From this time it became evident that a strong public opinion was
gradually setting itself against the family. Mistress Vines, conceiving
herself in point of birth and family superior to any other woman in the
colony, might be pardoned some little haughtiness which so well became
her handsome head, and being of a higher culture than her neighbors,
it might not be surprising if some consciousness of it were apparent
in her manners; but these petty traits weigh heavily on the minds of
a people more ambitious than cultivated, and inclined to envy and
jealousy, as the proud and ignorant are sure to be.
The wife and daughters of Captain Bonyton more especially conceived
themselves aggrieved by the deportment of Mistress Vines, and though
the captain exerted his utmost influence to allay the growing
irritation, he was far from being successful, women being very apt to
think that when they have made a matter the subject of prayer, they
must necessarily be in the right. To these causes was added another
nearer home: John Bonyton, the son and brother, had, from the first,
shown himself not only interested in Hope Vines, but completely
absorbed in her. Seeing this, outraged as they conceived themselves to
have been by the mother, the undisguised devotion of John to Hope, “the
impish creetur’,” as they not unfrequently called her, was adding gall
to bitterness.
John Bonyton was a bold, headstrong boy, such as the period and
circumstances of a new and unsettled country would be likely to
develop, but such as the rigid disciplinarians of the day would regard
with little favor. It is well known that these iron-cast men and women
must either break down the high spirits engendered by their own flesh
and blood, and mental make, or be confronted by a spirit like their
own, which nothing can quell but the maker of the spirit of man.
Tall and dark, the youth John Bonyton was handsome withal, reckless
and roving; disinclined to toil, and expert in woodland sports, like
Hope, he found better companionship with the natives of the forest, and
dwellers in the wigwam, than in the more exact decorums of civilized
society. Generous and daring, he was also tender to the gentler sex,
even to a degree unwonted among the stern men who had found a refuge
from persecution amid the wilds of the New World.
The unthrifty son, and the white-haired, dark-eyed daughter of Sir
Richard Vines were considered one and inseparable. In the wildest
woods, adown the deepest ravines, up the highest hills, and off by
the sea-side, might be traced everywhere the footsteps of the strong,
peril-loving children, and the silvery laugh of little Hope rung like
the chimes of the wren-bird upon the air.
Nothing could be more wildly picturesque than the two--he with his
dark, flashing eyes and curling hair, athletic, and yet light and
flexible as a young mountain sapling, armed with pouch and gun, and
followed by a brace of hounds, his invariable companions, and the
pretty Hope in her short, crimson-velvet frock, revealing feet arched,
elastic and small, even for her diminutive figure, and molding the
pointed shoe by its firm pressure. A light velvet cap surmounted her
head, and bracelets of gems and strings of wampum intermingled upon
her arms and girdle. Over these hung her abundant hair, like a silvery
vail--rippling, wavy, and crisping into curls about her temples. She
generally carried a bow and arrow in her hands, and was nothing loth to
bring down a bird or arrest the flight of a rabbit in her pathway.
She was self-willed, like her companion; but while he was gentle always
in her presence, she was capricious and always imperious, not scrupling
to assert her claims with a high toss of her pretty head, and a stamp
of the little foot. Full of health, and naturally courageous, danger
rather allured than repelled her; living mostly in the open air, she
was as clear of eye and firm of foot as a young stag.
Hope neither felt nor affected timidity in roaming the stormy
sea-coast or climbing the wildest rocky crags. Her foot as readily
and instinctively leaped, unaided, the blackest chasms, the rudest
headlands, and the rockiest cliffs, as did that of her companion, and
she walked onward, after achieving these feats, without comment or
exultation.
In sailing over the Pool, or along the sea, John Bonyton gave her the
rudder to steer as a matter of course, and if the wind were high, so
they had recourse to the oar, Hope assumed one in the same manner.
Sir Richard’s family were standing upon the piazza, watching the
movements of Hope, who stood upon a slip of rock extending seaward,
with oar in hand, and her hair tied in a knot under her chin. She had
evidently determined upon a row to one of the islands in the distance,
to which her companion objected, pointing to the masses of dark cloud
rolling up from the sea, and the already dark purple hue of the waves
in the lurid light of the gathering storm.
Mrs. Vines laughed as Hope gesticulated rapidly, and seizing the rope
which held the boat, drew it in to land, and sprung therein. Her
companion could do no less than follow, and they were soon sailing down
the harbor, the little boat careening heavily.
“Is she not a perfect little Puck, as our Indians call the
wood-fairies?” said Mistress Vines.
“True, most true, sweetheart; but a fearful cloud, I fear, is gathering
over our house. Say not a word, my brave wife, but we must go home. I
hear that which chills me to the heart. Poor, dear, innocent little
Hope! Ah! dame, when we hear of tortures inflicted upon others,
we hardly realize their import till those we love are threatened
therewith.”
“They would not dare to touch a hair of her precious head,” responded
Mistress Vines.
“Indeed, they would, sweetheart; but we will leave them before their
plans are matured; and first, we must send this headstrong boy abroad.
He stays only to his and our ruin. Use that silvery tongue of thine,
dame, to urge his departure.”
“Ah! I see it all--we must abandon this dear Paradise of ours, where we
have been so happy, and where our children were born, and go to a new
land once more, and to a new people. Oh! my husband, my heart misgives
me.”
And she folded her two hands upon his shoulder, and bowed her head
thereon, with a burst of tears.