FREDERICK INTIMIDATED
Confused and angry with himself and Madelene, Frederick crossed the room
slowly.
What an awful mess! Married to Tessibel and engaged to marry Madelene!
His mother sick and head over heels in debt to the Waldstrickers! The
situation was becoming more complicated by the hour. He sat down by the
open window to think. The simple thing, and what he really wanted to do,
was to announce his marriage and let himself and the others take the
consequences. He didn't intend to give up Tess, and for a few minutes
his memory was alive with all the suffering of his brave young wife
during the past two years. What she had done for his sister Teola made
him shudder with grief. There was no other woman in the world like Tess,
and the sweetness of his intimate experiences since his marriage touched
him to tears.
"I won't give her up," he groaned aloud, "whatever happens, I'll stand
by Tess. She's worth all the rest--I love her better than life itself.
In the morning I'll tell mother and Madelene the truth."
But no sooner had he reached this conclusion, than the many embarrassing
consequences his confession entailed presented themselves. He could hear
his mother's querulous complaints. She hated Tess, blaming the little
squatter girl for the trouble which had made her an invalid and taken
her husband from her. Would he be compelled to choose between his
affection for his mother and his love for Tess? No, surely not that!
Yet there was Madelene! How could he face her, after all that had
happened. He bitterly regretted his weakness in permitting the girl to
avow her love for him, in engaging himself to her.
And worst of all, that harrowing debt! He groaned at the thought of it.
Madelene had told him, "Your mother won't have to worry any more, dear.
We can send her away for a nice, long rest, and when Professor Young's
lease is up, we'll fix the lake place for a summer home."
"If I could marry Madelene," he thought, "the debts--"
He got up, lighted a cigarette, his fingers shaking so he almost dropped
the match. He couldn't marry Madelene!
Yet to acknowledge his relation to the squatter girl meant a certain and
final break with the Waldstrickers, the financial ruin of himself and
his mother.
Even at that cost, he must do it. Tessibel was his wife, his dear little
wife. He had promised to make a home for her. But how? Could they get
along at all, and what would he do with her impossible father? As his
mother had said, he had no ability to earn anything. Bitter tears of
discouragement filled his eyes.
Suddenly, a thought found its way into his brain and seemed to clear the
situation completely.
"If I could explain it to Tess," he whispered, "and she would consent,
everything would be easy. I know she'd help me!"
Again and again, and from many different angles, the argument repeated
itself.
He lay wakeful in bed, his mind a confused jumble of diversified
thoughts, in which his mother, then Tess, and again the Waldstrickers
demanded his attention and sought to influence him. Worn out, at length
he fell into a troubled sleep.
He was late in rising the next morning. When he finally went into his
mother's room, he found Madelene seated by the invalid's side, holding
her hand. Frederick knew by the expression on their faces, that the girl
had confided to his mother the agreement made in the drawing room the
evening before. Smiling a little uncertainly, he crossed the room.
"Good morning, mater! Good morning, Madelene!" said he.
Madelene smiled shyly, stood up and moved a little away. Frederick bent
over his mother, who kissed him and murmured, "I'm so pleased and
happy."
He straightened up and took Madelene's outstretched hand, very much
inclined to tell them both then how impossible it was for him to carry
out his engagement. But his mother, ostentatiously turning on her
pillow, cried laughingly.
"Don't mind me, children, dear!... Kiss your sweetheart, if you want to,
Frederick!"
Snuggling to his side, Madelene threw her arms around his neck, and
whispered,
"You do love me, dear, don't you?"
Smiling into her eyes, he kissed her.
"Of course I do," he lied promptly. "Don't you know it, little girl?"
After breakfast, Mrs. Graves summoned them to her room again. Relieved
of her pressing anxieties, and excited by the sudden fruition of her
cherished plans, she looked and acted much better. She talked gaily to
the young people of their future, laughed at the girl's blushes, and
chaffed her son about his coming responsibilities.
"Frederick," she suddenly said more soberly. "I think you should go
right away now and see Ebenezer, and ask him properly for Madelene's
hand."
Feeling that such a course would commit him irrevocably, the boy
hesitated.
"Don't be afraid, Fred dear," Madelene broke in. "I know Eb likes you,
and," blushingly, "I think he will not be much surprised, either."
If he could only summon courage enough to tell Madelene before they met
her brother! Perhaps if he could get the girl alone he might.
"Come along with me," he said spontaneously. "We'll go together."
"Then wait until I get my hat," and she danced away, the happiest girl
in Ithaca.
On the way down the street, although he responded with dutiful
tenderness to his companion's conversation, his mind was busy with the
same old question: What should he do about Tess? If he could tell
Madelene, or perhaps it would be easier to make Ebenezer understand his
position.
But before he came to a decision, they met Mr. Waldstricker coming out
of the First National Bank on Tioga Street. He looked very prosperous,
very powerful, as he stood smilingly waiting for them.
"We were just coming to see you, Eb," said Madelene, blushing.
"Frederick--well, we both wanted to speak to you."
"All right, little girl," Waldstricker said pleasantly. "If it is
something special, we can go to the office; or perhaps you can tell me
here."
Hoping to gain courage by further respite Frederick suggested,
"We'd better go to the office, I think."
But Madelene was too full of her new happiness to brook any more delay.
"Oh, you men!" she exclaimed. "Don't be so formal and business-like!"
She took hold of one of her brother's hands, while she held Frederick
possessively by the arm. "We came to make an announcement and receive
your congratulations, and I want them now."
"So that's it?" chuckled her brother, smiling into her shining eyes.
"Well, I _am_ pleased! And I do congratulate you both, heartily. Fred,
run into the office in about an hour, I want to talk to you."
Frederick brightened.
"And I want to talk to you," he answered.
He swung to Madelene's side, drew a long breath and made a quick
resolution that before long he would make his confession to Ebenezer.
At the appointed time, Frederick entered Waldstricker's office. He'd
resolved to make a clean breast of his marriage to Tess. But without
giving him a chance to say anything more than "Hello, Ebenezer," that
gentleman began,
"Glad to see you! Sit down.... So you think you want to join my family,
do you? I suppose you know you're asking a great deal, when you haven't
any money or any profession, either. But then, my sister's fond of you,
and that means a lot. Fortunately, she has enough money so that you need
not worry about that. The question is, can you make her happy?"
He paused. Frederick fingered his hat, let it slide to the floor, and
picked it up before answering.
"Mr. Waldstricker, I think ... I want first ... I can't ... You see...."
He wanted desperately to tell the powerful man at the table that he
couldn't marry his sister, but somehow the words wouldn't come.
The older man thought he knew the cause of the young man's hesitation.
"There, there, my boy!" he laughed, pleased at his own insight. "Don't
try to explain anything. I know it's been hard for you. Frederick," he
continued more soberly, "as you know, I'm Madelene's only near relative.
Her mother has been dead many years, and since father ... was killed,
she has only me left. I want her to be happy, ... to have everything
that makes life worth while. She's chosen you, and I feel sure she's
wise in her choice." He stood up, his great height towering above the
boy, who also rose. Ebenezer thrust forth his hand and took Frederick's.
"I'm giving her to you," he went on. "Make her happy and there's nothing
I won't do for you."
Of course Frederick couldn't just then tell this man, who trusted him,
that he was already married to a squatter girl. Perhaps later--yes,
later he would. He hung his head in shame and the elder man, again
mistaking the emotion, ascribed it to diffidence.
"Mr. Waldstricker," began Frederick, "you were so kind to my mother and
so was Madelene. I'm not fit to marry your sister."
"Pshaw, boy, you're too modest!" Waldstricker laughed good-naturedly.
"If she's satisfied, that's all there is to it."
Turning back to the desk, he seated himself.
"Sit down again, Fred," he continued. "Have you planned to get married
immediately?"
Frederick shuddered. It seemed as if a great gulf were opening under his
feet and he were about to be swallowed up.
"Well, we hadn't considered that," he hesitated embarrassedly. "Probably
not for two years yet, until I get through college."
Here was a ray of hope. Lots of things could happen in two years.
"Nonsense!" was Waldstricker's prompt rejoinder. "Why should you bother
with college? You'd better get married right along and go to Europe for
your honeymoon. Then when you come back, take your place in my business
and help me. I need some smart young fellow, and there's no sense in
wasting your time at college. It isn't as though you had your own way to
make."
Frederick sought to make objections to these plans, but Waldstricker
impatiently got to his feet and stood looking down at the boy in the
chair.
"It's settled then, isn't it? Say no more about it," he said with
finality. "Run along and hunt up Madelene and tell her what I've said."
In parting, Waldstricker shook hands with Frederick, and placing his
hand on the boy's shoulder said with genuine emotion in his voice, "Make
her happy, my boy, and there's nothing in the world too good for you."
Frederick went into the sunshine, his head in a whirl. Waldstricker's
promises unfolded visions of ease and success surpassing in splendor his
wildest dreams. He had not meant to betray Tessibel nor to deceive
Madelene. Yet since these things were forced upon him, he would see what
he could do, but he took a long, deep breath when he thought of how
difficult it would be to explain his action to Tessibel.