The spirit of the age. [volume] (Woodstock, Vt.) 1840-1844, 1840-12-04

it, however, by postponement for at least anoth
er year. Thus they were all in state of suspense
us to their ultimate Entc-a suspense which they
sought to alleviate by winning some sure token OF
her favor.
To all alike the Lady Blanche held the same de-
meanor, Gay, beautiful, an only child, and early
deprived of mother, she had learned to act and
think for herself, with all the sef-wi in some in
stances, and the frmncss in others of full grown
woman. She smiled, therefore, on all her suitors,
and was even--for how could she have helped it :
somewhat of a Coquctte. But still Blanche was
not so from any real heartlcssness One less pure,
or less sensitive, would in her situation, have been
spoiled; but Blanche maintained her exquisite del
icaCy of sentiment amid every temptation, and if
she smiled too often, as perhaps she did, when her
heart did not second it, it was only because life
bad left her little else TO do, and, like young
flower in the sunshine, she could not but be gay.
But there was one whom Blanche regarded with
far different feelings than those with which she
looked upon her crowd of sutors, and though she
others she would forget forwccks, and even months
she knew not exactly why it was so. Indeed
such question she had never asked herself She
was conscious that she did not look upon Henry
de Stanley in the same light in which she looked
upon the rest, but she neither cnquircd how long,
or from what cause she had regarded him so DIFF
fcrcnll,, Nor was she fully aware of her own
feelings toward him. She had not yet learnt the
lesson of her own heart She could not analyzc
her feelings. She never even dreamed that Stan
ley was a suitor-oh, no, he was her father page,
and as they had been educated together, he was
rather brother to her. Such used indeed to be
her feelings towards him, when she was still
child, and he was little more. But mtlcrly there
had grown up in her mind strange sensiliycncss
their brohcrs-a shrinking timdity at his many
acts Of kindness and gallam,ry, which, indeed, on
his part, were paid as modCsly as they were re-
cciycd. She could not now bring herself to run out
to meet him when he returned to the castle after n
chase, as she was once wont, although her heart
would iluttcr with strange excitement, and her
cheek would burn whom ho sought her in her own
apartments. She was sensible, we say, of this
change, but for u long time she cnquircd not the
cause.
fortnight before the opening of our tale, the
whole castle had been thrown into connection by
the arrival of Lord de Thicvry, French noble
man of vast possessions, who had come over from
the continent to visit some of the domains he held
under the English crown, and whose rcnown, III
lcals of arms was as extended as his lands We're
numerous. lie had not seen Blanche more than Il
few minutes ere he became cnsavcd by her charms.
| Nor could any one dream of becoming his rival, -
for who might stand before the lance, or win the
mistress of the Lord Thicvry Yet, though he
soon drove every competitor from the field, he
failed to win the regard of Blanche. There was
something about this new sutton rcpulsivc 10 her
pure mind, and though she could not feel even 10
herself in what that responsiveness consisted, yet
she was not the less sure Of its existence.
Meanwhile the arrival of the F.cnchman had
opened the eyes of Stanley to the true character
of his own feelings Bred up from childhood with
Blanche, he had learned to look upon her as a SIS
ter, and the happicst days of his life were, when
wandering with her amid the fields, or in the old
forest, he would weave wid-fowers in her hair,
aud help her 10 cross the brook, with mono to
watch their innocent sports But that day had
passed blanche had seemed latierly TO have
grown cold; and though she did no. avoid him she
never ran as of old to meet him. Her manner too
was ever changing-now all frankness, and now all
reserve Tortured by Il thousand fears, over
which, however, hope in the end would prevail
Stanley wondered and asked his own heart why Il
was that Blanche treated him differently, but nc
answer came to his inquiry, until the arrival OF tho
French baron, and he learned from the whispers o
the seritors and his fellow pages that Blanche wa
TO marry the foreign lord. Then il was the trull
flashed upon him. He had never dreamed thai
Blanche would wed any of her former suitors, fol
she had ever laughed even at the probability of it
but now, when Jealous of this new conner, he wOult
have given worlds TO learn that her sentiments wert
i sill unchanged he found that Blanche appcarct
for the first time to avoid him. The distance be-
tween them, occasioned by their difference III rank
grew daily greater, until at length Blanche scarce
ly ever saw Stanley. Stung by what he though
her neglect, but which was in reality only The nat
ural consequence of her exalted situation, Stanle!
now absenied himself from all those places whcF'
he might behold Blanche, spending his time in ih
field, or at the chase Yet night after night, whci
the whole castle was wrapped in sleep, and on!
the heavy tread Of the sentinel at the gate brok
the solemn silence, would Stanley, wrapping him
self in the mantle then worn, watch until long at
ter midnight
; II had been but the day before the hawking par
= ty, that Blanche and Stanley met accidentally
For a moment neither spoke. The contrast be
tween such meeting and their former ones, wa
chilling to the hearts Of each; but US Stanley ha,
now become fully aware of the hcpelessness of hi
passion. he could not trust himself 10 speak, Will
Blanche feeling half angry at the conduct of her oil