Part 10 (1/2)
”And on what have these dainty minds been nurtured, and who have been their intellectual mentors? Lela has been bred within a cloister's walls, and foreign travel has polished both mind and manners.
”In no school has Majoli's mind been formed, nor is she greatly indebted to learned professors for her mental attainments. A mother's love has quickened the budding intellect, a mother's intelligence has trained and directed the unfolding powers. The grace of foreign speech is on her tongue, and scenes and pictures of distant lands are enshrined in her memory. Ancient lore has for her a peculiar charm; history is her delight; Plutarch, Josephus, Gibbon, Macaulay, she has conned well. Poesy she loves much. The poetry of the Bible, Dante, Schiller, Herbert, Browning, are her favorites. In sacred books she finds sweet enjoyment. The Fathers of the Church afford her great pleasure; St. Augustine, St. Basil, Thomas a Kempis, etc. She has the grace of devotion, but her love of the Church is affected more by its aesthetical qualities than its theological dogmas.
”Lela is a pa.s.sionate book-lover. There are few modern writers that have not furnished entertainment to her accomplished mind, and she is not unacquainted with the best Latin and Greek authors. English, German, and French literature are alike open to her. Biography, essays, dramas, poetry, with more serious reading, occupy her time.
Virgil and Horace, Bacon, Shakespeare, Racine, Victor Hugo, Heine and George Eliot may be mentioned as among her preferences.
”But while we are attempting to portray some noticeable characteristics in Lela and Majoli, how are Celina and Guerrabella occupied? You see Guerrabella has a pencil in her hand. She is sketching a head; if we look closely, we shall probably recognize our own, grotesquely drawn, for there is no denying that our young genius is fond of caricaturing her friends. Celina sits by a table; her large, open eyes have a distant, dreamy expression. Her pen moves rapidly across the page; she is writing a Musical Recollection, we may presume.
”Guerrabella is the youngest of the group. She is tall, picturesque, imposing. Her face is radiant with blushes, dimples, and smiles. She looks so fresh and beautiful that she might have set for Greuze's picture of 'Sweet Sixteen.' A sense of thorough enjoyment flashes from the bright, blue-gray eyes, and is indicated by the rose-bloom on cheek and lips. There is an air of strength and courage perceptible, and a certain dash in her manner that a.s.sociates her with Scott's favorite heroine, Di Vernon. She has great mimic powers, and might adorn the histrionic stage. Towards art and literature she seems equally attracted, and what she will eventually decide to follow we cannot now predict. She will fail in nothing for want of talent.
”Celina's height scarce reaches to Guerrabella's shoulder; her figure is fragile and dainty; and though her cheek lacks bloom, the lines are soft and graceful, and the face pensive and poetic. The mouth is small and well curved, and the air of repose that rests upon the imaginative brow resembles the Muse of Meditation. The serenity that is uniformly spread over her unique countenance is in strong contrast to the animated, vivacious features of her cousin. Celina's head is fas.h.i.+oned after a cla.s.sic model, and the ma.s.s of amber-hued hair which crowns it might be taken for an aureola. Her pansy-like eyes are full of sweet, poetic vision. The brow is marked by delicately defined eyebrows, and the eyelashes are long and silken. 'Tis a melodic countenance, foreshadowing that dream-world from which our young heroine has never for a moment awakened. Too _pet.i.te_, some might deem her, for womanly perfection; but physical symmetry, ease, and a dignified bearing elevate the fairy figure to the true standard. She moves about with an airy grace, and nothing earthly is lighter than her footfall. Her small, delicate hands grace the keyboard, and music in her has an enchanting interpreter.
”Guerrabella partic.i.p.ates in the family pa.s.sion for literature. She possesses great intellectual independence, and her preferences are decided, usually inclining to the bold and strong. She is fond of Macaulay's 'Heroic Lays of Many Lands;' she rejoices in Becky Sharp; and there is a tradition that she learned to read in the works of Thackeray, spelling out the words of that magnificent novel, Henry Esmond.
”Celina has explored the treasures of cla.s.sic lore in music and literature. Homer, Herodotus, Plato, she has read, with Ta.s.so and his chivalrous lays, and Spenser and his stately verse. In music, Gluck and Gretry, Beethoven and Boieldieu's dulcet tones have helped to fas.h.i.+on her musical mind.
”But we must not dismiss our heroines without indicating the toilettes that most become them. Velvets and rich brocade befit the Lady Lela's superb figure. Scarlet is her color, and diamonds her essential ornament. The moss-rose should be her favorite flower.
”Soft gray or pale azure of light fabrics do best agree with Majoli's sylph-like form. Pearls and feathers are consonant to her artistic taste. Her emblematic flower is the lily, of sacred and legendary lore.
”All shades and fabrics of whatever texture harmonize with Guerrabella's style. Ample should be the folds that habit her majestic figure, and brilliant the gems that are to rival her flas.h.i.+ng, sparkling eyes: yet we might indicate _couleur de rose_ as best blending with her own exquisite tints, and the opal with its mysterious light as in some way prefiguring her genius and high destiny.
”And how shall we vest our _mignonne_--Celina? Gossamer tissues, fabrics of airy texture--a magic web for the daintiest Lady in our Land. No color of human invention; their dyes would oppress her.
_White_ with a gleam of moonlight upon it; a reflection of the aura of her hair, or the first pale beams of the morning. Other gems would I not but those wondrous starlike eyes, to light up a face radiant with thought and sensibility.”
[1] For Lilian, Ida's second name.
CHAPTER XIII.
Biography of Mr. Greeley--Gabrielle's Questions--Mrs. Cleveland's Corrections--The Boy Horace not Gawky, Clownish, or a Tow-head--His Parents not in Abject Want--Mr. Greeley's Letter about his Former Playmates--Young Horace and his Girl Friends--He Corrects their Grammar and Lectures them upon Hygiene--He disapproves of Corsets.
_July 10_.
”Auntie, is it possible,” said Gabrielle, indignantly running into mamma's room with an open volume in her hand, ”that papa was as homely and awkward when a boy and young man as this writer describes him?
'Tow-head,' 'gawky,' 'plain,' and 'clownish,' are some of the most uncomplimentary epithets applied to him. He is described as having 'white hair with a tinge of orange at the ends,' and as 'eating as if for a wager;' while grandpapa, the writer says, was so poor that papa had to walk barefooted over the thistles, without a jacket, and in trousers cut with an utter disregard of elegance or fit, and it was remarked that they were _always_ short in the legs, while one was invariably shorter than the other. Was it possible that grandpapa could not afford an inch more of cloth to make poor papa's trousers of equal length, and was it true that papa never had but two s.h.i.+rts at a time until he came to New York, and that he never had any gloves? When he was an apprentice in Portland every one used to pity him, Mr. ------ says, as he walked s.h.i.+vering to the _Spectator_ office on cold winter days, thinly clad, and with his gloveless hands thrust into his pockets to protect them from being frost-bitten!”
”My child, you overwhelm me with your questions,” said mamma. ”Let me take them singly, and I will do my best to refute this writer's unpleasant statements.
”First as to personal appearance. You say he styles your papa 'plain'
as a boy. That is absurd, for his features, like mother's, were as perfect as a piece of Grecian sculpture. 'Tow-head' is also a mis-statement. Brother's hair never was at any time tow-color, and the tinge of orange at the ends existed only in the author's imagination.
Tow-color, you know, is a sort of dirty white or gray; whereas brother's hair, until he was thirty years old, was like Raffie's, pure white. After that time, it commenced to change to a pale gold-color, which never, however, deepened into orange. What was your next question, my dear?”
”About papa's wardrobe,” said Gabrielle, her cheeks still flushed with excitement; ”were you indeed so miserably poor, auntie?”
”We were certainly very poor after father failed,” said mamma firmly, ”but we were by no means reduced to abjectness. I can never remember the time, in our poorest days, when the boys had not, besides their brown linen work-day s.h.i.+rts, cotton s.h.i.+rts for Sunday, and father his 'fine s.h.i.+rt' to wear to church and for visiting. Your papa was dressed suitably for our station in life--neither better nor worse than the sons of neighbors in our circ.u.mstances. As for going barefoot, all country boys at that time did so during the summer months; your papa was not an exception.