Francis Parkman, Jr. - "Pioneers Of France In The New World"

Jean de La Fontaine - "The Tales and Novels, v20: Neighbor Peter's Mare &c."

Sir Walter Scott - "The Fair Maid of Perth"

Marcus Aurelius - "Meditations "

New Philadelphia Book Publisher Highlights Local Talent
Book and Publishing News from Publishers Newswire(tm)

Looking for Child to be on Cover of a New Book, 'The Model Child'
PHILADELPHIA, Pa. -- The Philadelphia literary world will celebrate the launch of two new players today, April 10th: Kay Square Press, a new publishing company focused on Philadelphia-area artists, their stories, and their art; and Kay Square's first release, 'With the Rich and Mighty: Emlen Etting of Philadelphia' (ISBN: 978-0-9815129-0-7), a critical biography by Kenneth C. Kaleta.

FlatSigned Press Alleges Don Imus Remarks Damage Legacy of President Gerald R. Ford
NEW YORK, N.Y. -- Nathan Yungerberg, an accomplished model scout and professional child photographer is launching a nation-wide casting call to find the cover model for his highly anticipated book release, 'The Model Child: A Parents Guide to the Child Modeling Industry' (ISBN: 978-0-9817018-0-6).

Books: Herb of Grace

R >> Rosa Nouchette Carey >> Herb of Grace




During their short walk to the Manor House he kept silence; he was
wondering what he should say to Mrs. Godfrey, and how he could best
explain matters. But just as they turned into the drive he saw her
coming round from the garden with a basket of late blowing flowers
in her hand; she stood still as though petrified with astonishment
when she saw Malcolm's companion.

"What is it--what does it mean?" she asked in her clear voice. "Has
anything happened?"

"Much has happened, my dear lady," he returned quietly. "I am going
to confide Miss Jacobi to your care for a few days;" and then very
briefly but distinctly he gave her an account of Saul Jacobi's
scheme--the intended marriage and Cedric's arrival at Gresham
Gardens. "But for Miss Jacobi's noble behaviour," he continued,
"this disgraceful plot would have been carried out. She has
generously given him up, and I for one am deeply indebted to her."

"Will you hide me for a few days, until I know what to do?" asked
Leah, fixing her great troubled eyes on the other woman's face. Mrs.
Godfrey's manner changed.

"Hide you from your brother do you mean, or Cedric, or both? My
dear, you will be perfectly safe with us. No one will molest you at
the Manor House, and we will both do all we can for you." She took
the girl's hand kindly and kissed her cheek. "We will have such a
talk presently--you and I; but just now you are worn out, and must
lie down. Your head aches, does it not?" Then Leah owned that she
was right.

"Alick is about the grounds somewhere," Mrs. Godfrey continued;
"when I have made Miss Jacobi comfortable I will join you both." But
when she rejoined them half an hour later, Malcolm was quite sure
she had been shedding tears. "Poor thing," she said to him in an
undertone, "how she must have suffered; she is terribly exhausted,
she has had no sleep, and has eaten nothing for four-and-twenty
hours. I made her swallow some warm brandy and milk, and have
covered her up snugly. Now I mean to send the servant away at
luncheon, and we will wait on ourselves, and then you can tell us
everything."

"You must promise not to interrupt me then," was Malcolm's answer,
"for I shall have to be off in an hour or so. I mean to go down to
Staplegrove by a late afternoon train, and tell Miss Templeton all
we have done."

Malcolm certainly had the art of narration. Not only Mrs. Godfrey
but the Colonel hung on his words with the deepest attention.
Neither did they interrupt him by comment or question until he had
finished. Then Mrs. Godfrey said softly--"You have done a good work
there, Mr. Herrick."

"Who, I?--pooh--nonsense," but Malcolm flushed a little at her
appreciative look. "I have done nothing--it is all Miss Jacobi's
generosity."

"I think we should hear a different version from her," returned Mrs.
Godfrey with a smile, "and I can see Alick agrees with me," nodding
to her husband. "Must you really go to Staplegrove to-night? Suppose
Cedric goes to Cheyne Walk?"

"That is quite possible," returned Malcolm; "nay, more, it is
extremely probable; and I pencilled a line to Verity in the train.
She is to tell him where I have gone; but my only fear is that he
will not follow me--Saul Jacobi will keep too tight a hold of him.
By the bye, Colonel, I wonder what infernal lies that fellow has
induced him to tell the authorities. If he has taken French leave of
absence, they will rusticate him."

"I think he had better leave the university," returned Colonel
Godfrey grimly, "for he is only bent on mischief, and will never
pass his examination. Let him go abroad a bit with some reliable
person and get over his folly, and then see if he will not settle
down better. Dinah could afford to give him a year's travelling, and
I know she would never begrudge the money."

"No, indeed, she is only too generous by nature," returned his wife;
and then after a little more conversation Malcolm took leave of Mrs.
Godfrey, and he and the Colonel walked down to the station.




CHAPTER XXXII

STORM AND STRESS

And yet, because I love thee, I obtain
From that same love this vindicating grace--
To live on still in love, and yet in vain;
To bless thee, yet renounce thee to thy face.
ELIZABETH BARRETT BROWNING.


"C'est le premier pas qui coute," and Malcolm proved the truth of
the old French proverb, as he dismissed his fly and walked up the
dark drive towards the Wood House.

He no longer felt the hot and cold fits that had shaken him as
though with inward ague on his previous visit. He had seen Elizabeth
again, had at least retained his outward calmness, and now he felt
more sure of himself.

"The pains and penalties of life," Leah had said to him once, and he
had thought the expression a strange one on the lips of so beautiful
a woman; but he knew better now, and how such pains and penalties
fall to the share of many men. "It is all in the day's work," he
muttered as he rang the bell, for it was Malcolm's nature to
philosophise even in trouble.

It was only six o'clock, and the two sisters were sitting together
in the fire-lit twilight. Dinah was lying back in her easy-chair
with her eyes closed, but Elizabeth had drawn her chair opposite the
fire, and sat with her chin supported by her hands, gazing fixedly
at the blazing logs with an absorbed gravity that again surprised
Malcolm.

When they heard the visitor announced they both started to their
feet and came towards him, but it was Elizabeth who spoke first.
"Mr. Herrick, this is too good of you. I hope--I trust," in an
anxious tone, "that your news is also good."

"You may rest assured of that," he returned, with an unconscious
pressure of her hand. Dinah heaved a deep sigh of relief, and
pointed silently to the chair that stood between them. She did not
speak, perhaps because she could not: her face looked as though she
had passed through an illness. Elizabeth, with her wonted quickness,
answered Malcolm's unspoken question.

"Dinah has had one of her bad sick headaches, and has only just come
downstairs. All this sad business has upset her greatly, but you
will be her best physician," with the old beaming smile which
Malcolm dared not meet. "Now," with a housewifely air, "shall I give
you some tea? You will dine with us, of course?" But Malcolm
declined the offered refreshment.

"I will dine with you if you wish it," he said rather formally, "and
if you and Miss Templeton will excuse the absence of war-paint; but
I am going back to town to-night."

"Oh no, not to-night!" she exclaimed in quite a shocked voice; "you
will be so tired." But Malcolm assured her with absolute truth that
he had never been less tired in his life. The storm and stress and
excitement of the day had acted on him like a tonic as well as an
anodyne; in thinking and planning for others he had found relief
from the intolerable ache of ever-present pain that had made ms life
so purgatorial of late, and the unhealed wound throbbed less
cruelly.

"I have so much to tell you that I think I had better begin at
once," he observed in a business-like tone, and then both the
sisters composed themselves to listen. But this time they heard him
less calmly. The shock of learning Saul Jacobi's disgraceful plot,
and Cedric's infatuation and weakness, was too much for Dinah, and
she sobbed audibly.

"Oh, Betty!" she exclaimed piteously, "to think that our dear boy
should be deceiving us like this! But that woman has deluded him."

"The woman beguiled me and I did eat," murmured Malcolm. Then
Elizabeth looked at him rather sharply, as though she suspected a
double meaning. But as he proceeded with his story, and she heard of
Leah's noble act of self-sacrifice, her mood changed and her eyes
filled with tears. Malcolm fancied that he heard her say softly
under her breath, "She loved much, because much has been forgiven
her."

But the climax of their wonder seemed reached when Malcolm told them
that Leah was at the Manor House. Dinah seemed as though she could
not believe her ears, and again Elizabeth looked at him curiously.

"Our dear Mrs. Godfrey!" she ejaculated. "I wonder what made you go
to her. I thought," with a little laugh, "only a woman would have
done that."

"Do you consider men so dense?" was his answer. "Mrs. Godfrey is the
best friend I have in the world, and she has never disappointed me
once. She is not only wise and almost masculine in her breadth of
view, but she is also the most womanly of women."

"How well you have grasped her!" returned Elizabeth in an approving
voice. "Yes, you are right, she will be a true friend to that poor
Miss Jacobi. It was magnificent strategy. I do not believe any one
else would have thought of it." But Malcolm only flushed at this
eulogium.

"I promised you that I would do my best," he said in a constrained
voice; but Elizabeth was too elated and excited by the good news to
measure her words.

"Oh, but your best is so much better than other people's best," she
said gaily. "Die, dear, why do you not make some pretty speeches to
Mr. Herrick when he has achieved all this?" Then Dinah smiled and
held out her hand.

"What should we have done without you!" was all she said, but
Malcolm felt amply rewarded for his trouble.

They talked a little more about Leah Jacobi, and then Elizabeth said
suddenly--

"I have an idea. I will go to the Manor House and talk to Mrs.
Godfrey--it is our affair, and we must not shunt our
responsibilities on other people's shoulders--and then I can judge
of this poor Leah." And though Dinah was evidently startled by this
bold suggestion, she did not attempt to gainsay it.

"Shall you go to-morrow?" she asked. "Perhaps I could go too." But
Elizabeth promptly negatived this.

"You will do nothing of the kind," she returned decidedly; "I shall
have you falling ill on my hands. Besides, you must be at the Wood
House, in case Cedric comes;" and as Dinah perceived the force of
this argument, she said no more about accompanying her sister.

Malcolm, however, was not so easily satisfied. "Are you sure that
you had better do this?" he said rather gravely. "Would it not be
wiser to leave Mrs. Godfrey to deal with Miss Jacobi?" But Elizabeth
seemed quite indignant.

"Mr. Herrick, I did not expect this from you," she said severely. "I
thought we were to do good to our enemies--and this poor soul is not
our enemy after all. We have a debt to pay to her, have we not, Die?
for she has set our boy free. We must do all we can to help her, and
to free her from her terrible brother; for as long as she is with
him there can be no peace for her."

"No, you are right," replied Malcolm slowly; "Saul Jacobi is her
curse. He is a cold-hearted, selfish schemer. Well, I will not try
to hinder your good work, for I see you are bent on doing it. You
will go to-morrow, then?"

"Yes, I think so," but Elizabeth hesitated and looked at her sister.
"David is expecting his father to-morrow, and he will not want me
until the next day--" but she broke off here as dinner was
announced.

It could not be said that Malcolm enjoyed his meal. The presence of
the servants prevented any freedom in the conversation, and as Dinah
was still oppressed and weak from the effects of her headache, the
brunt of the talk fell on Malcolm and Elizabeth, and neither of them
seemed quite at their ease. The mention of his rival had affected
Malcolm painfully, and Elizabeth was aware of this and was at once
on her guard. She avoided all local subjects and plied him with
questions about his mother and Anna and the Kestons; all of which
Malcolm answered punctiliously. When a pause in the conversation
seemed inevitable, he plunged into the breach with a description of
Amias Keston's latest picture, and an anecdote or two about that
infant prodigy Babs; he spoke of a book he had been reading, from
which he gave them copious extracts; and then, dessert being placed
on the table, he drew a sigh of relief. By that time he was sensible
of fatigue.

He left them soon after this. When he bade Dinah good-bye, she took
both his hands and looked wistfully in his face. "I cannot say
anything to-night," she whispered--"I am too giddy and confused; but
I will write, and--and God bless you!"

To his surprise Elizabeth followed him into the hall. As she opened
the door for him, the rush of raw, damp air came full in their
faces.

"It is a regular November evening," she observed, with a little
shiver. "It is the month I like least--the month of decay and--"
then she checked herself abruptly. "Mr. Herrick, there is a question
I wanted to ask, and that I did not wish Dinah to hear. You are
going back to town this evening, are you not, because you expect
that Cedric will come to Cheyne Walk?"

"I think he will be here," he returned reluctantly, for he had not
wished to hint at this; in his own mind he was prepared for a stormy
interview.

"I feel sure of it," she continued. "He is very unbalanced and
passionate--he will say things that he does not mean, and that he
will repent afterwards. You will bear with him--you will be patient,
will you not?"

"Do you think you need ask me that?" Malcolm's voice was so full of
reproach and meaning that a sudden flush crossed Elizabeth's face.
"Have you forgotten already?" his expression seemed to say--"is he
not your brother, and am I not your devoted and humble servant?"
Then his manner changed.

"I will deal with him as gently as possible, you may be sure of
that," he said kindly. But Elizabeth gave him her hand rather
timidly and without looking at him.

This time there was no backward glance as Malcolm and his lantern
disappeared into the dark woodlands; but Elizabeth stood so long in
the porch that the dead leaves swirled round her feet and even blew
across the hall.

"I wish I had not said that," she thought; "I might have trusted
him. He will be firm, but he will be gentle too." And then she went
back to Dinah, and they talked together of all that should be done
on the morrow.

It was not long past eleven when Malcolm let himself into the house
in Cheyne Walk with his latch-key, but Verity was evidently on the
watch for him.

"Mr. Templeton is here," she said, and he detected a trace of
anxiety in her manner. "He has been here quite two hours. Amias
wanted him to come into the studio, but he preferred going to your
room. I am afraid he is not well, or something is troubling him; he
does nothing but walk about."

"I will go up to him," rejoined Malcolm. "I suppose there is a
fire?" Verity nodded, and wished him goodnight.

The fire was burning cheerily; nevertheless, as Malcolm opened the
door, the room felt as cold as a vault. The window opening on to the
balcony had been flung up,, and the damp air from the river pervaded
the whole place. The sudden draught made the lamp smoke, and he
moved it hastily. As he did so a dark figure came between him. and
the light, and seized him almost roughly by the arm.

"So it is you, Herrick, at last!" in a hoarse voice that was
scarcely recognisable. "Now tell me, please, what have you done with
Leah?"

The grip on Malcolm's arm was so painful that he winced. "Let me
shut that window first, there's a good fellow," he returned coolly,
"or we shall be blown into the street;" and as Cedric sullenly let
him go, he fastened it and drew down the blind and turned up the
lamp.

Cedric watched him savagely.

Verity might well have suspected that something was seriously amiss.
Cedric's face was pale and his whole aspect disordered, and the
strained, fierce look in his blue eyes almost dismayed Malcolm.
There was something aggressive too in his manner that affected him
unpleasantly.

"Well, are you going to speak?" in a defiant voice, "or do you wish
to drive me crazy? What have you done with the girl who is to be my
wife to-morrow?"

"Why do you imagine that I have done anything with her?" returned
Malcolm steadily, for he wanted to find out what Cedric really knew.
"I have just come from the Wood House. Your sisters are in great
trouble about this."

"You have not taken her there," retorted Cedric, with a sneer, "and
I am not in a mood to discuss my sisters. Herrick, I call this an
infernal shame! What right have you to come between a man and his
affianced wife? I will not bear it--you shall make me amends!"--
stammering with passion. "Saul says you are at the bottom of this."

"Mr. Jacobi will have to prove it then," returned Malcolm quietly.

"Prove it! Do you think we have not sufficient proof?" exclaimed
Cedric angrily. "I suppose you do not deny that you were at Gresham
Gardens this morning."

"I was there certainly; Miss Jacobi sent for me. I had seen her in
Kensington Gardens the previous day."

"I know all about that," interrupted Cedric rudely. "Saul told me
you were bent on making mischief between me and Leah. You left the
house with her this morning. One of the servants saw you go. You
were carrying a Gladstone bag and a travelling wrap, evidently a
lady's."

Malcolm bit his lip. They had been seen then.

"Before we go on with this cross-examination, will you allow me to
explain matters," he observed. "It is no use your taking this tone
with me, Cedric; I have done nothing of which I am ashamed. As far
as I can, and up to a certain point, I will tell you the exact
truth, and it may be well for you to hear me."

Malcolm's quiet tone was not without influence, and Cedric flung
himself on a chair; but his attitude was still defiant.

"I own that I have done all in my power to induce Leah Jacobi to
break off this disastrous engagement," continued Malcolm. "I did
this not only for your sake, and because you were the tool of a
designing and unscrupulous man, but also for your sisters' sake.
When I left her yesterday it was impossible to know how far I had
succeeded in my purpose." Cedric looked up when Malcolm said this.

"This morning Miss Jacobi sent me a note, and I went to her at once.
She was in deep distress, and showed me her brother's telegram. To
my astonishment, she told me that she fully intended to break off
her engagement, and entrusted this letter to my care;" and here he
stopped and handed it to Cedric, and withdrew to another part of the
room while he read it.

A long time afterwards Malcolm read that letter.

"My darling, I cannot marry you," Leah wrote. "I am going to set you
free. I pray God that I may never see your dear face again, for this
is the hardest piece of work I have ever done in my life. Mr.
Herrick has been talking to me; he has made me see things in a
different light. I know now that I am no fit wife for you, my life
has been too soiled and degraded. In experience I am twenty or
thirty years older than you, and though I am only nine-and-twenty,
my heart is gray. Dear--dearest, you are so young--perhaps that is
why I love you--your youth is so gracious and lovely in my eyes. But
Mr. Herrick is right. You must not be angry with him, Cedric. He has
been so kind and gentle, and he is so true a friend to you. I have
sent for him--when he comes I shall ask him to hide me in some safe
place where you and Saul cannot find me. I am so afraid of Saul--he
is so strong, he makes me do things against my conscience."

"Darling, let me say just this one thing more. It is because of Saul
that I am so determined not to marry you. If you became my husband,
he would be a drag on you all your life. He has absolutely no
conscience; he would ruin you. No--no, you shall be free. I will not
hurt a hair of your head. Farewell.--Your loving and unhappy Leah"

Malcolm had turned his back, and stood looking down into the fire,
until a choked sob reached his ears. Cedric's head was sunk on his
arms, and his whole frame was convulsed with suppressed emotion; but
when Malcolm put his hand on his shoulder, he started up as though
beside himself.

"This is your doing," he said furiously. "I will never forgive you,
Herrick--never! Oh!"--as midnight chimed from a church near--"this
is our wedding-day--: Leah's and mine, and you have hidden my bride
away! But you shall give her up," with an oath, and for the moment
Malcolm thought the lad would have struck him in his insane passion.
Cedric was no mean athlete, and Malcolm was hardly a match for him,
but he caught his uplifted hand and held it firmly.

"Don't be a fool, Cedric," he said quietly. "Do you suppose this
violence will serve your purpose? Miss Jacobi has placed herself
under my protection, and I shall certainly not betray her. Sit down
and behave like a gentleman, and let us talk this out. Good
heavens!" with a sudden change of voice, "do you suppose you are the
only man in the world who cannot marry the woman he loves," and
Malcolm's tone and manner seemed to check Cedric's passion. "Let us
talk it out like men," he repeated, and Cedric sank back on his
chair, still sullen but half subdued.




CHAPTER XXXIII

"HE WILL COME RIGHT"


If your eyes look for nothing but evil, you will always
see evil triumphant; but if you have learned to let
your glance rest on sincerity, simpleness, truth, you
will ever discover deep down in all things the silent
overpowering victory of that you love.
--MAETERLINCK


Long afterwards Malcolm compared that night's work to a severe
wrestling-match, and owned that it had taxed his mental and bodily
strength to the utmost. The illustration was singularly apt. The
whole force of his manhood and will were set to rescue this poor lad
from the effects of his own infatuation and folly, but at first he
made little progress.

Saul Jacobi's pernicious influence had done its work, and Malcolm,
to his dismay and disgust, was forced to realise that his baleful
and hated arguments had already poisoned Cedric's mind. More than
once he was revolted by ideas which he knew had been inculcated by
Saul Jacobi. "He has poisoned the wells," Malcolm said to himself
indignantly--"Cedric's fresh young mind has been contaminated by his
odious philosophy," and his heart grew sad as he remembered Dinah's
faith in her boy.

More than once he was so sickened by Cedric's want of restraint and
childish abandon of grief that he was tempted to give up the
struggle. Only Elizabeth's pleading voice was in his ears-"You will
bear with him--you will be patient with him, will you not?" and then
again he would nerve himself to fresh effort.

All at once a thought came to him as an inspiration. Cedric had been
giving way to a perfect paroxysm of despair, and Malcolm had with
some sternness remonstrated with him on his want of manliness and
self-control. "You are making things worse," he said; "why don't you
take your trouble like a man?" But the rebuke only exasperated
Cedric.

"Oh, it is all very well for you to talk," he returned angrily, "but
if you were in my place you would not bear it any better. You are so
immaculate, Herrick, you can't make allowance for a poor miserable
devil like me. I don't believe you have ever cared for a woman in
your life. Good heavens!" as he caught sight of Malcolm's face, "do
you mean that you have ever been in love?"

Then it was that the thought came to Malcolm--Cedric should know
that he was a fellow-sufferer.

"I do mean it," he returned steadily, "and I also mean to say that
your love is as water unto wine compared to mine; that is, if we can
call such mad infatuation by so sacred a name." And there was a tone
of contempt in Malcolm's voice that made Cedric wince.

"Don't be so hard on a fellow," he muttered.

"My dear boy, I would not be hard on you for worlds; if I speak of
myself at such a moment, it is only that you may see that I am fully
competent to sympathise with you."

"Won't you tell me more, Herrick?"

"No, dear lad, I think not, except that my case is even more
hopeless than yours, for the only woman I have loved or can love
will soon marry another man," and here Malcolm's face looked gray
and worn. "I need not add," he continued hastily, "that all this is
between us both."

"Of course--of course," was the eager answer. "I am awfully sorry--I
am indeed. I wish I had not bullied you so."

Malcolm smiled a little sadly.

"Never mind that now. I only want to say this, we must take our
punishment like men, and not whine like fractious children who want
the moon--the moon is no nearer for all that." He sighed a little
bitterly, for he was tired and depressed; and after that Cedric was
more reasonable, and Malcolm regained some of his lost influence.

It was nearly morning before Malcolm could induce him to lie down on
the couch; he had flatly refused to take possession of Malcolm's
bed.

"I could not rest quietly in bed," he said piteously; "let me lie
here while you write your letter;" for it had been arranged between
them that Malcolm should send a note to Dinah by the early post; but
long before the letter was written the worn-out lad was sleeping
heavily. Malcolm covered him up with rugs before he slipped out to
the post. Malcolm did not write a very long letter.

"I found Cedric here on my return home," he wrote. "He was very
excited and unhappy, and I had great difficulty in bringing him to a
reasonable frame of mind; but he is calmer now, and is at present
asleep on my couch. I am going with him to Oxford to-morrow, and
shall probably remain with him for a day or two. It will never do to
leave him alone, or that fellow Jacobi will get hold of him again. I
find he has already lent him money. I have been questioning Cedric,
and I find that Saul Jacobi trumped up a false excuse for him to
make to the Dean. Cedric was a little incoherent on the subject, but
I understood him to say that he had begged for a three days' excuse
on account of a sister's illness."