Litchfield enquirer., 1876-07-20

your wife. We thought-heard, Imean that you had married so differently; but Ella is such perfect gentlewoman. D
 Will any reader care to hear what ef- forts my still lovely wife made to go look ing we'll to that dinner ? They were mighty efforts, though strong minded people may urge, perhaps. that they wefe made with puerile object.
 She was fair enough to be any man s fate when she had made ready at last, simple as her toilet was and poor as the materials of which it was composed were; she was fair enough to be help-meet for a man whose fate was brighter than mine; she was fair enough for me to be fully justified in the pride felt in her when we entered my sisters drawing-room, and found that all my relations were assem- bled to pass judgment on my choice-my wife. r..ss-* Mir. and Mrs. Brooklyn were there and MT. and Mrs Warrington, these latter fair, fat, fiabby, and feelingless as ever. There were some remote cousins, too. whose amour aOropre my way of life had supposed to outrage. And there was Mir. Jones, my lodger!.
 Shall I tell you, reader what felt when saw him No; every human being can understand a tithe. of that which felt. I know that he was an unconscious, an innocent, instrument of torture, but all tiie same, he was very rack to me that night.
 He behaved almost as we'll as a.wcll- born man could have behaved under the circumstances. He ignored all forlne knowledge of us, and accepted Sir Al fred's introduction to us as though he had cast eyes on us for the first time. Bnt through all the dreary length of that grand dinner saw that he pitied and de -spised me.
 How did it come about? I am not quite clear on the subject, but think it came about somewhat in this wise; my brother, moved by the graceful bearing and beauty of my wife, was asking our addresses: and while every one was S. tening, Ella gave it, to my horror, in a clear distinct "Thirty-seven Chepston ValIas."
 "Why, that's your address, Jonesr' Sir Alfred said, turning to his promising pupil.
 And then Ella. who scorned to lie, as she did all mean things, said. .&"Mr. Jones is lodging with us."
 The announcement fell like thunder bolt among them, and my brothers wife drew herself up, and pinked. her poor lit. tie feathers, and uttered disioined ejac- ulations. My brother even said, 'sWhat a blunder. Dolph! but of course Edmon- stone didn't suspect;" and Mrs. Worth. ington, my eldest sister, actually blushed as she apol0gised to me for such mis- take being made in her sisters house. For few moments it seemed to me that was farther from them all than ever. Then my wife, who had been so patient heretofore, spoke impatiently.
 Excuse me MT. Brooklyn" she said, "but of all the blunders that have been perpetrated by us and against us, this, il seems to me, is the least" ,~ 2 f E--s She seated herself away, from the rest a few moments after she said that, and I saw my brother look toward her. and my sister, Lady Edmonstone. go to her lov- ingly. But she would not go near them again till they sought her, and then she yielded herself to their advances very gently.
 Our days of letting lodgings were num- bered from that evening. After all, it was disagreeable for Sir Alfred, I admit ted; and so when my salary was increased we kept the little house in Chepson street to ourselves. Soon I secured one or two remunerative engagements on the Lon don daily press, and eventually made my way into two or three of our leading magazines. But my heart went out of my work when, after bearing the heat of the battle so gallantly, my wife died'when the peace came.
 am 8 Bohemian of the Bohemians now. Since she is not here to adorn the old order that value far too highly. I have ceased to strive to make my way back to it. Few of those social difficult ties which I have more or less faintly sketched oppress nae now. But I do sometimes hold debate with myself on the subject of one, and that is whether the friends of young man are justified. under any circumstances, ill leaving him entirely to his own devices in our great metropolis Left to himself, he must sink socially if not mentally; and, worse than this. the consciousness that he con. siders he has sunk may break the heart of his wife.