The Carletons; A Novel

This historic book may have numerous typos, missing text, images, or index. Purchasers can download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. 1891. Not illustrated. Excerpt: ... THE COURSE OF TRUE LOVE. Of that first winter, and, indeed, of a second, not much needs to be written in order to chronicle the doings of the Carleton family. At least, whatever is requisite to be known about them will appear sufficiently, in one form or another, if the next two years are passed over without further description, and we think of them and their friends again as that much older; that is to say, of Constance as twenty-one, of Violet as nearly twenty, of Bill as twenty-three, enjoying one thousand dollars per annum, of Ben a junior in college, of Percy White a senior, of Ethel Davis no taller but more patrician than ever, of Harold on the verge of seventeen, of Cousin Rebecca Hubbard not yet defunct, of Harrison Fay almost a civil engineer, of Randolph Davis dropped from college and indolent and handsome as of yore, of Mr. and Mrs. Short still next-door neighbors, and of John Carleton and his wife busier than ever with hopes and fears for their progeny. Said John to his wife one evening when, as not infrequently happened, the children were out and they were left at home to sit up for them: I suppose you know what you're about, Mary, in allowing Violet and Randolph Davis to carry on as they do? I passed near them this afternoon strolling in one of the by-ways of the Park, but they were so occupied with each other they didn't see me. Indeed, John, I am very much disturbed on that score, since you ask me, she answered, laying down her fancy-work--a skate-bag she was embroidering for Harold, whom she was still fain to call her baby. I didn't suppose you had noticed. It has troubled me very much for some time, because, whatever the outcome, it is likely so far as I can see to be disastrous. If he really wishes to marry her--I cannot bear the...