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
The fourth day broke as brightly as any of the former, and Morley
Ernstein, who, for propriety's sake--or for the sake of that which a
corrupted state of society believes to be propriety--had been driven
by Lady Malcolm to sleep at another house, came in to breakfast as
usual, and to arrange with her he loved some pleasant scheme for the
passing of the coming hours. They had sat up late on the preceding
night, enjoying the balmy summer air, as it swept over the sea, and
Juliet had not yet quitted her room. At the place where she usually
sat, however, had been laid down a letter, and Lady Malcolm, who
entered the room first, wondered from whom it could come. Juliet
herself soon appeared, and, without noticing the epistle, talked to
Morley for some time, upon all those things which first interest
lovers when they meet, and might have gone on still longer, had not
Lady Malcolm--who was at an age when small matters are great, and who,
moreover, had always been gifted with that peculiar sort of
irritability which never suffers one to rest till the inside of a
letter has been seen--insisted upon Juliet opening hers, though Juliet
had said before that it was from her father, and was only that which
he wrote her every week.
To please her cousin, however, she broke the seal; but poor Juliet's
countenance underwent a sad change as she read the few lines that it
contained, and her voice faltered sadly, as she said--
"My father is in London; he has come up in great haste about various
matters, and requires my presence immediately, without a moment's
delay. He refers me to a letter from Helen, which I have never
received, and speaks of Yelverly having been broken into by robbers. I
am afraid I must go directly, Harriet."
As one may suppose every thing was soon in confusion. Lady Malcolm
read the letter, and saw that it was imperative. Juliet wished to go
alone, but her cousin would not hear of such a thing, and said she was
quite ready to return to London: Morley Ernstein professed himself
rejoiced that Mr. Carr had come to town, and spoke a few words for
Juliet's ear alone, which made the blood mount into her cheek. Lady
Malcolm did not seem so well contented, however, and after breakfast
she and Juliet consulted together, sending Morley to see that
everything was ready for their immediate departure. In five minutes
after, however, Lady Malcolm despatched her maid to call him back
again, and when he entered the little sitting-room of the inn, he
found that good lady standing ready to speak with him, and bearing
very much the air of one who has something unpleasant to communicate,
and does not well know how to do it.
"My dear Morley," she said, "I have just been talking to Juliet about
you and her father; for on hearing that he had come suddenly to town,
I began to be in a fright lest something unpleasant might take place,
if he saw you at once as the acknowledged lover of his daughter,
before he is a little prepared----"
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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