A KNIGHT OF THE NINETEENTH CENTURY by Edward Payson Roe (red seas under red skies .TXT) 📕

Inexorable Requirement Of System, Regularity, And Order, And Dwelt Upon

The Fact That All In his Employ Conformed to This Demand, And That It

Was The Business-Like And Manly Thing To Do.

"This Is Your First Venture Out Into The World, I Understand," She Said,

Rising To Intimate That Their Interview Was Over, "And I Greatly Wish

That It May Lead Toward A Useful And Successful Career. I Have Spoken

Plainly Because I Wished you To Realize Just What You Have Undertaken,

And Thus Meet With No Unpleasant Surprises Or Unexpected experiences.

When One Enters Upon A Course With His Eyes Open, He In a Certain Sense

Pledges Himself To Do The Best He Can In that Line Of Duty, And Our

Acquaintance, Though So Brief, Has Convinced me That You _Can_ Do Very

Well Indeed."

"I Was Under The Impression," Said The Young Man, Coloring Deeply, "That

My Mother'S Letter Had Led you To Suppose--To Expect Just The Contrary."

"Mr. Haldane," Said Mrs. Arnot, Giving Him Her Hand With Graceful Tact,

"I Shall Form My Opinion Of You Solely On The Ground Of Your Own Action,

And I Wish You To Think Of Me As A Friend Who Takes A Genuine Interest

In Your Success. Good-Night."

He Went To His Room In quite A Heroic And Virtuous Mood.

"She Does Not Treat Me A Bit Like A 'Bad Boy,' As I Supposed she Would,"

He Thought; "But Appears To Take It For Granted that I Shall Be A

Gentleman In this Her House, And A Sensible Fellow In her Husband'S

Office. Blow Me If I Disappoint Her!"

Nor Did He For Several Weeks. Even Mr. Arnot Was Compelled to Admit That

It Did "Work Rather Better Than He Expected," And That He "Supposed the

Young Fellow Did As Well As He Could."

As The Novelty Of Haldane'S New Relations Wore Off, However, And As His

Duties Became So Familiar As To Be Chiefly A Matter Of Routine, The

Grave Defects Of His Character And Training Began To Show Themselves.

The Restraint Of The Counting-Room Grew Irksome. Associations Were

Formed in the City Which Tended toward His Old Evil Habits. As A Piece

Of Mr. Arnot'S Machinery He Did Not Move With The Increasing Precision

That His Employer Required and Expected on His Becoming Better

Acquainted with His Duties.

Mrs. Arnot Had Expected this, And Knew That Her Husband Would Tolerate

Carelessness And Friction Only Up To A Certain Point. She Had Gained

More Influence Over The Young Man Than Any One Else Had Ever Possessed,

And By Means Of It Kept Him Within Bounds For Some Time; But She Saw

From Her Husband'S Manner That Things Were Fast Approaching a Crisis.

One Evening She Kindly, But Frankly, Told Him Of The Danger In which He

Stood Of An Abrupt, Stern Dismissal.

He Was More Angry Than Alarmed, And During The Following Day About

Concluded that He Would Save Himself Any Such Mortification By Leaving

Of His Own Accord. He Quite Persuaded himself That He Had A Soul Above

Plodding Business, And That, After Enjoying Himself At Home For A Time,

He Could Enter Upon Some Other Career, That Promised more Congeniality

And Renown.

In Order That His Employer Might Not Anticipate Him, He Performed his

Duties Very Accurately That Day, But Left The Office With The

Expectation Of Never Returning.

He Had Very Decided compunctions In thus Requiting Mrs. Arnot'S

Kindness, But Muttered recklessly:

"I'M Tired of This Humdrum, Treadmill Life, And Believe I'M Destined to

Better Things. If I Could Only Get A Good Position In the Army Or Navy,

The World Would Hear From Me. They Say Money Opens Every Door, And

Mother Must Open Some Good Wide Door For Me."

Regardless Now Of His Employer'S Good Or Bad Opinion, He Came Down Late

To Supper; But, Instead Of Observing With Careless Defiance The Frown

Which He Knew Lowered toward Him, His Eyes Were Drawn To A Fair Young

Face On The Opposite Side Of The Table.

Mrs. Arnot, In her Pleasant, Cordial Voice, Which Made The Simplest

Thing She Said Seem Real And Hearty, Rather Than Conventional,

Introduced him:

"Mr. Haldane, My Niece, Miss Laura Romeyn. Laura, No Doubt, Can Do Far

More Than An Old Lady To Make Your Evenings Pass Brightly."

After A Second Glance Of Scrutiny, Haldane Was So Ungratefully Forgetful

Of All Mrs. Arnot'S Kindness As To Be Inclined to Agree With Her Remark.

"Is She A Young Lady, Or Merely A School-Girl?" Was Haldane'S Query

Concerning The Stranger Sitting Opposite To Him; And He Addressed to Her

A Few Commonplace But Exploring Remarks. Regarding Himself As Well

Acquainted with Society In general, And Young Ladies In particular, He

Expected to Solve The Question At Once, And Was Perplexed that He Could

Not. He Had Flirted with Several Misses As Immature As Himself, And So

Thought That He Was Profoundly Versed in the Mysteries Of The Sex. "They

Naturally Lean Toward And Look Up To Men, And One Is A Fool, Or Else

Lacking In personal Appearance, Who Does Not Have His Own Way With

Them," Was His Opinion, Substantially.

Modesty Is A Grace Which Fine-Looking Young Men Of Large Wealth Are

Often Taught By Some Severe Experiences, If It Is Ever Learned. Haldane,

As Yet, Had Not Received such Wholesome Depletion. His Self-Approval And

Assurance, Moreover, Were Quite Natural, Since His Mother And Sisters

Had Seldom Lost An Opportunity Of Developing and Confirming These

Traits. The Yielding Of Women To His Will And Wishes Had Been One Of The

Most Uniform Experiences Of His Life, And He Had Come To Regard It As

The Natural Order Of Things. Without Formulating The Thought In plain

Words, He Nevertheless Regarded mrs. Arnot'S Kindness, By Which She

Sought To Gain A Helpful Influence Over Him, As Largely Due To Some

Peculiar Fascination Of His Own, Which Made Him A Favorite Wherever He

Chose To Be. Of Course, The Young Stranger On The Opposite Side Of The

Table Would Prove No Exception To The Rule, And All He Had To Do Was To

Satisfy Himself That She Was Sufficiently Pretty And Interesting To Make

It Worth While To Pay Her A Little Attention.

But For Some Reason She Did Not Seem Greatly Impressed by His

Commonplace And Rather Patronizing Remarks. Was It Pride Or Dignity On

Her Part, Or Was It Mere Girlish Shyness? It Must Be The Latter, For

There Was No Occasion For Pride And Dignity In her Manner Toward Him.

Then Came The Thought That Possibly Mrs. Arnot Had Not Told Her Who He

Was, And That She Looked upon Him As A Mere Clerk Of Low Degree. To

Remove From Her Mind Any Such Error, His Tones And Manner Became Still

More Self-Asserting and Patronizing.

"If She Has Any Sense At All," He Thought, "She Shall See That I Have

Peculiar Claims To Her Respect."

As He Proceeded in these Tactics, There Was A Growing Expression Of

Surprise And A Trace Of Indignation Upon The Young Girl'S Face. Mrs.

Arnot Watched the By-Play With An Amused expression. There Was Not Much

Cynicism In her Nature. She Believed that Experience Would Soon Prick

The Bubble Of His Vanity, And It Was Her Disposition To Smile Rather

Than To Sneer At Absurdity In others. Besides, She Was Just. She Never

Applied to A Young Man Of Twenty The Standard By Which She Would Measure

Those Of Her Own Age, And She Remembered haldane'S Antecedents. But Mr.

Arnot Went To His Library Muttering:

"The Ridiculous Fool!"

When Miss Romeyn Rose From The Table, Haldane Saw That She Was Certainly

Tall Enough To Be A Young Lady, For She Was Slightly Above Medium

Height. He Still Believed that She Was Very Young, However, For Her

Figure Was Slight And Girlish, And While Her Bearing Was Graceful It Had

Not That Assured and Pronounced character To Which He Had Been

Accustomed.

"She Evidently Has Not Seen Much Of Society. Well, Since She Is Not

Gawky, I Like Her Better Than If She Were Blase. Anything But Your Blase

Girls," He Observed to Himself, With A Consciousness That He Was An

Experienced man Of The World.

The Piano Stood Open In the Drawing-Room, And This Suggested music.

Haldane Had At His Tongue'S End The Names Of Half A Dozen Musicians

Whose Professional Titles Had Been Prominent In the Newspapers For A Few

Months Previous, And Whose Merits Had Formed a Part Of The Current

Chit-Chat Of The Day. Some He Had Heard, And Others He Had Not, But He

Could Talk Volubly Of All, And He Asked miss Romeyn For Her Opinion Of

One And Another In a Manner Which Implied that Of Course She Knew About

Them, And That Ignorance In regard To Such Persons Was Not To Be

Expected.

Her Face Colored with Annoyance, But She Said Quietly And A Trifle

Coldly That She Had Not Heard Them.

Mrs. Arnot Again Smiled as She Watched the Young People, But She Now

Came To Her Niece'S Rescue, Thinking also It Would Be Well To Disturb

Haldane'S Sense Of Superiority Somewhat. So She Said:

"Laura, Since We Cannot Hear This Evening The Celebrated artists That

Mr. Haldane Has Mentioned, We Must Content Ourselves With Simple Home

Music. Won'T You Play For Us That Last Selection Of Which You Wrote To

Me?"

"I Hardly Dare, Auntie, Since Mr. Haldane Is Such A Critical Judge, And

Has Heard So Much Music From Those Who Make It A Business To Be Perfect.

He Must Have Listened to The Selection You Name A Hundred times, For It

Is Familiar To Most Lovers Of Good Music."

Haldane Had Sudden Misgivings. Suppose He Had Not Heard It? This Would

Be Awkward, After His Assumed acquaintance With Such Matters.

"Even If Mr. Haldane Is Familiar With It," Mrs. Arnot Replied,

"Steibelt'S Storm Rondo Will Bear Repetition. Besides, His Criticism May

Be Helpful, Since He Can Tell You Wherein You Come Short Of The Skilled

Professionals."

Laura Caught The Twinkle In her Aunt'S Eye, And Went To The Piano.

The Young Man Saw At Once That He Had Been Caught In his Own Trap, For

The Music Was Utterly Unfamiliar. The Rondo Was No Wonderful Piece Of

Intricacy, Such As A Professional Might Choose. On The Contrary, It Was

Simple, And Quite Within The Capabilities Of A Young And Well-Taught

Girl. But It Was Full Of Rich Melody Which Even He, In his Ignorance,

Could Understand And Appreciate, And Yet, For Aught That He Knew It Was

Difficult In the Extreme.

At First He Had A Decided sense Of Humiliation, And A Consciousness That

It Was Deserved. He Had Been Talking Largely And Confidently Of An Art

Concerning Which He Knew Little, And In which He Began To Think That His

Listener Was Quite Well Versed.

But As The Thought Of The Composer Grew In power And Beauty He Forgot

Himself And His Dilemma In his Enjoyment. Two Senses Were Finding

Abundant Gratification At The Same Time, For It Was A Delight To Listen,

And It Was Even A Greater Pleasure To Look At The Performer.

She Gave Him A Quick, Shy Glance Of Observation, Fearing Somewhat That

She Might See Severe Judgment Or Else Cool Indifference In the

Expression Of His Face, And She Was Naturally Pleased and Encouraged

When She Saw, Instead, Undisguised admiration. His Previous Manner Had

Annoyed her, And She Determined to Show Him That His Superior Airs Were

Quite Uncalled for. Thus The Diffident Girl Was Led to Surpass Herself,

And Infuse So Much Spirit And Grace Into Her Playing as To Surprise Even

Her Aunt.

Haldane Was Soon Satisfied that She Was More Than Pretty--That She Was

Beautiful. Her Features, That Had Seemed too Thin And Colorless, Flushed

With Excitement, And Her Blue Eyes, Which He Had Thought Cold And

Expressionless, Kindled until They Became Lustrous. He Felt, In a Way

That He Could Not Define To Himself, That Her Face Was Full Of Power And

Mind, And That She Was Different From The Pretty Girls Who Had Hitherto

Been His Favorites.

As She Rose From The Piano He Was Mastered by One Of Those Impulses

Which Often Served him In the Place Of Something Better, And He Said

Impetuously:

"Miss Romeyn, I