Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1891-10-04

FARMLAND had married healthy and pretty
| girl of good lineage, there was still no pros
pect of an heir, and the chances of his lie
| were still pronounced slender. Sir Franklin
was not of Il generous disposition, but ne
now helped his kindred in the maintenance
ola small London home not far from Mayfair
and here, for several years, Margaretta
nursed her passionate longings while sur
rounding herself with all the people OF ols,
tinctfon whom her tact, talent ana gooa
looks could captivate. At length her I hLss
child, boy, was born, and she relolceo
Reenly at his sex. Not long afterward, now
ever, distressing piece OF intelligence was
conveyed to her. Then she was smitten by
;ttIs double blow in the same week hSf 6ecome
the mother of boy.
Her husband, throughout this period, had
proved himself not merely shiftless as
Dreadwinner, but prone to foolish eXcesses
besides. The Baronet made no concealment
of his triumphant glaGness. Margaretta
mixed her tears of motherly grief with those
of disappointment and chagTin. year
later kathleen was born to her, and when
they told her that her child was girl she
tainted, and for a time her life was in oanr
ger. This event seemed like the last icer OF
an evil destiny. But she bravcly hlu ner
despair, anu no one save her husband knew
its keeHness. He had by this time sadly de,
Perforated, though her indonitable Will anu
sense of homage that she inspired IN MIN
kept him from the grOsser depths of disslpa.
tion. Perhaps he might have sunk stlll
lower than he did sink, however, had not
death suddenly befallen him. He was killed
in n too reckless cross-country ride While on
Il sojourn at the estate of his brother. n rev
years ago his taking off would have been tho
most horrible of shocks to his wife. Now 1t
only brought her a certain relief. She was
free to marry again, and she meant to do so.
Had not Lord Rothsay and the Earl OF Au-
burndale both limited to her their regrets
that she was neither maid nor widow But
all this time Lady Kennaird had fostered a
prejudice against her, and now, when she
should have been more al object of plying
kindliness to the baronet than ever before,
she was Mortified by his curtaiment of her
yearly allowance.
Till her daughter was 10 years old she con-
tinued to live in London. Those were ten
pathetic years of struggle, whose real chroH-
icle will never be written. Lord Rothsay
and Auburndale did not see in marriage the
hand over which, when unattainable, they
had so gallantly bowed. Other offers were
made, but none of them just pleased their
recipianG. She uttered no public plnints
however, and hobnobbed with Duchesses as
blandly rs if her income were many gener-
Gus thousands of pounds and not few
pinching hundreds. Her position was dis
tinctive but not enviable. At first she ac-
quired the title of the pushing American"
thorough subtleness of her presence crushed
this impudent nick name. People with n
positive appetite for select associations
rarely fail in securing them, except it be
that their natural equipments are at fault.
Hers were so far from such drawback that
they obtained for her warm welcome every
where. And yet she secretly shivered with
disgust as the bonds OF her poverty, and the
lessening lures of her person. One day she
resolved to return to New York and see for
herself if life over there might not be lived
with smaller domestic strain and fret. She
remained in her native town until Kathleen
was nearly old enough to be brought out"
In New York, as in London, she held her.
self with the highest missing no enter
tainment that YVES modish, and openly refer
ring to her straitened affairs as If they had
been those of an exiled queen. She was pri-
vately good deal more laughed at here than
in England, and with great inward bitter
ness she realized that the shattered Van
Lerius fortunes were an object either of for
getfulness or disrespect. Daily existence,
too, was here much more difficult. A house
of her own, however limited of space, was
not TO be dreamed Of She could only aspire
to apartments" and these, necessarily
somewhat shabby were in New York, bre-
vet Of infeFiority. The plutocrats, moreover,
were rushing to the front Even her reso-
lutte aversion to being pushed against the
wall suffered transient collapse. She might
have given ND the fight altogether but tor
the increasing beauty and fascination of
Kathleen. She had by this time surrendered
all hope of lofty marriage, but why, she
now reflected, could she not revive these
blighted yearnings in the future triumphs
of hcr beautiful child? There, across the
water, was her London status. They had not
forgotten her yet; they were very good,
over there, about not forgetting You when
they had once accepted you. Why not take
Kathleen to the next drawing room. The
commonest Americans were thrusting them
selves nowadays into Buckingham Palace.
Surely the niece of Sir Frankland Kennaird
(who has now not only concluded to rc-
main alive by the way but had become the
the father OF two more lusty little boys)
would present n decisive claim of entrance.
After that the sorcery OF Kathleen's beauty
and those qualities of intellect which a care
full education had fostered, would doubtless
reap due results. Thus meditsting, Mrs.
kennaird packed her trunks and once again
sailed for foreign shores.
sKathIeen's success in London was prompt
and complete. Her connection with IL War
wickshire baronet did not specially serve
her. Old acquaintances f1ocked about her
mother, and these, with their influence
crowned the maternal desires. But though
she soon became celebrity and had scores
of admirers, kathleen WIS still looked on as
a girl who would be a dowerless bride. This
Is nearly always fatal to the making OF q
great match in England, and Mrs. Kennaird
knew it. Two years passed, and although
the girl had no lack of devoted male attend
ants, that dreamed of suitor with the shining
name and princely rent roll had not yet
knelt at her feet Mrs. kennaird grew rest
less. even petulant.
"You repel your best opportunities" she
said to ner child! Look the statue, If You
please, men like it. But in certain cases
don't forget tnat your marble is feminine
flesh"
kathleen colored a little at this She de-
tested her mothers worldly spirit; she had
ideas of her own as regarded life and how
best to live it: she had thought with depth
had read some of the wfsest modern books,
many of which are wiser, by the way, when
truly deserving to be called so, than
whole libraries OF more antiquated views
and teachings. And yet her mothers per-
sonal spell was one which constantly cast
over her Il kind of invisible net from whose
fllaments thorough escape seemed vain. She
had mind of both finer and stronger fiber
than that of her mother, and n nature in all
ways profOunder And yet there were times
when the mere sound of her mothers voice
caused her covert tremors and thrills. 1t
was like meSmeric force, and it often took
the form of 4 fear Reasoning coolly about
it, the girl would tell herself that she undel-
stood perfectly its cause. Her mothers per-
sonality was an intense one; it had spirit
ually unsheathed her, SO to speak, through
all her younger years. Now, when she had
broken loose from its ligatures, its fetters,
the discovery came to her that habit could
not so easily be disrupted. And yet there
were times when even this explanation did
not suffice for Kathleen. and when there
seemed subtle and mystic reasons why it
should not. But now and then she would
laugh neryously at her own 1ancies, and de-
clare to her own heart that very simple Sc
luton of the problem was to he found in
1ilial love- For she did love her mother and
with great fondness and devotion, in sDite of
mental and even moral differences between
them which often appeared abyssmal.
You forget" kathleen now said, that
statues are purchasable; they're apt to
have their price. 1fby opportunities you
mean those of getting myself sold"
Tut, tut, dear" broke in her mother.
Don't go ont of your way to call marriage
hard names. And depend upon it,, you
couldn't say an original thing on the subject
il you broOded n year. Its an institution
that has had as much abuse poured upon it
rs imprisonment for debt OF the two evils
however, civilization has concluded only to
enrich one"
Kathleen made an impatient gesture as
that ending bit of satire was spoken. I'D
no idea of running down marriage" she
Cai nat M hNlx alnATx