Juniata sentinel and Republican. [volume] (Mifflintown, Juniata County, Pa.) 1873-1955, 1884-05-14

his great talents awed her, and her
pretty, innocent pride in her manly
lover, her meekneSs and quietness, were
most promising symptoms of happiness
in her married life.
Dear mother was so supremely happy.
l was very fond of my new brother; he
was such power for good and peace in
our home that we never had been so
conte;ted before. Frank wrote freely
to us, manly, patient letters, full of
unselfish interest in all around him.
His sorrow had sweetened, not embit-
tered his character. He had set him.
self to alleviate his anguish by doing
good, and his first act on reaching his
destination had been to use his keen
commercial gifts for the welfare of the
widow and children of an officer OF the
army, and at the cost of time, talent
and energy, to rescue her small fortune
| from unsafe hands, and invest it profit
: ably. His letters were filed with simi-
lar incidents, naturally and simply told,
and our affection increased for this truly
brave man.
Dolly's grandmother took it into her
: mead that it was her grandchild's duty
! to pay her farewell visit before her
marriage. Though, as she had never
troubled herself much about us, we
were rather startled at this demand We
all thought it would be best to accept
the invitatiOn-for my sister was not
looking well-and it was settled that
she should go and spend month with
the old lady in her lovely north country
home. Mr.. Dacre was pressed to go as
often as his professional engagements
would permit; so Dolly left US in pretty
good spirits, in charge of the elderly
serI ant who was our substitute for a
regular ladies' maid.
She wrote to tell us how sne was en-
joyIng the repoSe and beauty of the
country. Mr.. DacTe had managed to
run down from Saturday till Monday at
the fist week, and had of course made
a great impression, but was afraid he
could not come again-a long case was
pending at Westminster. The letter
which followed this, give in its integ
rity:
| HIGHwOOD, July 20.
Dearest Kitty:-I hope you will get
this in time TO send my hat mere instead
of to grandmamma's. am on fort
nights visit to Lady Millicent North.
Such a charming woman-a widow
about twenty-eight years old, She per-
| suaded Mrs. Lloyd TO let her have me
| fer a week or two; and, as her daugh-
! ter-in-law, a confirmed invalid, was
coming to spend just that time with
her, my grandmother was glad to get
me> out of her way, know. L can't
write much, for the post leaves here at
eight, O'Clock, and We drop our letters
into the hall box, as We go in To dinner.
expect the gong every minute. This
place is lovely, and the new bar0net-
Sir CharleS-iS the dearest-The gong.
Your own DOLLY.
1 felt uneasy concerning this letter.
was sorry Dolly should have left her
gOd-mother's quiet home, Just as she
was SOLDERING down and growing such
thoughtful little love. 1t might unset
tie her again to pass fortnight in
country house with fascinating barO-
net; and | knew Jack Dacre would
never permit, never pardon, the small
est suspicion of flirting. He had par
doned her detection in Franks case,
for Frank himself had pleaded elo-
qLently saying that she was very young.
so naturally affectionate. But mamma
and felt sure that not for one hour
would he permit the slightest approach |
to disloyalty to his deep tenderness for |
his girlish betrothed. Neither her |
youth, her love of fun, nor her merry
heart. would plead one atom in her |
favor; so L read this letter with a heavy |
heart. My answer was as follows:
Dearest DoIly:-Your letter reached |
me in time to have the box sent to |
Highwood. You will receive it soon |
after this reaches you. Write very fully,
for your letter was tantaliZing. Send
me full description of every one, for
you have reused my curiosity; as TO Sir
Charles, who is ''the deareSt"-
The rest of my letter contained home
news, and need not transcribe it.
But Dolly's answer l will transcribe:
"You ask me for a description of
everybody, darling. Lady Millicent is
very beautiful, very clever, and devo-
tedly attached to this Sir Charles; but l
feel sure her heart is buried in the grave
of her noble husband. / send her pho
tograph, so need no words in describing
her.
''Sir Charles is very fascinating,
though fear my description may not
predIspOse you in his favor; but you beg
me to be particular. He is short and
stout, has a very fine head, but rather
thin light hair, fine eyes, good mouth,
but not much of a nOse-In fact, it is
all tip-very nice hands and feet. He
Is, | believe, very talented, but does not
employ his gifts, seldom talks, never
reads, Is little fond of eating. In
spite of these drawbacks, he is very
charming and all the girls, far and near
make a great deal of him. OF course
he is rich. He likes Lady Millicent to
live in the house. She has complete
influence over him."
l was much relieved after reading
this letter. l felt so easy in mind that
[ told Dolly how L had feared for her.
But" wrote, "of course you never
could really admire fat little man, who
never reads or talks, and with nose all
tip, and who cares for nothing but eat
lng."
1t turned out that the most unfortu-
nate thing L could have done was to
confess my fears to my provoking sister. |
She answered me vehemently, declaring |
that Sir Charles was the most loyable
fellow she had met for long time, and ]
really was so excited that l posted {
letter to her at once.
"You distress me, Dolly. You know
Mr.. Dacre would never forgive you if
he saw your letters. 1 blde them even
from mother. Oh, pray do think before
YOU madly risk the loss of his love, for {
that Will follow the very hour he loses 9
bis high opinion of youl''
This is how Dolly answered my ten !
der appeal:
sWhat a lecturing little thing you
are getting, Kitty! l am very much
attached to Sir Charles, and if Jack is {
ever SO angry, 1 can't help it." /
Thus flippantly the letter ran en-. a
1 was really angry and distressed, but
resolved to try no more lectures, they t
clearly made matters worse. So, the 1
next time, gave full description of a /
lay we had spent in court, hearing Mr..
Dacre plead. described his dignided t