The Westerly echo, & Pawcatuck advertiser. [volume] (Westerly, R.I.) 1854-1858, 1856-04-10
Grlcftc0.
ENCE HARDEN ;
Or, The Mistake.


remained single till she was
nearly forty, when she received and ac-
cepted an offer of marriage from, Mr..
Sinclair, bachelor of about her own
age. Soon after, she came in posses
sion of large property, bequeathed by
a distant relative This good fortune
was speedily followed by severe af-
Fiction. Her husband-in every re-
spect an estimable man-was taken
suddenly i'll and died. Having no near
relations of her own, aud those distant
being sufficiently affluent, she came to
the determination to adopt one of the
uiocss of her late husband, should either
of them please her. She had not as yet
seen any of his relatives, all Of them re-
siding in distant towns. She had, hew-
ever, heard him express great regard
for half brother, whose name was lIar-
den, which had made her deSirous to OBJ
tain some information relative to his
family. As she WAS revolving the sub
iect in her mind, she recollected that
Mr.. Sinclair had told her that a poor
widow, by the name of Mansfield, who
procured livlihood by sewing, was a
sister to Mr.. Harden's first wifi; on her
she resolved to call in the hope Of OBJ
tanning the information size desired
Size put on her bonnet and shawl, and a
few minutes walk brought her to the
door of Mrs Man<fcld's humble dwell.
ing The widow answered the knock
and conveyed her into a small but nea
apartment.
Il am afraid said Mrs. Mansfield, ir
answer to Mrs. Sinclair's inquiries, 'that
| can give you no satisfactory informa.
tion concerning them. My sister, who
was Mr.. IIaraen's first wife, died little
more than a year after her marriage
leaving an infant daughter only few
weeks old never have visited them
since. His second wife had likewise a
daughtr, but as to the merits of either,
| am wholly in the dark
At this moment, little girl belong
ing to family that occupied part Of
the same house, entered the room, hold
ing letter in her hand
Il have just been to the post office
for Mrs. Norris, said she, 'and the post
master asked me to bring this letter to
you. He said the postage was paid
This must be from the Harden's,
said Mrs. Mansfield, by tho postmark
After neglecting me eighteen years,
don't know why they should notice nj
now
Il hope it is from one of the youn.
ladies' said Mrs. Sinclair, { for som,
{ people say that you can judge of wo
mans character by her letters
'Yes, it is from Florence, my niece
replied Mrs, Mansfield, looking at tn
signature, and she was going to lay tb
letter aside, but Mrs. Sinclair requisite,
her to read it. -
Her niece informed her that the pc
rusal of some letters which she wrote t.
her mother about the time of her mar
riage, which sho had recently foun,
while overlooking some old papers, ha,
awakened in her strong desire to Sc,
her, that she had, with her fathers con
currcnce, written to her for the purpos'
of inviting her to spend several weeks a
their house,
You must certainly accept the invi
tation, said Mrs. Sinclair, it will af
ford you such an excellent opportunit,
to judge of the young ladies'
. am afraid | shall be biased in ia
vor of Florence she replied, especial
f ly if she should resemble her mother. =
confess, however, that have some in
clipation to make the visit, though Flor
sncc docs not intimate that her mothc
joins in the invitation
: Before Mrs. Sinclair took leave, Mrs
Mansfield had decided to write an answe
'' to her niece's letter, that she might ex
l.. = l..