Regine

“ But he is engaged in business all day, it seems. He is inclined to be morbid and none too full of ardour. It is a pity; for Régine is a sweet girl and deserves happiness."
"We have so much sorrow in common," she said with a pathetic smile. "So many misfortunes. We ought to be friends." ”

“ At the time of that marriage, Regine was already the wife of one Lenoir, formerly a medical student of Paris, late a singer in the chorus of the Grand Opera, Brussels, and now spy and agent of police in the employment of the French Government. From the lips of the woman Regine, and the man Lenoir, I have gathered this day a confession of their history. Any claim made by the woman is one founded upon imposture. The marriage has been all along utterly void. Wilford Hadfield, you are the lawful husband of Violet Fuller. ”

“ Once when I was with the embassy at Florence, I heard her name mentioned incidentally. She was at Rome; then a year after that she was back in Paris again; and sometime later I heard that Frau Zalika Rojanow was dead."
"So she is dead," said Regine, softly. "How did they live all these years?"
Wallmoden shrugged his shoulders. "How do all adventurers live? ”

“ Theresia queried.
And the story had to be told by Bertrand, just as he had had it straight from Régine. The asthmatic coal-heaver—the quarrel—Robespierre's arrival on the scene—the shouts—the mob. The terror of that awful giant who had dragged them into the empty house, and there left them in the care of others scarce less brave than himself. Then the disguises—the wanderings through the streets—the deathly anxiety at the gates of the city—the final escape in a laundry cart. Miracles of self-abnegation! Wonders of ingenuity and of daring! ”

“ If my father hath made me mighty, thine heart shall I fulfill With the wisdom and gold thou wouldest, before I wend on my ways; For now hast thou failed me nought, and the sword is the wonder of days." No word for a while spake Regin; but he hung his head adown As a man that pondereth sorely, and his voice once more was grown As the voice of the smithying-master as he spake: "This Wrath of thine Hath cleft the hard and the heavy; it shall shear the soft and the fine: Come forth to the night and prove it." ”

“ Hearing all these things, the grateful princess wept, and said,—
"Now I know that Prince Reginald is my own true friend."
The prince led Hilda to the palace, and presented her to the king and queen. Great was the wonder, and loud the rejoicing throughout the land.
The treacherous Zora was seen no more, but was changed into a slender green snake; and the king said she deserved her fate;" for, mark you," cried he, "there is no crime worse than to play false to those whom we pretend to love."
But Prince Reginald and Hildegarde were married, and lived in peace all the rest of their lives. ”

“ It is there he meets Regina, the mistress of the deceased, a wild and beautiful peasant girl, to the portraiture of whom the story owes its chief interest. Regina is a magnificent, unforgettable creature—one of [62] those rich chords that nature but rarely strikes upon the harp of being; she reverberates through one’s senses with a rough sweetness that represents a real experience. Her mould is Homeric; she is a creation of primal days and primal passions. To blame her is to quarrel with nature itself. ”

“ The great beast's growling turned to long moans, slowly its teeth and claws relaxed. Then suddenly it rolled clear from her and lay still.
Regina picked herself up and stood, the blood pouring from her shoulder and chest, but the dauntless soul, strong and unbroken, determined to conquer.
With her left and uninjured arm she drew the girl's body up to her and walked forward, strong in that last great gush of vitality that Nature gives, opening all those reserves for which there is no future need.
Half-an-hour later, as the dawn came up over the ridge, she reached the camp. ”

“ Said the second son, “If I had the son of the King of Erin here, I would give him a ring; and there is not a battle or breaking that would come on him, let him raise the ring between himself and his (enemies) he would blind them and kill them all.”
Said the son that was youngest, “If I had the son of the King of Erin here, I would give him the nine-legged steed for his riding.”
“Get up now,” said the nine-legged steed; “get up and shake yourself out of the grass. Go forward. You will find three champions as handsome as ever you saw. Salute them as politely as you can. ”

“ But the lesson has to be learnt, the road has to be trodden, and the pricks hurt their feet. The nobler the girl or the youth, the harder it is for them to lose their ideals.
Reginald was passing through this phase. He had built so much on this home-coming of his king, he had thought of him almost as a god, from his youth upwards; the son of that blessed saint and martyr, how should he be less than a hero! The disillusion was great, the sorrow was greater. ”

“ Spring was still luxuriant over the immensity of the plain—spring strong as a giantess, kissed by her lover the river, decked by the thousand hands of the husbandmen, her slaves.
But when she was tired Regina threw herself upon the clover, still wet with dewdrops, and at once her thoughts flew far away. In the afternoon she began again to feel anxious and sad.
That very day visits began from inquisitive, tiresome, interested people—relations, friends, persons who wanted favours. They all imagined Regina influential to obtain anything, just because she lived in Rome. ”

“ Regina becomes the refuge of the stricken man whose noble motive of life is to redeem his father’s name from shame, to rebuild the homestead of his race, to face unmerited dishonor with manly dignity. ”

“ To Regina's keen intelligence the idea that a man of large resources, of wide travel, of immense experience, who had reached the age of forty-six or seven, untouched by all the beauty that, according to all accounts, had always been at his feet, should immediately succumb to the attractions of an ordinary, country girl, without rank, title, wealth or any of those things to which he was accustomed—without talent or charm of any sort except youth and a pretty face—seemed improbable in the extreme. ”

“ And by this attitude, from the first, she completely disarmed Everest, as Regina recognised with a deep pain in her heart. Clever and keen as he usually was in penetrating most people's masks and shams, and understanding their real motives and feelings, he seemed to be completely deceived by this girl's clever acting. It was so well done, never overdone, but always perfectly even, natural and genuine, that Regina, to a certain extent, understood this. Any man, lacking as he does the keen female intuitive instinct about these things, would have been deceived in the same way. ”

“ Like an old war horse, Reginald gazed through the palings and snorted as the cry of battle rose in the air.
“Hack it through, sir!” “Well run!” “Collar him there!”
As he heard those old familiar cries it seemed to him as if the old life had come back to him with a sudden rush. He was no longer a poor baited secretary, but a joyous school-boy, head of his form, lord and master of half a dozen fags, and a caution and example to the whole junior school. He had chums by the score; his study was always crowded with fellows wanting him to do this or help them in that. How jolly to be popular! ”

“ Enter Cornwall, Regan, Gloucester and Servants.
LEAR.
Good morrow to you both.
CORNWALL.
Hail to your grace!
[Kent here set at liberty.]
REGAN.
I am glad to see your highness.
LEAR.
Regan, I think you are; I know what reason
I have to think so: if thou shouldst not be glad,
I would divorce me from thy mother’s tomb,
Sepulchring an adultress. [To Kent] O, are you free?
Some other time for that.—Beloved Regan,
Thy sister’s naught: O Regan, she hath tied
Sharp-tooth’d unkindness, like a vulture, here. ”

“ To Reginald, the men of even his own class seemed travesties and parodies of a noble original, in that they were content to lead the dreadful lives they did—killing tame birds, knocking little balls about the place, watching other people ride races, rushing around in motors, sailing sunny seas in luxury and safety, seeing foreign lands only from their best hotels, poodle-faking and philandering, doing everything but anything—pampered, soft, useless; each a most exact and careful copy of his neighbour. ”

“ Lady Regina was closely guarded after her midnight visit to the king; and later in the spring, when the waters were released from their icy fetters, she was sent to Finland, where we may find her again. No religious hatred, still less revenge, prompted the anger of the usually generous Gustaf Adolf towards the young girl; abused confidence deeply stabs a noble heart, and Regina said nothing to remove the idea of her guilt from the king's mind; in fact, she strengthened it more and more by her fanaticism, and hatred still possessed her young heart, which ought to have been given to love alone. ”

“ Regina's soul shivered at the mere recollection of Gaspare, and his mother, and the servant.
"Her second husband was a Spaniard," narrated the Princess, "the handsomest man you could see, and acquainted with all the literary personages of his time. But his conduct——"
"The education of women has not even begun," said Marianna, turning to Regina; "women will never have any sense till men begin to tell them the truth."
[56]
"But what is the truth?" asked Massimo; "truth between man and woman only comes out when they quarrel." ”

“ But Regina also was cross, and did not listen.
The heat made everybody cross and stupid. Regina, moreover, felt at the end of her forces; her pride and her dignity were bending like leaves scorched by the sun. She was anxiously expecting to be joined by Antonio. Perhaps to-day she would really be given a sign; what sort of sign she did not know, but she waited. She waited; ashamed of being in this house, of facing that old woman, who was as impassive as a deaf sphinx; yet ashamed also of being ashamed. ”

“ And when Lady Regina lifts her white hand with the gleaming dagger over the king's head, then the king will expose his breast where the great heart beats; look at her little white hand with a glance of sublime calmness and say, 'Thou delicate white hand, which worketh the image of the mother of God, strike, if thou canst, my heart is here, and it beats for the freedom and enlightenment of the world;' then the white hand will sink slowly down, and the dagger will drop from it, unnoticed, and God's mother on the cloth will smile again. ”

“ Regina, if ever you are so unfortunate, so deluded, as to deeply and sincerely love any man, and live to know that you are forgotten, that another woman wears the name and receives the caresses that once made heaven in your heart, then, and only then, can you realize what I suffered, while looking at Cuthbert, with that other creature at his side, acknowledged his wife! ”

“ See the palaces, the domes—all gold and azure. See the white columns and terraces. What a lovely place!” She paused a moment; and then, suddenly, almost screamed, catching her mother’s arm: “Oh! look—look at that brave officer, on a grey horse—see his white plumes dance. He draws his sword; he fears nothing. Oh! it is—it is Reginald. Reginald, do not go there—there is blood—blood! Mama, take me away! They fight—they are wicked. I will not see this horrible blood!”
Ella covered her eyes, and fell back on the sofa. ”

“ Regina was lying with her head raised on a couple of pillows and the soft masses of her fair hair [Pg 292] fell over the edge of the bed and in its long waving lines to the floor. The bandages disfigured her upper arm and shoulder, but the other, bare in the intense heat, showed warmly white above the blanket. The extreme pallor of her face threw up in new beauty the sweeping dark lines of her brows and the wide-open, light-filled eyes. She was looking towards the door and saw him enter. His cheek was flushed, his eyes kindling and full of fire. ”

“ We do not penetrate brains like theirs. We skim round them so dazzlingly, that they can only open their mouths and blink their eyes, and feel vaguely that we're shocking!"
"Which is a pity," said Wisdom. "As from the day you marry Reginald, his sisters will constitute themselves counsel for the prosecution of Reginald's happiness. So if you cannot make your defence penetrate their understanding——"
"Defence!" said Anne. "Does anyone think I would allow Reginald's sisters to criticise my actions!" ”

“ Regina stood listening wide-eyed, in sheer, paralysed amazement. That a person's mind could be so deformed and twisted that by its own blackness it could defile the innocent beauty and sweetness of a landscape was a fact so new to her, and so astounding, that she felt stunned by it. ”

“ On finding himself nearer the French rear-guard than the victors, and perhaps disdaining to fly from a single foe, young Regnier reined up on an eminence near the Amato, and with his sabre lashed by the knot to his wrist, with bent brows, and eyes flashing fire with determination, he awaited my onset. His horse was a small French trooper; the straight neck, drooping ears, and close flanks of which showed its inferiority of breed when compared with my high-headed, bold-eyed, and bluff-chested charger. ”

“ O Regin, in good sooth, I have hearkened not nor heeded the words of thy fear and thy ruth: Thou hast told thy tale and thy longing, and thereto I hearkened well:— Let it lead thee up to heaven, let it lead thee down to hell, The deed shall be done to-morrow: thou shalt have that measureless Gold, And devour the garnered wisdom that blessed thy realm of old, That hath lain unspent and begrudged in the very heart of hate: With the blood and the might of thy brother thine hunger shalt thou sate ”