LAURA LYTTON'S MYSTERIOUS BENEFACTOR.
There never was a closer friendship between two girls than that which
bound Laura Lytton and Emma Cavendish together.
On the night of Laura's arrival, after they had retired from the
drawing-room, and Electra had gone to bed and gone to sleep, Laura and
Emma sat up together in Emma's room and talked until nearly
daylight--talked of everything in the heavens above, the earth below,
and the waters under the earth. And then, when at length they parted,
Laura asked:
"May I come in here with you to dress to-morrow? And then we can finish
our talk."
"Surely, love! Use my room just like your own," answered Emma, with a
kiss.
And they separated for a few hours.
But early in the morning, as soon as Emma was out of bed, she heard a
tap at her chamber door, and she opened it to see Laura standing there
in her white merino dressing-gown, with her dark hair hanging down and a
pile of clothing over her arms.
"Come in, dear," said Emma, greeting her with a kiss.
And Laura entered and laid her pile of clothing on a chair, discovering
in her hand a rich casket, which she set upon the dressing-table,
saying:
"Here, Emma, dear, I have something very curious to show you. You have
heard me speak of some unknown friend who is paying the cost of my
brother's and my own education?"
"Yes. Haven't you found out yet who he is?" inquired Miss Cavendish.
"No; and I do not even know whether our benefactor is a he or a she. But
anyhow he has sent me this," said Laura, unlocking the casket and
lifting the lid.
"A set of diamonds and opals fit for a princess!" exclaimed Emma, in
admiration, as she gazed upon the deep blue satin tray, on which was
arranged a brooch, a pair of ear-rings, a bracelet and a necklace of the
most beautiful opals set in diamonds.
"Yes, they are lovely! They must have come from Paris. They are highly
artistic," answered Laura. "But look at these others, will you? These
are barbaric," she added, lifting the upper tray from the casket and
taking from the recess beneath the heaviest cable gold chain, a heavier
finger ring, and a pair of bracelets. "Just take these in your double
hands and 'heft' them, as the children say," she concluded, as she put
the weight of gold in Emma's open palms, which sank at first under the
burden.
"There; what do you think of that?" inquired Laura.
"I think they are barbaric, as you said. Well intended, no doubt, but
utterly barbaric. Why, this gold chain might fasten up the strongest
bull-dog and these bracelets serve as fetters for the most desperate
felon! Where on earth were they manufactured?" inquired Miss Cavendish.
"In some rude country where there was more gold than good taste,
evidently. However, Emma, dear, there is something very touching, very
pathetic, to my mind, in these anonymous offerings. Of course they are
almost useless to me. I could never wear the chain or the bracelets.
They are far too clumsy for any one but an Indian chief; and I can never
wear those lovely opals unless by some miracle I grow rich enough to
have everything in harmony with them. And yet, Emma, the kindness
and--what shall I say?--the humility of this anonymous giver so deeply
touches my heart that I would not part with even a link of this useless
chain to buy myself bread if I were starving," murmured Laura, with the
tears filling her eyes, as she replaced the jewels in their casket.
"And you have no suspicion who the donor is?"
"None whatever. These came to me through Mr. Lyle, the agent who
receives and pays the money for our education."
"What does your brother say to all this?"
"Oh, it makes him very uneasy at times. He shrinks from receiving this
anonymous assistance. It is all Mr. Lyle can do now, by assuring him
that in the end he will find it all right, to induce him to continue to
receive it. And, at all events, he declares that after he graduates he
will not take another dollar of this anonymous fund--conscience money or
not--but that he will begin to pay back in bank, with interest and
compound interest, the debt that he is now incurring."
"I think that resolution is highly to his honor," said Emma Cavendish.
"And he will keep it. I know Alden," answered Laura.
And then the two girls hastened to dress themselves for breakfast. And
very well they both looked as they left their room.
Laura wore her crimson merino morning-dress, with white linen cuffs and
collar, a costume that well became her olive complexion and dark hair
and eyes.
Emma wore a black cashmere trimmed with lusterless black silk, and
folded book-muslin cuffs and collar. And in this dark dress her radiant
blonde beauty shone like a fair star.
They rapped at Electra's door to bring her out.
She made her appearance looking quite dazzling. Electra had a gay taste
in dress. She loved bright colors and many of them. She wore a purple
dressing-gown with a brilliant shawl border--a dress for a portly old
lady rather than for a slim young girl.
They went down together to the breakfast-room, where they found the
languishing widow and the old clergyman _tete-a-tete_.
Mrs. Grey greeted them with a sweet smile and honeyed words, and Dr.
Jones with a kindly good-morning and handshake.
And they sat down to breakfast.
This Easter Sunday had dawned clearly and beautifully. The family of
Blue Cliffs were all going to attend divine service at Wendover.
So, as soon as breakfast was over, the carriage was ordered, and the
young ladies went upstairs to dress for church.
At nine o'clock the whole party set out. Emma Cavendish, Laura Lytton
and Electra Coroni went in the old family coach, carefully driven by
Jerome. Mrs. Grey went in a buggy driven by the Rev. Dr. Jones.
Who arranged this last drive, this _tete-a-tete_, no one knew except the
artful coquette and her venerable victim.
They all reached the church in good time.
The rector, the Rev. Dr. Goodwin, read the morning service, and the Rev.
Dr. Jones preached the sermon.
At the conclusion of the services, when the congregation were leaving,
Mr. Craven Kyte came up to pay his respects to the ladies from Blue
Cliffs.
Miss Cavendish introduced him to Dr. Jones, explaining that he had been
a ward of her father, and was once an inmate of Blue Cliff Hall.
Dr. Jones received the young man with courtesy, and in his turn
introduced him to Miss Coroni.
Then Emma Cavendish invited him to go home with them to dinner, kindly
reminding him of the old custom of spending his holidays in his
guardian's house.
With a smile and a bow, and with a warm expression of thanks, the young
man accepted the offered hospitality.
And when the party entered their carriages to return to Blue Cliffs,
Craven Kyte, mounted on a fine horse, attended them.
But, mind, he did not ride beside the carriage that contained the three
young ladies, but beside the gig occupied by Mary Grey and Dr. Jones.
And the very first inquiry he made of Emma, on reaching the house, was:
"Is the Reverend Doctor Jones a married man?"
"Why, what a question!" exclaimed Emma, laughing. "No, he is not a
married man; he is a widower. Why do you ask?"
"I don't know. But I thought he was a widower. He seems very much taken
with Mrs. Grey," sighed the young man.
"Oh, is that it?" laughed Emma, as she ran away to take off her bonnet
and mantle.
And that Easter Sunday Mary Grey found herself again in a dilemma
between her two proposed victims--the gray-haired clergyman and the
raven-locked youth.
But she managed them both with so much adroitness that at the close of
the day, when Craven Kyte was riding slowly back to Wendover, he was
saying to himself:
"She is fond of me, after all; the beauty, the darling, the angel! Oh,
that such a perfect creature should be fond of me! I am at this moment
the very happiest man on earth!"
And later the same night, when the Rev. Dr. Jones laid his woolen
night-capped head upon his pillow, instead of going to sleep as the old
gentleman should have done, he lay awake and communed with himself as
follows:
"Poor child--poor child! A mere baby. And she _is_ penitent; sincerely
penitent. Oh, I can see that! And to think that she is not nearly so
much in fault as we believed her to be! She tells me that she really was
married to that man--married when she was a child only fourteen years of
age. So her gravest error was in running away to be married! And that
was the fault of the man who stole her, rather than of herself. And she
is as repentant for that fault as if it were some great crime. And oh,
how she has suffered! What she has gone through for one so young! And
she has such a tender, affectionate, clinging nature! Ah, what will
become of her, poor child--poor child! She ought to have some one to
take care of her. She ought indeed to be married, for no one but a
tender husband could take care of such a pretty, delicate, helpless
creature. She ought to marry some one much older than herself. Not a
green, beardless boy like that young puppy--Heaven forgive me!--I mean
that young man Kyte. He couldn't appreciate her, couldn't be a guide or
a guard to her. And she really needs guiding and guarding too. For see
how easily she falls into error. She ought to marry some good, wise,
elderly man, who could be her guide, philosopher and friend as well as
husband."
And so murmuring to himself he fell asleep to dream that he himself was
the model guide, philosopher and friend required by the young widow.