The Evansville journal. [volume] (Evansville, Ind.) 1866-1870, 1868-04-01

4laA IA w ALiE ~ vi AAAt AAAAh u y AAI
in those days; / never saw him raised
to bliss or sunk to despair by any
thing my little cousin said or did; and
what was very significant, l never
once saw him try to be alone with
her drew the pitiless conclusion
that Mr.. Forbes, though one Of the
cleverest men ! knew, had nothing to
say TO Jane. / was alone with her on
the evening before the wedding day.
We sat In the parlOr, by one Of the
windows, and looked out at the gar
den. I could not help thinking that
this garden would seem very dull and
lonely when my little cousin Jenny
was gone. No more should / hear
her gayly carrolling IN the morning,
as she ran down the alleys, light and
blithe as a bird on the wing. No more
would | see her reading IN one of the
arbOrs, as intent as young Muse. No
more would the waving Of her muslin
dress, or the pattering of her little
feet on the gravel, give me pleasant
thoughts of youth and girlhood. She
wasgoiDg off to Paris with that cold
Forbes, and, after their honeymoon
trip, he would take her to his house
and keep her there forever. These
were dismal thoughts; SO, with a
grOan, said:
" You are going away tomorrow,
Jane?"
" Yes, she answered, in low voice.
" Do you know, | can scarcely believe
it, cousin William"
Nonsense" l said, little Grossly.
" You like it. / have no doubt you
are desperately In love with Mr..
Forbes by this time"
" No 1 am not" she replied, with
one Of her little solemn ways; it is
very odd, but / am not in love with
Mr.. Forbes, in spite of all his devo-
ton 20 me.
Mr.. Forbes settlements had been
very liberal indeed, but other devO-
ton [ had not seen.
1t Is very wrong" continued poor
Jenny, in q tone Of keen Temorse;
" but it is no fault Of mine, you know.
Nevertheless, spoke to Mr.. Forbes
about it, the other day"
" Did you, though, exclaimed,
rather startled at this unnecessary
piece Of candOr. &
Yes; and he said that it did not
matter; that we should be very hap
by together, and that | would be, he
knew, 9 good mother to his little boy"
James simplicity and Mr. Forbes's
GOODNESS both COMPOUNDED me. 1t was
plain he was no more in love with
Jane than she was with him. Only,
why on earth did he want to marry
her? How did he know that she
would make a good mother to his lit
tie boy? Jane had no sort of expe-
rience concerning children, and was
not even very fond of them. She
liked them, to be sure; but l had
never seen her go baby-mad, like
Grace Anley. Mischievous little firt,
she knew it became her, I suppose.
Well, well, | have had my revenge.
l saw Grace the other day-she is
now Mrs. Grapt-and Grace, my
nymph, my sylph, has grown stout.
| don't exactly know what reply l
gave little Jane; l dare say some
truism about the non necessity of
ardent love on her part, for she said,
In her serious way:
" So / think, cousin William; be-
sides, you know, feeling that
deficiency, [ must, of course, make it
up by being ever so much better than
| might have been if had returned
all Mr.. Forbes feelings"
But she sighed; perhaps the pros
pect of being so very good seemed a
little austere to my young cousin.
Aunt Mary came in and put an end
to the conversation. | went out to
smoke a cigar, and did not see Jane
till the next morning.
TO BE CONTINUED.