CONJECTURES.
"I'M sure that it is a perfect mystery to me what could have induced
him to leave all the party here, to wander about in the rain and end by
throwing himself into the river!" exclaimed Sophia Adair.
"Every act of the boy during the whole of the day has been
incomprehensible," cried Rosa. "His wild looks in the morning when I
met him, his late appearance at breakfast, his temper, his rudeness, he
who was always courtesy itself to the ladies."
"He seemed in high spirits during the whole afternoon."
"Strange, uncertain, unnatural spirits. Did you notice the feverish
flush on his check?"
"Has the doctor seen him?" asked John Allfrey, who joined the speakers
at that moment.
"Yes, the doctor has been here for some time, but I have not yet heard
his opinion. Such a bad business, is it not?" cried Sophia. "And just
the night before the wedding! I suppose that the marriage will be put
off!"
"Oh! I should not think so," said John; "a boy is not usually the worse
for wetting."
"But he has been so long in coming to himself, and then—" Sophia
lowered her voice and touched her forehead as she added, "it looks as
if something were wrong with his head."
"I suspect that poor Mina thinks so," observed Rosa, "for she looks the
picture of misery."
"And she was so happy," sighed Sophia.
"But I want to know everything that you saw, from beginning to end,"
cried Rosa, addressing John Allfrey. "You said that you first heard him
getting over the garden-wall; what could have taken him to the garden?"
John only shrugged his shoulders in reply.
"And then down the field, through the hedge, and so straight on to the
river. Do you think that the wretched boy really meant to throw himself
in?"
"I don't think so," replied young Allfrey.
"Why, then, should he go to the river at all? There's no way of
crossing it there."
John was quite aware of that fact.
"He could not fish in the dark; the idea of bathing is absurd. Could he
wish to get anything out of the water?"
"You had better ask himself, when he is able to answer," said Allfrey,
who grew more and more determined to let her know nothing of the roll.
"There goes the doctor," cried Rosa. "Oh! I wish that I had seen him
before he went."
"Mina will tell us the news," said Sophia, as, pale with anxious
watching, the bride-elect entered the room.
"He has come to himself, thank God!" said Mina. "The doctor is going to
send him fever-draughts at once, for his pulse runs high. Dr. Penn says
that we have nothing to fear; but I can't help being anxious—oh! so
anxious! He is so dear a brother to me!"
"Has he said anything since he has revived?" asked the curious Rosa.
"Does he seem conscious of all that has happened?"
"I scarcely know whether he is. He looks wildly around him, as if he
were in search of something; he cries 'Where is it?—Where is it?' Like
one who has lost what he prized very much. The doctor says that Wilfred
should be kept very quiet, but our poor boy is so anxious to rise."
"He'll never get round while his mind is in this excited state,"
observed Rosa.
"I cannot stay away from him longer, though papa never leaves his
bedside," said Mina, quitting the room as she spoke.
John Allfrey followed her into the hall, closing the door behind him.
"Miss Marsden—one word," said he.
Mina paused with her foot on the stair.
"When I drew your poor brother out of the water, he had a roll clenched
so tight in his hand that I could hardly get it away." The young
man drew forth the parchment. "If he is so restlessly looking for
something, it seems likely that it may be this. I need scarcely add,"
said Allfrey, as he placed the roll in the maiden's hand, "that not a
single word has been read."
"Oh! Mr. Allfrey," exclaimed Mina, with deep emotion, "you have done
us a service to-night which we can never, never repay. You must have
thought me the most ungrateful of beings, in my anxiety for my brother,
never yet to have expressed my gratitude to his preserver."
John felt embarrassed at being thanked for what he thought so simple
a matter as pulling a drowning boy out of the river; he muttered
something about seeing whether the carriage had not come for his
sisters, while Mina, with a throbbing heart, glided up to her brother's
apartments.
As she entered the room with the roll in her hand, her father came
forward to meet her, his finger raised to his lips.
"He sleeps," said Mr. Marsden, to his daughter; "I have sent Martha out
of the room, for I wish to keep away all noise—anything that may cause
excitement." He resumed the seat which he had quitted; Mina knelt at
his side.
"Father," she softly whispered, "you should know everything; you will
judge what is right. Mr. Allfrey has just given me this parchment, he
took it out of poor Wilfred's grasp when he had drawn him out of the
water. It may be something of importance, it may be the cause of the
restless uneasiness which alarms us so much to-night."
The father took the roll with the keenest interest.
"Thankful, most thankful should I be," he said, "to discover any
sufficient cause for the conduct of my poor boy."
"Will you examine the parchment, papa?"
Mr. Marsden remained for several moments buried in thought before he
replied, "Perhaps it would be better not to do so; perhaps it may
quiet Wilfred's mind to be assured that no one is in possession of his
secret, if a secret there be."
"Then what would you have us do?"
"Place the roll within his reach, my child; if it be that for which he
so anxiously inquires, the sight of it cannot but soothe him. And now
that you are here to watch, I will go down and dismiss our guests. I
fervently trust that the worst is over, and I fain would have the house
quiet."
Noiselessly Mr. Marsden left the sick-room; noiselessly Mina
approached the bed, and, as she laid the will upon it, tenderly gazed
on the sleeping boy. What sad traces had the sufferings of the last
twenty-four hours left on that pale young face! Even in sleep it wore
an expression of distress, which went to the heart of Mina. She knelt
down beside the bed, and clasping her hands together, long, and fondly,
and fervently prayed to a merciful God for her brother. Mina approached
the Throne of Grace with the same trustful, childlike confidence with
which she had come to her earthly father. The maiden's heart felt
soothed and calmed by the act of devotion; as she rose, more full of
hope that this strange, mysterious cloud of sorrow on her bright sky
would pass away, she looked at her brother and saw that his eyes were
wide open, and lovingly fixed on herself.
"You were praying for me," he murmured, and a deep sigh followed the
words.
"And God has answered my prayer already," she replied, thankful to see
him so collected.
At that moment Wilfred's glance fell on the roll beside him. With
almost a cry of surprise, he grasped it in feverish haste.
"How came this here?" he exclaimed.
"I put it there," answered Mina.
"You—you! Have you read it?" gasped Wilfred, half raising himself in
his bed.
"No, no one has read it," said Mina.
An expression of unutterable relief came over the features of Wilfred;
he hid the parchment under his pillow, and then, in a calmer voice,
asked his sister where she had found the roll.
"John Allfrey found it—but he did not look into it," added Mina,
quickly, for she saw that her first sentence had re-awakened her
brother's fears.
"You are sure of that?"
"Quite sure," she replied.
"But how came Allfrey to be near me?"
The question was asked in a tone so rational that Mina's hope rose yet
higher.
"I can hardly tell you," she answered; "I think that our merciful God
must have sent him to the river to preserve so precious a life."
"It was strange, indeed!" murmured Wilfred.
"But you must think of nothing now, dearest, to perplex, excite, or
distress you. You must just remain quiet and still, and let us nurse
and take care of you. Ah! Here comes papa with the fever-draught. He
will be so thankful to find you better."
Mina poured out the cooling drink, and gave it to her brother; he drank
it, and felt refreshed.
"Is it late?" he abruptly asked. "Have the Allfreys left the house?"
"They have just gone," replied Mr. Marsden, "and Sophia and Rosa have
retired to their rooms."
"And so must our bride," said Wilfred; "I cannot endure to see her
looking so pale and wan, and with those red marks under her eyes. What
a torment I have been to you all! Mina must rest and get strength for
to-morrow—for her wedding-day," he added.
"Not my wedding-day, if you are ill. I could not leave you thus," said
Mina.
"What! Delay your happiness for me! That would indeed be more than I
could bear. I shall be all right to-morrow," said Wilfred, raising
himself in the bed. "I am only tired and chilled. I shall be at the
wedding, or, if not, John Allfrey can take my place. It would put me
into a fever if any change were made on my account."
Mr. Marsden saw that Wilfred was thoroughly in earnest; and his own
mind being greatly relieved, he readily promised that if his son were
no worse in the morning, no change should be made in the wedding
arrangements. He bade Mina go to rest, gave her his paternal blessing,
but proposed himself to pass the remainder of the night in the chamber
of his boy. Against this latter part of the arrangement, Wilfred
expostulated in vain.