The Columbian. [volume] (Bloomsburg, Pa.) 1866-1910, 1894-04-13
TAKEN AT HIS WORD.

At the age OF twenty-five lne llS VI
a London bachelor is seductive to a
heather imagination, but afterwards 1t
grows less pleasant to contemplate.
One gets selfish, and selfish man de-
teriorates rapidly. So 1t was shock
to me to brush a gray hair one morn
ing out of my celibate whiskers. Ab-
normal? No; careful investigation
showed that there were more where
that came from. / sat down, brush
in either hand, and contemplated.
when l rose to complete my toilet L
had determined to marry Sarah Hervy
as soon as possible.
Sarah was superior girl; there could
be no doubt about that; men called
her strong minded, eccentric, and were
rather afraid of her; not but what
there were plenty of them ready to
brave any danger there might be. She
preferred historical, biographical ana
even philosophical books to novels.
She had found out a simple style of
dress which suited her, and kept to it,
only allowing such notifications as
were necessary to avoid an appear
ance of affected Indifference to the pre-
vailing fashions. The instinct was Il
true one, for her principal beauty lay
a.
nifty, which L cannot attempt to de-
scribe, but which would certainly have
been marred by fiorid dressing.
Though l knew that other men had
tried and failed | felt fairly confident.
"She has more head than heart"
said Maurice, for example, land it will
take a clever fellow to get round her"
Exactly; but | was u clever fellow
In my own estimation.
To confess the truth, more con-
ceited coxcomb than your humble SER
want, at the time- am speaking of,
never leaned over the rails of Rotten
Row. There were no fewer than five
young ladies whom 1 thought l could
have for the asking, and Sarah Hervy
was one of them. / was on very inti-
mate terms with her, 1t was true, but
directly 1 tried positive Irritation l
found that she would not drop into
my mouth quite so readily as l had
anticipated. She was intelligent,
friendly, lively, confidential even, to
a certain extent, but most difficult to
make love to.
For example, we were engaged one
day in art criticism, counting the
leaves on a Pre-Raphaelite ivy-bush
to see whether it had a realistic allow
ance, when / took occasion to draw
her attention to a spoony couple, in
tended by the artist to be the most
prominent objects in the picture, and
tried to make use of them.
"What would painters and poets do
without lover / began.
Il cannot imagine" said she. How
strange it is that the most unpleasant
things In nature, lovers and pigs,
should be SO pleasing In art"
You are hard on the poor things,
surely" said l.
Am II" she continued. "Well, fond
as / am Of Wards pigs, j never could
look at the real animals without dis
gust"
"Oh, 1 grant you the pigs" said I,
feeling clumsy; II meant the lovers
"Well, can there be any spectacle
more idiotic than a couple in that con.
ditionT she asked, pointing to the
picture.
''The question sounds cruel, coming
from one so calculated to reduce a
man to it."
'Therew she said, with q frown, and
q petulant tapping Of the foot, that is
the worst of being a girl; one cannot
talk freely without being suspected of
fishing for compliments"
or course l knew that Miss Sarah's
sentiments would become modified
when the right man turned up; but
was evidently not the right man-at
present, at all events. She was not to
be carried by assault, as L had hoped
/ must attack according to the rules
Love must be disguised as friendship
flattery must be implied rather than
expressed. Above all, ! must main,
tain the opinion which | knew she had
of my abilities; for she quite wor
shipped talent.
l learnt the Athenaeum by heart
every Sunday. l did. My memory
was wonderful in those days. And
Miss Hervy, who did not see that jour
nal, credited me with having read al
the books, heard all the music, formed
an Independent judgment on the plays
and pictures. mastered the astronomi
cal, geological, philosophical discover
les chronicled in Its pages from weel
to week.
My plans were disconnected by The
Hervys going out of town. Mr.. Hervl
was director of a hundred boards
Mrs. Hervy was not Sarah's mother
but the second wife, with tendenc!
to bronchitis, which sent the family t,
house they had near Ventnor whel
spring returned with all its sweets
east wind included, and the period o
migration had now arrived But
was not utterly checkmated, for
knew that my friend Freshet had
castle somewhere at the back of tn
Isle of Wight, and would be too gla,
to go there if he could get any felloy
to stay with him, for that was his cor
slant object.
l went to the club we both belonge
to, and found him playing at billiard
and smoking a pipe with his coat c
arms on 1t in alt-relief. i said tn
pipe was coloring 1 praised his gam,
1 spoke Of yachting, which he lived 70
and promised to take cruise wit