Beautiful Rienzi; or, The secret vendetta — page 33: 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, [solina came with a letter which, with avery 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 Dear, Dearest Frienp:—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, Heis 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. I am 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 read 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 flits in 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; I 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,’ ‘““Titu1a MEREDITH.” This most girlish epistle being duly read, I handed it back to [solina 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! dear sister, take him to your lové—tell Lillia Meredith the truth.” | ‘¢ Impossible!” | She turned ashy pale; never had she looked on me so CONN (7) LIAOO (©)