The Heavenly Twins by Madame Sarah Grand

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She had drawn herself up proudly as he approached, and having looked at
him deliberately, she turned her back upon him.

There was no mistaking her intention, Colonel Colquhoun's hand paused on
its way to twirl his blond moustache, and there was a perceptible
sensation in the room.

Captain Belliot shook his head with the air of a man who has been deceived
in an honest endeavour to make the best of a bad lot, and is disheartened.

"She took me in completely," he said. "I should never have guessed she was
that kind of woman. What is society coming to?"

"She must be deuced nasty-minded herself, you know, or she wouldn't have
known Finchley had a woman out with him," said Major Livingston, whom Mrs.
Guthrie Brimston called "Lady Betty" because of his nice precise little
ways with ladies.

"Oh, trust a prude!" said Captain Brown. "They spy out all the beastliness
that's going."

Colonel Colquhoun did not take this last proof of Evadne's peculiar views
at all well. He was becoming even more sensitive as he grew older to what
fellows say or think, and he was therefore considerably annoyed by her
conduct, so much so, indeed, that he actually spoke to her upon the
subject himself.

"People will say that I have married Mrs. Grundy," he grumbled.

"I suppose so," she answered tranquilly, "You see I do not feel at all
about these things as you do. I wish you _could_ feel as I do, but
seeing that you cannot, it is fortunate, is it not, that we are not really
married?"

"It sounds as if you were congratulating yourself upon the fact of our
position," he said.

"But don't _you_ congratulate yourself?" she answered in surprise.
"Surely you have had as narrow an escape as I had? you would have been
miserable too?"

He made no answer. It is perhaps easier to resign an inferior husband than
a superior wife.

But he let the subject drop then for the moment; only for the moment,
however, for later in the day he had a conversation with Mrs. Guthrie
Brimston.

That little business about the Clarences had not interrupted the intimacy
between Colonel Colquhoun and the Guthrie Brimstons. How could it? Mrs.
Guthrie Brimston was as amusing as ever, and Colonel Colquhoun remained in
command of a crack regiment, and was a handsome man, well set-up and
soldier like into the bargain. It was Evadne who had caused all the
annoyance, and consequently there was really no excuse for a
rupture--especially as Evadne met the Guthrie Brimstons herself with as
much complacency as ever. Colonel Colquhoun had gone to Mrs. Guthrie
Brimston's that afternoon for the purpose of discussing the advisability
of getting some experienced woman of the world to speak to Evadne with a
view to putting a stop to her nonsense, and the consultation ended with an
offer from Mrs. Guthrie Brimston to undertake the task herself. Her
interference, however, produced not the slightest effect on Evadne.

CHAPTER X.

Those who can contemplate certain phases of life and still believe that
there is a Divine Providence ordering all things for the best, will see
its action in the combination of circumstances which placed Evadne in the
midst of a community where she must meet the spirit of evil face to face
continually, and, since acquiescence was impossible, forced her to develop
her own strength by steady and determined resistance. But her position was
more than difficult; it was desperate. There was scarcely one, even
amongst the most indulgent of her friends, who did not misunderstand her
and blame her at times. She kept the pendulum of public opinion swaying
vehemently during the whole of her first season in Malta. Major Livingston
shook his head about her from the first.

"I can't get on with her," he said, as if the fact were not at all to her
credit. He was a survival himself, one of the old-fashioned kind of
military men who were all formed on the same plan; they got their uniform,
their politics, their vices, and their code of honour cut and dried, upon
entering the service, and occasionally left the latter with their agents
to be taken care of for them while they served.

Evadne gave offence to representatives of the next generation also. Seeing
that she was young and attractive, it was clearly her duty to think only
of meriting their attention, and when she was discovered time after time
during a ball hanging quite affectionately on the arm of Mr. Austin B.
Price, "a dried up old American," and pacing the balcony to and fro with
him in the moonlight by the hour together when there were plenty of young
fellows who wanted to dance with her; and when, worse still, it was
observed that she was serenely happy on these occasions, listening to Mr.
Austin B. Price with a smile on her lips, or even and actually talking
herself, why, they declared she wasn't womanly--she couldn't be!

Mr. St. John was one of the friends who very much deprecated Evadne's
attitude at this time. He did not speak to her himself, being diffident
and delicate, but he went to Mr. Price, who was, he knew, quite in her
confidence.

"You have influence with her, _do_ restrain her;" he said. "No good
is done by making herself the subject of common gossip."

"My dear fellow," Mr. Price replied, "she is quite irresponsible. Certain
powers of perception have developed in her to a point beyond that which
has been reached by the people about her, and she is forced to act up to
what she perceives to be right. They blame her because they cannot see so
far in advance of themselves, and she has small patience with them for not
at once recognizing the use and propriety of what comes so easily and
naturally to her. So far, it is easy enough to understand her, surely? But
further than that it is impossible to go, because she is as yet an
incomplete creature in a state of progression. With fair play, she should
continue on, but, on the other hand, her development may be entirely
arrested. It is curious that priesthoods, while preaching perfection,
invariably do their best to stop progress. You will never believe that any
change is for the better until it is accomplished, and there is no denying
it, and so you hinder forever when you should be the first to help and
encourage; and you are bringing yourselves into disrepute by it. Just try
and realize the difference between the position and powers of judgment of
women now and that which obtained among them at the beginning of the
century! And think, too, of the hard battles they have had to fight for
every inch of the way they have made, and of the desperate resolution with
which they have stood their ground, always advancing, never receding, and
with supernumeraries ready, whenever one falls out exhausted, to step in
and take her place, however dangerous it may be. Oh, I tell you, man,
women are grand!--grand!"

"But I don't see how we have imposed upon women," Mr. St. John objected.

"I can show you in a minute," Mr. Price rejoined, twitching his face. "It
was the submission business, you know, to begin with. Not so many years
ago we men had only to insist that a thing was either right or necessary,
and women believed it, and meekly acquiesced in it. We told them they were
fools to us, and they believed it; and we told them they were angels of
light and purity and goodness whose mission it was to marry and reform us,
and above all pity and sympathize with us when we defiled ourselves,
because we couldn't help it, and they believed it. We told them they
didn't really care for moral probity in man, and they believed it. We told
them they had no brains, that they were illogical, unreasoning, and
incapable of thought in the true sense of the word, and, by Jove! they
took all that for granted, such was their beautiful confidence in us, and
never even _tried_ to think--until one day, when, quite by accident,
I feel sure, one of them found herself arriving at logical conclusions
involuntarily. Her brain was a rich soil, although untilled, which began
to teem of its own accord; and that, my dear fellow, was the beginning of
the end of the old state of things. But I believe myself that all this
unrest and rebellion against the old established abuses amongst women is
simply an effort of nature to improve the race. The men of the present day
will have a bad time if they resist the onward impulse; but, in any case,
the men of the future will have good reason to arise and call their
mothers blessed. Good-day to you. Don't interfere with Evadne, and don't
think. Just watch--and--and pray if you like!" The old gentleman smiled
and twitched his face when he had spoken, and they shook hands and parted
in complete disagreement, as was usually the case.

CHAPTER XI.

When any difference of opinion arose between Evadne and Colonel Colquhoun
they discussed it tranquilly as a rule, and with much forbearance upon
either side, and having done so, the subject was allowed to drop. They
each generally remained of the same opinion still, but neither would
interfere with the other afterward. Had he had anything in him; could he
have made her feel him to be superior in any way, she must have grown to
love him with passion once more; but as it was, he remained only an erring
fellow-creature in her estimation, for whom she grew gradually to feel
both pity and affection, it is true; but toward whom her attitude
generally speaking was that of most polite indifference.

She had her moments of rage, however. There were whole days when her
patient tolerance of the position gave way, and one wild longing to be
free pursued her; but she made no sign on such occasions, only sat

With lips severely placid, felt the knot
Climb in her throat, and with her foot unseen,
Crushed the wild passion out against the floor,
Beneath the banquet, where the meats become
As wormwood--

and uttered not a word. Yet there was nothing in Colonel Colquhoun's
manner, nothing in his treatment of her, in the least objectionable; what
she suffered from was simply contact with an inferior moral body, and the
intellectual starvation inevitable in constant association with a mind too
shallow to contain any sort of mental sustenance for the sharing.

The pleasing fact that he and Evadne were getting on very well together
dawned on him quite suddenly one day; but it was she who perceived that
the absence of friction was entirely due to the restriction which polite
society imposes upon the manners of a gentleman and lady in ordinary
everyday intercourse when their bond is not the bond of man and wife.

"I should say we are very good friends, Evadne, shouldn't you?" he
remarked, in a cheerful tone.

"Yes," she responded cordially.

They were both in evening dress when this occurred--she sitting beside a
table with one bare arm resting upon it, toying with the tassel of her fan;
he standing with his back to the fireplace, looking down upon her. It was
after dinner, and they were lingering over their coffee until it should be
time to stroll in for an hour or so to the opera.

"By-the-way," he said after a pause, "have you read any of those books I
got for you--any of the French ones?"

Her face set somewhat, but she looked up at him, and answered without
hesitation: "Yes. I have read the 'Nana,' 'La Terre,' 'Madame Bovary,' and
'Sapho.'"

She stopped there, and he then waited in vain for her to express an
opinion.

"Well," he said at last, "what has struck you most in them?"

"The suffering, George," she exclaimed--"_the awful, needless
suffering!_"

It was a veritable cry of anguish, and as she spoke, she threw her arms
forward upon the table beside which she was sitting, laid her face down on
them, and burst into passionate sobs.

Colonel Colquhoun bit his lip. He had not meant to hurt the girl--in that
way, at all events. He took a step toward her, hesitated, not knowing
quite what to do; and finally left the room.

When next Evadne went to her bookshelves she discovered a great gap. The
whole of those dangerous works of fiction had disappeared.

CHAPTER XII.

Colonel Colquhoun had gradually fallen into the habit of riding out or
walking alone with Mrs. Guthrie Brimston continually, and of course people
began to make much of the intimacy, and to talk of the way he neglected
his poor young wife; but the only part of the arrangement which was not
agreeable to the latter was having to entertain Major Guthrie Brimston
sometimes during his lady's absence, and the lady herself when she stayed
to tea. For there was really no harm in the flirtation, as Evadne was
acute enough to perceive. Mrs. Guthrie Brimston was one of those women who
pride themselves upon having a train of admirers, and are not above
robbing other women of the companionship of their husbands in order to
swell their own following; while many men rather affect the society of
these ladies because "They are not a bit stiff, you know," and allow a
certain laxity of language which is particularly piquant to the masculine
mind when the complacent lady is no relation and is really "all right
herself, you know."

Mrs. Guthrie Brimston was "really quite right, you know." She and her
husband understood each other perfectly, while Evadne, on her part, was
content to know that Colonel Colquhoun was so innocently occupied. For she
was beginning to think of him as a kind of big child, of weak moral
purpose, for whose good behaviour she would be held responsible, and it
was a relief when Mrs. Guthrie Brimston took him off her hands.

No healthy-minded human being likes to dwell on the misery which another
is suffering or has suffered, and it is, therefore, a comfort to know that
upon the whole, at this period of her life, Evadne was not at all unhappy.
She had her friends, her pleasures, and her occupations; the latter being
multifarious. The climate of Malta, at that time of the year, suited her
to perfection, and the picturesque place, with its romantic history and
strange traditions, was in itself an unfailing source of interest and
delight to her.

Dear old Mrs. Beale had kept her heart from hardening into bitterness just
by loving her, and giving her a good motherly hug now and then. When
Evadne was inclined to rail she would say: "Pity the wicked people, my
dear, pity them. Pity does more good in the world than blame, however well
deserved. You may soften a sinner by pitying him, but never by hard words;
and once you melt into the mood of pity yourself, you will be able to
endure things which would otherwise drive you mad."

Mrs. Malcomson helped her too. During that first burst of unpopularity
which she brought upon herself by daring to act upon her own perception of
right and wrong in defiance of the old established injustices of society,
when even the most kindly disposed hung back suspiciously, not knowing
what dangerous sort of a new creature she might eventually prove herself
to be--at the earliest mutter of that storm, Mrs. Malcomson came forward
boldly to support Evadne; and so also did Mrs. Sillinger.

Mr. St. John was another of Evadne's particular friends. He had injured
his health by excessive devotion to his duties, and been sent to Malta in
the hope that the warm bright climate might strengthen his chest, which
was his weak point, and restore him; but it was not really the right place
for him, and he had continued delicate throughout the winter, and required
little attentions which Evadne was happily able to pay him; and in this
way their early acquaintance had rapidly ripened into intimacy. He was a
clever man in his own profession, of exceptional piety, but narrow, which
did not, however, prevent him from being congenial to one side of Evadne's
nature. She had never doubted her religion. It was a thing apart from all
her knowledge and opinions, something to be _felt_, essentially, not
_known_ as anything but a pleasurable and elevating sensation, or
considered except in the way of referring all that is noble in thought and
action to the divine nature of its origin and influence; and she preserved
her deep reverence for the priesthood intact, and found both comfort and
spiritual sustenance in their ministrations. She still leaned to ritual,
and Mr. St. John was a ritualist, so that they had much in common; and
while she was able to pay him many attentions and show him great kindness,
for the want of which, as a bachelor and an invalid in a foreign place, he
must have suffered in his feeble state of health, he had it in his power
to take her out of herself. She said she was always the better for a talk
with him; and certainly the delicate dishes and wines and care generally
which she lavished upon him had as much to do as the climate with the
benefit he derived from his sojourn in Malta. They remained firm friends
always; and many years afterward, when he had become one of the most
distinguished bishops on the bench, he was able, from the knowledge and
appreciation of her character which he had gained in these early days, to
do her signal service, and save her from much stupid misrepresentation.

And last, among her friends, although one of the greatest, was Mr. Austin
B. Price. Evadne owed this kind, large-hearted, chivalrous gentleman much
gratitude, and repaid him with much affection. He was really the first to
discover that there was anything remarkable about her; and it was to him
she also owed a considerable further development of her originally feeble
sense of humour.

Mr. Price's first impression that she was an uncommon character had been
confirmed by one of those rapid phrases of hers which contained in a few
words the embodiment of feelings familiar to a multitude of people who
have no power to express them. She delivered it the third time they met,
which happened to be at another of those afternoon dances, held on board
the flag ship on that occasion. Colonel Colquhoun liked her to show
herself although she did not dance in the afternoon, so she was there,
sitting out, and Mr. Price was courteously endeavouring to entertain her.

"It surprises me," he said, "as an American, to find so little inclination
in your free and enlightened country to do away with your--politically
speaking--useless and extremely expensive Royal House."

"Well, you see," said Evadne, "we are deeply attached to our Royal House,
and we can well afford to keep it up."

It was this glimpse of the heart of the proud and patriotic little
aristocrat, true daughter of a nation great enough to disdain small
economies, and not accustomed to do without any luxury to which it is
attached, that appealed to Mr. Price, pleasing the pride of race with
which we contemplate any evidence of strength in our fellow-creatures,
whether it be strength of purpose or strength of passion, more than it
shocked his utilitarian prejudices.

When it was evident that Evadne had brought a good deal that was
disagreeable upon herself by her action in the matter of the Clarences,
old Mrs. Beale came to her one day in all kindliness to tell her the
private opinion of the friends who had stood by her loyally in public.

"I am sure you did it with the best motive, my dear, and it was bravely
done," the old lady said, patting her hand; "but be advised by those who
know the world, and have had more experience than you have had. Don't
interfere again. Interference does no good; and people will say such
things if you do! They will make you pay for your disinterestedness."

"But it seems to me that the question is not _Shall I have to pay?_
but _Am I not bound to pay?_" Evadne rejoined. "Neglecting to do what
is, to me, obviously the right thing, and making no endeavour but such as
is sure to be applauded--working in the hope of a reward, in fact, seems
to me to be a terribly old-fashioned idea, miserable remnant of the
bribery and corruption of the Dark Ages, when the people were kept in such
dense ignorance that they could be treated like children, and told if they
were good they should have this for a prize, but if they were bad they
should be punished."

"You are quite right, I am sure, my dear," rejoined Mrs. Beale; "but all
the same, I don't think I should interfere again, if I were you."

"It seems that I have not done the Clarences any good," Evadne murmured
one day to Mr. Price.

"Well, that was hardly to be expected," he answered--at which she raised
her eyebrows interrogatively. "Calumnies which attach themselves to a name
in a moment take a lifetime to remove, because such a large majority of
people prefer to think the worst of each other. The Clarences will have to
live down their own little difficulty. And what you have to consider now
is, not how little benefit they have derived from your brave defense of
them, but how many other people you may have saved from similar attacks. I
fancy it will be some time before people will venture to spread scandals
of the kind here in Malta again. You have taught them a lesson; you may be
sure of that; so don't be disheartened and lose sight of the final result
in consideration of immediate consequences. The hard part of teaching is
that the teacher himself seldom sees anything of the good he has done."

It was very evident at this time that Evadne's view of life was becoming
much too serious for her own good; and, perceiving this, Mr. Price let
fall some words one day in the course of conversation which she afterward
treasured in her heart to great advantage. "It is our duty to be happy,"
he said. "Every human being is entitled to a certain amount of pleasure in
life. But, in order to be happy, you must think of the world as a
mischievous big child; let your attitude be one of amused contempt so long
as you detect no vice in the mischief; once you do, however, if you have
the gift of language, use it, lash out unmercifully! And don't desist
because the creature howls at you. The louder it howls the more you may
congratulate yourself that you have touched it on the right spot, which is
sure to be tender."

But he did not limit his kindly attentions to the giving of good advice;
in fact, he very seldom gave advice at all; what he chiefly did was to
devise distractions for her which should take her out of herself; and one
of these was a children's party which he induced her to give at Christmas.

The party was to take place on Christmas Eve, and the whole of the day
before and far into the night the Colquhoun house was thronged with actors
rehearsing charades and tableaux, and officers painting and preparing
decorations, and putting them up. All were in the highest spirits; the
talk and laughter were incessant; the work was being done with a will, and
none of them looked as if they had ever had a sorrowful thought in their
lives--least of all Evadne, whose gaiety seemed the most spontaneous of
all.

Late at night she had come to the hall with nails for the decorators, and
was handing them up as they were wanted by those on the ladders. The men
were in their shirt sleeves, the most becoming dress that a gentleman ever
appears in; and during a pause she happened to notice Colonel Colquhoun,
who had stepped back to judge the effect of some drapery he was putting
up. Mr. Price was a little behind him, and two of the younger men, the
three making an excellent foil to Colonel Colquhoun. Evadne was struck by
the contrast. The outside aspect of the man still pleased her. There was
no doubt that he was a fine specimen of his species, a splendid animal to
look at; what a pity he should have had a regrettable past, the kind of
past, too, which can never be over and done with! A returned convict is
always a returned convict, and a vicious man reformed is not repaired by
the process. The stigma is in his blood.

Evadne sighed. She was too highly tempered, well-balanced a creature to be
the victim of any one passion, and least of all of that transient state of
feeling miscalled "Love." Physical attraction, moral repulsion: that was
what she was suffering from; and now involuntarily she sighed--a sigh of
rage for what might have been; and just at that moment, Colonel Colquhoun,
happening to look at her, found her eyes fixed on him with a strange
expression. Was there going to be a chance for him after all?

He did not understand Evadne. He had no conception of the human
possibility of anything so perfect as her self-control; and when she
showed no feeling, he took it for granted that it was because she had
none. But during the games next day he obtained a glimpse of her heart
which surprised him. She had paid a forfeit, and, in order to redeem it,
she was requested to state her favourite names, gentlemen's and ladies'.

"Barbara, Evelyn, Julia, Elizabeth, Pauline, Mary, Bertram, and Evrard,"
she answered instantly. "I do not know if I think them the most beautiful
names, but they are the ones that I love the best, and have always in my
mind."

Colonel Colquhoun's countenance set upon this. They were the names of her
brothers and sisters, whom she never mentioned to him by any chance, and
whom he had not imagined that she ever thought of; yet it seemed that they
were always in her mind! He had so little conception of the depth and
tenderness of her nature, or of her fidelity, that had he been required to
put his feelings on the subject into words before this revelation, he
would, without a moment's hesitation, have declared her to be cold, and
wanting in natural affection, a girl with "views," and no heart. But after
this, a few questions and a very little observation served to convince him
that she not only cared for her friends, especially her brothers and
sisters, but fretted for their companionship continually in secret, and
felt the separation all the more because her father's harsh prohibition
was still in force, and none of them were allowed to write to her, her
mother excepted, whose letters, however, came but rarely now, and were
always unsatisfactory. The truth was that the poor lady had relapsed into
slavery, and been nagged into an outward show of acquiescence in her
husband's original mandate which forbade her to correspond with her
recalcitrant daughter; and, in her attempts to conceal her relapse from
the latter, and at the same time to keep Mr. Frayling quiet under the
conviction that her submission was genuine, the style of her letters
suffered considerably, and their numbers tended always to diminish. But
the thing that touched Colonel Colquhoun was the care which Evadne had
taken to conceal her trouble from him, the fact that she had not allowed a
single complaint to escape her, or made a sign that might have worried him
by implying a reproach. He had his moments of good feeling, however, and
his kindly impulses too, being, as already asserted, anything but a
monster; and under the influence of one of them, he sat down and wrote a
sharp remonstrance to Mr. Frayling, which, however, only drew from that
gentleman an expression of his sincere admiration for his son-in-law's
generous disposition, and of his regret that a daughter of his should
behave so badly to one who could show himself so nobly forgiving, with a
reiteration of his determination, however, not to countenance her until
she should "come to her senses"--so that no actual good was done, although
doubtless Colonel Colquhoun himself was the better for acting on the
impulse.