The Two Elsies Read online

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  The Two Elsies

  A Sequel to Elsie at Nantucket

  BOOK 10

  By Martha Finley

  1868

  LIST OF THE ELSIE BOOKS AND OTHER POPULAR BOOKS BY MARTHA FINLEY

  ELSIE DINSMORE.ELSIE'S HOLIDAYS AT ROSELANDS.ELSIE'S GIRLHOOD.ELSIE'S WOMANHOOD.ELSIE'S MOTHERHOOD.ELSIE'S CHILDREN.ELSIE'S WIDOWHOOD.GRANDMOTHER ELSIE.ELSIE'S NEW RELATIONS.ELSIE AT NANTUCKET.THE TWO ELSIES.ELSIE'S KITH AND KIN.ELSIE'S FRIENDS AT WOODBURN.CHRISTMAS WITH GRANDMA ELSIE.ELSIE AND THE RAYMONDS.ELSIE YACHTING WITH THE RAYMONDS.ELSIE'S VACATION.ELSIE AT VIAMEDE.ELSIE AT ION.ELSIE AT THE WORLD'S FAIR.ELSIE'S JOURNEY ON INLAND WATERS.ELSIE AT HOME.ELSIE ON THE HUDSON.ELSIE IN THE SOUTH.

  MILDRED KEITH.MILDRED AT ROSELANDS.MILDRED'S MARRIED LIFE.MILDRED AND ELSIE.MILDRED AT HOME.MILDRED'S BOYS AND GIRLS.MILDRED'S NEW DAUGHTER.

  CASELLA.SIGNING THE CONTRACT AND WHAT IT COST.THE TRAGEDY OF WILD RIVER VALLEY.OUR FRED.AN OLD-FASHIONED BOY.WANTED, A PEDIGREE.THE THORN IN THE NEST.

  THE TWO ELSIES.

  CHAPTER I.

  "Art is long, and Time is fleeting, And our hearts, though stout and brave,Still, like muffled drums, are beating Funeral marches to the grave."

  LONGFELLOW.

  It was a lovely summer morning, glorious with sunlight, sweet with thefragrance of flowers and the songs of birds.

  The view from the bay-window of the library of Crag Cottage, theresidence of Mr. George Leland, architect and artist, was very fine,embracing, as it did, some of the most magnificent scenery on the banksof the Hudson.

  The house stood very high, and from that window one might look north andsouth over wooded mountain, hill and valley, or east upon the majesticriver and its farther shore.

  The nearer view was of well-kept, though not extensive, grounds; aflower-garden and lawn with a winding carriage-way leading up the hill bya gradual ascent.

  It was a pleasant place to sit even on a sunny summer morning, for a talltree partially shaded the window without greatly obstructing the view,and it was there the master of the house was usually to be found, at thistime of day, with Evelyn, his only child, close at his side.

  They were there now, seated at a table covered with books and papers, hebusied in drawing plans for a building, she equally so with her lessons.

  But presently, at the sound of a deep sigh from her father, she glancedhastily up at him.

  He had dropped his pencil and was leaning back against the cushions ofhis easy-chair, with a face so wan and weary that she started up inalarm, and springing to his side, exclaimed, "Dear papa, I am sure youare not well! Do stop working, and lie down on the sofa. And won't youlet me tell Patrick to go for the doctor when he has taken mamma toRiverside?"

  "Yes, Evelyn, I think you may," he answered in low feeble tones, and witha sad sort of smile, gently pressing the hand she had laid in his, as hespoke. "It will do no harm for me to see Dr. Taylor, even should it do nogood."

  "What is that? send for the doctor? Are you ill, Eric?" asked a lady whohad entered the room just in time to catch his last sentence.

  "I am feeling unusually languid, Laura," he replied; "yet not much moreso than I did yesterday. Perhaps it is only the heat."

  "The heat!" she echoed; "why, it is a delightful day! warm, to be sure,but not oppressively so."

  "Not to you or me, perhaps, mamma," remarked Evelyn, "but we are well andstrong, and poor papa is not."

  "A holiday would do you good, Eric," the lady said, addressing herhusband; "come, change your mind and go with me to Riverside."

  "My dear," he said, "I should like to go to gratify you, but really Ifeel quite unequal to the exertion."

  "You need make none," she said; "you need only to sit quietly under thetrees on the lawn; and I think you will find amusement in watching thecrowd, while the fresh air, change of scene, and rest from the work youwill not let alone when at home, will certainly be of great benefit toyou."

  He shook his head in dissent. "I should have to talk and to listen; inshort, to make myself agreeable. I have no right to inflict mycompanionship on Mrs. Ross's guests on any other condition; and all thatwould be a greater exertion than I feel fit to undertake."

  "There _was_ a time when you were willing to make a little exertion formy sake," she returned in a piqued tone, "but wives are not to expect theattention freely bestowed upon a sweetheart, and so I must go alone asusual."

  "Mamma, what a shame for you to talk so to poor papa!" exclaimed Evelynindignantly. "You know--"

  "Hush, hush, Evelyn," said her father in a gently reproving tone, "berespectful to your mother, always."

  "Yes, sir," returned the child, with a loving look into his eyes. Then toher mother, "I beg your pardon, mamma, I did not mean to be rude; but--"with a scrutinizing glance at the richly attired figure before her.

  "Well?" laughingly interrogated the lady, as the child paused with aslight look of embarrassment and a heightened color.

  "Nothing, mamma, only--"

  "Something your correct taste disapproves about my attire?"

  "Yes, mamma; your dress is very handsome; quite rich and gay enough for aball-room; but--wouldn't a simpler, plainer one be more suitable for alawn-party?"

  "Well, really!" was the laughing rejoinder; "the idea of such a chit asyou venturing to criticise her mother's taste in dress! You spoil her,Eric; making so much of her and allowing her to have and express anopinion on any and every subject. There, I must be going; I see Patrickis at the door with the carriage. So good-by, and don't overworkyourself, Eric."

  "Mamma," Evelyn called after her, "Patrick is to go for the doctor, youknow."

  "Oh, yes; I'll tell him," Mrs. Leland answered, and the next moment thecarriage was whirling away down the drive.

  "There, she is gone!" said Evelyn. "Oh, papa, when I am a woman I shallnot marry unless I feel that I can always be content to stay with myhusband when he is not able to go with me."

  "But business may prevent him very often when sickness does not, and youmay grow very weary of staying always at home," he said, softly smoothingher hair, then bending to touch his lips to her smooth white forehead andsmile into the large dark eyes lifted to his as she knelt at the side ofhis chair.

  "No, no! not if he is as dear and kind as you are, papa. But no other manis, I think."

  "Quite a mistake, my pet; the world surely contains many better men thanyour father."

  "I should be exceedingly angry if any one else said that to me," shereturned indignantly.

  At that he drew her closer to him with a little pleased laugh. "We loveeach other very dearly, do we not, my darling?" he said; then sigheddeeply.

  "Indeed we do!" she answered, gazing anxiously up into his face. "Howpale and ill you look, papa! do lie down and rest."

  "Presently, when my work has progressed a little farther," he said,putting her gently aside, straightening himself and resuming his pencil.

  Evelyn was beginning a remonstrance, but at the sound of wheels upon thedrive sprang to the window, exclaiming, "Can mamma be coming backalready? She has perhaps changed her mind about attending the party. No,"as she caught sight of the vehicle, "it is the doctor. I'm glad."

  "Go, receive him at the door, daughter, and show him in here," said Mr.Leland; "and as I desire a private interview, you may amuse yourself inthe grounds while he stays."

  "Yes, sir; and oh, I do hope he will be able to give you something thatwill make you well directly," the little girl replied, bestowing a lookof loving anxiety upon her father, then hastening to obey his order.
r />   She received the physician at the front entrance, with all the gracefulcourtesy of a refined lady, ushered him into the library, then putting ona garden-hat, wandered out into the grounds.

  It was the month of roses, and they were to be found here in greatvariety and profusion; they bordered the walks, climbed the walls, andwreathed themselves about the pillars of the porches, filling the airwith their rich fragrance, mingled with that of the honeysuckle, lilac,heliotrope, and mignonette.

  Evelyn sauntered through the garden, pausing here and there to gather oneand another of the most beautiful and sweet-scented of its floraltreasures, arranging them in a bouquet for her father; then crossed thelawn to an artistic little summer-house built on the edge of the cliff,where it almost overhung the river.

  The view from this spot was magnificent, extending for many miles andembracing some of the grandest scenery of that region; and to Evelyn andher father, both dear lovers of the beauties of nature, it was a favoriteresort.

  Seating herself upon a rustic bench, she passed some moments in absorbed,delighted contemplation of the scene so familiar, yet ever new.

  The thought that anything worse than a passing illness threatened herbeloved father had not yet entered her youthful mind, and she wasserenely happy as she sat there waiting for the departure of thephysician as the signal that she might return to him.

  From her earliest recollection he had been father and mother both to her,Mrs. Leland's time being too fully occupied with her onerous duties tosociety to allow her to bestow much attention upon her child.

  Had the husband and father taken a like view of his responsibilities,Evelyn would have been left almost entirely to the care of the servants;but to him the formation of his child's character, the cultivation of hermind and heart, was a duty that outweighed all social claims, and towhich even business might to some extent be sacrificed.

  Nor was it a duty only, but also a delight. And so well was she rewardinghis efforts that he found her, at thirteen, more companionable than hermother had ever been; taking an enthusiastic interest in his professionalwork, and sharing his aspirations after perfection therein andrecognition as one of the foremost architects of his day.

  In her esteem he had already distanced all competitors; no one else couldplan a house so well for comfort, convenience, and beauty combined. Alsohe was to her the very embodiment of all that was unselfish, good, andnoble.

  She thought, and truly, that her mother failed to appreciate him.

  While Evelyn waited the doctor subjected his patient to a thoroughexamination, not only feeling his pulse, listening to the beatingof his heart, sounding his lungs and looking at his tongue, butcross-questioning him closely, his face growing graver with every replyelicited.

  "You have told me everything?" he inquired at length.

  "Yes, I think so; every symptom that I can recall at this moment. Andnow, doctor, I want you to be equally frank with me; tell me exactly whatyou think of my case."

  "I cannot hold out any hope of recovery," was the unwilling reply; "butthere is little, if any, immediate danger."

  "You but confirm my own impressions," said Mr. Leland quietly. "But Iwould have a clearer understanding of your verdict; do you mean that Imay have years of invalidism before me, or that a few weeks or monthsmust bring the end?"

  "You really desire to know the worst, my dear sir?" returned thephysician inquiringly, a look of deep sympathy on his kindly face.

  "I do," was the calmly resolute reply; "let me know the worst and face itin the strength God gives to His children according to their day."

  "Then, my dear sir, I will be plain with you; but bear in mind that I layno claim to infallibility; I may err in judgment, but I see no reason tohope that your life on earth will be prolonged for more than three monthsat the farthest, and I much fear the end may come in less than half thattime."

  The doctor could not at first judge of the full effect of his words, forMr. Leland sat with his face half hidden in his hand.

  For a moment a deathlike stillness reigned in the room; then Dr. Taylorsaid, low and feelingly, "You are a Christian, my dear sir, and for youdying will be but going home to a brighter and better world."

  "Yes," was the reply, "and your tidings would have no terrors for mewere it not--for those who must be left behind; but oh, the partingfrom helpless dear ones for whom my care and protection seems sonecessary!--that is the bitterness of death!"

  "'Leave thy fatherless children, I will preserve them alive; and let thywidows trust in Me,'" quoted the physician in sympathizing tones.

  "Yes, yes; thank God for that precious promise!" exclaimed Mr. Leland."And you, doctor, for reminding me of it," he added, stretching out ahand to his kind comforter.

  It was taken in a warm grasp and held for a moment while other of themany sweet and comforting promises of God's Word were recalled to themind of the sufferer, to his great consolation.

  "I would it were in my power," the doctor said at length, "to hold out toyou any hope of restoration to health. I cannot do that, but will writeyou a prescription which will, I trust, by God's blessing, give relief tosome of the most distressing symptoms."

  "Even partial relief will be most welcome," sighed the patient. "Ah, if Ican but find strength for promised work!"

  "Better let it alone and take what rest and ease you can," was theparting advice of the physician.

  "What a long, long visit the doctor is paying!" Evelyn had said toherself several times before her eyes were gladdened with the sight ofhis carriage rolling away down the drive.

  "At last!" she cried, springing to her feet and hurrying back to thehouse.

  She found her father lying on a sofa, his face very pale, his eyesclosed.

  She drew near on tiptoe, thinking he might have fallen asleep; but as shereached the side of his couch he opened his eyes, and taking her handdrew her down to his breast.

  "My darling, my beloved child!" he whispered, putting his arm about herand holding her fast with tender caresses.

  "What did the doctor say, papa?" she asked, nestling closer to him andlaying her cheek to his. "Does he hope to make you well very soon?"

  For a moment there was no reply, and Evelyn, startled at her father'ssilence, suddenly raised her head and gazed earnestly, inquiringly intohis face.

  He smiled, a little sadly, and gently smoothing her hair back from herforehead, "I was thinking," he said, "of a text in the psalm we readtogether this morning--'My soul, wait thou only upon God, for myexpectation is from him.' He and He only can make me well, daughter."

  "Then why send for the doctor, papa?"

  "Because God works by means; it pleases Him so to do, though it would beno more difficult to Him to accomplish His designs without. He hasprovided remedies, and I think it is His will that we should use them, atthe same time asking His blessing upon them, feeling that without it theywill be of no avail."

  "Then you are to have some medicine, I suppose?"

  "Yes; and to be out a good deal in the open air."

  "Oh, then, won't you come out to the summer-house and lie in the hammockthere, with me close beside you to wait on you?"

  "Presently; but I must write a letter first," he said, putting her gentlyaside and resuming his seat at the writing-table.

  "Can't it wait till to-morrow, papa?" she asked. "You may feel strongerby then."

  "It is to be only a few lines, to your Uncle Lester; and I want it to goby this afternoon's mail, that, if possible, it may reach Fairview beforethey have arranged their plans for the summer. I want them to come hereto spend the hot months. Should you like it?"

  "Yes, indeed, papa! I've always been fond of Uncle Lester, as you know,and I quite fell in love with Aunt Elsie and the baby when he broughtthem to see us on their return from Europe."