· 2 an old country house. my face—when footsteps sounded along the passage. the door was then...

OLD C O UNT R Y HOU SE.

a N o b e l

BY THE AUTHOR OF

H ( gTHE GAMBLER’S W IFE, SYBI L LENNARD,

AL INE,” “ THE REC'I‘ORY GUEST

,

”&c .

, &c .

I N TH R EE VO L UM E S .~—VOL . I I I .

LONDON

T C . NEW B Y,P U B L I SH E R ,

WELBECK STREET CAVEND ISH ,

’

SQUARE .

OLD 00 UNTRY HOU SE.

CHAPTER I .

I am shame d th rough all my nature , to haveloved so ligh t a thing.

TENNYSON .

MY suspense lasted several hours . I

began to wonder, indeed, W hether MillyWas to receive any visit o r summons from

her newly arrived relatives, and Milly

even to ~ lift her eyes enquiringly towards

VOL . I I I . B

2 AN OLD COUNTRY HOUSE .

my face—when footsteps sounded along

the passage .

The door was then thrown open,and

Mr. and Mrs . Malvern, Edwy, and Mrs.

Lilly, one after the other entered , and ad

vance d across the room towards the oriel,

Mr . Malvern, “ looking much chafed and

heated,and h is wife as ominously cold and

calmm Edwy pale as marble, and sore dis

tressed and agitated .

Milly rose,and lifting up her lovely

little head with a look of defiance, m e t the

different glances,e ach, with one accord,

bent down upon her.

Well,Miss Milly

,and what have you

to say for yourself ?” the uncle burst forth,

in a contemptuous tone and manner. You

cannot,it seems, be contented with one

lover at a time,but even wh ilst bewitching

one , must be sending ofi an epistle to the

other .”

And he scornfully cast at his niece’s feet,a letter he held ready in his hand .

Milly looked down, but did not offe r to .

AN OLD COUNTRY HOUSE . 3

raise it, the crimson colour suffusing her

brow.

Mr. Malvern, in much the same tone, thus

proceeded,

“I have been giving your cousin Edwy

some idea of the real character and conduct

of the lady he came, on my first arrival,to solicit for his wife and I think he b e

gins already to congratulate himself, that

he had the sense to resist the very delicate

solicitation to elope with her, before this .

e clair cissement took place, in spite of the

very pretty romance of the Ge rman Baron

and so forth which,

” he added, turning hi?

eyes towards m e ,“ I beg to say, is nothing

but a romantic lie . I could give a

very different version of the story,if I

thought it worth while to add this accusa

tion to the other . Yes, bend your eyes, fair

lady— I ought, at least, to have the satis

faction o f seeing you put to the blush at

last .”

Milly quickly raised her head,h e r

countenance at these last words transformed

B 2


into the semblance of that o f a little

demon .

I do not blush , sh e said, “ at any

thing you say to poison Edwy’s ears against

m e

And can you then deny, Milly, any

one thing I have brought against you

Mr . Malvern continued, in a tone Of

h eightened indignation, your improper,

abominable proceedings with that rascally

Italian , carried on to the verge o f an elope

m ent even after you became aware that he

had a wife alive

That is false— I was not going to elope

then, Milly burst passionately forth,

stamping her foot upon the ground .

But no one seemed to credit this pro

testation. A dead silence followed her

words,broken but by a low deep groan

from Mrs . Lilly . I had covered my eyes

with my hand in horror and dismay .

Come, Milly, I fear you can make

nothing of it,” her uncle continued, and

e ven if all that might have been forgiven

AN OLD CO UNTRY HOUSE . 5

and forgotten,as we promised it should

be on your hypocr itical professions of r e

pe ntance , reformation, and so forth, that

letter at your fee t proves the value of those

protestations . Of course, after all that

had happene d we were not go ing to leave

you here entirely to your own devices

Pierrot had our strict injunctions to let no

letter pass from h ence without examination

o f the directions of your correspondents

That letter is still unopened, but if you are

so very innocent,as you would wish some of

us to believe,perhaps you will submit it to

your cousin’s inspection .

”

Milly answered by instantly placing her

little foot upon the paper at her feet .

No, no 1”

and drooping her head, tears either of

passion or of anguish silently trickled down

her burning cheeks .

sh e murmured , tremulously,

I had often glanced at Edwy throughout

this scene . He was standing, leaning against

the wall, his eyes bent upon the ground

nor did h e raise them now.


Therewas another pause, brokenat length

by the cold, low, serious voice o f Mrs .

Malvern .

Milly, this is most sad—most painful,sh e began, after all this, what are we to

hope— what is to become o f you, unhappy

girl“ I do not know —I do not know

,

whined Milly, clasping h e r hands woefully

together, “ fo r I am fatherless—motherless—a

and you ar e all se t against me— to drive m e

to ruin and disgrace—Edwy,

”sh e cried,

springing suddenly across to where the

youngman stood, last night you prom ised

never to ‘ forsake me —Edwy,” and She

clasped his hand in b O th hers,and kissed

and bathed it with her tears “ listen

to m e,I swear I love no man on

earth but you—will never love another-whatever I have done has been

through ignorance— your love will make

m e a different creature— you only can r e

form and change me— Edwy, has your love

AN OLD COUNTRY HOUSE .

157

so soongrown cold l—speak to me one kind

word

Her voice died away, and sh e stood

there by Edwy’s s ide with every other

glance turned with co ntempt upon h er

shame-struck and downcast countenance—fo r ne ither the look o r glance we r e

m

r e

turned o r the petition a ccorded.

E‘

dwy on the contrary withdrew his

hand, and there was that in the gesture

which might well have made h e r sink with

shame in the dust .

The next moment sh e had crept away

b ack into the oriel, and shrinking dowrg

into her former position covered h e r face,a s if to h ide h erself from every eye .

"

There was at this juncture a commotion

in the chamber— the door had be en pushed

abruptly open, and in rushed the idiot b oyacross the room , fo llowed by an attendant;


wh o vainly attempted to arrest his pro

gress .

Cousin Milly—cousin Milly ! Herbert

will go to pretty cousin Milly, he cried,and threw himself like some young raven

ing animal upon the shrinking girl,over

powering her with his imbecile caresses .

Mrs. Malvern and the nurse both advanced

to release her, but it was a work of some

difficulty .

The unfortunate b oy, now ten years old,was much grown since I had last seen h im

,

as well as increased in bodily strength .

“Never m ind-m ne ve rmind,”gaspedMilly

,

as shrieking and resisting he was torn from

her ;“never m ind ! Poor Herbert— J don’t

m ind you— you are quite welcome to kill

m e— I wh o am now reduced,”

Sh e mut

te r e d between her teeth, “ to the affection

of an idiot !”

This distressing incident put an end to

th e still more painful scene which it had

interrupted . The boy was taken from the

room by the nurse, assisted by Mrs. Lilly


Mrs Malvern following with anxious

solicitude,to soothe th e ragings of her un

happy darling .

Mr . Malvern,wh o had turned ashy pale,

immediately on the boy’s entrance, walked

hastily away,accompanied by Edwy

,his

countenance still fixed and rigid,casting

no t a look to the right or to the left .

I alone remained by my unhappy

friend .

1 0 AN OLD COUNTRY HOUSE.

CHAPTER ll .

Th e ve ry h e ad and fro nt o f my o ffe ndingHath th is e xte nt, no m o re .

O rnELLO .

WHEN the door closed,Milly lifted up her

head“ Are they all gone she asked

,in a

tone of sullen calm .

All,

” I answered .

Beginning from the last,even to th e

first ! ” sh e murmured ; then added, with a

scornful laugh,Mrs . Lilly

’s chapter taught

AN OLD COUNTRY HOUSE . 1 1

m e that,you se e . And why did you not

also go awayr 2”

I was sorrowfully silent .

You are a friend indeed, Susan . There

are few in the world like you ; but do yo u

no t detest and scorn me , after all you have

heard ? ” she said, in a so ftened tone .

“ I am grieved—most sorely grieved,

Milly,I replied ; “ but hatred and co n

tempt are not for any fellow-creature to

feel towards another—however erring . I

pity you too sincerely, and will no t leave

you now that you require m e but the

m ore .

”

nu

The renovated levity wh ich succeeded

this speech did not speak much for any

s erious efie ct produced by my words .“ And after all

,

”sh e said, brightening

up,

“ for what do the y condemn m e ? I

will tell you all about it now. I care not

if all the wor ld knows now that he does—and that I am ruined in his eyes . Well

,

you must know, then, that befo re I went

a bro ad, I had no idea that I was any such

1 2 AN OLD COUNTRY HOUSE .

great beauty as I found myself considered

there . How I was stared at, and followed

by strangers in our j ourneyings, or at the

places where we stopped -and when I b e

gan to notice this,and that it was all very

pleasant and amusing, Eleanor was horridly

shocked,and lectured me by the hour . I

was not to look or smile, o r even to se e

any of such things— I must be in short

like a stock or stone, or statue . How could

that possibly be 7— 1 made a few ao

quaintance s Of which sh e knew nothing,

and carried on little harmless flirtatious

through back windows and over garden

walls by th e means of billets and flowers,

and sometimes nightly serenades . It was

only after all pour m’

amasar, sh e con

tinned, seeing that I looked rather shocked,and this was all I am sure for the first

year, and though I was by th is tim e se t

down by Eleanor as everything that was

bad— uncle Malve rn was rather proud Of

me and all the admiration I excited,and

t ook me to balls and public place s, where l


made,I can assure you,

a great sensation .

Perhaps I should have gone on in what is

called a respectable manner, and found

what is called a respectable husband— if

just at this time I had not fallen in with

Santo Corsi . We did not meet him in

private society,but from the tim e he first

beheld m e he was everywhere else to be

seen at all times , and in all places . I was

haunted by the most beautiful dark eyes

you ever looked upon—At every fresh

town to which we moved he was sure to

make his appearance . I had a charming

little French maid then Of my own . I used,

to walk out with her in the lovely Italian

evenings, and at length he spoke to m e ,

and we often m e t in this manner . He told

m e h ow much he loved me u what an angel

of loveliness he thought m e -Oh , you can

not imagine h ow handsome he also was,and what I began to feel towards h im !

Matters went on thus for sometime

without discovery—I rather wondered that

he was not introduced to my uncle like


other people ; but some h ow I felt a pr esenti

mm t that such a step m ight lead to an in

te rruption to our happiness in one another— So did not question h im upon the sub

j e ct . Besides there was something exciting

and pleasant in the mystery which e n

ve lope d the affair.

We went from Rome to Naple s— h e

also came there ; but it was not such a

fortunate place for us—We betrayed our

acquaintance by a glance we exchanged

when I was walking with my uncle : he

threatened to horsewhip Santo Corsi if ever

he dared again to look at m e in that way,and began to put together in his head the

curious coincidence of that fellow,

” as he

called him,being always in the way— de

claring his intention of looking well after

h im in future .

I was terrified, and ob liged to ge t up

som e story on the subj ect ; b ut managed

clandestinely to despatch‘ a note to Santo

Corsi,informing him of our danger. In

answe r he sent anothe r imploring me to

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shocked at his havmg so deceived me , and

in despair at the idea of never being able

to hope to se e,or speak to h im

,now that

I could not possibly be his wife . And for

six months I neither saw nor heard of

h im . They began to think I was ashamed

of my conduct, and impressed by the

danger I had run, and they relaxed a little

in their severity . The business had been

kept very quiet— no one but Justine knew

anything about it ; my uncle found it‘

all

out himself.

I began now to enjoy myself again, and

got up a few more qu 1 te harm less flirta

tions,which they did no t seem to mind .

“

But I never could cease to remember Santo

Corsi— and onenight, shall I ever fo rge tit 7

itwasnear the end of our last autumn in Italy,

and the air was as balmy and soft as any

summer eveninghere —W e were inFlorence,

and I lay in my bed, the orange scent

blowing through the open window, remind

ing me as it always does of Santo Corsi,and

those delicious walks,and there was nothing


to destroy th e illusion but o ld cross Pie rrot

snoring in a remote corner . Th ey had

made her sleep in my room ever since th e

affair. I heard a rustling at the window, I

sat up and listened ; and then I saw a

hand—a hand white as snow all bathed in

moonlight .

I should have screamed had not a face

as quickly followed, a pair of eyes I knew

too well . But still I was aghast . He

spoke softly but distinctly, imploring me to

let him Spe ak but one word : I shook myhead

,and made Signs that there was

another in th e ro om , but it would no t do .

He continued to gesticulate in the m ost

imploring manner . He probably heard

good Pierrot snore, and thought our soft

whispers could not possibly awaken her

I thought so too, and could no longer resist

just hearing what he had to say. Upon

my word I had no thought of more .

So I slipped on my blue silk wrapper,and with my ringlets all about me , stole


barefooted to the window. He began to

tell m e of his love and m isery—that hehad scarcely existed since we parted, and

h ow he had lurked about and watched m e

eve r since we had be en in this place .

I accused him of all that h e had brought

upon m e , and the discovery we had made

about his wife . He swore that there was

no earthly tie which bound h im,but his

love for m e . It would make this world a

Paradise here below ; he bade me look

from the Window and se e h ow,in one in

stant,he could h e ar me in his arms to the

ground . I mechanically bent over as he

desired—when fancy my horror my arm

was griped as by a vice, I was flung to the

other side o f the room , and my uncle threw

himself from the window intending to be

upon Santo Corsi . I imagine d, that it

would have been English bull-dog ver sus

Italian greyho und, and that poor Corsi

would have been demolished.

But uncle is not so active as he used


to be ; he caught his foot— fell—and mylover made a most wonde rful escape .

I alo ne was left to the tender mercies

of my relatives . A horrid cour ier had

awakened my uncle and told h im that a

suspicious—looking vehicle was waiting in

the next stree t to ours, out of wh ich, as

he was returning home, he had seen a man

alight,then creep stealthily round to that

part o f th e house where my chamber win

dow was situated . There were evergreens

on the wall, and one agile as Santo Corsi,could easily ascend as he had do ne, but

Pierrot’s companionship was always consi

dered an infallible safeguard against any

such accidents . This adventure got a

little abroad,but the affair was hushed up

as much as possible, and my uncle was

advised not to carry o ut his threatened

prosecution o f Santo Corsi, which would

only lead to public exposure, but to take

m e back to England as soon as possible .

We left Italy accordingly, but were

d


detained in Germany by Herbert’s illness .

and it ended by our wintering there, I , not

allowed to mix in any society, kept like a

child in the nursery,and indeed all but

under lock and key .

Strangers I believe began to fancy I was

something in the same way as Herbert—“ I

only wonder I did not turn idiot— I got

hold of books now to amuse m e , poetry,romances, all sorts of trash—a nything to

keep m e quiet they thought .

It was at this time I read Undine .

It pleased m e exceedingly— I thought her

like myself that is to say, as sh e was at

the commencement . I really began to

think that I had found out that what made

m e so different from other people was,

that I had no soul,and should not till I

was married to some one like Hulde b rand

—and I determ ined to try to think no

more of Santo Corsi . They took me at

length to the Baron’s Castle .

I tried to find in h im a Hulde b rand . It


would not quite do, but they tried to make

out I flirted even with that o ld bear. But

never m ind all that . In London, wh ere we

spent a few months before we came here,

rather tomy dismay, I found out, by Chance.that Santo Corsi was in town . He was so

imprudent as to Send m e a letter, begging

m e to write to h im I managed to do so ,

and told him that I was just going to be

sent into the country, for you must know

I had been reduced to such a state o f

quiescence by the stupid,dreamy life I had

been leading lately, that they began to

think I had become quite harmless,and

,

tired of carrying m e about in their train

like a caged marmoze tte , they were glad

to dispatch m e under strict guard to this

state prison-house, from whence they

seemed to fancy all the Spirits o f evil were

shut out .

Then came Edwy, and my Hulde b rand

was found . Anything so good, so pe rfect,I had never before seen —I loved him as


soon as 1 saw him, and already felt the

soul hovering around m e . I began to

feel a strange terror lest he should discover

any of my conduct with regard to Santo

Corsi, and more than all that he Should

make h is appearance, wh ich, I had some

m isgivings he intended to do— so , unfo rtu

nately, I decided on writing that letter

which y ou are quite welcome to read . It

only contains my entire renunciation of

any communication with Santo Corsi for

the future, telling h im at the same time,

that I loved anothe r and in order to

ensure h is non-appearance, I informed h im

that my new love, to whom I was shortly

to be married, kept such strict guard over

me , that any attempt on his part to r e

new our intercourse would be a work of

direful danger to himself.

This is the long and the short o f the

story,all fact

,I assure you— I have no

aim o r obj ect for romancing now, that all

my new-born hopes are entirely cut o ff,

24 AN OLD COUNTRY HOUSE.

CHAPTER III .

I will b e gone

a

Shall I stay h e r e—no,no

, alth oughTh e air o f Paradise did fan th is h o use ,And ange ls o ffice d all I will b e gone

SHAKSPEARH.

I do not think Milly had really abandoned

every hope concerning her cousin’s relent

ing tenderness,and that h e would still

AN OLD COUNTRY HORSE . 25

seek some communication, or send her some

m essage .

I had been civilly invited to j oin the

fam ily at the dinner—table the evening of

their arrival, but now excused myself, pre

ferring to remain with the culprit,whom ,

indeed , I did not think it quite safe to

leave sh e secured th e doo r and would

not allow Mrs . Lilly or any other person

to enter .

In the night, sh e alluded wildly and

frightfully, for the first time I had ever

heard her, to the tragedy of the private

staircase—her rushing down to find her

bleeding father —to see his glar ing eyes

just turn upon her, and her mother stand

ing opposite— and then having to pass

between them —her feet dabbling , in the

warm,streaming blood

Was not this enough to scare my soul

from my body she exclaimed, can they

wonder at what I am, at what I do w -who

VOL . 1 1 1 . C

26 AN OLD COUNTRY HOUSE :

have looked upon a scene like this ? But

Edwy and I together m ight have done

away the curse if they would have allowed9)

U S .

The next morning Milly encouraged mygoing down stairs, for the purpose, I believe,of bringing her back some intelligence .

I was received with kindness by both

Mr . and Mrs. Malvern, wh o seemed per

fe ctly satisfied by what they had heard of

my conduct .

They thanked m e for my kindness to

their offending niece, and begged me to

continue at the Court until they had de

cided what course to take respecting her.

Edwy I found had, early that morning, de

parted from the Court .

This was then the news I had to carry

back to Milly .

She receive d it with more signs o f inward


emotion than I had ever before seen her

countenance express . The colour forsook

her cheek ; her eyes opened with a s tare

o f wild, startled dismay . She , however,uttered no word or exclamation , but silently

turned away,and cast herself down in h e r

favourite position o n the ground—“ buryingher face within a cushion— and thus many

an hour of that glorious July day passed

over her humbled head . For she would

no t listen to my solicitations to walk or

drive,as Mrs . Lilly had authorized m e ,

through Mrs . Malvern,to propose .

I n the afternoon she was sitting up, her

eyes fixed upon the garish sunbeams

playing o n the faded figures on th e wall,

as so many had probably done before her,from th e time when those same sunbeams

first played on their bright and newly

woven colours —as sh e had often done her

self when an innocent, careless child, and

her mother,too, in her still darker hours of

m elancholy seclusion.

C 2


I sat, with my‘

work o r book,in silent

heaviness of hear t— a drowsy,dreamy

,

quiet reigning within and without thehouse .

And nough t was h e ard till a little bird,

U pon th e casement’s wo odbine swinging,

Broke out into a loud, swe e t singing,

Fo r joy 0’

th e summe r sun.

Alack ! alack ! sh e watch e d no m o r e ,

W ith h e ad on kne e sh e waile d so re ,And th e little bird sang o ’

e r and o’

e r,

Fo r j oy 0’

th e summe r sun.

’

Thus did poor Milly, and then sh e lifted

up her head,and said

I wish I was that bird !”

Why I asked, just to rouse her to

converse .

Because, sh e said, then would I fly

away and follow h im,wheresoever he went

,

perch upon h is window,and nestle in his


breast. He could not then rid himself of

m e , unless he crushed away my life , which

I would that he would do, rather than

leave m e to my present fate . Susan,what

am I to do i”

Repent— reform Milly,from your

heart,” I answered ; and then wh o knows

but that he may love you once again

She shook her head .

He should have loved me through all

and then my reformation m ight have

come . He knows not h ow much he could

have done—o r rather undone . He has not

been abroad—h e cannot tell h ow easy it is'

for a naturally weak —I candidly acknow

ledge it— faulty girl to be made really bad

there—situated as I was, particularly, with

o ut any one about m e whom I loved,and

whose good opinion I valued . Oh,why

did they not let m e stay here, a harmless,careless creature ! There, in that pernici

ous Italy,my mother, they say,

was

destroyed—yet they expected that I, with


her blood in my veins, should have none of

my evil nature stirred up within m e !”

I allowed her to continue to pursue this

unusually reasonable meditation without

interruption,but it seem s her m ind was

soo n diverted from such philosophy .

She started up,and scared away the

singing bird .

“ Fly away,little thing !” sh e cried ;

you drive m e mad sitting ther e so merry

and contented—while l But Susan,

she continued, looking round,“ a thought

h as come into my mind . I will no t stay

here - my wings are not quite clipped . Do

not be afraid— I shall not run away ; bu t

they cannot keep me here against my will ;for

,Susan

,you know uncle is my guardian

indeed,and has a righ t over my actions

till I am twenty-one,but only as my guard


Mama’s lover, and forsook her— some say

drove her madm afte r my father’s myste

rions death . Soldier as he was, he could

not stand th e b lood, and it sickened h im

against her. I will write to him and ask

h im to take m e .

”

And sh e actually carried this plan into

execution . She wrote a letter,which she r e

questedm e tohave despatched but I refused

to do so, unless the plan were first submitted

to Mr . and Mrs . Malve rn’

s approval, and at

last I persuaded her to allow m e to inform

them o f the step sh e had taken .

I found Mr. and Mrs . Malve rn in pe r

ple xe d consultation as to what course was

to be pursued with their troublesom e and

graceless charge . Lady Clara had arrived

at th e Court, and was taking a loud and

active part in th e debate .

My communication astounded them no t a

little— Mr . Malvern took the letter Milly

h ad written, and turned it over and over,then threw it scornfully down .

Pshaw he exclaimed,

“ fancy the


gallant general and his fine lady wife con

senting to take upon their shoulders the

charge of such a little— ”and he applied no

very respectful or flattering epithet to his

offending niece .

“ I should be ashamed

that any one, x

“

besides myself,should have

a specimen Of what sh e really is—and

Egerton of all me n,” he murmured

,

“ 1 do not, at all, se e why General Egerton

should have a Sinecure office o f his guardian

ship,

”observed Lady Clara “ I am sure,you

have had enough plague with the girl . She

will never be better till some new arrange

ment has taken place ; you and Eleanor

have not a spark of influence over her— the

General may strike some awe into her, and

her ladyship can take her about and find

h e r som e decent husband, I should, at

any rate, risk the proposal . Send her

letter by all means . I wonder what in

the world sh e has said ? You can also

write and explain circum stances, as far as

it is expedient— but for m ercy’s sake,don’t

give her to o bad a character, or Lady Mar


garet may be afraid . As it is,they say

she is an e asy,placid person

, without much

voice in domestic matters . So, if th e

General chooses to consent, she will no t

stand in the way. He is now in h is house

in London,where his military business will

keep him the greatest part of the autumn .

Of course , you must hint to him that it is

necessary to keep good guard over her

ways and actions .

Tell h im to shut her up at once in a

str ongno ld of th e Tower . That will be th e

only effectual means of keeping her from

disgracmg herself,” said Mr . Malvern, wh o ,

I was somewhat surprised to find,more

inclined to regard with severity, the ev il

practices and propensities of his young re

lation,than I should have imagined one of

Malvern blood and reputation had any

right to do . But it is not uncommon for

the se in whom th e heyday of life is past,to lo ok thus upon the failings of the rising

generation, forgetful that they see in them

r efle cte d,perhaps

, b ut faintly the image of


their own irregularities or those of their

contemporaries—only that the fashion or

advance dinte lle ctof the day, mayshew these

forth in more conspicuous relief and to the

greater scandal of themselves or society .

3 6 AN OLD CO UNTRY HOUSE .

CHAFTER IV

The re is so much to say’

gainst maid like m e .

C o rinne ’

s Lam e nt.

I t must have been a somewhat astoundingincident

,to the gallant General Egerton

,

whose war - like sword,so long the scourge

of foreign lands,was now converted into a

peaceful trunclaeon of responsible, home

command,his equally successful career in

gallantry of another sort exchanged for th e

calmer delights of conjugal and domestic

AN OLD COUNTRY HOU SE . 3 7

life,to receive so unexpected an ap

plication as that contained in his ward’

s

appeal,forwarded in th e explanatory epis

tle of her uncle .

He read the letter first, with no little in

te r e st and surprise, then hastily tu1 ned to

a perusal of the other, over which Milly’s

pen had flown with such desperate im

pe tuo sity. It was as follows

DEAR GENERAL EGERTON,

YOU will be astonished to

receive this from m e , still more at what I

am going to say~ —you will think m e most

bold, no doubt, in addressing yo u at all,b ut m ore especially for such a purpose .

You have never seen m e but for those

few days, and that nearly three years ago,just before my mother died . I have since

been abroad, with my uncle and aunt, and

by my conduct there, have unfortunately

drawn down upon myself their displeasure-I can be no longer happy under their


care . I wish to leave them ,at least for a

time— l have no other kindred upon earth

to whom I can apply—no friends wh o

would burthen themselves with such an

encumbrance You are my guardian, and

were once, I have heard, my m other’s

warmest friend— moreover,you are con

side r e d th e most noble and generous

of m e n,therefore

,you will pity th e

unfortunate,and such

,whatever may

have been my faults, surely I may be

called from circumstances of which you

well know the dreadful nature . I may

almost call myself a doomed creature, on

whom a mark has been set— a blight

fallen ; you know General Egerton, it is

written

Tb e sins of the p ar ents ar e visited on

the c/Lildr eu .

’

It seems to m e that my mother’s sins

are truly visited upon m e— and you know

best, what caused her to sin.


but I shall live,I feel it must be so

,more

m iserably still,if my present circumstances

do no t change,and I am not drawn from

the brink of the pit of destruction on

which they tell m e I am standing .

You will think this a strange le tter,but I am not in a state just now to write

calm ly and quietly . I must end it now,

for I wish to lose no post— no time .

Every breath I draw here now seem s

poisonous . SO answer quickly. I implore .

And believe m e,

Your grateful and obedient,

MILLICENT RASH LE I GH .

I t was a strange letter the effusion

perhaps,but of a wild

,wilful young spirit

rising in rebellion against the necessary

constraint and merited severity of her

natural guardians—still it made General

Egerton feel strangely. It accomplished

what Simpler things will sometimes equally


effect . It brought the past all vividly

before him —that glowing past which had

been for long gradually fading into the dim

light of memory .

It was as if she wh o was in her grave- she wh o had loved —suffered —died fo r

h im—died with a blighted name and

withered m ind—whilst he still flourished

and existed in health,honor

,and prosperity

—that sh e had risen from the tomb, and

began to speak in this her little daughter’s

voice,telling h im that the suffering and

sorrow of which he had been the origin

had left a feeble shoot on earth, and that

now, with a voice alm ost of stem

authority,it called upon him for indulgence

and compassion .

General Eegrton laid th e letter aside,

and re—perused the uncle’s epistle .

Then again he said,For poor Dora’s sake , you may be in

duce d to try what you can do, in the wayof restraining influence over this extra

ordinary girl,wh o b affle s our attempts at


management, or even of comprehending.

Her poor mother in her day was, as you

best can testify,

. a high-minded,noble ,

though impassioned creature . This girl

one m ight almost fancy a being bewitched

in its cradle by the fairies,or some such

malicious Spirits,and som ething more, or

rather less,than human

,infused into her

nature .

This formidable report is no good

policy on my part, but I do not wish to

deceive you into a compliance with our

desires . We only throw ourselves upon

your kindness and ancient friendship,and

your long-standing attachment t o the un

happy mother .”

General Egerton crushed both the letters

in his hand,and paced the room some

tim e —his strong, martial step less firm

than u sual ; finally he went away to his

wife,and laid before her the substance of

that morning’s communication Lady

Margaretwas, asmay naturallybe imagined,a little disconcerted .


What ! the daughter o f that unfo rtu

nate Mrs . Rashle igh , and they want you

to take her, Max She exclaim ed .

“ Ye s, and th e young lady h erself is

most urgent in enforcing her claim upon

my guardianship, but I quite agree with

what I am sure you must feel,that it

would be hard upon you , were I to receive

such a charge into the hOuse .

”

“ But tell me,what is sh e like —very

beautiful and attractive,like the mother 2”

her ladyship inquired, somewhat archly .

She was a very lovely little creature,

when I saw her just be fore our marriage,but nothing to be compared to her mother

in beauty .

”

Or in any thing else besides,it is to

be hoped,” continued her ladyship

,with

unusual pique .

I must not deceive you on that point,either

,

” her husband answered, with a.

sm ile,slightly tinged with embarrassment .

This poor girl seems to have given h e r

relations no.

end of trouble,both at home


and abroad. No,I suppose it is quite out

o f the question,and it is easy to decline

upon your account .”

Oh ! pray, my dear Max , do no t make

m e your excuse,

” laughed her ladyship,

wh o , though a daughter o f the world, was

am iable and kind,and devoted in will and

affection to her husband . Besides,as far

as I am concerned,though I do not know

at all, h ow I Should be able to play the du

enna to a young lady of such a sort,I really

should have no objection,but th ink it ra

the r an amusement at this dull time .

Suppose we try for a month fl invite h e r

just to pay us a visit .”

But I will not further imagine the dis

cussio n,by which the matter in question

was thus am icably arranged between th e

married pair,and by which General Eger

ton was placed in the unnatural circum

stance, of receiving beneath his roof the

Child of her wh o had so enthralled his

former destiny . How much,indeed

,like a

m essenge r from another world -the disem


bodied spirit of that peerless beauty— her

mother— d id poor Milly pre sent herself,some time after

,before her guardian— al

most,in appearance

,the sam e child-like

being he had borne in his arms . from the

scene o f Edwy’s accident, save in height

ened loveliness— that wild loveliness, now

saddened and subdued— pale,dej ected

,

desolate—the svlphide’

s wings,in Short

,

drooping and tremulous,

as with the

showers and chills of an ungenial world .

My knowledge concerning this present

era of my friend’s history

, was supplied to

m e by the occasional letters I received from

her during that period, and which afforded

just suflicient material to carry on the

thread of the otherwise broken narrative .

A few unconnected snatches of these,I will

now transcribe .


Wkite/zall Gardens

A ugust, 1 84

DEAR SUSAN,

I have safely arrived, but begin

already to wonder why‘

and h ow I came .

My poor,restless spirit is no better here

only feels m ore alien—more strange .

”

They are very kind,and treat m e as

a human— a reasonable being,eve n as

though they had received no hint ofwhat I

am in other eyes ; for he is a generous

hearted man,wh o would not insult a

woman, by a sh ew of suspicion or reproach

for what he has only heard— not witnessed—and Lady Margaret is an am iable

,fine

lady,whom go odbreeding repels from such a

course . But,at the same tim e, I have a

friend in neither .

General Egerton so free, graceful, and

agreeable in manner and address to every

one else , seems to contract into a certain

constraint and embarrassment in any in

48 AN OLD COUNTRY HOUSE :

Pierrot I can see thinks so to e —looks almost frightened— I am become so tame

,

'

sh e fancies I believe I am going to die or

fade away into the land of spirits— o f what

kind I wonder i— And truly they little knowh ow ill I often feel . I Shall not trouble

them long I know.

We have com e now to the Egerton’s

country house where they are to pass th e

winter, and they have asked m e to remain,for they find m e a harmless creature, and

wonder doubtless where are all the witch

eries and devilries of which they had heard

so much . I almost wonder too what power

it is that has so enthralled them— a power

of good,or of treacherous evil 7

One thing is certain —my magic wand

has been taken from m e for a time I care

not to captivate or allure . It is all one

to me wh o looks on, admires or loves m e

I am a silent shadow amongst m en, I ar

thought f ur ouoke bizar r e most pe opl


look upon m e with surprise, and stand

aloof and gaze,though they whisper

She is lovely whilst those bo ld enough

o r fools e nough to approach and tread on

the enchanted ground revolt and wearym e . One in particular a very young man

o f great expectations— the eldest so n of a

peer— in short one o f the greatest matches

in th e kingdom ,but disagreeable and dim i

nutive in person, and in m ind equally below

par, comes here often and disgusts m e

with his attentions,sighing and dying at

my feet from morning till night,and Lady

Margaret tells me I should not discourage

h im , indeed seems to think such a course

of conduct would be monstrous and un

paralleled .

These are the ways and opinions of

even the best people of this world,for

which I am thought too bad and strange !

I feel that I could not do such a thing

I Shudder at the bare idea of marrying

h im, yet many and better than I, would

gladly take my place in this matter.

VOL . III . D


But all this is not wonderful for th e

more I see,the more am I convinced that

I am not like th e people of the world ;sometimes I alm ost wish I were— it would

be so much more to my comfort here and I

am sure to my credit in the eyes of others .

AN O LD COUNTRY HOUSE . 5 1

CHAPTER V.

And as th e do ve to far Palmyra flie sFrom wh e nce h e r nature founts o f Antio ch be am,

W e ary,e xhausted, longing, panting, sigh ing,

Ligh ts sadly at th e de se rts bitte r stre am .

So many a so ul o’

e r life’

s dre ar de se r t flyingLo ve ’s pur e co nge nial spr ing unfound

,unquaff

’

d,

Su ffe rs,r e co ils

,th e n th irsty and d espair ing

O f what‘ it would, de sce nds and Sips th e ne are st

draugh t.MR S . BRAY.

CONT INUAT I ON OF M ILLY’S CORRESPONDENCE .

YES, the spell is broken now, Susan ; I

D 3


have returned to my former self. Much

has h appened since you heard from m e

last

First of all Uncle Malvern has been

here upon a visit . He was surprised at

the change which had been wrought upon

me—would scarcely have known m e for the

same creature— th ought m e only I believe a

little too subdued, and talked ofmy rejoining

Eleanor and himself in the spring when

they would be in England . He also hinted

at the brilliant conquest he h eard that I

had made ; but concerning Edwy— scarcely

a word—nothing which conveyed to m e an

idea, ofwhat since has accidentally reached

my ears .

It was one night after dinner the

room was full of company,music going

o n . I was seated on an ottoman , my head

nalf thrown wearily back I believe upon

the crimson damask cushion in the centre

my face averted that I m ight no longer see

my honorable lover’s tender glances or be

obliged to seem to hear the soft nothings


he tried ever and anon to whisper in mv

ear. I had just began to forget his odious

existence and to be wafted into a land of

visions-é—ye s, visions of objects as fair and

bright as he was so much the contrary

when, as if with purposed distinctness, for

I had heard nothing previously o f the con

versation carried on around me,these

words struck upon my ear

Malvern was here last week —what an

altered man he is —and no wonder after

all that has happened to the family of late .

It appears as if a curse had suddenly,fallen upon his house after years o f uninte r

rupte d prosperity— and now his only son an

idiot The nephew, however, is a fine young

man— his father, youknowmarried the lady’s

m aid— but he is none the wo rse fo r it indeed

is the best o f the breed I should think .

An odd fancy o f . Egerton taking charge

o f that Miss Rash le igh , the Unfortunate

and beautiful sister’s daughter vou know

a lovely creature, but nothing to compare

to her mother— and decidedly odd . There


i s some story c oncerning her conduct

abroad—m a frustate d elopement with a

married Italian—wonderful if sh e was anything approaching to respectable with such

blood in her veins I do no t think Morton

will much approve of h is son’s proceedings

in that quarter . ’

Now,Susan, do not think all this af

fe cte d m e in the least— for such comments

and allusions, I have no sense or feeling .

But hear what followed

I have he ard,’

said the other p erson,with whom the conversation was carrie d

on,that the fair Syren was sent away

from Malvern Court on account of a love

affair go t up, in the absence of the uncle

and aunt,with this young cousin o f whom

you were speaking .

’

Indeed that would have bee n a

disastrous business !’ r emarked th e first

speake r, and new they are going to

marry the young fellow to Miss Elphinstone,which will be a capital th ing for him

an excellent family, and a superior we ll


th e speakers—a venerable, go ss1 pp1 ng Lord,and an Obsequious toady .

They looked aghast—and in their con

fusion bowed politely .

I made no heroine- like scene— neither

fainted, nor rushed precipitately from the

room —nO , I only returned their gaze and

laughed—my own light, careless laugh

at least so I intended that it should be

and then I sat down again,and what do

you think ? actually flirte d with Rowland

Delamere .

Oh I the beauteous image lying shat

te re d at my feet, and this pigmy sprite se t

up for a moment in its stead l

Fancy my inward loathing-“ scorn Of

myself,Of him— and fancy his exultation

h is astonished triumph

He tried his diamond ring upon myfinger to ascertain its size— we talked of

his father’s houses,h is carriages, horses, his

diamonds— all that his wife would possess— and I listened, and talked, and laughed,

AN OLD COUNTRY HOUSE. 57

and se nt him away swollen with pride

and self-complacency, to ask his father

what I managed just to let him—no t quite ,

—say and Lady Margaret sm iled upon m e

more sweetly than ever— patted myheadand

told m e that I was a good girl, and

General Egerton smiled to o—but more

gravely, and looked upon me with

anxious scrutiny—for h e saw,I fancy,

something flashing in my eyes—burning

on mybrow,which he did not quite like , and

h e turned away with almost a shudder .”

We have come to London Very early

you se e in the season, for Lady Margaret

is to be confined this month, and I am to

join my uncle, wh o with Eleanor will then

come to town . I shall be glad, for there is

a constraint put upon my feelings in this

D 5


house wh ich I can no longer endure I

already beginning to gnaw my chains,and feel re ady to break forth and be myself

again . Mr . Delamere com es here also and

tells me he is moving Heaven and Earth to

gain his father’s consent,and hopes ere long

to lay his fortunes at my feet—I laugh inh is face, but say not a word .

”

I have left th e Egertons’, and am now

with the Malve rns they looke d Upon m e,

on my first arrival, with satisfied com

placency— even Ele ano r l. Mr . Dela

m ere left his card upon my uncle, and

the next day was adm itted to see m e— I

car rying on th e farce, and they, fancying

th at I am soon to be caged for life in a

golden net-work with this golden goose

M ais 56 tr omp ent— and all this time

,

AN OLD COUNTRY HO USE. 59

no t a word Or glimpse of Edwy—Ye t I

know that he has be en in town since I came

here , but never has‘approached this

house .

I t is true then— it must be so - h e is

engaged to Miss Elphinstone— I have

seen them together— I shall shortly hear

Of their marriage . But do not think I care

for this —I t is over now that better dream !-Another fate has Opened before me .

Mr . Delamere has Obtained his father’s

reluctant,ungracious consent, and I have

refused him I

Eleanor reasons— uncle raves . I tell

them to wait and l will consider— consider !—and to night perhaps— Susan do not

utterly condemn, despise - your doomed

ill-fated friend .

If perhaps we never me e t again

should my future fate keep me for ever in


a foreign land, think sometimes of our days

at Malvern, and from all you saw and heard

whilst there, conside r h ow it were possible I

should ever have been different to what I

have become 1”

AN'

OLD COUNTRY HOUSE 6 1

CHAPTER

I f lusty love should go in que st Of be auty,Wh e r e sh ould h e find it faire r than in Blanche ?I f ze alous lo ve sh ould go in se arch Of virtueW h e r e sh ould h e find it pure r than in Blanch e .

King J 071 71 .

WHEN Edwy Malve rn left the Court, se t

free as it were from the enchantments Of

an Armida,or youthful Semiramis

,he

went first to his mother’s home, and poured


forth, into her sympathising ear, the whole

history o f his love and its unfortunate con

clusion.

Unfortunate I—for in such a light his

fascinated imagination could not but as ye t

regard his abandonment Of his bewitching

cousin, a course which his calmer reason

h ad so imperatively imposed upon h im .

He could not but be aware Of the m isery

which must ensue from a union with one

whose light and unprincipled, as well

as wild and fantastic nature, had‘

SO truly

shown th em e lve s during his late sojourn

at the Court—the folly as well as the in

justice to others were he to rush upon such

an irretrievable act as that into which he

had been so nearly beguiled I

Still when it was all over— when without

daring to give a backwardglance, he had left

behind h im Malvern Court. and all love,he deemed—for th e W itching wicked, little

thing, wh o dwelt therein—treacherous

imagination conjured up around him insidi

ous memories Of that mite/wry wh ilst the


dividual, can never flourish o r e ndure .

Could this hope be sustained if he had

thus invol ved himself —could that desiredredemption b e ' effected by such m eans 7

And more than this—after all that sh e hadh eard Of the cousin

,could the union be

blessed to th e individual happiness of her

son 7 N0“ If J acob take a wif e f r om the daugh

ter s of H e th,

such as these , which ar e

the daughter s of the land, what good shall

my lif e he to me

These might have been th e words suggested to the mother

’

s thoughts whilst sh e

listened to her son’s undisguised confessions

o f all concerning the b eing whose e n

chantments still hung too tenaciouslyaround

h im .

So Mrs. Edmund,though with all a

parent’s tenderness, sh e strov e to comfort

and assuage h e rEdwy’

swoundedh eart,would

in no manner minister any h ope or conso

lation likely to encourage the slightest idea

which might foster hisattachment ; but rather


by degrees sh e sought to Show her son

h ow cordially sh e entered into the views

of his uncle upon the subj ect— in short,h ow the idea Of a marriage with his

cousin was,after all, but a chimerical

fancy which could not be realized without

dishonor and ruin to the future weal and

welfare Of himself and family —that

from him much was expected— ou h im

much depended ; deep responsibility in

volved the probable future representa

tive of an ancient house—fa house on which

Of late years the hand Of God, had been

heavily laid .

Edwy, my dear so n, the mother con

tinned,you may think me vain and pre

sumptuous for speaking thus— I , wh o

you may consider have no right to speak

or think, o r even to know anything about

such matters but, as I live here so much

alone,I have a great deal Of time fo r r efle c

tion and o ften do I think that it pleases

God in this respect, more than any othe r,by the weak things o f this world to con

6 AN OLD COUNT RY HOUSE .

found th e strong and that by th e

bringing up Of o ur children,our beha

viour , and example we weak womenhave more power for good o r evil

,

than your strong men believe—that theweal or wo e— the prosperity o r ruin Of our

families are placed more in our hands even

than in yours, SO that it is well said, a air

taous woman is a cr own of glory to h er

husband,” for, if she falls, his crown, indeed,

is cast upon th e ground -.his glory is de

parted, and h 1 s name tarnishe d for many

a gene ration. Dear Edwy, it behoves youto be most particular in your choice—topause W e ll before, to a youthful passion , you

sacrifice th e future honour Of your father’

s

family and nam e . Your wife should be ,at least, irreproachable in name and cha

racte r . Alas I this you se e cannot b e said

of Milly . Even at her e arly age-m

love lyr though she may loo— she canno t be

called pure in hear t, or of good report

Edwy’s inmo st soul winced at these

home truths—h e sat in mournful silence,not attempting to interrupt his mother .


You are very young,dear Edwy, to

think Of marriage,although not much

younger than your poor father,when

h e ,- alas I for him—made m e his wife .

You will se e many,lovely as Miss Rash

leigh —have you never, among your

acquaintances me t with any one whom

your reason tells you would conduce more

to your happiness and welfare i”

Mother, Edwy now answered eva

sive ly, Millys loveliness is quite differ

ent to any other I have ever seen .

”

I can well fancy that, my son— so was

h e r mother’s, as it proved, most fatal beauty

Like mo ther, l ike daughter I’

Mrs .

Edmund added, musingly, and as if to h e r

Bu t Edwy caugh t the e xpre ssion, and

his heart recoiled as the association forced

itself upo n his m ind .

Again th e ugly visions Of Mflly’s light,

sou l- le ss co nduct at Malvern C ou rt, and

th e still m ore grave and formidable revela

tions concerning he r conduct when abroad,


rose up to scare and confound his relenting

tenderness .

Pure , lo ve ly, and Of go o d re po rt !”

NO word, on those points,could he

answer .

The idea laid firm hold on his imagina

tion, and when he retired to his room that

night, the subj ect fixed itself still more

upon his consideration .

Mrs . Malvern had fitted up and embel

lish e d this little chamber for her son with

comfort and refinem ent, exceeding any other

apartment Of her simple dwelling— se

anxious was sh e , that when he came to“ see

her,he should not so much m iss the supe

rior accommodation he found elsewhere ;so that it was indeed a m iniature picture Of

a room , and Edwy pleased her by always

saying it exceeded, in real comfort. any

Of those that b e occupied 1 1 1 more luxurious

places, and that he loved it better than any


other in the world,and h e generally brought

with him some pretty picture, or oth er

little ornament, to add to its adornment .

But it must not be imagined that Edwy

suffered himself to be the only one to enjoy

such improved advantages in his mother’s

little habitation - for her own the cottage

had become,on the death Of her relations,

some years before .

Mrs . Edmund Malve rn’

s condition had

indeed much improved in comfort and com

potence . It would have been a disgrace

to the family to allow the mother Of the

future heir Of Malvern to exist in her for

me r ignominious penury, therefore, by the

suitable provision supplied to the duti

ful and affectionate son an important im

provement in her circumstances had been

effectually secured . and the hom ely,white

washed cottage, under Edwy’s own super

intendence, had bee n transformed into a

commodious, respectable habitation, though

still retaining, according to the natural

go od taste of the mother and son,the style


and character Of a simple , unpretending

cottage-home .

There was the little oak-wainscoted

parlour— the nice,airy kitchen, and his

own and mother’s bed-room on the ground

floor . The up-stairs, low- roofed chambers,

which for long,up the steep

,narrow stair

case th e invalid had been accustomed,with

much pain and fatigue,to ascend every

night, had been given up to the servant’s

use .

And this abode, with its pretty garden

and flowery path, standing on a fresh, open

common in th e rural village, though it

m ight seem no very appropriate habitation

for the mother Of the future possessor and

representative of one of the most consider

able properties and Oldest fam ilies in Eng

land,was tO the humble widow an abode of

pleasantness and peace, such as sh e m ight

never have tasted as the inmate Of her hus

band’s family home—w and Of late her exist

ence herein had been more than ever

blessed to her,for Edwy

,during his uncle’s


become the fashion to introduce the pe r

traits Of a favoured few amongst th e young

aristocracy, or the beauties Of fashionable

society . But the printed nam e beneath

the purchaser had cut away fo r framing,

and in its place, Simply subscribed, with his

own hand, that of E va,

” as under the

other he had written,Milly .

”

With a little conscious confusion,he had

,

however, in time, informed his mother

that the original Of the picture, which he

had rather adm ired,and therefore bought

,

was a Miss Elphinstone, whom he had

m e t near Cambridge, indeed, at whose

father’s house he had lately visited and

by degrees, Mrs . Edmund found out that

Edwy was as much captivated by the sweet

ness of her temper and her m e ntal Charms,as by the attractions of the very lovely

person,represented in the portrait .

Ye s, dear mother, he had frankly

said, laughing , and blushing a little, as he

finally yielded to a little maternal curiosity

on this fair subj ect . Miss Elphinstone is


really quite as beautiful— indeed, much

more beautiful than th e picture can r epr e

sent her ; and I thought it would do SO

well to hang opposite to pretty little Milly— they contrast so well . But do not fancy

I am in love with her sh e is far too good for

m e to aspire to ; besides, sh e will have a

good fortune,and no doubt, her parents

look very high for her .

Mrs . Edmund inwardly thought that few

parents would think their daughter’s for

tune could be better bestowed,but sh e said

little o nlyponde ringthematte r in her heart,as mothers will do over the slightest h Ope s

suggested with reference to their children’s

interests and Often, in her Edwy’s

absence,stealing about his chamber

,busy

ing herself with anxious care,or sweetly

painful rem iniscences Of the beloved absen

tee, sh e had stopped to look upon this last

addition to his picture gallery,which was

associated with such interesting ideas in

her mind,and the more familiar sh e b e

came with the image Of the young being

VOL . I I I . E

7 4 AN OLD COUNTRY H OUSE .

therein represented,th e more sh e admired

,

nay, learnt to love, and in her heart, soon

adopt her as the wife Of her son .

Such sense and sweetness,such modest

dignity and grace, far more than the

beauty Of fine eyes,Classic features

,and

Of noble form ,but

Some th ing e xce llent, wh ich wants a name ,

seemed there already displayed,giving

prom ise of still greater perfection in riper

years .

That surely will be a woman,

_

Edwy’s

mother thought, well qualified to rege

ne rate the blood of any race— to reflect

fresh lustre and honour on any family and

name, one

Whose childr en shall r ise up and call

he r h lessed, y ea and he r husband pr aise

he r .

And slightingly would her eye nowglane e

across at the companion beauty by her Side,the spirit- like loveliness of that childish

form— for Milly was but fifteen, when the


sketch was taken—the glowing bright

ness o f the golden hair, the eyes, the

smile, the attitude, in which every attri

bute of bewitching archness and fairy ma

lice had be en concentrated,by the skilful

artist, far less pleasingly impressing her

m ind .

Poor little girl— She can come to no

good,I fear I” and a maternal shudder, as

the idea flashed across her m ind would run

through her veins . And It was she wh o

nearly made me motherless,

”were the

chief impressions made upon Mrs . Ed

mund’s heart, as she viewed poor Milly’s

picture, in th e invidious light of comparison

to which it was now exposed .

It was, then, b efore these two pictures,that Edwy’s musings, on his mother

’s ques

tion,were revived, and again in themorn

ing,wh en the sun shone in through his

casement window, there brightly m e t his

waking glance,these two fair images

Of his dreams— the one with upraised

E 2


finger and enticing look, alluring h im to

follow her bewitching, syren ways, to his

ultimate mischief and sorrow—the oth er

standing with her sweet, calm excellency

of mien,smilingly awaiting to conduct

h im on,in her safe paths Of virtue and

peace .


CHAPTER VI I .

Sh e is br igh t and young, and h e r glo ry come s

Of an ancie nt ance stry,And I lo ve fo r h e r be auty’s sake to gaze

On th e ligh t of h e r ful l, dark eye .

”

TENNYSON.

THE Malvern Court party heard Of the

attentions and encouragement in this new

quarter, and though, to Mr. Malvern , any

circum stance,bringing forward Edwy’s

prospects as his heir,was painful and

repugnant,such

,at the same time, was

h is dislike to the possibility of a union

78 AN LD COUONTRY HOUSE .

between the cousins,that even, for th e sake

Of posterity,b e determined to give the affair

all possible furtherance .

Edwy returned to Cambridge— and

again he fell in with Eva Elphinstone .

Her father’s place was in the neighbour

hood ; there he ever me t with a cordial

and hospitable reception, and as the better

influence,which the beautiful daughter

the more and more began to exercise

Over his m ind, increased in power, so , gra

dually, did the less healthy fascination,which had of late SO powerfully enthralled

h im,fade away in his remembrance, as

a diseased though enchanting dream .

Milly’s charms becam e as the smiles of

a sylphz'

de , wh ich had visited him but in

visions,and o f which it was well to have

been new delivered .

Mr . Malvern, though but slightly ac


W alking in be auty like th e nigh t,O f cloudle ss clime s and starry Skie s.

and suggesting to the young man’s mind,many a delightful thought for future years .

Yes I even then,this want, this blank,

would disturbingly, startlingly assail h im

or rather haunting recollections,which

hardly allowed him to realize the fact, that

the form o f Milly was not hovering near

h im,in her usual haunts and habitations .

He never wandere d about th e house,but

he fancied her lurking near to startle and

way-lay h im

,or hovering torm entingly by

h is side . He neve r went into th e woods,but he seemed in e very echoing sound to

hear h e r v o ice,luring h im with her Syren

call,or song, to follow on her giddy paths .

He never laid his head upon his bed at

night but he watched, as if expecting for

th e flash of light which had revealed h e r

wild and lovely form on that night Of his

bewitchment, when he had laid h im down,


with the little blue handkerchief pressed

to his heart .

But som etimes he was still more sadly

affected . He would think Of the scene in

the tapestry chamber on the strange and

unusual sight o f Milly weeping— suppliant—clinging to h im as her only hope— for

pity—for support—nay. as if for salvation !

plaintively and humbly declaring her love.and claiming his promised protection .

And he h ad coldly rej ected this appeal

from the companion, the almost sister Of

his early years ! His heart had turned

from her when she most needed his bro

th e rly kindness and affection, and now a

plaintive wailing voice like that he almost

could imagine Of a lost soul, seemed to r e

proach and accuse h im,for his pe rfidy and

treachery— She was cast out amongst

strangers— and the more real andreasonable

attractions of his uncle’s de lightful young

guest would lose half their power to ani

mate and charm him ,and he had become


comparatively listless and cold in her

society .

But these, after all, were but sickly,morbid fancies, which could not long r e

tain their influence over the young man’s

well regulated mind, nor did they at all

survive h is departure from this haunted

ground .

Tidings,too, had by this time reached

his ears Of Milly’s captivations of a new

and eligible lover. If this intelligence

were true, if Milly inclined towards h im,

(and he was not given r eason to suppose

the contrary), what had he to hope or feelfurther in that quarter

Farewell to the morning vision Of his

early days, the fair mir aye Of his youth !

Milly must be to h 1m henceforth as the

being Of a dr e amm Eva, the true and

living reality .


However he dared not to propose to Miss

Elphinstone at that moment, for although

he did not imagine his suit would be r e

j e cte d by her parents, o r disapproved by

his own relatives, yet first of all he had

thought it his duty to dispossess his m ind

more thoroughly Of all lingering regrets

on the subject Of his lost Milly— nor was

he quite sure that Miss Elph instone’

s sus

picions were no t also awakened on this

point, or h ow they might affect her purs

and delicate feelings with regard to an ac

ceptance of his hand.

But if fo r m e th ou do st fo rsakeSome o th e r maid , and rude ly br eakH e r wo rsh ippe d image fr om its base ,To give to me th e ruine d placeTh e n far e th e e we ll, I

’d rath e r makeMy bowe r upon some icy lakeW h e n th awing suns begin to sh ine ,The n trust to lo ve as false as th ine .

”

did not appear ,'

h oweve r , that Miss

84 AN OLD CO UNTRY HOUSE .

Elphinstone had been dire ctly inform ed as

to the real facts of th e case, but that

rather from womanly penetration and in

stinct in such matters,she was led to sus

pe ct som ething on the subj ect .

She remembered the close terms Of

companionship in which she had found

Edwy established with that most beautiful

Milly on the visit of herself and mother

to the Court— the p iquante character Of

that young cousin’s loveliness—and almost

wondered whether it had been possible that

they had not loved one another— whilst

th e evident embarrassment and constraint

evinced by Edwy,when

,on their next

m eeting,she ever alluded to Miss Rash

leigh,excited no very satisfactory feeling

in her m ind upon this score ; though, by

degrees, th ese suspicions had weakened,as m ore and more it becam e evident to the

young girl,the impression she herself h ad

made upon the heart of Edwy Malvern

though again at the Court,his changed


demeanour Often revived her doubts and

misgivings .

The first evening Of her visit, as the

young lady sat by Edwy’s side at the

dinner table Eva’s eyes were attracted by

the portrait hanging Opposite against the

wall .

What a beautiful picture I” sh e e x

claimed ;“ and h ow like it

’

is to your

cousin,Miss Rash le igh .

It was the po rtrait Of the fair but sinful

ancestress of the Malvern race .

Edwy replied in a low,hurried voice

It is the image Of her mother.”

And Miss Elphinstone beholding h im

evidently agitated by her remark,was

silent ; but continued to gaze on the

lovely face before h e r SO earnestly,that

Edwy, recovering himself, Observed

That picture is the likeness of a lady

ancestress, wh o made herself unfortunately

notorious some centuries ago .

”

“ I was not aware of that, Miss El


ph instone replied, with som e concern, or

I Should not have made SO invidious a'

com

parison, as to liken such a character to your

lovely cousin .

Edwy tried to sm ile .

You need not apologize, Miss Elphin

stone,”h e said

,with irrepressible sadness

in his voice . The likeness is very strong,

I confess .”

And fortunately the loveliness of a

person may be possessed without incurring

the penalties of the m ind and disposition,Eva Continued, with gentle sweetness .

Yes, assuredly, Edwy slowly an

swe re d but he gave no cordial assent to

this generous assumption .

Alas ! was Milly pure from th e taint

which had sat at the core Of that fatal

beauty 2

And then it was that h e would turn to

gaze, with increased pleasure, on the young

be ing by his side .


Court establishment wh o regarded with

particular favour this delightful girl .

Often, during her soj ourn at the Court,Miss Elphinstone found h e r way into Mrs .

Lilly’s room,and there pleasantly sat, and

conversed with the old lady, whose rigid

gravity would melt away under the sweet

influence of the gracious Eva .

More especially when Edwy chanced to

find her there,and joined th e little co te r z

'

e,

did Mrs . Lilly feast her eyes upon th e

goodly pair,till they brightened at the

sight,and the propitious anticipations it

awakened in her mind . And Often,as She

watched them depart together, would she

clasp her hands and raise her eyes to

Heaven in inward prayer or praise, as She

fancied to behold in the distance a light of

prom ise breakn on the fate and fortunes

of the seem ingly doomed fam ily .

But perhaps it was no t quite from dis

interested motives that E va Elphinstone

cultivated Mrs . Lilly’s intimacy sh e

might seek to gain s ome information On


th e subject o f the cousin Milly,fo r sh e

often turned the conversation in that di

rection . But then,by the good woman’s

oracular replies— her instant change o f

manner and serious reserve, the young

lady began to; perceive that all was not

quite as it should be in that quarter— that

some mystery hung over the exile from

her home -that —in short— sh e was a

painful subj ect to the attached domestic .

Eva questioned her mother on the

matter, and then Mrs . Elphinstone thought

it right to reveal to her daughter’s

hitherto carefully guarded cars, that Miss

R ash le igh was unfortunately not all that

could be desired— that she had,by her

indiscretions abroad drawn upon herself the

displeasure of her relatives— that even her

cousin,Edwy Malvern

,wh o had hitherto

loved her with the affection of a brother

had been disgusted by her unmaidenly b e

haviour ; however, it was a satisfaction to

hear that, under her guardian General

Egerton’s charge, sh e was redeem ing her

90 AN OLD COUNTRY HO USE .

character,and seemed likely indeed to

make an eligible marriage .

“ But,” continued Mrs . Elphinstone

,

for my own part, I rej oice that it is not

a son of mine, that poor girl is about to

marry—s uch an alliance could never be

desirable to any family— and a union b e

tween the cousins was an event much

dreaded by th e Malve rns .

”

“ But was such an event ever contem

plated—d id Mr , Edwy Malvern and Miss

R ash le igh ever love each other i” Eva de

mande d with unconcealed alarm .

I do no t believe that was exactly the

case,replied Mrs . Elphinstone, with a

smile,“and if so , the danger is passed

the spell quite broken— depend upon it,Mr. Edwy Malvern . will only marry one

Pure,lovely

,and o f good report . ’ He

feels too well what is due both to his

fam ily and h imself.

All this seemed,on th e wh ole, satisfac

tory to the gentle lady’s m ind but mat

ters had gone no furth er between h erself

AN OLD COUNTRY HOUSE. 9 1

and lover,at the time when Milly had

heard them given so decidedly to one an

other, and in sorrow and despite turned

from the pure waters o f hope and love by

which sh e had been , secretly sustaining

herself, to that pitiful and erring path, to

which I found my unfortunate m isguided

friend had been once more driven .


CHAPTER VIII .

Curse d b e th e sickly fo rms that e rr from natur e’

s

h one st ruleCurse d b e th e go ld that gilds th e straiten

’

d fo r eh e adof th e fo o l

TENNYSON.

EDWY MALVERN had attained— through

th e interest of his uncle’s friends -a very

eligible office under government,and it

was this cause ostensibly which brought

h im to London early in the spring.

AN OLD COUNTRY HOU SE .

‘

The Elphinstone s were also there,and

to their house he felt him self,again irre

sistib ly attracted .

Milly h ad also arrived in town with the

Egertons . The first knowledge o f this

fact, thrilled his soul with indescribable

feelings of emotion,which he had deemed

stilled for ever .

But he saw her not . He was told sh e

favoured the suit of another— o f her

bone uméle lover, wh o only waited for the

Obstacles h is father’s obj ection to the match

interposed,to claim h e r

m

hand. Th is being

the case, h e yielded to the advice o f h is

relations,to refrain from all intercourse

with his cousin,feeling now,

under these

circumstances,that such a course was alone

expedient .

And again, when sh e moved to h e r un

cle’s house,did the same principle compe l

h im to absent himself.

But oh ! it was with a sickening shud~

de r he beheld the man to whom h is little

fairy love had, as h e believed, so freely

94 AN OLD COUNTRY HO USE .

promised h erself, and a pang of self-accu

sation shot through his heart .

Had he nothing to do with this odious

alternative 7 There were times when his

spirit moved him to the act of breaking

through the many impediments to such a

rash and reckless step, and flying to offer

her deliverance and protection .

But then again, speedily wo uld the coun

ter attractions of Miss Elphinstone dis

perse,as usual, such chimerical imaginings,

and all that he heard was the more cal

culate d to dispel these illusions and quiet

his self-accusations .

He was told that Lord Morton’s consent

had,grudgingly, been vouchsafed to a

union h e could not consider advantageous

or any way desirable for h is son, the sui

cide foreign father—the aspersed and

finally deranged mother—not to speak of

the doubtful rumo urs concerning the

d aughter herself, making the alliance in

every way obj ectionable. Still it was b e

lie ved th e pee r’s consent was not irr evoca


Edwy,you are lost to m e— I am lost

to you —for ever !” it se em ed to say .

I t was Milly— his childhood’s playmate-his little fairy love

,he thus beheld . He

was, indeed, lost to her for ever—h e ,wh o had just a moment before sealed

away his fate . And sh e now irretrievably

lost to him

She was seated,bending forward, intent

upon her agomzmg observation of the

scene enacting in the opposite box, and

leaning over the back of the chair sh e o c

cupie d, as if representing one o f those evil

Spirits to whom sh e had consigned herself,was just visible

,the little, ugly face of the

Honourable Roland Delamere—wh ilst,from below, a dark , pale, countenance, but

posse ssing thebeauty of an arch-fie nd,glared

upon Milly with a fixed,ardent gaze, like

unto another Spirit of evil wh o had marked

her for his prey— one of a fie rce r and more

terrible nature .

How Edwy rallied from his shock, so as

to conceal his emotion from Miss Elphin

AN OLD COUNTRY HO USE . 97

stone, I cannot . says—but th e Opera

concluded-“ h e,having conducted h is

fiance e and” her mother to their carriage,

was, irr esistibly, impelled to return to

await the conclusion of the balle t with a

vague and indefinite desire of watching

Milly leave the house .

She was not with the Malve rns ; the

box she occupied was one of Mr. Dela

me re’s procuring, and she was this even

ing under ' the cfiapmonage o f General

Ege rton: and a married sister of Lady Mar :

gar e t’

s.

Milly issued from the box at last,follow

ings th e General and his sister , and leaning,of.course on th e earm ofh e r lover.

Th ey‘

we r'

e iin: the crush room— sh e had .

no tise en Edwy, wh o kept himself out ofsight; .no r was he evidently in her thoughts

ati thatzmom ent—her ' head was backwards

tur ned—h e r eyes glancingw with a . wild,reckless look of enquiry behind her— heed

le ss,xinattentive zto . th e . tende r atte ntions u o f

her companion .

VOL. I I I .


To Edwy she had given her farewell

look of soft and tender feeling.

Her cheeks were glowing now,her eyes

b right with rising excitement as she sought

to return another glance—that of one wh o

followed a t a little distance behind in the

crowd— and whom Edwy’s j ealous eye

marked out with distinctness as the Object

of her regard .

Milly dropped her bouquet— this person

stooped,picked it up

,and replaced it

quickly in her hand,then disappeared

am idst the throng in an opposite dir e c

tion .

Edwy followed to the carriage,and

watched Milly handed in by Mr. Dela

mere . The lamps shone upon her counte

nance,which looked again pale and wild

-her eyes were distended and fixed upon

his face,as sh e sat forward, just as the

carriage which contained her, started from

th e door,he having, in his painful eager

ness, h eedlessly brought himselfwithin her

sight .

1 00 AN OLD QOUNTRY. HOUSE .

Scene which had ' taken place that same

e vening~could have . been witnessed by the

public, their calculations on th is point m ight

have b e e n s omewh at unsettled ; Milly that

morning having : electrified her lover and

confounded her friends by refusing to give

the definite reply which would. have auth o

r ized the comm encement of the different

arrangem ents settlements (kc— preparing

for the accomplishment of the marriage

andMr . Delamere, wh o had received at this

time such decided encouragement from the

young lady, was of course grievously

offended, and her friends enraged .

In short, Milly had been plainly com

mande d, by her friends, to yield to the ex

pe diency of the case, for such a marriage,to one under her circumstances

,admitted

o f no alternative, and that such madness

and obstinacy on her part would compel

them to treat her as a child or a maniac,

and confine h er t o her room . till sh e had.

!

recovered h e r,

sense s . I llne ss should; be

‘

A‘

N‘

p LD co’

u‘

NTRY HoUSE 1 01

the plea o f h er"

n”

On-iapp'

earance at th e ban

”

Upon t his announcement, Milly sna

denl'

y’

ohange d‘

b e r‘tone fromthat of Sulle'

n,

resolute refusal,to one o f SOIT OW and

“

sub

m ission .

She only begged that sh e might be al

lowed to wait till the morrow - to be suf

fe r e d to be present at the ball , and by that

time her m ind m ight be m ore reconciled

to the thoughts of marrying Mr . Delam ere,

wh o was certainly very ugly, and one wh om

it was very hard to love, as a woman ought

to love h e r affiance d husband.

Against this there was certainly v ery

li ttle to be said . Milly’s repriev e was

accorded, but she was still coldly ,but more

gently lectured by her aunt Eleanor,and

told to consider the circumstances under

which sh e stood— her late ill-conduct— and

above all,her dependent situation .

Ye s, yes ; I see I know I am a trou

ble - a burden to you all, Eleanor— a poor,wretched incumbrance

,Milly answered


I will rem ember all that you have said,

and shall act accordingly . Fear not—to

morrow my fate will be decided in a manner

which shall at least disencumber you of the

poor,ill -fated Milly !”

1 04 AN O LD COUNTRY HOUSE .

must have carried h er through this extra

ordinary crisis.

That form,light as air, seemed moved

as by an inward fire o f unquiet thought,giving a wild, spontaneous grace to every

movement, which shone conspicuously

amongst the measured, tutored debfltantes

of the fashionable company there assembled .

She was not a mere child o f rank and for

tune, like the rest, but a light, fantastic

being wh o dazzled and bewitched m en’s

senses, and made people wonder what sort

o f a wife sh e would prove to Roland Dela

m ere— they caring little, however, h ow

that m ight be, unless it we r e rather to

grudge so lovely a creature falling to th e

lot of such a man as that honourable gentle

man some,on the other hand , perhaps

pitying h im for the dangerous bargain he

had made .

Dange rous indeed !

Keenly flashed her large blue eyes upon

her little lover as he tenaciously kept by

her Side in the dance and in the throng ; but

AN O LD COUNTRY HOUSE . 1 05

in modest maidenly tenderness triumphed

in their glance .

Her cheeks were flashe d to almost hectic

brilliancy,but her wild expression was not

in harmony with her pos1 tion as a b e t'

ro th ed

bride,whilst th e heart which should have

beat with soft and gentle happiness, heaved

fiercely within her bosom , as though it

would have bUrst its confines .

Lo'

rd Morton had been invited, but he

did not arrive till late . In person, he

much resembled his son— age and supe rior

intellect rendering h im,at least, less con

temptib le if not more prepossessing in ap

pe arance .

With great difficulty had h e been per

suade d to give an ungracious assent,an

assumption of cheerful acquiescence in the

engagement which was inev itable from h is

son’s determination on the subject, and to

appear, on this o ccasion,to be introduced in

form to his future daughter-in—law . Fo r in

spite of the u ’nt'

oward events of th e morn :

ing, so confident still was Roland Delamere


in being able to overrule th e caprices of

his lady love,that he did not give a hint

to his father ofwhat had occurred, butallowed h im , to keep to his unwilling in

tention of appearing at the ball .

His lordship did not,however. arrive

till two o’clock. Milly was on her lover’s

arm, when Lord Morton was announced .

She started back at the sound,as at

some signal intended to confirm her fate ;whilst the son, with o fficious haste, strove

to draw her onwards,feeling also that this

was the moment to make the confirmatory

step .

But Milly would not advance— striving

rather to withdraw her arm from his - and

on his resisting the attempt and whisper

ing his earne st entreaties that she would

allow h im to present her to his father, she

murmured,breathle ssly

No,not yet— mo t now— l am ill I

must go - I will return . Let me go,sh e th en more passionately and resolutely

murmured between her closely, clenched,


main h idden behind th e crowd, Lord

Morton being engaged in conversation,and studiously avoiding any appearance of

emp r essement for the intended presentation,whilst th e Malverne , supposing the young

couple to b e together, did no t think it

necessary immediately to search them

out .

In about half an hour, however, Lord

Morton,declaring his intention of so on de

parting, requested Mrs . Malvern, that

the purpose of his visit m ight be fulfilled,

and Miss Rash le igh presented to him .

Mrs . Malvern then proceeded to search

for h e r niece, and was surprised, after some

delay, to"

find the little lover lurking alone

in his hiding place .

On enquiring for Milly,she was told by

him that She had left the ball -room,but

that he soon expected her return .

Mrs . Malvern waited a few minutes—fl

then proposed going to seek her, saying,that Lord Morton was anxious for the intro

duction, as he was obliged to depart .

AN OLD COUNTR I HOUSE . 1 09

But the dutiful lover interposed .

Let m e b eg o f you, Mrs. Malvern , to

wait a little longer —Miss Rashle igh will

return immediately- sh e is nervous and

agitated to -nl 'jht, as is but natural, though

I am charmed to se e all is right again

between us— I would not then have her

hurried or discompo sed for any one Upon

earth, even though it were my much

esteemed father. I have promised that

sh e Shall have it all her Own way in this

point - as in every other . I assure you,

I am resigned to be her obedient slave for

life . If sh e chooses to keep us waiting

even for an hour— I am bound not to

r e b eL

Mrs . Malvern received this gallant

speech with her dry, quiet smile, and a

slight glance of compassion at the unf o r~

tunate victim before her— for that any

prospect of peace or contentment was in

store for him in his married career, she

was the last person to contemplate-“ though

1 1 0 AN OLD COUNTRY HOUSE.

her cool,pruden tial calculations as to the

expediency of the case entirely lulled any

conscientious o r charitable scruples on th e

subject . The conviction that Milly must

be disposed of in some such respectable

manner, and that no wiser or better man

was likely to come forward, was quite

sufficient to render her firmly bent on the

accomplishment of this important design,and to make her shut her heart against

any scruples or contingencies .

But sh e could no t very long pre

serve the patience enj oined by th e o b se

quious lover . He indeed began to be a

little fidge tty, and Mr. Malvern soon ap

pr o ach e d with an angry, surprised visage

to enquire the reason of Milly’s non-ap

pe arance . Lord Morton was standing with

his watch in hand, in pompous expectation .

He advanced towards his so n,wh o now

had appeared in sight along with Mr.

Malvern and his wife ; the latter on the

way to seek her missing niece.

A'

N OLD COUNTRY HousE.

leigh fo r a mome nt, nearly an hour ago .

She was coming very fast out of Master

Malve rn’

s Sleeping-room . She did no t stop

or speak, but glided away, having, h ow

ever , awoke the boy fo r sh e had gone in

immediately after,and found him much

excited,and he had been in a strange, wild

way ever since there was no quieting h im .

Th e mother inde ed,heard the idiotic

jabberings,moanings, and angry cries Of

her Unfortunate child in the inne r room ,

and forgetting for the moment every other

consideration went to him to endeavour to

appease and soothe h is excitement .

The poor boy tossed about h is b ed like

one possessed, resisting with violence th e

e ndeavours of the nursery—maid— a tall,strongwoman—to restrainhim. He shrieked

for “ that fairy,Milly— cousin

,fairy Milly !”

as years ago Milly had instructed h im to

call her. Strewed about on the counter

pane were fragments of th e bo uquet she

had apparently left to entice h im to allow

AN OLD COUNTRY HOUSE . 1 1 3

her to make her e scape without resist

ance,but which he had evidently torn to

pieces in h is rage at her departure ; whilst

an artificial flower, wrested from her dr ess

o r hair, clutched frantically in "

his h and,shewed that it had not been without vio

lence that sh e had effected h e r deliverance .

The appe arance of his mother created“

some diversion to his excited m ind ; he

seiz ed her by the throa t as Sh e bent down

with calm and gentl e words towards h im—i

dragging her unresisting head till it almost

touched the b e d clothes, laying violent

hands on the glittering brilliants which

adorned the head of Eleanor Malvern and

for fear of renewing his violence, she

suffered not the nurses to inter fere in Ib er

b e half, but subm itted quietly to the inflic

tion,in spite both of the pain She was en

during, and the untimely disarrangem ent

o f he r head-dress,only l ifting her hand

to assist in disengaging the d iamond

comb the boy had marke d for his prey .

1 1 4 AN OLD COUNTRY HOUSE .

On having accomplished the full possession

thereof,his violence abated, and holding

it up and turning it about in the light of

th e candle they held by his bed, he uttered

exclamations now changed to those of

idiotic delight .

His mother laid him gently back upon

the pillow.

Herbert must be a dear boy, and be

good,and quiet, and Mama will leave him

that pretty thing to play with and sh e

smoothed back the hair from h is b row,

hanging moist with the heat into which

his fury had thrown him, then stood

watching with tender interest the gradual

relaxing o f his convulsed and distorted

features into that vacant and senseless

calm generally succeeding such attacks .

The lack- lustre eye - the hueless cheek—th e fallen jaw, upon these the

poor mother dwelt— yet so completely

was her heart wrapped up in the sight,that the brilliant scenes sh e had so lately


A s contrasted with the scene f rom

which ‘he had hurried,the sight

,

”

m ore

forcibly,perhaps , than usual, affected h im

with the sense o f his m isfortune . H e

shuddered and turned abruptly from the

room , to continue his enquiries after that

other source o f trouble and disquiet— his

sister’s child. Mrs. Malvern accompanied

h im .

Milly must have returned to the ball

room by th is tim e,” ‘

sh e whispered, as theyproceeded ;

“ She was seen here not an

hour ago , b ut is Hot now in her room .

”

Every apartment was searched . Vague

terror and dismay began to rise in the

minds '

o f the relatives, and wh en Mr .

Malvern descended the stairs, he found‘

L’

o rd Morton On the landing place . There

was but one course to be pursued .

I much fear,my lord, that my nie Ce

is too ill to-night to rea ppear .

”

Lord Me rton bowed with ce remonio u‘s

AN; QLD: COUNTRY. HOUSE. 1 1 7

politene ss, and slowly. proceeded down

stairs

The anxious, importunate enquiries o f”

th e disappointed love r wwe r e now to be en

countered,With s ome suspicious signs of agitation

and impat ience, Mr . Ma lvern shook h im

o ff, and hinted at the expediency. of h is

departing with the rest of the company

now. beginning to disperse. The rumo ur ~

o f. Miss . Rash le igh’

s sudden illness, to

gpthe r u with some degree of ! mystery at

tached to it the rewith, being carried awayby the greater part .

Mr s . Malvern .did no t . re -appear: A

glimpse, however, had been caught by

some of the guests of her pale face,and

dishe velled ‘ head—dress, as sh e came half

way. down the stairs ! to call Lady Clara

Lister . to .her . assistance .

Even whilst the last remaining guests

were still in the house, the search was r e

newed with eager haste— th e back g ate


finally visited,and found unbolted, though

declared by the servants to have been

positively fastened, as usual, that evening

th e likelihood o f Miss R ash le igh’

s escape

thereby being fearfully corroborated .

But whither had sh e betaken herself 7.

The park was searched, but no trace or clue

of her,of course , was discovered . Other

steps were about to be taken,when

,in

the m inute exam ination of her apartment,

a letter was found folded, and directed to

Mrs . Malvern,in Milly’s hand-writing

,

apparently written before her appearance

at the ball .

It contained merely these few lines

You will never se e m e

more— I will give you no further trouble

Do not attempt to follow m e , or

bring me back . I warn you that I will

not return alive . Let me follow my fate

1 20 . AN o-

LD COUNTRY H OUSE:

L‘

ately, indeed, she had te ken a fancy,to

the back garden, and often went into it to

pick flowers when the poor boy Herbert

was taken there by his nurse, as a safe

place to run about in,and once, the woman

now remembered, to have seen her standing

at the gate,talking in a foreign lan

guage to a beggar wh o stood without .

This was all the light thrown upon: this:

mysterious business .


CHAPTER X .

I stalk about h e r do o r ,Like a str ange soul upon th e Stygian banks,Staying fo r waftage .

TROI LU S AND CRESSI DA.

EDWY had been invited to attend the ball

at the Malve rns’

. It was considered un

necessary, now that his engagement to

Miss Elphinstone was decided, and his

cousin’s fate also sealed,to keep them any

longer apart, m general society wh ere

VOL . I I I . e


their meeting would take place under cir

cumstance s which could produce no further

risk or danger, or any feelings of embar

rassme nt . The Elph instone s had, of course,been invited, but on the m orning of the

ball, a mysterious intimation had been

forwarded to Edwy by Mrs . Malvern, hint

ing at the expediency of his absenting

h imself on this occasion,and strange

,rest

less m isgivings were excited in his mind

by the message .

He was, therefore, obliged to go to the

Elph instone s’ house to inform th em of

this change, and to avoid any suspicion

which m ight have be en aroused in the

m ind of h is betrothed or her family,he

previously made arrangements for leaving

town that night or very early the next

m orning, for his mother’s cottage

, which

he had pre viously intended to have done

o ne day later.

His communication did not excite muchsurpr ise in Eva

’s mind . I t was so natural


without pretension, he was able to plead

as an excuse for any of those suspi

cions symptoms in his m anner and de

m e anour , which it was impossible to dis

guise ; and, indeed , that evening, when

he came to dine quite quietly with E va

and her mother,Mr . Elphinstone being e n

gaged elsewhere, Edwy’s wretched looks

were strikingly conspicuous . He was very

pale,and his eyes were bloodshot

,for ac

cusing conscience was busy at his heart,to which every gentle look and wo rd of

confiding pity from Eva, added a tenfold

sting.

She appeared to h im so more than ever

good and beautiful that night,in her

tender solicitude for his sake—her an

xious sorrow,for the suffering she found

he was enduring— her graceful attempts

to beguile him into forgetfulness .

Hitherto he had seen her in all the glare

and glitter of society, in which, by her

beauty, grace, and accomplishments, sh e

AN OLD COUNTRY HOU SE. 1 25

was so calculated to shine but it was on‘

occasions like the present, in mom ents of

domestic privacy and retirement, she shone

with a still purer,brighter lustre, which

must have filled the heart o f any other

man in Edwy’s situation,with unspeak

able antic ipations of future j oyful blessed

ness .

But now—what demon was it that pos

sessed h im 7. His soul and m ind were b e

wildered by painful,wandering longings

after another— and what other 7 That

light,strange , fantastic being, whom ,

when

he d ispassionately considered th e case,could not for one moment be put in com

parison by the side of this charming,supe

rior girl .

Eva’s moth er could not but be struck,and more seriously so

,perhaps

,than her

innocent,

confiding daughter,by these

signs in the looks and spirits of the young

man , but she also tried . to attributewtgg

m

entirely to indisposition and nervous ex.

AN OLD COUNTRY HOU SE

citement, which a few days’ quie t in th e

country were likely effectually to r e

m ove .

I am quite glad,

sh e said,in a rally

ing tone, that you are not at th e

ball to -night with Eva ; for, really, in

your pre sent state,you would m ake “

a very bad figure as her intended, by th e

side of your cousin’s little demonstrative

lover ”

A shudder ran th rough Edwy’s veins at

th is suggestion,but he tried to sm ile

,and !

return the confiding expression of Eva’

s

eyes, which seemed to say that sh e was

satisfied,and h ow unsuspecting—with an

swe ring ingenuousness.

But,alas ! it was but a poor attempt .

For the first time in h is life,he felt h im

self a deceiver. He lingered th ere till

almost m idnight—m ore from an om inous

fear of retreating, than from any enj oy

ment of the position in which he found

himself.


packed,and threwhimself on h is bed, with

out undressing .

Having remained there something like

an hour, restless and uncomfortable, h e

started up, rung for his servant, o r

dered his luggage to be taken down to th e

office, in time for the coach, which started

at five 0 ’ clock,and throwing on a large

wrapping coat, for the April night was

cold, though fine and bright— found h im

se lf soon walking, with quick, impetuous

step, in the direction o f Street, th e

place of the Malve rns’ abode .

The re,all was still brilliant light— the

music sounding on h is ear— a long line of

carriages"

reaching from the door .

The back of the mansion faced the park,

and was bound by a wall enclosing the

garde n,from which a low door gave

egress .

To escape from the tumult of carriages

Edwy came round to this point— also,per

haps, with the idea o f catching a glimpse

AN OLD CO UNTRY HOU SE. 1 29

of the company through the large back

window.

But he was disappointed in this e xpe c

tation . It was, as ye t, t o o early in the

season for open windows the draperies of

th e curtain effectually enclosed the lights,music

,and company

,within— only the

m oon, as it, at intervals, emerged from th e

clouds,lit up the outer walls

Edwy paced to and fro . His m ind

was in a restless state of movement .

All was comparatively quiet on this side

of the house,only an occasional passer by,

walked past h im,or a carriage turned the

corner and rolled along by th e palings of

the park, and as it grew later or rather

earlier, the stillness only increased . I t

was past two when Edwy perceived th e

figure of a man standing under the shadow

of the garden wall near the little gate .

When Edwy approached h im he turned

suddenly and walked away in the opposite

direction .

From that moment an instinc tive feel

AN OLD COUNTRY , HOUSE.

ing prompted h im to confine his pe r

ambulations to a sentinel distance from this

post, watching, as if it had been a situa

tion of the greatest interest and danger ;once

,even he pushed and tried th e garden

door, but it did not yield to the attempt

as usual,at night

,an inward bolt secured

the prem ises from intrusion . However, a

very few m inutes after,there was a sound

within . He was th en at a very few paces

from the door,and he stood still— gazed

around and listened breathlessly .

The bolt was drawn, faintly and gra

dually, as by a weak and faltering hand

the door pushed ope n, and a white, sh a

dowy form glided through the portal .

Could it b e— o r was it a deceitful vision

sent to beguile his bewitched imagination

Could it b e Milly 7

It was her face, indeed, which turned

towards h im with a wild,uncertain gaze

of enquiry . I t was her form ,inde ed

,which

thus advanced a step or two , with arms

and neck uncovered,dimly shining beneath

1 32 AN OLD COUNTRY HOU SE.

very moment even when his evil fate

seemed to have inevitably conquered

when h e felt the fluttering heart of h is

bewitching cousin beating so wildly against

his own.

CHAPTER XI .

0 , bid me le ap,rath e r than marry Par is,

From o ff th e battlements o f yonde r towe r .

R ome o and J ulie t.

MI LLY 1” again Edwy murmured, but it

was now with the stern sorrow of a bro

ther,that he spoke What does all this

mean ? Why came you here“ Save m e

- save m e , she gasped for

reply, glancing wildly around her,then

clinging closer to him .

“ Cousin Edwy—e

guardian angel—Oh , save me I”


“ Save you— from whom— from what,Milly i”

From all -from every one— from all

the world —Oh , take m e— take m e 1”

Milly—Milly l” he answered in the ten

de r e st but saddest tone,where can I take

you i—you must return !”

And he looked towards the house .

R e turnm re turn I” she uttered, in a

voice of stifled agony “ return into that

house Never to that horrid sacrifice

oh,no

,no— never ! 1 land found a way to

escape and if you save m e not,I rush into

that gulph of destruction

She tore herself from Edwy,as if de s

pe rate ly preparing to rush into the still,dark street .

Edwy caught her arm .

Milly,are you mad 7 Listen

, Milly

God knows I would give my heart’s blood

to save and defend you from misery or

danger— into destruction you shall never

rush,whilst I am standing by to prevent it .

But this sacrifice s from which .you escap e ,


whispered,wildly clinging to h im more

closely like a frightened child, and you

you will give m e up— to

Never, Milly - never —I will sh ield

protect you, as a brother would a sister

and wo e be to h im wh o would take you

from m e . But , Milly, I must tell you

candidly,as a brother to a sister only, can

this protection be accorded without the

forfeiture Of honour— without treachery

to another —My hand —my heart is

prom ised .

”

I know— I know I” answered that

plaintive voice humbly,subm issively

,and

you love her—well — leave m e , Edwy l”

Not,Milly, till I have seen you r e

enter that house— not till you vow to

me m

That I resign myself to the revolting ,abject fate they have assigned to m e

Edwy,I swear that I will never do !” and

sh e clasped her small hands together .

“ When last we stood thus beneath the

moonb eams together, you then loved, or

AN OLD COUNTRY HOUSE . 1 3 7?

said you loved no one but m e— and for the

sake of that love swore never to forsake

m e— I ask not now the renewal of that"

love, but for you to think only of the days,wh en we were children—when we were

indeed brother and sister together— then

then—have you the heart to deliver m e up

to such a fate, as the one th ey h ave pre

pared for m e m Edwy, have you seen

him sh e whispered, Oh,you know not

h ow far more despicable is his m ind

and character, even than his person—h ow my soul shudders at the idea of b e ~

'

coming the wife of such a creature l— Oh ,

take rue— bury m e in the furthermost

corner of the earth— and then return to .

your Eva ; but do not -do not leave m e

now,or he will come, and my soul is lost

for ever—for to the other fate,

” and again

sh e looked forth with wild and fearful

eagerness into the distance, I never will

return !”

Edwy saw her determined desperation

He was in terrible perplexity.- Sympathy,


compassion, affection, so long engendered

in his heart, and the near ties Of kindred,struggled with the more cool calculations

which forced themselves on his m ind .

To compel the miserable girl to r e -enter

her uncle'

s house,revolted against every

generous feeling of his nature, whilst every

other step must inevitably compromise h im

in the most fatal manner in the Opinion of

Eva and her fam ily ; in short, to save

M illy— was to lose Eva ; and strange inco n

stancy of man’s heart —strange revu lsion

which by some strong and substantial

reality,forced upon one, the feelings of

the heart may suffer—the idea of the

alternative now struck upon his soul with a

deep and sorrowful pang .

But the die was cast—at least it ap

pe ar ed inevitably so to be .

Come,Milly

,

” he said,after a sho rt


amazement and dismay, sprang forth,eagerly raising his hand as if with the in

tention Of stopping their progress .

Of this however, the coachman took no

heed,only turning the corner

,and driving

o n more swiftly, through square and street,even passing Eva’s door— that house where

sh e lay wrapped in peaceful,innocent

slumb e r m o r in wakeful visions of confidingtenderness and thoughts of h im

,wh o so

recently had parted from her- as she had '

deemed,her very own, but wh o now was

flying past her with another— and sh e so

young and lovely— clasped closely to his

heart .

Edwy had desired to be driven to a small

hotel near the coach office, for it would be

two hours before the coach star te d w —and

it puzzled him much h ow Milly was to be

equipped for the long day’s j ourney that

was to follow. She would no t assist h im

in the least in this emergency . In her

high state of mental excitement any such


matters could have no place in her con

Sideration .

Wrapped in th e cloakwithwhich Edwyhad

suppliedher,that her strange , unsuitablegar

m ents m ight be concealed,and tearing th e

flowers with which her hair was decorated

as a devoted victim might wrest the arti

ficial garland, sh e declared her gladness to

be Spared from any covering to her head .

But Edwy, calculating on the probability

Of fellow passengers,could not consent to

the conspicuousness of such an attire, and

having taken Milly into a parlour o f the

inn,and making such explanations and

excuses fo r the strange,suspicious manner

of their appearance,he took th e woman

wh o attended them on one side , and by a

g olden bribe, easily persuaded her to supply

the distressed young lady with a bonnet ,shawl, and gown, and committed Milly to

her charge to be equipped .

Milly exhausted and subdued,submitted

to exchange her gossamer dress —Only fit for

a fairy, as the woman said—w and like unto a

1 42 AN OLD COUNTRY HO USE .

fairy certainlywasthe strange prettycreature

wh o had worn it— for the coarser and fitter

garments, begging the woman to keep the

dre ss and all the other adornments, for that! sh e never wished to se e them again, adding

that the next white dress in which they

should deck h e r , would be le ss gay per

haps, but one sh e would greatly prefer .

She was shivering now,though h e r face

was flushed and h eated .

The woman was very kind and brought

h e r some restorative which Edwy in

sisted on her tasting,but sh e only se em ed

in a fever to depart,shuddering and shrink

ing at each sound a s if she feared they

h ad b een traced and followed and when

the morning sun shone upon the no isy,busy streets of London

,and the report of

Miss R ash le igh’

s elopement was spread far

and wide,the cousins were proceeding

steadily and rapidly in the inside of the

stage coach along the quiet country high

ro ads-“ the o ld fat gentleman and th e

e lderly lady wh o sat opposite, gazing with

CHAPTER XII .

Patience and so r row str o veW h o sh ould OXpre ss h e r go odlie st .

KI NG LEAR.

MORN ING dawned before the astounding

suspicions excited by Milly’s letter,could

be acted upon ; then the abode of Santo

Corsi was,after much further delay

,hunted

out and finally discovered .


!

Of course his denial Of the charge, was

firm and resolute and it was not for some

hours after,that he came voluntarily fo r

ward, and gave the following statement,with every domonstration Of suppressed

rage and revenge—that he had, indeed,that night

,seen the young lady carried

o ff by another person— a tall, sligh t young

man,wh o had for nearly an hour, been

keeping watch before the house .

And now suspicion immediately attached

itself to Edwy—a nd the fact was no less

astonishing, and displeasing to the friends

o f the erring couple .

There was now,not o nly the deep-rooted

Obje ction and prejudice formerly enter

tained to a union be tween th e cousins

but the disgrace and dishonor o f broken

VOL . I I I . H


engagements— and that more especially

on Edwy’s side, making the step he had

taken one Of culpability and weakness,

gross and despicable in the extreme .

When the truth o f Santo Co rsi’s report,and the suspicions to which it gave rise,had been fully confirmed by the intelligence

gained at the coach-Office , Of a gentleman’

s

departure in company with a young lady

answering to Milly’s description, Mr . Mal

vern’s wrath was unbounded and nnap

pe asab le .

It is my Own fault,he exclaimed

my own fault entirely— it was th e low

bloo d I was fool enough to forget- and

treated and trusted him as his father’s son .

The pale-faced mean-hearted,dishonor

able villain— never shall he o r his precious

bride— for such I suppose sh e may b e

(and I will not allow a foot to stir in their

48 AN OLD COUNTRY HOUSE ,

forth fruits o f former Obloquy for his

doomed and fated house, but it should be

out Of his sight— h e cast them from his

recollection for ever whilst he lived

W histle d th em down th e wind—to prey at fo rtune .

All this was very easy to say and to

feel, upon Mr . Malve rn’

s part, but there

were others unlikely to receive the blow

with the same stern spirit . Eva Elph in

stone—h ow would it be with her when the

news reached h e r cars that sh e had been

deceive'

d— forsaken—and betrayed— that

her betrothed lover had left her presence

on the preceding night to fly with ano

ther 7

She was at breakfast with her mother,when the news was brought that Miss

Rashle igh had eloped from her uncle’s

house— the intelligence itself was astound


ing enough to one o f her modest, maidenly

feelings .

With whom,had not then been asce r

taine d—Mr . Elphinstone was absent . He

had gone to th e Baths in Germany, with

two Of his younger daughters . Mrs. Elphin

stone,therefore, despatched a trusty do

me stic, who had lived fo r many years in

the family, to learn every particular o f the

startling event,and finally through that

means Obtained the overwhelming info r

mation as to the person on whom suspicion

pointed as to th e companion Of the fair;

fugitive . Her servant returned to inform

h is m istress the report was, that Miss

Rashle igh had been ascertained to have

left the coach-Office by the stage-coach

to with her cousin, Mr. Edwy Mal

vern !

Friends and relations came but to con

firm the truth Of this terrible statement .

It was impossible to conceal th e grief

and dismay which filled the mother’s mind,from the watchful and afle ctionate daugh


ter. That some mystery connected with

the subj ect was the cause, sh e felt was

most certain .

At length, urged by h e r entreaties and

instinctive misgivings Of alarm,the mother

broke the truth to h e r ch ild .

Th e cousins had left London together.

I was told that Eva did not faint, no r

give way to violent emotion, when th is

startling fact was revealed to her- but

that She stood pale and motionless for

several m inutes as if the stunning news

had turned her very h eart to stone ; but

that the first shock over, sh e seem ed to

make a strong e ffo rt to shake Off the im

pulsive impression as one to o dreadful

too injurious to him in whom sh e reposed

such tender trust .

Th e colour returned to h e r cheek-" the


never— never till I hear that they are

really married and again at this

bare idea the colour forsook her cheek,and her eye glazed with horror. Never

,

”

sh e repeated, will I believe that Edwy

has so basely betrayed me .

”

Mrs. Elph instone shook h er head in silentdoubt .

Oh, mother. Eva cried, do not so

easily yield to so dreadful a supposition

one so injurious, so dishonourable , not only

to Edwy, but to your child—Let us send-let us enquire— let us hear something

further, beforeyou thuswholly condemnh im

and me to misery .

”

And Mrs. Elphinstone, though with but .

the faintest hopes that her daughter’s inno

cent constructions On the subj ect should

be realized, proceeded to the Malve rns,

and in the audience sh e Obtained with Mrs .

Malvern,sought for every particular that


could throw light on the distressing case,and also to learn what steps had been taken

to gain knowledge Of the true nature o f the

proceedings . The Malve rns were on the

point Of leavmg town fo r Malvern Court,but the representations of the offended and

distressed mother gained that point for the

satisfaction o f the doubts and anxieties

which might still be entertained as to the

real nature of the cousin’s elopement .

And Mr . Delamere, h ow did h e meet his

bereavement 23 h ow soon was the orde r for

pistols and posters,to pursue and punish

the plunderer Of his lovely prize— laughed

and bullied out Of h im by h is congratula

ting friends

Before very long he was quite re co ncile d

to the loss,and could exclaim

,with out any

pangs of remembrance,that h e had cer

tainly got rid of a bad bargain, and b e

H 5


take himself a chosen few to a short

trip on the continent .

Lord Morton blessed his stars that the

business had gone Off so well, said that his

son was a fool, and had been played a fool’

s

trick that it served him right, and h e was

heartily glad o f it .


se t down its inside passengers before the

door of th e widow’s cottage on the road

side plain .

Mrs . Edmund Malvern did not expect

her son till the following day, but was to o

happy to think even Of surprise at this an

ticipation of the delightful promise .

As soon as assurance was given her by

the sound of the dear voice, that it was

indeed him that had arrived,she had

risen from the occupation in which sh e was

engaged, and hurried to receive and we l

com e h im in her fond embrace,folding h im

in her arms as sh e me t h im at the th r e s

hold Of the door .

It was not fo r some seconds that sh e was

aware of the presence of the shrinking

figure,following close behind

,holding by

h is coat, as if either for support or conceal

ment— and wh o at length, when the eye of

Edwy’s gentle parent fell upon her with the

keen scrutiny of surprise, doubt, dismay

sprang forward with a low cry,and clasped,


with outstretched arms, the knees Of the

astonished mother,exclaiming,

Edwy’s mother ! oh, don’t look

i

so

coldly on m e ! pity,Oh , forgive m e -drive

me not awayfrom your door ! I am motherless— friendless— cast m e not Off, or I must

perish ! Be merciful be pitiful like Edwy,my cousin— my brother-n wh o has saved

m e from ruin— from destruction

Her head was uncovered —the bright,

dishevelled hair fell in golden waves around

h e r slight and fragile form,divested

,in its

passionate movements, Of the cloak whic'h

had enveloped it— the large,azure eyes,

lustrous with agonized excitement, were

raised to Mrs . Edmund’s face, whilst the

cheeks kindled like damask roses, from thC

distressful fever of the moment .

Edwy’s mothe r gazed down in pale and

startled silence upon the strange suppliant

at her fe et . The fatal beauty sh e beheld

caus ed a shudder to pass over her. She

had seen but o ne being on earth bearing


so striking a resemblance to the one now

before her—th e bright, the young, theprosperous and beautiful creature whom

sh e had served as h e r humble hand

maid . And years had since passed,

as a watch Of the night, and now that

same being, o r rather her tortured spirit

from another world was at h e r feet in ah

je ct agony .

But her m ind comprehended, o r rather

fancied to comprehend but too quickly

the reality o f the scene .

Edwy,Edwy—have you filled up the

measure Of your father’s imprudence— have

you brought everlasting ruin upon yourself

by this rash,fatal step and his mother

turned her glance upon him with sorrow

ful reproach, and was scarcely reassured

by the words with which he hastened to

reply— no t without much agitation .

Yes,dearest mother, I have brought

my cousin- my Sister-cousin— at her own

request,to claim your kindness and prote c

tion .

”


by the sight of th e ringless finger on wh ich

her eyes had been fearfully cast, there

dreading to behold the fatal signs o f her

son’s irrevocable folly and m isfortune but

source o f good o r ill to him in whom her

whole being was involved, th e sp 1 r1 t of

mercy and charity in her nature must pre

vail,and with more maternal tenderness

than for many a long year had closed round

that young creature’s form , she gently drew

the orphan Milly to her bosom .

With vague, half misdoubting wonder

ment the unfortunate girl raised her heavy

eyes to m eet a gaze so unaccustom ed— one

so gentle , but not with the calm coldness

of Eleanor Malvern . NO cold-eyed compo

sure was there— it was rather the gentleness

which migh t emanate from th e eyes of a

m inistering angel .

This was Edwy’s low-born mother

whom even she, careless and trifling, h ad

be en taught to despise .

But these thoughts, at the time, were

but like the dim impressions of a dream .


Her head was in agony, h e r h eart faint,and scarcely had sh e strength to murmur,“ I am so ill and to be led by Mr s. Mal

vern from the room . She then suffered

herself, with the helplessness o f a child,to be undressed and laid upon the bed in

the little chamber to which Edwy’s mother

conducted h e r . It was Edwy’s Own little

room , but sh e did no t know this, o r sh e

m ight have fancied the drowsy exhaustion

which gathered over her senses, as se e n

almost as the grateful repose was afforded

her,to be th e soothing influence inspired by

such a blessed locality .

Mrs. Edmund saw her nestle her dizzy

head upon the pillow— close her aching

eye-lids and then left the ill -omened girl, for

as such, sh e could not but still regard her,

to satisfy th e strong maternal anxiety

o f her heart by an interview with h e r

son.


Edwy gave his mother a full, true, and

particular, account, o f all relating to the

unfortunate adventure in which he was

involved—one , which the more time and

reflection were given fo r consideration, only

sh owed th e subj ect in a graver and more

desperate light .

Milly had fled from her uncle’s house

under h is protection and companionship,

he,th e affianced Of another.

Trouble and dishonour seem ed to stare

h im in the face on either side since—forthe impulse o f the action and the inten

tions which had prompted and ruled h is

conduct in the matter—th e world would

no t—could not give him credit— and Eva

must deem herself the obj ect Of treachery

and wrong— Of which he would have given

worlds could he have fully indemnified his

own conscience therefrom .

Fo r had he not deceived, and as fully

forsaken her in his heart on the very eve

Of the conduct into wh ich h e had been


might be impressed with the desperate

nature Of her son’s involvement, after lis

tening to h is story , and scarcely able to

comprehend h ow far, by the imprudence

into which he had been betrayed, he might

be compromised in the eyes Of that society

whose conventional judgment sh e under

stood so little, sought, rather than encou

rage him in such desperate ideas, to r e use

him from that abandonment to the morbid

state Of fascination to which he was r e

signing himself in so alarminga manner r e

presenting to him , in the m ildest point Of

view,the step he had taken with regard

to his cousin —and,on the other hand, in

its stronge st light, the culpable weakness

Of which he would be guilty, if thus

without a struggle, he Sacrifice d a wh ole

life’s welfare, and the happiness Of the ex

ce lle nt young being to whom he was bound

by every consideration Of honour and real

affection, to a m ere mischanceful and un

lucky adventure urging h im strongly to

return to London and lay the whole case

AN OLD COUNTRY HOU SE . 1 6 5

openly before his own friends and those of

Eva,casting himself entirely upon the

pure and generous constructionslthat sweet

and virtuous girl would surely attach to the

unfortunate step into which accidental cir

cumstance s ' had betrayed him,for a neglect

o f such means must inevitabl y and irre

vocably, compromise him in her eyes and

those Of every individual .

More especially did Mrs . Edmund Ma]

vern urge the impropriety o f her son’s re

maining any longer under th e sam e roof

with his cousin, advising him to quit th e

cottage that very e vening.

Edwy was fain to give as sent to this

plan— a night coach passed through the

vil lage, en r oute to Oxford . Thither he

would, go and from thence write to Eva,o r Eva’s mother, as well as to his uncle .

To face Eva now,alas ! he felt to be

impossible .

Had his feelings b een more clear and

innocent towards her, h e might have done

so , but as it was, the thing was impos


sible . TO exonerate himself in her eyes,

must be,alas ! all to which he could aspire,

whilst Milly ’s haunting form remained

above th e surface o f this earth,But mother, I must se e h e r once more .

I must look upon her poor little face again,

before I go . What will she say, poor

ch ild,when sh e finds that I have aban

domed her 7 Oh ! m other, do you remem

ber when I was a boy, and you asked m e

if she o f whom I talked so much, loved

m e as I loved her ? and I told you,I

thought it was hard for her to love at all .

But sh e loves m e new,mother

,if sh e

never loved any other on earth . Let this

consideration at least win her some kindly,

indulgent regard . DO not look so doubt

ingly. It was but a° de spe rate desire to

escape from a fate so naturally abhorrent

to her soul, that made her contemplate

that fatal step from which I saved her ;and

,mother

, can you regret whatever h e

the cost to myself, that I de'

d thus save

her


which smote on Edwy’s heart . He sighed

deeply, and felt, to its full extent, the

bitter pain of a heart and mind divided

by such conflicting sentiments .

OLD COUNTRY HOUSE . 1 69

CHAPTER XIV.

Fo r lo ve h imse lf to ok par t against h imse lf,To warn us Off, and duty lo ve d Of love ,C am e

,.

Like De ath be twixt thy de ar embrace and mine ,And crying W h o is th is Be h o ld thy br ideShe push ’d me from th e e .

TENNYSON.

MRS. EDMUND, knowing that there was not

much tim e to lose,if her son’s very ne ce s

sary departure was to be effected that

evening, and that he would not be con e

tented to depart without seeing his cousin,

rose,and went into the little chamber,

VOL. 1 1 1 . r


which contained the unhappy source of so

much trouble and perplexity.

Milly was asleep —I t was well perhaps

that thus it should b e— so,returning to her

son,sh e told h im h ow it was, and that it

would be cruel to disturb his cousin in her

weary and exhausted condition .

No, certainly, he would not desire so to

do ; but he must look upon her just once

m ore— if it were for the last time .

The om inous tone in which he repeated

these words seemed almost to convey the

idea that some pr esentiment weighed upon

h is mind with reference to this farewell

look .

The mother could not refuse so earnest

an appeal,though its earnestness did but

trouble her the more . She returned with

h im to the little chamber, and stood with

h im by the couch where the exhausted

sleeper lay .

The parting radiance o f the April even

ing sun poured its full light through the

westward casement,and the little room


such thoughts, and only feared that

the sleeping girl m ight awake at a moment

so unpropitious, moved softly to the window

to shut out the too bright rays wh ich

flashed upon her closed eyelids and fh cke r e d

on her face, and Edwy, for the few

moments sh e was thus employed, was left

alone gazing upon Milly when his m other

returned to his side he was pale as death ,and turned away abruptly.

He had stooped,and pressed one kiss

upon the sleeping girl’s pale lips,tho se lips

which he almost fancied, as he gazed, had

breathed forth a sigh to pronounce his

name .

And now he must begone— lest his

strength of mind should forsake h im , l est

he should give up struggling with fate, and

all the anxious fears expressed in h is

mother’s distressed countenance, beverified ;by his casting him self upon her bosom and

declaring at once, that Milly and none but

h e r should ever be his own.

In a choked and agitated voice he bid

AN OLD COUNTRY HOUsE .

his mother adieu, tore himself almost im

patiently from her embrace, and rushed

from the cottage to await the arrival of the

coach

It was with a heavy heart that the

mother watched this speedy retreat,and

,

standing in her little garden, saw his lug

gage carried away by a man wh o arrived a

few moments after to convey it to the place

of departure .

It was a strange position in which she

found herself so unwillingly placed ; the

responsibility put upon h e r was also very

disturbing to the usual tenor o f a life sci

unvaried and uneventful ; and the sensation

with which sh e retired into her quiet hom e,and felt h erself left there alone with her

stranger niece —the ill-omened source of so

much m ischief to h e r beloved child -was

far from pleasurable yet she remembered

that sh e was her husband’s orphan niece

that sh e had cast herself upon her pity and

protection, and, wi th gentle solicitude, sh e

returned to the side of the desolate girl .


Milly had awakened sh e was sitting up

in bed putting back the long tresses of her

hair and looking around her with a wild,bewildered look . Her startled glance fell

uponMrs. Edmundwithout her rememberingwh o sh e was, o r where sh e found herself;and like a frightened child wh o sees on her

first awakening none but a stranger’s face ,her piteous crywasimm e diate lyfo r him ,wh o

perhaps had roused herby that farewell kiss.

Edwy, Edwy, sh e exclaimed, in

plaintiv e accents .

Mrs . Malvern bent ove r her, and mur

mured gently,My dear, Edwy is not he re— h e has

gone as was but right and necessary.

”

“ Gone 7” Milly wailed forth in woeful

accents, and bending down her head, sh e

rocked herself to and fro in silent

anguish .

He cam e to se e you before he left the

house , but would not have you disturbed

to bid you farewell. My dear, was it not

right that h e should act thus ? You have

1 76 AN OLD COUNTRY HOUss .

they go there to be married, and then you

will all rejoice, fo r I shall not return to

trouble them, though, they say, lost souls

return to haunt this earth, I do not b e

lieve it, o r surely, at Old Malvern, many

a gh ost must h ave been seen, for Lilly

was often'

telling m e we were a God

less family ; but I have lain alone at

night— I,an unholy child

, wh o never

breathed a prayer, or said the texts which

Lilly tried to teach m e , and yet neithe r

spirit o f good o r evil have visited my

eyes .

Mrs. Malvern was shocked at the wild

words,and feared that the poor girl’s head

was wandering .

“ Lost souls ! sh e repeated,

my child,you must not number yourself amongst

that dreadful class . Though many a god

less Spirit h as, I fear, gone to its account

from the house of Malvern—there may be

many still, I trust, wh o are God’s own

saved ones-w -many, too, who may be


plucked like the brand from the burning

o f whom it may be said that they were

lost, and yet are found .

”

My child Milly murmured piteously,‘ you call me your child, and yet you

would not that Edwy”

made m e SO—youwould not have m e lose my soul, and yet

you will no t let it be saved, for only as

Edwy’s wife is there any hope for

m ine .

”

Mrs. Edmund was still more distressed .

“ Miss R ash le igh ,” She said, “ the sal

vation of a mortal soul can depend

o n no human circumstance or condition,unless indeed it be that disappointm ents

and crosses tend to drive them hom eward .

O ur souls are in His hands wh o can alone

deliver us out of those troubles He has

laid upon us .”

You must not speak so to me , aunt

they will tell you h ow little use it is— h ow

unlike I am to other peoples—that I can

scarcely be said to possess a soul -I

1 5


thought SO once, and, like poor Undine ,that there must be som ething lovely, but

,

at the same time,most awful about

a soul, and never wished to feel the

possession— I was righ t—Edwy made m e

sensible, that there was a soul within m e

and truly,heavily does that soul weigh

down the possessor— very heavily . It has

indeed overshadowed m e with anguish and

m ourning— I , wh o , like poor Undine ,’

was

till then, so merry and light-hearted,

though I m ight have been light ' and mis

chievous .

”

Poor Mrs . Edmund Malvern knowmg

no t of what she spoke, was almost ready

to sink upon her knees, and like th e priest

of the story seek to conjure the evil

prompter of such strange, fantastic words

as those to which sh e had listened .

But s e eing that Milly, as she still sat

up,had began to weep bitterly— her heart

was again touched with gentle pity ;sh e spoke soothing words of comfort in

1 80 AN OLD COUNTRY HousE.

they will surely find me out—they will

come and carry m e away to horrid Roland

Delamere— o r,he will come— Santo Corsi

will come - and I shall be obliged to go

away with h im from this delicious cool

place, to the burning plains o f Italy . You

will not give m e up sh e cried,implo r

ingly you will not be so cruel— I will

not trouble Edwy— l will lie so quiet here- all I wish is to die in peace m Edwy’

s

room ,

Mrs . Edmund Malvern said all that sh e

could to soothe her on that point, and she

h oped, with some success, for th e wretched

girl sank back,at last

,upon the pillow as

if to compose herself to sleep and when,

quite wearied out with h e r own unwonted

anxiety and exertion,she looked in upon

her again before she went to rest, she

found her still quiet, and, as she fancied,settled for the night— but ere Mrs . Mal

vern had been an hour in her bed , sh e

thought she heard a m ovement within

th e chamber which was opposite to her


own . She rose feebly,stole to the door,

and opened it softly .

Milly, to her surprise, was standing near

it just as if on the point of leaving the room

the cloak Sh e had worn on her j ourney,thrown over her shoulders—w h e r hair hang

ing round it all dishevelled,just as she had

risen from the bed— her bare feet thrust

into“ the little satin slippers , which she

had alone retained o f all her ball-room

suit .

Her eyes were wildly starting from

their sockets, and her cheeks burning .

My dear child, where are you going

cried the startled woman .

“ Going —where they cannot find m e,

sh e muttered, hurriedly, for Edwy’

s

m other will give me up . I know she will

that Edwy may come back and find m e

gone . And he shall not find me— I will

trouble h im—and no one any more - h e

shall se e m e no m ore— h e shall marry

Eva . See, I have taken my picture from

the wall, and left only Eva’s,that he may


not ever again look upon my image— I have

it with me—I am going to wander on till

I find some cool, blue lake, into which I

may plunge, sink, and vanish like Undine,and be no more seen, until Eva b ids them

roll away the great stone from the foun

tain,and I come up to kill poor Edwy with

a kiss .”

Milly then attempted to glide past Mrs .

Malvern through the door She , however,knew immediately that the poor girl was

raving,and in much alarm ,

restrained her,

and summoned the maid -servant . With

her assistance sh e was again placed in bed,and m edical assistance immediately sent

for

The doctor found the patient to be in

deed in a raging fever— and before morn

ing dawned in considerable danger .

Bythat day’s post,Mrs Edmund Malvern

,

in great anxiety and distress,sat down to

write to Mrs . Malvern, to inform her of her

nico e’

s alarming condition .

Ere,however, her letter had been


up as in a mom ent’s vision before her r e

collection,h ow did the changes and

chances consequent on this mortal life

strike with melancholy force upon her con

Viction !


CHAPTER XV

I t matte rs little h ow sh e wasfo rgo tte n,O r what Sh e fe ltShe praye d h e r lo ve r b ut to say far ewe ll.

L . E . L.

GENERAL EGERTON had kindly com e

forward to offer h is assistance in the pur

suit o f his fugitive ward, and more for the

satisfaction of the m inds o f Mrs . Elphin

stone and her aggrieved daughter,with

respect to Edwy’s conduct, than from any


interest in the preverse fate o f the luckless

girl herself. Milly’s friends had grate

fully availed them selves o f his services,and General Egerton imm ediately left

London, reaching the village of about

mid-day .

His first question, after announcing h im

self to Mrs. Malvern, whose still fair but

delicate and faded countenance , instantly

conjured up before his imagination, the r e

collection Of the lovely waiting-maid he

had often seen standing behind the brilli

ant Dora Malve rn’

s chair,was for her son .

Edwy left last evening for Oxford

was the mother’s answer .“ And his cousin

‘

9” was the quick r e

j oinder .

His cousin 1 s here —under my roof, I

regret to say,

” Mrs . Edmund replied,and

sh e proceeded to inform the General of

Milly’s dangerous illness .

General Egerton was Shocked and con

cerned, and after listening to further par

ticulars of the business which had been the


sages therein,in which her guardian had

worked such exciting power.

She spoke as if in answer to her mother’s

fretful calls upon her attention, entreating,as in h e r childish days, to be released from

her chamber,that Sh e m ight go and play

with Edwy then-m as in later days— she

seemedI

to be yielding by necessity to the

French studies imposed upon her, repeating

with perfect correctness whole passages

from the different books in which She had

been accustomed to read .

Last of all, whilst h e leant over her, to

feel the poor patient’s burning hand, there

cam e ringing through h e r half-closed teeth

upon General Egerton’s ears, with clear

and te rrible distinctness,those never-to-b e

forgotten words o f thrilling import :

Saves sous qua y'

e sous aurais serm'

comme am e sclaue Save s sous que j e me

sem is pr ostem é devant sous comme devamt

an envoyé da ate],at sous m

’

am’

ez field e

memf aimée .

”


And then the little hand he held, with a

convulsive pressure closed upon his own,

and the words were followed by a long,wild shriek

,which made the very heart of

the brave soldier shrink within him .

He could bear it no longer— h e dis

engaged his hand from the“poor girl’s grasp,and hurried from the room .

Having sat some time in the widow’s little

parlour,and collected his discomposed feel

ings,he promptly considered the course th e

most advisable to be taken .

Mr . Malvern had refused to postpone his

departure from town, till the return o f

General Egerton from his expedition . It

had,the refore, been the General

’s intention

to have carried his report Of the issue of

his expedition straight to Malvern Court,but having ascertained h ow matters stood

with regard to Milly and Edwy, he saw

the expediency of returning immediately

to London, not only for the purpose of r e

lieving the m inds of Miss Elphinstone and

her friends with regard to Edwy’s conduct

,

AN OLD COUNTRY HOUSE :

but also to remove th e injurious impression

th e public m ind had received respecting

the nature of his supposed elopement with

his cousin .

General Egerton wrote to Mrs. Malvern

h is letter containing an explanation of the

real circum stances Of the case,and the

co ndition in which he had found th e un

happy Milly at the same time suggesting

that some one should be sent to relieve

Mrs. Edmund Malvern of the heavy anxiety

and responsibility to which, from bodily

weakness,Sh e seemed unequal, and that

Edwy sh ould be strongly urged to repair

without delay to London . as the only means

Of effectually dispelling the injurious inte r

pr e tation which had been established con

cerning this late affair, andof doing justice to

himself,his cousin

,and Miss Elphinstone .

The General then waited an hour or

two , to learn from the m edical man in at

tendance that the violence of the fever had

abated,and that the symptoms of the attack

were taking a more favourable turn then


which had been thereby so strongly ex

cited 7

Why had he gone to Oxford, instead of

returning to her side ? and why had the

style of his letter been so constrained—SO

ambiguous ? What did he m ean by his

distress O f m ind, his weakness , his un

worthiness to possess her—why did he

allude so significantly to the trouble she

must have remarked in his appearance and

deportment the night of their separation

Ye s —She thought upon it now,and upon

many other things,once never dwelt upon

with any feeling approaching to doubt .

Her confiding trust once shaken, every

circumstance assumed a different colouring

in her eyes . Yes ! Edwy had deceived

her— o r rather his own heart had been

deceived

He had loved —h e still loved that fair

young cousin wh o had shone upon th e ir

path bright and silent as a sunbeam , that

day they first wandered through the wide


Old Court together, and She had been b egu iled into loving one wh ose heart was

even then all given to this flitting fairy”

sister cousin .

I t was then the want of her bright pre

sence, which had so Often caused the

sudden gloom to overshadow Edwy’s coun

te nance during the second visit . It was

wild, bird-like voice, for her he had so

often paused as if to listen 1 n th e woods

and gardens,where they strolled together

,

and whilst!

others told her,and sh e had

vainly been induced to believe that sh e her

self had won the young man’s heart, and

that if he . thought or spoke of Milly,it

had but been to contrast one wh o had

shamed and wearied out even h is brotherly

affection by her wild levity and indiscretion

W ith the Eva, She was told he considered

SO superior .

Ye s, time— separation— thedisuasion and

persuasion of friends had indeed induce dh im

to give up as hopeless all idea of Milly as

VOL . 1 1 1 . K

A’N O LD COUNTRY HOUSE .

h is wife, and to turn his thoughts as a

matter o f expediency upon herself.

Milly was given to another and he had

yielded— struggled against his feelings,yet in the end had found h is first love

irresistible—unconquerable and h is heart

as much gone back from her as if he h ad

fled with Milly to make her hiswife . This

was the sto ry sh e now saw written in th e

letter sh e had received, and Sh e answered

it accordingly— openly revealing to him th e

suspicions which had been awakened in h e r

mind, and freely offering to cancel their

engagem ent and resign all further claim

Upon his affection .

Edwy’s reply breathed of m elancholyit m ight be Of regretful resignation, but h e

made no attempt to combat her decree,and clear himself of the implication it

brought against h im .

The offended parents now concurred fully

with their daughter in desiring his dismissal-the noisewhich th e affair had occasioned


with such earnest hope and trust,to have

thus disgraced his family and ruined h im

self— SO wronged and injured the noble

young lady to whom he had b een en

gaged !

His father’s marr iage was nothing to all

this, nor his uncle’s

,although both had been

visited with sorrow such as marriages in

which deception Of any kind has had a

part are seldom seen to escape .

It could only be compared to that of her

poor mother, and if her old heart did not

belie her, as direful must b e th e couse

quence s.

So much were the nerves of the poor Old

woman s h aken by this false alarm , that sh e

was obliged to take to her bed, and when

the letter from General Egerton afterwards

arrived, She was seriously ill .

Her mind was, nevertheless, greatly r e

lie ve d to find that her extreme fears had

been groundless,and the real nature o f

Milly’s elopement was ascertained .

The illness of the wretched girl could


scarcely distress her in the first moment of

her r e -assurance,though afterwards it

seemed to prey much upon her m ind .

All may then yet be right,”sh e said ;

and this house be saved from ano ther un

blest union ; but something tells me that

it will be at the sacrifice of this unhappy

girl’s life— and that no good thing will b e

fa ll'

it —no plague be turned away from this

dwelling till the sins of the mother be fully

visited upon the daughter,and the

daughter has gone the same way the

mother we nt . Alas, alas, that it must be

as dark—as hopeless— as unilf’

lum ined by the light of God’s counte

nance

Mrs . Lilly not being in a state to travel ,there was no one wh o could be sent to

assist Mrs . Edmund Malvern in


attending upon the sick girl, bil t the maid

Pierrot .

As for Mrs. Malvern, sh e never would

separate herself for a day from her unfo r

tunate child -h e r solicitude on his account

determ ining her never to leave h im for any

time to the care and treatment of domes

tics . At this moment in particular, nothingwould have induced h e r to leave the pee r

boy .

He se em ed never to have quite recovered

th e fit of excitement caused by Millyhaving suddenly awakened him On th e

night Of her elopem ent . He had been in

a most irritable state fo r some time, and

was now pining and weak, so that the

mother’s anxiety o n h is account was only

the m ore called forth .

She scarcely remained out Of sight an

hour together. No brighter o r purer spe

cimen of the disinterestedness of maternal

love was perhaps ever“

demonstrated than

in this instance .

And yet, it must be feared one thing


to imagine,which must be heard within

these old walls, ere the doom of sin b e

turned from a Godless house, for

What is go o d for a bootle ss bene ?Endle ss gr ie f and sh o re le ss we e ping.

AN OLD COUNTRY HOUSE. 20 1

CHAPTER XVI .

Sh e watch e d, sh e so o th e d me , day to day

H ow kindly,wo rds may ne ve r say .

”

L .E.L.

IN the quiet cottage of h e r humble aunt ,th e deserted Milly lay for nearly a week

in a state of extreme danger . And then ,when th e crisis was past, and the fever h ad

left her,a cold was found to have settled

on her lungs— caught,no doubt

,from her

exposure to the night air when heated

from the crowded ball- room on the ni gh


of her escape,and which gave rise to the

m ost serious apprehensions in th e m ind of the

medical man— a practitioner of some cele

b rity and ability .

Pierrot had arr ived to attend upon her

sick young lady. Her first appearance

greatly disturbed the invalid . She seized

Mrs . Edmund’s hand, and earnestly e n

treated that sh e would not abandon her, or

allow Pierrot to carry her away, prom ising

to be patient and subm issive, and to do all

that was required Of her, if sh e might

only be allowed to remain where She was,and die~ —if die sh e must— in Edwy’s little

room . She felt in Heaven there, especially

since Eva’s picture had been removed out

of sight, which Mrs. Edmund, in cousi

deration o f her feelings, had in reality

done .

T o look at that, sh e had not brought

h erself to endure . She had been, sh e

said,in Heaven , for no sight or sound was

there,to rem ind her of past wretchedness .

She was in pain, it was true, at times, but

204 AN (OLD COUNTRY HOUSE.

Do you know that bed, Aunt Julia

do you remember it Milly shudderingly

enquired, you must know it well, for

Mama, I have heard, slept there from a

girl .”

D id Mrs. Edmund rem ember it ? oh !

ye s, t o o well Had sh e no t Often let fall,at night

,the heavy hangings round the

bright and lovely form of her young mis

tress, leav ing her after a day of trium

phal pleasure and excitement, to her proud

dream s of careless slumber,whilst sh e

crept away to a wakeful night of

sighs or weeping ? Had sh e not often

looped up those same hangings of the

great bed, when the sun came stream ing

in upon a form Of beauty,too dazzling

almost to look upon —and full upon her

r emembrance came that special morning,when the young beauty, lying shrouded in

her golden hair, lectured her, the shame

and grief bowed Julia, for suffering her

self to' be the Obj ect of her brother’s atten

tions well did Mrs. Edmund recollect h ow


sh e had said in her heart - bitterly, it

m ight b e—as, on being coldly dismissed,

sh e had turned away,May the love excited in your breast,

proud and beautiful young lady, be ever

as pure—as unblameable in its nature, as

that which now fills the . heart of your

poor waiting-woman m isplaced pre s

sumptuous, as it may be deem ed .

”

Yes,you must remember it

,

” Millysaid, the thick

,crimson velvet, falling

round it like a pall, the drapery from th e

high canopy, like a hearse . My mother

died there - I h ad been reading to her alf

that Sunday afternoon— once or twice, sh e

started,and bade me go and se e whether

the secret door was shut, for She h eard a

noise,and feared it was J o se, come to call

her. That you know,

” Milly continued,shuddering

,was my father

’s name -I

arose,just to satisfy her, and went to se e .

It was but the draught of wind through

the open window, which made the door

creak . Then I read again, all shivering


and wretched, (it Was the time, you know,

when I thought I had killed poor Edwy,)scarce daring to glance towards mamma,for sh e began to look strange and altered .

I read for an hour, then Lilly and Susan

cam e, and interrupted inc- there was a

dreadful scene,and my mother died . And

thus I shall die, if they take “ me back to

that drear old court, with their stern, r e

pro ach ful faces round me w Ele ano r’

s co ld,still eyes

,rem inding m e of all the sorrow

and trouble I have occasioned them—Lilly

bemoaning my lost, Godless condition.

You will no t be there . Susan, will not bear

to com e and se e m e die, and Edwy—they

will not suffer lzim to approach me lest even

in my dying hour I may have power to

bewitch h im from Eva .

”

Perceiving the painful,and prejudicial

excitement which the Sight of her old at


beloved son, on which sh e had so fondly

fixed her heart . She was soon apprized of

all being Over between"

Edwy and Miss

Elphinstone, and her disappointment wasbitter in the extreme .

Whilst Milly continued so ill,Sh e would

not allow any evidence of her inward feel

ings to disturb the gentle composure with

which sh e ministered to the invalid— but in

the course of another week, when her

charge was sufficiently well to leave her

bed-chamber, and to be seated clothed

in her right m ind at th e e asement of the

little parlour, then an une asy depression,perhaps a slight coldness o f tone and

manner towards the unlucky source of her

distress,would occasionally irrepressibly

transpire .

And Milly, poor wretched, little Milly !—feeb le and subdued— so like the shadow

of her former self,would turn her large

,

languid eyes sorrowfully upon her Aunt

Julia’s face,then in shrinking, conscience

stricken conviction, sink them upon the


ground, nor dare to raise them to Edwy’s

mother’s face again nor ask a word o f what

had taken place during her illness, nor

mention Edwy’s name, which the mother

never breathed,th ough She could se e that

her aunt Often took a letter in her hand,and dropped Silent tears over its anxious

perusal.

Butat length one daywhen Mrs. Malvern

had been particularly kind and gentle,

though very sad and dej ected, and Milly

had felt quite m elted and subdued, sh e

threw her arms round her aunt’s neck, and

whispered in a choked and broken’

ve ice ,

Aunt Julia, hang up Eva ’s picture

again—I will learn fo r your sake to bear to

See it there .

”

Mrs. Malvern somewhat sternly replied

as She disengaged herself from her em

brace,It is to o late now—we nee d never hang

it up again . It can be but a painful sight

to us all in future .

”


Milly startled .

Why—h ow sh e eagerly exclaimed,

what has happene d to Miss Elphins

‘

stone

Nothing has happened to h e r, was

the still cold reply, but her trust in Edwyhas been disturbed—She has given up h er

e ngagement— all is over between them.

Having thus Spoken, the mother turned

away—a bitter feeling at her he art as she

thought to herself,And this is your doing—you will now

be satisfied, and I Shall perhaps still live

to se e you become h is wife—for this,I am

now nursing and tending you,like one who

nourishes a serpent in her bosom to sting

the heart o f one sh e loves the best on

earth —fo r what but evil can come o f such

an issue to my son

But a few minutes after, as Mrs . Ed

mund sat apart, bending over herwork tocatch the fading light of the April e vening,sh e felt the skirt of her dress gently pu lled,and a low murmuring by her side . She


raised up the afflicted girl, and with sooth~

ing words strove to calm her mind on the

subj ect now agitating her thoughts . She

told her h ow sh e had brought herself to

look upon all the events of life as ordered

from above, and subservient to no second

causes .

I blame you not, Mrs . Edmund con

tinned,for loving my son - I am the

last person in the world wh o has any right

so to dO— for did I not love his father

Milly lifted up her hand .

And you married Edwy’s father,

Sh e

faltered forth, and my uncle turned you

from his doors

He did so , was Mrs . Malve rn’s low

And if I had married Edwy and had

come h ere would you have turned me

away

Mrs . Edmund was silent .

Oh, no, you would no t ! and Milly

Seized her aunt’s hand and pressed it

e arnestly to her heart . Here we could


have lived together—Edwy and I— your

obedient, your dutiful children ! How

changed would I have been,far from the

cold, proud world— from all wh o love us

no t— we should have troubled no one- I Should have made Edwy a good wife,and you a good daughter— for believe m e

I should have changed— quite changed

when Edwy had become my husband .

”

No, no, Milly— not if you had married

Edwy in disobedience and secrecy no

good thing can come o f that, as all such

marriages in your fam ily can testify . The

hand of God is plainly against them

Edwy must stand open and unabashed

before God and man, and make the woman

h is wife wh o is approved by his fam ily and

friends, or no blessing will attend his union,more than his father’s . It may seem super

Stitious, but something ever whispers in mysecret soul, that m isfortune must otherwise

inevitably attend the act .”

Edwy’s father died,

” Milly murmured .

Oh , yes, he died -died in h is noble


b eauty— in his youth or me !”was Mrs .

Edmund’s reply.

So Edwy Should not,” Milly whispered,

Edwy would not have died, She added

with a sudden energy clasping her hands,and liftn up her earnest eyes

,the

punishment would have fallen on my head—Oh , happy, happy to have died as Edwy

’s

wife Now I shall still die, but not so

b lessed .

And again sh e wept, her face resting

against Mrs . Edmund’s knees

,her tears

flowing soft but fast, as if they would never

cease to flow— till aunt Julia wept to o .

Tears were all the comfort or the sympa

thy sh e had to give, for SO fixed had b e

come the"

conviction established in hermind,respecting the marriage between the

cousins,that to have assuaged her niece’s

wo e , by breathing one hope upon the sub

j e ct, o r murmuring one relenting expres

sion of prom ise and encouragement, would

have been in her Sight the sacrifice of the

best interests o f her beloved son to a weak


Edmund’s sentiments on the inferior deserts

and merits o f her sex’s nature and con

dition, that her eyes were ever fixed in

ashamed, sorrowful contemplation upon

the v ision of our mother—Eve presenting

that fatal pledge of all our sins and woes

the fatal apple, into her husband’s hands .

Tb e woman temp ted me and I did cat!”

AN OLD COUNTRY HOUSE. 2 1 7

CHAPTER XVII.

Sh e le ft the placeYe t still he r Shape se eme d visibleU pon th e Spo t wh ich sh e had madeSo sacre d by h e r pre sence

,

He r Sigh had pe rfume d—he r fairy ste p hadha llowe d.

L . E . L.

FROM the time of my receiving the last

strange letter—I inserted—from my un

happy young friend no correspondence had

been exchanged between us—all that IVOL . III . L


have since related has been obtained from

what I gathered by hearsay in after times

but as soon as possible must I return to

my personal narration, and to Malvern

Court, from whence I have long been forced

to wander indeed I have sadly failed in

the original intention with which I started,of confining my story within the precincts

of the Old Country House,to the facts and

incidents of which I was witness during

my visit there .

Confused rumours had alone re ached

my ear of the events immediately succeed

ing the writing of that letter which had

filled me with such deep anxiety ; but

soon after, through her friend, Lady Clara,my aunt gained full knowledge of the

true facts and circumstances of the wh ole

affair, and Of Milly’s illness and establish

m ent under Mrs. Edmund Me lvern’s cot

tage roof.

To me these later circumstances ap

pear e d in a most providential light . I

h ad been impressed by Mrs. Lilly with


ce ive you . You will come but to a Simple

cottage— that cottage, I used to laugh at

and despise—but I do so no longer, nor, I

am sure, will you, for th ere is something

here which '

was not to be found at the

Court .“ The blessing o f God rests upon its

walls—that blessing Of which I am now

aware,Lilly was quite right in saying

rests not on those of the poor o ld

Court .”

How gladly would I have answered this

appeal by flying to my poor Milly’s side in

her sickness, sorrow,and humiliation,

as I

had flown not a year back,in answer to

her call, under her different, prosperous cir

cumstance s but this was denied m e,by

the worldly policy o f my friends and rela

tions .

Those wh o had suffered m e , without

question o r demur,to accept the invitation


o f my giddy friend, on a former occasion,saw it in a different light now.

Malvern Court, the seat Of Mr . Mal~

vern,and the humble widow’s cottage,

were very different places in their eyes

and my friend, as the inmate o f the latter,was a very difl

'

e r ent person— I Should

allow,however, indeed, fo r the reflections

which Milly, by her conduct, had drawn

upon the eligibility and propriety o f her

companionship fo r one in my position still

the sequel shewed m e , that th e massive

walls o f her uncle’s Old country mansion

were considered sufliciently dense to coves

those multitude o f sins which rendered myvisit to the poor aunt’s cottage so com

ple te ly out o f the question—that aunt wh o

was remembere d as th e lowly waiting

woman o f Milly’s mother—it would no t

dO —I must decline the invitation .

And so I was obliged to submit-m ox

cusing myself to poor Milly as best I could .

The next intellige nce I heard through

Lady Clara’s communication with my aunt.


was, that Milly had left the cottage, and

was taken to the sea-side as recommended

by the medical man— that sh e had gone

there alone with Pierrot, but had been

joined by Lady Clara, wh o had kindlyconsented to give her the advantage of h e r

chaper onaye and surveillance .

Thus Mrs. Edmund Malvern was en

abled to receive back her beloved son to

h is home, from which th e presence of

her poor young niece had banished him ,

and Edwy could return and experience in

that cottage-home feelings o f desolation

he had never known before .

Th e nest was rifled—the sweet birdwas flown, wh o had lately made there

her rest—and he was continually hauntedby that tantalizing consciousness o f th e

presence o f the belove d one which lingers

round the spot, like the perfume of th e

vasefromwhich the roses have been removed.

But it was only a pensive melancholy r e

gret on the subj ect o f his cousin he now felt .

He resigned all former hopes and pas


heartfelt—fo r never, for amoment, did the

idea that death would soon free him from

th e pledge—would soon fold in its dark

wings, the one or other o f the bright

young beings h e had loved with such co n

flicting, though, at one time, almost equal

sentiments o f affection, cross his mind.

Rather would he have shed his last life drop,if that could have availed them, than that

a hair o f e ith er Of their bright heads

sh ould perish to win h im a life—time

o f full and perfect felicity He had

no t the courage to mention Milly’s name,and his moth er was equally tender on th e

subject ; so that his fears on that subject

were not awakened, as they m ight have

been by a freer discussion Of the state of

health in which sh e had departed from th e

cottage .

He knew only that sh e had b ee n taken

away fo r the benefit Of se a air, after the

severe illness, from which sh e had scarcely

recovered, and he vaguely and sadly won

dered what would be the sequel of her

young, unsettled life.

AN OLD COUNTRY HOU SE . 225

To th ink upon Eva, the darling and

pride of so many fond hearts, was, in

comparison with the forlorn despised Milly,to think upon one whom

,no sorrow or dis

appointment,in which he had part, could

long have power to harm or to annoy. A

better, brighter fate by far, than he could

have bestowed upon her,would soon com

pensate for aught o f sorrow which this late

vexatious episode in her life,might have

o ccasioned.

But fo r Milly—themotherless— fatherlessMilly—that wandering star—that alien

spirit—that exotic flowe r—that reed

shaken by th e wind, fo r her his spirit was

afraid I

i

226 AN OLD COUNTRY HOU SE .

CHAPTER XVIII .

H ith e r came at no on,Mournful fEnone , wande r ing fo r lo rn,He r ch e e k had lost th e r ose , and r ound h e r ne ckFloate d h e r hair o r se em’

d to float in r e st.

TENNYSON.

A YOUNG girl stood upon th e sea- shore of

watch ing, from a distance,in absent ab

straction, rather than with any lively in

te r e st,a pleasure boat, pushing from th e

sands with a merry, laughing party, con


titude and bearing had been before marked

by an elevation as if, as it has been

beautifully expr e ssed,“sh e was borne up by

attendant angels .”

She had wandered almost unconscious ly,thus far by herself

,beguiled by the luxury

in wh ich sh e was not often indulged— th e

luxury often so welcome to o ne in bitter~

ness Of heart- that of finding herself

alone ; and thus Opportunity afforded Of

yielding to those depressing thoughts,against which

,in the presence of those dear

to her,she struggled with such unselfish

effort to repress .

And Eva Elph instone’

s distress of m ind

was not the mere disappointment and mo r

tification which, Ofttimes , composes th e

ch ief bitterness of a marr iage manqué.

She had loved Edwy with all th e pure

fervency Of first love,in a high-m inded

unworldly young heart and Edwy

m istaken if he imagined that Eva had only

to shake o ff the few tears which, for his

sake, sh e might have shed, then raise her


beautiful head in its own self-sufficing su

pe rio rity.

This morning as sh e walked on, as we

have described, a sore feeling of depression

weighed down her spirits, and one to which

the bright scene around, but added weight .

The sun shone so brilliantly on the glitter

ing waves, the air was so brisk and light—th e loud and laughing voices o f the

party in the boat, fell upon her ear in such

discord with the sensations within her

breast, that sh e felt, as we all are apt to

do in similar circumstances,as if sh e alone

were suffering upon earth .

Coming , at length, in sight Of a few

scattered rocks,which lay upon the sands,

sh e beheld the two first living beings with

whom sh e had, as yet, come in close con~

tact, with two female figur e s— the one ap

par e ntly a waiting woman wandering to

and fro at a little distance from the other,

on whom sh e seemed to be in attendance

and wh o was seated or rather, crouching,

230 AN OLD COUNTRY H ousn.

in a drooping attitude, upon one o f

the rock seats, on which a shawl was

laid.

This latter figure was very slight and

youthful in appearance, so much so , together

with something child- like in her actions

and manner, that Eva, at first, was no t

very certain whether it were not almost a

child whom sh e beheld rather than a girl

o f her own age .

Long, fair hair, uncurled by the se a air,hung over her shoulders upon the pale

,

green dress o f thin and clinging material

which sh e wore,and from which the

shawl wh ich Eva Observed the attendant

approach and fold more closely round

h e r form,was again almost immediately

suffered to fall away with careless disr e

gard whilst the unconscious wearer con

tinued as before to twine her fingers in her

long tresses, rocking herself at the same

time gently to and fro in a strange peculiar

manner, so that Eva was irr esitib ly struck


had before been labouring, as sitting up

eagerly, sh e stretched out her arm to com

ple te her inscription .

Then Eva saw h e r sink herself back for

an instant and gaze down upon it,till, as

ifmoved by som e sudden and uncontrollable

emotion, sh e threw herself forward on th e

ground, and seemed to seal her lips upon

th e spot on which sh e had been employed .

Then rising, sh e reseated herself upon the

rock,and buried her face in her hands ,

weeping convulsively .

A sensation Of more than common sym

pathy and compassion thrilled through

Eva’s soul, whilst at the sam e time a vague

suspicion was suggested to her m ind with

reference to the figure under her Observa

tion . Her face sh e had not been able

distinctly to discern, but her heart now

beat with nervous trepidation . The next

moment a sound behind her attracted Eva'

s

attention .

She turned and saw a donkey chair , at


tended by a b oy, approaching, and which

stopping before the young lady, sh e was

hurried into the little vehicle by the woman

in attendance, wh o seemed to chide the

lad for the length of time th ey had been

kept waiting fo r its arrival, and they

passed on at a very few yards distant from

the spot where Eva now stood, her earnest

gaze riveted almost unconsciously on the

Obj ect o f h e r attention .

It was now returned by one wild and

wistful— almost Of startled horror.

The beautiful figure Of Eva standing SO

conspicuous, in its solitary distinctne ss on

the wide, openwaste, unavoidably attracted

th e r egard of the occupant Of the chair . Her

lips seemed to move,as if with a scarcely

suppressed cry, but sh e was hurried forward,and Eva soon left far behind, with the r e

collection Of the face and countenance sh e

had beheld, impressed like some phantom

vision, on h e r bewildered senses .


Could this be the fairy cousin Of Mal

vern Court was this,then

,her rival

,wh o

had so successfully worked her wo e by

beguiling from her Edwy’s heart ? Must

sh e identify her with the poor,young girl

whom sh e heard had arrived the evening

before in a deep decline,at the hotel where

the Elphinstone s had been a few days

sojourning, and the sound Of whose sharp,hollow cough

,in a chamber adjoining the

one sh e occupied, had kept her eyes waking

the whole Of the previous n ight ? Ye s

if a doubt could have remained upon her

mind as to th e identity Of h e r whom sh e

had just beheld, sh e had but to walk on a

few_steps, and there at her feet lay stretched

in large,straggling characters upon th e

strand,the one , and still fondly beloved

name Of “ E dwy

Eva did not b ow down at once to kiss

that word Milly had traced, and h e r lips

had so lately pressed— but sh e sat down

cold and pale upon the rock, and gazed


But them iserable Milly was cast Off in her

hour Of suffering, left to the care o f a se r

vant—alone in sickness Of mind and body,

and whose tears—no more than her own

Edwy was suffere d to wipe away .


CHAPTER XIX .

I alone awake,

My eye s ar e full of te ars,my h e art Of lo ve ,

My h ear t is br e aking, and my eye s ar e dim,

And I am all awe ary Of my life .

TENNYSON .

I T was indeed poor Milly wh o had arrived

the night before at the Hotel Of on

th e Welsh Coast having been removed

there,from a neighbouring watering-place,

through the wishes Of Lady Clara, under

whose car e“

sh e came, some friends Of that


lady having written to urge her to join

their party at this lovely spot .

I t was Lady Clara and the friends in

question, wh o had gaily embarked in the

pleasure boat Eva had watched— leaving

the sick girl on shore to inhale the m ild

sea breeze, as sh e was ordered to do, with

out the fat igue Of exercise,for an hour or

two , every m orning .

It was a strange coincidence which thus

placed,in such close proximity

,two youngb e ~

ings on whose hearts through the wakeful

night,the sam e disquieting image lay so sadly

impressed—whose lips through its dark

watches had doubtless sighed forth to

gether the one loved name .

The next night it was the same . Full

enquiries had been made concerning the

party at the Inn,and Eva Elphinstone lay

down with the perfect certainty that a thin

wall alone separated her from her fatal


In th e morning when Eva rose,all was

silent in th e next room,as if the sufferer

slept late after her exhausting night .

Lady Clara seemed much engaged with

her friends There was much laughing

and talking in the roomwhere allb r e akfaste d

and dined together. When Milly was

brought down they seemed generally to go

out and amuse themselves by walking or

boating ; Lady Clara always giving strict

and Often loud orders , before sh e left her

charge, as to the nourishment to be pro

v1 de d fo r her o r th e time, o r manner in

which sh e was to be taken out during her

absence,indeed as far as bodily comforts

went sh e seemed most anxious and atten

tive on Milly’s behalf.

Eva’s parents were not acquainted with

her ladyship,or any Of her party . Th ey

were kind, good people, both Mr . and Mrs .

Elphinstone,and notwith standing the dis

advantage sw inde ed repulsive circum


stances connected with everything relative

to the unfortunate Milly, when they dis

covered her wretched state Of health and

hopeless condition, their pity was tho

roughly awakened, although to the magnanimous feeling Of their young daugh terthey could Scarcely arrive .

These feelings of the excellent,high

m inded girl were but heightened by what

appeared daily under her Observation con

cerning the invalid, wi th whom, however,sh e never came in direct contact .

Eva,however, watched her proceedings

as far as sh e was able, and the more sh e

saw and heard, through her own maid of

the poor young lady’s condition,” the

more sh e became impressed by her deso

late and melancholy position ; her'

heart

melted towards her unfortunate rival, and

ardently did sh e long to be able to act a

Sister’s part towards one wh o seemed so

utterly deserted by her own relations in

her weakness and sorrow.

But to have forced herself upon her acYOL . I I I . M


quaintance under their peculiar circum

stances would have been not only difficult,

but scarcely, perhaps, accordantwith delicacy

and good . taste . It was a step Of which

her parents would not approve . Poor

Milly Rash le igh’

s name had been made too

unfortunately conspicuous for th em to

suffer a daughter of theirs to be associated

in fam iliar intercourse with one so faulty

so light in conduct—even her present state

could not reconcile them to th e idea.

But one night it came to pass that the

spirit Of mercy and compassion strongly

excited in Eva’s breast, moved the young

girl with an uncontrollable impulse to cast

aside every other consideration but that

which might influence a ministering angel

to fly to the relief and comfort Of a suffer

ing mortal .

I t s eemed that th is night the sick girl


ought to recollect I have scarcely had any

sleep these three nights .”

Oh,I am very

, ver y sorry,Pierrot

,

replied the piteous voice . It is, I know,

very hard upon you— I am a great trouble,

as I always have been,and must be till I

die ; but if you only knew h ow wretched I

feel,and what a comfort it is to m e to hear

som e voice speaking to m e m b r eaking this

horr id stillness—and seeing some one nearm e ! If there could be found some oth e r

person to sit up with m e w - Lady Clara said

once that sh e would do so, if I liked it ;but sh e seems to come home so late and

tired, and seem s so sleepy that

Oh,yes, her ladyship is far too fond Of

her comforts to lose her rest for a night,”

grumbled the woman .

“ I am sure, Made

m o ise lle , if you would only be reasonable,

and try to lie still and not talk every mo

m ent, your cough would be less violent,

and you would go to sleep, and th en I

should have as much sleep as I desire .

”

Oh , impossible, impossible, Pierrot,


to be still,murmured the invalid ; you

cannot know what I feel—o h , that I could

have staid with dear, kind Aunt Julia,Oh that Susan were with m e—h ow kindand patient sh e would have be en ! And

Lilly—poor,dear, Old Lilly

,to whom I

used to behave so badly —h owdifferent you

would have been l— h ow kindly you used to

bearwith poormama -I f theywould only let

me I would go back, and beg you on my

knees to nurse me as you did her—I wouldtrouble no one else now, in a corner Of

that wide Old house .

”

Then Pierrot seemed to commence some ;

thing like expressions Of apology for her

hastiness— but Eva did not wait to listen

longer .

A mother, who in heart-struck dis

may overhears, by chance, harsh x words

spoken by a servant to a suffe ring child,could scarcely have be en more affected

,

thanwas this noble souledgirl bywhat sh e had

just heard . She listened only to th e dictates

Of her heart, and yielded h erself to the


irresistible impulse which impelled her;

Le aving her chamber sh e soon knocked at

the neighbouring door, and, scarcely wait-5

ing to h ear the answer,opened it

,and

entered the dim ly lighted room . Both the

Sick girl and her attendant gazed with utter

astonishment, almost approaching to r e

ve r ence at the unexpected apparition . The

beautiful stranger, as sh e so suddenly in her

white garments stood before them , might

well have seemed a pitying seraph sent to

th e sufferer’s relief.

Forgive me 1” she said, in a tone low

but firm, and looking with a tearful smile

upon Milly, towards whose bed-side Sh e

had glided forgive m e fo r this in

trusion,but from the next room , which I

occupy,I could hear your voice— and that

you were restless and wakeful, and I was

no t able to resist coming to you . Your

maid it seems is weary ; let her go and take

some rest, and allow me to remain in her

place—and sit by your side till you can go


ing that She felt no inclination to resign

h e r post, you will really oblige me by

doing so— at least fo r an hour Or two .

”

There was something in the young ladyf s

air and manner, th ough so gentle,which

were not to be resisted Pierrot remained

therefore only to arrange h e r young charge’s

bed with attentive assiduity, and then de

parted .


CHAPTER XX .

Th e wo r ld’s a r o om o f sick/

fl e es, wh e re e ach h eartKnows its Own anguish and unre st

Th e tr ue st wisdom th e r e , and noble st ar tI s his wh o skills o f comfo r t be stW h om by th e so fte st ste p and ge ntle st toneEnfe e ble d spir its own,And lo ve to raise th e languid eyeW h en

,like an ange l’s wing

, th ey fe e l him fle e ting by.

KEBLE.

EVA seated h erself by the sick girl, who

having by this time somewhat collected

AA 5


h e r confused and astounded senses,put

out her hand,and seizing that o f her

visitor’s, in broken accents and with tears

struggling in her eyes, exclaimed,How kind—h ow very kind o f you

,

Miss Elph instone ! I can scarcely believe

that th is can be you who have come to m e

in this manner— h ow have I deserved this

kindness on your part —it overcomes m e

quite— it makes me quite unhappy !” and

Milly turned her face to the wall,and

wept .

Pray do not say that, Eva sooth ingly

replie d,or I shall wish I had not come

I t is but what one fellow-creature owes to

another— I sometimes lie awake, but with

out that restless pain which you alas I seem

to endure—I t must have been a very hard,selfish heart indeed, wh o could have over

h eard your complaints and not felt a desire

to afford you some relief—a Yo u, in my place,would have done the same by m e

Milly shook h e r head .

I do not know that, Eva Elphinstone,


before my vain, light heart knew what it

was to love . I have since loved—youmay

well forgive me , beautiful, happy Eva for

when I lie cold and withering in my grave,and no longer stand in the way of your

happiness what you have suffered through

m e , will be fully compensated by all you

will then enjoy as Edwy’s happy, much

loved wife . Ye s, do not turn away -o r

shake your head— as sure as I lie here,it

will be so I se e it,I feel it will be thus

,

”

sh e cried, her slight fram e quivering with

e xcitement,as sh e sat up with flashing

eyes and burning cheeks, and thus ex

claimed .

The prophetic words of h e r unfortunate

rival sent a mom entary thrill of delightful

emotion to Eva’s heart,but it soon died

Happiness to be procured,but by

another’s death would indeed be dearly

purchased,she replied sadly.

“ Believe

m e , I had given up all thoughts of Edwy

before I saw you here, or heard even that


you were ill- . and now havmg thus seen

you,God

,wh o reads my heart, knows h ow

gladly I would behold you restored to

health and happiness—ye s, even as the

wife Of Edwy.

”

No no !” Milly murmured, that could

never be God and man were both against

it— you Eva as Edwy’s guardian angel

stood between us to save h im from yielding

to the dangerous delusion and now another

angel— the dark angel of death will soon

effectually divide uS— oh Eva, think h ow

true it must be that I am dying when!can thus plead to you in Edwy

’ s behalf,entreat you to forgive him when 1 am gone—when I can thus tell you that it wasmyfault not his, that ever his heart was turned

from one SO excellent . It was an evil

power— that doom o f evil hanging over

m e,and infecting all wh o approach me ,

which I wove around him . I nearly killed

him once . He was saved as by a miracle

from death ; he carri es now about on his

person the fearful mark of that frightful


accident . See,now he is saved again from

what they have tried hard to persuade

him,would have been a worse destruction

-~a union with so m iserable a creature as

myself,a fantastic

,soulless being, whom

they scarce deemed human . Yes— se e my

wand lies broken at my feet the enchant

ments o f poor Milly are at an end . Edwy

must—and will again be yours, for I am

dying—beautiful Eva .

”

Much exhausted by the excitement to

which“

this last s peech had worked her,Milly sank gaspingly back—almost as if

about that mom ent to breathe her last .

Eva in great alarm bathed her temples with

essences,bitterly reproaching herself for

having suffered her to pursue so agitating

a theme, and when Milly, wh o quickly

rallied,again prepared to speak

,she au

th o rative ly imposed Silence upon her,


innocence cannot enter into the feelings of

a misguided wretch like m e . I did not

love that man, I never did - it never was

love at any time— but you can never know

what it was, and at last rather than submit

my rebellious Spirit to the fate which others

strove to force upon m e,I preferred to rush

madly upon a self chosen destiny the

sham e—the disgrace such a step would

bring on those wh o had thus reduced m e ,

creating a fiendish delight within my soul .

It was then I m e t h im— Edwy my guardian

ange l—h e saved me— and I have destroyed

him— lost for him that which alone can

make him happy on earth—your favour,

Eva .

”

For a few moments Milly was silent from

exhaustion, and sh e was uninterrupted by

her companion but soon again she

spoke .

Edwy was startled wh en he saw me

startled and displeased—h e entreated me

to return—o rder ed me back—but I would

not go . I o lung to him—implored, wept, and


prayed. I told him th e alternative —thatmam- oh Eva, that I should live

'

to

sully your ears w ith such a. history—thatman was waiting to take me away, and I

told Edwy so—what could h e possibly do 7I would no t return . I made h im- I made

him takeme to hismoth er—myaunt—a nd at

last,after the greatest difl‘iculty I persuaded

h im . I shewed him the distant form o f

Oh,Eva ! that man, who I now t e

m ember only as a demon—a phantom of

evil was approaching, it would no t have b e en

like him, to leave me , th e sister o f his

childhood,in such a strait . It was not '

h is fault . How could he have done other

wise ? On th e impulse o f the moment, he

consented—took me to aunt Julia, but left

m e immediate ly. I never saw him again,and most probably, shal l never se e his

face again on earth unless, inde ed, it is on

my death-bed .

”


We will not'

say that'

Eva would have

wished these interesting last words unsaid“ but, whatever might have bee n th e

inward feelings with which they impressed

h e r , sh e hastened to still the selfish throb

bings they had stir red within her breast,and again laying her soft hand on Milly’s

burning lips to impose silence , wh is

pered

Say no more—think no more about it .

Believe me , I am satisfie d—satisfie d that

all happened as it was ordained fo r th e

best, by One wh o ordereth all things

wisely, that can befall his creatures—wh ocan make all things work together for

good to those wh o love and trust in Him .

Anoth er time, perhaps, we may talk more

upon the subj ect—but now let m e rather

m inister to your comfort and relief. If you

cannot really sleep,may I not read, may I

not pray with you

I should like it very much , murmured

Milly, If you read and pray like aunt

Julia .

”


What Pierrot ? Oh ! her religion is

different to aunt Julia’s . She is a Roman

Catholic her books and prayers are differ

ent. I do not like th em so well, though

sh e tells me they are the righ t ones. I

don’t understand anything about it . I am

very ignorant, but I do not feel the same

when I hear her prayers .”

Eva was much shocked and con

cerned at this sad proof of h ow uncared

fo r had been the soul of the poor,sick

girl .

I s Pierrot kind and attentive ?” sh e

asked whilst turning over some o f the books

lying on the table near the bed, which

Milly. pointed out as the gift of Edwy’s

mother.

Oh, ye s ! sh e is very attentive—sh e

has nothing else to do but to wait on me .

She is as kind to me as I can e xpect . She

did complain to -night o f my keeping her

awake so much but it is hard upon her

to have her rest disturbed . She does not


know how ill I really feel— and I have al

ways given her so much trouble . She says

that I was glad once to let her sleep to o

soundly,but that there is no chance of this

being the case again .

”

What does sh e mean ? ” Eva en

quired .

Oh, do not ask you little imagine the

dreadful things sh e knows about m e , or

you, perhaps, m ight be less kind and pity

ing

Nay ! I trust, replied Eva, that no

thing could, at th is moment, alter my feel

ings towards you—we have all sinned and

come short o f what we Should have been—and you

,doubtless, fee l sufficient so r

r ow for all you have done am iss without

having the reproaches o f your fellow crea

tures to add to the bitterness of the remem

brance . It is their part rather to remind

you where to turn for pardon andIfor peace

- even to Him,wh o forgiveth all thy Sins

and he aleth all thy infirmitie s.

AN OLD COUNTRY HOUSE.

Eva repeated the other verses of the

m ost beautiful Psalm from which these

words ar e taken

The L or d is f ull of compassion and

mer cy ,long suf fer ing and of gr e at good

ness.

”

And more did She repeat from that trea~

sury o f comfort . Earnestly did her young,c lear

,voice

,rise like an angel’s upon the

silence o f the night, in simple, heart~felt

prayer,suitable to the sick girl’s need, till

her spirit was charmed and soothed, her

head resting upon her m inistering angel’s

bosom . Poor Milly’s eyes closed, at

length , in peaceful slumber, and the two

young rivals were thus clasped in each

others’ arms .

The day dawned upon this touching

s cene—then Eva quietly laid Milly backupon h e r pillow—watched her anxiously


CHAPTER XX I .

One with h e r br ight and burning ch e ek,All passion, tr emu lous and weak .

”

Th e o th e r ,

W hose ch e e k was saintly pale , as nough t

W as th e r e , to flush with e arth ly th o ugh t,As th e h eart, wh ich in its youth had givenI ts fe e lings and its th ough ts to h e aven .

”

L. E. L.

I T was probab ly all more like a dream


than a reality to poor Milly when on her

late awakening,and remembering the visi

tatio n of the night, she saw only, as usual,th e face of Pierrot, and heard her voice,enquiring h ow she felt .

Nor did Pierrot allude to th e subject,

averse,perhaps, in any way to revive th e

remembrance of her . ill-humour, Of which

the interference and conduct of the

beautiful young lady had made her heartily

ashamed .

But when Milly was on the sands that

morning, the vision was renewed .

Eva suddenly appeared be fore her . Fo r"

some seconds, she had so stood, unpe r

ce ive d, and during that time, a glow Of

humble, thankful joy lit up her counte

nance . Such joy as angels feel

I n H eaven,ove r one sinner that r e

p ente th .

Her m inistrations of the night had not

been spent in vain .

VOL. I I I .


Milly sat not as Eva had seen her Sit,

the last time sh e had there beh eld her-grovelling in hopeless despondency o f

earthly sorrow, her eyes fixed, in th e

recklessness o f th eir great despair. NO !

as sh e lay back half reclining now,

on her rocky resting-place,they were

raised glistening to the cloudless summer

sky above her head, whilst her parted lips,with all the simplicity Of a child

,repeating

some words, of a newly- learnt lesson,

which has particularly caught the fancy,

and been impressed on the memory .

She murmured a verse o f that psalm Eva

had more than once repeated to her th e

proce eding night,

F o r look lzow nigh t/ie heavens ar e in

compar ison to the ear th ! S0 gr eat is H is

mer cy to those who f e ar !tim-“ lo ok also,

how wide is the east f r om the weste so f ar

has he se t our sins f r om as.

Eva’s voice took up th e exulting strain,

26 8 AN OLD COUNTRY

and the little happy children wh o come

sometimes and play around m e . There

are two in particular— there they are —do

you se e then 7” Sh e exclaimed, bending

forward and pomting to the objects of her

remarks ; “ that little b oy and girl— th e

little girl with her long golden hair— see

they have taken Off their shoes and stock

ings and are wading in the water ! Look

h ow she laughs when the rippling waveswash ov er her feet— happy little feet

happy little things ! Eva, I have wept

Often over those two children . It is myself and Edwy I se e in them— it is a pic

ture of our childhood conjure d up to vex

my heart . Exactly in this way Edwy and

I used to sport together . Oh, why did we

eve r change ? why could we not remain

those careless, happy creatures ? oh,why

was I not content that Edwy should love

m e as a sister ? Then I should have des

troy e d no one’s happiness, nor perhaps

myself . God might have suffered m e to

live—dive and enjoy this be‘auteous world


like other happy beings upon earth . She

paused, much affected, and Eva, overcom e

by her own feelings, was silent . But,Eva

,Milly soon continued was it my

fault ? I was not like oth er s from the first- I had no soul within m e for good things,such as to you “and Edwy’s mother seem so

fam iliar. No one thought o r Spoke of

God in that great, o ld house wh ere I was

brought up-no one excepting Old Mrs .

Lilly—and sorrow,at seeing the religion

sh e loved so scorned and disregarded, ren

dered her I suppose gloomy and severe,

which mademe —awild andignorant child—3

hate and shun the grave lessons Sh e strove

to inculcate, and lightly treat a subject

which began to appear to me,but some

Old -fashioned vulgar prejudice o f the cross

o ld woman . How I used to laugh at Edwy

for ever attending to what she said True

it seemed that his mother had taught

him religion,’ as I used scoflingly to call it

—but then sh e to o,had been a servant

poor and distressed. It was these despised


ones alone,and not the rich

,th e great and

prosperous I though t, wh o cared for such

things .”

Prosperous !” repeated Eva with a

shudder “what a fearful prosperity that

must be which exists, with out the acknow

ledgement o f a God, wh o in the awful

threatenings o f his word has declared that

h e will pour out h is fury upon the

families who call not upon His name .

”

Ye s, ye s ! and you know it did not

continue, interrupted Milly. Every one

knows the dreadful calamities that have

happened in our family, all, as Mrs.

Lilly says, because we were a Godless

race, and therefore our doom had

come, as com e it must, on all such .

’

I felt nothing that happened— even the

dark and dreadful end o f him wh o was

my father, but wh o I never knew o r heard

Of but as an obj e ct of dread and dislike—never saw,

but under circumstances so

appalling that they must have well nigh

destroyed any child o f common feeling,pr oduced little apparent effect upon


dream—“ perhaps of my life in another

state of being than that in which I now

exist .

I have had but a faint idea given m e of

those events to which you allude,

” Eva

replied, “ and do not speak o f them now

I know too, what followed,"sh e continued

in a low tone, h ow on your return to

England, you and Edwy were thrown

together, and loved one another.”

“ Yes,yes, Eva—and h ow that love led

to trouble and sorrow to us both —nay,

perhaps, in my case—“ to death . I could

not love,o r be loved, harmlessly, like other

happy beings on earth . My evil fate will

now be satisfied .

”

Do not talk thus Of fate, Milly, Eva

gently replied . Providence, not fate

ruleth over all that befalls us .”

But oh,Eva

,I have been very wicked

,

yet so young to be thus visited, when

others,wh o can scarcely less have offended

are suffered still to flourish and abide


why have I, a weak, ignorant being been

made the retributive mark o f God’s anger,

upon a fam ily who do not fear h is

name“ Or rathe r, Milly, Eva interposed ,why have you been made a monument

of God’s mercy— thus, in your youth,called

,through the chastisement of His

gracious hand, to acknowledge and glorify

His nam e— and wh o knows to turn others

to Him, and be the means—the instru

ment in His hands of bringing a blessing,lo ng withheld

,upon your house and.!

family—te aching th ose to live to Him

who

Her words were interrupted by the

invalid’s low, hollow cough .

“ Teach them how to live ? “ poor Milly

replied, after a few moments’ silence,with

a melancholy smile—teach them to live ,

that can neve r b e— it is too late for m e

to do that.”

Eva me lted into tears.


Th en, sh e replied, in a tone o f solemnsweetness, “ then— teach them h ow to die

which will be far better.

Mr. and Mrs. Elph instone were sur

prised when Eva told them what had hap

pened that night— surprised,though it was

impossible to blame conduct prompte d by

such virtuous and holy feelings they only

prevailed upon th e ir daughter to change

her room that sh e m ight no longer be dis

turb ed, as sh e had been som e nights by

the cough of th e sick girl, and to confine

h e r intercourse to th e day time,during the

few remaining days, they intended to r e

main at Eva’s own looks and

Spirits having been o f late the object of

their deep and tender solicitude .

Readily, as we have seen, did Eva avail


rock,or upon her companion’s knee— sh e

so fixedly gaze d m as if seeking something

there,strange

,new

,and beautiful .

Or sh e would sit up, speak to the little

children . and look with childish interest at

the shells and weeds they shewed her

count them over with her thin, pale, little

hands -tell them with simple pathos that

sh e once could run about and enjoy herself

there like th em m —that not a year ago,she

could run faster than any of them .

And why not now Q.

” they asked .

Because I am so ill,”was th e

answer .

What ! with that beautiful colour on her

cheeks

They thought the lady with th e pale

face looked more ill than her.

But “ no,” Milly said I am the sick

one .

”

And then the little ones looke d at her

small wh ite hands— heard h e r hollow

cough, and looked up sorrowfully in her face,


and they never laughed or talked loud, as

they passed by her again,but brought her

their prettiest Shells,and kissed her hand

when they went away .


CHAPTER XXI I .

But now we parted, ne ve r moreTo me e t upon that lone sea-sh o re

W e may no t me e t on e arth again .

And scarce ly sh all,th e re do th r emain

A time , a place , wh e re we shall me e t,

And have th e stars be ne ath o ur fe e t .

S i at i

I t must have be en an ange l sentTo b e a spe cial instrument and ministe r o f grace to

me .

TR ENOH .

LADY C LARA, wh o on hearing that the

Elphinstone s were in the same hotel, had


indeed,she should certainly advise, after all

sh e had seen and heard, that the affair

should never again be revived .

Th e day arrived, when those who

scarcely could hope to see each other again

on earth , must part .

The Elphinstone s were obliged to return

home,and Eva and Milly must have their

last m eeting upon that earthly shore .

It was an affecting interview, as may

b e supposed, under such circumstances,but o f the two

,Milly was the least sad,

for sh e whispered in Eva’s ear, that they

should m eet again —that sh e did not mean

to stay behind her longm sh e pined also

for her country home . It was about this

time sh e had gone there last year . Susan

and Edwy had been with her then. She,


perhaps, might have them there again

and another now should be of their party- and that other— Eva .

Eva almost feared the poor girl’s brain

was wandering, sh e talked in such a light

and gleeful tone o f plans and purposes, so

unlikely to be realized, o r wh ich could but

be brought about in some melancholy

manner.

However,Milly continued to say, that

Lady Clara was very good -natured in

promising to prevail on her uncle Malvern

to allow her to go home ; he had been

till sh e had quite tired his patience, ever

kind and indulgent to her -sh e longed to

se e the dear Old place again— h e could not

continue his anger now— h e surely would

let her come to spend her last summer

where sh e had been born, and had lived

so many years .

I Should so like,Milly continued

,to

r e -visit many interesting spots— some even

1 m ight still have strength to reach with

Edwy’s help . Ye s !”sh e said, fixing her


eyes with a smile on Eva’s sadly wonder

ing countenance, my cousin Edwy ! and

h ow happy we Shall be together ! like

broth er and sister, again, as we were before

I went abroad, only a gentler, quieter,more affectionate sister than I used to

be .”

Edwy’s name had scarcely passed b e

tween them o f late—not that they had

avoided the subj ect, but as now higher and

more momentous themes began to absorb

their interests and attention,and their

eyes and hearts became so earnestly raised

towards those things which belong to

e ternity, earthly affections passed uncon

scionsly from th eir thoughts . Even this

obj ect of their mutual attachment, was, in

a degree, disregarded .

W hat inno cence is in th e th ough ts o f th oseAbout to leave th is life of passions’ wo e s.

”

And thus, in Milly’s breast, did a feeling


the lady,with the dark hair and eyes, and

pale,clear face Her large, blue eyes

wandered sadly around her— and sh e staid

a shorter time— and got into the wheel

chair that came to take her back, in a

faint and feeble manner which told th em

that in spite o f her brilliant cheeks sh e

was indeed very ill .

One morning,before She left her accus

tom e d spot, Milly called the two fair-haired

little ones—her favourite children— to her,

and told them she was going home, and

would take the pretty shells they h ad given

her to a poor little cousin wh o lived there and

wh o was not, like them, blessedwith health

and Strength , and understanding . And

th en sh e kissed the little girl and her com

panion , and told them to be good children

and to love and praise God always ; and

sh e smiled back upon them as she was

drawn away, with an earnest,wistful

sm ile .

These two children,though they never

AN OLD CO UNTRY HOUSE . 285.

saw the fairy lady again, no r knew whether

sh e lived or died, never forgot her— but

always called the rock where so often

they had seen her sit,

“ The fairy lady’s

rock .


CHAPTER XXIII .

Alas, fo r th e pr om ise o f our youth 1How so on th e go lden cho rds o f h ope ar e brokenHow so on we find that dreams we truste d mo st,Ar e ve ry shadows !

L. E. L.

THE sun was shining in all its full splen

dour over Malvern Court, when, for the

third time, I drew near to its o ld stone

walls.

Little more than a ye ar had passed

since last I had approach ed th em ; but


covered cush ion, stood as usual Close by the

open window—but vacant— no Mrs . Lilly

was sitting there to greet m e as before .

I sat down upon the same couch which

h ad form ed my grateful resting-place when

thither conducted by Lady Clara,from the

scene o f gaiety I had so gladly fo r saken-feeling very much, after my long

hot journey,as I had done then

,as to phy

sical sensation . My head ached, and when

for a moment or two I rested against the

cushion,and closed my eyes, I could have

imagined almost that Mrs . Lilly had only .

just left the room to bring my cup of coffee,andhad neveryet returned that everyvision

from the little beauty and her torn frock,to the very last Of the train of incidents

which had succeeded were but the baseless

fabric of an over—heated brain to melt into

air as quickly as they had suggested them

selves

Vain,idle beguilement of a to o certain

reality !

Not only what I had seen , but what I had

heard as having taken place within this


room ,came forcing itself in living pictures

before my eyes . The little mouse- like

Nelly sliding in to eat her supper with the

new housekeeper - o r the handsome young

Edmund Malvern, bending in close, earnest

Conversation Over the pale and anxious

Julia,whose work— type of subserviency

had dropped from her hands,and Was lying

at her feet,never to be raised again he tells

her- h e,wh o ere two months had sped,

having bestowed upon her the empty

honour of his name, left her in the world

alone to a life,for a long tim e

,worse than

that wh 1 ch sh e had yet endured .

I know not why this latter image was now

so particularly suggested to my thoughts,excepting that mymind had been uneasily

working during the journey upon one sub

j cet, in som e degree connecte d with that

page Of the Malvern history .

Only by the letter which summoned me

to come once more to se e my friend Milly

at Malvern Court,whither I was informed

VOL. II I . 0


h at sh e had returned,had I received any

idea o f the de sperate nature of the disease

with which She was stricken .

Milly in a consumption I could it be possi

ble th at such a curse as this fatal malady,found its way to this visited family 7 Her

m other’s death I had fancied had been

occasioned by a slow and lingering decline ,but then I remembered Mrs. Lilly’s account

o f Mr . Edmund Malve rn’

s death—the gal

loping consumption by which his days had

been so suddenly cut short -and my heart

was sorrowful when I thought upon my ill

fated friend,and the probability o f her

being doomed to sink into an early grave,her wild

,graceless nature unsanctifie d

unrenewed

I h eard at length footsteps in the passage .

The door opened it was Mrs . Lilly wh o

292 AN OLD COUNTRY HOUSE : '

Saved h ow I enquired, not as yet

comprehending h e r m eaning .

By the instrumentality of an angel

upon earth if it is not wrong so to speak

of an erring, mortal being . There will be

a holy death at last wi thin this God-for

getting house .

”

A death I answered,weeping,

must

then Milly really die

You will not weep,young lady

,when

you se e what sh e is now— and remember

what she was when you were here last

year,

” Mrs . Lilly replied,as if softened by

my grief, and unwilling to reply directly

to my question . And then sh e began to

arrange som e cushions on the couch , and

the ideas this act suggested made m e

weep again, when I thought upon the Milly

I had seen last in this room She came at

length ; the door was not flung open, as

by the fairy, airy Milly of the f éte , nor

did sh e glide dn unperceived, and greet m e

with the ringing, merry laugh of the pre


ceding year. Wrapped in a white, loose

robe— slow and weak—leaning on Pierrot’s

arm ,a fragile being, with hollow, hectic

cheeks and glittering sunken eyes, sh e ap

pe ar ed before m e .

I haste ned"

towards her sh e threw her

self into my arms—s o thin and light had

sh e become that I nearly raised her from

the ground,and supported her—my heart

t o o full for spe e ch w to the couch , and sat

down by her side .

You are very good, Susan, to come,sh e said, gasping from the exertion of pass

ing from o ne room to the other.

Good to come Milly would I no t have

come long ago if they had allowed me

tears cut short my words .

Ye s, I was sure of that— I knew that

you we re no t one who , of your own ao

cord, would refuse me , when I was sick and

unhappy,” Milly so othingly replied

,but

dear Susan, it has been all for th e best .

Ifyou had been with me , I should not have


felt myself SO forsaken . It is when we are

in the wilderness that God sends his angels

o f m ercy to save and comfort us. He

sent o ne to me , Susan, and I am very

much changed since we last me t .

”

I thought sh e was indeed, as I thus

heard her,and gazed upon her countenance

-Could it be the same soulless ’ Milly

wh o thus spoke and looked so holily

But I forget,”sh e said, misconstruing

my silence, I forget all that has passed

since we parted here ; and cannot expect

you not to rememberwhatyoumayhave Since

heard— you cannot understand h ow I can

have so suddenly changed— it is quite right

that .. your grave looks and averted face

should remind me of the past— J fear some

times,that in th inking o f the m ercy, I may

to o easily forget the sin— and yet Eva and

that good man, th e clergyman, have com

forted m e in that respect .”

I knew not about Eva,so could not

understand the fullmeaning o f her allusion

.296 AN OLD COUNTRY HOUSE .

this house turned back into my bosom

This made m e impatient and severe when

I should rather have m faith and patience

waited His good time it made m e give up

for lost, one , wh o , like you, Miss Milly ,

from your childhood,seem ed to defeat every

prayer and effort in your behalf— I t made

m e harsh and stern —and when you started

from my reproofs and the holy precepts they

wouldhave conveyed I th oughtitwas indeed

to ‘ cast myb r e ad upon the waters.’

I could

not wait in faith and patience— certain to

find it— as I have done after many days

Yes the Lord has indeed shown me,that

neither in the fire or the tempest does He

make himself to be known— that there are

soft,m eek

,gentle ways and means, we in

our blind ignorance wot not of. My old

eyes have seen what they never imagined

to behold,Mrs . Lilly continued, that

child,for whom I had almost ceased to

pray, return

She paused,her eyes had fixed them

AN‘

OLD COUNTRY HOUSE . 29 7

selves on Milly, whose hollow cough just

then struck like a knell upon my ear. The

nature of her bodily condition seemed also

to strike painfully on Mrs . Lilly’s conviction- human feeling prevailed—and sh e wept !

Milly,with

”

something o f the wild im

pulsive movements o f former days, started

from the sofa where sh e had been so care

fully arranged,approached with quick,

though faltering steps, the o ld domestic,and placing herself upon her knee hung

caressingly on her neck .

Dear Lilly,do not cry, and make us

sad when Susan has come to spend a happy

month with us—Ye s ! a happy m onth— far

happier than th e one last year, for you shall

have this time no occasion to scold me

C ome, you were glad to se e me return

you said my first words were music to your

ears— and yet,” and the smile with which

she turned her eyes upon m e , was arch

and playful, I did but tell her,that I had

not come back to be verylong a plague toher this time .


Oh, Miss Milly—Miss Milly, do not

say so !” Mrs . Lilly rej oined

,sm iling r e

pro ach fully through her tears, unless you

at th e sam e time repeat all the sweet words

which startled my ears on that occasion,and made m e think it was not Miss Milly

wh o had returned so altered—that it was

not Miss Milly wh o prayed so frequently or

listened so gladly to my chap ter s and

the old woman sm iled again as sh e laid a

stress on those last words .

Milly hid her face on h e r old friend’s

bosom,as if that allusion grated painfully

on her keenly awakened estimation of those

holy lessons sh e once so slightingly de s ‘

pise d .

A few moments after, sh e resumed her

place by my side . Tea was brought—we

partook of it together,as we had so Ofte n

done before— Milly showing all th e tim e

s uch cheerfulness of spirit that I was b e

guile d almost at times into forgetfulness of

th e affecting truth relative to her condition- but when it did force itself upon my


CHAPTER XXIV

O h so on to me may summe r’

s sun

N0 mo r e ligh t up th e mo rn,

N0 mo r e to me th e autumn windW ave o

’

e r th e ye llow co rn .

But in th e narr ow h ouse o f de ath ,Le t winte r r ound m e rave ,And the ne xt flow

’

rs that de ck th e Spr ing,

B lo om o'

e r my peace ful grave .

BU RNS .

WE were no t th e only inmates of the Court,th ough such quiet reigned in that part of the


house, that except from the sound of th e

dinner—bell, I should have imagined that

none of the rest of the family had been

there . However late in the evening,Lady

Clara entered. and having greeted me with

her usual good-natured civility-“ told Milly

that Eleanor had gone to the nursery to

sit with little Herbert,wh o was worse that

night . She was very uneasy about h im ,

and therefore could no t come to se e her

before Sh e went to bed, which sh e supposed

would be soon . Lady Clara asked m e if

l did not think my friend looked better

than I expected— declared that she would

be quite well and strong now that she had

returned to her native air and that she must

be kept cheerful and amused ; Milly h ad

found the se a- side dull and depressing—n o

wonder, sh e herself had had enough of it.

Yet her Ladyship yawned even now

wearily , as if sh e found the Court, in its

present condition,still duller ; then after

talking a little longer,took an affe c

tionate leave of Milly as sh e was going to


leave early in the morning-“ hoped that

sh e should hear good accounts o f her,said that sh e was to return in September

for the shooting party, and expected to

find her quite recovered .

The shooting party !” Milly murmured

as her eyes wistfully followed the health

ful,portly form o f Lady C lara, as with

strong,firm steps sh e walked from the

room . Oh, Susan, do you remember

last summer, when Lady Clara came over

and I spoke so j eeringly of that youth

and beauty— vain creature that I was

which it made her melancholy, to b eh o ld

See now h ow She may triumph ove r'm e

The shooting party in Septemb e r m —I Scarce]y

think sh e will come here for that this year—but sh e doubtless may another year

ye s live and be merry,” Milly continued

with a sad smile and I —September

where will be my boasted beauty then ?

—September —and this is July

She seem ed to mus e .

It may b e— I have h eard that people

304 A'

N OLD COUNTRY HOUSE .

Here was I born, and here I have a fancy

still to die . Pierrot or Lilly sleep—when

I will allow them— in the little room , and

come when my bell calls them . Most

p art o f the night I lie awake, but not

through troubled thoughts—when I thinkon my Saviour I am not afraid - and I

hope wh en I am gone, othe rs will not shun

the room, but that they will learn to love

it for poor Milly’s sake .

”

I sat, or lay, all night, on that grand

old couch by Milly’s side,and by th e rest

less sighs and pains I then witnessed her

suffering, I was but to o fully impressed

with the despairing nature of her malady .

But there were intervals Of ease and quiet,which enabled her to fulfil her promise,and enlighten m e as to all that had cc

curred to effect so great a change in her

spiritual condition, and, as it were

, to

open all heaven before the eyes of one

wh o before,to use her own expression

,

had been the most unruly and senseless of

God’s creatures .


Sh e told me h ow the kindness o f her

aunt, Julia, had first softened h e r heart

so wild and wayward— then h ow Eva

beautiful, excellent Eva— had stepped forth

like an angel o f light,to complete that

blessed work.

Eva—Eva ! She was never weary of

repeating .that sweet name,or descanting

upon all that sh e had said or done, for her

benefit and comfort .

And ble ssings on h e r kindly vo ice , and on h e r

face so fair ,And blessings on h e r wh o le life long, until sh e me e t

me th e re .

”

as

She sh owe d m e all th e me r cy, fo r sh e taugh t meall th e sin

,

How, th o ugh my lamp was ligh te d late , th e re

’

s one

will le t me in,

No r would I now b e we ll again, even if that could

be ,

Fo r my de sire is but to pass to Him that die d fo r1 ,

me .


It must have been a new thing within

that o ld room ,the holy words which broke

upon its silent gloom, through the watches

o f the night .

Morning light had fully dawned, and the

shadowy figures on the wall stood forth

before us in full and vivid distinctness, ere

the eyes o f the young invalid o r m ine own

closed in slumber .

Milly spoke not only o f Eva, but of

Edwy, asking my advice on the subj ect of

bringing them together- andmaking up the

breach sh e had been the means o f effecting

between them .

Edwy will be soon here, sh e said .

Uncle Malvern was very angry with him

for taking me away, and behaving ill, as he

did then, to Eva— but I have explained

all, and he has forgiven him now—h e could

not refuse it, when I begged so hard, sitting

by poor little Herbert’s bed—and my uncle,too

,sees h ow changed I am become —that

Milly is no longer the wicked enchantress,and can do no more mischief to Edwy, or


The cousins me t again— their last meet

ing, on the shady lawn I have described

and there it was they again saw each other.

Milly was lying on a bench,and the good

young clergyman, to whom sh e alluded, was

seated by her side .

This excellent man was the successor o f

the former incumbent,wh o for years had

eat and drank at the Court— the boon com

panion of the convivial proprietors of the

mansion .

Edwy had come to seek us out . He

stood in the distance looking anxiously

around .

Tell him to come h ere to m e , Milly

exclaimed,but the next moment sh e mur

mured,No ! I will go to him ,

” and im

m ediately sh e had fully risen, and her

white figure was, with faint, unequal steps,seen moving alone— fo r sh e gently rej ected

the support we offered her—across the

wide, green, open space .

What a contrast to the light and breeze

like motion of her former transit over that


same ground Now h e r fragile form

swayed to and fro, like some fair, frail ve s

se l driven by the blast, and either, that sh e

had over—rated her powers, o r that the agi

tation o f the meeting overcame them, sh e

had not reached her cous1 n by many yards

before we saw her falter, raise her arms as

if to support her balance, and then sh e

would have fallen, had not Edwy sprang

forward and caught her in his arms .

I hur riedfo rwardwith Mr . Courtenay but

when we approached, Edwy, pale as death,was supporting Milly’s head upon his shoul

der, and we saw the grass below,all

stained with a crimson stream which had

issued from poor Milly’s lips .

Perhaps, but for this fearful accident, it

would have been hard for the young man to

realize the fact of Milly’s failing condition—that the scarcely dimmed beauty of thebeing he had seen advance to meet him

,

was the beauty o f decay .

But now, as he h elped to carry her into

the h ouse up stairs, and placed her upon her


bed,and this done

, sh e looked up into his

agonized face, and smiled sweetly and

gratefully upon h im— she was too ex

hauste d to speak— h e sank upon his knees,and in the drapery of the ri ‘h curtains

buried his face,and gave way to a par o x

ysm o f grief.

Milly put out her hand gently drew

one o f his upon her lips and kissed it with

a tearful smile, murmuring with tremulous

weakness

Do not weep —I am so happy to have

my brother Edwy with me . Get up a nd

speak to m e , sh e continued with the play

ful dominion o f former days . I have so

much to say to you— not to-day, perhaps,but to morrow and you must help to

take m e up to the tower, and there we will

spend the m orning . I will promise not to

lead you and Susan such a dance as that

night, Edwy, last year . And now,

”sh e

added, as some one entered the room ,

“ go

and se e my uncle and Eleanor—they are

very unhappy to o—not about me— no one


CHAPTER xxv

G od kno cks with an ir on h amme r at our h e arts

and we ar e dulle r than stone if we do no t fe e l it, andmadde r than mad

,if we th ink it shame to cast o ur

se lve s into th e dust be fo re th e all-powe rful, and le t o urwh o le so wh o lly m ise rable se lf b e annih ilate d in th ese ntime nt o f His infinite gre atne ss and long-suffe r ing.

W ERNER

MR . MALVERN received his nephew with

much kindness —shook hands with him,

indeed, as if he thought he owed him some


apology for the hasty “ construction with

which he had visited his late conduct- but

he was much depressed and subdued in

spirit .

Mrs . Malvern also, when sh e came into

the ro om for a few m inutes, was deadly

pale,and her eyes were red with weeping.

“ Edwy .

”sh e faltered, as She pressed

his hand, “ this is a sad house you have

come to —we are full of trouble,” and then

having given her husband some account of

the opinion o f the doctors, wh o had

just been with the boy, sh e hastily left the

room .

“ A sad house, indeed !” Mr Malvern

repeated when she was gone . Death

here— death there ! my unfortunate boy

and Dora’s poor girl, both dying ! Edwy

this is a melancholy state o f affairs !”

and he paced the room in painful

thought, while Edwy sat with his face

buried in h is hands,almost in his distress

,

wishing that he was in the place of the

unhappy boy wh o was so soon to be released

VOL . I I I . P


from the pain and infirmitie s of th is mortal life .

The next morning Milly was bette r again

though not allowed to speak or se e any

one,but her customary attendants but ,

in a fewdays, she was wonderfully recruited .

So anxious was sh e to regain some strength ,that sh e lent herself, with extraordinary

patience to every direction which might

facilitate this end, so that sh e was, by one

of those turns o f this most delusive

malady, for the moment, comparatively

speaking, well .

Edwy was new again allowed to see her,and whatever m ight be his inward feelings

,

appeared outwardly calm and resigned

and with all th e tender solicitude o f a

broth er devoted himself to her service .

According to her earnest desire,and

her lively delight, he led her, upon a quiet


I left the cousins together, and wan

dered amongst the woods, for I would not,by my presence, impede the full flow o f

th e sacred converse,I knew Millv had in

store.

When I returned,I saw all had b e en said

that was desired . Milly lay back with

flushed cheek,and fevered brow, but a

happy exulting smile was upon her parted

lips .

Edwy was pale, and his lips were

tremulous as with suppressed emotion

but it seemed,by his countenance

,to be

emotion not entirely composed of sorrow

ful dej ection, and his eye was bright as

h e '

turne d towards m e , as if its light had

been kindled by some new ray of hope

and happiness .

It is all right,Susan

,Milly took cc

casion to whisper in my ear, as Edwy went

away to bring her pony he thinks her

quite as much an angel as I do . Oh,

Susan,you must write to Eva— you must


tell her to come— I must se e those hands

clasped together before I die .

”

I promised—and I did write to Miss

Elphinstone, to tell h e r the earnest reque st

o f poor Milly— but something more than

this was r equ 1 r e d—Mr . o r Mrs. Malvern

must second the request. o r it could

hardly be expecte d that the parents, all

circumstances considered, could consent to

allow their daughter to take such a

step .

Milly, therefore, spoke to her uncle 0 1 1

the subject, explaining her full m otives

and intentions on that point .

Mr . Malvern was surprised—would have

felt inclined to let matters take their

course -h e could scarcely enter into the

feelings o f the dying girl but,at the same

time, had not the heart to refuse h e r

anything.


So he wrote to Mrs. Elphinstone, and

begged her,for the satisfaction o f his poor

little niece to bring her daughter, for

whom sh e had conceived such an affe ction,

to the Court , that sh e m ight se e her again

before sh e left the world .

No mention was made of Edwv , neither

was he informed o f the step that had be en

taken .

Milly should know first, h ow the propo

sition would be received,but

'

I could see

that when, two days after, the post arrived

with no answer, her mind began to be

agitated and disturbed .

Th e Elphinstone s must be from home,I suggested .

She hoped it might be the reason .

But,Susan

,I trust we shall hear soon,

sh e said, o r it will be to o late for m e—l

I begin to feel weaker and weaker everyday .

”


sight o f h im ,in his present state, could

only be a useless and distressing ordeal.

He could not, h oweve r, well re fuse this

request,and accordingly bore Milly in h is

arms through the passages to the distant

extremity o f the house whe re the nurse

ries were e stablishe d

They ente red the sick room . Near t h e

poor boy’s bed sat Mrs . Malvern, her eyes ”

fixed with agonized intens ity on th e fe a

ture s o f he r ch ild . Mr . Courtenay stood

by her side,talking e arnestly to her .

Mrs. Lilly, wh o , it se ems, had ce nducte d

the good clergyman to th e apartm ent was

also pre se nt . We entered just beh ind

wh ere the m oth e r sat, so th at sh e did not !

pe rceive our approach ; and I heard her

murmur in a heart-br oke n ve l ce, in answe r,

as it seeme d, to what the clergyman had

been saying“ Yes

, something more, I feel, indeed, is

required to comfort m e in an hour like

th is—but if dutie s faithfully fulfilled, cannot avail


Our approach interrupted the close of

h e r sentence- o r Mr . Courtenay’s reply .

But cold and conifo rtle ss did those words

duties f aithf ulty p erf o rmed,” strike upon

my ear.

Miserable comforters, indeed, to crowd

around the mother’s h eart in h e r hour of

need .

“ This is too terrible, the father mu r

mured, as, at Milly’s desire , having placed

her on a chair , he stood and gazed, fo r the

first time, on the face o f his dying boyand he was about to turn and hurry from

the painful sight, but Milly caught his

hand .

“ DO not leave us, sh e exclaimed, b e

se e ch ingly se e , Mr . Courtenay is going

to read a p 1 'ayer -pray, uncle, kneel andpray— it will do you good—and all this

will appear less te rrible .

Itwaswonderful to see howthe knees,which

neve r,pe rhaps,h ad been seen to b ow humbly

before Good’s throne,now bent m eekly in

obedience to , that still small voice of his


sister’s ch ild—while burying his face on thebed

,he joined, o r seemed to j oin, in the

impressive and appropriate petition, which

Mr. Courtenay offe red up.

Mrs. Malvern to o , raised h e r pale face as

sh e also knelt, and owne d herself an un

p rofitable servant .”

She has proved herself, after all the

angel of this house these were Mrs. Lilly’s

words as Milly having, for the last time,kissed the dull senseless, forehead of th e un

fortunate little being whom sh e was soon to

meet in that world where there is no more

curse,

” and every brow is irradiated with

a better light than that o f human reason,was carried back much exhausted to her

own chamber. She has proved herself,after all, th e angel of this house . She has

bowed the proud knees of the stout-hearted-lit a spark which with the Almighty’s

favor may neve r be extinguished . I t was


CHAPTER XXVI .

Be yours awhile to pace th is vale o f care ,Be h e rs to soar with se raphs in th e skie s.

I T was just‘

as we were leaving th e nurse

ries, that the sound of carriage wheels

made themselves heard grinding up the

approach .

I knew not why—fo r it was by no means

a rare occurrence, so many came at the

time to enquire after the invalids of the

Court— but my mind singularly reverted

AR OLD COUNTRY HOUSE. 325

to the unexpe cted visit o f the Elphinstone’

s

tha t summer morning o f the last year

and soon after I was called from Milly’s

chambe r, and informe d by Mrs . Lilly that

Mr. and Miss Elphinstone had arr ived, and

were waiting below to spe ak to me .

Som e instinctive presentim ent se emed

also to inform Milly o f what had taken

place .

She called m e back, and though very

weak just then,said in an earnest wh is

per, her countenance beam ing with glad

excitement“ It is Eva— let h e r com e up -and Edwy,

where is he

The reason of th e Elphinstone s sudden

and unannounced arrival, as well as of ourunanswere d letter, was soon explained to

me . They had been staying for the last

few days at the same house in the neigh


b ourho od they had visited th e precedingyear, when they had come over to se e th e

Court . Thus their letters,containing poor

Milly’s request,had only be en received that

morning.

They were returning home on the fol~

lowing day. It was then my task to con

duct the pale and beautiful Eva, on whom

I now had learnt to look with such,vene !~

rating interest— to the chamber Of h e r ex

pe cting friend.

Miss Elphinstone looked surprised to

find that scene of faded grandeur into

which I ushered her,selected as the habita

tion of poor, little Milly Rash le igh at this

melancholy period,

and to those indeed

wh o could not understand h ow common

and unimposing a spot long familiarity had

rendered the apartment to every one within

the mansion, there m ightwell have appeared

almost mockery in such an appropriation .

But the same sweet,piteous voice, which

had sounded from the Hotel bed-room,now

issued in faint eager accents from beneath

328 AN OLD COUNTRY HOUSEJ

th e eye— all those signs wh ich contrast

so sadly with marks of sickness and decay .

He entered the chamber o f his declining

cousin, and then something seemed to

breathe sadly on the temporary glow which

air and exercise had lit up in his counte

nance, and almost reproachfully to smite

upon his soul . He was once more in the

house overshadowed by death’s dark wing,and he felt himself again impressed with

the deep mournful consciousness of his

position .

There he stood in the fulness Of health

and vigour,whilst on one side lay the young

and love ly withering to the tomb, on th e

other h is b oy cousin dropping oh" the stage

of life— to give him place . Soon would he

be left standing upright upon the graves of

his young kindred,and what had he done

to be so spared— that the destroying

angel should pass him over in its flight ?

With difliculty he chased the cloud of seri

ous dej ection, which , wh ilst these thoughts

passed over his m ind, was resettling on


his brow as he approached the b e d-s ide Of

She sat up to greet him with peculiarly

e arnest s ignificance, but Edwy suspecte d

nothing, no r knew that anothe r sat shaded

by the hangings o f the heavy curtains .

Milly loo ked up into his face .

Your ride has done you good ,Edwy,

— you look less pale than before you se t

out— How pleasant a ride must be this

lovely day !” sh e added, and that which

sh e had probably only intende d to say by

way of prelude to the subj ect at her heart,was concluded with a gentle sigh .

Perhaps it had been but the sigh of

bodily weakness, but it se nt a pang to her

cousin’s heart .

There is nothing very pleasant to me

now, Milly,” he answered, sadly, indeed,

I almo st feel as if the pleasure of my life

was at an end

Hush, foo lish Edwy —when its real

happiness has no t began - Eva !” sh e mur ~

mured .

330 . AN OLD COUNTRY House ;

And Eva, with trembling hand, h ad

drawn aside the curtain, and, like a pale

statue, stood to view on the other side of

the bed . But Edwy, who had turned

away to h ide the emotion which his counte

nance he knew must plainly show, saw h e r

not, and though h e heard the name wh ich

Milly had pronounced, thought it had been

but in the language of suggestion ; so he

proceeded with the same sorrowful tone of

dejection

Eva ! ah, Milly, I can scarcely dare

to hope for comfort in that quarter oh,no ! I feel that Eva is, as sh e ever was, too

good and excellent fo r m e—that sh e is as

much an angel upon earth, asyou will be

an angel in

His voice faltered to o much to conclude

the sentence .

She is indeed an angel !” Milly ex

claimed ; “ but look, Edwy, sh e is here to

say that angels ar e but sent on earth to

comfort and to love good men . Look,Edwy—here is Eva.

”


one -anoth er, and smiling upon them,mur

muring, as She lifted up h er eye s with an

expression o f peace and calm content

Now,I am happy —fo r this I have

prayed !”

About an hour they remaine d together,and then Eva came from the tapestried

room,leaning on Edwy’s arm . She had in

her hand the bunch of flowers that had

been laid upon Milly’s bed,and was weeping

silently.

They passed down the great staircase

toge ther,into th e room where Eva had left

her father,and after some time the car

r iage came round to the door, and Mr. El

phinstone and his daughter departed,

quietly as they had arrived .


That same night the poor boy died .

The next, Mrs . Malvern was seated by

Milly’s bedside . This She had not done for

many a day . Her face and lips were

colourless as marble, but her counts

nance was still composed and her eyes tear

less .

I t had been thought better fo r Milly

that Sh e should not be apprized o f the

child’s death, and by no other Sign but

that, which this—her unusual presence

might convey, was the mother’s deport

m ent calculated to betray the melancholy

fact .

But still it was easy to perceive that

the Sick girl divined the truth— and earnest

and deep was the glance o f compassion she

fixed upon her aunt’s all-enduring counte

nance, as gradually the idea dawned upon

her conviction .

Eleanor,will you forgive m e !

” She

murmured,in the stillness o f the silent

night .


Will you forgive me , Milly was the

answer o f that grave,calm voice ; and the

two hands were closed earnestly upon one

another, in token of the full and free par

don which was the silent utterance o f either

heart .

Let‘

no one askwhat Milly had to fo rgive in

the conduct o f h e r uncle ’s seemingly faultless

wife— it is enough that Mrs . Malve rn’

s own

heart felt itself not guiltless in that respect ;and wh o knows in th e eyes of Him wh o is

greater than the heart, and wh o sees not

as man seeth—wh o knows wh ich of th e

two had most need of forgiveness 7— for

m ight th ere not, in that solemn hour, rise

befor e the miserable Eleanor’s eyes the

vision o f the past— when the dying girl

had first come under her superintendence

and care at that age when good impressions

m ight possibly have been made - faults

checked,and religious ideas inculcated .

Had sh e ever troubled herself to ascertain

if Milly even believed in the existence o f a


the wound with which her own sad grief

had pierced it . With the Shunamite

mother m ight she not have exclaimed

Son of M an flow ! last thou br ought

my sins to r ememdm nce,by

.son

AN OLD COUNTRY HOUSE”

33 7

CHAPTER XXVII.

I came again th e place was br igh tW ith som e th ing o f ce le stial ligh t .”

KEBLE .

I T was a glorious light which chasing the

dimness o f the dull grey drizzling dawn,broke in through the Oriel window o f the

tapestried windowwhen I threw it open on

the morning of the fir st September day.

Br ightly it gilded the tarnished grandeur

VOL . I I I . Q


of the old apartment,and shone upon th e

giant figures on the faded wall .

But there had been another light Shiningthroughout the night within that same

chamber,and never had the aged servant

,

on wh ose withered face the sunbeams fell,as sh e knelt with clasped hands and up

raised eyes,in fervent prayer, hope d to se e

such a blessed ray chase the darkness of

that doomed spot .

I t was that light caught not from sun

or star,” that ray of holy hope and

Heavenly joy emanating from the eye of

a dying christian, fading now,only to be

r e—illumined with fresh and never-dying

lustre in th e world above r ekindle d eve n

then,for as I turned once m ore alas ! that

glorious sunrise played unheeded on Milly’s

marble brow and rigid features .

W e watch e d h e r br e ath ing th rough th e nightH e r br e ath ing so ft and low

AS in h e r br e ast th e wave o f lifeKe pt h eaving to and fro


than he had been during late years,and as

hospitable and in all respects as good an

old country gentleman as before, though

in a manner consistent with the different

spirit which seems to have imperceptibly

taken possession o f the place.

Mrs. Malvern, strange to say, is some

what less quiet than formerly, at least, sh e

has lost, in a great degree, that cold, still

imperturbability, which had before charac

te rize d her demeanour. There is less

calm,and more gentleness upon the brow

,

which, though unfurrowed by the storms

of ill-regulated feeling— o f unruly passion,

yet ever seemed before,as

I n th iswailing wo r ld,To o calm f o r ge ntlene ss,

W h e n th e ve ry star that sh ine s abo ve ,Sh ine s trembling ne ’e rth e le ss.

”

No one now, could call her the Cold

eyed Eleanor .” The light might be some

what Sad, but it was a softened light. which


fell kindly upon all those around her,to

whose happiness it was the business of her

life to m inister .

And the cir cle at Malvern Court has

widened of late years .

First o f all, from the time of Edwy’s

marriage, Mrs . Malvern gained a much

valued friend and companion, iii her sisterin-law

, Julia Malvern , wh o was prevailed

upon to move to th e Court .

Edwy’s marriage took place some months’

after poor Milly’s death , according to

her last request,that it m ight no t be

unnecessarily delayed,and by Mr . and

Mrs. Malvern’e earnest desire, the young

people had established themselves at th e

Court .

Need I dilate,after all that has been

told of Eva Elphinstone,upon th e j oy and

blessing, which attended such an arrange

ment ? Need I dwell upon all th e pleasant

brightn e ss,which se emed to settle on the

old country hous e,from th e m oment when

this beautiful and excellent young creature

'


cast her soft radiance over its ancient pre s

cincts ? Will any one be surprised that

Malvern Court became an altered place,under the gracious

,genial influence o f such

a being 7

Lo ve ly and grace ful , and co urte ous and kind,Ho ly and pur e , and humble o f mind ,B lyth o f ch e e r , and gentle o f m o od,C our te ous and gracious, and noble o f blo od .

’

Edwy Malvern may, indeed, e steem

h imself fortunate above all his race .

Mrs . Lilly would follow th e young wife

with her eyes, as She moved in her stately

beauty by her young husband’s Side, as if

every step She took was like th e per

fum ed flame .” cleansing, as it passed, from

the plague spot, the long doomed ground .

And there are little children now - fair

and glorious children , brought up in the

fear of God— yet making the old placemusi

cal, with their noise and mirth . And often

now, on a Sunday afternoon, as Mrs . Lilly

sits and reads her bible in the oak room,


with fulle r force to attest the truth of the

psalmist’s declaration-w

Tlie voice of j og amt !we lt/i is in the

dwelling of the r ighte ous .

”

Exp ect the L o rd keep tlze H ouse , their

labour is but lost tlzat build it, ewcept tb e

L or a7 ke ep the city , the watchman meke t/i but

in vain .

”

Yet with all this, the old Court was, for

many a long day, a sadly haunted place to

Vain longings fo r th e de ad, why come th ey backW ith the young birds and le ave s, and living blo omWhat fond, strange , ye arnings from th e soul 's de e p

ce ll,Gush fo r th e face s we n o mo r e shall se e 2H ow are we haunte d in th e W inds low to neBy vo ice s that ar e gone 1”

AN OLD COUNTRY HOUSE . 345‘

And it was not only round my heart, that

the m emory o f the departed Milly so fondly

lingered, o r my grief alone, that devoted

itself to the religious honoring of her image

in the place and haunts that knew her no

more .

There is a school established in a roman

tic part o f the park,which goes by the

name of “ The Millicent school,” in which

twenty young girls receive an excellent,careful, education .

This was the first care ofEva and Edwy

after their marriage, a touchingmonument to

her wh o had proved one o f those weak and

unlikely instruments wh o are Often so won

de rfully chosen, as m eans of effecting

those great ends,which more mighty signs

have failed in accomplishing .

Th e y bre ath e th e truth wh o breath e th e ir wo rds inpain .

And well has it been said, that th e lowest


whisper Of a sick bed, has more eloquence

than the loudest thunders Of oratory .

Words of admonition,after the lips that

uttered them are sealed in death , acquire

almost the sacredness of inspiration .

But within the house‘

there is another

memento of a still more affecting charac

ter .

I shall never forget the first evening I

dined at the Court,after I had come to

settle in my new home—h ow,lifting up

my eyes suddenly, they m e t th e bright,arch

,W itching countenance of the wicked

ancestress of the Malvern family,and my

heart thrilled within m e .

I could have left the table in a flood Of

tears,such was the effect the sudden Sight

and all the painful remembrances that it

suggested, produced upon my feelings .

Whether this was Observed by Eva, I


young wife’

s waist, and pale, subdued and

sorrowful was each up-raised face .

A voice, low, soft and clear, broke at

length,like Heavenly music, upon our sad

dened hearts .

It was the voice of Eva breathing forth

in touching accents the following lines

W e e p no t for h e r Sh e is an ange l now,

And tre ads th e sapph ire flo ors o f Paradise ,All darkne ss wipe d from h e r r e fulgent br ow,

Sin, so rrow,suffe r ing. banish e d fr om h e r e ye s.

Victo r ious o ve r de ath , to h e r appearTh e vista ’d joys o f h e aven

’

s e te rnal ye ar .

W e e p no t for h e r

W e e p no t for h e r Th e r e is no cause fo r wo eBut rath e r ne r ve th e Spir it that it walkU nsh r inking o

'

e r th e th o rny path s be lowAnd from Ear th

’

s low defilements ke e p th e e back,So wh en a few fle e t se ve ring ye ars have flown,Sh e

’ ll me e t th e e at h e aven’

s gate , and le ad th e e on

W e e p no t fo r h e r

THE END.

T . C . Newb y, Pr inte r , 30 , W e lb e ck Str e e t, Cavendish Squar e .

· 2 an old country house. my face—when footsteps sounded along the passage. the door was then...

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