The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1859-04-04
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I'll DISpATCH.
MONDAY MVRNlEUs'atsFsfFF'FFF'+' -
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was VOC osu, .ns vas teo young aod 700 iaeAps
srcsa 10 understand hereei, "a. Nv, hs wss surh
sa,d that the t.thc, oad fer nothing fellow, he
sa.e'es' ,onhe himself a. to what became OF ner.
aa nv some among the freads took the otner
side, and thought ans.aag s0pa wa'0a ,x tes
80. es. nro,ectiop and respectability which she
sssrsiy received from her father, with his dyed
n.ir and padded coats out ell day and up all plight
ling his house with strange men OF questionanie
marriage preparations went 90. Pretty Annie
farrc INDUCED In her quiet dreams Of peace aud
home, and drew ont tor herself the pian OF bonse
keeping, which Was TO DO % wonderiu ~ pefect
and compiete; aud pictured the delight .hat sne
should fad In the order and regularity OF her mar
ried life, and Was contenscd, satisfied, anu q"i'e
resolved.
Percy Clarke himself, though he was grave and
somewhat stern 10 those with whom he had no spe
,i~l connection had been devoted son to that un-
1oveable old mother Of his and was not tnat a
suHSantee for Annie Then, how calm and unit
~ he was in his manners TO her; and TINS was
ranch to a timid, reserved nature such as Annie's;
whose nerves had been Jared by her fathers noisy
life ana dissolnte, imperative ways, and TO whom
that whr @ ind of passionate, demonstrative, in.
suitable love, which novelists aud youth delight
In, would have been simple destruction. Annie
reasoned delbe ately about her marriage and did
not think is q bad thing on the whole. Although
abe was only twenty, aud he eight and thirty, and
though her rich brownAair 3 blight and thick
aud warm over her young fscH an0his wandered
spaee and gray down his saiiow shruuken face
She was not Economically 10 love with him. lie
was quiet, regular and uuexscting. Above all he
wac q relief aud u release. Il Was not future to
turn from without special cause, wretched as she
was 10 that almost disgracefut home OF hers: and
q young girl unhappy at home can find many good
reasons why her lover is lust the man she would
have chosen, had she the privilege OF choice.
They married, aud week after the marriage
he took her to his house in Bloomsbury, and An
nie's real life began.
Percy was the junior partner in a lawyers office;
with res peetabe income and Of a respectable pos
sitton. Indeed, no other word was so we'll suited
70 him this most comprehensive term, for he was
in oil things emlnenty and thoroughly respectable
Mediocre, TOO which English middle class respects
ability implies. OF fair average inteltec OF fair
average social standing, Of middle height; by no
meaus bad looking (bus by no means handsomely
ofjast such fortune professional men have when
they are comfortably off, without an expensive
habit, an unusual taste, or wild idea,-he was
the very type of the ordinary, middle class Eng
iishnen; loved by none, hated by none, but res
epected by all. He performed the customary du
ties OF life with regu sriy and without enthusiasm
He went to church punctuaiiy once every Sunday,
in fine weal her. He was a silent man az all times
rarely heard to express an opinion even on Lead
ing article the foreign Intelligence parliamens
tary committees sat uncriticised by him; he read
thedebates without advocacy. aud ne did not cen
sure the conduct of the generals abroad in active
service. Yet no one said his silence arose from
stupidity. On the contrary. his friends believed
him to be q deep and thoughtful man; and that he
could il he would, say much on all matters. His
behavior TO bis young wife was in harmony with
the rest of him. He was never harsh to her, never
Ill hQmored; but never tender or caressing not
even during that first week spent at u Devonshire
watering place, when he had lain silent on the
sands ell the summer day, with his hat over his
eyes, aud his arms crossed behind his head, while
Annie worked beside him, and strangers thought
him DREAMY and Inxuriousy happy. What q
lucky fellow to have the dear little woman In that
round hat for a wife, and how ,nadly in love with
her he must be, But, after that brief and sbadoWy
honeymoop,wben be brought her home, land recon-
meuced bis daily work at the Office as II nothing
had happened, he might have been married mauy
years for ali the oyef-iike attentions or tender.
ness be bestowed on her. Annie had never been
accustomed to attention or tenderness, SO did not
miss them from her married lite, and was quite
happy and contented as she expected to be. She
had ner house to manage, her servants to initiate
into those mysterious secrets called "ways;' her
weekly bills 10 make up and ponder for hours
where that mistake OF two pence tarthiDg could
be: che had her needle-work TO do, her collars to
emoroider, her pocket handkerchieis to hem, and
his shirt buttons aud WOODEN socks to superins
tend: SO that she got through her days in all gen.
tie tranquility; never idle and never burried--a
smooth life running on its even course, in which
tber~ was nothing to distress, to enrspture Or to
excite.
rslcy Clarke impressed but one thing on his
wife--the need of strict economy. 10 token where
of he made her very meagre allowance for the
house. Yet Annie contriyed that it should be iu {
ficie lin the wonderful way in which clever house
keepers eau save unseen expenses without curtaii-
ing the pubic comforts of the family. She stud
led all toe beat economies, aud devised private aud
peculiar savings of her own, and thus WAS enabled
to make an appearance of luxury and domestic
refinement decidedly beyond her allowance.
Il nope you are not getting into debt, Annie"
Percy would sometimes say, il she had provided
dinner more SNOWY than ordinary; though she all
ways c0ntrved to have one special deicacy at the
least the table.
"No. Percy, you may see my books" Annie
would answer with little quiet triumph; If it
were allowance day, perhaps adding 81 have
made IL do exactly this week, and have just four
pence over"
.Vsly we'll. do not want details; only do not
exceed that is ALL" And Annie did not.
Old Mrs. Clarke, the mother, lived in a email
house at The upper end Of Islingtou. She was an
invalid; and softened by her age or infirmities
She was as hard as her son, and not even tens
pered; good deal more exacting, and actively sell
hsh; Tor Percy's faults were but negative at the
worst. Mrs. Clarke was accustomed to say, that
"she had never taken to that Anne Fare" She
thought her too young, and did hot believe In her
housekeeping; for Mrs. Clarke was of the old school,
and believed IN nothing that did not Include cons
slant supervision and active doing among the eer-
wants by the mistress. She one of those, too
who locked up everything, and would have
thought it Infinite negligence it q mistress gave
her servant the Key of the tea caddy, or suffered
her in the storecioset watched. she Is was who
continually impressed on Percy her conviction of
waste aud Linthrift In his house, pointing to An
MES little table eegaucies, which the young wife
had obtained by the most cunning devices,
OF hidden savings, as evidencing extraya-
gance and needless expenditure. But, as Percy
know that he allowed . very moderate sum, he
was not melted In active participation in his
mothers views. Nevertheless, her perpetual re.
currence to the subject did not tend to make bic
money dealings with his wife more liberal
One day, Percy came home half an hour later
than usual; he who was 80 methodical and puncs
tua. lie WAS paler than Annie had ever before
seen him, rs II internally agitaed dining in more
than his customary silence; replying only by
moposy tables to ali that Annie said or not repjy.
ing at ali, If her words we're put in the forlu
OF direct question. In the evening, while they
sat together in the drawing room, suddenly he
looked up from his pamphlet on the corn laws, and
said
-.Annie, my mother has lost her fortune. I, il
not necessary to enter into the business details of
the matter; besides, you could not understand
them, il / did 1t Is enough to tell you that sbe
comes tomorrow to live with US. Let the bes, |
bedroom be given up to her, and trust need |
not impSess on you the necessity Of dutiful and |
affsctioEate attention.
Annie's heart sunk. She felt that all her ouiet
happiness in her home was at an end But shs had |
too high notions Of wifely duty to utter word OF
protest. She merely dropped her eyes over her |
work, and said, Every we'll, Percy" in her uanaI
calm, undemonstrative manner. Nothing more
was said; and no one knew that whilst che sat |
hemming that precious little robe tears were 81. |
lentiy falling within the shadow of her curls, |
stepping the muslin held in her trembling bands I
Mrs. Clarke WAS difficult person to deal with in |
house. Her times aud tempers we're contrary to |
those OF most people: and she had no idea Of |
yielding. Annie's quiet pertinacity irritated her |
beyond measure. |
'dod bless the girl" she used to say, blazing |
up in her fierce passionate way, "has she no blood
III her veins at all, that she can never be angry,
or speak above her breath Z" |
But, harsh critic and undisguised contemBer as |
aha ah6 did nc iutend 10 he cruel. She WAS l
ony mean and sonr.tempered. The day after she |
came, she spoke to her son about his house bills
asked how much he allowed week, what average
he made for each, and what sum he appropriated
for that future day which, 10 some peoples imagi
nations, 10 always raining furiousy. Percy, over
whom his mother exerted great but unackDow-
lodged influence, detailed his arrangements an 4
position without reserve; adding up, for her eds