New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1883-11-25
CHAPTER NJ.
rorR or NY SOUL.

FOUR bll NJ SOUL"
What sort of man was Mr.. Reginald Morecombe!
Was he shor; OF tall good-looking plain a real
fool. or with ~ much sense rs most youths have
That he wore his hair parted down the middle that
lac dressed himself ia sck-up collars mo great yicc,
that he used an eye-glass and talked Of blood with
the complaccncy of q gentleman whose private con
viction is that people Of humble extraction wander
through life with their veins filled up with water,
had heard; but these point, were vague enough; !
had never seen him, which was not curious conSid-
ering that he had been laid mp with spraiucd ankle
pretty nearly ever since his arrival at Clifton but
not the less was my curiosity exceedingly keen, 80
that next TO Miss Hawke the person wa, most anx
ious 10 hayca good look at was the youth her father
wanted her to marry.
NV mind was full of spcculaton- about this man
as, next morning walked 60 Cl!to. To spend the
day with my relations; andIt was Therefore coin
cidcnce in it, way that had not been walking ten
minutes when / sPicd the Hawkes. carag' stand
Ing opposite booksellers shop The sight of the
mems livery. which had good reason to remember,
huitcrcd me exceedingly; bat had To come abreast
of the vehicle before / could who wa ia H. and
a. did 10 Mr.. Hawke came out of the shop aud
said something to the young fellow who was sitting
in the carriage. The old chap did not see me. |
walked hurrcdly by, taking bat "a short peep az the
Young man. who, Of course, would be no other than
Mr.. Morccombc. That peep. sharp and brief 10
was. did not make me feel very happy. for
am bound 10 say that Mr.. Morccombc was a
decidedly gool-loohng man, apparently about
extraordinarily, with large taWny nous
tachc and a wcll-shapod nose. There was "a glass
IN his eye, and he wore the stlck-ups my uncle had
icrrcd at lie was dressed in a SUIT of tweed. with
yellow gloves. plenty of sLlrt-slccNc, and a white
dcrr-stalkiug hHt. Yet there was something
mighty affected thought, in M, pose a. hc leaned
back with cigarette between his fingers.
! walked quickly past, q, ! have said, never
troubling myself 10 look behind but let me repeat,
mates. the sight OF that man made mc feel uncOm-
Portable. lie was certainly not the sort OF iudiyid
ual | had fancIcd him had figured somewhat
udiotic person, snooth-faccd, sort of compromise
between man and woman, with the assurance of the
one and the vanity OF the other. Instead OF which
the villain had a masculine appearance, was % my
height, rs ! rcCkoucd bv his body az hc -at in the
carriage, unless his legs were short which hoped
and not without breadth Of shouldcr, / had
noticed, with Il spaom Of jealousy and wrath. the
polite, exceedingly gracious manner with which
old Hawke had smiled on the youth rs he came out
of the shop
Sir. Morccombc, / thought, rs ] stepped out. walk
ing fast III my abstraction is good-l6oking, is gen
tlcmanly- looking, he II well connected, his wife
viii be Lady MOrccombc; hc may not bc well oil,
but lac cannot be poorer than /. suppose lie is the
fool my relatives, ay, and Florence Hawke, call
him: suppose he talks nonsense about blood: sup
pose he X q puppy by nature, and the mcaucst of
creatures in intellect Whoc, er he marrics will
some day be her iadyship,' he has pretty figure
n "a,
he is no doubt, capable Of running very glibly over
whole catalogue of titled aunts aud unclcs aud
cousins. What more does pompous old liza Ike
wax What chance should stand who AIN little
better than shcllback, whose father was a lawyer
who have no pIctcnslons to Mr.. Reginald More
cOmbe's elegant and military style, his beautiful
mOustachc his small hands, and general noble ball
room appearance
TS% Rad %G party M 9n'a or Sy aG
and partly by thoughts about my aunt
who, ! considered, was acting very unkindly
hand in my cOurtship. As | entered the gate /
pumped up against Sophie who was Enthusiastically
hanging about to intercept me.
Jack, said she, rs stopped TO shake hands with
her, know you wonder why neither Amelia nor |
have called upon you"
Not at all, y | answered. {" Your papa was with
me yesterday, and he explained how matters stand.
med
at is not my fault" cried the amiable girl, speak
ing with distressed face /" ! had made all ar
to visit Florence and have her here as
you know--purey for your sake-but mamma
strictly prohibited Amelia and me from mentioning
your name 10 Florence or acting III any way as q
go-between. What was l to dot / am obliged to
obey mamma"
"0f course-of course" said |. "Don't let this
trouble yon. l fully appreciate all your good in
tentions. It's blow, / admit, TO be deprived of
your help, But until positively hear that Flor
ence Hawke has accepted young pr. Norecombe,
time-Or until knoY that the love offered her on
that seat there" said /, pointing is Objectionable
to her, III go on hoping Sophie, ~ go on waiting
put my hand through hor arm. and in this friendly
posture we walked to the house.
My aunt welcomed me very kindly, and took
care to put 90 much warmth into my manner that i
was with her for allowing her regard for old