CHAPTER XIV. PURITY AND SECURITY.
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Ruth sought a consultation the next morning
with Mrs. Bangs as to the possibility of selling
the desk and the bedstead; and Mrs. Bangs told
her that if a new hinge was put upon the desk,
and the bedstead was well cleaned, almost any
auctioneer would give ten dollars for the two.
She added that her son Calvin, the carpenter,
who was now well enough to use his tools,
would willingly repair the desk; and that Ruth
and May could themselves take down and clean
the bedstead.
To this arrangement Ruth cheerfully consented.
The desk was carried to Calvin's room,
and the two sisters undertook the task assigned
to them. They were in the midst of their labours
when they were startled by Monsieur Mallet's
voice at their door.
“Entrez-vous, mon cher Monsieur Mallet!”
cried Ruth, wiping her little hands with a towel,
and pulling down her sleeves.
“You see we are all in confusion,” continued
she, in French, as he entered.
“I have good news for my dear little pupil,”
said he, shaking some gold pieces in his hand.
“All this came from my new scholar, Mrs. Blazonby,
who took her first lesson in music from
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me to-day. I told her the story of your loss,
and she sends you these two half eagles, with
the request that, should you want more, you
will let her know.”
“She is very good,” exclaimed Ruth, not
knowing by whom the Frenchman had been introduced
to his new acquaintance.
“That is true—though she knows very little
of music,” replied he. “By-the-way, she made
me promise to bring you with me to her house
this evening; she is so anxious to see you and
hear you play!”
“I am afraid to leave Arthur. He is rather
feverish to-day.”
“Oh, May will nurse him, and I will send
round from the eating-cellar some nice boiled
chicken and rice for his dinner. So please
consent to go with me, my little pupil. Mrs.
Blazonby has promised to send her own coach
for us at seven. Will you not go?”
“Since you are so desirous, I will. Besides,
I would like to thank the good lady for this
money, and tell her that I mean to repay her
as soon as I can.”
“It is a bargain, then, that we go?”
“Yes.”
“Then good-by for the present.”
“A gleam of sunshine at last, May!” cried
Ruth, as the music-master closed the door. “I
thought it was about time for it. Take this
money at once to Mrs. Bangs for her husband.
I thank Heaven that I am at length able to relieve
myself of his importunities.”
May complied, and in a minute or two
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returned with two dollars in change, which remained
after deducting the amount for rent from
the two half eagles.
The dinner which Monsieur Mallet had promised
now arrived, and it was found more than
sufficient for all four. Leaving May to attend
to the domestic affairs, Ruth put on her bonnet,
and tripped out of the house to procure some
box-wood, with which to make a new copy of
the engraving that had been damaged. As she
walked at a quick pace through the Bowery,
there was little in her outward appearance to
strike the attention of the ordinary observer.
Her dress was extremely plain, and, from the
rapidity of her movements, it was evident that
she was not a young lady of leisure. Occasionally,
however, the exclamation “What a sweet
face!” would escape from some one, who had
an eye for modest beauty and grace without
the “foreign aid of ornament.” But little did
Ruth imagine that any eyes amid the great
current were fixed even with a moment's curiosity
upon her face and figure. She was too
intent upon the object of her errand for any
such thoughts.
After purchasing the article of which she was
in quest, she returned home with undiminished
speed, and before two o'clock was once more
engaged at the task of transferring to wood the
promised picture. For four hours she worked
without intermission; then, carefully putting
aside her implements, she prepared herself for
the visit to Mrs. Blazonby. In a few minutes
Monsieur Mallet announced that the coach was
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at the door; and bidding May take good care
of the invalids till her return, Ruth obeyed his
summons. The steps of the carriage were
thrown down, and the door opened by William
Bangs. It was too dark to see the face of the
driver. Not a word, save a kind “How do you
do?” from Ruth to William, was spoken; and
the coach rolled rapidly away with the music-master
and his pupil.
They soon reached their place of destination.
Mrs. Blazonby received them at the door of her
house, shaking hands in a very cordial manner
with the Frenchman, and kissing Ruth most affectionately.
She ushered them up stairs into
a parlour gayly furnished, where Ruth was introduced
to a young lady with remarkably red
cheeks, whose name was Josephine.
“I am charmed to see you, my dear,” said
Mrs. Blazonby, taking off Ruth's bonnet, and
leading her to a seat on the sofa.
“I am very grateful to you, Mrs. Blazonby,”
replied Ruth, “for the money you sent me. I
hope to be able very soon to return it.”
“Oh, do not think of it, my dear. To me it
is a mere trifle. It is my delight to do good.
Now do play me a sweet tune. I have heard
so much in praise of your playing!”
Ruth looked at her instructer, who gave her
his hand and led her to the piano, where she
played a variety of airs of his selection.
“How sweet!” cried Mrs. Blazonby.
“Charming! Was it not?” said Miss Josephine.
After the music, a servant entered with some
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ice-cream, plates, and glasses, and a bottle of
Champagne on a salver.
“Let me give you some ice,” said the mistress
of the house, handing Ruth a plate full.
Ruth tasted a little of it, but, not liking the
flavour, allowed the Frenchman to replace it on
the table.
“If you will not eat the ice, I must insist
upon your tasting some Champagne,” exclaimed
the hostess, holding a glass bubbling with foam
to Ruth's lips.
“It is wine—is it not?” asked Ruth.
“Yes, but so weak that it has no more effect
than water,” replied Mrs. Blazonby.
“I thank you—I do not wish it,” returned
Ruth, putting back the proffered glass.
“But a little of it will do you good, my dear.
It is nice and sweet.”
“I am not thirsty; and if I were, I could not
drink it.”
“Not a sip?”
“Do not urge me.”
At this instant the servant re-entered the
room with a letter, which, he said, had been left
at the door for Monsieur Mallet. The bearer
had first carried it to his lodgings, but, on not
finding him at home, and learning where he was
passing the evening, he had hurried with it to
Mrs. Blazonby's.
“By your leave, ladies!” said the Frenchman,
breaking the seal, and approaching the candelabra
over the mantelpiece. The letter was in
French, and the following is its translation:
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`My dear Friend:—Do not be too much
transported when you learn that your old companion
and admirer, Von Steinbach of Prague,
is in New-York. Yes! he arrived in the packet
of to-day, and is now at the Battery Hotel, somewhat
indisposed in body, but sustained by the
hope of seeing you. Do come to him this evening,
if you can only stay five minutes. He cannot
sleep without having seen you. Hasten,
then, at once to your devoted and expecting
friend, Von Steinbach.”
For nearly five minutes Monsieur Mallet capered
about the room like a crazy person, kissing
the letter and exclaiming, “Von Steinbach
is come! Von Steinbach is come! Quelle bonheur!
Oh! quelle bonheur!”
As soon as he could recover from his elation
sufficiently to make himself intelligible, he informed
Ruth that a very dear friend, whom he
had not met for many years, had just arrived
in the city, and that he must call on him at
once. If the ladies would excuse him, he would
go, and return for Ruth before half past nine
o'clock.
“Oh! see your friend to-morrow,” said Mrs.
Blazonby. “Stay now, and give us some music.”
Monsieur Mallet protested that he could never
look Von Steinbach in the face after consenting
to such a delay.
“Then Ruth must content herself with the
piano, and with looking at these engravings till
you come back,” resumed the hostess.
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Ruth felt an instinctive reluctance, she knew
not why, to remain; but the Frenchman assured
her that he would tear himself away from Von
Steinbach after a momentary embrace, and hasten
to accompany her home. She saw no alternative
but to consent after such a promise.
He had not been gone long before a visiter
was announced, and Mr. Edward Dangleton entered
the room, to Ruth's manifest surprise.
Mrs. Blazonby introduced them as if she were
not aware of their previous acquaintance. Mr.
Edward bowed coldly, and remarked that he had
met the young lady before. He then took a
seat by the side of Miss Josephine, and made
some grave observation about a sermon which
he said he had heard the night before.
“Josephine, my dear,” said Mrs. Blazonby,
“you must go up in the children's chamber,
and hear them say their prayers. Tell them
that I will come and kiss them before I go to
bed, but that I have company now whom I cannot
leave.”
Josephine left the room, and Mr. Edward
took up a book, and applied himself to its perusal
with a very solemn expression of countenance.
A servant entered with a message that
one of the children was crying for its mother.
“How provoking!” cried Mrs. Blazonby,
rising from her chair. “I will be back in one
instant, my dear Ruth.”
“May I not go with you?” asked Ruth. “I
am very fond of children, and would like to see
yours.”
Mrs. Blazonby appeared embarrassed for a
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moment, and then said, “The fact is, my dear,
that my youngest is just recovering from the
scarlet fever, and I am a little timid about having
you breathe the atmosphere of the room.”
“Oh, that is reason enough why I should not
go,” replied Ruth, as her thoughts recurred to
May and her brothers.
“I will not be gone two minutes, my dear,”
continued Mrs. Blazonby; and she hurried out
of the parlour.
Ruth felt a good deal annoyed at being left
alone with Mr. Dangleton, but a thought of
danger did not cross her brain.
The young man, after a few moments' silence,
approached her, and remarked that fate seemed
to throw her in his way, in spite of his strenuous
exertions to banish her image from his
heart.
“Shall I not play you a tune—the overture
to La Bayadere, for instance?” asked Ruth, eager
to escape the subject of his griefs.
“You will but probe the wound by so doing,”
replied he. “Hear me but one moment, Ruth.
Tell me that I am not utterly exiled from your
presence; that, if I may not hope to move you
to kindness, I may at least have the privilege of
visiting you from time to time—of gazing in
that lovely face—of listening to those ravishing
tones. Surely you will not object?”
“I beg you never more to address me in such
terms. Were I differently situated—were my
parents living—I might not, perhaps, refuse
you the poor privilege of visiting me; but, under
present circumstances, I must. So, if you
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would have me still think of you with respect,
do not try to change my purpose; and, should
we accidentally meet again as now, do not allude
to a subject which cannot but embarrass
and pain me.”
“Do you, then, utterly exclude me from all
hope of winning your favour?”
“Yes, utterly. I am sure there could be no
earthly contingency which could move my decision
a jot.”
“But there are contingencies of which you
may never have dreamed, Ruth Loveday!” exclaimed
Dangleton, while his eyes flashed and
his voice changed.
“What mean you?”
“That I am not tamely to be made the victim
of a mere girl's groundless caprice. If gentleness
and entreaty cannot lead you to do that
which will raise you and yours from the vilest
poverty to opulence and respectability, then—”
“What then?”
“The moment for plain speaking has come
at last. Choose now between two alternatives.
You well know that I seek your hand in all
sincerity. I offer you honourable marriage; a
union that will enable you to enjoy and distribute
all the luxuries of wealth without a limit.
You can oppose no other objection save a
mere whim to my proposal; and I am resolved
that my life's happiness shall not be wrecked
through such a cause. I have, therefore, taken
most efficient measures to secure my object.
I will prove a better friend to you than you are
to yourself. Not far distant a magistrate is in
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waiting with a marriage contract. You must
sign it this very night; and I do not doubt that
you will do it willingly, when all the inducements
are presented.”
Before Dangleton had stopped speaking, Ruth
had sprung to the door and tried the handle.
It was locked on the outside. She glanced at
the windows. They were secured beneath the
curtains by shutters iron-barred. She cried in
a loud, indignant voice for “help.” No answer
was returned; and, folding her hands upon her
breast, she drew up her lithe, erect figure to its
full height, and gazed silently in the face of her
opponent.
“I see that you are by this time aware,” continued
the young man, “that the people in the
house are as much your friends as I am. Now
say, will you not consent that the little ceremony
of signing your name shall take place at
once?”
“Never!”
“Perhaps the other alternative will suit you
better. It is—dishonour!” and he hissed the
word in her ear with a venomous energy.
Ruth remained silent, following his wavering
eyes with hers, till Dangleton, shaking off their
influence with a desperate effort, and advancing
a step with outstretched arms, exclaimed, “Decide!
and at once! We are alone, and there is
no aid for you!”
“We are not alone, and there is aid!” replied
Ruth. “Even now, while your brutal menace
is yet hot upon your lips, a special Providence
is present, which holds me safe. We see it not,
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but it is nigh. I feel it in the very air! Its
clasp is tight about me! Oh! bow down, and
ask forgiveness for your intended sin. You
have my pardon. Seek Heaven's, before the
crime expands till it blacken your whole soul.”
“What, Ned! shall this canting hussy make
you tremble and retreat at the very moment
when the game is in your own hands?” muttered
the young man. “No! 'Twas a bold
stake, and it shall be boldly played for!”
Summoning up all his bad motives to give
vehemence to his purpose, he again advanced,
when a loud ringing at the street-door checked
him, and made him turn pale. Ruth betrayed
no other outward signs of surprise at the sound
than those of raising her forefinger in a listening
attitude to her lips, and nodding her head
as if in response to an expected signal.
The ringing was succeeded by noises of more
decided import. The panels of the door, which
was fastened by an iron bar, were vigorously
battered, till there came a sound as if they had
been staved in.
Shivering with dismay, and cowering as if he
would shrink himself into imperceptible dimensions,
the guilty young man exclaimed, “Oh, do
not expose me! Be merciful!”
“Kneel!” said Ruth, pointing to the floor.
He obeyed.
“I implore you—” resumed he.
“Not to me—oh! not to me—did I intend
that you should kneel in contrition,” cried
Ruth. “Freely, and from the bottom of my
soul, do I pardon you; but there is a higher
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tribunal to which you must look for that forgiveness
which shall avail; and it is the prayer
of my heart, even now, that your appeal may not
be in vain, but that your repentance of this
night's sin may be the means of leavening your
whole spirit with a purifying influence.”
As Ruth ceased, the door was unlocked, and
Dangleton started to his feet. The persons
who entered were Doctor Remington, Mr. Maverick,
a respectable young lawyer, and several
gentlemen, whose names I have been unable to
learn. The object of their visit, and the causes
which led to it, shall be explained in another
chapter.
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Sargent, Epes, 1813-1880 [1842], What's to be done?, or, The will and the way (Harper & Brothers, New York) [word count] [eaf333].
