Charlotte M. Brame

“ Do you like the sea, Miss Holte?"
She did not know. She had seen it twice—once when the world was all fair and she was going to Bergheim, and again when the waves had sobbed a dull requiem to all her hope and her love. Did she like it? The very music seemed full of the sorrow of her life. She thought that she would soon grow to love it with a passion that only poets lavish on the fair beauties of nature. Then the gray turrets of the Abbey came in sight.
"We are at home," said Lady Dartelle.
Hulme Abbey was neither so spacious nor so magnificent as Queen's Chase. ”

“ Yet no one seems to remember that I am young. I never see a young face—I never hear a pleasant voice. If I sing, Lady Vaughan raises her hands to her head, and implores me 'not to make a noise.' Yet I love singing just as the birds do."
"I see only one remedy for such a state of things, Hyacinth," said the young lover, and his eyes brightened as he looked on her beautiful face.
"I am just eighteen," continued the girl, "and I assure you that looking back on my life, I do not remember one happy day in it."
"Perhaps the happiness is all to come," said he quietly. ”

“ I will go;' the crimson flowers will mean 'No; good-by, Claude.' You will not forget, Cynthy."
"It is not likely that I shall forget," she replied.
"You need not have one fear for the future; you will be happy as a queen. I shall love you so dearly; we will enjoy life as it is meant to be enjoyed. It was never intended for you to dream away your existence in one long sleep. Your beautiful face was meant to brighten and gladden men's hearts; your sweet voice to rule them. You are buried alive here." ”

“ You know, Hyacinth, there are true romance and false romance, just as there are true poetry and false poetry."
"I can understand what you call true romance, but not what you mean by false," she said.
"No; you are too much like the flower you are named after to know much of false romance," he rejoined. "Everything that lowers one's standard, that tends to lower one's thoughts, that puts mere sentiment in the place of duty, that makes wrong seem right, that leads to underhand actions, to deceit, to folly—all that is false romance. ”

“ An expression of terror came over her face.
"Claude," she cried, "I would rather die than live as I have been living!"
"So would I, in your place. Cynthy, your life is in our own hands. If you choose to be foolish and frightened, you will say good-by to me, go to Bergheim, marry Darcy, and drag out the rest of a weary life at the Chase, seeing nothing of brightness, nothing of beauty, and growing in time as stiff and formal as Lady Vaughan is now."
The girl shuddered; the warm young life in her rebelled; the longing for love and pleasure, for life and brightness, was suddenly chilled. ”

“ I would rather be Adrian Darcy, than Baron Chandon of Chandon. But, Lady Vaughan, I will tell you something that I long for, that I covet and desire."
"What is it?" she asked, looking at the handsome face, flushed, eager, and excited.
"It is the love of Hyacinth Vaughan," he answered. "I love her—I have never seen anyone so simple, so frank, so spirituelle. I love her as I never thought to love any woman. If I do not marry her, I will never marry anyone. ”

“ For the first time in her life Hyacinth blessed Lady Vaughan and Queen's Chase.
"I do not want to tire you with argument," he continued, "but tell me Hyacinth, what becomes of a flower, the growth of which has been forced?"
"It soon dies," she replied.
"Yes; and girls brought up in the artificial atmosphere of modern society, and its worship of Mammon, its false estimates, its love of sensation and excitement, soon die to all that is fairest and best in life. You," he continued, "enjoy—see, your face tells tales, Hyacinth—you enjoy the sunshine, the flowers, the music, the lake." ”

“ Then he saw what was said of Claude. He was young, handsome, gifted, eagerly sought after, greatly admired. It was not to be wondered at that a girl who had led the retired, dull, monotonous life of Hyacinth Vaughan should have been dazzled by him and have placed implicit faith in him. But, after all, she did not love him. If she had she would not have repented of her elopement before it was concluded—she would not have returned home. It had been but a temporary charm after all. She had, doubtless, been captivated by his handsome face. Youth invariably loves youth. ”

“ If Lord Chandon has been so much in love, I do not see how you can hope that he will ever care for you."
"We shall see. Time works wonders."
And then Veronica stood up and looked over the governess's shoulders. "This is beautifully done," she said; "but you have not done much—and how your fingers tremble! How pale you are too! Surely you are not ill again, Miss Holte?" she added, impatiently.
"I am quite well," answered Hyacinth, coldly; and then with an iron will she put back the surging thoughts and memories that were gradually overcoming her. ”

“ No one should say Claude Lennox had loved in vain.
He was a strange mixture of vanity and generosity, of selfishness and chivalry. He loved her as much as it was in his nature to love any one. He felt for her; the descriptions she gave him of her life, its dull monotony, its dreary gloom, touched his heart. Then, too, his vanity was gratified; he knew that if he took such a peerlessly beautiful girl to London as his wife, she would be one of the most brilliant queens of society. ”

“ Lady Vaughan says 'life is made for duty.' Is that all, Claude? One could do one's duty without the light of the sunshine and the fragrance of flowers. Why need the birds sing so sweetly and the blossoms wear a thousand different colors? If life is meant for nothing but plain, dull duty, we do not need starlit nights and dewy evenings, the calm of green woods and the music of the waves. It seems to me that life is meant as much for beauty as for duty. ”

“ No place is safe here. For I would not drag him down—my noble, princely Adrian, who has searched for me, sorrowed for me, and who loves me still. I would not let him link his noble life with mine; the name that he bears must not be sullied by me. It shall not be said of the noblest of his race that he married a girl who had compromised herself. People shall not point to his wife and say, 'She was the girl who was talked about in the murder case.' Ah, no, my darling, I will save you from yourself—I will save you from the degradation of marrying me! ”

“ Adrian—he was still her only thought. When she was sitting at times, by the sea-shore, with the child playing on the sands, she would utter his name aloud for the sake of hearing its music.
"Adrian," she would say; and a light that was wonderful to see would come over the lovely face. "Adrian," the winds and waves would seem to re-echo; and she would bend forward, the better, as she thought, to hear the music of the name.
"Mamma," said Veronica to Lady Dartelle one day, "I think you have done a very foolish thing."
"What is that, my dear?" ”

“ Wave after wave of anguish rolled over her soul—pain after pain, each bitter and keen as death, pierced her heart. Then the great waves seemed to roll back, and one thought stood clearly before her.
He from whom she had fled in sorrowful dismay—he whom she loved more dearly than her own life—he whose contempt and just disdain she had incurred—was coming to Hulme Abbey. She said the words over and over again to herself. "Adrian is coming—Heaven help and pity me, Adrian is coming!" Great drops stood on her white brow, her whole body trembled as a leaf trembles in the wind. ”

“ The old people returned, and Lady Vaughan moistened the pallid brow and colorless lips. Again that moan came, the girl moved, and presently the white lips parted with a sigh, and the eyes opened with a look of terror in them which Adrian never forgot.
"I am so frightened!" she said.
"My darling!" cried Adrian, "I am sorry you heard anything about it. Why need you be frightened?"
"I am shocked," she said, and the ghastly fear deepened in her eyes.
"Of course you are—one so young, so fair, so gentle. The very word 'murder' is enough to terrify you." ”

“ No queen ever had one more regal. The Vaughans are a proud old race. There has never been even the faintest slur or shadow resting on any one who bore the name; and the highest praise that I can give you is that you are worthy to bear it."
Adrian did not know why the fair young head was bent in such lowly humility, why such passionate sobs rose to the girl's lips as he raised her and held her for a moment in his arms.
"Go to your room, Hyacinth, and remove all traces of tears," said Lady Vaughan. "We must be glad, not sorry, this evening—it is your betrothal night. ”

“ It was Valentine's Day—in after-years Hyacinth remembered every incident of it—Clara had complained of not feeling well, and they had gone out into the woods—the governess and child. They sat down near a brook on some moss-covered stones. The child was unconsciously a poet in her way.
"Miss Holte," she said, suddenly, "do you never pity the flowers for being obliged to hide so long in the dark cold earth? How they must be longing for sunshine and for spring! It is just as though they were in prison, and the sun is the good fairy that lets them out." ”

“ Over the glowing dream of the morning the name of Adrian Darcy seemed to fall like the breath of a cold east wind over flowers. She had for the time almost forgotten him, and at the sound of his name a whole host of disagreeable memories arose.
"Never mind," she said to herself; "they cannot force me to marry him against my will. I can tell him I do not like him." She went away, with smiles on her lips and music in her heart, to change her dress, as Lady Vaughan had desired. A surprise awaited her in her room; Pincott, Lady Vaughan's maid, was standing before a large trunk. ”

“ Hyacinth took it, wondering very much what was coming.
"My dear Hyacinth," she began; "you are growing up now; you will be quite a woman soon; and it is time you knew what Sir Arthur and I have planned for you."
She did not feel much interest in learning what it was—something intolerably dull it was sure to be.
"You know," continued Lady Vaughan, "there has never been the least deception used toward you. You are the only child of our only son; but it has never been understood that you were to be heiress of the Chase."
"I should not like to have the Chase," said Hyacinth timidly. ”

“ Let the little child's governess remain in peace, Aubrey. Straight ways are the best ways."
"You are a good fellow," returned the young baronet, easily touched by good advice. "I should like to see you happier, Adrian."
"I shall live my life," said Lord Chandon—and his voice was full of pathos—"do my duty, and die like a Christian, I hope; but my earthly happiness died when I lost my love." ”

“ I tell you, Claude, that sometimes I am frightened at myself—frightened that I shall do something very desperate. I am only just eighteen, and my heart is craving for what every one else has; yet it is denied me. I am eighteen, and I love life—oh, so dearly! I should like to be in the very midst of gayety and pleasure. I should like to dance and sing—to laugh and talk. ”