The Wilmington daily Republican. (Wilmington, Del.) 1890-1902, 1899-05-25
THREE AND-AN EXTRA
By RUDYARD KIpL1Ha.

sometinlesa big, sometimes little. one
but it comes sooner or later and must
be tided over by both parties if they de-
sire the rest of their lives to go with thu
current
In the case of the Cusack- Bremmils
this reaction did not set in till the third
year after the wedding. Bremmil was
hard to hold at the best of times. but he
was beautiful husband until the baby
died and Mrs Bremmil wore black and
grew thin and mourned as il the bot
tom of the universe had fallen out. Per.
haps Bremmil ought to have comforted
her He tried to do so, I think, but the
more he comforted the more Mrs. Brem.
mil grieved and consequently the more
uncomfortable Bremmil grew. The fact
was that they both needed tonic, and
they got it Mrs Bremmil can afford to
laugh now, but IL was no laughing mat
ter to her at the time.
You see, Mrs. Hauksbee appeared on
the horizon. and where she existed was
fair chance Of trouble. At Simla her by
name was the "Stormy Petrol. She had
won that title five times to my own GER
tain knowledge. She was little, brown,
thin, almost skinny woman, with big,
rolling, violet blue eyes and the sweetest
manners in the world. You had only to
mention her name at afternoon teas for
every woman in the room to rise up and
call Observation-Disclosures She was
clever, witty, brilliant and sparkling
beyond most Of her kind, but possessed
Of many devils Of malice and mischie-
vousness She could be nice, though,
even to her own sex. But that is anoth-
er story.
Bremmil went'of at score after the
baby death and the general discomfort
that followed, and Mrs. Hauksbee an
nexed him. She took no pleasure in
hiding her oaptives. She annexed him
publicly and saw that the public sawit
He rode with her and walked with her
and talked with her and picnicked with
her and tif1ined at Peliti's with her till
people put up their eyebrows and said
"Shocking" Mrs. Bremmil staid at
home turning over the dead baby's
frocks and crying into the empty cradle
She did not care to do anything else.
But some eight dear, affeetionate lady
friends explained the situation at length
to her in case she should miss the cream
of it. Mrs. Bremmil listened quietly
and thanked them for their good Offices.
She was not as clever as Mrs. Hauksbee,
but she was no fool. She kept her own
counsel and did not speak to Bremmil
of what she had heard. This is worth
remembering. Speaking to or crying
over husband never did any good yet.
When Bremmil was at home, which
was not often, he was more affection
ate than usual. and that showed his
hand. The affection was forced partly
to soothe his own conscience and partly
to soothe Mrs. Bremmil 1t failed in
both regards.
Then "the A. D. G. in waiting was
commanded by their excellencies Lord
and Lady Lytton to invite Mr.. and
Mrs. Cusack- Bremmil to Peterhoff on
July 26 at o 80 p. M" Dancing was
in the bottom left hand corner.
II cannot CO." said Mrs Bremmil
ut is too soon after poor little Florrie;
but it need not stop you, Tom.
She meant what she said then, and
Bremmil said that he would 60 just to
put in an appearance. Here he spoke
the thing which was not, and Mrs
Bremmil knew 1t. She guessed-a
guess is much more accurate
than mans certainty-that he had
meaSt to 60 from the first and with
Mrs. Hauksbee She sat down to think,
and the outcome of her thoughts was
that the memory of dead child was
worth considerably less than the affec-
lions of living husband. She made
her plan and staked her all upon it. In
that hour she discovered that she knew
Tom Bremmil thoroughly, and this
she acted on.
"Tom, said she, II shall be dining
out at the Longmores' on the evening
If the 26th. You'd better dine at the
club"
This saved Bremmil from making an
excuse to get away and dine with Mrs
Haullsbee; SO he was grateful and felt
small and mean at the same time,
which was wholesome. Bremmil left
the house at for ride About half
past in the evening large leather
rovered basket came in from Phelps
Ior Mrs. Bremmil She was woman
who knew how to dress, ard she had
net spent week on designing that
dress and having it gored and hemmed
and herringboned and tucked and
tucked Tor whatever the terms are) for
nothing. 1t was a gorgeous dress slight
l cant describe 1t, but !:
vas what The Queen calls "a creation
"a thing that hit you straight between
he eyes and made you gasp She had
not much heart for what she was going
% do, but as she glanced at the long
mirror she had the satisfaction Of know
ny that she had never looked so well
in her life She was large blond, and
when she chose carried herself superbly.
After the dinner at the Longmores'
she went on to the dance-a little late
and encountered Bremmil with Mrs.
Hauksbee on his arm. That made her
flush, and as the men crowded round
her for dances she looked magnificent
She filled up all her dances except three,
and those she left blank. Mrs. Hauks-
bee caught her eye once, and she knew
it was war--real war--between them
She started handicapped in the strug
gle, for she had ordered Bremmil about
just the least little bit in the world too
much, and he was beginning to resent
it. Moreover, he had never seen his
wife look SO lovely. He stared at her
from doorways and glared at her from
passages as she went about with her
partners, and the more he stared the
more taken was he. He conld scarcely
believe that this was the woman with
the red eyes and the blac: stuff gown
who used to weep over the eggs at
Mrs. Hauksbes did her best to hold
him in play; but, after two dances, he
crossed over to his wife and asked for
a dance.