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Show !LOVE and MARRIED UFA I twj, the noted author I Idah MGlone Gibson PAYING THE FIDDLER Ncvsjfr. It' I live ft hundred years. wIU IT forget the look in my husband's race Pear, disgust, announce, anger, and chagrin hlrnded into a iniliV expression. expres-sion. For weeks I had been keeping tn.M. beautiful Secret to myself, waiting to tell , him at an auspicious time! And Oh. bow t wanted to tell him when be eame to my father's house Just before the funeral. I couldnt' tell my mother brcatlSC 1 felt that I must tell my husban.l lirj,?. And whal a tragedy the telling had been I bad not Intended to tell Hire Bioi head or any one else but she had angered me so greatly that 1 wanted her to understand that I was not in any way condon. ng either her or John's misdemeanors. mis-demeanors. An Icy band seemed to dutch my heart as I looked again Into John's face. It seemed to me he was almost gazinc Rt me with hatred. "Da you mean to tell me ?" "Yes, yes. John," I Interrupted. 1 have been meanlnp, to tell you for a num-her num-her of week." How perfectly impossible" f have been taught that children are net only one of the possible things p i s.illlnr from marriage, but also one of the probable things." ' Don't try to be facetious. This Is ' irore feerlous than my troubles " "What do you mean. John ' Do you realize how a baby will dts- tui i" everything in our lives"" Win n mother knows there is to he an addition 'to our family. ;ahe will go up in the air higher than she is now. for she detests Children. I had anticipated a fine winter with you, dancing and golfing and dom-,' all the sports we both enjoy so mucn. Now that's all knocked In the head!" "John, lohn." I said. ' I thought you liked children!" I do! Of course T do. IJut a man ran love th'ldrcn. can't he and not want I his house filled full of them the flrt 'few ears of marriage? Come on, herd's the car We'll talk about this later, j hut I wish you hadn't told Bess. Now the j whole town will know it." ' Is there any dlsgiaie In thai" it seems to me that Miss Mon land will fin I i her own name a more fruitful .subject for malicious go?Up than the fact that the Gordon a expec t a child." "Well, "let's not talk about It until wc have to. Personally, I'm all broken U Iwtlh the thought of the next few years I with a bqalllnp baby around." I said nothing to this. but. I decided never to mention my baby to him agaJTt Hut all sympatlv. for him in his scanda.-OUS scanda.-OUS trouble, went glimmering I told m! -; self I would go through it b. cause I had ' promised him I would, but I only wanted to get awa from It all Indeed I said to myself! "As soon ns this gossip dte.a down. I will go home to my mother, 1 and when my baby comes I will take, what Jo 1 can in it. and let the world go hang." We found Alice waiting in the porte cochere when wc rode up. " I don't sec any reason why 1 should look so blooming." she said, "both you and John are ns pale as ghosts Hero take my vanity ease Katharine, and put a tittle rouge on your cheeks." "I don't approve of rouge," Jonn growled. I held out my hand for Alice's vanlly case and rouged my checks more plentifully plen-tifully than I should have done had be DOt spoken thus. Mice sal down besbV t her brother, lcavlnpr the tonneau seal for Bess Morrland and me. I tried to make myself understand that John did not want our baby He fe!t j personally aggrieved because of my condi-ticn. condi-ticn. I coidd not understand how a man w ho wai to sweet, so kindly, so altogether fascinating as John was. when bis plans . followed and brought to fruition, could be so disagreeable and utterly re-gardless re-gardless of the opinions and even the rights of other people. 1 remcmbcr d the night that John bud spoken to me about children and how beautiful the thought wai that so gre' a love as ours could be carried through i Derations by our children and children' i hlldren. John. I was sure, wanted one or two childx n, but he want'nj them, or at least though! be wanted them, when he was icady for them. He did not want even Nature to disturb any plans that h might have preconceivd and was ready ' to put Into execution. If It had not been so pathetic, it certainly certain-ly would have bcn ridiculous. I could not hear what Alice was sa;. Ing to John, but from the tone of her voice 1 knew that she was not being particularly particu-larly agreeable. But he did not dare FiiffKest that she should sit with mo when We arrived at Moreland s. In fact, I really believe that with all her fault', he preferred his sister at the present i moment to Hess More land As she came down the steps to the notor. a forced smile upon her lips, 1 noticed that her cheeks were v.-e rouped also. She was looking very well. But i what a party! Every one of the four of us doing the thing we haled to do. playing the hypocrite hypo-crite Just for the speech of people! (Monday "Bess Moreland s Views") oo |
