Mrs. Henry Wayland Chetwynd

“ Paul Lyons took his wife to Scotland, and to Inchbrae.
Grace saw for herself the clearness of the sea, the beauty of colouring—all the fitful charm which makes the Highlands so very lovely and so dear to its people.
"I think I know why you care for me," she said to Paul one day when they had been for a ramble, she on pony-back and he on foot beside her. "I understand, since I came here, how delightful it is never to know what to expect. I look out of my window in the morning and I see sunshine and blue sky, and a sea in which a thousand delicate colours melt and blend. ”

“ Margaret's tears were falling, but they were not tears of bitterness. Jean had touched a right chord. With the possibility of doing something, an incentive for action given, came a glow of warmer feeling for humanity. The selfishness of her sorrow grew less, and, as she once again knelt in prayer beside the flower-covered grave, she did not pray for herself only, for that meeting she longed for, but she prayed also for others, and rose up filled with a sincere hope that she might be a comfort and help to them in the future. ”

“ She flung herself upon her knees by Margaret, weeping passionately.
"Grace, there are only we two; let us love each other, and not drift into unkindness," whispered Margaret, and Grace checked her weeping and got up.
"Now tell me," she said, "what you mean, darling. In what way did his visit refer to me?"
"Mr. Drayton, it seems, to please me," began Margaret.... "No," she said, "I must put it to you truthfully. When I agreed to marry him I stipulated that out of his wealth he should provide for you in such a way that if I died or he died you should be beyond want." ”

“ No, Margaret is not getting over it. She never smiles, and at night she cries often. Lady Lyons, I do wish she would get over it; I do find it so terribly dull."
"I dare say," said Lady Lyons, without any show of sympathy.
"Day after day not a soul, save and except the doctor, and he is always in too great a hurry to be pleasant," and Grace gave a long sigh. "When I heard your name it was such a godsend. Do you know I positively have not spoken to a soul for days and days, except Margaret and that old Scotchwoman, who is stark staring mad on religious subjects." ”

“ I am happier since I have learned how to make others happy!"
She paused, folding her hands, and looking to Mrs. Dorriman like some fair saint, with her unclouded eyes and the sweet folded lips that were both grave and tender.
"Here there is poverty, sickness, and often sorrow," said Mrs. Dorriman; "but somehow, with these surroundings, poverty does not seem so grim."
"Here there are springs of water, fresh air and this," said Margaret, pointing to the river; "but in London, water is taxed even to the very poor, the very kindling of their fires is a difficulty. ”

“ It was only natural that she should become her own heroine, now she had no Grace to think of, and that all interest centred in herself.
Mrs. Dorriman spoiled and petted her. Jean thought her perfection; the people liked her manner, which was both gentle and courteous to them; and when they discovered that she was a "giving" lady their respect and affection rose to enthusiasm. The few outsiders knew that she had faced a tragedy; and the death of her child, her husband's insanity, everything combined to surround her with the halo of suffering, which sets a woman apart from other women. ”

“ Dorriman hurriedly swept away her tears that were blinding her, and gazed at Margaret with blank astonishment.
"A further injury, Margaret! What further injury can be left? I have suffered surely enough at his hands?"
"Oh!" exclaimed Margaret, passionately. "Do you not see—can you not feel—that if you allow this to rankle in your mind; if you allow the sweetness of your nature to be turned to gall; if your soul suffers, and that you say it is not possible to forgive—there will be a deeper injury?" ”

“ The garden near the house was in perfection, for, though spring flowers come late, they make up for it when they arrive—and roses and geraniums made bright colour, and caught the sunshine to enhance their beauty.
Mrs. Dorriman had felt much on arriving at the little place where she had gone through so much sorrow. Inchbrae, to her, was second to the old home, where she had many memories, but she loved it, and it was her very own, and the fact of possession gives a certain touch of pride in everything.
Christie had welcomed her with all the heartiness of an old Highland friend and dependent. ”

“ I hate poverty."
"Most people do, it seems a very great pity," said Lady Lyons, feelingly, with a sigh.
"I do not pretend to be like Margaret, I do care for pretty things. I think I love clothes," said Grace, reflectively; "and, what is more, I never intend marrying any one who is not as rich as rich can be!"
"I think you are quite right, my dear, quite right, and having no money of your own."
"But I have plenty of money of my own," and Grace opened her eyes very wide, "I mean I have as much as I want from Mr. Sandford, but I should like to be extravagant." ”

“ He rose, and, renewing his offers of service, left the room, with an overpowering amount of thanks from Grace.
"Tell me about your illness, now that man has gone. Have you been seriously ill—as ill as my mother thinks?"
"How can I possibly tell what your mother thinks?"
"Oh, Grace! do not trifle just now! I have known for a very long time that my whole happiness is bound up in you!"
"Margaret is free, remember."
"What does that matter? Why remind me that I once liked her best? Is a man never to change? ”

“ The high-strung note is oftenest the one that goes most out of tune; and the very vividness and gracefulness of fancy—that combination that makes a poet live in a world of his own—has often its darker side.
Margaret still, at times, lived through the old terrors, still fancied her child's voice called her. She was silent about these things. Every pang she suffered would be a remembrance to Grace. Grace, who was so softened and yet so bright, and who seemed to her to be so completely now the sister she had at one time imagined her to be. ”

“ The sun was capricious as a youthful beauty, now shining in all its glory and turning the rippling sea to gold, and then veiling himself behind those fleecy clouds that floated over the various peaks and crags. Margaret, throwing off the bonnet she only wore when she made expeditions to the little town, went bareheaded down the burn-side, anxious to face out her trouble and fight that battle with herself which her sister's letter rendered necessary. ”

“ Dorriman, putting her sentiment and tears upon one side as she saw that Margaret needed neither.
"What a delicious scent! What is it?" exclaimed Margaret, as the famous pony-carriage bowled along towards Inchbrae.
"The gorse in full bloom. There is nothing like it," answered the little lady, full of happiness now she had some one who could appreciate all these things at her side. "My own idea is that the breath of the sea and the scent of the gorse-flower and heather would make any one well; and I am so glad, dear—so glad you are here." ”

“ I am always so afraid of getting tired of my husband."
"Grace, please don't talk like this. I also have many faults; you do not think I am perfect, do you? We must make allowances for each other."
"I certainly do not think you perfect," said Grace, laughing a little, "but I do think you should reflect. Just think, Paul: a delicate wife, full of whims, not very attractive."
"Grace, you will drive me crazy if you go on in this way. I love you, dear, with all your whims, and all else, and you will get strong and well in Italy. Say plainly, and at once, that you will marry me." ”

“ Before Lady Lyons could arrange her ideas, and say what she wished about the legacy, Margaret had asked her point-blank if she would undertake the charge of Grace.
Lady Lyons was flattered and pleased, and, for a moment or two, did nothing but talk incoherently about the compliment.
"I do not think you need consider it a great compliment," said Margaret, smiling, "unless you feel that my good opinion is one. It is best to be frank, Lady Lyons; my sister is not strong, she is not equal to all she wishes to do, and I shall be much happier leaving her under your care than with a stranger." ”

“ Grace said, in a curious tone.
Sir Albert coloured, and said,
"It is pleasant when a character we admire is consistent."
"Margaret is very consistent."
"She is everything a high-minded woman should be," he answered, earnestly; "I am quite sure we agree in our ideas of her."
"Perhaps we do; but you express it better than I do: and my sister is too good for me. I admire her, but she is so far above me that there is not full sympathy between us."
"But there might be," he said, in his quiet voice; "to live with some one having a high aim must help one." ”

“ Margaret had suffered terribly; the suffering was healing under the influence of time, but leaving a vivid imagination. She lived much over again, she dwelt morbidly upon her own shortcomings, and she began to be dangerously near an all-absorbing selfishness.
There was one pleasure that never palled upon her—the effect of natural beauty is so different upon different temperaments. The freshness of a sea-bound coast, the tints of grey and green, the harmony of all, is felt by some who recognise the quickened circulation, and call it health-giving ”

“ No sea, rippling in smoothly, far away from the turbulence and strife, sheltered in the great arms of a bay nearly surrounding it, smiling there even when fierce and angry beyond the shelter, can possibly equal in grandeur the same sea crashing in against perpendicular rocks, dashing itself with terrific strength against an iron-bound coast, as though scorning the obstacles in front of it; and Margaret, her whole heart tender and sensitive to impressions of natural beauty, was carried out of herself by this new scene, so suddenly presented to her. ”

“ Margaret was infinitely pained. Apart as she was in feeling from Grace, she yet was conscious of a perpetual disappointment in connection with her character that seemed to chill her. And it was very wonderful, she thought, because Grace had been very ill and near the gates of the eternal life, and such an illness must be, in some ways, like a great sorrow, and must surely have made the trivial vanities of life seem trivial indeed. But, as she spoke of wealth, she must make her understand that she could not use any of his money, except in some way to help others in need of help. ”

“ The poor little woman, so suddenly reminded of what she had almost forgotten, felt as though some explosive substance had been thrown at her. In her bewilderment she stretched out the telegram to her brother, forgetting, at the moment, everything except the impulse of having his sympathy, then with a quick flash of remembrance she said, "I did not mean to show it," and held out her hand for it.
Too late! Mr. Sandford had read it, and now with angry and indignant eyes was watching her face. ”

“ No question of the day ever interested Grace. Lady Lyons never understood the question, and the injustice of women who have large control of money, and who contribute largely to the revenue in many ways and yet cannot give a vote, did not give her a pang. She knew that some women had made the subject ridiculous; she was afraid of ridicule, and she did not take the trouble of disentangling the question from the absurdities reared round it, and judging it on its own merits.
"I don't like being here at all," whispered Lady Lyons; "I am so afraid of being taken for a strong-minded woman." ”

“ I love her dearly, and I wish she was perfectly happy."
"I think she is a dear old thing," answered Grace; "but she always puts me in mind of some ivy or creeper that the wind has blown away from its support. She is one of the women who must have somebody to cling to, even if that somebody be tyranical and harsh like her brother."
"Yet, in his own way, he has been kind to us."
"Very much in his own way," said Grace, resentfully.
"I have a fancy about Mr. Sandford," Margaret said rather dreamily.
"You have generally nice fancies about most people, darling; tell your fancy to me." ”

“ I suppose I do, but do you know, Margaret, that since I am happier, I mean since I have had so much affection from my husband and not felt like a boat without oars or rudder, or whatever the thing is that steers it, I feel ever so much kinder about every body—even about him. I am quite convinced that if somebody left me a large fortune I should become a striking instance of overpowering amiability. ”

“ In these days unless adventures take the disagreeable form of accidents, nothing is likely to arise in a journey between the north of Scotland and the south of England to mar the serenity of one's temper.
Grace, carefully cherished all the way, travelled with supreme satisfaction. She saw in the distance, not very far off, happiness for Margaret. She grew more fond of her husband each day, in return for the affection he lavished upon her, and she had none of the anxieties to which she had once been no stranger. ”

“ Mrs. Dorriman's delicate face flushed a little. "Margaret offers to come," she said after a little pause.
"I find business tires me more and more," he said, as it seemed to her, irrelevantly.
"I am sorry," she answered, looking a little anxiously in his direction.
"Why should we not all go to your house," he asked, as though putting the plainest and simplest question in the world.
"To Inchbrae! Oh, brother!" This sudden suggestion filled her with such intense happiness that she could get no further.
"I want Margaret to get well and I mean to resign my chairmanship and other things. ”

“ After standing very long in a terrible draught, some one asked the name, and "Lady Lyons's carriage, no servant!" was shouted up and down the street.
Grace burst out laughing, but Lady Lyons, who saw nothing funny in any part of the evening's entertainment, subsided in a heap in the corner of the brougham and wept.
In spite of this, Grace persisted in going to the few things offered her.
"I cannot understand your caring for going out; you never meet a soul you know. Why do you go?" cried poor Lady Lyons at last. ”

“ Wymans! Oh, do you know what you are saying!"
"You know nothing?"
"I know nothing about the child, and," taking sudden courage at the thought, "Jean, my old servant, wrote to me, and Grace—Miss Rivers—telegraphed, 'Mr. Drayton is ill,' that is all. There is nothing more."
"There is a great deal more. But, my dear Mrs. Dorriman, pray compose yourself; pray do not excite yourself. Mr. Drayton is ill, that is true, but has no one told you anything else?"
"What more can any one have to say?" Mrs. Dorriman asked, struggling for self-command, and feeling as though it was beyond her. ”

“ She locked her door and once again read Margaret's affectionate, earnest letter.
After discussing the news of her marriage she said,
"Now, Grace, my darling, I want you to think, think more prayerfully than I did, about this. If you do not love Paul Lyons, do not mind the disagreeable speeches that may be made, but do not go on with it. Far better to bear angry words now than to marry without love. I would come to you, darling, at a moment's notice, and I could make a home for you somewhere, only do not do this. ”