The Maid of Maiden Lane | Page 3

favour of Liberty. He is uneasy for the country, and
for his church; and if he could take his whole flock to heaven at once,
that would please him most of all."
"He is a good man. With you, last night, was a little maid--a great
beauty I thought her--but I knew her not. Is she then a stranger?"
"A stranger! Come, come! The little one is a very child of New York.
She is the daughter of Dr. Moran--Dr. John, as we all call him."
"Well, look now, I thought in her face there was something that went to
my heart and memory."
"And, as you know, that is his house across the street from us, and it
was his father's house, and his grandfather's house; and before that, the
Morans lived in Winckle Street; and before that, in the Lady's Valley;
so, then, when Van Clyffe built this house for them, they only came
back to their first home. Yes, it is so. The Morans have seen the birth of
this city. Who, then, can be less of a stranger in it than the little beauty,
Cornelia?"

"As you say, Van Ariens."
"And yet, in one way, she is a stranger. Such a little one she was, when
the coming of the English sent the family apart and away. To the army
went the Doctor, and there he stayed, till the war was over. Mrs. Moran
took her child, and went to her father's home in Philadelphia. When
those redcoats went away forever from New York, the Morans came
back here, but the little girl they left in the school at Bethlehem, where
those good Moravian Sisters have made her so sweet as themselves; so
pure! so honest-hearted! so clever! It was only last month she came
back to New York, and few people have seen her; and yet this is the
truth-- she is the sweetest maid in Maiden Lane; though up this side,
and down that side, are some beauties--the daughters of Peter Sylvester;
and of Jacob Beckley; and of Claes Vandolsom. Oh, yes! and many
others. I speak not of my Arenta. But look now! It is the little maid
herself, that is coming down the street."
"And it is my grandson who is at her side. The rascal! He ought now to
be reading his law books in Mr. Hamilton's office. But what will you?
The race of young men with old heads on their shoulders is not yet
born-- a God's mercy it is not!"
"We also have been young, Van Heemskirk."
"I forget not, my friend. My Joris sees not me, and I will not see him."
Then the two old men were silent, but their eyes were fixed on the
youth and maiden, who were slowly advancing towards them; the sun's
westering rays making a kind of glory for them to walk in.
She might have stepped out of the folded leaves of a rosebud, so lovely
was her face, framed in its dark curls, and shaded by a gypsy bonnet of
straw tied under her chin with primrose-coloured ribbons. Her dress
was of some soft, green material; and she carried in her hand a bunch of
daffodils. She was small, but exquisitely formed, and she walked with
fearlessness and distinction Yet there was around her an angelic gravity,
and that indefinable air of solitude, which she had brought from
innocent studies and long seclusion from the tumult and follies of life.

Of all this charming womanhood the young man at her side was
profoundly conscious. He was the gallant gentleman of his day, hardly
touching the tips of her fingers, but quite ready to fall on his knees
before her. A tall, sunbrowned, military-looking young man, as
handsome as a Greek god, with eyes of heroic form; lustrous, and
richly fringed; and a beautiful mouth, at once sensitive and seductive.
He was also very finely dressed, in the best and highest mode; and he
wore his sword as if it were a part of himself. It was no more in his way
than if it were his right arm. Indeed, all his movements were full of
confidence and ease; and yet it was the vivacity, vitality, and ready
response of his face that was most attractive.
His wonderful eyes were bent upon the maid at his side; he saw no
other earthly thing. With a respectful eagerness, full of admiration, he
talked to her; and she answered his words--whatever they were--with a
smile that might have moved mountains. They passed the two old men
without any consciousness of their presence, and Van Heemskirk
smiled, and then sighed, and then said softly--
"So much youth, and beauty, and happiness! It is a benediction to have
seen it! I shall not reprove Joris at