The Plague, Pestilence & Apocalypse MEGAPACK™

by Robert Reed

  fate . Under such circumstances, she positively declined any com-

  munication with them .”

  Such were the strange and incredible events, that finally brought

  about my union with the sister of my best friend, with my adored

  Idris . With simplicity and courage she set aside the prejudices and

  opposition which were obstacles to my happiness, nor scrupled to

  give her hand, where she had given her heart . To be worthy of her, to

  raise myself to her height through the exertion of talents and virtue,

  to repay her love with devoted, unwearied tenderness, were the only

  thanks I could offer for the matchless gift .

  CHAPTER VI.

  AND now let the reader, passing over some short period of time,

  be introduced to our happy circle . Adrian, Idris and I, were estab-

  lished in Windsor Castle; Lord Raymond and my sister, inhabited a

  house which the former had built on the borders of the Great Park,

  near Perdita’s cottage, as was still named the low-roofed abode,

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  where we two, poor even in hope, had each received the assurance

  of our felicity . We had our separate occupations and our common

  amusements . Sometimes we passed whole days under the leafy co-

  vert of the forest with our books and music . This occurred during

  those rare days in this country, when the sun mounts his etherial

  throne in unclouded majesty, and the windless atmosphere is as a

  bath of pellucid and grateful water, wrapping the senses in tranquil-

  lity . When the clouds veiled the sky, and the wind scattered them

  there and here, rending their woof, and strewing its fragments

  through the aerial plains—then we rode out, and sought new spots

  of beauty and repose . When the frequent rains shut us within doors,

  evening recreation followed morning study, ushered in by music and

  song . Idris had a natural musical talent; and her voice, which had

  been carefully cultivated, was full and sweet . Raymond and I made

  a part of the concert, and Adrian and Perdita were devout listeners .

  Then we were as gay as summer insects, playful as children; we

  ever met one another with smiles, and read content and joy in each

  other’s countenances . Our prime festivals were held in Perdita’s cot-

  tage; nor were we ever weary of talking of the past or dreaming of

  the future . Jealousy and disquiet were unknown among us; nor did a

  fear or hope of change ever disturb our tranquillity . Others said, We

  might be happy—we said—We are .

  When any separation took place between us, it generally so hap-

  pened, that Idris and Perdita would ramble away together, and we

  remained to discuss the affairs of nations, and the philosophy of life .

  The very difference of our dispositions gave zest to these conver-

  sations . Adrian had the superiority in learning and eloquence; but

  Raymond possessed a quick penetration, and a practical knowledge

  of life, which usually displayed itself in opposition to Adrian, and

  thus kept up the ball of discussion . At other times we made excur-

  sions of many days’ duration, and crossed the country to visit any

  spot noted for beauty or historical association . Sometimes we went

  up to London, and entered into the amusements of the busy throng;

  sometimes our retreat was invaded by visitors from among them .

  This change made us only the more sensible to the delights of the

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  intimate intercourse of our own circle, the tranquillity of our divine

  forest, and our happy evenings in the halls of our beloved Castle .

  The disposition of Idris was peculiarly frank, soft, and affection-

  ate. Her temper was unalterably sweet; and although firm and reso-

  lute on any point that touched her heart, she was yielding to those

  she loved . The nature of Perdita was less perfect; but tenderness and

  happiness improved her temper, and softened her natural reserve .

  Her understanding was clear and comprehensive, her imagination

  vivid; she was sincere, generous, and reasonable . Adrian, the match-

  less brother of my soul, the sensitive and excellent Adrian, loving

  all, and beloved by all, yet seemed destined not to find the half of

  himself, which was to complete his happiness . He often left us, and

  wandered by himself in the woods, or sailed in his little skiff, his

  books his only companions . He was often the gayest of our party,

  at the same time that he was the only one visited by fits of despon-

  dency; his slender frame seemed overcharged with the weight of

  life, and his soul appeared rather to inhabit his body than unite with

  it . I was hardly more devoted to my Idris than to her brother, and she

  loved him as her teacher, her friend, the benefactor who had secured

  to her the fulfilment of her dearest wishes. Raymond, the ambitious,

  restless Raymond, reposed midway on the great high-road of life,

  and was content to give up all his schemes of sovereignty and fame,

  to make one of us, the flowers of the field. His kingdom was the heart

  of Perdita, his subjects her thoughts; by her he was loved, respected

  as a superior being, obeyed, waited on. No office, no devotion, no

  watching was irksome to her, as it regarded him . She would sit apart

  from us and watch him; she would weep for joy to think that he was

  hers . She erected a temple for him in the depth of her being, and

  each faculty was a priestess vowed to his service . Sometimes she

  might be wayward and capricious; but her repentance was bitter, her

  return entire, and even this inequality of temper suited him who was

  not formed by nature to float idly down the stream of life.

  During the first year of their marriage, Perdita presented Raymond

  with a lovely girl . It was curious to trace in this miniature model the

  very traits of its father . The same half-disdainful lips and smile of

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  triumph, the same intelligent eyes, the same brow and chestnut hair;

  her very hands and taper fingers resembled his. How very dear she

  was to Perdita! In progress of time, I also became a father, and our

  little darlings, our playthings and delights, called forth a thousand

  new and delicious feelings .

  Years passed thus,—even years . Each month brought forth its

  successor, each year one like to that gone by; truly, our lives were

  a living comment on that beautiful sentiment of Plutarch, that “our

  souls have a natural inclination to love, being born as much to love,

  as to feel, to reason, to understand and remember .” We talked of

  change and active pursuits, but still remained at Windsor, incapable

  of violating the charm that attached us to our secluded life .

  Pareamo aver qui tutto il ben raccolto

  Che fra mortali in piu parte si rimembra.

  Now also that our children gave us occupation, we found excuses

  for our idleness, in the idea of bringing them up to a more splendid

  career . At length our tranquillity was disturbed, and the course of

  events, which for five years had flowed on in hushing tranquillity,

  was broken by breakers and obstacles, that woke us
from our pleas-

  ant dream .

  A new Lord Protector of England was to be chosen; and, at Ray-

  mond’s request, we removed to London, to witness, and even take

  a part in the election . If Raymond had been united to Idris, this post

  had been his stepping-stone to higher dignity; and his desire for

  power and fame had been crowned with fullest measure . He had

  exchanged a sceptre for a lute, a kingdom for Perdita .

  Did he think of this as we journeyed up to town? I watched him,

  but could make but little of him . He was particularly gay, playing

  with his child, and turning to sport every word that was uttered .

  Perhaps he did this because he saw a cloud upon Perdita’s brow . She

  tried to rouse herself, but her eyes every now and then filled with

  tears, and she looked wistfully on Raymond and her girl, as if fearful

  that some evil would betide them . And so she felt . A presentiment of

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  ill hung over her . She leaned from the window looking on the forest,

  and the turrets of the Castle, and as these became hid by intervening

  objects, she passionately exclaimed—“Scenes of happiness! scenes

  sacred to devoted love, when shall I see you again! and when I see

  ye, shall I be still the beloved and joyous Perdita, or shall I, heart-

  broken and lost, wander among your groves, the ghost of what I

  am!”

  “Why, silly one,” cried Raymond, “what is your little head pon-

  dering upon, that of a sudden you have become so sublimely dis-

  mal? Cheer up, or I shall make you over to Idris, and call Adrian

  into the carriage, who, I see by his gesture, sympathizes with my

  good spirits .”

  Adrian was on horseback; he rode up to the carriage, and his

  gaiety, in addition to that of Raymond, dispelled my sister’s melan-

  choly . We entered London in the evening, and went to our several

  abodes near Hyde Park .

  * * * *

  The following morning Lord Raymond visited me early . “I come

  to you,” he said, “only half assured that you will assist me in my

  project, but resolved to go through with it, whether you concur with

  me or not . Promise me secrecy however; for if you will not contrib-

  ute to my success, at least you must not baffle me.”

  “Well, I promise . And now—-”

  “And now, my dear fellow, for what are we come to London? To

  be present at the election of a Protector, and to give our yea or nay

  for his shuffling Grace of——? or for that noisy Ryland? Do you

  believe, Verney, that I brought you to town for that? No, we will

  have a Protector of our own . We will set up a candidate, and ensure

  his success . We will nominate Adrian, and do our best to bestow

  on him the power to which he is entitled by his birth, and which he

  merits through his virtues .

  “Do not answer; I know all your objections, and will reply to

  them in order . First, Whether he will or will not consent to become

  a great man? Leave the task of persuasion on that point to me; I

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  do not ask you to assist me there . Secondly, Whether he ought to

  exchange his employment of plucking blackberries, and nursing

  wounded partridges in the forest, for the command of a nation? My

  dear Lionel, we are married men, and find employment sufficient in

  amusing our wives, and dancing our children . But Adrian is alone,

  wifeless, childless, unoccupied . I have long observed him . He pines

  for want of some interest in life . His heart, exhausted by his early

  sufferings, reposes like a new-healed limb, and shrinks from all ex-

  citement. But his understanding, his charity, his virtues, want a field

  for exercise and display; and we will procure it for him . Besides, is

  it not a shame, that the genius of Adrian should fade from the earth

  like a flower in an untrod mountain-path, fruitless? Do you think

  Nature composed his surpassing machine for no purpose? Believe

  me, he was destined to be the author of infinite good to his native

  England . Has she not bestowed on him every gift in prodigality?—

  birth, wealth, talent, goodness? Does not every one love and admire

  him? and does he not delight singly in such efforts as manifest his

  love to all? Come, I see that you are already persuaded, and will

  second me when I propose him tonight in parliament .”

  “You have got up all your arguments in excellent order,” I replied;

  “and, if Adrian consent, they are unanswerable . One only condition

  I would make, —that you do nothing without his concurrence .”

  “I believe you are in the right,” said Raymond; “although I had

  thought at first to arrange the affair differently. Be it so. I will go in-

  stantly to Adrian; and, if he inclines to consent, you will not destroy

  my labour by persuading him to return, and turn squirrel again in

  Windsor Forest . Idris, you will not act the traitor towards me?”

  “Trust me,” replied she, “I will preserve a strict neutrality .”

  “For my part,” said I, “I am too well convinced of the worth of

  our friend, and the rich harvest of benefits that all England would

  reap from his Protectorship, to deprive my countrymen of such a

  blessing, if he consent to bestow it on them .”

  In the evening Adrian visited us .—“Do you cabal also against

  me,” said he, laughing; “and will you make common cause with

  Raymond, in dragging a poor visionary from the clouds to surround

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  him with the fire-works and blasts of earthly grandeur, instead of

  heavenly rays and airs? I thought you knew me better .”

  “I do know you better,” I replied “than to think that you would

  be happy in such a situation; but the good you would do to others

  may be an inducement, since the time is probably arrived when you

  can put your theories into practice, and you may bring about such

  reformation and change, as will conduce to that perfect system of

  government which you delight to portray .”

  “You speak of an almost-forgotten dream,” said Adrian, his coun-

  tenance slightly clouding as he spoke; “the visions of my boyhood

  have long since faded in the light of reality; I know now that I am

  not a man fitted to govern nations; sufficient for me, if I keep in

  wholesome rule the little kingdom of my own mortality .

  “But do not you see, Lionel, the drift of our noble friend; a drift,

  perhaps, unknown to himself, but apparent to me . Lord Raymond

  was never born to be a drone in the hive, and to find content in our

  pastoral life. He thinks, that he ought to be satisfied; he imagines,

  that his present situation precludes the possibility of aggrandise-

  ment; he does not therefore, even in his own heart, plan change for

  himself . But do you not see, that, under the idea of exalting me, he

  is chalking out a new path for himself; a path of action from which

  he has long wandered?

  “Let us assist him . He, the noble, the warlike, the great in every

  quality that can adorn the mind and person of man; he is fitted to

  be the
Protector of England . If I—that is, if we propose him, he

  will assuredly be elected, and will find, in the functions of that high

  office, scope for the towering powers of his mind. Even Perdita

  will rejoice. Perdita, in whom ambition was a covered fire until

  she married Raymond, which event was for a time the fulfilment of

  her hopes; Perdita will rejoice in the glory and advancement of her

  lord—and, coyly and prettily, not be discontented with her share . In

  the mean time, we, the wise of the land, will return to our Castle,

  and, Cincinnatus-like, take to our usual labours, until our friend

  shall require our presence and assistance here .”

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  The more Adrian reasoned upon this scheme, the more feasible it

  appeared . His own determination never to enter into public life was

  insurmountable, and the delicacy of his health was a sufficient argu-

  ment against it . The next step was to induce Raymond to confess

  his secret wishes for dignity and fame . He entered while we were

  speaking . The way in which Adrian had received his project for set-

  ting him up as a candidate for the Protectorship, and his replies, had

  already awakened in his mind, the view of the subject which we

  were now discussing . His countenance and manner betrayed irreso-

  lution and anxiety; but the anxiety arose from a fear that we should

  not prosecute, or not succeed in our idea; and his irresolution, from a

  doubt whether we should risk a defeat . A few words from us decided

  him, and hope and joy sparkled in his eyes; the idea of embarking

  in a career, so congenial to his early habits and cherished wishes,

  made him as before energetic and bold . We discussed his chances,

  the merits of the other candidates, and the dispositions of the voters .

  After all we miscalculated . Raymond had lost much of his popu-

  larity, and was deserted by his peculiar partizans . Absence from the

  busy stage had caused him to be forgotten by the people; his former

  parliamentary supporters were principally composed of royalists,

  who had been willing to make an idol of him when he appeared as

  the heir of the Earldom of Windsor; but who were indifferent to him,

  when he came forward with no other attributes and distinctions than

  they conceived to be common to many among themselves . Still he

  had many friends, admirers of his transcendent talents; his presence