Vermont daily transcript. [volume] (St. Albans, Vt.) 1868-1870, 1869-04-09
FIorenCo's Bet.

! nave, lnVcCU, L florence, ana t1c
only thing that takes the sting from re-
grct at leaving this old place, is the
thought trat you are to return with me,
and that | may try my utmost TO make
YOU enjoy the next month as | have
done this
" TO introd zee me into society. 10
bring me out, ] suppose - said Flor
cnce. " Bnt cont you think | am rath-
or old for that sort of thing? | have
seen twenty, cousin"
" Without one season in London, -
said he; without one admirer save the
clownish young men of the neighbor
hood, without a single offer of marriage,
ii | mistake not, Floy. 1t il really
shocking to bury your beatty for so
long in such a remote place as this"
AS to offers of marriage, you are
wrong" replied the young lady laugh
ing. O." | have been honolcd by two, one
FROM Mr.. sam. Gregory, who. with Il
great deal of bashfullncss and lidgeting
about, asked my con, cut to te Mrs. sam,
and the other from the Reverend West
rop Deane, Il poor curate, who couldn't
sound his RS. | didn't accept either"
Mr.. Give Uardinge lifted his hand
his head, replied doleiully, Which it
will eventually come 10, perhaps, if you
are not quickly lifted out of this medic
ere class into that higher grade of socie-
ty to which you are eatitled by birth
and position. | am very glad that you
arc going to my mother for little time;
for although there is not, my dear cOus-
in, more perfect lady in all London
than you, vt the constant companion
ship of this so-called upper class of the
village might in time cause you to for
get that your superior birth prccluded
the possibility of your ever choosing Il
husbaud from among the young men OF
the families you are in the habit Of visit
ing for ii would i'll hesccm tnc blood
of 4 Hardinge to mate with one beneath
her"
The hot blood few up in torrent to
the girls face as her cousin uttered these
words, for she knew her mo ,hcr had
been % considered to dcmeaY herself
when, two and twenty years before, she
disobeycd the commands Cf stern pa
rent and stcrncr brother, and proudly
placed her hand in the strong, warm
grasp of man who had no sin against
him but his poverty, his ambitious day
dreams, and his love for her.-She re-
membered how, in this obscure spot,
they had elled out his meagre pittance !;
how the glorious prod actions of art, that
his glowing imagination had vivlfied
into almost living creations, had passed
away, and left the noble face drawn and
sad, and the large eloquent eyes, that
had fought SO bravely for them, a
closed volume of blindness and death.
Then the struggle for life, for existence,
the long years ofsuffering and sorrow OF
her life and subsequently the two hun
dred pounds Il year that some unknown
relative, dying left them.
She had never seen a single member
of her mothers family, until few
months before, when Give Hardinge,
son of that brother who had sealed up
his fathers heart against his sister all
the years of his life, came suddenly upon
them in their quiet country home, was
struck with the refinement that per-
vaded she atmosphere in which his
aunt and cousin lived, and charmeJ
with the rare grace and fresh beauty OF
the young girl. He fastened to create
an amiable understanding between his
mother and Mrs. Lysle, which, being
easily effected, as Mrs. Harding enter
tanned no feeling of resentment against
a woman she had never seen, he sud
denly fancied that the cool fresh
breezcs of Hillside might have ben
eficial influence on his tOwn-bred con-
stitution and therefore, without much
clr cumlocutiOn, he gave broad hint to
that effect, His aunt took the hint and
invited him. During his stay he and
Florence had been great deal thrown
together, and, with a constant inter
change of thought and opinions passing
between them, grew in month pretty
we'll to know and appreciate each other.
Give Hardinge was neither hand
some nor young; but he possessed that
which English people, and English
women especially, value more in men
than correctness Of feature, OF even
youth; strength, courage and manliness.
Five-and-thirty years had rolled over
his brown head, and left the wavy hair
still brown, and left the gray eyes I'M
dimmed in the fire of their boyhOod.
He considered himself an aged man
now, and if any midsummer day-dream
ever had tinged with q transient bright
ness the even tenor of his life, it was
long since rolled up In the forgotten
past. He took an interest in Florence,
a deep interest, by reason of her beauty.
her innocence, and her unprOtection.
Man of the world as he was, thoroughly
understanding all the ms and out of So
ciety, he felt that his cousin was no
common girl-that she was at once
adapt d to fill a higher position than
that in which she had yet moved. He
took this interest to heart, and acted
rather vaguely upon it.
In the pause that succeeded his last
remark, his keen discernment instantly
detected the insult he had offered UNI
Intentionally, 10 her, and with slight
embarrassment in his face, he bent for
ward, and said, earnestly: "Forgiye me
Floy; do not misunderstood my mean
ing, ] am referring to yourself. You
will be engaged before you leave
London. Mark my words.n'
The flush died out of her face, and a
merry sparkle danced in her eyes as she
said, gaily: "What, in month? NY
good cousin, how quickly you are go
ing to dispose of mel"
"But / do, said Give. "Let me bet