MR. BANK’S MATRIMONIAL VENTURE.

Wairarapa Standard, Volume XX, Issue 2090, 8 July 1887, Page 1 (Supplement)

MR. BANK’S MATRIMONIAL VENTURE.

“ Glad to sec you, Mr. Banks, How are you ?” i And the senior partner in the firm of Johannot, Johnson L Co., leaned back in his office chair, and seized Joshua Bank’s hand in a cordial grasp. “ How’s trade V’ continued Mr, Johannot, as his visitor seated himself, and removing his straw hat, wiped off his beady forehead. The day had been warm, and Mr. Banks was rather corpulent. 11 Looking up,” replied the latter, as be restored his handkerchief to his pocket, and began to fan himself with his hat. “ I have booked some unusually good orders this week.”

Mr, Joshua Banks was the representative of a large wholesale house in Melbourne. Though too valuable a member of the house corps of employes to be often sent “on the road," he was occasionally intrusted with important commissions to country customers. He had met Mr. Johannot when on previous visits to Deepdale, and as genial men, each anxious on business principles to conciliate the other, they got along excellently. “Come home with me to supper,” suggested the Deepdale merchant, as he proceeded to stow away his papers and lock his desk. “ Oh, you look all right,” he said reassuringly, as Mr. Banks glanced in a dubious fashion at his business suit, decidedly the worse for the dusty day’s wear, “ no one but Emily and me. Bather lonely foryou at the hotel, isn’t it It was rather lonely, Mr. Banks conceded, but, being a bachelor, he had grown used to that. Nevertheless, the prospect of a cheerful evening at the Johannots’ was alluring. And he went.

He regretted his acceptance the moment he entered the parlor, for there, in addition and in striking contrast to demure little Mrs. Johannot, he found a very large and very imposing lady of fifty, or thereabouts, richly attired in a heavy brocaded silk, and brilliant with conspicuous diamonds. Mr. Banks was a diffident man. How he survived the ordeal of that introduction he never knew. He awoke to consciousness to find himself seated on a sofa beside the gorgeous Mrs. Blossom, who had graciously made room for him, and his first sensation was of mortification, as he noticed that his garments looked dustier than ever in juxtaposition to the black brocade. So he lived in Melbourne. Mrs. Blossom wondered if be knew her friends the Jacksons. She had forgotten exactly where they lived ; on the East Side, she believed. Mr. Banks gravely explained that there was no East Side to that uusymmetrical metropolis. No, he was not acquainted with the Jacksons.

“ 1 have never visited your city,” pursued the buxom dame. " Montgomery and I were always meaning to, but somehow we never got started, and since he died ” —his bereaved consort paid the tribute of a sigh to Mr. Blossom’s memory—“ I seldom go anywhere." Thereupon Mr. Banks surprised himself by making an exceedingly gallant rejoinder, and before he knew it he was launched on a sea of feminine small talk, and somewhat bewildered, to tell the truth, as to his bearings.

Mrs. Blossom, it appeared, lived directly across the way, and had only “ dropped in ” to spend the afternoon, but upon Mrs. Johannot’s invitation she consented to remain to tea. At the table the conversation became general, but the sprightly widow found occasion to direct towards her ris-d-ri-i a number of coquettish glances, which adouble chin, if not improving, did not materially mar. Mr. Banks’ bachelor heart, unless rendered proof by the armor of forty-five years of celibacy, was evidently in serious danger. When the gentlemen withdrew to the library for a post-prandial smoke, Mr. Johannot rallied his guest on Mrs. Blossom’s evident favor.

“Von have made a decided impression, Banks,” he declared. “ Only persevere, and your fortune is made. Widow Blossom is worth a cool hundred thousand if she is worth a penny, exclusive of her personal property, and those diamonds are a fortune in themsolves. She has no children, norony relatives that I ever heard of, I know you arc not a marrying man, but you should nut refuse ‘ the gifts the gods provide you.’ Such golden opportunities are few. Jobannot resumed his cigar with a little chuckle at bis closing Joke, It was true that Joshua Banks was not a marrying man. lie had long ago resigned all thoughts of becoming a benedict. For years his sister Eliza had kept house for him| and they lived most contentedly together. But the faithless Eliza, at the solicitation of one Frederick Hawkins, had simultaneously abjured single blessedness and her bachelor brother, and removed to Elkinsville, whence she sent frequent letters to the lonely Joshua, depicting the happiness of married ♦ife, decrying celibacy, and exhorting him to take to himself a wife. All these appeals recurred to her brother's mind as ho listened to Mr. Johannot’s suggestions. “ Why has she never re-married 1 ” he inquired, awaking from his reverie. “ She must have had chances."

“ She would not look at anyone in Deepdale,” replied his host, • That is where you have such an advantage, Banks. The mere

fact that you can register from Melbourne is an item in your favor. Go in and wiu.old fellow," lie concluded jocosely. “ Accept ray blessing and bo happy.” ” Your congratulations are a little premature,” remonstrated poor Mr. Banks, in confusion.

Nevertheless, he promised to “ think of it.”

He evidently kept his word, for several times during the evening Mr. Jobaunot noticed that ho glanced across the whist table at his portly partner with a meditative and abstracted gaze. The next day, when Mr. Banks called for the umbrella which he always carried, and which in his absent-minded mood the night before ho Lad forgotten, he found the same ladies conversing in the parlor. The embarrassed pause that succeeded his entrance convinced him that he had been the subject of discussion, but the suave manner with which both greeted him led him to believe their remarks had not been unkind. During the half hour he remained he made himself as agreeable as only a designing old bachelor with an eye to diamonds and ducats knows how.

Mr. and Mrs. Johannot, who were naturally interested in the success of their matchmaking, had abundant opportunity to watch its progress during the next two weeks. On some pretext l?Ir. Banks obtained leave of absence for that period, and every day he paid a call at the house over the way. On the last afternoon of his stay, little Mrs. Johannot, from behind the lace curtain in the bay window, saw him appear in a dashing equipage and take his amiable Dulcinea to ride. When she reported this incident to her Ezra at the supper table, ho gave it as his opinion that Mr. Banks had undoubtedly propounded the momentous question that day. And Emily, like a docile little wife, agreed with him. But they gave Mr. Banks credit for greater courage than that worthy possessed. He had, it is true, by various tendernesses of look and manner endeavored to express his state of heart, but to- consult his fate by word of mouth was more than his timorous soul would venture. So he left Deepdale that night with his future still undecided. The next evening, when comfortably ensconsed in dressing-gown, and easy chair, in his second front floor front, he spent an hour and consumed a cigar in profound meditation. Then he drew up his desk, selected the least business-like note paper in his possession, and prepared to write. At the end of half an hour he had completed the following letter;— “Mbs. Montgomery Blossom: “Bear Mailam: —l trust you will pardon the liberty I take in thus addressing you. 1 carl no longer defer saying what has been on my lips for days. Two weeks ago I had the happiness of meeting one who will ever hold the first (place in my thoughts. That meeting will, i hope, mark an epoch in my life. I have felt, since knowing you, dear madam, that a return to my previous lonely life would be intolerable. I have at last found one who could he a congenial companion through life, if she can but reciprocate the feelings I offer. “ Hoping for a favorable answer, I am, my dear madam, “ Yours very truly, Joshua Banks.” The production, through the result of prolonged and patent thought, did not satisfy the critical taste of our ardent suitor in the least. But after several futile attempts to bettor it, ho turned vfith a sigh to scratch off a hasty note to his sister, Mrs. Frederick Hawkins :

“ Dear Eliza,” it ran, “I have at last done the irrevocable deed. I have just written a declaration of love—well, hardly that —but a proposal of marriage to Mrs. Blossom, relict of the late Montgomery Blossom, of Deepdale. She is fair, fat, and something over fifty. Has no encumbrances, and is exceedingly well provided with this world’s goods. She will hardly be your ideal sister-in-law, but ‘ be to her faults a little blind,' and prepare yourself to assist at the coming nuptials, “ Your most affectionate brother, ‘■Joshua Banks.” Three days later, as the prospective benedict was seated in his office, two letters were handed him. Both were addressed in feminine handwriting. One bore the Deepdale postmark. He eagerly tore it open, and drew forth—what! His eyes started from his head, and great drops of perspiration bedewed his forehead. Could it be ? His letter to Eliza I On the fourth page was written: “ Ms. Banks—You have apparently made a slight mistake in sending me the enclosed, so I return it to you with thanks for its interesting contents. Considering the source, I can afford to treat the insults it contains with silent contempt. Mrs. Montgomery Blossom." The other letter ran : “Dear Joshua;— Are you crazy? If not, what do you mean by sending me a proposal addressed to another woman 1 Is it one of your peculiar practical jokes, or a genuine blunder ? Do write soon, and relieve my anxious mind. 11 Your affectionate sister, Eliza." Mr Banks is still a bachelor. He has acquired an antipathy for widows, and never visits Deepdale even on business.