"I thank you, mamma; I thank you very much; but pray do not
inconvenience yourself on my account. I cannot go to town. I must stay
here and wait my husband's return--if he ever returns," murmured
Berenice to herself.
"But suppose he is in Washington?"
"Still, mamma, as he has not invited me to follow him, I prefer to stay
here."
"But surely, child, you need no invitation to follow your husband,
wherever he may be."
"Indeed I do, mamma. I came to him from Europe here, and my doing so
displeased him and drove him away from his home. And I myself would
return to my native country, only, now that I am in my husband's house,
I feel that to leave it would be to abandon my post of duty and expose
myself to just censure. But I cannot follow him farther, mamma. I
cannot! I must not obtrude myself upon his presence. I must remain here
and pray and hope for his return," sighed the poor young wife.
"Berenice, this is all wrong; you are morbid; not fit, in your present
state of mind, to guide yourself. Be guided by me. Come with me to
Washington. You will really enjoy yourself there--you cannot help it.
Your beauty will make you the reigning belle; your taste will make you
the leader of fashion; and your title will constitute you the lioness of
the season; for, mark you, Berenice, there is nothing, not even the
'almighty dollar,' that our consistent republicans fall down and worship
with a sincerer homage than a title! All your combined attractions will
make you whatever you please to be."
"Except the beloved of my husband," murmured Berenice, in a low voice.
"That also! for, believe me, my dear, many men admire and love through
other men's eyes. My son is one of the many. Nothing in this world would
bring him to your side so quickly as to see you the center of attraction
in the first circles of the capital."
"Ah, madam, the situation would lack the charm of novelty to him; he has
been accustomed to seeing me fill similar ones in London and in Paris,"
said the countess, with a proud though mournful smile.
Mrs. Brudenell's face flushed as she became conscious of having made a
blunder--a thing she abhorred, so she hastened to say: "Oh, of course, my dear, I know, after the European courts, our
republican capital must seem an anti-climax! Still, it is the best thing
I can offer you, and I counsel you to accept it."