The Argosy — page 107: what you’re looking at

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

Q2 The Village Blacksmith. ‘‘T have no patience with you, Archdeacon ; how can you sit there and allow your daughter to defy you in this way? Why don’t you order her to her room until she has come to her senses?” said Mrs. Ryot-Tempest, now losing all control of her temper. ‘‘ Father, I shall telegraph to Uncle George to come and take me away till Captain Raleigh comes home; he will not suffer me to be treated in this cruel way,” said Vera, her great eyes filling with tears as she moved hastily to the door. «Have you no spirit, Archdeacon? Why don’t you forbid her to do anything of the kind? If she goes to your brother we’ shall lose all control over her,” said Mrs. Ryot-Tempest as the door closed on Vera. “My dear Poppy, I think you were a trifle harsh; I do indeed. Vera is so very high spirited, she cannot brook harshness; and we have only defeated our own object, for if she goes to George she will be married to Raleigh at once,” meekly observed the Archdeacon elect. ‘*Then prevent her from going; keep her here by any means you like ; try persuasion if force fails with the spoilt child ; keep her here, and leave the rest to me. Tl engage to say she never marries Captain Raleigh, in spite of her impertinent assertion,” said Mrs. Ryot Tempest, now fairly boiling with anger. Vera’s calm confidence in her lover had maddened her step-mother and roused the demon of jealousy which was within her. She was determined to separate these two lovers by some means. It was clear Vera was not to be coerced into marrying Mr. Hastings ; it was equally clear that calumny would not avail Mrs. Ryot-Tempest, for they would simply disbelieve anything she might say; still she was determined they should never marry. She had a whole month before her in which to plot some means of preventing this marriage, and much may be done in one month by a jealous woman bent on mischief ; especially when circumstances favour one as they favoured Mrs. Ryot- Tempest. The first point to be achieved was to keep Vera at home, and this Mr. Ryot-Tempest undertook to accomplish, since he secured his wife’s favour by so doing. Moreover he did not wish his child to leave him. He had never valued her so much as he did now, for she reminded him of his dear lost wife, whose loss he felt daily more and more. He had not much difficulty in dissuading Vera from telegraphing to her uncle. When he told her he wished her to remain and promised no ~ more should be said about Mr. Hastings she agreed to stay at home. In point of fact Mr. Hastings was in Mr. Ryot-Tempest’s eyes as ob- jectionable a son-in-law as Captain Raleigh—his Ritualism was as grave an objection as Captain Raleigh’s Catholicism ; of the two he preferred the latter; real turtle was more to his taste than mock turtle; moreover Mr. Hastings had not the advantage of being a distant cousin of the Ryots. Indeed, Mr. Ryot-Tempest had made up his mind to Gomilcbooks).co