much loved my little brother; and, when death claimed him, all
the love which he would have shared with me, had he lived, was lavished
upon me. There is little in my childhood and youth worthy of notice, as
we occupied an humble sphere in life. I suppose you will hardly credit
me, Clara, when I tell you that, at the age of sixteen I was called
beautiful. It was something to which I had given but little thought; but
the ear of youth is ever open to flattery, and I must confess that my
vanity was flattered by being called beautiful by the residents of the
then small village of Littleton.

"When I was about eighteen years of age," continued Miss Simmonds, "a
young lawyer, by the name of Almont, opened an office in this village,
for the practice of his profession. He came among us suddenly, and he
informed those with whom he first made acquaintance, that he had
formerly resided in Massachusetts. Many wondered at his locating himself
here, as the village was then but small, and offered few inducements to
professional men.

"He was very affable and pleasing in his address, and soon made the
acquaintance of many of the young people of the village, and we soon
found him to be a very agreeable addition to our pic-nic excursions and
other parties for pleasure and amusement. He paid marked attention to me
from the time when we first became acquainted; and, to shorten my story,
after an acquaintance of six months, he asked me to become his wife. I
am now an old woman, Clara, and need not blush to tell you that I had
learned to love him with a deep affection, and I yielded a willing
assent, provided that my parents approved. True, I had no knowledge of
his connections or former life; but since his residence in our village,
his conduct had been irreproachable, and he was fast gaining the respect
and confidence of all who knew him. There was something very attractive
in his personal appearance; he seemed to have seen much of the world,
for so young a man, for he spoke in a familiar manner of many distant
scenes and places. When he sought my hand in marriage, my parents did
not object. He was gaining quite a lucrative practice both in Littleton
and adjacent places, and he declared his intention of making Littleton
his permanent home. Doubtless, this influenced my parents to favor his
suit, as the thought of my settling in my native village was very
pleasing to them. He was very much flattered by society, and I was all
the more please