Aunt Jane's Nieces
I am just
seventeen years of age--although I feel that I ought to be thirty, at
the least--and in three years I shall be twenty, and a married woman.
You decided to divide our capital into three equal parts, and spend a
third of it each year, this plan enabling us to live in good style and
to acquire a certain social standing that will allow me to select a
wealthy husband. It's a very brilliant idea, my dear! Three years is a
long time. I'll find my Croesus long before that, never fear."
"You ought to," returned the mother, thoughtfully. "But if you fail,
we shall be entirely ruined."
"A strong incentive to succeed." said Louise, smiling. "An ordinary
girl might not win out; but I've had my taste of poverty, and I don't
like it. No one will suspect us of being adventurers, for as long as
we live in this luxurious fashion we shall pay our bills promptly and
be proper and respectable in every way. The only chance we run lies in
the danger that eligible young men may prove shy, and refuse to take
our bait; but are we not diplomats, mother dear? We won't despise a
millionaire, but will be content with a man who can support us in good
style, or even in comfort, and in return for his money I'll be a very
good wife to him. That seems sensible and wise, I'm sure, and not at
all difficult of accomplishment."
Mrs. Merrick stared silently out of the window, and for a few moments
seemed lost in thought.
"I think, Louise," she said at last, "you will do well to cultivate
your rich aunt, and so have two strings to your bow."
"You mean that I should accept her queer invitation to visit her?"
"Yes."
"She has sent me a check for a hundred dollars. Isn't it funny?"
"Jane was always a whimsical woman. Perhaps she thinks we are quite
destitute, and fears you would not be able to present a respectable
appearance at Elmhurst without this assistance. But it is an evidence
of her good intentions. Finding death near at hand she is obliged to
select an heir, and so invites you to visit her that she may study
your character and determine whether you are worthy to inherit her
fortune.
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In a village there lived two men who had the self-same name. Both were named Claus. But one of them owned four horses, and the other owned only one horse; so to distinguish between them people called the man who had four horses Big Claus, and the man who had only one horse Little Claus. Now I'll tell you what happened to these two, for this is a true story.
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