jealousy. And Melville, too—the good,
the kind, the loving—had he also deserted the woman he once held so
dear? The next chapter may perhaps throw some light on this subject.
[Illustration]
------------------------------------------------------------------------
CHAPTER XI.
+FIRST LOVE+
COLONEL REGINALD MELVILLE TO EVELYN TRAVERS.
London, February 28th.
BEFORE you receive this, Evelyn, I shall be far away; it may,
perhaps, cost you one pang in the midst of your triumphs, to
know that we are at last parted; it may be for years—it may be
_forever_.
My regiment is under immediate orders for India, and we sail in
a week. We are required to quell the Sepoy rebellion, and to
avenge the horrible brutalities perpetrated by those savages on
our innocent countrywomen and their helpless babes. I will not,
at this supreme moment, reproach you—your naturally good heart
will teach you how far you have erred—but I will simply mention
how deeply I felt your inconsiderate conduct at the last ball,
when you knew that, in two days, one who loved you as his own
soul must leave; and how still more bitterly was I disappointed
at having been prevented by the prince’s presence from bidding
you a last adieu.
You are very beautiful and talented. It is natural you should
command attention wherever you go. But, oh! Evelyn, does this
satisfy your heart? Ask yourself, are you not sometimes unhappy,
even amid the most brilliant scenes? Do not imagine that every
fop who approaches you, is capable of sincere attachment, even
to a creature as fascinating as yourself. You are, to the
majority of men, but as the pastime of an idle hour—or worse,
the coquette whose smiles flatter their selfish vanity, and of
whose favors they boast at the public promenades or the _cafés_.
But of this I cannot bear to speak—even the thought is madness.
It is true, alas! that I dare not hope that one so gifted and so
adored, will await the uncertainties of war, and mourn, in some
retired corner of the earth, the absence of a future husband.
No, Evelyn—I deeply feel the vanity of entertaining such a hope,
even for a moment. I know, too well, you will meet those who
will hang on each word, and watch every look, as I have done.
You will _never_ forget me; but I shall share your heart with
others. It is for this, therefore, that I am resolved, cost what
it will, and at the risk of breaking my heart, to utter this
fatal word—Farewell, then, beloved of my soul—my first, my only
love—_you are free_. Think of me, henceforth, as a tender
brother. I will ever cherish you as a sister. For your own sake,
and that of your dear Ella, be prudent; remember that a woman’s
name should never even be breathed upon.
One more effort—one more bitter pang, and my self-imposed duty
is done. If ever my sweet sister should find one who loves her
as I do—but who, unlike poor Melville, approaches near to
the standard of perfection she has erected in her own
imagination—then, dearest, do not hesitate to become his wife.
My prayers shall ever be offered up for your happiness; and you,
my ever-beloved Evelyn, will not, even in the midst of that
bliss, refuse—if I fall—to drop a tear for one who would die to
save you even one moment’s uneasiness. Farewell—farewell!
R. M.
EVELYN TRAVERS TO REGINALD MELVILLE.
Castellamare, Villa des Alberi, 5th May.
I have been seriously ill, dear Reginald, or you would have
heard from me ere this. I left Florence a week after I received
your letter; and the fatigues of the journey, added to the
violent shock consequent on the receipt of such sad news, quite
overcame me. I was taken with a nervous trembling, which ended
in fever. For two months I have been confined to my room, and
strictly forbidden to write, read, or even to think. I have,
however, succeeded in persuading my doctor, that to remain alone
with my regrets for the past is retarding indefinitely my
recovery. He has, therefore, permitted me to write these few
lines to you.
And are we, then, really to be parted _forever_? Oh! my once
kind Reginald, why condemn me to live without your love! I see
at last the folly and madness of sacrificing a true attachment
for the heartless and aimless admiration of the passing hour.
Oh! how lonely do I feel now in the world—how its hollowness
wearies me! Sweet Ella even seems to reproach my frivolity with
her calm angel eyes; nor can I endure Mary’s face of grave and
sad reproof.
Reginald, if you ever loved me, write and say that I am
forgiven—tell me that I have not ruined your happiness. Do not
speak of my poor attractions. Would that I were plain, since my
beauty has caused our separation.
You say you are not my “_beau ideal_.” If it be true, that my
foolish romantic fancy has portrayed an impossible hero—at
least, your rare devotion to one worthless as myself is the very
“_beau ideal_” of all that mortals term love. For this, accept
my undying gratitude.
One last request—for your Evelyn’s sake, be prudent. Do not
expose yourself to danger unnecessarily; and she will nightly
kneel before the throne of grace, and pray that her numerous
faults and follies may rather he visited on her own head, and
that every blessing, temporal and eternal, may fall to the lot
of him who, though absent, is forever present with his repentant
EVELYN.
P. S.—Remember, I shall count the days, the hours, the moments,
until I hear from you. Do not keep me in suspense. Mary desires
kindest regards, and little Ella her best love.
After the preceding letter was dispatched to Colonel Melville’s agents
for transmission to India, I endeavored as much as possible to divert
Evelyn’s mind from dwelling on painful subjects. The state of her health
was far from satisfactory. I therefore used all my influence to persuade
her to enter a little into society, as we calculated no reply could
possibly come under three months from the seat of war, and till that
time had elapsed anxiety would be but needless self-torment. We were
acquainted with an English family, whose pretty schooner—the
“Turquoise”—was lying in the bay of Sorrento. Captain and Mrs. Blake had
frequently invited us to make excursions with them to the various
objects of interest which abound on the classic shores of the ancient
Parthenope. We had hitherto refused—myself because I detested the sea;
Evelyn, because she was utterly out of spirits. One evening, however,
our kind friends came and would take no denial. They were accompanied by
a young Sicilian nobleman, a great friend of Ella’s, for he never called
without a box of bonbons, a basket of fruit, or a bouquet for the young
lady, whom he had named _Sorcietto_, or “little Mousey.” The Duc di
Balzano was a fine-looking man of from twenty-eight to thirty years of
age. Dark as the very darkest of his race, he possessed an open
countenance, and an expression beaming with goodness. Unlike the
generality of his rather effeminate countrymen, Balzano was cast in the
mould of a Hercules, and even in England, (that land of splendidly
formed men), he would have been remarked for the perfection of his
figure and the grace of his movements. I remember later seeing him
execute the Tarantella, or national dance of Naples, in a manner that
might have shamed many a Terpsichorean star of the opera.
Yielding to Ella’s entreaties, Evelyn consented to make one of the
party, and arranged on the following morning to drive to Sorento and
there embark in our friend’s yacht. I was excused, as all were aware
that a marine excursion was anything but a pleasure to me. It was
proposed first to visit the purple cave of Capri, which can only be
entered in calm weather and at low tide. Even then the visitor must
almost recline in the boat, so low is the entrance to the cave. When
this difficulty is passed you are amply repaid by the sight of a lofty
dome of rock, spanning a body of water actually of the color of indigo.
Great care is necessary in making the visit that no storm is in
prospect, for when the waves are high, the imprudent traveler has been
unable to return, sometimes for days, in consequence of the exit to the
cave having been entirely submerged by the raging element which
surrounds it.
Our party entered under favorable auspices, for the sea was calm, though
there was at the same time a ground swell, which had made poor Ella very
sea-sick, and obliged her to be left on a sofa in the yacht. Ella’s
indisposition gave rise to a rather amusing adventure which I shall now
relate:
On her return on board, Evelyn found the child very ill, so much so as
to alarm her mother who went to Captain Blake and begged him to put them
instantly ashore.
“My dear lady,” replied he, “it is all very well for you to talk, but I
know no landing place within some hours’ sail.”
“Then,” besought Evelyn, “let us put back to Sorento.”
“Impossible,” exclaimed the captain, “the little wind there is, is
contrary. It would take us twelve hours to get there.”
Just then di Balzano made his appearance, and the poor mother, in
despair, began in Italian to explain the circumstances to him. The duke
in the kindest manner reassured Captain Blake as to the nature of the
coast, and informed Evelyn that although he knew of no _good_ landing
place near, he would gladly escort her and little Ella in safety home to
Castellamare. “But,” he added, looking at Evelyn, “the signorina must
have a little patience, for we cannot make even the nearest landing
place till nightfall.”
Gratefully thanking him, Evelyn returned to her daughter, who soon
became pacified under the hope of once more being on terra firma.
At eight o’clock, true to his promise, the Captain stopped the schooner,
a boat was lowered, and the party entered. Balzano held the sick child
in his arms like a tender nurse. The landing was indeed far rougher than
even he had expected—it was a regular mountain scramble in the dark.
Arrived at the summit, Ella and her mother were glad to repose on the
floor of the miserable hut appropriated to the coast guard. On inquiry,
they learned they were eight miles from Sorento, the road thither lying
over a mountain ridge, which must be passed on donkeys. None of these
animals, they were told, were to be had under a two-hours’ ride from
thence. Balzano at once started in search of asses, pressing a boy into
the service. For nearly three hours did the poor tired travellers wait
in the smoky atmosphere of the guard-house, the return of their kind
escort. At last the welcome patter of donkeys’ feet was heard, and three
sorry beasts made their appearance. No time was lost in mounting.
Balzano, who was dressed in summer costume, wrapped his plaid around
Evelyn, who had placed her own shawl about the little girl.
The cold on the mountains was excessive, the path difficult, and there
was no moon. At about two A. M. the party arrived at Sorento; but though
they knocked loudly at the doors of the principal hotels, no one would
rise to admit them. A testy Englishman only, in a red night-cap, looked
out from a third floor window, and abused them in very bad Italian for
disturbing his slumbers. Evelyn getting angry herself, replied in the
same language, which her excitement rendered less melodiously correct
than usual. The colloquy greatly amused her cavalier, who laughed
heartily at the expense of the _dui Inglese_ disputing in bad Italian.
To make a long story short, our friends dismounted, and passed the night
in an empty carriage, for the poor donkeys could not, or would not go a
step further—and soon after sunrise they persuaded its owner to put
horses to the vehicle, thus arriving at our Villa, to my infinite
surprise, at about six in the morning.
The suite of this otherwise laughable adventure had well nigh proved
fatal to poor Balzano. His kindness and politeness in giving up his
plaid when so thinly clothed, caused a severe chill, which ended in a
most dangerous attack of fever, in which he nearly lost his life. A
strong constitution, and a calm, well-regulated mind, to our infinite
relief, enabled our excellent friend eventually and perfectly to recover
his health.
[Illustration]
------------------------------------------------------------------------
CHAPTER XII.
+DEATH+
WE had calculated to a nicety the possible time in which we could
receive a letter from Reginald Melville, taking into consideration the
accidents of wind and water at sea, and the delays and uncertainties on
land; but, at length, the time had arrived when each day was a continued
torture. Ah! which of us do not remember, at some time of our lives, the
dreadful alternations of sickly hope and bitter disappointment we have
experienced in waiting for _that letter_ so long delayed? Each morning,
as we arose, we have said to ourselves—“To-day it will surely come.” How
we watch the clock! We are quite relieved to hear it is ten minutes too
fast: the ten minutes pass—another five also, and we send down to know
if the postman is late to-day. We are somewhat consoled to hear that he
is occasionally even later. How our heart beats as we see him turn the
corner: how dreadfully slow he walks. He stops to speak to some one. Oh!
will he _never_ cease talking? We feel tempted to fly down and relieve
our insupportable anxiety; but a horrible fear we will not confess to
ourselves freezes us into stone. No, better wait—it can be but a few
moments. The postman goes to the house near by. Happy inmates! One,
two—yes, three letters for them. At length he approaches—will he pass
by? No, he stops. Two letters. We feel that we shall faint, if they are
not brought up at once; yet we dare not go to meet them. Five minutes,
which seem an eternity, and the servant enters with the letters. How
sick we turn—it is not there! And this torment we must undergo daily,
till a kind Providence guides that long-desired letter to our hands—too
often, when it comes, the bearer of ill-tidings, of change, of sickness,
of death. Poor mortals! Cruel, indeed, were our destiny, did not the
glimpse of a happier morrow brighten for us the deep shadows which
envelope the tomb!
Ella, though a mere child in years, shared the anxiety of her mother
with almost womanly tenderness. My little god-daughter was a most
interesting girl. She was now about eleven years of age, and bore the
promise of remarkable loveliness. Like her mother in regularity of
feature, she was still of quite a different style of beauty. Her
complexion was of that transparent fairness which an artist in order to
copy would tinge with a blue shade. Her hair, of the color called in
France _blond cendré_, fell in rich wavy masses to her waist. To a
casual observer Ella might appear calm—almost cold; but _we_ knew her to
possess intense feeling beyond her years.
The child had been suffering from slight fever, and was but just
convalescent. We had removed to Naples, to procure better medical
advice. It was now the month of November; yet the air was balmy as in
the first days of Spring. Ella reclined on a couch near the window; her
mother, seated near, passed her hand fondly over the splendid hair which
quite inundated the pillow and swept the ground. In a few moments the
young girl was in a deep sleep. Evelyn still continued to caress her.
Turning to me, after a pause, she said: “If I could only know whether
Reginald is alive or dead, I think I should be less wretched.”
As her mother spoke, I beheld Ella raise herself to a sitting posture.
Her eyes were dilated, as if she saw something in the distance. Evelyn,
alarmed, would have awaked her; but I motioned her to silence.
The child slowly raised her arm, and pointed with her delicate finger to
something she appeared to see; then, in a clear, ringing voice, like and
yet unlike her own: “I see a large army move across a plain, like an
ocean of verdure. Oh! it is so wide—so wide—the groves of trees are like
islands, here and there; and oh, mama, how beautiful! See the palaces,
the domes—all gold and azure. See the white columns and terraces. What a
lovely place!” She paused a moment; and then, suddenly, almost screamed,
catching her mother’s arm: “Oh! look—look at that brave officer, on a
grey horse—see his white plumes dance. He draws his sword; he fears
nothing. Oh! it is—it is Reginald. Reginald, do not go there—there is
blood—blood! Mama, take me away! They fight—they are wicked. I will not
see this horrible blood!”
Ella covered her eyes, and fell back on the sofa. Her limbs were
convulsed, her chest heaved for a few moments, and then happily she sank
into a deep and peaceful sleep, in which she remained for some hours.
When she awoke, she appeared more cheerful than usual, and seemed to
have utterly forgotten her dream—if dream it could be called.
The occurrence was so remarkable, that I wrote it down in my journal,
with the date; and later, when I had become familiar with the phenomena
of clairvoyance, and the mesmeric trance, I considered this as one of
the most remarkable instances of the kind on record.
Another month, and we had almost ceased to hope for the letter. When it
came, it was thus:
Before Lucknow, November —, ’57.
Your letter, my beloved Evelyn, I have only just received:
through some mistake, it has been lying at my agent’s, in
Calcutta; and I have only now been able to press it to my heart
and lips. Thanks, a thousand thanks, for the sweet hope that
letter contains. If God spare this poor life, it shall be
devoted to render my Evelyn forever happy. Do not speak of
forgiveness; it is I that ought to ask pardon, for having
mistrusted the woman I respect and revere most upon earth. Can
she forget a foolish jealousy, occasioned by her beauty and
fascination? I am making a writing-table out of the stump of a
tree. To-morrow, we expect to storm Lucknow. Our chief, Sir
Colin, has kindly placed me on his staff.
The thought of you, sweetest, will stimulate me to dare
everything. I fervently trust in God that my life may be spared,
now that it is of value to you; but if, in the divine decrees of
an all-wise Providence, I am fated to fall—then, Evelyn, my
wife, before Heaven—farewell! Do not mourn for one who will have
died the death of a hero. Shed a few gentle, pitying tears, and
then _be happy_, and forget me. No—do not forget. Remember me as
one to whom you were dearer than all but his honor—one who will
ever watch and guard you, even from that world beyond the tomb,
to which we are all hastening. One curl of your soft brown hair
and your miniature have never left my heart. If these are
returned, you will know that a spirit has passed away, whose
last thought in dying was of you. Again, and again—Farewell? God
forever bless you, my own—my bride!
Your loving
REGINALD.
Short happiness did this letter bring to our hearts. _It_ also had been
long delayed on the road. Three days after its receipt Evelyn entered my
room ere it was day, pale—her hair dishevelled, her eyes red and swelled
with weeping.
“Reginald is dead,” said she, “I have seen him. Nay, speak not,” she
added, seeing I would have chided her folly, “I have murdered him. Had I
consented to a marriage he would have left the army, and would never
have been sent to India. As I lay awake last night, I tell you I saw him
as plain as I do you. He approached the bed, looked lovingly upon me,
and I saw a wound in his breast. Suddenly the form melted into air. I
had no fear. I wished he would again appear. I should have spoken to
him. But nothing more occurred.”
Evelyn returned to her bed, not to leave it for some time.
The first day she arose from it, weak, but calm and collected, she said
to me, “Now, Mary, you may give me the lock of hair and the miniature,
and read me the account of my young hero’s death. I can hear all—the
worst is past.”
Seeing that I still wept, and hesitated to do her bidding, she arose,
gently took the keys from my hands, and unlocked the bureau, where
unknown to her I had secreted these touching memorials of a happiness
now past forever. With a calmness more piteous to behold than any
violent grief, she opened all and read all. Then gently clasping her
hands, she sank upon her knees, saying, “I was not worthy of him. Thy
will be done, oh God! Thy will be done.”
[Illustration]
------------------------------------------------------------------------
CHAPTER XIII.
+NAPLES AND THE NEAPOLITANS+
MUCH has been said and written by poets and philosophers on the
evanescent nature of all earthly joys, and the precarious tenure on
which we hold our happiness here below; but while this is indubitally
true, let us be thankful that in the divine decrees of a wise
Providence, sorrow is of a nature equally transient. The human heart
shrinks from suffering and yearns to be blessed. Such is the unerring
law of our being, and He who “tempers the wind to the shorn lamb,”
mercifully permits Time, that great physician, to pour balm into our
deepest wounds, though ever and anon a word, a flower, a perfume, a
breath, will cause them to bleed afresh, and throb with exquisite agony.
The night shadow which since the death of Reginald Melville had
enveloped our little party, had gradually given place to the aurora of
renewed hope.— Evelyn by degrees regained her health and cheerful
spirits, though she ceased not to reproach herself as the involuntary
cause of Reginald’s death. Ella had become very thoughtful, and appeared
to us at times to wander in her mind. She frequently said, “Mama, I saw
him last night; he bid me pray for him.”
Or she would chide us for being sad, “He is happy, dearest mama—he told
me so.”
Once she said with much solemnity, raising her hand as if to impress her
words upon our hearts: “Mother, Reginald bids me tell you he loves you
and still watches over you, and you will meet again.”
The child frequently spoke of this suddenly, without premeditation,
looking up from her book, or her work, or even while nursing her doll.
We thought this death had made too deep an impression on her youthful
mind, and endeavored as much as possible to divert her thoughts from so
melancholy a subject, but we only partially succeeded. She would refer
to it again and again, not in sadness, but as if she realized a presence
unperceived by others, and was a medium of communication between the
land of spirits and the world of sense.
We lived in strict seclusion, our sole distraction being to visit
occasionally, in company with a few friends, the storied and romantic
environs of Naples. The gulf of Salerno, the village of Amalfi, with its
panorama of mountains, the ruins of Paestum, where the balmy and
fragrant breeze is laden with the baleful breath of fever; and, lastly,
Pompeii, with her numerous villas, where of old the enervated patricians
of ancient Rome enjoyed the _dolce far niente_ of a voluptuous climate,
heedless of the fiery destruction which, at any moment, might overwhelm
their fair town, and hurry those unthinking votaries of pleasure into
eternity. Bulwer’s “Last Days of Pompeii” contains a description so
graphic, and so true of this ill-fated city, that we cannot do better
than refer our readers to that classic work. We may, however, be
permitted to add, that never before or since has so beautiful a site
been chosen for town or village as was that summer resort of the Romans.
The vistas which opened upon us through each fluted column, and beneath
each sculptured archway—of the blue Mediterranean—of Vesuvius and his
attendant mountains, their vine-clad valleys all colored by the heavenly
hues of Southern Italy—Oh! this was a sight which will forever remain
impressed on my senses and on my heart.
The Due di Balzano—of whom mention has previously been made—was
frequently our escort in these delightful excursions. During Evelyn’s
illness and time of trial, he had been untiring in those attentions
which spring from the natural goodness of the heart. We now considered
him quite as a friend; and never has it been my lot to meet a more
unselfish character. He was a man of much influence in his native land,
and this he always exerted for the good of others. Nearly connected by
the marriage of a cousin, with the king, his sympathies were royalist
and anti-revolutionary; yet he was kindness itself to the poor and
oppressed of his nation, and had frequently run the risk of compromising
himself politically, in order to save those who had implored his
protection, which no one ever solicited in vain.
About this time, a circumstance occurred which greatly increased our
esteem for one whose nature was even more noble than his birth, though
that were of the highest in the land. The Duc di Balzano lounged away
much of his time at the fashionable _cafés_, which, like our clubs, are
with the young Italians a much-frequented place of rendezvous. As he was
standing in the doorway, Evelyn passed in her carriage through the
Toledo.
I have stated, in a former page, that our heroine had not altogether
escaped the tongue of calumny—that pale daughter of Envy, engendered by
cowardice, and nurtured by hatred and deceit. Evil report had even
pursued her in her solitude; and now, as she passed, and gracefully
acknowledged the respectful salutation of di Balzano, a knot of young
exquisites, who only knew her by sight, commenced a conversation, of
which the English signora was the subject:
“_E una bella donna_,” said the Prince Cassero, “but they say she is the
cast off mistress of the Count Syracuse.”
“Ah, yes,” said another, “and her lover killed himself in despair.”
“She is evidently,” said a third, “a _donna leggiera_.”
“Well,” lisped a youth of about seventeen, “she is a fine creature, and
sympathetic. I think I shall make her acquaintance.”
De Balzano could bear no more; he sprang into the midst of this
dastardly coterie like a tiger. He was superb in his disdainful anger.
“Gentlemen,” he said, “you are all cowards. That English lady is my
friend, and you shall all answer to me for what you have said, or make a
most humble apology in writing, confessing that your statements are
false. I expect to hear from you at the Palazzo Balzano.”
Thus saying, he left the _café_ and returned home. He was a crack shot,
fenced beautifully, and was an adept at the sword exercise. It is, after
this, useless to say that a full and ample apology was made in writing
by all the offenders, and from that moment not a whisper was ever
breathed against the fair fame of the English signora.
Too delicate to inform us of this circumstance himself, we heard of it
by chance some days afterwards, through one who had been a spectator of
the scene. Our grateful acknowledgments to our kind protector may be
easily imagined; and from that time di Balzano became a constant visitor
at our home.
We presented our credentials to our kind and respected minister, Sir W.
Temple, who received us with true English hospitality. Once more we
entered the glittering halls of pleasure—once more my heroine became
apparently the gayest of the gay; but she had learned a lesson. No
longer a coquette, she sought the society of ladies, rather than that of
the opposite sex. Di Balzano had no reason for jealousy; poor fellow—I
saw that his heart was irretrievably hers. He paid her the most
respectful attention, and she appeared to feel for him sincere
friendship and esteem—nothing more.
Yet such a marriage might have satisfied even one as fastidious as was
Evelyn. Balzano was handsome, noble, good, independent in fortune, and
deeply in love; he was manly, (a rare quality in an Italian,) honorable,
brave, and unselfish almost to a fault.
But our heroine chose to imagine him uneducated, and not sufficiently
_spirituel_. She observed that after dinner he felt inclined to take a
siesta.—Her old failing of despising a devoted heart, came back in full
force. Was she not beautiful?—had she not been adored by Melville and
others? She might look higher—if not as to birth, at least as regards
intellect. She was not content with plain common sense in a husband,
united with the artistic taste innate in most of the children of
beautiful Italy. She did not at that time appreciate the inestimable
bliss of tranquil domestic life. She would shine, she would be somebody
in the world—the wife of a Cabinet Minister, of a great general, an
orator, a poet. She desired to queen it, in society; she was in truth a
worldling at heart, a very slave to the pomps and vanities of life—not
perhaps for their own intrinsic merit, but as a means of gratifying
those ambitious desires, which as a vulture devoured every good feeling
of her nature. But God, as a tender Father, who chastises but to bless,
was leading her in His own way, and preparing for her unwilling feet, a
path so steep and thorny, that could the future have been at that time
disclosed to her, she would have shrunk back appalled from its
dreariness, and have clung with the tenacious grasp of despair to this
her last hope of happiness on earth.
[Illustration]
------------------------------------------------------------------------
CHAPTER XIV.
+I PROMESSI SPOSI+
“AND so, _bella mia_, I may at last be permitted to congratulate you on
your engagement to the Duc di Balzano. If I understand aright, he will
very shortly place a coronet on the fair brow he so much admires—is it
not so?”
“Not exactly, Mary,” said Evelyn, looking up from a sketch she was
making. “You know, dear, that Balzano has himself placed a serious
impediment in the way of our marriage. He insists on my becoming a
Catholic.”
“I am perfectly aware of that, Evelyn,” I answered, “but I thought you
were well disposed toward the faith of Rome, and that your present
sojourn in this city was with a view to studying the dogmas of the
Catholic Church.”
“Precisely so, Mary—and for that reason also, Balzano has presented to
us the chaplain of His Holiness, Monsignore Dormer, for whose spiritual
counsel I am sincerely thankful. Yet I cannot force my conscience, nor
be converted against my convictions.”
“Pardon me,” I rejoined, “but have you not done wrong in raising hopes
which may never be realized?”
“Really,” replied she, “if the gentleman himself makes these conditions,
I do not see how any blame can possibly attach to me.”
“You are aware, Evelyn, that the conditions you speak of are rather
those of the laws of his country, than his own. As a Protestant, your
marriage with a Catholic would in Naples be considered illegal, and your
children illegitimate. A dispensation from the Pope would, on the other
hand, be too costly. You have therefore no alternative—either you must
give up the marriage, or change your religion.”
“Oh, you sensible creature!” exclaimed Evelyn, with some petulance.
“Miss Edgeworth must have had you as her model when she portrayed her
prudent and proper heroines. Why, my dear soul, Catholics never marry in
Lent—so I have two months before me—‘Sufficient for the day is the evil
thereof.’”
“Ah! Evelyn, Evelyn, incorrigible at thirty as at thirteen, when will
you come to years of discretion!”
The entrance of di Balzano put an end to our conversation, which took
place one evening in our apartment in the Piazza di Spagna, in Rome,
where we had ostensibly come with the view of assisting at the
ceremonies of the Holy Week. The duke came to propose for that evening a
party to view the Coliseum by moonlight. Ever love-loyal to his lady’s
lightest wish, her lover’s one thought was to give her pleasure; and as
his friends and acquaintances were all highly placed, we had facilities
for sight-seeing rarely granted to strangers.
Our mornings were usually employed in lionizing the various galleries
and churches of the Eternal City. To one small chamber in the Vatican we
returned again and again. Need I say, it was to pass hours before the
most perfect statue ever fashioned by mortal chisel—the glorious, the
divine Apollo! Oh! I can well imagine how a young maiden pined away and
died for love of that majestic form—those delicate features, so
beautiful in their proud consciousness of power. I can well believe how
her tender bosom thrilled with a hope that was almost an agony, as she
in fancy beheld the magnetic flame of life animate the marble and reveal
the present god. Ah, me! poor child—and is she the only one of her sex
who has lived, and loved—aye, and died for a shadow—a phantasy? Are we
not all doomed to make idols, and, sooner or later, to “find them clay?”
Evelyn and myself agreed that, on leaving these galleries, as it were,
“drunk with beauty,” every one we met appeared to us plain and homely.
Rome is rather unfavorable to the development of the tender passion. Nor
did it surprise me that here Numa Pompilius preferred a visionary nymph
to a daughter of earth.
Our time passed pleasantly enough; yet Evelyn appeared to suffer from
low spirits, and occasionally I surprised her shedding tears. As the
chaplain of the Pope came constantly to give her religious instruction,
I imagined her mind was influenced by his pious conversation, and deeply
desired it might be so, for her future good and that of her daughter. I
do not now allude so much to her becoming what it is the fashion in
England to call “a Pervert,” but to her being seriously and practically
convinced, that trust in God, combined with a desire to please Him and
to obey His commandments, is the only foundation for true happiness,
either here or hereafter. Evelyn being a highly imaginative person,
passionately fond of music—in short, an idealist—I considered the
Catholic form of worship would be highly attractive to her, and trusted
any impression she might now receive would prove lasting.
Nevertheless, I sometimes feared that even the devotion of di Balzano
had not met with the return it merited. It appeared to me as if my
friend were more influenced by the rank and position of her _fiancé_
than by her heart, in the choice she had made. Her own standing in
society she had somewhat damaged by past imprudence, and so
unexceptionable a marriage was too wise a step to admit of hesitation in
a mere worldly point of view. But the evidently deep attachment of
Balzano deserved a more worthy return. He was not, it is true, romantic
or sentimental; but his heart was noble and affectionate, and he had
placed it wholly in the keeping of her he hoped ere long to call his
bride. He had no brilliant talent, certes; but he possessed sound common
sense and great tact. Young, handsome, aristocratic, a “lion,” and
unmistakably in love. What could any reasonable woman require more? So
thought I, at least; and as I watched the couple, to outward appearance
so well matched, I augured for Evelyn a future almost devoid of the
clouds which so frequently darken the matrimonial horizon.
Many of the noble ladies of Rome, friends of the duke, took great
interest in the probable conversion of his English betrothed; and books
and pamphlets were sent her in abundance by these fair zealots and
kindly well-wishers to what they considered a most holy cause.
We had, at length, reached that period of the year when the Church of
Rome celebrates, with every adjunct of pomp and circumstance, the great
mysteries of our redemption. The ladies admitted to view the ceremonies
within the railings of the Church of St. Peter must be costumed in
black, and wear a black lace mantilla, or veil on their heads, in lieu
of a bonnet. The Holy Week commences by the blessing of the Palms, which
are afterwards distributed among the people. Each succeeding day has its
appropriate services; and on Holy Thursday, two very grand ceremonies
take place—that of washing the feet of twelve old men by His Holiness,
in imitation of Jesus washing his apostles’ feet; and next, the great
function of the “Cena,” or Supper, when these same twelve are served at
table by Bishops and Cardinals.
On Easter Sunday, after a magnificent service in the Cathedral, the Pope
is carried in a chair to a balcony situated near the roof of the
building, and from this fearful elevation he blesses the kneeling
multitude congregated in the immense piazza of St. Peters. Pio Nono has
a remarkably fine sonorous voice; and, as he spoke the Latin address
from that dizzy height, not one syllable was lost.
It was a most imposing and touching sight, that crowd of all nations and
all creeds, without distinction of age or sex, all bending in humility
to receive the apostolic benediction. Many around had tears in their
eyes; nor were my own heretical orbs altogether free from such weakness.
A moment, and the clank of arms, the roll of the drums, and the boom of
artillery announce the close of the ceremony. We pick ourselves up,
stealthily wipe our eyes, enter the carriage, drive to our hotel; and
proceed to—luncheon.
“Sic transit gloria mundi.”
[Illustration]
------------------------------------------------------------------------
CHAPTER XV.
+THE GROTTO OF EGERIA+
IMMEDIATELY subsequent to the conclusion of the ceremonies of the Easter
week, Rome is suddenly deserted by the crowd of strangers who have
thronged her churches, and elbowed each other in her galleries and
palaces. They fly to Naples, Florence, Paris, London, as may be. And yet
the environs of the Eternal City are well worth a more than casual
visit.
It was now the month of May, and the glowing sun of Italy had already
clothed the trees with their spring foliage, and scattered flowers into
the lap of Earth. An excursion to the beautiful and romantic grotto of
Egeria was planned—and our little party, accompanied by di Balzano,
started in the early morning on our expedition. What an apparently happy
society!—two lovers, on the eve of a marriage of inclination, a beloved
child, a sincere friend, all united for the express purpose of
enjoyment. Above us, the purple canopy of an Italian heaven—around, the
varied beauties of scenery whilst the tepid and perfumed breeze of the
South fanned our cheeks, and breathed new life into our frames. Surely
no element of enjoyment was wanting; and yet, strange to relate, of all
that party Ella alone appeared free from care. Evelyn’s attic brow was
clouded, and her eyelids “drooped with unshed tears.” The usually
cheerful and light-hearted Balzano was serious and silent—myself nervous
and restless—for I had a task before me, which, however unpleasant, I
had resolved on performing: it was a duty, and I would not shrink from
it. Thus was our drive any thing but social.
On arriving at the spot where travellers quit their carriages to walk to
the grotto, we alighted—and after patiently undergoing the usual amount
of victimization from those harpies the guides, who remorselessly rob
you of your illusions while they empty your pockets, we succeeded in
debarrassing ourselves of their services on the promise of a second
_bottiglia_,[2] on our return to the carriage. We were thus enabled to
wander unmolested through the cool and secluded paths in the vicinity of
the fountain and grotto of the nymph. Ella at once seized upon her
friend Balzano, and insisted that he should take her on an exploring
expedition! Evelyn and myself, soon weary with our wanderings, seated
ourselves near the moss-clad basin, from which for ever flows the
crystal spring, sacred to the mysterious loves of the immortal maiden
and her Roman lover.
Footnote 2:
The Italian term for drink-money.
“I have often wondered,” she observed, “whether this legend of ancient
Rome is founded on truth, or whether Egeria was but the symbol of the
inspired teachings received by Numa in his solitary communings with
nature.”
“I have always considered this as a myth,” I replied. “All the fables of
ancient Greece and Rome had some hidden meaning other than a merely
sensuous one—and this was probably as you have stated, an allegory.”
“And yet,” said Evelyn, “it suits my fancy—at least while here—to
believe, that all-potent love drew the heaven born maiden from her
solitudes, and that as she pillowed her fair head upon the manly bosom
of her human lover, her throbbing heart timidly confessed that even
Paradise had for her no higher joy. I believe with Byron, that love is
‘no habitant of earth.’”
“Ah! Evelyn,” I exclaimed, “_you_ at least have no right to say so—for
never was mortal woman more truly, more devotedly loved, than you have
been, and still are.”
“Why not add,” said she, smiling sadly, “that never has mortal woman
made a more ungrateful return? Granted, dear Mentor—and what then?”
“What then? What a question!—when you are on the eve of marriage with
one who possesses almost every quality you can desire. I say _almost_,
for perfection is not to be found here below.”
Evelyn was silent for a few moments; then rising, she said, as one
inspired, her cheek glowing, her eyes flashing, while her voice trembled
with an emotion to which she rarely gave way—
“Hear me, Mary. Do not think me insensible. The passion so frequently
misnamed love on earth is but its counterfeit. Love, as I understand it,
is a spiritual passion—a union of souls—that magnetic or electric
affinity which is as irresistible as it is indissoluble; for it makes of
two imperfect creatures one perfect being—it replaces the original self
with another and dearer self; so that where once all thoughts and
feelings culminated in the _ego_, they are now centered in _Tu_. This
love knows neither change nor death—nor jealousy, strong as death; for
it places implicit trust in the beloved one—and if, by chance, that
trust is misplaced—ah! then,” shuddering, and placing her hand on her
bosom—“then the fountain of life is quenched, and the world say, ‘Ah!
she died of a broken heart.’ But this love,” she continued, pointing to
heaven, “is there, and there only. While here,
“‘If there be a sympathy in choice,
War, death, or sickness doth lay siege to it,
Making it momentary as a sound,
Swift as a shadow, brief as any dream.’
“Such our sad destiny!”
Evelyn paused, and, coming close to me, seated herself; and taking my
hand, she said, as her eyes slowly filled with tears: “Poor Balzano!
would that he had loved you, Mary. You have more heart to bestow than I
have. Mine has depths, few—none may ever sound. And now, tell me,
candidly, ought I to marry him?”
She looked anxiously into my face. I scarcely knew what to reply. The
strength of her—what shall I say?—imagination surprised me; or rather,
are not the mind’s ideal shapes more _real_ than that which we term
reality?
Evelyn withdrew her hand, and turned away disappointed. “I feared you
would not understand me,” she sighed.
“Yes, dear,” I replied. Though your character is a rare one, I can
comprehend, and even sympathize with you. Still, it seems to me that you
are wilfully throwing away another chance of happiness for a chimera—a
visionary bliss you can never hope to realize. You will learn to love
Balzano devotedly when you are once his wife—the angel of the sanctuary
of his home.”
“Alas! Mary, I shall never—never love him as I _could_—love, as I
_ought_ to love a husband. Still, I have a sincere affection for him, am
deeply grateful for his devotion, and value all his noble qualities; but
our souls would forever remain apart. He could never dwell enshrined
within the temple of my heart. I would give him all in my power to give.
More than that I could not do. Pity me! for the pain it will cost me to
break this off. Indeed, I dread, above all, not being able to make him
happy. Could I do so, if wretched myself?”
“Well, dearest,” I said, “if this be so, you must let him know, without
further delay. My intention was to say this to you to-day; but you have
forestalled me. Let me, however, entreat you to consider well—the time
may come when you will, perhaps, deeply regret having rejected so
honorable and noble a heart, for a caprice, a fancy.”
“Alas!” she rejoined, bitterly—“I feel that, whether I unite my fate
with the noble Balzano, or whether I decide to remain alone and unloved,
regret will equally be mine. Such is my cruel destiny!”
Just then we heard Ella’s ringing laugh, and rose to meet them.
On leaving the grotto, we perceived Balzano; his hat, his pockets, his
hands, all crammed with wild flowers and mosses for his pet’s herbarium.
As I looked on his fine open countenance, beaming with good nature, and
now animated with the pleasure of amusing a child, I almost wondered at
Evelyn’s insensibility, even admitting he was no type of that spiritual
beauty she had taken as her _beau ideal_.
During our drive homeward, it struck me that Evelyn’s manner was softer
and kinder towards her lover than it had been for some time. Did she
relent? or was it the tender pity a woman ever feels toward a suitor she
is determined to reject, knowing at the same time she is fondly loved?
We retired early to rest; but, before we parted for the night, I
received Evelyn’s promise that she would, on the following morning,
enter into a full explanation with her betrothed. Of the particulars of
that conversation I was made aware later.
Punctually at twelve, to the minute, as per agreement, the duke entered
our _salon_. Evelyn was alone. She was very pale, but calm and
collected.
“_Mon ami_,” she began, “I wish to speak to you very seriously.”
“Why so, _anima mia_?” (my soul)—taking her hand, and dropping on one
knee, as he gallantly raised the jeweled fingers to his lips—“why should
we be serious, when everything smiles on our projected union?”
“Hush, Balzano!” she replied, gently withdrawing her hand, and motioning
him to a chair. “Listen to me for one moment. It is important to our
happiness—indeed it is.”
Her solemn manner alarmed him; for the ready tear stood in his dark
eyes, and he said sadly:
“I see it all—you do not love me!”
“Yes, dear friend—indeed—indeed I do. I think no one so good, so noble,
so devoted as you.”
“Then what is it, _cuore mio_?” (my heart)—“speak.”
“I cannot!” said Evelyn, blushing, and not daring to look her lover in
the face—for she knew that she was deceiving him—“the fact is, I cannot
be a Catholic just yet; I should not like to confess.”
“If that is all, lady mine,” said Balzano, again smiling, “it can soon
be arranged. Indeed, what sins shall you have to confess, unless,
perhaps,” and he laughed—his old gay laugh—“you intend to like some one
better than your husband?”
“Dear Balzano, forgive me, and let me have my own way this once—return
to Naples, and let me go to Paris. I can profess Catholicism there; and
besides, that is the only place where your bride could get the elegant
_toilette_ she will require to do you honor. Remember, Signor Duca, I
shall be a Duchess.”
“Take your own way, my only beloved; I will do as you bid me. But, ah! I
dread leaving you—I have a presentiment of evil.”
He flung himself on his knees before her; and they mingled sobs and
tears. How long they remained thus, Evelyn never knew. She only felt him
strain her for a moment to his breast, imprint a kiss on her brow, and
then he was gone; the door closed on the manly form, and the light of
the kind and loving face no longer beamed upon her.
They never met on earth again.
[Illustration]
------------------------------------------------------------------------
CHAPTER XVI.
+ROSSINI+
THEY never met on earth again. In this world where all is uncertain, how
terrible are partings! Which of us can utter that fatal word, farewell,
and not feel a thrill through the heart of indistinct terror—a vague
_perhaps_, which will whisper, who knows but that mine eyes have
mirrored for the last time that familiar face, that loved form! that
mine ears have drank in for the last time the music of that gentle
voice! It is fearful on what “trifles light as air,” hang the destiny of
a life. A glance, a word misconstrued, may forever separate those who
till then, were fast friends; forever banish them from out of our life.
To those who have not the consoling hope of immortality in a brighter
sphere, what a tangled, hopeless wilderness, must this world appear. And
yet we live on; we dress, and smile, and mix with the crowd; we hide the
never satisfied yearnings of our hearts beneath the rich tissues of lace
and satin, and compress the sighs of the weary bosom with bands of
diamonds and pearls. Such is life.
We had now been some time in Paris—that city of fashion—where not to be
_bien habillé_ is a mortal sin. There neither beauty nor talent avail
with a woman unless her _chapeau_ be from Laure or Baudreant, and her
_robe_ modelled in the _atelier_ of Roger or Delphine. If in addition,
she be handsome and agreeable, so much the better; but even then, the
first salutation would certainly be from ladies, and very probably from
the sterner sex, “_Oh, Madame, que vous êtes élégante vous avez vraiment
une toilette délicieuse._”
Evelyn and myself, with Ella, who was now growing up, used occasionally
to spend our evenings in the _salon_ of Rossini, to whom we had been
presented in Florence, and who was now settled in a magnificent
apartment in the Chausseé d’Antin. Here we met, from time to time, all
the celebrities of the artistic world, whether of music, painting or the
dance; also the leading journalists and musical critics of the day, with
an occasional sprinkling of the _beau monde_.
Rossini, at first sight, does not impose upon the mind as the greatest
musical genius of his age, and one of the first of any era. You behold a
simple old man, somewhat portly, with a face remarkable for its
_bonhomie_. The features fine, forehead high and intellectual,
surmounted by, I regret to say, a very ugly wig of reddish brown;
withall, a fresh, but not red complexion, of which any much younger man
might be proud. He looks a dear, benevolent old man, who would greatly
enjoy a good dinner, and this, in fact, is the case. Such would be a
first sight judgment, but a better acquaintance would show that the
benign countenance could light up with the _sourire fin_ and the
_malice_ we should expect to find in the author of the first and best of
musical comedies—the ever fresh, the peerless, the immortal “Barbiere di
Seviglia.” Rossini has acquired the reputation of being very
satirical—ill-naturedly so. Yet it is not the case, for true modesty,
combined with real talent, could never meet with a kinder, more
generous, or more indulgent critic than in him. Unhappily, however, the
_salon_ of Rossini is besieged by a crowd of know-nothings who imagine
that to display their médiocre acquirements before this great man, is to
partake in some measure of his genius. Poor fools! if they had only
seen, as I have, the persecuted composer rubbing his head, (a habit with
him when annoyed), till his very wig was actually turned hind before,
from sheer nervous excitement, I think, I say, had they beheld this,
even shrill sopranos and roaring baritones, would have ceased in pity
from the remorseless murders they were perpetrating upon the dear
children of his brain. Once I remember, when a cruel lady had worried
him past bearing, and adding insult to injury, had changed almost every
note in his aria, and worse than all expected a compliment from her
victim, the _maestro_ advanced to the piano, and said in his mild, soft
voice, “Pray, madame, who is the composer of that music?”
On another occasion he observed to a prima donna, whose singing was more
remarkable for execution than expression, “Madame, you sing with
wonderful _agilité_; you are rapid as a railway train, but you know I am
afraid of railways.”
Here let me remark that Rossini’s cowardice is great as his genius. He
fears everything—railways, the sea, illness; more than all, death. The
idea of the latter appears to embitter all his life; it is the
“One shadow that throws
Its bleak shade alike o’er his joys and his woes.”
He has no religious belief—no hope which divests the grave of its
terrors. Rossini confesses to being a coward, and often turns the laugh
against himself. I remember with what humor he once recounted to us an
incident of his early youth. He was at Naples during one of its many
political convulsions, and was, much to his disgust, made a “garde
Nationale,” and, of course, expected to take turns of duty with the
others. The young musician excused himself on the plea of his well-known
want of courage. His excuse, however, was not accepted. Poor Gioacchino
was equipped _en militaire_, furnished with a musket, and ordered into
the sentry-box to keep guard.
“I entered,” said Rossini, “and remained there about an hour, trembling
in every limb. At last I heard, or thought I heard, footsteps. I laid
down my musket gently, and slipped out of my _guérite_, and then I ran
as fast as my legs could carry me, and never stopped till I reached home
and was safe under the blankets in my bed. In the morning they put me
under arrest, and would have shot me.—But,” added Rossini, with evident
pride, “I escaped _because I was the author of ‘Il Barbiere.’_”
The father of the young genius was by no means remarkable for musical
talent. He used to play the horn in the orchestra conducted by his son.
One day Papa played too outrageously false to escape censure.
“Who is that bad horn?” said young Rossini, pretending ignorance.
“It is I, my son,” said Rossini _père_.
“Then, papa, I am sorry, but you must leave the orchestra.”
One more _bon mot_ I must mention. One evening, on our return from the
performance of “La Gazza Ladra,” at the Italian Opera, we went to pay a
visit to the _Maestro_. Rossini manifested the most perfect indifference
as regarded the vocalists, but made anxious enquiries as to the way in
which the magpie had performed her part. Many other anecdotes might be
recounted, but here we can give but a passing notice of this wonderful
man—wonderful in his greatness, and scarcely less so in his weaknesses.
Usually silent in general society, it is in a _tête-à-tête_ with a
sympathetic companion, that Rossini betrays the versatility of his
genius and the extent of his information. He appears conversant with all
subjects. Notwithstanding the rich vein of humor which sparkles in his
music and in his conversation, Rossini, like Byron, is a melancholy man.
Nor is this singular, for I have invariably found that the wittiest and
most _spirituel_ are ever the saddest; and those who press to their lips
with the keenest relish the cup of pleasure, when the moments of
excitement and intoxication are over, too frequently drain to the very
dregs the chalice of misery.
Rossini was much attached to Evelyn, her remarkable musical talents and
profound worship of his genius, made them a most happy pair of friends.
On her acquainting him with her possible marriage with the Duc di
Balzano, “My child,” replied the old man, “Never marry except for one of
three things: a great name, a great talent, or a large fortune.”
’Tis true for him matrimony had offered but few attractions. From his
first wife—Madame Colbran—a singer of undoubted talent, the _maestro_
was soon separated. As to the second, let us respect her name, she is
yet living, but I fear she conduces little to the domestic comfort of
her lord. It is remarkable how few celebrities of either sex have been
happy in their affections. Commencing with Socrates and his Xantippe, we
may cite Milton, Shakespeare, Byron, Dante, Tasso, Goethe, Mrs. Hemans,
Mrs. Norton, and a crowd of others, all mis-matched or crossed in love,
while Mr. and Mrs. Jones, and Tom Smith and wife, with A and B, and
numerous other worthies, whose thoughts are centred in pounds or
dollars, as may be, and their multiplied progeny, are perfectly content.
Is it that they have bodies but no souls to satisfy? or doth God when he
confers on his children the divine gift of creative power, ever twine
with thorns the laurel wreath which encircles their noble brow,
baptizing them for His own with the drops of agony wrung from their
hearts? So thought and so feared our heroine, and Rossini confirmed her
in her resolve to preserve her liberty for the present.
Evelyn had continued to correspond with Balzano, but still repudiated
the idea of marriage on the plea that she could not at present
conscientiously change her belief. The latter, after some months,
became, very naturally, anxious that his ladye-love should come to some
decision, and to enable her to do so, he consented, he said, to her
remaining a Protestant, and would, on receiving her reply, at once exert
his interest to get a dispensation from the Pope. Thus was my fair
friend obliged at last either to accept the love of one to whom she felt
unable to give her whole heart, or to lose the friendship, perhaps
forever, of the man she esteemed most on earth—a common but not the less
an unpleasant dilemma. Well, what did she do? Why, she put off answering
the letter as long as she could; asked the advice of all her friends on
a point on which she alone could judge; and after having consulted every
one was as far from a decision as ever.
Evelyn, like all very impressionable people, was apt to be greatly
influenced by her surroundings; yet was she not inconstant. She would
forget, for the moment, and appear to be utterly free from all thought
of the absent; but the excitement past, she would return with deeper
passion to the memories of by-gone days. As yet, no one had approached
Balzano in her heart. He still reigned alone—manly, noble, tender, the
kind protector, the devoted friend; and yet she hesitated to make him
happy, and, I must add, to be happy herself—for what woman could be
otherwise with such a man?
Another letter, still more pressing, came from the now anxious lover.
Was his friend sick? in trouble? She was but to say one word. He would
fly to her—to her he must love till the pulses of life ceased to
beat—his bride, his soul, his delight.
I found Evelyn in tears, with the open letter in her hand. “I will
certainly write to-morrow,” she said.
[Illustration]
------------------------------------------------------------------------
CHAPTER XVII.
+THE STAR OF DESTINY+
THE to-morrow of our good intentions, sometimes, it may be frequently,
never dawns. On this particular to-morrow, according to Parisian custom,
we were to be at home to our friends.
Our morning was devoted to the duties of the toilet and those of the
_ménage_. There was a duett to be practiced for piano and harp by myself
and Ella, who now played that graceful instrument with exquisite taste.
She was also to accompany her mother on the harp, in the lovely romance
and prayer from Rossini’s Otello, by particular request of the _Maestro_
himself. Evelyn received well. Her _salon_ was much frequented by
_artistes_ and men of letters; and a few charming female friends added
greatly to the brilliancy of these réunions.
A thorough musician herself, she had a perfect horror of the usual style
of amateur singing; and no one was permitted, at her house, to display
their mediocrity at the expense of the nerves of the company.
Our apartment was situate in the Avenue Gabriel—to my taste, the most
delightful location in Paris. Near, yet not actually in, the Champs
Elysées, it combines cheerfulness and gaiety with privacy and
retirement. Our apartment was _au rez de chaussée_ (on the ground
floor), all the rooms, as is usual in Paris, _en suite_. It had been
furnished with remarkable taste by a Russian Princess, who, being
suddenly recalled by the Czar, was glad to let her apartment to English
ladies—on, to us, most advantageous terms. We were, therefore, lodged as
few strangers may hope to be. The suite of rooms were now thrown open,
and brilliantly lighted—all except Evelyn’s boudoir, which led into the
conservatory, and in which reigned a subdued light, inviting to lovers
or to those who prefer to muse in solitude and watch the crowd from
afar. At present, all were congregated in the _salon_, around the fair
hostess, who herself looked like a queen surrounded by her court.
“_Ah! ma chère_,” exclaimed a pretty vivacious little marquise, perfumed
like a rose, as only a French woman can be—“your _soirée_ is really
charming—delicious—but pardon me, there are two things, or rather
persons, wanting to make your réunion perfect.”
“Indeed,” replied Evelyn, smiling; “and pray, who may these be?”
“Nay, you must guess,” rejoined another fair lady of the party; “for, at
present, those two persons are indispensable in the _beau monde_.”
“Perhaps,” suggested Evelyn, “you mean my dear friend Rossini?”
“Oh! no; we are all aware he is quite a hermit.”
“The Emperor, perhaps, and the peerless Castiglione?”
“Neither, I assure you,” persisted the pretty marquise.
“Well, Wagner, the ‘musician of the future.’”
“Madame, you surprise me,” said a beautiful Spanish countess, advancing
into the circle—“you a _dame du grand monde_, and not to have heard of
the great magician _par exemple_!”
“And who, pray, may that be, countess?”
“Oh!” drawled an Englishman, “the man who calls up the devil, and made
Napoleon come out of his tomb and sign his name, or something of that
sort.”
“And,” added another, “frightened poor Eugenie out of her wits.”
“No very difficult matter, either,” growled an old legitimist with a
brown wig, “considering how few wits she has, if report speak true.”
“_Fi donc, monsieur_” or “not so bad,” chimed in the audience at this
rather obvious _witticism_ in every sense.
“I suppose,” said Evelyn “you mean Home, the Medium. We are, I believe,
to meet him next week. So your swan, Madame la Marquise, has turned out
to be a goose, after all. And now for that other, without whom no party
is complete.”
“That, madame,” said a young Frenchman, full of conceit and affectation,
“is a long-bony American, about whom, it appears, all the ladies are
raving—though, _ma foi_, I cannot imagine what for, except that they say
he is enormously rich.”
“Precisely so,” said the perfumed little marquise, “but monsieur is
jealous, for my Yankee _is_ very handsome, but disdainful, _à briser le
coeur_—Monsieur D’Arcy.”
“D’Arcy,” exclaimed Evelyn, “I expect him here to-night. Madame de
Villiers has requested permission to present him, and——”
At this moment the folding doors were thrown open, and a charming and
aristocratic looking elderly lady, richly but simply attired, entered
leaning on the arm of a gentleman, whom she presented with much
_empressement_ to the lady of the house.
“Talk of his Satanic Majesty,” whispered the Englishman, while a smile
might be perceived on more than one pair of rosy lips, as the
unconscious object of all this _persiflage_ advanced into the charmed
circle and gracefully paid his _devoirs_ to its presiding genius.
Philip D’Arcy was one of those rarely endowed beings who, at first
sight, impress you with a sense of power—you feel you are in the
presence of one born to command. Where this moral force is combined with
magnetic influence, or odic affinity, if you please so to term that
irresistible attraction we all have felt, more or less at times, then
the fascination of such a being is irresistible. He can draw you
according to the degree of your sensitive nature, into his sphere, as
into a vortex. Nor can you escape.—Fatal gift, if dissevered from heart
and principle!
Mr. D’Arcy may have been about thirty; slightly above the medium
stature, his erect and lofty bearing gave the idea of greater height
than he actually possessed. But for this too—the extreme delicacy of his
form, (a defect common to the transatlantic race of the Northern
States), might perhaps, have been considered as somewhat detracting from
the manliness of his appearance. To say that the features were
chiselled, were little. Intellect sat enthroned on the regal brow, and
the deep-set eyes—calm, blue, and unfathomable as the ocean—seemed the
fitting mirror of “the human soul divine.” The lips firmly closed, pale,
and somewhat severe in their habitual expression, could, nevertheless,
occasionally wear a smile of rare beauty. The complexion, white as
Parian marble, harmonized well with the crisply curling locks, and the
full beard, of that cold, brown tint, which almost universally
accompanies the refined style of male beauty. Mr. D’Arcy engaged Evelyn
in that light conversation which, _well talked_, has so much charm, and
beneath which occasionally runs a vein of the deepest sentiment or the
richest humor. But the _tête-à-tête_ was not of long duration.
Most pressing entreaties drew our heroine to the harp, before which Ella
was seated, having already commenced the exquisite accompaniment which
preludes the “willow song” of the gentle Desdemona. Ella was now in her
fifteenth year. The warm sun of Italy had almost visibly ripened the
child of a year since into premature womanhood. Though of a form so
slight as to appear almost ethereal, she was already taller than her
mother, and so pure was her girlish beauty, so infantine her air of
candid innocence, you might have fancied her the youngest and loveliest
of the nymphs of Diana. Her small, Grecian head seemed actually bending
under the weight of the rich masses of soft, blond hair, which formed a
triple crown above the classic brow, and fastened in a knot behind, fell
in a luxuriance of clustering curls to the slender throat.
Though like in feature, Ella formed a striking contrast to her mother;
and for the first time I confessed that it were difficult to decide
which might bear the palm, the dazzling beauty and ever-varying
expression of the still young matron, or the timid, retiring loveliness
of the girl. The one appeared as a royal rose, in all her splendor; the
other, a tender bud, shrinking even from the kiss of the sunbeam—the
former, a gorgeous tropical plant, whose rare beauty can only be
equalled by its fragrance; the latter, a sweet and modest lily, hiding
amid its leaves in the greenest and most sequestered dell, haunted alone
by fairy footsteps.
Evelyn had never sung so well. The rich tones of her voice vibrated with
sentiment, as she portrayed the sorrows of the loving but forsaken wife.
The audience forgot to applaud, (the greatest compliment that can be
paid to a singer.) The lovely minstrel’s own eyes were humid with
emotion. Ella looked a coldness she perhaps did not feel. Mr. D’Arcy
advanced to the harp.
“Madame,” he said, “compliment to _you_ would be misplaced. The genius
of Rossini has found in your own a worthy interpreter. You have sang as
he must have desired in his moments of deepest inspiration—when the
ideal descending embraced the real. Nay,”—as she prepared to disclaim
the praise so delicious to a true artiste, from one whose taste and
judgment is felt to be unimpeachable—“nay, fairest songstress,”—and he
smiled that smile of rare fascination which thrilled to the very inmost
of her being—“if I have praised, it is because I have felt the pathos of
those sympathetic tones, the poetry breathing through each phrase of
melody, and I,” he added, as if to himself, “so rarely indulge in the
luxury of emotion. But pray, Mrs. Travers, present me to the young lady
who has so ably seconded you.”
“To my daughter? Certainly—she is but a child. Ella, dearest, Mr. D’Arcy
would make your acquaintance.”
The young girl bent to the salutation of the stranger, and a blush of
the softest pink overspread features, throat and arms, reaching even to
the ends of the taper fingers, as she timidly replied in monosyllables
to the few words of common-place civility he addressed to her.
[Illustration]
------------------------------------------------------------------------
CHAPTER XVIII.
+A SERIOUS CHAPTER+
ONE morning about a fortnight after Evelyn’s last evening reception, Mr.
D’Arcy was announced.
“I take the liberty,” said he, “of intruding on a day that I know you
are not at home to all the world, in the hope of escaping the usual
_toilette_ talk at ladies’ receptions.”
“We are happy to see you, on your own terms, Mr. D’Arcy—the more so, as
the part of the hostess is rather an ungrateful one. She is forced to
converse _chiffons_, and other frivolities, when she would perhaps
prefer to philosophize, if ladies ever dare appear so blue.”
“It is for this,” replied he, “that I dislike lady’s ‘_days_.’ One can
never approach the mistress of the house herself, except to make some
common-place observation about the weather, the opera, the ‘première
répresentation’ at the Varietés—_qui sait?_” with a French shrug of the
shoulders.
“Oh, Mr. D’Arcy, in pity do not imitate the French at my house,”
exclaimed Evelyn. “If you only knew how their manners—half-monkey,
half-hairdresser—annoy me.”
“Madame, I stand rebuked,” with a mock respectful bow; “but seriously,
though it is treason to say it in so fairy-like a bower, my visit to-day
is rather on business than pleasure. I come as ambassador from Mme. de
Villiers to endeavor to persuade you, ladies, to come to her this
evening, and meet Home, the wonder-working medium, about whom all Paris
is talking.”
“Forestalled,” exclaimed Evelyn, gaily; “we were initiated yesterday
into some of these weird doings, at the house of an English lady.”
“Indeed,” said D’Arcy, with evident interest—“and what, may I ask, did
you witness?”
“Well, we placed ourselves in a circle of about nine persons, and in a
few minutes we heard raps; by the alphabet, we were requested to remove
the lights, and after we had done so, an accordion, which was lying on
the table, ‘discoursed most excellent music,’ _no one touching it_.
Then, by the dim light, we perceived a hand, white and beautifully
formed—and this hand presented me with a real geranium, and others of
the circle with different flowers.”
“You are, then, favorably disposed toward the subject of spiritualism?”
enquired D’Arcy.
“All I saw has deeply impressed me,” replied Evelyn; “and I cannot think
it altogether a delusion, for I distinctly felt in my fingers the
vibration of the table before each rap, and frequently knew the answer
about to be made by the (so-called) spirits, to questions asked by
members of the circle.”
“Ah! then you must yourself be a medium?”
“Delightful! There is nothing I should like better. You must explain to
us these mysteries, and convert my friend there also, for she is a sad
infidel.”
“I suppose,” I rejoined, “I am too matter-of-fact, and have too little
imagination to be caught by what I cannot but consider as a mere trick
to amuse children, and utterly unworthy rational beings, whether in or
out of the body.”
“Pardon me, Miss Mildmay,” said D’Arcy, “but if these knockings, which
appear to you so puerile, have been tested and proved _not_ to be
tricks, and that such and similar manifestations have been the means of
convincing the confirmed sceptic that there is an actual hereafter, it
appears to me that the spirits of the departed are rather occupied in a
good work, and that _we_ have at least ‘method in our madness.’”
“But,” I answered, “surely the Bible is all-sufficient for the salvation
of the world.”
“No one, my dear Miss Mildmay,” replied D’Arcy, “reveres the Bible more
than myself—yet I am bound to confess it never convinced me. Till my
eyes were opened to the perception that spirit really _does_ exist,
palpably, apart from matter, the Bible was to me as a sealed book. In
earlier youth, I worshipped as my deity the intellect of man, smiling in
contempt at the idea of a blind faith in the mysteries of Religion,
which I looked upon as the foolish inventions of a venal and ignorant
priesthood. It was through the much despised manifestations of the
spirit circle, that I first realized the ‘_certain hope_ of a blessed
immortality,’ and learned to bow my reason before the Divine
inspirations—in fine, _I believed_.”
D’Arcy spoke with the deepest feeling, but calmly, and as a man whose
doubts were for ever at rest. You recognized in each word the power of a
great mind, and instead of wishing to cavil, you felt your place was
rather to sit at his feet and learn.
“One question I would ask,” said Evelyn.—“Might not these phenomena be
produced by magnetic influence, and so be accounted for in a merely
natural way?”
“Undoubtedly, Mrs. Travers. Human magnetism and the will-power are
almost omnipotent as physical forces, and also as influencing the mental
faculties; but the communications being not only intelligent, but
actually and frequently even contrary to the desires and expectations of
the circle, precludes the idea of entirely accounting for them in the
way you have very plausibly suggested. Besides, the phenomena of direct
writing and drawing could be explained by no other theory than that of
supernatural intervention. Electric shocks, too, have been sensibly
felt, and exquisite odours have filled the room—and this in the presence
of witnesses, many of them men of superior learning, intelligence, and
undoubted piety, who would not for worlds have been made the instruments
of propagating fraudulent or erroneous doctrines.”
“If you have personally witnessed all you speak of,” I said, “I confess
that even my incredulity must at last give way before such evidence.”
“Gently, Miss Mildmay,” interposed D’Arcy. “I desire that each and every
one may see and judge for themselves, feeling convinced that no person
of average mental powers, having investigated the subject fairly and
with candor, could continue a sceptic. To assist you, however, in your
research, let me recommend to your notice ‘Owen’s Footfalls on the
Boundaries of Another World.’ Likewise the works of Andrew Jackson
Davis. Also, the ‘Arcana of Christianity,’ by the Rev. T. L. Harris, and
the eloquent and spiritual discourses of the latter author; lastly, a
gem of beauty, a perfect string of pearls, the ‘Foregleams of
Immortality,’ by Sears. This latter work, with those of Mr. Harris, are
written in the very spirit of true Biblical and catholic Christianity,
untrammelled by the narrow-mindedness of sectarianism. Read these books,
not forgetting to breathe a prayer for light, attend some circles, and I
think in six months from this time you will tell me that you are really
‘born again, and a new creature,’ so different will be your views of the
infinite destinies of the divine human spirit—so shadowy will appear the
present, so real, so near the future.”
I looked at him, struck with the intenseness of his manner—his large,
blue, serious eyes, filled with the far-off look, of those whose spirits
live in perpetual communion with the inner world. Like Ananias, it
appeared to me that scales fell from the eyes of my soul, and I began to
see things for the first time in their true light. Evelyn also was
deeply impressed; after a pause of emotion, she was the first to break
silence.
“May I ask,” she said, “what first induced you, with your manly
intellect and infidel sympathies, to take sufficient interest in this
subject to attend a circle?—for if I judge you aright, curiosity alone
would scarcely have drawn you there.”
“You have justly divined, Mrs. Travers, and I will tell you all.”
He paused, and then resumed with deep and touching emotion—
“A young girl, whom I loved, God knows how fondly, was taken from me in
the bloom of youth, and on the eve of marriage, by a fearful accident,
which left her not a vestige of beauty—burned to death,” he said, with a
shudder. “A confirmed infidel, with no hope—crushed, tortured, maddened
by the idea that she was lost to me forever, I cursed my cruel fate, and
should have put an end to a hateful existence, had not pride whispered,
‘Do not be mastered by your destiny; conquer it—live,’ And I lived. At
this time, I heard much of the Miss Foxes, and of the wonderful things
occurring in their presence. An impression I could not shake off led me
to their house. In bitter mockery, I asked myself, Am I insane? I went
to scoff—be it said—but returned to pray. A communication came thus by
raps—
‘Do not mourn for me, Philip. I am happy now. I was taken from
you, because you enveloped your soul in pride as in a mantle.
Dear Philip! you must become as a little child.
“‘LILIAN.’
* * * * *
“Imagine my surprise; for I was in a strange city, where none knew me. I
am not ashamed to confess, that tears, foreign to my nature, came
unbidden to my eyes, and the prayer arose to my lips—‘Teach me the
truth, Oh! God.’ That prayer, dear friends, has been answered. Since
that time I have been happy; for I now look at this life in the light of
the other.”
“’Tis a beautiful faith,” said Evelyn, “that our loved ones are still
about our path—our guardian angels, perhaps.”
“It is a faith I would not lose,” said D’Arcy, “for worlds of untold
wealth.”
He drew from his neck a delicate hair chain, with a locket attached.
Touching a spring, we perceived the miniature of a beautiful young girl.
“That portrait,” said D’Arcy, “was painted by a spirit medium, after my
Lilian had passed away—it is her very self—but spiritualized.”
“How exquisitely lovely!” I exclaimed.
“Heavens! how like Ella!” cried Evelyn.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
CHAPTER XIX.
+LEAVES FROM A LADY’S DIARY+
_March 13th._—I have, of late, greatly neglected my journal, not from
want of time, neither for lack of incident nor material for thought and
feeling—rather the reverse.
Since my last musical reception, I have not penned one line. Oh! that
night is a kind of era in my life. I then made the acquaintance of a
remarkable man—perhaps _the_ most uncommon person I ever met. It is not
only that he is very, very handsome, nor highly intellectual, nor most
refined in manners—it is that, over and above all these qualifications,
he possesses, in a wonderful degree, the power of attraction—magnetism,
if you will—the _je ne sais quoi_ of the French. You forget self in his
presence, and think of him only. I cannot analyze my feelings. I only
know, that, as the soft and musical tones of that voice fell on my ear,
as I felt the magic of that glance in my inmost soul, the words uttered
by Lady Caroline Lamb, when first she beheld Byron, came unbidden to my
memory, and seemed to me as a foreboding of sorrow—
“That pale face is my fate!”
I murmured, as a vague terror crept over me.
On the morning we received Mr. D’Arcy’s first visit—Mary and myself—our
conversation turned upon spiritual manifestations. I sat and
listened—for my own experience and the clairvoyant powers of Ella had
long since set me wondering. D’Arcy, it appears, is a firm believer. He
recounted to us the circumstances which led to his conversion.
Lilian—what a sweet name! Ah! instead of pitying, I almost envied her.
Did _he_ not say that he had loved her fondly—that he still wore her
miniature next his heart? Happy Lilian! Would I could change with
thee—to have drained the cup of intoxicating bliss to the dregs, and
then to die, to pass away in the freshness of youth—hopes
undeceived—trust unshaken—loving, beloved, regretted, happy Lilian! See
the reverse, fair spirit, and pity poor Evelyn’s far sadder fate! Behold
her as the wretched wife of one totally unsuited to her—then, as the
murderess of the noble, the loving Reginald—lastly, as the faithless
betrothed of the generous-hearted Balzano; and wherefore? Because she is
not of the happy “few, who find what they love or could have loved,” and
who, therefore, are influenced through life by “accident, blind contact,
and the _strong necessity of loving_,”—that touchstone of woman’s
weakness and folly.
* * * * *
_21st._—My Ella’s birthday. She is now fifteen, and in the eyes of a
partial mother, the loveliest of God’s feminine creation. Mr. D’Arcy
brought her a bouquet of the most priceless hot-house flowers of the
purest white—emblematic, he said, of her ethereal nature. How good of
him to think of her. Though but a child, she doubtless reminds him of
his Lilian. I have observed those limpid and unfathomable eyes of his
fixed upon her more than once in silent contemplation. He is now a
frequent visitor—perhaps _too_ frequent. There are flowers so fair,
fruits so tempting, that we forget the danger which lurks within. We
inhale their perfume; we press to our lips their luscious juice, and _we
perish_.
* * * * *
_31st._—The first mild day of spring. The air from the conservatory
enters laden with the breath of flowers. I feel the blood pulsating in
my veins with unusual ardor. There is a bouquet of Parma violets by my
side, sent by _him_. Their perfume inebriates my senses; an indefinable
charm penetrates my whole being. If, after all, he loves me! Oh! hush!
foolish heart be still. Such happiness is not for earth. And yet, I
think he is not indifferent. Friendship from him is preferable to love
from another—yes, it would content me. But then, friends part, to meet
again God alone knows _when_. This is terrible; and what is friendship
when love intervenes, for another. Oh! that thought is torture. Why,
what an ingenious self-tormentor am I. Why search the possible future to
embitter the happy reality of the present. If the worst comes I can
_die_—no, WE CANNOT DIE, we live; live forever with an eternal passion
in the heart, when we make of a mere mortal the “god of our idolatry.”
* * * * *
_April 15th._—This evening, it being my reception day, and a few
intimates having collected in our _salon_, the conversation turned upon
love and jealousy.
“I cannot,” observed D’Arcy, “understand the simultaneous existence of
these two passions in one bosom.”
“How,” cried one of the party, “has not jealousy been termed the ‘child
of insatiate love?’”
“Nay, rather,” rejoined D’Arcy, “has not Tennyson more aptly described
this passion as ‘dead love’s harsh heir jealous pride.’ Where true love
exists, believe me, there can be no jealousy.”
“Ah!” I exclaimed, and I felt the warm blood mount to my temples, “Mr.
D’Arcy is right. True love must be based on esteem, and cannot,
therefore, live without perfect confidence.”
“You have divined me,” said D’Arcy, with that smile of rare sweetness
peculiar to him; “jealousy originates in mistrust, and is, therefore, an
insult when unfounded.”
“But supposing you had cause,” said another of the circle.
“Then,” replied he, with an almost stern severity, “I should no longer
love.”
“Ah! ah! monsieur,” said a pretty little Frenchwoman, “I differ, quite.
As for me, I am jealous; as a wolf—a tiger.”
A general laugh followed this innocent and truly French sally, from all
but D’Arcy, who bowing profoundly, and with an air of inimitable, mock
humility, said:
“Then, madame, I am most unhappy, for I can never make love to you.”
“This is growing too serious,” I said; “let me introduce to you, Mr.
D’Arcy, as a poet, and my friend, Miss Mildmay, as a musician second
only to Rossini. Ella will sing you a song of their joint composition.
It is really charming.”
I here transcribe the words, which, with the music, met with great
success:
THE SPIRIT OF LOVE.
My spirit dwelleth in myrtle bowers,
Where the breezes wax faint with the perfume of flowers,
And the queen rose blushes a brighter hue,
As I shed o’er her leaves, the early dew.
On a sunbeam I sit enthron’d in light,
And chase with my wand the shades of night,
And oft beneath the moon’s pale beam
I weave with sweet fancies the maiden’s dream.
Deep in the woods, the nightingale
Telleth to me her love-lorn tale;
With the glorious lark, I soar on high
As her thrilling notes ring thro’ earth and sky.
I love to skim o’er the pathless seas,
Syren-like, singing sweet melodies,
And the home-sick mariner feels my power
In the loneliness of that star-lit hour.
But, oh! far more do I love to sip
The fragrant dew on beauty’s lip,
To braid each tress of her wavy hair,
And tinge with bright blushes her cheek so fair:
O’er the poet’s couch my spirit bendeth,
And my form with his visions softly blendeth,
While he whose soul sweet music fires
I glad with the strains of the seraph choirs.
* * * * *
_April 27th._—The old adage, “Love is blind,” is by no means true, at
least in my case. Cupid for me never fails to put on a pair of
magnifying glasses, which have the power of exaggerating alike the
virtues and defects of those who have with me entered the lists of the
tournament of love. I have detested many an admirer for “trifles light
as air,” cruelly criticising his dress, voice, manner, or tastes; and I
once took a fancy to a person, mainly because his gloves fitted
exquisitely—and had the other qualities corresponded, my fancy would,
doubtless, have taken other shape. But, to return. To what a severe
scrutiny have I not subjected Philip D’Arcy; but, “alas! and
well-a-day,” I find no fault in him. Men frequently term him
effeminate-looking; and it is true, that he is formed in a delicate,
rather than a robust mould; but this suits well with that spiritual
style of beauty so pre-eminent in him: and who could fail to read in the
_pose_ of that noble head, in the expression of the compressed and
chiselled lips, moral grandeur, indomitable will. Women, too, frequently
call him cold. Ah! they have not marked, as I have, that glance of flame
which (rarely, it is true) flashes from the depth of those orbs, usually
so serene, so untroubled. The volcano may be smouldering, but it is not
extinct. Long years of self-control may have schooled the heart; but its
pulses, nevertheless, throb warmly, passionately, humanly, still.
* * * * *
_May 8th._—Mr. D’Arcy possesses, in a remarkable degree, the power of
affecting the heart and imagination with what remains unspoken. He sets
you thinking. In his presence, you brush the rust from your mind, and
new ideas flow in upon you. To-day, he spoke to us of Swedenborg, and of
the charming and consoling doctrine of that great Christian seer; that
however lonely our earthly lot, however mistaken we may have been in our
choice of a mate, those who by perseverance in well doing eventually
become angels, will, sooner or later, meet with their true conjugal
partner—their other self—in a higher sphere. A beautiful philosophy, and
not unreasonable, when we consider that love, in its true sense, is the
strongest and purest, as well as the most exquisitely delightful
sentiment of our nature: nor would the Creator have implanted this
passion in our souls, but that He intended to satisfy it to the full;
if, therefore, sad experience shows how rarely on earth we are truly
mated, it follows, logically, that this sweetest and tenderest of the
spirit’s yearnings looks for realization in a higher sphere of being.
Such, at least, is D’Arcy’s firm belief; such also, he tells me, is that
of many of the most eminently intellectual and spiritual of his
countrymen and countrywomen. Mary is, of course, charmed: she says there
is, at last, some chance for her.
[Illustration]
------------------------------------------------------------------------
CHAPTER XX.
+THE SISTER OF MERCY+
IT was now the middle of summer, and remarkably hot for the season. All
our friends had left, or were leaving Paris, and yet we still lingered
on in our pretty apartment of the Avenue Gabriel.
One morning, suddenly looking up from my embroidery, I was struck with
the pallor of Evelyn’s countenance, and the look of weariness she wore.
A book was lying open on a table near; but she did not read. Silently
she dreamed, her head resting on her hand.
“Dear Evelyn,” I said, while she started as one aroused from sleep;
“shall we not soon go to the country? You look far from well—and Ella
would cull fresh roses at the sea, or at Baden.”
“Ella is very well,” she answered listlessly, “and attends her classes
daily. I, too, am well enough,” and she heaved a sigh so heartsore it
was almost a sob.
“Indeed, dearest, you have been suffering for three weeks—ever since the
last ball at the Tuilleries, when you looked like a sunset cloud, as Mr.
D’Arcy said.” She gave a short, quick start, “all in golden colored
tulle and hazy blonde. I never saw you look more lovely.”
“Not enough,” returned Evelyn gloomily, “would I were a thousand times
more beautiful. Even then,” she whispered, as if to herself, “I should
not match with the matchless.”
“Is it possible? and are you serious?” I said, painfully alive to her
emotion; “is your happiness so entirely involved in—”
“In _him_. Yes, my kind—my too forbearing friend. Evelyn, the once
idolized, petted, spoiled—the capricious, the heartless coquette—the
once proud beauty—loves for the first time, with that love which is her
doom. His presence is my light and life; his absence my soul’s despair.
And yet, Mary, not one word of love has he ever spoken; and since that
ball he has never been here—never written—he so exact, so chivalrous in
his politeness. Oh, Mary, why—why this so sudden change?”
She fixed her sad eyes, round which were two dark circles—sign of many a
sleepless night—imploringly on my face.
“I will find out for you,” I said; “you shall at least be spared the
pangs of suspense.”
“Ah, me!” she murmured, “men little know the hours of patient watching
and waiting we poor women suffer. ’Tis not to be wondered at we make the
best Christians—‘_the patience of hope_.’ I understand it now.”
I took a _coupé_, and in less than an hour I had returned, for D’Arcy
resided in the Rue Castiglione.
Evelyn, still seated where I had left her, sprang to her feet, almost
shrieking as she saw my solemn countenance, “Bad news! Oh, tell me the
worst!” “Mr. D’Arcy,” I said, “is ill.”
“Not dead!—not dead! Oh, speak!”
“No; but seriously ill.”
“I will go to him, instantly.”
“Stay, Evelyn,” I said, with authority, “he is unworthy of your love.”
She looked at me in blank astonishment.
“The fever he has, he caught in the low neighborhoods, and among the
disreputable company he frequents.”
She laughed hysterically.
“What!” she said, “the noble D’Arcy—the refined, the spiritual. Never,
by my hopes of Heaven. Go, Mary, would you have me hate you? Look you,
he is true and pure as the blessed sunlight.—Unhand me, I say; let me
fly to him.”
“Oh! Evelyn, pause, I implore you. What will the world say?”
“What it likes. Ah! is it _my_ Mary who would dissuade me from tending a
fellow-creature in sickness—a stranger in a strange land? No; she will
rather assist me, and when exhausted nature requires that the ‘sister of
mercy’ should take food and rest, _my_ Mary will then relieve her at her
post.”
Evelyn passed her arm caressingly around me. How could I find it in my
heart to refuse her? and so our compact was sealed with a kiss.
It was time the sick man should have a tender and loving nurse; he was
suffering from a low, nervous fever, with typhoid symptoms
superadded.—Three physicians were in constant attendance. All light in
the chamber was strictly forbidden, and the least noise caused the
patient to start as at the firing of a park of artillery. Evelyn’s first
act was to dismiss the coarse, fat nurse, who sat dozing and
occasionally snoring in a comfortable easy-chair.—Taking the authority
of a sister upon her, she paid the woman, and stated her firm intention
of remaining the sole attendant at the bedside of her brother. Then
gently and softly she moved about, robed in a _peignoir_ of delicate
white muslin, putting all in order. The sick man—half delirious—seemed
to feel there was some change, for he murmured tenderly, “what angel is
here?” Evelyn gently laid her cool hand on the fevered brow, but spoke
not, for to do so was forbidden. The touch soothed and quieted the
sufferer, and the physicians, when they came, found a slight change for
the better. For six days and nights did Evelyn and myself watch
alternately by the bedside of poor D’Arcy, who in his moments of
wandering, seemed earnestly engaged in conversation with a spirit he
named as Lilian, his affianced bride. As if in reply, he would say:
“I will obey you implicitly. Lilian, my sweet sister, bride no longer,
since you so will it. I have now another guardian angel near. Say you
so? and you warn me not to pass by my destiny. You caution me against
such blindness, and you leave me.”
Much more was said, but so incoherent we could not gather the sense—and
then, fatigued, the patient would doze off into the restless,
unrefreshing sleep of fever. At length we could no longer deceive
ourselves; the poor sufferer grew weaker and weaker, till at last the
doctors unanimously shook their learned heads, and augured the worst.
The principal physician, taking me apart, said,
“My dear lady, break it gently to the poor sister—for in twelve hours
her brother will he no more.”
Evelyn, pale as marble, and almost as cold and motionless, waved me off.
She had heard too well the ominous whisper. For twelve long hours, her
arm tenderly sustained the head of the dying man, the other hand
ceaselessly engaged in the last painful offices of affection. Utterly
forgetful of self—even of her overwhelming sorrow—her one thought was
how she could best soften the parting agony. Every moment she listened
for the almost imperceptible breathing, each instant feeling for the
beating of the heart. But the pulse waxed fainter and fainter, the
death-rattle came to the throat—a long, long sigh—another, and
another—then the heart ceased to beat, and all was over.
The doctors ascertained the fact of the decease, and were too glad to
leave the house of mourning. Evelyn, tearless, desolate, despairing,
sank on her knees beside the couch—_she believed in prayers for the
dead_. I knelt beside her, and our united supplications ascended to the
throne of the Most High. At length I arose, and would have led the
afflicted one away. She resisted. “I will not leave him,” she said.
Finding it useless endeavoring to change her resolve, I went home, and
returned later, determined not to give up the point. Reluctantly the
mourner consented to take some repose. She arose from her knees; then
suddenly, and as one frantic, she flung herself upon the lifeless
corpse.
“I will not leave thee, Philip—mine in death, if not in life.”
She clung to the helpless clay, her warm, fresh mouth pressing the
ice-cold lips, her pure breath entering the paralyzed lungs. The
passionate heart, full of the magnetism of life, beating against that
stone-cold breast—now, alas! still for ever.
“Philip,” she cried again and again, straining the dear form closer and
yet closer in her fond embrace, “come back to your Evelyn,” when, O
wondrous to relate! the spirit just about to take wing, and emerge from
the dark terrors of the “valley of the shadow of death,” or intermediate
state, into life and immortality, paused,—wavered—looked back lovingly,
and returned to the body. A Divine influx descending through that tender
woman’s bosom, established a human sympathy once more with the
apparently lifeless frame, and D’Arcy again breathed the breath of life.
[Illustration]
------------------------------------------------------------------------
CHAPTER XXI.
+ELLA+
EVELYN had saved Philip D’Arcy’s life, but almost at the cost of her
own. The reaction from intense despair to the excess of joy, was too
much for her, and to a deathlike swoon succeeded the frantic ravings of
delirium. The fever of her beloved had fastened its cruel fangs in her
very vitals. During weeks and weeks of suffering, I scarcely left the
bedside of my poor friend—for ever and for ever did she utter the name
of Philip, her true mate, her celestial bridegroom, her first, last, her
only love. Unwilling that other ears should discover the secret of her
heart, I permitted none to approach, cautiously concealing from Ella the
dangerous nature of the malady, lest the dear girl should insist on
sharing my anxious watch, and thus be made aware of her mother’s
weakness—a weakness which, while pitying, I deeply deplored. Poor D’Arcy
too, I remembered, must not be left alone with strangers. At my desire,
therefore, Ella, accompanied by an elderly female attendant, supplied
her mother’s place in the sick room of him who still required the utmost
attention and solicitude.
Many days elapsed ere the patient was pronounced out of danger, and
permitted to speak.
“Sir, I am both surprised and happy to be able to announce your
convalescence; and it is to the devoted attention of this young girl,”
designating Ella, “that, under divine Providence, you owe your life.” So
spake the man of science, not aware of the whole truth, as we know it,
and he spake as he thought. The sick man turned a grateful look on his
young nurse, gently raising the hand she had placed in his to his pallid
lips.
Many a time, as he daily grew stronger, would D’Arcy desire to ask after
Evelyn; and yet, simple as was the question, it appeared as if his
tongue refused to frame it. “Strange that she never inquires—never
comes,” he mused. “Were not Ella so calm, I should say her mother, too,
must be ill.” At length, he determined to solve his doubts—“Your dear
mother, my child, and Miss Mildmay—tell me of them?”
“Poor mama,” replied the young girl, “is not very well.”
“Nothing serious, I trust.”
“Oh! no. She caught cold, I believe, the last time she was out.”
D’Arcy sighed—in his heart he maligned poor Evelyn as a true woman of
the world, a fashionable coquette, heartless as she was beautiful; and
thinking thus, he unconsciously watched the graceful, half-childish form
of Ella, as she noiselessly stole about the room, or bent over her
tapestry frame, till at length he grew to listen eagerly for her coming
and regret her parting step. Sweetly would the tones of her silvery
voice fall on his ear, as, reclining on a couch propped up by cushions,
he listened while she read to him extracts from Byron, Wordsworth,
Tennyson, or some noble bard of his own fair land. At such times he
would name her, half in jest, “Elaine, the lily maid,” who died of love
for the brave Sir Launcelot.
One afternoon, as the invalid drew fresh life from the warm beams of the
mid-day sun, his young companion, seated on a low stool at his feet, her
fairy fingers busily engaged with her tapestry, D’Arcy said—“Sweet
Elaine! shall we read, or shall we have a little quiet talk together?”
With a sweet smile, she answered, still diligently plying her needle:
“We will converse to-day—for I must finish this cushion for mama by the
time she is quite well.”
But D’Arcy appeared embarrassed; and, after a pause of some minutes’
duration, he probably said just the thing he had never intended to
utter:
“My child, could you love?”
Wonderingly, Ella raised her soft blue eyes, and fixed them on the face
of the speaker—“Why, certainly,” she said; “I dearly, dearly love my
mother.”
“And none other?”
“Oh! yes, indeed—Mary—our kind, good Mary, for example. You, too, of
course,” blushing slightly—“you are now another dear friend.”
“But, Ella, listen. Could you, for instance, love as—as—Elaine loved
Launcelot?”
She paused. “I have never thought of that—at any rate, if he had not
loved me, I should never have been so silly as to care for him.”
“No—but supposing he had loved you?”
“Well, in that case, perhaps I might; but, oh! Mr. D’Arcy, never, even
then, nearly so much as I love my own dear mother. Ah! you do not know
how I love her,” and the tears started to the dear child’s clear eyes;
“but,” she hesitated, “I _do_ wish to say something to you—you must
never, _never_ mention it, though. Perhaps it is foolish to tell
you—but, I should so like my mother to marry.”
It now was D’Arcy’s turn to feel his cheek all flame. “It is,
doubtless,” he forced himself to reply, “by your mother’s own desire
that she remains single.”
“I do not know,” mused Ella—“she was very nearly married once; but _it_
(I mean the marriage) was postponed, in consequence of her not being
willing to change her religion. I, however, know she loved the ——, but I
will not name him.”
D’Arcy was now pale as death. “Perhaps,” said he, “all may at present be
at an end.”
“Oh! no, indeed,” exclaimed Ella, eagerly; “they still correspond, I
know—and he is _so_ handsome, _so_ good, _so_ fond of her—she would be
very, _very_ happy—_do_, Mr. D’Arcy, persuade mama to become a
Catholic!”
He seemed lost in thought. “Sweet Elaine,” at length he said, “rest
assured, that, to further your mother’s welfare and your own, I would
gladly sacrifice my life. I will take an early occasion of conversing
with her on this subject.”
Meanwhile, my poor invalid lay turning and tossing on her fevered couch,
and ever and forever would she thus make moan: “Philip, my own true
mate—Philip, bridegroom of my soul—why so cruel?” Then, in her wild
delirium, would she sing snatches of melody, and her voice was strong,
clear, and of unearthly sweetness. Often would she repeat those
exquisite lines of Shelly:
“The nightingale’s complaint, it dies upon her heart,
As I must on thine, beloved as thou art—
A spirit hath led me to thee, love.”
“Yes, Lilian—thy loved Lilian, hath given thee to Evelyn—Reginald, too,
looks upon me with tender and forgiving eyes. See! they descend together
to bless our union—they bear a wreath of orange blossoms and myrtle—they
place it on my burning brow—it is cool—cool—delicious! Oh! what
fragrance! It soothes my brain—it recalls my senses—the dews of Paradise
fall like a shower of pearls over my tangled hair. Ah! see—they place a
white moss rose on my bosom—it stills the throbbings of my heart—it
deadens the pain! Thanks, blessed, loving angels! Pray for poor Evelyn.
She is saved!”
As she uttered these words an exquisite perfume filled the sick chamber,
and I saw, as it were, a halo of white light around the head of the poor
sufferer, and fancied I beheld a hand, white as alabaster, holding a
rose to her breast. A moment, and the light faded, or rather, gave place
to the sickly rays of the early dawn, as they penetrated the closed
blinds and shone on the pale form of the patient. Was this a vision or a
mere disorder of the fancy? I know not; but I do know that from that
moment the fever left her; that she slept profoundly for twelve
consecutive hours; and on awakening was declared convalescent.
[Illustration]
------------------------------------------------------------------------
CHAPTER XXII.
+THE PROPOSAL+
IT was the sixteenth of August; the heat had been intense, but toward
evening a cool air stirred the leaves of the trees, and entered the open
window of the pretty boudoir in the Avenue Gabriel. That day our beloved
invalid quitted her room for the first time. Languidly reclining on an
elegant couch of pale green silk, her sweet face half buried in the rich
lace which ornamented the downy cushions, she enjoyed the voluptuous
sensations incident to the convalescent state. Ella had decked the
apartment with flowers, to _fête_ the recovery of her dear mother, and a
silver tea-service, standing on a small table near, plentifully supplied
with cakes and fruit, added greatly to the home comfort of the scene.
Evelyn’s illness, if it had somewhat detracted from the brilliancy of
her beauty, had replaced it with an air of delicacy and refinement,
which, perhaps, suited still better the classic outline of her features.
Her complexion, transparent as porcelain, was now colorless, if we
except a bright spot on either cheek—the result of emotion rather than
of returning health. Her soft, hazel eyes seemed humid with a tender
languor which gave to them a remarkable charm. The warm pulses of
renewed life and hope seemed to pervade each nerve and fibre of her
being. I could scarcely keep my eyes from looking at her, while Ella,
echoing my thoughts, exclaimed:
“Dearest mama, how very beautiful you look this evening!”
The mother pensively smiled, passed her hand through her daughter’s
hair, and then was again lost in thought.
But let us now permit her to speak for herself.
MORE LEAVES.
_August 16th._—It is nearly three whole months since I have seen him,
and oh! what events since then. Both have been sick nigh unto death;
both have received revelations from the angel world, and I shall see him
this day, and he said to Ella he would speak with me alone. Ah! the
cruel moments lengthen themselves into hours to retard his coming. And
if, after all, he should fail. But that is not possible, has he not
given his word!
* * * * *
_17th._—I have made a violent effort to collect my scattered senses, for
I would fain write the occurrences of _that_ night. Though the day
appeared as if it would never end, yet, as evening approached, I almost
dreaded to meet him. The thought that I had dared to clasp him, living,
in my arms—that unasked, unsought, my lips had been pressed to his, made
me timid as a young girl. This remembrance, even now, dyes my cheek with
crimson. Oh! were he then conscious of all, how could I ever, ever,
again lift my eyes to his; how could I ever support his glance of
withering scorn. As these reflections passed through my brain, I half
arose. “I will retire to my room,” I thought, “and leave Mary and Ella
to receive him.” Just then there was a ring, and a well-known step was
heard in the antechamber. Philip D’Arcy entered, and in the delirious
joy of his presence, I forgot all but that he was here once
more—restored to life, to health, to hope, to love. He appeared
surprised to find me still an invalid, for as he took my hand and
pressed it with that soft, thrilling pressure which may mean friendship,
or so much more, he murmured words of sorrow and sympathy, though I
scarcely caught their meaning. Then seating himself, as Mary served the
tea, he addressed some polite and common-place observations to her and
Ella. I could now satisfy the hunger of my soul by dwelling on that
noble countenance, the light of which had so long been hidden from my
weary eyes.
After long silence, I said suddenly,
“Pray, Mr. D’Arcy, tell me how did you manage to catch that fever?”
The formality of this address sounded strangely even to my own ears, and
almost as if another had spoken.
Philip smiled his old smile, and replied that he would prefer this
should remain a secret. Perceiving a somewhat mocking expression on
Mary’s lips, I exclaimed with petulance,
“But I insist on your telling me—I _will_ know.”
Turning upon me a calm and penetrating, though rather surprised look, he
said quietly,
“I have the gift of healing by mesmeric passes; over fatigued by too
close attendance on a patient suffering from a virulent attack of morbid
typhus, I saved him, but succumbed to the malady myself.”
I cast a triumphant glance at Mary. It was with difficulty I could
resist the impulse I felt to throw myself at his feet, almost in
adoration. Mary then happily observed, in her usual calm and philosophic
style, that “magnetism appeared to be the grand motive power of organic
nature.”
“Say rather,” replied D’Arcy, “of the entire visible universe. Do we not
know that the poles of the earth are magnetic? Is there not
electro-magnetism in the sun’s beams? And in fact I have very little
doubt that the power named gravitation by Newton, is neither more nor
less than magnetic attraction.”
“That,” replied Mary, “is both a philosophic and a beautiful idea.”
“I think,” rejoined he, “it at least bears the impress of truth, and as
science progresses, who knows whether it will not be ascertained that
similar internal laws govern these apparently distinct forces? All true
science tends towards unity, as all religions point to the ONE TRUE
GOD.”
So passed the time, till tea being over, Mary with Ella proposed taking
a stroll—the latter laughingly saying that the two invalids might amuse
each other by expatiating on the delights of panada, _tisane_, and
chicken broth.
In the sweet hour of twilight, alone once more with _him_, and awaiting,
as it were, the fiat of my destiny, is it wonderful that pale with
emotion I lay almost as one inanimate?
“I fear”—and the tones of his voice were low and tender as he bent over
me—“I fear me much you still suffer.”
“I have been ill, very ill,” I murmured, scarcely daring to trust my
voice.
“Can you listen,” he almost whispered, “if I speak to you on a subject
important to me, interesting to you—to both——”
I signed assent, for I was powerless now to articulate one word.
“During my illness,” he proceeded, “I was in constant communication with
the spirit of my Lilian. Much advice she gave, and much she cautioned as
to my future; finally, she informed me that it was not her destiny to
become my bride through eternity, but that there was one then near who
would save my life—one whose tender bosom would ever pulsate in unison
with my own, whose character of mind and heart was, from contrast,
fitted alone to complete mine—‘but,’ she added, solemnly, ‘make not
shipwreck of your happiness. _Pass not by your fate._’”
He paused. I could make no reply. My blood was coursing rapidly and
tumultuously through every vein and artery. My voice, passion-choked,
could only express itself in sighs. My soul seemed bathed in an ocean of
hitherto unknown delights. I scarcely dared breathe, lest I should lose
a word, a tone. A few moments more of suspense would have killed me.
Would that it had been so!
Soft as the murmur of a summer brook, thrilling as the song of birds,
tender as the cooing of the wood-pigeon, did that loved voice again
steal upon my ear. “At one time,” it said, “methought I was dying. I
lost all physical sensation. My heart felt like a stone in the midst of
my body. My breathing seemed to be carried on through the spiritual
lungs alone—when, suddenly, as if from afar, I heard, as it were, a
faint cry—a cry of distress: ‘Philip, mine own, do not die,’ it said,
‘Return—oh! return.’ (I covered my burning face with my hands, as he
continued.)
“At this time I felt on my lips a warm breath—a human heart appeared to
touch my own—then all was dark, dark. On opening my eyes, I beheld, as
an angel of light, standing at my bedside, your sweet child Ella.”
As if one had taken a sledge-hammer, and struck with violence a blow on
the very centre of my heart—such was the shock I experienced. Stunned,
unconscious, I heard no more. Had it not been thus mercifully arranged,
I had not stifled a burst of passionate anguish. When I in some measure
recovered my senses a mortal despair seized upon me.
The shades of evening had now closed in, my soul too was all gloom.
Still those soft accents fell on my ear, till at length I distinguished
the words, “Have I then your consent?” In vain would I have replied, but
my throat was parched—my tongue paralyzed. I could only bend my head in
token of assent. “On one other subject would I also for a moment speak,”
and then the beloved voice trembled and faltered, “Pardon me, but your
happiness is dear—dearer to me than my own. I understand,”—he hesitated,
and then spoke rapidly, as though he would be rid of an ungrateful task,
“I hear, there is one who adores you—one who has haply not loved in
vain—one, in fine, who even now stands toward you in the light of an
affianced husband. May I express the hope that this union will no longer
be delayed, and that bliss such as rarely falls to mortal lot may be
yours, and his for your sweet sake?” Philip raised my hand to his lips.
“Good God?” he cried, “you are ill—your hand is cold and clammy as in
death.”
I tried to smile. Happily the darkness covered the ghastly and futile
attempt. By a supreme effort I rose to my feet.
“I am well. I thank you,” I gasped, “for—for your good wishes. I
shall”—and I pressed both hands on my heart to still its wild beatings,
now and forever, if I could—“I shall marry soon—very soon.”
Staggering to the door, I met Mary and Ella.—Motioning the latter toward
the boudoir, and clinging almost fainting to Mary, who caught me in her
arms, I was half-led, half-carried to my bed-chamber—where, left alone
with my grief, my despair, my lost love, my wounded woman’s pride—worn
out by that “hope deceived which maketh the heart sick,” exhausted
nature could no more, and sleep at length in pity steeped my weary soul
in forgetfulness.
[Illustration]
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CHAPTER XXIII.
+LOVED IN VAIN+
IS there one among us who has not, at some period of his life,
experienced the dull pain which, on the morrow of a great grief, ever
returns to us with the first dawn of consciousness? Have we not hated
the very light of another day? Have not all familiar objects lost their
charm for us? How sensitively, too, have we shrunk from contact with the
domestics—aye, even from the loved faces of the home circle! Alone would
we entertain our sorrow. We are in love with her, and from her we will
not be parted. This is the very luxury of grief. Joy may be a social
passion; but surely the converse is true of profound misery.
Our unhappy heroine dared not thus indulge her sorrow—she must up and be
doing. The poisoned arrow which had pierced her bosom must there remain,
an agonized but concealed torture. Ah! me—those pangs for which the
world would have no pity, and which, therefore, we must hide under the
semblance of smiles, are ever the most poignant.
Like lawful love, legitimate grief may be deep; but neither are of that
stormy nature which shakes the soul to its foundation, and blights the
whole existence. So Evelyn arose, mechanically, and suffered her maid to
attire her; then, causing the blinds to be closed, the better to conceal
her haggard countenance, she bade the attendant leave the room.
To the question—“Will madame take breakfast now?” her mistress replied,
that she merely required a cup of tea; and added, that, having important
letters to write, she must not for the present be disturbed. Then
flinging herself into a chair, and covering her aching eyes with her
hand, she endeavored to collect her thoughts. Just then, she felt a soft
warm touch—when, starting, she turned and perceived her faithful dog,
the gift of di Balzano. He had placed his paw in her hand, and he looked
into her face with a fond, wistful glance, which seemed to say, “Dear
mistress, you are sick or sad; but your poor dog loves you, and will
never forsake you.” And Evelyn comprehended, and she flung her arm about
the shaggy neck of her favorite, and the large scalding drops fell on
his honest head. “Poor Dashey,” she said—“poor fellow!”—and tears, too,
almost human, stood in the eyes of the loving animal. Nay, mock not,
gentle reader—for, as the author has observed, so she writes. She once
had a dog whom she has seen weep more than once; and when the poor fond
creature died, she mourned for her (for she was of the softer sex) as
for a friend.
And Evelyn went to her writing-table—her resolve was taken. “Good, kind
Balzano,” she said; “how he loved me—unworthy as I am! I will no longer
delay writing to him;” and she penned the letter we here transcribe:
A Sua Excellenza, il Duca di Balzano,
Palazzo Balzano, Naples, August—, 18—.
DEAR FRIEND,—Pardon my prolonged silence, and apparent neglect.
I have been ill—dangerously ill—for many weeks. Before that, I
had come to no decision on the subject of your last letter. I
cannot be a Catholic; but, if you can procure a dispense from
the Pope, I will now be your wife. Can you forgive my caprice!
At last, I understand how cruelly you must have suffered through
me. Henceforth, it will be the sole aim of my life to compensate
for past folly, by future devotion to your happiness. Write
soon, and say when we may expect you here. Ella you will find
grown out of all knowledge. You were ever a favorite with her. I
cannot write more. I am still very weak—but, as ever,
Your affectionate friend,
EVELYN.
The letter was just concluded, when a gentle tap at the door caused the
writer’s heart to give one bound, and then almost to cease beating.
Evelyn withdrew the bolt—for she must speak with Ella. The young girl
threw herself on her mother’s neck; but that mother’s kiss was cold, for
the first time—and, as she felt the soft contact of her child’s pure
lips, almost a shudder passed through her frame. Ah! wherefore did the
shadow of _that man_ come between those two! And Ella knelt at her
mother’s feet, an unconscious rival; and as the latter, faint and sick
at heart, leaned back in her _fauteuil_, she held the poor burning hand
in her cool fresh palm, and poured out before her mother all the
thoughts and feelings of her innocent, loving heart. She told how D’Arcy
loved her, how kind he was, how clever—far too wise and clever for her,
how could he think of such a child? True, Lilian had told him, or it
could never have been; but her dear mother must teach her to become
wise, worthy of him, that he may not think her foolish—“But oh! my own,
own mama, I never, never will marry and leave you all alone. I told Mr.
D’Arcy so. Never till you are a duchess, you know,” kissing her hand,
“for though I like him very much, I never shall love him like my own
sweet mother; how could I!”
Alas! poor Evelyn; bitterly did thy heart reproach thee that thou
couldst not feel as the tender maiden at thy feet—that thy now guilty
love still glowed in thy tortured heart, as in a furnace, to the
exclusion of each gentle and more holy sentiment. Unhappy mother! she
could scarce support the presence of her child now.
“Dear girl,” she said, with an effort, “be happy. I have written to
accept M. di Balzano.”—Ella made a movement of delight. “Bless you,
darling, now leave me. Take that letter and see that it is sent. I would
be alone, my head aches terribly.” A true woman’s excuse, but in our
heroine’s case not a fictitious one.
Once more left to her own sad thoughts, Evelyn endeavored to realize her
painful position. It was necessary to meet D’Arcy; to show him that she
consented, nay, that she was even happy, in the idea of his union with
another, and that other her own daughter. “Alas!” she repeated to
herself,
“To love thee dumbly, nor by look or word
To break the silence set upon my soul,
To crush the voice that struggles to be heard,
To gaze unmoved on the forbidden goal.
“To sit and look into thine eyes, and yearn
To tell thee all my closely hoarded thought,
And still to know that I must calmly learn
To meet thy gaze, and yet to utter naught
“To know there is no hope; hourly to feel
That Destiny forbids a word, a breath;
This bitter fate is mine, until the seal
Is broken, by the welcome hand of death.”
And she accepted her fate, and she made the heroic resolve—cost what it
might, she would see D’Arcy this evening, if but for five minutes. She
would school her eyes to gaze calmly on those still beloved features.
She would force herself to support the sight of those lover-like
attentions which were not, which never could be for her. She would even
be happy in the mutual happiness of those two dear ones. Did she,
perchance, miscalculate her strength? For the present, at least, that
trial was spared her. Just about the hour D’Arcy’s visit was expected, a
telegraphic despatch arrived from Havre. It was handed to me by Evelyn
to open and read. It ran thus:
“Pressing public business recalls me to America. I sail
to-night. Will write from Cowes.
“PHILIP D’ARCY.”
A sigh of inexpressible relief burst from Evelyn’s overcharged bosom, as
she murmured involuntarily, “Thank God.” Last evening, at the same hour
had an event so unexpected occurred, how different would have been her
feelings! Truly “we know not what a day may bring forth.”
[Illustration]
------------------------------------------------------------------------
CHAPTER XXIV.
+CORRESPONDENCE+
TWO days and the promised letter arrived, the very superscription and
seal proclaiming it the production of no ordinary writer. Opening the
missive you at once remark the clear, decided, manly characters. No
dashes, (impotent attempts of weakness to convey the idea of force),
deface the spotless page; the style terse, and at the same time elegant,
reveals the scholar and the gentleman. The signature, at once bold and
distinct, has the characteristic finish, rather than flourish, which at
once individualizes the writer. Truly there is more in an autograph than
meets the eye of the casual observer. Give me a letter and I will
undertake to designate the salient points in the character and
disposition of its author. The epistle in question was addressed to
Evelyn, and simply stated that public affairs having assumed a very
serious aspect, he (D’Arcy), had received a mandate from an official
personage, requesting his immediate presence at Washington, and offering
him a responsible post under government. That in view of the present sad
political difficulties which threatened his beloved country, he thought
it his duty to tender his poor services to the nation. Though his
affections, he added, were dear—most dear to him—still he felt that
honor and duty must take precedence even of love. In conclusion he
expressed the hope of a speedy return to Europe, but added that as his
sweet Ella’s extreme youth rendered an immediate marriage unadvisable,
he would wait with patience, convinced that every additional moment
passed with her dear and valued mother, would be fraught with
inestimable advantage to his young bride. Leaving her, therefore, to
Evelyn, as a sacred charge, he invoked on the beloved heads of both a
farewell blessing.
Such was D’Arcy’s first letter. Single hearted, true and noble, he
framed no polite excuses for apparent neglect in not having called to
bid them a personal adieu. He knew they would understand him, and he was
right. It now appeared to me that there was a marked change in Evelyn.
All her passionate love for D’Arcy seemed to have merged into a fond
desire to educate Ella for him. She accepted the holy task he had
confided to her, and made a firm resolve to devote her faculties wholly
to the furtherance of his wishes. Thus, no longer living as before
utterly in the self-hood, but rather seeking the good of others, she
could not fail to bring a blessing on herself.
We passed the remainder of the summer at Passy, near Paris, where
Rossini has a beautiful villa, and where, others of our friends were
also residing. Expecting shortly the arrival of Balzano, we had thought
it inexpedient to journey further. But weeks were added to days, and
months to weeks, and yet no letter came. “He will doubtless come without
writing,” we said, and so saying, daily looked we for his advent. Our
frequent talk now was of beloved Italy, and of the happy days we had
passed beneath the placid azure of its heavens.
“Ah! me,” sighed my friend, “how rarely do we value the present till it
has faded into the past! We spend our lives in wild hopes of the
future—in sad regrets for by-gone days. Folly—to the present with its
pleasures and pains may we alone lay claim as our own. Do you remember,
Mary, the fairy-like _fête_ given by the Conte de Syracuse, in that
exquisitely lovely mountain glade at Castellamare, so shadowy with
graceful trees, through whose branches here and there, a bright glint of
sunshine gilded the rocks, dancing over the feathery fern, and causing
the rivulet to sparkle with a clearer crystal? how sapphire blue lay the
Mediterranean, viewed through the interstices of the varied foliage. It
was truly a scene of enchantment, and reminded me of those days
chronicled by Boccaccio when six gallant cavaliers with their noble
dames retired together to the fair gardens of _Sans Souci_ that they
might avoid the infection of the pestilence then desolating the doomed
city of Florence.”
“Yes,” said I, “and how picturesque the table prepared as it were, by
the genii of the forest; how brilliant the dresses of the ladies, and
though last, not least, how cool and refreshing the well iced champagne!
And, after the collation, how charmingly wild our dance on the
greensward to the stirring music of the invisible orchestra deeply
hidden in the woods.”
“And the Prince, too, how wickedly and maliciously he insisted on the
stout old Baroness de R—— being his partner in the polka, till she
looked actually purple, so that we feared every minute her desire to
oblige H. R. H. would cause her to faint with fatigue. Oh! Mary, those
were merry days! The silver moon arose to look upon our sport, and the
fire-flies came and danced with us.”
“And you remember the pretty compliment the Prince paid you, Evelyn,
about the pearls? You had your hair braided, and bonnet trimmed with
these ornaments—bracelets and necklace to match. His Royal Highness said
‘Pearls in the hair, on the neck, and the rounded white arms, but the
finest pearls of all are within the rosy lips.’”
“Ah! Mary, remind me not of my days of vanity and folly. Have I not
sufficiently suffered for my poor triumphs? Had I been less handsome I
might have been a better and a happier woman.”
“You may yet be both, dearest, it is not too late.”
Thus time passed, and we returned to Paris, no reply having as yet
arrived from Naples, so we began to think that, (as is frequently the
case there), Evelyn’s letter might have miscarried. She was just
preparing to write again, when one morning Ella entered, frantic with
delight.
“A letter! a letter!” she exclaimed, “from dear Italy. What will mama
give for it? a kiss—no, two, at least three—there,” and Evelyn took it,
and broke the seal. It was in di Balzano’s fine Italian hand, and as
follows:
Naples, Nov. —, 18—.
MY DEAR MRS. TRAVERS: I feel much distressed and mortified in
that I fear you must have considered me ungrateful, and wanting
in politeness; but you will, I trust, now pardon the silence I
have been compelled to observe towards you. It is time I should
inform you that I am already married. Such, however, being the
case, remember it is yourself who have constrained me to this
step, by your indecision. But we will no longer speak of the
past. May I hope that being made aware of my marriage will not
prevent your still preserving for me that same friendship you
have ever accorded to one who will never cease most deeply to
appreciate it. For my part, I should be truly delighted once
more to meet you, because I still feel for you a profound
affection; having once loved you intensely and passionately. I
am thankful that your health is re-established. Saluting you a
thousand times, I am as ever your true friend,
GIOVANNI, DUCA DI BALZANO.
“See, Mary,” said poor Evelyn, handing me the letter with a melancholy
smile, “it is my sad doom to lose all I love, all that have loved me!”
We heard later that Balzano’s marriage had originated first, as is the
custom in Italy, in the wishes of the respective families of the young
people, the duke being averse to the connexion. Balzano was thus
necessarily much thrown into the society of the young lady, who became
deeply attached to him—so much so, that perceiving his indifference she
took it so seriously to heart that consumption threatened. Balzano, ever
compassionate and unselfish, pitied the girl, and not having for months
had any tidings of his former betrothed, consented at last to the wishes
of his friends, backed by the advice of the priests. A marriage was
arranged; singularly enough, it was not till his return from church, on
the morning of the wedding, that Evelyn’s letter of acceptance was
placed in his hands—thus may the three months’ silence, on his part, he
accounted for.
Meanwhile, D’Arcy’s letters came almost every mail; they were partly to
Evelyn, partly to Ella; and were answered conjointly by both. Ella would
have deferred the marriage indefinitely, in consequence of the bad news
from Naples; but her mother would not suffer the subject even to be
alluded to: “My child,” she said, “let us leave the future to
Providence, patiently awaiting the accomplishment of our destiny.”
[Illustration]
------------------------------------------------------------------------
CHAPTER XXV.
+THE BARONET+
AMONG the crowd of English sojourning in Paris this winter, there was
an old acquaintance of ours—a certain Sir Percy Montgomery, Bart.,
late M. P. for ——shire. Some six years ago, when in London, Sir Percy
had visited Evelyn, and we had dined occasionally at his house in
Grosvenor Street. Indeed, the Baronet had been at that time a warm
though unsuccessful admirer of our heroine. Sir Percy was, in
appearance, a perfect “John Bull”—that is to say, he possessed a
countenance rubicund and somewhat flat, with no very marked
features—figure stout—burly—broad-shouldered—thick set, you perceived
at a glance that the animal nature preponderated in the man;
nevertheless, the square and rather massive forehead displayed
intellect, and the fine teeth, seen to advantage in a pleasant jovial
smile of not unfrequent occurrence, rendered the personal appearance
of our friend, if somewhat coarse, not altogether unpleasing. Let not
my readers, however, imagine that the “John-Bull” type is the true
type of our countrymen. They will, on referring to a former chapter of
this work, find the portrait of an accomplished English gentleman, in
our delineation of the young and aristocratic Melville. We have there
depicted elegance, manliness and chivalry, in combination with the
splendid physical development, only to be seen in perfection in the
Anglo-Saxon race. But, to return. Sir Percy was by no means wanting in
brains. He had made some sensation in Parliament; and, having had the
tact to speak on the popular side of each question, his fluency was
greatly appreciated, and he had thus acquired a higher reputation than
his (not first rate) talents perhaps merited. So the Times wondered
when he resigned his seat; and the Herald and other Tory papers were
open in their rather uncharitable surmises, as to the motives for so
sudden and untimely a retreat in the late M. P.
Sir Percy, having discovered our address at Galignani’s, lost no time in
paying his respects to Evelyn, and continued his visits from time to
time. Evelyn soon named him my adorer, and said it would not be such a
bad match; the baronet was of a good family, and reputed rich, though,
as some asserted, rich in debts alone. He had, at least, talent, and if
I did not object to his lack of personal beauty, and his fifty years,
she added, I might do worse than become Lady Montgomery. Ever occupied
with receiving and replying to D’Arcy’s frequent letters, or in reading,
talking and practising with Ella, my friend paid but slight attention to
a former admirer—for whom she had never felt even a passing gleam of
sympathy—until one day she received from him a rather melancholy letter;
making her in some sort a confidante, the writer threw out dark hints of
debts and difficulties which had exiled him from his native land, and
adverted mysteriously to envious political rivals, who were endeavoring
to work his ruin, and who had, alas! succeeded in putting a present stop
to a career which would have otherwise shortly ended in the Cabinet.
Much changed for the better, since her acquaintance with Philip D’Arcy,
and somewhat hurt and humiliated by the unexpected marriage of di
Balzano, our heroine opened her heart in pity for the baronet’s
misfortunes; had not she, too, suffered from envious tongues? had not
slander been to her as “the worm which never dieth?” Cruel, cruel world!
thou art indeed a hard master—offend against thy laws—break thy one
commandment “Thou shalt not be found out” and thou art utterly without
pity, even to the exclusion of all repentance;—cruel, cruel world! And
so Evelyn took compassion on the injured man, and invited him oftener,
and sympathized with his griefs, and was in every way kind to him. Thus
did circumstances favor his suit.
So it came to pass that society at last coupled their names together,
and Sir Percy himself, mistaking the sentiments of one who no longer had
a heart to give, made our heroine an offer of his hand in a letter which
appeared to me to allude to the lady’s fortune rather than to herself.
Evelyn answered that she would take time to consider the proposal,
provided Sir Percy could assure her on his honor as a gentleman that
there was no blemish attached to his name. This assurance, as may be
imagined, the baronet readily gave. My dearest friend then spoke to me
fully and confidentially; frankly confessing that she no longer hoped
for happiness on earth, she at the same time added, that she was anxious
to marry, hoping that enshrined within the sacred precincts of a
husband’s home, and safely sheltered by his protection, she should have
strength to crush forever from out her heart that now guilty passion
which still tortured her.
“I could not,” she continued, “again meet D’Arcy except as a wife—no. I
too much fear my own weakness. I should sink to the earth with shame,
did he for one moment suspect the state of my heart. Besides, I gave him
my word I would marry, and at any cost I will keep my promise. Ella,
too, dear child, is firmly resolved never to wed till she sees her
mother, as she imagines, happy. Ah! Mary, does not this man’s offer
appear to you as it does to me, almost as a providential occurrence?”
“Had you not better at least wait Mr. D’Arcy’s next letter before you
give a definite reply to Sir Percy?”
“Yes, my friend, I will wait. You are right. Dear Mary, my soul is bound
up in the future happiness of Philip and that of my Ella, but like St.
Paul I may say, ‘I feel two laws warring within me, and these are
contrary, the one to the other, so that when I would do good, evil is
present with me.’”
And the expected letter came, and it stated that war having been
declared between the North and South, it was quite impossible for D’Arcy
to leave his post. Nor could he foresee when he dared hope to return to
Europe. Could not his beloved friends, he suggested, all come over to
New York next summer? He would place at their disposition _The Retreat_,
a villa beautifully situated on the banks of the Hudson, which it would
afford him the greatest pleasure if they would occupy as long as the
weather should render such a sojourn agreeable. In conclusion, he
reminded Evelyn, that being already familiar with the continent of
Europe, the difference of scenery and the manner of living in the New
World, would greatly interest her, and that she would find in this
splendid country much to compensate her for the fatigues of the voyage.
D’Arcy had never in any letter alluded either directly or indirectly to
our heroine’s projected marriage, nor had he ever known the name of her
probable husband, the fact alone of her engagement having been
communicated to him by the imprudence of Ella.
That same day Evelyn wrote an acceptance to Sir Percy Montgomery.
And Ella—was she charmed with her mother’s present prospects? Truth
compels us to declare she was not; nor did she ever cease expressing to
me her lively regret that her mama was so unwise as to prefer the
baronet to dear, good, handsome Balzano, who was likewise of higher
rank, and also of one of the oldest families of mediæval Italy. But Ella
had not, as we know, been made aware of the chain of circumstances which
led to such a step on her mother’s part; so she contented herself by
adding, as a last consolation, in the only Latin words she knew, “_di
gustibus non est disputandem_.” Since, then, we cannot “account for
tastes,” still less may we understand the multiform caprices of beauty.
This, however, I will say, and I appeal to the lovely of my own sex who
have passed the age of thirty, to corroborate my assertion: Is there not
some period in the life of each woman, when she would scarcely have
thought any one worthy of herself? And is there not, likewise, another
period, when, in her isolation, she might have been tempted to marry the
first eligible person who asked her? I fear me such is too often the
case.
I will here mention an incident which occurred _à propos_ to this
marriage: One evening, after dinner, Ella complaining of a headache, her
mother, as was her wont, made over her a few mesmeric passes, in order
to quiet the nerves. The young girl slept the magnetic sleep, as we
perceived by the rigidity of the muscles, and other signs understood by
the initiated. As Ella slept, I placed in her hand a letter, which had
just chanced to arrive from Sir Percy. Instantly she became convulsed;
and, crushing the paper in her slender fingers, she flung it suddenly
from her, exclaiming—
“I will not look at that man; take him out of my sight—he has no
heart—no honor.”
The _clairvoyante_ trembled violently, drawing her breath with
difficulty. We did not dare force her to continue looking upon a
disagreeable object; for, by such means, epileptic convulsions have been
occasionally induced in an impressible subject, and sometimes even death
has been known to supervene.
So Evelyn took her hand, as she now tranquilly slept, saying, “Then tell
me, sweet one, shall I be happy?”
An angelic smile broke over the features of the lovely entranced, as she
exclaimed, “You, dearest mother! Oh, yes—by your talents, your superior
mind, your beautiful soul—not else,” and she sighed.
Evelyn then awoke the young girl, who of course was aware of nothing
that had passed during her mesmeric sleep; but her mother mused and
wondered, and again I trembled for the future.
[Illustration]
------------------------------------------------------------------------
CHAPTER XXVI.
+THREE MONTHS OF MARRIED LIFE+
IT was in her second wifehood that Evelyn, Lady Montgomery, first set
foot on the shores of the New World. Our voyage across the broad
Atlantic had been devoid of incident, and untroubled by storm. An
occasional squall, it is true, would banish us for a day to our heaving
couches, where, prostrate and utterly helpless, we felt as if our head,
detached from our shoulders, were rolling about the cabin, and the
malignant sprites of ocean were recklessly and remorselessly sporting
with it as with a foot-ball.
We entered the magnificent bay of New York, lighted by the glorious
August moon with her myriads of attendant stars, which, seen through the
pure ether of the western firmament, seemed multiplied to infinity. The
constellations of the belted Orion, the greater and lesser Bear, and
others, appeared strangely familiar; viewing them, we were fain to
forget the thousands of miles which now separated us from the land of
our birth. But our first step on terra firma quickly dispelled the
illusion. The disagreeables of the Custom House at an end, leaving our
heavy baggage till the morrow, with difficulty we climbed into the
heavy, hearse-like vehicle in waiting, which it seemed next to
impossible to enter, and once in, equally vain and futile to attempt the
getting out. Tossed and tumbled about on the roughest of pavements, our
heads still giddy from our recent sea-voyage, we arrived at that
gorgeous palace, yclept the Fifth Avenue Hotel. Happily, Mr. D’Arcy,
(unable through press of public business to meet us,) had kindly written
to secure rooms, which insured to our party the attention we should not
otherwise have received.
Here let me observe that I entirely endorse all that my talented
countryman, Anthony Trollope, has stated regarding the inhospitality of
the enormous American hotels, where weary and travel-worn ladies are
forced to await in the wretched reception parlors, the often long
delayed advent of the official charged to show them their rooms, while
gentlemen, still more unfortunate, must attend in the office the favor
for which they have humbly made supplication to His Majesty the
Book-keeper. How different from the hearty welcome of “Mine Host” and
his worthy spouse, in the cheerful, old-fashioned inns of England; how
cheerily the landlord enters, and stirring the fire, makes his guests
feel instantly at home; while the good wife, were you an old
acquaintance, could not proffer for you with greater kindness the best
fare her house can afford. The pretty chambermaid, too, candle in hand,
shows you to a clean, comfortable bedroom, leaving at the same time, all
the requisites for your toilet; and as you discuss your cutlet or roast
chicken, the waiter tells you of all to be seen in the town and
neighborhood. He closes the shutters and draws the curtains, and your
glass of sherry or old port, as may be, has quite a home flavor, as you
draw your easy-chair cosily before the bright, glad fire, which itself
sparkles and crackles its welcome.
I am not now describing the London or new railway hotels, Heaven forbid!
they are less comfortable, and far more expensive than those in America;
but I allude to the charming “hostelries” of the olden times, some of
which still exist, though “few and far between.” Thanks, however, to the
kind consideration of Mr. D’Arcy, we were ushered at once to our suite
of elegantly furnished rooms, only too thankful to seek and find repose
in the luxurious beds of this splendid Hotel. On awakening, next
morning, my first impression of New York was as if I saw pictured before
me, in giant proportions, one of the toy towns with their many colored
houses, interspersed with green trees, that used to come to me in large
oval deal boxes in the days of my youth. Red brick, grey, brown, white,
dark chocolate stone—all of multiform size and shape, such is the
description of the dwellings, in this metropolis of the west, now decked
in its mantle of summer foliage.
Our heroine had been wedded about three months—was she blessed in her
second union more than in her first marriage?
My kind and gentle readers, she was not happy—yet she was content. But
had she ever before indulged in any illusions, as regards Sir Percy,
they must have quickly faded. Even on returning from the Church, his
bride at his side, not one word of affection did the newly-made husband
utter; of himself alone he spoke—_his_ position, _his_ future; but then,
to be sure, he was turned of fifty, and as Byron observes, rather than
one husband at that mature age,
“’Twere better to have _two_, at five-and-twenty.”
This was the beginning of sorrows.
Immediately after the breakfast, the impatient bridegroom, anxious,
doubtless, to embrace the fair lady he dared now call his own, knocked
at the door of her chamber, where, divested of her bridal costume, she
was arraying herself in a becoming travelling toilette. When admitted,
the grateful lover begged—now guess, dear ladies. I pray what——Why for
the loan of a few hundred francs to pay his bill at the hotel. Rather
early, methinks, to usurp marital rights over his wife’s purse. Poor
Evelyn’s next fit of disgust was on the morrow of her bridal, when, in
an elegant morning robe of the freshest muslin, her hair braided under
the prettiest of caps, she with horror beheld Sir Percy enter the room,
unwashed, uncombed, unbraced, and perfectly innocent of a clean shirt.
Seating himself at the breakfast table, he commenced feeding, utterly
unconscious of having committed an unpardonable crime against good
manners. Unfortunate Evelyn! so refined, so fastidious, so exquisitely
neat and clean in her personal habits, to be brought to this. “Oh! what
a falling off was there!”
Sir Percy united in his own person those opposite defects which in
others are usually compensated by corresponding virtues. He was at the
same time a spendthrift, and the meanest of men. Hasty and imprudent,
yet sly and cunning, with an appearance of frankness, he combined an
utter disregard of truth. He seemed to lie for the pleasure of lying.
His temper was alike quick, vindictive, and revengeful, and his
character comprised the opposite qualities of weakness and obstinacy. A
general lover of the female sex, he was utterly incapable of individual
attachment. It was clear that the baronet had married for money, but
finding that his wife contented herself simply with paying their mutual
expenses, and refused to place her fortune in his power, he actually
began to dislike her and made no secret of the feeling. One illustration
I will give, and this is but a solitary instance of the extraordinary
line of conduct pursued by Sir Percy towards her he had so recently
sworn to love, protect and cherish during the term of their natural
life.
Angered one night because Evelyn had left him a small portion of his own
travelling expenses to pay, he rang up the servants of the hotel at
midnight, and though we were to start on the following morning at break
of day, he ordered his luggage to be transported and his bed made in a
room at the most distant end of the corridor, thus making himself and
his wife of a month, the laughing-stock of the hotel. We do not pretend
the man was altogether devoid of good impulses; but the evil of his
nature was strong—the good feeble. He was ungrateful, heartless,
unprincipled. Evelyn had before known only the reverse of the picture;
she had been adored, petted, spoiled. How could she conceive so
exceptional a character as that of Sir Percy? How bear with him? Dear
friends, she did bear with him, and she was not wretched, for she now
knew that all trials are the just retribution for past sins committed,
past duties unperformed. Alas! we cannot escape the past, still does it
pursue us like an avenging spectre; and so she resolved to endure all,
looking no longer to earth for bliss, living ever in the sweet calm and
beauty of the inner life, which proceeds from the Christ who shines on
the souls of all who will receive him as the pure and perfect law.
No longer spell-bound by her passionate love for D’Arcy, he was yet
dear—dearer to her than ever, for to him alone she owed all her strength
to bear, all her courage to do; through him she had been enabled to
behold the radiant, the immeasurable life of the beyond, as the one
great reality of our being, compared to which this earth life, did it
last a century, is but as a span, a point in eternity, “a dream when one
awaketh.” Oh, had she realized these blessed truths in earliest youth,
how different might have been her fate! But, repulsed by narrow-minded
sectarianism, miscalled religion, she had strayed without a guide in
devious paths.
The idea of a future existence had then loomed darkly before her young
imaginations as a vague terror, a portentous and lurid superstition
forcing her to an unwilling lip-service of prayer. Now it was a glorious
inspiration—hourly influencing her, and turning the common incidents of
life into occasions for thanksgiving.
For she knew that the Infinite Father was calling his erring child home
through her loves and through her griefs.
With this sweet conviction can tribulation harm her? I trow not. Rather
do her crosses and her trials cause her lonely and unsatisfied heart to
rise each day more purely, tenderly, devotedly, upward towards God.
Then, too, she tremblingly believes she may, in a brighter sphere, be
united in the sweet connubial tie to one who shall fully realize the
ideal of her soul. So, loving and beloved, she will no longer dwell
“As one companionless
In essence, heart distressed and pining ever
With anguished yearning for a tenderness
Forever widely sought, experienced never.”[3]
Footnote 3:
“Lyric of the Golden Age,” by Rev. T. L. Harris.
Is she mistaken? I cannot think so. Is it possible to form too exalted
an idea of the joys “God hath prepared for them that love him,” which,
we are told, “it hath not entered into the heart of man to conceive?”
Yet, we may faintly shadow those ecstatic raptures, if we remember that
every faculty of the mind, each affection of the spirit, will then be
fully and forever occupied in fulfilling its highest destinies—LOVE,
KNOWLEDGE, USE.[4] Sublime trinity! Such the occupations of the angels
throughout eternity; and for those who here exercise themselves in these
Christian graces, heaven has already begun on earth!
Footnote 4:
See Swedenborg’s works; also, “Arcana of Christianity,” by Rev. T. L.
Harris.
Nor do these truly catholic doctrines militate against a life of
activity here—they are rather anti-monastic—teaching that the life of
the body is necessary for the soul, and that the happiness of the spirit
hereafter will be proportionate to the use we make of all our faculties
and talents in the terrestrial state; while the contrary must be
expected in the world of spirits, from a life of idleness; truly blessed
they
“in this loud stunning tide
Of human care and crime,
With whom the melodies abide
Of th’ everlasting chime;
Who carry music in their heart
Through dusky lane and wrangling mart,
_Plying their daily task with busier feet_,
Because their secret souls a holier strain repeat.”[5]
Footnote 5:
“Keble’s Christian Year.”
[Illustration]
------------------------------------------------------------------------
CHAPTER XXVII.
+FIFTH AVENUE HOTEL+
LADY MONTGOMERY’S DIARY.
_New York, Aug. 10th._—Seated in the window of our parlor, I once more
write my thoughts in my journal. The wind is sultry—scarce a movement
stirs the trees in Madison Square, although the sun has long since sunk
below the horizon. Mary is playing Chopin’s music on a fine piano of
Chickering’s, sent here to wait our arrival—a graceful attention from
Philip D’Arcy. I have just implored dear Mary to repeat that Impromptu,
to which the twilight lends additional charm. Oh! how infinitely do I
prefer instrumental to vocal music, especially to the conventionalism of
the modern school of Italian singing; even when the latter is well
executed, (which is rare) you know each intonation which will be given;
all is too material, it chains you down to its own level—while the
listening to a classical instrumental symphony is like following a long,
closely connected chain of reasoning, and at the same time you are
inspired with a thousand new ideas and sensations; or the phrases of
musical diction accompany you in the train of thought you are at the
time pursuing—brightening, poetizing all. How I love to wander with the
serious, philosophic Beethoven, through mazes of tangled modulations, at
the same time clear and intricate, to revel in the delicious harmonized
melodies of the divine Mozart, to drink in the weird and plaintive tones
of the melancholy Weber, to muse, and sigh with the poet _pianiste_
Chopin, criticising naught, analyzing naught, floating as it were, in an
ocean of sweet sounds, lost in a reverie of ineffable bliss. Oh! if our
most intense and delicious emotions are those of the mind, the spirit,
who can say that the individual perishes with the worthless clay of the
body!
* * * * *
_11th._—I had written thus far when Philip D’Arcy entered,
unexpected—unannounced. Oh! sweet surprise! if partings here are
painful, there is at least compensation in again meeting those we love,
when the charm of their dear presence is as sunlight after storm, as
rest to the weary—as the fragrance of spring flowers after the snows of
winter. In D’Arcy especially, as I have before mentioned, this power of
fascination is remarkable; he enters, and your very soul is illumined
with gladness, he departs, and a shadow falls on all around. Softly,
tenderly, happily, we conversed in the dim twilight, the three I love
most on earth.
Sir Percy was from home—he is rarely with us—D’Arcy expressed the desire
to make my husband’s acquaintance. _My husband_, how strangely from his
lips did those words grate on my ear.
* * * * *
_Aug. 15th._—Since I last wrote in my diary, only a few days have
elapsed, and yet what events! It appears to me, as if I had dreamed a
horrible dream and have at last awaked. We had decided on leaving the
city on the morrow, escorted by D’Arcy, for his beautiful villa on the
Hudson. Sir Percy, was, as usual, out—but Philip determined to wait his
return in order to see him, and arrange with him about our journey—as
yet they had never met.
Mary had retired early, feeling unwell, but at my request Ella remained
to await with us Sir Percy’s appearance. At about eleven we heard his
heavy step in the corridor, and he entered the room.
“What, not yet in bed?” he said.
“I waited,” I replied, “to present you——”
The sentence was never finished, for at this moment D’Arcy emerged from
the shadow, into the full glare of the gas-light. I saw Sir Percy
stagger, as a drunken man, and turn almost pale. Thinking him ill, I
would have sprang towards him, but Philip caught my wrist and held it as
in a vice. I turned to look at him. To say that hatred and scorn flashed
from his eyes were little, his entire form seemed dilated with passion,
his eyes glowed and flamed like live coals, his lip and nostril
expressed the most profound contempt.
The baronet, on the other hand, seemed paralyzed with terror; his
fingers worked, and his hands trembled fearfully; his eyes (never able
to support a look without flinching), now rolled in restless agony.
D’Arcy paused only for a moment, as the tiger before his deadly
spring—then, with one bound he cleared the space between himself and his
victim: “Oh! cursed, cursed serpent,” he muttered, between his clenched
teeth, “how darest thou defile this pure Eden with the foul slime of thy
presence? Demon in human form,” and the delicate and spiritual-looking
man shook his sturdy and muscular adversary as a reed, “demon, I say,
how darest thou violate the sanctity of this angel home. Vile, pitiless
wretch, where is poor Alice Vivian? Answer, if thy lying tongue can
frame one word of truth, didst thou not wed her, break her heart, drive
her to madness, and then shut her up with gibbering maniacs in a
madhouse? and now she lives—no denial, I say,” (as the hardened culprit
made a movement of dissent), “she lives! by Heaven, she lives, thy
wronged, thy wretched wife; a wreck in soul as in body. Oh! may the
curse of a desolate heart and blighted affections recoil upon thee, may
rest forsake thy pillow, and peace be forever a stranger to thy couch,
that thy hard heart may be shivered at last, as into fragments, by blank
despair—despair of pity here, of mercy hereafter! May God himself be
deaf to the prayers wrung from thy bitter agony. No, go—I will not
blaspheme: if thou bee’st a devil I cannot kill thee. Go, miserable man,
and repent—if thou canst.”
D’Arcy still held the cowed and trembling wretch in his nervous grasp.
Ella, pale, almost fainting, had quitted the room. Silent, motionless,
horror-stricken, with dilated eyes, I watched, as in a nightmare, the
fearful scene, powerless to speak or scream. I saw Philip at length open
the door, violently ejecting, almost flinging the man from the room. I
saw no more—my trembling limbs refused any longer to sustain me. I sank
into the nearest chair, sick—sick, covering my face with my hands, a
film before my eyes. On recovering consciousness, I was alone, and all
was still.
[Illustration]
------------------------------------------------------------------------
CHAPTER XXVIII.
+SHADOWS+
ELLA TO PHILIP D’ARCY.
The Retreat, September —, 18—.
FORGIVE me for what I am about to write. Indeed, I feel that I
am performing a duty, even though my dear mother is ignorant of
this step. I must, however, add, that I have the full
approbation of one who never fails to judge rightly—I mean our
good, sensible friend, Mary Mildmay. Dear Mr. D’Arcy, esteeming
and respecting you above all men living, as I do, you will think
it strange, when I tell you that I have come to the conclusion,
seriously and advisedly, that I can _never_ be your wife; and,
believe me, this resolution is _irrevocable_. As a favor, I
implore you not to attempt to change my determination. It would
be utterly fruitless. Would you know my reasons? They are many.
When you honored me, by asking my hand, I was a mere child. I am
now a woman, and must exert the prerogative of my sex—that of
choice—in a matter which concerns my own happiness, and your
future welfare. Know, then, that I am inspired to say to you,
that, in marrying me, you will _pass by your destiny_. The
impression is so strong that I cannot, if I would, shake it off;
but must obey, as if a voice from heaven had spoken. Do you not
know, too, that I have sworn never to forsake my beloved mother
in her sorrow and her loneliness? And can I falsify my oath? In
order to remove all further doubt from your mind, know,
likewise, that it is not to _me_ that you owe your life. Poor
little Ella nursed you tenderly, it is true, through your
convalescence; but it was her dear mother who recalled you, by
the magnetism of her health-producing touch, from the trance of
death; and, in so doing, she herself nearly perished. If I have
yet another reason for thus writing—_that_ I must ever preserve
profoundly secret.
One parting favor I request: let this make no difference. Come
to us as before. Be still a friend—prove thus to me that I have
your pardon—for—give—forget. Yes, forget all, except that I
shall never cease to pray for your happiness, and that
I am, as ever,
Your affectionate friend,
ELLA.
My readers may readily imagine how highly I approved my young friend’s
dignified and womanly letter. I had never thought them suited either in
years or in tastes. Ella, lovely, sweet, innocent, intelligent, was yet
scarcely the companion required by a man of D’Arcy’s intellect and
superior mind. Their temperaments, too, were similar, each being
outwardly cold, reserved, calm, unimpulsive. Now I have invariably found
that the happiest unions proceed from similarity of taste, but diversity
of temperament. I was therefore satisfied as to the wisdom of my Ella’s
decision. We had now been staying about a fortnight in this lovely
place, where D’Arcy, on the plea of very pressing business at
Washington, had excused himself from escorting us. He had, however, sent
his confidential servant with us, as courier, having telegraphed to his
housekeeper to have all in readiness on our arrival at “The Retreat.”
And in truth the house was furnished with a luxury only to be attained
by the union of refined taste with great wealth in its owner. We
discerned the ever-presiding hand of affection in the recently-arrived
harp and piano, and in the works of modern literature, and late numbers
of periodicals which filled the shelves, and encumbered the tables of
the sitting-rooms. Some men never remember anything—D’Arcy had that
double memory of heart and head which never forgets the most minute
arrangement or least matured intention. Poor Evelyn, humiliated,
heart-broken at the wicked deception which had been practiced upon her,
loathing her position of reputed wife to such a villain, was glad to
hide her burning sense of shame in complete solitude, happy even, that
D’Arcy, in respectful sympathy, delicately kept aloof for a time. The
latter had not yet replied to Ella’s letter, but in about ten days he
wrote to Evelyn a few lines, expressing the fear that business might
detain him another month at Washington, but that the moment he could
hope for a few days’ recreation, he would visit his friends at “The
Retreat.” He hinted a fear that he had alarmed herself and her sweet
Ella, and asked pardon if his uncontrollable indignation had caused him
to forget for the first time what is due to the presence of ladies. This
slight allusion was the only one he made to having received Ella’s
letter of dismissal. Strange Being, and unlike all others, I thought!—
And the days passed onward, and Evelyn was made acquainted by her
daughter that her engagement with D’Arcy was at an end, and the sad
mother carefully scrutinized each look and movement of her child—for
with the exaggeration of love, she could ill believe that one who had
been chosen by Philip D’Arcy as his bride, could live without him, and
be happy. So she tenderly watched lest the delicate rose should fade
from that young cheek, lest the soft blue eyes should look dim, and lack
their wonted lustre. It did strike me that the young girl’s step was
less elastic, and that she more frequently than was her wont, sought the
solitude of her chamber. But I persuaded Evelyn that the shock
experienced by poor Ella, on the discovery of Sir Percy’s perfidious
conduct, and her sympathy for her mother’s now blighted life,
sufficiently accounted for this apparent change in her.
And now the glorious Indian Summer pervades the atmosphere with a
glowing and intense heat, the heavens wear a deeper tint of azure, the
forests clothed in their Autumn foliage, varying from the palest shade
of gold, and the softest green, to the richest and most brilliant
scarlet, and the deepest crimson, remind you of the trees in the fabled
garden of Aladdin, whose branches were pendant with the weight of
rubies, emeralds, topaz and other precious stones, so wonderfully
gorgeous are the November tints of the North American forests, so unlike
anything ever beheld in the Old World. It seems almost as if nature,
prophetic of coming decay, would array herself for the last time in her
gayest and richest attire, and like Cleopatra of old queen it even on
her couch of death.
And as one fine evening we sat in the verandah, enjoying the fresh
breezes, and looking on the deep and rapid Hudson, we observed the
splendid large steamer stop opposite the landing, and a few passengers
enter the small boat which rowed towards shore. Listlessly we watched,
soothed by the quiet beauty of the scene. A quarter of an hour may
possibly have elapsed, when hearing the door open, we turned gladly to
perceive and joyfully welcome Philip D’Arcy.
[Illustration]
------------------------------------------------------------------------
CHAPTER XXIX.
+FOREGLEAMS+
IT is evening; the air is soft and balmy, the gorgeous sunset flushes
the mountain tops, and falling on the gladsome river causes it to
glitter like molten gold. The advancing steamer, heavy with its freight
of human hearts, their loves and their cares, is enveloped in a glow of
hazy light; the clear mirror of the crystal Hudson reflects the blue,
unclouded expanse of the heavens. The acacias gently wave, and the
aspens tenderly quiver in the languid air. A moment, and the amber sun
sinks below the horizon, and white-robed twilight advances stealthily,
as a holy nun bearing incense; softly she distils with fairy fingers,
the sparkling dew-drops, and the water-lilies close their waxen petals,
and the birds fold their weary wings, all but the nightingale, who ever
maketh melody. Now the dragon-fly awakes, and the glancing fish make
ripple on the water: the cricket chirps, and the glow-worm and her
sister, the fire-fly, prepare their tiny lamps. How blissful a calm
steals over the senses; what sweet peace pervades the soul attuned to
the harmonies of nature. On such a night as this did Philip D’Arcy and
Evelyn wander forth in the clear obscure, their feet sought the green
paths where the cool moss grew beside the bubbling streamlet, and the
night flowers wept beneath the silent stars, dreamily they sauntered
side by side, their souls permeated with the placid tenderness of that
soft hour. They spoke not, yet Evelyn felt through her entire being, the
passionate gaze of those deep eyes, and the delicious consciousness that
she was beloved glowed on her cheek and caused her eyelids to droop in
timid emotion; they spake not, for they dared not break the ineffable
charm of that mute language. Yet D’Arcy must leave that night, and he
had much to say, and Evelyn, by the instinct of love, knew that he had
much to say, and yet they could not find it in their heart to break the
spell, the elysium of that silent hour. But Philip must no longer keep
silence. “Evelyn,” he murmured softly, and it was the first time he had
thus named her, “I know not how I shall support absence from—from my
friends—from you.”
“You will return,” she whispered.
“Return—ah! if God spare my life to happiness—to love. Evelyn,
forgive—pardon, my mistake; the fatal misapprehension, not of my
heart—oh! do not think it; but I believed—I feared you loved another.”
“_Never_, Philip! Oh! I know it now, too well!”
Then in words of burning eloquence, he poured forth the long restrained
passion of his soul. He told how that she was the one love of his life;
how that all past feelings were cold and worthless compared to this; how
his very being was entwined with hers; and kneeling at her feet he
besought her to become his bride—his own.
Though the intense joy of that moment was almost an agony, Evelyn by a
supreme effort mastering her agitation, besought her lover to rise, then
she said, sadly, sorrowfully, tearfully, but with firmness:
“Too late—too late. Philip, this can never be.”
“Never? Oh, God! Evelyn, do not jest. Can it be that after all, I am
indifferent to you?”
She turned upon him a look of such fond, such devoted, such adoring
love, that he would have caught her to his breast, but he dared not—so
timid, so respectful, is true love.
“Philip, you are dear—dearer to me than existence. From the first moment
I beheld you, you have been the star of my destiny; and yet, I repeat, I
never, never can be yours.”
“And that lip, the very arch of Cupid’s bow—those perfect lips, where
love in smiles and dimples holds his throne—can they frame such cruel
words. Sweetest, this is no time for coquetry.”
“Ah! Philip, speak not of that fatal beauty which has ever been my
curse. Hear me with patience. Your affection to me is beyond all price;
but, yet, far more do I prize your honor. Never, oh! never, may the
unwedded wife of Sir Percy Montgomery become the bride of the noble, the
peerless D’Arcy. The world——”
“What of that?” broke in Philip.
“Nothing, when we act rightly—everything when we do wrong. Never through
Evelyn shall the heartless world have reason to cast a slur on the fair
fame of him she venerates above all men; never shall it be said that his
name is no longer untarnished. Philip, the mother of your once betrothed
can not, must not, name you husband. We must, therefore, part.”
“Part, Evelyn? In pity, say not so! My life—my love—my bird of beauty—we
will forsake the haunts of men; together will we fly to distant
climes—there, alone in the wilds of a yet virgin solitude, will we live
each for the other only, and earth shall become for us a second Eden.
Say, sweet one! shall it not be so?”
For one moment only did she waver. The idea of such bliss was too
intoxicating—her brain reeled as in delirium. The temptation to give up
all for him was too strong. A moment, and she would have sunk upon his
breast, breathless, fainting, overcome—when, suddenly, she seemed to
behold, over against the dark sycamore grove, the form of Ella—her
child—her first-born—her only one—the long fair hair, dank and uncurled,
floating in the dewy night—the sweet young face pale and sad. The
semblance vanished: but, once more, Evelyn listened to her better angel.
Self was forgotten—the weakness past—the struggle over. Turning on her
beloved a look which he never ceased to remember—a look which consoled
him in all troubles, and which ever inspired him to noble deeds, because
in that pure glance earthly passion had given place to celestial love,
she said, gently, but decisively, and without wavering—“We have both
duties to perform; you will serve your country—be it mine to protect my
child, to soothe the suffering, to console the afflicted. Ah! me—I have
much to redeem in the past.”
“Cruel and unkind!—and since when have you thus changed?”
“Since I have known you, Philip. All that is good in me I owe to you
alone—and to you, next God, I look for strength and courage to
persevere.”
“And so help me Heaven, you shall not look in vain!” rejoined her lover,
now restored to better feeling. “But must we part?”
“Yes—more than ever beloved—here for a time, to be united forever ere
long, when made ‘perfect through suffering,’ we shall be found worthy to
attain to the joys of angelhood. In the faith of this sweet hope, I can
bear to part on earth for ever even from you.”
Evelyn’s eyes beamed with an almost supernatural radiance; and as the
moon, bursting from forth a cloud that had momentarily veiled her
splendor, shone full upon her chiselled features, she almost looked a
denizen of that world to which she aspired. But the light of inspiration
was soon quenched in tears of pardonable human sorrow; and, as Philip
strained her to his wildly-throbbing heart, their lips met, and their
souls blended in one long, long kiss—the first—the last—seal of their
union for eternity. Surely the angels were present, and smiled
benignantly on their pure and holy espousals.
[Illustration]
------------------------------------------------------------------------
CHAPTER XXX.
+CONCLUSION+
AND Philip has departed, and Evelyn is alone with the sweet memories of
that thrice blessed eve, alone with her undying love, her high resolve.
No, not alone, for ever in spirit she beholds deep within the pure and
liquid wells of those beloved eyes, the fond gaze of unutterable
tenderness, for ever she looks beyond this weary vale of tears, and sees
in faith, the golden gates unclose through which the radiance of the
Divine Sun streams downward, to enlighten the fields of care.
And moons have waxed and waned, and her Philip is now a General in the
Federal Army, his name on every lip, his praise on every tongue. And
thus it must ever be. Men must DO great and heroic deeds—and we must
ENDURE and SUFFER. Which is the truer heroism? But we, too, may look
beyond, and upward to the ever present ONE who, if during the Divine
Humanity of His earth life, He had occasion, not unfrequently, to rebuke
the errors and falsities of mankind, was ever tender and compassionate
to the faults and failings of woman.
Oh! my sisters—“Be ye also merciful, as He is merciful.”
+THE END+.
[Illustration]
------------------------------------------------------------------------
● Transcriber’s Notes:
○ Missing or obscured punctuation was silently corrected.
○ Typographical errors were silently corrected.
○ Inconsistent spelling and hyphenation were made consistent only
when a predominant form was found in this book.
○ Text that:
was in italics is enclosed by underscores (_italics_);
had extra character spacing by “plus” signs (+stretched+).
○ The use of a caret (^) before a letter, or letters, shows that the
following letter or letters was intended to be a superscript, as
in S^t Bartholomew or 10^{th} Century.
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