Madame de Cintré

“ They were scattered about the room in groups, two or three of them having passed into a small boudoir, next to the drawing-room, which had now been lighted and opened. Madame de Bellegarde was in her place by the fire, talking to an antique gentleman in a wig and a profuse white neckcloth of the fashion of 1820. Madame de Cintré had bent a listening head to the historic confidences of an old lady who was presumably the wife of this personage, an old lady in a red satin dress and an ermine cape, whose forehead was adorned with a topaz set in a velvet band. ”

“ I have never disliked a woman in my life that she has not turned out badly. I was not at all deceived in Lizzie, for instance; I always had my doubts about her. Whatever you may think of my present situation, I must at least admit that I got into it with my eyes open. Now suppose you had got into something like this box with Madame de Cintré. You may depend upon it she would have turned out a stiff one. And upon my word I don’t see where you could have found your comfort. Not from the marquis, my dear Newman ”

“ To Cinthia there came the sudden thought that to make a match between this strange father of hers and lovely Madame Ray might be conducive to the happiness of all three. Of herself she was sure that life would be far brighter with this fair woman for a companion than spent [130] alone with Everard Dawn, who would always represent to her the blighting of the fairest love-dream maiden ever cherished. ”

“ Cinthia was so shocked for a moment that she could not speak. She could only throw her arms about the mourner and clasp her close with a love as true and warm as if she had been the dear lost daughter.
The balmy summer breeze swept in caressingly over the two fair heads nestled close together, while Madame Ray sobbed:
“Now you understand why I love you so, my dear. Not but that your own beauty and sweetness is enough to charm any heart. ”

“ Dawn was well and strong again, his son was married to Cinthia at her mother’s home—Lodge Delight. It was a grand wedding, and Cinthia the fairest bride ever seen. They remained with Madame Ray until Love’s Retreat was rebuilt, then made their home with his parents, while Mrs. Flint remained ever afterward with Cinthia’s mother, who would not permit her return to Virginia.
“We are two lonely old widows. Let us be company for each other,” she said, with pensive cheerfulness.
One thing that transpired touched Cinthia very much, and showed her the tenderness of Arthur’s love. ”

“ But at least they were devoted to each other, and led an almost idyllic life in the beautiful health-giving country so much sought in winter by visitors from the frozen North, while Cinthia’s father still lingered in California, though he wrote his daughter that she might expect him now at any time.
When Cinthia and Madame Ray came out on the broad rose-wreathed gallery of Lodge Delight, in their peerless beauty, like the perfect rose and the unfolding bud, they added the only wanting touch to the lovely scene—the touch of human life. ”

“ It is not wise, nor desirable. I am glad that I happened in on you this morning, for there is no one more capable of advising you in this crisis of your life. I tell you stage-work is heartache [108] and sorrow even when crowned with a little success such as Madame Ray’s, whose name you read on the posters this morning. I tell you this, and I ought to know, for I am that woman!”
“You?” Cinthia cried, wide-eyed and wondering, and with a sad smile. ”

“ The young girl’s beautiful dark eyes beamed with fresh delight at the fair prospect spread before them, while she cried out in rapture at the lovely day.
Madame Ray smiled with pleasure at the girl’s enthusiasm, and answered:
“It is indeed beautiful, and I am rejoiced that you love my home so well. It makes me grateful to my dead aunt who left me this idyllic estate. It is quite too lovely a day to spend indoors. What shall we do? Go walking, driving, or rowing?”
Cinthia, with her golden head one side like a bird, cogitated a moment, then decided on a long drive into the country. ”

“ Madame Ray, all joyful excitement, covered her daughter’s face with kisses, exclaiming:
“Oh, Cinthia, oh, Arthur, such joyful news! I have found out that you are my lost daughter, my darling! You know, Arthur, you always declared we resembled each other. Well, the nurse stole her from me to sell her to [240] your father’s second wife; for she deceived her husband, the wicked woman; she never had a child of her own. That dying woman in yonder, Rachel Dane, has confessed everything. You and Cinthia are not brother and sister at all, but lovers as in past days. ”

“ The gold of her luxurious, curling hair had a deeper, richer sheen as it rippled in a loose knot beneath the brim of her becoming little hat, a Parisian affair that matched her stylish traveling gown, for Cinthia had developed a perfect taste in dress that was very gratifying to her father’s pride.
Wherever she moved, she was the cynosure of admiring [131] eyes, and a score of hearts had been laid at her feet—some of them most true and manly; but she turned from them with indifference, saying to herself that her life was spoiled by Arthur’s falsity, and she could never love again. ”

“ His blue eyes met hers full with a commanding expression, as he continued:
“Paulina, in meeting my daughter here on my dying bed she has demanded to know the details of the feud as she believes it, that shadowed so darkly the last three years of her young life. Once I would have died to shield her from such sorrow, but now she declares that certainty of sorrow is better than the pangs of suspense. She demands [216] the truth. It is our bitter duty to yield to her desires.”
A hushed murmur of surprise went around the group, and Cinthia buried her face on Madame Ray’s bosom. ”

“ Thereupon Cinthia related all the events of the evening, from the time she had left home until she bid Mrs. Varian good-night to return in the grand carriage with the handsome master of Idlewild. Clasping her tiny hands, she cried, in an ecstacy:
“Oh, aunt, I can’t tell you how I enjoyed it all! Mrs. Varian is as proud and beautiful as a queen; but she was so kind and sweet to me that I felt quite at home in [25] her grand house. As for her son—oh!” and Cinthia paused and blushed divinely. ”

“ She takes the muffler off her neck and winds it round her more valuable feet. She falls asleep.
Darkness comes, and snow. From somewhere behind, the shadowy figure of CINDERELLA’S Godmother, beautiful in a Red Cross Nurse’s uniform, is seen looking benignantly on the waif. CINDERELLA is just a little vague, huddled form—there is no movement. ”

“ Though I don’t say but that it’s a grand match for a girl like you, Cinthy.”
“He said I was made for a prince.”
“Of course. People in love are silly enough to say anything. But take your candle and go to bed now, Cinthy, and we will talk about this again to-morrow.”
[27]
“Good-night, aunt,” and she lingered, perhaps hoping for a kindlier word.
The old lady, moved in spite of herself, and secretly proud of Cinthia’s conquest, actually kissed the rosy cheek, saying, merrily:
“Good-night—Mrs. Varian that is to be.” ”

“ The lovely stranger continued earnestly;
“You are young yet, and in time a new love may replace this lost one, and bring you great happiness.”
“Happiness is not for me. I am ill-fated!” moaned Cinthia.
“Do not feel so despondent. The young are naturally morbid. I know that by experience. I have had a great sorrow in my own life, and overlived it.”
Cinthia looked at her almost incredulously, she seemed so fair and bright, and her inexperienced eyes could not read the signs of a past grief in the delicate lines about the lips and eyes. ”

“ Her love for the fair young girl was a passion of devotion. She would have sacrificed all she possessed to secure her happiness.
Yet Cinthia seemed further away than ever from it now.
“Ah, my darling, you should not brood so morbidly over the past!” she cried, winding her arms around the fair girl’s waist. “You have lost a lover, it is true; but think how much more I have suffered, when scarcely as old as you, losing a beloved husband and darling infant.” ”

“ I shook my head when she said that Cintra was my hiding-place. She gazed back at me and laughed, then she said abruptly—
"You need not deny it. You say that I have followed you here, I say that you have come here to hide; that means that you are afraid. Now, Mr. Phenays, I am sorry for you. It is a pity that one so young and good-looking, and with enough money to live on, should needlessly endanger his life—yes, I repeat the word, his life. I will go to-morrow morning if you will confide to me that small secret which you refused to communicate to Mademoiselle Delacourt." ”

“ For this girl, her daughter, how could Mrs. Varian cherish any love?
Perhaps something like pity touched her heart as the large, soft dark eyes turned upon her so wistfully, but she fought down the sympathy, saying to herself:
“Her mother had no mercy on me—none! And the same blood runs in Cinthia’s veins. She could not be trusted to bring her husband anything but ill.” ”

“ Cinthia was sitting up on the side of the bed, her hair a disheveled tangle of gold about her pallid face, with its great star-like eyes. They flashed with sudden pride now as she interrupted:
“Let me beg you to remain away, nor seek to cross again the gulf that you say yawns between us. I am better alone with my humiliation,” bitterly.
“Do not call it that, Cinthia—you do not understand! And I must take charge of you until your father comes,” insisted Mrs. Varian.
“I prefer to remain alone.” ”

“ She took her frugal tea alone and in something like sadness, for Cinthia had seldom been absent from a meal before, and she began to feel what a loss it was to miss the fair young face about the house. She suddenly realized the tenderness lying dormant in her heart for the wilful girl.
She sat down by the cozy fire with her knitting, and listened to the tempest of wind and rain soughing in the trees outside, and Cinthia’s rebellion that afternoon kept repeating itself over and over in her brain until she muttered aloud:
“She wants fine things and parties and lovers, does she? ”

“ Cinthia was only a girl, after all, with the usual feminine attributes.
As she swung herself carefully from branch to branch [58] of the vine, hoping and longing for her feet to touch terra firma, yet sustained by unfaltering courage, there came to her a sudden wild and terrifying thought that made the blood run colder in her veins than all the raging storm had force to do. ”

“ They detected her schemes with secret amusement, and pretended unconsciousness, while inwardly rather amused at the little by-play. That each admired the other was natural, but it was not the admiration that deepens into love. Both had been deeply bereaved in a way that left no room for the budding of a second passion.
As for Cinthia, those years abroad had been like the bursting of a promising bud into a perfect flower. ”

“ If I had known all the truth, I could never have blamed you for neglecting Cinthy, though it is a pity, for a sweeter girl never lived, I am sure. She can not have inherited her disposition from her wicked mother. ”

“ Cinthia, it is the most fortunate thing in the world that my mother chanced on us in time to prevent our mad marriage. A great gulf is fixed between us that neither our love nor our hopes can ever cross. ”

“ Cinna and Timon did not move a step from the litter, and watched the face of the sick woman carefully. There was in it a certain alarm of expectation, but it was not that mortal fear which used to seize her at the approach of midday. Her eyes cast a more lively light, and her cheeks bloomed with a slight flush. Cinna thought indeed at moments that Antea might recover; and at this thought he wanted to throw himself on the ground, to sob from delight, and bless the gods. ”

“ From that time the friendship uniting Cinna and the old Greek became still more intimate. They visited each other frequently and exchanged thoughts, like bread in time of a banquet. Besides, Cinna, in spite of experience and the weariness which comes of use, had not reached the age yet when life has ceased to contain the charm of unknown things; and just this charm he found in Antea, Timon’s only daughter. ”

“ Whether she appeared in silk and lace and nodding plumes at some garden-party, or in yacht costume for a [172] lake excursion, or in cycling suit on her wheel, or in evening-dress at some gay reception, Cinthia was always lovelier than before to his admiring eyes, and he thought, generously:
“I thank Heaven that the dear girl has the means to gratify her expensive tastes, for who knows how much it has helped in the cure of her heart. Besides, she has now several lovers every way as desirable as I ever was, and even if she refuses Fred she is sure to choose one of the others.” ”

“ The Prince approaches, and in company.
Enter Rupert and Cinthio.
Rupert. Ah! do you jest with Scipio? Know him, friends,
A fellow of a right good stinging wit;
Who will not spare a king for sordid ends,
But utter all his mind whoe'er he hit.
This shepherd here is of a different sort;
His present speech will certify you so.—
Cinthio, my mistress is the sole resort,
And temple of the graces; in her grow
A spring of beauties; and Pandora's dower
By heritage she wears even at this hour.
Cinthio. I am a lowly youth, and love a maid
More high than I am low, and oh, so fair! ”

“ Haint a crumb of bread for breakfast—nor supper neither, for that."
"Is the boy here now?"
"Why sakes no!" said Cindy. "He come while you was to supper. I s'pose I might ha' telled ye before, but then again I was busy bakin' cakes—and I'm free to confess I forgot. And prayers always does turn everything out of ray head. I can't guess how I thought of it now. Mr. Skip's away to-night, too," said Cindy in conclusion. Faith shut the door behind her.
"It's too far for you to go alone. Can you find somebody to go with you, Cindy? I'll put up a basket of things for her." ”