Frostburg mining journal. [volume] (Frostburg, Md.) 1871-1913, 1896-01-25
SEPARATION.

1T Is usual, Del1eVe, he SAID, DE
fore dissolving partnership to take ac-
counts. Let US see what we each brought
into the firm"
"You begin" she answered.
81 brought fair ability, energy, am
bition, decent position, means of COM
fortablc life, an unblemished name. Ev
cry enc said l wasn't "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 "Por
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 a
failure. Poets and novelists he spoke
bitterly-'tell wicked, ridiculous lies
about Homogeneous. They never are
wholly happy, unless, perhaps, when
it's the wile's second honeymoon. Aft
er that three months exquisite, almost
mad JOY, then four months of happi-
ness, followed by three Of contentment,
ending i'll a year of gradually increasing
misery
"Of course the honeymoon was a fail
ure, y she answered. 1.-The next three
months We're happy, the following four
not bad, the subsequent three indiffer
ent, and the year was intolerable. You
got more cat of the business than l, for
you put more in. Alas, l had not the
beautiful mad loves capital, and yeti
And yet" interrupted the man,
misunderstanding, "you have wasted
that capital, and the beautiful mad love
died for you-more than that, would
have lived disgracefully for you do
not believe III the loved l not honor
mere content to dissolve partner
ship, willing that we should part as
friends. -
"Contcnt? Willing?" she asked.
"Tell ule, what DO you regret most?'
II regret my bankruptcy" he said.
81 began our partnership with what I
thought q splendid, inexhaustible fund
of love. I look back to moments of hap
piness beyond description, and now I
am insOlvCnt i'll love. After all, be-
lieve," he continued, with a pleasant,
manly smile, II believe that it is bet
ter to have loved and lost,' even if it
be the love and not the sweetheart that
enc has Lost. Do you regret nothing?
What clinga i'll your mind?"
She shook her head.
"CCme, 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. Tho 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 splen-
did head, regular i'll feature, delightful
in complexion, crowned with gorgeous
auburn hair, illumined by deep, large,
violet eyes.
'Iou regret nothing?"
With II sigh she answered: 81 regret
that you have cast your pearls before
me. l regret that have misprized and
lost your love- that gave you little in
return. Iregret 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
i'll that sense" he answered. II 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 flut-
tered i'll her tender hands, and with half
smile, half a blush, answered, "There
was one thing, one moment, that l re-
grot. "
He rose and walked up and down the
room, the daintily furnished room, ev-
erything in which was Il note i'll q dead
love song.
"A year ago, almost to tho day, cor
tainly To tomorrow, we We're at Etaples,
you lecollC"i"
at w', for economy l went, because
it was ri,lirulou ~ cheap and very petty,
ani hated Buulo2nc. -
II remember how we wandered
about; how, alas, we quarreled i'll the
lovely pine woods, or, to be true, l
quarreled, and you suffered, and the
splendid saashore, where l said bitter
things because my friends We're at
Trouville and l at the quiet Paris