EVERY NUMBER EMBELLISHED WITH A STEEL ENGRAVING.

THREE DOLLARS A YEAR.

VOLUME III.

G. P. MORRIS AND N. P. WILLIS, EDITORS.

NEW YORK, SATURDAY, AUGUST 3, 1844.

Charming. True, I have never seen her; but my uncle Lombard, who did me the favour to arrange the affair, has given me an enchanting portrait of the lady;-eighteen, blonde, one hundred thousand francs dower, and double that in expectation. You shall see her, Jules."

"Thanks. But the moment of your departure approaches -adieu. A pleasant journey to you."

PAYABLE IN ADVANCE.

NUMBER 18.

commentaries, and strange suppositions. Thus years rolled away, and Leon, overwhelmed with the weight of his disgrace, broken down by so many repulses, fell into the deepest discouragement.

Lombard, in his youth, had been a travelling agent. When Fortunately uncle Lombard came to his assistance. M. he became rich, and a partner at the head of an opulent house, he reserved for himself the journeys, that he might lose nothing of his dear old habits. For thirty years he had travelled about France, and pretended to have inspired love

in every department. Moreover, he was a man handsome enough to justify his claims to cosmopolitan gallantry. Although a great partisan of celibacy, which he explored en amateur, yet he never tried to combat the penchant of Leon. Very liberal himself, it was one of his principles never to thwart the tastes of others. At the moment of departing for a long tour, he said to his nephew:

"Despair not, my boy. I will take it upon myself to find an accomplished woman for you in the province. I will arrange the affair, and all you will have to do, will be to come on and marry her. You may confide in me. I am fortunate in these matters. In a month you will hear from me." M. Lombard kept his word: three weeks after his depar ture he wrote to his nephew:

"MY DEAR FRIEND-I have the pleasure of informing you Leon Durand was rather a handsome fellow-with an that I have found a superb alliance for you-a young lady agreeable countenance, and a mind between the mediocre handsome as an angel-magnificent blue eyes, fair hair, and the brilliant. Modest, and offering little for criticism. and the only daughter of a mother, who possesses fifteen he passed unnoticed through the world. His character, thousand livres income, in safe stock. The marriage porhowever, was not destitute of originality. Left to himself tion will be a hundred thousand. I hope you will not be dissatisfied with the bargain. Set off as soon as you get my from the age of twenty, master of his actions and his fortune, letter, and hey for wedlock! I shall not be able to attend he had never shown much inclination for celibacy; he had your wedding, being obliged to go without delay to Marneither the taste nor the passions which give zest to a ba-seilles, and to stop in Provence for two months. On my rechelor's life; for him independence had no attraction, he turn I shall have real pleasure in finding you at housekeepshunned noisy pleasures, and gallantry caused him fear.ing, and from now till then I sincerely wish for your happiness. Adieu, my friend. Your devoted uncle, He understood love only as a sweet and enduring affection. His character was indolent and easy; accepting willingly an opinion, and inclining to obedience, he found himself naturally saddled and bridled for matrimony; and yet the world had never appreciated all the conjugal gaurantees this honest fellow possessed; the world had never been able to discover the good husband beneath the envelope of celibacy, and Leon, in spite of his personal advantages, his six thousand livres rent, and his great desire to marry, was still a bachelor at eight and twenty.

As reckless as impatient, he first addressed himself to a young widow, whose coquetries he payed by a very neat, and a very formal proposal of marriage. The widow, who expected nothing of the kind, was greatly astonished at having been supposed serious; but she appreciated widowhood too well to be willing to renounce its pleasant condition. She, therefore, thanked her respectful adorer, and dismissed him. Leon was disconcerted at this rebuff, and, from that time, he became suspicious, and deplorably awkward in his endeavours to obtain a wife. When he had failed three times, his defeats were talked of, and the families with whom he sought alliance were frightened from it. "He has been refused," said they, " by Madame by Mademoiselles and -; this young man, under good appearances, must hide some secret vices."

ISADORE LOMBARD.

"P. S. This is your wife's address: Mademoiselle Euphrasie Dutillois, at Madame Dutillois' her mother, at Bony, near Montargis."

This letter raised Leon to the height of joy. He set off with a light heart, full of hope, and dreaming of a happy fu ture. At Fontainebleau the diligence stopped, and the conductor gave the travellers twenty minutes to dine. They sat down to table. In an adjoining room the travellers in the diligence from Lyons had just finished their dinner, and were about to regain the carriage, when some gensd'armes entered and demanded to look at their passports, which were examined with care, for there was then a conspiracy on foot. After having gone through with the usual formalities, the gens-d'armes went round both tables, and each traveller, when his name was called, obtained his passport.

While Leon rolled towards Montargis, they were occupied in thoughts of him at Bony. Euphrasie Dutillois merited M. Lombard's eulogium on her beauty; she was a charming young creature, who had no other defect, but that of being a little wilful, like all spoiled children, and, in this particular, she was perfectly suited to Leon. Heiress to fif. teen thousand livres income, she was too rich to find an This exaggeration was a general one, and led to terrible equal match at Bony No pretender had dared to offer him

"Among the travellers arrived to-day from Paris, you have one M. Durand ?”

self, except a cousin, Pamphile Jovin, an awkward fellow, whom she had refused; but, undismayed, he returned to the || charge. M. Lombard, while passing Montargis, recalled to mind that the late Dutillois, his friend, had left his widow and only daughter a very pretty fortune at his death; he, therefore, went to Bony, found Euphrasie to his liking, and made his proposition, which was received. Jovin was mortified at this. He had counted on his obstinacy, and the few resources offered at Bony; but when he saw Paris enter in competition, the poor fellow lost all hope. After having rough-sketched his nephew's marriage, M. Lombard depart-light in his chamber. Hold, Catharine has just brought me

ed; Leon was to arrive two days after. Madame Dutillois was conversing with her daughter about her future rights and duties; Euphrasie, who for more than an hour, had preserved a thoughtful silence, interrupted her mother suddenly by saying:

"Yes, Mademoiselle, yes; a young man who is going to be married in our neighbourhood, from what I could learn from his conversation. He said he wished to go to Bony to-morrow morning. Thomas is to take him there in his cabriolet for five francs. It is not worth so much, but when one is going to see his bride, they do not look to these mat. ters so closely. Do these ladies know M. Durand? Shall I go for him? He has not yet gone to bed, for there is a

his passport, which I am obliged to have. I am going to in-
scribe his name on my register. Do the ladies wish supper?"
"Yes," said Euphrasie; "yes, as soon as possible."
"In one minute, Mesdames."

The hostess left the room, leaving the passport on the

"It seems to me we have been too ready to accept M. table. Durand upon the recommendation of his uncle."

"M. Lombard," replied Madame Dutillois," is in capable of deceiving us. Besides, my notary has obtained information also."

"I do not doubt that M. Durand has six thousand livres a year; I would also believe he is of a good family, and that his conduct is correct. All that is very well for you; your responsibility as a mother is answered, you will have established your daughter suitably; but that is not enough for me. This Monsieur must also please me, and I noticed that M. Lombard, while praising the character of his ne phew, avoided telling us anything about his person."

"Perhaps we shall have no need of seeing M. Durand; his portrait is here."

She read: "In the king's name-Pierre Ignace Durand." "He is called Ignace. What a villanous name!" "You can give him another that will please you better," replied Madame Dutillois.

Euphrasie passed on to the description; she turned pale at the first word, her hand trembled and she said to her mother:

"Can I also give him hair to my taste ?"
"What?"

"Red hair!"

"Red!" exclaimed Madame Dutillois. "Ah! Monsieur Lombard! Monsieur Lombard !"

That is not all," continued Euphrasie, coldly, "listen, mamma:"

The fact was M. Lombard had shown himself very discreet on this point, and that too, for a very plain reason; it was because he estimated only one kind of beauty among men. To be handsome was, in his opinion, to be five feet eight inches high, square shouldered, florid complexion and enormous whiskers. So M. Lombard, thinking him deficient in personal attractions, contented himself with saying: "I am quite sure you will not find him ugly." Madame Dutillois was confounded; Euphrasie quickly This ambiguous phrase had thrown Euphrasie into doubt || decided what to do, like a woman who knows she will and uneasiness.

"Very well, said Madame Dutillois, "you are yet perfectly free; nothing has been signed. You will see M. Durand to-morrow, and then if you do not like him we will send him off. But I'll wager he will suit you, dear."

"Your confidence in that is the reason you dwell so lightly on the words, we will send him off! Do you think, then, it will be so easy to say to his face; we find you ugly and disagreeable.' That is to say, dear mother, that when you go to pay him that compliment, I shall find you so embarrassed, so pained, that from pity, and to get you out of the quandary, I-shall be obliged to marry him."

"Low forehead, red eye-brows, gray eyes, big nose, large mouth, red beard, face marked with the smallpox, particular sign: a wart on his nose."

never want for a husband.,

"O! I have it. Fortunately I have a way to arrange all his celibacy. He tried to resign himself, and turned back this." "What way ?"

"See here; you go and tell Etienne to put the horses to the carriage. In three hours we shall be at Montargis. We will stop at the inn where the diligence from Paris halts. No one knows us. We will sup at the table d'hote, with the travellers. We will see M. Durand, and if he does not please us, you can write him a very polite letter which will prevent his coming to Bony, and spare yourself a painful explanation. What do you say to my plan ?"

"Perfect. We have only to depart."

When Madame Dutillois and her daughter arrived at Montargis, and alighted at the inn, it was nine in the evening; they had supped. Euphrasie interrogated the hostess, who eagerly answered her questions.

sadly on his way to Paris. At Fontainebleau the brigadier of the gens-d'armes who examined his passport exclaimed: -"Parbleu! This answers to the gentleman we arrested yesterday three leagues from this place-Ignace Durand, red hair, marked with the small pox, a wart-it was he, and," added he, unfolding another paper: "Leon Durand, black hair, middling-sized nose, oval face; that is it. Hold Monsieur, we made a mistake yesterday, there were two Durands, the one coming to, the other going from Paris, your passports were changed in returning them. This mistake was a fatal one for your namesake, who was arrested and conducted to prison. But all is explained now and I will hasten to the king's attorney. You have reason to congratulate yourself, Monsieur Leon Durand, that this adventure brought nothing unpleasant upon yourself."