CHAPTER XXXVIIL "Cease then, nor order imperfection time: Secure to be as blest as thou canst bear: All nature is but art, unknown to thee; All chance, direction, which thou canst not see; All partial evil, universal good:— AT this awful, momentous crisis of affairs in the fisher's family, and during the first stages of his distracting grief, no one ventured to inquire after Agatha Singleton, fearful of renewing the heart-felt sorrow which had been already experienced by her loss. It was natural, however, to suppose that the firmly-attached and confidential attendant of so lovely and exemplary a young lady should feel anxious for her fate, which it was very unlikely that the fisher himself could tell any thing about; it was but too obvious that his search after her had been unsuccessful, for he had returned from the Cottage on the Cliff without her.Still poor Claribelle panted to know if he had heard aught concerning her dear young mistress, or had gained any intelligence of the cause of her sudden flight. Jessy too, even in the midst of her own heavy afflictions, had not forgotten her dear absent friend. The name of Agatha Singleton dwelt upon her lips; but to remind her poor heart-broken father at this moment of the absence of an object whom he had so dearly prized, and thus to double the burthen of the anguish under which he groaned, Jessy felt to be impracticable; and she had as yet no opportunity of conversing with David on the subject of their expedition to the Cottage on the Cliff:for this simple, unsophisticated, honest creature, above all show other than that which nature and feeling dictated, was overwhelmed with grief at the heavy stroke of affliction which had assailed his dear and worthy master; and though he had never been exceedingly partial to Miss Olive Blust, yet her sudden demise had shocked the poor fellow's feelings beyond expression; he had crept to a corner of his master's chamber, when he retired for the night, and shed tears abundantly over the untimely fate of this unfortunate and lovely young woman, without wishing to manifest those tokens of grief to any other part of the afflicted family. With David, therefore, Jessy could not exchange a syllable relative to the situation of her absent friend, but as Claribelle slept in a closet adjoining to the chamber, she frequently addressed her on the subject of her beloved mistress, exhorting her to have pa tience till a few days had elapsed, and that the very moment her father's spirits were more tranquillized and collected, she would then make every necessary inquiry about the fate of Miss Singleton. To all this poor Claribelle made no other response than a deep and mournful sigh: yet, out of delicacy to the feelings of the amiable and sensitive girl, and respecting the melancholy situation in which affairs now stood at Herring Dale, and the decency which should be observed on so solemn an occasion, she forbore to make any remarks that would add to the distress of the objects which surrounded her. In the meantime, Dr. Lessington, who had never quitted Herring Dale but for a few hours, to give the necessary orders at his own residence, and to issue those that were also as indispensably necessary in the affairs of his afflicted friend, endeavoured by every ef fort which kindness could suggest to calm and tranquillize the agitated feelings of the unhappy father: but to do which he found it requisite not to leave him by himself a moment, and he was constantly shut up with him in the little oak-parlour, where no one besides was permitted to enter except Jessy and Alfred: the former using every nerve and faculty she pos aessed to impart consolation to her venerable parent, and the latter conducting himself with a kind, respectful and tender sympathy towards the torn feelings of his protector, in a manner that endeared him to the hearts of all around him. The funeral ceremonies of the unfortunate Olive were to be performed as privately and as immediately as circumstances would permit; and though her sudden demise had occasioned some surprise, and had shocked the inhabitants of Cromer, among whom were many of the fisher's friends, yet the cause, the actual cause, which had produced so sudden a catastrophe remained utterly unknown; and it was consequently attributed to one of those awful visitations which hourly impend over a state of mortality: nor was the memory of Miss Blust very highly venerated, or her loss much regretted, by those who had ever had a knowledge of her character or disposition, to which many of the fisher's friends were by no means strangers; her manners being always haughty and repulsive to her inferiors, hardly civil or complaisant to her equals, nor respectful even to those who moved in a station above her and the report of her sudden death being pread about the neighbourhood of Cromer, and the djacent village, many eyes and hands were uplifted while the following ejaculations were audibly pronounced, "Well, thank God, it is not Miss Jessy!--she would have been missed;-very few will lament the loss of Miss Olive, I am sure; but Miss Jessy! ah, had it pleased Heaven to have taken her away, there would not have been a dry eye in the parish the day she departed. She is a blessing to the poor; Heaven prosper her!" On the day previous to the funeral of the unfortunate Olive, many were the persons who had called to offer condolence to the afflicted family at Herring Dale: but the fisher refused to see or converse with any of them, save Sam Russell; he was admitted, and with the most heartfelt concern beheld the grief of the wretched father; who, in the presence of the doctor and the honest Samuel, was at hus express desire led to the chamber which contained the remains of his once beautiful, happy, and innocent daughter :-and at this moment the audible sobs of some person half concealed behind a curtain burst on his ear, and the soft voice of Jessy murmured forth,— "Cease, Margaret, cease to weep thus! your strong emotions will betray you to my father, and he does not know that I have admitted you -Pray, pray, dear Margaret, stifle these transports. My father will be angry, he will be frantic, if he hears you: for my sake make no noise." But this caution was too late, for the fisher had already entered the chamber of death, and had not only heard the sobs of Margaret, but obtained a glance of her person, and he wildly vociferated,— "So, you have come to look at yon poor, pale, lifeless thing, Mrs. Margaret Craftly,—that is now about to sleep in the cold bed which the hand of your accursed brother has made for her, poor wench!—yes, Mrs. Margaret Craftly, this is the work of the virtuous, prudent, honorable, kind, chaste Mr. Leontine! your dear brother, and my dear kinsman, with a murrain to him!-The nonesuch of a man, who would come and shake me by the fist twenty times a-day, as though he would gripe my hand off;-who would smile in my face, and when he bade me good night would say, God prosper you, honest kinsman, till we meet again ;—what think you, Mrs. Margaret, of this goodly, pious, discreet, modest young gentleman—this brother of yours?-has he not acted nobly, and honorably, and virtuously,-who shall doubt it?-Look at my murdered Olive, and answer me !-hath not your brother done well ?" |