The Professor | Page 7

now further obvious to me that
she had a good complexion, and features sufficiently marked but
agreeable; her hair was red --quite red. She and Edward talked much,
always in a vein of playful contention; she was vexed, or pretended to
be vexed, that he had that day driven a vicious horse in the gig, and he
made light of her fears. Sometimes she appealed to me.
"'Now, Mr. William, isn't it absurd in Edward to talk so? He says he
will drive Jack, and no other horse, and the brute has thrown him twice
already.
"She spoke with a kind of lisp, not disagreeable, but childish. I soon
saw also that there was more than girlish--a somewhat infantine
expression in her by no means small features; this lisp and expression
were, I have no doubt, a charm in Edward's eyes, and would be so to
those: of most men, but they were not to mine. I sought her eye,
desirous to read there the intelligence which I could not discern in her
face or hear in her conversation; it was merry, rather small; by turns I
saw vivacity, vanity, coquetry, look out through its irid, but I watched
in vain for a glimpse of soul. I am no Oriental; white necks, carmine
lips and cheeks, clusters of bright curls, do not suffice for me without
that Promethean spark which will live after the roses and lilies are
faded, the burnished hair grown grey. In sunshine, in prosperity, the
flowers are very well; but how many wet days are there in
life--November seasons of disaster, when a man's hearth and home
would be cold indeed, without the clear, cheering gleam of intellect.
"Having perused the fair page of Mrs. Crimsworth's face, a deep,
involuntary sigh announced my disappointment; she took it as a
homage to her beauty, and Edward, who was evidently proud of his
rich and handsome young wife, threw on me a glance--half ridicule,
half ire.
"I turned from them both, and gazing wearily round the room, I saw

two pictures set in the oak panelling--one on each side the mantel-piece.
Ceasing to take part in the bantering conversation that flowed on
between Mr. and Mrs. Crimsworth, I bent my thoughts to the
examination of these pictures. They were portraits--a lady and a
gentleman, both costumed in the fashion of twenty years ago. The
gentleman was in the shade. I could not see him well. The lady had the
benefit of a full beam from the softly shaded lamp. I presently
recognised her; I had seen this picture before in childhood; it was my
mother; that and the companion picture being the only heir-looms
saved out of the sale of my father's property.
"The face, I remembered, had pleased me as a boy, but then I did not
understand it; now I knew how rare that class of face is in the world,
and I appreciated keenly its thoughtful, yet gentle expression. The
serious grey eye possessed for me a strong charm, as did certain lines in
the features indicative of most true and tender feeling. I was sorry it
was only a picture.
"I soon left Mr. and Mrs. Crimsworth to themselves; a servant
conducted me to my bed-room; in closing my chamber-door, I shut out
all intruders--you, Charles, as well as the rest.
"Good-bye for the present, "WILLIAM CRIMSWORTH."
To this letter I never got an answer; before my old friend received it, he
had accepted a Government appointment in one of the colonies, and
was already on his way to the scene of his official labours. What has
become of him since, I know not.
The leisure time I have at command, and which I intended to employ
for his private benefit, I shall now dedicate to that of the public at large.
My narrative is not exciting, and above all, not marvellous; but it may
interest some individuals, who, having toiled in the same vocation as
myself, will find in my experience frequent reflections of their own.
The above letter will serve as an introduction. I now proceed.
CHAPTER II.

A FINE October morning succeeded to the foggy evening that had
witnessed my first introduction to Crimsworth Hall. I was early up and
walking in the large park-like meadow surrounding the house. The
autumn sun, rising over the ----shire hills, disclosed a pleasant country;
woods brown and mellow varied the fields from which the harvest had
been lately carried; a river, gliding between the woods, caught on its
surface the somewhat cold gleam of the October sun and sky; at
frequent intervals along the banks of the river, tall, cylindrical
chimneys, almost like slender round towers, indicated the factories
which the trees half concealed; here and there mansions, similar to
Crimsworth Hall, occupied agreeable sites on