The democrat. [volume] (Weston, W. Va.) 1868-1874, 1871-09-04
A GARRlSTER'S STORY.


D, was called to the Bar in TF..ity Term
4 Use. Charley SOame, my great friend,
J vas the son Of man Of family and fortune,
Z s,shSsc estates were in the County of Nor
. folk, and whose town residence wa, in
T. Grnsfj.lor square. Lady Geraldine SOame,
Charl,y's mother, only daughter of the
Earl Of lladingham, was noted for the
elegant entertainments she was in the
habit Of giving and her ladyship had re-
solved that her son Uharley's call to the
Bar should be celebrated by an evening
party at the family residence in Grosvenor
square. As Lady Geraldine was very par.
tial to the as her sons chosen friend, you
may suppose was to be one Of the guests
un this, to me cventful, evening. Going
along, Charley said to me.
al understand that we are to see some
very pretty girls here tonight; so look
out for yourself, old boy"
replied that was very happy to hear
such good news, and would cndeayor to
act upon his advice.
II expect,n said he, zone extremely ias-
cinating girl will come, Gertrude Peyton,
whom, | think you met here last year. II
she does appear she'll be the belle Of the
evening by some Odds-don't you think
s07n
expressed my concurrence in this Opin-
ion, and by the time ! had done so, we
Nached the drawing-room. A quadrile
had Just baen danced, and the ladies and
gentlemen were promenading and doing
the small-talk Of the evening.
Charley Soame and went different
ways, and were soon minglins in the may
throng Of the ballroom with our respective
partners. Presently the dance was over
and was conducting ny partner to seat,
when lrdy and gentleman entered the
room, and | recognized them as Gertrude
Peyton and her father, Col. Peyton. Who.
ever saw this young lady on the evening
to which | allade would not have paused
in giving his opinion us to who was the
iairest in that fair assembly. The Colonel
was very asistOcratic.lOOking man; and
| remember perfectly lull occurring in
the hum of conversation as these two slow
" walked uP to the other end Of the room.
As is usual under the circumstances, COM
mcnts were made by strangers upon their
appearance; were they husband and wife,
or father and daughter
had met Miss Peyton before at the
SOames' hOuse-much more recently than
Charley thought when he spoke of my
having seen her there "last year'-and |
confess that she had somewhat impressed
me. don't exactly know how 1t was,
but one thought Of Gertrude Peyton used
to stimulate me to any amount Of eXcrtion,
aud yet | was not in love with her; still
there was an iudcscribnblc something about
her presence which always afforded me
great pleasure. She was certainly wOn-
derhlly beautiful, and exceedingly clever
and well read owing, as | alterward
found, TO her fathers solicitudc with re-
,pect to the improvement Of her mind.
Well, need not particularizc as to how
many times danced with Gertrude Pcyton
that evening, and how many times poor
Charley did the same; but we each bid in
turn for her ms a partner and It fell to me
to take her down to supper. Gertrude
peytOn's mind seemed entirely to CORES.
pond with her body it appeared to me
refined and beautiful so | was fascinated,
perfectly fascinated; and when the gay
company had left Mr.. Soame's mansion,
and was left with Charley in the almost
empty apartment, in spite Of its gorgeous
ness, | felt as though ! were in desert.
"Come, Molyneux, old fellow" said
Charley, in his usual lively way, "what on
earth Is the matter with you Why, you
look like condemned criminal; been los
ing your heart to Gerty Peyton eh 7"
Now, had l told my friend the exact
truth then, should not have had this
melancholy story to tel now; but | dis
simulated, and said that ! was rather
knocked up, or something Of that kind, and
retired. On the other hand, had my poor
friend also spoken the truth, we should
have understood each other, and so prcs
vented the dreadful events which resulted
from the deceit which We mutually ptac-
ticCd upon each other You will probably
have guessed that poor Charley himself
was al that time, desperately in love with
Gertrude pcyton. Such was the case, as
] alterward discovered; but he never would
acknowledge this to me when | rallied him
on the subject, and on the contrary, siren.
uously denied it. lnevcr had the rcmoteSt
Jlea chat Gertrude Peyton cared for Char
Icy Soame, still les that he cared for her.
Youwill perhaps wonder what poor
Chhrloy's motive was for this rcticencc,
and you shall near presently; butns tony
own toward him, can only account for II
on che ground Of ROuBaiSt hORts, an inlirm-
ity, by the by, which has frequently pro-
duted results Of the most dire character in
other cases, owing to the misapprchcnsions
to which II often gives rise. Well, time
rent on, and the long vacation arrived.
he had hired for the season fine
Nsidcncc at W, and Charley had