The evening telegraph. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1864-1918, 1866-03-31
'ETTYAHHOYANCEs OF DOMESTIC LIFE,
Mrs. B1ADGERY "
l Sketch from life, by an Artist with
No sensibilitisa. a. 81

, r
BIZ wIauE'O eeLLIFs; AUTHOR OF "AR@A-
DALE, E.,,,,s THE LADY IN WHITE, ETC.
tloSsE-Ll n ---A- L. Efl IN f9'l
'svg,Is 7A tF,'7l y q ~ ...''. /. u. -.
Is there any lay in England which viii protect
~ I'M bscheiors and Mrs. Badgery is a widow.
suppose she wants to- marry me y She
Rs nothing of the sort. She has not at
pied TO marry me, she would not think Of
rying me, even II 1 asked her. Understand,
ou please, at the outset, that my grievance
relation to this widow lady Is grievance Of
ENTIRELY new kind. .-t1. r.e ts..rg'
ct me.beein again. | am bachelor of Ger.
age. have a large circle of acquaint-
Be; but solemnly declare that the late Mr..
lgery was never numbered on the list of my
nds. / never heard OF him in my life;
yer knew that he had a rellct; | never set
Is. on Mrs. Badgery until one fatal morning
len went to. see if the fixtures were all
*+ bit in my, new house, d. -e.-.
" new house is in the suburbs of London.
boxed at it, liked IL, took it. Three times
ted it. before / sent my furniture in. Once
h friend. once with surveyor, once by
Bself to throw q sharp eye as | have already,
=" timated, over the fixtures. The third visit
arked the fatal occasion on which l first saw
lrs. Badgery. A deep interest attaches to this
vent, and shall 90 into details In describing 1t.
rang at the bell of the garden door. The old
woman appointed to keep the house answered
#t j directly saw something strange and con-
Fused in her face and manner. Some men would
have pondered a little and questioned her.
tam by nature impetuous, and rusher at con-
&clusons. Drunk" said to myself, and walked
into the house perfectly satisfied. 2
l looked into the front parlor Crate all right
curtain pole all right, gas chandelier all ditto,
ditto, as we men OF business say. l mounted
the stairs. Blind on back window right? Yes
blind on back window right. ! opened the door
of the nOnt drawing-room, and there, sitting in
the middle oil the bare floor, was large woman
on little camp stool She was dressed in the
Il \ L. Ia l. ~
I thickest Grape veil l ever saw; and she was
groaninglso to herself in the desolatesohtude
4 Of my new unfinished house., t.,.,t...
Whatdi LIDO? Doll bounced back into the
landing sifI had been shot, uttering the na-
tional exclamation of terror and astonishment;--
''Hullo ~ (And here l particularly beg, in
#parenthesis, that the printer will follow my
spelling of the word, and not put Hillo, or
IHalloa instead, both of which are senseess
compromises which represent no sound that
pver yet issued from an Engishman's lips)
said, "Hulo !" and then Iturned round 6ercely
i pom the old woman who kept the house, and
She understood the irresistible appeal that ]
bad made to her feelings, and curtseyed, and
ooked towards the drawingToom, and humbly
Yhoped that I was not startled or put out.
/ asked who the crape-covored woman on the
campstool was, and what che wanted there.
Before the. old woman could answer, the soft
groaning 9in the drawing-room ceased, and 9
muffed voice, speaking from behind the Grape
veil, addressed me reproachfully, and said:-
81 am the widow OF the late Mr.. Badgery."
Y What do you think said in answer Exactly
the words which, tlatter myself, any Other
sensibleitnan la my situation would have said
And what words were they. These two:-7
"Oh indeed ~ -
''Mr. Badgery and myself were the last ten
4 ants who Inhabited this house" continued thu
Il muflled, voice. '.Mr. Badgery died here" Th'
voice CEASED, and the soft groans began again.
1t was, perhaps not necessary to answer this
but 1 did answer it,. How In two word
again: II 17sSi i4v '1S 'F7'.' 7'- g ---------z
.lDiu 1fee -. ... .-. .---,, .
"Our house Gas. been long empty" resumed
- the voice, choked by sobs. "Our establishment
+ has been broker up. Being lett in reduced Gil
Il cumstances, now live in o cottage near; but
i is not home to me. This is home. HoweYe
A'ong / live wherever go, whatever change
may happen to this beloved house, nothing cal
~ ,ver prevent me from looking omit as my home
came here, sir, with Mr.. Badgery, after ou
E Rhoney-moon All the brief happiness of my lit
was olceI contained within these four walls
Every desEremembrance that tondly cherish !
n shut up IL these sacred rooms"
Again the voice ceased, and again the sol
II yroans echoed mound my empty walls, and ooze
+ out past Tiie down my uncarpeted staircase.
"A reflected. Mrs. Badgera's brief happtnes
and dear, ,remembranees were not Included II
r the list of fixtures. Why could she not tax
them away with her9 Why should she leay
them Uttered about.in the way of my furniture
ID was lust thinking how | could put this view q
4 the case 'strohely to Mrs. Badgery, when sh
suddenly left. oil groaning, and addressed N
once more ! an at
g 'While this house has been empty" she sale
q II have been in the habit of looking in fror
"a time to time, and renewing my tender associi
" tions With the placer have lived, as it were
n in the sacred memories OF Mr.. Badgery and {
q the paetl which these dear, these priceless
n rooms call up, dsmantled and dusty as they ar
at the present moment. 1t mas been my praC
= tice tog9ve a renRDeration 10 the attendant to
any slight trouble that might OCCASION"
"Only ssixpence, SIR" whispered the oil
woman. close, at my ear. 81 --
"And, too ask nothing in return,p continue
+ Mrs. BadgerY, "bUt the permission to bring m
camp-stool with me, and to mediate on Nj
BadgerN IN the empty rooms, with every one o
which Some happy thought or eloquent word
or tender action OF his, is so sweetly associated
came, here on my usual ,erTand to-day. i al
discovered, I presume, by the new proprietor c
the hOuse-discoVered, l am quite ready {
admit, as, an intruder. i am Wiling to go,
. you wish it alter hearing my explanation. M
heart is fun, sir; 1 am quite incapable of COZ
a tending with you, You would hardly think j
a but am sitting on the spot once occupied b
our ottoman. A am looking towards the windo'
in which ney tloWerrstand once stood. In thi
very plaes,a Mr. IBadgery first sat down an
clasped me TO his heart, when we came bac
from oar honey mo oonatrip. Matilda, he sai(
~ your d1Aw wlpgrltnm has been eApensively p
pered, carpeted aid furnished for month; bt
II 1t has only been aeorned, love, since you eI
tered II til you nave 10 sympathy, Sin, Tor sue
II remembrances as these; you see nothing pit
- able in. my position, taken in connection wit
feelings, and thoroughly undelstand that this
not house, but shrlne-you have only to 81
So and am quite willing to CO." '
She smoke with the air of martyl. M ri,