CHAPTER III. FAMILY DISCUSSIONS.

Te Aroha News, Volume VI, Issue 348, 6 March 1889, Page 3

CHAPTER 111. FAMILY DISCUSSIONS.

Hali -i'A.st five, I declare !' exclaimed Mrs Sbopperton presently, pulling out an oldfa&hioned, nchly-jcwelled watch from an inner pockeb of her dress, where ib reposed comfortably in her gently heaving bosom. ' Marian, just run into the hou&e, there's a good gill, and toll Betsy to bring out the tray immediately, and bid Dub ie - by-the-by, what /(as become of that child Dulcie all this long, sultry afternoon ?— to come aKo. lam sure she must bo hungry.' ' Ye?, mamma,' said the obedient Marian, who, accustomed to peifonn the family bidding, rose at once in compliance with hei mothei'b bohesfc ; 'but I thought you knew tliot Dulcie had gone down to the biook directly after luncheon to fish with [ Bob Mornington.' ' To fish with Bob Mornington, indeed ! Ooodnces giacious ! People must be staik {•■baling mad, to think of fishing on such a day as this. Why, v\jhat, in Heaven's name do they expect to catch, linlcos it bs weeds, 01 some mbbish ?' 'I'm sure T* don't know, mamma,' 10tm ned Maiian, dubiously. 'Sticklebacks, \ciy likely, or peihaps a few eeK, or even a ttout, though bhe latter would hardly take well such weather as this ' — for Maiian was by way of being an authority on matters piscatorial. ' I should think nob, indeed ! And whats moie, I don't half appiove of Dulcie going about in this fiee-and easy sort of way with Bob Morningbon. It's nob at all the thing. She was seventeen la.st birthday, and ought to settle down into a young lady, instead oi philandering about the country with penniless hobble-de-hoy&. J And Mis Hhcpperton, as she bummed up her youngest daughter's deficiencies, shrugged her shoulders with hopeless despair, for, try as sho might, she had never yet succeeded in taming l>ulcie'& spirit, or imbuing her mind with ! advantageous matrimonial notions Dulcie [ wa 5'5 ' pre eminently a child ot nature, and, alas ! in spite of governess, preaching, matcrml exhortations, sisterly example, and piofuse scolding, seemed hkely to remain so, ' If she lives to be a hundred, Dulcie will never be anything bub a bom-boy,' prophesied Charlotte, disapprovingly. ' That child has a perfect j passion for masculine pursuits. I can't think wheie or fiom whom she inherits such degenerate tastes.' ' You need not look at me, Chai lotto,' said Mrs Shepperton, querulously. ' I'm sure no one can hold me accountable, although Dulcie does happen to be my child. I never cared for such things, and even your father used to admit how essentially feminine 1 was in all my tastes. Therefore it teems doubly haid that I should end b}' being bhe mother of — of — a — torn-boy >' There was a slight tiemor in her voice as she uttered the word, seeming to indicate that she regarded bhe matter as a personal insult. Bub Marian book up bho cudgel on Dulcie's behalf. ' Don't bobber aboub Dulcie, mamma,' she said, with staunch loyalty. 'She's all right.' ' Right, indeed !' reiterated Mrs Sheppeibou indignantly '.That depends entirely on what you call right. It you consider ib right for, a young woman in her teens to hob-nob with a youth who has not a shilling in bhe world to bless himself with, I don't.' ' Bub Dulcie has known Bob Mornington all her life,' argued Marian, totally unconvinced. 'So she may, bub that makes no difference whatever. Theio comes a time in the lives of most of us when it ib advisable to drop one's old acquaintances and turn one's attention to the new.' ' I thought you liked Bob, mamma. At least you always said so up till now.' { So 1 do still in a way, as long as ho keeps his place, and exhibits no insane dpsire to become my son-in-law. However, thank goodness, I am nob one of those foolish mothers who allow thcirdaughters to driit into a foolish sentimental attachment simply for want of a little timely advice. And if,' she continued, with increasing severity, ' I detect tke smallest) penchant on I Bob Mornington's side for Dulcie, why, ,1 shall take remaikably good care to nip any such folly in bhe bud.' Poor Marian coloured painfully at these remarks ; and yet she had fondly imagined -that ho one— not ' eVon . Dulcie, with hei sharp oyos and quick w,ib3 — had perceived 'bhe gentle but lingering pressure imprinted on hor hand by Mr 1 Grey&on, bhe new, 'curato, when he had followed her out of

church only last Sunday, and detained her in a conversation for quite five minutes longer than the circumstances strictly demanded. Luckily, the arrival of tea created a diversion, and in another minute the three girls and their mother were eatinsr bread and butter, and sipping boiling Souchong well deluged with milk.