"Ungracious wretch,
Fit for the mountains, and the barbarous caves
Where manners ne'er were preached! Out of my sight."
_Twelfth Night._
On the morning of the following day, Mona Macdonald sat at breakfast
in a room at Stillyside. She was plainly and neatly dressed; and
with her sat a figure more lady-like, and still in her teens,
attired simply, but with negligent taste. Both seemed abstracted,
and, as they silently sipped their tea, appeared to be brooding
over some recent, sad subject of conversation. The weather, too,
without, was as sombre as the mood within. A canopy of cold, grey
clouds covered the sky; the air was chilly, and the wind swayed
the trees to and fro, betokening rain. From time to time the cat,
with arched back, and tail erect, came loudly purring, and rubbing
its sleek sides against the skirts of its mistresses; the lap-dog
was restless; and upon the hearthrug a drowsy spaniel lay with his
nose between his paws, and whined fitfully in a dog's day-dream;
whilst the females, at length altogether ceasing to eat, sat
self-absorbed. On the face of the elder was an expression of sorrow
tempered with patience, but on that of the younger, an air of
melancholy was mingled with resentment, that heightened almost into
majesty a form and countenance of extraordinary and statuesque
beauty. From time to time her companion regarded her with a look
of anxiety and tenderness; and at length, seeing her still abstaining
from the suspended meal, exclaimed:
"Eat, child, eat: fasting is bad for the young."
"I have no appetite, except for information," was mournfully replied;
and the elder again regarded her affectionately; then with subdued
earnestness, and in an expostulatory tone, rejoined:
"Be pacified, Amanda; for curiosity often brings us care. Let well
alone, and it will continue to be well with you; but why should
you thus persist to peer into the bottom of your past; as it were,
asking the fashion of your swaddling clothes? Fie! you are too
impatient; too importunate. Pray, no longer question me against my
will, making enquiries that may not be answered. Live without asking
why you live. No more of this. Does not your guardian love you as
though you were his child; and is he not wiser than yourself; to
judge of what knowledge is for your welfare? You ask me, why this
mystery about your birth. Amanda, we move midst mystery from birth
to death, and they who seek to solve it seek for sorrow."
"These words disturb me more than your past silence," exclaimed
the younger. "What horror is there to reveal touching my origin,
that you yet dare not shew me?"
"I dare not break your guardian's command," replied the elder,
firmly.
"Neither can I control a natural desire to know what so nearly
concerns me," retorted the other. "I beg of you to solve this
mystery of my birth. It is my right, my birthright, to know who
gave me birth. It is said that I was found--where was I found? by
whom? how have I been confided to your care? by whose appointment
have I had given to me this guardian? and why is he so kind, and
wherefore are you so faithful? Tell me, nurse, why has he caused
me to be educated with such care; from what motive has he caused
me to be furnished with accomplishments that seem to reach beyond
the bounds of my prospective sphere? Nurse, I charge you,--if you
indeed have nursed me from my birth, as you declare you have
done,--tell me, I pray you tell me: it is not much to ask: the very
poorest child yet knows its parentage; the meanest beggar knows
whether his father once asked alms or not; but I know nothing of
my progenitors; whether they were of a proud or of a humble station,
whether good or vicious; whether they be yet living or be long
since dead. I do not know even whether my guardian knew them, nor
how he has come to be my guardian, my kind supporter, friend:
nothing do I know of these, whose all I ought to know. What is the
reason of this singular secrecy? Nurse, tell me all you know,--for
well I know you know,--tell me, I say, about my parentage; declare,
again I charge you, and now most solemnly, if you really love me,
who gave me to your care and to his kind tutelage: Nurse, Mona,
foster-mother, speak; how have I become the ward, nay, like the
very child, of that eccentric, wise, gay, good old man?"
"More gay than good, and not so wise as wicked," muttered Mona,
and, not giving her companion time to reply, continued:
"Amanda, do not importune me further, I conjure you. Enough for
you to know your guardian loves you, cherishes you even as if you
were his child. Let us arise from table since our meal seems
done;--what is it that alarms you?" Ah! And at that moment the
report of a gun, the crashing of a window pane, the sound of shot
hurtling past, its striking the opposite wall of the apartment,
and dropping, along with falling plaster, on to the floor, burst
upon them; followed, without, by the expostulating tones of a
man-servant, that were soon overpowered by a loud guffaw, and,
before the interlocuters had recovered from their astonishment and
terror, Narcisse, followed by several men carrying fowling pieces,
rushed, swearing, into the vestibule. Amanda saw him, and, rising
to her feet, regarded him through the doorway with a look of scorn
and anger akin to that cast by the Belviderean Apollo upon the
wounded Python. But his dull temperament was invulnerable to the
arrows that shot from her eyes, and, undaunted, he swept forward
into the room, and with coarse familiarity attempted to salute her.
He was unsuccessful, for Mona, advancing between them, hindered
the nearer approach of the intruding mannikin, who, baffled, and
with the eyes of Amanda still fixed upon him, and yet beaming
ineffable contempt and disdain, at length stood before her with
downcast look, like one detected in some act of guilt. His companions
one by one slunk back to the lawn, whither in the dumb disgrace of
his discomfiture, he followed them. There, meeting with the domestic
already mentioned, and who had now been joined by a fellow-servant;
first an altercation, then a scuffle ensued, in which latter the
mastiff took an effective part, in maintaining the equality of the
house against what otherwise would have been overwhelming odds;
but he was at last disabled by a blow with the butt of a
fowling-piece, whilst the lap-dog, as it stood barking on the
borders of the fray, was shot dead by the cowardly and vindictive
Narcisse. This was too much to be borne, and, indignant, the ladies
descended to the lawn. At the same moment, three female domestics
appeared upon the scene, and changed the character of the encounter.
Three brawny ruffians seized each an Abigail, and attempted to bear
her off, as of old the treacherous Roman bachelors carried the
Sabine maids. Screams filled the air, mingled with oaths and
laughter; and the affair that had been begun in vulgar, aimless,
frolic, might have ended in serious outrage, but just then a horseman
appeared at the gate, dismounted, and, rushing in, riding-whip in
hand, plied it with such vigor, that in a few seconds all the rude
gang had fled except Narcisse, who, having stumbled, was seized by
the collar, hurried forward, and spurned through the gateway into
the road, leaving his fowling-piece behind him.
The stranger now for the first time seemed to observe the ladies,
and bowing to them respectfully, for a moment appeared to hesitate
whether to approach and address them. They, too, stood silent, but
it was with mixed astonishment and agitation, and he still stood
regarding the younger with an expression of deep admiration; till,
as if suddenly recollecting himself, and bowing yet more profoundly
than before, accompanied with an apologetic smile, enhancing the
beauty of his young and noble countenance, he gracefully retired
to his steed, vaulted into the saddle, and, galloping away, was
soon hidden from their view by a turn in the road.
"Oh, nurse, Mona, we have been rude indeed!" then exclaimed the
younger: "We have committed the most odious of all sins, ingratitude;
and," she added half archly, "we have seen the noblest of all forms,
Mona, a gentleman. Nay, but to have let the chivalrous stranger,
our deliverer, depart without a word of grateful recognition;--who
will champion us the next time, good Mona."
"May we never again require such timely help, child," replied her
mentor: "But let us go within and ascertain the damage that has
been done there by these vagabonds from the city;" and, so saying,
she took up the dead lap-dog and carried it tenderly in upon her
arm, viewing it with a wistful expression of grief and pity, whilst
Amanda stooped to caress the wounded mastiff, then followed with
an air of pensive majesty, not without looking in the direction in
which the gallant stranger, had disappeared.