A STORMY INTERVIEW.
After their return from Hazeldean, Mrs. Montague seemed to forget her
spite against Mona. Indeed, she was even kinder than she had ever been.
Mona quietly resumed her usual duties, and was so faithful and obliging
that the woman apparently regretted her harshness on the night of the
ball, and was very considerate in her requirements, and verified what
Mary, the waitress, had once said, that she was a kind mistress if she
wasn't crossed.
On the morning after their arrival in New York, Mona wrote a note to Ray,
related something of what had occurred, and suggested that it might be as
well not to antagonize Mrs. Montague further by being seen together while
she remained in her employ. She told him where she would attend church
the following Sabbath, and asked him to meet her so that they could talk
over some plan by which they might see each other from time to time
without exciting suspicion regarding their relations.
Mr. Amos Palmer called by appointment upon Mrs. Montague on Wednesday
evening, following the return from Hazeldean, when he formally proposed,
and was accepted.
When, on Thursday morning, the triumphant widow announced the fact to her
nephew, he flew into a towering passion, and a bitter quarrel ensued.
"You have promised me that you would never marry," he cried, angrily;
"you have pledged your word that I should be your sole heir, and I swear
that you shall not give me the go-by in any such shabby fashion."
"Hush, Louis; you are very unreasonable," said his aunt. "I believe that
it will be for your interest as well as mine that I marry Mr. Palmer, and
because I simply change my name, it does not follow that you will not be
my heir. You know that I have no other relative, and I mean that you
shall inherit my fortune. If _you_ will marry Kitty McKenzie immediately.
I will settle a hundred thousand upon you outright."
"But I don't like the idea of your marrying at all--I vow I won't stand
it!" the young man reiterated, and ignoring the subject of his own
marriage. "I suppose you have reasons for wishing to change your name,"
he added, with a sneer, "but you must not forget that I know something of
your early history and subsequent experiences, and I have you somewhat in
my power."
"And you are no less in mine, young man," his companion sternly retorted.
"It will not be well for you to make an enemy of me, Louis--it will be
far better for you to yield to my plans gracefully, for my mind is fully
set on this marriage. Can't you understand that as the wife of a man in
Mr. Palmer's position, nothing that has ever been connected with my
previous history will be liable to touch me. Mrs. Richmond Montague,"
with a sneering laugh, "will have vanished, or become a myth, and Mrs.
Palmer will be unassailable by any enemies of the past."
"Yes; I can fully understand that," her nephew thoughtfully replied, "and
perhaps--Well, if I withdraw my objections, will you let me off from any
supposed obligations to Kitty McKenzie? Truly, Aunt Marg," with unusual
earnestness, "I don't want to marry the girl, and I do want to marry some
one else; give me the hundred thousand and let me choose my own wife, and
we will cry quits."
"Louis Hamblin, I believe you will drive me crazy!" cried Mrs. Montague,
growing crimson with sudden anger, "What new freak has got into your head
now? Who is this some one else whom you wish to marry?"
"That girl up stairs--Ruth Richards, she calls herself," the young man
answered, flushing, but speaking with something of defiance in his tone.
"Good gracious, Louis! you cannot mean it!" she exclaimed, aghast. "I
told you I would have no nonsense in that direction. Does she, Ruth,
suspect your folly?"
"Only to toss her head and turn the cold shoulder on me. She is in no way
responsible for my folly, as you call it, except by being so decidedly
pretty. You'd better give in, Aunt Marg--it'll be for your interest not
to make an enemy of me," he quoted, in a peculiar tone, "and it will make
a man of me, too, for I vow I love the girl to distraction."
Mrs. Montague uttered a sigh of despair.
"I was afraid you'd make a fool of yourself over her, and now I shall
have to send the girl away. It is too bad, for she is the only expert
seamstress I have had for a year," she said, tears of vexation actually
rushing to her eyes.
"No, you don't," the young man retorted, flaming up angrily; "don't you
dare to send her away, or I swear I will do something desperate. Besides,
the girl doesn't care a rap for me, but she is dead gone on young Palmer;
and if you drive her away, the next you'll know she will forestall you in
the Palmer mansion."
Mrs. Montague grew pale at this shaft, and sat for several moments
absorbed in thought.
"I thought that he was in love with Walter Dinsmore's _protégée_, Mona
Montague," she at last remarked, with a bitter inflection.
A peculiar smile flitted over Louis Hamblin's lips at this remark. But he
quickly repressed it, and replied:
"So I heard and thought at one time; but he was deeply smitten with Ruth
the night of the Hazeldean ball, and never left her side after
refreshments; they sat in the balcony, half concealed by the draperies,
until after one o'clock."
"You don't mean it!" Mrs. Montague exclaimed, with a start and frown.
"Then the girl is more artful than I thought; but, on the whole, I'm not
sure but that I should prefer to have Ray Palmer marry Ruth Richards
rather than Mona Montague--it might be better for me in the end. I wonder
where she is. I am almost sorry--"
She broke off suddenly, but added, after a moment:
"I don't know, Louis--I am somewhat perplexed. If, as you say, Ray Palmer
is so deeply smitten with Ruth he must have gotten over his penchant for
the other girl. I will think over your proposition, and tell you my
conclusion later."
An expression of triumph swept over Louis Hamblin's face, but quickly
assuming a grateful look, he remarked:
"Thank you, Aunt Margie--if you'll bring that about I'll be your loyal
slave for life."
Mrs. Montague's lips curled slightly at his extravagant language, but she
made no reply to it.
Presently, however, she asked:
"When are you going to attend to that matter of business for me? I do not
think it ought to be delayed any longer."
"Blast it! I am tired of business," responded her dutiful nephew
impatiently, adding: "I suppose the sooner I go, though, the quicker it
will be over."
"Yes, I want everything fixed secure before my marriage, for I intend
to manage my own private affairs afterward, the same as before," his
companion returned.
Louis laughed with some amusement.
"You ought to have been a man, Aunt Marg; your spirit is altogether too
self-reliant and independent for a woman," he said.
"I know it; but being a woman, I must try to make the best of the
situation in the future, as I have done all my life," she returned,
with a self-conscious smile.
"Well, I will look after that matter right away--get your instructions
ready and I will be off within an hour or two," said the young man, as
he rose and went out, while Mrs. Montague proceeded directly to her own
room.