The Illegal Marriage — page 50: what you’re looking at

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

42 THE ILLEGAL MARRIAGE. Bond became annoyed, but could see no way of - stopping the affair; and at length she was almost startled to hear that Guerry came as an accepted lover. “Oh, Cecy!” cried Mrs. Bond, when she heard this; “have you thought of this TASES well?” <3 Ab well as I ever can, I presume.’ “[t is too serious a thing to be entered upon light- ly, and it should be thought of long and seriously.” “They say that of everything. I never could see the good of thinking ‘long and seriously’ of a thing that can be settled in five minutes.” “But is marriage——” “Not that, perhaps—I know what you would say,” interrupted Cecy, impetuously, “but I have thought of this as much asI can. My father cannot live long, and | am the last of my family. I cannot live alone. The man that I—I—that my father wishes me to marry, does not love me——” “But perhaps he may,” said Mrs. Bond, quickly, eagerly catching at this straw. “He loves another.” A tear gathered in her eye, as Miss Morgan softly repeated these words, and she turned away to hide it from her friend. “You will be a rich woman, Cecy, and will not want for lovers. Be sure youare right in this before you bind yourself to him. Alfred Guerry is not all that I should wish for you; he is——” “There: there! dear; don’t tell me anything against him, for he has told me all himself. It is natural that the girls who have failed to catch him, should try to spread bad stories about him.” “I only hope you are right, Cecy,” was Mrs. Comicboo ‘S.cO |