Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1902-03-13
e:t Storyette
THE GIRL WHO WAS TOO RICH.
BY c. N. Williamson.

Nobody who hasn't gone through 1t
knows how horrid it is to be rich.
mean very rich-sO rich that people
say, There goes the rich Miss Ellice."
Not pretty Miss Ellice" or mice Miss
Ellice," though it does seem to me
that | have some claim to both those
descriptive adjectives, but always that
inevitable rich Miss Ellice."
| was as nearly born an orphan as
anybody could be, for my mother died
when | was day old and my father a
few months later, leaving me with all
those oppressive millions and no
blood relations Il always hated that
expression, it sounds SO murderOus)
to look after me, SO l was made ward
IL chancery.
My nurses used to tOady to me, and
as for the children l was allowed to
know, several of them admitted re-
garding me as a kind of natural curl
osity because | was IAN heiress."
When | was 10 a chaperon was en-
gagged to live with me and travel
about the world. | had longed to
travel, but | soon found out it was just
az bad being abroad as at home.
How the facts about me leaked out
everywhere | don't know. | wanted
to take a false name and have little
peace, but my chaperon, who was a
bishops widow and rather rigid in her
ideas, would not hear of passing I'M
der false pretenSes" as she called it.
If the truth were known | believe that
Mrs. De Selwyn, in her quiet way en-
joyed the kind of triumphal progress
we made wandering about Europe.
People never failed to find us out
at hotels. Whispers and glances
went round, and mothers with sons
scraped acquaintance with us and
were unpleasantly maternal. In
England and France ! was fairly
mobbed with impecunious young noble
men and officers, and would have been
amused if l hadn't been furious. In
Germany it was much the same, and il
Italy I narrowly escaped being kid
mapped
When l couldn't stand it any longel
we went back. 1t was just at the be
ginning of the season, and Mrs. d.
Selwyn was determined that | shOult
be presented. was presented, and TIL
inevitable consequences ensued. II
the first month I had forty-eight pro
posals. BY the end of the season
had quite lost count. and I was 81
sick of it also deadly sick, knowing
only too well that not one of the mel
who had asked me to marry then
would have dreamed of doing it if i
had not been for my millions.
I could have been two duchesses-
] mean that two English dukes wer
among the moths who burned thei
wings at the golden lamp; and Their
was even a lesser royalty-but
seems like boasting to enumerat
them; whereas, in reality, with eac
proposal I had one more point of m
vanity broken off until finally l ha
none left at ALL
Things went on in this way, grow
ing worse instead of better, for tw
years. l felt old and had lost m
faith in the disinterestedness of me
and women. l was not intended b
nature to be cynical but experienc
was thwarting nature, and the peopl
who made themselves so charmin
must often have disliked me intensel,
though all the while I was starvin
for love-honest love without the su
Dicion Of a mercenary twist.
When l was 81, and free-as muc
as a girl can be free-to do as chos
Mrs. De Selwyn and l had a quarre
It was silly quarrel about an equal
silly young man, my chaperon
nephew, whom she'd been schemir
for years, it seemed, to have me MARI
was SO disguised that l threw ov,