When Ada Leicester looked up to address her servant, he had left the room.
Among other things, Jacob had been commissioned to procure a quant.i.ty of hot-house flowers; for the conservatories at Mrs. Gordon"s villa were to be turned into perfect bowers. Besides, Ada was prodigal of flowers in every room of her dwelling, even when no company was expected. In order to procure enough for this grand gala evening, Jacob had resource to Mrs. Gray, who trafficked at times in everything that has birth in the soil.
Mrs. Gray was delighted with this commission, for it promised a rich windfall to her pretty favorite, Julia Warren. So, after the market closed that day, she went up to Dunlap"s, and bargained for all the exotics his s.p.a.cious greenhouse could produce. She informed Julia of her good luck, and returned home with a warmth about the heart worth half a dozen Thanksgiving suppers, bountiful as hers always were.
The next day Julia was going up town, with a basket loaded with exotics on her arm. It was late in the afternoon, for the blossoms had been left on the stalk to the latest hour, that no sweet breath of their perfume should be wasted before they reached the boudoir they were intended to embellish.
It was a sweet task that Julia had undertaken. With her love of flowers, it was a delicious luxury to gaze down upon her dewy burden, as she walked along, surrounded by a cloud of fragrance invisible as it was intoxicating. A life of privation had rendered her delicate organization keenly susceptible of this delicate enjoyment. It gratified the hunger of sensations almost ethereal. She loitered on her way, she touched the flowers with her hands, that, like the blossoms, were soon bathed in odor. Rich ma.s.ses of heliotrope, the snowy cape jessamine, cl.u.s.ters of starry daphne, crimson and white roses, with many other blossoms strange as they were sweet, made every breath she drew a delight. A glow of exquisite satisfaction spread over her face, her dreamy eyes were never lifted from the blossoms, except when a corner was to be turned or an obstacle avoided.
"Where are you going, girl? Are those flowers for sale?"
Julia started and looked up. She was just then before a cottage house, laced with iron balconies and clouded with creeping vines, red with the crimson and gold of a late Indian summer. The garden in front was gorgeous with choice dahlias and other autumn flowers that had not yet felt the frost, and on the basin of a small marble fountain in the centre stood several large aquatic lilies, from which the falling water-drops rained with a constant and sleepy sound.
Julia did not see all this at once, for the glance that she cast around was too wild and startled. She clasped the basket of flowers closer to her side, and stood motionless. Some potent spell seemed upon her.
"Can"t you speak, child? Are those flowers for sale?"
Julia remained gazing in the man"s face; her eyes, once fixed on those features, seemed immoveable. He stood directly before her, holding the iron gate which led to the cottage open with his hand.
"No--no--if you please, sir, they are ordered. A lady wants them."
"Then they are not paid for--only ordered. Come in here. There is a lady close by who may fancy some of those orange blossoms."
"No, no, sir--the other lady might be angry!"
"Nonsense! I want the flowers--not enough to be missed, though--just a handful of the white ones. Here is a piece of gold worth half your load.
Let me have what I ask, and I dare say your customer will give just as much for the rest."
"I can"t, sir--indeed I can"t," said Julia, drawing a corner of her little plaid shawl over the basket; "but if you are not in a hurry--if the lady can wait an hour--I will leave these and get some more from the greenhouse."
The man did not answer, but, placing his hand on her shoulder, pushed the frightened child through the open gate.
"Let your customer wait--during the next hour you must stay here. It is not so much the flowers that I want as yourself!"
"Myself!" repeated poor Julia, with quivering lips.
"Go in--go in--I want nothing that should frighten you. Stay--just now I remember that face. Do you know I am an old customer?"
"I remember," answered Julia, and tears of affright rushed into her eyes.
"Then you recognise me again?--it was but a moment--how can you remember so long and so well?"
"By my feelings, sir. I wanted to cry then--I can"t help crying now!"
"This is strange! Young ladies are not apt to be so much shocked when I speak to them. No matter. I want both your flowers and your services just now: oblige me, and I will pay you well for the kindness."
Julia had no choice, for as he spoke the gentleman closed the gate, and completely obstructed her way out.
"Pa.s.s on--pa.s.s on!" he said, with an imperative wave of the hand.
Julia obeyed, walking with nervous quickness as he drew close to her.
The gentleman rang, a faint noise came from within, and the door was opened by a quiet old lady in mourning.
"Then you have come; you persist!" she said, addressing the gentleman!
"Step this way a moment," he answered in a subdued voice, opening the parlor door; "but first send this little girl up to Florence; if you still refuse, she must answer for a witness. Besides, she has flowers in her basket, and my sweet bride would think a wedding ominous without them!"
"Ominous indeed!" said the lady, pointing with her finger that Julia should ascend the stairs. "William, I will not allow this to go on; to witness the sin would be to share it."
"Mother," answered Leicester, gently taking the lady"s hand, while he led her to the parlor, "tell me your objections, and I will answer them with all respect. Why is my marriage with Florence Craft opposed?"
"You have no right to marry--you are not free--cannot be so while Ada lives."
"But Ada is dead! Mother, say now if I am not free to choose a wife?"
"Dead! Ada Wilc.o.x dead! Oh William, if this be true!"
"If! It is true. See, here are letters bearing proof that even you must acknowledge."
He held out some letters bearing an European post-mark. The old lady took them, put on her gla.s.ses, and suspiciously scrutinized every line.
"Are you convinced, mother, or must I go over sea, and tear the dead from her grave before your scruples yield?"
The old lady lifted her face; a tear stole from beneath her gla.s.ses.
"Go on," she said, in a deep solemn voice--"go on, add victim to victim, legally or illegally, it scarce matters--that which you touch dies. But remember--remember, William, every new sin presses its iron mark hard on your mother"s heart, the weight will crush her at length."
"Why is maternal love so strong in your bosom that Scripture is revised in my behalf? Must my iniquities roll back on past generations?" said the son, with a faint sneer.
"No, it is because my own sin originates yours. Your father was a bad man, William Leicester, profligate, treacherous, fascinating as you are.
I married him; wo, wo upon the arrogant pride; I married him, and said, in wicked self-confidence--"My love shall be his redemption." My son--my son, you cannot understand me; you cannot think how terrible iniquity is when it folds you in its bosom. There is no poison like the love of a profligate; the fang of an adder is not more potent. It spreads through the whole being; it lives in the moral life of our children. I said "My love is all powerful, it shall reform this man whom I love so madly." I made the effort; I planted my soul beneath the Upas tree, and expected not only to escape but conquer the poison. Look at me, William; can you ever remember me other than I am, still, cold, hopeless? Yet I only lived with your father three years. Before that I was bright and joyous beyond your belief.
"He died as he had lived. Did the curse of my arrogance end there? No, it found new life in his son--his son and mine. In you, William--in you my punishment embodied itself. Still I hoped and strove against the evil entailed upon you. Heaven bear me witness, I struggled unceasingly; but as you approached maturity, with all the beauty and talent of your father, the moral poison revealed itself also.
"Then the love that I felt for you changed to fear, and as one who has turned a serpent loose among the beautiful things of earth, I said, "Let my life be given to protect society from the evil spirit which my presumption has forced upon it." It was an atonement acceptable of G.o.d.
How many deserted victims my roof has sheltered you know--how many I have saved from the misery of your influence it is needless to say. This one, so gentle, so rich in affection, I hoped to win from her enthralment, or, failing that, resign her to the arms of death, more merciful, more gentle than yours. I have pleaded with her, warned her, but she answers as I answered when those who loved me said of your father, "It is a sin to marry him!" Must she suffer as I have suffered?
Oh! William, my son, turn aside this once from your prey. She is helpless--save her young heart from the stain that has fallen upon mine!"
"Nay, gentle mother, this is scarcely a compliment--you forget that I wish to marry the young lady."
How cold, how insulting were the tones of his voice--how relentless was the spirit that gleamed in his eyes! The unhappy mother stood before him, her pale hands clasped and uplifted, and words of thrilling eloquence hushed upon her lips, that no syllable of his answer might be lost. It came, that dry, insolent rejoinder; her hands fell; her figure shrunk earthward.
"I have done!" broke from her lips, and she walked slowly from the room.
"Madam, shall we expect you at the ceremony?" said Leicester, following her to the door.
She turned upon the stairs, and gave him a look so sad, so earnest, that even his cold heart beat slower.
"It is not important!" he muttered, turning back; "we can do without her. This little girl and the servant must answer, though I did hope to trust no one."