The national era. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1847-1860, 1850-02-07
XVIII.
BRIGHTY,S CONQUEST.
A brow half martial and half diplomatic,
An eye upsosriug, like an ~sgis's wing Haasck

| A brow half martial and half diplomatic
An eye upsoarng, like an eagles wing ifaaeck
1t was near the last of January before the fam
| lily of Mont Crystal concluded their visit to the
Isle of Rays and returned home The day APP
pointed for the marriage Of Mr.. Stuart Gordon
and Miss Armstrong drew near
For weeks before that day dawned the gloomy
mistress of Mont Crystal had been preparing for
| IT, She had been almost tempted, for the first
time in her life to leave her isolated palace home
and subject herself TO the annoyance of nconve-
ncnt pack boats, ill-provided hotels and hired
domestics and 90 to New York, for the sake of
ordering a fropSseau, Incompatible for richness
and elegance Doubtless she would have done So
but that she had more confidence in Miss ORR
ey's taste in such matters than in her own; and
remarking coldly TO her daughter that Ladies'
maids and milliners aud such people understood
the mnutia of the toilet better than ladies could
be expected to do,p she placed Louise in charge
of Miss O'Riey, and despatched them both TO
New York; under the escort Of General Stuart
Gordon, who was travelling to the North with no
better excuse than that of ordering new furniture
for the Island Mansion, and set of diamonds for
its future mistress
Certainly the arrogant assumption Of Mrs
Armstrong strangely deceived her when she sent
beautiful, brilliant, and fascinating girl, with a
decided taste for palaces in general, and the Isle
of Rays in particular, travelling day and night
through fine and picturesque country, in charge
of an elderly gentleman, with an eye for beauty
and a soul for poetry, who was just beginning to
feel the solitude of his own suite of apartments.
But Mrs. Armstrong quietly and tacity as
sumed that no gentleman CT hsr circle could see
in Miss O'Riley anything but +" the Governess J"
or, rather to speak still more correctly, Mrs.
Armstrong never thought about il ut sll-She
was entirely incapable ofreceiving such an idea She
never saw Brightly as she really was-a sparkling,
dazzling, bewildering girl-radiatiDg beauty
fascinating more from the soul Of truth and good
ness ever burning through her face, than for any
regularity of features, or brilliancy of complexion
No she never realized the attractions OF Brightly.
She saw her through mst-the cold, frosty mist
of pride. OF course the image was dimmed to her
vision she saw I" only the Governess" In that
Mrs. Armstrong was alone. No one else viewed
Miss ORiley through disparaging false medium.
Mrs Armstrong saw in Britannia nothing bm the
dependent; no one else could see the dependent
al all; they could only see the native ddy. There
was nothing assumed, affected, or forced, about
Britannia Her habitual elegance and propriety
of costume, dignity and grace of manner, and
brillancy of conversation, were always the natu-
raj and truthful manifestations of her real char
acter Had Britannia crowned herself with rubies
and diamonds, you must have felt, by all the cor
respondencc that they were made for her. General
Stuart Gordon also saw britannia through mist,
but it was brilliant golden mist, like that which
illuminated the Isle of Rays on a gorgeous autumn
morning lie saw her through this illusion, for
he could not see the "Governess" at 0l; but then
he had never seen her at her duties had only met
her in the drawing-roo at Mont Crystal, or at
the Isle of Rays, where she impressed him only as
very "queenlyn woman and his manner towards
her evinced a respect approaching to reverence
And this Mrs Armstrong, in obtuse arrogance,
mistook for naughty reserve, or more naughty
condescension to the goyerness. Britannia, on her
mart received all this veneration and Difference
naturally rs n matter of course-as her due and
without a single thought as to its reason or its
result
And Louise-poor little Lonise-had dim no.
ton that Brightly was not positively hateful to her
future fther.in-law; and SO, in her little, faint
heart she feebly nursed timid wish to persuade
her goyerness to take up her residence at the Isle
of Rays as her companion. As yet, however,
Louise burst not breathe this desire to any one,
In fact the poor, oppressed girl had never been
known TO give utterance to n wish OF any sort in
her life.
II was in these moods Of mind that, upon the
morning Of the first Of February, the three
travellers set out in General Stuart Gordons car
rage for the village of Battletown, where they
we're TO meet the Washington stage.
Two days of stsge-coach travelling, through
mountainous, then billy, snd lastly an undulat-