Amador ledger., 1905-03-31
Mdrgaret's
= = Legacy
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AOS0Sy =
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And why should l not have a
lover as we'll as other girls, father?''
said Margaret Durnford, standing up
before her fathers writing table in
the little back study in Westbourne
Terrace.
My poor Margaret!'' said Mr..
Durford, with sigh. He did not like
to tell her that she was plain and
quare-shouldered and unattractive,
and that lovers do not come readily
to young women who are not lovely
or desirable to the eye.
f'You know very we'll, father con
tinued Margaret, "that Edward Welby
is not the first who has sought me.
When l was eighteen, Mr.. Ribston,
the curate, proposed for me, and you
never told me a word about it, and l
only found it out by chance long af-
ter; and then there was my cousin
Robert; you sent him away with hard
words because he told you he cared
for me, and now that this man has
done wisely in speaking to me first,
you are ready to shut the door upon
him because he has spoken to me
of his love.
"His love!-does he love you, Mar
garet?'' said Mr.. Durnford with a
groan. 1t had seemed to him to be
right to hide from his daughter that
which perhaps she had better have
known-that he was very wealthy
man, and that Margaret was his only
child. How is a man to say to moth
erless girl, "My dear these men, who
seem to come for yourself, have not
the true ring of earnestness in their
wooing-it is because you are rich
mans heiress that they love you-for
yourself, plain and unattractive as
you are they could not possibly
desire to marry you'll" 1t had seemed
to him that it would be cruel thing
to say this to her. He who had so
keen an appreciation of beauty and
gracefulness felt so bitterly the mis-.
fortune of his child's lack of these
things, that possibly he had even an
exaggerated idea of her unattractive-
ness. He would not wound her by say
ing so to her, but he did not believe
it possible that Margaret could be-
ever truly loved, , and yet he would not
tell her how rich she would be lest
he should give her the additional
pangof finding herself wooedfor her
money.
Perhaps he made mistake; for is
there woman alive who does not at
heart believe herself to be better look
ing than she really is, and who will
not consent to believe that here and
there will be found man who will
admire her above other women.
Margaret had sandy hair and a pro-
fusion of treckles; she had a wide
mouth and an awkward figure; and
one shoulder, from an accident in in
fancy, was slightly higher than the
other. Neither was she clever nor
accomplished, and her manner was
slow and heavy; but she had a fair
share of good stolid excellences OF
character; she was honest and truth
full very decided in her opinions,
and very faithful in her affections;
andshe was generous and kind hearted
at the same time she was somewhat
obstinate.
She had thought very little about
her personal appearance; she wore
good clothes, and had always found
that people noticed her and spoke
kindly to her; she had no mother,
and no sisters or female cousins
to compare herself to; and although,
of course, her glass told her that she
was by no means handsome, yet
the fact of her having had two suitors
before she was twenty seemed to speak
for itself that there was nothing in
her appearance to prevent her from
being wooed and won as other girls
we're; but then she knew nothing at
all about money. All the wealth she
knew of was a legacy of a hundred
pounds which her godmother had left
her, and which she had perfect right
to do as she liked with the day she
was twenty one. Margaret had passed
her twenty first birthday, but she had
not spent her legacy yet.
And now very great and wonder
full thing had happened in her life. A
third suitor had come to Margaret,
and this time he had addressed him
self to her and not her father--in fact
her father had not even seen him
and Margaret had made up her mind
that this suitor should not be sent
way like the others. She had met him
first at dinner party, where she had
gone without her father, at the house
of some distant cousins.
The cousins were also by marriage
cousin of the young man; and the
lady of the house, who was a meddle-
some, managing sort of woman, had
privately told Edward Welby that she
would give him good chance by ask
ing him to take down rich old Mr..
Durnford S only child to dinner. Mr..
Welby, who liked rich people, was very