AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF A POCKET-HANDKERCHIEF by James Fenimore Cooper {This text has been transcribed, corrected, and annotated from itsoriginal periodical appearance in Graham's Magazine (Jan. -Apr. 1843), by Hugh C. MacDougall, Secretary of the James Fenimore Cooper Society(jfcooper@wpe. Com), who welcomes corrections or emendations. } {Introductory Note: "Autobiography of a Pocket-Handkerchief" was JamesFenimore Cooper's first serious attempt at magazine writing, andGraham's Magazine would publish other contributions from him over thenext few years, notably a series of biographic sketches of Americannaval officers, and the novel "Jack Tier; or The Florida Reef"(1846-1848). Though hardly one of Cooper's greatest works, "Autobiography" remains significant because of: (1) its unusualnarrator--an embroidered pocket-handkerchief--that is surely the firstof its kind; (2) its critique of economic exploitation in France and ofthe crass commercial climate of ante-bellum America; and, (3) itsconstant exploration of American social, moral, and cultural issues. This said, it must be admitted that the telling of Adrienne's sadplight in Paris becomes a bit overwrought; and that the inept wooing ofMary Monson by the social cad Tom Thurston is so drawn out andsarcastic as to suggest snobbery on Cooper's part as well as on that ofhis elite hanky. Finally, the heroine-handkerchief's protracted failureto recognize her maker, when she has proved so sensitive to hersurroundings in every other fashion, is simply unbelievable. Still, there is enough to reward today's reader, if only in the story's unique"point of view" and in the recognizable foibles of Henry Halfacre andhis social-climbing daughter. } {The text is taken from the novelette's original appearance in Graham'sMagazine, Vol. XXII, pp. 1-18, 89-102, 158-167, 205-213 (January-April)1843. "Autobiography" was simultaneously issued as a separate number ofBrother Jonathan magazine (March 22, 1843), under the title "LeMouchoir: An Autobiographical Romance. " Also in 1843 it was publishedin London by Richard Bentley as "The French Governess; or, theEmbroidered Handkerchief. " A German translation quickly followed, as"Die franzosischer Erzieheren, oder das gestickte Taschentuch"(Stuttgart: Lieschning, 1845, reprinted 1849). Interest in the bookthen lapsed. The Brother Jonathan and Bentley editions divided thestory into 18 chapters (as we have in this transcription). } {At the end of the century a limited scholarly edition (500 copies)appeared, edited by Walter Lee Brown, the first scholarly treatment ofany Cooper work, noting variations between the original manuscript andthe various published texts: "Autobiography of a Pocket-Handkerchief"(Evanston, IL: The Golden-Booke Press, 1897). Another edition, unannotated and taken from the Graham's Magazine version, was printedhalf a century later as a Festschrift (farewell testimonial) forretiring Cooper scholar Gregory Lansing Paine of the University ofNorth Carolina: "Autobiography of A Pocket-Handkerchief" (Chapel Hill:Privately printed, 1949). "Autobiography" was never included inpublished collections of James Fenimore Cooper's "Works, " and thisscarcity is an important reason for making it available to scholarseverywhere through the Gutenberg Project. } {Because of the limitations imposed by the Gutenberg Project format, italics used by Cooper to indicate foreign words are ignored, as areaccents; while italics Cooper used for emphasis are usually indicatedby ALL CAPITALS. Unless otherwise indicated, translations are from theFrench. The spelling and punctuation of the Graham's Magazineperiodical text have generally been followed, except that certaininconsistent contractions (e. G. , "do n't" or "do'nt" for "don't") havebeen silently regularized. } {I have annotated the edition--identified by {curly brackets}--totranslate most of the French words and expressions which Cooperfrequently employs, to define occasional now-obsolete English words, and to identify historical names and other references. Cooperfrequently alludes, in the beginning of the work, to events and personsinvolved in the French Revolution of 1830, which he had witnessed whileliving in Paris, and about which the beginning of the plot revolves. } AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF A POCKET-HANDKERCHIEF CHAPTER I. {Chapter numbers inserted from non-periodical editions of"Autobiography. "} Certain moral philosophers, with a due disdain of the flimsyfoundations of human pride, have shown that every man is equallydescended from a million of ancestors, within a given number ofgenerations; thereby demonstrating that no prince exists who does notparticipate in the blood of some beggar, or any beggar who does notshare in the blood of princes. Although favored by a strictly vegetabledescent myself, the laws of nature have not permitted me to escape fromthe influence of this common rule. The earliest accounts I possess ofmy progenitors represent them as a goodly growth of the LinumUsitatissimum, divided into a thousand cotemporaneous plants, singularly well conditioned, and remarkable for an equality thatrenders the production valuable. In this particular, then, I may besaid to enjoy a precedency over the Bourbons, themselves, who nowgovern no less than four different states of Europe, and who have saton thrones these thousand years. {Linum Usitatissimum = Linum usitatissimum (Cooper's capitalizationvaries) is the botanical name for the variety of flax from which linenis made} While our family has followed the general human law in the matter justmentioned, it forms a marked exception to the rule that so absolutelycontrols all of white blood, on this continent, in what relates toimmigration and territorial origin. When the American enters on thehistory of his ancestors, he is driven, after some ten or twelvegenerations at most, to seek refuge in a country in Europe; whereasexactly the reverse is the case with us, our most remote extractionbeing American, while our more recent construction and education havetaken place in Europe. When I speak of the "earliest accounts I possessof my progenitors, " authentic information is meant only; for, likeother races, we have certain dark legends that might possibly carry usback again to the old world in quest of our estates and privileges. But, in writing this history, it has been my determination from thefirst, to record nothing but settled truths, and to reject everythingin the shape of vague report or unauthenticated anecdote. Under theselimitations, I have ever considered my family as American by origin, European by emigration, and restored to its paternal soil by themutations and calculations of industry and trade. The glorious family of cotemporaneous plants from which I derive mybeing, grew in a lovely vale of Connecticut, and quite near to thebanks of the celebrated river of the same name. This renders usstrictly Yankee in our origin, an extraction of which I find all whoenjoy it fond of boasting. It is the only subject of self-felicitationwith which I am acquainted that men can indulge in, without awakeningthe envy of their fellow-creatures; from which I infer it is at leastinnocent, if not commendable. We have traditions among us of the enjoyments of our predecessors, asthey rioted in the fertility of their cis-atlantic field; a happycompany of thriving and luxuriant plants. Still, I shall pass themover, merely remarking that a bountiful nature has made such provisionfor the happiness of all created things as enables each to rejoice inits existence, and to praise, after its fashion and kind, the divineBeing to which it owes its creation. {cis-atlantic = this side of the Atlantic (Latin)} In due time, the field in which my forefathers grew was gathered, theseed winnowed from the chaff and collected in casks, when the wholecompany was shipped for Ireland. Now occurred one of those chanceswhich decide the fortunes of plants, as well as those of men, giving mea claim to Norman, instead of Milesian descent. The embarkation, orshipment of my progenitors, whichever may be the proper expression, occurred in the height of the last general war, and, for a novelty, itoccurred in an English ship. A French privateer captured the vessel onher passage home, the flaxseed was condemned and sold, my ancestorsbeing transferred in a body to the ownership of a certain agriculturistin the neighborhood of Evreux, who dealt largely in such articles. There have been evil disposed vegetables that have seen fit to reproachus with this sale as a stigma on our family history, but I have everconsidered it myself as a circumstance of which one has no more reasonto be ashamed than a D'Uzes has to blush for the robberies of a baronof the middle ages. Each is an incident in the progress ofcivilization; the man and the vegetable alike taking the directionpointed out by Providence for the fulfilment of his or its destiny. {Milesian = slang for Irish, from Milesius, mythical Spanish conquerorof Ireland; Evreux = town in Normandy, France; a D'Uzes = a member ofan ancient noble family in southern France} Plants have sensation as well as animals. The latter, however, have noconsciousness anterior to their physical births, and very little, indeed, for some time afterwards; whereas a different law prevails asrespects us; our mental conformation being such as to enable us torefer our moral existence to a period that embraces the experience, reasoning and sentiments of several generations. As respects logicalinductions, for instance, the linum usitatissimum draws as largely onthe intellectual acquisitions of the various epochas that belonged tothe three or four parent stems which preceded it, as on its own. In aword, that accumulated knowledge which man inherits by means of books, imparted and transmitted information, schools, colleges, anduniversities, we obtain through more subtle agencies that areincorporated with our organic construction, and which form a species ofhereditary mesmerism; a vegetable clairvoyance that enables us to seewith the eyes, hear with the ears, and digest with the understandingsof our predecessors. {epochas = archaic Latinized spelling of epochs} Some of the happiest moments of my moral existence were thus obtained, while our family was growing in the fields of Normandy. It happenedthat a distinguished astronomer selected a beautiful seat, that wasplaced on the very margin of our position, as a favorite spot for hisobservations and discourses; from a recollection of the latter ofwhich, in particular, I still derive indescribable satisfaction. Itseems as only yesterday--it is in fact fourteen long, long years--thatI heard him thus holding forth to his pupils, explaining the marvels ofthe illimitable void, and rendering clear to my understanding the vastdistance that exists between the Being that created all things and theworks of his hands. To those who live in the narrow circle of humaninterests and human feelings, there ever exists, unheeded, almostunnoticed, before their very eyes, the most humbling proofs of theirown comparative insignificance in the scale of creation, which, in themidst of their admitted mastery over the earth and all it contains, itwould be well for them to consider, if they would obtain just views ofwhat they are and what they were intended to be. I think I can still hear this learned and devout man--for his soul wasfilled with devotion to the dread Being that could hold a universe insubjection to His will--dwelling with delight on all the discoveriesamong the heavenly bodies, that the recent improvements in science andmechanics have enabled the astronomers to make. Fortunately, he gavehis discourses somewhat of the progressive character of lectures, leading his listeners on, as it might be step by step, in a way torender all easy to the commonest understanding. Thus it was, I firstgot accurate notions of the almost inconceivable magnitude of space, towhich, indeed, it is probable there are no more positive limits thanthere are a beginning and an end to eternity! Can these wonders be, Ithought--and how pitiful in those who affect to reduce all things tothe level of their own powers of comprehension, and their ownexperience in practice! Let them exercise their sublime and boastedreason, I said to myself, in endeavoring to comprehend infinity in anything, and we will note the result! If it be in space, we shall findthem setting bounds to their illimitable void, until ashamed of thefeebleness of their first effort, it is renewed, again and again, onlyto furnish new proofs of the insufficiency of any of earth, even tobring within the compass of their imaginations truths that all theirexperiments, inductions, evidence and revelations compel them to admit. "The moon has no atmosphere, " said our astronomer one day, "and ifinhabited at all, it must be by beings constructed altogetherdifferently from ourselves. Nothing that has life, either animal orvegetable as we know them, can exist without air, and it follows thatnothing having life, according to our views of it, can exist in themoon:--or, if any thing having life do exist there, it must be undersuch modifications of all our known facts, as to amount to somethinglike other principles of being. " "One side of that planet feels thegenial warmth of the sun for a fortnight, while the other is for thesame period without it, " he continued. "That which feels the sun mustbe a day, of a heat so intense as to render it insupportable to us, while the opposite side on which the rays of the sun do not fall, mustbe masses of ice, if water exist there to be congealed. But the moonhas no seas, so far as we can ascertain; its surface representing oneof strictly volcanic origin, the mountains being numerous to awonderful degree. Our instruments enable us to perceive craters, withthe inner cones so common to all our own volcanoes, giving reason tobelieve in the activity of innumerable burning hills at some remoteperiod. It is scarcely necessary to say, that nothing we know couldlive in the moon under these rapid and extreme transitions of heat andcold, to say nothing of the want of atmospheric air. " I listened tothis with wonder, and learned to be satisfied with my station. Of whatmoment was it to me, in filling the destiny of the linum usitatissimum, whether I grew in a soil a little more or a little less fertile;whether my fibres attained the extremest fineness known to themanufacturer, or fell a little short of this excellence. I was but aspeck among a myriad of other things produced by the hand of theCreator, and all to conduce to his own wise ends and unequaled glory. It was my duty to live my time, to be content, and to proclaim thepraise of God within the sphere assigned to me. Could men or plants butonce elevate their thoughts to the vast scale of creation, it wouldteach them their own insignificance so plainly, would so unerringlymake manifest the futility of complaints, and the immense disparitybetween time and eternity, as to render the useful lesson ofcontentment as inevitable as it is important. I remember that our astronomer, one day, spoke of the nature andmagnitude of the sun. The manner that he chose to render clear to theimagination of his hearers some just notions of its size, though sofamiliar to astronomers, produced a deep and unexpected impression onme. "Our instruments, " he said, "are now so perfect and powerful, as toenable us to ascertain many facts of the deepest interest, with nearapproaches to positive accuracy. The moon being the heavenly body muchthe nearest to us, of course we see farther into its secrets than intothose of any other planet. We have calculated its distance from us at237, 000 miles. Of course by doubling this distance, and adding to itthe diameter of the earth, we get the diameter of the circle, or orbit, in which the moon moves around the earth. In other words the diameterof this orbit is about 480, 000 miles. Now could the sun be brought incontact with this orbit, and had the latter solidity to mark itscircumference, it would be found that this circumference would includebut a little more than half the surface of one side of the sun, thediameter of which orb is calculated to be 882, 000 miles! The sun is onemillion three hundred and eighty-four thousand four hundred andseventy-two times larger than the earth. Of the substance of the sun itis not so easy to speak. Still it is thought, though it is not certain, that we occasionally see the actual surface of this orb, an advantagewe do not possess as respects any other of the heavenly bodies, withthe exception of the moon and Mars. The light and warmth of the sunprobably exist in its atmosphere, and the spots which are so often seenon this bright orb, are supposed to be glimpses of the solid mass ofthe sun itself, that are occasionally obtained through openings in thisatmosphere. At all events, this is the more consistent way ofaccounting for the appearance of these spots. You will get a betteridea of the magnitude of the sidereal system, however, by rememberingthat, in comparison with it, the distances of our entire solar systemare as mere specks. Thus, while our own change of positions is known toembrace an orbit of about 200, 000, 000 of miles, it is nevertheless sotrifling as to produce no apparent change of position in thousands ofthe fixed stars that are believed to be the suns of other systems. Someconjecture even that all these suns, with their several systems, ourown included, revolve around a common centre that is invisible to us, but which is the actual throne of God; the comets that we note andmeasure being heavenly messengers, as it might be, constantly passingfrom one of these families of worlds to another. " I remember that one of the astronomer's pupils asked certainexplanations here, touching the planets that it was thought, or ratherknown, that we could actually see, and those of which the true surfaceswere believed to be concealed from us. "I have told you, " answered theman of science, "that they are the Moon, Mars and the Sun. Both Venusand Mercury are nearer to us than Mars, but their relative proximitiesto the sun have some such effect on their surfaces, as placing anobject near a strong light is known to have on its appearance. We aredazzled, to speak popularly, and cannot distinguish minutely. With Marsit is different. If this planet has any atmosphere at all, it is one ofno great density, and its orbit being without our own, we can easilytrace on its surface the outlines of seas and continents. It is evensupposed that the tinge of the latter is that of reddish sand-stone, like much of that known in our own world, but more decided in tint, while two brilliant white spots, at its poles, are thought to be lightreflected from the snows of those regions, rendered more conspicuous, or disappearing, as they first emerge from a twelvemonths' winter, ormelt in a summer of equal duration. " I could have listened forever to this astronomer, whose lectures soprofoundly taught lessons of humility to the created, and which were soreplete with silent eulogies on the power of the Creator! What was itto me whether I were a modest plant, of half a cubit in stature, or theproudest oak of the forest--man or vegetable? My duty was clearly toglorify the dread Being who had produced all these marvels, and tofulfil my time in worship, praise and contentment. It mattered notwhether my impressions were derived through organs called ears, andwere communicated by others called those of speech, or whether eachfunction was performed by means of sensations and agencies too subtleto be detected by ordinary means. It was enough for me that I heard andunderstood, and felt the goodness and glory of God. I may say that myfirst great lessons in true philosophy were obtained in these lectures, where I learned to distinguish between the finite and infinite, ceasingto envy any, while I inclined to worship one. The benevolence ofProvidence is extended to all its creatures, each receiving it in amode adapted to its own powers of improvement. My destiny being towarda communion with man--or rather with woman--I have ever looked uponthese silent communications with the astronomer as so much preparatoryschooling, in order that my mind might be prepared for its own avenir, and not be blinded by an undue appreciation of the importance of itsfuture associates. I know there are those who will sneer at thesupposition of a pocket-handkerchief possessing any mind, or esprit, atall; but let such have patience and read on, when I hope it will be inmy power to demonstrate their error. {avenir = future; esprit = soul or vital spirit} CHAPTER II. It is scarcely necessary to dwell on the scenes which occurred betweenthe time I first sprang from the earth and that in which I was"pulled. " The latter was a melancholy day for me, however, arrivingprematurely as regarded my vegetable state, since it was earlydetermined that I was to be spun into threads of unusual fineness. Iwill only say, here, that my youth was a period of innocent pleasures, during which my chief delight was to exhibit my simple but beautifulflowers, in honor of the hand that gave them birth. At the proper season, the whole field was laid low, when a scene ofhurry and confusion succeeded, to which I find it exceedingly painfulto turn in memory. The "rotting" was the most humiliating part of theprocess which followed, though, in our case, this was done in clearrunning water, and the "crackling" the most uncomfortable. Happily, wewere spared the anguish which ordinarily accompanies breaking on thewheel, though we could not be said to have entirely escaped from allits parade. Innocence was our shield, and while we endured some of thedisgrace that attaches to mere forms, we had that consolation of whichno cruelty or device can deprive the unoffending. Our sorrows were notheightened by the consciousness of undeserving. {"rotting" was... = to prepare flax for weaving as linen it is softened(technically, "retted") by soaking in water, separated from its woodyfibers by beating ("scutched"--this seems to be what Cooper means by"crackling"), and finally combed ("hatcheled")} There is a period, which occurred between the time of being "hatcheled"and that of being "woven, " that it exceeds my powers to delineate. Allaround me seemed to be in a state of inextricable confusion, out ofwhich order finally appeared in the shape of a piece of cambric, of aquality that brought the workmen far and near to visit it. We were asingle family of only twelve, in this rare fabric, among which Iremember that I occupied the seventh place in the order of arrangement, and of course in the order of seniority also. When properly folded, andbestowed in a comfortable covering, our time passed pleasantly enough, being removed from all disagreeable sights and smells, and lodged in aplace of great security, and indeed of honor, men seldom failing tobestow this attention on their valuables. {cambric = a fine white linen, originally from Cambray in Flanders} It is out of my power to say precisely how long we remained in thispassive state in the hands of the manufacturer. It was some weeks, however, if not months; during which our chief communications were onthe chances of our future fortunes. Some of our number were ambitious, and would hear to nothing but the probability, nay, the certainty, ofour being purchased, as soon as our arrival in Paris should be madeknown, by the king, in person, and presented to the dauphine, then thefirst lady in France. The virtues of the Duchesse d'Angouleme wereproperly appreciated by some of us, while I discovered that othersentertained for her any feelings but those of veneration and respect. This diversity of opinion, on a subject of which one would think noneof us very well qualified to be judges, was owing to a circumstance ofsuch every-day occurrence as almost to supersede the necessity oftelling it, though the narrative would be rendered more complete by anexplanation. {Dauphine = Crown Princess; Duchesse d'Angouleme = Marie ThereseCharlotte (1778-1851), the Dauphine, daughter of King Louis XVI andwife of Louis Antoine of Artois, Duke of Angouleme, eldest son of KingCharles X--she lost her chance to become queen when her father-in-lawabdicated the French throne in 1830--Napoleon said of her that she was"the only man in her family"} It happened, while we lay in the bleaching grounds, that one half ofthe piece extended into a part of the field that came under themanagement of a legitimist, while the other invaded the dominions of aliberal. Neither of these persons had any concern with us, we beingunder the special superintendence of the head workman, but it wasimpossible, altogether impossible, to escape the consequences of ourlocales. While the legitimist read nothing but the Moniteur, theliberal read nothing but Le Temps, a journal then recently established, in the supposed interests of human freedom. Each of these individualsgot a paper at a certain hour, which he read with as much manner as hecould command, and with singular perseverance as related to thedifficulties to be overcome, to a clientele of bleachers, who reasonedas he reasoned, swore by his oaths, and finally arrived at all hisconclusions. The liberals had the best of it as to numbers, andpossibly as to wit, the Moniteur possessing all the dullness ofofficial dignity under all the dynasties and ministries that havegoverned France since its establishment. My business, however, is withthe effect produced on the pocket-handkerchiefs, and not with thatproduced on the laborers. The two extremes were regular cotes gauchesand cotes droits. In other words, all at the right end of the piecebecame devoted Bourbonists, devoutly believing that princes, who weredaily mentioned with so much reverence and respect, could be nothingelse but perfect; while the opposite extreme were disposed to thinkthat nothing good could come of Nazareth. In this way, four of ournumber became decided politicians, not only entertaining a sovereigncontempt for the sides they respectively opposed, but beginning to feelsensations approaching to hatred for each other. {bleaching grounds = open spaces where newly woven linen is spread towhiten in the sun; legitimist.... = this paragraph refers tocontroversies, before the French "July Revolution" of 1830, betweenrightist ("cote droit" = right side) legitimists, who read the official"Moniteur" newspaper and supported the absolutist Bourbon monarchy ofKing Charles X, and leftist ("cote gauche" = left side) liberals, whoread "Le Temps" and argued for reform or revolution; "nothing goodcould come of Nazareth" = from the Bible, John, I, 46: "Can any goodthing come out of Nazareth"} The reader will readily understand that these feelings lessened towardthe centre of the piece, acquiring most intensity at the extremes. Imay be said, myself, to have belonged to the centre gauche, that beingmy accidental position in the fabric, when it was a natural consequenceto obtain sentiments of this shade. It will be seen, in the end, howprominent were these early impressions, and how far it is worth whilefor mere pocket-handkerchiefs to throw away their time, and permittheir feelings to become excited concerning interests that they arecertainly not destined to control, and about which, under the mostfavorable circumstances, they seldom obtain other than veryquestionable information. {centre gauche = center left, i. E. , moderate left} It followed from this state of feeling, that the notion we were aboutto fall into the hands of the unfortunate daughter of Louis XVI excitedconsiderable commotion and disgust among us. Though very moderate in mypolitical antipathies and predilections, I confess to some excitementin my own case, declaring that if royalty WAS to be my lot, I wouldprefer not to ascend any higher on the scale than to become theproperty of that excellent princess, Amelie, who then presided in thePalais Royal, the daughter and sister of a king, but with as littleprospects as desires of becoming a queen in her own person. This wishof mine was treated as groveling, and even worse than republican, bythe cote droit of our piece, while the cote gauche sneered at it asmanifesting a sneaking regard for station without the spirit to avowit. Both were mistaken, however; no unworthy sentiments entering intomy decision. Accident had made me acquainted with the virtues of thisestimable woman, and I felt assured that she would treat even apocket-handkerchief kindly. This early opinion has been confirmed byher deportment under very trying and unexpected events. I wish, as Ibelieve she wishes herself, she had never been a queen. {daughter of Louis XVI = the dauphine, Marie Therese Charlotte, Duchesse d'Angouleme, mentioned above; Amelie = Marie Amelie(1782-1866), daughter of King Ferdinand IV of Naples, sister of KingFrancis I of The Two Sicilies--reluctantly became queen in France whenher husband the Duke of Orleans seized the throne from Charles X onJuly 31, 1830, and was proclaimed King Louis Philippe of the French} All our family did not aspire as high as royalty. Some looked forwardto the glories of a banker's daughter's trousseau, --we all understoodthat our PRICE would be too high for any of the old nobility, --whilesome even fancied that the happiness of traveling in company wasreserved for us before we should be called regularly to enter on theduties of life. As we were so closely connected, and on the whole wereaffectionate as became brothers and sisters, it was the common wishthat we might not be separated, but go together into the same wardrobe, let it be foreign or domestic, that of prince or plebeian. There were afew among us who spoke of the Duchesse de Berri as our future mistress;but the notion prevailed that we should so soon pass into the hands ofa femme de chambre, as to render the selection little desirable. In theend we wisely and philosophically determined to await the result withpatience, well knowing that we were altogether in the hands of capriceand fashion. {Duchesse de Berri = Marie Caroline (1798-1870), wife of CharlesFerdinand of Artois, Duke of Berry, second son of King Charles X; femmede chambre = lady's maid} At length the happy moment arrived when we were to quit the warehouseof the manufacturer. Let what would happen, this was a source of joy, inasmuch as we all knew that we could only vegetate while we continuedwhere we then were, and that too without experiencing the delights ofour former position, with good roots in the earth, a genial sunshedding its warmth upon our bosom, and balmy airs fanning our cheeks. We loved change, too, like other people, and had probably seen enoughof vegetation, whether figurative or real, to satisfy us. Our departurefrom Picardie took place in June, 1830, and we reached Paris on thefirst day of the succeeding month. We went through the formalities ofthe custom-houses, or barrieres, the same day, and the next morning wewere all transferred to a celebrated shop that dealt in articles of ourgenus. Most of the goods were sent on drays to the magazin, but ourreputation having preceded us, we were honored with a fiacre, makingthe journey between the Douane and the shop on the knee of aconfidential commissionaire. {Picardie = province of France, north of Evreux; barrieres = gates atthe edge of Paris, where local customs duties were collected; magazin =shop; fiacre = a kind of carriage; Douane = customs house;confidential commissionaire = special messenger} Great was the satisfaction of our little party as we first drove downthrough the streets of this capital of Europe--the centre of fashionand the abode of elegance. Our natures had adapted themselves tocircumstances, and we no longer pined for the luxuries of the linumusitatissimum, but were ready to enter into all the pleasures of ournew existence; which we well understood was to be one of pure parade, for no handkerchief of our quality was ever employed on any of the moremenial offices of the profession. We might occasionally brush a lady'scheek, or conceal a blush or a smile, but the usitatissimum had beenleft behind us in the fields. The fiacre stopped at the door of acelebrated perfumer, and the commissionaire, deeming us of too muchvalue to be left on a carriage seat, took us in her hand while shenegotiated a small affair with its mistress. This was our introductionto the pleasant association of sweet odors, of which it was to be ourfortune to enjoy in future the most delicate and judicious communion. We knew very well that things of this sort were considered vulgar, unless of the purest quality and used with the tact of good society;but still it was permitted to sprinkle a very little lavender, orexquisite eau de cologne, on a pocket-handkerchief. The odor of thesetwo scents, therefore, appeared quite natural to us, and as MadameSavon never allowed any perfume, or articles (as these things aretechnically termed), of inferior quality to pollute her shop, we had noscruples about inhaling the delightful fragrance that breathed in theplace. Desiree, the commissionaire, could not depart without permittingher friend, Madame Savon, to feast her eyes on the treasure in her ownhands. The handkerchiefs were unfolded, amidst a hundred dieux! ciels!and dames! Our fineness and beauty were extolled in a manner that wasperfectly gratifying to the self-esteem of the whole family. MadameSavon imagined that even her perfumes would be more fragrant in suchcompany, and she insisted on letting one drop--a single drop--of hereau de cologne fall on the beautiful texture. I was the happyhandkerchief that was thus favored, and long did I riot in thatdelightful odor, which was just strong enough to fill the air withsensations, rather than impressions of all that is sweet and womanly inthe female wardrobe. {usitatissimum had been left behind = the species name of linen means"most useful"; Madame Savon = literally, Mrs. Soap; articles = shortfor "articles de Paris" or Parisian specialties; dieux! = dear me!;ciels! = good heavens!; dames = my oh my!} CHAPTER III. Notwithstanding this accidental introduction to one of the nicestdistinctions of good society, and the general exhilaration thatprevailed in our party, I was far from being perfectly happy. To ownthe truth, I had left my heart in Picardie. I do not say I was in love;I am far from certain that there is any precedent for apocket-handkerchief's being in love at all, and I am quite sure thatthe sensations I experienced were different from those I have since hadfrequent occasion to hear described. The circumstances which calledthem forth were as follows: The manufactory in which our family was fabricated was formerly knownas the Chateau de la Rocheaimard, and had been the property of theVicomte de la Rocheaimard previously to the revolution that overturnedthe throne of Louis XVI. The vicomte and his wife joined the royalistsat Coblentz, and the former, with his only son, Adrien de laRocheaimard, or the Chevalier de la Rocheaimard, as he was usuallytermed, had joined the allies in their attempted invasion on the soilof France. The vicomte, a marechal du camp, had fallen in battle, butthe son escaped, and passed his youth in exile; marrying a few yearslater, a cousin whose fortunes were at as low an ebb as his own. Onechild, Adrienne, was the sole issue of this marriage, having been bornin the year 1810. Both the parents died before the Restoration, leavingthe little girl to the care of her pious grandmother, la vicomtesse, who survived, in a feeble old age, to descant on the former grandeur ofher house, and to sigh, in common with so many others, for le bon vieuxtemps. At the Restoration, there was some difficulty in establishingthe right of the de la Rocheaimards to their share of the indemnity; adifficulty I never heard explained, but which was probably owing to thecircumstance that there was no one in particular to interest themselvesin the matter, but an old woman of sixty-five and a little girl offour. Such appellants, unsupported by money, interest, or power, seldommake out a very strong case for reparation of any sort, in thisrighteous world of ours, and had it not been for the goodness of thedauphine it is probable that the vicomtesse and her grand-daughterwould have been reduced to downright beggary. But the daughter of thelate King got intelligence of the necessities of the two descendants ofCrusaders, and a pension of two thousand francs a year was granted, enattendant. {Rocheaimard = both the Chateau and the family are fictitious; marechaldu camp = general commanding a brigade; le bon vieux temps = the goodold days; late King = Louis XVI, guillotined in 1793; en attendant =for the time being} Four hundred dollars a year does not appear a large sum, even to thenouveaux riches of America, but it sufficed to give Adrienne and hergrandmother a comfortable, and even a respectable subsistence in theprovinces. It was impossible for them to inhabit the chateau, nowconverted into a workshop and filled with machinery, but lodgings wereprocured in its immediate vicinity. Here Madame de la Rocheaimardwhiled away the close of a varied and troubled life; if not in absolutepeace, still not in absolute misery, while her grand-daughter grew intoyoung womanhood, a miracle of goodness and pious devotion to her solesurviving parent. The strength of the family tie in France, and itscomparative weakness in America, has been the subject of frequentcomment among travelers. I do not know that all which has been said isrigidly just, but I am inclined to think that much of it is, and, as Iam now writing to Americans, and of French people, I see no particularreason why the fact should be concealed. Respect for years, deferenceto the authors of their being, and submission to parental authority areinculcated equally by the morals and the laws of France. The conseillesde famille is a beautiful and wise provision of the national code, andaids greatly in maintaining that system of patriarchal rule which liesat the foundation of the whole social structure. Alas! in the case ofthe excellent Adrienne, this conseille de famille was easily assembled, and possessed perfect unanimity. The wars, the guillotine and exile hadreduced it to two, one of which was despotic in her government, so faras theory was concerned at least; possibly, at times, a little so inpractice. Still Adrienne, on the whole grew up tolerably happy. She wastaught most that is suitable for a gentlewoman, without being crammedwith superfluous accomplishments, and, aided by the good cure, a manwho remembered her grandfather, had both polished and stored her mind. Her manners were of the excellent tone that distinguished the goodsociety of Paris before the revolution, being natural, quiet, simpleand considerate. She seldom laughed, I fear; but her smiles weresweetness and benevolence itself. {conseille de famille = council of relatives, supervised by a judge, that supervised the care of minors in France; cure = priest} The bleaching grounds of our manufactory were in the old park of thechateau. Thither Mad. De la Rocheaimard was fond of coming in the finemornings of June, for many of the roses and lovely Persian lilacs thatonce abounded there still remained. I first saw Adrienne in one ofthese visits, the quality of our little family circle attracting herattention. One of the bleachers, indeed, was an old servant of thevicomte's, and it was a source of pleasure to him to point out anything to the ladies that he thought might prove interesting. This wasthe man who so diligently read the Moniteur, giving a religiouscredence to all it contained. He fancied no hand so worthy to holdfabrics of such exquisite fineness as that of Mademoiselle Adrienne, and it was through his assiduity that I had the honor of being firstplaced within the gentle pressure of her beautiful little fingers. Thisoccurred about a month before our departure for Paris. Adrienne de la Rocheaimard was then just twenty. Her beauty was of acharacter that is not common in France; but which, when it does exist, is nowhere surpassed. She was slight and delicate in person, of fairhair and complexion, and with the meekest and most dove-like blue eyesI ever saw in a female face. Her smile, too, was of so winning andgentle a nature, as to announce a disposition pregnant with all theaffections. Still it was well understood that Adrienne was not likelyto marry, her birth raising her above all intentions of connecting herancient name with mere gold, while her poverty placed an almostinsuperable barrier between her and most of the impoverished young menof rank whom she occasionally saw. Even the power of the dauphine wasnot sufficient to provide Adrienne de la Rocheaimard with a suitablehusband. But of this the charming girl never thought; she lived morefor her grandmother than for herself, and so long as that veneratedrelative, almost the only one that remained to her on earth, did notsuffer or repine, she herself could be comparatively happy. "Dans le bon vieux temps, " said the vicomtesse, examining me throughher spectacles, and addressing Georges, who stood, hat in hand, tohearken to her wisdom; "dans le bon vieux temps, mon ami, the ladies ofthe chateau did not want for these things. There were six dozen in mycorbeille, that were almost as fine as this; as for the trousseau, Ibelieve it had twice the number, but very little inferior. " {dans de bon vieux temps = in the good old days; corbeille = weddingpresents from a bridegroom; trousseau = wedding outfit} "I remember that madame, " Georges always gave his old mistress thistitle of honor, "kept many of the beautiful garments of her trousseauuntouched, down to the melancholy period of the revolution. " "It has been a mine of wealth to me, Georges, in behalf of that dearchild. You may remember that this trousseau was kept in the oldarmoire, on the right hand side of the little door of mydressing-room--" {armoire = cupboard or closet} "Madame la Vicomtesse will have the goodness to pardon me--it was onthe LEFT hand side of the room--Monsieur's medals were kept in theopposite armoire. " "Our good Georges is right, Adrienne!--he has a memory! Yourgrandfather insisted on keeping his medals in my dressing-room, as hesays. Well, Monsieur Georges, left or right, THERE I left the remainsof my trousseau when I fled from France, and there I found it untouchedon my return. The manufactory had saved the chateau, and themanufacturers had spared my wardrobe. Its sale, and its materials, havedone much toward rendering that dear child respectable and well clad, since our return. " I thought the slight color which usually adorned the fair oval cheeksof Adrienne deepened a little at this remark, and I certainly felt alittle tremor in the hand which held me; but it could not have beenshame, as the sweet girl often alluded to her poverty in a way sosimple and natural, as to prove that she had no false feelings on thatsubject. And why should she? Poverty ordinarily causes no suchsensations to those who are conscious of possessing advantages of anorder superior to wealth, and surely a well-educated, well-born, virtuous girl need not have blushed because estates were torn from herparents by a political convulsion that had overturned an ancient andpowerful throne. CHAPTER IV. From this time, the charming Adrienne frequently visited the bleachinggrounds, always accompanied by her grandmother. The presence of Georgeswas an excuse, but to watch the improvement in our appearance was thereason. Never before had Adrienne seen a fabric as beautiful as ourown, and, as I afterwards discovered, she was laying by a few francswith the intention of purchasing the piece, and of working andornamenting the handkerchiefs, in order to present them to herbenefactress, the dauphine. Mad. De la Rocheaimard was pleased withthis project; it was becoming in a de la Rocheaimard; and they soonbegan to speak of it openly in their visits. Fifteen or twentynapoleons might do it, and the remains of the recovered trousseau wouldstill produce that sum. It is probable this intention would have beencarried out, but for a severe illness that attacked the dear girl, during which her life was even despaired of. I had the happiness ofhearing of her gradual recovery, however, before we commenced ourjourney, though no more was said of the purchase. Perhaps it was aswell as it was; for, by this time, such a feeling existed in ourextreme cote gauche, that it may be questioned if the handkerchiefs ofthat end of the piece would have behaved themselves in the wardrobe ofthe dauphine with the discretion and prudence that are expected fromevery thing around the person of a princess of her exalted rank andexcellent character. It is true, none of us understood the questions atissue; but that only made the matter worse; the violence of alldissensions being very generally in proportion to the ignorance andconsequent confidence of the disputants. {napoleon = French gold coin worth twenty francs} I could not but remember Adrienne, as the commissionaire laid us downbefore the eyes of the wife of the head of the firm, in the rue de----. We were carefully examined, and pronounced "parfaits;" still itwas not in the sweet tones, and with the sweeter smiles of the polishedand gentle girl we had left in Picardie. There was a sentiment in HERadmiration that touched all our hearts, even to the most exaggeratedrepublican among us, for she seemed to go deeper in her examination ofmerits than the mere texture and price. She saw her offering in ourbeauty, the benevolence of the dauphine in our softness, her owngratitude in our exquisite fineness, and princely munificence in ourdelicacy. In a word, she could enter into the sentiment of apocket-handkerchief. Alas! how different was the estimation in which wewere held by Desiree and her employers. With them, it was purely aquestion of francs, and we had not been in the magazin five minutes, when there was a lively dispute whether we were to be put at a certainnumber of napoleons, or one napoleon more. A good deal was said aboutMad. La Duchesse, and I found that it was expected that a certain ladyof that rank, one who had enjoyed the extraordinary luck of retainingher fortune, being of an old and historical family, and who was at thehead of fashion in the faubourg, would become the purchaser. At allevents, it was determined no one should see us until this lady returnedto town, she being at the moment at Rosny, with madame, whence she wasexpected to accompany that princess to Dieppe, to come back to herhotel, in the rue de Bourbon, about the last of October. Here, then, were we doomed to three months of total seclusion in the heart of thegayest capital of Europe. It was useless to repine, and we determinedamong ourselves to exercise patience in the best manner we could. {faubourg = neighborhood; Rosny = Chateau of Rosny, country estate ofthe Dukes of Berry at Rosny-sur-Seine; Madame = title of Princess MarieTherese Charlotte, wife of the Dauphin Louis Antoine, heir to Charles X} Accordingly, we were safely deposited in a particular drawer, alongwith a few other favorite articles, that, like our family, werereserved for the eyes of certain distinguished but absent customers. These specialites in trade are of frequent occurrence in Paris, andform a pleasant bond of union between the buyer and seller, which givesa particular zest to this sort of commerce, and not unfrequently aparticular value to goods. To see that which no one else has seen, andto own that which no one else can own, are equally agreeable, anddelightfully exclusive. All minds that do not possess the naturalsources of exclusion, are fond of creating them by means of asubordinate and more artificial character. {specialites = specialties} On the whole, I think we enjoyed our new situation, rather thanotherwise. The drawer was never opened, it is true, but that next itwas in constant use, and certain crevices beneath the counter enabledus to see a little, and to hear more, of what passed in the magazin. Wewere in a part of the shop most frequented by ladies, and we overhearda few tete-a-tetes that were not without amusement. These generallyrelated to cancans. Paris is a town in which cancans do not usuallyflourish, their proper theatre being provincial and trading places, beyond a question; still there ARE cancans at Paris; for all sorts ofpersons frequent that centre of civilization. The only difference is, that in the social pictures offered by what are called cities, thecancans are in the strongest light, and in the most conspicuous of thegrouping, whereas in Paris they are kept in shadow, and in thebackground. Still there are cancans at Paris; and cancans we overheard, and precisely in the manner I have related. Did pretty ladies rememberthat pocket-handkerchiefs have ears, they might possibly have morereserve in the indulgence of this extraordinary propensity. {cancans = scandals (French slang)} We had been near a month in the drawer, when I recognized a femalevoice near us, that I had often heard of late, speaking in a confidentand decided tone, and making allusions that showed she belonged to thecourt. I presume her position there was not of the most exalted kind, yet it was sufficiently so to qualify her, in her own estimation, totalk politics. "Les ordonnances" were in her mouth constantly, and itwas easy to perceive that she attached the greatest importance to theseordinances, whatever they were, and fancied a political millennium wasnear. The shop was frequented less than usual that day; the next it wasworse still, in the way of business, and the clerks began to talk loud, also, about les ordonnances. The following morning neither windows nordoors were opened, and we passed a gloomy time of uncertainty andconjecture. There were ominous sounds in the streets. Some of usthought we heard the roar of distant artillery. At length the masterand mistress appeared by themselves in the shop; money and papers weresecured, and the female was just retiring to an inner room, when shesuddenly came back to the counter, opened our drawer, seized us with novery reverent hands, and, the next thing we knew, the whole twelve ofus were thrust into a trunk upstairs, and buried in Egyptian darkness. From that moment all traces of what was occurring in the streets ofParis were lost to us. After all, it is not so very disagreeable to beonly a pocket-handkerchief in a revolution. {Les ordonnances = four decrees establishing absolute rule, issued byKing Charles X on July 25, 1830, which touched off the July Revolution, leading to his abdication on July 31, and the installation of the Dukeof Orleans as Louis Philippe I, King of the French--Cooper was livingin Paris during this period, though he returned there from Italy andGermany a few days after the July Revolution itself, and he was a closefriend of the Marquis de Lafayette who played a major part in theRevolution and its aftermath; for Cooper and many others, the ultimateresults of the Revolution were a serious disappointment, since the newKing seemed rapidly to become almost as conservative as the old} Our imprisonment lasted until the following December. As our feelingshad become excited on the questions of the day, as well as those ofother irrational beings around us, we might have passed a mostuncomfortable time in the trunk, but for one circumstance. So great hadbeen the hurry of our mistress in thus shutting us up, that we had beencrammed in in a way to leave it impossible to say which was the cotedroit, and which the cote gauche. Thus completely deranged as parties, we took to discussing philosophical matters in general; an occupationwell adapted to a situation that required so great an exercise ofdiscretion. One day, when we least expected so great a change, our mistress came inperson, searched several chests, trunks and drawers, and finallydiscovered us where she had laid us, with her own hands, near fourmonths before. It seems that, in her hurry and fright, she had actuallyforgotten in what nook we had been concealed. We were smoothed withcare, our political order reestablished, and then we were taken belowand restored to the dignity of the select circle in the drawer alreadymentioned. This was like removing to a fashionable square, or living ina beau quartier of a capital. It was even better than removing fromEast Broadway into bona fide, real, unequaled, league-long, eighty feetwide, Broadway! {beau quartier = swanky neighborhood; Broadway = in New York City, ofcourse} We now had an opportunity of learning some of the great events that hadrecently occurred in France, and which still troubled Europe. TheBourbons were again dethroned, as it was termed, and another Bourbonseated in their place. It would seem il y a Bourbon et Bourbon. Theresult has since shown that "what is bred in the bone will break out inthe flesh. " Commerce was at a standstill; our master passed half histime under arms, as a national guard, in order to keep therevolutionists from revolutionizing the revolution. The great familieshad laid aside their liveries; some of them their coaches; most of themtheir arms. Pocket-handkerchiefs of OUR calibre would be thoughtdecidedly aristocratic; and aristocracy in Paris, just at that moment, was almost in as bad odor as it is in America, where it ranks as aneighth deadly sin, though no one seems to know precisely what it means. In the latter country, an honest development of democracy is certain tobe stigmatized as tainted with this crime. No governor would dare topardon it. {il y a Bourbon et Bourbon = there are Bourbons and Bourbons (i. E. , they're all the same); "What is bred in the bone.... " = a possiblydeliberate misquotation of "It will not out of the flesh that is bredin the bone" from John Heywood, "Proverbes", Part II, Chapter VIII(1546)} The groans over the state of trade were loud and deep among those wholived by its innocent arts. Still, the holidays were near, and hoperevived. If revolutionized Paris would not buy as the jour de l'anapproached, Paris must have a new dynasty. The police foresaw this, and it ceased to agitate, in order to bring the republicans intodiscredit; men must eat, and trade was permitted to revive a little. Alas! how little do they who vote, know WHY they vote, or they who dyetheir hands in the blood of their kind, why the deed has been done! {jour de l'an = New Years Day} The duchesse had not returned to Paris, neither had she emigrated. Likemost of the high nobility, who rightly enough believed thatprimogeniture and birth were of the last importance to THEM, shepreferred to show her distaste for the present order of things, bywhich the youngest prince of a numerous family had been put upon thethrone of the oldest, by remaining at her chateau. All expectations ofselling us to HER were abandoned, and we were thrown fairly into themarket, on the great principle of liberty and equality. This was asbecame a republican reign. Our prospects were varied daily. The dauphine, madame, and all the deRochefoucaulds, de la Tremouilles, de Grammonts, de Rohans, deCrillons, &c. &c. , were out of the question. The royal family were inEngland, the Orleans branch excepted, and the high nobility were verygenerally on their "high ropes, " or, a bouder. As for the bankers, their reign had not yet fairly commenced. Previously to July, 1830, this estimable class of citizens had not dared to indulge their nativetastes for extravagance and parade, the grave dignity and high breedingof a very ancient but impoverished nobility holding them in somerestraint; and, then, THEIR fortunes were still uncertain; the fundswere not firm, and even the honorable and worthy Jacques Lafitte, a manto ennoble any calling, was shaking in credit. Had we been brought intothe market a twelvemonth later, there is no question that we shouldhave been caught up within a week, by the wife or daughter of some ofthe operatives at the Bourse. {de Rochefoucaulds, etc. = various French noble families; a bouder =silent; Jacques Lafitte = French financier (1767-1844) who supportedthe 1830 July Revolution; Bourse = stock exchange} As it was, however, we enjoyed ample leisure for observation andthought. Again and again were we shown to those who, it was thought, could not fail to yield to our beauty, but no one would purchase. Allappeared to eschew aristocracy, even in their pocket-handkerchiefs. Theday the fleurs de lys were cut out of the medallions of the treasury, and the king laid down his arms, I thought our mistress would have hadthe hysterics on our account. Little did she understand human nature, for the nouveaux riches, who are as certain to succeed an old anddisplaced class of superiors, as hungry flies to follow flies with fullbellies, would have been much more apt to run into extravagance andfolly, than persons always accustomed to money, and who did not dependon its exhibition for their importance. A day of deliverance, notwithstanding, was at hand, which to me seemed like the bridal of agirl dying to rush into the dissipations of society. {fleurs de lys = symbol of the Bourbon monarchs} CHAPTER V. The holidays were over, without there being any material revival oftrade, when my deliverance unexpectedly occurred. It was in February, and I do believe our mistress had abandoned the expectation ofdisposing of us that season, when I heard a gentle voice speaking nearthe counter, one day, in tones which struck me as familiar. It was afemale, of course, and her inquiries were about a piece of cambrichandkerchiefs, which she said had been sent to this shop from amanufactory in Picardie. There was nothing of the customary alertnessin the manner of our mistress, and, to my surprise, she even showed thecustomer one or two pieces of much inferior quality, before we wereproduced. The moment I got into the light, however, I recognized thebeautifully turned form and sweet face of Adrienne de la Rocheaimard. The poor girl was paler and thinner than when I had last seen her, doubtless, I thought, the effects of her late illness; but I could notconceal from myself the unpleasant fact that she was much lessexpensively clad. I say less expensively clad, though the expression isscarcely just, for I had never seen her in attire that could properlybe called expensive at all; and, yet, the term mean would be equallyinapplicable to her present appearance. It might be better to say that, relieved by a faultless, even a fastidious neatness and grace, therewas an air of severe, perhaps of pinched economy in her present attire. This it was that had prevented our mistress from showing her fabrics asfine as we, on the first demand. Still I thought there was a slightflush on the cheek of the poor girl, and a faint smile on her features, as she instantly recognized us for old acquaintances. For one, I own Iwas delighted at finding her soft fingers again brushing over my ownexquisite surface, feeling as if one had been expressly designed forthe other. Then Adrienne hesitated; she appeared desirous of speaking, and yet abashed. Her color went and came, until a deep rosy blushsettled on each cheek, and her tongue found utterance. "Would it suit you, madame, " she asked, as if dreading a repulse, "topart with one of these?" "Your pardon, mademoiselle; handkerchiefs of this quality are seldomsold singly. " "I feared as much--and yet I have occasion for only ONE. It is to beworked--if it--" The words came slowly, and they were spoken with difficulty. At thatlast uttered, the sound of the sweet girl's voice died entirely away. Ifear it was the dullness of trade, rather than any considerations ofbenevolence, that induced our mistress to depart from her rule. "The price of each handkerchief is five and twenty francs, mademoiselle--" she had offered the day before to sell us to the wifeof one of the richest agents de change in Paris, at a napoleon apiece--"the price is five and twenty francs, if you take the dozen, butas you appear to wish only ONE, rather than not oblige you, it may behad for eight and twenty. " {agents de change = stockbrokers; napoleon = gold coin worth twentyfrancs} There was a strange mixture of sorrow and delight in the countenance ofAdrienne; but she did not hesitate, and, attracted by the odor of theeau de cologne, she instantly pointed me out as the handkerchief sheselected. Our mistress passed her scissors between me and my neighborof the cote gauche, and then she seemed instantly to regret her ownprecipitation. Before making the final separation from the piece, shedelivered herself of her doubts. "It is worth another franc, mademoiselle, " she said, "to cut ahandkerchief from the CENTRE of the piece. " The pain of Adrienne was now too manifest for concealment. That sheardently desired the handkerchief was beyond dispute, and yet thereexisted some evident obstacle to her wishes. "I fear I have not so much money with me, madame" she said, pale asdeath, for all sense of shame was lost in intense apprehension. Stillher trembling hands did their duty, and her purse was produced. A goldnapoleon promised well, but it had no fellow. Seven more francsappeared in single pieces. Then two ten-sous were produced; after whichnothing remained but copper. The purse was emptied, and the reticulerummaged, the whole amounting to just twenty-eight francs seven sous. {sou = a small coin (5 centimes)--20 sous equal one franc} "I have no more, madame, " said Adrienne, in a faint voice. The woman, who had been trained in the school of suspicion, lookedintently at the other, for an instant, and then she swept the moneyinto her drawer, content with having extorted from this poor girl morethan she would have dared to ask of the wife of the agent de change. Adrienne took me up and glided from the shop, as if she feared her dearbought prize would yet be torn from her. I confess my own delight wasso great that I did not fully appreciate, at the time, all the hardshipof the case. It was enough to be liberated, to get into the fresh air, to be about to fulfill my proper destiny. I was tired of that sort ofvegetation in which I neither grew, nor was watered by tears; nor couldI see those stars on which I so much doated, and from which I hadlearned a wisdom so profound. The politics, too, were rendering ourfamily unpleasant; the cote droit was becoming supercilious--it hadalways been illogical; while the cote gauche was just beginning todiscover that it had made a revolution for other people. Then it washappiness itself to be with Adrienne, and when I felt the dear girlpressing me to her heart, by an act of volition of whichpocket-handkerchiefs are little suspected, I threw up a fold of mygossamer-like texture, as if the air wafted me, and brushed the firsttear of happiness from her eye that she had shed in months. {revolution for other people = as he suggests frequently in this story, Cooper believed that the promise of the July Revolution was betrayed, and that the new government of King Louis Philippe proved little betterthan the old reactionary one of King Charles X; in this he shared theviews of his friend the Marquis de Lafayette, the hero of the AmericanRevolution, who as head of the French National Guard had been one ofthe leaders of the July Revolution in Paris} The reader may be certain that my imagination was all alive toconjecture the circumstances which had brought Adrienne de laRocheaimard to Paris, and why she had been so assiduous in searching meout, in particular. Could it be that the grateful girl still intendedto make her offering to the Duchesse de d'Angouleme? Ah! no--thatprincess was in exile; while her sister was forming weak plots inbehalf of her son, which a double treachery was about to defeat. I havealready hinted that pocket-handkerchiefs do not receive and communicateideas, by means of the organs in use among human beings. They possess aclairvoyance that is always available under favorable circumstances. Intheir case the mesmeritic trance may be said to be ever in existence, while in the performance of their proper functions. It is only whilecrowded into bales, or thrust into drawers for the vulgar purposes oftrade, that this instinct is dormant, a beneficent nature scorning toexercise her benevolence for any but legitimate objects. I now meanlegitimacy as connected with cause and effect, and nothing political ordynastic. {Duchesse d'Angouleme = Marie Therese Charlotte, the Dauphine, Adrienne's patron; her sister = her sister-in-law Marie Caroline, Duchesse de Berry, who led an unsuccessful revolt against the newregime} By virtue of this power, I had not long been held in the soft hand ofAdrienne, or pressed against her beating heart, without becoming themaster of all her thoughts, as well as her various causes of hope andfear. This knowledge did not burst upon me at once, it is true, as ispretended to be the case with certain somnambules, for with me there isno empiricism--every thing proceeds from cause to effect, and a littletime, with some progressive steps, was necessary to make me fullyacquainted with the whole. The simplest things became the firstapparent, and others followed by a species of magnetic induction, whichI cannot now stop to explain. When this tale is told, I propose tolecture on the subject, to which all the editors in the country willreceive the usual free tickets, when the world cannot fail of knowingquite as much, at least, as these meritorious public servants. {somnambules = sleep walkers; editors = Cooper had very little respectfor the press} The first fact that I learned, was the very important one that thevicomtesse had lost all her usual means of support by the laterevolution, and the consequent exile of the dauphine. This blow, soterrible to the grandmother and her dependent child, had occurred, too, most inopportunely, as to time. A half year's pension was nearly due atthe moment the great change occurred, and the day of payment arrivedand passed, leaving these two females literally without twenty francs. Had it not been for the remains of the trousseau, both must havebegged, or perished of want. The crisis called for decision, andfortunately the old lady, who had already witnessed so manyvicissitudes, had still sufficient energy to direct their proceedings. Paris was the best place in which to dispose of her effects, andthither she and Adrienne came, without a moment's delay. The shops werefirst tried, but the shops, in the autumn of 1830, offered indifferentresources for the seller. Valuable effects were there daily sold for atwentieth part of their original cost, and the vicomtesse saw herlittle stores diminish daily; for the Mont de Piete was obliged toregulate its own proceedings by the received current values of the day. Old age, vexation, and this last most cruel blow, did not fail ofeffecting that which might have been foreseen. The vicomtesse sunkunder this accumulation of misfortunes, and became bed-ridden, helpless, and querulous. Every thing now devolved on the timid, gentle, unpracticed Adrienne. All females of her condition, in countriesadvanced in civilization like France, look to the resource of impartinga portion of what they themselves have acquired, to others of their ownsex, in moments of urgent necessity. The possibility of Adrienne'sbeing compelled to become a governess, or a companion, had long beenkept in view, but the situation of Mad. De la Rocheaimard forbade anyattempt of the sort, for the moment, had the state of the countryrendered it at all probable that a situation could have been procured. On this fearful exigency, Adrienne had aroused all her energies, andgone deliberately into the consideration of her circumstances. {Mont de Piete = traditional term for a municipal pawn shop operated tohelp the poor} Poverty had compelled Mad. De la Rocheaimard to seek the cheapestrespectable lodgings she could find on reaching town. In anticipationof a long residence, and, for the consideration of a considerableabatement in price, she had fortunately paid six months' rent inadvance; thus removing from Adrienne the apprehension of having noplace in which to cover her head, for some time to come. These lodgingswere in an entresol of the Place Royale, a perfectly reputable andprivate part of the town, and in many respects were highly eligible. Many of the menial offices, too, were to be performed by the wife ofthe porter, according to the bargain, leaving to poor Adrienne, however, all the care of her grandmother, whose room she seldomquitted, the duties of nurse and cook, and the still more importanttask of finding the means of subsistence. {entresol = mezzanine, low-ceilinged area between between the first andsecond floors} For quite a month the poor desolate girl contrived to provide for hergrandmother's necessities, by disposing of the different articles ofthe trousseau. This store was now nearly exhausted, and she had found amilliner who gave her a miserable pittance for toiling with her needleeight or ten hours each day. Adrienne had not lost a moment, but hadbegun this system of ill-requited industry long before her money wasexhausted. She foresaw that her grandmother must die, and the greatobject of her present existence was to provide for the few remainingwants of this only relative during the brief time she had yet to live, and to give her decent and Christian burial. Of her own future lot, thepoor girl thought as little as possible, though fearful glimpses wouldobtrude themselves on her uneasy imagination. At first she had employeda physician; but her means could not pay for his visits, nor did thesituation of her grandmother render them very necessary. He promised tocall occasionally without fee, and, for a short time, he kept his word, but his benevolence soon wearied of performing offices that really werenot required. By the end of a month, Adrienne saw him no more. As long as her daily toil seemed to supply her own little wants, Adrienne was content to watch on, weep on, pray on, in waiting for themoment she so much dreaded; that which was to sever the last tie sheappeared to possess on earth. It is true she had a few very distantrelatives, but they had emigrated to America, at the commencement ofthe revolution of 1789, and all trace of them had long been lost. Inpoint of fact, the men were dead, and the females were grandmotherswith English names, and were almost ignorant of any such persons as thede la Rocheaimards. From these Adrienne had nothing to expect. To her, they were as beings in another planet. But the trousseau was nearlyexhausted, and the stock of ready money was reduced to a singlenapoleon, and a little change. It was absolutely necessary to decide onsome new scheme for a temporary subsistence, and that without delay. Among the valuables of the trousseau was a piece of exquisite lace, that had never been even worn. The vicomtesse had a pride in looking atit, for it showed the traces of her former wealth and magnificence, andshe would never consent to part with it. Adrienne had carried it onceto her employer, the milliner, with the intention of disposing of it, but the price offered was so greatly below what she knew to be the truevalue, that she would not sell it. Her own wardrobe, however, was goingfast, nothing disposable remained of her grandmother's, and this pieceof lace must be turned to account in some way. While reflecting onthese dire necessities, Adrienne remembered our family. She knew towhat shop we had been sent in Paris, and she now determined to purchaseone of us, to bestow on the handkerchief selected some of her ownbeautiful needle work, to trim it with this lace, and, by the sale, toraise a sum sufficient for all her grandmother's earthly wants. Generous souls are usually ardent. Their hopes keep pace with theirwishes, and, as Adrienne had heard that twenty napoleons were sometimespaid by the wealthy for a single pocket-handkerchief, when thusdecorated, she saw a little treasure in reserve, before her mind's eye. "I can do the work in two months, " she said to herself, "by taking thetime I have used for exercise, and by severe economy; by eating lessmyself, and working harder, we can make out to live that time on whatwe have. " This was the secret of my purchase, and the true reason why this lovelygirl had literally expended her last sou in making it. The cost hadmaterially exceeded her expectations, and she could not return homewithout disposing of some article she had in her reticule, to supplythe vacuum left in her purse. There would be nothing ready for themilliner, under two or three days, and there was little in the lodgingsto meet the necessities of her grandmother. Adrienne had taken her wayalong the quays, delighted with her acquisition, and was far from theMont de Piete before this indispensable duty occurred to her mind. Shethen began to look about her for a shop in which she might dispose ofsomething for the moment. Luckily she was the mistress of a goldthimble, that had been presented to her by her grandmother, as her verylast birth-day present. It was painful for her to part with it, but, asit was to supply the wants of that very parent, the sacrifice cost herless than might otherwise have been the case. Its price had been anapoleon, and a napoleon, just then, was a mint of money in her eyes. Besides, she had a silver thimble at home, and a brass one would do forher work. Adrienne's necessities had made her acquainted with several jewellers'shops. To one of these she now proceeded, and, first observing throughthe window that no person was in but one of her own sex, thesilversmith's wife, she entered with the greater confidence andalacrity. "Madame, " she said, in timid tones, for want had not yet made Adriennebold or coarse, "I have a thimble to dispose of--could you be inducedto buy it?" The woman took the thimble and examined it, weighed it, and submittedits metal to the test of the touchstone. It was a pretty thimble, though small, or it would not have fitted Adrienne's finger. This factstruck the woman of the shop, and she cast a suspicious glance atAdrienne's hand, the whiteness and size of which, however, satisfiedher that the thimble had not been stolen. {touchstone = a variety of black stone used to test the purity of gold, by the streak it leaves when rubbed on the stone} "What do you expect to receive for this thimble, mademoiselle?" askedthe woman, coldly. "It cost a napoleon, madame, and was made expressly for myself. " "You do not expect to sell it at what it cost?" was the dry answer. "Perhaps not, madame--I suppose you will look for a profit in sellingit again. I wish you to name the price. " This was said because the delicate ever shrink from affixing a value tothe time and services of others. Adrienne was afraid she mightunintentionally deprive the other of a portion of her just gains. Thewoman understood by the timidity and undecided manner of the applicant, that she had a very unpracticed being to deal with, and she wasemboldened to act accordingly. First taking another look at the prettylittle hand and fingers, to make certain the thimble might not bereclaimed, when satisfied that it really belonged to her who wished todispose of it, she ventured to answer. "In such times as we had before these vile republicans drove all thestrangers from Paris, and when our commerce was good, " she said, "Imight have offered seven francs and a half for that thimble; but, asthings are now, the last sou I can think of giving is five francs. " "The gold is very good, madame, " Adrienne observed, in a voicehalf-choked, "they told my grandmother the metal alone was worththirteen. " "Perhaps, mademoiselle, they might give that much at the mint, forthere they coin money; but, in this shop, no one will give more thanfive francs for that thimble. " Had Adrienne been longer in communion with a cold and heartless world, she would not have submitted to this piece of selfish extortion; but, inexperienced, and half frightened by the woman's manner, she beggedthe pittance offered as a boon, dropped her thimble, and made a hastyretreat. When the poor girl reached the street, she began to reflect onwhat she had done. Five francs would scarcely support her grandmother aweek, with even the wood and wine she had on hand, and she had no moregold thimbles to sacrifice. A heavy sigh broke from her bosom, andtears stood in her eyes. But she was wanted at home, and had not theleisure to reflect on her own mistake. CHAPTER VI. Occupation is a blessed relief to the miserable. Of all the ingeniousmodes of torture that have ever been invented, that of solitaryconfinement is probably the most cruel--the mind feeding on itself withthe rapacity of a cormorant, when the conscience quickens its activityand feeds its longings. Happily for Adrienne, she had too many positivecares, to be enabled to waste many minutes either in retrospection, orin endeavors to conjecture the future. Far--far more happily forherself, her conscience was clear, for never had a purer mind, or agentler spirit dwelt in female breast. Still she could blame her ownoversight, and it was days before her self-upbraidings, for thustrifling with what she conceived to be the resources of her belovedgrandmother, were driven from her thoughts by the pressure of other andgreater ills. Were I to last a thousand years, and rise to the dignity of being thehandkerchief that the Grand Turk is said to toss toward his favorite, Icould not forget the interest with which I accompanied Adrienne to thedoor of her little apartment, in the entresol. She was in the habit ofhiring little Nathalie, the porter's daughter, to remain with hergrandmother during her own necessary but brief absences, and this girlwas found at the entrance, eager to be relieved. "Has my grandmother asked for me, Nathalie?" demanded Adrienne, anxiously, the moment they met. "Non, mademoiselle; madame has done nothing but sleep, and I wasgetting SO tired!" The sou was given, and the porter's daughter disappeared, leavingAdrienne alone in the ante-chamber. The furniture of this littleapartment was very respectable, for Madame de la Rocheaimard, besidespaying a pretty fair rent, had hired it just after the revolution, whenthe prices had fallen quite half, and the place had, by no means, theappearance of that poverty which actually reigned within. Adrienne wentthrough the ante-chamber, which served also as a salle a manger, andpassed a small saloon, into the bed-chamber of her parent. Here hermind was relieved by finding all right. She gave her grandmother somenourishment, inquired tenderly as to her wishes, executed severallittle necessary offices, and then sat down to work for her own dailybread; every moment being precious to one so situated. I expected to beexamined--perhaps caressed, fondled, or praised, but no such attentionawaited me. Adrienne had arranged every thing in her own mind, and Iwas to be produced only at those extra hours in the morning, when shehad been accustomed to take exercise in the open air. For the moment Iwas laid aside, though in a place that enabled me to be a witness ofall that occurred. The day passed in patient toil, on the part of thepoor girl, the only relief she enjoyed being those moments when she wascalled on to attend to the wants of her grandmother. A light potage, with a few grapes and bread, composed her dinner; even of these Iobserved that she laid aside nearly half for the succeeding day, doubtsof her having the means of supporting her parent until the handkerchiefwas completed beginning to beset her mind. It was these painful andobtrusive doubts that most distressed the dear girl, now, for theexpectation of reaping a reward comparatively brilliant, from theingenious device to repair her means on which she had fallen, wasstrong within her. Poor child! her misgivings were the overflowings ofa tender heart, while her hopes partook of the sanguine character ofyouth and inexperience! {salle a manger = dining room; salon = living room; potage = soup} My turn came the following morning. It was now spring, and this is aseason of natural delights at Paris. We were already in April, and theflowers had begun to shed their fragrance on the air, and to brightenthe aspect of the public gardens. Mad. De la Rocheaimard usually sleptthe soundest at this hour, and, hitherto, Adrienne had not hesitated toleave her, while she went herself to the nearest public promenade, tobreathe the pure air and to gain strength for the day. In future, shewas to deny herself this sweet gratification. It was such a sacrifice, as the innocent and virtuous, and I may add the tasteful, who arecooped up amid the unnatural restraints of a town, will best know howto appreciate. Still it was made without a murmur, though not without asigh. When Adrienne laid me on the frame where I was to be ornamented by herown pretty hands, she regarded me with a look of delight, nay, even ofaffection, that I shall never forget. As yet she felt none of themalign consequences of the self-denial she was about to exert. If notblooming, her cheeks still retained some of their native color, and hereye, thoughtful and even sad, was not yet anxious and sunken. She waspleased with her purchase, and she contemplated prodigies in the way ofresults. Adrienne was unusually skillful with the needle, and her tastehad been so highly cultivated, as to make her a perfect mistress of allthe proprieties of patterns. At the time it was thought of making anoffering of all our family to the dauphine, the idea of working thehandkerchiefs was entertained, and some designs of exquisite beauty andneatness had been prepared. They were not simple, vulgar, unmeaningornaments, such as the uncultivated seize upon with avidity on accountof their florid appearance, but well devised drawings, that werereplete with taste and thought, and afforded some apology for theotherwise senseless luxury contemplated, by aiding in refining theimagination, and cultivating the intellect. She had chosen one of thesimplest and most beautiful of these designs, intending to transfer itto my face, by means of the needle. The first stitch was made just as the clocks were striking the hour offive, on the morning of the fourteenth of April, 1831. The last wasdrawn that day two months, precisely as the same clocks struck twelve. For four hours Adrienne sat bending over her toil, deeply engrossed inthe occupation, and flattering herself with the fruits of her success. I learned much of the excellent child's true character in these briefhours. Her mind wandered over her hopes and fears, recurring to herother labors, and the prices she received for occupations so wearyingand slavish. By the milliner, she was paid merely as a commonsewing-girl, though her neatness, skill and taste might well haveentitled her to double wages. A franc a day was the usual price forgirls of an inferior caste, and out of this they were expected to findtheir own lodgings and food. But the poor revolution had still a greatdeal of private misery to answer for, in the way of reduced wages. Those who live on the frivolities of mankind, or, what is the samething, their luxuries, have two sets of victims to plunder--theconsumer, and the real producer, or the operative. This is true wheremen are employed, but much truer in the case of females. The last areusually so helpless, that they often cling to oppression and wrong, rather than submit to be cast entirely upon the world. The marchande demode who employed Adrienne was as rusee as a politician who hadfollowed all the tergiversations of Gallic policy, since the year '89. She was fully aware of what a prize she possessed in the unpracticedgirl, and she felt the importance of keeping her in ignorance of herown value. By paying the franc, it might give her assistant prematurenotions of her own importance; but, by bringing her down to fifteensous, humility could be inculcated, and the chance of keeping herdoubled. This, which would have defeated a bargain with any commoncouturiere, succeeded perfectly with Adrienne. She received her fifteensous with humble thankfulness, in constant apprehension of losing eventhat miserable pittance. Nor would her employer consent to let her workby the piece, at which the dear child might have earned at least thirtysous, for she discovered that she had to deal with a person ofconscience, and that in no mode could as much be possibly extractedfrom the assistant, as by confiding to her own honor. At nine each dayshe was to breakfast. At a quarter past nine, precisely, to commencework for her employer; at one, she had a remission of half an hour; andat six, she became her own mistress. {marchande de mode = milliner; rusee = crafty; couturiere = seamstress} "I put confidence in you, mademoiselle, " said the marchande de mode, "and leave you to yourself entirely. You will bring home the work as itis finished, and your money will be always ready. Should yourgrandmother occupy more of your time than common, on any occasion, youcan make it up of yourself, by working a little earlier, or a littlelater; or, once in a while, you can throw in a day, to make up for losttime. You would not do as well at piecework, and I wish to dealgenerously by you. When certain things are wanted in a hurry, you willnot mind working an hour or two beyond time, and I will always findlights with the greatest pleasure. Permit me to advise you to take theintermissions as much as possible for your attentions to yourgrandmother, who must be attended to properly. Si--the care of ourparents is one of our most solemn duties! Adieu, mademoiselle; aurevoir!" {find lights = supply candles; si = yes indeed} This was one of the speeches of the marchande de mode to Adrienne, andthe dear girl repeated it in her mind, as she sat at work on me, without the slightest distrust of the heartless selfishness it so illconcealed. On fifteen sous she found she could live without encroachingon the little stock set apart for the support of her grandmother, andshe was content. Alas! The poor girl had not entered into anycalculation of the expense of lodgings, of fuel, of clothes, of healthimpaired, and as for any resources for illness or accidents, she wastotally without them. Still Adrienne thought herself the obliged party, in times as critical as those which then hung over France, in beingpermitted to toil for a sum that would barely supply a grisette, accustomed all her life to privations, with the coarsest necessaries. {grisette = working-class girl} I have little to say of the succeeding fortnight. Mad. De laRocheaimard gradually grew feebler, but she might still live months. Noone could tell, and Adrienne hoped she would never die. Happily, herreal wants were few; though her appetite was capricious, and her temperquerulous. Love for her grandchild, however, shone in all she said anddid, and so long as she was loved by this, the only being on earth shehad ever been taught to love herself, Adrienne would not think aninstant of the ills caused by the infirmities of age. She husbanded hermoney, with the utmost frugality, and contrived to save even a few sousdaily, out of her own wages, to add to her grandmother's stock. Thisshe could not have done, but for the circumstance of there being somuch in the house of their early stores, to help eke out the suppliesof the moment. But, at the end of a fortnight, Adrienne found herselfreduced to her last franc, including all her own savings. Somethingmust be done, and that without delay, or Madame de la Rocheaimard wouldbe without the means of support. By this time Adrienne had little to dispose of, except the lace. Thisexquisite piece of human ingenuity had originally cost five louis d'or, and Adrienne had once shown it to her employer, who had generouslyoffered to give two napoleons for it. But the lace must be kept for mygala dress, and it was hoped that it would bring at least its originalcost when properly bestowed as an ornament on a fabric of my quality. There was the silver thimble, and that had cost five francs. Adriennesent for the porter's daughter, and she went forth to dispose of this, almost the only article of luxury that remained to her. {louis d'or = gold coin worth 20 francs} "Un de, ma bonne demoiselle!" exclaimed the woman to whom the thimblewas offered for sale; "this is so common an article as scarcely tocommand any price. I will give thirty sous, notwithstanding. " {Un de.... = A thimble, young lady!} Adrienne had made her calculations, as she fancied, with some attentionto the ways of the world. Bitter experience was teaching her severelessons, and she felt the necessity of paying more attention than hadbeen her wont to the practices of men. She had hoped to receive threefrancs for her thimble, which was quite new, and which, being pretty, was cheap at five, as sold in the shops. She ventured, therefore, toexpress as much to the woman in question. "Three francs, Mademoiselle!" exclaimed the other--"Jamais, since thethree days! All our commerce was then destroyed, and no one would thinkof giving such a price. If I get three for it myself I shall be toohappy. Cependant, as the thimble is pretty, and the metal looks good, we will say five and thirty sous, and have no more words about it. " {Jamais = never; three days = the three days of the July Revolution;Cependant = nevertheless} Adrienne sighed, and then she received the money and returned home. Twohours later the woman of the shop met with an idle customer who hadmore money than discretion, and she sold this very thimble for sixfrancs, under the plea that it was a new fashion that had sprung out ofthe Revolution of July. That illustrious event, however, produced otherresults that were quite as hard to be reduced to the known connectionbetween cause and effect as this. Adrienne found that by using the wine which still remained, as well assome sugar and arrowroot, her grandmother could be made comfortable forjust ten sous a day. She had been able to save of her own wages three, and here, then, were the means of maintaining Madame de la Rocheaimard, including the franc on hand, for just a week longer. To do this, however, some little extra economy would be necessary. Adrienne hadconscientiously taken the time used to sell the thimble from hermorning's work on me. As she sat down, on her return, she went overthese calculations in her mind, and when they were ended, she cast alook at her work, as if to calculate its duration by what she had sofar finished. Her eye assured her that not more than one fourth of herlabor was, as yet, completed. Could she get over the next six weeks, however, she would be comparatively rich, and, as her lease would beout in two months, she determined to get cheaper lodgings in thecountry, remove her grandmother, purchase another handkerchief--ifpossible one of my family--and while she lived on the fruits of herpresent labors, to earn the means for a still more remote day. It istrue, she had no more lace with which to decorate another handkerchief, but the sale of this would supply the money to purchase anew, and inthis way the simple minded girl saw no reason why she might notcontinue on as long as health and strength would allow--at least aslong as her grandmother lived. Hope is as blessed a provision for the poor and unhappy as occupation. While oppressed with present ills they struggle to obtain a fanciedexistence under happier auspices, furnishing a healthful and importantlesson to man, that never ceases to remind him of a future that is torepair every wrong, apply a balm to every wound, if he will only make atimely provision for its wants. Again did Adrienne resume her customary round of duties. Four hourseach morning were devoted to me. Then followed the frugal breakfast, when her commoner toil for the milliner succeeded. The rest of the daywas occupied with this latter work, for which she received thecustomary fifteen sous. When she retired at night, which the ailingsand complaints of her grandmother seldom permitted before eleven, itwas with a sense of weariness that began to destroy sleep; still thedear girl thought herself happy, for I more than equaled herexpectations, and she had latterly worked on me with so much zeal as tohave literally thrown the fruits of two weeks' work into one. But the few francs Adrienne possessed diminished with alarmingrapidity. She began to calculate her ways and means once more, and thiswas no longer done as readily as before. Her own wardrobe would notbear any drain upon it. Early in the indisposition of her grandmother, all of THAT had been sold which she could spare; for, with thedisinterestedness of her nature, when sacrifices became necessary herfirst thoughts were of her own little stock of clothes. Of jewelry shenever had been the mistress of much, though the vicomtesse had managedto save a few relics of her own ancient magnificence. Nevertheless, they were articles of but little value, the days of her exile havingmade many demands on all such resources. It happened, one evening when Adrienne was receiving her wages from themilliner, that the poor girl overheard a discourse that proved she wasnot paid at the rate at which others were remunerated. Her eyes toldher that her own work was the neatest in the shop, and she also sawthat she did more than any other girl employed by the same person. Asshe knew her own expertness with the needle, this did not surprise her;but she felt some wonder that more and better work should produce theleast reward. Little did she understand the artifices of the selfishand calculating, one of the most familiar of their frauds being toconceal from the skillful their own success, lest it should command aprice in proportion to its claims. The milliner heard Adrienne'slady-like and gentle remonstrance with alarm, and she felt that she wasin danger of losing a prize. But two expedients suggested themselves;to offer a higher price, or to undervalue the services she was sofearful of losing. Her practiced policy, as well as her selfishness, counseled her to try the latter expedient first. "You amaze me, mademoiselle, " she answered, when Adrienne, trembling ather own resolution, ceased speaking. "I was thinking myself whether Icould afford to pay you fifteen sous, when so many young women who havebeen regularly brought up to the business are willing to work for less. I am afraid we must part, unless you can consent to receive twelve sousin future. " Adrienne stood aghast. The very mirror of truth herself, she could notimagine that any one--least of all any woman--could be so false andcruel as to practice the artifice to which the milliner had resorted;and, here, just as she saw a way opened by which she might support bothher grandmother and herself until the handkerchief was completed, achange threatened her, by which she was to be left altogether withoutfood. Still her conscience was so tender that she even doubted thepropriety of accepting her old wages were she really incompetent toearn them. "I had hoped, madame, " she said, the color coming and going on cheeksthat were now usually pale--"I had hoped, madame, that you found mywork profitable. Surely, surely I bring home as much at night as anyother demoiselle you employ. " "In that there is not much difference, I allow, mademoiselle; but youcan imagine that work done by one accustomed to the art is more likelyto please customers than work done by one who has been educated as alady. Cependant, I will not throw you off, as I know that your poordear grandmother--" "Si--si, " eagerly interrupted Adrienne, trembling from head to footwith apprehension. "I know it all, mademoiselle, and the dear old lady shall not suffer;you shall both be made happy again on fifteen. To ease your mind, mademoiselle, I am willing to make a written contract for a year; atthat rate, too, to put your heart at ease. " "Non--non--non, " murmured Adrienne, happy and grateful for the moment, but unwilling to defeat her own plans for the future. "Thank you, thankyou, madame; to-morrow you shall see what I can do. " And Adrienne toiled the succeeding day, not only until her fingers andbody ached, but, until her very heart ached. Poor child! Little did shethink that she was establishing precedents against herself, by whichfurther and destructive exertions might be required. But theapprehension of losing the pittance she actually received, and therebyblasting all hopes from me, was constantly before her mind, quickeningher hand and sustaining her body. During all this time Madame de la Rocheaimard continued slowly to sink. Old age, disappointments and poverty were working out their usualresults, and death was near to close the scene. So gradual were thechanges, however, that Adrienne did not note them, and accustomed asshe had been to the existence, the presence, the love of this onebeing, and of this being only, to her the final separation scarceseemed within the bounds of possibility. Surely every thing around thehuman family inculcates the doctrine of the mysterious future, and thenecessity of living principally that they be prepared to die. All theyproduce perishes, all they imagine perishes, as does all they love. Theunion of two beings may be so engrossing, in their eyes, have lasted solong, and embraced so many ties, as to seem indissoluble; it is allseeming; the hour will infallibly come when the past becomes asnothing, except as it has opened the way to the future. Adrienne at length, by dint of excessive toil, by working deep into thenights, by stinting herself of food, and by means of having disposed ofthe last article with which she could possibly part, had managed tosupport her grandmother and herself, until she saw me so far done as tobe within another day's work of completion. At such a moment as thisall feeling of vanity is out of the question. I was certainly verybeautiful. A neater, a more tasteful, a finer, or a more exquisitelylaced handkerchief, did not exist within the walls of Paris. In allthat she figured to herself, as related to my appearance, the endjustified her brightest expectations; but, as that end drew near, shefelt how insufficient were human results to meet the desires of humanhopes. Now that her painful and exhausting toil was nearly over, shedid not experience the happiness she had anticipated. The fault was notin me; but in herself. Hope had exhausted her spirit, and as if merelyto teach the vanity of the wishes of men, a near approach to the objectthat had seemed so desirable in the distance, had stripped off the maskand left the real countenance exposed. There was nothing unusual inthis; it was merely following out a known law of nature. CHAPTER VII. The morning of the 14th June arrived. Paris is then at its loveliestseason. The gardens in particular are worthy of the capital of Europe, and they are open to all who can manage to make a decent appearance. Adrienne's hotel had a little garden in the rear, and she sat at herwindow endeavoring to breathe the balmy odors that arose from it. Enterit she could not. It was the property, or devoted to the uses, of theoccupant of the rez de chaussee. Still she might look at it as often asshe dared to raise her eyes from her needle. The poor girl was not whatshe had been two months before. The handkerchief wanted but a few hoursof being finished, it is true, but the pale cheeks, the hollow eyes andthe anxious look, proved at what a sacrifice of health and physicalforce I had become what I was. As I had grown in beauty, the hand thatornamented me had wasted, and when I looked up to catch the smile ofapprobation, it was found to be care worn and melancholy. Still thebirds did not sing the less sweetly, for Paris is full of birds, theroses were as fragrant, and the verdure was as deep as ever. Naturedoes not stop to lament over any single victim of human society. Whenmisery is the deepest, there is something awful in this perpetual andsmiling round of natural movements. It teaches profoundly theinsignificance of the atoms of creation. {rez de chaussee = ground floor} Adrienne had risen earlier than common, even, this morning, determinedto get through with her task by noon, for she was actually sewing onthe lace, and her impatience would not permit her to resume the work ofthe milliner that day, at least. For the last month she had literallylived on dry bread herself; at first with a few grapes to give herappetite a little gratification, but toward the last, on nothing butbread and water. She had not suffered so much from a want of food, however, as from a want of air and exercise; from unremitting, wastingtoil at a sedentary occupation, from hope deferred and from sleeplessnights. Then she wanted the cheering association of sympathy. She wasstrictly alone; with the exception of her short interviews with themilliner, she conversed with no one. Her grandmother slept most of thetime, and when she did speak, it was with the querulousness of disease, and not in the tones of affection. This was hardest of all to bear; butAdrienne did bear up under all, flattering herself that when she couldremove Mad. De la Rocheaimard into the country, her grandmother wouldrevive and become as fond of her as ever. She toiled on, therefore, though she could not altogether suppress her tears. Under her painfuland pressing circumstances, the poor girl felt her deepest afflictionto be that she had not time to pray. Her work, now that she had nothingto expect from the milliner, could not be laid aside for a moment, though her soul did pour out its longings as she sat plying her needle. Fortunately, Madame de la Rocheaimard was easy and tranquil the wholeof the last morning. Although nearly exhausted by her toil and the wantof food, for Adrienne had eaten her last morsel, half a roll, atbreakfast, she continued to toil; but the work was nearly done, and thedear girl's needle fairly flew. Of a sudden she dropped me in her lapand burst into a flood of tears. Her sobs were hysterical, and I feltafraid she would faint. A glass of water, however, restored her, andthen this outpouring of an exhausted nature was suppressed. I wascompleted! At that instant, if not the richest, I was probably theneatest and most tasteful handkerchief in Paris. At this criticalmoment, Desiree, the commissionaire, entered the room. From the moment that Adrienne had purchased me, this artful woman hadnever lost sight of the intended victim. By means of an occasionalbribe to little Nathalie, she ascertained the precise progress of thework, and learning that I should probably be ready for sale that verymorning, under the pretence of hiring the apartment, she was shown intomy important presence. A brief apology explained all, and Adriennecivilly showed her little rooms. "When does your lease end, mademoiselle?" demanded Desiree, carelessly. "Next week, madame. I intend to remove to the country with mygrandmother the beginning of the week. " "You will do very right; no one that has the means should stay in Parisafter June. Dieu! What a beautiful handkerchief! Surely--surely--thisis not your work, mademoiselle?" Adrienne simply answered in the affirmative, and then thecommissionaire's admiration was redoubled. Glancing her eye round theroom, as if to ascertain the probabilities, the woman inquired if thehandkerchief was ordered. Adrienne blushed, but shaking off thetransient feeling of shame, she stated that it was for sale. "I know a lady who would buy this--a marchande de mode, a friend ofmine, who gives the highest prices that are ever paid for sucharticles--for to tell you the truth certain Russian princesses employher in all these little matters. Have you thought of your price, mademoiselle?" Adrienne's bloom had actually returned, with this unexpected gleam ofhope, for the affair of disposing of me had always appeared awful inher imagination. She owned the truth frankly, and said that she had notmade herself acquainted with the prices of such things, except as shehad understood what affluent ladies paid for them. "Ah! that is a different matter, " said Desiree, coldly. "These ladiespay far more than a thing is worth. Now you paid ten francs for thehandkerchief itself. " "Twenty-eight, " answered Adrienne, trembling. "Twenty-eight! mademoiselle, they deceived you shamefully. Ten wouldhave been dear in the present absence of strangers from Paris. No, callTHAT ten. This lace would probably bring a napoleon--yes, I think itmight bring a napoleon. " Adrienne's heart sunk within her. She had supposed it to be worth atleast five times as much. "That makes thirty francs, " continued Desiree coldly; "and now for thework. You must have been a fortnight doing all this pretty work. " "Two months, madame, " said Adrienne, faintly. "Two months! Ah! you are not accustomed to this sort of work and arenot adroit, perhaps. " "I worked only in the mornings and late at night; but still think Iworked full hours. " "Yes, you worked when sleepy. Call it a month, then. Thirty days at tensous a day make fifteen francs. Ten for the handkerchief, twenty forthe lace, and fifteen for the work, make forty-five francs--paroled'honneur, it does come to a pretty price for a handkerchief. Si, wemust ask forty-five francs for it, and then we can always abate thefive francs, and take two napoleons. " {parole d'honneur = word of honor, upon my word!} Adrienne felt sick at heart. Want of nourishment had lessened herenergies, and here came a blow to all her golden visions that was nearovercoming her. She knew that handkerchiefs similar to this frequentlysold for twenty napoleons in the shops, but she did not know how muchthe cupidity of trade extracted from the silly and vain in the way ofsheer contributions to avarice. It is probable the unfortunate younglady would have lost her consciousness, under the weight of this blow, had it not been for the sound of her grandmother's feeble voice callingher to the bedside. This was a summons that Adrienne never disregarded, and, for the moment, she forgot her causes of grief. "My poor Adrienne, " whispered Madame de la Rocheaimard in a tone oftenderness that her granddaughter had not heard for some weeks, "mypoor Adrienne, the hour is near when we must part--" "Grand-mamma!--dearest grand-mamma!" "Nay, love, God wills it. I am old, and I feel death upon me. It ishappy that he comes so gently, and when I am so well prepared to meethim. The grave has views, that no other scene offers, Adrienne! Nobleblood and ancient renown are as nothing compared to God's mercy andforgiveness. Pardon me if I have ever taught thy simple heart to dwellon vanities; but it was a fault of the age. This world is all vanity, and I can now see it when it is too late. Do not let MY fault be THYfault, child of my love. Kiss me, Adrienne, pray for my soul when allis over. " "Yes, dearest, dearest grand-mamma, thou know'st I will. " "Thou must part with the rest of the trousseau to make thyselfcomfortable when I am gone. " "I will do as thou wishest, dearest grand-mamma. " "Perhaps it will raise enough to purchase thee four or five hundredfrancs of rentes, on which thou may'st live with frugality. " {rentes = annuity, yearly income} "Perhaps it will, grand-mamma. " "Thou wilt not sell the thimble--THAT thou wilt keep to remember me. " Adrienne bowed her head and groaned. Then her grandmother desired herto send for a priest, and her thoughts took another direction. It wasfortunate they did, for the spirit of the girl could not have enduredmore. That night Madame de la Rocheaimard died, the wife of the porter, thebon cure, and Adrienne alone being present. Her last words were abenediction on the fair and gentle being who had so faithfully andtenderly nursed her in old age. When all was over, and the body waslaid out, Adrienne asked to be left alone with it. Living or dead, hergrandmother could never be an object of dread to her, and there werefew disposed to watch. In the course of the night, Adrienne even caughta little sleep, a tribute that nature imperiously demanded of herweakness. {bon cure = worthy parish priest} The following day was one of anguish and embarrassment. The physician, who always inspects the dead in France, came to make his report. Thearrangements were to be ordered for the funeral. Fortunately, asAdrienne then thought, Desiree appeared in the course of the morning, as one who came in consequence of having been present at so much of thescene of the preceding day. In her character of a commissionaire sheoffered her services, and Adrienne, unaccustomed to act for herself insuch offices, was fain to accept them. She received an order, or ratheran answer to a suggestion of her own, and hurried off to give thenecessary directions. Adrienne was now left alone again with the bodyof her deceased grandmother. As soon as the excitement ceased, shebegan to feel languid, and she became sensible of her own bodily wants. Food of no sort had passed her lips in more than thirty hours, and herlast meal had been a scanty breakfast of dry bread. As the faintness ofhunger came over her, Adrienne felt for her purse with the intention ofsending Nathalie to a neighboring baker's, when the truth flashed uponher, in its dreadful reality. She had not a liard. Her last sou hadfurnished the breakfast of the preceding day. A sickness like that ofdeath came over her, when, casting her eyes around her in despair, theyfell on the little table that usually held the nourishment prepared forher grandmother. A little arrowroot, and a light potage, that containedbread, still remained. Although it was all that seemed to separate thegirl from death, she hesitated about using it. There was an appearanceof sacrilege, in her eyes, in the act of appropriating these things toherself. A moment's reflection, however, brought her to a truer stateof mind, and then she felt it to be a duty to that dear parent herself, to renew her own strength, in order to discharge her duty to the dead. She ate, therefore, though it was with a species of holy reverence. Herstrength was renewed, and she was enabled to relieve her soul by prayer. {liard = half-farthing, the tiniest of coins} "Mademoiselle will have the goodness to give me ten francs, " saidDesiree, on her return; "I have ordered every thing that is proper, butmoney is wanting to pay for some little articles that will soon come. " "I have no money, Desiree--not even a sou. " "No money, mademoiselle? In the name of heaven, how are we to bury yourgrandmother?" "The handkerchief--" Desiree shook her head, and saw that she must countermand most of theorders. Still she was human, and she was a female. She could notaltogether desert one so helpless, in a moment of such extremedistress. She reflected on the matter for a minute or two, and openedher mind. "This handkerchief might sell for forty-five francs, mademoiselle, " shesaid, "and I will pay that much for it myself, and will charge nothingfor my services to-day. Your dear grandmother must have Christianburial, that is certain, and poor enough will that be which is had fortwo napoleons. What say you, mademoiselle--will you accept the fortyfive francs, or would you prefer seeing the marchande de mode?" "I can see no one now, Desiree. Give me the money, and do honor to theremains of my dear, dear grandmother. " Adrienne said this with her hands resting on her lap in quiescentdespair. Her eyes were hollow and vacant, her cheeks bloodless, hermind almost as helpless as that of an infant. Desiree laid down twonapoleons, keeping the five francs to pay for some necessaries, andthen she took me in her hands, as if to ascertain whether she had donetoo much. Satisfied on this head, I was carefully replaced in thebasket, when the commissionaire went out again, on her errands, honorably disposed to be useful. Still she did not deem it necessary toconceal her employer's poverty, which was soon divulged to theporteress, and by her to the bourgeois. {bourgeois = towns-people, neighbors} Adrienne had now the means of purchasing food, but, ignorant how muchmight be demanded on behalf of the approaching ceremony, shereligiously adhered to the use of dry bread. When Desiree returned inthe evening, she told the poor girl that the convoi was arranged forthe following morning, that she had ordered all in the most economicalway, but that thirty-five francs were the lowest sou for which thefuneral could be had. Adrienne counted out the money, and then foundherself the mistress of just FOUR FRANCS TEN SOUS. When Desiree tookher leave for the night, she placed me in her basket, and carried me toher own lodgings, in virtue of her purchase. {convoi = funeral; lowest sou = cheapest price} I was laid upon a table where I could look through an open window, upat the void of heaven. It was glittering with those bright stars whichthe astronomers tell us are suns of other systems, and the scenegradually drew me to reflections on that eternity which is before us. My feelings got to be gradually soothed, as I remembered the moment oftime that all are required to endure injustice and wrongs on earth. Some such reflections are necessary to induce us to submit to themysterious reign of Providence, whose decrees so often seem unequal, and whose designs are so inscrutable. By remembering what a speck istime, as compared with eternity, and that "God chasteneth those heloveth, " the ills of life may be borne, even with joy. The manner in which Desiree disposed of me, shall be related in anothernumber. {another number = in the Graham's Magazine periodical version, notdivided into chapters, this paragraph closed the first of the fourinstallments in which the story was printed; in later book versions itwas changed to read "in the next chapter"} CHAPTER VIII. The reader is not to infer that Desiree was unusually mercenary. Thatshe was a little addicted to this weakness, is true--who ever knew acommissionaire that was not? But she had her moments of benevolence, aswell as others, and had really made some sacrifice of her time, andconsequently of her interests, in order to serve Adrienne in herdistress. As for the purchase of myself, that was in the way of hercommerce; and it is seldom, indeed, that philanthropy can overcome thehabits of trade. Desiree was not wholly without means, and she was in no hurry to reapthe benefit of her purchase. I remained in her possession, according tomy calculation, some two or three years before she ever took me out ofthe drawer in which I had been deposited for safe keeping. I wasconsidered a species of corps de reserve. At the end of that period, however, her thoughts recurred to her treasure, and an occasion soonoffered for turning me to account. I was put into the reticule, andcarried about, in readiness for any suitable bargain that might turn up. {corps de reserve = reserve corps; reticule = a large pocketbook} One day Desiree and I were on the Boulevards Italiens together, when afigure caught the commissionaire's eye that sent her across the streetin a great hurry. I scarcely know how to describe this person, who, tomy simple eyes, had the appearance of a colonel of the late RoyalGuards, or, at least, of an attache of one of the northern legations. He was dressed in the height of the latest fashion, as well as he knewhow to be; wore terrible moustaches, and had a rare provision of rings, eye-glasses, watch-guards, chains, &c. {Boulevards Italiens = a fashionable Paris street; attache = adiplomat--European diplomats at this period often wore uniforms} "Bon jour, monsieur, " exclaimed Desiree, in haste, "parole d' honneur, I scarcely knew you! I have been waiting for your return from Lyonswith the most lively impatience, for, to tell you the truth, I have thegreatest bijou for your American ladies that ever came out of ableaching ground--un mouchoir de poche. " {bijou = jewel; mouchoir de poche = pocket handkerchief} "Doucement--doucement, ma bonne, " interrupted the other, observing thatthe woman was about to exhibit me on the open Boulevards, an expose forwhich he had no longings, "you can bring it to my lodgings--" {doucement... = not so fast, my good woman; expose = public display} "Rue de Clery, numero cent vingt--" {Rue de Clery... = Clery Street, number one twenty} "Not at all, my good Desiree. You must know I have transacted all myordinary business--made my purchases, and am off for New York in thenext packet--" {packet = ship sailing on a fixed schedule} "Mais, le malle, monsieur?" {Mais, le malle... = But, what about your trunk, sir?} "Yes, the trunk will have a corner in it for any thing particular, asyou say. I shall go to court this evening, to a great ball, Madame laMarquise de Dolomien and the Aide de Camp de Service having justnotified me that I am invited. To be frank with you, Desiree, I amlodging in la Rue de la Paix, and appear, just now, as a mere traveler. You will inquire for le Colonel Silky, when you call. " {Aide de Camp de Service = duty officer of the French royal court} "Le Colonel Silky!" repeated Desiree with a look of admiration, alittle mingled with contempt. "De la garde nationale Americaine, " answered Mr. Silky, smiling. Hethen gave the woman his new address, and appointed an hour to see her. {De la garde nationale Americaine = of the American nationalguard--Cooper is here satirizing the pretensions and gaudy uniforms ofcivilians holding nominal commissions as "Colonels" of American statemilitias} Desiree was punctual to a minute. The porter, the garcons, thebourgeois, all knew le Colonel Silky, who was now a great man, woremoustaches, and went to court--as the court was. In a minute thecommissionaire was in the colonel's ante-chamber. This distinguishedofficer had a method in his madness. He was not accustomed to keeping abody servant, and, as his aim was to make a fortune, will ye nill ye, he managed, even now, in his hours of pride and self-indulgence, to getalong without one. It was not many moments, therefore, before he cameout and ushered Desiree himself into his salon; a room of ten feet byfourteen, with a carpet that covered just eight feet by six, in itscentre. Now that they were alone, in this snuggery, which seemed barelylarge enough to contain so great a man's moustaches, the partiesunderstood each other without unnecessary phrases, and I was, at once, produced. {as the court was = the Royal Court of King Louis Philippe prideditself on its simplicity and informality; garcons, bourgeois = waiters, neighbors; salon = living room} Colonel Silky was evidently struck with my appearance. An officer ofhis readiness and practice saw at once that I might be made to diminishno small part of the ways and means of his present campaign, andprecisely in proportion as he admired me, he began to look cold andindifferent. This management could not deceive me, my clairvoyancedefying any such artifices; but it had a sensible effect on Desiree, who, happening very much to want money for a particular object just atthat moment, determined, on the spot, to abate no less than fiftyfrancs from the price she had intended to ask. This was deducting fivefrancs more than poor Adrienne got for the money she had expended forher beautiful lace, and for all her toil, sleepless nights, and tears;a proof of the commissionaire's scale of doing business. The bargainwas now commenced in earnest, offering an instructive scene of Frenchprotestations, assertions, contradictions and volubility on one side, and of cold, seemingly phlegmatic, but wily Yankee calculation, on theother. Desiree had set her price at one hundred and fifty francs, afterabating the fifty mentioned, and Colonel Silky had early made up hismind to give only one hundred. After making suitable allowances for mytrue value before I was embellished, the cost of the lace and of thework, Desiree was not far from the mark; but the Colonel saw that shewanted money, and he knew that two napoleons and a half, with hismanagement, would carry him from Paris to Havre. It is true he hadspent the difference that morning on an eye-glass that he never used, or when he did it was only to obscure his vision; but the money was notlost, as it aided in persuading the world he was a colonel and wasafflicted with that genteel defect, an imperfect vision. These extremesof extravagance and meanness were not unusual in his practice. The one, in truth, being a consequence of the other. {management = in Cooper's time, a word suggesting conniving orunscrupulous manipulation; Havre = le Havre, an important French port} "You forget the duty, Desiree, " observed the military trader; "thiscompromise law is a thousand times worse than any law we have ever hadin America. " {compromise law = the American Tariff Act of 1832, which reducedtariffs on some items, but retained the high customs duties on theimport of textile products} "The duty!" repeated the woman, with an incredulous smile; "monsieur, you are not so young as to pay any duty on a pocket-handkerchief! Mafoi, I will bring twenty--oui, a thousand from England itself, and thedouaniers shall not stop one. " {douaniers = customs officials} "Ay, but we don't smuggle in America, " returned the colonel, with anaplomb that might have done credit to Vidocq himself; "in ourrepublican country the laws are all in all. " {Vidocq = Francois Vidocq (1775-1857), a senior French police officialwho was secretly a burglar, and who "investigated" his own crimes for along time before being exposed} "Why do so many of your good republicans dress so that the rue de Clerydon't know them, and then go to the chateau?" demanded thecommissionaire, very innocently, as to appearance at least. {chateau = palace} "Bah! there are the five napoleons--if you want them, take them--ifnot, I care little about it, my invoice being all closed. " Desiree never accepted money more reluctantly. Instead of making onehundred and fifty-five francs out of the toil and privations, andself-denial of poor Adrienne, she found her own advantages unexpectedlylessened to fifty-five; or, only a trifle more than one hundred percent. But the colonel was firm, and, for once, her cupidity wascompelled to succumb. The money was paid, and I became the vassal ofColonel Silky; a titular soldier, but a traveling trader, who neverlost sight of the main chance either in his campaigns, his journeys, orhis pleasures. To own the truth, Colonel Silky was delighted with me. No girl could bea better judge of the ARTICLE, and all his cultivated taste ran intothe admiration of GOODS. I was examined with the closest scrutiny; mymerits were inwardly applauded, and my demerits pronounced to beabsolutely none. In short, I was flattered; for, it must be confessed, the commendation of even a fool is grateful. So far from placing me ina trunk, or a drawer, the colonel actually put me in his pocket, thoughduly enveloped and with great care, and for some time I trembled inevery delicate fibre, lest, in a moment of forgetfulness, he might useme. But my new master had no such intention. His object in taking meout was to consult a sort of court commissionaire, with whom he hadestablished certain relations, and that, too, at some little cost, onthe propriety of using me himself that evening at the chateau of theKing of the French. Fortunately, his monitress, though by no means ofthe purest water, knew better than to suffer her eleve to commit sogross a blunder, and I escaped the calamity of making my firstappearance at court under the auspices of such a patron. {eleve = pupil} There was a moment, too, when the colonel thought of presenting me toMadame de Dolomien, by the way of assuring his favor in the royalcircle, but when he came to count up the money he should lose in theway of profits, this idea became painful, and it was abandoned. Asoften happened with this gentleman, he reasoned so long in all his actsof liberality, that he supposed a sufficient sacrifice had been made inthe mental discussions, and he never got beyond what surgeons call the"first intention" of his moral cures. The evening he went to court, therefore, I was carefully consigned to a carton in the colonel'strunk, whence I did not again issue until my arrival in America. Of thevoyage, therefore, I have little to say, not having had a sight of theocean at all. I cannot affirm that I was absolutely sea-sick, but, onthe other hand, I cannot add that I was perfectly well during any partof the passage. The pent air of the state-room, and a certain heavinessabout the brain, quite incapacitated me from enjoying any thing thatpassed, and that was a happy moment when our trunk was taken on deck tobe examined. The custom-house officers at New York were not men likelyto pick out a pocket-handkerchief from a gentleman's--I beg pardon, from a colonel's--wardrobe, and I passed unnoticed among sundry otherof my employer's speculations. I call the colonel my EMPLOYER, thoughthis was not strictly true; for, Heaven be praised! he never did employme; but ever since my arrival in America, my gorge has so risen againstthe word "master, " that I cannot make up my mind to write it. I knowthere is an ingenious substitute, as the following little dialogue willshow, but my early education under the astronomer and the delicateminded Adrienne, has rendered me averse to false taste, and I find thesubstitute as disagreeable as the original. The conversation to which Iallude, occurred between me and a very respectable looking shirt, thatI happened to be hanging next to on a line, a few days after myarrival; the colonel having judged it prudent to get me washed andproperly ironed, before he carried me into the "market. " "Who is your BOSS, pocket-handkerchief?" demanded the shirt, a perfectstranger to me, by the way, for I had never seen him before theaccidents of the wash-tub brought us in collision; "who is your boss, pocket-handkerchief, I say?--you are so very fine, I should like toknow something of your history. " From all I had heard and read, I was satisfied my neighbor was a Yankeeshirt, both from his curiosity and from his abrupt manner of askingquestions; still I was at a loss to know the meaning of the word BOSS, my clairvoyance being totally at fault. It belongs to no language knownto the savans or academicians. {savans = scholars} "I am not certain, sir, " I answered, "that I understand your meaning. What is a BOSS?" {boss = Cooper was annoyed by American euphemisms, such as using theDutch word "boss" in place of "master"--a custom he blamed largely onNew England "Yankees"} "Oh! that's only a republican word for 'master. ' Now, Judge Latitat isMY boss, and a very good one he is, with the exception of his sittingso late at night at his infernal circuits, by the light of miserabletallow candles. But all the judges are alike for that, keeping a poorshirt up sometimes until midnight, listening to cursed dull lawyers, and prosy, caviling witnesses. " {circuits = American "circuit judges" travelled from town to town, holding court in each and sleeping at local inns and taverns} "I beg you to recollect, sir, that I am a female pocket-handkerchief, and persons of your sex are bound to use temperate and proper languagein the presence of ladies. "Yes, I see you are feminine, by your ornaments--still, you might tella fellow who is your boss?" "I belong, at present, to Colonel Silky, if that is what you mean; butI presume some fair lady will soon do me the honor of transferring meto her own wardrobe. No doubt my future employer--is not that theword?--will be one of the most beautiful and distinguished ladies ofNew York. " "No question of that, as money makes both beauty and distinction inthis part of the world, and it's not a dollar that will buy you. COLONEL Silky? I don't remember the name--which of OUR editors is he?" {Cooper is ridiculing the habit of newspaper editors of seekingpopularity by serving in the militia and thus receiving the title of"Colonel"} "I don't think he is an editor at all. At least, I never heard he wasemployed about any publication, and, to own the truth, he does notappear to me to be particularly qualified for such a duty, either bynative capacity, or, its substitute, education. " "Oh! that makes no great difference--half the corps is exactly in thesame predicament. I'fegs! if we waited for colonels, or editors either, in this country, until we got such as were qualified, we should get nonews, and be altogether without politics, and the militia would soon bein an awful state. " {I'fegs! = an obsolete, essentially meaningless exclamation, like "Iswear!", deriving from "In faith!"} "This is very extraordinary! So you do not wait, but take them as theycome. And what state is your militia actually in?" "Awful! It is what my boss, the judge, sometimes calls a 'statu quo. '" {'statu quo' = in the same state as always (Latin)} "And the newspapers--and the news--and the politics?" "Why, they are NOT in 'statu quo'--but in a 'semper eadem'--I begpardon, do you understand Latin?" "No, sir--ladies do not often study the dead languages. " "If they did they would soon bring 'em to life! 'Semper eadem' is Latinfor 'worse and worse. ' The militia is drilling into a 'statu quo, ' andthe press is enlightening mankind with a 'semper eadem. '" {'Semper eadem' = the usual meaning is "ever the same"(Latin)--presumably Cooper's talking shirt is being ironical, suggesting that that "worse and worse" is the constant condition of thepress} After properly thanking my neighbor for these useful explanations, wenaturally fell into discourse about matters and things in general, theweather in America being uniformly too fine to admit of discussion. "Pray, sir, " said I, trembling lest my BOSS might be a colonel of theeditorial corps, after all--"pray, sir, " said I, "is it expected inthis country that the wardrobe should entertain the politicalsentiments of its boss?" "I rather think not, unless it might be in high party times; or, in thecase of editors, and such extreme patriots. I have several relativesthat belong to the corps, and they all tell me that while their bossesvery frequently change their coats, they are by no means so particularabout changing their shirts. But you are of foreign birth, ma'am, Ishould think by your dress and appearance?" {change their coats.... = i. E. , editors frequently change politicalsides, but they are not very careful about their personal hygiene} "Yes, sir, I came quite recently from France; though, my employer beingAmerican, I suppose I am entitled to the rights of citizenship. Are youEuropean, also?" "No, ma'am; I am native and to the 'MANOR born, ' as the modernShakspeare has it. Is Louis Philippe likely to maintain the throne, inFrance?" {'manor born' = from "to the manner born" Shakespeare, Hamlet, Act I, Scene 4, line 2--frequently misquoted in popular speech as "to themanor born"} "That is not so certain, sir, by what I learn, as that the throne islikely to maintain Louis Philippe. To own the truth to you, I am aCarlist, as all genteel articles are, and I enter but little into thesubject of Louis Philippe's reign. " {Carlist = supporter of King Charles X of France, who was deposed in1830 by King Louis Philippe} This remark made me melancholy, by reviving the recollection ofAdrienne, and the conversation ceased. An hour or two later, I wasremoved from the line, properly ironed, and returned to my boss. Thesame day I was placed in a shop in Broadway, belonging to a firm ofwhich I now understood the colonel was a sleeping partner. A suitableentry was made against me, in a private memorandum book, which, as Ionce had an opportunity of seeing it, I will give here. Super-extraordinary Pocket-Handkerchief, French cambric, trimmed andworked, in account with Bobbinet & Gull. DR. To money paid first cost--francs 100, at 5. 25, -- $19. 04 To interest on same for -- 00. 00 To portion of passage money, -- 00. 04 To porterage, -- 00. 00 1/4 To washing and making up, -- 00. 25 (Mem. --See if a deduction cannot be made from this charge. ) CR. By cash, for allowing Miss Thimble to copy pattern--not to be worked until our article is sold, -- $1. 00 By cash for sale, &c. -- {in account with.... = this and subsequent "accounts" are presented byCooper in tabular form, generally without decimal points in thefigures; we have inserted decimals and omitted zeros to make them morereadable} Thus the account stood the day I was first offered to the admiration ofthe fair of New York. Mr. Bobbinet, however, was in no hurry to exhibitme, having several articles of less beauty, that he was anxious to getoff first. For my part, I was as desirous of being produced, as ever ayoung lady was to come out; and then my companions in the drawer werenot of the most agreeable character. We were all pocket-handkerchiefs, together, and all of French birth. Of the whole party, I was the onlyone that had been worked by a real lady, and consequently my educationwas manifestly superior to those of my companions. THEY could scarcelybe called comme il faut, at all; though, to own the truth, I am afraidthere is tant soit peu de vulgarity about all WORKEDpocket-handkerchiefs. I remember that, one day, when Madame de laRocheaimard and Adrienne were discussing the expediency of buying ourwhole piece, with a view of offering us to their benefactress, theformer, who had a fine tact in matters of this sort, expressed a doubtwhether the dauphine would be pleased with such an offering. {comme il faut = proper; tant soit peu de = ever so little of; worked =embroidered} "Her Royal Highness, like all cultivated minds, looks for fitness inher ornaments and tastes. What fitness is there, ma chere, inconverting an article of real use, and which should not be paraded toone's associates, into an article of senseless luxury. I know there aretwo doctrines on this important point--" {ma chere = my dear} But, as I shall have occasion, soon, to go into the whole philosophy ofthis matter, when I come to relate the manner of my next purchase, Iwill not stop here to relate all that Madame de la Rocheaimard said. Itis sufficient that she, a woman of tact in such matters at least, hadstrong doubts concerning the TASTE and propriety of using workedpocket-handkerchiefs, at all. My principal objection to my companions in the drawer was theirincessant senseless repinings about France, and their abuse of thecountry in which they were to pass their lives. I could see enough inAmerica to find fault with, through the creaks of the drawer, and if anAmerican, I might have indulged a little in the same way myself, for Iam not one of those who think fault-finding belongs properly to thestranger, and not to the native. It is the proper office of the latter, as it is his duty to amend these faults; the traveler being bound injustice to look at the good as well as the evil. But, according to mycompanions, there was NOTHING good in America--the climate, the people, the food, the morals, the laws, the dress, the manners, and the tastes, were all infinitely worse than those they had been accustomed to. Eventhe physical proportions of the population were condemned, withoutmercy. I confess I was surprised at hearing the SIZE of the Americanssneered at by POCKET-HANDKERCHIEFS, as I remember to have read that theNOSES of the New Yorkers, in particular, were materially larger thancommon. When the supercilious and vapid point out faults, they ever runinto contradictions and folly; it is only under the lash of thediscerning and the experienced, that we betray by our writhings thepower of the blow we receive. {creaks = probably a typographical error--Cooper's manuscript read"cracks"} CHAPTER IX. I might have been a fortnight in the shop, when I heard a voice asgentle and lady-like as that of Adrienne, inquiring forpocket-handkerchiefs. My heart fairly beat for joy; for, to own thetruth, I was getting to be wearied to death with the garrulous folly ofmy companions. They had so much of the couturieres about them! not oneof the whole party ever having been a regular employee in genteel life. Their niaisiries were endless, and there was just as much of the lowbred anticipation as to their future purchases, as one sees at theballs of the Champs Elysee on the subject of partners. The word"pocket-handkerchief, " and that so sweetly pronounced, drew open ourdrawer, as it might be, instinctively. Two or three dozen of us, all ofexquisite fineness, were laid upon the counter, myself and two or threemore of the better class being kept a little in the back ground, as askillful general holds his best troops in reserve. {couturieres = dress makers; niaisiries = should read niaiseries, French for silliness} The customers were sisters; that was visible at a glance. Both werepretty, almost beautiful--and there was an air of simplicity abouttheir dress, a quiet and unobtrusive dignity in their manners, which atonce announced them to be real ladies. Even the tones of their voiceswere polished, a circumstance that I think one is a little apt tonotice in New York. I discovered, in the course of the conversation, that they were the daughters of a gentleman of very large estate, andbelonged to the true elite of the country. The manner in which theclerks received them, indeed, proclaimed this; for, though their otherclaims might not have so promptly extracted this homage, their knownwealth would. Mr. Bobbinet attended these customers in person. Practiced in all thatportion of human knowledge which appertains to a salesman, he let thesweet girls select two or three dozen handkerchiefs of great beauty, but totally without ornament, and even pay for them, before he said aword on the subject of the claims of his reserved corps. When hethought the proper moment had arrived, however, one of the leastdecorated of our party was offered to the consideration of the youngladies. The sisters were named Anne and Maria, and I could see by thepleasure that beamed in the soft blue eyes of the former, that she wasquite enchanted with the beauty of the article laid before her sounexpectedly. I believe it is in FEMALE "human nature" to admire everything that is graceful and handsome, and especially when it takes theform of needle-work. The sweet girls praised handkerchief afterhandkerchief, until I was laid before them, when their pleasureextracted exclamations of delight. All was done so quietly, however, and in so lady-like a manner, that the attention of no person in theshop was drawn to them by this natural indulgence of surprise. Still Iobserved that neither of the young lades inquired the PRICES, thesebeing considerations that had no influence on the intrinsic value, intheir eyes; while the circumstance caused my heart to sink within me, as it clearly proved they did not intend to purchase, and I longed tobecome the property of the gentle, serene-eyed Anne. After thanking Mr. Bobbinet for the trouble he had taken, they ordered their purchasessent home, and were about to quit the shop. "Can't I persuade you to take THIS?" demanded Bobbinet, as they wereturning away. "There is not its equal in America. Indeed, one of thehouse, our Colonel Silky, who has just returned from Paris, says it wasworked expressly for the dauphine, who was prevented from getting it bythe late revolution. " "It IS a pity so much lace and such exquisite work should be put on apocket-handkerchief, " said Anne, almost involuntarily. "I fear if theywere on something more suitable, I might buy them. " A smile, a slight blush, and curtsy, concluded the interview; and theyoung ladies hastily left the shop. Mr. Bobbinet was disappointed, as, indeed, was Col. Silky, who was present, en amateur; but the mattercould not be helped, as these were customers who acted and thought forthemselves, and all the oily persuasion of shop-eloquence could notinfluence them. {en amateur = in the guise of a connoisseur} "It is quite surprising, colonel, " observed Mr. Bobbinet, when hiscustomers were properly out of hearing, "that THESE young ladies shouldlet such an article slip through their fingers. Their father is one ofthe richest men we have; and yet they never even asked the price. " "I fancy it was not so much the PRICE that held 'em back, " observed thecolonel, in his elegant way, "as something else. There are a sort ofcustomers that don't buy promiscuously; they do every thing by rule. They don't believe that a nightcap is intended for a bed-quilt. " Bobbinet & Co. Did not exactly understand his more sophisticatedpartner; but before he had time to ask an explanation, the appearanceof another customer caused his face to brighten, and changed thecurrent of his thoughts. The person who now entered was an exceedinglybrilliant looking girl of twenty, dressed in the height of fashion, andextremely well, though a severe critic might have thought she was OVERdressed for the streets, still she had alighted from a carriage. Herface was decidedly handsome, and her person exquisitely proportioned. As a whole, I had scarcely ever seen a young creature that could layclaim to more of the loveliness of her sex. Both the young ladies whohad just left us were pleasing and pretty; and to own the truth, therewas an air of modest refinement about them, that was not so apparent inthis new visiter; but the dazzling appearance of the latter, at first, blinded me to her faults, and I saw nothing but her perfection. Theinterest manifested by the master--I beg his pardon, the boss of thestore--and the agitation among the clerks, very plainly proved thatmuch was expected from the visit of this young lady, who was addressed, with a certain air of shop-familiarity, as Miss Halfacre--a familiaritythat showed she was an habituee of the place, and considered a goodcustomer. Luckily for the views of Bobbinet & Co. , we were all still lying on thecounter. This is deemed a fortunate circumstance in the contingenciesof this species of trade, since it enables the dealer to offer hisuncalled-for wares in the least suspicious and most natural manner. Itwas fortunate, also, that I lay at the bottom of the little pile--aclimax being quite as essential in sustaining an extortionate price, asin terminating with due effect, a poem, a tragedy, or a romance. "Good morning, Miss Halfacre, " said Mr. Bobbinet, bowing and smiling;if his face had been half as honest as it professed to be, it wouldhave GRINNED. "I am glad you have come in at this moment, as we areabout to put on sale some of the rarest articles, in the way ofpocket-handkerchiefs, that have ever come to this market. The MissesBurton have just seen them, and THEY pronounce them the most beautifularticles of the sort they have ever seen; and I believe they have beenover half the world. " "And did they take any, Mr. Bobbinet? The Miss Burtons are thought tohave taste. " "They have not exactly PURCHASED, but I believe each of them has aparticular article in her eye. Here is one, ma'am, that is ratherprettier than any you have yet seen in New York. The price is SIXTYdollars. " The word SIXTY was emphasized in a way to show the importance that wasattached to PRICE--that being a test of more than common importancewith the present customer. I sighed when I remembered that poorAdrienne had received but about ten dollars for ME--an article worth somuch more than that there exhibited. "It is really very pretty, Mr. Bobbinet, very pretty, but Miss Monsonbought one not quite as pretty, at Lace's; and SHE payed SIXTY-FIVE, ifI am not mistaken. " "I dare say; we have them at much higher prices. I showed YOU this onlythat you might see that OUR SIXTIES are as handsome as MR. LACE'Ssixty-FIVES. What do you think of THIS?" "That IS a jewel! What IS the price, Mr. Bobbinet?" "Why, we will let YOU have it for seventy, though I do think it oughtto bring five more. " "Surely you do not abate on pocket-handkerchiefs! One doesn't like tohave such a thing TOO low. " "Ah, I may as well come to the point at once with such a customer asyourself, Miss Halfacre; here is the article on which I pride myself. THAT article never WAS equalled in this market, and never WILL be. " I cannot repeat half the exclamations of delight which escaped the fairEudosia, when I first burst on her entranced eye. She turned me overand over, examined me with palpitating bosom, and once I thought shewas about to kiss me; then, in a trembling voice, she demanded theprice. "ONE HUNDRED DOLLARS, ma'am;" answered Bobbinet, solemnly. "Not a centmore, on my honor. " "No, surely!" exclaimed Eudosia, with delight instead of alarm. "Not aHUNDRED!" "ONE HUNDRED, Miss Eudosia, to the last cent; then we scarcely make aliving profit. " "Why, Mr. Bobbinet, this is the highest priced handkerchief that wasever sold in New York. " This was said with a sort of rapture, the faircreature feeling all the advantage of having so good an opportunity ofpurchasing so dear an article. "In America, ma'am. It is the highest priced handkerchief, by twentydollars, that ever crossed the Atlantic. The celebrated Miss Jewel's, of Boston, only cost seventy-nine. " "Only! Oh, Mr. Bobbinet, I MUST have it. It is a perfect treasure!" "Shall I send it, Miss Eudosia; or don't you like to trust it out ofyour sight?" "Not yet, sir. To own the truth, I have not so much money. I only cameout to buy a few trifles, and brought but fifty dollars with me; and Painsists on having no bills. I never knew any body as particular as Pa;but I will go instantly home and show him the importance of thispurchase. You will not let the handkerchief be seen for ONE hour--onlyONE hour--and then you shall hear from me. " To this Bobbinet assented. The young lady tripped into her carriage, and was instantly whirled from the door. In precisely forty-threeminutes, a maid entered, half out of breath, and laid a note on thecounter. The latter contained Mr. Halfacre's check for one hundreddollars, and a request from the fair Eudosia that I might be deliveredto her messenger. Every thing was done as she had desired, and, in fiveminutes, I was going up Broadway as fast as Honor O'Flagherty's (forsuch was the name of the messenger) little dumpy legs could carry me. CHAPTER X. Mr. Henry Half acre was a speculator in town-lots--a profession thatwas, just then, in high repute in the city of New York. For farms, andall the more vulgar aspects of real estate, he had a sovereigncontempt; but offer him a bit of land that could be measured by feetand inches, and he was your man. Mr. Halfacre inherited nothing; but hewas a man of what are called energy and enterprise. In other words, hehad a spirit for running in debt, and never shrunk from jeopardingproperty that, in truth, belonged to his creditors. The very morningthat his eldest child, Eudosia, made her valuable acquisition, in myperson, Henry Halfacre, Esq. , was the owner of several hundred lots onthe island of Manhattan; of one hundred and twenty-three in the city ofBrooklyn; of nearly as many in Williamsburg; of large undividedinterests in Milwaukie, Chicago, Rock River, Moonville, and othersimilar places; besides owning a considerable part of a place calledConey Island. In a word, the landed estate of Henry Halfacre, Esq. , "inventoried, " as he expressed it, just two millions, six hundred andtwelve thousand dollars; a handsome sum, it must be confessed, for aman who, when he began his beneficent and energetic career in thisbranch of business, was just twenty-three thousand, four hundred andseventeen dollars worse than nothing. It is true, that there was somedrawback on all this prosperity; Mr. Halfacre's bonds, notes, mortgages, and other liabilities, making a sum total that amounted tothe odd six hundred thousand dollars; this still left him, however, ahandsome paper balance of two millions. Notwithstanding the amount of his "bills payable, " Mr. Halfacreconsidered himself a very prudent man: first, because he insisted onhaving no book debts; second, because he always took another man'spaper for a larger amount than he had given of his own, for anyspecific lot or lots; thirdly, and lastly, because he was careful to"extend himself, " at the risk of other persons. There is no question, had all his lots been sold as he had inventoried them; had his debtsbeen paid; and had he not spent his money a little faster than it wasbona fide made, that Henry Halfacre, Esq. Would have been a very richman. As he managed, however, by means of getting portions of the paperhe received discounted, to maintain a fine figure account in the bank, and to pay all current demands, he began to be known as the RICH Mr. Halfacre. But one of his children, the fair Eudosia, was out; and asshe had some distance to make in the better society of the town, ereshe could pass for aristocratic, it was wisely determined that a goldenbridge should be thrown across the dividing chasm. A hundred-dollarpocket-handkerchief, it was hoped, would serve for the key-stone, andthen all the ends of life would be attained. As to a husband, a prettygirl like Eudosia, and the daughter of a man of "four figure" lots, might get one any day. {was out = was a debutante, had been presented to society} Honor O'Flagherty was both short-legged and short-breathed. She feltthe full importance of her mission; and having an extensiveacquaintance among the other Milesians of the town, and of her class, she stopped no less than eleven times to communicate the magnitude ofMiss Dosie's purchase. To two particular favorites she actually showedme, under solemn promise of secrecy; and to four others she promised apeep some day, after her bossee had fairly worn me. In this manner myarrival was circulated prematurely in certain coteries, the prettymouths and fine voices that spoke of my marvels, being quiteunconscious that they were circulating news that had reached their earsvia Honor O'Flagherty, Biddy Noon, and Kathleen Brady. {Milesians = slang for Irish (from Milesius, a mythical Spanishconqueror of Ireland); Miss Dosie = Miss Eudosia; bossee = humorous fora female boss; coteries = social sets} Mr. Halfacre occupied a very GENTEEL residence in Broadway, where heand his enjoyed the full benefit of all the dust, noise, and commotionof that great thoroughfare. This house had been purchased andmortgaged, generally simultaneous operations with this great operator, as soon as he had "inventoried" half a million. It was a sort of patentof nobility to live in Broadway; and the acquisition of such aresidence was like the purchase of a marquiseta in Italy. When Eudosiawas fairly in possession of a hundred-dollar pocket-handkerchief, thegreat seal might be said to be attached to the document that was toelevate the Halfacres throughout all future time. {marquiseta = presumably the residence or palace of a Marquis} Now the beautiful Eudosia--for beautiful, and even lovely, thisglorious-looking creature was, in spite of a very badly modulatedvoice, certain inroads upon the fitness of things in the way ofexpression, and a want of a knowledge of the finesse of fine life--nowthe beautiful Eudosia had an intimate friend named Clara Caverly, whowas as unlike her as possible, in character, education, habits, andappearance; and yet who was firmly her friend. The attachment was oneof childhood and accident--the two girls having been neighbors andschool-fellows until they had got to like each other, after the mannerin which young people form such friendships, to wear away under thefriction of the world, and the pressure of time. Mr. Caverly was alawyer of good practice, fair reputation, and respectable family. Hiswife happened to be a lady from her cradle; and the daughter hadexperienced the advantage of as great a blessing. Still Mr. Caverly waswhat the world of New York, in 1832, called poor; that is to say, hehad no known bank-stock, did not own a lot on the island, was directorof neither bank nor insurance company, and lived in a modest two-storyhouse, in White street. It is true his practice supported his family, and enabled him to invest in bonds and mortgages two or three thousanda-year; and he owned the fee of some fifteen or eighteen farms inOrange county, that were falling in from three-lives leases, and whichhad been in his family ever since the seventeenth century. But, at aperiod of prosperity like that which prevailed in 1832, 3, 4, 5, and 6, the hereditary dollar was not worth more than twelve and a half cents, as compared with the "inventoried" dollar. As there is something, afterall, in a historical name, and the Caverleys [sic] still had the bestof it, in the way of society, Eudosia was permitted to continue thevisits in White street, even after her own family were in fullpossession in Broadway, and Henry Halfacre, Esq. , had got to beenumerated among the Manhattan nabobs. Clara Caverly was in Broadwaywhen Honor O'Flagherty arrived with me, out of breath, in consequenceof the shortness of her legs, and the necessity of making up for losttime. {owned the fee... Falling in from three-life leases = i. E. , Mr. Caverlyowned farms in Orange County that had been leased out for long periods(the lives of three persons named at the moment the lease was granted)but which were now about to revert to him--such long-term leases, inthe Hudson Valley, led to the so-called anti-rent war that was breakingout at the time Cooper wrote this book; twelve and a half cents = anEnglish shilling, still often used in conversation in America; nabobs =rich men (usually businessmen of recent affluence)} "There, Miss Dosie, " cried the exulting housemaid, for such was Honor'sdomestic rank, though preferred to so honorable and confidential amission--"There, Miss Dosie, there it is, and it's a jewel. " {preferred = promoted} "What has Honor brought you NOW?" asked Clara Caverly in her quiet way, for she saw by the brilliant eyes and flushed cheeks of her friend thatit was something the other would have pleasure in conversing about. "You make so many purchases, dear Eudosia, that I should think youwould weary of them. " "What, weary of beautiful dresses? Never, Clara, never! That might dofor White street, but in Broadway one is never tired of suchthings--see, " laying me out at full length in her lap, "this is apocket-handkerchief--I wish your opinion of it. " Clara examined me very closely, and, in spite of something like afrown, and an expression of dissatisfaction that gathered about herpretty face--for Clara was pretty, too--I could detect some of thelatent feelings of the sex, as she gazed at my exquisite lace, perfectornamental work, and unequaled fineness. Still, her education andhabits triumphed, and she would not commend what she regarded asingenuity misspent, and tasteless, because senseless, luxury. "This handkerchief cost ONE HUNDRED DOLLARS, Clara, " said Eudosia, deliberately and with emphasis, imitating, as near as possible, thetone of Bobbinet & Co. "Is it possible, Eudosia! What a sum to pay for so useless a thing!" "Useless! Do you call a pocket-handkerchief useless?" "Quite so, when it is made in a way to render it out of the question toput it to the uses for which it was designed. I should as soon think oftrimming gum shoes with satin, as to trim a handkerchief in that style. " "Style? Yes, I flatter myself it IS style to have a handkerchief thatcost a hundred dollars. Why, Clara Caverly, the highest priced thing ofthis sort that was ever before sold in New York only came toseventy-nine dollars. Mine is superior to all, by twenty-one dollars!" Clara Caverly sighed. It was not with regret, or envy, or any unworthyfeeling, however; it was a fair, honest, moral sigh, that had its birthin the thought of how much good a hundred dollars might have done, properly applied. It was under the influence of this feeling, too, thatshe said, somewhat inopportunely it must be confessed, though quiteinnocently-- "Well, Eudosia, I am glad you can afford such a luxury, at all events. Now is a good time to get your subscription to the Widows' and Orphans'Society. Mrs. Thoughtful has desired me to ask for it half a dozentimes; I dare say it has escaped you that you are quite a twelvemonthin arrear. " "NOW a good time to ask for three dollars! What, just when I've paid ahundred dollars for a pocket-handkerchief? That was not said with yourusual good sense, my dear. People must be MADE of money to pay out somuch at one time. " "When may I tell Mrs. Thoughtful, then, that you will send it to her?" "I am sure that is more than I can say. Pa will be in no hurry to giveme more money soon, and I want, at this moment, near a hundred dollars'worth of articles of dress to make a decent appearance. The Society canbe in no such hurry for its subscriptions; they must amount to a gooddeal. " "Not if never paid. Shall I lend you the money--my mother gave me tendollars this morning, to make a few purchases, which I can very well dowithout until you can pay me. " "DO, dear girl--you are always one of the best creatures in the world. How much is it? three dollars I believe. " "Six, if you pay the past and present year. I will pay Mrs. Thoughtfulbefore I go home. But, dear Eudosia, I wish you had not bought thatfoolish pocket-handkerchief. " "Foolish! Do you call a handkerchief with such lace, and all thismagnificent work on it, and which cost a HUNDRED DOLLARS, foolish? Isit foolish to have money, or to be thought rich?" "Certainly not the first, though it may be better not to be thoughtrich. I wish to see you always dressed with propriety, for you docredit to your dress; but this handkerchief is out of place. " "Out of place! Now, hear me, Clara, though it is to be a great secret. What do you think Pa is worth?" "Bless me, these are things I never think of. I do not even know howmuch my own father is worth. Mother tells me how much I may spend, andI can want to learn no more. " "Well, Mr. Murray dined with Pa last week, and they sat over their wineuntil near ten. I overheard them talking, and got into this room tolisten, for I thought I should get something new. At first they saidnothing but 'lots--lots--up town--down town--twenty-five feetfront--dollar, dollar, dollar. ' La! child, you never heard such stuffin your life!" "One gets used to these things, notwithstanding, " observed Clara, drily. "Yes, one DOES hear a great deal of it. I shall be glad when thegentlemen learn to talk of something else. But the best is to come. Atlast, Pa asked Mr. Murray if he had inventoried lately. " "Did he?" "Yes, he did. Of course you know what that means?" "It meant to FILL, as they call it, does it not?" "So I thought at first, but it means no such thing. It means to countup, and set down how much one is worth. Mr. Murray said he did THATevery month, and of course he knew very well what HE was worth. Iforget how much it was, for I didn't care, you know George Murray isnot as old as I am, and so I listened to what Pa had inventoried. Now, how much do you guess?" "Really, my dear, I haven't the least idea, " answered Clara, slightlygaping--"a thousand dollars, perhaps. " "A thousand dollars! What, for a gentleman who keeps his coach--livesin Broadway--dresses his daughter as I dress, and gives herhundred-dollar handkerchiefs. Two hundred million, my dear; two hundredmillion!" Eudosia had interpolated the word "hundred, " quite innocently, for, asusually happens with those to whom money is new, her imagination ranahead of her arithmetic. "Yes, " she added, "two hundred millions;besides sixty millions of odd money!" "That sounds like a great deal, " observed Clara quietly; for, besidescaring very little for these millions, she had not a profound respectfor her friend's accuracy on such subjects. "It IS a great deal. Ma says there are not ten richer men than Pa inthe state. Now, does not this alter the matter about thepocket-handkerchief? It would be mean in me not to have ahundred-dollar handkerchief, when I could get one. " "It may alter the matter as to the extravagance; but it does not alterit as to the fitness. Of what USE is a pocket-handkerchief like this? Apocket-handkerchief is made for USE, my dear, not for show. " "You would not have a young lady use her pocket-handkerchief like asnuffy old nurse, Clara?" "I would have her use it like a young lady, and in no other way. But italways strikes me as a proof of ignorance and a want of refinement whenthe uses of things are confounded. A pocket-handkerchief, at the best, is but a menial appliance, and it is bad taste to make it an object ofattraction. FINE, it may be, for that conveys an idea of delicacy inits owner; but ornamented beyond reason, never. Look what a tawdry andvulgar thing an embroidered slipper is on a woman's foot. " "Yes, I grant you that, but everybody cannot have hundred-dollarhandkerchiefs, though they may have embroidered slippers. I shall wearmy purchase at Miss Trotter's ball to-night. " To this Clara made no objection, though she still looked disapprobationof her purchase. Now, the lovely Eudosia had not a bad heart; she hadonly received a bad education. Her parents had given her a smatteringof the usual accomplishments, but here her superior instruction ended. Unable to discriminate themselves, for the want of this very education, they had been obliged to trust their daughter to the care ofmercenaries, who fancied their duties discharged when they had taughttheir pupil to repeat like a parrot. All she acquired had been foreffect, and not for the purpose of every-day use; in which herinstruction and her pocket-handkerchief might be said to be of a piece. CHAPTER XI. And here I will digress a moment to make a single remark on a subjectof which popular feeling, in America, under the influence of popularhabits, is apt to take an exparte view. Accomplishments are derided asuseless, in comparison with what is considered household virtues. Theaccomplishment of a cook is to make good dishes; of a seamstress to sewwell, and of a lady to possess refined tastes, a cultivated mind, andagreeable and intellectual habits. The real VIRTUES of all are thesame, though subject to laws peculiar to their station; but it is avery different thing when we come to the mere accomplishments. Toderide all the refined attainments of human skill denotes ignorance ofthe means of human happiness, nor is it any evidence of acquaintancewith the intricate machinery of social greatness and a loftycivilization. These gradations in attainments are inseparable fromcivilized society, and if the skill of the ingenious and laborious isindispensable to a solid foundation, without the tastes and habits ofthe refined and cultivated, it never can be graceful or pleasing. {exparte = should be "ex parte"--one-sided (Latin)} Eudosia had some indistinct glimmerings of this fact, though it was notoften that she came to sound and discriminating decisions even inmatters less complicated. In the present instance she saw this truthonly by halves, and that, too, in its most commonplace aspect, as willappear by the remark she made on the occasion. "Then, Clara, as to the PRICE I have paid for this handkerchief, " shesaid, "you ought to remember what the laws of political economy laydown on such subjects. I suppose your Pa makes you study politicaleconomy, my dear?" "Indeed he does not. I hardly know what it means. " "Well, that is singular; for Pa says, in this age of the world, it isthe only way to be rich. Now, it is by means of a trade in lots, andpolitical economy, generally, that he has succeeded so wonderfully;for, to own the truth to you, Clara, Pa hasn't always been rich. " "No?" answered Clara, with a half-suppressed smile, she knowing thefact already perfectly well. "Oh, no--far from it--but we don't speak of this publicly, it being asort of disgrace in New York, you know, not to be thought worth atleast half a million. I dare say your Pa is worth as much as that?" "I have not the least idea he is worth a fourth of it, though I do notpretend to know. To me half a million of dollars seems a great deal ofmoney, and I know my father considers himself poor--poor, at least, forone of his station. But what were you about to say of politicaleconomy? I am curious to hear how THAT can have any thing to do withyour handkerchief. " "Why, my dear, in this manner. You know a distribution of labor is thesource of all civilization--that trade is an exchange ofequivalents--that custom-houses fetter these equivalents--that nothingwhich is fettered is free--" "My dear Eudosia, what IS your tongue running on?" "You will not deny, Clara, that any thing which is fettered is notfree? And that freedom is the greatest blessing of this happy country;and that trade ought to be as free as any thing else?" All this was gibberish to Clara Caverly, who understood the phrases, notwithstanding, quite as well as the friend who was using them. Political economy is especially a science of terms; and free trade, asa branch of it is called, is just the portion of it which is indebtedto them the most. But Clara had not patience to hear any more of theunintelligible jargon which has got possession of the world to-day, much as Mr. Pitt's celebrated sinking-fund scheme for paying off thenational debt of Great Britain did, half a century since, and undervery much the same influences; and she desired her friend to come atonce to the point, as connected with the pocket-handkerchief. {Mr. Pitt's celebrated sinking-fund = Sir William Pitt "the younger"(1759-1806), when he became Prime Minister in 1784, sought to raisetaxes in order to pay off the British national debt} "Well, then, " resumed Eudosia, "it is connected in this way. Theluxuries of the rich give employment to the poor, and cause money tocirculate. Now this handkerchief of mine, no doubt, has givenemployment to some poor French girl for four or five months, and, ofcourse, food and raiment. She has earned, no doubt, fifty of thehundred dollars I have paid. Then the custom-house--ah, Clara, if itwere not for that vile custom-house, I might have had the handkerchieffor at least five-and-twenty dollars lower----!" "In which case you would have prized it five-and-twenty times less, "answered Clara, smiling archly. "THAT is true; yes, free trade, after all, does NOT apply topocket-handkerchiefs. " "And yet, " interrupted Clara, laughing, "if one can believe what onereads, it applies to hackney-coaches, ferry-boats, doctors, lawyers, and even the clergy. My father says it is----" "What? I am curious to know, Clara, what as plain speaking a man as Mr. Caverly calls it. " "He is plain speaking enough to call it a ---- HUMBUG, " said thedaughter, endeavoring to mouth the word in a theatrical manner. "But, as Othello says, the handkerchief. " {Othello says... = "Fetch me the handkerchief, " Shakespeare, "Othello, "Act III, Scene 4, line 98} "Oh! Fifty dollars go to the poor girl who does the work, twenty-fivemore to the odious custom-house, some fifteen to rent, fuel, lights, and ten, perhaps, to Mr. Bobbinet, as profits. Now all this is verygood, and very useful to society, as you must own. " Alas, poor Adrienne! Thou didst not receive for me as many francs asthis fair calculation gave thee dollars; and richer wouldst thou havebeen, and, oh, how much happier, hadst thou kept the money paid for me, sold the lace even at a loss, and spared thyself so many, many hours ofpainful and anxious toil! But it is thus with human calculations, Thepropositions seem plausible, and the reasoning fair, while stern truthlies behind all to level the pride of understanding, and prove thefallacy of the wisdom of men. The reader may wish to see how closelyEudosia's account of profit and loss came to the fact, and I shall, consequently, make up the statement from the private books of the firmthat had the honor of once owning me, viz. : Super-extraordinary Pocket-handkerchief, &c. , in account with Bobbinet& Co. DR. To money paid, first cost, francs 100, at 5. 25, -- $19. 04 To interest on same for ninety days, at 7 per cent. , -- 00. 33 To portion of passage money, -- 00. 04 To porterage, -- 00. 00 1/4 To washing and making up, -- 00. 25 ------------- $19 66 1/4 CR. By cash paid by Miss Thimble, -- $1. 00 By cash paid for article, -- 100. 00 By washerwoman's deduction, -- 00. 05 ---------- 101. 05 ---------- By profit, -- $81. 39 3/4 As Clara Caverly had yet to see Mrs. Thoughtful, and pay Eudosia'ssubscription, the former now took her leave. I was thus left alone withmy new employer, for the first time, and had an opportunity of learningsomething of her true character, without the interposition of thirdpersons; for, let a friend have what hold he or she may on your heart, it has a few secrets that are strictly its own. If admiration of myselfcould win my favor, I had every reason to be satisfied with the handsinto which fortune had now thrown me. There were many things to admirein Eudosia--a defective education being the great evil with which shehad to contend. Owing to this education, if it really deserved such aname, she had superficial accomplishments, superficiallyacquired--principles that scarce extended beyond the retenue and moralsof her sex--tastes that had been imbibed from questionable models--andhopes that proceeded from a false estimate of the very false positioninto which she had been accidentally and suddenly thrown. Still Eudosiahad a heart. She could scarcely be a woman, and escape the influence ofthis portion of the female frame. By means of the mesmeritic power of apocket-handkerchief, I soon discovered that there was a certain MorganMorely in New York, to whom she longed to exhibit my perfection, assecond to the wish to exhibit her own. {retenue = discretion} I scarcely know whether to felicitate myself or not, on thecircumstance that I was brought out the very first evening I passed inthe possession of Eudosia Halfacre. The beautiful girl was dressed andready for Mrs. Trotter's ball by eight; and her admiring mother thoughtit impossible for the heart of Morgan Morely, a reputed six figurefortune, to hold out any longer. By some accident or other, Mr. Halfacre did not appear--he had not dined at home; and the two femaleshad all the joys of anticipation to themselves. "I wonder what has become of your father, " said Mrs. Halfacre, afterinquiring for her husband for the tenth time. "It is SO like him toforget an engagement to a ball. I believe he thinks of nothing but hislots. It is really a great trial, Dosie, to be so rich. I sometimeswish we weren't worth more than a million, for, after all, I suspecttrue happiness is to be found in these little fortunes. Heigho! It'sten o'clock, and we must go, if we mean to be there at all; for Mrs. Caverly once said, in my presence, that she thought it as vulgar to betoo late, as too early. " The carriage was ordered, and we all three got in, leaving a messagefor Mr. Halfacre to follow us. As the rumor that a "three-figure"pocket-handkerchief was to be at the ball, had preceded my appearance, a general buzz announced my arrival in the salle a manger-salons. Ihave no intention of describing fashionable society in the GREATEMPORIUM of the WESTERN WORLD. Every body understands that it is on thebest possible footing--grace, ease, high breeding and common sensebeing so blended together, that it is exceedingly difficult to analyzethem, or, indeed, to tell which is which. It is this moral fusion thatrenders the whole perfect, as the harmony of fine coloring throws aglow of glory on the pictures of Claude, or, for that matter, on thoseof Cole, too. Still, as envious and evil disposed persons have dared tocall in question the elegance, and more especially the retenue of aManhattanese rout, I feel myself impelled, if not by that highsentiment, patriotism, at least by a feeling of gratitude for the greatconsideration that is attached to pocket-handkerchiefs, just to declarethat it is all scandal. If I have any fault to find with New Yorksociety, it is on account of its formal and almost priggish quiet--thefemale voice being usually quite lost in it--thus leaving a void in theear, not to say the heart, that is painful to endure. Could a few youngladies, too, be persuaded to become a little more prominent, and quittheir mother's apron-strings, it would add vastly to the grouping, andrelieve the stiffness of the "shin-pieces" of formal rows ofdark-looking men, and of the flounces of pretty women. These two slightfaults repaired, New York society might rival that of Paris; especiallyin the Chausse d'Autin. More than this I do not wish to say, and lessthan this I cannot in honor write, for I have made some of the warmestand truest-hearted friends in New York that it ever fell to the lot ofa pocket-handkerchief to enjoy. {salle a manger-salons = dining rooms-parlor; GREAT EMPORIUM [capitalsin original] = New York City; Claude = Claude Lorrain (1600-1682), French landscape painter; Cole = Thomas Cole (1801-1848), Americanlandscape painter; rout = evening party; Chausse d'Autin = Chausseed'Antin, a fashionable Parisian street and neighborhood} It has been said that my arrival produced a general buzz. In less thana minute Eudosia had made her curtsy, and was surrounded, in a corner, by a bevy of young friends, all silent together, and all dying to seeme. To deny the deep gratification I felt at the encomiums I received, would be hypocrisy. They went from my borders to my centre--from thelace to the hem--and from the hem to the minutest fibre of my exquisitetexture. In a word, I was the first hundred-dollar pocket-handkerchiefthat had then appeared in their circles; and had I been a Polish count, with two sets of moustaches, I could not have been more flattered and"entertained. " My fame soon spread through the rooms, as two littleapartments, with a door between them that made each an alcove of theother, were called; and even the men, the young ones in particular, began to take an interest in me. This latter interest, it is true, didnot descend to the minutiae of trimmings and work, or even of fineness, but the "three figure" had a surprising effect. An elderly lady sent toborrow me for a moment. It was a queer thing to borrow apocket-handkerchief, some will think; but I was lent to twenty peoplethat night; and while in her hands, I overheard the following littleaside, between two young fashionables, who were quite unconscious ofthe acuteness of the senses of our family. "This must be a rich old chap, this Halfacre, to be able to give hisdaughter a hundred-dollar pocket-handkerchief, Tom; one might do wellto get introduced. " "If you'll take my advice, Ned, you'll keep where you are, " was theanswer. "You've been to the surrogate's office, and have seen the willof old Simonds, and KNOW that he has left his daughter seventy-eightthousand dollars; and, after all, this pocket-handkerchief may be onlya sign. I always distrust people who throw out such lures. " "Oh, rely on it, there is no sham here; Charley Pray told me of thisgirl last week, when no one had ever heard of her pocket-handkerchief. " "Why don't Charley, then, take her himself? I'm sure, if I had HISimperial, I could pick and choose among all the second-class heiressesin town. " {imperial = wealth (from a Russian gold coin)} "Ay, there's the rub, Tom; one is obliged in our business to put upwith the SECOND class. Why can't we aim higher at once, and get suchgirls as the Burtons, for instance?" "The Burtons have, or have had, a mother. " "And haven't all girls mothers? Who ever heard of a man or a womanwithout a mother!" "True, physically; but I mean morally. Now this very Eudosia Halfacrehas no more mother, in the last sense, than you have a wet-nurse. Shehas an old woman to help her make a fool of herself; but, in the way ofa mother, she would be better off with a pair of good gum-shoes. Acreature that is just to tell a girl not to wet her feet, and when tocloak and uncloak, and to help tear the check-book out of money, is nomore of a mother than old Simonds was of a Solomon, when he made thatwill which every one of us knows by heart quite as well as he knows theconstitution. " Here a buzz in the room drew the two young men a little aside, and fora minute I heard nothing but indistinct phrases, in which "removal ofdeposites, " "panic, " "General Jackson, " and "revolution, " were the onlywords I could fairly understand. Presently, however, the young mendropped back into their former position, and the dialogue proceeded. {General Jackson... = President Andrew Jackson in 1833 withdrew thefederal government deposits from the Bank of the United States, leadingto a major financial panic} "There!" exclaimed Ned, in a voice louder than was prudent, "THAT iswhat I call an escape! That cursed handkerchief was very near taking mein. I call it swindling to make such false pretensions. " "It might be very awkward with one who was not properly on his guard;but with the right sort there is very little danger. " Here the two elegants led out a couple of heiresses to dance; and Iheard no more of them or of their escapes. Lest the reader, however, should be misled, I wish to add, that these two worthies are not to betaken as specimens of New York morality at all--no place on earth beingmore free from fortune-hunters, or of a higher tone of social morals inthis delicate particular. As I am writing for American readers, I wishto say, that all they are told of the vices of OLD countries, on theother side of the Atlantic, is strictly true; while all that is said, directly, or by implication, of the vices and faults of this happyyoung country, is just so much calumny. The many excellent friends Ihave made, since my arrival in this hemisphere, has bound my heart tothem to all eternity; and I will now proceed with my philosophical andprofound disquisitions on what I have seen, with a perfect confidencethat I shall receive credit, and an independence of opinion that ismuch too dear to me to consent to place it in question. But to returnto facts. {elegants = dandies} I was restored to Eudosia, with a cold, reserved look, by a lady intowhose hands I had passed, that struck me as singular, as shown to theowner of such an article. It was not long, however, before Idiscovered, to use a homely phrase, that something had happened; and Iwas not altogether without curiosity to know what that something was. It was apparent enough, that Eudosia was the subject of generalobservation, and of general conversation, though, so long as she heldme in her hand, it exceeded all my acuteness of hearing to learn whatwas said. The poor girl fancied her pocket-handkerchief was the commontheme; and in this she was not far from right, though it was in a wayshe little suspected. At length Clara Caverly drew near, and borrowedme of her friend, under a pretext of showing me to her mother, who wasin the room, though, in fact, it was merely to get me out of sight; forClara was much too well-bred to render any part of another's dress thesubject of her discussions in general society. As if impatient to getme out of sight, I was thrown on a sofa, among a little pile ofconsoeurs, (if there is such a word, ) for a gathering had been made, while our pretty hostesses were dancing, in order to compare ourbeauty. There we lay quite an hour, a congress of pocket-handkerchiefs, making our comments on the company, and gossiping in our own fashion. It was only the next day that I discovered the reason we were thusneglected; for, to own the truth, something had occurred which suddenlybrought "three-figure, " and even "two-figure" people of our class intotemporary disrepute. I shall explain that reason at the proper moment. {consoeurs = fellow sisters} The conversation among the handkerchiefs on the sofa, ran principallyon the subject of our comparative market value. I soon discovered thatthere was a good deal of envy against me, on account of my "threefigures, " although, I confess, I thought I cut a "poor figure, " lyingas I did, neglected in a corner, on the very first evening of myappearance in the fashionable world. But some of the opinions utteredon this occasion--always in the mesmeritic manner, be itremembered--will be seen in the following dialogue. "Well!" exclaimed $25, "this is the first ball I have been at that Iwas not thought good enough to have a place in the quadrille. You seeall the canaille are in the hands of their owners, while we, the eliteof pocket-handkerchiefs, are left here in a corner, like so manycloaks. " {canaille = riff-raff} "There must be a reason for this, certainly, " answered $45, "though YOUhave been flourished about these two winters, in a way that ought tosatisfy one of YOUR pretensions. " An animated reply was about to set us all in commotion, when $80, who, next to myself, had the highest claims of any in the party, changed thecurrent of feeling, by remarking-- "It is no secret that we are out of favor for a night or two, inconsequence of three figures having been paid for one of us, this veryday, by a bossess, whose father stopped payment within three hoursafter he signed the cheque that was to pay the importer. I overheardthe whole story, half an hour since, and thus, you see, every one isafraid to be seen with an aristocratic handkerchief, just at thismoment. But--bless you! in a day or two all will be forgotten, and weshall come more into favor than ever. All is always forgotten in NewYork in a week. " Such was, indeed, the truth. One General Jackson had "removed thedeposits, " as I afterwards learned, though I never could understandexactly what that meant; but, it suddenly made money scarce, moreespecially with those who had none; and every body that was "extended"began to quake in their shoes. Mr. Halfacre happened to be in thisawkward predicament, and he broke down in the effort to sustainhimself. His energy had over-reached itself, like the tumbler whobreaks his neck in throwing seventeen hundred somersets backwards. CHAPTER XII. Every one is more apt to hear an unpleasant rumor than those whom itimmediately affects. Thus Eudosia and her mother were the only personsat Mrs. Trotter's ball who were ignorant of what had happened; onewhispering the news to another, though no one could presume tocommunicate the fact to the parties most interested. In a commercialtown, like New York, the failure of a reputed millionaire, could notlong remain a secret, and every body stared at the wife and daughter, and me; first, as if they had never seen the wives and daughters ofbankrupts before; and second, as if they had never seen them surroundedby the evidences of their extravagance. But the crisis was at hand, and the truth could not long be concealed. Eudosia was permitted to cloak and get into the carriage unaided by anybeau, a thing that had not happened to her since speculation hadbrought her father into notice. The circumstance, more than any other, attracted her attention; and the carriage no sooner started than thepoor girl gave vent to her feelings. "What CAN be the matter, Ma?" Eudosia said, "that every person in Mrs. Trotter's rooms should stare so at me, this evening? I am sure my dressis as well made and proper as that of any other young lady in therooms, and as for the handkerchiefS, I could see envy in fifty eyes, when their owners heard the price. " "That is all, dear--they DID envy you, and no wonder theystared--nothing makes people stare like envy. I thought thishandkerchief would make a commotion. Oh! I used to stare myself whenenvious. " "Still it was odd that Morgan Morely did not ask me to dance--he knowshow fond I am of dancing, and for the credit of so beautiful ahandkerchief, he ought to have been more than usually attentiveto-night. " Mrs. Halfacre gaped, and declared that she was both tired and sleepy, which put an end to conversation until the carriage reached her owndoor. Both Mrs. Halfacre and Eudosia were surprised to find the husband andfather still up. He was pacing the drawing-room, by the light of asingle tallow candle, obviously in great mental distress. "Bless me!" exclaimed the wife--"YOU up at this hour?--what CAN havehappened? what HAS come to our door?" "Nothing but beggary, " answered the man, smiling with a bitternesswhich showed he felt an inhuman joy, at that fierce moment, in makingothers as miserable as himself. "Yes, Mrs. Henry Halfacre--yes, MissEudosia Halfacre, you are both beggars--I hope that, at least, willsatisfy you. " "You mean, Henry, that you have failed?" For that was a word toofamiliar in New York not to be understood even by the ladies. "Tell methe worst at once--is it true, HAVE you failed?" "It IS true--I HAVE failed. My notes have been this day protested forninety-five thousand dollars, and I have not ninety-five dollars inbank. To-morrow, twenty-three thousand more will fall due, and thismonth will bring round quite a hundred and thirty thousand more. Thataccursed removal of the deposits, and that tiger, Jackson, have done itall. " To own the truth, both the ladies were a little confounded. They wept, and for some few minutes there was a dead silence, but curiosity sooncaused them both to ask questions. "This is very dreadful, and with our large family!" commenced themother--"and so the general has it all to answer for--why did you lethim give so many notes for you?" "No--no--it is not that--I gave the notes myself; but he removed thedeposits, I tell you. " "It's just like him, the old wretch! To think of his removing yourdeposits, just as you wanted them so much yourself! But why did theclerks at the bank let him have them--they ought to have known that youhad all this money to pay, and people cannot well pay debts withoutmoney. " "You are telling that, my dear, to one who knows it by experience. Thatis the very reason why I have failed. I have a great many debts, and Ihave no money. " "But you have hundreds of lots--give them lots, Henry, and that willsettle all your difficulties. You must remember how all our friendshave envied us our lots. " "Ay, no fear, but they'll get the lots, my dear--unless, indeed, " addedthe speculator, "I take good care to prevent it. Thank God! I'm not aDECLARED bankrupt. I can yet make my own assignee. " "Well, then, I wouldn't say a word about it--declare nothing, and let'em find out that you have failed, in the best manner they can. Whytell people your distresses, so that they may pity you. I hate pity, above all things--and especially the pity of my own friends. " "Oh, that will be dreadful!" put in Eudosia. "For Heaven's sake, Pa, don't let any body pity us. " "Very little fear of that, I fancy, " muttered the father; "people whoshoot up like rockets, in two or three years, seldom lay thefoundations of much pity in readiness for their fall. " "Well, I declare, Dosie, this is TOO bad in the old general, after all. I'm sure it MUST be unconstitutional for a president to remove yourfather's deposits. If I were in your place, Mr. Halfacre, I wouldn'tfail just to spite them. You know you always said that a man of energycan do any thing in this country; and I have heard Mr. Munny say thathe didn't know a man of greater energy than yourself. " The grin with which the ruined speculator turned on his wife was nearlysardonic. "Your men of energy are the very fellows TO fail, " he said; "however, they shall find if I have had extraordinary energy in running intodebt, that I have extraordinary energy, too, in getting out of it. Mrs. Halfacre, we must quit this house this very week, and all this finefurniture must be brought to the hammer. I mean to preserve mycharacter, at least. " This was said loftily, and with the most approved accents. "Surely it isn't necessary to move to do that, my dear! Other peoplefail, and keep their houses, and furniture, and carriages, and suchother things. Let us not make ourselves the subjects of unpleasantremarks. " "I intend that as little as you do yourself. We must quit this houseand bring the furniture under the hammer, or part with all those lotsyou so much esteem and prize. " "Oh! If the house and furniture will pay the notes I'm content, especially if you can contrive to keep the lots. Dosie will part withher handkerchief, too, I dare say, if that will do any good. " "By George! that will be a capital idea--yes, the handkerchief must besent back to-morrow morning; THAT will make a famous talk. I onlybought it because Munny was present, and I wanted to get fifty thousanddollars out of him, to meet this crisis. The thing didn't succeed; but, no matter, the handkerchief will tell in settling up. Thathandkerchief, Dosie, may be made to cover a hundred lots. " In what manner I was to open so much, like the tent of the ArabianNights, was a profound mystery to me then, as well as it was to theladies; but the handsome Eudosia placed me in her father's hand with afrank liberality that proved she was not altogether without goodqualities. As I afterwards discovered, indeed, these two females hadmost of the excellences of a devoted wife and daughter, theirfrivolities being the result of vicious educations or of no educationsat all, rather than of depraved hearts. When Mr. Halfacre went intoliquidation, as it is called, and compromised with his creditors, reserving to himself a pretty little capital of some eighty or ahundred thousand dollars, by means of judicious payments toconfidential creditors, his wife and daughter saw all THEY most prizedtaken away, and the town was filled with the magnitude of theirsacrifices, and with the handsome manner in which both submitted tomake them. By this ingenious device, the insolvent not only preservedhis character, by no means an unusual circumstance in New York, however, but he preserved about half of his bona fide estate also; hiscreditors, as was customary, doing the PAYING. It is unnecessary to dwell on the remainder of this dialogue, my ownadventures so soon carrying me into an entirely different sphere. Thefollowing morning, however, as soon as he had breakfasted, Mr. Halfacreput me in his pocket, and walked down street, with the port of anafflicted and stricken, but thoroughly honest man. When he reached theshop-door of Bobbinet & Co. , he walked boldly in, and laid me on thecounter with a flourish so meek, that even the clerks, a verymatter-of-fact caste in general, afterwards commented on it. "Circumstances of an unpleasant nature, on which I presume it isunnecessary to dwell, compel me to offer you this handkerchief, backagain, gentlemen, " he said, raising his hand to his eyes in a veryaffecting manner. "As a bargain is a bargain, I feel great reluctanceto disturb its sacred obligations, but I CANNOT suffer a child of mineto retain such a luxury, while a single individual can justly say thatI owe him a dollar. " "What fine sentiments!" said Silky, who was lounging in a corner of theshop--"wonderful sentiments, and such as becomes a man of honesty. " Those around the colonel approved of his opinion, and Mr. Halfacreraised his head like one who was not afraid to look his creditors inthe face. "I approve of your motives, Mr. Halfacre, " returned Bobbinet, "but youknow the character of the times, and the dearness of rents. Thatarticle has been seen in private hands, doubtless, and can no longer beconsidered fresh--we shall be forced to make a considerable abatement, if we consent to comply. " "Name your own terms, sir; so they leave me a single dollar for mycreditors, I shall be happy. " "Wonderful sentiments!" repeated the colonel--"we must send that man tothe national councils!" After a short negotiation, it was settled that Mr. Halfacre was toreceive $50, and Bobbinet & Co. Were to replace me in their drawer. Thenext morning an article appeared in a daily paper of pre-eminenthonesty and truth, and talents, in the following words:-- "WORTHY OF IMITATION. --A distinguished gentleman of this city, H----H----, Esquire, having been compelled to SUSPEND, in consequence of thelate robbery of the Bank of the United States by the cold-bloodedmiscreant whose hoary head disgraces the White House, felt himselfbound to return an article of dress, purchased as recently as yesterdayby his lovely daughter, and who, in every respect, was entitled to wearit, as she would have adorned it, receiving back the price, with a viewto put it in the fund he is already collecting to meet the demands ofhis creditors. It is due to the very respectable firm of Bobbinet & Co. To add, that it refunded the money with the greatest liberality, at thefirst demand. We can recommend this house to our readers as one of themost liberal in OUR city, (by the way the editor who wrote this articledidn't own a foot of the town, or of any thing else, ) and as possessinga very large and well selected assortment of the choicest goods. " The following words--"we take this occasion to thank Messrs. Bobbinet &Co. For a specimen of most beautiful gloves sent us, " had a line runthrough in the manuscript; a little reflection, telling the learnededitor that it might be indiscreet to publish the fact at that precisemoment. The American will know how to appreciate the importance of thisopinion, in relation to the house in question, when he is told that itwas written by one of those inspired moralists, and profoundconstitutional lawyers, and ingenious political economists, who dailyteach their fellow creatures how to give practical illustrations of themandates of the Bible, how to discriminate in vexed questions arisingfrom the national compact, and how to manage their private affairs insuch a way as to escape the quicksands that have wrecked their own. As some of my readers may feel an interest in the fate of poor Eudosia, I will take occasion to say, before I proceed with the account of myown fortunes, that it was not half as bad as might have been supposed. Mr. Halfacre commenced his compromises under favorable auspices. Thereputation of the affair of the pocket-handkerchief was of greatservice, and creditors relented as they thought of the hardship ofdepriving a pretty girl of so valuable an appliance. Long before thepublic had ceased to talk about the removal of the deposits, Mr. Halfacre had arranged every thing to his own satisfaction. The lotswere particularly useful, one of them paying off a debt that had beencontracted for half a dozen. Now and then he met an obstinate fellowwho insisted on his money, and who talked of suits in chancery. Suchmen were paid off in full, litigation being the speculator's aversion. As for the fifty dollars received for me, it answered to go to marketwith until other funds were found. This diversion of the sum from itsdestined object, however, was apparent rather than real, since food wasindispensable to enable the excellent but unfortunate man to work forthe benefit of his creditors. In short, every thing was settled in themost satisfactory manner, Mr. Halfacre paying a hundred cents in thedollar, in lots, however, but in such a manner as balanced his booksbeautifully. "Now, thank God! I owe no man a sixpence, " said Mr. To Mrs. Halfacre, the day all was concluded, "and only one small mistake has been made byme, in going through so many complicated accounts, and for such largesums. " "I had hoped ALL was settled, " answered the good woman in alarm. "It isthat unreasonable man, John Downright, who gives you the trouble, Idare say. " "He--oh! he is paid in full. I offered him, at first, twenty-five centsin the dollar, but THAT he wouldn't hear to. Then I found a smallerror, and offered forty. It wouldn't do, and I had to pay the scamp ahundred. I can look that fellow in the face with a perfectly clearconscience. " "Who else can it be, then?" "Only your brother, Myers, my dear; somehow or other, we made a mistakein our figures, which made out a demand in his favor of $100, 000. Ipaid it in property, but when we came to look over the figures it wasdiscovered that a cypher too much had been thrown in, and Myers paidback the difference like a man, as he is. " "And to whom will that difference belong?" "To whom--oh!--why, of course, to the right owner. " CHAPTER XIII. When I found myself once more in the possession of Bobbinet & Co. , Ifancied that I might anticipate a long residence in their drawers, myfreshness, as an article, having been somewhat tarnished by theappearance at Mrs. Trotter's ball. In this I was mistaken, the next daybringing about a release, and a restoration to my proper place insociety. The very morning after I was again in the drawer, a female voice washeard asking for "worked French pocket-handkerchiefs. " As I clearlycame within this category--alas, poor Adrienne!--in half a minute Ifound myself, along with fifty fellows or fellowesses, lying on thecounter. The instant I heard the voice, I knew that the speaker was not"mamma, " but "my child, " and I now saw that she was fair. Julia Monsonwas not as brilliantly handsome as my late owner, but she had morefeeling and refinement in the expression of her countenance. Stillthere was an uneasy worldly glancing of the eye, that denoted how muchshe lived out of herself, in the less favorable understanding of theterm; an expression of countenance that I have had occasion to remarkin most of those who think a very expensive handkerchief necessary totheir happiness. It is, in fact, the natural indication that the minddwells more on show than on substantial things, and a proof that thepossessor of this quality is not content to rely altogether on thehigher moral feelings and attainments for her claims to deference. In aword, it is some such trait as that which distinguishes the beautifulplumage of the peacock, from the motive that incites the bird todisplay his feathers. In company with Miss Monson was another young lady of about her ownage, and of a very similar appearance as to dress and station. Still, afirst glance discovered an essential difference in character. Thiscompanion, who was addressed as Mary, and whose family name was Warren, had none of the uneasiness of demeanor that belonged to her friend, andobviously cared less what others thought of every thing she said ordid. When the handkerchiefs were laid on the counter, Julia Monsonseized on one with avidity, while Mary Warren regarded us all with alook of cold indifference, if not one of downright displeasure. "What beauties!" exclaimed the first, the clerk at that moment quittingthem to hand some gloves to another customer--"What delightfulneedle-work! Mary, do YOU purchase one to keep me in countenance, and Iwill purchase another. I know your mother gave you the money this verymorning. " "Not for that object, Julia. My dear mother little thinks I shall doany such thing. " "And why not? A rich pocket-handkerchief is a stylish thing!" "I question if style, as you call it, is just the thing for a youngwoman, under any circumstances; but, to confess the truth, I think apocket-handkerchief that is to be LOOKED at and which is not to beUSED, vulgar. " "Not in Sir Walter Scott's signification, my dear, " answered Julialaughing, "for it is not so very COMMON. Every body cannot have aworked French pocket-handkerchief. " {Sir Walter Scott = British novelist and poet (1771-1832), oftencompared with Cooper--I have not located his definition of "vulgar"} "Sir Walter Scott's definition of what is vulgar is open to criticism, I fancy. The word comes from the common mind, or common practices, beyond a question, but it now means what is common as opposed to whatis cultivated and refined. It is an absurdity, too, to make a thingrespectable because it is common. A fib is one of the commonest thingsin the world, and yet it is scarcely respectable. " "Oh! Every one says you are a philosopherESS, Mary, and I ought to haveexpected some such answer. But a handkerchief I am determined to have, and it shall be the very handsomest I can find. " "And the DEAREST? Well, you will have a very lady-like wardrobe withone pocket-handkerchief in it! I wonder you do not purchase a singleshoe. " "Because I have TWO feet, " replied Julia with spirit, though shelaughed good-naturedly--"but here is the clerk, and he must not hearour quarrels. Have the goodness, sir, to show me the handsomestpocket-handkerchief in your shop. " I was drawn from beneath the pile and laid before the bright black eyesof Julia, with an air of solemn dignity, by the young dealer in finery. "That, ma'am, " he said, "is the very finest and most elegant articlenot only that WE have, but which is to be found in America. It wasbrought out by 'our Mr. Silky, ' the last voyage; HE said PARIS cannotproduce its equal. " "This IS beautiful, sir, one must admit! What is the price?" "Why, ma'am, we OUGHT in justice to ourselves to have $120 for thatarticle; but, to our regular customers I believe Mr. Bobbinet hasdetermined to ask ONLY $100. " This sounded exceedingly liberal--to ask ONLY $100 for that for whichthere was a sort of moral obligation to ask $120!--and Julia havingcome out with the intent to throw away a hundred-dollar note that hermother had given her that morning, the bargain was concluded. I waswrapped up carefully in paper, put into Miss Monson's muff, and oncemore took my departure from the empire of Col. Silky. I no longeroccupied a false position. "Now, I hope you are happy, Julia, " quietly observed Mary Warren, asthe two girls took their seats side by side in Mrs. Monson's chariot. "The surprise to me is, that you forgot to purchase this ne plus ultraof elegance while in Paris last summer. " {chariot = a light, four-wheeled carriage with only back seats; ne plusultra = peak, ultimate} "My father said he could not afford it; we spent a great deal of money, as you may suppose, in running about, seeing sights, and laying incuriosities, and when I hinted the matter to my mother, she said wemust wait until another half year's rents had come round. After all, Mary, there is ONE person at home to whom I shall be ashamed to showthis purchase. " "At home!--is there, indeed? Had you merely said 'in town' I could haveunderstood you. Your father and mother approving of what you have done, I do not see who there is AT HOME to alarm you. " Julia blushed when her friend said "in town, " and her consciousfeelings immediately conjured up the image of a certain Betts Shoreham, as the person in her companion's mind's eye. I detected it all easilyenough, being actually within six inches of her throbbing heart at thatvery moment, though concealed in the muff. "It is not what you suppose, Mary, nor WHOM you suppose, " answered mymistress; "I mean Mademoiselle Hennequin--I confess I DO dread theglance of her reproving eye. " "It is odd enough that you should dread reproval from the governess ofyour sisters when you do not dread it from your own mother! ButMademoiselle Hennequin has nothing to do with you. You were educatedand out before she entered your family, and it is singular that aperson not older than yourself, who was engaged in Paris so recently, should have obtained so much influence over the mind of one who neverwas her pupil. " "I am not afraid of her in most things, " rejoined Julia, "but I confessI am in all that relates to taste; particularly in what relates toextravagance. " "I have greatly misunderstood the character of Mademoiselle Hennequinif she ventured to interfere with you in either! A governess ought notto push her control beyond her proper duties. " "Nor has Mademoiselle Hennequin, " answered Julia honestly. "Still Icannot but hear the lessons she gives my sisters, and--yes--to own thetruth, I dread the glance she cannot avoid throwing on my purchase. Itwill say, 'of what use are all my excellent lessons in taste andprudence, if an elder sister's example is to counteract them?' It isTHAT I dread. " Mary was silent for fully a minute; then she smiled archly, as girlswill smile when certain thoughts cross their playful imaginations, andcontinued the discourse. "And Betts Shoreham has nothing to do with all this dread?" "What is Betts Shoreham to me, or what am I to Betts Shoreham? I amsure the circumstances that we happened to come from Europe in the samepacket, and that he continues to visit us now we are at home, do notentitle him to have a veto, as they call it, on my wardrobe. " "Not YET, certainly, my dear. Still they may entitle him to have thisVETO, in petto. " {in petto = in private (Italian)} I thought a shade passed over the features of the pretty Julia Monsonas she answered her friend, with a seriousness to show that she was nowin earnest, and with a propriety that proved she had great good senseat bottom, as well as strong womanly feeling. "If I have learned nothing else by visiting Europe, " she said, "I havelearned to see how inconsiderate we girls are in America, in talking somuch, openly, of this sort of thing. A woman's delicacy is like that ofa tender flower, and it must suffer by having her name coupled withthat of any man, except him that she is to marry. " "Julia, dear, I will never speak of Mr. Shoreham again. I should nothave done it now had I not thought his attentions were acceptable toyou, as I am sure they are to your parents. Certainly, they are VERYmarked--at least, so others think as well as myself. " "I know it SEEMS so to the WORLD, " answered Julia in a subdued, thoughtful tone, "but it scarcely seems so to ME. Betts Shoreham isvery agreeable, every way a suitable connection for any of us, and thatis the reason people are so ready to fancy him in earnest. " "In earnest! If Mr. Shoreham pays attentions that are pointed, and isnot in earnest, he is a very different person from what I took him tobe. " Julia's voice grew still more gentle, and it was easy enough to seethat her feelings were enlisted in the subject. "It is no more than justice to Betts Shoreham, " she continued, "to saythat he has NOT been pointed in his attentions to ME. We females aresaid to be quick in discovering such matters, and I am not more blindthan the rest of our sex. He is a young man of good family, and hassome fortune, and that makes him welcome in most houses in town, whilehe is agreeable, well-looking, and thoroughly amiable. He met usabroad, and it is natural for him to keep up an intimacy that recallspleasant recollections. You will remember, Mary, that before he can beaccused of trifling, he must trifle. I think him far more attentive tomy mother, my father--nay, to my two little sisters--than he is to ME. Even Mademoiselle Hennequin is quite as much if not more of a favoritethan I am!" As Mary Warren saw that her friend was serious she changed the subject;soon after, we were set down at Mr. Monson's door. Here the friendsparted, Mary Warren preferring to walk home, while Julia and I enteredthe house together. "Well, mother, " cried Julia, as she entered Mrs. Monson's room, "I havefound the most beautiful thing you ever beheld, and have bought it. Here it is; what do you think of my choice?" Mrs. Monson was a kind-hearted, easy, indulgent parent, who had broughther husband a good fortune, and who had married rich in the bargain. Accustomed all her life to a free use of money, and of her own money, too, (for this is a country in which very many persons cast thesubstance of OTHERS right and left, ) and when her eldest daughterexpressed a wish to possess an elaborate specimen of our race, she hadconsented from a pure disinclination to deny her child anygratification that might be deemed innocent. Still, she knew thatprudence was a virtue, and that Julia had thrown away money that mighthave been much better employed. "This is certainly a very beautiful handkerchief, " observed the mother, after examining me carefully, and with somewhat of the manner of aconnoisseur, "surprisingly beautiful; and yet I almost wish, my child, you had not purchased it. A hundred dollars sounds frightfully enprince for us poor simple people, who live in nutshells of houses, fiveand twenty feet front, and fifty-six deep, to pay for apocket-handkerchief. The jewel-box of a young lady who has suchhandkerchiefs ought to cost thousands, to be in keeping. " {en prince = princely; nutshells of houses = Cooper was frequentlycritical of New York City's cramped townhouses} "But, mother, I have only ONE, you will remember, and so my jewels maybe limited to hundreds. " "ONE pocket-handkerchief has a mean, sound, too. Even one hat is notvery superfluous. " "That is SO like Mary Warren, mother. If you did not wish me to makethe purchase, you had only to say it; I am sure your wish would havebeen my law. " "I know it, love; and I am afraid it is your dutiful behavior that hasmade me careless, in this instance. Your happiness and interests areever uppermost in my mind, and sometimes they seem to conflict. Whatyoung man will dare to choose a wife from among young ladies who expendso much money on their pocket-handkerchiefs?" This was said smilingly, but there was a touch of tenderness andnatural concern in the voice and manner of the speaker that made animpression on the daughter. "I am afraid now, mother, you are thinking of Betts Shoreham, " saidJulia, blushing, though she struggled powerfully to appear unconcerned. "I do not know WHY it is, but both you and Mary Warren appear to bealways thinking of Mr. Shoreham. " The mother smiled; and she was not quite ingenuous when she said inanswer to the remark, "Shoreham was not in my mouth; and you ought not to suppose he was inmy mind. Nevertheless, I do not believe he would admire you, or any oneelse, the more for being the owner of so expensive an article of dress. He is wealthy, but very prudent in his opinions and habits. " "Betts Shoreham was born to an estate, and his father before him, " saidJulia firmly; "and such men know how to distinguish between the cant ofeconomy, and those elegancies of life that become people of refinement. " "No one can better understand the difference between cant in economy aswell as cant in some other things, and true taste as well as truemorals, than young Shoreham; but there are indulgences that becomepersons in no class. " "After all, mother, we are making a trifle a very serious matter. It isbut a pocket-handkerchief. " "Very true, my love; and it cost ONLY one hundred dollars, and so we'llsay no more about it; bien entendu, that you are not to purchase sixdozen at the same price. " {bien entendu = it being understood} This terminated the dialogue, Julia retiring to her own room, carryingme with her. I was thrown upon the bed, and soon after my mistressopened a door, and summoned her two younger sisters, who were studyingon the same floor, to join her. I shall not repeat all the delightfulexclamations, and other signs of approbation, that so naturally escapedthe two pretty little creatures, to whom I may be said to have now beenintroduced, when my beauty came under examination. I do not thus speakof myself out of any weakness, for pocket-handkerchiefs are whollywithout vanity, but simply because I am impelled to utter nothing buttruth. Julia had too much consideration to let her young sisters intothe secret of my price--for this would have been teaching a prematurelesson in extravagance; but, having permitted them to gratify theircuriosity, she exacted of them both promises not to speak of me totheir governess. "But why not, Julia?" asked the inquisitive little Jane, "MademoiselleHennequin is SO good and SO kind, that she would be glad to hear ofyour good fortune. " Julia had an indistinct view of her own motive, but she could not avowit to any one, not even to herself. Jealousy would be too strong, perhaps too indelicate a word, but she alone had detected BettsShoreham's admiration of the governess; and it was painful to her topermit one who stood in this relation to her own weakness in favor ofthe young man, to be a witness of an act of extravagance to which shehad only half consented in committing it, and of which she already morethan half repented. From the first, therefore, she determined thatMademoiselle Hennequin should never see me. CHAPTER XIV. And now comes an exhibition of my mesmeritic powers, always"handkerchiefly speaking, " that may surprise those who have notattended to the modern science of invisible fluids. It is by thismeans, however, that I am enabled to perceive a great deal of thatwhich passes under the roof where I may happen to be, withoutabsolutely seeing it. Much escapes me, of course--for even apocket-handkerchief cannot hear or see every thing; but enough islearned to enable me to furnish a very clear outline of that whichoccurs near me; more especially if it happen to be within walls ofbrick. In wooden edifices I find my powers much diminished--the fluids, doubtless, escaping through the pores of the material. That evening, then, at the usual hour, and while I lay snugly ensconcedin a most fragrant and convenient drawer, among various other beings ofmy species, though not of my family, alas! the inmates of the houseassembled in the front drawing-room to take a few cups of tea. Mr. AndMrs. Monson, with their only son, John Monson, their three daughters, the governess, and Betts Shoreham, were all present; the latter havingdropped in with a new novel for the ladies. "I do really wish one could see a little advance in the way of realrefinement and true elegance among all the vast improvements we aremaking in frippery and follies, " cried Mr. Monson, throwing down anevening paper in a pettish manner, that sufficiently denoteddiscontent. "We are always puffing our own progress in America, withoutexactly knowing whether a good deal of the road is not to be traveledover again, by way of undoing much that we have done. Here, now, is aspecimen of our march in folly, in an advertisement of Bobbinett's, whohas pocket-handkerchiefs at $75. " "By the dozen, or by the gross, sir?" demanded Betts Shoreham, quickly. "Oh, singly--seventy-five dollars each. " "Nay, that MUST be a mistake, sir! who, even in this extravagant andreckless country, could be found to pay such a price? One can fancysuch a thing in a princess, with hundreds of thousands of income, butscarcely of any one else. How could such a thing be USED, for instance?" "Oh, " cried John Monson, "to hide the blushes of the simpleton who hadthrown away her money on it. I heard a story this very afternoon, ofsome person of the name of Halfacre's having failed yesterday, andwhose daughter purchased even a higher priced handkerchief than thatthe very same day. " "His failure is not surprising, then, " put in Betts Shoreham. "Formyself, I do not think that I----" "Well, WHAT do you think, Mr. Shoreham?" asked Mrs. Monson, smiling, for she saw that Julia was too much mortified to speak, and who assumedmore than half the blame of her own daughter's extravagance. "You wereabout to favor us with some magnificent resolution. " "I was about to utter an impertinence, I confess, ma'am, butrecollected in time, that young men's protestations of what THEY woulddo by way of reforming the world, is not of half the importance toothers that they so often fancy; so I shall spare you the infliction. Seventy-five dollars, Mademoiselle Hennequin, would be a high price forsuch a thing, even in Paris, I fancy. " The answer was given in imperfect English, a circumstance that renderedthe sweet round tones of the speaker very agreeable to the ear, andlent the charm of piquancy to what she said. I could not distinguishcountenances from the drawer, but I fancied young Shoreham to be ahandsome youth, the governess to be pale and slightly ugly, though veryagreeable in manner, and Julia excessively embarrassed, but determinedto defend her purchase, should it become necessary. "Seventy-five dollars sound like a high price, monsieur, " answeredMademoiselle Hennequin; "but the ladies of Paris do not grudge theirgold for ornaments to decorate their persons. " "Ay, " put in John Monson, "but they are consistent. Now I'll engagethis Mrs. Hundredacres, or Halfacre, or whatever her name may be, overlooked her own household work, kept no housekeeper, higgled aboutflour and butter, and lived half her time in her basement. Think ofsuch a woman's giving her daughter a hundred-dollarpocket-handkerchief. " Now Mrs. Monson DID keep a housekeeper; she was NOT a mereupper-servant in her own family, and Julia was gratified that, in thisinstance, her fastidious brother could not reproach HER at least. "Well, Jack, that is a queer reason of yours;" cried the father, "fornot indulging in a luxury; because the good woman is careful in somethings, she is not to be a little extravagant in others. What do YOUsay to such logic, Mr. Shoreham?" "To own the truth, sir, I am much of Monson's way of thinking. It is asnecessary to begin at the bottom in constructing a scheme of domesticrefinement, as in building a house. Fitness is entitled to a place inevery thing that relates to taste, at all events; and as a laced andembroidered pocket-handkerchief is altogether for appearance, itbecomes necessary that other things should be in keeping. If the ladieswill excuse me, I will say that I never yet saw a woman in America, ina sufficiently high dress to justify such an appendage as that whichMonson has just mentioned. The handkerchief ought not to cost more thanthe rest of the toilette. " "It is true, Mr. Shoreham, " put in Julia, with vivacity, if not withspirit, "that our women do not dress as women of rank sometimes dressin Europe; but, on the whole, I do not know that we are so much behindthem in appearance. " "Very far from it, my dear Miss Monson--as far as possible--I am thelast man to decry my beautiful countrywomen, who are second to noothers in appearance, certainly; if they do not dress as richly, it isbecause they do not need it. Mademoiselle Hennequin has no reason todeprecate comparisons--and--but--" "Certainly, " answered the governess, when she found the young manhesitated about proceeding, "certainly; I am not so bigoted, or soblind, as to wish to deny that the American ladies are veryhandsome--handsomer, as a whole, than those of my own country. It wouldbe idle to deny it--so are those of England and Italy. " "This is being very liberal, Mademoiselle Hennequin, and more than youare required to admit, " observed Mrs. Monson, in the kindest possibletone of voice, and I make no manner of doubt with a most benevolentsmile, though I could not see her. "Some of the most brilliantlybeautiful women I have ever seen, have been French--perhaps the MOSTbrilliantly beautiful. " "That is true, also, madame; but such is not the rule, I think. Boththe English and Americans seem to me handsomer, as a whole, than my owncountrywomen. " Now, nothing could be sweeter, or softer, or gentler, than the voice that made this great concession--for great it certainlywas, as coming from a woman. It appeared to me that the admission, too, was more than commonly generous, from the circumstance that thegoverness was not particularly pretty in her own person. It is true, Ihad not yet seen her, but my mesmeritic impulses induced me to fancy asmuch. "What say the YOUNG gentlemen to this?" asked Mr. Monson, laughing. "This is a question not to be settled altogether by ladies, old oryoung. " "Betts Shoreham has substantially told you what HE thinks; and now Iclaim a right to give MY opinion, " cried John Monson. "Like Betts, Iwill not decry my countrywomen, but I shall protest against thedoctrine of their having ALL the beauty in the world. By Jove! I haveseen in ONE opera-house at Rome, more beautiful women than I ever sawtogether, before or since, in any other place. Broadway never equalsthe corso, of a carnival. " {corso, of a carnival = the Corso, a main street in Rome, at Carnivaltime} "This is not sticking to the subject, " observed Mrs. Monson. "Pocket-handkerchiefs and housekeepers are our themes, and not prettywomen. Mademoiselle Hennequin, you are French enough, I am sure, tolike more sugar in your tea. " This changed the subject, which became a desultory discourse on thenews of the day. I could not understand half that was said, laboringunder the disadvantage of being shut up in a close drawer, on anotherfloor; and that, too, with six dozen of chattering French gloves lyingwithin a foot of me. Still I saw plainly enough, that MademoiselleHennequin, notwithstanding she was a governess, was a favorite in thefamily; and, I may add, out of it also--Betts Shoreham being no sort ofa connection of the Monsons. I thought, moreover, that I discoveredsigns of cross-purposes, as between the young people, though I think apocket-handkerchief subject to those general laws, concerning secrets, that are recognized among all honorable persons. Not having beenactually present on this occasion, should I proceed to relate ALL thatpassed, or that I fancied passed, it would be degrading myself to thelevel of those newspapers which are in the habit of retailing privateconversations, and which, like most small dealers in such things, neverretail fairly. I saw no more of my mistress for a week. I have reason to think thatshe had determined never to use me; but female resolutions, in mattersof dress, are not of the most inflexible nature. There was a certainMrs. Leamington, in New York, who gave a great ball about this time, and being in the same set as the Monsons, the family was invited as amatter of course. It would have surpassed the powers of self-denial tokeep me in the back-ground on such an occasion; and Julia, having firstcleared the way by owning her folly to a very indulgent father, and avery tormenting brother, determined nobly to bring me out, let theeffect on Betts Shoreham be what it might. As the father had no femalefriends to trouble him, he was asked to join the Monsons--the intimacyfully warranting the step. Julia never looked more lovely than she did that night. She anticipatedmuch pleasure, and her smiles were in proportion to her anticipations. When all was ready, she took me from the drawer, let a single drop oflavender fall in my bosom, and tripped down stairs toward thedrawing-room; Betts Shoreham and Mademoiselle Hennequin were together, and, for a novelty, alone. I say, for a novelty, because the governesshad few opportunities to see any one without the presence of a thirdperson, and because her habits, as an unmarried and well educatedFrench woman, indisposed her to tete-a-tetes with the other sex. Mymistress was lynx-eyed in all that related to Betts Shoreham and thegoverness. A single glance told her that their recent conversation hadbeen more than usually interesting; nor could I help seeing itmyself--the face of the governess being red, or in that conditionwhich, were she aught but a governess, would be called suffused withblushes. Julia felt uncomfortable--she felt herself to be de trop; andmaking an incoherent excuse, she had scarcely taken a seat on a sofa, before she arose, left the room, and ran up stairs again. In doing so, however, the poor girl left me inadvertently on the sofa she had sosuddenly quitted herself. {de trop = one too many} Betts Shoreham manifested no concern at this movement, thoughMademoiselle Hennequin precipitately changed her seat, which had beenquite near--approximately near, as one might say--to the chair occupiedby the gentleman. This new evolution placed the governess close at myside. Now whatever might have been the subject of discourse betweenthese two young persons--for Mademoiselle Hennequin was quite asyouthful as my mistress, let her beauty be as it might--it was notcontinued in my presence; on the contrary, the young lady turned hereyes on me, instead of looking at her companion, and then she raised mein her hand, and commenced a critical examination of my person. "That is a very beautiful handkerchief, Mademoiselle Hennequin, " saidBetts Shoreham, making the remark an excuse for following the younglady to the sofa. "Had we heard of its existence, our remarks the othernight, on such a luxury, might have been more guarded. " No answer was given. The governess gazed on me intently, and tearsbegan to course down her cheeks, notwithstanding it was evident shewished to conceal them. Ashamed of her weakness, she endeavored tosmile them away, and to appear cheerful. "What is there in that pocket-handkerchief, dear MademoiselleHennequin, " asked Betts Shoreham, who had a pernicious habit of callingyoung ladies with whom he was on terms of tolerable intimacy, "dear, "--a habit that sometimes misled persons as to the degree ofinterest he felt in his companions--"what CAN there be in thatpocket-handkerchief to excite tears from a mind and a heart like yours?" "My mind and heart, Mr. Shoreham, are not as faultless, perhaps, asyour goodness would make them out to be. ENVY is a very natural feelingfor a woman in matters of dress, they say; and, certainly, I am not theowner of so beautiful a pocket-handkerchief--pardon me, Mr. Shoreham; Icannot command myself, and must be guilty of the rudeness of leavingyou alone, if----" Mademoiselle Hennequin uttered no more, but rushed from the room, withan impetuosity of manner and feeling that I have often had occasion toremark in young French women. As a matter of course, I was left alonewith Betts Shoreham. I shall conceal nothing that ought to be told. Betts Shoreham, notwithstanding her dependent situation, and his own better fortunes, loved the governess, and the governess loved Betts Shoreham. These werefacts that I discovered at a later day, though I began to suspect thetruth from that moment. Neither, however, knew of the other's passion, though each hoped as an innocent and youthful love will hope, and eachtrembled as each hoped. Nothing explicit had been said that evening;but much, very much, in the way of sympathy and feeling had beenrevealed, and but for the inopportune entrance of Julia and myself, allmight have been told. CHAPTER XV. There is no moment in the life of man, when he is so keenly sensitiveon the subject of the perfection of his mistress, as that in which hecompletely admits her power. All his jealousy is actively alive to thesmallest shade of fault, although his feelings so much indispose him tosee any blemish. Betts Shoreham felt an unpleasant pang, even--yes, itamounted to a pang--for in a few moments he would have offered hishand--and men cannot receive any drawback with indifference at such aninstant--he felt an unpleasant pang, then, as the idea crossed his mindthat Mademoiselle Hennequin could be so violently affected by a feelingas unworthy as that of envy. He had passed several years abroad, andhad got the common notion about the selfishness of the French, and moreparticularly their women, and his prejudices took the alarm. But hislove was much the strongest, and soon looked down the distrust, howeverreasonable, under the circumstances, the latter might have appeared toa disinterested and cool-headed observer. He had seen so much meek andpure-spirited self-denial; so much high principle in the conduct ofMademoiselle Hennequin, during an intimacy which had now lasted sixmonths, that no passing feeling of doubt, like the one just felt, couldunsettle the confidence created by her virtues. I know it may take morecredit than belongs to most pocket-handkerchiefs, to maintain theproblem of the virtues of a French governess--a class of unfortunatepersons that seem doomed to condemnation by all the sages of our modernimaginative literature. An English governess, or even an Americangoverness, if, indeed, there be such a being in nature, may be everything that is respectable, and prudent, and wise, and good; but theFrench governess has a sort of ex-officio moral taint about her, thatthrows her without the pale of literary charities. Nevertheless, one ortwo of the most excellent women I have ever known, have been Frenchgovernesses, though I do not choose to reveal what this particularindividual of the class turned out to be in the end, until the momentfor the denouement of her character shall regularly arrive. There was not much time for Betts Shoreham to philosophize, andspeculate on female caprices and motives, John Monson making hisappearance in as high evening dress as well comported with what iscalled "republican simplicity. " John was a fine looking fellow, sixfeet and an inch, with large whiskers, a bushy head of hair, andparticularly white teeth. His friend was two inches shorter, of muchless showy appearance, but of a more intellectual countenance, and ofjuster proportions. Most persons, at first sight, would praise JohnMonson's person and face, but all would feel the superiority of BettsShoreham's, on an acquaintance. The smile of the latter, in particular, was as winning and amiable as that of a girl. It was that smile, on theone hand, and his active, never dormant sympathy for her situation, onthe other, which, united, had made such an inroad on the younggoverness's affections. "It's deuced cold, Betts, " said John, as he came near the fire; "thisdelightful country of ours has some confounded hard winters. I wonderif it be patriotic to say, OUR winters?" "It's all common property, Monson--but, what have become of your sisterand Mademoiselle Hennequin? They were both here a minute since, andhave vanished like--" "What?--ghosts!--no, you dare not call them THAT, lest their spiritstake it in dudgeon. Julie is no ghost, though she is sometimes sodelicate and ethereal, and as for Henny--" "Who?" exclaimed Betts, doubting if his ears were true. "Henny, Tote and Moll's governess. Whom do you think I could mean, else? I always call her Henny, en famille, and I look upon you asalmost one of us since our travels. " {en famille = at home} "I'm sure I can scarcely be grateful enough, my dear fellow--but, youdo not call her so to her face?" "Why--no--perhaps not exactly in her very teeth--and beautiful teethshe has, Betts--Julie's won't compare with them. " "Miss Monson has fine teeth, notwithstanding. Perhaps MademoiselleHennequin--" "Yes, Henny has the best teeth of any girl I know. They are none ofyour pearls--some pearls are yellowish, you know--but they are teeth;just what ought to be in a handsome girl's mouth. I have no objectionto pearls in a necklace, or in the pockets, but TEETH are what arewanted in a mouth, and Henny has just the finest set I know of. " Betts Shoreham fidgetted at the "Henny, " and he had the weakness, atthe moment, to wish the young governess were not in a situation to bespoken of so unceremoniously. He had not time to express this feeling, before John Monson got a glimpse of me, and had me under examinationbeneath the light of a very powerful lamp. I declare that, knowing hisaversion to our species, I felt a glow in all my system at theliberties he was taking. "What have we here?" exclaimed John Monson, in surprise; "has MissFlowergarden made a call, and is this her card?" "I believe that pocket-handkerchief belongs to your sister, " answeredBetts, drily, "if that be what you mean. " "Jule! well, I am sorry to hear it. I did hope that no sister of MINEwould run into any such foolish extravagance--do you own it, Jule?" whoentered the room at that instant--"is this bit of a rag yours, or is itnot more likely to be Henny's?" "Bit of a rag!" cried the sister, snatching me dexterously out of thespoiler's hands; "and 'Henny, ' too! This is not a bit of a rag, sir, but a very pretty pocket-handkerchief, and you must very well know thatMademoiselle Hennequin is not likely to be the owner of any thing ascostly. " "And what did it cost, pray? At least tell me THAT, if nothing else. " "I shall not gratify your curiosity, sir--a lady's wardrobe is not tobe dissected in this manner. " "Pray, sir, may I ask, " Mr. Monson now coming in, "did you pay forJule's handkerchief? Hang me, if I ever saw a more vulgar thing in mylife. " "The opinion is not likely to induce me to say yes, " answered thefather, half-laughing, and yet half-angry at his son's making suchallusions before Betts--"never mind him, my dear; the handkerchief isnot half as expensive as his own cigars. " "It shall be as thoroughly smoked, nevertheless, " rejoined John, whowas as near being spoilt, and escaping, as was at all necessary. "Ah, Julie, Julie, I'm ashamed of thee. " This was an inauspicious commencement for an evening from which so muchhappiness had been anticipated, but Mrs. Monson coming down, and thecarriages driving to the door, Mademoiselle Hennequin was summoned, andthe whole party left the house. As a matter of course, it was a little out of the common way that thegoverness was asked to make one, in the invitations given to theMonsons. But Mademoiselle Hennequin was a person of such perfect bonton, had so thoroughly the manners of a lady, and was generally reputedso accomplished, that most of the friends of the family felt themselvesbound to notice her. There was another reason, too, which justicerequires I should relate, though it is not so creditable to the younglady, as those already given. From some quarter, or other, a rumor hadgot abroad that Miss Monson's governess was of a noble family, acircumstance that I soon discovered had great influence in New York, doubtless by way of expiation for the rigid democratical notions thatso universally pervade its society. And here I may remark, en passant, that while nothing is considered so disreputable in America as to be"aristocratic" a word of very extensive signification, as it embracesthe tastes, the opinions, the habits, the virtues, and sometimes thereligion of the offending party--on the other hand, nothing is socertain to attract attention as nobility. How many poor Poles have Iseen dragged about and made lions of, merely because they were reputednoble, though the distinction in that country is pretty much the sameas that which exists in one portion of this great republic, where onehalf the population is white, and the other black; the former makingthe noble, and the latter the serf. {make one = be included; bon ton = superior manners and culture; noticeher = include her socially; "aristocratic" = Cooper was hypersensitiveto accusations of being "aristocratic"; poor Poles = since his days inParis in the early 1830s, Cooper had befriended and aided Poles fleeingRussian domination of their homeland} "What an exceedingly aristocratic pocket-handkerchief Miss Monson hasthis evening, " observed Mrs. G. To Mr. W. , as we passed into Mrs. Leamington's rooms, that evening; "I don't know when I've seen anything so aristocratic in society. " "The Monsons are very aristocratic in all things; I understand theydine at six. " "Yes, " put in Miss F. , "and use finger bowls every day. " "How aristocratic!" "Very--they even say that since they have come back from Europe, thelast time, matters are pushed farther than ever. The ladies insist onkneeling at prayers, instead of inclining, like all the rest of theworld. " "Did one ever hear of any thing so aristocratic!" "They DO say, but I will not vouch for its truth, that Mr. And Mrs. Monson insist on all their children calling them 'father' and 'mother, 'instead of 'pa' and 'ma. '" "Why, Mr. W. , that is downright monarchical, is it not?" "It's difficult to say what is, and what is not monarchical, now-a-days; though I think one is pretty safe in pronouncing itanti-republican. " "It is patriarchal, rather, " observed a wit, who belonged to the group. Into this "aristocratical" set I was now regularly introduced. Manylonging and curious eyes were drawn toward me, though the company inthis house was generally too well bred to criticise articles of dressvery closely. Still, in every country, aristocracy, monarchy, ordemocracy, there are privileged classes, and in all companiesprivileged persons. One of the latter took the liberty of asking Juliato leave me in her keeping, while the other danced, and I was thustemporarily transferred to a circle, in which several otherpocket-handkerchiefs had been collected, with a view to compare ourseveral merits and demerits. The reader will judge of my surprise, when, the examination being ended, and the judgment being renderedaltogether in my favor, I found myself familiarly addressed by the namethat I bore in the family circle, or, as No. 7; forpocket-handkerchiefs never speak to each other except on the principleof decimals. It was No. 12, or my relative of the extreme cote gauche, who had strangely enough found his way into this very room, and was nowlying cheek by jowl with me again, in old Mrs. Eyelet's lap. Familyaffection made us glad to meet, and we had a hundred questions to putto each other in a breath. {cote gauche = left wing, politically} No. 12 had commenced life a violent republican, and this simply becausehe read nothing but republican newspapers; a sufficiently simplereason, as all know who have heard both sides of any question. Shortlyafter I was purchased by poor, dear Adrienne, a young American travelerhad stepped into the magasin, and with the recklessness thatdistinguishes the expenditures of his countrymen, swept off half adozen of the family at one purchase. Accident gave him the liberal endof the piece, a circumstance to which he never would have assented hadhe known the fact, for being an attache of the legation of his owncountry, he was ex officio aristocratic. My brother amused meexceedingly with his account of the indignation he felt at findinghimself in a very hot-bed of monarchical opinions, in the set at theAmerican legation. What rendered these diplomates so much the morearistocratic, was the novelty of the thing, scarcely one of them havingbeen accustomed to society at home. After passing a few months in suchcompany, my brother's boss, who was a mere traveling diplomatist, camehome and began to run a brilliant career in the circles of New York, onthe faith of a European reputation. Alas! there is inpocket-handkerchief nature a disposition to act by contraries. The"more you call, the more I won't come" principle was active in poor No. 12's mind, and he had not been a month in New York society, before hecame out an ultra monarchist. New York society has more than one ofthese sudden political conversions to answer for. It is such a thoroughdevelopment of the democratic principle, that the faith of fewbelievers is found strong enough to withstand it. Every body knows howmuch a prospect varies by position. Thus, you shall stand on thearistocratic side of a room filled with company, and every thing willpresent a vulgar and democratic appearance; or, vice versa, you shalloccupy a place among the oi polloi, and all is aristocratic, exclusive, and offensive. So it had proved with my unfortunate kinsman. All hisnotions had changed; instead of finding the perfection he had preachedand extolled so long, he found nothing to admire, and every thing tocondemn. In a word, never was a pocket-handkerchief so miserable, andthat, too, on grounds so philosophical and profound, met with, on itsentrance into active life. I do believe, if my brother could have gotback to France, he would have written a book on America, which, whileit overlooked many vices and foibles that deserve to be cut up withoutmercy, would have thrown even de Tocqueville into the shade in the wayof political blunders. But I forbear; this latter writer beingunanswerable among those neophytes who having never thought of theirown system, unless as Englishmen, are overwhelmed with admiration atfinding any thing of another character advanced about it. At least, such are the sentiments entertained by a very high pricedpocket-handkerchief. {magasin = shop; ex-officio = by virtue of his position--Cooperfrequently criticized American diplomats for taking on the conservativeviews of the monarchial governments to which they were accredited; oipolloi = common people, rabble (Greek); de Tocqueville = Alexis deTocqueville = French writer (1805-1859), famous for his account ofAmerican culture, "Democracy in America" (1835 and 1840)--Cooper hadprovided Tocqueville with letters of introduction for his 1832 Americanvisit, but resented the extreme admiration accorded his book} Mademoiselle Hennequin, I took occasion to remark, occupied much of theattention of Betts Shoreham, at Mrs. Leamington's ball. They understoodeach other perfectly, though the young man could not get over thefeeling created by the governess's manner when she first met with me. Throughout the evening, indeed, her eye seemed studiously averted fromme, as if she struggled to suppress certain sentiments or sensations, that she was unwilling to betray. Now, these sentiments, if sentimentsthey were, or sensations, as they were beyond all dispute, might beenvy--repinings at another's better fortunes--or they might be excitedby philosophical and commendable reflections touching those follieswhich so often lead the young and thoughtless into extravagance. Bettstried hard to believe them the last, though, in his inmost heart, hewould a thousand times rather that the woman he loved should smile on aweakness of this sort, in a girl of her own age, than that she shouldshow herself to be prematurely wise, if it was wisdom purchased at theexpense of the light-heartedness and sympathies of her years and sex. On a diminished scale, I had awakened in his bosom some such uneasydistrust as the pocket-handkerchief of Desdemona is known to havearoused in that of the Moor. {Shakespeare, "Othello"} Nor can I say that Julia Monson enjoyed herself as much as she hadanticipated. Love she did not Betts Shoreham; for that was a passionher temperament and training induced her to wait for some prettyunequivocal demonstrations on the part of the gentleman before sheyielded to it; but she LIKED him vastly, and nothing would have beeneasier than to have blown this smouldering preference into a flame. Shewas too young, and, to say the truth, too natural and uncalculating, tobe always remembering that Betts owned a good old-fashioned landedestate that was said to produce twenty, and which did actually produceeleven thousand a year, nett; and that his house in the country wasgenerally said to be one of the very best in the state. For all thisshe cared absolutely nothing, or nothing worth mentioning. There wereenough young men of as good estates, and there were a vast many of noestates at all, ready and willing to take their chances in the "cuttingup" of "old Monson, " but there were few who were as agreeable, as wellmannered, as handsome, or who had seen as much of the world, as BettsShoreham. Of course, she had never fancied the young man in love withherself, but, previously to the impression she had quite recentlyimbibed of his attachment to her mother's governess, she had beenaccustomed to think such a thing MIGHT come to pass, and that sheshould not be sorry if it did. I very well understand this is not the fashionable, or possibly thepolite way of describing those incipient sentiments which form the germof love in the virgin affections of young ladies, and that a skillfuland refined poet would use very different language on the occasion; butI began this history to represent things as they are, and such is themanner in which "Love's Young Dream" appears to a pocket-handkerchief. {"Love's Young Dream" = popular poem by Thomas Moore (1780-1852)} Among other things that were unpleasant, Miss Monson was compelled tooverhear sundry remarks of Betts's devotion to the governess, as shestood in the dance, some of which reached me, also. "Who is the lady to whom Mr. Shoreham is so devoue this evening?" askedMiss N. Of Miss T. "'Tis quite a new face, and, if one might be sopresuming, quite a new manner. " {devoue = devoted, attentive} "That is Mademoiselle Henny, the governess of Mrs. Monson's children, my dear. They say she is all accomplishments, and quite a miracle ofpropriety. It is also rumored that she is, some way, a verydistinguished person, reduced by those horrid revolutions of which theyhave so many in Europe. " "Noble, I dare say!" "Oh! that at least. Some persons affirm that she is semi-ROYAL. Thecountry is full of broken-down royalty and nobility. Do you think shehas an aristocratic air?" "Not in the least--her ears are too small. " "Why, my dear, that is the very symbol of nobility! When my AuntHarding was in Naples, she knew the Duke of Montecarbana, intimately;and she says he had the smallest ears she ever beheld on a human being. The Montecarbanas are a family as old as the ruins of Paestum, theysay. " {Paestum = ancient Roman city outside Naples} "Well, to my notion, nobility and teaching little girls French andItalian, and their gammes, have very little in common. I had thoughtMr. Shoreham an admirer of Miss Monson's. " {gammes = musical scales} Now, unfortunately, my mistress overheard this remark. Her feelingswere just in that agitated state to take the alarm, and she determinedto flirt with a young man of the name of Thurston, with a view toawaken Betts's jealousy, if he had any, and to give vent to her ownspleen. This Tom Thurston was one of those tall, good-looking youngfellows who come from, nobody knows where, get into society, nobodyknows how, and live on, nobody knows what. It was pretty generallyunderstood that he was on the look-out for a rich wife, andencouragement from Julia Monson was not likely to be disregarded bysuch a person. To own the truth, my mistress carried matters much toofar--so far, indeed, as to attract attention from every body but thosemost concerned; viz. Her own mother and Betts Shoreham. Althoughelderly ladies play cards very little, just now, in American society, or, indeed, in any other, they have their inducements for rendering thewell-known office of matron at a ball, a mere sinecure. Mrs. Monson, too, was an indulgent mother, and seldom saw any thing very wrong inher own children. Julia, in the main, had sufficient retenue, and asuspicion of her want of discretion on this point, was one of the lastthings that would cross the fond parent's mind at Mrs. Leamington'sball. Others, however, were less confiding. {retenue = discretion} "Your daughter is in HIGH SPIRITS to-night, " observed a single lady ofa certain age, who was sitting near Mrs. Monson; "I do not remember tohave ever seen her so GAY. " "Yes, dear girl, she IS happy, "--poor Julia was any thing but THAT, just then--"but youth is the time for happiness, if it is ever to comein this life. " "Is Miss Monson addicted to such VERY high spirits?" continued one, whowas resolute to torment, and vexed that the mother could not besufficiently alarmed to look around. "Always--when in agreeable company. I think it a great happiness, ma'am, to possess good spirits. " "No doubt--yet one needn't be always fifteen, as Lady Wortley Montaguesaid, " muttered the other, giving up the point, and changing her seat, in order that she might speak her mind more freely into the ear of acongenial spirit. {Lady Wortley Montague = Lady Mary Wortley Montague (1689-1762), English essayist and letter-writer} Half an hour later we were all in the carriages, again, on our wayhome; all, but Betts Shoreham, I should say, for having seen the ladiescloaked, he had taken his leave at Mrs. Leamington's door, as uncertainas ever whether or not to impute envy to a being who, in all otherrespects, seemed to him to be faultless. He had to retire to an uneasypillow, undetermined whether to pursue his original intention of makingthe poor friendless French girl independent, by an offer of his hand, or whether to decide that her amiable and gentle qualities were allseeming, and that she was not what she appeared to be. Betts Shorehamowed his distrust to national prejudice, and well was he paid forentertaining so vile a companion. Had Mademoiselle Hennequin been anAmerican girl, he would not have thought a second time of the emotionshe had betrayed in regarding my beauties; but he had been taught tobelieve all French women managing and hypocritical; a notion that theexperience of a young man in Paris would not be very likely to destroy. {managing = manipulative} "Well, " cried John Monson, as the carriage drew from Mrs. Leamington'sdoor, "this is the last ball I shall go to in New York;" whichdeclaration he repeated twenty times that season, and as often broke. "What is the matter now, Jack?" demanded the father. "I found it verypleasant--six or seven of us old fellows made a very agreeable eveningof it. " "Yes, I dare say, sir; but you were not compelled to dance in a roomeighteen by twenty-four, with a hundred people treading on your toes, or brushing their heads in your face. " "Jack can find no room for dancing since the great ball of the Salle del'Opera, at Paris, " observed the mother smiling. "I hope YOU enjoyedyourself better, Julia?" {Salle de l'Opera = Paris Opera House--the building referred to byCooper served as Opera House from 1821-1873 and was replaced by thepresent building in 1874} My mistress started; then she answered with a sort of hysterical glee-- "Oh! I have found the evening delightful, ma'am. I could have remainedtwo hours longer. " "And you, Mademoiselle Hennequin; I hope you, too, were agreeablyentertained?" The governess answered meekly, and with a slight tremor in her voice. "Certainly, madame, " she said, "I have enjoyed myself; though dancingalways seems an amusement I have no right to share in. " There was some little embarrassment, and I could perceive an impulse inJulia to press nearer to her rival, as if impelled by a generous wishto manifest her sympathy. But Tom's protest soon silenced every thingelse, and we alighted, and soon went to rest. The next morning Julia sent for me down to be exhibited to one or twofriends, my fame having spread in consequence of my late appearance. Iwas praised, kissed, called a pretty dear, and extolled like a spoiledchild, though Miss W. Did not fail to carry the intelligence, far andnear, that Miss Monson's much-talked-of pocket-handkerchief was nothingafter all but the THING Miss Halfacre had brought out the night of theday her father had stopped payment. Some even began to nick-name me theinsolvent pocket-handkerchief. I thought Julia sad, after her friends had all left her. I layneglected on a sofa, and the pretty girl's brow became thoughtful. Of asudden she was aroused from a brown study--reflective mood, perhaps, would be a more select phrase--by the unexpected appearance of youngThurston. There was a sort of "Ah! have I caught you alone!" expressionabout this adventurer's eye, even while he was making his bow, thatstruck me. I looked for great events, nor was I altogetherdisappointed. In one minute he was seated at Julia's side, on the samesofa, and within two feet of her; in two more he had brought in playhis usual tricks of flattery. My mistress listened languidly, and yetnot altogether without interest. She was piqued at Betts Shoreham'sindifference, had known her present admirer several months, if dancingin the same set can be called KNOWING, and had never been made love tobefore, at least in a manner so direct and unequivocal. The young manhad tact enough to discover that he had an advantage, and fearful thatsome one might come in and interrupt the tete a tete, he magnanimouslyresolved to throw all on a single cast, and come to the point at once. "I think, Miss Monson, " he continued, after a very beautiful specimenof rigmarole in the way of love-making, a rigmarole that might havevery fairly figured in an editor's law and logic, after he had beenbeaten in a libel suit, "I think, Miss Monson, you cannot haveoverlooked the VERY particular attentions I have endeavored to pay you, ever since I have been so fortunate as to have made your acquaintance?" "I!--Upon my word, Mr. Thurston, I am not at all conscious of havingbeen the object of any such attentions!" "No?--That is ever the way with the innocent and single-minded! This iswhat we sincere and diffident men have to contend with in affairs ofthe heart. Our bosoms may be torn with ten thousand distracting cares, and yet the modesty of a truly virtuous female heart shall be soabsorbed in its own placid serenity as to be indifferent to the pangsit is unconsciously inflicting!" "Mr. Thurston, your language is strong--and--a little--a littleunintelligible. " "I dare say--ma'am--I never expect to be intelligible again. When the'heart is oppressed with unutterable anguish, condemned to conceal thatpassion which is at once the torment and delight of life'--when 'hislip, the ruby harbinger of joy, lies pale and cold, the miserableappendage of a mang--' that is, Miss Monson, I mean to say, when allour faculties are engrossed by one dear object we are often incoherentand mysterious, as a matter of course. " Tom Thurston came very near wrecking himself on the quicksands of theromantic school. He had begun to quote from a speech delivered byGouverneur Morris, on the right of deposit at New Orleans, and which hehad spoken at college, and was near getting into a part of the subjectthat might not have been so apposite, but retreated in time. By way ofclimax, the lover laid his hand on me, and raised me to his eyes in anabstracted manner, as if unconscious of what he was doing, and wantedto brush away a tear. {Gouverneur Morris = American Federalist leader and diplomat(1752-1816)--a 1795 American treaty with Spain granted the UnitedStates the right of navigation on the Mississippi River and to depositgoods at New Orleans without paying customs duties} "What a confounded rich old fellow the father must be, " thought Tom, "to give her such pocket-handkerchiefs!" I felt like a wren that escapes from the hawk when the rogue laid medown. Alas! Poor Julia was the dupe of all this acting. Totally unpracticedherself, abandoned by the usages of the society in which she had beeneducated very much to the artifices of any fortune-hunter, and vexedwith Betts Shoreham, she was in the worst possible frame of mind toresist such eloquence and love. She had seen Tom at all the balls inthe best houses, found no fault with his exterior and manners, both ofwhich were fashionable and showy, and now discovered that he had a mostsympathetic heart, over which, unknown to herself, she had obtained avery unlimited control. "You do not answer me, Miss Monson, " continued Tom peeping out at oneside of me, for I was still at his eyes--"you do not answer me, cruel, inexorable girl!" "What WOULD you have me say, Mr. Thurston?" "Say YES, dearest, loveliest, most perfect being of the whole humanfamily. " "YES, then; if that will relieve your mind, it is a relief very easilybestowed. " Now, Tom Thurston was as skilled in a fortune-hunter's wiles asNapoleon was in military strategy. He saw he had obtained an immenseadvantage for the future, and he forbore to press the matter anyfurther at the moment. The "yes" had been uttered more in pleasantrythan with any other feeling, but, by holding it in reserve, presumingon it gradually, and using it in a crisis, it might be worth--"let mesee, " calculated Tom, as he went whistling down Broadway, "that 'yes'may be made to yield at least a cool $100, 000. There are John, thisgirl, and two little ones. Old Monson is worth every dollar of$700, 000--none of your skyrockets, but a known, old fortune, insubstantial houses and lands--let us suppose the old woman outlive him, and that she gets her full thirds; THAT will leave $466, 660. PerhapsJohn may get a couple of hundred thousand, and even THEN each of thegirls will have $88, 888. If one of the little things should happen todie, and there's lots of scarlet fever about, why that would fetch itup at once to a round hundred thousand. I don't think the old womanwould be likely to marry again at her time of life. One mustn'tcalculate too confidently on THAT, however, as I would have her myselffor half of SUCH thirds. " {full thirds = Old Monson's widow would under American common lawreceive a life interest in one-third of his real property, called adower right, which would revert to his children if she died withoutremarrying. } CHAPTER XVI. For a week nothing material transpired. All that time I lay in thedrawer, gaining a knowledge of what passed, in the best manner I could. Betts Shoreham was a constant visitor at the house, and Tom Thurstonmade his appearance with a degree of punctuality that began to attractnotice, among the inmates of the house on the opposite side of thestreet. All this time, however, Tom treated Julia with the greatestrespect, and even distance, turning more of his attention toward Mrs. Monson. He acted in this manner, because he thought he had secured asufficient lien on the young lady, by means of her "yes, " and knew howimportant it was for one who could show none of the usual inducementsfor consent, to the parents, to obtain the good-will of the "old lady. " At the end of the week, Mrs. Monson opened her house to receive theworld. As a matter of course, I was brought out on this occasion. Now, Betts Shoreham and Mademoiselle Hennequin had made great progresstoward an understanding in the course of this week, though the ladybecoming more and more conscious of the interest she had created in theheart of the gentleman, her own conduct got to be cautious andreserved. At length, Betts actually carried matters so far as to writea letter, that was as much to the point as a man could very well come. In a word, he offered his hand to the excellent young French woman, assuring her, in very passionate and suitable terms, that she had beenmistress of his affections ever since the first month of theiracquaintance. In this letter, he implored her not to be so cruel as todeny him an interview, and there were a few exceedingly prettyreproaches, touching her recent coy and reserved deportment. Mademoiselle Hennequin was obliged to read this letter in Julia's room, and she took such a position to do it, as exposed every line to myimpertinent gaze, as I lay on the bed, among the other finery that wasgot out for the evening. Mrs. Monson was present, and she had summonedthe governess, in order to consult her on the subject of some of theornaments of the supper table. Fortunately, both Julia and her motherwere too much engaged to perceive the tears that rolled down the cheeksof the poor stranger, as she read the honest declaration of a fervidand manly love, nor did either detect the manner in which the letterwas pressed to Mademoiselle Hennequin's heart, when she had donereading it the second time. Just at this instant a servant came to announce Mr. Shoreham's presencein the "breakfast-room. " This was a retired and little frequented partof the house at that hour, Betts having been shown into it, inconsequence of the preparations that were going on in the properreception-rooms. "Julia, my dear, you will have to go below--although it is at a mostinconvenient moment. " "No, mother--let Mr. Betts Shoreham time his visits better--George, saythat the ladies are ENGAGED. " "That will not do, " interrupted the mother, in some concern--"we aretoo intimate for such an excuse--would YOU, Mademoiselle Hennequin, have the goodness to see Mr. Shoreham for a few minutes--you must comeinto our American customs sooner or later, and this may be a favorablemoment to commence. " Mrs. Monson laughed pleasantly as she made this request, and herkindness and delicacy to the governess were too marked and unremittedto permit the latter to think of hesitating. She had laid her ownhandkerchief down at my side, to read the letter, but feeling thenecessity of drying her eyes, she caught me up by mistake, smiled herassent, and left the apartment. Mademoiselle Hennequin did not venture below, until she had gone intoher own room. Here she wept freely for a minute or two, and then shebathed her eyes in cold water, and used the napkin in drying them. Owing to this circumstance, I was fortunately a witness of all thatpassed in her interview with her lover. The instant Betts Shoreham saw that he was to have an interview withthe charming French girl, instead of with Julia Monson, his countenancebrightened; and, as if supposing the circumstance proof of his success, he seized the governess' hand, and carried it to his lips in a verycarnivorous fashion. The lady, however, succeeded in retaining herhand, if she did not positively preserve it from being devoured. "A thousand, thousand thanks, dearest Mademoiselle Hennequin, " saidBetts, in an incoherent, half-sane manner; "you have read my letter, and I may interpret this interview favorably. I meant to have told allto Mrs. Monson, had SHE come down, and asked her kind interference--butit is much, much better as it is. " "You will do well, monsieur, not to speak to Madame Monson on thesubject at all, " answered Mademoiselle Hennequin, with an expression ofcountenance that I found quite inexplicable; since it was not happy, nor was it altogether the reverse. "This must be our last meeting, andit were better that no one knew any thing of its nature. " "Then my vanity--my hopes have misled me, and I have no interest inyour feelings!" "I do not say THAT, monsieur; oh! non--non--I am far from saying asmuch as THAT"--poor girl, her face declared a hundred times more thanher tongue, that she was sincere--"I do not--CANNOT say I have nointerest in one, who so generously overlooks my poverty, my utterdestitution of all worldly greatness, and offers to share with me hisfortune and his honorable position--" "This is not what I ask--what I had hoped to earn--gratitude is notlove. " "Gratitude easily becomes love in a woman's heart"--answered the dearcreature, with a smile and a look that Betts would have been a meredolt not to have comprehended--"and it is my duty to take care that MYgratitude does not entertain this weakness. " "Mademoiselle Hennequin, for mercy's sake, be as frank and simple as Iknow your nature prompts--DO you, CAN you love me?" Of course such a direct question, put in a very categorical way, causedthe questioned to blush, if it did not induce her to smile. The firstshe did in a very pretty and engaging manner, though I thought shehesitated about indulging in the last. "Why should I say 'yes, ' when it can lead to no good result?" "Then destroy all hope at once, and say NO. " "That would be to give you--to give us both unnecessary pain. Besides, it might not be strictly true--I COULD love--Oh! No one can tell how myheart COULD love where it was right and proper. " After this, I suppose it is unnecessary for me to say, that Betts soonbrought the category of possibilities into one of certainty. To own thetruth, he carried every thing by his impetuosity, reducing thegoverness to own that what she admitted she COULD do so well, she hadalready done in a very complete and thorough manner. I enjoyed thisscene excessively, nor was it over in a minute. Mademoiselle Hennequinused me several times to wipe away tears, and it is strong proof howmuch both parties were thinking of other matters, that neitherdiscovered who was present at so interesting a tete-a-tete. At length came the denouement. After confessing how much she lovedBetts, how happy she would be could she be his slave all the days ofher life, how miserable she was in knowing that he had placed hisaffections on HER, and how much more miserable she should be, had shelearned he had NOT, Mademoiselle Hennequin almost annihilated the youngman by declaring that it was utterly impossible for her to consent tobecome his wife. The reason was the difference in fortune, and theimpossibility that she should take advantage of his passion to lead himinto a connection that he might afterwards regret. Against thisdecision, Betts reasoned warmly, but seriously, in vain. HadMademoiselle Hennequin been an American, instead of a French, girl, herfeelings would not have been so sensitive on this point, for, in thisgreat republic, every body but the fortune-hunters, an exceedinglycontemptible class, considers a match without money, quite as much amatter of course, as a match with. But, the governess had been educatedunder a different system, and it struck her imagination as very proper, that she should make both herself and her lover miserable, because hehad two hundred thousand dollars, and she had not as many hundreds. Allthis strangely conflicted with Betts' preconceived opinion of a Frenchwoman's selfishness, and, while he was disposed to believe his adoredperfection, he almost feared it was a trick. Of such contradictorymaterials is the human mind composed! At length the eyes of Betts fell on me, who was still in the hand ofMademoiselle Hennequin, and had several times been applied to her eyesunheeded. It was evident I revived unpleasant recollections, and theyoung man could not avoid letting an expression escape him, thatsufficiently betrayed his feelings. "This handkerchief!" exclaimed the young governess--"Ah! it is that ofMademoiselle Julie, which I must have taken by mistake. But, why shouldthis handkerchief awaken any feeling in you, monsieur? You are notabout to enact the Moor, in your days of wooing?" {the Moor = from Shakespeare's "Othello"} This was said sweetly, and withal a little archly, for the poor girlwas glad to turn the conversation from its harassing and painfulpoints; but Betts was in no humor for pleasantry, and he spoke out in away to give his mistress some clue to his thoughts. "That cursed handkerchief"--it is really indecent in young men to usesuch improper language, but they little heed what they say whenstrongly excited--"that cursed handkerchief has given me as much pain, as it appears also to have given you. I wish I knew the real secret ofits connection with your feelings; for I confess, like that ofDesdemona's, it has excited distrust, though for a very differentcause. " The cheeks of Mademoiselle Hennequin were pale, and her browthoughtful. Still, she had a sweet smile for Betts; and, thoughignorant of the nature of his suspicions, which she would have scarcelypardoned, it was her strongest wish to leave no darker cloud betweenthem, than the one she felt it her duty to place there herself. Sheanswered, therefore, frankly and simply, though not without betrayingstrong emotion as she proceeded. "This handkerchief is well known to me, " answered the young Frenchwoman; "it revives the recollections of some of the most painful scenesof a life that has never seen much sunshine. You have heard me speak ofa grandmother, Mr. Shoreham, who took care of my childhood, and whodied in my arms. That handkerchief, I worked for her support in herlast illness, and this lace--yes, this beautiful lace was a part ofthat beloved grandmother's bridal trousseau. I put it where you see it, to enhance the value of my labors. " "I see it all!" exclaimed the repentant Betts--"FEEL it all, dearest, dearest Mademoiselle Hennequin; and I hope this exquisite work, thisrefined taste brought all the comfort and reward you had a right toanticipate. " A shade of anguish crossed the face of Adrienne--for it was noother--as she gazed at me, and recalled all the scenes of hersufferings and distress. Then I knew her again, for time and a poormemory, with some development of person, had caused me to forget theappearance of the lovely creature who may be said to have made me whatI am; but one glance at her, with that expression of intense sufferingon her countenance, renewed all my earlier impressions. "I received as much as I merited, perhaps, " returned the meek-mindedgirl--for she was proud only in insisting on what she fanciedright--"and enough to give my venerated parent Christian burial. Theywere days of want and sorrow that succeeded, during which, Betts, Itoiled for bread like an Eastern slave, the trodden-on and abusedhireling of a selfish milliner. Accident at length placed me in afamily as a governess. This family happened to be acquainted withMadame Monson, and an offer that was brilliant to me, in mycircumstances, brought me to America. You see by all this how unfit Iam to be your wife, monsieur. You would blush to have it said you hadmarried a French milliner!" "But you are not a milliner, in that sense, dearest Adrienne--for youmust suffer me to call you by that name--you are a lady reduced byrevolutions and misfortunes. The name of Hennequin I know isrespectable, and what care I for money, when so much worth is to befound on your side of the scale. Money would only oppress me, undersuch circumstances. " "Your generosity almost overcomes my scruples, but it may not be. Thename to which I am entitled is certainly not one to be ashamed of--itis far more illustrious than that of Hennequin, respectable as is thelast; but of what account is a NAME to one in my condition!" "And your family name is not Hennequin?" asked the lover, anxiously. "It is not. My poor grandmother assumed the name of Hennequin, when wewent last to Paris, under an apprehension that the guillotine mightfollow the revolution of July, as it had followed that of '89. Thisname she enjoined it on me to keep, and I have never thought it prudentto change it. I am of the family of de la Rocheaimard. " The exclamation which burst from the lips of Betts Shoreham, betokenedboth surprise and delight. He made Adrienne repeat her declarations, and even desired her to explain her precise parentage. The reader willremember, that there had been an American marriage in Adrienne'sfamily, and that every relative the poor girl had on earth, was amongthese distant connections on this side of the Atlantic. One of theserelatives, though it was no nearer than a third cousin, was BettsShoreham, whose great-grandmother had been a bona fide de laRocheaimard, and who was enabled, at once, to point out to the poordeserted orphan some forty or fifty persons, who stood in the samedegree of affinity to her. It is needless to say that this conversationwas of absorbing interest to both; so much so, indeed, that Bettsmomentarily forgot his love, and by the time it had ended, Adrienne wasdisposed to overlook most of her over scrupulous objections torewarding that very passion. But the hour admonished them of thenecessity of separating. "And now, my beloved cousin, " said Betts Shoreham, as he rose to quitthe room, seizing Adrienne's unresisting hand--"now, my own Adrienne, you will no longer urge your sublimated notions of propriety against mysuit. I am your nearest male relative, and have a right to yourobedience--and I command that you be the second de la Rocheaimard whobecame the wife of a Shoreham. " "Tell me, mon cher cousin, " said Adrienne, smiling through hertears--"were your grand-parents, my good uncle and aunt, were theyhappy? Was their union blessed?" {mon cher cousin = my dear cousin} "They were miracles of domestic felicity, and their happiness haspassed down in tradition, among all their descendants. Even religioncould not furnish them with a cause for misunderstanding. That examplewhich they set to the last century, we will endeavor to set to this. " Adrienne smiled, kissed her hand to Betts, and ran out of the room, leaving me forgotten on the sofa. Betts Shoreham seized his hat, andleft the house, a happy man; for, though he had no direct promise asyet, he felt as reasonably secure of success, as circumstances required. CHAPTER XVII. Five minutes later, Tom Thurston entered, and Julia Monson came down toreceive HIM, her pique not interfering, and it being rather stylish tobe disengaged on the morning of the day when the household was in allthe confusion of a premeditated rout. {premeditated rout = planned party} "This is SO good of you, Miss Monson, " said Tom, as he made his bow--Iheard it all, being still on the sofa--"This is SO good of you, whenyour time must have so many demands on it. " "Not in the least, Mr. Thurston--mamma and the housekeeper have settledevery thing, and I am really pleased to see you, as you can give me thehistory of the new play--" "Ah! Miss Monson, my heart--my faculties--my ideas--" Tom was gettingbothered, and he made a desperate effort to extricate himself--"Inshort, my JUDGMENT is so confused and monopolized, that I have nopowers left to think or speak of plays. In a word, I was not there. " "That explains it, then--and what has thus confused your mind, Mr. Thurston?" "The approach of this awful night. You will be surrounded by a host ofadmirers, pouring into your ears their admiration and love, and thenwhat shall I have to support me, but that 'yes, ' with which you onceraised me from the depths of despair to an elevation of happiness thatwas high as the highest pinnacle of the caverns of Kentucky; raising mefrom the depths of Chimborazo. " {caverns of Kentucky = Mammoth Cave; Chimborazo = a 20, 500 foot volcanoin Ecuador} Tom meant to reverse this image, but love is proverbially desperate inits figures of speech, and any thing was better than appearing tohesitate. Nevertheless, Miss Monson was too well instructed, and hadtoo much real taste, not to feel surprise at all this extravagance ofdiction and poetry. "I am not certain, Mr. Thurston, that I rightly understand you, " shesaid. "Chimborazo is not particularly low, nor are the caverns ofKentucky so strikingly elevated. " "Ascribe it all to that fatal, heart-thrilling, hope-inspiring 'yes, 'loveliest of human females, " continued Tom, kneeling with some caution, lest the straps of his pantaloons should give way--"Impute all to yourown lucid ambiguity, and to the torments of hope that I experience. Repeat that 'yes, ' lovely, consolatory, imaginative being, and raise mefrom the thrill of depression, to the liveliest pulsations of all humanacmes. " "Hang it, " thought Tom, "if she stand THAT, I shall presently beashore. Genius, itself, can invent nothing finer. " But Julia did stand it. She admired Tom for his exterior, but theadmiration of no moderately sensible woman could overlook rodomontadeso exceedingly desperate. It was trespassing too boldly on theproprieties to utter such nonsense to a gentlewoman, and Tom, who hadgot his practice in a very low school, was doomed to discover that hehad overreached himself. "I am not certain I quite understand you, Mr. Thurston, " answered thehalf-irritated, half-amused young lady; "your language is so veryextraordinary--your images so unusual--" "Say, rather, that it is your own image, loveliest incorporation ofperceptible incarnations, " interrupted Tom, determined to go for thewhole, and recalling some rare specimens of magazine eloquence--"Talknot of images, obdurate maid, when you are nothing but an imageyourself. " "I! Mr. Thurston--and of what is it your pleasure to accuse me of beingthe image?" "O! unutterable wo--yes, inexorable girl, your vacillating 'yes' hasrendered me the impersonation of that oppressive sentiment, of whichyour beauty and excellence have become the mocking reality. Alas, alas!that bearded men, "--Tom's face was covered with hair--"Alas, alas! thatbearded men should be brought to weep over the contrarieties of womanlycaprice. " Here Tom bowed his head, and after a grunting sob or two, he raised hishandkerchief in a very pathetic manner to his face, and THOUGHT tohimself--"Well, if she stand THAT, the Lord only knows what I shall saynext. " As for Julia, she was amused, though at first she had been a littlefrightened. The girl had a good deal of spirit, and she had tant soitpeu of mother Eve's love of mischief in her. She determined to "makecapital" out of the affair, as the Americans say, in shop-keeping slang. {tant soit peu = an ever so tiny amount} "What is the 'yes, ' of which you speak, " she inquired, "and, on whichyou seem to lay so much stress?" "That 'yes' has been my bane and antidote, " answered Tom, rallying fora new and still more desperate charge. "When first pronounced by yourrubicund lips, it thrilled on my amazed senses like a beacon of light--" "Mr. Thurston--Mr. Thurston--what DO you mean?" "Ah, d--n it, " thought Tom, "I should have said HUMID light'--how thedeuce did I come to forget that word--it would have rounded thesentence beautifully. " "What do I mean, angel of 'humid light, '" answered Tom, aloud; "I meanall I say, and lots of feeling besides. When the heart is anguishedwith unutterable emotion, it speaks in accents that deaden all thenerves, and thrill the ears. " Tom was getting to be animated, and whenthat was the case, his ideas flowed like a torrent after athunder-shower, or in volumes, and a little muddily. "What do I mean, indeed; I mean to have YOU, " he THOUGHT, "and at least, eighty thousanddollars, or dictionaries, Webster's inclusive, were made in vain. " "This is very extraordinary, Mr. Thurston, " rejoined Julia, whose senseof womanly propriety began to take the alarm; "and I must insist on anexplanation. Your language would seem to infer--really, I do not know, what it does NOT seem to infer. Will you have the goodness to explainwhat you mean by that 'yes?'" "Simply, loveliest and most benign of your sex, that once already, inanswer to a demand of your hand, you deigned to reply with thatenergetic and encouraging monosyllable, yes--dear and categoricalaffirmative--" exclaimed Tom, going off again at half-cock, highlyimpressed with the notion that rhapsody, instead of music, was the foodof love--"Yes, dear and categorical affirmative, with what ecstasy didnot my drowsy ears drink in the melodious sounds--what extravagance ofdelight my throbbing heart echo its notes, on the wings of the unseenwinds--in short, what considerable satisfaction your consent gave mypulsating mind!" "Consent!--Consent is a strong WORD, Mr. Thurston!" "It is, indeed, adorable Julia, and it is also a strong THING. I'veknown terrible consequences arise from the denial of a consent, nothalf as explicit as your own. " "Consequences!--may I ask, sir, to what consequences you allude?" "The consequences, Miss Monson--that is, the consequences of a violatedtroth, I mean--they may be divided into three parts--" here, Tom gotup, brushed his knees, each in succession, with hispocket-handkerchief, and began to count on his fingers, like a lawyerwho is summing up an argument--"Yes, Miss Julia, into three parts. First come the pangs of unrequited love; on these I propose to enlargepresently. Next come the legal effects, always supposing that thewronged party can summon heart enough to carry on a suit, with bruisedaffections--" "hang it, " thought Tom, "why did I not think of that word'bruised' while on my knees; it would tell like a stiletto--" "Yes, Miss Julia, if 'bruised affections' would permit the soul to descend tosuch preliminaries. The last consequence is, the despair of hopedeferred. " "All this is so extraordinary, Mr. Thurston, that I insist on knowingwhy you have presumed to address such language to me--yes, sir, INSISTon knowing your reason. " Tom was dumbfounded. Now, that he was up, and looking about him, he hadan opportunity of perceiving that his mistress was offended, and thathe had somewhat overdone the sublime, poetical and affecting. With asudden revulsion of feeling and tactics, he determined to throwhimself, at once, into the penitent and candid. "Ah, Miss Monson, " he cried, somewhat more naturally--"I see I haveoffended and alarmed you. But, impute it all to love. The strength ofmy passion is such, that I became desperate, and was resolved to tryany expedient that I thought might lead to success. " "That might be pardoned, sir, were it not for the extraordinarycharacter of the expedient. Surely, you have never seen in me any tastefor the very extraordinary images and figures of speech you have used, on this occasion. " "This handkerchief, "--said Tom, taking me from the sofa--"thishandkerchief must bear all the blame. But for this, I should not havedreamt of running so much on the high-pressure principle; but love, youknow, Miss Julia, is a calculation, like any other great event of life, and must be carried on consistently. " "And, pray, sir, how can that handkerchief have brought about any suchresult?" "Ah! Miss Monson, you ask me to use a most killing frankness! Had wenot better remain under the influence of the poetical star?" "If you wish to ensure my respect, or esteem, Mr. Thurston, it isnecessary to deal with me in perfect sincerity. Nothing but truth willever be pleasing to me. " "Hang it, " THOUGHT Tom, again, "who knows? She is whimsical, and mayreally like to have the truth. It's quite clear her heart is asinsensible to eloquence and poetry, as a Potter's Field wall, and itmight answer to try her with a little truth. Your $80, 000 girls getSUCH notions in their heads, that there's no analogy, as one might say, between them and the rest of the species. Miss Julia, " continuingaloud, "my nature is all plain-dealing, and I am delighted to find acongenial spirit. You must have observed something very peculiar in mylanguage, at the commencement of this exceedingly interesting dialogue?" "I will not deny it, Mr. Thurston; your language was, to say the least, VERY peculiar. " "Lucid, but ambiguous; pathetic, but amusing; poetical, butcomprehensive; prosaical, but full of emphasis. That's my nature. Plain-dealing, too, is my nature, and I adore the same quality inothers; most especially in those I could wish to marry. " "Does this wish, then, extend to the plural number?" asked Julia, smiling a little maliciously. "Certainly; when the heart is devoted to virtuous intentions, it wishesfor a union with virtue, where-ever it is to be found. Competence andvirtue are my mottoes, Miss Julia. " "This shows that you are, in truth, a lover of plain-dealing, Mr. Thurston--and now, as to the handkerchief?" "Why, Miss Julia, perceiving that you are sincere, I shall be equallyfrank. You own this handkerchief?" "Certainly, sir. I should hardly use an article of dress that is theproperty of another. " "Independent, and the fruit of independence. Well, Miss Monson, itstruck me that the mistress of such a handkerchief MUST likepoetry--that is, flights of the imagination--that is, eloquence andpathos, as it might be engrafted on passion and sentiment. " "I believe I understand you, sir; you wish to say that common senseseemed misapplied to the owner of such a handkerchief. " "Far from that, adorable young lady; but, that poetry, and eloquence, and flights of imagination, seem well applied. A very simplecalculation will demonstrate what I mean. But, possibly, you do notwish to hear the calculation--ladies, generally, dislike figures?" "I am an exception, Mr. Thurston; I beg you will lay the whole matterbefore me, therefore, without reserve. " "It is simply this, ma'am. This handkerchief cost every cent of $100--" "One hundred and twenty-five, " said Julia quickly. "Bless me, " THOUGHT Tom, "what a rich old d--l her father must be. Iwill not give her up; and as poetry and sentiment do not seem to befavorites, here goes for frankness--some women are furious for plainmatter-of-fact fellows, and this must be one of the number. One hundredand twenty-five dollars is a great deal of money, " he added, aloud, "and the interest, at 7 per cent, will come to $1. 75. Including firstcost and washing, the annual expense of this handkerchief may be setdown at $2. But, the thing will not last now five years, if oneincludes fashion, wear and tear, &c. , and this will bring the wholeexpense up to $27 per annum. We will suppose your fortune to be$50, 000, Miss Julia--" Here Tom paused, and cast a curious glance at the young lady, in thehope of hearing something explicit. Julia could hardly keep hercountenance, but she was resolved to go to the bottom of all thisplain-dealing. "Well, sir, " she answered, "we will suppose it, as you say, $50, 000. " "The interest, then, would be $3, 500. Now 27 multiplied by 130--" hereTom took out his pencil and began to cypher--"make just 3510, or rathermore than the whole amount of the interest. Well, when you come todeduct taxes, charges, losses and other things, the best investedestate of $3, 500 per annum, will not yield more than $3, 000, nett. Suppose a marriage, and the husband has ONLY $1, 000 for his pocket, this would bring down the ways and means to $2, 000 per annum; or lessthan a hundredth part of the expense of keeping ONEpocket-handkerchief; and when you come to include rent, fuel, marketing, and other necessaries, you see, my dear Miss Monson, thereis a great deal of poetry in paying so much for a pocket-handkerchief. " "I believe I understand you, sir, and shall endeavor to profit by thelesson. As I am wanted, you will now excuse me, Mr. Thurston--myfather's step is in the hall--" so Julia, in common with all otherManhattanese, called a passage, or entry, five feet wide--"and to him Imust refer you. " This was said merely as an excuse for quitting the room. But Tomreceived it literally and figuratively, at the same time. CHAPTER XVIII. Accustomed to think of marrying as his means of advancement, hesomewhat reasonably supposed "refer you to my father" meant consent, sofar as the young lady was concerned, and he determined to improve theprecious moments. Fortunately for his ideas, Mr. Monson did not enterthe room immediately, which allowed the gentleman an opportunity for alittle deliberation. As usual, his thoughts took the direction of amental soliloquy, much in the following form. "This is getting on famously, " thought Tom. "Refer you to myfather--well, that is compact and comprehensive, at the same time. Iwish her dandruff had got up when I mentioned only $50, 000. Seriously, that is but a small sum to make one's way on. If I had a footing of myown, in society, $50, 000 MIGHT do; but, when a fellow has to work hisway by means of dinners, horses, and et ceteras, it's a smallallowance. It's true, the Monsons will give me connections, andconnections are almost--not quite--as good as money to get a chap alongwith--but, the d--l of the matter is, that connections eat and drink. Idare say the Monson set will cost me a good $500 a year, though theywill save something in the way of the feed they must give in theirturns. I wish I had tried her with a higher figure, for, after all, itmay have been only modesty--some women are as modest as the d--l. Buthere comes old Monson, and I must strike while the iron is hot. " {dandruff = dander--but while "dander" can mean dandruff as well astemper, the reverse is not true} "Good morning, Mr. Thurston, " said the father, looking a littlesurprised at seeing such a guest at three o'clock. "What, alone with mydaughter's fine pocket-handkerchief? You must find that indifferentcompany. " "Not under the circumstances, sir. Every thing is agreeable to us thatbelongs to an object we love. " "Love? That is a strong term, Mr. Thurston--one that I hope you haveuttered in pure gallantry. " "Not at all, sir, " cried Tom, falling on his knees, as a school boyreads the wrong paragraph in the confusion of not having studied hislesson well--"adorable and angelic--I beg your pardon, Mr. Monson, "--rising, and again brushing his knees with some care--"my mindis in such a state of confusion, that I scarcely know what I say. " "Really, I should think so, or you could never mistake me for a younggirl of twenty. Will you have the goodness to explain this matter tome?" "Yes, sir--I'm referred. " "Referred? Pray, what may that mean in particular?" "Only, sir, that I'm referred--I do not ask a dollar, sir. Her lovelymind and amiable person are all I seek, and I only regret that she isso rich. I should be the happiest fellow in the world, Mr. Monson, ifthe angelic Julia had not a cent. " "The angelic Julia must be infinitely indebted to you, Mr. Thurston;but let us take up this affair in order. What am I to understand, sir, by your being referred?" "That Miss Julia, in answer to my suit, has referred me to you, sir. " "Then, so far as she herself is concerned, you wish me to understandthat she accepts you?" "Certainly--she accepted, some time since, with as heavenly a 'yes' asever came from the ruby lips of love. " "Indeed! This is so new to me, sir, that you must permit me to see mydaughter a moment, ere I give a definite answer. " Hereupon Mr. Monson left the room, and Tom began to THINK again. "Well, " he thought, "things DO go on swimmingly at last. This is thefirst time I could ever get at a father, though I've offered tosix-and-twenty girls. One does something like a living business with afather. I don't know but I rather overdid it about the dollar, thoughit's according to rule to seem disinterested at first, even if youquarrel like furies, afterwards, about the stuff. Let me see--had Ibest begin to screw him up in this interview, or wait for the next? Afew hints, properly thrown out, may be useful at once. Some of theseold misers hold on to every thing till they die, fancying it a mightypleasant matter to chaps that can't support themselves to support THEIRdaughters by industry, as they call it. I'm as industrious as a youngfellow can be, and I owe six months' board, at this very moment. No--no--I'll walk into him at once, and give him what Napoleon used tocall a demonstration. " The door opened, and Mr. Monson entered, his face a little flushed, andhis eye a little severe. Still he was calm in tone and manner. Juliahad told him all in ten words. "Now, Mr. Thurston, I believe I understand this matter, " said thefather, in a very business-like manner; "you wish to marry my daughter?" "Exactly, sir; and she wishes to marry me--that is, as far as comportswith the delicacy of the female bosom. " "A very timely reservation. And you are referred?" "Yes, Mr. Monson, those cheering words have solaced my ears--I amreferred. The old chap, " aside, "likes a little humbug, as well as agirl. " "And you will take her without a cent, you say?" "Did I, sir? I believe I didn't exactly say that--DOLLAR was the word Imentioned. CENTS could hardly be named between you and me. " "Dollar let it be, then. Now, sir, you have my consent on a singlecondition. " "Name it, sir. Name five or six, at once, my dear Mr. Monson, and youshall see how I will comply. " "One will answer. How much fortune do you think will be necessary tomake such a couple happy, at starting in the world? Name such a sum aswill comport with your own ideas. " "How much, sir? Mr. Monson, you are a model of generosity! You mean, tokeep a liberal and gentlemanly establishment, as would become yourson-in-law?" "I do--such a fortune as will make you both easy and comfortable. " "Horses and carriages, of course? Every thing on a genteel and liberalscale?" "On such a scale as will insure the happiness of man and wife. " "Mutual esteem--conjugal felicity--and all that. I suppose you includedinners, sir, and a manly competition with one's fellow citizens, inreal New York form?" "I mean all that can properly belong to the expenses of a gentleman andlady. " "Yes, sir--exceedingly liberal--liberal as the rosy dawn. Why, sir, meeting your proposition in the spirit in which it is offered, I shouldsay Julia and I could get along very comfortably on $100, 000. Yes, wecould make that do, provided the money were well invested--no fancystocks. " "Well, sir, I am glad we understand each other so clearly. If mydaughter really wish to marry you, I will give $50, 000 of this sum, assoon as you can show me that you have as much more to invest along withit. " "Sir--Mr. Monson!" "I mean that each party shall lay down dollar for dollar!" "I understand what you mean, sir. Mr. Monson, that would be degradinglawful wedlock to the level of a bet--a game of cards--a mercenary, contemptible bargain. No, sir--nothing shall ever induce me to degradethis honorable estate to such pitiful conditions!" "Dollar for dollar, Mr. Thurston!" "Holy wedlock! It is violating the best principles of our nature. " "Give and take!" "Leveling the sacred condition of matrimony to that of a mere bargainfor a horse or a dog!" "Half and half!" "My nature revolts at such profanation, sir--I will take $75, 000 withMiss Julia, and say no more about it. " "Equality is the foundation of wedded happiness, Mr. Thurston. " "Say $50, 000, Mr. Monson, and have no more words about it. Take awayfrom the transaction the character of a bargain, and even $40, 000 willdo. " "Not a cent that is not covered by a cent of your own. " "Then, sir, I wash my hands of the whole affair. If the young ladyshould die, my conscience will be clear. It shall never be said ThomasThurston was so lost to himself as to bargain for a wife. " "We must, then, part, and the negotiation must fall through. " Tom rose with dignity, and got as far as the door. With his hand on thelatch, he added-- "Rather than blight the prospects of so pure and lovely a creature Iwill make every sacrifice short of honor--let it be $30, 000, Mr. Monson?" "As you please, sir--so that it be covered by $30, 000 of your own. " "My nature revolts at the proposition, and so--good morning, sir. " Tom left the house, and Mr. Monson laughed heartily; so heartily, indeed, as to prove how much he relished the success of his scheme. "Talk of Scylla and Charybdis!" soliloquized the discomfited Tom, as hewiped the perspiration from his face--"Where the d--l does he think Iam to find the $50, 000 he wants, unless he first gives them to me? Inever heard of so unreasonable an old chap! Here is a young fellow thatoffers to marry his daughter for $30, 000--half price, as one maysay--and he talks about covering every cent he lays down with one of myown. I never knew what was meant by cent. Per cent. Before. Let me see;I've just thirty-two dollars and sixty-nine cents, and had we played ata game of coppers, I couldn't have held out half an hour. But, Iflatter myself, I touched the old scamp up with morals, in a way hewasn't used to. Well, as this thing is over, I will try old Sweet, thegrocer's daughter. If the wardrobe and whiskers fail there, I must rubup the Greek and Latin, and shift the ground to Boston. They say a chapwith a little of the classics can get $30 or 40, 000, there, any day inthe week. I wish my parents had brought me up a schoolmaster; I wouldbe off in the first boat. Blast it!--I thought when I came down to$30, 000, he would have snapped at the bait, like a pike. He'll neverhave a chance to get her off so cheap, again. " {cent. Per cent. = one hundred percent} This ended the passage of flirtation between Thomas Thurston and JuliaMonson. As for the latter, she took such a distaste for me, that shepresented me to Mademoiselle Hennequin, at the first opportunity, underthe pretence that she had discovered a strong wish in the latter topossess me. Adrienne accepted the present with some reluctance, on account of theprice that had been paid for me, and yet with strong emotion. How shewept over me, the first time we were alone together! I thought herheart would break; nor am I certain it would not, but for the timelyinterposition of Julia, who came and set her laughing by a humorousnarrative of what had occurred between her father and her lover. That night the rout took place. It went off with eclat, but I did notmake my appearance at it, Adrienne rightly judging that I was not aproper companion for one in her situation. It is true, this is not avery American notion, EVERY thing being suitable for EVERY body, thatget them, in this land of liberty, but Adrienne had not been educatedin a land of liberty, and fancied that her dress should bear somerelation to her means. Little did she know that I was a sort of patentof nobility, and that by exhibiting me, she might have excited envy, even in an alderman's daughter. My non-appearance, however, made nodifference with Betts Shoreham, whose attentions throughout the eveningwere so marked as to raise suspicion of the truth in the mind of evenMrs. Monson. {rout = evening party; eclat = brilliance} The next day there was an eclaircissement. Adrienne owned who she was, gave my history, acquainted Mrs. Monson with her connection with Mr. Shoreham, and confessed the nature of his suit. I was present at thisinterview, and it would be unjust to say that the mother was notdisappointed. Still she behaved generously, and like a high principledwoman. Adrienne was advised to accept Betts, and her scruples, on thescore of money, were gradually removed, by Mrs. Monson's arguments. {eclaircissement = explanation} "What a contrast do this Mr. Thurston and Adrienne present!" observedMrs. Monson to her husband, in a tete a tete, shortly after thisinterview. "Here is the gentleman wanting to get our child, without ashilling to bless himself with, and the poor girl refusing to marry theman of her heart, because she is penniless. " "So much for education. We become mercenary or self-denying, very muchas we are instructed. In this country, it must be confessed, fortune-hunting has made giant strides, within the last few years, andthat, too, with an audacity of pretension that is unrestrained by anyof the social barriers which exist elsewhere. " "Adrienne will marry Mr. Shoreham, I think. She loves; and when a girlloves, her scruples of this nature are not invincible. " "Ay, HE can lay down dollar for dollar--I wish his fancy had run towardJulia. " "It has not, and we can only regret it. Adrienne has half-consented, and I shall give her a handsome wedding--for, married she must be inour house. " All came to pass as was predicted. One month from that day, BettsShoreham and Adrienne de la Rocheaimard became man and wife. Mrs. Monson gave a handsome entertainment, and a day or two later, thebridegroom and bride took possession of their proper home. Of course Iremoved with the rest of the family, and, by these means, had anopportunity of becoming a near spectator of a honey-moon. I ought, however, to say, that Betts insisted on Julia's receiving $125 for me, accepting from Julia a handsome wedding present of equal value, but inanother form. This was done simply that Adrienne might say when I wasexhibited, that she had worked me herself, and that the lace with whichI was embellished was an heir-loom. If there are various ways ofquieting one's conscience, in the way of marriage settlements, so arethere various modes of appeasing our sense of pride. Pocket-handkerchiefs have their revolutions, as well as states. I wasnow under my first restoration, and perfectly happy; but, being French, I look forward to further changes, since the temperament that has twiceejected the Bourbons from their thrones will scarce leave me in quietpossession of mine forever. {first restoration = the Bourbon dynasty was restored to the Frenchthrone in 1815, after the fall of Napoleon, only to be deposed again in1830} Adrienne loves Betts more than any thing else. Still she loves medearly. Scarce a week passes that I am not in her hands; and it is whenher present happiness seems to be overflowing, that she is most fond ofrecalling the painful hours she experienced in making me what I am. Then her tears flow freely, and often I am held in her soft littlehand, while she prays for the soul of her grandmother, or offers uppraises for her own existing blessings. I am no longer thought of forballs and routs, but appear to be doomed to the closet, and thosemoments of tender confidence that so often occur between these lovers. I complain not. So far from it, never was an "article" of my charactermore highly favored; passing an existence, as it might be, in the verybosom of truth and innocence. Once only have I seen an oldacquaintance, in the person of Clara Caverly, since my change ofmistress--the idea of calling a de la Rocheaimard, a boss, or bossess, is out of the question. Clara is a distant relative of Betts, and soonbecame intimate with her new cousin. One day she saw me lying on atable, and, after an examination, she exclaimed-- "Two things surprise me greatly here, Mrs. Shoreham--that YOU shouldown one of these THINGS"--I confess I did not like the word--"and thatyou should own this particular handkerchief. " "Why so, chere Clara?"--how prettily my mistress pronounces that name;so different from Clarry! "It is not like YOU to purchase so extravagant and useless a THING--andthen this looks like a handkerchief that once belonged to anotherperson--a poor girl who has lost her means of extravagance by thechange of the times. But, of course, it is only a resemblance, as YOU--" "It is more, Clara--the handkerchief is the same. But that handkerchiefis not an article of dress with me; it is MY FRIEND!" The reader may imagine how proud I felt! This was elevation for thespecies, and gave a dignity to my position, with which I am infinitelysatisfied. Nevertheless, Miss Caverly manifested surprise. "I will explain, " continued Mrs. Shoreham. "The handkerchief is my ownwork, and is very precious to me, on account des souvenirs. " {des souvenirs = of memories} Adrienne then told the whole story, and I may say Clara Caverly becamemy friend also. Yes, she, who had formerly regarded me withindifference, or dislike, now kissed me, and wept over me, and in thismanner have I since passed from friend to friend, among all ofAdrienne's intimates. Not so with the world, however. My sudden disappearance from it excitedquite as much sensation as my debut in it. Tom Thurston's addresses toMiss Monson had excited the envy, and, of course, the attention of allthe other fortune-hunters in town, causing his sudden retreat to benoticed. Persons of this class are celebrated for covering theirretreats skilfully. Tom declared that "the old chap broke down whenthey got as far as the fortune--that, as he liked the girl, he wouldhave taken her with $75, 000, but the highest offer he could get fromhim was $30, 000. This, of course, no gentleman could submit to. A girlwith such a pocket-handkerchief OUGHT to bring a clear $100, 000, and Iwas for none of your half-way doings. Old Monson is a humbug. Thehandkerchief has disappeared, and, now they have taken down the SIGN, Ihope they will do business on a more reasonable scale. " A month later, Tom got married. I heard John Monson laughing over theparticulars one day in Betts Shoreham's library, where I am usuallykept, to my great delight, being exceedingly fond of books. The factswere as follows. It seems Tom had cast an eye on the daughter of agrocer of reputed wealth, who had attracted the attention of anotherperson of his own school. To get rid of a competitor, this personpointed out to Tom a girl, whose father had been a butcher, but hadjust retired from business, and was building himself a fine housesomewhere in Butcherland. "That's your girl, " said the treacherous adviser. "All butchers arerich, and they never build until their pockets are so crammed as toforce them to it. They coin money, and spend nothing. Look how highbeef has been of late years; and then they live on the smell of theirown meats. This is your girl. Only court the old fellow, and you aresure of half a million in the long run. " Tom was off on the instant. He did court the old fellow; got introducedto the family; was a favorite from the first; offered in a fortnight, was accepted, and got married within the month. Ten days afterward, thesupplies were stopped for want of funds, and the butcher failed. Itseems HE, too, was only taking a hand in the great game of brag thatmost of the country had sat down to. Tom was in a dilemma. He had married a butcher's daughter. After this, every door in Broadway and Bond street was shut upon him. Instead ofstepping into society on his wife's shoulders, he was dragged out of itby the skirts, through her agency. Then there was not a dollar. Hisempty pockets were balanced by her empty pockets. The future offered asad perspective. Tom consulted a lawyer about a divorce, on the groundof "false pretences. " He was even ready to make an affidavit that hehad been slaughtered. But it would not do. The marriage was found tostand all the usual tests, and Tom went to Texas.