Iron County register., 1880-09-02
BROWNS WIFE.

Two THOUSAND year, nice house
and garden, and forcing pits that pro-
duced the finest pines in England-that's 8
what the last census but one cost me, -
remarked my friend Brown, as we sat
slipping our wine in his hospitable man.
sion after the ladies had left us.
When man makes remark like the
foregoing one, it invariably means that
he has some story or anecdote ready,
which will explain his apparently am
biguous words, and is hoping he will be
friendly as to misunderstood the hint,
and inc quired, with due surprise and in
terest, how the census of 1S-came to
be such costly affair to Brown.
ssAh," replied my friend, {" that's
long story I had thought it would be)
but it's true one, all the same. But
for that blessed census paper, Minnie
and l would have stepped into snug
little fortune twenty years ago. You
know, / suppose, that [ was left an Or
phan very early in life, and that my old
uncle, my only surviving relative,
adopted me. You didn't know it? Well,
you do now, then. My poor mother
was my uncle's only sister; they had
been left fairly well off by their parents.
My uncle embarked his money in bus-
ness and grew rich; my mother married
in opposition to his wishes, lived a mis-
cradle life for six years, and then was
left penniless widow, with one child
myself. My father, whom I don't re-
member, lived just long enough to break
his wife's heart and gamble away her
fortune-she only returned to her
brothers house to die. 1t must be con-
fessed that my uncle's experiences of
matrimony, as seen in his sisters case,
were not encouraging; perhaps this was
the reason of his settling down into the
confirmed old bachelor that he did. He
had loved his sister extremely-there
was a considerable difference in age be-
tween them-and he had been her guar
dian and protector till the day of her ILL
starred marriage. That produced a cool
ness; but he opened his heart and home
to her in her trouble, and accepted the
charge of her orphan child. | was
brought up in his house, educated
at his expense. | believe he was
really fond of me after his fashion; but
the one great trouble of his life had
soured him. He never recovered the
loss of his sister; he never forgave the
memory of her husband, the man who
had stolen her from him.
.You'll have every thing here one
day, William he would say, in mo-
ments of rare expansion, land hope
you'll keep things together as I've done.
But remember, don't make a fool of
yourself, and marry. Look at your
poor mothers lot; why, if she hadn't
thrown herself away she might have
been alive and happy now. None but
fools, sir, fools or knaves, go and get
married.
az listened dutifully enough. Ny
Temptations to commit the sin of matri-
mony were small. We had no visitors
at Chaplain except a business friend or
two of my uncle, generally old bache-
lors like himself. Mrs. Corbet, the
housekeeper, encouraged my uncle in
his solitary habits. 1t would have been
a sad misfortune to her had he been
converted from his anti-matrimonial
views, and led to install a mistress at
the Lawn. Mrs. Corbet had good sit
uation and she knew it. She had lived
with my uncle great many years, and
was a handsome, well-preserved woman
of fifty or thereabouts, almost a lady in
appearance and manner. My uncle had
a great opinion of her; had not. From
nv childish days l knew she had re-
parded me with jealousy and aversion,
although concealed under a studied
smoothness of manner. She was a
widow with one son, q youth some years
Younger than myself. believe she
looked on me as the great obstacle to
this boys fortune. do not think she
could have cherished the idea of ever
inducing my uncle to marry her; but
am sure she fancied that if he were
quite alone in the world he would be as
likely to bequeath his money to his faith
full housekeeper as to leave it to the hos
pitfalls. Then her darling, her idol,
wonld be rich man. will do her the
Justice to say that it was rather for the
sake of her son than herself that she
coveted the old mans money A cold
hearted woman, not too scrupulous IN
comprising her ends, she yet loved that
boy-a somewhat graceless youth-with
an intense devotion. But for me she
might have been able to make him rich.