scene of so much frivolity and the
witness to so many secret heart-burnings, would reecho to the tread of
the pure and innocent child, whose mind had flights unknown to the
slaves of fashion, and in whose heart lay impulses of goodness that
would satisfy the long smothered cravings of his awakened nature, he
experienced a feeling of relenting towards the wife who had not chosen
to thwart him in this the strongest wish of his childless manhood, and
crossing to her dressing table, he dropped among its treasures a costly
ring which he had been induced to purchase that day from an old friend
who had fallen into want. "She will wear it," murmured he to himself,
"for its hue will make her hand look still whiter, and when I see it
sparkle I will remember this hour and be patient." Had he known that she
had yielded to this wish out of a certain vague feeling of compunction
for the disappointments she had frequently occasioned him and would
occasion him again, he might have added a tender thought to the rich and
costly gift with which he had just endowed her.

"I expect a young cousin of mine to spend the winter with me and pursue
her studies," were the first words that greeted his ears as an hour or
so later he entered the parlor where his wife was entertaining what few
guests had been anxious enough for a sight of Mrs. Sylvester's newly
furnished drawing-room, to brave the now rapidly falling snow. "I hope
that you and she will be friends."

Curious to see what sort of a companion his wife was thus somewhat
prematurely providing for Paula, he hastily advanced towards the little
group from which her voice had proceeded, and found himself face to face
with a brown-haired girl whose appealing glance and somewhat infantile
mouth were in striking contrast to the dignity with which she carried
her small head and managed her whole somewhat petite person.

"Miss Stuyvesant! my husband!" came in musical tones from his wife, and
somewhat surprised to hear a name that but a moment before had been the
uppermost in his mind, he bowed with courtesy and then asked if he was
so happy as to speak to a daughter of Thaddeus Stuyvesant.

"If it will give you especial pleasure I will say yes," responded the
little miss with a smile that irradiated her whole face. "Do you know my
father?"

"There are but few bankers in the city who have not that pleasure,"
replied he with an answering look of regard. "I am especially happy to
meet his daugh