| Show THE MAN IN THE MOON It simply wont do observed air PortlandRhodes with emphasis May I ask Whal you are talking about T am talking about your extravagance extrava-gance said her husband In his beat HouseofCommons manner If It continues yOu will simply bust up thc showMic added relapsing Into slang Im afraid your theatrical friends I arc demoralizing your English I Thc English language has nothing 1 to do with the conversation ho snapped Not witlt ypitr conversation dear said his wife sweetly And Im tired of these dark allusions allu-sions to my theatrical friends Its absurd ab-surd to Imagine that because I lake a girl to supper thatthat theres anything in It She was an old rlend I should hardly call her old said Mrs PortlandRhodes critically Suppose we say middleaged Any way we ore drifting from the pointYhot What Is the point of this dialogue inquired his wife with extreme affability affa-bility Your extravagance I cannot stand the pace AAMiats to be done with these 11 I 1 things Indicating a little pile of bills Im afraid I have no head for business busi-ness said his wife looking tired But how are we going lo meet them 1 Mrs Rhodes sniffed her smelllng bollle with an air of extreme patience Why not write out a check she murmured Write out a check he gnsped What the If you wish the servants to know I all our private affairs Ill ring thc bell said his wife But dont shout dear because it makes my headache There was only one reply for an independent inde-pendent British husband Mr Portr landRhodes M P gathered up the pile of bills housekeeping and otherwise other-wise placed them by his wIres plate and stalked to the door Youve made a very poor breakfast break-fast Charles said his wife sympathetically sympa-thetically And youll make mc a very poor man he muttered Im sorry dear I forgot how many calls you have upon your private purse Thia was the last straw The Member banged out of thc room I muttering expressions which would not I be permitted even at a religious demonstration dem-onstration It was a pretty piece of acting on I her part thc airiness the nonchalance nonchal-ance the magnificent contempt for deblit was all put on She was In a I complicated frame of mind She was jealous of her husband on account of an Innocent spree of his which green glasses had made hideous She was uncomfortably conscious that she was on the high road to making a fool or herself She was up to her pretty little ears In debt and above all she was In a funk about it In short Mrs PortlandRhodes wife of the member for Tattenham Corner had cast herself for an unsuitable role At the bottom of her heart she was a romantic little creature ridiculously in love with her husband with philanthropic philan-thropic tendencies and a reasonable weakness for dressing decently There is no more pitiable sight than that of n icrjpulous person 4 j ig to be unscrupulous She haled lo owe money but to keep level with the times she Tan headlong Into debt and suffered agonies She adored her husband hus-band and quarreled with him She despised married flirts and was carrying carry-ing on three open flirtations to say nothing of n mysterious one at the mere thought of which she trembled In short she was a poor worried little woman who was walking In slippery places and expected to come a cropper every mInute A week before she had attended a fancy dress masked ball given at the Ambidextrous Mrs Rhodes was robed as the Morning Star and paired off with the Man In the Moon She believed be-lieved her partner to be a certain Percy Ladbroke whom she counted among her admirers They became quietly confidential and Mrs Rhodes rather let the cat out of the bag with regard to her financial scrapes The Man in the Moon was sympathetic He had had a straight tip from Threadneedle street shoal he put a bit on for her Mrs Rhodes hesitated for a variety of reasons rea-sons one being that she had no spar cash to lose and was already out of her depth Ill toll you what4 shall do sail the Man in the Moon I shall have aflutter a-flutter myself and Ill buy a few shares for you too If it turns out badly Ill get It back for you some other time But Its too good to miss you must be in it This arrangement sounded very con forlable and Mrs Rhodes assented Her first shock was received next day when she learned that the Man In the Moon was not by any means Percy Ladbroke as that young gentleman was away In the country The next shock was a noble letter of congratulation from the Man In the Moon Inclosing a note for 250 The dabble in Angelicas had succeeded beyond her expectations It was a curious position for a married mar-ried woman What was she to do A man she did not know for he had nbt cjjon signed his name probably thinking think-ing she already knew it had sent her a round sum of money He might be mud but who would believe the stony Would any sane person especially a I mere husband believe that a stranger I would hand her a share of a speculation I In which she had not staked a farthing On the other hand she gave a sigh of relief when she recollected that not I knowing who he was she could not return re-turn It That fact combined with the pile of bills and her husbands Irritation on financial subjects decided her and she cashed the note and utilized It to stop the mouths of her hun Iles creell tots But It seemed as If she was doomed to face the unexpected It happened hap-pened thai night that for a wonder she and her husband dined leleatclc He was gloomy and silent she as airy and flippant as usual I have had a lucky speculation in Angelicos he said quietly when tho servants had left the room You dont look as If you had she said cracking a nut And I hoped to give you a pleasant surprise he added so I drove around to some of your people this afternoon to pay your bills I She went white and nearly pinched a finger instead of a nut 1 was rather surprised to learn that I you yourself had been around this morning and paid them money on account I ac-count There was un uncomfortable silence while his wife restrained a desire to use unladylike language on the subject of Angelicos and pleasant surprises I I I generally That was very kind of you she said ul Just i i May I ask where the money came I i from t he asked I I I 1 never knew anybody to tulle IiO I much about money an you do she sold 1 I evasively Suppose you try another I sublecl I You have been lelllng me for several days that you are hard up he con tinned In the same dry voice 1 should i really like to know how you contrived lo pay away the best part of a couple I of hundred in cash when you are without I with-out funds I I had a little nutter in Angelicos too she said easily I Who put you on to It1 he asked sharply There were not a dozen men In London who know anything about I to 1I met somebody at a dace and somehow It leaked out that I was rather hard up and and he said hed put something on for mo she replied Of course I didnt know he meant it butL heard l from him this morning Tier husband whistled softly This Is a funny son of story Violet Cor a Women to tell her husband he j 5 j4i > j 11 i said gravely but not unkindly I Who was the man 1 There was something In thc lone of his voice which tpld her that further evasion would be worse than useless so defiantly she told the whole story May I see the latter which accompanied accom-panied the note 1 snul hpr husband She prdduecd it It was written on club note paper I shall have no great dlfficulty in finding out who this is he said I shall send him a cheek I dont want you to take anybody t money except mine v Is that all she said coldly Have I you anything else to say Its not much good for mo to say anything 1 thought you might like to preach one of your lay sermons she said Not at all he answered with a provoking pro-voking smile Im not like homebody I know Im not going to make a mountain out of a mole hill But really real-ly a masked ball at the Ambidextrous and a check from n stranger is i almost as naughty as my taking an actress to supper We seem lo be both going to thn bad This was humiliating Mrs Rhodes expected a lecture and was only being chaffed Moreover the chaff was kindly kind-ly and she found It rather a struggle to keep the tears back But when he j sat down to his desk and wrote out a check and said There now will that help you out of your pickle she broke down altogether and wept like an ordinary or-dinary woman Shall we cry quits he said You I forget the supper and I forget the Man In the Moon Im a little cat she sobbed I I Suppose we say a little goose he corrected After she had left thcroom he looked at himself the glass and nodded at his own reflection Its all right now he muttered But she musl never find out who the Man In the Moon really was And the reflection in the glass winked Modern Society |
