The Delaware ledger. (Newark, Del.) 1879-19??, 1886-10-16
.SHESTOOPS TOCONOUER

ter of rich gentleman who dwelt in
a country mansion buried in the
midst of stately woods.
She was eminently beautiful, high
ly accomplished, and possessed
good and kind heart. Her being an
heiress also added to her great at
fractions.
She loved a poor cousin, Henry
Morland by name, who, at an early
age had been left an orphan, and
whom Ellen's father, Sir John Yer
non, had brought up and educated.
From their earliest years, at intervals
such as his holidays and college va
cations, the young people had been
in manner, brought up together /;
and as their ages were almost alike,
and Henry was well-made hand
some fellow, possessing considerable
mental and personal attraction, their
assimilation of taste, so much as
anything else, had contributed to
waken up feelings between them
that neither had as yet given vent to
in words.
Henry loved his beautiful and
wealthy cousin to distraction. But
the sense of his own dependence
kept him from advancing his claims.
Sir John Vernon had the most
perfect confidence in Henry's honor.
Not thinking that there might be the
slightest danger in permitting the
young people to be together, he con-
tinued to regard them both with the
same tender solicitude as ever, as
though they were in Il manner broth
er and sister.
1t was "leap year." and the vaca-
ton which Henry spent at the Hall
proved on this occasion to be to him
a source of pain and agony. The
beauty of Ellen, her artlessness, her
affectionate manner, and her frank
ness, raised his affections to such a
height that the very excess of his
love magnifed his difficulties, and
made him look with sensation OF
fear upon his passion, which once OF
twice prompted him to speak, and
by consequence became an migrate
to his benefactor, to whom he owed
everything in the world. He re-
solved to die rather than incur the
displeasure of his uncle, the sting oi
his own reproaches, and the possible
rejection of his suit by Ellen. This
thought beyond all others was most
pregnant with pain. He therefore
Stunned her presence as much as he
could, and spent whole days in the
library, brooding upon his lost pros
poets.
Ellen noticed this change, and
with u woman's tact, comprehendeC
the reason of it. With mixture ot
grief and pleasure she engaged her
self in the execution of n plan, which
was that of awakening his jealousy
and driving him into confession tt
which she was only too willing t.
listen. A rumor was accordingly
spread that a sporting baronet ofth
neighborhood had not only deter
mined upon wooing the young lady
but also of winning her, having laid
a very heavy wager upon the result
Henry's passion was instantly arous
ed, and rage, vexation and love by
turns tormented him. He woulC
have called the insolent rival out
having accused his cousin ofplayinl
false, forgetting that she had neve
plighted faith to him; he accused
the world of unkindness, his uncl
of tyranny; in fact, like lover ut
terly beside himself, he would hav
been guilty of a thousand extrava
gances, but the intolerable idea cam
what was he to her, or she to him
What right had he to dictate or t
question? And thus he was as ia
off as ever.
Ellen found that her plan fo
awakening his jealousy had been e
fectual enough, but that no other II
suit attended it. She also foun
that her poor cousins sadness il
creased, and its melancholy bega
to communicate itselfto her.
Itwas therefore absolutely necessi
ry for the happiness of both th'
matters come to Il crisis; for, in aC
dition to the annoyance she felt I
Henry's silence, the marriage whic
was rumored in Jest began to tax
an aspect of serious earnestness,