But I don't want a family
quarrel, a runaway match, all that horrid newspaper talk." Here
she was evidently a little excited and on the verge of tears.
"Certainly not," I hastened to reassure her, "you can't possibly
have a runaway match, because there is nothing for you to run away
from. There is not a single duty in your father's house which you
have not fulfilled, and of which your sisters can not now relieve
you. There is no authority in the world which has the right to
command the sacrifice of your life to another's judgment. There
is only one thing that stands in your way, and that is your claim
on a large inheritance. I understand you are quite willing to let
that go. You are not even 'running away' from it--that is not the
word--you are ready to _jettison_ it."
She looked puzzled, and murmured; "I don't exactly understand what
that means."
"To jettison," I said, in that learned and dispassionate manner
which is sometimes useful in relieving an emotional situation,
"is a seafaring phrase. It means throwing overboard a part or the
whole of a cargo in order to save the ship.
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