University of Virginia Library

10. CHAPTER X.

The western wing of St. Ruth house, or abbey,
as the building was indiscriminately called,
retained but few vestiges of the uses to which it
had been originally devoted. The upper apartments
were small and numerous, extending on
either side of a long, low, and dark gallery, and
might have been the dormitories of the sisterhood
who were said to have once inhabited that portion
of the edifice; but the ground-floor had been
modernized, as it was then called, about a century
before, and retained just enough of its ancient
character to blend the venerable with what was
thought comfortable in the commencement of the
reign of the third George. As this wing had
been appropriated to the mistress of the mansion,
ever since the building had changed its spiritual
character for one of a more carnal nature,
Colonel Howard continued the arrangement,
when he became the temporary possessor of St.
Ruth's, until, in the course of events, the apartments
which had been set apart for the accommodation

and convenience of his niece, were eventually
converted into her prison. But as the severity
of the old veteran was as often marked by
an exhibition of his virtues as of his foibles,
the confinement and his displeasure constituted
the sole subjects of complaint that were given to
the young lady. That our readers may be better
qualified to judge of the nature of their imprisonment,
we shall transport them, without further
circumlocution, into the presence of the two females,
whom they must be already prepared to
receive.

The withdrawing-room of St. Ruth's was an
apartment which, tradition said, had formerly
been the refectory of the little bevy of fair sinners
who sought a refuge within its walls from the
temptations of the world. Their number was
not large, nor their entertainments very splendid,
or this limited space could not have contained
them. The room, however, was of fair dimensions,
and an air of peculiar comfort, mingled
with chastened luxury, was thrown around it, by
the voluminous folds of the blue damask curtains
that nearly concealed the sides where the deep
windows were placed, and by the dark leathern
hangings, richly stamped with cunning devices
in gold, that ornamented the two others. Massive
couches in carved mahogany, with chairs of
a similar material and fashion, all covered by the
same rich fabric that composed the curtains, together
with a Turkey carpet, over the shaggy
surface of which all the colours of the rainbow
were scattered in bright confusion, united to relieve
the gloomy splendour of the enormous
mantel, deep, heavy cornices, and the complicated
carvings of the massive wood-work which cumbered
the walls. A brisk fire of wood was burning
on the hearth, in compliment to the wilful

prejudice of Miss Plowden, who had maintained,
in her most vivacious manner, that seacoal was
“only tolerable for blacksmiths and Englishmen.”
In addition to the cheerful blaze from the hearth,
two waxen lights, in candlesticks of massive silver,
were lending their aid to enliven the apartment.
One of these was casting its rays brightly
along the confused colours of the carpet on which
it stood, flickering before the active movements
of the form that played around it with light and
animated inflexions. The posture of this young
lady was infantile in grace, and, with one ignorant
of her motives, her employment would have been
obnoxious to the same construction. Divers small,
square pieces of silk, strongly contrasted to each
other in colour, lay on every side of her, and
were changed, by her nimble hands, into as many
different combinations, as if she were humouring
the fancies of her sex, or consulting the shades of
her own dark, but rich complexion, in the shop
of a mercer. The dark satin dress of this young
female served to display her small figure in its
true proportions, while her dancing eyes of jet-black
shamed the dies of the Italian manufacturer
by their superior radiancy. A few ribands
of pink, disposed about her person with an air
partly studied, and yet carelessly coquettish,
seemed rather to reflect than lend the rich bloom
that mantled around her laughing countenance,
leaving to the eye no cause to regret that she was
not fairer.

Another female figure, clad in virgin white,
was reclining on the end of a distant couch.
The seclusion in which they lived might have
rendered this female a little careless of her appearance,
or, what was more probable, the comb
had been found unequal to its burthen, for her
tresses, which rivalled the hue and gloss of the

raven, had burst from their confinement, and,
dropping over her shoulder, fell along her dress
in rich profusion, finally resting on the damask of
the couch, in dark folds, like glittering silk. A
small hand, which seemed to blush at its own
naked beauties, supported her head, imbedded in
the volumes of her hair, like the fairest alabaster
set in the deepest ebony. Beneath the dark profusion
of her curls, which, notwithstanding the
sweeping train that fell about her person, covered
the summit of her head, lay a low, spotless forehead
of dazzling whiteness, that was relieved by
two arches so slightly and truly drawn that they
appeared to have been produced by the nicest
touches of art. The fallen lids and long silken
lashes concealed the eyes, that rested on the floor,
as if their mistress mused in melancholy. The
remainder of the features of this maiden were of
a kind that is most difficult to describe, being
neither regular nor perfect in their several parts,
yet harmonizing and composing a whole, that
formed an exquisite picture of female delicacy
and loveliness. There might or there might not
have been a tinge of slight red in her cheeks, but
it varied with each emotion of her bosom, even
as she mused in quiet, now seeming to steal insidiously
over her glowing temples, and then leaving
on her face an almost startling paleness.
Her stature, as she reclined, seemed above the
medium height of womanhood, and her figure
was rather delicate than full, though the little foot
that rested on the damask cushion before her,
displayed a rounded outline that any of her sex
might envy.

“Oh! I'm as expert as if I were signal officer
to the lord high admiral of this realm!” exclaimed
the laughing female on the floor, clapping her
hands together in girlish exultation. “I do

long, Cecilia, for an opportunity to exhibit my
skill.”

While her cousin was speaking, Miss Howard
raised her head, with a faint smile, and as she
turned her eyes towards the other, a spectator
might have been disappointed, but could not
have been displeased, by the unexpected change
the action produced in the expression of her countenance.
Instead of the piercing black eyes that
the deep colour of her tresses would lead him to
expect, he would have beheld two large, mild,
blue orbs, that seemed to float in a liquid so pure
as to be nearly invisible, and which were more
remarkable for their tenderness and persuasion,
than for the vivid flashes that darted from the
quick glances of her companion.

“The success of your mad excursion to the
seaside, my cousin, has bewildered your brain,”
returned Cecilia; “but I know not how to conquer
your disease, unless we prescribe salt-water
for the remedy, as in some other cases of madness.”

“Ah! I am afraid your nostrum would be useless,”
cried Katherine; “it has failed to wash
out the disorder from the sedate Mr. Richard
Barnstable, who has had the regimen administered
to him through many a hard gale, but who
continues as fair a candidate for bedlam as ever.
Would you think it, Cicely, the crazy-one urged
me, in the ten minutes' conversation we held together
on the cliffs, to accept of his schooner as
a shower-bath!”

“I can think that your hardihood might encourage
him to expect much, but surely he could
not have been serious in such a proposal!”

“Oh! to do the wretch justice, he did say
something of a chaplain to consecrate the measure,
but there was boundless impudence in the

thought. I have not, nor shall I forget it, or
forgive him for it, these six and twenty years.
What a fine time he must have had of it, in his
little Ariel, among the monstrous waves we saw
tumbling in upon the shore to-day, coz! I hope
they will wash his impudence out of him! I do
think the man cannot have had a dry thread
about him, from sun to sun. I must believe it is
a punishment for his boldness, and, be certain, I
shall tell him of it. I will form half a dozen
signals, this instant, to joke at his moist condition,
in very revenge.”

Pleased with her own thoughts, and buoyant
with the secret hope that her adventurous undertaking
would be finally crowned with complete
success, the gay girl shook her black locks, in
infinite mirth, and tossed the mimic flags gayly
around her person, as she was busied in forming
new combinations, in order to amuse herself with
her lover's disastrous situation. But the features
of her cousin clouded with the thoughts that were
excited by her remarks, and she replied, in a
tone that bore some little of the accents of reproach—

“Katherine! Katherine! can you jest when
there is so much to apprehend! Forget you
what Alice Dunscombe told us of the gale, this
morning! and that she spoke of two vessels, a
ship and a schooner, that had been seen venturing
with fearful temerity within the shoals, only
six miles from the Abbey, and that unless God in
his gracious providence had been kind to them,
there was but little doubt that their fate would be
a sad one! Can you, that know so well who
and what these daring mariners are, be merry
about the selfsame winds that cause their danger?”

The laughing maiden was recalled to her

recollection by this remonstrance, and every
trace of mirth vanished from her countenance,
leaving a momentary death-like paleness crossing
her face, as she clasped her hands before her, and
fastened her keen eyes vacantly on the splendid
pieces of silk that now lay unheeded around her.
At this critical moment the door of the room
slowly opened, and Colonel Howard entered the
apartment with an air that displayed a droll mixture
of stern indignation, with a chivalric and
habitual respect to the sex.

“I solicit your pardon, young ladies, for the
interruption,” he said; “I trust, however, that
an old man's presence can never be entirely unexpected
in the drawing-room of his wards.”

As he bowed, the colonel seated himself on the
end of the couch, opposite to where his niece had
been reclining, for Miss Howard had risen at his
entrance, and continued standing until her uncle
had comfortably disposed of himself. Throwing
a glance, which was not entirely free from self-commendation,
around the comfortable apartment,
the veteran proceeded, in the same tone as
before—

“You are not without the means of making
any guest welcome, nor do I see the necessity of
such constant seclusion from the eyes of the world
as you thus rigidly practise.”

Cecilia looked timidly at her uncle, with momentary
surprise, before she returned any answer
to his remark.

“We certainly owe much to your kind attention,
dear sir,” she at length uttered; “but is our
retirement altogether voluntary?”

“How can it be otherwise! are you not mistress
of this mansion, madam! In selecting the
residence where yours, and, permit me to add, my
ancestors, so long dwelt, in credit and honour, I

have surely been less governed by any natural
pride that I might well have entertained on such
a subject, than by a desire to consult your comfort
and happiness. Every thing appears to my
aged eyes as if we ought not to be ashamed to
receive our friends within these walls. The
cloisters of St. Ruth, Miss Howard, are not entirely
bare, neither are their tenants wholly unworthy
to be seen.”

“Open, then, its portals, sir, and your niece
will endeavour to do proper credit to the hospitality
of its master.”

“That was spoken like Harry Howard's
daughter, frankly and generously!” cried the old
soldier, insensibly edging himself nearer to his
niece. “If my brother had devoted himself to
the camp, instead of the sea, Cecilia, he would
have made one of the bravest and ablest generals
in his majesty's service—poor Harry! he might
have been living at this very day, and at this moment
leading the victorious troops of his sovereign
through the revolted colonies in triumph.
But he is gone, Cicely, and has left you behind
him, as his dear representative, to perpetuate our
family, and to possess what little has been left to
us from the ravages of the times.”

“Surely, dear sir,” said Cecilia, taking his
hand, which had unconsciously approached her
person, and pressing it to her lips, “we have no
cause to complain of our lot in respect to fortune,
though it may cause us bitter regret that so few of
us are left to enjoy it.”

“No, no, no,” said Katherine, in a low, hurried
voice; “Alice Dunscombe is and must be
wrong; providence would never abandon brave
men to so cruel a fate!”

“Alice Dunscombe is here to atone for her
error, if she has fallen into one,” said a quiet,

subdued voice, in which the accents of a provincial
dialect, however, were slightly perceptible,
and which, in its low tones, wanted that silvery
clearness that gave so much feminine sweetness
to the words of Miss Howard, and which even
rung melodiously in the ordinarily vivacious
strains of her cousin.

The surprise created by these sudden interruptions
caused a total suspension of the discourse.
Katherine Plowden, who had continued kneeling,
in the attitude before described, arose, and as she
looked about her in momentary confusion, the
blood again mantled her face with the fresh and
joyous springs of life. The other speaker advanced
steadily into the middle of the room, and
after returning, with studied civility, the low bow
of Colonel Howard, seated herself in silence on
the opposite couch. The manner of her entrance,
her reception, and her attire, sufficiently
denoted that the presence of this female was neither
unusual nor unwelcome. She was dressed
with marked simplicity, though with a studied
neatness, that more than compensated for the
absence of ornaments. Her age might not have
much exceeded thirty, but there was an adoption
of customs in her attire that indicated she was
not unwilling to be thought older. Her fair
flaxen hair was closely confined by a dark bandeau,
such as was worn in a nation farther north
by virgins only, over which a few curls strayed,
in a manner that showed the will of their mistress
alone restrained their luxuriance. Her light
complexion had lost much of its brilliancy, but
enough still remained to assert its original beauty
and clearness. To this description might be
added, fine, mellow blue eyes, beautifully white,
though large teeth, a regular set of features, and
a person that was clad in a dark lead-coloured

silk, which fitted her full, but gracefully moulded
form, with the closest exactness.

Colonel Howard paused a moment, after this
lady was seated, and then turned himself to
Katherine; with an air that became stiff and constrained
by attempting to seem extremely easy,
he said—

“You no sooner summon Miss Alice, but she
appears, Miss Plowden—ready and (I am bold
to say, Miss Alice) able to defend herself against
all charges that her worst enemies can allege
against her.”

“I have no charges to make against Miss
Dunscombe,” said Katherine, pettishly, “nor do
I wish to have dissensions created between me
and my friends, even by Colonel Howard.”

“Colonel Howard will studiously avoid such
offences in future,” said the veteran, bowing; and
turning stiffly to the others, he continued—“I
was just conversing with my niece, as you entered,
Miss Alice, on the subject of her immuring
herself like one of the veriest nuns who ever inhabited
these cloisters. I tell her, madam, that
neither her years, nor my fortune, nor, indeed, her
own, for the child of Harry Howard was not left
pennyless, require that we should live as if the
doors of the world were closed against us, or
there was no other entrance to St. Ruth's but
through those antiquated windows. Miss Plowden,
I feel it to be my duty to inquire why those
pieces of silk are provided in such an unusual
abundance, and in so extraordinary a shape?”

“To make a gala dress for the ball you are
about to give, sir,” said Katherine, promptly, and
with a saucy smile, that was only checked by the
reproachful glance of her cousin. “You have
taste in a lady's attire, Colonel Howard; will not
this bright yellow form a charming relief to my

brown face, while this white and black relieve
one another, and this pink contrasts so sweetly
with black eyes. Will not the whole form a turban
fit for an empress to wear?”

As the arch maiden prattled on in this unmeaning
manner, her rapid fingers entwined the flags
in a confused maze, which she threw over her
head in a form not unlike the ornament for which
she intimated it was intended. The veteran was
by far too polite to dispute a lady's taste, and he
renewed the dialogue, with his slightly awakened
suspicions completely quieted by her dexterity
and artifice. But although it was not difficult to
deceive Colonel Howard in matters of female
dress, the case was very different with Alice
Dunscombe. This lady gazed, with a steady
eye and reproving countenance, on the fantastical
turban, until Katherine threw herself by her
side, and endeavoured to lead her attention to
other subjects, by her playful motions and whispered
questions.

“I was observing, Miss Alice,” continued the
colonel, “that although the times had certainly
inflicted some loss on my estate, yet we were not
so much reduced, as to be unable to receive
our friends in a manner that would not disgrace
the descendants of the ancient possessors of St.
Ruth. Cecilia, here, my brother Harry's daughter,
is a young lady that any uncle might be
proud to exhibit, and I would have her, madam,
show your English dames, that we rear no unworthy
specimens of the parent stock on the
other side of the Atlantic.”

“You have only to declare your pleasure, my
good uncle,” said Miss Howard, “and it shall be
executed.”

“Tell us how we can oblige you, sir,” continued
Katherine, “and if it be in any manner that

will relieve the tedium of this dull residence, I
promise you at least one cheerful assistant to your
scheme.”

“You speak fair,” cried the colonel, “and like
two discreet and worthy girls! Well, then, our
first step shall be to send a message to Dillon and
the captain, and invite them to attend your
coffee. I see the hour approaches.”

Cecilia made no reply, but looked distressed,
and dropped her mild eyes to the carpet; but
Miss Plowden took it upon herself to answer.

“Nay, sir, that would be for them to take steps
in the matter; as your proposal was that the first
step should be ours, suppose we all adjourn to
your part of the house, and do the honours of the
tea-table in your drawing-room, instead of our
own. I understand, sir, that you have had an
apartment fitted up for that purpose, in some
style; a woman's taste might aid your designs,
however.”

“Miss Plowden, I believe I intimated to you,
some time since,” said the displeased colonel,
“that so long as certain suspicious vessels were
known to hover on this coast, I should desire that
you and Miss Howard would confine yourselves
to this wing.”

“Do not say that we confine ourselves,” said
Katherine, “but let it be spoken in plain English,
that you confine us here.”

“Am I a gaoler, madam, that you apply such
epithets to my conduct! Miss Alice must form
strange conclusions of our manners, if she receive
her impressions from your very singular
remarks. I—”

“All measures adopted from a dread of the
ship and schooner that ran within the Devil's
Grip, yester-eve, may be dispensed with now,”
interrupted Miss Dunscombe, in a melancholy,

reflecting tone. “There are few living, who know
the dangerous paths that can conduct even the
smallest craft in safety from the land, with daylight
and fair winds; but when darkness and adverse
gales oppose them, the chance for safety lies
wholly in God's kindness.”

“There is truly much reason to believe they
are lost,” returned the veteran, in a voice in
which no exultation was apparent.

“They are not lost!” exclaimed Katherine,
with startling energy, leaving her seat, and walking
across the room to join her cousin, with an
air that seemed to elevate her little figure to the
other's height. “They are skilful and they are
brave, and what gallant sailors can do, will they
do, and do it successfully; besides, in whose behalf
would a just Providence sooner exercise its
merciful power, than to protect the daring children
of an oppressed country, while contending
against tyranny and countless wrongs?”

The conciliating disposition of the colonel
deserted him, as he listened. His own black
eyes sparkled with a vividness unusual for his
years, and his courtesy barely permitted the lady
to conclude, ere he broke forth.

“What sin, madam, what damning crime,
would sooner call down the just wrath of Heaven
on the transgressors, than the act of foul
rebellion? It was this crime, madam, that
deluged England in blood in the reign of the
first Charles; it is this crime that has dyed more
fields red than all the rest of man's offences
united; it has been visited on our race, as a condign
punishment, from the days of the deservedly
devoted Absalom, down to the present time; in
short, it lost heaven for ever to some of the most
glorious of its angels, and there is much reason

to believe that it is the one unpardonable sin,
named in the holy gospels.”

“I know not that you have authority for believing
it to be the heavy enormity that you mention,
Colonel Howard,” said Miss Dunscombe,
anticipating the spirited reply of Katherine, and
willing to avert it; she hesitated an instant, and
then drawing a heavy, shivering sigh, she continued,
in a voice that grew softer as she spoke—
“'tis indeed a crime of magnitude, and one that
throws the common backslidings of our lives,
speaking by comparison, into the sunshine of his
favour. Many there are, who sever the dearest
ties of this life, by madly rushing into its sinful
vortex, for I fain think the heart grows hard with
the sight of human calamity, and becomes callous
to the miseries its owner inflicts; especially where
we act the wrongs on our own kith and kin,
regardless who or how many that are dear to
us suffer by our evil deeds. It is, besides,
Colonel Howard, a dangerous temptation, to one
little practised in the great world, to find himself
suddenly elevated into the seat of power; and if
it do not lead to the commission of great crimes,
it surely prepares the way to it, by hardening the
heart.”

“I hear you patiently, Miss Alice,” said Katherine,
dancing her little foot, in affected coolness,
“for you neither know of whom nor to
whom you speak. But Colonel Howard has not
that apology. Peace, Cecilia, for I must speak!
Believe them not, dear girl; there is not a wet
hair on their heads. For you, Colonel Howard,
who must recollect that the sister's son of the
mothers of both your niece and myself is on
board that frigate, there is an appearance of cruelty
in using such language.”

“I pity the boy! from my soul I pity him!”

exclaimed the veteran; “he is a child, and has
followed the current that is sweeping our unhappy
colonies down the tide of destruction. But
there are others in that vessel, who have no excuse
of ignorance to offer. There is a son of
my old acquaintance, and the bosom friend of my
brother Harry, Cecilia's father, dashing Hugh
Griffith, as we called him. The urchins left
home together, and were rated on board one of
his majesty's vessels on the same day. Poor
Harry lived to carry a broad pennant in the service,
and Hugh died in command of a frigate.
This boy, too! he was nurtured on board his
father's vessel, and learned, from his majesty's
discipline, how to turn his arms against his king.
There is something shockingly unnatural in that
circumstance, Miss Alice; 'tis like the child inflicting
a blow on the parent. 'Tis such men as
these, with Washington at their head, who maintain
the bold front this rebellion wears.”

“There are men, who have never worn the
servile livery of Britain, sir, whose names are as
fondly cherished in America as any that she
boasts of,” said Katherine, proudly; “ay, sir,
and those who would gladly oppose the bravest
officers in the British fleet.”

“I contend not against your misguided reason,”
said Colonel Howard, rising with cool
respect. “A young lady who ventures to compare
rebels with gallant gentlemen engaged
in their duty to their prince, cannot but be
subjected to the imputation of possessing a misguided
reason. No man—I speak not of women,
who cannot be supposed so well versed in
human nature—but no man, who has reached the
time of life that entitles him to be called by that
name, can consort with these disorganizers, who
would destroy every thing that is sacred—these

levellers, who would pull down the great, to exalt
the little—these jacobites, who—who—”

“Nay, sir, if you are at a loss for opprobrious
epithets,” said Katherine, with provoking coolness,
“call on Mr. Christopher Dillon for assistance;
he waits your pleasure at the door.”

Colonel Howard turned in amazement, forgetting
his angry declamations at this unexpected
intelligence, and beheld in reality the sombre
visage of his kinsman, who stood holding the
door in his hand, apparently as much surprised
at finding himself in the presence of the ladies,
as they themselves could be at his unusual visit.