Ethel

“ In the morning Ethel was to introduce her lover to Madam Rawdon, and side by side, almost hand in hand, they walked down the avenue together. Walked? They were so happy they hardly knew whether their feet touched earth or not. They had a constant inclination to clasp hands, to run as little children run; They wished to smile at everyone, to bid all the world good morning. ”

“ And then there forced itself on Ethel’s mind the dreadful thought that they had perhaps really been walking in a circle until their forces were spent, and might die of fatigue, cold, and even hunger before they should be discovered. Who could tell when the fog would disperse! The mist might overhang the lofty table-land of the moor for whole days, possibly for weeks, cutting the lost ones as completely off from succour as some shipwrecked mariner on his desolate isle. No sound floated to Ethel’s ears as she listened long and eagerly.
‘Don’t cry, Betty; don’t cry. ”

“ Reassured by Bachelder's cheery shout, Ethel had busied herself collecting her watch and other trinkets from the bureau till a smacking of wet feet caused her to turn, startled. A woman stood in the door, a woman of matchless amplitudes, such as of old tempted the gods from heaven. Stark naked, save for the black cloud that dripped below her waist, her bronze beauty was framed by the ponderous arch. ”

“ Ethel's face was corpse-like in its pallor, her black eyes glowed with light.
"Kay!" she called, in a low, menacing voice, and the woman shuddered. At the same time a voice in the locked room called plaintively:
"Ethel! Ethel! darling sister Ethel!"
"That is my sister's voice," cried Ethel wildly. "Woman, your defiance drives me mad! If you do not instantly open that door and release Precious I shall set the mastiff on you. He will tear you limb from limb!"
"I'll murder you first!" growled the woman, edging toward the club on the floor.
"Kay will protect me," the girl answered dauntlessly. ”

“ The long lashes drooped and shadowed her cheek. Then he asked gently:
"Would you build Ethel's happiness on the wreck of yours and mine, my darling?"
"You must not call me your darling, you must not think of me. I am only a child, she says, too young to know what love is like. So," wearily, "you see there is no question of me. It is only you and Ethel—two lovers who have quarreled, and must make it up again."
"Never! never!" he cried angrily. "She released me of her own free will—flung me off in scorn."
"She repents! She prays you to return! Oh, Arthur, go!" ”

“ With these assurances and blessings to cheer her, Ethel arose. The sun poured its wintry yet cheering beams into the parlour, and the sparkling, snow-clad earth glittered beneath. She wrapped herself in her cloak, and walked into the garden of the hotel. Long immured in London, living as if its fogs were the universal vesture of all things, her spirits rose to exultation and delight, as she looked on the blue sky spread cloudlessly around. ”

“ This was another of Ethel's happy evenings, when she felt drawn close to him she loved, and found elysium in the intimate union of their thoughts. The dusky room showed them but half to each other; and the looks of each, beaming with tenderness, drank life from one another's gaze. The soft shadows thrown on their countenances, gave a lamp-like lustre to their eyes, in which the purest spirit of affection sat, weaving such unity of sentiment, such strong bonds of attachment, as made all life dwindle to a point, and freighted the passing minute with the hopes and fears of their entire existence. ”

“ But to Lesley, even in that hour, Ethel's trouble was greater than her own.
An hour must have passed away before Ethel murmured,
"Lesley—are you there?"
"Yes, I am with you, darling: I am here."
"You are crying."
"I am crying for you, Ethel, dear."
For the first time, Ethel's hand answered to her pressure. After a little silence, she spoke again—
"I wish I could die—too."
"My poor little Ethel."
"I suppose there is no chance of that. People—like me—don't die. They only suffer—and suffer—and break their hearts—and live till they are eighty. ”

“ Ernescliffe, I should like you to say,” cried Ethel, “which do you think is the best, the name of it, or the thing?” Her eloquence always broke down with any auditor but her brother, or, perhaps, Margaret.
“Ethel!” said Norman, “how is any one to understand you? The argument is this: Ethel wants people to do great deeds, and be utterly careless of the fame of them; I say, that love of glory is a mighty spring.”
“A mighty one!” said Alan: “but I think, as far as I understand the question, that Ethel has the best of it.” ”

“ The pair were sitting a little apart from the crowd in a secluded flowery alcove, and the thought instantly rushed over Ethel that her sister had played her false, and confided to her lover the secret of her mask. "It is a cunning trick to enjoy each other's society," she muttered angrily, and her heart leaped to suffocation under the plain gray serge gown with its long, straight folds, and the rosary hanging down by her side. ”

“ A painful flush crossed Ethel's face; her eyelids dropped.
'You must not let this come between us, Ethel; it will make him more unhappy than he is, and I fear,' speaking still more gravely, 'that though he says so little about himself, that he must be very unhappy.'
Ethel tried ineffectually to control her emotion.
'I could not help it. You have no right to blame me, Mildred,' she said in a low voice.
'No, you could not help it! Who blames you, dear?—not I, nor Richard. It was not your fault, my poor Ethel, that you could not love your old playmate. ”

“ He is very repulsive to me, with his keen little eyes, and his thick lips, and his perpetual smirk. If I ever have a lover I must have a grand, handsome one, as noble as papa, or perhaps like your lover, Ethel—I do not know his name, but I saw him at the ball with you, and I thought he was splendid. Well, when I have a real lover he must be like that, Ethel! ”

“ Thou art blind. Thy love for him doth make thee mad! But I will be avenged on them both, whether thou approve of it or not."
"My lord," said Ethel, drawing herself to her full height, whilst her eyes flashed fire, "who told you I loved him? Are you going to make a palmer's song about me, and sing it through the whole camp? I will not have you assuming what I have not told you. Let me tell you, once for all, a Saxon girl will love where she pleases, and only where she pleases. ”

“ My teachers have always done so, and even my mother used to say, ‘Not so loud, Nora dear. Speak more gentle like.’”
“Did she?” asked Ethel.
“Yes, my mother had her faults, Ethel, but at heart she was a lady. So your dislike of me was not so strange after all.”
“But,” interrupted Ethel, “Nora, perhaps I wasn’t thankful to hear your loud voice when I lay there wounded and helpless, and I’m ashamed to even have told you.”
“I wish you to help me,” broke in Nora. “I wish to make myself different—more of a lady. Will you tell me when I talk too loud? It will be a favor if you will.” ”

“ What would this strange world be without that "touch of nature?" It is to the immaterial universe, what light is to the visible creation, scent to the flower, hue to the rainbow; hope, joy, succour, and self-forgetfulness, where otherwise all would be swallowed up in vacant and obscure egotism.
No one could approach Ethel without feeling that she possessed an irresistible charm. The overflowing and trusting affectionateness of her nature was a loadstone to draw all hearts. Each one felt, even without knowing wherefore, that it was happiness to obey, to gratify her. ”

“ I hope Ethel does not credit it, or I shall never be permitted an opportunity of refuting such a calumny."
"I know too well how highly Mamma thinks of you, John," said Ethel, prettily.
"Well, I admit it—I do admire you immensely—I admire your power, your position, your ability to make an income—a large income, sitting comfortably in an arm chair. And then there is such solidity in a doctor's profession—people are always ill."
"Mamma is ill herself," broke in Lady Ethel, "and that is why we have intruded to-day."
"I hope it is nothing serious, my dear Duchess." ”

“ His first emotion was shame when he saw Ethel enter. There was no accord between her spotless loveliness and his squalid prison-room. Any one who has seen a sunbeam suddenly enter and light up a scene of housewifely neglect, and vulgar discomfort, and felt how obtrusive it rendered all that might be half-forgotten in the shade, can picture how the simple elegance of Ethel displayed yet more distinctly to her husband the worse than beggarly scene in which she found him. His cheeks flushed, and almost he would have turned away. ”

“ Far different was the happy Ethel's situation—far otherwise were her thoughts employed than in concealing the pangs of care and shame. The sense of right adorned the devotion of love. She read approbation in Edward's eyes, and drew near him in full consciousness of deserving it. They sat at their supper, and long after, by the cheerful fire, talking of a thousand things connected with the present and the future—the long, long future which they were to spend together; and every now and then their eyes sparkled with the gladness of renewed delight in seeing each other. ”

“ After a silence of a minute or two, he said, suddenly:
"Look here, Ethel; if you don't like your London life, you can't be as well there as here, and you can, if you will, satisfy my uncle that you are better, as well as happier, here at Golden Friars. You can do that, and that is the way to end it—the only way to end it that I see. You can write to me, Ethel, without danger. You will, I know, every day, just a line; and when you tell me how to address mine, you shall have an answer by every post. Don't go out in London, Ethel; you must promise that." ”

“ She arrived at lunch-time, Ethel and Ralph going to meet her while Margaret and Kenneth and I reserved a table in the refreshment tent and started our meal. Ethel had not exaggerated her beauty. Tall and slim, her coppery brown hair, which later I was to learn was of the “kinky” variety, almost concealed by a little hat that matched it exactly, it was the light in her amber eyes and her complexion that added more than anything else to her general loveliness. More than one head turned in her direction. ”

“ Ethel! Ethel! I distinctly see a woman. Positively—yes, a woman has arrived. She turns this way. She looks—she smiles—she bows. By jingo, Miss Carruthers! Ha, ha, ha, ha!
ETHEL. No! (runs to window) It is her! We leave here to-morrow.
EDWIN. (sitting down firmly) We stop here for two months.
ETHEL. Oh! (jumps up to window) Well, I declare. Well, did I ever? This is charming. (to some one without) How d’ you do? How are you? Quite well, thank you; so glad that you’ve come. Oh, Edwin, if there’s not that dear delightful Captain Plunger.
EDWIN. Eh?
ETHEL. You know. That darling Captain Plunger. ”

“ Ethel had slept peacefully through the livelong night; nor woke till a knock at her door roused her. A rush of fear—a sense of ill, made her heart palpitate as she opened her eyes to the light of day. While she was striving to recall her thoughts, and to remember what the evil was with which she was threatened, again the servant tapped at her door, to say that Saunders had returned, and to deliver the letter he had brought. ”

“ Still, that is impossible,” said she; then, raising her voice: “You must have seen the viceroy’s son; he has been here.”
“That may be, noble lady; of all the men who have been here, I have never seen but one,—my Ordener.”
“Your Ordener!” interrupted the stranger. She added, without seeming to notice Ethel’s blushes: “Do you know a young man with noble face, elegant figure, grave and dignified bearing? His expression is gentle, yet firm; his complexion fresh as that of a maiden; his hair chestnut.”
“Oh!” cried poor Ethel, “that is he; it is my betrothed, my adored Ordener! ”

“ Ah, Ethel, Sir Matthew Fleet never came near him in ability. But not one word to interfere with me would he say, and—how I have longed to meet him again, after parting in my selfish, unfeeling gladness; and now I have nothing to do for him, but show him how little I was to be trusted with her. ”

“ Ethel was one of those unfortunate little bones of contention so often to be found in divided families, and she had been so much disputed over and argued about, and so rarely consulted or even questioned, that she had grown to think of herself as a helpless pawn in an incomprehensible game, where she could never win anything. ”

“ Let me plead to you, Arthur—nay, [Pg 130] Lord Chester!" and suddenly she was on her knees, at his feet, her white face uplifted in the moonlight, the burning tears upon her cheeks. Wild words came from the pale, writhing lips—startling words full of Ethel's repentance and Ethel's prayer for pardon.
"You are not free, you dare not love another lest Ethel's despair blight your happiness. Go back to her, forgive her, and the old love will return," she sobbed. ”

“ Conversation beguiled the way, and Ethel, delighted by the novelty and variety of all she saw, often felt as if springing from her seat with a new sense of excitement and gladness. So much do the young love change, that we have often thought it the dispensation of the Creator, to show that we are formed, at a certain age, to quit the parental roof, like the patriarch, to seek some new abode where to pitch our tents, and pasture our flocks. ”

“ In his heart he doubted Ethel's story. There was no man on earth who would have flung away the jewel of Precious' love if he could have had it for his own. He believed that Ethel, in her jealousy of her sweet sister, had uttered an untruth. ”