"She is not a very flattering specimen of the fair s.e.x," said my uncle, affecting a laugh, "but ugly as she now is, I remember her both young and handsome. What was the purport of your dream?"
"That I should like to know. The Josephs and Daniels of these degenerate modern days, are makers of money, not interpreters of dreams. But, I hope you don"t imagine that I place the least importance on such things. My dream was simply this:
"I dreamed that that ugly old woman, whom you call Dinah North, came to my bedside with an intent to murder me." I paused, and fixed my eyes upon Mr. Moncton"s face. The glitter of his bright orbs almost dazzled me. I thought, however, that his cheek paled for a moment, and that I could perceive a slight twitching movement about the muscles of the mouth.
"Well," said he, quite calmly, "and what then?"
"For a long time I resisted her efforts to stab me with a long knife, and I received several deep wounds in my hands, in endeavouring to ward off her home-thrusts; till, faint with loss of blood, I gave up the contest, and called aloud for aid. I heard steps in the pa.s.sage--some one opened the door--it was you, Sir, and I begged you to save my life, and unloosen the fiend"s grasp from my throat, but instead of the a.s.sistance I expected, you seized the knife from the old woman"s hand, and with a derisive laugh, plunged it to the hilt in my heart. I awoke with a scream of agony, and with the perspiration streaming from every part of my body."
The dream was no invention of the moment, but had actually occurred, after Dinah North and Mr. Moncton had left my chamber. I wished to see what impression it would make upon him.
He leaned back in his chair with his eyes still fixed on my face. "It was strange, very strange--enough to excite a nervous, irritable fellow like you. Did you hear me come into your room last night?"
Taken by surprise, I gave an involuntary start, but regained my presence of mind in a moment. "Did you suspect, sir, that I was in the habit of leaving the house at night, that you thought it necessary to ascertain that I was in my bed?"
"Petulant boy! How ready you are to take offence at trifles. How do you expect to steer your way through the world? Business brought me into your room last night. Some papers belonging to the woman, whom your fertile imagination has converted into a witch or fiend, were in the iron chest. Anxious to satisfy her that the papers were safe, I went to look for them. You were making a sad noise in your sleep. I was half inclined to waken you, but thought that my presence in your chamber at that hour of the night would only increase your uneasiness. The sound of my steps in the pa.s.sage, I have no doubt, was the immediate cause of your dream."
This was a masterly stroke, and those who knew Robert Moncton in a moment would recognize the man. The adroitness with which he mingled truth with falsehood, almost made me doubt the evidence of my senses, and to fancy that the events of the past night were a mental delusion.
"Did you find the papers you wanted, Sir?"
His eye flashed, and his lip curled. "What business is that of yours, Sir? I don"t allow an impertinent boy to pry into my private affairs."
"My question was one of idle curiosity."
"Even as such, never dare to repeat it."
I was struck dumb, and concluded my breakfast without speaking to him again. When the tea equipage was removed, I rose to leave the room, but he motioned me to remain.
His anger had pa.s.sed away, and his really handsome face wore a more agreeable expression than usual.
"Sit down, Geoffrey. I have long wished to converse with you upon your future prospects. What progress have you made in your profession?"
Astonished at his condescension, I told him candidly how I had of late improved my time, and studied late and early to acquire a competent knowledge of it in all its branches.
He was surprised, and appeared agreeably so.
"I had no idea of this, Geoffrey. Your industry has won for you a higher position than an office drudge. You cannot, however, make an able lawyer, without some knowledge of the world. To make a man of you it is absolutely necessary for you to go more into society."
"You forget, Sir, that I have no means to indulge such a wish. I cannot consent to go into company under existing circ.u.mstances."
"Oh, we can manage all that," said he, tapping me on my shoulder. "Be obedient to my orders, and attend to my interest, and you shall not long want the means of gratifying your wishes. Mr. Harrison has left the office. It is my intention that you supply his place.
"Harrison gone!" cried I in a tone of vexation and regret; "then I have lost my best friend."
"Harrison was a clever, gentlemanly young man," said Mr. Moncton, coldly; "but, to tell you the plain truth, Geoffrey, I did not like the close intimacy which existed between you."
"Why, it is to him that I am indebted for all the knowledge I have acquired. His society was the only pleasure I had, and it seems hard to be deprived of it, without any fault on his side."
"Geoffrey, it is of no consequence to me what your opinion may be on the subject; I am master of my own actions, and please myself as to whom I retain or employ. Clear up that scowling brow, and be very thankful to obtain a handsome salary for services which I can command without remuneration."
The loss of my friend, my only friend, was a dreadful blow. I was too much overcome to thank my uncle for his offer, and left the room.
I had been so little accustomed to think for myself, that I relied upon George as my counsellor in all matters of importance. Besides, I had an idea that he could throw some light upon the mysterious events of the night, and I was anxious to unburden to him the important secret.
Having to obtain the signature of a gentleman who resided in Fleet Street, to some legal doc.u.ments, and knowing that Harrison lodged in the same street, I s.n.a.t.c.hed up my hat and sallied forth, determined to consult him with regard to the change in my prospects, as I felt certain, that some sinister motive was concealed beneath my uncle"s unlooked-for condescension.
I was again doomed to disappointment. On reaching Harrison"s lodgings, I learned that he had left town that morning, for a visit of some weeks into the country, but to what part his landlady did not know. At parting, he told her she might let his rooms until he gave her notice of his return.
"Gone! without seeing or writing one line to inform me of his departure. That is not like his general conduct," I muttered, as I turned from the door.
With a heavy heart, I sauntered on, almost unconscious of the path I had taken, until I found myself entangled among the crowds which thronged Oxford Street.
A scream, echoed by several voices from the crowd, "that the lady would be crushed to death!" startled me from my unprofitable musings; and following the direction of the general gaze, I saw that a young female, in attempting to cross the street, had just fallen between the horses of two carriages advancing in opposite directions.
It was but the impulse of the moment to dash across the intervening s.p.a.ce, and hinder the young lady from being trampled to death beneath the horses" hoofs. She fortunately was unconscious of her danger, and could not by useless screams and struggles frighten the horses, and frustrate my endeavours to save her.
The coachmen belonging to the vehicles, succeeded in stopping the horses, and I bore my insensible burden through the crowd to an apothecary"s shop, which happened to be near at hand. The gentleman in attendance hastened to my a.s.sistance. We placed the young lady in a chair, and he told me to remove her bonnet, while he applied restoratives to her wrists and temples.
She was exceedingly fair; her rich, black, velvet pelisse, setting off to great advantage the dazzling whiteness of her skin, and the rich colouring of her sunny brown hair.
My heart throbbed beneath the lovely head that rested so placidly above it; and the arm that supported her graceful form, trembled violently.
The glorious ideal of my youthful fancy had a.s.sumed a tangible form, had become a bright reality; and as I looked down upon that calm, gentle face, I felt that I loved for the first time. A new spirit had pa.s.sed into me, I was only alive to the delicious rapture that thrilled through me.
First pa.s.sion is instantaneous--electrical. It cannot be described, and can only be communicated through the same mysterious medium.
People may rave as they like about the absurdity of love at first sight; but the young and sensitive always love at first sight, and the love of after-years, however better and more wisely bestowed, is never able to obliterate from the heart the memory of those sudden and vivid impressions made upon it by the first electrical shocks of love.
How eagerly I watched the unclosing of those blue eyes; yet, how timidly I shrunk from their first mild rays.
Blushing, she disengaged herself from my arms, and shaking the long, sunny ringlets from her face, thanked me with gentle reserve for the service I had rendered.
"But for your prompt a.s.sistance, I must have lost my life, or at the very least been seriously injured. My poor thanks will never convey to you the deep grat.i.tude I feel."
She gave me her hand with a charming frankness, and I touched the white slender fingers with as much reverence as if she had been a saint.
At this moment, we were joined by a handsome elderly lady, who ran into the shop, exclaiming in hurried tones:
"Where is she?--where is my child? Is she safe?"
"Yes, dear aunt, thanks to this gentleman"s timely aid, who risked his own life to save mine."
"How shall we thank you--how shall we thank you, Sir?" exclaimed the elderly lady, seizing my hand, and all but embracing me in an ecstacy of grat.i.tude. "You have rendered me a great service--a great service indeed. Without that dear girl, life would be a blank to me. My Kate, my Kate!" she cried, clasping the young lady in her arms, and bursting into tears, "you don"t know how dreadfully I felt when I saw you under the hoofs of those horses. My child! my child I--I can hardly yet believe that you are safe."
The charming Kate tenderly kissed her weeping relative, and a.s.sured her that she could realize it all--that she must not fret, for she was quite herself again--not even hurt; only frightened a little.
And then she turned her lovely face to me, on which a tear rested, like a dew-drop upon the heart of a rose, with such a sweet, arch smile, as she said, "My aunt is very nervous, and is so fond of me that her fears for my safety have quite upset her. The sooner we get her home the better. Will you be so kind, Sir, as to tell me if a carriage is at the door. Ours is blue, with white horses."
The carriage was there. How I wished it at Jericho. The old lady again repeated her thanks in the warmest manner, and I a.s.sisted her and her charming niece into the equipage. The young lady waved her hand and smiled, the powdered footman closed the door, and they drove off, leaving me spell-bound, rooted to the door-sill of the shop.