Beautiful Rienzi; or, The Secret Vendetta — page 35: what you’re looking at

Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.

28 BEAUTIFUL RIENZI About a week after my illness, Isolina came with a letter which, with a very indignant face, she gave to me to read. It was from Washington, written in a pretty, girlish hand and signed ‘* Lillia Meredith,” and these were the contents: ‘“My Drar, Dearest F'Rrenp:—I have fallen into trouble, and don’t know any one whom I could fly to sooner than you. I was to have been married last week to my dear Cecil, but to my alarm and mortifi- cation he has asked the time to be postponed, which I have accord- ingly granted, until his pleasure. He is unaccountably changed of late — indeed, I have reason to believe he has fallen in love with some lady in New York, and tired of poor Lillia, from what he has let fall. Iam quite frightened about it, and come to you to know what I shall do. Could you find out if my suspicions are correctand tell me? I would go to her and beg her not to take my Cecil from me. Did you yead his last book? Hasn’t he genius, eh? But his heroic Redi- viva—I am so jealous of her—not one whit like poor little me. And there’s a queer little spirit flitsin at the end of it, who, strange to say, a gentleman who was here the other day, says, is exactly like your foreign sister, Ivanilla. Such a mystic—so incomprehensible—an emanation of fervor and fidelity, who brings Rediviva and her Shadow together like a good fairy. I cried over the book and sat up three nights to read it; 1 am so proud of my Cecil, but I hope his brain fan- cies will not turn him from his Lilly. Write immediately, my dear, darling Isolina, and tell me what to think. Cecil is going to New York next week; perhaps you will seethim. If so will you put in a good word for me? Lovingly thy ‘lily flower,’ Lini1 Mrrepira.” This most girlish epistle being duly read, I handed it back to Isolina with a curious look. She was quite calm, if—as sometimes I imagined—she really loved Cecil Beaumont, remarkably calm, if she re- ally intended giving him up to his betrothed. ‘‘Whatare you going to do?” I asked. “‘T am going to invite Miss Meredith here to spend the winter with us,” she answered, with the same indignant glitter in her eyes; ‘‘and I am going to see that Mr. Beau- mont keeps his engagement with her. He cannot perse- cute me while she is here.” ‘* But if he cannot love her any longer,” I pleaded, falter- ing with dismay, as I remembered Cecil’s desperate trust in my advocacy, ‘‘if he loves you so much, you cannot force back the heart torrents into a worn-out channel. Oh! poe sister, take him to your love—tell Lillia Meredith the ruth.” ‘¢ Impossible!” She turned ashy pale; never had she looked on me go oO GEomicbooks co Im,