St. Tammany farmer. [volume] (Covington, La.) 1874-current, 1895-03-09
SWEET CONTENT.

SWEET CONTENT.
Why She Didn't Change Hell
Name to Gloriana-
Her real name was Gloriana Weston,
but everyone who knew her well
called her Sweet Content 1t was to
her father that she owed both the
actual and. the pet name. When she
was born, he was in the middle OF
writing his monumental commentary
on the "taerie Queen" and wanted
to name hi,, daughter Britomart, but
compromised matters with his Mortified
wife by cO:scl ting 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 lay more manifest,
he came out into the arden one after
node, fresh from his critical survey OF
seventeenth century poetry. and hum
ming the refrain of a song which
haunted his memory. 20 sweet con-
tent! o sweet contrnt!" he sang over
and over again. and then laughed as
his eye fell upon the little gn'l sitting
soberly on the grass at her mothers
feet. making daisy chains.
why, here is name for the little
oner he cried. "Wife, you must
never scold me again for calling her
Gloriana. From henceforth 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 murmrred 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 2
much smaller one-a change which
was like an uprooting to the girl.
But no one heard a murmur from her
lips, and her tears on leaving the old
home were kept for times when her
mother would not be saddened by the
sight of them. 1t was she who took
the lead in rendering the new house
as home-like rs 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 lawyer in
a country town-a rising man, but one
who was considered by his profession
al 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
the Westons were, Sweet Content had
"expectations." An old uncle of Mr..
Weston. who maintained an implac-
able enmity against his nephew, had.
nevertheless. declared his intention
OF leaving his money in the family"
land this" said Edith, Fred had
heard through a cousin of his, who
was Uncle Antony's legal adviser"
Be this as it may, Fred had proposed
to Content. causing thereby a commo-
ton in the Weston household. Mrs
Weston was feverishly anxious that
she should accept him. All through
her own married life she had felt the
pinch of poverty, and it had chafed
and fretted her. Never, if she could
had done. AS for Content herself. she
wished, as usual, to do what would
please everyone else best Fred Par
giter did not in the least resemble the
heroes Of her girlish dreams. but he
was kind and pleasant, and she be-
lieved him to be good. She did not
think that she loved him; at least, not
in what she had always imagined to
be the right way; but she liked him
very much. and shrank from hurting
his feelings by refusing him. She
shrank also from disappointing her
parents.
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 a 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
i. was heavy blow to Mrs. Weston,
who had counted largely upon it.
You see, mother" said Content,
1--WE are no worse off than we were be-
fore. To lose what we never expected
is not very dreadful"
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 rumors
from the other side OF the county to
the effect that he was occupied in
counting a rich heiress there, and
finally there came a letter from Fred
He found that he had misun-
derstood his feelings, he said. The
which he entertained for
Miss Weston were not those of lover,
but OF q 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 un-
kind and unbecoming. 1t 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
l.