Bannister's description
of her property came into her mind--"all inclosed within a strong
barbed-wire fence."
"Teddy's fenced, too," said Octavia to herself.
It was not difficult for her to reason out the cause of his
fortifications. It had originated one night at the Hammersmiths' ball.
It occurred at a time soon after she had decided to accept Colonel
Beaupree and his million, which was no more than her looks and the
entree she held to the inner circles were worth. Teddy had proposed
with all his impetuosity and fire, and she looked him straight in the
eyes, an said, coldly and finally: "Never let me hear any such silly
nonsense from you again." "You won't," said Teddy, with an expression
around his mouth, and--now Teddy was inclosed within a strong
barbed-wire fence.
It was on this first ride of inspection that Teddy was seized by the
inspiration that suggested the name of Mother Goose's heroine, and he
at once bestowed it upon Octavia. The idea, supported by both a
similarity of names and identity of occupations, seemed to strike him
as a peculiarly happy one, and he never tired of using it. The
Mexicans on the ranch also took up the name, adding another syllable
to accommodate their lingual incapacity for the final "p," gravely
referring to her as "La Madama Bo-Peepy.
Pages:
302
303
304
305
306
307
308
309
310
311
312
313
314
315
316
317
318
319
320
321
322
323
324
325
326