Waterbury evening Democrat., 1894-11-28
A BOSTON ROMANCE.

j was Is. lie was ten years my senior.
Hc was my first lover. and 1 was con-
WINGED that no girl ever had one so devoted
and kind, 50 noble and high minded, and
withnl possessed of such business capacity
This last was indeed, in the eyes of my
mother, sine qua non. Without it the
other qualities combined would have been
utterly worthless. lie was owner of an
ample forturC, which he had inherited
but It was well invested and the interest
allowed to accumulate, so that one day he
might he n gentleman of leisure.
Meantime he was employed Mt n salary
of So, 600 a year, prcferring that to being
in business on his own account. He had
travelled extensively and appeared in many
ways much older than his years. In CON
vcrsation / have never met his superior,
seldom his equal. We were introduced
one day in August on the beach. and for
the next two weeks we walked ON the
beach, we drove ON tho beach, we sat on
the beach watching the flowing tide come
I'm, we stood on the beach looking ut the
moon shining with all her might on tine
quivering waves. and then we plightcd
our troth ON the beach and left it an en-
gagged couple
He had, i soon found, n mastcrful way
that caused one to carry out his suggCs-
tions instinCtivcly - overland. however,
with great gcntlenCss of manner and per
suasivCncSs not to be resisted. The gloves
were so soft that the iron hand was sue
ccssfully hidden, even from those far more
experienced and keen of perception than
myself. 1t was something new for me To
be thus controlled. An only child. l had
possessed the knnck of making the house
hold bend to my will ever since l could re-
member, but l had met my match in Jcr-
ONE Crockcr.
The middle of September came. At this
time my mother and had usually left the
shore for beautiful Lcnox, where we found
the social atmosphere most congCnial to
US, but this year my jerome required my
presence in the city. He was longing for
my society. We could take long drives
In the suburbs in the late afternoon, walks
in the Cvcning-in short, we could be to-
gcthcr, which was the proper thing for the
betrothcd couple.
To my amazCmcnt and-shall confess
it:-a little disappointment, which did
not understand, my mother agreed with
him, and to town we returned. l found
now that l was taken in hand with Il
vengeance. Jerome monopOlized nearly
all Of my time He planned my employ
mcnt for the day 10y mapping out in black
and white the manner in which he expect
cd mo to pass the hours when he could not
be with me.
He informed me that was not method
iCal in my pursuits. which was true
enough, l thought, with n sigh. His in
tCntion was evidently to rCvolutiOniZc my
habits, tastes and temperament also. il
that were possible Beginning with piano
music, he laid down the rule that l must
practice four hours each day without fail.
no moro, no lcSs-just that.
He prescribed two hours for five finger
exercises and the remaining two on one
e t1s,x-. = Il
which he had selected, and which he
wished inc TO make a special study. Now,
had been in the habit OF pract icing when
and how liked, and though had studied
for three years or more with one OF tho
most competent instructors my playing,
judged from an artistic standpoint, was
careless and slipshOd, but having great
musical intelligence was enabled easily
TO master difficulties of execution, and it
was necessary for me only to apply myself to
steady and conscientious practice to attain
a fair degree Of excellence in the mcChan
ical part of the art at least.
My reading was next taken in hand. On
being catcchisCd it was found that was
wOCfully ignorant in regard to most Of the
standard writers.
Carlylef No? had never read a sen
tcncc of that virilc, dogmatic old worthy.
Accordingly n dose of the French Rcyo-
luton" was administered. Ono hour n
day was to be spent in gazing ut the series
of lurid pictures thrown off at white heat
by this grand imprcssionist, fired with in
dignation at the slow, sad years of injus-
ticc and tyranny.
jerome spent nearly every evening with
me, and was fully questioned as to my
progress Alas, n disgraccful pluck too of
ten awaited me! l had seldom made out
my four hours Of practice, owing to call
with 1rpSSmnk CrS
headaches. The last l began to have in
plenty. And the French Revolution
could not grasp the situation or under
stand two consecutive sentences and was
helpless To make out in the least what all
those people who seemed so terribly in
earnest were trying to do.
That pOndcrous work was accordingly
replaced by David Copperflcld, " which 1
should have heartily enjoyed had not
felt that l was regarded by Jerome in the
light of another Dora SpenlOw. had an
underlying conviction that the story was
| given to me that might see how small
and insignificant poor little brainlcss
woman can be in the eyes of a bright in
| tcllcctual Iuan. ! am of the opinion to
this day that jerome had an Interior OBJ
| jcct in selecting that charming book just
at that time. As | look back on that
strange year of my youth, which was a
at my blindness and complete infatuatlnr.
| My will was entirely merged into that CT
| Jerome. His calm assumption and quiet
flrmness in laying down rules for me were
| like the commands laid ON the haplcsS Six
Hundred.
His voice was rich and mclodious, aud
his manner polished to courtlinCss, with
not u shade of stCrnncss, even when, Us
was so often the case. he must have been
| sadly disguised ut my lack of appreciation
of subjects In which he found so much to
| enjoy. Strange To say, he made no nd
verse criticism ON my style of dress. 1t Is
| true | was always consummately clothed
| hot alone by my own taste, but BECAUSE
was allowed To go to the best drcssmuk.
crs without regard to expense
jerome roid me frankly that he admired
the air OF elegance in my slender figure,
the slight droop Of the head, the swanlikc
throat, the small Greek nose and delicate
| chin. The type was patrician.
The chin had rcccding slope, however.
| He was n little afraid of that He feared
it meant weakness of character. I knew
| his diagnosis was correct there, beyond
question. The winter passed and the
| spring. ltwas arranged that our marriage
| should take place the coming October.
| And now / began to lose my appetite and
| strength. My parents Were much alarmed,
and Jerome especially so. \ European
voyage was discussed by the three Iuost
solicitous for my welfare and finally de-
cided upon, but for some reason which
could not myself understand my will in
this matter asserted itself. 1 so violently
opposed the plan that IL was given up,
though most reluctantly.
had 1t in mind that was sinking into
a decline, and / wanted to die in my own
country. In n dim sort of way felt that
a great change was in store for me in the
coming summer-somo crisis in my life