Family Pride; Or, Purified by SufferingHolmes, Mary Jane
General
Family Pride; Or, Purified by Suffering
Holmes, Mary Jane
American fiction; Dime novels
I wonder if there is any truth in the rumor that Mrs. General Reynolds
once taught a district school, and if she did, how much would that
detract from the merits of her son, Lieutenant Bob. But what nonsense to
be writing about him. Let me go back to Katy, who has no more idea of
etiquette than Jamie in his wheel-chair. Still, there is something very
attractive about her, and Mrs. General Reynolds took to her at once,
petting her as she would a kitten, and laughing merrily at her naive
speeches, as she called them--speeches which made Will turn black in the
face, they betrayed so much of rustic life and breeding. I fancy that he
has given Katy a few hints, and that she is beginning to be somewhat
afraid of him, for she watches him constantly when she is talking, and
she does not now slip her hand into his as she used to when guests are
leaving and she stands at his side; neither is she quite so
demonstrative when he comes up from the office at night, and there is a
look upon her face which was not there when she came. They are taming
her down, mother and Juno, and to-morrow they are actually going to
commence a systematic course of training, preparatory to her _debut_
into society, said _debut_ to occur on the night of the ----, when Mrs.
General Reynolds gives the party talked about so long. I was present
when they met in solemn conclave to talk it over, mother asking Will if
he had any objections to Juno's instructing his wife with regard to
certain things of which she was ignorant. Will's forehead knit itself
together at first, and I half hoped he would veto the whole proceedings,
but after a moment he replied:
"No, providing Katy is willing. Her feelings must not be hurt."
"Certainly not," mother said. "Katy is a dear little creature, and we
all love her very much, but that does not blind us to her deficiencies,
and as we are anxious that she should fill that place in society which
Mrs. Wilford Cameron ought to fill, it seems necessary to tone her down
a little before her first appearance at a party."
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account