Mrs. Winthrop

“ He had no confidence whatever in Winthrop, simply because he was a man. In such situations men were selfish (he himself should have been no better) ; of course at the time they did not call it selfishness, they called it devotion. But in Margaret his confidence was absolute. And it was with a deep, tender pity for her, for all she had still to go through, that he now bent over her.
Winthrop had gone down-stairs; he paced to and fro in the stone-flagged hall below. The door stood open, the deep soft blue of the Florida sky filled the square frame. "If only she doesn't die!" ”

“ Winthrop asked him in, and then when he was seated, asked him what he wanted.
"I am wishing to know if you could let me live wiz you a few days — I am wanting to be busy in your mountains, about my affairs, and I just want to know if you can let me have a bed to sleep on at night, and a little somet'ing to eat — I would be very much obliged and I would pay you whatever you please — "
"Mother," said Winthrop, "can you let this gentleman stay here a few days? he has business in the mountains, he says, and wants to stop here?"
"I do not wish to be no trouble to no person," he said blandly. ”

“ He had flushed a little at her taunt. "I can carry you back to the side we started from," he said.
"No, you cannot do that, either. For I could easily blind you with my hands, and make you stumble."
"Garda!—how absurd!"
"Yes; but it's you who look so," she answered, bursting into a peal of irrepressible glee.
Winthrop had the feeling that she might be right. He knew that he was flushed and angry; no man likes to be laughed at, even by a girl of sixteen. Her eyes, though over-flowing with mirth, had still an unconquerable look in them. ”

“ Then, laughing, she came back to him, her pretty teeth shining beneath her parted lips. "You are the kindest man in the whole world," she announced, standing before him. Winthrop laughed also to see how suddenly happy and light-hearted she had become. "Let us go and tell mamma," continued Garda. "Poor mamma—I haven't been nice to her. But now I will be; I shall tell her that you will buy the place, there's nothing nicer than that. Then we can go to Washington."
"It will take some time, you know," Winthrop suggested. ”

“ And if she is as I think she is, she will be glad to come."
"Oh!" said Winthrop, with angry scorn.
"She'll be glad, because she's my wife—she's a stickler for that sort of thing. She is a very good woman; that's the advantage of having a really good woman for your wife—you can rely upon her whether she likes you or not—likes you very much, I mean. But I begin to think you don't know her as well as I do, in spite of the time you have had."
"Know her? I don't know her in the least! I have never known her—I see that now."
At this moment they heard the dip of an oar, and stopped. ”

“ I don't like to have the girls talk about me, and I don't like to have Miss Winthrop sad; I wonder if I am such a giddy girl! I suppose it is true; I do think too much of dress. I suppose I might look nice without thinking so much about it and without showing that I do. Miss Winthrop talked about newness of life—I wish I could be made over all new. Then I wouldn't be Mary Brown. Yes, I might; I am Prinkie Brown now. I won't be called Prinkie any more. I'll be Mary, and I will live for something better than dress. ”

“ Thou mightst have been queen of my heart,
Thou mightst have been all things to me!’”
The exquisite tenor voice of the singer died away into mournful echoes; the low accompaniment wailed along the piano-keys like the cry of a breaking heart, then sobbed itself out—and silence reigned.
“There is still another verse, Mr. Winthrop,” said Lady Edith Chilton, softly.
“Which I shall not sing,” answered Guy Winthrop, coolly.
“Shall not?” the girl repeated after him, in a rising tone of displeasure. “No one ever says ‘shall not’ to me, Mr. Winthrop.” ”

“ Annette assisted Mrs. Winthrop into her coat, then left the bedroom. From a safe distance down the hall she watched Mrs. Winthrop descend the staircase, and waited until she heard Joshua close the front door after her and retreat into his own domain. She then slipped noiselessly down the hall and into Mrs. Winthrop’s bedroom. Half an hour passed before she again appeared, wearing a satisfied smile. The hall was empty. “I have seen what I have seen,” she muttered under her breath exultingly, as she proceeded downstairs. “And I think I will haf more monie by to-morrow. Mon Dieu!” ”

“ I should ask her to come herself, later. New York might amuse her."
"Never in the world, she wouldn't in the least approve of it," said Winthrop, laughing. "It wouldn't be Thorne and Duero; it wouldn't even be New Bristol, where she spent her youth. She would feel that she ought to reform it, yet she wouldn't know how; she would be dreadfully perplexed. She has a genius for perplexity, poor little soul. ”

“ Who is that with you?”
“Miss Winthrop, and my best friend, Carrie Stanley.”
“Miss Winthrop,” said the stranger, with a most bewitching smile, “will you not allow me to take my little cousin and her friend out for a short drive?”
Miss Winthrop hesitated.
“Oh, I’ll make it all right with Mr. Worcester. I know him very well. Tell him, if you please, that Miss Montague will be responsible for the safe return of his pupils. Jump in, girls. It is not so very long since Miss Winthrop and I have been school-girls ourselves; and we know what a treat a drive is.” ”

“ Meanwhile there existed, though hardly flourished, the gentler arts among the women of America; and Mercy Warren, wife of James Warren and daughter of James Otis, she to whom Mrs. Winthrop's letter was addressed, wielded a more refined and therefore more effective pen than that of her friend, being the one female writer of her day who may be called notable. She was hardly less enthusiastic than Mrs. Winthrop in the cause of liberty, and she was possessed of a very respectable gift of satire which made her writings a power in their way. ”

“ But presently, as she looked at Kerr, growing redder with too much dinner and too much wine, laughing at his own coarse jokes and throwing at her with great vulgar compliments; and when all at once, in contrast, rose the figure of the other Major as she had painted him, — disgust so mastered her that she sprang up, pleaded a headache, and fled to her chamber, to wait and hope and doubt and pray alone. ”

“ They found him lying without, under the great window, — a man, and in his arms a burned and blackened thing. It might be, they thought, a woman.
They carried them away where the air was cool, and the crisp frost was unmelted on the grass. The man breathed, and moaned. No one knew his face, masked with black smoke.
With the neighbors, Mrs. Dewitt now came running up, and joined the group.
“See!” said she, with a shudder. “This was my mistress. She always wore this diamond on her neck in the evening. She is dead. No? she breathes!”
Yes; there was the gem, showing red reflections of the flames. ”

“ Horrid!"
"But there are no stairs at the rectory," suggested Winthrop.
"Don't be owlish, Evert; one is even more apt to step into them on a ground-floor," replied the aunt.
Meanwhile the sea still washed the beach under the eyrie, and now, too, the nerves of almost everybody in it, for neither Margaret nor Celestine could sleep when Mrs. Rutherford could not; even Winthrop, at the Seminole, found himself wakeful, listening to the little soft sound, and thinking of his suffering aunt. ”

“ Winthrop," said his hostess, earnestly; "you are quite mistaken. Good health is in itself full of the deepest interest, I am sure, and especially at the present day, when it is so singularly rare. I am most glad you possess it—most glad indeed."
"I possess enough of it, at any rate, to go over the place, if you will be so kind," said Winthrop. "You know you promised me that pleasure some day, and why not this afternoon? There is a delightful breeze."
Mrs. Thorne dropped her eyes to the tips of her black cloth slippers, visible beneath the skirt of her gown. ”

“ Winthrop need my services?”
“Why, to take charge of everything”—vaguely. “A man in authority is required here at once.”
“Where is Philip?”
“Philip!” Eleanor’s tone spoke her contempt. “He is sick in bed—a trained nurse in attendance”—then added quickly, answering her uncle’s unspoken question—“too much dissipation has again caused his downfall.”
“Um! I don’t envy Mrs. Winthrop her precious stepson.” Colonel Thornton’s pleasant face hardened, and Eleanor, seeing her advantage, pressed the point. ”

“ Rufus went on bitterly, half communing with himself. — "I for fiery impulse, and you for calm rule."
"I don't want to rule," said Winthrop half laughing. "And I assure you I make no effort after it."
"You do it, and always will. You have the love and respect and admiration of everybody that knows you — in a very high degree; and there is not a soul in the world that cares for me, except yourself."
"I do not think that is true, Will," said Winthrop after a little pause. "But even suppose it were — those are not the things one lives for." ”

“ Bill stuck close to her side.
“Is this true, Belle?” he said, almost doubtfully.
“True as truth!”
She put out her hand. He took it, and they skated on together, — hearts beating to the rhythm of their movements. The uproar and merriment of the village came only faintly to them. It seemed as if all Nature was hushed to listen to their plighted troth, their words of love renewed, more earnest for long suppression. The beautiful ice spread before them, like their life to come, a pathway untouched by any sorrowful or weary footstep. The blue sky was cloudless. ”

“ For anything."
"What do you want me to do, Will?" said Winthrop looking up.
"To tell me why I should not marry Miss Haye or Miss
Cadwallader."
"You not knowing, yourself."
"Yes — I don't," said Rufus.
Winthrop turned over a few leaves of his book and then spoke.
"You are stronger, not to lean on somebody else's strength. You are more independent, not to lean at all. You are honester, not to gain anything under false pretences. And you are better to be yourself, Will Landholm, than the husband of any heiress the sun shines upon, at such terms." ”

“ Winthrop."
"Why, Karen?"
"Because I aint much better than a fool," she said, putting her other hand to her eyes. "But ye're one of the Lord's precious ones, Governor; he will have service of ye, wherever ye be."
Winthrop wrung her hand. Quitting her, he saw his sister waiting for him at the kitchen door. She let him come within it, and then holding up her Bible which had hung in one hand, she pointed with her finger to these words where she had it open; —
"God now commandeth all men everywhere to repent." ”

“ The day after his return from Vantassel, just as they had done supper, there was a knock at the front door. Winthrop went to open it. There he found a man, tall and personable, well- dressed though like a traveller, with a little leathern valise in his hand. Winthrop had hardly time to think he did not look like an American, when his speech confirmed it. ”

“ Winthrop’s affectionate heart was not long in comprehending the scene before him, and following Richard, he embraced and kissed his sister again and again. Tears of joy choked his utterance as he sobbed forth his delight. Amy and Winthrop had passed the morn of life joyously with each other; they “grew together, slept together, learned, played, ate together,” sharing their childish happiness and wo; and when Winthrop heard the tidings of his family’s misfortunes, it was the loss of Amy that brought forth his bitterest tears. ”

“ There has been a family conference, too, between the elders of the households of Abbot and Winthrop, and the engagement is at an end. Coming in suddenly from his club, Mr. Winthrop entered the parlor immediately after the receipt of the telegram, and he is overwhelmed with consternation at the condition of affairs. He has insisted on a full statement from Viva's lips, and to her mother the story has been told. She withholds no point that is at all material, for her pride has been humbled to the dust in the revelation that has come to her. ”

“ She cannot suffer in person at all.”
“I suppose I had better take your word for it.”
“You must. We must not dally a moment. Some straggler may have heard the pistol-shot and be on our track. Now, boys, mount the Major on his pony.”
“My daughter, Skerrett; you will give her your hand for goodwill,” said the father.
In the hazy night she could but faintly see her paladin, and he her. There was no time for thanks and compliments. No time for Lucy to search for the one look with all the woman in it, and the one word with all the spirit in it, that might express her vast passion of gratitude. ”

“ Ah, nevermore! Nothing done could be undone.
“You are very kind,” she said, with an altered manner, — sadness instead of languor. “No one has ever been so tender with me. O Robert! why did you not come years ago?”
While my answer to this pleading question lingered, we entered the lobby.
A young lady, standing there alone and forlorn, pounced upon Emma Denman.
“Dear Emma!” cried Miss Matilda Mildood, “I’m so glad you are here. Do take me home. Our coachman is wild with drink, and my brother Pursy is in danger of his life.” ”

“ Winthrop burst into a laugh. "More recently English! Poor little woman, with her small New England throat, she has swallowed the British Isles! You don't think the Cuban has a chance, then?"
"Oh, I don't know," replied Mrs. Rutherford, comfortably; "it doesn't concern us, does it? It will depend upon what Garda thinks, and Garda will think what she pleases; she isn't a girl to be guided."
"She hasn't been difficult to guide so far, I fancy," said Winthrop, after a moment's silence.
"She will be, then," responded his aunt, nodding her head with an assured air. "You'll see." ”