Geoffrey's Victory by Mrs Georgie Sheldon — page 116: what you’re looking at

Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.

112 A LONG AND INTERESTING CONVERSATION. Mrs. Mapleson gave vent toa silvery ripple of amuse- ment at her son’s question. ‘Tam very sure that Robert Dale was never married,” phe said. “He despised all women, even disliked to eat what a woman’s hands had cooked.” “ How old was he when he died?” “Forty. I should judge.” “Do you imagine that he could have had a secret al- Jiance with any one, and that this Geoffrey Dale is a de- scendant ot his?” ‘‘No, indeed!” Mrs. Mapleson returned, her face dim- pling all over at this suggestion. “If you could have seen bim you would neverask such a question. No woman would have dared approach him; no woman would have lived with such a creature, or as he lived. He built himself a small stone house in the wouds a few miles from Vue de l’Kau. It was as rudeas it could be, and furnished with only what was actually necessary, and there he lived a kind of hermit’s life, with an old ne- gro servant, who was cook, housemaid, ‘and everything else you may choose to call him.” ‘But during his earlier life he may have been different —he may bave loved some one, and been secretly mar- ried, and then disappointed in some way in his hopes, which might have embittered him and made him the woman-hater he was,” responded Everet, thoughtfully. ‘‘No, I do not think that is possible ; and even if it were, this young man could not beasonof his; he is not old enough; he belongs to the same generation as yourself.” “True. T did not think of that. How long did Robert _ Dale live after you were married ?” “Just one month.” Everet looked up quickly into his mother’ s face. Before your twenty-fifth birthday ?” '¥es.” “And were you sorry that you did not wait a little longer? You would have been free from the conditions of that will, and could have kept your money.” ‘‘No, Everet, I bave never regretted my marriage,” Mrs. Mapleson calmly replied. “I think I have been far happier than I should have been had I remained single.” “What became of Robert Dale’s money ?” “That has been a mystery to everybody, and one that has remained unsolved to this day. He was known to have given twenty thousand dollars to a blind asylum in Philadelphia several years previous to his death; but comicloookks.€