Year: 1878

placid husband now would believe
th~.* no was once one Of the most
jeasous-temperod men in all Eng
land ; and, as the way IN which ]
cured him Of his folly was very
simple, l will relate the means
pursued by me, for the sake Of
other victims to the absurd mania
be they male or female.


Ny parents died while was
quite an infant, leaving me to the
care of my maternal grandmother
who did her best to spoil me, and
was most successful in her treat
ment. The first eighteen years Of
my life were passed with few
trials or troubles. Ny grand
mother and I lived in a cottage al
Brixton, the prettiest little speci
men Of suburban architecture i'm
aginable, the only draw back in
which was a large stone portico
Granny was very proud of this un.
slightly thing; [ hated it, not on
account Of it's appropriateness
but simply because it intercepted
my view of the garden gate, sc
that from our sitting-room win.
dow we could not catch even q
glimpse Of g visitor.


Although my grandmother was
rather old, she was so full of life
and fond Of making young people
happy that I never felt dull in her
society, and made her the conf
dant ofall my little adventures, and
she entered into them with all the
zest Of a girl.


One day the even tenor Of our
lives was disturbed by the arrival
of an invitation from my aunt.
who lived at Scarborough, asking
me to spend some weeks with her
At first l refused to accept it, for
this. my only other near relative,
was almost a stran ger to me.


"You will 60, my dear Eva, tc
oblige me-" said Granny, coax:
ingIy; II want to have the cot
tage thoroughly done up, inside
and out, and this will be an ex.
cellent opportunity"


went, spent three months very
delightfully."- at Scarborough, and
returned home, leaving my heart
in the safe-keeping of Claude An,
derson. Iloved him very dearly; but
a certain fear which I felt for him
prevented that perfect love which
would have made me quito happy
During the month we were en-
gagged, before l left the North
scarcely day passed without one
or moro little "sDarls" taking
place between US. | know the
word I have used is a vulgar one
but no othor will answer my pur-
pose, seeing that Claude and ]
did not positively quarrel.


There were q great many nice
young men and lads IN and out
of my aunt's house all day long
for she was most kind and hospita'
hle: beside being the mother
Of six very pretty daughters
These male bipeds were constant
sources Of jealousy on the part
of Claude, who in all other re.
spects was sensible, clever, and l
might say almost perfect.


I was unusually full of health
and spirits, also Che himself told
me) very pretty and charming
so A brought me a. bouquet Of
roses, B g. box of preserve fruits.
C pug puppy in fact, the whole
alphabet, assented by my six fe'
male cousins, conspired with me
to tease poor jealous Claude, unit!
positively I believe he felt glad
when he put me into the train
and sent me back to London with
a gold guard ring on my finger
and a doubling, aching heart.


Ofcourse, when | reached home
all my doubts and fears were con
6ded to dear Granny's sympathiz'
ing ears. She listened to my tale
of love and woe; then said:


"He must be cured Of this folly
before you become bis wife, my
darling"


A week after my return home
came a letter from Claude, telling
me that he had received very
lucrative government appointment
in London, and was now in q posi-
ton to ask for Granny's consent
to our early marriage.


He came, aid made himself sc
agreeable-there were no ''letterF
Of the alphabet" to tease him
that Granny thought I had ex
aggerated his weakness ; but she
was soon convinced of her error
O,o eftorpooo Gloude cama or