Litchfield enquirer., 1880-07-15
THAT CHARMING COUNT" !"
."So good :" said Mrs. Damer.

| ''So clever! continued the elder lady. ! ''So fat :" replied the younger one l 'Thc kindest hearted young man in the world"
 ''And the least interesting"
 1 "Weli, have it your own way! exclaimed Mrs. Damer, now fairly irritated ''For the sake of argument, I will grant the justice of allyou say. 1 will go further, and concede that the vast majority of the world is as blind as yourself to true worth and real talent. will even admit, if you like. that am an un- reasonable old woliian But, however ugly, fat and uninteresting Arthur I.estrange may be, even you. Dora. cannot deny that he is | well bred and rich"
 Il do not deny it, my darling aunt" said Dora. All 1 say is that his birth, breeding | and wealth constitute no sufficient reason for my marrying hini''
 "With your industry, your aversion to gaie- ty, your indifference to dress and your passion for housekeeping, you reserve yourself for love in cottage. presume ?" asked her aunt sar- castically.4 v 1 3dt s"A
 Dora laghed "a soft saucy lahgt She rose from her occupation of painting a spray of yellow roses, and approached the open French window where Mrs. Damer sat at work Rneeling, she pillowad her wilful, golden head on the old lady's shoulders, asking with T world of surprised reproach in her brown |
 'Child! l am not cross" said her aunt softly stroking the girls little band. ''I am not cross, but am an old woman BOW, and not rich one. l would fain see you in some safe and tender keeping before 1 close my eyes on world which is full of trouble and of temptation"
 But you are not going to close your eyes yet, murmpred Dora, caressingly. And Arthur Lestrange IS not the only young man in the world, or even in Farnleigh."
 But he is the only one in whose affection for you could fully trust" said Mrs. Damer "He has proved that he loves you sincerely, but he is not likely to expose himself to se- ries of repulses. He will certainly accept as 6nal the answer which you are about to dis patch hlm today. In all probability, he only rlsked second proposal because he thought poor fellow !-that his recent success might have led you to regard him more kindly"
 "A trumpery little comedy" !" said Dora with pout
 "A comedy which wiser people than Miss Dora Morton have admired and applauded," |" sad her aunt severely. "A month ago you would have had more sympathy with such triumphs. am afraid that can guess only too well the source of your contempt for them now.".
 Dora Morton rose with flushed cheeks and sparkling eyes. ..- 4s..
 "You allude to Count Starolyl, aunt ?" she said ln rather an agitated voice. 'sI am glad you give me thus the opportunity of making you communication from which have shrunk all the morning, because I feared to give you pain. Count Starolyi-" !:
 Has proposed to your" hastily intcrposed Mrs. Damer
 Dora nodded, looking little anxious and yet defiant
 l And VOu have acoanted him 2n
 "Yes."
 Mrs. Damer threw up her eyes, slightly shrugged her shoulders and resumed her work For few moments silence reighed wont you wish me joy, auntie ?" asked Dora in a somewhat ruuful tone. rysres-.ys.s-s
 T hope you will be happy, dear of course |" replied the old lady quietly. ''t is not mar rage which, in any case, could have desired for you. But as in few months you will be twenty y-one, and your own mistress have but 1 one favor to ask of you"
 And what is that ?" asked Dora, somewhat disconcerted at not meeting with the opposit- ion for which she had prepared herself. l "Ie wait, before making your engagement public, till have news of Count Starolyi's position and circumstances, from Buda-Pesth l Foreseeing that the impression which he had plainly made on you might deepen inte love, wrote to the Consul for information, and in l | then, will you consent not to consider your engagement settled thing?" Mrs Damer, as she concluded, held out her hands affection 1 ately to her niece. ... .-
 "Dear auntie." sad the girl warmly, sI will wait, of course. To do you this pleasure costs me little, for 1 know that the Consul will be 1 able to report nothing but what is good of Max" ."yN .a .s.
 1 ''I hope you may be right" answered Mrs l Damer, and changed the conversation. Farnleigh, on the outskirts of which, in charming cottage, Mrs. Damer and her niece lived, was pretty town on the western coast l of England.
 A few straw hat manufactures supplied its wealth, and half dozen or more semi-aristo- cratic families supplied it's pretensions. These l families dlned one another; criticized one an- other; assisted at one anether's chrstenings, marriages and funerals, and made common | cause against any intruder who endeavored to gain entrance within their sacred circle They were tri1e narrow-minded, but had never suspected it and little dull. but nobody had ever told them so. They were, in conse- quence, altogether self-satisfied and estimable. The great settlements of the young ladies lnumerous and very pretty) consisted of balls at the county town in Winter and of lawn. tennis parties in the Summer. To these the | officers of the garrison in the afere-named county town, were invited regularly, and oc- casionally came; and the possibility of their coming constituted the great charm of the en- 1 tertainment e.-t.'
 Such being the state of things, it is not diff cult to imagine the pleasurable sensation re | gently caused by the arrival on the scene of l fascinating Hungarian Count. This gentle man had been introduced by one of the elite the Honorable Mir. Stracey, who had known his father, and who, on meeting him in Paris 1 the previous Winter, had given him pressing invitation to visit Farnleigh. Mir. Stracey, 1 good-natured, impulsive, and not very wise,. 1 had forgotten his invitation almost as soon as | he had given it, and was rather surprised one l line Summer morning to receive letter from the Count announcing his imminent arrival. l Nevertheless, being hospitable, he welcomed his guest in manner worthy of their mutual | pretensions to the bluest blood, and introduced him to all his acquaintances ten miles round. There had consequently been a perfect epi- | demic Of dinner-parties musicai-parties, lawn | tennis parties, at which the Count had won | golden opinions from all sorts of people. His, | only detractors were the officers who felt little sore at being condemned all at once to | play second fiddle to the seductive compatriot | of Kossuth. " D. 5- .s
 Count Starolyi had especially great success with the ladies. He spoke several languages wrote French verses earicatured to perfec- tion sang to the guitar. He had a beautiful dropping mustache, melancholy eyes, patriotic sentiments, and decorations from every court in Europe. Such combination of charms and accomplishments had never been seen in Farnleigh before. sie,-.@ 3 One peculiarity of this delightful stranger was passion of making presents. He scat tered gifts with the emunifcence of an Eastern potentate, and his lavishness was only equaled by his impartiality. Everybody whose hospi- tality he had enjoyed could exhibit some pie ture. or jardiniere, or jewel which testified to the fascinating foreigners gratitude and taste all these simple, unpretendng souls found themselves suddenly the objects of an un- dreamt-of prodigality. Delicate silver paper parcels, baskets of exotic flowers, and ruby velvet cases appeared upon their breakfast tables with Count Max Starolyfs coroneted