REJECTED ADDRESSES.
Through the spacious lengths of a suite of richly-furnished rooms,
a woman was wandering, with that air of nervous restlessness which
betokens a mind ill at ease. The light, stealing in soft tints through
the curtains, fell upon many pictures and objects of taste and art,
and all that lavish richness of plenishing to which wealthy Gothamites
are prone--but upon nothing so beautiful as the mistress of them all,
who now moved from place to place, lifting a costly toy here, pausing
before a picture there, but really interested in neither.
"Virginia!"
Her cousin Philip had come in through the library so silently that she
was unaware of his presence until he spoke, although it was waiting for
him which had made her so uneasy.
"Well, Philip?"
She had started when he spoke her name, but recovered her haughty
self-possession immediately.
"Sit down, please, on this sofa. I can not talk to you when you are
standing. You look too cold and too imperious. I have come to-day for
your answer, Virginia."
They sat upon the sofa together, he turning so as to read her face,
which was bent down as she played with the diamond ring upon her
finger. She looked cool and quiet enough to dampen the ardor of her
lover; but he was so absorbed in his own feelings that he could not and
would not understand it.
"Speak, Virginia! I can not bear this suspense."
Still she hesitated; she _liked_ him too well to take any pleasure in
giving him pain, frivolous coquette though she was.
"I have questioned my heart closely, Philip, as you bade me," she began
after a few moments, "and I have satisfied myself that I can never be
happy as the wife of a poor man."
"Then you do not love me! Love does not put itself in the scales and
demand to be balanced with gold."
"But gold is very necessary to its welfare and long life. No, Philip, I
do not know that I love you--perhaps I do not--since I am not willing
to make this sacrifice. I certainly think better of you than of any
other living man, except my father; I would rather marry you than any
other man, if you had the wealth necessary to support me in the station
for which only I am fitted. A young man, with nothing to rely upon but
the profession of the law, in a great city like this, must expect to
wait some time before he can pour many honors and much wealth into the
lap of the woman he loves."
"You are sarcastic, Virginia!"
"No, only practical. My father is not so rich as in days gone by. His
fortune has dwindled until it is barely sufficient to keep up the house
in the old style. If I would still preserve the family pride, still
rule queen of the circle I have brought around me, I must marry rich."
"And for this you can resign a love like mine."
"It is my nature, Philip--born in me, cherished in me. My father, I
know, would not listen to the match, as highly as he esteems you. I had
a sister, a woman when I was a child--you remember her, do you not?
she married against his will, married poor, and tried this 'love in a
cottage' sentiment--he never forgave her, and she never prospered; she
is dead, poor thing, and I do not care to emulate her."
"Humph! I am to understand that your father then rears his children as
slaves to be sold to the highest bidder--that you hold yourself ready
for the market?"
"Don't provoke me, Philip." The black eyes were fixed upon him
haughtily.
"Forgive me, Virginia. I am half-mad just now, you know. You can not
say that you have not encouraged me."
"Perhaps I have--shown you the affection of a cousin. I have felt
as if you were one of the family. I might even have felt a still
closer interest, had I allowed myself. But I am, what you never will
be--prudent. I may yet see some one whom I can really respect and love,
who has also the fortune you lack; if not, I shall accept some one
for glory's sake, and let the love go! Don't look so scornful, Phil.
I have beauty, fashion, pride of place, family, every thing but the
means wherewith to set these off magnificently; and this has made me
ambitious. Dear Philip, much as I like you, I could never be contented
to wait your slow promotion."
"Prudence is very commendable, Virginia. Its maxims fall with double
force from lips as beautiful as yours. I will try to learn it. I, a
man, upon whom such cold duties are supposed most naturally to devolve,
will be taught by you, a soft, tender woman, who looks as if made for
the better purpose of loving and teaching love. Farewell! when you see
me again, perhaps I shall rival you in prudence."
"You are not going away, cousin Philip?" He was already opening the
door into the hall, as she followed him, and caught his hand.
"Oh, yes, I am. Since only rich men can possess the happiness such
gentle creatures have it in their power to bestow, I must make haste
after wealth," and he looked down bitterly at the proud girl over whose
face was coming a faint expression of remorse and relenting.
"Shall I not hear from you?" she asked, quite humbly.
"No; not until I am in a fair way to achieve that which will recommend
me to your _disinterested affection_!"
He withdrew his hand from her clasp, and went out with a quick,
resounding step which told of the firmness of his resolution. The girl
who had rejected him sank down in the nearest seat. She had never
seen him look more--as a woman is proud to have a man look--handsome,
self-reliant, determined, than in the hour of his disappointment. Two
or three tears trickled through her jeweled fingers; she shook them off
impatiently.
"He is a man who would never have shamed my choice," she whispered.
"But I have decided for the best. I know my own disposition; I should
fret at the chains which limited my power. And I am used to every
indulgence. I am selfish. Poor Phil! if somebody would present you with
a check for half-a-million, I'd marry you to-morrow."
In the mean time Philip Moore, all the dregs stirred up from the bottom
of the fountain in his usually transparent soul, hurried to the office
which he had just set up in Wall-street. There, as if in answer to
the wish which had been aroused, he found a letter from a friend who
had emigrated westward three years previously, forsaking the law for
speculations in pine-lands and lumber, merchandise, etc. He was doing
well, was getting rich in seven-league strides, had married a pretty
western girl, was happy, had gone to housekeeping, wanted a partner in
business as well as domestic affairs--recommended Philip to accept the
chance--a few thousand dollars would be all the capital required.
Philip had seven thousand dollars in stocks; he sold out, shook off the
dust from his feet as he left the great metropolis, and answered his
friend's letter in person, in less than a fortnight.
Virginia Moore missed the convenient escort, the constant attentions,
_and_ the profound worship of her high-hearted cousin; but a rich
Spaniard, ugly and old, was come into the market, and she was among
the bidders. Let us leave Virginia Moore, and return to that western
wilderness, where a certain little girl looks lovelier, in her
blue-gingham dress and wild-flower wreath, than the other in all the
family diamonds.