_A chieftain's daughter seemed the maid._
* * * * *
_And seldom o'er a breast so fair
Mantled a plaid with modest care;
And never brooch the folds confined
Above a heart more good and kind._
Walter Scott.
In the morning, when I opened my eyes, Juliet was so peacefully still,
that I listened doubtfully for her breathing; and felt myself relieved
by the certainly that she was alive. I was astonished to find that she
was awake, though so composed; and was wondering at this unaccountable
change, when she suddenly asked me whether Dr ---- was reckoned a man of
any skill in his profession? 'for,' said she, 'he seemed to know nothing
at all of my disorder, except what he learnt from myself; so most likely
he mistakes it altogether.' Shocked to see her thus obstinately cling to
the broken reed, yet wanting courage to wrest it from her hold, I
entreated her to consider that it would not add to the justice of Dr
----'s fears, if she should act as though they were well founded; nor
shorten her life, if she should hasten to accomplish whatever she would
wish to perform ere its close. She was silent for a little; then, with a
deep sigh, 'You are right,' said she. 'Sit down, and I will dictate a
letter, which you shall write, to my brother.'
I obeyed; and she began to dictate with wonderful precision a letter, in
which she detailed the opinion of her counsel; named the persons who
could evidence her claims; and dexterously appealed to the ruling
passion of Mr Arnold, by reminding him, that if he could establish the
legitimacy of his nephew, he must, in case of Lord Glendower's death,
become the natural guardian of a youth possessed of five-and-twenty
thousand pounds a year. Who could observe without a sigh, that, while
with a sort of instinctive tact she addressed herself to the faults of
others, she remained in melancholy blindness to her own; and that the
transient strength which the morning restored to her mind, could not
reach her more than childish improvidence in regard to her most
important concerns? But her powers were soon exhausted; before the
letter was finished, her thoughts wandered, and she lay for some hours
as if in a sort of waking dream.
How little do they know of a death-bed who have seen it only in the
graceful pictures of fiction! How little do they guess the ghastly
horrors of sudden dissolution, the humiliating weakness of slow decay!
Paint them even from the life, and much remains to tell which no
spectator can record, much which no language can unfold. 'Oh, who that
could see thee thus,' thought I, as I looked upon the languid,
inexpressive countenance of the once playful Juliet,--'who that could
see thee thus, would defer to an hour like this, the hard task of
learning to die with decency?'
I was sitting by the bed-side of my companion, supporting with one hand
her poor deserted baby, and making with the other an awkward attempt to
sketch designs for the ornaments which I had undertaken to paint, when
the door was gently opened; and the lady for whom I was employed
entered, followed by another, whose appearance instantly fixed my
attention. Her stature was majestic; her figure of exquisite proportion.
Her complexion, though brunette, was admirably transparent; and her
colour, though perhaps too florid for a sentimental eye, glowed with the
finest tints of health. Her black eyebrows, straight but flexible,
approached close to a pair of eyes so dark and sparkling, that their
colour was undistinguishable. No simile in oriental poetry could
exaggerate the regularity and whiteness of her teeth; nor painter's
dream of Euphrosyne exceed the arch vivacity of her smile. Perhaps a
critic might have said that her figure was too large, and too angular
for feminine beauty; that it was finely, but not delicately formed. Even
I could have wished the cheek-bones depressed, the contour somewhat
rounded, and the lines made more soft and flowing. But Charlotte Graham
had none of that ostentation of beauty which provokes the gazer to
criticise.
Her face, though too handsome to be a common one, struck me at first
sight as one not foreign to my acquaintance. When her companion named
her, I recollected my friend Cecil; and there certainly was a family
likeness between these relations, although the latter was a short
square-built personage, with no great pretensions to beauty. The
expressions of the two countenances were more dissimilar than the
features. Cecil's was grave, penetrating, and, considering her age and
sex, severe; Miss Graham's was arch, frank, and animated. Yet there was
in the eye of both a keen sagacity, which seemed accustomed to look
beyond the words of the speaker to his motive.
The deep mourning which Miss Graham wore accounted to me for the cast of
sorrow which often crossed a face formed by nature to far different
expression. Her manners had sufficient freedom to banish restraint, and
sufficient polish to make that freedom graceful; yet for me they
possessed an interesting originality. They were polite, but not
fashionable; they were courtly, but not artificial. They were perfectly
affable, and as free from arrogance as those of a doubting lover; yet in
her mien, in her gait, in every motion, in every word, Miss Graham
showed the unsubdued majesty of one who had never felt the presence of a
superior; of one much accustomed to grant, but not to solicit
indulgence.
Such were the impressions which I had received, almost as soon as Miss
Graham's companion, with a polite apology for their intrusion, had
introduced her to me by name. I was able to make the necessary
compliment without any breach of sincerity; for feebler attractions
would have interested me in the person with whom Cecil had already made
me so well acquainted. But when Miss Graham spoke, her voice alone must
have won any hearer.
'If Miss Percy excuses us,' said she in tones, which, in spite of the
lively imperative accents of her country, were sweetness itself, 'my
conscience will be quite at rest, for I am persuaded it is with her that
my business lies. No two persons could answer the description.'
'You may remember,' said her companion, smiling at my surprised and
inquisitive look, 'I yesterday mentioned a friend who was in search of a
young lady of your name. We are now in hopes that her search ends in
you; and this must be our apology for a great many impertinent
questions.'
'Oh no,' said Miss Graham, 'one will be sufficient. Suffer me only to
ask who were your parents.'
I answered the question readily and distinctly. 'Then,' said Miss
Graham, with a smile, which at once made its passage to my heart, 'I
have the happiness to bring you a pleasant little surprise. My brother
has been so fortunate as to recover a debt due to Mr Percy. He has
transmitted it hither; and Sir William Forbes will honour your draft for
1500_l._'
There are persons who will scarcely believe that I at first heard this
intelligence with little joy. 'Alas!' thought I, looking at poor Juliet,
'it has come too late.' But recollecting that I was not the less
indebted to the kindness of my benefactors, I turned to Miss Graham, and
offered, as I could, my warm acknowledgments. Miss Graham assured me,
with looks which evinced sincerity, that she was already more than
repaid for the service she had rendered me; and prevented further
thanks, by proceeding in her explanation.
'My brother,' said she, 'traced you to the house of a Miss Mortimer and
from thence to Edinburgh; but here he lost you; and being himself at a
distance, he commissioned me to search for you. I received some
assistance from a very grateful _protegee_ of yours and mine, whom I
dare say you recollect by the name of Cecil Graham. She directed me to
the Boswells; but they pretended to know nothing of you: so I came to
town a few days ago, very much at a loss how to proceed, though
determined not to see Glen Eredine again till I found you.'
'And is it possible,' exclaimed I, 'that I have indeed excited such
generous interest in strangers?'
'Call me stranger, if you will,' said Miss Graham, 'provided you allow
that the name gives me a right to a kind reception. But do you include
my brother under that title? I am sure the description he has given of
you shows that he is, at least, well acquainted with your appearance.'
'The dimple and the black eyelashes tally exactly,' said her companion.
'And I could swear to the smile,' returned Miss Graham. 'Nevertheless,'
said I, 'it is only from the praises of his admirer, Cecil, that I know
Mr Kenneth Graham, to whom I presume I am so much indebted.'
The playful smile, the bright hues of health, vanished from Charlotte's
face; and her eyes filled with tears, 'No,' said she, 'it is not to----'
She paused, as if to utter the name had been an effort beyond her
fortitude. 'It is Mr Henry Graham,' said her companion, as if to spare
her the pain of explanation, 'who has been so fortunate as to do you
this service.'
I know not exactly why, but my heart beat quicker at this intelligence.
I had listened so often to Cecil's prophecies, and omens, and good
wishes, that I believe I felt a foolish kind of consciousness at the
name of this Henry Graham, and the mention of my obligation to him.
'Have you no recollection then of ever having met with Henry?' enquired
Miss Graham, recovering herself.
I rubbed my forehead and did my very utmost; but was obliged to confess
that it was all in vain. The rich Miss Percy had been so accustomed to
crowds of attending beaux, that my eye might have been familiar with his
appearance, while his name was unknown to me.
'Well,' said Miss Graham, 'I can vouch for the possibility of
remembering you for ever after a very transient interview; and when you
know Henry better, I dare say you will not forget him.'
We now talked of our mutual acquaintance, Cecil; which led Miss Graham
to comment upon the peculiar manners of her countrymen, and upon the
contrast which they offered to those of the Lowland Scotch. Though her
conversation upon this, and other subjects, betrayed no marks of
extraordinary culture, it discovered a native sagacity, a quickness and
accuracy of observation, which I have seldom found surpassed. Her visit
was over before I guessed that it had lasted nearly two hours; and so
great were her attractions, so delightful seemed the long untasted
pleasures of equal and friendly converse, that I thought less of the
unexpected news which she had brought me, than of the hour which she
fixed for her return.
My thoughts, indeed, no sooner turned towards my newly acquired riches,
than I perceived that they could not, with any shadow of justice, be
called mine; and that they in truth belonged to those who had suffered
by the misfortunes of my father. I therefore resolved to forget that the
money was within my reach; and to labour as I should have done, had no
kind friend intended my relief. Still this did not lessen my sense of
obligation; and gratitude enlivened the curiosity which often turned my
speculations towards Henry Graham. Once as I kept my solitary watch over
Juliet's heavy unrefreshing slumbers, I thought I recollected hearing
her, and some of our mutual acquaintance, descant upon the graces of an
Adonis, who, for one night, had shone the meteor of the fashionable
hemisphere, and then been seen no more. I had been present at his
appearance, but too much occupied with Lord Frederick to observe the
wonder. I afterwards endeavoured to make Juliet assist my recollection;
but her memory no longer served even for much more important affairs;
and all my efforts ended at last in retouching the pictures which I had
accustomed myself to embody of this same Henry Graham. I imaged him with
more than his sister's dignity of form and gesture,--with all her
regularity of feature, and somewhat of her national squareness of
contour;--with all the vivacity and intelligence of her countenance,
strengthened into masculine spirit and sagacity;--with the eye which
Cecil had described, as able to quell even the sallies of frenzy;--with
the smile which his sister could send direct to the heart. At
Charlotte's next visit, I obliged her to describe her brother; and I had
guessed so well, that she only improved my picture, by adding some
minuter strokes to the likeness.
At the same time she removed all my scruples in regard to appropriating
the sum which he had obtained for me, by assuring me, that he had
undertaken the recovery of the debt only upon this express condition,
that half the amount should belong to me; and that to this condition the
creditors had readily consented.
The possession of this little fortune soon became a real blessing; for
Juliet's increasing helplessness loaded my time with a burden which
almost precluded other labour. She was emaciated to a degree which made
stillness and motion alike painful to her; a restless desire of change
seemed the only human feeling which the hand of death had not already
palsied; and a childish sense of her dependence upon me was the sole
wreck of human affection which her decay had spared. Even the fear of
death subsided into the listless acquiescence of necessity. Yet no
nobler solicitudes seemed to replace the waning interests of this life.
Feeble as it was, her mind yet retained the inexplicable power to
exclude thoughts of overwhelming force.
I had seen the inanity of her life; I had alas! shared in her mad
neglect of all the serious duties, of all the best hopes of man; and I
did not dare to see her die in this portentous lethargy of soul. At
every short revival of her strength, or transient clearness of her
intellect, I spoke to her of all which I most desired to impress upon
her mind. At first she answered me by tears and complainings, then by a
listless silence; nor did better success attend the efforts of persons
more skilled in rousing the sleeping conscience. The eloquence of friend
and pastor was alike unavailing to extort one tear of genuine penitence;
for the energy was wanting, without which a prophet might have smitten
the rock in vain.
I must have been more or less than human, could my spirits have resisted
the influence of a scene so dreary as a death-chamber without hope; yet
when I saw my companion sinking to an untimely grave, closing a life
without honour in a death without consolation; when I remembered that we
had begun our career of folly together,--that, from equal wanderings, I
had alone been restored,--from equal shipwrecks, I had alone escaped,--I
felt that I had reason to mingle strong gratitude for what I was, with
deep humiliation for what I might have been!
It was not that I became sensible of the treasure which I had found in
Charlotte Graham. Taught by experience, I had at first yielded with
caution to the attraction of her manners; and often (though in her
absence only I must own) remembered with a sigh how many other qualities
must conspire to fit the companion for the friend. But now, when she
daily forsook admiration, and gaiety, and elegance, to share with me the
cares of a sick-chamber, I daily felt the benefits of her piety,
discretion, and sweetness of temper; and a friendship began, which, I
trust, will outlast our lives.
Although she had too much of the politeness of good feeling to hint an
expectation that I should forsake my unhappy charge, she constantly
spoke of my visiting Castle Eredine, as of a pleasure which she could
not bear to leave in uncertainty; and she detailed plans for our
employments, for our studies, for our excursions among her native hills,
with a minuteness which showed how much the subject occupied her mind.
All her plans bore a constant reference to Glen Eredine. They were
incapable of completion elsewhere. My lessons on the harp were to be
given under the rock of echoes,--in a certain cave she was to teach me
the songs of Selma,--we were to climb Benarde together,--from
Dorch'thalla we were to sketch the lake beyond, with all its mountain
shadows on its breast; while the rocks, which a nameless torrent had
severed from the cliff, and the roots which, with emblematic constancy,
had still clung to them in their fall, were to furnish fore-grounds
unequalled in the tameness of Lowland scenery.
To all the objects round her native vale, Charlotte's imagination seemed
to lend a kind of vitality. She loved them as I should have loved an
animated being; and the more characteristic, or, as I should then have
expressed it, the more savage they were, the stronger seemed their hold
on her affection. I like a little innocent prejudice, so long as it does
not thwart my own. I verily believe, that Charlotte would have thought
Glen Eredine insulted by a comparison to the vale of Tempe. She often
spoke with enthusiastic respect of her father, whom she had left at
Castle Eredine; and with so much solicitude of the blank which her
absence would occasion to him, that I could not help wondering why she
delayed her return. She never mentioned any business that might detain
her; and amusement could not be her bribe, for her time was chiefly
spent in my melancholy dwelling.
Our cheerless task, however, at length was closed. By a change scarcely
perceptible to us, Juliet passed from the lethargy of exhausted life to
deeper and more solemn repose. I felt the intermitting pulse,--I watched
the failing breath; yet so gradual and so complete was her decay, that I
knew not the moment of her departure. All suffering she was spared; for
suffering would, to human apprehension, have been useless to her. I did
not commit her remains to the cares of a stranger. The hand of a friend
composed her for her last repose; the tears of a friend dropped upon her
clay; but they were not the tears of sorrow. Poor Juliet! Less ingenuity
than that which led thee through a degraded life to an unlamented grave
would have procured for thee the best which this world has to give, an
unmolested passage to a better.
Two days after her death, I received from her brother a promise of
protection to the heir of Lord Glendower, and permission, in case of
that event, to send the boy to his uncle, together with the pledges of
legitimacy, which constituted his sole hold upon the justice or
compassion of Mr Arnold. Fortunately for the poor infant, the question
upon which depended the tender cares of his uncle was decided in his
favour. Juliet's marriage was sanctioned; and though her death left Lord
Glendower at liberty to repair, in some sort, the injury which he had
done to Lady Maria, the rights of his first-born son could not be
transferred to the children of his more regular marriage.
When my cares were no longer necessary to my ill-fated companion, I
yielded to the kind persuasions of Miss Graham; and suffered her to
introduce me to whatever was most worthy of observation in a city which
I had as yet so imperfectly seen. Our mornings were generally spent in
examining the town or its environs; our evenings in a kind of society
which I had till now known only in detached specimens; a society in
which there was every thing to delight, though nothing to
astonish,--much good manners, and therefore little singularity,--general
information, and therefore little pedantry,--much good taste, and
therefore little notoriety. I could no longer complain that the ladies
were inaccessible. Introduced by Miss Graham, I was every where received
with more than courtesy; and I, who a few weeks before could scarcely
obtain permission to earn a humble subsistence, was now overwhelmed with
a hospitality which scarcely left me the command of an hour.
And now I was again assailed by the temptation which had formerly
triumphed unresisted. There is no place on earth where beauty is more
surely made dangerous to its possessor; and Charlotte and I could
scarcely have attracted more attention, had we appeared mounted upon
elephants. But I had lost my taste for admiration. I disliked the
constant watchfulness which it imposed upon me; and its pleasures poorly
compensated the pain of upbraiding myself the next moment with my folly
in being so pleased. As to open compliment, it cost me an effort to
answer it with good humour. 'The man suspects that I am vain,' thought
I, as often as I was so addressed; and the suspicion was too near truth
to be forgiven. The only real satisfaction which I derived from the
preposterous homage paid to me, arose from the new light in which it
displayed the generous nature of Charlotte Graham. Yes; trifles serve to
display a great mind; and there was true generosity in the graceful
willingness with which Charlotte, at a time of life when the
precariousness of attentions begin to give them value, withdrew from
competition with a rival inferior to her in every charm which is not
affected by seven years difference of age.
Upon the whole, nothing could be more agreeably amusing, than my
residence in Edinburgh; and the contrast of my late confinement
heightened pleasure to delight. From the time of Lady Glendower's death,
it had been settled that I was to accompany Charlotte to Glen Eredine;
but I must own that I felt no inclination to hasten our departure.
Without once uttering a word, which could place the delay to my account,
Miss Graham deferred our departure from day to day. Yet some involuntary
look or expression constantly betrayed to me, that her heart was in Glen
Eredine.
'Ah, that very sun is setting behind Benarde!' said she with a sigh, one
evening when, from a promenade such as no other city can present, we
were contemplating a gorgeous sunset.
'One would imagine by that sigh, Charlotte,' said I smiling, 'that you
and some dear friend not far from Benarde had made an appointment to
watch the setting sun together.'
'There's a flight!' cried she laughing. 'No am I sure, that such a fancy
would never have entered your mind, if you had not been in love. Come;
look me in the face, and let me catechise you.'
'Not guilty, upon my honour.'
'Humph! This does look very like a face of innocence, I confess. But
stay till you know Henry. Let me see how you will stand examination
then.'
'Just as I do now, I promise you. I ought to have been in love long ago,
if the thing had been possible.'
'Ought? Pray what might impose the duty upon you?'
'The regard of one of the best and wisest of mankind, Charlotte. It was
once my fate to draw the attention of your countryman,--the generous,
the eloquent Mr Maitland.'
I saw Miss Graham start; but she remained silent. 'You must have heard
of him?' continued I; but at that moment, casting my eyes upon
Charlotte, I saw her blush painfully. 'You know him then,' said I.
'Yes I--I do,' answered she hesitatingly; and walked on, in a profound
reverie.
A long silence followed; for Charlotte's blushes and abstraction had
told me a tale in which I could not be uninterested. I perceived that
her acquaintance with Maitland, however slight, had been sufficient to
fix her affections on a spirit so congenial to her own. 'Well, well,'
thought I, 'they will meet one day or other; and he will find out that
she likes him, and the discovery will cost him trouble enough to make it
worth something. She will devote herself willingly to love and solitude,
which is just what he wishes, and I dare say they will be very happy.
Men can be happy with any body. And yet Maitland hates beauties; and
Miss Graham certainly is a beauty.' However, when I threw a glance upon
Charlotte, I thought I had never seen her look so little handsome; for
it must be confessed that the lover must be more than indifferent, whom
his old mistress can willingly resign to a new one.
I soon, however, began to reproach myself with the uneasiness to which I
was subjecting the generous friend to whom I owed such varied forms of
kindness. But the difficulty was, how I should return to the subject
which we had quitted; for, in spite of the frankness of Charlotte's
manners, my freedom with her had limits which were impassable. When she
had once indicated the point upon which she would not be touched, I
dared not even to approach it. The silence, therefore, continued till
she interrupted it by saying, 'You are offended with me, Ellen, and you
have reason to be so; for I put a question which no friend has a right
to ask.'
'Dear Charlotte,' returned I, 'surely you have a right to expect from me
any confidence that you will accept; and I shall most readily----'
'No,' interrupted Miss Graham, 'such questions as mine ought neither to
be asked nor answered. If an attachment is fortunate, it is to be
supposed that the event will soon publish it; if not, the confession is
a degradation to which no human being has a right to subject another.'
'Well,' thought I, 'this is very intelligible, and I shall take care not
to trespass. But I will not keep thy generous heart in pain. Cost what
it will, thou shalt know that thou hast nothing to fear from me.' It was
more easy to resolve than to execute; and I felt my cheek glow with
blushes, more, I fear, of pride than modesty, while I struggled to
relieve the anxiety of my friend. 'Nay, Charlotte,' said I, 'you must
listen to a confession, which is humbling enough, though not exactly of
the kind you allude to. I must do Mr Maitland the justice to say, that
he never put it in my power to reject him. He saw that I was no fit wife
for him; and, at the very moment of confessing his weakness, he
renounced it for ever. Do not look incredulous. It is not a pretty face,
nor even the noble fortune I then expected, that could bribe Maitland to
marry a heartless, unprincipled ----. Thanks be to Heaven that I am
changed--greatly changed. But I assure you, Charlotte, I have not now
the slightest reason to believe myself any bar to your--to Mr Maitland's
happiness with some--some--with somebody who has not my unlucky
incapacity for being in love.'
To this confession, Miss Graham answered only by affectionately pressing
my hand; and then escaped from the subject, by turning from me to speak
to a passing acquaintance. From that time Charlotte, though in other
points perfectly confiding, spoke no more of Maitland; and I must own,
that my respect for her was increased by her reserve upon a topic
prohibited alike by delicacy and discretion. We had indeed no need of
boarding-school confidences to enliven our intercourse. Each eager for
improvement and for information, we had been so differently educated,
that each had much to communicate and to learn. Our views of common
subjects were different enough to keep conversation from stagnating;
while our accordance upon more important points formed a lasting bond
of union. Whoever understands the delights of a kitten and a cork, may
imagine that I was at times no bad companion: and Charlotte was
peculiarly fitted for a friend; for she had sound principles,
unconquerable sweetness of temper, sleepless discretion, and a
politeness which followed her into the homeliest scenes of domestic
privacy.
How often, as her character unfolded itself, did I wonder what strange
fatality had forbidden Maitland to return the affection of a woman so
formed to satisfy his fastidious judgment. But I was forced to wonder in
silence. Charlotte, open as day on every other theme, was here as
impenetrable, as unapproachable, as virgin dignity could make her.
Notwithstanding the recency of our friendship, it was already strong
enough to render every other interest mutual; and Charlotte easily drew
from me the little story of my life and sentiments, while I listened
with insatiable curiosity, to the accounts she gave me of her home, of
her family, and, above all, of her brother Henry.
This was a theme in which she seemed very willing to indulge me. She
spoke of him frequently; and the passages which she read to me from his
letters often made me remember with a sigh that I had no brother. He
seemed to address her as a friend, as an equal; and yet with the
tenderness which difference of sex imposes upon a man of right feeling.
She was his almoner. Through her he transmitted many a humble comfort to
his native valley; and though he had been so many years an alien, he was
astonishingly minute and skilful in the direction of his benevolence. He
appeared to be acquainted with the character and situation of an
incredible number of his clansmen; and the interest and authority with
which he wrote of them seemed little less than patriarchal. Though I
must own that his commands were not always consonant to English ideas of
liberty, they seemed uniformly dictated by the spirit of disinterested
justice and humanity; and Graham, in exercising almost the control of an
absolute prince, was guided by the feelings of a father.
Though Glen Eredine seemed the passion of his soul,--though every letter
was full of the concerns of his clansmen,--there was nothing theatrical
in his plans for their interest or improvement. They were minute and
practicable, rather than magnificent. No whole communities were to be
hurried into civilisation, nor districts depopulated by way of
improvement; but some encouragement was to be given to the schoolmaster;
Bibles were to be distributed to his best scholars; or Henry would
account to his father for the rent of a tenant, who, with his own hands,
had reclaimed a field from rock and broom; or, at his expense, the new
cottages were to be plastered, and furnished with doors and sashed
windows. The execution of these humble plans was, for the present,
committed to Charlotte; and the details which she gave me concerning
them described a mode of life so oddly compounded of refinement and
simplicity, that curiosity somewhat balanced my regret in leaving
Edinburgh.
On a fine morning in September we began our journey; and though I was
accompanied by all on earth I had to love, and though I was leaving what
had been to me the scene of severe suffering, I could not help looking
back with watery eyes upon a place which perhaps no traveller, uncertain
of return, ever quitted without a sigh.