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112 THE POBTHAIT.
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software. The text has not been manually corrected and should not be relied on to be an accurate representation of the item.
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Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software. The text has not been manually corrected and should not be relied on to be an accurate representation of the item.
Additionally, when viewing full transcripts, extracted text may not be in the same order as the original document.
_.. I Need Not Linger Over The Early Daw...
through the influence o £ line eyes ; I was not quite so absurd as that fact would imply . Mr . Cleveland possessed many dazzling *
qualities of mind , and a vast amount of curious knowledge ; his personal appearance was only one of his advantages . There was
no love-making , that wmild have broken the spell , dissolved the enchantment , wakened me from my silent dream , and caused a new
combination of ideas ; "words would have disturbed me ; I believed , nayI felt convincedthat Mr . Cleveland had me in his thoughts ,
and , in that faith I was , satisfied . I was as one walking through an illuminated city- —where all was rejoicing * , where lights gleamed
from every window , where garlands hung suspended from every door , where triumphal arches adorned every street , and banners
waved over the gates . A portion of the radiance that' floated round meseemed imparted to every object on which I looked . Could
this , bright epoch of existence only last , how beautiful the world would ever seem !
As a contrast to this silence , there was no lack of love-making on the part of Master Edward , by which I might have been bored to
death , especially when he took it into his silly head to ape the sentimental , had I not got as inured to it , and careless of it , -as I was
, to the singing of our canaries or the barking of our poodle . These worddemonstrations had begun soon after the introduction of the
red-faced y , snub-nosed , large-mouthed amateur at the Hotel Meurice , so they dated far backand were becoming stronger and stronger
the more I gave them , no heed ; their progress would have charmed any match-hunting modern mamma ; and a good catch Master
Edward would have been thought by those matrimonial bargainarrangersfor he was an only childand would at the death of his
father succeed , to a handsome estate , ; facts which had been duly communicated to me by Sarahtimes without numberas she made
no secret of her wish that I , would marry , and reform , , her dear Master Edward . By laughing * and turning the whole affair into
a jest , I had hitherto contrived to keep my silly admirer at a due distanceand to prevent his coming to the formality of making a
proposal , which could not have been accepted , no , not had he chanced to have been heir to a hundred estates , and as many titles
to boot . But I foresaw that I could not much longer continue to do so and although Mrs . Bethmie had never spoken to me on the
subject , , I knew well that her wishes pointed in the same direction as did those of Sarah . I was preparing * myself , therefore , to
perform the ungracious task of refusing the hand of the nephew of my benefactressand therebyI fearedunder the necessity of
givingher pain . Poor , girls are seldom , called , upon to inflict wounds in that fashion ; for it generally Happens that when young rich men
fall in love with the dependents of their relatives , the latter , instead of encouraging the love affairdo all they can to prevent it . It was
not so in my case , which I , accounted for "by the native generosity
of Mrs . Bethune ' s . mind , aided by the fact that her nephew made
112 The Pobthait.
112 THE POBTHAIT .
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Citation
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English Woman’s Journal (1858-1864), April 1, 1861, page 112, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/ewj/issues/ewj_01041861/page/40/
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