"Oh, my boy, my darling!" said Jane, tenderly; holding the dear head close."Yes; I, all the time; all the time near him, in his loss and pain.Could I have stopped away? But, oh, Garth! What it is, at last to hold you, and touch you, and feel you here!...Yes, it is I.
Oh, my beloved, are you not quite sure? Who else could hold you thus?...Take care, my darling! Come over to the couch, just here; and sit beside me."Garth rose, and raised her, without loosing her; and she guided herself and him to a safer seat close by.But there again he flung himself upon his knees, and held her; his arms around her waist; his face hidden in the shelter of her bosom.
"Ah,--darling, darling," said Jane softly, and her hands stole up behind his head, with a touch of unspeakable protective tenderness;"it has been so sweet to wait upon my boy; and help him in his darkness; and shield him from unnecessary pain; and be always there, to meet his every need.But I could not come myself--until he knew;and understood; and had forgiven--no, not 'forgiven'; understood, and yet still LOVED.For he does now understand? And he does forgive?...Oh, Garth!...Oh--hush, my darling!...You frighten me!...No, I will never leave you; never, never!...
Oh, can't you understand, my beloved?...Then I must tell you more plainly.Darling,--do be still, and listen.Just for a few days we must be as we have been; only my boy will know it is I who am near him.Aunt 'Gina is coming this evening.She will be here in half an hour.Then, as soon as possible we will get a special license; and we will be married, Garth; and then--" Jane paused; and the man who knelt beside her, held his breath to listen--"and then,"continued Jane in a low tender voice, which gathered in depth of sacred mystery, yet did not falter--"then it will be my highest joy, to be always with my husband, night and day."A long sweet silence.The tempest of emotion in her arms was hushed to rest.The eternal voice of perfect love had whispered: "Peace, be still"; and there was a great calm.
At last Garth lifted his head."Always? Always together?" he said.
"Ah, that will be 'perpetual light!'"
* * * * * * *When Simpson, pale with importance, flung open the library door, and announced: "Her Grace, the Duchess of Meldrum," Jane was seated at the piano, playing soft dreamy chords; and a slim young man, in evening dress, advanced with eager hospitality to greet his guest.
The duchess either did not see, or chose to ignore the guiding cord.
She took his outstretched hand warmly in both her own.
"Goodness gracious, my dear Dal! How you surprise me! I expected to find you blind! And here you are striding about, just your old handsome self!""Dear Duchess," said Garth, and stooping, kissed the kind old hands still holding his; "I cannot see you, I am sorry to say; but I don't feel very blind to-night.My darkness has been lightened by a joy beyond expression.""Oh ho! So that's the way the land lies! Now which are you going to marry? The nurse,--who, I gather, is a most respectable young person, and highly recommended; or that hussy, Jane; who, without the smallest compunction, orders her poor aunt from one end of the kingdom to the other, to suit her own convenience?"Jane came over from the piano, and slipped her hand through her lover's arm.
"Dear Aunt 'Gina," she said; "you know you loved coming; because you enjoy a mystery, and like being a dear old 'deus ex machina,' at the right moment.And he is going to marry them both; because they both love him far too dearly ever to leave him again; and he seems to think he cannot do without either."The duchess looked at the two radiant faces; one sightless; the other, with glad proud eyes for both; and her own filled with tears.
"Hoity-toity!" she said."Are we in Salt Lake City?, Well, we always thought one girl would not do for Dal; he would need the combined perfections of several; and he appears to think he has found them.
God bless you both, you absurdly happy people; and I will bless you, too; but not until I have dined.Now, ring for that very nervous person, with side-whiskers; and tell him I want my maid, and my room, and I want to know where they have put my toucan.I had to bring him, Jane.He is so LOVING, dear bird! I knew you would think him in the way; but I really could not leave him behind."
