The Lancaster gazette. (Lancaster, Ohio) 1846-1852, 1849-06-01
"You,re an nnchorilo. !"

lovely; and above all, in the presence of
a lovely woman"
"a lovclier woman than Edith Mau
rice ! have not seen in twevemonth."
Through | have"
"You havel ndeed!"
IL think so. She has friend named
Mary Graham, whom Think far more in.
teresting"
"Pray, introduce me-"
81 will, when opportunity offers"
Not long afterwards an introduction
took place and Ashton spent short time
in the company of Mary Graham.
"That's your'lovely woman," said the
young man to his friend in tone of con-
tempt, when next they met.
ITO me she is exceedingly interest
ing" returned Erskine.
"Interestingl A duller piece ofhuman
ware it has not been my fortune to meet
for these dozen years. should say she
has no soul"
There you are mistaken. She is all
soul"
"AIl soul! Ifyou want to see wo.
man all soul, look at Edith Maurice"
GAN body, you mean" ,"replied Erskine,
smiling.
"What do you mean by thatl'
"AI external. Ii is rather the beauty
of person than the beauty of soul that you
see in Edith, but in Mary, every tone and
motion but expresses more modification
ofthe true beauty that lies within. E.
dith bursts upon yon like meteor; but
Mary comes forth like Hesperus, scarce.
! Iy seen at first. but shining with purer
and brighter light the more intently you
gaze upon her"
Not meteor, my dear fellow" re-.
piled Ashton. "I repudate that com
parison. Edith is another Sirius, flash
ing on the eyes with an ever-varying,
yet strong and beautiful light. AS for
your evening stars. with their unimpas.
stoned way of shining their steady, plan,
ct like, orderly fashion of sending forth
their rays-I never had fancy for them"
Every one to his taste." said Erskine.
"As for me | like true beauty-the beau.
ty of the mind and heart"
"Oh, as for that" returned Ashton,
lightly, "let people go in for hearts who
understand such matters. | don't pro-
fess to know much about them But
can appreciate, aye, and love magnif
cent woman like Edith Maurice. You
can have Mary Graham and welcome;
,ui IN rayar crooc xynur noth ~
From this time Ashton became the un-
disguised admirer of Edith. The young
man was handsome, well educated and
had a winning address; yet for all this,
there was something about him from
which the pure minded girl lat first shrunk
Erskine she sometimes met; and whenev.
er she happened to be thrown into com.
pany with him, she was charmed with
his manners, and interested in his conver
sation Unobtrusive as he was, she ad
mired him more than any man she hat
yet seen. But the snowy exterior o
6 Edith hid from the eyes of Erskine hel
real worth. He looked upon her as vain
fond Of admiration. and, of course, pos
sessing little heart-and turned from hel
to find congenia spirit in her friend Ma
ry. Had Erskine sought to win the fa
vor of Edith man like Ashton would
have proved no rival. But Erskine evin
ced no disposition to show her any thing
more than ordinary polite attentions. ant
with an Inward sigh she suffered the
heart which shrunk at first with instinc
tive repugnance, 10 turn with its affec
tions towards Ashton.
Vain with the thought of having so i'm
posing and beautiful woman as Edit
for wife, Ashton did not stop to inquire
whether there was a relative fitness fo
, mutual happiness, but pressed his sui
with ardor, and won the consent before
the bewildere1 girl had time for reflection
Friends, who understood the charac
ter of the young man, interposed lheil
influence to save Edith from connection
that promised little for the future; bu
, their interposition came too late. Sh'
was betrothed, and neither could no
would listen to a word against the mai
with whom she had chosen to cast her 10
, in life.
f A brilliant and beautiful girl, Edit
{ was led to the altar by one, who, as man
: was her equal in external attractions; bu
, he was farfrum possessing her pure, true
loving heart. 1t did not take man,
months to lift the veil that had fallen be
fore the eyes of Edith. Gradually tn,
, quality other husbands mind began t,
manifest itself-and sad indeed was he
, spirit attimes, when these manifestation
+ were more distinct than usual
: The experience of single year wa
| painful in the extreme. The young wifi
not only found herself neglected, bu
+ treated with what she felt fo,be direct un
kindness. She had discovered that he
husband was selfish and though to th'
: world he showed polished exterior, sh,
: had found him wanting in the finer feel
: ings she had fondy believed him to pos
, sess Moreover, he was mere sensu
Z alst, than which nothing is more revol
r ting to pure minded woman. Exlerna
. attractions had brought them together
r but these had failed to unite them as one
D No wonder that in such marriage,
j, few years robbed the cheeks of Edith o
their roundness aud bloom and her eye
$ oftheir beautiful light Those who me
. her. no longer remarked upon her love
illness, but rather spoke of the grea
q change so short a time had wrought. 4
!, certain respect for himself caused Ashton
n to assume the appearance ofkindness to
b, wards his wife, when any one was pres
L,,A ~ -. La. 1. o ,canl,L AZ,