'You afflict me cruelly, cousin!' cried Christine, holding her hand before her traitorous eyes.
'Confide in me,' entreated Arwed, affectionately withdrawing her hand from her face. 'Go back with me to the times of our happy childhood, when we mutually imparted all our little secrets, when we laid our hearts before each other like open books. Let me once more read in yours: who is the man of your choice?'
'You shall read it, Arwed,' cried Christine; 'by heaven you shall read it! But not now,--only not to-day.'
'Why not now?' urged Arwed. 'The present is precisely the right moment. Your heart is now softened and open. Pour it out towards me before caprice and false shame shall again harden and close it. Name the man of your choice to me, and take my word that I will honestly do whatever I can to promote your happiness. Surely, Christine can have no reason to be ashamed of her choice!'
'Pity me!' cried she; and, again bursting into tears, she fled from the room.
'Strange!' said Arwed, looking after her. 'The maiden is not at peace with herself; that is evident from the violence and eccentricity of her behaviour. There is a wounded spot in her heart which smarts at the least touch. Pray heaven it be not Mac Donalbain! It would be a pity for so magnificent a creature.'
CHAPTER XXXII.
Arwed had soon become accustomed and reconciled to his exile at Gyllensten. Excursions among its environs under the pretext of hunting, afforded him ample enjoyment of the beauties of nature and free scope for the play of his imagination; and these, together with the business of the governor's bureau, in which, at his own request, he was permitted to take a part, occupied his days; while the evenings were employed in reading to the family circle, and in playing chess, a favorite game with his uncle. Thus, by means of constant and varied occupation, the time passed rapidly and pleasantly at the solitary castle. Meanwhile Megret, who had already obtained two extensions of his furlough, continued to besiege the heart of the fair Christine, and to submit with patient resignation to all the caprices by which that eccentric maiden chose to prove the constancy and perseverance of her adorer. He was, indeed, almost the only one at Gyllensten who had to suffer from them; for Arwed, true to the brotherly character which he had assumed, did not spare his beautiful sister, and every instance of arrogance in which the unevenness of her humor led her to indulge, was quietly though earnestly reproved, until she was oftentimes brought to despair. These little quarrels usually ended with tears and supplications on the part of Christine, which were so touching that it required all the influence of Georgina's memory and the conviction of Christine's secret love for another, to cool his youthful heart to that degree of circumspection necessary in his peculiar circumstances. Mac Donalbain's frequent visits to Gyllensten, moreover, seemed to exercise a great and unhappy influence upon the disposition of the otherwise so lovely maiden. During his presence she exhibited a constant excitement which immediately after his departure changed to a deep melancholy, out of which she emerged only to torment all who would suffer themselves to be tormented by her, with her caprices. From her father she concealed the state of her feelings as much as possible, and if it occasionally occurred to him that all was not as it should be, the business of his office, in consequence of the critical situation of the country, prevented his looking too deeply into the affairs of his household or his daughter's heart; and Arwed, though Christine still remained indebted to him for her promised confidence, could not bring himself to betray her to his uncle.
In this manner the summer had arrived, when one evening at the supper table, in Megret's and Mac Donalbain's presence, the governor asked Arwed if he had a desire to see a natural curiosity, to visit which Charles XI did not hesitate to make a long journey.
Arwed joyfully assured him that he regarded the wonders of the natural world as a spectacle, in comparison with which the greatest efforts of human ingenuity were of little value,--and that it was, indeed, one of his favorite occupations to contemplate them.