MARRYING AN HEIRESS ;
OR, THE FAMILY OF THE DOBBS.
BY B. B. THOM.
It was one of the few fine days in the month of last July, that a splendid cab, drawn by a noble grey horse, was seen passing down one of those sweet rural lanes that are to be found in the neighborhood of one of our chief commercial cities. It stopped in front of a twostoried, small, red-colored house, which displayed between the outside garden door and the porch a number of orange lilies, from the centre of which rose a plaisterof-Paris image of Apollo. Two young gentlemen, dressed in the first style of fashion, dismounted from the cab, and, stopping in the garden to contemplate with astonishment this extraordinary ornament, they rapped at the door, and, upon its being opened, asked if Mr. Egremont was at home.
Egremont !" said the gardener, who on this occasion evidently acted as the valet ; " Egremont ! gentlemen, you are under a mistake ; there is no such person living here. This is Mr. Dobbs'."
"Oh ! now I think, I do recollect that the name of the father-in-law of our friend Alfred is Dobbs. We are under no mistake ; we wish to see the son-in-law of Mr. Dobbs." "Ah ! yes, yes, the son-in-law ; that is the husband of our young mistress. Aye, aye ; all right ; I'll go and tell him. You can in the mean time walk in the garden." "Let him know that there are two of his friends here -Gustavus Mandeville and William Creed. The gardener disappeared. "I expected to find a handsome villa," said Mandeville to his companion, " and I find nothing but a shocking vulgar-looking cottage." “Yes ; but you see here," said William Creed, pointing to the garden at the rear of the house, " that this is a very large one, and, as it appears to me, kept in excellent order ; although a little too well stocked with vegetables for my taste. But what matters the outside appearance of a house, if the interior is comfortable ? Besides, I am quite sure that Egremont's father-in-law is rich." "So much the better ; for Egremont required some secure and snug post after his sad shipwreck ; and then I am quite sure, with his ideas of elegance, and his luxurious tastes, that every thing must be put sur un bon pied." "That I calculate upon. The dashing Ergemont, no doubt, employs in a profuse style the fortune made by the thrifty Mr. Dobbs." "Where are they ? where are my dear friends ?" said a third person, who ran from under a shady grove of trees. It was Alfred Ergemont ! a fattish, red-faced young man, dressed in a fustian shooting jacket, with white | VOL. I.- 10
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grey canvass trousers that did not come down to his ancles, and having on his feet thick hob-nailed shoes ; while on his head was a skimping straw hat, and round his neck an old colored cotton handkerchief. His two friends looked at him for an instant, without being able to recognize him ; but he said laughingly to them, and shaking their hands— 66 You find me a little changed, perhaps. The air of the fields, and the peace of a happy home, have produced these good results. I, who was so thin and so pale, am now stout and blooming. The country has given me a complexion, and happiness has thickened my waist ; then I have shaved away my whiskers, because my wife does not like them ; and I have cropped my head until it looks like that of a recruit, instead of wearing my hair like a German, because my beloved mother-in-law could not endure the sight of it. Besides I have given up all notion of fashion. It is very well in the city, or when one is unmarried ; but when we live in the country, and only wish to please ourselves, and to be perfectly at our ease, why then one dresses as they like-as I do. So, you see, the metamorphosis is perfect." And so in fact it was. There was a time, when the most elegantly dressed man, with the handsomest turn out, with the finest house, and the most excellent winecellar in the city, was Alfred Egremont ; but then, one morning-it was a lovely morning, and followed that on which a great race was won-Alfred Egremont was completely, utterly, irretrievably ruined. But, in the midst of all his misfortunes, one plank of safety presented itself, and, clinging to that, he might reach the shore in safety. The brilliant position and shining attractions of the young exquisite had made a deep impression upon the heart of Tabitha Dobbs, the daughter of the richest green-grocer in the city. Mr. and Mrs. Dobbs were pains-taking, saving, griping, calculating shopkeepers, who had an utter abomination for fashion and all its luxuries ; and they, therefore, at first, declared their decided objection to a union between Mr. Alfred Egremont and their beloved daughter, Tabitha. The young lady was, however, their only child ; and they yielded at length to her wishes. Besides, Alfred promised to reform, and they were resolved he should keep his word. He determined to give up his house, and to live altogether in the country , with his father-in-law. From the time of his marriage Alfred appeared no more in the city ; and it was remarked, that not one of his intimate friends had been invited to his nuptials. People only knew of the happiness he was enjoying by report. He had, however, written several times to his friends, Mandeville and Creed, and requested them to come and see him. They at length determined upon paying him a visit ; they did so one day when ennui had awakened in their hearts the remembrance of their old friend, and the desire for some new amusement.
