OCR Text |
Show Kathleen Norris Says: The War Wife and Her Lover Bell Syndicate. WNU Features. ill a. i "About a year ago, she had a friendship with a painter we might call Morgan," By KATHLEEN NORRIS CAROL BROWN is 31, beautiful, affectionate, mother of two small boys. When Fred Brown went away to war two years ago she suffered all the pangs of loneliness, fear, grief that any woman could know. She wrote him loyally, and after two years she writes him still. Carol is not a sociable woman. She studied painting for many years, works hard at her art still, fills her time with her books, garden, studio hours and children. About a year ago she had a friendship friend-ship with a painter we might call Morgan. Morgan had a charming artistic place about 30 miles away from Carol's town, and presently Carol and the children began to spend week-ends there. Other artists, art-ists, writers, newspaper folk did also, and for some months, she wites me, everything was open and aboveboard. Then she and Morgan became lovers. But Morgan evidently, however much a lover, is canny, too. When T'red Brown wrote that he was coming com-ing home, minus a leg, Morgan got married. Ho married a young and dashing newspaper woman and at 41 has apparently settled down. "Fred was so far away, and everything ev-erything that belonged to our old happy life was so completely ings," says her letter. "The crowd that went to Morgan's is naturally a rather free-thinking crowd, and they accepted our relationship without with-out any question. Husband Is Devoted. "My problem is this. I love my husband, and to think of his coming home crippled breaks my heart, for Fred was a great walker and loved nothing so much as country outings with me and the children. My one ' wish is to compensate him for all that he has been through. He Is a most affectionate man. passionately devoted to me and to the boys. "Shall I tell him honestly all that has occurred? If I do, it must be immediately, for putting it off will infinitely complicate matters. He may resent it deeply; he may wish to avenge it by a divorce and the j separation of me and my sons. His older sister is devoted to the boys, she has but one child, a half-grown girl; she would be dollghted to add boys of 5 and 7 to her family, and have Fred all to he self. "If I do not tell him, sooner or later someone may. I will have to live with that sword of Damocles hanging over my head from day to day. It docs not iccm Just to me that for a few months of Indiscretion, Indiscre-tion, which never meant to me what any week of the long happy years with Fred has meant, should cost mc so dear. I mnj say that my mother and my sistcr-ln-law haveno suspicion suspi-cion of the state of affairs; they do not like Morgan's crowd, that crowd is many miles away, and they have always rather studiedly Ignored my friendship with It. Fred does not know these people well, either. Tlease advise me of the simplest course that will mean happiness and security for us all." Tlili last phrase almost makes me smile, although Die situation Is any-: any-: thing but funny. It is tragic to think I of the devoted husband and father coming home to this news, and In his first agony of realization he may i well threaten to take legal action. But I don't believe he will. I think j that after little while he will ap- iWe'uJy trll him the truth. . . . PAINFUL DILEMMA The unfaithful tvife of the absent serviceman has become a familiar theme. In this article, arti-cle, however, a rather unusual situation is considered. Carol Broun loves her husband and her children, and wants nothing noth-ing more than quiet and virtuous virtu-ous family life. When the war took Fred away, however, Carol teas so lonely and miserable miser-able that she tried to get what solace she could from friends. Before she was really aware of it, she was seeing a man named Morgan, an artist like herself, more and more often. These visits developed into an "affair" "af-fair" lasting for months. All during this period, however, how-ever, she continued writing affectionate af-fectionate and, in a sense, sincere sin-cere letters to her husband. He never suspected that anything any-thing teas amiss. Now he is coming home, crippled. Carol is anxious to have him bark, and to try to resume life as it used to be. This ugly episode with Morgan, however, clouds the future. While Morgan has ended their meetings, and can be depended upon to keep si lent, many other people know about them, and a disclosure some day is always possible, perhaps likely. Carol doesn't know -tvhat to do whether to confess, and trust to F retTs understanding un-derstanding and generosity, or u hether to try to conceal everything, ev-erything, and live in constant fear. predate the boys' position, he will see that they have rights, that it is all-important to keep the surface smooth and the family intact. No Safety In Secrecy. Ordinarily I would advise secrecy. I would advise Carol to put this whole affair from her life and her thoughts, as If it had never happened. hap-pened. But since her Intimacy with Morgan was pretty well known to quite a large group of persons, there Is no safety in concealment now. A blackmailer might appear at any moment, after Fred had been happily hap-pily restored to his family, and wreck the whole scene. Far wiser to simply and regretfully regretful-ly tell him the truth. Tell him that It was the result of association with persons who had themselves no particular par-ticular respect for conventions, that it Is all over, and Morgan married. Ask him to think of the boys, of Carol's own love for him, before he takes any action. He'll decide upon forgiveness. For a long while things won't be the same, of course But after while happiness will come back. Loving consideration for him, wisdom In handling the boys, clever management manage-ment of your affairs will all help, and human hearts being as mutable as they are, time will work Its usual miracle. But It would be wonderful if lonely service wives could see some statistics sta-tistics upon the outcome of illicit love affairs, hasty divorces, disruption disrup-tion of homes and scattering children. chil-dren. Perhaps one reason why all the books on morolity preach fidelity and self-control is because they are the only secret of successful and happy marrloge. |