Richard Forrest, Bachelor — page 71: what you’re looking at

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

62 A CONFIDENTIAL TALK. them so that future generations may be benefited?’ And the more they thought and talked it over, the more mag- nificent the idea seemed to them, evidently, for thev actu- ally——’’ ‘*Intend that you two shall marry??’’ ‘‘Precisely. Did you ever hear of sucha heathenish, ~ ridiculous piece of business in your life? Mind you, Dick, before we have ever met or even seen each other, these two old fossils have planned our future to suit themselves, And the worst of it is, they are perfectly serious about the mat- ter. Think of it; in this enlightened nineteenth century! Why, the thing is preposterous—disgusting !”’ ‘‘But surely it seems to me you ought to have some say in the matter,’’ said Forrest, reflectively,.‘* being most con- cerned. ’’ ‘‘So any rational being would suppose, but we haven’t a syllable. The thing is cut and dried.’’ ‘“What do you propose to do about it?’’ ‘Just what any sober-minded person would do, under the circumstances—cut andrun. I had aterrible scene with the governor about a week ago,”’ ‘What was the upshot of it?’’ ‘*Norway.’”’ ‘You pointed out his folly to him, of course?’’ | “Didn't 1? I told him this world was more than a yard in circumference, and that it was quite possible Miss Clay- ton and I might both prefer to marry some one else when the proper time came. In any event, I said, it was doing an injustice to both of us if either she or I listened to such a proposition, and I, for my part, should not submit.”’ ‘What answer did he make?’’ Oh, he carried on like a child, called me undutiful. ete...