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'388 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 Ix.
events . "I arn not married ; I never was engaged to any one : you niust be thinking of some other lady / ' I answered without
consideration . " No ! " he exclaimedstarting to his feet and coming nearer to me
, , Cl a friend of yours told me that she saw the announcement of your niarriage in a newspaper . " And he waited for me to speak . "What
a moment of trial ! I pretended to be carelessly plucking off the withered leaves from some geraniums that stood in vases at the
window ; and , without raising my eyes , I replied in a quick light manner , ( desirous . of bringing this part of the conversation to a
conclusion , ) " I can easily tell you how that mistake originated . A cousin of mine was married to a gentleman of that nameand it would be
her niarriage your friend saw announced . At all , events it was not mine : so this point being settled , come and tell me about your
pretty young Italian wife , for I suppose there is no mistake in your being married ? " and I tried to laugh . I had plucked off the last of
the withered leaves , the shades of night were fast falling , and I thought I might , without risk of being observed , take a look at
Cleveland . The expression of the troubled countenance that met 23 iy furtive glance made me lay aside my jesting toneand
instinctively I felt that the threads of the misty net which had , been woven round me would soon be unravelled .
'' You cannot surely imagine that I seek to give you pain , " I said ; "if remembrance of the past has anything unpleasant in it , let us
not speak of it . You know I have always been your friend , and hope to remain so . " I spoke caressingly—he looked so sad , so
wretched , so much in need of soothing . " Do not speak of friends" he cried fiercely . " Friends are those
, who steal into our confidence , turn out serpents , and lead us to misery . I want no friends . "
" Mr . Cleveland , what do you mean ? " I exclaimed , stepping hack , with a foreboding dread of something yet greater of evil to
come . A flush passed over his face , only to leave it more pallid and
stern looking , as he hoarsely and slowly said , as if each word were a drop of agony : " Miss Lindoreswere you informed thatthe
, , niarning after the Ambassador ' s ball in Paris , I came and requested an interview with you ; were you or were you not informed of the
offer I made through Mrs . Betlmne , the answer to which was , that you were already engaged ? Have you regarded me as a man of
honor , or as a cold-blooded trifLer ? A veil seems to be falling from my eyes . I now comprehend why you were so reservedso cold ;
too late for my own happiness lias that veil been raisedbut , not too , late to clear myself in your opinion—the only one I ever valued .
jNbw you hear the truth , and as you would not make me more wretched , speak ! answer me , I beseech youand do not think me
, mad . " He seized my hand , and seeing that I answered not , con- ?
tinued with torrent-like impetuosity to _eay , —I knew not what , —for
'388 The Portrait.
' 388 THE PORTRAIT .
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Citation
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English Woman’s Journal (1858-1864), Aug. 1, 1861, page 388, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/ewj/issues/ewj_01081861/page/28/
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