New Orleans daily crescent. [volume] ([New Orleans, La.]) 1851-1866, 1852-01-23
g CHAPTER II.

sued Miss Hastings. ia. ~ 4
az don't know Mrs Bolton did not seem to
think much Of it, He is poor, just starting in
his profession ,....saz.s.
<sWhat made the Harper's take him up so,
l wonders'' returned the other.
ssThey say he is very clever, quite remafka-
Bile, indeed. Mr.. Harper thinks he has more
talent than any young man he knows now a. /
the bar e#. -
s.What in the world, then, made him fall I'M
love with Mary Harper, / should like to know!
exclaimed Miss Hastings, in tone OF surprise.
% She ~ lis plain and unattractive q girl as |
know. How odd that she should have eaptivated
!, man of talents!' -
s.Oh no, nothing is odd in the way of matri-
nrony,'' replied her sister. laughing Is partieu-
larly If a man Of talent is one Of the parties.
Did You ever see one that did not make an ex-
traordinary match !: They all marry little,
commonplace dowdies.
$50 they do. But still l cannot understand
it,, pursued Miss Hastings.
g No., continued her sister, in the same tone
of banter sits one Of those mysteries not to
q he penetrated in this world
fare they to be married soona'' asked the
elder sister. Is
-. $ Not fora year, l understood. He's poor,
u and she has nothing, you know. Here, give me
the card, and let me inclose it, and then therel
be no mistake about it,
This Conversation took place some eight months
or d year after we last saw George Herbert In
c. The Hastings were one OF the gayest
families in the gay metropolis of New1ork,
\ where Herberthad established himself soon after
he passed his examination. Accident had made
him acquainted with young Harper, who had in
troduced him to his family. The position OF the
Harpers were such as to make their acquaint-
saiice very gratifying to Herbert. Their fashion
was unquestioned, and their name among the
best, and, though there was no particular inter
i,1u uo1 af tho IA
yet Herbert sought their society with eagerness.
Plain and unattraetive as Mary Harper had
been pronounced to be, she was yetnot devoid OF
sensibility, and she soon became captivated with
the brilliant powers Of the young lawyer Her (
bert, still chaing under the keen modification
Sof Clara Haywood, was not insenslble to the
charm of being treated with so much attention
by such family as the Harpers' A connection
with them would at.once open the gates Of that
paradise, the fashionable world, that he had
lately learned to prize so highly. He offered
himself, and was accepted. Hence the s'myste
ry'' that puzzled Miss Hastings so much. She
knew not that men Of genius have the same
weaknesses that fall to the lot of more obtusc
mortals And when they do, the very ferceness
of their organization makes them the more sus-
ceptible Of external influences.
Herbert's was not vigorous, manly mind IL
took too much the impress of his character,
which was weak He knew himself supe
rior to those whose admiration lie coveted, and
yet he coveted it not the less He was not in
love with Mary Harper; but he was proud Of
his engagement. He was happy in his gratified
yanity though, had she been a Mary Brown,
he would hardly have helped her across the
gutter. Mr. Harper liked the young man; and
though he would have been glad if he had had
some money, yet he knew enough of the world
10 know that, with such talents, he could not
fail to make his way in his profession, and would
probably, in the end, prove an excellent match
for his daughter. His consent was therefore
given, with only the stipulation OF o years de-
4 lay before the marriage.
Mary was as happy as the purest and most
perfect1oye could make her. Need we add any
more
The engagement being announced, Herbert
was introduced and invited wherever the Har-
pers visited; and, in the course of a few weeks,
he found himself us freely launched in good
society,", as if he had been a born and bred
member Of the g charmed circle" The diff
dence with which he entered, arising from re-
membrance Of Clara Haywood and Mr.. Ashfeld
soon yielded to the animating influence of fat
terry. He was not only received, but aceU re
ceived. His reputation for talents, and his
powers of conversation, procured him respect
and attention He was going to marry Mary
Harper, and no one cared whether he was poor
or rich He was brilliant, and that was enough
2 for those who gave parties and wanted agree
E able men, He looked around him, and soon
felt his value, and thought, like Mr.. Bundle.
that he had g gone cheap Clara Haywood
had, as her cousin had prophesied, crossed him
like vision, to leave him cold and fastidious,
And more than that, she had destroyed his faith
in those about him. He believed them all az
cold and worldly as she, whom he looked upon
as a type of her class, and his was not that ear
nest nature that keeps itself above the ordinary
level Here, indeed, he fell short of it; for, in
looking upon others as heartless, he had become
so himself,
There is a sort of poetical justice TINT Nature
exacts from those who undervalue her claims
What the individual is not willing to render to
the. mass, he is before long generally found
wanting himself But this very fastidious cold
ness gave him self-possession and success. His
fine sense Of the beautiful made him Mt once
critical and enthusiastic. He paid little atten-
uon butte those pre-eminent for something
W.T., beauty, music; some claim, and that de-
clded, they must have, to win his notice. But
when the gift was marked, no homage could be
more enthusiastic ands delightful than that he
rendered. People quoted, and beauties courted
his company.
Mary Harper was proud of her young lover
She was too generous to harbor a thought OF
jealousy, and she gloried in his rising reputa-
ton But ere many months had passed by, even
her confding nature could not but feel uneasy
pangs In fact, Herbert was growing careless.
He had never loved her; and now, as he saw
how easy thing it was to win that which he
had coveted, a position in society, he regretted
the sacrifice he had made. Not that he valuet
the thing less /; only the price he paid for it. H
felt his engagement irksome. lie regretted it
and, regretting, relaxed in his attentions t
Mary, which, in the blindness of a devoted, bu
Not sensitive, affection, she did not see. Frol
inattentiye, he became positively careless Still
she could not credit the truth, There was sue
anguish in the thought that she could not brln
herself to look 1t steadily in the face.
The year elapsed, and Herbert let the ann
yersary Of his engagement pass in cold silenc,
trusting that Mary would be reused to brea
the tie that bound him. But she did not. Sh
explained it to herself on the ground of prr
dcnce Herbert could not afford to marry ye
and was too proud to own it. She chung to til
engagement.
o. From not loving her, he grew almost to hat
her. He dared not openly break himself. HI
family and position were such that he was ur
willing to incur the odium he must draw upo
himself in the clique by taking such a stel
Besides, though a cold, he prided himself upo
being an honorable man. If she insisted on i
he would marry her, though love her he woul
nor pretend to, And yalping himself on such