LITERATURE.

Globe, Volume XXII, Issue 2060, 30 September 1880, Page 3

LITERATURE.

"THAT CHARMING COUNT." [From the "Argosy."l Chapter I. 'So good 1* said Mrs Damer. ' So ugly!' said her niece. ' So clever !' continued the elder lady. * Sj fat!' replied the youDger one. 'The kindest hearted youug mu in the world.'

' And the least Interesting.' « Well, have it jour own way !* exclaimed Mrs Darner, now fairly irritated- ' For the sake of argument I will grant the justice of all you say. I will go further and concede that the vast majority of the world is as blind as yourself to true worth and real talent. I will even admit if you like, that lam an unreasonable old woman. >:ut, however ugly, fat, and uninteresting Arthur Lt strange may be, even you, Dora, can not deny that he is well born, well bred, and rich.' ' I do not deny It, my darling aunt,' said Dora. * All I say ib, that his birth, breeding, and wealth constitute no sufficient reason foi mv marrying him.' ' With your industry, yonr aversion to gaiety, your indifference to dress and your passion for housekeeping, yon reserve yourself for love in a c <ttage, I presume V asked her aunt, sarcastically. Dora laughed—a soft, sancy laugh. She ro»e from her oecupation of painting a spray of yellow roses, and approached the open French window where Mrs Damer sat at working Kneeling, she pillowed her wilful golden head on the old lady's shoulders, asking with a world of surprised reproach in her brown eyes —'Why will you be so cross ?'

' Child 1 I am not cross,' said her aunt, softly stroking the girl's little hand. 'I am not cross, but I am an old woman now, and not a rich one. I would fain seeyon in some safe and t-nder keeping before I close my eyes on a world whioh is full of trouble and of temptation. ' But you are not going to close your eyes yet, murmared Dora, caressingly. ' And Arthur Leutrange is not the only young man in the world, or even in Fa<-n leigh.' ' Bat he is the only one in whose affeotion for you I could fal y tmst,' said Mrs Damer « He has proved that he loves you Bincerely, but he is not likely to expose himself to a series of repulses. " He will certainly aicept as final the answer whioh you are about to despatch to him to day. In all probability he only risked a second proposal because he thought—poor fellow !—that his recent success might have led you to regard him more kindly.' •A trumpery little comedy!' said Dora, with a pont. * A co*nedy which wiser people than Miii Dora Morton have admired and applauded,' eaid her aunt, severely. • A month ago yon would have had more sympathy with Buch triumphs. I'm afraid that I can guess only too well the source of your contempt for them now.' Dora Morton rose with flushed cheeks and sparkling eyes. ' Yon allnde to Count Starolyi, aunt SAshe said, in rather an agitated voice. 'lam glad you give me thus the opportunity of making you a communication from which i have shrunk all the morning, because I have feared to give you pain. Count Starolyi—' ' Has proposed to yon f' hastily interposed Mrs Earner. Dora nodded, looking a little anxious and yet defiant. * And you have accepted him ?' 'Yes.'

Mrs Darner threw up her eyes, slightly ohrugged her shoulders, and resumed her work. For a few momenta silence rt-igoed. ' Won't you wish me j iy, auntie ?' asked Dora, in a somewhat ruelul tone.

' I hope you will be happy dear, of course,' replied the old lady, quietly. 'lt is not a marriage which, in any c*se, I could hav desired for you ; but as in a few months y. u will be twenty-one, and your own mistress. I have one favor to a*k of you * ' And what is that ?' asked Dora, somewhat disconcerted at not meeting with the opoosition for which she had prepared herself.

' To wait before making your engagement public, till I have news of Oount Starolyi's position and circumstances from BudaPesth. Foreseeing that theim; ression whic:> he had p'ainly made on you might deepen into love, I wrote to the Codbul for informa tion, and in a few dayß I ought to have an answer. Until then, will von oonioat not to

consider yonr engagement a settled thing f * Mrs Darner, as she concluded, held out her hand affectionately to her niece. 'Dear aunt,' said the girl warmly, 'I will wait, of coarse, To do yoa this pleasure cost me little, for I know that the Conircl will be able to report nothing bat what is good of Max.*

■ I hope yon may be right" answeroi Mrs Darner, and changed the conversation. Farnleigh, on the outskirts of « hich, in a> charming cottage, Mr Darner and her niece lived, was a p.-etty town on tha western coast of England. A few straw hat manufactures supplied i!a wealth, and half a dozen or mrre semi-aristocratic families dined with one another, criticised one r.no;her, assisted at one another's christenings, marriages, and funerals, and mado common cause against any intruder who endeavoured to gain entrance within their sacred circle. They were a trifle narrowminded, but had never suspected it; and a little dull, hut nobody had ever told thrm so. They were, in conseq lenee. alt gethe* self-satisfied and estima- le. Toe gr«at excitements .of the young lidiia (numeroua and very pretty) consisted ot bills at the country town in winter, and t«nnis parties in the summer. To these toe officers of the garrison in the aforesaid county town. were invited regularly, aid occasionally came ; and the possibility of their c ttniug constituted the great charm of the entertainment.

Such being the state of things, it is not difficult to imagine the pleasurable sensation recently caused by the arrival on the sceaa of a fascinating Jdang.iri.vi Count. This gentleman had been inin diced by one of the elite—the Honorable Mr Stracey, who had known his father, and who, on meeting him in Paris the previous winter, had given. him a pressing invitation to visit- Farnleigh. Mr Stracey, good-natured, impulsive, and not very wise, had forgotten his invitation almost as soon as he bad given it, and was rather surprised one fine semmer morning to receive a letter from the Count announcing his imminent arrival. Nevettheleas, being hospitable, he welcomed his guest in a manner worthy of their mutual p-etennons to the b uest blood, and introduced him to all his acquaintances ten miles round. There had consequently been a perfect ep : demic of dinner parties, musical parties, lawn tennis parties, at which the Count had won golden. opinions from all sorts of paot le His only detractors were the office's, who felr, a iittla sore at being condemned all at one.-, to play second fiddle to the seductive campitriot of Kossuth.

Count Starolyi had especially a great fuccesa with the ladies. He cjoka several languages ; wrote French versos ; caricatured to perfection, and sang to the guitar Re had a beautiful, drooping m< uscacne, melancholy eyeß, patriotic sentimeu s dor-ora-tions from every Court in E noes. . c rch a combination of charms and accpmp'ishmenia had never been seen in Farnleigh b f re. One peculiarity of this de L;htfu' s ran?«T was a pa»Bion for making presents. He scattered gifts with the munificence of an Eastern potentate, snd his lavishnesß waa only equalled by his impartiality. Everybody whose hospitality he hid enjoyed could exhibit tome picture, r.r ja'diuUre, or jewel, which testi s ed to the fadnating foreigner's gratitude and tasta. All these eimpie, modest souls, found themselves suddenly the objects of an undreamt of prodigality. Delicate silver paper parcels, baskets of exotic flowers, and raby velvet cisea appeared upon their breakfast table, with Count Max Starolyi's coroneted cards and 'respectful homages.' At first people thought they ought really not to accept. One or two efforts were made to express these doubts to the generous nobleman. But they evident'y caused in him snoh a mournful perplexity, they were clearly inexplicable and painful to him that it was found impossible to proceed. Public opinion gradually pronounced itself in favor of keeping the presents. ' What would be very odd in an Englishman was only natural in a foreigner,' people said, Hungarians, too, were kn-wn to havo habits of the ntmost splendor. The • xample Prince Ecterhazy was quoted by somebody, who remembered to have seen him. This settled the matter. Consciences were thenceforth at peace, and Starolyi moved in the midst of adoration and applmse. Meanwhile his attentions to Dora Morton, the acknolewdged belle of Farnleigh, became extremely marked. Amid no little heart-burning, the conviction gained ground that this ycung lady must soon be asked to adorn the brilliant society of Vienna. She herself was probably not much astonished at her impending good fortune, but she was exceedingly gratified at it. In the first flush of a triump s > intoxicating, it was hardly to be wondcei at if the thought but lightly of her aunt's objections, and troubled herself still less about ths feelings of Arthur Lestrange. The young man in question was usually considered a ve*y fortunate person. It is true he had' but a few hund ens a year of hs own; but, on the other hand, he was the acknowledged heir of his uncle, who had twice as many thousands. This uncle. Sir Edward Lestrange, wsb the county magnate. He and Lady Lestrange adored their nephew, and had always encouraged him in idleness, so as t» have him as much with them as possible. Fortunately for himself Arthur Lestrange had very good brains ; and though he had chosen no profession, he cultivated literature for his own amassment. This kept him employed and saved him from utterly wastiag his y uth while he waited for the teat-roil that was one day to be his. Lately, indeed, he had shown signs of wooing the mutes wish more seriousness oil purpose than anybody had deemed likely ; and in a recent dramatic pruduutiou he had acbieved a quite unusual measure cf success. Immediately on this he had c <me down to Farnleigh, and for the second time within a year had laid his name and his prospects at Dora Morton's feet.

Not only did he meet ni'ha fresh repalse, but the general voice, in c up>in< Mi-s Moiton's name with that of the ' caarmiag Count,' convinced him of tha useLssneEß cl further pursuit. Three or four days paired. Arthur Lestrange had had time, if not to recover from at any rate to succeed in ccuee »litg, the first bitterness of his disappointment. Mis Damer was still in s xpectiti in of hev answer from the Consul

Dora was still hugging the thought of her imminent delight in announcing her engagement to all her friends.

' Yon talk of days, but it appears to me that I am waiting ages t > own you—niy treasure,' murmured Starolyi t> her one evening, when at a dance at tie Scraceyathe lovers sat apart in the fnend;y privacy oi the conservatory. 4 Dsar Max,' said the girl, "ardently, ' 2 alsf> feel that t should be ong to yr.n more entirely if I could procla in t-> all the world that lam youra. Bat my prcn'se to my aunt binds me to secreay for a £tw days more*

* Why?' whispercdStarolyi.di'coritentcdly. He hid not a particularly um-.ical voice, ant) perhaps because of this always Bpoke ic e< very low tone to women.

' Why?' Dora blushed, hesita»el, picked a flower in her bouquet to piece*, and finally bx:£, frankly—' Ido not Bee why I shonld not tell yon. for you are ton kiud and too just to mistake my aunt's motives.' The Hungarian raised hh eyebrows at this exordium, and looked a little uneasy.

' Wo 1/ said Dora, plunging desperately into her m*-je ;t, ' the trath is aiy aunt ie a little miatruntful (i Mr Strac(j>'B entht*siasm ; and though sh« likes yon v t ry ranch' —(Oh! D ra, was this q'lite t e case?) — she cannot be satisfied as to your pro3pec£b, and so on. until she has had a little mor* inf rmation about them.' • But I am willing to give all the information which she desire-,' a&id Stsrotyl, with an air of R-eat dig icy. ' My private paper?,' my ch que book, the lett rs f<v.m my agents, the plans of my property, a'.l are at Lej service.' 'Oi course, of course I know, staniniert-.c Dora already repentant a-.d overawed. • She bas but to speak—to ask.' continued the ge tleman, in a still in re iujarsd tono. * This English prudence i-, 1 coa'esj, a little strange t<> me; in Hungary we manage thinya differently ; aspersions are not cast upon tie honor of a nookman. But here, where I am a stranger—' *Dear«st! please say ro more!' broke iu Dora, n>w thoroughly distresaod. *I wae wrong to tell y.u. I have hurt your feelings ' ' Y u can never hurt ivy feeling",' waßthe tender ioply. ' Wba' p.iu* me is that yotti aunt should nit hav« • p 'kea .0 me. Has the. then, been c-oss qu. toning IStiawj V {To le continued)