"
"That is certainly looking far ahead," returned Mrs. Faude, with a polite
sneer.
"Not farther than is our duty, since after marriage it is too late to
consider, to any profit, what kind of parent our already irrevocably
chosen partner for life will probably make."
"Well, well, every one to her taste!" said Mrs. Faude, rising to go, "but
had I a daughter, I should infinitely prefer for her husband, such a young
man as my Clarence Augustus to such as that poor artist who is so
attentive to Miss Travilla.
"Good-morning. I am sure I may trust you not to blazon this matter
abroad?"
"You certainly may, Mrs. Faude," Elsie returned with sweet and gentle
courtesy, "and believe me, it has been very painful to me to speak words
that have given pain to you."
"What is it, little wife?" Mr. Travilla asked, coming in a moment after
Mrs. Faude's departure and finding Elsie alone and seemingly sunk in a
painful reverie.
She repeated what had just passed, adding, "I am very glad now that we
decided to return to Philadelphia to-morrow. I could see that Mrs. Faude
was deeply offended, and it would be unpleasant to both of us to remain
longer in the same house; but as she and her son go with the boating party
to-day, and we leave early in the morning, we are not likely to encounter
each other again.
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