"I may never see him again," she said; "but I shall always remember that I have met one whom I could have loved."
She sat there until the sun had set over the waters and the moon had risen; and all the time she saw before her but one image--the face that had charmed her as nothing in life had ever done before. Then, startled to find that it had grown so late, she rose and crossed the sands. Once she turned to look at the sea, and a curious thought came to her that there, by the side of the restless, shining waters, she had met her fate. Then she tried to laugh at the notion.
"To waste one"s whole heart in loving a face," she thought, "would be absurd. Yet the sweetest of all heroines--Elaine--did so."
A great calm, one that lulled her brooding discontent, that stilled her angry despair, that seemed to raise her above the earth, that refined and beautified every thought, was upon her. She reached home, and Miss Hastings, looking at the beautiful face on which she had never seen so sweet an expression, so tender a light before, wondered what had come over her. So, too, like Elaine--
All night his face before her lived,
and the face was
Dark, splendid, sparkling in the silence, full Of n.o.ble things.
All unconsciously, all unknowingly, the love had come to her that was to work wonders--the love that was to be her redemption.
CHAPTER x.x.xV.
THE STORY OF ELAINE.
Miss Hastings laid down the newspaper, with a quick glance of pleased surprise.
"I am glad that I came to Omberleigh," she said. "Imagine, Pauline, who is here. You have heard me speak of the St. Lawrences. I educated Laura St. Lawrence, and she married well and went to India. Her husband holds a very high appointment there. Lady St. Lawrence is here with her son, Sir Vane. I am so pleased."
"And I am pleased for you," responded Pauline, with the new gentleness that sat so well upon her.
"I must go and see them," continued Miss Hastings. "They are staying at Sea View. We can soon find out where Sea View is."
"St. Lawrence!" said Pauline, musingly; "I like the name; it has a pleasant sound."
"They are n.o.ble people who bear it," observed Miss Hastings. "Lady St.
Lawrence was always my ideal of a thoroughbred English gentlewoman. I never heard how it was, but the greater part of their fortune was lost when Sir Arthur died. He left but this one son, Vane; and, although he has the t.i.tle, he has but little to support it with. I know their family estates were all sold. Lady St. Lawrence has a small fortune of her own; but it is not much."
Again Pauline repeated the name to herself--"Vane St.
Lawrence!"--thinking there was a sound as of half-forgotten music in it.
That was a name that would have suited the face she had watched on the sands.
"Vane St. Lawrence!"
Unconsciously to herself she had said the words aloud. Miss Hastings looked up quickly.
"Did you speak, my dear?" she asked; and Pauline wondered to find her face suddenly grow warm with a burning blush.
"I think," said Miss Hastings, presently, "that I should like to visit them at once. Lady St. Lawrence may not be staying long, and I should never forgive myself if I were to miss her. Will you come with me, Pauline?"
"Yes, willingly."
She was ready to go anywhere, to do anything, with that great, wonderful love, that great, grand calm, filling her heart and soul.
For the first time the sight of her own magnificent loveliness pleased her.
"I may see him again," she thought to herself with almost child-like simplicity, "and I should like him to think of me."
She took more pains than she had ever taken before; and the picturesque taste that was part of her character greatly a.s.sisted her. Her dress was of purple silk, plain, rich, and graceful; her hat, with its drooping purple plume, looked like a crown on the beautiful head. She could no more help looking royal and queenly than she could help the color of her eyes and hair. Miss Hastings looked up with a smile of surprise, the proud face was so wonderfully beautiful--the light that never yet shone on land or sea was shining on it.
"Why, Pauline," she said, laughing, "Lady St. Lawrence will think I am taking the Queen of Sheba in disguise! What strange change is coming over you, child?"
What indeed? Was it the shadow of the love that was to redeem her--to work wonders in her character? Was it the light that came from the half-awakening soul? Wiser women than good, kindly, simple-hearted Miss Hastings might have been puzzled.
They were not long in finding Sea View--a pretty villa a little way out of the town, standing at the foot of a cliff, surrounded by trees and flowers--one of the prettiest spots in Omberleigh. They were shown into the drawing-room, the windows of which commanded a magnificent view of the sea.
Before they had been there many minutes there entered a fair, gentle, gracious lady, whose eyes filled with tears as she greeted Miss Hastings warmly.
"You are like a spirit from the past," she said. "I can see Laura a little child again as I look at you. Nothing could have pleased me so much as seeing you."
Then she looked admiringly at the beautiful girl by her side. Miss Hastings introduced her.
"Miss Darrell," she said, "it seems strange that I should meet you. My husband in his youth knew Sir Oswald well."
Lady St. Lawrence was just what Miss Hastings had described her--a thoroughly high-bred English lady. In figure she was tall and upright; her face had been beautiful in its youth, and was even now comely and fair; the luxuriant brown hair was streaked here and there with silver.
She wore a dress of rich brocade, with some becoming arrangement of flowers and lace on her head; she was charming in her lady-like simplicity and gentleness.
Pauline, knowing that the two ladies would have much to talk about, asked permission to amuse herself with some books she saw upon the table.
"They belong to my son," said Lady St. Lawrence, with a smile.
There were Tennyson, Keats, and Byron, and written inside of each, in a bold, clear hand, was the name "Vane St. Lawrence." Pauline lost herself again in the sweet story of Elaine, from which she was aroused at intervals by the repet.i.tion of the words--"My son Vane."
She could not help hearing some part of Lady St. Lawrence"s confidential communication, and it was to the effect how deeply she deplored the blindness of her son, who might marry his cousin Lillith Davenant, one of the wealthiest heiresses in England. Miss Hastings was all kindly sympathy.
"It would be such an excellent thing for him," continued Lady St.
Lawrence; "and Lillith is a very nice girl. But it is useless counseling him; Vane is like his father. Sir Arthur, you know, always would have his own way."
Pauline began to feel interested in this Vane St. Lawrence, who refused to marry the wealthy heiress because he did not love her.
"He must be somewhat like me," she said to herself with a smile.
Then the conversation changed, and Lady St. Lawrence began to speak of her daughter Laura and her children. Pauline returned to Elaine, and soon forgot everything else.
She was aroused by a slight stir. She heard Lady St. Lawrence say:
"My dear Vane, how you startled me!"
Looking up, she saw before her the same face that had engrossed her thoughts and fancy!