The Pulaski citizen. [volume] (Pulaski, Tenn.) 1866-current, 1874-11-19
MY UNCLE WAS a BACHELOR.


at my death, you know, the old place
Will come to you, as it came to me, free
OF debt or encumbrance. I supnose
you have attributed my confirmed bach
eiorhood to some disappointment in
love In early life, Ell d? All. WE'LL TN
tell you the whole story. 1t may serve
as warning to you, I was going to saw.
only do not believe in one mans ex.
perIence being of any use to another.
And as to warning, bah they never
save: But am in a Retrospective mood
tonight, so if you care to hear the
story, You SHALL"
My Uncle George and I were staying
mp at Barlulg, a small fishing place of
his In the Highlands, to which we re
sorted regularly twice year for about
fortnight, In pursuit of salmon. I
had lost my father when I was about
four years old. aud since that time his
Drother, my Uncle George, had been
my father in all but the name. Indeed.
think we were fonder of each other
iban fathers and sons usually are in
nu6days.
1t had always been a wonder to me.
and to every one else, that Uncle George
had never married. Some people de-
clared that he had been hopelessly in
love with the beautiful Duchess de-,
and that il was for her sake he had re-
manned single others limited Mt some
enlargement ; while some maintained
boldly that Sir George Wyville was
married, and that /, his nephew, and
heir presumptive in the eyes of the
world, should look very foolish some
day on the baronetcy and Wyville cas-
tie being claimed by the son of nv un-
cles old college bed-maker.
But to all these stories I turned a
deaf ear. 1 knew enough of Uncle
George to feel sure there was not a
shadow OF truth in any of them. Ny
uncle often spoke of the Duchess de
as (what she was) one of the handsomest
women and most finished coquettes of
her day. But felt certain he had
never cared for her he would not have
talked so much about her il he had
And as to an entauglemAnt or a secret
marriage, why, knew all nv unele's
affairs as well as / knew those of Charlie
Baynsford, my bosom friend and
brother officer, who had been gazetted
as ensign and lieutenant in the 9Th
root Guards the same day as myself,
about two months before. No: what
ever reason nv uncle may have had for
remaining single, it was one he had
carefully guarded from the whole world.
last.
reflled my glass with whisky and
water, lit my pet pipe, about the color
ing OF which l was so anxious, and
drawing my chair nearer to the fire. pre-
pared to listen in comfort.
was about thirteen, George, when
first saw Nora ODyrne. was at Elton
then, and she was a flower girl in the
streets OF Windsor The first day I
ever saw her-I remember it as we'll as
If it were yesterday-it was a bitterly
cold March afternoon, and she was
standing outside the then only hotel in
the place selling violets. To this hour
can not stand seeing a girl selling yio-
lets IN the street. gave her all the
money L had in my pocket. and nv
heart with 1t. It ia no use attemptinG
to describe her. All descriptions of her
real beauty are futile. She was simply
the loVellest child, as she was afterward
the lovellest woman, / ever beheld. Day
after day l used to see her. I con-
trlved to meet her quietly. did all I
could for her, and it went to nv heart
to feel that 1 could do so little. used
TO give her food; clothing was of no use
giving, for her mother took it away di-
rectly, and pawned it to buy gin.
need scarcely tell you that Nora
was no common beggar girl. Her father
nad peen well-to'do workman, and
during his lifetime she had been to
scnool, and had learned how to read and
write ; but after his death she had been
reduced TO beggary through her moth
er's fatal propensity for drink. For
nearly two years of my life spent ey-
cry shilling | could spare on that child,
ana loved her as have never loved
any other human being. And what is
more, kept my boyish love n secret
from every one-no easy matter as you
may imagine.
When was fifteen had n bad Mt
tack of typhus fever. was STAYING nj
Wyville at the time, for the summer
vacation with my uncle, Sir Rupert.
de had a perfect horror of sickness. of
lever especially; and directly I was Ia
Ken Ill, he left the hoNse to pay a visit
TO some friends near Windsor. He
promised me that when the school met
again he would ride over, and give the
of me.
% did not return TO Eton till after
the Christmas holidays, and then Morn
was gone-where I could not learn. In
vain made inquiries of different peo,
pie IN the town who knew the girl bv
sight. All 1 could learn was that
neither she nor her mother had been
seen since the beginning of September.
was nearly frantic with anxiety. /
give you my word, George, that never
but once in my life have / felt ANYTHING
like the utter grief and desolation of
that time, when 1 thought of Morn. with
her extraordinary beauty, thrown upon
ire wide world with no other protection
than that drunken old mother.
Well, time passed on, and when I
was eighteen / left Elton and went into
the Guards. My mother took a house
IN HEREFORD street, and lived with her.
went everywhere, and was made
much OF. was heir to Wyville castle
ana htteen thousand year-to say
nothing OF the baronetcy and 1 could
nave married-as my uncle and mother
was always telling me-almost ANYBODY
chose; but did not choose.
Strange as it may appear. 7 never
met girl l could care for-never met
anyone who could mi be me forget for
one moment my childish love. I grew
tired OF everything sooner than most
men, and at twenty, having obtained
several months leave of absence, I
started for tour in the east With my
old friend Baynsford, who was then
captain FelloWes. When we were at
Smyrna 1 received letter from nv
mother, telling me that my uncle was
going to be married. AS 1 had been
taught from childhood TO consider
myself his heir, you may fancy, George,
with what feelings of disgust I received
the intelligence. My mother wrote a
very illegible hand, and, moreover, al
ways crossed pages, consequently de-
clpherlng her letters was no easy task.
could not make the name of my I'M
Gle nance, although Fellowes and I sat
up nall the night trying to discover it.
My mother said Sir Rupert had met
her IN Paris, and thought the word we
could not aecipher looked like French
name.
" London was no place for me now, I
decided, and determined to leave the
Guards and exchange into some regi-
ment going TO Canada country I v as
particularly anxious to see. We lincer-
ed good deal on our way home, and
were a great part of the time in out-of-
the-way places, where we saw no news
papers. Thus missed reading the an.