Year: 1874

Valentine Hardy e. twenty -four might
be considered favorite Of fortune. He
had good appearance; nice little in
come, paid him by grateful nation for
six hours attendance daily in the Wafer
Department of Somerset House, was sup
plemented by an almost equal amount ac-
cruing from private property, and he had
married the object of his hearts alteration,
one of the prettiest girls in all England,
to wit, Felicia Hope; but (that plaguy
conjunction generally steps in as an alloy)
but Felicia's mother had permanently
taken up her abode in the neat little house
at Bayswater which Val had provided for
his living treasure. sese


Felicia was the only offspring of her
mothers union with the late Col. Hope. of
the Bombay N. l., and had left India but
year when mischievous Cupid threw her
in the way Of Val. Hardy. They met.
they loved; he proposed, and she accept
ed him. 1t was quite love match; Val's
income was not sufficient to make it worth
the while of dashing brunette to wed
him solely for that; and, on the other
hand, Mrs. Hope had but just enough to
maintain her position in the world 10


Felicia's mamma was still in what some
persons term the prime of womanhood;
she was not vain enough to think she
could pass for her daughters elder sister,
but few would have taken her to have
reached the age of forty-two. Her hus-
band twenty-five years previously had
fallen in love with her tender brown eyes
and tinted cheeks; even now the
eyes had not lost their old expression
and though the hot Indian sun had driven
away the former fresh, healthy look
leaving in its place a tint more subdued in.
tone, Mrs. Hope was still very. attract
i've woman. Grizzled Colonels and
tanned Majors, who knew her amiability,
womanly sympathy, and devotion to their
deceased comrade, had more than once
limited that the matrimonial market was
still open to her; and jealousy and heart
burning had reigned in the little settlement
Of Borriogboolah Cha, up the country, ere
the Coloners widow and her only child re-
solved to return to England. But Mrs.
Hope smiled sadly and shook her head;
she was deaf to all flattery; the citadel of
her love was impregnable and her future
now was bound up in the happiness her
child.


At one time-soon after the Colonel and
his wife arrived out, when her spirits were
less buoyant than they had been of late
years-there was rumOr, that had her
wishes been consulted, she would far
rather have been the spouse of certain
civilian in England than have iourneyed to
India the bride OF Col. Hope. This, how
ever, was only a rumor, born no one knew
where or how; and when her new ac-
quaintances witnessed her assiduity to her
husband, and saw the color returning to
her cheeks, the rumor died away in the
obscurity in which it had arisen; certainly
it had never reached the ears of Felicia.


The day Val. Hardy sought the consent
of Mrs. Hope to the marriage was proba-
bly, one of the most miserable the trio had
ever spent. Val. (who really was soft
hearted fellow, despite his burly form and
thick mustache,) when he witnessed the
emotion of his future mother-in-law, con-
sidered himself one of the most despicable
creatures in the world. Mrs. Hope amid
her tears told him of the yearning love
with which she had watched the growth of
her offspring from infancy to childhood,
and then to blushing, blooming woman
hood, and how she had hoped they might
have spent many future years together; at
which the young lover felt his own eyes
moistening, and stammered forth the sug-
gestion, that though Felicia was about to
become his wife, the mother and daughter
might still remain undivided. Mrs. Hope
shook her head henceforth, she said, Fe-
licia's first care must be for her husband,
as hers had been twenty-five years before
that for him she should sacrifice the
home and friends of her youth. existing,
trusting only in his love; the struggle Of
separation would be great, but she must
nerve herself as she had done for former
trials, and-and-but here Mrs. Hope fair
ly broke down, and could say no more.


Now, under these circumstances, Val. s
sympathetic nature could not do less than
repeat that the desire to separate Felicia
from the tender guardian of her youth was
farthest from him he trusted-nay, would
take it as special favor, if Mrs. Hope
would take up her abode with them. He
called upon Felicia to aid him in his plead
ing. The young people knelt before the
distressed matron, whose face was buried
in the sofa pillow, and the result of this
episode was that when VAL took his leave
at night it was a thoroughly understood
thing that Mrs. Hope was to merge her
home into that of her daughter.


Val.'s relatives were few, and were
scattered over various parts of the world;
so he confided-ior young lover must
disclose his hopes and fears to some one.
many of the aspirations of his heart to a
certain Herbert Price, who chanced to be-
long to the same social club which Valen-
tine in his early manhood had been


induced to join. Price was many years
his friends senior-indeed, he confessed
he was over forty-and though their oceu-
pations were dissimilar. Price being .
contributor OF "leaders" and reviews to
newspaper, and having to work hard
for limited amount Of pay, a certain
sympathy, speedily ripening into friend
ship, sprang up between them. The
Journalist was a bachelor, living in musty
chambers in street off the Strand, and
Val. knew nothing of his early career,
friends, or connections but whenever the
young fellow was in any strait he always


found Price able to put him in the right


road to extricate himself. Price was not


a clever man but he had met with many


disappointments and difficulties on his way


through life, and had thereby gained an
| Experience and worldly knowledge not to