OLD HEADS AND YOUNG HEARTS.
General Harrington spent the entire day at home. After the rather
uncomfortable breakfast we have already described, he went to his
library, discontented and moody. All day he was disposed to be restless
and dissatisfied with his books, as he had been with the appointments of
his morning meal. Indignant with his whole household, for not being on
the alert to amuse him, he declined going down to dinner; but ordering
some choicely cooked birds and a bottle of champagne in his own room,
amused his rather fastidious appetite with these delicacies, while he
luxuriated in his dressing-gown, and read snatches from a new book of
poems that had interested him for the moment.
This rather pleasant occupation wiled away an hour, when he was
interrupted by a knock at the door. Lifting his eyes from the book, the
General said, "Come in," rather hastily, for the knock had broken into
one of the finest passages of the poem, and General Harrington detested
interruptions of any kind, either in a mental or sensual enjoyment.
"Come in!"
The General was a good deal astonished when his son Ralph opened the
door, and stood before him with an air of awkward constraint, that
would certainly have secured him a reprimand had he not been the first
to speak.
"Father!"
General Harrington gave an impatient wave of the hand.
"Young gentleman," he said, "how often am I to remind you that the use
of the paternal title after childhood is offensive. Can't you call me
General Harrington, sir, as other people do? A handsome young fellow six
feet high should learn to forget the nursery. Sit down, sir, sit down
and converse like a gentleman, if you have anything to say."
The blood rose warmly in Ralph's face, not that he was angry or
surprised, but it seemed impossible to open his warm heart to the man
before him.
"Well then, General," he said, with a troubled smile, "I--I've been
getting into--into----"
"Not into debt, I trust," said the General, folding the skirts of the
Turkish dressing-gown over his knees, and smoothing the silken fabric
with his hand, but speaking with a degree of genuine bitterness,
"because, if that's it, you had better go to James at once--he is the
millionaire. I am not much better than his pensioner myself!"
"It is not that," answered Ralph, with an effort which sent the blood
crimsoning to his temples, "though money may have something to do with
it in time. The truth is, General, I have been in love with Lina all my
life, and never found it out till yesterday."
General Harrington gave the youth a look from under his bent brows, that
made the young man shrink back in his chair, but in a moment the
unpleasant expression went off, and a quiet smile stole over the old
man's lip.
"Oh, you will get over that, Ralph. It isn't worth being angry about. Of
course, you will get over it. I think this is a first love, hey!"
"The first and last with me, fath--General."
"Yes, yes, of course--I think I remember feeling a little in the same
way at your age. It won't be serious--these things never are!"
"But I am very serious. I have told her all about it. My honor is
pledged."
The young man--who, by the way, really seemed a mere boy yet to his
father--was going on with some vehemence, but he was coldly cut short by
the General, who sat regarding his enthusiasm with a most provoking
smile.
"Of course, I supposed so--eternal constancy and devotion on both sides!
Very well, what can I do about it?"
"Oh, father, I beg your pardon--but you can do everything. Your free,
hearty consent is all I ask--and if you would be so kind as to exert a
little influence with mother."
"Then you have told this to her, before coming to me," said the General,
and his brow darkened.
"No, sir, I have spoken to no one but Lina. It was my duty to come to
you first, and I am here."
"That is better; but how do you know that Mrs. Harrington will
disapprove of your caprice for her protégé, if no one has spoken to her
on the subject?"
"I believe, sir, that Lina said something about it; but before she could
be very definite, my mother fainted. This frightened my--I mean, it
terrified poor Lina, and she had no courage to go on; so we were in
hopes, sir, that you would be so good."
The General sat gazing upon the handsome face of his son, with the air
of a person revolving some thought rapidly in his mind. At last, his
cold eyes brightened, and a smile crept over his mouth.
"It was very right to come here first, Ralph, and remember your duty
goes no farther. I will only consent to your marrying this girl at all,
on condition that you, neither of you, ever speak on the subject to any
one. You are both very young, and a year or two hence will be time
enough for a decision; but I will have no gossip about the matter. Above
all, my son James must be left entirely uncommitted. I only consent to
let this fancy have a proper trial. If it proves serious, of course the
whole family will be informed; but till then I must have your promise
not to speak of it to any one not already informed."
The young man drew close to his father, and taking his hand, kissed it.
"I promise, father!"
The General was pleased with the homage and grace of this action, and
rising placed a hand on Ralph's shoulder, more cordially than he had
done for years.
"Are you sure she cares for you, Ralph? I have seen nothing to suggest
the idea."
"I think, indeed I am quite certain that she does not like any one else
near so much," answered the young man, reluctant to compromise Lina's
delicacy by a broader confession.
"Young men are always confident," said the General with a bland smile.
"I think that faith in woman was the first delusion that I gave up.
Still it is pleasant while it lasts. Heaven forbid that I should brush
the bloom from your grapes, my boy. So you really think that mamma's
little protégé knows her own mind, and that my son knows his?"
A pang came to the ardent heart of the youth as he listened. Another
golden thread snapped under the cold-blooded worldliness of that crafty
old man.
General Harrington looked in his face, and analyzed the play of those
handsome features, exactly as he had tasted the game-birds and champagne
a half hour before. The same relish was in both enjoyments, only one was
the epicureanism of a mind that found pleasure in dissecting a young
heart, and the other, quite as important to him, was a delicious
sensuality.
And Ralph stood under this scrutiny with a cloud on his fine brow and a
faint quiver of the lip. It was agony to think of Lina without perfect
confidence in her affection for himself. Yet he was so young, and his
father had seen so much. If he found no evidence of Lina's attachment to
himself, it might be that all was a delusion.
The old man read these thoughts, and took upon himself a gentle air of
composure.
"These things often happen when young people are thrown together in the
same house, Ralph. It is a pleasant dream. Both parties wake up, and
there is no harm done. Don't take the thing to heart, it isn't worth
while."
"Then you think, sir, she really does not care for me?"
With all his worldliness, the old man could hardly withstand the appeal
of those magnificent eyes, for Ralph possessed the beautiful charm of
deep feeling, without a particle of self-conceit. He began to wonder how
Lina ever could have fancied him, and to grieve over the delusion.
"It is strange," said the General, as if musing with himself, "it is
strange, but these very young creatures seldom do give their first
preferences to persons of corresponding age. Girls love to look up to
men with reverence. It is really wonderful."
The young man started, fire flashed into his eyes, and for an instant he
was breathless.
"You--you cannot mean that, Lina--_my_ Lina loves some one else!" he
said, speaking rapidly--"Who has she known but me, and--and--?" He
stopped short, looking wistfully at his father.
"You and my son James? No one, certainly, no one."
"Brother James! oh, father."
"But you are satisfied that she loves you, and that is enough," answered
the General, waving his hand as if tired of the discussion. "It is
decided that this whole subject rests between ourselves. Come to me a
year, nay, six months from now, and if you desire it, then, I will not
be hard with you."
The General seated himself as he spoke, and resumed his book with a
gentle wave of the hand. Ralph bent his head partly in submission,
partly to conceal the flush that suppressed tears left about his eyes
and went out, leaving the first pure jewel of his heart in that old
man's hands.
The twilight had crept on during this conversation. General Harrington
rang the bell for a servant to remove the silver tray on which his
dinner had been served, and consumed considerable time in directing how
the lamp should be placed, in order to protect his eyes as he read. When
once more alone, he cast a thought back to his son.
"It will do him good. I wonder now if I, General Harrington, ever was so
confiding, so rash, so generous,--for the boy is generous. My son, on
whom so much depends, married to that girl! I was almost tempted into a
scene with the first mention of it."
With these thoughts floating through his brain, the General leaned back
in his chair more discomposed than usual by his late interview, for
though his reflections were all worldly and commonplace, they had a
deeper and unexpressed importance hardly recognized by himself.
Again there was a low knock at the door, and again the General bade the
intruder come in, rather hastily, for he was in no humor for company!
"Miss Barker; Miss Agnes Barker," he said, as that girl presented
herself and softly closed the door, "you are too kind--I only regret
that this pleasant surprise detects me en déshabillé."
"General Harrington is always General Harrington in any dress--besides,
I have a preference for this sort of orientalism."
"You are kind to forgive me, and kinder to allow me the happiness of
your presence. Sit down!"
"No," answered the governess, with a look from her black almond-shaped
eyes that brought a glow into the old man's cheek deeper than the wine
had left. "I found the book open upon Mrs. Harrington's desk. She must
have forgotten it there after her fainting fit this morning. I am sure
she has no secrets from her husband, and so bring it to you, as it may
excite her to be disturbed, and I have no key to her desk."
The General reached forth his hand, struck by the vellum binding and
jewelled clasp, for he was a connoisseur in such matters, and the effect
pleased him.
"What is it?" he said, opening the book and leaning towards the light,
"some illuminated missal, I fancy, or rare manuscript. Oh--ha, my lady's
journal--let us see."
He had opened the book at random, and with a gratified smile, but
directly the expression of his face hardened, and his lips parted with
surprise. He turned the open volume toward Agnes, who stood leaning upon
the table opposite; placed his finger sternly upon a passage of the
writing, and demanded whether she had read it.
"You insult me with the question," said the lady, drawing herself up, "I
did not expect this," and before he could speak Agnes glided from the
room.