Page:Contending Forces by Pauline Hopkins.djvu/224

This page has been proofread, but needs to be validated.
220
CONTENDING FORCES.

CHAPTER XII.

A COLORED POLITICIAN.

O, that estates, degrees and officesWere not derived corruptly, and that clear honor Were purchased by the merit of the wearer! How many then should cover that stand bare! How many be commanded that command! —Merchant of Venice.

John Langley occupied an office in the business portion of the city among the most reliable lawyers in the profession. He held that association with success would in the end bring the desired quality to any one. He had never been moved by a generous heart-impulse in his whole life. Actual need found no pity dwelling in his breast. The comfortable home which the thrift of Smith had founded and the industry of the family had fostered to prosperity, influenced his devotion to Dora to an extent which if realized by her would have led to his instant dismissal by that impetuous young lady. According to his way of thinking, the wife ought to contribute as much to the expenses of the household, by having a comfortable nest-egg before marriage, as the husband. He listened to the romantic story of the Montfort family with eagerness, and while

This article is issued from Wikisource. The text is available under Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 unless otherwise noted. Additional terms may apply for the media files.