Ballou's Monthly Magazine, Vol. XXVII, No. 1 — page 70: what you’re looking at

Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.

74 Ballow’s Monthly Magazine. DEFEATED. BY LOTTIE BROWN. “FLORENCE, the old place looks the same as ever,and is doubly dear to me after all these years of absence, and I fondly hoped that I might have the pleasure of rambling over the grounds in peace and quiet. In other words, I hoped that I should find this, of all places, free from all womankind save yourself.” “ Why, Ralph! do you mean to say that you have turned woman-hater 2” “Perhaps not that, exactly; but had you seen as much of the sex as I have, you might understand my feelings. They are a hum- bug.” “ You seem to forget that you are address- ing one of them.” “ You are nobody, Flo. of yours that I mind.” “You have no reason to feel unkindly to- ward my visitors. Agnes Calvert is too much of a lady to intrude upon any one, particularly if she learns that her room is better than her company. And as for Letty King, she will never give you a thought. So, my fine gentle- man, do not trouble yourself; and you may rest assured that you will not be troubled with my guests.” “Come, come, Flo; I expect to meet your guests, and treat them with civility; but I am not to be caught in a trap by any husband- hunting females; sO they need not lay any for me.” “Don’t flatter yourself. You are as safe here as though you were on a desolate island.” And with this, Florence Ingraham caught up her sewing, which she had in her earnestness thrown down, and began to work as though she was relieving herself of a burden of indig- nation with every stitch. “I cannot understand, Florence, why girls so cling to one another. Why, we fellows, when we part at school, that’s the last of us, unless we happen to meet, and chat for an hour over old times; but you girls—you shed tears, and swear eternal friendship, and visit each other, until time and domestic affairs cool your ardor.” “Ralph Ingraham, if you were not my brother, I would box your ears. Now, I hear Miss Calvert’s step upon the stairs, and I know she is coming out tous. Now see that you do not ruin the reputation of your house, It is these visitors which I have so exalted during your absence, by any rude or ungentlemanly exhibition ot contempt for our sex.” 7 Miss Agnes Calvert was elaborately got up for the occasion, in a dress of spotless muslin, and a rich azure sash, and band of the same color binding up her amber hair, just allowing a few stray curls to hang carclessly upon her shoulders; and she came, reading intently from a volume in blue and gold (the colors harmonized finely with her dress), as though she had not an idea of the existence of a being save herself. She had not lived beneath the same roof for a month or more with Florence, and heard of this wonderful brother Ralph, of his sayings and doings, and let it pass unheed- ed. Notshe. She was getting along in her twenties; just about that age, when youth aud beauty seem fleeting, and the hateful title of “old maid ” beginning to be whispered by malicious ones, and she felt desperate. Fora fortnight or more, she had been laying plans, which, well carried out, were to make her Mrs. Ralph Ingraham, and this day she came down stairs with a firm determination to form, then and there, the foundation of her fortune. She was not in love—for how could she be? She had never met this Ralph Ingraham. But it was enough for her to know that this state- ly house and magnificent surroundings were his; that many of the beautiful pictures that adorned thé walls were said to be his work; that books of poems, with exquisite passages, were pencilled by his hand; that every room bore traces of his fine taste and culture. This was enough for her, and had his face been hideous, she would have married him, provid- ing he could surround her with these things; for she loved wealth and taste above all things else. With a slow, carefully-measured step, she came along the hall, her eyes still bent upon her book, seemingly oblivious to all around her. Ralph saw her, and scanned her face closely. He was no fool, and with the quick perception of aman who had travelled through nearly every civilized country in the world, and spent much of his time in the study of human nature, he saw through her at once; and had she seen the queer smile that flitted across his face, she would have thrown down comicioooks.,.com