Miss Carr

“ It is just such women as you, Miss Carr, who keep the world good, and my sister is one like you. Had I my life to live over again I would be a different man, but now I shall face the alternative unflinchingly. ”

“ Whilst she was speaking Lord Osborne entered the room, and hearing her last words, exclaimed,
"Ah, pray let us have it, Miss Carr: it would be a pity to defraud a young lady of an opportunity of repeating a bit of scandal."
"I think it only fair to tell you, Rosa," continued Miss Carr, "fair to you, and equally so to your friend, if it gives her the opportunity of explaining away the evil surmises set afloat about her."
"Oh, it's about Emma Watson you are gossiping," observed Lord Osborne turning away ”

“ Mary Carr had often heard of such. Could it have been written to Rose? Alas, yes! it was all too plain. The writing was George Marlborough's; the address, "Miss Rose Darling, En Ville," was his; and the seal, "G.M.," was his also. Mary rose, and stood before Eleanor, shielding her from observation, as she beckoned to Anna Marlborough: while Emma Mowbray looked defiant, and asked whether they would believe her next time.
The child was dancing about the courtyard. She was young, and the school made her a sort of plaything: she came dancing up to Miss Carr. ”

“ Carr grunted in his turn. "Seriously though, Jem," he said, slowly, "you're a lucky fellow, a very lucky fellow. If there is a better girl above ground than Olive, I should like to see her."
"Yes," said the other, quietly.
"She's such an exceptional girl," continued Carr, staring out of the window. "She's so good and gentle. She thinks you are a bundle of all the virtues." ”

“ He looked down at his white overalls, smiling.
"Does that astonish you, Miss Carr?--you are Miss Carr, I suppose----"
"Sybilla--yes--we're--we're triplets," she stammered.
"The beauti--the--the Carr triplets! And you are one of them?" he exclaimed, delighted.
"Yes." Still bewildered, she sat there, looking at him. How extraordinary! How strange to find a Harvard man pasting paper! Dire misgivings flashed up within her.
"Who are you?" she asked tremulously. "Would you mind telling me your name. It--it isn't--George!" ”

“ Your sister's is, no doubt, a very lovely complexion—I like dark beauties excessively—but now and then one sees a blonde, whose tint is relieved from the insipidity which usually attends it—Miss Carr, for instance—did you ever see Fanny Carr? ”

“ Howard in love with three different people. Some of your conjectures cannot be right, but they may all be wrong—pray leave off guessing, since you cannot arrive at any conclusion."
"I like Miss Osborne," said Elizabeth, after a moment's pause.
"So do I," replied her sister.
"Better than Miss Carr," continued Miss Watson, "I have a little fear of Miss Carr; but, Emma, I wonder how my father and Margaret get on, I am afraid he will find it very dull; she does not like backgammon or reading out loud—and this snow will prevent his getting the newspaper, or seeing any one to amuse him." ”

“ Emma was always pleased with Sir William's company and conversation, and enjoyed this part of her ride much more than the first. She had the pleasant conviction in her mind that Sir William liked her; a feeling which made their intercourse very agreeable—and, as to the scandal which Miss Carr had tried to insinuate on that subject—she was so perfectly ignorant of it, that it never occurred to her that an exception to their being together could possibly be taken. ”

“ Neither Daphne nor her husband ever speak of that time now. Not that she regrets it: woman-like, she sometimes feels sorry it is over and gone. She was of real use to her man in those days. Now he seems to be growing independent of her again. Then she smiles comfortably, for she knows that all fears on that score are groundless. He is hers, body and soul. And she—
A small, unclean, and insistent hand is tugging at her skirt, and Miss Carr, swaying unsteadily beneath the burden of a bulky and tattered volume, claims her attention. ”

“ John."
"He! You are joking, Mary Carr."
"I am not. He is staying quite close to them. We saw a great deal of him. And--Rose!--he is taking Adeline's portrait!"
"Allez toujours," exclaimed Rose, using a familiar French expression. "I told you once before, Mary Carr, that that man, my pseudo-cousin, would exercise some extraordinary influence over Adeline de Castella's future life; and I now tell it you again."
CHAPTER XX. LOVE'S FIRST DREAM
Hours, days, weeks, rolled on, after the departure of Miss Carr from the Château de Beaufoy, and no outward change had taken place in its occupants. ”

“ Lady Osborne looked displeased, but to that Miss Carr was indifferent, she had secured a position at Lord Osborne's elbow, which was her own object, and broken short her lady hostess's attempts at flirtation with the clergyman which she knew would please her friend. ”

“ Women have no business with a brain like hers—that is, if they wish to be women and not sexual monsters. Mrs. Carr is not a lady, though she might have been one. I don't think she is a good woman either. It is possible, indeed, that she has known the factory before now. There is a mystery about her, for I was informed that she was a Mrs. Purfoy, the widow of a whaling captain, and had married one of her assigned servants, who had deserted her five years ago, as soon as he obtained his freedom. ”

“ I commend it seriously to your attention."
"I should think the gentlemen would not sit very long," observed Miss Osborne, "and when they come we must all adjourn to the drawing-room, for mama will wish to sit down to cards. I hope you can play cards."
Her visitors assented, Elizabeth asserting that she was very fond of them.
"And you, Miss Emma Watson," cried Miss Carr, "do you not delight in cards—you answer with a degree of coldness that speaks rather of indifference on the subject."
"I can play if necessary," replied Emma, "but there are many occupations I prefer." ”

“ He was on his way to Carr's house, driven thither by pure pressure of loneliness, born of three days' solitary communion within the limits of his own shack. He wanted to hear a human voice again. And it was a vagrant, unaccountable impulse that sent him after Sophie instead of directing him straight to Carr's living room, where her father would probably be sitting, pipe in mouth, book in hand. ”

“ Morgan as a negotiator," replied Miss Carr with emphasis, "it was very friendly of him, no doubt, to interest himself in your concerns; single men are often friendly to young ladies."
"And so are married men too, I trust," cried Sir William, "at least I am ”

“ Turning, I encountered the pretty daughter of the house, the youthful Miss Carrie.
"Wait," she cried, allowing herself to display her emotion freely in face and bearing. "I have heard who you are from my brother," she continued, approaching me with a soft grace that at once put me upon my guard. "Now, tell me who are the rowdies that threaten to invade our grounds?"
"I do not know their names, miss," I responded; "but they are a rough-looking set you would not like to see among your guests."
"There are no very rough-looking men in our village," she declared ”

“ Carr was forcing the season a trifle—it was near the end of September—but the dean of a famous college for women had come to town unexpectedly, and it was not Mrs. Carr’s way to let heat or cold interfere with her social inclinations. Mrs. Forrest and her brother had ceased talking to watch their niece. The [2] girl’s profile was turned to them, and the old gentleman noted the good points of her face and figure. ”

“ But the wonders of the universe held a new beauty now for Carr. The distant suns had taken on added brilliance. Still they beckoned.
"Carr," the girl whispered, after a time, "where are we going?"
"To Europa. Your home."
"To—to stay?"
"No." Carr was suddenly confident; determined. "We'll stop there to break the news. Then we'll be wedded, you and I, according to the custom of your people. Our honeymoon—years of it—will be spent in the Nomad, roving the universe. Mado'll agree, I know. Wanderers of the heavens we'll be, Ora. But we'll have each other ”

“ Few have such a stomach as our royal master, who has been compared to many things, but I wonder never to an ostrich, for he can digest iron, if it be well spiced."
"But," asked Carr, in a tone of doubt, "can this lady love at all, Overbury? Has she the feelings and passions of other women? I could not content me with a cold and indifferent bride; and I have remarked that, whatever proposals have been made for her hand, she has seemed right glad and well pleased when they were rejected--I speak not alone of men whom she has never seen, but when there was a question of Northumberland's son ”

“ You were afraid that where every man had failed to turn you from your own hard selfish way of life, a woman might succeed. And so you ran away, and you have been running ever since. There, my strong man, there's the truth for you!"
For once in his life Sir John Carr, the terror of deputations, the scourge of unsound logicians, the respectfully avoided of hecklers, had no answer ready. The reason was obvious: no answer was possible. The victory lay with Daphne. She leaned back in the settle and looked fearlessly up into her husband's face. ”

“ Juggernaut laid down his tea-cup with a slight clatter.
"I was not aware," he said curtly, "that there was any trouble."
Mrs Carfrae surveyed him long and balefully over her spectacles.
"Johnny Carr," she observed dispassionately, "I have known you ever since you could roar for your bottle, and I have never had any patience with you either then or since. You are a dour, dreich, thrawn, camstearie creature. You have more money than you can spend, grand health, and a young and beautiful wife. But you are not happy. ”

“ Carr rose and threw down his table napkin with a certain grand air which was his.
“It would be the making of you,” he said. “It is worth thinking about.”
He threw back his shoulders--a trick common enough with strongly built men who incline to stoutness--nodded, and left him. He passed down the length of the saloon, seeking his cigar-case in the pocket of his coat, exchanging loud and hearty greetings with those among the passengers whom he knew. He was popular on account of the open British frankness which he cultivated, and which is supposed to be the outward sign of an honest heart. ”

“ She saw the change that came over it; the look of fear, of apprehension, that replaced its smile. He went into the dining-room, and she followed him.
"Why, Carr!" he exclaimed. "Is it you?"
Mr. Carr, bowing to Lady Hartledon, made a joke of the matter. "Having waited so long, I thought I'd wait it out, Hartledon. As good be hung for a sheep as a lamb, you know, and I have no wife sitting up for me at home." ”

“ A quarter of an hour later the captain's boat, came alongside, and Hendry and his supercargo came aft under the awning, and with much solicitude asked Carr how he was feeling. He replied civilly to their inquiries, but excused himself when Chard asked him to have a small bottle of lager. They were accompanied by two respectable-looking white men, who were resident traders on Drummond's Island.
“I have some news for you, Mr. Carr,” said the supercargo genially; “there's an old friend of yours here, a trader named Remington.” ”

“ And I have neglected this, shamefully neglected it! and have selfishly suffered my own sorrows to absorb me quite. – Where do Mrs Fleming and her family live? – Where can I see them? – If they are in town I will go to them this evening.'
Carr smiled at the vehemence of his young friend, and said, 'What a pity it is, Somerive, that such an heart as yours should ever lose this amiable warmth, and become hackneyed in the ways of men!'
'I trust,' answered Orlando, 'that it never will; but, Carr, you do not answer my question – does Mrs Fleming reside in London?'
'No,' replied Carr ”

“ I should like to go to Paris for a whole year, and study hard—"
"Your husband might not wish you to remain an actress," said Miss Carry.
"Then he would never be my husband," the elder sister said, with decision. "I have not worked hard for nothing. Just when I begin to think I can do something—when I think I can get beyond those coquettish, drawing-room, simpering parts that people run after now—just when the very name of Mrs. ”

“ Yet this was the same girl who had received Dupont in this very room, who had talked with him in that secluded meadow, who had gone to the fir-wood to meet him. His eyes showed his inward trouble, they looked bluely dense and clouded. Miss Carroll glanced at him once or twice, as it seemed to him, guardedly; but he was aware that he was no longer a calm judge where she was concerned; aware that he might easily mistake the importance or significance of any little look or act. ”

“ In Annie Roe Carr we have found a young woman of wide experience among girls—in schoolroom, in camp and while traveling. She knows girls of to-day thoroughly—their likes and dislikes—and knows that they demand almost as much action as do the boys. And she knows humor—good, clean fun and plenty of it. ”

“ She directed her remark to Laura as though they had been talking over the thing she was thinking about.
“Whatever are you talking about?” Laura laughed. “Or, is it a secret? You know what happens to people in this country who go around talking to themselves? They throw them to the bulls. Now, come on, Bessie,” she finished. “You may be a harum-scarum child, but we love you. Cheer up.”
At this, the elevator jolted and settled to its place on the first floor and the three girls stepped [115] out to find Adair, Alice, Walker Jamieson and the rest all waiting for them. ”