Wilmington journal., 1875-09-17
MY AUNT'S STORY.


"Oh, Aunt Pam, how shall I make
Jack q little more dignifed I want
to be proud as we'll al fond of him.
He's too silly, too demonstrative; how
can l cure him9 Aunt Pam, advise
me!'
Aunt Pamela looked at Belle irreso-
luteiy for q moment. then beckoned to
Hannah to take the tea away.
"I'll tell you a story Belle" she
said, 'if you'll listen to it. I'll tell you
how somebody you know came to be q
GROSS, queer old maid-a whimsical.
spitcful, lonely, desolate old woman. +"
Il don't know any such person."
cried Belle
Yes, you do. child; you'll recog-
nize her portrait when it's drawn.
But at your age, dear, she was, /
think, passibly pretty and attractive;
| in fact, you won't believe it, but this
heroine of mine was very like you
when she was in the heyday of youth"
"Had she red b air aunt, like mine 2"
Eyes, and the brilliant complexion
and high temper that go with it. She
WAS only eighteen when she became
| the defendant in a case where all the
little property she had in the world
was at stake. She was already an Or
phnn and would have been a beggar
had it not been for the wonderful zeal
and ability of her legal adviser-Mr.
Reginald Vickers. Long before the
case was decided in her behalf she
had grown to look forward to the ne
cessary legal consultations as the
brightest moments of her life, slough
not word of love had passed between
them. In truth, Belle, the lady of our
story. whom we will call by my
own old fashioned name of Pamela,
had warm heart under a very cold
exterior, and although she knew how
shape her sentiment to suit the some
what energetic and passionate devotion
OF the young barrister.
90 You are so cold, Pamela he
would say; 'one might as well have
bit of archaeology in the shape of one
Of the mutilated Grecian goddesses for
an idol. ] whisper over SO many pret-
= things in your Cur, and ono would
tlink thay st0ppai at the tynpanum,
for not the fa!nteSt blush tiraes your
marble cheek, and the chseled splen-
dor OF your profile remains az IL carved
in stone
"And all this time, Belle, every word
of hjs had been like an electric shock
of bliss to her enraptured sonl, add
she ecarcti Y know whether she was III
paradise or upon earth.
" When her engagement had reached
an epoch devoted to the bridal trous-
seau, she became very much the pro-
perty Of certain relatives and their
chosen seamstresses; there was so
much of trying on, of comparing and
choosing, that very littl0 time was left
for Regiraid. OF which he complained
most bitterly: and when the conven- |
tion adjourned to tho country to ar
range further preliminaries 70. the |
coming happiness, Reginald declared |
he w0uid follow her Vi rY soon.
"It was weather auch as this, Belle, |
in the month of May ; and the very
Pamela off j 4 Reginald by repuls-
ting Ievity IN l familiarity. He had |
but twirIad her about tho room two or
three times, cAroiiny out il his gloeful |
way
" Pamela bade him somewhat haugh-
lily TO de5i5t, which ho did, with a
frown, aud went Immediately out of ,
her presence, nor did she see him
again until he bade her cold fare
well IL the window of the railway car
80 she went upon her way utmost
broken hearted, aud had no Joy in the
veruu! landscape. nor, indeed, could !
she soe field, or post, or flying bits of
beauty, for tue tears that dimned her
s;gAt. She took herself to task, and
vowed that, come what would, when
Reginald should meet her again, she
would welc pne him warmly, even
shuuld no enter the house by way of
somcrsauit.
Nevertheless, she found herself
hoping that his first visit among these
simple country folk would prove to
them that he was altogether q superior
being, not fashioned after the same
clay rs hemselves-pIcturiug him as
she had 80 often seen him when deep
IN legal controversy, his high white
brow bent into frown, his eyes glow
ing with secret fire, words falling
out OF his mouth like molten Goals
upon the heads of his adversaries;
only some honest, f. ithful helrts that
loved her far beyond her desert
Reginald reached the farm one
baImy evening. riding from the train
in convenient ox-cnrt, his travelling
suit of grny and broad straw hat, his
flowing neckti,, aud the air Of easy
]
about him. gravely vtxiug his be-
trOthed. He had not been half an
hour with Pamela before he WAS on
intimate terms with the whole of her
uncie's family. There was not the
hint of a frown on his brow, and no
trace of legal lore or dignity of state
embarrassed his intercourse with her
simple relatives.
Z" To hear his talk as he stood there
by the five-barred gate, swinging little
Elsie to and fro, one wOuld suppose
that he had never pleaded q case, that
he had never quoted poem, or de-
lIvered an Grafton. Pamelas uncle
drawled to him in his provincial dia-
lect, her amt jo ned in the conversa-
ton without even dropping her sun
bounet, aud Cousin Ephraim, the bash
fullest Of mortals, sat down to tea with
the stranger guest The supper the
young lawyer devoured that night
would nave honOred the appetite Of
labo,er in the off kitchen. Pamela
looked with dismay at her Oiympian,
wondering if that could be the way
the gods dined upon ambrosia. So,
wounded and disappointed, scarce
knowing why, she sat silent and cold
by his side when they were alone to-
gether once more. Iley mad the
whole of the grim parlor, with it's
wbitewashed walls. its hideous por-
traits, it's horse-hair sofa and chairs,
to themselves; but the door of the
sitting-room stood ajar, and Reginald
looked longingly thence upon the gay
rag carpet, the well-polished stove,
with its CRATE afame, the warm cush-
ioned chair where her aunt nodded,
and the bit of holly crowned glass,
where Ephraim made himself smart
to visit sweet little Jessie Downes.
"'She is the loYeiiest creature, Reg
inald,' said Pamela, shat the sun ever
shone upon
"'Except one, said Reginald. But
I don't believe old SoIs rays often
reach you. my Pamela
'"The very next morning, at the
country church, he saw Cousin Eph-
Mi. a tl...c nj z-,67 :