Show A BARTERED ned LIFE IFE p W 4 4 a y MAMON HARLAND M sw ii international PRESS association CHAPTER 1 I I 1 fajt T Is always a thankless office to give advice in these matters said mrs charles romaine discreetly your brother and I 1 have decided not to attempt to influence you in any way constance not to bias your judgment in favor of or against mr vit bers you as the one most nearly interested in the consequences of 0 your acceptance or refusal of hla his offer should surely be able to make up your mind how to treat it and him 1 I should be as you say responded the sister in law but I 1 cannot she was a handsome woman la in tho prime ot of early maturity whose face seldom wore in the presence ol of others the tha perturbed expression that now be bloomed it it that does not affect the tact fact of 0 your fluty duty answered mrs romaine with cons considerable I 1 demable severity there are tims tim S a and circumstances in which vacillation Is tolly folly criminal weakness you have known mr withers long enough to form a correct estimate ot of hla his character in means and in reputation he is all that could be desired your brother says bays either you like him well enough to marry him or you do not your situation in life will be bettered by an alliance with him or it will not these are the questions tor for your consideration and excuse me for saying that a woman ot of your age should not be at a tons loca in weighing these again constance had nothing ready except a weak phrase ol of reluctant acquiescence 1 I feel the weight ot of your reasoning margaret you cannot de salse me more than I 1 do myself for or my childish hesitancy mr withers any sensible and honorable man deserves different treatment it if I 1 could see the way dear clear before me I 1 would walk in it but indeed I 1 am in a sore dilemma she turned away as her voice shook on the last sentence and affected to be busy with some papers upon a stand mrs romaine was just in all her dealings with her husbands sister bister and meant in her way to be kind constance respected her tor for her excellent sense her honesty ot of purpose and action but she was the last of 0 her friends whom she would have selected of 0 her tree free will as the confidants confidante of such joys and sorrows as shrink from the touch ot of hard natures refuse to be confessed to izing ears her heart and eyes were very fu full 11 now but she would strangle sooner than drop a tear fear while those cold light orbs arbs were upon her in consideration of 0 the weakness and ridiculous sensitiveness of 0 her companion on mrs romaine forbore to speak the disdain she felt at the irresolution and distress she could not comprehend Is mr withers personally disagreeable to you she demanded in her strong contralto voice 1 I liked him tolerably well very well in fact until he told me ma what brought him here so regularly constance stammered now I 1 am embarrassed in his presence so uneasy that I 1 wish sometimes I 1 could never see or hear bear of him again more shyness sald said mrs romaine Ro malno such buch as would be pardonable in a girl of seventeen in a woman of seven and twenty it Is absurd mr withers Is highly esteemed by all who know him your disrelish of hla his society Is caprice unless the marble gray eyes more searching unless you have a prior attachment constance smiled drearily 1 I have never freen in love in fix my life that I 1 know of you are arc none the worse tor for having es escaped capell an infatuation that has wrecked more women tor for time and for eternity tb on all other delusions combined A rational marr marriage lage founded upon mutual esteem and tho the belief that the confal slid and moral condition of the parties to the con contract tract would bo be promoted thereby is the only sate safe union on the young inexperienced and headstrong repudiate this principle the mature in age know it 11 to be true but as I 1 have said eald it Is not my intention to direct your judgment this Is a momentous era in your life I 1 can only hope end and pray that you may b be 0 guided aright in your de decision cislon lett left to herself to digest ill this Is morsel of pious encouragement constance drew a low seat to the hearth register clasped her hands upon her kneen kneels and tried tor for the hundredth time tint that day to weigh the facts ot of her position fairly and impartially she had been an orphan tor for ekl ight lit years and a resident in tho the house of her elder brother her by more than a dozen years and in the exciting swing of successful mercantile life no hd d little leisure for the tha study of 0 his bis sisters tastes and traits when she first became his ha ward and conceived the tha task to be an unnecessary one now that she was to be a fixture in his family and appeared to get on smoothly with his wife in truth it liever occurred to him to lay a disturbing finger upon the tiniest wheel of the domestic his respert for his spouses executive and administrative abilities was exceeded only by her confidence in her own powers she was never irascible but he knew that she would have boriin at tv c trimly imay and aaa any attempt at interference in her operation era tion as minister ot of the interior the ruler ot of the establishment he by a much abused figure 0 of speech called his home A snug and elegant abode she made of 0 it and be holling constance well dressed and well fed habitually cheerful and never rebellious lie ha nay may be forgiven tor for not spending a thou thought bt upon her for or hours together and when he did remember her for dwelling the rather upon his disinterested te kindness to a helpless dependent than speculating upon her possible and unappeased spiritual appetites for these and for or other whimsies mrs romaine had little tile thought and no charity lite life with her was wag a fabric made up ot of duties various and many but all double twisted into hempen strength and woven too closely tor for a shine of 0 fancy or romance to strike through she had coincided readily in her husbands plan to take charge ot of his youns young sister bister when her parents died her brothers house Is tho the fittest asylum tor for her she had said eaid 1 I shall do my best to render her comfortable and contented sho she kept her word wardrobe was ample and handsome her room elegantly cle gantly furnished and she entered society under the chaperonage chaper ot of her sister ln in law the servants weri weirs trained to respect her the children to regard her as their elder sister what more could a penniless orphan require sirs mrs romaine was waa not afraid abrald to ask the question of 0 her conscience and ot of heaven her best was no empty profession fes sion it was lucky lor for her self com that she never suspected what years ot of barrenness and longing these eight were to her constance was not a genius therefore she never breathed even to her salt 1 I feel like a seed in the cot cold earth quickening at heart and longing for the air her temperament was not melancholic nor ncr did her taste run atter after poetry and martyrdom she was simply a young pretty slid and mode moderately moderated ratel well educated woman too sensible no to perceive that her temporal needs need w were ere conscientiously supplied and too affectionate to be satisfied with tha meager allowance ot of nourishment dealt out for her heart and sympathies while the memory of her fathers proud affection and her mothers caressed at was fresh upon her she had long and frequent spells of lonely weeping was wont to resign herself in the seclusion of her chamber to passionate lamentations over her orphanage and isolation of spirit routine was sirs mrs ro malnes maines watchword and in bod bodily ay iy exercise arcise constance conformed to her quiet despotism visited studied worked and took recreation by rule the system wrought upon her benell chally so far as her physique was concerned she grew from a slender pile pale girl into ripe and healthy womanhood was more comely at twenty seven than at twenty one CHAPTER II if UT ur a all ai tab time eho cho was an ail bun hungered ered ill c sh she e would cheerfully hive have refunded to her brother two thirds of her liberal allowance of pocket money it ho he 4 ar lod had granted to her with its quarter 7 payment a Een gentene tene e of fraternal fondness a token verbal or looked that ho he remembered whose child she was and that the same mother love had guarded their infancy her sister in law would hive have been welcome to withhold many of her gifts of wearing apparel and jewelry had she bethought herself now and then how gratefully grate tuly kisses tall fall upon young lips and that youthful heads are often sadly weary for or tha lack of a friendly shoulder or a lovins loving bosom on which to rest she did not accuse her relatives of willful unkindness because these were withheld they interchanged no such demonstrations among themselves the melves husband and wife were courteous la in their demeanor theone the one to the other their children were demure models of filial duty at home and industry at school the training in both p acas being severe enough to quench whit what feeble glimmer 7 of individuality may ey tave have been born with the offspring of tha iha methodical and practical parents constance found them extremely asting notwithstanding the natural love tor for children which led her to court ther their companionship during the earlier weeks of her domestication in thell their house it wes next r ext to a miracle that she did dd not stiffen in this atmosphere into a buckram image of feminine propriety a prodigy of starch and virtue such euch as would have brought calm dolight delight to tho the wen re regulated mind of her exemplar and aad effectually chased a all 11 thoughts of matr matrimony mony from those of maar masculine allne beholders had her discontent with her allotted sphere been less active the result would have been certain and deplorable Ceplo rable she was wani instead popular among her acquaintances of both sexes rind and had many friends it few lovers this latter deficiency ld had given her no concern until within two years at twenty five eho ebo opened her eyes in wide amaze upon the thinning ranks of her virgin associates and bezan began seriously sly to ponder the causes that had let hei bet mh wr by two very silly and ui ili rr Iriel lir III bl wan ao a averi were la in her eleein ci eem pro tb thai tbt t was waa only too rid tell 7 oui to be insulting her quick tit lt and ot of the world helped her to a solution ot of tie the problem 1 I am ain poor and dependent upon my brothers charity she concluded with a icv no 4 and stifling uprising of 0 dissatisfaction with her condition men ken rarely fall in love with alth such more rarely woo them ehe che never tho the thought aloud but it grew and strengthened until it received a starting star tUng blow from mr withers proposal of marriage he wes was a wealthy banker from a reigh neighboring boring acty whom business relations with mr romaine drew to his house and into hla his al sisters company ills courtship was all mrs romano could desire ills his visits were T not t t too 1 0 1 frequent and were paid a at stated state dhont inter 1 r vals as befitted hs h a habits ot of order and punctuality ills his manner to the lady honored by hs hla preference was replete with stately respect that was the antipodes of servile devotion while his ha partiality far fsr hr society anil and a admiration dorher person were unmistakable shakable sta kable he paid Ws his ad addresses drewes through mr ro maine m line as me hs fair ones guardian offering voluntarily tj give his beloved whatever tine time foree tor liberation upon the proposal she desired you had better think it over jor for a week advised her brother when ho he had laid the case duly before constance it Is too serious a matter to be settled out ot of hand after that neither he nor his wife obtruded ther their counsel upon her until the afternoon ot of the seventh day th ahrn an mrs romaine Rom alne going to her ss sisters chamber to communicate the substance ot of a telegram just received by her hus bana to the effect that mr withers would call that evening at 8 was moved to grave remonstrance ly by l y the discovery that she whom he be cano came to woo had no answer prepared tor for him constance was no nearer ready alter after the conversation before re recorded cordel 1 I cannot afford to be romantic she had reminded herself several dinies and who knows but this irrational repugnance may pass away when I 1 have once made up roy my mind to accept him this may be in till all likelihood it Is 13 my list last chance ot of achieving an aa independent position it has been a long time coming and my ay charms will w 1 11 be on the wane soon true a marriage with elnathan Elli athan IvI withers theris Is not the destiny of which I 1 have dreamed c d but then droning dreams are but gancs cs alter after all lite life is id real and car act TO ill |