Iowa voter. [volume] (Knoxville, Iowa) 1867-1874, 1872-03-07
WON AND LOST.
.sThose that will not when they may,
When they viii they shall have nay.

"A
Thames: croauet and strawberries the
excuse. filtration and matrimony the OBJ
iect. But in all the glory of June sun
light. the bright river glittering as IT runs
on to the sea- roses flinging their rich per-
fume on the air, soft music blending with
the song of birds, the excuse and the oo-
iect are sometimes forgotten, and dell
cious sense Of purposeless idlcness ana IN
explcable enjoyment alone remains. AL
least such was the case with Philip Kerr,
CAPTAIN in the Royal Rifles, as, leaning
against tree, he looked at the scene
around him.
What TO him was the remembrance that
two brothers stood between him and
title What the apparently certain fact
that his fathers broad woodlands and the
halls where he was born were not for
him that his only home was the head
quarters of his regiment in garrison
town, or the dining-room Of the Rag ana
Famish II was nothing to him at that
instant that his pockets were empty, ana
his banking account overdrawn. Had ne
not irreproachable lavender kids on his
hands. and, as far as he was concerned,
pricelcss boots on his aristocratically
small feet Above all, was there not
smiling on him, between her turns at
crog,,et. the only unmarried daughter OF
the great city firm Of Richley, Alpaca q
Coz Not very young, and not very hand
some TO be sure, but then there was a
dowry of thirty thousand down, and sew
enty thousand to come when the senior
partner should take his flight to a better
world, and that surely would balance
thirty years of age and d remarkably PLAIN
face. go,
Besides. she was well inclined to regild
with her wealth some WORKOUT coronct;
or, failing that, to attach herself as
branch grated on to some long-descended
family tree, and so enter society In her
own right, as fourteenth cousin by mar
rage to peer Of the realm, rather than be
admitted BY sufferancc Of dOwagcrs on the
lookout for heircssee.
While awaiting this desirable event she
kept her hand in by series OF Unlimited
and sentimental flirtations with every
agreeable and intellectual man she met
for Theodosia Richlcy went in tor inter
lect-hiph art, Broad Church notions, and
women's rights and Philip being par
ticularly agreeable and passaby intel
lectual and, above all, the third son OF
Scotch baron, Thcodosia had selected him
as her present aid-dc-canp and attache.
She had always the alternative, in all
cases when intellect asserted its superiori-
ty and became too troublesome. Of refer
ring IL TO the senior partner, without
whose consent, as she plaintivcly re-
marked, 81 should but infict on you pen
niless wife, my dearest Henry" or Robert,
or whatever might be the Christian name
of the present aspIrant !; and this rel
crence generally terminated in the dis
missal Of the agreeable and intellectual
being, no particular reason being given,
and the fair Thcodosia gently hoping that
"though things were not propitious,
still friendship need not be broken"
Then, by way of consolation, would ar
rive anonymous presents, and sen
timental correspondence would be kept
up with the family; but to this stage
Philip had not yet arrived.
He was content to be smiled upon, TO
disregard the warnings of wiser men than
himself, and drift down the stream, care
less whether il stranded him on the sunny
shore Of home paid for by his heircss-
love, or dashed him on the barren rocks
of foreign service.
There were lust two or three things
that Philip could not do. With all his
many destinations, his perfect mustache,
his talent for soothing iratc tailors, his
seat on horseback, and his step in the
valse he could not be angry or stern with
a woman, or, indeed, with any one. He
could not take anything deeply to heart,
and he could not fret or fume as to what
might or might not be his destiny ; and
he leaned lazly against the tree and
thought of nothing.
The game was ended at last, and Miss
Richley came toward him.
II am very tired, Captain Kerr" she
remarked; ''and the seats here are all IN
the sum-"
II was fair challenge, and Philip ac'
cepted it, He was a habitue of the house,
and he knew of shady walk; he could do
no less than offer his arm 10 the heiress,
and take her to it, And there they sat,
the sunlight Just playing through the
branches, and the riverrippling by. There
was certain luxury and ease In all this
which struck Philip.
vision came across him OF the dull
garrison town, and the troop-ship, and
the foreign station; and then the contrast
a home in England, hunting and shooting,
London in the season, and the moors in
August: and the thought shot across him,
Zone word, and this may be mine" Then
came a fitting thought of fair young
face, with its rosebud bushes and its
trusting look. He put it away as too
costly bargain, and turned to the wo-
man at his side.
Now he had certainly paid great atten-
ton to Mrs. Richley. They had been
much thrown together, and prudent rela-
tives had implored him not to neglect SO
golden an opportunity, and here it was at
once He had but to speak and dare his
fate. AS well finish the matter now.
Poor little Louic well, no doubt she
would find better fellow than he was;
and so his resolution was taken.
Truth to tell, Theodosia was expecting
an offer from him every moment 1t was
no new position to her, and her heart
was too well arranged under her tightly
laced silk bodice to indulge in fiuttering.
She has gone through the same thing
some fifty-one times before; yet to-day
She is puzzled. "Philip dear is the
handsomest darling she has ever seen, eX.
cent those Italian loves, the guardta nob'1e
and then are useless; and then his father
is a baron, who married Lady Alice
Somebody, and his second brother Is
clergyman, who married the widow OF a
dean. who was the daughter OF an arch
49,, Vap Ioar philip is on all sides