ABSTRACT
The good folks of Cranberry Hall thought it now full time to celebrate Letitia’s proposed marriage with colonel Beekman. A jaunt to New York, and the bustle of purchasing the bridal clothes, they conceived would stifle that reluctance which, perhaps, arose only from youth and maiden bashfulness. On their arrival, after the marriage settlement had been fully adjusted, the colonel was directed to report progress to Letitia, and present her with a valuable ring of his grandmother’s. He undertook this important task with some degree of hesitation; being little accustomed to conversation with ladies of any education, and having never courted, as Letitia had studiously avoided any private interview. After the first ceremony of entrance and / compliments was over, he turned twice or thrice on his chair, looking wistfully round the room for some subject of conversation. She was in expectation of the purpose of his visit, and resolved to evade it if possible. ‘The weather,’ at last, said he, hemming, 336 ‘is – is, Miss Forester, very seasonable.’
