The Forest Republican. [volume] (Tionesta, Pa.) 1869-1952, 1880-09-08
AGAINST HER WILL.

ooh, motherl mother!" said Adelaide
Fairfax; aud such wailing, woful
moan would have penetrated any heart
but "a heart of stone; but it made no
impression upon the one it was intended
to melt.
Adelaide, you disgust me, you make
me ashamed of YOU" said her mother.
What more do you wantp He is
rich"
Yes, said Adelaide; "but-"
"He is a favorite." interrupted her
mother. He is courted by the first
families in the neighborhood. He
could marry the richest girl in our cir
Gle"
"Oh, if lie only wouldl" said Ade-
laide; IF lie only wouldp
''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 may
shudder! Neither your tears nor pray
ers will move me in the least. Do you
think / am blindP Do you think / do
not know the very secret reason why
you so oppose my dearest wishP Do
you think your stolen visits to the old
stone house have not been tracedP P
Shameless girl! 1t is my duty to see
you well settled 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! / am your child
your only child. Up TO this time have
ever failed in duty to youP Have
not given you all the reverence, all the
obedience, all the affection a child could
bestow upon a parentp / tell you,
mother, this is case of life and death
for sin is death-death to the heart, that,
reckless and tortured, leaps blindly into
the clIasm of crime"
"Have you doneP" said her mother.
Let me speak while the spell is on
me-" replied Adelaide. "You know /
love William Beckett; you knew it years
ago. You encouraged it, you gave it
your sanction, you used all your
woman's arts to aid in its progress2and
whyP Then he was rolling in wealth,
was courted, feted, petted as Grantly
Thornby is now. His father speculaLed
wildly, failed, and in his ruin involved
the ruin of his only son. Still you
played your cards cautiously and well.
You pitied him, you pitied me; you
trusted matters were not so desperate,
after al; but you took good care to re.
move me far away from his influence,
thinking that in separating us person.
ally you could separate our hearts. II
was not possible-they had grown into
one. Parted they might be, but not
divided in thought act or deed"
you romantic simpletonw ex.
claimed her mother. "Don't dare de-
liver any more of this ridiculous twad-
die in my presence! So surely as the
sun rises. so surely shall you be the wife
of Grantly Thornbym
"Then on your head be the sin, if sin
should come! On your head be the
stnrm, and strife, and darkness, which
see looming u the far distant future
On your head, then, be the crime of 8
broken heart, a hopeless life! l warn
you-oh, l warn you, mother! If
have not your hardness of heart, have
a portion of your determination; anC
never shall Grantly Thornby mold mi
to his detestable liking. l will be hi'
wife because | cannot help myself; bu
the hand that blights my life shall no
blight my love; so tell my husband
that is to be-"
Pale and exhausted, Adelaide Fairfal
sank down on the sofa, from Whicl
but a moment before she had risen il
her indignant scorn
Her mother, a coarse-l looking woman
dressed in the extreme of vulgar, costl,
taste. and loaded with jewelry, sat op
posite her, her eyes fairy blazing wit
wrath and scorn. To be defied by he
own child, the child who until that da
had been all meeknsss, al obedience
A bombshell entering the apartmen