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Auckland Star, Volume XXXVII, Issue 285, 6 December 1906, Page 6

/ ■IOQPYBiIGffiC , STaßt.jv AM IRREGULAR MARRIAGe 7 f '•& "'' By HtJ&H tUTTE ((Author of "The Heart of the Vicar" '! etc")' ' iW • HAT does';'fee Say ! M queried \kl Mary MeFarlajie anxiously, Uy as Douglas .Grahame entered ¥ » the drawing - room. But ,■' though she asked the question, his flushed face and angry eyes told her the answer, and. her anxiety was as to whether her lover and her guardian had quarrelled to: an extent that would prevent the former from coming to the house again. "He said what I expected him to say," returned Grahame, "though the words Jje employed displayed even more than his usual disregard to the feelinae of other folks." , "Then he did not consent to—-" '""No, he did not consent to our engagement'; iri fact, he absolutely forbade it; and he called mc a penniless fortunehunter, among other choice epithets! I told him that I had only spoken to him as a matter of form, and that we should either wait until you were of age, or more probably not wait, and forego your fortune; but that in any case we should marry." "Yes, Douglas, and then—" "He expressed his doubt, in forcible language, as to whether any girl would be silly enough to take either course. And, do you know, Mary, something in his manner made mc think that he would not be sorry if we\ook the law into our own bands, got married—and, according to your fathers will, relinquished your money to him." '"And he is quite welcome to it so long as you and I are together," said Mary softly. This not unnaturally led to a loverlike demonstration, and then Grahame said: "I wish you had no money, my lass, for then all would be plain sailing. I'm making four hundred a year, and am getting on famously. We could do perfectly well without your money, but I don't like letting that- man have it, nor do I like taking it away from .you. But I'll circumvent him yet, even if I have to kill him!" 'Hush! You must not talk like that," said Mary; "I don't like it. Now, I wonder if I could talk him over. I've a good mind to try." "No, no, better leave him alone," said lyrahame quickly., loth for the girl he loved to expose herself to the virulent tongue of Mr Wheeler. Then, after arranging to meet the next cay, lor the house was now taboo, he departed to keep an appointment. John E. Wheeler — known to his friends as "The Jew," on account of his initials, and the erroneous notion that all members of the persecuted tribe are avaricious, and have a monopoly of that sin—was a Glasgow merchant, who dwelt in one of the mansions overlooking the Botanic Gardens. By eosce mischance, Robert McFarlane liked and believed in "The Jew," and on his death, some ten years before the events that form this narrative, left his only child, Mary, under the sole guardianship of his friend. John E. Wheeler, moreover, was left with the powcT of forbidding her marriage, and in the event of her marrying without his consent, her fortune of £10,000 would pass to her guardian. But it is no new thing for a parent to make a will c ntaining ridiculous restrictions concerning his children. Mr Wheeler had no love for bis ward, and from the first had considered her money as his own; but, all the same, Mary's life had not been unhappy. Mrs Wheeler—the daughter of a rich whisky distiller, whom her husband had married for her money —was kind enough in a colourless sort of way, and Mary, until the last twelve months, had spent much of her time at a boarding school. But since her debut she had met Douglas Grahame, a clever young solicitor, and it had not taken them long to learn to love each other. How Mr Wheeler received the tidinge of that love ''has already been indicated. Left by herself, Mary sat in one of the windows, and gave her fancy free play, and her thoughts, 'n spite of her guar•—an's refusal to sanction her engagement, were of a sufficiently rosy nature. What does anything matter when a man and a. girl love each other? especially when the man is Douglas Grahame, and the girl Mary McFarlane. Why, every-thing-MJiat delightful vague "everything" of young hearts —was bound to come right. Even the gloomy, rain-laden •wintry evening had no power to depress. The door opened, and Mrs Wheeler entered, a tall, thin, pale woman, whose identity was completely submerged in that of the husband whom she worshipped as the one perfect man in God's universe. "How very uncomfortable, Mary," she said. "For goodness' sake, ring the bell, and we will have the blinds pulled down, the lights lit, and the fire mended." "I can do it myself in half the time that James would take," said Mary, and in a few minutes the room was cosy enough for the most exacting mistress. "I have been lying down," said Mrs Wheeler, "and I am glad say my headache has nearly gone. I shall be able to go to the temperance meeting with John, after all. Dear mc. v.-hat a wonderful man he is! How he finds tim£ for all his work, and :his philanthTopical, his political, and his parochial and his church meetings, is beyond mc altogether. I always feel that lam not a\sufficient helpmate for him, but I do my poor best." '■'And a very good best, too, Aunt Anna," returned Mary. "Hβ should be here now," said Sirs Wlieeler, glancing at her watch. "1 trust that nothing has detained him. But the calls on his time are so great. I often wish I could have him all to myself in some quiet country place, but when I proposed it once he said it would kill him. "He has been in some time," said Mary; "he is in his^study—" "And he did not come to see mc?"

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