Volume Ii Part 10 (1/2)
Involuntarily she took his hand and pressed it to her lips, and he caught her in his arms and clasped her to his heart, his tears falling over her like rain.
”My dear child, my only friend, G.o.d bless you for your kind sympathy. Is there any hope for a sinner like me?”
”My lord,” she whispered, ”there is more joy in Heaven over one sinner that repenteth, than over ninety and nine just persons that need no repentance. Receive this great truth into your heart, and you will find the peace you need.” She spoke with such earnestness, that a gleam of hope shot into the sad eyes of the Earl.
”Dorothy, I will think over your words.”
”Pray over them, my lord; we must not only will, but do the thing that is right.”
”Will you pray for me, Dorothy?”
”I have always done so, my lord, since the first hour we met, and you expressed such a kind interest in a poor friendless orphan girl.”
”Look upon me always as a friend--a father, Dorothy; you know not the strong tie that unites my destiny with yours. Perhaps you will know one day, and pity and forgive me for the injury you have received at my hands.”
”My lord, you did your best to serve me. How could you imagine that Gilbert could act as he has done? The blame, if there is any, rests entirely with him. It cannot cancel the vast debt of grat.i.tude I owe to you.”
”You owe me nothing, Dorothy. My earnest desire is to see you good and happy.”
A look of wondering curiosity stole over the young girl's face. He spoke to her in riddles, but she knew the difference in their respective stations to ask him questions.
He evidently read her thoughts, and suddenly turning the conversation, spoke to her in more cheerful tones. He inquired about her studies, and what progress she had made in them. How she liked the books he had provided for her instruction, and what sort of reading she preferred.
She answered with enthusiasm:
”That the books had but one fault, they made the labours of the house and field less agreeable, for she would like to be reading them all day.”
”I expected as much,” said the Earl, with his usual sweet smile. ”I wish to give you the means of earning your living in a more refined and useful manner. There are plenty of hands to work in the world that belong to people who have little or no brains in their heads, and such people make the most profitable farm servants. Nature has bestowed upon you a quick intellect, and to labour in the fields is to bury the talents entrusted to your care, in the dust. By the way,” he continued, ”Mrs. Martin tells me that you have a fine ear for music, and a powerful melodious voice. It would gratify me highly to hear you sing.”
”Oh, my lord,” said Dorothy, blus.h.i.+ng rosy red, ”what pleasure could such a voice as mine give a gentleman like you? I only sing to amuse the children, and wile away the time when I am at work.”
”You must leave me to be the best judge of that. If you feel timid, which is but natural, just sit down on this sloping green bank, and consider me a child, while you sing some little simple air.”
Dorothy felt all in a tremor, but he looked so kind that she did not like to refuse, so she did as she was bid, and sat down on the gra.s.s at his feet, and with her eyes fixed intently upon the daisies, sang a little ballad very popular in those days, commencing with ”Over the mountains and over the moor.”
Her voice, at first tremulous with emotion, soon gained strength, and she sang with a sweetness and pathos that would have drawn down tremendous applause from a public audience. The Earl listened with rapt attention.
”Excellent!” he cried. ”Mrs. Martin was right. Here is an admirable talent that must be cultivated. Should you like to learn to play upon the piano?”
Dorothy's eyes literally shone with delight. ”Oh, my lord, it would make me so happy.”
”That is enough. I will order a good instrument from London. It will be your property. Mrs. Martin will give it a place in her house, and when you gain any proficiency, you can repay her kindness by teaching her children. A good pianist can always command a comfortable independence.”
”And who will instruct me?” asked Dorothy.
”That matter is easily settled. You know old Piper, who plays the organ in the church. He has but one idea, and that is music, which absorbs his whole intellect. A fool in almost everything else, he is yet a splendid musician. He will rejoice in such a promising pupil.”
”He is a strange, odd creature,” said Dorothy. ”If he is to be my master, it will be hard to keep from laughing. He came one day to Mr.
Rushmere, to get him to buy tickets for a concert. Father was making a riddle to separate some large peas from a different sort that were much smaller, that had got accidentally mixed in the granary, and spoiled the sample of both. The old man stood and looked at him for some time, then said so innocently,
”'Now, sir, can't you make that 'ere machine to let out all the large peas, and keep the little 'uns behind?'
”How father laughed, and told him that his idea was so clever, that he advised him to take out a patent for his invention. He took the joke as a great compliment, and went away rubbing his hands, highly delighted with his mechanical skill.”