CHAPTER III.
The Mukaukas' barge, urged forward by powerful rowers, made its waysmoothly down the river. On board there was whispering, and now andagain singing. Little Mary had dropped asleep on Paula's shoulder; theGreek duenna gazed sometimes at the comet which filled her with terrors,sometimes at Orion, whose handsome face had bewitched her mature heart,and sometimes at the young girl whom she was ill-pleased to see thuspreferred by this favorite of the gods. It was a deliciously warm, stillnight, and the moon, which makes the ocean swell and flow, stirs thetide of feeling to rise in the human breast.
Whatever Paula asked for Orion sang, as though nothing was unknown tohim that had ever sounded on a Greek lute; and the longer they went onthe clearer and richer his voice grew, the more melting and seductiveits expression, and the more urgently it appealed to the young girl'sheart. Paula gave herself up to the sweet enchantment, and when he laiddown the lute and asked in low tones if his native land was not lovelyon such a night as this, or which song she liked best, and whether shehad any idea of what it had been to him to find her in his parents'house, she yielded to the charm and answered him in whispers like hisown.
Under the dense foliage of the sleeping garden he pressed her hand tohis lips, and she, tremulous, let him have his way.--Bitter, bitteryears lay behind her. The physician had spoken only too truly. Thehardest blows of fate had brought her--the proud daughter of a noblefather--to a course of cruel humiliations. The life of a friendlessthough not penniless relation, taken into a wealthy house out ofcharity, had proved a thorny path to tread, but now-since the day beforeyesterday--all was changed. Orion had come. His home and the city hadheld high festival on his return, as at some gift of Fortune, inwhich she too had a goodly share. He had met her, not as the dependentrelative, but as a beautiful and high-born woman. There was sunshine inhis presence which warmed her very heart, and made her raise her headonce more like a flower that is brought out under the open sky afterlong privation of light and air. His bright spirit and gladness oflife refreshed her heart and brain; the respect he paid her revived hercrushed self-confidence and filled her soul with fervent gratitude. Ah!and how delightful it was to feel that she might be grateful, devotedlygrateful.--And then, then this evening had been hers, the sweetest, mostblessed that she had known for years. He had reminded her of what shehad almost forgotten: that she was still young, that she wasstill lovely, that she had a right to be happy, to enchant and beenchanted--perhaps even to love and to be loved.
Her hand was still conscious of his burning kiss as she entered thecool room where the Lady Neforis sat awaiting the return of the party,turning her spinning-wheel by the couch of her invalid husband whoalways went to rest at late hours. It was with an overflowing heart thatPaula raised her uncle's hand to her lips--Orion's father, might she notsay HER Orion's?--Then she kissed her aunt--his mother, and it waslong since she had done so--as she and little Mary bid her good-night.Neforis accepted the kiss coolly but with some surprise, and lookedup enquiringly at the girl and at her son. No doubt she thought manythings, but deemed it prudent to give them no utterance for the present.She allowed the girl to retire as though nothing unusual had occurred,superintended the servants who came to carry her husband into hisbedroom, gave him the white globule which was to secure him sleep, andwith indefatigable patience turned and moved his pillows till hiscouch was to his mind. Not till then, nor till she was satisfied that aservant was keeping watch in the adjoining room, did she leave him; andthen--for there was danger in delay--she went to seek her son.
This tall, large and rather too portly woman had been in her youtha slender and elegant girl; a graceful creature though her calm andexpressionless features had never been strikingly beautiful. Age hadaltered them but little; her face was now that of a good-looking, plump,easy-going matron, which had lost its freshness through long and devotedattendance on the sick man. Her birth and position gave her confidenceand self-reliance, but there was nothing gracious or captivating inher individuality. The joys and woes of others were not hers; still shecould be moved and stirred by them, even to self-denial, and was verycapable of feeling quite a passionate interest for others; only, thoseothers must be her own immediate belongings and no one else. Thus a moredevoted and anxious wife, or a more loving mother would have been hardto find; but, if we compare her faculty for loving with a star, its rayswere too short to reach further than to those nearest to her, and theseregarded it as an exceptional state of grace to be included within thenarrow circle of those beloved by her somewhat grudging soul.
She knocked at Orion's sitting-room, and he hailed her late visit withsurprise and pleasure. She had come to speak of a matter of importance,and had done so promptly, for her son's and Paula's conduct just nowurged her to lose no time. Something was going on between these twoand her husband's niece was far outside the narrow limits of her lovingkindness.
This, she began by saying, would not allow her to sleep. She had but oneheart's desire and his father shared it: Orion must know full well whatshe meant; she had spoken to him about it only yesterday. His father hadreceived him with warm affection, had paid his debts unhesitatingly andwithout a word of reproach, and now it was his part to turn over a newleaf: to break with his former reckless life and set up a home of hisown. The bride, as he knew, was chosen for him. "Susannah was here justnow," she said. "You scapegrace, she confessed that you had quite turnedher Katharina's little head this morning."
"I am sorry for it," he interrupted in a tone of annoyance. "These wayswith women have grown upon me as a habit; but I have done with themhenceforth. They are unworthy of me now, and I feel, my dear Mother...."
"That life is beginning in earnest," Neforis threw in. "The wish whichbrings me to you now entirely accords with that. You know what it is,and I cannot imagine what you can have to say against it. In short, youmust let me settle the matter to-morrow with Dame Susannah. You are sureof her daughter's affection, she is the richest heiress in the country,well brought up, and as I said before, she has quite lost her littleheart to you."
"And she had better have kept it!" said Orion with a laugh.
Then his mother waxed wroth and exclaimed: "I must beg you to reserveyour mirth for a more fitting season and for laughable things. I am verymuch in earnest when I say: The girl is a sweet, good little creatureand will be a faithful and loving wife to you, under God. Or haveyou left your heart in Constantinople? Has the Senator Justinus' fairrelation.--But nonsense! You can hardly suppose that that volatile Greekgirl...."
Orion clasped her in his arms, and said tenderly, "No, dearest mother,no. Constantinople lies far, far behind me, in grey mist beyond thefarthest Thule; and here, close here, under my father's roof, I havefound something far more lovely and more perfect than has ever beenbeheld by the dwellers on the Bosphorus. That little girl is nomatch for a son of our stalwart and broad-shouldered race. Our futuregenerations must still tower proudly above the common herd in everyrespect; I want no plaything for a wife, but a woman, such as youyourself were in youth--tall, dignified and handsome. My heart goesforth to no gold-crested wren but to a really royal maiden.--Of what useto waste words! Paula, the noble daughter of a glorious father, is mychoice. It came upon me just now like a revelation; I ask your blessingon my union with her!"
So far had Neforis allowed her son to speak. He had frankly andboldly uttered what she had indeed feared to hear. And so long she hadsucceeded in keeping silence!--But now her patience gave way. Tremblingwith anger she abruptly broke in, exclaiming, as her face grew crimson:
"No more, no more! Heaven grant that this which I have been compelledto hear may be no more than a fleeting and foolish whim! Have youquite forgotten who and what we are? Have you forgotten that those wereMelchites who slew your two dear brothers--our two noble sons? Of whataccount are we among the orthodox Greeks? While among the Egyptians andall who confess the saving doctrine of Eutyches, among the Monophysiteswe are the chief, and we will remain so, and close our ears and heartsagainst all hereti
cs and their superstitions. What! A grandson ofMenas, the brother of two martyrs for our glorious faith, married toa Melchite! The mere idea is sacrilege, is blasphemy; I can give it nomilder name! I and your father will die childless before we consent! Andit is for the love of this woman, whose heart is so cold that I shiveronly to think of it--for this waif and stray, who has nothing but herragged pride and the mere scrapings of a lost fortune, which never couldcompare with ours--for this thankless creature, who can hardly bringherself to bid me, your mother, such a civil good-morning--by Heaven itis the truth--as I can say to a slave--for her that I, that your parentsare to be bereft of their son, the only child that a gracious Providencehas left to be their joy and comfort? No, no, never! Far be it from me!You, Orion, my heart's darling, you have been a wilful fellow all yourlife, but you cannot have such a perverse heart as to bring your oldmother, who has kept you in her heart these four and twenty years, insorrow to the grave and embitter your father's few remaining days--forhis hours are numbered!--And all for the sake of this cold beauty, whomyou have seen for a few hours these last two days. You cannot havethe heart to do this, my heart's treasure, no, you cannot!--But ifyou should in some accursed hour, I tell you--and I have been a tendermother to you all your life-but as surely as God shall be my stay andyour father's in our last hour, I will tear all love for you out of myheart like a poisonous weed--I will, though that heart should break!"
Orion put his arms round the excited woman, who lead freed herself fromhis embrace, laid his hand lightly on her lips and kissed her eyes,whispering in her ear:
"I have not the heart indeed, and could scarcely find it." Then, takingboth her hands, he looked straight into her face.
"Brrr!" he exclaimed, "your daredevil son was never so much frightenedin his life as by your threats. What dreadful words are these--and evenworse were at the tip of your tongue! Mother--Mother Neforis! Your namemeans kindness, but you can be cruel, bitterly cruel!"
Still he drew her fondly to him, and kissed her hair and brow and cheekswith eager haste, in a vehemence of feeling which came over him like arevulsion after the shock he had gone through; and when they partedhe had given her leave to negotiate for little Katharina's hand on hisbehalf, and she had promised in return that it should be not on themorrow but the day after at soonest. This delay seemed to him a sortof victory and when he found himself alone and reflected on what he haddone in yielding to his mother, though his heart bled from the wounds ofwhich he himself knew not the depth, he rejoiced that he had not boundPaula by any closer tie. His eyes had indeed told her much, but the word"Love" had not passed his lips--and yet that was what it came to.--Butsurely a cousin might be allowed to kiss the hand of a lovely relation.She was a desirable woman--ah, how desirable!--and must ever be: butto quarrel with his parents for the sake of a girl, were she Aphroditeherself, or one of the Muses or the Graces--that was impossible! Therewere thousands of pretty women in the world, but only one mother; andhow often had his heart beat high and won another heart, taken all ithad to give, and then easily and quickly recovered its balance.
This time however, it seemed more deeply hit than on former occasions;even the lovely Persian slave for whose sake he had committed thewildest follies while yet scarcely more than a school-boy--even thebewitching Heliodora at Constantinople for whom he still had a tenderthought, had not agitated him so strongly. It was hard to give up thisPaula; but there was no help for it. To-morrow he must do his best toestablish their intercourse on a friendly and fraternal footing; for hecould have no hope that she would be content to accept his love only,like the gentle Heliodora, who was quite her equal in birth. Life wouldhave been fair, unutterably fair, with this splendid creature by hisside! If only he could take her to the Capital he felt sure that all theworld would stand still to turn round and gaze at her. And if she lovedhim--if she met him open-armed.... Oh, why had spiteful fate made hera Melchite? But then, alas, alas! There must surely be something wrongwith her nature and temper; would she not otherwise have been able intwo years to gain the love, instead of the dislike, of his excellent andfond mother?--Well, after all, it was best so; but Paula's image hauntedhim nevertheless and spoilt his sleep, and his longing for her was notto be stilled.
Neforis, meanwhile, did not return at once to her husband but went tofind Paula. This business must be settled on all sides and at once.If she could have believed that her victory would give the invalidunqualified pleasure she would have hastened to him with the good news,for she knew no higher joy than to procure him a moment's happiness; butthe Mukaukas had agreed to her choice very reluctantly. Katharinaseemed to him too small and childish for his noble son, whose mentalsuperiority had been revealed to him unmistakably and undeniably, inmany long discussions since his return, to the delight of his father'sheart. "The water-wagtail," though he wished her every happiness, didnot satisfy him for Orion. To him, the father, Paula would have beena well-beloved daughter-in-law, and he had often found pleasure inpicturing her by Orion's side. But she was a Melchite; he knew too howill-affected his wife was towards her, so he kept his wish locked inhis own breast in order not to vex the faithful companion who lived,thought, and felt for him alone; and Dame Neforis knew or guessed allthis, and said to herself that it would cost him his night's rest if hewere to be told at once what a concession Orion had made.
With Paula it was different. The sooner she learnt that she had nothingto expect from their son, the better for her.
That very morning she and Orion had greeted each other like a coupleof lovers and just now they had parted like a promised bride andbridegroom. She would not again be witness to such vexatious doings;so she went to the young girl's room and confided to her with muchsatisfaction the happy prospects her son had promised them,--only Paulamust say nothing about it till the day after to-morrow.
The moment she entered the room Paula inferred from her beamingexpression that she had something to say unpleasant to herself, so shepreserved due composure. Her face wore a look of unmoved indifferencewhile she submitted to the overflow of a too-happy mother's heart; andshe wished the betrothed couple joy: but she did so with a smile thatinfuriated Neforis.
She was not on the whole spiteful; but face to face with this girl, hernature was transformed, and she rather liked the idea of showing her,once more in her life, that in her place humility would beseem her. Allthis she said to herself as she quitted Paula's room; but perhaps thiswoman, who had much that was good in her, might have felt some ruth, ifin the course of the next few hours she could but have looked into theheart of the orphan entrusted to her protection. Only once did Paulasob aloud; then she indignantly dried her tears, and sat for a long timegazing at the floor, shaking her pretty head again and again as thoughsomething unheard-of and incredible had befallen her.
At last, with a bitter sigh, she went to bed; and while she vainlystrove for sleep, and for strength to pray and be silently resigned,Time seemed to her a wild-beast chase, Fate a relentless hunter, and thequarry he was pursuing was herself.