"
What was now to be done? When Mr. Birtwell was informed of this
interview, he became greatly excited, declaring that he should
forbid any further intercourse between the young people. The
engagement, he insisted, should be broken off at once. But Mrs.
Birtwell was wiser than her husband, and knew better than he did the
heart of their daughter.
Blanche had taken more from her mother than from her father, and the
current of her life ran far deeper than that of most of the
frivolous girls around her. Love with her could not be a mere
sentiment, but a deep and all-pervading passion. Such a passion she
felt for Ellis Whitford, and she was ready to link her destinies
with his, whether the promise were for good or for evil. To forbid
Ellis the house and lay upon her any interdictions, in regard to him
would, the mother knew, precipitate the catastrophe they were
anxious to avert.
It was not possible for either Mr. or Mrs. Birtwell to conceal from
their daughter the state of feeling into which the visit of Mrs.
Whitford had thrown them, nor long to remain passive. The work of
separation must be commenced without delay. Blanche saw the change
in her parents, and felt an instinct of danger; and when the first
intimations of a decided purpose to make a breach between her and
Ellis came, she set her face like flint against them, not in any
passionate outbreak, but with a calm assertion of her undying love
and her readiness to accept the destiny that lay before her.
Pages:
255
256
257
258
259
260
261
262
263
264
265
266
267
268
269
270
271
272
273
274
275
276
277
278
279