CHAPTER VIII.
"Puppy, that curs'd vociferation
Betrays thy life and conversation.
Coxcombs, an ever noisy race,
Are triumphs of their own disgrace."
Gay.
It might not be wondered at, with the extensive power possessed by Melliphant to gain ascendancy over the human mind, that he had in some degree insinuated himself into the esteem and regard of Rosilia; his sophistry and hypocrisy so well combined, the secret partiality of which he appeared the victim, manifesting itself by involuntary impulse in feelings too strong for suppression; this, when united to the less concealed and more obtrusive admiration of Sir Howard, might be supposed to have introduced the germ of that poison which each in his turn so industriously sought to infuse into the vestal bosom of Rosilia. On the contrary, every effort to sully her, set her off only in a purer light, gave energy to her principles and confirmed her virtue. But, alas! hovering over that precipice preparing for her, still are we to contemplate her on the verge of destruction and of misery.
The maid who can securely rest,
And never conflict rack her breast.
With innocence is haply blest;
But, can we say her heart's imprest
With virtue's deep ingrafted seal,
To rouse to active, ardent zeal,
Assert its own, and brighter shine,
When vice and treacherous arts combine
To dim its fair transcendant worth
And blend it with the dross of earth?
Ah, no! that virtue, never tried,
Its name alone can be implied;
True virtue rears its stately form
And bears each buffet of the storm,
Can let vice eddy in its course,
And like a rock resist its force.
Melliphant had, often at the gaming table, lost to Sir Howard considerable sums of money, and as it was beyond his ability to discharge them, Sir Howard was the last man whom he would willingly have offended. Imagining from the late tenor of his conduct towards him, that he meditated deceit, that the result might fall in such a manner as to obstruct his views respecting Rosilia, he thought it better not to lose time in conciliating him. He therefore determined to call upon Sir Howard, and lead him if possible to an explanation of his conduct.
Of a furious and impetuous temper. Sir Howard was apparently under its dominion, when Melliphant entered, who, calm, cool, and dispassionate, possessed over him a complete advantage.
"I fear. Sir Howard," said he, "I may unintentionally have offended you; and as I value your friendship, I am come to ask an explanation and give redress, if it is in my power."
"What redress," answered Sir Howard vehemently, "can you give me. Sir, for confidence betrayed,—betrayed by having turned it to your own profit? But think you, Sir, I shall tamely submit myself to become your dupe?"
"You wrong me, Sir Howard; I swear by my honour you wrong me."
"Honour!" repeated his antagonist sarcastically.
He would have said more, but he thought it better not to provoke his retorts, which perhaps could be as well applied as his own.
"I thought to have found in you," said he, lowering his accent, "a staunch friend, one who would have aided me in my views, instead of interfering only to oppose them, and throw me at a greater distance from my object. You must know to what I allude,—the affair relating to Rosilia De Brooke."
Sir Howard then used threats and imprecations highly calculated to disquiet his rival, who finding it necessary to appease his wrath, replied,
"Sir Howard, may I beseech you to moderate your feelings and listen to me? without the smallest equivocation or deviation from the truth, I will give you a plain, candid, unvarnished statement of the whole affair, such as it really is. I love Rosilia De Brooke! I will not deny it. Nay, Sir Howard hear me out. It was yourself, you must blame yourself, in having first awakened my imagination in the description you gave me of that matchless girl! Loving her before I became acquainted with her, I could no longer subdue the desire I had to see her, and found her every thing, and more than you had represented her. Since that hour, my thoughts have never been estranged from her even for one instant of time. Other objects besides have shared with her in your attention. You could never bring yourself to the sacrifice of riches for her sake, unless gilded by fortune: marriage to you is a bitter pill. To me, what is it to me, the ceremony of matrimony? It is as nothing; I regard it not; but should hail it as a blessed institution, the consummation of all my bliss, if it put me into the possession of a Rosilia. I saw you trifling away your time with her, without profiting by the influence you held over her parents; and I, who loved her beyond the power of words to express, was I tamely to have submitted myself, and to have yielded to your prior claims, as you may please to call them. Nay, nay, Sir Howard, a word or two more, and I have done. Could it possibly be supposed I should set myself down a passive spectator and view the various changes in your passion, the indecision and wavering by which you were guided"—
"'Tis enough, enough, Sir," cried Sir Howard, interrupting him. "Tell me at once how far you have proceeded with Rosilia, and spare me your further reflections. Have you been enabled to excite a return of sentiment; think you that you are beloved? 'Tis all I wish to know."
"A return of sentiment in Rosilia!" re-echoed Melliphant; "never! oh, never! she has remained insensible to all; her heart I should believe to be cold, icy cold, but that the quick sensibility of her eye and ever varying expression of her countenance prove the reverse."
An answer so totally beyond his expectations operated wonders over Sir Howard: his eye continued fixed on Melliphant, as if searching for the conviction of what he had uttered.
"In truth," said he, softening his accents, "are you thoroughly persuaded of what you say? Rosilia, then, has never given you any certain indication of regard!"
"No, truly, she has not!" repeated Melliphant, in a voice choked by despair.
No longer doubting, Melliphant was then no more esteemed by Sir Howard his happy rival, exulting and triumphing in what he had himself, with such ill success, so ardently desired,—the love of Rosilia. In the joy he felt at finding himself thus undeceived, he extended his hand to Melliphant, who shook it with cordiality; and thus these brothers in iniquity were once more friends.
Melliphant then left Sir Howard, who, elated by the intelligence he had received, though he abandoned all idea, from his past unsuccessful efforts, of gaining upon the affections of Rosilia, yet, as continuing disengaged, as having at least no rival in her heart, a renewed energy was given to his actions, and the villainous designs he had formed against her. His curricle, at the hour appointed, appearing at the door, he jumped into it and drove at once to the De Brookes.
Mrs. Philimore had just departed; she had called for the purpose of giving to Mrs. De Brooke some friendly advice and warning relative to Sir Howard, who, report said, was paying his addresses to her youngest daughter. Not finding her at home however, she delicately hinted the circumstance to Rosilia, asking her if Sir Howard Sinclair did not call very often.
"Not so often as formerly," replied Rosilia.
"He has been particular in his attention to you, has he not?"
"Nothing more than is common with men of gallantry, I beheve," answered she with a smile.
"I am inclined to think otherwise," returned Mrs. Philimore; "his partiality for you, my dear young friend, is very evident: but let me assure you, from good authority, his character is doubtful; his whole conduct involves ambiguity, of which being aware, you will be enabled to judge and decide for yourself."
Scarcely had she left the door than Sir Howard alighted.
He was one of those professed men of pleasure who, in his general intercourse with the world and fashionable life, did not even think it necessary to save appearances, openly boasting of his midnight excesses, with a freedom and undaunted air, which seemed to set decency at defiance. And thus it was that Mrs. Philimore had become acquainted with his real character, while, by his greater circumspection and care in the presence of the De Brookes, he had appeared to them in a light by no means exceptionable. Finding however it answered no determined end, and becoming completely tired of counterfeiting, rejoicing also in the hope, from the violent measures he meant to adopt, of shortly having Rosilia entirely within his power, united to the unsuspicious confidence with which he had been invariably received by the General and Mrs. De Brooke, and which he conceived, gave him, a certain access to Rosilia, not considering, under the influence of a lawless presumption, that her condition in life might keep him at a distance, and place her above his freedoms; but having no regard for female chastity in any rank of life whatever, when occasion offered, he was ever ready to betray himself, and taking advantage of the General's absence from home, he became very indifferent as to any longer wearing the mask.
It may suit Melliphant, thought he, with his leisurely and methodical plans and systems; for his part he would no more trifle with fortune, but make a daring enterprise; what had it hitherto availed, playing the hypocrite, and seeming what he was not, a canting fool?
Rosilia was alone, employed with her needle in the back drawing-room, when the voice of Sir Howard caught her ear. Her mother being absent from home, and her mind being recently impressed by the discourse of Mrs. Philimore, she was in the act of precipitately leaving the apartment, when Sir Howard opposed her flight; her confusion was evident; when assuming an air and attitude of admiration, his arms extended as if transported with ecstacy, the words "beauty, beautiful," burst from his lips.
That respect, even to reverence, he had been accustomed to wear in her presence, then, from the consciousness that her heart was inaccessible to him, totally vanished in all the real levity of his character; he stood boldly contemplating her youthful charms, adorned as they were by a modesty that was matchless, unawed by the dignified reserve her looks expressed; he endeavoured to rally her out of it;—it was rusticity, prudery, and quite out of fashion; it was entirely foreign to the present manners. Gaiety, sprightliness, even levity, was consistent with her age, and which was all she wanted to render her completely captivating! bewitching in the extreme!
Offended pride and delicacy suffused Rosilia's cheek with a crimson blush. Sir Howard had been disapproving of a too great nicety of feeling; but, when he observed its enchanting effects, his heart contradicted his words, and whispered, "That a woman given to blush, possessed one of the loveliest of female graces!"
Taking advantage of the pause, as he stood gazing on her, Rosilia attempted to pass, in order to shun the presence of one so unfeeling and senseless as Sir Howard then appeared to her. To prevent her escape, he audaciously sprang forward, and while in the act of closing the door, seized the trembling girl by the arm. Her courage and resolution, however, were immediately aroused; she resisted his grasp, and with a voice imperious in its accents, desired him instantly to release her.
Freed from his presence, her first suggestion was to send the servant to inform Sir Howard that Mrs. De Brooke was not at home, and that it was uncertain when she might return, supposing it would induce him to depart. Instead of departing, however, in order to draw her back again, he sent a message to her, stating that he felt himself very unwell, and was consequently deterred from going immediately, and that previous to which, having a few words to say to her, he begged of her to return.
Supposing it might be to offer some excuse for his conduct, and not wishing to give rise to suspicion in the servant, Rosilia, though reluctantly, was tempted to comply.
In the hope of disarming her resentment, and of exciting her compassion, he had artfully thrown himself upon a sofa, his head reclining upon his hand; when, upon again seeing her, scarcely uplifting himself, he said in the most plaintive voice, "I am very ill,—very ill indeed;" upon which, not receiving a reply, he half unclosed his eye-lids, and sinking his head backwards upon the couch, added in tones of rebuke, "Have you no consolation for me; not one word of pity to offer? come—come, and sit by me; come, and prescribe for me." Far from exhibiting the languor of sickness, his countenance was flushed by an exhilarating glow.
Not deigning to give reply, and not wishing to indulge him in a notion of his self-importance by a second time leaving the room, Rosilia walked to the inner apartment in which she had been before seated, and resumed her work, where, after a short interval, Sir Howard followed. He placed himself opposite to her; a serene and majestic gravity invested her; his former levity vanished; he saw "virtue in her own shape; how lovely! saw and pined his loss!"
Sir Howard in the pursuit of Rosilia had been encouraged equally by her genuine sensibility and unaffected innocence, as by her alluring beauty. But when in removing the veil, which before only imperfectly concealed him, he disclosed his real character; her dignity, her purity rose so full upon his view, as deeply to penetrate him with the idea, that by the mere force of her virtue alone, she would be enabled to defend herself against the attacks of the most abandoned libertine in existence!
Thus meditating, he was half inclined to forsake the desperate plot he had combined by which to secrete her from her family. With a serious and respectful air he left his seat, inwardly ejaculating, strange and wondrous creature! and pressing his hand upon his bosom, bowed profoundly low, and departed.
No sooner was he gone, than that energy of feeling, which had till then supported Rosilia, yielded to the oppression which overburdened her heart. Tears that she strove in vain to repress fast chased each other down her cheeks—wounded delicacy and virtuous pride depriving her of the power of checking them. She continued weeping while reflecting that, did she make known to her father the insulting conduct she had met with from Sir Howard, he would pursue him with his vengeance even to an extremity she trembled to think of. If in being repulsed from the house, as he doubtless would be, the first time he entered it after the return of her father from Wales, the result might terminate in much affliction both to her mother and herself. She resolved, therefore, to conceal the matter from her parents, in future to shun Sir Howard, to be guarded in her conduct towards him, and never again to allow him a private inteview, were it possible to prevent it.
Reflecting upon what Mrs. Philimore had said, Melliphant, whom she had ever felt disposed to esteem as the associate of Sir Howard, became insensibly lessened in her good opinion, particularly on her calling to mind the urgency with which he had recommended for her perusal such works as, in their tendency to excite the imagination, are usually deemed pernicious.
Having for some time sat musing over a succession of afflicting thoughts which presented themselves, and again resolving to shun the authors of them, her spirits calmed, and she went to seek their further relief by a walk in her favourite garden. There it was true she had once met Melliphant; but conceiving it to be accidental, that no further intrusion would molest her, with a light foot she bounded along the winding path, where, on either side the box, the variegated holly and luxuriant laurustinus profusely clustered. Her eye wandering round through the intermixture of beds and branches, she beheld somebody on the opposite side walking leisurely along. The gait and figure resembled Sir Howard; could it really be he? she was persuaded he was not in the habit of frequenting the gardens; she had never seen him there.
Nevertheless the object she beheld was truly Sir Howard; he had purposely traced her, and supposing himself unnoticed, he sought an opportunity for joining her. Her heart fluttered like the timid fawn aroused by the enemy in view; she would have flown, but knew not where to fly. She stood for a moment still, concealed by the thickly interwoven shrubs, that for the purpose seemed to offer their timely aid; but in the next moment, the better, as she hoped, to elude discovery, she gave to her steps the speed of wings, and made a circuit round the more retired part of the garden.
Breathless with agitation, she had reached the gate, when, suddenly springing from behind her, Sir Howard advanced to open it; she returned his obsequious bow by a distant courtesy; she passed him, but whilst doing so, be begged permission to escort her home.
His manners were humble, his eye was downcast; thus he conducted her in silence, until she had nearly reached her home, when he murmured something of apology for having been betrayed in his morning's visit to have acted in a manner perhaps too familiar, but which, he assured her, had not arisen from disrespect, but from the intimacy and flattering unreserve, more than a common friend, with which he had been honoured by the family. Though but indistinctly articulated, such was the tenor of the speech Rosilia gathered, which pleased, whilst at the same time it piqued her, as seeming to convey a censure against herself for having acted with over severity.
Sir Howard had thought proper to make this vindication of himself, hoping that by appeasing her resentment, it might cause her to soften her account of his conduct to her mother, whom he knew to be particularly tenacious of her daughter's conduct, but whom, from the little knowledge she had of the vices of the world, he had easily beguiled into a complete persuasion of his honor and uprightness; but, above all, it was the wrath and indignation of the General he most dreaded, sensibly aware, in the warmth and impetuosity of his character, how justly and strongly such feelings might be vented against him.
With a look forcibly pleading forgiveness he left her, saying he would call again in the evening: the evening came, and brought, according to his promise Sir Howard.
The circumstance of the morning, by throwing restraint upon his behaviour, rendered him less presumptuous, and thence his company was more agreeable to Rosilia than she had of late found it; conducting himself as in the early stage of his acquaintance, perhaps with even more circumspection, he frequently relapsed into silence as though labouring under an oppression of mind, and supporting conversation only as an effort due to politeness. At last availing himself of the entrance of Mrs. Belmour and Melliphant, he retired to the adjoining apartment, where approaching the window which commanded a view of the country, he threw himself into a chair and became profoundly engrossed in thought.
After a short interval, Rosilia, anxious to show her perfect forgiveness of the past, and restore him from the melancholy mood into which beseemed sunk, gently drew near to the spot where he was seated; her work apparatus still lay in disorder upon the table, and whilst collecting them together, having entered unperceived by Sir Howard, he started upon beholding her.
It was one of those winter nights when the darkened clouds presage a tempest; the winds howled, and the lightning flashed at intervals, presenting a scene far from unpleasing to Rosilia, and harmonizing with her present feelings.
Sir Howard also, in witnessing such scenes, felt a gratification, but the effect they produced in him was utterly opposed to that experienced by Rosilia. "A night such as this," said he, "suits with the gloomy habit of my soul."
A sentiment so serious, from one usually influenced by volatility, was unexpected by Rosilia, being at the little time aware, that Sir Howard often yielded himself to the indulgence of a propensity of a nature singular and peculiar. Scenes such as struck the mind with horror, such as others shunned as obnoxious, were by him courted and sought after with avidity. Often, in the deep stillness of the midnight hour, he would descend into those cold vaults, the habitations of the dead, or wander over the graves of the departed.
"Oft seen in charnel vaults and sepulchres
Lingering and setting by a new made grave."
Not with the view of teaching himself the useful lesson respecting the vanity of all earthly things, but because something within him, analogous to, and corresponding with, the sepulchral gloom, attracted him thither.
Influenced by similar feelings, he ever bent his steps where he might behold that dreadful spectacle,—the criminal about to be launched into eternity. Death, whenever thus brought before him in idea, the more appalling in its terrors the more delightful to him, overwhelming him with sensations difficult to describe, of which the pure in heart can form no just conception.
Rosilia, on the contrary, loved to image to herself the immortal soul, not as in its perishable tenement of clay, the mere mortal covering which at death is consigned to its kindred dust; but the soul, or spirit, such as it is when it has burst those fetters that confined it here, and thus emancipated, soars beyond its terrestrial boundaries into spheres of supreme bliss, an element congenial with its immaterial nature, its spiritual state of being. It was of immortality, regeneration, the philosophy of the mind, infinity increasing in perfection, and endless perpetuity, upon which she had been taught to meditate, and loved to dwell, and which often drew from her heart the devout and holy sigh of unfeigned gratitude and love.
Such respectively were the distinctly opposite ideas of Sir Howard and Rosilia, as each mutely contemplated the awful scene before them, and which led each insensibly to speak of those latter moments to which all must arrive—Rosilia was transported in heavenly thought to the paradise of angels; while Sir Howard, on the contrary, talked but of the dissolution of matter, when beauty, falling into atoms, would exhibit but a terrific and ghastly spectacle!
Meanwhile Melliphant, in the front apartment, finding that Sir Howard had engrossed Rosilia, and having a great desire to approach, dared not venture to offend his rival by encroaching upon his prerogative. Whilst thus keeping apart, he endured, almost the whole of the evening, the tortures of the rack; he was prevented from conversing with her who filled his every thought; and he had but time to tell her that he had obtained another volume of the Botanical Plants, of rare and choice beauty, and which was open for her inspection, whenever she proposed making him so happy, by honouring him with a morning call at his house: at the same time reminding her that Mrs. Belmour would most gladly attend her.