The Rejuvenation of Aunt Mary


The Rejuvenation of Aunt Mary by Anne

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Title: The Rejuvenation of Aunt Mary
Author: Anne Warner
Release Date: May 2005 [EBook #15775]
Language: American English
Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1
***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE REJUVENATION OF AUNT MARY***

The Rejuvenation of Aunt Mary
By Anne Warner
Author of "A Woman's Will," "Susan Clegg and Her Friend Mrs. Lathrop," "Susan Clegg and a Man in the House," etc.
NEW EDITION With Additional Pictures from the Play
Boston Little, Brown, and Company 1910

Copyright, 1904, By Ainslee Magazine Company.
Copyright, 1905, By Little, Brown, and Company.
Copyright, 1907, By Little, Brown, and Company,
All rights reserved
Fourteenth Printing
Printers S.J. Parkhill & Co., Boston, U.S.A.

[Image: Frontispiece]
Aunt Mary en Fête. May Robson as "Aunt Mary."

Books by Anne Warner A Woman's Will 1904 Susan Clegg and Her 1904 Friend Mrs. Lathrop The Rejuvenation of Aunt 1905 Mary Susan Clegg and Her 1906 Neighbor's Affairs Susan Clegg and a Man in 1907 the House An Original Gentleman 1908 In a Mysterious Way 1909 Your Child and Mine 1909

Contents
Contents Illustrations
Chapter One
- Introducing Aunt Mary
Chapter Two
- Jack
Chapter Three
- Introducing Jack
Chapter Four
- Married
Chapter Five
- The Day After Falling in Love
Chapter Six
- The Other Man
Chapter Seven
- Developments
Chapter Eight
- The Resolution He Took
Chapter Nine
- The Downfall of Hope
Chapter Ten
- The Woes of the Disinherited.
Chapter Eleven
- The Dove of Peace
Chapter Twelve
- A Trap For Aunt Mary
Chapter Thirteen
- Aunt Mary Entrapped
Chapter Fourteen
- Aunt Mary En Fête
Chapter Fifteen
- Aunt Mary Enthralled
Chapter Sixteen
- A Reposeful Interval
Chapter Seventeen
- Aunt Mary's Night About Town
Chapter Eighteen
- A Departure And A Return
Chapter Nineteen
- Aunt Mary's Return
Chapter Twenty
- Jack's Joy
Chapter Twenty
-One - The Peace and Quiet of the Country
Chapter Twenty
-Two - "Granite"
Chapter Twenty
-Three - "Granite" - Continued.
Chapter Twenty
-Four - Two Are Company
Chapter Twenty
-Five - Grand Finale Credits A Word from Project Gutenberg The Full Project Gutenberg License

Illustrations
"Aunt Mary en fête" (May Robson as "Aunt Mary") Frontispiece
"'Do not let us play any longer,' she said. 'Let us be in earnest'"
"'She's goin' to the city all alone!' Lucinda's voice suddenly proclaimed behind him"
Aunt Mary and Her Escorts
"The carriage stopped three hundred feet below the level of a roof-garden"
"And now the fun's all over and the work begins"
"'Yesterday I played poker until I didn't know a blue chip from a white one'"
"Aunt Mary had also had her eyes open"

The Rejuvenation of Aunt Mary
Chapter One
- Introducing Aunt Mary
The first time that Jack was threatened with expulsion from college his Aunt Mary was much surprised and decidedly vexed--mainly at the college. His family were less surprised, viewing the young man through a clearer atmosphere than his Aunt Mary ever had, and knowing that he had barely escaped similar experiences earlier in his career by invariably leaving school the day before the board of inquiry convened.
Jack's preparatory days having been more or less tempestous, his family (Aunt Mary excepted) had expected some sort of after-clap when he entered college. Nevertheless, they had fervently hoped that it would not be quite as bad as this.
Jack's sister Arethusa was visiting her aunt when the news came. Not because she wanted to, for the old lady was dreadfully deaf and fearfully arbitrary, but because Lucinda had said that she must go to her cousin's wedding, and the family always had to bow to Lucinda's mandates. Lucinda was Aunt Mary's maid, but she had become so indispensable as a sitter at the off-end of the latter's ear-trumpet that none of the grand-nephews or grand-nieces ever thought for an instant of crossing one of her wishes. So it was to Arethusa that the explanations due Aunt Mary's interest in her scapegrace fell, and she bowed her back to the burden with the resignation which the circumstances demanded.
"Whatever is the difference between bein' expelled and bein' suspended?" Aunt Mary demanded, in her tone of imperious impatience. "Well, why don't you answer? I was brought up to speak when you're spoken to, an' I'm a great believer in livin' up to your bringin' up--if you had a good one. What's the difference, an' which costs most? That's what I want to know. I do wish you'd answer me, Arethusa; there's two things I've asked you now, an' you suckin' your finger an' puttin' on your thimble as if you were sittin' alone in China."
"I don't know which costs most," Arethusa shrieked.
"You needn't scream so," said Aunt Mary. "I ain't so hard to hear as you think. I ain't but seventy, and I'll beg you to remember that, Arethusa. Besides, I don't want to hear you talk. I just want to hear about Jack. I'm askin' about his bein' expelled and suspended, an'