Daily globe. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1878-1884, 1881-05-29

Am bachelor, and 80 years of age.
My estates are worth $4,000 francs o
year-but this I mention out of respect
to the laws of business; and despite the
originality and queerness of my conduct,
which may perhaps have offended you,
I am considered very good-natured
person and, upon the whole, fiatter
myself am q man fully capable of max
ing lady happy. VIII you, therefore,
do me the honor of accepting my heart,
my hand, and my fortune ?"
To this sudden proposal Madame de
Y replied with dignity "Your Jest is
not in very good taste. sir, and all I can
do is to laugh at it"
"Serious, most serious. madame, I am
indeed-and, on the faith of gentle
man, I beg you to believe it"
"What, sir 4! you propose marriage
merely that you may not have to give
up my apartments |"
ga little upon that account, madame,
but stil more because of q more over
powerihg reason; for among the many
considerations have had the honor Of
laying before you, there is one dare
not mention, but allow me now to con-
fess it, love you"
At this avowal, Madame de Y blushed
to the eyes. What lady, young or old,
would not have done SO, particularly
when the avowal came from young,
handsome and wealthy man? However.
she took it in good part, and laughed
outright at her interlocutor
"You are laughing, madame, and
however"
"Your folly provokes my laughter,
Monsieur lie Baron. I really cannot help
it."
Nevertheless, madame, can assure
you I am fully master of my reason, or
at least as much of it as remains, SUBJ
dued as it is by intensepassion."
"What, sir intense passion at first
sight p
sYou forget, madame, that I have
been living three long months in your
apartments, and that your portrait,
which I now see is an adorable likeness,
is hanging up there in the next room.
It was the first object that caught my
attention on entering, and 1 have looked
at and admired it every day since. Nor
was I captivated by the charms of your
beauty alone, for I am we'll acquainted
with your merit in every way, your many
superior qualities and your irreproacha-
BILE character. A man, however SO little
he may be versed in womanly affairs,
cannot spend three months in lady's
apartment without noticing and studying
many things disclosing her habits, her
tastes, her feelings. I have been an
acute, and, perhaps, an indiscreet, OBJ
server, madame and what I have dis
covered has captivated my heat for
ever. That heart I offer you again, and
humbly wait your answer to know my
fate."
There was no bombast, no fanfaronade
in the Baron's language, it was the re-
solve of a man who had made up his
mind, and was determined to succeed.
But the more he urged his suit, the less
he advanced in it till at last the widow
signifed to him, in due form and I'M
mistakable phraseology, that he must
instantly shift his quarters-thus giving
him his leave, and intimating to him at
the same time that he must never think
of setting foot in her residence again.
every well, madame Withdraw,
and will not return till you invite me to
do so" the answer to which parting
words was saucy smile, and a toss of
the head which evidently meant, "You
have long to wait, Monsieur le Baron,
before receiving such an invitation"
However, at the end of a few days, the
invitation was sent, and the Baron ar
rived just as the widow had completed
making herself more charming than ever.
"What have I been appraised of, sir?"
said Madame de Y to him, as he
seated himself in an armchair a la Vol
taire right opposite to her. During
my absence, you brought my long
pending lawsuit to an amieable arrange
ment."
"Why, yes, madame but you must
be neither pleased nor displeased With
me on that account, as I acted only in
my own interest"
elbow SO, if you please, Baron ?"
"The fact is, the lawyers clerks were
calling here with their papers every day;
and, owing to a heavy and protracted
Slllb OuCc lldu Ii oCl, hdFO oil uOVcl
aversion to every limb of the law as
our allies. Messieurs les Anolais. have
it. Being acquainted with your plain
tiff, who is debtor of mine, made use
of my influence over him, and soon got
him to forego his unfounded claim, and
he made over to me what he called his
rights. It is therefore an affair between
him and me. But rest assured, mad
anne, that your delicacy and susceptible
ity shall never have to complain Of my
proceedings. Your lawsuit is forever
uuashed, and that is all !" Whereon
the Baron looked the widow steadfastly
but respectfully in the face, and gave no
further explanation.
Madame de y was somewhat con-
fused; but, in spite. of herself, she was
continually forced to think of her ex-
tenant. In every room of her apartment
he had left some souvenir Of his sojourn
poetry, penciling, songs, music COM
posed by himself, thoughts and maxims,
etc., written in her albums and scrap
book. All. these gallant attentions
seemed most charming to her, while
they piqued her curiosity; and when
that important part of the female consti-
tuition is awakened other sentiments
soon come forth and blossom.
Now it happened that, the day after
the Baron's invited visit, a poor woman,
the mother of a family to whom Madame
de was in the habit of giving stated
pecuniary relief, called to thank her for