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Article THE BEAUTIFUL HAND. ← Page 4 of 8 →
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
The Beautiful Hand.
ascertaining ils injury and returning the poor little sufferer to its parents . This occupied me for a considerable time , and engrossed my I hough ts for the time being . I then strolled back to my lodgings , and found from the servant , that Julia had not yet returned;—no one was in the drawing-room but Mrs . Parker , and Mrs . Woodward . It Avas twilight , and the ladies Avere sitting each at a different windoAV ,
looking listfull y through the glass at . the objects passing- in the street . Mrs . Woodward ivas still in her bonnet , gloves , & c , asshe had relumed home . I seated myself near her window ; and A \ e gradually fell into a kind of half melancholy , half romantic talk . She seemed , as ivell as I could judge in the dim light , and under the obstruction of her bonnet , to be a pretty , pale , lady-like , little Avoman , and , although a mere girl in age , she Avas eA'idently a AvidoAV;—not from her Avords , but from her
voice I kneAV that she Avas . There AV . IS altogether something so sorrowful , and gentle about her , that I pitied her from the bottom of my heart , Avithout knowing for Avhat ; and then she said , CA-ery IIOAV and then , such beautiful things , and perceived every sentiment so quickly , and so fully , that she seemed to me the very being calculated to sympathise with me , in my pursuit of Julia . We every moment greAv more assured and intimate ; I led her on from subject to subject , Avith the most delightful facility , until Ave spoke to each other in the tones , almost of tried friends ;—aud ( here is a vast , deal in the tone of a woman ' s voice . She
Avas a very angel , too , of a woman , aud talked of love with a spirit that had never felt the clogs and trammels of silly forms . With some little hesitation in uttering the few first AA'ords , I Avcnt smoothly through my case to her , and told her that I depended upon her "for council and for aid . " She listened Avithout . a word of interruption , or one gesture of disapprobation , exactly as I kneAV she would ; but then when I came to the point , Avhere I expected a Avarm and sympathising answer—not a syllable did she utter . I Avas astounded .
I too became dumb . So there we both sat looking through the \ A'iudow . When one stops talking under such circumstances , it is one of the most difficult things in nature to begin again ; there is no hook to bang a single loop upon ; you think of a thousand ways to recommence , and just ns some Avord is about to slip off the tongue , it will not do , and stop it . Women , however , have more Avays and means in such disasters than men ; so my strange little friend told me , in very much such a manner
as she had used in the beginning of our conversation , that the Aveatber Avas becoming quite cold ; and actually began to talk about the superiority of AVOOCI over coal as fuel , in sitting rooms . This was horrible ; and it made her , AVIIO but a moment before was a clear , blue sky to me , suddenly appear a dull ancl cloudy one;—there was something so earthly ancl hardened in it . But I talked , yea , talked in a very easy way of the comparatiA'O merits and demerits of hicory ancl anthracite ; nevertheless , as soon as politeness allowed me to do so , I escaped , so hastily too , as to be near knocking the candles out of the servant ' s hands as he Avas
coming into the door ; and reaching my apartment , I IhreAV myself into a chair at the AVIIKIOAV looking into the dark garden . What could have possessed the AV " 1 OAV to treat me as she had done ? Her conduct Avas perfectly inexplicable ; unless she Avas a deep hypocritical quiz , who amused herself with me , and intended to follinv up her sport Avith Julia . This thought half maddened me , least I should be made appear a ridiculous blockhead to her ; so hack I went , to the . drawing room , determined to remain there until Julia arrived , and if , as was most pro-
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
The Beautiful Hand.
ascertaining ils injury and returning the poor little sufferer to its parents . This occupied me for a considerable time , and engrossed my I hough ts for the time being . I then strolled back to my lodgings , and found from the servant , that Julia had not yet returned;—no one was in the drawing-room but Mrs . Parker , and Mrs . Woodward . It Avas twilight , and the ladies Avere sitting each at a different windoAV ,
looking listfull y through the glass at . the objects passing- in the street . Mrs . Woodward ivas still in her bonnet , gloves , & c , asshe had relumed home . I seated myself near her window ; and A \ e gradually fell into a kind of half melancholy , half romantic talk . She seemed , as ivell as I could judge in the dim light , and under the obstruction of her bonnet , to be a pretty , pale , lady-like , little Avoman , and , although a mere girl in age , she Avas eA'idently a AvidoAV;—not from her Avords , but from her
voice I kneAV that she Avas . There AV . IS altogether something so sorrowful , and gentle about her , that I pitied her from the bottom of my heart , Avithout knowing for Avhat ; and then she said , CA-ery IIOAV and then , such beautiful things , and perceived every sentiment so quickly , and so fully , that she seemed to me the very being calculated to sympathise with me , in my pursuit of Julia . We every moment greAv more assured and intimate ; I led her on from subject to subject , Avith the most delightful facility , until Ave spoke to each other in the tones , almost of tried friends ;—aud ( here is a vast , deal in the tone of a woman ' s voice . She
Avas a very angel , too , of a woman , aud talked of love with a spirit that had never felt the clogs and trammels of silly forms . With some little hesitation in uttering the few first AA'ords , I Avcnt smoothly through my case to her , and told her that I depended upon her "for council and for aid . " She listened Avithout . a word of interruption , or one gesture of disapprobation , exactly as I kneAV she would ; but then when I came to the point , Avhere I expected a Avarm and sympathising answer—not a syllable did she utter . I Avas astounded .
I too became dumb . So there we both sat looking through the \ A'iudow . When one stops talking under such circumstances , it is one of the most difficult things in nature to begin again ; there is no hook to bang a single loop upon ; you think of a thousand ways to recommence , and just ns some Avord is about to slip off the tongue , it will not do , and stop it . Women , however , have more Avays and means in such disasters than men ; so my strange little friend told me , in very much such a manner
as she had used in the beginning of our conversation , that the Aveatber Avas becoming quite cold ; and actually began to talk about the superiority of AVOOCI over coal as fuel , in sitting rooms . This was horrible ; and it made her , AVIIO but a moment before was a clear , blue sky to me , suddenly appear a dull ancl cloudy one;—there was something so earthly ancl hardened in it . But I talked , yea , talked in a very easy way of the comparatiA'O merits and demerits of hicory ancl anthracite ; nevertheless , as soon as politeness allowed me to do so , I escaped , so hastily too , as to be near knocking the candles out of the servant ' s hands as he Avas
coming into the door ; and reaching my apartment , I IhreAV myself into a chair at the AVIIKIOAV looking into the dark garden . What could have possessed the AV " 1 OAV to treat me as she had done ? Her conduct Avas perfectly inexplicable ; unless she Avas a deep hypocritical quiz , who amused herself with me , and intended to follinv up her sport Avith Julia . This thought half maddened me , least I should be made appear a ridiculous blockhead to her ; so hack I went , to the . drawing room , determined to remain there until Julia arrived , and if , as was most pro-