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Show 76 RICHARD ll URDIS. cipitale. I sought to win your regard before I ventured to proffer mine. 'l'hc nffa ir this day prompts me to speak sooner than I might IHLVC done. Hear me t ltcn, Mary; I love you ! I proffer you my heart, my l ife! I will live for you ! I im· plorc you, then-be mine !" The head of J\f ary ]~aster by sank ns sl1c l1enrd this la.ngungc. H r r check nssumccl n. deeper flush, there wns n. sorrowful ex. prc~sion in her eye ~\·hich did not cncourngo the pl~:ulcr ; n1~d w_hen she spol~c, winch, nftcr a little pause site d id, it am10ycd 1nm to percc•vc that she was composed and d ignified in }1cr m:mncr, and that all trace of emotion had departed from her voice. . "I thank you, J olm-I tlwnk you for your favorable opinIOn ; but I am not satisfi ed that I should be the occasion of strife between you :mel your brother. You t.eii me that I amthat he is unwilling that you shoulcl love me, or that I should love yon in return!" " I t is-it is. tltat, l\lary !" he excln.imcd hastily, interrupting her speech, winch was uttered composedly, and even slow. " I n.m sorry that it is-sorry that you think so, J ohn ; for, l am sure, you must be mistaken." " Mistaken!" he exclaimed. "Yes, John, mistaken! You arc-you must be mistaken ! It_ c~n not be ns you imagine. Supposing that Richard was unwtllmg that you should regard me will1 favor, and that I slJOuhl respond favornbly to your regard - fOr which I sec no 1-eason- " ~~c. intcr~·uptcd her again, and with some show of imtntticncc. • 1 lherc ts reason - reason enough-though you may not sec 1t . . I tell you, that he would rule us Uotl1! his natnrc is despotlcal. . A yotmgor brother, he has yet the m::m11gement of evm:rthmg at l~ome ; and, having been brougl1t up ns your compamon from cluldhood, he claims to lw.vc some rig11t to m:uwgc your concems also. He would rule in all things, and over (werybody, and would not have me love yon, l\lnry, or you me, for th ~t very rca.son. Not that he loves you himself, Mary i no, no .-that m1ght alter the case were it so- but, I am sure, I kno~v:. that be loves ano:her! I t is a. sort of dog.in-the-manger spn1t that possesses lnm, and which brought about our quarrel." GOOD AND EVIL SPIRITS. 77 Here was a l>tttch of lies, and yet there was t ruth in much that he said. VVithout lloubt, 1 hail much of tlmt despotic na· ture, wbiclt he ascribed to me, and which, more or less, nfl"cctecl my deportment in all my associations ; Lut the whole tissue of his speech was woven in falsehood, and one difficulty in which he had involved himself' by a previous remark, led even to a greater umnbcr yet. He had ascribed to her tho occasion o~ our quanel, without reflecting that he I lad already persuaded her that my regards were given to another. It was tliflicult now for him to account for my hostility to his success with Mary, unless by supposing in me a natnrc unnaturally froward and contradictory. And such a nature, whatever were my other faults, coulll not fai rly be laid t.o my charge. 'l'o ll:we suffered .:\{ary to suppose that I really loved her, was no part of his subtle policy. l!.,or months, it lwd been his grateful labor to imprC!;S upon her 1nind a different be1ief. After hearing him patiently tlHongh hi8 hurried tirade, Mary resumed :- "I thiuk you do your brother much injustice, John, when you ascribe to him a temper so unreasonable. I have known him for many yC'nrs, and while I h:tvc often found l1im jealous and passionate, I must defeml him from any charge of mere wilful and cold pervcr!:lity. He is too irritable, too quick and impetuous, for such u. temper. lie docs not suOicient.ly deliberate to be perverse; and as for the base malignity of desir ing to keep one, and that one a brother, from the possession of that which l1e did not himself desire to possess, I can not think it. No, John, that can not be the true reason. I have no doubt that yon think so, but as little is my doubt that you think unjustly." "I know no other reason, Mary," was the somewhat cold an-sw(' r. "N:ty, John, I speak not so much of the general cause of the diO'erencc between you, as of tho particular provocation of tl1e strife to·dny. Let it be ns you say, that R ichard is thus p01·· verso with little or no reason, yet it coulcl not be that without immediate and rude cause of anger he shoulcl 1·ush upon you in the high road, and assault you with blows. Such violence is that of the robber who seeks for money, or tho bloocl·thirsty assassin who would r evenge, by sudden blow, the wr011g for which |
