The Seamstress; or, The White Slave of England — page 70: what you’re looking at

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

THE SEAMSTRESS. girl! But shall it be so?—hath the evil genius of thy destiny done its worst? Oh! this, at the mo- ment when we are following thee to the trysting- place of love, is beyond the range of prophecy. We hope—but we may not forecast. All that we can now do is to say again, God speed thee, sweet maiden :—and with this fervent prayer on thy be- half, we will yet follow in thy footsteps! They met—that charming maiden and that hand- some youth: they met, in the cheering sun-light— and in each other’s eyes they read a language more eloquent than any that the tongue could speak. Never had Virginia appeared so truly beautiful ;— and with rapture did the Marquis of Arden gaze upon her for several moments as he held her hand in his own. Then softly placing that hand under his arm, he led her into a retired walk;—and there they slowly pated to and fro, having eyes, ears, and thoughts only for each other. : “Dearest Virginia,” said the Marquis of Arden, in that low melting voice which came like the rich tones of an organ upon the maiden’s ear, “1 am now assured that you love me—and I am happy! Firmly—Oh! firmly and devotedly do I believe that there is such a sentimené as love at first sight; —and more than-that—I believe also that when two beings meet, whom heaven has destined fur each other, the soul of one, if not of both, may ex- perience a mysterious yet distinct revealing of the fact. Such at least was my case; for the moment that I first saw you, I loved you—and I accosted you with looks, and feelings, and words such as no other woman was ever the object of before. And when we met a second time —on the occasion which was so full of a terrific peril for you—a secret voice appeared to whisper in my soul that I was rescuing from danger or from death, the being who was destined to become my wife. We met a third time —and then I was happy, because I was enabled to teli you of my love and to hope that you loved me in return. But we were suddenly separated—and weeks elapsed until we met again yesterday. During that interval I thought of you by day—I dreamt of you by night. Much as I loved you before, I taught myself to love you with a deeper worship still, I abandoned ell my wonted pursuits—neg- lected my friends—and wandered about for hours and hours together in the hope of encountering you. This was my employment day after day— week after week;—and my soul was already sick with disappointment when we met so providentially yesterday, And now tell me, dearest Virginia, are you glad that we have thus met again ?” “Your own heart can furnish my response,” said the maiden, lifting towards her lover’s coun- tenance those eyes that were full of a melting tenderness. * And have you never once thought of me during the long interval of our separation?” inquired Charles, in that tone and with that look which showed beforehand the nature of the answer which he hoped and expected. “Yes—I thought of you often—very often, Charles,” returned the seamstress, holding down her blushing cou.tenance. “But I fancied that we should never meet again—and——” “You were grieved at the thought?” exclaimed 63 der years, and gentle spirit, and kind heart: may’st | the nobleman. “Oh! tell me that you were afflicted thou soon enter upon a more pleasing path, fair | at the idea?” “T was—I was,” replied the artless Virginia: —“and I wept, too—yes—I wept often—very often——” “Dearest, dearest girl,’ cried the enraptured Charles: and, sweeping his eyes rapidly around to assure himself that they were unobserved, he caught her in his arms. Then upon those lips which until that moment © were virgin of man’s caresses, did he imprint a long and fervid kiss;—and again and again did he press the beauteous girl to his heart, the transports of his own soul pouring with warm transfusion into her own. For Oh! the cooling draught that slakes the agonising thirst of the wanderer upon Araby’s scorching sands—the first glimpse of land caught by the eye of the voyager on the pathless ocean,— the earliest smile with which the infant babe rewards a tender mother’s care,—the reprieve which is borne to the doomed one at the instant that he is ascend- ing the steps of the scaffuld,—the ery of victory in the ear of a general who knows that a nation’s welfare depends upon the issue of the fizht,—the shout of “a-sail! a sail!” echoing through a ship that is sinking or on fire,—Oh! none of these can possibly be fraught with an ecstacy so elysian and so profound as the firss kiss enjoyed by a pure and holy love! For nearly a minute did Virginia, lost in the experience of that pleasure so new and so full of rapture, abandon herself to the fervid embrace of the young nobleman who adored her with so fond a worship: then, gentiy disengaging herself from his arms, she sank upon a seat covered with confusion and with blushes. Charles placed himselt by her side—took her hand—and whispered in her ear, “ Virginia—sweet Virginia—when wilt thou bestow this fair hand on me?” The question suddenly aroused in the mind of the young girl all the reflections that had occupied her since she parted with Charles on the previous day until she met him again on the present occasion, —~ reflections which had been to some extent of an em- barrassing nature. For she had no means to pro- cure the fitting raiment of a bride;—and her natural delicacy revolted from the thought of ac- cepting any pecuniary assistance from him until the nuptial benediction should have made her the sharer of his fortunes. Oa the other hand the painful conviction had been forced upon her mind that if she were even fortunate enuugh to continue ia full employment, and if she were to work to the utmost tension of her energies, living all the while upon the barest necessaries to keep body and soul to- gether, she would not be able to save enough to purchase the simplest bridal apparel under a period of many, many weary months—even if she should succeed in doing so at all! These were the embarrassing reflections which now rose up in her mind, and which she had lost sight of since the moment she entered the park to meet her lover. The sudden cloud that rose upon her beauteous features and the pensive air which seized upon her the instant the young nobleman put the question that thus recalled these wildering thoughts to her memory, escaped not his notice: and as the eye of a lover is keen in observing all - 9)(0)() S (SO)