Adelina

“ That night was a restless night for Adelina. There were mysteries she could not unravel. She could not reconcile Ralph's lapse of memory with the perfect self-poise subsequently evinced. She knew that a single instance of forgetfulness would not have been perceived by her with such readiness had it not been for antecedent knowledge of mental derangement. ”

“ The fate of Lady Adelina depends, I apprehend, on her brothers. To them I think you should apply.'
'And why not to herself? Is she not now at liberty? And when destiny has at length broken the cruel chains with which she was loaded, will she voluntarily bind herself with others hardly more supportable? If she refers me to her brothers, I must despair:—the cold-hearted Lord Westhaven, the inflexible and rigid Godolphin, will make it a mistaken point of honour to divide us for ever!'
'You cannot suppose, Sir, that I shall undertake to influence Lady Adelina to measures disapproved by her family. ”

“ At this instant Lady Adelina, who had been some time silent, exclaimed hastily—'Oh! spare him! my dear brother! and spare your poor Adelina! who will not trouble—who will not disgrace you long!'
'Where is she?' said Godolphin, starting—'Good God! what is it I hear?'
'Your unhappy sister,' answered Mrs. Stafford; 'whom the idea of your determined vengeance has already driven to distraction.'
Again Lady Adelina spoke. Her brother listened in breathless anguish.
'Ah! William!—and are you grown cruel? ”

“ I soared in the reflected glory of Adelina's capability.
Of course, there were times when I felt uneasy it could hardly be otherwise. Periodic visitations to the larder I found were neither expected nor desired. I reasoned with myself. It is merely "interrupted habit," I said severely, "and a sign of on-coming age. You are growing inelastic. Accept the good the gods provide, and show yourself worthy of them." ”

“ Adelina was grieved to witness the agitation which [11] marred the usual serenity of Mary's countenance.
"Ada, dear, play something restful." Adelina immediately conceded to her request, and selected from her large repertoire the compositions most liable to drive away unwelcome thoughts.
"How well you play," said her auditor. "How do you manage to make those fingers perform their office so well?"
"Look at your own, and behold the answer," laughingly replied Adelina. Miss Tracy blushed with pleasure, she, too, had performed on the piano wonderfully well. ”

“ The beauty of the sky, the balmy fragrance of the air, and the classical and poetical associations which the surrounding scenery brings to the mind, conspire to give a charm to this delightful spot, which no words can convey to the mind of one who has not roamed amidst its enchantments, and still less can language do justice to the feelings of him who has!
Adelina is just the being you would fancy such a scene should produce; no cloud of sorrow, or of error, seems ever to have thrown on her its dark shade ”

“ Stafford and Emmeline were afterwards alone, they could think and speak of nothing but Lady Adelina. The misfortunes in which an unhappy marriage had involved her, her friendless youth, her lovely figure, the settled sorrow and deep regret that she seemed to feel for the error into which her too great sensibility of heart had betrayed her, engaged their tenderest pity, and made them both anxious to give her all the consolation and assistance she was now capable of receiving. ”

“ Since I wrote to you last, Adelina's manner to me has totally changed; I scarcely ever see her when I come to the villa. I can't tell what to attribute this to, unless she thinks I have said too much and too little. The matter shan't rest long in doubt;—her father goes to Catania to-morrow, and I will take that opportunity for a complete explanation. I cannot tell you how much I dread the crisis of my fate so near at hand! No folly of my own shall deprive me of a wife possessed of every charm, and every virtue, that can sweeten or adorn life. ”

“ Added to her desire of performing some good office for Ralph, there was in this case a wish to gratify herself. The former cause would have been sufficient to make Adelina form her opinion about remaining. The ability of doing good, or even the attempt to do so, without ulterior motives—unless the knowledge of well-performed duty be called a motive—was enough to secure Adelina's partisanship in any undertaking of mercy.
"So I am to stay," cried she, after the discussion had ended to her satisfaction.
"You generally do manage to have your way," smilingly replied Mary. ”

“ Adelina knew that if she persisted in claiming the matter inexplicable, it would only throw a deeper shadow on the affair, and she could not make the pretense that Ralph had no right to question her.
"Adelina," said Harold, "this appears the right thing, in fact, the only thing to be done. I think uncertainty is one of the worst ills that falls to the lot of mortals. ”

“ It all really depends, of course, on how old you are, and since we have given up going by calendar count, that is difficult to determine. We can make a guess at other people's ages, but scarcely at our own because we feel so many different ages all at one and the same time.
It was Adelina who drove me to these reflections. It was she, indeed, who first brought home to me the horrid suspicion that I might unconsciously be drifting behind the times, not to say graying about the temples of my mind, Adelina was herself so very modern, so very capable. ”

“ Adelina's question was not put as calmly as she deceived herself into believing. Harold regretted his impulsive speech, and would feign have recalled it. He cast a beseeching look at his sister to aid in extricating him from the difficulties attending his folly.
"Adelina," he said, after giving to his sister a most reproachful look for not entering the breach, "there can as yet be no certainty of Ralph's recovery. We often hope where there is nothing to warrant us in so hoping." ”

“ Those imbued with such altruism have some recompense even in this world, where reward so seldom seems to come for right doing—that of submerging their own woes in the happiness or reverses of others.
It was later in the morning that Adelina had further cause for sorrow. She had gone to her room for a volume of poems in order to find a quotation which Ralph had laughingly insisted she had misquoted. Adelina, in turn, asserted that he would regret that she had gone only to prove him wrong. Sad he certainly did look when she returned. ”

“ She glanced at Ralph, for it never occurred to her that Adelina's suggestion might prove fallacious. Her implicit confidence in another's word gave evidence of the training received; that the child was not accustomed to being deceived in trifles was obvious. When it was found that Ralph could produce the desired sweetmeats, Adelina asked, teasingly:
"Have you never overcome your boyish weakness?" ”

“ Notwithstanding her great talents, Adelina Patti is the most modest and unaffected of women, and of a singularly generous and sympathetic nature. Nowhere is she seen to greater advantage than when entertaining her friends, whose names are legion, beneath the hospitable roof of Craig-y-nos Castle. ”

“ Superior virtue often does have a depressing effect, particularly when coupled, as it was in Adelina's case, with an invincible, though restrained, consciousness of the same. Situations you can explain are never quite so hard to bear as those you suffer in an atmosphere of delicately-tempered, but subtly reproachful silence.
Adelina had no faults and revealed no lapses—except the grammatical ones before alluded to, which, of course, had no humbling virtue, since she wasn't aware of them. ”

“ It all happened so naturally, with such an evident desire for her happiness and comfort that each time Adelina felt the inability to frustrate the plans of Harold and Mary. How her friends could feel that her pleasure was so much involved was more than she could determine.
"Why should I, who am always well, need change, when you two never go away?" Adelina asked, then added, without leaving time for an answer, "it is not quiet for me now."
"It is strange how lively one curate can make a place. He is really the only addition to the place that I can think of," rejoined Mr. ”

“ I prithee, command her that she may tell the fates of those who list to know what shall befall them.'
Then Adelina turned round swiftly, so that the gibbering monkey, which sat on her shoulder, sprang down with a screech.
'I prithee, Sir Earl,' she cried, 'give me no such order, for the spirits I summon have a knack of telling the truth, and there are fates in store for some folks they would ill brook to hear. "Enough for the day is the evil thereof."'
'Nay, take not to quoting Scripture, witch; it hath an awkward sound from thy graceless lips,' returned the earl banteringly. ”

“ Emmeline now desired that Madelon might come with them to wait on little William, rather than his own maid; as she understood English so ill, that she would be no interruption to their discourse. They then walked arm in arm together towards the sea; and there Lady Adelina, who now enjoyed the opportunity she had so long languished for, opened to her sympathizing friend the sorrows of an heart struggling vainly with a passion she condemned, and sinking under ineffectual efforts to vindicate her honour and eradicate her love. ”

“ Godolphin,' continued he—'Godolphin may carry this too far; he may oblige me to remind him that there is more than one way in which his inexorable punctilio may be satisfied.'
'Certainly,' cried Emmeline, in great agitation, which she vainly struggled to conceal, 'there is no method more likely to convince Lady Adelina of your tenderness for her, than that you hint at; and if you should be fortunate enough to destroy a brother to whom she owes every thing, your triumph will be complete.'
'Prevent then the necessity of my applying to Godolphin by speaking to Lady Adelina in my favour. ”

“ This was intended for Adelina's benefit, but she pretended to ignore the fact.
"If she does wait to profit by their suggestions until she is older, her outfit will be a little [78] beyond the times," Adelina could not resist saying.
"She calls them paper dolls," he further elucidated.
"Well," said Adelina, laughing heartily, as they reached the rectory gate, "tell Dot I'll help keep house for the dolls."
"Wasn't he an old dear?" cried she, ecstatically, watching Mr. Bayne's retreating form.
"Who beside would have thought of carrying such things for a child?" ”

“ Stafford, the objection that might be made to her accompanying a person under the unfortunate and discreditable circumstances of Lady Adelina; and her heart, too expansive to be closed by the cold hand of prudery against the sighs of weakness or misfortune, [Pg 238] assured her that she was right. She knew that Emmeline was of a character to pity, but not to imitate, the erroneous conduct of her friend; and she believed that the reputation of Lady Adelina Trelawny might be rescued from reproach, without communicating any part of it's blemish to the spotless purity of Emmeline Mowbray. ”

“ How far should experience and age give way before the triumphant advance of confident youth? In short, how far should I give in to Adelina? If she hadn't been superior, of course, the matter would be simplified. But she was superior (in certain respects) and she knew it. What she didn't know, and what complicated the situation (it generally is what people don't know that complicates the situation) was that there is such a thing as reflex action; that her advance necessitated my retreat, her strengthening in a realm that didn't belong to her, my relative weakening. It's a very complex world. ”

“ There was the lover hanging on the anticipated reply, and longing for a denial of his hasty words; the woman fearing to utter some word which would either wound him, or intensify the mental failure of which the young man himself was totally oblivious. As soon as Adelina perceived her error, she tried to retrieve it by diverting Ralph's attention, refraining carefully from setting him aright concerning his mistaken asseveration ”

“ The rest of the evening, however, passed in a sort of mournful tranquillity—Adelina seemed to feel encreasing pleasure as she gazed on her friend; and remembering all her goodness, reflected on the happiness of her brother. But this satisfaction was not of that kind which seeks to express itself in words; and Emmeline, sensible of great anxiety for her and Godolphin, (who would, she knew, be cruelly hurt by the relapse which he feared threatened his sister) and busied in no pleasant conjectures about the person whom she had seen in the lawn, was in no spirits for conversation. ”

“ It seems to me the less concern we give ourselves regarding our own welfare, the happier we are in reality. I don't instigate improvidence, however. After all, happiness may not be the best for us," she added, virtuously. I wonder if she would have been willing to resign her present contentment.
"Well, surely you would prefer for me to have joy if possible, and you certainly know wherein my happiness consists."
"Oh, Ralph," said Adelina, with a suspicious moisture about the eyes, "can you ever forgive me for the horrid thoughts I had about you?" ”

“ Lady Adelina had, till then, wished to die. She saw her child—and wished to live.—The physical people who attended her, gave hopes that she might.—Supported by the tender friendship of Emmeline, and animated by maternal fondness, she determined to attempt it.
Emmeline, now full of apprehension, now indulging feeble hopes, prayed fervently for her recovery; and zealously and indefatigably attended her with more than her former solicitude. For three days, her hopes gradually grew stronger ”