The Jackson standard. [volume] (Jackson C.H., Ohio) 1847-1888, 1854-02-09
ed their secret calculations and their man.


herself, they count upon the ungovern
bleness of my heart, and the disinsv, I
tedness Of Julias.'
} This NJ Julias D II Il was the favo
} ite lover of the widow, was a charmir
young man, full of fine qualities and of
f talent, but possessing no other fortur
than a rental of thousand crowns.
'The marriage will ruin youp exclain
ed the noble and enthusiastic young mai
So much the better 1t is for that
wish to win you. Renounce then at ono
this enriching you by my labor, by m
success =
To this generous out-burst. Madam D
Mercy replied with the language of reason
Would it not be folly to abanon an ac
quired fortune to run after uncertain chan
ces 2 Could she impose upon her hus
band the difficult task of acquiring ren
tai of thousand pounds. She wantec
a husband all to herself. And then, too
how could she await it; she was habtua
ted 10 luxury, and could not do withou
lit.
Forgive me, she said.
Never =
Atleast. make the effort; it is tria
l exact. Travel desire it ; and in few
months, upon your return, you can tel
me how true is the proverb, Far from
the eyes-far from the heart! !
He left and the widow went to re-visi
the Valnays.
WELL she remarked to them, all
over; l have given up the foolish idea ol
marrying, which only entered my head
for moment; it was only caprice !
now see it clearly The poor young man
has left in desperate state of mind, and
yet, l, you see, have lost none of my ac-
customed gayety, Can it be then, that
without wishing it, l am a acoquette 2
The Count and Countess i'll concealed
their disappointment but after all it was
only another delay perhaps the extin,
guished caprice might yet be relit. They
were to return to their country seat in the
month of March. The Count was car
rying on some very important works, to
which he wished to give his own super,
vision, and moreover, the physicians had
recommended country air to the Count
ess, who was suffering. They exacted
promise from Madam De Mercy that
she would quit Paris as soon as possible,
and she assured them that she would re-
join them in the latter part of May, OF
at the farthest during the first days Of
June.
At the appointed period the arrange
ments were ready, and the chateau strong
garrison awaited the arrival of the widow.
There were oHlY three but yet redoubta-
Bile pretenders. and suiting all the advan-
tages one would seek in a husband.
The first, the Marquis of C, offer
ed high rank, an aristocratic title, an
name-everything that could
flatter the pride of a young woman
The maturity of his age was redeemed by
his amiable qualities and most refined
mind. He had met Madam De Mercy du-
ring the winter, and had been completely
won by the grace of her person.
Next was NJ. Auatole de R., a
young man wonderfully fne-an Antin.
ous, an Adonis, an Apollo, immensely
rich, and who had conceived great love
'or Madam De Mercy simply from seeing
ler portrait in the parlor.
Finally, the third suitor was M. Hector
De Valney. the diplomatic cousin. The
intriguing countess had Suggested to him
he idea OF placing himself in the ranks,
He was entitled to half of the inheritence,
1ec luse it was TO BIZ devded in equal por
ions between himself and the Count, so
hat the disinherited widow, on her mar.
iage with him, would bring him a million,
and thus preserve half Of her ortune.-
twas an admirable arrangement by which
10Th parties pro6ted, provided always the
cousin should please the widow; M. Hec.
or De Valney felt confident Of success,
and he thought it strange and unkind that
here should be opposed to him two com.
DelitorS.
The three rivals were waiting for
month the commencement Of The contest.
The end of June had almost come; and
yet no Madam De Mercy. The Marquis
only had indirectly received news Of her
BY letter. which made him very thoughtful.
Take care ! they wrote to him, Mad
am DE Mercy has lately been the subject
of Town talk. The report is current that
at this moment she is making sentiment
al journey with young man, of school
moi too well ordered .4 ....-
Outrageous caIumny exclaimed the
Count and Countess, 10 whom this letter
was communicated.
.Ah! why here is Madam De Mercy,
spoken of in this journal ! exclaimed. at
the same instant, the handsome Anaiole.
How !! was the anxious exclamation.
Quiet yourselves, there is nothing to
render you uneasy. but the reverse. Inc
paper chronicles the details Of steeple
chase and says, Among our gayest per-
sonages we remarked Madam De Mercy.
who shone on this occasion Of the turf, by
her elegant originality of her toilet, her
grace as an Amazon, and her boldness in
making some considerable BETS
This editor knows not what he says
exclaimed the Valneys. The letter and
the journal are both deceived, and, beside
contradict each other. Madam De Ner-
cy cannot. at the same time, be in Italy
and at the steeple chase. = And
there there she comes herself, TO destroy
these false and culuminous reports
A post-chaise entered, with a tremen'