and she tried once or twice to raise her eyes from the ground to the
face of her companion; but as soon as she had elevated them about half
way, she let them fall, and seemed as if she had not courage to make
another effort.
"You don't answer me, Lilya," said Oriel Porphyry. "Do not be afraid of
asking for what you require. I wish your time to pass as pleasantly as I
can make it, and you will afford me gratification as well as yourself by
giving me an opportunity for increasing your enjoyments. Tell me what it
is you most wish to be done."
"I wish Zabra would be as he used to be," exclaimed the simple girl, and
an expression of sadness became visible upon her beautiful features.
"So do I," replied the young merchant; "but I have done every thing to
induce him to become so, without success. I cannot tell what it is that
makes him act so strangely; but he is a strange creature at all times,
and as I have allowed him to do as he pleases, I am afraid nothing I
could say or do would make him become more rational. He avoids every
attempt I have made to prevail upon him to take his place amongst us as
usual, and I have therefore no remedy now but patience."
"He never used to be so," murmured Lilya.
"He appears to have taken offence at something or somebody, but what the
cause is I do not pretend to know," said Oriel. "I am sure I have said
or done nothing at which he ought to have felt offence."
"I thought he was offended with me, because I did not tell you how
grateful I was for your kindness," observed his companion.
"I doubt that that is the cause," replied the other. "But it is my
opinion that, if any one can bring him back to his former behaviour, it
is yourself, Lilya."
"Me!" exclaimed the blushing maiden; "I bring him back to be what he
was! Oh I wish I could!"
"I think you have only to try and there is no doubt of success,"
remarked Oriel: "Go to him, be kind to him; tell him how much you are
afflicted by observing him abandon all his friends, and assure him how
happy it will make you to see him exerting himself in the same social
offices in which he used to take delight."
"Do you really think that would be of use?" inquired Lilya, as she
raised her eyes till they met those of her companion.
"There is not a doubt of it," replied he.
"Then I will go this moment," she exclaimed; and leaping from the sofa,
she hastened out of the cabin.
Zabra was alone bending over his harp and striking a series of
melancholy chords. He was so completely lost in his own reflections,
which evidently from the gloomy expression of his countenance were far
from being pleasant, that he did not observe the approach of Lilya. The
first notice he had of her vicinity was in feeling his hand timidly laid
hold of; and on turning his head round, he beheld her gazing on him
anxiously and kindly close at his side.
"What brought you here? Why do you follow me? Is there no place where
I can be secure from your intrusion?" were the quick inquiries of the
young musician, as with a stern look he snatched his hand from the hold
of the timid girl.
"Indeed I have no wish to offend you, Zabra," said Lilya, feeling quite
confounded with the unfriendly reception she had met with. "I come to
you, because I think you are unhappy."
"Who told you I was unhappy?" asked Zabra, sharply; "and what is my
unhappiness to you?"
"It is much, because it makes _me_ unhappy," replied the simple girl;
"and I thought you were unhappy, because you have abandoned all your
friends, and deprived me of the pleasure you used to confer."
"I did not abandon them till they showed themselves unworthy of my
companionship," said the youth proudly. "Do you think I can sit quietly
to become the victim of deceit and treachery? Do you imagine I can stand
tamely by while the heart I worship is ensnared by another? No! I cannot
endure it, and I will not. I wish to be alone."
"And will you not return to your place among the friends who delight in
your presence?" inquired the bashful maiden; "they are very anxious to
see you. And I--I should like you--I should very much like you to be
as you used to be; for then you were so kind, and talked to me so
delightfully, and appeared so very happy."
"I was very happy then," exclaimed her companion, in a voice tremulous
with emotion. "I loved and believed myself loved in return. But it is
all over now; I have been deceived. Go and leave me."
"And if you did love, Zabra," murmured Lilya without daring to move
her eyes from the ground, "if you are sure you loved--I think I'm
convinced--that is, I mean, that if you do love, you must be loved in
return."
"No, no! I saw it too plain," observed Zabra. "It's beyond a doubt; it
is evident--palpable--I cannot be mistaken. Why do you waste your time
here? Have I not told you I wish to be alone?"
"Oh! do not look upon me so sternly," exclaimed the gentle girl, with
tears in her eyes; "indeed I wish to make you happy. I will never offend
you. I will be all you desire. I will listen to you with the most
perfect attention, and carefully remember every thing you tell me. Come,
Zabra, come!" she continued, as she ventured tremblingly to lay hold of
his hand. "Let me lead you to the kind friends who are so desirous of
your presence; let me assure you that you are loved," she added, as she
raised the hand she held in her own to her lips, and pressed them softly
and quickly upon it, and then, as if alarmed by her own temerity, she
hastily dropped it and stood blushing and trembling by his side.
"No, no! I tell you no! I am not loved. I know it too well. Why do you
come to me with your affectionate words and fond endearments? Take them
to Oriel Porphyry; he can best appreciate them," said her companion.
"Well, I will if you wish it, Zabra," replied the simple girl. "I would
do any thing to please you."
"No doubt you would," exclaimed Zabra sarcastically.
"Yes I would, Zabra; and I will go this moment and do what you require
me:" and she had scarcely uttered the words before she hurriedly left
the presence of her companion.
Zabra sat alone at his harp, half doubting in his mind whether it was
simplicity or artifice that Lilya had exhibited; but as he remembered
what both had confessed, he felt the conviction that she was again
endeavouring to deceive him; and the miserable feeling thus created he
endeavoured to express in the following words:--
"Be not deceived, fond heart,
Be not deceived;
Words are but sounds, and looks changing and vain;
None are believed, fond heart,
None are believed:
When they delude, never trust them again.
"Seek not for truths, sad heart,
Seek not for truth;
Truth's in the grave, and there only will stay;
Maiden and youth, sad heart,
Maiden and youth:
Each will beguile and then each will betray.
"Love is a dream, fond heart,
Love is a dream;
Clothed with delight for the heart and the eye;
Bright though it seem, fond heart,
Bright though it seem,
Sleep not--you dream but to wake--and to die!"
"Mustn't allow you to sing such melancholy ditties, don't you see,"
exclaimed Dr. Tourniquet, standing before the young musician, where
he had been for several minutes. "They make every body miserable and
yourself too; and besides this they are very hurtful in their effects
upon the system. They are a sort of sedative that affect the head and
the heart at the same time--prevent eating, drinking, or sleeping with
any thing like a healthy state of feeling. Allow me the privilege of an
old friend to ask you what's the matter with you?"
"Alas! it is a malady beyond the reach of medicine!" exclaimed Zabra
mournfully.
"That's to be proved, don't you see," replied the doctor. "I have for
some days noticed you running into holes and corners away from all your
friends. It is both unreasonable and unsocial. I don't pretend to know
what has been the occasion of it; but as you have acquainted me with
your secret, I can make a shrewd guess. Ah! this love's a terrible
thing."
"After having been assured you were beloved," said the young musician;
"after having convinced your own heart that your affection was returned
with the same ardour with which it was given, to find doubt follow
doubt, till a certainty that you were not loved gradually forced itself
on your mind--this, this is terrible."
"But that cannot have been your case, don't you see," exclaimed
Tourniquet. "You cannot doubt--there's nothing for you to dread."
"It is too true. I have been deceived," replied Zabra, and his features
became overcast with a deeper melancholy. "All that I have done has been
unavailing; all that I have dared has been cast to the winds. To be the
sole possessor of one heart I thought would be a sufficient recompense
for all my past sufferings, and dangers, and difficulties; but now I
have discovered the unwelcome truth, that another has acquired the
ownership of what I strove so earnestly to gain. Oh shame on the
treachery that can allure a trusting soul into the conviction that its
sweet hopes are acknowledged and its fond dreams replied to! and then,
as a new face or a more beguiling nature comes upon the scene, will turn
to it with a fondness which should have been confined to the sincere
one, and leave all those hopes and dreams to be crushed under the
withering touch of despair!"
"I'll wager my professional skill you're mistaken, don't you see," said
the doctor. "But who do you imagine to be the guilty parties?"
"Oriel and Lilya," replied his young companion.
"It can't be, don't you see," remarked the other. "I'm a little older
than you are, and a better judge of character; and from the result of
my own observations, I feel certain that neither of them are capable
of such conduct. Oriel Porphyry is noble, and is more sincere in his
character than any man I ever met with; and Lilya is the most artless,
shy, unsophisticated creature that ever existed. You must be wrong,
don't you see."
"Both of them have acknowledged it to me," said Zabra; "both have
confessed to me their mutual regard. Yes, it is too true. It is placed
beyond the possibility of a doubt."
"Without meaning any offence to you, I can't believe it, don't you see,"
said the doctor good humouredly. "You have been deceiving yourself.
There is a little bit of jealousy in the case, depend upon it. And
though I maintain that jealousy is usually a very reasonable passion;
for it is impossible for one who has thought himself the owner of
the affections of another, to find a third party regarded as their
possessor, without feeling a considerable degree of indignation: I
think, in this instance, there is no cause for it."
"I wish I could think so! I most fervently wish I could think so!"
exclaimed the youth earnestly. "Nothing could gratify me so much as to
find my suspicions unfounded; but the facts are so clear that the most
credulous would be convinced."
"Ah! lovers are the worst people in the world to argue with, don't you
see," remarked Tourniquet with a smile. "They are always convinced of
something that no one else would entertain for a moment. They believe
without a proof, and deny without a cause. With all due respect for you,
I must say that love is the greatest folly upon earth. I don't mean to
say that I have not had my follies, don't you see; for I have had a very
fair share of them. I remember my first folly of the kind very well. I
had commenced my medical education under the auspices of an old uncle
of mine. He was exceedingly like all other uncles from the creation of
the world to the present time. He was obstinate, peevish, domineering,
and quarrelsome, and was blest with a daughter, as all uncles are that
have a nephew to reside with them. I was then a youth remarkable for the
pains I took in my clothes and in my personal appearance; in fact, my
dandyism was so conspicuous that I was ashamed to look a dog in the face
for fear he should acknowledge me as a puppy.
"All at once I thought it was highly necessary I should be in love,
don't you see; so I brushed up my bits of whiskers, held my head as high
as I could, and looked about me. My eyes quickly fell upon the charming
Papaverica. To be sure her hair was as much like a bundle of scorched
tow as it was possible to be; but of course I called it an auburn. Her
nose was a lump of flesh; but of what shape it would have puzzled a
geometrician to decide; yet I declared it was Grecian; and her mouth
_was_ a mouth--there was no mistaking it, and it gave an openness to
her countenance more than usually expressive; and of course I swore it
was like two cherries seeming parted. Then her body showed that she was
somebody. It might have been as thick as it was long, for its length was
nothing to brag of. As for her feet, Papaverica was not a girl to stand
upon trifles. But whatever her figure was like, I had no difficulty in
convincing her it was the very perfection of grace and beauty.
"I fell in love. Papaverica was medicine, surgery, and anatomy to me.
The pharmacopoeia was neglected, the vade mecum thrust on one side. I
forgot drugs and dressings, lancets and laudanum. I had no taste for
mixtures, and my soul was above pills. My thoughts were ever wandering
towards the charming Papaverica; and as it is not possible for the mind
to entertain two thoughts at the same time, my labours in making up the
medicines for my uncle's patients occasionally produced very strange
effects. Potions and lotions, cathartics and emetics, pills and squills,
were mixed together in what was not considered 'most admired disorder;'
for my uncle's stick spoke of any thing but admiration. But my blunders
were most conspicuous in writing the labels. In giving the directions
for a mixture I was sure to write 'Papaverica, when taken to be well
shaken'--for a draught, 'Papaverica to be taken at bedtime,'--and for
a lotion that had been repeated, 'Papaverica as before.'
"All this time we met, and made love after our fashion, don't you see.
Papaverica and I looked at each other till we couldn't see out of our
eyes, and sighed like paviers at work on a hard piece of ground. But
her father tried to put a stop to our proceedings; and if he caught
me talking to her, he gave me such a setting down, or more properly,
speaking, such a knocking down, as gave me cause to remember the
conversation.
"'Fathers have flinty hearts!' said the sympathising Papaverica.
"'And desperate thick sticks!' I exclaimed, with tears in my eyes, as
I rubbed my aching back against the door. However, this sort of thing
could not go on for ever. I was sent to pursue my studies at Columbus,
and I lost sight of Papaverica--I may add, for ever; for she soon
afterwards eloped with a strolling actor who had been vagabondising
in the neighbourhood, and who had won her heart by playing Romeo in a
cocked hat and leather breeches.
"My next folly was of a different kind. I was a young student as fond of
mischief as any of the fraternity to which I belonged. I was invited to
an evening party, where among the company, I noticed a young girl with a
laughing, dare-devil eye, and a person remarkably smart. I inquired her
name, and from a friend learned all the particulars of her history.
Observing that she was regarding me in a manner that told me that she
was quizzing me to her companions, I advanced, humming an air till I
came close before her.
"'Ah Floss!' said I, nodding familiarly. 'Is it you? Haven't seen you
this age. You look particularly charming; and how is your grandmother?
Shouldn't suppose you half so old as you are, to look at you. And
has the cat kittened? I always admire your style of dress--it's very
becoming. So the house dog's got well at last! Being an old friend of
the family, you must really make room for me beside you.--How is your
aunt's toothach?'
"The girl at first stared at my impudence, don't you see; but, finding I
proceeded with the same nonchalance, making all sorts of heterogeneous
remarks and inquiries, she laughed heartily, in which she was as
heartily joined by her companions, and we became intimate in a moment.
We joked and romped in the most provoking manner, and said the smartest
things of each other that could possibly be conceived. I found that she
lived with an aged grandmother and an old maiden aunt, in a small house
in a retired part of the town. I watched my opportunity when I saw
the two old women go out to take their evening walk, and gave such a
tremendous knock at the door that it made the windows rattle again. As
I expected my charmer opened the door, and in I marched as stately as
an emperor.
"'Halloo, sir, where are you going? This is like your impudence,
certainly!' said she, not knowing whether to be most offended or amused
at my behaviour.
"'I have come to honour you with a little of my superfluous time,
Floss,' I replied in an easy, condescending manner.
"'You have, have you? then I shall just thank you to make the best of
your way back again,' she rejoined as she followed me into the parlour.
"'I shall do nothing of the kind, Floss, till I please,' said I, as
observing some decanters of wine on the table I began very quietly to
help myself; 'and I have the pleasure to drink your health, Floss, and
a good husband to you--when you can get one.'
"'You impudent jackanapes!' she exclaimed, as she observed me toss off
a bumper. 'This exceeds every thing I ever heard of.'
"'I always strive to excel, Floss,' I replied, flinging myself at full
length on a sofa. But come here. Come to me like a good girl. I have
something to say to you.'
"'Go to you! I'll see you farther first!' she cried, looking as
disdainfully as she could.
"'Very well,' said I, rising and retreating a few paces: 'now come to
me--you see me further.'
"'I shan't do any thing of the kind, Mr. Impudence,' she exclaimed,
trying to hide her laughter.
"'Then if you wo'n't come to me, I shall be obliged to go to you, which
is a great hardship,' I observed as I advanced towards her.
"'If you come near me I'll scratch your eyes out!' cried Floss, looking
monstrously fierce; yet I could easily see by the corners of her mouth
that she was very much disposed to laugh, so I still approached.
"'If you touch me I'll box your ears!' she exclaimed, beginning to look
more serious.
"'Don't be alarmed, Floss; you wouldn't hurt a hair of my head, I know,'
said I, as I attempted to insinuate my arm round her waist. 'Ha, will
you?' she cried; and she gave me a slap of the face that made my teeth
rattle in my mouth like a box of cherry stones. I was not to be easily
driven from my purpose, so I attempted to make good my hold, but
immediately received a box on the ear that made me see all the colours
of the rainbow.
"'You haven't the heart to hurt a fly,' said I very coolly, while I
endeavoured to throw my left arm over her left shoulder, to get the
command of her arms; but in the execution of this manoeuvre, I received
a shower of blows that would have made a less eager lover than myself
glad enough to leave the field.
"'What means this behaviour, sir?' exclaimed my charmer, endeavouring to
look expressively angry, and struggling with me with all her might.
"'I mean to honour you so far as to kiss you, Floss,' I replied very
quietly, though smarting from the pain of the blows.
"'I'll scream--I'll raise the house--I'll cry murder--I'll----'
"'I'm remarkably fond of music,' said I, interrupting her; and in a
moment afterwards I had both her arms tightly pressed to her body, and
her face blushing and looking angry a few inches beneath my own.
"'I'll never let you see me again as long as I live--I'll hate
you--I'll----'
"Her mouth was stopped by mine, and every time she attempted to speak I
repeated the same interesting ceremony, which she struggled unavailingly
to prevent; but with this revenge I was not satisfied.
"'Let me go, sir; let me go this minute! You wretch, don't you see how
you're rumpling my collar! Let me go, I command you!'
"'Before I do that I shall first allow you the pleasure of kissing me,'
said I, with as much condescension as I could assume.
"'Kiss you!' cried Floss, looking as savage as an enraged turkey-cock;
'I'd see you hanged first!'
"'You'll not go till you do,' I replied, with all the coolness
imaginable.
"'Let me go, sir; your assurance is unbearable!' she exclaimed, making
violent but ineffectual efforts to release herself from my embrace.
"'You'll not go till you kiss me,' said I, as calmly as possible. A loud
knock at this moment was heard at the door.
"'Let me go, sir. Here's my grandmother and my aunt returned, and
they'll abuse me famously if they catch you here.'
"'You'll not go till you kiss me,' I repeated in exactly the same tone
of voice I had previously used. Another louder knock was now heard.
"'There then, you plague!' she cried as she hurriedly pressed her lips
to mine; 'and now let me go.'
"'Leave every thing to me, I'll manage the old ladies,' said I as I
allowed her to escape.
"'It's very strange, Floss, that you always will keep us at the door so
long when we knock,' mumbled the eldest of the two old ladies as well as
her want of teeth would allow her, as soon as the door was opened.
"'It's very strange,' remarked the other with stronger emphasis.
"'I've spoken to you so often about it, that I'm quite shocked at your
negligence,' mumbled the first.
"'I'm quite shocked at your negligence;' echoed the other.
"'Goodness, a man!' screamed out the eldest, throwing her arms back, and
nearly pitching off her balance as she entered the room.
"'Goodness, a man!' squeaked out the other in exactly the same tone, and
with exactly the same motion.
"'May I be allowed to know the cause which has conferred upon me
the honour of a visit from a perfect stranger, as it seems very
extraordinary,' said the mumbler, advancing towards me with stately
steps, and scrutinising me through her spectacles as if she would look
right through me.
"'It seems very extraordinary,' remarked the other emphatically, as she
also brought her spectacles to bear upon my person.
"'Have I the honour of speaking to the amiable and accomplished Mrs.
Parrot-cum-Poodle?" I inquired, advancing two steps with a grave and
respectful air, and making a bow to the ground.
"I am that humble individual," replied the ugliest of the two, making
a profound courtesy; and then turning to her companion, she said in a
whisper, "A very well spoken young man."
"A very well spoken young man," echoed the least ugliest.
"How much have I reason to be gratified with my good fortune;" I
observed, looking as delighted as I could. "I have travelled far to
procure it."
"Take a seat, my dear sir!" exclaimed the old one, with a look of
sympathy that did not make her look more agreeable.
"Take a seat, my dear sir!" repeated the other, in the same tone and
manner.
"Floss, why don't you give the gentleman a chair?" cried number one,
sharply.
"Floss, why don't you give the gentleman a chair?" cried number two in
a similar voice.
"I should prefer standing in the presence of ladies for whom I have
such perfect respect," said I, with another bow equally profound.
"Oh, you are too good!" mumbled the first, with something that was
intended to be a smile.
"Oh, you are too good!" muttered the other, after the same fashion.