The Foresters. A novel

Front matter

THE F0R8TEES. A SOA EL. IN TWO VOLUMES. IV .MARGUERITE A. POWER. ACTHOK OF "ETEJ.YN FORESTER." •■ Not nierelj' to s>n«, but according lo thy knowledge lo raatioh.. ,\< n ' lllJSI and [nine >cll nnine UiV worth" — I I ' »uu/MtiH. li'.ude pleurt-r el «.!e tioua l,iiut.-nttt pour bnemigrfl - vapeurs. lie. re . u de ■ l ' an '"I"* , | penl noil* ■ it nous prcndK.' i.r.c j unf . ■ ■ i caloies, "— .Hiti VOL. II. liontnn : T. CAUTLKY N BWBY, PUBL1S ii KK, SO, WELBECK STREET, CAVENDISH SUTAKE. 1- •',. [The right of Troastabon t» resa-ved.'] AS A HUMBLE TRIBUTE OF PROFOUND ADMIRATION AND MOST SINCERE REGARD THIS BOOK IS, BY PERMISSION, DEDICATED TO CHARLES DICKENS, BT HIS ATTACHED AND GRATEFUL FRIEND, THE AUTHOR.

Chapter I. Round The Hearth

I have introduced to you, readers, the daughters of Madame de Gontier ; it is time to present her son. She was still engaged in her fire-side reverie, when he entered and broke it by taking her hands and imprinting a warm kiss on each of her cheeks; then he placed himself in the arm-chair opposite to her, drew it close up to the hearth, and commenced a vigorous onset on the wood-fire, which blazed and glowed joyously beneath his hand, roaring up the chimney and sending forth VOL. II. B jets of crackling golden sparks, some of which fell into the room and then dispersed and faded. Raymond de Gontier was two-and-twenty, his figure, tall, slight, and agile, was yet more mus cular and developed than is usual at so early an age. In its proportions, in the form and setting on of the head, in the shape of the face, in the general aspect and style, you traced in him the same character of distinction so remarkable in Ga brielle; the features, though decidedly handsome, were more marked and less regular than hers, the expression of the face was brighter, and the complexion of a warmer tint; a delicate brown moustache, which he had a habit of caressing with considerable pride and tenderness, sur mounted a mouth of which the lips were a degree too full for perfect symmetry, but which was never theless well shaped, frank, and possessed of much character; his teeth were beautiful, and round his head clustered masses of dark chesnut curls.

All this you could see by the glare of the fire, and all this Madame de Gontier gazed upon with the unsated love and pride of the mother of an only son. The attack on the fire concluded, Raymond bent forward in his chair, with his elbows resting on his knees; his frank eyes met those of his mother, and a beautiful smile crossed his face. " What have you been thinking about, mother, all alone here?" he inquired " allons, confesse toi!" All Madame de Gontier's children ad dressed her with the tutoyement not commonly adopted by children when speaking to their parents in the upper ranks of life, but insisted upon by her as indicative of the tender familiarity that existed between them. She smiled, " Probably, like M. de Balzac, lje pensais a autre chose,' for my thoughts were too vague to be easily recapitulated, they turned principally, however, on a person I saw to-day for the first time."

" Ah, yes, the music mistress; well, tell us what she is like, the English miss; blonde as the harvest, lilies and roses, ringlets, a la sweet-girl, face of an English engraving, a straw bonnet and a green veil, n' est-ce pas ?" " Foolish boy ! your description is exactly that of the naturalist who announced that the crab was a red fish which walked backwards; except that it was not red, was not a fish, and did not not walk backwards, the account was sufficiently correct. No, this young girl is something very different and very superior to what her present position would seem to indicate, and she has warmly enlisted all my sympathies already." " Voyons, what is this phœnix, or rather syren, that I may fall in love with her without loss of time; I am rather curious to try the effect of a grande passion on myself, I have only had little ones as yet, and though they have sometimes agi tated me a good deal, they have not taken away my appetite or deprived me of a night's sleep.

I admire the character of a beau tenebreux, and I think the only chance of acquiring it, is by a des perate and disastrous passion, for of course you would not hear of my marrying a music mis tress." " A truce to nonsense, and hear what I have to say." " Madame, I hang on your words ; neverthe less you will permit me to make the observation that the expression you have just employed con tains a character calculated to wound my manly dignity." " Tu es insupportable ! never serious for one moment; hold your tongue and listen to your mother," and Madame de Gontier gave in a few words an epitome of Marion's history. Raymond's eyes glistened yet brighter in the firelight as she concluded it. " Poor girl !" he exclaimed, " what an admir able and touching history ! What can we do to help her, to lighten the burthen of such an exist ence.

Think, ma mere, you are ingenious in these matters." " That is exactly what has been the subject of my thoughts, but as yet I have been able to hit upon nothing ; at present we can but show her every mark of regard and esteem, and trust to further acquaintance to point out a means of being really useful." b " But en attendant she is suffering and unhappy," " What would you have !" Madame de Gontier made a little protesting motion with the hands, one of which Raymond having taken possession of and contemplated admiringly, kissed. " There is nothing to be done till we can see our way clearly." Raymond thought it was a great pity they could not then and there devise a plan by which before the setting of to-morrow's sun, they might place Marion in a position of happiness, distinc tion and prosperity.

As, however, there seemed little probability of such a result being arrived at, he sat looking into the fire, resigning himself to the necessity of waiting a certain time before such a conclusion could be achieved. Raymond was in no wise deficient in sense; on the contrary, his life and conduct testified to the possession of a more than ordinary amount of that valuable commodity ; but he was French, eager, warm hearted and two-and-twenty, and under such circumstances even the best common sense is a liquor that has a good deal of froth on the top of it, which must be allowed a few minutes to subside ere we arrive at the draught below. " And tell me, my boy, what have you been about to-day?" the mother enquired after a pause. Raymond was in a cavalry regiment now quartered in Paris. He entered into the details of the day, every one of which he knew had an interest for his mother ; he told her how, after the morning's exercise he had spent the whole afternoon with a sick comrade, " a poor devil, who, because he had the misfortune to have a gloomy disposition, none of the others would be troubled to visit; it does not bore me," Raymond said, " I have spirits enough for both of us, and it does him good to tell his grief to me; it relieves him for a while.

But where are the little ones?" so he always called his sisters; they were preparing some of their lessons for the morrow, Mme. de Gontier said, but would come down when they had finished. A few moments after their steps and voices sounded in the hall, and Raymond sprang from his seat and con cealed himself behind it, just as they opened the door, and pushing aside the heavy portiere of velvet and tapestry entered the room. Gabrielle seated herself in the fauteuil thus left vacant, Berthe placed herself on a stool at her mother's feet, and they began to talk with the cheerful familiarity which the constant and tender intercourse parent and children had from the infancy of the latter held together, had estab lished. Suddenly Gabrielle started ; " How odd ! I could fancy the chair moved !" "Moved?"

Berthe, who was a coward, opened her eyes very wide, and prepared for flight should any further supernatural demonstrations appear. There was a pause, then Gabrielle laughed, " it must have been fancy," she said, and the conversation recommenced; as she sat, her arm hung over that of the chair; suddenly she sprang up with a shriek— " Some one touched my hand — indeed it was no fancy, it — " Raymond's clear laugh as he started from his hiding-place put a stop to the confusion, and re-assured her in time, and Madame de Gontier, who knew Berthe's timorous nature, had already by a pressure of the hand, and a meaning look, dispersed her terrors, so that calm was soon re stored, or rather the emotions took another turn, the girls hung round the brother, caressing and reproaching him. " Vilain freres' Gabrielle said, meeting his attempt to kiss her, with a pat of the little hand on his cheek, " you don't know how you terri fied me."

" It does you good — makes the blood circulate — see what a colour you have !" and he pushed her by the elbows close to the large mirror over the fireplace. " As if I could see in the dark !" " Berthe ! mamma ! quick, a candle, a lamp, a torch, that mademoiselle may have the satis faction of beholding her charms ! send to the gas company, have the room illuminated a giorno, quick, or the colour will be gone ! Alas it is too late, it fades, it vanishes, as in the evening skies fade the glories of the sunset, &c, &c. Come, petite file, if you will promise to be very good, you may sit beside me and tell me about your new music mi tress." What a happy, beautiful group it was, as they crowded round the fire ! What hope, and energy and vigour, and trustfulness, there was in that assemblage of young lives ; what music in their voices : the mother sat and looked on, and lis tened, and thought so, unconscious as she gazed on the strong, rich, yet harmonious colouring they presented, of the tender interest that lay in the softened tints nature had employed to paint herself.