Roanoke of Roanoke Hall: A Romance — page 175: what you’re looking at

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

Roanoke of Roanoke Hats. 169 In what light my uncle would regard them was a question that vexed us both not a little, and having that day put them to the test I had seen them ruthlessly, albeit kindly, torn into tatters before my very eyes. It was in vain that I pleaded the strength of my affec- tion, and its long endurance ; that I recalled how in our childish games my pretty, capri- cious cousin May had gayly borne the title of my little wife; that now, even after long years of separation, when we were grown to man and womanhood, we found that our infant liking had developed into mutual love ; each appeal had been set aside, and each argument parried by one unanswerable objec- tion—my poverty. “*No, Ralph, no,” said my Uncle Edgar, with a gentleness that did not for one mo- ment conceal the firmness of his purpose. “I cannot permit it. It is no personal disap- proval that sways me. Your father, though only my half-brother, was dear to me, until we quarrelled at the last, and I owe his mother a debt of gratitude which I but ill repaid during her lifetime. For their sakes I wish to be on terms of friendship with ( 1OOY | © comichbooks.com