Spirit of the age. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1849-1865, 1855-07-25
. 1EIGH, NORTH CAROLINA, WEDNESDAY,,

nation enough not to visit the sins ofsthc
father on the child. Constance was still
asked out, and taken On summer trips by
nsr ola acquaintances, and was still the
nene oE the ballroom. As to Croton Poole,
snae acute young gentleman and excellent
ca,ieer sheered offthe instant BREWER first
Ialiure was made, public a pretty little
quarrel between him and Constance one
evening at the Opera, was easily managed,
atIu proves an excellent excuse. ssad tie
psisi i'ss'es'1ss f1ere Massn sasnafEsr. g S
lSIiss Bres5eFs pdsitiep, sken though sIJ
still reigned supreme as9s The Beauty. ''--
She went every where, and every where a
host of young men dangled in her train
But their devoirs and her dresses had un
dergone the same transmutation. They
danced with her, and firted with her. and
drove her out sleighing, and took her to
the theatre; but then, when they had suf
fciently amused themselves, they went off
and married some one else. Her toilet
was changed also. The rich dresses of
Honiton lace had quietly glided into simple
tarIetdne8; you saw that the white gloves.
however well Dreaded were not fresh.
and you recognized the old blue Grape skirt
under its various disguises of different trim
mings.
Still, Constance seemed merry enough,
for she was yet young, and doubtless had
wild, vague hopes of conquering some mil
honaire by the mere force of her charms.
l, however, watched her sadly, with sad
presentiment of her melancholy fate. She
had very little to live on mere pittance
which she inherited from her mother; and
but for the presents kind people made her,
and the many visits she made in the sum
mer and sometimes in the winter, she would
not have been able to sustain herself de-
Gently. Her father she never heard Of
He was either dead, or was leading life
of selfish enjoyrAent on his i'll gotten gains
IN some obscure corner of the world.
Years rolled on, and bore with them the
flower of 'The Beauty's' cheeks. She was
still elegant-looking, but the lips began to
be compressed, anG rarely opened but to
emit some bitter sneer. Constance saw
with terror that her life was about to be
failure; that when her appearance had van
ished, her friends would fly too, and leave
before her that long gloomy prospect of a
lionel life. The old ball-dresses that she
wore were still more faded The lace be-
gan to be cottony, and the handkerchiefs
which 1t edged were no longer made of i'm
palpable cambria. You might sometimes,
think, detect a mosaic bracelet on her
arm, and she now began to, talk of her bills
did NOT ugaff eyi.s--a-sl sllt sign. that she
There was something terribly melancholy
to me in witnessing the decay of this wo-
man. Yet what was to be done? She
was useful for nothing. Madame Cancan
had taken good care Of that. She was ex-
travagant, and whatever money she had
was spent on cheap fnery-for she still
clung hopelessly to society. She was doom
ed. ...e ..
Even the sloth sometimes losses its hole
on the bough to which it clings, and fall
to the ground and the time came whe1
Constance was deserted by that society tina
ebbs and flows like the sea. Once sh
foated upon the topmost wave, beautiful
as a nautilus expanding its sails to the sun
but the tide receded as the hours wore on
and left her gasping and dying on the lone
ly strand .a.~.
Shortly after her disappearance fror
society I lost sight of her for number 0
years. [ heard that she had gone Soutf
to live upon plantation belonging to som
distant relative of hers and people whe
they spoke of her sighed and shook thei
heads. I did not then know why.
One day was sitting in my room tall
ing with Croton Poole, who had marie
Southern heiress, and was now portl
middle-aged man with a family of five Chi
dren. He had called on me about tt
transfer Of some stock, and we talked tt
matter over as we smoked a couple of Ci
banas. In order to illustrate to him SON
fact connected with the transaction, | wei
to my secretary to look for certain docl
ment. In turning over the papers, tt
locket I mentioned to you before fell GU
1t caught Croton's eye. He sighed, ar
gave sad smile.
4 have one too said he; 'the on
thing of hers | kept. -
Was it-Y l interrogated.
Yes; Constance Brewer. Poor gir
I loved her very much once, and | do
lieve she loved me. But my family wou
| not hear of the match after her father
i failure. Have you heard what has becor
of her.?
!, No. They told me, three or four yea
a ago, that she was South but | heard sin
!, that she had left Charleston, where she "
: staying-Oh! here's the statement of t
e Company
o And Constance Brewer was soon forg
ten by both of US, money getting creatu
= that we we're.
|. EThere's a woman in the hall wishes
ie speak with you, Mr.. Troy said the S
IS want, interrupting US in the midst of
lie elaborate calculation of the profits of
Patent Phosphoric Gas Company for
h pasthalf year. Il told her you were
ID gagged, but she said she wanted to see
e. only for a few minutes
le Show her up [ growled, ,angrily enou
er Poole, you have no objection suppo
be Not at all, said Croton, laughing;
as ly hope lam not indiscreetin remalnil
IT. l was preparing some equally witty
er tort to this sally, when the door opel
ce and my visitor entered. She rename
nd pace or two inside the door, as if some
of impeded her further entry. She W;