Forsaking all Others
CHAPTER I.
"Some u, omen are born to daugh-
ters-in-law, some achieve daughters-
in-law, and some have daughters-ln-
law,thrust upon them. I am of the last
Category," said Gladys, in her whim-
Sical way. "And really, Louise, there
are times when I am crushed by the
Weight of the unexpected boon."
Mrs. Leonard looked indulgently at
the dainty creature reclining in an
'easy chair that would have swallowed
~her quite but for the assertive nature
,of the gown that fell in airy billows
'On footstool and floor. Mrs. Atherton
Was always well dressed, as a pretty
WOman should be'. In her flowing
'draperies of blue, matching the color
,of her eyes, with blush roses at her
breast and in her red golden hair, she
looked fair and young• Strangers
Would have set her age at seven and
twenty, perhaps; but grim old Time,
for once giving no hint of his vicinity,
Was checking off the minutes that must
~SOon complete her avowed seven and
thirty years of life.
"You knew Harvey would marry
Some day."
"Not when he was a Stripling under
twenty. You may say I needn't have
"COnsented to the match. Well, all my
life I had given him everything he
'cried for if he cried long enough, so
When he wanted this new toy, after
l~aking myself nearly ill by opposing
him, 1 yielded, as usual. Beside, what
'COuld I do?" she added more serious-
ly. "He was infatuated with Helen.
When a handsome woman of twenty-
five resolves to capture a boy of nine-
teen, it Is useless to try to offset her
influence. And there was the father."
"You think he helped matters on?"
"Yes. A quack doctor of no social
~Standing, swamped by debt and bur-
dened with five daughters, would use
• "any means to see one of them ad-
Vantageously married. He of course
regarded Harvey as my heir, and even
then he had a fine situation. Rock-
Villa has grown from a village to a
~nanufacturing town since ]: came here,
and well educated young men--for sev-
• Oral years I had private masters for
Harvey as I dared not send him away
• to college find no difficulty in gaining
Positions of trust. The boy was in
• advance of his age; had I opposed him
he might have been persuaded into
runaway match. He thought I would
forgive him anything."
"I'm afraid women are not success-
:ful in rearing boys."
"I know they are not. We are too
indulgent, too afraid of hurting our
darlings, and in the end they become
'our masters. Then, tOO, they are so
aCcustomed to being led by a woman
that they surrender to the first des~gn-
lug one they meet, thinking her all
• s'he seems to be. Understand, I
have no" fault to find with Helen in
her relation to Harvey. She is a de-
voted wife and mother, exemplary in
• all her ways. She helps the poor and
goes regularly to church. She is moral
aS~well, as a copy book, and has a
trite saying for every emergency. She
Was the cornerstond of her shiftless
father's household, and is kind enough
to Wish to be the entire foundation
. of mine."
"That is where the trouble begins?"
"Naturally, Phebe Tomllnson has
kept my house ever since I had one
to keep, and resents interference. X
uphold my old servant. Helen thinks
me Weak, frivolous and extravagant.
She has persuaded Harvey that I am a
mere butterfly, unable to manage my
OWn affairs. You know I am nothing
o! the kind; yet every day finds me
#~elding to some new encroachment.
Having admitted tl~e nose of the camel
I vaust make room for the whole body,
a
Ud be crushed to the wall unless. 1
fight for footing. I am not brave, and
rather than fight, I give way; but the
tivae is at hand when I mu~t assert
~aYself or become a cipher. And I
