Arabella Donn

“ Arabella, though she had a sincere contempt for her cousin's manner of thinking, yet always politely concealed it; and vexed as she was at her sneers upon the countess, she contented herself with gently defending her, telling her at the same time, that till she met with a lady who had more merit than the countess, she should always possess the first place in her esteem. ”

“ My Daphne, whose faith in human nature was angelic, in her belief in ultimate good, prayed and besought Arabella to leave the country before the trial came off; but Arabella only said contemptuously:
“You are a child and a chit. Giles Vernon contemplated doing me the greatest wrong a [Pg 181] man can do a woman. Do you think I shall let him go unpunished? If so, how little do you know Arabella Stormont!” ”

“ No woman, being also a sister of the man concerned, could know about another woman what Arabella now knew against Missy, and hope otherwise. And the state of her own feelings in the matter was her uppermost trouble, when at last John William trotted his mare into the yard, and Arabella followed him into the stable. ”

“ Lady Arabella Stormont was as good as her word; for that day, two months, Giles Vernon was put on trial for his life, at York Assizes, for the abduction of an heiress. Sir Peter Hawkshaw refused absolutely to countenance Arabella; and my Lady Hawkshaw, who never had bowed her head or abased her spirit to mortal man or mortal woman before, went upon her knees, imploring Arabella to give over her revenge,—for revenge it was, pure and simple,—but Lady Arabella laughed at her. ”

“ Arabella started up, and gazed upon her aunt with doubt and surprise. "Oh, why did you not tell me?" she exclaimed.
"Because I did not think fit, poor bird," replied the Countess; "and something more.--I assured the King that you had no thought of marriage then--that you were indisposed to give your hand to any but a man of princely birth.--I knew right well," she added, abruptly, "that he was wishing to tie you to his minion, Carr, and I was resolved to shield you from such degradation. In wedding this youth here, you wed one of princely birth ”

“ No woman likes to be a mere episode! I do not say"—the Duchess spoke slowly; she knew she had gone a little too far, and wished to justify herself, also to find out, for the knowledge had made her very indignant, if Arabella was aware of how her brother was now spending his time,—"I do not say by any means that your brother is a Don Juan in the low and mean sense of the term, but circumstances and you—yes, you, in a measure—have made his relations to women essentially false and unnatural. ”

“ He comes here to buy his gloves; and if you did but hear him sigh as he leans over the counter, you would be astonished.'
'Ah! but, Arabella, I know you well. Yours is one of those fleeting passions that, like the forked lightning, appear for a moment, and ere you can say behold is gone again. Mine is deeper in my heart, so deep, that to divorce it from it would be to destroy its home for ever.'
'But why so serious, Johanna? You do not mean to tell me that it is possible for you to love any man without his loving you in return?'
'You are right there, Arabella. ”

“ She did not perceive that any one was in the room, but the moment after, she heard something move, and a voice say, "Oh, lady!" and looking round she saw the girl Ida Mara, whom she had consented to receive at the entreaty of Sir Harry West.
Arabella instantly started up and tried to wipe away the tears; but the girl looked down, as if she wished not to see them flow, and said in a quiet but sad tone, "Shall I leave you, madam? I know too well that, when one is sorrowful, it is better to be alone." ”

“ 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. ”

“ Questionless, resumed Arabella, he will not be hated, while, out of the respect and reverence he bears her, he carefully conceals his passion from her knowledge; but as soon as ever he breaks through the bounds which that respect prescribes him, and lets her understand his true sentiments, he has reason to expect a most rigorous sentence, since he certainly, by that presumption, has greatly deserved it. ”

“ It were wise of you, ere you proceed, to send a messenger to his majesty, asking permission to wait upon him."
"Nay," exclaimed the Lady Arabella, "surely he will not refuse to receive his poor kinswoman?"
"Dear lady," replied her old counsellor, "you surely should know something of royal personages; and yet, methinks, you are ignorant of how small a thing with them may turn love into disliking. A light word spoken, an act of deference forgotten, the slightest disobedience, even when it springs from affection, may deprive one of favour, and never be forgiven. ”

“ She had been a witness of the surprise Arabella's extraordinary appearance had occasioned, and struck with that as well as the uncommon charms of her person, had pressed near her with several others of the company, when she was discoursing in the manner we have related.
A person of the countess's nice discernment could not fail of observing the wit and spirit, which though obscured, was not absolutely hid under the absurdity of her notions. And this discovery adding esteem to the compassion she felt for the fair visionary, she resolved to rescue her from the ill-natured raillery of her sex. ”

“ RESOLVE. How to tell John William when he came home, that was the prime difficulty in the mind of Arabella. Tell him she must, as soon as ever he got in. She felt it of importance that he should hear the news first from herself, and not, for example, from their mother. But it was going to be a very disagreeable duty; more so, indeed, than she ever could have dreamt, until Missy herself warned her, almost with her last words, at the slip-rails. Missy had opened her eyes for her during those few final minutes. Till then she had suspected nothing between her brother and the girl. ”

“ I know your voice, sir, though I see you are not my old friend, Sir Harry West. Good heaven! can it be Mr. Seymour?"
"The same, lady, and ever the humblest of your servants," replied the young gentleman. "Pray, let me assist you to the house. There are people coming with lanterns directly. Let me support you."
Arabella gave him her hand without any sign of unwillingness; and he led her on with care, asking again, in a low voice, as soon as they were some ten or twenty steps from her attendants, "Are you hurt?" ”

“ I was tingling with the sense of beauty newly developed in me. I could not forget that exquisite vision of Lady Arabella Stormont, who seemed to my boyish mind more like a white rose-bush in full flower than anything I could call to memory. I made [Pg 8] my way instead to the plain, though clean lodgings, where I had spent the years since my parents’ death, with good Betty Green, the widow of Corporal Green, late of my father’s regiment.
These two excellent but humble creatures had brought me, an orphan, home from my birthplace, America, consigned to Sir Peter and Lady Hawkshaw. ”

“ She is cold and selfish; ay, and dull too. I must speak to the woman Maude, and that directly." And rising, she unlocked the door and called the maid.
"Jane," she said, "I wish you to remove all those things from the end of the room into that little cabinet there, and----"
"Dear lady," exclaimed the girl, interrupting her, "I can never do it by myself. I must have one of the men to help me."
"I was going to say you cannot do it by yourself," replied Arabella, "but I will not have the men brought hither. Go and call good Mistress Maude: she is strong and willing, and I know her." ”

“ I should say, though, if you are honest and deserving, and mind your book, and get a good word from the chaplain, you will probably one day be the husband of little Daphne, but not of Lady Arabella; no man shall marry her while I live, that you may be sure of; but when I marry her, you may be side-boy at my wedding.”
I thought this speech very cruel of Giles Vernon, and believed that he did not know what true love was, else he could not so trifle with my feelings, although there was an echo of earnestness in his intimation that he would kill any man who aspired to marry Lady Arabella. ”

“ There will be others in similar guise;" and taking up the rarely-used black velvet mask which lay upon her dressing table, she hurried down by the small staircase, which led from her apartments, to rejoin the Queen on the terrace. At the foot of the stairs, close to the doorway by which she was going out, stood a tall and graceful figure leaning against the pillar. He drew a step back as she approached, with a cold and respectful air. But Arabella suddenly stopped, exclaiming, "Seymour! Do you not know me?" and she put up her hand to remove her mask. ”

“ Glanville looked down, and bit his nails in extreme confusion; but the countess, who had not forgot the language of romance, returned the compliment in a strain as heroic as hers.
The favour I have received from Fortune, said she, in bringing me to the happiness of your acquaintance, charming Arabella, is so great, that I may rationally expect some terrible misfortune will befall me: seeing that in this life our pleasures are so constantly succeeded by pains, that we hardly ever enjoy the one without suffering the other soon after. ”

“ Drink the wine, I beseech you. You need not think of your head. Fear will take off the effect."
Thus saying, she sped away, and returned in a few minutes, saying, "All is safe, the cook is by the kitchen fire, sound asleep; and I hear old Jones thumping at his bottles. The door is wide open, and the iron gates unlocked. Come, lady, come, you had better lose no time."
"Come with me to the iron gates, Maude," said Arabella, in a beseeching tone; "I can scarcely keep my feet."
"That I will, lady," answered the good woman.--"Courage, courage! the worst of the business is over." ”

“ But, what must be the fate, lady, of one who loves as deeply as man can love, yet sees the object far above his reach, without one cheering hope to lead him on, one cause to think the passion in his own heart has awakened any return in the being, for whom he could cast away his life, as a gambler does his coin?"
"It must be sad, indeed," said Arabella, in a low and hesitating tone,--"sad, indeed," she repeated. "But yet, perhaps--" and there she paused, leaving the sentence incomplete, while her colour varied like the morning sky as the sun rises in the east. ”

“ My life to a jerkin of Cordovan, the King proposes to you the marriage himself.--Now, my Lord, what is your next difficulty?"
"That lies with the lady," answered Lord Rochester; "she has never shown the slightest sign of distinguishing me from all the crowd of the Court."
"Odds life! my Lord," interrupted Overbury, "do you expect a lady to woo you? did she do so, she were not worth your having; and the Lady Arabella is none such. Nay, more, my Lord, you will have to woo her, and zealously too; but the more difficult the attainment, the more worthy is the prize. ”

“ Her ladyship entered on Sir Peter’s arm; his face was very red, and he was growling under his breath, to which Lady Hawkshaw contributed an obligato accompaniment in a sepulchral voice; and behind them, in all the splendor of her beauty, walked Lady Arabella, and last, came sweet, sweet Daphne.
The first glimpse Giles caught of Lady Arabella seemed to renew in an instant the spell she had cast on him five years before. He seemed almost like a madman. He could do nothing but gaze at her with eyes that seemed starting out of his head. He grew pale and then red, and was like a man in a frenzy. ”

“ Such, then, was the being to whom Johanna Oakley looked for counsel and assistance; and notwithstanding all that we have said respecting the likelihood of that counsel being of an inactive and girlish character, we cannot withhold our meed of approbation to Johanna that she had selected one so much in every way worthy of her honest esteem.
The hour at which she called was such as to insure Arabella being within, and the pleasure which showed itself upon the countenance of the young girl, as she welcomed her old playmate, was a feeling of the most delightful and unaffecting character. ”

“ Yet this faithless man, resumed Arabella, whom you seem to have such an aversion to, gave so glorious a proof of his repentance and sorrow, that the fair queen restored him to her favour, and held him in much dearer affection than ever: for, after he was convinced of her innocence, he was resolved to punish himself with a rigour equal to the fault he had been guilty of; and, retiring to the woods, abandoned for ever the society of men; dwelling in a cave, and living upon bitter herbs, passing the days and nights in continual tears and sorrow for his crime. ”

“ William Seymour was not discomposed, however, though Arabella was; and he replied, "If it was so, fair lady, you see I was not disappointed. If I had sought for a hart, I might have been so."
Many a grave thing in those days was covered by an idle play upon words; but the shrewd Countess shook her head, and a moment or two after took an opportunity to whisper in her niece's ear, "I fear, Arabel, I must reduce the list of lovers down to one;" and thus saying, she led the way towards the house.
"Let us go in by your cabinet, dear aunt," said Arabella, whose cheek was now glowing like a rose. ”