THADY D'ARCY: A STORY OF IRISH LIFE. BY JEANIE SELINA DAMMAST (REEVES), AUTHOR OF "ST. MARY'S CHAPTER VII. CONVENT," ETC. I persuaded by the nurse to go into the drawing-room, to refresh himselt by a few minutes' absence from the close air of the sick-room, a little time before the chaise drove up, and he now congratulated himself on having done so. Descending the stairs in haste, he opened the door for the newly arrived, who were, as he conjectured, the father and sister of his friend. "Oh, sir, how is my brother?" was the hurried question of Miss Grady. Taking her hand in his, Thaddeus said, fervently, [JULY, 1866. "Thank God, I am able to say that the doctor thinks him better." "Thank God indeed for His mercy," said the old gentleman, solemnly, as his daughter threw herself sobbing into his arms. "Come, Lucy dear, you will be a bad nurse if you give way in this manner.—I need not ask, sir, if you are Mr. D'Arcy. How can I ever thank you sufficiently for all your kindness to my son?" "Ah, sir," replied Thaddeus, "do not thank me at all; you do not know what I owe him." A tremor in his voice showed how much he felt, and Mr. Grady, giving his hand a cordial grasp, asked him to lead the way up-stairs. Well as they had been prepared for the change in him, they could not avoid a start and shudder as their eyes fell on the beloved invalid, who looked wan to a degree; the white cloths on his head giving him a ghastly appearance. How unlike he was to the young man who had left them a year before, in the enjoyment of perfect health; the clustering curls thrown back from his noble brow, and his dark eyes sparkling with life and intellect! Now how great was the contrast! Helpless, and unable to recognize his dearest friends, he lay like a pale shadow, fast hastening from a world the very vitality of which would seem too much for him to endure. Silent tears dropped from Lucy's eyes as she gazed on the dear face so fearfully altered, but a motion of the sufferer warned her to withdraw. Her father led her into the drawing-room, where Thaddeus joined them, after he had left them alone together for a few minutes to get over the shock they had undergone. "If you think well of it, Mr. Grady," he said, "I shall go for Dr. O'Meara; you will be anxious to hear from himself what he thinks | of your son." "Thank you, Mr. D'Arcy; you are all that is kind and thoughtful. I think, if you do not object to it, I will walk with you to the doctor's; and you, Lucy dear, must rest on the sofa until our return." "Dear papa," she said, earnestly, "I cannot rest, I cannot lie still while poor Arthur is so ill.” "Well, my dear, stay quietly in this room at all events, and I shall ask Miss Dudley to come up to you while we are away; she will doubtless have much to tell you about Arthur." Having stopped a moment at the shop door to ask Miss Dudley to step up-stairs, the gentlemen walked on to Dr. O'Meara's, and found him enjoying a glass of port wine after his dinner. He entered fully into an account of his son's case to Mr. Grady, and told him that he hoped the worst was now over, as the patient had certainly been under the influence of the fever for at least a week before he gave up his active life. He could not, however, hide from the anxious parent that they had still to contend with the extreme weakness that would succeed the attack. "But, my dear sit," he added, "I am very hopeful about my patient. He has had a tender nurse in my friend here," laying his hand on the shoulder of Thaddeus ; "and with the reinforcement of two such nurses as you and Miss Grady, we shall get on swimmingly, I have THADY D'ARCY: A STORY OF IRISH LIFE. no doubt only we must feel our way cautiously; we must not do too much. Dame Nature likes her own way as much as any other dame that I know of, and we must not interfere too much with her operations. And now I shall walk back with you to have a look at my patient, and present myself to Miss Grady." After having seen the patient, who was awake, the doctor paid a visit in the drawing-room to Lucy, and told her he thought he could let her see her brother in the morning. "I know," he said, "you are all anxiety to be doing something for him. Don't be afraid of being idle; you shall have your hands full before long; he will be as ravenous as a young bear by-and-bye, and you will have enough to do to keep him from eating you up along with all the good things you can give him." Miss Grady smiled faintly as she shook hands with the worthy little man, who she saw was trying to cheer her. As soon as the doctor left, Thaddeus went into the sickroom to sit with the patient, while the nurse went down-stairs to make arrangements for the night. How truly in our weakness are God's ways often made perfect! Now that the tongue of his guide was unable to frame a sentence of encouragement or warning, God impressed more vividly on the memory of Thaddeus all that that friend had said in hours gone by; and the prayers that had been offered up in faith by the sufferer, while health and energy were his, were fully answered while he lay, as it were, on the confines of eternity. The strife had been set at rest in the bosom of Thaddeus, and he had 147 resolved to spend his life in the service of that Saviour whom he had learned to know to his soul's salvation. He knew that scorn and contumely would be his lot among those with whom all his early associations were connected; and he feared that even the love of his mother and sister would not be proof against the disgrace, as they would consider it, of his becoming a "turn-coat," as it was contemptuously called. Yet he made up his mind to give up everything for the love of the Lord Jesus,' who had said, "He who loveth father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me." A holy, peaceful calm stole over his spirit as he thus mused, and caused his face to beam with a brightness not of earth. A soft hand was laid on his, and turning his eyes on the bed where his hand lay, he saw that it was the hand of his friend that so gently clasped his, and he found that friend's gaze fixed inquiringly on him as he met it. Where were your thoughts at that moment?" asked the invalid, in a feeble voice. The heart of Thaddeus bounded with joy as he heard the question. He saw that reason had returned to her throne, that the fever was subdued, and the patient once more in possession of his full faculties, strength excepted. With an inward thanksgiving he returned the faint clasp of the hand by a cordial pressure, and said, 66 'Ah, where were they indeed? Going up in gratitude to God for all His mercies." "Have you," exclaimed Arthur, starting,-"oh, D'Arcy, have you found peace?" "Yes, my friend, I bless God for His great mercy in manifesting Himself to my soul; but you must not speak any more at present; to morrow, please God, we shall talk further." 3.1 "Bless the Lord, O my soul: and all that is within me, magnify His holy name," murmured the invalid, who then remained silent, while his eyes were raised in gratitude that was breathed in the inmost recesses of his spirit. The nurse returned at this moment, and, directing her to give the patient some nourishment, Mr. D'Arcy left the room, his very step giving evidence of his joy as he entered the drawing-room, where Mr. and Miss Grady were just rising from their knees. Taking a hand of each, he said, with deep feeling, "Our dear invalid is, thank God, restored to reason; and now, with the blessing of the Most High, he will soon be in his usual health again." A fervent thanksgiving was the response of the father and sister, whose hearts leaped with joy, as the great pressure of fear was thus lifted off, and they could venture to look forward with stronger hope to a favourable issue. Two or three weeks, during which loving care was bestowed on the patient, made a wonderful difference in his appearance; and at the end of that time he was able to recline on a couch in the drawing-room, and with the assistance of his father and friend even walked about the room several times during the day, to test his reviving powers. One day in the end of August he was taken out in an open carriage for a short drive, Mr. D'Arcy taking the reins, and carefully avoiding every jolt or shake; and from that time the drives were repeated daily until the patient had so much recovered his strength that the doctor thought he might with safety be moved to his father's for change of air. While Mr. D'Arcy was engaged with his friend, a young priest had been doing his duty in the parish; as had a curate, appointed by the bishop, for Mr. Grady, whose rector was absent from home. The good folk of Ballinadarna had found ample occupation for their tongues in talking of the long attendance of Thaddeus upon Mr. Grady, the Roman Catholics being openly of opinion that Mr. Grady had declared he could not die easy if Father D'Arcy were not there to give him the rites of the church; and the Protestants were secretly afraid that the priest was only assuming an interest in their clergyman for the purpose of asserting that he had made a convert of him in the event of his death taking place. But, to the great surprise of both parties, the carriage that conveyed the Gradys to their distant home held a fourth occupant, who was no other than Father D'Arcy. |