The Cooperstown courier. (Cooperstown, Griggs Co., N.D.) 1902-1913, 1904-01-07
Sir Humphrey Pofter's
- First Love. q
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
! By HAROLD oHLsoN.
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IA ANY people considered that the
lxl time had come when Sir Hum
phrey Potter, with his wealth and his
title, should take wife. Some of
these had daughters. They were only
anxious for the dear girls happiness.
No one. however, cared to speak to
him on such subjects as love and mar
riage. He would have thought them
frivolous.
He was never frivolous.
It was only possible to interest him
in serious matters; business trans
actions for preference; politics, on
which he had decided views, in his
lighter moods. It was difficult to
conceive Of him as a lover. His tall.
portly form seemed always to require
about it the red mahogany and shin
ing leather of his Office. Laughter,
while in conversation with Sir Hum
phrey, seemed out Of place. It was,
. said an irreverent person, as the
cracking Of thorns under Potter.
Mrs. Latimer had described him as
'portentous." She owned that the
exact meaning OF the word had escaped
her for the moment, but she had an in
ner consciousness that it contained an
exact description, and she was not to
be moved by any dictionary person.
He was a self-made man. That was
evident. No one else would have trou-
ble& to make him. However, he stated
the fact constantly. d
He was enormously rich, and had OBJ
tanned knighthood by judicious phil
anthropy. He did not pay large sal
aries to his clerks, but when fund
was started at the Mansion house he
pressed nobly to the front. Pressing
nobly to the front-people can see you
when you are there-had made him
what he was-Sir Humphrey Potter.
Young ladies have been wont to call
him, in the course of private CONVEX
sation, "a fat pompous beast" The
course Of private conversation does
not always run smoothly. Now he
was dear Sir Humphrey"
He was on the market. He had
wealth and title, although the goods
were little shop-soiled.
It was on a beautiful, warm morning
In July that Sir Humphrey cautiously
lifted one lath Of his bedroom blind
and peered out. He was not anxious
to be seen. He was man of great
dignity of presence (his tailor, to
whom he paid cash, had often told him
SOY, but he felt he did not look his,
best at that particular time. His hair
fell in fringe over his forehead
which did not suit him-and his face
shone with the perspiration engendered
by hot July night. It also required
the refining touch of a razor. The fat.
frowsy man in the long white shirt
Che chung to the old fashions), with
big, bare feet and rumpled hair, was
as ridiculous and unpleasant to the
eye as Sir Humphrey Potter, an hour
later, would be dignified and imposing.
ltwas not for the purpose of observ-
ing the beauties of nature that he thus
delayed his toilet. but rather that he
might watch Miss Latimer, the daugh-
ter Of his old friend and present host,
and her cousin Clarissa, who were
walking in the garden. They were en-
joying the fresh morning air; Clarissa,
for the sake of the thousand delicate
scents that mingled with it and the
sweet, glad song of the birds; Miss
Latimer chiefly for the sake of her
complexion. She did not care much
for the songs of the birds; she pre-
ferred music from the comic operas.
And as for the delicate scents of the
waking flowers. She had been
known to purchase patchouli.
Miss Latimer's whole attention was
at that period of her existence en-
crossed by her numerous love affairs.
Her talk was of young men. Her
great purpose was to obtain a hus-
band. ii young and handsome, so much
the. better. but the only indispensable
adjunct was wealth. She was little,
plump and pretty, with beautiful eyes
that she could use effectively on very
young men. These walked with her
talked with her (she would giggle at
remarks that should have been re-
ceived with a cold silence), and airted
with her.
She was called "Flo." 1t seemed q
necessary consequence. There are
many noble, stately women in the
world named Florence. but It would