“Be not deceived, fond heart,Be not deceived;Words are but sounds, and looks changing and vain;None are believed, fond heart,None are believed:When they delude, never trust them again.“Seek not for truths, sad heart,Seek not for truth;Truth’s in the grave, and there only will stay;Maiden and youth, sad heart,Maiden and youth:Each will beguile and then each will betray.“Love is a dream, fond heart,Love is a dream;Clothed with delight for the heart and the eye;Bright though it seem, fond heart,Bright though it seem,Sleep not—you dream but to wake—and to die!”
“Be not deceived, fond heart,Be not deceived;Words are but sounds, and looks changing and vain;None are believed, fond heart,None are believed:When they delude, never trust them again.“Seek not for truths, sad heart,Seek not for truth;Truth’s in the grave, and there only will stay;Maiden and youth, sad heart,Maiden and youth:Each will beguile and then each will betray.“Love is a dream, fond heart,Love is a dream;Clothed with delight for the heart and the eye;Bright though it seem, fond heart,Bright though it seem,Sleep not—you dream but to wake—and to die!”
“Be not deceived, fond heart,Be not deceived;Words are but sounds, and looks changing and vain;None are believed, fond heart,None are believed:When they delude, never trust them again.
“Seek not for truths, sad heart,Seek not for truth;Truth’s in the grave, and there only will stay;Maiden and youth, sad heart,Maiden and youth:Each will beguile and then each will betray.
“Love is a dream, fond heart,Love is a dream;Clothed with delight for the heart and the eye;Bright though it seem, fond heart,Bright though it seem,Sleep not—you dream but to wake—and to die!”
“Mustn’t allow you to sing such melancholy ditties, don’t you see,” exclaimed Dr. Tourniquet, standing before the young musician, where he had been for several minutes. “They make every body miserable and yourself too; and besides this they are veryhurtful in their effects upon the system. They are a sort of sedative that affect the head and the heart at the same time—prevent eating, drinking, or sleeping with any thing like a healthy state of feeling. Allow me the privilege of an old friend to ask you what’s the matter with you?”
“Alas! it is a malady beyond the reach of medicine!” exclaimed Zabra mournfully.
“That’s to be proved, don’t you see,” replied the doctor. “I have for some days noticed you running into holes and corners away from all your friends. It is both unreasonable and unsocial. I don’t pretend to know what has been the occasion of it; but as you have acquainted me with your secret, I can make a shrewd guess. Ah! this love’s a terrible thing.”
“After having been assured you were beloved,” said the young musician; “after having convinced your own heart that your affection was returned with the same ardour with which it was given, to find doubt follow doubt, till a certainty that you were not lovedgradually forced itself on your mind—this, this is terrible.”
“But that cannot have been your case, don’t you see,” exclaimed Tourniquet. “You cannot doubt—there’s nothing for you to dread.”
“It is too true. I have been deceived,” replied Zabra, and his features became overcast with a deeper melancholy. “All that I have done has been unavailing; all that I have dared has been cast to the winds. To be the sole possessor of one heart I thought would be a sufficient recompense for all my past sufferings, and dangers, and difficulties; but now I have discovered the unwelcome truth, that another has acquired the ownership of what I strove so earnestly to gain. Oh shame on the treachery that can allure a trusting soul into the conviction that its sweet hopes are acknowledged and its fond dreams replied to! and then, as a new face or a more beguiling nature comes upon the scene, will turn to it with a fondness which should have been confined to the sincere one, and leave all those hopes and dreams to be crushed under the withering touch of despair!”
“I’ll wager my professional skill you’re mistaken, don’t you see,” said the doctor. “But who do you imagine to be the guilty parties?”
“Oriel and Lilya,” replied his young companion.
“It can’t be, don’t you see,” remarked the other. “I’m a little older than you are, and a better judge of character; and from the result of my own observations, I feel certain that neither of them are capable of such conduct. Oriel Porphyry is noble, and is more sincere in his character than any man I ever met with; and Lilya is the most artless, shy, unsophisticated creature that ever existed. You must be wrong, don’t you see.”
“Both of them have acknowledged it to me,” said Zabra; “both have confessed to me their mutual regard. Yes, it is too true. It is placed beyond the possibility of a doubt.”
“Without meaning any offence to you, I can’t believe it, don’t you see,” said the doctor good humouredly. “You have been deceiving yourself. There is a little bit of jealousy in the case, depend upon it. And though I maintainthat jealousy is usually a very reasonable passion; for it is impossible for one who has thought himself the owner of the affections of another, to find a third party regarded as their possessor, without feeling a considerable degree of indignation: I think, in this instance, there is no cause for it.”
“I wish I could think so! I most fervently wish I could think so!” exclaimed the youth earnestly. “Nothing could gratify me so much as to find my suspicions unfounded; but the facts are so clear that the most credulous would be convinced.”
“Ah! lovers are the worst people in the world to argue with, don’t you see,” remarked Tourniquet with a smile. “They are always convinced of something that no one else would entertain for a moment. They believe without a proof, and deny without a cause. With all due respect for you, I must say that love is the greatest folly upon earth. I don’t mean to say that I have not had my follies, don’t you see; for I have had a very fair share of them. I remember my first folly of the kind very well. I had commenced my medical education underthe auspices of an old uncle of mine. He was exceedingly like all other uncles from the creation of the world to the present time. He was obstinate, peevish, domineering, and quarrelsome, and was blest with a daughter, as all uncles are that have a nephew to reside with them. I was then a youth remarkable for the pains I took in my clothes and in my personal appearance; in fact, my dandyism was so conspicuous that I was ashamed to look a dog in the face for fear he should acknowledge me as a puppy.
“All at once I thought it was highly necessary I should be in love, don’t you see; so I brushed up my bits of whiskers, held my head as high as I could, and looked about me. My eyes quickly fell upon the charming Papaverica. To be sure her hair was as much like a bundle of scorched tow as it was possible to be; but of course I called it an auburn. Her nose was a lump of flesh; but of what shape it would have puzzled a geometrician to decide; yet I declared it was Grecian; and her mouthwasa mouth—there was no mistaking it, andit gave an openness to her countenance more than usually expressive; and of course I swore it was like two cherries seeming parted. Then her body showed that she was somebody. It might have been as thick as it was long, for its length was nothing to brag of. As for her feet, Papaverica was not a girl to stand upon trifles. But whatever her figure was like, I had no difficulty in convincing her it was the very perfection of grace and beauty.
“I fell in love. Papaverica was medicine, surgery, and anatomy to me. The pharmacopœia was neglected, the vade mecum thrust on one side. I forgot drugs and dressings, lancets and laudanum. I had no taste for mixtures, and my soul was above pills. My thoughts were ever wandering towards the charming Papaverica; and as it is not possible for the mind to entertain two thoughts at the same time, my labours in making up the medicines for my uncle’s patients occasionally produced very strange effects. Potions and lotions, cathartics and emetics, pills and squills, were mixed together in what was not considered‘most admired disorder;’ for my uncle’s stick spoke of any thing but admiration. But my blunders were most conspicuous in writing the labels. In giving the directions for a mixture I was sure to write ‘Papaverica, when taken to be well shaken’—for a draught, ‘Papaverica to be taken at bedtime,’—and for a lotion that had been repeated, ‘Papaverica as before.’
“All this time we met, and made love after our fashion, don’t you see. Papaverica and I looked at each other till we couldn’t see out of our eyes, and sighed like paviers at work on a hard piece of ground. But her father tried to put a stop to our proceedings; and if he caught me talking to her, he gave me such a setting down, or more properly, speaking, such a knocking down, as gave me cause to remember the conversation.
“‘Fathers have flinty hearts!’ said the sympathising Papaverica.
“‘And desperate thick sticks!’ I exclaimed, with tears in my eyes, as I rubbed my aching back against the door. However, this sort ofthing could not go on for ever. I was sent to pursue my studies at Columbus, and I lost sight of Papaverica—I may add, for ever; for she soon afterwards eloped with a strolling actor who had been vagabondising in the neighbourhood, and who had won her heart by playing Romeo in a cocked hat and leather breeches.
“My next folly was of a different kind. I was a young student as fond of mischief as any of the fraternity to which I belonged. I was invited to an evening party, where among the company, I noticed a young girl with a laughing, dare-devil eye, and a person remarkably smart. I inquired her name, and from a friend learned all the particulars of her history. Observing that she was regarding me in a manner that told me that she was quizzing me to her companions, I advanced, humming an air till I came close before her.
“‘Ah Floss!’ said I, nodding familiarly. ‘Is it you? Haven’t seen you this age. You look particularly charming; and how is your grandmother? Shouldn’t suppose youhalf so old as you are, to look at you. And has the cat kittened? I always admire your style of dress—it’s very becoming. So the house dog’s got well at last! Being an old friend of the family, you must really make room for me beside you.—How is your aunt’s toothach?’
“The girl at first stared at my impudence, don’t you see; but, finding I proceeded with the same nonchalance, making all sorts of heterogeneous remarks and inquiries, she laughed heartily, in which she was as heartily joined by her companions, and we became intimate in a moment. We joked and romped in the most provoking manner, and said the smartest things of each other that could possibly be conceived. I found that she lived with an aged grandmother and an old maiden aunt, in a small house in a retired part of the town. I watched my opportunity when I saw the two old women go out to take their evening walk, and gave such a tremendous knock at the door that it made the windows rattle again. As I expectedmy charmer opened the door, and in I marched as stately as an emperor.
“‘Halloo, sir, where are you going? This is like your impudence, certainly!’ said she, not knowing whether to be most offended or amused at my behaviour.
“‘I have come to honour you with a little of my superfluous time, Floss,’ I replied in an easy, condescending manner.
“‘You have, have you? then I shall just thank you to make the best of your way back again,’ she rejoined as she followed me into the parlour.
“‘I shall do nothing of the kind, Floss, till I please,’ said I, as observing some decanters of wine on the table I began very quietly to help myself; ‘and I have the pleasure to drink your health, Floss, and a good husband to you—when you can get one.’
“‘You impudent jackanapes!’ she exclaimed, as she observed me toss off a bumper. ‘This exceeds every thing I ever heard of.’
“‘I always strive to excel, Floss,’ I replied, flinging myself at full length on a sofa. Butcome here. Come to me like a good girl. I have something to say to you.’
“‘Go to you! I’ll see you farther first!’ she cried, looking as disdainfully as she could.
“‘Very well,’ said I, rising and retreating a few paces: ‘now come to me—you see me further.’
“‘I shan’t do any thing of the kind, Mr. Impudence,’ she exclaimed, trying to hide her laughter.
“‘Then if you wo’n’t come to me, I shall be obliged to go to you, which is a great hardship,’ I observed as I advanced towards her.
“‘If you come near me I’ll scratch your eyes out!’ cried Floss, looking monstrously fierce; yet I could easily see by the corners of her mouth that she was very much disposed to laugh, so I still approached.
“‘If you touch me I’ll box your ears!’ she exclaimed, beginning to look more serious.
“‘Don’t be alarmed, Floss; you wouldn’t hurt a hair of my head, I know,’ said I, as I attempted to insinuate my arm round her waist. ‘Ha, will you?’ she cried; and she gave me aslap of the face that made my teeth rattle in my mouth like a box of cherry stones. I was not to be easily driven from my purpose, so I attempted to make good my hold, but immediately received a box on the ear that made me see all the colours of the rainbow.
“‘You haven’t the heart to hurt a fly,’ said I very coolly, while I endeavoured to throw my left arm over her left shoulder, to get the command of her arms; but in the execution of this manœuvre, I received a shower of blows that would have made a less eager lover than myself glad enough to leave the field.
“‘What means this behaviour, sir?’ exclaimed my charmer, endeavouring to look expressively angry, and struggling with me with all her might.
“‘I mean to honour you so far as to kiss you, Floss,’ I replied very quietly, though smarting from the pain of the blows.
“‘I’ll scream—I’ll raise the house—I’ll cry murder—I’ll——’
“‘I’m remarkably fond of music,’ said I, interrupting her; and in a moment afterwards Ihad both her arms tightly pressed to her body, and her face blushing and looking angry a few inches beneath my own.
“‘I’ll never let you see me again as long as I live—I’ll hate you—I’ll——’
“Her mouth was stopped by mine, and every time she attempted to speak I repeated the same interesting ceremony, which she struggled unavailingly to prevent; but with this revenge I was not satisfied.
“‘Let me go, sir; let me go this minute! You wretch, don’t you see how you’re rumpling my collar! Let me go, I command you!’
“‘Before I do that I shall first allow you the pleasure of kissing me,’ said I, with as much condescension as I could assume.
“‘Kiss you!’ cried Floss, looking as savage as an enraged turkey-cock; ‘I’d see you hanged first!’
“‘You’ll not go till you do,’ I replied, with all the coolness imaginable.
“‘Let me go, sir; your assurance is unbearable!’ she exclaimed, making violent butineffectual efforts to release herself from my embrace.
“‘You’ll not go till you kiss me,’ said I, as calmly as possible. A loud knock at this moment was heard at the door.
“‘Let me go, sir. Here’s my grandmother and my aunt returned, and they’ll abuse me famously if they catch you here.’
“‘You’ll not go till you kiss me,’ I repeated in exactly the same tone of voice I had previously used. Another louder knock was now heard.
“‘There then, you plague!’ she cried as she hurriedly pressed her lips to mine; ‘and now let me go.’
“‘Leave every thing to me, I’ll manage the old ladies,’ said I as I allowed her to escape.
“‘It’s very strange, Floss, that you always will keep us at the door so long when we knock,’ mumbled the eldest of the two old ladies as well as her want of teeth would allow her, as soon as the door was opened.
“‘It’s very strange,’ remarked the other with stronger emphasis.
“‘I’ve spoken to you so often about it, that I’m quite shocked at your negligence,’ mumbled the first.
“‘I’m quite shocked at your negligence;’ echoed the other.
“‘Goodness, a man!’ screamed out the eldest, throwing her arms back, and nearly pitching off her balance as she entered the room.
“‘Goodness, a man!’ squeaked out the other in exactly the same tone, and with exactly the same motion.
“‘May I be allowed to know the cause which has conferred upon me the honour of a visit from a perfect stranger, as it seems very extraordinary,’ said the mumbler, advancing towards me with stately steps, and scrutinising me through her spectacles as if she would look right through me.
“‘It seems very extraordinary,’ remarked the other emphatically, as she also brought her spectacles to bear upon my person.
“‘Have I the honour of speaking to the amiable and accomplished Mrs. Parrot-cum-Poodle?”I inquired, advancing two steps with a grave and respectful air, and making a bow to the ground.
“I am that humble individual,” replied the ugliest of the two, making a profound courtesy; and then turning to her companion, she said in a whisper, “A very well spoken young man.”
“A very well spoken young man,” echoed the least ugliest.
“How much have I reason to be gratified with my good fortune;” I observed, looking as delighted as I could. “I have travelled far to procure it.”
“Take a seat, my dear sir!” exclaimed the old one, with a look of sympathy that did not make her look more agreeable.
“Take a seat, my dear sir!” repeated the other, in the same tone and manner.
“Floss, why don’t you give the gentleman a chair?” cried number one, sharply.
“Floss, why don’t you give the gentleman a chair?” cried number two in a similar voice.
“I should prefer standing in the presence ofladies for whom I have such perfect respect,” said I, with another bow equally profound.
“Oh, you are too good!” mumbled the first, with something that was intended to be a smile.
“Oh, you are too good!” muttered the other, after the same fashion.
“I have come all the way from the village of Parrot-cum-Poodle for the express purpose of elucidating an important point in the pedigree of the respectable and ancient family which still bears the name of that distinguished place,” said I, with the gravest face I had ever made use of. “When the Parrot-cum-Poodles first intermarried with the Tabbies, connected as the Tabbies previously were with the Macaws, one of the collateral branches of the Parrot-cum-Poodle family; and the Macaws having formed several alliances with the Pugs, I am desirous of knowing what degree of consanguinity the Pugs bear to the present descendants of the ancient race of the Parrot-cum-Poodles, because it is an inquiry of exceeding interest, and one of the utmost value towards aright understanding of the family genealogy. You must remember, that when the branch of the Tabbies became extinct for want of heirs male, there was a lineal descendant that could trace his pedigree in a direct line up to the first inheritor of the ancient name of Parrot-cum-Poodle; but he being abroad at the time when the title was declared extinct, knew nothing of his legal claim to the honourable name of his ancestors, and had a large family which were brought up in perfect ignorance of their relationship with the Tabbies. One of these has lately married a remote branch of the Pugs: now the descendants of this pair will stand in a very extraordinary point of relationship to the Parrot-cum-Poodles; and I should wish to know where any of these descendants are to be found.”
“The oldest old lady had gradually opened her mouth as I proceeded to show the labyrinth of the Parrot-cum-Poodle genealogy, till it was extended as far as it could stretch, and she stared at me through her spectacles with as complete a look of mystification as it was possibleto imagine, and was turning towards the youngest old lady when she met a mouth equally wide, and eyes equally mystified on the point of turning towards her with the same desire for explanation. All this time Floss had stood behind them making the most desperate efforts to swallow her pocket-handkerchief.
“However it is sufficient to say, that after having bothered the old folks till they did not know whether they were standing on their head or their heels, I took my departure; and so ended my second folly, for I never saw Floss again. And now, having amused you, don’t you see, which is all I aimed at, I must insist upon your going to Oriel Porphyry, and inquiring of him whether there exist any reason for your suspicions.”
“I will try and do it,” replied Zabra, in a more cheerful tone than he had previously used; “and I hope it may be as you say.”
“Andso you have no desire to live in the gay world of fashion, Lilya?” inquired Oriel Porphyry, as they sat together on the sofa.
“I do not understand what fashion means,” replied the simple girl.
“Fashion itself is merely the way in which a certain class of persons dress, think, speak, and conduct themselves,” said Oriel. “And the world of fashion is this exclusive class, with all its gaieties, its frivolities, its prejudices, its follies, and its crimes.”
“If there is any thing wrong in it, I certainly should not like to live there,” observed Lilya.
“What, not to partake of its brilliant pleasures, of its balls, operas, concerts, dinners, and fêtes?” asked the young merchant.
“The things you mention I know nothing of. Where do they grow?” inquired his fair companion.
“They do not grow, Lilya,” replied Oriel, with a smile; “they are the amusements of the world of fashion. A ball is a collection of persons, or rather the amusement of a collection of persons brought together for the purpose of enjoying the diversion of dancing; and dancing is a gliding motion of the feet, by which the body is moved in different attitudes from one place to another.”
“And do people amuse themselves in this way; or is it an amusement for others to look upon?” asked Lilya.
“It is the amusement in which both sexes most delight,” said the young merchant. “They meet together in rooms such as this cabin, only much larger, and much more gay, where music is provided; and directly the music plays, they are all set in motion, and so continue till the dance is over. Some dances consist in whirling round, others in bounding forward, and a great number in gliding from place to place.”
“I do not think a ball would amuse me; I should soon get tired of such exertion, especially as I cannot perceive what causes the amusement,” said Lilya.
“The amusement, I believe, is more generally created by the persons who are brought together than by any quality in the dance,” observed Oriel. “But it is considered a graceful and agreeable way of passing the time; and, to young people particularly, it appears to possess very great attractions. It might be rendered a profitable exercise, but the heat and glitter of a ball-room is not the place in which it can be made most advantageous.”
“I would rather run after the leveret, or chase the young deer for exercise,” observed the simple girl.
“Operas and concerts are places where fashionable people meet to hear music,” continued the young merchant. “It is rarely that the best music is played there; but, generally, the best performers are there to be met with.”
“I would rather hear Zabra,” exclaimed the bashful maiden, hanging down her head as if afraid the acknowledgment might not have been proper.
“And so would I a thousand times,” replied the young merchant, emphatically. “For in him we might be sure of finding something like nature, which is not to be hoped for at operas or concerts. As for dinners and fêtes, they are merely for the purpose of allowing people to eat and drink together, talk, stare, push, squeeze, and elbow.”
“Then I have no desire for any of these,” said Lilya. “I do not perceive the pleasure they would confer. I would rather be what I am, than exist in a state such as you have described.”
“But that cannot be Lilya,” observed Oriel, kindly. “I am going to put you under the protection of a lady—of the lady whom I love, Lilya. She is a beautiful, accomplished, and amiable woman, of high family, and admirable disposition; and, as she is obliged to find friends and acquaintances in the circle I have pointedout to your attention, you must from the same source derive all your social enjoyments; and then you will be clothed in silks and velvets, feathers and diamonds—will not that delight you?”
“Do these fine things make the possessor happy?” asked his companion.
“To tell you the truth Lilya, I do not think they do,” replied Oriel Porphyry.
“Then I will have none of them,” she exclaimed. “I know that I can be happy in these humble skins that I have put together with my own hands; but I know not that I can be happy in the gay things to which I am unused; and I would rather retain what I possess, than give it up for an uncertainty.”
“But the Lady Eureka, with whom you will stay, makes use of these things,” said the young merchant; “and, unless you mean to offend your best friends, you must do the same.”
“I will wear them if my friends wish it,”observed the simple girl; “but I would rather not, because I should appear so awkward in them.”
“I do not fear that,” exclaimed the young merchant. “You will not be allowed to wear them till you know in what manner they should be worn; and that you should look, and act, and think, as becomes one who is the Lady Eureka’s friend. The most skilful masters in every department of education will be provided for you; and every endeavour will be made to render you as elegant, intellectual, and agreeable a woman as the world of fashion can produce.”
“Will Zabra be there?” inquired Lilya, timidly.
“Yes, I think so. I’ve no doubt he will,” replied Oriel Porphyry.
“Then I should like to be there!” murmured his fair companion, with marked emphasis on the pronoun. “And the Lady Eureka you speak of—do you love her?
“Indeed I do, Lilya,” replied the young merchant, earnestly; “and you will find herworthy of being beloved. She is beautiful, good, affectionate, and intelligent.”
“And does she love you in return?” asked Lilya.
“It is my happiness to believe so,” responded Oriel.
“How delightful it must be for both of you,” exclaimed the simple girl, with her face beaming with animation as she turned her soft blue eyes full upon her companion.
“And you shall share in this delight, Lilya, if you prove yourself worthy of it,” said Oriel, kindly. “Eureka is distinguished for her superior excellence; and she cannot love you unless you possess goodness to recommend you to her. There is nothing in the world that a woman ought so much to pride herself upon as the purity of her actions. She ought not to allow any one even to suspect her of wrong; and if her behaviour is free from mystery or deceit, she will never give cause for suspicion. The first step towards the commission of great criminality in a woman, is a carelessness in tolerating familiarities from more than one, thatare not considered any thing beyond trifling gallantries from the one by whom she is truly loved; and from that one only can such things be permitted, because in this instance they become the natural signs of a sincere affection, that are peculiarly graceful and refreshing in their influence: but as the wife confines all expressions of affection to her husband, so ought the loved one to preserve all her devotion for her lover. Their situations are exactly similar; and ’t is as great a crime for a woman to deceive her lover by allowing others to share in her affections, as it is for a wife to betray her husband by a violation of the marriage vow.”
“I do not understand you,” said Lilya, looking considerably puzzled and bewildered.
“Ah! I forgot it was to you I was speaking,” replied Oriel. “But what I meant to express to you is, that if you wish to insure and preserve the good opinion of those whose good opinion is most valuable to you, you will show yourself particularly anxious to become distinguishedfor excellence of conduct and goodness of disposition.”
“Ah, that is just what Zabra has told me,” exclaimed the blushing maiden, “He used to be always talking to me in that way; and told me so much that was proper for me to know, and looked so kind, and appeared so attentive, that I was always delighted to hear him. But he no longer talks to me in that manner. He is now harsh in his language, and stern in his gaze; and he will scarcely look or speak to me.”
“Have you not been able to induce him to return to us? I should have thought your intreaties would have been complied with immediately,” said the young merchant.
“Alas, no!” replied Lilya, sorrowfully. “All my intreaties have been disregarded.”
“Then you must allow me to make you forget him till he comes to his senses,” said Oriel.
“No, I cannot forget him—I’m sure I cannot forget him—indeed, I cannot forget him,” exclaimed the artless girl.
“He scarcely deserves to be so well remembered,” observed the young merchant. “Infact I am beginning to feel angry with him for being so obstinate.”
“Oh, do not be angry with him!” exclaimed Lilya, earnestly; “you must not be angry with him, for I am sure he is unhappy.”
“Well, then, if I promise you not to be angry, you must allow me to be as kind to you as you would wish him to be,” said Oriel Porphyry. “For I cannot suffer a creature so unoffending as you are to be made wretched by such unreasonable conduct. I shall regard you as a favorite sister; and I feel just as much interested in your happiness as if you were so dearly related to me. I will not allow you to have a wish ungratified that is harmless and natural. I will endeavour to afford you whatever pleasure you most delight in, that I have the means of procuring; and I will watch over you, and guard you from all evil, and shield you from every danger.”
“Oh, how good you are!” murmured the gentle girl, raising her beautiful eyes, suffused with tears, to his face.
“And I shall expect in return for all thisattention to your welfare, that you will regard me with a sisterly affection,” continued the other. “You must be as kind to me as I will be to you. You must endeavour always to appear cheerful and willing to be pleased. Every effort that I make to render your life an enjoyment to you, you must respond to by showing the gladness it ought to produce. You must be attentive to my instructions, obedient to my wishes, be gratified with my attentions, and satisfied with the exertions I shall make to insure your happiness.”
“Indeed, I will!” exclaimed the timid maiden, affectionately clasping the hand of Oriel in her own.
“It will be a most pure and exquisite pleasure to me to be allowed to labour in such a good work as creating the felicity of so gentle and innocent a creature,” said the young merchant; his noble countenance beaming with benevolence. “It will be a labour of which my father would be proud; and to do as he would do must always appear to me to be the highest degree of excellence. It will be delightful to be lovedas a brother, and to show a brother’s care and anxiety and solicitude. It will be admirable to be able to enjoy the sweet sympathies of a nature such as yours, and to live in the enjoyment of an interchange of endearments so purifying to the heart as ours will be. I must be loved Lilya. I will be as kind to you and as careful of you as may be necessary for your welfare; but I must be loved.”
“And I will love you;” murmured his fair companion, trembling and blushing she knew not for why—“I will love you as fondly as you wish. I will love you kindly and affectionately. I will love you always. I will be at all times every thing you most desire me to be. You shall never find reason to be dissatisfied. I will not allow you to be unhappy: all I do shall be done with the intention of giving you pleasure. My heart is overflowing with your goodness; and, indeed—and, indeed I love you very much.” With these words she caught up the hand she had held in her own; and eagerly, yet timidly, pressed it to her lips!
Oriel Porphyry was so charmed by the simplicity and genuine affection expressed by the action, that he drew the bashful girl to his arms, and pressed her lips to his own. This had scarcely been done, when, on raising his eyes, he encountered the full and piercing gaze of Zabra. He stood before them,—his dark features wearing an expression the most wild and fearful—his breast heaving with passion, and his whole frame trembling with the powerful excitement under which he laboured. Lilya, with an exclamation of surprise, shrunk into the farthest corner of the sofa, and covered her face with her hands. Oriel looked upon him with astonishment, not unmixed with wonder; for the extraordinary beauty of his countenance, shrouded by its clustering black curls, with the intensity of the expression now impressed upon it, looked perfectly sublime.
“Has it come to this?” muttered the youth, in a voice that seemed choked with emotion. “Has it come to this? The last hope I have been allowed to entertain is now utterly crushed.Nothing remains but the conviction of my own misery, and of your baseness.”
“Zabra!” exclaimed Oriel.
“What a reward is this you have given me!” continued the other, in the same hoarse tones. “What a recompense for all I have done! Could you think of no way of showing your appreciation of my devotion for you than by destroying the dream of happiness I have entertained? Have I not been faithful, and attached, and willing, and affectionate—as ready in the hour of danger to defend as desirous in a time of pleasure to amuse? Did I not share with you your anxieties, and rejoice with you in every thing that gave you joy? And yet you have committed this treachery.”
“Zabra!” again exclaimed his patron.
“In what have I failed to do you honour and worship?” still continued his companion, slightly raising his voice as he proceeded. “In what have I been deficient? Where have I offended? Have I not sought all times and opportunities to fulfil your wishes before they could be expressed? Has not my heart beenever anxious to assist in the realisation of your best hopes? Is there any one thing you could have wished me to do that I have not done? If I had been slack in my exertions—if I had been careless in my services—if I had been heedless, thoughtless, or inattentive in my behaviour, there might have been some cause for depriving me of the affections which then I should have been unworthy to possess:—but I have exceeded all previous examples in the exclusiveness of my devotion. I have dared to do more than others could have imagined—I have sought you out to watch over your safety—and have served you with all honour, and care, and kindness. Why—why have you used me thus?”
“Zabra, what madness is this?” exclaimed the young merchant, more surprised than offended.
“And this is your love for Eureka!” continued the youth. “This is the way in which you return an affection, so deep, so earnest, and so true as her’s has been? Have you lost all notion of justice, of virtue, and ofthat sincerity which most ennobles manhood? Where is your sense of shame? What manner of man are you, who, after you have been loved in all earnestness, in all purity, in all exclusiveness, and with all that self-abandonment which is most conspicuous in the love of woman, can turn round upon the object by whom you have been so truly honoured, and cast her hopes to the wind?”
“Zabra, you are proceeding beyond the limits of endurance; and I shall be obliged to acquaint Eureka with your unreasonable and offensive conduct,” said Oriel.
“I—I am Eureka!” shouted the disguised page, in a voice that made both her companions leap from their seats with looks of the most intense astonishment, as, with flashing eyes, and words that seemed to breathe of fire, she exclaimed,—“It was Eureka who left her father’s house to escape from an alliance into which she would have been forced had she remained.—It was Eureka who forsook family and friends, and the security and comforts of her own land, to share the dangers and watch over the safetyof one to whom she was so completely devoted.—It was Eureka who quitted the dress and abandoned the prejudices of womanhood, the more securely to devote her disinterested heart to the service of her lover.—It was Eureka who dared with him the perils of the sea—rescued him from the clutches of the pirate—stopped the blows that were aimed at his life—shed her blood in his defence; and, in all offices of kindness—in all times of danger and difficulty—in all moments of tranquillity and desire of innocent enjoyment, thought only of his security—cared only for his amusement, and was anxious only for the perfect realisation of his happiness. It was Eureka who did these things: and I—I am Eureka!”
Probably she might have continued the same eloquent and forcible language; but the attention of herself and of her lover were attracted towards their companion. Lilya had listened with the most breathless interest to the avowal of the disguised Zabra; her eyes were fixed upon the speaker in one continued stare—wild, ghastly, and unnatural: the colour fled fromher lips, the blood rushed from her face; her breast heaved in quick, short, spasms, and something was seen rising and swelling at her throat. An expression of unutterable anguish was impressed upon her beautiful features; she made two or three choking gasps, and tottering forward a few steps, fell at the feet of Eureka.
Oriel hurried to raise her from the ground; gently he lifted her head, and exposed to view a face pale as marble; the delicate mouth, half open, and the fair blue eyes fixed and sightless. As he attempted to take her hand, the head fell back upon his shoulder.—She was dead.
“Eureka!” exclaimed the young merchant, in a voice husky with emotion, as he supported the drooping corpse upon his arm, “you have wronged both her and me. She would never have been regarded by me save as a sister; and it was only with a brother’s fondness that you saw me caress her. I am deeply grateful to you for the devotion with which you have honoured me; but when I look here,”—he continued, gazing on the lifeless form he held, with feelings that almost deprived him ofutterance,—“and find a creature so perfectly innocent, so simple, so gentle, and so kind, that has been made its victim, I am obliged to regret that it has been purchased at so fearful a sacrifice.”
He was answered only by hysteric sobs, that in a few minutes were succeeded by violent convulsions: and Dr. Tourniquet entering the cabin at this moment, Oriel hastily explained what had transpired; left her to his care, and rushed upon deck.
“A sailto leeward!” shouted the look-out man on the gangway.
“Give me my glass, Loop!” cried the Captain.
“What does she look like, Cap’ain,” inquired Climberkin.
“I see nothin’ yet but a tall spar, pointing pretty sharpish into the sky,” said Hearty. “Now I observe she has her royals set, and has an unkimmon low hull. But take the glass yourself, and see what you can make of her.”
“She’s schooner built, sir, with raking masts, carries a smartish number o’ guns, and is altogether as suspicious looking a craft as ever I seed,” observed the Lieutenant.
“Which way does she steer?” inquired the old man.
“She’s bearin’ right down upon us, sir,” replied Climberkin; “and she means mischief, or I’m pretty considerably mistaken.”
“Call up all hands to quarters—throw open the ports, and let the guns be shotted;” cried the captain. All was immediately bustle and confusion in every part of the Albatross. Fore and aft the men with the utmost alacrity, prepared to give the strange vessel a proper welcome in case of an attack. Muskets, pikes, cutlasses, powder and shot, were handed up from the hold with as much cheerfulness as if the crew were commencing some favourite amusement. The officers were giving their orders, the men busy at their preparations. Some threw off their jackets and tucked up their sleeves to be the more free in their movements. The decks were cleared: all things put away that could be an obstacle at such a time; the guns run out, and every man was at his post ready for action.
The schooner bore down gallantly upon the Albatross, and certainly was a very suspicious-lookingvessel. A shot from one of her carronades came booming along without doing any mischief.
“There’s no mistaking that, captain;” said Oriel Porphyry, who had been watching the proceedings around him with considerable interest.
“She’s a pirate, sir, there’s not a doubt on ’t,” observed the old man; “but she’ll find we are not to be caught napping; and as she’s ventured to begin the game, we’ll just see who can play at it best. Give her a taste of the long gun, Boggle.”
“Ay, ay, sir;” replied the second lieutenant.
“I must bear a hand in this, Hearty;” said the young merchant, unable to restrain his eagerness to join in the approaching fight.
“As you please, sir,” rejoined the captain; “and as we know you are a fighter, and one o’ the right sort, we shall be very glad o’ your company. Here’s a capital cutlass, which is much at your service.”
“No, thank you; I’ll go and get my ownarms;” replied Oriel, and he immediately left the deck.
A long brass thirty-two pounder under the management of an experienced gunner was now got ready, and fired with such precision as to make the splinters fly from her hull.
“Pitch the shot into her as often as you can load and fire;” cried the captain.
“Ay, ay, sir;” said the man at the gun.
At this instant, a shot from the schooner brought down some of the standing and running rigging of the Albatross, and severed the jaws of the main-gaff. It was immediately answered by her long gun, which was kept rapidly firing, and ploughed up the decks of the pirate at every shot. During this, the Albatross by her superiority of sailing, kept wearing round the schooner, raking her fore and aft with a most destructive fire. They were now near enough to see that the decks of the supposed pirate were covered with men, among whom the thirty-two pounder had done considerable mischief. Finding that this sort of warfare was telling against them, the piratesaltered their course, made sail, and ranged up within a cable’s length of their opponent, displaying at the same time in their ship a black flag soaring up to her main-peak. As they approached, the sound of many voices came over the waters, and the crew of the Albatross distinctly heard the pirates singing in full chorus:—