ered society, to my mother's amazement, I created quite a
sensation. I had been looked upon as a pretty girl always; but my
mother had so often declared that I was so inanimate and innocent, she
never would be able to do any thing with me, and my pretty face would
be of no service to me, that I looked upon myself as quite an ordinary
person, and was as much surprised at my belle-hood as my family. I
wonder my little head was not turned with the attentions I received,
so unused as I had been to admiration; it might have been, however,
had not a disappointment--a bitter, heart-aching disappointment,
wearied me of all this adulation and attention.

"Soon after my entrance into society, I became acquainted with a Mr.
Morton--agreeable, good-looking, and attentive he was, of
course--quite an acquisition to me in my circle of admirers. His
worldly qualifications were not of so brilliant a nature as to attract
my prudent mother's fancy, for he was only a young lawyer of slender
means and moderate practice. I do not think she ever dreamed of the
interest he excited in me, but looked upon him as one of the crowd of
attendants necessarily surrounding a belle. But how differently I
regarded him. The piles of costly bouquets I received daily, gained
but little attention from me, unless I discerned among them the tiny
bunch of sweet-violets, tea-roses, and mignonette, which he once in a
great while sent me. In my ball-tablets my eyes sought the dances
marked down for him; and when he was my partner, the dance, generally
so wearisome, was only too short, too delightful; the reminiscence of
that happy time makes a silly girl of me again. My mother never
imagined he aspired to my hand--she would have looked aghast at the
bare mention of such a probability; but she regarded him as a friend,
and he was a great favorite with her. She used to say young men like
Harry Morton, that knew their places, were invaluable acquaintances
for a belle; thus were we thrown a great deal together. She was so
blind to his real position with me, quick-sighted as she generally was
in other things, I was permitted to have him for my partner in
dancing, even for several quadrilles during an evening; he was my
constant attendant in my daily rides on horseback, and my mother never
hesitated to call upon him if we were at any time in need of an escort
to a ball or opera. He was upon the footing of a brother or cousin in
the family; but, ah! how dear was he to me