"O Romeo, Romeo, wherefore art thou Romeo?"
ROMEO AND JULIET.
The usual effect of punch is to cause people to see double; but, on
this occasion, the mistake was the other way, for two boats had
touched the strand, instead of the one announced by the commodore,
and they brought with them the whole party from the Wigwam, Steadfast
and Aristabalus included. A domestic or two had also been brought to
prepare the customary repast.
Captain Truck was as good as his word, as respects the punch, and the
beverage was offered to each of the ladies in form, as soon as her
feet had touched the green sward which covers that beautiful spot.
Mrs. Hawker declined drinking, in a way to delight the gallant
seaman; for so completely had she got the better of all his habits
and prejudices, that every thing she did seemed right and gracious in
his eyes.
The party soon separated into groups, or pairs, some being seated on
the margin of the limpid water, enjoying the light cool airs, by
which it was fanned, others lay off in the boats fishing, while the
remainder plunged into the woods, that, in their native wildness,
bounded the little spot of verdure, which, canopied by old oaks,
formed the arena so lately in controversy. In this manner, an hour or
two soon slipped away, when a summons was given for all to assemble
around the viands.
The repast was laid on the grass, notwithstanding Aristabulus more
than hinted that the public, his beloved public, usually saw fit to
introduce rude tables for that purpose. The Messrs. Effinghams,
however, were not to be taught by a mere bird of passage, how a
rustic fête so peculiarly their own, ought to be conducted, and the
attendants were directed to spread the dishes on the turf. Around
this spot, rustic seats were _improvisés_, and the business of
_restauration_ proceeded. Of all there assembled, the Parisian
feelings of Mademoiselle Viefville were the most excited; for to her,
the scene was one of pure delights, with the noble panorama of
forest-clad mountains, the mirror-like lake, the overshadowing oaks,
and the tangled brakes of the adjoining woods.
"_Mais, vraiment ceci surpasse les Tuileries, même dans leur propre
genre_!" she exclaimed, with energy. "_On passer ait volontiers par
les dangers du désert pour y parvenir_."
Those who understood her, smiled at this characteristic remark, and
most felt disposed to join in the enthusiasm. Still, the manner in
which their companions expressed the happiness they felt, appeared
tame and unsatisfactory to Mr. Bragg and Mr. Dodge, these two persons
being accustomed to see the young of the two sexes indulge in broader
exhibitions of merry-making than those in which it comported with the
tastes and habits of the present party to indulge. In vain Mrs.
Hawker, in her quiet dignified way, enjoyed the ready wit and
masculine thoughts of Mrs. Bloom field, appearing to renew her youth;
or, Eve, with her sweet simplicity, and highly cultivated mind and
improved tastes, seemed like a highly-polished mirror, to throw back
the flashes of thought and memory, that so constantly gleamed before
both; it was all lost on these thoroughly matter-of-fact
utilitarians. Mr. Effingham, all courtesy and mild refinement, was
seldom happier; and John Effingham was never more pleasant, for he
had laid aside the severity of his character, to appear, what he
ought always to have been, a man in whom intelligence and quickness
of thought could be made to seem secondary to the gentler qualities.
The young men were not behind their companions, either, each, in his
particular way, appearing to advantage, gay, regulated, and full of a
humour that was rendered so much the more agreeable, by drawing its
images from a knowledge of the world, that was tempered by
observation and practice.
Poor Grace, alone, was the only one of the whole party, always
excepting Aristabulus and Steadfast, who, for those fleeting but gay
hours, was not thoroughly happy. For the first time in her life, she
felt her own deficiencies, that ready and available knowledge, so
exquisitely feminine in its nature and exhibition, which escaped Mrs.
Bloomfield and Eve, as it might be from its own excess; which the
former possessed almost, intuitively, a gift of Heaven, and which the
latter enjoyed, not only from the same source, but as a just
consequence of her long and steady self-denial, application, and a
proper appreciation of her duty to herself, was denied one who, in
ill-judged compliance with the customs of a society that has no other
apparent aim than the love of display, had precluded herself from
enjoyments that none but the intellectual can feel. Still Grace was
beautiful and attractive; and though she wondered where her cousin,
in general so simple and unpretending, had acquired all those stores
of thought, that, in the _abandon_ and freedom of such a fête,
escaped her in rich profusion, embellished with ready allusions and a
brilliant though chastened wit, her generous and affectionate heart
could permit her to wonder without envying. She perceived, for the
first time, on this occasion, that if Eve were indeed a Hajji, it was
not a Hajji of a common school; and, while her modesty and self-
abasement led her bitterly to regret the hours irretrievably wasted
in the frivolous levities so common to those of her sex with whom she
had been most accustomed to mingle, her sincere regret did not lessen
her admiration for one she began tenderly to love.
As for Messrs. Dodge and Bragg, they both determined, in their own
minds, that this was much the most stupid entertainment they had ever
seen on that spot, for it was entirely destitute of loud laughing,
noisy merriment, coarse witticisms, and practical jokes. To them it
appeared the height of arrogance, for any particular set of persons
to presume to come to a spot, rendered sacred by the public suffrage
in its favour, in order to indulge in these outlandish dog-in-the-
mangerisms.
Towards the close of this gay repast, and when the party were about
to yield their places to the attendants, who were ready to re-ship
the utensils, John Effingham observed--
"I trust, Mrs. Hawker, you have been-duly warned of the catastrophe-
character of this point, on which woman is said never to have been
wooed in vain. Here are Captain Truck and myself, ready at any moment
to use these carving knives, _faute des Bowies_, in order to show our
desperate devotion; and I deem it no more than prudent in you, not to
smile again this day, lest the cross-eyed readings of jealousy should
impute a wrong motive."
"Had the injunction been against laughing, sir, I might have
resisted, but smiles are far too feeble to express one's approbation,
on such a day as this; you may, therefore, trust to my discretion. Is
it then true, however, that Hymen haunts these shades?"
"A bachelor's history of the progress of love, may be, like the
education of his children, distrusted; but so sayeth tradition; and I
never put my foot in the place, without making fresh vows of
constancy to myself. After this announcement of the danger, dare you
accept an arm, for I perceive signs that life cannot be entirely
wasted in these pleasures, great as they may prove."
The whole party arose, and separating naturally, they strolled in
groups or pairs again, along the pebbly strand, or beneath the trees,
while the attendants made the preparations to depart. Accident, as
much as design, left Sir George and Grace alone, for neither
perceived the circumstance until they had both passed a little rise
in the formation of the ground, and were beyond the view of their
companions. The baronet was the first to perceive how much he had
been favoured by fortune, and his feelings were touched by the air of
gentle melancholy, that shaded the usually bright and brilliant
countenance of the beautiful girl.
"I should have thrice enjoyed this pleasant day," he said, with an
interest in his manner, that caused the heart of Grace to beat
quicker, "had I not seen that to you it has been less productive of
satisfaction, than to most of those around you. I fear you may not be
as well, as usual?"
"In health, never better, though not in spirits, perhaps."
"I could wish I had a right to inquire why you, who have so few
causes in general to be out of spirits, should have chosen a moment
so little in accordance with the common feeling."
"I have chosen no moment; the moment has chosen me, I fear. Not until
this day, Sir George Templemore, have I ever been truly sensible of
my great inferiority to my cousin, Eve."
"An inferiority that no one but yourself would observe or mention."
"No, I am neither vain enough, nor ignorant enough, to be the dupe of
this flattery," returned Grace, shaking her hands and head, while she
forced a smile; for even the delusions those we love pour into our
ears, are not without their charms. "When I first met my cousin,
after her return, my own imperfections rendered me blind to her
superiority; but she herself has gradually taught me to respect her
mind, her womanly character, her tact, her delicacy, principles,
breeding, every thing that can make a woman estimable, or worthy to
be loved! Oh! how have I wasted in childish amusements, and frivolous
vanities, the precious moments of that girlhood which can never be
recalled, and left myself scarcely worthy to be an associate of Eve
Effingham!"
The first feelings of Grace had so far gotten the control, that she
scarce knew what she said, or to whom she was speaking; she even
wrung her hands, in the momentary bitterness of her regrets, and in a
way to arouse all the sympathy of a lover.
"No one but yourself would say this, Miss Van Cortlandt, and least of
all your admirable cousin."
"She is, indeed, my admirable cousin! But what are _we_, in
comparison with such a woman. Simple and unaffected as a child, with
the intelligence of a scholar; with all the graces of a woman, she
has the learning and mind of a man. Mistress of so many
languages----"
"But you, too, speak several, my dear Miss Van Cortlandt."
"Yes," said Grace, bitterly, "I _speak_ them, as the parrot repeats
words that he does not understand. But Eve Effingham has used these
languages as means, and she does not tell you merely what such a
phrase or idiom signifies, but what the greatest writers have thought
and written."
"No one has a more profound respect for your cousin than myself, Miss
Van Cortlandt, but justice to you requires that I should say her
great superiority over yourself has escaped me."
"This may be true, Sir George Templemore, and for a long time it
escaped me too. I have only learned to prize her as she ought to be
prized by an intimate acquaintance; hour by hour, as it might be. But
even you must have observed how quick and intuitively my cousin and
Mrs. Bloomfield have understood each other to-day; how much extensive
reading, and, what polished tastes they have both shown, and all so
truly feminine! Mrs. Bloomfield is a remarkable woman, but she loves
these exhibitions, for she knows she excels in them. Not so with Eve
Effingham, who, while she so thoroughly enjoys every thing
intellectual, is content, always, to seem so simple. Now, it happens,
that the conversation turned once to-day on a subject that my cousin,
no later than yesterday, fully explained to me, at my own earnest
request; and I observed that, while she joined so naturally with Mrs.
Bloomfield in adding to our pleasure, she kept back half what she
knew, lest she might seem to surpass her friend. No--no--no--there is
not such another woman as Eve Effingham in this world!"
"So keen a perception of excellence in others, denotes an equal
excellence in yourself."
"I know my own great inferiority now, and no kindness of yours, Sir
George Templemore, can ever persuade me into a better opinion of
myself. Eve has travelled, seen much in Europe that does not exist
here, and, instead of passing her youth in girlish trifling, has
treated the minutes as if they were all precious, as she well knew
them to be."
"If Europe, then, does indeed possess these advantages, why not
yourself visit it, dearest Miss Van Cortlandt?"
"I--I a Hajji!" cried Grace with childish pleasure, though her colour
heightened, and, for a moment, Eve and her superiority was forgotten.
Certainly Sir George Templemore did not come out on the lake that day
with any expectation of offering his baronetcy, his fair estate, with
his hand, to this artless, half-educated, provincial, but beautiful
girl. For a long time he had been debating with himself the propriety
of such a step, and it is probable that, at some later period, he
would have sought an occasion, had not one now so opportunely
offered, notwithstanding all his doubts and reasonings with himself.
If the "woman who hesitates is lost," it is equally true that the man
who pretends to set up his reason alone against beauty, is certain to
find that sense is less powerful than the senses. Had Grace Van
Cortlandt been more sophisticated, less natural, her beauty might
have failed to make this conquest; but the baronet found a charm in
her _naiveté_, that was singularly winning to the feelings of a man
of the world. Eve had first attracted him by the same quality; the
early education of American females being less constrained and
artificial than that of the English; but in Eve he found a mental
training and acquisitions that left the quality less conspicuous,
perhaps, than in her scarcely less beautiful cousin; though, had Eve
met his admiration with any thing like sympathy, her power over him
would not have been easily weakened. As it was, Grace had been
gradually winding herself around his affections, and he now poured
out his love, in a language that her unpractised and already
favourably disposed feelings had no means of withstanding. A very few
minutes were allowed to them, before the summons to the boat; but
when this summons came, Grace rejoined the party, elevated in her own
good opinion, as happy as a cloudless future could make her and
without another thought of the immeasurable superiority of her
cousin.
By a singular coincidence, while the baronet and Grace were thus
engaged on one part of the shore, Eve was the subject of a similar
proffer of connecting herself for life, on another. She had left the
circle, attended by Paul, her father, and Aristabulus; but no sooner
had they reached the margin of the water, than the two former were
called away by Captain Truck, to settle some controverted point
between the latter and the commodore. By this unlooked-for desertion,
Eve found herself alone with Mr. Bragg.
"That was a funny and comprehensive remark Mr. John made about the
'Point,' Miss Eve," Aristabulus commenced, as soon as he found
himself in possession of the ground. "I should like to know if it be
really true that no woman was ever unsuccessfully wooed beneath these
oaks? If such be the case, we gentlemen ought to be cautious how we
come here."
Here Aristabulus simpered, and looked, if possible, more amiable than
ever; though the quiet composure and womanly dignity of Eve, who
respected herself too much, and too well knew what was due to her
sex, even to enter into, or, so far as it depended on her will, to
permit any of that common-place and vulgar trifling about love and
matrimony, which formed a never-failing theme between the youthful of
the two sexes, in Mr. Bragg's particular circle, sensibly curbed his
ambitious hopes. Still he thought he had made too good an opening,
not to pursue the subject.
"Mr. John Effingham sometimes indulges in pleasantries," Eve
answered, "that would lead one astray who might attempt to follow."
"Love _is_ a jack-o'-lantern," rejoined Aristabulus sentimentally.
"That I admit; and it is no wonder so many get swamped in following
his lights. Have you ever felt the tender passion, Miss Eve?"
Now, Aristabulus had heard this question put at the _soirée_ of Mrs.
Houston, more than once, and he believed himself to be in the most
polite road for a regular declaration. An ordinary woman, who felt
herself offended by this question, would, most probably, have stepped
back, and, raising her form to its utmost elevation, answered by an
emphatic "sir!" Not so with Eve. She felt the distance between Mr.
Bragg and herself to be so great, that by no probable means could he
even offend her by any assumption of equality. This distance was the
result of opinions, habits, and education, rather than of condition,
however; for, though Eve Effingham could become the wife of a
gentleman only, she was entirely superior to those prejudices of the
world that depend on purely factitious causes. Instead of discovering
surprise, indignation, or dramatic dignity, therefore, at this
extraordinary question, she barely permitted a smile to curl her
handsome mouth; and this so slightly, as to escape her companion's
eye.
"I believe we are to be favoured with as smooth water, in returning
to the village, as we had in the morning, while coming to this
place," she simply said. "You row sometimes, I think, Mr. Bragg?"
"Ah! Miss Eve, such another opportunity may never occur again, for
you foreign ladies are so difficult of access! Let me, then, seize
this happy moment, here, beneath the hymeneal oaks, to offer you this
faithful hand and this willing heart. Of fortune you will have enough
for both, and I say nothing about the miserable dross. Reflect, Miss
Eve, how happy we might be, protecting and soothing the old age of
your father, and in going down the hill of life in company; or, as
the song says, 'and hand in hand we'll go, and sleep the'gither at
the foot, John Anderson, my Joe.'"
"You draw very agreeable pictures, Mr Bragg, and with the touches of
a master!"
"However agreeable you find them, Miss Eve, they fall infinitely
short of the truth. The tie of wedlock, besides being the most
sacred, is also the dearest; and happy, indeed, are they who enter
into the solemn engagement with such cheerful prospects as ourselves.
Our ages are perfectly suitable, our disposition entirely consonant,
our habits so similar as to obviate all unpleasant changes, and our
fortunes precisely what they ought to be to render a marriage happy,
with confidence on one side, and gratitude on the other. As to the
day, Miss Eve, I could wish to leave you altogether the mistress of
that, and shall not be urgent."
Eve had often heard John Effingham comment on the cool impudence of a
particular portion of the American population, with great amusement
to herself; but never did she expect to be the subject of an attack
like this in her own person. By way of rendering the scene perfect,
Aristabulus had taken out his penknife, cut a twig from a bush, and
he now rendered himself doubly interesting by commencing the
favourite occupation of whittling. A cooler picture of passion could
not well have been drawn.
"You are bashfully silent, Miss Eve! I make all due allowances for
natural timidity, and shall say no more at present--though, as
silence universally 'gives consent--'" "If you please, sir,"
interrupted Eve, with a slight motion of her parasol, that implied a
check. "I presume our habits and opinions, notwithstanding you seem
to think them so consonant with each other, are sufficiently
different to cause you not to see the impropriety of one, who is
situated like yourself, abusing the confidence of a parent, by making
such a proposal to a daughter without her father's knowledge: and, on
that point, I shall say nothing. But as you have done me the honour
of making me a very unequivocal offer of your hand, I wish that the
answer may be as distinct as the proposal. I decline the advantage
and happiness of becoming your wife, sir----"
"Time flies, Miss Eve!"
"Time does fly, Mr. Bragg; and, if you remain much longer in the
employment of Mr. Effingham, you may lose an opportunity of advancing
your fortunes at the west, whither I understand it has long been your
intention to emigrate----"
"I will readily relinquish all my hopes at the west, for your sake."
"No, sir, I cannot be a party to such a sacrifice. I will not say
forget _me_, but forget your hopes here, and renew those you have so
unreflectingly abandoned beyond the Mississippi. I shall not
represent this conversation to Mr. Effingham in a manner to create
any unnecessary prejudices against you; and while I thank you, as
every woman should, for an offer that must infer some portion, at
least, of your good opinion, you will permit me again to wish you all
lawful success in your western enterprises."
Eve gave Mr. Bragg no farther opportunity to renew his suit; for, she
curtsied and left him, as she ceased speaking. Mr. Dodge, who had
been a distant observer of the interview, now hastened to join his
friend, curious to know the result, for it had been privately
arranged between these modest youths, that each should try his
fortune in turn, with the heiress, did she not accept the first
proposal. To the chagrin of Steadfast, and probably to the reader's
surprise, Aristabulus informed his friend that Eve's manner and
language had been full of encouragement.
"She thanked me for the offer, Mr. Dodge," he said, "and her wishes
for my future prosperity at the west, were warm and repeated. Eve
Effingham is, indeed, a charming creature!"
"At the west! Perhaps she meant differently from what you imagine. I
know her well; the girl is full of art."
"Art, sir! She spoke as plainly as woman could speak, and I repeat
that I feel considerably encouraged. It is something, to have had so
plain a conversation with Eve Effingham."
Mr. Dodge swallowed his discontent, and the whole party soon
embarked, to return to the village; the commodore and general taking
a boat by themselves, in order to bring their discussions on human
affairs in general, to a suitable close.
That night, Sir George Templemore, asked an interview with Mr.
Effingham, when the latter was alone in his library.
"I sincerely hope this request is not the forerunner of a departure,"
said the host kindly, as the young man entered, "in which case I
shall regard you as one unmindful of the hopes he has raised. You
stand pledged by implication, if not in words, to pass another month
with us."
"So far from entertaining an intention so faithless, my dear sir, I
am fearful that you may think I trespass too far on your
hospitality."
He then communicated his wish to be allowed to make Grace Van
Cortlandt his wife. Mr. Effingham heard him with a smile, that showed
he was not altogether unprepared for such a demand, and his eye
glistened as he squeezed the other's hand.
"Take her with all my heart, Sir George," he said, "but remember you
are transferring a tender plant into a strange soil. There are not
many of your countrymen to whom I would confide such a trust, for I
know the risk they run who make ill-assorted unions--"
"Ill-assorted unions, Mr. Effingham!"
"Yours will not be one, in the ordinary acceptation of the term, I
know; for in years, birth and fortune, you and my dear niece are as
much, on an equality as can be desired: but it is too often an ill-
assorted union for an American woman to become an English wife. So
much depends on the man, that with one in whom I have less confidence
than I have in you, I might justly hesitate. I shall take a
guardian's privilege, though Grace be her own mistress, and give you
one solemn piece of advice--always respect the country of the woman
you have thought worthy to bear your name."
"I hope always to respect every thing that is hers; but, why this
particular caution?--Miss Van Cortlandt is almost English in her
heart."
"An affectionate wife will take her bias in such matters, generally
from her husband. Your country will be her country, your God her God.
Still, Sir George Templemore, a woman of spirit and sentiment can
never wholly forget the land of her birth. You love us not in
England, and one who settles there will often have occasion to hear
gibes and sneers on the land from which she came--"
"Good God, Mr. Effingham, you do not think I shall take my wife into
society where--"
"Bear with a proser's doubts, Templemore. You will do all that is
well-intentioned and proper, I dare say, in the usual acceptation of
the words; but I wish you to do more; that which is wise. Grace has
now a sincere reverence and respect for England, feelings that in
many particulars are sustained by the facts, and will be permanent;
but, in some things, observation, as it usually happens with the
young and sanguine, will expose the mistakes into which she has been
led by enthusiasm and the imagination. As she knows other countries
better, she will come to regard her own with more favourable and
discriminating eyes, losing her sensitiveness on account of
peculiarities she now esteems, and taking new views of things.
Perhaps you will think me selfish, but I shall add, also, that if you
wish to cure your wife of any homesickness, the surest mode will be
to bring her back to her native land."
"Nay, my dear sir," said Sir George, laughing, "this is very much
like acknowledging its blemishes."
"I am aware it has that appearance, and yet the fact is otherwise.
The cure is as certain with the Englishman as with the American; and
with the German as with either. It depends on a general law which
causes us all to over-estimate by-gone pleasures and distant scenes,
and to undervalue those of the present moment. You know I have always
maintained there is no real philosopher short of fifty, nor any taste
worth possessing that is a dozen years old."
Here Mr. Effingham rang the bell, and desired Pierre to request Miss
Van Cortlandt to join him in the library. Grace entered blushing and
shy, but with a countenance beaming with inward peace. Her uncle
regarded her a moment intently, and a tear glistened in his eye,
again, as he tenderly kissed her burning cheek.
"God bless you, love," he said--"'tis a fearful change for your sex,
and yet you all enter into it radiant with hope, and noble in your
confidence. Take her, Templemore," giving her hand to the baronet,
"and deal kindly by her. You will not desert us entirely I trust I
shall see you both once more in the Wigwam before I die."
"Uncle--uncle--" burst from Grace, as, drowned in tears, she threw
herself into Mr. Effingham's arms; "I am an ungrateful girl, thus to
abandon all my natural friends. I have acted wrong----"
"Wrong, dearest Miss Van Cortlandt!"
"Selfishly, then, Sir George Templemore," the simple-hearted girl
ingenuously added, scarcely knowing how much her words implied--
"Perhaps this matter night be reconsidered."
"I am afraid little would be gained by that, my love," returned the
smiling uncle, wiping his eyes at the same instant. "The second
thoughts of ladies usually confirm the first, in such matters. God
bless you, Grace;--Templemore, may Heaven have you, too, in its holy
keeping. Remember what I have said, and to-morrow we will converse
further on the subject. Does Eve know of this, my niece?"
The colour went and came rapidly in Grace's cheek, and she looked to
the floor, abashed.
"We ought then to send for her," resumed Mr. Effingham, again
reaching towards the bell.
"Uncle--" and Grace hurriedly interposed, in time to save the string
from being pulled. "Could I keep such an important secret from my
dearest cousin!"
"I find that I am the last in the secret, as is generally the case
with old fellows, and I believe I am even now _de trop_."
Mr. Effingham kissed Grace again affectionately, and, although she
strenuously endeavoured to detain him, he left the room.
"We must follow," said Grace, hastily wiping her eyes, and rubbing
the traces of tears from her cheeks--"Excuse me, Sir George
Templemore; will you open----"
He did, though it was not the door, but his arms. Grace seemed like
one that was rendered giddy by standing on a precipice, but when she
fell, the young baronet was at hand to receive her. Instead of
quitting the library that instant, the bell had announced the
appearance of the supper-tray, before she remembered that she had so
earnestly intended to do so.