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Page 31
They parted to meet no more; and Rose shed tears at their parting. "I
did not wish you to make a declaration that did me too much honour,"
she said; "but I entreat you to say nothing of it to Mrs. Ivers. My
own course is taken, and God knows how earnestly I will pray that you
may find one in every way worthy your high caste of mind and station."
I wonder would Edward Lynne have quite approved of those tears; I
wonder would he have been pleased to have observed the cheek of his
affianced bride pressed against the drawing-room window, to catch a
last glimpse of the cab which dashed from Mr. Ivers' door. Perhaps
not--for the generous nature of woman's love and woman's friendship,
is often beyond man's comprehension--but he would have been pleased to
see, after she had paced the room for half an hour, the eagerness with
which she received and opened a letter from himself; to have witnessed
the warm kiss impressed upon his name; to hear the murmured "dear,
_dear_ Edward!" Her heart had never for a moment failed in its
truth--never for an instant wavered.
That day week the cousins separated. "You must come to me when I
return, Rose," said Helen--"you must come and witness my triumphs.
My husband's brother is very ill--cannot live long--but _that_ is a
secret. I trust Ivers will make a figure in the lower, before called
to the upper house; if he does not, it will break my heart. There, God
bless you, Rose; you have been very affectionate, very sweet to me,
but I do, I confess, envy you that cheerful countenance--cheerful and
calm. I always think that contented people want mind and feeling; but
you do not, Rose. By the way, how strangely Mr. ---- disappeared;
I thought you had clipped his wings. Well, next season, perhaps. Of
course, after this, you will think no more of Edward." Fortunately for
Rose, Helen expected no replies, and after a few more words, as I have
said, they parted.
In little more than three months, Rose Dillon and Edward Lynne were
married.
CHAPTER VIII.
"It's a decent match enough," said old Mrs. Myles to the rector when
two years had elapsed, and she had become reconciled to it. "Of course
Rose never could have taken the same stand as Helen, who has been a
lady now more than a year; though she's a good, grateful girl, and
Edward very attentive--very attentive indeed--and I must say more so
than I expected. Helen, I mean my lady, you know, has, as she says in
her last letter, a great deal to do with her money--of course she must
have; and so, sir, pray do not let any one in Abbeyweld know that the
little annuity is not continued--regularly, I mean," she added, while
a certain twitching of her features evinced how much she felt, though
she did not at the moment confess it, the neglect of one she so dearly
loved. Like most talkative people, she frequently talked away her
sorrows; and, thinking she would be better if she opened her heart,
she recommenced, after wiping away a few natural tears: "You see, sir,
Helen--I mean her ladyship--said she would make it up by-and-bye to
me, and so she ought, poor dear thing; for I sacrificed both myself
and her cousin Rose for her advancement; and really I cannot tell how
the money goes with those great folk. Only think," proceeded the old
lady, bringing her face close to Mr. Stokes, and whispering--"only
think, she says she never has five pounds she can call her own. Now,
as I told Rose, this is very odd, because my lord is so very rich
since the death of his brother, ten times as rich as he was at first,
and yet Rose says they are poor now to what they used to be--is
not that very strange? She says it is because of the increased
expenditure, and that I don't understand; but it's very hard, very
hard in my old days. If she can't live upon thirty thousand a-year,
I wonder how she expects her poor old grandmother to live upon thirty
pounds, for that's all my certainty; and the little farm, I must say,
would have gone to destruction, but for Edward Lynne--he does every
thing for it, poor fellow. She never sends me a paper now, with
her presentations, and dresses, and fine parties, printed in it at
full-length; she's ashamed of her birth, that's it; though sure
you and your lady, sir, noticed them both like equals, and I never
even asked to go near her, though his lordship invited me more than
once--and he even came to see Rose, as you know, ay, and a good ten
mile out of his way it was to come--a good ten mile--and kissed her
baby, and said he wished he had one like it, which they say Helen
never will have. Oh, it was a pity that first one of her ladyship did
not live! It is so cruel of her not to let me see the papers with an
account of her fine doings, all in print--very cruel--I who loved her
so, and took care of her--I never could find out from Rose whether
or no she thought her happy. Ah, Rose is a good girl! not, however,"
added the old lady, again wiping away her tears--"not, however, to be
compared to her ladyship; and I would not say what I have done to any
one in the world but you, sir, who have known them all their lives."
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