The Argosy — page 352: what you’re looking at

Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.

336 Fack and Fill. moment he was gone and there was no one to see her emotion, she threw herself on the sofa, murmuring between her deep sobs: “Oh! my darling, my darling! And he thinks it is because I do not love him enough. Am I right to treat him so? Is it wise?” Was she right? Was it wise? At any rate she had sent him away from her. And as he left her that summer's evening, a bright, splendid, perfect knight, whom any fair lady might well be proud of, she never saw him again. And yet it was because he was so splendid that she had refused his pleadings. Jack was the only child of the squire of the parish, General Marriott ; and Jane Armstrong, once named Jill by Jack, and afterward universally called so, was the eldest daughter of the Rector. The Rectory garden was bounded on two sides by the woods around the Hall, and, from their childhood, Jack and Jill had been accus- tomed to play together during the holidays like brother and sister. When she was seventeen and he nineteen, he passed with credit into the Engineers, and went up to Chatham to study, and when he came back from his first term there, the old relationship between the two was at an end, a change in it being unavoidable, if sad. Jill was shy and Jack officiously polite ; wearing his best clothes when he was likely to meet her, bringing her flowers from his father’s conservatory and grapes from his vinery; and, in fact, making hot love to her, which state of things continued until the occurrence of the scene described above. General Marriott saw it all plainly enough, but being fond of Jill, he was well pleased at the prospect of having her for his future daughter-in-law. It was Jill, only Jill, who saw any hazard in the engagement, although it seemed to her that her whole happiness depended upon it. It was for that very reason she wished to win, not the rash, impetuous, boyish love Jack could give her at present, but the love of his future manhood, of his life. She was so well aware of all the advantages he possessed : his social position, which would introduce him into the best society ; his physical beauty, his winning grace, his ready wit, which would ensure him friends and admirers where- soever he might be: was it likely that he would always remain true to the everyday English girl with no especial gifts? Yes, it was likely, Jill thought thankfully, because she knew something of his character; but it was not certain, for he was untried. Let him be tried: and then, if he proved faithful, he should be rewarded by a love as deep as the fathomless sea, as strong as the elements themselves, and faithful unto death! Little did Jack know, as he left the Rectory gates, that such a gift was his already, whether he ever came back worthy to claim it or not. And so two years passed away while Jack was in India, They did not write to each other except on birthdays and special occasions, because Jill had forbidden correspondence as likely to make him feel comicbooks.com