Milford chronicle., 1883-02-23
A Wife's Lover.

Men who love their wives are so likely
to assume that they are loved in return
that Gerald Bryce was almost the last
acquaintance of Mrs. Bryce to realize
that the lady he had married had become
very fond Of man who was not her hus-
band
The fortunate man, as his friends re-
garded him, was Mr.. Jasper Masten, and
as he had neither good looks, money or
wit, qualities which Mrs. Bryce held in
highest regard, Bryce was very slow to
imagine he could be at all dangerous.
Perhaps Mr. Bryce had been equally un-
sllspecting when Masten first began to
seek her out at parties and drop into her
coy parlors once a fortnight, Mr. Mas
ten seemed constitutionally a dnwdler,
and Mrs. Bryce detested dawdlers.
But as Mrs. Bryce was not particular
" pretty, and her husband was not rich,
there were not many men who paid her
special attention, so she soon came to
anticipate Mastens languid courtesies,
enjoy them, and do her best to increase
their number
Although she did not know it. she was
quite tired of her husband. for, while he
had no great faults, he was only one
man; all of him that her rather small
mind could comprehend she had learned
and wearied Of in the first of the three
years she had been married. Masten
talked of things, neither good nor bad.
that never interested Bryce, his compli-
ments wern formal and elaborate instead
of familiar, and he SO carefully avoided
rising above the level of Mrs. Brycc's in
tellect and tastes that he soon seemed to
the silly little woman q man after her
own heart He never talked of unsuc-
cessful business ventures, or the prices
of provisions or the necessity for econo-
my; he was always, when Mrs. Bryce
saw him, in full dress, whereas Bryce
sometimes lounged, unshaven and in
ovcr-large slippers, in a rather shabby
dressing-gown. And he had such a way
Of looking at her, as if he wished he
might say something very tender and
she did so wonder what it was and how
he would say it if he dared Bryce Of |
ten sai2 tender things; said them so Of
ten that frequently they were tiresome;
beside, Mrs. Bryce, before she was mar
ried, had enjoyed a variety Of retty |
speeches, while marriage had reduced |
them to a sameness that at times became |
almost uncomfortable.
When Bryce was compelled to see
what everyone else had seen he became
by turns puzzled, angry and heart-sick,
and finally he was all three at once. He
began in a manly way to make love anew
to his wife, but the result only added to
his discomfort his wife would yawn
through an evening of his devotions,
telling him not to be silly, and that if he
loved her he might prove it by giving
her new dresses like some of her ac-
quaitances wore. Occasionally such
evenings would be changed in character
by the appearance Of Masten, when Mrs.
Bryce would brighten with great rapidity,
even her manner to her husband al
though what she said to him had gener-
ally enough acidulous raillery in it to drive
him to his room and brandy bottle in
search Of an antidote.
After finding love-malzing unsuccess-
full and Gaming his brother for off iously
a quiet divorce, Bryce set
himself to work to devise some new
method. He thought of retaliation, but
between unwillingness to subject good
women to scandal and reluctance to have
his own name coupled with that of any
woman more pretty than particular, he
soon found himself in a quandary As
he discussed the subject with himself
one evening at musicale, in his inter-
walls of feeling uncomfortable at the
marked attention that Masten was pay
ing Mrs. Bryce, right before his eyes, a
low voice, almost at his ear, said:
"Why don't you teach her that two
can play at that game ?"
He turned quickly and saw Miss Mar
ion Albrough, with whom he had played
when they both were children. Miss
Albrough was old enough to be called an