Old Mr Brandon of Midbranch was not in a very happy frame of mind, and he had good reasons for dissatisfaction.  He was an ardent supporter of a marriage between his niece and Junius Keswick; and when the engagement had been broken off he had considered that both these young people had acted in a manner very foolish and contrary to their best interests.  There was no opposition to the match except from old Mrs Keswick, who was the aunt of Junius, but who considered herself as occupying the position of a mother.  Junius was the son of a sister who had also married into the Keswick family, and his parents having died while he was a boy, his aunt had taken him under her charge, and her house had then became his home; although of late years some of his absences had been long ones.  Mrs Keswick had no personal objections to Roberta, never having seen that lady, and knowing little of her; but an alliance between her Junius and any member of that branch of the Brandons, “which,” to use the old lady’s own words, “had for four generations cheated, stripped, and scornfully used my people, scattering their atoms over the face of three counties,” was monstrous.  Nothing could make her consent to such an enormity, and she had informed Junius that if he married that March girl three of them should live together—­himself, his wife, and her undying curse.  In order that Miss March might not fail to hear of this post-connubial arrangement, she had been informed of it by letter.  Of course this had broken off the engagement, for Roberta would not live under a curse, nor would she tear a man from the only near relative he had in the world.  Keswick himself, like most men, would have been willing to have this tearing take place for the sake of uniting himself to such a charming creature as Roberta March.  But the lady on one side was as inflexible as the lady on the other, and the engagement was definitely and absolutely ended.

Mr Brandon considered all this as stuff and nonsense.  He could not deny that his branch of the Brandons had certainly got a good deal out of Mrs Keswick’s family.  But here was a chance to make everything all right again, and he would be delighted to see Junius, a relative, although a distant one, come into possession of Midbranch.  As for the old lady’s opposition, that should not be considered at all, he thought.  It was his opinion that her mind had been twisted by her bad temper, and nothing she could say could hurt anybody.

Of late Mr Brandon had been much encouraged by the fact that Junius had begun to resume his position as a friend of the family.  This was all very well.  If the young people, by occasional meetings, could keep alive their sentiments toward each other, the time would come when all opposition would cease, and the marriage would become an assured fact.  He did not believe either of the young people would care enough for a post-mortem curse, if there should be one, to keep themselves separated from each other on its account for the rest of their lives.