The Columbia herald. [volume] (Columbia, Tenn.) 1850-1873, 1872-02-09

own free-wil offering. And Oh,
mamma, I could not look DIR. Morti.
more in the face when I remember
that his bill has lain unpaid for six
months ~
And mamma, also remembering
this sternest and most incontroverti-
BILE of facts, had no more to say.
'It seems SO strange" said Miss
Bydexter. 1.-THE idea of you being
my maid, you dear little aristocratic
] looking thing! And you used t.
!. write my compositions for me Al
!, school, too! Dear, dear, only tt
that bunch of eurls comes in frs
under the braid, you know. And how
came you ever to think of it?"
4 ''NOnsense !" I cried briskly. "The
long and short of it is that I want
money and you do not-so don't let's
say any more about it.p
Papa talked vaingloriously of 'my
daughter in New York" Poor papa!
he had so little left to be vainglOriOus
about. Mamma remained wisely ST.
lent, aud Jeanette, who was addict
ed to hero worship, firmly believed
that her elder sister was the nOblest
girl in all the world. While DIR.
Mortimore-at least, SO l afterward
heard-contracted hts brows, and
thought that people who could afford
to send their daughter to pass a win
ter at the Grand Hotel, might at
least pay his very moderate bill.
| The month of March was wearing
4 and cnnchin0 vzoo
penciling thesky with golden threads,
interviewer with crystal lines Of rain,
when one day I astOnished Mr.. Nor
timore by walking into his office. He
looked up from his books in some
surprise.
Miss Hadleigh! I supposed you
were in New York"
II have returned with Miss Bydex-
ter. Next week We 60 on to Wash
ington.n ..-
DR.. Mortimoro made no spoken
answer, but there was . peculiar, in
scrutable><xpression in his eyes. Was
he thinking Of mamma and jean
nette on the tread-mill or patient
poverty at home? Was he fancying
it modern edition Of Cinderella and
the proud sisters? Involuntarily 1
spoke, with rising color and trsmu-
lOus voice: #
"You are entirely mistaken DIR.
Mortimore but it is my province to
explain.". .a-g = r
"He said nothing"
"But you looked great deal.n
"Please to interpret my looks" he
said, with an amused face.
My cheeks burned, and I bit my
lip to repress undignifled anger. I
laid down a pile Of crisp rustling
banknotes on the desk beside him.
''Be so kind as to receipt your bill,
sir.n
He obeyed in silence, and 1 walked
away, as he afterwards told me, with
an air of an eighteen-year-old Semira-
mis-" And
IThe rest of the Ms. is in bold,
masculine handwriting, as different
from Octavia Hadleigh's delicate up
and down strokes as it is possible to
imagine s-.
And, Octavia to the contrary not
withstanding, / shall take the liberty
of finishing this confession after my
own fashion.
called that evening on Miss Bydex-
ter. The fair Cornelia was jubilant.
Il never had pleasanter season."
she declared, II haven't been cnnuyee
once. Octavia is such charming COM
pany.n s--...it
She is with you at present?'
know"
"Octavia Hadleigh! Your maid ?"
must have looked my astonish-
ment, for saw its reflex in Miss By
deXter's face.
"Why, to be sure. Didn't you
know it?" And Miss Bydexter, who
WAS no adherent to the theory the
"silence is golden," poured out the
whole story.
"Of course l wouldn't tell every
one," she said, rather guiltily, as il
remembering some hitherto forgotten
charge of secrecy. "But 1 knew you
would appreciate it-and she is 80
sweet, and they are so poor!"
"Is she at home ?" asked.
"No; she has gone around to her
fathers. But l expect her back
every minute"
81 will go and meet her." said /.
And 1 went accordingly, thinking,
with strange thrill at my heart of
that pompOus, egotistic old father
who sacrificed them all so regardless
ly on the shrine Of his selfish ease
and the pale, patient mother, and Oc-
tavia herself, the fairest and most
dutiful of daughters. And l had be-
lieved her all this time to be butter
fly of fashion, forgetting utterly the
piteous exigencies Of her home.
When first heard of her going to
New York with Cornelia Bydexter /
fully determined to put her away
from my heart. Now l know how
impossible it would have been.
know that l loved her all the while
was forgetting SO systematically.
met her in the rosy dusk, as stately
as a princess, as beautiful as flower.
"Octavia," said, ~ have mis-
judged you. Will you give me an
opportunity to explain"
Certainly, DR.. Mortimore."
"But there is question / should
like you to answer first"
"What is it 2" r.-.
''WiH you be my wife, Octavia ?"
The question, asked in a lowered
voice of intense suspense, was ans
wered frankly, after moments hesi-
tation.
~ will"
1 suppose / Explained" satisfac-
torily afterward, for Octavia under
stands all about it, but 1 really don't
remember how or when it was done.
But she is content, and that is enough.
Miss Bydexter had to look out for
another Companion and to this
day old Mr.. Hadleigh firmly believes
that Octavia was one Of the bellies of
New York society in the season of
1856.
And SO she ought to have been.
A Bachelors Paradise. p.