The National tribune., 1901-03-07
"ARE .YoU SURE You WERE

ARE .foUi SURE You WERE
social equals of the only daughters of the
wealthy manufacturers; but New England
life had not then become stratified, and
responsibility was still the only measure
of--respectabilits, Alfred Keep, succeed
ing his father jas the foreman of the
GreenIee Mills, had, patented some i'm
block of its stock. BE was in fair way
to stand where his parent stood. Keep
special chum, Bettson, was the son of
struggling farmer ION the mountain. The
dark, fine-mannered, ambitious lad YVES
considered by the community az an es,
pecially fitting pretendant tor the manu-
of the merry Matte Hulbert; and it was
hardly less romantic that the dark-eyed,
self-contained Lucy Greenlen should fall
in love with the blonde young mechanic.
The four-sided courtship had been carried
on ever since the principals were children.
Sometimes the ptdrs were not the same
but no stranger was ever introduced TO
their mystically quadrated circle; and IT
suited even the enYious Yankee temper
that two girls, lowered with every pos
slide fairy gift, should show such frank
preference for the two poor 3oung men.
If their mothers had dreams-and 1t Is
always the mothers who dreani--thcy
were for the future, and the future is
open alike to every one. The fathers'
as was the fashion in those days, consid-
cred it their daughters privilege TO please
themselves.
So one day a double wedding WAS an
nounced. Each employee, each dlstant CON
pection Of the two great businesses, @ Was
personally pleased and Interested. me
fiancees both went to New York, to visit
a bridesmaid and get their weGdlng-gowns
A week or SO later on certain satur-
day night Miss Hubert and Alfred Keep
stepued out of the east-bound tram. II
was evident that the young LADY was not
expected, as no one was st the depot 10
meet her. Alfred Keep called a carriage,
entered il with her, and both were driven
to her fathers house. The next morning
o whisper ran through the village Wnlch
bsfore night became q clamor. Wmie
away from home Matte Hubert had mar
ried her friends lover.
A thrill OF horror shook the town 10 lts
eenter Such defiance of prOpriety haa
never been dreamed of in Summerdalle; a
scandal Of such magnitude had never beeh
known in the social life of all New Eifs
land. Only the unwritten law that pdight-
ed faith between man and maia pe , E,Pt
sacred had been violated, 1t IS true. limit
code had been as often broken III SUMMER
dale as elsewhere, but this time two I'M
poItant families were to be set at Shridhoe
after q lifetime of intlmacy-two great
businesses arrayed in fierce antaSohlsm
against each other down to the huInbleSt
client.
That Sunday, for the first time since
the building Of the churches, the pe"s ol
both the Uulberts and the Greeillees were
un,c,.upied. People gaZcd Mt the Vacah'
cies and repeated tales of words unfit to be
uttered by men who had been fof ~ years
the chief upholders Of their Respective
sects in Summerdale; OF the 1eaflui hu-
initiation that had been the mothers part.
who fell sobbing on each others meek ohiy
sneak each UtleT
names again. In the general continent
only Matte Hubert was blamed. When
nneuIy taxed with being responsible Ter the
affair. young Mrs. Keep had but one ex-
planation to offer, which she seemed TO
think quite sufficient. As it went from
ear to ear in whispered repetrtlohs, people
looked aghaSt: ci-"
IsNorhinv was ianybedy's fault. Alfred
and | didn't know how much we loved
each other until it ci,nie to marrying some
body else. That's ail.a
Then the Sunamerdale Brabble began.
Each stood by .his' own. when LUCY s
Greenlee came home 5seme weeks later
there was talk Of damages and lawsuits.
III ANYTHING in eUIHtction with the affair
was mer toned in her presence, she re-
ceiyed ii with a a:riiillng silence that was
much more effective than the fiercest de-
came a consuming passion with her. Quiet
ly. rfethodically, O in why's conforInabie to
the law and the spirit of the region in
which she lived, she sought it without
cessation. Months passed. Unable to en-
dure the petty spite of her persecution,
Alfred Keep and his young wife moved
away. Then Miss 'Greenlee's parents
died within short time of each other
and left tho embittered girl sole mistress
of the immense business enterprise and
the echoing twin house on Chestnut Hill.
Before that James Bettson had also come
l. 4 II l..... II,
threaded with silver. This not only made
his appearance very striking. but was
taken as Indicative Of his great and un-
inerfted suffering. Cheerful and smiling
as always, he never alluded to the woman
he had loved or her husband, unless neees-
sary, and then in the most natural man
ner. He WAS at once engaged as attorney
for the Greenlee estate, and as such was
conspicuous in the uneeasing litigation
Miss Lucy Greenlee heaped on the FAM
lily of her false girl friend during the
years that followed. Ii she could have
made Matte Keep becgar she would