A Romance of the Republic

A Romance of the Republic

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Maria Francis Child
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Title: A Romance of the Republic
Author: Lydia Maria Francis Child
Release Date: December 30, 2003 [eBook #10549]
Language: English
Character set encoding: IDO-8859-1
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ROMANCE OF THE REPUBLIC***
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A ROMANCE OF THE REPUBLIC
BY
L. MARIA CHILD
1867

TO
THE FATHER AND MOTHER OF
COL. R.G. SHAW,
THE EARLY AND EVER-FAITHFUL FRIENDS OF FREEDOM
AND EQUAL RIGHTS,
THIS VOLUME
IS MOST RESPECTFULLY AND AFFECTIONATELY
INSCRIBED

BY
THE AUTHOR.

PART FIRST.

CHAPTER I.
"What are you going to do with yourself this evening, Alfred?" said Mr.
Royal to his companion, as they issued from his counting-house in New
Orleans. "Perhaps I ought to apologize for not calling you Mr. King,
considering the shortness of our acquaintance; but your father and I
were like brothers in our youth, and you resemble him so much, I can
hardly realize that you are not he himself, and I still a young man. It
used to be a joke with us that we must be cousins, since he was a King
and I was of the Royal family. So excuse me if I say to you, as I used to
say to him. What are you going to do with yourself, Cousin Alfred?"
"I thank you for the friendly familiarity," rejoined the young man. "It is
pleasant to know that I remind you so strongly of my good father. My
most earnest wish is to resemble him in character as much as I am said
to resemble him in person. I have formed no plans for the evening. I
was just about to ask you what there was best worth seeing or hearing
in the Crescent City."
"If I should tell you I thought there was nothing better worth seeing
than my daughters, you would perhaps excuse a father's partiality,"
rejoined Mr. Royal.
"Your daughters!" exclaimed his companion, in a tone of surprise. "I
never heard that you were married."
A shadow of embarrassment passed over the merchant's face, as he
replied, "Their mother was a Spanish lady,--a stranger here,--and she
formed no acquaintance. She was a woman of a great heart and of rare
beauty. Nothing can ever make up her loss to me; but all the joy that
remains in life is centred in the daughters she has left me. I should like
to introduce them to you; and that is a compliment I never before paid

to any young man. My home is in the outskirts of the city; and when we
have dined at the hotel, according to my daily habit, I will send off a
few letters, and then, if you like to go there with me, I will call a
carriage."
"Thank you," replied the young man; "unless it is your own custom to
ride, I should prefer to walk. I like the exercise, and it will give a better
opportunity to observe the city, which is so different from our Northern
towns that it has for me the attractions of a foreign land."
In compliance with this wish, Mr. Royal took him through the principal
streets, pointing out the public buildings, and now and then stopping to
smile at some placard or sign which presented an odd jumble of French
and English. When they came to the suburbs of the city, the aspect of
things became charmingly rural. Houses were scattered here and there
among trees and gardens. Mr. Royal pointed out one of them, nestled in
flowers and half encircled by an orange-grove, and said, "That is my
home. When I first came here, the place where it stands was a field of
sugar-canes; but the city is fast stretching itself into the suburbs."
They approached the dwelling; and in answer to the bell, the door was
opened by a comely young negress, with a turban of bright colors on
her head and golden hoops in her ears. Before the gentlemen had
disposed of their hats and canes, a light little figure bounded from one
of the rooms, clapping her hands, and exclaiming, "Ah, Papasito!"
Then, seeing a stranger with him, she suddenly stood still, with a pretty
look of blushing surprise.
"Never mind, Mignonne," said her father, fondly patting her head.
"This is Alfred Royal King, from Boston; my namesake, and the son of
a dear old