Abbeville progress. (Abbeville, Vermilion Parish, La.) 1913-1944, 1916-11-04

with "a hallmark position as ungucS-
tionahla ass the sterling on silver.
but somewhat hard put to ii TO support
il with the essential finances
Kendrick. on his side. wanted
wife-uOt companion or helpmeet
fitting to one Of his years and settled
habits but merely 10 serve as Al eN'
hibition Of his wealth.
After inspecting the season hock
of debutantes he had definitely liked
his choice unon Ruth, and the matter
was supposed To be settled.
But AZ thts interesting iuncture
Fleetwood Blair had chosen to in
trudr
Blair. without being in any sense
beauty man. was & cIcau-Iimbed. ath-
letic fellow. ruddy and Of good
couutenance. and clever enough TO
have more than ordinary success
predicted for him in his profession,
bu. a halfwitted CalibaD could not
have been less welcome 10 Mrs Al
den
Credit must be given hor. moreover,
for ehrawaIy seeming the danger In
IN, situation as soon as it appeared.
She tactully iutfwatad 30 Hafaon Ken
ari.t that IL might De wise 10 iefe-
his proposal and sdbside somewhat
into tln background. and meanwhile
she tgot occasion 80 impress uNpH
Ruth hy means OF one or two horrible
examples amcng their acHHairtances.
the folly Of a pcnuiIcss marriage
No once did she raise any ohiec-
ton % Blair. or seem to interfere
with the freedom Of association be
tween him and Ruth. And Kendrtck
played up sNIIfully 10 her lead.
This snowy afternoon as they sat
cozily over the Chesshoard with all
the young people out of the way over
on the hillside. they touched eau
tiously upon the subject uppermost in
both their minds and made plain their
plans in a series of indirections.
1t was kind OF you to invite my
niece Estclle here this week he OBJ
served Her father is q visionary
fellow. generally hard up and I'm
afraid the poo girl has had but few
eayeties in her life"
Il am sure it has been delight to
have her" murmured Mrs. Alden.
She is a charming girl and so COM
petent in every way-an ideal wife
for some young man with his way to
make in the world"
YES, indeed" Kendrick nodded.
: Hagr-yrfu5K VOC tnar young All
is trihe attentive in that direction
he inquired anxiously.
sReally, rad not noticed it," Mrs
Aiden's lips stiffened trifie disap
provingly Nevertheless, | am of the
opinion that something will develoI
between those two" he urged. I've
had It in my mind right along.
even suggested it jokingiy to EsteIIe
before she came here, never dreaming
naturally that anything would come
told Estelle this morning-jokingly
still but | meant it too-that II 81 {
and Blair should hit 1t of. I'd settle
; nice little income on her. She,
, my own sisters child, and I'd be GLAD
E to do something nice for her. In
, afraid. though. that you think sh,
hasn't been going about things jus
| ar coach her a bit-tell her what t,
, do and what not TO do? She's got M
\ mother, you understand"
| "Pshaw' she muttered. An,
woman can marry any man. if sh
can only be made to use her wits.
will have talk with Estelle this eve
ming. And now she glanced acros
a. him. tell me what are your al
engagements for your trip to Pair
| Beach"
But before Kendrick could comply
| tn, door to her sitting room was fun
| open and Ruth and Fleetwood Blai
appeared hand in hand on tn
i threshold.
! Wish us happiness. mother" tn
j girl cried exuberantly. "Fleetwoo
I and are engaged"
4 For once, Mrs. Alden lost her suav
] poise
j Her eyes were fixed in a glare {
| despairing rage upon Blair. She lif
/ ed her hand and pointed toward tn
i door with gesture not to be mi
/ taken.
/ invoiuntarily Blair took a step bacl
/ ward, then halted and glanced towar
/ Ruth. Instantly she moved over I
H his side and thrust her arm in his.
II If there's no place here for hin
then there is none for me-" she erie
u Since you turn him out, he will go
but | will too"
For a moment she swept the roo
with scornful eyes, embracing in
n single glance her irate mother and h,
millionaire sutton crouching back
d his chair. black with chagrin. The
with her head held high, and her ar
y, linked in that of her lover. she passt
out of the room and from the hous
lie Mrs. Alden tottering TO a chai
III sank down weakly into il and ga,
lie way 10 tears Kendrick sat in sull.
lt silence and gnawed at a corner OF h
* grizzled mustache.
Finally the telephone upon a nes
es b stand rang. Listlessly Mrs. Aide
took it up. But all at once her e
s. preston changed.
;.ta, ch .4biSnara1 -