The San Francisco call., 1904-11-27

That's how il ought 10 be-" said
Sibylla- But-weil. the Courlands
have children. too"
The remark struck Kate Rzymore as
rather odd, coming from SibyIla- and
assOcIsted with the hint Of pain n
Sibyllas eyes; but she was Just now
eugrOssed in her own feelings. She
went on describing family life on the
true lnes-she wouldn't have il that
they were unreal or merely ideal-and
was quite content that Sibylla should
listen
sibylla did listen; it was easier 10 do
that lhan 10 talk on the subject her
self But she listened without much
interest Il was old ground 10 her,
broken by imagination. II not by ex-
perleuce-very familiar 70 her thoughts
some months before She had lived
Wlth-nay, seemed 70 1--we On-such
ideas IN The early days Of her marriage,
before the accident and al that had
come from il. The things Kate Ray
more said were no doubt true some
times our they were not true for her
That was the upshot Of the matter
hey were not true for Granrley Ina
sons wife. nor FOR the mother OF his
child Her reason. dominated by emo
uon and almost as impulsive as its
ruler, had brought her 20 that con-
clusign before ever her child was born
L dated from the night when she
bartled with GrantIey. and she had
never M2FEreQ IN Il since SlG nG0
abandoned hope OF the ideal
What Of that2 Do not most people
have 10 abandon the fdeal2 Many Of
them 90 IL readily enough, even with
e secret sense Of relief since there IS
always something Cf a strain about an
IDEAL; IL is, IN famous phrase, 50 cate
Eor1cally Imperative but SicyllG was
q srickler for ideals; they were what
she dealt III, what she proposed 70 bar
ter and 70 bargain with. she had no
place IN her stock for humber wares
Ideals or nothing And. n the ideal,
Witeh0od and motherhood were 50 IN
ClssOlublE united that the failure OF
one soured her Joy IN the other. She
loved the little child. but loved him
with bitterness. he had become the
symbol Of her lost ideal
But she did not say this 10 Kate
Rsyucre. for with the loss OF the ideal
comes q certain shame OF IL We see
b then as We did not before, as we
know ROW that Cthers-so many 9TH
ers-see it, and We veil the broken i'm
age The heart. once its throne, be-
comes its hidinE-plsce-
Al this was not for Kate RaymOre-
She must be left 10 wonder that ST.
bylla said 50 little about her baby
LETT 70 be amazed al an apparent
coIdness N the young mother-left 70
miss gracious extrsvsgances OF mater
nal JOY and pride For II Sibylla could
nor be CDen. neither would she play the
hvnOcrite by parading q Ight-hearted
enjoyment and exultatiOn IN the child
How should she display the boy and
her proud pleasure IN him 70 the world
outside. when her pleasure was not
shared Al home, and her pride made
her love covert there2
Christine Fanshaw. sharply guessing,
had cried once:
But surely Grantleys manner IS II
rlr.rr.2 D. -e BE lfi
Even now Sibyus's humor rose at the
challenge
yes. irreproschabI OF course II
would be. All through, his soIicitude
Tor both Of Us was-beautiful. Even
Numples was shaken
shaken Why. 1 thought"
shaken ia her bad opinion, I mean
Christine. dear. Yes. II ever Z man
did his duty did and said all the
proper things, Grsntley did And he
wasn't the least angry with me; he
Vas only annoyed with Adam and Eve
you know. or course he was swfully
busy JUST them County Council cleo
LIgns and what not But you'd never
have guessed IL He never seemed
hurried. and he was always veTy-very
sc1citous.
and now, Sibylla?"
m ~-Just the ssme-and quite pleased
Only I think he wishes babies were
Ike kitteus-more animated and grow
lEg up quicker, you know We happen
u have a kitten. and think he's more
az his ease with that.
Nonsense. Men are men, you
know
Most q them seem to be-" admitted
Slo--iIz.
IT would Be becoming" Christine
observed. If YOU recOllected that yOu'd d
been in the wrong AL through You
believed IN the wrong doctor. you
wanted the wrong thing. you were
quite reasonable Hadn't you better
remember that"
I DO remember IT, And II you want
another admission-well. Grantley new
er reminds me Of It BY a look or q
word
Hes very much Of q gentleman, ST.
byIIa-
Hes never the least ungentIeman-
like. Christine"
Christine enjoyed z distinction; she
laughed gently.
and you're q very lucky woman. %
st- went on
Don't I say 50 in my prayers7~
"Tr q very dangerous state Of mind ."
Christine eyes were set on her
friend SlDyla met them full and
square. Her mirth. real or affected,
vanished She looked hard at Chris
tine. and made no answer FOR mo-
meut-
Yes. I suppose I know what you
mean by that" she said al last.
Its SO much easier 10 despair Of
your husband than OF anybody else in
the HCrld-except your wife"
I try q consider him 4 type"
wen. don't md an exception Oh
IA not talking at random know
She paused a moment and then went
on There's q question I should like
70 ask you. but I suppose it's q ques-
tion nobody ought 10 ask. it's too i'm
pertinent even for me. I'm afraid"
EibyIIa looked at her and q faint
touch Of color rose on her cheeks.
There was q little defiance about her
manner. as though she were accused.
and stood on her defense rather uneas-
fly She understood what question il
was that even Christine could not ask.
-Granrley and 1 sre-perfectly good
friends she said
Christiue's next question was drawled
out iu a lazy murmur and was never
------------- -------.------ - i'd