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We are all cousins here, you see, captain that is to say, all of true Norse blood; and, moreover, are not ashamed of our connections. Here we have Rolf Morton, as pretty a man as you may wish to see, though not Shetland born, as far as we know, married to young Bertha Eswick, daughter to our good cousin Dame Eswick, at present governess, manager, or housekeeper of Lunnasting Castle.
In my discovery of Bertha's innocence and in my faith in her purity and courage I had hoped to find relief from the spiritual loneliness that had grown upon me during my sojourn in this materialistic city. But that faith was shaken, as the impression Bertha had made upon my over-sensitized emotions, now dimmed by a brighter light, flickered pale on the screen of memory.
No, she never allowed physicians to approach her; she never had need of them; she had none now, so she affirmed. Bertha was not particularly well fitted to preside in a sick-room, and her maid, Adolphine, was versed in the arts of the toilet alone.
Anna had been instructed very carefully, by her mistress, not to say anything of what had happened, and in order that she might avoid questions, George Lechmere had seen her into a cab for Liverpool Street, as she wished to spend a week with some friends at Chelmsford. Then she was to join Bertha at Greendale. Frank went to his chambers, where George Lechmere had driven with the luggage.
Death to her was the harsh blow dealt by a merciless hand, snatching its victim away in retributive wrath, not the wise and mild summons that bids suffering mortality exchange a circumscribed, lower life for a larger, higher, happier existence. It was some time before Madame de Gramont could continue; then she said, "I must go back, Bertha! I cannot die out of those old walls!
"Now you have a secret? Is it indeed so?" Bertha nodded, paused awhile, then went on abruptly, "I have been pestered to death by men who aspired to my hand, and my uncle declares there is no possibility of my finding peace until I make some choice." "And you intend to secure peace upon his terms?
"You have a great power over me," she said; "I feel as if you were my good angel, and Bertha were my bad." "Then for heaven's sake, Florence, yield to the entreaties of your good angel. Come, come; the hotel won't be shut up. Where is the money?" "In my pocket." "Then come immediately."
To-morrow is my brother Isaac's confirmation day, and we must all be promptly at the synagogue at nine o'clock." "You shall know to-night, Bertha, and I will be with you, if possible. But here, before we part, let's stop and buy some bananas of old Maum Cinda. She is always so grateful for a fivepence dropped by a school-girl."
She had never dreamt of being an artist, but, showing some facility with the pencil, was sent by her father to South Kensington, where she met and made friends with Rosamund Elvan. Her necessity and her application being greater than Rosamund's, Bertha before long succeeded in earning a little money; without this help, life at home would scarcely have been possible for her.
There was a note of the deepest hatred in Frau Rupius' voice. Bertha was quite frightened. She had never thought it possible that Frau Rupius could have said such things. "Yes, why shouldn't you know what kind of men they are amongst whom you are living?" continued Frau Rupius. "No, I would never have thought it possible! If my brother-in-law knew about it! "If he knew about it?
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