The Tiffin tribune. (Tiffin, Ohio) 1868-1887, 1879-03-06
MADGFS COUSIN

Madge WAS sitting upon the hearth
rug, pulling To pieces a white c.umclia
and excusing herself to her kind old
guardian by saying ii WAS only
| Jacks"
my dear" said AIr. Selwyn, walking
up and down and stroking his gray
beard in perpleXity. Il want to talk To
you about Jack"
~Ohi please, not now, Papa Selwynr ~
She called him Papa Selwyn when she
meant to be coaXing, and that was
nearly alWaya
But, my dear. that is ali nonsense
/ / must talk about Jack some time.
Yesterday ii was oh! please don't
my head is aching; and the day before,
with Gerty.' Come, let us face this af-
fair" And sitting in the easy chair
| behind her haSsOck, he drew up on
his knees the hand that held the brOk-
en- flower and proceeded to lecture his
unmanageable charge on the endless
subject of "Jack."
Madge was a charming charge for
any kind old mans heart to have. No
one could look into her large gray eyes
without seeing the great warm heart
whose tale they told every moment ;
and yet the bright quick glances and
! the saUcy set Of the lips showed that
Madge had a will of her own, and wit
and cleYerneSS enough to carry 1t out
This lecture on JACK was the same
rs many others had been. 1t consisted
of two parts, the first being devoted to
proving that she ought TO throw heI
own whImS and pleasures aside, and rs
dutiful girl fulfill her dying father
request and marry her cousin; and the
second was eulOgium on the many
good qualities Of Jack Hawkesbury.
"DO, Mr.. Seiwyn,' laughed Madge,
after he had been making out that
even Jacks awkwardness came from
an Oyerplus of good nature, do throw
him at Gerty's head rs you throw him
at mine, and shall make him over to
her, and then they will he happy for
| life"
Gerty was Mr.. Selwyn's own daugh-
! ter, and ut the mention Of her name a
strange expression crossed his face,
which Mldge cOnld not read.
Throw him 1T Gerty's head! what
words YOU use, child Y lac exclaimed
! lIis annoyance for a moment escaping
his control. Il wish You had half Ger
lrude's good sense. You fancy Jack
thinks of her-is that it? He is the
soul of honor. and rs far as it depends
on him your fathers word will be
kept"
@Oh! Papa Selwyn, don't be yeXed
with me; | am SO sorry and her face
was hidden on his large rough hands
in a burst of sorrow, quite childish in
its passing intensity.
"Cheer up, my darling girl" he said;
YOU made a miStake-that'S ali. Why
one of these DAYS you will forget poor
Papa Selwyn altogether; when You
| fall in love with your cousin"
"Then | won't" cried Madge, with
all the strength of her hot heart.
All her life, even so far back as her
childhood, she had dreaded the fate
| that bound her TO marry heI
cousin. When Jack Hawkesbury
came on the scene and stayed
on visits at the house, shO dis
liked and ridieuled him without mer-
cy. Another, one like fair=haired
/ Gertrude, for instance, might have &c,
copied the inevitable and been happy
but Madge's active and independent
nature made her run against fate
! And now there was only one month
left before her 2lst birthday and be
! betrOthal. Often she told Gertrude
she wished he would 90 home and
stay there; and Gertrude would only
laugh, with a deeper tinge of color OF
her fair face
The girls went out but little, an an
Tangement against which Madge OfteI
rebelled, believing it was in some way
| connected with the safe management
of the marriage with her cousin. Bur
there were two pleasures in prOSpect
now, an afternoons boating with JacE
and friend of his and Gertrude, and :
party that the POnSOnby JOneseS were
going to give, to which the SelwyI
family were soon 10 be invited. FRS
came boating. Ali that ever-memOr
able day-hOw many years it Womb
take to make Madge forget it, Their,
| We're four in the boat that passed
with the measured beat and ripple OF
Jacks pair Of ScullS, along by the
reedy shadows and green wooded
banks of the upper Thames. The tw,
girls shared the cushioned seat at tn,
stern, their white wOOlen shawl.
guarding them from the chill of the
autumn wind. Gertrude was watch
ing the shores and the running ripples
thinking in her quiet, eaSy-gO
ing way, Madge, bright witt
excitement, was talking-nOt witt
Jack but with the dark-beaTded
traYel=hrOnZed man, who was resting
from his turn at the scullS. He
was charmed with the way SHE
chatted and listened to his tales OF
half the world with a refreshing ab
sence of Self-cOnSciOuSneSs, What
would he have said if he had known
the thought that strOve for entranc,
into her heart? Oh! if Jack-awk
ward, blundering, gOOd-natured Jack
could be changed into this stranger
that she called timidlv Mr. FitZalian
and Jack and her guardian had greetet
as Herbert,
At Last there was Il pause IN tb,
talk. She gave deep sigh, prnmpte,
by a sad longing to do right, Il vdgu
fear, 4 first suspicion of the chung
that WAS coming over her impetuou
heart.
"Are YOU cold. Madgeg' asked JacE
pulling away and bending 10 his strOn
stroke keep your shawl well abou
your shoulders. And, my dear cir
J look to your steering. You have bee
oOLuiiAS tiC DOtO iit0 Oui Nto lhC
cOrkScrew-only did not want to di,
turb your tete tete"
Poor Cousin Jack, She drew tn
white shawl closely round her, chile
not 10y the wind, but by a sudden pan
of remOrse, the foundation of whic
was very small, but enough TO trOubl
her peace.
What need to tell the inner histOr
= of Madge's life during the next fer
, | WeekS2 More and mora cba Ionna