BLANDISHMENTS.
Lady Cecilia took very good care not to appear at chapel that evening.
She was well aware that common politeness--if no other motive--would
induce the Rev. Reginald Tracy to call on the following day to inquire
after her health.
Accordingly, on the Monday, she took more than usual pains with her
toilet.
Sir Rupert Harborough had departed with his "splendid friend" Chichester
for the Continent; and she was completely her own mistress. She had no
one to interfere with her plans or pursuits, for her lady's maid was
entirely devoted to her interests. However others suffered or waited in
respect to pecuniary matters, Sarah--the aforesaid lady's maid, or
_cameriste_--was always well and regularly paid.
It was by no means an uninteresting scene to behold the attention and
zeal with which Sarah seconded her mistress's determination to make the
most of her charms upon the present occasion.
Lady Cecilia was seated near her toilet-table, with a little gilt-edged
oval-shaped mirror in her hands, which reposed in her lap; and Sarah was
engaged in arranging the really beautiful hair of her mistress.
"What o'clock is it, Sarah?" inquired Lady Cecilia, casting a complacent
glance at herself in the large looking-glass upon her toilet-table.
"It must be nearly one, my lady," was the reply.
"Then you have no time to lose, Sarah. The ringlets are quite divine;
pray take equal pains with the back-hair. Do you think that I look
better in ringlets or in bands?"
"In ringlets, my lady."
"And if I had my hair in bands, and asked you the same question, you
would reply, '_In bands_.'"
"Your ladyship cannot think that I am so insincere," said the
_cameriste_.
"Do you fancy me in this dress, Sarah?" asked the lady, heedless of her
domestic's observation.
"I prefer the blue watered-silk," was the answer.
"Then why did you not recommend it in the first instance?"
"Your ladyship never required my advice."
"True. Have you finished?"
"No hairdresser from Bond Street, or the Burlington Arcade, could have
performed his task better, my lady," replied Sarah.
"Yes--it is very well--very well, indeed," said Cecilia, surveying
herself in the mirror. "I will now descend to the drawing-room."
When she reached that apartment, the artful woman spread on the table a
few books on serious subjects; she then amused herself with a volume of
a new novel.
The clock had just struck two, when a double-knock was heard at the
front-door.
Lady Cecilia thrust the novel under the cushion of the sofa, and took up
"Sturm's Reflections."
The Rev. Mr. Tracy was announced.
Lady Cecilia rose and received him with a charming languor of manner.
"I have called to satisfy myself that your ladyship has recovered from
the indisposition of yesterday," said the rector.
"Not altogether," answered Cecilia. "Indeed, after I returned home,
yesterday, I experienced a relapse."
"I observed that you were not at chapel in the evening, and I feared
that such might be the case."
It was with difficulty that Lady Cecilia could suppress a smile of joy
and triumph as this ingenuous and unsophisticated announcement met her
ears. He had thought of her! he had noticed her absence!
"I can assure you that nothing save indisposition could have induced me
to remain away from a place where one gathers so much matter for useful
and serious meditation," answered the lady.
"And yet the world generally forgets the doctrines which are enunciated
from the pulpit, an hour after their delivery," observed Reginald.
"Yes--when they are doled forth by ministers who have neither talent nor
eloquence to make a profound impression," said Cecilia, artfully
conveying a compliment without appearing to mean one at the moment. "I
believe that our churches would be much better frequented, were the
clergy less dogmatic, less obscure; and did they address themselves more
to the hearts of their hearers than they do."
"I believe it is necessary to appeal to the heart, and not be satisfied
with merely reaching the ears," said the rector, modestly.
[Illustration]
"And wherever the pastor possesses the rare talent of moving the
feeling,--of exciting the mind to salutary reflection, as well as merely
expounding points of doctrine,--thither will the multitude flock, high
and low, rich and poor. Oh!" exclaimed Cecilia, as if carried away by
the enthusiasm of the subject, "how grand--how noble a situation does
that man occupy, who, by the magic of his voice and the power of his
mind, can collect the thousands around his pulpit! I can understand how
an impression may be easily made upon the half-educated or totally
ignorant classes of society: but to cast a spell upon the intelligent,
the well-informed, and the erudite,--to congregate the aristocracy of
the realm to listen to the words that flow from his mouth,--oh! great,
indeed, must be the influence of such a man!"
"You consider, then, Lady Cecilia, that the upper classes need powerful
inducements to attend to the truths of religion?" said Reginald,
irresistibly charmed by the witching eloquence that had marked the
language of the beautiful woman in whose society he found himself.
"I consider--but, if I tell you my thoughts," said Cecilia, suddenly
checking herself, "I shall unavoidably pay a high compliment to you; and
that neither----"
"Let me hear your ladyship's sentiments in any case," said the
clergyman, fearful of losing those honied words which produced upon him
an impression such as he had never experienced in his life before.
"I believe," continued Cecilia, "that the upper classes in this country
are very irreligious. I do not say that they are infidels: no--they all
cherish a profound conviction of the truths of the gospel. But their
mode of life--their indolent and luxurious habits, militate against a
due regard to religious ceremonials. How is it, then, that they are
aroused from their apathy? They hear of some great preacher, and
curiosity in the first instance prompts them to visit the place of his
ministry. They go--almost as they would repair to see a new play. But
when they listen to his words--when they drink, in spite of themselves,
large draughts of the fervour which animates _him_--when he appeals to
their hearts, then they begin to perceive that there is something more
in religion than an observance of a cold ceremonial; and they go home
'_to reflect_!'"
"You believe that to be the case?" said the rector, delighted at this
description of an influence and an effect which he could not do
otherwise than know to be associated with his own ministry.
"I feel convinced that such is the fact," answered Lady Cecilia; then,
lowering her tone in a mysterious manner, and leaning towards him, she
added, "Many of my friends have confessed that such has been the case in
respect to their attendance at your chapel--and such was the case with
myself!"
"With you, Lady Cecilia?" exclaimed the clergyman, vainly endeavouring
to conceal the triumph which he experienced at this announcement.
"Yes, with me," continued the artful woman. "For, to be candid with you,
Mr. Tracy, I need consolation of some kind--and the solace of religion
is the most natural and the most effective. My domestic life," she
proceeded, in a deeply pathetic tone, "is far from a happy one. Sir
Rupert thinks more of his own pleasures than of his wife;--he does more
than neglect me--he abandons me for weeks and weeks together."
She put her handkerchief to her eyes.
Mr. Tracy drew his chair closer to the sofa on which she was seated: it
was only a mechanical movement on his part--the movement of one who
draws nearer as the conversation becomes more confidential.
"But why should I intrude my sorrows upon you?" suddenly exclaimed
Cecilia. "And yet if it be not to the minister of religion to whom we
poor creatures must unburden our woes, where else can we seek for
consolation? from what other source can we hope to receive lessons of
resignation and patience?"
"True," said the rector. "And that has often appeared to me the best and
redeeming feature in the Roman Catholic world, where the individual
places reliance upon his priest, and looks to him for spiritual support
and aid."
"Ah! would that our creed permitted us the same privilege!" said Lady
Cecilia, with great apparent enthusiasm.
"I know of no rule nor law which forbids the exercise of such a
privilege," said Reginald; "unless, indeed, usage and custom be
predominant, and will admit of no exceptions."
"For my part, I despise such customs and usages, when they tend to the
exclusion of those delightful outpourings of confidence which the
individual pants to breathe into the ears of the pastor in whom implicit
faith can be placed. In how many cases could the good clergyman advise
his parishioners, to the maintenance of their domestic comfort? how many
heart-burnings in families would not such a minister be enabled to
soothe? Oh! sir, I feel that your eloquence could teach me how to bear,
unrepiningly, and even cheerfully, all the sorrows of my own domestic
hearth!"
"Then look upon me as a friend, my dear Lady Cecilia," said the
clergyman, drawing his chair a little closer still: "look upon me as a
friend; and happy indeed shall I be if my humble agency or advice can
contribute to smooth the path of life for even only one individual!"
"Mr. Tracy, I accept your preferred friendship--I accept it as sincerely
as it is offered," exclaimed Lady Cecilia; and she extended her hand
towards him.
He took it. It was soft and warm, and it gently pressed his. He returned
the pressure:--was it not the token, the pledge of friendship? He
thought so--and he meant no harm.
But again did the contact of that soft and warm hand awake within his
breast a flame till then unknown; and his cheeks flushed, and his eyes
met those of the fair--the fascinating creature, who craved his
friendship!
"Henceforth," said Cecilia, who now saw that her intrigue was
progressing towards a complete triumph--even more rapidly than she had
ever anticipated--"henceforth you will have no votary more constant in
attendance than I; but, on your part, you must occasionally spare from
your valuable time a single half hour wherein to impart to me the
consolations I so much require."
"Be not afraid, Lady Cecilia," said the rector, who now felt himself
attracted towards that woman by a spell of irresistible influence: "I
shall not forget that you have ingenuously and frankly sought my
spiritual aid; and I should be false to the holy cause in which I have
embarked, were I to withhold it."
"I thank you--deeply, sincerely thank you," exclaimed Cecilia. "But
judge for yourself whether I do not seek solace, in my domestic
afflictions, from the proper source! This is the book which I was
reading when you called."
Cecilia took up Sturm's "Reflections," and opened the book at random.
"There," she said; "it was this page which I was perusing."
She held the book in her hands as she reclined, rather than sate, upon
the sofa; and the clergyman was compelled to lean over her to obtain a
glimpse of the page to which she pointed.
His hair touched hers: she did not move her head. Their faces were close
to each other. But not an impure thought entered his soul: still he was
again excited by that thrilling sensation which came over him whenever
he touched her.
She affected not to perceive that their hair commingled, but pointed to
the page, and expatiated upon its contents.
In a moment of abstraction, for which he could not account, and against
the influence of which he was not proof, Reginald Tracy's eyes wandered
from the book to the form which reclined, beneath his glance, as it
were, upon the sofa. That glance swept the well-proportioned undulations
of the slight but charming figure which was voluptuously stretched upon
the cushions.
Suddenly Cecilia left off speaking, and turned her eyes upward to his
countenance. Their glances met; and Reginald did not immediately avert
his head. There was something in the depths of those melting blue orbs
which fascinated him.
Still he suspected not his extreme danger; and when he rose to depart,
it was simply because he felt like a man flushed with wine, and who
requires air.
He took his leave; and Cecilia reminded him that she should expect to
see him soon again.
Can there be a doubt as to his answer?
When he regarded his watch, on reaching the street, he was astounded to
perceive that two hours had slipped away since he entered the house.
And a deep flush suddenly overspread his countenance as he beheld the
viper-like eyes of a hideous old hag, who was standing near the steps of
the front-door, fixed upon him with a leer which for an instant struck a
chill to his heart by its ominous and yet dim significancy.