The Cincinnati daily star. [volume] ([Cincinnati, Ohio]) 1875-1880, 1876-10-24
AFTER TWENTY YEARS.

Very pretty looked Mrs. Jenny Der
went as she leaned back in her purple
tauteuil, with her fayorite pup reposing
on foot-stool at her feet-she had
fondness for dogs-and turned the rings
upon her white, plump fingers round and
round, with the air OF one absorbed III
deep yet pleasant thought.
| Very bewitching, too, she was, with
that peculiar manner which IL is gwen
| to widows only to attain, and the SOFT
lamp.light stealing through rose-colored
shades, and restoring to her yet round
ed cheek the bright, delicious bloom of
early youth. --......
For at least the one hundredth time
she picked up a little note lying on the
table before her, and glanced over the
bold, notwithstanding lines, with a soft
laugh, which, in spite of her efforts,
would end in sigh.
Like all OF her sex, the fair relict OF
Joseph Derwent, banker, had wandered
| through little romance entirely uncOn-
nected with the aforesaid Joseph Der
went. -
| Where she first met George Somers, l
am unable to say, and with that we have
nothing to do. But speedily Irritation
of the most desperate kind sprang up be-
tween them, and one night, at a military
ball, where Jenny danced all her part
uers down, and the intoXication OF
waltziug and flowers, the dashing lieu
tenant drew from her frank aVowal-
you all know Tie rest. l can't stop to be
sentimental.
Home went Jenny, congratulating her.
self on being that fortunate specimen OF
iemininIty, an engaged young lady, and
dwelling on the perfection OF her lover
all the While stabbing the toilet cushion
| flo, Iva I cna Ia
lnghted in the operation. But, alas! the
"6ast laid schemes of mice and men
rang att aglee;" OF, ,as Viola morepoetical-
Iy expre sed it, "rhe course Of true love
did never yet run smooth" and Jenny
found her fate no exception TO The gener
al rule. =
The very next day, while pale and pen
siye from the effects of first passion, 1T
was revealed 10 her by her watchful
mother that she was TO marry Joseph
DerWent, Poor Jenny! OF course, she
wept, and vowed she wouldHt-What
else could any girl do under the circum-
stances?
"a fat, gouty, old grandpapa! Marry
him, indeedv' and then she wept again /;
but mamma stood the pelting OF the sum-
mer shower with a degree OF hrmneSs
worthy OF better cause; and when
night came, re-echoed her determination
with tones unchanged as the chime of d
bell from morn till eve. What remained
for Jenny but to reveal the secret Of her
betrothed with as much solemnity as il
she had been communicating the tact
that clandestine marriage had taken
place?
"Nonsensep said mamma, when the
daughter vowed with tragic air, tmi-
: tate1 from Fanny kembe, "that she
would live and die true TO" -sob-"tC
er'-sob-sOb-"own Georgew
: "Up go her colors!" cried Uncle Phil
: the sailor. ''The duse's in the girl; sne's
|, IL perfect water-spuutV
Mrs. Latimer reminded her that ever
affection can not exist long il it has notL'
ling but itself TO iced on, and quoteU
Keats:
, Glove In hut, with water and crust,
Is-ueaVen preserve us-clndcrs, ashes, dust,
; or would nave done 50, only she never
read poetry, though her daughter did.
Il Well, the consequences were, that
after much useless shedding OF salt
, water, and many neart-Dreaking vows
and protestations, back to his post Went
, the lieutenant, and up to the altar Wen
= lJenny with the banker, While MANN;
) stood by, piously arrayed in lavender
satin, receiving with smile, whose sad
, / ness did her in1nite credit, the congratu
! lauons of her friends, who all whispered
Iamong emselYes, "lhe luck OF som,
q lolESW
We will pass over the interude O
lJenny's married life in the silence it bes
: observes. Sne had laid her banker ii
. the family vault, from whence, accordin.
q TO commonplace philosophers, lie wal
lAxlallng in the form Of nOXtUus gases
, To uois0n the air for his not lncomsoI
y able partner. Very ungratetul III TIL,
= Eold Fellow; when she got MIN under TIN
Il ground, why couldn't he lie there quiet
= Whether Jenny's grief survived the
= fhumdrum existence sne led Tor eighte Ell
n years--a dinner party to the same prosI
o. ak old bachelors ana plumed doWagers II
4 every Thursday, followed regularly b,
s long whist in the evening, without ever
Il the consolation OF Knowing that her part
L. ner was dishonest-I can not say. Bu
l. il such was the case, suffering certainI,
|, agreed with her; tor during those Ions
L years she was soquietly yegetating, she
q once slender as a sylph, increased Il
b more pounds avoirdupois than we care
e to mention! And now we have arrived
Il at the point where we laid down tn
e thread of our narrative, but to which WI
n will return.
e The fair widow was readdug again thu
4 dainty note, over winch she had puzzled
|
Ieven then; for sue was so busy wonder
r ing who u could be from, that she quit
e forgot how easy her curiosity might bC
+ satisfied by just breaking the seal.
AS this billet is the hinge on which ou
story rests, we give it here without apUI
e Iogy: -.... F..s... ......
e "Have you wholly forgotten the mem
e cries of lite gone by? l would tair
: hope not; therefore am l writing thesi
Hines? twenty years since we have
r met! Twenty years since you wept thu
!. last tears of parting on my bosom err
q they made you the bride of another.
+ think of you only as when [ last saw you
: with eyes speaking such sweet tales
= and those long curls falling round the
! waist tnIs arm so often encircled. Bu
: let me not brood over these memories
5 though they have comprised the sum o
# my existence during these lonely years
II since we parted. ..
h II am not married, Jenny-can yol