The Baltimore County union. [volume] (Towsontown, Md.) 1865-1909, 1903-03-21
THE POINT OF VIEW.

sion on her handsome face as she
walked slowly back to the house and
entered her mothers drawing room.
Mrs. Travers looked up from her
work as Mabel, with little impatient
sigh, threw herself into chair.
well, dear?" she said brightly.
"Well?" returned Mabel in tone
that implied the contrary.
"Is anything the matter?" asked
her mother. "You haven't quarrel
ed with Leslie, 1 suppose" she add
ed, playfully.
"No-yes-at least, really, I'm not
quiet sure," was the unexpected re-
ply.
"Tell me" said Mrs. Travers.
Mother, it's horrible to marry a
poor man p
Mrs. Travers looked at her daugh-
ter in panied surprise.
my darling p she said reproach-
fully.
"Oh, I know I'm a wretch to say
it, and-and perhaps I don't mean it
and yet-and yet"
Don't be afraid to tell me, dear. !"
Mother, Leslie and / have been
having business talk. That what
he called it. 1t was hateful p
but very necessary. Leslie was
wise, darling"
"Yes-I suppose so. He said that,
as we were to be married so soon
now, it was only right that I should
know exactly what he could offer me.
Oh, mother, had no idea that Leslie
was so miserably poor p
Mrs. Travers eyed her daughter
with troubled look.
"He has never made any secret of
his income" she said.
tsJ 1know ...h,.kJ- didn't zeol;za 1varz,
wretched details about rent, and SER
wants, and housekeeping money, and
all the rest of it. Oh, it all seemed
so mean and sordid ~
And Mabel flung out her hands
with little gesture of impatience.
Il am very sorry to hear you say
that, Mabel" said Mrs. Travers
gravely. "It-it almost makes me
afraid" she went on hesitatingly,
"you ought never to have promised
to marry Leslie. Perhaps you are not
the right kind of wife for him, dear"
"Mother p
Mrs. Travers rose from her chair
and laid her hand lightly on the girls
dark head.
"Tell me, child" she said, "do
you really and TRULY care for him 2"
At this Mabel hid her face in her
hands and burst into flood of tears.
"I-I do love him." she sobbed,
"but-but-oh, l don't know what
is the matter with me |"
And the girl spoke truly. She
knew that she loved Leslie, yet she
was miserably conscious of disappoint-
ment and disillusionment. That day
she had realized, for the first time,
the prosaic meaning Of limited in
come. She had been accustomed to
think vaguely of poverty as a rather
romantic kind of thing that made
love all the more delightful. Leslie's
statement of hard facts had scattered
all her pretty, sentimental notions to
the winds. Her heart had sunk with
in her as she listened to her lovers
description of their future home-a
modest villa in the suburbs, with one
maid to assist her in her household
duties. She dreaded the prospect of
all the petty economies they would be
obliged to practice, and for a moment,
though she hated herself for it the
next, she had felt almost angry with
Leslie because he was not richer
man. She loved Leslie, she told her
self again and again, and yet
Something of all this the girl con-
trived to sob out in her mother SYM
pathetic ear, and as Mrs. Travers lis
tened, the look of perplexity on her
face gradually changed to one of re-
lief.
II think l understand" she said.
ooh, I'm horrid, mercenary
wretch !" cried Mabel.
mo, l don't think you're that, !"
replied her mother, quietly, only
we'll, want of money is never a pleas
ant thing. We all love wealth and
prosperity, and it's perfectly natural
that woman should want her hus-
band to be rich rather than poor.
don't blame you, dear, for regretting
Leslie's poverty; only / thought you
cared for him less because of it"
"No, no, no !" cried Mabel eager
ly. Mother, you didn't think I
meant that p
II was afraid at first, when you
spoke SO bitterly" replied Mrs. Trav-
ers gently. ''But 1 know now 1 was
Mother, I'm beginning to see
things more clearly" said the girl,
with sudden frightening of the face.
Il hate poverty, but l love Leslie.
If Leslie were a pauper I should
groan horribly, but 1 shouldn't give
him upP
Mrs. Travers began to laugh.
well, it isn't as bad as that, is it t?"
she returned. "After all, Leslie has
quite respectable income. l admit
it might be larger, but then, there's
orra.xr- .>.oa..aoA &C