Modern Flirtations: A Novel

by Catherine Sinclair

  CHAPTER XXXIII.

  Marion and Sir Arthur were engaged next morning to meet the Granvillesat breakfast in the private parlor of Mrs. Crawford, and they hadadvanced considerably in the consumption of their muffin and first cupof tea, when a very plainly dressed young lady glided into the roomwith a timid, agitated step, and giving a slight nod to the party,silently seated herself beside Marion, who, in compassion to herapparent shyness, averted her eyes. She seemed recently recovered froman illness, being thin and emaciated to excess, while it appeared as ifher hair had been entirely shaved off, as she wore a cap fitting closeto her face, and neither curl nor braid to vary the almost spectralwhiteness of her whole aspect. Marion ventured a second glance at theinteresting invalid, and observed a smile quivering about her mouth,which she seemed vainly endeavoring to suppress, and a sly glancetowards herself, which enlightened her in a moment, for, with anexclamation of joy, she sprang from her seat and was instantlyembraced, with laughing delight, by her old friend Caroline, whom shehad lately learned to know as Miss Howard, the heiress of countlessthousands,--not the more, nor the less dear to her on that account, butstill the beloved companion of all her early frolics and schoolenjoyments.

  "I wished to try your powers of recognition, and Sir Arthur's," saidCaroline, with tears of laughing and almost hysterical joy. "I amchanged--greatly changed, so that my best friends could scarcelyrecognise me, and if my enemies were also deceived it would be well.Dear Marion! I am still pursued and persecuted by that wretched madman,the terror of our school days, the horror of all my subsequent life! Myaunt finds her nerves so shattered with the whole affair, that our kindfriends here have undertaken me for a week or two, and it is thoughtthat, amidst the crowd collected at Harrowgate, I may be in comparativesafety. My life has been rendered almost a burden to me in the country,where not a corner of the earth seemed safe from that wretchedcreature's intrusions, and it is thought that he must bribe some of ourservants to betray all my plans; yet, among them all, I scarcely knowwhom to suspect or whom to trust! Remember, dear Marion, that here I amto be treated as some humble cousin of Mr. Crawford's, and on noaccount let your brother, or a living soul in the house, suspect thatyou ever saw me before. Agnes also must keep my secret, and Mrs.O'Donoghoe, who has heard nothing of my real history, agrees to be my_chaperon_."

  "Then you should adopt her name, for Patrick always calls the widow,'Mrs. I-don't-know-who.'"

  The most agreeable conversations are those of which there is generallyleast to be repeated, and that which followed round the cheerfulbreakfast-table at Mr. Crawford's, was carried tranquilly on, in apleasing animated tone, on subjects of immediate interest as well as ofpermanent importance, showing, in the most prepossessing colors,characters, and feelings, inspired by the finest impulses which adornthe heart and mind of a Christian. Amidst the enlightened discussionsand unreserved vivacity of a conversation, displaying the ease andfascination of high life, without its flippancy, frivolity, andpretension, those who have lived to discover that what is called thegay world, is sometimes but a dull world after all, might there havelearned for what important purposes the power of speech and the powerof thought have been given, if rightly used and enjoyed. There was thejoyous relaxation of happy hearts and well-ordered minds, without theeffervescence of empty affectation, or the flash of bewilderingexcitement, which Marion had lately been accustomed to find among thosewho seemed little better employed than Domitian of old, in catchingflies, and who prefer living upon exaggerated trifles, to enjoying thatcalm, rational and intellectual intercourse which is registered in theheart for ever.

  With feelings of deep and animated pleasure, Marion gathered from Mr.Granville a rich harvest of sound opinions, amiable sentiments, andoriginal ideas, while, with the free-masonry of real attachment, many asentence, which seemed addressed by him to the whole company, attainedits full meaning only in her heart. Richard was very seldom, as Agnesexpressed it, "tuned up to nonsense pitch." He wasted none of his hourson the mere flummeries of conversation, but the frequent sparkling ofhis wit shone the brighter for its occasional gravity; and never hadMarion seen him in a more buoyant and happy frame than now, whendeveloping the thoughts and affections of a mind and heart cultivatedto the highest tone of refinement, fortified by the strongestprinciples of religion, and imbued with a supreme regard for all thatis noble, generous, or graceful in the conduct and characters.

  To Sir Arthur, the social circle imparted feelings of inestimablehappiness. He had long considered human life as having nothing left forhim now, but the one great opportunity to prepare for eternity, not tobe trifled away in its smallest details; and he had remarked to Marionthe evening before, after spending an hour in the public saloon, "Itire more of that Vanity Fair in the next room, than I would ofbreaking stones on the road! I should become an idiot before long, if Ilived the sort of butterfly-life they do here, in a whirl of exhaustingand frivolous amusement."

  The respectful deference paid by Mr. Granville to his age, hisinfirmities, and his high character, was in itself most gratifying toSir Arthur; but more than all, he now saw his beloved Marion,surrounded by those who loved and valued her, the happiest of thehappy. Inspired by the desire of pleasing, and unchecked by any fear ofbeing misunderstood or misrepresented, there was now a spirit andoriginality in her expressions, and a native eloquence in what shesaid, enlivened and assisted by a sunlight brilliancy sparkling in hereyes, and beaming in her whole countenance, which was beautiful tobehold, while her partial and affectionate uncle thought there waspoetry in her look, and music in every tone of her voice.

  Their discussions diverged after a time to the scenery and remarkableplaces around Harrowgate, while Mr. Granville, deeply read inantiquity, described with picturesque and most felicitous effect, allthat seemed best worth visiting in the neighborhood, enlivening hisanimated sketches with many amusing remarks and original anecdotes, andgiving to everything he treated upon, some new and unexpected interest,while Mr. Crawford varied the subject by an entertaining comparison ofwhat he had seen and known abroad, particularly as connected with theRoman Catholics of Italy and France.

  The convent which existed near Harrowgate having come underconsideration, Mr. Crawford described at great length what he had seenthere during a visit which he had paid to it many years before, andrecounted several almost traditionary anecdotes of former times, inwhich the names of Lord Doncaster and the Abbe Mordaunt, became almostinsensibly blended, very much to their discredit, while Marionreflected with wonder and regret that such men were frequently now thechosen attendants of her own young and beautiful sister. There wasdegradation even in their looks, and still more in their conversation;but she hoped, trusted, and believed that the Abbe's influence would beterminated when Agnes discovered that his attentions were not reallylikely to influence those of Captain De Crespigny.

  Mr. Crawford mentioned with peculiar and melancholy interest the verybeautiful niece of the Abbe Mordaunt, whom it was evident that he hadintimately known, and very greatly admired, while he awakened thekeenest interest in Marion and Miss Howard, by alluding to an abortiveattempt he had made at Beaujolie Castle, to take a last leave of MissMordaunt, after she had been beguiled into forsaking the faith of herfathers, and was supposed to be on the point of retiring within thewalls of a convent.

  Marion could not but smile at the description given by Mr. Crawford, ofhis first and last visit to Lord Doncaster, when he had called atBeaujolie Castle sixteen years before, at which time the aged peer,though leading a life of retirement, made it by no means a life ofsolitude, as the vices of his early years enslaved him then as theyenslaved him still, and the libertine of fifty years then, was alibertine now, when tottering on the brink of death. It became evidentthat the proprietor of Beaujolie Castle, though a great lord, was by nomeans in any respect a great man, being penurious in everything exceptthe indulgence of his own vices and superstition.

  "It makes me shiver yet," said Mr. Crawford, "to remember the largecold hall, paved with a curious mo
saic of black and white marble, andthe chilling, uninhabited room into which I was first ushered. Youruncle, Lord Doncaster, Miss Howard, never at that time associated withany living individual of his own rank in life. Those who do notcultivate good society, are always in bad; and it was supposed that hehad strong reasons against admitting any one to his residence. Thedrawing-room was like a lantern with windows on every side, the floorso polished that it might have taken fire from the perpetual friction,and a scanty Turkish carpet served but to cover half the slipperyfloor."

  "I always wish, in such a room, to be rough-shod," said Sir Arthur, "orto wear skates."

  "You will remember, Miss Howard, that no foot was ever allowed by youruncle to tread on its icy surface," continued Mr. Crawford, smiling."But pathways of green baize were laid along the floor in everypossible direction, where it could be supposed that any reasonableperson might desire to walk. A broad line stretched from the door tothe fire-place, and tributary streams of baize branched off towards thesofa in one direction, and the writing-table in another, while directlyleading towards an invisible door in the book-case, was a stillnarrower stripe, which it required some skill to keep upon rigidly."

  "Were no sign-posts raised to point out the proper direction fortravellers?" asked Marion. "Nor threats of prosecution held up in caseof a trespass?"

  "No! but I certainly did commit one unawares, for while examining theinvisible door, it accidentally flew open, when a lady whom I could notdistinctly see, hastily concealed herself, and beside her stood,without exception, the most beautiful boy I ever beheld, bright andradiant like a cherub. When I called him forward, he laughinglydisappeared, and no sooner did I leave that room, than the door washastily locked inside."

  "It sounds like the prettiest romance imaginable!" exclaimed Marion,eagerly. "In that old house, and among so many ancient portraits, whatcould be more picturesque?"

  "A poor relation of Lord Doncaster was at this time the talk of allYorkshire for her beauty," added Mr. Crawford. "Young De Crespigny,then almost a boy, had come home, I remember hearing, and admired heronly too much; but whether she married, or what became of her, perhapsyou will tell me, Miss Howard, as I never heard?"

  "Then you are not informed of all that has occurred in the world duringyour natural life, though you seem very nearly so!" replied Caroline."Whenever I hear a story told, I like to put a hat on its head, a stickin its hand, and to send it travelling rapidly round the world; but themystery relating to Mary Anstruther was, like that of poor MissMordaunt, and of others in the same house, carefully hushed up, and myuncle's family soon after moved to Scotland. Louis De Crespigny was,even then, I am told, formed to gain and to keep the heart of any girl,with a perfect consciousness of his own powers, and very little scruplein using them!"

  "He still has a very deep sense of his own supernatural merits,"observed Marion, "and finds many admirers to agree with him, though Ithink his uncle must have been still handsomer once. The features ofboth are very peculiar!"

  "I often think," said Caroline, coloring and hesitating, "that SirArthur's young friend, Henry De Lancey, looks as if the whole family ofDoncaster had been distilled into one. He has the hair dark asmidnight, for which my uncle was so celebrated; that remarkabledrooping eyelid, too, as if his eye-lashes were too heavy to be liftedwith ease, and the magnificent outline of his profile."

  "You are right," exclaimed Sir Arthur, in a deep, low, musing tone."The madman, Howard or Anstruther, who acted so long as my clerk, andstill persecutes you, once hinted something of the kind, in anunguarded moment. I have been ever since on the watch to strengthen theclue, but in vain. If I could but live to see that mystery solved!"

  "You shall!" said Caroline playfully. "What should hinder you? I mustmake it my business now, to ferret out more respecting the story ofthat Miss Mordaunt, which has faded into oblivion, like the thousandother wonders of the past.

  Of course, she lived until she died; but where, Or when, I never heard; nor you nor I need care."

  "But I do care," said Sir Arthur, earnestly. "It seems to me, as ifthere were here some scattered links of the chain by which we mightdiscover Henry's origin. Truth has been too long already at the bottomof a well; but we must invent some diving-bell to bring her up! Itwould give me satisfaction, whatever his connexions are, to identifythem!"

  "May he live to wonder at his own good fortune!" said Caroline, gaily."People must exist twenty years in the world, as I have done, beforethey can find out what a strange place it is, and what extraordinarychanges occur here sometimes."

  Pleasure has a time-piece of its own, which certainly does not adhereto the ordinary measure, for hours and minutes most perversely run on,always fastest when it would be most agreeable that their course shouldbe delayed. Marion seemed to awaken from a dream of enjoyment, when SirArthur struck his repeater at last, and found he had remained tillnearly the hour of luncheon; but, before the party dispersed, theyagreed to meet often with closed doors, in the same sociable way; and,exchanging a thousand pleasing plans and anticipations of comingenjoyment together during the following few weeks, they then separated.