A KNIGHT OF THE NINETEENTH CENTURY - Edward Payson Roe (best color ebook reader TXT) 📗
- Author: Edward Payson Roe
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"She Was Very Polite, Egbert. I Think She Misunderstands Me A Little."
His Lace Flushed with Indignation, And After A Moment'S Thought He Said
Bitterly, And With Something Like Contempt, "Poor Mother! She Is To Be
Pitied."
Mrs. Arnot'S Face Became Very Grave, And Almost Severe, And She Replied,
With An Emphasis Which He Never Forgot:
"She Is To Be Loved; She Is To Be Cherished with The Most Delicate
Consideration And Forbearance, And Honored--Yes, Honored--Because She Is
Your Mother. You, As Her Son, Should Never Say, Nor Permit Any One To
Say A Word Against Her. Nothing Can Absolve You From This Sacred duty.
Remember This As You Hope To Be A True Man."
This Was Mrs. Arnot'S Return For The Small Jealousy Of Her Girlhood'S
Friend.
He Bowed his Head, And After A Moment Replied: "Mrs. Arnot, I Feel, I
Know, You Are Right. I Thank You."
"Now You Are My Knight Again," She Said, Her Face Suddenly Lighting Up.
"But Come; Let Us Join The Others, For They Seem To Have Hit Upon A Very
Mirthful And Animated discussion."
Laura'S Eye And Sympathies Took Them In at Once As They Approached, And
Enveloped them In the Genial And Magnetic Influences Which She Seemed to
Have The Power Of Exerting. Although Naturally And Deeply Interested in
His Interview With Mrs. Arnot, Haldane'S Eyes And Thoughts Had Been
Drawn Frequently And Irresistibly To The Object Of His Old-Time Passion.
She Was, Indeed, Very Different From What He Had Expected. The Diffident
Maiden, So Slight In form And Shy In manner, Had Not Developed into A
Drooping Lily Of A Woman, Suggesting That She Must Always Have A Manly
Support Of Some Kind Near At Hand. Still Less Had She Become A Typical
Belle, And The Aggressive Society Girl Who Captures And Amuses Herself
With Her Male Admirers With The Grace And Sang Froid Of A Sportive
Kitten That Carefully Keeps A Hapless Mouse Within Reach Of Her Velvet
Paw. The Pale And Saint-Like Image Which He Had So Long Enshrined within
His Heart, And Which Had Been Created by Her Devotion To Her Mother,
Also Faded utterly Away In the Presence Of The Reality Before Him. She
Was A Veritable Flesh-And-Blood Woman, With The Hue Of Health Upon Her
Cheek, And The Charm Of Artistic Beauty In her Rounded form And Graceful
Manner. She Was A Revelation To Him, Transcending Not Only All That He
Had Seen, But All That He Had Imagined.
Thus Far He Had Not Attained a Moral And Intellectual Culture Which
Enabled him Even To Idealize So Beautiful And Perfect A Creature. She
Was Not A Saint In the Mystical Or Imaginative Sense Of The Word, But,
As A Queen Reigning By The Divine Right Of Her Surpassing Loveliness And
Grace In even Hillaton'S Exclusive Society, She Was Practically As Far
Removed from Him As If She Were An Ideal Saint Existing Only In a
Painter'S Haunted imagination.
Nature Had Dowered laura Romeyn Very Richly In the Graces Of Both Person
And Mind; But Many Others Are Equally Favored. Her Indescribable Charm
Arose From The Fact That She Was Very Receptive In her Disposition. She
Had Been Wax To Receive, But Marble To Retain. Therefore, Since She Had
Always Lived and Breathed in an Atmosphere Of Culture, Refinement, And
Christian Faith, Her Character Had The Exquisite Beauty And Fragrance
Which Belongs To A Rare Flower To Which All The Conditions Of Perfect
Development Have Been Supplied. Although The Light Of Her Eye Was
Serene, And Her Laugh As Clear And Natural As The Fall Of Water, There
Was A Nameless Something Which Indicated that Her Happy, Healthful
Nature Rested against A Dark Background Of Sorrow And Trial, And Was
Made The Richer And More Perfect Thereby.
Her Self-Forgetfulness Was Contagious. The Beautiful Girl Did Not Look
From One To Another Of The Admiring Circle For The Sake Of Picking Up A
Small Revenue Of Flattery. From A Native Generosity She Wished to Give
Pleasure To Her Guests; From A Holy Principle Instilled into Her Nature
So Long Ago That She Was No Longer Conscious Of It, She Wished to Do
Them Good By Suggesting Only Such Thoughts As Men Associate With Pure,
Good Women; And From An Earnest, Yet Sprightly Mind, She Took A Genuine
Interest Herself In the Subjects On Which They Were Conversing.
By Her Tact, And With Mrs. Arnot'S Efficient Aid, She Drew All Into The
Current Of Their Talk. The Three Other Young Men Who Were Mrs. Arnot'S
Guests That Evening Were Manly Fellows, And Had Come To Treat Haldane
With Cordial Respect. Thus For A Time He Was Made To Forget All That Had
Occurred to Cloud His Life. He Found That The Presence Of Laura Kindled
His Intellect With A Fire Of Which He Had Never Been Conscious Before.
His Eyes Flashed sympathy With Every Word She Said, And Before He Was
Aware He, Too, Was Speaking His Mind With Freedom, For He Saw No
Chilling Repugnance Toward Him In the Kindly Light Of Her Deep Blue
Eyes. She Led him To Forget Himself And His Past So Completely That He,
In The Excitement Of Argument, Inadvertently Pronounced his Own Doom. In
Answer To The Remark Of Another, He Said:
"Society Is Right In being Conservative And Exclusive, And Its Favor
Should Be The Highest Earthly Reward Of A Stainless Life. The Coarse And
The Vulgar Should Be Taught That They Cannot Purchase It Nor Elbow Their
Way Into It, And Those Who Have It Should Be Made To Feel That Losing It
Is Like Losing Life, For It Can Never Be Regained. Thus Society Not Only
Protects Itself, But Prevents Weak Souls From Dallying With Temptation."
So Well-Bred was Laura That, While Her Color Deepened at His Words, She
Betrayed no Other Consciousness That They Surprised her. But He Suddenly
Remembered all, And The Blood Rushed tumultuously To His Face, Then Left
It Very Pale.
"What I Have Said Is True, Nevertheless," He Added quietly And
Decisively, As If In answer To These Thoughts; "And Losing One'S Place
In Society May Be Worse Than Losing Life."
He Felt That This Was True, As He Looked at The Beautiful Girl Before
Him, So Kind And Gentle, And Yet So Unapproachable By Him; And, What Is
More, He Saw In her Face Pitying acquiescence To His Words. As Her
Aunt'S Protege, As A Young Man Trying To Reform, He Felt That He Would
Have Her Good Wishes And Courteous Treatment, But Never Anything More.
"Egbert, I Take Issue With You," Began Mrs. Arnot Warmly; But Further
Remark Was Interrupted by The Entrance Of A Gentleman, Who Was Announced
As
"Mr. Beaumont."
There Was A Nice Distinction Between The Greeting Given By Mrs. Arnot To
This Gentleman And That Which She Had Bestowed upon Haldane And Her
Other Guests. His Reception Was Simply The Perfection Of Quiet Courtesy,
And No One Could Have Been Sure That The Lady Was Glad To See Him. She
Merely Welcomed him As A Social Equal To Her Parlors, And Then Turned
Again To Her Friends.
But Laura Had A Kindlier Greeting For The New-Comer. While Her Manner
Was Equally Undemonstrative, Her Eyes Lighted up With Pleasure And The
Color Deepened in her Cheeks. It Was Evident That They Were Old
Acquaintances, And That He Had Found Previous Occasions For Making
Himself Very Agreeable.
Mr. Beaumont Did Not Care To Form One Of A Circle. He Was In the World'S
Estimation, Possibly In his Own, A Complete Circle In himself, Rounded
Out And Perfect On Every Side. He Was The Only Son In one Of The Oldest
And Most Aristocratic Families In the City; He Was The Heir Of Very
Large Wealth; His Careful Education Had Been Supplemented by Years Of
Foreign Travel; He Was Acknowledged to Be The Best Connoisseur Of Art In
Hillaton; And To His Irreproachable Manners Was Added an Irreproachable
Character. "He Is A Perfect Gentleman," Was The Verdict Of The Best
Society Wherever He Appeared.
Something To This Effect Haldane Learned from One Of The Young Men With
Whom He Had Been Spending The Evening, As They Bent Their Steps
Homeward--For Soon After Mr. Beaumont'S Arrival All Took Their
Departure.
That Gentleman Seemed to Bring In with Him A Different Atmosphere From
That Which Had Prevailed hitherto. Although His Bow Was Distant To
Haldane When Introduced, His Manner Had Been The Perfection Of
Politeness To The Others. For Some Reason, However, There Had Been A
Sudden Restraint And Chill. Possibly They Had But Unconsciously Obeyed
The Strong Will Of Mr. Beaumont, Who Wished their Departure. He Was
Almost As Resolute In having His Own Way As Mr. Arnot Himself. Not That
He Was Ever Rude To Any One In any Circumstances, But He Could Politely
Freeze Objectionable Persons Out Of A Room As Effectually As If He Took
Them By The Shoulders And Walked them Out. There Was So Much In his
Surroundings And Antecedents To Sustain His Quiet Assumption, That The
World Was Learning To Say, "By Your Leave," On All Occasions.
Haldane Was Not Long In reaching a Conclusion As He Sat Over A Dying
Fire In his Humble Quarters At The Hermitage. If He Saw Much Of Laura
Romeyn He Would Love Her Of Necessity By Every Law Of His Being.
Assuring Himself Of The Hopelessness Of His Affection Would Make No
Difference To One Of His Temperament. He Was Not One Who Could Coolly
Say To His Ardent And Impetuous Nature, "Thus Far, And No Farther."
There Was Something In her Every Tone, Word, And Movement Which Touched
Chords Within His Heart That Vibrated pleasurably Or Painfully.
This Power Cannot Be Explained. It Was Not Passion. Were Laura Far More
Beautiful, Something In her Manner Or Character Might Speedily Have
Broken The Spell By Which She Unconsciously Held Her Captive. His
Emotion In no Respect Resembled the Strong Yet Restful Affection That He
Entertained for Mrs. Arnot. Was It Love? Why Should He Love One Who
Would Not Love In return, And Who, Both In the World'S And His Own
Estimation, Was Infinitely Beyond His Reach? However Much His Reason
Might Condemn His Feelings, However Much He Might Regret The Fact, His
Heart Trembled at Her Presence, And, By Some Instinct Of Its Own,
Acknowledged its Mistress. He Was Compelled to Admit To Himself That He
Loved her Already, And That His Boyhood'S Passion Had Only Changed as He
Had Changed, And Had Become The Strong And Abiding Sentiment Of The Man.
She Only Could Have Broken The Power By Becoming Commonplace, By Losing
The Peculiar Charm Which She Had For Him From The First. But Now He
Could Not Choose; He Had Met His Fate.
One Thing, However, He Could Do, And That He Resolved upon Before He
Closed his Eyes In sleep In the Faint Dawning Of The Following Day. He
Would Not Flutter As A Poor Moth Where He Could Not Be Received as An
Accepted lover.
This Resolution He Kept. He Did Not Cease Calling Upon Mrs. Arnot, Nor
Did The Quiet Warmth Of His Manner Toward Her Change; But His Visits
Became Less Frequent, He Pleading The Engrossing Character Of His
Studies, And The Increasing Preparation Required to Maintain His Hold On
His Mission-Class; But The Lady'S Delicate Intuition Was Not Long In
Divining The True Cause. One Of His Unconscious Glances At Laura
Revealed his Heart To Her Woman'S Eye As Plainly As Could Any Spoken
Words. But By No Word Or Hint Did Mrs. Arnot Reveal To Him Her
Knowledge. Her Tones Might Have Been Gentler And Her Eyes Kinder; That
Was All. In her Heart, However, She Almost Revered the Man Who Had The
Strength And Patience To Take Up This Heavy And Hopeless Burden, And Go
On In the Path Of Duty Without A Word. How Different Was His Present
Course From His Former Passionate Clamor For What Was Then Equally
Beyond His Reach? She Was Almost Provoked at Her Niece That She Did Not
Appreciate Haldane More. But Would She Wish Her Peerless Ward To Marry
This Darkly Shadowed man, To Whom No Parlor In hillaton Was Open Save
Her Own? Even Mrs. Arnot Would Shrink From This Question.
Laura, Too, Had Perceived that Which Haldane Meant To Hide From All The
World. When Has A Beautiful Woman Failed to Recognize Her Worshippers?
But There Was Nothing In laura'S Nature Which Permitted her To Exult
Over Such A Discovery. She Could Not Resent As Presumption A Love That
Was So Unobtrusive, For It Became More And More Evident As Time Passed
That The Man Who Was Mastered by It Would Never Voluntarily Give To Her
The Slightest Hint Of Its Existence. She Was Pleased that He Was So
Sensible As To Recognize The Impassable Gulf Between Them, And That He
Did Not Go Moaning along The Brink, Thus Making a Spectacle Of Himself,
And Becoming an Annoyance To Her. Indeed, She Sincerely
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