"isabel, you said something about going home this week; now i have settled that for you. i wrote to mamma, saying that you were going to stay until after the ordination, and then we would all return together."
"i declare those children will get quite unmanageable with such long holidays. when will the ordination be?"
"the beginning of next month."
"dreadful! i do not think that mrs. arlington will consent."
"oh, yes, she will. what a state everard is getting into about that ordination!" she continued, "and i am nearly as bad. i suppose we shall all go to see it."
"i shall not," said isabel.
"why not?" asked emily.
"i had rather not."
"what a strange girl you are! i wouldn't miss it for the world. he will be so vexed, too."
"why should he?"
"of course he will."
isabel protested that she would not go; but for all that, when the time came, she could not resist the desire to be present, even at the risk of being thought changeable. she went, after the rest, and from her corner saw the whole. from where she sat she had a full view of his face--grave, earnest, calm, evidently feeling how much was implied in the ordination vows. as she returned before the others, they were quite unaware that she had been there, and she, little hypocrite, listened gravely to all emily's descriptions.
in the evening isabel walked on the lawn in the pale moon's silvery beams, musing of all that had taken place that day, and thinking how very happy everard must feel to-night. suddenly that gentleman accosted her: "why did you refuse to be present at the ordination to-day?" he asked. isabel was silent. "how is it," he continued, "that while others were so anxious, you manifested no interest at all? it is, to say the least, unkind."
"you may be sure that i wish you all prosperity in your new vocation," she said. "i would have said so before, had i thought you wished or expected it."
"i did not expect," he said, almost angrily, "such a calm expression of a cold regard; i wished and expected kindly sympathy, if nothing more."
"as you think i should say more, accept my sincere wishes for your happiness; and believe me when i say that the lot which you have chosen is, in my estimation, the highest to which man can aspire, and may your labors be blessed with abundant success."
"your kind wishes, though so reluctantly expressed, are not least valued," he returned, warmly. "but, isabel, you say that you wish my happiness. my happiness, as i told you long ago, rests with you. here i can refer to the old subject without breaking my promise, and i cannot leave for my distant mission without making one more appeal. listen to me patiently for a few minutes. you seemed to adhere so strictly to what you said, that i considered it my duty to give you up; but it was a duty that, with all my endeavors, i was unable to perform. i sought relief in study--hard, excessive study--almost night and day. you know how that ended. my mother left me much to you, and your kindness only made matters worse. afterwards, when you were away, i determined on the course i am now pursuing, and i persuaded myself that my heart was in the work, and so it is, but it is not yours the less. what i endure is almost insupportable--it is too hard. often i have been obliged to appear cold and variable to conceal my real feelings, and you have despised me for it. i have seen it, isabel. to-night i determined to seek you, and plead my cause once more; and though you have received me with indifference, even coldly, i still hope that beneath this reserve there may be some warmer feeling. "tell me dearest," he continued, "will you not love me? oh, isabel, must i go alone?" she was silent. then for an instant her eyes met his, and the love and happiness in that one glance fully satisfied him, and he clasped her passionately in his arms. "you loved me all the time, isabel," he whispered, "only from a mistaken sense of your duty you refused me when i first spoke of my love."
"oh, no, i did not love you then; i esteemed you very much, but i was engaged to another." then she told what is already known to the reader.
"and his name?" he asked.
"louis taschereau."
"tell me: did the thought that i loved you tend to soften the blow, when you found how unworthy he was?"
isabel was very truthful; she could not deceive him, even though those beautiful eyes were fixed upon her in earnest expectation. as we have said, she was very truthful, so answered, "i cannot flatter you so much, everard; it afforded me no comfort whatever. indeed i never thought of it, except when some kind attention on your part reminded me of the fact, and then the thought only caused me pain."
he looked disappointed. "no," she added, "it was not until long after, that your worth and uniform kindness won my heart."
they lingered on the lawn until the chill night air warned them not to remain there any longer. entering the music-room by the window, they found emily waiting for them. "oh, here you are at last; harry had to go out, and i've been all alone this half hour." then, starting up, she seized a hand of each, exclaiming "you need not tell me, i see how it is; i am so glad, so very glad."
"i saw you at the ordination this morning," said charley elliott, who came in during the evening, addressing isabel, "only you were in such a fearful hurry to get away that i did not get a chance to speak."
"then you must have very good eyes, mr. elliott, as isabel was not there," cried emily, laughing.
"i beg your pardon," he returned.
"i was there," said isabel quietly, though she colored hotly.
"you were?" exclaimed everard, evidently well satisfied.
"i declare you--are--a queer girl," said emily, opening her blue eyes very wide, "i'm afraid you have not the bump of firmness."
"i knew you would think me changeable, but after you had all gone i began to think i should like to see it, so i followed. but i certainly did not see you, charley."
"on, no, i was very sure that you saw no one but the candidates," returned charley, laughing. "indeed you looked so solemn and earnest, one would almost suppose that you were one of them."
"is it true," asked harry, on his return, "that you have agreed to start for madagascar next month?"
"quite true," returned everard, coolly.
"i protest against it," said harry. "and so do i," added emily; while charley shrugged his shoulders, and isabel laughed.
emily was terribly anxious for charley to depart, as she longed to tell harry the news; which news, when emily told it, harry received with unmistakable satisfaction, saying he couldn't see why everard should not settle down comfortably near home, instead of going to such an out-of-the-way place.
the following week they all started for elm grove, and when, on their arrival mrs. arlington took both her hands and kissed her affectionately, isabel knew that the news of their engagement had preceded them. they had a delightful evening, mrs. arlington being in a most gracious humor. mr. arlington shook isabel so heartily by the hand that it ached for hours afterward. emily was in the most exuberant spirits; everard's happiness, from its very depth, was of a more quiet nature; while harry was as merry and joyous as his wife; and isabel, in her own sweet way, had a kind look and word for all.
on entering the school-room, next morning, isabel found little amy sitting upon the floor, her head buried in the sofa cushion, sobbing as if her heart would break, her little form quivering with the violence of her emotion.
"what is the matter, amy dear?" asked isabel, taking the trembling child in her arms. but amy could not speak; she only clung to isabel, and sobbed more bitterly than before. isabel sat down with amy on her knee, stroking the shining hair until the child should be more composed. after a time, when the violence of her grief had a little abated, isabel kissed her and inquired the cause of her tears.
"rose says that you are going to madagascar with everard, and perhaps i shall never see you any more," she managed to blurt out amid her sobs. "you ought not to go, for i am sure i love you more than he does. i told him so this morning, but he only laughed and said i didn't; but i do, and i think it is very unkind of him to take you away. we know lots of young ladies; i'm sure he might marry some one else, and not take my darling isabel to nasty madagascar. oh, isabel, you must not go. oh, please! please!" she said, coaxingly. "oh, won't you please tell him that you have changed your mind, and would rather stay with us?"
"oh, but you know i promised, amy."
"but you shan't go; tell him you won't; there's a dear, kind pet," and she threw her arms round isabel's neck.
"but don't you think that it is very selfish of little amy to wish that her brother should go alone to that far country, when she will have papa, mamma, and sisters?"
"oh! i wish you didn't love him one bit, and then you would stay with us."
"hush! amy dear, you mustn't talk so."
"but i can't help wishing it, and i told everard so, and that i hoped you would change your mind. then he said that it was very wicked of me to wish that; and he put me off his knee so quick, and walked out of the room looking so angry--no, not angry, exactly, but as if he thought, perhaps, you might."
"but, amy, if you loved any one very much, would you like it if that person didn't love you one bit?"
"no," said amy, thoughtfully.
"then is it doing as you would be done by to wish such unkind and selfish things?"
"i did not think of that," replied amy, resting her head on isabel's shoulder, "but it seems as if you did not love me, to go away to madagascar," she added, sadly.
"oh, amy dear, i love you very much," said isabel, the tears gathering in her eyes, "and it grieves me to part from you."
"and then we shall have another horrid governess, like miss manning, and the days will all be long and miserable, like the long, long, weary day that emily used to sing about. and what will become of all our nice sundays?"
"poor little amy!" said isabel, parting back the shining curls from the sorrowful little face, and looking into the violet eyes that were fixed upon her so earnestly. "you must not think that i would leave you without first trying to fill my place with one who would love you and try to make you happy. now, if you will stop crying, i will tell you about the young lady who, i hope, will be your governess. she is a very dear friend of mine, and i trust you will all be very kind to her, and love her very much. her name is gertrude hartley." alice and rose now entered the school-room, and gave a very warm welcome to isabel. "please go on about gertrude hartley," pleaded amy. then isabel told them how gertrude had gone as a governess to a family who lived far back in the country, miles away from any church, and how, by her endeavors, a small but pretty one had been erected, where service was held once a month. but gertrude had grown tired of the country, and was anxious to obtain another situation. "she will come to see you next week, and i am sure you will like her. and you know you can often talk about me, for she knows me very well. i shall write you nice long letters about that strange country, and i shall often think of my dear little sisters, for you will be my sisters then, you know."
"i did not think of that," said amy, smiling.
"oh, isabel, i'm so sorry that you are going away. don't you think you could persuade everard to give up being a missionary? i'm certain he could have attwood church if he liked, because dr. herbert once asked him if he would like it. please do, because it would be so nice."
"what! and leave those heathen people still in ignorance of god? my little rose does not think what she is wishing that everard would give up. no, i could not wish him to do so, much less persuade him."
"but he might get some one else to go," replied rose.
"no, rose, we must each perform our own duties."
"you mean that it would be like putting your hand to the plow and looking back?"
"exactly so," replied isabel.
"i did not think of it in that way, so you must not be angry with me."
"i was not angry, dear, only i wanted to show you that your wish was a wrong one. what does alice think about it?"
"i think," replied alice, "that he ought to go, and i am very glad that you are going with him, for you are so nice and so good that i am sure the little heathen children will listen to what you say, because you have such a nice way of telling things. of course i am very sorry to lose you, but i mean to think of the good your going will be for other people, and how nice it is for everard, and then i shall not care about it so much."
"it gives me great pleasure to hear you say this, and i think that alie can no longer be called selfish. believe me, dear children, that the surest way to forget our own troubles is to find pleasure in the benefit and happiness of others."
everard arlington was about to enter by the window, but paused a moment to contemplate the group before him. on a large ottoman sat isabel, with amy on her knee, one arm encircling alice, who was standing thoughtfully by her side, her head resting on isabel's shoulder, while behind was rose, half smiles, half tears.
"oh, everard!" cried amy, "i won't say again that i hope isabel will not go with you. but she says that it is not naughty to be sorry. you are not angry with me now?" she inquired, looking wistfully into his face.
"no, my little amy," he replied, smoothing the glossy curls, as he stooped as if to kiss her, but he didn't kiss amy.
