An interrupted night

by Pansy

"Wait!" he said imperatively. "You do not understand. Is it possible to make you understand the conditions? Sit down and let me explain just what has happened, and what I am trying to do."

His manner became suddenly courteous, and he began to talk volubly, explaining, in more minute detail than the occasion seemed to call for, the devious ways by which he had reached this point; enlarging upon his deep affection for the lady of his choice, and his desire to free her from the narrow and cramped life in which he found her. Her mother was a commonplace, narrow-minded, exceedingly prejudiced person who entirely dominated her daughter's life; so that she was in danger of having no individuality, he said.

Among other proofs of the mother's folly, she had conceived a violent dislike to himself; and carried her tyranny to such an extent that the girl was not even allowed to receive a call from him, unless the mother was present! Matters were in this state, and he was at an utter loss how to further the daughter's interests, when his good angel, came to his rescue. The girl went to spend a month with a very intimate friend, who had married and removed to a town a hundred miles from her home. Then, quite unexpectedly to himself, business connected with his firm sent him to that very town. All the rest had followed, almost, he might say, because of the necessities of the case. He had discovered that the young lady's affections were as deeply involved as his own, and that she despaired, as deeply as he did himself, of ever winning her narrow-minded mother to take their view of things.

Mrs. Dunlap was called upon to assent to the statement that common people were apt to have violent prejudices for which they could not account, and were the hardest persons on earth to move. Still, he would admit that in carrying out the program that followed he had acted upon sudden impulse rather than premeditated plans.

When the time came for the lady to return home, Providence seemed to make a way for them to be happy. He need not explain that he had used no coercion in the matter; the lady realized only too certainly that her mother stood in the way of her happiness, and that if she had her way, the daughter would be entirely and forever separated from him. This, she felt that she could not endure, and they both believed that, when the irrevocable step was taken, the mother would have a return to common sense. So, in a moment, one might say, it was all arranged; indeed it almost arranged itself. He had a friend in the ministry at a town which was an important junction of the railroad, and to him, he sent a message planning all the necessary details; but for the horrible delay because of that disabled engine, everything would have been complete.

But the delay and confusion and the necessity for their stopping overnight at a strange hotel had bewildered and frightened the girl, unused as she was to being alone, or to thinking and planning for herself. It was the knowledge of that, which had led him to make the mistake of registering as he did; he could now see that it was a mistake. He knew there was but one room to be had, and his only thought had been to secure privacy for her and the right to minister to her comfort. At the moment there seemed no other way; but he would admit that it had a bad look to others, who did not understand the situation. For himself these outward conventions never seemed of paramount importance so long as one understood one's self. He had not meant to tell the girl about it, because she, as a matter of course having such a mother, was terribly trammeled by conventions of all sorts and could not be made to understand that what was true IN SPIRIT was the same as truth.

But, he had been foolish; he was ready to admit it. He was even grateful for her interference, when he came to think carefully, although he would confess that at first it seemed unpardonable. He had been a law to himself for so many years, that he knew he did not attach the same importance to convention that others did, but he must learn to do so now, for the girl's sake. Of course everything should be as she wished. He would not for the world go contrary to the lady's real desires, but it would be necessary for him to see her and rearrange their program. After he had learned just what she wanted him to do, he would spend the remainder of the night in long distance communications, because of course there were explanations that must be made. Having interested herself in his charge, would she be so kind as to tell her that he was waiting for her, and must confer with her at once in order to send his dispatches? He would detain her but a very short time, and then she could return to the room that had been so kindly placed at her disposal.

Throughout this elaborate explanation Mrs. Dunlap had sat silent; her eyes fixed upon the speaker, and her thoughts busy with this new specimen of human nature.

Not for a single moment did he deceive her into thinking that he was, in the main, a true man who, because of his love for a pretty girl and the sudden temptation of opportunity, had been led headlong into a foolish and dangerous experiment. Not for an instant did she waver in her determination to keep those two apart, if possible, until the girl's mother could make a third in their deliberations.

Yet she made no attempt to interrupt the flow of words, and grew interested in the skill with which he was explaining the unexplainable.