in,
who was a few months older than her friend and almost constant
companion, Harriet Wieland, was quiet, thoughtful, and observant;
while Harriet, who had great personal attractions, never appeared to
look beneath the surface. She believed every thing to be true that
bore the semblance of truth, to her all that glittered was gold.
Like you, and most other young ladies, we sometimes talked of
marriage, and the qualifications desirable in a good husband.
Harriet, whether in a gay or sober mood, always declared, like Ella
here, that he who won her heart must have riches, manly beauty, and
brilliant talents. These she called man's cardinal virtues. Sarah
never had much to say on these matters, and, when we asked her
opinion, she generally replied evasively.

"A young man named Eaverson, answering pretty nearly to the beau
ideal of Harriet Wieland, came from a neighbouring city to reside in
this. He was connected with a wealthy and highly respectable family,
was really a handsome man, and possessed very fine abilities. He had
studied law, and opened his office here for the purpose of pursuing
it as a regular profession; but, not meeting with much practice at
first, he occupied a large portion of his time in literary pursuits,
writing for the magazines and reviews. He also published a small
volume of poetry, which contained many really brilliant specimens of
verse.

"Circumstances threw Eaverson into the circle of which we formed a
part, and we were consequently introduced to him. In the course of
time, he began to pay rather marked attentions to Sarah Corbin, at
which I felt a little surprised, as he had met Harriet Wieland quite
as often, and she was far more beautiful and showy, and more likely,
it seemed to me, to attract one like him than the other. Either
Sarah was unconscious that his attentions were more marked in her
case, or she did not wish her observation of the fact to be known,
for all our allusions to the subject were evaded with a seeming
indifference that left our minds in doubt. Such were our impressions
at first; but the sequel showed that she had marked his first
advances with lively interest, and understood their meaning quite as
well as we did.

"About Eaverson there was every thing to attract the heart of a
maiden not well guarded; and Sarah found that it required the
fullest exercise of her reason to prevent her from letting every
affection of her mind go out and attach itself to an object that