The Houma courier. (Houma, La.) 1878-1939, 1900-09-08

pleased him all his life, and now it
pleased him to die. 1t was very sim
pie.
He rapidly reviewed his business
engagements, and determined to
write one or two letters canceling
some agreements; then be would be
quite free because his last batch Of
magazine work had been sent in that
very morning. Indeed, his quarrel
with madame had at first been begot-
ten Of the ennui engendered between
an unoccupied man and a preoccupied
woman, for it was NJ. Deforges' Gus
tomto snatch aholfdaya at the compile
tion of a heavy,task.
He did not take the omnibus on the
return journey. 1t occurred to him
that he would reach his destination
soon enough on foot. He smiled, re-
fecting how Felicite must be enjoy
ing herself, and what an interesting
denouement he was preparing on her
return; and as he went through the
gray-visaged throng he elaborated de-
tails.
Nine. Deforges did not 60 to the
garden party. At the last moment it
was discovered that a back plat was
irredeemably wrong, and she and
Stephanie, her little Partisan maid,
uttered some very improper and
shockingly true things about English
milliners and the contours they ara
privileged to drape.
"Take the abominable thing back
lat onceP' cried the madame, tragical-
", ''and tell the animals that ! am a
woman-not a gallows. And take the
afternoon for thyself, child"
Left alone, madame enjoyed a
good cry, and then, having bathed
her eyes, changed her dress and felt
better. She cheated 80 minutes or so
in busting the gaudy little reception
room downstairs. Downing an apron
she went down to the cook, and with
her own dimpIed hands prepared a
.favorite dish of her husbands, plan
ming as she worked the evenings pro
gramme.
There would be, first of all, the rec
onciliation in a pathetic tea gown.
Then they would go to the play, and
afterward to supper at a gay restaur-
ant where everybody would be in the
best possible temper, and the prob
lens Of life sbivering at the door out
side, be cheated for a few golden ante
meridian hours; and ever as the
laughing minutes flew she would
grow coyly seductive and Leon appre-
ciative, and the waiter from Langue-
doc confidential.
Her cooking finished she hurried to
the piano and tinkled off a moroccan
Of Chopin, rendered a la Franchise
Beethoven's "Moonlight," which she
rapidly changed for the Sunshine
of Mozart, andthen, she could hardly
tell why, slipped into a "triumphal
march" redoIent with memories of the
peaceful Breton convent where she
had spent three years Of needless girl
hood.
She suddenly ceased playing and
wentto the mirror holding her breath,
10, 80, 60 seconds, a minute and a
half. Bon! It was death itself; and
her cheek how pale it grew! She
closed one eye and regarded herself
critically. She was really bewitching
so pale, so calm, SO utterly remote
from a sordid, a sinful, and, it must be
confessed a somewhat dingy world.
If only one could be sure of being like
that when one really dies! OUT, she
was growing fanciful.
Struggling her shoulders, she
glanced at her watch, Icons latest
present, and pouted. Itwas very late,
and he had not come back. Was ever
a loving little wife, eager to forgive,
treated SO before? Perhaps be would
never returnl
Suddenly a thought struck her
so dramatic, so artistic, that she
clapped her hands and laughed aloud,
She would write him a farewell letter,
expressing her regret for what had oc-
CURED, and assuring him that he
would never have cause to fly into
a passion with his devoted wife
again, since she had taken poison and
had quilted forever a world his heart
lessness had made ~unbearabla Then
she would lie on h~ermarriage couch,
hold her breath, and hear what he
would say-sbe felt he could be elo-
quent.
Changing her robe for more elab-
crate one, %glorifed by a medici collar,
trimmed with ostrich fins that had