The weekly Floridian. [volume] (Tallahassee, Fla.) 1867-19??, 1888-01-05
HnLDAr XOvEk.

HHLDA's LOvErk. sd' &c 'n.a
The September's sun, straying throneh
the vlne-cevered, corner Of q Newport nj
azza, fickered over two figures mans
and girls. A pretty enough picture
they made. She in her 'iImy laces in the
wide arm chair, and he in velvet fscket
and knickerbockers, stretched laxfly at
her feet, while beyond lay the broad nor
.zo1,a. and oanas 2, white sand, purple ocean
The girl slowly closed the blue and
gold volume of Tennyson from which she
had been reading, and dreamily repeated,
half aloud: -
Ak me no more the moon may draw the SCI.
may stoop from heaven and take the shape
Bat . too fond when have snswered thee,
Ask mt no more
"Do you think he ought to have asked
her again after thata" she continued.
The young man tossed pebble out
over the water and waited to see the last
ripple vanish before he replied. "I have
no doubt that he did ask her again, aud
have no doubt that she would have been
awfulIy disappointed if he hadn't"
with a smile, half vexed, half amused.
She was Boston girl, and Eustace Payne
was New York man, and, therefore, as
she told herself, it was a case of imperfect
sympathies. The old battle of realism
versus idealism was perpetually waging
between them. Payne ridiculed the Con.
cord philosophers and burlesqued their
philosophy. He boldly declared. not
that he could not understand Harris,
which would have been received as a tri.
butte, but that Harris did not know what
he meant himself; Emerson, he said, was
saved by sense of honor which made
him half New Yorker. The mind cure
he called Boston witchcraft, and professed
to think it as dangerous as the Salem de-
lusion of old.
Their discords often came when, as
now, she was led on to speak out her
psychological questionings. In kustace
Payne's mind, to produce ones serious
thoughts and deep convictions in or
binary conversation was like woman's
wearing diamond earrings to market just
flying suspicion that they were paste, and
branding the owner as to the world Of
culture. To Hilda Grey, on the other
hand, it seemed that all talk, to be good
for anything, must dig down into the
verlties, and it was with a shade of i'm
patience in her tone that she took up the
thread of conversation.
l am not discussing the heroine's feel
ings. The question is, should you think
man would care to marry woman who
wanted not to love him -
"Certainly not, unless her unwilling
ness could be overcome"
GA lawyers bubble. Let me, if posi-
bic, make my idea clear enough for your
comprehension. mean would woman's
determination not to care for you be an
incentive to you to strive to win her love
| say you, meaning the average man."
Payne slowly drew himself up to his
six feet Of height, and with cap waved
mock salute as he answered:
'Ts an old maxim of the schools
That hattery's the food fools.
"But if you really think me competent
to speak for the average man, should
say, Yes, in certain way. l do not care
for pigeon shooting; l prefer shyer game !;
and | can understand that pique, that
last infirmitv of noble minds might lend
an added zest to courtship; but after all,
the motive of her aversion in marring me
would make all the difference in the
world. If, for instance, it were disparity
of rank and fortune, / confess have no
fancy for playing Bertram to any Lady
Geraldine"
Excellent! Here we have the gauge
of the average man, and, behold, it is van
ity. Affection may go to the wall, but his
precious self esteem must not be wounded.
So long as your pride would be gratiied
by conquering her Indifference you would
strive tor her regard like politician for
office, but if winning her acceptance Of
her fortune, you prefer to button up your
coat over your bursting heart, and, as you
would magnifcently call it, conquer
your passion as I should say, sacrifice
yourself and her on the altar of vanity" ="
Payne nnclasped the knee which he had
been holding as he leaned back against
the pillar, and he stretched himself out as
if to make his position as comfortable as
possible for a long argument. His face
called to his aid the superior smile which
Hilda always found specially aegravating,
as he made the somewhat irrelevant re-
ply:
"Woman is generally brilliant, some
times inspired, seldom consecutive, and
never logical"
Sententious age!'
"She blazes up and goes out like the
electric lights on Fifth Avenue, the flashes
of her illustrations only illuminating the
darkness Of her reasoning. Now that
you have finished your summary, the av-
erage man, let me show you the flaws in
your argument, though it is like pointing
out the holes in mosquito netting. Let
us 90 to the situation of the poem. imag-
lining me the hero and you as the ideal
woman (mark my superior civilty), the
heroine.
ain the first place, then, wanting not
to love me is not indifference. The very
resistance implies that I have reached the
stronghold of your heart, and your only
hope at best is to hold the citAdal. It is .
question of driving me out, not of prevent
ing my entrance.
Il. e nkAa