Vermont phÅ“nix. [volume] (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1834-1955, 1911-12-22
THE NEMESIS OF A YOUTHFUL Ro.
NANCE.
Story Of a Vermont Governor, Alleged to
Have Been Told by James c. Blaine.

Story Of a Vermont Governor, Alleged to
Have Been Told by James c. Blaine.
They had been talking over the coffee
and cigars at a gentleman's dinner party
in Washington about experiences which
were stranger and more unreal seemingly
than any of the romances written by the
great writer's. Mr.. Blaine, who was then
secretary of state i'm Garfield's cabinet,
listened to the various anecdotes that
were told with the keenest interest and
now and then he said: II have no doubt
that is true. Its very improbability indi-
Gates that 1t could not have been an
imaginary tale. The improbability of
J stories of fiction does not bear analysis
The seeming improbability of stories
which have actual foundation in fact does
bear closes analysis"
After all the gentlemen present had
narrated some anecdotes coming within
their personal knowledge, Mr.. Blaine said
that he could tell a story which he knew
to be true, and yet which seemed so i'm
probable that even the most daring
writer of romance would not have dared
use 1t as the basis Of a plot. And the
secretary of state, in that fascinating
manner which made him, when he chose
to be, the most brilliant of all narrators
of anecdotes among public men Of his
generation, went on to tell the tale.
Secretary Blaine's Tale.
A man was elected Governor Of Ver-
mont a good many years before the War
of the Rebellion. Mr.. Blaine said that he
would not tell the company what the
name of this Governor was; 1t was not
essential to the story. He was a very
young man when chosen to that high
office. He had been a favored youth,
having what was regarded in Vermont
as wealth., and he was ambitious in a
proper way-proud without offense, SEN
sitive and handsome. He entered Mid
dlebury college and was graduated with
high honors, and began at once an active
career. He also became interested in
politics, and, being a man of fine pres
ence and of a disposition which brought
to him great personal popularity, and
having also cultivated the habit of speak
ing upon the stump, so that he became
quite effective in that way, his political
progress was rapid, and when he was
not more than AZ years of age he was
Governor of the state.
He was a ba chelor Governor, and every
one who did not know the romance of his
early life was amazed that he should
have chosen to remain single. With his
personal advantages, his fortune and his
political prominence he could have made
a home for any brilliant woman who
might have engaged his affections. He
was always courteous and seemingly fond
of the society of cultivated women, but a
DldlnIlNc mdnTeTlSln suggested TO women
whose intuitions were keen that his heart
was buried somewhere. and so it was.
While he was a student in college he
became acquainted with a young woman
of great beauty and much charm Of char
acter and was betrothed to her. The
infatuation of each for the other was an
absorbing passion, and for a time it
seemed to interfere with the young mans
studies. He was anxious to marry her
as soon as he was graduated, but she,
with a woman's prudence, regarded it as
unwise until he had become established
in his profession.
A Lovers Separation.
The young woman received an urgent
invitation to spend a year or two in the
family of a planter of great wealth living
in the South. She was to become not
exactly a governess. but a sort of COM
panion. who at the same time would nav
charge for a year or two of this planters
little children. She was a relative of the
planters wife, and these Southern people
had seen her once or twice upon their
summer visits to the North.
Her young lover was almost distracted
at the thought of separation, and for
three or four days before her departure
for the South he was constantly in her
company, and If she had given him the
slightest encouragement he would have
married her and gone South with her.
Less than a year after her departure
the young man received a letter ANNOUNCE
ing that his his betrothed had died quite
suddenly, and that her last words were
a MESA ge of love to him.. He was almost
crushed by this sad news, and it was to
distract his mind that he was led first to
enter political activity. That was the rea-
son why the young Governor of m
was a bachelor, but very few of his friends
knew of this romance. He had lost his
sweetheart more than 90 years before,
and, of course, the recollection of that
romance was dim excepting in his own
mind.
The young Governor took a summer
vacation and went to Saratoga, which at
that time was a resort for politicians
from all parts of the country. t the
hotel at which he was staying he was in
troduced to a gentleman of charming
manners and great wealth, who was
spending the summer there with his
family. This man was of the highest
type OF the Southern gentleman of the
ante-bellum days, and an intimacy sprang
up between him and the young Governor
which shortly extended to the family.
A Natural Affinity.
There were several children, some of
them maidens, and one was a girl of
about 81 who was singularly beautiful.
The young Governor of Vermont seemed
to be attracted to this maiden from the
moment that he was presented TO her ana
she on her part seemed pleased at the
manifestation Of his interest in her. He
no longer sought the companionship of
the father exclusively, but seemed rather
to covet the society of the daughter. He
walked with her, and when she went In
the morning to the springs he was her
escort. He drove with her, and when
some of her fathers friends were disposed
to have a gentle jest with him and to
say that a Northern politician had been
made captive by his daughters charms,
the father smiled strangely, shook his
head and said: mo, that Is impossible"
But 1t was not impossible. for it was
true. One evening while the young Gov
ernor was walking with his Southern
maiden he confessed to her that his
heart was callous until he met her, but
that he was now proud to offer her him
self, his aspirations and his wealth. The
girl seemingly with joy accepted him, for
to her such love as he offered made the
disparity in their ages of no account,
on the following day the young Gov
ernor sought a private interview with
the father OF the girl, and when they
We're together alone he said to the father
that he had supposed he would remain
unmarried until the end of his DAYS, but
that something had happened since he