ventured to appear again, but sought a bride among his own people.
Refusals to marry have been known among the girls. Sometimes they arise from a desire to remain in the institution, where they are so happy that they do not wish to make any change. After a certain age, when the education is finished, they cannot be retained, and if they refuse to marry they have to go out into service. Marriage is not pressed upon them if they show genuine dislike to it. Sometimes it is nothing but a little shyness that has to be overcome, and this can be managed by the suitor himself if he is inclined to persevere.
A man applied at an orphanage in Madras for a bride. His credentials were satisfactory, and he was allowed to make his choice in the usual way. An interview was arranged in the matron's private sitting-room, where two chairs were placed opposite each other for the young people to be seated while they conversed. Although Maggie had consented to think over his proposal, his suit did not prosper. She listened to all that he had to say about himself, his work and pay, and his family ; instead of responding she drew back, and he pleaded his cause in vain. He pressed her for a reason, but none was forthcoming. She could only give the feminine excuse that he did not take her fancy, and she wished to have nothing to do with him. When the matron entered the room some time later to learn how matters were progressing, Maggie was sulking in silence, while the unhappy swain was regarding her in sorrowful perplexity. Seeing at a glance that his wooing was not prospering, she dismissed the reluctant maid.
'I am afraid, Mr. O'Brien, you have not been very successful?' she remarked.
'She will have nothing to say to me, ma'am. She won't even look at me,' he replied plaintively.
