Mrs. Hayward

“ The schoolmaster would not have given in without a fight; but Mrs. Hayward knew human nature well enough to be sure that with a man behind her whom she loved, Joyce would have felt her bond to the man whom she did not love to be still more impossible. In such a case fidelity was no longer a virtue but a crime.
But Bellendean had gone, and had not spoken. Mrs. Hayward had been both angry and disappointed by this failure. She had blamed Joyce for it, and she had blamed the Colonel for it. That a man should afficher himself and then go away was a thing not to be endured, according to her ideas. ”

“ The great Hayward sat in the stalls, with her pince-nez up. 'You!' she said, pointing; 'the one in the squirrel coat!' So I went to her. 'I think you'll do,' she drawled; 'you know what the money is?' 'Twenty-five, Miss Hayward,' I said, 'isn't it?' 'No, a guinea,' she said, 'it doesn't matter to you.' 'Thank you,' I said, 'I've got to keep myself out of my salary—I haven't got a man, and a flat!' Potter, the agent, was in an awful stew—'Oh, you shouldn't have spoken to Miss Hayward like that!' 'To hell!' I said."
"Cat!" cried Rosalind. "Because you were well-dressed?" ”

“ You are suffering still from the wound you received in the Warsaw skirmish, and it makes you low-spirited. No doubt your sister will be perfectly safe, and I know she had much rather be with you, to assist you should you need her aid, than to be safe in St. Louis, enduring the tortures of suspense.”
Hayward made no reply. At this moment, a female, delicate and fair, came tripping lightly into the tent, her face wreathed in smiles, and her eyes sparkling with delight; but, as she caught sight of Hayward, she paused, and gazed upon him for a moment, exhibiting the most intense interest ”

“ When Captain Hayward left the tent, he proceeded to the stream which skirted the woods. Bending over it, he bathed his fevered brow. Then he seated himself upon the bank of the river, and, resting his head upon his hands, was, for a long time, absorbed in his thoughts. A human form flitted lightly past. Hayward raised his head and listened, but all was quiet again, and, in the darkness of the night he could distinguish nothing.
“I was mistaken!” he said to himself. “If I was not, and a human being is around, I will wager it was Nettleton, who, anxious for my safety, has followed me.” ”

“ Pale with expectancy, Hayward was only the ghost of himself when the servant admitted him. He had waited but a moment when Constance entered the room wearing the gown in which he had first seen her. He rose to meet her, but she came and sat down by his side.
"Listen," she said, "and I will tell you how I feel. I am twenty-five and I have never 'cared.' I do not believe that I [13] ever shall care, for the love that we read of is almost incomprehensible to me. You cannot marry such a woman." ”

“ Hayward could not reply. His feelings almost overcame him, and he did not wish his sister to discover any emotion on his part.
"You are silent. These men are not your friends, and you are a prisoner! Oh! my heart will break!" and she sobbed convulsively.
"Don't weep so, dear sister. Don't weep."
"I cannot help it. Oh! let me weep—let me rest upon your heart, brother, and weep my life away! It will be sweet to die here!"
"You must not die, Mamie, but live for me. I hope to-morrow I shall be free. I have friends who will not forsake me!"
"And you are a prisoner!" she sobbed. ”

“ Hayward; ‘you are too tired to begin to think at this hour. You know the railway always upsets you. Go to bed, my dear—go to bed.’
‘Well, perhaps it will be the best thing,’ the Colonel said.
They both got up next morning with one pleasant thought in their minds, that of dazzling Joyce. It took away the line even from Mrs. Hayward’s brow. It was pleasant to anticipate the astonishment, the admiration, the deep impression which all these unaccustomed splendours would make. Poor girl! it would be almost too much for her ”

“ For some hours, Hayward and his sister were permitted to remain alone. Night was fast approaching. Nothing was heard without, but the coarse laugh and jests of the soldiers. As Hayward held his sister in his arms, he murmured:
"Would to God she could ever remain unconscious, or die to-night. I feel that a fate far worse than death awaits her, when I am gone, and to-morrow will surely be the fatal day. Oh, may God in his mercy protect this darling one!" ”

“ Mr. Phillips had very little to say to Hayward during the drive to Hill-Top. He really desired to say nothing, but it was impossible to ignore all the demands of gentlemanly politeness and interest in his son-in-law's family.
"How is Helen?" he asked after a long while.
"Not so very well yet, sir," answered Hayward. "She doesn't seem to regain her strength very rapidly."
A very much longer silence.
"And the baby?"
"The finest boy in the world, sir—you ought to see him—strong and healthy, with lungs like a steam piano."
Mr. Phillips made no comment. Hayward looked round at him. ”

“ Captain Hayward was greatly emaciated. Loss of blood, fever, hunger and exposure would have ended a life less tenacious than his; but, despite his suffering, the presence of friends, the rescue of his sister, the anticipated happiness of her union with the man who had proven himself so well worthy of her—all conspired to give an elasticity to his spirits more potent than the infusions of herbs prepared by the not unskilled hands of old Madge, who, from an enemy, had, “by the force of couldn’t help herself,” as Nettleton declared, become a useful instrument at a critical moment. ”

“ Hayward has been active in the State and national work. She is one of the official visitors and directors of the Ladies' Aid Association of the Solders' Home in Chelsea, Mass. She has attended the National Conventions in Western cities as a delegate from the Department of Massachusetts. In 1902 she was president of the corps in South Framingham, where she has resided since the death of her husband, and at the close of her official year was presented with a gold badge as a testimonial of regard. A woman of dignity and culture, she is an excellent presiding officer. ”

“ To say that Miss Mamie Hayward soon became Mrs. Wells, in the presence of the whole division—that a grand gala-day followed—is but half the truth, however; for, at the same time, another bridegroom was there in the form of the pale but happy Captain Henry Hayward, who took to be his comforter and his much-needed nurse, the woman who loved him most truly—Miss Nettie Morton. It was, indeed, a most happy consummation of a drama which promised, at one time, to end only in sorrow and broken hearts.
Not the least happy of all that throng, nor the least noted, was
Nettleton, the Captain’s Body-Guard. ”

“ As they say in this country, 'love and a cough cannot be hidden.' I was sure about Vardri, but about you;—no, one couldn't say. When you came out here you were a sexless creature with a brain. It did not seem likely that you would develop into the ordinary girl with a lover."
It was the only way he could keep a hold upon himself, by keeping up a pose of cynicism. The fragrance of her hair, the curved mouth so close to his own, maddened him. He who could have been her lover had been only her guardian, her taskmaster. ”

“ A mad impulse seized her to rush up the steps to the loft, interrupt the meeting, defy them all and boast how she had schemed her lover's escape, and laugh at them and their plots, goad them into shooting her at once and finishing it all quickly. She felt that she could not endure any more suspense and strain. Anything would be better than this interminable, awful waiting in the semi-darkness and loneliness, with neither friend nor lover at hand, no single human to take her part or defend her. Emile had gone and now Vardri, and she must face everything alone. ”

“ She spoke pleasantly to Shortman and Hayward when she came out to get in the carriage, and Hayward thought that her perfect composure in what seemed to him a tense situation was marvellous to behold. At the first sight of her glorious beauty he had an impulse to prostrate himself in adoration, but that something of the grand lady which she had unconsciously taken on held him stiffly to his character, if nothing else had done so. ”

“ He must hurry the interview to a close, for he could not play his part much longer.
"You ought to be glad to get rid of me, Arithelli. Vous avez la chance! What have I given you but work and grumbles, eh?"
The soft, broken voice answered him:
"I shall feel afraid without you."
"You will have Vardri,—your lover." His tone was brutal as the blow of a knife. The natural animal jealousy of a man had risen in him again. When he was between stone walls, she would have the warmth of a lover's arms; every nerve in his own body would know it, and long for that which he had himself resigned. ”

“ And now comes Hal Lodge piloting her through the swirl. Careful, old man, don't hold her so close. She is quite able to carry a part of her own weight!
There can be no doubt it takes some culture—of a sort—for a man to be able to look with entire complacency upon his wife in another's arms, however fine a fellow or fast a friend that other is. There be those who have attained unto such culture: but Hayward had had few opportunities in that school—he was happily—in this case unhappily—ignorant of its refinements of learning. ”

“ She is mine—mine, curse you! and all your raving speeches can't take her away from me! ... Oh, well, talk on—yes, talk on to her. I wish to heaven you would fall in love with her! That would be quite the most delicious dispensation of fate that could ever come to me—it would be too good, too good to hope for—to have you hopelessly in love with my wife! ... Oh, you beauty, how can any man resist you!"
On the other side of the house Rutledge afterward swung past the footman's window in several dances with Elise.
"Oh," growled Hayward at last, "it's my brother-in-law you aspire to be! ”

“ A man who can do—what he can do—may be excused if he is a little deficient in words.’
She spoke quickly, almost sharply, with a little air of defiance, yet with moisture in her eyes.
‘Surely,’ said Mrs. Bellendean, ‘we know what Colonel Hayward is; but pardon me, it was a much less matter—it was about Joyce I wanted to know.’
‘The one story cannot be told without the other. My husband,’ said Mrs. Hayward, with a long breath, ‘had been married before—before he married me. He had married very hurriedly a young lady who came out to some distant relations in India. ”

“ Involuntarily, and almost unconsciously as they marked this, Mary Clifford and Captain Hayward turned to each other with a smile. The impulse with each was to see if the other had remarked it--a very simple impulse--but when their looks met, it made a more compound phrase; and the anagram of the heart might read thus:
"May we not as well make love too?"
It was a sore temptation; but the next instant Ned Hayward's countenance became exceedingly grave, and the warm healthy glow in his cheek grew a shade paler. ”

“ Miss Hayward did not raise her head, but reached forth her hand toward Wells, which, quickly kneeling by her side, he took, and pressed to his lips.
“Oh, heaven bless you!” he moaned. “You do not believe me capable of the dreadful crime with which I am charged?”
Miss Hayward tried to speak, but convulsive sobs choked her utterance.
“No, my ever kind and dear friend,” replied Alibamo, “she does not believe you guilty. Nor am I satisfied that Captain Hayward has been killed. I am under the impression that he was wounded and taken prisoner by some rebels, who were lurking near our camp.” ”

“ Love, Youth, and Nature were hard at work weaving the bonds that drew them together.
The fact that she suffered his caresses had given him the right of manhood to protect her, to be her champion, to fight her battles. If he could do nothing else for her, at least he could fight. For him the crown of happiness could be found in loyal service. Of love-making in its ordinary sense, Vardri neither thought nor dreamed. To have found his Ideal, the one woman, surely that was enough. The innate fastidiousness that goes with good breeding had kept his life clean, his hands unsoiled. ”

“ Inside the stable Arithelli, tall and straight in her scarlet shirt, moved to and fro at her work, hanging up saddles and bridles, carrying pails of water, ranging on either side of the hut the horses and the mules. Tortured as she was with anxiety, she did not forget the wants of her friends the animals. It came across her mind how once when she had said to Vardri, "Let us see to the horses first," he had said half in jest, "If I were a Spaniard I should be jealous. You always think of the animals before everything else." ”

“ The usual precautions as to detectives and a guard of soldiers had been taken, but the buxom and amiable Infanta was popular among the lower orders, so that no revolutionist outbreak was feared.
Her charities were famous, her diamonds and Paris toilettes equally so. She smiled graciously at Arithelli as horse and rider bowed before her, and pulling out a few blossoms from the bouquet that rested on the ledge, threw them into the arena. As the girl looked up and the level unsmiling gaze met hers, the older woman started back. ”