Desolate in each place of trust,
Thy bright soul dimmed with care,
To the land where is found no trace of dust.
Oh! look thou there.
The servant had either not understood, or had neglected the orders of
Eugene Trevor. Her own faithful attendant had not accompanied Mary, and
Miss Elliott's maid, who waited upon her, had gone to the hall to be in
attendance in the cloak-room upon her young lady. So that when the poor
girl recovered from her temporary insensibility, she found herself quite
alone, and nearly in darkness with but a dim and bewildered recollection
of what had occurred, the sense of physical indisposition preponderating
at the moment. She feebly arose, and managed to drag her chilled and
heavy limbs to her own room.
In the morning she awoke restored to a full consciousness of the reality
of the last night's events; very dark appeared to her the world on which
she opened now her eyes; a vague sense of misery oppressed her--a
feeling as if the end of all things was come--that the truth, light and
beauty of existence had passed from her for ever--that her life had been
thrown away--the best powers of her mind--the affections of her heart
wasted on an object suddenly stripped of every false attribute which she
had so ignorantly worshipped.
She did not feel inclined, as may be supposed, to face the glare and
bustle of the court, and under plea of a headache excused herself from
accompanying Miss Elliott and her brother, who, having been obliged to
be in attendance at an early hour, had only exchanged a few words with
his sister at her room-door previous to his departure.
Mary would, therefore, have been left alone all the morning had it not
been for a visit from Jane Marryott, who came to say farewell; and to
express her grateful thanks, both for the aid she had received from her
legal advocate and the kindness shown to her by the young ladies after
the trial.
Mary received her with much kindness, and encouraged her by the sweet
sympathy of her manner, to relate "the tale of her love with all its
pains and reverses." There was something in the subdued and chastened
tone of the poor woman's happiness, as soothing to Mary's own troubled
heart, as her meek and patient demeanour during her affliction had been
touching; and as to look upon the "grief so lonely" of her upon whose
patient countenance, she had read a tale of baffled hopes, and
disappointed affection, which had made her think with tears upon her
own; so now she did not feel it impossible to accede a smile of
melancholy rejoicing in her pious joy, though no answering chord
vibrated in her own sorrowful bosom--and she felt that the sea of
trouble, and the ocean wide, which had hitherto disunited Jane Marryott
from her affianced lover, was nothing to the deep gulf which must, from
henceforth, roll between her soul and his, whom she had so long looked
upon in that light.
But the faint mournful smile did not perhaps escape the observation of
her humble visitor, or fail to touch the scarce less delicate sympathies
of one doubly refined in the furnace of affliction. Jane Marryott could
not repress a glance of anxious interest on the pale young lady's face,
as at the close of her own recital, she respectfully proceeded to
express her wishes for the health and happiness of her brother and
herself.
She had heard, she continued timidly to say, that Mr. Eugene Trevor was
the favoured gentleman who was to make Miss Seaham his wife--then
paused, humbly apologising if she had offended by her boldness, for she
marked the momentary spasm of painful emotion which passed over Mary's
countenance.
She would not have ventured to speak on the subject she added, had it
not been for the interest, painful though it had become in its
character, which bound her to that family. Mr. Eugene Trevor being as
Miss Seaham probably was aware, her foster-brother.
Mary bent her head in sign of acquiescence, and then murmuring that Jane
Marryott had not offended, enquired in a low and faltering voice if she
had been thrown much in contact with the Trevor family of late years,
that if so, she would be much obliged by any particulars respecting it:
she need not fear to speak freely on a subject which indeed was one of
such peculiar interest to herself, though not now in the manner to which
Jane had made allusion. She had indeed been long engaged to Mr. Eugene
Trevor, but----. Mary felt not strength to complete the communication;
her voice died away, leaving her listener to frame her own conclusions
from the dejected pause and broken sentence.
"I would do anything to oblige or serve you, dear young lady, though
there is little on the subject of that family which can be connected in
my mind but with shame and sorrow. However, with the exception of one
unhappy visit of mine to Montrevor last year, I have not entered the
house, or lived in its neighbourhood, since I was quite a young child;
then I remember just having been taken there once or twice to see my
mother, and being allowed to play with little Master Eugene, and most
distinctly of all going with him into the room where was Mrs.
Trevor--such a sweet and gentle looking lady--who spoke very kindly to
me; and there too was Master Eustace, a beautiful boy, who seemed very
fond of his mother, whilst Master Eugene would not do a thing that he
was bid--he was but a child then you know," she added apologetically,
"and they say was never taught much to love and honour that parent, by
those who took him as an infant from her breast. Alas! that I, my
mother's own child, should have to say it--but such visits were not
many; my mother did not care for me enough to run the risk of offending
her master by having me about the place. He hated strange children in
the house, and when I was taken there it was by stealth. So at a very
early age I was sent away to some distant relations in Wales, who
apprenticed me to the trade, and all I have since heard of the family
has been by hearsay; for there was nothing of all that reached my ear,
which made Montrevor a place I could have visited with any comfort or
pleasure.
"My mother, when I had grown up, offered me a situation in the
establishment, and because I refused to accept it, speaking my mind
perhaps too freely, she never afterwards noticed me in any way,
withdrawing all support in my necessity; till the unlucky hour, I was
induced to give up that patient waiting on God's own time I had
hitherto maintained, and turned aside to seek to bring it to pass by
ways and means that were not of his pointing out. I might have seen that
no good could have come out of gold taken from that house, no blessing
be attached to bounty drawn from such a polluted source. God has been
very merciful, and made all things to work together for my good; but
still even now I rejoice with trembling, and were he again to withdraw
his favour--I should only feel that it were due to my past
unfaithfulness. Oh, dear young lady! it is a good thing to wait
patiently on the Lord, to believe that good is hid behind every cloud of
seeming evil; that grief or disappointment, if dealt us, is intended for
our future happiness either here or hereafter. May you find this to be
the case, and feel it also to your comfort, if I am right in guessing
from your countenance that you stand in need of consolation. I am very
bold, a humble stranger to speak thus to you, young lady--but you have
encouraged me by your kindness and condescension, and we are told never
to neglect, to speak a word in season to the weary, and even when you
hung over me in my fainting fit yesterday, I marked the contrast between
your sad pale face, and that of the bright young lady by your side."
Mary put her hand into the speaker's for a moment as if both in grateful
acknowledgement of her sympathy, and as encouragement for her to
proceed. There was something inexpressibly soothing to her wounded
spirit in the simple earnestness of the poor woman's speech--strength
and calm resolution to meet the darkened future, seemed to infuse itself
into her own soul as she sat and listened.
At length in a low sad voice she responded:
"Thank you very much for speaking to me in that manner. I feel already
that it has done me good, for you are indeed quite right in supposing
that I am not quite happy, though my present unhappiness springs from a
cause of which you, with all your troubles, have never, I think,
experienced the bitterness. I have much on my mind just now, doubts and
fears on a subject, on which I am unable to gain any clear
enlightenment. You, who perhaps have received information from more
authentic sources, may be able to tell me what you may have heard
concerning Mr. Eugene Trevor."
Jane Marryott looked pained and embarrassed, and hesitated how to reply.
"Do not fear to speak out plainly," faltered Mary, turning away her
head; "anything is better than the uncertainty and vague insinuations
with which I have been hitherto tortured."
"Then, Miss Seaham," Jane Marryott answered, sorrowfully, "if I speak
plainly as you desire, I am forced to confess that all that I have heard
of Mr. Eugene Trevor, makes me fear his being too like his father in
disposition to make any lady happy."
"Mr. Eugene Trevor cannot possibly be like his father," murmured Mary,
her woman's faithfulness still rising up in her lover's defence.
"God grant that it may not be so in every respect," resumed the other.
"But, alas! it is written 'that the love of money is the root of all
evil;' and what but the coveting of his father's riches, though it might
be for a different purpose than the old gentleman's avariciousness--I
mean the spending it on his own selfish pleasures--could have made him
act in many respects as I have heard that he has done; though God
forgive me for exposing the faults of a fellow-creature."
"Speak on, I entreat," Mary anxiously exclaimed.
"Well, Miss, I mean why did he not stand up, like his brother, for his
injured, excellent mother; and if he did not exactly join hand in hand
with those who oppressed her, why countenance her wrongs by their
contented endurance? then about Mr. Eustace that true and noble-hearted
gentleman?"
"Ah! what of him?" Mary eagerly inquired, lifting up her sadly-drooping
eyes, and fixing them upon Jane Marryott's face with an earnest, fearful
expression.
"He was treated shamefully by his father from a child," was the reply;
"but I fear more badly still at last by his brother, if, indeed, it be
true that he had any hand in the dark business, in which I am told he
was mixed up."
"What business?" inquired Mary, turning very pale.
"It is almost too dreadful a story to repeat--almost to believe; but as
I have mentioned the subject, and you, Madam, have made me to understand
that you were not without unpleasant suspicions as to its truth, I will
tell you what I was informed about the matter. The fact is, that an old
servant at Montrevor, who had been much attached to Mrs. Trevor and Mr.
Eustace, and who happened to be a native of the town in which I lived,
came to the place, and finding me out, visited me for the purpose, I
believe, of venting the bitterness of his soul against my unfortunate
mother, who he spoke of as the cause of all the sorrow which happened to
those he loved; but when he saw me ashamed and grieved equally with
himself, then he opened his heart more gently to me, and told me all
about the present subject of his distress, and what had induced him to
leave Montrevor, swearing never again to set his foot in it, as long as
either Mr. Trevor, his son Eugene, or my mother, darkened its doors. He
told me Mr. Eustace Trevor had been attacked by a brain fever, brought
on by the shock of his mother's death, such as he had had once before
after hard study, when Matthew had himself attended on his young master,
who was delirious for some days and nights; but that this last time,
neither he, nor any of the servants, were allowed to go near his
chamber; and that at last he had been carried away at night to a
madhouse, it being reported through the house that he was out of his
mind. Matthew went once or twice to the door of the establishment, to
request to see his master, but was refused admittance. A week or two
after, however, Mr. Eustace came back to Montrevor, and went to the
library, where his father, brother, my mother, and a lawyer were
assembled, making up papers to deprive him of his property. None of the
servants saw him but Matthew, who was told to hold himself in readiness
to assist his master, if any attempt was made upon his liberty. This,
however, was not the case; he left the house as he came, in half an
hour's time. Matthew followed him, and was sent back a few stages off,
to bring his master's things away from Montrevor, chiefly for the sake
of his mother's picture, which was amongst them. Then he gave Matthew
some money, and finally but firmly commanded him to leave him. He said
that he was going to quit the country, never to return; wished to retain
no one, as that might lead to his discovery, entreating him, if he
really loved him, to acquiesce in his wishes. He looked ill, and much
reduced, of course, by all that he had gone through, both in body and
mind. His beautiful hair had been shorn, and with a smile that went
through Matthew's heart like a dagger, he uncovered his wrists, and
showed deep marks of manacles that they had put upon him indented there.
But he said: 'Matthew, I was never mad; it was only another attack, such
as you, good old fellow, nursed me through some time ago; but never
mind, there are worse things than the charge of madness to suffer in
this world. I am going to leave the country, and my unnatural enemies
behind me; and if you wish to serve me faithfully, as you hitherto have
done, do not try to follow me or to find me out.' And then when Matthew
continued to entreat, he grew firmer still, and told him if ever he
found himself importuned by pursuit, either by friend or by foe, or the
story of what had happened had got spread abroad, he should suspect him
of being the cause. So Matthew was fain, with many tears, to bid him
farewell; and very soon after it was that Matthew came to me. But I have
shocked and distressed you, dear young lady," Jane Marryott added,
observing the look of horror which deepened on Mary's countenance, as
she with blanched cheeks and distended eyes listened to the recital. "I
have never breathed all this to other mortal ear, and should not to you,
had not your questioning drawn me to speak out what I fancied you to
have already conjectured. Nay, they say that many of Mr. Eustace's
friends were inclined to look suspiciously on the matter; but earthly
friends, for the most part, are cold and lax in the behalf of those out
of sight."
"And was nothing more heard by Matthew of his master?" Mary faintly
inquired.
"Yes, early in spring, Matthew, to his joyful surprise, received a
letter from Mr. Eustace, telling him to go to Oxford, and to remove some
of the property he had at that place to London, where it was received by
a strange clerical gentleman, and taken away he knew not whither. But it
was a consolation to Matthew to know, at least, and be assured by the
gentleman, that his master was safe and well, although still trusting to
his obedience and his silence. I have never since heard or seen anything
of Mr. Matthew, for he left to settle in London. I have often thought
upon the strange story, and wondered whether anything more had ever been
heard of Mr. Eustace."
Jane Marryott ceased; and for an instant Mary sat with clasped hands,
and a stunned expression in her countenance, till at length meeting the
gaze of her companion fixed upon her, with a look of regretful concern;
she held out her hand and with a wan smile, such as wherewith a patient
might express his thanks at the performer of some painful but necessary
operation, thanked her again for having satisfied her painful
curiosity; sweetly--yet with an expression which much belied the
assertion--assuring Jane Marryott when she expressed her fears as to the
effect upon her mind this communication had produced--that though pain
of course such a relation could not fail to cause her--yet it was not
more than she had endured of late, nor more for her to listen than some
points of her communication must have been to her, Jane Marryott, to
reveal; for even in the absorption of her own feelings, Mary had not
failed to mark and to compassionate the look of humbled shame and
sorrow, which bowed down the daughter's head in those parts of her
relation bearing allusion to her mother, whilst at the same time the
honest simplicity of her class and character, had forced her to pass
through the ordeal without compromise or circumlocution; and thus from
the lips of the stranger of yesterday, there had been revealed in a
manner calculated to strike entire conviction upon the mind of the
listener, every circumstance which before had been concealed by a dark
cloud of mystery--or that the tender consideration of friends had dealt
out to her, in the vile daily drop of vague insinuation and report.
Stupified and still, she sat for some time after Jane Marryott had taken
her departure. Mary having said something at parting about seeing her on
the morrow, as Jane Marryott did not leave for Liverpool, the place of
her intended embarkation, till she had received the final tidings of her
mother's fate; promised to her by Eugene Trevor.
But the interview did not take place. Mary sent her a useful present,
but was too unwell to see her when she called.