The Milan exchange. (Milan, Gibson County, Tenn.) 1874-1978, 1874-06-25

to my sons inner life; / thought hin
more than usually silent at dinner, bu
then was constrained and heavy-hearted
| As soon as the servant was gone, said
Pray, Charles, do you consider me an in
! quisitiYe man?
Certainly not he replied. NO man
less so, should say
-" Have ever demanded. shown any
| distrust of you, or any disposition Il
hamper you by unnecessary exercise OF
parental authOrityr p
He looked amazed, and answered
/ No, sir; | have always felt, when com,
pairing my position with other mems, that
was singularly fortunate III my father.
"That's well. have the less difficulty
then in puttinga a question to you. What's
the meaning Of a letter addressed by you
to Dorothy, which, without blame being
due to anybody, saw this morning at
CrossfOrd post-Office?'
"Surprise, displeasure. and sort OF
doggedness were in his countenance; he
turned away from me. and some seconds
they seemed to me min utes-passed be-
fore he said: 1T would never have oc-
CURED 10 me that there was anything out
of the way in my writing to her: we have
bNNI bht DlOlliNl anu SiSbtls
"' But why walk six miles to post your
letter? | should not have thought any
thing about seeing a letter from Dorothy
on the table or in the bag, though | should
have reminded you that you could not
correspond with her with propriety. You
might, of course, have written a casual
note to her about book, or some ar
rangement.'
"'Why infer he asked, that the letter
you have seen was not one of that charac-
terg
"'In the first place. replied, because
you took the trouble TO post it where it
was in the highest degree improbable that
| should see it; and lastly, from your eva
siOns.'
"Then there was a long pause, and |
thought he was determined not to speak.
"'Charles, | said sternly, Dorothy has
been so much among us, that am respOn-
sible for whatever, involving her happi-
ness or misery, is connected with any of
us. As your father, and in place of her
father, | demand what relation exists be-
tween you and her which leads to your
writing to her clandestintly. If | cannot
elicit it from you, shall have an immedi-
ate explanation with her.
"He looked badgered, ill-tempered even,
and said hurriedly and surely: Il wrote to
Dorothy to ask her to marry me some
day.
"'Asked her to marry you y | eXclaim-
ed. Il put aside your gross disreSpect in
ignoring me in so important a matter, and
remind you that you have not vet taken
your degree, that you are wholly depend
ent on me, and that during my lifetime,
unless / assist you, you will, in all proba-
bility, have nothing better than a country
curacy.'
~ suppose it was not unnatural to ex-
pect that you would help me, sir, as you
are very fond of Dora
"This he said in tone that sOftened me
little. After all, thought |, he is very
young. Pray. what answer do you eX-
pect from her? inquired. was relieved
to find that she was innocent of aught that
would have lowered her in my eyes. She
was lost to me forever, whether she accept
ed Charles or not, but she was worthy the
place had given her in nv heart. and
would have given her in my house. With
out giving him time to reply, went on
Il have too good an opinion of her to be-
lieve that she will answer you without
consulting her mother
81 begged her to say nothing to any
One.'
"'Then either reiOined, you are more
ignorant of the world than | believed even
a reading man could be, or you have en-
deavOred consciously to lead her to act as
a modest girl should not. Pray, what
reason did you give for such request?'
"'This: that in the event of her taking
me, some years must elapse before could
marry; and | should dislike being pointed
at as an engaged man all that time and
that if she refused me, il was no business
of any one clSe.'
His cool seltiShnesS eXasperated me. |
got up and walked about the room.
Good heavens | calculated, 'and you are
a very young man, and my son.
"'Of course, did not put it quite so
broadly as that he observed, rather apol-
ogetically; but you expect confidence and
am not man of many words. | really
took pains to write a proper letter, and
think | succeeded. | always had notion
that | should never marry. A college life
has been my object since / was old enough
to have one, and, as rule, | find women
a bore; but Dorothy is different from all
the women | knOw-suits me, in fact. |
thought should like to make sure of her.
and would not mind waiting for her. You
see, it could all go on quietly enough. |
could see her here great DEAL
II set my son down as entirely abnor-
nal, and think dsliked him for min
ute. but remembered his poor mothers
loving pride in him as a little child and re-
Tented.
"'Have you any reason for expecting
that Dorothy will accept you? | in
quired.
- He leaned back comfortably, put his
hands in his pockets and said, Not exact
ly; but do not see why she should not
she is very fond of us all. At any rate.
will let you know as soon as | get an an
swer.'
''With that he seemed to consider the
conference over. and that he was at liberty
to leave the room. | was glad when he
was gone. IpuZZled myself very much
as to how Dorothy would act-nOt as to
she would accept Charles-it nev-
er occurred to me to discuss that to myself.
Would she tell her mother. Undeniably,
she would wish to do so, for she was open
ness itself; but she would be unwilling to
annoy Charles, because he was my son, if
for no other reason. Would she write to
me or would her father or mother write
Unless they sent special messenger-and
they guarded conscientiously against
needless and small expenses-there could
be no letter until the third day. In the
interval there was no perceptble change
i'm CharleS'S ways except that he was
when we were alone. imag-
ined that he feared should renew the sub
ject, but l was not at all inclined to do that.
| had discovered gulf unsuspected be-
fore, between my first born and myself.
My life was placed in new groove, and
did nOt-perhaps never would-run easily
in it, and that odious gossip had given the
first impetus. | believe my hands trem-
bled little when | unlocked the pOst-bag
on that third morning. There was no let
ter for Charles, but note from Mrs Dal-
ton. asking me to call rs soon as could.
| gave it to him without remark. He
put it in his pocket. and did not read it in
the room. Soon after breakfast | walked
to Furzeham. Dora came to me in the lit
tie study, and again felt how changed |
was. Up to that time, we had held out
both hands mutually and simultaneously,
and had kissed her Us heartily and natur-
ally as if she had been Anna; now, my
own secret consciousness made that impos-
sible, andFthe something unexpressed by
me, or something which did not fathom
in her, held her back.
"Coloring, and looking distressel, she
gave me one hand, saying: 1t was very
rood of Won m como SO soon hiIt thouuht