Beulah - Page 345/348

Their congratulations wearied her, and she was glad when the

carriage came to bear her away. Bidding adieu to her friends, she

was handed into the carriage, and Dr. Hartwell took the seat beside

her. The ride was short; neither spoke, and when the door was

opened, and she entered the well-remembered house, she would gladly

have retreated to the greenhouse and sought solitude to collect her

thoughts; but a hand caught hers, and she soon found herself seated

on a sofa in the study. She felt that a pair of eyes were riveted on

her face, and suddenly the blood surged into her white cheeks. Her

hand lay clasped in his, and her head drooped lower, to avoid his

searching gaze.

"Oh, Beulah! my wife! why are you afraid of me?"

The low, musical tones caused her heart to thrill strangely; she

made a great effort, and lifted her head. She saw the expression of

sorrow that clouded his face; saw his white brow wrinkle; and, as

her eyes fell on the silver threads scattered through his brown

hair, there came an instant revolution of feeling. Fear vanished;

love reigned supreme. She threw her arms up about his neck, and

exclaimed: "I am not afraid of you now. May God bless my guardian! my husband!"

Reader, marriage is not the end of life; it is but the beginning of

a new course of duties; but I cannot now follow Beulah. Henceforth

her history is bound up with another's. To save her husband from his

unbelief is the labor of future years. She had learned to suffer and

to bear patiently; and though her path looks sunny, and her heart

throbs with happy hopes, this one shadow lurks over her home and

dims her joys. Weeks and months glided swiftly on. Dr. Hartwell's

face lost its stern rigidity, and his smile became constantly

genial. His wife was his idol; day by day his love for her seemed

more completely to revolutionize his nature. His cynicism melted

insensibly away; his lips forgot their iron compression; now and

then, his long-forgotten laugh rang through the house. Beulah was

conscious of the power she wielded, and trembled lest she failed to

employ it properly. One Sabbath afternoon she sat in her room, with

her cheek on her hand, absorbed in earnest thought. Her little Bible

lay on her lap, and she was pondering the text she had heard that

morning. Charon came and nestled his huge head against her.

Presently she heard the quick tramp of hoofs and whir of wheels; and

soon after her husband entered and sat down beside her.