What plea so tainted and corrupt,
But, being seasoned with a gracious voice,
Obscures the show of evil.
Merchant of Venice.
The lovers had promised to write to each other, and as Harry was to
commence the correspondence, he did not long delay to fulfill the
delightful task; and letters were received from him, filled with the
overflowings of a boundless and fervent love, and her answers were full
of affection, tender thoughts, and gentle fancies.
As time progressed, Harry became more assiduously engaged than ever in
the pursuits of commerce, and was deemed by merchants one of the most
promising of his young countrymen, steadfastly pursuing a course of
upright integrity and untiring industry, that was adding to his
reputation, and fast gaining independence. With the fair sex he was
becoming an idol. Parties were made, and nosegays offered him; but he
behaved exceedingly ill to them, being blind, and deaf, and hard-hearted
to an intolerable degree, neither seeing sweet glances, nor hearing
balmy sighs. Miss Martin was rich, and would gladly have made him so.
Miss Brown was highly accomplished, and would have done the honors of
his house so gracefully. Miss White was very domestic, and would have
made him such an economical wife. Then there were many amiable and
warm-hearted creatures who particularly grieved to see the lonely
condition of such a rising young man. There was, literally, “much ado
about nothing;” for he rarely accepted their innumerable and pressing
invitations. Sometimes, indeed, after business hours, he might have been
seen promenading, or spending the evening with some pretty girl, whom he
regarded with friendly feelings; but these friends were not selected
from among those who so freely lavished their adulation.
During his last visit to Boston, he had been introduced to a Mrs.
Webster, who resided in the vicinity of that city. Mrs. Webster had an
only son, who was heir to a property which had accumulated, during his
long minority, to a fortune unusually large; and she had long resolved
in her mind that the young heir should be the husband of Mary Bryarly;
and so adroitly had she manœuvered, that the parties had been thrown
constantly together previous to the appearance of Mr. Thatcher. Even her
son almost considered it a matter of course that he was to marry her.
Mary, not conscious of these machinations, regarded young Webster as a
youth of high promise, and treated him as an especial favorite. Mrs.
Webster soon discovered that the presence of Harry threatened
destruction to all her plans—so she determined to destroy his power,
even at the expense of shameful falsehood. She was now in New Orleans,
and had been two or three times thrown into the society of our hero. On
such occasions, she had watched him closely, and smiled with delight if
any thing approximating toward intimacy was observable in his
intercourse with any of the fair sex. To apprise Mary of his delinquency
was a duty; and she was at no great loss to imagine how so desirable an
object could be accomplished without involving herself in any
difficulty.