That evening when "sober-suited twilight" had begun to fall over
all things, when the stars began to sparkle in the sky, when the
air began to be heavy with odors of rose and mignonette and jasmine
and the odorous, heavy-scented honeysuckle, Mrs. West came into the
sitting-room, where Leonora was leaning from the window, drinking in
the peaceful sweetness of the summer eve.
"Are you lonely here in the dark, my dear? I will bring a lamp," she
said.
"Not yet, please, Aunt West," said the girl. "I love this twilight
dimness. I love to sit in the darkness and think."
"About your poor papa, dear?" asked the good woman. "Tell me about him,
Leonora. What did he die of?"
"It was a fever, Aunt West. Some day I will tell you all about him, but
not just yet, please. I--can not bear it yet. It has been so little
a while since I lost him--barely two months!" said Leonora, with the
sound of tears in her voice.
"Well, well, dear, I did not think. You shall tell me when you please.
But that was not what I came for. You know I promised you a peep at the
fine folks when they dined. Well, it is time now. In a minute they will
assemble. Come with me; I have found a snug place for you."
Leonora rose and followed her aunt. They went along some dark
corridors, hand in hand, silently, and then Mrs. West put a key softly
into a lock and turned it. A door opened. A close, musty scent of dust
and disuse breathed in their faces. Mrs. West drew Leonora in and shut
the door.
"Do not be afraid of the dark, dear," she whispered. "It is only a
disused china-closet opening on the dining-hall. There is a broken
panel. This way, Leonora. Now, look."
There was a broken panel, indeed, that made an aperture as wide as
your hand. Through it there streamed a bar of light, making visible
the cobwebbed corners of the narrow pantry, with piles of cracked and
old-fashioned china arranged upon the shelves, where the dust of years
lay thick and dark and musty. Leonora laughed a little at the novelty
of her position.
"Auntie, I feel like a naughty little girl who has hid in the closet to
steal preserves," she whispered.
Mrs. West laughed softly too.
"You will have something nicer than preserves," she whispered,
reassuringly, as if Leonora had indeed been a little girl. "Now, dear,
look, look!"
Leonora looked out through the narrow aperture, half dazzled by the
radiant light for a moment, and saw a magnificent dining-hall, long and
lofty, with carved oak paneling, and a tiled fire-place, a tapestried
wall, and some glorious paintings by the old masters, all lighted by
a magnificent chandelier of wax-lights, whose soft, luminous blaze
lighted up a table glittering with gold and silver plate, costly
crystal, and magnificent flowers. As she gazed upon the brilliant scene
there was a rustle, a murmur, the echo of aristocratic laughter, and a
gay party entered the room.
Mrs. West, leaning over her niece's shoulder, whispered, softly:
"There is my lady--in front, on that tall gentleman's arm, dear."
Leonora saw a little, wizened figure in a glistening brocade, with
rubies pendent from the thin ears, a lace cap on the thin white hair, a
locket of diamonds and rubies on the breast, and glittering bracelets
that mocked the yellow, bony wrists they encircled, and the sour,
wrinkled face, rendered even more ugly and aged by the attempts that
had been made to render it youthful.
"That hideous old lady in paint and powder--do you say that she is Lady
Lancaster?" Leonora asked; and when Mrs. West answered "Yes," she said,
irreverently:
"She looks like a witch, auntie, dear. I shall be expecting every
minute to see her gold-headed stick turned into a broom, and herself
flying away on it 'into the sky, to sweep the cobwebs from on high.'"
"Oh, fy, my dear!" cried the housekeeper, disappointed that Leonora
had not been more impressed with the splendor of the scene and Lady
Lancaster's dignity. "But, look at Lord Lancaster--is he not grand in
his black suit?"
"Where?" asked Leonora, carelessly, as if she were not gazing at that
moment on the tall, superb figure, looking courtly in its elegant
evening-dress. He was walking by the side of a lady whose white-gloved
hand rested lightly on his arm. Leonora looked admiringly at the dark,
brilliant face and stately figure of this woman, who, clothed in ruby
silk and rich black lace, looked queenly as she sunk into her chair
behind a beautiful épergne of fragrant flowers.
"Oh, I see him now!" she said, after a minute. "He is with that lady in
ruby silk. Aunt West, who is she?"
"The Earl of Eastwood's daughter, Lady Adela. She is a great beauty and
a very grand lady."
"She is very handsome, certainly," Leonora said. Her gaze lingered on
the dark, brilliant face behind the flowers. The dark eyes and red lips
made a pretty picture. She wondered if Captain Lancaster thought so.
"Yes, she is very handsome, and she will be the next mistress of
Lancaster Park," Mrs. West said.
"She is engaged to Captain--to Lord Lancaster, then?" said Leonora. She
looked at the earl's daughter with a new interest.
"No, but every one knows what is in Lady Lancaster's mind," said Mrs.
West, significantly.
"It is dreadfully close here in this closet. One can scarcely breathe,"
said Leonora. "Oh! Lady Lancaster, you said. What has she to do with
Lord Lancaster and the earl's daughter? It seems to me she is a very
meddlesome old lady."
"She wants her nephew to marry Lady Adela. Every one knows it. She
invited her here just to throw them together and make the match."
"But perhaps he will not marry her just to please his aunt!" spiritedly.
"He will be apt to do just what my lady tells him," said Mrs. West. "If
he does not, she will leave her money away from him. He can not afford
that."
"And will he really sell himself for money?" Leonora spoke in a stage
whisper.
"Hush, my dear; not quite so loud. As to selling himself, I don't
know that you could call it that exactly. Many people here marry for
wealth and position. Yet, why shouldn't these two young people fall in
love with each other? Lady Adela has everything in the world that is
desirable, except money, and so has he. Their fortune is made if they
marry each other."
"Happy pair!" said Leonora, in a sarcastic voice, in the darkness.
"Isn't it just stifling in this hole, Aunt West? Let us go."
They went back quietly to the little sitting-room again.
"Well, how did you enjoy it, Leonora?" asked her aunt.
"Oh! very much," said the girl.
"I'm glad. Somehow, I thought you didn't," vaguely. "They are going to
dance this evening. I can manage for you to see it, if you like to do
so. Should you, Leonora?"
"Oh! very much," said the girl again.