Confidence: a tale

Chapter I

The old clock on the church steeple had doled forth, one by one, with lugubrious monotony, the midnight hour. Deep and mournful were its tones, loudly vibrating on the calm, still air of night, as if to spread afar, and impress even on its most distant hearers, the solemn truth that another day had faded into the oblivion of the past, whose acts, however deeply regretted, or bitterly repented, could never be recalled; that another day they had arrived nearer to the termination of their earthly career — that journey Avhose conclusion Avould introduce them to another state of being, and decide that most momentous of all questions, Avhether it Avould prove for them a life of eternal joy or eternal misery. Oh ! who can listen to the midnight hour, so solemnly VOL. I. B f CONFIDENCE. reverberating through the air, and not turn his thoughts inwards, and ask himself the aAvful question, of Avhether that day's thoughts and actions Avould SAvell the account for or against him in the Book of Life.

The moon, just at her meridian, was shining brilliantly, and her light fell on the faces of two fair girls who, with their arms thrown around each other, Avere standing in earnest conversation at an open window, inhaling the perfume of the floAvers which were blooming profusely in the garden beneath them. To judge simply from their appearance, a casual observer would pro nounce that there Avas considerable difference in their ages, and Avould doubtless blame the elder for permitting her very youthful companion to be out of her bed at so untimely an hour. Extremely fair, with flaxen ringlets almost to her waist, and a laughing child-like expression in her large blue eyes, Sophia Harding seemed scarcely to have completed her sixteenth year; while the pale oval face, and soft brown eyes, of Marian Ellis, had in them a calm sedateness, Avhich gave her the staid look of one who had passed her five-and-tAventieth birthday.

Her chesnut hair was simply braided on her white and polished forehead, giving to her beautifully formed head a statue-like expression. CONFIDENCE. " Dearest Sophia," said she, as she drew her companion yet closer to her bosom, "to-morrow I leave you for years; perchance for ever." " Hush, hush, dear Marian !" exclaimed her more lively friend; " I must not let you indulge in such melancholy anticipations on such a night as this — the eve of your wedding-day. What would Harry say, if he could hear you? He would feel, I am sure, but little complimented, that you should thus let the thoughts of our separation outweigh the bright prospect of years of happiness with him. Though you are going, love, to a distant land, a very few years, Avith such advantages as Harry Morton possesses, will enable him to make his fortune, and then you will return to astonish all your friends with the splendour of your jewels and equipages : or, who knows, dear Marian, perhaps when I become my own mistress, England may have lost all charms for me, and I may be tempted to seek my best and dearest friend in her Indian home."

The last sentence was uttered in a far less cheerful tone than that which had pervaded the previous part of her speech; and she concluded with a sigh which seemed to come from the very inmost recesses of her heart. " And a hearty Avelcome you shall have, my own darling," replied Marian, warmly ; " but it B2 CONFIDENCE. is to Avarn you against those Avho may make such a contingency necessary, that I would take this opportunity, the last I shall have, of enjoying a private conversation with you on this or any other subject. My heart is heavy for you, my own sweet friend. I much fear that when I am gone, you will find yourself beset with dangers and troubles on every side. In Camilla Saville you have, I fear, a bitter and unscrupulous enemy. She will pretend to be your friend ; but beware of her, she will prove false.

She has already taken advantage of your kind and unsus picious nature, to possess herself of many of your secrets, and especially all that relates to Charles Wildner. Whenever you have confided in her, she has invariably, within a day or two, under pretence of business for herself or for her uncle, ridden into Llanmichael, accompanied only by her groom, and has carried her news, embellished often by her own surmises, to your guardian; the consequence has been, that an order has im mediately come from Mr. Howell to my father, to keep a very strict and watchful eye over your every movement, and never to permit you to go out alone with Mr. Wildner. As long as I could be ahvays with you, my father deemed that you Avere quite safe under my care and surveillance ; and you best knoAv, dearest, whether I have per- CONFIDENCE. 5 formed the ungrateful office of duenna with sym pathy and kindness."

" You have, you have, indeed !" replied Sophia, as tears of affection and regret, at being about so soon to lose her considerate friend, started into her eyes. " I fear that to another this task may be dele gated when I am gone," continued Marian ; " one who will not have so much regard for your and Wildner's feelings. Perhaps Camilla Saville; for I believe her capable of undertaking any office for the gratification of her revenge. She has, I know, already led Mr. Howell to believe that I, in the enjoyment of my OAvn love-making, as she termed it, with Harry Morton, have ne glected my task of Avatching you, and have allowed you and Charles to be so much together, that you may easily have planned, and AviU doubtless execute, an escapade to Gretna Green." " The very thing she has herself often suggested — nay, advised !" exclaimed Sophia, indignantly.

" She Avishes you, I believe, to take some such imprudent step," continued Marian, "partly that you may thereby lose the high place you iioav hold in Mr. Saville's opinion, and partly to punish Mr. Wildner, Avho, she persists in assert ing, seeks your hand only for your property, and CONFIDENCE. will consequently be dreadfully disappointed when he finds it all strictly settled upon your self, as would be the case if you marry before you are of age without your guardian's consent." " I am sure," exclaimed Sophia, warmly, and her blue eyes flashed Avith an expression as nearly approaching to anger as they were capable of, " that Charles has no such unworthy motive. I do not think he cares a jot about my fortune. I have heard him often say he has enough for us both ; and if old Howell would but give his con sent, he might settle my money in any way he pleased."

" It is not from any love I bear her," con tinued Marian ; " for I consider her utterlv un- Avorthy of the trouble ; but for your sake, dearest, I have studied the character of Camilla Saville. I have watched her when she little thought my eyes Avere upon her, and my opinion of her is, that a more artful, jealous, and hollow-hearted girl does not exist. Self opiniated and confident to excess, she believes herself not only far superior to all her own sex, but equal in learning and strength of mind to most of the opposite one. Yet, though possessing so high an opinion of her self, she cannot endure to see other girls admired, or hear them praised. You, dear Sophia, she never can forgive for having, as she believes, CONFIDENCE. 7 won Charles Wildner's affections from her. You may remember that, when first he came to LlangAvyn, he paid her some few attentions— in fact, she courted him, so that no man could have done otherwise.

She sedulously tried to please him; her usual bold demeanour and slatternly dress Avere laid aside, and I thought she really was coming out in a new and more agreeable character; but I believe she went too far, and let Charles see her motive, which so disgusted him that he quickly discontinued the feAv attentions he had at first paid her; and she, finding that all her arts Avere unavailing, soon resumed her former manners and carelessness in dress. Then it was, that finding Mr. Wildner's attentions Avere transferred to you, she discovered, or pretended to discover, that you were one of the most amiable and sensible girls in Llangwyn, and worthy of the honour of her friendship. She Avould fain have constituted herself your friend and confidant, and, if you Avould have alloAved it, your constant companion, but to that arrange ment, dearest, I proved an insuperable barrier.

She could not endure me ; she saw that I sus pected her, but she could not induce you to give up my society Avholly for hers ; and she felt that we could not amicably divide the throne. I knoAv she said many hard things against me, but CONFIDENCE. you, dearest, were true to the friend of your childhood ; and though you would never tell me, I am sure you had to fight my cause more than once or twice." " It is very true," replied Sophia ; " and really she was so insinuating and so plausible, that I OAvn I was sometimes on the point of giving way ; but when I came to reflect, and remembered not only our childhood but our school-girl days together, when you had so often defended me at the risk of getting into disgrace yourself, I could not for one moment doubt your truth and sincerity." " I had reason to doubt her truth and sin cerity from the first," replied Marian ; " and I never liked her manners, especially when gentle men were present — there was too much evident display for their especial edification.

I doubt if she had continued to haunt you as she did at that time, whether you and Mr. Wildner would ever have arrived at anything like a good understanding; but, fortunately for you, Mr. Somerville just then came to LlangAvyn. Again, she spread her net — to me, a looker on, it was amusing to see the very different game she now played. To catch Wildner, she had been soft, insinuating, and yielding to his opinions; but Eustace Somerville she saw was young and some- Avhat reserved — which reserve she mistook for CONFIDENCE. ignorance. She therefore resolved to astonish him with her learning and talents — in this she made a decided blunder. Somerville is more highly educated, and quite as Avell read as her self, Avith a far more refined taste to select and appreciate the beauties and reject the faulty passages.

While she, proud of her knoAvledge of various languages, would boast of having perused. Avorks of very questionable morality, he would quietly remark, that while there Avere so many great and good books in our own language, it was quite unnecessary to seek amusement or instruction in any other, especially as all that Avere Avorthy of it had been, or were, daily being most carefully translated into our own. This she chose to consider only an excuse for his own want of knoAvledge of other languages, whereas it was simply a rebuke to her for boasting of the perusal of works with Avhich a delicate-minded Avoman ought to be wholly unacquainted. With him, therefore, she soon found that her arts failed of making that impression Avhich she had calculated upon. He was not even dazzled by her erudite display, and her Avant of delicacy both in manners and sentiment disgusted him.

In her cousin Eugenia, hoAvever, he found a very different and far superior character : her gentle ness, her modesty, her simplicity, and total Avant b3 CONFIDENCE. of pretension, soon won his regard. Diffident of her OAvn abilities, almost to a fault, she soon be came his pupil, and he found supreme pleasure in unfolding to her the treasures of his OAvn highly intellectual attainments. I admire Eugenia Saville extremely, and I could wish, dear Sophia, that you would cultivate her acquaintance, and that she might supply the place in your heart which I have the vanity to believe will be left vacant by my absence. There is, however, one fault in her character Avhich I could Avish to see corrected; it is her total want of confidence in herself. She is also so sensitively alive to satire, that the slightest ridicule will deter her from even a praiseworthy action: and even Avhen animated on a theme that does credit to her heart, she will stop suddenly and blush painfully with shame, if the empty and oft-unmeaning weapons of satire are employed against her.

Her cousin is fully aware of this defect in her cha racter, and whenever Eugenia becomes in com pany more than usually animated and agreeable, Camilla fails not instantly to check her, by turn ing some word or sentiment she has uttered into ridicule. This has the immediate effect of ren dering her silent, and to those Avho know her not, apparently moody and out of temper — a character which Camilla takes every opportunity CONFIDENCE. of lamenting as being that of her unfortunate cousin. I fear that she is playing a cruel game with regard to Eugenia and Somerville ; and Avhile she pretends to laugh at their evident attachment, as a boy and girl flirtation, Avhich Avill soon wear itself out, I believe she takes every opportunity of interrupting their tete-a-tetes, and invidiously endeavours to prejudice her uncle against Eustace, who she represents to him as nothing better than an Irish fortune hunter, Avho Avould have attached himself to her on account of her large fortune, had she not early discovered his character, and checked his advances; so that, finding he could not play out his game with her, he had thought proper to transfer his attentions to her young cousin, whose ignorance and childishness Avould render her an easy dupe to his artifices, and, perhaps, if not checked in time, he might make the silly girl entangle herself by an engagement to him, which he would doubtless hold her to till he could meet with a better parti — or he might possibly marry her, considering that the 10,000/. to Avhich she was entitled on coming of age, with whatever her father might leave her, would prove no very contemptible pis aller.

At present, however, Mr. Saville does not seem much in fluenced by her representations — perhaps he CONFIDENCE. considers his daughter too young yet to form a permanent attachment ; or, while she is evidently receiving so much benefit from Somerville's in structions, he does not deem it wise or politic to interfere. But the night wanes, dearest," as the old clock struck the first hour of the morning — "and I have yet much to say to you regarding yourself. When I am gone it is highly probable that Camilla will endeavour to regain her power over you; but be warned, dear Sophia, and let her not become your confidant, not only for the reasons I have already given, but because I feel assured that she would sow the seeds of dissension betAveen you and Mr. Wildner. Whatever of mystery there is about him she would give an elucidation to, how truly you could not know ; but believe me it Avouldbe to suit her OAvn views, and would, I doubt not, be false, except a few leading points to bang her tale upon."

" It is true," replied Sophia, " there is a mystery about Charles; never, even in moments of the greatest confidence, has he ever mentioned more than slight and unimportant anecdotes of his earlier life. I have reason to believe that he has been in business in London, and that this Mr. Arlington, avIio has now come to visit him, and Avhose name, by the by, dear Marian, we never even heard till yesterday, Avas in some way con- CONFIDENCE. nected Avith it; but still I have no reason to sus pect that he is other than he represents himself to be — a gentleman of independent fortune; but what would you advise me to do?" demanded Sophia, in an agitated voice, as, Avith tearful eyes, she clung yet closer to her companion — " in losing you I shall lose my best friend ; who can I con sult? Avho can I trust?"

" I would advise you," replied Marian, " to seize the earliest possible opportunity of having a private intervieAv Avith Mr. Wildner; tell him all I have uoav told you of the treacherous part Camilla Saville is acting toAvards you, of the in formation, for Avhich I can vouch, Avhich she is so frequently communicating to Mr. Howell. I can not, of course, dear Sophia, dictate to you the Avhole of the subjects of your conversation, but I Avould earnestly entreat you not to entrust the happiness of your life to his keeping till every shade of mystery which uoav hangs around him is cleared away; believe me, no happiness can attend the marriage of those Avho keep from each other secrets, essential to their peace to be re vealed ; in fact, I perhaps carry my ideas on this subject too far, but I am of opinion that those about to enter into so close and solemn a con nexion as marriage, should knoAv their partner as thoroughly as if they had been brought up from CONFIDENCE. their earliest infancy together.

I think to-morrow, immediately after I am gone, would be the best time for you to see Wildner ; my father and mother will be too fully occupied Avith the wed ding-guests to Avatch your movements very closely ; but, after to-morrow, I fear you will find your liberty much restricted. In compliance with my request, Harry has asked Mr. Wildner to be his bridesman, and as you, dearest, are to be my bridesmaid, you Avill walk together from the church to the carriage, take that opportunity of arranging hoAv and where you shall see him, but I think it would be better that he should come here. You can slip away from the table Avhen I leave, and, as he was one of the wedding guests, though he has said he must run away early to look after his friend, yet, having disposed of him, he can, without any apparent impropriety, return here.

I will give Mary a hint, if he does so, to show him into your sitting-room instead of into the dining-room. Whatever you and he may decide upon, dear Sophia, let me recommend you to communicate to Mr. Saville, and consult with him ; but, on no account, take Camilla into your confidence, for, be assured, if you do, she Avill be tray you to Mr. Howell, and so enable him to mar your plans or devise means of subjecting you to continual annoyance and persecution ; for, till CONFIDENCE. 15 you are actually married, or out of his poAver by the attainment of your majority, believe me, he will never resign the hope of inducing you to be come his daughter-in-law. I think Mr. Saville loves you as Avell as if you were another daughter, and though I certainly consider him on some points Aveak-minded, yet he has one of the kindest of hearts; he will, I am convinced, feel highly gratified and delighted at your reposing confidence in him, and his high sense of honour and gentle manly feelings will render his advice the very best you could possibly folloAV.

I will not venture to say that I think a trip to Gretna Green is the best thing you could do, but I must say, I knoAv not how else you eau escape a degree of restraint and annoyance which I Avell knoAv, gentle as is your temper, will yet be very irksome to you. Mr. Howell, as I have said before, will never cease to persecute you to listen to the addresses of his son — my father and mother, who unfortu nately are under too many obligations to dare to act contrary to his Avishes, will consider it their duty not only to put a considerable restraint upon your actions, but will exert every means in their power to break off the attachment betAveen you and Charles. Do not confide in your maid, for, though personally attached to you, poor Patty's simplicity renders her extremely gullable, CONFIDENCE. and Harris, Camilla's soubrette, who, betAveen ourselves, is, I believe, quite as artful as her mis tress, can easily worm out of her whatever secret you, in your guileless innocence, may have en trusted to her, or in any way have allowed her to suspect or gain possession of.

Your old groom, Peter, also, who has carried you in his arms Avhen a child, and now waits upon you with the fidelity of a dog, I Avould not advise you to take into your counsels, or at least not till the very last moment Avhen there can be no fear, because there Avould be no opportunity for the cwrw dha to remove the needful restraint upon his tongue ; besides, I knoAv not how far the old man's soldier scruples might consider a runaway match as derogatory to the honour of Colonel Harding's daughter. In fact, dearest, whatever are your plans for the future, you Avill find yourself obliged, if you wish to succeed, to act a part which I know is in direct opposition to your open and candid nature — you must confide in no one but those absolutely neces sary to the furtherance of your schemes; and uoav, dearest, we must seek our pillows, or we shall neither of us do credit to the characters Ave are to sustain to-morroAV — you as a blooming bridesmaid, and I as the bride — who, though I may be permitted to look somewhat paler than usual, yet must not have heavy eyes, as if my CONFIDENCE. night had been passed in tears instead of in sleep.

And noAv, God bless you, my own darling friend," and with this parting benediction, which Sophia reciprocated, the two girls sought their pillows, Avhere, but few minutes sufficed to enwrap them in the sweet sound sleep of youth and innocence. CONFIDENCE.

Chapter II

In thc bay AvindoAv of a moderate sized but Avell proportioned room, looking out on thc moonlit sea Avhich, scarcely rippled by a passing breeze, slept as it Avere in her gentle light, beneath them, sat two gentlemen whose ages, though there ay.is great dissimilarity in their personal appearance, might be judged as nearly the same — about thirty. Charles Wildner, the taller of the tAvo, WH a particularly finely formed athletic man. His features were of that regular, classic form, seldom seen among the more northern nations, and which, united to a darkness of complexion approaching to the olive tint of Spain or Italy, proved him to be thc descendant of a race whose blood, like their land, is Avarmcd by a more fervid sun than ours. His ancestors had come from Spain, and the arched eyebrow, and huge, dark, lire-flashing CONFIDENCE. 19 eye, sufficiently indicated his descent from the Moorish kings, the original possessors of that once noble country.

Nor Avas the southern blood which flowed in his veins alone demonstrated by the darkness of his complexion — his temper par took of the same warmth of character, but it was moderated by a noble generosity Avhich made him forgive and forget almost as readily as he was excited with feelings of anger. In early childhood his temper had been so violent and ungovernable that many predicted he would scarcely arrive at manhood, but would, through his own wild intemperance, come to some tragical end ere that period Avas attained. This unhappy disposition he had no doubt inherited from his mother, a first-cousin of his father's, and a Spanish lady by birth. She had never been taught to restrain her own temper, Iioav then could she teach her son to govern his ? His father had died Avhile he was yet a child, too young to profit by the wholesome discipline which parental love would have employed to teach him that most important of all lessons, self-government.

His mother, while giving way to a burst of passion, threw a fork with such violence at a servant, that, striking him unfortunately in a vital part, the wound caused his death. The young son, then about ten years old, was present, CONFIDENCE. and shocked at the tragical event, rushed from the house and Avandered for hours in some secluded woods, near the residence his mother inhabited at the time. It was during this solitary ramble that, being quite old enough to see and under stand the criminality of the act which his mother had committed, and fully conscious that he, too, might be led, in a moment of passion, to commit a similar act of sin — he vowed with perfect sincerity of purpose to subdue his own temper — but what man ever fully succeeded in gaining the mastery of the evil spirit Avithin him but through the Divine assistance, humbly and earnestly prayed for.

With the best possible intentions — for his heart was good and noble — the boy strove to conquer his violent disposition, and often when he felt the evil spirit rising Avithin him, he Avould rush from the house and Avander about for hours, till hunger and weariness had reduced alike his temper and his strength; for this — his mother, who with doating fondness trembled for his bodily health, regardless, alas ! of that of so much more importance, the health of his soul — chid him severely, till the boy really became ill. For tunately for him, his mother, Avhose health, whether from remorse or a proud dread lest an investigation regarding the cause of the servant's death should subject her to the humiliation of a CONFIDENCE. 21 public trial — had from that period been gradually sinking — now, under the additional fear and anxiety regarding her darling boy — gave way entirely, and she sank into a rapid decline which terminated her life ere her son had attained his twelfth year.

In consequence of her death he Avas placed in the family of an amiable and enlightened clergyman, to whom the efforts which he made to subdue his temper soon became appa rent; and by his judicious advice, his good resolutions were not only strengthened, but the only sure means pointed out, by Avhich he could attain their accomplishment. As he grew up, reason and a kind heart did much, but religion did more to enable him to keep the evil spirit under subjection. Still there were moments Avhen, under circumstances of more than usual irritation, it Avould strive hard to break from bis control ; at such times he would retire to his closet and earnestly pray for strength to overcome his enemy. Can we doubt that the power was accorded him, when we find that into no act of violence was he ever betrayed?

The angry flashing of his dark eyes, the portentous lowering of his jetty eyebroAvs, and a feAv words of angry or reproachful import Avere the only indications of the storm which sometimes raged within. As if to com pensate for the darkness of his frown, his smile CONFIDENCE. was perfect — it was as a gleam of brilliant sun shine, and feAV, even strangers, could behold it without being fascinated by it. His companion was neither so tall nor so finely formed; he was thin, almost to the verge of un sightliness; but though his face was pale and his features sharp, there was no indication of his tenuity being the effect of ill-health, for his step was firm, and the elasticity of his movements evinced an unusual degree of muscular power. His eyes were of that peculiar tint Avhich we are accustomed to denominate grey — the usual accompaniment of a clear head and strong shrewd sense — very quick and penetrating in their glance, but cold and calm, rarely animated by strong feelings or softened in their expression by tender ones.

The mildness and repose which was the usual characteristic of his countenance, led all who knew him but slightly, to consider him as possessing a remarkably good and even temper, rarely, if ever, ruffled by the contretemps of every day life, those little inequalities in our path which are often harder to bear with or overcome than heavier misfortunes — but there was a peculiar, tight compression of the lips, rendering their red fringe scarcely perceptible, when anything displeased him, which was as a warning to those who knew him well, while those with whom he CONFIDENCE. lived knew but too well hoAv many a bitter and sarcastic word those compressed lips would open to emit — and that any supposed injury or slight was never by him forgiven or forgotten — years might pass, and they themselves might long since have ceased to remember how or on what occasion an offence Avas perhaps inadvertently given — but he never forgot ; and would, in some moment of irritation, recall it but too surely to their recol lection.

His manners Avere like the expression of his features, calm and cold ; he was reserved, and his spirits never rose to buoyancy or were de pressed to sadness. There Avas, in fact, so little about him to call forth either sympathy or love, that those who were not in the daily habit of seeing him Avould soon have forgotten that there Avas any such person in existence. His character as a man of business Avas unexceptionable; up right, and honourable in every transaction in which he was engaged, so that he Avon for himself the esteem of his felloAv men, but not their love. Two motives alone guided and influenced his conduct — the acquisition of wealth, and the opinion of the world. Every action of his life, nay, almost every thought which he allowed to transpire, could be traced to one or other of these ruling passions — for such they might almost be CONFIDENCE. termed, so strong was their influence over him.