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Page 43
But the warden declared that Bold was no enemy of his, and encouraged
her love; and gently rebuked, as he kissed her, the stern resolve she
had made to cast him off; and then he spoke to her of happier days
when their trials would all be over; and declared that her young heart
should not be torn asunder to please either priest or prelate, dean or
archdeacon. No, not if all Oxford were to convocate together, and
agree as to the necessity of the sacrifice.
And so they greatly comforted each other;--and in what sorrow will not
such mutual confidence give consolation!--and with a last expression
of tender love they parted, and went comparatively happy to their
rooms.
Chapter XI
IPHIGENIA
When Eleanor laid her head on her pillow that night, her mind was
anxiously intent on some plan by which she might extricate her father
from his misery; and, in her warm-hearted enthusiasm, self-sacrifice
was decided on as the means to be adopted. Was not so good an
Agamemnon worthy of an Iphigenia? She would herself personally
implore John Bold to desist from his undertaking; she would explain to
him her father's sorrows, the cruel misery of his position; she would
tell him how her father would die if he were thus dragged before the
public and exposed to such unmerited ignominy; she would appeal to his
old friendship, to his generosity, to his manliness, to his mercy; if
need were, she would kneel to him for the favour she would ask; but
before she did this the idea of love must be banished. There must be
no bargain in the matter. To his mercy, to his generosity, she could
appeal; but as a pure maiden, hitherto even unsolicited, she could not
appeal to his love, nor under such circumstances could she allow him
to do so. Of course, when so provoked he would declare his passion;
that was to be expected; there had been enough between them to make
such a fact sure; but it was equally certain that he must be rejected.
She could not be understood as saying, Make my father free and I
am the reward. There would be no sacrifice in that;--not so had
Jephthah's daughter saved her father;--not so could she show to
that kindest, dearest of parents how much she was able to bear for
his good. No; to one resolve must her whole soul be bound; and so
resolving, she felt that she could make her great request to Bold
with as much self-assured confidence as she could have done to his
grandfather.
And now I own I have fears for my heroine; not as to the upshot of her
mission,--not in the least as to that; as to the full success of her
generous scheme, and the ultimate result of such a project, no one
conversant with human nature and novels can have a doubt; but as to
the amount of sympathy she may receive from those of her own sex.
Girls below twenty and old ladies above sixty will do her justice; for
in the female heart the soft springs of sweet romance reopen after
many years, and again gush out with waters pure as in earlier days,
and greatly refresh the path that leads downwards to the grave.
But I fear that the majority of those between these two eras will
not approve of Eleanor's plan. I fear that unmarried ladies of
thirty-five will declare that there can be no probability of so absurd
a project being carried through; that young women on their knees
before their lovers are sure to get kissed, and that they would not
put themselves in such a position did they not expect it; that Eleanor
is going to Bold only because circumstances prevent Bold from coming
to her; that she is certainly a little fool, or a little schemer, but
that in all probability she is thinking a good deal more about herself
than her father.
Dear ladies, you are right as to your appreciation of the
circumstances, but very wrong as to Miss Harding's character. Miss
Harding was much younger than you are, and could not, therefore, know,
as you may do, to what dangers such an encounter might expose her.
She may get kissed; I think it very probable that she will; but I give
my solemn word and positive assurance, that the remotest idea of such
a catastrophe never occurred to her as she made the great resolve now
alluded to.
And then she slept; and then she rose refreshed; and met her father
with her kindest embrace and most loving smiles; and on the whole
their breakfast was by no means so triste as had been their dinner the
day before; and then, making some excuse to her father for so soon
leaving him, she started on the commencement of her operations.
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