"I think your language quite too strong, mother," he said, with a
reproving tone in his voice. "Miss Irving is good, gifted, amiable,
beautiful, beside being young and full of health. I am sure there
could be nothing shocking or dreadful in any man's uniting his
destiny with such a being, in case he was fortunate enough to win
her. The fact that she is poor, and not of illustrious lineage, is
but a very worldly consideration. Mr Irving was a most intelligent
and excellent man, even if he was a grocer. The American idea of
aristocracy is grotesquely absurd at the best. A man may spend his
time and strength in buying and selling things wherewith to clothe
the body, and, if he succeeds, his children are admitted to the
intimacy of princes; but no success can open that door to the
children of a man who trades in food, wherewith to sustain the body.
We can none of us afford to put on airs here in America, with
butchers and Dutch peasant traders only three or four generations
back of our 'best families.' As for me, mother, remember my loved
father was a broker. That would damn him in the eyes of some people,
you know, cultured gentleman as he was."
Mrs Stuart sat very still, breathing hard and trying to gain control
of herself for some moments after her son ceased speaking. He, too,
had said more than he intended, and he was sorry that he had hurt his
mother's feelings as he saw her evident agitation. But as he rose to
go forward and beg her pardon, she spoke.
"The person of whom we were speaking has nothing whatever to do with
Mr Irving," she said. "Joy Irving was born before her mother was
married. Mrs Irving has a most infamous past, and I would rather see
you dead than the husband of her child. You certainly would not want
your children to inherit the propensities of such a grandmother? And
remember the curse descends to the third and fourth generations. If
you doubt my words, go to the Baroness. She knows the whole story,
but has revealed it to no one but me."
Mrs Stuart left the room, closing the door behind her as she went.
She did not want to be obliged to go over the details of the story
which she had heard; she had made her statement, one which she knew
must startle and horrify her son, with his high ideals of womanly
purity, and she left him to review the situation in silence. It was
several hours before the rector left his room.