The Lake Charles echo., 1879-04-19
MY AUNT'S WILL.

'rWe are none of us perfect, thanh
goodness" said Caroline, my eldesi
sister, with an aggrayating laugh. 81
DO not claim to be q paragon, by any
means, and it would take qualities
little short OF q saints to poke down ir
the country and hobble through life at
the beck of fractious old woman. ]
shall not go, for one "
+" Caroline!" said mother, in mild
tone Of rebuke.
Poor little soul She rarely ever as-
serted her authority before the elder
girls. They were all Rushtons, every
inch, and poor little mamma had learned
all about the Rushton bio years be.
sore ] was bonn. They were q stern,
s.roud, arr giant set, and, in her meek
eyes, were more like queens and ogres
than her husbands relatives. How
Gerald Rusht0n came to marry poor
country curate's daughter remained 3
myrtery to his family till the day Of his
death, and with womans instinct
fTeshened by the memory OF my mothers
sad face and fearful eyes, ] think she has
puzzled over the enigma through many
lonely hours, only the question might
have been put 10 her consciousness a
little differently. As, how was it that
she had been broughtjto hold in idoIatry
q man Of my fathers temperament.
He was very unlike her imagined hero,
quite unlike the lover she had expected
would come up the rose-Halk at Aubrey
rectory to ask her to marry him My moth
er rarely ever spoke Of her later years as a
wife, but often with even enthusiasm of
their firsG meeting, and the childish
fondness with which she regarded him.
1t had been madea matter of reproach
70 her always by his relatives, and my
mother, i think, never entirely forgave
herself for her share in his aiianation from
his family. He died with that antago.
sriism in his heart, and my mother had
suffered silently, rearing her three girls
as well as che could on the slender patri-
mony lett her, with just enough of the
old curate's dignity of character TO re-
strain her from appealing to the great
people down in Kent.
Caroline, now in her twenty.third
year, had been waiting come years,
rather impatiently, for dukeo viscount
to come down into the country and
marry her for her peachy cheeks and
aioe.black eyes. But nowadays dukes
prefer a bad complexion and 100000 a
year toa captivating young person whose
sole dover is in mere personal attraction.
Edith was already twenty-one, and
4elt aggrieved at her sister for not hay-
ing made q match, leaving the field to
ner.
Not strong like Caro-, Edith was, how
ever, a pretty girl, with fine, ladylike
hands, and a carriage princess might
have envied.
4 believe / was seldom thought of by
any one until it Was discovered I WAS too
much grown to utilize the ,east-off frocks
of the other girls, and was now tall,
awkward girl of eighteen, with large
elbows and sandy complexion, like the
Aubreys. 1t was also discovered about
this time that ] had made much of my
muaical chance, and, what with o few
lessons from the village osganist and the
through long winter evenings
on the old harpsichosd in the sitting
room, i had suddenly become proficient
in q small way; enough 90, at least, to
admit OF my taking lew of Miss Har-
'aon's scholars In the afternoons. The
money j earned in this way seemed, no
doubt, o prodigions sum 10 poor NANNY,
whose common condition was o state of
perfect impeenniosity. Motherhad often
declared that both Caro- and Edith pos
ceased the hands of musicians, 10 slender,
supple and white, while mine were over
grown from the wringing of dish~cloths,
and redfrom boiling water.
Providence had given me my bony
hands with music in them, and won>
,derful voice, which Miss Harmon had |
declared made me almost seem pretty. 4
She never knew, kind soul, how abe
.msde my heart ache with adull, horrible