Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1886-04-22

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he watched her for a minute or two in ST.
lence.
"Mrs. Norton" he began abruptly, at
length, "that is fine large house, situated
beyond the hill, over there"
"The white house, you mean?"
eyes. 1t belongs to-let me see, what is
the name?"
A certain hard look came into the wild
owls face.
ut belongs to Mrs. Barton" she said, in
a tone corresponding to the look.
"Barton; yes, that's the name. Quite a
young woman, isn't she?"
eyes, quite young.
"And very wealthy?"
"Her husband left her considerable mon
ey."
"Yes. She is an old friend of your fami-
ly, believe"
81 have known her good while-well,
in fact, since she was a child. But I've
seen very little of her for two or three years
past"
"Indeed?"
Mr.. BANDS tone was indicative of an in
terest in the subject and desire to hear
more.
eyes. Our ways lie in different direc-
tions now. Before she married she was
we'll, I thought her nice girl"
And how-may ask-did her marriage
affect your opinion of her?"
Mrs. Morton dropped a stitch, and oc-
cupied herself for minute in taking it up.
Perhaps her hands were trembling. At
any rate, her voice betrayed slight un-
steadiness when she spoke again.
"You couldn't expect, Mr.. Bland, that Ia
continue to feel very kindly toward girl
who'd led my son to believe that she pre-
ferred him, and then went and married
somebody else."
"And did she do so?"
"Well," said Mrs. Morton with a height
ened color, "of course it's family affair,
and my son wouldn't thank me, perhaps,
for talking about it. But you are different
from other people, so I don't mind telling
YOU that he did like Susie very much
Mrs. Barton, I mean-when she was Susie
Dean. A nice, innocent young thing she
always seemed, and so she was, sup
pose, at that time. But this rich man came
in her way, and unluckily-or luckily, may
be for Tom-she showed herself In her true
colors. I had never suspected her of being
mercenary, Pm sure"
"Was she engaged to your SOM"
'No, not that know Of; but then can't
be sure, for of course Tom has spoken very
little on the subject. Anyway, there was
an understanding; and he was terribly cut
up by her marriage. How can think we'll
of her." said the widow with indignant
tears in her eyes, "when she has marred
my poor boys life? I can't make him for
get her, try as may"
"He was very much attached to her
then?"
"Yes, he was"
swell, 1 have heard something about this
before, Mrs. Norton" said Mr.. Bland
mildly. "But perhaps Susan-Mrs. Bar
ton-was not as much to blame as you sup
pose. What proof have you that she mar
ried for money!"
'There was nothing else to marry for"
replied Mrs. Morton.
'Was her husband, then, so unattrac-
tive?'
"Well, he was q good enough man, sup
pose; never knew anything against him.
But he was next to stranger to Susie; she
knew very little about him, and it was hard
ly reasonable to think that she'd fall IN love
with him so suddenly, when everybody, or
or almost everybody, knew she'd been
keeping company with my son."
IL h,,f yI-oS h.
er sad smile. The emphasis laid by the
speaker on the personal pronoun showed
plainly how preposterous, to her thinking,
was the idea of any comparison in such
case. How could any one who had the good
fortune to be admired by her Tom possibly
fancy another man?
"Was her married life unhappy" was his
next question.
II don't know anything about her mar
ried life, Mr.. Bland. They went off right
after the wedding, and stayed away till busi-
ness called him West. Then he brought
her home to her fathers and left her there,
and went to California"
"California, eh ? and died out there"
eyes, in San Francisco. Quite sudden
his death was, too"
"How was she affected by the news ?"
"Oh! we'll, 1 don't know. Some said she
was awfully cast down, others said she was
pretty cool and didn't show much feeling.
At any rate, believe she's got pretty we'll
over it by this time"
If Mrs. Mortons tone had a touch of bit
terness now, which it had lacked in the BY
gone days when she had loved Susie and
looked forward to receiving her as daugh-
ter, it was not ineXcusable under the present
circumstances. No elderly woman feels
charitably towards young woman who has
trihed with the affections of her the FORM
er's) son; particularly when the said son is
still kindly disposed towards the unworthy
one, and showsa tendency to disregard the
maternal warning and adhere to his own
views. And it was great grief to Toms
mother that this shadow had come between
them not cooling their mutual affection
perhaps, but certainly throwing over their
intercourse constraint which it had never
before felt.
"Her husband has been dead--how
long?"
"It's little overa year-fourteen months,
may be-"
"Well, she is at liberty, then, to marry
again, suppose. Has she-does she recip-
rocate your sons regard at the present
time?"
II can't tell. All l know is, she's not
worthy of Tom, and 1 wish he'd give up
thinking about her."
"But, Mrs. Morton, are not you little