"He did, he did!" exclaimed Ellen--"and here it is," drawing out a small packet, and giving it to Lady Arranmore.

"Then be sure my brother is too n.o.ble to raise hopes only to quench them,--and I admire his choice in choosing you, my own dear, beautiful Ellen! and let it be my task to have this little ring re-united. Give it me, Ellen, till it is again fit to circle your finger. But, Ellen, whilst I now regard you as a sister, and bid you follow its invitation and 'Hope on,' let me caution you not to be too sanguine yet. I mean do not be impatient, dearest,"--for the Marchioness began to think she was raising her friend's hopes too high, ere she was herself a.s.sured of their certainty;--"have patience, wait, and all will turn out right. I know Wentworth well; he will do nothing in a hurry; he will wait till he knows your character; and now all depends on you; at least, Ellen, he will now know he has a faithful love! But what puzzles me not a little, is how the denial of that foolish report, which no one can guess the origin of, did not reach you, and how the kind letters of inquiry my brother sent, did not rea.s.sure you? I thought then he certainly stretched a point in polite solicitude; now I know the reason why."

Our readers must not be ignorant of the answers to these natural questions of Lady Arranmore. In the first place it was a diabolic plot of the Captain's to insert the fatal paragraph, and when he saw how well it took effect, his next concern was to prevent the paper containing its refutation from reaching Mr. Ravensworth. However, in the confusion occasioned by Ellen's illness, all sight of papers would have been lost, even if the postman had not been bribed to withhold that journal. Had they dared they would also have intercepted the Earl's letters to her father, but these he received, though he forbore showing them to Ellen for fear he should again raise false hopes, and as he regarded them only as the offspring of a polite and friendly nature, he feared he would only again tear open a healing wound if he showed them.

"Oh, Lady Arranmore--dearest Edith, as you ask me now to call you," said Ellen, as their boat neared Geneva and the Isle de Jean Jacques Rousseau, "how happy I feel! I feel so bright now, like yonder height still lingering in sunshine, whilst darkness wraps the whole face of nature! How different are the feelings with which I stepped into this boat, and those with which I step out again!"

"Be a.s.sured I rejoice with your joy, but remember, Ellen, be patient and tranquil; I will write to Wentworth this very evening, and we shall have his answer before we leave for Paris."

The two friends agreed to keep their secret till the answer arrived, which came on the very day they were to start. Lord Wentworth said much to his sister which of course Ellen did not hear, but she did hear that he sent fondest love to her, and this dispelled the last shadow of doubt from her mind. Mr. Ravensworth was astonished by the wonderful change for the better in Ellen's looks, which he falsely attributed to the change of air, delightful weather, and charming scenery she had found abroad; but in reality the very happy news did more for her in a few days than all the tours or doctors living could have done in as many months, and she became the same merry-hearted girl she was, full of good spirits to a degree her father could not understand, till he became sharer too of the glad tidings, which made him rejoice with all the fulness of a father's love. Lord and Lady Arranmore were also on their homeward way, and it was determined they should travel in company as far as Paris. The Marquis was in fact beginning to sigh for home comforts, and professed himself sick of the acid French wines; so he was not sorry to find himself in his own comfortable carriage bowling northwards. Mr.

Ravensworth and Ellen travelled behind in their post carriage; and very often the stout Marquis was turned out of his nest, to make room for Ellen, by Edith, whilst he had to content himself with the more lumbering vehicle of the country in which Mr. Ravensworth travelled; and after expending his wrath by cursing the jolting carriage and springs, generally made himself very comfortable with hock or champagne, for, we are grieved to say, wine was the Marquis' delight, and drinking his besetting sin! At Paris, the friends parted with the near prospect of a happy meeting ere long in Scotland, whither the n.o.ble couple were to proceed after a week at Paris, in order to pay their first visit at Dun Edin Towers.

In ten days more, Ellen was welcomed back, after a long absence, by her brother and sister, who received her home with rapturous joy, and were full of the kindness shown them by the Earl since his return to the Towers.

"Do you know, Nelly, we have spent every Sat.u.r.day there, and he so often inquired after you?" said Johnny.

Mr. Lennox was one of the earliest to welcome our heroine back, and congratulate her on her improved health: he came avowedly to hear all about her tour, but one would have rather thought he had come to boast of his "good luck," as he called it, in being asked to spend a week at the Towers, where the Earl was about to entertain a select circle for a short time. "Among which," said the proud man, "are my cousins on my father's side, the Duke of Richmond and Lord George Lennox; and if I mistake not, Miss Ravensworth, both you and your father will also have the distinguished honour of accompanying me thither."

CHAPTER XIII.

"Beneath the art-embroidered vest Is often hid a weary breast; And gaiety dissembles ill The pangs that make the sad heart chill, When gold and pleasure strive in vain To buy immunity from pain."--_Anon._

We now claim Ariosto's privilege, and for a while shift our scene to an elegantly furnished boudoir in one of the best houses in a street in the West End of London.

In the centre of this apartment stood a rosewood table covered with a gorgeous cloth, on which in charming _neglige_ were scattered several well-bound volumes--a few ornaments--an ivory fan beautifully carved--a pair of white kid gloves, and a bouquet of flowers. In the centre stood a camphine lamp, which shed a soft light, and disclosed sofas, chairs, and ottomans, all of the same expensive wood, and covered with crimson velvet cushions. A grand piano stood near the folding doors which opened into a smaller back room; a harp stood between the windows, one of which was slightly opened, for though it was now nearly ten o'clock there was no need yet of shutting out the soft west wind that blew lightly from the park. The bars of the fireplace were garnished with boughs of myrtle, and above the mantelpiece was a large mirror, on either side of which hung a miniature painting, the only two pictures in the room. The whole air of the room was one of luxury and elegance, and the sweet perfume of some exotic flowers, which breathed from a small conservatory into which the other window opened, filled the apartment.

In the smaller, or back drawing-room, the owner of this residence sat on a sofa trying to decipher the letters of the last novel in the gloaming, which the lamp in the outer room could not illumine. When light quite failed, she rose and entered the boudoir we have just described, and sitting down on an ottoman between the two windows, pa.s.sed her fingers along the chords of the harp, and then bent again over the volume she perused. In appearance this lady was about twenty-two, though perhaps she looked older than she really was. From time to time Juana Ferraras--for she it was--looked off her book, and raised her dark eye to the miniature on the right of the mirror, the counterpart of Lord Wentworth, whilst the other represented the Earl's fair donna. From the picture she glanced hurriedly at the door, as if she expected some visitor. When Lord Wentworth, tired of Juana, determined not to do so mean a thing as to cast penniless on the cold world one who had sacrificed so much for him--he gave her a liberal, nay, a handsome yearly allowance, besides the residence in which she now lived, on condition she was never to trouble, or ask after him again. In the Earl's very faults there was mingled the high honour that would never desert a helpless woman, and he readily parted with a large annual sum in order to leave her happy as he thought. But gold cannot purchase happiness, and this Juana found. She was endowed with strong pa.s.sions, and had really loved the Earl, and keenly felt his growing coldness. She was sensible she had lived a life of duplicity; but she was not without glimpses of a better nature, not without desire of living a different life, and now the last chances seemed gone! Her very affluence depended on her never troubling the Earl more, and this made her very sad.

Juana was exceedingly tastefully dressed; everything about her was handsome without being showy, as everything about her room was elegant and expensive, without being extravagant. She wore a remarkably well-made black silk dress--the favourite Spanish colour--which showed off the figure it professed to hide; a black mantilla fell from the comb which confined her hair, now dressed in the Spanish way, and gracefully drooped over her white shoulders; she wore a chain of pearls round her neck, from the end of which was suspended a diamond crucifix; and several costly rings gemmed her hand, while bracelets in the shape of serpents with emerald eyes clasped her well-shaped arms. The young girl's striking beauty was still the same, and the hot evening, and exertion of fanning herself with the fan, which, as Shakespeare says, "seemed to glow the delicate cheek which it did cool," gave a radiant bloom to her Spanish complexion, enhancing her extreme loveliness. Her eye was darkly l.u.s.trous still, but there was an air of discontented pride in her countenance, and a weary dejectedness, that clouded her bright eyes, which had no business there. All that money could give was on, and around her. But what gold could not purchase was lacking--a heart to enjoy them, and a heart to share her delights. Little they know of woman's nature, who fancy that _every_ young creature who has not the moral courage to resist temptation and falls, loses her heart with her name! Low, indeed, must she be fallen who has no heart! Name--fame--all may go--the heart never. And though a life of shame may make it grow callous, and apparently dead; though a life of deceit may freeze its feelings; beneath its icy exterior some traces of former sensibility are buried. They may be but the feeble tricklings of the stream, which all the glacier's cold cannot freeze, but are still quick--still living amid a ma.s.s of external frigidity.

Juana, as we have already said, had strong feelings towards the Earl: what woman would not under her circ.u.mstances? Mingled with these sentiments were shadows of distrust; and when she compared their love to that which had once bound her heart in earlier, happier days, she felt how feeble and how dim was its greatest light. Juana had once had another lover--of him we may hereafter hear more--suffice to say death had severed their tie, and now:--

"The love where death _had_ set his seal, Nor age _could_ chill, nor rival steal, Nor falsehood disavow."

She had been left alone, and whilst no future affection could equal her first, earliest love, still the nearest akin to it had been that for Lord Wentworth; once more she had been thrown off, and this time not death, but falsehood had been the severer! She had been driven from her last resting place, and she was now like the dove flitting over a cold weary waste, which wist not where to rest her feet. The olive branch was gone, and she was desolate! In this desertion too her ambition had been stricken--her pride had received a blow! She had fancied her beauty would have been the means and instrument of raising her to this pitch of fancied bliss. She had lived to see her beauty despised--lived to see her power worthless--and now what was all the wealth--what all the luxury--he had given, when the giver cared for her no more? All that she could wish seemed round her, but in the midst of all the owner was the only being whose smile belied her heart! The only one of all who praised her beauty who was in spirit not sad--but miserable! Tossing the unfinished novel aside Juana rose, sighed deeply, and sauntering towards the open window, which she raised still higher, gazed out on the streets down which the watchmen were strolling with their lanterns. She then returned to the mirror, exclaiming, "Ah! ha! how tired I am--I would I were dead--what is all now without thee?"

For some moments she looked on the Earl's picture with great earnestness--then she rang the bell, and when the footman appeared, said--"Bring some refreshments, William--you may clear the table, and put them there--and see that the wines are iced."

"Dear me," she exclaimed half aloud, as a pretty little timepiece on the mantelshelf struck ten--"how late they are!--I expected them an hour ago?"

The footman had just spread out a cold collation, served on silver plate, when the door bell rang, and almost immediately afterwards appeared the expected visitors. Our readers will not be surprised to hear them announced as Captains de Vere and L'Estrange.

"Well, gentlemen," said Juana, putting on a smile so sweet we could hardly imagine her so soon capable of a.s.suming, "you are exceedingly punctual--just one hour and ten minutes after the time."

"We crave your pardon, fair Juana, but the delay was unavoidable," said L'Estrange, advancing and shaking hands.

"You should put that in the singular, L'Estrange. I care little how long I keep people waiting, and in the case of ladies always make up with a kiss," said the Captain, bestowing one on the fair Spaniard's cheek.

"And how do you do when ladies keep you waiting, Captain de Vere?" said Juana.

"Never wait for them, or if they be refractory give them something to mend their memory and manners another time! I see you are all prepared, Juana, at any rate. Here, sirrah!" addressing the servant, "is the wine properly iced?"

"Yes, your honour. Can I do anything else?"

"Nothing but take yourself off as quick as you can? Stay--tell my man to call for Sir R. Musgrave, and be here at eleven. Let him be punctual, or egad! I'll know why."

"Now we are by ourselves let us begin and discuss this affair," said L'Estrange.

"To the devil with your discussions till we have got something aboard, as Wilson would say. There's your health, my dark-eyed beauty! and luck!" said the Captain, draining a b.u.mper.

"Now then, L'Estrange, discuss away--I've enough wine in me to settle my brain; I hate talking on nothing."

"On the whole, then, Juana, our plans seem to have miscarried not a little," said L'Estrange. "Who would have thought of his lordship's pensioning you off so soon? I am sure he shows little taste."

Juana sighed, without answering.

"Egad! that's true, he does show little taste; but don't you get discouraged, my little Juana."

"That unfortunate meeting of Lord and Lady Arranmore with the young lady abroad I fear will undo everything," said the Spaniard.

"It _was_ unlucky! who the deuce would have thought of such a chance?

Now, my brother will be swearing about her fidelity, and G.o.d knows what not."

"It is these little chances that spoil everything, unless guarded against, and after that capital rumour we got afloat it is too bad."

"You are plural mad to-night," replied the Captain; "'we', it was _I_, sir, that planned the paragraph, and _I_ who prevented old Ravensworth seeing the denial--it would have been long ere it entered your stupid head!"

"Well, Captain, you need not wrangle; we will give you all the credit of being wise in evil! I envy not the distinction, I am sure, and am not sorry to get the infamy off my hands."

"And d--d ready to profit by it," retorted the Captain. "Well, we won't wrangle, but get to business! Now, my Ahithophel! let us hear what you can counsel."

"I would send Juana to Scotland, and get a meeting between her and Lord Wentworth."

"Curse women, say I--they spoil everything--one is enough; G.o.d knows what mischief two may work--better keep Juana here."

"You are _exceedingly_ polite, Captain de Vere.--I think it a very good plan, and one that ought certainly to be followed."

"Don't be angry, dear!--don't look so jolly savage! Go, in the fiend's name, if you like, and lose everything: thank heaven I have yet a string that will not break should this fail."

"And what if I do lose all, Captain de Vere? what is the use of this loveless grandeur? I would rather see and speak to Wentworth ten minutes than live a year in guilty, solitary splendour. You know not what a woman's heart is--let me go?"

"In troth not I; a woman's heart is an enigma not easy to read; but go to the North, or _elsewhere_ if you will, it irks me not! Only don't cast it in my teeth if it fails. The plan then is for you and I, L'Estrange, to start for the Towers to-morrow--you can call and see Ellen Ravensworth, and tell her how well Wentworth loves his Juana--show her his letters--I have a packet of them! Work on her jealousy, and if that doesn't do I know a plan yet."

"Would to heaven he did love me still," sighed Juana, as she rose and went to the sofa, on which she threw herself down. "And when do I go to Scotland?"