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Page 44
Mary Adams endeavoured to bear this as meekly as she had borne the
flattery and the tenderness which had been lavished on her since her
birth. The bitter, bitter knowledge that she was considered by her
lover's family as a girl who, with the chance of being penniless,
lived like a princess, was inconceivably galling; and though she had
dismissed her lover, and knew that her father had insulted him, still
she wondered how he could so soon forget her, and never write even a
line of farewell. From her mother she did not expect sympathy; she
was too tender and too proud to seek it; and her father, more occupied
than ever, was seldom in his own house. Her uncle, who had not been in
town for some years, at last arrived, and was not less struck by the
extreme grace and beauty of his niece, than by the deep melancholy
which saddened her voice and weighed down her spirits. He was
evidently anxious to mention something which made him joyous and
happy; and when the doctor entered the library with him, he said, "And
may not Mary come in also?" Mary did come in; and her gentle presence
subdued her uncle's spirits. "I had meant to tell the intended change
in my family only to you, brother John; but it has occurred to me we
were all wrong about my niece; they said at home, 'Do not invite my
cousin, she is too fine, too gay to come to a country wedding; she
would not like it;' but I think, surrounded as she is by luxuries,
that the fresh air of Repton, the fresh flowers, fresh fields, and
fresh smiles of her cousins would do my niece good, great good, and
we shall be quite gay in our own homely way--the gaiety that upsprings
from hearts grateful to the Almighty for his goodness. The fact is,
that in about three weeks _my_ Mary is to be married to our rector's
eldest son! In three weeks. As he is only his father's curate, they
could not have afforded to marry for five or six years, if I had not
been able to tell down a handsome sum for Mary's fortune; it was a
proud thing to be able to make a good child happy by care in time.
'Care in time,' that's my stronghold! How glad we were to look back
and think, that while we educated them properly, we denied ourselves
to perform our duty to the children God had given to our care. We have
not been as _gay_ as our neighbours, whose means were less than ours;
we could not be so, seeing we had to provide for five children; but
our pleasure has been to elevate and render those children happy and
prosperous. Mary will be so happy, dear child--so happy! Only think,
John, she will be six years the sooner happy from our _care in time_!"
This was more than his niece could bear. The good father was so
full of his daughter's happiness, and the doctor so overwhelmed with
self-reproach--never felt so bitterly as at that moment--that neither
perceived the death-like paleness that overspread the less fortunate
Mary's face. She got up to leave the room, staggered, and fell at her
father's feet.
"We have murdered her between us," muttered Dr. Adams, while he raised
her up; "murdered her; but _I_ struck the first blow. God forgive me!
God forgive me!"
That night the brothers spent in deep and earnest converse. The
certainty of his own prosperity, the self-gratulation that follows
a just and careful discharge of duties imposed alike by reason and
religion, had not raised Charles above his brother in his own esteem.
Pained beyond description at the suffering he had so unconsciously
inflicted on his niece--horror-struck at the fact, that thousands
upon thousands had been lavished, yet nothing done for hereafter, the
hereafter that _must_ come, he urged upon John the danger of delay,
the uncertainty of life. Circumstances increased his influence. Dr.
Adams had been made painfully aware that gilding was not gold. The
beauty, position, and talents of his beloved child, although fully
acknowledged, had failed to establish her in life. "Look, Charles," he
said, after imparting all to his brother, absolutely weeping over the
state of uncomplaining but deep sorrow to which his child was reduced,
"if I could command the necessary sum, I would to-morrow insure my
life for a sum that would place them beyond the possible reach of
necessity of any kind."
"Do not wait for that," was the generous reply of Charles Adams; "I
have some unemployed hundreds at this moment. Come with me to-morrow;
do not delay a day, no, nor an hour; and take my word for it you will
have reason to bless your resolve. Only imagine what would be the
case if God called you to give an account of your stewardship." But he
checked himself; he saw that more was not necessary; and the brothers
separated for a few hours, both anxious for the morning. It was
impossible to say which of the two hurried over breakfast with the
greatest rapidity. The carriage was at the door; and Dr. Adams
left word with his butler that he was gone into the city on urgent
business, and would be back in two hours.
"I don't think," exclaimed Charles, rubbing his hands gleefully, "I
don't think, that if my dear niece were happy, I should ever have been
so happy in all my life as I am at this moment."
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