_Ma._ Then you believe not, Arnold, in the stars?
_Ar._ Yes, in the stars--when on a winter's night
They stand as thick as drops of dew new frozen
On the dark arch of Heaven--or when they lie
Mirrowed upon the heaving sea--or steal
Slowly and faint into the Summer sky--
But for these ignorant interpreters,
They scarce are worth the scorn of disbelief.
ANON.
Aveline declared that she would not be defrauded of her ride when the
evening came in all its freshness; but Mr. Haveloc said that he saw she
was languid; that the morning was the proper time for exercise, and that
Hakon Jarl should be his companion the next day, when he paid his
respects to Mrs. Fitzpatrick.
"Ah! you will come to-morrow, that is well," said Aveline, "but do not
let me go quite without a ride this evening; let me take a turn just
round the garden."
Mr. Haveloc glanced at Mrs. Fitzpatrick.
"Yes, let her," she said in a tone of despondency.
The poney was brought to the window; Aveline was lifted on, and Mr.
Haveloc taking the reins led him through the shrubberies, and along the
broad terrace.
"I wonder if he could go down the steps upon the sands," said Aveline.
"He could, I have no doubt," said Mr. Haveloc, "but you--"
"I should so enjoy it; riding along the sands by moonlight," said
Aveline. "Oh! I am quite strong enough--never fear."
Mr. Haveloc led the poney carefully down the steep steps and over the
shingles to the sands, now stretching far and dry, the tide being at its
lowest.
"How glad I am that we live by the sea," said Aveline. "It is
delightful for a part of the year," said Mr. Haveloc. "I should not care
about it in winter."
"But it is in winter," said Aveline, "that the waves are so rough; you
should see them running against that headland on a stormy night; when
you catch a glimpse of the foam tossed high against the very peak of the
rock there, just when the wind has torn the clouds asunder, and let out
a glimpse of the moon for an instant. I would not miss the sea in winter
time. And then the hoarse sound of the waves on the shingles grows
louder when mixed up with the boisterous north wind. And the surge boils
and swells, and then the white froth parts and shows the dark angry
water beneath. No! trees and fields are barren in winter; but there is
always life in the sea!"
"And this creature is all this while slowly and invisibly borne onwards
to the grave," he thought, "so full of the best part of life--the
intellectual!"
"You are thinking!" said Aveline.
"And so were you; only you thought aloud," he answered.
"Ah! look Mr. Haveloc, they are launching a boat; let us go a few steps
farther and see them. Don't you like the rough noise, and the splash,
and the voices of the fishermen together. See, just in the moon's path;
and now they are in shadow again. When I was a child I used to envy the
fishermen as I saw them starting on a bright evening like this, for
their merry night's fishing."
"And they envied you, perhaps, that you were going to enjoy a good
night's rest, instead of getting wet and weary, and not knowing whether
they should catch fish enough to buy their next day's breakfast."
"Perhaps so," said Aveline. "Few people would envy me now."
"Because you are in bad health."
"Yes. Do you not think mamma is very much depressed to-day?"
"She struck me as being so."
"Mr. Lindsay tells her the truth," said Aveline, "it is a comfort to me
to be sure of that; as he would tell me the truth if I were to ask him."
"That is a comfort," said Mr. Haveloc, "at least, whatever were to
befall me, I would rather know it."
"Did you ever have your fortune told, Mr. Haveloc?"
"No, never. Oh, yes, I forgot! I had my fortune told me once near Rome;
in the Campagna."
"By a gipsy?"
"A regular gipsy, with a face like the head of Memnon in the Museum;
long eyed, with massive features, and the upper and under lip of equal
thickness."
"What did she tell you? Do try and recollect."
"Let me consider," said Mr. Haveloc, leaning against the pony's neck,
"first she asked me for a crown."
"Of course you gave it; but such a sum ought to have bought you a very
handsome fortune."
"So the Sybil seemed to think, for she told me I was greatly beloved by
a young lady with dark eyes."
Aveline trembled.
"You are cold; we will finish the fortune teller in the house."
"No, no--go on here."
"Let me lead him back to the garden, you forget I am responsible to Mrs.
Fitzpatrick for your well-being. I will go on; though I did not know you
were superstitious."
"Yes, I am, about gipsies."
"Well, I ventured to hint that these pleasing events always told better
when there was a strong contrast between the parties; and that I should
be obliged to the Sybil to furnish my young lady with blue eyes before
she proceeded any farther. But my Zingara was not so accommodating, 'she
did not like,' she said, 'to trifle with the stars; the dark eyed lady
insisted on being attached to me. But, she would work me an incredible
deal of woe.'"
"Ah!" cried Aveline raising her voice almost to a shriek, "what did she
say. Tell me how--what came next?"
"I'll tell you what, Miss Fitzpatrick," said he leading the pony up the
stony staircase, "when I was a great many years younger, I have sat up
telling ghost stories at Christmas, until I was afraid to look behind
me; but I never heard that this sport was good for an invalid. You are
as much afraid of gipsies as I was of ghosts. We will talk of something
else."
"No, but finish I entreat you," said Aveline in a gentle tone.
"Why the Sybil told me that I should survive this injury, whatever it
was; but she declined being more explicit. She also said that I should
be very happy by and bye, perhaps she meant in Heaven. I hope so. But I
gave her another crown and wished her good day."
"Ah!" said Aveline, "my gipsy was more explicit."
"Where did you pick up yours?"
"Here, on the sea-shore."
"And what news did she give you for your money?"
"She told me--shall I repeat it?"
"Yes, do; that I may laugh you out of it?"
"She told me I should break the heart of the person I loved best; and
that I should die young."
"She was an idiot!" said Mr. Haveloc.
"Ah! my mother. Shall I not break her heart," said Aveline, with a
sudden burst of tears.
"Never; you are in ill-health, and attach a meaning to words you would
laugh at, if you were stronger. I do believe the worst suffering in
illness is the dejection it causes. You should not allow yourself to be
so weighed down."
"But if I die--"
"But do not think so. The woman saw you looked delicate, and thought she
could turn her warning to a good account. I wish I--" Aveline seized
his hand. A gipsy woman was advancing towards them from the other end of
the terrace. He was at a loss what to do; he feared to leave Aveline for
a single moment, lest she should faint; and still more he feared to let
the woman come within speaking distance.
"Have no fears for me. She can say nothing that I do not know," said
Aveline.
"Will you have your fortune told, my pretty lady and gentleman," said
the woman advancing with the insinuating gestures of her tribe.
"No, there's money for you," said Mr. Haveloc, throwing the woman his
purse heavy with gold, "there is more than you could earn. Go now,
quickly, the lady is ill."
"Would she like," said the gipsy.
"No, I tell you. Go at once. You have no business here!"
The gipsy made a sign in the air with her hand which filled him with
horror; it seemed to him as if she traced the outline of a
coffin:--then laughed, turned, and vanished.
"It is the same," said Aveline, trembling.
"It is the gipsy of the Campagna," he said at the same moment.
"What do you think of it?" said Aveline as he helped her to dismount,
and supported her to the sofa. "Is it not as if she came to watch the
fulfilment of her prediction?"
"On the contrary. She came knowing it was easier to frighten than to beg
money out of people," said he taking a chair beside her. "But your man
ought to keep better watch."
"It is not his fault. Remember the terrace is open at one end; but the
cliff is so rugged that we always consider it safe. Here comes
mamma--let us tell her of it."
Aveline seemed more cheerful again. The supper-table was drawn to the
sofa. She related the appearance of the gipsy in a laughing manner, and
tried to make it appear that Mr. Haveloc had been very much frightened.
"Confess," said Aveline, "that she put you into bodily fear."
"I own it," he replied. "You will never say again of me that I do not
know what fear is."
Mrs. Fitzpatrick gave him a grateful smile. She could easily understand
on whose account he had been alarmed.
"I am afraid you were by no means _quitte pour le peur_," said Aveline
helping herself to salad. "Only think, mamma, of his throwing the wretch
his purse. So extravagant."
"Very wrong, indeed," said Mrs. Fitzpatrick.
"But when one gets frightened," said he, laughing, "what is to be done?
When my servant asks me what has become of my purse, I must say I was
stopped by a foot-pad."
"Will your servant call you to account?" asked Aveline, opening wide
her large eyes at the idea of any one taking Mr. Haveloc to task.
"I should not wonder. He is a very old servant, and says and does pretty
much what he pleases."
"How I should like to hear you go on together," said Aveline with a
smile.
"Oh! it seldom amounts to a duet. He generally unburdens his mind at
night; and when I am tired of saying yes, and no, I fall asleep, and so
escape the end of the lecture."
"I should like to know, if it was not indiscreet, what the lectures were
about?"
"Generally financial. If he thinks I have paid more for a horse than it
is worth, it is a long time before he gets over it. He was very much
shocked when I bought that plague of a yacht; and at Rome he was a
perpetual torment. I could hardly look at a picture, or a cameo, without
his hinting that I should end my career in the Queen's Bench."
"But that shows a great deal of attachment," said Aveline; "one sees too
little of that feeling in these days. But we are very fortunate. Mrs.
Grant was a treasure."
"Shall I come to-morrow, Mrs. Fitzpatrick?" said Mr. Haveloc rising.
"Miss Fitzpatrick meets with nothing but misfortunes when I have the
charge of her."
"Oh, come!" said Aveline, "by all means; and leave the pony here. Mark
said he could accommodate him, and it will be something for me to pet. I
shall feed myself to-morrow."
"There Aveline, you must not sit up any longer," said Mrs. Fitzpatrick.
"I am all obedience," said Aveline rising. "Good night, Mr. Haveloc, I
hope you will not meet our gipsy on your way home."