TALES FOR FIFTEEN_ OR IMAGINATION AND HEART.(故事)

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TALES FOR FIFTEEN: OR IMAGINATION AND HEART.
1
TALES FOR FIFTEEN:
OR IMAGINATION AND
HEART.
BY JANE MORGAN.
TALES FOR FIFTEEN: OR IMAGINATION AND HEART.
2
Southern District of New-York ss. BE IT REMEMBERED, That on
the thirteenth day of June, in the forty-seventh year of the Independence of
the United States of America, Charles Wiley, of the said District, hath
deposited in this office the title of a Book, the right whereof he claims as
proprietor, in the words and figures following, to wit:
"Tales for Fifteen; or Imagination and Heart. By Jane Morgan."
In conformity with the Act of Congress of the United States entitled,
"An Act for the encouragement of Learning, by securing the copies of
Maps, Charts, and Books, to the authors and proprietors of such copies,
during the times herein mentioned." And also to an Act, entitled, "an Act,
supplementary to an Act, for the encouragement of Learning, by securing
the copies of Maps, Charts, and Books, to the authors and proprietors of
such copies, during the times herein mentioned, and extending the benefits
thereof to the arts of designing, engraving, and etching historical and other
prints." JAMES DILL, Clerk of the Southern District of New-York
TALES FOR FIFTEEN: OR IMAGINATION AND HEART.
3
PREFACE
WHEN the author of these little tales commenced them, it was her
intention to form a short series of such stories as, it was hoped, might not
be entirely without moral advantage; but unforeseen circumstances have
prevented their completion, and, unwilling to delay the publication any
longer, she commits them to the world in their present unfinished state,
without any flattering anticipations of their reception. They are intended
for the perusal of young women, at that tender age when the feelings of
their nature begin to act on them most insidiously, and when their minds
are least prepared by reason and experience to contend with their passions.
"Heart" was intended for a much longer tale, and is unavoidably
incomplete; but it is unnecessary to point out defects that even the juvenile
reader will soon detect. The author only hopes that if they do no good, her
tales will, at least, do no harm.
TALES FOR FIFTEEN: OR IMAGINATION AND HEART.
4
IMAGINATION.
I pray thee, gentle mortal, sing again: Mine ear is much enamoured of
thy note, So is mine eye enthralled to thy shape; And thy fair virtue's force
perforce doth move me, On the first view, to say, to swear, I love thee.
MIDSUMMER NIGHT'S DREAM
{Shakespeare, "A Midsummer Night's Dream" Act III, Scene 1, lines
137-141}
CHAPTER I
"DO--write to me often, my dear Anna!" said the weeping Julia
Warren, on parting, for the first time since their acquaintance, with the
young lady whom she had honoured with the highest place in her
affections. "Think how dreadfully solitary and miserable I shall be here,
without a single companion, or a soul to converse with, now you are to be
removed two hundred miles into the wilderness."
"Oh! trust me, my love, I shall not forget you now or ever," replied her
friend, embracing the other slightly, and, perhaps, rather hastily for so
tender an adieu; at the same time glancing her eye on the figure of a youth,
who stood in silent contemplation of the scene. "And doubt not but I shall
soon tire you with my correspondence, especially as I more than suspect it
will be subjected to the criticisms of Mr. Charles Weston." As she
concluded, the young lady curtisied to the youth in a manner that
contradicted, by its flattery, the forced irony of her remark.
"Never, my dear girl!" exclaimed Miss Warren with extreme fervour.
"The confidence of our friendship is sacred with me, and nothing, no,
nothing, could ever tempt me to violate such a trust. Charles is very kind
and very indulgent to all my whims, but he never could obtain such an
influence over me as to become the depositary of my secrets. Nothing but
a friend, like yourself, can do that, my dear Anna."
"Never! Miss Warren," said the youth with a lip that betrayed by its
tremulous motion the interest he took in her speech--"never includes a
TALES FOR FIFTEEN: OR IMAGINATION AND HEART.
5
long period of time. But," he added with a smile of good- humoured
pleasantry, "if admitted to such a distinction, I should not feel myself
competent to the task of commenting on so much innocence and purity, as
I know I should find in your correspondence."
"Yes," said Anna, with a little of the energy of her friend's manner,
"you may with truth say so, Mr. Weston. The imagination of my Julia is as
pure as-- as-----" but turning her eyes from the countenance of Julia to that
of the youth, rather suddenly, the animated pleasure she saw delineated in
his expressive, though plain features, drove the remainder of the speech
from her recollection.
"As her heart!" cried Charles Weston with emphasis.
"As her heart, Sir," repeated the young lady coldly.
The last adieus were hastily exchanged, and Anna Miller was handed
into her father's gig by Charles Weston in profound silence. Miss
Emmerson, the maiden aunt of Julia, withdrew from the door, where she
had been conversing with Mr. Miller, and the travellers departed. Julia
followed the vehicle with her eyes until it was hid by the trees and
shrubbery that covered the lawn, and then withdrew to her room to give
vent to a sorrow that had sensibly touched her affectionate heart, and in no
trifling degree haunted her lively imagination.
As Miss Emmerson by no means held the good qualities of the guest,
who had just left them, in so high an estimation as did her niece, she
proceeded quietly and with great composure in the exercise of her daily
duties; not in the least suspecting the real distress that, from a variety of
causes, this sudden separation had caused to her ward.
The only sister of this good lady had died in giving birth to a female
infant, and the fever of 1805 had, within a very few years of the death of
the mother, deprived the youthful orphan of her remaining parent. Her
father was a merchant, just commencing the foundations of what would, in
time, have been a large estate; and as both Miss Emmerson and her sister
were possessed of genteel independencies, and the aunt had long declared
her intention of remaining single, the fortune of Julia, if not brilliant, was
thought rather large than otherwise. Miss Emmerson had been educated
immediately after the war of the revolution, and at a time when the
TALES FOR FIFTEEN: OR IMAGINATION AND HEART.
6
intellect of the women of this country by no means received that attention
it is thought necessary to bestow on the minds of the future mothers of our
families at the present hour; and when, indeed, the country itself required
too much of the care of her rulers and patriots to admit of the
consideration of lesser objects. With the best of hearts and affections
devoted to the welfare of her niece, Miss Emmerson had early discovered
her own incompetency to the labour of fitting Julia for the world in which
she was to live, and shrunk with timid modesty from the arduous task of
preparing herself, by application and study, for this sacred duty. The
fashions of the day were rapidly running into the attainment of
accomplishments among the young of her own sex, and the piano forte
was already sending forth its sonorous harmony from one end of the
Union to the other, while the glittering usefulness of the tambour-frame
was discarded for the pallet and brush. The walls of our mansions were
beginning to groan with the sickly green of imaginary fields, that
caricatured the beauties of nature; and skies of sunny brightness, that
mocked the golden hues of even an American sun. The experience of Miss
Emmerson went no further than the simple evolutions of the country dance,
or the deliberate and dignified procession of the minuet. No wonder,
therefore, that her faculties were bewildered by the complex movements
of the cotillion: and, in short, as the good lady daily contemplated the
improvements of the female youth around her, she became each hour more
convinced of her own inability to control, or in any manner to superintend,
the education of her orphan niece. Julia was, consequently, entrusted to the
government of a select boarding-school; and, as even the morals of the day
were, in some degree, tinctured with the existing fashions, her mind as
well as her manners were absolutely submitted to the discretion of an
hireling. Notwithstanding this willing concession of power on the part of
Miss Emmerson, there was no deficiency in ability to judge between right
and wrong in her character; but the homely nature of her good sense,
unassisted by any confidence in her own powers, was unable to compete
with the dazzling display of accomplishments which met her in every
house where she visited; and if she sometimes thought that she could not
always discover much of the useful amid this excess of the agreeable, she
TALES FOR FIFTEEN: OR IMAGINATION AND HEART.
7
rather attributed the deficiency to her own ignorance than to any error in
the new system of instruction. From the age of six to that of sixteen, Julia
had no other communications with Miss Emmerson than those
endearments which neither could suppress, and a constant and assiduous
attention on the part of the aunt to the health and attire of her niece.
{fever of 1805 = New York City had suffered a major epidemic of
yellow fever in the summer of 1805; tambour-frame = a circular frame
used to hold material being embroidered}
Miss Emmerson had a brother residing in the city of New-York, who
was a man of eminence at the bar, and who, having been educated fifty
years ago, was, from that circumstance, just so much superior to his
successors of his own sex by twenty years, as his sisters were the losers
from the some cause. The family of Mr. Emmerson was large, and, besides
several sons, he had two daughters, one of whom remained still unmarried
in the house of her father. Katherine Emmerson was but eighteen months
the senior of Julia Warren; but her father had adopted a different course
from that which was ordinarily pursued with girls of her expectations. He
had married a woman of sense, and now reaped the richest blessing of
such a connexion in her ability to superintend the education of her
daughter. A mother's care was employed to correct errors that a mother's
tenderness could only discover; and in the place of general systems, and
comprehensive theories, was substituted the close and rigorous
watchfulness which adapted the remedy to the disease; which studied the
disposition; and which knew the failings or merits of the pupil, and could
best tell when to reward, and how to punish. The consequences were
easily to be seen in the manners and character of their daughter. Her
accomplishments, even where a master had been employed in their
attainment, were naturally displayed, and suited to her powers. Her
manners, instead of the artificial movements of prescribed rules, exhibited
the chaste and delicate modesty of refinement, mingled with good
principles--such as were not worn in order to be in character as a woman
and a lady, but were deeply seated, and formed part, not only of her habits,
but, if we may use the expression, of her nature also. Miss Emmerson had
good sense enough to perceive the value of such an acquaintance for her
TALES FOR FIFTEEN: OR IMAGINATION AND HEART.
8
ward; but, unfortunately for her wish to establish an intimacy between her
nieces, Julia had already formed a friendship at school, and did not
conceive her heart was large enough to admit two at the same time to its
sanctuary. How much Julia was mistaken the sequel of our tale will show.
So long as Anna Miller was the inmate of the school, Julia was
satisfied to remain also, but the father of Anna having determined to
remove to an estate in the interior of the country, his daughter was taken
from school; and while the arrangements were making for the reception of
the family on the banks of the Gennessee, Anna was permitted to taste, for
a short time, the pleasures of the world, at the residence of Miss
Emmerson on the banks of the Hudson.
{Gennessee = Genesee River, which flows north through central New
York State to Lake Ontario--at the time of Cooper's story it was still on the
frontier of settlement}
Charles Weston was a distant relative of the good aunt, and was, like
Julia, an orphan, who was moderately endowed with the goods of fortune.
He was a student in the office of her uncle, and being a great favourite
with Miss Emmerson, spent many of his leisure hours, during the heats of
the summer, in the retirement of her country residence.
Whatever might be the composure of the maiden aunt, while Julia was
weeping in her chamber over the long separation that was now to exist
between herself and her friend, young Weston by no means displayed the
same philosophic indifference. He paced the hall of the building with rapid
steps, cast many a longing glance at the door of his cousin's room, and
then rested himself with an apparent intention to read the volume he held
in his hands; nor did he in any degree recover his composure until Julia re-
appeared on the landing of the stairs, moving slowly towards their bottom,
when, taking one long look at her lovely face, which was glowing with
youthful beauty, and if possible more charming from the traces of tears in
her eyes, he coolly pursued his studies. Julia had recovered her composure,
and Charles Weston felt satisfied. Miss Emmerson and her niece took their
seats quietly with their work at an open window of the parlour, and order
appeared to be restored in some measure to the mansion. After pursuing
their several occupations for some minutes with a silence that had lately
TALES FOR FIFTEEN: OR IMAGINATION AND HEART.
9
been a stranger to them, the aunt observed--
"You appear to have something new in hand, my love. Surely you must
abound with trimmings, and yet you are working another already?"
"It is for Anna Miller," said Julia with a flush of feeling.
"I was in hopes you would perform your promise to your cousin
Katherine, now Miss Miller is gone, and make your portion of the
garments for the Orphan Asylum," returned Miss Emmerson gravely.
"Oh! cousin Katherine must wait. I promised this trimming to Anna to
remember me by, and I would not disappoint the dear girl for the world."
"It is not your cousin Katherine, but the Orphans, who will have to
wait; and surely a promise to a relation is as sacred as one to an
acquaintance."
"Acquaintance, aunt!" echoed the niece with displeasure. "Do not, I
entreat you, call Anna an acquaintance merely. She is my friend--my very
best friend, and I love her as such."
"Thank you, my dear," said the aunt dryly.
"Oh! I mean nothing disrespectful to yourself, dear aunt," continued
Julia. "You know how much I owe to you, and ought to know that I love
you as a mother."
"And would you prefer Miss Miller to a mother, then?"
"Surely not in respect, in gratitude, in obedience; but still I may love
her, you know. Indeed, the feelings are so very different, that they do not
at all interfere with each other--in my heart at least."
"No!" said Miss Emmerson, with a little curiosity--"I wish you would
try and explain this difference to me, that I may comprehend the
distinctions that you are fond of making."
"Why, nothing is easier, dear aunt!" said Julia with animation. "You I
love because you are kind to me, attentive to my wants, considerate for my
good; affectionate, and--and--from habit--and you are my aunt, and take
care of me."
"Admirable reasons!" exclaimed Charles Weston, who had laid aside
his book to listen to this conversation.
"They are forcible ones I must admit," said Miss Emmerson, smiling
affectionately on her niece; "but now for the other kind of love."
TALES FOR FIFTEEN: OR IMAGINATION AND HEART.
10
"Why, Anna is my friend, you know," cried Julia, with eyes sparkling
with enthusiasm. "I love her, because she has feelings congenial with my
own; she has so much wit, is so amusing, so frank, so like a girl of talents-
-so like--like every thing I admire myself."
"It is a pity that one so highly gifted cannot furnish herself with
frocks," said the aunt, with a little more than her ordinary dryness of
manner, "and suffer you to work for those who want them more."
"You forget it is in order to remember me," said Julia, in a manner that
spoke her own ideas of the value of the gift.
"One would think such a friendship would not require any thing to
remind one of its existence," returned the aunt.
"Why! it is not that she will forget me without it, but that she may
have something by her to remind her of me-----" said Julia rapidly, but
pausing as the contradiction struck even herself.
"I understand you perfectly, my child," interrupted the aunt, "merely as
an unnecessary security, you mean."
"To make assurance doubly sure," cried Charles Weston with a laugh.
"Oh! you laugh, Mr. Weston," said Julia with a little anger; "but I have
often said, you were incapable of friendship."
"Try me!" exclaimed the youth fervently. "Do not condemn me
without a trial."
"How can I?" said Julia, laughing in her turn. "You are not a girl."
"Can girls then only feel friendship?" inquired Charles, taking the seat
which Miss Emmerson had relinquished.
"I sometimes think so," said Julia, with her own good-humoured smile.
"You are too gross--too envious--in short, you never see such friendships
between men as exist between women."
"Between girls, I will readily admit," returned the youth. "But let us
examine this question after the manner of the courts--"
"Nay, if you talk law I shall quit you," interrupted the young lady
gaily.
"Certainly one so learned in the subject need not dread a cross-
examination," cried the youth, in her own manner.
"Well, proceed," cried the lady. "I have driven aunt Margaret from the
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