The Press., 1888-01-26

 covers fuller, richer meaning.
 What bewildering portent was thisf For hard strife with the yearnings of his own spirit Godfrey Middleton had come pre- pared. But not for a challenge of this sort. He was swayed like reed in the wind Every maxim of prudence was driven out of his head. The words of his answer-which was an appeal-came with but semi-con- scious volition.
 s'Dusa, my dear onei Is there any hopeF' he cried. a
 And ah, the bliss. the ,bewilderment of iti The shapely little head twas pillowed upon his breast. Hope9 This.was certainty.
 "But, Godfrey, your letter said this even- ing; l was not looking for you, yet. Were you so impatientT
 My letter" he echoed helplessly.
 "Yes; and how curiousiy formal you were in expressing what-what I suppose is your wish"-the blushing facc was averted, or young Geoffrey's slowly dawning look of hor- rified intelligence must infallibly have struck 0 chill to the tender heart that trusted him Eff hadn't known you-as it really seems for an age, though it's such c little time-I should have fancied that, after all, you didn't very greatly care"-
 "Stop, Dusa, my treasurer' almost moaned tho startled and dismayed lover; nothing can change our regard for each Other-noth- ing shall We are agreed in thatG"
 Dusa was alert and quivering in every nerve with new accession of excitement. It was her turn to be perplexed Why this sudden tornado of anxious, foreboding passiona
 "Yes, oh, yes" she replied, with shy, pretty fervor.
 "Then, Dusa, it was not who wrote to you; it Was ny uncle!"
 Only the rosy kiss of morning on Alpine snow will compare with the food of carmine that overswept the abashed countenance. Amusement and consternation between them riveted her to the spot, or the girl might have fled. If this were true, what n hoyden she must have appeared to her visitor. Could anything be worse than to be won without being wooed? And her parents too had been deceived. They had regarded the stately proposal as eInanating from the nephew, and on the strength of old Geoffrey's wealth, in estimating which the banker had the assist ance of private knowledge, they had gra- ciously favored the suitor. It was terrible iInbroglio, from whatever standpoint the complex question at issue was regarded. But young Godfrey had the courage of despair, and the nobility of bis nature as- serted itself
 "Forgive me, Miss venn, for my ill con- | sidered attempt just now at pledging you to a promise which altered conditions may req | sonably warrant you in breaking" he said. II have been wrong-wrong all through. But can make this amends. You arc per fectly free, Miss Venn, as free one short hour ago; even freer, for then your mind was entangled by singular error. may never be my uncle's heir; he has told me that he means to marry; I did not know whom. fOil f. ic for fO harbor vain ambitions. however sweet" His voice died away in an involuntary sigh. The touch of self pity in the last sen tence of his great announcement was almost 1 tragic.
 Dusa had recovered the control of her fac ulties, if not her self possession. She smiled through tears.
 "But you made promise, too; and unless you wish it will not release you," she said.
 There was a happy. pause, in which | But the narrator relents, and leaves the hiatus And Dusa added, with 0 flash oi mischief irradiating her tremulous confu sion:
 "Only wish I'd been familiar, Godfrey with your handwriting"
 III.
 1 Philosophers, who differ in some other mat 1 ters almost as vehemently as politicians, are agreed that succees is not synonymous witt | happiness It is possible to have big bank 1 ing balance, costly freight on many seas, anC even seniority in the procession to the civic chair, and to hobnob nevertheless with dis content. The foot may have its corn and vince at the slightest touch beneath the vel | vet slipper.
 These moral reflections owe their origin ir this place to the profound dissatisfaction l 1 over the spirit of Godfrey Middleton, ship broker His position was precisely that dex' terously insinuated above. And the cause thereof was his own hastily adopted purpose l of mntrimony.
 | His Hateful letter, once posted by his owI hand, for fear of accidents or the impertin ent curiosity of domestics, he felt for tho moment triumphant. It was in this mood that he had dealt his sharp thrust at hii nephew over the wine and dessert in the din l ing room.
 But when he retired that night it was to [ weary vigil in which carking care was biting like an acid into the pattern of his heroic re solve. With a young and ardent love the major uncertainty would have been whether he was to be accepted or rejected. But old GeofRrey's thoughts did not tarry long at this stage. He had witnessed too many sacrifices of fair, ingenious springtime to wan, satur. nine winter to have much doubt that he could lead to the altar yet another victim. He was wealthy, and it was enough. Guardians would advise, and the girls own vanity and desire to possess the advantages credited to the station of a rich mans darling would give her strength to crush down any natural repugnance
 The anxiety was of a different sort. Was he sure that he had fully calculated the cost of the step in personal security, comfort and ease? And every time he went over anew the ground of the argument pro and con the keener became his doubts. In the morning he got up with feelings surely cast on the model of those with which Mir. William | Sykes may regard the final ceremony in a prison court yard, at which his presence is ever likely to be required.
 Nightly glad was old Godfrey that he had not to facc his nephew, who was a late riser, at the breakfast table.
 And if on the previous day a nor'easter had rattled about the ears of his Water street employees, it was e veritable hurricane that blew anathemas hither and thither from 10 to 8 on this date of doom. One of his clerks resigned then and there
 Everything went wrong; though, as he was at bottom 0 scrupulously fair man, there could be little doubt that old Godfrey would by and by come to acknowledge that the fault was in himself
 And @ fellow trader who dropped in with budget of gossip did not throw oil on the troubled waves
 ''Sad about Danby, isn't itY" he asked
 "What3 haven't heard thought his firm was as solid as-as St Georges hall"
 'Oh, so it is; there's no screw loose in Dan by, Porter & Porter. But the old mans shaky here" and the friend significantly tap