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Show 32 HICIIARD II UIWI~. a,.,.aiust so f.i trangc a faith. Jt was impossible th:tt s!JC who had s~ freely confided to 1110 the t:tn cit•s and the feeling of her cl.tildltOod, to wltom I had so rcndi ly y ie lded mine, shou ld lt:wc {;LVCn herself' up to another, with whom no su~.: h communion Lad existed-to wltom no such sympatby had Lorn ever shown. "\Vc had sat Ol' rccli nc ll under the snmc tree-we had sought the same walks togct!Jcr-thc snmc ccltocs had caught the tones of om kindred voices, and ~hroniclcd, Ly their responses from the hill-side :md nmOJLg' the groves, tiLe scntinJCnts of our unfette red hearts. Aud how cou ltl she love anotltcd Her IHtnd l ~:td rested in mine without a frnr-my arm !tad encircled her waist without a resistance on her part, or a mcditnting wrong on mine. And !tad we not kissed ench other at meeting nnd parting, from childhood, and through its pleasant limits, until-ay, nlmost until the momcHt ·wltcn tlte right of another first led me t.o )mow whnt dear 11rivilC'ges ltnd Leon my own 1 'Voudcr not at the LiltC'rncss of my present memories. It wns at the moment when they were Litterest, that a. sudden turn in the road rm·ealed to me the person of' John Hunl is. I recoiled in my sadd le, :nal, under the in voluntary impul se of my hrtnd s, Lore Lack my l10rsc until he nlmost sunk upon llis huuu c hc~ . '!'he mo,·ement of both could not ltavc been more prompt if we !tad Leheld a vexed nnd ready adder in our pallt. And had he not Leon the adder in my }Hlth 1 llad lte not, by hi s sly and sneaking practices, infused his VC'nom into the mind of her upon wlJOm my hope, which is the lifC of life, utterly depended 1 Had lte not struck at my heart with a sting not less fearful, though more concealed, than tl1at of tlte adder; and if' 11e had failed to destroy, was it not rather because of the fee Lieness of his fan g, tlmn either its purpose or its venom. If Ito had not, then did I Uo him grievous wrong. I thongl1t he had, mul my soul recoil ed, ns I surveyed him, with a hatred , wbich, lmd he been other than my mother's son, would hm·e prom11ted me to slay l1im. I had rounded a little swamp that lay upon the side of the road, and gave it t!Jc outline of a com}llete c!Low. J olm Hurd is was some fifty yards in advance of me. I had not seen him at dinner, and there was he now on his wuy to the dwelling of her to whom I was about to pay my parting visit. Tho '1'11F: II OSTJLJ·; GJL\Pl'LJ~. 33 tltought that ltdlOuld meet !tim 'vith he1·, that he miglt t behold these emotions which it shamed me to think I might not be :dtogetilcr aLle to conceal, nt once brought about a. chaugo in IllY resolve. I dctennincd to give him no such chance of t rium1Jh ; and was about to tmu tl1e hcnJ of my IJOrsc and retum to my father, when he stopped short, wheeled round and beckoned me to atlnmcc. :i' f"y resolution underwent a. second c!Jauge. 'l'ltat he shou ld suppose that I shrunk from an encounter with ltim of nny description was, if }JossiL le, even murc mortifyi11g than to expose tlJC whole amount of my heart's "'~eakn~ss to l\Iary Easterby before ltis eyes. I detennined to ~ 1 ve hun no suc l~ cause for exultatiou, and furio usly spurring forward, another mstaut Lrougltt me beside l1im. I~is face ·was complaisance itself, and llis manner was presun_ Hng enough ; :md tl1ere was somctl1ing in the sligLt smilo winch pluyed about the corners of his moutlt, anU in the twinkle of his eye, which 1 did not relish. It may have been that, in the morbid state of' my feelings, I saw through n fnlsc medium; but I could 110t l1elp t ile thought, that there was exultation in hi_s smii_e, and ~n~ jaund iced spi rit put on new forms of jealousy w1th tl11s conv1ctwn. Tho blood boiled within my veins, as I ~-egarded him , a1~d thought thu_s; and I tremLled like a dry leaf Ill t!te gusts of N OYember, willie I suppressed, or strove to suppress, the rebellious and unruly im1mlscs to which it prompted me. I struggled to be calm. }~or my motl10r's sake, I resolved to S<Ly and do notlting which should savor of violence at the moment when I was about to pnrt with Iter for ever. "I ~~,i ll .Lear it all-:-all_. I will be patient," I said to my so_ul; It IS ~lot long, 1t wdl soon be ovor. Another day and I wdl be free Jrom the chance of contact with the base, dishonest reptile. Let l1im gain, let ltim trium1Jh as he may. It may be -:t!Je day may come! But no-I will not think of such a tlnng; revenge is not for me. lie is still , though base, a brother .. Let_ the etern:tl avenger decree his punishment, and choose Ius fittmg exccutwner." rl'h_ese thoughts, and this resolution of forbearance, were all over m the progl'ess of an instant; and we rode by the side of one another, as two belligerents who 11ad 1atcly been warring to the very knife, but who, under the security of a temporary 2• |
