stairs.
They can't keep all their gladness of heart to themselves, and I shall fare better beyond all question.
[Some one knocks at the parlor door.
Mr. Crusty. That gal has let in that anxious spinster, Mrs. Penelope Toler, upon me the huzzy!
[The knocking is repeated.
Mr. Crusty. Come in!
Enter Mrs. Lovely.
Mrs. Lovely. All alone, Mr. Crusty?
Mr. Crusty. Certainly; always alone!
Mrs. Lovely. Oh! it is so hard to be all alone!
Mr. Crusty. Pray, what do you know about solitude? You are a young lady still; a widow of a year's growth; young, quite young; and what do you know of being all alone?
Mrs. Lovely. And have n't I had a world-wide experience? Have I not loved, and can I ever cease to feel the want of my Henry's presence, and his voice to soothe and encourage me? Oh! how can I cease to be wretched, when, with a woman's heart, I am alone?
Mr. Crusty. Why in the world do n't you marry? There is Ned Dashall, who has been following you like a shadow; why not make him happy, as you know how?
Mrs. Lovely. Do you think it would be wise in me to marry a man whose only recommendation is his youth? Dear Mr. Crusty, you do n't know the heart of a loving woman! It is truth, talent, and virtue I love; and I do wish I had such a heart to love me!
Mr. Crusty. You are very candid. Why do n't you advertise for a husband?
Mrs. Lovely. O, Mr. Crusty, enough of this badinage. I did n't come here to talk about marrying. But here 's a paper Lawyer Sparrowhawk has sent me by his man, and says I must return it to him signed, and there 's no time for delay. It is something about the cotton lands in Alabama. And here 's a letter from the Auditor of the State, saying, unless taxes are paid up at once on these lands, they will be sold. Now, I never heard of these lands before. I would not sign this paper till you had seen it, for I can trust no one but you. I am a poor widow, with no one to advise me.