Vermont phÅ“nix. [volume] (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1834-1955, 1858-07-10

a noble and loveable woman. Possibly. in his
place, better man might have sought her So
cicty, drawn her out of her reserve for his own
delectation, confded in her, worked upon her
pity, claimed her care, played on her simplicity
and Ignorance of the world, crept into her heart
and won its strength Of emotion and its gener-
Gus afection,--in short, made love to her with.
out saying so, honestly and openly Yet there
are some men who would not have done il: and
even yet while | try to regard Arthur Warng
with Christian charity, feel shat | cannot trust
him. that do not respect him, that, if dared
despise anything God has made, my first con-
tempt would light on him.
In the autumn, while all this was going on,
received painful and wrctched letter from Let
ty Maiden, begging me to come to her. could
not resist such an appeal and one of Jose
phines little nieces having come to spend the
winter with her, hurried to Slepington,-not
| am sure, in the least regretted BY Mr.. War
ing, who had begun to look at me with uneasy
and sometimes defiant eyes.
| found miserable household here Mr.
Maiden had in no way reformed. When did
marriage ever reform bad manP On the CON
trary he was more disspated than ever and
whenever he came home, the welcome that
waited for him was little calculated to make
home pleasant; for Letty's quick temper blazcd
up in reproach and rcyiling that drew out worse
rccrimination and even the little, wailing, fee
bic baby. that filed Letty's arms and consolcd
her in his absence, was only further cause of
strife between her and her husband. Often as
came down the street and saw the pretty out
SIDE OF the cottage, waving with creepers and
hedgcd about with thorns, whose gay berries
decked II as if for a festival thought of what
a good old preacher among the Friends once
SAID to me: Sarah, thee will live to find
shows are often seems thee sees many quiet
house, with gay windows, that is hell inside"
soon found that | must stay all winter at
Sepington. had hard task before me.--to
try and teach Lefty that she had no right to
neglect her own duties because her husband ig-
nored his. But six months Of continual drop
ping seemed to wear tiny channel of percep-
uoni and my presence, as well as the efforts
We made together to preserve order, if not
serenity. in the house, restored a certain dim
hope to Lctty's mind and began to see that
the qualification by fire. was doing its work, in
/ slow pain, but TO a sure end.
Selfish as IT was, cannot say that felt sorry
to return to Joi who wrote for me in April urg-
ilng me to come soon as could, for Mr. War
ing had fallen from the mill-wall and broken his
leg, and the workmen, in their confusion, had
carried him to her house, and she wanted me
to help her I learned on reaching Valley
Mills, that the new building on the Island had
not been completed far enough to resist a heavy
freshet, that had swept away part of the first
story, where the mortar was not yet hardened
and it was in travcrsing these wet stones TO
ascertain the extent of the damage that Mr..
Waring had slipped, and unable TO recover his
footing, fallen on a heap of stones and received
his injury.
My first question TO Josephine was, "where is
Mr.. Warnings mother ?"
"He would not send for her, SALLY" said she,
"because she is not well, and he feared to startle
her."
"H'm.' said ], very curtly.
Josephine looked at me with innocent, grave
eyes.-dear, simple child and vet, for any
body but herself she would have been sufficient
" discerning. This love seemed to have re-
modelled her nature. to have taken from her all
tho sorpent's wistium, to have DESTROYED her
common sense, and distorted her view Of every
thing in which Arthur Waring was concerned.
She had certainly got on very fast in my alb
sencc. ] had returned too late.
had little to do with the care of the invalid
that devolved on 10 nv offers of service were
kindly received, but always declined Nobody
csuld read to him as well as Miss Bowie. No
body else understood his moods, his humors.
his wbims; she knew his tastes with omnious
eXactness. 1t was she who arranged his meals
on the Salver with such care and grace, nav.
NNNh N'bNNh ththl At IOI 30 believed,
like Irrational woman, that intellect and cult
vation increase ones capacity for every office,
that woman of intelligence should he able to
excel an ignorant servant in every household
duty, by just SO much as she excels her in mind
In fact, this was pleasant life to two persons.
but harasSing enough for me. Had been con-
tident of Arthur Warnings integrity, should
have regarded him with friendly and cordial in
terest but had every reason TO distrust him.
perceived he had so far insinuated himself in
to JOS confidence, that his whole artillery of
expressive looks. broken sentences, even caress-
es, were received by her with entire good faith
but when l asked her seriously if | was to re-
gard Mr.. Waring as her lover, she burst into
indignant denial, colored scarlet, and was half
inclined to be angry with me,-though a certain
tremulous key, into which her usually sweet
and steady voice broke while she declared he |
had never spoken to her of love, it was ONLY |
friendship, witnessed against her that she was
apprehensive, sad, perhaps visited with a tinge
of that causeess shame which even in pure |
and good woman conventionality cons,rains, |
when she has loved a man before he says in |
plain English, 81 love you," though every act
and look and tone of his may have carried that
significance Enthusiastically for years. Thank |
God there is a day of sure judgment coming, |
when conventions and shields of usage will save |
no man from the due vengeance of truth upon
falsehood, justice upon smooth and plausible
duplicity.
In due time Mr.. Waring recovered. If there
was any change in his manner TO 10, il was too
slight to be seen, though it was felt, and was,
after all, the carelessness of person certain of
his toothold in her good graces, rather than the
evident Withdrawal of attention,-whichI would !
have pardoned even then, had il been the result
of honest regret for past carelessness, and
stern resolution to repair that past. Whatever
it was, 10 perceived that her ideal man was be-
come real man; but, with tenacity of ma
ture, for which in my fate telling had not Civ
EN- her credit, she was as constant to the sub
stance as she had been to the dream and while
she lost both health and spirits in the contem-
platon of Arthur Warnings ftful and needless
manner toward her, and was evidently panied
by the discovery of his selfish and polite traits,
it was inexpressibly touching to hear the ex-
cuses she made for him, to see the all-shielding
love with which she veiled his faults, and kept
him as mother would keep her graceless, vet
dearest child from animadversion and reproach.
In the meantime / heard often from Letty,-
no good news of her husband, but that her
chill and