The weekly clarion. [volume] (Jackson, Miss.) 1863-1882, 1880-08-04
AN ONLY OFFER.

W men / was sixteen L was cOnSIdere'
50. was very like you then, Julia. | an
forty three now, remember,
Did you ever have an otfer-an offer Q
marriage, | mean, aunt -
No. Well, that's not true; | did hav
one offer"
And you refused it?
"No"
Then he died, or went away"
No"
cor deserted you ~
"No."
Then you deceived him, I suppose p
Il did not"
what ever happened, then? Was h,
poor, or crippled, or something. dreadful !?
He was rich and handsome
suppose you tell me about him."
Il never talk about him to any one
Did it happen in the old place ~
yes, Julia. | never left Ryeland,
until | was thirty. This happened when
was sixteen
WAS he Il farmers son in the neighbor
hood ~
He was fine city gentleman"
oh, aunt, how interesting! Put down
your embroidery and tell me about it you
can not see TO work longer"
Perhaps after so many years of silence a
sudden longing for sympathy and confidence
| seized the elder lady, for she let her work
| fall from her hands, and, smiling sadly.
| said
| "Iwenty-seven years ago | was standing
one afternoon by the gate at Ryelands All
the work had been finished early, and nv
mother and two elder sisters had gone to
! the village to see q friend | had watched
| them little way down the hillside, and
was turning to go into the house, when
saw a stranger on horseback coming up
the road. He stopped and spoke to mother,
and this reused my curiosity; so [ fingered
at the gate. He stopped when he reached
| 1t, fastened his horse, and asked, is Mr..
| Wakefield in?
| 81 said father was in the barn, and |
could fetch him. which I Immediately did
| He was dark, unpleasant-looking man,
and had a masterful way with him, even to
father, that | disliked but after a short
busness-like talk, apparently satisfactory
| to both, he went away without entering the
house. Father put his hands in his pockets
and watched him out of sight then, looking
at me, he said, Put the spare rooms in
order, Phoebe
''They are in order, father; but is that
man to occupy them %
Yes, he and his patient, a young gen
tleman of fine family, who is in bad health"
DO you know the young gentleman,
father?'
Il know it is young Alfred Compton,
that is enough tor me.
And the dark man who has Just left? l
don't like his looks, father"
Nobody wants thee to like his looks.
He is Mr. Alfreds physician-a Dr. Or
man. of Boston. Neither of them are any
OF thy business, so ask no more questions;'
and with that he went back to the barn.
Mother not at all astonished She
said there had been letters on the subject al
ready, and that she had been rather expect
ing the company. But she added, they
will pay WELL and as Melissa is to be
married at Christmas, ready money will be
very needful."
About dark a carriage arrived. 1t con-
tanned two gentlemen and several large
trunks. | had been watching for it behind
the lilac trees and | saw that our afternoon
visitor was now accompanied by a slight
very fair man, dressed with extreme care in
the very highest fashion | saw also that
he was handsome, and | was quite sure he
must be rich, or no doctor would wait upon
him so subsequently"
This doctor had disliked at sight and
soon began to imagine that / had good
cause to hate him. His conduct to his
patient | believed to be tyrannical and un-
kind. Some days he insisted that Mr.
Compton was too i'll to go out, though the
poor gentleman begged for a walk and
again, mother said he would take from him
all his books, though he pleaded urgently
for him.
''One afternoon the postman brought Dr.
Orman letter, which seemed to be impor
tant, for he asked father to drive him to the
next town, and requested mother to see that
Mr.. Compton did not leave the house
suppose it was not a right thing to do, but
this handsome sick stranger, so hardly used,
and so surrounded with mystery, had rous-
ed in me sincere sympathy for his loneli-
nd I H. IL L
that part of the garden into which his win
dows looked We had been politely reques-
ted to avoid it, because the sight Of stran-
gors increased Mr., Compton's nervous con-
dition.' | did not believe this. and | deter
mined to try the experiment.
lie was leaning out of the window, and
sadder face ! never saw. / smiled and
courtesied, and he Immediately leaped the
low sill, and came toward me- | stopped
and began to tie up some fallen carnations
he stopped and helped me, saying all the
while know not what, only that it seemed
to me the most beautiful language | ever
heard. Then We walked up and down the
long peach walk until l heard the rattle of
fathers wagon.
"Atter this we became quietly, almost Sc
cretly as far as DR.. Orman was concerned. |
very great friends Mother so thoroughly |
pltied Alfred that she not only pretended
oblivion of our friendship but even promo
ted 1t in many ways; and in the course of
time DIR. Ormon began to recognize its value. |
was requested to walk past Mr. Compton's |
windows and say Good morning or offer
him flower or some ripe peaches, and fin |
ally to accompany the gentlemen in their
ramhles in the neighborhood.
Il need not tell you how all this restricted
intercourse ended. We were soon deeply in |
love with each other, and love ever finds out |
the way to make himself understood. We |
had many five minutes meeting no one |
knew OF, and when these were impossible |
rose bush near his window hid for me the |
tenderest little love letters. In fact, Julia |
| found him irresistible; he was so hand |
some and gentle, and though he must have |
been % years old, yet, to my thinking, he |
looked handsomer than any younger man |
could have done.
AS the weeks passed on, the doctor seem |
ed to have more confidence in Us, or else his
patient was more completely under control. |
They had much fewer quarrels, and Alfred |
and / walked in the garden, and even lit |
tie way up the hill, without opposition or |
remark. do not know how | received the |
idea, but certainly did believe that Dr. |
Orman was keeping Alfred sick for some |
purpose of his own, and determined to take |
the first opportunity of arousing Alfred,s
suspicion, so one evening, when we were |
walking alone, asked him if he did not /
wish to see his relatives.
ssHe trembled violently, and seemed in
the greatest distress, and only by the ten
derest words could l soothe him, as, half
sobbing, he declared that they were his bit
terest enemies, and that DR.. Orman was the /
only friend he had in the world ANY fur
Their efforts | made to get at the secret of
his life were equally fruitless, and only threw
him into paroxysms of distress. During the
month of August he was very i'll at least |
Dr. Orman said so. I scarcely saw him.
there were no letters in the rose bush, and
frequently the disputes between the two
men rose to pitch which father seriously |
disliked.
ss0ne hot day in September every one was
in the fields or orchard only the doctor and
Alfred and were in the house. Early in