Ashtabula telegraph. (Ashtabula, Ohio) 1874-1880, 1877-04-27
MRS. HOUNsLOW,s EXPERIENCE.

A daughter had been the hope of
Mrs. Hounslow's life; thinking, when
Lawrence was small, of the beauty
of little girl, too, with her curls
running out in rings under the lace
and ribbons of her cap, she had been
obliged to change the thought to
that of the maiden who should be-
come Lawrence's bride, and give her
all the comfort and none of the care
of daughter.
She had always been a lonesome
body; an orphan at first, and then so
few years a wife before she was a
widow, with her unruly boy at school,
and she had looked at mothers with
their little girls, and envied them the
companionship, the opportunity of
making charming dresses for the
pretty darlihgs, the power to live
their lives over again in their girls.
When Lawrence came home to
stay she had, of course, much COM
fort in him; and if the young man
enjoyed his sling" she knew moth
ing about it. Yet Lawrence's 'sfiing''
was not bad one, as filings go; he
drove fast horse, and he loved a
game dinner. When the exuber-
ance of youth passed he would set
tie into respectable citizen, with a
bank account. To her eyes, to-day,
he was a paragon.
Settle. But not alone. It follow
ed as the night the day that Law
renee would marry-a very pretty
girl or very rich one. Neither
would be to Mrs. Hounslow's taste;
the pretty girl hardly the companion
she sought for herself-the 1ighty
head turned by vanity, the appetite
Unsuitable for flattery; and the rich
one mastering Lawrence, and conse-
quently herself. She had chosen
herself a charming young girl, with
as sweet a nature as ever shone out
of blue eye; she frequently had
her there, although to no effect ex-
cept in her own dreams. In what
dreams Mrs Hounslow indulged by
the evening fire apropos of Louise
Mandell ! Somehow the young or
phan girl always seemed sitting on
the other side of the fire, its light
dancing in her eyes, on her dimpling
smile; and sometimes Mrs. Houns,
low saw that light glance on little
golden wedding-ring, and sometimes
on a little golden nesting head; and
Lawrence was always standing on
the rug between the two, looking
with equal tenderness in his darE
eyes, at one side and at the other
That was her evening dream. In the
morning, Louise moved about the
house with her, cutting flowers, fill
ing vases, eoncocting choice dishes
what a mother-in law she would
makel How happy she was going tC
be in this dear daughter ! She hac
even gone so far as to buy an open
phaeton in this dream for Louise tC
drive her out in on sunny evenings
and was just settling on the color ot
the fringed silken canopy, when sh,
awoke to see that Louise was ci
pher beside that great, luxurious ha
zel-eyed and hateful blonde-Flor,
Furlong.
| Mrs. Hounslow's son and a Fur
Iongl There was no worse blood in
the land; money enough; family
enough; and yet nothing too unscru
pulous of which to suspect the men
too selfish, silly, slovenly, stupid
spiteful, of which to accuse the wo
menl
Young men do not pause to thinl
of such things. What Flora Fur
long could work out as to his saliva
ton did not occasion Lawrence
thought; but her luminous black
lashed eyes, with their long, whit
lids, and the way she had of lifting
them, her melting mouth and velve
skin, her hair like fine spun gold, he
luxurious fesh-aIl that was a fasci
nation; and if he was not passionate
ly in earnest he was in fair way T.
! be so. "Why, she's nething but clay