ne given him by common consent,) had one son, and an only
daughter, the former twenty-one, the latter eighteen, at the time we wish
to introduce them to the reader's notice. Both were worthy, the one as a
man, the other as a woman. He was noble, intellectual, manly; she was
beautiful, accomplished, intelligent; both possessed those higher and
nobler qualities of mind and heart which dignify and ally it to divinity.

Ellen Walton, an heiress, jointly with her brother, in prospective, and
reputed the wealthiest fair one in all the district, (the world don't
always know the true situation of a man's affairs,) was not left to pine
away in solitude with the dismal prospect in view of becoming that dreaded
personage--_an old maid_. No, she was _beset_ with admirers; some loving
_her_, some her _wealth_, and some _both_. To all but one she turned a deaf
ear; that one, though the least presuming of the many, and too diffident to
urge his claim until impelled by the irresistable violence of his love,
possessed, unknown to himself, a magnetic power over the heart of the fair
being. Many were the doubts and fears of both--natural accompaniments of
true, sincere, devoted, but unacknowledged, love--but all were dispelled
by the mutual exchange of thoughts, and the mutual plighting of faith. Vows
once made by the pure in heart, are seldom, if ever, broken, and then by
some higher duty or demand.

For a time the youthful lovers were happy--happy in themselves, and the
joys of the new existence opened up to them by the magic wand of LOVE. But
love has its trials, as all can testify who have tasted its potency in the
heart; and so these two learned. Their engagement was a family secret, not
yet to be developed. Hence, many of her admirers still offered their
attentions, in the vain hope of ultimate success. Particularly was this the
case with those who had an eye to the fortune rather than the heiress,
taking the latter as the only means of obtaining the former; and first
among this number was Louis Durant, a man of corrupt principles, and deeply
depraved feelings. A sprig of a noble family of small pretensions, whose
pride far exceeded their means, he was desirous of obtaining wealth; and
being too indolent to enter a profession, too poor to become a merchant,
and too proud to work, as a last resort, he wished to _marry_ a fortune.
Like most of his class, he was unscrupulous as to _means_ so the _end_ was
attained. It was, therefore, an