A Tale of Two Cities

Among the many friends we made during our stay in Montreal, none
were so thoroughly beloved by myself and family as the Sinclairs.
Mr. Sinclair was an English artist who had settled in Canada some
time previous to our arrival, and, being generally well informed, as
well as a shining light in his own profession, he was made much of
by the English residents here, and had as pupils many of the wives
and daughters of the officers of the garrison, besides some of the
more cultivated Canadians. Mrs. Sinclair was a refined English lady
of good family, and had several children, mostly girls, who were
greatly admired not only for their beauty, but also for their many
and various accomplishments. The Sinclair girls were frequently at
our house, being, in fact, looked upon as members of our family, and
no social gathering of ours was considered complete without them.

In time Mr. Sinclair became tired of Montreal. Many of his patrons
left with their regiments for England, and he became weary of the
dull routine and scanty income which he saw was all he could ever
look forward to in Canada, so, breaking up his household, he
departed for the United States, and, having lived for a time in
various cities, finally settled in Boston, where he became quite
successful, and soon obtained an enviable reputation as a portrait
painter.

Lulu Sinclair, the eldest of the girls, was a sprightly blonde of
about sixteen when her father left Montreal, and the family had not
been long in Boston before she became engaged as a teacher at one of
the conservatories, and a mutual attachment sprang up between the