The Cincinnati daily star. [volume] ([Cincinnati, Ohio]) 1875-1880, 1880-02-19
One Clean of Romance

Wv 'SAtst W stStIbOtISS
lam afraid that I am only prosaic
<ort Of being, Now and then the young
ladies whom l meet in society think me
unromantic and perhaps uninteresting.
The gay hues of morning become lost in
that slight of common day" which be-
longs to the afternoon of life. For me
it is quiet, cheerful, happy afternoon
with the music of the voices that l love,
the fragrance of the flowers / tend. |
know, too, that for me the bracing even
ing breezes will rise, and the evening
skies be flushed with immortal hopes.
Once had gleam of romance, which
grew, indeed, into a steady radiance;
and plain and prosaic as am now--and
it is mainly the ordinary episode of a
w0man's life-I think it perhaps more
romantic than happens to most young
ladies Of the period, and / hope that
they, too, may have a gleam equally pro-
Vitious.
(, We were the six daughters of coun.
try vicar; we lived four miles from the
county town, which was also the cathed-
raj city. We were very happy nest Of
girls, save for certain unpropitious love
! affairs, which, however, came all right
before the end of the third volume. Our
'Squire's son was very attentive to my
| elder sister, and our Squire, though very
civil to s,was not supposed 10 like it, for
!, he had trotted off his son for long tour
and nobody knew for how long it might
!! be.
\ Ny second sister was engaged to my
fathers curate; helplessly, hopelessly ell
! gagged. He had only ahundred year,
/ and was not to think Of marrying until
\ he had at least another hundred.
h I came third. The rest of my younger
sisters have become engaged to the series
a of subsequent curates.
Il My father could not afford to send us
20 school, but we grew up somehow, and,
IL like flowers we grew up towards the SUM-
\ light. The education our good mother
gave US was something like "Shaks-
\ peare, taste, and the musical glasses"
but our father added robuster fibre.
I He considered that boys and girls ought,
to a certain extent, to have the same ed :
ucation. wv. .....
i Like Shakespeare aforesaid, we had a
fttle Latin and less Greek. As far as
4 Greek goes I never got beyond the irreg-
ular verbs-those rocks which have ship
wrecked many young scholar-but in
Latin ] read several of the easier clas-
sizes. did not compose any Latin
verses, because my father very properly
said that young ladies should not write
verses, but have verses written to them.
I had done the first three books of
"Euclid," and in algebra had gone as far
as equations, but not into them. / do not
mention these humble attainments boast
fully, but because it will he soon seen
that they have something to do with my
little story.
\ My father was able to give us good
nome, but then I knew it was not a
home that would last always. I did not
see that there was any necessity in the
nature of things that we six maidens
should always be living together. Of
course, it is necessary that one or two
girls should always be at home looking
! after the father and mother, but half a
I dozen were really more than sufficient.
made up my mind thus: I should like
to 20 out as a governess. My mother
and father did not all like the notion.
The living was fairly good one, and the
notion had never entered their heads;
but it had fully taken possession Of
mine. l was naturally fond of teaching
and had done even more than my share
in teaching the younger ones. More
over would like to see a bigger world
than that which our village made up,
except that on Saturday we went to the
neighboring city, where we did some
shopping and marketing, walked about,
and went to hear the anthem in the
cathedral. .e .t,.
One day I saw an advertisement
shich seemed to suit me precisely. A
gOverness was desired by country gen
tleman in the Midlands, to teach three
little boys Now it was that my boyish
education came in excellently. These
lads were intended to go to Rugby, and
It was discovered, after some little cor
respondence and comparing of notes,
that l should be able to educate them up
20 the poiut of entering Rugby; even
ny father said so, and my father was
nan who was sternly just and particular
b these things, and would not for worlds
Pet any of his children fly false colors.
hen this gentleman and lady wanted
1y photograph, and was rather asham-
4 to send it, for / was only poor small
rown little creature. Those who loved
q said that l bad loving eyes, just like
ar dog Pompey, who, am sure, had
YES that were simply magnificent only
yes do not come out very well in pho
graph.
However, tho matter was ultimately
ranged between my father. and these
sople. I suppose few young ladies
,ade 80 good start first off in the gov
ness world as / did at nineteen, and all
ecause I was able to teach the boys
ATTN and mathematics.
was to have fifty guineas a year,
,ith laundress and travelling expenses,