Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1915-06-19
CHATTER Nv

CHAPTER Nv
A S WE do not choose our parents or
"A our brothers and sisters, so we are
disposed. till absolutely our own masters,
to accept without demur the other rela-
tionships forced on us in our childhood.
Maud Pleesey could only vaguely recall
her first Introduction to Gilbert Huron.
| She had a distinct recollection of wrig-
Cling off his knee and threatening to kick
him II he pulled her hair. AS this wqa
on her return from her first school and
she had not long ceased TO wear mourn-
ing for her father, she concluded that she
must have been then about 7 years old.
But her mother assured her that she had
been nursed in Gilbert's arms when shs
was an infant and that he had been an
old friend of her fathers.
AS Mrs. Plessey had managed to cut
the acquaintance of almost all her lato
husbands associates, no one was In pos
sitiou TO dispute this statement; and II
had not occurred to Maud to question It,
Perhaps his alleged intimacy with her
father had early dlsarmed the little girls
hostility toward the man; at any rate.
she grew 10 tolerate him. and BY the time
she was Il or Is had come to accept him
as one accepts not particularly es-
teemed uncle or aunt. That Is not to
saw that she saw very much OF him-or
of her mother.
Maternity might or might not be q Ia
mode at the moment, but Mrs. Plessey
was at the time OF the opinion that her
charms were increased by the preseHce
OF daughter as tall as herself. She
pronounced Maud to be gawky and later
''posltlvely huKer So she had kept the
II A. aahaaI H1natiX a6F0Hd and
took care that she spent a very small
fraction of her holidays under the
maternal roof.
When Maud. whose skirts now reached
almost to her ankles, expressed the de-
sire to go to a university. pretty little
Mrs. Plessey gave dellghtful little
scream of horror and at once deliKhtedly
aeaulesced So Maud went TO 81 An
drew's and piled up academic honors.
while her mother frisked and fiirted ana
devoutIy hoped that her daughter would.
never discover any inclination Tor So
eiety
mother and still less OF her home: onk
whenever she saw either she also aAN
Gilbert Huron. He was her mother
Oldest friend-so much she had been toia
when she was IL; at II she suspected tnat
some tender memory bound then -
wondered why they didn't marry she
was TOO shy 10 ask and at last decided
d hsr avn mind that Gilbert Huron Or
her mother was too loyal 10 tha memory
Of her dead father to contemplate m=f
riaFe. Other people had long ago m@as
up their minds that under the asAa =
mlrars viii the widow was forbidden e
remaFTy .s
psrhaps Il was his ambiguous foolinH
4, ber Immediate circle that finally ln-
sa,rs5 the girl with some glimmefahsa
~ 5isliks and suspicion Tor the nan.
grhesa he strove 70 dispei BY Asaidnoas as=
tentlona. BY the constant display q ass
most paternal solieltude. He eafssspoiase
regularly with her. TIL her mother kspz
10 communication with hef aAest.Ass
t,ralv through hlm. He affected. psfha1z
sstt keen Interest IN her academic
eareer ana earned the young kradaaEa
relue4ant gratitude BY the Ffoaptass
,gltb which he executed any eeninalHsiqH
gor hooks. Instruments. ana apeeimena
sitb which shs lnirasted him HhaH
shs ssas homie It vas he Nn1 zeHza -
- eseort. whe rode and moeosea VIA
hsF ana performed most q sae ssz
sarysess which she might have sznss5ss
from her mother
lately. ln defeFeaee. e. sas
rsaarsed. Is her superior halzaz zH4 zH
,,ssss-sv Il hss zeholarahin. e haa 81
aartsa rather palnlzdix ffem -
~ astltuds af Tsnaef zsazz
= fhemsalsaa ea gees palz. H#
h senesal aa tie guide FHslsse
friend. tbs zlIl ea tas ehela
fhls new attitude. aaz zHs Hs
nuzzle5 ahy sas Izlt laz Ealz asfzssa
apnarsallg dlssatefsaIea IFizaa
little regard
re Bs Continue = soaaa.
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