CLOSING SCENES.
Samuel Parris kept his word faithfully; for added to his own promise was
the sacramental oath taken by Barbara Stafford, which he dared not force
her to break. But the secret confided to him lay heavily on his
conscience, and the struggle there wore away his strength. For a whole
year he avoided his old friend the governor, and refused to visit his
house, even when Elizabeth became its permanent inmate as Norman Lovel's
wife. But at last there came a period when the old man went mournfully
to the house he had shunned. This time, he was summoned there to attend,
not a wedding, but a funeral--Lady Phipps had laid down a life all
sunshine, and gone suddenly into the valley and shadow of death. When
Samuel Parris rode up to that stately mansion, he found its pillars
draped with black, and a hatchment over the front entrance. These
emblems of grief struck him with singular feelings of blended grief and
thankfulness. His eyes filled with tears of regret for the gentle woman
who had gone; but his heart beat free once more, and a grievous load
fell from it, when his foot passed that threshold. In an hour after his
arrival at the mansion, a funeral cortege went forth from its portals
which surpassed any thing known to the colony in its exceeding solemnity
and worldly grandeur. In the procession, Samuel Parris rode with his
friend; and, for the first time since Barbara Stafford's escape, the two
men sat hand in hand, yielding to the old sympathy, and united by the
old love. Both mourned the dead with sincere grief; but it was observed
of Samuel Parris, that a gentle hopefulness had settled on his face, and
there was something in his voice, when he prayed, that thrilled the
hearer with strange accents of thanksgiving.
When the coffin, palled with black velvet, and rich with silver, was
placed before the altar where William Phipps had partaken of his first
sacrament, Parris knelt beside it, in violation of all usage, and
prayed, for some moments, silently; but as if he were in absolute
communion with the dead. Then he arose, like one reassured, and with
benign calmness went through the funeral ceremonies.
That night the gubernatorial mansion was indeed a house of mourning.
Elizabeth, clad in black from head to foot, glided from room to room,
like a troubled spirit. Every other instant tears would fill her
beautiful eyes, and she would creep close to Lovel's side, under the
pretence of comforting him. The governor spent those first sad hours in
his own room, and Samuel Parris sat musing in the library. He thought of
the poor lady who was gone--of her bright cheerfulness, her beauty, and
gracious manners. All her life she had been the favorite of fortune and
of circumstances. But Samuel Parris well knew that she had never wholly
and entirely possessed the heart of that strong, great man, whose entire
nature was, in fact, beyond her comprehension. Affection, care,
indulgences, he had given her, and with these things she was content.
But the great happiness of married life--that of being mated, heart and
intellect, in one noble union--she could not have comprehended. She was
quite ready to worship her husband's greatness, without understanding
it; but blind worship satisfies no man entirely. In order to be
thoroughly loved he must be understood.
Samuel Parris did not reason in this way. It would have seemed cruel,
thus coldly, and under that roof, to analyze the life that had just
passed away; but he had a solemn duty to perform, and welcomed such
thoughts as promised to make the result a happy one. For three days the
minister remained the guest of his bereaved friend. All the kind
relations of pupil and tutor came back to them. In his sincere grief,
the governor loved to fall back upon that highly cultivated and generous
nature for sympathy and Christian comfort, and both were given him
entirely.
A few hours before that appointed for his return home, the old man
quietly followed Sir William into his library, and closed the door.
"William," he said, laying his hand on the governor's arm, "William, my
son, sit down by the window here; I have something to say to you."
Sir William smiled kindly and sat down, a little surprised by the old
man's nervous manner.
"William, thou rememberest that night when thou camest to my house with
that young girl?"
"Remember!" answered Sir William, shrinking visibly, as if some
heart-wound had been touched. "Think you, my friend, that I ever forget
it for a single hour? After the terrible grief of losing her I am
prepared for any thing."
"But she is not lost, William Phipps."
Sir William started up. It was wonderful to see that noble form so
agitated.
"Not lost, old man? I am no longer a boy, and you see how thickly gray
hairs are creeping over my head; but I cannot bear to hear her
mentioned. I know that in heaven nothing perishes; but this earth lost
all its bloom for me when she died. Talk of something else. I would not
have the old grief overwhelm my regret for the sweet wife we buried
three days ago. It shakes my very soul even to think of that crowning
sorrow of my youth. Oh! Parris; she was one of the grandest, most
generous, and loving creatures that ever lived. I could weep like a
child with the bare memory of what I lost and suffered. I can say this
to you now, my faithful friend, without injury to any one. What a life
mine would have been, had she lived to share it with me. Now that I am
alone, these thoughts crowd upon me. I cannot help it, force them back
as I will."
"But I say unto thee, William Phipps, the woman to whom I married thee
that night is alive. Thou hast seen her--held her in thy arms. When thy
hand signed the pardon for Barbara Stafford, it saved the wife of thy
youth!"
"Barbara Stafford? Old friend, do not mock me; I cannot bear it. You are
an imaginative man, I know, and harbor strange fancies; but do not let
them fire a hope in me which after-truth will quench. You look serious,
and wonderfully calm; notwithstanding, I think you are insane, Samuel
Parris."
"Nevertheless, the woman who was tried, condemned, and would have
suffered for sorcery, but for the interposition of friends more generous
than we were, was and is thy wife."
"Was and is my wife? Are you mad, or am I?"
"William! William! look up! how white thou art! Let me wipe the drops
from thy forehead. Nay, nay; these strong hands should not quiver thus.
Let them clasp mine. That is well; now look into these eyes, William,
and read my story there. As the Lord liveth, and as I am his servant,
the wife of thy youth is still living--still loves thee as woman never
before loved man. Dost thou believe me?"
A wonderful expression swept the strong man's face, an ecstasy of hope
broke into his eyes, and parted his lips with such smiles as no human
being had seen there before.
"I do! I do! My wife--my fair young bride. Why, Parris, that stern man
parted us in less than a year. Living! loving! and I--are these tears,
Samuel Parris? Am I a boy again?"
"There, there, my son; drive all these doubts away; for this life has
joy for thee yet, and for her. I tell thee, my son, thy wife, who called
herself Barbara Stafford, is a mate for thee, heart and soul, or for any
man living."
"My love! my wife! Now I understand how it came about that this heart
was so disturbed. But why did she keep away from me?"
"The father, who told thee that thy wife was dead, when thou soughtest
her, practised a double deception, and, till his death, she believed
herself a widow."
"But she was undeceived, and loved me still?" cried Sir William.
"She came to this country in search of her husband, and found him
married to another."
"My poor wife! That was terrible! I understand: she would not claim me;
but was ready to suffer doubt, contumely, death, rather than harm her
husband. I was not faithless to her. God is my judge, in this soul I was
not faithless. She knew how I had been deceived? She did not hate me?"
"Hate! nay, nay; does hate ever produce actions like hers?"
Sir William Phipps arose; his eyes bright, his face radiant. Even Samuel
Parris gazed on him in wonder. Was that the grave, stern man, who had
seemed so long incapable of a strong emotion?
"My friend, we will go to her. Where shall we search?"
"She is in England, Sir William; one of the first ladies in that proud
land--a countess in her own right--the possessor of great wealth."
"She is my wife! that is all I ask or care," exclaimed Sir William. "Old
friend, a ship lies in the harbor; when will she sail?"
"To-morrow. I went forth to inquire this morning."
"I will send at once and bespeak the cabin. You must go with me."
"Aye, truly; but there is something else which thou must hear before we
start. Her son and thine is under this roof!"
"Her son and mine? Is it my wife you speak of? That fair girl who loved
me so?"
"Even her."
"A child, and I never knew it! Oh! Father of mercies! this makes life
too precious! A son? Did you say it was a son, and under this roof? Not
the young man I have loved so--not Norman Lovel?"
"Truly, thy heart divines aright. The youth is her son and yours."
"My son! my son! Where is he? Bring Norman hither. Why, it was her soul
I saw and loved in his young face. And she knew this? Knew it, and gave
him up rather than harm her husband! Old friend, who shall dare to say,
after this, that women are on a level with us? or affirm that they never
perform the work of angels? And she is now my wife! I have but to stand
before her, and she will forgive the unintentional wrong which put
another in her place. Samuel Parris, in the joy of this moment, I had
forgotten the new-made grave up yonder, where that good and gentle woman
lies. Yet I think she, who was all goodness, might forgive me if she
knew how I have suffered. Is my son coming, and his wife? So you and I
are made nearer by the love which unites our children. I am glad of it.
Is that Norman's step? Norman! Norman!"
The young man heard Sir William's voice, so clear and animated that it
thrilled him with pleasure. He entered the library, and saw the governor
standing near the table, so changed and brightened by the happiness that
filled his whole being that the young man gazed on him in silent
astonishment. Sir William came toward him, and, pressing a hand on each
of his son's shoulders, looked in his face.
"Norman! Norman!"
His voice failed. For the first time in his life, the young man saw
tears in his father's eyes; still, a grand, joyous smile broke through
them.
"Norman! my--my--" Sir William's voice broke, and his chest heaved; he
threw his arms around the young man, and strained him to his heart.
"Boy, boy, I am your father!" he cried.
"My father! mine!" repeated the young man. "Oh! that it were so in name,
as it has been in kindness! Father! how sweet the name sounds!"
"Repeat it again, my son; for before God and man you are my son. I did
not know that human language could be so beautiful!"
Norman released himself gently from the clasp of his father's arms, and
stood before him, lost in amazement.
"Has your heart no voice? does your lips refuse to call me father?"
questioned Sir William, in tones that thrilled through and through the
son.
"Forgive me, forgive me; but I am bewildered," he said. "You call me son
for the first time, having acted more than a father's part by me for
many a year. Is it your will that I henceforth call you by the dear name
I have never known? If so, from my heart of hearts I thank you."
Sir William saw that he was not fully understood; but impatient
affection foiled all explanation. He could only affirm, with imploring
tenderness, what he had already said.
"Norman, it is a truth. Receive it into your heart at once. You are my
lawfully-born son--a part of my own young life--the child of a love
perfect as mortal beings ever knew. It is no adoption I offer. By law
and right you, from this day, take position before the world as my son
and heir."
"But--but my mother; who was my mother? Not the sweet lady whose death
we mourn?" questioned Norman, seized with a sudden pang, "or I should
have known this before."
"My son, it is not an hour since I learned it myself," answered Sir
William. "Ask this man, my old and faithful friend, who married me to
your mother."
The young man's face cleared; his heart flung off the painful dread that
had seized upon it.
"Father! father!" he cried, reaching forth his arms; "tell me who my
mother was. Have I seen her? Was she ever known as Barbara Stafford? It
is impossible, and yet my soul claims her."
"Boy," answered Sir William, and his voice took sweet solemnity as he
spoke, "this lady is my wife and your mother! Do not question me so
earnestly with those eyes; I have no dishonor to proclaim, no wilful
wrong to atone for. This good man will tell you more than I have yet
learned. Sit down here, close by my side, and we will listen together;
but first bring my daughter, your wife; we must have no secrets from
her."
Before Norman could reach the library door, it was opened, and Elizabeth
came in. Weary of her loneliness in the desolated rooms her friend and
almost mother had filled with so much cheerfulness, she ventured into
the library, and now stole softly to her father's side, and took a seat
by him, anxious to share every moment of his company during the short
time that he would remain in the house. She saw, by the agitated faces
around her, that some unusual subject was under discussion, and sat down
in silence. The minister took her hand, smiled faintly upon her, and
began his story.
The next morning, a ship cleared from the harbor of Boston. Its cabin
was taken entirely for Governor Phipps, his secretary, and the lovely
young wife, whose beauty had been the admiration of every one who found
access to the gubernatorial mansion. A fourth person in this party was
Samuel Parris, minister of the gospel from Salem.