G. P. R. James

“ I am to leave Wilton this very night."
"This is cruel, indeed!" cried Arabella; and the tears ran rapidly from her eyes, while William Seymour held both her hands in his, and gazed upon that fair but sorrowful face with looks of love and deep emotion.
"It is, indeed, cruel," he said, "and no less cruel than unjust. But what can I do, Arabella?--I have no power to resist. If I refuse to go, a thousand to one, I find my way into the Tower. Pretences are never wanting in these days, and the liberty of Englishmen seems but to have become an idle name. I care not, indeed, for quitting England. ”

“ I wish to Heaven, my Lord----"
"Hush," cried Rochester, laughing, and taking him by the collar, "not a word, or I will strangle you. She is the most charming creature in the whole world; beauty, wit, grace, everything--I can no more give her up than I can fly."
"I do not ask you to give her up, my Lord;" replied Sir Thomas Overbury, whose morality was not very nice. "I only wish you to be more careful. For a light love affair like this, you will never think of marring your whole fortunes; and if you do not mend the rashness of your passion, you will do so. ”

“ This is a blessing!" cried Arabella; "now I am ready to die. Speak to me, Seymour! Speak to your Arabella!"
But Seymour could not; for he had buried his eyes upon her bosom, and tears drowned all utterance.
"Nay," she continued, "nay, Seymour, do not grieve so bitterly! I am happy and contented now I have seen you once more! God has heard my anxious prayer. I have nothing more to look for in life; I am ready to obey His summons."
"Oh, live, live! my Arabella!" cried Seymour, raising his head and kissing her eagerly; "live yet for happiness! ”

“ We will go watch the rivulet that dances along, like the course of a happy life, sparkling as it goes, to find repose, at length, in the bosom of that vast, immeasurable ocean, where all streams end.--Nay, not a word more, if you love me!"
"I do! I do!" cried William Seymour, pressing his eager and burning lips upon her hand,--"I do! I do, Arabella! better than anything else on earth."
"Well, then, peace!" she said, "peace! for your sake and for mine; for nothing is so hopeless on earth as the love we feel." ”

“ Her companion cast a quick glance around the room to see that no one was near, and then replied in a low but emphatic tone, "I hope not--I hope not."
The blood came up into the lady's cheek, and after gazing in his face for an instant, she cast down her eyes again, and remained silent. Several of the dishes were removed, now others put upon the table; and then, as if accidentally, both the landlord and the serving-man quitted the room.
"How strange are the events of life," said the Baron de Mardyke.
"They are indeed," answered the Lady Arabella, "almost as strange as man's own heart." ”

“ Arabella looked round, but the mate whom her heart would have fondly sought for that hour, or for the whole of life, was not near; and, fixing hastily upon good Sir Harry West, she advanced to the place where he stood, saying, "Come, my dear good friend, the Queen wills that I choose a partner for the evening's gossip, and so I will inflict myself on you."
"Alas, lady," replied the old knight, walking on by her side; "you might have chosen a younger and a gayer heart."
"A younger, but not a gayer," replied Arabella, in a cheerful tone; "for we will be as merry as skylarks together. ”

“ Then gazing in the lady's face, he exclaimed, "Oh, Arabella! Have you ever given encouragement to such designs as these?"
"Never, never!" cried Arabella, "not even in my most secret thoughts."
"There may be men," continued Seymour, in a musing tone, "who think that in offering you a crown they would increase your happiness; and had I one to bestow, out of all the world I would choose you to wear it. But far, far rather, did I possess one myself, would I lay it down to share with you a humbler and a happier lot than raise you to the golden misery which ever rests upon a throne. ”

“ Here is the Earl of Devonshire breaks down the noblest name that any man in his own day has created for himself, and all for what?--A harlot!"
"Oh, name her not," exclaimed Seymour, indignantly, "name her not in the same breath with Arabella. If that woman be not worth--as she is not--the lightest thought of an honourable man, she whom I love is surely, by her virtues as well as graces, an object for which any man might sacrifice the highest fortunes of the world without a sign. What is it that we seek on earth, but happiness, Sir Harry? ”

“ How eagerly did I watch and inquire for any tidings respecting you; and then, when I heard that you were taken, I trembled lest they should debar me from seeing you."
"But how came they to send you?" asked Arabella; "it is indeed an act of favour which I did not expect."
"Why, lady, the King has deceived himself entirely respecting me," replied the fair Italian. "It is his own doing; for I said not one word to mislead him, though I took good care not to contradict him."
"You were wise," said Arabella; "he is not one to bear opposition. ”

“ I love you not at all, and never shall. 'Tis but your vanity that makes you believe so."
"Nay, I call all these trees to witness," cried Rochester, "of what you acknowledged half an hour ago."
"Oh, women will say what they do not mean," replied the Countess. "I hope no one but the trees did hear me; for I would not have too many witnesses to such a falsehood.--And so you showed the letter to Sir Thomas Overbury, and he it was, I suppose, who said I had written it?"
"No," replied Rochester, "he divined that you were the person spoken of; but he said that it was a man's hand." ”

“ I have a right, the right of true affection, the right of pledged and plighted faith, the right, if you will, of sorrow and suffering--and by that right, I ask you, William Seymour, what is it that has changed you thus?"
"Nay, Arabella," he replied, "'tis not I am changed--'tis you."
"Hush," she said, "here are people coming near;" but the other group passed without noticing them; and she then added, "I will be coarse with you, Seymour, and speak boldly, what no man, I think, would dare to say, that you tell a falsehood. I am not changed." ”

“ There had been a long, silent pause, after some words of common courtesy; a pause such as takes place when people feel and know that they are upon the eve of things which may affect their whole future life. Arabella was anxious to say something upon matters totally indifferent to them both; but, busy with deeper thoughts, could find no such indifferent topic. Seymour, on the contrary, longed to talk of thoughts and feelings which had rested in his heart unchanged since last he saw her, but hesitated how to begin, lest the very first word should alarm her. ”

“ Grief has no power to move
The heart of man alone."
"Now run away, Ida, and fetch me a book," said Arabella; "I must not let such thoughts stir within me any more; they render me discontented, dear girl; and, they say, a contented heart makes a garden of a wilderness."
"Ay, dear lady," answered Ida Mara, with a sigh; "but it is hard work first plucking up the thorns. You have no books but those you have read often;--which shall I bring you?"
"Run to Sir Gervase Elways," said Arabella, "and ask him to lend me something new. ”

“ You do not suppose that if the Duke of York were of age sufficient, he would hesitate to extinguish the claims of the Lady Arabella, by a union with his own son? Does he consider you as less than his son? Has he not often declared that he regards you as his own child? Does he not, in fact, love you infinitely more than any of his own children?--Nay, to speak boldly and openly to one who, I know, will not betray me, you are right well assured that there is no principle of justice, no maxim of state policy, that he would not violate to give you pleasure. ”

“ I have all my life been the devoted servant of bright eyes. 'Tis but that I have loved them all so well, I never could be such a niggard of my heart as to bind myself to one; and, as to instruments of music--that sweetest of all the many modes of poetry--though virginals, God bless the mark! with their dull tinkling, I have none, yet I possess a lute in my own chamber, such as all the rest of England cannot boast, framed with great skill in Venice, by the famous Mallesini, who taught me how to use it, too, when I was in the City of the Sea, and used to serenade all the Venetian dames. ”

“ Will you aid me, noble Sir?"
"With my heart, hand, and means," said Sir Harry West; "for this cruel tyranny of the King, towards so sweet and unoffending a lady, justifies what would be otherwise unjustifiable, to thwart him. What is to be done, my good friend?"
"Much," answered Markham, "very much; and we must divide the labour. I dare not show myself amongst the great of the land; so you, Sir Harry, must see Lord Beauchamp, and the Earls of Hertford and Shrewsbury; they must furnish us with men, horses, and money. ”

“ Such cold indifference never won a love-suit yet--I cannot believe he will fail, with every advantage of person, youth, grace and beauty--the King's favour--her only chance of marriage?--No, no, no! he cannot fail, that is impossible;" and sitting down, he leant his head upon his hand, in thought.
Two minutes after, however, Lord Rochester returned. "I cannot find her," he said; "I saw her pretty Italian girl; and, by my life! the maid's as lovely as the mistress.--I should not dislike to have such a fair lute-player myself." ”

“ Overbury smiled; "You have a right humble opinion of yourself, my Lord of Rochester," he said, "to compare yourself to Northumberland's clumsy boy, who courted the lady with large eyes and an open mouth, like the whale that swallowed Jonas in the picture. No, no, a woman's heart is like a magazine of powder, well defended and difficult to be got at, but when once reached, ready to take fire in a minute. You must work by the sap and mine, my Lord, and I can assure you the ground is not so hard and rocky as you think. ”

“ But it was a boy-like error, Sir Harry. The first rumour that met me showed that time, as well as fortune, changes favour; and all that I have seen this night, makes me think that everything on earth is, as the Jewish King has said, lighter than vanity."
"Something like your own complaint, sweet lady," said Sir Harry West; "a moment ago you were painting the world in the same gloomy colours."
"I said," replied Arabella, "that there is nothing on earth worth sighing for--and, in truth, I think so still; for the events we long for most eagerly, generally end in disappointment or anguish." ”

“ If a lover would please me, he fixes on my fine points, as a jockey describing his horse. My eyes are certain to put out the stars. It is my lip that makes the roses blush with envy. Pearls have quite lost their price, since my teeth came to court; and sculptors are quite ruined in alabaster, trying to imitate my skin. Fie, fie, Sir Harry! If she be beautiful, she must be an angel."
"She has not made her husband think so," replied Sir Harry West. "But here comes another to join us--my young friend, William Seymour. Will you fly from him, too, lady? ”

“ You know Mr. Crompton; he is a gentleman of good family, of honour, and high principles--kind and generous in heart, and, though not very wealthy, has sufficient for happiness. Often having seen you with the Lady Arabella, and deeply touched with those high qualities which you have displayed towards her, and, indeed, towards every one, he asks your hand."
"Oh, no, no, no!" cried Ida Mara, with all her Italian eagerness; "tell him, I beseech you, Sir Harry, I am unworthy of the honour he intends me. ”

“ I am a gentleman, the brother of Lord Cobham."
"Gentle or not gentle," replied the constable, "lord or no lord, I am sent to comprehend you, and, please God, so I will, for enticing the girl away from her master. Draw your sword against the law, if you dare. All you standers-by, I charge you in the King's name, give me help. You see he has got his sword out, and may do me a damage."
"You had better go quietly," said Sir Harry West; "it is your duty not to resist the civil power."
"I have no time, Sir Harry, to spend upon such fooleries," said George Brooke; "I am in haste for London, sir." ”

“ I practise nought against the life of Essex, though Heaven knows I have hated him enough. But to dread is different--to live in continual fear of what a fellow being may say--to know that our secrets are at the mercy of an enemy--to see him strive to curb us at his will, like a groom upon a managed horse, because he has got the bridle of fear between our jaws, is not an existence to be tolerated for an hour. Fling me, I say, such a rider to the dust and break his neck, or you are not half a man. This letter, this base and insolent letter, is his death-warrant! ”

“ I never knew any one that would not help you; you get round everybody's heart; and my poor master is half mad at being made your gaoler. You have nothing to do but to command; I will obey you, without one care for the rest."
Arabella covered her eyes with her hands, and burst into a violent and sobbing fit of tears; for the words of affection and kindness, in moments of deep sorrow and anxiety, seem, by their gentle touch, to unfetter the strongest feelings of the heart, and leave them to break forth in unrestrained emotion. ”

“ Overbury gazed in his face for a single instant, and then replied, "I am happy to hear it, my good lord; for the man who counselled this did no friendly act to one who has ever striven to serve you."
"'Tis most likely the king's own act," replied Rochester. "You know how often he determines on such things himself. But what is it, Overbury? It cannot be so bad as you seem to think."
"As bad as may be, my good lord," answered the knight; "it is a sentence of banishment--ay, and worse than the banishment of any ordinary criminal. ”

“ But come, Seymour, let us go--they will think that we stay long."
"Nay, nay, dear Arabella," replied her lover; "the consciousness of our own happiness makes us often think that others see through the disguises we assume to conceal it. Let us not even lose a minute of the time during which we may be to each other Arabella Stuart and William Seymour. The time will come soon enough to be Madam and Sir again. They who know not when or how we met, will not look at the clock to see how long we have been together." ”