Part 8 (1/2)
”What shall I read, sir?”
”Anything you fancy.”
”You are the most provoking man,” I thought, as I looked up and down the shelves in search of a book. I shrewdly concluded that I might as well please myself in the choice, as it was not probable that Mr. Rutledge would attend to three words of what I read, even if he did not go to sleep. So recognizing an old friend in ”Sintram,” I took it from the bookcase, and sitting down in the window-seat, opened its familiar pages with some pleasure. Familiar, that is, they had been to my childhood, but it was some years since I had seen the book. It was not long, however, before I forgot myself and my auditor over the strange, wild, touching story. The dreary storm without, the growing gloom within, all added to the charm of its wild pathos. I read on, bending forward to catch the last grey light from the window, till, baffled by the rapidly-deepening twilight, I left it, and sitting down on a low seat by the fire, read on by its flickering light. If I had not been sure that no one was attending, I should have stopped for shame at the trembling of my voice, which I could not control, as I read the lines that tell to Sintram his release from terror and temptation:
”Death comes to set thee free-- O meet him cheerily As thy true friend; And all thy fears shall cease, And in eternal peace Thy penance end.”
A low, quick-drawn sigh told me that I was not alone in my interest in the tale. I finished it, and dropping the book in my lap, sat resting my head on my hand, and gazing dreamily into the fire. Presently steps in the hall interrupted my revery, and I rose to put the book away. As I pa.s.sed Mr. Rutledge, he held out his hand, and, as I laid my own in it, he said, ”thank you,” and looked at me with the most mournful expression in his eyes. The tears rushed involuntarily into mine as I met his glance; I did not know which to pity most, Sintram or my companion. He saw the pity in my look, and remembered it, long after the emotion had pa.s.sed.
A servant entered at that moment, with the brightest of cheerful lamps; Mr. Rutledge ordered more wood on the fire, which presently blazed and crackled genially; the curtains were drawn, and the conquered twilight and moaning wind were banished from the room.
Mr. Rutledge roused himself from his abstracted mood, and I said to myself, ”What can I do to keep him from thinking of the things that trouble him?” And, woman enough to like the task, I set myself to make the evening a pleasant one, and to keep all dullness and ennui away. And it was a very happy evening to me, and not a dull one, I am certain, to my host. I made tea with much less trepidation than on the evening before, and it proved almost magical in curing Mr. Rutledge's headache.
I could hardly believe the clock was right when it struck ten, the evening had seemed so short. I took my picture from the mantelpiece, and bidding my companion good night, ran upstairs two steps at a time, not remembering till I reached the top, that Miss Crowen had condemned the practice as unladylike. ”I hope Mr. Rutledge wasn't listening,” I thought with mortification. If Mr. Rutledge wasn't, Mrs. Roberts was, though, for I heard her door shut softly soon after I had reached my room, and presently she found an excuse for coming in upon me, which she did rather suddenly, as I was standing before the new picture, looking at it very earnestly, as I leisurely unbraided my hair. I went over to the gla.s.s, however, very quickly upon her entrance; and after her errand was over, she quite inadvertently, it would seem, glanced up at the picture, but _I_ knew she had seen it the first thing when she came in.
”Why,” she exclaimed, looking surprised, ”how came Mr. Rutledge's picture up here? It has always hung under his mother's in the dining-room. There must be some mistake,” she continued, looking inquiringly at me.
An alarming truth began to dawn on my mind, a vivid blush spread over my face, and Mrs. Roberts never once took her eyes off me.
”I fancied it, and Mr. Rutledge said I might have it,” I stammered. Mrs.
Robert's blue lips parted for an instant in a contemptuous curl; then, looking stonier than ever, she said:
”Yes, it is a good likeness; or was, at least, when he was a young man; he's sadly changed since then; he's an old and an altered man now, is Mr. Arthur Rutledge.”
The housekeeper, saying this with emphasis, and having no excuse for staying longer, was obliged to withdraw.
”Yes, ma'am,” I muttered, as I locked the door after her, ”I know he's an old man, I know he's nearly forty years old: who better? for he told me so himself.” And my cheeks scorched with blushes, as one by one, I recalled my foolish speeches. How stupid, how blind I had been. Why, as I looked at the picture now, there wasn't a feature in the face that could possibly have been mistaken for any one else, not a shade nor outline that was not characteristic. I could have cried with vexation.
How should I ever dare to look him in the face again? ”My hero!” And I covered my face with my hands, and started up guiltily, and put it out of the way before I unlocked the door for Kitty.
CHAPTER VI.
”The Sundays of man's life Threaded together on time's string, Make bracelets to adorn the wife Of the eternal glorious King.
On Sunday, heaven's gate stands ope; Blessings are plentiful and rife; More plentiful than hope.”
HERBERT.
”Mr. Rutledge's compliments, Miss, and he begs you will breakfast without him this morning; he isn't well enough to come down,” said the servant, as I entered the dining-room next morning.
”Is his arm worse?” I asked.
”It pains him a good deal, Miss; and he's had a very bad night. Michael has ridden over to get the doctor.” That was bad news, certainly; I wished very much I could do something for him; but as I couldn't, the next best thing was to eat my breakfast; which, however, was rather choky and unpalatable in all that grand solemnity, with the tall Thomas (Mr. Rutledge's own man, temporarily supplying the post of waiter) looking down at me. I broke down on the second slice of toast, and concluded to give it up and go into the library.
It seemed incredible that it had stormed yesterday; such splendid suns.h.i.+ne, such a clear sky, I thought, I had never seen before. I would have given anything for a race down the avenue in that keen, bracing wind, but I determined heroically that I would not stir out of the house till Mr. Rutledge gave me permission. But about eleven o'clock my reading was interrupted by the abrupt entrance of Kitty, who, with her face all aglow with pleasure, announced to me that Mr. Rutledge had ordered the carriage for me to take a drive, if I felt like it; and sent word, that if I was willing, he thought Kitty had better accompany me. I tossed away my book, exclaiming, ”it was grand,” and, followed by Kitty, ran upstairs.
”How odd,” she said, as in breathless haste she prepared me for the drive, ”how odd that Mr. Rutledge shouldn't have sent word for Mrs.
Roberts to go with you, miss, isn't it?”
”Odd, but very nice, Kitty,” I answered, with a grimace that made her laugh; and as the carriage drove to the door, we ran down the stairs, Kitty putting on her bonnet and shawl as we went. I am sure it would have eased for a moment Mr. Rutledge's pain, if he could have known the extent of the pleasure he had conferred on the two children who so delightedly occupied his carriage that morning. All Kitty's knowledge of it, I suspect, had hitherto been speculative, and I think one of the dearest wishes of her heart was gratified when she tried experimentally the softness of its new dark green cus.h.i.+ons, and in her own proper person occupied the front seat, an honor whereof she had only dreamed before.