Bristol news. [volume] (Bristol, Va. & Tenn.) 1867-189?, 1873-04-29
Selected from Burrows Monthly Souvenir.
THE MAIDEN AUNT.

SeleCtSu IrSIh bnrrOW Monthly Souvenir
THE MAIDEN AUNT.
LOTTTE MIDDLETON was an uneommonly
amiable and pretty young lady. When
| say pretty. do not mean that she pos
SeSSed superlative beauty not in
the eXtravagant Sense of the term, at
least. In fact there was nothing superla-
tive about her, save her golden brown
hair, and that was really wonderful, il,
wealth of shimmering waves shading in
shining masses of pulled and coifflired nvs-
tery over her fair white forehead, and max
ing pair of very limpid expressive blue
eyes 4 shade more intense in their hue
She was pctite, shapcly little person,
with nothing peculiar about her. only
with that simple Willingness which in
such women makes for itself an affinity in
the eyes of almost every susceptible mas
culine that crosses its path.
In modern accomplishments she was
moder; t, y accomplished, although her ed
ucatiOn had been an expensive one
When l4Ottie was nineteen the hand of
fate derived her of her mother. Her
father, supposed to be wealthy, soon lost
all by unfortunate spcculationS. and Lot
tie 5 bright lIIe-dream vanished into some
thing like shadow For the fine house
lii the city was sold-thc carriage and pi-
anO went with 1t. In less than a month ;
time Lottie found herself pennless or
phan, for her father, unable to bear up
against the storm, had Succumbed to his
troubles.
Thrown upon her own resources, the
girl developed fortitule which. perhaps,
would never otherwise have been display
ed. Nothing had been left OF her poor
father eState-all had been swept away;
all save some Western claims, which, sit
uated in the far-oif Wilderness, were pro-
nomced worthless by the creditor whose
share they fell to.
Their titles are no good, to my mind,
either but Il take them" he said to the
legal tunctionary who had done the brsi-
ness of settling up the bankrupt's estate.
And he took them.
This gentleman was a banker who had
lent money to her father whcrcwith t.
pursue his schemes of wealth, and who
protested to have lost heavily thereby.
lie WAS Il widower, but lived in style, his
house being kept by his sister, maiden
OF the spmster type of antiquity, who had
been Oh familiar terms with the Middle
tons prior to their loss Of fortune. Per-
haps this person pitied the girl. At any
rate, she did the orphan the kindness to
offer her, in a cOndesccndiHg way, the pO-
Sltion of goyerncss in the banker family
Lottie said
/ will call and give you my answer to-
mOrIuw.
She thought it over. meanwhile. 1t
was the best She could do. so it seemed
to her. Aud she must do something
She had no one to go TO for advice, aSsis-
tance or encourae cement. SO she accepted
the position, and became an inmate Of
Mr.. Coupons household, took the reins
of his nursery. and exercised what whole
some restraint she could over the Lids
ciplined spirits of his three hayward little
ones.
For time it was a sore trial to poor,
refined, sensitive little Lotto Miss
Margaret Coupons. the spinster aunt, was
a torment in petticoats. She was one OF
those angular beings, whose notions of ex-
istence are fashioned by the square and
compass of horrible exactitude, minus
mathematical proportion, after a manner
which easy-going people hesitate to con-
Template the rhymth seemed all gone
out of her life, at some freSher though
awlUlly distant period, and only the punet-
uation marks left
Altogether she was an old volume,
this aunt Margaret Coupons, and it was
evident that Tebinding would have done
her no good for the finger-marks of rigid
experience had worn so deep that the or
iginal vellum even could not have been re-
placed. Lottie' 5 experience Of the pccul-
iaritieS of this eccentric person was at
once oppressive, irritating dIScourging
and lulicrouS. Three things were self
evident. Mis-. Margaret was very de
termincd person. She considered herself
the sole and onnipotent guardian of the
fortunes present and future, of the whole
Coupons family. And LOttie must let her
consider herself so-and get on with her
as best Sh, could
For Il time Lottic' only consolation lay
in the care of little Bess, pretty, though
somewhat pervcrse little fairy, four years
old. The child exhibited a fondnesS for
only two persons in her little world, 50 far
-L0ttie AMI her big brother BERTHE, a
she used TO call him.
Now the aforesaid BERTHE was stall
wart young gentleman, past the age of
man estate; quiet, fne-looking, long
headed. cool-thinking fellow, aud possess
ed. like his father, of more than than av-
eragc force and determination OF chaTac-
ter.
He had not yet moved in society, and
Lottic had not known him in her bright and
gay day of social position Somehow,
She rather liked him. They met at meals.
The old gentleman-old Coupons always
said grace. And that was about all he
did say. But Oh these tribunal festive
the superannuated female saint
who guided the domestic distinie' of the
house of Coupons, was ever garrulous.-
And as a retailer and disseminator OF so
cial intelligence, she was quite marvel,
while at tie same time she was a walking
edition of notes and morals, perfect in
dcy of dates and figures in every matter,
trivial or otherwise, pertaining to other
people.
Consequently, the time was not wasted,
and the conversation between the young
for some time quite limited in
It's extent. Gradually. however, the two
seemed to grow to understand each other
They instinctively adopted modes 81 OK
p-cc,ion more subtle that worls-a box.