UNCLE DICK.
The day was drawing to a close. The children's lessons were over,
the last I was to hear. Their books were piled away awaiting the
arrival of my successor, and at my request I was left in the
schoolroom alone--alone with my grief, which was indeed bitter and
hard to bear, for I knew that injustice had been done me, and most
keenly I felt the mortification of returning home in disgrace. Very
beautiful to me seemed that fair south land of which I had dreamed so
oft, and I felt that I could not leave it.
Through the open window I heard the shouts of the children, but I did
not heed them, nor observe that throughout the entire house there
seemed to be an unusual commotion. An hour went by, and then in the
hall I heard the voice of Jessie, and the words she uttered sent an
electric thrill through my nerves, and brought me to my feet, for
they were, "Come this way, Uncle Dick. I reckon she's in the
schoolroom."
The next moment he stood before me, the _dark man_, scanning me
curiously, but still without anything like rudeness in his gaze.
"Uncle Dick's come. This is him," said Jessie, leading him towards
the spot where I stood.
A bright beautiful smile broke over his strongly marked features, and
I felt as if a gleam of sunlight had shone for an instant over my
pathway. Taking my hand in his, he bade Jessie leave us, as he
wished to see me alone. She started to obey, but ere she reached the
door, she turned back and asking him to stoop down, whispered in his
ear, loudly enough for me to hear, "I want you to like her."
"Of course I shall," he replied, and again that smile broke over his
face.
I did not expect him to recognize me, for with the exception of the
night at the theater he had never fairly seen my features, and still
I was conscious of a feeling of disappointment when I saw that he
evidently had no suspicion of ever having met me before. When I
spoke, however, and he heard the sound of my voice, he started and
looked me more fully in the face; but whatever his thoughts might
have been, he seemed to be satisfied that he was mistaken, and
seating himself at my side, he commenced conversing with me as
familiarly as if he had known me all my life. Gradually our
conversation turned upon looks, and ere I was aware of it I passed
through what I now know to have been a pretty thorough examination of
all the branches which Mrs. Lansing had wished me to teach, but so
adroitly was the whole thing managed that it seemed like a quiet,
pleasant talk, though I did wonder at his asking so many questions.
French was the last subject discussed, and here I was at fault, for
my pronunciation I well knew was bad, although Mr. Delafield, who was
himself a fine French scholar, told me it was quite as good as the
majority of the Americans who had neither lived in Paris, nor had the
advantage of a native teacher.
"You play, I believe. I would like to hear you," he said at last,
laying his hand on my shoulder, as if he would lead me to the parlor.
Instantly the blood rushed to my face, for since the night of my
disgrace I had not touched the piano, neither did I wish to again.
So I tried to excuse myself, and when he insisted, I finally said,
with my eyes full of tears, "Please excuse me, sir, for I can't play.
I failed before your sister, and I shall do the same before you."
"No you won't," he replied, at the same time drawing my arm within
his and leading me towards the door. "You have nothing to fear, Miss
Lee, and if you acquit yourself half as creditably here as you have
elsewhere, I shall be satisfied."
A faint perception of the truth began to dawn upon me, and I looked
up at him so earnestly that he stopped and smiling down upon me,
said, "You have taught a district school in New England, I believe?"
"Yes, sir," I answered.
"And you were examined, of course?"
"Yes, sir, and got a certificate, too," I said eagerly.
"I presume you did," he continued, "and if necessary I can give you
another, for I have been doing nothing more or less than trying to
find out how much you know. As I have before hinted, I am perfectly
satisfied, and unless you leave from choice, you will remain at Cedar
Grove."
He spoke as one having full authority to do as he pleased, and I
instinctively felt that though nominally Mrs. Lansing was mistress
there, he, in reality, was the leader, the head, whose bidding every
one obeyed. The change from utter despondency to almost perfect
happiness was too great, and withdrawing my hand from his arm, I sat
down upon the stairs and cried like a child, while he stood, looking
down upon me and thinking, I dare say, that I was a very foolish
girl. At last, when I thought his patience was nearly exhausted, I
wiped my eyes, and starting up, said, "You have made me very happy,
Mr. Delafield, for I could not have borne the disgrace of being sent
home as incompetent. I can play for you now, or for Mrs. Lansing
either."
And the result proved that I was right, for I exceeded my own
expectations, and was astonished at myself.
"Angeline," said he, in a slightly commanding voice, as that lady
looked curiously in at the door, "Angeline, come here;" and she
crossed over to his side, where he detained her by placing his arm
around her waist.
For a moment then I wavered, for though I could not fee, I could feel
the haughty gaze of the large black eyes, which I knew were bent upon
me.
"You have done well, Miss Lee," he said, when at last I arose from
the instrument, at the same time playfully touching my cheeks, which
were burning with feverish excitement.
That night, after I had retired to my room, Halbert and Jessie came
to the door, requesting permission to come in. I admitted them, when
Jessie, jumping into my lap, said, "Oh, I'm so glad you are going to
stay. Hal says so."
"Yes," put in Hal, "Uncle Dick told me that you mustn't be sent away,
for you were a heap better scholar than she had represented you to
be."
"Perhaps it will not be as Mr. Delafield says," I remarked; and Hal
quickly rejoined, "Yes, it will; ma does just what he tells her to
do; and then, too, he pays the governess, for I heard him say so, and
he told her if you were dismissed 'twas the last one he'd hire. And
he said she must treat you better than she did Miss Rawson, for you
were very young, and little things hurt your feelings, and when Ada
came home, she mustn't domineer over you, for he wouldn't allow it.
Oh, I like Uncle Dick. Don't you?"
The moonlight was streaming across the floor, but it did not reveal
the blush which deepened on my cheek as I faintly answered "Yes,"
bidding him at the same time not to tell of it, for I began to feel
afraid of the boy's loquacity. That night I dreamed of "Uncle Dick,"
whose name was the last which sounded in my ears when I fell asleep,
and the first of which I thought when I awoke in the morning. As I
was dressing, I heard little Jessie on the piazza, singing in her
childish way, "_I_ love _Un_cle Dick, I do, and _so_ does _Hal_, and
_so_ does _Mis_-ses Lee!"
"Who told you _that_, Pussy?" asked a voice which I recognized as Mr.
Delafield's, and very nervously I listened for Jessie's answer, which
was, "Oh, I know she does. Hal asked her didn't she like you, and
she said she did."
"Rather early to avow a preference, I think. I shouldn't wonder if a
Miss Rawson performance were ot be enacted a second time," said
another voice, which I knew to be that of Mrs. Lansing, who had
joined her brother upon the piazza.
"Angeline," said Mr. Delafield, somewhat sternly, "don't be foolish.
If Halbert asked Miss Lee if she liked me, wasn't it the most natural
thing in the world for her to say 'Yes.' I do wish you'd rid
yourself of the impression that every girl who looks at me is in love
with me, or that I am in love with every lady to whom I choose to be
polite."
"Do you think Miss Lee pretty?" asked Mrs. Lansing, without paying
any attention to his last remark.
Up to this point I could not well help overhearing their
conversation, for I was arranging my hair before the mirror which
stood near the window; but now there was no longer any necessity for
my remaining there, and I resolutely walked away, though I would have
given much to have heard his answer. He had gone home when I went
down to the breakfast-room, where I found Mrs. Lansing, who greeted
me rather coldly, and appeared slightly embarrassed. I had purposely
donned my traveling dress, for though Mr. Delafield had said I was to
stay, I felt that she too must do the same ere I had a right to
remain. The sight of my dress seemed to annoy her, for it brought to
her cheeks two bright red spots which grew deeper all the while we
were at breakfast. When it was over, and the children had gone out,
I very composedly asked her "how long before the stage would call for
me."
Turning her flashing black eyes upon me, she said, "Do you mean to
insult me, Miss Lee? The stage has been gone an hour. I supposed
you knew you were to remain."
"Mr. Delafield intimated as much," I answered; "but my engagement was
with _you_, not _him_, and until I hear from you that I am expected
to stay, I do not of course feel at liberty to do so."
She brightened up perceptibly, and after saying something about
Richard's meddling in _her_ affairs, replied, "I presume you were
embarrassed when you first came, and so could not appear to
advantage; and as my brother thinks you are a tolerably fair scholar,
I have decided to keep you."
I bowed in acquiescence, and she continued: "There is something,
however, which I must first say to you; but as this is not the proper
place, you will go with me to my room."
I complied with her request, and closing the door, she began with a
long preamble as to the proper way for a young lady to conduct
herself in the presence of gentlemen, especially those who were every
way her superiors. "For instance," said she, "there's my brother
Richard, who is rather noted for his familiar, affectionate manner
towards the ladies. As long as he confines himself to his equals I
do not so much mind it, but when he lavishes his attentions upon my
governesses, I think it wrong, for he might, you know, raise hopes
which of course could never be realized. Now, Miss Rawson was a very
silly girl who thought herself beautiful, and ere I was aware of it
she was deeply in love with Richard. Of course, he cared nothing for
her, even if he did play with and caress her. It is his way, and he
means nothing by it. Then, too, Miss Rawson _was_ rather handsome,
and Richard has always been a passionate admirer of beauty. He used
to say, when he was younger, that he never could love a woman who was
not beautiful, and I've sometimes thought that the sight of a pretty
face completely upset him. For this reason I prefer having a
plain-looking governess. Miss Rawson was far too pretty, and after
my trouble with her I determined to employ none but ugly ones. This
is why I wrote to you concerning your personal appearance, which is,
I am sorry to say, so much more prepossessing than I had reason to
suppose. Still I do not apprehend any difficulty, provided you are
always reserved and distant in Richard's presence, and decline any
attentions he may occasionally offer you. Miss Montrose, of whom you
have heard us speak, will probably be home this summer, and then his
time will be occupied with her. I do not think he will ever marry
any one, but if he does, it will undoubtedly be Ada. I won't detain
you longer," she added, as she saw me try to suppress a yawn; "I
won't detain you any longer than to warn you once more against being
as silly as Miss Rawson was--the foolish thing--only think of it, my
governess in love with my brother, and _he_ a _Delafield_?"
It _was_ very absurd, I thought; and mentally resolving not to fall
into a like error, I repaired to the schoolroom, where in due time I
was joined by the children, little Jessie bringing me a beautiful
bouquet, which she said "Uncle Dick had arranged for me."
Feeling anxious to please Mrs. Lansing, my first impulse was to send
the flowers back, but upon second thoughts, I concluded that this
would not come under the head of "attentions," and so all the morning
they stood in the tiny vase, which Halbert brought to hold them, all
except one rosebud which Jessie selected from the group, and twined
among my curls. This at the dinner-table attracted the watchful eye
of my employer, who, without any apparent motive, casually remarked
upon its beauty, saying, "It looked like a species of rose which grew
in her brother's garden," and adding that "she did not know as there
were any of that kind on her grounds."
I blushed crimson, while Jessie answered, "It didn't grow here.
_Uncle Dick_ brought it to her with a heap more."
Casting upon me a frowning glance, Mrs. Lansing said, "Seems to me
you have forgotten the conditions on which I kept you."
This was the first I had heard of _conditions_; but so anxious was I
to retain my situation, that I resolved to please her at all hazards,
and stammering out that "Jessie put it in my hair," I tore it from
among my curls and threw it upon the floor. Then, as soon as dinner
was over, I went up to the schoolroom, and removing the bouquet from
the vase, threw that too, from the window. Very wonderingly, little
Jessie looked up in my face, asking "why I did it," and if "I didn't
love flowers."
"Very, very much," I answered; "but your mother don't want me to keep
them."
That afternoon he came to visit us "officially," he said, and when I
saw his winning manner, and how much of sunshine he brought with him,
I did not wonder that one as susceptible as Miss Rawson was
represented to be, should have fallen in love with him. But with me
it was different. _I_ had been warned against his pleasant,
affectionate ways; and so, when in conversing with me and Lina, he
threw his arm around her waist and laid his hand carelessly upon my
shoulder, I moved quickly away, while I was sensible of a deepening
flush upon my face. He seemed puzzled, and for an instant looked
inquiringly at me, as if to ask a reason for my conduct. He was
showing Lina a book of engravings, and after a while called me to
look at a picture which he thought was particularly fine. I complied
with his request, and wishing to see more, took a seat at his side,
when either purposely, or from force of habit, he threw his arm
across the back of my chair. The action reminded me of Dr. Clayton,
and I was feeling somewhat annoyed, when looking up I met the haughty
eyes of Mrs. Lansing, who was passing the door, and had stopped to
look in. This of course embarrassed me, and hardly knowing what I
did, I said rather angrily, "You will oblige me, Mr. Delafield, by
taking your arm from my chair. It does not look well."
"Certainly," said he, instantly removing it; "I was not before aware
that it was there," and a very peculiar smile was perceptible about
his mouth, as he, too, caught sight of his sister, who, with an
approving nod for me, passed on.
I could have cried with vexation, for I feared he would think me very
prudish, and I knew well enough that his familiarity was only the
promptings of an unusually kind and affectionate nature. After
staying a few moments longer, he arose to go, saying as he turned
towards me, "Jessie gave you my flowers, I suppose."
"Yes, sir," I replied, while my face again grew scarlet. "They were
beautiful, and I thank you very much."
"I am glad to hear it," he continued, looking me steadily in my eyes.
"I thought perhaps, you did not like them when I found them on the
walk, withered and dried by the sun."
I was trying to think what to say by way of apology for thus treating
his gift, when little Jessie came to my relief, by saying, "She
didn't like to throw 'em away, but ma didn't want her to keep 'em."
"Ah, yes. I understand it now," said he, adding in an undertone, as
he shook my hand, in accordance with the southern custom of bidding
good-by: "I hope, Miss Lee, you will exercise your own judgment in
such trivial matters as that."
That night I cried myself to sleep, half wishing I had never come to
Cedar Grove, for I knew Mrs. Lansing would prove an exacting,
unreasonable mistress; and when, Ada came home, my situation, I
thought, would be anything but agreeable; while, worse than all the
rest, was the fear that I had displeased Mr. Delafield, and appeared
very ridiculous in his eyes. Supposing he had put his arm on my
chair, was that any reason why I should get angry and speak to him as
I did? It was his way, and as he had said, he was not himself aware
of what he was doing. Of course, then, he would think me very
foolish, and would ever after treat me with coolness and
indifference. How then was I surprised, when the next morning, in
the presence of his sister, he handed me a much larger and handsomer
bouquet than the one of the preceding day, saying, as he did so, "I
want you to keep this and not throw it away, as you did my other one."
Mrs. Lansing's face, which had been unusually placid and serene, now
looked cloudy and disturbed; but she said nothing; neither did she
ever again make any allusion to the flowers which so frequently came
to me from Sunny Bank. One reason for this might have been that she
was otherwise perfectly satisfied with the conduct of her brother,
which, by the way, was _not_ wholly satisfactory to me! It is true,
he was very polite, very kind; but there was about him a reserve
which I could not understand, for after that little affair in the
schoolroom, he never treated me with the same familiarity which
marked his deportment towards the other young ladies, who came to the
house. He did not like me, I said, and the thought that I was
disagreeable to _him_ made me very unhappy. To be sure, he was
almost constantly at Cedar Grove, where he spent most of the time in
the schoolroom, "superintending us," he told his sister, who,
believing me rather inefficient, made no objection to his supposed
supervision of Lina's studies. He did not often talk much to me, but
I frequently met the earnest gaze of his piercing dark eyes,
particularly when little Jessie sat in my lap, listening to my
instructions; and once when Herbert asked him for "a
copy,"--something beginning with "R," he wrote "Rosa Lee, Meadow
Brook, Massachusetts." Still he disliked me--I was sure of that; and
though I did not then know why it was, the impression that I was to
him an object of aversion made me unhappy, and almost every day I
cried, while Mrs. Lansing more than once told me that "she did not
believe the South agreed with me, for I was not half so _plump_ and
rosy as when I first came."
About this time, too, a Miss Dean, from the village, who had evinced
quite a liking for me, told me, confidentially, that Mr. Delafield
and Ada were certainly engaged; adding, that "it was sometimes
sickening to see them together"--a fact I could not doubt, knowing
him as I did, and remembering Ada's demeanor towards Herbert when
they were engaged. From the same source, too, I learned that Mr.
Montrose and the elder Mr. Delafield had been warm friends; and that
the latter, who died when both Mrs. Lansing and Richard were quite
young, had committed them to the care of Mr. Montrose, who was to
them the kindest of fathers until the time of his death, which
occurred a few years after Mrs. Lansing's marriage, when Richard was
just of age. To _his_ guardianship, therefore, as to that of a
brother, had Mr. Montrose left his daughter, then a beautiful girl of
seventeen; and since that time she had lived with Mrs. Lansing, who,
though she appeared to love the young orphan, still opposed her
marriage with her brother; not from any aversion to Ada, but because
she did not wish Richard to marry at all, as in case he did not, his
property would, in all probability, fall to her children, she being
the only heir. When I asked her why Mr. Delafield was worth so much
more than Mrs. Lansing, she replied, that the elder Mr. Delafield, in
his will, had left two-thirds of his property to his son, bequeathing
the other third to his daughter, whose husband had wasted nearly the
whole in his extravagant manner of living. Cedar Grove, too, she
said, was mortgaged to Richard for more than it was worth, and it was
wholly owing to his forbearance and extreme generosity that Mrs.
Lansing was enabled to support her present style of living. This,
she said, aside from Mrs. Lansing's hope that her children would one
day inherit her brother's wealth, was a sufficient reason why she
wished him to remain a bachelor, as the presence of a wife at Sunny
Bank would, in all probability, lessen his liberality towards
herself. Miss Dean, who seemed to be well posted, also told me that,
in case Mrs. Lansing saw her brother was determined to marry, she
would, of course, prefer that he should marry Ada, who was quite a
favorite, inasmuch as she had money of her own, and was connected
with one of the first families in South Carolina.
All this I believed, and when I saw how anxious Mrs. Lansing appeared
for Ada's return, and how much interest Mr. Delafield, too, seemed to
take in her, I felt sure that matters were at last amicably arranged,
and that, for once, rumor was right in saying that Sunny Bank would,
in the autumn, be graced by the presence of a mistress. Latterly,
Mr. Delafield had been making some repairs, and only a few days
before, when I chanced to be there with Jessie, he had taken me
through his library into a little, pleasant, airy room, which he was
fitting up with great elegance.
"This," said he, laughingly, "I design as the boudoir of _Mrs.
Delafield_, when I shall be fortunate enough to boast such an
appendage to my household; and as a woman's taste is supposed to be
superior to that of men, I want your opinion. How do you like it?
Do you think it would suit _my wife_, if I had one?"
Of course he meant _Ada_, and in fancy I saw her reclining upon the
luxurious lounges, or gazing out upon the vine-wreathed piazza, and
wealth of flowers, which greeted my view when I looked from the large
bay window. For an instant I dared not trust my voice to speak, and
when at last I did so, I am sure it must have trembled, for he came
to my side and looked me earnestly in the face, while he smiled at my
answer.
"It ought to suit her, unless her home heretofore has been Paradise."
After that I had not the least doubt of his engagement with Ada, and
I began seriously to think of going back to Meadow Brook to take
charge of a select school, which was about to be opened there. I had
now been in Georgia about four months, and one night I went down to
the pleasant summer-house at the foot of the garden. It was a
beautiful moonlight night and the air was almost oppressive with the
sweet fragrance of the flowers. Why I went there I hardly know, only
I fancied I could better make up my mind as to my future course, if I
were alone and in the open air. "Nobody likes me here," I said to
myself, as I took a seat within the arbor, "nobody but Halbert and
Jessie. Mrs. Lansing is freaky and cross, Lina, selfish and
indifferent, while Mr. Delafield thinks only of Ada's return, which I
so much dread, and to be rid of meeting her I will go home before she
comes." So I decided that on the morrow, I would make known my
determination to Mrs. Lansing, who I fancied would be glad, while Mr.
Delafield would not be affected either way. _I_ was nothing to
_him_--_he_ was nothing to _me_--so I reasoned, and then I made plans
for the future, just as other maidens of eighteen have done, when
their heart was aching with a heavy pain, whose cause they did not
understand. I should never marry--_that_ was a settled point--I
should teach school all my days, and by the time I was twenty-five
(it seemed a great way off then) I should have a school of my own,
"LEE SEMINARY" I would call it, and I had just completed the
arrangement of the grounds, which somehow bore a strong resemblance
to those of Sunny Bank, when I was roused from my reverie by the
sound of a footstep, and in a moment Mr. Delafield stood at the
entrance of the summer-house. He evidently did not expect to find me
there, for he started back at first, and then, hoping he did not
intrude, came to my side, saying, "A penny for your thoughts, Miss
Lee, provided they are not as gloomy as your face would indicate."
"You can have them for nothing," I returned, elevating my eyebrows,
and drawing down the corners of my mouth as if I felt that in some
way he had injured me.
"You are _blue_ to-night, and have been so for several days. What is
the matter?" he asked, at the same time throwing his arm around my
waist with his olden familiarity."
Quickly remembering himself, however, he withdrew it, saying as he
did so, "I beg your pardon, Miss Lee. I am so in the habit of taking
such liberties, that I forgot myself!" and he moved off a little
distance. I could have cried with vexation, for though it might have
been, improper, I was perfectly willing to sit there with his arm
around me! It might have dispelled all idea of the "LEE SEMINARY" of
which I was to be Principal! But he gave me no such opportunity, and
folding his arms as if to keep them in their place, he continued,
"But tell me, Miss Lee, what _is_ the matter. You do not seem
yourself?"
It was perfectly proper for me to tell him, I thought, and very
deliberately I unfolded to him my plan of returning home within a
week, if Mrs. Lansing were willing, which I was sure she would be, as
she had never been quite satisfied with my acquirements. When I had
finished speaking, I turned towards him, not to see what effect my
words had produced, for I had not the most remote idea that he would
care. Great then was my surprise, when I saw the blank expression of
his face, which looked darker than ever. Starting up, he walked two
or three times rapidly across the little arbor, and then resuming his
seat, said gently, "Have you been unhappy here, Miss Lee?"
I could hardly repress my tears as I told him how much I liked the
south land, and how I should hate to leave it.
"Why then do you do so?" he asked; and I answered "I can do more good
at home; nobody likes me here."
He came nearer to my side, as he said, "Nobody likes you! oh, Rose,
there is _one_ at least who more than likes"----
It was the first time he had ever called me Rose, and it thrilled me
with an indefinable emotion; but so impressed was I with the idea of
his engagement with Ada, that I never dreamed of interpreting his
words, as I now think he meant I should; and ere he could say more, I
interrupted him with, "Yes--little Jessie loves me, I know, and when
I think of her, I would fain stay."
Still nearer to me he came, as he said, "And think you Jessie is the
only one who loves you?"
If ever Mrs. Lansing's belief that I was _non compos mentis_ was
verified, it was then; for with the utmost stupidity I answered,
"Why, no; _Halbert_ likes me, but both he and Jessie will forget me
when I am gone, and learn to love another."
I think he was quite disgusted; for with a slight gesture of
impatience he changed his manner, and in a very businesslike way
began to reason the case with me, urging a great many reasons why I
should not leave; the most potent one with me, being the fact that
_he_ wanted me to stay--"he would miss me very much," he said, "for
he liked my society--it was a pleasure to talk with me, for he was
sure I meant what I said; I was natural--truthful--so different from
most of the young ladies (of course he excepted Ada), and then, too,
it seemed as if he had known me always, or at least, had met me
before, for my voice was familiar."
I could not tell him of our meeting in Boston, but I saw no harm in
reminding him of the night, when for a few hours I was his
traveling-companion, and so to his last remark, I answered, "We have
met before, in the cars between Attica and Albany."
In some surprise he looked earnestly at me a moment, and then said,
"Is it possible? Why have you never mentioned it before?"
"Because, sir," I replied, "I did not suppose you would remember me."
He appeared thoughtful for a time, and then again, looking closely at
me, said, "I did not, I believe, get a glimpse of your features then,
and still it seems as if I had seen them before--or something like
them. At all events, I sometimes dream of a childish face, which
must resemble you as you were a few years ago."
Once I half determined to remind him of the little girl who fainted
at the theater; but ere I did so, he continued. "When I met you in
the cars, if I mistake not, you spoke of Miss Montrose. Did you ever
see her? but of course not," he added, ere I had time to reply. I
cannot tell why I shrank from acknowledging my slight acquaintance
with Ada, but I did, and for a moment I said nothing; then thinking
it would be wrong to give him a false impression, I said, "I can
hardly say that I am acquainted with Miss Montrose; but I have met
her several times at my uncle's in Boston, where I spent the winter,
four years ago."
Again he bent forward as if to scan my face, while he replied,
"Indeed! Were you in Boston then? It is strange Ada never spoke of
you, or you of her before. Was there a misunderstanding between you?"
"Oh, no," I answered quickly; "she was a fashionable young lady, and
I a mere schoolgirl; so, of course, we knew but little of each other."
"What was your uncle's name?" he inquired; and I answered "Lee,"
noticing the while, how the shadow which had settled upon his face at
the mention of Boston, passed gradually away.
For a moment he was silent, and then rather abruptly, he asked, "Did
you like her?"
I remembered the time when Dr. Clayton had asked me a similar
question concerning Dell Thompson, and now, as then, I answered
evasively, that "I hardly knew her--she was very beautiful and
accomplished."
Here he interrupted me by saying, "I did not ask if you thought her
_beautiful_. I asked if you liked her."
I felt a little annoyed, for I thought he had no right thus to
question me, and forgetting that she was to be his wife, I replied,
"_No, sir, I did not like her_. Neither do I think she liked me, or
my sister who was with me; and this is one reason why I wish to leave
before her return."
I supposed he would be offended at hearing me speak thus of her, but
he was not; he merely smiled as he answered, "Ada has many faults, I
know, but I do not believe your situation will be less pleasant on
account of her presence. If it is, just state the case to me. I am
competent to manage it, I believe; besides that, it is uncertain how
long she will remain at Cedar Grove."
He commenced plucking at the green vine-leaves which grew above my
head, while I turned my face away to hide my emotions; for of course,
when Ada left Cedar Grove, it would be as his bride, I thought, and
was surprised when he continued, "The cousin with whom she is
traveling in Europe, has won from her a half promise that she will
spend next winter with her in New Orleans, and if so she will leave
in October; so you see, she can't annoy you long; and now you must
promise me not to leave us unless she prove perfectly disagreeable."
There is not, I believe, the least coquetry in my nature, and I
replied frankly that I would stay.
"You have made me very happy, Miss Lee," said he, rising up and
laying his hand upon my head, just as a _father_ might caress his
child, for he was thirty-one and I was eighteen!
That night I pondered long upon what he had said, recalling every
word and look, and at last, when a ray of light faintly glimmered
upon my _befogged intellect_, I hid my face in the pillow, lest the
moonlight, which shone around me, should read thereon the secret
thought which I scarcely dared to harbor for a moment. Could it be
possible that _he_ loved me, and but that for my unaccountably stupid
blunder in thrusting first Jessie and then Halbert in his face, he
would have told me so! But no--it was impossible. He was probably
engaged to Ada. _She_ was beautiful and rich--_I_ was homely and
poor. It could not be. And then, my reader, did I first awake to
the consciousness of how much I loved him; and how, when he was
wedded to another, the world would be to me naught but a dreary
blank. Anon, I remembered my former affection for Dr. Clayton, and
then I grew calm. I had outgrown that, I said, and in all
probability I should outlive this, my second heart-trouble. So,
falling back upon the "Lee Seminary" as something which was to
comfort me in my lone pilgrimage, I fell asleep and dreamed that Mr.
Delafield's children, amounting in all to a _dozen_, were every one
placed under my special charge!