Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1856-05-31
EV VENING STAR.
THE FIRST QUARREL.
They never loved as thou and /,
Who vindicate the moral F,'TrF

| ~ 10 certainty very dlsagreeable TO low
| another so much.''
| This original remark was uttered as stag,
soliloquy, the little dressing or sitting room
having no other occupant than the very pretty
woman who laid down her book with a yawn
and took up her tidy in crochet, lazily nettin,
o few stitches. To one who had never suffered
from this excess of idOlatry, it might be con
sidered rather singular complaint; but the
case stood thus: Flora Hastings had been q
wife the very long time of three months and
half. Her wardrobe and house being in com
| plete order, her husband very much at leisure
in business, and with ample means, they has
found nothing better to do than the modern
and very selfish occupation of living fol
each other" That is, they had declined al
party invitations after the first gloss of the
bridal dress was dimmsd, and when seen al
all in public, were always together, she lean
ing upon his arm with an enviable air of self.
satisfaction, looking up into his face with a
| most adorlng glace whenever he chanced tc
speak, and he in turn bending down to catch
her most trivial remark with devotion tha,
| would have become just-engaged lover. II
| ut concert, he famed her, he supported her
opera glass, he carried her hood and shawl
But even music, in which they both profess
to be amateurs, seemed to have lost its accus
toned charm, and they were certain to leave
at the end of part first, no matter what were
| the attractions Of the bill to less absorbed
spectators
| In short, everybody said-and everybody
| when turned gossip, is not over civil or com
| plimentary oftentimes-that they were ma
king fools of themselves, and it could not las.
forever Some people are so envious of any
thing in which they do not share
They did not live in the city in the summer
season, but at Mr.. Hastings little country
| houSe-large enough, however, to be thor
oughly comfortable and well fitted, and with
head servant who never bothered her mis-
| tress by asking instructions, which were sure
| to be comprehended in one sentence, "You
| know best, Margaret" So they lived an idle,
fond, and, as they imagined, perfectly happy
life, with flowers which the gardener culti-
waited, little music, and the new books of
| the season. They did not invite any company
to BrOokside they did not wish any. Mr..
Hastings rode to town between nine and ten
returning by three, and from that time thew
were constantly together, reading, walking or
driving in the low carriage, one of their late
acquisitions.
At first they thought it delightful to sit to-
gether on their verandah, Mr.. Hastings enjoy
ing MS after-dinner cigar and the newspaper,
Flora with the last new novel and exquisite
silver paper cutter, that had been one Of the
engagement presents. But they did not get
on very well, there was so much talking to do
between times, and at last they conceived the
happy idea Of residing aloud. Four whole
days this had been considered the height of
enjoyment. They scarcely tasted the desert,
50 anxious were they to resume the threat OF
the story. Then the sewing chair and the
work basket took their place outside the case.
ment window, and Flora, with the prettiest
and most becoming air of industry, listened to
DIR. Hastings, who sat with his feet supported
at considerable angle on the trelIis of the
porch, his chair artistically balanced and his
head adorned by a broadleaved straw hat. not
because he needed it, but Flora considered il
particular becoming to his dark, Spanish,
melo-dramatc style of face and figure
And then these little episodes of comment
and criticism, the hero and heroine being in
all cases Judged and tested by their individ ual
experience, and pronounced wanting, if the
scales were not poised to the most minute
equality.
"A quarrel. My dear Alfred, how can
any woman speak unkindly to her husband
l should be ready to bite my tongue off if L
could be guilty of it to you"
"My precious love would never think of
such thing, l am sure. But all women have
not such angelic tempers, dearest"
{" And then some men are so provoking not
in the least like my Alfred. How did it ever,
eUer happen you could care for me? ?''
Considering Miss Flora Willis was the pref
tiest, most admired and wealthieSt young lady
of Mr.. Hastings acquaintance, it 1caS rather
singular.
"Angel ga 1t was we'll the thicket of sweet
brier formed such perfect screen, as the
heavenly cpithet was emphasized with most
enraptured kiss"
@ How long have we been married, love ?''
inquired the angel, in the most captivatingIy
thoughtful mood, her hand looking so very
white and small rs it rested on his jet-black
whisker.
"Three months, fourteen days and a-half,
my pet" responded the happy husband, with
the precision of a country tombstone or obitu-
ary notice. Fifteen weeks to morrow since
was made SO very, very happy"
>" And we love each other as dearly as ever.
How strapge!''
Such sarcastic repudiation of the charge as
was conveyed in that tone and glance "Ihsv"
would have been withered by it; even the bios
SONS of the sweetbrier shook and trembled.
You could not be unkind to your poor
little Flora?"
"Never, my own darling And she would
not give her husbald'-
" "Never-never-never"
The reader is to suppose the blanks filled
by an accompaniment between the murmur of
an Eolian harp and the coo of wood pigeon
And 30 the poor book fell to the floor and
then it was too dark to see. A walk was pro-
posed through the shaded lanes, and when
they returned Flora was too weary to listen.
The love quarrel in the tale was left without
denOuerent. Our actual lovers were 80 happy
that they could afford to linger over it.
So it happened that the young wife was re-
duced to the occupation before described this
warm summer afternoon. Her watch, again
and again consulted, was held for at least
three quarters of an hour in her hand, the
moments creeping by, and still Albert had not
come. She went out on the verandah and
peered through the thickets of shrubbery;
but there was no sign of either horse or rider;
and while she stood there so disconsolately,
she saw the book half hidden by the Home
Gazette, just as it had been dropped the night
before. What could keep Abe SO long?'
They might have read several chapters be-
fore dinner, and found out how the quarrel
was made up. But the book must not lie
there; and as she stopped to raise it the leaves
whirled over opening most invitingly to chap
ter sixteenth. She could not resist reading
on few pages, still leaning over the railing
of the verands, and then, more absorbed, sat
down on the little sewing chair, and finished
the exciting scene. She did not recolleet un-