Staunton vindicator. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1860-1896, 1888-07-13

"My child" said old Lamberto to hill
daughter Gletta, "thou mayest take the one
OF the other, but decide thou must, and have
done with it. cannot wait until some spirit
wooer comes and sues for thy hand, since
nothing human seems to satisfy thee. And
if am the richest banker in Rome, and have
toiled all my life to amass this wealth, it is
surely not that my daughter should one day
wither up as an old maid upon pile of gold.
Thou art no longer young"-
"But, father'-
"No longer young, say. Thou vert born
in 1766; today therefore, thou art 20 years
old. For the daughter of millionaire that
may hardly be called young. Thou dost need
a husband, and I need tranquility. The
house is forever full Of wooers who futter
around thee like the moths around the light,
and disturb my peace. 1t is no longer to be
endured. In heavens name, am 1 stupid,
wandering king, whose daughter propounds
riddle to her adorers and leaves them, If
they cannot crack the NUT to be beheaded by
papa9 Once more leave thee to choose, but
choose thou must, the one or the other"
"But whom dost thou mean, dear father2'
'Dost think me blinda Dost believe have
not seen that among the many suitors only
two are pleasing to theea But they also act
like idiots. When they get sight of thee they
find no words for their lips, and devour thee
with their staring eyes. Yet they love thee,
and that perhaps shows their want Of sense. "
"But, father!''
'sCome now, I do but jest. Only again let
me tell thee, for the third and last time,
thou takest either the Count Moronti or Ber-
tino Brandani, both charming young fellows,
one of them very rich, the other count, an
impoverished nobleman, tits true, but we will
quickly see to the regilding Of the escutcheon.
Choose, choose, else"-
'tElse2n
'Elsea Well, I wait one more year, but
in no case longer. 1t looks, indeed, as If no
one wanted me for father-in-law. Dost wish
me thus to sit patiently under a sense of
ueglects'
EOld Lamberto printed kiss upon the fore
head of his beloved Giletta, and went off to
his business, leaving the little daughter to
her thoughts. And these thoughts strongly
echoed her fathers words. Yes, he was right.
Giletta could no longer oppose so reasonable
wish; she must wed. She must raise this
siege of suitors and restore quiet to the house.
There was an incessant stream Of wooers
coming and going. They filed and overran
CI6 pace. LILO StdI6 VI 1uluE,S u1tu grown
insupportable and must end. And then, too,
this perpetual difficulty of the good papa
when any one proposed to her. 1t was be-
coming monotonous. II feel myself greatly
fattered, sir x = great honor y
should be very happy. u Seek to win
the favorable regard Of my daughter" And
always the greater the crowd of lovers the
greater the string of decapitations. No, 1t
- 81 @1,,,n NJ 70
must come to decision. Alas were there
only some one to tell her who really possessed
her heart. Was 1t, perchance, young Ber-
tinoa He was noble minded, high spirited,
handsome and of fine presence. But then the
count also possessed all these fine physical
and mental advantages. Yes; but then he
was a count. If she married him, would 1t
not perhaps be said that she chose him only
for his title'
So argued and dallied the thoughts Of the
maiden, and not one Of them was suggestive
enough to bid her listen to the voice of her
heart. But then in fact she had no heart, no
blood, no passion. She was beautiful, and
he who marked the flash Of her black eyes,
whose splendor contrasted strongly with the
soft ivory purity Of her complexion, might
take her for woman of high feeling, slun-
bering volcano. But nature hung out false
lights here and led the Judgment astray.
GiIetta, by nature cold blooded, knew love
only from romance and poems, held 1t for a
poetic fiction, and regarded marriage as a
more or less troublesome duty to which a
maiden must submit at the will Of her parent.
Her father wished it, and Giletta made no
struggle, for she was to all good natured
creature, and deeply, entirely devoted to her
4 rr I. !, L., c4ol.o- Gov l,
ssNow?" asked the banker, as he stood again
before his beautiful daughter.
~ have chosen" she said quietly, and with
out any sign of feeling.
sis it Countess Moronti or Signora Bran
daniF'
i'The latter, papa, for thou seest"-
Every good, very good, it is all the same
to me-"
siBut he has not yet in any way declared
himself, and cannot ask for his hand"
"i2ut thou canst stir him up. The carnival
has he, run. In few days there will be the
flower Corso-when thou, for example,
81 know, I KNOW" cried the maiden, and
closed the oil mans mouth. "Give thyself
no concern; thoQeshalt not be kept waiting. >
4 4 4
Near the Porto SAHARA, Messer Lambertc
owns q DeauCllul fllId, WHICH hO AolOlJ LII
habits. It is left in charge OF his gardener
the old Gabbadio, who is permitted for GER
tain rental to carry on for his own account q
commerce in the fragrant produce OF the gar
dens and hot houses From him the Romans
seek their choicest flowers, their most beautl
full bridal bouquets, their costliestornamenta
plants. The old man is master OF his art
we'll yersed in all the resources and posi-
IL iy, oil
and maryels Of the floral kingdom. He treat.
them as if they were sentient beings Knows
their habits. their peculiarities, endows then
with moral qualities, extols their matches
charms. and even at times chides their fail
ines and imperfections To the tulip he says
eWhy dost thou hang thy loneliness on {
great bell9' To the hyacinth, "Why fauntes
| thou so proudly thy colors and thy fragranceY
To the iily, "What dost thou think to achieve
| so great with thy severe purity and chaste in
| nocenceY, Even of the modest violet he ca1
saw at times, cit is proud of its modesty, it
| fragrance beguiling the senses, while its roo
| rroyokes nausea" And as every man by in
! tercourse with nature acquires knowledge
| Of men. SO also with old Gabbadio. "Flow
ers and men attract each other, fill out, ex
| nlain each other" he would say. "Tell M
| fby fayorite flower and 1 will tell thee wha
| thou art, With women the riddle Is espe
cially easy to guess, There are snowy, mag
nifieent flowers with glistening leaves, with
o.,t fragrance, which only glitter in thei
pride, delighting only the eye, never the soul
They are in the world only to dazzle and feed
| the admiration. And there are simple anc
! unpretending flowers which make no show
Int are rich in fragrance, are all essence anc
| feeling; one might call them beautiful souls
Put women in place of flowers and you get {
glimpse OF human nature. And yet how re
narkably does Nature display her Justice il
the distribution of her giftsl tits seldom tina
we find inward and outward beauty JOINED
in any equal degree; fragrance and beaut,
pairing themselves in the flower We fin'
this in the rose alone, when she unfolds he
snlendor. or In the pink when she bursts II