AN ORPHAN'S PROTECTORS
The artist stood at the window watching for his pupil's return; it was the
late afternoon hour, which they were wont to spend in reading, and her
absence annoyed him. As he rested carelessly against the window, his
graceful form was displayed to great advantage, and the long brown hair
dropped about a classical face of almost feminine beauty. The delicacy of
his features was enhanced by the extreme pallor of his complexion, and it
was apparent that close application to his profession had made sad inroads
on a constitution never very robust. A certain listlessness of manner, a
sort of lazy-grace seemed characteristic; but when his pupil came in and
laid aside her bonnet, the expression of _ennui_ vanished, and he threw
himself on a sofa looking infinitely relieved. She drew near, and without
hesitation acquainted him with the discovery of her relatives in New York.
He listened in painful surprise, and, ere she had concluded, sprang up. "I
understand! they will want to take you; will urge you to share their home
of wealth. But, Electra, you won't leave me; surely you won't leave me?"
He put his hands on her shoulders, and she knew from his quick, irregular
breathing that the thought of separation greatly distressed him.
"My aunt has not explicitly invited me to reside with her, though I
inferred from her manner that she confidently expected me to do so. Irene
also spoke of it as a settled matter."
"You will not allow me to persuade you? Oh, child! tell me at once you will
never leave me."
"Mr. Clifton, we must part some day; I cannot always live here, you know.
Before very long I must go out and earn my bread."
"Never! while I live. When I offered you a home, I expected it to be a
permanent one. I intended to adopt you. Here, if you choose, you may work
and earn a reputation; but away from me, among strangers, never. Electra,
you forget, you gave yourself to me once."
She looked into his eyes, and, with a woman's quick perception, read all
the truth.
In an instant her countenance changed painfully; she stooped, touched his
hand with her lips, and exclaimed--
"Thank you, a thousand times, my friend, my father! for your interest in,
and your unvarying, unparalleled kindness to me. All the gratitude and
affection which a child could give to a parent I shall always cherish
toward you. Since it annoys you, we will say no more about the future; let
the years take care of themselves as they come."
"Will you promise me positively that you will not go to your aunt?"
"Yes; I have never seriously entertained the thought."
She escaped from his hands, and lighting the gas, applied herself to her
books for the next hour.
If Irene found the restraint of boarding-school irksome, the separation
from Russell was well-nigh intolerable to Electra. At first she had seemed
plunged in lethargy; but after a time this mood gave place to restless,
unceasing activity. Like one trying to flee from something painful, she
rushed daily to her work, and regretted when the hours of darkness
consigned her to reflection. Mrs. Clifton was quite aged, and though
uniformly gentle and affectionate toward the orphan, there was no common
ground of congeniality on which they could meet. To a proud, exacting
nature like Electra's, Mr. Clifton's constant manifestations of love and
sympathy were very soothing. Writhing under the consciousness of her
cousin's indifference, she turned eagerly to receive the tokens of
affection showered upon her. She knew that his happiness centred in her,
and vainly fancied that she could feed her hungry heart with his adoration.
But by degrees she realized that these husks would not satisfy her; and a
singular sensation of mingled gratitude and impatience arose whenever he
caressed her.
Mrs. Clifton was a rigid Roman Catholic, her son a free-thinker, in the
broadest significance of the term, if one might judge from the selections
that adorned his library shelves. But deep in his soul was the germination
of a mystical creed, which gradually unfolded itself to Electra.
It was late at night when Electra retired to her room, and sat down to
collect her thoughts after the unexpected occurrences of the day.
More than one discovery had been made since the sunrise, which she awoke so
early to study. She had found relatives, and an opportunity of living
luxuriously; but, in the midst of this beautiful _bouquet_ of surprises, a
serpent's head peered out at her. Mr. Clifton loved her; not as a teacher
his pupil, not as guardian loves ward, not as parent loves child. Perhaps
he had not intended that she should know it so soon, but his eyes had
betrayed the secret. She saw perfectly how matters stood. This, then, had
prompted him from the first, to render her assistance; he had resolved to
make her his wife; nothing less would content him. She twisted her white
fingers in her hair, and gazed vacantly down on the carpet, and gradually
the rich crimson blood sank out of her face. She held his life in the
hollow of her hand, and this she well knew; death hung over him like the
sword of Damocles; she had been told that any violent agitation or grief
would bring on the hemorrhage which he so much dreaded, and although he
seemed stronger and better than usual, the insidious nature of his disease
gave her little hope that he would ever be robust. To feign ignorance of
his real feelings for her, would prove but a temporary stratagem; the time
must inevitably come, before long, when he would put aside this veil, and
set the truth before her. How should she meet it--how should she evade him?
Accept the home which Mrs. Young would offer her, and leave him to suffer
briefly, to sink swiftly into the tomb? No; her father's family had cast
him most unjustly off, withholding his patrimony; and now she scorned to
receive one cent of the money which his father was unwilling that he should
enjoy. Beside, who loved her as well as Henry Clifton? She owed more to him
than to any living being; it would be the part of an ingrate to leave him;
it was cowardly to shrink from repaying the debt. But the thought of being
his wife froze her blood, and heavy drops gathered on her brow as she
endeavoured to reflect upon this possibility.
A feeling of unconquerable repulsion sprang up in her heart, nerving,
steeling her against his affection. With a strange, instantaneous reaction
she thought with loathing of his words of endearment. How could she endure
them in future, yet how reject without wounding him? One, and only one path
of escape presented itself--a path of measureless joy. She lifted her
hands, and murmured--
"Russell! Russell! save me from this!"
When Mr. and Mrs. Young visited the studio the following day and urged the
orphan's removal to their house, she gently but resolutely declined their
generous offer, expressing an affectionate gratitude toward her teacher,
and a determination not to leave him, at least for the present. Mrs. Young
was much distressed, and adduced every argument of which she was mistress,
but her niece remained firm; and finding their entreaties fruitless, Mr.
Young said that he would immediately take the necessary steps to secure
Robert Grey's portion of the estate to his daughter. Electra sat with her
hand nestled in her aunt's, but when this matter was alluded to she rose,
and said proudly--
"No, sir; let the estate remain just as it is. I will never accept one
cent. My grandfather on his deathbed excluded my father from any portion of
it, and since he willed it so, even so it shall be. I have no legal claim
to a dollar, and I will never receive one from your generosity. It was the
will of the dead that you and my Uncle William should inherit the whole,
and as far as I am concerned, have it you shall. I am poor, I know; so were
my parents. Poverty they bequeathed as my birthright, and even as they
lived without aid from my grandfather, so will I. It is very noble and
generous in you, after the expiration of nearly twenty years, to be willing
to divide with the orphan of the outcast; but I will not, cannot, allow you
to do so. I fully appreciate and most cordially thank you both for your
goodness; but I am young and strong, and I expect to earn my living. Mr.
Clifton and his mother want me to remain in his house until I finish my
studies, and I gratefully accept his kind offer. Nay, aunt! don't let it
trouble you so. I shall visit you very frequently."
"She has all of Robert's fierce obstinacy. I see it in her eyes, hear it
ringing in the tones of her voice. Take care, child; it ruined your
father," said Mrs. Young sorrowfully.
"You should remember, Electra, that an orphan girl needs a protector. Such
I would fain prove myself."
As Mr. Young spoke, he took one of her hands and drew her to him. She
turned quickly and laid the other on the artist's arm.
"I have one here, sir, a protector as true and kind as my own father could
be."
She understood the flash of his eyes and his proud smile as he assured her
relatives that he would guard her from harm and want so long as he lived,
or as she remained under his care. She knew he regarded this as a tacit
sealing of the old compact, and she had no inclination to undeceive him at
this juncture.
Urging her to visit them as often as possible, and extending the invitation
to Mr. Clifton, the Youngs withdrew, evidently much disappointed, and as
the door closed behind them, Electra felt that the circle of doom was
narrowing around her. Mr. Clifton approached her, but, averting her head,
she lifted the damask curtain that divided the parlour from the studio, and
effected her retreat, dreading to meet his glance--putting off the evil day
as long as possible--trying to trample the serpent that trailed after her
from that hour.