Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine — Volume 53, No. 330, April 1843Various
Science
Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine — Volume 53, No. 330, April 1843
Various
England -- Periodicals; Scotland -- Periodicals
How natural for the
glimpses to revisit the broken heart, thus employed, thus roused and
animated by the light of heaven, rendering all things beautiful and
glad!
As we approached the village, my companion ceased to regard his
many-coloured friends with the same exclusive attention and unmixed
delight. His spirits sank--his joy fled. Clouds gathered across his
brow; he withdrew his hand from mine, and he sat for an hour,
brooding. He held the neglected nosegay before him, and plucked the
pretty leaves one by one--not conscious, I am sure, of what he did.
In a short time, every flower was destroyed, and lay in its
fragments before him. Then, as if stung by remorse for the cruel act,
or shaken by the heavy thoughts that pressed upon his brain, he
covered his pallid face, and groaned bitterly. What were those
thoughts? How connected with the resting-place towards which we were
hastening rapidly? My own anxiety became intense.
The village of Belton, situated near the mouth, and at the broadest
part of the river Parret, consisted of one long narrow street, and a
few houses scattered here and there on the small eminences which
sheltered it. The adjacent country was of the same character as that
which we had quitted--less luxuriant, perhaps, but still rich and
striking. We arrived at mid-day. I determined to alight at the inn
at which the coach put up, and to make my first enquiries there.
From the moment that we rattled along the stones that formed the
entrance to the village, an unfavourable alteration took place in my
companion. He grew excited and impatient; and his lips quivered, and
his eyes sparkled, as I had never seen them before. I was satisfied
that we had reached the object of his long desire, and that in a few
minutes the mysterious relation in which he stood to the place would
be ascertained. "He MUST be known," I continued to repeat to myself;
"the first eye that falls on him, will recognize him instantly." We
reached the inn; we alighted. The landlord and the ostler came to
the coach door, and received us with extreme civility, and the
former assisted the idiot in his eager endeavour to reach the
ground--I watched the action, expecting him to start, to speak, to
claim acquaintance--and having completed the polite intention, he
stood smiling and scraping. I looked at him, then at the idiot, and
saw at once that they were strangers. A dozen idlers stood about the
door. I waited for a recognition: none came.
Seated in the parlour of the inn, I asked to see the landlady. The
sight of the idiot caused as little emotion in her, as it had
produced in her husband. I ordered dinner for him. Whilst it was
preparing, I engaged the landlord in conversation at the door. I did
not wish to speak before young Harrington. I dared not leave him. I
enquired, first, if the face of the idiot were familiar to him. I
received for answer, that the man had never seen him in his life
before, nor had his wife.
"Do you know the name of Harrington?" said I.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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