The Mount Holly news. [volume] (Mount Holly, Burlington Co., N.J.) 1891-1942, 1916-06-20

had pictured Hardwick Ames as a diff
ferent sort of man, not the polished
gentleman who stood before her.
Wont you sit down, Mr.. Ames?"
she asked nervously.
He took his seat near her, and
studied her intently. "How old are
you, Miss Gray?" he asked abruptly.
Thirty" she answered, feeling that
in the coming battle Of wits lies were
handicaps.
And my son has known your"
1.-TWO months" She twined her slim
fingers nervously. II refused him
many times"
Eyes. You do not work, believer"
Il have small competence
From your late husband?" =
YES she answered defiantly. Il
took my maiden name again. Many
divorced women do that"
"And Charles-my son-knows all
this, of course? l see he does. And
that you were not the injured party?"
Yes, he knows everything" she
cried. Have you men, you immac-
ulate men of the world, no understand
ing Of what life may sometimes do
to woman who trusts it too blindly?"
He twisted his mouth to hide the
sense of the theatrical In her words.
Eyes," he said quietly. 81 had no de-
sire to harry you. But my son is
twenty-four."
She twined her fingers ceaselessly.
Il have been through all that with
him. He wants to marry me-"
And you are willing to marry him
and ruin him? You know that boy
of twenty-four, for all his promises,
will change. You know there will
come time when he will tire Of you.
Forgive me If l speak brutally, Miss
Gray, but I speak from a knowledge
of the world"
II do not resent your speech" she
answered. Time and again / told
him it was foolish, that 1t could come
to nothing; but he insisted"
And you accepted him. Please re-
member that. You accepted him,
knowing that his life would be spoiled.
A man may come out of these affairs
better than a woman, but still-the
fact remains that you propose to take
the unstained life of a boy and mold
it-yes, mold it to that of your own"
How mold?" she demanded sharp
ly.
"A woman of thirty molds a man OF
twenty-four You will drag-er-"
Drag him down." she said bitterly
Don't hesitate to be as frank with
me as before. Yes. will drag him
down to my level"
"a woman of your experiences must
inevitably drag down youth with
none. l do not mean to reproach you.
But now let US come to business. Mar
riage with Charles-my son-and of
course he will remain my son in spite
OF twill mean ucrative-er-in-
vestment."
go on"
"On the other hand you may not
marry him. He loves his mother, and
his mother is probably on her knees
before him at this moment, pleading
with him. You may never get the
Ames inheritance At least, his moth
or and | will fight against you with
all our power Now, my dear Miss
Gray, when you have reached my age
If women ever do acknowledge fifty
f1ve-you will realize that the great
factor of successful life is compro-
mise. will give you hundred thou
sand dollars to give up my son for
ever and leave town tonight"
The blood rushed into Delia's
cheeks. For all his smooth words,
then, he had mistaken her for COM
mon adventures for money, her who
had never sought anything but love,
and had always failed to find it.
At that moment she heard a light
step in the hall without. It was so
light that the millionaire, who was
absorbed in signing his name to the
check which he had already with
drawn from his pocket, failed to de-
tect 1t. The woman's heart leaped up.
1t was Charles-her lover-whom she
loved better than all the world. A
surge of anger swept over her.
But the fathers words had sunk in
deep. She had indeed often thought
OF what the future might bring to
them. She had begun to realize that
love may not be captured, that he is
elusive to those who seek him and
only comes 10 those whose lives are