The Lakeland evening telegram. (Lakeland, Fla.) 1911-1922, 1916-05-25
A LEAP YEAR
PROPOSAL
By ELINOR MARSH
By ELINOR MARSH

When was girl of twelve my
mother made will leaving me all her
property and naming Nathan Griggs
my guardian.
Mother died when / was sixteen
years old, and by the terms of the will
| was to have possession of my estate
when l was eighteen. This left it in
Nathan's hands two years after her
death
Now, the truth is, from the time |
was fourteen | had decided fancy for
Nathan. ] looked upon him as a big
brother and in my day dreams of the
future thought of him as something
nearer. early passed beyond boys of
my own age, which l suppose came
partly from the fact that, my father
having died when l was a baby and
my mother being early accustomed to
rely upon me for many things that are
not usually left to children, became
older in experience than was in years.
Be this as it may, by the time | be-
came of age and my property was to
be turned over to me | had made up
my mind that / wanted Nathan too.
As to taking care of my estate myself,
l had sense enough to know that
was entirely incompetent
also had SUFFICIENT feminine instinct
to discern that Nathan had a decided
fancy for me. But the main reason
why mother had made him my guard
ian and one of the reasons why
wanted him-his integrity-stood in the
way of my having him. 1t was evident
to me that he considered me a fiduciary
trust. He was so sensitive to his hon
or that believed he would consider it
crime for him to become possessed
of my fortune even by marrying me.
What was l to do? | couldn't very
well offer myself to him. Possibly if
| had been nearer his age might have
found way to propose to him with
out sacrificing too much Of my maid
emily modesty, but when was eighteen
he was thirty-one. 1t might have been
easier had been sure that he wanted
me. But how can girl know that a
man wants her till he asks her?
One day in looking over mothers
papers / came upon letter she had
written to my aunt, her sister, that
had been returned to me after moth
er's death. In it she said: II have
made a will in Luella's favor and have
made Nathan Griggs executor and
| guardian. l have done this hoping
| that he will continue managing her es-
| tate as her husband. have said moth
ing of this, however, to either Of them,
for In such cases the surest way to
defeat design is to try to bring it
about. l rather rely on my observa-
ton that they fancy each other"
spent long while thinking out
| plan by which to use this letter to
overcome Nathan's scruples. Gather
ing some business letters that found
to and from mother and placing this
letter have mentioned among them,
/ sent them to Nathan with q note in
which suggested that they might be
| of Importance to the estate and that
it might be well for him to look them
over carefully.
| What did he do but return them to
me, saying that he had read them all
carefully and they were of no impor-
lance in a business way!
was no nearer my object than be-
| fore.
Well, the day arrived when | was
eighteen, and Nathan came to turn
over my property to me. 1t had be-
come evident to me that If l wished
to break down his scruples l must
throw argument to the winds and use
feminine methods. He spread a lot
| of papers on table, and we sat down
side by side that he might instruct me.
| was not thinking of the papers or
the instructions; | was thinking of
something far nearer my heart.
The more he explained the less I un.
derstood. I kept hitching my chair
nearer to his till we could be no near
er. Then, pretending that the figures
were so minute had difficulty in see-
ing them, leaned sidewise till my
shoulder touched Nathan's. In this
way crowded him to the outer edge
of his chair. and he could not move
farther. My hair was done In tumul-
tuous fashion. aud a loose strand
grazed his cheek.
He went on explaining, but 1t did
not take ME long to see that his mind
was no more on the papers than was
mine. At last l succeeded in grazing
his cheek with mine.
He broke down at this and went all
to pieces. Putting his arms around
me, he kissed me and said:
"Luella. when you sent me those let