Spirit of the age. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1849-1865, 1863-10-05
tMisffllaneous
DELLA PEMBERTON.

husband. as be entered the room late
one evening in November /; Il feel so
lonely as the night winds beat against
the walls, and Agnes has been worse
all the evening. William, | know
YOU business in. town demands much
of your time, yet will you not try and
spare yourself from it, so that you can
spend your evenings with me until our
babe is beyond the danger of anoth r
paroxvsm? 1t frightens me SO much
when You are away. Wien she has
recovered, ! will endeavor to resign
myself to your necessary absence
Her kind words and pleading eyes
went directly to the heart Of William
Pemberton, who, drawing his young
wife a~ffectioGately to his bosom, re-
piled !
yes, Idel!a i; l have neglected you
and our little Agnes too long, | prom
Use you to watch with you until she is
quite well. Tomorrow evening | will
bring out a collection Of books, SO that
our hours may pass pleasantly and pro-
ftably away
you are very kind to me- said Idel-
Ia, while tears, such as she had not
shed for weeks, gathered in her eyes.
William Pemberton was a young
man Of ardent and generous feelings
Having received a liberal education
!. under the direction Of his uncle, and
and possessing a handsome patrimony,
he embarked in the mercantile business
in the ioveliest village of the South
1t was there ne saw Idella Chandler.
She was Just seventeen, and such was
the gentleness and ~amiability of her
disposition, that a few months ~associa-
ton was Sufficient to win his affections.
He wooed her, and was successful
They were as happy q pair as evor knels
before the bridal altar and none that
gszed upon him, as he stood in the
manIiness OF youth, or IN her, as She
trembled beneath a robe of purest
white-beautiful emblem,of a spotless
. beart-and were united in the most
hallowed relation on earth, would have
dreamed that shadows would ever dark
Ell the path on whose Aowery threshold
they were then standing.
AT the time our story opens, they
were living IL a retired cottage house.
q short distance from town. Two years
had gIided bv since their marriage, and
the morn of their welded love hat
been nnclouded. The frank, ingenious
nature Of William Pemberton made
him the. easy subject of temptation, and
unfortunately his resistance was but too
unsuccessful. For.some weeks he had
returned home late at night, maintain
= ing throughout the evening a silent
and morose manner. He gave as his
excuse, that the opening of his fall stock
of goods required his unceasing atten-
ton, and the confding Idella, with a
credulity inseparable from true affection
doubted it not. Perhaps, if she had
marked closely the expression of hi
eve, or had narrowly watched his step
the wildness of one and the unsteadi-
ness of the other would have revealed
with a too dreadful certainty, the fear
full peril to which he was exposed
She knew that he was not as he one
was, but the voice of affection whis-
pered an excuse for him, in the worldl
cares with which he was surrounded
OF his absence she had not yet com
planned but when her babe sickepeC
she ventured to plead for the compap
of her husband, and prevailed. The re
coverv Of Agnes was rapid. During th
evenings which William passed at HON
it seemed as if he and Idella had ente
ed upon a new existence. All his 70
mer tenderness returned. He read
his wife, and hung aroand the couch
the little invalid; administered nesdf
restoratives with a husbands kindne
and a fathers love-. When the chi
recovered entirely, William still spe
his evenings with His family, in readil
or rambling. 1t was a season of quie
ude and peace. Gradualtyh he return,
to his former habits-drspk deeper al
deeper of the wine1chp, until it ca
off the bonds of moral restraint, al
bound him in its damning vassalags.-
Idslla-the gentle, the devoted IdeI
was the last to believe William Pen