Grant County herald. [volume] (Lancaster, W.T. [i.e. Wis.]) 1843-1844, 1844-06-29
A LESSON FOR CoQUETTES.

a LESSON TUX COQUEt lEo.
awe have a visitor to-day" said
Lord Pallister to his niece, the lovely
Elizabeth Pallister, who was on visit
for week or two to her Right Hon.
uncle.
WHO is it, said the lsdy,-'a lady
or gentleman"
"a gentleman-Mr. Jones'"
"And WHO'S Mr.. Jones-is il Bum
per Squire Jones, or the renowned
Tom?
But we will save his Lcrdship the
trouble of describing who Mr.. Jones
was. He was simply Mr.. Jones, Of
Piercefield, in the county Of Suffolk.
Now this description is very short but
liz is quite sufficient to describe Mr..
Jones. tits evident he was not Of very
ancient gentili!y-had he been SC, he
would have been Mr.. Jones of Pierce
field Hall, or Piercefeld Manor; he
was not retired merchant, or he
would have been Mr.. Jones of Pierce
field House; neither could he be a re-
tired shopkeeper, or his house would
have been dignified with the euphon-
ious name Of Rose Villa, or Bellevue
Cottage, or Piercefeld Lodge. But Mr..
Jones' house was very good house, it
stood on lawn only one hundred
yards from the roadside, and the en-
trance gate was suspended between
massive stone piers, surmounted with
round balls. 1t is, therefore, evident
that its owner was man Of small in
dependent fortune, and that he was
a gentleman by two or three descents.
Now Mr.. Jones was bachelor, his age
twenty-five, his education such as he
could obtain at celebrated endowed
school in the neighborhood; he was
eminently handsome, but could not pre-
tend to great abilities; but he was good
natured and welI-dispos;.ioned, and a
special favorite ofLord Pallister.
Now Miss Pallister, besides being a
wit, was a little Bit Of coquet:e-just
sufficient Of evil in her disposition to
prevent her being an angel, but she was
a very charming lady. She therefore
debated with herself as to the course
she should pursue towards Mr.. Jones,
whether she should abash the poor
Squire by her satire, astonish him by
her wit, or fascinate him by her conde-
scension, and finally determined to be
ruled by circumstances. Accordingly,
after having been introduced to our
Squire, Miss Pallister occupied the
five minutes which usually intervene
between the completion Of toilet and
the serving Of dinner in surveying the
fortress she meant to attack.
"Not at all distinguished in his sp-
pearence," was her first thought, "but
the man is decidedly handsome" her
second.
People may talk Of their apprecia-
ton of intellectual gifts, but there are
few who are Indifferent TO personal
beauty; and when Mr.. Jones led the
lady TO the dining room, he was favor
ed with the sweetest of smiles, and dur
ing the dinner she had directed the full
battery Of her charms and graces a.
gainst the heart Of Mr.. Jones. She
was witty with out ill-nature, and vi
vacious without being rude; but when
she was alone, she confessed to herself
that in all appearance her labor had
been thrown away. Jones had listen
ed to her conversation; but had not ex-
pressed, and did not seem to feel, any
great admiration of either her wit or
her beauty; but his polite replies, and
accommodating alternatives, were CIV
en- with a degree Of good-humored
nonchalence that convinced Miss Pal
lister TO her great modification, that she
had failed in her attack on the heart.
"a mere country squire TO be thus in
vulnerable TO charms which have driv-
en- half the fashionable world mad"
thought she, "it is wonderful and
Miss Pallister was not vain in SO think
ing-ii was fact. "Tbe man is not a
fool either. and the fellow is hand
some" She colored, though alone, as
this idea a second time occurred. She,
the star, or rather the sun OF fashion,
was not surely not losing her own heart
without obtaining another in exchange.
Pshaw!it was ridiculous, bu. this did
not prevent her, when the party reas-
sembled, from renewing her attack, and
she again failed; for Jones, from the
effects of good wine, and Miss Pallis-
ter's encouragement, had become rather
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