Was It Right to Forgive? A Domestic RomanceBarr, Amelia E.
General
Was It Right to Forgive? A Domestic Romance
Barr, Amelia E.
Fiction
"Good-bye, Yanna! I am too miserable to split hairs over a meaning."
He was really petted and humiliated, and even a lover in this mood
finds it hard to be just and kind. Without another word, he went to
the stable for his horse and buggy; and Yanna, watching at the window,
saw him drive furiously down the avenue, without giving her any
further recognition. For the young man--little accustomed to
disappointment of any kind, and still less to a want of personal
appreciation--had become angry at his failure. Though he had not
permitted himself consciously to make any account of his superior
social position, it had influenced his estimate of his probable
success; and yet he was forced to acknowledge that his wealth or
social position had never been taken into account at all. His
acceptance or refusal had hung entirely upon a moral question--the
expediency or inexpediency of a secret engagement. Altogether, he felt
the situation to have been most unpleasant.
"Nothing has come of it," he thought, "but an assurance of Yanna's
love; and what is the use of love that will not sacrifice anything for
me?" And as he looked at this question only in its relation to Yanna's
sacrificing for him, he did not arrive at any just conception of his
own duty in the circumstances.
Mrs. Filmer had been covertly watching for his return; and she was
annoyed to find that he went directly to his own apartments, and
did not reappear that night. Rose grumbled at his carelessness, and
once she went to his door and asked him to come down and look at
some of the arrangements; but he refused in the most positive
manner. It was altogether a cross, unpleasant evening; the servants
were quarreling in every part of the house; Rose was worrying over
Harry's indifference; and Mrs. Filmer had a slight sick headache, and
said more unkind things than she permitted herself when in good
health. Mr. Filmer did not improve the general tone, for he sat
quiet, in a provoking mood, watching the burning hickory logs, and
listening to the fretful remarks flying between the mistress and
her servants, and the mother and her daughter. Their plain speech
and honest opinions amused him; and he complacently remarked: "My dear
Emma, this little household discussion is very interesting to me. I
always have said, 'Let us be sincere and truthful with each other, no
matter how unpleasant we may make ourselves.'"
In the morning the storm was over, and there was a clearer atmosphere
in the house. But Harry did not appear at the breakfast table. "It is
a shame!" said Rose, with great sincerity. "If Harry was against the
ball, he ought to have said so at the beginning. I wonder what is the
matter with him!"
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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