An Original Belle | Page 6

private, and departed, fearing to put his fate to the test.
At last the dainty apartment, the merry campaigning-ground, was
darkened, and Marian, flushed, wearied, and complacent, stepped out
on the piazza to breathe for a few moments the cool, fragrant air. She

had dropped into a rustic seat, and was thinking over the events of the
evening with an amused smile, when the following startling words
arose from the adjacent shrubbery:--
"Arrah, noo, will ye niver be sinsible? Here I'm offerin' ye me heart, me
loife. I'd be glad to wourk for ye, and kape ye loike a leddy. I'd be thrue
to ye ivery day o' me loife,--an' ye knows it, but ye jist goes on makin'
eyes at this wan an' flirtin' wid that wan an' spakin' swate to the t'other,
an' kapin' all on the string till they can nayther ate nor slape nor be half
the min they were till ye bewildered 'em. Ye're nothin' but a giddy,
light-minded, shallow crather, a spoilin' min for your own fun. I've kep'
company wid ye a year, and ye've jist blowed hot and cowld till I'm not
meself any more, and have come nigh losin' me place. Noo, by St.
Patrick, ye must show whether ye're a woman or a heartless jade that
will sind a man to the divil for sport."
These words were poured out with the impetuosity of longsuffering
endurance finally vanquished, and before the speaker had concluded
Marian was on her way to the door, that she might not listen to a
conversation of so delicate a nature. But she did not pass beyond
hearing before part of the reply reached her.
"Faix, an' I'm no wourse than me young mistress."
It was a chance arrow, but it went straight to the mark, aad when
Marian reached her room her cheeks were aflame.

CHAPTER II
.
A NEW ACQUAINTANCE.

Gross matter can change form and character in a moment, when merely
touched by the effective agent. It is easy to imagine, therefore, how
readily a woman's quick mind might be influenced by a truth or a
thought of practical and direct application. All the homilies ever written,
all the counsel of matrons and sages, could not have produced on
Marian so deep an impression as was made by these few chance words.
They came as a commentary, not only on her past life, but on the past
few hours. Was it true, then, that she was no better than the coquettish

maid, the Irish servant in the family's employ? Was she, with her
education and accomplishments, her social position and natural gifts,
acting on no higher plane, influenced by no worthier motives and no
loftier ambition? Was the ignorant girl justified in quoting her example
in extenuation of a course that to a plain and equally ignorant man
seemed unwomanly to the last degree?
Wherein was she better? Wherein lay the difference between her and
the maid?
She covered her hot face with her hands as the question took the form:
"Wherein am I worse? Is not our principle of action the same, while I
have greater power and have been crippling higher types of men, and
giving them, for sport, an impulse towards the devil? Fenton Lane has
just gone from my side with trouble in his eyes. He will not be himself
to-morrow, not half the man he might be. He left me in doubt and fear.
Could I do anything oppressed with doubt and fear? He has set his
heart on what can never be. Could I have prevented him from doing
this? One thing at least is certain,--I have not tried to prevent it, and I
fear there have been many little nameless things which he would regard
as encouragement. And he is only one. With others I have gone farther
and they have fared worse. It is said that Mr. Folger, whom I refused
last winter, is becoming dissipated. Mr. Arton shuns society and sneers
at women. Oh, don't let me think of any more. What have I been doing
that this coarse kitchen-maid can run so close a parallel between her
life and mine? How unwomanly and repulsive it all seems, as that man
put it! My delight and pride have been my gentleman friends, and what
one of them is the better, or has a better prospect for life, because of
having known me? Could there be a worse satire on all the fine things
written about woman and her influence than my hitherto vain and
complacent self?"
Sooner or later conscience tells the truth to all; and the sooner the better,
unless the soul arraigned is utterly weak, or else belongs essentially to
the criminal classes, which require almost a miracle to reverse their evil