IRENE'S FRIENDSHIP
"Irene, your father will be displeased if he sees you in that plight."
"Pray, what is wrong about me now? You seem to glory in finding fault. What
is the matter with my 'plight' as you call it?"
"You know very well your father can't bear to see you carrying your own
satchel and basket to school. He ordered Martha to take them every morning
and evening, but she says you will not let her carry them. It is just sheer
obstinacy in you."
"There it is again! because I don't choose to be petted like a baby, or
made a wax doll of, it is set down to obstinacy, as if I had the temper of
a heathen. See here, Aunt Margaret, I am tired of having Martha tramping
eternally at my heels as though I were a two-year-old child. There is no
reason in her walking after me when I am strong enough to carry my own
books, and I don't intend she shall do it any longer."
Irene Huntingdon stood on the marble steps of her palatial home, and talked
with the maiden aunt who governed her father's household. The girl was
about fourteen, tall for her age, straight, finely-formed, slender. The
broad straw hat shaded but by no means concealed her features, and as she
looked up at her aunt the sunshine fell upon a face of extraordinary
beauty, such as is rarely seen, save in the idealized heads of the old
masters. Her eyes were strangely, marvellously beautiful; they were larger
than usual, and of that rare shade of purplish blue which borders the white
velvet petals of a clematis. When the eyes were uplifted, as on this
occasion, long, curling lashes of the bronze hue of her hair rested against
her brow. Save the scarlet lines which marked her lips, her face was of
that clear colourlessness which can be likened only to the purest ivory.
Though there was an utter absence of the rosy hue of health, the
transparency of the complexion seemed characteristic of her type, and
precluded all thought of disease. Miss Margaret muttered something
inaudible in reply to her last remark, and Irene walked on to school. Her
father's residence was about a mile from the town, but the winding road
rendered the walk somewhat longer; and on one side of this road stood the
small house occupied by Mrs. Aubrey. As Irene approached it she saw Electra
Grey coming from the opposite direction, and at the cottage gate they met.
Both paused: Irene held out her hand cordially--
"Good morning. I have not seen you for a fortnight. I thought you were
coming to school again as soon as you were strong enough?"
"No; I am not going back to school."
"Why?"
"Because auntie can't afford to send me any longer. You know her eyes are
growing worse every day, and she is not able to take in sewing as she used
to do. I am sorry; but it can't be helped."
"How do you know it can't be helped? Russell told me he thought she had
cataracts on her eyes, and they can be removed."
"Perhaps so, if we had the means of consulting that celebrated physician in
New Orleans. Money removes a great many things, Irie, but unfortunately we
haven't it."
"The trip would not cost much; suppose you speak to Russell about it."
"Much or little it will require more than we can possibly spare. Everything
is so high, we can barely live as it is. But I must go in; my aunt is
waiting for me."
They shook hands and Irene walked on. Soon the brick walls of the academy
rose grim and uninviting, and taking her place at the desk she applied
herself to her books. When school was dismissed in the afternoon, instead
of returning home as usual, she walked down the principal street, entered
Mr. Watson's store, and put her books on the counter. It happened that the
proprietor stood near the front door, and he came forward instantly to wait
upon her.
"Ah, Miss Irene! happy to see you. What shall I have the pleasure of
showing you?"
"Russell Aubrey, if you please."
The merchant stared, and she added--
"I want some kid gauntlets, but Russell can get them for me."
The young clerk stood at the desk in the rear of the store, with his back
toward the counter; and Mr Watson called out--
"Here, Aubrey, some kid gauntlets for this young lady."
He laid down his pen, and taking a box of gloves from the shelves, placed
it on the counter before her. He had not noticed her particularly, and when
she pushed back her hat and looked up at him he started slightly.
"Good evening, Miss Huntingdon. What number do you wish?"
Perhaps it was from the heat of the day, or from stooping over his desk, or
perhaps it was from something else, but his cheek was flushed, and
gradually it grew pale again.
"Russell, I want to speak to you about Electra. She ought to be at school,
you know."
"Yes."
"But she says your mother can't afford the expense."
"Just now she cannot; next year things will be better."
"What is the tuition for her?"
"Five dollars a month."
"Is that all?"
He selected a delicate fawn-coloured pair of gloves and laid them before
her, while a faint smile passed over his face.
"Russell, has anything happened?"
"What do you mean?"
"What is troubling you so?"
"Nothing more than usual. Do those gloves suit you?"
"Yes, they will fit me, I believe." She looked at him very intently.
He met her gaze steadily, and for an instant his face brightened; then she
said abruptly--
"Your mother's eyes are worse."
"Yes, much worse."
"Have you consulted Dr. Arnold about them?"
"He says he can do nothing for her."
"How much would it cost to take her to New Orleans and have that celebrated
oculist examine them?"
"More than we can afford just now; at least two hundred dollars."
"Oh, Russell! that is not much. Would not Mr. Watson lend you that little?"
"I shall not ask him."
"Not even to restore your mother's sight?"
"Not to buy my own life. Besides, the experiment is a doubtful one."
"Still it is worth making."
"Yes, under different circumstances it certainly would be."
"Have you talked to Mr. Campbell about it?"
"No, because it is useless to discuss the matter."
"It would be dangerous to go to New Orleans now, I suppose?"
"October or November would be better."
Again she looked at him very earnestly, then stretched out her little hand.
"Good-bye, Russell. I wish I could do something to help you, to make you
less sorrowful."
He held the slight waxen fingers, and his mouth trembled as he answered--
"Thank you, Miss Huntingdon. I am not sorrowful, but my path in life is not
quite so flowery as yours."
"I wish you would not call me 'Miss Huntingdon' in that stiff, far-off way,
as if we were not friends. Or maybe it is a hint that you desire me to
address you as Mr. Aubrey. It sounds strange, unnatural, to say anything
but Russell."
She gathered up her books, took the gloves, and went slowly homeward, and
Russell returned to his desk with a light in his eyes which, for the
remainder of the day, nothing could quench. As Irene ascended the long hill
on which Mr. Huntingdon's residence stood, she saw her father's buggy at
the door, and as she approached the steps, he came out, drawing on his
gloves.
"You are late, Irene. What kept you?"
"I have been shopping a little. Are you going to ride? Take me with you."
"Going to dine at Mr. Carter's."
"Why, the sun is almost down now. What time will you come home? I want to
ask you something."
"Not till long after you are asleep."
The night passed very slowly; Irene looked at the clock again and again.
Finally the house became quiet, and at last the crush of wheels on the
gravel-walk announced her father's return. He came into the library for a
cigar, and, without noticing her, drew his chair to the open window. She
approached and put her hand on his shoulder.
"Irene! what is the matter, child?"
"Nothing sir; only I want to ask you something."
"Well, Queen, what is it?"
He drew her tenderly to his knee, and passed his hand over her floating
hair.
Leonard Huntingdon was forty years old; tall, spare, with an erect and
martial carriage. He had been trained at West Point, and perhaps early
education contributed somewhat to the air of unbending haughtiness which
many found repulsive. His black hair was slightly sprinkled with grey, and
his features were still decidedly handsome, though the expression of mouth
and eyes was, ordinarily, by no means winning. Irene was his only child;
her mother had died during her infancy, and on this beautiful idol he
lavished all the tenderness of which his nature was capable. His tastes
were cultivated, his house was elegant and complete, and furnished
magnificently; every luxury that money could yield him he possessed, yet
there were times when he seemed moody and cynical, and no one could surmise
the cause of his gloom. The girl looked up at him fearing no denial.
"Father, I wish, please, you would give me two hundred dollars."
"What would you do with it, Queen?"
"I do not want it for myself; I should like to have that much to enable a
poor woman to recover her sight. She has cataracts on her eyes, and there
is a physician in New Orleans who can relieve her. Father, won't you give
me the money?"
He took the cigar from his lips, shook off the ashes, and asked
indifferently--
"What is the woman's name? Has she no husband to take care of her?"
"Mrs. Aubrey; she----"
"What!"
The cigar fell from his fingers, he put her from his knee, and rose
instantly. His swarthy cheek glowed, and she wondered at the expression of
his eyes, so different from anything she had ever seen there before.
"Who gave you permission to visit that house?"
"No permission was necessary. I go there because I love her and Electra,
and because I like Russell. Why shouldn't I go there, sir? Is poverty
disgrace?"
"Irene, mark me. You are to visit that house no more in future; keep away
from the whole family. I will have no such association. Never let me hear
their names again. Go to bed."
"Give me one good reason, and I will obey you."
"Reason! My will, my command, is sufficient reason. What do you mean by
catechising me in this way? Implicit obedience is your duty."
The calm, holy eyes looked wonderingly into his; and as he marked the
startled expression of the girl's pure face his own eyes drooped.
"Father, has Mrs. Aubrey ever injured you?"
No answer.
"If she has not, you are very unjust to her; if she has, remember she is a
woman, bowed down with many sorrows, and it is unmanly to hoard up old
differences. Father, please give me that money."
"I will bury my last dollar in the Red Sea first! Now are you answered?"
She put her hands over her eyes, as if to shut out some painful vision; and
he saw the slight form shudder. In perfect silence she took her books and
went up to her room. Mr. Huntingdon reseated himself as the door closed
behind her, and the lamplight showed a sinister smile writhing over his
dark features. He sat there, staring out into the starry night, and seeing
by the shimmer of the setting moon only the graceful form and lovely face
of Amy Aubrey, as she had appeared to him in other days. Could he forget
the hour when she wrenched her cold fingers from his clasp, and, in
defiance of her father's wishes, vowed she would never be his wife? No;
revenge was sweet, very sweet; his heart had swelled with exultation when
the verdict of death upon the gallows was pronounced upon the husband of
her choice; and now, her poverty, her humiliation, her blindness gave him
deep, unutterable joy. The history of the past was a sealed volume to his
daughter, but she was now for the first time conscious that her father
regarded the widow and her son with unconquerable hatred; and with strange,
foreboding dread she looked into the future, knowing that forgiveness was
no part of his nature; that insult or injury was never forgotten.