J. A. Brendon

“ Indeed, Richard was more than forty, Isabel nearly thirty years of age. Surely they were old enough to choose for themselves.
This was Burton's contention. But Isabel did not know what to say. She adored her mother, and hated the idea of acting contrary to her wishes. And thus, while she wavered between love and duty, another lingering year elapsed.
To Burton this state of affairs proved she had not been in the house long, intolerable. His was not a sympathetic however, before she happened to pick up
nature. ”

“ Love and its sorrow were her own secrets.
In August, 1857, she set out, with Blanche, her married sister, on a prolonged tour through Europe. This broke the weary monotony of waiting. The wandering instinct was strong within her. She enjoyed every moment of her travels. They wanted but one thing to make her happiness complete only Richard. His absence was the chord upon which, in her diary, she harped incessantly. ”

“ It was only natural, therefore, that her mother should wish her to marry a man who shared that faith. But Mrs. Arundell was not so bigoted as to make religion an obstacle to happiness. Had Burton been a Protestant, had he even conformed to any Church, she would have welcomed him as a son-in-law. She liked him; he interested her. But, she maintained, to allow Isabel to marry a man who had no religion, who was frankly an agnostic, would not merely be wrong but criminal. ”

“ Burton was merely an interesting genius whom everybody liked, but whom nobody understood. He had neither means nor position ; his sole asset was a tremendous and fascinating personality. Would any mother dare to entrust her daughter to the care of such a man?
Nothing, therefore, was to be gained by announcing the engagement until Burton should return from his expedition to Central Africa, three, possibly four, years hence. Indeed, by doing so, they would only mar the few weeks of happiness still before them, and would make life still more difficult for Isabel during her lover's absence. ”

“ She was a dazzling débutante, very different from the bored, artificial, husband-seeking girls around her. Isabel frankly enjoyed her pleasures; she had no thoughts of matrimony. And her beauty, wit, and originality assured her of success.
Her diary is full of interesting observations. For the men of London she had neither respect nor admiration. The little gods of society, for whom these other women pined, to her were merely playthings. "Mannikins," she called them; "animated tailors' dummies!" "'T'is man's place to do great deeds!" ”

“ No white woman could live in such a place. But, none the less, Burton accepted the offer, and went out alone. Isabel allowed him no alternative. It was her wish, she declared, to be a help to him, not a handicap. Besides, she maintained, to climb the official ladder, it was necessary to begin on the lowest rung.
For the sake of his career, therefore, she cheerfully sacrificed immediate happiness. Only to herself did she admit the bitterness of her disappointment. " One's husband in a place where I am not allowed to go, and I living with my mother like a girl," she wrote in her diary. ”

“ He is a man who owns something more than a body. He has a head and heart, a mind and soul. . . . Such a man only will I wed! . . . If I find such a man, and afterwards discover that he is not for me, I will never marry. . . . I will become a sister of charity of St. Vincent de Paul."
But she found him sooner than she could have dared even to hope, and in appearance he tallied exactly with the hero of her visions. It was at Boulogne. The Arundells repaired thither at the close of the London season to economise. ”

“ On this point both he and Isabel agreed.
But for the woman the task of waiting was harder than for the man. He was going to a life of activity, danger, and adventure. But she she had nought to do save think, and fret and fear. " He is gone," she told her diary in it alone could she confide "but had I the chance now, I would give years of my life to hear that dear voice again, with all its devilry." But, not only the voice, even the pen was dumb. News per-force was scant and rare. Burton's road lay through wild parts ; he had but few facilities for posting. This Isabel knew. ”

“ Yes Richard was her destiny. She would marry him as soon as he returned; she would hesitate no longer.
But she was to be a poor man's wife. The husband of her choice was a true adventurer. His castle was a tent, his park an illimitable desert. His wife, therefore, must not allow herself to be a hindrance to him. She must be a true helpmate ; she must fit herself to live his life. This
a copy of the " Times," which had just arrived. She glanced at the paper casually, and there, to her astonishment, saw a paragraph which announced that Captain Burton had returned that morning from America. ”

“ He is a soldier and a man; he is accustomed to command, and to be obeyed. He frowns on the ordinary affairs of life, but his face always lights up warmly for me. In his dress he never adopts the fopperies of the day. ”

“ His religion is like my own free, liberal, and generous-minded. He is by no means indifferent on the subject, as most men are, and even if he does not conform to any Church, he will serve God from his innate duty and sense of honour. ”

“ And then Isabel remembered the words of Hagar, "You will bear the name of our tribe, and be right proud of it."
Richard Burton was ten years older than Isabel, and already had served, and served with distinction, for several years in India, first in a regiment of native infantry, and later on Sir Charles Napier's staff. During this time he had devoted his energies unceasingly to the study of Oriental languages and Oriental customs, and in consequence was known throughout India as "the white nigger." ”

“ I told him I did not think much of the young men of the day. 'There, now,' he answered, 'drink of the spring nearest you, and be thankful. By being fastidious you will get nothing.'"
But Isabel refused to drink of the nearest spring. Her ideal was not to be found in this world of society. She would not join it, therefore. She was "determined to marry the man of her imaginings, or nobody. Amid the whirl and gaiety of the season she described him in her diary.
The Ideal He "is about six feet in height," she wrote, "he has not an ounce of fat on him ”

“ Every obstacle will rise up against you, and such a combination of circumstances, that it will require all your courage, energy, and intelligence to meet them. "Your life will be like one swimming against big waves ”

“ And with this Isabel's brothers and sisters agreed, but Mrs. Arundell was obdurate ; she refused to yield an inch.
Isabel, therefore, consulted Cardinal Wise- man, and laid all the facts of the case before him. He listened sympathetically, and, when she had finished her story, told her to leave the matter in his hands. Then he sent for Burton, and questioned him closely. " Practise her religion, indeed ! " said the latter, undaunted by the cross-examination. " I should rather think she shall. A man without a religion may be excused, but a woman without a religion is not the woman fcr me." ”