Richmond enquirer. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1815-1867, 1825-05-10

the frosty Carcasns was ia lie most meiting
mood alive, wien the door ope, ed, ard In walked
he facinatinI objec of III. speculatons. She wus
dressed in simple grey, wholly witAou ornament, |
and her dark bro hair braided demurelS over
To- ehead which looked as lofty as her face was
lovely. The reception she gave me was polite and
graceful but somew nat distant aud ! perceived
tina, she had either forgotten, or determined
not 10 recognize me. | was not quite prepared
for this and, in spite of my constitutional conf
dence, felt not li,e embarrassed / had, perhaps,
mistaken the breakings forth OF young and buoy
ant spirit, under ridiculous circumstances, for the
encouragement OF volatile coquetry and, for mo-
ment, was in doubt whether l should not apollo
gze and pretend that she was not the lady for
whom my visit was intended But then she was
so beautiful Angels and ministers Nothing
on earth could have sent me down stairs unless
had been kicked down 6 Madam began
but my blood was in turmoil * have not been able
to recollect precisely Whit | said. Something IL
was however about my late father and her lament
ed husband, absence and the East Indies, Liver
complaints and Life insurance with compliments,
condolences pardon. perturbation and prefer pu-per
feet imperinence. The lady looked surprised,
broke my speech with two or three well-bred ejac
ualions, and astonished me very much by protest.
ing that she had never heard her husband mention
either my father his promising little heir-appa-
rent, William Henry Thomas, i'll the whole course
Il,
omission is extremely natural am sure am
not all offended with your late husband upon
thatscore. He elderly, sckly sort of man. |
My father always told him he could rot last, but
he never thought he would have died soon after |
his marriage. He had not tne-he had not time,
Madam, TO make his friends happy by introducing |
them 10 you.''
| believe upon the whole, / must have behaved |
remarkably WE'LL for the widow could not quite |
make up her mind whether to credit not, |
which, when we consider the very slender mate |
rails had TO work upon, is saying great deal. |
AT last contrived to make the conversation glide
| away TO Aud Robin Gray and the drawing OF A
| polio, which pronounced TO be chet-d Ceure.
Permit me, however, TO suggest, that the symme-
try OF the figure ould not be destroyed by little
more OF Hercules in the shoulders, which would
make his life worth much longer purchase. a
little more amplitude in the chest too, an d trife
stronger on the legs, as the say at the insurance
Office. The widow looked comically at the
collections which | brought to her mind ; her rosy
lips began disclose their treasures half smile
and this, in turn, expanded into laugh like the
| laugh OF Eupnrosyne. This was tie very thing
for me. was always rather dashed by beauty on
the silt but put us upon fair grounds, and ne
yer supposed that could be Otherwise than charm
ing. / ran over all the amusing topics of the day,
expended thousand admirable Jokes, repeated
touching passages from poem which she had
not read, laughed, sentimcntalized, cuddled The
kitten, and forgot to go away till had sojourned
| full two hours. Euphrosyne quite los. sight
| of my questionable introduction, and chimed it
with wit as brilliant as her beauty did she
put single grave look when / volunteered TO
call the next day and read the remainder OF the po
| EN-.
1t is impossible to conceive how carefully
walked home My head and heart were full OF the
widow aud the wager, and my life was more pre-
cious than the Pigot Diamond. kept my eye
sedulously upon the pavement, TO be that the
coal-holcs were closed and never crossed
the street without looking both ways, to calculate
the dangers Of being run over. When arrived, /
was presented with letter from my attorney, Civ
ing me the choice of ensigncy in regiment
which ordered to the West Indies, or DIGGING |
missionary 10 New Zealand / wrote to him, in
answer, that it was perfectly INN aterial to me
whether | cut off by the yellow fever or
devoured by cannibals, but that had business
which would prevent me from availing myself of
either alternative for two months, at least
The next morning found me again at the door
Of Enphrosyne, who gave me her lily hand, and
received me with the smile of old acquaintance.
Affairs went on pretty much the they did
on the preceding day. The poem was long, her
singing exquisite, my anecdote of New Zealand
irresistible, and we again forgot ourselves till it
was necessary, III common poli,eness, to ask me
10 dinner. Here her sober attire, which for some
months had been piece of mere gratutous res
my soul, which was trimming before, was in an
agony TO find room for my increasing transports. |
Her spirits sportive as butterflies, and huttered
over the flowers OF her inauguration with grace
that was quite miraculous. She ridculed the ra-
pIdity oil our acquaintance, eulogized M modesty
till ii was well nigh burning 10 a cnder, and every
now and then sharpened her wit by delicate recur-
renee to Apollo and the shoulders of Hercules.
The third and the fourth and the fifth day, with
twice many more, equally productive of ex-
cuses for calling, and reasons for remaining till at
last | took upon me TO call and remain without |
troubling myself with the tile other. was |
received with progressive cordially and at last |
with mixture OF timidity which assured me of the
anticipation OF a catastrophe which was, once,
% decide the question with the insurance Office and
determine the course oimy travels One day found |
the Peri sitting rather pensivey at work. and as
usual, l took my seat opposite to her
&c have been thinking said she, " that /
ha c been nightly imposed upon.''
60 BY whom ?'' inquired
BY one of whom you have the highest opinion |
by yourself
&c Ia what do you rnstrust me 20
I" Come now will it please you 10 be candid, |
and tell me honestly that all that exceedingly intel
ligibe story about your father, and the liver com
plant. and Heaven knows what, was a mere fabri- |
cation 2"
" Will it please you to let me thread that needle
for ] see that you taking aim at the wrong end
Of it 2"
" Nonsense Will you answer me 90
81 think / could put the finishing touch to that
sprig. Do you not see % | continued, Jumping
up and leaning over her. " 1t should be done 20
land then so.--What stitch do YOU call that %
The beauty not altogether in a mood for 10
king. ! took her hand-it treInbed-and so did
mine.