955
r
MY BROTHER'S WIFE.
Ctfe-jjistorg.
AMELIA B. EDWARDS,
AUTHOR OF
"BARBARA'S HISTORY," "THE LADDER OF LIFE," "HAND AND GLOVE," &c.
NEW YORK:
HARPER & BROTHERS, PUBLISHERS,
FRANKLIN SQUARE.
1865.
ALUMNUS
NOVELS BY AMELIA B. EDWARDS.
BARBARA'S HISTORY. 8vo, Paper, 75 cents.
THE LADDER OF LIFE. A Hear.t-Hiftory. 8vo, Paper, 50 cents.
MY BROTHER'S WIFE. A Life-Hiftory. 8vo, Paper, 50 cents.
From the New York Evening Post.
At this day, when so many indifferent namby-pamby novels are thrust upon the public —
novels which it is a wearisome waste of time to read — we are quite sure that it is a kindly
act to direct our readers' attention to such beautifully-written, and in many cases superior,
works of fiction as are these by Miss Edwards.
From the London Times.
"Barbara's History" is a very graceful and charming book, with a well-managed story,
clearly-cut characters, and sentiments expressed with an exquisite elocution. The dialogues
especially sparkle with repartee. It is a book which the world will like, and which those
who commence it will care to finish. This is high praise of a work of art, and so we intend it.
Sent by Mail, poflage free, on receipt of the price.
PUBLISHED BY HARPER & BROTHERS, FRANKLIN SQUARE, NEW YORK.
MY BROTHER'S WIFE.
CHAPTER I.
HOME CHRONICLES.
I CAN scarcely believe that my task, is real —
that I am now guiding my pen along the first
few sentences of my Life-History. It seems so
strange a thing that any man (and myself above
all men) should deliberately receive the whole
world into his confidence — should take his own
heart to pieces, as one might a passion-flower,
and pluck it leaf from leaf, petal from petal, for
every eye to gaze upon at will !
Stranger still is it that I should indite these
pages in a foreign tongue — that I should, in the
first instance, address myself to foreign readers.
Yet not so strange, perhaps, when I reflect upon
all the long past, and when I remember how
dear and familiar is the English language to
my lips and to my ears. It is the native tongue
of many whom I have best loved in life. From
my earliest childhood I have studied and spo-
ken it. I could not write this book with satis-
faction to myself in any other ; and, be it well or
ill done, it must go thus before all who read it.
My name is Paul Latour. I was born upon
our estate in Burgundy, about two years after
my father's marriage, and three years before the
birth of my brother Theophile. I do not re-
member my father very distinctly, excepting as
I saw him lying in his coffin, very pale and still,
when they carried me to his chamber, that I
might kiss him for the last time. His cheek
was cold and sunken ; he did not raise those
heavy eyelids to gazQ fondly upon me as was
his wont ; and I recollect that I sobbed bitterly
without knowing why, unless it were in childish
sympathy with the distress around me. Some
other memories, vague and transient enough,
seem now and then to flit before me — memories
of a cordial voice and of a lofty brow — yet,
when I strive to realize them, they fade away,
and leave me doubting whether they be recol-
lections or fragments of old dreams.
My mother was beautiful — nay, is still beau-
tiful, though somewhat faded by the passage of
events and years. According to my earliest
impressions, she was tall, fair, and stately as a
queen ; and, when she spoke, the low tones of
her voice were grave and sweet, like the ca-
dence of our chapel bells down in the valley.
I will not say that my mother's disposition was
unloving ; but it was cold — cold toward her hus-
band, toward her servants, toward me. The
touch of her white slender fingers was ever
brief and unwilling; the expression of her large,
calm blue eyes was serious, but frosty ; her kiss-
es, for me at least, were careless and infrequent.
Theophile was ever her favorite child. She
treated us in all respects precisely alike ; she
never accorded him any indulgence in which I
was not an equal sharer ; and yet I saw it, knew
it, felt it from the first. That she thought her
preference unjust, that she even resisted it to
the utmost, I am fully certain ; for I saw that
also. I saw the effort as plainly as I saw the
affection, and I wept away many an hour of the
night-time thinking of it. No one ever knew
how passionately I then loved my mother — how
breathlessly I used to listen to her gentle speak-
ing— how reverently and admiringly I used to
look up to her beautiful, proud mouth, and to
the rich folds of her golden hair ! It was an
idolatry — the idolatry which children often feel,
and for which we are so little disposed to give
them credit.
I once dreamt that I was with my mother in
the library, and that she took me by the hand,
and, looking into my face, said, "Paul, you are
not my child." And I remember now, as if it
were yesterday, how I woke up sobbing, and
crept out of my little bed in the bright moon-
light, and stole along the corridor ; and how I
crouched down at her chamber-door, listening
to her breathing, and there dropped asleep.
This it was which gave me the reputation of be-
ing a somnambulist ; for, when they found mo
in the morning lying there, I would say nothing
of what brought me.
I have already stated that Theophile was my
mother's favorite ; and when I look upward to
the mirror near which I am now writing, I can
not help acknowledging that her preference was
sufficiently natural. My younger brother was
tall and fair, like herself; noble-looking; full
of spirit and enterprise ; and as proud as if he
were heir to all Burgundy. As regarded study,
he was indolent; yet his abilities were great.
He learnt rapidly, easily, brilliantly ; and he re-
lied upon this intellectual facility so much, that
he frequently left himself more to do than any
mind could accomplish in the time. The con-
sequence was, that his knowledge was often su-
perficial, and, still oftener, forgotten as soon as
acquired. Besides this, Theophile met with
universal indulgence, and from no one more
than from our two instructors, M. le Cure', and
Mr. Walsingham, our English tutor. He had
so many excellent equalities — he was so affec-
MY BROTHER'S WIFE.
tionate — so affable. Though spoilt, he was
light-hearted and enjoying. Though, perhaps,
a little selfish, he could be profusely generous.
Every creature on the estate loved him, down
to the poorest vigneron. Such was his youth,
and so he grew to manhood — willful, careless, in
love with life, with pleasure, and with himself.
Before he was twenty, Theophile was weary of
the country. He was rich, for he would inher-
it all my mother's fortune, and his yearly allow-
ance, even then, exceeded my modest rental by
more than one third. So he left us, and launch-
ed himself, with all the heedless delight of
youth, upon the brilliant dissipations of Paris-
ian life. He had introductions, wealth, talent,
personal advantages ; and with many less rec-
ommendations than these one may become a
wit, a man of fashion, and a beau garfon, amid
the gay and glittering circles of the best Paris-
ian society.
Must I now speak of myself ? Alas ! the
subject is an ungrateful one ; for I have but lit-
tle to win the favor of strangers.
I am decidedly plain. I was plain from my
childhood. My reflection in yonder mirror is
that of a pale, dark, melancholy-looking man
about eight-and-thirty years of age. I am not
yet so old by more than six years ; but I have
/ suffered much both in mind and body. My in-
fancy was sickly, and for many months I under-
went constant pain from an injury done to my
hip in falling frohi a cherry-tree, so that my
countenance learned to wear an expression of
settled discontent, which subsequent health has
failed to dispel. I limp slightly when I walk —
so slightly, I have been told, that it has more
the effect of a peculiarity in my gait than a per-
ceptible lameness. I am somewhat below the
middle height; my habits are silent and re-
served ; I dislike much society ; and I love to
be alone for some hours in every day.
I carried this solitary habit almost to a pas-
sion in our old Burgundian chateau ; and, as
soon as I attained my majority, I proceeded to
gratify it, though in a somewhat singular man-
ner. Ever since I was sixteen years of age, I
had occupied a wing of the chateau overlooking
the garden. I can scarcely say that I occupied
the whole of it, for only the ground floor was
kept furnished. Here I had the rooms en suite,
where no one but myself, or my valet, attempt-
ed to enter. The first of these was my library,
the second my studio (for at that time I was
fond of painting), the third my sleeping-room.
The library I determined to improve, according
to my own taste ; and when I entered upon my
twenty-first year, I carried my long-contempla-
ted projects into effect.
I caused the windows, which opened upon a
terrace leading down to the shrubberies, to be
set in Gothic pointed frames, and fitted with
stained glass in rich heraldic devices. I had
the ceiling supported by arches of carved oak,
like the Gothic ceiling of a church ; and six
spacious alcoves, sunk in the thick walls, con-
tained my books. Between each alcove were
panels carved with fruits, and foliage, and grace-
ful arabesques, and hung with groups of arms,
and antique coats of mail. Large crimson dra-
peries fell in massive folds before the doors ; a
Turkey carpet of rich deep hues, like the wings
of the peacock butterfly, covered the centre of
the floor; several easy-chairs stood here and
there ; and a table covered with books, writing
materials, reading desks, and spirit lamps of
different sizes and constructions, occupied the
middle of the room. In winter it was warmed
by hot pipes concealed within the walls ; and
at night I used to light a silver lamp of grace-
ful and antique design, which was suspended by
chains from the middle of the ceiling, and the
light from which streamed down through a
globe of amethyst glass as through a painted
window. But the most striking objects in my
library were the twelve pillars which supported
the roof, and which were placed about five feet
distant from the walls, down each side of the
apartment. These, during my father's lifetime,
had consisted of gray marble ; I replaced them
by twelve colossal statues, carved in oak by
a Flemish artist, representing the Apostles.
There was something very stately and solemn
about these lofty draped figures standing so si-
lently around, especially by night. And night
was the time I loved best — the time for thought
— the time for study. I delighted in the quaint
old literature of the Middle Ages ; and it pleased
me to fancy some analogy between the dark-
ness of the silent hours before day-dawn, and
that early period during which poetry and art
groped onward, side by side, amid the gloom,
looking with earnestness and hopefulness to the
far-off rising of the sun. Then it was that I
would take down the folios of long-forgotten
writers from the dusty shelves, and read on and
on during the quiet night, till I seemed to live
back into those old times of emperors, and
knights, and poets, who wandered, singing, from
land to land, and whose very names have now
almost faded out of the pages of history.
I made the early Romance languages my
study ; I gathered together the chivalric poetry
of the Troubadours and the Trouveres ; I studied
all the varieties of the Proven9al dialect, in
French, Italian, and Spanish. The rude love-
chants of the Emperor Frederick and his chan-
cellor ; the songs of the Jongleurs and the Ger-
man Minnesingers ; the old rhymes of King
Arthur and his knights ; the Romance of the
Rose ; the Castilian Roman ceros ; the early
Spanish ballads ; the Ossianic legends ; the an-
cient chronicles of Froissart and of Stowe ; the
strange fantastic mysteries and miracle plays
which preceded the drama throughout Europe ;
all " Niebelungen Lieds," "Ottfrieds," "Brevi-
aries of Love," " Cansioneros, " Lives of the
Saints, " Versos de arte mayor," legends, ser-
ventes, canzones, or black-letter pamphlets,
were my recreation and delight. The'ophile's
tastes were not mine. He scoffed at my worm-
aten volumes, at my old poetic lore, and at my
church-like sanctuary. I loved the place dear-
MY BROTHER'S WIFE.
ly, for all that. It accorded with my taste for
cathedral architecture, and for all that is som-
bre, solitary, and impressive.
Very different was the chamber opening from
it, which I could enter by withdrawing a cur-
tain, and which presented all the heterogeneous
confusion of easels, draperies, lay-figures, casts,
rusty arms, sketches, antique furniture, and col-
or-boxes, which may generally be found in the
atelier of an artist. Here it was my custom to
spend several hours during each day, excepting
when I took my sketch-book under my arm,
and strolled away for all the long summer's
morning, amid the shady hollows and rocky
heights which extend for miles around that
pleasant spot ; or when I wandered, book in
hand, along the banks of the neighboring river,
or through the tangled pathways of the dark,
silent forest.
At such times as these, looking round from
some elevated point upon the massy woods ; the
green valleys; the sunny vineyards, with the
vignerons singing at their work; the rivulets
gliding like veins of silver ore along the pasture
lands, or dashing in foamy cascades from preci-
pice to precipice ; the scattered villages and
spires; the quaint slated turrets of our old he-
reditary chateau glistening in the sun, amid
their environment of dark chestnut trees and
stately poplars j the lofty mountains standing
so solemnly and distantly around — at such
times, I repeat, it surprised me that The'ophile
could relinquish a scene of such rare beauty,
and a home so peaceful, for the glaring magnifi-
cence, the feverish amusements, and the hollow
society of Paris.
Oh, the unspeakable beauty of sweet Burgun-
dy, the vine-garden of France ! Who can con-
ceive of it without having beheld it ? Who can
so admire and love it as those who have been
born in its bosom ? We Burgundian French-
men cherish our native province as we would a
beautiful bride, ever fresh, ever smiling, ever
young ! As the Swiss of his snowy Alps and his
Alp-roses — as the Englishman of his wavy
corn-fields — as the German of his broad feudal
Rhine-river, so are we glad and proud of our
mountains and our vine-lands. So do our
hearts beat, and our eyes kindle, at the name of
Burgundy !
It was my mother's pride and mine to keep up
all the quaint old customs of our ancestry — to
assemble our tenantry round the yule log, call-
ed in Burgundy Suche — to sing carols of the
"Little Jesus" — to entertain the wandering
piper — to attend the midnight mass, and carry
the midnight tapers — to distribute the sugar-
plums of Noel among the poor children — to pre-
side at the supper of the Rossignon, and to or-
der the festivities of the autumnal Vine-feast
and the May pastimes — even as Gui de la Tour
used in the olden time, when our family stood
high in power and rank at the court of Bur-
gundy.
My younger brother cared nothing for these
old historical obeservances ; and, save for a few
days at the commencement of the shooting sea-
son, he seldom came down to visit us. He had
accustomed himself now to the excitement of a
great city ; he found our home dull, and our
pleasures triste. He was not at any time very
fond of study; he soon. became tired of sport-
ing ; and in less than a week he was ready to
die from ennui. So his visits grew shorter and
more infrequent, and we seldom saw him more
than once in every year.
The last occasion upon which we all met to-
gether under the roof of our own home was for
the celebration of his twenty- fifth birthday.
For this once he had consented to leave Paris,
although it was in the gay month of May, and
to give us a week of his society, in honor of this
quarter of a century of life which he was just
completing. And he really came. So they
rang the chapel bells as if for a wedding, and I
rode out to meet him at the railway station.
As we returned through the village, Pierre the
blacksmith was nailing a white flag to the old
sign-post in front of his door ; and the school-
children were all shouting at the road-side ; and
the old women were all peering at us from their
cottage windows ; and it was quite a triumphal
entry, considering the limited resources of La-
tour-sur-Creil.
CHAPTER II.
A STAR RISES IN THE SKY.
IT was during the first week in May that iny
cousin Adrienne arrived. Theophile had been
at home about four days when my mother re-
ceived the letter from England which announced
her coming, and he made up his mind to remain
a short time beyond his intended visit, just for
the purpose of meeting her; for we were all
somewhat curious to see Adrienne, on account
of her foreign residence and education. Per-
haps it will be as well if, in this place, I briefly
sketch the outlines of her history.
My mother's maiden name was Lachapelle.
She was the daughter of a gentleman of Arast
landed property, whose estates joined those of
my father, and she had a younger brother named
Adrien, an. officer in the first regiment of Chas-
seurs, under Napoleon. The battle of Water-
loo was fought — the peace ensued — Adrien re-
turned home just in time to see my mother mar-
ried, and then went over to England — to the
very land against which his sword had been
raised so long and so often. He fell in love
with an English lady, married her, and made
his home for life at a remote country-seat in the
county of Devon. He never returned to France ;
and my grandfather died shortly after, without
again beholding the face of his son. Time
passed on, and my uncle sent us word that he
was the father of a little girl, to be named after
himself — Adrienne. From this time an unac-
countable apathy seemed to take possession of
him ; his letters, never very frequent, became
8
MY BROTHER'S WIFE.
fewer and fewer, and at last ceased altogether.
Then we heard that his wife died, and, shortly
after, that he also was no more. My mother
offered to receive and educate their little orphan,
but her maternal relatives refused, to part with
her. She was adopted by her great-uncle, an
old Devonshire esquire, who surrounded her with
masters ; lavished upon her every kind of indul-
gence ; and placed her, child as she was, at the
head of his household. Here she had remained
until this very spring-time, when her guardian
died suddenly, bequeathing to her the bulk of
his riches in addition to her own fortune, and
leaving her the entire control of her actions and
her property. It was in consequence of this
loss that Adrienne wrote to my mother, request-
ing permission to visit her father's sister, and
saying that she could no longer endure to re-
main in a country which was, for her, the grave
of all whom she had loved.
The letter was touchingly and charmingly
worded, written in a large free hand, and bor-
dered with deep black. I need scarcely say
that my mother's reply was prompt, kind, and
hospitable, or that we all awaited the arrival of
our English cousin with some little impatience.
The'ophile, who could find little else to while
away the hours, occupied the chief part of every
day in wondering if she were pretty, and in
casting up complicated rows of figures, in the
vain endeavor to calculate the amount of her
fortune on both sides of the Channel — which,
however, he always threw aside when about half
completed. My mother was very pale and si-
lent, for she thought of the father and brother
who had passed away. As for me, I fear I was
hypocrite enough to affect a total indifference
upon the subject of our visitor, and even to
murmur audibly against the disturbance of our
household quiet.
The day came at last — the day appointed by
Adrienne in her second letter. The Paris and
Strasburg line of railway does not traverse our
part of Burgundy, and the nearest station is at
Chalons, full eighteen miles away. We sent a
carriage to meet her; and, as we could not tell
by what train to expect her, we gave instructions
to the servants to remain all day at the station
until Mademoiselle Lachapelle should arrive.
It was quite late in the evening before they re-
turned. We were all sitting together at a large
open window in the best reception-room, a lofty
paneled chamber set round with antique mirrors
and hung with amber damask, commanding a
view of the high road and all the surrounding
country. The dusk had closed in so thickly
upon the landscape that we heard the quick
rolling of the wheels long before the carriage
drew near enough to be distinguished. On it
came, faintly at first and louder by degrees,
along the level road. We saw the flashing
lamps between the lime-trees that stand for
miles and miles on either side — we heard the
cracking of the whip, and the hoarse cry of the
postillion. Nearer it came and nearer. There
was the throwing open of gates — the clattering
in upon the pavement of the court-yard— the
sudden stoppage before the tiall entrance.
"Diable I" said my brother, with a suppressed
yawn ; " I am glad that la petite Anylaise has
come at last, for I am furiously hungry!"
In a moment the door was thrown open;
"Mademoiselle Lachapelle!" was announced;
and my mother, who had been striving, ever
since we first heard the distant sound of wheels,
to maintain her usual calm and dignified bear-
ing, now stepped forward to the dark figure
standing at the threshold, and saying, in a low
voice, "My dear niece!" folded her in her
arms, and imprinted a stately kiss upon her
forehead.
Then my mother introduced us both by name
to Adrienne, and led her straight away to her
own apartments. All this took place so hur-
riedly,, and the room was so dark, that we had
not yet seen her face, or distinguished more of
her voice than a few faltered sentences.
But, even then, I thought the voice was
sweet !
They were a long time away — more than
three quarters of an hour. The'ophile rang for
lights while we were waiting, and looked at his
image in the glass, arranging the thick curls of
his golden hair, and whistling dreamily to him-
self; while every now and then he would stride
impatiently to and fro, murmuring agttinst the
delay, and exclaiming that he should be starved
ere long. As for me, I drew a volume of Uh-
land's poetry from my pocket and tried to read ;
but my mind wandered from it, and I went over
and looked out at the pale moon rising behind
the poplars, and at the still, dark landscape, as
it lay beyond the window like a framed picture.
And sometimes, as I stood there, there came
the swift whirring of a bat close before my face,
and sometimes the intermitting passionate song
of the far-off nightingales, amid the topmost
branches of the trees.
Suddenly the door opened — they entered —
the servant, who had been waiting outside for
the purpose, stepped forward and announced
that dinner was served — The'ophile, as usual,
gave his arm to my mother — I, confusedly and
awkwardly, handed down our visitor, without
even looking at or speaking to her — and thus,
preceded by sen-ants and lights, we descended
the stairs and entered the dining-room.
But, when we were seated at table, I raised
rny eyes to her face and saw that she was beau-
tiful. And now let me observe, if I were to de-
scribe her as she seemed to me that night, and
for the few weeks following, I should use terms
little short of extravagance. I had seen few
women then, save the sunburnt peasants who
labored with their husbands and brothers in our
vineyards, and, on rare occasions, the daughters
of some few and distant neighbors. Beauty
and youth were too unfamiliar to me that I
should judge of them very narrowly, and, to my
eyes, Adrieune Lachapelle seemed radiant as an
angel. In all my artist-dreams, in all that I
had pictured to myself of the fair ladies of the
MY BROTHER'S WIFE.
songs of old, I had never imagined any thing so |
unspeakably fair. And yet I find it difficult to •
say in what her loveliness consisted. It was '
not in her eyes, though they were large, and
soft, and blue, like my mother's ; nor in her
mouth, though it was delicately beautiful ; nor
in the contour of her head, graceful and self-
poised, like that of the young Diana. It was
not in her features, or her form, or in any one
perfection you might name ; but I think it lay,
rather, in the sweet gentleness— gentle, yet ani-
mated— of her expression. Every thought and
emotion that passed through her mind reflected
itself upon her countenance, as the under-cur-
rent of a streamlet breaks the sunshine into rip-
ples on the surface. When she spoke, her color
came and went with every earnest word. Mirth-
ful as a child, the simplest jest would light her
face with smiles — smiles not only of the lips,
but of the eyes. A sweet, mournful poem, read
aloud, would cover her cheeks with tears. She
varied every moment, like an April day ; and
when she blushed, the faint crimson would suf-
fuse her very brow, as a sunset on the Alps.
But I am speaking of her now as I saw her aft-
er some days, not as I saw her on that brief
evening; and, even so, how useless is my at-
tempt to depict in words that which I can not
make clear to my own thoughts! Nothing is
more difficult than to describe a really beautiful
countenance (especially if it be one we dearly
love) ; for there is always, in real beauty, a
something for which we find no equivalent in
language — a something so refined, so evanes-
cent, that all written description seems poor
and clumsy in the comparison. Such was the
beauty of Adrienne, and this it is which, as I
first begin to speak of her, seems to embarrass
and defy me.
The dinner was long and formal. Adrienne,
in her black dress, bending down her head and
scarcely partaking of any thing placed before
her, replied lowly and by monosyllables to the
few commonplaces which were from time to
time addressed to her. My mother, still pale
and sad, looked toward her at intervals, but
spoke seldom. Even The'ophile, after a few ef-
forts at conversation, said no more, and applied
himself wholly to the business of the table. In-
deed, he was the only one among us to whom it
was not almost a mockery ; he enjoyed and par-
took of it as usual. For myself, I never once
broke the silence, but sat there at the head of
the board like one dreaming ; mechanically per-
forming my duties of host ; gazing earnestly
on the downcast face between me and my moth-
er ; and listening with suspended breath to every
murmured word that proceeded from her lips.
This dinner-ceremony, so long, so silent, so
constrained, came at last to a conclusion. We
returned to the salon, whence, after a few mo-
ments, Adrienne, pleading the fatigue of her
long journey, retired, accompanied by my moth-
er, and, as far as the room door, by The'ophile,
who sprang forward to hold it open for them as
they passed.
"What a wretched evening!" he exclaimed,
returning and flinging himself upon a fauteuil
near the window. "Mais n'est-ce-pas qu'elle
est belle, cette petite cousine ?"
What had he said that I should feel the hot
blood rush up to my brow so angrily ? What
was there in his words that I could not answer
them? Was it that he had spoken somewhat
lightly, and that I, already, could not bear to
hear it ? I know not ; but it seemed, at all
events, to jar upon the pleasant harmony of my
thoughts. I turned away, and was silent. Pres-
ently I also left the room, and went down into
my library to read.
To read! Ah! no; I could not read that
night. It was all in vain that I took up volume
after volume of my favorite authors. Some-
thing seemed to interpose between their thoughts
and mine — something whereby I was made rest-
less, but not unhappy — something which prompt-
ed me at last to close the book, to withdraw the
heavy folds that curtained out the night, and to
stand there at the open casement, looking up to
the sky and the stars.
The moonlight lay upon the turrets and the
trees, and fell in patches, faintly colored by the
stained glass, upon the floor beside me. The
Apostles stood within, brown, shadowy, and gi-
gantic. The silver lamp burned dimly. There
was a magical stillness in the air — a holiness
unutterable in the night-silence. It seemed to
me as if all Nature were one vast cathedral,
with blue arching roof — with a starry multitude
of lamps, and with myself for a solitary wor-
shiper. And in that supreme hour an impulse
of infinite gratitude and awe came over my
soul, and I thought of heaven, of truth, of life,
of Adrienne.
I felt as one who reads the opening page of a
strange, sweet poem, or as one who sits for the
first time in a brilliant theatre. Beauty and
grace are met on every side. The air is heavy
with perfume. The orchestra gives forth a low
intoxicating melody, and the hush of expecta-
tion is on every lip. His heart beats ; his
breath comes and goes ; he trembles ; his eyes
are fixed upon the dark curtain which is so soon
to rise, and the skirts of which are already
fringed with the radiance beyond.
And was it not truly so ? Was I not unfold-
ing the poem in my heart — gazing upon that
curtain ? Was it not the first Act of my Life-
Drama that was about to commence ?
CHAPTER III.
THE FOUNTAIN OP ROSES.
ABOUT eight miles from Latour-sur-Creil,
half way up a wooded mountain in the direc-
tion of Strasburg, there may be found a deli-
cious little spring, quite shut in and hidden by
trees and wild rose-bushes, which was christen-
ed by my mother La Fontaine aux Roses. It is
somewhat difficult of access ; for, after leaving
10
MY BROTHER'S WIFE.
the cultivated fields and vineyards that extend
for about a quarter of a mile up the ascent, you
find the road, which has been getting narrower
and narrower all the way, diminish suddenly to
a steep shingly footpath, wide enough for only
one person at a time. Following this amid the
thick green shade, you arrive at last, wearily
enough, upon a little level platform cut sheer
away, as it would seem, from the shelving rock,
which here rises precipitously at the back, in
overhanging blocks of rough dark granite. Fa-
cing you lies the continuation of your pathway,
narrower, steeper, more unpromising than be-
fore ; at the edge of the platform, the cliff (steep
and bush-grown) seems to sink away beneath
your very feet ; to the left a tiny opening, or fis-
sure in the rock, seems to indicate the track of
some animal, looking too narrow for the passage
of any thing larger than a goat. Nevertheless,
try it. You will find it sufficiently wide to ad-
mit of your entrance. Once through the little
straits, you are in a sort of natural vault, hol-
lowed out of this same granite ; treading softly
upon a carpet of thick gray moss ; making to-
ward that day-opening at the end of the rough
corridor, about forty yards in advance. When
half way along, you pause and listen : it is the
gush and gurgle of water that you hear echoing
down the cool stillness of the granite walls ;
and, hastening on to the end with what speed
you may, you there discover a little ' ' heart of
green, " all set round with trees, and rock-cliffs,
and wild wavy ferns ; with a broad boundless
landscape stretched out far and wide at one
side, and, on the other, a fount of fresh bright
water welling up through a bower of wild dog-
roses from the inner depths of the rough mount-
ain mass overhead. Springing, foaming, leap-
ing forth — eddying down into a pebbly basin —
flowing with a sudden calmness in and out the
trees, and across the Yew square yards of grassy
platform — winding, as it were, unconsciously to-
ward the brow of the cliff — whirling over in
swift madness, and falling, ever falling, from
ledge to ledge, from steep to steep, all spray,
hurry, and confusion, till at length it disappears
among the forest trees down far below, and is
seen no more — unless, indeed, it might be that
smooth gliding rivulet which shows so silverly
along the valley, and flows, miles away, into the
current of yon broad river setting onward to the
sea!
Exquisite Fontaine aux Roses! Was I not
the first to penetrate thy fairy nook ; to drink
of thy waters; to press thine untrodden turf;
to lie in the shadow of thy trees, gazing upon
thy wild mountain flowers and feathery grasses,
and listening dreamily to the sweet cadence of
thy falling music? Chancing upon thee in one
lonely walk some nine years past, did I not be-
come the Columbus of thy vernal world ? and
may not I (as thy discoverer) be pardoned for
dwelling, perchance too tediously, upon the
praises of thy beauty ? Hither, then, one gen-
ial afternoon in May, we came to show the view
to my cousin Adrienne, and to picnic beside
the fountain. She had been with us about a
week; and by this time the first strangeness
had worn away, and we had become, in all re-
spects, better acquainted. We were charmed
with Adrienne. Already she had fascinated us,
as she fascinated every one through life, with
her graceful kindness of manner j her deep feel-
ing for truth and beauty ; her airy wit and play-
ful bearing. Susceptible alike to pleasure or
sadness — sunny, yet variable — now childlike,
enjoying — now womanly, tender— it was impos-
sible to determine when, or in what mood, she
seemed most winning. Hers was a nature wild,
beautiful, capricious — a soul
" Where shadows dark and sunlight sheen
Alternate come and go!"
On this sweet day of May how fair and sea-
sonable she looked, like a delicate May flower,
and how her bright laugh cheered the rugged
mountain-path, and lapsed in with the water-
song of the fountain ! Theophile was in high
spirits, looked handsome, flushed, excited. My
mother unbent for once, and smiled, and con-
versed gayly. Even I, silent, distant, unsocial
as I am, grew cheerful, even conversational, un-
der the influence of that bright sky, that fount-
ain nook, tha.t magical presence !
We were very happy. We admired the view
— we sat under the shadow of a mountain ash —
we opened the basket of sandwiches which The-
ophile and I had carried alternately up the
mountain — we cooled our Champagne bottles
in the running stream, and chinked our glasses
laughingly together — we made a wreath of oak-
leaves, roses, and green berries, and placed it
upon Adrienne's golden hair — we poured a liba-
tion of red wine into the dancing waters, and
drank to the " flowery - kirtled naiad" of the
fountain — we chatted — we jested — we sang — in
short, we yielded up our whole hearts to the in-
fluence of the hour and the place, "giving no
thought to the morrow."
"How pleasant it is," observed my mother,
looking round with a contented smile, "to be
assembled up here, on this beautiful day, where
no one can interrupt or find us ! Do you know,
these trees — this landscape — this 'enameled
sward,' as it is called by the romancists — nay,
the very wine-glasses yonder, remind me irre-
sistibly of the Decamerone ?"
" I had often wondered," said Adrienne, sud-
denly, "who it was that originated that hack-
neyed simile, 'enameled sward;' but the other
day I found it somewhere in the ' Purgatorio'
of Dante. He calls it ' la verde smalto.' How
pretty it is— in Italian!"
"How pretty any thing is in Italian!" ex-
claimed Theophile. "Why, a Neapolitan fisher-
man might swear at you for an hour, and you
could almost fancy that he was addressing to
you the choicest compliments — if you did not
understand the language. I have heard them
at it many a time in the Chiaja. Two of the
fellows, with their scarlet caps and black curly
beards, will stand face to face, leaning against
the doors of their houses, or even lying lazily on
MY BKOTHER'S WIFE.
11
the ground, and swear at each other in the most
deliciously intonated liquid tones for hours to-
gether. It is one of their national amusements. "
" How horrible ! And perhaps one assassin-
ates the other afterward!"
"By no means. That is quite a lady's no-
tion ! They are the greatest cowards imagina-
ble. They quarrel, they glare upon each other,
they swear to their heart's content, but they nev-
er come to blows. And these men's forefathers
were the masters of the world ! Alas! degener-
ate Italy, once the birthplace of heroes and the
garden of Europe!"
"But it is a garden still!" cried Adrienne,
warmly. "It has lost its Caesars, but not its
vineyards, its olive-groves, its fair Lombardian
plains!"
"True, mademoiselle,"! said, turning toward
her and taking up the theme. "True, it is a
garden, but a garden in ruins — a garden such as
your English Shelley describes in the ' Sensitive
Plant' — such as Hood pictures in his 'Haunted
House.' Rarest exotics spring up side by side
with the nettle and the deadly nightshade ; the
fountain is choked and moss-grown; the very
sun-dial is broken, for what need is there to mark
the progress of Time where Time finds nothing
to record ? There are statues also, defaced, neg-
lected, lying in the grass ; the present genera-
tion, plodding idly on, treads them deeper and
deeper into the clay; the traveler, the stranger,
alone reverences and, re-erects them. They are
the statues of Dante — of Petrarch — of Ariosto —
of Tasso !"
"Do not omit my favorite Metastasio," said
Adrienne, who listened while I spoke with a
bright, earnest gaze peculiar to herself, and which
I have never seen on any other countenance.
"I so delight in his long musical periods, and,
for the sake of his harmony, pardon the monot-
ony of his plots. And pray do not forget that
noble woman who lavished such exquisite verses
on so worthless a husband — I mean Vittoria Co-
lonna."
"It appears to me," observed my mother, qui-
etly, " that your remarks are very partial. Pray,
has Italy no modern poets and historians, no
men of eminence whatever ? Have you nothing
to say for Manzoni — for Casti — for Pellico ?"
' ' Not much, ' ' replied Adrienne, smiling. '"I
Promissi Sposi' is tedions, and as for ' Gli Ani-
mali Parlanti, ' it is very uninteresting ; Gay's
and La Fontaine's Fables are worth a thousand
of it. Pellico's prison-narrative is perfection,
and has, I suppose, become a classic in almost
every language. I have not read his poetry."
" His poetry ! " echoed The'ophile. " Oh, de-
fend me from his poetry ! I once attempted to
read his tragedy of 'Francesca de Rimini, 'but
I could get no farther than the end of the first
act. It is a feeble imitation of Alfieri ; and his
long romanza, ' La Pia,' founded on a passage
in Dante, is a weary performance, in I know not
how many cantos. The original is four lines
long, and one of the sweetest, saddest, briefest
stories ever written in verse."
" I remember it," said Adrienne. " It is the
tale of Madonna Pia. Her husband took her to
a castle in the marshes of Volterra, and there
watched her fade and die beneath the noxious
influence of the malaria incidental to the swamps.
A fearful vengeance !"
' ' Fearful indeed, and national ; like the
swearing," said Theophile. "The Italian is
cruel and cowardly ; or, rather, he was both, but
now he is only the latter." *
"But Italy has, within the last forty years,
produced several lyric poets of considerable mer-
it," I said, after a pause. "Do you know any
thing of Rosetti, Berchet, Leopardi ?"
Adrienne shook her head, and I went on.
" Rosetti is a revolutionary poet, full of fire
and military ardor. His songs relate chiefly to
the Neapolitan disturbances of 1820 and 1837.
There is one commencing ' 0 Cittadini air ar-
mi!' (Oh, citizens, to arms!), and another
'L'Asilo e I'Arpa deW Esilio' (The Home and
the Harp of the Exile), both of which are ad-
mirable, and have the heart of a patriot beating
in every line. He was exiled in consequence,
and fled to England. Berchet, too, is well wor-
thy your attention. His political romanzas are
both novel and affecting."
"And Leopardi ?" asked Adrienne. " Is he
equally clever?"
" He has not written so much as either of the
others, and the little which we have is, for the
most part, fragmentary. But it is graceful,
fresh, suggestive, like the ballad-poetry of Uh-
land and Miiller. There is one little strophe
of his which pleased me so much, and is so ut-
terly Germanic in style and conception, that I
translated it into English. I think I can re-
member it, and you shall tell me if you like it :
" Parted from thy native bough,
Whither, whither goest thou,
Leaflet frail?
From the beech-tree where I grew
In the vale,
From the woods all wet with dew,
Lo 1 the wind hath torn me !
O'er the mountain tops he blew,
And hither he hath borne me !
With him wandering for aye,
Until he forsakes me,
I, with many others, stray,
Heedless where he takes me.
Where the leaf of laurel goes,
And the leaflet of the rose."
"That is delicious !" said Adrienne, her eyes
filled with tears. " It is simple, yet how sweet !
Without uttering it in words, it seems to suggest
a feeling of Life and its shadowy Beyond. What
is its title?"
"I call it 'The Leaf and the Breeze;' but
the poet has only prefixed to it the inappropri-
ate and modest word ' Imitazione.' It would
make a beautiful song for music."
"Yes ; but the composer must also be a poet.
Mendelssohn should have done it, with his pro-
found feeling and picturesque mannerism. I
shall ask you for a copy of that poem — the orig-
inal as well as the translation."
The sun was now sinking lower and lower on
the horizon, and shining crimsonly through the
belt of amber vapor that skirted the landscape
12
MY BROTHER'S WIFE.
all around. The air,' too, grew somewhat chill
upon that mountain height ; and the birds, twit-
tering softly, came wheeling round the trees and
fluttering in among the leaves to their nests in
the branches.
The conversation dropped, and we sat for
some time gazing at the sunset. Then, as if by
common consent, we looked into one another's
faces, and rose up fronTour pleasant seat beneath
the mountain ash. It had been a happy day ;
but the sweetest poem must end, and we felt that
this had come to a conclusion.
So we bade farewell to La Fontaine aux Hoses,
and went down silently into the brown shadows
• of the valley.
CHAPTER IV.
DREAMING.
WE have an old French proverb which says
" Le bien vient en dormant." Better had it been
written "L'amour vient en dormant," which it
truly does. Love ! why the very word hath
some such slumberous spell in the mere sound
of it ! Doth it not come to us, for the most part,
gradually, imperceptibly — as a dream to our
sleeping? Nay, is it not a dream, a golden gos-
samer dream, transfiguring the shows of Earth,
and clothing all Life as in a divine garment?
In the semblance of a dream it came to me ;
and I knew it not until the time arrived when I
could no longer deny it, even to myself. I loved
her. I loved her passionately. I loved her
with all the force of a heart long silent and long
solitary, and yet I did not discover it for many
weeks. Be it not supposed, for this reason, that
I loved suddenly. Ah ! no. I had felt the joy
at my heart, though I knew not whence it came.
I had seen new gladness in life — in thought —
in the world. My tongue had been loosened in
speech, so that I sat no longer like a misanthrope
among others, but, emboldened by her presence,
learned to pour forth my thoughts, if not with
eloquence, at least with that earnestness which
befits a true man. And she had listened to me
— listened with attention — with smiles — it might
be, sometimes, with tears. Oh, blessed time
when I loved and knew it not ! Oh, still more
blessed morning of early June when I first in-
terpreted the sweet new secret of my heart ! It
happened thus :
I had risen early— earlier than was usual with
me; for I awoke soon after day, and could
not sleep again. Aimlessly, carelessly, with
thoughts elsewhere busy, I strolled into my
painting-room, and, taking my accustomed seat,
leaned my head upon my hand, and gazed va-
cantly upon the half-finished picture that stood
before me on the easel.
It was an interior— how well I remember it !
— a church interior, lofty, pillared, gloomy with
shadow and deep-stained oriels; empty, save a
few scattered worshipers kneeling on the polish-
ed flags in the foreground; with vacant altar,
and long tenebrous aisles lighted dimly in the
distance. An interior such as I delighted to
imagine ; for, as I have said, I had a true love
and appreciation of cathedral architecture, es-
pecially of that order called the Flamboyant
Gothic.
Thus thinking and looking, I resumed the,
palette and brushes close at hand, and began, as
it were mechanically, to fill in the outline of a
female figure kneeling before a confessional in
the foreground. The confessional itself, with
carved foliage and cherubim, and florid pedi-
ment and traceried lattice, stood, half hidden,
in a dark angle of shadow ; but I had so con-
trived that a single thread of light, falling through
a partially opened door, should irradiate the
face and head of the penitent almost like an
emblematic glory.
On this head and face I worked, still absent-
ly, still with thoughts intent on other things.
Strange, that the eye and the hand should toil
on without the master-guidance of the mind !
Stranger yet that the eye and the hand should,
all unconsciously, respond to that inner work-
ing, and begin shaping forth the hidden thought
upon the canvas, visibly realizing the invisible !
Suddenly I dropped the pencil — started — rose
— returned, and looked long and earnestly, till
the gathering tears blotted out and blurred the
picture from my sight.
In that face I had painted the face of Adri-
enne!
I can not tell now how long I stood there
gazing — gazing, or in what vague, unreflecting
state of confused happiness I was ; but, all at
once, a sudden flush overspread my counte-
nance— I trembled — I turned away from the pic-
ture— I paced rapidly up and down the room.
" Yes, Adrienne,"! cried aloud, with passion-
ate vehemence, "I love thee! I love thee!"
Oh happy secret, so welcome and so beauti-
ful ! And yet, even then, I seemed both to re-
joice at and fear it !
The room felt close and oppressive. I could
scarcely breathe.
I threw open the windows, and stepped out
into the morning.
There was a warm soft air abroad, heavy to
the sense, and somewhat obscuring the distant
landscape. The turf sent up a pleasant odor
of fresh earth. The sky was dull and gray.
Every now and then a breath of fresh breeze
came sweeping over the fields, bearing with it
a perfume of sweet hay and May blossom, and
shaking the bright drops from off the broad
leaves of the chestnuts and acacias. The trees
in the garden looked round and shadowy. The
grass was full of tiny yellow flowers, and stretch-
ed out in one broad green and golden sweep
down to the river bank. All was still and slum-
brous in the dreamy atmosphere of the June
morning.
Forth I went, restless — intoxicated, with a
fountain of gladness welling up from my heart.
Forth I went, across the long wet grass and into
the shade of the tall trees. I looked back at
MY BROTHER'S WIFE.
13
the chateau, with its steep roof, its long ranges
of small glittering windows, and its quaint point-
ed slate-roofed turrets. It was my chateau, the
chateau of my fathers, and I thought in my
heart how fair would life be were she the mis-
tress of those gray old walls. To the left I saw
her window, curtained and closed. I stretched
out my arms as if embracing her, and again I
said,
" I love thee, Adrienne ! I love thee !"
I passed out of the wicket-gate and into the
forest beyond. The sun came slowly out, and
the birds sang in the boughs. There were wild
strawberry-blossoms and violets under my feet
— green leaves, and sunshine, and openings of
blue sky overhead. A young lizard, feeble,
emerald-hued, half-stupefied, lay in my path,
and I stooped down and placed it on one side
amid some high soft grasses ; for my heart was
full of love, even for the green lizard. Then
the shade grew deeper. The clouds met, and
melted into a shower, and I uncovered my head
and looked up, and let the warm rain-drops
splash heavily upon my brow. Then the sun
came -out again ; and the birds rejoiced and
shook their sleek plumage, and sang more mer-
rily than before. And I went on, still on, amid
the living stillness of the forest, with a new fire
in my eye and a new freedom in my step, and
with the same words of foolish exultation ever
on my lips,
"I love thee! I love thee!"
Once I paused and asked myself, "Art thou
beloved also?" But with the question came a
doubt, and the heavens were darkened. Then
I said, "Let me be happy, if it be only for this
one day!" And I dismissed the question and
the doubt, and went forward blindly rejoicing —
rejoicing that I had seen, that I loved her —
wishing that she might remain in Burgundy
forever — drinking in hope and joy from every
sight and sound : from the rustling of the leaves,
from the song of the wood-birds, from the hum
of the wild bees.
" Ahi con che affetto araore e il del pregai,*
Che fosse eterno si dolce soggiorno ;
Ma fu la speme al ver lunge assail"
Dreaming, dreaming — consciously dreaming,
and refusing to be awakened !
CHAPTER V.
WAKING.
THERE is a German tradition respecting a
certain Saint Elizabeth of Marburg, who, in
proof of her sanctity, hung out her washing to
dry on a sunbeam. To this saint, by one of
those strange contradictory impulses of our na-
ture which sometimes contrast the saddest with
the most ludicrous things, I involuntarily com-
pared myself, as I sat silently, apart in a dark
corner of the salon some few evenings after my
* TRANS. —Ah! with what earnestness did I pray to
Heaven and Love that so sweet a stay should be eternal;
but my hopes were far from anticipating the truth !
ramble in the forest. Had I not trusted to an
illusion as glittering, as beautiful, as unsub-
stantial ? Had I not hung my hopes on a sun-
beam?
Alas ! it needed but a brief time to work this
change — to steal the brightness from my dream
and the hope from my heart.
The'ophile loved her. I was convinced that
he loved her. HaQ I not seen him walking be-
side her in the garden-paths on the evening of
that day — that one happy day ; and had it not
chilled me even then, although I knew not why ?
Since that time had not his attentions been re-
doubled? Was he not hovering round her at
all hours ? Sitting beside her at table ? Rid-
ing with her? Walking with her? Reading
to her while she sat embroidering under the la-
burnums? Nay, is he not at this moment hang-
ing over her, as she looks through the music
lying loosely upon the piano, and allows her
fingers to wander idly along the ivory keys?
Is she not listening, with head half turned aside
— listening to his low speaking, and thinking
nothing of piano or music ?
My mother is not present, and I am affecting
to read by the waning twilight. They are quite
at the farther end of the room, and they speak
in that subdued tone which people's voices are
so apt to assume in the dusky hour. I watch
them jealously over the edge of my book. I
can not hear any thing they say. I neither
wish nor try to hear ; but I can not help look-
ing at them ; and, though I turn resolutely to
the window every now and then, I find myself,
the very next minute, falling back into the old
posture. I am very unhappy — very lonely!
" Ah !" I think bitterly to myself, " if she could
but know how I love her ! if she could but judge
between us, and choose the one who loves her
best!"
Theophile is still bending over her — lower,
lower! His yellow curls shine through the
gloom. How handsome he is ! There is a mir-
ror near me (the room is paneled with mir-
rors), and I look up, with an angry pang, at my
own sallow, sorrowful countenance. What ! am
I envious already? Envious as well as jealous?
I feel the hot blood flush up to my face for very
shame — I struggle resolutely with my own heart
— I fix my eyes upon the book, but the letters
waver, and grow distorted, and swim before
them. Now I reproach myself. After all, it
is I, and only I, who am to blame ! Why, I
loved her from the first. I loved her from that
very night, five long weeks ago, when she first
sat before my eyes, so pale, so silent, so beauti-
ful, in that dining parlor below ! Why did I
not try to win her then, even then, and every
succeeding day? Why did I leave the field
open to another? I have education, I have
heart, I have a wild latent poetry in my nature
wherewith I might have won a woman's love as
easily as with perfumed locks, and compliments,
and a low flattering voice! Pshaw! am I a
man, that I should have sat thus tamely by
and lost the treasure without a single effort ?
MY BROTHER'S WIFE.
Would she not despise me now if she knew how
I loved, how I loitered, how I suffered ?
Thinking thus, I lash myself to fury. I feel
an impulse upon me to utter my rage aloud —
to pace violently up and down the room — to tear
the book to pieces which I hold in my hand !
But, for all this, I sit still and silent. I press
my lips together, and clench my hands till the
nails wound the palm. I becbme alternately hot
and cold. I endure a martyrdom of envy, jeal-
ousy, and remorse; and still I sit watching them
over the edge of my book, and still The'ophile
bends down to Adrienne till his yellow curls al-
most meet the soft braids of her lustrous hair!
All at once she touches the instrument again,
and plays some few notes of a very simple, but a
plaintive symphony. The'ophile draws back and
leans against the wall, listening. I breathe more
freely now that the distance between them is
greater. Presently the notes of the symphony
become fewer and fainter, like the last drops of
a shower — there is a moment of suspense — then
her delicious voice, modulated to a low, clear
under-tone, inexpressibly pathetic and sweet,
sings this little ballad :
" Oh, lady, thou art fair and free
As are the heavens above thee !
A student I, of low degree —
What wouldst thou say if thou couldst see
This heart, which dares to love thee?
" Thou hast been told that rank and state
Are gifts beyond all prizing.
The poet singing at thy gate
Were all too lowly for thy hate,
Too poor for thy despising !
M So proud, and yet so angel-sweet !
I fall down and adore thee :
And oh ! whene'er we chance to meet,
I stand back in the public street,
And bare my head before thee.
"'Tis said that thou wilt wedded be
To some more noble lover.
To-day the bells ring out for thee,
To-morrow they will toll for me,
When all my tears are over.
" What radiant party passes by
With plumes and pennons flying?
Thy wedding train ? Nay, then, will I
Straight in thy path all prostrate lie —
One look, love ! — I am dying !"
The song is a simple song enough — a transla-
tion of a little German ballad — and yet it moves
me deeply. Toward the last verse her voice
grows lower and lower, with breaks and pauses,
and at last trembles, fails, sobs forth despairing-
ly— then ceases altogether.
When it is ended The'ophile applauds, enrap-
tured ; and I sit speechless, feeling as if a sor-
rowful hand had been laid upon my heart. Per-
haps it is the revulsion of feeling from wild rage
to melancholy— perhaps it is that the'little story
conveyed in those simple verses touches a chord
in my own breast — answers to a thought in my
own 'mind. At all events, it utterly subdues and
saddens me.
Once more Theophile bends down. By this
time it has grown so dusk that his yellow locks
are no longer visible. I still sit silently in the
dark corner, affecting to read, and my tears fall
slowly and heavily, one by one, upon the open
pages.
CHAPTER VI.
THE END OF THE FIRST ACT.
"WiSH me happiness, monfrlre!" said The-
ophile, springing up from his chair, and advan-
cing toward me with outstretched hands.
It was in my mother's breakfast parlor. She
was sitting near the window, with her hands ly-
ing folded together on her lap, and some pens
and paper spread upon the little work-table be-
side her. Sire turned her face slowly toward me
as I entered. There was a faint flush on her
cheeks. She looked agitated, but happy.
" Yes, Paul," she said, with a voice slightly
tremulous, "to-day you must rejoice with us.
Your brother is engaged to Adrienne. ""
So, then, it was over ! I felt myself turn pale ;
but I was very calm.
"I have expected this, madame," I said. "It
does not surprise me."
" Indeed ! Well, it is not surprising. They
are so suited to each other in every respect."
And my mother looked up admiringly in my
brother's face. "It is a most happy event!"
she added, with a sigh.
"A most happy event, madame," I echoed.
"And so advantageous with regard to prop-
erty. Adrienne is rich."
" A clear rent-roll of three hundred thousand
francs per annum !" interrupted Theophile, joy-
ously. "We shall be very rich. I mean to buy
the Hauteville estate for our country residence.
It is just announced for sale. Did you hear of
it?"
I shook my head. I could not trust my voice
to speak.
" Yes, it is announced at last — for two hund-
red and fifty thousand francs ! It is a high price,
but I am determined to have it, for it was for-
merly one of the possessions of our family. Be-
sides, we shall, of course, live a great deal in
Paris, and we can come down here every sum-
mer en retraite. Will it not be charming ?"
" Charming, indeed."
Strange! the harsh, level tones of my voice,
so cold, so mechanical, seemed scarcely to pro-
ceed from my own lips, but sounded to my ear
as if they were uttered near me by some other
speaker.
"It is really remarkable that the Hauteville
property should be vacant so opportunely. Noth-
ing could have happened better. And when we
come down, to be so close to you ! Why, it will
be almost the same as living at home ! We can
have a path laid down through the shrubbery,
and a gate of communication, and so run from
one house to the other in a few moments."
"And I shall see you for many weeks in ev-
ery year, " said my mother, with the tears stand-
ing in her eyes.
' c Weeks ! nay, months, ma chere mere, " said
The'ophile, kissing her hand. "I have so many
plans — so many improvements in my head ; and
I shall superintend all the alterations myself.
There is a moat there which I mean to have
filled up; timber to be felled; conservatories
MY BROTHER'S WIFE.
15
and out-houses to build ; stables to repair. Oh !
it will need an army of workmen, and I must
come down to see that every thing is carried out
as I wish. I shall be here for a long time in the
autumn. Besides, Adrienne is so fond of Bur-
gundy !"
Plans — improvements — alterations ! Alas!
gentle lady, had I been thy choice, methinks
there would have been less thought of thy
wealth, and more, far more of thee !
I fancy that even my mother, with all her love
for The'ophile, and all her native coldness of dis-
position, felt this, for she turned the conversa-
tion.
"Adrienne is a charming demoiselle," she
said. " I like the English system of education,
it is so solid. She is not only accomplished,
but amiable, polished, and thoroughly well-
read."
"And so beautiful, mother! How she will
be admired in Paris ! We must take a man-
sion in the Chaussee d'Antin, and she shall have
a fixed reception-evening in each week."
"The'ophile is very happy, is he not?" said
my mother, appealing directly to me for a reply.
"It would have been impossible for him to have
made a more eligible connection !"
"Impossible, madame,"! said, huskily.
"Your brother now receives from me an in-
come of one hundred thousand francs yearly;
but it is my intention henceforth to double that
sum. They must not be too unequally matched
in point of fortune. However, at my death,
The'ophile's property will be as large as that of
his wife. But this is not to the purpose. We
wished to ask you, Paul, if you would object to
receive them here on their return from the wed-
ding tour ? The Hauteville chateau can not be
got ready for them in time ; and they might
take the whole of the right wing without incon-
venience to any of us ; for you, although mas-
ter here, occupy only a suite of three rooms."
"Be it so, madame,"! replied, absently.
"Thank you. I will take care that none of
our arrangements shall disturb you. The mar-
riage, of course, must take place here. We
ought to give a ball and fete upon the occasion."
"Certainly!" cried The'ophile — "that is, if
Paul permits it. There are many whom I
should wish to ask from Paris, besides all the
neighbors here. And we must have sports for
the tenanti'y, and — "
"And Adrienne must be asked if she would
not like to invite some English friends," inter-
rupted my mother.
"The'ophile !" said a voice from the garden.
"The'ophile!"
I started. My icy self-possession, hitherto
so stoically preserved, threatened to give way at
the sound of that sweet voice which called so
familiarly upon his name. In one instant the
full sense of my desolation rushed upon me.
In that single word, revealing so much of love
and home, I seemed to see all the extent of
happiness which I had lost ! .
The'ophile sprang to the window.
" I will bring her here," he cried, as he step-
ped out upon the terrace and flew to meet her.
I turned toward the door. I could not stay
to see them return together.
"Madame," I said, articulating the words
hoarsely and with difficulty, "Madame, this
house, and all that it contains, is at your dis-
posal, and — and at my brother's. Make any
arrangements you think proper, but do nut — do
not take the trouble to consult me !"
There must have been a strange unusual
something in my tone, or in the expression of
my countenance, for my mother turned sudden-
ly, looked at me, and half rose from her chair.
"Mon Dieu!" she said, hurriedly, "what is
the matter?"
My hand was on the lock — I trembled in ev-
ery limb — I heard their voices approaching —
nay, I heard the very rustle of Adrienne's dress
upon the terrace !
"Nothing, madame," I said, and closed the
door.
Scarcely master of myself, I ran along the
corridor and across the hall. My favorite
hound, who had been lying near the door of
the library, came bounding toward me ; but I
spurned him with my foot and passed on. In
the library I paused and looked around with a
kind of angry despair.
"Alas ! ye books," I cried, "of what use are
ye ? Poets, philosophers, historians, what do
you teach us ? Can you give us peace or wis-
dom ? Be ye accursed ! Man in his savage
state alone is happy!"
The curtain that led to the painting-room
was drawn aside. Pacing up and down, back-
ward and forward, raging in my strong passion
like a caged panther, I went in.
These scenes of my former occupations seem-
ed hateful to me. What was art, or science, or
literature to me, now or henceforward ? Tricks,
phantasms, accursed phantasms, all !
A cast of the Medicean Venus stood in my
path. I dashed it down with one blow of my
hand, and* trampled the smiling features into
dust and fragments. The last work of my
hands — the unfinished interior — stood yonder
on the easel. I advanced toward it and ex-
tended a destructive hand — then I paused —
stood still— dropped upon a seat before it, and
covering my face with my hands, burst into an
agony of tears. Adrienne's portrait! Adri-
enne's portrait, painted there by me a few short
days ago, and now smiling toward me from the
canvas ! Oh, fair cousin, how dearly this heart
loved thee !
I know not what burning visions, what deso-
late retrospections, what wild plans for the dim
future passed through my mind as I sat there
with my head bent down upon the easel, and my
whole being convulsed by strong, deep sobs. I
know not how long I even remained there, for I
took no heed of time, or of the broad day be-
yond. I had arrived at one of those terrible
epochs of man's existence, when the highway
of life threads that solemn valley of the shadow
16
MY BROTHER'S WIFE.
of death— when to look back is misery ; to look
forward, despair — when the storm-clouds gather
overhead, and thick darkness lies every where
around; and the wayfarer pauses, trembling,
and awaits his destiny. He is bewildered, reck-
less, helpless against others, helpless against
himself and his own impulses. Evil from with-
out, evil from within, combine to torture him.
A word may destroy, a word may save him !
Alas for him if, in that hour, there be none at
hand to guide, to console, to pray for him !
My tears had ceased to flow — a struggling
sob broke now and then from my lips — my head
was still buried in my hands. Within, all was
black misery. Without, the day bent toward
the west, and the shadows lengthened in the
level sunlight.
Hush !
The outer door was cautiously opened, and,
after the lapse of a few moments, closed as cau-
tiously. I heard it; but, as one might hear
through sleep, without receiving any impression
from the sound. Light footsteps crossed the'
library — paused at the second door — approach-
ed nearer and nearer ; and still I heard without
heeding. Then there was the rustling of silken
garments at my side, and a hand was laid upon
mine — a cold slender hand, whose touch roused
me in a moment like an elective shock.
I sprang to my feet, grew hot and cold alter-
nately, tried to speak, but could not. My moth-
er looked marble -pale. Her eyes wandered
from rny face to the picture, and back again to
me, with a mute mournful expression of tender-
ness and pity, such as I had never seen in that
gaze before. There was no surprise in her
countenance — no pride, no coldness, no auster-
ity ; but grief — grief only. For some minutes
we stood thus face to face, with the picture be-
tween us, both silent.
"Paul," she said at length, very softly and
sadly, "why didst thou conceal this ?" My lips
moved again, but uttered no sound.
She took my vacant seat, and pointed to" a
stool beside her. "Come," she sakl, "come,
Paul, confide in me !"
My senses seemed bound up in ice, though
my heart beat wildly. I neither spoke nor
stirred.
" Speak to me, my son, speak to me ! Thou
sufferest — may I not weep with thee ?"
She extended her arms to me. Her words,
her look, her tone, went to my heart.
"Oh, my mother!" I cried, wildly, falling
upon rny knees before her, and hiding my face
in her lap, " I love her! I love her !"
She folded her arms around me — she pressed
her lips to my forehead, my burning head to her
gentle bosom — she mingled her tears with mine
— she breathed words of pity and consolation in
my ears — she passed her hands over my hair,
and called me her son — her dear son !
Yes, in that dark and bitter moment, I rested
for the first time — oh, God ! for the first time ! —
upon my mother's heart — received the first out-
pourings of my mother's love ! Thanks be to
Heaven, she saved me— I dare not think from
what !
Let me not reveal the particulars of that first
confidence. It is to me a sweet, almost a sa-
cred thing. Sufficient if I say that the day de-
clined lower and lower in the west; that the
shadows widened and lengthened, and gradual-
ly overspread all the landscape ; and that I still
sat at my mother's feet, with her hands clasped
in both mine, and her eyes looking down upon
me with that light in them for which, as a child,
I would have gladly died. At last I rose and
looked out upon the gathering gloom of even-
ing. The thought which had been lying silent-
ly at my heart for many hours must sooner or
later be uttered.
"It is getting dark," I said, looking earnestly
at her. "It is getting dark, my mother. I
must go now."
She turned a shade paler, and her lips trem-
bled. She understood me.
"You are right, my son," she said. "But
will you go to-night?"
I made a mute gesture of assent. It was
enough. She went into the library, rang for
refreshments, and desired the attendance of a
servant.
" Where wilt thou go ?" she said, after a brief
absence, during which she and Jeanne had pre-
pared my valise. "In what direction?"
"I know not — care not."
"Thou wilt write to me? Good. What
money hast thou ?"
I opened my desk. It contained about thirty
Napoleons, and some notes to the value of eight
hundred francs. These I placed in my pocket-
book, saying that they were enough. My moth-
er shook her head, and laid her own purse upon
the table before me.
" Take this," she said ; "it contains a thou-
sand francs. Nay ! refuse a gift from thy moth-
er ! Take it — I entreat ! It is well. Now go,
my son, for it will soon be night. Heaven pre-
serve and bless thee !"
We went round together to a door at the back,
opening on a dark lane. Two horses and a
groom were waiting. Not another soul was
near, and all the bouse was silent. There we
parted — there I received one more embrace —
one last farewell word — and then I rode away
into the gloom — into the unknown Future.
After galloping some distance, I reined in my
horse and looked back. But it was too late.
All was dark ; the limes stood up between ; I
could not even trace the outline of my old tur-
reted home. The veil had fallen between her
life and mine. The first Act of the Drama was
played out, and ended !
I put spurs to the horse — I flew madly for-
ward, with the groom clattering at my heels.
The eighteen miles were soon past ; we reach-
ed the Chalons station ; I flung the reins to
Pierre, seized my valise, and, without even giv-
ing the faithful fellow a fafewell glance, ran up
the steps and stopped before the bureau.
"When does the next train go?"
MY BROTHER'S WIFE.
17
"Directly, monsieur."
I threw a note on the counter.
"Where to, monsieur?"
" As far as it will take me."
The man passed me the change and the tick-
et ; the bell rang ; the engine came panting up,
with its black train ; I ran forward, leaped into
the first carriage, and in another moment was
moving on.
"Pray, monsieur," I said, turning to my near-
est neighbor, "how far does this train go to-
night?"
"ToStrasburg."
CHAPTER VII.
STRASBURG.
A LONG drear night of perpetual traveling,
broken by snatches of feverish sleep, which
seemed scarcely sleep, but rather the distress-
ful wanderings of a mind restless and over-wea-
ried. The oil lamp flickered vaguely overhead,
and cast an uncertain glimmer upon the forms
and faces of my fellow-passengers, all of whom
were profoundly sleeping. Without were clouds,
and moonlight, and an ever-shifting panorama
of the alternating flats, forests, vineyards, and
steep mountains of South France, all gliding si-
lently by, and looking ghostly in the moonshine.
Every now and then there came a steep cutting,
or a long black tunnel. Sometimes a sudden
blaze of gas ; a stop ; a hurrying past of quick
feet; a confusion of loud voices; passengers get-
ting in and out ; and the entrance of a guard,
with imperative voice and blazing lantern, mark-
ed our arrival and brief pause at some station by
the way. Then came the shrill whistle, and we
flew on again; trees, mountains, villages, flitting
past us as before, and ever the low continuous
bass of our rushing progress sounding along the
iron roadway.
Oh ! a weary, weary night, checkered by fan-
tastic dreams and wakings up to miserable real-
ities— by heart-sickness — by sullen melancholy !
About three hours after midnight I fell into a
dull, heavy sleep. It was gray morning when I
awoke. So profound had been my slumber that
I started ; stared round at the sleepers ; could
remember nothing for some moments. My head
ached ; my lips were parched ; my eyes were
burning hot, and swollen from the tears of yes-
terday. Worse than all, an oppressive sense of
misfortune seemed to weigh upon my chest,
though what that misfortune was I could not at
first remember. Alas ! are there any who have
never so suffered, slept, forgotten ?
One by one my companions awoke also.
Three of them were Germans, and they kept
talking inaudibly among themselves. I fancied
that I was an object of remark, and I shrank
back into a corner and feigned to sleep. Grief
makes us suspicious.
"How far are we from Strasburg?" asked
some one near me.
B
"Look out," was the reply, "and you will see
the cathedral spire."
In a few moments the guard came to collect
our tickets, and before half an hour we had reach-
ed the end of our journey.
I alighted. The unfinished station was crowd-
ed with carpenters and masons ; the yellow om-
nibuses from Kehl, with their German drivers,
were ranged in long rows outside the doors ;
soldiers, hotel agents, porters, and passengers
crowded the platform, the waiting-rooms, and
the square beyond. All was noise, hurry, and
confusion. Through these I made my way, as
it were mechanically, for I felt nervous and be-
wildered. Without, the gray morning had dis-
solved into a slow continuous rain, and dingy
vehicles were rattling swiftly to and fro. I
emerged upon a line of quays, bordering a broad
turbid river crossed by many bridges. In every
direction were high, quaint houses, and shops
with overhanging stories ; and, straight before
me, showing dimly through the driving rain,
one sharp, delicate brown spire rose up into the
gray sky, and I knew that it was the highest
pinnacle in the world — the spire of Strasburg
Cathedral.
Keeping my eyes fixed upon this, and follow-
ing its direction, even when it was no longer in
sight, I went across a wooden bridge and into
the broad streets of the town. It was market-
day, and the open places were all crowded with
stalls and people. Here were soldiers, German
and French; peasant -women from over the
Rhine, with silver-embroidered caps or large
black bows upon their heads ; mountebanks
vending cosmetics and articles of mock-jewelry;
itinerant ballad-singers ; fruit and cake sellers ;
purchasers and gazers of all ages and of two
countries, hurrying, loitering, hither and thither
in the rain, and protected by umbrellas of every
color and shade. Past the Place Gutenberg I
went, where stands the bronze statue of the
First Printer, with his printing-press and types
beside him — through a low vaulted passage, or
arcade, with mean shops and stalls on either
side — Up a turning to the left, at the top of
which rose the dark cathedral, a mountain of
perfect architecture.
Near the entrance I paused, forgetful for the
moment of every thing but wonder and admira-
tion, and looked up at the gigantic mass above
me — at the intricate network of arcades and
buttresses — at the thin spire, delicate as an ivo-
ry carving, and towering up so far into the sky
that one feeis dizzy, though only looking at it
from the pavement below — at the labyrinthine
processions of carved figures over the arching
doorways, where, as a French poet beautifully
says,
" Stand the old stone saints in niches hoar;
Praying so softly — praying for the living."
Inside, the rich golden gloom that pervades
the pillared aisles, and dims the lofty roof, awed
and oppressed me. I felt wearied and ill. There
was scarcely a living creature — scarcely the echo
of a sound. I wandered on, and seated myself
18
MY BROTHER'S WIFE.
upon a stone bench just in front of the singular
organ, which, with its glowing arabesques, its
gilding, and its long pendent, terminating in a
painted carving of Christ riding upon a lion,
looks more like a stupendous clock than any
thing else, so fantastic is it, and perched up, as
it were, so perilously in the very roof of the
building.
Nowhere in the world is there so much su-
perb stained glass as in this Cathedral of Stras-
burg. The whole interior is dark with beauty,
steeped in an atmosphere of religious gloom.
Here are windows dating from the early part of
the thirteenth century, which "blush with the
blood of queens and kings" — windows crowded
with mailed champions, and bishops, and royal
saints, robed in the most gorgeous contrasts of
color — deep red, azure, and orange. To read
in this dusk is impossible ; and so magical is
the effect, that persons standing a few paces off
look dim and transfigured.
Leaving the cathedral, I passed a motley
crowd assembled near the south entrance — beg-
gars, market-women, soldiers, peasants, and
fashionable visitors, all grouped together most
republicanly, waiting to see the great clock strike
at noon. Presently the brazen cock crew, and
the whole paraphernalia of machinery were put
in motion. Strange mixture of emblems, Chris-
tian and heathen, of grave science and puppet-
show puerilities! I wandered into the street,
with the rest of the spectators, as soon as the
performance ended. It was still raining heavily.
"Hotel de Metz, monsieur!" said a dark
man, who wore a badge suspended rcmnd his
neck. "Hotel de Metz — quite near — good
breakfasts — table d'hote at five — will monsieur
permit me to conduct him ?"
I was worn out mentally and physically, so I
followed him to a large white hotel near the sta-
tion, and breakfasted alone at a little table in a
window overlooking the street. I was weary of
the noisy life and bustle of this frontier town,
and longed to escape from it to some green
peaceful place farther away — farther away.
' The surging crowd went rolling on,- in spite
of the rain, ever moving, ever changing — the
swell and hum of voices ascended from beneath
— a brass band stationed itself before the house
— some German University students, with spurs
on their heels, and little crimson cloth caps on
their heads, came clattering into the room, call-
ing loudly for "bier und cigarren!" and were
followed by three or four others wearing tri-col-
ored caps— orange, white, and blue. Theirfrank,
jovial voices, their peals of laughter, so full of
young life and enjoyment, jarred painfully upon
my present mood. I drew back into the cur-
tained embrasure of the window, and debated
with myself whither I should go next. To
Switzerland, by way of Basle, or to Germany, by
the Rhine ? In my then wearied state of indif-
ference, it mattered little which. An accident
decided me.
"Let us dine together, boys !" said one of the
noisiest among the students, striking his com-
panion on the shoulder. " Let us all dine here,
or at the Rothes Haus, and then go to the thea-
tre. There's to be a new play to-night ! "
"I can not," said one of the crimson caps,
moodily. " I must go back this afternoon to
the old mill."
" To Heidelberg ?"
The student nodded.
"Confoundedly dull place, that Heidelberg,
is it not?"
" Oh, confoundedly ! Nothing going on from
one year's end to another."
4 ' No amusements ? No theatres ? No gam-
ing-rooms?"
"Nothing of the sort. It's so terribly out of
the way, you know, that none but honeymoon-
tourists and young ladies with sketch-books and
camp-stools come near the place. The only fun
we ever have is beering, boating, and dueling."
"Abominable!" "Intolerable!" chimed the
rest, to the friendly music of the clinking glasses.
Heidelberg !
Why not to Heidelberg, oh Paul Latour ? To
that ancient abode of learning in the Neckar
Valley — to that low ruined fortress on the
"shores of old Romance," whence the tide of
life hath long since retreated into the great
ocean which is eternal ?
So to Heidelberg I went.
CHAPTER VIII.
HEIDELBEEG SCHLOSS.
IT was already somewhat late in the morning
when I drew aside my window-curtains at the
Hotel Adler, expecting to look out upon the cas-
tle ruins, and saw instead the steep narrow road-
way, with its high rock-wall, the small flint
pavement, and the usual Continental gutter, now
swollen by the rain, running swiftly and broadly
down the centre of the street. Overhead, the sky
was blue and sunny, with large snowy clouds
floating across, one after another, like an army
with white banners. A party of laughing girls
went up toward the castle, riding upon donkeys,
and then some pedestrian tourists ; so I also
hastened out, and proceeded to make my way
up the toilsome ascent. The birds sang and
darted about in the air; little children were
playing upon door-steps ; the poultry strutted
up and down ; and I passed two or three little
knots of women and old men preparing plates
of horn for combs — a trade much followed in.
Heidelberg.
Shall I describe the Castle of Heidelberg, that
red old ruin, standing midway up a fir-Avooded
mountain, which is chapel, fortress, and palace
in one ? Alas ! no. It has been done too well
and too often. For such word-painting, oh
reader, turn thee to the pages of that prose-poem
which ascends from the shores of the New World
like a steam of golden incense offered up to the
glories of the Old. Those pages will tell unto
thee, in such lordly language as befits the theme,
MY BROTHER'S WIFE.
of the triumphal gateway with its leaf-carved
pillars, which was erected in one night by com-
mand of the Elector Frederick V., that his En-
glish bride might pass through it on the morrow,
and which is still called, in remembrance of her,
the Elizabethan Pforte, or Elizabeth's Portal —
of the second gate, where the iron teeth of the
portcullis yet threaten overhead — of the silver
shield that was stolen from its place above the
entrance by the French besiegers — of the two
grotesque gigantic stone figures which stand, in
the guise of armed warders, on either side — of
the glorious fa9ades of the Friedrichsbau and
the Italian Rittersaal of Otto Henry, with their
statues of knights and heroes, their cornices, en-
tablatures, and rich mouldings, and blank open
windows where the blue sky shines through —
of the blasted tower and its leafy linden-trees
waving on the top — of the canopied well of royal
Charlemag*ne — of the tower of the library — of
the deserted chapel, with its blue marble altar,
and the paintings spared by the destroying light-
ning yet suspended, all faded and blackened,
above the different shrines — of the armory, and
the clock-tower, and the great tun, and of all the
beauty and romance of that rare old building,
which is, "next to the Alhambra of Granada,
the most magnificent ruin of the Middle Ages."
All these did I see, and more besides ; for I
wandered in and out the ruins and the garden
walks as I listed, thinking of many things. For
the place was to me something more than a
mere sight — than a fine ruin : it was a history
— a poem — a prayer.
In this mood I sat for a long time upon the
steps of a crumbling solitary tower, where a cher-
ry-tree grows wild against the wall, and droops
its fruit-clusters across the very path on which
you tread. Hence I went down and wandered
through the interior of the castle, seeing the tun
and the wooden image of the jester ; the dun-
geons, and the collection of old paintings.
But oh ! the first sight of that view from the
garden wall — the town beneath, with its slate-
roofed University, its church spires, and its
bridge — the shallow turbid Neckar eddying
through the arches — the broad, level Rhine-val-
ley, with its vineyards, and corn-fields, and
flashes of the river here and there — the dark
green Odenwald; and the dim, distant Hartz
Mountains fading on the horizon, with the
spire of Strasburg Minster showing up midway
upon the plain ! The immensity of the circuit
bewildered and oppressed me, and I gazed so
long and so earnestly that the bright sunlight
dazzled me, and the near and the far were con-
founded together upon my sight.
" Eine schone Aussicht, mein Herr!" (a fine
prospect, sir!) said a pleasant voice close beside
me.
I turned. A tall, fair young man, with an
open book in his hand and a long German
pipe at his lips, was standing at my elbow, with
his arms resting upon the parapet. An almost
indefinable something in his accent, in the fash-
ion of his dress, in the free-falling cm*ls of his
light brown hair, and the frank cheerfulness of
his address, told me at once that he was a for-
eigner. I glanced rapidly at the open book :
it was Carlyle's "History of the French Revo-
lution."
"Indeed, a most divine prospect,"! replied
in English. "One that might drive a painter
to despair."
The young man colored.
" I suppose," he said, after a moment's hesi-
tation, "that my countrymen never are to suc-
ceed in concealing their identity. During the
two years that I have been here, I have studied
the peculiarities of the language very earnestly,
but I have not yet mastered what may be call-
ed its nationality. How did you know me to
be an Englishman ?"
I pointed to the volume in his hand.
"Your accent told me something," said I,
smiling, "and your book confirmed my suppo-
sitions. What do you think of Carlyle ?"
" Oh, he is magnificent !" exclaimed the En-
glishman, with some warmth. "A most orig-
inal genius, and a very Titan in literature. He
wields words like mountains, and hurls them,
not at Heaven, but at ' idols' and ' mud-gods.' "
" His style is very eccentric."
"Granted; but is it not vivid, earnest, pas-
sionate? Does he not carry your sympathies
forcibly along with him?" •
"That is true, especially with regard to his
history. It lacks, perhaps, the majesty of Gib-
bon and the lofty grandeur of Macaulay, but it
is history with a heart in it."
"And then, notwithstanding the severity of
his principles and his hatred of 'shams,' what a
deep well of love, and pity, and even of humor,
lies buried down in the depths of his nature !
Besides, what force and power in his language !
It is as if his thoughts were cast in bronze."
"I perceive, sir," I said, with more cordiali-
ty than was usual to me when conversing with
strangers, "that you are an enthusiast for books ;
but here is an epic that passes the art of the
poet — a history more impressive than any which
can be related by man. Surely there can be
no second place on earth so beautiful as this !"
"If there be, I have not seen it," said the En-
glishman, "and I have traveled much. Dear
old Heidelberg!" he continued, facing round to
the castle, and leaning against the wall with his
back toward the landscape ; " dear old Heidel-
berg ! I know every nook, and cranny, and
owl's-nest in its crumbling walls ! Some of the
happiest hours of my life have been spent here,
reading my favorite books under the trees in the
garden ; dreaming my favorite dreams in unfre-
quented corners of the ruins ; talking German
metaphysics with my University friends, beside
that little fountain bubbling up yonder in the
sunlight. I believe that, with the one excep-
tion of the tun-keeper's, those silvered globe-
mirrors in the court-yard have reflected ho face
so often as mine for the last two years. I have
rooms down in the town, but I am scarcely
ever there unless at night. I almost live up
20
MY BROTHER'S WIFE.
here ; and a fine day, a quiet nook in the ruins,
my pipe, and a book, are all that I require to
be perfectly happy. You can't think how I love
the place, or in what curious fancies and com-
parisons I delight to indulge respecting it.
Standing up thus, so lordly and so battle-worn,
and inclosing within its shattered walls these
flower-beds and that fairy fountain, it often re-
minds me of some old disabled warrior with his
grandchildren smiling on his knee. But night
is the time for Heidelberg ! Have you been up
yet by moonlight?"
I said that I had only arrived at a late hour
the evening before.
"Then I envy you the sensations of that first
view by moonlight. You have not yet an idea
of the beauty and poetry of the spot. The moon
rises to-night about ten o'clock.; come to my
rooms, and I will accompany you. I know all
the best points of view, and I shall be delighted
to witness your enjoyment."
"A thousand thanks; but had you not bet-
ter call for me ? I am staying at the Hotel Ad-
ler, half way up the hill. We can sup together
before we start."
"As you please. This, too, is the month
when the nightingales sing sweetest ; and I
promise you that you will hear such songs
' shaken from their little throats' to-night as you
never heard before. By the way, who knows
but we may even see the spectre-mass in the
chapel of St. Udalrich !"
"What is that, pray?"
" Oh, one of our Heidelberg legends ! We
have plenty such."
"Delightful! you shall relate some of them
to me by moonlight. How glad I am to have
made your acquaintance!"
We were friends already ; and the conversa-
tion thus begun lasted for more than two hours.
We talked of paintings, and of our favorite
books ; of Goethe, and Jean Paul, and of Uh-
land — of philosophy — of history — of the German
and French character, and of many more things
than I can now remember. Our tastes seemed
to agree in most respects ; or, when they differ-
ed, differed just sufficiently to lend an interest
to discussion. Averse as I generally am to
strangers, I was pleased with this young En-
glishman from the very first. His smile, his
glance, the cheerful tones of his voice, impressed-
me favorably. He had read much, and his
reading had been well chosen. That he was a
good German, French, and Italian scholar I had
already discovered ; and the enthusiasm with
which he spoke of places and of authors showed
me that he possessed a warm imagination, and
an almost boyish enjoyment of beauty and talent.
In a word, he seemed to be good-natured, unaf-
fected, and a gentleman. It was almost noon
when we parted, renewing our engagement for
the evening. My new acquaintance walked
with me to the door of my hotel, and as we pass-
ed the restaurateur's in the castle gardens, we
saw a party of English dining in the open air,
one of whom exclaimed as we went by,
"Capital place, this Heidelberg! Magnifi-
cent old ruin ; and the very best beer I have
tasted since I left home ! "
CHAPTER IX.
NORMAN SEABROOK.
I KNOW not whether it Avas the heart-suffering
through which I had passed that made me more
susceptible to every kindly influence, but I have
often been surprised when I recall how quickly
that friendship was formed between Norman
Seabrook and myself— that cordial and manly
friendship which has ever since been one of the
greatest joys and consolations of my life !
He had so true and just a feeling for poetry
and art — he was so generous, so high-spirited,
so warm of heart, so earnest of soul, that it would
have needed a nature far colder and more un-
grateful than mine to reject the golden gift.
Not that Norman Seabrook was faultless and
a hero ! Alas ! no. Our age, reader, bringeth
forth no heroes. He was simply a young man
with a good heart, a liberal education, and a
somewhat indolent and luxurious disposition.
I never knew any one with so great a capacity
for enjoyment. The sight of a pretty child, of
a good picture, sculpture, or engraving, the far
sounds of music, the summer sky, and the land-
scapes around Heidelberg, used to afford him
the keenest sense of delight. He would dwell
upon a passage from some favorite author with
a gusto that I used positively to envy ; tracking
the idea through every possible gradation of
meaning ; discovering little hidden beauties of
accentuation and phrasing, and seeming actual-
ly to taste the inner-sweetness of every deep
and lovely thought. It was the same with paint-
ings— the same with music — the same with rid-
ing, boating, or walking. He enjoyed every
occupation to the uttermost, and with the care-
less glee of a school-boy. He seemed to drink
in contentment with the very air, and I do not
know that there was any one thing in which he
took a greater pleasure than lying upon his
back in the deep grass upon the river-banks,
with a pipe in his mouth and a paper of choco-
late bonbons in his pocket, looking up to the sky
and the clouds, and suffering his imagination to
stray unheeded through all the wild untrodden
ways of thought.
"There are times," he used sometimes to
say, " when the heart is more than usually open
to impressions of beauty — when the form of a
tree, the rustle of a leaf, the piping of a solitary
bird, are sufficient to fill us with a vague and
subtle feeling of delight which is more than
half sadness, and for which no expression can
be found in language. At such moments how
beautiful is the world — how divine is life!
What poetry is it only to feel the warm sun ; to
breathe the pleasant air; to lie in the quivering
shadows of the trees, or the cool angle of some
gray ruined wall, and to look up to the blue sky
MY BROTHER'S WIFE.
21
overhead with that unspoken longing of soul
after the Infinite and the Far which our human
nature loves to recognize as the stamp of its
own strange immortality!"
In all this there was something of the dreamy
mental self-indulgence peculiar to German the-
orists, and to that school of poetical philosophy
which possesses so irresistible a fascination for
those young men whose imaginations are warm,
and whose experience of the realities of life has
been but limited. Norman Seabrook would
perhaps have been a nobler and more useful
member of society had his intellectual training
been less of the Sybarite than the Spartan — had
Bacon, and Newton, and Locke been studied
rather than Fichte, Swedenborg, and Shubert.
He would have learned to seek after difficulties,
that he might overcome them. As it was, he
only searched for beauty, that he might worship
it. He shrank instinctively from all that was
harsh and unprepossessing ; he attached him-
self, as unconsciously, to every thing that was
agreeable. No one could say a kind word or
perform a gracious action more pleasantly than
he ; but I must confess that, where a distasteful
duty had to be accomplished, he would delay,
neglect, and even avoid it, if he could. It was
the weak point of his character — an amiable
weakness, if you will, and one that was adorned
by a thousand good and graceful qualities. It
is often well for a man when he is either poor
or proud, for the desire either of opulence or
fame urges him on to play his part as a laborer
in that field wherein it has been truly said that
"to work is to worship." Unfortunately for
Seabrook, he loved knowledge better than fame,
and he owned a small independence which just
sufficed, with economy, for the requirements of
a bachelor. •
"I love books," he said, "and I have where-
withal to purchase such as I love best. I am
fond of travel and of Continental life, and I con-
trive to enjoy it. When I can not afford to
rent rooms on the first story, I am content with
the attic ; if my purse be too low for the first
class in the railway, I do not object to the sec-
ond or the third. When I am too poor for
either, I take my knapsack on my shoulders, my
book in my hand, and walk. After all, this is
the best traveling. You get a lift by the way
from some peasants going to a fair or a wed-
ding ; you gather some grapes from the vine-
yard or some cherries from the roadside, to eat
witli the loaf in your pocket at noon ; you go by
the river-banks, and along the green meadows,
and at the foot of steep precipices, which the
fashionable travelers on the high road never
dream of investigating ; and at night you arrive
at some little hamlet, with bells ringing and
cows being driven out to the pasture after milk-
ing, where you sup at the rustic inn, and listen
to the legends of the Rhine and the Black For-
est, as they are told by mine host, over the pipe
and the ale-jug, when the dusk gathers round,
and the neighbors come dropping in on their
way home from the harvest-fields."
Such was my new friend — a dreamer among
men — a loiterer by the wayside on the great
road of life and endeavor. In my lonely and
meditative condition of mind, I attached my-
self to him with my whole soul, and his very
faults were almost as virtues in my eyes. Dis-
appointment had worked some evil already upon
me ; and, placing myself but little value upon
ambition, how could I blame his indolence, and
the carelessness of its advantages ?
We met daily — we walked together — we read
each other's favorite books, and studied side by
side in the University library. We always
supped and spent the evening together, either
at my rooms or his ; and sometimes we wander-
ed up to the castle, or crossed the river to laugh
away an hour or two among the students who
frequent the Hirschgasse — a little, solitary white
inn, about half a mile out of Heidelberg, where
as many as four or five duels take place daily
among these riotous children of philosophy.
We also spent long afternoons upon the Neck-
ar, taking it in turn to row, while one read aloud
from the pages of some old poet or historian,
till the pleasant dusk came gently over all, and
the last brightness faded from the lofty tower
of the Konigstuhl. Then we would look up-
ward to the pale moon, and, resting a while
upon our oars, hear only the falling drops that
splashed back from them into the river — the
surging of the stream against the banks on
either side — the melancholy cry of the heron
among the reeds — or the lowing herds at the
homesteads in the valley.
Oh, those calm, delicious evenings of warm
June, when the stars came glowing through the
tranquil depths of sky, and the sun went slowly
down behind the mountains in the purple dis-
tance, like a monarch to his grave, clad in scar-
let and gold !
It was on the morning following some such
evening ramble that I lay at the foot of a clump
of trees bordering the footpath called The Phi-
losopher's Walk, about half way up the hill
fronting the town. In my hand I carried a
volume of Lamartine's "Meditations Poe-
tiques;" the sultry air hung heavily upon the
sense ; scarce a blade of grass waved — scarce a
leaf stirred — scarce a bee hummed near me
All was silent above, below, around. The faint
murmur from the town came drowsily and at
intervals. The very river lay sluggishly along
the landscape, as if torpid beneath the sun.
Gradually I fell into a dream — a waking dream,
wherein the dim land of the past was wafted
before me, and the poets of old days walked by
in their singing-robes, serenely glorious. Sud-
denly a rapid step came along the path — a free,
firm, careless step that I well knew, and my
English friend, with his dog at his heels, had
bounded almost past me before he was aware
of my presence.
"Eureka!" he exclaimed, laughing, as he
stopped short, and flung himself down beside
me on the grass. ' ' Found at last ! Why,
man, I have been looking for you in the ruins,
22
MY BROTHER'S WIFE.
and down by the river, and in the library, and
had just given you up, when it struck ihe that
you might possibly have strolled in this direc-
tion. See ! I called for you at the ' Adler,' and
finding these new arrivals upon your table, I
put them in my pocket, that you might have the
pleasure of reading them the sooner."
And he flung a couple of letters down before
me.
This one, so slenderly and accurately direct-
ed, was evidently from my mother ; that, with
its rough, dashing superscription all blotted and
defaced, I recognized for the handwriting of
Theophile.
Alas ! the dream-threads were broken, and
at the sight of those letters the chill remem-
brances of love, and home, and exile, and dis-
appointment came back upon me, and broke the
brief reverie into which I had fallen. I took
the letters up, laid them down, took them up
again, turned pale and red by turns, and re-
mained quite silent.
"Are they from your family in Burgundy?"
asked my friend.
I nodded.
" But won't you read them ? Pray don't let
me be an interruption !"
I dreaded to open them ; and yet how strange
it would seem were I not to do so ! My moth-
er's— no ! I could not read that one yet ! I
placed it reverently in my pocket-book, and
broke the seal of The'ophile's letter. As I did
so, a vague shuddering dread ran through me,
and the paper fluttered in my fingers.
"Read it to me, mon ami!" I said, hoarsely,
turning away, and holding out the letter toward
him. " Read it to me ; I am not well to-day."
He glanced at me, took it without a word,
and read it aloud.
"By the time that my dear Paul receives
this letter, his brother will be the happiest of
men and of husbands. Yes, monfrere, the con-
tract is to be signed this evening by my dearest
Adrienne and myself, and to-morrow at midday
the ceremony which unites our lives forever will
take place. Every thing will be conducted as
quietly as possible. We shall have no fete ex-
cept for the peasantry, and no company except-
ing that of Adrienne's maternal uncle from En-
gland— the brother to her late guardian. I am
very sorry that you will not be here to share
our happiness. I would have written to you
before this, to acquaint you with our wedding
arrangements, had not our mother prevented
me from time to time. It is a great pity that
you should have fancied to travel just at this
time ; but you were always a contrary fellow,
and unlike the rest of the world, mon cher, so
we can but lament your sins of omission. To
tell you the truth, I fear lest Adrienne should
imagine that you are not favorable to our mar-
riage, or that you do not like her, and have
gone away for the purpose. Seriously, it has
that appearance, and I am sorry for it, although
I know it can not be actually the case. I have
purchased the Hauteville property. The price
was high, and the house, I regret to say, is al-
most a ruin ; but the repairs will be commenced
in a few days. There is a kiosque in the park,
which I mean to convert into a smoking-room.
I have given my Andalusian mare to Adrienne,
and bought a new bay riding-horse for my own
use. Adrienne looks charming on horseback
— quite an Amazon. Besides, the mare had
not fire enough in her to suit me. Our mother
is looking well, and these matrimonial prepara-
tions keep her constantly employed. That good
heart ! it would have been almost worth while
to have married, had it been only for the sake
of seeing her so proud and happy. I wish you
could be here to-morrow for the ceremony ; but
I know that you are too firmly wedded to your
old bookworm habits to care any thing for love
or marriage. Will you ever fall in love your-
self, mon cher? The very question, as applied
to you, .seems an absurdity — unless, indeed,
some fair Olimpia Morata were now living in
Heidelberg for your sake ! Adieu, my dear
Paul. Take care of yourself, and let us see
you at home again when we return from our
wedding tour.
" Your attached brother,
"THEOPHILE LATOUR."
"A letter filled with good news !" exclaimed
Seabrook, gayly, as he concluded my brother's
epistle. " Come, you must describe this fair
bride to me— is she beautiful ?"
"Most beautiful!''
"Amiable?"
"As an angel."
"And rich?"
I nodded.
"But this is not half a wold-painting. What
hair has she ? What eyes ? Is she tall or
short ? brunette or blonde ? gay, grave, lively,
or severe ? Now manifest your artist-skill, La-
tour, in enumerating me so glowing a catalogue
of your sister-in-law's charms, that, as the
knightly Troubadour, Geoffrey de Rudel, of the
fair Countess of Tripoli, I may become enam-
ored of her beauty, even without having once
beheld it!"
His unconscious levity jarred upon me. I
turned my head suddenly and looked him in
the face.
'•'•Mon ami," I said, earnestly, and with all
the firmness I could muster, " do not ask me to
dwell upon this subject — to speak to you of this
lady. I — I can not."
He started ; the letter dropped from his hand,
and he pressed my hand silently. We were
both silent for a long time, and I was the first
to speak.
"Tell me, Seabrook," I said, "who is, or
was, this fair Olimpia Morata whom my brother
mentions ? Do you know any thing of her ?"
' ' Yes ; she was an Italian lady of much beau-
ty and learning, married to a young German
doctor named Grunthler, who fell in love witli
her at Fcrrara, and fled with her to Augsburg
MY BROTHER'S WIFE.
in 1548, to escape the persecutions of the Italian
Church. Chased from Augsburg to Schwein-
furt, from Schweinfurt to Hammelburgh, they
settled at last in Heidelberg, under the protec-
tion of the Elector Palatine. Here Grunthler
obtained the appointment of Professor of Phys-
ics to the University, and his wife delivered lec-
tures upon the Greek, Latin, and French lan-
guages, and upon the paradoxes of Cicero.
They were now perfectly happy ; and the great
beauty of Olimpia, as well as the fame of her
acquirements, brought many listeners and gaz-
ers from far and near throughout all Germany.
In 1555 she died, at the age of twenty-nine
years. You may see her simple monument
yonder, in the church-yard of St. Peter. Shall
we stroll down into the town and look at it?"
" Not now, Seabrook, for I want to propose
something to you. You have no particular mo-
tive in remaining at Heidelberg, have you ?"
"You know that I am only loitering about
here among the books of the University for my
own amusement."
" Good. Would you object to go to Frank-
furt?"
"To Frankfurt? Certainly not; but why
do you wish to visit Frankfurt ?"
"I only name Frankfurt because it is near.
I care not where we go, if we but go some-
where ; for I need change, amusement, relief
from the monotony of thought. You are free
— free as myself — let us get away, farther away,
to Frankfurt, Darmstadt, Wiesbaden — any where
you will!"
Once more he pressed my hand in his, for he
understood me.
"To Frankfurt, then, and with what speed
we may ! When will you go ? To-night ?"
" Not to-night. Let us spend our last moon-
light evening together among the ruins. I may
never behold them again."
"And sup afterward with the University lads
at the Hirschgasse ! We must be merry for
the nonce, for who knows when we shall again
share their ' cakes and ale ?' "
So that evening, when the crescent moon
stood over the clock-tower like a silver sickle in
a field of stars, we went up to the ruins, and
heard the nightingales sing in Heidelberg for
the last time.
Alas ! for the last time !
Farewell, then, to thee, thou majestic monu-
ment of many centuries ! Though I behold
thee no more, yet keepest thou thy desolate
state on the steep verge of the Jettenbuhl, and
some of my greenest memories cling round thy
crumbling walls, even as thine own ivy. This
wintry sun which gleams in so coldly through
my casement as I write, sleeps now upon fliy
grassy court-yard, thy fountain, and the maimed
heroes of thy kingly Rittersaal ; this chill air,
which shakes the gaunt poplars yonder by the
dull pond, stirs amid the branches of thy droop-
ing willows, and rustles the last yellow leaves
upon the lindens of thy Blasted Tower. The
people come and go amid thy solitudes — the
river eddies far beneath — the town lies at thy
foot. Thou art the same, and I alone am
changed !. Farewell to theel
CHAPTER X.
THE MOONLIGHT SONATA.
FROM Heidelberg to Frankfurt we went in
the misty morning, past the Sea of Rocks— past
the dark leafy Odenwald — past the sunny Berg-
strasse, and the little stagnant capital of the
duchy of Hesse Darmstadt.
The sunny Bergstrasse ! This "road of
mountains," as the Germans poetically name
it, is an undulating chain of hills, cultivated in
fields, orchards, and vineyards up almost to the
summits, and crowned, like Indian chiefs, with
solemn plumes of the fir and pine. At the feet
of these hills lie little white villages with heav-
en-pointing spires, and yellow corn-stacks, and
pillars of blue smoke rising up into the "pa-
geantry of mist" which hangs in fantastic bil-
lowy wreaths low down the sides of the mount-
ains. Here, also, are fields of pink poppies,
maize, wheat, and potatoes — wooded bluffs, and
dark green hollows — steep ravines, and slopes
of radiant green, and towers, and streamlets
crossed by rude wooden bridges, and feeding
cattle, and rustic gardens, and foaming mill-
streams turning busy wheels, and yoked oxen
bending their proud heads .to the earth before
the steady plow. A fairy fertile region — a land
of corn and wine ! And past here, with the
beautiful Bergstrasse on our right, and the
broad, sandy, flat Rhine-valley, with the river
winding far away, and the summits of Mont
Tonnerre and the Vosges Mountains dimly
showing through the distance on the left, we
went from feudal Heidelberg to the ''ancient
imperial free city" on the River Main, where Lu-
ther lived, and where Goethe was born — that
fair fine city of Frankfurt, where the houses- are
so white and high, and the public streets so
broad and busy ; where the shops are so gay
and the women so fair, and where the slates on
the roofs are shaped like fishes' scales.
It was a sultry sunny day, that first day of
our arrival in Frankfurt ; and when we return-
ed to our hotel, after seeing the Romer, with its
kingly portrait gallery, the public library near
the Ober Main Thor, and the monument of the
Emperor Giinther von Schwartzburg in the old
cathedral, we were too warm and too weary to
do any thing but sit smoking beside the open
window till summoned down by the pealing bell
to that second and later meal which is provided
in most German hotels for such foreign visitors
as object to the national midday dinner.
Our apartment overlooked the broad Zeil, all
thronged with carriages and promenaders, and
looking like a Parisian boulevard without the
trees. It was to me a new and cheerful scene.
Here were elegant loungers, and travelers with
MY BROTHER'S WIFE.
the Guide-book in their hands, and sun-burnt
peasant-women selling cherries by the roadside.
Boyish soldiers of the town-guard, with their
dull gray and green uniforms, and their round
hats surmounted by bunches of cock's feathers,
went sauntering by, arm in arm, clanking their
spurs. Luxurious private carriages, belonging
to the merchant-princes of the city, dashed past,
raising the dust in clouds. Humble yellow ca-
leches, indicative of hotel-stables, ambled along,
filled with smiling and admiring tourists. ' Some-
times a red railway omnibus went by, with its
two gaunt horses, and its bearded conductor,
who pauses and rings a bell as he nears every
hotel by the way ; sometimes a dark, keen-look-
ing Hebrew, from the neighborhood of the Ju-
dengasse, glided gravely through the crowd;
and once a troop of glittering cavalry, with helm
and breastplate flashing back the sunlight, rode
down the street to ringing sounds of brazen
music.
Pleasant to me, oh Frankfurt ! are the rec-
ollections of thy wealth, and thy dignity, and
thy free stateliness, as thou sittest on the banks
of the Main River, fair and beautiful, like Do-
7 rothea by the brook-side in the Brown Mount-
, ain.
The table d'hote of the Baierischer Hof was
attended chiefly by English and French visitors,
with a sprinkling of Germans and a small knot
of Polish Jews, who congregated together at one
extremity of the table, and talked loudly and
unintelligibly during the whole period of the
dinner. These gentlemen wore each a scrap
of red ribbon at the button-hole, and were call-
ed by the waiters Lord Baron and Lord Count,
notwithstanding that their jewelry looked some-
what questionable, and that their linen might
have been washed with considerable advantage.
When the second course of that hopelessly
incongruous ceremony, a German dinner, had
just been removed, a gentleman came hastily
into the room and took a seat which had been
left vacant at the table just opposite my own.
I say a gentleman, because, despite the poverty
of his attire, there was an air of faded gentility
about the appearance of the new-comer that
seemed to entitle him to the appellation. He
wore an old brown frock-coat, buttoned nearly
to the throat, and trimmed with ragged braid
across the breast ; and in his black stock a small
pearl brooch inclosing a lock of dark hair. He
was very thin, and stooped much, and his hands
were yellow and spare, like those of a sick man.
His hair and mustache were thick and quite
gray ; and his face, as he looked up, bore that
peculiar expression, so worn and so sorrowful,
such as we see given to the martyrs in the old
paintings by Van Eyck and Wilhelm of Cologne.
It was a remarkable face — so remarkable that,
after gazing upon it in silence for a few mo-
ments, I could not forbear observing it to my
friend beside me. I should not have called him
a plain man ; on the contrary, his nose and
mouth were somewhat delicately shaped ; and
yet the skin seemed drawn so tightly over every
feature that the cartilage of the nose showed
whitely beneath, and the lips were shrunken so
as partially to expose the teeth within, which
were irregular, firm, and glittering. His fore-
head was particularly massive, and projected in
two knots above the eyes, causing them to look
deep-sunken and glowing, like a lurid fire in
the depths of a dark cavern. Added to this,
his whole complexion wore one dull, unhealthy
sallow hue — his actions were nervous, trembling,
and eager — the tones of his voice high and quer-
ulous— his glances rapid, furtive, and suspicious.
I also noticed that he devoured the dishes, as
they were placed before him, with a quick vo-
racity that I felt shocked to witness.
"Look at our opposite neighbor,"! whisper-
ed, softly; "can you not read a long story of
privation and anxiety in that poor fellow's pal-
lid countenance ?"
Seabrook looked up. A sudden flash of sur-
prise and recognition passed over his face.
" I know him," he said, in a low tone. "His
name is Fletcher. He is an Englishman — a
strange, eccentric creature, of wild and irregular
habits, but a real genius."
"A genius — in what?"
" In music. He plays the organ and violin
— composes the wildest and most wondrous la-
ments, fantasias, and capricios that ear ever
heard — lives the most restless, wretched life on
earth — eats opium, and is killing himself inch
by inch, day by day, in the pursuit of that fatal
intoxication. I used to meet him constantly
in Vienna, about a couple of years since, at the
houses of two or three musical friends, and we
became tolerably well acquainted. I will speak
to him."
And he bent forward and a4dressed to him
some brief words of ordinary civility. The mu-
sician looked up hastily. He seemed startled
and confused.
"I — I beg your pardon, "he said, nervously,
"for not having observed you before. I hope
yoi* are quite well. It is a fine day, but they
say we shall have rain. Have you been to the
theatre much ? This is a very bad dinner — red
currant jelly with salmon — faugh ! Do you like
the German wines ? Rudesheimer is the best.
Have you been long here ? I have been here
two montbs ; but I leave to-morrow. Going to
Ems. How are our friends in Paris ?"
My companion smiled and shook his head.
" It was not in Paris, but Vienna, that we
used to meet, Mr. Fletcher," he said. "Don't
you remember our choral evenings at Alexander
Braun's, and our quartett parties in the Freder-
ic-strasse, near St. Stephen's church ?"
"True, true ; but I have no memory now ex-
cept for music. I hope you will forgive me. I
remember you perfectly. You play the violon-
cello, and very well too. Those were pleasant
meetings at Braun's. Do you recollect the
evening that Chopin came in ? He played splen-
didly that night. Do you know many people
in Frankfurt? Plenty of music always going
on. I have been conducting the band at the
MY BROTHER'S WIFE.
25
Main-lust ; but this will be my last evening.
Will you come round and hear us ?"
There was an anxious rapidity and incoher-
ence in this man's conversation that was to me
unaccountably distressing. His words and ideas
came hurrying forth, one after the other, without
connection or pause ; and when he had ceased
speaking, it seemed rather that he relapsed into
some previous train of silent thought than that
he waited for a reply.
"I should like to hear your music very
much," said Seabrook, "and I am very sure
my friend would also. Let me introduce you :
Monsieur Latour — Mr. Fletcher."
He bowed, almost without looking at me, and
went on.
"Do not expect too much. The band is only
tolerable ; but the Frankfurt Choral Society sing
to-night. They will amuse you. Have you
ever been to the Main-lust ? It is an odd place.
You sit under the trees and drink coffee while
we play to you. Don't touch this calf 's-head
— it's intolerable. By the way, you have tasted
sour-krout ? Schroder is dead. You remember
Schroder — he used to take the tenor in the quar-
tetts. Are you lodging at this hotel ? We can
go down to the gardens together after dinner.
It is now four, and at five we begin."
He relapsed into a dull silence, bent over his
plate, and, when Seabrook again spoke to him,
seemed not to hear.
Almost as silently, he conducted us, when the
meal was over, to the concert-gardens called the
Main -lust, just beyond the town. Here the
most respectable of the citizens repair with their
families, and, sitting beneath the leafy roof
formed by the close-planted trees, have coffee
and ices, and even suppers, in the grounds.
The gentlemen amuse themselves with pistol
and rifle shooting in a gallery set apart for that
purpose, and there is a circular kiosque for the
band. The ladies read and knit ; the children
sit by demurely, listening to the music and eat-
ing cakes ; and the waiters glide about, silent
and attentive, with little badges on their arms.
A large hulk is moored beside the garden — for
it abuts on the river, just in view of the city
spires — and on this hulk a sort of arch is erect-
ed, all hung round with evergreens and colored
lamps, and surmounted by a bust of Mozart.
Desks are placed here for the singers, and it is
all fenced round by trellis-work, and flowers, and
Chinese lanterns, and gay flags and streamers.
Here the Choral Society, some thirty gentlemen
in all, assemble presently, and the evening pass-
es pleasantly away between alternate vocal and
instrumental pieces. They sing well, and their
voices come richly to us from the river. Then
it grows dusk, and the moon rises. The colored
lamps are lit, and the light from them— blue,
green, and red — falls, with a curious effect, upon
the faces of the singers. Mr. Fletcher conducts
in the orchestra, but we can not see him from
where we sit beneath the close avenues. Well-
dressed people promenade through the garden
walks, and numbers of tiny pleasure-boats, filled
by young men and maidens, come stealing soft-
ly round the singers in the river — some with a
twinkling lamp suspended at the prow, which
casts a light upon the ripples of their progress.
The bridge close by is likewise crowded with
listeners ; and the boys from the town, in their
blue blouses, come climbing up the shrubby
banks, with the true German love for that art
which has been called " the poetry of sound."
Thus the cool hours glide ; and, by-and-by,
the gay company, the flitting pleasure-boats, the
loiterers on the bridge, disperse their several
ways, and the gardens are deserted. The sing-
ers mingle with their friends in the departing
crowd ; the musicians in the kiosque pack away
their instruments ; the waiters go round, extin-
guishing the lights and collecting the empty
glasses. Mr. Fletcher joins us where we are
waiting for him near the entrance, and we all
go out together into the blank, silent streets.
It begins to rain, and we hurry on in silence,
past the Stadel Museum, and the Allee facing
the theatre, where stands the bronze statue of
Goethe, looking shadowy through the mist —
pass the Rossmarkt, and into a narrow street
opening on the Zeil, where our companion stops
suddenly, and, pointing to a lighted doorway be-
fore which we have just arrived, says,
" Let us go in for an hour. It is early, and
I always sup here. We have music and goose-
pies. It is a sort of private club ; and nearly
all the band come. Have you any objection ?
Mendelssohn came in one night with Weigel
andHirt!"
We are only too delighted, and we follow him
down a passage and to the door of an inner
room, whence come the sounds of loud laugh-
ter, and chinking glasses, and snatches of gay
songs. A porter, who touches his cap as we
approach, sits by the entrance, and throws the
door open. It is a room filled with tobacco-
smoke, and the odors of beer and hot savory
dishes. Around a long table in the centre sit
some sixteen or eighteen dingy-looking, beard-
ed men, busily occupied with the viands before
them. Some are smoking during the intervals
between the courses ; some are arguing, telling
tales, whispering confidentially together; some
are reading the "Frankfurt Journal" while they
eat. All is freedom, and enjoyment, and good-
fellowship.
We sit down, almost without being observed,
at the lower end of the table ; and. being sup-
plied with all that it affords, fall to work heartily.
Fletcher is more taciturn than ever, and eats vo-
raciously, like a dog, holding his head down, and
helping himself to every thing that is near.
"Take no notice of him," whispers Seabrook,
observing my surprise. " He is very eccentric,
and you have not yet seen him ,to advantage.
Wait till the supper is removed, and you will
find him no longer the same man. He knew
Beethoven, and his conversation is sometimes
most interesting. We must contrive to lead to
the subject in some way by-and-by."
The smoking, the talking, the eating still goes
26
MY BROTHER'S WIFE.
on. Indeed, it would seem that the relays of
dishes are never-ending, especially the favorite
goose-pies of which we have been told. How-
ever, the supper does at last arrive at a conclu-
sion— the table is cleared — tobacco, beer, wine,
and cigars are laid before us — the chair is taken |
by a stout dark man in a green coat — the read-
ers lay down their newspapers, and music and
conversation become the order of the night.
"A song!" cries the president, in a powerful
bass voice. "A song 4 I call upon Brenner
for a song!"
Brenner, a fair young man with an amber
beard, hereupon rises, amid general acclama-
tion, and, seating himself at a piano, preludes
cleverly for some minutes, and then glides, by
an agreeable transition, into a graceful tenor
song by Schubert. His voice is sweet, but not
powerful; and he sings remarkably well. I
learn from a gentleman opposite that he belongs
to the summer theatre at Bockenheim, and takes
the roles of second tenor. Great applause and
cries of "encore" prevent him from resuming
his seat after he has concluded. Seabrook sug-
gests "Adelaide" — it is repeated by several
voices — the singer bows and smiles, and the
song is sung.
"I know no music like Beethoven's, after
all," says Seabrook, with a glance toward me
and a little emphasis in his tone. "There is
a power and passion in it which I find in no
other ; a deep, earnest under-current of poetry ;
an inner meaning ; a universality of feeling and
perception totally unlike others of his craft. I
often think that if Beethoven had not been a
musician, he would have been a great poet.
Look at his bust — it is almost Homeric in its
stern beauty. Those loose, thick locks; that
large, eloquent mouth,- that furrowed brow;
those deep, thoughtful eyes — are they not the
very types and outward revelations of the strong,
wild nature of the man, and of his great warm
heart?"
"You are right, sir," says Fletcher, turning
sudddely toward us with kindling eyes. "And
he put that heart into his music — that heart that
was so torn and rejected by his fellow-men.
What pictures of life and emotion are many of
his symphonies and sonatas ! How character-
istically some of them are conducted ! At first
wailing and lonely, like a sorrowful voice in the
night-silence ; then agitated, broken, throbbing,
like the yearnings of a full heart ; then stormy,
torrent-like, burning, as the billows of a tem-
pest, which rage and leap, and then, all sud-
denly, subside away, while some aerial melody,
like a charmed boat, comes gliding over the sur-
face, bringing calm, and sunshine, and openings
of blue sky, and airs from heaven ! "
"You knew him personally, Fletcher, " says
the gentleman opposite, who has been lending
an attentive ear to all that passes. * ' Can you
not tell us something of himself?"
This speech is somewhat injudicious ; for the
musician is of a contrary temper, and dislikes
talking "by desire." He pauses, looks discon-
certed, and, but for a well-timed observation
from Seabrook, would probably have relapsed
into his previous taciturnity.
"His music," says my friend, "is his best bi-
ography. In it we have a record, intelligible
enough to those whose sympathies are with him,
of his joys, sorrows, and struggles — nay, even of
certain incidents of his life, and of his politics,
as in the case of the pastoral and heroic sympho-
nies. From it we learn to read his every feel-
ing ; for, like himself, it is all tenderness, and
impulse, and stormful energy."
"It is beautiful and terrible," says Fletcher,
thoughtfully, " as his own nature. It is an in-
cantation— a poem — a spiritual philosophy.
Did I ever tell you how or why he composed
the Moonlight Sonata?"
"Never," replies Seabrook, giving me a tri-
umphant glance.
" It happened at Bonn. Of course you know
that Bonn was his native place. He was born
in a house in the Eheingasse ; but when I first
knew him, he was lodging in the upper part of
a little mean shop near the Romerplatz. He
was wretchedly poor just then ; so poor that he
never went out for a walk except at night, on
account of the poverty of his appearance. How-
ever, he had a piano, pens, paper, ink, and a
few books, and from these he contrived to ex-
tract some little happiness, despite his priva-
tions. At this time, you know, he had not the
misfortune to be deaf. He could at least enjoy
the harmony of his own compositions. Later
in life he had not even that consolation. One
winter's evening I called upon him, for I want-
ed him to take a walk, and afterward to sup
with me. I found him sitting by the window
in the moonlight without fire or candle, his
head buried in his hands, and his whole frame
trembling with cold ; for it was freezing bitter-
ly. I roused him, persuaded him to accompany
me, urged him to shake oif his despondency.
He went ; but he was very gloomy and hope-
less that night, and refused to be comforted.
'I hate life and the world,' he said, passionate-
ly. 'I hate myself! No one understands or
cares for me. I have genius, and I am treated
as an outcast. I have heart, and none to love.
I wish it were all over, and forever ! I wish
that I were lying peacefully at the bottom of
the river yonder. I sometimes find it difficult
to resist the temptation.' And he pointed to
the Rhine, looking cold and bright in the moon-
light. I made no reply ; for it was useless to
argue with Beethoven, so I allowed him to go
on in the same strain, which he did, nor paused
till we were returning through the town, when
he subsided into a sullen silence. I did not
care to interrupt him. Passing through some
dark, narrow streets within the Coblentz gate,
he paused suddenly. ' Hush !' he said. ' What
sound is that ?' I listened, and heard the feeble
tones of what was evidently a very old piano,
proceeding from some place close at hand. The
performer was playing a plaintive movement in
triple time, and, despite the worthlessness of
MY BROTHER'S WIFE.
27
the instrument, contrived to impart to it consid-
erable tenderness of expression. Beethoven
looked at me with sparkling eyes. ' It is from
my symphony in F ! ' he said, eagerly. * This
is the house. Hark! how well it is played!'
It was a little, mean dwelling, with a light shin-
:ing through the chink of the shutters. We
paused outside and listened. The player went
on, and the two following movements were exe-
cuted with the same fidelity — the same expres-
sion. In the middle of the finale there was a
sudden break— a momentary silence — then the
low sounds of sobbing. ' I can not go on,' said
a female voice. ' I can not play any more to-
night, Friedrich !' * Why not, my sister?' ask-
ed her companion, gently. ' I scarcely know
why, unless that it is so beautiful, and that it
seems so utterly beyond my power to do justice
to its perfection. Oh, what would I not give to
go to-night to Cologne ! There is a concert
given at the Kauf haus, and all kinds of beauti-
ful music to be performed. It must be so nice
to go to a concert!' 'Ah! my sister,' said the
man, sighing, 'none but the rich can afford
such happiness. It is useless to create regrets
for ourselves where there can be no remedy.
We can scarcely pay our rent now, so why dare
even to think of what is unattainable?' 'You
are right, Friedrich,' was her reply. 'And yet
sometimes, when I am playing, I wish that for
once in my life I might hear some really good mu-
sic and fine performance. But it is of no use — of
no use ! ' There was something very touching in
the tone of these last words, and in the manner
of their repetition. Beethoven looked at me.
'Let us go in,' he said, hurriedly. 'Go in!' I
exclaimed. ' How can we go in ? what can we
go in for ?' ' I will play to her,' he said, in the
same excited tone. ' Here is feeling — genius
1 — understanding. I will play to her, and she
will appreciate it !' And before I could pre-
vent him, his hand was upon the door. It was
only latched, and instantly gave way ; so I fol-
lowed him through the dark passage to a half-
opened door at the right of the entrance, which
he pushed open and entered. It was a bare,
comfortless apartment, with a small stove at one
end, and scanty furniture. A pale young man
was sitting by the table, making shoes ; and
near him, leaning sorrowfully upon an old-fash-
ioned harpsichord, sat a young girl, with a pro-
fusion of light hair falling over her bent face.
Both were cleanly but very poorly dressed, and
both started and turned toward us as we en-
tered. 'Pardon me,' said Beethoven, looking
somewhat embarrassed. ' Pardon me — but —
but I heard music, and I was tempted to enter.
I am a musician.' The girl blushed, and the
young man looked grave — somewhat annoyed.
'I — I also overheard something of what you
said,' continued my friend. ' You wish to hear
— that is, you would like — that is — shall I play
to you ?' There was something so odd, so
whimsicalj so brusque in the whole affair, and
something so pleasant and eccentric in the very
manner of the speaker, that the ice seemed bro-
ken in a moment, and all smiled involuntarily.
' Thank you,' said the shoemaker ; ' but our
harpsichord is wretched, and we have no music.'
'No music!' echoed my friend. 'How, then,
does the fraiilein — ' He paused and colored
up, for the girl looked round full at him, and in
the dim, melancholy gaze of those clouded eyes
he saw that she was blind. ' I — I entreat your
pardon,' he stammered; 'but I had not per-
ceived before. Then you play from ear ?' * En-
tirely.' 'And where do you hear the music,
since you frequent no concerts?' 'I used to
hear a lady practicing near us when we lived
at Briihl two years ago. During the summer1
evenings her window was generally open, and I
walked to and fro outside to listen to her.*
' And have you never heard any music ? ' ' None
— excepting street-music.' She seemed shy, so
Beethoven said no more, but seated himself
quietly before the piano, and began to play.
He had no sooner struck the first chord than I
knew what would follow — how grand he would
be that night ! And I was not mistaken. Nev-
er, never, during all the years I knew him, did I
hear him play as he then played to that blind
girl and her brother ! Never heard I such fire,
such passionate tenderness, such infinite grada-
tions of melody and modulation ! He was in-
spired; and from the instant that his fingers
began to wander along the keys, the very tones
of the instrument seemed to grow sweeter and
more equal. Breathless and entranced, we sat
listening. The brother and sister were silent
with wonder and rapture. The former laid
aside his work ; the latter, with her head bent
slightly forward, and her hands pressed tightly
over her breast, crouched down near the end of
the harpsichord, as if fearful lest even the beat-
ing of her heart should break the flow of those
magical sweet sounds. It was as if we were all
bound in a strange dream, and only feared to
wake. Suddenly the flame of the single candle
wavered, sunk, flickered, and went out. Beet-
hoven paused, and I threw open the shutters,
admitting a flood of brilliant moonlight. The
room was almost as light as before, and the illu-
mination fell strongest on the piano and the
player. But the chain of his ideas seemed to
have been broken by the accident. His head
drooped upon his breast— his hands rested upon
his knees — he seemed absorbed in meditation.
It was thus for some time. At length the young
shoemaker rose, and approaching him eagerly,
yet reverently — ' Wonderful man !' he said, in a
low tone, ' who and what are you ?' Beethoven
lifted his head and looked up at him vacantly,
as if unconscious of the meaning of his words.
He repeated the question. The composer
smiled, as he only could smile, benevolently,
indulgently, kingly. 'Listen!' he said, and
played the opening bars of the symphony in F.
A cry of delight and recognition burst from the
lips of both, and exclaiming, 'Then you are
Beethoven!' they covered his hands with' tears
and kisses. He rose to go, but we held him
back with entreaties. ' Play to us once more
28
MY BROTHER'S WIFE.
— only once more !' He suffered himself to be
led back to the instrument. The moon shone
brightly in through the curtainless window, and
lit up his glorious rugged head and massive fig-
ure. ' I will improvise a sonata to the moon-
light!' said he, half playfully. He looked up
thoughtfully for a few moments to the sky and
the stars — then his hands dropped upon the
keys, and he began playing a low, sad, and infi-
nitely lovely movement, which crept gently over
the instrument with a sweet and level beau-
ty, like the calm flow of moonlight over the
dark earth. This delicious opening was fol-
lowed by a wild, elfin, capricious passage in
triple time — a sort of grotesque interlude, like
a dance of sprites upon the midnight sward.
Then came a swift agitato finale — a breathless,
hurrying, trembling movement, descriptive of
flight, and uncertainty, and vague impulsive
terror, which carried us away upon its rushing
wings, and left us at the last all emotion and
wonder. 'Farewell to you,' said Beethoven,
abruptly, pushing back his chair, and turning
toward the door ; ' farewell to you.' ' You will
come again?' asked they in one breath. He
paused, and looked compassionately, almost ten-
derly, at the face of the blind girl. ' Yes, yes,'
he said, hurriedly, ' I will come again, and give
the fraiilein some lessons. Farewell; I will
come soon again !' They followed us in a si-
lence more eloquent than words, and stood at
their door till we were out of sight and hearing.
"Let us make haste back,' said Beethoven, urg-
ing me on at a rapid pace. 'Let us make
haste, that I may write out that sonata while I
can yet remember it !' We did so, and he sat
over it till long past the day-dawn. And this
was the origin of that ' Moonlight Sonata' with
which we are all so fondly acquainted."
The musician ceased speaking. There was
. a dead silence, for all had been intently listen-
ing.
"And did he afterward teach the blind girl?"
asked some one, at length, from the farther end
of the table.
Fletcher smiled sadly and shook his head.
" He never went again. When the excite-
ment was past, the interest was gone also ; and
though doubtless they remembered and expect-
ed him week after week, he thought of them no
more, excepting as his eyes chanced now and
then to fall upon the pages of the 'Sonata.' Is
not such the rule of life?"
Shortly after this the company began gradu-
ally to disperse, and by the time we rose to
leave, nearly all were gone or going, with the
exception of a knot of choice spirits at the up-
per end, who had made up their minds to her-
ald in the daylight.
The rain was over now, and the night starry.
As we passed the doors of the theatre, we saw
the bill-stickers busily placarding the pro-
grammes for the following evening.
"Look here!" cried Seabrook. "There is
to be a performance to-morrow night ! ' Der
Freischutz,' by all that's glorious! We must
go, Paul ! See, THE ENGAGEMENT OF MADAME
VOGELSANG, in letters half a foot long ! Who
is Madame Vogelsang? Does any body know?"
We both turned toward Fletcher for a reply.
He had been conversing gayly but a moment
before, yet now he stood still and silent. The
light from the street-lamp fell full upon his
face. He was very pale, and his lips quivered
convulsively. He caught my arm as if for sup-
port, and I felt him trembling.
' ' Mon Dieu /" I cried, involuntarily. ' ' You
are ill!"
He shook his head — subdued his emotion by
a strong effort — relinquished his hold upon my
arm — drew his hat down upon his brow — and,
without a word of reply, turned abruptly away,
and dashed down a neighboring street. In a
moment he was out of sight, and we were left
standing together by the theatre door, in mute
amazement.
"A most eccentric man!" exclaimed Sea-
brook, drawing a long breath, as we resumed
our way. "I always fancied that he was half-
cracked, and I do not suppose that drinking and
opium -eating have done any service to his
brains!"
CHAPTER XI.
" I REALLY believe, Norman, that you, famil-
iar as you are with the pleasures of cities, feel
more anticipation and enjoyment this evening
than I, who have not witnessed a theatrical per-
formance more than thrice in my life !"
I was tempted to say this on seeing the buoy-
ant exhilaration of his manner and counte-
nance as he surveyed the house through his
lorgnette, and gazed impatiently toward the
drop-curtain.
" 'Der Freischutz' is my favorite opera," he
replied, smiling. " I enjoy the wild devilry of
the legend ; and, above all, I delight in the pic-
turesque music of Weber. He has all the
science of Spohr, and more than the sweetness
of Rossini."
" The part of Caspar is immensely powerful."
" Immensely. I could listen to the drinking^
song for a whole evening, and to the low, fitful
music of the incantation scene, with its mutter-
ing thunders and grotesque imagery. I have,
often thought that the part of Zamiel might be
made more striking by the performers in a dra-
matic point of view, for — "
My friend's criticism was arrested by the
opening chords of the overture, and from this
moment he became entirely absorbed in the
progress of the performance. We occupied a
small box near the stage, whence we could see
the actors closely, but whence, also, we suffered
under the disadvantage of witnessing somewhat
too much of the "business" of the coulisses,
This was particularly annoying to Seabrook,
who, faithful to his love of complete enjoyment,
regretted the lost illusion of the scenery.
MY BROTHER'S WIFE.
29
" I prefer," said he, " to be for the time utter-
ly deceived. 1 do not wish to see that Zamiel's
nose is false, and that Caspar wears a wig. I
would rather believe that yonder pale spectres
have just arisen, shuddering, from the Tartarean
gulfs, than watch them drinking beer at the
sides, out of sight of the audience. There
ought to be no side- seats in a theatre. There
should not be, were I the architect."
Accompanied by such brief remarks on music
and the stage, the piece went on. Like all
German performances, it was conscientiously
rendered. The band played as one instrument ;
the chorus sang as one man ; but, with the ex-
ception of the jmma donna, the principal per-
formers were little beyond mediocrity. The
scenery, too, was faded and worn — the dresses
dingy — the house far from cleanly. Yet it was
crowded — crowded from pit to gallery with earn-
est listeners — lit by close rows of eager upturn-
ed faces. Madame Vogelsang, it would seem,
was the attraction to the good townspeople of
Frankfurt — Madame Vogelsang, whose name
had been placarded in letters half a foot long,
and of whom Norman Seabrook had never
heard.
And here let me pause for some moments,
that I may briefly describe this woman as I
then saw her for the first time.
Therese Vogelsang was already past the
bloom of her first youth. She might then have
been perhaps thirty, or thirty-two years of age,
and, in place of the slight proportions of early
beauty, her superb figure had attained all the
majestic grace and fullness of a Juno's. She
was somewhat above the middle height. Her
head was noble ; her arms were the whitest and
loveliest I had ever beheld ; her dark hair was
gathered in abundant braids around her serene
and stately brow. There was something very
dignified in her look, her bearing, her walk, in
the very movements of her hands ; something
statuesque in her repose, her action, her every
attitude. But her face, her lovely face, with its
dark, languishing brown eyes, so soft and dan-
gerous — her mouth, so full and so alluring —
her rounded cheeks, her small straight nose,
her smile, like the siren-smile of Italian Circe
— of all these I have not yet spoken — of these I
weep to speak, even to think.
Woe is me that this pen should have to trace
the record, oh songstress, of thy most fatal
beauty !
Her voice, like her person, was full, voluptu-
ous, infinitely sweet and powerful. Its luscious
tones, alternately tender and commanding, had
a thrilling and peculiar accent, which left what
is in French called a retentissement in the hearts
of her hearers. Her love-accents, so tremu-
lously sustained and touching, seemed to vi-
brate in one's very soul — her tears, stage-tears
though they were, moved the inmost sympathies
of one's nature. Looking at her, you felt your-
self in a dream ; listening to her, you fancied
yourself in Elysium.
I do not exaggerate her fascinations. In-
deed, I describe them almost in the very words
of my friend, and of many others who subse-
quently felt them.
"What a glorious woman!" exclaimed Sea-
brook more than once during the evening.
"What a regnant head! There is something
in her glance that seems almost to take my
breath away ! Did you ever see such eyes —
such a smile ? She looks just like some Phid-
ian Venus Avarmed into life !"
And such, truly, was the character of her
beauty ; warm— life-like — sensual — the perfec-
tion of mortality. In strict accordance with the
genius of Greek art, there was the uttermost re-
finement of personal loveliness ; the luxurious
repose which veils strong physical energy ; the
outer calm which half reveals the inner passion.
One thing alone was wanting, and wanting that,
I found all the rest blank and unalluring. Need
I say that that one thing was Soul ? Yes, from
the very first, that flaw in the diamond, that
dark stain upon the marble, was plain to me.
I saw in her only the Mortal-Beautiful — per-
haps the Sinful-Beautiful. I missed that spir-
itual glory which I have sought and worship-
ed during all the years of my life — which has
shone out upon me from less beautiful, but
dearer eyes — which, in God's heaven, lights the
foreheads of the angels !
The opera progressed, amid the acclamations
of the audience, to a conclusion, and at last the
curtain fell. A tempest of applause burst forth
from all parts of the house ; the pit rose simul-
taneously; the name of "Vogelsang" was shout-
ed enthusiastically by hundreds of voices — by
none more rapturously and loudly than that of
Norman Seabrook. After some delay the drop-
curtain was moved aside — the hurricane re-
doubled— the vocalist once more stepped before
the audience.
Her stage-costume was thrown aside, and she
wore a robe of plain black velvet, which became
her beauty and complexion ten times better than
the former dress. Her cheek was flushed with
pleasure — she smiled — she advanced to the foot-
lights— she clasped her hands upon her breast,
half deprecatingly, half joyfully — her eyes wan-
dered round the house with an indescribably fas-
cinating expression — she bent lower and lower
— she gathered up the flowers that fell around
her on every side, and pressed them alternately
to her lips and to her heart.
How strange it was, but in the midst of that
tumult, while every eye was directed to the stage
— while Norman, flushed and excited, was lean-
ing forward from the box, applauding frantical-
ly— while the very players in the orchestra were
joining in the general/wrore, I was tempted, by
some sudden and inexplicable impulse, to turn
all at once and look round at the box-door be-
hind us.
Not vainly — not vainly ; for there, there,
pressed closely against the little window in the
door, and staring wildly forward at the smiling
singer, I saw a ghastly face — a face distorted by
passion and pale rage — the face of Fletcher!
so
MY BROTHER'S WIFE.
For an instant I could not speak, so unex-
pected and strange was the apparition. Then a
smothered exclamation broke from my lips — I
seized my friend by the arm — I pointed to the
door, and, even as I spoke, the face glided sud-
denly away and disappeared.
"Fletcher — the musician — look!"
It was all I could say.
" Where ? what do you mean ? Who ?" ask-
ed Seabrook, impatiently.
I made no reply, but, rushing to the door,
opened it and looked into the lobby. There was
not a soul there. I listened ; but the noise from
the house would have drowned the sound of his
footsteps, even had they then been echoing along
the corridor.
One of the box-keepers was coming up the
stairs. I ran to him, and asked if a gentleman
— a pale, thin gentleman, had passed him on
the way ? No one had passed him, he was con-
vinced. Was there a gentleman answering to
my description in any private box on this tier ?
Not one.
"What is all this?" interrupted my friend,
hastily. "What are you saying about Fletcher ?
Why did you run away just as the Vogelsang
was before the curtain ?'
"Fletcher was looking through our box door !"
"Nonsense ! He is gone to Ems !"
" I swear I saw him ; and looking terrible,
glaring, almost unearthly!" Seabrook burst
into a laugh.
"Pooh! my dear Paul," he said gayly, pass-
ing his arm through mine, and leading me back
toward the box, "you will next fancy that you
have seen a ghost ! It was a delusion, and noth-
ing else. Poor Fletcher is far enough from
Frankfurt to-night, and at the dullest place in
all Germany. I hate Ems — that is to say, I
hate the people who go there. The spot itself
is a paradise, but it is also a hospital. You see
none but invalids and physicians wherever you
go. No, no, you did not see Fletcher, take my
word for it. Hark ! they are beginning again.
Let us go back and see the ballet."
CHAPTER XII.
AM DEN R H E I N.
WE had not been longer than a fortnight in
Frankfurt, when Seabrook came into my room
one bright fresh morning, and, sitting down be-
side my bed — for I had not yet risen — said ab-
ruptly,
' ' Why do we remain here, Latour ? We have
seen all that is to be seen in this place. We have
been to Homburgh and to Offenbach — we have
visited all the stock-sights of the city — we know
the Ariadne and the music by heart. I was up
and out this morning while you were soundly
sleeping, and in the fruit-market near the Romer
I heard a peasant-girl singing a song that has
well-nigh driven me frantic. 'Am den Rhein!
am den Rhein !' Oh, delicious ! Get up, amigo,
and let us not lose a day !"
"In the name of common sense, Norman,
what do you mean ? Where do you want me to
go?"
" Where should I, if not to the Rhine ?"
His gay, enterprising nature swayed mine in
many things by the mere force of its own joyous-
ness-, and now I yielded to the bent of his hu-
mor. Before midday we had arrived at Bibe-
rich, within sight of the turreted city of Mayence
on the opposite bank, and in a few moments more
had taken our places on board the "Konigen,"
and were gliding swiftly and pleasantly over the
broad-flowing waters of the Rhine River.
Gliding, ever gliding, with the warm sum-
mer's air around us, and the bright sunlight
glittering up from the foaming river, and the
pleasant sounds of voices, and of paddle-wheels,
beating like a busy heart, and of humming in-
sects, and faint murmurs from the banks on
either side !
Now, one by one, we pass the rush -grown
river-meadows, as they call these islands of the
Rhine — Peters-meadow, and Ingelheimer-mead-
ow, and Haller - meadow, facing the bare and
lofty chateau of Johannisberg, with its viny
slopes and its chapel spire. The cupolas of
Mayence have by this time faded and sunk be-
neath the level distance — the green hills ad-
vance toward the stream on either side, like the
wings of an army— the Taunus Mountains, far
away, grow pale and cloud-like — through a dark
gorge to the left comes the gentle tide of a trib-
utary river, with houses, and an old collegiate
church, and a ruired castle, all clustered at its
mouth. This is the little Italian-founded town
of Bingen ; and the castle bears the name of
Roman Drusus. Now the banks grow narrow-
er, and the white and stately castle of Rhein-
stein, with its iron cresset suspended from -the
topmost tower, and its tiny chapel sheltering on
a narrow ledge of rock just within shade of the
battlements, stands up erect, like a warden-
knight, guarding the curve of the river. This,
says Seabrook, is the summer - schloss of the
Prince of Prussia. It is now one hour past
noon, and the sailors are busily suspending a
canvas awning overhead. The waiters place
long tables all the length of the upper deck,
and, covering them speedily with relays of snow-
white cloths, silver, and glittering glass, prepare
every thing for our alfresco meal. Next comes
the little ancient town of Bacharach, with its
Avails and towers, and its exquisite fragment of
old red Gothic architecture, St. Werner's Chap-
el, lifted high above the town upon a rise of
green hills. We now take our places at the ta-
ble, beside some merry students, and opposite to
an elderly Graff with a grizzly beard, and his
pretty young wife by his. side. The clatter of
knives and plates commences ; voices talk loudly
all around in French, German, and English ; the
slender-necked amber Rhine-bottles start up in
all directions ; incongruous dishes, eel and sweet
pudding, boiled beef and preserved cherries,
smoked salmon and cheese, pass backward and
forward, and succeed each other with bewilder-
MY BROTHER'S WIFE.
31
ing rapidity; there is the noise of cork-drawing,
conversation, ai.d laughter ; and a pale, sickly-
looking youth, about sixteen years of age, takes
his place beside the man at the wheel, and be-
gins playing with no little skill and taste upon
a curious instrument, like a gigantic accordion,
which contains several rows of keys, and is so
large that it rests upon the deck between his
knees, like a violoncello.
Amid all this, we still glide on in the bright
sunshine, amid the woody hills, the mouldering
ruins, the nestling villages, and sunny vineyards
of the fair Rhine-country.
Now come heights steeper and darker — the
castle of Gutenfels, with the little hamlet of
Caub low-lying at its foot, with towers and
slated roofs — the gloomy turreted Pfalz rising
abruptly from the middle of the river, like a
stone ship at anchor — the green hills beyond
all, the blue sky overhead, and the boat flying
on, ever on, like a swallow on the wing.
Here is Oberwesel, with high round tower
and embattled walls, and circuit of slate mount-
ains, clothed with vines ; and yonder black and
beetling rock, all riven into crags, and surround-
ed at the base by a narrow ledge of winding
pathway — what threatening cliff is that ?
"Look! look!" cried Seabrook , "there
comes the Lurle'yberg — that bare, stern preci-
pice to the right ! That spot where the river
falls and foams is the famous Whirlpool ; far-
ther off you see the beginning of the town of
St Goar! This is the loveliest spot upon the
Rhine! Listen to the echo — it repeats twelve
or fifteen times!"
Whereupon a man starts out of a little straw-
thatched hut upon the opposite bank, and, just
as we arrive in face of the rock, fires a sudden
pistol-shot. We all start, and some of the la-
dies utter timid exclamations, for it would seem
that a regular and rapid discharge of fire-arms
is taking place around us, so loud, so steady, so
continuous are the repetitions. By the time
that the last faint report dies away, we are
threading our way between the sister-towns of
Goarhausen and St. Goar, and gazing up at the
vast and far- stretching ruins of the red fortress
of Rheinfels.
The fourteenth course of our Rhine-dinner
has just been removed — strawberries, cheese,
and sweet biscuits are placed before us — the gen-
tlemen begin to order cigars, and the ladies rise
from table and walk up and down the lower
deck, or sit sketching and conversing in little
knots at the farther side of the vessel. One of
the merry students at my left volunteers to re-
late a legend. We order a fresh bottle of the
ruddy Assmannshausen — all that are near gath-
er eagerly round — the narrator fills his glass,
looks round with an air of satisfaction, leans
back in his seat, and commences, in his native
German tongue, the following
of tfje
"A very great many years ago, when these
ruined castles were impregnable strong-holds in-
habited by the old feudal barons — when every
passing boat paid a tribute to the castellan —
when the gnomes had not yet fled the mountains,
the fairies the forest, nor the Lurley nymph her
caves under the river, there lived in a little vine-
grown cottage, hard by the Castle of the Katz,
a pretty maiden named Ida Miiller. Now Ida
was the only child of the head huntsman to the
Lord of Katzenelnbogen, and would inherit not
only the cottage and garden, but two little fields
down by the water ; so, you see, she was rich as
well as pretty ; and, what was better than ei-
ther, she was good. I need scarcely tell you
that Ida had many lovers. All pretty girls
have, especially when they are rich. Among
these, the only two who seemed to have a chance
of success were Otto Wolfsohn and Max Steiger-
wald. Otto was a small proprietor whose vine-
yards and cottage lay just at the opposite side
of the river, close by the whirlpool called the
Gewirr ; Max was nothing but a poor artist, a
sculptor in stone and wood, who lived in an old
ruined tower, which has long since utterly crum-
bled away and disappeared, about half way be-
tween the towns of Oberwesel and St. Goar.
Here he made his home and his workshop ;
and, although it must be acknowledged that he
was exceedingly poor, he contrived to lead a
very happy existence. He loved Ida and he
loved art — he was ambitious, light-hearted, and
in love — life he found pleasant — the future, he
thought, could not fail to be as golden as he
wished it — so he carved and sang from morn-
ing till night, and on Sundays attended mass
at the chapel of St. Peter of Goarhausen, less,
it is to be feared, through devotion than love,
for there he saw Ida among the young girls near
the altar — there he watched her fair head bent
over her missal, and tried to separate the tones
of her voice from the others in the sweet-chant-
ed responses. Of course it happened, as it al-
ways did and does in love-stories, that Ida, with
a woman's keen-sightedness, read the heart of
the young sculptor, and contrived in some way
to let him see that she preferred him and his
poverty to Otto Wolfsohn, despite his lands and
his riches. This knowledge only made Max
ten times more industrious than before ; and
when, at length, his talent and his perseverance
were rewarded by a great piece of good fortune,
he went straight over to Muller's cottage at the
castle-foot, and formally demanded the hand of
his daughter. A great piece of good fortune,
indeed ! The Abbot of Kamp, having seen some
•of his efforts, had actually bidden him, Max
Steigerwald, to carve an oaken image of the
Blessed Mary, to stand over the great altar in
the monastery chapel. Nor was this all ; the
best part was that the abbot had engaged to pay
him the sum of thirty golden ducats on the very
day of its completion. Thirty golden ducats !
why, what marvelous things might be done with
thirty golden ducats ! A cottage might be
rented — a field might be bought — a pair of sil-
ver ear-rings might be given to the bride !
What more could the heart of man desire ?
32
MY BROTHER'S WIFE.
Thus pleaded the lover when he urged his suit
in the ear of Meister Miiller the huntsman.
" Now Meister Miiller loved Ida dearly, but
he loved money also, and it needed many argu-
ments and persuasions to gain his consent to
the beti-othal ! He would have preferred the
wealthier and less amiable Otto for his son-in-
law ; and, even though he yielded, yielded un-
willingly. But Ida cared little for Otto, and
little for his wealth ; still less for his scowling
glances when he chanced now and then to meet
her by the river-path, or the chapel-door, or in
the market-place of Oberwesel. She loved and
was loved , and so she trusted gayly to the fu-
ture, like a bird to the summer-time.
"Meanwhile the winter came and went — the
snow melted in the mountain - hollows — the
spring-season filled the landscape with green
leaves and flowers — the cuckoo was heard
again in the meadows ; and the sculptor work-
ed on with ever-increasing energy, for the statue
was now all but completed.
' ' I have said that Max Steigerwald lived in
a tower by the river — a gray, dilapidated round
tower, with long wavy grasses growing at the
top, and swallows'-nests built in the crannies of
the battlements. The upper part was utterly in
ruin ; so he made his home in the two lower
rooms, and there, day after day, night after
night, he toiled assiduously at his task, think-
ing of Ida ; and often, as he carved on by lamp-
light in the silent night-hours, he heard the si-
ren-song of the Lurley wafted along by the
wind from where she sat in the moonlight on
the jutting base of the Lurleyberg, weaving gar-
lands of the forget-me-not and the white water-
lily. But at such times he would shudder, make
the sign of the cross, and, fixing his eyes on the
holy image, growing momentarily more and
more beautiful beneath his busy fingers, breathe
a pious prayer for protection against the spells
of the pale maiden. Sometimes, too, he would
fix his thoughts, instead, upon the gentle Ida,
and upon the happy time that was daily draw-
ing nearer, and he found this plan succeed quite
as well as the other. Nevertheless, there were
nights when he had a fearful struggle to over-
come the temptation of obeying the melodious
invitation conveyed in that unearthly canticle ;
for there is a sweet and evil power in the song
of the Lurley which few human natures are
strong enough to resist, and which, if they but
yield to it, destroys not only the body, but the
soul. So Max Steigerwald closed his ears to
the spell, put his heart into his work, and was
at last enabled to name the very day on which
it might be conveyed to the monastery-chapel
amid the walnut-trees of Kamp.
"It was late in the afternoon of a glowing
day in May when the sculptor threw down his
tools, and, gazing joyously upon the calm and
lovely face of his statue, with its holy brow, its
draped robes, and the slender gilded circlet of
glory round its head, saw that the work of his
hands was finished, and knew that it was beau-
tiful.
"'Oh art! oh love!' he exclaimed, 'how
happy ye have made me !'
" So happy, poor fellow, that he felt he must
enjoy his gladness with her whose share in it
had been so great ! So he went forth into the
evening sunset, and, giving one last backward
glance at his beloved statue, closed and locked
the door of his tower, and went along by the
river-banks to the ferry of Goarhausen, by which
he crossed over and went straight to the vine-
grown cottage at the foot of the Katz, where
Ida was seated spinning by the door, under the
boughs of a yellow laburnum.
"They were so happy that evening, and had
so much to dream and plan ! The cottage was
chosen ; the field had but to be paid for, since it
was already hired ; the day for the wedding was
even fixed ; for would not Max be a rich man
on the morrow, with his thirty golden ducats ?
"The moon shone brightly on river and
mountain that night as he went homeward
along the meadows. His heart was full of love
and gratitude. He could almost have danced
for joy. He never had been so happy in his
life, and the road seemed so short that he quite
started to find himself at the door of his own
tower.
"Now to see my beautiful Virgin again !' he
said to himself, as he took out the key and pre-
pared to enter.
"Strange! at the first touch of his hand,
even before he could fix the key in the lock, the
door gave way creaking, and rolled back a little
on its hinges.
"An evil presentiment came over the sculp-
tor : he paused — pressed his hand upon his beat-
ing heart — advanced, drew back, and finally
flung the door wide open and went in.
"Alas ! not vainly had he trembled and de-
layed! The moonlight shone in as a silver
flood, illumining the interior of the room. Chair,
table, working-bench, fireplace, all were clearly
defined and bright as day ; but the statue ! the
statue ! the oaken Virgin, with her holy brow,
and her divine smile, and her golden glory —
where was she ?
"Gone, stolen, lost, no one knew whither.
"He threw himself upon the ground — he
wept — he raved ; and at last, in a delirium of
grief, ran wildly out of his tower, and down to
the river-bank ; for why live when statue, duc-
ats, and bride were all reft from him in one
brief and bitter moment ?
" ' Farewell, Ida !' he cried, lifting his hands
to heaven, and gazing for the last time in the
direction of her home.
"Suddenly he started — his lips trembled —
the very power of motion seemed to desert him ;
for lo ! a pale shadow — pale, but how lovely !
glided like a moonbeam over the surface of the
stream, midway between the two river-banks.
There were white water-flowers twined in her
hair and around her arms ; her eyes were lan-
guishing and full of tenderness ; her smile
sweeter than the breath of the roses. She
sang, and he listened :
MY BROTHER'S WIFE.
33
" v Come hither, young mortal ! come, taste of the wine
Divine !
Of the wine of a love so immortal as mine !
Come, drink from my lips— be my lover, my guest !
Lay thy cheek to my cheek, and thy breast to my
breast !
Come hither to love, to elysium, to rest I'
"The sculptor heard the fatal song. His
breath came thick and fast — his cheek flushed
— his heart beat wildly. Nearer and nearer
floated the river-maid ; sweeter and sweeter fell
those liquid tones ; brighter and brighter grew
the vision of her beauty.
"'Come!' murmured the Lurley. 'Come,
hither ! '
" ' Ida ! Ida !' he cried, with desperate cour-
age. 'Ida!'
"The shadow on the water seemed to wane
and tremble. The sculptor fell upon his knees.
" ' Ave Maria,' he began, in the earnest tones
of one who prays for life or death. 'Ave Maria
beatissima — '
' ' Dimmer and dimmer grew the form of the
Lurley ; her song died away into a low wailing
cry ; she bent her head, shuddering, and sank
in one moment beneath the surface of the wa-
ter.
"Max rose from his knees, but he beheld
only a chaplet of white lilies drifting on with
the current.
' ' Earnest and awe-struck he gazed for some
moments ; and then, turning slowly away, went
onward in the moonlight, leaving river, and
tower, and Ida behind him, and disappeared
amid the shades of the forest.
"Many and strange were the rumors when it
was found that Max Steigervvald had disap-
peared, and that the oaken Virgin was gone
from her place in the old tower. Very indig-
nant was the abbot of the monastery among the
walnut-trees of Kamp ; very sad and broken-
hearted was the gentle Ida in her father's cot-
tage at the foot of the Katz. Otto Wolfsohn
alone showed neither surprise, nor sorrow, nor
anger, but simply hastened to profit by the ab-
sence of his rival in the renewal of his former
suit. This time, however, he addressed him-
self less to Ida than to her father, wisely judg-
ing that his arguments and his wealth would be
more favorably received by him than by her.
" ' Steigerwald is gone,' he said. ' Either he
is dead, or he has deserted and no longer de-
serves her. I love her. I am rich — I am
young. She will be happy, she will be prosper-
ous, she will be respected as my wife. If you
command, she will marry me.'
"And so Meister Miiller commanded, and
Ida, despite her tears and her grief, was forced
to obey; entreating, however, that she might
yet be allowed one year of tarrying. But the
year passed away, and he came not; and the
day of her wedding dawned through the mists
of November.
"How pale she looked— how pale and how
joyless — more like a victim than a bride, as she
sat in her father's house, in the midst of the
guests, with the crown on her head, and the
C
silver arrow, for the last time, in her hair, await-
ing the bridegroom.
" It was strange that Otto alone should be so
late in arriving! 'Let us go out, and see if he
be coming,' said one of the bride-maidens. So
they all went forth upon the river-bank ; for you
will remember that Otto lived on the opposite
shore, just beyond the pool of the Gewirr. But
there was nothing in sight. Hold! what is
that ? A boat putting off from the bank, about
half a mile up the river ? Yes — at last ? That
boat is Otto's ; it is moored by his orchard-gate ;
he will row himself down to the Katz ! Wel-
come, bridegroom ! How swiftly and featly, for
Ida is waiting.
"Quite silently they stand, expecting and
watching. Hark ! what strange sound is that ?
The sound of music ! — of what music ? Of a
voice ! — of what voice ? How unlike any voice
that we have ever heard ! How sweet, how
liquid, how enchanting !
"And see! what white form is that which
rises from the mists of the river ?
"A shudder runs through the spectators.
'The Lurley!' they say, with tremulous lips.
The young men grasp each other by the hand
— the young maidens hide their faces in the bo-
soms of their mothers.
"Row, bridegroom ! Row swiftly and featly,
and heed not the danger.
" Horror ! he drops the oars — he listens — he
extends his arms to her — he stands up in the
boat, and, as if impelled by some invisible pow-
er, drifts rapidly toward her.
"One sudden, fearful cry bursts from every lip :
"' The whirlpool ! the whirlpool!'
" Alas ! too late. The Lurley ever beckons
— the boat ever follows. It nears the fatal cir-
cle ; it rocks and strains, like a panting steed ;
it flies madly round and round, and is sucked
down, down, down into the foaming gulf !
" Who is this that bursts through the crowd,
with flushed cheek and hair wildly flying, crying,
'Make way! I will save him!'— who plunges
headlong into the stream — who strikes out for
the whirlpool, and boldly breasts the strength of
the current ?
"Max Steigerwald, the sculptor.
" Swim on, brave sculptor— swim swiftly and
featly ; thy rival is sinking !
" On he went, with his fair gallant head lifted
above the waters— on to the spot where the Lur-
ley had sank, and where Otto had followed.
"Now he pauses, as it were, on the brink
of the whirlpool ; now he dashes forward with
fresh strength, and dives down to the depths of
the Gewirr.
" There was an interval of suspense — breath-
less, agonizing suspense. Can he ever return
to us ? Hah ! what is that ? Now blessed be
Heaven and all the saints in the calendar, 'tis
the fair gallant head coming back once more
over the waters — and not alone ! See ! he bears
a dark form in his arms! Welcome, bravo
sculptor ! Swim swiftly and featly — but a yard
or two farther, and thou art safe on the shore.
34
MY BROTHER'S WIFE.
V Now he waxes faint and weary — has no one
a rope ? No ! 'tis not needed ; he strikes out
once — twice — thrice ; he staggers forward, and,
with his burden, falls heavily to the ground.
"They rush toward him — they carry him up
the bank, and lay his head on Ida's breast. But
Otto ! Where is Otto, and what is this dark
form which has been borne, with such peril, to
the shore ?
"By heaven! the oaken Virgin, with her
holy brow, and her divine smile, and the gold-
en circlet, somewhat dimmed and water- worn,
around her meek head.
"The mystery is great — almost insoluble.
"Slowly the sculptor revives, and opens his
eyes upon the loved bosom of Ida. He can ex-
plain nothing, save that he has traveled and
studied, and wrought a second and a lovelier
statue, which he had brought this very day to
the monastery at Kamp, and sold for thrice the
sum before agreed upon — that he has returned
richer and wiser, to make Ida his bride — that he
beheld the danger of Otto, and sought only to
save him — that he dived — that he clasped a form
at the bottom of the waters — that he seized and
upbore, and saved it, nor knew all the time but
that he was saving his rival.
"Two things only are certain — that Otto is
drowned, and the Virgin discovered.
"'But how came she in the depths of the
Gewirr?' asks Meister Miiller, the huntsman.
"This is a question to which no one can re-
ply, and Max, going over to the image, raises
it from the ground, and clasps it to his breast
with all the joy of a father who recovers the
child of his affection.
"A sudden exclamation escapes the lips of
the by-standers — they snatch the image from his
grasp :
" 'See! see! what words are these cut on
the back of the figure ?'
" Simply these:
"'Giro WOLFSOHN. A TOKEN OP RE-
VENGE.'
"So it was thus. Yielding to the impulse
of a base vengeance, he had sought to destroy
the fair statue, and with it the prosperity and
happiness of his rival. Fortunately, all was
without success ; and on the afternoon of that
very day on which Otto was to have wedded the
fair Ida, Max Steigerwald stood with her before
the altar rails of the little chapel of St. Peter,
and received her for his wife. I will venture to
say that no happier or fonder pair ever occupied
that place before or since.
" And this is my LEGEND OF THE LURLEY-
BERG."
This night we sleep at Coblentz ; and, as the
dusk draws on, I retire to my chamber, for I am
weary, and long to be alone.
A waiter has lit candles and drawn the cur-
tains closely. The room, too, is warm and op-
pressive. I extinguish the lights, draw aside
the muslin draperies, throw up the sash, and
lean out into the quiet night.
Fronting my window flows the King-river,
broadly and silently, reflecting the lights which
shine down at regular intervals from the lamps
along the bridge of boats which connects Cob-
lentz with the opposite bank. Beyond the riv-
er, standing up darkly and boldly upon their
steep rock-base, spread the fortress-ranges of the
citadel of Ehrenbreitstein. Far hills and forests
close in the landscape round. Every where
there are lights gleaming — lights on board the
steamers moored along the quay — lights in the
windows of the hotel of the Cheval Blanc, on
the other side of the river — lights here and there
along the shore, which stream out redly, and
waver on the current. A vaporous mist is now
rising from the water, and a late steam-boat
comes panting up with a crimson lamp at her
prow, discharging her bewildered passengers in
the darkness. Now the city grows more silent,
and a droschky rattling along the pavement
sounds noisily. Presently some Prussian sol-
diers, with their brazen helmets glittering in the
lamp-light, go singing past the window, for they
have just strolled out of a neighboring wine-
shop. Then the town clocks chime, and the
notes of a solitary trumpet ring out faintly and
clearly from the fortress. Soon the night grows
darker, and the mist upon the river whiter and
heavier. Some rain begins to fall, and I close
my casement with a sigh.
Alas ! to-night the sorrow lies heavily at my
heart, and I can not shake it off. For many
hours I toss restlessly upon my bed, and it is
gray dawn before I sleep.
CHAPTER XIII.
ROUGE ET NOIR.
"AND is it possible, Seabrook, that you do
not admire this place ? It seems to me almost
a paradise!"
It was evening-time. We were sitting to-
gether on the verge of one of those precipitous
wooded hills which inclose the little watering-
place of Ems on every side. Far below us ex-
tended the public gardens ; the avenues of chest-
nut-trees and lindens; the Kurhaus, with its
white fa9ade stretching beside the water; the
long, irregular row of hotels and lodging-houses
which constitute the town. Calmly and bright-
ly, glassing the green shadows of the hills and
the white clouds overhead, flowed the Lahn Riv-
er, child of the Rhine. Crowds of gay company
were promenading along the banks, strolling up
and down the light-roofed suspension bridge,
lingering round the band in the garden-pavil-
ion, or eating ices under the trees.
Along the winding road at the foot of the
mountains there passed sometimes an open car-
riage ; sometimes a troop of donkeys, accompa-
nied by their liveried drivers with blue blouses
and red-trimmed caps ; sometimes a little band
of peasants singing together, and laden with
fruits and vegetables for the market. Now an
MY BROTHER'S WIFE.
artist trudged wearily by with sketch-book and
folio, returning from his diurnal labor. Now a
single horse came wading up the very middle
of the shallow river, towing a barge.
Below was life and animation — above and
around us, infinite quiescence. And through
all the landscape, winding and glistening away,
with villages, and churches, and raftered farm-
houses nestled here and there along its banks,
and boats moored under willows, and evening
bathers in among the rushes, and little foaming
weirs, and water-mills, and knots of white and
amber lilies nodding with its current, lay the
river, shut in by mountains and hills, with the
soft fleecy haze of the coming night spreading
slowly over all.
Seabrook looked up smiling.
"I never said that I did not admire the
place," he replied ; " I only told you that it was
monotonous ; that it was peopled by pale-faced
invalids, and ruined gamblers, and fashionable
physicians •; and that I detested it heartily. You
are walking, perhaps, in the gardens ; you see
an elegant couple sitting together in an arbor,
and you please yourself with fancying some lit-
tle love - romance. Ten to one, on drawing
nearer, but that the gentleman, who seemed to
you to be gently pressing the fair hand of the
object of his affections, is feeling her pulse all
the time, and that she is just drawing forth her
purse to tender him his fee ! The doctors hold
their stances in the open air, and consult with
their patients to the accompaniment of the band.
You wander in the vicinity of the Kurhaus, and
every person you meet carries a colored glass
tumbler or a silver goblet in one hand. These
are on their way to the springs. All the world
is ill or getting better; drinks the waters or
bathes in them ; diets rigidly at the table d'hote ;
takes exercise in an invalid chair, and sees a
favorite physician at least once in every day.
Defend me, oh Common Sense, from all such
humbug!".
"But if the people are really ill, and come
hither in search of health . . . ."I urged,
gravely.
"No such thing!" interrupted my friend, with
an impatient gesture. "Not the tenth part of
them ail any thing at all. It is the fashion to
be ill here — voila tout ! People make acquaint-
ances at the springs, and through their medical
attendants. They condole with each other, and
sickness forms the staple resource of all their
conversation. Without something is the matter
with you, you can get no sympathy, no society ;
if you are an invalid, you have every chance of
spending your three months very pleasantly. A
liver complaint is a sure introduction, and you
find a galloping consumption an immediate
passport to the best circles."
We went down by a winding path, crossed
the suspension bridge, and mingled with the
promenaders in the gardens. We saw Fletcher
in the kiosque, conducting the band; but he
was occupied with the music, and did not rec-
ognize us among the by-standers. Like the
rest, he wore a heavy brass helmet and a fantas-
tic uniform ; and I know not whether it was the
effect of illness or of his unusual costume, but
he seemed to me paler, sterner, and more hag-
gard than ever.
They were playing a selection from the ' ' Eu-
ryanthe" of Weber when we arrived, and as
soon as the last chord was struck, we made our
way up to his desk and addressed him.
He started, held out his hand, drew it back,
held it out again, and shook ours nervously.
" How do you do ?" said he, in his old quick,
incoherent way. "This is quite a surprise.
Have you been on the Rhine ? Ems is a gay
place. Where do you live ? Have you been
long here ? The waters are very bitter."
"We only arrived this morning," replied
Seabrook, " and we are staying for the present
at the Hotel d'Angleterre."
"Very dear hotel. What do you say to our
band ? Wretched set this year. The King of
Wiirtemberg is in the gardens to-night. Are
you from Frankfurt direct, or did you stay at
Coblentz? This is pretty scenery. Fond of
ruins ? I am not. The Rhine is greatly over-
rated. So is Goethe. Have you been down
to the springs? It's like going into a vault.
See that dark man yonder — Mazzini. He's
talking to the Princess Von Hohenhausen.
Plenty of celebrities. Of course you've seen
the Conversation Haus ?''
In conversing with Fletcher, I always made
it a rule to reply to the last thing said, since it
was hopeless to think of disentangling the parti-
colored threads of his wandering ideas ; so I
told him that I was at present such a stranger
as not to know where the Conversation Haus
was to be found — nay, I was even ignorant of
what its purport and uses might be.
' ' It's a part of the Kursaal. A set of showy
rooms — cafe, ballroom, and gaming-rooms. It
all belongs to the Grand-Duke. Seventy and
eighty thousand florins are lost there annually
by play. We call the hazard-tables the duke's
treasury. He also lets lodgings at the Alte
Kurhaus. Quite a commercial prince. Poor
as a mouse. Hush! We have to play now.
Last piece. We'll go to the rooms when it is
over."
We went down again, and waited for him at
the back of the kiosque while the band per-
formed Mendelssohn's " Wedding March" from
the "Midsummer Night's Dream." By the
time that it was over, the gay company had al-
most deserted the gardens ; the shades of even-
ing had closed in and darkened all the land-
scape ; some stars were out in the clear sky ;
and a flood of warm light glowed from the win-
dows of the Conversation Haus. Then the mu-
sician rejoined us, and we followed him to the
rooms. He had laid aside his helmet and
braided coat, and as he walked along with his
hat in his hand, letting the cool breeze play
upon his brow, I fancied that the thick gray
hair looked somewhat thinned, and the care-
worn brow more deeply furrowed than when we
36
MY BROTHER'S WIFE.
parted with him at Frankfurt a few weeks be-
fore. Besides this, his conversation seemed
more disjointed and wandering. He frequent-
ly paused in the middle of a sentence— some-
times in the middle of a word. Often he spoke
as if in reply to his own thoughts ; and still oft-
ener, as though his mind were occupied on oth-
er matters, and his tongue a mere mechanical
agent uttering commonplace observations, with
which his powers of reflection were totally un-
connected.
At the door of the Kursaal we found knots of
visitors talking and smoking; little bands of
promenaders from the gardens strolling up and
down the colonnade ; and in the empty ball-
room several gentlemen reading the newspapers
of the- day.
"But where are the gaming-tables?" asked
my friend.
The musician pointed to an open door at the
farther end of the apartment, through which
several persons were passing and repassing, and
whence a busy hum, accompanied by an occa-
sional clicking noise, was distinctly audible.
We entered. The atmosphere was warm and
oppressive ; the blaze of gas intolerable ; the
crowd of lookers-on so great that for several
minutes we could get no farther than the door.
All were thronging round one long table which
almost filled the room, and no one spoke save in
low whispers. Presently a slight movement
arose near us. A gentleman came out, and
Fletcher took advantage of the moment to make
a way for us to the front rank next the table.
The players only were sitting. They were
of all ages and both sexes. Some of them had
pieces of card, which they pricked occasionally
with a pin, according to the progress of the
game. Many had little piles of .gold and silver,
rouleaux sealed at either end, and packets of
yellow Prussian notes lying beside them. All
looked serious and interested ; but there were
none of those violent emotions of which we read
in books depicted in their countenances. They
won and lost with the best-bred composure, and
the stakes upon the table varied from half a
dollar to twenty gold pieces at a time. Four
elderly, respectable - looking men, occupying
raised seats at the centre of the table, were the
bank-company. One of these dealt the cards,
the others paid and received the money. Each
pack of cards, as soon as it had been once dealt,
was thrown into a well sunk in the table, just in
front of the dealer.
The scene was utterly new to me. I looked
round from face to face with untiring curiosity,
and saw the gold changing hands without in
the least comprehending the laws of the game.
Opposite to me sat an old lady, very highly
rouged, and decked in artificial flowers and false
jewelry. She had a cunning eye, and on her
lips a fixed smile. I observed that she al-
ways won. Next to her a sallow boy leaned
forward upon both elbows, now and then haz-
arding a ten-franc piece which he drew from his
waistcoat pocket. Farther on, a dark handsome
man and his wife sat side by side, drawing their
stakes from a heap of money between them,
and adding to their store with every 'venture.
Just at my elbow I noticed a young and Afoell-
dressed woman, who watched the cards with af-
fected indifference, putting down a florin every
time, and losing invariably. Others there were
whose fortune seemed to fluctuate, but none in
whom those fluctuations produced any visible
emotion.
I could not help remarking this to my friend.
He smiled.
"Your observation," he said, "proves to me
that you have never before visited a place of the
kind. It is only in novels that ruined gamblers
rush wildly from the tables, with distraction in
their faces. Here a man will lose his last florin
with a smile which looks, at least, sufficiently
natural. Your real habitue is perfect master
of his countenance, and would scorn to betray
himself even to a gesture. In fact, lie rather
seeks to reverse the ordinary course of matters ;
for he smiles when he loses, and looks indiffer-
ent when he wins."
"And what game are they now playing?"
"Rouge-et-noir. Will you hazard a thaler
or two?"
"Not I. In the first place, gambling pos-
sesses no attraction for me ; and, in the second,
I can not even fathom the rules by which they
play. They all seem to me to do the same
thing, and yet how different are the results to
each person ! What is the reason that — "
"Hush!" interrupted Seabrook, plucking me
by the arm and speaking in -a hurried whisper.
"Look there! My life on it, but this man's a
gambler!"
I turned, and saw Fletcher in the act of lift-
ing a couple of silver dollars from the table.
His cheek was flushed, and his eager eye fixed
upon the dealer. The old lady opposite staked
two gold pieces, and won. A half smile flitted
over his lips — he replaced his two dojlars on the
board — the color proved favorable, and his little
capital was instantly doubled. Again he tried,
and again he was successful. The next time
he ventured all, and with the same result.
Seabrook and I exchanged glances, but we
were too much concerned to speak. We stood
by, silently observing him ; and he, evidently,
had lost every recollection of our presence.
Presently a seat became vacant just where he
stood. He slipped into it mechanically, as it
were ; exchanged a glance of recognition with a
gentleman sitting on his left, and went on play-
ing.
For a long time we remained there, watching
him. His success was not invariable, for he
lost once or twice ; but he was, on the whole,
a considerable winner. At length the weary
sameness of the scene, the hot glare, the op-
pressive silence, and the still more oppressive
atmosphere, fatigued and annoyed me. I made
a sign to Seabrook, and he followed me from ;'
the room ; but, as I went, I cast a last glance !
at the musician, and 1 saw that his two dollars
MY BROTHER'S WIFE.
37
had by this time multiplied to thirty or forty,
among which gleamed some five or six yellow
Friedrichs-d'or.
Quite silently we went out arm in arm
through the empty ballroom, along the deserted
garden-walks, and out upon the bridge, where
the white moonlight slept upon the river, and
where one or two romantic couples were yet
loitering to and fro.
Seabrook was the first to speak.
"Upon my soul," said he, gravely, "I am
very sorry for what we have seen to-night- — the
more so, as I believe this infatuation to be a re-
cent thing."
"Recent!"! echoed. "On the contrary, I
should say that it had been the practice of years.
See how haggard, how nervous, how absent the
man is ; and what more likely to make him so
than the gaming-table ? Depend upon it, he is
well known at all the Brunnen in Germany!"
My companion shook his head.
"Ihave seen more of life than you, Paul,"
said he, '"and have studied the 'dimensions,
senses, passions, and affections' of mankind
more attentively. I repeat that Fletcher has
not long been a gambler— nay, more, he is still
in his novitiate. Did you not see how his hand
shook when he took up his first gains from the
table ? How his cheek flushed as he proceed-
ed ? How terrified he looked when he thought
the ' luck' was turning ? How, when he was
winning, he staked all that he had previously
won, without reserviug a single piece to carry
on the war in case of loss ? No habitual player
would do this. No habitual player would watch
the successful competitors as he does, staking
upon their colors, and trusting to their good
fortune rather than his own. No, no, mon ami!
A true gambler has strong nerve, impassive feat-
ures, self-reliance, and a ' theory' of his own re-
specting chances, numbers, and colors. Fletch-
er has none of this ; and I dare wager a hund-
red Napoleons that his initiation into the mys-
teries of rouge-et-noir has dated solely from the
period of his arrival at Ems." •
"But are there no means by which we .can
save him?"
Seabrook shook his head again.
"I fear not," he replied, sadly. "He is nerv-
ous, excitable, irritable to the last degree. Be-
sides, what amount of resolution or self-denial
can you expect from a confirmed opium-eater ?
His power of control over his own inclinations
is already gone — his nervous system is shatter-
ed— his mental and physical energy utterly
weakened and broken down. The case, I fear,
is hopeless ; but we must see more of it before
we pass judgment. Let us come here again to-
morrow evening, and watch the progress of the
disease — for a disease it unquestionably is.
After all, what is gaming but a kind of opium-
eating? And who shall say which of the two
is the more fatal intoxication?"
CHAPTER XIV.
ALSATIA.
WE remained for more than three weeks
at Ems, notwithstanding the prejudices of my
friend, and passed them very pleasantly. We
sketched, rode, read, and made' long pedestrian
excursions to the Lindenbach Valley, the Cas-
tle of Marksburg, and the Convent of Arnstein.
We also visited the iron-works of Hohenrain,
and the silver-smelting furnace in the neighbor-
ing vale, and spent many happy hours following
the windings of the Lahn, or boating up to that
romantic point where the little troubled river
glides peacefully into the broad embraces of the
Rhine.
During this time we had repeatedly entered
the Conversation Haus at hours when the music
wUs not going forward, and seldom without find-
ing Fletcher in the gaming -rooms. It was
plain that he had become a confirmed player.
He had his appointed seat at the table; his
nod of recognition from the croupier ; his mute
greeting from one or two who, like himself,
were punctual in their attendance. He had
also acquired a certain command of feature
which he did not at first possess ; yet such was
the constitutional nervousness of his tempera-
ment, that, despite all his care, it was still be-
trayed now and then in the eager intensity of
his gaze, and in the tremulous lip and hand.
An attentive observation of his play and the va-
riations of his luck assured me that in the long
run he was no inconsiderable loser. What he
gained one night he lost, and more than lost,
the next ; and at those very moments when
Fortune seemed more than usually kind toward
him, the most signal reverse was certain to be
at hand.
I do not say that he ever hazarded largely, or
that he lost to any great amount; but I saw
enough to convince me that his limited resources
could not long withstand the impoverishment
consequent upon drains so exhausting and so
incessant as these. I also noticed, with a feel-
ing of regretful pity which I can not express,
that each day only added to the ghastly pallor
of complexion and the unnatural brilliancy of
eye which stamps the opium-eater — that his
tone of mind grew more absent, more unsettled,
more purposeless and disjointed — that his gray
hair, once so thick, became thinned, and hung
about his neck and brow in long, uncut, neglect-
ed locks. Sometimes, when we met him in the
grounds, he would pointedly avoid us ; some-
times maintain an obstinate silence after the
first greetings were exchanged ; sometimes pour
forth a string of wandering phrases with a kind
of voluble indifference that was infinitely pain-
ful to witness. Once or twice, when we en-
countered him in the rooms or -under the colon-
nade, he did not even recognize us ; and he sel-
dom or never recollected either of our names.
I have stood for hours together behind his chair,
and watched the changes of his fortune, without
his ever dreaming that I was there.
38
MY BROTHER'S WIFE.
I found myself much interested in the fate
of this eccentric man — more interested than
Seabrook, who had known him longer. I knew
that he was blindly traveling toward ruin, and
the same fascination which impels us to watch
a rider whose horse has taken fright, or a ship-
wreck, or any fatal and inevitable misfortune,
impelled me, as it were, to track the course of
this infatuation. I felt that I must be at hand
to count the steps of his descent — to watch it
from day to day, from depth to depth ; and,
when matters came to the worst, to be enabled,
at the right moment, to step forward and save
him from absolute destruction.
"It is his only chance of amendment,"! re-
plied, when rallied by Seabrook on my devotion
to the gaming-tables. "When all is lost I will
say to him, 'Here is gold for thy necessities,
but not for thy vices. Promise me to play no
more.' If he have a spark of honor and good
faith remaining, he will be cured."
But my friend only shook his head, and
sighed, and went off to play at billiards with
some young men whom he knew in the town,
and among whom he passed away those hours
which I spent in the Conversation Haus.
One evening I missed him from his accus-
tomed place. I scarcely knew Avhether to be
pleased or alarmed at this unusual absence ;
but, at all events, I felt an inward uneasiness
that caused me to direct my steps to the gar-
dens at an earlier hour the next night.
The music of the band came pleasantly
through the trees as I entered the gate, and I
made my way at once to the pavilion.
A stranger was conducting in his place — he
was not there. A cold sensation crept over me.
"He has lost every thing,"! said to myself.
"He was in despair — perhaps he has committed
suicide. And I ! Alas ! I had hoped to save
him !"
This fear was too much for me. I sat down
upon a vacant bench, and leaned my head
against a tree. Presently the music ceased. I
rose up and went over, with the intention of
asking some of the players ; I hesitated ; and
while I hesitated, the leader gave the signal,
and they recommenced. I returned to my seat
in an agitation for which I could not account,
and of which I felt ashamed, even to myself.
"What's Hecuba to me, or I to Hecuba?" I
muttered. "Doubtless the man is safe ; and,
at all events, the fault is not mine."
Selfish reasoning, and hollow as selfish, for it
availed me nothing ; and when I at last sum-
moned resolution, and asked the conductor aft-
er my new acquaintance, I felt as nervous as
before.
"The Herr Fletcher," replied the young man,
politely, "is not well. For some days he has
been indisposed, and for the last two he has
been confined to his apartment."
"Will you oblige me with his address?"
He penciled it on the back of an old letter,
and handed it to me.
"Thanks. And his illness?"
The musician shrugged his shoulders.
" Really, mein Herr, I have not the least no-
tion."
I touched my hat, turned away, and, glancing
at the address written on the letter, threaded
the garden paths as rapidly as I could, and went
out into the town.
Hollandischer Hof ! I did not remember to
have seen any hotel or lodging-house of that
name since my arrival at Ems. I went up to a
waiter standing upon the steps of the Hotel de
Russie, and inquired of him if he knew it ; but
he only stared at the paper with an insolent air,
and bade me ask the donkey-drivers over the
way. ,
Rudely as the advice was meant, I acted
upon it, and was directed to an obscure quarter
of the town, lying down by the river side, near
the bridge of boats, where the watermen colo-
nized.
It was a wretched spot — wet, unpaven, and
dirty. There were children, pigs, poultry, and
donkeys wandering, uncared for, through the
narrow lanes. Large heaps of refuse lay before
each door. The voices of women quarreling
were loud within ; men leaned, smoking, from
the upper windows; and all the atmosphere
around was tainted and heavy. At the farthest
extremity of this Alastia I found the mean inn
dignified by the name of the Hollandischer Hof.
He was crouching over a small stove in a
comfortless garret, wrapped in a blanket taken
from the bed, and shivering piteously. He
looked very pale and ill, and had not shaved
for three or four days. His hands, too, as he
held them toward the open door of the stove,
seemed almost transparent.- I could not have
believed that I should see so startling a change
after so brief an absence.
When I tapped upon his door he made no
answer — when I entered the room he neither
turned nor spoke — when I stood beside him,
and uttered a few simple words of apology and
condolence, he only looked up with a listless,
weary air, and sighed heavily.
"I am indeed sorry to find you thus, Mr.
Fletcher. I feared that you were ill when I
saw a stranger conducting the band, and so I
took the liberty of calling to — to inquire if you
were better."
He stared dreamily into the fire, but remain-
ed silent.
"You have some medical advice, I trust?"
He moaned and shook his head.
I looked round the room for a chair, and, see-
ing only an old deal box beside the window, I
dragged it over to the fire, and sat down oppo-
site to him.
"I consider that it is absolutely necessary
for you to have proper attendance, Mr. Fletcher.
You must permit a friend of mine — a man high-
ly distinguished by his professional skill — to
call upon you. I know that he will gladly
oblige me in so small a matter."
Heaven forgive me ! I had not a friend, or
even an acquaintance, in all Ems, except Nor-
MY BROTHER'S WIFE.
man Seabrook. But any eminent physician
would suit the character ; and I consoled my-
self by arguing that it was, after all, but a figure
of speech.
As the musician still said nothing, I went on.
"My friend shall see you this very evening
— and — and I think — that is, I suppose it prob-
able, that he will order you wine — generous
living — perhaps expensive medicines."
He looked up hastily.
"No — no," he said, in a low, hurried tone,
"no — I am well — better. No physician — no
physician !"
"Pardon me, but it is necessary. I assure
you that you are more unwell than you suppose.
I will go at once in search of my friend ; and,
in the mean time — in case you should require
any thing — pray excuse me — I shall call again
to-morrow. Good evening — good evening !"
And I hastened from the room, down the
dark staircase, with its balustrade of greasy
rope, and out into the lanes below, leaving a
couple of gold pieces upon the table at his
side.
Once more outside the house, I shuddered,
and thrust my hand into the breast of my coat,
for I had touched his at parting, and that clam-
my chill, like the chill of death, seemed yet to
cling against the palm.
What a den! what a neighborhood ! I strode
rapidly along the slippery lanes in the direction
of the Hauptstrass, in the hope of reaching the
gardens before all the company had departed,
and of finding there some one of those medical
gentlemen whom I had learned to recognize by
sight during my brief sojourn. Every thing
seemed to impede my way. The watermen
were returning to their homes for the night,
the donkey -drivers, with their weary beasts,
were thronging along on their way to such
wretched stabling as the place afforded ; a bro-
ken-down cart, with a gaping crowd around,
blocked up the pathway. Added to this, it was
getting dark, and some rain began to fall.
When I felt the first drops of the shower, I
knew that my last chance was gone, and my
fears proved to be correct ; for when I reached
the gardens, the gay company had all dispersed,
and the musicians were just in the act of hast-
ening away with their instrument-cases in their
hands. One of these I stopped.
"Pardon, monsieur; but can you direct me
to a physician ?"
"A physician ! Indeed no, mein Herr — not
I."
And, shaking my hand roughly from his
sleeve, the man endeavored to pass on.
"One moment, I beseech you," I continued,
nothing daunted, as I again seized him by the
arm. "It is for Mr. Fletcher — he whom you
know. He is very ill. Pray help me to find
a physician!"
The name of Fletcher instantly produced the
desired effect. He paused — looked at me —
hesitated — and, finally, summoning one of his
companions, exchanged with him some sentences
in a kind of rough patois German which I could
not understand. After a few moments, the new-
comer turned to me with an air of respectful
civility, saying,
" If the Herr Graff will be so good as to fol-
low me, I will conduct him to the apartments
of a famous physician close at hand."
He led the way, I followed, and the man
whom I had first addressed turned swiftly off in
another direction.
Suffice it here that we found the gentleman,
that I introduced myself to him, stated the par-
ticulars of the case, furnished him with the ad-
dress, and had the satisfaction of seeing him de-
part.
CHAPTER XV.
A MIDNIGHT VIGIL.
SOMETIMES together, sometimes separately,
sometimes in the company of the physician, we
visited Fletcher at his miserable lodging at least
once in every day. We had found him too
weak and ill to be removed ; but he had now a
nurse, and all such comforts as his condition
required. He was, indeed, very ill. Intense
mental anxiety acting upon a nervous constitu-
tion, which was already sufficiently undermined
by the long and unremitting use of opium, had
ended in a low fever, which day by day was as-
suming a more malignant character.
One morning we found him moaning and
tossing upon his bed, and quite delirious. The
nurse said that he had been thus since a little
past midnight. It was a painful spectacle ; and
we stood silently by the fire, looking at him,
till the physician arrived. This gentleman was
stout and tall, with a lion-like face, and green
eyes, and a profusion of rings and chains, and
a mass of rough, shaggy hair, like a mane.
He was late to-day, and came up stairs very
quickly, and softly, stopping short upon the
threshold as he saw the condition of the patient.
He then took his place beside the bed, and say-
ing that he had expected this change, laid his
hand upon the hot brow, and counted the leap-
ing pulse.
After a few moments he shook the mane very
gravely, and laid poor Fletcher's hand gently
down upon the coverlid.
"Brain fever," he said, very distinctly and
slowly. ' ' Brain fe — ver ! "
We looked each other in the face without
speaking. The physician rose, and imparted
some directions to the nurse — scrawled a hasty
prescription — bowed, and moved toward the
door.
"But there is hope?" cried Seabrook, in a
low, quick voice. " There is hope?"
The physician paused, glanced keenly from
me to the patient, and back again, and looked
uncomfortable.
" Well— really," he said, hesitatingly, "I—
I — The gentleman is .your friend, perhaps,
monsieur" (turning to me) — "a — a relation ?"
40
MY BROTHER'S WIFE.
I made a gesture of dissent, and Seabrook
said impatiently,
"Mr. Fletcher is comparatively a stranger to
both of us, sir. Pray give your unreserved
opinion. Is he in much danger?"
He appeared relieved by this, but still hesi-
tated.
"Brain fever," he remarked, "frequently
proves fatal ; and, again, many persons recover
from it. The— the patient is not strong; but
delicate persons often go through sickness better
than more robust subjects. We must, however,
remember that opium is, in itself, a slow pois-
on."
"But your reply, sir! your reply!" urged
my friend. " Is there hope ?"
The physician was now at the door, with one
foot down upon the first stair.
"I — I fear — that is to say — at least — No,
gentlemen. I regret to say — none."
And once more shaking his head, so that the
mane swayed like a pendulum from side to side,
he bowed, coughed apologetically, and made his
way down as quickly and softly as he came up.
It was quite late in the evening when I next
saw him. I had left Seabrook writing letters ;
the night was dark and wet ; the low lanes by
the river were ankle-deep in mire ; scarce a soul
was abroad ; and the hungry dogs were fighting
over the bones upon the dunghills. There was
noise of revelry and loud laughter in the public
room of the Hollandischer Hof, and as I hurried
through the dark passage and up the narrow
stairs, I heard fragments of a popular Rhine-
wine song and chorus, and inhaled a fog of
coarse tobacco-smoke.
It was strange ; but, as I advanced, the sound,
instead of lessening, became louder. I paused
at the foot of the last flight, and listened attent-
ively.
Yes — beyond a doubt. It grows more dis-
tinct with every step I take. The words are
those by Mathias Claudius, which I know so
well; the voice — ah! the voice in which they
are chanted ! I shudder — I pause — I hasten
forward— I push open the door. Alas !
" On the Rhine, on the Rhine,
There grows the vine !
Bless'd be the Rhine I"
He is sitting up in his bed, wild and haggard ;
and, as I enter, chants these lines with a ghast-
ly mirth more shocking than tears or ravings.
The fire has gone out ; the candle burns dimly ;
the nurse is absent. All is gloomy, comfortless,
and chill.
Shuddering, I take my seat beside him ; but
he never notices my presence, and still goes on
singing :
" From the banks down below,
Up the mountains they grow,
And yield us the wine!
This wine of the Rhine!"
He has thrown off the covering, and flings his
arms up wildly above his head as he finishes the
verse. I twine mine around him, soothe him
with gentle words, and induce him, for a few
moments, to lie down. Unfortunately, I have
omitted to shut the door, and again the chorus,
with its accompaniment of clattering glasses,
swells loud below, and comes up distinctly to
r ears.
He starts up, laughing (how I wish he would
not laugh in that way!), and bursts forth again
with a hoarse, frantic vehemence that makes
me shudder :
11 With the leaves of the vine
Let us gayly entwine
Each beaker of wine ?
Drink it merrily dry,
And all Europe defy
To equal this wine !
This wine of the Rhine !"
I go over and shut the door. He pauses
—listens eagerly — looks round— and, hearing
nothing, moans softly several times, and rocks
himself to and fro, as if in pain.
Once more I induce him to lie down ; but he
keeps muttering absently between his teeth, and
shivers piteously. I pile bedclothes over him,
and coats, and a woman's cloak which hangs be-
side the door. I chafe his cold hands in mine ;
I place the candle on one side that he may not
see the light; and, as he seems quieter, I hope
that he may sleep. However, he still moans
and mutters, and from time to time vague frag-
ments of the song yet escape his lips.
"Faster!" he says — thinking, perchance,
that he is conducting the orchestra — "faster!
you are all too slow — I tell }?ou, prestissimo !
What! here already! I thought you were in
London. Frankfort! Frankfort! Ah! I must
not stay here ! Away! Beautiful fiend, I hate
you! Hark! what is that? Wine! Ha! ha!
Wine and cards ! ' So drink, drink the wine !
Rejoice in the vine!' Are you come again,
Margaret ? Poor Margaret ! How pale you
are, poor Margaret! Like your mother, Mar-
garet — like your mother, as I last saw her —
in her shroud, poor Margaret ! And Frank !
Where is Frank? Frank! Frankfort! The-
resa! Ah! I remember you ! Dare you show
yourself before me ? Poor Margaret — poor —
poor — "
His voice grew fainter — the words came
thickly and heavily — his eyes closed — he start-
ed twice or thrice, and presently he slept.
His slumber lasted, as I should think, three
hours. At first he seemed to dream painfully,
and tossed restlessly upon the pillows, grasping
my hand the while with strong energy, as if as-
sociating with it some wandering notion of pro-
tection. By-and-by he grew calmer; his hold
relaxed ; his head fell back ; and, save for his
quick, moaning respirations, I could almost
have fancied that he was dead.
Thus the dreary night wanes. The revelers
in the inn-parlor break up and go forth, sing-
ing, into the streets. The doors are barred
loudly below. The profoundest stillness pre-
vails within and without. The clocks chime
sadly in this and the neighboring house ; and
still the sick man sleeps, and still the nurse
comes not.
MY BROTHER'S WIFE.
41
By-and-by he wakes. I am not apprised^of
this by any movement of his, but, on turning
round, find his eyes fixed earnestly upon me.
Something peculiar in the expression of his face
— something strange in the depths of his eyes,
causes me to bend down suddenly toward him,
and call him by his name.
"Is that you, sir?" he says faintly, and with
some difficulty of articulation. "Is that you?
You're very good to me, sir. "
The delirium is gone; but there is now a
look upon his face which fills me with more
dread than that of mere insanity.
" Do you feel better now ?" I ask him. "Are
you in pain ?"
"No, sir. No pain — but a— a numbness
seems to be taking me. I— I think I'm going
— this time — sir."
I strive to reassure him — to smile — to shake
him by the hand ; but mine trembles so that
even he feels it, and the words die away upon
my lips. He asks for water, and, when he has
it, closes his eyes, and so lies for several min-
utes quite still and silent. Presently he looks
up and speaks again, and this time I notice that
his speech is more labored than before.
" I feel it coming. This — numbness— this
. — I — I have no one to ask — but — but you, sir.
Will — will you — "
"I will do any thing for you," I exclaim,
with warmth. " I meant to offer, in— in case — "
He understands me, and looks grateful, but
for some minutes seems unable to enunciate.
The hand which I hold in mine appears mo-
mentarily to grow colder, and large drops of
perspiration gather upon his brow and upper
lip. Again I bid him speak, for, alas ! there is
no time to lose now.
" I — I have a daughter, sir — a daughter —
Margaret— in — Brussels— a school — write — "
"I will go to her!" I say, quickly. " Give
me her address. What do you wish me to say
to her ? Have you any property ?"
"No — money — spent — gambled — poor —
school — Brussels. "
" Yes, I know ! But where ? what street ?"
"Rue Leopold, No. 24 — Madame — Von
Plaets — "
"Enough. Have you any thing else to tell
me ? Any message to Margaret ? Any other
person you wish me to see?"
I speak this earnestly and loudly, for his
sense of hearing seems to grow dull, and a gray,
gray tint is stealing down gradually over his
face.
" Protect — warn — protect — "
"I will protect her!" I say, fervently. "I
will protect her !"
He stares up at me with a beseeching ex-
pression, and strives to rise. I lift him in my
arms ; but he can scarcely breathe, and his
dumb efforts at articulation are fearful to wit-
ness. Then the pupils of his eyes dilate preter-
naturally ; his lips move ; his features assume a
look of intense anxiety, almost of rage or ha-
tred ; the gray shadow creeps down, down, and
overspreads all his countenance ; he falls heav-
ily back, quivers once all over, and is then quite
still.
He has fallen upon my arm, and for some
time I dread to move it, lest I should disturb
his last moments. However, he lies there so
motionless that I need not fear his waking ; so
in a few minutes I withdraw it, and, taking the
candle over to the bedside, stand there looking
down upon the dead face.
What untold tale was hidden there ? What
strange tragedy of wrongs, and bitter hatreds,
and fond loves, would go down unrecorded to
the grave, and be buried in the outworn heart
of this poor human sufferer? What hand was
destined to unclasp the Book of the Past, and
read therein the Chronicle of his Life-history ?
I knew not ; but in that solemn hour I felt
a strange awe and exultation upon me, as if, in
the great duty which I had undertaken, an Era
had begun for me, and a new blessing had
dawned upon my path.
CHAPTER XVI.
"OH SWEET, PALE MARGARET!"
"RuE DE LEOPOLD, No. 24 — Madame von
Plaets !"
I had arrived in Brussels late the night be-
fore, and, over-wearied by the long journey from
Cologne, had slept till the shops were opened
and the foot-passengers all stirring in the busy
streets around me. I woke with these words
upon my lips — could think of nothing else dur-
ing my hasty breakfast; and, immediately aft-
er, hurried forth in quest of the school and my
young ward, self -constituted guardian that I
was.
Strange, how this one event had changed the
whole tone and tenor of my mind ; how it had
braced my weary nerves ; reawakened my in-
terest in things ; occupied my thoughts with
pleasant images, and given a purpose and an
impulse to my daily life ! I was always dream-
ing of this child which the poor musician had
confided to me on his dying bed ; wondering
whether she was fair or dark, playful or sedate ;
hoping that her eyes might be blue, like those
of Adrienne ; and forming conjectures as to her
age, size, disposition, and talents ; for to none
of these did I possess the slightest clew. I
amused myself by rehearsing in my own mind
all that I should say to her when we met ; I ac-
customed myself, in idea, to the name of "Fa-
ther," which I thought would sound sweeter
than that of "Guardian" from her infant lips.
I framed the wildest impossibilities. I was to
devote myself entirely to her ; to educate her in
all that I deemed fittest for her improvement,
and to grow wiser myself in the gentle task.
She was to console me for my disappointment ;
to be the comfort and pride of my old age ; the
inheritress of my fortunes ; the adopted daugh-
| ter of my heart.
42
MY BROTHER'S WIFE.
Nay, I had even thought of legally investing
her with the name of our family !
From the moment that we had consigned the
remains of poor Fletcher to the little burying-
place beyond Ems, I had found it impossible to
restrain my impatience, and had hurried along
the glorious Rhine-scenery lying between Cob-
lentz and Bonn without even a wish to linger
by the way. From Bonn to Cologne, from Co-
logne to Brussels, had been the rapid journey
of a day ; and not even the persuasions of my
friend, who remained obstinately at the City of
the Three Kings, could induce me to defer my
farther progress for a few hours. Perhaps, were
I to search my own motives narrowly, I should
be forced to acknowledge that his very determ-
ination to explore the antiquities of Cologne
bore some share in the urgency of my desire to
proceed. I wished to present myself alone to
the little orphan, and I could not endure to
share that first interview even with Norman
Seabrook. There was to me an importance in
our newly established relation to each other, a
sacredness in the grief that I was to unfold to
her, which admitted of no publicity ; besides, I
had built such a fairy chateau en Esjjagne upon
the affection which she was to give me, that I
felt jealous lest I should not be the first and
only one whom she would learn to love.
"Rue de Leopold, No. 24 — Madame von
Plaets ]"
The road was not long, although I thought it
so in my impatience; but I had to ask my way
several times; to traverse streets and squares
utterly strange to me; to turn back twice or
thrice when I had taken a wrong turning, or
been misdirected. Besides, it was market-day,
and the open places were all thronged with
stalls and country people, and many whom I
had addressed could not comprehend either
my French or German, but had replied to me in
their unintelligible Flemish dialect. Then the
novelty o| the architecture, so different to any
thing that I had previously seen, bewildered and
distracted me. A regiment of Belgian Chas-
seurs, with their dark uniforms, and curious
round hats surmounted by plumes of cock's
feathers, defiled along the very street which I
was about to cross, and kept me waiting, as it
seemed to me, full a quarter of an hour. I
was waylaid and followed by importunate guides
and commissionaires — in short, every possible
aggravation and delay -seemed to combine
against me.
At length I found the Rue de Leopold, a lit-
tle street running at the back of the theatre,
consisting of shops, hotels, and private houses.
Walking slowly down the centre, and looking
from side to side alternately, I came to No. 24.
It was a large white house standing back from
the street, with an outer wall, and heavy wood-
en gates, decorated with two ponderous knock-
ers. Within were long close rows of jalousied
windows ; the topmost branches of one or two
lofty lime-trees ; and, on the coping, in letters
a foot long, the words "Pensionnat des De-
moiselles."
How my heart beat as I lifted the heavy
knocker— as I asked for Madame von Plaets—
as I heard that she was within, and followed
the hobbling old concierge across the court-yard
to the steps of the mansion, where I was met
by a staid footman in a sober livery, and by him
preceded to a spacious drawing-room opening
upon a garden.
"Madame will be with monsieur directly."
Directly ! It seemed an age to me. I sat
down — rose — sat down again — examined the
pictures upon the walls — the books lying upon
the table — the visiting-cards in the filigree bas-
ket — the little figures of Dresden china on the
shelves of the inlaid cabinet. Surely those were
the sounds of music ! I listened attentively, and
heard a chorus of female Voices, supported by
the deep undertones of an organ. Doubtless
we were in the neighborhood of some church ;
and yet it was not the hour for service.
It certainly appeared to come from the direc-
tion of the garden ! I went over and opened
the window. This time I could not be mistaken,
for I heard the very words and recognized the
very notes of a choral movement by Marcello.
The garden was spacious, but gloomy — sur-
rounded by a high wall, overgrown by ivy and
green moss, planted here and there with tall
dark poplars, and laid out in formal walks and
parterres. There was a broken statue of the
Piping Faun, and a weed-grown sun-dial in
among the trees ; and, at the farther end, par-
tially screened by a lofty laurel hedge, a small
white edifice, apparently of recent date, pierced
by a row of long and narrow windows, and sur-
mounted by a glazed cupola.
Now, beyond a doubt, it was from that very
building that the sounds proceeded.
Did Madame von Plaets, then, keep a private
chapel for her pupils, or did the garden com-
municate with some other house or street be-
hind the confines of that laurel hedge ?
My curiosity Avas powerfully excited. I went
out upon the terrace, and down into the garden,
making my way cautiously along the paths till
I turned the corner of the. hedge, and found
myself before the entrance to the building, when
I stole forward into the shadow of the doorway,
and gazed on the scene within.
It was one large and lofty hall, with bare
white walls and matted floor, and rows 'of plain
deal benches ranged down all the centre, like
the seats in a church or a concert-room. On
these benches sat some fifty or sixty female
scholars, varying in age from six to twenty.
Each held an open music-book in her hand,
and all were singing to the accompaniment of
an organ which stood at the upper end of the
hall, and was played by a young girl dressed
entirely in black. About half way down, add-
ing to the church-like appearance of the place,
stood a little pulpit-like oaken desk, behind
which a stout, fair, and florid lady of middle age
was seated, as if presiding over the assembly.
It was a curious scene, and for me an inter-
esting one ; for I stood there scanning those
MY BROTHER'S WIFE.
43
rows of fair young faces, and striving vainly to
guess which was the one I sought.
Suddenly the lady-president, glancing in the
direction of the door, fixed her eyes upon me
with a startled expression, rose from behind her
desk with an air of immense dignity, and came
rustling toward me in her silken robes.
I felt that I was looked upon as an intruder,
and as she advanced I gradually retreated.
"Monsieur is desirous of speaking to me?"
she asked, with a stately salutation.
I was not particularly desirous of speaking to
her ; but I knew not what answer to make, so
I bowed profoundly.
"Then monsieur will have the goodness to
step this way."
She laid a pointed emphasis on "this," and
preceded me along the walks, up to the terrace,
and back into the saloon which I had lately left.
She then indicated a chair with a languid ges-
ture of her fat white hand, and sank, as if ex-
hausted, upon a spacious fauteuil.
"And now," she said, turning to me and
bowing somewhat more graciously, "and now,
perhaps, monsieur will have the politeness to
speak."
"Madame von Plaets, I presume?"
Another bow.
"I am the bearer of some painfufc intelli-
gence to one of your pupils, Miss Margaret
Fletcher. Her father is no more. I attended
upon him in his last moments, at Ems,. where
he intrusted me with the care and guardianship
of his daughter."
Madame looked concerned, and shook her
fair head gravely.
"I am very sorry," she said, two or three
times over; "I am very sorry." Then, as if
suddenly remembering my words, "Mademoi-
selle is not my pupil," she added. "She is my
musical gouvernante."
"Your musical gouvernante, madame !" I ex-
claimed. "I — I had expected to — to find her
quite a child !"
There must have been something very blank
and discomfited about the expression of my
face, for the Flemish lady smiled outright, and
saying, "Monsieur shall judge for himself," rang
a silver hand-bell, and desired the attendance
of Mademoiselle Marguerite.
So, then, all my predetermined speeches, my
fairy plans, my pleasant dreams of education,
guidance, and voluntary paternity, were vanish-
ed— my chateaux en Espagne had turned to "airy
nothings," and I found myself the guardian of
a musical gouvernante, as old, and perhaps old-
er, than myself ! But for the sad cause of my
journey, I should have recognized something al-
most ludicrous in the situation.
She entered — a pale, slight girl about seven-
teen or eighteen years of age, with fair straight
brow and downcast eyes, and her hands folded
meekly together, like the picture of the Virgin
Mary in the old German paintings. Her smooth
brown hair was banded closely round her head ;
she wore a plain dress of some black material,
and a small white collar round her throat, so
that I recognized her at once for the organist
whom I had seen from my ambush in the gar-
den.
"A gentleman to visit you, mademoiselle
Marguerite," said madame, condescendingly.
The little gouvernante blushed and courte-
sied, and stole one timid glance toward me from
beneath her long eyelashes, but made no reply.
"You can be seated, Mademoiselle Margue-
rite.*
From the manner in which this was conceded,
it was evident that madame deemed it a dis-
tinguishing mark of favor."
"This gentleman comes from abroad — from
Germany, mademoiselle. He has seen mon-
sieur your father, and will himself relate to you
the melancholy details. Helas ! mais c'est dom-
mage, monsieur. Qa me dechire le coeur !"'
And madame sighed, and pressed her laced
pocket-handkerchief to her eyes, and tried to
weep, but could not.
"I beg a thousand pardons, Madame von
Plaets," I said, rising hurriedly, "but I should
prefer to speak with this young lady in private ;
the nature of my communication demands it.
Have you any unoccupied room to which we
might be permitted to retire?"
' ' Mais — c'est juste, — mais — les convenances,"
stammered the mistress of the house, half rising
and hesitating.
" The customs of society, madame, suffer a
young lady to be alone for a few moments with
her guardian."
"Monsieur is a young guardian," said ma-
dame, looking greatly disappointed, and moving
slowly toward the door. "But — since it is
wished — on this one occasion — /will retire."
She bowed again, very haughtily ; I returned
the salutation; and, after lingering for a min-
ute with her hand on the lock, she finally left
the room.
As for the little gouvernante, she had risen
and sat down again a dozen times during this
brief colloquy ; but, now that madame was ac-
tually gone, she resumed her seat, and remain-
ed quite still and silent, revealing nothing of
her previous agitation save by the trembling of
her hands, which she strove to press firmly to-
gether.
I was troubled how to begin, and sat looking
at her in silence for some moments. At last I
spoke.
"I am the unwilling bearer of some painful
intelligence, Mademoiselle Margaret," I said,
gravely.
A startled glance from the downcast eyes — a
closer clasping of the hands — a quickening of
the fluttered breath — that was all.
"I — I was your father's friend at Ems. He
desired me to visit you — to protect you — to in-
form you of — of his illness."
"My father has been ill !"
It was the first time she had spoken — the
first time she had looked me steadily in the
face ; and, despite my anxiety and pity, I could
44
MY BROTHER'S WIFE.
not avoid remarking how sweet was the voice
and how beautiful were the large brown eyes.
" Very ill. More ill than you imagine. Can
you bear to be told how ill he has been ?"
I said this very earnestly, looking at her sor-
rowfully the while, as in the hope that the ex-
pression of my face and the tone of my voice
would speak my story for me.
She turned very pale — even her lips grew
white; but she answered firmly, "I can bear it."
The task was too painful. I thrust back my
chair, and took one or two hurried turns about
the room. Then I stopped suddenly before her,
and taking her hand,
''Margaret," I said, " I am your guardian —
your guardian and protector for life. It was
your father's wish that I should be so. Do you
understand me ?" »
No reply — no glance — no movement.
" I am your guardian, Margaret, because —
because you have no other."
The little hand that felt so cold in mine was
hastily withdrawn.
"No other!" she repeated, in an inward
shuddering tone. " No other ! "
, She rose up, pale and horror-struck, and
moved slowly away, as if in dread of me and
of my tidings. There were no tears upon her
face, though mine were falling fast.
"No other!"
Suddenly both voice and strength seemed to
fail her. She paused, wavered, caught wildly
at my outstretched hand, and fell fainting into
my arms.
CHAPTER XVII.
CLOUD-SHADOWS.
Norman Seabrook to Paul Latour.
"Hotel deJRubens, Antwerp, July 2d, 18—.
"EBBENE, amico mio ! So thou hast even
taken unto thyself apartments at Brussels, and
a ward of seventeen with 'a face of saintlike
purity!' By my faith, friend Paul, you im-
prove, /can remember but a very short time
since when the name of woman was never heard
to escape those ascetic lips, and when to remain
longer than seven days in any one locality was
intolerable to your philosophership. But all is
changed now, I perceive : a pair of * large, earn-
est brown eyes' have been sufficient to charm
even you into the paths of sentiment and sighs ;
and you must allow me to interpret your fine
speeches about ' the duties which you have tak-
en upon yourself,' etc., etc., according to my
own reading. Ha ! ' thou blushest, Antony !'
"I arrived in this place five days ago, and I
have not yet thought about when I shall leave
it. 'Tis a glorious old mediaeval city, Paul,
and not a moment passes that I do not wish you
were here to enjoy it with me. The most glo-
rious cathedral — a Muse'e of incalculable wealth
— the quaintest old Bourse you ever saw ; and
a style of florid architecture everywhere abound-
ing that absolutely feasts the eye with beauty.
I never saw any thing like the house of Rubens.
It is one wreath of fruits, and flowers, and
rarest scroll-works — a perfect bower in stone.
What an idea of magnificence that man had !
What a princely splendid life he contrived to
lead — embassador, chamberlain, secretary of
the privy council, knight, and artist ! Was ever
painter so rich and so honored? Will ever
painter be so again ? They have his palette,
and an old leather chair in which he sat while
painting, preserved in the Muse'e.
* ' Talking of the Muse'e, I have seen a pic-
ture in it which I shall never forget, and which,
if I could but describe it worthily, would, I
think, induce you to take the rail and come
down for a day or two — that is, if the sight of
your English friend would not be sufficiently
attractive. It is a small crucifixion by Van
Dyck — to me a most affecting and remarkable
picture. You see the cross standing up, as it
were, alone against the leaden sky. There is
nothing above or around but darkness, and one
or two points of flinty rock peep up from below,
giving an idea of the altitude and loneliness of
the mountain. The evening shades are gather-
ing; the sun is retreating behind a bank of
slaty clouds, and the Savior of mankind looks
upward^nto that heaven to which he seems so
near, and from which his term of banishment is
almost ended. The face is filled with a divine
yet beautiful agony : the extremities assume the
blue hues of death, and harmonize in a master-
ly manner with the tones of the background.
All is solitary, silent, and awful. Do come,
Paul, if it be only to see this picture. It is
worth a pilgrimage. There is a copy of it in
the church of St. Jacques ; but the original is
the gem.
"I have taken an immense fancy to the Mu-
see. It is a noble building, and is surrounded
by a quiet bit of garden, full of fine old trees,
' with seats beneath the shade,' and tablets in-
scribed to the memory of eminent artists set in
the walls. The bust of Rubens stands over the
entrance. Somehow the geniusrcf a great man
seems to reign forever in the place of his birth,
and to hallow all the atmosphere around with
something of his individual majesty. I have
found this particularly the case with Frankfurt
and Antwerp. Both cities appear like reflec-
tions of the minds of Goethe and Rubens, and
are, to me, as inseparable from the men as the
men from their works. You will understand
what I mean, though I write 'words — mere
words.' Surely there is a something about
Stratford-upon-Avon that is different to any oth-
er town by any other river in any other part of
England.
"I spent yesterday at Ghent, and paid a
hasty visit to the cathedral of St.Bavon, and
the famous old belfry surmounted by the Gold-
en Dragon, where I saw the great bell named
Roland, with its Flemish inscription, mentioned,
as you must remember, by the poet Longfel-
low:
MY BROTHER'S WIFE.
45
" ' Then the bell of Ghent responded, o'er lagoon and dike
of sand,
" I am Roland ! I am Roland ! there is victory in the
land !" '
" His dragonship, by the way, is delightfully
ugly, and suffers at present under the personal
disadvantage of a broken queue. I could not
resist the whim of taking up a bit of chalk lying
on the top of the tower, and writing these words
along the remains of that appendage — 'This tale
to be continued.' Forgive the poverty of the
pun.
"There is a large establishment here for Be-
guine nuns which I much wished to see, but
time forbade. These excellent women half peo-
ple the dead streets of the city ; soldiers and
priests seem to make up the rest of the popula-
tion. The grass grows in the public squares;
the sluggish . canals, with their waters 'thick
and slab,' lie like torpid snakes along the thor-
oughfares ; dogs go by dragging carts, and
queer wagons rumble past, like boats upon
wheels ; there are little images of the Virgin
and Child stuck up under tiny penthouses at
the corners of all the streets ; and down by the
bridges and the water-stairs you see women
scrubbing their bright brass kettles and peeling
vegetables. I never beheld a more dreary
place. I hear it is one of the most demoral-
ized in Europe.
"Leaving the town in what they are pleased
to call a 'vigilante' (!) on my way to the rail-
way, we had to cross several of the canal bridges.
At one of them my driver stopped while a barge
passed through ; for on these occasions the
bridge ha-s to be drawn up, so small a distance
is there between the surface of the water and
the planking above. I was amused at the prim-
itive manner in which the toll was collected
here. Two men in red woolen shirts drag the
boat through the narrow straits ; another man
appears at the window of the toll-house, which
overhangs the canal. He holds a fishing-rod
in his hand, with an old sabot attached to the
line. This he drops down to the level of the
steersman's nose, and draws it up again, like
Peter's fish, with a piece of money in its mouth.
" On the whole, I like Belgium, it is so un-
disguisedly stupid. I like its flat, strange scen-
ery— its mouldering old cities — its population
of dark priests and silent nuns. How ugly the
women are ! I have not seen a pretty face
since I have been in the country. ' Formosis
Bruga puellis,' saith a very respectable proverb
of the Middle Ages. It may be; but I have
not yet been to Bruges.
"I wished you had remained a few days with
me at Cologne. There is a private gallery there,
the property of Mr. Van der Weyer, which is
worth half the national collections in Europe,
and which you, as an artist and a man of taste,
should by no means have omitted. Some of the
finest specimens of the early German school,
the works of Wilhelm of Cologne, Stephen his
pupil, Hans Memling, Van Eyck, etc., adorn
these walls with 'riches fineles*;' and as for
the maturer painters of a later age, which pos-
sess for me far greater charms, you can not con-
ceive of a more exquisite selection. There is a
Guido, an upturned head of Christ, full of the
deepest poetry of feeling ; a glorious Rem-
brandt— 'Simon in the Temple;' and another
equally grand, a portrait of a man dressed in a
sort of Russian costume, with cloak, and furs,
and heavy leathern boots, but with an Oriental
turban on his head. The table near him is
laden with ' barbaric gold and pearl ;' a rich
gloom hangs over all ; and points of brilliant
light falling here and there only serve to height-
en the depths of shade beyond. I saw there a
spirited ' Head of a Cavalier,' by Rubens, and a
group of his own family; a fine Salvator, 'Cain
after the Death of Abel;' a delicious 'Virgin
and Child,' by Titian, all life and sweetness;
and oh ! such a calm and golden Cuyp. It is
a landscape scene, Paul. A woman seated on
a mule is led over the brow of a hill by a man
in a red jacket. The far country lies behind,
all liquefied and transparent in the sunny even-
ing air. The blue mountains fade upon the
horizon, and the towers of a distant chateau lift
their peaks to the red clouds far away. Be-
sides, there is a ' Forest-pool' by Ruysdale, with
the trees standing silently around in that light of
u ' Clear obscure,
So softly dark, so darkly pure,
Which follows the decline of day,
Ere twilight melts beneath the moon away.'
And I must not forget a Velasquez — one of the
most effective that I have seen. It is a portrait
of Don Carlos, a youth whose long fair hair falls
down upon his lustrous armor. He leans on a
gorgeous mace all blazing with jewels ; a dog
stands at his side ; and behind them are the
gates of a palace by the sea. It is a model of
high art in portraiture, and one laments that the
coloring should be so faded.
"But, if I proceed at this rate, you will think
that I am sending you a catalogue raisomwe, or
else that I am qualifying myself to be an author v
of guide-books.
" I often think of poor Fletcher and his mel-
ancholy ending. There was a man utterly self-
destroyed — self-sacrificed. I have sometimes
fancied that a great care was weighing upon his-
mind, and was the secret source of all his errors.
It might have been anxiety for his daughter.
And to think of his having a daughter! I
never even dreamt that he had had a wife. By
the way, do you remember that little brooch he
used to wear ? I often wondered whose hair he
could so value, and you would smile to hear
some of the romantic tales which I was pleased
to hang thereby. Perhaps, after all, it was his
wife's.
" You must come and see me. I shall be
here, I dare say, for a fortnight or three weeks
longer, for I have still so much to see in the
way of churches and private galleries. Really
one might spend a year in Antwerp and still
leave something unvisited. Suppose you come
next Saturday, and stay for a few days with me
on the banks of what Goldsmith calls 'the lazy
46
MY BROTHER'S WIFE.
Schelde ?' I name Saturday, because there is
to be a grand fete on Sunday at the cathedral,
and a procession headed by the archbishop.
"I want you to make me a little sketch of
Miss Fletcher's head, that I may know in what
this * saintly purity' consists. Is it in expres-
sion or feature ? I should imagine the former,
since you tell me that she is not beautiful. It
is probable that I shall find my way to Brussels
on leaving here ; but perhaps I may go first to
Bruges. I am very curious to visit that old
city. In the mean time, I should like to see
what your fair ward is like, and I hope, for the
' sake of our friendship, that I may be enabled to
write beneath her portrait that old line of Chau-
cer's which you, as a Frenchman, I dare say,
have not read —
" ' Si douset est la Margarete !'
What a long letter I have written ! ffiimphrtc,
I know that you will read it all, mon aini, and
that, were it twice the length, you would not
deem it a trouble. ' Farewell, Monsieur Trav-
eler.' I drink your health in a glass of admi-
rable Cura9oa. Yours ever,
" NORMAN SEABROQK."
From the Same to the Same.
" July 4th, 18— .
"DEAR OLD BOY, — This is good news! I
did not really think that you would come, al-
though I asked you. Start by the first train in
the morning, and I will meet you at the sta-
tion. Huzza ! N. S."
It was late in the evening, and getting quite
dusk, when I parted from my friend upon the
platform of the Antwerp railway station. I
had passed two pleasant days with him, of
which the greater portion had been spent in
the Muse'e and the cathedral ; and I couM not
help feeling a movement of regret as the guard
closed the door, and the train began slowly to
glide past the outskirts of the city.
The carriages were dimly lighted from the
roof; the view without was flat, obscure, and
ghostly. I turned wearily from the level marsh-
lands, and the dull lines of poplars that seemed
to travel past the windows, toward my fellow-
passengers. These were three in number —
a stout, jovial-looking priest, with broad-brim-
med hat and long black robe, and a railway rug
folded comfortably over his knees ; a young
officer of Chasseurs, sound asleep, with the frag-
ment of a cigar between his lips ; and a lady su-
perbly dressed in a robe of violet-colored satin,
and a cloak of velvet and rich sables, who sat
precisely opposite to me, and kept her veil down
closely over her face.
There was something in the attitude of this
lady — in the shape of her hands, one of which
was ungloved and glittering with diamonds —
in the very style and splendor of her attire, that
attracted my attention, strangely. Having once
looked at her, I coul;d not remove my eyes, and
I sat there vainly striving to penetrate the folds
of lace that concealed her features.
Presently the evening mists rose thicker and
the air grew damp. I raised the glass on my
side, and the priest raised his at the other. The
steam then gathered slowly on the panes; the
night became quite dark, and the faint oil-lamp
seemed to burn brighter by the contrast ; the
priest threw aside his rug ; the officer muttered
restlessly in his sleep; I removed my hat — in
short, the atmosphere of the carriage was trop-
ical.
Surely the heat must soon compel her to up-
lift that veil !
She takes a scent-bottle from her reticule —
she loosens the cloak around her throat — at last,
yes, at last, she throws up the veil !
Madame Vogelsang !
An unaccountable thrill ran through me at
the sight of her, and I sank back, shuddering, in
my seat. What was she to me that I should
feel this presaging weight upon my heart?
Nothing ; and yet I drew my
breath with difficulty, and closed my eyes that
they might not look upon her.
The train flew on, and to me the journey
seemed to endure for hours, although I knew
how short the distance was, and how swift our
speed. Then came Brussels, and at the first
slackening of our pace I threw open the door,
leaped out upon the platform, and never once
glanced back.
Who shall say that it was not a presenti-
ment?
CHAPTER XVIII.
"SUMMER HALCYON DAYS."
SOME three or four weeks went by, and Brus-
sels arrived at the height of its summer glory.
There were evening concerts in the park ; pub-
lic balls at the Cafe Vauxhall ; shoals of car-
riages and equestrians on the Boulevards, and
in the Allee Verte, during the day ; and, above
all, operatic performances at the theatre in the
Place de la Monnaie, with Madame Vogelsang
as the star of the season.
I partook of very few of these amusements,
and divided my time between study, exercise,
and the society of my ward. I had taken a
couple of rooms in the neighborhood of the
park, within sight of the green trees and the
great basin, and here established for myself an
humble imitation of my beautiful library at
Latour-sur-Creil. During the mornings I wrote,
and read, and walked if the weather permitted ;
in the afternoons I called upon Margaret, and
either took her out for a little stroll, or read
aloud to her from the pages of some favorite
French or German writer; at night I studied
again till late, and sometimes spent an hour in
the park, listening to the band. It was a very
quiet life, but a happy one ; not the less happy,
perhaps, for being tinctured here and there with
some few shadows and regrets.
As I had felt and conjectured from the first
— ay, from that very moment of that woful mid-
night— I had found peace and consolation in
MY BROTHER'S WIFE.
the new and solemn duty which I then assumed.
To have the care of a life — of a life so young,
and innocent, and fair! — this was indeed a
high and holy trust, and I grew stronger in the
mere effort to fulfill it. There was, however,
one difficulty ever present to my mind. I, who
had so easily built up a pleasant future for my
child- ward and myself, could now determine
on no fitting course of life for this grave and
timid girl of seventeen. To suffer her to con-
tinue as I found her, a lonely and ill-paid mu-
sical gouvemante in a school, was out of the
question. Indeed, I had already done much to
soften the harsher points of her position. She
had now a private sitting-room ; leisure for
study ; and, owing to a pecuniary arrangement
into which I entered with Madame von Plaets,
enjoyed a far greater amount of respect and
consideration than any teacher had ever before
received at the hands of that majestic lady.
For the present this answered well enough ; but
I could not reside in Brussels ad infinitum, and
Margaret must not occupy a subordinate posi-
tion for any longer period than was necessary
for the completion of my plans. The subject
was most perplexing, and cost me many hours
of reflection every day. Yet I found it impos-
sible to arrive at any definite conclusion.
Could I but have taken her to Burgundy, and
placed her under the care of my mother — but I
could not yet endure to think of the Hauteville
grounds, which opened into mine, and of the
near vicinity of Theophile and his bride. True,
I might send or leave her there, and again de-
part upon my aimless travels ; but was she not
my ward, and I her guardian ? Was it not my
duty to remain with her, to console her, to guide
her studies, and watch over every dawning im-
pulse of her heart ? How dull and solitary she
would be, alone with my stately mother in that
remote chateau, with its environment of old
forests; how lonely I should be to leave her
there, and go forth for the second time !
It was a step not to be thought of — at least
for the present. A time might arrive when old
griefs and old impressions would fade and wear
away ; when I might learn to look upon Adri-
enne without regret, and upon The'ophile with-
out envy ; when to return to Burgundy would
once more be a pleasure unalloyed by pain, and
Margaret might rejoice to call that antique house
her home.
And so I put it off day by day, and the sum-
mer weeks went on. She was singularly placid
and silent for her age— the more so, perhaps, on
account of her isolated position, and the sor-
row which had lately fallen upon her — yet she
thought much, and felt deeply. Her nature
was so reserved, her inner world so far removed
from all vain or idle scrutiny, that her ideas and
feelings became known to me only by chance,
and at rare intervals. I have spent hours read-
ing the story of her calm eyes and serious brow,
and striving to look through them upon the
workings of her heart. She would often sit by
with drooping head, and hands busy over some
piece of delicate embroidery, suffering me to
carry on the conversation unaided, and seldom
uttering even a comment or an interrogation.
Then again, at times, thoughts of such fresh
purity and beauty would fall from her lips as
caused me frequently to look round upon her
with sudden admiration and delight, the more
so because she was ever totally unconscious of
the sweetness of her own sayings.
Every glimpse that I obtained into that fair
soul revealed only grace and innocence, and
these revelations were but the more precious for
being so unpremeditated and infrequent.
Oh, this pleasant study of a young life ! I
had read many books, and was learned in many
philosophies and languages, but in this first liv-
ing volume that had been opened for me I read
a wise and simple poem such as I had never
dreamed before. It would be vain for me to
attempt an analysis of all the peace and conso-
lation which I learned from the perusal of that
book's gentle pages. Slowly and earnestly I
read, and observed, and commented upon them,
and day by day rejoiced more heartily and grate-
fully that the care of them had been committed
to my keeping. Yes, it was my duty now to
win the confidence and affection of this lonely
girl — it was my duty to shield her from sorrow,
and to preserve in all their stainless purity the
virgin tablets of her heart. Father, brother,
friend, all these must I be to her, and all these,
oh Beneficent Sustainer, did I not pray to Thee
to make me ?
The task, the responsibility, the anxiety was
overwhelming, and Heaven knows with what
humility and strong endeavor I armed myself to
execute it worthily.
The more I understood, the more I respected
and loved her. There was a something in her
presence that seemed to hush my voice, as in
the presence of a superior nature. Frequently
I likened her mind to some Parian sanctuary
peopled with pious, and chaste, and lovely im-
ages, and dedicated to the service of the gods ;
sometimes I compared it to a smooth lake
whose translucent waters are dark only because
they are deep, and beneath which grow fairest
water-plants and flowers, such as the upper
earth can not match for sweetness.
Scarcely a week had elapsed since my arrival
in Brussels when I recognized the necessity of
establishing some link of thought and action
between Margaret and myself— some link that
should induce a community of aim and a reci-
procity of ideas between our minds. It was
even necessary to the acquirement of her confi-
dence ; for how could the innocent familiarity
which belonged to our relative position ever be
attained by formal visits and conversations gov-
erned by restraint? To this end I began in-
structing her in drawing. Like all persons of
high musical ability, she showed a remarkable
aptitude for art, and progressed rapidly — so rap-
idly that in less than a month she had mastered
the difficulties of the simple outline, and began
studying from the round object. I must here
MY BROTHER'S WIFE.
observe that Margaret had a little favorite pupil
in the school, a pale and sickly child, with large
dark eyes and ordinary features, stunted in
'growth, but precocious in mind, and who loved
her with a passionate devotion that reminded
me of my own feelings toward my mother when
I was myself a child. This little girl was her
constant companion, the sharer of her studies,
the partaker of all her simple pleasures, her
walks, her rooms, her books. Little Clemence
was too shy, and strange, and silent to inspire
me at first with any great interest ; but J will-
ingly taught her all that I taught to Margaret,
and in time grew almost fond of my earnest
scholar. She was scarcely like a child in her
tone of mind; she had none of the prattle
and ingenuous confidence of youth. Her very
amusements were odd and fantastic, and unlike
all those which are suitable to childhood. I
have known her sit silently in a corner for long
hours at a time, inventing grotesque patterns in
colored papers, or drawing maps of imaginary
countries with bays and promontories, and
strange outlandish names marked here and
there. With Clemence for our companion, we
passed many a pleasant evening hour, and en-
joyed many a sunny walk together. With
what delight I attended the sales of antique
bijouterie and objets (fart, and found out quaint
shops in the close dark streets of the medieval
quarter of the city, seeking models for her pen-
cil! How I triumphed when I succeeded in
bringing to her some graceful vase, or classic
statuette, or fragment of old foliated cornice,
making her little salon into the semblance of an
artist's studio ! And then what long rural wan-
derings we had in the neighborhood of Laken,
and in the forest of Soignies, searching for ferns
and leaves, and sketching moss-grown trunks of
fallen -trees, and telling fairy- stories to Cle-
mence by the way !
A happy, happy time, and calm as dreamless
sleep !
CHAPTER XIX.
A CABINET COUNCIL.
IT is a bright and joyous morning during the
first week of August. The boxes of mignonette
in my windows send up a fragrant odor; the
trees are nodding in the sunshine ; my bird in
his painted cage is almost wild with joy, and
darts from perch to perch in the pauses of his
song ; pleasant sounds of children's voices, and
cries of itinerant florists and chocolate vendors
are heard outside, with now and then the pass-
ing wheels of some early vigilantes going to
meet the first train at the station.
I am seated beside the open casement in my
slippers and robe de chambre, reading and
. breakfasting. My book (Thiers's History of the
Consulate and Empire") lies before me in a con-
venient position ; my toast and coffee stand at
my right hand ; sometimes I look out upon a
troop of passing cavalry, or a party of country
milkmaids, with their graceful cans of glittering
brass upon their heads. In short, I am just
now exceedingly comfortable, very much inter-
ested, and have made up my mind to a morning
of quiet study.
A tap at my chamber door.
I want no interruptions ; so I affect not to
hear it, and go on with my book.
• A second tap, very much louder than the first
— a tap that insists upon being heard !
" Go to — Algeria !" I mutter sulkily between
my teeth, and then, without removing my eyes
from the page — " Come in !"
The door flies open — a rapid foot treads the
floor — a friendly hand falls heavily upon my
shoulder, and a frank voice cries cheerily,
"Hail to thee, worthy Timon!"
"Norman Seabrook! dear old fellow, is it
really you ? How glad — how very glad I am !
When did you come ? Where have you put
up ? Why did you not write and let me meet
you ? Sit down and have some breakfast !
Well, this is a pleasure!"
And in an incoherent rapture of delight and
surprise I shake him vehemently by both hands,
force him into a chair, ring for fresh coffee, kick
Thiers's "History of the Consulate," etc., to the
farther corner of the room, shake hands again,
and so on for some ten minutes at the least.
Presently we subside over our breakfast and
sit talking eagerly. He has so much to tell
and I so little, that I soon drop my share of the
conversation, and leave him to speak of all that
he has seen since we parted, uninterrupted save
now and then by an interrogation or a brief re-
mark. Besides, it is such a pleasure to see him
once again, that I prefer to sit listening to his
voice and looking at his cordial face.
More than five weeks have elapsed since we
parted, and during that time he has visited all
that in Belgium is worthy the notice of the his-
torian, the art -student, and the archaeologist.
He has been to Ghent, Antwerp, Bruges, Lou-
vain, Mechlin, Tournay, etc., and is all the
browner for his traveling. He has seen every
thing and been into all kinds of places ; has
journeyed from town to town in a lazy ca-
nal-boat; has jolted along the paven country
roads in a peasant's wagon ; has trudged on foot
and on horseback ; lodged at hotels, and farm-
houses, and roadside inns ; frequented theatres,
churches, gaming-rooms, picture-galleries, mar-
kets, guinguettes, reviews, law-courts, and relig-
ious ceremonials. Life in all its phases, art in
all its stages, he has observed, studied, and en-
joyed. For five weeks he has done wonders,
and nothing has escaped his quick eye, his ready
wit, and his genial temper.
"And so," I say at length, "Brussels is all
that you have left to see ! How long do you
propose to remain with me ?"
" To remain with you, amico ! Why, you are
not going to establish yourself here for the term
of your natural life ! I had thought to stay
here for some three weeks, perhaps, till you
should have disposed of your interesting charge
MY BROTHER'S WIFE.
49
in some convenient and appropriate asylum,
and then I hoped, and hope, that we shall on
together 'to fresh woods and pastures new!'
Why not to Paris? It is the most insoufiante
and delicious place on earth, and I must fain
confess, with Madame de Stael, that it is rny
vulnerable side. Besides, you are a French-
man, and have never visited the fairy capital of
your native country ! I tell you, Paul, 'tis ab-
solutely a duty!"
I shake my head and look grave.
"Indeed, Seabrook,"! say, tracing a pattern
on the tea-tray with my spoon, " indeed, I find
myself in a very delicate, I may say, a very dif-
ficult position. Miss Fletcher, you see, is not
the child I had supposed ; she — she is young,
accomplished, interesting — Hem ! interesting to
me on account of her poor father, and — and — "
Here Seabrook bursts out laughing, and I
pause disconcerted.
" Go on, old boy," says my friend, biting his
lips to smother his risible inclinations. " Go
on. You were speaking of the difficulties of
your situation, and of the charms which la belle
Marguerite inherits from— her father!"
* ' No jesting, I beg. The subject is a serious
one, and I entered into it that I might be bene-
fited by your advice, not mocked by your unsea-
sonable pleasantries."
And hereupon I am so very grave and digni-
fied that Seabrook holds out his hand and begs
my pardon earnestly. So I continue.
"That she shall not remain in her present
position I have quite determined, and I have
many reasons why I should not wish to place
her with my mother in Burgundy. She has no
friends with whom I could even leave her as a
boarder. Were she a child, or one of our own
sex, the thing would be sufficiently easy ; as it
is, I know not what on earth to do !"
"Put her into a good school — not as a teach-
er, but as a pupil. You can make as many ar-
rangements for her comfort and indulgence as
you please, and you would be providing her
with a respectable home, "says Seabrook, deci-
sively.
" Eh lien! that would, perhaps, be as wise a
course as any. Yet I do not much fancy pla-
cing her in a school. I do not fancy the re-
straint, the discipline, the want of friends and
society to which she must be subject ; and — "
" And, most thoughtful guardian, you do not
fancy the separation ! La belle Marguerite at
school, Vaimable Paul en voyage — quelle idee af-
j reuse!"
1 ' Really, Seabrook," I exclaim, rising angrily,
and pacing to and fro about the room, "if you
mean this for a jest, it is neither appropriate nor
generous. I asked your advice ; and if you can
give me no better than this, we had better drop
the subject."
Seabrook leans back in his chair and looks
after me with a quiet smile, so full of good-hu-
mor and friendliness that I already more than
half forgive him.
"Now listen to me, Paul, "he says, firmly,
' ' and I will give you the best piece of advice in
the world."
"Well?"
"The girl is virtuous, amiable, clever, is she
not?"
" Eminently so."
"Good-looking?"
"I think so. You might not."
"Bien! Now my advice is this: put her
into a first-rate finishing school, and there leave
her for a couple of years while you and I go to-
gether through France, and Italy, and ' tawny
Spain.' Then come home and take her down
to Burgundy, where you can portion her oft' to
some worthy husband, 'an' it so please you.'
Depend upon it, I counsel you wisely, amico.
What, silent ?"
"It needs consideration, Seabrook."
" Consider as long as you please, Paul. You
will arrive at my opinion. And now let us talk
of something else. What is there to be seen in
this town ?"
"There is the cathedral of St. Gudule — the
Hotel de Ville — some private galleries — the ar-
cades— the theatre, and the park."
' ' Well, to-day I am in the mood for neither
pictures nor churches. Let us stroll out for a
while under the park trees. It is fearfully
warm here!"
So, arm in arm, we go forth together, and
mingle with the tide of visitors who promenade,
read, embroider, and converse in that most
pleasant and fashionable resort of morning idlers.
There are children floating their tiny crafts on
the basin; schools demurely pacing the less
crowded alleys ; elderly financiers devouring the
morning papers ; aristocratic youths, with elab-
orate waistcoats, eating ices within the precincts
of Velloni's ; sentimental couples seated in the
grottoes down in the hollows ; groups of ladies
and gentlemen discussing last evening's soiree,
and soldiers playing dominoes on the benches.
The spectacle is animated and amusing, and the
weather brilliant. Seabrook is in high spirits,
and sees and enjoys all.
" Voila!" he says. "Do you see that lady
with a face like the queen of spades, and her
three passe daughters all dressed in red, like el-
derly flamingoes ? I know them by sight, and
have seen them in all the capitals of Europe,
and they never can get husbands — it's impossi-
ble ! Who is that saffron -colored little man
with the wooden leg and the white mustache ?
But I forget — you know nobody. What a pret-
ty girl that is with the lavender bonnet ; and,
by Jove ! there's a handsome fellow — no — not
there — here— just in front of you ! Stay, he'll
turn presently. What a pair of shoulders ! I'd
bet you a five-franc piece that that man's En-
glish!"
He points to a gentleman walking a few paces
in advance — a tall, well-made man, about six
feet in height, with a profusion of curling light
hair, an easy bearing, and that indescribable air
of self-possession that stamps good breeding.
His back is turned to me ; Iris head bent toward
MY BROTHER'S WIFE.
the ground, as if in thought ; his hands buried
in the pockets of his paletot.
My heart beats, though I know not why.
He turns aside to watch some children at play
upon the grass, and for one instant I catch sight
of that beautiful and familiar profile.
"Heavens!" I cry, pausing suddenly and
seizing my companion by the arm, "it is my
brother Theophile !"
CHAPTER XX.
PAGES OLD AND NEW.
"THEOPHILE! Theophile, monfrire!"
I am close beside him now, with my hand
upon his arm.
"How! Paul in Brussels! I thought you
still in Heidelberg. But this is delightful!
Have you seen much, my brother? Are you
well?"
" Quite well, Theophile. Quite well — and
you?"
He looks so handsome and florid, and withal
so happy, that I have no need to ask the ques-
tion. This he tells me, laughing, and drawing
my arm through his, is, in a few moments, chat-
ting as freely and carelessly as when we were
last together.
Seabrook, I may observe, has walked away
and left us to our recognition undisturbed.
Of course my brother's first words are of the
subject most distressing to my ears.
"I am the happiest husband," says he, "in
Trance ! I possess in Adrienne the very model
of a wife. She receives visitors with the best
air possible, is the belle of every soiree to which
we are invited, and certainly dresses with a taste
that is beyond all praise ! Besides, she has the
sweetest of tempers. I assure you, Paul, we
have not differed since our day of betrothal !
Truly I believe that we were destined for each
other."
"And about Hauteville? Do the repairs
progress ?"
"A merveilk. Do you remember that little
wood, scarcely five acres in extent, that lies to
the right of the chateau, about half a mile from
the house ?"
" Yes. You mean that copse adjoining your
domain ?"
" C'cst fa. I have bought it, mon ami, and
am about to inclose it in my grounds. Laid
out with winding paths and planted with wild
flowers, it will form a charming promenade. It
is my intention to place rustic seats here and
there, and a little temple in the centre, dedi-
cated to Love. The idea is good, is it not ?
As for the chateau, the repairs take longer than
we thought. There are now twenty-five work-
men employed upon it ; but, even so, we do not
expect that it will be habitable before Novem-
ber, and that is too dreary a season for the
country. So we propose to remain here for the
sumrher, and then pass our winter in Paris.
Adrienne has never been to Paris. Have you
been long in Brussels?"
" About five or six weeks."
"Really ! Is it tolerably full this year? Do
you know any one ?"
"Only my English friend with whom I be-
came acquainted in Germany. As for the com-
pany, I believe that Brussels is very gay this
season ; but I never go into society, so do not
take me for an authority."
" You must come and see Adrienne."
" I — I shall be most happy."
"Come directly. We are not far from the
hotel, and I have nothing to do. She will be
enchanted to see you. Stay ! I forgot. I came
out to see after a carriage. We must buy or hire
one, and I believe there are very good carriage-
makers here. Can you direct me to one?"
"Recollect, The'ophile, how little I know of
such things. I could scarcely tell a cabriolet
from a barouche if I saw it. There stands my
friend Seabrook ; let me bring him here and in-
troduce you. He can aid you, I dare say, as to
the choice and fashion of your purchase."
"Excellent."
So I signal to Seabrook where he stands be-
side the basin, and make the two known to each
other. We then leave the park and stroll along
the Rue Royale, seeking a coachbuilder's.
Suddenly The'ophile pauses in front of a large
white house, with the words " Hotel de France"
inscribed along the front.
" This is where we are staying," he says,
turning to me. "Adrienne is within, and alone.
Do go in and see her ; it will be a charity.
Monsieur Seabrook will, perhaps, kindly remain
with me. Pray go up, Paul, if it be only for a
quarter of an hour."
"Not now — not now, "I exclaim, nervously.
"As we return, The'ophile."
"And shall I tell Adrienne that our brother
passed the door, and knew that she was there
trisie and alone ? Bah ! enter, Paul, and amuse
her with some stories of thy travels."
Thus urged, I yield, for Theophile is accus-
tomed to rule every thing just as he wishes; so
I enter the lofty door and ask for Madame La-
tour.
Madame Latour! How strange a name for
Adrienne Lachapelle !
"Monsieur will have the goodness to mount
to No. 5, au premier," says the waiter, bowing.
Arrived at the door, I pause and examine my
own heart before I knock. Adrienne is within—
Adrienne whom I loved, and from whose beauty
I fled despairing ! Does not my heart beat or
my hand tremble ? Is there no flush upon my
brow — no fluttering of my breath — no sign or
evidence of that love which exiled and tortured
me, and cast the darkness of night upon the
morning of my life ? I am almost angry with
myself that there is none of this. I can not be-
lieve that the passion has burnt out — that I
tread the ashes of a dead love — that Adrienne
is no more to me than a pure, and lofty, and
admirable woman, and tmj brother's wife! It
MY BROTHER'S WIFE.
seems, then, that mine was a boy's fantasy — a —
Hark ! a footstep on the stairs ! I start, knock
hurriedly, and, before she has time to answer,
open the door.
' ' Madame Latour !" It is all that I can say.
4 'My brother Paul!"
She had laid her book aside and risen as I
entered. How beautiful — how radiant — how
fair ! I was not agitated ; yet a strange feel-
ing, like shame, tied my tongue, and I could
scarce articulate the words of common compli-
ment that were required by the moment as I
bowed over that delicate small hand, and touched
it lightly with my lips.
"I had no idea of meeting you in Brussels,
mon beau fr ere. Are you here en route, or for
the season ?"
"I scarcely know yet, madame. Circum-
stances will decide for me. "
"Pray be seated. Have you met my hus-
band?"
Her husband! The word jarred upon my
nerves painfully, and I replied by a gesture of
assent.
" How delighted he must have been to meet
you ! And he missed you so much when you
left Burgundy."
"I can scarcely imagine that possible, ma-
dame, since you remained," I said, forcing a
smile.
She looked up hastily and fixed her eyes full
upon me. Mine fell beneath their gaze, but not
before I had seen her color change, and a troub-
led expression flit across her face. Perhaps my
mother — Ah, no! my mother would never
have betrayed me !
"Where is The'ophile?" asked Adrienne,
changing the conversation, and affecting to
glance along the columns of the morning paper.
"I left him with an English friend of mine
— Mr. Seabrook. They are gone to purchase a
carriage in the town."
"I have heard of Mr. Seabrook — that is, I
have read of him in your letters. My husband
gives me all his letters" (a pause). "Stay!
here is our arrival published among the list of
'distinguished visitors.' Listen. 'Arrived at
the Hotel de France, Monsieur and Madame
Theophile Latour, of Latour-sur-Creil and
Hauteville, Burgundy.' They have given us
the honor of your estate in addition to our own,
mon beau frere. How amusing!"
"I dare say you will think me very much
hors du monde, madame, but I confess that an
announcement such as this would annoy me
very particularly. I should not wish all the
idlers of a city or a watering-place to ' know
the secret of my whereabout ;' and it seems to
me that the half of a man's self-sovereignty is
gone when his privacy of action is wrested from
him by a miserable newsmonger in search of a
paragraph."
"There is some justice in what you say," re-
plied Adrienne. " But, at the same time, these
announcements are useful. They bring friends
and acquaintances together who must otherwise
have trusted to chance for their meeting. Take
our own case to-day for an instance. Had you
not encountered your brother, the journal would
have informed you not only of our presence,
but of our address. But who is this?"
"Monsieur le Marquis de Courtrai!" said
the waiter, throwing open the door, and, with
great ceremony, ushering in a little, withered
old gentleman, dressed in the extreme of youth-
ful fashion, who advanced with a profusion of
bows and smiles.
He was one of Monsieur Theophile's oldest
Parisian friends — had known the cher gargon for
years — had been, indeed, the cher garcorfs cha-
peron on many occasions when he first left Bur-
gundy. He had seen the announcement of
their arrival in this morning's journal, and had
hastened to be the first to welcome Monsieur
Theophile and his charming lady to Brussels.
He was charmed, proud, enchanted to make the
acquaintance of madame ; and he hoped that he
might become the happy means of introducing
her to the agremens of the city. In all respects
wherein madame would condescend to make
him useful, he was her slave.
All this was said with an air of antiquated
gallantry, and in a strain of high-flown compli-
ment that I found particularly repulsive. Adri-
enne, however, received him with perfect toler-
ance and good breeding, and requested him to
be seated and await the return of Theophile ;
whereat the marquis pressed his hand upon his
laced shirt-front, and declared himself pene-
trated.
"Permit me," said Adrienne, glancing to-
ward me with a half-suppressed smile. " Mon-
sieur Latour — my husband's eldest brother."
The marquis bowed again, showed his false
teeth, ran his jeweled fingers gracefully through
the ringlets of his wig, and took a pinch of snuff
from the depths of an enameled box glittering
with diamonds.
' ' What have we to see in Brussels, Monsieur
le Marquis?" inquired Adrienne; "and what
families are staying here at present?"
Monsieur le Marquis begged to assure ma-
dame that Brussels was just now in perfection.
The Prince and Princess of Saxe Hohenhausen
had been here for more than three weeks al-
ready ; the Grand-Duke of Zollenstrasse was
expected daily at Laken ; the Baron and Bar-
oness de Montaignevert were at the Hotel de
Bellevue, and the Comte de Millefleurs at the
Hotel de la Regence. Besides these, the Earl
of Silvermere and family had just driven up to
the doors of the Bellevue, and it was rumored
that a venerable and distinguished duke, to
whom the near vicinity of Waterloo could be
suggestive only of the proudest reminiscences,
might shortly be expected on a visit to the royal
palace. As for amusements, madame might
repose upon his assurances that she could not
be triste or gente in Brussels. He would make
it his proudest duty to enliven the leisure hours
of Theophile and his most beautiful and accom-
plished lady. There was an instrumental con-
BROTHER'S
cert every evening at Velloni's, in the park —
exhibitions, soirees, fancy and court balls with-
out number; and at the opera, three evenings
in the week, a celebrated singer — Madame Vo-
gelsang— with a ravishing voice — a femme su-
perbe — a Juno, in fact, and quite the furore at
Brussels.
"Monsieur le Marquis is an enthusiast, I
perceive," said Adrienne, smiling.
Monsieur le Marquis ogled himself in an ad-
joining mirror, and simperingly avowed him-
self the slave of beauty. It had been his fai-
blesse, he said, as long as he could remember ;
and, judging from his general appearance, and
from the variety of ingenious fictions to which
he was indebted for his hair, teeth, complexion,
and figure, one might reasonably conjecture that
the personal recollections of M. le Marquis ex-
tended over a considerable period of time.
At this moment the door opened, and The-
ophile entered alone.
"I could not persuade your friend to return
with me, Paul," he said. Then, perceiving his
visitor — " Monsieur de Courtrai, this is an honor
which I had not expected. I will not ask after
your health, for I see that you are well and
young as ever."
There was a slight shade of sarcasm mingled
with the respect and courtesy of my brother's
welcome, which would have been observed only
by those who knew him .intimately. Adrienne
instantly entered into it.
" Monsieur le Marquis," said she, with a fas-
cinating glance and smile, "has been entertain-
ing us with all the news of Brussels — the visit-
ors, the society, and the theatre. The time has
flown since his arrival."
" Monsieur le Marquis is famed for his judg-
ment in all matters of fashionable interest, ma
chere," said Theophile, with another inclination
to that gentleman — "and for his brilliant pow-
ers of conversation."
"Now, positively, it is too much," remon-
strated the peer, having1 recourse again to the
enameled snuff-box. "I vow, Latour, that you
make me blush — absolutely blush!" And he
would have covered his face with his embroi-
dered handkerchief, only that he dared not, for
private and important reasons. "I was speak-
ing, "he continued, "of the Vogelsang."
"And who is 'the Vogelsang?' " asked The'-
ophile.
"The Vogelsang, mon garfon, is the divinity
of the Place de la Monnaie — the radiant star of
the Belgian opera. She comes to us from Vi-
enna and Frankfurt, where every one is ravi —
even as we are in Brussels. You must see her
immediately, and madame also. I have a little
loge which is entirely at your disposal, and in
which I shall be charmed to see so distinguish-
ed a lady as madame !"
This polite oifer is, after a brief hesitation,
accepted with many acknowledgments for the
following evening, and presently the Marquis
de Courtrai takes his leave as ceremoniously as
an embassador, and drives away from the hotel
in a purple chariot drawn by four horses, with a
footman behind carrying a bouquet in his but-
ton-hole.
"Who is that absurd little old gentleman?"
asks Adrienne, as soon as he has left the room.
" This absurd little old gentleman, my love,"
replies Theophile, with an air of superb gravity,
"is Polydore Emmanuel Hippolyte de Courtrai,
Marquis de Courtrai, Comte de Sauterelles, and
Chevalier of the most noble Italian order of
Santo Polichinello — a very great man, I assure
you, and one whose genealogy dates from the
reign of Clovis the Second."
"Not his genealogy, The'ophile," I exclaim.
"You surely mean himself!"
It is true, then, that I love her no longer!
So surprised, nay, I might almost say, so troub-
led am I by this discovery, that I wander away
restlessly out of the city and spend some hours
amid the lanes and fields of Ixelles. Return-
ing toward evening, I bend my steps in the di-
rection of the Rue de Leopold, where Margaret
has been expecting me these four hours past.
Oh, gentle Margaret ! why is it that my
troubles grow lighter as I arrive within sight of
the roof which shelters thee, and whence comes
this sweet and chastened feeling which, at the
thought of thy fair image, streams down upon
my heart like the pale radiance of the evening
star?
CHAPTER XXI.
THE HEART'S MISGIVINGS.
" MONSIEUR will find Ma'm'selle Marguerite
in the little salon," said Elise, courtesying.
Elise was the pretty fille-de-chambre, and the
"little salon"! have already mentioned as that
which had been assigned to Margaret for her
private sitting-room and studio.
She was not there, however, and I even fan-
cied that I had heard her flying footsteps on the
stairs. She had never shunned me before, and
the suspicion for one moment vexed me. Then
I smiled.
"Some woman's vanity," I murmured to my-
self. "Some ribbon or collar to be adjusted!
Childish petite Marguerite!"
I could not help finding something pleasant
in this explanation, and, musing over it, sat
down and looked around me.
The tokens of her presence were scattered
every where about ; the very atmosphere of the
room, heavy as it was with the perfume of aca-
cia-flowers and verbena, seemed to retain some-
what of herself. On yonder chair were laid her
gloves and shawl ; here, on the chimney-piece,
her open book ; upon the table, beside the win-
dow, her pencils and drawing-paper, and that
little bronze Apollo which I had given to her
only yesterday. Her fingers, perhaps, have but
just left the ivory keys of the piano ; this mir-
ror, perchance, has but a moment since reflected
back the semblance of her features !
MY BROTHER'S WIFE.
All this is soothing to imagine, and several
minutes glide away unnoticed. Presently, how-
ever, I wonder why she does not return, and
then, growing impatient, I rise and take one or
two turns ahout the room. Her book ! Let
us see what it is that she has been reading —
Saintaine's "Picciola." The most exquisite
and chaste of prison-stories, and one meet for a
gentle maiden's studying. Her drawing — what
criticisms can I make upon it before her arri-
val? As yet the outline is barely sketched,
and —
Why, what is this ? A tear-drop yet undried
and blistering on the paper ! Another on the
table close beside it ! Tears ! tears from my
gentle Margaret's eyes — those eyes which I had
fondly hoped would never weep again, unless
for joy !
This explained the mystery of her flight and
subsequent delay. I paced to and fro, and to
and fro, in my agitation and dismay. What
could have occurred? Why had I not come
before ? Would she never arrive ?
I was on the point, at last, of ringing the bell
for Elise, when the door opened and she enter-
ed, pale, silent, downward-looking.
I went over and took her hands in mine.
There were the traces of weeping in her white
lips and cheeks, and red eyelids. She trembled
too, and her hands were burning.
"Margaret,"! said, looking down earnestly
upon her, " Margaret, you are not well."
"I am well," she answered, in a low voice.
"Your hands are feverish — you tremble.
What is the matter?"
"Nothing is the matter."
She tried to move away, but I detained her.
" Nay, stand here in the light, Margaret, and
let me look at you. You have been weeping!"
She shook her head, but I repeated it.
"Yes, Margaret, you have been weeping.
That forced smile can not deceive me. Look
here!"
And, leading her to the table, I pointed to
the tear-drop on the paper. She turned aside
from my grave scrutiny, and, looking upon the
floor —
' ' I can not help thinking sometimes of — of
my father," she murmured, hesitatingly.
"You are evading the question, Margaret,"
I said, sternly. "Is it possible that you can
stoop to an equivocation ?"
She remained silent, and kept her eyes fixed
upon the ground.
"Can you look me in the face, Margaret, and
say again that you were weeping for your fa-
ther ? If you do, I will believe you."
No reply.
"Tell me that it was true, Margaret, and I
will entreat your pardon!" She looked up at
me, paler than before.
"It was false," she said, firmly, but with a
quivering lip.
I drew a chair close beside her, and once
more took her hand between both of mine.
"Margaret, dear Margaret," I said, gently,
"you have had some annoyance — suffered some
pain to-day, and I must know it. I have the
right to share alj your pains as well as all your
pleasures, and if I am not to possess your conft>'ts
dence, who is ? Come, tell me all. Has ma- *" "
dame been unkind to you?"
She shook her head.
"Have any of the servants or pupils dis-
pleased you ?"
"None."
"What is it, then? Some one must have
hurt the feelings of my little Margaret."
" Oh, no one ! no one ! Every one is too
good to me — better, better than I deserve a
thousand times— you, monsieur, most of all!"
She says this with a burst of eager vehe-
mence, and, snatching her hand* away from
mine, covers her face and falls into a passion
of tears.
In doing this^I see a ring upon her finger — a
plain hair ring, which I have never observed
there before ! A new and startling doubt flits
across my mind, and strikes me with a sudden .
anguish such as I never thought to feel again.
* ' Margaret, look up ! " I cried, seizing that
hand arid forcing it from her face. "What
ring is that ? Whence came it ? Answer me
truly, for I will know !"
She shuddered, glanced upward for an in-
stavnt, and replied in a trembling voice, "I can
not tell you."
"You shall tell me, Margaret. Remember
who I am !"
The fury of my tone, so far from intimida-
ting, seemed to give her resolution. She looked
up calmly and steadily in my face, folded her
hands together, and said,
"I will not."
The sight of her pale courage subdued me —
my voice faltered.
"For your father's sake, Margaret! for your
father's sake I"
The tears gathered in her beautiful eyes, and
rolled slowly down her cheeks.
"Not for my father's sake," she answered,
softly.
" Oh, Margaret, what is this terrible secret
which you are concealing ? Tell it to me, Mar-
garet — if not for his sake, tell it for mine — for
my sake, Margaret!"
She clasped her hands imploringly, and laid
her head down upon the table, sobbing bitterly.
"Oh, forgive me," she said, "forgive me!
Do not ask me — give me time — oh, what shall
I do? what shall I do?"
Her sorrow tore my heart. I went over to
her, and laid my hand upon her shoulder.
"Nay, then, child," I said, falteringly, " keep
thy secret. It must needs be innocent, like thee.
I will be content, and ask no more."
I took her head between my hands, pressed a
kiss upon her hot brow, and left the room with-
out one backward glance.
I do not wish to remember the agony of mind
which I endured that night, or the torturing pity
which, in spite of all, I could not help feeling
MY BROTHER'S WIFE.
for her. Till many hours past midnight, I paced
the opposite side of the street in which she lived,
watching the pale light from her window, and,
when that was extinguished, finding some con-
solation in the thought that she slept peacefully.
Oh, gentle Margaret, hadst thou but heard
the measured echo of my steps ! Hadst thou but
known the prayers which thy silence wrung from
these lips, as I passed to and fro in the moon-
light, like some phantom of the night !
CHAPTER XXII.
"UPON A SUNSHINY HOLIDAY."
THREE days without seeing her— three weary
solitary days ! It was the first time that I had
so remained away, and I could bear it no lon-
ger.
Perhaps she, too, had been lonely and unhap-
py. This last thought decided me, and I went.
The day was resplendently fine ; a cool breath
of purer air came from the westward, and the
white buildings and streets of the town glared
painfully in the sunlight. The driver of a little
open vehicle held up his whip invitingly to me
as I went along. He was a good-tempered,
red-faced, jovial-looking fellow, with a bunch of
clover-blossoms in his button-hole. The car-
riage, too, appeared clean and new, and the horse
wore a green bough upon his shaggy head, to
keep off the predatory flies.
I paused and hesitated.
" Suppose,"! said to myself, "that I took her
and the little Clemence for a country holiday,
and trusted to time and opportunity for an ex-
planation of the past ! Suppose, if it be only
for a day, that I endeavor to enjoy the pleasant
Now, and banish the Hereafter!"
The driver held up his whip again. I thought
of Margaret's pale cheeks, of quiet lanes, and
woods, and wayside flowers, and, replying to his
signal by a smile, jumped in, and directed him
to drive to the Rue de Leopold.
To reach there, to alight, to make my way
rapidly across the court-yard, and up to the door
of her little studio, occupied but a few rapid
moments ; to open the door softly and by de-
grees, to enter unperceived and steal up to the
back of her chair as she bent low over her draw-
ing, to stand there silently watching the touches
of her pencil, and the coming and going of her
breath, all this was more difficult and more de-
lightful, and took longer to accomplish.
She was still at work upon the bronze Apol-
lo, not much farther advanced, I noticed sadly,
than when I last approached that table and look-
ed down upon the outline. She had been, per-
haps, too sorrowful to proceed, and I fancied,
though I could see but a very small portion of
her cheek, that she looked even paler than was
usual with her. Poor Margaret ! I felt so
grieved for her grief, that I almost forgot my
own distress at being excluded from her confi-
dence.
So ! that arm a little longer and more ele-
vated— yes ! As if she had heard my thought
outspoken, her careful pencil corrected, and re-
touched, and traveled on. A haughtier curl,
Margaret, to that imperial lip — more freedom in
the backward falling locks — more power to the
hand that grasps the bow ! Ah ! she effaces it
with bread, and tries again. No ! less effect-
ive, if any thing, than before. One more trial —
now a light firm outline, and a steady perusal
of the copy ! Quietly, my pupil ; no haste— no
excitement — no —
"Admirable! The very inspiration of the
Sun-god!"
Margaret suppresses a scream, drops the pen-
cil from her fingers, and falls back, trembling
and blushing, into her seat.
"How you have alarmed me, monsieur !" she
exclaims, pressing her hands upon her heart.
It leaps so wildly that I can almost see it beat-
ing there against her side.
"I did not intend to startle you, Margaret,
thus suddenly. The words escaped me una-
wares. I had been watching you for many min-
utes, and had observed the previous failures ; so
you see, when the success was achieved, I for-
got myself, and could not control the expression
of my pleasure. But I am not here to-day to
praise, or blame, or play the drawing-master;
I have come to take you for a holiday this lovely
morning — a holiday in the country."
" A holiday in the country — how delicious!"
She looked up at me with that grateful ex-
pression of quiet satisfaction to which I was ac-
customed from her, and began hastily to put
away her drawing. How her hands trembled
as she did so, and how the quick blushes kept
rising and fading at every word 1 Never be-
fore had I seen her so fluttered and agitated ;
but then, to be sure, never before had I so start-
led and surprised her.
" Now, Margaret, depeche-toi, call hither the
little Clemence, and I will wait while you make
ready. I charge you not to outwear my pa-
tience with any ' silken dalliance in the ward-
robe,' for our carriage waits below."
Whether it were the unwonted luxury of the
drive and the rejoicing aspect of the summer
morning, or whether it arose from the apparent
cheerfulness and ease of my own manner, I can
not tell, but the timidity with which she at first
received me vanished quite away before an hour
had elapsed. Indeed, I do not remember ever
to have known Margaret more childishly happy.
The general placidity and reserve of her char-
acter seemed to yield to the influence of that
glowing sky, as the snow-drift melts and dances,
sparkling, in the sunlight.
She rose up in the carriage to look round at
the level harvest - fields and the distant city
spires — she alighted ere she had well-nigh trav-
ed a couple of miles, to fill her lap Avith honey-
suckle and wild convolvuli from the roadside —
she clapped her hands with delight at the sight
of a small white butterfly, and imitated in her
s^Yeet low voice the prolonged shake of the
MY BROTHER'S WIFE
nightingales that peopled the shadowy planta-
tions of poplars and dark pines. As for Clem-
ence, sitting by silently in a corner of the car-
riage, she was by far the graver and sedater of
the two.
For my part, I encouraged her mood by an
assumption of unembarrassed kindness, which
cost me, at the first, a strong effort, but which
merged, ere long, into a sentiment of real satis-
faction. Her smiles reassured me. I felt that
to be thus innocently gay, her secret, if she had
one, must be pure and maidenly ; and presently
the very remembrance of it seemed fading from
my mind.
Toward noon we reached a small town, and,
staying at the door of the solitary hotel, bade
the driver look to his horses, ordered an early
dinner from the smiling landlady, and wandered
out on foot to stroll in the forest.
It was not what I should understand by the
name of a forest, accustomed as I was to the
old umbrageous labyrinths of mossy trees that
skirted the horizon round about my fair Bur-
gundian home ; it was rather a few level acres,
regularly planted with the slender fir and pine,
and affording a pleasant promenade for students
and young lovers.
Here Clemence seemed to wake from her si-
lent apathy, and ran in and out the trees, seek-
ing, with Margaret, for wild strawberries and
" purple dewberries" in the long grass and tan-
gled underwood. Yet, even in this search, the
child was unlike other children, and pursued it
with a quiet industry and a grave composed de-
meanor that contrasted oddly with the innocent
gayety of her older companion. She laughed
but seldom, and then softly to herself, as if
laughter were a thing to be subdued and con-
quered. Even when she ran, it was utterly
without the buoyant precipitation and careless
eagerness ot infancy. She was a strange child,
and my attention became more and more drawn
to her with every time I saw her.
Thus they amused themselves gathering wild
fruits and acorns, and finding the brown pine-
cones that lay scattered here and there beneath
the trees, while I wandered near, keeping them
in sight, and indulging myself in "fancies wild
and sweet." Growing weary after a while, they
sat down to rest at the foot of an alder that
overhung a deep clear pool toward the skirts of
the forest, and here, as it was not yet time to
return, the child besought me to tell her a fairy-
story.
"A fairy-story, little one ! but what if I know
none ?"
Clemence shook her little dark head, and
fixed her eyes full upon me. " I am sure you
know one," she said, seriously. " Margaret
says you do."
"I never told Margaret a fairy-story,"! re-
joined, laughing. "How should she know that
I can do it ?"
Margaret blushed and laughed too, and said
she thought that monsieur could do it, if he
liked — just to please Clemence !
"Well, then, I must try; but, as I know of
none, I must even invent one for the purpose.
You must give me some few minutes to consid-
er, and— stay ! I have it ; but it is not a fairy-
tale, Clemence."
" Oh, no matter, if it is pretty. What is its
name ?"
"I hardly know. Suppose we call it 'The
Angel and the Wanderer!'"
" I like that name very much."
She crept up closer to Margaret, and laid her
head down upon her shoulder. Sitting thus,
with her pale cheek half turned away, her large
dark eyes bent downward in listening expecta-
tion, and her little slender figure curled up, as
it were, beneath the folds of Margaret's shawl,
she looked so sallow and elfin that one might
almost have taken her for Goethe's Mignon in
person. After gazing at the pair for a moment
as they sat thus in quaint companionship, I be-
gan my story.
' ' There was an Angel hovering over a great
city by night.
" It was so dark, and the mist so thick, that
the church spires looked like shadowy figures
pointing heavenward, and the tall masts of ships
along the river like the lances and pennons of
a hostile armament.
" Scarce a footstep echoed along the wet
pavements ; scarce a shop threw its broad light
out into the deserted streets. It was late ; the
cold wind rushed moaning on its way, and the
rain came heavily down, blurring the pale light
of the flickering gas-lamps.
"Still the Angel flew on, though the rain
spared not his white wings ; for he was a good
Angel, and it was his mission to watch over the
hearts of young children ; to protect them from
evil thoughts and angry impulses ; and to bring
pleasant dreams to the slumbers of those who
had been good, and truthful, and obedient all
the day.
"Presently he passed within sight of a small
court-yard, at the end of which stood a large
white house, with all its windows lighted ; and
he paused in his flight, for he saw a figure
crouched up against the wall, just within the
shadow of the archway that opened into the
court-yard from the street.
"It was a poor little Italian image-vendor,
with his tray of plaster figures laid beside him.
His eyes were closed, his black hair fell in long
damp locks over his face, and the tears with
which he had cried himself asleep were yet wet
upon his cheeks. One cold hand was sheltered
in the breast of his jacket, and the other had
fallen listlessly on the ground. The Angel bent
low and dropped a tear upon the little hand, it
was so wasted !
" He was weary, and sleepy, and hungry.
He had not sold one image all that day, and he
was dreaming of his cruel master, and of the
heavy punishment that awaited him. But the
Angel pressed his lips upon the pale forehead,
56
MY BROTHER'S WIFE.
and folded his wings around the shrinking form,
and the bad dreams fled away, and he slept
peacefully.
" Still he was chilled and weak for need of
bread, and the Angel's heart of mercy was troub-
led. He looked up at the great house ; its
bright windows were crossed and recrossed by
the shadows of the dancers, and the sounds of
music and laughter were loud within.
" ' Alas !' said the Angel, ' they are too happy
to heed me!'
" Hark ! there were footsteps coming quickly
along the street! It was a wealthy old citizen
hastening home from a card-party. He had
lost money at the game, and he was out of tem-
per with the weather and with himself. The
Angel flew out of the passage and clung to him.
" « Help !' he cried. ' Help for the cold and
the hungry !'
"The citizen shuddered, and drew the collar
of his coat closer round his neck.
" 'How the wind whistles into one's ears!'
muttered he, and passed by.
" So the Angel flew back, and strove to warm
his little charge by breathing on his cold lips
and eyelids ; but in vain. They grew colder
and colder, and still the music and dancing in
the great house went merrily on.
"Another passenger !
" It was a poor needle-woman returning from
her day's labor — a good, earnest woman, think-
ing of her children at home, and never hearing
the gentle voice of the appealing Angel.
"'Help! help!' he sighed. 'Shelter and
food ! shelter and food !'
'"What a thick, raw mist!' said the poor
needle-woman. ' 'Tis like a cloud before one !
Maybe, though, 'tis the long day's work that
makes my eyes weak.'
"But it was the two white wings that she
saw fluttering in her path, only she did not
know it; and even the sacred tears that he
wept down upon her face she mistook for rain-
drops borne upon the wind, and so passed by.
" Still the Angel watched and waited, and
still the music and dancing in the great house
went merrily on.
" The sleeper moaned and feebly murmured
'Mother!'
"He was dreaming — dreaming of his far
home beside the blue sea — that home where the
shadows of the vine -leaves round the porch
flickered on the floor in the bright sunshine —
where his gentle mother sat spinning on the
threshold, and his little brothers played with
shells and sea-weeds at her feet, and all the
days were happy.
" Then the Angel flew up to the windows of
the great house, and looked in, and saw a party
of merry children dancing gayly together, and
a group of elder persons sitting by, and watch-
ing them with smiles. The chandeliers were
shining overhead ; the room rang with young
voices; the floor echoed the quick touches of
their light feet. The Angel clasped his hands
in despair.
" ' Help ! help ! before it is too late !'
"And he dashed himself against the window,
and filled the air with his cries.
" ' Listen to the rain,' said an old white-
headed gentleman, who was standing close by
with two or three others. ' Hear how it beat's
upon the panes !'
'"Ay, and to the wind,' replied one near
him, taking a pinch of snuff from a jeweled box.
' It howls like a human voice. Bad weather,
my lord, for the shipping.'
"And they spoke of it, and noticed it no
more.
" So the Angel went back, and took the out-
cast in his arms, and pressed him to his divine
heart. But the little cheek still grew colder
and colder, and the faint breath fell more faint-
ly— and an hour went by.
" Then a carriage with bright lamps and paw-
ing horses drove up and waited before the arch-
way ; then another and another, till presently
there was a long row of them waiting in the
street. And very soon the door of the house
was opened, and, amid the blaze of lights and
gleaming of many faces, a gentleman and lady,
with three little children, appeared upon the steps.
" But this time the Angel was silent, and just
as they came forward he unwound his loving
arms from round the boy, and stood apart.
" 'Eh! what is this?' cries the gentleman,
starting back as his foot touches the figure
crouching by the wall. ' A boy asleep !'
"The servant snatched a lamp from the car-
riage— more gentlemen came crowding round —
they tried in vain to rouse him as he lay. The
first gentleman stooped down and held the light
to his face. It was very white. Pie took the
cold hand in his, and it dropped heavily as he
released it.
" 'Great heaven !' cried he, looking round
upon the rest, ' the child is dead!'
"Then the Angel, weeping and invisible,
spread his white wings, and, with a long sad
wail, soared up into the night, far from the arch-
way and the wondering throng around it. On-
ward he went, and onward, till the lights all
faded away, and the site of the great city lay
dark and indistinct beneath his feet. And pres-
ently there was a sound of rushing wings behind
him, and another Angel, bright and beautiful as
the morning, overtook him, and said,
" 'Whence comes my sorrowful brother?'
" 'I come,' said the Angel, 'from the great
city. I have seen men in their blind selfishness
reject the voice of pity, and I have seen a little
child die from cold and hunger. Therefore am
I sorrowful, and the decrees of our Master are
dark before me.'
"'Dost thou question the justice of Provi-
dence?'
"'Alas!' replied the Angel, 'I question it
not; but I can not understand the death and
the suffering.'
" 'Look upon me/ said the radiant Stranger;
'look upon me, and doubt no more. I was the
soul of that little child !'
MY BROTHER'S WIFE.
57
" So, hand in hand, and rejoicing together,
they ascended through the mists and clouds of
earth to that far space where the stars shine
night and day."
The story ended, we returned to the inn.
Some rare ferns, a tiny oak no bigger than a
rose-tree, some feathers fallen from the wing of
the golden pheasant, and a profusion of blue
and yellow field-flowers, were among the treas-
ures with which Margaret and Clemence re-
turned laden to the Lion d'Or, and which they
stored away in the carriage as it stood, horseless
and driverless, awaiting us before the door.
Then with what ceremony we sat down to
our merry feast — how politely I placed my ward
at the head of the table, and Clemence at my
right hand — how gravely I apologized for my
morning costume, and for the absence of a
white waistcoat ! How we jested and laughed,
and drank each other's health in the frothing
Champagne, and praised the fresh country fare,
the vegetable soup, the fowls, the omelettes,
the pastry, and the rosy apples ! With what
reluctance we rose at last, and resumed our
homeward journey along the paven country
road, just as the shadows began to lengthen to-
ward the east, and the evening light to glint
between the trees on either side !
How quaint and soothing it is, this monoto-
nous and fertile Belgian landscape ! For leagues
and leagues it lies sleeping all around, rich in
produce as a garden, level as a desert. Here
and there nods a formal plantation of willows
and beeches, and the evening breeze flows over
wide luxuriant crops of barley, flax, and feath-
ery oats, with long stripes of potatoes and other
vegetables in between, and not a fence or hedge-
row any where in sight. Sometimes we meet
a lazy wagon on the road, or a group of market-
women coming homeward from the town ; some-
times we arrive at a broad and many-bridged
canal, whose course, hidden till this moment by
the lofty corn, is revealed to us only by the glid-
ing sails of some boat topping the yellow grain,
like a ship sailing upon land. Now and then
we pass a white farm-house with tiled roof and
trim garden, and perhaps a bower made all of
ivy, and cut into points or battlements by the
skillful gardener. Next comes a quiet town,
with its high belfry and red-brick cathedral tow-
ering up above the plain; and perchance we
hear the pleasant bells chime sadly and sweetly
from turret to turret as we travel by. On all
sides are wind-mills and feeding cattle, and
long paved roads with never a curve or a hill-
rise to break their arrowy perspective— »a land
of peace and plenty.
I bade our coachman drive slowly, for we en-
joyed the almost conventual stillness of the
hour. Somehow a change had fallen upon our
mood since we had turned our faces homeward.
A softer and more chastened sentiment seemed
to be inspired by the scene. Clemence slept wea-
rily in a corner ; Margaret sat beside me lost in
reverie. Both were alike absorbed and silent.
Then the faint far lights of Brussels drew
nearer; carriages and market -carts became
more frequent on the road ; and presently a few
houses scattered on either side, a solitary gas-
lamp, and some bills placarded on a hoarding,
warned us that our holiday was fast approaching
its conclusion.
Just now we arrived near a little bridge cross-
ing a narrow canal, and lit on one side by a sin-
gle lamp. Beneath the lamp, with his arms
resting on the parapet and his head bent down,
a man stood looking at the water. There was
nothing remarkable in his appearance, yet the
involuntary start and catching of the breath
with Avhich Margaret leaned forward as we came
in sight of him attracted my attention.
We were moving very slowly at the time —
up hill, in fact, toward the bridge, and our horse
was tired. I looked earnestly into her face, but
she did not heed me. Her eyes were fixed upon
the stranger, and her cheeks were pale.
Suddenly he looked up, and shaded his eyes
with his hand as the sound of our approach
drew nearer. It was too dark, and we were
too distant from him to see any thing of his feat-
ures ; but, as if the action were convincing and
she knew him, Margaret sank back in the car-
riage, and avoided my gaze by looking stead-
fastly down upon the floor.
At the same instant he turned rapidly away,
and dived down a small street opening to the
left. When we had crossed the bridge and
reached this opening he was out of sight.
"Margaret,"! said, sternly, "what man is
that?"
" I know not," she replied, faintly, and with
averted head.
I said no more — urged her no farther— but
leaned back sadly in my place. This time no
reproaches found their way to my lips — no tears
betrayed the pressure at my heart. The iron
had entered into my soul, and I was silent.
CHAPTER XXIII.
THE DIAMOND BRACELET.
. "BY my faith, Seabrook, I can not help it.
Granted, 'tis a weakness, a folly, yet I can not
help it. So young, so gentle, so false ! Now,
before Heaven, I feel as if a star had fallen from
the skies when I remember how she is deceiv-
ing me !"
Seabrook whistled dismally — thrust his hands
deep into his pockets, and walked over to the
window.
"And she looks innocent! Would you be-
lieve that one could lie and play the traitress
with a face so fair ? Ah ! I forget ; you have
not seen how fair — how fair she is !"
" Be she fairer than the day,
Or the flow'ry meads in May,
If she be not so to me,
What care I how fair she be ?"
sang my friend, with a shrug of his shoulders.
" Seabrook, you have no feeling !"
58
MY BROTHER'S WIFE.
" Paul, you have no common sense !"
He came and drew a seat close beside mine.
" Confess, now," said he, with his old kindly
manner, half sad, half sarcastic, " confess, now,
that our wise and faithful guardian has played
a very foolish part ! Is it not natural enough
to suppose that a girl of seventeen has a lover,
and that she has been too shy to confess it ?
Was it not absurd of the most potent, grave,
and reverend seignior Paul to play Dr. Bartolo
to his fair ward, while some gallant Almaviva
was all the while lying perdu in the inmost re-
cesses of her heart ? Pshaw ! man, swallow
the nauseous draught with as good a grace as
you can muster, and finish your part according
to the good old stage-fashion, by forgiving and
blessing the young couple as soon as you find it
useless to do otherwise."
" And then sing a trio to cement our eternal
union !" I said, forcing a smile.
He laughed, poured out a glass of wine, and
nodded my health.
"Hush! do you hear?" said he, suddenly,
pointing toward the window and listening at-
tentively. "What music is that?"
" 'Tis the band in the park. They give an
instrumental concert every evening at Vello-
ni's."
"A concert every evening! To think that
I have been a week in Brussels, and not have
known that before ! Let us go instantly."
' ' I have no heart for such amusements, Sea-
brook."
"Heart! nonsense, mon ami; 'tis the very
' medicine to minister to a mind diseased ! I
prescribe — nay, I entreat it, Paul. Will you re-
fuse me?"
I yield, as ever, to his gay sovereignty, and
we are loitering, ere long, amid the throng of
coffee-drinking and ice-eating loungers who fre-
quent the space of sward and trees surround-
ing the celebrated restaurateur's. Seabrook is
charmed with the music, with the company,
with the gay and pleasant scene The lights,
the voices, the hurrying waiters, all serve to ex-
hilarate him — to depress me. Amusement, to
one of his joyous temperament, is food and life ;
to one saddened and harassed, like myself, by
disappointment and doubt, is utterly intolerable.
I take the opportunity, after some twenty min-
utes of uneasy endurance, to plead a headache,
and escape by myself out into the public ave-
nues of the park beyond.
It is not yet quite deserted in the principal
walk and around the central basin, so I turn
aside into the dark quiet alleys at the back of
the restaurant's, where the music comes to me
softly through the trees, and the dark night
reigns unbroken, save by a gas-lamp at rare in-
tervals.
Here the stars twinkle down between the
roofing leaves, and, in the gloom and stillness
of the place, my shattered nerves are soothed to
somewhat like repose. I strive to think with
calmness of the past and future — to arm myself
for a dispassionate judgment and a generous line
of action. It is hard to do this, nevertheless ;
and in the magnitude of the effort I discover the
extent of the weakness. Whether to consult
her happiness in preference to every other con-
sideration— whether selfishly to use my power
as her guardian, and —
Alas ! alas ! that our sternest foe should lie
ambushed in our own weak hearts, and that the
most brilliant of our victories should ever be
the saddest humiliation of our lives !
The night deepened, and still I walked to
and fro, to and fro, lost in a train of thought
that absorbed my every faculty, and from which
I was at length aroused by the sound of voices
in a neighboring alley.
I will scarcely say "aroused," for, though I
heard their footsteps on the gravel, and their
very words as they passed now and then close
beside me, with only the green hedge between
us, I gave no heed to their vicinity, and attach-
ed no meaning to their speech. Nay, more, the
words were English ; yet, such was the strange,
abstracted condition of my mind, I did not even
remark that they were uttered in a foreign
tongue. They fell upon my ear, but without
finding their way to my mind; they were fa-
miliar to my sense, and my thoughts were at
the time so earnestly engaged that I was con-
tent to hear them without asking whence they
came. It has frequently occurred to me since,
how singular an instance of preoccupation of
mind was this, and how forcible a question of
inner-duality it might suggest to the psycholog-
ical student.
The voices were two — a man's and a woman's.
The latter, somehow, appeared not wholly un-
familiar to me, and the murmuring sadness of
their tones chimed in with my own melancholy.
Suddenly a something, which was more a
shock than a suspicion, flashed over me. The
woman was speaking.
"He doubts me," she said, and it seemed
that she was weeping. "He doubts me. I am
most unhappy!"
Margaret's voice ! Oh, heaven, Margaret's
voice !
"It is unfortunate," replied her companion,
"but—"
They passed, and his words grew inaudible in
distance. I was neither grieved nor enraged —
only powerless, breathless, overwhelmed.
Presently they returned, and the man was i
still speaking.
"Avow nothing," he said, as if in continua- ii
tion ; " you know my position, and the necessi- |
ty we have for strict concealment. I am well j|
aware how firm my little Margaret can be, the
more especially — "
Again the voice died away.
The blood rushed to my head and boiled in
every vein ; I felt as if an iron band were tight-
ened round my brow ; I uttered a cry like the
cry of some fierce animal; I spurned the dull
earth madly with my heel, and struggled for
very breath.
On all sides disappointment, concealment,
MY BROTHER'S WIFE.
deceit! Had I not one friend whom I could
esteem and trust? Was there not one hand
unarmed against me ? Chilled in my childish
affections — supplanted (and by ivhorn supplant-
ed?) in my manhood's first passion — wronged
by this young creature whom I would have given
fortune and energies to serve — to whom I would
have devoted the cares and tenderness of a life
— to whom I had resolved (Heaven knows with
what unselfish purity of thought !) to supply the
lost home-ties and work out my trust with holi-
ness of purpose — for whom I was prepared, even
this very night, to relinquish every personal and
sordid hope, even as a father would relinquish
for a child — Say, was I not tried almost beyond
the bounds of patient faith ? To feel a mo-
mentary resentment was not surely inexcusa-
ble— to doubt all love and fair seeming not ut-
terly unjustifiable?
I felt that I must see this man — this lover —
face to face. I must look into his eyes, and see
him quail before me.
The impulse was obeyed as soon as felt. I
ran with the speed of a madman down the dark
pathway. It branched away to the right. I
found myself getting farther and farther from
the outlet which I sought. I retraced my steps
— again went wrong — again doubled back, and
at length reached the spot where, but a few
short moments before, they had been walking
together.
It was a long walk quite over-roofed by trees,
and opening at one end upon the Rue Ducale —
a long, straight, open walk, and not a soul in
sight !
They had taken alarm at the sound of my
footsteps — perhaps at the involuntary cry that
had escaped my lips, and were gone !
Baffled, yet calmed by the disappointment, I
sank exhausted upon a stone bench under some
trees, and, after a brief interval of rest, rose up
and went out at the gateway which terminated
the path. The audience were pouring from
Velloni's as I passed, and, by some strange im-
pulse, I stood and watched for Seabrook.
It was never my disposition to seek society
when grief was weighing on me, but this night
I seemed to long for the sight of a face in which
I might still see truth and friendship — for the
pressure of a hand that had never played me
false. The fever of anguish was past — the hour
of the human weakness was come ; and though,
probably, I should not betray what I had suffer-
ed by look or word, I should not feel alone.
Presently he came. I stepped forward,
placed my arm through his, and said simply,
" I was waiting for you."
" I would have left sooner had I known that,"
said my friend, with a smile. "Is your head
better?"
I nodded.
' ' And what do you propose doing ? It is yet
early, and the music to which I have been list-
ening is so good that it has only served to make
me wish for more. What say you to dropping
into the Opera House for an hour, just to hear a
song from the Vogelsang ? She plays to-night in
Norma. We shall be in time for the last act."
* ' Go where you please — I will accompany
you."
The theatre was crowded when we arrived.
We were warned at the entrance that no seats
were to be had, and we took up our standing at
the back amid a crowd of others similarly cir-
cumstanced.
The act had begun before we arrived ; the
Vogelsang was already on the stage, and every
breath was hushed throughout the house.
Great as she had been when first I saw her,
she was far greater now. Through all the gra-
dations of stormy passion, jealousy, fury, despair,
and agonized humility, she passed with a skill
which was more than skill — which was reality.
"Per Bacco!" whispered Seabrook to me,
"this woman gives me an oppression on the
chest ! What power — what instinct !"
Instinct — ay ! that was the word. It was not
intellect, for intellect is cold, and calm, and
lofty. It was the fierce and fearful beauty of
the panther, grand in its instincts, terrible in its
rage !
I shuddered. Strange that, from the mo-
ment when I beheld her on the Frankfurt stage,
I should have ever felt this creeping aversion,
and that the third time it should be more
strongly marked than even at the first !
The last scene — that tremendous scene where
the despairing priestess wrestles for forgiveness
with her father — came to an end. There was a
dead silence for a moment ; the audience drew
a long breath of relief; then came that deafen-
ing shout of unanimous wonder and delight to
which she was so well accustomed. She is
called — she comes ; the bouquets are showered
round her; something heavy — something that
glitters as it falls, is flung from a stage-box, and
lights just at her feet. It is a bracelet — a gor-
geous bracelet scintillating with diamonds ! She
lifts it gracefully, and, bending low in the direc-
tion whence it came, clasps it upon her arm.
In an instant every eye is turned upon that
box ; for a moment the liberal giver eclipses the
songstress; even I, who am occupied with heavy
thoughts, am influenced by the general impulse,
and rise in my place to look upon — upon whom?
Upon my brother The'ophile !
"Mafoi, Paul," said Seabrook, shrugging his
shoulders and glancing toward me with a pecul-
iar expression, "your brother must have a re-
markable appreciation of talent, and more mon-
ey than he well knows how to employ !"
Vexed, bewildered, uneasy, I made no reply,
but hastened nervously through the crowded lob-
by, and bade farewell to my companion at the
doors of the theatre.
Alas ! there are times when the foreshadow-
ings of evil, vaporous and undefined, rise up
over the soul like the night-mists over the mead-
ow-land, obscuring not only the landmarks of
earth, but dimming even the star-guides of heav-
en. At such periods we find our only safety in
solitude and prayer.
60
MY BROTHER'S WIFE.
CHAPTER XXIV.
A PACKET OF LETTERS.
Theophile to Paul.
u Hotel de France, Aug. 30th, 18—.
"WHAT an age it is since we have met, mon
cher frere ! I vow that I begin to forget your
very features. Twice have I called at yom
apartments, and twice . have I been told thai
you were out ; a statement which, at the risk
of offending you, I must confess that I did not,
on both occasions, entirely credit. Were it nol
that I have seen your friend, Mr. Seabrook,
twice or thrice lately, I should not even know
that you are living and well. I am glad that
you chanced to introduce me to this English-
man. I find him pleasant and obliging, and an
excellent judge of all that relates to the stable
and the studio. He has kindly advised me in
the purchase of some horses and paintings,
which I think you will like, if you only come
to see them.
"I have discovered many of my Parisian ac-
quaintances here — people of whom you have
never heard, and whose names would not inter-
est you — and find myself, agreeably enough, in
the centre of a petite societe ires distingnee, of
which Adrienne is the reigning sovereign. We
have determined upon giving a soiree on the
15th of next month, and are now issuing the
cards of invitation. I know that it will be a
trial to your patience, my philosophic brother,
but I insist that, for this once, you make your
appearance among us. I request it as a mark
of respect to my wife. It is her first reception,
and I am sure that I shall not find you obdu-
rate. But you will come before then, rfest ce
pas? I inclose Adrienne's card for the 15th
instant. Write a reply such as you know I de-
" 4 T - V
sire. Adieu, vaurien ! A toi.
T. L.
P.S. — Apropos of horses, I want to buy
some at the great sale which they advertise at
Malines, and I find my treasury somewhat poor-
er than I had anticipated. Could you lend me
five thousand francs for a day or two ?"
Norman Seabrook to Paul Latour.
" August 30th, 18—.
"It is past midnight. All is still in the
house. I can not sleep. Thoughts and sensa-
tions which are not, perhaps, wholly strange,
but which have presented themselves dimly and
rarely to my mind, are now busy within me,
and I write to you.
"Your anxiety, your vexation, the solitude
which you have maintained for many days — see-
ing no face but mine — some words spoken by
you this morning, have impressed me with a
melancholy akin to your own.
" ' I have none to love,' you said, « and noth-
ing to accomplish.'
* * None to love and nothing to accomplish. Alas !
I also, my friend, I have none to love and noth-
ing to accomplish. In that sentence you epi-
grammati/ed my history.
•/ ., t DV/^ J.UJDGII iu my LI ue
I do not know that I have ever felt so deep- ! face with my own spirit.
j ly on this subject as to-night. It seems to me
j that I am halting on the road of life ; leaning
on my staff, and calmly scanning the backward
pastures and the forward waste. How fair and
profitless a Past ! how blank a Future ! I fan-
cied myself a pilgrim sans souci — a. butterfly
tasting the flowers by the wayside without a toil
or a sorrow. I have shaken off the dream to-
night, and I find that I fill no place among men.
I am a drone in the hive.
"You know my affairs as well as I know them
myself. You know that it is my pleasure to be
a bird of passage, lighting here and there, and
resting nowhere. You know that I have a
small independence, just sufficient to keep me
out of debt, and supply my few necessities.
You know all this, Paul. Well, at this hour, I
feel that a man without ties, without aim, with-
out profession, is morally an offender against so-
ciety and against Providence. I have head— I
have education ; yet of what avail are they to
me ? Will my knowledge of poetry and philoso-
phy make me a poet or a philosopher? Can
Plato teach me the law, or Homer qualify me
for the profession of arms ? My travels have
not elevated me into a Humboldt. My amateur
chemistry has brought me no nearer to the sci-
ence of a Liebig or a Dalton.
"I have heart. Although I have, as yet,
lived without loving, I am sensible of a capacity
for love in my own nature. But dare I think
of love ? Dare I dream of wife and fireside, I
who am without resources ? Of what use am I
in the world ? In what path of human endeav-
or could I hope to earn bread for my children,
were I so unfortunate as to possess any ?
"Oh, the life of a man without ties, without
home, without labor, is a want and a bitterness.
[ taste it now for the first time. 'Tis true that
I may forget it to-morrow, and for many to-mor-
rows, but I feel that it must come again and
again, and that at last it will abide with me
evermore.
Would that I could begin to study even
now ! Would that I had something to work for
and to love !
As it is, I fear that I could not devote my-
self to any profession without some powerful in-
centive. My powers of mind are various, but
not tenacious. I want not perseverance, but
constancy. The proposition looks like a para-
dox, yet it is not one. Whatever I attempt, I
attempt earnestly, and with my whole soul. My
studies are interrupted by no self-indulgence. I
devote myself to my subject night and day till I
arrive at a certain proficiency. There I stop.
My curiosity is satisfied. Other objects present
themselves, about which I am equally desirous
of knowledge. I throw aside the palette for the
crucible, the violin for the microscope, the in-
struments of the mathematician for the wild rev-
eries of the mental philosopher. I am ' everv
thing by turns, and nothing long.'
"I despise myself to-night, for to-night, Paul,
I see myself in my true colors. I stand face to
MY BROTHER'S WIFE.
Gl
"There is something awful in it, Paul — some-
thing weird and terrible in thus summoning
one's self to judgment. I feel as if I had looked
in a mirror and seen a strange face there — a
face unlike that to which mine eyes were accus-
tomed daily, but which bore a certain palpable
and dread resemblance that convinced me of its
identity !
"Tell me, have you never known moments
such as this, when the veil of custom seems to
be rent suddenly before your eyes; when life
and the world stand revealed in their true col-
ors ; and when the shows of things are for a few
seconds stripped of the semblance of realities ?
Have you never been aroused by these brief rev-
elations from the hollow seemings of every-day
life 2 Have you never indulged them, as I now
indulge them — forgotten them, as I to-morrow
shall forget them ?
"I have opened my window upon the outer
night. It is so still that not a breath stirs the
flame of the candle by which I write, and the
brazen statue of St. Michael on the slender spire
of the Hotel de Ville glitters close by in the
moonlight. Surely there is something in the
unruffled calm of Nature that overawes our little
anxieties and doubts ; the sight of these house-
tops and steeples, with the deep sky and the
clustering stars above them, seems to have im-
parted some quiet to my mind. Perhaps I could
sleep now. Good-night.
" NORMAN SEABROOK."
Margaret Fletcher to PaulLatour.
"Aug. 30111,18 —
" So many days have elapsed since I last saw
my father's friend, that I no longer dare to enu-
merate them. Some withered ferns and grasses
on my table remind me of the time that has
gone by since he gathered them for me in the
little wood of ; my unfinished drawing has
long awaited the corrections of the master. In
vain I ask myself if he can have left Brussels?
if he be suffering ? if I have displeased him ?
Whatever be the cause, truth were better than
this intolerable suspense, and the truth I entreat
from him, though it be conveyed but in a single
word. Oh, if you are vexed with me, what shall
I say or do to make you forgive me ? If I have
seemed ungrateful to you, believe, monsieur,
that appearances alone are against me, and that
my heart is unconscious of a thought that might
be construed into a sin against my benefactor.
' ' I fear that I do wrong to write to you, yet
how can I help it ? You will not be angry with
me, will you, Monsieur Latour ? You will par-
don the trouble and annoyance that I occasion
you, for I am so unhappy. MARGARET."
CHAPTER XXV.
A LITTLE SCENE OUT OF THE DRAMA.
SCENE.— MARGARET'S Studio. She is reading
near the window, but lays aside the book when
I enter, and seems both pleased and agitated.
CLEMENCE is not present.
PAUL (advancing and taking her by the hand).
Well, Margaret, are you glad to see me ?
MARG. Oh, very glad, Monsieur Latour ! I
— I thought you had forgotten me.
PAUL (archli/'). Forgotten you, eh ? But I
think you were determined not to be forgotten,
petite Marguerite !
MARG. (blushing'). Do not speak of that, mon-
sieur, I — I entreat you. I am — I am, indeed,
quite ashamed that —
PAUL (very earnestly and gravely). That you
should be sufficiently interested in one whom
you call your "father's friend" to care to see him
again ! Is that it, Margaret ; and did you real-
ly wish me to think you utterly impenetrable
and hard-hearted ?
MARG. Oh, not that ! You — I am sure you
know what I mean ?
PAUL. I think I do, Margaret. Indeed, it is
seldom that I am pained or perplexed by the
ambiguity of words, for there is always more
conveyed by the tone in which they are uttered
and the glance by which they are accompanied.
It is only the ambiguity of action that grieves
and troubles me. Concealments, falsehoods,
double-dealings, preconcerted plans of decep-
tion, these are the things that cut me to the
soul ; and sooner than be subjected to them
from the hands of those whom I trust and love,
I would go away, like the Athenian Timon, and
live in a desert !
MARG. Monsieur!
PAUL (in an excited tone). I never loved any
thing yet that it did not bring me sorrow and
suffering — never ! And to think that you too,
Margaret — you who are so young and so se-
cluded— you whom I thought so innocent, so
docile, so affectionate — to think that you should
plot and plan against me, as if I were a blind
puppet to be bandied about from hand to hand,
and thrown aside at last if occasion warrant !
It destroys my faith in human-kind !
MARG. (turning very pale and striving to speak
firmly). You wrong me, sir. I am no hypo-
crite.
PAUL. No hypocrite ! Why, did you not
stand there and blush, and smile, and speak fair
words just now, and do I not know how false
your heart is to me all the while ? Do you not
weep tears of which I never know the cause ?
Receive gifts (pointing to the ring upon her fin-
ger) from lovers whose names I never learn ?
Make evening assignations in the park (she
starts) with men of whom I have never heard ?
Hah ! you are silent, Margaret : you tremble ;
you can say nothing !
MARG. (with effort). I could say much, but I
dare not.
PAUL. What! do you fear me?
MARG. Indeed, no; but — but — Alas! what
would I not give now for liberty to speak !
PAUL. Then you confess that there is a se-
cret ?
MARG. (hesitatingly}. Yes, there is a secret
62
MY BROTHER'S WIFE.
You know there is, monsieur ; why do you com-
pel me to say so ?
PAUL. And the ring ?
MARG. (bursting into tears and kissing it pas-
sionately). The ring was my mother's — my
dear mother's !
PAUL. Can this be true, Margaret? Why
not have said that long ago, when I first asked
you? How did you get it? How long has it
been in your possession ? Why ever have
made a mystery about it ?
MARG. Do not ask me; I can not tell you
more ; I have said too much already — more
than I promised.
PAUL. Tell me, at least, who met you in the
park?
MARGARET looks down and shakes her head.
PAUL (trying to speak calmly and conciliating-
ly). Listen to me, Margaret. I was in the park
that night — in the next walk, and divided from
you only by a hedge. I heard you speaking —
speaking, I am convinced, of me. You agreed
with your lover to deceive me. He called you
his — his little Margaret. I heard all this.
MARG. (anxiously). No more than this ?
PAUL. No more. Alas ! you are relieved
that I did hear no more ! Do not seek to evade
me farther ; confide in me, Margaret — acknowl-
edge this lover, and I will pardon all. Nay, I
will serve you, I will serve him, I will do what
a father would do (what your father would have
done) to make your happiness. Speak !
MARG. (weeping). All that I can say is that
I do not deserve your goodness ! Only trust
me for a little while ; do not quite hate me ; I
am tied by — by a fatal promise, and I can not
speak! Only trust me, monsieur — only trust
me!
PAUL (after a brief silence). Well, I will trust
you, Margaret ; but beware, beware ! Conceal-
ment is the cloak of Wrong, and your lover
would scarcely impose this task of secrecy upon
you save for some deep and doubtful reason. I
almost question whether I am fulfilling my du-
ties in thus yielding and trusting to you : it
should be my place to sift his character and his
motives ; but let it be so, Margaret. Your face
and voice have again overcome me. Promise
me, at least, that you will take no decisive step
— that — that you will not hear of marriage with-
out—
MARG. (smiling through her tears). Be assured
of that, monsieur. I shall certainly not elope
with him, or — or marry — without your permis-
sion. {Bell rings.) Hark! that is madame's
bell ! The class is assembling, and I must go
now.
PAUL. Trifler ! that smile half reassures me.
Must you go ?
MARG. Directly, monsieur.
PAUL. Au revoir, then, Margaret !
MARG. Au revoir ! [Exit different ways.
CLOSE OF THE SCENE.
CHAPTER XXVI.
THE SHADOWS DARKEN INTO FORM.
I WAS unwilling to go, but I went. The
night was glorious — one of those dark, warm
September nights, when the sky is thick with
stars and there is no moon.
Long before I reached the house (for I should
observe that my brother had engaged a fur-
nished mansion for the season), I found the
street blocked up by vehicles and bright with
carriage-lamps. An awning reached from the
door to the curb-stone — there were lights in ev-
ery window — sounds of music dimly heard from
without — passing shadows on the blinds — pow-
dered servants in the hall, and pages in waiting
stationed on the stairs announcing names and
titles — statues, and figures of armed knights,
and vases of rare flowers on the landings —
stands of arms and trophies of broad antlers in
the hall — vistas of brilliant rooms and galleries
opening all around, and thronged with company.
It was the first time that I had crossed the
threshold of my brother's house since his re-
moval, and for a moment I stood still, gazing
with surprise at the profuse elegance of all
around me, and overpowered by that old feel-
ing of nervous embarrassment which has been,
through life, one of my most serious annoy-
ances, and which is the usual penalty incurred
by the student for the luxury of retirement. It
was, however, too late to retreat ; my name had
already traveled before me, and as I reached the
entrance to the first drawing-room, it was an-
nounced for the fourth time. At the extremity
of the third apartment I found Adrienne, sur-
rounded by a little court, receiving, conversing,
resplendent with jewels and beauty, and look-
ing like a queen, so lofty and so fair.
"Welcome, thrice welcome, mon beaufrere"
she said, with her bright smile, as I approached.
" Take this seat beside mine, and let us talk to-
gether for a while. It is long since we have
met, and you look pale to-night. Not ill, li
trust ? Monsieur de Saint Saturnin, will you
favor me by relinquishing this seat in favor of j
my husband's brother ? A thousand thanks. ]
You will pardon me for troubling you?"
Monsieur de Saint Saturnin, a red -faced
youth with an embroidered shirt-front and a
blue silk waistcoat, bowed, rose with an affecta- j
tiqn of immense alacrity, and mingled with the i
crowd.
I took the vacant seat, and she continued :
"It is really kind of you to come to-night,
for I know that you take no pleasure in society.
Have you seen Theophile? No? Why, he
was here but a moment since, and — Ah ! there
he stands, almost under the central chandelier.
He is conversing with two gentlemen — one, that
is, the one in black, is M. d'Ermenonville, pro-
fessor of Oriental languages to the College Roy-
al of St. Egbert ; the other is General Smith-
son, an American celebrity. This little gentle-
man with a diamond star upon his breast is a
Neapolitan prince ; and that handsome man
MY BROTHER'S WIFE.
63
with the long hair, just passing by, is Felicien
David, the musician. I must endeavor to amuse
you, and tell you who the people are, monfrere."
"You are very good, madame."
"Do not call me madame, I entreat of you.
Let me be your sister in name as well as in re-
ality. Here we have a Russian grandee and
his wife — what a regalia she wears ! and that
small, quick-featured man with the glasses is
Scribe the dramatist. He is leaning on the
arm of a man equally famous — perhaps you
guess who he is by his complexion and African
cast of features — Alexander Dumas. Do you
know, monfrere, a large assembly such as this
reminds me of a menagerie."
"With a remarkable show of lions," I added.
"Ah!" said she, with a half sigh, "is it to
be compared with our summer picnic at the
Fountain of Roses ?"
At this moment there was a universal silence
at the farther end of the apartment ; a few
plaintive notes were heard upon a piano ; and
the rich, magical tones of a voice that sounded
strangely familiar to my ears began the open-
ing movement of an Italian cavatina.
" Hush !" said Adrienne, placing her finger on
her lip. " Madame Vogelsang is about to sing."
"Madame Vogelsang, the actress?"
" Yes ; we have engaged her for the evening,
and Kiallmark as her accompanyist. Oh, list-
en— how delicious ! "
It was odd how the very name and voice of
that woman seemed to overshadow and depress
me. I fell into a profound reverie, from which
I was roused by the murmurs of applause, and
-by a hand laid suddenly upon my arm. It was
Norman Seabrook.
"I have spoken to you twice, Paul," said he,
" and have stood before your very face for three
or four minutes, paying my respects to madame,
and you never observed me. I was not aware
that music produced such an effect upon you be-
fore. Did she not sing gloriously?"
"I must confess," I replied, smiling, "that I
was lost in thought, and heard nothing of it
whatever."
Adrienne was at this moment surrounded by
her visitors, and busily engaged in convei'sation.
I rose, passed my arm through Seabrook's, and
proposed to make the tour of the rooms in
search of Theophile, with whom I had not yet
spoken.
"Your brother," said he, "has an absolute
genius for mustering his forces. He would
make a great general. By the way, have you
seen that pair of Vanderveldes which he bought
the other day, or the silver shield chased by
Benvenuto Cellini?"
"Neither."
"Nor the case of fossil zoophytes ?"
"No."
" Nor the Cabinet de Lecture ?"
' ' I never even heard of all these things.
What do you mean?"
' ' I mean that Monsieur Theophile possesses
what you never will possess — a genius for soci-
ety. He is desirous of filling his rooms with
all available rank and talent, and he takes care
to provide that which may render his house
agreeable. Here are paintings and articles of
virtu for the connoisseur ; natural curiosities for
the learned ; books and engravings for those
who like them ; and the best music, the best
society, and the best ices in Brussels for each
and for all."
"You amaze me, for The'ophile himself is
neither connoisseur, bookworm, nor natural
philosopher!"
"I did not say that he was ; I only observed
that he had a rare tact in society. There are
people who refine upon this tact till it becomes
a science."
At this moment our conversation was inter-
rupted by a tall lady with a long waist, a long
neck, and a long nose. She looked like a stork
with a turban on, and had a young and some-
what pretty girl upon her arm.
"Ah! Mr. Seabrook," she said, languidly,
" is it really you ? One finds you every where.
Emma, my precious love, you remember Mr.
Seabrook?"
The young lady bowed, and her mamma con-
tinued.
" I think the occasion of our last meeting
was at Cardinal Mezzotinto's, during the Ro-
man Carnival. You went as — as — let me see,
as Robinson Crusoe — such an odd costume !
Charming soiree, this. Quite new people, too.
Provincial landowners from the wilds of Bur-
gundy, I am given to understand. Really a
well - contrived evening. We came to - night
with the Hospodar of Moldavia and his wife.
Delightful family. Greek extraction. His
highness is the most fascinating creature ! So
talented ! So eccentric ! Eats a pound of un-
cooked steak for his dinner every day, to keep
up his stamina. But I am detaining you with
my prattle, and you are, perhaps, engaged in
conversation with your friend. Addio ! My
darling angel, wish Mr. Seabrook good-even-
ing !"
"What a terrible woman!" I exclaimed,
when we were out of hearing.
"Terrible species, but common," replied
Seabrook, laconically. "Order — Aristocratic.
Generic character — Detestable. Locality — Un-
exceptionable. Ilabits — Gregarious. Family
—The Bores."
" I am glad, at all events," I said, laughing,
" to find that the species is not dangerous."
"Not dangerous, my dear fellow! On the
contrary, it belongs to a genus of the most un-
paralleled ferocity, especially when providing for
its young. The heir, indeed, is its natural prey.
Stay, here is a man I know, who fancies him-
self a poet of the highest order. Quite a char-
acter. He once held a capital situation in the
Foreign Office, but found it too prosaic for what
he calls his 'wild poetic nature,' and so relin-
quished it. I fear that his circumstances are
wretched now, poor fellow ! How are you, Mr.
Staines ! Been long in Brussels ?"
MY BROTHER'S WIFE.
" Scarce three sad, sultry days, my worthy
friend," replied the poet, who wore blue glasses
and long hair, and who, as I presently discov-
ered, spoke always in blank verse.
"Rather a brilliant party here, is it not?"
asked Seabrook, with an air of determined com-
monplace cheerfulness.
"These glitt'ring halls are lit for me in
vain, " rejoined the other, misanthropically. ' ' To
ears in love with cataract and storm ; to eyes
that gaze unshrinkingly on fate ; to souls up-
lifted o'er the flat inane, cleaving the realms of
thought and poet-lore, all revelry is stale — all
music harsh!"
"Just so, just so," said my companion, smil-
ing. "I see that we are of the same opinion.
A glass of brandy and water, and a good cigar
at a friend's fireside, is worth all this sort of
display. Exactly my own idea, Staines. Au
revoir /"
The poet looked after us with a lofty pity
that was utterly ludicrous ; and we made our
way, as well as we could, through the crowd,
which was momentarily increasing, toward the
reading-room, or, as Theophile had chosen to
designate it, the Cabinet de Lecture.
It was a pretty little Gothic room, lined with
book- shelves, and furnished with costly vol-
umes, but was, if possible, even more crowded
than the larger apartments. The heat, too, was
intolerable.
"Diable!" exclaimed Seabrook, "we shall
die here if we remain long, amico mio ! Sup-
pose we go and have a peep at the conservato-
ry. I have not yet seen it, and your brother
told me yesterday that the fittings, flowers, and
tropical plants had cost a little fortune. Al-
lans .'"
This was more easily said than done. The
Cabinet de Lecture was situated at the extrem-
ity of the fourth and last reception-room, and
the conservatory at the end of the entrance-hall
down stairs. We had consequently to thread
our way back throughout the entire suite, and,
as the apartments were now quite filled, the task
was by no means one of great facility. It gave
us, however, a better opportunity of observing
the general features of the entertainment.
Many of the guests were English, but the
greater number belonged to the Continental
nations. Now we pass a knot of Parisian wits
and dramatists — now a group of artists discuss-
ing the merits of the Vanderveldes — now a
clique of politicians occupied with the last new
ministry. Here the swarthy features of an Ot-
toman dignitary, surmounted by the scarlet fez,
contrast with the delicate beauty of some reign-
ing belle, who glides along with her train of
slaves around her. There we see a handsome
and popular ecclesiastic discoursing honeyed
righteousness to a circle of admiring ladies.
Now and then we light upon some tender couple
whispering together in the embrasure of a cur-
tained window, and every where we are amused
by the scraps of conversation that meet our ear
in passing.
"A terrible state of affairs, I assure yoo.
The quotation of gold is lower than it has been
in the memory of any man living — population
increases — the value of labor diminishes — our
commerce is on the decline — our coasts unpro-
tected— our navy and army almost disorganized
— in short, sir, the country is going to ruin, and
I see no hope for the government or the people
unless the military are immediately re-enforced
and — "
" Stewed down with port wine and sugar. It
is the finest thing in the world. I have tried it
myself for the last four years, and find it an un-
failing remedy."
"And did you really come on purpose to see
me, Charles ?"
"You, and you only, my angel! You know
that I live but in your smiles, and that your
glance alone has power to reduce me to — "
"A heavy oily liquid, obtained from a double
sulpho-carbonate of ethyle and potash, acted
upon by diluted sulphuric or hydrochloric acid.
Indeed, a most interesting experiment."
"Possibly so; but I acknowledge that the
present cabinet inspires me with little confi-
dence. Russell is too indolent for the duties
of Premier, and Palmerston — "
" Has the loveliest legs and ankles you ever
beheld ! They skim along the stage, my boy,
like— like— "
"The Ficus Indica, or banyan-tree, abound-
ing chiefly in the vicinity of the Circar Mount-
ains. It covers with its trunks a sufficient space
to shelter a regiment of cavalry, and looks, when
one is in the midst of it, like a thick grove or
wood. You find the best account in Rumf's
4 Herbarium Amboinense.' "
Through this Babel we gradually worked our
way, exchanging a gesture of recognition with
Adrienne as we passed by, and receiving an
elaborate salutation from Polydore Emmanuel
Hippolyte, Marquis de Courtrai, whose appear-
ance did honor to the consummate skill of his
valet, his tailor, his jeweler, and his wig-maker.
He formed one of a phalanx of contemporary
exquisites as boyish and fascinating as him-
self, all of whom were so resplendent with
crosses, cordons, and stars as to elicit from Sea-
brook a doubt as to whether the Milky Way had
not unexpectedly dropped in.
At length we reached the stairs (up which
the fresh arrivals were still pouring, although it
was now within half an hour of midnight), and
in a few moments more were threading the cool
dark passage leading from the entrance-hall to
the conservatories. This passage was quite de-
serted ; the hum and movement of the world
beyond became hushed, and involuntarily we
dropped our voices to a whisper. Then we
passed through a doorway of painted glass that
opened without a sound, and entered the warm
and heavy atmosphere respired by the cactus
and the palm. The roof was garlanded with
creeping plants, whose large pendulous blos-
soms, like fairy pavilions, white, amber, and li-
lac, hung low above our heads. Fragrant magno-
MY BROTHER'S WIFE.
65
lias, orange-trees with their round yellow fruits,
delicate orchids, and all rare exotic plants, were
marshaled on every side. Deep tanks of tepid
water, gleaming with gold and silver fish, and
supporting the languid leaves and flowers of
strange aquatic vegetation, Avere sunk at either
extremity ; and marble statues of stern and rig-
id beauty, holding amethyst-hued lamps in their
cold grasp, stood here and there, lighting the
silent scene with a subdued and uncertain lus-
tre. High and fantastic, like the grand, shad-
owy superstitions of an Orient clime, rose in the
midst the luxuriant native of the tropics— the
bamboo ; the bread-tree, with its dark shining
leaves and amber fruit ; the sandal-wood-tree ;
the gigantic rhododendron, laden with white
blossoms ; the slender sugar-cane ; the lofty co-
coa-tree ; the graceful palm ; the royal cactus.
All was silent, strange, oppressive. Our very
footsteps gave no echo on the soft matting where
they rested.
Quite silently we passed from end to end,
indulging our own thoughts. Then we reached
the curtained arch that led to the next division
of the conservatories. It had always been
Theophile's taste, as well as mine, to substitute
draperies for doors wherever it might be practi-
cable. I did it in my own rooms at home, and
here it seemed more than ever Eastern and ap-
propriate. t
I looked at my friend, as if asking silently
whether he would go on. He nodded. My
hand was already on the damask folds, when I
drew back suddenly.
" Hush !" I said, in a low whisper. "I hear
voices within!"
He smiled. "Some lovers, perhaps, "he re-
turned, in the same tone. "Let us go back.
It would be a pity to interrupt them !"
And he passed his arm through mine. But
there was some fascination in the faint tones
which I had heard — some indefinable fascina-
tion, which ran through me like an electric
touch, and chained my feet to the spot.
''Come away," said Seabrook, impatiently,
" or I go without you. I have no wish to play
the eavesdropper."
"Go, then, "I rejoined, hoarsely. "Go. I
must remain here."
" What is the matter ? Are you ill ?"
"Listen!"
The voices were dulled by the heavy damask
intervening, yet not so dulled but that the words
came through distinctly.
"All men are flatterers, and I believe none
of them — not even you, monsieur, despite that
imploring look ! Have you not a wife whom
you adore ?"
"If I have a wife, it does not follow that I
adore her ! We men marry for wealth and po-
sition, but we reserve our hearts for beauty.
Your logic is not sound, charming The'rese !"
"Madame is beautiful. What woman could
be more so ?"
"Yourself! Nay, I swear by those glorious
eyes that you are a million times more lovely
E
than the fair, soulless doll whom I call wife !
Compare yourself with her, Siren, and confess
that it is so !"
" I will confess nothing."
" — Except that you love me!"
"Vain man!"
"Not vain, for I deserve all that you can
give in return for my devotion. Am I not your
slave — literally your slave ? Is there any thing
which you could ask and I refuse ? Is it not
my pride to deck you with jewels that a queen
might envy — with shawls that a caliph would
not disdain ? Is not my wealth, my heart, my
life at your disposal ?"
" And you really love me ?"
" I never loved till now !"
" Then I suppose I must believe you. But
I have not yet thanked you for the gift you sent
me yesterday. It was so splendid, and chosen
with such exquisite taste ! I do not know that
I have ever seen a vehicle so elegant."
"I hope to see you drive past my house in
it; it will then look ten times more elegant."
"Not with my horses ! They are too large
for such a fairy chariot. How exquisitely a
pair of cream-colored ponies would become it !"
"You shall have them to-morrow."
" No, no. I will not suffer you to — "
" I shall send them to you, and you will ac-
cept them. Promise me that you will accept
them!"
"I can refuse you nothing!"
1 ' Loveliest, queenliest of women ! Say that
word once again — just once! Oh, Therese !
The'rese ! thy beauty intoxicates me ! "
My hand was on the curtain, but Seabrook
grasped me by the wrist and forcibly detained
me.
"Let me go,"I said, in a voice that trembled
with deep passion. "Let me go ! "
"Madman ! what would you do ?"
* ' Confront them !"
"To what end? To make an enemy of your
brother — to exclude yourself from his house —
to place an insuperable barrier between your-
self and every means of useful action that inti-
macy and observation might afford you ? De-
sist. You know not yet what you may be ena-
bled to do. The first person to be remembered
is his wife. She must not know this."
" Poor Adrienne ! "
" Come away, come away ! We can best
serve her by remaining calm and keeping our
heads clear. Come away from this place !"
The recollection of Adrienne had subdued
me, and I submitted like a child to the influ-
ence of his graver and more temperate judg-
ment. The fresher air of the outer passage
seemed to cool the fever in my blood. We
passed hastily through the crowded hall, past
the long lines of carriages, and out into the
quiet streets where not a footstep echoed on the
lonely pavement, and where the innocent stars
were still shining out of the depths of upper sky
u Like sweet thoughts in a dream."
This, then, was the secret of that long aver-
66
MY BROTHER'S WIFE.
sion, hitherto so inexpiable to myself — that
aversion dating from the first moment that I
had seen her upon the stage at Frankfurt—
which I had felt so strong within me when I en-
countered her on the railway as I returned from
Antwerp — which had affected me so powerfully
but a few nights since in the Opera House of
Brussels ! Mysterious promptings of the heart
— inexplicable repulsions and affinities, who
shall presume to deny or to define them ?
Oh, my brother, my brother, that thou shouldst
do such evil !
Absorbed in these thoughts, and wholly oc-
cupied by my own distress of mind, I had taken
no heed of external circumstances, and I started
when Seabrook pressed my arm suddenly, and,
pointing to a shadowy form gliding along by the
houses at the opposite side of the street, said, in
a quick whisper,
"Do you see that man yonder? He has
dogged our steps ever since we left your broth-
er's house."
" Pshaw ! you fancy it. What could be his
motive ? We are two to one."
"I know nothing but the fact. See ! if he
approaches a lamp, how he turns aside to avoid
the light!"
My curiosity became roused. We quickened
our steps — we loitered — we made unnecessary
detours. Still his pace altered with ours, and
followed us wherever we went. We were watch-
ed, beyond the shadow of a doubt.
Suddenly we changed our tactics, faced round,
and stood still. The spy stood still likewise.
Seabrook laughed and rubbed his hands glee-
fully. The affair, in his eyes, had already as-
sumed the character of an adventure.
"Let us turn the tables, " he whispered, "and
follow him!"
We accordingly advanced rapidly toward our
pursuer. Seen dimly in the angle where he
stood, he seemed to pause irresolutely for a mo-
ment— even to take one forward step, as if with
the intention of meeting us — then turned and
walked very swiftly down the street.
It was our place to follow now, and this we
did with so much determination, that the walk
merged presently into a run, and away we went
through the dark, silent thoroughfare, pursuers
and pursued, as fast as our flying feet would
carry us.
Up one street, down another, across the mark-
et-place, in and out a labyrinth of narrow wind-
ing alleys and crooked passages— it was evident
that he knew the intricacies of the old town by
heart. Presently my breath began to fail, and
my head to grow giddy. I staggered — I stop-
ped suddenly— I could go no farther.
"Keep on', Seabrook," I gasped, leaning back
heavily in the shelter of a doorway. "Keep
on. I will wait here for you."
Agile and unwearied as a greyhound, he
sprang forward even more rapidly than before.
In a few moments, however, he returned reluct-
antly and slowly. The brief delay occasioned
by my stoppage had favored the escape of the
spy. When Seabrook turned the corner he was
already out of sight, and beyond this point sev-
eral streets and courts branched off, amid which
it would have been useless to pursue the search.
The game, for once, had outsped the hunts-
men, and we were left to find our way back to
the upper town as best we might, wearied out
with the chase, and marveling together over the
events of the evening.
CHAPTER XXVII.
"THE ROAD TO RUIN."
" How, Theophile ! and thus early ?"
"Myself. Hardly hoped to find you awake,
monfrere. Have not been to bed all night my-
self. Not worth while, you will say, when I
tell you that I was out till past three o'clock this
morning. Society is a Maelstrom. Once in,
you can never get out of it, and are whirled on
faster and faster, till — "
" Till it swallows you up altogether!"
"Very true — very true. But I am not yet
ingulfed. By the way, you left us very early,
Paul, the night of our soir&."
"Yes, I left early, and without having spoken
to you once. How did you leave madame ?"
"I really do not know. She was asleep
when I left home."
"You have come to breakfast with me, The-
ophile ?"
"No, thank you. I have no appetite this
morning. The fact is, I — I came to ask you if
you had another five thousand which you don't
particularly want just now. My remittances
will arrive to-morrow or next day, when you'
shall be repaid instantly."
All this was spoken rapidly and nervously;,
and I observed that he stood before the glass ar-
ranging his cravat, and avoiding my eyes as
much as possible.
"Another five thousand !" I echoed, pushing
back my chair, and fixing a searching glance
upon his face. "Another five thousand! What
can you want with such large and frequent
sums ?"
"/ want nothing, my dear fellow," he re-
turned, with a forced laugh. " The affair con-
cerns my tradesmen ! I have bought largely,
pictures, statues, plants — "
"For the conservatory,"! interrupted.
"Just so — for the conservatory," he contin-
ued, with the slightest possible shade of embar-
rassment in his tone. " And the soiree was an
immense expense. Besides, there have been
ornaments for my wife, horses, carriages, hotel
bills. Really, I dread to think of what we have
spent already !"
" It must cost you a great deal for horses,
carriages, and jewelry," I remarked, dryly.
Theophile flushed crimson up to the roots of
his hair, and looked at me very earnestly. See-
ing, however, that I maintained a perfect com-
posure, he drew a long breath and resumed,
MY BROTHER'S WIFE.
67
though with a more constrained and anxious
manner than before,
"Yes, we find the 'season' costs money; but
we are rich, mon frere, and we may as well use
our wealth in moderation. But, to return to
my first question — have you the five thousand
francs to spare me this morning ? I could ask
Adrienne, for no doubt she has as much by her ;
but one doesn't like to borrow from one's wife."
"Why not? You but need to tell her how
much you require, and for what you require it,
and she loves you so much that I am sure that
she would give it on the instant."
"Ah! yes — of course; but women do not
understand these things ; and — But, if you do
not wish to oblige me, I have no wish to press
you. I should have thought my credit good
with my own brother."
"It is not that, The'ophile," I replied, very
calmly. " You should be welcome to the mon-
ey if I had it ; but I assure you I have not more
than, if so much as, half that sum in my desk."
He colored up again, but this time it was
with disappointment.
' ' You shall have two thousand francs, if they
be of any use to you," I said, after a few min-
utes' pause, during which he had been pacing to
and fro between the table and the window.
"Surely that will suffice till you receive mon-
ey."
"Thank yQU," he replied, somewhat stiffly.
"I accept your kindness ; and I hope to return
all that I owe you before the week is out."
"You need not be so proud about it, Theo-
phile. I would come to you if I wanted money
to-morrow, and not deem myself under so very
heavy an obligation when you had lent it. How
proceed the repairs at Hauteville ?"
My brother blushed again. It was strange
how often he blushed this morning ; but then,
as a boy, his handsome, ingenuous face had al-
ways betrayed every transient emotion that flit-
ted through his mind.
" Hauteville ? Oh, tolerably, I believe. That
is, I — I do not think they are doing much at
present. Burgundy is a dull place."
"You did not think so when you first pur-
chased the estate."
"True ; but — but Adrienne has seen more of
the world since then, and cares less for retire-
• ment. I may not keep Hauteville, after all."
1 ' You amaze me ! And our mother — ?"
"Would, perhaps, be a little disappointed;
but then she would soon be reconciled to the
change. Besides, although I have talked of it,
we may not give it up, you know."
"I earnestly hope not, The'ophile," I replied,
gravely. "You are our mother's darling, and
you hold much of her happiness in your power.
Going already ? Stay, you must not forget
your money. Here are the notes."
He crushed the papers into his pocket-book,
wished me a hasty good-day, and protesting ve-
hemently against the trouble I took in seeing
him to the door, sprang into his carriage and
drove away.
Returning slowly and sadly to my room, I
find a paper lying near the door — a little open
note, on which a few words are written in a del-
icate female hand. So few are they, that, as I
lift it from the ground, I read them at a glance
— indeed, almost before I am aware of it.
"Why have you not been to-day, mon cherif
I have expected you since noon, and it is now
past midnight. Meet me in the foyer at eleven
o'clock to-morrow evening, and return with me
to sup. I can not ask you sooner, for we have
a rehearsal during the day. Bring me some
money ; my modiste wearies me with importuni-
ties. Ever thy. THERESE."
The letter bore the date of the previous day.
There were two entrances to the foyer — the
one leading from the public part of the theatre,
the other opening into the street. Through
this outer door (which, properly speaking, should
be called the stage entrance) the actors, musi-
cians, officials, and certain privileged habitues
passed to their various destinations behind the
scenes ; and hither, accordingly, I repaired
about twenty minutes before the time appoint-
ed, for I judged that it was by this door my
brother would come to the place of meeting.
It was a little side entrance opening into a
dull back street, and lighted by a powerful jet
of gas. Just within the threshold I saw a
young man sitting sleeping at a desk, with some
papers and the fragments of a frugal supper ly-
ing before him. Hence a second door, which
was occasionally opened by passers to and fro,
revealed glimpses of a whitewashed, dreary-
looking bricked passage, also lighted by gas,
and offering but few temptations as a means of
transit.
Outside this place I paced slowly and method-
ically until he should arrive, only pausing at
times to listen anxiously to the sound of distant
wheels, or loitering now and then to glance at
the clock above the head of the sleeper at the
desk.
Watching and waiting — watching and wait-
ing— what a weary task it was, and how every
minute seemed the length often!
Yet I was not quite alone in my promenade,
for on the opposite side of the street, sometimes
pacing backward and forward, sometimes paus-
ing and leaning against the wall, I saw a sec-
ond loiterer. There were no gas-lamps in the
street, and the night was so intensely dark that
I could distinguish nothing clearly ; but his ap-
pearance seemed that of a man in the middle
station of life — perhaps even a grade poorer.
He was waiting, most likely, for his wife or sis-
ter— some ill-paid coryphee or chorus-singer. A
wretched life ! Somehow, despite my own cares
and all that I had to make me anxious, my
thoughts, having been once diverted into this
channel, continued to flow there, and I found
myself inventing a sequence of contingent prob-
abilities— picturing his home, his children, the
meagre furniture, the scanty meal to which they
GS
MY BROTHER'S WIFE.
returned at night after the glare and weariness
of the evening's performance. Thinking thus,
I forgot the presence of the very man of whom
I was thinking, and was only recalled to my
original purpose by the sudden driving up and
stoppage of a hackney-carriage at the stage
door.
I sprang to the spot ; a gentleman leaped out
of the vehicle, and in an instant Theophile and
I were face to face.
"Stay, my brother, stay! I know all — I
found the letter — I am here to try and save
you ! Remember your wife — remember Adri-
enne !"
The light from the open doorway fell full
upon his face. He stood quite still — his color
came and went — his lips quivered — his whole
attitude and countenance expressed the strug-
gle of many feelings.
"You are ruining yourself, Theophile! I
have known something of this for several days,
but I abstained from speaking until now. Oh,
that I may not be too late !"
Still silent — still down-looking—still red and
pale alternately.
"Not only for your fortune, but for your rep-
utation, your happiness, your peace of mind,
which are all in danger, I implore you to re-
flect!"
" I but act as others act," he said, in a sup-
pressed tone. * ' Why should it be a greater
crime in me than in them ?"
An elegant close-carriage, with blazing lamps
and prancing horses, drove up as he was speak-
ing, and stopped before the door. The man at
the desk woke up suddenly ; the second door
leading to the brick passage was flung open ; a
cry of "Madame Vogelsang's carriage!" was
repeated by many voices, and several persons
came hastening out, surrounding and escorting
a lady whose features were almost concealed be-
neath the hood of a velvet opera-cloak, and who
was leaning upon the arm of a repulsive-look-
ing man with a profusion of red whiskers and
mustaches.
A flash of anger passed over Theophile's feat-
ures at this sight, and he took a forward step.
I caught him by the arm.
" Stay! It is a madness!" I cried. "You
know not what you do!"
"It is a madness," he rejoined, furiously, as
he shook off my grasp like a roused lion. "It
is a madness and my fate. Let me go !"
In another moment he had saluted her, and,
bestowing a haughty stare upon the red-whis-
kered escort, had offered his arm, handed her
into the carriage, stepped in after her, and driv-
en rapidly away.
As for me, I stood like a statue — frozen and
motionless. Then my eyes fell upon the gen-
tleman whose services had been superseded, and
who yet remained standing upon the pavement
where she had left him. His countenance was
contracted into an expression of malignity and
baffled shame, and his head was yet turned in
the direction by which the carriage had disap-
peared. Presently the features relaxed — a
sneering smile writhed on his lips — he ran his
jeweled fingers lightly through his hair, and
sauntered into the office, whistling softly. Then
the clerk resumed his seat at the desk ; the other
loiterers, with the other gentlemen, retired back
whence they came, and in a few seconds all was
silent and empty as before.
A strange feeling of curiosity came over me —
a feeling that I must learn the name of this man
whose presence inspired Theophile with such
open discourtesy and anger. I stepped forward,
entered the room, and civilly asked the ques-
tion.
The clerk smiled and looked surprised.
"His name is Lemaire — Monsieur Alphonse
Lemaire."
"And his station?"
"He is the manager of this theatre."
I thanked him and turned toward the door.
There was a pale face peering eagerly in and
suddenly withdrawn — a pale face that gave me
a sudden shock for which I was unable to ac-
count, and which for a moment struck me with
a sensation like that of fear, as if I had seen a
wraith — or, rather, as if I had beheld it before
under some strange and terrible circumstances
that I could not remember. Perhaps in a bad
dream — who could tell ?
During a few seconds I stood still, with my
eyes fixed upon the door, expecting every in-
stant to see it return. Suddenly a suspicion
flashed upon me. I thought of the loiterer upon
the opposite footway — of the spy of a few nights
since ! It was plain that I was watched, and
constantly. I uttered a hasty exclamation, flew
to the door, and gazed eagerly up and down the
street.
The man whom I sought was no longer keep-
ing watch on the other side. He had crossed
over, and was waiting in the shadow close against
the wall, some few yards from the spot where I
stood.
CHAPTER XXVIII.
THE ARROW IS FITTED TO THE BOW.
HE made no attempt to elude me this time,
but, to my surprise, stepped forward to meet me,
and was the first to speak.
"I beg your pardon, sir," he said, quietly,
touching his hat the while, " but might I ask the
favor of a few minutes' conversation with you ?"
"I was about to make the same request.
Pray speak."
" You will allow me to put a few questions to
you, sir ?"
"Yes, on condition that I may afterward use
the same privilege."
"Agreed."
We had been standing, half defyingly, face
to face, but upon the conclusion of this brief
treaty we involuntarily dropped side by side,
and commenced walking leisurely to and fro in
the shadow of the silent street. It was so dark
MY BROTHER'S WIFE.
that I could not see his features very distinctly,
but they looked commonplace enough, and I
could distinguish nothing of the expression and
character that had struck me so forcibly only a
few moments since.
He recommenced.
" In the first place, then, were you not pres-
ent at a soiree given in the Rue on the 15th
evening of the present month ?"
"I was."
"Are you acquainted with the giver of that
soiree ?"
"Yes."
"Was that he with whom you were speaking
to-night, just as Madame Vogelsang was coming
out?"
" Why do you ask me these questions?"
' ' That is my business. Answer them, and I
will answer yours. Such was our bargain."
"I will not answer the last till I know your
motive for inquiring."
" Very well ; then I will pass on to another."
There was something brief and matter-of-fact
in his manner that did not altogether displease
me, but I felt disposed to be equally brief and
decisive with him. Every now and again I
strove to see his face more plainly, and sought,
by turning Suddenly at times, to catch any re-
turn of the expression seen at first, but in vain.
I observed, too, although he spoke with perfect
fluency and propriety, that his pronunciation was
slightly grating and peculiar, as if bearing traces
of a foreign origin.
He went on.
"You are aware that Madame Vogelsang
was present at that soirge, on the 15th ?"
"Yes — I heard her sing."
"Did it appear to you that there was any
thing remarkable in her conduct that evening ?"
"You must speak more clearly. I do not
understand what you mean by ' any thing re-
markable.'"
"To be plain, then, any thing light — any
thing wanton ?"
After a momentary hesitation, I replied in
the affirmative.
"Will you have the goodness to relate the
circumstances to me?"
"Certainly not."
"You are afraid of implicating yourself?"
This was spoken somewhat harshly and satir-
ically ; but I took no notice of it, and replied
more calmly than ever.
" For myself, I fear nothing; but I have nei-
ther the right nor the inclination to betray the
errors of others."
' ' Good ; I perceive that you are cautious.
One more question, however : Was this conduct
(which you admit to have observed) open and
unconcealed — visible to all eyes, or only to your
own ?"
" I believe it to be known only to myself and
to a friend who happened to be with me at the
time."
"The same Avith whom you left the house
that night?"
" —When you followed us ? Yes."
"True ; when I followed you, and you hunt-
ed me. But let that pass ; I want to know all
that you saw."
"I have already refused to tell it to you.'*
"At least tell me who this preux chevalier
may be upon whom the chaste Therese bestows
her favors, ' secret, sweet, and stolen !' Is it not
he with whom you were speaking by yonder
door some ten or twenty minutes since ?"
There was something more than harshness,
brevity, or satire in the voice now. There was
a deep inner vibration, as if of some vital string.
I was startled. Might I not already have said
too much ? Might I not be on the brink of be-
traying Theophile to a deadly foe ? Suppose
that this man were a — I shuddered.
" I will reply to no more of your questions,"
I said, hurriedly. ' ' I am sorry that I have an-
swered any. Who and what are you? By
what right do you hang upon my footsteps ?-
Why do you waylay, and spy, and follow after
me ? You were watching me the other night —
you watched me to-night. What is your pur-
pose ? How do I or my movements concern
you? Are you a mouchard?"
The word mouchard, so offensive in a French-
man's ears, seemed neither to sting nor annoy
him. Indeed, I almost doubt whether he even
observed it, for he still sauntered on beside me
in the same unmoved, meditative manner, with
his head a little bent and his eyes fixed on the
ground. He never once looked up as I uttered
this passionate rush of words, and was silent for
several minutes after I had ceased speaking.
At length he replied, yet so musingly that it
seemed less a reply than an answering to his
own thoughts.
"I expected this," he said. "It is natural
that you should feel angry and suspicious. I
was not such a fool as to think you would be
cross-questioned in this fashion. I only did it
to try you."
" To try me ?"
"Ay. Suppose now that I knew, if not all,
at least the greater part of the information I
have been asking from you — what then ?"
" What then ? Why, you are content, I sup-
pose, and can have no farther occasion for inter-
rogating me, " I replied, stiffly ; for I saw in this
supposition only a trap for the disclosure of all
that I had refused to tell.
"Not so; I still require your aid and confi-
dence. Suppose now — for the sake of argu-
ment — that I know precisely in what position
you stand to the giver of that soiree?"
I started and was silent. My companion
gave a short dry chuckle, as if enjoying my
perplexity, and went on :
" Suppose I know that you and he are broth-
ers— that you are both from Burgundy — that he
is lately married?"
" Supposing that you do," I retorted, impa-
tiently, "you are no wiser than half the trades-
people and visitors in Brussels. It is no more
than' you might have learnt from servants with
70
MY BROTHER'S WIPE.
less than half the trouble you have taken to
watch me !"
"Precisely so," he replied, in the same tone
of quiet self-possession and authority ; "precise-
ly so. It is just what I have learnt from serv-
ants and tradesmen, and it was not to ascertain
those facts at all that I have taken upon myself
the office of your shadow. What I require from
vou is your confidence and co-operation, and a
detailed account of all that you know respecting
the liaison between your brother and Madame
Vogelsang the singer. This I have determined
to obtain. I have waited and watched for an
opportunity of speaking alone with you. The
other night you were, as you just stated, in the
company of a friend. I followed you in the
hope that you would part with him somewhere,
and end your walk alone ; on the contrary, you
both turned round and pursued me. Of course
I ran for it. What I had to say was for you
alone, and I did not choose to be questioned.
To-night every thing has happened well. I
have even seen your meeting with your brother
— heard your expostulations — seen him drive
away with her side by side — in short, gained
ajnple confirmation of my suspicions and the
current rumor. Still I have occasion for you.
There has been much done with which I am un-
acquainted, and which you must tell me. There
is much to be done wherein you must assist me.
You see that it is my wish to be frank with you.
Be the same with me.
Frank indeed ! Dsspite the anxiety with
which this strange dialogue inspired me, I could
scarcely forbear a smile at these words. A pe-
culiar sort of frankness, where he preserved the
strictest incognito himself, and exacted the full-
est confidence from me !
Finding that I replied not, he spoke again.
" Tell me all that you noted between them
on the night of the soiree."
"Between whom?"
" Your brother and the singer."
"I never said that there was a liaison between
them. What right have you to suppose it is he ?
You know that he is married — married to a
woman whom he loves."
' ' Of course you say so at first ; but you for-
get what I saw and heard in this very street to-
night."
I was dumb.
"Besides which," he continued, "I have
watched her, too, and I have watched her
house. I have seen him go in and out at
strange hours — I have marked the increasing
splendor in which she lives — I have seen the
chariot and the cream-colored ponies which he
sent to her, and I know from whom they were
purchased. More than this, I know that he is
plunging blindly into ruin, and that he is al-
ready in debt and in difficulties. With all these
things I am more fully acquainted than your-
self."
There was, to me, something almost appalling
in this man's cool, dispassionate resume of all
that touched me most nearly. I recoiled from
his narrative of patient, business-like espial,
which, like a dissecting -knife, laid open the
anatomy of that infected spot which I would
have given half my fortune to keep secret !
Tortured by an anxiety which had become
almost desperate, I suddenly stood quite still,
seized him forcibly by the arm, and, stooping
down to the level of his face, for he was some-
what shorter than myself, said fiercely,
"Who and what are you ? Speak, or, by the
fiend, I shall do you some mischief!"
He first made an attempt to disengage him-
self from my grasp, and then, finding the effort
useless, looked up at me composedly and said,
" What am I ? Why, a man like yourself, to
be sure."'
"Why do you pry after my brother, and what
are his courses to you ? Who are you ?"
" Let me go first, and I will tell you."
"No, by heaven, you shall not escape me this
time ! Till you speak you are my prisoner."
"Just as you please. I do not open my lips
again till I am free."
He was perfectly calm and undismayed as he
said this, and, looking steadily forward at the
angle of a building close at hand, seemed utter-
ly unconscious of my presence, my threats, or
my hold upon his arms. For several minutes
Ave stood thus. Talus himself could not liave
been more impassible. I might as well have
tried to intimidate the brazen figure on the bel-
fry of the Hotel de Ville. I saw that it was
vain for us to stand here like two statues, so I
released him sullenly, and waited for his expla-
nation.
He laughed again — the same dry chuckle as
before. At the farthest extremity of the street,
where it opened into the broad thoroughfare
leading to the front of the theatre, there stood
a solitary lamp. To this he pointed, and be-
neath it he stopped.
"Look at me," said he, removing his hat and
smiling grimly. "Look at me well. Now,
who do you suppose I am ?"
His face was pale, and, though it gave me the
impression of belonging to a younger man than
I had previously supposed him, was deeply fur-
rowed around the mouth and eyes. The fore-
head was knotted, care -lined, somewhat con-
tracted at the temples, and prominent over the
eyes ; his hair was thick, and sprinkled prema-
turely with gray. He wore neither beard nor
mustache, and stooped in the shoulders like an
aged man. At the utmost, as I guessed, he
could not be much past thirty, and yet his as-
pect was withered, neglected, trouble-worn.
I looked at him with a painful interest. There
was something in the face which I almost pitied
—something not wholly strange to me, as it
seemed. Where had I seen that singular ex-
pression before ? I could not solve it ; I sighed
— I shook my head.
" I cari not imagine who you are," I replied,
"but I seem to have seen you before — some-
where— some time long ago — in a dream."
"No, you haven't," he said, shortly, replacing
MY BROTHER'S WIFE.
71
his hat and leaning back against the lamp-post.
"I've seen and watched you these several days
past, but we have never been face to face with
each other before this minute."
There was another brief pause. He seemed
reluctant to speak, and drew his breath quickly
once or twice, as if in the effort to say something
which it annoyed him to reveal. Then, turning
suddenly toward me and looking up, as if to
mark the effect of his words upon my counte-
nance, he said,
" I am the husband of Madame Vogelsang.'1
Had a thunderbolt fallen at my feet, I could
scarcely have been more dismayed. I staggered
back a step, and stared at him blankly. The
husband of Madame Vogelsang ! And Theo-
phile ? A confused dread of vengeance — expo-
sure— shame, swept over me, and paralyzed my
very powers of speech and breathing.
He looked at me for some time in silence ;
then, with a somewhat gentler mien, "Well,"
he said, "does that surprise you? Have you
nothing to say ? Why, who else should I be, to
take so much trouble about the matter?"
"And you are the Herr Vogelsang?"
"Eh? ah! yes — I am the Herr Vogelsang.
It is an honorable title to bear, is it not ? Don't
you envy me my wife — my charming, chaste,
devoted Therese?"
Again the deep, bitter, vibrating tone that had
struck mo so before. It made me cold at heart
to hear it now.
"Alas ! Theophile!" I exclaimed, involunta-
rily.
He turned sharply and looked at me again.
"I mean no harm to him, "he said, harshly
and quickly. " I should not have spoken to you,
or told you what I have, if that were my inten-
tion. I know the character of that woman too
thoroughly to need any explanation of how the
affair began. She entangled him — seduced him
— preys upon him now, like a beautiful vampire.
He is not to blame. I wish to save him, if it
can be done."
I could scarcely believe my ears for wonder
and joy at hearing this. An inexpressible sense
of relief came over me, and I breathed again
more freely. My countenance must have ex-
pressed something of this, for my companion's
voice assumed a less austere accent, and his
communications became more unreserved.
" I married her," said he, gloomily, " when I
was little more than a boy. Her father had been
my fathers oldest friend, and although she was
a year or two my senior, the match had been
agreed upon from our childhood upward. I
never cared for her; but the thing seemed so
certain, so inevitable, and I had heard it discuss-
ed for so many years, that I never thought to
oppose it, even in a dream. Every year she
grew more beautiful, yet every year I conceived
a greater distaste for her. I told my father this,
and he entreated me, with tears, to banish such
feelings and ideas forever from my mind. His
oldest friend, and her father, he said, had been
consoled on his death-bed by the prospect of this
union. The old promises had been renewed in
that solemn moment. It was as a favor, nay,
as a right, that he demanded from me the ful-
fillment of an engagement entered upon in my
name while I was yet an infant. I loved my
father. I yielded. I married her. From that
day I date the degradation of my judgment —
the abnegation of my manhood's royalty. We
were poor, and she was a public singer — an act-
ress— a faithless wife — a — well, no matter — we
have been parted many years. She, beautiful
and infamous, revels in luxury and applause. I,
laden with dishonor, poor, comfortless, and un-
happy, lead a wretched, wandering, aimless,
homeless life, without a hope for the future or
a regret for the past."
There was an inexpressible melancholy in the
tone in which this was said — a tone so sad and
so subdued that I was tempted to hazard a few
words of sympathy and consolation.
He laughed — a bitter, sardonic laugh — and
shook his head haughtily.
"I want no pity," he said. "All I seek is
justice, and justice I will have. How pleasant
it is when justice and vengeance are one !"
"Vengeance!" I repeated.
"Yes, vengeance. Now listen to me. When
my wife (how well it sounds — my wife!) first
fled from my roof, she robbed me — robbed me
not only of money and jewels, but of the title-
deeds of a small property to which I had suc-
ceeded in establishing some claim after a pro-
tracted litigation. This was about two months
before the last and final hearing of my cause in
the laAv-courts of Vienna. No one knew whith-
er she had fled with her paramour; every search
was useless, and my cause was lost for want of
the necessary documents. For years I never
heard even the echo of her name. She was as
completely lost to the world as if the ground
had opened beneath her feet and ingulfed her.
About six months since she emerged from her
seclusion, and reappeared upon the Viennese
stage. I was in England at the time, and knew
nothing of it. She created a furore — went from
Vienna to Munich — from Munich to Berlin — ,
Dresden — Frankfurt. I heard it all by the
merest chance. I traveled from England to Vi-
enna with the speed of an avenger. I found no
difficulty in proving her identity, for there were
many there who had seen and known her both
then and now. My first step was to lodge an
accusation against her for the abstraction of pa-
pers and other valuables ; my next to follow her
from place to place (always finding myself, by
some luckless chance, a day, or, perhaps, only a
few hours, too late), and at last to discover her
here, in this town of Brussels, in my power — in
my power, whenever I choose to exercise it!"
" How can she be in your power, even noAv ?"
"I do not speak without reason, sir," said
he, impatiently. Then, as if correcting himself,
"I have that with me which, once produced, will
compel her to leave this place and return forth-
with to Vienna — an injunction from the govern-
ment— an injunction which she, as an Austrian
72
MY BROTHER'S WIFE.
subject, can not choose but obey — which can call
her from the stage before the eyes of the audi-
ence, if I so please ; an'd for the enforcement of
which, if she resist it, I can claim the aid of the
Belgian authorities. Now do you comprehend
me ? Now do you see how I can aid you, and
save your brother from utter ruin?"
I held out my hand to him in the impulse of
my gratitude ; but he appeared not to notice it,
and I allowed it to drop unheeded by my side.
" Still I can not understand why you should
have sought me, or have cared to interfere be-
tween my brother and this woman," I said, in-
quiringly.
He looked down and bit his lip.
" The question is natural," he said, at length.
' ' But I scarcely like to answer it. The con-
fession is an ugly one. Yet it must out. I hated
her," he continued, very swiftly and passion-
ately, "before I married her. But, once wed,
once surrounded by the hourly fascinations of
her presence, once master of all her loveliness,
I — I was fool enough to — "
"To love her!" I exclaimed.
"Ay," he muttered, sullenly, changing at
once from the excited tone in which he had
just spoken, "ay — to love her! Curses on me
that I should have ever loved a thing so vile !
Curses on me that I should love her still, and
take a dainty vengeance in wresting her from
her handsome lover — her handsome lover with
the white hands and the curling hair ! Pshaw !
this is sheer folly. But my plan and my mo-
tive— yes, this is what you seek to know; that
is why I have sought you, confided in you,
plagued you with this dull story. Listen. My
vengeance would be no vengeance if it did not
part them utterly. I could not accomplish this
without your aid, and to do it is your interest as
well as mine. Do you understand me?"
"Not quite. I know what you mean, but I
do not see how we can prevent the continuation
of their intercourse. I fear that he would fol-
low her. He is mad. He confessed to me to-
night that it was his ' fate.' "
"Precisely. Then all that we have to do is
to strike the blow suddenly ; to keep him in ig-
norance till it is over, and never to let him know
what has become of her."
• "Impossible ! He sees her daily."
"To contrive his absence for a day, or even
two days, must be your share of the scheme. I
will undertake to achieve the rest. On his re-
turn he shall find her gone. The manager must
be bought — the officials must be bought ; com-
plete secrecy — secrecy at any price, must be se-
cured. To judge from that manager's face to-
night, I should say that it would not be difficult
to enlist him in our service."
"I see it all. Nothing could be better. When
shall it be done? Let us lose no time."
I was excited, flushed, and spoke rapidly.
" No, no," said he, quietly, " not yet. Let us
wait a while, till we have matured our scheme
together, and laid the train surely. Besides, I
would rather your mind were familiarized with
it, and your nerves steadied to the task first.
One false step, would lose all."
"But, in the mean time, this thing is going
on. The'ophile is being ruined, and your wife — "
"My wife, sir," he interrupted, "may go on
as she will till the moment of retribution comes ;
and as for your brother, a few days more or less
can not either save or beggar him. A vengeance
such as mine can wait — is the sweeter for delay."
I submitted, but I sighed as I submitted.
"And now," said he, "we have said enough
for to-night. It grows late, and I already see
a gray tint in the sky, which looks like coming
day. If you will meet me again to-morrow
night, we can consult afresh. What say you
to Le Roi Faineant of Ixelles, at ten o'clock in
the evening ? It is a quiet little out-of-the-way
inn and brasserie, about a couple of miles out
of town. We shall be safe and undisturbed
enough there!"
"As you please ; but why at night, and so far?"
" Can you ask why ? Ah ! I forget that you
are no conspirator. Well, then, do you not see
that I must keep myself concealed? That if
she knew of my presence all our plot would be
endangered ? I have not dared to venture in
any place where I should be likely to encounter
her. I have scarcely stirred out, save at night,
or dared to take exercise, save in the country
suburbs, ever since my arrival in Brussels. A
stab, to fulfill its errand, must fall suddenly and
in the dark. Good-night to you, sir."
He touched his hat as when he first spoke to
me, turned away suddenly from my side, and,
almost before I could tell in which direction he
had vanished, plunged into the shadow and dis-
appeared.
For some time I remained standing where he
had left me, stupefied by the crowd of thoughts
and emotions which his language and presence
had aroused within me. His pale, care-worn
face ; his strange story ; the espial which he had
exercised over me ; the plot which he had un-
folded ; the peculiar influence with which he had
swayed me during the interview, all combined
to trouble, to excite, to oppress me. I felt my-
self, as it were, a tool in his hands. His face
and voice haunted me. I could not forget the
expression of his features as he watched me from
the doorway when I had entered the little office
inside the etage entrance of the theatre. The
whole thing seemed to me like a dream, or rath-
er the dream of a dream, for I could not rid my-
self of the impression that I had seen him before,
at some sad and remote time or other. Him-
self seemed to me almost as a phantom. I tried
to remember that I ought to feel gratitude — joy
— relief from what I had learnt and undertaken.
I almost hated myself for the unutterable mel-
ancholy that had fallen upon me the instant he
was gone from my side, and for the hopeless,
dreary feeling with which I contemplated the
future. It was as if I felt the spell of some ap-
proaching danger ; and ever, as I threaded the
solitary streets leading to my home in the gray
morning, I murmured to myself,
MY BROTHER'S WIFE.
73
" Oh that it were to be done to-morrow ! Oh
that it were to be done to-morrow!"
CHAPTER XXIX.
THE SKY DARKENS BEFORE THE STORM.
I CALLED on Adrienne the next morning,
and found Seabrook there before me. She was
leaning back in &fauteuil\nth a book lying open
upon a small table close at hand. He was bend-
ing over some geraniums in the window, and
looked up, as I entered the room, with a troubled
expression upon his face, such as I had seldom
seen there before.
Adrienne observed my glance, and smiled
somewhat sadly.
"I have been undertaking the graceless office
of adviser to your friend," she said, after the
customary salutations Avere over. "I think it
is almost his duty to employ his education and
talents in the exercise of some honorable pur-
suit."
"Then, madame," I replied, "you should ad-
vise me likewise, for I find myself in precisely
the same position."
* ' Not so ; you have estates to cultivate — de-
pendents whose happiness must rest, in a great
measure, upon your treatment — wealth which
it is your task to employ worthily. All these
things may be sufficient for a rich scholar who
loves his library, his old home, and his 'paternal
acres' better than the civil warfare of profession-
al life. Such is not the case with your friend.
He confesses that his resources are insufficient
for his requirements. He would fain be the
possessor of some few hundred volumes of poet-
ry, history, and romance. He enjoys refined
society, and would wish occasionally to be the
entertainer as well as the entertained. It would
please him now and then to purchase a painting
by some favorite artist; and he could love a
faithful horse, or three or four sagacious dogs,
if it Avere in his power to become their master."
" A very pretty picture of the beau ideal of a
wealthy connoisseur," I replied. "It reminds
one of Beckford and Horace Walpole, or of that
luxurious desire of Gray's, who wished that he
could lie all day upon a sofa, reading eternal
new novels of Crebillon and Marivaux !"
She smiled again, and shook her head play-
fully.
"You misapprehend me," she said. "It
would distress me to hear Mr. Seabrook aspire
only to the position of a 'wealthy connoisseur.'
You speak of a life thus devoted — I of a leisure.
He must earn the privileges of taste and liber-
ality before he can enjoy them."
"Am I then to understand that Seabrook
contemplates entering upon the study of a pro-
fession ?" I asked, incredulously.
He blushed and laughed. "The die is not
yet cast," he said, with an assumption of badi-
nage that seemed hardly natural, "but I really
contemplate such a step, and have contemplated
it for some weeks. When a man passes five-
and-twenty, he finds a blank in his life that
needs to be filled up by some grim word, such
as 'physician,' 'lawyer,' or 'statesman.' It is
my turn now, I suppose ; and Seabrook, the
idler sans soud, the picture-loving, adA-enture-
seeking, all-enjoying rambler, the scorner of car-
riage-tourists, and the SAvorn foe of all ciceroncs,
guides, and valets de place, is about to subside
into a respectable member of society, with a brass
plate on his door, and (if the gods permit) an in-
teresting little account at his banker's !"
"Here is a change, indeed! Have I not
heard you say of poverty that it Avas the only
wealth — of riches, that you pitied those who are
burdened Avith the care of them — of books, that
in the liberty of reading in the great free libra-
ries of Paris, London, and Berlin, you com-
manded the finest collections in the Avorld — of
picture-galleries, that you enjoyed them, and
that their owner could do no more? Oh,
shame ! you are seceding from your own te-
nets!"
" An honorable retreat, Paul— not a flight !"
"Then you acknoAvledge that ther^has been
a combat — a combat wherein madame is the
victress."
" On the contrary," retorted Adrienne, viva-
ciously, "it has, I fear, too nearly resembled
that celebrated battle of Bologna of AA-hich Guic-
ciardini relates that it 'Avas a victory obtained
Avithout a combat !' Mr. Seabrook Avas the first
to enter upon the subject, and I believe that the
opinion Avhich I ventured to express was pre-
cisely that which he most Avished to hear."
"Jesting apart," I replied, "I am heartily
pleased to knoAV this. To what profession do
you think of turning your attention ?"
" I can not say that I have yet arrived at any
decision," said he, Avith an assumption of pro-
found gravity. " It lies at present between the
Church, the laAV, finance, and the study of med-
icine. Indeed, I am hourly expecting the arri-
val of deputations from each of these professions,
soliciting me to confer immortality upon their
respective bodies; and until I have considered
the advantages and disadvantages attendant
upon all, I can not definitively state Avhether it
is to be the Archbishopric of Canterbury, the
Woolsack, the Chancellorship of the Exchequer,
or the presidency of some distinguished medical
society."
Thus conversing, mingling jest with earnest,
some time passed by, and I was just about to
take my leave, Avhen the stoppage of a carriage
beneath the windows, and a man's voice on the
stairs, told us that Theophile had returned home
from his morning drive.
Up he came, bounding over three or four
steps at a time, and entered the draAving-room
by storm. His face Avas flushed; he carried
some cards in his hand, and the very air with
which he threAv them doAvn at Adrienne's feet
was that of a man nearly beside himself Avith
excitement.
"Void, void, ma fernme /" he exclaimed.
MY BROTHER'S WIFE.
"Here is some life, here is some amusement,
here is some variety at last ! A bal masque,
Dieu inerci! and one patronized, authorized,
originated by. all the best people in Brussels !
The king lends his name — the nobility and vis-
itors subscribe— it is every thing that is private,
select, and extravagant ! I have taken a dozen
tickets directly, and it is expected that all will
be sold before evening. Oh, comme c'est deli-
cieuse!"
Involuntarily I glanced at Adrienne to see
how she would relish this proposition and the
tone in which it was conveyed; but her eyes
were fixed upon the ground, and I could not
read the most transient emotion in the com-
posed immobility of her face.
"Here are tickets for you both," continued
Theophile, boisterously, as he forced the cards
into Seabrook's hand and mine. "We will
make a merry party — we will invent costumes —
we will have a glorious night of it !"
He began walking to and fro in his wild
mood, and his words came thick and fast, like
those of a man whose tongue has been loosed
by wine.*
"You, Adrienne, you shall go as Marie An-
toinette ; she was blonde and belle, like you !
Marie Antoinette! — no, no — that would be an
evil omen. Let it be Marie Stuart!"
" Just as bad," interrupted Seabrook. " She
was beheaded."
" Joan of Arc, then ! ''
"Joan of Arc was burnt," remarked Adri-
enne, forcing a smile. "You are resolved that
mine shall be a tragic part, Theophile."
"Diab/e!" exclaimed my brother, looking
round with an odd, wandering stare. "Why
do these fatal names come into my head ? We
mean to be merry — we mean to forget every
thing but pleasure — we want no evil omens!
Be Pallas, or Helen, or the Virgin Mary — they
were not beheaded, or burnt, or guillotined, were
they ? Ha ! ha ! Let us enjoy it in prospect !
Vive le bal masqu€!"
" But you have not yet told us where it is to
take place," said I, addressing him for the first
time.
"Where? Why, where should it be held,
unless in the ballroom of the Opera ? We shall
have the entire orchestra for our band, and it
will be the best ball of the whole season ! What
characters shall we take? What will you be,
Seabrook ? What will you be, Paul ?" Then,
not waiting for any reply, "I have thought of
hundreds for myself," he continued, " but I can't
decide. What say you to Robespierre — Charles
the Twelfth— Philip de Comines— Dante— the
Man with the Iron Mask — Shakspeare — the
Count of Monte Christo — Sir Philip Sidney —
the Knave of Hearts — Rob Roy — Masaniello —
Napoleon Bonaparte — Polichinello — Richard
the Third — Erasmus — Bluebeard! Ha! ha!
What a medley! Enough for all to choose
from!"
"And when does it take place !" asked Adri-
enne, with a sigh.
"To-morrow week — the 16th of October?"
"But shall we be in Brussels, The'ophile!
Were we not to start for Burgundy in three or
four days?"
' ' What folly ! Would you think of missing
the ball for that? We can go to Burgundy a
week later — or we need not go at all !"
"Not go at all, Theophile?" cried Adrienne,
rising and fixing a searching glance upon his
face. " What do you mean ?"
"Bah, Adrienne ! How you take every thing
seriously ! Let us be happy while we can ! I
will go to the ball — I swear it ! And so will
you, ma femme : I shall insist — mon Dieu ! I
shall insist. Courtrai is to be a steward," he
continued, falling back into the reckless strain
he had pursued before, " and De 1'Orme master
of the ceremonies. They wanted me to be a
steward, but I would not; no, no, I was resolved
to be merry — to be free ! free ! free !"
And again he laughed aloud, and still he kept
striding backward and forward — backward and
forward — like a prisoner in a dungeon.
Quite silently I rose and left the room. . I
could not bear to see it. There was something
ghastly in his wild mirth, and I dared not give
way to the displeasure which it roused within me.
As I passed down the staircase, a hand falling
lightly on my arm caused me to turn. It was
Adrienne.
Pale as marble — breathless — with one finger
pressed on her lips, she opened a door upon the
landing, and, with her hand still resting on my
sleeve, led me in and closed it softly.
For some moments we were both silent ; then,
in a voice that went to my heart, so measured,
so low, so unnaturally calm it was, she spoke to
me.
"You are his brother, Monsieur Paul. You
have known him longer and better than I. You
know all his faults. Tell me what this is."
I looked down and shook my head in silence.
" Strange things have taken place of late,
Monsieur Paul," she continued, still firmly.
"He has not been the same man since we ar-
rived in Brussels. He has anxieties, debts, as-
sociates of whom I know nothing. Immense
expenses have been incurred— timber, and even
land, has been parted with. Do you know any
thing of this ?"
Again the same mute reply. WThat other
could I give her ?
" He — he has sold some farms of mine in En-
gland," she said, and her voice wavered slightly.
j "His lawyer was with him every day last week.
' There is some fatal propensity — some — some in-
fatuation at work, I am convinced. The other
night he came home as day was dawning, and
in the morning I found a pack of cards scatter-
ed upon the floor of his dressing-closet. He —
he gambles."
" No, no," I exclaimed, eagerly, " there I am
certain you do him an injustice. However weak
and thoughtless he may be, Theophile, I am as-
sured, could never be a gambler !"
"He is a gambler," she said, in a rapid and
MY BROTHER'S WIFE.
75
more excited tone, "he is a gambler. I know
it, for I heard him call the names of the cards
and colors in his sleep. But let that pass ; let
him gamble — let him ruin himself and me — let
us be beggars, pensioners, outcasts — every thing,
in the name of heaven, so that our hearts be not
estranged from each other ! I could endure
every thing but neglect ; I could be happy un-
der every privation save that of my husband's
confidence! Why did we ever come here?
Why was I ever born ? He loves me no lon-
ger ! he loves me no longer !"
All her pride and strength was broken now,
and, bending her face down upon her hands,
she sobbed convulsively.
"Alas! madame,"! said, sorrowfully, " what
can I do ? This is a sad sight for me. I know
that he loves you still — I would stake my life
upon it! Shall I speak to him?"
She dashed her tears aside with a haughty
gesture of the hand, rose to her full height, and
looked at me with a sort of proud anger in her
eyes that blinded mine, as if I had been guilty
of some deep offense, and could not lift them in
her presence.
"Speak to him, sir!" she cried; "speak to
him ! Have I fallen so low that even you insult
me now ? Think you that I need an interces-
sor? that I must plead for mercy? that I am
about to kneel down at my husband's feet, and
pray for his kind glances? No — it is too
much!"
Standing there in her lofty scorn, upbraiding
me with her flashing eyes, and curling lip, and
flushed, disdainful brow, she looks almost more
than woman ; then suddenly gives way and
weeps again, and entreats my pardon, sobbingly
and through her tears.
It is her grief, she says, that makes her un-
just ; she has been thinking of it, and fretting
over it, by day and night, for many weeks, till
her brain and her heart ache, and her very voice
grows strange to her own ears. I must forgive
her ! I will — will I not ? She is but a weak
girl ; she knows not what to do, or where to
turn ; she wdnts help — advice — comfort. She
is broken-hearted, and she longs to die !
All this is said at intervals, with a face buried
in the cushions of a sofa, and a form trembling
from head to foot.
How am I to help — comfort — advise a grief
like this ! What can I say or do, with the solu-
tion of the dark secret hidden in my breast, and
the knowledge of a blacker sin than even she
dreams of pressing down, like the weight of an
iron hand, upon my heart? My only resource
is in vague, general terms of sympathy — in re-
iterated assurances of her husband's affections
— in suggestions that his new pursuit, far from
being a fixed passion, could only be considered
in the light of a passing folly — in promises that
I would endeavor to keep him in my sight as
much as possible, and, by every indirect means
in my power, hasten his return to Burgundy.
Uncertain and unsatisfactory as they are,
these assurances serve in some degree to calm
the impetuosity of her mood. Presently the
excess of agitation subsides, and by-and-by a
low occasional sob is all that I hear.
Thus at length I leave her, and, pausing with
suspended breath outside the door, hear the
voices of Theophile and Norman Seabrook yet
conversing in the drawing-room. It seems that
they are still discussing the subject of the ball,
for the words "costume — feathers— grotesque, "
accompanied by a prolonged peal of laughter,
come distinctly to my ear, and jar upon it pain-
fully.
And so I turn away, and hasten down into
the street unnoticed.
I am to meet Vogelsang to-night at the little
inn of Ixelles, and I hope much from the inter-
view. It must be done quickly — it must be
done quickly !
CHAPTER XXX.
THE EVENTS OF A WEEK.
A FEW words will suffice to relate all that
took place during the week which intervened
between the last chapter and the next. It was
a weary time, occupied by delays — disappoint-
ments— doubts — daily-increasing apprehensions.
Adrienne was in the right — Theophile gam-
bled. Vogelsang had discovered it long since,
and on the evening of the very day that Adri-
enne confided her fears to me, the intelligence
received its final confirmation from the lips of
my associate. Nay, worse even than this,
Hauteville — Hauteville, which had been pur-
chased in the morning-time of his happiness,
and which was to have descended as an integral
portion of the Latour property from generation
to generation, was publicly advertised for sale
in all the Belgian and French newspapers !
He might have been saved — he might have
been saved even now, had I but succeeded in
rousing Vogelsang to immediate action. Alas !
some unaccountable torpor seemed to possess
him. Whether from the fear of failure, the re-
luctance to face his wife, or a refinement upon
his vengeance which delighted in holding the
sword suspended above her head, I can not tell,
but every day he deferred the execution of our
project — every day I lost hope and courage —
every day plunged The'ophile deeper and deeper
into ruin.
Twice I saw Adrienne, but only upon the last
occasion did I find myself alone with her. I
had no favorable intelligence for her — no con-
solation which could afford her the faintest hope
for the future. She had read the announce-
ment respecting Hauteville, and was even more
unhappy than before. Theophile had refused
to give her any explanation of his affairs — had
spoken to her with harshness and impetuosity
— had absented himself as much as possible
from home, and now seldom met her, even at
meals. In society alone they appeared togeth-
er as before, and in the face of the world main-
76
MY BROTHER'S WIFE.
tained the semblance of that sacred confidence
which existed no longer.
All this Adrienne told me with a heart-an-
guish which only made my own trouble too
heavy for endurance. I could do nothing to
alleviate her misery, and I found the interview
so painful that I had not the courage to repeat it.
As for my other friends, I saw Margaret twice
or thrice, and Seabrook even less frequently.
He was much occupied now in making arrange-
ments for commencing the study of the law, and
was frequently absent upon visits to Antwerp,
where he had consultations upon the subject
with an English solicitor resident in that city.
Somehow a check had fallen upon our inter-
course of late — a check, but not a coolness. We
loved each other as heartily as ever, but we met
less frequently, and our traveling projects were
all given up and forgotten. Perhaps the fault
lay with myself, after all. I think it did.
There were events and anxieties which I dared
not reveal to him ; I had appointments which I
could not explain — schemes in which he could
be admitted to no part. Perfect friendship and
perfect confidence are one. Where there is a
lack of the one, the other droops like a flower in
the shade.
Thus matters stood till within two days of
the bid masque from which Theophile anticipa-
ted so much enjoyment. Then Vogelsang told
me that he had opened his negotiations with
the manager of the theatre, and had purchased
his promise of silence with a fee of two thou-
sand francs, which I was to pay. Lemaire
agreed to conduct a similar treaty with the sub-
ordinates, and all was at last en train for the
speedy accomplishment of our plot. Still no
day was absolutely fixed, and though I felt that
the first step was taken, I yet chafed impatient-
ly at the delay, and urged for speed — speed —
speed !
So the 16th of October came round, and noth-
ing decisive had been done.
CHAPTER XXXI.
THE MASKED BALL.
MORE from the desire of affording an escort
to Adrienne during the evening than from any
curiosity with which the scene itself could in- j
spire me, I consented to accompany my brother i
and his wife to the masked ball. She went j
with the vague hope that her presence might
preserve him from the temptations of the card-
tables, which, as the announcements told, were
to be prepared in the king's retiring-rooms. I,
because I felt convinced that Theophile would
take his own course, and leave her to the com-
panionship of whatever acquaintance he might
chance to meet. Seabrook, too, was absent
upon one of his Antwerp excursions. Proba-
bly, had he been near at hand, I might have ex-
cused myself, for I felt but little in the mood for
this carnival folly.
From Theophile's residence to the Opera
House we traveled in unbroken silence. Two
hearts out of three, at least, were too heaw for
speech ; and even my brother, leaning back
moodily in a corner of the carriage, was grave
and absorbed.
It was a dark, windy night, and sudden gusts
of rain came dashing against the windoAvs. The
street was full of vehicles moving along in two
lines, and all toward the same spot. Going on-
ward thus slowly, with the lights from the shops
and the glare of the surrounding carriage-lamps
flashing in upon us every now and then, reveal-
ing our pale, sad faces and fantastic dresses to
each others' eyes, we seemed more like a party
of mourners than a company of masks on their
way to a ball, and I could scarcely divest my-
self of the idea that we formed part of some
grotesque, yet awful funereal procession.
As we neared the theatre door, our progress
became more and more difficult, and at last we
stopped altogether. The carriages were "set-
ting down," it appeared, about a hundred yards
in advance, and we were not likely to reach our
destination for a quarter of an hour or twenty
minutes at the least. Theophile muttered an
impatient curse, and, after looking angrily from
the window for several minutes, flung himself
back, as before, and played with his sword-knot.
He wore the rich and elaborate costume of
Prince Charles Edward the Pretender, and
looked, in his ruffles and velvets, the very type
of Scotland's chivalric darling. Sitting there,
with his plumed hat resting on his knees, his
fair hair hanging in natural curls almost to his
collar, his breast covered with jewels, and his
hands with rings, I thought I had never seen
him so handsome. Adrienne could be per-
suaded to wear nothing more conspicuous than
a white satin domino, embroidered with silver
flowers ; and a similar costume made in plain
black silk furnished me with the only incognito
I cared to assume.
Gradually wre advanced, a few steps at a
time, and soon there remained but one carriage
between ourselves and the doof, Adrienne
sighed. Theophile stirred uneasily in his corner.
"Why do you sigh, Adrienne ?" he asked,
roughly. "We shall be released in another
minute."
"That is why I sigh, Theophile," answered
his wife. They were the first words that had
been spoken since we started.
"How! Do you not like the ball? Are
you dissatisfied with your dress — which, I con-
fess, might have been more elegant?"
"I like the dress as well as any other, The'o-
phile, but I care nothing for the ball."
" She cares nothing for the ball ! Bah ! all
women are contrary. If you care nothing for
the ball, madame, pray why have you taken the
trouble to come to it?"
This was spoken even more harshly than be-
fore, but with an effort, as if he were endeavor-
ing to be out of temper. Finding that she re-
mained silent, he repeated the question.
MY BKOTHER'S WIFE.
77
"Why have you taken the trouble to come?"
"Because you are here, Theophile."
He coughed, and looked aside out of the win-
dow. Presently he began again.
"If one goes to a masked ball, it should, at
least, be with the intention of enjoyment. I in-
sist upon your trying to be amused to-night."
"I will try," she replied, and her voice fal-
tered.
At this moment the carriage in advance of
us drove away, and we moved on opposite the
lighted entrance with awning and carpeted pave-
ment, and crowds of maskers thronging in the
hall.
Theophile suddenly flung off his assumption
of ill-humor.
"Adrienne!" he exclaimed, with emotion,
"you are an angel!"
He seized her hand and kissed it warmly.
At that instant the servant flung open the door ;
my brother leaped out and assisted his wife from
the carriage ; we passed rapidly through a double
row of eager, curious faces, and in another mo-
ment had entered the hall, presented our cards,
and made our way up the broad staircase to the
ballroom beyond.
A strange scene, truly, but more confused and
less imposing than I had anticipated. Only a
dense crowd of richly-costumed persons walk-
ing, standing, conversing, and scarce any space
to spare for those who were disposed for danc-
ing. Many characters held their masks in their
hands, or wore them hanging loosely from the
belt or wrist ; and the whole assemblage seemed
to me more a vehicle for the display of taste,
and an opportunity of conversation, than a bat
masque, such as I had often read and heard
about in history and romance.
A stream of promenaders was circulating
slowly round the room, and into this train we
involuntarily fell ; Theophile and Adrienne in
advance, I following in their wake. One of the
first persons we encountered was M. le Marquis I
de Courtrai, laboriously scented, powdered, and
rouged, and carefully made into the likeness of
Louis Quatorze, "to whom," as he smilingly
averred, " he flattered himself that he bore some
humble resemblance."
Finding Adrienne retain the arm of Theo-
phile, M. le Marquis fell presently into the rear,
and honored me with his conversation.
He began by assuring me that the first requi-
site in society was the possession of the grand
air, and that the grand air was precisely the
point upon which the youths of the present day
were most deficient. He next proceeded to in-
form me that there were many fine women in
that very ballroom who were languishing, abso-
lutely languishing for him (M. le Marquis); and
he accompanied that interesting announcement
with a variety of piquante and alluring details.
From thence he diverged into a resume' of his
bonnes fortunes, past and present, and (as I made
a good listener, and never opened my lips in
reply, which would, indeed, have been rather dif-
ficult, seeing that I heard without comprehend-
ing one half of what he said) he enlarged upon
this theme with considerable complacency and
eloquence. Finding, however, that my attention
was neuter rather than passive, and becoming,
perhaps, dimly aware that my mind was occu-
pied with other thoughts, M. le Marquis at
length thought fit to drop the subject of his con-
quests, and to indulge in a few observations on
the persons and things around him.
" The Hospodar is looking remarkably well
to-night. You did not see him? Heavens,
how droll ! He passed us on the instant in the
costume of a bashaw, with his eldest son carrying
the tails before him. A pretty girl to the left,
in that Circassian dress. Charming back and
shoulders — charming ! A good arm, too, and a
nicely-turned ankle. Scarcely plump enough, I
think. Eh ? A nice girl, though — a very nice
girl. " (M. le Marquis had an agreeable way of
dissecting the perfections of a lady, as if he were
a butcher, and of commending them afterward,
as if he were a cook.) "Here is Madame la
Baronne de Vallonvert, looking hideous in the
cost«me of la Reine Elizabeth ! Mon Dieu ! that
woman is positively too fat ! Ah ! Madame la
Baronne, this is a veritable pleasure ! Always
charming, always recherche, Madame laBaronne.
I find your costume delicious. By the way, M.
Latour, I think that we have the history of per-
fide Albion at the ball to-night. I myself have
seen three Henry the Eighths, four Eichard the
Thirds, two Princes Noirs, and more than one
Oliver Cromwell. Ah ! ah ! Do you see that
woman yonder in the costume of Norma, with
the wreath and sickle, and the classic drapery ?
Mark her fine figure — her graceful head — her
neck — her arms — her pose I She wears her
mask, yet can you not tell who she is ?"
I looked, started, doubted, shook my head.
"Mon Dieu! Not know the Vogelsang,
even though her face be masked ! My good
gargon, have you no eyes — no senses ? There is
not such another woman in Brussels. She is
glorious — magnificent — superb ! Your brother,
I fancy, would not need to look twice — eh?
Comment ! do you not comprehend ? Why, the
world does say — "
And Monsieur le Marquis elevated his eye-
brows, shrugged his shoulders, took a pinch of
snuff with the grand air of Louis Quatorze, and
subsided into a significant silence.
Just at this juncture The'ophile conducted
Adrienne to a seat. Monsieur le Marquis ab-
ruptly quitted my side, and flew to the back of
her chair, where he took up his stand in the at-
titude of her devoted slave. The'ophile dived
away into the crowd and disappeared ; and I,
in compliance with my sister-in-law's request/
strolled on idly amid the throng, silent and ob-
serving, feeling my mind agreeably diverted, for
a brief space, by the novelty and richness of the
scene around me.
There was a band playing at the farther end
of the room, where an area had been cleared
for dancing. Hither I made my way by slow
degrees, and found the space surrounded by ad-
78
MY BROTHER'S WIFE.
miring spectators. A party of twelve persons,
habited in the picturesque fashion of the reign
of Louis XL, were going through the stately
and solemn figures of certain antique tradition-
ary dances of that early period, to the accompa-
niment of quaint music, as intricate and grave
as the windings of the dances themselves. Be-
coming interested in these obsolete measures, I
stood gazing for a considerable time, till I found
that a vast crowd had gathered behind me, and
that I was standing in the front rank of a phal-
anx of spectators, many of whom had mounted
upon benches and seats, and even upon the ped-
estals of the columns which skirted the room.
It was a matter of no little difficulty to re-
treat from this position ; but, on consulting my
watch, I found that I had left Adrienne more
than two hours, and I doubted not that she was
by this time completely wearied of the convei*-
sation of Monsieur de Courtrai. I therefore
worked myself gradually out of the press, and
had just emerged into a part of the room which
was comparatively clear, when I came suddenly
face to face with the masked Norma, and re-
ceived a smart blow on the ankle from the sword
of her companion, a tall man wrapped in a long
Spanish cloak reaching almost to his feet, and
whose head and face were shrouded in a broad
sombrero, with heavy black plumes.
They seemed to be in haste ; but the gentle-
man, though nearly past, turned to apologize.
"A thousand pardons, monsieur," he said. "I
did not observe that my rapier was in your way."
It was the voice of Theophile !
For a moment I stood still — then sighed heav-
ily, and went upon my way. Of course it would
be so. I might have guessed it before. He
came to this ball for the purpose of meeting
her — had most probably presented her with the
admission !
Yet I was pleased that he should have as-
sumed a second disguise. That, at least, testi-
fied to some little regard for the opinions of the
world — averted somewhat of the notoriety of his
intrigue — argued some lingering respect for his
wife.
I found Adrienne where I had left her, and
the marquis was so obliging as to relinquish his
post on my return. She was less sad than usu-
al, and the gay scene amused her. The kiss,
too, which The'ophile had imprinted upon her
hand in the carriage, had revived her drooping
spirits.
"Perhaps," she said, hopefully, "his mania
for extravagance is on the wane. You were the
good prophet who foretold it, won beau frere !
It was, after all, but a whim ; and if it be over,
and that he was pleased by the indulgence of it,
I shall not remember whether it were or were
not an expensive or a dangerous one. "
" Indeed, madame, I hope that it may be so."
"Do not say it with such a grave air, M. Paul.
I feel assured that it is so ; and the assurance
makes me, ah! so happy. To-morrow I will
persuade him to withdraw Hauteville from the
market, and we will go down together to dear
old Burgundy before a week be over. How
pleased your mother will be to see us, will she
not, M. Paul ? And the servants, and the dogs
— ah! yes, even the dogs. Poor Hector! he
will not forget me."
Fond child ! how slender an act of grace suf-
ficed to fill that trusting little heart with grati-
tude, forgiveness, love — ay, even to overflowing.
Conversing thus — she full of garrulous hope
and anticipation, I silent and dispirited — two
moi'e hours passed away, and the rooms began,
though almost imperceptibly as yet, to grow
thinned of their brilliant company. It was ten
o'clock when we first arrived, and it is now two.
Adrienne suggests that we should look for The'-
ophile, and return home as speedily as may be,
for the hour grows late ; so we rise and make
the tour of the salons.
Abundance of princes, kings, knights, cav-
aliers, Highlanders, historical celebrities, Ro-
mans, Hamlets, Mephistopheles, Polichinellos,
harlequins, debardeurs, jesters, peasants, offi-
cers, Persians, and Spanish noblemen we met,
but never the beautiful and glittering Charles
Edward whom we seek, or that dark Hidalgo
with the sable plumes, for whom I keep an ea-
ger watch by the way.
Adrienne grows nervous.
"Perhaps," she whispers, falteringly, "per-
haps he — he may be in the card-rooms!"
I pity the little hand lying upon my arm, for
I see it contract, as if with a sudden spasm, at
this thought. But we go.
The card-rooms are almost deserted. Only
two tables are occupied, and .those by some eld-
erly gentlemen in plain dominoes, whose masks
are laid aside, and whose faces look earnest and
business-like over whist and picquet.
It is a relief to find that he is not here. "We
must have overlooked or missed him down stairs,
after all. Let us go back and search again.
So we go back and search again, threading
our way through all parts of the ballroom, pass-
ing in and out the pillars, peering eagerly into
the recesses of the windows and behind the dra-
peries of the curtains. Thus another hour passes.
It is three o'clock, and Theophile is not found !
Poor Adrienne ! Every limb is trembling
now. She takes off her mask ; the room, she
says, is so warm she can scarcely breathe ; yet
she stands at this moment in the current of cool
air from the door ! Her face is deadly white,
and I can feel her heart beat against my arm.
He must have gone home. Can he be ill?
Has any accident happened ? That idea is ter-
rible, and I can not prevent her from asking one
or two persons near whom we are standing if
they have seen her husband, or if any gentleman
has been taken ill. They only stare, smile, or
remain silent, and one shrugs his shoulders and
mutters, ' ' Poor thing ! " half pityingly, from be-
hind his visor.
I now suggest that the best thing she can do
is to return home. If he be unwell she will find
him there. At all events, it is plain that he is
no longer here. He may have sought her, all
MY BROTHER'S WIFE.
79
this time, as anxiously as we have sought him,
and is, perhaps, now waiting for her at home.
"To be sure ! Why did I not think of that
before? Oh, that is it, I feel convinced ! Thank
you, thank you, brother Paul ! Do not let us
lose a moment. Where is my carriage ? Oh,
let us go — pray let us go directly !"
So we go down hastily, and Madame Latour's
carriage is called. I have some difficulty in find-
ing her cloak, which we had left in the care of
an attendant, and there are so many carriages
filed along the pavement that it is a long time
before ours can reach the door.
All these delays are torture to Adrienne, and
she stamps her white - slippered foot upon the
marble flooring in the impetuosity of her haste.
At last the vehicle draws up. " Madame
Latour's carriage stops the way !" is shouted by
three or four voices at once. We rush forward ;
the door is opened, and I hand her in.
"Pray come with me, Paul," she entreats,
forgetting, in her anxiety, the forms of address
which we have always so scrupulously observed.
I obey. My foot is on the step, my hand
upon the door, when I am seized roughly by the
arm and dragged forcibly back.
" Stop !" whispers a hoarse voice in my ear —
" stop ! All is lost ; we are betrayed ; they are
gone ! "
The form is that of a gray friar— the face is
masked — the voice is the voice of Vogelsang !
"Lost — gone ! What do you mean ?"
" They have eloped together — from this very
spot — two hours ago. We must follow them at
any risk. Oh, I will have blood for this before
I have done with her !"
There is a savage energy in the tone with
which he utters these words that appalls me.
Adrienne calls to me from the carriage; I plead
a flurried excuse, shut the door, direct the coach-
man to drive home, and so the vehicle rolls
away, with her pale face looking back at me
from the window.
"Well," I exclarm, turning round upon my
associate, "what is to be done? What next?"
"What next?" he says, fiercely. "What
next? VENGEANCE AND PURSUIT "
CHAPTER XXXII.
THE FIRST CLEW.
I FOLLOWED him to a little dingy cabaret in
the next street — a place of mean resort, with
every shutter closed, and a pale light streaming
from the open door upon the wet pavement. A
man and woman were drinking at the counter,
and a sleepy gar$on in shirt sleeves and slippers
ushered us into the parlor at the back, now de-
serted, but bearing evidence of recent company.
The sanded floor was strewn with fragments of
broken glasses, corks, and ends of cigars ; the ta-
bles were smeared with wine ; a hazy atmosphere
of tobacco hung about the room like a fog; and
the clock pointed to half past three.
Vogelsang called for a half bottle of 'eau-de-vie,
poured it out into a tumbler, and drank half at
a draught. In doing so, he threw back his
friar's hood, and I saw that his brow was cover-
ed with blood, and that his face and lips were
deathly pallid.
" You are wounded ! " I exclaimed. ' ' Let me
go for a surgeon !"
"No — no," he replied ; "it is nothing. I
fell. I am a little faint. In a few minutes I
shall be the same as ever."
He sat down and leaned his head back against
the wall, looking ghastly. Trembling with ea-
gerness to know more, I yet abstained from
speech or movement, and stood watching him.
I could hear my own heart beating as 1 did so,
and I remember noticing at the time (with a
sort of painfully acute susceptibility to every
sound, however trifling) that it went so much
faster than the ticking of the clock.
Presently he seemed to revive, and came over
feebly to the fireplace. His hands shook like
those of an aged man as he held them to the
blaze, and he stared vacantly before him.
"Now tell me," I cried, impatiently, "tell
me all! Where are they ? Quick — quick!"
"Gone," he said, moodily, and without
changing his position. " Gone !"
" I know it ; but where ?"
»Ay — where?" he repeated. "Where?
That's the question."
There was a strange, dead apathy in his man-
ner, totally different to the furious impetuosity
with which he had stopped me at the doors of
the theatre a few minutes previously.
" And have you no idea of the route they
have taken ?"
He shook his head silently.
"Nor of the way in which they travel?"
The same reply.
"But we must pursue them — we must dis-
cover them — we must part them !"
"Ay," he replied, " we must — we must."
"Instantly."
He stared up at me for a moment, then
dropped his head again, and seemed to watch
the embers, moaning softly to himself.
I resolved to rouse him.
"Up!" I said, authoritatively, "up and be
doing ! The hours are going fast, and every
minute sees them a mile farther. We have to
discover every thing for ourselves. I will bring
a cab, and we will go round to both railway sta-
tions. Perhaps something may be done that
way. I trust to energy for every thing."
My voice, my gestures seemed to animate
him. He sat erect, and made an effort as if to
collect his wandering thoughts.
" You are right," he said, at length, and more
firmly — " you are right. Let me have a basin
of water and a towel, and bid them bring me
some bread, for I am faint. I have lost blood,
and have eaten nothing since noonday."
I did as he desired, and assisted him to wash
the stains from his face and clothing, and to
throw aside the friar's mantle which he wore
80
MY BROTHER'S WIFE.
outside his dress. He then ate a small crust,
and both looked and felt better.
" Now I am ready," he said. " Let us go."
There was not a vehicle in sight. I went
round to the theatre, and the few that stood
there were engaged by maskers ; for the ball
was not yet over, and I could hear the music
going on merrily as I passed by.
Down two more streets in the rain and dark-
ness, and still without success — back again past
the theatre a second time, and on in the direc-
tion of the old town, where I met an empty vigi-
lante rolling slowly along, and hired it with dif-
ficulty, for the driver was tired, and his hours of
work were over.
I found Vogelsang better than when I left
him ; but he had bound a red scarf round his
head, which made him look whiter than ever by
the contrast, and he leaned heavily upon my
arm as he got in. •
"To the Antwerp line, cocker, and as fast as
you can make your horses go !"
On, still on, but very slowly, for the weary
beasts are scarcely equal to even that short jour-
ney, and the driver is nearly asleep on the box.
On — on — till it seems that we shall never arrive
there.
Again I urge my companion to tell me more.
"How did you learn their flight? Where
did you get that blow ?"
' ' One question at a time. As to their flight,
I saw them leave the rooms together. I had
been at their heels the whole evening in my
friar's cowl ; I followed them to the cloak-room,
and saw him hurry her into the carriage ; she
dropped this note as she went : listen : ' To-
niyht you will be prepared for escape. I will
have all in readiness. We can leave the rooms
about midnight, and before suspicion is roused we
shall be beyond the reach of discovery. — T. LS
I only paused to pick this paper up — to read it
once, and then I followed the sound of their
carriage-wheels with the speed of an Indian.
Suddenly my foot slipped ; I fell ; my head
came sharply against the curbstone : I remem-
ber no more till I recovered my senses about
half an hour since, lying on my face in a dark,
solitary street, with not a soul in sight. On
striving to rise and walk, I found myself giddy
and confused, and my face wet, but whether
with rain or blood I knew not. Then I re-
membered what had happened, and my first im-
pulse was to find you, to pursue them, to be re-
venged ! I did find you, for just as I came up
you were leading the lady to her carriage. You
know the rest."
"And do you still feel equal to the pursuit?
Had you not better see a surgeon, and take some
brief rest before we go farther?"
' ' Rest ! No — not if I die upon the journey ! "
His old courage and determination speaks out
again now in voice and bearing, and when we
reach the station he is the first to alight.
The doors are all fast closed, but there is a
light burning in the windows of one of the low-
er rooms, and we knock lustily and repeatedly.
We are not heard ; all is perfectly still within ;
the station seems deserted.
Again we knock, and are just going away dis-
appointed, when a door is opened suddenly, and
a man in a dressing-gown and slippers looks
out, and asks us angrily what we do there at
such an hour.
"We want to know when the last train left?
Has there been one since midnight ? Does
monsieur remember to have seen a fair gentle-
man and a dark lady (both very handsome) to-
gether on the platform ? Did they take tickets,
and can he remember for what place?"
The station-master thunders forth an artillery
of abuse. There has not been a departure since
ten minutes before eleven. We must know that.
We are mauvais sujets. To the devil with the
dark gentleman and the fair lady, and with all
impertinents !
Thus rebuffed, we turn away and resume our
places in the cab, desiring the coachman to drive
to the Ligne du Midi, or South Railway. To
this he gives at first a positive refusal ; but, being
bribed by promise of a triple fare, consents at last
to go on, though at a slower pace than ever.
At the South Railway the outer gates are
closed ; not a light is any where visible — not a
sound is audible. The coachman thinks that
there is no train between midnight and six
o'clock P.M., and declines to drive us any far-
ther. In vain I expostulate — entreat — threaten
— urge the importance of our business and the
illness of my companion. Jehu is inflexible.
His horses are of more importance to him than
any man's business, and to knock them up would
grieve him more than any man's illness. He
has driven us as far as he had agreed ; he must
be paid and dismissed. In short, he dismisses
himself.
So we are compelled to alight in the thick
close mist of the early morning, and, taking
shelter under an archway,, hear the vigilante
rumble lazily away.
" What shall we do now ?" asks Vogelsang,
peevishly. ' ' I feel as if I had no power to
think or act; it is this cursed blow that has
done it. What shall we do ?"
" The first thing is, obviously, to get another
coach," I replied. "The second, to find by
which road they have left Brussels."
"But how? How?"
"There are thirteen gates to the city, are
there not?"
"Yes."
"Then we must go from gate to gate till we
find through which they passed. And now for
the coach!"
I set off upon the same search as before, and
this time with readier success, for in a few mo-
ments we are once more seated side by side, and
driving in the direction of the Porte de Halle.
At the Porte de Halle we meet only with dis-
appointment. No carriages have passed that
way since midnight; but there have been four
market-carts, which came from the country, and
one traveler on horseback.
MY BROTHER'S WIFE.
81
11 Which, then, is the nearest gate from this?"
"I hardly know, monsieur; I should think
the Porte d'Anderlecht."
"Allans! to the Porte d'Anderlecht."
Again the blinds are drawn up, and we dash
forward between the gray lines of trees that skirt
the Boulevai'd. It still rains, and the morning
dawns slowly. Vogelsang leans back with a
groan, and presses his hands upon his aching
brow.
"You must take the lead now in every
thing," he says, moodily. "I am as helpless
as a child."
At the Porte d'Anderlecht we find the gates
shut, and have to wait for several minutes be-
fore any one makes his appearance. Then a
soldier comes out yawning, and proceeds to un-
lock them. We put the same questions to him.
Has a carriage passed this gate since midnight —
a carriage with a lady and gentleman inside ?"
He knows nothing of any carriage. He is
only just come on duty. Shall he call Jean-
Simon ? Jean-Simon, it appears, is his com-
rade yonder, sitting sleeping heavily by the fire.
We see him through the open doorway, and we
see how hard it is to rouse him. At length he
stumbles forward not half awakened, and listens
to my interrogations with a glazed, heavy eye,
and a half-opened mouth.
"Has a carriage passed through this gate
since midnight?"
' " A carriage, monsieur ?"
"Yes, yes — a carriage. You know what a
carriage means ?"
"Yes, monsieur. I— I think a carnage did
go through. But I'm not sure. It might have
been a chaise — or a wagon. I was very sleepy
at the time."
"Nay, nay, Jean-Simon," cries a shrill voice
from within, "a carriage did go by about — let
me see, about one o'clock of the morning."
"Ay — she knows," says Jean-Simon, pointing
over his shoulder toward the gate-house. "It
was a carriage, of course. She knows."
"And in which direction did it go? To or
from the town?"
"From town, I think, monsieur. At least,
I'm not certain ; but I think it was from town."
"From town, Jean-Simon," says the shrill
voice, confirmatively.
"Did you see who was in it?"
"No, monsieur — that is, I won't be sure.
There was a gentleman, I think."
"And a lady? Try to recollect — was there
not a lady also ?"
" Truly, monsieur, I can't tell. I don't think
there was a lady. I was very sleepy just
then."
"Holy Virgin, Jean -Simon!" screams the
shrill voice, impatiently, "there was a lady — a
lady with a velvet cloak and a veil, leaning back
as if she did not wish us to see her. You must
recollect the lady!"
"Ay, she knows," says Jean-Simon, content-
edly. "There was a lady, of course — and a
gentleman — and a carriage. I saw them all.
F,
Of course I did. It's all true, messieurs. She
knows."
" Where does this road lead to ?"
"To Halle— Enghien — Tournay."
"And the nearest poste aux chevaux?"
"Plait-il?"
" Where is the nearest place that I can hire a
carriage and post-horses to follow after them ?"
Here our driver interposes. He knows of a
post-master's close at hand, whose horses are
excellent. I direct him to take us there forth
with, and away we go again between the lines
of gray trees, growing distincter now in the in-
creasing daylight.
All were asleep at the post-house, and ten
minutes more, at the least, were lost in knock-
ing before we succeeded in rousing a soul.
Then a half-dressed ostler came down — then
two more, and presently they were putting the
horses to a post-chaise in the yard.
And now, for the first time since we started,
I remember Adrienne and her distress. What
must she be suffering ? What thinks she of my
sudden refusal to accompany her — of my subse-
quent absence ?
But this is not the time for reflection. I
must act, and that quickly, for the carriage is
being prepared, and I am going on what may
prove a long journey. I tear a couple of leaves
from my pocket-book, and scrawl a hasty note
on each. One is to Seabrook, entreating him
to break this matter kindly to Adrienne, and
telling him, in three words, the cause and ob-
ject of my departure. The other is to Adri-
enne, commending Margaret to her care during
my absence, and referring her to Seabrook for
all other information. This done, I fold and
address them.
" Is there any man here who will faithfully
deliver these letters for ten francs ?"
The three ostlers each start forward and offer
themselves.
"Nay, I can choose but one. Do any of you
know how to read?"
There is but one out of the three who can do
this, so him I choose, and have the satisfaction
of seeing him go, with the letters in his hand,
just as we step into the chaise and drive off.
Once more away! Away through the nar-
row streets — along the Boulevard — out through
the Porte d'Anderlecht — now giving passage to
a succession of market -carts and pedestrian
peasants, bound for the markets of the city.
Away through the scattered villas, and brick-
fields, and market-gardens that sprinkle the out-
skirts, and on to the flat green country, all dim
and faded through the falling rain !
CHAPTER XXXIII.
THE CHASE GOES ON.
THE gray dawn gives place to the dull day.
The travelers are few, and go trudging through
the rain and mud, with discontented faces.
82
MY BROTHER'S WIFE.
Now and then we whirl past some little cart or
wagon, spattering the horses, and sometimes
the driver, with our rapid wheels, and dash on
before he has time to utter the indignant remon-
strance which rises to his lips.
Always on — on— on, and so fast! The for-
mal lines of poplars and pollards seem to rise
up beside the windows as we go, and to glide
out of sight, like ghostly sentinels going through
an exercise. Now a gate — now a fallow-field,
with the idle plows lying in the furrows — now a
little farm-house — a bridge— a canal, all dim-
pled with the rain — a plantation— a party of
country-girls in cloaks and hoods, all become
for a moment visible, and the next are left far
behind.
See ! yonder lamp-post by the roadside marks
the first toll-barrier, and tells us that we have
journeyed one league. Only one league ! Why,
we seem to have been two hours at least upon
the road ; yet, on consulting the watch, we find
it scarcely twenty minutes. We might pay the
tolls to the post-boy to avoid delay, but we must
stop and speak with the toll-keeper.
"Ho! Has there been a carriage past here
this morning before dawn — a carriage contain-
ing a gentleman and lady?"
The gate-keeper is an old man. He shades
his eyes with his hand, peers up at us from be-
neath his shaggy brows, and says, tremulously,
"You must speak louder. I am rather hard
of hearing."
I repeat the question like a stentor, and a
flash of intelligence crosses his face.
"Oh, ay — ay. There was a carriage, to be
sure. A dark green chariot, with four bays.
You must ride fast if ye would catch 'em ! "
On again — faster and faster ! The post-boy
shall have a double fee for his speed. The
trees seem to fly — the people on the road stand
still, and look after us in wonder.
" Cheer up," I say to my companion, " cheer
up ! we are on their track most surely, and we
will take four horses at the next post-house.
We shall overtake them after all!"
Vogelsang groans and points to his head.
" You are in great pain ? Well, we can stop
at the first town, and have the wound dressed."
"No, not for a second. They will pause
somewhere to rest. Our only chance is in per-
petual traveling."
He is so resolute on this point, and there is
so much reason in his argument, that I know
not how to refute it. So, after a brief expostu-
lation, I yield, and we are again silent.
Another lamp -post marks another league.
Here toll-house and post-house are one, and
while we change horses, I put the usual ques-
tions, and receive the same answers. A car-
riage has been up about five hours ago (it is
now nearly eight o'clock A.M.), and took a re-
lay of four horses. "The four horses, indeed,"
says the groom, "are now in the stable, feed-
ing."
"And the post-boys who drove them — where
are they ?"
The groom points to two men who are hast-
ily donning their jackets and buckling on their
spurs inside the. stable door.
"They are now preparing to drive, mon-
sieur."
They are instantly called and questioned,
and their replies confirm every thing. The car-
riage contained a lady and a gentleman. The
lady kept her veil down, and leaned far back all
the time ; but they saw her hands and her fine
rings. The gentleman had light hair, and paid
them with gold, as if the ten-franc pieces were
nothing but cents. They went like lightning.
Holy St. Francis, what a hurry they were in !
"Eh lien! To your saddles! Five francs
apiece for you if we clear the next two leagues
in twenty minutes !" My urgent tones and ges-
tures seemed to lend some meaning to the
chase, for the grinning ostlers look and laugh
among themselves, and I overhear one of them
mutter, "C'est safenune, pent-etre /"
Useless to chafe at the boorish jest ! I affect
not to observe it, and again we are on the road
— faster and faster !
Thus on and on for hour after hour, till mind
and limbs grow weary from the lack of sleep.
At noon the sky clears, and the sun comes out,
and we reach the old fortified city of Mons,
with its grand steeple and surrounding ditches.
Here we purchase bread and wine, and partake
of it as we go ; and presently we have left the
busy streets and squares, and are traveling along
by the bleaching-grounds and coal-districts that
lie beyond.
Were farther traces needed, we gather plenty
on our way. Every where they are about five
hours before us; sometimes a little more or
less. They are remembered at toll-house and
post-house all along the road. In many instances
we are driven by their very post-boys, and these
we examine eagerly. It is curious how all their
stories tally. The lady was always veiled and
leaning back ; the gentleman always scattering
gold with a careless hand. At one town the
lady had a glass of milk. The gentleman some-
times smoked. The carriage was their own.
They seemed to care nothing for money, but
every thing for speed.
On and on ! Vogelsang, despite his suffering,
sustains the fatigue better than I had expected,
and sleeps at intervals.
In the afternoon, at a small post-house, we
find their carriage. The rough, paved Belgian
roads have split the wheels in every direction,
and hence they were compelled to travel in a
hired vehicle. In a moment I spring out and
search it eagerly. Here is Theophile's morocco
cigar-case under one of the cushions, and a bag
containing a few biscuits. The cigar-case i.s a
prize, and I secure it.
Now the town of St. Ghislain, black, flat,
dreaiy. The roads are thick with coal-dust ;
the cottages mean and many ; the tall chimneys
casting forth clouds of smoke. Then come
hamlets, trees, and canals again, gliding like a
phantasmagoria — then Quievrain.
MY BROTHEK'S WIFE.
83
At Quievrain we reach the limits of Belgium,
and are vexatiously hindered by the authorities
of the customs. Our passports are not quite en
regie — we are subjected to a tedious interroga-
tory— are compelled to procure visas in the
town, and are not suffered to pass the frontier
till after a delay of nearly three hours. At the
custom-house we still pursue our inquiries, and
are referred to the chefde bureau's office, where
an old gentleman with a white beard and an
eyeglass asks our business.
" We are anxious to overtake a lady and
gentleman who passed the frontier this morn-
ing. We have reason to believe that it was by
this road they went, and we want to know for
what place they are bound."
The old gentleman mends a pen slowly, and
coughs twice or thrice, as if to gain time.
"And what may be your object in following
these persons? Have they committed any of-
fense?"
"None for which I am bound to account to
you. It is enough that we are in the utmost
haste, and that we beg you to be quick, as we
have already been delayed three hours."
" What are the names of the parties ?"
" Therese Vogelsang and The'ophile Latour."
"And yours?"
We hand him our passports in reply, which
he examines carefully.
"Which of you is Heinrich Vogelsang?"
My companion steps forward and says it is
he.
"Are you the husband of Therese Vogel-
sang?"
"I am."
Here the old gentleman smiles cunningly to
himself, and tries the nib of his pen upon his
thumb nail. He then turns to me.
"And you are Paul Latour, of Burgundy,
French subject ?"
"Yes."
"What relation are you to The'ophile La-
tour?"
" His elder brother."
"Hum! And your elder brother, sir, and
your wife, sir, passed this barrier this morn-
ing?"
"So we believe."
The old gentleman opens a large book, wipes
his eyeglass carefully, and, pointing with a fat
fore finger, begins carefully examining the pages
from bottom to top, as if he were reading He-
brew. This goes on for so long that we begin
to despair. At last he stops suddenly.
"Hem!" (he has a bad cough, this old gen-
tleman.) "Hem! 'Passed this day, between
the hours of one and two P.M., Therese Vogel-
sang— vocalist — Austrian subject. Going to Par-
is from Brussels.1 Is that the lady, sir?"
' ' Yes — yes," says Vogelsang, hurriedly. ' ' It
is she ! Let us go directly ; we have no time
to lose ! "
"Stay," says the old gentleman, calmly, "you
have not heard all. What did you say was the
name of the other party ?"
'The'ophile Latour."
' No, that is not the name."
' Not the name ?"
'No."
'What is it, then?"
' Alphonse Lemaire — proprietaire — French
subject."
Vogelsang and I look involuntarily at each
other. The old gentleman is watching us, and
reads the meaning of the glance as plainly as if
the thought had been spoken. •
" Then it is an assumed name," he says, with
a keen look. "Alphonse Lemaire is really
The'ophile Latour ! Itien."
And he makes an entry beside the former
name, with a gleam of the old cunning smile
hovering round the corners of his mouth ; then
shuts the large book with a sudden bang ; bows
politely, and asks if he can be of any farther
service. Of course not ; we have heard enough,
and may pursue our journey as we will.
So we pass out into a sort of waiting-room
beyond, and consult together. We have now
lost four hours. When we first started we were
five behind. Five and four make nine. What
chance have we of overtaking them upon the
road now, being nine hours after them ? The
swiftest horses that ever ran could not accom-
plish it. Better take the rail, and push on for
Paris direct. Most probably it is the very thing
they did themselves !
So we decide upon this course, and dismiss
the post-chaise.
Fortunately, there will be a train in about
half an hour. We spend the intervening time
in accomplishing a hasty ablution and in pro-
curing a little refreshment, for we shall be trav-
eling all night.
Then the train comes up ; we take our places,
and are once more forward in pursuit.
We are in France now — on the Great North
Railway — on the road to Paris ; and so the fe-
verish day passes to its close.
It is night — dark, lonely night, with the
misting rain beginning to fall again, and the
wearisome rushing sound of our progress din-
ning in our ears.
Utterly overcome by long watching and ex-
citement, I find my ideas wander and my eye-
lids grow heavy. Troubled dreams, which mock
reality, weave themselves in with the web of my
thoughts, and I wake with a start from visions
wherein The'ophile, Vogelsang, Adrienne, Sea-
brook, and Therese are mingled in hideous con-
fusion.
Every now and then a sudden stoppage — a
flashing light — a passing view of a station and
passengers — the entrance of fresh travelers and
the departure of others, or the abrupt voice of a
guard calling upon us to show our tickets — the
starting off again — the monotonous rushing
sound-^-the blurred picture of a dark wet night
— dreams — waking up — complete forgetfulness
once more — this over and over, with alternate
slumberings and meanings from my restless
fellow-traveler, who tosses his arms wildly in his
MY BROTHER'S WIFE.
sleep, and, dreaming or waking, is ever mutter-
ing to himself.
Once in the dark night I wake up entirely,
and fall to thinking over all this strange adven-
ture. The'ophile eloped with Therese — The'rese
the wife of this man beside me — Adrienne de-
eerted ! Strangest of all that The'ophile should
take the name of the man Lemaire for his in-
cognito ! Done to mislead us, of course. But
we are not to be so misled. From this theme
my thoughts, somehow or another, revert to
Burger's "Leonora." The wild midnight jour-
ney— the flying scenery — these combine, and
strike me with an odd sense of similarity ; and
so I drop off to sleep again, murmuring,
" Hurra ! the dead can swiftly ride !"
Then I dream that Theophile and the singer
are on before. Theophile is not only Theophile,
but Wilhelm. Wilhelm is not only Wilhelm,
but Death. He rides upon a shadowy steed,
and she clings to his waist in the likeness of
Leonora. This ghastly confusion of persons
fills me with inexplicable terror. I watch them
from the window (for it seems that I am fol-
lowing them in the post-chaise again). They
ride like the wind. Theophile looks round at
me ; his face is that of a grinning skeleton, and
he points to Vogelsang sitting at my side. Hor-
ror! not Vogelsang now, but the livid corpse
of Fletcher is my companion in this frightful
chase !
I shriek for aid, and wake with the cry on my
lips — wake and find it gray dawn again, and
the towers of St. Denis showing dimly through
the mist. Beyond them, faint and yet distant,
lies the shadowy outline of a great city. Stee-
ples, and house-tops, and shining cupolas grow
plainer with every instant of our progress — with
every fresh beam of early sunrise. Then glimps-
es of the broad bright Seine — of some grassy
earthworks stretching round the city — of the
hill, valley, and forest of Montmorency — of nest-
ling country houses — of scattered suburbs —
streets — the walls of a station. We are arrived
at last, and it is a bright, fresh, sunny morning,
more like May than October.
Vogelsang is refreshed by a long sleep and
feels better, and we hire a voiture de place, de-
siring the driver to take us to the Hotel des
Etrangers in the Rue Duphot ; for my compan-
ion lias been here before, and knows where to go.
Oh, beautiful Paris ! how fair and strange it
looks to me in the early morning ! There are
no shops open, and but few people on foot.
The broad streets are silent and sunny ; the
trees of the Boulevards have not yet lost all
their leaves; -the gilded balconies of the hotels
and the white shutters of the lofty houses re-
mind me of the City of the Caliph and the pal-
aces of Granada. Now comes a graceful little
theatre — now a vista of glittering arcades— now
a glimpse of a broad street and a lofty iron col-
umn, with the statue of Napoleon crowning it
worthily — now a wide space planted round with
trees, and a white glorious temple in the midst
— a second Parthenon, classic, pillared, vast —
the church of the Madeleine. Far down toward
the left flits a vision of obelisk, and fountain, and
far palaces ; but it is gone in an instant, and
we have turned aside into a narrow street, and
are pausing before the door of the Hotel des
Etrangers.
Now for an hour or two of rest and quiet ere
we search farther. We are shown to our rooms,
ordering breakfast in three hours, and desiring
the waiter to awake us at the time.
There is a sofa in my chamber, and I lie down
upon it in my clothes, preferring it to the bed,
and am soon sound asleep. The three liours
thus glide away like ten minutes, and it seems
to me that I have scarcely closed my eyes, when
the voice of the attendant outside my door in-
forms me that it is already half past nine
o'clock, and that the breakfast is ready.
Can it all be true, or am I still dreaming?
Have I been pursuing Theophile and The'rese,
with Vogelsang for my fellow-traveler? Have
I left Margaret and Belgium far away? Am I
in France, and is this really Paris ?
CHAPTER XXXIV.
THE SHADOW OF DEATH.
"THE first thing to be done," says Vogel-
sang, "is to go to the prefecture of police, and
ascertain when they arrived."
To the prefecture of police we go according-
ly, crossing the Seine, with a far prospect of the
stately river-palaces, and driving up a gloomy
court branching off from the Quai des Orfevres.
The court is full of carnages, the dark passages
full of soldiers. In a long room surrounded by
clerks we next make our inquiries, and, after
meeting with many delays, and being referred
from desk to desk, are told at length that no
persons bearing such names have arrived in
Paris.
This is disappointing; yet we might almost
have expected it. It is hardly probable, after
all, that they would have traveled so unflag-
gingly as ourselves ; and, in taking to the vail-
way, it may be that we have even passed them
on the road. Well, it is but to wait another
day. They must be here to-morrow.
The morrow comes, and with the same result.
In the morning we are first at the prefecture.
In the afternoon we linger last. The officials
are very polite. They regret to disappoint
"messieurs" so often. " Messieurs' " friends
will be here to-onorrow, sans doute.
And so the 19th of October passes, and they
have not yet been recorded. Oh, how dreary
and irritating is the rest of this second day!
How annoying to the heavy heart are these ev-
idences of mirth nnd life — these open theatres
—these brilliant carnages— these pleasure-seek-
ers who crowd the dusk alleys of the Champs
Elyse'es, the booths, cafe's, and concert-gardens!
How harsh is this music, and how hollow seems
the merriment of the gay city!
MY BROTHER'S WIFE.
85
It is gorgeous — it is startling — it*is utterly
new and surprising to me ; but its very splendor
jars upon me now, and I could hate the people
for being so happy !
Vogelsang, too, is a depressing companion —
gloomy, reserved, abrupt ; seldom speaking, and
always absorbed in the one stern thought — re-
venge. He is much better now, but still very
pale, and the livid mark upon his brow looks
ghastly to the eye.
Night comes at last — night, and sleep, and
troubled dreams, till the next day dawns.
Back then over the Seine — back in the early
morning to the prefecture of police. The bu-
reau is not yet opened — will not be opened for
two hours more. Two dreary hours! What
can we do for two hours ?
"The Morgue is close at hand," says Vogel-
sang. "Let us go there."
The Morgue! I shuddered. I had often
heard of the place. At any other time I should
have refused to enter its dark precincts ; but to-
day it was in accordance with my morbid con-
dition of mind, and I consented.
The morning was cold and bright, and the
yellow Seine rushed in swift circling eddies
through the arches of the Pont St. Michel, and
rocked the floating baths beside the quays. I
geem to remember every event of that hasty
walk. There was a mountebank in a cart,
dressed in motley, and vending his wares to the
harsh music of a hand-organ. He had taken
his stand where the carriage-way was broadest,
and the surrounding crowd were laughing loud-
ly at his jests. A troop of soldiers marched by,
with ensign and band. Some children ran after
me with cakes and chocolate for sale. All was
hurry — gayety — life, and in the midst of it rose
that one dark, melancholy building of the Mar-
ehe' Neuf. That low square pile, like a huge
tomb, built with great blocks of stone, green and
discolored from abutting on the water. Win-
dowless, deathlike, dreary. There was a crowd
of ouvriers, soldiers, women, and children gath-
ered round the entrance. Many were going in,
others coming out.
"What a pity!" said a young girl to her
mother, as they passed close beside us, on leav-
ing the place ; " such a child, and so pretty !"
I looked at my companion, and drew back.
" I don't think I will go in, after all," I said.
He shrugged his shoulders and made no re-
ply, but walked straight in, and so I followed
him.
A fearful place indeed ! There, on a black
marble slab, exposed to the idle gaze of every
eye, lay the body of a young fair boy, a mere
child. His long bright hair fell in wet masses
on the stone couch ; his eyes and mouth were
closed, and his pale lips were contracted into
an expression of determined agony.
' ' Suicide !" murmured the people at the grat-
ing. "Suicide!"
I turned to a soldier standing by the door.
"Is it possible," I asked, " that this child can
have purposely destroyed himself?"
"We can not tell, monsieur; but it is most
likely. They often do."
I went back again, as if fascinated, and stood
for a long time looking at him. There was an-
other body lying at a little distance from him,
but changed and frightful to look upon. I seem
still to see that picture before me, with the long
grating — the crowd of eager faces — the sad
property of the dead, the wet and faded clothing
hanging round the walls — the dim light coming
from the roof — the trickling water flowing over
the features of the drowned.
I could bear it no longer. I turned suddenly
away, and hurried out into the street. I felt
oppressed and shocked, and the blazing sun-
light seemed unnaturally bold, and bright, and
painful by the contrast.
Vogelsang follows me with a gloomy smile
upon his harsh lips.
"You are not used to the sight of death,
Monsieur Latour," he says, with a sarcastic ac-
cent.
"I have seen it but twice in my life before.
Once when I was an infant, and my father died.
Once again some few months since, while I was
in Germany. Upon a battle-field it would not
affect me thus ; but upon the face of a young
child—"
' ' Humph ! Here we are in front of the pre-
fecture of police. The two hours are nearly
past."
Presently we go in again. Still the same re-
pty.
"No strangers bearing such names upon
their passports have yet been registered. We
would recommend monsieur to call again in the
afternoon, about four o'clock. By that time,
perhaps, we may be able to afford him some in-
formation."
Will delays and disappointments never cease?
It were vain to think of pleasure at a mo-
ment like this ; yet how is the time to be' em-
ployed ? I have written to Seabrook, but it
would be useless to seek letters at the post-office
till to-morrow. Shall we go to the Louvre — to
the Luxembourg — to Notre Dame — to Pere la
Chaise ?
To the latter be it, then, for I am still sad
and dispirited, and the face of that dead child is
vividly present to my eyes.
How calm, and still, and melancholy it is
here in the cemetery! The sunlight comes
creeping through the leaves, and lying gently
down along the graves, like a fond mourner ;
and we walk silently between the monuments,
as in the streets of a dead city. Here are
tombs like little chapels, with altar, and cross^
and painted window; others like pyramids, or
temples, or sharp granite obelisks. Some are
carved into the semblance of a broken pillar — a
draperied urn — an open volume lying on a desk,
inscribed with holy and consoling words. A
pleasant, tranquil place, dark with the pine and
yew, planted by pious hands with every autumn
flower, sacred to the Past and to the Future !
I am thinking of Margaret now, and I long
86
MY BROTHER'S WIFE.
to be alone. Vogelsang has thrown himself
upon the grass at the foot of a great tree, and is
jotting some memoranda in his pocket-book;
so I stroll away, and, finding a solitary high
spot, with a view of the distant country and of
the cemetery, sit down upon an humble grave,
and suffer my thoughts to wander back to Brus-
sels.
The dead are sleeping very peacefully at my
feet and all around me, Margaret, and I am
watching here among them with my human
love beating at my heart, the only living thing
in sight. It is very awful to think this ; yet it
fills me with a strange sort of gladness, and I
feel that to have you sitting here beside me with
your hand in mine, to lay my over-throbbing
temples on your breast, and there die, would be
a blessed rounding of my life, and happiness
complete. Not in sorrow, Margaret, not even
in weariness do I say it ; but at this moment it
seems to me that such a fate would be the ful-
fillment of love and life. My heart is heavy at
the remembrance of all the miles that lie be-
tween us, and I can scarcely believe that you
are so far distant from me. We are parted, and
every parting is a form of death, as every reun-
ion is a type of heaven.
It is well for me that I came hither to-
day. The aspect of this garden grave-yard has
soothed me — restored the balance of my mind.
I was shocked erewhile by the sight of that fair
child and his manner of death. Gloomy and
terrible thoughts tormented and mocked me, as
the pale Furies, Prometheus ; but they are gone
now, and to die seems beautiful. Death is not"
truly that brief pang with which we cease to
live" It dates from the dark hour in which we
first find that life has lost its charm; when
fades the "glory from the grass, the splendor
from the flower;" when all smiles are sad to us,
and all tears indifferent ; when, as with Ham-
let,- "man delights not us, nor woman either,"
and the very clouds and sunshine overhead look
old and sorrowful.
But I did not intend to chant a requiem to
thee, Margaret. I meant it for a love-song ;
and lo ! my words are traitors to me — and mine
eyes too, by this mist before them.
There is a little blue-eyed flower (a sickly,
slender thing, that shivers in the cold autumnal
breeze like a star in a frosty night) growing up
beside the pathway at my feet. Stray child of
the summer-time, I will gather thee in memory
of this hour and its poetry !
And so I rise up and return to Vogelsang.
My shadow has lengthened since I left him, and
only the tree- tops catch the red sunlight now.
His watch is in his hand. It is nearly four
o'clock, and he is impatient to be gone.
Back, then, once more, to the prefecture of
police. Out through the broad semicircular
entrance, out into the stream of busy, careless
life again, and on toward the accomplishment
of our anxious task.
The clerk looks up and smiles as we approach
his desk, in the long gloomy room, all lit with
gas and crowded with people. He knows the
errand on which we come, and begins rapidly
turning over the leaves of a large volume. Pres-
ently he stops — reads some passages attentively
then, turning toward us,
" I am rejoiced to inform you, messieurs," he
says, politely, " that your friends have arrived.
Have the goodness to listen. ' On the evening
of the 19th inst., Madame Therese Vogelsang;
vocalist ; Austrian subject ; from Brussels.
Also, Monsieur Alphonse Lemaire ; proprie-
taire ; French subject ; from Brussels. De-
scription of person : Tall ; eyes, blue ; nose,
short; hair and beard, reddish-yellow. Resi-
dence, No. 30 Avenue ., Champs Elysees.'
Those, I believe, are the parties for whom you
inquired?"
This is sufficient ! The fiacre in which we
came waits for us outside. We leap in, desire
the driver to take us to the Champs Elysees,
and are directly on the way.
Swiftly, swiftly along the quays and over the
Pont Neuf— swiftly past the Louvre, and up to
the Place de la Concorde, till we reach the cen-
tral avenue leading to the Arc de 1'Etoile.
Here, although it is now almost dusk, the road
is filled with carriages and the footways with
promenaders. The long rows of bright lamps
on either side look like illuminated chains
stretching from end to end, and in among the
trees is the gay perpetual fair of shows and
mountebanks, and cafes concerts.
We move but slowly here, and as the Avenue
lies up near the Jardin d'Hiver, it is long
before we turn aside from the principal road to
the quiet, retired spot, which, as our driver tells
us, is the locality we named.
The houses are built as villas, and each is
surrounded by a spacious garden. Many of
them, says the cocker, are schools, boarding-
houses, and maisons de sante. Within a few
doors of No. 30 we pause and alight, for we are
anxious not to attract the attention of the in-
mates, and so walk on and stop before the
house.
It is built in the Italian style, surrounded by
a wall and garden, and set round with lofty
trees, on which few leaves remain. There are
lights gleaming from some of the windows, and
sometimes a passing shadow from within dark-
ens on the blinds. By-and-by the sound of a
piano is heard, and the tones of an enchanting
voice linger, and rise, and fade upon the air.
Then they cease — the outline of a woman's form
flits along the curtain — all is still.
Observing thus, we wait and watch for full
three quarters of an hour, and then turn silent-
ly away.
They are found now, and to-morrow shall see
the work begun !
MY BROTHER'S WIFE.
87
CHAPTER XXXV.
STRENGTH MEETS STRENGTH, AND CRAFT WITH
CRAFT IS MATCHED.
IT is bright morning again, and again I stand
looking up at the house where ray misguded
brother and his mistress are dwelling. The air
is chill ; the blessed sun is shining as if there
were nor sin nor sorrow in the world ; the red
and yellow leaves strew all the ground, and
shower down with every gust of wind; the
workmen are going to their daily labor ; the lit-
tle children are playing in the streets ; all toil
and pleasure is going on as usual, and I am
standing there with a stern duty upon my hands,
and a heart full of perplexity and trouble.
Looking down toward that point where the
road branches off from the main avenue of the
Champs Elysees, I see the figure of a man walk-
ing slowly to and fro. He pauses — he waves
his hand impatiently. It is Vogelsang, and he
is urging me to action. We judged it best that
I should go in alone, and see my brother first,
and he is waiting yonder till I return. Nay, I
do not need urging ; and in proof of it, I ring
the bell beside the garden gate. It is answered
by a servant in livery.
"Is Monsieur Lemaire at home?"
" He is breakfasting, monsieur."
"No matter. I will wait."
With these words I am shown in ; and, fol-
lowing the man through the garden, am ushered
up a broad flight of stairs, and into a small but
elegant drawing-room.
"What name shall I say, monsieur?" asks
the servant, lingering at the door.
"It is of no consequence. I am a stranger,
and I come upon business."
Left alone in the room, I observe every thing
with that peculiar susceptibility to trifles, that
painfully acute power of seeing and reasoning,
which, at times of great excitement or anxie-
ty, seems to endue the senses with a twofold
power.
The furniture of the salon is rich, but not new.
One or two valuable paintings adorn the walls,
and suspended in the most conspicuous situa-
tion hangs a superb full-length portrait of an
officer under Napoleon. His breast is covered
with orders ; his weather-beaten face and white
mustache tell of long service ; he leans upon
the neck of a bay charger, and a distant view
of the sands and Pyramids of Egypt points to
the scene of at least one of his campaigns.
Crossing over to examine it more nearly, I see
the name of DAVID in the corner.
The induction is easy. Theophile has hired
the house for the season, while the owners are
absent at their country seat or on their travels.
Some books lie on the table, and I examine
one. It is the "History of the Consulate and
the Empire," by Thiers ; and under an en-
graved coat of arms pasted in the first fly-leaf,
I see the name of De Montreuil — the name of
the owners of the place, of course.
A grand piano-forte is placed close under the
portrait. . It is open, and the candles which
were used the night before are yet standing,
half burnt down, on either side of the music-
book. Near it, two chairs drawn close together
seem to show me where they have been sitting
side by side ; and a man's hat is thrown care-
lessly upon a couch beside the window.
Strange that the veriest trifles should find a
place in my attention at this moment j but I
remember noticing that it was a white hat, and
that I had never known Theophile wear a white
hat before !
As I am thinking this, the door opens, the
same servant appears, and I am requested to
follow him.
Down stairs this time, through a broad hall
and a spacious library, and into a pleasant par-
lor opening upon a conservatory and garden.
There is breakfast on the table — a lady in a
white morning robe leaning back in an easy-
chair by the fireside, reading the newspaper — a
gentleman with his back turned toward me,
stooping over some flowers in the conservatory
beyond.
She lays aside the paper as I enter, with an
anxious glance at my face, and half rises from
her chair.
She is most lovely to-day in that white robe.
Her dark lustrous hair is gathered in massive
rolls at the back of her head, and fastened by a
single golden arrow ; her beautiful arms are
half hidden by the white lace sleeves: her atti-
tude is that of a queen, graceful, indolent, dig-
nified— like Cleopatra's in the golden galley.
"You wish to see Monsieur Lemaire," she
says, courteously, and with the slightest foreign
accent in the world. "He will be here imme-
diately. Pray take a seat."
I bow profoundly, but remain standing, hat
in hand.
"Laurent, request your master to step this
way. A gentleman is waiting to speak with
him."
The servant passes into the conservatory,
and inadame resumes the newspaper, but I can
see that she does not read a single line.
Now the servant has reached his side — he
pauses — turns — enters the room, and I recog-
nize— not my brother — not Theophile, but a
harsh, unprepossessing countenance, which I cer-
tainly remember to have seen and noticed late-
ly, but where I can not tell !
"You have asked for me, monsieur? I am
entirely at your service."
That sneering smile, that glance from be-
neath the drooping eyelids, that peculiar ges-
ture, I could swear that I have— yes, by heaven !
it is the man Lemaire himself — the real owner
of the name — the lessee of the Brussels theatre !
"You have business with me, I believe.
Pray, is it respecting theatrical matters ?"
Still breathless, bewildered, utterly taken by
surprise, I can only look at him. A crowd of
ideas are flitting like lightning through my
mind. Where is Theophile? Shnll I ask for
him ? Shall I tell them who I am ?"
88
MY BROTHER'S WIFE.
I am
"You have but to speak, monsieur,
waiting."
This is said somewhat impatiently, and with
a surprised, suspicious glance from beneath the
red eyelashes, which fills me with aversion, so
foxlike is it, and so stealthy.
Madame drops the paper now, and fixes her
dark eyes full upon my face.
" Perhaps, " she observes haughtily, "if the
gentleman will not state the purport of his visit,
he will, at least, be so obliging as to inform us
of his name."
My course is taken now. I return her gaze
steadily, and the tone of my voice, as I reply, is
measured, resonant, penetrating.
"My name, madame, could be of little im-
portance to this gentleman. I came here this
morning to meet a very different person. You,
most probably, can guess whom I mean, and
will, perhaps, favor me with some address by
which I can find him."
She still looks at me fixedly, as before, for a
few seconds, and the pupils of her eyes seem to
dilate as if from some inner passion of anger,
suspicion, or defiance. Then, finding that I
sustain her scrutiny unwaveringly, she sudden-
ly drops the lids, and leaning back with an af-
fectation of proud indifference, turns to Mon-
sieur Lemaire and says languidly,
"You see, Alphonse, it is a mistake altogeth-
er. This — this person is inquiring for the peo-
ple to whom the house belongs. I think we can
oblige him ; for, if you remember, they left us a
card by which we were to direct any letters that
might arrive for Monsieur (what is his name ?)
— Monsieur de — de Montreuil. Will you have
the kindness to pass me the paper-case ? I am
almost sure that the card is inside. We will
not detain you, monsieur, many minutes. Ah !
here it is — 'Monsieur le Comte de Montreuil,
Poste Restante, Baden-Baden, Germany.' "
" I thank you, madame," I reply, in the same
tone, and without having once removed my eyes
from her face, "but it was not to meet M. le
Comte de Montreuil that I came here to-day."
"Indeed!" she exclaims quickly, looking up
at me again with a sharp unquiet glance.
" Pray whom else could you have thought to
see here, in my house ?"
"Monsieur Theophile Latour."
I have expected something of a start, an ex-
clamation, a passing expression of surprise or
shame ; but no — she is calm, impassable, un-
moved as a statue; only, on looking more close-
ly, I fancy that the rich brunette tint upon her
cheek is a shade paler, and that the delicate
nostril quivers twice or thrice, but almost im-
perceptibly.
"You are in error, sir," she says, clearly and
deliberately. "Monsieur Theophile Latour is
not here. You had better direct your letters to
Brussels. He is residing there, and they will
be sure to find him."
"To Brussels, madame! But he has left
Brussels!"
" Indeed ? I was not aware of that."
So calm, so collected, so natural ! I am al-
most thrown off my guard, and begin to doubt
the evidences of the ball and the journey.
" Not aware of it, madame ?"
"You echo my words strangely, sir. I re-
peat that I was ' not aware of it.' Are you con-
tented?"
"But he traveled with you from Brussels!"
"Monsieur!"
She rises from her seat and draws herself to
her full stature as she utters this one word so full
of pride, anger, offended modesty. The flash-
ing eyes — the indignant gesture — the imperious
tone, baffle and confuse me. I hesitate — I
pause.
" Have the goodness to repeat that assertion,
monsieur."
"I — that is — Monsieur Latour — did he not
travel from Brussels in your company ?"
"Monsieur Lemaire was so obliging, sir, as
to favor me with his escort from Brussels to
Paris — Monsieur Lemaire, the impressario of the
theatre in that city. I am but very slightly ac-
quainted with Monsieur Latour, and though I
do not feel myself called upon to account for my
actions to any person (more particularly to an
entire stranger), yet, rather than suffer such a
report to become current, I must beg leave to
observe that a step such as you have just named
— a step so unusual, so equivocal, so open to ob-
servation and censure, would be utterly opposed
to my principles, my inclinations, and the strict-!-
ly reserved line of conduct to which I have ad-
hered throughout the course of my professional
life. Monsieur Lemaire, will you have the kind-
ness to corroborate my words, and to show your
passport to this — this very inquisitive and sin-
gular gentleman ?"
I came here with the resolution of not ex-
changing one syllable, if possible, with this
woman, and behold, she alone had taken upon
herself the entire conversation ! Her looks, her
words, her very gestures were all -convincing,
and wrought upon me with an irresistible power.
Yet how reconcile this with Vogelsang's narra-
tive— with my brother's disappearance — with the
testimony of his note, now in my possession —
with the cigar-case found in the carriage ?
Monsieur Lemaire drew a folded paper from
his pocket-book and handed it to me with his
false smile.
"Monsieur may inspect my passport if he
pleases," he said^ shrugging his shoulders, "but
really one might almost think that we were in a
court of justice, or, at the least, passing through
a frontier town!"
Yes. Here is the passport, and perfectly cor-
rect. ii Monsieur Alphonse Lemaire; French
subject. Tall; eyes, blue ; nose, short ; hair and
beard, reddish-yellow." The same from which
the entry was made in the books at the prefect-
ure of police. I have nothing to say to this. I
am almost ashamed of my own suspicions, and
feel my situation more than embarrassing.
Happening to look up suddenly from the pa-
per, I see a triumphant glance pass between
MY BKOTHER'S WIFE.
89
them, which awakens all my former doubts.
At the same moment madame turns to me,
and, pointing toward a small velvet case lying
on the mantel-piece, says, even more haughtily
than before,
"My passport lies there, sir, if you choose to
look at it : and then, when your curiosity is sat-
isfied, I trust this interview may l>e considered
at a close. I have endured your intrusion and
replied to your questions, not because I felt
bound to do so through any law of politeness,
but because I considered it my duty to defend
my reputation against the scandalous report
which you had the audacity to repeat to my
very face, and which, as I can not imagine it to
have originated with yourself, I fear must have
circulated to the detriment of my honor. It is
now in your power to contradict that rumor, and
I trust that, in common justice, you will not fail
to do so. I hope, monsieur, we fully understand
each other."
Had it not been for that glance which I sur-
prised just now, I would not have looked at her
passport ; nay, I believe that I should even have
gone so far as to apologize for all that I had
said, such truth, and fire, and dignity is there in
her speech and bearing. As it is, however, I
only bow in silence, take the case from the inan-
tel-piece, and run my eye along the document.
"Madame Therese Vogelsang; vocalist; Aus-
trian subject; from Brussels."
I have nothing to say to this either. Every
thing is perfectly en regie. I am defeated, but
not convinced, and all that I can do now is to
bow and retire.-
I am about to do this — -I have even begun to
refold the paper, when a sudden thought flashes
through me like a revelation, and, taking the
other passport from where Iliad laid it upon the
table, I compare them together.
"Seen at Quievrain, for Paris, October 17 th,
18 — . Chefde Bureau, E. LECROIX."
" Seen at Quievrain, for Paris, October 18thj
18 — . Chefde Bureau, E. LECROIX."
This discovery smites upon my heart like a
• death-blow. I feel myself grow pale, and the
papers flutter in my hand as I hold them up be-
fore his face, and, striking upon the two sen-
tences with my finger, exclaim hoarsely,
" See, sir, will you explain this? How could
you have traveled with madame, and yet pass
the frontier a day later?"
Ha! blenched cheek, and downcast eye, and
quivering lip — what does that mean? Is the
man stricken dumb ?
"/can explain it, monsieur," interposes the
singer, with a glance of contempt at her silent
companion and a dauntless energy upon her
face; "/can explain it. Monsieur Lemaire,
although we left Brussels at the same time,
found himself compelled to return when we
were about half way to the frontier. He had
forgotten an engagement which demanded his
personal attendance, and he only rejoined me
toward the afternoon of the second day."
"Yes, yes," stammered the manager, "that
was it! MonDieu, that was it, upon my honor!"
"And may I take the liberty of inquiring,
madame, where you stopped to wait for the ar-
rival of this gentleman ?"
"It is a liberty, sir, yet I will answer you.
It was at Douai."
At Douai — -and we took the railway from
Quievrain ! Had we but pursued the journey
as we began it for a few hours more, we should
have overtaken her and known the truth of this
story ! Well, after all, it is useless to question
or irritate her farther, and I feel that, as far as
evidence goes, I am powerless. Best, then, to
appear satisfied — to lull suspicion — to meet craft
by craft — to prove all before I say more.
My face expresses, perhaps, something of the
deliberations and doubts that are passing through
my mind, for I find them both watching me nar-
rowly. I make a strong effort to control voice
and countenance, and, after a few moments' ap-
parent reflection, assume a look of melancholy
conviction, and sigh heavily.
"Then, madame, you can tell me positively
nothing respecting M. Theophile, excepting that
he has been in Brussels ?"
"Excepting that he is in Brussels. I last
saw him there, and I believe him to be still resi-
dent there. How do you know that he is gone ?"
I meet her searching glance, and say quietly,
"A friend of mine called at his house, madame,
to endeavor to procure from him some money
which I had lent to him not long since. They
told my friend that he was gone nobody knew
whither; but it was supposed (you will excuse
me for repeating it) — it was supposed that he
had accompanied you to Paris."
It is now her turn to suspect, to interrogate
me. How stern and piercing is the steady, pro-
longed gaze of those dilating eyes !
"Then you have lent money to M. Latour?"
she says, inquiringly.
I bow without speaking.
"How did you know my address?"
"I applied for it at the prefecture of police."
"And why did you ask for Monsieur Le-
maire when it was Monsieur Latour you wished
to see?".
"The entry stated that you were accompa-
nied by Monsieur Lemaire. The description
of his person tallied sufficiently with that of my
— my debtor. I thought it possible that he
might have assumed an incognito while travel-
ing, especially if he be as deeply in debt to oth-
ers as he is to me, and seeks to escape his cred-
itors."
This explanation, and the manner in which I
gave it, seems to satisfy her. She draws a long
breath, and, for the first time since she rose
\ from it in anger, sinks back into her chair.
"It appears to me, sir," she says, with her
fascinating smile, " that we have misunderstood
each other from beginning to end of this con-
versation. Had you told me at first that you
were Monsieur Latour's creditor, and confided
, to me the motive of your visit, we need not have
90
MY BROTHER'S WIFE.
wasted so much time in useless discussion. I
really regret that I can be of no service to you,
and I hope that you may recover your money.
I would advise you to send your letters to Brus-
sels without delay, for if he were absent he has
doubtless returned before this. I wish you a
good-morning. Laurent, attend this gentleman
to the door."
Thus saying, she inclines her head gracious-
ly, and resumes the newspaper. Lemaire stands
scowling after me near the conservatory door,
and I follow the servant back through the libra-
ry and hall, across the garden, and out into the
road.
"What news?" cries Vogelsang, eagerly, as
I rejoin him in the Champs Ely sees. "What
news?"
And so I tell him all that has passed, word
for word, as I have told it here, and when I
conclude I ask him what he thinks of it.
But he shakes his head, and, looking down-
ward with a troubled face, says,
"I don't know. Don't ask me. I don't
know what to think — I don't know what to
think!"
Then, silent and gloomy both, we walk on
side by side till we reach the great post-office in
the Rue Jean Jacques Rousseau, a long way
from the Champs Elyse'es. Here I find one let-
ter awaiting me, and the bold, careless super-
scription tells me that it is from Norman Sea-
brook. It is brief enough — scarce half a page
in length — and I read it almost at a glance :
"Oct. 20,13— .
"I have only bad news for you, my dear
friend. Hauteville is sold. The purchase-mon-
ey was all paid in on the evening of the 15th,
and we have every reason for believing that
your brother has the entire sum in his posses-
sion . We know, of course, how and upon whom
it will be spent! I have this from Monsieur
Pascal, his lawyer. The amount was 500,000
francs. Madame L. bears it better than one
could expect. I have no time for more at pres-
ent, but will write again to-morrow.
"Yours ever, N. S."
"Read this," I cry, thrusting the letter into
Vogelsang's hand. "Read this! Mon Dieu!
what is to be done ? What has become of him ?
My dear, dear brother !"
Vogelsang reads it, and grows paler as he
reads. Coming to the end, he crushes it in his
hand and looks gloomily into my face.
"Foul play!" he says, in a low, deep voice.
" Foul play somewhere ! We must fathom this
abyss : there is crime at the bottom of it, and
my vengeance will be deeper yet — and sweeter!"
CHAPTER XXXVI.
REVELATIONS.
WE are on the road again ! It is the even-
ing of the 21st of October, about six or seven
hours since I left the Avenue ; and au-
tumn's early sunset tints all the fields and
house-tops of St. Denis with a red glow, as if
we saw the landscape through a painted window.
On the road by which we came four days ago
— that iron road which intersects France in a
northward line from Paris to Brussels — flving
forward, ever forward, while sunset fades into
dusk, and dusk thickens into night !
We have a railway carriage to ourselves this
time, for the sake of privacy and liberty of
speech — this, chiefly, because we are no longer
alone, and need to talk with our companion.
He whom I style "our companion" is a small
pale man, with green spectacles, and a particu-
larly vacant countenance. He is dressed in a
suit of threadbare black, wears a hat too large
for his head, and a crumpled white neckcloth
tied loosely round his throat. He looks more
like a petty schoolmaster or peripatetic preacher
than any thing else, and carries a large cotton
umbrella between his knees. Neither beard
nor mustache adorn his countenance. He looks
not to the right nor to the left, and, when
spoken to, turns upon you a large, dull, mean-
ingless gray eye, in which no spark of intelli-
gence is ever seen to quicken.
Certainly a more insignificant and utterly un-
promising person could scarcely have been se-
lected for a traveling associate ; yet in that
man's pocket are the only proofs we possess —
the note and the cigar-case ; and into his ear
we are pouring all our doubts, adventures, dis-
coveries, suspicions, and fears. Already he is
in possession of all the leading facts, from the
conversation which I overheard in the conserv-
atory on the night of the soiree, down to my in-
terview with Madame Vogelsang this morning,
and to all this he listened with a face as absent
and passionless as if he were counting the bricks
in a dead wall.
Only now and then he asks some trifling
question, or enters a brief note very slowly and
methodically upon the leaves of a greasy pock-
et-book, and but for this we might almost fancy
that he neither heard nor heeded a syllable of
all that has been said.
His name is Pierre Corneille Barthelet. He
is an agent of police, and one of the most saga-
cious of Parisian detectives.
Fonvard, always forward in the deep night-
past the lighted stations with never a stop — past
the up-train with a shock of vision, like the sen-
sation of a sudden fall from some giddy height
— forward, forward like the wind ! It is an ex-
press train, bound for Brussels, and stopping
only at Quievrain and Valenciennes by the way.
The whole scene, police agent and all, seems
like some rushing terrible dream, and the tale
we tell him a fantastic fiction.
"And now are you sure that I know all the
circumstances?" he asks, carelessly, "because
that is important."
"I believe that we have forgotten nothing."
" Humph ! You made one very false move,
gentlemen."
MY BROTHER'S WIFE.
91
"When, and how?"
"In going to the house as you did. It must
have put them on their guard."
"And they will escape us again!" cries Vo-
gelsang, with a fierce oath. "Oh, I must go
back — I must go back by the next train !"
"Indeed, they suspect nothing," I interpose.
"Have I not already told you how I replied to
her questions, how I satisfied her that I was but
a creditor of The'ophile's ?"
"Yes, yes; but it is not enough! She only
affects to believe you ; she will escape before I
can get back!"
"Be tranquil, monsieur," observes Barthelet,
with calm indifference. " They are safe enough.
I have provided for that, and set a watch upon
the house. As it happens, no mischief has
been done ; but I objected to the way in which
you entered. It was unprofessional."
So saying, Monsieur Barthelet looks at his
watch by the light of the dim lamp above ; ob-
serves that we have just three hours left; takes
off his hat (brushing it carefully with his sleeve
before he hangs it up), and, tying his pocket-
handkerchief over his head, composes himself
for a nap.
This nap lasts till we reach Quievrain, when
he awakes, as if by magic, and follows us out of
the carriage to the passport-office, where the el-
derly gentleman with the white head and the
eye-glass is still sitting, as if he had never left
his place since we last saw him.
He recognizes us the moment we enter, and
the cunning smile hovers round his lips and in
the corners of his eyes.
"Well, sir," he says, peering at Vogelsang
from behind the top rails of his desk, "well,
sir, have you found your wife ?"
But, before my companion can frame a reply,
Monsieur Barthelet has glided from behind us,
and is standing beside the old gentleman's el-
bow. A whispered word — the sight of a writ-
ten paper drawn from the greasy pocket-book,
has worked wonders. The face of the chef de
bureau has become suddenly grave and atten-
tive. He requests us to be seated. He listens
deferentially to the agent's hurried statement.
He takes down the same great book, and again
reads up every page, in the Hebrew fashion,
only more quickly.
Suddenly the fore finger pauses in its course ;
the page is compared with one a little way be-r
fore it ; they look significantly into each other's
faces, and we are called over to inspect the en-
tries.
They stand thus :
"Passed this day, Oct. 17th, 18 — , between the
hours of one and two P.M., Madame Therese Vo-
gelsang ; vocalist ; Austrian subject. Going to
Paris from Brussels. Seen at Quievrain, for
Paris, Oct. 17, 18—.
' ' Chef de Bureau. E. LECROIX."
"Passed this day, Oct. 17 th, 18—, between the
hours of one and two P.M., Monsieur Alphonse
Lemaire; French subject; proprietaire. Going
to Paris from Brussels. Description of person :
Tall; blue eyes; auburn hair. Seen at Quie-
vrain, for Paris, Oct. 17 'th, 18 — .
"Chefde Bureau. E. LECROIX."
Then, a little farther on,
"Passed this day, Oct. 18th, 18—, between the
hours of four and Jive P.M., Monsieur Alphonse
Lemaire; French subject. Tall; eyes blue; nose
short ; hair and beard reddish-yellow. Going to
Paris from Brussels. Seen at Quievrain, for
Paris, Oct. 18th, 18—.
' « Chefde Bureau. E. LECROIX. "
Two Monsieur Lemaires have passed the
frontier !
CHAPTER XXXVH.
THE CHAIN IS BROKEN.
"AND it was from this point, gentlemen,"
says Barthelet, "that you took the rail in pref-
erence to the road ?"
* ' From this point."
"Then, clearly, we must first find the post-
house from which they had their next relay of
horses. Thence we shall easily discover the
road by which they traveled. Tenez."
And Monsieur Barthelet takes a small vol-
ume from his pocket, and after referring back-
ward and forward three or four times from the
map to the letter-press, from the letter-press to
the map, observes dryly that Quievrain has four
posies aux chevaux, and that we must go from
one to the other till we meet with the right.
This is dismal work, traversing the streets of
Quievrain in the dark, three hours after mid-
night. It reminds me of the first step which
we took upon the journey on leaving Brussels,
only that it is infinitely more wretched; and
over all we do, or think, or say, there hangs the
"shadow of a fear" — sombre, chilling, unde-
fined.
At the first post-house we have to wake the
people from their sleep, and they reply to our
questions surlily enough. They have no remem-
brance of any such carriage or travelers. What
right have we to disturb folks for nothing ? It
is their business to furnish horses, not informa-
tion. They have a great mind to give us over
to the police ; but they content themselves with
slamming the door in our faces. At all of
which Monsieur Barthelet smiles grimly, and,
tapping the breast-pocket of his coat, says, with
a tone of quiet power, that he has " a little pa-
per there by which he could exact their civility
— ay, and the civility of the gendarmes too, if
he thought fit to produce it !"
At the second we fare no better ; and at the
third we find all hands busy, and every body up
and stirring. It is now nearly half past four ;
the great lumbering diligence, swaying to and
fro like a sleepy giant with a hood on, fills all
the yard ; horses are being harnessed ; postil-
lions are getting ready ; luggage is being heaped
92
MY BROTHER'S WIFE.
on the roof; some early passengers are darting
here and there, and getting in every body's way ;
and all this confusion by the light of glancing
lanterns, with the black sky overhead.
Of course we can not get attended to in the
hurry and bustle of the moment, so we wait till
the diligence has departed, lurching and pitch-
ing, and still very sleepy, out of the yard, when
Barthelet makes the old inquiry.
No one can remember any thing, whether of
the carriage, the travelers, or their destination.
This is the largest post-house in Quievrain ;
they keep the greatest number of horses — supply
the most extensive circle of customers. It is
hardly probable that they would recollect it,
without something had occurred to render the
journey remarkable. They are, however, very
civil, and offer no objection when we request
permission to interrogate the servants of the es-
tablishment. But from these we can obtain
nothing, and are about to turn away in quest of
the fourth and last post-house, when some one
recollects that we have not yet spoken to the
postillion, Van Comp, who, it appears, has not
long come off a journey, and is now in bed.
Unwilling to lose any chance of success, we
wait till Van Comp is awakened, and pass the
time, weary as we are, in pacing up and down
the yard, for the morning is bitterly cold, and
there has been a frost.
At length Van Comp, a little, shrewd-look-
ing man, with quick black eyes, makes his ap-
pearance, half dressed and shivering. So small,
so puckered, so elfin is his tout ensemble, that I
find myself at a loss to decide whether he be
an active old man or a withered boy, which
perplexity is increased when I hear the shrill
treble of his voice replying to Barthelet's ques-
tions.
He speaks only Flemish, of which neither
Vogelsang nor myself comprehend a syllable,
and we watch the conference in silence. Bar-
thelet, as usual, looks entirely unconcerned, and
speaks occasionally in a low, drawling tone, to
which the other responds with a torrent of vol-
ubility and a variety of lively gesticulations.
This goes on for several minutes, when Barthe-
let seems to give some order — the ostlers run to
the stables — a heavy post-chaise is brought out
of a coach-house, and Van Comp, rushing over
to a pump in a distant corner of the yard, pro-
ceeds to plunge his head and face twice or thrice
into a bucket full of water, apparently as the
first step toward completing his toilet.
"What now?" I exclaim, eagerly. "What
does he say ?"
"He remembers to have driven a lady and
gentleman from here to Valenciennes about five
or six days ago. All that he can be sure of is
that the lady was very handsome, that her com-
panion paid him in gold, and that it was about
two or three o'clock in the afternoon. At Va-
lenciennes they took fresh horses, and went on
without delay. He can not tell where they
went, but he knows the post-house to which he
drove them, and he supposes that from the peo-
ple there we shall learn all we require. I have
ordered a chaise to be got ready immediately,
and he will drive us."
Monsieur Barthelet delivers this important
news with about as much energy and emphasis
as one might remark upon the state of the
weather, or any other equally exciting subject,
and then falls to consulting the map and the
pocket-book.
And now we are on the road again.
It is still dark, and the bright carriage-lamps,
illumining a narrow patch on either side, reveal
brief glimpses of trees and gates, and show our
little postillion jerking up and down before the
front windows. Thus, in silence and gloom,
we journey on to Valenciennes, where, with lit-
tle difficulty, we recover the next clew, and so
on, post by post, in the direction of Douai, which
we enter between nine and ten o'clock in the
morning, with the sun shining coldly overhead,
and the white frost glittering like diamond dust
on the ramparts and church towers.
We are driven to the Hotel de Flandres,
where we order breakfast, and request a few mo-
ments' conversation with the landlord — a lofty
gentleman adorned with rings, pins, and chains,
who listens to our inquiries with an indulgent
air, and replies in an infinitely condescending
manner.
Truly he has some recollection of the travel-
ers to whom we allude, and he imagines that
their stay at his honse was not prolonged be-
yond a few hours. But madame keeps the
books, and attends to all these little matters,
and he thinks, upon the whole, that we had bet-
ter mention the subject to her. Madame's lit-
tle bureau lies to the right of the salle a manger.
She is always there, and we may seek her when
we are disposed.
And monsieur strolls out of the room, clink-
ing'the Napoleons in his pockets as he walks, as
if to show us that he has plenty of them, and
rather likes the sound.
To madame's room we repair accordingly.
She is very gracious and has been handsome.
She consults a large ledger, and presently dig-
covers the following entry, which she permits us
to read, and which Barthelet copies forthwith
into the greasy pocket-book :
Monsieur and Madame— arrived October 17th, 18 —
, Dinner for two 1.4
Vin de Champagne 30
Cafe for two 4
Apartments and service 16
Breakfast for two 10
Vin de Champagne at ditto 10
84
"And in what manner did this lady and gen-
tleman leave?" I asked, eagerly. "Did they
take a post-chaise from here ?"
Madame shakes her head. Had they done
so, there would be an entry of it in the ledger,
which there certainly is not.
"Can madame remember at what hour they
left the house ?"
Madame thinks that it was immediately after
breakfast — about eleven o'clock; but perhaps
the waiters can tell me this.
The waiters are called and questioned. They
remember the lady and gentleman perfectly.
"They arrived quite late the first day, and
dined about eight o'clock in the evening. They
went away the next morning after breakfast,
about twelve or one in the day. They paid the
bill, and walked out arm in arm. They never
came back again."
"But their luggage ?"
" They had no luggage, m'sieur."
"No luggage!"
"Not a single bag or box of any description.
The gentleman had his great-coat upon his arm,
and the lady carried a small velvet reticule."
They were positive of this, because " down there
in the cuisine, la has, they had talked of it to-
gether, and, mon Dieu! whatfun the cook made
of it!"
And the waiters glanced at each other, and
grinned behind their hands at the remembrance
of this irresistible joke.
" Can you describe the lady ?"
" No, m'sieur. They had the two rooms yon-
der on the premier etaye, where the bedchamber
opens off the salon, and there the lady retired
whenever we were in attendance. At the din-
ner they would not suffer us to wait, but rang
whenever they wished the courses removed ;
and then the lady sat with her veil down and
her bonnet on. It was quite plain that she did
not wish to be seen, and that made us try all
the more to catch a glimpse of her face. But
it was impossible, m'sieur — quite impossible.
HGYjinesse was perfect."
"Eh bien! but the gentleman— what was he
like?"
"The gentleman ! Oh, he was tall and fair.
Jeannette thought him handsome ; but, at all
events, he was very liberal — paid like a prince."
And this, question them as we will, is all the
news that we can obtain. Barthelet, for the
first time since we have been together, exhibits
a faint emotion in his face, and looks less blank
than usual. The emotion, unfortunately, is vex-
ation.
He then dismisses the waiters, asks madame
for our bill, and, when it is paid, strolls out into
the street, whither we follow him.
"This matter grows difficult," he says mood-
ily, as if thinking aloud. "We are thrown off'
the scent entirely now."
"Then all that we have to do is to find it
again," interrupts Vogelsang, with a look of
dogged resolution. "We must beat every bush
in the neighborhood — try every petty village,
inn, and farm-house all around, till we find the
evidences of their track. Why, it must have
been some time in the evening of the day they
left this place when Lemaire joined them."
"Of course it was," replies Barthelet, refer-
ring to the pocket-book. " He passed the front-
ier Between four and five. It takes about five
hours by posting, and about one hour and forty
minutes by rail, to travel from Quievrain to
MY BROTHER'S WIFE. 93
Douai. By whichever route, he would meet
them that night. The time and place of that
meeting once found, the object of our journey
will be accomplished, or I am much mistaken."
And now, guided in every respect by our
professional" ally, we proceed upon the search.
The first step, says he, is to make inquiry at ev-
ery livery-stable in the town, though it should
take us a week to do it. However, there are
but three or four, and to these he pilots us
through street, and market-place, and square,
after a peculiar fashion of his own, wherein he
leads without seeming to lead us, and by point-
ing out the road, gliding now before and now
behind us, loitering, hastening, and doubling
back upon his own footsteps, he dexterously
contrives to make us always appear like the
party in advance, while himself is strolling on
carelessly in the rear, looking in at the shop-
windows, or walking on the opposite side of the
way with an utterly unconscious face, as if he
had no acquaintances and no business in the
world.
At no livery-stable or post-house in Douai
had they been heard of or seen. The chain of
evidence is completely broken, and to find the
lost links seems now to be an almost hopeless
task.
However, we hire a vehicle, and, taking the
first road that presents itself, travel in a norther-
ly direction, and after turning aside to many a
little village, farm-house, and hamlet by the
way, arrive toward dusk at the town of Orchies,
where we dine and spend the night.
Alas ! the seeking and waiting —
" All the hope, and the fear, and the sorrow —
All the aching of heart, the restless unsatisfied longing,
All the dull, deep pain, and constant anguish of pa-
tience !"
CHAPTER XXXVIII.
THE LOST LINKS.
NORTH, south, east, and west, in every direc-
tion for twenty miles round Douai, we sought
them in vain. Had the earth opened benenth
their feet when they went out arm in arm from
the Hotel de Flandres that morning of the 18th
of October, they could not have disappeared
more entirely till the period of their arrival in
Paris. Northward as far as Lille and Tournay ;
southward to Cambray and Arras ; eastward to
Bethune, and westward over all the ground ly-
ing between Douai and Valenciennes, we search-
ed diligently, and so passed four days more.
We begun to despair. Even Monsieur Pierre
Corneille Barthelet was heard to murmur occa-
sionally, and Vogelsang became more morose
and silent than ever.
It seemed really as if they must have taken
the rail from Douai to Paris ; yet, in that case,
what had become of Theophile, and where had
Therese been overtaken by Lemaire? The
whole transaction remained a mystery, and sus-
pense became torture.
MY BROTHER'S WIFE.
Matters were in this position, and we were
driving slowly along toward the evening of the
fourth day, the 26th of October, when Vogel-
sang proposed suddenly that we should return
to Paris.
"This hopeless wandering about is worse
than useless," he said. "It will result in noth-
ing. If you do not choose to go back, I will."
"I do not choose to go back," I replied warm-
ly. " I will not be so easily baffled. I am de-
termined to find my brother before I set foot in
Paris again."
"Very well. I go to-morrow morning."
"You may do as you please, Herr Vogelsang.
I remain."
" And what does Monsieur Barthelet intend
doing?" asked Vogelsang, with a bitter smile.
"Is he not yet weary of exploring this pictur-
esque neighborhood?"
Monsieur Barthelet was looking out of the
window, and appeared not to hear the question.
Vogelsang repeated it with emphasis.
" Sir, "replied the police agent, still looking
out of the window, "I have undertaken this
case, and I have no intention of leaving it un-
finished. My professional reputation is con-
cerned in it. Hollo, you gar$on, where does
that lane lead to?"
He had let down the glasses now, and was
addressing the post-boy.
"Over the fields somewhere, monsieur."
"Is there any village?"
" I don't know, monsieur. I think there are
a few cottages."
"Well, drive up there."
"I can't, monsieur. The road is not wide
enough for the wheels, and up yonder it gets
•narrower still."
"Then we will walk, and you may go back
with the horses."
"But, monsieur — it is such a mean place —
it is absolutely au bout du monde" remonstrates
the post-boy. "Nobody ever goes there."
"No matter, /choose to go there; and if
I can not be driven, I will walk."
So saying, Monsieur Barthelet alights and
bids us discharge the carriage, wherein, as usual,
we obey him implicitly ; and so we set off on
foot.
The first lane merges into a second, the sec-
ond into a third, the third into a fourth, and so
on, as if they would never end — long, green
quiet lanes, all grass under foot, with holly and
thorn bushes on either side, and long trailing
boughs laden with blackberries lying across the
path, and scant trees standing here and there,
like lonely sentinels, at irregular distances.
The farther we go the farther we seem to
wander from all human habitation. Before us
stretch the lanes green and straight ; behind us
the sun is setting broad and red, on the very
verge of the horizon. There is not a cottage
or shed any where in sight.
Now we come upon two little children gath-
ing wild berries under the hedge, but they can
scarcely comprehend us, and the only reply we
get is that the houses are farther on, " tout
droit."
So straight forward we go, and the night
comes creeping up.
Suddenly the lane takes a curve —we see a
column of white smoke above the trees— a faint
light glimmering through the dusk — an open
space of common, and a cluster of small cot-
tages, with a wind-mill and a little mean au-
berge in the midst. The auberge is a wretch-
ed whitewashed building, with a dunghill be-
fore the door, and the words
HOTEL DE NAMUR,
Id on loye a pied et a chevaf,
painted in large red letters across the front of
the house.
Hotel, indeed ! Miserable as it is, however,
we must put up there for the night, for there is
no other, and we have been on the road all day
since dawn.
Tired, dusty, travel-worn as we are, it would
seem that customers so well-dressed are seldom
entertained at the Hotel de Namur, for the land-
lady courtesies, and the landlord bows, and hov-
ers round us, and dusts the chairs before he will
suffer us to be seated, and is in an agony of
bustling civility.
"Will messieurs please to dine or sup? Do
messieurs intend to pass the night here ? Shall
a fire be lighted in one of the chambers, since
we have not, I grieve to say, another salon ?"
The "salon" in which we find ourselves is a
long low apartment, with whitewashed walls and
sanded floor, and the words Salle a Manger
painted up over the door. A deal table, some
benches and wooden chairs, and a stove, are all
the furniture ; and two peasants, with a jug of
red wine between them, are sitting staring at us
with open eyes and mouths in a far corner, near
the window.
We decide upon dining tip stairs, order the
best dinner they can muster, and sit down by
the stove in the public room till ours is pre-
pared ; whereupon landlord and landlady both
disappear suddenly, before we can put a single
question to either, and an immense confusion
of heavy feet overhead and sharp voices in the
kitchen is immediately begun. Presently the
two rustics finish their wine and withdraw in
bashful silence, and we are left with the place
to ourselves.
Thus more than an hour passes away without
interruption, save once, when a party of three
or four men and women enter and call for the
landlord ; but, finding their custom unheeded
and three gentlemen sitting round the stove in
the dark room, they retire discontentedly, and
return no more.
At length the door opens, and our host, with
a napkin thrown over his arm and a candle in
his hand, informs us that the chamber is ready
and the table served. And really every thing
is far more comfortable than we had anticipated.
The bed has been wheeled on one side ; the
table-cloth and dishes are plain, but clean ; a
j blazing wood fire is crackling on the hearth, and
MY BROTHER'S WIFE.
95
to travelers so weary matters wear a cheerful
appearance.
The landlord will wait upon us himself, and
the landlady too. They have provided soup
for us, and omelettes, and fowls, and bouilli, and
a dessert of cheese and apples, and three bottles
of Macon wine, and a flask of eau-de-vie, which
we are assured is " ' vielle de cognac' — superb —
equal to any we could procure in Douai, or even
in Paris !"
So faint are we, and so tired, that for several
minutes we can do nothing but eat in silence.
At length Barthelet speaks.
"You have not many travelers come here, I
suppose. Your chief custom is from those in
the village, n'est-ce-pas f
"Our chief custom, certainly, is in the vil-
lage," says the landlord, with an emphasis on
"chief;" "but we do entertain travelers some-
times— gentlemen, like yourselves, and even la-
dies."
"Yes, yes, even ladies," adds the hostess,
with some pride. "For instance, messieurs, it
is not many days since we lodged two gentle-
men and a lady — people of the highest rank,
messieurs, who did not care what they paid
us!"
Ha ! We all paused and involuntarily look-
ed at each other. For some seconds nobody
spoke, and then Barthelet resumed :
' ' Two gentlemen and a lady, you say, who
did not care what they paid ! They must have
been rich, then !"
"Rich, indeed — yes ! Monsieur should have
seen the lady's beautiful ring and chains, and
her cloak all of velvet and lace, fit for an em-
press ! Ah ! they were rich, and we should not
care how many such guests came to the Hotel
de Namur !"
Barthelet was silent for some time, and went
on with his dinner as if nothing had taken place.
As for me, I could not eat another morsel, and
even Vogelsang seemed perturbed and restless.
Our hosts were in despair. Did not monsieur
like the soup? Would monsieur try an ome-
lette? The fowls were delicious— just a little
wing? They were afraid that monsieur must
be unwell !
I replied that I was too much fatigued to en-
joy any thing, and finding that I could touch
nothing else, I drank a glass of brandy, and
tried to swallow a crust of bread that almost
choked me.
So the meal draws to a close ; the dessert is
placed before us, and Barthelet, while leisurely
peeling an apple, pursues his inquiries.
"I fancy, Monsieur Callot" (our host's name
is Callot), "that your rich customers were
friends of ours — friends of whom we are even
now in search. Was not the lady very hand-
some, and the gentleman fair?"
" Mon Dicu, yes ! The lady was beautiful as
an angel, and the gentleman was fair. Both
gentlemen, indeed, were fair, but the first was
the handsomest. How astonishing that mes-
sieurs should know them ! But it is charming ! "
And both landlord and landlady rub their
hands with delight, and then, finding that we
do not respond to their congratulations, look
surprised and uncomfortable, and full of curios-
ity.
" So, the first gentleman was the hand-
somest," says Barthelet, still occupied upon the
apple. "Let me see: they must have arrived
here about — about three o'clock in the day, did
they not?"
" About four, I think, monsieur — about four."
"Just so — about four. And they dined here ?"
"Yes, they dined here, but not till nearly
eight o'clock in the evening. They waited, do
you see, for the other gentleman ! "
"Ah! true. They waited, of course. And
he arrived in time?"
"Oh yes, he arrived by a little after seven."
" And they were delighted to see him ?"
"Why, monsieur, really — I — that is, I don't
think the handsome gentleman seemed very
well pleased. He did not seem to be good
friends with him at first ; and, to tell the truth,
my wife did overhear (quite by chance) a little
conversation between the first gentleman and
his lady that led us to think — Marie, tell the
gentlemen what you heard them saying."
"Why, gentlemen, you see I was getting ready
the table in this very apartment, and they were
in there, in the second chamber, and I heard the
lady say, ' He will soon be here now. ' To which
the gentleman replied, 'I am sorry for it. I
did not want his company. I never liked him.'
And then the lady said, 'But you know how
necessary it is for us to be friends with him.
And as matters are with us, it is very fortunate
for us that he happens to be traveling our way.
If there be any inquiries made, his absence will
confirm every thing, and nobody will suspect
your identity. Pray be civil to him, for my
sake.' And the gentleman said, 'I would do
any thing for your sake.' And that was all
I heard."
"And then, I suppose, he did arrive. Had
they any quarrel, these two gentlemen ?"
"Quarrel! oh dear no, they got quite pleas-
ant after the dinner, and when they parted at
night they shook hands. They even took a lit-
tle walk together in the morning before break-
fast."
"Hum! that looked well, certainly. And
after breakfast they all went away together?"
"The lady and the red-haired gentleman
went away together, monsieur, and followed the
handsome gentleman."
"Followed him ! Do you mean to say that
he started first, and without madame ?"
"Yes, monsieur. He went on farther, when
they took the little promenade be^Jre breakfast."
"And the other one came back alone?"
" Yes, monsieur."
"And what did he say when he came back
alone?"
"He said that the gentleman had taken a
fancy to go on in advance, and that he had de-
sired madame to follow as soon as she had break-
96
MY BROTHER'S WIFE.
fasted and felt disposed to continue, del!
messieurs, what is the matter — you look so
strange at me — what is the matter?"
"Murder is the matter," says Barthelet, ris-
ing from his seat, and suddenly casting off all
his assumed indifference. "Murder is the mat-
ter. My name is Pierre Corneille Barthelet.
I am a detective government agent, and I call
upon all here present, in the name of the king
and the state, to assist me in the discovery of
this crime."
The hmdlady falls upon her knees with terror
— the landlord trembles and turns pale — we have
all risen, and are all agitated.
"Who saw them go out together?" asks Bar-
thelet, taking pen, ink, and paper from a small
case which he draws from his pocket. "Who
saw them go out ? I must take your deposition
upon every circumstance."
"Oh, dear Virgin !" sobs the landlady. "I
saw them go out."
"And what direction did they take ?"
" I don't know, indeed, monsieur. I did not
look after them."
"Did you, Monsieur Callot ?"
"No, monsieur. I was in the kitchen at the
time ; but — but I think the gargon was outside,
feeding the poultry. He might have seen them
go."
"Let the garfon be called."
Barthelet is now writing briskly. The vacant
look vanished from his face ; he speaks with au-
thority; and I am sitting, dumb and stupefied
with horror, and my head leaning against the
wall.
The garfon, a shambling, awkward fellow in
sabots, comes into the room and is interrogated.
" What is your name ?"
"Jean."
"Jean — and what else? You have some
other name."
"No, m'sieur. I never remember to have
had any other."
"It is true," interposes the landlord. "He
is an enfant trouve. We call him Jean."
" Good. Now, Jean, do you remember to
have seen two gentlemen leave this house to-
gether early in the morning on the 19th day of
this month ?"
"I remember that the gentlemen went out
together before breakfast, but I don't know what
day of the month it was. "
"Can you recollect in which direction they
went ?"
"PMt-il?"
" Can you recollect which road they went by
— whether they turned off to the right or the
left after they got outside ?"
" They watt right over across the common,
toward the wrod yonder."
"Then there is a wood yonder! Is it a
large wood?"
"Oh no, m'sieur, quite a little place — about
three or four times as big as the common."
"Can you show us the way there ?"
"Yes, m'sieur — by daylight. One could not
find one's way there in the night, it is such a de-
ceitful kind of place."
" What do you mean by ' deceitful ?' "
"He means, gentlemen," says the landlord,
"that it is a troublesome place; and so it is,
even in the daytime — full of bushes and holes,
and scarcely passable in many parts."
"And is there no pathway through it?"
"There is a pathway, but it is very little
used. All of us about these parts would rather
go round than through it."
"And you think it would be dangerous to
venture there to-night, even if we carried lan-
terns or torches?"
"I am sure, sir, that if you went, you could
not take four steps without some accident."
"Did the gentlemen go into the wood to-
gether, Jean?"
"I can't tell, m'sieur. I did not watch them
across the common ; but they certainly crossed
over that way."
" Do you think that either of them knew there
was a wood over there?"
"One of them seemed as if he knew his way
all about here, m'sieur, but I think he said, ' I've
been in this place before, many years ago, and
if you'll trust to my experience, I will lead the
way.' "
"And which of the gentlemen said this?"
"The ugly one, m'sieur."
" And he led the way to the wood ?"
"Yes, m'sieur. I would have warned him
of the holes and bogs in it, only that he seemed
so confident, and they walked away so fast."
"Is this all you know ?"
"Yes, m'sieur."
"Enough, Jean, you may go."
And so Barthelet proceeds to record the testi-
mony of the Callots, and defers all farther search
to the morrow. The dreary night passes thus,
in questioning and writing, and suspicions too
dark for words, which merge rapidly into deso-
late certainties.
A dreary night indeed !
CHAPTER XXXIX.
THE DELL IN THE WOOD.
THE sad day dawns through tears, and a
white fog hangs over the landscape as I look
forth in the early morning. Barthelet and
Vogelsang are sleeping in their chairs, worn out
by excitement and long watching, and I alone
have been unable to forget the terrible present.
"Oh, if it were but a dream!" I exclaim to
myself, as I watch their closed eyelids — "oh,
if it were but a dream, and there were no wood
lying out there in the mist!"
The wood ! I shuddered at the mere word,
and roused them hastily. "Up! up and be
doing! It is day."
Barthelet is awake and on his feet directly.
He never seems to require a moment to regain
his senses, but passes instantaneously from deep
MY BROTHER'S WIFE.
97
posite directions, the one tending toward the
right, the other sloping downward by a deep
curve, and leading to a dark dell, where the
trees would seem to grow larger and thicker
than elsewhere.
At this point the police agent pauses, and
scans the ground narrowly ; then, stooping low,
proceeds to gather up the fallen leaves, and cast
them on one side.
" See !" he says eagerly, but with an evident
effort to maintain his old cool, indifferent man-
ner, " see ! there have been feet along this path
lately. Here are the .marks, half filled with
water; the leaves lie deep above them, and
have been falling for many days since the prints
were made. They go down, you see, into the
hollow ; and here is a broken bough, where they
forced a passage through the brambles. We
have it now, sir! we have it now!"
Down, then, down the slippery steep path,
and into the hollow all overgrown with bushes,
and marshy as the basin of an empty pond —
down to a spot where the mire is trampled over
strangely.
"Don't stir a foot, sir," cries Barthelet,
flushed and vehement, ' ' don't stir a foot, or you
will efface the trail ! Look, look ! here — where
I stand : don't you see that dragging mark along
the ground ? Something heavy has been hauled
all across ! It goes right over to the foot of this
alder, and is lost in the bushes ! Now we must
turn up every foot of ground in among these
bushes, if we have to go back to the village for
hatchets and cut them even with the earth."
Impelled by a feverish dreadful haste, trem-
bling with anguish, yet conscious of a wild
strength which I never possessed before, I seize
the thorny bushes in my desperate grasp, and —
Heavens ! the first I touch comes away in my
hand without an effort !
The next does the same, and the next, and
that which Barthelet holds likewise. They have
no root in the soil ; their leaves are all yellow
and drooping; they have been thrust in there
as a blind — a screen — a mask !
And beyond them?
Beyond them, heaped over with more branch-
es and brambles, lies something — something
whereat I shudder and stand still, and from be-
side which a small black snake writhes away at
our approach, and glides swiftly in among the
gnarled roots of the surrounding trees.
Barthelet removes the branches in silence.
And there — yes there, with strength, and
beauty, and desire struck into the dust, with his
face pressed to the earth, and his yellow locks
all dabbled in the mire — there, meaner in his
abasement, oh God of mercy ! than the meanest
of Thy living creatures, lies the body of my
brother Theophile !
98
MY BROTHER'S WIFE.
CHAPTEK XL.
THE WORK OF RETRIBUTION BEGINS.
IT is night again — night for the second time
since we discovered the body— the night of the
28th of October.
Our sorrowful duty to the dead has been ac-
complished as far as the law permits ; the vic-
tim lies in his coffin at Douai, awaiting the in-
quest ; and Vogelsang, Barthelet, and myself
are traversing one of the least frequented ave-
nues of the Champs Elyse'es in Paris, bound on
an avenging errand.
Behind us, in silence and shadow, marches a
company of gendarmes, with their officer at their
head — breathless, statue-like, moving as one
man, and heard only by the dull fall of their
tread and the occasional clank of their swords.
Thus we move on in the darkness, and the
distant clocks strike twelve.
Hush ! we pause before the gate of that Ital-
ian villa where I entered some few days past,
and the soldiers draw back out of sight, leaving
me alone to summon the attendance of a serv-
ant. I ring — the gate is partially opened — the
same footman looks out.
"Who is there?"
" The gentleman who called the other morn-
ing. I want to see Monsieur Lemaire on urg-
ent business."
' ' Monsieur and madame are at supper. You
can not see them to-night, sir. They receive
no visitors so late in the evening."
"But my business, I tell you, is important."
" Well, sir, if you will give me your name
and state your business, I will tell my master,
but I am sure it will be useless."
"I do not choose to do either; I must see
him."
" Then, monsieur, it is impossible. You must
return in the morning."
So saying, the servant firmly, but respectfully,
is about to close the gate, when it is wrenched
suddenly back, and a gauntleted hand is closed
upon his mouth.
"Not a word, or you are a dead man, "says
the officer, in a low, stern voice. "Your em-
ployers are charged with willful murder, and I
call upon you to aid us in the discharge of our
duty. Do you obey ?"
The trembling varlet made a gesture of sub-
mission, and the officer, holding a pistol to his
head, continues :
"Are they alone together?"
"Yes, mon capitaine."
"How many servants are there about the
place?"
"Only myself and the cook, mon capitaine.
The rest are all in bed."
"Where is the cook?"
"Down in the kitchen, mon capitaine.'11
11 Can he give the alarm if he sees us ?"
"Impossible, mon capitaine. The kitchen is
at the back of the house, far enough from the
salons."
"Lead the way, then — and mind ! One syl-
lable of betrayal, and you have a couple of bul4
lets through your brains."
Scarce able to support himself for terror, the
footman proceeds once again up the broad stair-
case and into the drawing-room, where hangs
the portrait by David. Barthelet, Vogelsang,
and the soldiers have all followed noiselessly.
The room is but half lighted, and empty.
"They are at supper, messieurs," falters our
guide, withdrawing a rich curtain which serves
the purpose of a door at the farthest end of the
apartment. "You will find them in the little
salon at the end of the suite. Don't, messieurs,
don't compel me to go any farther ; I dare not !"
" Leave the fellow in charge of a gendarme,
and go on," says Barthelet, decisively. "But
make no noise, for your lives."
"Stay!" I exclaim, in a hurried whisper;
let me go first. Let me speak to them, and
while I speak, come up. The sound of my
voice will drown your steps ; let me go first !"
"And me with you!" interposes Vogelsang.
Oh, how I long to face her!"
Barthelet shakes his head, and Jays his hand
on Vogelsang's arm.
"No, no," he says, "not two gentlemen.
Monsieur Latour can go first, if he likes, though
I don't recommend it ; but two are too many."
With this I pass the curtain — find myself in
a second room and facing a second curtain ; be-
yond this lies a third, and beyond the third —
The sound of voices talking loudly — three or
four lines of a wild obscene song chanted in the
loveliest of voices and followed by a burst of
laughter — the chinking of glass and silver—
these arrest my steps, and warn me that thej
whom I seek are separated from me only by a
few folds of drapery.
Looking back earnestly to the farthest salon,
I see some dark shadows creeping through the
curtain one after another, like the pictures cast
by a magic lantern. There is no time to be
lost ; I draw the hangings suddenly back, and
surprise them — surprise them at their guilty or-
gies— surprise them feasting in their boudoir]
reveling in their bloodstained wealth, quaffing
that pleasure-cup whose dregs are poison !
The room blazes with light ; the table is
laden with wines, and fruits, and heaped-up del-
icacies served in glittering silver ; her head re-
clines upon his breast ; the very glass is at hh
lips —
I stand before them in stern silence, and foi
a moment they are dumb — paralyzed — motion-
less. Therese is the first to recover courage :
she springs to her feet ; her eyes flame with an-
ger ; she draws herself to all her queenly height
and confronts me.
"Who are you, sir? How dare you intrude
upon my privacy ? What do you want ?"
' ' I am Paul Latour, and I come to you foi
my brother. Where is Theophile ?"
She quails before my words as if they were
blows, and catches at the shoulder of her para-
mour for support. He, too, shrinks back at thai
name, and turns a livid face upon me.
*/ n_ _ t
MY BROTHER'S WIFE.
" Speak, woman. Where is my brother ?"
Death-pale as she is, she bears a dauntless
brow, and can reply haughtily.
"I know nothing of him nor of you. I have
told you this before, and you have presumed to
intrude here a second time. Be gone, sir, or my
servants shall expel you."
" Summon your servants, if you choose ; they
will not come."
"Not come !"
She glares upon me like a tigress as she re-
peats these words, and Lemaire, stealing his
hand along the edge of the table, strives to reach
at a knife unperceived by me.
"Your anger can not move, or your words
convince me. I stand here demanding from
you news of the man who loved you — of the
man who squandered his gold for your smiles
— who staked his honor against your blandish-
ments — whose gifts adorn your person — whose
kisses are yet warm upon your lips ! Speak,
Delilah ! Where is he ? What have you done
with him ?"
"I know nothing of him — care nothing for
him — nrfr for your threats either!"
Lemaire has grasped the knife now and got
it down by his side, and all this time there are
faint gleams, as of steel, crossing the gloom be-
yond the curtain, and ever drawing nearer.
"And if I have no need to ask — if I know
all your depravity, all your falseness, all your
crime — if I know how you fled with him, robbed
him, connived at, planned, aided — ay ! aided in
his murder — "
The word is yet on my tongue when Lemaire
springs at my throat !
There is a fierce struggle — a rush of many
feet — a confusion of cries ! The knife is wrench-
ed from his hand ; the deadly grasp torn forci-
bly away, and the miscreant lies felled and
groveling on the floor, with half a dozen mus-
kets at his breast !
The officer has his warrant in his hand.
"Are both prisoners arrested?" he asks, look-
ing round at the faces that fill the room. " My
orders are to secure the persons of Alphonse
Lemaire and Therese Vogelsang. Where is
the woman?"
"Where is she? Let me look at her— let
me come near her!"
— a voice trembling
cries a voice at the door
with suppressed hatred.
"Where is this murderess— this adultress — this
robber?"
We look in one another's faces and make no
reply, while Vogelsang, forcing his way to where
Lemaire lies prisoner, keeps repeating his sav-
age questions.
No one can answer them. She was here but
a moment since ; I was speaking to her, stand-
ing within three feet of her, when Lemaire
sprang at me with his knife! Has she sunk
through the floor ?
" Search the house !" says the officer, after a
momentary pause of wondering silence. "She
has slipped away in the scuffle. Search the
house from top to bottom till you find her."
In vain. The house is ransacked thorough-
ly from attic to cellar; no cupboard, recess,
.vardrobe, or curtain is left untried; but The-
rese Vogelsang has utterly and mysteriously
disappeared.
Her husband, balked of his vengeance, rages
hither and thither like one frantic. He foams
at the mouth ; he offers unheard of rewards,
which it is not in his power to redeem ; he
raves, curses, entreats, but all in vain — in vain !
Search as we will from midnight to dawn, the
task is hopeless, the fugitive not to be found.
And so, when three or four hours have been
spent in useless investigations, we are fain to
give it up. The officer then proceeds to affix
his seal upon the furniture ; the servants are
compelled to leave the place in our custody;
windows and doors are all fast closed and lock-
ed ; the prisoner is placed in a coach, and re-
moved to the Con9iergerie in the Palais de Jus-
tice ; and the house, as we look up at it from
the road in the faint morning light, looks blank,
melancholy, and deserted.
CHAPTER XLI.
OBITER DICTUM.
BEAUTIFUL and true is that passage in the
Prose Edda of the wild Icelandic bard, Snorri
Sturlason, wherein Har the Lofty relates how,
after the Twilight of the Gods and the Destruc-
tion of the Universe, "there will arise out of
the ocean another earth most lovely and ver-
dant, with pleasant fields where the grain shall
grow unsown." Thus it was when the Deluge
swept over the world, and left it greener and
holier ; and thus it is that we stand in the pleas-
ant fields of after-life, amid the harvest-plenty
of our spring labors, looking back upon the
anxieties and tribulations of the past.
How strange it is, this turning back to the
contemplation of a great sorrow! Time has
taken us by the hand and led us gently on since
then. The dark shores of the dread land have
faded in the distance. Ambitions, occupations,
friends, all are changed with us. We feel
ashamed that we can still be so happy, and
would fain persuade ourselves that the golden
sunbeams are less lovely in our eyes than the
pale radiance of the lamp that lights the tomb.
Vain self-reproaches and self-doubts ! It was
night, and the morning, according to Nature's
inevitable succession, has followed on its path.
Not always, perhaps, dawns so fair a day as the
preceding. Some roses may have faded, some
trees have fallen in the tempest that came and
went with the stars. Yet, when the rain de-
scended, it nurtured seeds that might elsewise
have perished ; and so, watered by the tears of
our anguish, blossom the autumn flowers of life.
Writing thus, in the seclusion of my home,
at peace with all men, surrounded by those who
are nearest and dearest to my heart, and dwell-
ing, moreover, in a gentle world of dreams and
100
MY BROTHER'S WIFE.
books, I recall with awe and shuddering the
great tragedy of my youth.
Opposite the table where I sit in my quiet
study hangs the portrait of a young man, of
whom it might be said, as of Baldur the Beau-
tiful, "so fair and dazzling is he in form and
features that rays of light seem to issue from
him." His lips are parted in a half smile ; he
leans indolently against the pedestal of a sculp-
tured figure; his eye is bright and careless ; his
brow untouched by sorrow or study. Gazing
up at him thus, his golden locks seem but to
need the classic chaplet and the dropping per-
fumes of luxurious Greece. He might be Al-
cibiades — he was The'ophile Latour.
Let me pause — let me pause for a moment
amid the dark details of his errors and their
punishment. Let me recall him in his beauty,
irradiated as it now is by the light which streams
down upon him tln-ough the brazen gates of
eternity! He offended — he expiated. It is
the old stern tale of heavenly compensation —
the moral of the antique legend. Condemn him
not, blame him not, judge him not too harshly,
oh thou kind reader! This fair portrait is all
that now remains of him — this checkered chron-
icle all the record of his deeds. Past art thou,
my brother, like an errant and glowing meteor
— past, and remembered only by the few who
dare still to love and pity thee, although thou
standest before the jasper throne, and we are
"distant in humanity." The myrtles have
blossomed and the daisies been mown down
many times above thy grave since thou wert
laid in the shadow of that old belfry-tower at
Douai, sleeping, sleeping. Ever and anon, from
the ways of busy life and the silent paths of
thought, I turn aside and visit thy place of sep-
ulture. Oftener still, as at this moment, I seem
to hear the bells ringing solemnly, and the or-
gan pealing, and the priests chanting their mis-
erere, as once long since ; and then I, too, lift
up my voice in prayer and lamentation, and
"Bid thee rest,
And drink thy fill of pure immortal streams !"
One other thing have I to say. We all know
that story of the painter of old, who, in repre-
senting the sacrifice of Iphigenia, depicted her
father in an attitude of profound dejection, with
his face buried in the folds of his mantle.
And he was right. There are griefs which
transcend the skillfullest touches of the pencil
or pen ; and so, in imitation of a wise precedent,
will I also draw a veil before the tearful coun-
tenances of some of the personages of this his-
tory. Too sacred — too sacred are thy sorrows,
wife and mother! Enough if it be said that
the writer of these pages took upon himself the
heavy task of acquainting them with their be-
reavement ; that he journeyed into Brussels, and
thence on to the old chateau in pleasant Bur-
gundy ; that he wept with those who were deso-
late; that he returned, after an absence of little
more than two days, compelled, by the stern call
of the law, to be present at the examinations
find trial ; and, finally, that he passed through
the city where dwelt the gentle Margaret, with-
out having it in his power to tarry by the way,
though never so briefly.
This en passant, reader, as an entre acte in the
pauses of the drama, while the scene is shifted
and the players make ready with the mask and
cothurnus ; or, if thou likest it better, as the
fragment of a requiem, played while the priests
change their broidered vestments, and the con-
gregation sit with their missals in their hands,
listening dreamily to the music which breathes
out from the golden organ-pipes, like the sigh-
ing of the evening air through the strings of an
JEolian harp, sad, and whispering, and "softer
than sleep."
But methinks I hear thee say, with Christo-
fero Sly, "'Tis a very excellent piece of work —
would 'twere done !" Patience, I beseech thee,
during a few more pages. My story draws near
to an end, and the curtain will fall and the lights
be extinguished ere long.
" And therefore herkeneth what I shall say,
And let me tellen all my tale I pray."
CHAPTER XLII.
GUILTY OR NOT GUILTY.
IT is in the old justice hall of that antique
city of Lille which Julius Caesar founded. The
morning is dark and raw. The privileged spec-
tators are few, and there are some ladies in the
galleries. The Procureur du Roi has not yet
arrived ; the president is deep in the pages of
his note-book ; the avocats are sorting their pa-
pers, and the jury shuffling their feet, and whis-
pering together, and looking impatiently toward
the clock over the president's chair. All is silent
and heavy, and every now and then the opening
of some outer door admits that uneasy, continu-
ous, indescribable sound which proceeds from a
multitude of persons.
Presently the clock strikes ; the Procureur du
Roi enters and takes his seat ; there is a faint
commotion at the farther end of the hall ; every
head is instantly turned, and a pale, cadaverous-
looking man, scarce able to support himself, is
brought forward by gendarmes and placed at
the bar.
Strange alteration effected in so few days !
Lemaire — that Lemaire whom I had surprised
amid the lustiest enjoyments of life, with whom
I had struggled, and whose strength I had but
so lately experienced — is now humble as a beat-
en cur, and so weak as to be permitted to sit
during his trial. His red hair and beard, un-
shorn and neglected, hang upon his face and
downcast eyes ; his shoulders are bent ; his head
droops on his breast ; his hands hang listlessly
on either side; his whole attitude and aspect
speak dejection, cowardice, guilt.
The Procureur du Roi rises and reads the ac-
cusation.
The paper is long and formal ; but the chief
facts are these :
MY BROTHER'S
101
THE ASSASSINATION OF THEOPHILE LATOUR.
It is now some months since Theophile La-
tour became intimate with a vocalist named
Therese, or The'resa Vogelsang, an Austrian
subject, then performing at Brussels. She is
known to have encouraged his attentions, and
to have carried on, at the same time, an intrigue
with Alphonse Lemaire, a Frenchman, native
of Paris, resident at Brussels, and then lessee
of the Brussels theatre. The liberality of the
deceased toward this woman was unbounded,
and became the talk of all the city. Money
and gifts were squandered hourly upon her, and
the wealth thus obtained was shared between
the receiver and her lover. At this stage of the
affair, Heinrich Vogelsang, husband of Therese,
made his appearance with an injunction granted
by the Austrian government, which gave him
full powers to remove, and, if necessary, arrest
his wife above-named. To this end he con-
sulted and entered into negotiations with Le-
maire the manager, who, for his part, is sup-
posed to have informed Madame Vogelsang
upon every particular. The result was obvious,
and the only remedy flight. Still acting the
same double game, and interweaving it now
with a darker purpose, she induced the deceased
Theophile Latour to dispose of a valuable estate
in Burgundy, to fly with her to Paris, and there
to spend the proceeds of the sale in pleasures
and excesses. They eloped accordingly on the
evening of the 16th of October last— chose for
their starting-point the masked ball held at the
Opera House, and traveled unceasingly till they
arrived at Douai on the evening of the 17th in-
stant, where they rested for the night. They
left their hotel the next morning, and when at
a sufficient distance from the house, hired a fia-
cre which conveyed them as far as the opening
of a certain narrow lane, on the western high
road, where they alighted, and along which they
proceeded. Toward three or four o'clock they
reached a mean hamlet lying among the fields
and lanes about seven miles west of the town,
where they established themselves at an inn
called the Hotel de Namur, and were met some
few hours later by the prisoner. The pretense
on which this meeting was arranged concealed
a deep and artful plot. Both deceased and pris-
oner had traveled under the name of Alphonse
Lemaire, and, averse as the deceased appears
always to have shown himself to the company
of the prisoner, it seems that he submitted to it
on this occasion for the purpose of a more skill-
ful concealment. The ostensible plan was that
Lemaire and Therese Vogelsang should, from
this point, travel together into Paris, and be
joined afterward by Latour, in order that, if in-
quiries were made, it might be established that
they journeyed and arrived together, which de-
ception would have been favored by the pass-
ports. The remote village was also chosen as
affording a convenient place for the exchange
of persons. All these, seen from this point of
view, are clumsily contrived plans enough ; fea-
sible, however, to a man blinded by passion
and hurried on by a will superior to his own.
Viewed from the other side, unfortunately, its
clumsiness vanishes, and gives place to a pro-
foundly calculated scheme. The spot was known
to the prisoner, eminently fitted for an assas-
sination, and far removed from high road and
town. All was preconcerted, down to the very
copse where the murder was to be committed
and the body concealed. All succeeded as it
had been ordered. On the morning of the 19th
instant the deceased and prisoner left the inn to
take a walk before breakfast. The former nev-
er returned. A plausible excuse accounted for
all, and in a few hours more the vocalist and
the manager were on the road to Paris, where
they arrived toward evening. A lengthened,
tedious, and careful search, conducted by the
detective agent, Pierre Corneille Barthelet, ac-
companied by the brother of the deceased and
the before-mentioned husband of Therese Vogel-
sang, has been successful in bringing to light all
the circumstances of this crime. The body they
discovered concealed in a deep hollow toward
the centre of a little wood bordering the ham-
let. The deceased had been shot from behind,
the ball having passed under the left shoulder-
blade and penetrated to the heart. He must
have expired instantaneously and without a
struggle. The pistol with which the deed was
effected has been discovered in a ditch not far
from the spot.
Such are the leading facts which preceded and
followed the crime imputed to Alphonse Le-
maire and The'rese Vogelsang, the latter of
whom has escaped and not yet been apprehend-
ed. The accusation, therefore, impeaches both
parties, namely, Alphonse Lemaire for having
assassinated and murdered Theophile Latour,
and Therese Vogelsang for aiding and abetting
in the same.
Monsieur le President then proceeded to in-
terrogate the prisoner.
M. le President. "Alphonse Lemaire, rise;
state your age and profession."
He rose with difficulty, and almost immedi-
ately fell back in his chair, with an appearance
of great weakness.
" He can not stand, so please you, M. le Pres-
ident," said a soldier, stepping forward. "He
has been very ill since his apprehension, and •
was brought up from Paris with difficulty."
The president appeared satisfied with this ex-
planation, and the examination was resumed.
' ' Alphonse Lemaire, state your age and pro-
fession."
The prisoner continued to hang his head for-
ward on his breast, and replied with a collected
manner, and in a low but audible voice, that his
age was thirty-seven, and his profession histri-
onic.
M. le President. "How long have you held
the management of the Opera House at Brus-
sels ?"
Prisoner. "About three years and a half."
102
MY BROTHER'S WIFE.
M. k President. " You are a native of Paris?"
Prisoner. l ' I was born in the Rue St. Honore,
No. 85. My father was a manufacturer of bronze
ornaments."
M. le President. "At what time did you en-
gage the services of Therese Vogelsang for your
theatre ?"
Prisoner. "The negotiations were conducted
by letter. She arrived in Brussels July 5th, and
commenced her performances the next evening."
M. le President. "Were you cognizant of her
connection with Monsieur Theophile Latour ?"
Prisoner. " I knew that he admired her, and
that she accepted gifts from him ; but the world
is so censorious, especially to ladies of her pro-
fession, that I attached no importance to the
scandal of the green-room."
M. le President. "What were the propositions
made to you by the Herr Vogelsang?"
Prisoner. " The Herr Vogelsang showed me
a paper purporting to emanate from the Aus-
trian authorities, by which he was empowered
to remove his wife from the Brussels stage. He
then proposed to me to suppress all knowledge
of this paper from the lady and from Monsieur
Latour, alleging as his reason that the family
of that gentleman were anxious to separate him
from her society, and to conceal from him where
and by what means she had disappeared. To
insure this the more effectually, I was to pur-
chase the silence of all parties concerned in the
affair, and to receive two thousand francs for my
own co-operation."
M. le President. "And you agreed to this?"
Prisoner. " I agreed to it, M. le President, but
"only to lull their suspicions ; for Madame Vo-
gelsang had honored me with much of her con-
fidence, and I was disposed to save her if I
could."
M. le President. "And you betrayed all?"
Prisoner. "Yes, M. le President."
M. le President. " State the result."
Prisoner. « ' The communication was made to
me only three days before the bal masque, which
I had fixed for the 16th of October. It was evi-
dent to us both that flight was the only resource,
and equally evident that a better opportunity
than the fete could not be chosen. We arranged,
therefore, to leave Brussels on the evening of the
16th, and we did so, between twelve and one
o'clock."
M. le President. "Do you mean to say that
you accompanied Therese Vogelsang from Brus-
sels?"
Prisoner. "I do. Though we had less than
three days to prepare for the journey, I contrived
to put all my affairs in order, to provide pass-
ports, and leave every thing under the manage-
ment of a confidential secretary."
M. le President. " And in what manner did
you travel?"
Prisoner. "We posted part of the way, and
part we traveled by railway."
M. le President. "Do you deny that Mon-
sieur Latour accompanied Therese Vogelsang to
Douai ?"
Prisoner. "I traveled with her all the way."
M. le President. "Did you spend one night
at a little hamlet near Douai, and there meet
M. Latour?"
Prisoner. " No, M. le President. We trav-
eled without stopping any where. I never saw
Monsieur Latour more than twice or thrice in
my life."
M. le President. "This cigar-case, marked
with the initials T. L., was found in the car-
riage abandoned on the road by Madame Vogel-
sang. How do you account for its discovery ?"
Prisoner (hesitating). "That — that cigar-
case, M. le President ? It was left, I believe,
by M. Latour at the house of madame. She
gave it to me as a present."
M. le President. "And this note, directed to
M. Latour, and dropped by Madame Vogelsang
on leaving the ball, what do you say to that ?"
The prisoner here asked to see the note, and
read it attentively.
Prisoner. " I know nothing of it. I believe
it to be a forgery."
M. le President. "Here is a fragment of blue
cloth discovered clinging to a bramble in the
wood where the body lay concealed. This frag-
ment corresponds with a torn place in one of
your coats found in Paris. Have you any thing
to say respecting it ?"
The prisoner shook his head, and declined
making any farther replies.
M. le President. "Enough. Let the witness-
es be called."
The first witness examined was Barthelet ;
the second, Heinrich Vogelsang ; the third, my-
self. All that we knew is known already to the
reader. Our statements coincided with each
other word for word. Barthelet delivered his
testimony concisely and unpretendingly ; Vogel-
sang, with a sullen and subdued resentment
breaking forth every now and then against his
wife, sternly, briefly, comprehensively.
Ever since the night on which Lemaire had
been apprehended and Therese had escaped, Vo-
gelsang was an altered man. He spoke less
than ever ; wandered out for hours at a time,
and returned to our hotel without saying where
he had been ; was frequently so absorbed in
thought as to hear, see, and notice nothing ;
seemed to eat, even, as it were, mechanically,
and more for the purpose of recruiting his phys-
ical strength than from any impulse of hunger
or enjoyment. One would have said, on ob-
serving his settled gaze, the abstraction of his
speech and attitudes, and the- self-withdrawn in-
ner look of his countenance, that he had some
fixed idea upon which his thoughts fed contin-
ually—from which he could be roused only by
an effort, and to which he returned the moment
that his attention was released.
Yet there were occasions upon which a single
inadvertent word, such as " flight," or " discov-
ery," would rouse him as from a deep sleep, and
then he was keen and watchful as a hare — all
eye, and ear, and eager investigation. Some-
times I used to think that his dominant purpose
MY BROTHER'S WIFE.
103
was the patient searching after the missing crim-
nal, and that he had resolved to devote life and
energies to the working out of his darling venge-
ance. In this suspicion I was strengthened by
the evident impatience with which he obeyed
the business of the trial ; the restless way in
which he counted every day, and hour, and min-
ute of his absence ; the strong reluctance with
which he left Paris, and the eager rapidity with
which he hastened from Lille as soon as his
share in the trial was concluded.
And this reminds me that I have wandered
from my subject too long.
The examination of witnesses was tedious and
minute. They were nearly a hundred in num-
ber, and comprised toll and post-house keepers,
postillions, ostlers, inn-keepers, custom-house of-
ficers, and servants without end. This part of
the trial lasted two days and a half.
I believe that I have not forgotten a syllable
of the evidence, a glance or movement of the
prisoner, or the merest incident of that terrible
event. Yet, thank Heaven ! I seldom think of
it. When my attention is drawn to it, as in
transcribing this narrative, it comes back to me
clearly, circumstantially, and sharply defined, as
if all had happened yesterday. Still, upon
subject so important, I will not trust the tablets
of my memory. The subjoined resume of some
of the evidence elicited from the witnesses ]
copy from the leading journal of the day, pre.
served by my friend Seabrook, and by him len
to me for this purpose.
'THE TRAGEDY NEAR DOTJAI — SECOND DAY.
"The most remarkable testimony, viz., tha
of Barthelet, Vogelsang, and Latour (frere), hav
ing been gone through yesterday, and given in
our evening edition, we proceed to relate a por
tion of the facts obtained this morning from a
host of minor witnesses, of whom there were toe
many called to be fully reported in our pages.
" Jean - Simon Carpeaux, and Antoinette hi
wife, depose that on the morning of the 17th
inst. a carriage corresponding to the descrip
tion previously given passed through the Porte
d'Anderlecht, Brussels. Believe it to have beer
about one o'clock in the morning. Are sur<
that the carriage contained a lady and gentle
man, and that they drove fast. On being aske
if the gentleman in question and the prisone
were the same individual, Antoinette declare
herself positive that they were not. Said tha
the gentleman whom she saw was fair and hanc
some. Husband not so certain.
" Durand Stumph, toll-keeper, deposes that
dark green chariot drove swiftly past befor
dawn. Is very deaf and old, and does not re
member whether there was more than one per
son inside, or if it were a gentleman or lady.
" Jerome Daumet and Amedee Coquart, posti
lions, depose to having driven the fugitive;
Are certain that prisoner is not the same man
The other was much better looking, and a gen
tleman every inch. The lady was very han
some. They talked some language, when speak
ng to each other, which witnesses could not un-
erstand. Are sure that it was neither French
or Flemish. Thought it might be German,
y the sound. The gentleman, however, spoke
Trench like a native.
"Jacques Chappuy, milk -salesman, deposes
hat he is in the habit of selling milk in the vil-
age of Jemappes. Was serving the post-mas-
er's wife while the dark green chariot was stand-
ig before the door. The lady expressed a wish
or some of the milk, and on a glass being hand-
id out to him from the house, he served it him-
elf to her at the carriage-window. She was
he handsomest woman he had ever seen. Lift-
ed her veil to drink, and her hands were all over
rings. Did not observe the gentleman particu-
arly. Could not take his eyes off the lady, she
,vas so beautiful. Can not be sure if prisoner be
or be not the same person as her companion.
" Felix Pradier, post-master, deposes that the
dark green chariot, now lying in his yard, was
[eft there by a gentleman and lady a little after
noon on the 17th of October. The wheels were
torn to pieces by the roads. It often happens
so •with private carriages on the roads in Bel-
gium. They seemed, both of them, very much
annoyed, especially the lady. Were forced to
take one of his (Felix Pradier's) post-carriages.
They had no luggage with them. Witness
searched the carriage carefully after they were
gone, but found nothing in it except a bag with
some biscuits, which he left there. Was sur-
prised when the other gentleman found the ci-
gar-case. Could not see the lady's face very
plainly through her veil, but thought the gentle-
man handsome. The prisoner was certainly not
the same man — nothing like him. The lady and
gentleman, when conversing together, talked
German. On being asked how he knew that it.
was German, he (Pradier) replied that his wife
was a native of Kehl, and had taught him a lit-
tle of the language — sufficient to convince him
that they spoke it, but not sufficient to enable
him to comprehend the sense of what they said.
"Camille Dumont, clerk in the passport office,
Quievrain, deposes to having inspected both pass-
ports now produced. Did not remark that they
bore the same name till his attention was drawn
to the fact. Remembers nothing of the parties
themselves. All was perfectly en regie, or he
should remember something about it.
"Edouard Lecroix, chefde bureau, passport of-
fice, Quievrain, deposes that he inspected both
passports, and countersigned the same. Took
no notice of the first, or of the parties them-
selves. Grew interested, however, in the mat-
ter after his interview with Vogelsang and La-
tour (frere). Observed, and was surprised,
when, on the afternoon of the second day, an-
other passport bearing the name of Alphonse
Lemaire was submitted to him for examination.
Took particular notice -of bearer. Is certain
that the prisoner is the same person. Could
identify him any where. Did not put any ques-
tions to prisoner. Thought it best, should there
be any thing wrong, not to put him on his guard.
104
MY BROTHER'S WIFE.
Had made an especial entry of the circumstance
in his private note-book. (Witness here handed
his note-book to the president.)
" Philip van Comp, post-boy, deposes that he
drove a lady and gentleman from Quievrain to
Valenciennes between two and three o'clock in
the afternoon of the 17th of October. Is a na-
tive of Flanders. Not speaking French, was
examined through an interpreter. The lady
was very handsome, and the gentleman paid
him in gold. Could not remember the latter
with any distinctness, but is certain that prison-
er is not the same.
" Jacques T/iayer, Henri Rude, Hippolyte
Cogniet, Baptiste Frette, and several others, all
postillions or post-masters, were next examined.
They all deposed to having driven the fugitives,
or supplied them with horses, from Valenciennes
to Douai. No matters of especial interest distin-
guished this part of the proves, saving the com-
plete establishment of every link in the chain
of evidence. The case was then adjourned till
the following day."
" THE TRAGEDY NEAR DODAI — THIRD DAT.
" The examination of witnesses resumed.
li Francois Roger, hotel-keeper, Douai, de-
poses that two persons answering to the general
description arrived at his establishment between
six and seven o'clock on the evening of October
17th, dined and slept there, and left the next
morning. Has very little recollection of the
parties in question. Thinks the gentleman was
fair. Is sure he never saw the prisoner before.
Believes that the lady wore a veil. Remembers
nothing farther, except that they drank a good
deal of Champagne and paid liberally.
" Claudine Roger, wife of the above, deposes
that the gentleman was very handsome — not in
the least like the prisoner. In all respects cor-
roborates the testimony of her husband.
" Jeannette Thouret, chambermaid, deposes
that she conducted the said travelers to their
apartments. Is a servant in the Hotel de Flan-
dres, kept by the couple Roger. Could not see
the lady's face through her veil, which'was very
thick. She kept it down always. The gentle-
man was very handsome. She (Jeannette
Thouret) had never seen a man so handsome.
Could have looked at him for hours. Is cer-
tain that prisoner is not the man. Thinks the
supposition absurd. This man is hideous in
comparison. Only saw them twice, namely, on
their arrival and departure. They left the
house arm in arm together, and the gentleman
gave her (Jeannette Thouret) a five-franc piece
on the staircase.
" Alexandre TJiomas and Napoleon Barlet,
waiters, depose to having waited upon the trav-
elers during their breakfast and dinner. The
lady kept her veil always down ; but her hands
were covered with jewels. They tried to see
her face, but could not. They (the travelers)
would not suffer them (the waiters) to remain
long in attendance, but rang when they wished
the courses removed. Are sure that prisoner is
not the same person. The lady and gentleman
spoke a foreign language to each other. Thought
it was English from the intonation, or perhaps
German. Are not acquainted with either lan-
guage.
" Etienne Blanchet, hackney-coach-driver, de-
poses that he drove a lady and gentleman an-
swering to the general description from close to
the University as far as the opening of a narrow
lane about two miles west of the town. They
paid him more than his fare, and he saw them
walk up the lane very slowly arm in arm. Is
sure that prisoner is not the gentleman. The
lady was very beautiful, and threw her veil up
after they were clear of the town. Was sur-
prised at the time to see them go by such a de-
serted path, but thought they might be lovers
and liked to be alone. Asked them, under this
persuasion, if he should wait to take them back;
but the gentleman only shook his head and
bade him (Etienne Blanchet) drive back again
to Douai."
Here follows a detailed account of the exam-
ination of the host and hostess of the little Ho-
tel de Namur, and also of the boy Jean, all of
which I omit, having already related it in my
narrative. I resume the thread of the trial at
the testimony of Achille Gaudin, the driver of
& fiacre, whose vehicle they seem to have met
on leaving the hamlet next day, and re-emerg-
ing upon the public road.
"Achille Gaudin, hackney-coach-driver, de-
poses that, as he was returning from Douai to
Vitry, where he resides, he overtook a lady and
gentleman upon the road, walking. They
turned round and engaged him instantly. He
drove them to the railway station at Vitry,
where they entered, and where he saw them
waiting before the ticket bureau. Can not be
sure of the date, but thinks it must have been
about the time stated. Is perfectly certain that
prisoner is the same person. Knew him at once,
and could have sworn to him any where. Can't
say much for his liberality. He (the prisoner)
bargained closely enough about the fare ; and
he (Achille Gaudin) afterward found that one
of the francs in which he was paid was a coun-
terfeit. The lady was handsome, but looked
pale and ill. They scarcely spoke to each other
at all, and when they did it was always in
French. Does not remember to have heard
them say any thing in particular.
"Here the examination of witnesses termin-
ated. Monsieur Lebas, Procureur du Roi, sup-
ported the accusation. Messieurs Rebout and
Fayot pleaded for the defense.
"After a long and able debate, sustained
with equal learning and vigor on both sides, M.
le President summed up an impartial and elo-
quent resume of the entire case. The jury then
retired into the salle des deliberations. • The fol-
lowing question was submitted to their judg-
ment on retiring from the hall :
"'Alphonse Lemaire, ci-devant 'manager of
the Brussels Opera, is he or is he not guilty of
having, on the 19th morning of October last,
MY BROTHER'S WIFE.
105
18 — , purposely and voluntarily murdered The-
ophile Latour, of Latour-sur-Creil, Burgundy?"
" At this exciting moment, the crowd out-
side, which had been gathering and increasing
during the whole morning, poured suddenly and
irresistibly into the hall. A great number of
ladies (many more than had been present upon
the two previous clays) filled the galleries. The
mass of expectants who had been prevented in
time from following the rest, gave forth an im-
patient murmur, like the roaring of the sea ;
and the armed force, impossible as they had
found it to exclude the public, were scarcely
able to maintain any degree of order.
"The jury returned at a quarter past four
o'clock P.M. and resumed their seats, when the
foreman, on request of M. le President, rose,
and placing his hands, according to custom,
upon his heart, replied,
" ' Upon my honor and my conscience, before
God and before men, the declaration of the jury
is — Yes; the accused is guilty.'
"The prisoner was then brought in, pale, al-
most insensible, his whole form drooping, mo-
tionless, and dejected, like that of a man with-
out hope or fortitude.
"The decision of the jury was then read to
him, and he was asked if he had any thing to
say. He seemed neither to hear nor compre-
hend, and after a silence of several minutes the
sentence of condemnation was passed, and this
terrible sentence read aloud from the pages of
the Code Penal :
" 'All condemned to death are to be beheaded.'
" The commotion at this point was immense.
A simultaneous cry, which might almost be des-
ignated as a yell of exultation, filled the hall,
and, communicating itself to the mass beyond,
effectually stopped the proceedings for several
minutes.
"The wretched criminal heard all with the
same apparent listlessness and indifference, bnt,
on being removed from the dock, was found to
have fainted, and was carried away by the
guards in a condition of insensibility.
"And thus terminated one of the most re-
markable trials which we remember to have re-
corded in our columns. Seldom has a crime
b3cn planned with more sagacity, or executed
more craftily and remorselessly. No precaution
that could have availed was omitted ; and as it
was conceived, so was this hideous drama en-
acted. The impression upon the public mind
has been terrible and profound, and it is only to
be regretted that the murderer's accomplice (a
demon of beauty and sin, to the full as culpable
as himself) should have escaped. We will trust,
however, that the place of her retreat may be
ere long discovered. The police are on the
search in all directions, and it is confidently
hoped that the ends of justice may not long be
eluded.
"The execution, it is understood, will take
place in about a fortnight, this crime having
been the first upon the Assize-lists for the pres-
ent session."
CHAPTER XLIII.
MISTS DISPERSING.
I MUST go back to the evening of the first day
of the trial.
It was dark, and I sat, sadly enough, beside
a blazing fire in a small sitting-room in the Ho-
tel de 1'Europe, at Lille. A dull lamp stood
by my elbow, and some untouched coffee upon
the table. My thoughts were very gloomy —
"deepe, darke, uneasy, dolefull, comfortlesse."
The past was terrible and tragic ; the future
crossed and perplexed by many doubts.
To escape from the remembrance of. all that
had filled my mind for the last few weeks, I
found myself turning with an irresistible ten-
derness toward the image of my gentle Marga-
ret :
u O sweet pale Margaret,
O rare pale Margaret,
What lit your eyes with tearful power,
Like moonlight on a falling shower?
Who lent you, love, your mortal dower
Of pensive thought and aspect pale,
Youj- melancholy sweet and frail,
As perfume of the cuckoo-flower?"
I dwelt, with a satisfaction the more exquisite
since it contrasted so strongly with the suffering
through which I had lately passed, upon that
singularly calm and lovely nature — that capaci-
ty of endurance and enjoyment — that patient
courage — that love of knowledge — that rapidity
and tenacity of apprehension — that childish
self-abandonment to the full luxury of simple
pleasures, all and each of which unfolded them-
selves by slow degrees from the outward reserve
of her disposition.
It was as if her mind were some charmed
volume, whose silver clasps resist the merely
curious hand, but yield to the touch of lover or
friend ! Fair and pleasant are its pages with-
in; inscribed with gracious thoughts and im-
ages, and pious hymns, and fragments of stories
beautiful and wise ; illuminated, moreover, with
borderings of flowers, and pictures of the knight-
ly Gothic times, and forms of saints and angels
with folded hands and crowns of golden glory.
DrSaming thus, and watching the pictures in
the fire, I suffered time to pass on unnoticed.
It was so pleasant to think of her — to recall her
words and gestures, and the memory of her face.
Yet
"How, in thy twilight, Doubt, at each unknown
Dim shape, the superstitious Love will start ;
How Hope itself will tremble at its own
Light shadow on the heart !
Ah ! if she love me not !
" Well, I will know the worst, and leave the wind
To drift or drown the venture on the wave ;
Life has two friends in grief itself most kind-
Remembrance and the Grave —
Mine, if she love me not !"
Alas ! these doubts and weary changes, they
overshadow life like a dark dream.
Suddenly a slow footfall on the stairs, and a
hand upon the door, roused me sharply from my
reverie. It was Vogelsang.
He looked more wretched and haggard than
ever, and, walking up to the other side of the
fireplace, sat down moodily without speech or
106
MY BROTHER'S WIFE.
greeting. He did not even remove his hat, but
stared into the fire with a stern, sullen counte-
nance, and sighed heavily.
I found myself in no humor to interrupt his
strange mood or open the conversation, so I
leaned back and looked at him.
What a singular face it was ! Seen by the
dim conflicting lights of fire and lamp, how pale,
and worn, and prematurely old ! There was a
delicacy, too, in the outline of the features, and
a certain stamp of youth yet lingering round
the eyes and forehead that interested me — a set-
tled purpose in the furrowed brow, the massive
jaw, the square short chin, that riveted my at-
tention, and told of strong will and passions. I
wondered what might be the story of his past
life — a remarkable story it must be, a story of
storms, and trials, and endeavors, by the ravage
of its progress through the years !
"I return to Paris to-morrow morning," he
said at length, but musingly and to himself, as
it were, with his eyes fixed on the fire.
"So soon? Will you not remain till this
business is concluded?"
He shook his head.
"Cui bonof My evidence is given. I can
be of no use. I must go back to — to my
task."
' ' Uselessly. Where the police fail, how can
you hope to succeed?"
He looked round sharply and suddenly; then,
resuming his former ^attitude, but speaking in a
slower and more resolute tone,
" I must find her," he said. "I have sworn
it. It is all I live for now, and though I perish
for it, body and soul, I will have my vengeance."
"Retribution is already at work," I replied,
"and punishment is for the law."
He appeared not to hear me, and, after a
pause, resumed his former subject.
"Yes," he said, "I return to-morrow; and
in the fulfillment of one task, I leave others un-
accomplished. How soon will this trial end?"
" In a few days, I suppose — perhaps three or
four."
"And then what shall you do ?"
"What shall I do? I — I can scarcely tell.
Why do you ask me ?"
" Shall you go back to Brussels?"
"Yes, I suppose so — on my way to Bur-
gundy."
"Then you mean to live upon your estates
again?"
"Perhaps."
Another long silence, which I interrupt by
saying,
"It is strange, Herr Vogelsang, that you
should make these inquiries. I never knew
you interested in my proceedings before."
"True. So you will return through Bel-
gium?"
I nodded.
Vogelsang rose abruptly, and took three or
four turns up and down the room, like a man
who weighs some subject in his mind and can
arrive at no decision. Presently he stopped ;
his features assumed a look of resolve, and he
turned toward me.
"I have a sister in Brussels," he said.
"Indeed!"
" The only creature I have to care for in the
world — the only one who cares for me."
I became interested.
"I never heard that you had a sister," I said,
kindly. ' ' Tell me something about her. Can
I do any thing for you in Brussels ?"
"That is what I. was about to ask you. I
should wish some things told to her — something
of this — this bad business. I could not write it
down on paper, and she ought to know. And
there is a portrait which I should like her to
have." Here he took a small morocco case
from his pocket and laid it down gently on the
table. "It — it is eur mother's."
There was a softness in his voice, a moisture
in his eyes, that I had never seen there before.
I felt touched.
"It shall be done as you desire," I said.
"Tell me all that I have to say."
He sighed heavily, and covered his eyes with
his hand.
"Tell her how all has ended. Something
of the past she knows, but not all. I could not
bring myself to relate to her the details of that
degrading story. Do it as delicately as you
can, and — and say that I don't think — I fear —
that is, she may never see me again."
" What do you mean ?"
' ' No matter. Will you do it ?"
"I have promised."
" But I have not said all. There is some-
thing more — something which — which I can
scarcely take the liberty of asking from you."
"Proceed."
He hesitated, seemed about to speak, yet
checked himself more than once, and at length
continued :
" My sister is younger than myself. We
have been very much apart ever since our child-
hood. If I tell you something of our story, you
will be better able to help me ; at all events, you
may be less likely to refuse what I am going to
request."
' ' Pray do so. It is exactly what I would have
asked you, if I had dared."
He passed his hand fondly over the portrait-
case, turned toward the fire, and, resuming his
former musing attitude, began :
"I will presume that you remember all I told
you once before — on the night I first addressed
you in Brussels. How I married in compliance
with an old family agreement, being, at the
time, little more than a boy. How I yielded to
my father's entreaties — married, and, at last,
loved her. How she wronged, robbed, fled me
— left me poor, broken-hearted, and dishonored !
Yes, you know all this — no use to dwell upon
it. My mother was — was living at the time of
my marriage, and, thank Heaven ! she died be-
fore a year had passed (before I was made reck-
less and a wanderer), leaving my father broken-
hearted for her loss, and one little girl just six
MY BROTHER'S WIFE.
107
years old. That was eleven years ago. She is | deep flush crossed his sallow cheek ; he rose
now seventeen, and I am thirty. Thirty ! Alas !
I both feel and look many years older. When
— when Therese became infamous, I left Vienna
and my accursed home. I roamed from city to
city, from land to land, in the vain search for a
peace that was fled. From Germany to Italy,
Switzerland, France, I wandered, and at last
reached England, where I spent the last two
years and a half. I procured a mean employ-
ment in a solicitor's office, and so contrived to
eke out a subsistence, which, wretched though it
was, occupied my time and thoughts, and ren-
dered me a trifle less miserable than I had been
since my — my voluntary separation from father,
sister, and home. Besides, though I had no rel-
atives there, and should not have known them
if I had, England was my native country, and I
liked—"
"Your native country, Herr Vogelsang!" I
exclaimed. "Are you not a Viennese — an
Austrian subject?"
He shook his head.
" She was Austrian, but my family is English."
"Yet your name?"
"The name," he said, "is one which she
chose to assume on returning to the stage seven
or eight months ago. It is not mine or hers."
"And, pardon me, she acted before you mar-
ried her?"
* "It washer profession — her innate vocation
from childhood. My father and I were violin-
players in the orchestra at the Royal Opera.
We left England when I was scarcely ten years
of age, before Margaret was born — "
"Margaret!"
I had sprang to my feet at the sound of that
name : my heart beat wildly ; I trembled from
head to foot. Margaret !
He looked up, amazed at my agitation, and
replied,
"Yes, Margaret — my sister."
It was all clear to me now ; there could be
no mistake about it ; the mist was dissolving be-
fore my eyes, and I dared not trust myself to
follow the chain of hopes and guesses that ran,
like an electric current, through my mind.
"Your name is Fletcher!" I cried, scarce
able to articulate. "Your name is Fletcher !"
He started.
" How did you know that?"
"Tell me— in pity tell me !"
" Yes, my name is Fletcher — Frank Fletcher."
"Thank God ! thank God !" It was all that
I could say.
I sank back, in my agitation, into the chair
from whence I had risen. The tears thronged
to my eyes. Oh, dear, dear Margaret !
My companion was almost dumb with sur-
prise.
"What do you know of me — or of Margaret?"
he asked.
I answered his question with another.
"Did not your father die at Ems— in the sum-
mer-time— of brain fever ?"
Now he, too, was suddenly enlightened ; a
and extended his hand to me, for the first time.
"I know you now," he said, warmly. "I
wish that I had known you from the first. You
were my father's friend — you are Margaret's
protector. I thank' you."
He seemed quite overcome. Then, taking the
portrait from the table, he opened and placed it
in my hands.
"My mother and hers," he said, falteringlv.
" Do you think it like her ?"
I could scarcely refrain from pressing it to my
lips ; but the presence of her brother, and a cer-
tain awe which I am unable to define, restrained
me. It was Margaret herself, only a shade fair-
er and more blooming, and dressed in the fash-
ion of some twenty years ago. The same calm
forehead — the same sweet mouth — the same
dark, thoughtful, earnest eyes !
There was a question trembling on my lips —
a question which I longed, yet dared not to ask.
At length, after many eiforts, I ventured.
"You saw Margaret, of course, when you
were in Brussels ?"
" Only twice."
" Once at night — in the park?"
"Yes, once in the park, and once at the
school. You know I kept out of sight, as much
as possible, during the daytime."
' ' And in the park, that night, Margaret was
speaking to you of me — you were urging her to
concealment. Was it not so ?"
"Yes — yes. How do you know this ?'?
"I overheard you. I was in the next walk,
and only separated from you by a hedge. Oh !
had I but known all this before, what a weight
of grief it would have spared me !"
He looked up at me sharply and inquiringly,
but made no reply.
"And you gave her a ring, did you not?"
(I was determined to have it all cleared now.)
"Yes," he said, very gravely, "I gave her a
hair ring which had been our mother's. That
and the portrait were both mine, and I had al-
ways intended to give one of them to Margaret,
when she was of an age to value the relic. I
left her an infant — I found her a woman ; and
I performed my promise. She had but to look
in her mirror for our mother's portrait ; so I
gave her the ring, and kept the miniature. She
will have both now."
"But why do you part with the likeness?"
A dark shade passed over his countenance —
his very voice changed.
"I have devoted myself," he said, gloomily,
"to the execution of a task. I will have an
eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth— justice,
even justice, dispassionately weighed and meas-
ured. I shall not suffer vengeance to mislead
me ; but, once get her into my power, I will let
her taste a cup to the full as bitter as that which
she forced upon me. It shall be meted her, drop
for drop, as it was meted to me. I will see her
sufferings — I will be inflexible, pitiless, unwaver-
ing as time itself. In the working out of my
plan, I bid adieu to the past and to the future.
108
MY BROTHER'S WIFE.
Neither the pleasures nor pains that have been
shall sway me one hair's breadth. I detach my-
self from life— from its ties— from its remem-
brances— from its hopes ; and I go forth alone
in the wide world, seeking but one living being,
and seeking that one with a deep and deadly
hate — which is all the more a hate, and a bitter
one, in so far as it is yet leavened by an inerad-
icable wild passion of jealousy and love."
"And what, in mercy's name, do you purpose
doing ?"
"I know not. I have not fashioned it out
yet myself. Be it, however, when and, what it
may, I feel that I shall not long survive it, if
at all. For years I have borne within me the
seeds of a disease which knows no cure ; a sud-
den and violent excitement would probably be,
at any moment, my death-warrant ; and I know
that the fulfillment of my revenge will herald in
my closing scene of life. Till then I am re-
solved to live. But enough of this. I return
to Paris by dawn to-morrow, and you will un-
dertake to deliver this portrait (the only wealth
that I possess) to my little Margaret in Brus-
sels."
" Most faithfully. But there was something
else which you were about to request from me,
and of which we have since lost sight. What
was it ?"
A grim smile flitted over his face.
' ' It related," said he, ' ' to yourself. I had no
opportunity of seeing Margaret's unknown pro-
tector, and I felt desirous to know something
more of his character and position. In fact, I
was going to ask you to discover all this for me
— to ascertain the particulars of his family con-
nections, his age and prospects, and to sift his
reputation to the bottom. I met Margaret, as
I have told you, but twice, and both interviews
were so brief, so anxious, so agitated, that I
learned nothing more than that a Monsieur
Paul had been a friend to our father, and had
attended his death-bed ; that Margaret had been
recommended to his care ; that he was very rich,
and benevolent, and good ; that he had made
her position in the school more comfortable and
independent ; and that he was teaching her to
draw. All this I heard in fewer words than I
have repeated, and no more. To me you were
Monsieur Paul, and I even believed that to be
your surname. You see, I was about to request
from you a troublesome and an important serv-
ice."
"Nothing more than I would have done for
you, Mr. Fletcher, were it not, fortunately, un-
necessary. Of my family and rank you have
heard sufficient upon the trial this day, and I
rejoice to have it in my power to ask her broth-
er's sanction before removing Margaret from the
school where she is now placed, to my own res-
idence in Burgundy. It is a step which I have
long wished to take. My mother will receive
her as if she were her own child ; and I promise
you, in her name and my own, that nothing
which can add to her happiness, or her mental
culture, shall be neglected."
Fletcher colored up again, and hesitated for
several minutes before he made any reply.
"I appreciate your generosity, sir," he said,
at length, "and I thank you for it. I could
wish that my sister were — were less dependent
on your bounty ; but I have nothing, and my
path lies far from her. It must be as you wish
— it is to her advantage. I have, God knows !
no right to mar her fortunes by my pride. I
thank you, sir."
Hereupon he relapsed into his old stern, si-
lent mood, and stared, as before, into the fire.
Observing this, I hazarded one or two remarks,
which he appeared not to hear or notice, but
moved his lips now and then, as if speaking
dumbly to himself, and shook his head mourn-
fully in reply.
Thus a long time passed by, and the time-
piece in the room struck ten o'clock. He start-
ed, rose hurriedly, and with the words " Good-
night, farewell," moved abruptly toward the
door.
I seized him by the arm.
"You are not going thus?" I exclaimed.
"Leave me, at least, some address by which a
letter might find you, if necessary."
He looked at me with a sort of dreamy sur-
prise.
"An address!" he replied. "An address!
I am homeless. I shall wander till I find her,
though it be to the ends of the earth. How
can I give you an address ?"
"Then, at least, you will promise to write?"
He sighed and looked down irresolutely.
"For Margaret's sake! Stay! here is my
card. I will write my own direction upon it —
' Chateau de Latour, Latour-sur-Creil, Burgun-
dy.' This will always find me, and Margaret
also. See, how easily you can do this ! Sure-
ly, for "your sister's sake, you will promise so
small a thing."
He stretched out his hand for the card, but
made no reply.
I glanced at his threadbare coat, his worn and
haggard countenance, his thin, yellow hand — a
rapid thought flashed across my mind — I turned
aside and wrapped the card in a couple of bank-
notes before I gave it to him.
A peculiar expression passed over his face ;
he closed his hand over the card, and placed it
in his waistcoat pocket ; turned to leave the
room — hesitated again — lingered — looked back
— went out suddenly, and so parted from me
without another word.
It struck me at the moment, and I have often
wondered since, that he was aware of what I
had done, and yet was too poor to refuse, and
too proud to acknowledge the gift.
Poor Fletcher ! I never saw him again.
CHAPTER XLIV.
COSMORAMAS.
As I left it in the gentle spring-time, so I
find it in the still, bleak, sad November season.
I stand in my own Gothic library again — stand
MY BROTHER'S WIFE.
109
with the lifted curtain in my hand, looking upon
the shadowy Apostles ranged on either side —
upon the recesses filled with books of poetry and
learning — upon the silver lamp with its ame-
thyst globe, swinging softly to and fro in the
gloom, like a censer in an unseen hand.
There stands my chair, as though I had risen
from it but an hour since — there my reading-
desk and paper-case. The pen lies in the stand,
but the ink has dried away, and the peri has
rusted.
Slowly, almost doubtfully, I pass along be-
tween those colossal forms to the farthest end
of the room, where I withdraw the heavy cur-
tains, and look out into the night.
I have done this almost mechanically; yet,
in one brief instant, a torrent of recollections
rush over me — strange recollections of a warm
passion, now cold and past — of a still, starry
night in May, when the yellow moon hung low
above the trees, and the nightingales recorded
in the forest — of that almost forgotten moment
when I first saw and loved AdrienneLachapelle !
And now, how great the change ! The moon
is there, but her light is blue and cold ; yonder
black shadow is the leafless forest ; the nightin-
gales have fled long since; all is bare, and
blank, and stern in the wide landscape.
And within ? Ah me ! the change within is
yet greater.
Sighing, I drop the curtains and exclude the
sullen view. Yonder lies my neglected atelier.
Shall I enter? A feeling which is almost that
of shame restrains me. I hesitate. At last I
overcome it and go in.
There has been a gentle hand at work here
also. I had half expected to find every thing
as I had left it on the last terrible day, and it is
a relief to me to see all traces of my fury dis-
appeared. Easels, furniture, lay-figures, all are
ranged about the room in unartistic order. My
sketches have been pinned against the wall.
Some of my finished paintings are framed, and
hang in the best situations. Even the Medicean
Venus, which I ruthlessly shattered in my un-
reasoning passion, has been replaced.
On yonder easel, however, a picture has been
left, as if awaiting the last touches of my pen-
cil. Half suspecting, half dreading what it may
be, I compel myself to cross over and examine
it. As I thought! Cathedral, and penitent,
and shadowy aisles — the last and most signifi-
cant of my labors! I gaze upon it long and
very earnestly, and then, almost sadly, I turn
the canvas to the wall and leave the room.
'Tis a dead past and a dead love ; peace be to
them ! Forward, forward into the pleasant fu-
ture, made beautiful by the vision of another
and a dearer face.
I loved Adrienne — I love Margaret. How
like the words, yet how unlike the feeling ! My
love for Adrienne was a trance, an intoxication,
a delirium. Her wondrous beauty dazzled and
subdued me. It haunted my sleep; it went
beside me in forest and field ; it glided betwixt
me and the sunlight ; it rose out from the pages
of philosopher and poet ; it usurped the place
of reason and thought — I had almost said, of
religion ! It passed over my soul like a sum-
mer tempest, with lightning and thunder. In
a word, it was the first deep, wild love of pas-
sionate manhood. Like a burning dream it
came and went, and left, what such dreams
leave — ashes and dust.
Not so, not so, my pale and patient Marga-
ret, is this gentle affection which fills and satis-
fies my heart, and makes life holy. Thy fair
calm face is ever with me, 'tis true, but it seems
to read me a divine commentary on all that I do
or think ; it guides me, as the spirit of Beatrice
guided the poet of old, from sphere to sphere of
heavenly adoration. If in my sleep thou com-
est to me, it is in the likeness of a protecting
angel, and only to think of thee is a prayer !
I can not remain apart from thee. An irre-
sistible attraction draws me to thy side. Fare-
well solitary library ! There is another book,
more enthralling in its pages than any volume
here, which I must read to-night.
Three ladies are sitting silently together in
the upper drawing-room. A blazing fire crack-
les and sparkles in the vast old-fashioned grate ;
the amber-damask draperies and antique mir-
rors throw back the bright reflection, and all,
save the inmates, looks glowing and cheerful.
Pale and statue-like, Avith her deep mourning
dress, sits my mother in her high-backed chair.
The embroidery lies neglected on her lap ; her
thin white hands are pressed firmly together ;
her blue eyes, once so cold and frosty, are fixed
upon the fire with a softened and melancholy
expression that is infinitely touching. Her
thoughts are with her youngest-born, wander-
ing away, perhaps, to the time when he was an
infant in her arms, or a bold and beautiful boy,
reckless in the pursuit of pleasure and danger,
foremost in the chase, and merriest at the vine-
feast or the village fete.
Close beside her, with one hand resting on
the arm of the high-backed chair, sits Adrienne,
beautiful in her young widowhood, and clothed
likewise in deepest sables. She too is thinking,
and her eyes, bent toward the ground, are sha-
ded by the drooping lids and long fringed lashes.
Farther back, shrinking into- the shade like a
little violet, sits my quiet Margaret. She holds
a book in her hand, yet she is not reading. It
is almost too dark in this recess to see her feat-
ures distinctly, but her cheek rests on her palm,
and her deep brown eyes glow through the dusk
with an inner light of soul and earnest thought.
She is lost in an absorbing reverie, and, from
that musing smile that seems to hover round
the delicate mouth, I should say the day-dream
is far from sorrowful.
Hitherto my entrance has been unperceived,
but, as I advance nearer to their circle, my
mother looks up and extends her hand lovingly
toward me ; Margaret glances round with a
pleased, shy smile; Adrienne alone remains
motionless and unobserving.
Thus I glide into the shadow and take my
110
MY BROTHER'S WIFE.
place by Margaret. We speak seldom, and then
only in whispers ; but our hearts are eloquent,
and full of unuttered poetry.
By-and-by I imprison one little hand in mine,
and draw still nearer toward those downcast
eyes. Now I can hear the subdued fluttering
of her breath ; mine stirs the silken curl beside
her cheek ; the hand is not withdrawn ; we are
both happy — both silent.
"Les anges amoureux se parlent sans paroles,
Comme les yeux aux yeux !"
It is winter, and the snow lies three feet deep
in the court-yard. The trees look like great
branches of white coral ; the windows are cov-
ered with glittering traceries of feathers and
frosted palm-trees; the vine-dressers' children
have built up a colossal snow-man just outside
the gate ; the roads are blocked up from here to
Chalons, and the post has not been in for near-
ly a week.
"Ah! bitter chill it was !
The owl, for all his feathers, was a-cold ;
The hare limp'd trembling through the frozen grass,
And silent was the flock in woolly fold."
We have done all that can be done to en-
liven the wintry solitude of Burgundy. Books,
drawing, music, chess, and all indoor amuse-
ments are put in requisition. Sometimes I
drive the ladies in my Russian sledge, and then
we go flying over plains, and along the frozen
rivers and snowy valleys, to the silver music of
the jingling bells hung to the collars of the
horses ; sometimes we skate by torchlight on
the little lake beyond the village ; sometimes I
sit apart in the recess of a bay window with my
little Margaret, and give a drawing or Italian
lesson.
Adrienne keeps much apart, and spends the
greater part of every day writing or reading in
her own apartment. One of her habits is to
walk up and down the great oaken hall at the
end of the north gallery, book in hand. This
she will do for hours at a time, and we are care-
ful not to interrupt these solitary moods. This
hall was formerly the armory. Old helmets,
and shields, and rusted falchions are yet sus-
pended here and there against the wall, and the
tattered banner at the upper end was taken from
the English at' the. battle of Agincourt by our
ancestor Louis Montmorency de la Tour, sur-
named the Strong.
I have written to Seabrook entreating him to
stay with us for a few weeks, but in vain. He
is now resident in Antwerp, and studies severe-
ly. In a couple of months he will be prepared
to pass his examination in England. He does
not even say whether he shall be able to spare
time for a flying farewell visit. His tone is af-
fectionate and kindly as ever, but less frank.
Of his ambition, of his prospects, he says noth-
ing. An ill-concealed reserve clouds all his
letter. I feel that there is more in this than he
chooses to confide in me, and I am grieved by it.
And thus the winter passes.
Sitting alone in the library one bleak dull
day in early April, when the sky, and trees, and
earth look all one heavy gray, and even the fire
loses half its glow, I find myself reviewing many
things, revolving many plans in my own mind,
and neglecting the open page before my eyes.
Not that the book lacks interest. , Far from
it ; for it is Roger of Wendover's quaint old
Chronicle, and I take all the delight of a true
antiquary in the flavor of dust and vellum that
hangs over the narrative. No, it is not this ; it
is a purely indolent, fanciful, dreaming reverie
that wins me from it.
Yonder, too, lies the letter-bag, and here the
key. I have not yet had the curiosity to open
it, though it has been lying there for more than
an hour. Come ! I will rouse myself. Let us
see what are the contents of the bag !
Three letters to-day — no more. Two of them
are for Adrienne, and bear the English post-
mark. The third is for myself. I do not know
this writing ! I never saw it before, or I should
remember it, so irregular, so blotted, so hasty
and yet so tremulous is the superscription. The
paper is of the coarsest and bluest description ;
the postmark is Philadelphia, U. S. America ;
it is fastened by a wafer, and is soiled by the
transmission through many hands.
I know no one in America ! How strange
this is ! I almost dread to read it ; a presenti-
ment of something unpleasant seems to stay my
hand ; at length I tear it open. It is this :
* ' I thought to live till my task was accom-
plished. I believed that hate was stronger than
disease, and will stronger than destiny. It is
not so ; and, in compliance with your wish, I
write these lines to tell you. I have sought her
in many cities. I have followed the faint ru-
mors of her flight even to the shores of the New
World, and all vainly. I am dying. Before
this can reach your hands I shall be at rest.
They tell me that some six or eight days are all
that remain to me in life. Be it so. Perhaps
it is best. Vengeance is not to be mine, and I
must prepare for eternity. My consolation is
that the punishment must fall sooner or later,
and that it passes, henceforward, into some other
and surer hands. Break this gently to Marga-
ret, and do not let her grieve for one who
grieves not for himself. I have suffered but
little. Farewell. F. FLETCHEK."
The rich autumn has come again. It is our
holiday season in fair Burgundy — the merry
vintage time. The purple grapes hang in heavy
clusters toward the earth ; the sunburnt laborers
wade along the furrows, and bear away the fruit
in long baskets ; the wine-press is at work in
the out-houses ; and the peasant-girls sing like
birds to the measured clicking of their shears.
At dusk they have a supper spread for them in
the hall, and afterward a dance under the lime-
trees, to the droning music of a rustic musette,
upon which the young men perform in turn.
Then the stars come out, and the lovers, walk-
ing homeward by the light of the harvest moon,
take the longest way, and go round by the riv-
MY BROTHER'S WIFE.
Ill
er-side or the burnt mill. Truly a pleasant
season is the vintage-time in Burgundy !
Pleasanter now than ever, for a dear friend
has come down among us to witness the harvest
of the grape, and to gladden our little circle with
his genial face and joyous voice. Yes, it is
Norman Seabrook whom I welcome to my old
home — whose honest hand grasps mine — whose
eyes beam with friendship, and whose- cheery
laughter rings along our shady silent rooms
like a peal of wedding bells. He is paler and
thinner, methinks, than when we first met in
Heidelberg. London air and the study of the
law hath left some traces — stolen some of the
brightness from his smile and the roundness
from his cheek. No matter ! The soft air of
our valleys and the breeze from our mountains,
though his holiday last but six short weeks,
shall work wonders, I promise him.
Now for excursions to the Fountain of Roses
— now for long days of sporting in the forest —
now for picnics and boating-parties, and drives
to Chalons and Dijon, and railway trips even as
far as Strasburg, for Seabrook must be shown
all the beauties of our Eden !
My mother goes but little from home now.
She takes no pleasure in it ; but she welcomes
us back at evening, and her chief delight is in
preparing delicacies for our surprise at table.
Hence all the exquisite creams, iced fruits, pre-
serves, and quaint confectionery which, infinite-
ly varied, succeed each other at our evening
meals ; hence the vases of fresh flowers in our
sleeping-rooms ; hence the boxes of chocolate
bonbons which appear, as if by magic, on our
dressing-tables. Her solicitous kindness meets
us at every turn, and all her pleasure consists
in making the happiness of others.
Thus we go out and revel, like children, by
meadow-brook, and mountain torrent, and wild
forest-path ; and, somehow or another, Seabrook
and Adrienne walk as slowly, and 'whisper as
softly, and wander away together among the
arching boughs after as pleasant and lover-like
a fashion as Margaret and Paul !
" So turtles pair
That never mean to part !"
Winter came and went a second time, and
then the Spring laughed out. Oh, beautiful
Spring! Especial property of the lover and
the poet ! Fief, manor, and hereditary wealth
of romancist and story-teller ! Listen, most ex-
quisite Spring, to the praises spoken of thee in
the olden time by the worshipful and discerning
author of that almost-forgotten volume, 'yclept
"La Plaisante Histoire de Guerin de Mon-
glave:"
" A Tissue de 1'yver que le joly temps de pri-
mavere commence, et qu'on voit arbres verdo-
yer, flours espanouir, et qu'on oit les oisillons
chanter en toute joie et doulceur, tant que les
verts bocages retentissent de leur sons et que
coeurs tristes, pensifs, y dolens s'en esjouissent,
s'e'meuvent a delaisser deuil et toute tristesse, et
se parforcent & valoir mieux."
And it would seem that we mean to follow his
advice down in this remote village of Latour-
sur-Creil, for the bells of the chapel in the val-
ley are ringing out peal after peal most "sil-
ver-sweet ;" the servants and villagers are crowd-
ing to the porch in their holiday dresses ; the
church is one bower of roses and myrtle-boughs
within ; the rustic band of pipes, tabors, and
musettes is waiting under the trees at a little
distance, each performer carrying a gigantic
bouquet in his button-hole and a bunch of rib-
bons in his hat ; the good priest honors the day
with a new gown, and two bridegrooms and two
brides are standing at the altar!
Yes, the secret of Seabrook's industry is all
told now. At first it was a panacea for a hope-
less love ; secondly, it was the window through
which stole the first ray of sunlight ; thirdly, it
has become a means of great and perfect felici-
ty. He has purchased a partnership, and can
ask a wealthy lady's hand without shame. The
saddest passage in this love-story is, to me, at
least, that he and Adrienne must henceforth
dwell in the great far city on the banks of the
masted Thames !
I can not help sighing sometimes when I
think of this ; but then Margaret steals to my
side, and, resting her cheek against my shoulder,
whispers gently, " Shall I not be here, dearest ?"
Even thus, reader. 'Tis a double wedding —
" Bid the merry bells ring to thine ear 1"
CHAPTER XLV.
THE CURTAIN FALLS.
IT is not now many weeks since I visited En-
gland, being called thither by important business
respecting the wine-produce of my estates, and
being likewise desirous of passing a few days
with the Seabrooks in London. I found them
entirely happy, and surrounded by a little cir-
cle of intellectual and pleasant friends, artists,
authors, musicians, and scientific men. Love
has given to Seabrook's character all that it re-
quired of strength, and the influence of a pro-
fessional career has added weight and practica-
bility to his mind. With all his love of beauty,
he is no longer a dreamer ; with all his taste for
enjoyment, he has learned to extract a higher
pleasure from industry and honorable success.
As for Adrienne, she adores him, and they
quarrel on one point only, viz., as to which
loves the other best. This, by the way, reminds
me of Margaret and myself; but if I say that
Norman and Adrienne are as happy as ourselves,
I think that I have affirmed all, and more than
all, that language can express.
But this is foreign to the purpose with which
I have commenced this last chapter of my his-
tory. Loveless and joyless is what I must now
relate, and the bell which gives the signal for
the fall of the curtain is the passing bell of a
guilty soul.
Returning one evening from a late interview
112
MY BROTHER'S WIFE.
with some wine-merchants on the Soutlrvvark
side of London Bridge, an adventure happened
to me— an adventure so strange, that I have
often wondered whether a presiding hand had
not led me to that eventful spot at that event-
ful moment.
It was a wet wintry night, rent by stormful
bursts of wind and rain, and pitch-dark over-
head. The angry river, swollen by the tide,
rocked the barges by the wharves ; the furnaces
along the banks shot up a hot fierce glare upon
the sky; the dome of St. Paul's seemed, as it
were, flickering in the blurred, uncertain dis-
tance, and the cabs and omnibuses rattled nois-
ily past, splashing the foot-passengers as they
went, arid crowded within and without.
I was almost wet through, for I had forgotten
to bring an umbrella, and I was shivering dis-
mally. Cab after cab, omnibus after omnibus,
had I hailed in vain. All were full, and not
till I reached the Bank could I even hope to
find any conveyance. The Bank was just half
a mile distant, and I had the dreary bridge be-
fore me. After all, though, I could scarcely be
more drenched, so I made up my mind to the
evil, and took my fate leisurely.
Singularly strange, and cold, and dreary is the
aspect of the city on a wet night from London
Bridge ! The shadowy steeples look warnful
and ghostly, like tombs in a grave-yard, and the
sleeping barges and steamers like river-hearses
and mourning-coaches assembled for a funeral.
How black the water looks down below, stream-
ing through the arches — how black and deep,
like the river of Lethe !
Musing thus as I go, my chain of thought is
broken by the quavering tones of a woman's
voice chanting the burden of a mournful ballad.
Tremulous and shrill as the notes are, there is a
something in them that arrests my attention ir-
resistibly— a vibration, a fluency altogether su-
perior to the style of the street ballad-singers
of London. And surely — yes, the air is that
sweet sad cavatina of the hapless Desdemona,
"seated at the foot of a willow !"
Yonder stands the singer, a thin, pallid wom-
an, wretchedly clad, and trembling with cold — a
pitiable object. I place a shilling in her hand
— it is all the change I have — and her large dark
eyes, lifted suddenly to my face, look wild and
hungry, and fill me with a kind of shuddering
compassion.
Strange ! though I have passed her, I can not
refrain from looking back. Something in the
glitter of those eyes has struck me with a feel-
ing for which I can not account. It seems to
me that I recognize, and yet am unfamiliar with
their expression. Like the reflection of a face
in water, broken, distorted, and uncertain, it
hovers before me, and I strive in vain to analyze
whether this be memory, or the vague prompt-
ings of some forgotten dream.
She is not singing now. She stands beneath
the lamp where I left her, looking down at the
coin in her hand, and shaking her head with a
THE
sad, despairing action, as though she would say,
"It is not sufficient."
Not sufficient ! for so I interpret the gesture.
Not sufficient ? Poor creature ! she may have
children and husband sick or starving at home
— home ! perhaps she has no home !
The thought is terrible. I stand back in the
shadow, and take a sovereign from my purse.
I will go back to her — I will question her — I
will— But where is she ? A moment since,
and she was standing yonder by the lamp. Has
she sunk into the earth, or, more probably, bro-
ken down by fatigue, stopped to rest upon one
of the wet stone benches in the recesses on either
side of the bridge ?
Yes ; as I thought, she is leaning against the
wall yonder, and removing her bonnet. She
must surely be ill. I hasten to her aid; she
turns at the sound of my rapid steps — mounts
suddenly upon the dizzy parapet — utters one
piercing, wailing cry — wavers — leaps wildly
forward — disappears, oh heaven, in the gulf
below !
I have, even now, but an indistinct remem-
brance of what followed, save that with loud
cries I summoned help ; that, borne downward
by a sudden crowd, I found myself standing
presently upon a floating wharf, and watching
with eager eyes the progress of a boat upon the
murky river ; that, amid a confusion of voices
and lights, and terror-stricken faces, a wet and
heavy burden was borne ashore, and carried, by
the light of many lanterns, through the blank
streets, stretched on a narrow plank, and cov-
ered by a fragment of sail-cloth.
Now we arrive at a building whence the cu-
rious by-standers are excluded, and which I
alone, with the two boatmen, am permitted to
enter. This is the police station ; and here
upon the narrow tressels she is laid, while the
unmoved official at the desk questions me re-
spectfully on what I have seen, and enters my
replies in his ledger.
"Poor creetur!" says one of the boatmen,
taking the dead hand pityingly in his own, and
then laying it down gently by her side, "poor
creetur ! She warn't a bad looking one, neither,
in her time. She have a forring look about her,
too. Maybe she come from over sea, Jim!"
"Maybe," replied the other. "And she
ain't old neither ; but she looks half starved —
she ain't nothing but skin and bone."
"It's a horrid death, poor creetur! but its
surprisin' how they all seem to take to it. Poor
creetur! Lord ha' mercy on her and on we,
Jim!"
Their rough compassion touches me. I feel
myself compelled to go back once more and look
at her.
Her bonnet off— her long, wet hair, black as
ebony, lying in clammy masses over her neck
and arms — her white face so hushed, and still,
and awful — Mysterious Providence, I recognize
her now !
The'rese Vogelsang !
END.
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