The Kenosha telegraph. [volume] (Kenosha, Wis.) 1860-1888, 1867-03-28
From Every Saturday
a FORGOTTEN Valentine.
l. THE MESSENGER WHO BORE II


a Forgotten Valentine,
I. THE MESSENGER WHO BORE IT.
And who never delivered it. Perhaps il
would have been too much to expect Of hin
that he should do 50; too much to expect
that the little packet, carelessly taken aud
thrust away among others, would ever Ell
ter his head again. At any rate 1t did not.
He was a young man still, though he had
been for some years a wIdOwer; and be had
fallen in love, and was on his way to learn
his fate.
1t cannot be hatterug to young lady, If
she knows it, that her suitor should be Ca
pable of taking thought OF any one besides
herself, but certainly Sir Hugh Rainham
tried to believe that ne was not making his
own happiness altogether the first consides
alton. There was the well being Of his lit
tie girl to be thought of and what did he
know about bringing up little girls? He
had heard sensible people say, aud he was
ready enough now to accept the dictum,
that the Wstst thing man IN his position
could do would be to marry again; wisest
both for his own future and his Cnd's He
said this to himself as lac stood III Evelyn
Nevilles drawing room, hat i'll hand. wait
ing, looking out upon the bare branches
which were soon to be green again, and
wondering in desultory fashion, If this
February day would bring him another
spring time, or ouly the desoate branches,
the dead leaves whirlng about, and the
cold sky beyond He had not long to wait
When she came into the room, and that
thrill went through his heart which the
presence of one We love alone can bring, it
must have left some mark upon his face;
for she knew why he had come, and in u
few rapid arguments had decided upon her
answer. lie was rich; but she did not care
so much about that, not knowing what ii
was to be anything else; he was Sir Hugh
Ranham; but she dldu care for that either,
her pride being of another sort; he was good
generous and devoted, these things she
did care for. He loved herr and he came on
day when that same pride Of hers was
smartiug under a sense OF neglect
IL few seconds allowed her before he
spoke, Evelyn Neville made her decision.-
She had thought that he knew, aud was
jealous, of her friendship with that cousin
Frank, whom she had tancied might one
day be nearer than q cousin But that was
over. The cousins had kept up childish
habit Of exchanging valentines; and to-day
had gone us usual That was the humiia
ting part of it. Ii she had broken through
the custom, it would have been we'll; but
that he should be the first aud when, too,
he had given her cause to expect that his
would be no ordinary valentine! Here,
within her reach, was the means Of PUNISH
ing him; at any rate, of letting him know
that she did not care.
6,
attention; but he knew nothing Of that
When he spoke Of his little girl, faIteriugly
she reused up and saw the strong earnest
ness and anxiety III the mans face; and,
strange to say this touched her more just
then than any passionate, lovers pleading
from his lips would have done. She turned
towards him suddenly, and put her hand
into his, aud SAID, speaking OF the small
Cecilia,
''She shall be very dear to me, and pre-
cious | will care for her as much as you
could desire
And when Sir Hugh had left her, she did
not repeut. IL was true that there Came
upon her a certain sense OF being bound; OF
having done what could not be uudone, and
that halt rebeIious desire 10 be free, which
is almost always iuseparabIe from an act
that seals ones own fate. Aud then the
drawing room was rather lonely; the trees
outside the window got ghostiy look, ana
seemed to wrap themselves up tighter as the
fog gathered around them; aud, although,
she thought SIZE would just then go aud tell
her brother, by way Of convincing herself
that the thing was finally settled.
When she told him, ne lifted up his eye
brows and stared at her.
sis it true?- You look as if it were Rath-
er scared aud that sort Of thing Not that
there is anything TO be scared about; only
| suppose it proper. Hem! | might have
thought OF Frank Neville; but this Is wiser
She bit her lip, but never answered him.
She wished he had not said that about Frank,
and she didn like the word wiser" W hat
had wisdom to do with it
She started from her sleep that night,
with a mist before her eyes and Il great
throbbiug at her heart, for Franks voice
was in her ears. Would he care?
But what use to ask, now that it was too
late, no one knew better than herself; for TO
her, having once decided publicly as it
WERE change would have been impossible
Aud on her wedding day she was to Sir
Hugh a radiant princess, far away above
him. STOPPING TO crown him with the bless
ing Of her love. Any one who had seen
him that day, might have doubted about
its being altogether, or even very much for
his daughters sake that he took this step
a have reason to be grateful" he said to
his new bro!her-ln law, when the sptechfy-
ing was over, aud the bride was gong away
to change her dress.
George Neville looked at her, and then
nodded.
''She's a good girl enough: little self
willed, perhaps; but then she has always
had her own way"
''And will have it still, hope" said Sir
Hugh If don't make her happy, | shall
deserve to be a miserable man ali my life %
In years to come, he recalled the speech
and wondered whether some strange mis-
giving had moved him to utter it.
Just then Frank Neville was saying Il
Evelyn: 80 you do not think me worth al
answer
She was passing through the throng to
wards the door, and she never taltered o
raised her head No one knew that tn,
words fell upon her with a sudden chill, Xix,
cold hand grasping her heart. She hat
seen ner cousin amongst the guests, anC
knew that ne was looking miseraby i'll, bu
she had been too much occupied to think
about that.