Show cop right 1906 by dalla satorv pub cot young and charming mrs curtis oat in the extreme corner of the big double box which was slowly filling with t rs potter a guests and looked over the great audience with languid interest A great part of the audience returned the inspection with evident relish it really was a very select box party and the people out in the body of the house found a delight even greater than watch ng the play in identifying the members of the ex elusive set whose names so regularly adorned the society pages of the newspapers among all athe distinguished folk in the box none was so charming an ob elect lect upon which to gaze as young mrs curtis the gods had endowed her with great beauty and that subtle charm which may be called person allty or a halt dozen other things her expression was bright as a may morning albeit inscrutable I 1 wonder it she ever had a care beyond the selection of her gowns whispered a wan little woman in the balcony to her husband and I 1 yonder how she would look it she had some downright trouble and worry she added with a sigh at her own fading youth the box was now all but filled one lone seat remained and it happened to be beside mrs curtis oh dear said mrs potter a lit tie impatiently how dreadful here Is mr curtis and the only seat left is beside mrs curtis I 1 did not expect you sir and had arranged that seat tor baron St ernhold now you appear unexpectedly and I 1 this moment re belve a note from the baron that he Is unexpectedly detained I 1 was sure mrs curtis said you would not be here well of all things that a man and his wife should be seated vis a vis at a box party and there was a ripple of laughter as mr curtis gravely seated himself beside his wife he was a handsome fellow with his finely poised head so at variance with the almost boyish effect his curly black hair gave un like his wife there were lines of care in his face and touches of gray about the temples ed curtis looks as though he had been up against some trouble whis a ruddy faced old beau back in the box or else he s been going the pace a little harder than usual retorted the lady beside him carelessly oh you men cannot go scot tree from your revels in the meantime as curtis seated himself the color partly faded from his wife s face her fan trembled just perceptibly and the eyes still scan ning the audience were unseeing eyes without looking at him she felt rather than saw that his hand resting so gracefully upon his knee was shaking inasmuch as we are on dress pa rade and in full public view he said leaning over and whispering in her ear it might be best to act it out and display enough decent interest in each other so as not to gratify the fierce longing for scandal which per vades the kind hearts about us you are quite right she replied coldly I 1 did not expect you I 1 thought you started tor mexico to day I 1 decided to defer it until to mor row he replied it it were possible for you to smile pleasantly not at me you know but at somebody in the audience it might serve to lessen the interest of the dear friends about us she flashed a dazzling smile at a golden figure of cupid over the stage a smile which drew an expression of agony to his face if you could think of some subject for sustained conversation it might be easier she said I 1 will he answered sharply turn ing toward her I 1 will tell you the young mrs curtis story of a great love and its unhappy end the hero was but an unformed boy thrown into the realities of life early because he happened to have been born into the hot house atmos phere of money and society he thought he was mature experienced and even blase when really he was more ignorant himsel th coir clod was there a heroine she aged dropping her eyes from the flar ot the great theater to the grateful d k ness of the carpet there always Is a girl he replied quietly for goodness sake mabel don t look solemn remember our kind friends all about she raised her head and swept the house with the regal manner so char of her go on she said well this pathetically unequipped hero tell in love with the heroine 0 course yes he truly fell in love he hardly knew it at the time tor he was and why d d he not go asked the woman a selfish young animal and little un der stood what love really meant per haps it was more desire than love anyway he pursued the heroine and won her tor his very own and then you see trouble began he was a primitive sort of animal and his real civilization only began to be foreshadowed when he married the heroine up to that time the whole scheme of the universe rested on the cornerstone of what he wanted after a bit it began to percolate his selfish ness that there were desires and needs on her part coulden couldn t you manage to laugh or look or something she inter erupted our dear friends are becom ing interested he did his best but it was more a grimace than a smile she flashed full upon him that marvelous smile of hers go on she said softly oh well he said wearily it Is a dreary story he demanded every thing gave little and thought less and all the time he knew that she loved him and he loved her too more blindly and passionately every moment that he did the very things to kill her love of course the end was bound to there were bicke rings and scenes and there was brutal ence and exasperating slights beav ens there were scenes between them disgusting inexcusable and it was all his fault he was forming his character at her expense and he was killing her love which all the time he was learning to value the more and finally the crash came the bitter things she said in answer to the bitter things he said rankled in his heart until he no longer could stand it and he determined to go away and forget so the hero and the heroine agreed to disagree and the hero was to have left tor mexico to day and never trouble the heroine more and why did he not goa asked the woman flashing the ghost of her dazzling smile at the golden cupid over the stage he went to the train and boarded it the man replied regarding her steadily but the flood gates of his memory opened and the tide of his great love swept over him and the knowledge that there was to be this box party came to him and he knew she would be here and the hunger of his heart drove him to leave the train to come here and see her once more if only from a distance and he is a boy no longer but a man who has put away boyish things forever the heroine said the woman very softly was also very young and had never been taught many things she should have known she never knew about tact and and that sort of thing she also had a great love which grew with the years but did not know how to express it A great light filled the eyes of the man don t ou think the hero might have another chance that they might start over again he said eagerly the smile she turned toward him was not the dazzling one sent to the golden cupids but so soft and woman ly that the face of the woman was transformed look here you two cried mrs patton leaning over and tapping each with her fan pay attention to the play positively you haven t heard a wold yet anybody would think you were loveis instead of a blase mar ried couple of five 3 ears |