THE ACCEPTED INVITATION.
Barbara Stafford became the guest of Governor Phipps. It was a singular
arrangement on both sides, for the strange lady had from the first
retreated from the idea with evident repulsion, and Sir William was the
last man in the world to receive a person under his roof about whose
history the slightest doubt existed.
Barbara offered no credentials of respectability--she submitted no
letters--made no explanation; yet on the bare recommendation of
unmistakable refinement, and a charm of manner that had all the power of
fascination, she became more than a welcome inmate of the proud man's
mansion.
The governor was absent when Barbara first arrived at his house. Perhaps
it was for this reason she came so readily.
Norman Lovel took the second invitation. He had seen Barbara in the
church on the day of the baptism, and strove in vain to get near enough
to address her. The rigid etiquette of the place forbade that, and all
night long he was haunted with regrets for this seeming neglect of a
person who had all the claims upon his courtesy which great hearts
always concede to the receiver of an important favor.
It was a beautiful, bright day, when Norman reached the farm-house;
pleasant sounds filled the air--pleasant light fell on the old stone
house, the clustering trees, and the far-off waters--light broken up
with those transparent shadows which float along with the soft clouds,
that sleep so quietly in the summer sky.
Goody Brown was busy with her spinning-wheel, treading it vigorously
with one foot, and drawing out the finest and evenest thread from a hank
of flax that formed her distaff, into a tall, gray cone. A pleasant
bee-like hum came from the active flyers, and there was something kindly
and good in the prim woman, which was better than a welcome to one who
understood her.
Barbara Stafford sat near the door, watching the old woman draw out her
thread, with a calm, steady look, inexpressibly mournful. Her thoughts
were far away; she was following back the thread of her own life, which
seemed interminable as that which glided through the old woman's
fingers. So Barbara thought, and the old woman's wheel droned on. They
were both very quiet, and one was--oh, how sad!
Norman Lovel appeared in the door like a sunbeam; his cheek was red with
walking; the wind, which came moist and cool from the ocean, had left
its freshness on his face. His fine eyes were bright as diamonds. When
he caught Barbara's look, and saw that a gleam of pleasure stole through
its sadness, he smiled, and two dimples fluttered about the corners of
his mouth. Barbara received him kindly; her heart warmed to the youth,
he was so like a child in the cheerfulness of his presence.
A throb of strange satisfaction beat in her bosom at the sight of that
young face. He, too, was conscious of a swell of contentment as he stood
before the woman he had saved. It seemed as if he had known her from
childhood up. The atmosphere of her presence was natural to him as the
breath of roses. He sat down on the threshold of the door, with his feet
upon the stepping stone, and, while the calm, beautiful day glowed all
around him, began to talk.
Barbara spoke of the danger from which she had been rescued, very simply
and without effort, but her face beamed with gratitude, and her lips
quivered as she smiled upon him. Norman had scarcely counted his efforts
that day as an act of heroism, but now he began to value the deed.
Surely it was something to have saved a woman like that. He watched the
changes of her countenance as she spoke with singular interest, and
began to wish in the depths of his heart that she might be in danger
again--not such terrible peril of course as he had witnessed in the
boat, but enough to justify some grand action in her behalf.
He did not say these things; indeed there was little real conversation
between them, yet there was no absolute constraint such as might
naturally fall upon the first meeting of persons so far removed from
each other in years, and in the scenes of their lives. On the contrary,
the broken sentences and pauses of silence were filled up with a world
of pleasant sensations; the youth wondered at his own happiness, and the
lady forgot her sorrow. Within the last half-hour she seemed no longer
alone in the world. All this time the wheel went droning on, and the
thread lengthened; a human hand was spinning at one end of the room, and
destiny at the other.
At last, Norman remembered his errand, and repeated Lady Phipps's
invitation; coupled with a message from the governor, who, on leaving
home for a few days, had delegated to the young secretary the pleasant
task of urging his hospitality upon the lady who had interested them all
so much.
Norman thought that the lady grew more reserved and pale as he delivered
the first portion of this message; but when he mentioned the absence of
the governor, she brightened up and accepted the invitation with
something like excitement.
Lady Phipps had sent a carriage for her guest, but Barbara refused the
accommodation. She would walk along the beach: the day was so bright,
the sea breeze so invigorating, and the distance by no means too great
for a well-educated Englishwoman. The carriage might take such portions
of her wardrobe as were necessary, but she preferred to walk. So the two
went away together, depressed a little, no one could tell why; but
Barbara's first excitement had something restive in it, and the sadness
that followed made her thoughtful, and kept the youth silent.
They came upon the shore, opposite the breakers in which she had been so
nearly wrecked. Some fragments of the broken boat were visible, ploughed
deeply in the sand. By these alone she recognized the spot again. The
harbor was serene as a mountain lake, one sheet of glittering silver
swelling gently to the rising tide. She looked wistfully seaward a
while, and turned away, sighing heavily, and murmured, with downcast
eyes, "Oh, if they had not been so kind!"
"Indeed," said Norman, "I shall never forget your looks that day, as the
boat made the fatal plunge; were I to live a thousand years, those eyes
would haunt me: they seemed black as night; yet are so blue now."
"Yes, I was afraid," said Barbara. "To die was to lose a great hope. It
would not be so now."
She said this very quietly, but with a depth of sorrow in her voice that
touched the young man.
"The shock has made you nervous, dear lady. I have often heard it said
that terror does its most cruel work on the system after the occasion
that called it forth is passed. You are a stranger in the country, too,
and that counts for something."
"Yes, I am indeed a stranger."
"Not when you have known Lady Phipps."
Barbara stooped down and gathered a pebble from the strand; her voice
was husky when she spoke again:
"Then you admire, you like Lady Phipps?"
"Admire her--oh, lady, that is a faint word. Lady Phipps is almost
worshipped; so beautiful, so generous and kind hearted."
"Yes--yes. I saw that she was beautiful; I believe the rest," answered
Barbara, speaking quickly and out of breath, though she was walking at a
slow pace.
"And she thinks so highly of the governor--she loves him so devotedly!"
"And he?"
Barbara scarcely spoke above a whisper; and her eyes grew bright, almost
fierce, as she waited for his answer.
"And he," repeated Norman, hesitating a little, as if to reflect upon a
subject which had presented itself clearly before him for the first
time. "Indeed I never thought of that. Of course, he loves the lady very
much--who could help it! But the governor is not a demonstrative man;
most people think him cold--a man of iron."
"Cold, undemonstrative, a man of iron!"
The words fell from Barbara Stafford's lips like drops of lead. She
seemed to examine every syllable that she might ascertain its exact
meaning. A strange expression, half doubt, half satisfaction, stole over
her features at last, and she walked on in silence.
The youth spoke again.
"You must not let my words give you a false opinion of Sir William. He
is one of the bravest, wisest and most generous men on earth."
Barbara looked up and a glorious smile broke upon the youth.
"You speak warmly, sir."
"Indeed I feel warmly. Sir William has been a benefactor, almost a
father, to me. His own son could not--"
"His own son? has--has Sir William Phipps a--I thought he had no son."
"Nor has he, lady," answered Norman, surprised by the sudden energy of
her manner. "I was about to say that his own son, had he possessed one,
could not have been treated more kindly than I have been."
Barbara Stafford drew a quick breath, and walked on rapidly, making this
an excuse for the long silence that followed.
"You have lived with--with the governor some time I believe," she said,
at last.
"Yes."
"But you are not a native of this new land?"
"No; I was born in England."
"And your parents?"
Norman blushed crimson. "I never knew my parents," he said.
Barbara Stafford blushed also: she had given pain, yet that very fact
deepened her interest in the youth.
"Forgive me, but you have not been reared without care; some one must
have taken great interest in you."
"It may be so, but I never have been able to find that person out; my
education went on as a matter of course; a lawyer of London paid the
bills, gave me lots of advice, but refused me the least information
regarding myself. When I had gone through the different grades of study
thought requisite for a gentleman, the old barrister deposited a couple
of thousand pounds in the hands of Sir William Phipps, which he told me
was my entire patrimony, and sent me out here as secretary to the
governor. In Sir William Phipps's house, I have known for the first time
in my life what the word home meant."
Barbara looked earnestly at the youth as he gave this brief account of
himself, but she made no further observation, for they had reached the
streets of Boston, and from the novelty of the scene, or some deeper
cause, she grew silent and walked forward with a reluctant, heavy step,
apparently forgetful of the questions she had been asking.