Mistress Anne

“ I think 'twas her gentleness to Mistress Anne which has sustained me. That poor gentlewoman and I have the happiness to know her heart as others do not. Thank God, 'tis so! When to-night I said to her sadly, 'Madam, my youth is long past,' she stopped me with a strange and tender little cry. She put her hand upon my shoulder. Ah, its soft touch, its white, kind caress! 'Youth is not all,' she said. 'I have known younger men who could not bring a woman truth and honourable love. 'Tis not I who give, 'tis not I,' and the full sweet red of her mouth quivered. ”

“ Mistress Anne, aren't you glad that Eve is married?"
"Yes," honestly, "and that she is happy."
"Pip was made for her. I loved him at Palm Beach, adoring her, didn't you?"
"Yes." Anne's mind went back to it. The marriage had followed immediately upon the announcement of the broken engagement. People had pitied poor young Dr. Brooks. But Anne had not. One does not pity a man who, having been bound, is free.
[363] He had written to her a half dozen times during the winter, friendly letters with news of Crossroads, and now that she was again at Rose Acres, he was coming up. ”

“ Nay, madam, he hath never expressed them as yet. Only my mother and brother both refer to his purpose, and if I could show myself contracted to a young lady of good birth and education, he cannot gainsay; it might yet save me from what I will not and cannot endure. Not that such is by any means my chief and only motive. I have loved Mistress Anne with all my heart ever since she shone upon me like a being from a better world when I lay sick here. She has the same power of hushing the wild goblin within me as you have, madam. I am another man with her, as I am with you. ”

“ In truth, though she was still a proud lady and stately in her ways, there had come upon her some strange subtle change Anne could not understand.
On the day on which the assembly was held, Mistress Anne’s woman brought to her a beautiful robe. ’Twas flowered satin of the sheen and softness of a dove’s breast, and the lace adorning it was like a spider’s web for gossamer fineness. The robe was sweetly fashioned, fitting her shape wondrously; and when she was attired in it at night a little colour came into her cheeks to see herself so far beyond all comeliness she had ever known before. ”

“ Bid Mistress Anne have a care, and tell her that if Mother Goodhugh stands at the stake it will be back to back with the mincing, painting, and patching madam who came and bade her curse and destroy her rival at the Pool-house; who planned its destruction; who is a worse witch than I. Tell her all this, for I’ll stay and defy her. Bid her do her worst. ”

“ This feat seemed to fascinate Mistress Anne, who watched the last bit of tail disappear, the robin having succeeded in taking down a worm nearly twice its own length; such a feat, indeed, as a man would have accomplished had he made a meal of a serpent some ten or eleven feet long, swallowing it, writhing and twisting, whole.
“How cruel Nature is!” said Mistress Anne, in a low thoughtful voice, and as she spoke there was a strange light in her eyes. “Everything for its own pleasure seems to kill what it wills. Why should I not be cruel too?” ”

“ I think it was that she liked to think that he who has conquered so many ladies will find that he is to be outwitted and made a mock of. She likes that others shall be beaten if she thinks them impudent. She liked it as a child, and would flog the stable-boys with her little whip until they knelt to beg her pardon for their freedoms.”
That night Mistress Anne went to her bed-chamber with her head full of wandering thoughts, and she had not the power to bid them disperse themselves and leave her—indeed, she scarce wished for it. ”

“ SIMPLE.
[Aside to Mistress Quickly.] ’Tis a great charge to come under one body’s hand.
MISTRESS QUICKLY.
[Aside to Simple.] Are you avised o’ that? You shall find it a great charge, and to be up early and down late; but notwithstanding—to tell you in your ear, I would have no words of it—my master himself is in love with Mistress Anne Page; but notwithstanding that, I know Anne’s mind. That’s neither here nor there.
CAIUS.
You jack’nape, give-a dis letter to Sir Hugh. By gar, it is a shallenge. ”

“ Oh, it was cruel! cruel! They had left me!
I think my senses were leaving me too, when I felt an arm about my waist, and found Mistress Anne by my side guiding me to the chest. I sat down on it, the certainty of my helplessness and the sudden relief of her presence bringing the tears to my eyes. She fanned me, and gave me some restorative, chiding me the while for getting out of my berth. ”

“ The contrast between them was ever a great one; but this afternoon Mistress Anne’s always pale countenance seemed almost livid, there were rings of pain or illness round her eyes, and her features looked drawn and pinched. My Lady Dunstanwolde, clad in a great rich petticoat of crimson flowered satin, with wondrous yellow Mechlin for her ruffles, and with her glorious hair dressed like a tower, looked taller, more goddess-like and full of splendid fire than ever she had been before beheld, or so her visitors said to her and to each other ”

“ Is it a new lover, my dear?”
“I have told thee I do not want anything, mother,” cried Anne peevishly.
“Nay, then, come on to my cottage, where we can talk. Thou has not been to see me for months and months.”
“Nay, mother, I’ll come no more. Good day, I must get me home.”
“Stay, child,” cried Mother Goodhugh, clutching at her dress; “I want to talk to thee of him. Come to my place.”
“Loose me this instant, mother,” cried Mistress Anne, indignantly. “How darest thou lay thy hands on me?”
“Only because we are sisters, dearie.”
“Sisters?”
“Ay, dearie; don’t we practise the art together. ”

“ Life is what it is, not what we want it to be."
"I like his dreams," she said, simply, "and I want to be as good as he thinks I am."
"You don't have to be too good. You are too pretty. Do you know that Cynthia Warfield's granddaughter is a great beauty, Mistress Anne?"
"I know that I don't like to have you say such things to me."
"Why not?"
"I am not sure that you mean them."
"But I do mean them," eagerly.
"Perhaps," stiffly, "but we won't talk about it. I must go up to Peggy."
Peter Bower was with Peggy. He was a round and red-faced Peter with the kindest heart in the world. ”

“ The hand with which Mistress Anne sate covering her eyes began to shake. My lady’s own hand would have shaken had she not been so strong a creature.
“And he has not yet returned, then?” she asked. “You have not seen him?”
The girl shook her fair locks, weeping with piteous little sobs.
“He has not,” she cried, “and I know not what to do—and the great town seems full of evil men and wicked women. I know not which way to turn, for all plot wrong against me, and would drag me down to shamefulness—and back to my poor mother I cannot go.” ”

“ The two younger girls were in the rumble, the French maid and page on the coachbox, and Lady Anne and her three eldest daughters inside, to say nothing of imperials, boxes, parcels, and last, but not least, the dog, the only over-petted and over-fed thing in his mistress's possession.
"Never were any girls so stupid as you are," exclaimed Lady Anne, when, after many vain attempts at conversation, her daughters had sunk into silence. "Mary never has any thing to say; and I think you are all growing like her. Do take care, Louisa; if you lean back, you will spoil your bonnet." ”

“ Then at twilight a dancing lesson with Geoffrey in the long front room, with Beulah playing audience and sometimes Eric, and with Peggy capering madly to the music.
Then the evening, with its enchanting task of stitching on yards of rosy silk. Usually Geoffrey read to her while she worked. His story was nearing the end. He was wearing heavy goggles which gave him an owl-like appearance, of which he complained.
"It spoils my beauty, Mistress Anne. I am just an ugly gnome who sits at the feet of the Princess."
[145] "You are not ugly, and you know it. And men shouldn't be vain." ”

“ Anne sank down on the rug, and reached up her hand for Nancy, "and how happy you will be with your big son. Could you ever have loved a daughter as much, Mother Nancy?"
"I'm not sure; perhaps," smiling, "if she had been like you. And a daughter would have stayed with me. Men have wandering natures—they must be up and out."
"Women have wandering natures, too," Anne told her. "Do you know that last Christmas I cried and cried because I was tied to the Crossroads school and to Bower's? I wanted to live in the city and have lovely things. You can't imagine how I hated all Eve Chesley's elegance. ”

“ If Anne Page be my daughter, she is, by this, Doctor Caius’ wife.
Enter Slender.
SLENDER
Whoa, ho, ho, father Page!
PAGE.
Son, how now! How now, son, have you dispatched?
SLENDER.
Dispatched? I’ll make the best in Gloucestershire know on’t. Would I were hanged, la, else!
PAGE.
Of what, son?
SLENDER.
I came yonder at Eton to marry Mistress Anne Page, and she’s a great lubberly boy. If it had not been i’ the church, I would have swinged him, or he should have swinged me. If I did not think it had been Anne Page, would I might never stir! And ’tis a postmaster’s boy. ”

“ She flushed faintly. "I believe in yours. But your Eve doesn't. She likes you because you don't care, and everybody else does. And that isn't love."
"What is love?"
She pondered. "I don't know. I've never felt it. And I don't want to feel it. If I loved too much I should die—and if I didn't love enough I should be ashamed."
"You are a queer child, Marie-Louise."
"I am not a child. Dad thinks I am, and mother. But they don't know."
There were day lilies growing about the sun-dial. She gathered a handful of white blooms and laid them at the feet of the piping Pan. ”

“ Nothing is more ordinary, than for my Lady to love her Gentleman; or Mistress Anne, her father’s man. But if a country clown coming up hither, and seeking for his lawyer in Gray’s Inn, should step into the walks, and there should chance to spy some mastership of nature; some famed Beauty, that for a time hath been the name ”

“ She expected her mistress to turn to her—almost to fling her arms around her neck—to thank her with the warmest expressions for what she had done.
"Anne," rehearsed the little maid, imagining Charlotte's words, "you have saved us all; you are our lifelong benefactor. Henceforth partake of our wealth. Be not only our servant, but our friend."
This was how matters would have been managed in the Family Herald. Anne raised expectant eyes to her mistress's face, but one glance at it scattered her golden visions. She softly lifted up the tea-tray and withdrew. ”

“ Among these young human flowers Mistress Anne reigned gentle queen and saint, but softly faded day by day, having been a fragile creature all her life, but growing more so as time passed, despite the peace she lived in and the happiness surrounding her. ”

“ I it was who stopped the carriage and fled! With a mistress on the other side of Paris, who loves and pleases you, to whom to bring the desire awakened by her rival, this is truly the most delightful of sports. It is very natural that Queen Anne will allow herself to be taken. The feeling that she is passionately desired and at the same time shunned is likely to provoke the worst follies in a woman, who is a little corrupt and a little cold, a little vain and a little curious. ”

“ Then she rose. "Not if you marry Richard Brooks. You may as well know that now as later, Eve. All your life you have shaken the plum tree and have gathered the fruit. You may come to your senses when you find there isn't any tree to shake."
The deep red in the cheeks of the old woman was matched by the red that stained Eve's fairness. "Keep your money," she said, passionately; "I can get along without it. You've always made me feel like a pauper, Aunt Maude." ”

“ I pray you pardon me, he’s a Justice of Peace in his country, simple though I stand here.
EVANS.
But that is not the question. The question is concerning your marriage.
SHALLOW.
Ay, there’s the point, sir.
EVANS.
Marry, is it; the very point of it—to Mistress Anne Page.
SLENDER.
Why, if it be so, I will marry her upon any reasonable demands.
EVANS.
But can you affection the ’oman? Let us command to know that of your mouth, or of your lips; for divers philosophers hold that the lips is parcel of the mouth. Therefore, precisely, can you carry your good will to the maid? ”

“ She slipped the blue dress from her shoulders and saw the long slim line of her neck and the whiteness of her skin.
The fire had died down in the little round stove. The room was cold. She thought of Eve's rose-color, and of the warmth of her furs.
Bravely, however, she hummed the tune to which the others had danced. She lifted her feet in time. Her shoes were heavy, and she took them off. She tried to get the rhythm, the lightness, the grace of movement. But these things must be taught, and she had no one to teach her. ”

“ She will marry no man who cannot make her at least a countess, and she would take him but because there was not a duke at hand. We know her, and her beauty’s ways.”
But they did not know her; none knew her, save herself.
In the west wing, which grew more bare and ill-furnished as things wore out and time went by, Mistress Anne waxed thinner and paler. She was so thin in two months’ time, that her soft, dull eyes looked twice their natural size, and seemed to stare piteously at people. ”

“ Fair Mistress Anne would give her ears to wed with him: and if she has set her mind upon it, mark me, she will likely enough take steps to stay his wedding you. There is many a slip ’twixt cup and lip, child, and maybe this trouble of thine will settle itself without action on our part. It will be time to take stringent steps on the eve of the wedding if nothing happens before, and something may. At all events he shall not wed thee in Roehurst church while I am parson there. ”