CHAPTER XLI.
MAJOR ASHTON'S ENGAGEMENT.
The announcement that her aunt had agreed to marry Major Ashton was intensely disagreeable to Grace Dearborn. She knew, if her aunt did not, that he was simply a mercenary adventurer, who, failing to secure her hand and fortune, was now scheming for her aunt's larger fortune, and willing to take her hand with it, in spite of the disparity in their years.
"My dear aunt," she said, "I hope you will consider well the step you propose to take."
"Why should I need to consider?" asked Mrs. Sheldon, somewhat displeased. "I have known the major for a considerable time, and I know the estimation in which he is held in Chicago."
"I do not think he is an honorable, reliable man."
"Oh, I understand very well why you are prejudiced against him, Grace," said her aunt, sharply.
"And why, Aunt Caroline?"
"Because he was a suitor of yours, and you are mortified to think he should accept your rejection as final, and so soon pay his attentions in another quarter."
"My dear aunt," said Grace, earnestly, "you were never more mistaken. I feel no interest in him or his marriage, save as it affects you."