Agnes, or, Beauty and Pleasure — page 221: what you’re looking at

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not proclaimed, and the secret of that warning letter’s source was duly respected. Winifred had entered Aldersgate Street, and. was in the neighbourhood of her lodgings, when | she encountered one of whom for the past hour soe had been painfully thinking. This was Mr. Dalham. They stopped: he shook Winifred by | the hand; and perceiving that she was pale and | careworn, his countenance assumed an air of the deepest concern, as he said, “ I was in hopes, Wini- | fred, from all Mr. Wardour had very recently com- municated to me, that the days of unhappiness had passed and that the period of bliss and pros- | perity had arrived ?” Winifred gave no immediate response: but the tears flowed down her cheeks. “Tell me, my young friend,’ said Roderick | Dalbam earnestly, “why are you thus unhappy ? | why are you distressed? Have you not riches at | your command ?—is not your cousin returned P— | and am [I not to judge from this fact that he has pleaded his suit so effectually that your scruples have been overcome and that you have consented to bestow your hand upon him ?” ** Mr. Dalham,” replied Winifred, in a low deep | voice, “I ought to have no secrets from you. Everything is at an end between my cousin and | myself !” | “Ob, Winifred! if you have done this,” ex- claimed Roderick Dalham, “ you were wrong—be- lieve me you were wrong! You have perhaps destroyed his happiuess as well as your own . “ No, sir—do not blame me,” interrupted Wini- fred: “it was not my fault! I must not seem capricious, hard-hearted, obstinate, or selfish in your eyes! Learn then the truth. My cousin | loved another it was but as a matter of duty, kindness, and sympathy that he offered his hand to me But that other—a young lady of trans- | eending beauty—a quadroon whom he knew in Jamaica She came over to England—she ar- | rived two or three days back ——” * Ab!” ejaculated Dalham ; “a beautiful qua. droon! And her name?” * Emily Pinnock,” replied Winifred. “Then by heaven ’tis the same!” ejaculated Dalham. “ And your cousin Gustavus—is he a | tall, slender, dark-haired youth sa “Yes,” said Winifred. ‘“ But what do you know of Emily Pinnock ?” * T know where she is staying,” responded Dal- ham: “it is at an hotel at the West End. It happened that at the very moment she alighted at the door, I was passing—I protected her against an impudent robbery that was being attempted and to confess the truth, L subsequently had the curiosity when again passing the door of that hotel, to inquire her name from a waiter who was lounging there.” “And is she not eminently beautiful ?” asked Winifred, with difficulty suppressing a sigh. “‘ But you say that you have seen my cousin also “a “Yes—and scarcely an hour back,” rejoined ' Mr. Dalham. “It wasin St. Paul’s Churchyard IT caught a glimpse of that beautiful qua- | droon’s countenance in a cab which stopped | Ah! now Icomprehend it !—it was at Doctore’ Communs! I was struck by that handsome young man who assisted Miss Pinnock to alight—and they disappeared together under the archway.” AGNES; OR, BEAUTY ANP PLEASURE. Winifred understood what this announcement signified ; and though she had renounced her cousin that he might conduct Emily Pinnock to the altar—though she had made up her mind that this marriage would take place—though she had exerted all her energies to resign herself to the irrevocable loss of him whom she loved—yet now did she feel as if stricken by a sudden blow when she learnt that Gustayus and Emily had been seen entering Doctors’ Commons: for what other ob- ject could they have than to procure the marriage license P “Winifred,” said Mr. Dalham, again taking her _hand and pressing it fervidly, “I fear that I have told you something which has much distressed you P” “And yet I feel that to be now distressed for all this,” faltered the poor girl, “is something very wrong. Ob! I will be calm—I will summon al! my courage to my aid !” “Lean on my arm, Winifrec—and let us walk slowly along the street,’ said Mr. Dalham; “ or we shall be observed by the curious eyes of the passers-by. Restrain your emotions, I implore you! It grieves me infinitely to think that you are thus doomed to experience affliction after afllic- tion! Oh, why will you not suffer me to take your happiness into my keeping P—why will you not bestow upon me this hand which I covet? You look upon me as the saviour of your life: will you not make me the guardian of your happiness also? You will some day be rich, Winifred—whereas I myself may be comparatively poor A “You, Mr. Dalham ?” she ejaculated in aston- ishment, “Yes,” he replied : “for let me now speak to you seriously upon certain matters. Your grand- father is destined to gain his suit shortly—I am convinced that he will succeed—and the result will be far more fatal to my father than ever I fancied until yesterday. But yesterday I obtained an in- sight into my father’s affairs; and I discovered that if by the law’s decree he should be compelled _to surrender up the estates which he has so long enjoyed, ruin will stare him in the face—yes, ab- solute ruin, Winifred! And that ruin,” added Dalham, energetically, “ will as a natural conse- quence redound upon me !” Winifred shuddered throughout her entire be- ing: for, as she leant upon Dalham’s arm, he could feel that the strong convulsion thus passed through her. She reflected profoundly and in silence for several minutes. The strongest appeal had been made to her by one to whom she laboured under incalculable obligations ; and as | the reader is aware, she possessed a heart capable of any self-sacrifice. “To see you involved in ruin, Mr. Dalham,” she at length said, in a low but earnest tone, “ would be the cruellest afliction that could pos- sibly smite me. Oh! you have saved my life— and that life would I lay down for your sake! My God! tell me, what would you have me do ?” “JT would have you do nothing, Winifred, against your own inclinations,” replied Roderick Dalham: “but I will put a case to you, and leave it for you to reflect upon. Suppose that you gave me your hand 4 “ That hand which but a few days back I would COMmicooolkks Om