A KNIGHT OF THE NINETEENTH CENTURY - Edward Payson Roe (best color ebook reader TXT) 📗

Respected him

For His Reticence And Self-Control, But She Also Misjudged him; For He

Was So Patient And Strong, And Went Forward With His Duties So Quietly

And Steadily, That She Was Inclined to Believe That His Feelings Toward

Her Were Not Very Deep, Or Else That He Was So Constituted that Affairs

Of The Heart Did Not Give Him Very Much Trouble.

 

Chapter XLVII (Laura Chooses Her Knight)

 

 

Why Laura, How Your Cheeks Burn!" Exclaimed mrs. Arnot As She Entered

Her Niece'S Room One Afternoon.

 

 

 

"Now, Don'T Laugh At Me For Being So Foolish, But I Have Become Absurdly

Excited over This Story. Scott Was Well Called the 'Wizard Of The

North.' What A Spell He Weaves Over His Pages! When Reading Some Of His

Descriptions Of Men And Manners In those Old Chivalric Times, I Feel

That I Have Been Born Some Centuries Too Late--In Our Time Everything Is

So Matter-Of-Fact, And The Men Are So Prosaic. The World Moves On With A

Steady Business Jog, Or, To Change The Figure, With The Monotonous Clank

Of Uncle'S Machinery. My Castle In the Air Would Be The Counterpart Of

Those Which Scott Describes."

 

 

 

"Romantic As Ever," Laughed her Aunt; "And That Reminds Me, By The Way,

Of The Saying That Romantic Girls Always Marry Matter-Of-Fact Men,

Which, I Suppose, Will Be Your Fate. I Confess I Much Prefer Our Own

Age. Your Stony Castles Make Me Shiver With A Sense Of Discomfort; And

As For The Men, I Imagine They Are Much The Same Now As Then, For Human

Nature Does Not Change Much."

 

 

 

"O, Auntie, What A Prosaic Speech! Uncle Might Have Made It Himself. The

Idea Of Men Being Much The Same Now! Why, In that Day There Were The

Widest And Most Picturesque Differences Between Men Of The Same Rank.

There Were Horrible Villains, And Then To Vanquish These And Undo The

Mischief They Were Ever Causing, There Were Knights _Sans Peur Et Sans

Reproche._ But Now A Gentleman Is A Gentleman, And All Made Up Very

Much In the Same Style, Like Their Dress Coats. I Would Like To Have

Seen At Least One Genuine Knight--A Man Good Enough And Brave Enough To

Do And To Dare Anything To Which He Could Be Impelled by A Most

Chivalric Sense Of Duty. About The Most Heroic Thing a Man Ever Did For

Me Was To Pick Up My Fan."

 

 

 

Mrs. Arnot Thought Of One Man Whose Heart Was Almost Breaking For Her,

And Yet Who Maintained such A Quiet, Masterful Self-Control That The

Object Of His Passion, Which Had Become Like A Torturing Flame, Was Not

Subjected to Even The Slightest Annoyance; And She Said, "You Are

Satirical Today. In my Opinion There Are As True Knights Now As Your

Favorite Author Ever Described."

 

 

 

"Not In hillaton," Laughed laura, "Or Else Their Disguise Is Perfect."

 

 

 

"Yes, In hillaton," Replied mrs. Arnot, With Some Warmth, "And Among The

Visitors At This House. I Know Of One Who Bids Fair To Fulfil My Highest

Ideal Of Knighthood, And I Think You Will Do Me The Justice To Believe

That My Standard Is Not A Low One."

 

 

 

"Auntie, You Fairly Takeaway My Breath!" Said Laura, In the Same

Half-Jesting Spirit." Where Have My Eyes Been? Pray, Who Is This

Paragon, Who Must, Indeed, Be Nearly Perfect, To Satisfy Your Standard?"

 

 

 

"You Must Discover Him For Yourself; As You Say, He Appears To Be But A

Gentleman, And Would Be The Last One In the World To Think Of Himself As

A Knight, Or To Fill Your Ideal Of One. You Must Remember The Character

Of Our Age. If One Of Your Favorite Knights Should Step, Armed

_Cap-A-Pie,_ Out Of Scott'S Pages, All The Dogs In town Would Be At

His Heels, And He Would Probably Bring Up At The Station-House. My

Knight Promises To Become The Flower Of His Own Age. Now I Think Of It,

I Do Not Like The Conventional Word 'Flower,' As Used in this

Connection, For My Knight Is Steadily Growing Strong Like A Young Oak. I

Hope I May Live To See The Man He Will Eventually Become."

 

 

 

"You Know Well, Auntie," Said Laura, "That I Have Not Meant Half I Have

Said. The Men Of Our Day Are Certainly Equal To The Women, And I Shall

Not Have To Look Far To Find My Superior In all Respects. I Must Admit,

However, That Your Words Have Piqued my Curiosity, And I Am Rather Glad

You Have Not Named this 'Heart Of Oak,' For The Effort To Discover Him

Will Form A Pleasant Little Excitement."

 

 

 

"Were I That Way Inclined," Said Mrs. Arnot, Smiling, "I Would Be

Willing To Wager A Good Deal That You Will Hit Upon The Wrong Man."

 

 

 

Laura Became For A Time Quite A Close Student Of Human Nature, Observing

Narrowly The Physiognomy And Weighing The Words And Manner, Of Her Many

Gentleman Acquaintances; But While She Found Much To Respect, And Even

To Admire, In some, She Was Not Sure That Any One Of Them Answered to

Her Aunt'S Description. Nor Could She Obtain Any Further Light By

Inquiring Somewhat Into Their Antecedents. As For Mrs. Arnot, She Was

Considerably Amused, But Continued perfectly Non-Committal.

 

 

 

After Laura Had Quite Looked through Her Acquaintances Haldane Made One

Of His Infrequent Calls, But As Mr. Beaumont Was Also Present She Gave

To Her Quondam Lover Scarcely More Than A Kindly Word Of Greeting, And

Then Forgot His Existence. It Did Not Occur To Her, Any More Than It

Would To Haldane Himself, That He Was The Knight.

 

 

 

Mr. Arnot, Partly Out Of A Grim Humor Peculiarly His Own, And Partly To

Extenuate His Severity Toward The Youth, Had Sent To His Niece All The

City Papers Containing Unfavorable References To Haldane, And To Her

Mind The Associations Created by Those Disgraceful Scenes Were Still

Inseparable From Him. She Honestly Respected him For His Resolute Effort

To Reform, As She Would Express It, And As A Sincere Christian Girl She

Wished him The Very Best Of Success, But This Seemed as Far As Her

Regard For Him Could Ever Go. She Treated him Kindly Where Most Others

In Her Station Would Not Recognize Him At All, But Such Was The Delicacy

And Refinement Of Her Nature That She Shrank From One Who Had Been

Capable Of Acts Like His. The Youth Who Had Annoyed her With His

Passion, Whom She Had Seen Fall Upon The Floor In gross Intoxication,

Who Had Been Dragged through The Streets As A Criminal, And Who Twice

Had Been In jail, Was Still A Vivid Memory. She Knew Comparatively

Little About, And Did Not Understand, The Man Of To-Day. Beyond The

General Facts That He Was Doing Well And Doing Good, It Was Evident

That, By Reason Of Old And Disagreeable Associations, She Did Not Wish

To Hear Much About Him, And Mrs. Arnot Had The Wisdom To See That Time

And The Young Man'S Own Actions Would Do More To Remove Prejudice From

The Mind Of Her Niece, As Well As From The Memory Of Society In general,

Than Could Any Words Of Hers.

 

 

 

Of Course, Such A Girl As Laura Had Many Admirers, And Among Them Mr.

Beaumont Was Evidently Winning The First Place In her Esteem. Whether He

Were The Knight That Her Aunt Had In mind Or No, She Was Not Sure, But

He Realized her Ideal More Completely Than Any Man Whom She Had Ever

Met. He Did, Indeed, Seem The "Perfect Flower Of His Age," Although She

Was Not So Sure Of The Oak-Like Qualities. She Often Asked herself

Wherein She Could Find Fault With Him Or With All That Related to Him,

And Even Her Delicate Discrimination Could Scarcely Find A Vulnerable

Point. He Was Fine-Looking, His Heavy Side-Whiskers Redeeming His Face

From Effeminacy; He Was Tall And Elegant In his Proportions; His Taste

In His Dress Was Quiet And Faultless; He Possessed the Most Refined and

Highly Cultured mind Of Any Man Whom She Had Known; His Family Was

Exceedingly Proud And Aristocratic, But As Far As There Can Be Reason

For These Characteristics, This Old And Wealthy Family Had Such Reason.

Laura Certainly Could Not Find Fault With These Traits, For From The

First Mr. Beaumont'S Parents Had Sought To Pay Her Especial Attention.

It Was Quite Evident That They Thought That The Orphaned girl Who Was So

Richly Dowered with Wealth And Beauty Might Make As Good A Wife For

Their Matchless Son As Could Be Found, And Such An Opinion On Their Part

Was, Indeed, A High Compliment To Laura'S Birth And Breeding. No One

Else In hillaton Would Have Been Thought Of With Any Equanimity.

 

 

 

The Son Was Inclined to Take The Same View As That Entertained by His

Parents, But, As The Party Most Nearly Interested, He Felt It Incumbent

Upon Him To Scrutinize Very Closely And Deliberately The Woman Who Might

Become His Wife, And Surely This Was A Sensible Thing To Do.

 

 

 

There Was Nothing Mercenary Or Coarse In his Delicate Analysis And Close

Observation. Far From It. Mr. Beaumont Was The Last Man In the World To

Look A Lady Over As He Would A Bale Of Merchandise. More Than All Things

Else, Mr. Beaumont Was A _Connoisseur_, And He Sought Mrs. Arnot'S

Parlors With Increasing Frequency Because He Believed that He Would

There Find The Woman Best Fitted to Become The Chief Ornament Of The

Stately Family Mansion.

 

 

 

Laura Had Soon Become Conscious Of This Close Tentative Scrutiny, And At

First She Had Been Inclined to Resent Its Cool Deliberateness. But,

Remembering That A Man Certainly Has A Right To Learn Well The Character

Of The Woman Whom He May Ask To Be His Wife, She Felt That There Was

Nothing In his Action Of Which She Could Complain; And It Soon Became A

Matter Of Pride With Her, As Much As Anything Else, To Satisfy Those

Fastidious Eyes That Hitherto Had Critically Looked the World Over, And

In Vain, For A Pearl With A Lustre Sufficiently Clear. She Began To

Study His Taste, To Dress For Him, To Sing For Him, To Read His Favorite

Authors; And So Perfect Was His Taste That She Found Herself Aided and

Enriched by It. He Was Her Superior In these Matters, For He Had Made

Them His Life-Study. The First Hour That She Spent With Him In a

Picture-Gallery Was Long Remembered, For Never Before Had Those Fine And

Artistic Marks Which Make A Painting Great Been So Clearly Pointed out

To Her. She Was Brought To Believe That This Man Could Lead Her To The

Highest Point Of Culture To Which She Could Attain, And Satisfy Every

Refined taste That She Possessed. It Seemed as If He Could Make Life One

Long Gallery Of Beautiful Objects, Through Which She Might Stroll In

Elegant Leisure, Ever Conscious That Lie Who Stood By To Minister And

Explain Was Looking away From All Things Else In admiration Of Herself.

 

 

 

The Prospect Was Too Alluring. Laura Was Not An Advanced female, With A

Mission; She Was Simply A Young And Lovely Woman, Capable Of The Noblest

Action And Feeling Should The Occasion Demand Them, But Naturally

Luxurious And Beauty-Loving In her Tastes, And Inclined to Shun The

Prosaic Side Of Life.

 

 

 

She Made Beaumont Feel That She Also Was Critical And Exacting. She Had

Lived too Long Under Mrs. Arnot'S Influence To Be Satisfied with A Man

Who Merely Lived for The Pleasure He Could Get Out Of Each Successive

Day. He Saw That She Demanded that He Should Have A Purpose And Aim In

Life, And He Skilfully Met This Requirement By Frequently Descanting On

Aesthetic Culture As The Great Lever Which Could Move The World, And By

Suggesting That The Great Question Of His Future Was How He Could Best

Bring This Culture To The People. As A Christian, She Took Issue With

Him As To Its Being The Great Lever, But Was Enthusiastic Over It As A

Most Powerful Means Of Elevating The Masses, And She Often Found Herself

Dreaming Over How Much A Man Gifted with Mr. Beaumont'S Exquisite Taste

And Large Wealth Could