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Article THE INVISIBLE SHIELD* ← Page 3 of 4 →
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The Invisible Shield*
I know not how it was that Harry L and Helen S should have so often happened to meet each other , and be found wandering together under the soft moonlight . But so it was : —ni ght after night , by the side of that quiet stream , did 1 see them on their solitary stroll . Night after night , as I hovered upon the footsteps of that beautiful and unguarded being , did I overhear the warm anel burning sentiments that fell from his lips , in language eloquent it is true , but deriving its inspiration from a passion to ivhich Bulwer ' s genius has lent the divinity of Love , but which is , nevertheless , " of the earth , earthy "and I trembled for the consequences .
The midnight hour was past . Helen S had laid her soft cheek upon the pillow , beneath her mother ' s humble roof , and was dreaming of one , whom in her fond and simple credulity , she had begun to regard as a lover ! In another quarter of the town , the members of an ANCIENT FRATERNITY had met together upon an important occasion . It was to receive into full communion a noviciatewho had served the period of his
pro-, bation to the satisfaction of the fathers of the Order . The solemn rite was ended—the mystery revealed—the sacred duties expounded and assumed;—and as the fair dreamer in that humble dwelling , smiling in her sleep , murmured the name of Harry L , he left , for the first time , the door of the solemn temple dedicated to Friendship and Benevolence—A BROTHER !
" Harry , my dear fellow , do you intend to marry Helen S ? " said I the next evening , as , according to our wont , we were enjoying the fragrance of a fine Habana after supper on the balcony of our hotel . " MARRY her !—certainly not . She ' s a delightful creature—has a form like Venus , and a deal of passionate romance , with a mind that might , under proper training , have made her a superb woman . I ' m confoundedly in love with her , but have not for a moment indulged the preposterous idea of making that silly milliner mother of her ' s ma belle mere . "
" Then , in that case , I must forbid the continuance of those long and dangerous moonlight rambles . Helen S is , it is true , the daughter of a milliner ; and the society around you would probably laugh were you to make her your wife ; but then she is the DAUGHTER OF A '•• " * *!"
To the initiated need I say more ? These few words lost to Helen S a lover ; but they also gained for her a friend , who was unto her even as a brother . And when , some years afterwitrds , her mother died , leaving her an isolated orphan in the world , to find an asylum in the family of one ivho had known her father , —and when a noblehearted fellow of a princely fortune , meeting with her , and attracted by the beauty of mind ( which Harry L ' s fraternal providence
, of books and instructors had brought about , ) as well as by the Junolike majesty of her person , offered her his heart and hand , —and when they were married , and all the crusty and malicious old maids and scheming mammas in the neighbourhood were mad and jealous enough at her good fortune , —wondering , as they did in general conclave , how
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
The Invisible Shield*
I know not how it was that Harry L and Helen S should have so often happened to meet each other , and be found wandering together under the soft moonlight . But so it was : —ni ght after night , by the side of that quiet stream , did 1 see them on their solitary stroll . Night after night , as I hovered upon the footsteps of that beautiful and unguarded being , did I overhear the warm anel burning sentiments that fell from his lips , in language eloquent it is true , but deriving its inspiration from a passion to ivhich Bulwer ' s genius has lent the divinity of Love , but which is , nevertheless , " of the earth , earthy "and I trembled for the consequences .
The midnight hour was past . Helen S had laid her soft cheek upon the pillow , beneath her mother ' s humble roof , and was dreaming of one , whom in her fond and simple credulity , she had begun to regard as a lover ! In another quarter of the town , the members of an ANCIENT FRATERNITY had met together upon an important occasion . It was to receive into full communion a noviciatewho had served the period of his
pro-, bation to the satisfaction of the fathers of the Order . The solemn rite was ended—the mystery revealed—the sacred duties expounded and assumed;—and as the fair dreamer in that humble dwelling , smiling in her sleep , murmured the name of Harry L , he left , for the first time , the door of the solemn temple dedicated to Friendship and Benevolence—A BROTHER !
" Harry , my dear fellow , do you intend to marry Helen S ? " said I the next evening , as , according to our wont , we were enjoying the fragrance of a fine Habana after supper on the balcony of our hotel . " MARRY her !—certainly not . She ' s a delightful creature—has a form like Venus , and a deal of passionate romance , with a mind that might , under proper training , have made her a superb woman . I ' m confoundedly in love with her , but have not for a moment indulged the preposterous idea of making that silly milliner mother of her ' s ma belle mere . "
" Then , in that case , I must forbid the continuance of those long and dangerous moonlight rambles . Helen S is , it is true , the daughter of a milliner ; and the society around you would probably laugh were you to make her your wife ; but then she is the DAUGHTER OF A '•• " * *!"
To the initiated need I say more ? These few words lost to Helen S a lover ; but they also gained for her a friend , who was unto her even as a brother . And when , some years afterwitrds , her mother died , leaving her an isolated orphan in the world , to find an asylum in the family of one ivho had known her father , —and when a noblehearted fellow of a princely fortune , meeting with her , and attracted by the beauty of mind ( which Harry L ' s fraternal providence
, of books and instructors had brought about , ) as well as by the Junolike majesty of her person , offered her his heart and hand , —and when they were married , and all the crusty and malicious old maids and scheming mammas in the neighbourhood were mad and jealous enough at her good fortune , —wondering , as they did in general conclave , how