Spirit of the age. [volume] (Woodstock, Vt.) 1845-1913, 1908-01-25
A BARGAIN
OF LOVE.
BY AUSTIN MAITLAND.

/
comfortable" She threw her head
back in annoyance. "The sense Of
$50" t. al is so odlous," she
II he
said symphVm- and then amuse-
ment crept into his eyes again as he
remarked: And what will you do?"
She clasped her hands about her
knees and looked out between the
curtains that protected the above in
which they were sitting from tie hall.
Through them she could see into the
ballroom, where gay waltz was in
riotous progress. Everybody seemed
careless and happy there. There was
no one condemned as she had been.
If there had been no binding in the
arrangement, it might all have been
SO different, she might have felt even
her curiosity awakened to such
pitch that 1t would certainly have
been interesting. But to be COM
PEELED by circumstances who,
until the calamity had come to her
fathers financial affairs, had been
accustomed to every wish being graft
hed-to be compelled to marry a
mao, whom she had only heard of
from very vague and indefinite
sources, merely because it was fam
lily understanding-it was quite a
different matter. Its advantages were
thoss which, at her age, she could not
realize at their full value. That she
would be left penniless, II she did not
comply with the agreement, was al
most incomprehensible to her. The
duty of supporting herself had never
fallen to her lot, ami now when it
came to self-interest - almost self
preserVation-she felt the irksome-
ness OF its being thrust upon her
shoulders.
And lastly--to make Il, e,s- --.-lssfggr
still-Cyril Festoz mad been staying
with them for the Easter holidays,
and for the ball, which, for the last
few dayS, she had learned to look
upon as a fatality. She had never
heard of him before as friend of her
fathers. 1t would have made very
little difference If she had, for he had
already won a higher place in her es-
timation than my man had ever occu-
pied before.
In a moment of regret, as she
looked at his face, she had told him
all about the doom that was hanging
over her, and, unlike other men,
whose sympatpies would have Jared
upon her, he had tried to laugh 1t
into forgetfulnsss.
ut hasn't come to the point yet"
he said, "and people are given mo-
ments like thesa to enjoy themselves
In"
As she sat with her hands clasped
over her knees, she thought over his
question. What would she do? She
scarcely knew. It was really unkind
OF him to ask hcl.
"Oh, / should be fool II l didn't
marry him." she eaid. She may have
hoped to make him jealous, and he
may have seen the effort, for he
leaned forward and looked iuto her
face.
"You will marry him if he comes?"
he said.
II suppose So" abe said, az indif-
ferently as she coNS5.
He took out his watch.
us he the only man who could
make" he hesitated, fearing to
hurt her feelings, "who could make
you happy and comlortable?"
HEJannu9O Oh -
in disgust, at the word being applied
to such case. "Irs the old, old
story of his land being next to ours,
and the combination would keep
father well OF for the rest of his
life," she said. Horribly sordid,
isn't it?" she added.
He looked at his Watch critically.
but said nothing.
you don't help me IN the least"
she said. why dont you suggest
something?"
Il thought that yos'd made mp
your mind?" he said, smiling.
She sighed petulantlyr thinking he
might have known that she did not
mean It.
What time is he supposed TO
conner" he asked after a pause.
"oh, no special time" she replied.
Most men turn up late-lAnd / DONE
suppose his anxiety is so very great"
Are you fond OF milking bar
gains?" he asked-it seemed a little
irrelevantly. Most women are"
How do you mean?" che asked,
looking at him in surprise.
He took up her program, where It
was hanging from her fan. and toyed
with the pencil attached to II. "Well,"
he said, 'T've got proposition to
make to you"
She felt almost an exaggerated GU
riosity about what he was going to
say.
What is it," she asked.
He held his watch out in front of
him, SO that both of them could see it.
Its now quarter to H." lie said.
She nodded.
'The possibilities are that he will
come any time between this and -;
there's not train after that, is
there?"
mo-" she replied.
Now, 1 make this suggestion" he
said, still holding the watch in front
Of him, "in all earnestness. not think
ing that / am helping you out of a
difficulty, and probably only throw
ing you into another one, but be-
cause"--he took her hand-"becnuse
l love you, Connie-and 1t is n bar
gain. Now, the man who proposes a
bargain is always the one who Is GO
ing to gain by 1t, and l shall gain
everything
She was leaning back in the wick
or chair, and her breath was coming