Year: 1865

tic, that I should accompany him.
This plan pleased me, as offering an
opportunity of gratifying my long
cherished wish to see the world and
something of life, for l had till then
a limited experience, my university
career having been q short and stu
dious one, my uncle having prohib
tied travel in the vacations, which
usually spent with him in some quiet
place. 1t was with delight that 1
heard we were bound for America,
and that we should probably visit
Canada, where the gentleman whom
| was to accompany had bachelor
brother residing. In his last inter
view with me, before starting, my
uncle talked to me long and serious
ly as to my future, and upon the i'm
portance Of my exercising the great
est discretion in the choice of wife,
should at any time he matrimoni.
ally disposed. He reminded me that
my fortune had been placed by my
father at his disposal for me, until
should reach my twenty. fth year.
After that time he should cease to
exc else his right to influence my ac-
tions, but that until then he would
in no case consent to my marriage,
or, indeed, to any engagement of
the kind, unless he should himself
be perfectly satisfied with The lady
who must possess no less than three
requirements of his own making
namely, that she be tall, that her
name be Constance, and that she
should possess at least, one thousand
pounds. To these he annexed q
condition which bound me to wait to
engage myself until he should see
her, and he enabled to form his own
| Judgment. / had not dreamed as
yet of marrying at all, and troubled
myself very little about the promises
which i readily made to what / con-
sidercd my uncle's eccentric ex-
actions. Nor did I then think that
he seriously intended to stand to
them; but fancied he was jesting in q
grave kind Of way, as he often did
in conversation with me. After q
delightful voyage we reached the
new world, and soon arrived at To.
ronto, our destination. l was most
kindly welcomed by my friends
brother, who though a single man,
was of very social disposition, and
had q large acquaintance. The
brothers were not so vigilant over
me as my uncle might have wished,
in their kind hearted zeal to inter
est and amusc me, and had plenty
of opportunities of becoming ac-
quainted with the fair sex. Amongst
the many charming girls whom I met
in society, Miss Fortescue attracted
me most, and after repeated meet
ings, felt that l was falling DIES


perately in love with her. She did
not discourage me, and we were not
long in establishing mutual under
standing. l did not mention to
Mary, for that was my lady love S
name, anything about my uncle's
strange conditions, but simply told
her that ! must gain his consent 10
our engagement, and that ] should
not be free TO marry her until | had
attained my twenty fifty year; but
secretly began to think Of my prom
ises with some degree of anxiety. ]
discovered that Mary's second name
was Constance, to my surprise and
intense relief She was more than
commonly tall, certainly; but third re-
Quirement, the one thousand pounds,
was wanting! 1t was such a piece OF
good luck about her name and hel
height, but particularly the former


That the importance of the money
difficulty did not weigh much will
! me. AS for that, some godmotheI
or distant relation might leave her
something, and q number of contin,
gcncics might happen to help us in
this particular; so wrote to my uu,
Gle to tell him that / had chosen q
dear, fascinating girl whom lie could
not fail to approve of, that she pos,
sessed the requirements which he
deemed necessary, and | felt certain
of his consent to my engaging my
self, as soon as he should be able to
make her acquaintance. My Con
stance / told him, was all he could
desire. i never said n word about
the fortune. In reply, my uncle told
me that he was surprised at my hay
ing so soon found young lady who
answered so completely to his pat,
tern, for he had imagined it would
be more difficult for me to meet his
acquisitions in these particulars. -
However, he would rot withhold his
consent to my engagement, if he
found that she filled his conditions
in every sense, and if she should
please him on his becoming person.
ally acquainted with her; which he
said he trusted TO have the oppor-
tunity of being in three months time,
when he should be home in England
on leave; but that j should incur his
serious displeasure If l committed
myself to any sort of engagement
before he should have seen and pass.
ed his verdict on the object of my
choice. lie had heard from me that
should return to England in the
yacht early in the next month, and
that Constance would follow me al
most Immediately with some friends,
having accepted an invitation to visit
some relations in the north of Dov-
. ~