The Scranton tribune. [volume] (Scranton, Pa.) 1891-1910, 1899-05-10

at is exceedingly simple" said LORD
Mount Michael II have not the re-
motest idea Of coercing you, as you
call it. 1t would be far too fatiguing.
leave you perfectly free to do exact
ly as you like Only IL you run direct
ly counter to my wishes, really you
have no right to expect me to accedc
to yours"
"All that 1 ask IL that you will con-
tiuue my allowance" said Charles
Radford earnestly. "I have made a
good beginning, as you know at the
bar, and the mere fact of devling for
Shuttleworth is an excellent thing for
young man. But at present the pay
is i'm no proportion at all to the work.
If you will continue my allowance un-
ill ] make the same amount myself,
then l can marry Lena and you would
soon be quit of all expense for me-"
II am always frank" said his father.
''Gt is always so much better to be so.
Then there can be no mistake on either
side. You are a younger son. A
younger son ought to marry money;
above all, If he marries young, he must
marry money. Otherwise his descend
ents in the second generation will be
clerks and governesses ad infinitum,
not to mention the fact that he will
lead a dogs life trying to maintain
his position on q wholly inadequate in
come. Now, I gave YOU your allowance
distinctly as speculation, as 1t were.
1t was to help you to get comfortably
settled. In return for this expenditure
I calculated to land q fortune--viCa-
riously. Well, now IL seems that not
only is there waiting for you-but you
are actually insane enough to wish to
marry a penniless girl. Do so If YOU
like-I recognize your right there-but,
on the other hand, / stop your allow
ance. whether you recognize my right
or not"
Father" said the young man in an
appealing voice. Il love Lena. Have
you never been in love yourself?"
"Oh, heavens!" said his father, test e
lily, What does it matter? Well, then,
II you will have it-I was--I loved your
dear mother-she had hardly penny.
| was told l ought to marry money,
but had lust succeeded and was
headstrong. Well: we were married.
l, loaded with my predecessors incum-
brances' she, with three hundred a
paced uneasily about the room-"and
10 think that a few months after her
death-Heaven forgive melt actual
~ seemed to me a fortunate release,
because then [ could marry--my second
Wlte-~and with her money raise the
fSnly from the slough in which it was
sunk. You know that We owe every
thing to her. It's clean ridiculous, -
said Lord Mount Michael relapsing in
70 slight brogue--a habit of his when
reused 10 emotion. IF / were to he
ldiot enough To give in, your stepmoth-
or would never consent, and how can
! use her money contrary to her wish
esq"
This was really an unanswerable ar
gument, for Charles Radford knew that
the only one of her husbands sons
whom the second Lady Mount Michael
had any real affection for was his elder
brother, and he shrewdly suspected
that the feeling in this case was CEN
tered more on the heir to the title than
the individual personality.
will you let me speak to her?" he
said desperately.
speak to her by all means Settle
IT with your stepmother, my boy, and
let that be the final settlement" said
Lord Mount Michael, quite recovering
his good humor at the prospect OF
shifting the odium of delivering the
coup de grace onto the shoulders OF
his partner whom he did not care two
straws about, though he held her In
the highest respect for her fortune and
the liberality with which she dealt
with it.
Lady Mount Michael was very de.
cided woman. No doubt It was lucky
for her that she was so.
You are not my son." she said. land
have no control over you. But ! must
tell you that l think that what you
propose is not merely foolish, but /.
positively insane and wicked. You will
have no countenance from me-"
After this double defeat Charles Rad.
ford had n most miserable interview
with little Lena Gray-a dear little Cir
with the prettiest nez retrousse, hail
like threads of gold, and a complexion
that duchess would give thousands
to possess, but who, of course, was thu
youngest daughter of large -quivere(
ecclesiastic, and equally, of course, was
without a penny or prospect. Charles
had made her acquaintance at a garder
party NHSn staying Win the TreNOrS
He had taken all the early obstacles ir
the course of true love at a gallop. The
ecclesiastic would gladly have married
his daughter to any one who was able
TO provide the necessaries OF life. Il,
catch an honorable" was unlooked-fol
luck Proportionate, however, was th,
disappointment when Charles Radford
drinking to the dregs the cup of hi.
humiliation, was obliged to report tina
his mission had ANONYMOUSLY failed
and his own earnings for the past veal
amounted to so guineas.
The engagement must be broken of
then and there, said the ecclesiastic
and was quite obdurate on the subiec
of writing and meeting. 1t would neve,
do for Lena to lose other chances Will,
waiting for what might be a mare
nest. Marriage was her only possibl
provision in life.
IF YOU succeed i'm making a decen
income l shall be happy to hear from