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Page 24
Dr. Bryant early perceived her attachment; and knowing full well
that he could never return it, avoided her society with a delicacy
peculiarly his own. When thrown accidentally into her presence, his
manner was frank, kind, and brotherly.
Inez did not deceive herself for a moment by supposing that he would
ever return her love. She knew too well the nature of the barrier
which intervened. To remain unfettered, to see, to love, and one day
to serve him, was her dearest wish; and for its gratification she
dared the rage of her father, and the hatred of her Padre. She fancied
he loved another, and with the characteristic jealousy of her nation,
an aversion to that object settled on her heart.
Dr. Bryant had nursed the last patient into convalescence: still he
lingered, and at the close of St. ----'s day, announced his intention
of remaining until the difficulties with Mexico were either amicably
arranged, or war declared. Mary and Florence he often met, for he was
a constant visitor at Mr. Hamilton's. His manner toward them was
very different; with Mary he ever assumed the light bantering tone
of brotherly freedom; with Florence he was always grave and earnest.
Their conversation was generally upon literary topics, of which she
was fond. Many were their discussions for and against their favorite
authors and philosophers. In these arguments Mary seldom took part,
though fully qualified to do so. Occasionally her cousin asked her
opinion on various topics; at such times she gave them clearly, yet
modestly, and with a gentle dignity peculiar to herself. The earnest
attention with which Frank listened to her views, and his happy smile,
when they coincided with his own, somewhat puzzled Mary; yet she
welcomed his repartees with the same bright smile, and allowed
distrust and jealousy no room in her heart.
CHAPTER X.
"He swore that love of souls
Alone had drawn him to the church; yet strewed
The path that led to hell with tempting flowers,
And in the ear of sinners, as they took
The way of death, he whispered peace."
POLLOK.
How wearily pass the hours to the anxious watcher beside the couch of
pain. To her, it seems as though the current of time had forgotten
to run on and join the mighty past, and that its swift waters were
gathering glassily around her. With unmitigated care, Florence had
attended the bedside of her suffering parent; occasionally slumbering
on his pillow, but more frequently watching through the long nights,
and often stealing to the casement, to look out upon surrounding
gloom, and wonder if the light of day would ever fall again on earth.
Ah! in the midnight hour, when all nature is hushed when universal
darkness reigns, when the "still small voice" will no longer be
silenced, then we are wont to commune with our own hearts. All
barriers melt away, and the saddened past, the troubled present, and
the shadowy future rise successively before us, and refuse to be put
by. In vain we tightly close the aching lids; strange lurid lights
flare around us, and mysterious forms glide to and fro.
To the guilty, how fearful must the season of darkness prove, when,
unable longer to escape from themselves, they yield to the pangs of
remorse, and toss in unutterable anguish!
"By night, an atheist half believes a God."
And thousands, who in the sunny light of day rush madly on to ruin,
pause, shudderingly, in the midnight hour, and look yearningly
toward the narrow path where Virtue's lamp, flashing into the
deepest recesses of surrounding gloom, dispels all shadow; and, in
imagination, view the Christian peacefully descending the hill of
life, fearlessly crossing the "valley of the shadow of death," and
resting at last on that blest shore, where night and darkness are
unknown, "swallowed up in endless day."
It was very evident that Mr. Hamilton could survive but a few days;
and to every entreaty that she would take some rest, Florence but
shook her head, and replied, that she would not leave him when he must
die so soon.
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