Manchester Democrat. [volume] (Manchester, Iowa) 1875-1930, 1900-08-08
'Don't mention the name of that

"Don't mention the name of that
miserable creature to me ever again.,
she cried with indignation. ~ will
swear to you, If you would like 1t, that
l will never wed the-oh, cannot
even speak his odious namel l saw him
in London, and he insulted me after
ward by calling on me. Then he in
suited me further by writing letter,
evidently meaning to disgust me more
than ever with himself. He said he was
willing to marry me If l wanted him.
And you suggest the possibility Of such
vile thing to me as thatl Have You
no decency2 You may repudiate your
own paper and become thief, uncle, I"
she said violently, "but how is 1t pos
sible for you to fall so far us to men
ton the name of any woman relative
of yours in>the same breath with that
cur2"
Uncle Josiah was having great deal
of enjoyment over this fiery niece of
his. His taste in enjoying such things
was unquestionably bad, unworthy an
uncle Of his years and with really
charming niece, when she was treated
with any kind of fitness But he did
enjoy seeing her in hot. indignant
mood.
$50 you didn't take to Darlington,
not even when he said he was willing
to marry youf He may have wanted to
put himself on record as being willing,
because If he were to refuse you would
get the money What did you do to
him9" he asked quickly.
'Told him No in way that could
leave no doubt in his mind" replied
Miss Rodney. "Don't talk about it any
more. The whole siclsening business
has made me hate the very name Of
Darlington. But youneed not despise
him SO much. After all. he was within
his right, and you are refusing to do
what justice and your own honor de-
mand. There is no use Of talking about
it any more" she concluded, rising to
go.
"Well, give me time to make the ar
rangement, I" said Uncle Josiah, with a
cajoling air. "You don't expect me to
60 right down to the bank and get it
nowl Besides. you ought to bring on
Strandham, Scanlon-what was his
name7-to prove your statement You
could advertise for him in the London
Times. Say he will hear of something
greatly to your advantage if he comes
forward and says that he found you
without q chaperon on the Matterhorn. I"
| Hh niece dlsfained further remarks
She rose and left the room. The next
day Uncle Josiah, who had not doubted
her word in the least made arrange
ments for transferring several blocks Of
gilt edged stock to her. In his odd way
he said nothing Of this. He rather hated
to see his plucky niece, whom he secret
ly admired very much. become abso-
lutely independent of him, even though
she owed such freedom to himself.
| Miss Rodney kept her peace and
treated her uncle with an unvarying
reserve after this 1t tried him more
than she realized. But she felt how
mean and unjust his conduct was and
could not or would not make any at
tempt to cajole him into doing his duty
and redeeming his promise to her. One
thing she noticed, and Mrs Rodney
also remarked it-Uncie Josiah did not
complain and comment as much on ex-
penditures where his niece Florence was
concerned. He seemed to take these
more TRANQUILITY than those which con-
cerned Mrs. Rodney or Rose Florence
felt that this showed some sense Of
what he owed her on the old mans
part. She concluded to say nothing un-
til the year was up. Thenthe objection
which her uncle had urged could not
exist for her aunt's money would go
irretrievably to her dissolute stepson.