College teachers -- Fiction; Love stories; New England -- Fiction; Social workers -- Fiction
"assistant" had he not elected to do so.
Were it not for his wife, he might have become content. The library was
a strong one, particularly in his field, and what more delightful end
for a scholar than to browse at will in his period and write essays for
the literary magazines? But Mrs. Brainerd chafed. Not having been a
woman of means or of any particular position, she had been somewhat
self-conscious in mixing with the great ones of the place. She had, at
length, however, after a residence of nearly twenty years, decided that
to live so was nothing; and she had boldly called upon Mrs. Robert
Lee-Satterlee. She had found the great lady all charm and friendliness;
but when, upon leaving, she had expressed the hope that Mrs. Robert
Lee-Satterlee might be inclined to return her call, Mrs. Robert
Lee-Satterlee had replied, "Thank you." "Is it 'Thank you, yes' or
'Thank you, no'?" the rash woman had persisted. To which Mrs. Robert
Lee-Satterlee had bowed, "Well, since you insist, I'm afraid it will
have to be 'Thank you, no.'" Mr. Brainerd had felt the snub perhaps more
than his wife, although he was most convincing in reassuring her that
upon trying again, say with some one of the Whitman family, there would
be small danger of such a rebuff. Mrs. Brainerd, however, had not tried
again and had, with what stoicism she could command, resigned herself to
the path God had ordered for her feet. So Mr. Brainerd's end at
Woodbridge was not a brilliant one, but he did not shrink or cry aloud,
and it was generally recognized that dear old Burt Brainerd was a good
sport.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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