Various

“ Arrived at Boston, we met the kind faces of friends, how kind and how dear, we never feel till an ocean has separated us, and soon found ourselves quietly established at my own residence, as if not a week had passed since I was last there. Claire gained in a northern climate all she needed to make her perfect—strength of body, and consequent strength of mind. She was never weary of the bold natural scenery in which New England abounds, and wandered and climbed till I used to beg her to take care of herself for my sake.
All this time I had a plot in my head. For what woman was ever without one? ”

“ Flowers never look so well in mine.”
“Dear Magda, how can you envy me, with your beautiful, light, braided hair? Do you know, last night, I thought you looked like an old Grecian statue, with your fine features, and tall, fine figure; and you spoke to every one with so much ease and self-possession.”
“There, now! Franzchen. You are running away again from all common sense, into the crazy region of your imagination. Do not try to make a heroine of me, I beseech you, or expect me to take all your fancies for realities. But it is growing late. I hope you are not too romantic to eat any supper.” ”

“ Even the unwonted laugh of Clare was echoing merrily, as if my absence kindled a fire of joy in her bosom of ice; and my jealous heart told me she was happy, because of the attentions of Col. Dudley. I could not endure the thought of his wasting upon her one smile—one word beyond those of common civility. Very, very wicked was I on that bed of sickness; for every time I could hear the voice of Mrs. Dudley calling upon my cousin, in a gladdened tone, I would half utter aloud, “Yes! that vile old woman is satisfied now. She thinks he will love that icicle—that automaton.” ”

“ It had been a grievous change from heaven’s angels, but that I found one of mercy on earth.”
“Very little like an angel,” said Sister Martha, with a smile; “but tell me now, how the angels look.”
“That is just what I cannot do,” said Clara, “no more than I can tell how the soul looks that beams in your eye, but is not your eye,—how the tears well up from your tender heart, and soften but do not suffuse. Ah! with what body do they come? Something that without seeing, we love, and before which, body, and feature, and form, even in this life melt away. ”

“ The starry heavens, and the green vale were faithfully delineated—a young girl, in the pride of successful beauty, leaned against an open window—and he livingly portrayed the peerless loveliness of the embodiment of his young ideal.
Before her knelt a youth wearing the features of the artist himself, but so changed—so full of the anguish of a broken spirit, that one glance revealed the history of his slighted love and maddened heart.
Mervin went forth from that apartment with faltering steps, and the cold dew of agony upon his brow. How he reached his home he knew not. ”

“ So saying, he drew the old man to a seat under the lindens, and sat down. His heart, overflowing with gratitude for the blessing of his renewed health, poured itself out toward the stranger in words so full of sympathy that they seemed half to provoke a spark of kindliness in the stranger’s breast.
“By heaven!” he cried, “you are the most endurable man I have yet met with in my wretched life, and ten times better than I. Is it so? Can I find such a thing as a friend?”
“It is certain,” said Seidelman; “I am your friend.” ”

“ My uncle I love; but—my Cousin Clare is so strange. Can she love, or is she like one of those incomprehensible characters of whom I have read, who keep all those feelings hidden deep within their heart of hearts, until they die away of themselves, leaving them in reality as callous as she now seems to me. I have tried to settle myself to my usual employments. I sew, I read, and tune my guitar occasionally; and often wander out, with my books, into those grand old woods around Alton, and sitting there under their deep, dark shadows, find companionship in my thoughts. ”

“ Heavens! there on the back seat, between the two bold, gaudy ladies, sat—the gambler. As the lightning illumines the dark night, did the truth flash upon Theodora’s mind. The faithful lover who had pursued her carriage, and from whom she had so unrelentingly fled, could not be identical with the man whom they had just seen apparently returning from some nightly revel. The resemblance was indeed wonderful, but it was only a resemblance.
“Oh, Robert, Robert!” sobbed the unhappy girl, “how wretched I am.”
“Trust in God, dear child,” said her father; “all is for the best. ”

“ As I entered the parlor yesterday, in the dim twilight, softly—for I was thinking sadly, as I am wont now—I heard Mrs. Dudley say to Clare, “Depend on it, Hugh Dudley will not marry HER at least.” I do not think she saw me; but Clare’s cold eyes rested on me with a most malignant glance, as I quickly drew back, ere they should be aware of my entrance. I know, oh, heart of mine! how foolish ’tis for me to grieve. Is this the confidence I have in his love—his vows—his honor—to be thus shaken for one moment by the assertions of an evil-minded and plotting old woman, who manifestly hates me. ”

“ He never dreamed that he loved Annie until he found that she was essential to his existence. For the first time he knew what true love was. He found that it was not the sensual flush of passion, such as warmed him under the hot beauty of Dora—that it was not the fever of the imagination which diseased him under the moonlight of Marie. He found that love was not a passion but a feeling; was not a fit but a condition; was not a hot flush of blood, but the quick, even, everlasting flow of the heart’s tide, giving health and life to the whole man. ”

“ Intimate companionship with a friend, you know, has a tendency to dwindle him in our eyes. Don’t misunderstand! Intimacy with such a man as Charles Bell makes one love and prize him more and more—but does not make one think more and more that such a man is suited to be a grave and reserved Senator. It is just as it is with the Swiss peasant whose cabin is on a side of Mont Blanc—the hoary old mountain does not appear a tithe so sublime to him as it does to some traveler in the distance. ”

“ Within a year after our acquaintance he was recognized by my parents as my future husband, and then I saw naught but smiles and sunshine before me; then I thought, in the weakness of my heart, I had attained the summit of human happiness, and could defy misfortune.
As time flew on, the dark clouds of the Revolution advanced. It was now evident to every observing eye that a fearful storm was at hand. The most hair-brained courtier, strutting through the balconies of Versailles, heard the distant rumblings of the coming thunder and stood aghast. ”

“ What I mean by thinking is not the process of putting two or three ideas together, which commences with a child as soon as it has two or three ideas to put, but an operation of the mind, in which all the mind’s servants are called upon to bear a part—where imagination comes to aid reason, and memory and observation bring the materials, and judgment measures the work. We all must have felt, in looking back upon our past life, that there has been a certain period at which flood-gates, as it were, have been opened suddenly, and a torrent of thought has flowed in upon us. ”

“ Tears came in the young lady’s eyes, but she did not dare to trust her voice, and Arthur proceeded.
“There is not a more solitary being in the world than myself, for I do not know that I have a relation, and yet there is no one that so ardently desires the love and sympathy of kindred. With a heart thus alive to tender emotions, judge, therefore, dear Miss Gordon, how impossible it is not to admire the beauty, talent, and excellence of the lovely being who honors me with her confidence. ”

“ Women are tender-hearted, and Mrs. May was as weak as the rest of her sex; so she pitied Arthur, and talked over her feelings before one of her boarders, a surly, ugly old man, who never opened his lips without finding fault, and who was always watching Arthur from the corner of his eye.
“Good enough for him—better than he deserves, Mrs. May,” said Mr. Crosbie, “a rolling stone gathers no moss; why, the wealth of the Indies would not stick to such a squib—here, there and every where. To my knowledge he has changed places twice or thrice a year ever since he was fourteen years old.” ”

“ He took a long walk, and returned more elevated, more grateful and humble than ever, it was a perfect fairy-land all around, and why should the foolish manners of the inmates of the house disturb his tranquillity. He strove to keep the thought uppermost that it was to these very eccentric people he owed his happiness, so he was shown to the breakfast-room with feelings disposed to submit to what, under other circumstances, would be so difficult to bear.
Miss Gordon was already there, and to Arthur’s surprise and confusion, she held out her hand with a kind good-morning and a pleasant smile. ”

“ As Franzchen stood waiting, she saw the count looking for Magda, who was already walking with Baron Logrum. As he turned away disappointed, he noticed her standing alone, and hastened to beg the honor of conducting her.
She desired nothing more than the opportunity of becoming acquainted with him; and although at first she stood a little in awe of him, she had a natural gift at making herself at home with every one, and inducing them to talk. But the count was no difficult subject. He spoke with the ease of an intelligent, well educated man, and the wit of a young and lively one. ”

“ What can all this mean, thought Arthur; surely the Herman family are a little deranged. Pride and wealth have caused them to act thus strangely. Heaven grant that Grace Gordon has none of their blood in her veins.
As this thought passed through his mind, he heard the clear, gay laugh of his old acquaintance. For he now was convinced that it was the Mr. Herman he formerly knew, and whom he had seen that morning. He sprang to a door, which stood partly open, and there, to his surprise, he saw, not Mr. Herman, but Godfried Darg, and his two dogs, Barker and Growler. ”

“ I loved Father Bonneville sincerely. I loved good Jeanette, too, sincerely; but with another sort of love—rather, I suspect, with that peculiar kind of affection with which a child regards a doll, the head of which has been knocked upon the door till it has neither nose nor eyes. Assuredly I had not deprived the good housekeeper of those serviceable features, but I had misused her tenderness, and teazed her till I loved devotedly that which I teazed. I loved them both, then, and well I might; for two better people never existed. ”

“ Julia was born to be admired: she had been educated to glitter in the sphere of fashion, and understood her own position too well to allow her feelings to become interested in a mere flirtation with an obscure artist.
The young painter was full of genius and enthusiasm; the walls of his studio were ornamented with sybils, angels, and Madonnas, in each of which might be recognized a striking resemblance to the face of his young love, and his passionate soul poured forth his adoration in “thoughts that breathe and words that burn.” ”

“ The truth is, Julia, you have flirted with Herbert long enough, and he thinks you have not treated him quite well. If I make such an appeal to him, his cold temper will be roused, and he will be off altogether, which would be a misfortune of no common magnitude; for I must tell you that there is not the least chance that I shall ever be able to pay a fraction of this money; and only as the husband of my daughter can I prevent him from taking such steps as will ruin me at once. On one hand, it is a choice of poverty to all you love, and on the other, a good husband with plenty of money. ”

“ It seems that my heart is opening in love, to the whole world. I could even take Mrs. Dudley with the kindest affection to it, if she would allow me; but why or wherefore she dislikes me, and will manifest that feeling for me. Even my perceptions of the beautiful have grown so much the more lively; and the meanest thing of earth—the mossy trunk—the cloudlet—the sky—the stream—the wild-flower—are all floating in an atmosphere of light and beauty. And why is all this? Oh! my proud heart, you are now satisfied; and you can answer, why this ecstatic feeling. I love and I am loved! ”

“ There he sat in the great arm-chair, while without the birds were singing, the lindens in full leaf, the little six-years-old Paul was exercising a troop of wooden soldiers, the gentle Hermine dancing merrily, and in a distant part of the garden the beautiful Theodora was walking with her youngest brother, the little pet, Ernst. Indeed, the worthy Seidelman might well be happy, surrounded by all these treasures. But he was bowed down by disease, not of mind, but of body; and he was very poor, though that was no one’s fault but his own. ”

“ Hazerelle! Well, if you call a twelvemonth short, be it so,” said she. “Why, did you suppose I could thoroughly understand the German language in less time than that?”
“In less than a twelvemonth! Yes, in less than three months you will be able to speak and read fluently; there is no fear of your being a dull scholar. It would be my interest to find you obtuse of intellect, for to live and breathe in this atmosphere is a happiness I never expected to enjoy—the library itself is full compensation for more of my time than I so freely give to you.” ”

“ Her native strength of wing has already carried her mind beyond what my feeble flights can follow. She soars to regions of purity and peace, where my soul cannot revel, unless after long years of penance and suffering. She loves the ideal parent, who is to her the personification of all virtue; and it is impossible, and ought to be so, for me to sully her thoughts with the reality which to her must always be a source of disappointment and mortification, and to me inexpressible shame. ”

“ Oh! how I envy those who have fond parents—a dear brother—a loving sister. How I long for a sympathy—a resting-place for my affections, which I despair of ever finding on earth, but which I hope I may realize with Him, the Father, who has given me this capability of loving.”
This was written after hearing what my imagination—heated with fever and jealousy—construed into a light laugh from Dudley, immediately under my window. I knew it was him, for I heard the crashing sound of his boot-heel on the gravel, and the mingling tones of his aunt and Clare. ”

“ Fayerweather, who stood aghast at seeing him; for the streaked and clouded visage which met his view, did not belong to Peter, but to his own son, who had involuntarily doffed the milled cap from habitual reverence as his father spoke.
“Why, Mr. Fayerweather, it’s George, if I’m alive!” screamed his mother; “and he has cut off all his beautiful curls, and his face is all streaked with I don’t know what! It will never come white again. What upon earth has got into the boy!” ”