"
Margaret beamed upon her grandmother triumphantly, as if she had
stepped into a trap that had been set for her. "And your only
reason for being angry," cried she, "is that you don't believe he
will."
"I know he won't. He can't. Stillwater has kept him solely because
that unspeakable wife of his hopes to foist their dull, ugly
eldest girl on him."
"You think a man as shrewd as Stillwater would marry his daughter
to a nobody?"
"It's useless for you to argue, Margaret," snapped the old lady.
"The man's impossible--for a Severence. I shall stop the
engagement."
"You can't," rejoined Margaret calmly. "My mind is made up. And
along with several other qualities, Grandmother, dear, I've
inherited your will."
"Will without wit--is there anything worse? But I know you are not
serious. It is merely a mood--the result of a profound
discouragement. My dear child, let me assure you it is no unusual
thing for a girl of your position, yet without money, to have no
offers at all. You should not believe the silly lies your
girlfriends tell about having bushels of offers. No girl has
bushels of offers unless she makes herself common and familiar
with all kinds of men--and takes their loose talk seriously.
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