Mr. Claghorn's Daughter Part 24

"And these," he said, pointing to the trees, the crags, the sea; "are these G.o.d's word?"

"They are His creation; in that sense His word."

"And you and I, and these bones, crumbling a few feet below--these are all His creation, and so His word--and we know not what they say."

She looked at him surprised. She had often sorrowed that these things did not engage his attention; she was surprised to note his earnestness.

"Paula," he said, "do you know what you were made for?"

"Made for?"

"Leonard would tell you, 'to glorify G.o.d, and enjoy Him forever,'" he said, "but he would also inform you that the chance of the purpose of your creation coming to pa.s.s is slim."

"You know I do not subscribe to Leonard's creed," she replied a little severely.

"The thirty-nine articles, though less explicit, imply that which Leonard's creed has the boldness to state. Yes, Paula, that is the great and glorious Hope offered by the Church--d.a.m.nation for the great majority."

"Mark, I do not think I ought to discuss these questions."

"You mean with a scoffer," he said a little bitterly.

"I hope you are not a scoffer. I cannot judge."

"And you decline to find out. Suppose I tell you in all honesty that I want to know the reasons for the faith that is in you. That I want to know them, so that I may try honestly to adopt them, if I find it possible--I don't say easy, Paula, I say possible. Suppose I a.s.sure you of this, as I do, will you aid me to be what you think I ought to be?"

"Mark," she answered, "I am not competent. Such a one as you should not come to such as I."

"Surely you have a reason for your belief! Is it not possible to put it into words?"

"Oh, Mark!" She turned and looked upon him; her eyes were br.i.m.m.i.n.g with tears; she placed her hand upon his arm. "I can help you; I will help you. I can direct you to one who can solve your doubts, who can make the truth so plain that you must see----"

"And this One is?' he asked reverently.

"Father Cameril."

He burst into a loud laugh which shocked and grieved her. She left him and went toward the house; he remained gazing at the tomb.

And there, if he had really contemplated seeking Paula's love, he buried the intention with Old Eliphalet. "If your eternal welfare is to your wife a matter to be handed over to her priest, your temporal felicity will hardly be of moment to her," he thought, as he looked at the smoke of his cigar hanging blue in the summer air.

CHAPTER XXIII.

A PARSON TREADS THE PRIMROSE PATH IN PARIS.

"Bel homme!" exclaimed the Marquise de Fleury admiringly.

"_Belle femme!_" echoed the hussar sadly.

"Be everything that is charming, Adolphe, I conjure you. So much depends upon Natalie's disposition."

From which brief conversation, which took place as the speakers left the hotel where the Leonard Claghorns were established, it may be correctly inferred that a friendly reception had been accorded the newly married pair by the French relatives of the bride. The n.o.ble lady, doubtless, felt all the affection for her former ward that she had, during the visit, so eloquently expressed, so that inclination prescribed the same course that policy would have indicated. The Marquise was still the custodian of property belonging to Natalie, and settlement of accounts could be much better adjusted in a spirit of indulgent friends.h.i.+p than in the cold and calculating spirit of business; and though Natalie and her dowry were gone forever, in that distant land whence she had returned with a husband, there were golden maids languis.h.i.+ng for Marquises. "These Yankees," she observed to her son, "they sell their souls for money--the men; the women sell their bodies, and such soul as goes with them, for t.i.tles. Are you not a Marquis, of the _ancien regime_? It behooves us, my child, to be gracious to this wedded priest; he may know of a _partie_."

"I am so, mama. _Du reste_, he is _beau garon_, and seems amiable and amusing."

"Cultivate him, my infant; a voyage to America may be your destiny. It is a rich family--fabulous. There may be maids in plenty among these Claghorns."

The two young men, except for the pacific disposition of their womankind, might have been inclined to regard one another askance. For, in the person of the possessor of Natalie and her dowry the brave hussar saw one who however innocently, was still the ravisher of his rights; while in this being, in all the glory of fur and feather, sabretache and jangling sword, boots and b.u.t.tons, braid and golden stripes, with a pervading tone of red and blue, Leonard beheld a startling and, at first, unpleasing creation. But the lieutenant, admonished by his mama, and sensible of the interests at stake, and genial by nature, thawed almost immediately, and the boulevardier and the theologian were friends.

To the young Frenchman a Protestant theologian was a philosopher, rather than a priest under vows, hence a person of liberal views and probably of lax conduct. As toward a newly married man, and warned incessantly by the Marquise, he recognized that etiquette required that from him no invitation to dissipation should emanate, but that his att.i.tude ought to be that of willingness to pilot the stranger whithersoever he might wish to go; occasionally pointing out that paths of pleasantness were open to such as might choose to wander in them. And though Leonard displayed no undue disposition to such wanderings, an intimacy resulted which was not in fact, though seemingly, incongruous.

"What is he like, this beautiful heretic?" asked the Marquise.

"Like a Greek G.o.d, as you see, mama."

"But otherwise; he is a priest, you know?"

"And, like other priests, with an eye for a pretty woman."

"But discreet, Adolphe? I hope he is discreet."

"As St. Anthony! Natalie may be easy."

"Be you equally discreet, my child. She has been most generous; and, remember, Adolphe----"

"Yes, mama. What am I to remember?"

"That when a woman marries a man for his beauty, it is not love; it is infatuation. Do not permit this Leonarr to go astray; he has proclivities."

The little hussar laughed. "You are sharp-eyed, mamma."

"Had you watched him before the painting of Eve--but enough. Do nothing to cause disquiet to Natalie."

The little man, thus admonished, promised to carefully observe her wishes; the more readily as he was aware how important the friends.h.i.+p of Natalie was to his mama (in view of the pending adjustment of accounts).

The more he studied Leonard, the more amusing he found him. To "do"

Paris (not, indeed, to the extent of the capacity of that capital) in company with a priest, was, in itself, a piquant experience. "It is like demonstrating to your director how easy it is to sin," he declared; "and _ce bon Leonarr_, he imposes no penance. _Tiens!_ These others, these Protestants, they have it easy."

"He does not essay to pervert," observed the Marquise in some alarm.

"Be not uneasy. Would I be of a religion whose priests marry? Think of the wife of my confessor knowing all my peccadillos!"

"Forgive me. My anxiety was but momentary----"

"Meanwhile, let me help this _pauvre garon_, whose eyes have, since infancy, been bandaged, to see a little bit of the world. It is delightful to note his delight."

"But with discretion, Adolphe."