“Then, why on earth should you take people who are not your friends into your confidence with regard to what you mean to do with it?”
“Simply,” he replied, “because those people have a right to know what is my true position in life, and an accident like my uncle’s unsigned will does not affect that position. Am I not right?” said he, turning to Aimée.
“I think that you are,” she answered, quietly.
“Very well,” said Mrs. Meredith, “go your own way. I wash my hands of you both; but I am very sure that before you are done with this affair you will wish that you had followed my advice.”
IX.
The event more than justified this prediction. The storm which burst when Kyrle proposed himself to Major and Mrs. Joscelyn as a suitor for Aimée was such as the latter, with all her experience, had never known before. They would not have received the proposal of a prince had it been possible to refuse it, for they were resolutely determined to retain control of the heiress and her fortune. But a man who by his own acknowledgment had nothing, yet was capable of throwing away a million or more dollars—words were too weak to express their opinion of him! They rejected his suit with scorn, and the major grew fairly inarticulate when trying to express himself with regard to such unparalleled audacity.
A penny-a-liner, a scribbler for newspapers, possessing not a dollar in property, yet so insane as to refuse a fortune for an absurd scruple! By Jove, a raving maniac would be as suitable a match! Never should Aimée throw herself away in such a manner—never! If it were necessary, they would constrain her for her own good. She should not wreck her life and her fortune by marrying a madman.
But the time had come when they were to learn what was in Aimée. She had so submissively yielded to their demands hitherto that they expected her to yield now; but it was characteristic of her that the strength which her nature possessed only manifested itself on rare and supreme occasions, so that she now and then took even those who knew her best by surprise. She certainly took her tyrants by surprise on this occasion. Quietly, but steadily, she faced them like a rock.
“I shall marry Mr. Kyrle,” she said. “I am sorry if my choice does not meet with my mother’s approval; but it is a matter which concerns myself alone, and I can not suffer dictation with regard to it.”