The Roanoke times. [volume] (Roanoke, Va.) 1890-1895, 1895-04-09
SWEET CONTENT.
Why She Didn't Change Her
Name to Gloriana.

! actual and the pet name. When sho
was born, he was in the middle of
writing his monumental commentary
| on the "Faerie Queen" and wanted
to name his daughter Britomart, but
compromised matters with his Mortified
wife by conscnting to the scarcely less
remarkable title of Gloriana. And
again. when she was about seven, and
the ludicrous appropriateness of the
stately name for the rosy, chubby
child became every day moro manifest,
he came out into the garden one after
noon, fresh from his critical survey of
seventeenth century poetry, and hum
ming the refrain of a song which
haunted his memory. 80 sweet con-
tent! sweet content!" he sang over
and over again, and then laughed as
his eye fell upon the little girl sitting
soberly on the grass at her mothers
feet. making daisy chains.
why, here is q name for the little
one!' he cried. wife, you must
never scold me again for calling her
Gloriana. From hcnccforth She is
Sweet Content"
Mr.. Weston died suddenly-a peace
full, painless death-and his widow
forgot all the little clouds which his
tastes had raised between them in life.
and scarcely murmured even when she
discovered the extent to which his
ignorance and generosity had involved
the little property which was all on
which she and her daughter could de-
pend They were obliged to move
from the large rambling old house in
which Content had been born into
much smaller one-a change which
was like an uprooting to the girl
But no one heard murmur from her
lips, and her tears on leaving the old
home were kept for times when her
mother would not be saddcned by tho
sight of them. 1t was she who took
the lead in rendering the new house
as home-lille as possible, and her per-
sistent cheerfulness went far to rec
oncile her mother to the change.
People had wondered long and vain
~ what had induced Sweet Content to
engage herself to Fred Pargiter, for
they did not seem to have a single
taste in common. He was o lawyer in
n country town-a rising man, but one
who was considered by his profession
nj brethren as pushing rather than
plodding. His motive for wooing Can
tent was an open secret all over the
village, thanks to the tongues of COS.
sips. 1t was Edith Barnard who first
hit upon it, and she did not hesitate to
communicate it to others, for she had
no liking for Fred Pargiter Poor as
thcWestons were, Sweet Content had
expectations" An old uncle of Mr..
Weston, who maintained an implac-
1Nl -, L.
nevertheless, declared his intention
of "lcaving his money in the family"
land this" said Edith, Fred had
heard through n cousin of his, who
was Uncle Antony's legal adviser. u
If Content had been the only person
concerned, she might have gone on her
way and married Fred Pargiter to
please her mother and himself, as she
thought. and have repented her timid-
ity when too late; but there was fac
tor in the case of which she had not
dreamt. Uncle Antony died less than
three months after his nephew, and
left all his money to home for crippled
dogs Content had only heard mys-
terious hints about the fortune which
was supposed to be coming to her, and
it had never seemed sufficiently real to
her for its loss to affect her much; but
it was heavy blow to Mrs. Weston,
who had counted largely upon it.
You sec, mother" said Content,
"wc are no worse off than we were be-
fore. To lose what we never expected
is not very dread full"
But Mrs. Weston could not accept
this philosophical view of the case.
She knew Fred Pargiter's character a
little better now than she had done
before the engagement took place,
and she could not avoid asking herself
how this would affect him. The an
swer to this question was soon sup
piled. Fred took an unexpected holt
day, and his letters were few and far
between. Then there came ruinors
from the other side of the county to
the effect that he was occupied III
counting a rich heiress there, and
finally there came letter from Fred
himself. lie found that he had misun-
derstood his feelings, he said. The
sentiments which he entertained for
Miss Weston were not those of a lover,
but of friend, and he had felt for some
time that they were not suited to one
another.
Content refused to be bowed to the
earth either with shame or grief. and
this seemed to Mrs. Weston both I'M
kind and unbecoming. It was Mrs.
Weston's frequent, but secret, lamen-
tation that girl who had been Tilted
SO openly need never expect to find an
other sutton; but when the village had
had ample time to become stablished
in its conclusions as to Contents hap
piness, it gained new sensation
through some ones observing that