Litchfield enquirer., 1851-10-23
From Chambers Edinburgh Review
ISBEL LUCAS.
A HEROINE or HUMBLE LIFE.

About fifteen years ago, d wotnan of the name Of ISbel Lucas kept small lodging house in the southern suburbs oi Edinburgh. She was the daughte, of respectable teacher in the city, who al hts death had btgucaIhed to her as his sole surviving relation. about three hun dred pounds, tngeliler with the furniture oI the house. The la,ier part of the le, gacv suggested to her the prfpriety of endearorlng to support helself by keep ing lodgings, while the part which con sisted in money promised to stand effect ually between he' and all misclances that could be expected lo betall her in such a walk of life. She accordingly, for seve- ral years, let one O. two rooms to students and other persons, and thus contrived to live very decen.ly, without trenchlng up- on her little capital, till at length she a.- tained the discreet age of two, and forty.
 IsbeI had at no peri,d of life been beauty. She had an iron gray complex. len, and cast of features bespeaking ra- ther strength of character than feminine grace. She was now less a beauty than ever, and for years had taoi,ly aeknow- ledged her sense of the fact, by abandon. ing all chose modes and materials of dress which women wear as long as they have any thoughts of matrimuny. Whe e. however, l. the woman at that, or any more juvenile period of life, in whose bo. som the spark ot iore lies dead beyond recall ? II any >aci' ,hcfe he, lsbrl wa,. not of the numb
 Among her Tod w,> sn ,i.jiv,llal If ,h,, name of ' sas, oo k.pt :. st., c,n ,, shop oi fH 4tsstn, a,,Ie4 n tn, nels4b3an".., epetsoo {, vn .nn sell out toG <, n.t .f ile Ist,. ,t Il n and stated tha q made :. i,,,le ,ao- nry as mesS>nlan to q nlitl rryil. Il by which he had been enabled lo set up in business. file was large. daik, coa s,s man, of about ivs>and- thuty. with A somewhat u"comp'nm,>ing east of facr. and slight tw st m h,s left eye. Fm- dyne seemed t" be man of'great indus try and application. and us'd to speak Gt his circumstances as agreeable in eve.y respect, except that It. wanted wife. This, he said, was great want. There were many things about his shop which no one but female could properly ats tend to. Without such a helpmate. things were continually going wrong but with her all would go right. One point, how ever, he must be clea: about i; she who should be his wife would require to bring something with her. 10 add to his stock, and buy the necessary house furniture He cared little about good looks, if there was good sense; and indeed woman of experience in the world would answer his purpose best.
 Honest Isbel began in little while to turn all these things in her mind. She one day took steady look at Fordyne. and discovered that he had good up. right carriage of body. and that, though his mouth was of the largest. yet his teeth were among the best she had eyer seen. Next time she visited his shop, she took il glance at the room behind, and found that it had d nice outlook upon Salisbury Crags Fordyne, observing that she glanced into h,s back shop. in- vited her to come in and see what d fine linusr he had, 10, such in reality it was, though unfinished. lsbel very quickly saw that there was one capital bedroom. a parl,r, d kitchen, and a vast variety of closets, where things could be ''puL off ones hand. Que press, Mr. Fordyne showed Was already furnished, being ten' anted by aug. dram bottle, and d sei' vei full of slioL bead. which he said had been hlIeby required to treat his custom CTS, on account of the new year. Of this he made lsoei parlaker, drinking in his turn 10 her good health. and d good man to her before the next recurrence of the season. This exchange of compliments did not take place without some effect. lsbel aScended the tilirs in kind of re- verie, and found her .eh entering tne next dooI above, instead of her own before she was aware. in a month thereafter the :wo were married.
 Three days after the nuptia!s, Mrs. Fordyne was sitting in her lltlle parlor, waiting supper for her husbnnd. and re. ticctlng on the step she was about lo take next day. namely, the transfe'ence of her household furniture to the apartments behind Fordyne's shop and the surrsn- der o: her little fortune into his hands. Her eye happened in the course of her c"gitalions to wander 10 n portrait of h Fl 'ather, wh'ca f""s ol,posiir; and a+ sne gazed on n. .iw coa ii npt neip thinking thht its imt".,ii A.r,n and .onr ietiu r ''ssuheI a' '=Ass Fs tF.'r otiis sur,crs ans. 7""I"f, NA 4u8 s.I st5 ,fne 'If'c, O. some Hnwa'a tA ~4Hs pt c"nseir"c !9# stie could n"l ntl acknn"i,dae sret"s 7 that the step s.'o mad iaken Was n. Of that Kind when het prent would ha,c approved. Sine ~itA,lrsv her e$es With d disturbed mlId. and again louked mu- slngly towards Inc tire. wi,en he thought she heaid the "ulc, dnr open and per- son come tn. A 6rsl, sine snpp~ed .t must De her iu .Daud. and she began. therefore tO Tram fer he simmer from LIle