XVI - MAIDA’S DECISION––––––––
“MAIDA, it cannot be. I shall never let you marry Mr. Keefe when I know how you love Jeffrey.” Sara Wheeler spoke quietly, but her agonized face and tear-filled eyes told of her deep distress. Though not demonstrative, she loved her daughter, her only child, with an affection that was almost idolatry, and she had been glad of the idea of Maida’s marriage to Jeffrey, for she knew of his sterling worth, and she knew the depth and sincerity of their attachment.
“Don’t say you won’t let me, mother,” Maida spoke in a dull, sad tone—a tone of calm despair. “It must be so. I’m not saying I love him—I’m not saying much about it all—but I tell you solemnly—it must be. And you must not raise a single word of objection—if you do, you will only make my hard lot harder.
