The Second Macabre MEGAPACK®. Эдит Несбит

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СКАЧАТЬ other offer seemed almost as advantageous; and Eliza hardly knowing how to determine immediately on her acceptance of a man with whom she had never exchanged a word, and whom she only suspected to be her neighbor, from the following circumstances.

      About six months previous to the above conversation, Eliza’s attention was attracted by a young naval officer, who boarded opposite Mr. Barlow’s, and whose handsome exterior won the maiden’s admiration, as she sat at the window with her work, while he was constantly busied in writing near his casement. After a while she fancied that the youth seemed reciprocally interested, and with little to employ her thoughts, they turned day and night on the unknown object of her admiration, although she acknowledged that it was weak and foolish so to do. Several months passed away, when one morning the stranger appeared at the window in a travelling dress, and stood for some moments looking towards Mr. Barlow’s house, with a serious and almost sad expression, till when Eliza accidentally appeared, he pressed his hand to his heart, bowed low and presently disappeared.

      On the following day a new occupant took possession of the chamber, and on enquiring from the maid, who boarded opposite, the servant replied that the room had been occupied by a handsome naval officer by the name of Drummond, who had however left the day before to take command of a ship. Often did Eliza, from this time, find her thoughts turning to the handsome seaman, she frequently sighed as she looked towards the window where he had been accustomed to set, and was greatly surprised to see a young man, closely resembling him, walking about the neighboring wharf. The only difference in their appearance was, that the one was fair complexioned, and the other darkened to an almost Spanish hue.

      One day, while busied with some light needlework, a letter was brought in with Eliza’s direction, and which proved to be the offer of marriage already referred to; its signature was “J. W. Drummond.” ‘It must be he, and no other,’ whispered the voice of her heart, as she read its contents; for although the name was common in England, she believed that her admirer was her former neighbor, since he wrote that although not personally acquainted, he had often had the pleasure of seeing her. On confiding the matter to her maid, the letter almost settled her doubts by bringing in a visiting card, left, as her acquaintance, the porter at the boarding house had told her, by their late lodger, and on which was inscribed “William John Drummond.”

      “The matter is settled,” observed Mr. Barlow, as he one morning entered his niece’s chamber, a place with which he was but little acquainted. “I have spoken with Captain Drummond, informed him of your and my acceptance of his suit; and promised him to bestow on you two hundred pounds per annum. He will be here tomorrow week, at 4 o’clock in the afternoon. I chose that time to attend to this little matter, as it would be more convenient than on mail day. The betrothal can then take place in the presence of witnesses, and the necessary papers be executed.”

      “Oh! how good you are, dear uncle,” cried Eliza, kissing his hand.

      “I also told him that I should not object to his visiting you, and he will be here today.”

      “So soon?” exclaimed Eliza, blushing with agitation; “I did not know that he was in the city!”

      “Yes! and he sails in a short time for France.”

      “For France! A British naval officer! What does he do there?”

      “He attends to his business and a little besides. But what is this about a British officer? Drummond is captain of a merchant ship.”

      “Impossible! I have seen him in uniform.”

      “It must have been some fancy uniform.”

      “Then you have been acquainted with him for a long time?”

      “Not exactly, since I have never meddled with the smuggling trade.”

      “How! what do you mean, uncle.”

      “Nay! I should have said nothing about it, since it may, and may not be true; although people report that Drummond is tolerable active in that business. This much is certain, that he is intimate with Hackstone & Co., who have made a fortune by contraband.”

      At the period of our story, smuggling was not held in such disrepute as at present, yet, nevertheless, Eliza was greatly disturbed by this intelligence; and she earnestly wished that the rumor, as her uncle said, might prove false. Yet greater was her anxiety on another point, whether the John William Drummond, who sued for her hand, was one and the same with the handsome stranger who had boarded opposite. What if he should be another, she mentally exclaimed, ‘Ah! I shall have to marry him, whether he prove agreeable or disagreeable, since my uncle would never forgive me if I hesitated.’

      While absorbed in these reflections, Captain Drummond was announced, and Eliza became so pale and tremulous, as to be unable to stand. The door opened and her lover entered; not her former neighbor, but a handsome man about thirty, who greatly resembled him, and whose animated and independent bearing stamped him immediately as a seaman. He seemed to notice the maiden’s perplexity, and sought to remove it by observing that under common circumstances, his conduct might have been thought impertinent, in thus writing to her without a formal introduction; but that he was better acquainted with her than she supposed; since a friend of his had often spoken of her, before he himself had the pleasure of seeing her, which notice first induced him to sue for her hand. Fearful that she might become the affianced of another before he returned to Liverpool, he had determined to trust to luck like a seaman, and rejoiced that he had been so successful.

      Drummond’s honest and ingenuous manner of speaking, produced a favorable impression on Eliza, indeed almost any girl would have looked on him with favor; and it was therefore not to be wondered at, that interested by his lively conversation and prepossessing appearance, the image of the naval officer somewhat faded from her mind, and when, after a long interview, he departed, she felt that if not exactly a loving, she would not be an unhappy bride. The visit was repeated every day until the betrothal, on the evening previous to which Eliza’s lover informed her that he had succeeded in procuring a witness to sign the papers on the following day. Without mentioning his name, he remarked that it was the same person who had first interested him in her favor, and who, no doubt, would be greatly surprised on learning the name of his bride.

      It was about 4 o’clock on the appointed afternoon, when Eliza, Mr. Barlow, Nathaniel Simple and a few intimate friends, together with a lawyer, were collected in the merchant’s drawing room.

      Dressed in tasteful costume, the bride sought to appear tranquil and cheerful, while she waited the bride-groom’s arrival; but in spite of her seeming attention to the conversation, which turned principally on commercial subjects, she could not repress emotions of anxiety and alarm; and a hand cold as ice seemed to press on her heart, as a carriage rolled tip; voices were heard on the stairs; and Drummond entered, attended by the young naval officer who had resided opposite.

      After introducing him to the master of the house, her lover brought him up to Eliza observing playfully, “here is my brother, whom I commend to your mercy, although he really does not deserve it. Would you believe it, after first inducing me through his enthusiastic admiration of you, to sue for your hand; after promising to become the witness of our union, he dared this morning to plead that he might be excused from attending, under pretext of some very urgent business; nay, even now, he only shows himself on condition that I allow him to depart in an hour.”

      William Drummond blushed deeply and stammered some unintelligible words of excuse; while Eliza, overcome almost to fainting, scarcely heard her uncle, when looking at his watch he desired the notary to read aloud the marriage contrast. She however supported herself tolerably well till he came to the clause, “Miss Eliza Barlow promises to marry John William Drummond,” when she began to totter, СКАЧАТЬ