Boon's Lick times. [volume] (Fayette, Mo.) 1840-1848, 1841-12-11

1alr charge.
NO, not yet; have promised Miss She
hourne's hand for the two first dances, an
know she will redeem my p''edge. Here
Howard Maitland' she continued, address
ing an officer who approached, how YER
la te you are
Miss Shelbournc, my dear, help me #
fulfil my engagement. This is my nephew
Captain Howard Maitland. He is mos
anxious to make your acquaintance
| Agatha looked up, to look down again il
sudden confusion. 1t was the same gentle
man we had met in our walk few DAYS
before. They danced together not only
the first two dances, but the third and the
fourth, and as they danced they attended
less and less to the figures, till at length
they stood aside, absorbed in earnest con.
versHtiOn. The attention Of Agatha was
fully engaged, and the varying color in
| her cheek, and the occasional quivering of
her lip, told with what intense interest she
listened to what Maitland was saying. One
broken sentence alone reached the ear OF
a stander-by:
And now, Miss Shelbourne, let me ask
| and believe me, ask from no idle curiosi-
ty--is there truth in the report that you are
engag adn
Agatha started and almost shrieked, for
I a hand firmly grasped her arm, and low
voice Kissed in her ear:
Agatha, Agatha, if you love me- do not
listen to him; come away this moment
But Agatha's pride and her anxiety were
both fully aroused. She shook off the hand
of L'orimer, for it was he, and replied in
| low but distinct voice.
No, Lormer your manner is so strange
that shall not obey you. begin to fear
that there is some passage in your life you
are anx ious to conceal from me, and what
ever it is, | uWknow it, With your leave
l will listen to what Captain Maitland was
about to say
IF you listen to him, Agatha gaspcd
LorimleI', while his face grew white with
mental agony,-'if you listen but for
another moment, we are both for ever
lost
But Agatha was firm. 1t fortunately
happe ned that the c4aperon and her party
were engaged at another part Of the room,
and a the suggestion Of Maitland, he, to-.
gether with Agatha and l.orimer, retired
into n small apartment adjoining the ball
room, which happened to he unuccupied.
Here, some explanation took place-what
it was did not then transpire: but she was
brought to our house the following morn
ing in a state bordering on insensbility. and
being conveyed to her room, continued for
several days too iii to speak or be spoken to.
No one Gould give any account of the affair
but Ma ,ltLand, and he would reveal nothing
beyond the circumstance that some disa-
greene Mt had taken place between Miss
ShelbolItne and Captain LDrimer, who had
appeared suddenly at the bail. and vanished
again as Suddenly. nor could any entreaty
induce Agatha to confess the cause of their
cStrangrment. A week passed over before
was permitted to see her, and then oh,
how changed she was! | could scarcely
believe that this was the same CAV creature
whom had seen as she went forth to the
ball, the picture of radiant happiness. Her
face was so utterly colorIeSs-her cheek
and lips of such ashy paIeness, that one
might have thought her a bloodlesS phnn-
tom; and it was a singular feature OF her
case, that even when her bodily health was
in great measure restored, Its hue never |
revisited her cheek in the slightest degree.
beyond a transient flush. Her face had |
been remarkable before tor It's rich color
ing, hut she had lost it at once and for ever.
Ghe expression OF her eyes, too. was alter
ed. Formerly, they had been overlooking
with life and joy-hinging their bright CLAN.
ces hther and thlther, and flashing upon
the very heart; now they had a fixed and |
settled expression that never varied. One
week seemed to have brought on poor A.
gatha's body and mind the weight Of fifty
years.
Lormer never re-appeared in Selworth,
and Agatha received only one letter from
him. il was large packet, containing. as
we suppose her own letters and the other
little tokens of affection she had given him.
She took 1t to her own room, and shut her.
sell up there for hours; when she came out
again, we could see she had been weeping.
and this was the only time that we ever saw
the traces of tears on her face. We had
now Il new visiter in the person of Captain
Mattield. He had called every d4v during
Agalha's Illness and was at length allowed
to see her. lie made frequent visits to her
while his regiment renamed in Il-,and q
when he left toranOther Station. new Sc d
rles of letters began to arrive. They were 4
AWAY receivedwith a heavy sigh and with
out any demonstration of pleasure, and FREE a
luenlly left unanswered, but still time wore Il
AWAY, and still Agatha continued toreceive b
hem. At Length she announced, somewhat t
abruptly that her marriage would take place #
IN the very day she had before named for c
t, and that she hould leave England at the d
ime she had previously fixed To do so.