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186 THE PORTRAIT.
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software. The text has not been manually corrected and should not be relied on to be an accurate representation of the item.
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Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software. The text has not been manually corrected and should not be relied on to be an accurate representation of the item.
Additionally, when viewing full transcripts, extracted text may not be in the same order as the original document.
Chapter Iii. A Few Days After The Imluck...
_"I fear the heat does not agree with . Miss Lindores , " she said , as if to Mr . Clevelandin a bland voicenot looking * at ine . " I have
, , told Edward to call our carriage ; it will be here immediately . " I saw the expression of the face of the speaker , although she had turned
away from me . A large mirror was opposite her , and intuitively I knew , by a sudden pain in my heart , that the retreating figure in
the verandah was that of Mrs . Bethune . " " Wherefore" I asked myself" should she thus have been
acting the part , of a spy ? Why did , she not come openly and speak to us ? I became silent and grieved and Cleveland , I fancied ,
looked uncomfortable ., He continued to talk -with Mrs . Bethune while the lady conversed with meUntil Master Edward appeared to
conduct his aunt to her carriage , . Already the genius of evil seemed to be spreading his black wings to overshadow me ; the
lights of my enchanted palace were waxing dim , the fairy beings who had filled it by some mysterious agency were fast changing
their forms ; the violet odours were gone , and a presentiment of coming sorroweven in that gay scenewas rapidly taking
possession of me . The , rude world of reality , was displacing the bright land of vision . The singular conduct of Mrs . Bethune had confused
me , and I dare say I parted coldly from . Cleveland . CHAPTER IV .
Next morning my head ached violently ; and an indefinite feeling of not wishing to meet Mrs . Bethune kept me all the morning in my
own room . For -weeks past I had been anticipating the formal offer of the hand of Master Edward through his aunt , and it was from
this I shrunk , as I knew that my rejection of her nephew would be looked as an act of positive ingratitude . AnyhowI could not
muster upon courage on that particular day to encounter the , risk of a painful scene , so I delayed my appearance in the salon until the
time when it was usual for Mrs . Bethune to receive visitors herself or to visits to some of her numerous aquaintances .
It pay was therefore late when I descended , and Sarah informed me that Mrs . Bethune had gone out in the carriage for a drive with Mr .
Cleveland , who had called and asked to see me , as he was obliged to leave Paris suddenly . Such was the message I received from Sarah ,
who added that she told Mr . Cleveland I had so bad a headache that I could not see any one . " And it is just what you
deserve , Miss Emily , for going to balls . I never saw any good come of them . I am thankful we are soon going back to England . _"
" Are we ? " I asked , scarcely knowing what was said ; thinking onlof Cleveland ' s departure and his wish to see me . I knew not
why y , but Sarah never seemed friendly towards the artist , and used to look sullen and grave whenever his name was mentioned in
conjunction with any of our plans . I abstained therefore from asking questions , in the hope of hearing details from Mrs . Bethune or her
nephew as to our future movements , as well as those of Mr . Cleve-
186 The Portrait.
186 THE PORTRAIT .
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Citation
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English Woman’s Journal (1858-1864), May 1, 1861, page 186, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/ewj/issues/ewj_01051861/page/42/
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