The Olneyville times. (Olneyville [Providence, R.I.]) 1887-1917, 1901-03-22

I'm presence OF company. never scch
10 know clearly what 10 say when
am thrown into society, and any one
particularly a lady, addresses me. MY
heart goes pit-a-pat II l eaten any
person in church regarding me close
iy-in fact. my whole existence Is
misery. owing TO my terrible bashful-
ness and nervousness.
MY aunt, with whom | live, ana
whose heir am, has very large es-
tate. not many miles from Bradford,
with a capital old hall. Being widow
without children, and l her only
nephew, she took me, when hfteen
years old, giving out publicly that i
was 10 be her heir. ] never caused
her the slightest trouble or anxiety
from then until | was twenty-five ex-
cept that she was naturally, annoyed
at nv excessive modesty, blushing and
nervousness upon the most frivolous
occasions and often spoke to me OF IL.
But | could do nothing, could II so
when at twenty-five | began TO get
somewhat better Of II, and grew visi-
bly, bolder, she evidently thought 1t
time to speak out.
Fred" said she, one day, as we
passed down the avenue, IL have, in
deed been pleased lately to observe
how much you are improving. You
know what | mean. And now, there
fore, / think | ought TO say 10 you
what has been on my mind for some
time. You know that Mr.. wilson's
estates join mine on the Bradford side
you know what fine estates they are.
Even better than our own, | think!
Well. as you know. Mr. Wilson and
have been the best HeighbOrs aid
frieLds for years. We have often
talked It over, and each has quite rec
ognized that if the two estates were
united, there would be nothing 10
equal them for miles around! You
will see to what am drifting, my boy.
You have the succession of my lands;
Mr.. Wilson has only one child, Marian.
1t is true that, being away in France
at school, with her wealthy aunt, you
have not seen Marian, as the only time
she was ever here, some four years
ago, you were at Hastings all the
summer. But her father and | have
already settled it, If you two are
agreeable; and, now that you are
twenty-five and Miss Wilson is TWEEN
ty-one, think something ought TO be
done by you. She will be coming
home next week. and | wish you to
propose TO her, if agreeable 10 you, at
the earliest opportunity. | can assure
you, from what saw Of her in Paris
last year. that she is n capital girl,
and one whose beauty, talents, ct Get
era, will do credit to the owner Of such
fine estates as yours will then be. |
have no fear of your liking her; aud,
without debating 10 you in any way, |
simply wish you TO lose no time, for
If you don't secure the prize very soon
somebody else will"
'All right, dear aunt" said |, you
may rest easy. | will do my best TO
please you" And | felt quite bold at
the mere thought of IT,
That's n good fellow" replied she.
Then, after n few moments of quiet
thought Now, look here. Fred,
These things want tact and manage
ment. Girls are ticklsh creatures,
can tell you! They will insist on pleas
ing themselves; and, if Miss Wilson
were to get to know that we three had
arranged all this beforehand, IL would
be all useless | think, therefore, the
best thing TO do will he for you to meet
her and her parents-by accident, of
course, and the old lady chuCkled-
rat Filey's neXtwcck. They're going for
n few weeks stay, and, as il is rather
dull there, though exceedingly pret-
ty, Miss Marian will, doubtless. be
glad of n visitor 10 relieve the ennui,
especially such one rs yourself This
will he your chance. Fred, and I've
not the slightest doubt it'll turn out
all right Remember, you've her
father behind you. and that's three
parts of the thing"
effusiyely agreed. and il was SO
settled. You may wonder how found
my nerve, but l did find il. / assure
you. Perhaps il was my aunts picture
of her as n young beauty. with deep,
blue eyes. golden hair and petty. lace
bedecked heliotrope dress; perhaps her
glowing description Of her sweet
smiles, kind words and charming fig
ure. Anyhow, without having seen
her, felt knew her, and should love
her. She was my own ideal lady, too,
of many day dreams
On the appointed day set out for
Flley. having TO go by the Scarborough
line and change at Seamer reached
the latter place all right. and. having
left the Scarborough train. waited foi
the one which was TO carry me {,
Filey-and bliss! 1t was n quarter oi
an hours wait. and looked like tive
hours. IL is simply astonishing. as
dare say you've observed many time
how slowly time does go when YOU ar,
waiting for y to pass, and watchin.
the clock; only equallcd by the spec,
ft goes at wnen you are somewher,
enjoying yourself and want it TO G,
slowly. IL is one of those mystcrle
OF life which is unfathomable to me.
At last the train came and takin
the first carriage | came TO. | got IN
Only when the train had got of did
notice that / was alone except for
young lady opposite me. whose charm
ing features and figure at once a
tracted my attention.
felt myself blushing deeply. | wa
dumbfounded. The more looked tl
more / was certain Of it! There wa
a music portfolio on the seat marke
IN. Wilson" could see the nam
clearly! And IL seemed TO me that m