The Sun.
London, England, 1834-06-26 00:00:00

LOVE-ROMANCE IN REAL,LIFE.

Some thirty years ago Lord's cricket gr Jund was a
sylvan.spot. On Saturdays it presented a display of all
the elite of London Society ; and on one certain
Saturday of Saturdays it chanced that the wealthy
brother of a noble earl nearest in succession to his
peerage, was struck dumb, and deaf, and blind, by the
spectacle of a beautiful and elegantly dressed woman,
maid, widow, or wife, seated in one of the booths, and
surrounded by a party of fashionables. The place was
too much crowded to admit of his nearer approach;
but his approach was already near enough for the gen-
tleman to have what is called " fallen in love at first
sight."
From that moment he devoted himself to the task of
discovering the name, nature, and place of abode of his
beautiful inconnue. The birth-day, however, was at
hand. In those times the Bth of every June beheld
London a desert ; and people enjoyed their own roses
and strawberries at their own country seats, instead of
paying for those of Grange, and Lee, and Kennedy.
It was in vain, therefore, that the Hon. Mr.
grilled himself to a turn in the sultry purlieus of
-Rotton-row, or stewed himself to rags at the little
theatre in the Haymarket; our Romeo soon found
himself the " last man" in town—no Juliet was to be
seen ; nothing but dusty cauliflowers and yellow green
peas. From his residence in May-fair, therefore, he
fled to his family seat to Brighton, Ramsgate—Wey-
mouth—wherever people did most congregate—in
hopes of discovering and making himself lord of the
lady. At length, in the course of the autumn, at
Doncaster races, or the Granby at Harrowgate, or the
Ship ball at Lincoln, or some other provincial place
of entertainment, his eyes were recreated with a second
sight of the same tall shapely form, the same grey
eyes and long black eyelashes, the same sweet smile
and sweeter brow by which he had been overpowered
at the cricket-ground ; and this time he was not only
enabled to secure an introduction, but had the satis-
faction of finding that the beautiful unknown was his
equal in birth and fortune, and every way qualified to
become his wife. Better still, she even consented to prove
her qualification—accepted his hand—and in a few
weeks the betrothed lover accompanied the family to
their fine old park in the county of . Weddinn,
clothes, cake and carriages were in progress—the
diamonds and the special license bespoken—the day
fixed 1 The lovely Maria, overpowered by the enthu-
siastic passion she had inspired looked forward with
confidence to a long and happy life as the hon. Mrs.
S. ; and nothing remained to complete her vision of
bliss but the return from Devonshire of her favourite
sister, Harriet, who on recovering from a long indis-
position, was to officiate as bride's maid and whose
letters evinced the greatest interest in her prospect,
and the greatest anxiety to become acquainted with
her future brother-in-law.

.It was the very eve of the wedding. The new car-
riages, the mechlin, the white satin favours, the white
sugared cake, and all the rest of the bridal parapher-
nalia, were safely housed at park : and the as-
sembled family waited impatiently for the sound of
wheels which was to announce the arrival of Harriet
and her elder brother. The lawyers and the settlement
were signed and dismissed ; and the bridegroom and
his idol were standing together at a window, when, lo !
open flew the drawing room doors, and in flew the in-
valid. " My dearest Maria !"—" My dearest Harriet !"
exclaimed the two sisters, rushing into each others
arms. But white, meanwhile, was the bridegroom ?

" Half fainting in an arm chair !"
" That is the lady to whom I am attached ; that is the
lady I met at Lord's," faltered the unhappy man as
soon as the aid of hartshorn and sal volatile restored
his articulation ; and Harriet was forced to confess that
at their original encounter Mr. —'s manifest admi-
ration had produced considerable effect upon her own
feelings, and that he had been the hero of her Devon-
shire indisposition. The sisters, bearing so unlucky a
mutual resemblance, now vied with each other in gene-
rosity. Each was for transferring the affections or
the pretensions of the bridegroom to the other. But
eventually it was Harriet who wore the mechlin, and
profited by the special license !
For several years Maria " pined inly," and wore
the willow; but the green garland became her so well
that she won the affections of an opulent Baronet, and
became his wife. It is to be regretted that we are not
enabled to add, after the most approved fashion of story
tellers, that " they all lived very happy ever after-
wards." But the parties are now no more. Lord's
cricket-ground is now the resort of cricketers only ;
and reality has usurped the place of romance.