The unintended consequences of Maule's control over
Alice's will
An excerpt from Chapter 13 that reveals the unintended consequences of Maule's
control over Alice's will
…There was laughter and good cheer within; for Matthew Maule, that night,
was to wed the laborer's daughter, and had summoned proud Alice Pyncheon
to wait upon his bride. And so she did; and when the twain were one, Alice
awoke out of her enchanted sleep. Yet, no longer proud,--humbly, and with
a smile all steeped in sadness,--she kissed Maule's wife, and went her
way. It was an inclement night; the south-east wind drove the mingled snow
and rain into her thinly-sheltered bosom; her satin slippers were wet through
and through, as she trod the muddy sidewalks. The next day, a cold; soon,
a settled cough; anon, a hectic cheek, a wasted form, that sat beside the
harpsichord, and filled the house with music! Music, in which a strain
of the heavenly choristers was echoed! Oh, joy! For Alice had borne her
last humiliation! Oh, greater joy! For Alice was penitent of her one earthly
sin, and proud no more!
The Pyncheons made a great funeral for Alice. The kith and kin were
there, and the whole respectability of the town besides. But, last in the
procession, came Matthew Maule, gnashing his teeth, as if he would have
bitten his own heart in twain--the darkest and wofullest man that ever
walked behind a corpse! He meant to humble Alice--not to kill her;--but
he had taken a woman's delicate soul into his rude gripe, to play with,--and
she was dead! (Chapter
13)
