Virginie

“ When Jacques awoke it was full daylight—at least as full as it would ever be in that place. His breakfast—the gaol-allowance of bread and vin ordinaire—was by his side. He must have slept soundly. He looked for his master. He and Virginie had recognised each other now,—hearts, as well as appearance. They were smiling into each other’s faces, as if that dull, vaulted room in the grim Abbaye were the sunny gardens of Versailles, with music and festivity all abroad. Apparently they had much to say to each other; for whispered questions and answers never ceased. ”

“ Virgie answered, with starting tears.
"Then I am at peace. God bless you, my darling, and may your life have much of sunshine in it. I give you without fear into Will's care, for I believe him to be one of nature's noblemen. And now," taking a package from beneath his pillow, here is your marriage dowry; it is all yours, Virgie, to do with as you will, and Sir William has promised to settle as much more upon you, which he will tell you about later. You have been a dear, good daughter to me, and I am very happy regarding your future; I could not ask or wish anything better for you." ”

“ Virg. Oh! happy boy! a goddess kissed thy hair,
Mused o'er thy brows, and sighed above thy lips.
Icilius. Thrice happy man, who treasures human love,
And humbly may accept that precious gift,
A mortal maiden's heart, nor sigh for more. [22]
There is no more, nor anything so fair,
As such a dear possession. Happy he,
Who can, though but one instant, close and warm,
Hold woman's form, or kiss the starry light
Into her eyes, the blood into her cheeks!
And such a man, Virginia, am I.
Virg. ”

“ Virgie saw and heard all with the keenest pain in her heart and though a torturing jealousy filled her soul—a sense of wrong and humiliation—from the belief that another had supplanted her in the heart and home of the man she loved, yet she could but own the worth, the beauty, and the fascination of that sweet, womanly woman who seemed so unconscious of wrong, whose heart was so full of tenderness and sympathy for the sorrows of others. ”

“ Virgie stood in wondering silence for a moment, her face flushed and drooping, while a hundred thoughts flashed through her mind.
Her lover a titled peer of England! This noble man, who might have chosen his wife from the nobility of his own country, had concealed his identity, had buried himself in the wilds of Nevada, and lived like a common miner simply to win her, an humble mountain maiden. ”

“ When they reached more level ground he drew the hand he held within his arm, and they slowly wended their way back in the gloaming to the cottage, Virgie feeling strangely light-hearted and happy, and almost as if a new and beautiful life was about opening before her, while William Heath, with a twinkle of amusement in his fine eyes, wondered what his aristocratic mother and sister would say; what another brilliantly beautiful woman would think to see him thus playing the devoted cavalier to this simple and unpretending mountain maiden whom he thought so lovely. ”

“ Abbot sighed.
"I suppose it will have to, since it is the best you have. I should like to have you married in something white, dear; but make yourself look as nicely as you can," he said in an unsteady voice.
Virgie dropped a light kiss upon his forehead, and then went out, her heart heavy in spite of the great love which she bore the man whose wife she was to become on the morrow, and the bright hopes which the future held for her in spite of the shadow of death which was every moment drawing nearer. ”

“ Virginia's long kisses, Virginia's close arms, her beating bosom, her fury of love, the meekness, obedience, steadfastness into which it could all be changed at a mere lift of my brows—ah, nuptial love, wedded bliss, the joys of home and the hearth, English joys! Virginia meant all this and more to me. I swore to myself that without her I could not live, that to deserve her I would renounce the world, my patrimony, my country, and that not even a changed Aurelia—changed from Seraph to calling Siren—could keep me from her side. ”

“ You do know—you must know, that there are better things than these, and out in the world is where they live and feel and enact them. Oh! Virgie, there is where life is worth while," and he let his thoughts carry him back to the environment that prompted his words.
Virgie watched him intently, waiting for more until she saw he was not to continue, then she too slipped off to the things she knew to those of the outer world, using Harvey in the very situation her mind conceived, and surrounding him with a visionary world of her own conception. ”

“ The urgent supplications of his Friends, and the Lady’s merit conquered his repugnance to entering into new engagements. He proposed himself to the Marquis de Villa-Franca, and was accepted with joy and gratitude. Virginia became his Wife, nor did She ever give him cause to repent his choice. His esteem increased for her daily. Her unremitted endeavours to please him could not but succeed. His affection assumed stronger and warmer colours. Antonia’s image was gradually effaced from his bosom; and Virginia became sole Mistress of that heart, which She well deserved to possess without a Partner. ”

“ Virgie whispered, slipping her hand confidingly into his, her heart thrilling with a tender pride and love that this grand man should have sacrificed so much to win her.
"And I am exceedingly proud of this happy woman," returned Sir William, fondly. "I shall take the loveliest bride in the world back with me when we go home to Heathdale."
"Where you will be Lady Heath my Virgie. Ah, I am very thankful that my child will occupy so proud a position in life," said the voice of Mr. Abbot, just behind them. ”

“ Virgie answered, firmly; "for, if this child lives, she will one day make her appearance at Heathdale and claim her heritage. There may be other children, but she will have the first right there. Tell your Lady Linton this—tell her that 'that girl,' of whom she wrote so slightingly and heartlessly, will live to educate her child for her position as the mistress of her 'proud ancestral home;' tell her to warn her brother that the day of retribution will not fail to overtake him." ”

“ Woe worth all such as ever did thy health or liking seek!
O, that these gravèd hairs [209] of mine were covered in the clay! Here entereth Virginia.
Let patience, dear father mine, your rigour something stay:
Why do you wail in such a sort? why do you weep and moan?
Virginius. O daughter dear and only heir, my life is near begone,
And all for love of thee.
Virginia. Ah, gods, how may this be?
Dear father, do withdraw your dread, and let me know the cause:
Myself will aid with life or death without demur or pause.
Then tender your child that craveth this bound. [210]
Virginius. ”

“ Upon her countenance sit soft attraction and tender confidence. What joy is not heightened when it is shared by her? What brow is not unbent by her smiles? What anger can resist her tears? Virginia will return with more philosophy than you, and will be quite surprised to find the garden so unfinished;—she who could think of its embellishments in spite of all the persecutions of her aunt, and when far from her mother and from you. ”

“ Virginia was suddenly and wildly happy. She could have sung for joy, a song of triumph, and losing her head a little she lost her scant foothold as well, slipped, tried to hold on, failed, and slid down the steeply sloping rock.
If the man had not sprung forward and caught her, she would probably have rolled over the narrow ledge on which he stood, and gone bounding down, down the mountain side, to her death. But he did catch her, and broke the fall, so that she landed lightly beside him, and within an ace of being on her knees. ”

“ Virginia cannot with the pure and innocent heart which God has given her, with the chaste love she has for Paul,—Virginia cannot throw off her garments and let herself be saved by this sailor. Let her die, therefore, that she may remain as pure as her soul! Let her die, since she has known how to distinguish, amidst the howling of the tempest and the cries of the spectators, the gentle but powerful voice of modesty. ”

“ For a long moment the Dresden china lady thought in silence and something of sadness. Then she roused herself again and asked the one and only Royal Princess with an American name what, in the way of a match, she really expected.
“What do I expect?” echoed Virginia. “Why, I wish for the Moon—no, I mean the Sun. But I don’t expect to get it.”
“Is that a way of saying you never intend to marry?”
“I’m afraid it amounts to that,” admitted Virginia, “since there is only one man in the world I would have for my husband.”
“My dearest! A man you have let yourself learn to care for? A man beneath you? ”

“ Life shall be made as pleasant as possible for you, and there will be no need of your toiling any more."
Virgie sat as one stunned after this unexpected proposal.
She had never thought of anything like this during all her intercourse with the kind-hearted publisher. She had learned to esteem him very highly for his goodness to her, and to look up to him almost as to a father, but the thought of ever being any man's wife again had never occurred to her. ”

“ You [Pg 13] are a very beautiful girl (there’s no disguising that from you, as you know you are the image of your grandmother, who was a celebrated beauty) and the best blood in Europe runs in your veins. You are royal, and yet—and yet our circumstances are such that—in fact, for the present, we’re somewhat handicapped.”
“We’re beggars,” said Virginia, laughing; but it was not a happy laugh.
“Cophetua married the beggar maid,” the Grand Duchess reminded her, with elaborate playfulness. ”

“ Virgie is a lady in every sense of the word; even my critical mother could pick no flaw in her were she to see her, and the moment that I am at liberty to do so I shall return to the United States and bring my darling back with me. And let me here repeat what I said a while ago—I expect and demand that she be received with all proper respect by the entire household."
"The household knows nothing of your marriage." ”

“ What pleasures does Virginia know but those of bed and board and hoard? She'll be merry in the first, and hearty at the second, and passionate for filling the crock with gold pieces. But your manners would freeze the heart out of her; and if you have more guineas than you can spend, where's the joy of sweating to get 'em, or of hiding 'em under the flag-stones against a lean year? No, no, she knew better than you, and did better. A gentleman may play the beggar for a while, but sooner or later his own will have him—and what's Virginia to do then? ”

“ Her tones became gentle. “Follow the way of your mother until the end of your life. Sometimes it will lead through gloomy valleys but it is the road which leads to the sunshine of the heights. Hum,” she cried sharply, “read ‘Pilgrim’s Progress,’ child. It says the same thing, but better.”
A much cheered Virginia came down to breakfast, and, like the very healthy young person she was, in obedience to her aunt’s command and the natural law of youth, forgot the unhappiness of yesterday in the joys of the present. ”

“ It is impossible. You will never be mistress of Heathdale!" reiterated Mrs. Farnum, in an inflexible voice, as she disengaged her wrist from Virgie's grasp, which had left the imprint of every finger upon it. ”

“ Virgie was filled with an anticipation of the pleasure she would find in this news from a world as strange to her as her limited reading of it could make it. The very meagreness of her knowledge allowed her imagination full sway. She had peopled the outside world with beings so superior to those she knew that the good news seemed outside the boundaries of belief. ”

“ O dear Virginius, joy to me, O peerless spouse and mate,
In health, I praise the gods, I am, and joyful for thy state.
Virginius. Virginia, my daughter dear,
How standeth all with thee?
Virginia. Like happy state, as mother told.
Virginius. Like joyful sight to me. [160]
By the gods, wife, I joy me that have such a treasure,
Such [a] gem and such [a] jewel, surmounting all measure:
Such a happy spouse, such a fortunate dame,
That no blot or stain can impair her fame,
Against such an imp and graff of my tree,
As clear doth surmount all others that be. ”

“ Virgie soon learned to look for Heath's coming, to listen for his footsteps and the sound of his voice, as she had never looked for or listened to anything else in the world before. She began to rely upon him, to experience a sense of restfulness and content in his care that sometimes made her wonder how she had ever been able to live without him.
There came new beauty, and light, and earnestness into her face, a tenderer smile to her red lips, a more musical cadence into her voice. ”

“ Sir William laughed heartily.
"You were making me out to be quite a lofty character truly," he said; "and now you find your hero only a very human being after all—one who, for the sake of a beautiful woman, has been almost willing to barter his birthright. Have I fallen very low in your estimation, Virgie, because I am not to become a distinguished public benefactor on account of my research and investigation? ”

“ Virgie looked up at him questioningly, growing pale, and a thrill of fear shooting through her heart.
"Your father feels," Sir William went on, answering her look, "as if he would like to—to have your future settled before—his strength fails him any further."
"Oh!" cried the young girl, clinging to her lover, a wild look in her eyes, "papa is not going to—die! Do not tell me that. He is better to-day, and he will—he must grow yet stronger."
"My darling," said Sir William, holding her close to him, and speaking with sorrowful tenderness, "I am not going to deceive you. ”