MISTRESS AND MAID.
"We had no particular object in touching the coast of Spain but the
health of Mrs. Harrington. Strange enough, the shock and tumult of the
storm seems to have done her good. She looks stronger and brighter day
by day. I never saw such a change. But Zillah, that wild beautiful
slave, has been ill from that terrible morning, and keeps her room. They
are all very good to her. Mr. Harrington, James, and even the lady, vie
with each other in offering kindness to her. These things seem to affect
her greatly; last night, when Mrs. Harrington sat down by her bed, and
took the feverish hand which she seemed unwilling to extend, the girl
turned from her suddenly, and burst into a passion of tears that shook
the bed.
"Mrs. Harrington tried to soothe her. She passed her delicate hand over
the waves of purplish black hair, which was all afloat from her head,
and asked in her sweet, gentle way, 'What the girl was crying for. Was
she homesick?'
"Zillah turned suddenly and looked into that sweet face. Her lips
parted, and some strong resolve came into those almond-shaped eyes;
through her inky lashes, laden down with tears, I saw a gleam of true
feeling that made me almost like the girl. But she closed her lips
again, and the noble expression died out of her face, leaving it full of
dusky shadows.
"'No, I am only sick,' she said, 'something struck me as I flung myself
down to the raft. All had left but me. But what does it matter whether a
poor slave lives or dies? It is a thousand dollars gone--two, I
remember, for a pretty slave like me--and that is all.'
"She spoke with bitterness, and her eyes gleamed angrily under the tears
that still trembled on their lashes.
"'But you have scarcely been a slave, Zillah,' said Mrs. Harrington. 'It
would be a shame to look upon you exactly in that light with this face,
fair almost as my own, and this hand soft, and shapely as a child's.
Surely no girl ever had lighter duties.'
"Zillah gave one quick glance at her mistress, and I saw the faint
dimpling of a smile around her lips. She drew her hand away and hid it
under the bed clothes.
"'You--you are making fun of me, searching for purple marks around the
nails. There is no need of that. But for the black blood I could not
have been bought and sold. That is proof enough.'
"The girl spoke bitterly, and her lips trembled with passion. Then I
saw, what had never presented itself to me before, sure signs of her
race. Temper brought the black blood uppermost, and stamped it for a
time on the features. The lips seemed heavier, the nose flattened, the
forehead lowered and grew dusky, a strange vitality stirred the waves of
her hair. No serpent, disturbed in its nest, ever gave out its colors
more vividly. These were thoughts to bring great repulsion with them. I
never had liked the girl; now, this upheaving of the dark blood, from
which all that made her kin to me revolted, even in her own system,
shocked and humiliated me.
"Mrs. Harrington, born and bred in the south, felt all this less keenly,
she still smoothed the young creature's hair and attempted to comfort
her.
"'You have no cause for trouble,' she said. 'Have I not always taught
you that a faithful servant had all the claims of a friend, else why am
I here in your sick room, Zillah?'
"'Oh, I am worth full two thousand dollars,' answered the girl,
bitterly. 'General Harrington takes excellent care of his horses. Is it
for love?'
"'Zillah, this is unkind, remember it is not my fault that you are a
slave.'
"'Mrs. Harrington arose; the insolent ingratitude of the girl had
wounded her greatly. For my part, indignation forbade me to pity the
creature. As we left the room I saw that she followed us with her eyes,
and the African stamp grew broader and plainer on her face, till all
beauty left it. As we closed the door she started up and called out with
sudden dread,
"'Mistress, mistress.'
"Mrs. Harrington hesitated a moment, with her hand on the latch, but
went back into Zillah's room murmuring,
"'Poor thing, poor thing, she is sorry already.'
"'Mistress, don't tell him, don't tell the master. I--I did not mean to
say such things. It was the black blood burning in my heart. Don't tell
him, or he will send me back.'
"Mrs. Harrington smiled.
"'No, I will not tell him,' she said kindly, 'for I think he would send
you home at once if he knew how perverse you have been. You ought to
remember that he never will forgive disrespect to his wife.'
"I was looking at Zillah. She half covered her face with the bed
clothes, and her form writhed under them as if in pain. It might have
been a sudden pang, but the look of a rattlesnake, before it springs,
was in those eyes.
"Mrs. Harrington was thinking of her husband, and observed nothing.
"'That is one great proof of his love,' she said addressing me, 'and I
think he does love me as few men love their wives. Have you not
observed how cheerful and happy he is since I am so much better? It was
only last night he told me that no woman, living or dead, ever had or
ever could touch the heart entirely mine, not even if God had taken me
from him. I know it seems foolish to repeat these things, but when the
heart is full, one cannot always help being boastful and silly.'
"Zillah turned rudely in the bed, and I saw her hand clench itself into
the blanket, tearing at the tough fabric. Mrs. Harrington, with that
feeling of household trust which has no consciousness of the
intelligence listening, went on as if the girl were a thousand miles
off.
"'You will not mind if I am a little egotistical. It is so pleasant to
be held supreme in the one heart, to feel sure that no other woman ever
has or can share your influence. If there is a woman on earth that I
pity, it is one who doubts the love of her husband. Thank God I have
never, never had reason to know that pang. If ever two people adored
each other it is us.'
"Perhaps it was a little singular that this lady should talk of the most
sacred domestic relations thus freely before her own servant, but it did
not seem strange to me. A child-like, affectionate woman like her, may
be excused many things that persons prouder and more reticent might
properly avoid; besides, the domestic habits of the south admit of very
close relationship between the mistress and her servants, unknown to
other regions even of our own country. I could only smile an answer to
this wifely enthusiasm, but it seemed to me genuine and so sincere, that
all my sympathy went with it. As for the maid, she lay perfectly still,
listening, and apparently half asleep, for she had gathered the bed
clothes around her, and it was only by a quick glitter that broke
through her eyelashes now and then, that I could detect the interest she
took in this singular conversation.
"'No, no,' said Mrs. Harrington, 'I would not tell the General for the
world, how really perverse Zillah has been. She has never quite met his
approbation I know, and the least thing would set him against her.'
"'Hush, she is listening,' I said.
"Mrs. Harrington turned and saw that Zillah was looking at her with a
strange expression. Something like a mocking smile parted her full lips.
"'You must believe me, Zillah. It was in spite of the General's wish to
leave you behind, that I brought you here.'
"Again Zillah smiled, this time with more of mischief than malice.
"'I know, myself, the General never liked me much. It was master James
that got him to buy me; the General would do anything to please him.'
"'Yes indeed,' replied Mrs. Harrington, addressing me, 'no step-father
was ever so indulgent. James has been a fortunate boy, though he does
not always seem to think so. It was he who took a fancy to Zillah, and
insisted that we should bring her with us, so the General gave up his
prejudice against her and consented. James thinks no one can take proper
care of me but Zillah.'
"I was still watching the girl. All the frowns had left her face and she
was almost laughing; something seemed to amuse her very much. I said
nothing of this, but the girl puzzled me greatly, and so did the
conversation of Mrs. Harrington. Somehow I had got the impression that
James Harrington had been opposed to Zillah as an attendant for his
mother; that he had suggested an older person, and regarded this one
with distrust. But surely Mrs. Harrington, his own mother, knew best."