She expected nothing less from the shock to the girl's already overwrought feelings, and in anticipation1 she already gloated over the sight of her sufferings.
But she was mistaken. Bonnibel neither screamed nor fainted. She sat like one dazed for a moment, her blue eyes riveted2 to the paper, and her face growing white as death, while the two women who hated her watched her with looks of triumph.
The next instant, with a bound like that of a wounded fawn3 seeking some leafy covert4 in which to die, she sprang from her seat and rushed from the room, clenching5 the fatal paper in her hand.
They could hear her light feet flying along the hall and up the stairs to her own especial apartments.
The two wicked women looked at each other blankly.
"I did not expect her to take it that way," said Mrs. Arnold.
"Nor I," returned Felise. "I looked for a fainting spell, or some kind of a tragic6 scene at least."
"Perhaps she does not care much after all," suggested Mrs. Arnold. "She is young, and the young are proverbially fickle7. She may have ceased to love him."
"No, she has not. I am confident of that, mother. Her face looked dreadful when she went out. She is too proud to let us see how she is wounded—that is all. She turned as white as a dead woman while she was reading, and there was a hunted, desperate look in her eyes. Depend upon it she is terribly stricken."
"Do you think she will consent to marry Colonel Carlyle now, Felise?"
"I rather think she will after the awful alternative you placed before her."
"Did you hear our conversation, my dear?"
"Every word of it, mother. I must say you sustained your part splendidly. I feared you would not display sufficient firmness, but you came off with flying colors."
Mrs. Arnold smiled. She was well-pleased at her daughter's praise, for though her life was devoted8 to the service of Felise,[Pg 55] this scheming girl seldom gave her a word or smile of commendation. She answered quickly:
"I am glad you were pleased, my love. I tried to be as positive as you wished me to be. I fancied I heard you under the window once."
"I was there," said Felise, with a laugh.
"She was very much shocked when I threatened to turn her out of doors," said Mrs. Arnold. "She looked at me quite wildly."
"She will be more shocked when she finds you meant every word, for, mother, if she does not accept Colonel Carlyle, you shall certainly drive her away!" exclaimed Felise, and a wild and lurid9 gleam of hatred10 fired her eyes as she spoke11, that boded12 evil to the fair and innocent girl upon whom she had sworn to take a terrible revenge.
Bonnibel flew up the stairs to her own room, still clenching the fatal paper tightly in her hand, and locking her door, threw herself downward upon the carpet and lay there like one dead.
She had not fainted. Every nerve was keenly alive and quivering with pain. Her heart was beating in great, suffocating13 throbs14, her throat felt stiff and choked as if compressed by an iron hand, and her head ached terribly as if someone had hurled15 a heavy stone upon it.
Her whole being seemed to be but one great pulse of intense agony, yet she lay still and moveless, save that now and then a convulsive clutch of the small hand pressed to her throat showed that life still inhabited that beautiful frame.
Life! The thought came to her suddenly and painfully. She raised herself slowly and heavily, as if the weight of her sorrow crushed her down to earth, and the full realization17 of the terrible change broke over her. Leslie Dane was dead. That graceful18 form, that handsome face was hidden beneath the damp earth mould. The dark eyes of her artist husband would never shine down upon her again with the love-light beaming in them, those lips whose smiles she had loved so well would never press hers again as they had done that night when he had blessed her and called her his wife. But she—she was a living, agonized19 creature, the plaything of fate—oh, God! she thought, clasping her hands together wildly, oh, God! that she were dead and lying in the grave with the loved one she would never see again. She felt in all its passionate20 intensity21 the force of another's heart-wrung utterance22.
"Dead, dead!" she moaned. "Oh, God! since he could die, The world's a grave, and hope lies buried there."
Ah! Bonnibel, sweet Bonnibel! It is a dark world indeed on which your tearful gaze looks forth23! It has been the grave of hope to many, yet destiny pushes us forward blindly, and we cannot stay her juggernaut wheels as they roll over our hearts.
"I am eighteen years old, and I am a widow," she moans at last, and staggers blindly to her feet, pushing back the fair locks from her brow with shaking hands. "I am a widow!"
[Pg 56]
Oh! the pathos25 of the words! As she speaks them she draws the blinds, drops the curtains, and the room is shrouded26 in darkness. She has shut out the world from the sight of suffering. You and I, my reader, will turn aside, too, from the contemplation of that cruelly tried young heart as it fights the battle in the gloom and silence.
"Who breathes must suffer; and who thinks must mourn; And he alone is blessed who ne'er was born."
Six days later Colonel Carlyle was ushered27 into Mrs. Arnold's drawing-room and sent up his card to Miss Vere.
After a slight delay she came gliding28 in, pale and pure as a snow-drop, and demure29 as a little nun30. Colonel Carlyle both felt and saw that some subtle and indefinable change had come over her as he bowed over the cold, white hand she placed in his.
It was a very warm day, even for May; but she was clothed from head to foot in heavy mourning draped with crape. Her golden hair was brushed straight back from her temples and gathered into a simple coil fastened with a comb of jet. From that somber31 setting her fair face and bright hair shone like a star.
"You are pale, Bonnibel; I trust you have not been ill," exclaimed the ancient suitor anxiously.
"I am as well as usual," she answered, with a slight, cold smile.
They sat down, and the ardent32 lover at once plunged33 into the subject nearest his heart.
"Bonnibel, I have come for my answer, you know," he said. "I hope and trust it may be a favorable one."
The girl's sweeping34 lashes35 lifted a moment from her pale cheeks, and her blue eyes regarded him sadly; but she did not speak. He bent36 down and lifted her white, listless hand in his and held it fondly.
"My dear, shall it be yes?" he inquired. "Will you give me this precious little treasure?"
Bonnibel looked down at the hand that lay in the colonel's—it was the one which wore the opal ring—that beautiful, changeful gem37. Its colors were dim and pale to-day. She shivered slightly, as if with cold.
"Colonel Carlyle, I told you when we spoke of this before that I did not love you," she said, faintly.
The colonel did not appear to be disheartened by this plaintive38 plea.
"At least you do not hate me, Bonnibel," he said, half questioningly.
"Oh, no," she answered quickly; "I like you very much, Colonel Carlyle. You have been so very kind to me, you know—but it is only the liking39 one has for a friend—it is in no way akin24 to love."
"I will try to be contented40 with just your friendly liking, my dear one, if you will give yourself to me," he answered, eagerly.
[Pg 57]
"I believe I could give you a daughter's affection, but never that of a wife," she murmured.
He did not in the least understand the swift, appealing look of the eyes that were raised a moment to his own. A swift thought had rushed over her and she had given it words:
"Oh, that he would adopt me for his daughter and save me from either of those two alternatives that lie before me," she thought, wildly. "He might do so for papa's sake, and I would make him a very devoted daughter!"
But the sighing lover did not want a daughter—he was after a wife.
"I will take you even on those terms," he replied. "Let me give you the shelter of my name, and we will see if I cannot soon win a warmer place in your heart."
She shook her head and a heavy sigh drifted across her lips.
"Do not deceive yourself, Colonel Carlyle," she said. "My heart is dead. I shall never love any one."
"I will risk all that," he answered. "Only say yes, most peerless of women, and so that I call you mine I will risk all else!"
"Do you mean it?" she asked, earnestly. "The hand without the heart—would that content you?"
"Yes," he answered, bent on attaining41 his end, and foolishly believing that he could teach her to love him. "Yes; am I to have it, Bonnibel?"
"It shall be as you wish," she answered, quietly, and leaning slightly forward she laid in his the hand she had withdrawn42 a while ago.
Colonel Carlyle was beside himself with rapture43.
"A thousand thanks, my beautiful darling," he exclaimed, pressing passionate kisses on the small hand. "Nay44, do not take it away so soon, my love. Let me first place on it the pledge of our betrothal45."
Still and white as marble sat Bonnibel while the enraptured46 colonel slipped over her taper47 forefinger48 a magnificent diamond ring, costly49 enough for a queen to wear. Its brilliant stone flashed fire, and the opal on her third finger seemed to grow dull and cold.
So Bonnibel had made her choice.
Her nature was tender, refined, luxurious50. She was afraid of poverty and cold, and darkness; yet if Leslie Dane had lived she would have faced them all rather than have chosen Mrs. Arnold's alternative.
But Leslie Dane was dead. Life was over and done for her. There was nothing to do but to die or forget. Death would have come soon enough in the streets, perhaps, but she was so afraid of such a death. So she took "the goods the gods provided," and blindly threw herself forward into the whirling vortex of fate.
It was not to be expected that Colonel Carlyle would be willing to defer51 his happiness. He was well-stricken in years, and[Pg 58] had no time to spare in idle waiting. He therefore pressed Bonnibel to name an early day for the wedding.
She had no choice in the matter, and allowed him to name the day himself.
Armed with her permission, he consulted Mrs. Arnold in regard to the earliest possible date for his happiness.
Mrs. Arnold, tutored by Felise, was all smiling graciousness, and fully16 appreciated his eagerness. She thought it quite possible that a suitable and elegant trousseau might be provided for a wedding on the twenty-fifth of June.
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1
anticipation
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| n.预期，预料，期望 | |
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riveted
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| 铆接( rivet的过去式和过去分词 )； 把…固定住； 吸引； 引起某人的注意 | |
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fawn
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| n.未满周岁的小鹿；v.巴结，奉承 | |
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covert
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| adj.隐藏的；暗地里的 | |
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clenching
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| v.紧握，抓紧，咬紧( clench的现在分词 ) | |
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tragic
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| adj.悲剧的，悲剧性的，悲惨的 | |
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fickle
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| adj.(爱情或友谊上)易变的，不坚定的 | |
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devoted
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| adj.忠诚的，忠实的，热心的，献身于...的 | |
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lurid
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| adj.可怕的；血红的；苍白的 | |
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hatred
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| n.憎恶，憎恨，仇恨 | |
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spoke
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| n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说 | |
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12
boded
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| v.预示，预告，预言( bode的过去式和过去分词 )；等待，停留( bide的过去分词 )；居住；（过去式用bided）等待 | |
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13
suffocating
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| a.使人窒息的 | |
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throbs
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| 体内的跳动( throb的名词复数 ) | |
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hurled
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| v.猛投，用力掷( hurl的过去式和过去分词 )；大声叫骂 | |
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fully
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| adv.完全地，全部地，彻底地；充分地 | |
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realization
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| n.实现；认识到，深刻了解 | |
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graceful
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| adj.优美的，优雅的；得体的 | |
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agonized
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| v.使（极度）痛苦，折磨( agonize的过去式和过去分词 )；苦斗；苦苦思索；感到极度痛苦 | |
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passionate
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| adj.热情的，热烈的，激昂的，易动情的，易怒的，性情暴躁的 | |
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intensity
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| n.强烈，剧烈；强度；烈度 | |
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utterance
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| n.用言语表达，话语，言语 | |
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forth
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| adv.向前；向外，往外 | |
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akin
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| adj.同族的，类似的 | |
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pathos
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| n.哀婉，悲怆 | |
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shrouded
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| v.隐瞒( shroud的过去式和过去分词 )；保密 | |
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ushered
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| v.引，领，陪同( usher的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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gliding
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| v. 滑翔 adj. 滑动的 | |
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demure
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| adj.严肃的；端庄的 | |
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nun
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| n.修女，尼姑 | |
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somber
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| adj.昏暗的，阴天的，阴森的，忧郁的 | |
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ardent
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| adj.热情的，热烈的，强烈的，烈性的 | |
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33
plunged
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| v.颠簸( plunge的过去式和过去分词 )；暴跌；骤降；突降 | |
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sweeping
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| adj.范围广大的，一扫无遗的 | |
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lashes
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| n.鞭挞( lash的名词复数 )；鞭子；突然猛烈的一击；急速挥动v.鞭打( lash的第三人称单数 )；煽动；紧系；怒斥 | |
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bent
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| n.爱好，癖好；adj.弯的；决心的，一心的 | |
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37
gem
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| n.宝石，珠宝；受爱戴的人 [同]jewel | |
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38
plaintive
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| adj.可怜的，伤心的 | |
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39
liking
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| n.爱好；嗜好；喜欢 | |
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40
contented
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| adj.满意的，安心的，知足的 | |
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41
attaining
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| （通常经过努力）实现( attain的现在分词 )； 达到； 获得； 达到（某年龄、水平、状况） | |
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withdrawn
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| vt.收回；使退出；vi.撤退，退出 | |
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43
rapture
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| n.狂喜；全神贯注；着迷；v.使狂喜 | |
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44
nay
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| adv.不；n.反对票，投反对票者 | |
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45
betrothal
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| n. 婚约, 订婚 | |
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46
enraptured
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| v.使狂喜( enrapture的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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47
taper
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| n.小蜡烛，尖细，渐弱；adj.尖细的；v.逐渐变小 | |
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48
forefinger
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| n.食指 | |
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49
costly
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| adj.昂贵的，价值高的，豪华的 | |
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50
luxurious
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| adj.精美而昂贵的；豪华的 | |
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51
defer
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| vt.推迟，拖延；vi.(to)遵从，听从，服从 | |
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