Staunton vindicator. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1860-1896, 1895-11-15
SEPARATION.

SIT is usual, I believe, "he said. "be-
fore dissolving partnership to take ac-
counts. Let us see what we each brought
into the firm.
'You begin,'' she answered.
eI brought fair ability, energy, am
bition, decent position, means of COM
Portable life, an unblemished name. Ev-
cry one said WASH It "a bad sort, and,
more than all, brought deep, true,
passionate love-.
Said the woman, 81 brought beauty
her statement was splendidly true
'youth, physical purity--to which you
do not lay claim" He bowed. ''Per-
haps little else, for it was generous Of
you to marry the daughter of an undis-
charged bankrupt.
"What have we got out of our mar
riage?' continued the husband. "Let me
speak Of course the honeymoon was
failure Poets and novelists spoke
bitterly-''tell wicked, ridiculous lies
about homogeneous. They never are
wholly happy, unless, perhaps, when
it's the wife second honeymoon. Aft
er that three months exquisite, almost
mad joy, then four months of happi-
ness, followed by three of contentment,
ending in ayear of gradually increasing
misery
"Of course the honeymoon was fail
ure," she answered. "The next three
months were happy, the following four
not bad, the subsequent three indiffer
emf, and the year was intolerable. You
got more out Of the business than l, for
you put more in. Alas, | had not the
beautiful mad loves capital, and YETI
''And YETI interrupted the man,
misunderstanding, 'you have wasted
that capital, and the beautiful mad love
has gone, and I, who once would have
died for you--more than that, would
have lived disgracefn1ly for you. do
not believe in the flowed I not honor
more'--am content to dissolve partner
ship, willing that we should part as
friends. -
"Content? Willing?' she asked.
"Tell me, what do you regret most|"
81 regret my bankruptcy" he said.
81 began our partnership with what /
thought splendid, inexhaustible fund
of love. look back to moments of hap
piness beyond description, and now I
am insolvent in love. After all, be-
lieve,'' he continued, with pleasant,
manly smile, IT believe that it is bet
ter to have loved and lost" even if it
be the love and not the sweetheart that
one has lost. DO you regret nothing?
What clings in your mind?"
She shook her head.
HCome, you should tell me. There,
on the table near you, is the deed of
dissolution, the separation deed - it
hasn't even been engrossed on parch-
ment, but is printed on paper. At the
end are two SEALS We execute the dis
solution deed by putting our fingers on
the seals. The partnership was executed
with our lips In quarter of an hour
Mr.. Hawkins, the lawyer. will be here
TO witness the execution. Tell me.
She shook her head again-her SPLEEN
did head, regular in feature, delightful
in complexion, crowned with gorgeous
auburn hair, illumined by deep, large,
violet eyes.
f'You regra5 nothingi"
With sigh she answered: IT regret
that you have cast your pearls before
me. 1 regret that have misprized and
lost your love; that I gave you little in
return. regret that my very inability
TO return your love truly has irritated
me by making me feel your debtor; that
feeling of irritation has helped to make
you miserable and me miserable too"
II did not use the word regret quite
in that sense he answered 81 meant,
is there nothing that you look back to
of happiness that yet lives in your mem
ory?"
She put down the fan that had dut-
tered in her tender hands, and with half
q smile, half a blush, answered, "Thera
syas one thing, one moment, that re-
greet.
He rose and walked up and down the
room, the daintily furnished reom, esz
erything in which was note in dead
love song.
"a scar ago, almost to the day, GER
family to tomorrow, we were at Etaples,
you recollect?''
ftIt was for economy went, because
it was ridnulously cheap and very petty,
and hated Boulogne.
" remember how we wandered
about; how, alas, we quarreled in the
lovely pine woods, Or, to be true, I
auarreled, and you suffered, and the
splendid seashore, where I said bitter
{hinnc f,.io ~
Trouyille and I at the quiet Paris
PLACE, and YOU We're sad and silent.
My DEAR" he INTERRUPTED, y was
greatly to blame. %
"Hush! You must not interrupt.
Then one day we took a boat-a clumsy
boat--and sailed ont, despite the warn
tngs Of the fishermen. / didn t care, gon
didn't care->shat happened We had
auarreied, or, rather, I, at lunch; SAID
harsh things.9
"My DEAR" he interrupted, "there
were faults on both sides. They render
ed life intolerable and love impossible,
butt
"HushI We rowed out. You had the
scu1ls and steered-at least I lay>in
the stern and splashed the waves with
my hands--the hands you used to kiss
SO often"
She paused and looked at the hands
firm. plump and white and decked with
lovely rings of curious workmanship
He. too, looked at them and sighed. She
sighed
"Bpt out we Went. Then the skies
pecams dark. the water darkened, too.
and grew rough, and you tried to turn
We were far, far away from shore Yo4
must have been looking at me instead
of the land, Or you would have seen that
we were floating fast in current. With
an effort you brought the boat round
and pulled for safety. Oh, you looked
splendid! Your thin jersey showed tha
lines Of your strong. supple body, ting
muscles of yopr arms aud chest rosH
superb]y, and your manly face, flushed
and firm, fascinated me-
Tbs man smiled, half scornfully.
"You pulled hard, and l don't think
! was frightened. I didn't care what
happened. Then the rotten oar cracked.
and you bound it round with cur hand