The Sunday herald and weekly national intelligencer., 1890-12-07
A Matchmaker'S Stratageln.
From London Truth.

From London Truth.
In the opinion of matchmaking mothers
Jack Fairservce was very Objectionable per-
son. Strange to say, this was not because he
was ill-looking or ill-bred, but for exactly the
opposite reason. Good looks and good manners
do not, as rule, make man unpopular with
ladies of any age or condition; but, by pc
culiar irony of fate, in Jacks case they did. If
he had been unattractive, mothers with mar
riageable daughters would only have ignored
him: but, being attractive, they absolutely de-
tested him.
The ground of their dislike lay in this: Jack
Fairservice was detrimental. He had all the
qualifications for winning their daughters, and
none of the qualifications for marrying them
Girls were constantly spelling their chances
with other men by falling desperately in love
with him, while he had no money to set up
house, no energy TO make money, and no de-
sire to try. He was quite content to live on
his ESQ year, to go about in the society in
which his connections placed him, and to let
life slip past without effort or anxiety. 1t
could not be said that he encouraged girls to
ose their heads over him. He paid particular
attention to no one but he was extremely
agreeable to all, and his good looks and pleas
ant manners, without design on his part, fire.
quently made him conquests that he did not
want.
Jack was jovial, easy-going young fellow,
and he laughed alike at the anger of the
mothers and the devotion of the daughters, not
because he was heartless but because he only
saw the folly of both. If girl injured her
prospects by her behavior toward him he re-
gretted it; but, as he had never provoked the
passion he felt no responsibility forit. And in
the ordinary case, where no harm was done,
the madness of the daughter and the rage of
the mother appeared to him equally silly and
equally amusing.
One of the matrons who most cordially de-
tested him was his own aunt, Mrs. Hatch. The
Rev. Mr.. Hatch, Jacks uncle by his mothers
side, was vicar of a fashionable West End
church and the possessor-chiefy through his
wife-of considerable fortune. He himself
was not unlike Jack-jovial, easy-going, and
good-natured, but resolute enough when his
feelings or his conscience were aroused. His wife,
who when he married her was wealthy widow
was very different. She was restless, bitter,
and ambitious. Moving in the best society and
mixing every day with people of wealth and
title, she was anxious to utilize her opportunities
to get her daughters well married, and any
thing or any person that seemed to stand in the
way of this cOnsummation she regarded with
unspeakabe hatred and disgust.
Mrs. Hatch in this husband hunt was not act
uated by regard for her daughters interests
she desired to see the poor girls well married,
simply in order that she might thus be enabled
TO leave everything she possessed to her son,
Nathaniel Sleepy. The gentleman in question
was her only child by her filst husband, and she
cherished him with an infinite devotion For
his sake she would have sacrificed herself, and
she was determined to sacrifice her daughters,
though, Heaven knows more pitiful idol
than Nathaniel human folly never worshiped
Mrs. Hatch had not been very successful in
her design for disposing of her superauous
daughters, and her failure she attributed to
two causes, OF course Jack was the first. She
thought that his frequent visits to her house
frightened of many less attractive but
weather men, and she hated him for that The
other cause was Lily Ruth. Lily Ruth was an
orphan niece of Mr.. Hatch's who lived with
him half as a relative and half as a governess to
the younger girls. She was absolutely penni-
less, but then she was remarkably pretty, and
Mrs. Hatch thought that her beauty by con-
trast made the plain Misses Hatch look more
plain, and she hated her on this account Jack
FalrserVice was independent of her, and he
could laugh at her il-concealed aversion to
him. But, unfortunately, poor Lily Ruth was
a dependent, and on her the angry woman
poured out the vials of her wrath
Jack Fairseryice being a kindly, good
natured fellow, the cruelty with which he fire.
quently saw Mrs. Hatch treat his poor little
cousin used to rouse his bitter indignation.
The Vicar also was indignant at his wife's
treatment of the girl, and did everything in his
power to protect her. She was a constant
source of squabbles between Mr. and Mrs
Eatch. The former was always striving to
have her treated as daughter, the latter to de-
grade her to the level of servant. and though
in some ways the Vicar carried his points in