Delaware gazette and state journal. (Wilmington, Del.) 1883-1902, 1884-12-18

and the suggestion in Mr.. GTantley'
letter that Margaret was young an,
might properly marry again filed old Ton
with terror. He had somehow neve
thought Of that, but had regarded bill
los. daughters return 10 his house al
final and unobAnReAble. He had not tn,
courage 80 broAoh the subject to her OF
he would have received asBursuce5 thai
would have rendered him more comfort
able, for Margaret had formed 4 reeoluti0r
which bad almost the sEnotity Of q vOH
in her eyes never to marry again. She
had as she grew older come u feel more
and more that she had been guilty OF an
act Of deep ingratituds toward her parents
10 lying from them " grstiiy the selflsh
love Of her young girlhood. That love had
utterly died out in her heart and could
not be revived now that che knew that
1t WAS misApprehension that had turned
her against her husband. But through
all the years Of her absence her love for
her parents had continued and her long
ing to see them once more had increased.
She felt, therefore, that In her flight she
had abandoned the greater for the less,
the enduring for the transitory, and she
could see nothing but selfish motive as
the one prompting her to an act in which
she charged herself with having Aban.
dOned duty for inclination. Had her
husband lived she would probably have
felt differently, but he seemed q mere
memory now, and even her boy seemed
hers alone, In the responsibility Tor
whose existence no other shared. This
feeling was strong before Barlow had
found her and the perfect love with which
she bad been received back deep
ened and intensified the dstermina alton
she had made to devote herself to the
welfare Of her son and to making happy
the remaining years Of the parents from
whom she had hidden herself for 30 long
time. She could not remain ignorant
Of the common supposition that she would
marry again, and at frat It vexed and
angered her to find evidences Of its exist.
enos, but she rapidly got over that and
simply smiled inaccessible, sure OF her
self and free from all temptation or desire
to change her condition.
The only man outside the family circle
whom she admitted 10 any real intimacy
was Frank Broughton, and he never won
the privilege till in burst OF confidence
he confessed to her one day his love for
the wAyward and Indifferent Lutte.
Thsnceforward he and Margaret became
sincere friends and he was q frequent
visitor at the house whenever the de-
mands made by his CANVASS upon his
time permitted 1t. He also became her
chief adviser concerning project she had
formed for making important alterations
In her fathers house, to which she only
obtained the old RentlemAn's consent
after q talk In which she gave him
pretty plain intimation of her expectation
% make IL her home for the remainder OF
ler life. She was very determined in
this matter, for despite all her resolutions
jf devotion to her parents she could not
entirely surrender her habit Of ind sper d
>nce and she felt that the house must be
enlarged sufficiently to give her few
rooms that she could call peculiarly her
own and young Toms. After this WAS
fully determined on Margaret drove over
with Brouzhton one day to his own rather
handsome house to pick up any ideas or
suggestions 1t might offer and as the two
looked the place over pretty thoroughly
che exressed to Frank her opinions about
the various arrangements. The old
house.kseper, who had held the position
ever since the death OF Franks widowed
mother, could put but ons Interpretation
on this visit OF inspection, and she freely
declared that Mrs Grsutley had been
over to look at the house and suggest
changes before coming to the possession
OF 1t as its mistreB0, and go authoritative
and we'll vOuched for a rumOr naturally
came book to the neighbcrhoOd OF Bsgdad
and Iron City, snd finrlly reached the
ears OF Lutte Curtis.
When that young lady received this
positive statement shs could mot put 1t
Lside with quiet incredulity. She almost
believed 1t, aud she began to believe in
the traditional arts Of widows, aud with
q sense Of ain and wounded pride that
surprised her the thought came to Lutte
that 1t was no longer for her to say
whether or not Mrs. Grantley should
have her cousin Frank. The twain
seemed likely TO settle that matter for
Themselves II they had not even now
already done so. Lutte shIunk from set-
tling the question by Offering oonRrAtulA.
tions to Frank, and on the contrary she
became constantly more stiff and formal
In her intercourse with him, to his great
pain. She continued, however, her old
intimacy with Katie and therefore saw
good deal OF Mrs. GrSnIley, whom she
persisted IN calling by that name disre-
Rarding her invit tion TO her to call her
Margaret. Lutte had declared simply
that she would call her Ma,garet as soon
as 1t came natural to her to do so. There
seemed little likelihood that 1t ever
would "come naturar' to her to treat
Margaret more familiarly, and the latter
concluding that Lutte did not like her
ceased to make any further advances.
Margaret was panied and provoked at
Lutie's stiffness es she had hoped to grow
fond Of the girl for b'th Broughton's and
Katie's sake and thought she might per-
haps grow intimate enough with Lutte TO
find opportunity to promote Franks suit.
But Lutte while always polite and even
gracious 10 "KGtie's sister'' somehow
managed TO make Margaret feel that 1,
was only as "..atie's sister" that she
cared to know her at all, and Margaret
therefore told BrouRhton one day when
he was talking Of his cousin that Lutte
for some reason appeared utterly ia
different to her II che did not positively
dislike her and that che therefore feared
she oOuld never be OF any use to him in
that quarter. In fact, though she had
the Weldon not to say so, Margaret began
to doubt whether such success was
desirable.
Frank was troubled by this and sought
to convince Lutte by argument Of the
sttraotiveDess Of Mrs. Grantley, which
under the circumstances It ia not to bs
wondered At only made matters worse.
He merely received disclaimers Of any
hostility toward Mrs. Grantley, or eva
sive replies. and finally finding that HE
efforts to set his cousin right in this
matter only produced unplesssn tness and
embarras nent without advancing his
Object be ceased to speak of Margaret at
all. Lutte noticed thi and also that be
no longer dropped into the uuguardtd
utterapoes by which he had formerly 60
often involuntarily betrayed his feelings
toward herself and she concluded the
stories she had heard were true. Poor
Frank had indeed managed by mighty
effort to curb his tongue, but that was
simply because he had fully resolved to
know his fate after his election to Con.
gFess had beeu i3rmaliy proclaimed and
hs was determined to avoid dangerous
ground meanwhile.
TO BIZ CONTINUED
- CO.
BIDS for Raising the Jstty.
Iu the United States engineers office,
In thia otlv thu follnmlpn hiJa .ne 10 y