Fabiola : or, The church of the catacombs - Digital Repository Services

windows, glad to remain unnoticed while she (juictly witnessed
the joy of Sir Reginald. As lo Barbara, In 1 manner
bore the impress, of that sweet gravity wliicli at all times charac-
tcii/ed them she readily replied to the questions of her father,
but confessed that she did not recollect him, or her deceased
mother, except by what Catherine and Bridget O'Reilly had
told her of them.
'
Pardon me,' said Sir Reginald, turning to Adelina, '
if the
happiness which I experience at seeing my daughter has made
me for a moment forget your presence. From what my servant
told me, I believe I have the pleasure of speaking to my brother
Cuthbert's wife.'
'
Yes,' replied Adeliua timidly; 'and I come,' she added with
some hesitation, 'I come on his part, first to bring your little
daughter, ami then to implore your forgiveness for him '
'O, do not speak of fitiyiniicxs,' replied Sir Reginald. '1 have
always had for Cuthbert the affection of a brother; and I shall
only be too happy to be able to give vent to my feelings
with regard to him. Why has he not himself come, that I might
embrace him at once? That would complete the joy of this
happy day.'
Tears rolled down Adelina's cheeks; she no longer felt any
dread of her brother-in-law, but the kindness of his manner
touched her deeply. She briefly acquainted Sir Reginald with
Cuthbert's position, and as she finished speaking handed him the
letter which he had written from the Tower, and which had de-
termined her coming to France with Barbara.
'
Poor brother, poor brother! '
repeated Sir Reginald, who appeared
much affected.
'
Would that I could relieve himl You
had great courage,' he added, addressing Adelina,, '
in undertaking
so long a journey at this season of the year. May God
reward your charity in risking so much to restore my little one
to me!'
'
He was anxious that I should express to you his sorrow for
the past,' replied the lady. 'Do, I pray of you, say that you
pardon him; he will be better pleased to learn, when I return,
that I have exactly fulfilled his wishes.
'
Well, then, to satisfy you and 'him, know that I do pardon
him from my heart, whatever grief he has caused me, but ill-will I
have never borne him. So much for the past; now let us forget
it, and look only to a bright future, when our family circle,
which has been for a time divided shall, I hope be united; and
'
if,' he added in a graver tone if it be not granted us in this
world, I trust it may be in the next.
Adelina was too much affected to make any reply, but her
mind felt easier now that the object of her journey was accom-
plished. Barbara, while her father was speaking, had left the
scat where he had placed her by his side, and going to the window,
where Catherine was standing, took her by the hand and
led her to Sir Reginald.
'
this is Catherine.'
Father,' she said gravely, '
With the simplicity of childhood she judged that the name of
her devoted friend needed no comment, and that others must
know as she did that the word '
Catherine' expressed all that was
dearest to her in the world. Her father smiled. It is more than
probable that he had forgotten the child who used to come to
the Manor-house to work for Lady Margaret, or, at least, he
would have failed to recognize her in the young girl who now
stood before him; but Larry had already told him that Widow
O'Reilly and Catherine Tresizehad taken charge of his daughter,
and that since I he death of the good dame.it was the latter on whom
the sole care of the child had devolved. He therefore thanked her
in words of heartfelt gratitude for her devotedness to Barbara,
whom he hoped she would never leave.
'
I have, indeed, done nothing to merit such thanks," urged the
young girl, who felt both surprised and confused at the praise
ived on what she deemed but a very simple action.
Lady Adelina, her mission accomplished, was now desirous to
return as speedily as possible to England; but the severity of the
weather, and the danger which she had already incurred on the
journey from Rouen, made her more willing than she would
otherwise have been to agree to Sir Reginald's proposal, that she
Tlll'K TO Tlil^T.
should remain where she was until the snows had melted. A vul
trial to her patience, however, was (his forced absence from Lon-
don, where so many interesls called her.
One afternoon Sir Reginald asked Catherine lo accompany
his daughter to the convent where they hud received so much
hospitality.
The child had been greatly delighted with the kindness of the
nuns and the beauty of their chapel, and the quaintness of the
house, so different from anything she had seen in England, had
interested her; she had therefore begged her father to allow her
to go and see them again, to which he readily consented. The
establishment was large, as it possessed, besides an orphanage
and a hospital, a school for the education of young ladies. With
these Barbara was permitted to amuse herself, while Catherine
accompanied one of the nuns to visit the sick. The good religious
soon remarked the willingness of the young foreigner to aid
in their works of charity and join in their devotions; and nl
though, owing to her ignorance of the French language, they
could not exchange many words, they nevertheless conceived a
great regard for her, and made her and Barljara understand that
they were welcome to visit them again when they pleased, a
permission of which they readily availed themselves. The more
Catherine saw of the holy and peaceful life of the nuns, the more
she felt drawn towards it, but she knew not to whom to d
her wishes. To speak to the religious, whose kind faces inspired
her with confidence, was impossible until she should have gained
further knowledge of the language. Lady Adelina could not, of
course, give any advice on this important matter, and then,
again, Barbara would be so lonely without her, and the inmates
of 'the chateau' were so kind that she felt loth to say that she
would leave them. Yet the life she was leading did not suit her.
Sir Reginald, full of gratitude for the services she had rendered
Barbara, wished that she should be treated in the same manner
as his daughter; she had not, therefore, opportunity for most of
those active employments to which she had hitherto been ac-
customed. There were no poor at hand whom she could relieve,
no children whom she could instruct. There was Barbara,
indeed, and to her education she devoted most of her time. But
here again arose another difficulty. She feared lest the object
of her care might not receive the varied instruction nor acquire
the different accomplishments usually taught to those in her
rank of life; and her straightforward conscientious nature made
her anxious that Sir Reginald, who trusted his daughter so en-
tirely to her, should not be under the mistake of imagining her
possessed of a more extensive fund of information than was
really the case. She expressed her fears on this subject to Lady
Adelina, who, while admiring the delicacy of her feelings, reassured
her by saying,
'
My niece is very young, and for some time at least will need
no other instruction than that which you can impart; and when
she is older her father can, if he wishes, have her taught those
accomplishments of which you are ignorant.'
Days passed on, the frost continued with unabated severity,
and the snow still lay deep on hill and valley.
Adelina watched it at first with impatience, then with a settled
sadness which those around her vainly sought o dispel
Reginald shared her anxiety for his brother. One day, as he sat
alone in the drawing-room, musing on the strange events which
had led to the recovery of his lost child, the door was suddenly
thrown open by Larry, who gave admittance to an old genileman
of diminutive stature, erect, neat in his attire, and with a
face closely resembling a rosy apple on which a light sprinkling
of snow had rested. The little visitor stepped in with the air of
one who feels quite at his ease.
'I fear I disturb you,' he said politely. 'Now pray do not
stir; with your leave I will take a seat by the fire. This is cold
weather for a man of seventy-two to be '
traveling, eh?
'Yes, indeed,' replied Sir Reginald, 'and nothing but im-
portant business could, I feel sure, have made one of your time
of life undertake a journey at this inclement season. May 1 ask
to whom I have the honor of addressing myself? '
'Mr. Cyril Algernon that is my name. As to important