The Allen House Part 15

"I know it, Doctor," she answered, returning the warm grasp I gave her.

Her eyes rested steadily in mine, and saw a shadow in them.

"We are sorry to lose you from S----. Indeed we cannot afford to lose you."

"She is wanted," spoke up her young husband a little proudly, "to grace a wider and more brilliant sphere of life."

"It is not the brilliant sphere that is always the happiest," said I.

"Life's truest pleasures come oftener to quiet home circles even among the lowly, than to gilded palaces where fortune's favorites reside."

"It is not to external condition," the bride remarked, "that we are to look for happiness." I thought her voice had in it a pensive tone, as if she were not wholly satisfied with the brilliant promise that lay before her. "You know, Doctor, we have talked that over more than once in our lives."

"Yes, Delia; and it is a truth which we ought never to forget--one that I trust you and your husband will lay up in your hearts."

I turned to the young man desiring my admonition to reach him also.

"Perhaps I might differ something from this sage conclusion," he answered a little flippantly. "As far as I can see, the external condition has a great deal to do with our happiness. I am very sure, that if I were situated as some people are whom I know, I would be miserable. So you see, Doctor, I have my doubts touching this theory of yours and Delia's."

"Time, I think, will demonstrate its truth," I said, in a graver tone, and turned from them to give place to those who could talk in a lighter strain than was possible for me on the occasion.

During the evening I saw Wallingford more than once in conversation with the bride; but only when she happened to be a little separated from her husband, towards whom his manner was coldly polite. The two young men, after the scene in Judge Bigelow's office, only kept up, for the sake of others, the shadow of acquaintanceship. Between them there was a strong mutual repulsion which neither sought to overcome.

As I remarked I saw Wallingford more than once in conversation with the bride. But nothing in his manner indicated any sentiment beyond that of friendship. He was polite, cheerful, and at his ease. But it was different with her. She was not at her ease in his company, and yet, I could see that his attention was grateful--even pleasant.

The augury was not good. As I read the signs, Delia Floyd, when she pa.s.sed from maidenhood to wifehood, departed from the path that led to happiness in this world. And I said to myself as I pondered her future--"May the disappointments and sorrows that are almost sure to come, turn her feet aside into the right way at last!"

CHAPTER XII.

On the day following, the young husband bore his bride away to grace the prouder home that awaited her in New York; and affairs in our town settled themselves down into the old routine.

During the few months that have pa.s.sed since the opening of our story, the only matter that has occurred, of any interest to the reader, at the Allen House, is the fact that Judge Bigelow has undertaken the management of Mrs. Montgomery's affairs, and the establishment of her claim to the possession, as only heir, of the whole of Captain Allen's property. Some legal difficulties, bearing upon her identification as his sister, were in the way; and in the effort to remove these, there had been considerable correspondence with persons in England.

The first fact to be clearly proved was the solemnization of a marriage between Mrs. Montgomery's mother and the elder Captain Allen. Next, the ident.i.ty of Mrs. Montgomery as her child. No marriage certificate, nor any record of the fact, as to the exact time and place, were known to be in existence; and without them, or evidence of a very conclusive character, the t.i.tle of Mrs. Montgomery could not be clearly established.

This, Judge Bigelow stated to her in the beginning; but, up to this time, no such evidence had been found.

Mrs. Montgomery's health was not good, and as she required occasional medical aid, my visits to the Allen House were continued. The more intimately I came to know this lady, the higher did she rise in my esteem. She united strength of mind with clearness of perception: and decision of character with prudence and justice. She had, likewise, a depth and tenderness of feeling that often exhibited itself in beautiful incidents. The dignity of manner, which at first seemed touched with hauteur, now only gave grace to her fine proportions.

She had, from the beginning, spoken to me without reserve of her affairs, in which I naturally took deep interest. One day she said:--

"Doctor, I wish to get your opinion in regard to an individual whom Judge Bigelow proposes to send out to England for me on important business. He is a young man, a.s.sociated with him, as I understand it, professionally.

"Mr. Wallingford, you mean?"

"Yes, that is the name, I believe. Do you know him?"

"Very well."

"Is he prudent, intelligent, and reliable?"

"I think so."

"You only think so, Doctor?"

"I can speak in stronger terms. As far as one can know another, I am ready to say that _he is_ prudent, intelligent, and reliable. If I had important business to transact at a distant point, and needed a trusty agent, I would select him before any other man in S----."

"I wish no better testimony, Doctor, and am glad to know that I can procure an agent so well qualified."

"Have you seen him?" I inquired.

"No. But Judge Bigelow is to bring him here today, in order that I may see and converse with him."

"You will find him," said I, "a young man of few words and un.o.btrusive manners--but solid as a rock. I have seen him under circ.u.mstances calculated to test the character of any man."

"What are the circ.u.mstances, if you are free to speak of them?" asked Mrs. Montgomery. "We get always a truer estimate of a man, when we see him in some great battle of life; for then, his real qualities and resources become apparent."

I thought for a little while before answering. It did not seem just right to draw aside the veil that strangers' eyes might look upon a life-pa.s.sage such as was written in Wallingford's Book of Memory. The brief but fierce struggle was over with him; and he was moving steadily onward, sadder, no doubt, for the experience, and wiser, no doubt.

But the secret was his own, and I felt that no one ought to meddle therewith. Still, a relation of the fact, showing how deeply the man could feel, and how strong he was in self-mastery, could not but raise him in the estimation of Mrs. Montgomery, and increase her confidence.

"It is hardly fair," said I, "to bring up the circ.u.mstances of a man's life over which he has drawn a veil; and which are sacred to himself alone. In this case, however, with the end of enabling you more fully to know the person you think of sending abroad on an important service, I will relate an occurrence that cannot fail to awaken in your mind an interest for the young man, such as we always feel for those who have pa.s.sed through deep suffering."

Blanche was sitting by her mother. Indeed, the two were almost inseparable companions. It was a rare thing to find them apart. I saw her face kindle with an earnest curiosity.

"Judge Bigelow's nephew was married, recently," I said.

"So the Judge informed me. He spoke very warmly of his nephew, who is a merchant in New York, I think he said."

"He is a partner in a mercantile firm there. The bride was Squire Floyd's daughter; a very superior girl--lovely in character, attractive in person, and, mentally, well cultivated. I have always regarded her as the flower of our town."

"The young man had good taste, it seems," Mrs. Montgomery remarked.

"Better than the young lady showed in taking him for a husband," said I.

"Ah? Then your opinion of him is not so favorable."

"He was not worthy of her, if I possess any skill in reading character.

But there was one worthy of her, and deeply attached to her at the same time."

"This young Wallingford, of whom we were speaking?"

"The same."

"But she didn't fancy him?"

"She did fancy him. But--"