CHAPTER II. My eldest Sister.- First Acquaintance with Mr. Mowatt. Singular I MUST go back to my thirteenth year, to relate one of the most important incidents of my life, the one which was to govern my whole future existence. My eldest sister Charlotte, with her two little children, passed a summer at Rockaway, for the enjoyment of sea bathing. Among the guests at Rock Hall was James Mowatt, of New York, a young barrister of education and fortune. He was much charmed with my sister, imagining her to be a youthful widow. This mistake she never discovered until his admiration was expressed in open terms. When informed that he was addressing a married woman, his chagrin was so great that she laughingly consoled him by saying, "O, I have plenty of young sisters at home, and one of them very much resembles Call upon me in New York, and I will make you acquainted with her." me. In a few weeks she returned to the city. Mr. Mowatt made no delay in paying his respects. The school, which four of us children attended, was directly opposite our residence. While we were in the midst of our studies one day, a messenger came to say that the eldest of the schoolgirl sisters must come home. She was the one that strikingly resembled our sister Charlotte. I asked the servant if any thing had happened. She replied, "No; that there was only a gentleman in the drawing room, who entreated that my sister might be sent for." I had heard Mr. Mowatt much talked of in the family, and felt a childish curiosity to see him. Without permission, I accompanied my sister home, and watched her while her beautiful hair was recurled, and her schooldress laid aside for a more becoming attire. She was ushered into the drawing room; and I, of course, dared not enter. After waiting about half an hour, I remembered that I had received no permission to leave school, and, certain visions of black marks rising up before me, I thought it judicious to return. But to go back without having seen this much-talked-of beau- I could not do that. I would enter the drawing room on some pretext. After hesitating a while, I opened the door, ran across the room, threw down my satchel of school books upon the centre table, as though that must be their proper place, gave one look towards the sofa, and ran out again. "Who is that?" I heard the gentleman exclaim. 'Only one of the children from the nursery," answered my eldest sister. "Do call her back," he urged. My sister came to the door and called out, as I was LOVE AT FIRST SIGHT. 43 flying up stairs, tolerably frightened at what I had done, "Anna, Anna, come back and speak to Mr. Mowatt!" "I don't care for Mr. Mowatt!" was the saucy reply that reached his ears; and away I went. A servant was sent to summon me, but I refused to comply. I waited until I heard the gentleman take his leave, then hurried down stairs to return to school. Mr. Mowatt was standing at the foot of the street door steps, and placed himself in front of me with extended There was no retreat, and he kept me prisoner arms. and I answered his many questions with saucy, merry frankness, every now and then imploring to be freed. Finding he would not consent, I watched my opportunity, suddenly slipped beneath his arm, and ran across the street to school. I well remember the expression of his face as I looked back, laughing heartily at the astonishment of my discomfited jailer. I have very many times heard Mr. Mowatt describe this first interview to his friends, particularly to Mary Howitt, of London, and I only regret that I cannot convey his impressions in the same language. Soon after he left the house, he encountered an intimate acquaintThe subject turned upon courtship and matrimony. His friend asked him how long he intended to remain a bachelor. ance: "Not long," he replied, "if a little girl whom I saw to-day would only grow up." He then related what had taken place, and added, emphatically, "I feel as though I should never marry unless I marry that child." I have often heard him repeat his having used these words, and quote in connection with them Moore's beautiful lines "O, there are looks and tones that dart From that moment he conceived the project of educating me to suit his own views of gaining my affections, and, the instant I was old enough to be considered marriageable, of taking me to his own home - his childwife. His visits to the family became very frequent. He always inquired for me; but I was generally at school, or studying my lessons, or had gone to bed; and he was constantly frustrated in his desire to see me. But his perseverance comprehended no discouragement. Our school was now changed we were placed at Madame Chegaray's, to be instructed in the higher branches of education. On our way to school (which was about half a mile distant from our home) we regularly encountered Mr. Mowatt. He would walk beside me, carry my books and slate, and question me about my studies. Sometimes he made them clearer to me; and very soon, under the stimulus of his suggestions, my ambition to become an accomplished scholar. was aroused. Now and then I would propose to my sisters, for mischief, to take a different road, that he might miss us; but after a couple of days he discovered the stratagem, and stationed one of his clerks to watch which AN OFFER FRUSTRATED. 45 street we took. He was thus instantly apprised if we were going different ways. I thought it very grand to have so devoted a lover, and played the tyrant at thirteen and fourteen to my heart's content. Yet I owed almost entirely to Mr. Mowatt the rapid progress which I made in my studies at these ages. He directed my reading, furnished me with books, examined all my compositions, and (what I thought most delightful of all) supplied me with an endless quantity of flowers, as a species of reward for my industry. He was present at my performance of Alzire, and was naturally the most enthusiastic where all were enthusiastic. The next morning he determined to offer himself, although I was not yet fifteen. It was Saturday, and there was no school. He called very early, and asked particularly for me. While my sisters were making their toilets, I hastened to the parlor in my morning dress. I was eager to listen to praises of the past night's efforts. But I was not more disappointed than astonished when the gentleman awaiting me commenced a serious conversation, without making the slightest allusion to the play. I only comprehended enough to be alarmed. I did not reply, but, jumping up, called to my sister Charlotte to come down stairs quickly. She did so, inquiring what was the matter. Of course, this was an unanswerable question, and the situation of two of the parties concerned must have been particularly ludicrous. When Mr. Mowatt left, I told her what had passed. She laughed, and said he was making sport of me, because I was such a forward child. But the sport proved earnest, and what I refused to listen to that day |