THE REST IS PEACE.
“There must have been a spell in Aldenmere,” so people said. This was
the second fair young wife who had been carried from there to the
grave; the second who had met with a tragical death. What would become
of the place? Who would take care of the children? These and a hundred
other questions they asked, but no one answered them.
They did not bury Lady Hermione by Clarice’s side. Lord Lorriston,
knowing all, could not endure the thought of it. She was taken thence,
and the grave is on the western side of Leeholme churchyard, a warm,
lovely, sunny spot, where the sun shines and the dew falls, where
birds sing sweetest music and flowers yield richest perfume. The story
of her deep, true love and unutterable sorrow, of her grief and heroic
self-sacrifice, are buried with her.
The little Harry was heir to Aldenmere, but Lord Lorriston said the
associations connected with the place were all so sad, that the
children should not live there; they should make their home at Leeholme
until the young heir was of age, and then he could please himself about
returning there. The servants were all paid off; they were not sorry
to leave a place rendered gloomy by two such tragedies. Some of them
declared that long as they lived they should never regain their natural
spirits.
Aldenmere was closed. The head gamekeeper and his wife were put in
charge of the place. The state apartments, the magnificent guests’
chambers, the superb reception-rooms, were all closed and left to
solitary desolation. Lord Lorriston declared that he never even wished
to see the place again--it was so full of sorrowful memories for him.
The little orphan children were taken home to Leeholme, where, under
the loving care of Lord and Lady Lorriston, they grew in strength,
beauty and goodness. The after life of Sir Henry Alden, of Aldenmere,
was eventful, but his story has been told by pens more eloquent than
mine. The little child whom Sir Ronald kissed and blessed before he
went on that long voyage from which he was never to return, made his
name famous all over Europe. There was one thing he never knew, and
that was the true history of his father’s life. Nor was that secret
ever known.
Kenelm Eyrle found some means of pacifying the detectives he had so
hastily summoned. They never heard one word of the truth, nor was it
ever told; Lord Lorriston never even told his wife, and the secret of
the first Lady Alden’s death remains a secret still.
Lord and Lady Lorriston found comfort after a time in the children they
had adopted. Baby Maud grew up the exact picture of her mother, the
same sweet face and tender eyes. There were times when, as Lorriston
grew older, he would forget the tragedy at Aldenmere, and, seeing the
golden head, would call her Hermione. There were times, too, when he
longed to take the child on his knee and tell her how nobly her mother
had kept her vow. But he never did so. The children grew up with no
other knowledge save that their parents had both died when they were
very young.
There were times, too, when Kenelm Eyrle regretted his sternness, his
lost desire for vengeance, his long years of search for the criminal
whom he afterward found in his dearest friend. If he had been less
vigorous, less exact, Lady Hermione might have lived. He was very
lonely; the great purpose of his life was accomplished; he had found
out who murdered Clarice, but in making that discovery he made many
others. Clarice was not what he had thought her. He had believed her
one of the noblest and truest of women; now he found out that she had
committed the most dishonorable of all frauds. The whole of the sad
tragedy at Aldenmere was the consequence of her fault. If she had not
stolen that letter and forged another there would have been no wrong,
no suffering, no murder; after all, she had but reaped what she had
sown--lo, that while his pity for her never grew less, his love, the
intense passionate worship he had felt for her during life and for
her memory after death, decreased. He had believed her an angel--she
was but a faulty woman; he had believed her a goddess--she was but an
ordinary fellow-creature, with more faults and imperfections than fell
to the lot of most people.
The very consciousness of this made him more lonely than ever. He had
so fitted his life with a reverential and worshiping love of her, that
now that love had changed its character, his life seemed empty. He had
not been to the Dower House for some time, because he felt that it was
not kind nor wise to add to the perplexities of Lady Pelham.
One morning a messenger came with a note for him. It said simply: “You
have been so kind to me that I cannot help writing to tell you that
my husband lies even now on his deathbed and has sent for me. He has
promised to do me justice and to clear my good name before the world.”
A few days afterward he read in the papers that Sir Alfred Pelham was
dead, and before his death he had exonerated his wife from all blame.
He had sworn to her innocence, and had withdrawn the charges brought
against her after begging her to pardon him.
Kenelm Eyrle read it with pleasure. He read long articles in which the
law, as it exists, enabling a man to wrong his wife in so deadly a
fashion, was reprobated as it deserved to be.
He often found himself wondering whether she would return to the Dower
House or not; he found his thoughts returning continually to her. Her
beautiful face haunted him. He remembered her indignant appeals to
Heaven for the justice she was not likely to obtain from man. It was a
source of keen pleasure to him when she wrote to say that she intended
to return to the Dower House, the only place where she had ever known
either peace or happiness. She did return. It would be long to tell
how their friendship ripened into love--how gradually the living love
replaced the dead one in Kenelm Eyrle’s breast.
He is not so confident now over matters; time was when he would have
laughed to scorn any one who had hinted that Clarice could be not only
replaced but surpassed. Now he was not so violent in his opinions nor
so apt to rush into extremes. The first impetuous love of his youth was
lavished on Clarice Severn; the love of his sadder, wiser manhood was
given to Juliet Payton. They were married some time afterward and lived
happily enough at “The Towers.” Mrs. Eyrle is very kind to Sir Ronald’s
orphan children, for long after Lady Hermione’s death, Kenelm never saw
them without tears in his eyes. Children of his own make “The Towers”
merry with their happy laughter; life is made up of sunshine and shade.
He had suffered much, but peace and rest came to him after long years.
There is one duty he never omits, and that is visiting the graves of
the fair women who lost their lives through an unhappy love.
THE END.
SOUTHWORTH LIBRARY
THE EDEN SERIES
Only Complete Edition of Mrs. Southworth’s Novels
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173--Zenobia’s Suitors By Mrs. E. D. E. N. Southworth
Sequel to “Sweet Love’s Atonement.”
172--Sweet Love’s Atonement By Mrs. E. D. E. N. Southworth
171--When Shadows Die By Mrs. E. D. E. N. Southworth
Sequel to “Love’s Bitterest Cup.”
170--Love’s Bitterest Cup By Mrs. E. D. E. N. Southworth
Sequel to “Her Mother’s Secret.”
169--Her Mother’s Secret By Mrs. E. D. E. N. Southworth
168--The Mysterious Marriage By Mrs. E. D. E. N. Southworth
Sequel to “A Leap in the Dark.”
167--A Leap in the Dark By Mrs. E. D. E. N. Southworth
166--Fulfilling Her Destiny By Mrs. E. D. E. N. Southworth
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165--When Love Commands By Mrs. E. D. E. N. Southworth
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164--The Widows of Widowville By Mrs. E. D. E. N. Southworth
163--Unrequited Love By Mrs. E. D. E. N. Southworth
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162--For Woman’s Love By Mrs. E. D. E. N. Southworth
161--To His Fate By Mrs. E. D. E. N. Southworth
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160--Dorothy Harcourt’s Secret By Mrs. E. D. E. N. Southworth
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159--A Deed Without a Name By Mrs. E. D. E. N. Southworth
158--Brandon Coyle’s Wife By Mrs. E. D. E. N. Southworth
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157--A Skeleton in the Closet By Mrs. E. D. E. N. Southworth
156--For Whose Sake? By Mrs. E. D. E. N. Southworth
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155--Why Did He Wed Her? By Mrs. E. D. E. N. Southworth
154--David Lindsay By Mrs. E. D. E. N. Southworth
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153--Gloria By Mrs. E. D. E. N. Southworth
152--The Test of Love By Mrs. E. D. E. N. Southworth
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151--A Tortured Heart By Mrs. E. D. E. N. Southworth
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150--The Trail of the Serpent By Mrs. E. D. E. N. Southworth
149--The Struggle of a Soul By Mrs. E. D. E. N. Southworth
Sequel to “The Lost Lady of Lone.”
148--The Lost Lady of Lone By Mrs. E. D. E. N. Southworth
147--Her Love or Her Life? By Mrs. E. D. E. N. Southworth
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146--The Bride’s Ordeal By Mrs. E. D. E. N. Southworth
145--Lilith By Mrs. E. D. E. N. Southworth
Sequel to “The Unloved Wife.”
144--The Unloved Wife By Mrs. E. D. E. N. Southworth
143--Em’s Husband By Mrs. E. D. E. N. Southworth
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142--Em By Mrs. E. D. E. N. Southworth
141--Reunited By Mrs. E. D. E. N. Southworth
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140--Gertrude Haddon By Mrs. E. D. E. N. Southworth
Sequel to “A Husband’s Devotion.”
139--A Husband’s Devotion By Mrs. E. D. E. N. Southworth
Sequel to “The Rejected Bride.”
138--The Rejected Bride By Mrs. E. D. E. N. Southworth
Sequel to “Gertrude’s Sacrifice.”
137--Gertrude’s Sacrifice By Mrs. E. D. E. N. Southworth
Sequel to “Only a Girl’s Heart.”
136--Only a Girl’s Heart By Mrs. E. D. E. N. Southworth
134--Little Nea’s Engagement By Mrs. E. D. E. N. Southworth
Sequel to “Nearest and Dearest.”
133--Nearest and Dearest By Mrs. E. D. E. N. Southworth
81--The Artist’s Love By Mrs. E. D. E. N. Southworth
53--Capitola’s Peril By Mrs. E. D. E. N. Southworth
Sequel to “The Hidden Hand.”
52--The Hidden Hand By Mrs. E. D. E. N. Southworth
42--The Mystery of Raven Rocks By Mrs. E. D. E. N. Southworth
Sequel to “Unknown.”
41--Unknown By Mrs. E. D. E. N. Southworth
40--Tried for Her Life By Mrs. E. D. E. N. Southworth
(Vol. II. The Holloweve Mystery)
Sequel to “Cruel as the Grave.”
39--Cruel as the Grave By Mrs. E. D. E. N. Southworth
(Vol. I. The Holloweve Mystery)
38--Victor’s Triumph By Mrs. E. D. E. N. Southworth
Sequel to “A Beautiful Fiend.”
37--A Beautiful Fiend By Mrs. E. D. E. N. Southworth
36--A Noble Lord By Mrs. E. D. E. N. Southworth
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35--The Lost Heir of Linlithgow By Mrs. E. D. E. N. Southworth
34--The Lady of the Isle By Mrs. E. D. E. N. Southworth
33--The Bride’s Fate By Mrs. E. D. E. N. Southworth
Sequel to “The Changed Brides.”
(Vol. II. Winning Her Way)
32--The Changed Brides By Mrs. E. D. E. N. Southworth
(Vol. I. Winning Her Way)
31--The Doom of Deville By Mrs. E. D. E. N. Southworth
30--The Broken Engagement By Mrs. E. D. E. N. Southworth
29--The Three Beauties; By Mrs. E. D. E. N. Southworth
or, Shannondale
28--How He Won Her By Mrs. E. D. E. N. Southworth
Sequel to “Fair Play.”
(Vol. II. Britomarte)
27--Fair Play By Mrs. E. D. E. N. Southworth
(Vol. I. Britomarte)
26--Love’s Labor Won By Mrs. E. D. E. N. Southworth
25--Eudora; or, The False Princess By Mrs. E. D. E. N. Southworth
24--The Two Sisters By Mrs. E. D. E. N. Southworth
23--The Bridal Eve By Mrs. E. D. E. N. Southworth
22--The Bride of Llewellyn By Mrs. E. D. E. N. Southworth
(Vol. II. Left Alone)
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21--The Widow’s Son By Mrs. E. D. E. N. Southworth
(Vol. I. Left Alone)
20--The Bride’s Dowry By Mrs. E. D. E. N. Southworth
19--The Gipsy’s Prophecy By Mrs. E. D. E. N. Southworth
18--The Maiden Widow By Mrs. E. D. E. N. Southworth
Sequel to “The Family Doom.”
17--The Family Doom By Mrs. E. D. E. N. Southworth
16--The Fortune Seeker By Mrs. E. D. E. N. Southworth
15--The Haunted Homestead By Mrs. E. D. E. N. Southworth
14--The Christmas Guest By Mrs. E. D. E. N. Southworth
13--The Three Sisters By Mrs. E. D. E. N. Southworth
12--The Wife’s Victory By Mrs. E. D. E. N. Southworth
11--The Deserted Wife By Mrs. E. D. E. N. Southworth
10--The Mother-in-Law; By Mrs. E. D. E. N. Southworth
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9--The Discarded Daughter; By Mrs. E. D. E. N. Southworth
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8--The Lost Heiress By Mrs. E. D. E. N. Southworth
7--Vivia; or, The Secret of Power By Mrs. E. D. E. N. Southworth
6--The Curse of Clifton By Mrs. E. D. E. N. Southworth
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4--India; By Mrs. E. D. E. N. Southworth
or, The Pearl of Pearl River
3--Self-raised By Mrs. E. D. E. N. Southworth
Sequel to “Ishmael.”
2--Ishmael By Mrs. E. D. E. N. Southworth
1--Retribution By Mrs. E. D. E. N. Southworth
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Transcriber’s Notes
Obvious typographical errors have been silently corrected. Variations
in hyphenation and accents have been standardised but all other
spelling and punctuation remains unchanged.
Italics are represented thus, _italic_.