"Fourteen at table, and the Sevres set only sufficient for twelve! Truly it _is_ untoward, but I wish, my dear aunt, you would not let it trouble you so much. If you will allow the two extra plates to be placed before Bertha and myself, we will endeavor to render them invisible by our witchcraft. Do compliment us by permitting the experiment to be tried."
"Bertha is ent.i.tled to the best of everything in my mansion," answered the countess, unsoothed by this proposition.
"_That_ I admit," was Madeleine"s cordial reply; "but to meet this unlooked-for emergency, I thought you might possibly consent to let her exert her witchery in making an intrusive plate disappear from general view."
"And you, it seems, are quite confident of possessing witchcraft potent enough to accomplish the same feat!"
Madeleine, without appearing to be hurt by the taunting intonation which pointed this remark, replied frankly, "I suppose I must have been guilty of imagining that I had; but, indeed, it was unpremeditated vanity. I really did not reflect upon the subject. I was only anxious to get over the dilemma in which we are placed by these troublesome plates."
"Not _premeditated_ vanity, I dare say," remarked the countess, dryly; "only vanity so spontaneous, natural, and characteristic that _premeditation_ is out of the question."
Madeleine remained silent, and went on with her task, dexterously rolling around her slender fingers her aunt"s soft, white curls, and letting them lightly drop in the most becoming positions.
The toilet of the countess for her son"s dinner-party was in process of completion.
She wore a black velvet dress, which, after being on duty for a fabulous number of years, and finally p.r.o.nounced past all further active service, had been resuscitated and remodelled, to suit the style of the day, by Madeleine. We will not enter into a description of the adroit method by which a portion of its primitive l.u.s.tre had been restored to the worn and pressed velvet, nor particularize the skilful manner in which the corsage of the robe had been refashioned, and every trace of age concealed by an embroidery of jet beads, which was so strikingly tasteful that its double office was unsuspected. Enough that the countess appeared to be superbly attired when she once more donned the venerable but rejuvenated dress.
The snow-white curls being arranged to the best advantage, Madeleine placed upon the head of her aunt a dainty cap, of the Charlotte Corday form, composed of bits of very old and costly lace,--an heir-loom in the de Gramont family,--such lace as could no longer be purchased for gold, even if its members had been in a condition to exchange bullion for thread. This cap was another of the young girl"s achievements, and she could not help smiling with pleasure when she saw its picturesque effect. The countess, in spite of the anxious contraction of her dark brows, looked imposingly handsome. Hers was an old age of positive beauty,--a decadence which had all the l.u.s.tre of
"The setting moon upon the western wave."
It was only when her features were accidentally contrasted with those of such a mild, eloquent, and soul-revealing face as the one bending over her that defects struck the eye,--defects which the ravages of time had done less to produce than the workings of a stern and haughty character.
But Madeleine"s countenance how shall we portray? The lineaments were of that order which no painter could faithfully present by tracing their outline correctly, and no writer conjure up before the mind by descriptive language, however minutely the color of eyes, complexion, and hair might be chronicled. Therefore our task must necessarily be an imperfect one, and convey but a vague idea of the living presence.
It was a somewhat pale face, but pure and unsallow in its pallor. The vivid blood rushed, with any sudden emotion, to cheek and brow, but died away as quickly; for late hours, too little sunlight, fresh air, and exercise, forbade the flitting roses to be captured and a permanent bloom insured. The hue of the large, dreamy eyes might be called a light hazel; but that description fails to convey an impression of their rare, clear, topaz tint,--a topaz with the changing l.u.s.tre of an opal: a combination difficult to imagine until it has once been seen. The darkly-fringed lids were peculiarly drooping, and gave the eyes a look of exceeding softness, now and then displaced by startling flashes of brilliancy. The finely-chiselled mouth was full of grave sweetness, decision, and energy, and yet suggestive of a mirthful temperament. The forehead was not too high, but ample and thoughtful. The finely-shaped head showed the intellectual and emotional nature nicely balanced.
Through the long, abundant chestnut hair bright threads gleamed in and out until all the locks looked burnished. They were gathered into one rich braid and simply wound around the head. At the side, where the ma.s.sive tress was fastened, a single cape jasmine seemed to form a clasp of union. A more striking or becoming arrangement could hardly have been devised.
Madeleine was somewhat above the ordinary stature, and her height, combined with the native dignity of her bearing, would have given her an air of stateliness, but for the exceeding grace which dispelled the faintest shadow of stiffness,--a stiffness very noticeable in the formal carriage of the countess.
The wardrobe of the young girl was necessarily of the most limited and uncostly character; and, though she was dressed for a ceremonious dinner, her attire consisted merely of a sombre-hued barege, made with the severest simplicity, and gaining its only pretension to full dress by disclosing her white, finely-moulded neck and arms. Her sole ornament was the bracelet which had been Bertha"s birthday gift.
While giving the last, finishing touches to her aunt"s toilet, Madeleine talked gayly. Hers was not one of those bright, silvery voices which make you feel that, could the sounds become visible, they must _shine_; but there was a rich depth in her tones, which imparted to her lightest words an intonation of feeling, and told the hearer that her vocal chords were in close communication with her heart. Though her countenance did not lack the radiance of youthful gladness, there was so much thought mingled with its brightness that even her mirth conveyed the impression that she had suffered and sorrowed.
The only daughter of the Duke de Gramont, at eighteen she suddenly found herself an orphan and wholly dest.i.tute. Her father was one of that large cla.s.s of impoverished n.o.blemen who keep up appearances by means of constant shifts and desperate struggles, of which the world knows nothing. But he was a man of unquestionable intellect, and had given Madeleine a much more liberal education than custom accords to young French maidens of her rank.
The accident of his birth the Duke de Gramont regarded as a positive misfortune, and daily lamented the burden of his own n.o.bility, for it was a shackle that enfeebled and enslaved his large capacities.
He once said to his young daughter, "You would have been far happier as a peasant"s child; I should have had a wider field of action and enjoyment as an humble laborer; we should both have been more truly _n.o.ble_. I envy the peasants who have the glorious privilege of doing just that which they are best fitted to do; who are not forced to _vegetate_ and call vegetation existence,--not compelled to waste and deaden their energies because it is an aristocratic penalty,--not doomed to glide into and out of their lives without ever living enough to know life"s worth."
Such words sank into Madeleine"s spirit, took deep root there, and, growing in the bleak atmosphere of adversity, bore vigorous fruit in good season.
She had known only the intangible shadow of pomp and luxury, while the substance was actual penury. But her inborn fertility of invention, her abundant resources, her tact in accommodating herself to circ.u.mstances, and her inexhaustible energy, had endowed her with the faculty of making the best of her contradictory position, and the most of the humblest materials at her command.
Though she had several wealthy relatives, the Countess de Gramont was the only one who offered her unsheltered youth an asylum. Perhaps we ought not to a.n.a.lyze too minutely the motives of the n.o.ble lady, for fear that we might find her actuated less by a charitable impulse than by pride which would not allow it to be said that her grandniece ever lacked, or had to solicit, a home. Be that as it may, the orphan Madeleine became a permanent inmate of the Chateau de Gramont.
Her grat.i.tude was deep, and found expression in actions more eloquent than words. She was thankful for the slightest evidence of kindness from her self-const.i.tuted protectors. She even exaggerated the amount of consideration which she received. She was not free from the hereditary taint of _pride_; but in her it took a new form and unprecedented expression. The sense of indebtedness spurred her on to discover ways by which she could avoid being a burden upon the generosity of her benefactors,--ways by which her obligations might be lightened, though she felt they could never be cancelled. She became the active, presiding spirit over the whole household; her skilful fingers were ever at work here, there, and everywhere; and her quick-witted brain was always planning measures to promote the interest, comfort, or pleasure of all within her sphere. The thought that an employment was menial, and therefore she must not stoop to perform it, never intruded, for she had an internal consciousness that she dignified her occupation. What she accomplished seemed wonderful; but, independent of the rapidity with which she habitually executed, she comprehended in an eminent degree the exact value of time,--the worth of every minute; and the use made of her _spare moments_ was one great secret of the large amount she achieved.
The toilet of the countess for the dinner was completed, but she kept Madeleine by her side until they descended to the drawing-room.
Madeleine had not yet welcomed Maurice, who had retired to his chamber to dress before she was aware of his arrival. When she entered the _salon_ with the countess, he was sitting beside Bertha, but sprang up, and, advancing joyfully, exclaimed, "Ah! at last! I thought I was never to be permitted to see the busy fairy of the family, who renders herself invisible while she is working her wonders!"
He would have approached his lips to Madeleine"s cheek, but the countess interfered.
"And why," asked Maurice, in surprise which was not free from a touch of vexation,--"why may I not kiss my cousin Madeleine? You found no fault when I kissed my cousin Bertha just now!"
"That is very different!" replied the countess, hastily.
"Different! What is the difference?" persisted Maurice.
"There is none that I can discover. Both are equally near of kin,--both my cousins,--both second cousins, or third cousins, some people would call them; the one is kin through my grandmother, the other through my grandfather. What _can_ be the difference?"
"_My will_ makes the difference!" answered the countess, in a severe tone. "Is not _that_ sufficient?"
"It ought to be so, Maurice," Madeleine interposed, without appearing to be either wounded or surprised at her aunt"s manner. "If not, I must add _my will_ to my aunt"s." Then, as though in haste to change the subject, she said, extending her hand, "I am very, _very_ glad to see you, Maurice."
"You have not changed as much as my pretty Bertha here," remarked Maurice. "She has gained a great deal in the last year. But you, Madeleine, look a little paler than ever, and a little thinner than you were. I fear it is because you still keep that candle burning which last year I used to notice at your window when I returned from b.a.l.l.s long after midnight. You will destroy your health."
"There is no danger of _that_," answered Madeleine, gayly. "I am in most unpoetically robust health. I am never ailing for an hour."
"Never ailing and never weary," joined in Bertha. "That is, she never complains, and never admits she is tired. She would make us believe that her const.i.tution is a compound of iron and India-rubber."
Maurice took a small jewel-case from his pocket, and, preparing to open it, said, "n.o.body has yet asked why I am here one fortnight before I was expected. Has curiosity suddenly died out of the venerable Chateau de Gramont, that none of the ladies who honor its ancient walls by their presence care to know?"
"We all care!" exclaimed Bertha.
"That we do!" responded Madeleine. "Why was it, Maurice?"
"The reason chiefly concerns you, Madeleine."
"Me! You are jesting."
"Not at all; I came home because I remembered that to-day was your twenty-first birthday. I would not be absent upon your birthday, though I did not know that your reaching your majority was to be celebrated by a grand dinner."
"Madeleine"s birthday was not thought of when your father invited his friends to dinner," remarked the countess, curtly.
Maurice went on without heeding this explanation.
"I have brought you a little birthday token. Will you wear it for my sake?"
As he spoke, he opened the case and took out a Roman brooch.
Madeleine"s eyes sparkled with a dewy l.u.s.tre that threatened to shape itself into a tear. Before she could speak, Bertha cried out,--
"A dove with a green olive-branch in its mouth,--what a beautiful device! And the word "_Pax_" written beneath! That must be in remembrance that Madeleine not only bears peace in her own bosom, but carries it wherever she goes. Was not that what you intended to suggest, Cousin Maurice?"
"You are a delightful interpreter," replied the young man.