A PUZZLING QUESTION.
"Does Miss Darrell show any signs of disappointment?" inquired Lady
Hampton one day of Miss Hastings.
Miss Hastings, although she noticed a hundred faults in the girl which
she would fain have corrected, had nevertheless a true, strong, and warm
affection for her pupil; she was not one therefore to play into the
enemy's hand; and, when Lady Darrell fixed her eyes upon her, full of
eagerness and brightened by curiosity, Miss Hastings quietly resolved
not to gratify her.
"Disappointment about what?" she asked. "I do not understand you, Lady
Hampton."
"About the property," explained Lady Hampton, impatiently. "She made so
very sure of it. I shall never forget her insolent confidence. Do tell
me, is she not greatly annoyed and disappointed?"
"Not in the way you mean, Lady Hampton. She has never spoken of such a
thing."
Her ladyship felt piqued; she would have preferred to hear that Pauline
did feel her loss, and was grieving over it. In that case she would
have been kind to her, would have relented; but the reflection that her
pride was still unbending annoyed her, and she mentally resolved to try
if she could not force the girl into some expression of her feelings. It
was not an amiable resolve, but Lady Hampton was not naturally an
amiable woman.
Fortune favored her. That very day, as she was leaving the Court, she
saw Pauline standing listlessly by the lake side feeding the graceful
white swans. She went up to her with a malicious smile, only half-vailed
by her pretended friendly greeting.
"How do you do, Miss Darrell? You are looking very melancholy. There is
nothing the matter, I hope?"
For any one to attempt to humiliate Pauline was simply a waste of time;
the girl's natural character was so dignified that all attempts of the
kind fell through or told most upon her assailants. She answered Lady
Hampton with quiet politeness, her dark eyes hardly resting for a moment
upon her.
"You do not seem to find much occupation for your leisure hours,"
continued Lady Hampton. "You are making the round of the grounds, I
suppose? They are very beautiful. I am afraid that you must feel keenly
how much my niece has deprived you of."
It was not a lady-like speech; but Lady Hampton felt irresistibly
impelled to make it--the proud, defiant, beautiful face provoked her.
Pauline merely smiled; she had self-control that would have done honor
to one much older and more experienced.
"Your niece has deprived me of nothing, Lady Hampton," she returned,
with a curl of the lip, for which the elder lady could have shaken her.
"I possess one great advantage of which no one living can deprive
me--that is, the Darrell blood runs in my veins."
And, with a bow, she walked away, leaving her ladyship more angry than
she would have cared to own. So Pauline met all her enemies. Whatever
she might suffer, they should not triumph over her. Even Sir Oswald felt
himself compelled to yield to her an admiration that he had never given
before.
He was walking one evening on the terrace. The western sunbeams,
lingering on the grand old building, brightened it into beauty. Flowers,
trees, and shrubs were all in their fullest loveliness. Presently Sir
Oswald, leaning over the balustrade of the terrace, saw Pauline
sketching in the grounds below. He went to her, and looked over her
shoulder. She was just completing a sketch of the great western tower of
the Court; and he was struck with the vivid beauty of the drawing.
"You love Darrell Court, Pauline?" he said, gently.
She raised her face to his for a minute; the feud between them was
forgotten. She only remembered that he was a Darrell, and she his
nearest of kin.
"I do love it, uncle," she said, "as pilgrims love their favorite
shrine. It is the home of beauty, of romance, the cradle of heroes;
every stone is consecrated by a legend. Love is a weak word for what I
feel."
He looked at the glowing face, and for a few moments a doubt assailed
him as to whether he had done right in depriving this true Darrell of
her inheritance.
"But, Pauline," he said, slowly, "you would never have----"
She sprang from her seat with a quickness that almost startled him. She
had forgotten all that had happened; but now it all returned to her with
a bitter pang that could not be controlled.
"Hush, Sir Oswald!" she cried, interrupting him; "it is too late for us
to talk about Darrell Court now. Pray do not misunderstand me; I was
only expressing my belief."
She bent down to take up her drawing materials.
"I do not misunderstand you, child," he said, sadly. "You love it
because it is the home of a race you love, and not for its mere worth in
money."
Her dark eyes seemed to flash with fire; the glorious face had never
softened so before.
"You speak truly," she said; "that is exactly what I mean."
Then she went away, liking Sir Oswald better than she had ever liked him
in her life before. He looked after her half-sadly.
"A glorious girl!" he said to himself; "a true Darrell! I hope I have
not made a mistake."
Lady Darrell made no complaint to her husband of Pauline; the girl gave
her no tangible cause of complaint. She could not complain to Sir Oswald
that Pauline's eyes always rested on her with a scornful glance,
half-humorous, half-mocking. She could not complain of that strange
power Miss Darrell exercised of making her always "feel so small." She
would gladly have made friends with Miss Darrell; she had no idea of
keeping up any species of warfare; but Pauline resisted all her
advances. Lady Darrell had a strange kind of half-fear, which made her
ever anxious to conciliate.
She remarked to herself how firm and steadfast Pauline was; there was no
weakness, no cowardice in her character; she was strong, self-reliant;
and, discerning that, Lady Darrell asked herself often, "What will
Pauline's vengeance be?"
The question puzzled her far more than she would have cared to own. What
shape would her vengeance assume? What could she do to avoid it? When
would it overtake her?
Then she would laugh at herself. What was there to fear in the
wildly-uttered, dramatic threats of a helpless girl? Could she take her
husband from her? No; it was not in any human power to do that. Could
she take her wealth, title, position, from her? No; that was impossible.
Could she make her unhappy? No, again; that did not seem to be in her
power. Lady Darrell would try to laugh, but one look at the beautiful,
proud face, with its dark, proud eyes and firm lips, would bring the
coward fear back again.
She tried her best to conciliate her. She was always putting little
pleasures, little amusements, in her way, of which Pauline never availed
herself. She was always urging Sir Oswald to make her some present or to
grant her some indulgence. She never interfered with her; even when
suggestions from her would have been useful, she never made them. She
was mistress of the house, but she allowed the utmost freedom and
liberty to this girl, who never thanked her, and who never asked her for
a single favor.
Sir Oswald admired this grace and sweetness in his wife more than he had
ever admired anything else. Certainly, contrasted with Pauline's blunt,
abrupt frankness, these pretty, bland, suave ways shone to advantage. He
saw that his wife did her best to conciliate the girl, that she was
always kind and gracious to her. He saw, also, that Pauline never
responded; that nothing ever moved her from the proud, defiant attitude
she had from the first assumed.
He said to himself that he could only hope; in time things must alter;
his wife's caressing ways must win Pauline over, and then they would be
good friends.
So he comforted himself, and the edge of a dark precipice was for a time
covered with flowers.
The autumn and winter passed away, spring-tide opened fair and
beautiful, and Miss Hastings watched her pupil with daily increasing
anxiety. Pauline never spoke of her disappointment; she bore herself as
though it had never happened, her pride never once giving way; but, for
all that, the governess saw that her whole character and disposition was
becoming warped. She watched Pauline in fear. If circumstances had been
propitious to her, if Sir Oswald would but have trusted her, would but
have had more patience with her, would but have awaited the sure result
of a little more knowledge and experience, she would have developed into
a noble and magnificent woman, she would have been one of the grandest
Darrells that ever reigned at the old Court. But Sir Oswald had not
trusted her; he had not been willing to await the result of patient
training; he had been impetuous and hasty, and, though Pauline was too
proud to own it, the disappointment preyed upon her until it completely
changed her. It was all the deeper and more concentrated because she
made no sign.
This girl, noble of soul, grand of nature, sensitive, proud, and
impulsive, gave her whole life to one idea--her disappointment and the
vengeance due to it; the very grandeur of her virtues helped to
intensify her faults; the very strength of her character seemed to
deepen and darken the idea over which she brooded incessantly by night
and by day. She was bent on vengeance.