Lover or Friend. Rosa Nouchette Carey
MICHAEL TURNS OVER A NEW LEAF
'I COULD NOT STAND IT ANY LONGER, TOM'
'SHALL YOU TELL HIM TO-NIGHT?'
'I MUST THINK OF MY CHILD, MIKE'
'OLIVE WILL ACKNOWLEDGE ANYTHING'
'THERE SHALL BE PEACE BETWEEN US'
'WILL YOU SHAKE HANDS WITH YOUR FATHER?'
CHAPTER I
THE BLAKE FAMILY ARE DISCUSSED
'There is nothing, sir, too little for so little a creature as man. It is by studying little things that we attain the great art of having as little misery and as much happiness as possible.'—Dr. Johnson.
Everyone in Rutherford knew that Mrs. Ross was ruled by her eldest daughter; it was an acknowledged fact, obvious not only to a keen-witted person like Mrs. Charrington, the head-master's wife, but even to the minor intelligence of Johnnie Deans, the youngest boy at Woodcote. It was not that Mrs. Ross was a feeble-minded woman; in her own way she was sensible, clear-sighted, with plenty of common-sense; but she was a little disposed to lean on a stronger nature, and even when Geraldine was in the schoolroom, her energy and youthful vigour began to assert themselves, her opinions insensibly influenced her mother's, until at last they swayed her entirely.
If this were the case when Geraldine was a mere girl, it was certainly not altered when the crowning glories of matronhood were added to her other perfections. Six months ago Geraldine Ross had left her father's house to become the wife of Mr. Harcourt, of Hillside; and in becoming the mistress of one of the coveted Hill houses, Geraldine had not yet consented to lay down the sceptre of her home rule.
Mrs. Ross had acquiesced cheerfully in this arrangement. She had lost