AT LAST!
"And there was light around her brow,
A holiness in those dark eyes,
Which showed, though wandering earthward now,
Her spirit's home was in the skies."
Two years had passed and gone.
It was drawing toward sunset of a clear, bright, breezy day, when a
crowd of people "might have been seen," and were seen, too, hurrying
down to one of the wharves of B----, to watch the arrival of the steamer
from Europe. Throngs of people who had friends on board came trooping
down, and watched with eager eyes the stately vessel as it smoked and
puffed its way, like an apoplectic alderman, to the shore.
Among these lounged a young man, good-looking and fashionably dressed,
and evidently got up regardless of expense. There was a certain air of
self-complacency about him, as he stroked a pair of most desirable
curling whiskers, that said, as plainly as words, he was "somebody," and
knew it. Another young republican, puffing a cigar, stood beside him,
and both were watching, with the careless nonchalance of sovereigns in
their own right, the throng of foreigners that stood on the steamer's
deck.
"A crowd there--rather!" remarked the hero of the cigar, as he
fastidiously held it between his finger and thumb and knocked the ashes
off the end. "Our European brethren have arrived in time to see the
elephant to good advantage. Young America will be out in great force
to-night."
"To cheer the new governor--ye-es," drawled the other, as he, too,
lighted a cigar, and began smoking like a living Vesuvius.
"What a thing it is to be the people's favorite--a man of the people,
that style of thing, you know--isn't it, Curtis?" said the first
speaker.
"I believe you!" said Mr. Curtis, emphatically, for our old friend it
was. "It is the sovereign people's pleasure to go mad about their
favorite just now, and, like spoiled children, they must be humored.
What a thing the mob is, to be sure! They would shout as heartily and
with as good a will if Wildair were to be hung to-night as inaugurated.
Since the days when they shouted 'Crucify Him! crucify Him! Release unto
us Barrabas!' they have remained unchanged."
"I hope you don't mean to insinuate that there is any resemblance
between the Jewish malefactor and the American governor--eh, Curtis?"
said his friend, laughing.
"By no means, Captain Arlingford. Wildair deserves his popularity; he is
a great statesman, a real friend of his admirers, the people, and with
genius enough to steer the whole republic himself. He has fought his way
up; he has fought for equal rights, liberty, fraternity, equality--the
French dodge, you know--and deserves to be what he is, the people's
idol. Never in this good Yankee town was a new governor greeted so
enthusiastically; never did the mob shout themselves hoarse with such a
right good will. By Jove! I envied him to-day, as he stood on the
balcony of the hotel, with his hat off, while the sea of human beings
below shouted and shouted, until they could shout no longer. It was a
reception fit for a king; and never did a king look more kingly and
noble than at that moment of triumph did he."
Captain Arlingford laughed.
"Whew! there's enthusiasm for you! My sober, steady-headed friend, Dick
Curtis, starting off in this manner, and longing for public popularity!
I confess I should like to have witnessed his triumphal entry to-day
though. I have heard that the ladies absolutely buried him alive in the
showers of bouquets from the windows."
"Didn't they!" said Mr. Curtis laughing at the recollection. "As his
secretary, I sat in the carriage with him, and, 'pon my honor, I was
half smothered under the load of fragrant favors. Such a waving of
cambric handkerchiefs, too, and how the crowd doffed their hats and
hurrahed! It excites me even yet to think of it; but there sat Wildair
touching his chapeau, and bowing right and left, 'with that easy grace
that wins all hearts,' to quote our friend and your admirer, Miss
Harper, a little."
"That last bill about the people's rights did the business for him,"
said Captain Arlingford, meditatively; "what a strong case he made out
in their favor, and what an excitement it created! Well, it's a famous
thing to be clever, after all; I knew it was in him, but it might never
have come out so forcibly, had it not been for that loss of his two
years ago. And it appears _she_ is a genius too. To think she should
have painted that blood-chilling picture of Hagar, and found a brother
in that poet, Randall. Don't things turn up strangely, Curtis? I wonder
where she has gone, and if she will ever come back."
"Don't know! Like as not," said Mr. Curtis, sententiously.
"Splendid-looking girl she was, wasn't she, Curtis?" continued
Arlingford, pursuing his own train of thought.
"Magnificent eyes, a step like an empress, and the smile of an angel."
"Come, don't draw it quite so steep, my gallient saileur boy," said
Curtis; "recollect you're speaking of another man's wife, and that man
not a common mortal either, but the Governor of B---- and future
President of these Benighted States. Besides, what would Miss Harper
say?"
"Miss Harper be--hanged!" exclaimed Arlingford, with such impatient
vehemence that Curtis laughed; "that's enough about her. Are you going
to the inauguration ball to-night?"
"Of course--what a question! Do you think they could have a ball fit to
be seen without the presence of the irresistible, the fascinating
Richard Curtis, Esq., to keep it moving? Do you think any lady as is a
lady would enjoy herself if I was absent? Echo answers, 'Of course, they
wouldn't;' so don't harrow my feelings again by such another question."
"Well, I see humanity and vanity are not among your failings. I suppose
all the _elite_ of the city will be there?"
"You had better believe it. The _creme de la creme_ of B----. All the
beauty, and wit, and gallantry of the city, as the newspapers have it. I
have engaged with the editor of the _Sky Rocket_ to write him an account
of the sayings and doings, for a 'consideration,' as the delicate phrase
goes, which, being translated from the original Hebrew, means that he
will puff our party on every occasion and no occasion, and if you don't
see 'among the guests was the gallant young Captain A----, U. S. N., who
paid during the evening the most marked attention to the lovely and
accomplished Miss H----, whom it is whispered he is about to lead to the
hymeneal altar----' Hello! stop that! I say, Arlingford, don't choke a
fellow!"
"Confound you!" said Captain Arlingford, catching him by the collar, and
fairly shaking the cigar out of his mouth; "will you forever continue
harping on that string? I say, let's get out of this; I hate to make one
in a crowd."
"No; wait," said Curtis, laughing and adjusting his ruffled plumage. "I
want to see if there is any one I know on board the steamer; I expect
some friends. Here come the passengers. What a wretched, sea-sick,
sea-green-looking set. The amount of contempt I have for the ocean is
something appalling."
"You had better mind how you express it before me," said Captain
Arlingford, decidedly. "I--but look there, Curtis, at that lady! Oh, ye
gods and little fishes! what a Juno! Eh? how? what? By the Lord Harry,
Curtis!" he exclaimed, springing up excitedly, as the lady in question
turned her face fully toward them; "if ever I saw Mrs. Georgia Wildair
in my life, there she stands!"
"Where? where? where?" fairly shouted Curtis, catching him by the arm,
and staring round in an excitement far surpassing his own. "Where?
which? when?"
"Whither? why? wherefore?" said Arlingford, laughing in spite of his
surprise and excitement. "_There_, man alive! don't you see? That tall
lady in black on the deck beside that intensely foreign-looking young
gentleman. Why, where are your eyes? don't you see?"
"I see! I see! It's she! Hip, hip, hurrah!" shouted Mr. Curtis, waving
his hat, and electrifying the crowd around him, and then, before Captain
Arlingford knew what he was about, he darted off, played in and out
through the crowd, dug his elbows into the ribs of all around him, and
so forced his way aboard the steamer, amid the stifled shrieks and
groans, and curses of his victims.
"That's what you call a summary proceeding," said Captain Arlingford,
laughing; "what a living galvanic battery that fellow is--a
broad-clothed barrel of gunpowder; touch him and off he goes! Well,
here's to follow his example."
So saying, but in a less impetuous manner, he made his way through the
throng to where stood a lady, "beautiful exceedingly," and dressed
entirely in black, after the fashion of the Spanish Creoles, for one of
whom, in her dark, rich beauty, she might easily have been mistaken.
"Mrs. Wildair! Good gracious, Mrs. Wildair, how _do_ you do?" exclaimed
a breathless voice. "To think that you should come this day of all days!
Oh, scissors! Well, I _am_ glad to see you! Upon my word and honor, I
am."
"Mr. Curtis!" exclaimed the lady, with a little cry of surprise and
delight. "Why, what an unexpected pleasure to meet _you_ here! Dear Mr.
Curtis, how glad I am to see you!"
"So am I, just as glad!" said Mr. Curtis, seizing the little hand she
extended, and wringing it until she winced. "Good gracious! to think of
it. How _do_ you do? Well, if it isn't the most unexpected--to think
that you should come home to-day of all days! Good gra---- Hey? what
now?"
A vigorous slap on the shoulder that staggered him, as well it might,
had jerked the last words out of him, and turning fiercely round, he saw
the laughing face of the lady's companion turned toward him.
"Why, Curtis, old fellow, have you a greeting for no one but Georgia?
Come, you have shook her hand long enough; try mine now."
"Randall, my boy, how goes it? Well, I _am_ glad, and no mistake. Good
gracious! what the mischief kept you so long in those barbarous foreign
parts, anyhow?"
"Don't know, really," said Mr. Randall, laughing at his vehemence; "the
time passed almost imperceptibly. But you--what brings you here? I
thought you were in New York."
"Well, I am not, though you mayn't believe it. Hello! Guess who this is,
Mrs. Wildair?"
"Captain Arlingford!" exclaimed Georgia, delightedly, holding out her
hand; then, as the recollections of the past arose, the color mounted
for an instant to her very temples.
"Yes, marm; nothing shorter," said Curtis, rubbing his hands gleefully.
"Je-rusalem! only to think of it! Well, the astonishing way things
_will_ persist in turning up! Just to think of it. Why, it's like a
thing in a play or a novel. Now, isn't it, Arlingford?"
"What! our coming home?" said Randall. "What do you see so extraordinary
about that, Curtis?"
"No, it is not that," said Mr. Curtis, chuckling; "it's the remarkable
coincidence of your coming to-day of all days--not you, but your sister.
There, don't ask me now, everybody's looking--a set of ill-mannered
snipes. Arlingford, run and call a coach, there's a good boy, and I'll
tell Mrs. Wildair all about it. Good gracious! if it isn't the funniest
thing!"
Mr. Curtis' excitement and delight, as he danced up and down, rubbing
his hands and chuckling, were so irresistible that all three, after
watching him an instant, burst into an immoderate fit of laughter, and,
beholding his look of dismayed surprise, laughed until the tears stood
in their eyes.
"Eh! why, what the----what are you laughing at? Don't act so, don't;
everybody's looking, and they'll think you're crazy," said Mr. Curtis,
imploringly. "Wait a minute, I'll call a coach myself--you just hold
on."
Off darted Mr. Curtis, leaving them still laughing and unable to stop,
and ere five minutes he was back, and whipped them off like a living
whirlwind--pushed them into a coach, jumped in after, and banged the
door.
"Dixon's Hotel!" he bawled to the driver, and away they rattled over the
pavement.
"Now we're comfortable," said Mr. Curtis, surveying them complacently,
"and, only for me, you might have stood there all night, for coaches are
in demand, and hardly to be got for love or money. Oh, Jehosaphat! just
to think of it! why it's _droll_!" said Mr. Curtis, thrusting his hands
into his pockets, and, as the absurdity of it struck him for the first
time he leaned back in the carriage, and burst into a peal of laughter
that was perfectly terrific, and from the effect of which he did not
recover until they reached the hotel.
"It's lucky for you, in more ways than one, that you met me," said Mr.
Curtis, as he got out and offered Georgia his arm, "for the city's full,
and you wouldn't have got a room in a hotel from one end of it to the
other--no, not if you went on your two blessed, bended knees and prayed
for it. Here, these rooms were engaged for the governor and his suite,
and this is mine, and is quite at your disposal, Mrs. Wildair."
"But, oh! Mr. Curtis, I cannot think of depriving you----"
"There--not a word! not a word!" said Mr. Curtis, briskly, as he ushered
them into a sumptuously furnished apartment. "I'll camp with somebody
else. And now the very first thing I want you to do is to dress and come
to the ball to-night."
"The ball! What ball?" said Georgia, in surprise.
"Why the inauguration ball, to be sure! Oh, I forgot you did not know.
Well, then, the astonishing news is, that Mr. Richmond Wildair has this
day entered B---- as its governor! Now don't faint, Mrs. Wildair,
because I won't understand your case. And, as usual, there is to be a
ball, and I want you to come and be presented to his excellency the
governor."
Georgia had no intention of fainting. A flush of pride, and triumph, and
delight, lit up her face, and, with the step of a queen, she arose and
paced up and down the room.
"And so he has been elected," said Mr. Randall, thoughtfully. "I knew he
would rise rapidly."
"What says Georgia--will you go?"
"Yes," she said, with a radiant smile.
"Hooray!" exclaimed Mr. Curtis; "Mrs. Wildair, you're a brick! Maybe Mr.
Wildair won't be astonished some, if not more, and a _leetle_ delighted!
It's getting dark fast, and I ought to be off to the executive mansion;
but I'll let etiquette go be hanged for once, and wait for you. You had
better have tea in your own room, Mrs. W.; sha'n't I ring? It will take
you two or three hours to dress, you know--it always does take a lady
that long, I believe. Here, my man, supper for four up here; be spry
now."
It was impossible to be serious and watch Curtis, as he flew round
impetuously, asking a thousand questions in a breath about what they
had seen abroad, and then interrupting them in the middle of the answer
to tell them something about Richmond, that had not the slightest
bearing on the matter.
In his excitement he found it impossible to sit still, but kept flying
round the room, rubbing his hands in an ecstacy of delight, and laughing
uproariously as he thought of the surprise in store for the young
governor. During supper he monopolized the whole conversation himself,
and kept the others in fits of laughter, while his look of innocent
astonishment at their mirth would, as Captain Arlingford said, "make a
horn-bug laugh."
After tea the gentlemen took themselves off to dress, and Georgia's
maid, who had arrived, remained to superintend her mistress' toilet.
Those two years of absence had restored the bright bloom to Georgia's
dark face, but the old flashing light had left her dark eyes, and in its
place was a sweetness, subdued, gentle, and far more lovely. The
haughtily curling lips were tender and placid, the queenly brow calm and
serene, the dark, beautiful face almost seraphic with its look of inward
peace. Oh, far more sweet, and tender, and lovable was the Georgia of
to-day than the haughty, fiery, passionate Georgia of other years! As
she stood before the mirror, in her rich, showy robe of gold-colored
satin, under rare old point lace, with diamonds flashing in rivers of
light around her curving throat, flashing in her small ears, gleaming in
her midnight hair, and glittering and scintillating like sparks of fire
on her rounded arms and small dark fingers, she looked every inch a
princess, a "queen of noble Nature's crowning."
And so thought the gentlemen as they entered, in full dress--in
"glorious array," as Mr. Curtis pompously said--if one might judge by
her brother's look of pride and pleasure, Captain Arlingford's glance of
intense admiration, and Mr. Curtis' burst of rapture.
"Why, you're looking splendid, absolutely splendid, you know; something
quite stunning, Mrs. Wildair! Ah! I should like to be as good-looking as
you. I never saw you looking so well before. Now, did you, Randall?"
"Georgia is looking her best," said Mr. Randall, smiling.
"Looking her best! I guess so! It's astonishing how handsome women can
make themselves when they choose. Now, I might try till I was black in
the face, and still I would be the old two-and-sixpence at the end. I
wish I knew the secret. Suppose we go now; we're behind time three
quarters of an hour as it is. The carriage is waiting, Mrs. Wildair."
"I am quite at your service, Mr. Curtis," said Georgia, flinging a shawl
over her shoulders, and trying to smile, but her heart was throbbing so
rapidly that she leaned against the table for a moment, sick and faint.
Who, when about to meet a dear friend from whom she had been long
separated, does not feel a sort of dread mingling with her pleasure,
lest she should find him changed, altered, cold, different from what she
had known him in other years?
So felt Georgia as she took her seat in the carriage and was whirled as
rapidly as the crowded state of the streets would admit toward the
executive mansion. Her color came and went, now that the crisis was at
hand, and the loud beating of her heart could almost be heard, as she
lay back among the cushions, trembling with excitement and conflicting
emotions.
A gay scene the streets presented that night. Never had a governor
received such an ovation as had this young demi-god of the dear public.
Every house was illuminated from attic to basement; flags were flying;
arches had been erected for him to pass under, as if it were the
reception of a prince. Thousands of gayly dressed people thronged the
pavements, bands were out playing triumphant marches, and an immense
crowd congregated around the governor's house, watching the different
carriages as they passed, bearing their freight of magnificently dressed
ladies on their way to the ball. But not to behold them was the dense
crowd waiting, but to catch a glimpse of the young governor when he
should arrive.
As the carriage conveying our party approached the arched gate-way of
the executive mansion it was stopped, blocked up by a crowd of other
carriages. The people had pressed before, and it was in vain they tried
to get on. Drivers swore, and shouted, and vociferated, the mob laughed
and bandied jokes, gentlemen in commanding tones gave orders that were
either unheard or impossible to be obeyed, and a perfect Babel of
confusion reigned.
"Come, this won't do, you know," said Mr. Curtis, "we must get on
somehow. Here, you fellows," he said, thrusting his head out of the
window, "get out of the way, I want to pass. I'm the governor's
secretary, and must get on."
A derisive laugh from a group near followed, and a voice in the crowd
inquired anxiously whether his mother had many more like him, and also
whether that venerable lady was aware that he was out.
Mr. Curtis showed symptoms of getting into a passion at this, but his
voice was drowned in a cry from a band of loafers near, who shouted:
"We want to see the governor! You won't pass till we see the governor!"
There was a plain dark carriage right in front of them, and now the
glass was let down, and a clear, commanding voice, that rang out above
all the din, calmly said:
"I am the governor! Stand aside, my friends, and let me pass!"
That voice! Georgia half-sprang from her seat, and then fell back.
Such a cry as arose--such a mighty shout, at the voice of their
favorite! The crowd swayed to and fro in their struggles to get near.
The driver whipped up his horses, a passage was cleared, and carriage
after carriage passed on and entered the crowded court-yard.
"Hurrah for Wildair! Hurrah for Wildair! Hurrah! Hurrah! HURRAH for
Wildair!" shouted the crowd, till the welkin rang.
"Hurrah for Richmond Wildair--the MAN OF THE PEOPLE!" exclaimed a loud
voice, and instantly the cry was taken up, and "Hurrah! hurrah! hurrah!"
rang out like the roar of the sea.
And now on the balcony, clearly revealed in the light of myriads of
lamps, stood the kingly form of Richmond Wildair himself, his princely
brow uncovered, his calm, commanding face looking down on them, as a
king might on his subjects.
And then once again arose the mighty shout, "Hurrah for Wildair! Hurrah
for Wildair! Hurrah for the Friend of the People!" until, hoarse with
shouting, the swaying multitude relapsed into silence.
And then, clear, calm, and earnest, arose the commanding voice of their
favorite, as he addressed them.
A dead silence fell on that great crowd the moment his first word was
heard. Short, and well chosen, and to the point, was his speech; and
hats flew off, and again and again the hoarse cheers of his listeners
interrupted him. Having thanked them for the enthusiastic reception they
had given him, he begged them to disperse for the present, and then,
having bowed once more, he retired.
With three times three for the speaker they obeyed, and, save a few who
remained to watch the brilliantly illuminated mansion and listen to the
music of the band, the crowd soon dispersed through the thronged
streets.
"There's popularity for you!" said Mr. Curtis, as with Georgia leaning
on his arm he entered the brilliant ball-room, blazing with lights and
crowded with splendidly attired ladies. "I should admire to see them
cheering me that way. How would it sound, I wonder? Hurrah for Curtis!
That's not bad, is it, Mrs. Wildair?"
She did not reply--she did not hear him. Her eyes were wandering through
the glittering throng in search of one, the "bright, particular star" of
the evening. Yes, there he was, at the upper end of the room, surrounded
by a throng of the most distinguished there, bowing, and shaking hands,
and smiling, and chatting with the ladies. She strove to calm herself
and listen to what her companion was saying, but in vain, until the
mention of Richmond's name attracted her attention.
"I won't bring you over among that crowd," he was saying; "I'll wait
till he's a little disengaged. They'll begin dancing presently, and then
the coast will be clear. Just see how everybody is looking at you and
whispering to one another. I guess they would like to know who you are
just now. Ah! what would you give to know?" said Mr. Curtis, making a
grimace at the crowd.
And now an audible whisper might have been heard among the throng:
"Who is she? oh, who is she?--that beautiful girl with Mr. Curtis. I
never saw her before."
"Nor I. Nor I. Who can she be?" ran around the room. "How _distingue_
she is! how surpassingly beautiful! and how magnificently dressed! Oh, I
must get an introduction. See, he is bringing her up now to present her
to the governor. I'll ask him to introduce me. She is certainly destined
to be the belle of the evening."
Meantime two or three quadrilles had formed, and the group surrounding
the governor had thinned, and he was left as much alone as he was likely
to be during the evening. Leaning against a marble pillar, he stood
talking to a starred and ribboned foreigner, and when Curtis approached
with Georgia, he was so engrossed with the topic they were discussing
that he did not observe him until his voice fell on her ear.
"Mrs. Wildair, your excellency!" said Mr. Curtis, in the most emphatic
of voices, standing right before him.
He started up, staggered back, grew deadly pale, and grasped the marble
pillar for support.
Yes, there before him, radiant in her beauty, with serene brow and calm
smile, stood his long-lost wife--face to face at last!