Tempest and Sunshine

Meantime Julia and Fanny had become tolerably well established both in

school and at Mrs. Crane's. Julia was perfectly delighted with her new

quarters, for she said "everything was in style, just as it should be,"

and she readily adopted all the "city notions." But poor Fanny was

continually committing some blunder. She would forget to use her napkin,

or persist in using her knife instead of her four-tined silver fork. These

little things annoyed Julia excessively, and numerous were the lectures

given in secret to Fanny, who would laugh merrily at her sister's distress

and say she really wished her father would dine some day at Mrs. Crane's

table.

"Heaven forbid that he should!" said Julia. "I should be mortified to

death."

"They would not mind his oddities," said Fanny, "for I overheard Mrs.

Crane telling the exquisitely fashionable Mrs. Carrington that our father

was 'a quizzical old savage, but rich as a nabob, and we should

undoubtedly inherit a hundred thousand dollars apiece.' And then Mrs.

Carrington said, 'Oh, is it possible? One can afford to patronize them.'

And then she added something else which I think I'll not tell you."

"Oh, do," said Julia. "It too bad to raise my curiosity and not gratify

it."

"Well, then," said Fanny, "Mrs. Carrington said, 'There is a rumor that

the eldest Miss Middleton is engaged to Mr. Wilmot. I wonder at it, for

with her extreme beauty and great fortune, she could command a more

eligible match than a poor pedagogue.'"

The next morning at breakfast Mrs. Crane informed her boarders that she

expected a new arrival the next day, Friday. She said, "It is a new

gentleman from New Orleans. His name is Dr. Lacey. His parents were

natives of Boston, Massachusetts, but he was born in New Orleans, and will

inherit from his father a large fortune; but as he wished for a

profession, he chose that of medicine. He is a graduate of Yale College

and usually spends his summers North, so this season he stops in

Frankfort, and honors my house with his presence. He is very handsome and

agreeable, and these young ladies might put a lock and key on their

hearts."

The last part of this speech was directed to Julia, who blushed deeply,

and secretly wondered if Dr. Lacey were as handsome as Mr. Wilmot. She

frequently found herself thinking about him during the day, but Fanny

never gave him a thought until evening, when, as she and her sister were

together in their room, the latter suddenly exclaimed, "I wonder if Dr.

Lacey will be here at breakfast tomorrow morning."