The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1895-11-24

my pony to the bank, thoug a twinkle
In his eyes as OF suppressed merriment
made me pout and blush; my hair also.
having come unbound In my ride. hung
over my shoulders and made me look
the more discomposed. His fowling
piece and well-flled game bag explained
his presence IN the woods. Arrived on
dry land. he let go of my Bride, and,
uncovering his head, he said:
Il am Hugh Saxby, at thy service"
making a reverence, though I still saw
the laughter in his eye. May / see thee
safe on thy way"
IT thank you" i answered as haughtily
as l could, being ashamed to be be-
holden 10 a Quaker Of whom / had often
heard my father speak contemptuously.
and being hurt in my pride 10 be found
by him in such a plight, and the more
so as l could see he was inwardly merry
at my expense Il am not far from
home. My father, MI. Ardell. Will re-
quite you for this service"
There is nothing DUE he replied,
with another bow, though the cold, even
tone OF his words repaid me a hundred
fold in my own coin for my proud speech
However, / could say no more, for he at
once turned, and, whistling 10 his dog,
disappeared in the woods.
How / got home and was chidden for
spelling my habit / need not tell thee,
though 1 remember well.
The text event in my life was my sis
ter's wedding, and here again h wilt
be interested TO hear of the gay clothes
we Wore. My sisters beauty had cap
tured the heart of a Captain Aylmer, a
former ~neighbor OF ours, an officer in the
late war, though of the kings side, who
was now settled in upper Canada near
the cataract OF Niagara. The wedding
was a grand affair, attended by a great
number of our friends, and graced by
the presence of the Governor of the
State and his lady. 1 was chief brides
maid, and second only to the bride in
gayety of costume. How proud l was of
my new satin petticoat, quilted and
wadded until ii was as stiff as a board
almost and my velvet bodice rich with
old point lace, and ~high-heeled shoes
with diamond buckles, n my hair done
up in a tower on my head, though spoilt.
/ thought, by the powder in ii, which l
wore for the first time that day. My
sister also looked most beautiful, with
her lace veil falling behind, and a long
train TO her dress held up by two pages
as she walked, and a wreath OF orange
blossoms on her head
In the throng which altered without
the church to see the wedding / saw
Hugh Saxby for the second time, though
nearly two years had gone by since / had
seen him at the brook. He looked hand-
somer and more manly grown since the
last time / saw him, and though L met
his eyes but once. and hat for a mo-
II llCll Il SOW III LhCL Xix III III lit
riment, which showed that he remem
bered also our last meeting, but no trace
of admiration, at which / was veXed,
and did not look towards him again.
After my sisters departure / began to
be made much of, with a maid for my
self, which pleased me nightly, for L
was young and proud, and it delighted
me to see the power of my beauty over
the hearts of the men who were pre-
sented TO me. But though many suitors
appeared Cor my hand. l did not counte-
nance any of them, and, strange to say,
gained my will with my father in reject
ing all offers; but / have since come TO
hin that he designed a greater match
for me than any which these country
gentry could offer.
Thus for five years or so / was the
reigning belle of our society, the queen,
in fact, of a large part of the country,
for no function was complete without
my presence. During all this time L saw
Hugh Saxby upon rare occasions, and
only, as it were. by chance, but he never
appeared to notice me. Meeting him,
dressed in my gayest clothes, l would
look towards him, expecting to read ad-
miration in his glance, but ever the same
twinkle of merriment was in his eyes,
to my modification. In the contrary
WAYS of a woman, / grew to have no
thought but to bring Hugh Saxby to my
feet as I had brought all other men who
approached me; but what l should do
with him when L had subdued him i
knew not. There was no thought OF
love in my heart, but only pride, and to
marry him never entered my head L
had tried coquetry in vain. Now, in
sheer desperation, / chose the keenest
weapon in a woman'S armory namely,
jealousy. The next time L met him i
happened to be riding with a party of
ladies n gentlemen, when, seeing him
approach, / dropped my riding whip, as
it were, by accident, and thus was left
ehind a little by the others, while one
of the gentlemen got off his horse to get
it for me. L leaned over very graciously
towards him while he handed me my
whip and refined in my horse to a walk.
talking gayly with my escort, keeping a
covert watch on the approaching form
until he was close to us. and then looked,
laughing at a sally from my escort,
straight into Hugh Saxby's face. The
twinkle was gone from his eyes; nothing
remained but complete Indifference. i
was foiled. / had forgotten that for
jealousy to grow there must already be
in the heart a sentiment of passion. Now
/ perceived that this was entirely lack
ing in the heart of Hugh Saxby; that the
only remembrance he a OF me was of
a willful child taken in an absurd pre-
dicament.
The pleasure of life was gone for me
for that afternoon. Pleading a head
ache, / returned homewardS, accom-
panied by my cavalier, who must have
wondered somewhat at the sudden
changes in my carriage. This was the
first check my pride had ever received.
and l took it hardly at the first, being
especially angry at the man who had un-
consciously delivered the blow.
By and by / looked at the matter in
a more reasonable light, and soon other
events ensued which made me forget my
having been humbled. though not the
man who had humbled me. My mother
about this time began to fail, and the
gayety of my life having begun to cloy
somewhat, 1 began TO turn my atten-
ton TO household duties, and q will con-
fess IT'D being impelled thereto by the
thought that the man whom l could not
ubdue with my charms of person might
look favorably upon the housew1fely
graces newly found in me, which, from
his training, he would admire in a
woman.
Beginning now to take closer observa-
ton of our home life than / had former
ly done, i found that matters were not
goiag we'll with US. My father had con-
tracted the habits OF his gay compan-
ions, of drinking much wine and playing
at cards, and at times I found myself
without the ready money in hand TO
pay the household expenses. To cut
short the story of our troubles, my father