Wallowa County chieftain. [volume] (Enterprise, Or.) 1909-1911, 1909-06-03
CHAPTER XII

CHAPTER XII.
Harold Denison touched his hat b...,.
lily, and rode home; but the old usurs,,.
artful speech still simmered In his h,.,I
Why should 1t not be? 1t would cut -
tangled knot of his difficulties. Hs ~,
made Inquiries. Young Pearmsn ~,
been brought UP gentleman, and v,,,,.s
In several good houses In the countv n
naturally little exaggerated this to NJ.
self, TO Justify the course he intendaa :
pursue; nay, for the matter of that b's
been pursuing for some days. His v,,. M
had told him that she had laid the ps..
man proposition before Maude and ~,
the young lady had declined, with thanls'
since which intelligence he had hun,.i
Mrs. Denison, and snubbed or treatad n.
daughter with cold Indifference. The 49,
of the family can make contumao,o.'
children conscious of their high disples,.
ure without any unseemly rating-indeos
that may be looked upon as mere mild al
salutary punishment compared to the o,h
er-that other which, to speak metonho.
ically, consists in being condemned to N.
domestic ice house. 1t is hard to descrih.
still there will be few of nv reado,,
who, II they have had the good fortuna
not to experience 1t, but must have seeD
some culprit enduring that slow punish.
ment-meted out more often, perhans n
daughters than sons. But don't we All
know 1t; the chilling rejolnder that meet,
any attempt at geniality-the austo,.
look that seems to say 1t Is heresy ths,
we should presume to forget the measure
Of our offending-the moral thong alwau
awaiting us should we show any signs n
relapsing into cheerfulness? Bah thoss
physical torturers of the middle ages ws,s
mere bunglers at their craft.
From this time poor Maude's life w,,
made heavy to bear. Harold Denison sent
| for her to his study, and himself nm,
Pearman's proposal before her. He on.
larged upon its advantages, and declared
that 1t was her duty to save the property
to her descendants; on her head 1t rest
ed whether the Denisons of Glinn should
cease to exist, as of course her future
husband must take her name. For him.
self, he cared not-he was an old man
and 1t mattered little to him. Any foreign
watering place was good enough for him
to wear out his miserable life in. Hs
deplored the follies Of his youth. Il
was sad that a father should plead b.
fore a daughter in this wise. He could
bear anything but the thought that the
Denisons of Glinn should be expunged
from the roll Of the county in which they
| had dualt md haor, Lpo1x,y, si,oo 4ho W..
Of the Roses all this it was in Maudes
power to avert. Why could she not mar
ry this man? He hard been brought up q
gentleman, and mixed In the best society
in the county. If not quite her equal in
blood, he would repair the shattered for.
tunes Of the family. Such matches were
made every day. The destiny Of the plu.
tocracy was to strengthen the aristocracy.
Far be it from him to put any pressure
upon her, but 1t was his duty as parent
to lay the whole case before her.
Calamity did Maude fight her battle,
and though at the end of this long inter.
view she stood with flushed and tear.
stained cheeks to listen to her fathers
final exordium, she was still resolute in
|
But the struggle was too unequal. In.
der the pressure put upon her by her hus
band Mrs. Denison had not only made
Maude write letter Of remuneration to
Grenville Rose, but had penned him very
severe philippe herself, in which she In.
sisted that all correspondence should
cease between them. She had further
under the threat of revealing everything
to Mr.. Denison, extorted promise from
Maude that she would write no more to
her cousin. She knew her daughter well
and felt implicit confidence that, her word
once pledged, troth would be kept
l have described the first stage Of the
attack. 1t is common enough story,
as many a woman could bear witness to-
as far as the general details CO. Can
you not easily guess the result? She was
high-splrited girl, and bore herself
bravely in the beginning; but cut Of
from all communication with her lover,
she gave way at last to the moral pres
sure brought to bear upon her, and, with
pale cheeks and heavy eyes, whispered her
mother that they might do with her as
they liked; if she couldn't marry Gren,
she didn't care who 1t was"
Ito be continued.)