As we grew older, we began to wonder why she had not married, --speculation among the girls of the family was rife on the subject, --as we were told by members of her generation that she had been much admired, and had received many offers of marriage. Indeed we could realize this for ourselves, as her charm, real gayety [sic] and repartee never entirely waned.
Among the family traditions was a story that, when she was sixteen, she met at the house of her cousins in Medford a young man, George Washington Warren; that he came to Chesterfield, on horseback, to formally declare his affection, which was reciprocated. As Grandfather was going to Boston on business at this time George Washington Warren returned his company. On the journey he extracted a promise from the young man not to write to, or to see his daughter for a year. This was because her father considered her too young to think seriously of love and marriage and he wished to enforce the test of time. Grandfather did not explain, or repeat his conversation with G.W.W. to his daughter. Silently she looked for letters, which never came. When the year of probation was ended and her lover reappeared to claim her hand , she refused to see him. They did not meet again until middle life, after his marriage to another. How much this experience had to do with the very obvious and intense pride of our Aunt Malvina, we do not know. It was also said that her Mother made fun of each of her lovers in turn, and that this unfortunate attitude prevented her marriage in another case. She was excessively sensitive, and gave the impression of one who had suffered from harshness or shock. Her delicate nervous organization was also undermined by the condition of her Father's long and painful illness.
© 2011, copyright William C. Haskell
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