This was very hard upon Mary for though she did not believe all the
horrible things which her stepmother said to her she did believe
some of them. She was not afraid of the fate of an old maid which
was threatened, but she did think that her marriage with this man
would be for the benefit of the family and a great relief to her
father. And she knew too that he was respectable, and believed him
to be thoroughly earnest in his love. For such love as that it is
impossible that a girl should not be grateful. There was nothing to
allure him, nothing to tempt him to such a marriage, but a simple
appreciation of her personal merits. And in life he was at any rate
her equal. She had told Reginald Morton that Larry Twentyman was a
fit companion for her and for her sisters, and she owned as much to
herself every day. When she acknowledged all this she was tempted
to ask herself whether she ought not to accept the man, if not for
her own sake at least for that of the family.
That same evening her father called her into the office after the
clerks were gone and spoke to her thus. "Your mamma is very
unhappy, my dear," he said.
"I'm afraid I have made everybody unhappy by wanting to go to
Cheltenham."
"It is not only that. That is reasonable enough and you ought to
go. Mamma would say nothing more about that,--if you would make up
your mind to one thing.
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