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
"I know none," replied Lieberg, drily. "The man who calls out another
with any reason to believe that his adversary will not fire at him,
must be somewhat of a coward, and deserves to be shot for his pains.
Oh, no; child's play does not become reasonable men! Of course, I
never interfere with what a friend chooses to do in such cases. But I
think you are quite right; and in shooting Neville, you will be doing
a benefit to society; in reward for which, there ought to be a general
subscription, to present you with a very handsome pair of long
barrels. Mind you don't miss him--don't take him too fine!--I am going
to see that great picture of Rubens," he continued, in his usual easy
tone--"will you come? He is a magnificent painter--Rubens; and yet I
hate his pictures--it always seems to me as if he had skinned all his
men, and pinched all his women. Many of them are certainly very
natural, but it is a fat and undignified nature, too. Was there ever
anything like that St. Peter at Cologne? How the saint is roaring in
his unpleasant position! One seems to hear the very cries of agony
coming from his mouth; and yet it does not give us a very elevated
idea of the saint--to see him with his head downwards, bellowing, like
a cross man with the gout. Will you come?"
Morley, however, declined; he had much to think of; and after Lieberg
had left him, he sat for a long time, revolving in his own mind the
situation of Helen Barham, but endeavouring in vain to arrange some
plan to place her in a less dangerous situation, till Mr. Hamilton was
well enough to give him counsel and assistance. He thought of her
much--he thought of her long--of her beauty, of her grace, of a
certain wild, sparkling manner, very different from the demeanour of
the young lady of the fashionable society, but very winning withal,
and very charming. Pity mingled with the train of reflection, and
softened admiration into tenderness; at the same time, there was a
sort of consciousness that she was entirely in his power--that she was
the creature of his will, not by any tie of mere circumstance, but by
the tie of gratitude and admiration. The better spirit, however, as we
have said, had gained the triumph; and though passion might urge, and
vanity prompt, it was all in vain--Morley did not yield for a moment,
but went on in high speculations on the destinies of human beings--of
the strange, and, apparently, wayward turns of fate--and of that far,
but sublime period when the ways of God will be justified, even to the
eyes of his creatures, when those who have suffered, and yet believe,
will rejoice, and those who have doubted and rebelled, will be covered
with confusion, on finding that all is bright, and good, and excellent
in the scheme of Divine wisdom.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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