Morley Ernstein; or, the Tenants of the HeartJames, G. P. R. (George Payne Rainsford)
General
Morley Ernstein; or, the Tenants of the Heart
James, G. P. R. (George Payne Rainsford)
Fiction
For an instant, for a single instant, Juliet Carr had felt the pangs
of jealousy, but the moment after, when her feeling of security in
Morley's love returned, she reproached herself bitterly for the joy
she felt at that which must needs produce another's sorrow. The few
hours' calm reflection which intervened between their visit to the
fair object of their care, and her arrival at Lady Malcolm's house,
calmed down and quieted Juliet's feelings, and enabled her to play her
part towards Helen, when she did arrive, in the manner which might be
expected from her character. AS a sort of atonement for loving Morley
Ernstein, and being beloved by him, as well as from tenderness and
interest, and kindness towards Helen, no sister could have shewn her
more affectionate care and attention than were displayed by Juliet
Carr. She sat with her in the room which had been assigned to her near
her own; she aided her to arrange it with taste; she saw if anything
was wanting, and had it instantly supplied; she talked with her of
future prospects and bright hopes, and lavished on her all those
little acts of gentle attention, which removed every feeling of
strangeness, and made Helen feel that she had a friend upon whose
bosom she could cast herself in danger, or sorrow, or temptation if it
should come, and tell her all without fear or hesitation.
That conviction was in itself a relief, a mighty relief to the poor
girl's heart; and though her mind still wandered to Morley Ernstein,
and thought dwelt, in spite of all her efforts, upon the connexion
between him and Juliet Carr, when she looked upon her lovely
companion, marked her transcendent beauty, listened to her melodious
voice, and experienced such tenderness and generous kindness, she
could not refrain, even in Juliet's presence, from looking down with a
sigh, and murmuring indistinctly with a melancholy movement of the
head, "No wonder that he loves her."
The day passed over in this manner, but before night, Helen Barham was
quite familiar with the house and its inhabitants. Everything that
Lady Malcolm saw of her, led that lady to approve her conduct more and
more. Her manners were so graceful, her whole demeanour so
distinguished, that the good lady began to feel proud of her protégée,
and looking from Helen to Juliet, as she sat at dinner, she could not
help thinking, that seldom on the face of this earth, had two such
beautiful beings sat side by side.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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