The voice of freedom. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1839-1848, 1846-08-20
From Douglas Jerro1d's Magazine.
A STAR IN THE DARK.

"There is future to all who have the virtue t.
repent, and the energy to atone. "-BuLwER LYTroN
i" You may call it foolish or romantic, /
you like, but | repeat that could more easlly
forgive a fault committed under strong temp
tations, and foreign to the natural disposition
than series of petty WEAKNESSES sprlnSln9
from and belonging to the character"
Thus spoke Helen Travers to her sister
Mrs. Cunningham, and the thread of their
discourse is taken up when first it was over
heard. 1t was a strange spot for anything
like "confdentiaP' or sentimental" CONVEX
sation to have taken place but every one
must have observed that subjects of interest
often arise in the most unexpected manner
The two ladies had mistaken the hour at
which the morning concert was to take place,
had arrived somewhat too early, and had con-
sequently taken their seats before the others
were occupied. Perhaps, warming with the
subject under discussion they had not observ-
ed the few straggers who from time to time
dropped in, and certainly had not heard the
football of gentleman who entered, and seat
ed himself Immediately behind them, just at
the moment when some Of the attendants
were making prodiglous din in their rear
rangement of the benches near the orchestra.
Il could not have married q man in whom
did not take PRIDE" replied Mrs. Cunning
ham. II am very sorry for people who have
ever been led away to do anything wrong but
they must take the consequences Of their own
conduct; certainly anything like disgrace, or
the worlds censure, falling upon my husband
would crush me to the earth"
Not if his fault were the one fault of a
life" resumed Helen; "not if you loved him
very dearly. Nay 1 think his very suffering
would draw you more together. / have a the
ory that the very happy do not love half so
deeply as those who have known sorrow"
Il call such ideas perfect nonsense"
81 know you d." replied her sister with a
faint smile, and playing as she spoke with the
fringe of her shawl
Any one would think, to hear you talk,
that you had fallen in love with some scape
grace or another and you were seeking to eX
cuse your folly"
Susan, you know there is nothing of the
kind. You know l have never felt anything
more lasting than a passing fancy which one
shakes off just as waking breaks up a dream"
"How should know 2"
"Then believe-I would not deceive you.
Though three-and-twenty, indeed dread old
maidism far less than an i'll assorted union
Helen Travers turned her head as she
spoke, and though she did not perceive the
stranger, he caught the profile of her anima-
ted countenance. But the audience were by
this time arriving, and the sisters drew nearer
together to make room for the new comers.-
There was an end to their conversation of
course.
Notwithstanding a certain family likeness,
a look that was caught now and then, the sis
tiers were very different. The elder, Mrs
(1,,oniprrhor,1 fn, ba haantifIl if
exqusitely chisseled features and brilliant
complexion could make her so. But though
quick and clever, even witty and accomplish
ed, she was deficient in sentiment and the
powers of Imagination; was a lover Of detail,
and therefore despised, because it was to her
incomprehensible, the higher and gencralising
mind A thoroughly worldly education had
completed her character, and rendered her a
cold-hearted selfish woman of the world,
without enough of heart to feel the necessity
Of affection, and yet possessing an Unsuitable
vanity that fed on universal admiration. Her
sister formed a perfect contrast. With tea-
lures less regular, her countenance was as
changeful as the sea; for it mirrored every
thought and feeling as it welled up from her
woman's heart Early removed from the in
fluence of worldly minded parents, she had
been reared by widowed aunt, high-mind-
ed being, who had sought and found the
sweetest solace for her own early bereave-
ment in the artless nature of her young rela-
tive. Although by no means stranger to
the metropolis or to society, the country had
been Helcn's home. Her young heart had
expanded beneath the influence of nature, her
taste had been refined, her fancy quickened
by it, and though she had read much, she had |
had time and leisure to think more.
In short, she was a fine natural character,
as little warped as possible by the prejudices
of the selfish and the conventionalities of So
ciety. Death had,a year before, deprived her
Of more than her mother, and the independ-
ence which this beloved relative had be-
queathed to her. while it rendered her an OBJ I
ject of envy for her unmarried sisters, SEEM
ed to her own heart no consolation for her If
reparable loss.
But the stranger who had overheard these
few sentences which to thoughtful mind re-
vealed world Of knowledge, what of him?-
He had come to the morning concert simply
to enjoy the music, in which he delighted, yet
80 absorbed did he become in some all en-
crossing thoughts that the sweet sounds which
he had sought to hear, fell upon his soul only
from time to time as chimes and harmonised
with his reflections; and were only remember
ed afterwards by the power of association
which linked some peculiar cadence with a
thought, dream, memory, or a moment
where his attention had been reused by some
of pleasure or admiration of the
sweetest voice he had ever heard-the voice
of Helen TraverS. He was not what board
ing-school girls and youths in their teens call
young, for he must have reached five or six
and thirty and according to such high author
ity, he had passed the age Of romance and
the capability of sudden love, and yet in