'She is very beautiful,' thought the old gentleman; and the sluggish current of his blood began to course thro' his veins with something of the ardor of youth. Mr. Hedge was a wealthy old bachelor;--and like the majority of individuals, who belong to that class, he adored pretty women, but had always adored them _at a distance_. To him, woman was a divinity; he bowed at her shrine, but dared not presume to taste the nectar of her lips, or inhale the perfume of her sighs. He had always regarded such familiarity as a type of sacrilege. But now, seated _tete-a-tete_ with that charming creature, and feasting his eyes upon her voluptuous beauty, his awe of the divinity merged into a burning admiration of the woman. Julia knew that Mr. Hedge was rich. 'He admires me,' thought she,--'he is old, but wealthy; I will try to fascinate him, and if he desires me to become either his wife or mistress, I will consent, for a connection with him would be to my pecuniary advantage.' And she _did_ fascinate him, as much by her sparkling wit and graceful discourse, as by her charms of person. She related to him a very pleasing little fiction entirely the offspring of her own fertile imagination, which purported to be a history of her own past life. She stated that she was the widow of an English gentleman; she had recently come to America, and had but few acquaintances, and still fewer friends; she felt the loneliness of her situation, and admitted that she much desired a friend to counsel and protect her; the adroit adventuress concluded her extemporaneous romance by adroitly insinuating that her income was scarcely adequate to her respectable maintenance. Mr. Hedge listened attentively to this narrative, and religiously believed every word of it. While the lady was speaking, he had drawn his chair close to hers, and taken one of her small, delicate hands in his. We must do him the justice to observe, that though her beauty had inspired him with passion, he nevertheless sincerely sympathised with her on account of her pretended misfortunes--and, supposing her to be strictly virtuous, he entertained not the slightest wish to take advantage of her unprotected situation. 'My dear young lady,' said he--'although I have known you but a very short time, I have become exceedingly interested in you. I am an old man--old enough to be your father; and as a father I now speak to you.--What I am about to say, might seem impertinent and offensive in a young man, but you will pardon it in me. You have unconscientiously dropped a hint touching the insufficiency of your income to maintain you as a lady should be maintained. I am rich--deign to accept from me as a gift--or as a loan, if you will--this scrap of paper; 'tis valueless to me, for I have more money than I need. The gift--or loan--shall be repeated as often as your necessities require it.'