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"THE CASTLE: A PARABLE.
"On the top of a high cliff, forming part of the base of a great mountain,
stood a lofty castle. When or how it was built, no man knew; nor could any
one pretend to understand its architecture. Every one who looked upon it
felt that it was lordly and noble; and where one part seemed not to agree
with another, the wise and modest dared not to call them incongruous, but
presumed that the whole might be constructed on some higher principle of
architecture than they yet understood. What helped them to this conclusion
was, that no one had ever seen the whole of the edifice; that, even of the
portion best known, some part or other was always wrapped in thick folds
of mist from the mountain; and that, when the sun shone upon this mist,
the parts of the building that appeared through the vaporous veil were
strangely glorified in their indistinctness, so that they seemed to belong
to some aerial abode in the land of the sunset; and the beholders could
hardly tell whether they had ever seen them before, or whether they were
now for the first time partially revealed.
"Nor, although it was inhabited, could certain information be procured as
to its internal construction. Those who dwelt in it often discovered rooms
they had never entered before--yea, once or twice,--whole suites of
apartments, of which only dim legends had been handed down from former
times. Some of them expected to find, one day, secret places, filled with
treasures of wondrous jewels; amongst which they hoped to light upon
Solomon's ring, which had for ages disappeared from the earth, but which
had controlled the spirits, and the possession of which made a man simply
what a man should be, the king of the world. Now and then, a narrow,
winding stair, hitherto untrodden, would bring them forth on a new turret,
whence new prospects of the circumjacent country were spread out before
them. How many more of these there might be, or how much loftier, no one
could tell. Nor could the foundations of the castle in the rock on which
it was built be determined with the smallest approach to precision. Those
of the family who had given themselves to exploring in that direction,
found such a labyrinth of vaults and passages, and endless successions of
down-going stairs, out of one underground space into a yet lower, that
they came to the conclusion that at least the whole mountain was
perforated and honeycombed in this fashion. They had a dim consciousness,
too, of the presence, in those awful regions, of beings whom they could
not comprehend. Once they came upon the brink of a great black gulf, in
which the eye could see nothing but darkness: they recoiled with horror;
for the conviction flashed upon them that that gulf went down into the
very central spaces of the earth, of which they had hitherto been
wandering only in the upper crust; nay, that the seething blackness before
them had relations mysterious, and beyond human comprehension, with the
far-off voids of space, into which the stars dare not enter.
"At the foot of the cliff whereon the castle stood, lay a deep lake,
inaccessible save by a few avenues, being surrounded on all sides with
precipices which made the water look very black, although it was pure as
the night-sky. From a door in the castle, which was not to be otherwise
entered, a broad flight of steps, cut in the rock, went down to the lake,
and disappeared below its surface. Some thought the steps went to the very
bottom of the water.
"Now in this castle there dwelt a large family of brothers and sisters.
They had never seen their father or mother. The younger had been educated
by the elder, and these by an unseen care and ministration, about the
sources of which they had, somehow or other, troubled themselves very
little--for what people are accustomed to, they regard as coming from
nobody; as if help and progress and joy and love were the natural crops of
Chaos or old Night. But Tradition said that one day--it was utterly
uncertain when--their father would come, and leave them no more; for he
was still alive, though where he lived nobody knew. In the meantime all
the rest had to obey their eldest brother, and listen to his counsels.
"But almost all the family was very fond of liberty, as they called it;
and liked to run up and down, hither and thither, roving about, with
neither law nor order, just as they pleased. So they could not endure
their brother's tyranny, as they called it. At one time they said that he
was only one of themselves, and therefore they would not obey him; at
another, that he was not like them, and could not understand them, and
therefore they would not obey him. Yet, sometimes, when he came and
looked them full in the face, they were terrified, and dared not disobey,
for he was stately and stern and strong. Not one of them loved him
heartily, except the eldest sister, who was very beautiful and silent, and
whose eyes shone as if light lay somewhere deep behind them. Even she,
although she loved him, thought him very hard sometimes; for when he had
once said a thing plainly, he could not be persuaded to think it over
again. So even she forgot him sometimes, and went her own ways, and
enjoyed herself without him. Most of them regarded him as a sort of
watchman, whose business it was to keep them in order; and so they were
indignant and disliked him. Yet they all had a secret feeling that they
ought to be subject to him; and after any particular act of disregard,
none of them could think, with any peace, of the old story about the
return of their father to his house. But indeed they never thought much
about it, or about their father at all; for how could those who cared so
little for their brother, whom they saw every day, care for their father
whom they had never seen?--One chief cause of complaint against him was
that he interfered with their favourite studies and pursuits; whereas he
only sought to make them give up trifling with earnest things, and seek
for truth, and not for amusement, from the many wonders around them. He
did not want them to turn to other studies, or to eschew pleasures; but,
in those studies, to seek the highest things most, and other things in
proportion to their true worth and nobleness. This could not fail to be
distasteful to those who did not care for what was higher than they. And
so matters went on for a time. They thought they could do better without
their brother; and their brother knew they could not do at all without
him, and tried to fulfil the charge committed into his hands.
"At length, one day, for the thought seemed to strike them simultaneously,
they conferred together about giving a great entertainment in their
grandest rooms to any of their neighbours who chose to come, or indeed to
any inhabitants of the earth or air who would visit them. They were too
proud to reflect that some company might defile even the dwellers in what
was undoubtedly the finest palace on the face of the earth. But what made
the thing worse, was, that the old tradition said that these rooms were to
be kept entirely for the use of the owner of the castle. And, indeed,
whenever they entered them, such was the effect of their loftiness and
grandeur upon their minds, that they always thought of the old story, and
could not help believing it. Nor would the brother permit them to forget
it now; but, appearing suddenly amongst them, when they had no expectation
of being interrupted by him, he rebuked them, both for the indiscriminate
nature of their invitation, and for the intention of introducing any one,
not to speak of some who would doubtless make their appearance on the
evening in question, into the rooms kept sacred for the use of the unknown
father. But by this time their talk with each other had so excited their
expectations of enjoyment, which had previously been strong enough, that
anger sprung up within them at the thought of being deprived of their
hopes, and they looked each other in the eyes; and the look said: 'We are
many and he is one--let us get rid of him, for he is always finding fault,
and thwarting us in the most innocent pleasures;--as if we would wish to
do anything wrong!' So without a word spoken, they rushed upon him; and
although he was stronger than any of them, and struggled hard at first,
yet they overcame him at last. Indeed some of them thought he yielded to
their violence long before they had the mastery of him; and this very
submission terrified the more tender-hearted amongst them. However, they
bound him; carried him down many stairs, and, having remembered an iron
staple in the wall of a certain vault, with a thick rusty chain attached
to it, they bore him thither, and made the chain fast around him. There
they left him, shutting the great gnarring brazen door of the vault, as
they departed for the upper regions of the castle.
"Now all was in a tumult of preparation. Every one was talking of the
coming festivity; but no one spoke of the deed they had done. A sudden
paleness overspread the face, now of one, and now of another; but it
passed away, and no one took any notice of it; they only plied the task of
the moment the more energetically. Messengers were sent far and near, not
to individuals or families, but publishing in all places of concourse a
general invitation to any who chose to come on a certain day, and partake
for certain succeeding days of the hospitality of the dwellers in the
castle. Many were the preparations immediately begun for complying with
the invitation. But the noblest of their neighbours refused to appear; not
from pride, but because of the unsuitableness and carelessness of such a
mode. With some of them it was an old condition in the tenure of their
estates, that they should go to no one's dwelling except visited in
person, and expressly solicited. Others, knowing what sort of persons
would be there, and that, from a certain physical antipathy, they could
scarcely breathe in their company, made up their minds at once not to go.
Yet multitudes, many of them beautiful and innocent as well as gay,
resolved to appear.
"Meanwhile the great rooms of the castle were got in readiness--that is,
they proceeded to deface them with decorations; for there was a solemnity
and stateliness about them in their ordinary condition, which was at once
felt to be unsuitable for the light-hearted company so soon to move about
in them with the self-same carelessness with which men walk abroad within
the great heavens and hills and clouds. One day, while the workmen were
busy, the eldest sister, of whom I have already spoken, happened to enter,
she knew not why. Suddenly the great idea of the mighty halls dawned upon
her, and filled her soul. The so-called decorations vanished from her
view, and she felt as if she stood in her father's presence. She was at
one elevated and humbled. As suddenly the idea faded and fled, and she
beheld but the gaudy festoons and draperies and paintings which disfigured
the grandeur. She wept and sped away. Now it was too late to interfere,
and things must take their course. She would have been but a Cassandra-
prophetess to those who saw but the pleasure before them. She had not been
present when her brother was imprisoned; and indeed for some days had been
so wrapt in her own business, that she had taken but little heed of
anything that was going on. But they all expected her to show herself when
the company was gathered; and they had applied to her for advice at
various times during their operations.
"At length the expected hour arrived, and the company began to assemble.
It was a warm summer evening. The dark lake reflected the rose-coloured
clouds in the west, and through the flush rowed many gaily painted boats,
with various coloured flags, towards the massy rock on which the castle
stood. The trees and flowers seemed already asleep, and breathing forth
their sweet dream-breath. Laughter and low voices rose from the breast of
the lake to the ears of the youths and maidens looking forth expectant
from the lofty windows. They went down to the broad platform at the top of
the stairs in front of the door to receive their visitors. By degrees the
festivities of the evening commenced. The same smiles flew forth both at
eyes and lips, darting like beams through the gathering crowd. Music, from
unseen sources, now rolled in billows, now crept in ripples through the
sea of air that filled the lofty rooms. And in the dancing halls, when
hand took hand, and form and motion were moulded and swayed by the
indwelling music, it governed not these alone, but, as the ruling spirit
of the place, every new burst of music for a new dance swept before it a
new and accordant odour, and dyed the flames that glowed in the lofty
lamps with a new and accordant stain. The floors bent beneath the feet of
the time-keeping dancers. But twice in the evening some of the inmates
started, and the pallor occasionally common to the household overspread
their faces, for they felt underneath them a counter-motion to the dance,
as if the floor rose slightly to answer their feet. And all the time their
brother lay below in the dungeon, like John the Baptist in the castle of
Herod, when the lords and captains sat around, and the daughter of
Herodias danced before them. Outside, all around the castle, brooded the
dark night unheeded; for the clouds had come up from all sides, and were
crowding together overhead. In the unfrequent pauses of the music, they
might have heard, now and then, the gusty rush of a lonely wind, coming
and going no one could know whence or whither, born and dying unexpected
and unregarded.
"But when the festivities were at their height, when the external and
passing confidence which is produced between superficial natures by a
common pleasure was at the full, a sudden crash of thunder quelled the
music, as the thunder quells the noise of the uplifted sea. The windows
were driven in, and torrents of rain, carried in the folds of a rushing
wind, poured into the halls. The lights were swept away; and the great
rooms, now dark within, were darkened yet more by the dazzling shoots of
flame from the vault of blackness overhead. Those that ventured to look
out of the windows saw, in the blue brilliancy of the quick-following jets
of lightning, the lake at the foot of the rock, ordinarily so still and so
dark, lighted up, not on the surface only, but down to half its depth; so
that, as it tossed in the wind, like a tortured sea of writhing flames, or
incandescent half-molten serpents of brass, they could not tell whether a
strong phosphorescence did not issue from the transparent body of the
waters, as if earth and sky lightened together, one consenting source of
flaming utterance.
"Sad was the condition of the late plastic mass of living form that had
flowed into shape at the will and law of the music. Broken into
individuals, the common transfusing spirit withdrawn, they stood drenched,
cold, and benumbed, with clinging garments; light, order, harmony, purpose
departed, and chaos restored; the issuings of life turned back on their
sources, chilly and dead. And in every heart reigned the falsest of
despairing convictions, that this was the only reality, and that was but a
dream. The eldest sister stood with clasped hands and down-bent head,
shivering and speechless, as if waiting for something to follow. Nor did
she wait long. A terrible flash and thunder-peal made the castle rock; and
in the pausing silence that followed, her quick sense heard the rattling
of a chain far off, deep down; and soon the sound of heavy footsteps,
accompanied with the clanking of iron, reached her ear. She felt that her
brother was at hand. Even in the darkness, and amidst the bellowing of
another deep-bosomed cloud-monster, she knew that he had entered the room.
A moment after, a continuous pulsation of angry blue light began, which,
lasting for some moments, revealed him standing amidst them, gaunt,
haggard, and motionless; his hair and beard untrimmed, his face ghastly,
his eyes large and hollow. The light seemed to gather around him as a
centre. Indeed some believed that it throbbed and radiated from his
person, and not from the stormy heavens above them. The lightning had rent
the wall of his prison, and released the iron staple of his chain, which
he had wound about him like a girdle. In his hand he carried an iron
fetter-bar, which he had found on the floor of the vault. More terrified
at his aspect than at all the violence of the storm, the visitors, with
many a shriek and cry, rushed out into the tempestuous night. By degrees,
the storm died away. Its last flash revealed the forms of the brothers and
sisters lying prostrate, with their faces on the floor, and that fearful
shape standing motionless amidst them still.
"Morning dawned, and there they lay, and there he stood. But at a word
from him, they arose and went about their various duties, though
listlessly enough. The eldest sister was the last to rise; and when she
did, it was only by a terrible effort that she was able to reach her room,
where she fell again on the floor. There she remained lying for days. The
brother caused the doors of the great suite of rooms to be closed, leaving
them just as they were, with all the childish adornment scattered about,
and the rain still falling in through the shattered windows. 'Thus let
them lie,' said he, 'till the rain and frost have cleansed them of paint
and drapery: no storm can hurt the pillars and arches of these halls.'
"The hours of this day went heavily. The storm was gone, but the rain was
left; the passion had departed, but the tears remained behind. Dull and
dark the low misty clouds brooded over the castle and the lake, and shut
out all the neighbourhood. Even if they had climbed to the loftiest known
turret, they would have found it swathed in a garment of clinging vapour,
affording no refreshment to the eye, and no hope to the heart. There was
one lofty tower that rose sheer a hundred feet above the rest, and from
which the fog could have been seen lying in a grey mass beneath; but that
tower they had not yet discovered, nor another close beside it, the top of
which was never seen, nor could be, for the highest clouds of heaven
clustered continually around it. The rain fell continuously, though not
heavily, without; and within, too, there were clouds from which dropped
the tears which are the rain of the spirit. All the good of life seemed
for the time departed, and their souls lived but as leafless trees that
had forgotten the joy of the summer, and whom no wind prophetic of spring
had yet visited. They moved about mechanically, and had not strength
enough left to wish to die.
"The next day the clouds were higher, and a little wind blew through such
loopholes in the turrets as the false improvements of the inmates had not
yet filled with glass, shutting out, as the storm, so the serene visitings
of the heavens. Throughout the day, the brother took various opportunities
of addressing a gentle command, now to one and now to another of his
family. It was obeyed in silence. The wind blew fresher through the
loopholes and the shattered windows of the great rooms, and found its way,
by unknown passages, to faces and eyes hot with weeping. It cooled and
blessed them.--When the sun arose the next day, it was in a clear sky.
"By degrees, everything fell into the regularity of subordination. With
the subordination came increase of freedom. The steps of the more youthful
of the family were heard on the stairs and in the corridors more light and
quick than ever before. Their brother had lost the terrors of aspect
produced by his confinement, and his commands were issued more gently, and
oftener with a smile, than in all their previous history. By degrees his
presence was universally felt through the house. It was no surprise to any
one at his studies, to see him by his side when he lifted up his eyes,
though he had not before known that he was in the room. And although some
dread still remained, it was rapidly vanishing before the advances of a
firm friendship. Without immediately ordering their labours, he always
influenced them, and often altered their direction and objects. The change
soon evident in the household was remarkable. A simpler, nobler expression
was visible on all the countenances. The voices of the men were deeper,
and yet seemed by their very depth more feminine than before; while the
voices of the women were softer and sweeter, and at the same time more
full and decided. Now the eyes had often an expression as if their sight
was absorbed in the gaze of the inward eyes; and when the eyes of two met,
there passed between those eyes the utterance of a conviction that both
meant the same thing. But the change was, of course, to be seen more
clearly, though not more evidently, in individuals.
"One of the brothers, for instance, was very fond of astronomy. He had his
observatory on a lofty tower, which stood pretty clear of the others,
towards the north and east. But hitherto, his astronomy, as he had called
it, had been more of the character of astrology. Often, too, he might have
been seen directing a heaven-searching telescope to catch the rapid
transit of a fiery shooting-star, belonging altogether to the earthly
atmosphere, and not to the serene heavens. He had to learn that the signs
of the air are not the signs of the skies. Nay, once, his brother
surprised him in the act of examining through his longest tube a patch of
burning heath upon a distant hill. But now he was diligent from morning
till night in the study of the laws of the truth that has to do with
stars; and when the curtain of the sunlight was about to rise from before
the heavenly worlds which it had hidden all day long, he might be seen
preparing his instruments with that solemn countenance with which it
becometh one to look into the mysterious harmonies of Nature. Now he
learned what law and order and truth are, what consent and harmony mean;
how the individual may find his own end in a higher end, where law and
freedom mean the same thing, and the purest certainty exists without the
slightest constraint. Thus he stood on the earth, and looked to the
heavens.
"Another, who had been much given to searching out the hollow places and
recesses in the foundations of the castle, and who was often to be found
with compass and ruler working away at a chart of the same which he had
been in process of constructing, now came to the conclusion, that only by
ascending the upper regions of his abode could he become capable of
understanding what lay beneath; and that, in all probability, one clear
prospect, from the top of the highest attainable turret, over the castle
as it lay below, would reveal more of the idea of its internal
construction, than a year spent in wandering through its subterranean
vaults. But the fact was, that the desire to ascend wakening within him
had made him forget what was beneath; and having laid aside his chart for
a time at least, he was now to be met in every quarter of the upper parts,
searching and striving upward, now in one direction, now in another; and
seeking, as he went, the best outlooks into the clear air of outer
realities.
"And they began to discover that they were all meditating different
aspects of the same thing; and they brought together their various
discoveries, and recognized the likeness between them; and the one thing
often explained the other, and combining with it helped to a third. They
grew in consequence more and more friendly and loving; so that every now
and then one turned to another and said, as in surprise, 'Why, you are my
brother!'--'Why, you are my sister!' And yet they had always known it.
"The change reached to all. One, who lived on the air of sweet sounds, and
who was almost always to be found seated by her harp or some other
instrument, had, till the late storm, been generally merry and playful,
though sometimes sad. But for a long time after that, she was often found
weeping, and playing little simple airs which she had heard in childhood--
backward longings, followed by fresh tears. Before long, however, a new
element manifested itself in her music. It became yet more wild, and
sometimes retained all its sadness, but it was mingled with anticipation
and hope. The past and the future merged in one; and while memory yet
brought the rain-cloud, expectation threw the rainbow across its bosom--
and all was uttered in her music, which rose and swelled, now to defiance,
now to victory; then died in a torrent of weeping.
"As to the eldest sister, it was many days before she recovered from the
shock. At length, one day, her brother came to her, took her by the hand,
led her to an open window, and told her to seat herself by it, and look
out. She did so; but at first saw nothing more than an unsympathizing
blaze of sunlight. But as she looked, the horizon widened out, and the
dome of the sky ascended, till the grandeur seized upon her soul, and she
fell on her knees and wept. Now the heavens seemed to bend lovingly over
her, and to stretch out wide cloud-arms to embrace her; the earth lay like
the bosom of an infinite love beneath her, and the wind kissed her cheek
with an odour of roses. She sprang to her feet, and turned, in an agony of
hope, expecting to behold the face of the father, but there stood only her
brother, looking calmly though lovingly on her emotion. She turned again
to the window. On the hilltops rested the sky: Heaven and Earth were one;
and the prophecy awoke in her soul, that from betwixt them would the steps
of the father approach.
"Hitherto she had seen but Beauty; now she beheld Truth. Often had she
looked on such clouds as these, and loved the strange ethereal curves into
which the winds moulded them; and had smiled as her little pet sister told
her what curious animals she saw in them, and tried to point them out to
her. Now they were as troops of angels, jubilant over her new birth, for
they sang, in her soul, of beauty, and truth, and love. She looked down,
and her little sister knelt beside her.
"She was a curious child, with black, glittering eyes, and dark hair; at
the mercy of every wandering wind; a frolicsome, daring girl, who laughed
more than she smiled. She was generally in attendance on her sister, and
was always finding and bringing her strange things. She never pulled a
primrose, but she knew the haunts of all the orchis tribe, and brought
from them bees and butterflies innumerable, as offerings to her sister.
Curious moths and glow-worms were her greatest delight; and she loved the
stars, because they were like the glow-worms. But the change had affected
her too; for her sister saw that her eyes had lost their glittering look,
and had become more liquid and transparent. And from that time she often
observed that her gaiety was more gentle, her smile more frequent, her
laugh less bell-like; and although she was as wild as ever, there was more
elegance in her motions, and more music in her voice. And she clung to her
sister with far greater fondness than before.
"The land reposed in the embrace of the warm summer days. The clouds of
heaven nestled around the towers of the castle; and the hearts of its
inmates became conscious of a warm atmosphere--of a presence of love. They
began to feel like the children of a household, when the mother is at
home. Their faces and forms grew daily more and more beautiful, till they
wondered as they gazed on each other. As they walked in the gardens of the
castle, or in the country around, they were often visited, especially the
eldest sister, by sounds that no one heard but themselves, issuing from
woods and waters; and by forms of love that lightened out of flowers, and
grass, and great rocks. Now and then the young children would come in with
a slow, stately step, and, with great eyes that looked as if they would
devour all the creation, say that they had met the father amongst the
trees, and that he had kissed them; 'And,' added one of them once, 'I grew
so big!' But when the others went out to look, they could see no one. And
some said it must have been the brother, who grew more and more beautiful,
and loving, and reverend, and who had lost all traces of hardness, so that
they wondered they could ever have thought him stern and harsh. But the
eldest sister held her peace, and looked up, and her eyes filled with
tears. 'Who can tell,' thought she, 'but the little children know more
about it than we?'
"Often, at sunrise, might be heard their hymn of praise to their unseen
father, whom they felt to be near, though they saw him not. Some words
thereof once reached my ear through the folds of the music in which they
floated, as in an upward snowstorm of sweet sounds. And these are some of
the words I heard--but there was much I seemed to hear which I could not
understand, and some things which I understood but cannot utter again.
"'We thank thee that we have a father, and not a maker; that thou hast
begotten us, and not moulded us as images of clay; that we have come forth
of thy heart, and have not been fashioned by thy hands. It must be so.
Only the heart of a father is able to create. We rejoice in it, and bless
thee that we know it. We thank thee for thyself. Be what thou art--our
root and life, our beginning and end, our all in all. Come home to us.
Thou livest; therefore we live. In thy light we see. Thou art--that is all
our song.'
"Thus they worship, and love, and wait. Their hope and expectation grow
ever stronger and brighter, that one day, ere long, the Father will show
Himself amongst them, and thenceforth dwell in His own house for evermore.
What was once but an old legend has become the one desire of their hearts.
"And the loftiest hope is the surest of being fulfilled."
* * * * *
"Thank you, heartily," said the curate. "I will choose another time to
tell you how much I have enjoyed your parable, which is altogether to my
mind, and far beyond anything I could do."
Mr. Bloomfield returned no answer, but his countenance showed that he was
far from hearing this praise unmoved. The faces of the rest showed that
they too had listened with pleasure; and Adela's face shone as if she had
received more than delight--hope, namely, and onward impulse. The colonel
alone--I forgot to say that Mrs. Cathcart had a headache, and did not
come--seemed to have been left behind.
"I am a stupid old fellow, I believe," said he; "but to tell the truth, I
did not know what to make of it. It seemed all the time to be telling me
in one breath something I knew and something I didn't and couldn't know. I
wish I could express what I mean, but it puzzled me too much for that;
although every now and then it sounded very beautiful indeed."
"I will try and tell you what it said to me, sometime, papa," said Adela.
"Thank you, my child; I should much like to understand it. I believe I
have done my duty by my king and country, but a man has to learn a good
deal after all that is over and done with; and I suppose it is never too
late to begin, Mr. Armstrong?"
"On the contrary, I not merely believe that no future time can be so good
as the present, but I am inclined to assert that no past time could have
been so good as the present. This seems to be a paradox, but I think I
could explain it very easily. I find, however, that the ladies are looking
as if they wanted to go home, and I am quite ready, Mrs. Armstrong. But
while the ladies put their bonnets on, just let Smith see your schoolroom,
Mr. Bloomfield. As an inhabitant of Purleybridge, I already begin to be
proud of it."
The ladies did go to put on their bonnets. I followed Mr. Bloomfield and
the colonel into the schoolroom, and the curate followed me. But after we
had looked about us and remarked on the things about for five minutes,
finding I had left my handkerchief in the drawing-room, I went back to
fetch it. The door was open, and I saw Adela--no bonnet on her head yet--
standing face to face with Harry. They were alone. I hesitated for a
moment what I should do, and while I hesitated, I could not help seeing
the arm of the doctor curved and half-outstretched, as if it would gladly
have folded about her, and his face droop and droop, till it could not
have been more than half a foot from hers. Now, as far as my seeing this
was concerned, there was no harm done. But behind me came the curate and
the schoolmaster, and they had eyes in their heads, at least equal to
mine. Well, no great harm yet. And just far enough down the stair to see
into the drawing-room, appeared their wives, who could not fail to see the
unconscious pair, at least as well as we men below. Still there was no
great harm done, for Mrs. Cathcart was at home, as I have said. But,
horresco referens! excuse the recondite quotation--at the same moment
the form of the colonel appeared, looking over the heads of all before him
right in at the drawing-room door, and full at the young sinners, who had
heard no sound along the matted passage.
"Here's a go!" said I to myself--not aloud, observe, for it was slang.
For just think of a man like Harry caught thus in a perfect trap of
converging looks.
As if from a sudden feeling of hostile presence, he glanced round--and
stood erect. The poor fellow's face at once flushed as red as shame could
make it, but he neither lost his self-possession, nor sought to escape
under cover of a useless pretence. He turned to the colonel.
"Colonel Cathcart," he said, "I will choose a more suitable time to make
my apology. I wish you good night."
He bowed to us all, not choosing to risk a refusal of his hand by the
colonel, and went quickly out of the house.
The colonel stood for some moments, which felt to me like minutes, as if
he had just mounted guard at the drawing-room door. His face was perfectly
expressionless. We men felt very much like stale oysters, and would rather
have skipped that same portion of our inevitable existence. What the
ladies felt, I do not pretend, being an old bachelor, to divine.
Adela, pale as death, fled up the stair. The only thing left for the rest
of us was, to act as much as possible as if nothing were the matter, and
get out of the way before the poor girl came down again. As soon as I got
home, I went to my own room, and thus avoided the tete-à-tete with my
host which generally closed our evenings.
The colonel went up to his daughter's room, and remained there for nearly
an hour. Adela was not at the breakfast-table the next morning. Her father
looked very gloomy, and Mrs. Cathcart grimly satisfied, with I told you
so written on her face as plainly as I have now written it on the paper.
How she came to know anything about it, I can only conjecture.
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