LOVE IN THE ORGAN LOFT.

New Zealand Graphic, Volume VIII, Issue 47, 21 November 1891, Page 598

LOVE IN THE ORGAN LOFT.

~\HE soft rhythmic How of a lovely son»Vi ata Beethoven floated through KI the deserted aisle of St. John’s Church vEiaMj [A with a lingering cadence that yet L*. b° re onward and upward the exquisite melody in its varying Hashes of 'ty I light and shade, passion and pain, J which the organist was evoking from ' C the P*P es of the grand old organ. V~ i® . No uncertain genius was Gerald '-eSrfSSNxXj Martin. Music was the charm of his solitary life, and he daily snatched brief hour from his onerous duties Jas a ‘ Professor of Music ’ to refresh : ' his weary brain, revelling in isolation from the outer world, and soaring in fantastic Hight and fitful fancy to communion with the •spirits of the great masters as he played their divine melodies. To-day he was more absorbed than usual, so that a light step upon the stair of the organ loft passed unnoticed until an instinctive consciousness of another’s presence impelled him to glance hastily around to discover the strange prescience to be true. A slight girl of some sixteen years stood within the doorway like a Hash of sunlight in that dimly - lighted place. ‘ Teach me your beautiful music !’ she exclaimed, in a sweet clear voice, as she advanced toward him. ‘ Teach me to play as you do !’ Her fair oval face was Hushed with excitement, and the light of enthusiasm shone in her large dark eyes. The organist thought he had never seen so lovely a face before. ‘ You must obtain your friends’ permission to learn,’ he said, with a kindly smile, ‘ The rest is easy.’ A shadow flitted across her expressive features. ‘ I have no friends. My father and mother were drowned at sea, and I am only grandpa’s “ burden.” ’ ‘ His consent should not be difficult to win. ’ She shook her head despairingly. • You do not know him. Besides, grandpa is poor.’ Not until then did the organist note the evidences of refined poverty in the neat but threadbare serge gown, and limp sailor hat, which was, however, set with evident care upon the soft masses of curling brown hair above the broad white forehead. He was silent, and for the moment inclined to resent the encroachment upon his time. ‘ Some day I would pay you,’ she said, in timid pleading, ‘ indeed, I would.’ ‘ It is a mere whim,’ he answered coldly. Bravely she struggled with the rising tears of disappointment, but, still undaunted, persisted in her request. ‘Do not turn me away. Day after day I have listened to your heavenly music, and prayed you might teach it me.’ It was a touching confession, appealing very forcibly to his generosity, but to grant her desire involved an act of selfsacrifice he was scarcely prepared to make ; still he wavered in his decision, for there was an irresistible winsomeness in the delicate, eager face upturned to his that took his heart by storm. She misunderstood his hesitation. ‘ You wonder at my presumption,’she said in faltering accents. ‘ Please forgive me, but my heart was so full of it all.’ Through a mist of blinding tears she groped her way to the door. ‘ Come back, child.’ She turned in mute amazement and doubtfully obeyed. ‘ What is your name ?’ ‘ Vera Elton.’ ‘ Well, Vera, I will teach you all I know. Be here tomorrow at the same hour to take your first lesson.’ She gazed at him in speechless gratitude, her whole frame quivering with emotion ; joy such as hers could find no outlet in words, but she was conscious he understood all she meant to convey in the touch of her lips upon his hand. Gerald Martin faithfully fulfilled his promise. For over eighteen months those lessons were regularly given, and the sacrifice was not in vain. Vera was an apt pupil, and he could see she was carried away by her intense appreciation of the wonderful harmonies so subtlyinterwoveninthecreations of Handel, Beethoven, and Mozart. Her command of the instrument became perfected beneath his tuition, and her ear was keen to detect the slightest discord into which her supple fingers might be betrayed. The hour was fraught with happiness to them both—a happiness which the man of thirty did not seek to define. The bright freshness of the young life now in the dawn of womanhood, had become so inextricably woven with the prosaic routine of his, that the possibility of dissolution never disturbed his thoughts, yet when the blow fell it was all the heavier for this vague unconsciousness. He was quick to detect the shadow in her dark eyes when she came to him that day. ‘ What is wrong, Vera?’ he inquired anxiously. ‘lt is the last time,’ she said in a troubled tone. ‘ I have come to say “ good-bye.’” • Why ?’ he abruptly demanded. • A wealthy aunt, in a fit of caprice, has determined my neglected education shall be repaired by two years’ study in France. Grandpa received the letter this morning.’ ‘ And afterwards?’ he asked, bitterly, the dim vista of the dreary future without his little girl already spreading out before him in all its loneliness. ‘ Afterwards?’she echoed, while a slight flush dyed her pale face. ‘ Oh, afterwards auntie says I must be introduced to society, and—and —’ ‘ You need not tell me, Vera. Most women are matchmakers.’ Her lips quivered, and she glanced curiously at him from beneath her veiled lashes. I Do not think I shall forget,’ she said, softly. ‘ Indeed I shall come back some day.’

‘ You will come back,’ he repeated, taking her hand be tween both his own and gazing with searching tenderness

into her sweet face. ‘My dear child, the world is but opening to you now, therefore make no rash promises. ’ ‘ I do not deem it rash, but merely the dictates of my own heart,’ she said with a bright upward glance, that woman-like fell instantly beneath the passionate love in the depths of the grey ey(*s bent upon her. ‘Do not tempt me, Vera,’he said, in alow voice. ‘lt would not be honourable, dear, to mar your future happiness by any selfish claim of mine. No ; free and unfettered you must enter upon this new career, only remember, if ever you care to return, my heart is waiting for you and can never change.’ Did she realise the greatness of his love in this voluntary renunciation ? He yearned that it might be so as he gazed into her troubled downcast face. ‘ I must not linger,’ she said, hurriedly, as if not daring to prolong a parting that was of necessity painful to both. ‘ Will you kiss me but this once, Vera?’ She coloured vividly, but with a sweet gravity raised her lips to his. ‘ God bless you, dear,’ he said, earnestly, and the familiar benediction seemed a fitting seal upon the past. ******* Seated in a cosy chair in the library at Newick Hall, gazing dreamily into the bright, cheery fire, was Vera Elton, a guest, with her aunt, Mrs Harwood, at this delightful old English mansion. Her visit, however, was marred by the fact that Sydney Grafton, her host, in spite of gentle protests wilfully misunderstood, asserted a certain air of possession over her, courteous and tender it was true, but scarcely chivalrous in its unwelcome persistency. She knew how much depended upon her acceptance of his suit—the inheritance of her aunt’s wealth, the position in society for which many women angled in vain ; all that the world holds dear in life. Yet she hesitated, for even in the leaping flames she saw the grey eyes she had known in other days and remembered her promise of old. On every side of her were the evidences of untold wealth ; old carved oak furniture, soft Indian rugs, curios from the great cities of the world, vast tiers of books in which were enshrined the thoughts of the greatest authors of past and present ages—all these thingssufficientin themselves to wean a woman’s heart from voluntary exile to the darker side of life, whither existence was a struggling reality. A footfall in the corridor aroused Vera from her abstraction, and Mr Grafton entered the room with a slight smile of gratification at finding her alone. He was a man of about twenty-six, exceedingly fair, with penetrating light blue eyes, curiously suggestive of a sarcastic nature beneath. No trace of embarrassment was discernible upon her sweet face as she arose to greet him, although he scanned her closely. ‘ Do not disturb yourself, Miss Elton,’ he said lightly. ‘ Fate favours me this afternoon.’ She flushed deeply in the swift consciousness of what his words implied, and would have left the room, but he laid a detaining hand upon her arm. ‘ One moment, Vera. You cannot have misunderstood my intention to make you my wife. When will you come to me, darling ?’ ‘ Never !’ she cried impulsively, her eyes brightening with just indignation at his cool assurance of her acceptance of his offer. The resentment in her voice startled him ; perhaps, after all, he had been too sure of his prey. ‘Do not misunderstand me, Vera. I love you, and would make you my wife.’ ‘lt cannot be,’ she said earnestly. A dangerous light flashed in his blue eyes. Mr Grafton was unaccustomed to be thwarted in his desires. ‘ I have your aunt's approval,’ he said, as if stating a fact from which there could be no appeal. Vera grew pale ; if she persisted in her refusal it would be at the sacrifice of Mrs Harwood’s favour ; she would return to her grandfather’s home. ‘ I cannot help it, for I do not love you,’ she answered in calm despair. ‘ Then there is someone else !’ he exclaimed in jealous anger. ‘ls it not so, Vera ?’ he added, with a keen comprehensive glance at the deepening colour his suggestion called forth. Ere she could reply, a girlish voice without was heard impatiently calling her name, and its owner burst in upon them, all unconscious of the state of affairs. ‘ Well I never, Sydney !’ exclaimed the intruder, a bright, saucy-looking girl, evidently not yet out of the schoolroom, ‘ Mother has been waiting this half-hour in the great hall to hear Vera play the organ, and this is your promise of finding her ! Naughty Vera !’ she added, ‘ to keep us in the dark about your organ playing. Mrs Harwood declares you cannot be excelled.’ Truly her execution was marvellous ! As he listened to the exquisite melody she drew from the home-organ, Sydney’s admiration of his beautiful guest was intensified ; yet the pleasure merged into pain as his passion led him to conceive an undercurrent of defiance in the rippling notes, ending in a crash of joyous triumph disastrous to vanquished hopes. Restlessly crossing the floor, he sank into a chair at Mrs Harwood’s side. ‘ Under whose tuition has Vera obtained such proficiency?’ he inquired in a low voice. The lady smiled at the implied compliment to her niece. ‘ An organist in London whose name Vera prefers should remain a secret to everyone but herself.’ ‘ Indeed ! For what reason is this mystery ?’ he asked with jealous interest. ‘ I can scarcely explain here,’ said Mrs Harwood with an air of diffidence in her niece’s direction. ‘ Then come into the conservatory. My mother will not notice our defection in her delight at a musical treat.’ It was easy to find a cosy retreat for his companion amid the flowers and foliage. ‘I have reason for my inquiries,’ he said then, ‘for I have met with a serious rebuff from Vera this afternoon.’ ‘Did she dare to refuse you?' exclaimed Mrs Harwood with an ominous frown.

‘ Yes, but Ido not take it as final. For this end I would hear further of the organist who probably is the obstacle in ray path.’ ‘ Doubtless your inference is correct, and Vera shall suffer for her obstinacy,’ said Mrs Harwood severely. ‘ This man taught her gratuitously before I adopted her, and Vera thinks he would resent the recompense I should naturally like to offer.’ ‘ Have you any idea of the church at which he officiates ?’ ‘ No. I inquired of her grandfather, but he knew little about it, beyond it was not at St. Peter’s where they usually attended.’ ‘ Have you any objection to name the district in which Vera resided ?’ Mrs Harwood hesitated, but ultimately gave the desired information. ‘ Do not speak to Vera of what has occurred to day,’ he said, as they parted at the conservatory door,’ but leave me to win her in my own way. Ido not fear the issue with this clue in my possession.’ If Vera feared the result of Mr Grafton’s tete-a-tete with hei aunt, her fears were groundless, for Mrs Harwood ignored the subject, w’hile her rejected lover resumed the same tactics as formerly, preserving a sort of proprietorship over her against which she dared not outwardly rebel. He strolled home with her through the park after the Sunday morning service at Newick Church. ‘ Are you fond of inspecting churches ?’ he casually inquired. ‘ Some people have a mania for that sort of thing.’ ‘ I like to visit those of historic interest. There are many such in France.’ J ‘ Then you have not made a tour of all the London churches ?’ ‘ I should think not!’ she said smilingly, ‘ beyond the Abbey and St. Paul’s I have only entered two.’ ‘ And those?’ he queried, trying hard to veil the eagerness with which he awaited her reply. ‘ St. Peter’s and St. John’s ; but you are not likely to be acquainted with them as they are suburban.’ How easily she had fallen into the trap ! He had reason to congratulate himself upon his diplomacy. A fortnight later Mr Grafton journeved to town for an indefinite period, having persuaded Mrs Harwood to delay her return thither until he deemed it advisable. His mission apparently lay with his lawyers, Messrs Tanner, Lowman, and Tanner, and subsequently Gerald Martin one day wended his way to the same offices, and having sent up his card was admitted into the presence of the senior member of the firm. ‘ I have called in reference to a letter I have received from New York,’ said Gerald, in an explanatory tone, as he took the vacant chair indicated by the lawyer. •It contains the munificent offer of a position as organist in one of the foremost churches there, and the writer refers me to you as the source from whence the recommendation springs. Naturally, I am in the dark as to the reason for this kindly interest, and should be glad of enlightenment.’ The lawyer smiled. ‘ Of course you have written your acceptance ?’ ‘The time allowed for my decision expires to-morrow,’ said Gerald shortly. ‘ One tie alone occasions my hesitation and keeps me in London.’ Mr Tanner glanced keenly at the careworn face, and in the light of Mr Grafton’s instructions, made a shrewd guess at the cause. ‘ If I am guilty of a breach of confidence, Mr Martin, I am sure you will not betray it to anyone. You owe this kindness to a lady who would thus quietly repay a debt of gratitude of four years’ standing, and, by the way, I may as well tell you Miss Elton is upon the eve of marriage with Mr Grafton, a wealthy landowner in Surrey.’ Gerald Martin’s face grew strangely white ; he arose and walked to the window, looking out upon the busy traffic beneath in a whirl of conflicting emotions. In one moment the fond hope of his life had been ruthlessly destroyed. Should he take this favour at her hands—this cold requitai for his labour of love? Yet why not, when the organ-loft at St. John’s could never be the same again—brightened and sanctified by the remembrance of her dear presence ? His voice was composed and steady when he turned to the lawyer. ‘ Will you convey my thanks and congratulations to Miss Elton, and tell her 1 look forward to a brighter career in New York than fate has dealt me here.’ ‘ You forget I was not to mention her in the matter,’ said Mr Tanner, with the perpetual smile Gerald never afterwards forgot. Custom demanded the usual three months’ notice to the authorities at St. John’s, and Gerald found those weeks interminable in their length and dreariness. He rarely entered the organ-loft for his customary practice ; indeed he longed for freedom from old associations, but upon one of these rare occasions he stood gazing over the curtained rail into the church beyond, deep in a reverie of the past, when a light touch upon his arm aroused him, and Vera was at his side.

‘ I have come back,’ she said, in a low, happy voice. ‘ Only to mock me,’ he said, sternly. ‘ Why do you come —the promised wife of another ?’ ‘lt is false!’ she cried, telling the truth bluntly in her dismay at his greeting. ‘ Who could have told it you ?’ A great joy illumined his heart and transfigured his homely face, for it was impossible to doubt her sincerity. Briefly he narrated his visit to the lawyer, while she hs'tened in bewildered astonishment to the plot to destroy her happiness. ‘ 1 knew nothing about it, Gerald, and alas, should never have known until too late if grandpa had not been taken seriously ill and telegraphed for me to come to him. I have been tiue to my own heart all along, and although auntie seems determined I shall marry Sydney Grafton, it will never be !’

The light of love was upon them both, a golden harmony, a dream of joy. He enfolded her in his arms and kissed her passionately. ‘ Have you come home to me, darling ? Oh, Vera, I cannot live without you, selfish as it may seem to bid you share my poverty.’ ‘ Do not say so, Gerald, for your poverty will make my happiness.’ ‘ls it so, Vera ? Then you love me, darling ? You will be my wife?’ ‘ Yes,’ she said softly. And so St. John’s Church retained its organist, and Mrs Harwood lost her niece, through love’s caprices in the organ loft.