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Page 14
As they passed along the village street, Mabel observed that the
cottagers looked after them, and several of her little pupils darted
their heads in and out of their homes, and laughed; she thought that
some village fun was afloat, that some rural present of flowers, or
butter, or eggs, had been sent--a little mysterious offering for her
to guess at; and when she turned to fasten the wicket gate, there were
several of the peasants knotted together talking. A sudden exclamation
from her aunt, who had entered the cottage, confirmed her suspicion;
but it was soon dissipated. In their absence, their old friends Mr.
Goulding and the curate had arrived by the coach, and entered their
humble dwelling. From a wagon at the same time were lifted several
articles of old furniture, which were taken into the cottage, and
properly arranged. There were two old chairs, an embroidered stool,
a china vase, a cabinet, a table, and the spinnet. Strangely the
furniture looked on the sanded floor, but never was the spiciest
present from India more grateful to its receiver than these were to
the eyes of Sarah Bond. She felt as if a ban was removed from her
when she looked upon the old things so valued by her father. Absorbed
in the feelings of the moment, she did not even turn to inquire how
they had so unexpectedly come there. Nor did she note the cold and
constrained greeting which Mabel gave to Mr. Lycight. She herself,
after the first self-engrossed thoughts were past, turned to give both
gentlemen the cordial reception which their many former kindnesses,
not to speak of their apparent connexion with the present gratifying
occurrence, deserved. From Mr. Goulding she learnt that the furniture
had been bought up by a few old friends, and committed to him to be
sent to her as a mark of their goodwill; he had only delayed bringing
it to her, till she should have proved, as he knew she would, superior
to her misfortunes, by entering upon some industrious career.
As the evening closed in, and the astonishment and feelings of their
first meeting subsided, Sarah Bond and Mr. Goulding conversed apart,
and then, indeed, she listened with a brimming heart and brimming
eyes. He told of his young friend's deep attachment to Mabel; how he
had prevailed upon him to pause before he declared it; to observe how
she endured her changed fortune; and to avoid engaging her affections
until he had a prospect of placing her beyond the reach of the most
harrowing of all poverties, that which keeps up an appearance above
its means. "Her cheerfulness, her industry, her goodness, have
all been noted," he continued. "She has proved herself capable of
accommodating herself to her circumstances; the most difficult of all
things to a young girl enervated by luxury and indulgence. And if my
friend can establish an interest in her affections, he has no higher
views of earthly happiness, and I think he ought to have no other. You
will, I am sure, forgive me for having counselled the trial. If deep
adversity had followed your exertions--if you had failed instead of
succeeded--I should have been at hand to succour and to aid."
Sarah Bond had never forgotten the emotion of Mabel, caused by
the mention of the curate's name when they quitted their old
neighbourhood, and the very reserve Mabel showed proved to Sarah's
searching and clear judgment, that the feeling was unchanged. Truly
in that hour was her chastened heart joyful and grateful. "Mabel must
wait," she said, "until the prospect of advancement became a reality;
for it would be an ill return of disinterested love for a penniless
orphan to become a burden instead of a blessing. Mabel would grow more
worthy every day; they were doing well; ay, he might look round the
white-washed walls and smile, but they _were_ prosperous, healthful,
happy, and respected; and if she could only live to see the odium cast
upon her father's memory removed, she would not exchange her present
poverty for her past pride." She frequently afterwards thought of the
clergyman's rejoinder--"That riches, like mercy, were as blessed to
the giver as to the receiver, and that they only created evil when
hoarded, or bestowed by a heedless hand."
They certainly were a happy group in that lowly cottage room that
evening. Mabel's proud bearing had given place, as if by magic, to a
blushing shyness; which she tried to shield from observation by every
possible attempt at ease. She talked to Mr. Goulding, and found a
thousand uses for the old furniture she had once so heartily despised.
"She would sit in the great high chair at the end of that table,
with her feet on the stool, and the china vase in the midst, filled
with humble cottage flowers--meadow-sweet and wild roses, and
sweet-williams, sea-pinks, woodbine, and wild convolvulus! Did Mr.
Goulding like cottage flowers best?" No; the clergyman said he did
not, but he thought Mr. Lycight did, and the young man assured her
that it was so; and then gazed on the only love his heart, his deep,
unworn, earnest heart, had throbbed to, with an admiration which
is always accompanied by fear, lest something should prevent the
realization of the one great earthly hope. And Mabel was more fitful
than her aunt had ever seen her. Fearful lest her secret, as she
thought it, should be discovered, she made as many turns and windings
as a hare; and yet, unskilled in disguising her feelings, after
spending many words in arranging and re-arranging, she suddenly wished
that the spinnet could be opened, "If," she exclaimed, "_that_ could
be opened, I should be able to teach Mary Godwin music; and her mother
seemed to wish it so much: surely we can open the instrument?"
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