Books: Love and Life
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Charlotte M. Yonge >> Love and Life
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"At home, abroad, in peace, in war
Thy God shall thee defend,
Conduct thee through life's pilgrimage
Safe to the journey's end."
Much cannot be said for the five voices that sang, nor for the two
fiddles that accompanied them. Eugene had scarcely outgrown his
terror at the strains, and still required Aurelia to hold his hand,
under pretext of helping him to follow the words, not an easy thing,
since the last lines were always repeated three or four times.
Somehow the repetition brought them the more home to Betty's heart,
and they rang consolingly in her ears, all through the sermon, of
which she took in so little that she never found out that it was an
elaborate exposition of the Newtonian philosophy, including Mr.
Arden's views of the miracle at the battle Beth-horon, in the Lesson
for the day.
The red face and Belamour livery looked doubly ominous when she came
out of church, but she had to give her arm to her father till they
were overtaken by Mr. Arden, who always shared the Sunday roast beef
and plum pudding. Betty feared it was the best meal he had in the
week, for he lived in lodgings, and his landlady was not too careful
of his comforts, while he was wrapped up in his books and experiments.
There was a hole singed in the corner of his black gown, which Eugene
pointed out with great awe to Aurelia as they walked behind him.
"See there, Aura. Don't you think he has been raising spirits, like
Friar Bacon?"
"What do you know about Friar Bacon?" asked Harriet.
"He is in a little book that I bought of the pedlar. He had a brazen
head that said--
'Time is,
Time was,
Time will be.'
I wonder if Mr. Arden would show me one like it."
"You ridiculous little fellow to believe such trash!" said Harriet.
"But, Hatty, he can really light a candle without a tinder-box," said
Eugene. "His landlady told Palmer so; and Palmer says the Devil flew
away with Friar Bacon; but my book says he burnt all his books and
gave himself to the study of divinity, and dug his grave with his
own nails."
"Little boys should not talk of such things on Sundays," said Harriet,
severely.
"One does talk of the Devil on Sunday, for he is in the catechism,"
returned Eugene. "If he carries Mr. Arden off, do you think there
will be a great smoke, and that folk will see it?"
Aurelia's silvery peal of laughter fell sadly upon Betty's ears in
front, and her father and Mr. Arden turned to ask what made them so
merry. Aurelia blushed in embarrassment, but Harriet was ready.
"You will think us very rude, Sir, but my little brother has been
reading the life of Friar Bacon, and he thinks you an equally great
philosopher."
"Indeed, my little master, you do me too much honour. You will soon
be a philosopher yourself. I did not expect so much attention in so
young an auditor," said mr. Arden, thinking this the effect of his
sermon on the solar system.
Whereupon Eugene begged to inspect the grave he was digging with his
own nails.
They were at home by this time, and Betty was aware that they had been
followed at a respectful distance by Palmer and the coachman. Anxious
as she was, she could not bear that her father's dinner should be
spoilt, or that he, in his open-hearted way, should broach the matter
with Mr. Arden; so she repaired to the garden gate, and on being told
that Mr. Dove had a packet from my Lady for the Major, she politely
invited him to dinner with the servants, and promised that her father
should see him afterwards.
This gave a long respite, since the servants had the reversion of the
beef, so the Mr. Arden had taken leave, and gone to see a bedridden
pauper, and the Major had time for his forty winks, while Betty,
though her heart throbbed hard beneath her tightly-laced boddice,
composed herself to hear Eugene's catechism, and the two sisters,
each with a good book, slipped out to the honeysuckle arbour in the
garden behind the house. Harriet had _Sherlock in Death_, her
regular Sunday study, though she never got any further than the
apparition of Mrs. Veal, over which she gloated in a dreamy state;
Aurelia's study was a dark-covered, pale-lettered copy of the _Ikon
Basilike_, with the strange attraction that youth has to pain and
sorrow, and sat musing over the resigned outpourings of the perplexed
and persecuted king, with her bright eyes fixed on the deep blue sky,
and the honeysuckle blossoms gently waving against it, now and then
visited by bee or butterfly, while through the silence came the
throbbing notes of the nightingale, followed by its jubilant burst
of glee, and the sweet distant chime of the cathedral bells rose and
fell upon the wind. What peace and repose there was in all the air,
even in the gentle breeze, and the floating motions of the swallows
skimming past.
The stillness was first broken by the jangle of their own little church
bell, for Mr. Arden was a more than usually diligent minister, and
always gave two services when he was not in course at the cathedral.
The young ladies always attended both, but as Harriet and Aurelia
crossed the lawn, their brother ran to meet them, saying, "We are
not to wait for sister."
"I hope my papa is well," said Aurelia.
"Oh yes," said Eugene, "but the man in the gold-laced hat has been
speaking with him. Palmer says it is Mrs. Dove's husband, and he is
going to take Lively Tom and Brown Bet and the two other colts to
London. He asked if I should like to ride a-cockhorse there with
him. 'Dearly,' I said, and then he laughed and said it was not my
turn, but he should take Miss Aurelia instead."
Aurelia laughed, and Harriet said, "Extremely impudent."
Little she guessed what Betty was at that moment reading.
"I am astonished," wrote Lady Belamour to her cousin, "that you
should decline so highly advantageous an Offer for your Daughter.
I can only understand it as a Token that you desire no further
Connection with, nor Favour from me; and I shall therefore require
of you to give up the Accounts, and vacate the House by Michaelmas
next ensuing. However, as I am willing to allow some excuse for the
Weakness of parental Affection, if you change your Mind within the
next Week and send up your Daughter with Dove and his Wife, I will
overlook your first hasty and foolish Refusal, ungrateful as it was,
and will receive your Daughter and give her all the Advantages I
promised. Otherwise your Employment is at an end, and you had
better prepare your Accounts for Hargrave's Inspection."
"There is no help for it then," said Betty.
"And if it be for the child's advantage, we need not make our moan,"
said her father. "'Tis like losing the daylight out of our house,
but we must not stand in the way of her good."
"If I were only sure it is for her good!"
"Why, child, there's scarce a wench in the county who would not go
down on her knees for such a chance. See what Madam Duckworth would
say to it for Miss Peggy!"
Betty said no more. The result of her cogitations had been that since
Aurelia must be yielded for the sake of her father and Eugene, it was
better not to disturb him with fears, which would only anger him at
the moment and disquiet him afterwards. She was likewise reassured
by Mrs. Dove's going with her, since that good woman had been nurse
to the little Belamour cousins now deceased, and was well known as
an excellent and trustworthy person, so that, if she were going to
act in the same capacity to my Lady's second family, Aurelia would
have a friend at hand. So the Major cheated his grief by greeting
the church-goers with the hilarious announcement--
"Here's great news! What says my little Aura to going London to my
Lady's house."
"O Sir! are you about to take us."
"Not I! My Lady wants pretty young maidens, not battered old soldiers."
"Nor my sisters? O then, if you please, Sir, I would rather not go!"
"Silly children cannot choose! No, no, Aura, you must go out and see
the world, and come back to us such a belle that your poor old father
will scarce know you."
"I do not wish to be a belle," said the girl. "O Sir, let me stay
with you and sister."
"Do not be so foolish, Aura," put in Harriet. "It will be the making
of you. I wish I had the offer."
"O Harriet, could not you go instead?"
"No, Aurelia," said Betty. "There is no choice, and you must be a
good girl and not vex my father."
The gravity of her eldest sister convinced Aurelia that entreaties
would be vain, and there was soon a general outburst of assurances
that she would see all that was delightful in London, the lions in
the Tower, the new St. Paul's, the monuments, Ranelagh, the court
ladies, may be, the King and Queen themselves; until she began to
feel exhilarated and pleased at the prospect and the distinction.
Then came Monday and the bustle of preparing her wardrobe. The main
body of it was to be sent in the carrier's waggon, for she was to
ride on a pillion behind Mr. Dove, and could only take a valise upon
a groom's horse. There was no small excitement in the arrangement,
and in the farewells to the neighbours, who all agreed with Harriet
in congratulating the girl on her promotion. Betty did her part with
all her might, washed lace, and trimmed sleeves, and made tuckers,
giving little toilette counsels, while her heart ached sorely all
the time.
When she could speak to Mrs. Dove alone, she earnestly besought that
old friend to look after the child, her health, her dress, and above
all to supply here lack of experience and give her kind counsel and
advice.
"I will indeed, ma'am, as though she were my own," promised Mrs. Dove.
"O nurse, I give my sweet jewel to your care; you know what a great
house in London is better than I do. You will warn her of any danger."
"I will do my endeavour, ma'am. We servants see and hear much, and
if any harm should come nigh the sweet young miss, I'll do my best
for her."
"Thank you, nurse, I shall never, never see her more in her free
artless childishness," said Betty, sobbing as if her heart would
break; "but oh, nurse, I can bear the thought better since I have
known that you would be near her."
And at night, when her darling nestled for the last time in her arms,
the elder sister whispered her warnings. Her knowledge of the great
world was limited, but she believed it to be a very wicked place, and
she profoundly distrusted her brilliant kinswoman; yet her warnings
took no shape more definite than--"My dearest sister will never
forget her prayers nor her Bible." There was a soft response and
fresh embrace at each pause. "Nor play cards of a Sunday, nor ever
play high. And my Aura must be deaf to rakish young beaux and their
compliments. They never mean well by poor pretty maids. If you
believe them, they will only mock, flout, and jeer you in the end.
And if the young baronet should seek converse with you, promise me,
oh, promise me, Aurelia, to grant him no favour, no, not so much as
to hand him a flower, or stand chatting with him unknown to his
mother. Promise me again, child, for naught save evil can come of
any trifling between you. And, Aurelia, go to Nurse Dove in all
your difficulties. She can advise you where your poor sister cannot.
It will ease my heart if I know that my child will attend to her.
You will not let yourself be puffed up with flattery, nor be offended
if she be open and round with you. Think that your poor sister Betty
speaks in her. Pray our old prayers, go to church, and read your
Psalms and Lessons daily, and oh! never, never cheat your conscience.
O may God, in His mercy, keep my darling!"
So Aurelia cried herself to sleep, while Betty lay awake till the early
hour in the morning when all had to be prepared for the start. There
was to be a ride of an hour and a half before breakfast so as to give
the horses a rest. It was a terrible separation, in many respects more
complete than if Aurelia had been going, in these days, to America;
for communication by letter was almost as slow, and infinitely more
expensive.
No doubt the full import of what he had done had dawned even on Major
Delavie during the watches of that last sorrowful night, for he came
out a pale, haggard man, looking as if his age had doubled since he
went to bed, wrapped in his dressing gown, his head covered with his
night-cap, and leaning heavily on his staff. He came charged with one
of the long solemn discourses which parents were wont to bestow on
their children as valedictions, but when Aurelia, in her camlet riding
cloak and hood, brought her tear-stained face to crave his blessing, he
could only utter broken fragments. "Bless thee my child! Take heed
to yourself and your ways. It is a bad world, beset with temptations.
Oh! heaven forgive me for sending my innocent lamb out into it. Oh!
what would your blessed mother say?"
"Dear sir," said Betty, who had wept out her tears, and was steadily
composed now, "this is no time to think of that. We must only cheer
up our darling, and give her good counsel. If she keep to what her
Bible, her catechism and her conscience tell her, she will be a good
girl, and God will protect her."
"True, true, your sister is right; Aura, my little sweetheart, I had
much to say to you, but it is all driven out of my poor old head."
"Aura! Aura! the horses are coming! Ten of them!" shouted Eugene.
"Come along! Oh! if I were but going! How silly of you to cry;
_I_ don't."
"There! there! Go my child, and God in His mercy protect you!"
Aurelia in speechless grief passed from the arms of one sister to the
embrace of the other, hugged Eugene, was kissed by Nannerl, who forced
a great piece of cake into her little bag, and finally was lifted to
her pillion cushion by Palmer, who stole a kiss of her hand before
Dove put his horse in motion, while Betty was still commending her
sister to his wife's care, and receiving reiterated promises of care.
CHAPTER VI. DISAPPOINTED LOVE.
I know thee well, thy songs and sighs,
A wicked god thou art;
And yet, most pleasing to the eyes,
And witching to the heart.
W. MACKWORTH PRAED.
The house was dull when Aurelia was gone. Her father was ill at ease
and therefore testy, Betty too sore at heart to endure as cheerfully
as usual his unwonted ill-humour. Harriet was petulant, and Eugene
troublesome, and the two were constantly jarring against one another,
since the one missed her companion, the other his playmate; and they
were all more sensible than ever how precious and charming an element
was lost to the family circle.
On the next ensuing Sunday, Eugene had made himself extremely obnoxious
to Harriet, by persisting in kicking up the dust, and Betty, who had
gone on before with her father, was availing herself of the shelter
of the great pew to brush with a sharp hand the dust from the little
legs, when, even in the depths of their seclusion, the whole party were
conscious of a sort of breathless sound of surprise and admiration, a
sweep of bows and curtsies, and the measured tread of boots and clank
of sword and spurs coming nearer--yes, to the very chancel. Their
very door was opened by the old clerk with the most obsequious of
reverences, and there entered a gorgeous vision of scarlet and gold,
bowing gracefully with a wave of a cocked and plumed hat!
The Major started, and was moving out of his corner--the seat of honour
--but the stranger forbade this by another gesture, and took his place,
after standing for a moment with his face hidden in his hat. Then he
took an anxious survey, not without an almost imperceptible elevation
of eyebrow and shoulder, as if disappointed, and accepted the Prayer-
book, which the Major offered him.
Betty kept her eyes glued to her book, and when that was not in
use, upon the mittened hands crossed before her, resolute against
distraction, and every prayer turning into a petition for her sister's
welfare; but Eugene gazed, open-eyed and open-mouthed, oblivious of
his beloved hole, and Harriet, though keeping her lids down, and
her book open, contrived to make a full inspection of the splendid
apparition.
It was tall and slight, youthfully undeveloped, yet with the grace
of personal symmetry, high breeding, and military training, upright
without stiffness, with a command and dexterity of movement which
prevented the sword and spurs from being the annoyance to his pew-
mates that country awkwardness usually made these appendages. The
spurs were on cavalry boots, guarding the knee, and met by white
buckskins, both so little dusty that there could have been no journey
that morning. The bright gold-laced scarlet coat of the Household
troops entirely effaced the Major's old Austrian uniform; and over
it, the hair, of a light golden brown, was brushed back, tied with
black ribbon, and hung down far behind in a queue, only leaving
little gold rings curling on the brow and temples. The face was
modelled like a cameo, faultless in the outlines, with a round
peach-like fresh contour and bloom on the fair cheek, which had
much of the child, though with a firmness in the lip, and strength
in the brow, that promised manliness. Indeed there was a wonderful
blending of the beauty of manhood and childhood about the youth;
and his demeanour was perfectly decorous and reverent, no small
merit in a young officer and London beau. Indeed Betty could
almost have forgotten his presence, if gleams from his glittering
equipments had not kept glancing before her eyes, turn them where
she would, and if Mr. Arden's sermon had not been of Solomon's
extent of natural philosophy, and so full of Hebrew, Greek, and
Latin that she could not follow it at all.
After the blessing, the young gentleman, with a bow, the pink of
courtesy, offered a hand to lead her out, nor could she refuse, though,
to use her own expression, she hated the absurdity of mincing down the
aisle with a fine young spark looking like her grandson; while her poor
father had to put up with Harriet's arm. Outside came the greetings,
the flourish of the hat, the "I may venture to introduce myself, and to
beg of you, sir, and of my fair cousins to excuse my sudden intrusion."
"No apology can be needed for your appearance in your own pew, Sir
Amyas," said the Major with outstretched hand; "it did my heart good
to see you there!"
"I would not have taken you thus by surprise," continued the youth,
"but one of my horses lost a shoe yesterday, and we were constrained
to halt at Portkiln for the night, and ride on this morning. Herries
went on to the Deanery, and I hoped to have seen you before church,
but found you had already entered."
Portkiln was so near, that this Sabbath day's journey did not scandalise
Betty, and her father eagerly welcomed his kinsman, and insisted that
he should go no farther. Sir Amyas accepted the invitation, nothing
loth, only asking, with a little courtly diffidence, if it might not
be convenient for him to sleep at the Great House, and begging the
ladies to excuse his riding dress.
His eyes wandered anxiously as though in search of something in the
midst of all his civility, and while the Major was sending Eugene
to bring Mr. Arden--who was hanging back at the churchyard gate,
unwilling to thrust himself forward--the faltering question was put,
while the cheeks coloured like a girl's, "I hope my fair partner,
my youngest cousin, Miss Aurelia Delavie, is in good health?"
"We hope so, sir, thank you," returned Betty; "but she left us six
days ago."
"Left you!" he repeated, in consternation that overpowered his
courtliness.
"Yes, sir," said Harriet, "my Lady, your mother, has been good enough
to send for her to London."
"My Lady!" he murmured to himself; "I never thought of that! How and
when did she go?"
The answer was interrupted by the Major coming up "Sir Amyas Belamour,
permit me to present to you the Reverend Richard Arden, the admirable
divine to whom we are beholden for the excellent and learned discourse
of this morning. You'll not find such another scholar in all
Carminster."
"I am highly honoured," returned the baronet, with a bow in return for
Mr. Arden's best obeisance, such as it was; and Harriet, seeing Peggy
Duckworth in the distance, plumed herself on her probable envy.
Before dinner was served Sir Amyas had obtained the information as to
Aurelia's departure, and even as to the road she had taken, and he had
confessed that, "Of course he had write to his mother that he had danced
with the most exquisitely beautiful creature he had ever seen, and that
he longed to know his cousins better." No doubt his mother, having
been thus reminded of her connections, had taken the opportunity of
summoning Aurelia to London to give her the advantages of living in
her household and acquiring accomplishments. The lad was so much
delighted at the prospect of enjoying her society that he was almost
consoled for not finding her at the Manor House; and his elaborate
courtesy became every moment less artificial and more affectionate,
as the friendly atmosphere revealed that the frankness and simplicity
of the boy had not been lost, captain in the dragoon guards as he was,
thanks to interest, though he had scarcely yet joined his troop. He
had been with a tutor in the country, until two years ago, when his
stepfather, Mr. Wayland, had taken him, still with his tutor, on the
expedition to the Mediterranean. He had come home from Gibraltar, and
joined his regiment only a few weeks before setting out with his friend
Captain Herries, to visit Battlefield, Lady Aresfield's estate in
Monmouthshire. He was quartered in the Whitehall barracks, but could
spend as much time as he pleased at his mother's house in Hanover
Square.
Betty's mind misgave her as she saw the brightening eye with which he
said it; but she could not but like the youth himself, he was so bright,
unspoilt, and engaging that she could not think him capable of doing
wilful wrong to her darling. Yet how soon would the young soldier,
plunged into the midst of fashionable society, learn to look on the
fair girl with the dissipated eyes of his associates? There was some
comfort in finding that Mr. Wayland was expected to return in less
than a year, and that his stepson seemed to regard him with unbounded
respect, as a good, just, and wise man, capable of everything! Indeed
Sir Amyas enlightened Mr. Arden on the scientific construction of some
of Mr. Wayland's inventions so as to convince both the clergyman and
the soldier that the lad himself was no fool, and had profited by his
opportunities.
Major Delavie produced his choice Tokay, a present from an old Hungarian
brother-officer, and looked happier than since Aurelia's departure. He
was no match-maker, and speculated on no improbable contingencies for
his daughter, but he beheld good hopes for the Delavie property and
tenants in an heir such as this, and made over his simple loyal heart
to the young man. Presently he inquired whether the unfortunate Mr.
Belamour still maintained his seclusion.
"Yes, sir," was the reply. "He still lives in two dark rooms with
shutters and curtains excluding every ray of light. He keeps his bed
for the greater part of the day, but sometimes, on a very dark night,
will take a turn on the terrace."
"Poor gentleman!" said Betty. "Has he no employment or occupation?"
"Mr. Wayland contrived a raised chess and draught board, and persuaded
him to try a few games before we went abroad, but I do not know whether
he has since continued it."
"Does he admit any visits?"
"Oh no. He has been entirely shut up, except from the lawyer,
Hargrave, on business. Mr. Wayland, indeed, strove to rouse him from
his despondency, but without success, except that latterly he became
willing to receive him."
"Have you ever conversed with him?"
There was an ingenuous blush as the young man replied. "I fear I must
confess myself remiss. Mr. Wayland has sometimes carried me with him
to see my uncle, but not with my good will, and my mother objected lest
it should break my spirits. However, when I left Gibraltar, my good
father charged me to endeavour from time to time to enliven my uncle's
solitude, but there were impediments to my going to him, and I take
shame to myself for not having striven to overcome them."
"Rightly spoken, my young kinsman," cried the Major. "There are no
such impediments as a man's own distaste."
"And pity will remove that," said Betty.
Soon after the removal of the cloth the ladies withdrew, and Eugene
was called to his catechism, but he was soon released, for the Tokay
had made her father sleepy, while it seemed to have emboldened Mr.
Arden, since he came forth with direct intent to engross Harriet; and
Sir Amyas wandered towards Betty, apologising for the interruption.
"It is a rare occasion," said she as her pupil scampered away.
"Happy child, to be taught by so good a sister," said the young
baronet, regretfully.
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