After this conversation, Calantha saw no more of her lover: yet he was
very anxious to see her once again, and much and violently agitated
before he went. A few words which he had written to her he gave into
Mrs. Seymour’s own hands; and this letter, though it was such as to
justify the high opinion some had formed of his character, was but
little calculated to satisfy the expectations of Calantha’s absurdly
romantic mind; or to realize the hopes she had cherished. It was not
more expressive of his deep regret at their necessary separation, than
of his anxiety that she should not suffer her spirits to be depressed,
or irritate her father by an opposition which would prove fruitless.—“He
does not love you Calantha,” said Lady Margaret, with a malicious smile,
as soon as she had read the letter—(and every one would read it):—“when
men begin to speak of duty, they have ceased to love.” This remark gave
Calantha but little consolation. Lord Avondale had quitted her too,
without even bidding her farewell; and her thoughts continually dwelt
on this disappointment.
Calantha knew not then that her misery was more than shared,—that Lord
Avondale, though too proud to acknowledge it, was a prey to the deepest
grief upon her account,—that he lived but in the hope of possessing
the only being upon earth to whom he had attached himself,—and that the
sentence pronounced against both, was a death stroke to his happiness,
as well as to her own. When strong love awakes for the first time in an
inexperienced heart it is so diffident, so tremblingly fearful, that
it dares scarcely hope even for a return; and our own demerits appear
before us, in such exaggerated colours, and the superior excellence of
the object we worship arises so often to our view, that it seems but the
natural consequence of our own presumption, that we should be neglected
and forgotten.
Of Admiral Sir R. Mowbray, Calantha now took leave without being able
to utter one word:—she wept as children weep in early days, the hearts’
convulsive sob free and unrestrained. He was as much affected as herself,
and seeking Lady Margaret, before he left the castle and followed his
nephew who had gone straight to England, began an eager attack upon her,
with all the blunt asperity of his nature. Indeed he bitterly reproached
himself, and all those who had influenced him, in what he termed his
harsh unfeeling conduct to his nephew in this affair.—“And as to you,
madam,” he cried, addressing Lady Margaret, “you make two young people
wretched, to gratify the vanity of your son, and acquire a fortune,
which I would willingly yield to you, provided the dear children might
marry, and go home with me to Allanwater, a place as pretty, and far
more peaceful than any in these parts: there, I warrant, they would live
happy, and die innocent—which is more than most folks can say in these
great palaces and splendid castles.”
A smile of contempt was the only answer Lady Margaret deigned to give.—Sir
Richard continued, “you are all a mighty fine set of people, no doubt,
and your assemblies, and your balls are thronged and admired; but none of
these things will make the dear child happy, if her mind is set upon my
nephew; I am the last in the world to disparage any one; but my nephew
is just as proper a man in every point of view as your son; aye, or any
body’s son in the whole world; and so there is my mind given free and
hearty; for there is not a nobler fellow, and there never can be, than
Henry Avondale:—he is as brave a soldier as ever fought for his country;
and in what is he deficient?” Lady Margaret’s lips and cheeks were now
become livid and pale—a fatal symptom, as anger of that description in all
ages has led to evil deeds; whereas the scarlet effusion has, from the
most ancient times been accounted harmless. “Take Lady Calantha then,”
exclaimed Lady Margaret, with assumed calmness, while every furious
passion shook her frame; “and may she prove a serpent to your bosom,
and blast the peace of your whole family.” “She is an angel!” exclaimed
the Admiral, “and she will be our pride, and our comfort.” “She is a
woman,” returned Lady Margaret, with a malicious sneer; “and, by one
means or other, she will work her calling.” Calantha’s tears checked
Sir Richard’s anger; and, his carriage being in readiness, he left the
castle immediately after this conversation.