Savannah courier. (Savannah, Tenn.) 1885-1979, 1886-04-01
lighted to make your acquaintance, Mr..

by an afternoon lounge on the Green,
betook himself to Regency square and
was ushered into the presence of
smiling, gray-haired lady, who might
have stepped from an ancestral pict-
ure-frame, and who received him with
the stately urbanity of courtier of the
old school. Being man of business,
Jonathan Greysark lost no time in
beating about the bush, but plunged at
once in medals res, described the ORR
gin Of his acquaintance with Phyllis,
expressed himself in such happy Ian
guage, blew his own trumpet In such
pleasant, unassuming manner declared
his devotion in such fervid phrases, in
fact, put matters before the old lady in
such an attractive light, that she was
completely won over,
''Of course, Mr. Greysark," she said,
in reply, las | am only the girls aunt,
have no direct authority in the mat
ter. But if Phyllis regards your suit as
favorably as | do, | can only recon-
mend that you should address letter
to her fatherin London, state the case
as you have stated it to me, and abide
by his decision"
"But it is an extraordinary phase of
our acquaintance" said the merchant,
"that do not know your neice's sur
name yet
Perhaps the old lady was struck by
the strangeness of this avowal, but at
any rate, she hesitated a moment,
| seemed little confused and then re-
piled; Her name is Fleming, Mr..
Greysark; letter addressed 80 Mr..
Robert Fleming and given to me will
insure its safe dispatch"
"But would it not be better for me
to call upon Mr.. Fleming MYSELF"
said Greysark. "My business expert
ence has taught me that one personal
Interview is worth dozen letters
$50 it is, as a general rule, Mr..
Greysark, replied the old lady, "But
Nh. Fleming's movements are so I'M
certain, his business SO frequently tax
ing him away from home, that the
course have suggested would, I
think, be the better.
| And, after a little general converse
ton, Mr.. Greysark took his leave, re-
solved that he would without delay
formally propose to Phyllis, and if her
answer should be favorable, as he had
not the slightest reason to doubt it
would be, indite, his letter to Mr.. Flem-
Ting. Accordingly, the next morning,
upon arrival at London bridge, instead
OF handing Phyllis into Mansion
House omnibus, as usual, he insisted
that she should walk there with him.
And, by the time King William sstatue
4 was reached he had poured out his soul
to her., and received her ready assent
to his proposal, conditional upon the
approval of her father.
One or two little circumstances con-
nected with his visit to Regency square,
on the previous day, struck Jonathan
Greysark as being curious, as he sat in
his room at the Office playing listlessly
with the heap of unopened letters be-
fore him. OF course, he had observed
the old lady's hesitation in giving the
name of Fleming; and her suggestion
that the letter should be forwarded
through her instead of to. a direct
address was rather unusual. Per
haps Fleming was a strange sort Of
marl-under cloud, or of eccentric
habits. At any rate, Phyllis was a
lady, as was her aunt; the surroundings
OF the rooms in Regency, square showed
refinement, If not opulence; and, al
though money with wife was no OBJ
ject with him, he preferred that the
lady honored by his choice should not
be an utter stranger to the style of life
to which as Mrs. Greysark she would
be introduced. But his ardent affection
for the supplemented, bright-faced
girl oyercame whatever little shades of
doubt or scruples the above strange
circumstances might have awakened
within him, and, after having hurriedly
perused his business letters, he called
Mr.. Penn in, gave him instructions to
show nobody into the private room for
an, hour, and settled himself down to
indite the epistle to Mr.. Fleming. After
much destruction of best cream-laid
note, he produced the following:
DEAR SIR: 1t Is with no little diffdence
that address one who Is a complete stranger
to me upon subject of such Importance as
sure judge you rightly when think that you
will pardon the liberty ] am taking by the
time you arrive at the end of the letter.
In short, wish to obtain your consent to
Phyllis. AS this is to some extent matter of
business, may inform you that I made the
young ladys acquaintance in the Brighton
train, by which we have been fellow-passen.
gers daily for some weeks past; that then OBJ.
tanned not only her consent to my proposal
but the entire appreciation of her aunt upon
whom had the pleasure of calling, with your
daughters p, Emission.
For your satisfaction may add that, al.
though am not very young man, am In
the full vigor of health and strength; that
am the sole and responsible head of one OF
the best-known and most respected business
houses In the City of London; and that an
in a position, which you may verify, IL you
please, by the most minute investigation, to
maintain your daughter in fitting position
as a lady.
'The entire happiness of my life, and dare
add that OF your daughters, rcst upon your
decision as to whether she should be my wife
in your opinion by the somewhat peculiar cir
cumstances under which our meeting tool
place, and our consequent acquaintance and
Intimacy were formed.
"If you will kindly take week to consider
this, to me, vital question, l shall be mex
pressibly obliged; and, thanking you heartily
In advance for the sanction which feel Ger
tain you will accord, i am my dear sir you
- - JONATHAN GREYsARK"
Having read this two or three times
over to assure himself that he had moi
said too much or too little, Jonathan
Greysark placed it in an envelope ad
dressed to Robert Fleming, Esq, and
that again in an envelope which he
purposed to hand to the old lady al
Brighton. },3 49,
The week seemed interminable to the
enamored Jonathan. Men remarked
that he appeared -absent-minded and
preoccupied, but two or three of his
fellow-passengersb by the S:45, who were
in the same market, told the story Of
his capture by the pretty girl in the
train, and so accounted for his pecu.
liarity. He himself, however, was in Q