Miriam Monfort eBook

Catherine Anne Warfield
This eBook from the Gutenberg Project consists of approximately 583 pages of information about Miriam Monfort.

Miriam Monfort eBook

Catherine Anne Warfield
This eBook from the Gutenberg Project consists of approximately 583 pages of information about Miriam Monfort.

This was Claude’s farewell visit—­a very unpleasant necessity evidently on his part.  I was unconstrained in the cordiality with which I received both his father and himself—­for it was heart-felt on this occasion.  Old feelings came back to me so vividly that night, and my own dear father seemed so visibly recalled by the presence once more of our unbroken circle, that I lost sight, for a season, of my wrongs and sufferings in the memory of the past, and broke temporarily through the cloud that oppressed me and dimmed my existence.

I saw Mr. Bainrothe gazing at me several times, in the course of his visit, with an expression of interest and surprise.

He had expected very different manifestations, no doubt, and he told Evelyn afterward that “no woman of thirty could have carried off matters with a higher hand than did that chit of sixteen, Miriam Monfort.”

“All that talk of yours, Miriam, about ‘Hamlet,’ ‘Elsinore,’ ‘Wittenberg,’ and the ‘fiery Dane,’ probably imposed on those two unsophisticated men; but I saw through the whole proceeding; you were afraid of yourself, my dear, that was evident, and ashamed, as you ought to have been, of your capricious conduct to poor Claude, who shows, however, as uncompromising a spirit as your own, I perceive.  What was the matter, Miriam?  I can get nothing out of him, and I have waited, until my patience is exhausted, for a voluntary communication from you.”

“Why have you not asked me before, Evelyn?” I questioned, calmly, in reply.  “You have shown more than your usual forbearance, on this occasion.”

“My dear child, ‘Least said is soonest mended,’ is proverbial in quarrels of all kinds.  I have no wish to pry or play mischief-maker, and, if Mr. Basil Bainrothe with his diplomatic talents could do nothing to mend the difficulty, I had no right to suppose that I could succeed better, with my very direct, straightforward disposition.”

“You were right, Evelyn, certainly, in your conclusion, and, if you please, will never ask for any explanation of the breach between Claude and myself.  It is irrevocable; but I am sorry to see him so resentful.  He cannot conceal his displeasure against me, and yet I have never offended him willingly, I am sure.”

“Caprice and coquetry are not so lightly estimated by every one, as you hold them, nor yet counted causes for gratitude by most men, let me assure you, Miriam.”

“Who has accused me of these?” I questioned, with a flashing eye, a flushing cheek.

“Does your own heart acquit you?” she asked, evasively.

“It does,” I answered, solemnly, “as does the God who reads all hearts, and to whom I am now alone answerable for any motives of mine.”

“Since when have you grown so independent, Miriam?” she asked, ironically.

“Since the death of my father,” I replied.

“Ah! you do not accredit delegated allegiance it seems,” turning her face aside.

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Project Gutenberg
Miriam Monfort from Project Gutenberg. Public domain.