Grant County herald. [volume] (Lancaster, Wis.) 1850-1968, 1884-04-10
A FINE MATCH.

Ny story begins where all others end.
| have been married since yesterday.
Love Is necessary in story, and per-
haps with many immoral writer's you
may think that marriage is the gravs of
love. This is possible with others, but
altogether false with me. In order to
have grave love must first have lived,
and for me, alasl it is yet to be born.
1t is true, ! have sworn to my wife by
the light of the moon and the stars Il
believe that is the regular thing to io)
that love her, but it was an awful lie.
| have told her, too, she was beautiful,
but that was still more awful lie. You
6ught Just to see her. Two sins to my
account, therefore. Yet ] hope they
will be forgiven me, for l did not com
NIT them of my own free will.
was born an orphan, | believe |
never knew anything about my father
and mother They must have existed,
there can be no doubt of it, but that is
all | can impart concerning them
An uncle adopted me, gave me a
frock, cent every Sunday, and every
other day blows to inculcate virtue, this
being continued until [ was II years
old and had partaken Of my first com
munioh Then my uncle said, Now you
are no longer child and a fortnight
after my becoming man | found my
self in boarding school, where for three
years | was victim to the larger
scholars, and for another three years the
tyrant of the smaller ones, until finally
the high school opened its doors to me.
Study hard now, SO that you will soon
get through, Willem, for you must al
ways bear in mind that you have not
the slightest claim to all | am giving
you, but have to thank my kindness
alone for it all.
| so my uncle wrote me every month.
Whenever passed good examination
it was: That is all right, but it cost me
enough, And on every possible occas-
ion and to everybody my good uncle
said, This is my nephew; have brought
him up, and let him study at my ex-
pense; every year he costs me two thous-
and francs, of which | shall never see
single centime again
My uncle treated me very well in
deed, and | was certainly grateful for it;
he upraided me so often, however, for
what he had done for me that at last |
could not endure him in spite of all my
gratitude.
However, | finished my studies, and
the head of the examining board an
houneed Willem van den Berghe as a
doctor of medicine | lived with my
uncle, who in fit of magnanimity al
lowed me to put my shingle on his
door, and now indeed nothing was want
ing to my happiness but patients. !
waited patiently for one, two three
months, took rapid walks through the town
to make believe that | had been sent
for, strained every nerve to succeed. l
was young, and | waited patiently four
or five months; but patience is not the
virtue of all of us mortals.
One afternoon | sat quietly in my
consultation room and thought about
love and patients-for what else ought
a man to think about when he is twenty
three years old and doctor of medicine?
Suddenly my uncles gruff voice called
out
Come, dress up, Willcm, put on your
best coat and gloves, and Willem
obcyed.
Together we went out of the house.
passed through two or three streets, and
stopped at last before an old-fashioned
mansion with a double staircase leading
to the door, where we rang the bell
Now, just be very polite to the young
lady was my uncle's command, while a
servant as old-fashioned as the house,
introduced us to room which was
poorly lighted and smelled very musty.
There sat behind a table Madame
Boedaart, red-ribboncd cap ON her
head and cat on her lap. [ thought |
had to be polite without delay and was
just about beginning when Miss Boo
dart appeared with cap whose ribbons
were redder even than the mothers.
She wore a dress which perhaps might
have been becoming to pretty woman,
but it looked awful on her. | put her
age at twenty and as she happened
to be only twenty-six and a half, my I'M
Gle remarked that | always looked on
the worst side.
! was as polite as | knew how to be,
and Miss Anna Boedaart seemed salts
fed. Madame Boedaart styled me in
variably doctor, and heard her say to
my uncle that she was quite pleased
with me-
What ugly womenr | thought to
myself when we were on the street
again. But | have the bad habit
of often thinking aloud, and this time |
did so again.
Ugly woman? angrily repeated my
uncle. DO you know, though, that the
young lady expects to have two hun
dred thousand francs, and do you call
that ugly?
1t was the first time in my life | had
heard that any one with two hundred
thousand francs must be considered
beautiful When we reached home again,
my uncle said
'Willem, you have been a bachelor
long enough; now it is time for you to
marry
Yes, uncle, | replied; but to be
married one must find the woman, just as
patients are necessary to make doctor
Well, what about Miss Boedaart?
spoke up my uncle with smile meant
to be sly There is something for you
| think she is inclined to like you. and
then your fortune would be made at one
stroke, my boy
Yes, but she IS a little too ugly,
objected rather timidly, for | was not
accustomed to contradicting,
Too ugly?' snarled my uncle at ne
She has two hundred thousand francs
| and am tired of supporting you You
have cost me money enough already,
and you are not worth your money
yet
There was nothing to be said to that;
had to give way, and yesterday spoke
the final yes.
Your fortune is made, young man.
said to me this morning a man of forty