Edgefield advertiser. [volume] (Edgefield, S.C.) 1836-current, 1895-05-15

Q8NEI.lN1 she had been crimp-
c&SfESM ing her dyed frizzes
'$&EES6G mo use what
EyZZeA11Aza ever! I'll never
2SaSS give my consent to
;M<gI$v&' your throwing
MIINHSSJ4"' yourself away upon
e~ D man who can't
earn enouoh to support himself, much
less family!"
"But, aunt, he is clever, and will
get good practice in time"
"In time!" repeated Miss Stratton.
contemptuously. eyes, in about
twenty years or SO, perhaps. Aud,
meanwhile, what do you and he pro-
pose to live on2"
"The-the money that grandma left
me would help us to begin with, said
Delphine, timidly.
"ITive thousand dollars! How far
would that go? And besides, you for:
get that it was left to you only con-
ditionally. I should be false to the
trust reposed in me-" said Miss STRAIT
ton, erecting her thin form with on
Dir of moral dignity, "if gave my
consent to your wedding yourself to
life of poverty. and the wretchedness
which poverty always entails. You
can marry George Irving you choose
--mind, don't soy that I forbid it
but with nv consent, no hard-earned
money of my deceased mother shall
ever 60 into the pockets of m Irving"
In the last sentence Miss Stratton
betrayed herself.
The high, moral tone vanished be-
fore the self-interested motive, which
was the real basis of her persistent
opposition to Dclphino's marriage.
She had not forgotten that young
Doctor Irving's father had Tilted her
in her youth and married her bosom
friend Mary Lane ; nor that this course
had been brought about by Doctor
Irving's Aunt Dorothea, who had been
her special rival from their very baby
hood, and who had warned her favor
ite brother that he would not be happy
with Millicent Stratton as his wife.
As to tho doctor himsclf-who had
as yet barely become accustomed to
his new professional title lit was true
that he was very poor, but Delphine
had been right il saying that he wns
clever, and would probably win good
practice.
And if-thc girl often thought wist-
fu1ly-if only she could bring him
that five thousand dollars to begin
with-to set up horse and buggy,
for instance, and rent that desirably-
located, brand-new ofice-how much
it might do for him, and how happy
they might be-!
And it ell rested upon word from
Aunt MilIicent, which she refassedsto
speak. --~~
Most people said that that was O
very unjust condition of old Madam
Stratton's will, by which the five
thousand dollars was to be hers only
upon the express stipulation that she
did not marry against her aunt'R con-
sent.
The young folks, one and all, pro-
nounced it "horrid" and "cruel, "
though there were some among the ell
ders who remembered how the old
lady herself had made most unhap-
py marriage, against the will of her
family; and how her favorite daugh-
ter, Delphine's mother, had followed
her example and been equally
wretched.
And, as she expressed her belief
that such things ''ran in families, "
she had in Delphine's instance guard
oil against similar recurrence by
making it condition TINT her grand
daughter should marry with the full
consent and approval of her shrewd,
sharp and scrupulously correct Aunt
Millicent, who had been always very
severe in condemnation OF her sister S
imprudent match.
Miss Stratton loved money. and
though very unwilling that the five
thousand dollars should go to the var
ious charities to which it had been
bequeathed in case OF Delphine's for.
feiture of it, she would, in her own
heart, rather have seen it cast into
tho ocean than in any way beneiting
The son of John Irving and Mary Lane,
anG tho nephew of Dorothea Irving,
! who had recently averred that, despite
| Millicent's airs, hone OF the Strattons
could hold candle to the Irvings.
Delphines eyes were full of tears as
she reported to her lover the conver-
sation with her aunt, and that lady's
declared unalterable decision in re-
gard to her marriage.
He tried to soothe her.
"Let the money go!" he said, impa.
iiently. 'It is comfort to think
that she cannot forbid our marriage,
though she may keep us apart for
awhile. But we are young and can Of
ford to wait-can't we, darling?"
81 will wait for you all my life,
George, if it is necessary" said Del
phine, trustingly.
Yet, though they both tried to look
cheerful, their hearts sank at the
thought of the slow-rolling weeks and
months, and years perhaps, in which
they must live apart, scarcely meeting
except by accident, since Miss STRAIT
ton objected to her nioce's receiving
the doctors visits at her own house.
It WAS about this time that O sensa-
tion was created by the arrival of IN
artist tho third or fourth-rate profes-
sor, but genuine artist, with a name
and fame-who, having come hithcr
for his health, allowed it to be under
stood thut he would condescend to the
light recreation of painting few por-
traits of the aristocracy; and the aris-
tocracy, for the most part eager to se'
, cure this proof of their being such,
FASTENED at once to secure his SER
vices.
Among the first to call upon Mr..