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
"Has he any heart, I wonder?" thought the young gentleman. "If so, he
takes pains to hide it. All things seem to pass him by, affecting him
but as breath upon a looking-glass, leaving no trace the moment after,
upon the cold, hard surface beneath. Here he has nursed me like a
brother for the last fortnight, and now he leaves me with the same air
of indifference as if we had just got out of a stagecoach in which our
acquaintance had commenced two hours before."
Morley felt as if he were somewhat ungrateful for scanning so closely
the character of one who had treated him with much kindness, and, soon
quitting such thoughts, he rang for his good old servant, Adam Gray,
and enquired into all that had passed at Morley Court since he had
left it--the situation of the poor cottagers, whose fate he had
endeavoured to soften; the health of his horses and his dogs; the
promises of the game season; and all those things that the most
interest a very young Englishman, in his hours of health. The horses
were all well; the dogs were in as good a state as could be wished;
the game bade fair to be abundant.
"But as to Johnes, and Dickenson, and poor Widow Harvey," the old man
said, "I can tell you very little, sir. They have had the money, and
the bread and soup; and Johnes had work at the Lee farm. Widow Harvey
got wool given her to spin, and I sent the apothecary to Dickenson,
but did not hear how he was; for you see, sir, I was just going down
to look in at the poor fellow's cottage, when Miss Carr came to tell
me of the accident, and--"
"Miss who?" demanded Morley Ernstein, in some surprise.
"Oh, Miss Carr, sir, you know!" replied Adam Gray. "She was in a
great flurry, poor young lady, and did seem to be very sorry about
you--indeed every one knows she has a good heart, and does as much for
the poor as she can, though that's less than she likes, poor young
lady!"
"And, pray, who is Miss Carr?" demanded Ernstein; "and why does your
compassion run over on her account, my good Adam? Why do you call her
'poor young lady' so often?"
"Oh, because she has such a father, to be sure, sir!" replied the
servant. "Surely you recollect Old Carr, the miser, and his daughter,
Miss Juliet--a beautiful girl she was--and is, too, for that matter,
poor thing!"
"I do not recollect anything about them," answered Morley; "and yet I
remember everything for many years before my poor mother died. But no
such name as Carr ever comes back to my memory. Who is this Mr. Carr?"
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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