“One Sabbath morning, while sitting in church, (which I attended regularly,) I was struck with the appearance of a stranger in an opposite pew across the aisle that belonged to a family with whom I was on the most intimate terms. The stranger was the most beautiful young lady I ever beheld. Dark, languishing eyes, glossy ringlets, pale, smooth forehead—oh! I will not describe her—let it suffice that she was an angel in my eyes! It was impossible to remove my gaze from her, and I fancied that she sometimes returned an approving glance. Before the service was over, I was delighted to observe that she whispered something to Mrs. Arras, (the name of the lady whose pew she was in,) for this assured me that they were acquainted, and that I might obtain some information about the fair being who had made such a sudden and deep impression on my heart, and perhaps procure an introduction to her. When I retired to my couch that night, it was not to sleep. The image of the fair stranger haunted my restless and imperfect slumbers. Nor could I study by day, for my thoughts wandered continually from the page to the same bright vision. Such was my condition throughout the week. The next Sunday I found her seated in the same pew. Our eyes met, and a slight blush that mantled her fair face encouraged me to hope that she might likewise have bestowed some thoughts on me during the preceding week. It was in vain that I uttered the responses during the service, or knelt down when the clergyman offered up his prayers. I could think of nothing but the angelic stranger. I resolved that another week should not pass without my calling at Mrs. Arras’s. But my object was obtained sooner than I expected. When the congregation was dismissed, Mrs. Arras beckoned me across the aisle to her.
“‘Charles,’ whispered she, ‘don’t you want an introduction to my niece? I saw your eyes riveted on her several times.’
“‘I—if you please,’ I replied, with feelings of mingled delight and embarrassment.
“‘Laura,’ she continued, turning to the young lady who lingered behind, but seemed to be conscious of what was passing, ‘let me introduce you to my young friend, Charles Glenn.’ The bland and accomplished Mrs. Arras then moved onward, while I attended at the side of Laura, and continued with her until I assisted her up, the marble steps of her aunt’s stately mansion.
“I then bowed, and strode rapidly onward, I knew not whither, (completely bewildered with the enchanting spell that the fair Laura had thrown over me,) until I reached the extremity of Broadway, and found myself in Castle Garden, gazing like a very maniac at the bright water below me. I wandered about alone, enjoying the exhilarating fancies of my teeming brain, until the sun sunk beneath the horizon, and the bright stars twinkled in the blue vault above. Oh! the thoughts, the hopes, the bliss of that hour! The dark curtain that veils the rankling corruptions of mortality had not yet been lifted before my staring eyes, and I felt as one gazing at a beautiful world, and regarded the fair maid as the angel destined to unfold all its brilliance to my vision, and to hold the chalice to my lips while I sipped the nectar of perennial felicity. Alas, that such moments are brief! They fly like the dreams of a startled slumberer, and when they vanish once, they are gone forever!
“Without calling at my lodgings for the usual refreshments, I hovered about the mansion of Mrs. Arras till lights were gleaming in the parlour, and then entered. Laura received me with a smile, and the complaisant matron gave me an encouraging welcome.
“‘You are pale this evening, Mr. Glenn,’ said Mrs. Arras, in a good-humoured, though bantering manner. ‘Are you subject to sudden attacks of illness?’
“‘I assure you I never enjoyed better health in my life, and feel no symptoms of indisposition whatever,’ I replied, but at that moment I chanced to gaze at a mirror, and was startled at my haggard appearance. But when Mrs. Arras withdrew, (which she did soon after my arrival,) the affable and lovely Laura banished every thought of my condition. My wan cheek was soon animated with the flush of unbounded admiration, and my sunken eye sparkled with the effervescence of enraptured delight. Deep and ineradicable passion was engendering in my bosom. And from the pleasure indicated in the glitter of Laura’s lustrous eyes, the exquisite smile that dwelt upon her coral lips, and the gentle though unconscious swellings of her breast, a conviction thrilled through my soul that my sudden affection was reciprocated. Hours flew like minutes, and I was surprised by the clock striking ONE before it occurred to me that it was time to depart. Again I traversed the streets at that solemn hour, insensible to every feeling, and regardless of every object but the flaming torch lit up in my heart and the seraphic image of Laura. At length I was warned by the scrutinizing gaze of a watchman to repair to my lodgings. But my pillow afforded no rest. All night long I pondered on the exhilarating events of the day. Many were the endearing accents that escaped my lips as I addressed in fancy my beloved Laura. I resolved to declare my passion ere many weeks should pass. I began to settle in my mind the plans of life, and then, for the first time, the future presented a dark spot to my view. I was poor! Laura was rich and her family proud and aristocratic. Her father was a distinguished judge. And the most high-born and haughty of the land would doubtless (if they had not already) sigh at her feet! I sprang upright on my couch when this discordant thought passed across my mind. But the next moment I was consoled with the belief that I already possessed her heart. And with a determination to have her, in spite of every obstacle, should this be the case, I sank back through weariness, and was soon steeped in deep, though unquiet slumber.
“The two next succeeding Sundays I attended Laura to church. The evenings of both days, and nearly all the intervening ones, I was with her at the mansion of Mrs. Arras. But the evening of the last Sunday was to me a memorable one. That evening I opened all my heart to Laura, and found that every pulsation met a responding throb in hers—such, at least, I believed to be the case—and so she asserted. During the short time she remained in New York, I was her accredited lover, and ever, when together, the attachment she manifested was as ardent as mine. Indeed, at times, her passion seemed unbounded, and I was more than once tempted to propose a clandestine and immediate union. I was the more inclined to this, inasmuch as her father (who had now returned from a trip to Washington) began to regard my visits with displeasure. But he soon passed on to Boston to attend to the duties of his office, and again I had unrestrained access to Laura. But I am dwelling too long on this part of my story.
“One day Henry Wold, my fellow-student, inquired the cause of the palpable change in my bearing and disposition. Would that my lips had been sealed to him forever! I knew that he was honest and generous by nature, but I knew not to what extent his dissolute habits (gradually acquired by having ample means, and yielding by degrees to the temptations of vice) had perverted his good qualities. I told him of my love, and while describing the charms of Laura, I was pleased to attribute the interest he evinced at the recital to his disinterested friendship for me, without the thought that he could be captivated himself with the bare description. He begged me to introduce him. This, too, gratified my pride, for I knew he would admire her. The perfect form, rare beauty, intelligence, and wealth of Wold did not startle an apprehension in my breast. But I knew not—alas! who can know?—the impulses that govern woman. Wold accompanied me that night to Mrs. Arras’s. He seated himself at Laura’s side, and poured forth a flood of flattery. They smiled in unison and returned glance for glance. Wold exhibited his fine person and exerted all his captivating powers of intellect. Laura scanned the one and listened attentively to the other. Still I sat by in satisfaction, and strove to repress every rising fear that my supremacy in Laura’s heart might be endangered. That evening, as we returned homeward, in answer to my questions, Wold stated that my ‘intended’ was pretty enough for any young man, and would, without doubt, make a very good wife. So far from exhibiting the extravagant admiration I expected, he seemed to speak of the object of my adoration with comparative indifference. But a few evenings afterwards, I found him with Laura when I arrived! I started back on beholding them seated on the same sofa as I entered the parlour. Mrs. Arras was present, and wore a thoughtful expression of features. Laura smiled on me, but I thought it was not a happy smile. It did not render me happy. Wold bowed familiarly, and made some witty remark about taking time by the forelock. I sat down in silence, with a compressed lip, and an icy chillness in my breast. An embarrassing pause ensued. At length Mrs. Arras rose, and opening a folding-door, beckoned me into the adjoining room. After we had been seated a few moments, during which her brow assumed a more grave and thoughtful cast, she observed—