Abbeville progress. (Abbeville, Vermilion Parish, La.) 1913-1944, 1913-08-02
CHAPTER ~.
Tho Daughter Of heth.

He walked for nearly an hour, along
quiet, lamp-lit streets where large
houses fronted on gardens that ex-
hailed moist earth scents and the
breaths OF sweet, unseen blossoms. up
hills so steep that it seemed as II an
earthquake might have heaved up the
city's crust and bent 1t crisply like
a piece of cardboard.
He looked down unseeing. thinking
of the last three years.
When he had first met Bernlce liver
son, she had been a typewriter and
stenographer in the Office OF the Mer-
chants and Mechanics Trust Com
pany. He was ftwenty-four at the
time, the only son OF Cornelius
Ryan, one Of the financial magnates
Of the far west
She was seven years older than he.
but told him they were the same age.
II was not a wasted lie. as she I'M
Ioubtedly looked much younger than
she was, being a slight. trimly-made
woman who had retained girlish
elasticity Of figure and sprightliness
OF manner. The entrapping Of young
Ryan was q simple matter. He had
never loved and knew little Of women.
He did not love her. but she made
him think he did. threw herself at
him. led him quickly to the point she
wished to reach, and secretly. without
q suspicion on the part Of her family,
became his mistress. Six months
later, having driven him to the step
by her upbraidings and her apparent
sufferings Of conscience under the
sense Of wrong-doing. she persuaded
him to marry her.
the world in which young Ryan was
q planet Of magnitude. His previous
connection with her-though after
ward discovered by his mother-was
at the time unknown. Bernice had
induced him to keep the marriage Sc
cret till its hour Of accomplishment.
for she knew Mrs. Ryan would try to
break 1t of and feared that she might
succeed. Once Dominick's wife she
thought that the objections and re-
sentiment OF the older woman could
be overcome But she moderated the
force and obstinacy of her adversary
and the depth of the wound that had
been given her. Old Mrs. Ryan had
been stricken in her tenderest spot.
Her son was her idol, born in her
middle-age, the last Of four boys,
three OF whom had died In childhood.
In his babyhood she had boarded
money and worked late aad early that
n might be rich. Now she held the
great estate Of her husband In trust
for him, and dreamed OF the time
when he should marry some sweet
and virtuous girl and she would have
grandchildren to love and spoil and
plan for. When the news Of his mar
rage reached her and she saw the
woman he had made his wife. she I'M
derstood everything. She knew her
boy through and through and she
knew Just how he had been duped
and entangled.
The marriage Of her son was the
bitterest blow Of her life. 1t came
when she was old. stiffened into hab-
VI
when her ambitions for her boy were
gaining daily In scope and splendor
A blind rage and determination to
crush the woman were her first feel
ings, and remained with her but
slightly mitigated by the softening
passage of time. She was a partisan,
a fighter, and she instituted a war
against her daughter-in-law which
she conducted with all the malignant
bitterness that marks the Quarrels of
women.
Dominick had not been married a
month when she discovered the previ-
Gus connection between him and his
wife. and published it to the winds. A
social power, feared and obeyed, she
let II be known that to any one WAC
received Mrs. Dominick Ryan her
doors would be forever closed With
out Withdrawing her friendship from
her con she refused ever to meet or
to receive his wife, In this attitude
she was absolutely implacabIe. She
imposed her will upon the less strong
spirits about her. and young Mrs
Ryan was as completely shut off from
her husbands world as though her
skirts carried contamination. With
masculine largeness OF view In other
matters. In this one the elder woman
exhibited a singular. unworthy small
ness. The carelessly large checks she
had previously given Dominick on his
birthday and anniversaries ceased to
appear, and masculine gifts, such as
pipes. walking-sticks, and cigar
cases, In which his wife could have
no participating enjoyment. took their
place. She had established a policy
of exclusion. and maintained 1t rig
idly.
Young Mrs. Ryan had at first be-
iievcd that this rancor would melt
away with the flight of time. But she
did not know the elder woman. She
was as unreliable as a granite rock.
Bernice. who had expected. to gain
all from her connection with the all
powerful Ryans. at the end OF two
years found that she was an ostracized
outsider from the world she had
hoped to enter. and that the riches
she had expected to enjoy were rep.
resented by the three thousand year
her husband earned in the bank. Her