The Princeton union., 1880-10-28
AGAINST HER WILL.

Fairfax; and such a wailing, weful moan
would have penetrated any heart but o
neart of stone; but it made no impress
sion upon the one 1t was intended to melt.
''Adelaide, you disgust me, you make
''What more do you want2 He is
rich-''
EYES, SAID Adelaide, ''but-'
"He is a favorite," interrupted her
mother. "He is courted bv the first fam
lilies in the neighbohood. He could mar
{, ry the richest girl in Our circle"
= sob, if he only would?" said ADELAIDE;
eff he only would"
s'Silence, girl?'' exclaimed her mother.
"There is neither shame nor spirit IN
your pretended aversion to one of the
noblest men ever created. Oh, you NAV
shudder! Neither your tears nor your
prayers will move me in the least Do
you think am blind2 Do you think I
do not know the very secret reason why
You so appose my dearest wiahs Do you
think your stolen visits to the old stone
house have not been traced2 Shameless
girl! 1t is my duty to see you well set
tied in life before you are quite lost to
honor and decency.'
"No, no, No, mother, you cannot say
that returned Adelaide; cor if you can,
you shall not! I am your child-yeur
only child. Up to this time have I ever
failed in my duty to you? Have I not
given you all the reverence, all the obe-
dience, all the affection child could be-
stow upon parent9 I tell you, mother,
this is a case of lite and death--for sin
is death-death to the heart, that, reck-
less and tortured, leaps blindly into the
chasm Of crime.''
"Have you done" said her mother.
"Let me speak while the spell is on
mel" replied Adelaide. you know that
h I love William Beckett; you knew it long
years ago. You encouraged it; you gave
it your sanction. You used all your wo-
mans arts to aid in its progress-and
why? Then he was rolling in wealth,
was courted. feted, petted, as Grantly
Thornby is now. HIS father speculated
wildly, failed, and in his ruin involved
the ruin of his only son. Still you have
played your cards cautiously and well.
You pitied him, you pitied me; you
trusted matters were not desperate, after
all; but you took good care to remove me
far away from his influence, thinking that
in separating as personally you could
separate our hearts. It was not possible
they had grown into one. Parted they
might be but not divided in thought,
act or deed"
"You romantic simpleton" exclaimed
her mother. Don't dare deliver any
more Of this ridiculous twaddle in my
presence! so surely as the sun rises,
so surely shall you be the wife of Grantly
Thornbyp
''Then on your head be the SIN, if sin
should come! On your head be the
storm, and strife, and darkness, which !
see looming in the far distant future
On your head, then, be the crime Of a
broken heart, & hopeless life! warp you
oh, l warn you, mother If I have
not your hardness of bcart, have a Dor
ton of your determination; and never
shall Grantly Thornby mold me to his
detestable liking, will be his wife be-
cause cannot help myself; but the hand
that blights my lite shall not blight nv
love-so tell my husband that is to be.''
Pale and exhausted, Adelaide Fairfax
sank down on the sofa, from which but a
moment before she had risen in her in
dignant scern.
Her mother, coarse-looking woman,
dressed in the extreme of WI gar, costly
taste, and loaded with jcwelry, sat oppo-
site her, her eyes fairly blazing with
wrath and scorn. To be defed BY her
own child, the child who until that day
had been all meekness, all obedience A
bombshell entering the apartment ana
exploding at her feet coald not have
startled her more. However, she had
gained one triumph-Adelaide had con-
sented to be the wife OF Grantly Thornby.
Wild as Adelaide had spoken, she had no
fear for the future. She knew the mate
purity of her daughters heart, and even
had she doubted that, the Will and
strength of Grantly Thornby was suffi-
cient to protect his own and his wife's
honor.
The mother had scarcely left the room
by one door, when another was opened
giving abundance to second party. 1t
was in the person OF singularly hand
some man, tall, stalwaIt in frame, with
eyes large, burning and penetrating. The
face was IN keeping with the form, the
features regular and we'll defined, the
forehead broad and massive, the mouth
ay, there lay the reading Of that atrong
mans nature-it seemed to spy as plainly