Doña Clara

“ Thanks to this wise triumvirate, Doña Pia became a mother, but like the fisherman in Macbeth, who ceased to sing after he found a rich treasure, Doña Pia lost her gayety, became very sad and was never seen to smile again. Every one, even to Captain Tiago, declared that it was a pure caprice. A puerperal fever put an end to her grief, leaving a beautiful daughter motherless. Father Dámaso baptized the child, and, as San Pascual had not given the son which had been asked for, the name of Maria Clara was given to it in honor of the Virgin of Salambau and of Santa Clara. ”

“ Doña Clara was in the hands of malignant Nature who reserves the right to inflict upon her children the most terrifying jests. ”

“ Then Clara said, 'Thank you; but will you not take Charles also?'
'No,' said nurse; 'he has always been such a proud, bad boy that I will not take him. I have very little to spare, for I am a poor woman, and what I have is not more than will keep my own children and you, Miss Clara.'
Saying this, she got into the cart, and took Clara on her lap, and one of the footmen got in after her, and drove away from the door. ”

“ The widow might fascinate him by her knowledge of the world, her dash, her strength, her unconventionality--all these qualities Clara was willing to allow her--but she was convinced that she would be unendurable as a life companion. She had come to an age when habits are not lightly to be changed, nor was she a woman who was at all likely to attempt to change them. How would a sensitive man like her father stand the constant strain of such a wife, a woman who was all decision, with no softness, and nothing soothing in her nature? ”

“ Not a shadow of tact had descended to Clara from her mother, to preserve domestic peace. The reckless speech again woke up contention; for Sir Foster advocated his own system of education, by exclaiming,—"Hold your tongue, will you?"
"I shall not be silent," retorted Clara: "don't expect to make me subservient to your vulgar prejudices, as your first wife was compelled to be. I insist upon saying your five boys are like your terriers in every particular." ”

“ Clara paused for a moment at her door—she thought she heard her sigh, but she was not sure; so she passed on, saying to herself, ‘When I come back I may kiss her, and be certain that I hear her voice, and I [Pg 52] will ask her forgiveness, and will show her that I can keep my promise, and I will make her happy!’ Comforted by this thought, Clara tripped on with a lighter heart and step. She found her papa waiting to lift her into the carriage. ‘God bless you, my child! you were a good girl not to wake your mama, she has had a sadly disturbed night.—O Clara! try to please her when you come home ”

“ Clara and Adela Dundas were the daughters of an English nobleman; their mother dying before they had emerged from the school-room, they were left without that guiding hand so necessary to the maiden ignorant of the world, and heedless of warning from less beloved lips.
Clara, the eldest, married, at an early age, a wealthy earl, the choice of her father, and departed to her princely home, with a father’s blessing, leaving her young, gentle sister more lonely than ever. ”

“ Julia and Clara acted solely by my wishes, and they won their high establishment."
"Poor Clara!" exclaimed Christobelle, involuntarily.
"It is useless to pity those who would not conform to the proprieties of life," replied Lady Wetheral. "I gave Clara to Sir Foster, with long and serious entreaties to avoid all public scenes and altercations with her husband. I never countenanced opposition in a wife. I implored Clara to be obedient in appearance—so much can be done by prudent management! ”

“ The little girl, with her sweet, sensitive nature, and gentle, caressing ways, seemed closer to Charley than the rest, though he loved all his brothers and sisters with his whole heart; but Clara was softer and tenderer, and murmured out her love in such a dove-like way, that, next to his mother, the sick boy liked to have her smooth his hair, and hold his hand, and kneel by his side in prayer; and the rest of the children knew this, and lovingly gave [160] Clara "her place." Not a shade of envy, that black and wicked passion, ever entered their hearts ”

“ Clara released her grasp, and Christobelle fled to a distant chair, to remain a spectator of the ensuing scene.
"Clara," said her mother, reproachfully, "what could induce you to blame me, for your own impolitic conduct? If I wished to see you the wife of a man standing high in situation, I [128] never counselled you to forget the proprieties of life."
"You held up Sir Foster to my view, as a match which you prayed for, and desired me never to relinquish," retorted Clara, with passionate energy. "You have married me to a heartless brute, and now you turn against me!" ”

“ Anxiety upon her account is my one sole trouble! Not that I wrong the dear girl by one instant's doubt of her constancy—no! my soul upon her truth! if I could do that, I should be most unworthy of her love! No, mother, you and I know that Clara is true! But ah! we do not know to what sufferings she may be subjected by Le Noir, who I firmly believe has intercepted all our letters. Mother, I am about to ask a great, perhaps an unreasonable, favor of you! It is to go down into the neighborhood of the Hidden House and make inquiries and try to find out Clara's real condition. ”

“ Madonna Isidora has fainted!”
“Donna Clara lowered her spectacles, glanced at the figure of her daughter, who had fallen from her cushion, and lay breathless on the floor, and, after a short pause, replied, “She has fainted. Raise her.—Call for assistance, and apply some cold water, or bear her into the open air. I fear I have lost the mark in the life of this holy saint,” muttered Donna Clara when alone; “this comes of this foolish business of love and marriage. I never loved in my life, thank the saints!—and as to marriage, that is according to the will of God and of our parents.” ”

“ Clara shook her head in proud scorn.
"There are evils to escape which such a woman would go down upon her bended knees to be made the wife of such a man."
Clara's gentle eyes flashed with indignation.
"Infamous!" she cried. "You slander all womanhood in my person!"
"The evils to which I allude are—comprised in—a life of dishonor!" hissed Le Noir through his set teeth.
"This to my father's daughter!" exclaimed Clara, growing white as death at the insult.
"Aye, my girl! It is time we understood each other. You are in my power, and I intend to coerce you to my will!" ”

“ I must talk while I have time. I was about to say that long ago my will was made. Clara, you know, is the heiress of all I possess. You, as soon as you become her husband, will receive her fortune with her. I have made no reservation in her favor against you; for he to whom I can entrust the higher charge of my daughter's person, happiness and honor I can also intrust her fortune."
"Dear sir, I am glad for Clara's sake that she has a fortune; as for me, I hope you will believe me that I would have gladly dispensed with it and worked for dear Clara all the days of my life." ”

“ Oh! if I could only see Clara again.
The doctor and a strange man have been looking among my papers.
My God! am I dying? dying at the very time when there is a chance of happiness for my future life?
Clara!—far from her—nothing but the little book-marker she worked for me—leave it round my neck when I—
I can’t move, or breathe, or think—if I could only be taken back—if my father could see me as I am now! Night again—the dreams that will come—always of home; sometimes, the untried home in heaven, as well as the familiar home on earth—
Clara! ”

“ She could not understand the extraordinary change which had taken place in a person naturally so active and lively. It appeared as though Clara's marriage had acted as a sedative upon her mental and physical energies, and numbed their vigour. She had sunk rapidly into a nervous, solitary being, unequal to every exertion, indifferent to her husband's society, and dead to all resources. Yet was Sir Foster Kerrison the long-coveted object of her wishes, and every thought of her heart had been given to the accomplishment of that most desired union. Clara married Sir Foster, and obtained Ripley. ”

“ Again Ida pondered. “He has never tried what it is to live with a strong-minded woman,” said she. “If we could only get him to realize it in time. Oh, Clara, I have it; I have it! Such a lovely plan!” She leaned back in her chair and burst into a fit of laughter so natural and so hearty that Clara had to forget her troubles and to join in it.
“Oh, it is beautiful!” she gasped at last. “Poor papa! What a time he will have! But it's all for his own good, as he used to say when we had to be punished when we were little. Oh, Clara, I do hope your heart won't fail you.” ”

“ In those days such a thing as a girl leaving her home for any reason except to be married or immured in a convent, and never seen, was unheard of, and when Clara made up her mind that she would break away from her idle luxurious life and become a servant of the poor, she knew that she was going to do an unheard-of thing, and that never while the world stood, would she get permission from her father, Favorina, for any such undertaking! ”

“ Clara is proud that she has captivated the handsomest young man in the town whom all the young ladies were sighing for; but she loves you not, Leslie, as a true woman should love.”
“My dear mother, how you wrong the angelic girl! Has she not watched over my sick bed like a sister, yea, like a beloved and loving wife? Has she not sympathized in all my afflictions? Did she not just now quit the chamber overcome by the intensity of her grief? You wrong her, dear mother, indeed you wrong her!” ”

“ It is always so. Clara worships that man, and we should worship nothing but the Creator. When we do, we lose it. When mothers make idols of their children, as her mother did of Dan, they die, or turn out like him. I am glad you do not love yours unreasonably. It is auntie who is in danger here,” said the good old lady, taking up the child and caressing it fondly.
“I cannot believe it a crime to love—even to love inordinately, as Clara does,” said Susie. “Her nature is peculiarly fervent. She told me once that the look, the touch of Albert’s hand, made her tremulous with emotion. ”

“ He would want to be owned, so that he could work. It seemed to her a bitter thing that he must go, but she could let him go into an inn for a glass of whisky, so she could let him go to Clara, so long as it was something that would satisfy a need in him, and leave him free for herself to possess.
“Have you told your mother about Clara?” she asked.
She knew this would be a test of the seriousness of his feeling for the other woman; she knew he was going to Clara for something vital, not as a man goes for pleasure to a prostitute, if he told his mother. ”

“ On this account Clara was censured by many as cold, unfeeling and prosaic; while others, who conceived life in its clear depth, greatly loved the feeling, acute, childlike girl, but none so much as Nathaniel, whose perception in art and science was clear and strong. Clara was attached to her lover with all her soul, and when he parted from her, the first cloud passed over her life. With what transport did she rush into his arms when, as he had promised in his last letter to Lothaire, he had actually returned to his native town and entered his mother's room. ”

“ The long gray room full of the streaking stains of the white sick. Clara’s black hair and the wan sheet and the bars of the iron bed. Clara’s clasping arms, moist, shutting out life.—Let me die with you!... The fading eyes of Clara.
“You forgive me? forgive me? I should not have brought you in, O Fanny. I am glad to pay for that, I was mad! But there were six years.... I have loved you. Now, you, what are you going to do?”
“You forgive me, Clara? What becomes of any of us? I have loved you also.”
... “I murdered her. For what?... White Clara for a dirty Jew! Mangel is dead at any rate ... ”

“ Clara, my love, you are young and enthusiastic. I know how much you have been feeling for this stranger, whose beauty has irresistibly inspired an interest in her favour, to which perhaps she is not justly entitled. Your mother very properly remarks that a cloud at present hangs over her character, and till we learn what reception she meets with at Drumcairn, whither she says that she is going, I must insist on your avoiding all sort of correspondence with this giddy girl. ”

“ When there is another Miss Clara--such a beauty! I can't tell you--and a little Harry, for whose sake this tale is told--why will every one on these premises, even the under-gardener's boy, persist in calling me "Miss Clara?" It makes me stamp sometimes, and such a bad example that is for my children. Dear me, if either of my ducklings were to carry on as I did at their age, I would cut down immediately the largest birch-tree on the property, and order a hogshead of salt. ”

“ Donna Clara, seeing nothing objectionable in the visiter, and knowing him to be wealthy, and of good birth, with that coquetry and love of conquest, so natural in the hearts of most of the fair sex, but all powerful in the breasts of beauties, exerted her uncommon powers of fascination with great success. ”

“ And now, Miss Clara, you may put away your needle, and read and study a part of your time; and mother will no longer be so incessantly occupied with her work, but will have leisure to take some air and exercise, and she will look bright and happy again, as she used to when dear father lived with us.”
“I ought to look happy when I have such kind children to take care of me,” answered Mrs. Wilbur, smiling through her tears.
“I am so glad you went back to the store last evening, Frank!” exclaimed Clara. “I will never again try to persuade you to neglect the prompt performance of any duty.” ”