Rosamond; or, The Youthful Error | Page 6

and she graciously
accepted the girl's offer, asking her the while what had made the
change in her behavior. Always frank and truthful, Rosamond
explained to the lady that Mr. Browning's kindness had filled her with
gratitude and determined her to do as she had done. To her Mrs. Van
Vechten said nothing, but when she met her brother at the breakfast
table, there was an ominous frown upon her face, and the moment they
were alone, she gave him her opinion without reserve. But Mr.
Browning was firm. "He should have something to live for," he said,
"and Heaven only knew the lonely hours he passed with no object in
which to be interested. Her family, though unfortunate, are highly
respectable," he added, "and if I can make her a useful ornament in
society, it is my duty to do so."
Mrs. Van Vechten knew how useless it would be to remonstrate with
him, and she gave up the contest, mentally resolving that "Ben should
not pass his college vacations there."
When the villagers learned that Mr. Browning intended to educate
Rosamond and treat her as his equal, they ascribed it wholly to the
influence of his sister, who, of course, had suggested to him an act
which seemed every way right and proper. They did not know how the
lady opposed it, nor how, for many days, she maintained a cold reserve
toward the young girl, who strove in various ways to conciliate her, and
at last succeeded so far that she not only accepted her services at her
toilet, but even asked of her sometimes to read her to sleep in the
afternoon, a process neither long nor tedious, for Mrs. Van Vechten
was not literary, and by the time the second page was reached she
usually nodded her full acquiescence to the author's opinions, and
Rosamond was free to do as she pleased.
One afternoon when Mrs. Van Vechten was fast asleep, and Rosamond
deep in the "Rhyme of the Ancient Mariner," (the former having

selected that poem as an opiate because of its musical jingle,) there was
the sound of a bounding step upon the stairs, accompanied by the
stirring notes of Yankee Doodle, which some one whistled at the top of
his voice. Rosamond was about going to see who it was, when the door
opened and disclosed to view a long, lank, light-haired, good-natured
looking youth, dressed in the extreme of fashion, with a huge gold
chain dangling across his vest, and an immense diamond ring upon his
little finger. This last he managed to show frequently by caressing his
chin, where, by the aid of a microscope, a very little down might
possibly have been found! This was Ben! He had just arrived, and
learning that his mother was in her room, had entered it
unceremoniously. The unexpected apparition of a beautiful young girl
startled him, and he introduced himself to her good graces by the very
expressive exclamation, "_Thunder!_ I beg your pardon, Miss," he
continued, as he met her surprised and reproving glance. "You scared
me so I didn't know what else to say. It's a favorite expression of mine,
but I'll quit it, if you say so. Do you live here?"
"I wait upon your mother," was the quiet answer, which came near
wringing from the young man a repetition of the offensive word.
But he remembered himself in time, and then continued, "How do you
know she's my mother? You are right, though. I'm Ben Van
Vechten--the veriest dolt in school, they say. But, as an offset, I've got
a heart as big as an ox; and now, who are you? I know you are not a
waiting- maid!"
Rosamond explained who she was, and then, rather pleased with his
off- hand manner, began to question him concerning his journey, and
so forth. Ben was delighted. It was not every girl who would of her
own accord talk to him, and sitting down beside her, he told her twice
that she was handsome, was cautiously winding his arm around her
waist, when from the rosewood bedstead there came the sharp, quick
word, "Benjamin!" and, unmindful of Rosamond's presence, Ben
leaped into the middle of the room, ejaculating, "Thunder! mother,
what do you want?"
"I want her to leave the room," said Mrs. Van Vechten, pointing toward

Rosamond, who, wholly ignorant of the nature of her offence, retreated
hastily, wondering how she had displeased the capricious lady.
Although Ben Van Vechten would not have dared to do a thing in
direct opposition to his mother's commands, he was not ordinarily
afraid of her, and he now listened impatiently, while she told him that
Rosamond Leyton was not a fit associate for a young man like himself,
"She was a sort of