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By Passion Driven: A Story of a Wasted Life

Chapter IV

page 26

Chapter IV.

He cannot be a perfect man,
Not being tried and tutored in the world:
Experience is by industry achieved,
And perfected by the swift course of time.

Edward Bruce might be considered a self-made man. At least he was generally so styled, and it was in that light he looked upon and felt proud of himself. He had come to Dunedin in the golden days which introduced the element of diversity into the population, and gave to the country what was termed the “new iniquity,” in contradistinction to the stolid Scotch settlers dignified by the name of “Old Identities.”

The Settlement of Otago, being founded by emigrants sent out under the auspices of the Free Church of Scotland, became in fact a Scotch colony, and many stories are told of the thorough Scottish prejudice that existed in the early days; how many new-comers made every effort to pass as “brither Scots,” to that end even swallowing brose and porridge without even so much as a wry face; and how some went so far as to prefix their names with the national Mac, until such names as MacSolomon and MacMurphy were reported to be elbowing the MacDonalds and MacGregors out of their wonted places, while the energetic John Chinaman became of necessity a clansman of the MacTartan.

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In these much-sighed-for “good old days,” Mr. Bruce, with his wife and one daughter, arrived in Dunedin, and being possessed of very little capital, but much enterprise, he began at once to work out a career for himself. In these days of gold-seeking, when nearly the whole population rushed to the diggings in search of a golden harvest, more prudent spirits saw that the work of supplying the diggers with the necessaries of life and work opened up a more certain, if sometimes less profitable, occupation.

Mr. Bruce at once set himself to work carrying supplies to the goldfields, and from very humble beginnings gradually became the owner of a large store in Dunedin, with branch establishments in more than one digging neighbourhood. Conducting his business with prudent foresight, strict integrity, and persistent application, he continued to prosper, and now that the field of operations was widely different from the early days, he found himself at the head of one of the largest wholesale establishments in the colony.

Endowed with great energy, and a goodly supply of common sense, he was able to make up for any deficiency in education. Experience supplied the teaching that early training had failed to provide, so that, by constant application to business, he had acquired more than a mere independence, and was accounted one of the wealthiest men in the city. A neat villa residence on the picturesque slope of the west side of George Street had been his home for many years. Of late he had not devoted himself too closely to business, merely giving it that supervision which was necessary to have it well looked after by a confidential manager and a staff whose interest it was to advance his affairs; for Mr. Bruce had learned that true co-operation was a principle which could be well carried out in every department of trade, and materially tended to the advantage of employer and employe alike.

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As has already been shown, Mr. and Mrs. Bruce were blessed with the possession of two daughters; a third child, a son, had been theirs, but an accident on the football field, when he was about 16 years of age, had brought on a serious illness, and notwithstanding that everything had been done for him, the parents were dealt the sad blow of his death. This bereavement had fallen on the parents when their son was of an age full of promise, and endowed mentally and physically with all the elements of a long and useful life. He was beginning to prove a companion to his father, and to receive the early training necessary to fit him for the active commercial life he would have led as his father's successor. The blow fell with double force on Mr. Bruce, as his hopes for many years had been to build up a successful business and powerful commercial house with which his name and that of his son would be associated for years to come, and which, beginning almost with the inception of commerce in Dunedin, would keep pace with the progress of events, growing as it did in the productive soil of probity and honour.

Cherishing such hopes, Mr. Bruce was not without some feeling of desire that there might be a chance of taking his nephew Harry into the business, should he exhibit any aptitude for commercial pursuits, or evince qualities in other respects fitting him for the position his dead cousin would have filled. Some such thought had crossed the merchant's mind when he first welcomed Harry on the present visit, and nothing had yet transpired to put it aside. It cannot be said, however, that he was in any way prepared for the purport of the interview Harry had planned for that morning. Mr. Bruce was not a man of many words. Accustomed to concentrate all his thoughts upon his business concerns, he was generally quiet and reserved in his intercourse with friends and acquaintances. page 29 Not being fitted by training or inclination to take part in politics or public affairs, he had persistently declined all requests that he should offer his services for any public position. The loss of his son, and consequent blighting of many cherished hopes, acting on such a nature, added greatly to his reserve, and somewhat tinged his life with melancholy

As was his habit after breakfast, Mr. Bruce had been reading the morning paper. He had just laid it aside, and risen to leave for his office, when Harry, who had been waiting, came forward and asked if he might say a few words to him before he went out.

“Certainly, my son; what is it?” Then seeing that Harry hesitated, he continued, “We are quite private here; sit down and tell me what it is.”

Harry seemed at a loss how to proceed, and, seeing that his uncle was watching him intently, he felt particularly embarrassed, and began to wish he had written what he desired to say. He had not expected to feel thus with his uncle. He knew that there was no occasion for it, but at the last moment words seemed to refuse their aid. Presently he managed to say—

“It's about Lizzie, sir. She and I love one another, and I want you to consent to our being engaged.”

“What! Lizzie? Why! Harry, my boy, she is but a child.”

“She's nineteen, uncle, and I'm sure she's not childish in her ways.”

“Evidently not,” said Mr. Bruce, with a meaning smile; “you have brought me good proof of that; but are you sure that this is not too precipitate? Why! how old are you?”

“Twenty-three,” replied Harry, shortly.

“And what are your means of keeping a wife?”

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Harry did not immediately reply to this. It was the first time the practical side of the question had been presented to him. Probably he had never once cast his thoughts beyond the immediate future; had never considered the full bearing of the fact that he and his cousin had determined to be man and wife; or that, beyond the dreams of love and affection in which their young hearts were at present wrapped, existed the practical region of the matter-of-fact work-a-day world, where the hard facts of support and maintenance have to be grappled and dealt with, or where the question of ability to furnish and keep up a house is of importance, perhaps not equal, but second only, to the state of feeling entertained by the young people towards each other.

Harry therefore could only reply that he and Lizzie did not expect to get married until he was in a position to support a wife.

Mr. Bruce rose, and taking Harry's hand, looked him straight in the face with a kindly smile, and said—

“Well, Harry, my son, I will be open and candid with you. In my opinion there are grave objections to the marriage of cousins, but I do not say they are all-powerful. While you have been here I have watched you closely, and so far as I can see you would prove a worthy husband for my young girl, but you must not press for an immediate reply. I promise you to consider the matter favourably, and not to keep you waiting long for an answer. Your aunt, too, must be consulted. Are you contented with that?”

“Oh! quite content, sir,” replied Harry, whereupon he wished his uncle “Good morning,” and left the room. And Mr. Bruce, after imparting to his wife a knowledge of what had passed between Harry and himself, proceeded at once to his office.

page 31

That same evening, after dinner, Mr. and Mrs. Bruce discussed the question of what answer should be given to Harry and Lizzie, with the result that if Harry's parents consented he was to take a place at once in his uncle's office, while he and Lizzie were to recognise no nearer relationship than that of cousins for at least a year, when, if they were both still of the same mind, and nothing had occurred to interfere with present plans, an engagement would be sanctioned.

Harry would continue an inmate of his uncle's house, and there would be expected from him the duties of a son towards his uncle and aunt, that strict filial obedience which Mr. Bruce declared was the foundation of all virtue. A letter was at once written to Harry's parents asking their consent to the arrangement, and the young folks felt keenly happy, their whole future to their vision being tinged with the brilliant roseate hues that true love casts over all the actions of young lives. Flora was the only one who felt that her future welfare had in no measure been consulted in the doings of the present time, and she seemed more than ever to seek a life of solitude with her all-consoling novels, deeply sensitive, but constrainedly unconcerned. To all outward appearance she gave no evidence of the bitter feelings at work within her. In the current of events she seemed alike heedless and unheeded.