Daily Republican., 1888-02-06
4 CQqustis's Confession
OR.
Once Too Often,

IL Is tIuo that the young men o
DItcham were poor material to hlrI
with. bat I, Grace Merlin, being the
daughter of tho minister, had An oppor-
tunity to see the best OF tha. Limited
matrimonial market. 1t WAS generally
conceded that J. WAS an arfAnt coque.te,
Just beoause | sent poor curate about
his business and disturbed the placid
eQuanimity Cf two or three other young
nIsp, Whos9 very rAmes | hay3 forgot.
ten.
l dcn't think the gossips obi scted
that l was u coquotte, bu. that was
also ministet's daughter, thN' !s what
CALLED the busy bodies and MaI sJme
tbiug they could not got ovtr.
| WAS beginning to tiRh Tor fresh con.
quests, having used all the material NJ
oAnd, when Gear papa enc morning Az
nounced that Cyril HHlleit)p, the
young lord OF the manor, who had been
In exile 30 long, was coming home.
How my heart beat, for nov l thought
was chance for me TO try shooting Mt
higher game.
My FIRST move was 20 get papa TO buy
me q brand new outfit cream co ured
drtss aud o brown VznDyke hat, and
wore them on the day Mr.. Hal!ertou
returned.
The poky ourate, S'owcomhe, who
had fRiien In love with me, was one of
the crowd, With the school teacher and
his children, who stood near our party
~ the carriage rolled through the park
gates, with papa and the young heir In
aide. ahey were both boRiDg left aud
right. When Mr.. HAllerton HaW me he
started, and asked papa who was;
that repaid me for AL my trou oles
about my toilet.
Mr. BloWcombe mus have obsery ed
my agitation and have guesaed isa
mehnins-An amount Ct ehre " wdnsss for
| which am at loss TO account. / had
intended to awe him Just enough eL-
IoouraRement to keep him a. proper
dislAnoe, bus by his thouP btless cond uct
he had upset all my calculations. Be
came to The rectOry In lhS Afternoon,
followed me into the garden aud pro-
posed to me then aud there. In such q
narrowing predicament what could l
IdC? Only plead for tlme.
How vexinR the man was, to be sura.
I finally told him l would be able 10
arswtr him better in months time.
This was very satiafa1tory, 1t gave
me what WAnted-tim9.
Mr. HAllerton called next day, and
was formally irtrod uoed to NE BY
ing to me q. once, and did my utm ost
TO encourage Il. He WAS q good talkcr,
having been much abroad and having
seen many strange things; and l wes .
good listener. Before he lsft he asked
mamma II he mis- b. soon call nzAIu, as
We were suoh near neiahbors took
upon myself to answer for her.
During the ensuing month Mr.. HN
lerton AID spent many hours together.
As IL was warn, snnny weliher-nos q
drop OF rain the whole timt-xe found
the garden very delightful. felt cure
he WAS In love with me; but still he did
not propose. Such was the position on
the eve of the day fixed ior giving IN }
answer to Mr.. Slowoomhe.
In desperation l took oounssl with
Susan. our old housemaid VINO lad
b. en- my confiante since bLbyhood.
"5nsAn," l whispered, "don'E you
think he is madly In love with MP"
"Lor' bless you, miss; Doi' was her
startling reply. Hes only n foolina
Iyou."
"A.foolinR me, Susan" L said
an nxiously. "What do you mean"
aust this: Mr.. Hal,erton's q CAD
Aboat- one OF the sort that goes
Amutinz themselves till they get gfay
hairs and then marrias @ nurse"
"Marrles nuretl'
"Yes; somebody to take care O
them"
felt 90 faint could sosrosly stand
~ don't believe you," I paid; "ho9
do you know Mr.. HAllerton is one o.
that sortY"
Bless you. miss" said Susan, "tht
Hikes of him don't match with the like
of you. He'll marry money At d posi-
tion II he mArries at this side CT forty
You may take my word for that"
| OF course L was furtousiy Indignant
with Mr.. Hallerton. OF course 1 &c
oeptei Mr.. Rlowcom bs when he came tc
me that morning. And then, scarcity
an hour later, Mr.. Hallerton asked m,
to be his wife. You see what fright
ful dilemma that stupid Susan had go
me into There WAS ouly ono way on
of ito give the prsfereIco to this bet
ter suitor.
sent Mr.. Hallerson away hsppy, al
II had AlreAdy sent Mr.. 5lowoomb,
away. Is docs not fall to the lot o.
every girl to max two lovers happy II
. a single mornlnR;u nor docs 1t fall to thsi
lot TO encounter y misfortune such as
IafterwArd encountered.
. The two men, searching for papa, Wit
was visiting in the parish. met and toiC
each other that they were ths luskies
! fellows In the world. Wby7 BecAusi
had consented to marry them. Jus
fancy what scene there wAei II on,
had not becn q clergyman, bel,ev,
they would AotuAlly have fought. Ii
the end they decided to refer the IN matte
to me. Though they were supposed tt
/. be In company, Mr.. Hallertou walked
lon in front, and Mr. Slowcombe strodi
: Ialong moodily q few yards behind. Ant
so saw that from the garden gate
That was n dreadful moment for me.
"Graoe," painted Mr.. Hallerton
. .I"what do you think this follow has tn,
, impudenoe to say. That you were en-
Igaged to himl That you had become en-
gagged to him this very morning, tcoi'
"Dldn't / speak the truth, Grace?"
. asked Mr.. 6lowoombe.
What right had you t. speak .
aL"" Indignantly demanded, when
oould collect my thoughts. "WhI
oouldn't you hold your topRut2 Is /
Ap honorable act, sir, to msks mis-
chiel? Do you call that the act OF I
IgentlemaL?"
IL don't understand" he stam
mered.
"rhat's Just It. You never under
stand anything. love Mr., HallertoI
and AN euRRged TO him. Il that plair
enouah2"
"Qlite," he answered sadly. GOO
by, GrLce, and God bless youI / vii
always try to tbiBk we'll of you"
He turned away aud walked slowly