In one of those brown-stone, palatial houses on Fifth Avenue, which
make the name of the street a synonym for almost royal luxury and
magnificence, sat Mrs. Andrews's "new governess," a week after her
arrival in New York. Her reception, though cold and formal, had been
punctiliously courteous; and a few days sufficed to give the stranger
an accurate insight into the characters and customs of the family with
whom she was now domesticated.
Though good-natured, intelligent, and charitable, Mrs. Andrews was
devoted to society, and gave to the demands of fashion much of the time
which had been better expended at home in training her children, and
making her hearth-stone rival the attractions of the club, where Mr.
Andrews generally spent his leisure hours. She was much younger than
her husband, was handsome, gay, and ambitious, and the polished hauteur
of her bearing often reminded Edna of Mrs. Murray; while Mr. Andrews
seemed immersed in business during the day, and was rarely at home
except at his meals.
Felix, the eldest of the two children, was a peevish, spoiled, exacting
boy of twelve years of age, endowed with a remarkably active intellect,
but pitiably dwarfed in body and hopelessly lame in consequence of a
deformed foot. His sister Hattie was only eight years old, a bright,
pretty, affectionate girl, over whom Felix tyrannized unmercifully, and
whom from earliest recollection had been accustomed to yield both her
rights and privileges to the fretful invalid.
The room occupied by the governess was small but beautifully furnished,
and as it was situated in the fourth story, the windows commanded a
view of the trees in a neighboring park, and the waving outline of Long
Island.
On the day of her arrival Mrs. Andrews entered into a minute analysis
of the characters of the children, indicated the course which she
wished pursued toward them, and, impressing upon Edna the grave
responsibility of her position, the mother gave her children to the
stranger's guardianship and seemed to consider her maternal duties
fully discharged.
Edna soon ascertained that her predecessors had found the path
intolerably thorny, and abandoned it in consequence of Felix's
uncontrollable fits of sullenness and passion. Tutors and governesses
had quickly alternated, and as the cripple finally declared he would
not tolerate the former, his mother resolved to humor his caprice in
the choice of a teacher.
Fortunately the boy was exceedingly fond of his books, and as the
physicians forbade the constant use of his eyes, the governess was
called on to read aloud at least one half of the day. From eight
o'clock in the morning till eight at night the whole care of these
children devolved on Edna; who ate, talked, drove with them,
accompanied them wherever their inclination led, and had not one quiet
moment from breakfast until her pupils went to sleep. Sometimes Felix
was restless and wakeful, and on such occasions he insisted that his
governess should come and read him to sleep.
Notwithstanding the boy's imperious nature, he possessed some redeeming
traits, and Edna soon became much attached to him; while his affection
for his new keeper astonished and delighted his mother.
For a week after Edna's arrival, inclement weather prevented the
customary daily drive which contributed largely to the happiness of the
little cripple; but one afternoon as the three sat in the schoolroom,
Felix threw his Latin grammar against the wall and exclaimed:
"I want to see the swans in Central Park, and I mean to go, even if it
does rain! Hattie, ring for Patrick to bring the coupe round to the
door. Miss Earl, don't you want to go?"
"Yes, for there is no longer any danger of rain, the sun is shining
beautifully; and besides, I hope you will be more amiable when you get
into the open air."
She gave him his hat and crutches, took his gray shawl on her arm, and
they went down to the neat carriage drawn by a handsome chestnut horse,
and set apart for the use of the children.
As they entered the park, Edna noticed that the boy's eyes brightened,
and that he looked eagerly at every passing face.
"Now, Hattie, you must watch on your side, and I will keep a good
lookout on mine. I wonder if she will come this evening?"
"For whom are you both looking?" asked the teacher.
"Oh! for little Lila, Bro' Felix's sweetheart!" laughed Hattie,
glancing at him with a mischievous twinkle in her bright eyes.
"No such thing! Never had a sweetheart in my life! Don't be silly,
Hattie! mind your window, or I guess we shan't see her."
"Well, any how. I heard Uncle Gray tell Mamma that he kissed his
sweetheart's hand at the party, and I saw Bro' Felix kiss Lila's last
week."
"I didn't, Miss Earl!" cried the cripple, reddening as he spoke.
"Oh! he did, Miss Earl! Stop pinching me, Bro' Felix. My arm is all
black and blue, now. There she is! Look, here on my side! Here is 'Red
Ridinghood!'"
Edna saw a little girl clad in scarlet, and led by a grave, middle-aged
nurse, who was walking leisurely toward one of the lakes.
Felix put his head out of the window and called to the woman.
"Hannah, are going to feed the swans?"
"Good evening. Yes, we are going there now."
"Well, we will meet you there."
"What is the child's name?" asked Edna.
"Lila Manning, and she is deaf and dumb. We talk to her on our fingers."
They left the carriage, and approached the groups of children gathered
on the edge of the water, and at sight of Felix, the little girl in
scarlet sprang to meet him, moving her slender fingers rapidly as she
conversed with him. She was an exceedingly lovely but fragile child,
apparently about Hattie's age; and as Edna watched the changing
expression of her delicate features, she turned to the nurse and asked:
"Is she an orphan?"
"Yes, miss; but she will never find it out as long as her uncle lives.
He makes a great pet of her."
"What is his name, and where does he live?"
"Mr. Douglass G. Manning. He boards at No.--Twenty-third street; but he
spends most of his time at the office. No matter what time of night he
comes home, he never goes to his own room till he has looked at Lila,
and kissed her good-night. Master Felix, please don't untie her hat,
the wind will blow her hair all out of curl."
For some time the children were much amused in watching the swans, and
when they expressed themselves willing to resume their drive, an
arrangement was made with Hannah to meet at the same place the ensuing
day. They returned to the carriage, and Felix said:
"Don't you think Lila is a little beauty?"
"Yes, I quite agree with you. Do you know her uncle?"
"No, and don't want to know him; he is too cross and sour. I have seen
him walking sometimes with Lila, and mamma has him at her parties and
dinners; but Hattie and I never see the company unless we peep, and,
above all things, I hate peeping! It is ungenteel and vulgar; only poor
people peep. Mr. Manning is an old bachelor, and very crabbed, so my
uncle Grey says. He is the editor of the--Magazine, that mamma declares
she can't live without. Look! look, Hattie! There goes mamma this
minute! Stop, Patrick! Uncle Grey! Uncle Grey! hold up, won't you, and
let me see the new horses!"
An elegant phaeton, drawn by a pair of superb black horses, drew up
close to the coupe, and Mrs. Andrews and her only brother, Mr. Grey
Chilton, leaned forward and spoke to the children; while Mr. Chilton,
who was driving, teased Hattie by touching her head and shoulders with
his whip.
"Uncle Grey, I think the bays are the handsomest."
"Which proves you utterly incapable of judging horseflesh; for these
are the finest horses in the city. I presume this is Miss Earl, though
nobody seems polite enough to introduce us."
He raised his hat slightly, bowed, and drove on.
"Is this the first time you have met my uncle?" asked Felix.
"Yes. Does he live in the city?"
"Why! he lives with us! Haven't you seen him about the house? You must
have heard him romping around with Hattie; for they make noise enough
to call in the police. I think my uncle Grey is the handsomest man I
ever saw, except Edwin Booth, when he plays 'Hamlet.' What do you say?"
"As I had barely a glimpse of your uncle, I formed no opinion. Felix,
button your coat and draw your shawl over your shoulders; it is getting
cold."
When they reached home the children begged for some music, and placing
her hat on a chair, Edna sat down before the piano, and played and
sang; while Felix stood leaning on his crutches, gazing earnestly into
the face of his teacher.
The song was Longfellow's "Rainy Day," and when she concluded it, the
cripple laid his thin hand on hers and said:
"Sing the last verse again. I feel as if I should always be a good boy,
if you would only sing that for me every day. 'Into each life some rain
must fall?' Yes, lameness fell into mine."
While she complied with his request, Edna watched his sallow face, and
saw tears gather in the large, sad eyes, and she felt that henceforth
the boy's evil spirit could be exorcised.
"Miss Earl, we never had a governess at all like you. They were old,
and cross, and ugly, and didn't love to play chess, and could not sing,
and I hated them! But I do like you, and I will try to be good."
He rested his head against her arm, and she turned and kissed his pale,
broad forehead.
"Halloo, Felix! flirting with your governess? This is a new phase of
school life. You ought to feel quite honored, Miss Earl, though upon my
word I am sorry for you. The excessive amiability of my nephew has
driven not less than six of your predecessors in confusion from the
field, leaving him victorious. I warn you he is an incipient Turenne,
and the schoolroom is the Franche Comte of his campaigns."
Mr. Chilton came up to the piano, and curiously scanned Edna's face;
but taking her hat and veil, she rose and moved toward the door, saying:
"I am disposed to believe that he has been quite as much sinned against
as sinning. Come, children, it is time for your tea."
From that hour her influence over the boy strengthened so rapidly that
before she had been a month in the house he yielded implicit obedience
to her wishes, and could not bear for her to leave him, even for a
moment. When more than usually fretful, and inclined to tyrannize over
Hattie, or speak disrespectfully to his mother, a warning glance or
word from Edna, or the soft touch of her hand, would suffice to
restrain the threatened outbreak.
Her days were passed in teaching, reading aloud, and talking to the
children; and when released from her duties she went invariably to her
desk, devoting more than half the night to the completion of her MS.
As she took her meals with her pupils, she rarely saw the other members
of the household, and though Mr. Chilton now and then sauntered into
the schoolroom and frolicked with Hattie, his visits were coldly
received by the teacher; who met his attempts at conversation with very
discouraging monosyllabic replies.
His manner led her to suspect that the good-looking lounger was as vain
and heartless as he was frivolous, and she felt no inclination to
listen to his trifling, sans souci chatter; consequently, when he
thrust himself into her presence, she either picked up a book or left
him to be entertained by the children.
One evening in November she sat in her own room preparing to write, and
pondering the probable fate of a sketch which she had finished and
dispatched two days before to the office of the magazine.
The principal aim of the little tale was to portray the horrors and sin
of duelling, and she had written it with great care; but well aware of
the vast, powerful current of popular opinion that she was bravely
striving to stem, and fully conscious that it would subject her to
severe animadversion from those who defended the custom, she could not
divest herself of apprehension lest the article should be rejected.
The door bell rang, and soon after a servant brought her a card: "Mr.
D.G. Manning. To see Miss Earl."
Flattered and frightened by a visit from one whose opinions she valued
so highly, Edna smoothed her hair, and with trembling fingers changed
her collar and cuffs, and went downstairs, feeling as if all the blood
in her body were beating a tattoo on the drum of her ears.
As she entered the library, into which he had been shown (Mrs. Andrews
having guests in the parlor), Edna had an opportunity of looking
unobserved at this critical ogre, of whom she stood in such profound
awe.
Douglass Manning was forty years old, tall, and well built; wore
slender, steel-rimmed spectacles which somewhat softened the light of
his keen, cold, black eyes; and carried his slightly bald head with the
haughty air of one who habitually hurled his gauntlet in the teeth of
public opinion.
He stood looking up at a pair of bronze griffins that crouched on the
top of the rosewood bookcase, and the gas-light falling full on his
face, showed his stern, massive features, which, in their granitic
cast, reminded Edna of those Egyptian Androsphinx--vast, serene,
changeless.
There were no furrows on cheek or brow, no beard veiled the lines and
angles about the mouth, but as she marked the chilling repose of the
countenance, so indicative of conscious power and well-regulated
strength, why did memory travel swiftly back among the "Stones of
Venice," repeating the description of the hawthorn on Bourges
Cathedral? "A perfect Niobe of May." Had this man petrified in his
youth before the steady stylus of time left on his features that subtle
tracery which passing years engrave on human faces? The motto of his
magazine, Veritas sine clementia, ruled his life, and, putting aside
the lenses of passion and prejudice, he coolly, quietly, relentlessly
judged men and women and their works; neither loving nor hating,
pitying nor despising his race; looking neither to right nor left;
laboring steadily as a thoroughly well-balanced, a marvellously perfect
intellectual automaton.
"Good evening, Mr. Manning. I am very glad to meet you; for I fear my
letters have very inadequately expressed my gratitude for your
kindness."
Her voice trembled slightly, and she put out her hand. He turned,
bowed, offered her a chair, and, as they seated themselves, he examined
her face as he would have searched the title-page of some new book for
an insight into its contents.
"When did you reach New York, Miss Earl?"
"Six weeks ago."
"I was not aware that you were in the city, until I received your note
two days since. How long do you intend to remain?"
"Probably the rest of my life, if I find it possible to support myself
comfortably."
"Is Mrs. Andrews an old friend?"
"No, sir; she was a stranger to me when I entered her house as
governess for her children."
"Miss Earl, you are much younger than I had supposed. Your writings led
me to imagine that you were at least thirty, whereas I find you almost
a child. Will your duties as governess conflict with your literary
labors?"
"No, sir. I shall continue to write."
"You appear to have acted upon my suggestion, to abandon the idea of a
book, and confine your attention to short sketches."
"No, sir. I adhere to my original purpose, and am at work upon the
manuscript which you advised me to destroy."
He fitted his glasses more firmly on his nose, and she saw the gleam of
his strong white teeth, as a half smile moved his lips.
"Miss Earl, my desk is very near a window, and as I was writing late
last night, I noticed several large moths beating against the glass
which fortunately barred their approach to the flame of the gas inside.
Perhaps inexperience whispered that it was a cruel fate that shut them
out; but which heals soonest, disappointed curiosity or singed wings?"
"Mr. Manning, why do you apprehend more danger from writing a book than
from the preparation of magazine articles?"
"Simply because the peril is inherent in the nature of the book you
contemplate. Unless I totally misunderstand your views, you indulge in
the rather extraordinary belief that all works of fiction should be
eminently didactic, and inculcate not only sound morality but
scientific theories. Herein, permit me to say, you entirely
misapprehend the spirit of the age. People read novels merely to be
amused, not educated; and they will not tolerate technicalities and
abstract speculation in lieu of exciting plots and melodramatic
denouements. Persons who desire to learn something of astronomy,
geology, chemistry, philology, etc., never think of finding what they
require in the pages of a novel, but apply at once to the text-books of
the respective sciences, and would as soon hunt for a lover's
sentimental dialogue in Newton's 'Principia,' or spicy small-talk in
Kant's 'Critique,' as expect an epitome of modern science in a work of
fiction."
"But, sir, how many habitual novel readers do you suppose will educate
themselves thoroughly from the text-books to which you refer?"
"A modicum, I grant you; yet it is equally true that those who merely
read to be amused will not digest the scientific dishes you set before
them. On the contrary, far from appreciating your charitable efforts to
elevate and broaden their range of vision, they will either sneer at
the author's pedantry, or skip over every passage that necessitates
thought to comprehend it, and rush on to the next page to discover
whether the heroine, Miss Imogene Arethusa Penelope Brown, wore blue or
pink tarlatan to her first ball, or whether on the day of her elopement
the indignant papa succeeded in preventing the consummation of her
felicity with Mr. Belshazzar Algernon Nebuchadnezzar Smith. I neither
magnify nor dwarf, I merely state a simple fact."
"But, Mr. Manning, do you not regard the writers of each age as the
custodians of its tastes as well as its morals?"
"Certainly not; they simply reflect and do not mould public taste.
Shakespeare, Hogarth, Rabelais, portrayed men and things as they found
them; not as they might, could, would, or should have been. Was Sir
Peter Lely responsible for the style of dress worn by court beauties in
the reign of Charles II.? He faithfully painted what passed before him.
Miss Earl, the objection I urge against the novel you are preparing
does not apply to magazine essays, where an author may concentrate all
the erudition he can obtain and ventilate it unchallenged; for review
writers now serve the public in much the same capacity that cup-bearers
did royalty in ancient days; and they are expected to taste strong
liquors as well as sweet cordials and sour light wines. Moreover, a
certain haze of sanctity envelops the precincts of 'Maga,' whence the
incognito 'we' thunders with oracular power; for, notwithstanding the
rapid annihilation of all classic faith in modern times which permits
the conversion of Virgil's Avernus into a model oyster-farm, the
credulous public fondly cling to the myth that editorial sanctums alone
possess the sacred tripod of Delphi. Curiosity is the best stimulant
for public interest, and it has become exceedingly difficult to conceal
the authorship of a book while that of magazine articles can readily be
disguised. I repeat, the world of novel-readers constitute a huge
hippodrome, where, if you can succeed in amusing your spectators or
make them gasp in amazement at your rhetorical legerdemain, they will
applaud vociferously, and pet you, as they would a graceful danseuse,
or a dexterous acrobat, or a daring equestrian; but if you attempt to
educate or lecture them, you will either declaim to empty benches or be
hissed down. They expect you to help them kill time, not improve it."
"Sir, is it not nobler to struggle against than to float ignominiously
with the tide of degenerate opinion?"
"That depends altogether on the earnestness of your desire for
martyrdom by drowning. I have seen stronger swimmers than you go down,
after desperate efforts to keep their heads above water."
Edna folded her hands in her lap, and looked steadily into the calm,
cold eyes of the editor, then shook her head, and answered:
"I shall not drown. At all events I will risk it. I would rather sink
in the effort than live without attempting it."
"When you require ointment for singed wings, I shall have no sympathy
with which to anoint them; for, like most of your sex, I see you
mistake blind obstinacy for rational, heroic firmness. The next number
of the magazine will contain the contribution you sent me two days
since, and, while I do not accept all your views, I think it by far the
best thing I have yet seen from your pen. It will, of course, provoke
controversy, but for that result, I presume you are prepared. Miss
Earl, you are a stranger in New York, and if I can serve you in any
way, I shall be glad to do so."
"Thank you, Mr. Manning. I need some books which I am not able to
purchase, and can not find in this house; if you can spare them
temporarily from your library, you will confer a great favor on me."
"Certainly. Have you a list of those which you require?"
"No, sir, but--"
"Here is a pencil and piece of paper; write down the titles, and I will
have them sent to you in the morning."
She turned to the table to prepare the list, and all the while Mr.
Manning's keen eyes scanned her countenance, dress, and figure. A
half-smile once more stirred his grave lips when she gave him the
paper, over which he glanced indifferently.
"Miss Earl, I fear you will regret your determination to make
literature a profession; for your letters informed me that you are
poor; and doubtless you remember the witticism concerning the 'republic
of letters which contained not a sovereign.' Your friend, Mr. Murray,
appreciated the obstacles you are destined to encounter, and I am
afraid you will not find life in New York as agreeable as it was under
his roof."
"When did you hear from him?"
"I received a letter this morning."
"And you called to see me because he requested you to do so?"
"I had determined to come before his letter arrived."
He noticed the incredulous smile that flitted across her face, and,
after a moment's pause, he continued:
"I do not wish to discourage you, on the contrary, I sincerely desire
to aid you, but Mill has analyzed the subject very ably in his
'Political Economy,' and declares that 'on any rational calculation of
chances in the existing competition, no writer can hope to gain a
living by books; and to do so by magazines and reviews becomes daily
more difficult.'"
"Yes, sir, that passage is not encouraging; but I comfort myself with
another from the same book: 'In a national or universal point of view
the labor of the savant or speculative thinker is as much a part of
production, in the very narrowest sense, as that of the inventor of a
practical art. The electro-magnetic telegraph was the wonderful and
most unexpected consequence of the experiments of Oersted, and the
mathematical investigations of Ampere; and the modern art of navigation
is an unforseen emanation from the purely speculative and apparently
meekly curious inquiry, by the mathematicians of Alexandria, into the
properties of three curves formed by the intersection of a plane
surface and a cone. No limit can be set to the importance, even in a
purely productive and material point of view, of mere thought.' Sir,
the economic law which regulates the wages of mechanics should operate
correspondingly in the realm of letters."
"Your memory is remarkably accurate."
"Not always, sir; but when I put it on its honor, and trust some
special treasure to its guardianship, it rarely proves treacherous."
"I think you can command better wages for your work in New York than
anywhere else on this continent. You have begun well; permit me to say
to you be careful, do not write too rapidly, and do not despise adverse
criticism. If agreeable to you, I will call early next week and
accompany you to the public libraries, which contain much that may
interest you. I will send you a note as soon as I acertain when I can
command the requisite leisure; and should you need my services, I hope
you will not hesitate to claim them. Good-evening, Miss Earl."
He bowed himself out of the library, and Edna went back to her own
room, thinking of the brief interview, and confessing her
disappointment in the conversation of this most dreaded of critics.
"He is polished as an icicle, and quite as cold. He may be very
accurate and astute and profound, but certainly he is not half so
brilliant as--"
She did not complete the parallel, but compressed her lips, took up her
pen, and began to write.
On the following morning Mrs. Andrews came into the schoolroom, and,
after kissing her children, turned blandly to the governess.
"Miss Earl, I believe Mr. Manning called upon you last evening. Where
did you know him?"
"I never saw him until yesterday, but we have corresponded for some
time."
"Indeed! you are quite honored. He is considered very fastidious."
"He is certainly hypercritical, yet I have found him kind and
gentlemanly, even courteous. Our correspondence is entirely
attributable to the fact that I write for his magazine."
Mrs. Andrews dropped her ivory crochet-needle and sat, for a moment,
the picture of wild-eyed amazement.
"Is it possible! I had no idea you were an author. Why did you not tell
me before? What have you written?"
Edna mentioned the titles of her published articles, and the lady of
the house exclaimed:
"Oh! that 'Vigil of Grutli' is one of the most beautiful things I ever
read, and I have often teased Mr. Manning to tell me who wrote it. That
apostrophe to the Thirty Confederates is so mournfully grand that it
brings tears to my eyes. Why, Miss Earl, you will be famous some day!
If I had your genius, I should never think of plodding through life as
a governess."
"But, my dear madam, I must make my bread, and am compelled to teach
while I write."
"I do not see what time you have for writing. I notice you never leave
the children till they are asleep; and you must sleep enough to keep
yourself alive. Are you writing anything at present?"
"I finished an article several days ago which will be published in the
next number of the magazine. Of course, I have no leisure during the
day, but I work till late at night."
"Miss Earl, if you have no objection to acquainting me with your
history, I should like very much to know something of your early life
and education."
While Edna gave a brief account of her childhood, Felix nestled his
hand into hers, and laid his head on her knee, listening eagerly to
every word.
When she concluded, Mrs. Andrews mused a moment, and then said:
"Henceforth, Miss Earl, you will occupy a different position in my
house; and I shall take pleasure in introducing you to such of my
friends as will appreciate your talent. I hope you will not confine
yourself exclusively to my children, but come down sometimes in the
evening and sit with me; and, moreover, I prefer that you should dine
with us, instead of with these nursery folks, who are not quite capable
of appreciating you--"
"How do you know that, mamma? I can tell you one thing, I appreciated
her before I found out that she was likely to be 'famous'! Before I
knew that Mr. Manning condescended to notice her. We 'nursery folk'
judge for ourselves, we don't wait to find out what other people think,
and I shan't give up Miss Earl! She is my governess, and I wish you
would just let her alone!"
There was a touch of scorn in the boy's impatient tone, and his mother
bit her lip, and laughed constrainedly:
"Really, Felix! who gave you a bill of sale to Miss Earl? She should
consider herself exceedingly fortunate, as she is the first of all your
teachers with whom you have not quarrelled most shamefully, even fought
and scratched."
"And because she is sweet, and good and pretty, and I love her, you
must interfere and take her off to entertain your company. She came
here to take care of Hattie and me, and not to go down-stairs to see
visitors. She can't go, mamma! I want her myself. You have all the
world to talk to, and I have only her. Don't meddle, mamma."
"You are very selfish and ill-tempered, my poor little boy, and I am
heartily ashamed of you."
"If I am, it is because--"
"Hush, Felix!"
Edna laid her hand on the pale, curling lips of the cripple, and
luckily at this instant Mrs. Andrews was summoned from the room.
Scarcely waiting till the door closed after her, the boy exclaimed
passionately:
"Felix! don't call me Felix! That means happy, lucky! and she had no
right to give me such a name. I am Infelix! nobody loves me! nobody
cares for me, except to pity me, and I would rather be strangled than
pitied! I wish I was dead and at rest in Greenwood! I wish somebody
would knock my brains out with my crutch! and save me from hobbling
through life. Even my mother is ashamed of my deformity! She ought to
have treated me as the Spartans did their dwarfs! She ought to have
thrown me into the East River before I was a day old! I wish I was
dead! Oh! I do! I do!"
"Felix, it is very wicked to--"
"I tell you I won't be called Felix. Whenever I hear the name it makes
me feel as I did one day when my crutches slipped on the ice, and I
fell on the pavement before the door, and some newsboys stood and
laughed at me. Infelix Andrews! I want that written on my tombstone
when I am buried."
He trembled from head to foot, and angry tears dimmed his large,
flashing eyes, while Hattie sat with her elbows resting on her knees,
and her chin in her hands, looking sorrowfully at her brother.
Edna put her arm around the boy's shoulder, and drew his head down on
her lap, saying tenderly:
"Your mother did not mean that she was ashamed of her son, but only
grieved and mortified by his ungovernable temper, which made him
disrespectful to her. I know that she is very proud of your fine
intellect, and your ambition to become a thorough scholar, and--"
"Oh! yes, and of my handsome body! and my pretty feet!"
"My dear little boy, it is sinful for you to speak in that way, and God
will punish you if you do not struggle against such feelings."
"I don't see how I can be punished any more than I have been already.
To be a lame dwarf is the worst that can happen."
"Suppose you were poor and friendless--an orphan with no one to care
for you? Suppose you had no dear, good little sister like Hattie to
love you? Now, Felix, I know that the very fact that you are not as
strong and well-grown as most boys of your age, only makes your mother
and all of us love you more tenderly; and it is very ungrateful in you
to talk so bitterly when we are trying to make you happy and good and
useful. Look at little Lila, shut up in silence, unable to speak one
word, or to hear a bird sing or a baby laugh, and yet see how merry and
good-natured she is. How much more afflicted she is than you are!
Suppose she was always fretting and complaining, looking miserable and
sour, and out of humor, do you think you would love her half as well as
you do now?"
He made no reply, but his thin hands covered his sallow face.
Hattie came close to him, sat down on the carpet, and put her head,
thickly crowned with yellow curls, on his knee. Her uncle Grey had
given her a pretty ring the day before, and now she silently and softly
took it from her own finger, and slipped it on her brother's.
"Felix, you and Hattie were so delighted with that little poem which I
read to you from the Journal of Eugenie de Guerin, that I have tried to
set it to music for you. The tune does not suit it exactly, but we can
use it until I find a better one."
She went to the piano and sang that pretty nursery ballad, "JOUJOU, THE
ANGEL OF THE PLAYTHINGS."
Hattie clapped her hands with delight, and Felix partly forgot his woes
and grievances.
"Now, I want you both to learn to sing it, and I will teach Hattie the
accompaniment. On Felix's birthday, which is not very distant, you can
surprise your father and mother by singing it for them. In gratitude to
the author I think every little child should sing it and call it
'Eugenie's Angel Song.' Hattie, it is eleven o'clock, and time for you
to practice your music-lesson."
The little girl climbed upon the piano-stool and began to count aloud,
and after a while Edna bent down and put her hand on Felix's shoulder.
"You grieved your mother this morning and spoke very disrespectfully to
her. I know you regret it, and you ought to tell her so and ask her to
forgive you. You would feel happier all day if you would only
acknowledge your fault. I hear your mother in her own room; will you
not go and kiss her?"
He averted his head and muttered:
"I don't want to kiss her."
"But you ought to be a dutiful son, and you are not; and your mother
has cause to be displeased with you. If you should ever be so
unfortunate as to lose her, and stand as I do, motherless, in the
world, you will regret the pain you gave her this morning. Oh! if I had
the privilege of kissing my mother, I could bear almost any sorrow
patiently. If it mortifies you to acknowledge your bad behavior, it is
the more necessary that you should humble your pride. Felix, sometimes
I think it requires more nobility of soul to ask pardon for our faults
than to resist the temptation to commit them."
She turned away and busied herself in correcting his Latin exercise,
and for some time the boy sat sullen and silent.
At length he sighed heavily, and taking his crutches, came up to the
table where she sat.
"Suppose you tell my mother I am sorry I was disrespectful."
"Felix, are you really sorry?"
"Yes."
"Well, then go and tell her so, and she will love you a thousand times
more than ever before. The confession should come from your own lips."
He stood irresolute and sighed again:
"I will go if you will go with me."
She rose and they went to Mrs. Andrew's room. The mother was superbly
dressed in visiting costume, and was tying on her bonnet when they
entered.
"Mrs. Andrews, your son wishes to say something which I think you will
be glad to hear."
"Indeed! Well, Felix, what is it?"
"Mamma--I believe--I know I was very cross--and disrespectful to
you--and oh, mamma! I hope you will forgive me!"
He dropped his crutches and stretched out his arms, and Mrs. Andrews
threw down the diamond cluster, with which she was fastening her
ribbons, and caught the boy to her bosom.
"My precious child! my darling! Of course I forgive you gladly. My dear
son, if you only knew half how well I love you, you would not grieve me
so often by your passionate temper. My darling!--"
She stooped to kiss him, and when she turned to look for the girlish
form of the governess, it was no longer visible; mother and son were
alone.