Saint Mary's beacon. [volume] (Leonard Town, Md.) 1867-1983, 1902-11-20
"A Dummy Wife


wasting my money in society and
doing nothing.
every well," / said to myself,
"T'll choose q wife. Who shall il
be? Why not Vene Wright She
has money, and that is an important
item"
But Vene somehow or other did
not exactly suit the case and my
mind reverted to Miss Beaufort,
who vas smart, pretty, stylish and
suited better, but I knew nothing
about her financial standing. This
was an important matter to me in
those days.
Meanwhile the carriage APP
preached Miss Beaufort's. ] had
never been there before, and to my
surprise found it to be a very un-
pretentious house. / confess / was
disappointed. ] expected to drive
up to an elegant mansion, be ush-
cred into a fine reception room by
a servant in livery and there await
the coming of Miss Beaufort. Then
i expected to make a bold dash for
her heart, propose and possibly
be accepted or declined by the time
the party was over.
But not so. A little lady with
gray hair opehed the door, and she
was introduced to me by Miss Beau
fort as "mamma." Miss Beaufort
was ready and waiting, so we walked
out to the carriage.
"Mr. Silver" said she after we
had seated ourselves, "don't you
think there is a great amount Of
snobbery in society and lots of
downright foolishness?"
"Well, yes," said l.
"For instance" said she, "here is
an elegant carriage that you have
brought for me, and yet the party
is not half mile away"
This certainly was very refresh
ing. ! had actually squandered f1
to have this carriage for the evening
and she was not pleased with it. !
know Vene would have enjoyed a
ride in it.
"Mr. Silver" she remarked again,
"this is the last party i am going
to this winter"
"Well, why?" said l. "Aren't
you going to take in the German
club ball and the others?"
E'No," said she. "Mamma hasn't
the money; she can't afford it. Be
sides, Mr.. Silver" she continued,
"can You really afford to spend so
much money on society?"
i looked at her. There was hon
esty fairly shining out of her pretty
black eyes even if she wasn't very
polite, so / answered her honestly:
'No, Miss Beaufort, cannotl /
haven't saved a penny this win
ter, and i get big salary too. 1t
seems idiotic."
81 have met you so frequently ]
feel quite well acquainted with you,
though ] expect l have been little
imPolite." 9.
you take that much interest in me-"
Then we changed the subject. /
had a splendid time at the party and
enjoyed Miss Beaufort's company
very much. / found her level head
ed and bright if she was too frank.
The next day / told mother about
it. She said she admired Miss Beau
fort for her common sense, though
she had never seen her. Then she
referred again to my getting mar
ried. tf E
Suppose" said she, "that you
pretend for a week or so that you
are married and see how it goes ?"
"An imitation wife?" said |.
"Why not?" she said. 81 will
write the name of a young lady on
a card, seal it in an envelope and
you can lock it in your desk. Then
let US suppose you are married to
her for, say, two weeks. During
that time ] want you to act just as
If the lady we're here in person and
your lawfully welded wife"
"Whose name are you going to
write on the card ?" said !.
'Neyer mind" said she. 81 will
write my preference, and neither of
US will breathe a word about this
to living soul"
We agreed on this. Mother wrote
the name on the card and sealed it
in the envelope. / knew it was
Vene Wrighfs name, so / decided to
imagine that Vene was there in per-
son, and so We commenced the
week.
Monday night came. That was
the nightAOf the German club ball,
but ] stayed at home and talked to
mother. Then / played draughts
with her for awhile, and we man
aged to have very enjoyable even
ing.
Next morning mother met me at
the table with smiles and about
the best breakfast ] had eaten for
a long while.
"You must imagine that your
wife saw to this breakfast" she
whispered.
Going TO the city that morning,
who should get into the bus but
Miss Beaufort. ! bowed to her
gracefully, passed her fare to the