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Show i MY HUSBAND AHD I lBY JANE PHELPSj) CHATf R CXXXIII. Ciiffard la Taid In TM Chaptar. I had givmn my proml. I knew It wul b har4 to tall Clifford 1 wantad im laava htm; Just how hard X had not dramd. H rama In aarlr to dinner and waa unuaually aood naturd and talktiva. I wii uny, fmnamtfd, diHtralt ; but ha iemd not to nonce, and rhaited and p4aed with txllth ynul Slandy carried hr off to bed. I dclrfd to wait imtU after dinner. It waa. I auppo, the natural thlna; to put II vtt aa looff aa poaalbla. yet 1 felt like a coward. I rouldn t aat, and Clifford raal ainietjr over my health, hla kind Inquiries aa to the reason of my lack of aiettte. utmost unnervad ma. I'nltl my own unhitppineae had driven ma to think of divorce 1 had thoua-hi if I thought at all that people who divorced di-vorced each other were continually quarreling. quar-reling. 1 had not tmaa-lned that a man or woman rould be on the versre of separation sep-aration one day and apparently gol friends the najtt. That It wa the long drawn out, the constantly recurring frtc- I Uon which Induced a crUlft A DIFFICULT MOMENT. "Whit wxHiid you like t ace tonight that la. If you feel able to go out r Clifford asked aa we ros rrosa die table. I looked up In eurprl.-e 1 know I haven't taken you to the theatre In a long time, Mildred, but don t look If 1 ne ver ha d done eo. Y our expr nation wag laughable.'' and be amild broadly. "Hut. Clifford, I why I would Ilka to gK of course," 1 atamniarod, not knowing what to aay. "Run and ready, then. Don't dreas; lahan't"' All tho time 1 wit getting ready I berated myself for my cowardly action In waiting, and In then conaentlng to g to the theatre with Clifford. It la hard to understand tit the degrea In which I waa domiraled by my husband, iuet how difficult It waa for me to refuse htm, or to go contrary to hla w tehee when with him. The anaaterful way he always had had toward at often compelled me agalnat my own judgment, aa wall aa aay tfeatroa. I know I ahould not aof ' d any play. I would have to tell him before I went to bed. "You look tired: the play will do you rood. 1 have selected a light society drama- You didn't seem equal to deciding, decid-ing, and I have telephoned for seat," be laid aa I joined him. Now, aa so oVrf before, the.thoujrht came: "Why laji t he always lika thleT" And aa before I had no answer. THI PLAY. Our aeata were In the seventh row. so very good. Tha play, what little 1 r-memU-r of It, had to do with a silly woman who drove her huahand nearly Innino by her conetunt nagging: then refused re-fused to divoroe him. A had good woman. If there la such a thing. Good morally, but bad In every other way. I wondered If such gooilneiia. when per-hapa per-hapa there waa no temptation, made up for hack In every other direction; than waa astonished that 1 should think of such a ihlng. Wasn't It better to be good mora My. and fall In every other way. tiian to be Immoral and an angel In every other regard? "IHd wu enjoy It, Mildred CI I fiord naked on our return; "you look better anyway. Now hurry and go to bed." "1 havo something to tell you. Clifford," Clif-ford," 1 commenced, and I wished he wHtM not be ao kind this night of all nights Well, hurry up: lto after 11 o'clock You make It very hard for me." X aid: then noting hla look of surprise. I rushed ahead. "1 want to leave you. Clifford: you care nothing at all for me am very unhappy most of tha time! and we'll be better off apart. "You want what are yoo talking about, anyway? ha questioned, scowling scowl-ing "fH you want to go homo for1 awhile? i "No-aron't you understand. Clifford? T want to leave you for good: I want a divorce, i am too unhappy about vou things to stand It any longvr. Please don't make It ao difficult.' I begged aa be frowned down upon me. ' CMAPTtH CXXXIV. . An Untooked For Oeeiele. -Are you rear? A divorce'" Clifford almost frightened be haotsd ao alarm. , ao Implacable. You'd maka a scandal, ruin your life for aome silly whim. Foolish Fool-ish aa you arw, I can't believe you know what you are saying." "But I do. Clifford. I walled: I have been thinking alout It for a long time." "And what, may I ask. are you going to baae your claim on? One haa to have orris alight raaon for a divorce, you know," and to ma hla cynical smile aeemed cruel". "Oh, but I have! I protested: "you alra Hot " "Ktop! You've gone quite far enough. Now I will talk. You aren't well oh, don't.dlepute me and have become morbid. mor-bid. Torn orrow you pack up and go home. Take Windy and Kdith, and stay aa loner as you like." Then. In a sudden ecceaa of fury, he exclaimed: "And leave thatwhat d nigger down there! V believe she's put you up to thte nonaenae. ! Now go to bed, and don't let ma hear any mors of divorce or anything; else. Why, you poor little Idiot, don t you know how the world look upon a divorced di-vorced woman? I don't beat you, neither do I fall to take proper care of you. Why In hell you want a divorce la more than 1 can understand. No to to b-d!" And without a word I obeyed. KNTIRCLV COWED. - t mind was In a whirl He had aa ueull taken tha matter Into hla own hand with no reference to me or what I had said. Then neither swearing nor coarse words were one of Cbfford'a failings, fail-ings, and his uee of them had fairly cowed me. 1 coo id aay nothing , mora. I had kept my promiee to lonard. and much good had It done. , Weil, 1 would go home. I would at ay a long time Krhapa. Maybe It waa, after all, tha at solution of my probUaa for tha present. Then I wondered If Clifford were rlarht and that the world, our world would deeplee me if I were divorced. And when I finally went to aleep I dreamed that everyone turned thetr backs when they anw ma coming, and that even Muriel refused to speak to ma. At tho kcaaataea. lae4) sa raXacoaoe waa mads to the subject of tha night before, but as soon ss we rose from tha table, Clifford remarked coldly: "Be ready to go on that 4 It train. I will get the tickets and meet you at tha station with them." i That waa all. In one sentence ha had dittpoMcd of me. had upset my plana. I fn hat I hated him as ho cootlv inrvi away. a J hl sKseV IhtontCL IS CONSOLING, t h. my dear, please com right over! I telephoned Muriel aa rooo aa the door closed. "What Is It. Mildred? FMtth sick? "Oh, no; but I'm In terrible trouble! 'I ll be right over." I sirhed with relief. Muriel was the only on In whom I had confided, the only one who knew how matters were between me and Clifford. 1 must tell someone: I mut nave aome advice. I never atopped to think that Muriel was but Hit le older t hen I was ; she eeemed ao Infinitely ntder In worldly i knowledge. 8 he would be sympathetic. ; at least, and 1 needed sympathy. . My ;lip quivered when I remembered how , lika a child I had been treated, a naughty child who needed puniehment for aome untoward action. If I had married a man my own age, like Leonard, I would not have been subjected sub-jected to such treatment. Why Clifford never had treated m seriously, even from the healnn1rf. I supposed that be-cauee be-cauee he waa ao irurh older, be Imagined he was wia enough to pian my life aa ell a kta own. Hut I wouldn't allow him to: I wouldn't atand It. Well dear, what la It?" Muriel broke In on my t hough la. feme always came up unannounced, and I bad not heard her. "Clifford won't let ma leajr him. I sobbed. Her coming was eucn a relief I brwke dow n. ' "1 didn't think ha would. Now, tell me alt about If Whan I had finished my story, begin-nine; begin-nine; at dinner the night before, she jumped up and. putting her arms around roe. said geotly: "It Is tha boot m raaaraaont possible |