The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1870-12-29
c..E OF TWO CHHRIsTMAeEs

fanny chance Of nrSt, All" ny ;,
farewell to my hope OF Wn"mS Eapor. hoi,
The first speaker was "aiter Ea'cm, ,W mI,'
no nf the richest baronetcies in wcait'.
nonvcsbirc. and gentleman common c, :"
G. Gnthlac's College, Oxford, on W nl.d n
oi,, emulation his friend Charlie br"ii'o ""
was a scholar. =, ,-o,,'l come
a - ~ soncwhcrc handy, so 'ii.' y" a.,
Sncnd Your Christmas and Ne" ''' '''
with us?' t chevy me of my
ITO have yon come ana Sa ..oth '''>
work every day ?" said bs:'.lu , .e' Thcrc's. n
NO: pom honor. i W W." niShon's CHM
farm of the governor ,,, ~ ,oarcst station.
s.ohs, ,nt.s an hour and hatt from VI.
anu ~, .n" excellent people, and VIII pun you
ihe. ,,;tally. and for a moderate scitm.
up ," rs and IN write to OLD DlmSaa'e
nah1,,i il bv this evenings post. u,,ro
"'..I - Is \ tempting idea. Are You sure
t,orc j nothing about the locality 10 hcep
a fellow from reading! ,aoo ~, This
Not more than any o,her pE'.I va '' As
Jolly sphcrc. You know III no ~. ,,,ace
NV old coach used to SAY, the ON! l,ass
a't aro 7 shn,,ld be likely 10 stick 10 rcaullis
w m" no Eddystonc lighthouse: anu 1nch
Ishnnld have to promise not 10 hSh.
WeIl confess, with all my anNieis ioI
class T don't quite like the not,oh VI
rbr;Str,as-day in oxford and solitude; SO
II! say YES .-,,;o,, ,vos that
,ha hocinninr of the Christmas vac. 'oIi'."
Hr.ndrc,h comfortably settled 1T po'Gco,e
Farm. I'm the retired little village ol psi ,
on's Climstokc. He found lne bii iu''!
very agreeable people. ana r"'ht S"p.1i ;I,.
10 his notions OF farmer INC. e .' ,,a;
consisted of old pimsdalc. an honest anu
.,,ornst,c man his wife, Il very homcly ana
easx.~o,nr body and Rose, their daughter
n ,Grj If ,iohtccu. and pretty enough 70 de-
scryc to bc. what Erandrelh soon oisco!-
cred that she was, the belle OF blSiop ;
CimStnkc. ..->,.,a
Brandreth had been thrown on the world
nm orphan, at an early age, win no h'th vi
kin save an old bachelor uncle, VINO was
his guardian until he came OF lSc.-an event
which mad taken place coupe OF years pe-
fore the date of this story. tie hau, 'nclt'
fore. never known womaniV R'ftnlcS> U, az
tent;nn and the care and thought which
Rose hrstnwrd on him rs their visitor came
unon him with no less novelty than ENJOY
mont. She. on the other hand, having been
all her life accustomed only to the awkward
homage of rustic admirers, was charlneo
with the refined and respectful attention
which Brandreth naturally pau 10 "o-
man. ..a.o -,
IL was hardly likely that such state OF
feeling should remain 1T fixed point, ana
it was scarcely probable that it"ouiu sulles
dimjnution. 1t naturally dcepcned ana
strengthened. Brandreth, with Il mans In
stiucf of rivalry, could not bear TO see Il
Girl like Rose surrounded by such clowns
as her village SlitorS and taking adVan-
tacc of his position asaIlsitor 1T her iatneI
house, he contrived on all occasions to mo-
nopolizc her. much TO the chagrln OF her
rustic SWANS, but greatly to her satl>1ac-
ton.
Poor Rose her guileleSs and unsophisti-
Gated nature Saw no wrong, no danger, no
inequality in their love. How could she
fail to believe and return W hat She supposed
to he an honest and honorable passion
What else could his attentions mean:
And now it was Christmas Eve, and be
was about 10 start for Sir Ranulph CarcW'S
10 spend his Christmas. Poor @ill though
the separation would only be for 4 day, It
seemed AS il it was to be for ages. II was
her first experience of the bittcrs of love.
She stood in the hall, waiting to see INN
off. with sad heart, which Sorcly nm
dered her in her appointed task-ihc &c.
coration of the old farmhouse with ever
greens.
At last Brandrcth came down stairs
euuippcd for his Journey. which was likely
to prove cold one, rs the winter had be-
gun TO set in severely.
Good bye, Rosie! 4 merry Christmas
to you," said hc chccitu!ly.
.' And to vou, too" SAID she but III no
very merry tone.
$50 you're doing the decorations, en-! l
shall take the privilege Of the season..
He caught up bit of mistletoe, and hold
ing it over her head, bent down and Kissed
her.
1t was the first time he had ever kissed
her, and it should have been pleasant there
fore. But it was not. as he drove away
toward the station he recalled it again anu
again, but with an uncomfortable feeling
aself-rc proachful dread.
Shall / tell you why! Because when he
stopped down to kiss her she had not turned
her head away or tried to escape. She haC
raised her face calmly and innoccntly, ant
met his lips with hers. 1t was so simpl,
and trusttully done that there was nothin!
unmaidenly in the action. 1t shocked nm
because it was 4 revelation. In that luS
she had given him her heart he felt h
was q villain. He had won the poor child
affection by false pretcnce. He had bliShte'
her happiness merely to crafty his vanity
for, OF course, as he KEPT repeating TO nm
sell, there could he nothing between them
their stations in life were so very different
The line between the station at which h
entered the train and that near Sir RI
nulph's seat ran close to the village {
Bishops Climstoke and as he was whirle
rapidly by it, and recognized many t;
miliar spot, his heart grew sad tc thin
what evil he had wrought i'll that quiet han
let, and to the poor trusting girl who Ia
given him her heart.
Before long, however, he found himsc
at Sir Ranulph's hospitable mansion
where, in the pleasure of meeting Walter
and in the .jollty of the season, he 500
forgot his remorse, and dismissed the sub
ject of his cruelty from his mind.
1t was thoroughly old-fashioned Christ
mas, kept up in the regular old-fashione(
style. When the Iule-log that was drawn
in by party Of mummers was laid on tht
capaciolls hearth and began to blaze, it wa
not only the sap that Missed. There Were
big fakes of snow coming down the wide
chimney, and they sputtered and steamed
as they fell on the hot log.
A week passed pleasantly enough, ant
perhaps only too quickly. 1t required al
Brandreth's resolution to make up his mine
to tear himself away and get back to hi
books. His difficulty in doing 80 was no
decreased by the fact that his friends onl
sister, Edith, showed decided partialit
for him, which Walter was only too de
lighted to foster, and upon which Brand
reth could not help fancying neither he
father nor mother looked with any dis
pleasure.
However, by strong effort he resisted
the spell, and on the day after New Year
day found himself in the train on the return
tourney to Bishops Climstoke. As he passed
the village the recollection of what hat
happened when he left it came back again t
him wildly. He could not help reproach
ing himself for his attentions to Edith as
treason to Rose. And yet, after all, how
could that be! Rose and he were SO diff