Essex County herald. [volume] (Guildhall, Vt.) 1873-1964, 1878-12-27
A PERFECT TREASURE.

THE STORY OF PLUCKY WOMAN.
One day Frank came home with a
look of triumph.
"I have a perfect treasure for you, "
he said, Sin the way of a nurse. Ger
aid Temple is going to take his family
to Europe, and when he heard what you
wanted, offered to let us have their
nurse, whom they will not want"
I heard a low sigh. Virginia,
Franks only sister, had been sitting in
a corner of the drawing. room. She rose
now and slipped out.
"How could you, Frank ?" 1 said,
following her with sad eyes. "I have
never heard your sister speak of the
Temples since she has lived with us; the
very mention of their names brings back
the memory of Gerald's brother, and all
that sad tragedy"
81 am sorry" said Frank, "but
did not know that she was in the room
Poor Virginia !"
eyes, poor Virginia |" said to myself
But once the blithest, loveliest little
creature I ever knew. It is something
of story, but tits can DER true tale, I"
and will tell it in the shortest way l
can.
Virginia and Frank were orphans, and
old Mrs. Chichester, their grandmother,
had adopted Virginia almost from her
infancy. The old lady had very ambi-
tious hopes of making splendid match
for her beautiful grandchild. But Vir-
ginia thought otherwise; and when she
was just seventeen, at the time of my
wedding, she and Langley Temple were
insane enough to fall desperately in love
with each other. Langley was Frank s
most intimate friend, and the pair met
continually at our house until Grandma
Chichester found it out. After while
Langley was ordered to his ship Che
was in the navy); but Frank waged bat
tie with grandma until he obtained a
reluctant consent that the lovers might
correspond.
Grandma took pains not to let Frank
know how Virginia was tormented and
tyrannized over, until the poor child
consented to go out into society again
and there she met and made ready con-
quest of the very man whom grandma
had intended for her beauty Horace
Kent. Virginia refused him; but grand
ma said, scornfully, that made no diff
ference. She would come to her senses
soon," and to my utter amazement the
trousseau went on, and by-and-by we
we're hidden to the wedding-a quiet,
elegant affair, where Virginia walked
and talked as if she were frozen. Frank
and confessed to each other that night
that the business passed our comprehen-
sion, for we had no idea then of foul
play.
Kent and Virginia were to sail for
Europe within fortnight of their mar
riage. and went to Washington and Bal
timore to pass that time. Left alone
one evening in Baltimore, with severe
headache, Virginia remembered to have
seen some aromatic vinegar in her hus-
bands dressing-case. Kent was peculi.
ar in his careful way of locking NJ his
belongings, and she took her own bunch
# keys to open the box, when, rather
TO her surprise she found the key left
in the box. Some listless, vague i'm
pulse which she could never afterward
account for, prompted her to lift the
upper, tray, although she had found the
vinegar already. Underneath, to her
surprise, she found papers, and was
about returning the tray to its place
without further examination, when her
eye was caught by tue words, "My
own Virginia." in dear, too we'll
known hand writing.
When Kent came back that night he
found his beautiful young wife senseless
upon her bed, with two letters crum.
pied between her cold fingers. One, the
last letter that Langley had actually
written her, and the other, the base for.
gerry, in which he asked to be released
from his engagement. Kent was not al
all bad. he loved her madly, and you
may be sure that his sore punishment
began when, after the physicians had
brought her out Of that death like
swoon, the first words that came to Vir
ginia's lips, i'll that strange, passionlet
tone--which is far worse than anger
we're, Remember will never forgive
you-nevor !"
They came back to New York for
single day but Virginia saw no on,
but her grandmother. The old lady
upon her death'hed, raved Of that inter