The Evansville journal. [volume] (Evansville, Ind.) 1866-1870, 1866-08-31

school, when she was little delicate
child, and you were the eldest parlor
boarder: she never forgot it, and told
Steenie never to forget either. Il was
very kind of you, Miss Clementina.''
Miss Clementina gotvery red, and the
permanent flush which afflicted her
aquiline Hautain nose, turned like
danger signal, greatly to the amuse-
ment of the Angel, whose behavior
was so little angelic on that Christmas
Eve of 1856. Poor girl Little as
the reader will be inclined to pity her,
she underwent fiery ordeal when she
consented, as she did consent that
night, to become the afianced wife of
Reginald, the heir of the Hautains.
This was how it fell out. After, din
ner the two brothers entered the
drawing-ro at the same moment,
and both approached the sofa on which
Miss Temple was seated, apparently
lost in the contemplation of her bou-
auet of hot house flowers, which had
been left at the rectory that morning
by Reginald himself--a great stretch
of politeness ON his part, who would
have thought twice before undertak-
ing the exertion of so much as Wag-
ging his little finger in the service of
the best friend he possessed. Intrud-
ing his ungainly form between Cap
tain Hautain, and the object of his
alteration, he placed himself, with
something of the assumption of own
ership, at her side, and remarked
coarselyto his brother, whose coun-
,tenance lowered at this cavalier treat
ment at the hands of his rival.
There's the old girl you firted
with at dinner winking at you Steenie,
so you had better go and firt with her
again. You're just one too many
here, can tell you; isn't he, Angelo"
The young lady so addressed Meth
er spoke nor moved muscle of her
countenanee; she seemed as though
she were turned to stone, and her
beauty, always statuesque, became
almost terrible in its outward calm
ness. Mr. Hautain. however, whose
voice was. thick, and whose ideas,
'unconnected as they, often were after
dinner, which was to him the one
object in life, stood lin little awe of
Angel in her new mood. She was to
Alll1 uOGlluS WOIS1 .budu d O6uC6u
pretty girl" quite ready to jump down
bis, throat, and to whom he meant to
throw the handkerchief that night,
having primed himself for the ocea-
sion with two or three more glasses
than usual of Lord Hautainis old
port" 'i,4i'''3 t.et9lQ pHG i4'lfeJ
i TWAS not romantic wooing Edo
not wish to degrade my pen by a de-
scription of tlpsy mans proposal to.
girl who had made up her mind to
sacrifice herself to the highest bidder
for her beauty of person and face
We can have but little pity for her
who forged the letters of her own fate.
Dazzled by the blaze of a coronet in
perspective, married by the essentially
worldly nature of her education, An
gel Temple cast the fatal die, to which
act, in the madness, of her infatuation,
she seemed to be actually spurred on
| by the presence of the man whom. she
really fondly loved Y She did nottrust
herself to look at him-she had nObii-
ity enough to feel how contemplate
she must ever after appear in his eyes.
None knew better than he the dislike
which she entertained for the man
whom she had just promised to marry
Essentially noble himself, she felt that
|, she had forfeited the last claim TO his
love, and the conviction struck her
| like a death blow. He had turned
sharply on his heel when Angel had
maintained silence in answer to the
rude appeal of Reginald Hautain for
her consent to his brothers Danish
ment from her presence. He was not
a man to take such an affront tamely;
but, believing in her truth above all
things, he was not man long to bear
malice for the hayward caprice of a
spoilt beauty, even when it was exerL
cised upon himself. The opportunity
at last presented itself for few mo-
ments of conversation with her pri-
bvately, although it might sound ike an
anomaly to say, that the time chosen
was that during which he and Miss
Temple were, to all outward appear=
ance, engrossed in attention tosthe
hdreary meanderings of a quadTille. 4,
/ sSt'1 Atslast," began Stephen HaUtain,
! bending his handsome head, to. place
it more on an equality with that of his
beautiful partner4ti at last j have an
Opportunity ola word with you. We
have exchanged no Christmas greeting
as yet, and, Angel, you have never
congratulated me. Ne s-- 'ep5 90 Is
81 d0tso now with all lmyaheart, . !,
was thereby, t'and for more reasons
than one, Captain Hautain."" ''e
g L do not understand you; you are
not like yourself, and your cold words
cut me to the heart.a If this is to be
our Christmas greeting, Angel, wish
to heaven I had never comet 20
- " Hush, hush, Steenie, said the girl,
alarmed by the violence of his lam
guage and by the expression. of his
| face over which deadly wilderness
had suddenly spread: :" you must not