"That's his way,"said Mrs.Burleigh in an aside to Jennie;"but would you believe it,the poor man has scarcely eaten or slept since you have been ill.If it had been any one else but you I'd been jealous."But Van Berg knew well that all this geniality was like the ripple and sparkle that play above deep waters.Occasionally he found Miss Burton's eyes directed towards himself in a way that caused him deep anxiety,and he had an uneasy consciousness that she was reading his innermost thoughts.While he exerted his utmost power to banish everything from his mind that was not loyal to her,he made no effort to avoid Ida or say little to her at the table and during the afternoon,but rather took pains to treat her with frank and cordial courtesy;however,in spite of himself,he could not keep out of his eyes at all times the reverence and gratitude with which his very soul overflowed;for he felt that he owed to Ida,who had saved his manhood,far more than to Jennie,who had saved his life only.
Ida also observed Miss Burton's slight and carefully disguised scrutiny with a fluttering heart."I suppose he does the best he can,"she thought;"but she'll surely find him out;there is no use of trying to hide anything from a woman who loves.Well,well,let her but remain discreetly blind for a little time,and with her powers of fascination she will win him heart and soul."Before Jennie slept that night her mind was clear as to her course.
"I think,"she murmured,"I understand them both now.His manner towards Miss Mayhew is certainly not that of a conventional lover;but as I have seen him look at her twice as if he could say his prayers to her,I think I'll venture on the only match-making I ever attempted.But what to do with Mr.Stanton,I don't know.
Poor man!he might as well love a shadow as me,and yet he seems so simple,honest,and real himself.He is disappointing me daily,and I have wronged him very much.I thought him a selfish man of the world,but he persists in offering me a chivalric,unselfish devotion,for which he asks nothing in return.Alas!I can give him nothing--nothing compared with what he gives.""I am going to make my last visit to Mr.Eltinge and the old garden,"said Ida to Van Berg as she passed him on the piazza the following morning.
He looked after her so wistfully,and sighed so deeply,that Jennie Burton,unseen herself,smiled as if she had discovered something that gave her deep satisfaction.
"Mr.Van Berg,"she said a few moments later "can you give me a little of your valuable time to-day?""All of it,"he said promptly.
"Thanks.I shall take,then,all I want.Come with me to yonder shady rustic seat,for I long to be out of doors again;and you have learned to hobble so gracefully and deftly that you can manage the journey,I'm sure."He accompanied her,wondering a little at her words and manner.
When they had reached the seclusion she sought her manner changed,and she became very grave and earnest,for she felt that it might be the crisis moment of two lives,and she was not one who could self-complacently and confidently seek to shape human destiny.
"Mr.Van Berg,"she said,"I shall not use any tedious circumlocution,for your time is precious this morning;more so than you think at this moment.Nor shall I try to entrap you by guile and feminine diplomacy;but you made me a very explicit pledge when I found you last Tuesday morning.""Yes,Jennie Burton,I am yours,body and soul.""But how about your heart,Mr.Van Berg?""My heart overflows with gratitude to you,"he said promptly,but with rising color;"and as I said when you rescued me,so now Ivow again,I dedicate my life to you.I do not ask you to forget the past all at once--I do not ask you to forget it at all--but only to let me aid you in taking the bitterness out of those memories that now are destroying as sweet and beneficent a life as God ever gave.I have suspected that you had some unselfish guile in that last promise you obtained from me,but I shall be loyal to the promise I intended to make,and which was in my mind;I shall be loyal to the promise I made you at first,to win you if I could,and I shall wait till I can.""What,then,will Ida Mayhew do?"she asked looking him full in the face.
He colored still more deeply,but meeting her searching gaze without blenching,he said,firmly and quietly:"She will always do what is right and noble,God bless her!"Miss Burton appeared a little perplexed and troubled for a moment,and then said,slowly:"I called you my friend last July,and when I speak in the mood I was in then I mean all that I say.Friends should be very frank when the occasion requires,or else they are but acquaintances.I am going to be very frank with you to-day,and if I err,charge it to friendship only.Ida Mayhew loves you,Mr.Van Berg;she has loved you almost from the first;and now that her life has become so noble and beautiful,I am greatly mistaken if you do not return her affection.If this be true,what are you offering me?""I HAVE given you,Miss Burton,my truth and loyalty for all coming time.You may decline them now--you probably will--but you cannot change my attitude towards you or alter my course.I shall not attempt to hide anything from you.Indeed,to do so would be vain,and I have never been intentionally insincere with you."Then he told her of the freak of fancy that had led him to follow Ida to the country in the first instance,and much that followed since,making no reference,however,to her dark purpose against herself.