Litchfield enquirer., 1872-06-27

L1CtOD, 0GIAQAuc, d40 myself All U16t H solemn conclaye. Geraldine's injury wa. not very severe, after all the hubbub; and as for mine, l need hardly observe what { joke thought it. Geraldine, however WAS on the sofa, and looked trihe pale but pretty and happy as could be. Mrs Montague opened the ball
 Geraldine, have taken the advice o my old aRd valued friend, Mir. Bottletop and he concurs in my opinion thatyou are nasty ill this matter You do not know so very much of Mir. Cecil Ogg; and though very likely he may be a-an-a ansiabte young man-in some fespects-yet fee sure he will himself acknowledge that he is scarcely in position to support wife on"-with bland smile at me-''three hundred year I believe was informed?'
 Mamma" said Geraldine, her colol rising, T don't care about nfoney. Mr. Bottletop, you know Cecil was not well used"
 '1 know all about it, my dear, ,"-he did, indeed, the old rogue; ''but my ad. vice is, that you wait to see his cousin be, fore you decide"
 ''I never heard anything so preposter. ous!" flashed out Geraldine. "Do you suppose that if I were engaged to Cecil, and fifty cousins came, and supposine even they scanted to marry me, do you think it could make any difference?"
 "1t would be very embarrassing to have so many at time, rejoined my godfath- CT; but as this young fellow happens to be on the lookout for wife, and has, or will have, some five thousand year and a very nice place, don't think he is to be despised."
 'Of course, he will be horrible crea- ture,' retorted the inaexible Geraldine ''men with money always are" "'
 "On the contrary, he is charming, good looking, unaffected, not over clever, end good-tempered."
 Geraldine absolutely laughed.
 "A perfect goose, in fact. What can it matter to me what he is?''
 Geraldine" said Mrs. Montague sol emnly, '1 insist that this foolish, this most absurd engagement, shall not yet take place; you are still so young"-
 ''Indeed, mamma, I'm nearly twenty one; and when am shall have little money of my own to help poor Cecil with" And her pretty face lighted up as the thought struck her. don't know what extravaganza could not have com mitted; but contrived to speak very de- iberately:-
 "I can't allow you to be more generous than am, Geraldine won't have you bind yourself to meat least until after you have seen this hero, who is expected to make such an impression on you"
 Mrs. Montague looked surprised, then pleased. Mir. Bottletop's comical old phiz screwed itself up into appalling grav- ity, and Geraldine looked at me with tears in her eyes.
 "It doesn't, after all, make any real matter" she presently said, in voice of contentment.. "Of course, you can trust me just the same. But it is not quite so easy for me-" she whispered aside. '"There's Miss Werter, you know"
 So it was arranged that we were to wait for the arrival of this conquering hero be- fore we were to be formally betrothed; al- though, as Geraldine remarked, ssThere never was anything 80 ridiculous; be- cause sUhy should he fall straightway in love with her whom he had never met, and who would be most careful to be pointedly disagreeable to him?"
 l must say, found farming g fall in life, after my week at Cheslyn. I would not stay to meet my cousin, who was dai- ly expected there, and who rejoiced in the delightful name of Nereniah Ogg; be- sides his other recommendations; and studiously kept away. No correspondence between Geraldine and myself was al- lowed. A fortnight later came this note from MT. Bottletop:
 "MY DEAR CECIL, You are wanted here at once. Come in time for dinner-eight o'clock. Ever yours,
 My suspense was extreme There was a mystery about this summons which awed me. Why ''at once"? and why did he not tell me something about Geraldine? Could the irresistible MT. Ogg have superseded me, after all? Had been too rash in re- lying on sOon.an's truth? And en- hvened myself, as cast my worldly goods into portmanteau, by repeling, ''Wo- hans love is writ in water, woman's faith is traced on sand: and argued why, if Prince Charles Edward and MT. Aytoun had both come to this conclusion, should l be more fortunate? I dived into Tenny- son: "You thought to break yeoman' s heart for pastime e'er you went to town:'' not mol; that | could quite apply this, not be
 
 mind, though I could not remember by what author, to the effect, that, compared to mans love, woman's ''ls as water unto wine;" and l thought if there was any truth in this, Geraldine's mamma had some chance worth mentioning of getting her own way, and that I might soon find absence had produced the dire results it too often does in these days, the exact re- Of o1l l. its making the heart grow fonder. vu.-I BECOME DESPERATELY JEALOUS OF
 MY RIVAL, AND AM ON THE POINT OF RE-
 WHALING MY TRUE NAME.
 I drove myself and my portmanteau ovel to Chesyln, distance of ten or twelve miles; and at every mile of the road my heart grew heavier and heavier, and my hopes dinner and more shadowy. pictured to myself, as had often done before, the figure, face, and even manner of my unknown rival; and in my mind he ever appeared superhumanly attractive and gifted with accomplishments and tai ents such as nobody before was eve, known to possess, except perhaps the he TO of fairy tale. While, as to me-toc we'll I knew that I was fatally unlearned denclent m accomplishments, and, though I might have just enough sense and perse. yerance to win the heart of the woman loved, and had no skill to keep it, Per haps Geraldine herself would be unable to resist the comparison, so damaging te me, which she must draw every hour o. the day between the wealthy aspirant tc her affections and the unworthy possessor and would naturally yield to the fascina tions of the former. Altogether, mJ drive was calculatedsto depress the very best intentions, and arrived at CheslyI as surly as bear.
 Fortunately every one was dressing fol dinner, so had time to recover mself, in asmuch as destroying two shirts and dthret neckties through sheer nervousness is con ducive to restoring the masculine temper Until that evening, I am bound to say, had never felt any reason to object to tn. arrangements made by Nature in regard to my personal appearance, I was tai and strong, and tolerably good-looking though not my most partial admirer, admirers could for one moment have helG me up as beauty; but, on this night, al insane ambition came over me to outshin xI