<h2 id="id01086" style="margin-top: 4em">CHAPTER XVIII.</h2>
<h5 id="id01087">THAT NIGHT.</h5>
<p id="id01088" style="margin-top: 2em">From that miserable night, Marian saw no more of Thurston, except
occasionally at church, when he came at irregular intervals, and
maintained the same coolness and distance of manner toward her, and with
matchless self-command, too, since often his heart yearned toward her
with almost irresistible force.</p>
<p id="id01089">Cold and calm as was his exterior, he was suffering not less than
Marian; self-tossed with passion, the strong currents and
counter-currents of his soul whirled as a moral maelstrom, in which
both reason and conscience threatened to be engulfed.</p>
<p id="id01090">And in these mental conflicts judgment and understanding were often
obscured and bewildered, and the very boundaries of right and wrong
lost.</p>
<p id="id01091">His appreciation of Marian wavered with his moods.</p>
<p id="id01092">When very angry he would mentally denounce her as a cold, prudent,
calculating woman, who had entrapped him into a secret marriage, and
having secured his hand, would now risk nothing for his love, and
himself as a weak, fond fool, the tool of the beautiful, proud diplomat,
whom it would be justifiable to circumvent, to defeat, and to humble in
some way.</p>
<p id="id01093">At such times he felt a desire, amounting to a strong temptation, to
abduct her—to get her into his power, and make her feel that power. No
law could protect her or punish him—for they were married.</p>
<p id="id01094">But here was the extreme point at which reaction generally commenced,
for Thurston could not contemplate himself in that character—playing
such a part, for an instant.</p>
<p id="id01095">And then when a furtive glance would show him Marian's angel face,
fairer and paler and more pensive than ever before—a strong
counter-current of love and admiration approaching to worship, would set
in, and he would look upon her as a fair saint worthy of translation to
heaven, and upon himself as a designing but foiled conspirator, scarcely
one degree above the most atrocious villain. "Currents and
counter-currents" of stormy passion, where is the pilot that shall guide
the understanding safely through them? It is no wonder, that once in a
while, a mind is wrecked.</p>
<p id="id01096">Marian, sitting in her pew, saw nothing in his face or manner to
indicate that inward storm. She only saw the sullen, freezing exterior.
Even in his softened moods of penitence, Thurston dared not seek her
society.</p>
<p id="id01097">For Marian had begun to recover from the first abject prostration of her
sorrow, and her fair, resolute brow and sad, firm lips mutely assured
him that she never would consent to be his own until their marriage
could be proclaimed.</p>
<p id="id01098">And he durst not trust himself in her tempting presence, lest there
should be a renewal of those humiliating scenes he had endured.</p>
<p id="id01099">Thus passing a greater portion of the summer; during which Thurston
gradually dropped off from the church, and from all other haunts where
he was likely to encounter Marian, and as gradually began to frequent
the Catholic chapel, and to visit Luckenough, and to throw himself as
much as possible into the distracting company of the pretty elf
Jacquelina. But this—while it threw Dr. Grimshaw almost into frenzy,
did not help Thurston to forget the good and beautiful Marian. Indeed,
by contrast, it seemed to make her more excellent and lovely.</p>
<p id="id01100">And thus, while Jacquelina fancied she had a new admirer, Dr. Grimshaw
feared that he had a new rival, and the holy fathers hoped they had a
new convert—Thurston laughed at the vanity of the elf, the jealousy of
the Ogre, and the gullibility of the priests—and sought only escape
from the haunting memory of Marian, and found it not. And finally, bored
and ennuied beyond endurance, he cast about for a plan by which to
hasten his union with Marian. Perhaps it was only that neighborhood she
was afraid of, he thought—perhaps in some other place she would be less
scrupulous. Satan had no sooner whispered this thought to Thurston's ear
than he conceived the design of spending the ensuing autumn in Paris—and
of making Marian his companion while there. Fired with this new idea and
this new hope, he sat down and wrote her a few lines—without address or
signature—as follows:</p>
<p id="id01101">"Dearest, forgive all the past. I was mad and blind. I have a plan to
secure at once our happiness. Meet me in the Mossy dell this evening,
and let me explain it at your feet."</p>
<p id="id01102">Having written this note, Thurston scarcely knew how to get it at once
into Marian's hands. To put it into the village post-office was to
expose it to the prying eyes of Miss Nancy Skamp. To send it to Old
Fields, by a messenger, was still more hazardous. To slip it into
Marian's own hand, he would have to wait the whole week until
Sunday—and then might not be able to do so unobserved.</p>
<p id="id01103">Finally, after much thought, he determined, without admitting the elf
into his full confidence, to entrust the delivery of the note to
Jacquelina.</p>
<p id="id01104">He therefore copied it into the smallest space, rolled it up tightly,
and took it with him when he went to Luckenough.</p>
<p id="id01105">He spent the whole afternoon at the mansion house, without having an
opportunity to slip it into the hands of Jacquelina.</p>
<p id="id01106">It is true that Mrs. Waugh was not present, that good woman being in the
back parlor, sitting at one end of the sofa and making a pillow of her
lap for the commodore's head, which she combed soporifically, while,
stretched at full length, he took his afternoon nap. But Mary L'Oiseau
was there, quietly knotting a toilet cover, and Professor Grimshaw was
there, scowling behind a book that he was pretending to read, and losing
no word or look or tone or gesture of Thurston or Jacquelina, who talked
and laughed and flirted and jested, as if there was no one else in the
world but themselves.</p>
<p id="id01107">At last a little negro appeared at the door to summon Mrs. L'Oiseau to
give out supper, and Mary arose and left the room.</p>
<p id="id01108">The professor scowled at Jacquelina from the top of his book for a
little while, and then, muttering an excuse, got up and went out and
left them alone together.</p>
<p id="id01109">That was a very common trick of the doctor's lately, and no one could
imagine why he did it.</p>
<p id="id01110">"It is a ruse, a trap, the grim idiot! to see what we will say to each
other behind his back. Oh, I'd dose him! I just wish Thurston would kiss
me! I do so!" thought Jacquelina. "Thurston," and the elf leaned toward
her companion, and began to be as bewitching as she knew how.</p>
<p id="id01111">But Thurston was not thinking of Jacquelina's mischief, though without
intending it he played directly into her hands.</p>
<p id="id01112">Rising he took his hat, and saying that his witching little cousin had
beguiled him into breaking one engagement already, advanced to take
leave of her.</p>
<p id="id01113">"Jacquelina." he said, lowering his voice, and slipping the note for
Marian into her hand, "may I ask you to deliver this to Miss Mayfield,
when no one is by?"</p>
<p id="id01114">A look of surprise and perplexity, followed by a nod of intelligence,
was her answer.</p>
<p id="id01115">And Thurston, with a grateful smile, raised her hand to his lips, took
leave and departed.</p>
<p id="id01116">"I wonder what it is all about? I could easily untwist and seal it, but
I would not do so for a kingdom!" said Jacko to herself as she turned
the tiny note about in her fingers.</p>
<p id="id01117">"Hand me that note, madam!" said Dr. Grimshaw, in curt and husky tones,
as, with stern brow, he stood before her.</p>
<p id="id01118">"No, sir! it was not intended for you," she said, mockingly.</p>
<p id="id01119">"By the demons, I know that! Hand it here!"</p>
<p id="id01120">"Don't swear nor get angry! Both are unbecoming professor!" said the
elf, with mocking gravity.</p>
<p id="id01121">"Perdition! will you give it up?" stamped the doctor, in fury.</p>
<p id="id01122">"'Perdition,' no;" mocked the fairy.</p>
<p id="id01123">"Hand it here, I command you, madam!" cried the professor, trying to
compose himself and recover his dignity.</p>
<p id="id01124">"Command away—I like to hear you. Command a regiment, if you like!"
said the elf.</p>
<p id="id01125">"Give it up!" thundered the professor, losing his slight hold upon
self-control.</p>
<p id="id01126">"Couldn't do it, sir," said Jacko, gravely.</p>
<p id="id01127">"It is an appointment, you impudent ——! Hand it here."</p>
<p id="id01128">"Not as you know of!" laughed Jacko, tauntingly shaking it over her
head.</p>
<p id="id01129">He made a rush to catch it.</p>
<p id="id01130">She sprang nimbly away, and clapped the paper into her mouth.</p>
<p id="id01131">He overtook and caught her by the arm, and shaking her roughly,
exclaimed, under his breath:</p>
<p id="id01132">"Where is it? What have you done with it? You exasperating, unprincipled
little wretch, where is it?"</p>
<p id="id01133">"'Echo anfers fere?'" mumbled the imp, chewing up the paper, and keeping
her lips tight.</p>
<p id="id01134">"Give it me! give it me! or I'll be the death of you, you diabolical
little ——!" he exclaimed, hoarsely, shaking her as if he would have
shaken her breath out.</p>
<p id="id01135">But Jacko had finished chewing up the paper, and she swallowed the pulp
with an effort that nearly choked her, and then opening her mouth, and
inflating her chest, gave voice in a succession of piercing shrieks,
that brought the whole family rushing into the room, and obliged the
professor to relax his hold, and stand like a detected culprit.</p>
<p id="id01136">For there was the commodore roused up from his sleep, with his gray hair
and beard standing out all ways, like the picture of the sun in an
almanac. And there was Mrs. Waugh, with the great-tooth comb in her
hand. And Mary L'Osieau, with the pantry keys. And the maid, Maria, with
the wooden tray of flour on her head. And Festus, with a bag of meal in
his hands. And all with their eyes and ears and mouths agape with
amazement and inquiry.</p>
<p id="id01137">"In the fiend's name, what's the matter? What the d——l's broke loose?
Is the house on fire again?" vociferated the commodore, seeing that no
one else spoke; "what's all this about, Nace Grimshaw?"</p>
<p id="id01138">"Ask your pretty niece, sir!" said the professor, sternly, turning away.</p>
<p id="id01139">"Oh, it's you, is it, you little termagant you? Oh, you're a
honey-cooler. What have you been doing now, Imp?" cried the old man,
turning fiercely to Jacquelina. "Answer me, you little vixen!—what does
all this mean?"</p>
<p id="id01140">"Better ask 'the gentlemanly professor' why he seized and nearly shook
the head off my shoulders and the breath out of my bosom!" said
Jacquelina, half-crying, half-laughing.</p>
<p id="id01141">The commodore turned furiously toward Grim. Shaking a woman's head off
her shoulders, and breath out of her body, in his house, did not suit
his ideas of gallantry at all, rough as he was.</p>
<p id="id01142">"By heaven! are you mad, sir? What have you been doing? I never laid the
weight of my hand on Jacquelina in all my life, wild as she has driven
me at times. Explain your brutality, sir."</p>
<p id="id01143">"It was to force from her hand a paper which she has swallowed," said<br/>
Dr. Grimshaw, with stern coldness regarding the group.<br/></p>
<p id="id01144">"Swallowed! swallowed!" shrieked Mrs. Waugh, rushing toward Jacquelina,
and seizing one of her arms, and gazing in her face, thinking only of
poisons and of Jacko's frequent threats of suicide. "Swallowed!
swallowed! Where did she get it? Who procured it for her? What was it?
Oh, run for the doctor, somebody. What are you all standing like you
were thunderstruck for? Dr. Grimshaw, start a boy on horseback
immediately for a physician. Tell him to tell the doctor to bring a
stomach pump with him. You had better go yourself. Oh, hasten; not a
single moment is to be lost. Jacquelina, my dear, do you begin to feel
sick? Do you feel a burning in your throat and stomach? Oh, my dear
child! how came you to do such a rash act?"</p>
<p id="id01145">Jacko broke into a loud laugh.</p>
<p id="id01146">"Oh! crazy! crazy! it is something that affects her brain she has taken.<br/>
Oh! Dr. Grimshaw, how can you have the heart to stand there and not go?<br/>
Probably opium."<br/></p>
<p id="id01147">Jacko laughed till the tears ran down her cheeks—never, since her
marriage, had Jacko laughed so much.</p>
<p id="id01148">"Oh, Dr. Grimshaw! Don't you see she is getting worse and worse. How can
you have the heart to stand there and not go for a physician?" said Mrs.
Waugh, while Mary L'Oiseau looked on, mute with terror, and the
commodore stood with his fat eyes protruding nearly to bursting.</p>
<p id="id01149">"Go, oh, go, Dr. Grimshaw!" insisted Mrs. Waugh.</p>
<p id="id01150">"I assure you it is not necessary, madam," said the professor, with
stern scorn.</p>
<p id="id01151">"There is no danger, aunty. I haven't taken any poison since I took a
dose of Grim before the altar!" said Jacko, through her tears and
laughter.</p>
<p id="id01152">"What have you taken, then, unfortunate child?"</p>
<p id="id01153">"I have swallowed an assignation," said the elf, as grave as a judge.</p>
<p id="id01154">"A what?" exclaimed all, in a breath,</p>
<p id="id01155">"An assignation," repeated Jacko, with owl-like calmness and solemnity.</p>
<p id="id01156">"What in the name of common sense do you mean, my dear?" inquired Mrs.
Waugh, while the commodore and Mary L'Oiseau looked the astonishment
they did not speak. "Pray explain yourself, my love."</p>
<p id="id01157">"He—says—I—swallowed—an—assignation—whole!" repeated Jacquelina,
with distinct emphasis. Her auditors looked from one to another in
perplexity.</p>
<p id="id01158">"I see that I shall have to explain the disagreeable affair," said the
professor, coming forward, and addressing himself to the commodore. "Mr.
Thurston Willcoxen was here this afternoon on a visit to your niece,
sir. In taking leave he slipped into her hand a small note, which, when
I demanded, she refused to let me see."</p>
<p id="id01159">"And very properly, too. What right had you to make such a 'demand?'"
said Mrs. Waugh, indignantly.</p>
<p id="id01160">"I was not addressing my remarks to you, madam," retorted the professor.</p>
<p id="id01161">"That will not keep me from making a running commentary upon them,
however," responded the lady.</p>
<p id="id01162">"Hold your tongue, Henrietta. Go on, Nace. I swear you are enough to
drive a peaceable man mad between you," said the commodore, bringing his
stick down emphatically. "Well what next?"</p>
<p id="id01163">"On my attempting to take it from her she put it in her mouth and
swallowed it."</p>
<p id="id01164">"Yes! and then he seized me and shook me, as if I had been a
fine-bearing little plum tree in harvest time."</p>
<p id="id01165">"And served you right, I begin to think, you little limb, you. What was
it you had, you little hussy?"</p>
<p id="id01166">"An assignation, he says, and he ought to know—being a professor."</p>
<p id="id01167">"Don't mock us, Minx! Tell us instantly what were the contents of that
note?"</p>
<p id="id01168">"As if I would tell you even if I could. But I couldn't tell you even if
I would. Haven't the least idea what sort of a note it was, from a note
of music to a 'note of hand,' because I had to swallow it as I swallowed
the Ogre at the church—without looking at it. And it is just as
indigestible! I feel it like a bullet in my throat yet!" And that was
all the satisfaction they could get out of Jacko.</p>
<p id="id01169">"I should not wonder if you had been making a fool of yourself, Nace,"
said the commodore, who seemed inclined to blow up both parties.</p>
<p id="id01170">"I hope, sir," said the professor, with great assumption of dignity,
"that you now see the necessity of forbidding that impertinent young
coxcomb the house."</p>
<p id="id01171">"Shall do nothing of the sort, Grim. Thurston has no more idea of
falling in love with little Jacko than he has with her mother or
Henrietta, not a bit more." And then the commodore happening to turn his
attention to the two gaping negroes, with a flourish of his stick sent
them about their business, and left the room.</p>
<p id="id01172">The next evening Thurston repaired to the mossy dell in the expectation
of seeing Marian, who, of course, did not make her appearance.</p>
<p id="id01173">The morning after, filled with disappointment and mortifying conjecture
as to the cause of her non-appearance, Thurston presented himself before
Jacquelina at Luckenough. He happened to find her alone. With all her
playfulness of character, the poor fairy had too much self-respect to
relate the scene to which she had been exposed the day before. So she
contented herself with saying:</p>
<p id="id01174">"I found no opportunity of delivering your note, Thurston, and so I
thought it best to destroy it."</p>
<p id="id01175">"I thank you. Under the circumstances that was best," replied the young
man, much relieved. When he reached home, he sat down and wrote a long
and eloquent epistle, imploring Marian's forgiveness for his rashness
and folly, assuring her of his continued love and admiration; speaking
of the impossibility of living longer without her society—informing her
of his intention to go to Paris, and proposing that she should either
precede or follow him thither, and join him in that city. It was her
duty, he urged, to follow her husband.</p>
<p id="id01176">The following Sunday, after church, Marian placed her answer in his
hands. The letter was characteristic of her—clear, firm, frank and
truthful. It concluded thus:</p>
<p id="id01177">"Were I to do as you desire me—leave home clandestinely, precede or
follow you to Paris and join you there, suspicion and calumny would
pursue me—obloquy would rest upon my memory. All these things I could
bear, were it necessary in a good cause; but here it is not necessary,
and would be wrong. But I speak not of myself—I ought not, indeed, to
do so—nor of Edith, whose head would be bowed in humiliation and
sorrow—nor of little Miriam, whose passionate heart would be half
broken by such a desertion. But I speak for the cause of morality and
religion here in this neighborhood, where we find ourselves placed by
heaven, and where we must exercise much influence for good or evil. Wait
patiently for those happy years, that the flying days are speeding on
toward us—those happy years, when you shall look back to this trying
time, and thank God for trials and temptations passed safely through. Do
not urge me again upon this subject. Be excellent, Thurston, be noble,
be god-like, as you can be, if you will; it is in you. Be true to your
highest ideal, and you will be all these. Oh! if you knew how your
Marian's heart craves to bow itself before true god-like excellence!"</p>
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