Herald and news. [volume] (West Randolph, Vt.) 1878-1943, 1902-05-08
Confirmation
of a Ba G he1or
BY UuInnIHM ENNIS.

.
! AN not by nature a cruel or violent
/ man, and as ! hear Master Charles
! and his sister are going about aceus
|. ing me Of being all this, / think it il
! due to myself to write out a true ac.
! count, from the beginning, Of this mis-.
! cradle affair. My arm still aches, but
, / will set down the facts while they
are yet fresh in my memory.
1t was on November 6 that I re-
, ceived the invitation. l have it be-
fore me as write. Il as follows:
Mr. J. Holt Leigh: Mrs. Stephen Fresh
. field, Al home Monday, December ?.
Dancing, 1880. Fancy dress"
My name and the words fancy dress''
were written, the rest was printed.
4 would here mention that, at that
time, / entertained feelings Of sin
cere admiration for Mrs. Freshfeld's
daughter Dolly. She was more than
ordinarily good looking, and in addi-
tion, I thought, well-mannered and Of
a nice disposition. CT only shows how
one may be deeeived.) Nothing is to
be gained 10y the concealment of the
fact that I aspired to her hand. A
| match with her had seemed to me. aft
or mature deliberation, eminently de-
sirable, though the balance Of the adj
vantage would have rested with Her.
She, as have said. was young and pref
4 ~. Her father was in business. and
certainly not wealthy. I, though just
/ past middle age, am well preserved and
have ample means. lam a barrister-at-
law, but l do not practice. Not dis
used lawyer, understand; ] have never
| practiced. l do nothing. In addition,
my family is, of course, of infinitely
better standing than hers. II would,
in fact, in the eyes Of many Of my rela-
tiyes have been mesalliance ] had
not yet, in SO many words, disclosed
my intentions to her but by frequent
visits at her house, and in many little
ways entirely correct, need scarcely
say--I had shown / was partial to her.
Her attitude to me was always re-
spectful, though it lacked the warmth
that / could have desired That was
one of the reasons why / had not ac-
tually proposed matrimony There
was nothing to be gained by rushing
matters, and / felt sure that il would |
only be a matter Of time before she
reciprocated my feelings Of affection.
Her father, on the other hand. enter /
tanned a sincere regard for me. Her |
mother was an invalid, and one seldom
saw her; but ! felt that she. too, liked |
me, The only other member of the /
family was Miss Freshfeld's brother, |
Charlie. He was ten years old, and |
this boy for some reason or other. took /
a dislike TO me, He was a boy Of the
most objectionable type impish and /
rude. Miss Freshfeld, curiously, was
attached 10 him, Being boy. and the 1
only one, he was spoiled. One often
sees IL. I made several attempts to
become friends with him. for the sake
of his sister, but it was no good The
vileness of his character may be evil
denced by the fact that he would take
a bride from me on one day, and yet
be as irreconcilable as ever on the
morrow.
In appearance he was like an ape.
Wen, 1 spent some time in thinking
out what costume / should wear. i
finally decided en- clowns dress. Peo-
pie who know me viii be surprised at
the choice. But there were reasons.
specially wanted to please Miss
Freshfield al the dance. Herself being
young, she was fond Of all sorts and I
knew she thought me too serious. She
as much as said 50 one day. Not that
am ashamed Of being serious: quite
the contrary. There are, in my opinion.
a great deal too many ways and fools
nowadays. But ! wanted to create n
good impression on Miss Freshfeld
that evening, for thought that If she
seemed sufficiently sympatheticIm might
disclose the state Of my feelings to her.
and did not see why should not give
myself every advantage. After an
for all / knew, there might be younger
suitors.
The dress was q truly wonderful Gre
alton. I went TO the best costumer's
20 have II made. and let them know
they were not to consider expense. but
10 do the thingweH. II was made mart
~ Of satins, not Of cotton like the com /
mon clowns things. on the chest part.
which was red. there was huge vel /
low donkey, and there were comic ami
mails in other places. The whole e.
feet was entirely absurd as. of course.
was intended though I resolved that
i was the last time that ] would sub
NIT 70 tomfoolery Of this kind. She
would not find me So tractable after
marriage.
The night ~ the dance arrived. 4
drove up lima hrougham Anarrravat-
ing incident a. the start was that quite
a number q gamius sighted me near
the house, and ran after THE carriage