Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1904-07-30

lies before me- I've got to follow IL
must There is no other way"
your mother does not understand De-
gan John Lortmer. 49,,
she answered: "she does not understand.
she never can understand just wnat iee E,
lust what 1t all means to me- But, On
she went on, cant you understand met
Can't YOU see what am doing? 1 under
stand. my mother as nobody else can un-
derstand her. and want you, OF all people
in this world, to understand me- cant you
see that am doing Just what Is rigntf
There was a certaintyo of tone In her
voice that Lorimer could not fail 10 uhdei-
stand.
II see but one thing" answered Lorimer
doggedly; IT see nothing but that l love
YOU and that you love me. Everything
else that you have said Is wrong-wrons
from the beginning"
Who was right about it-John Lorimer OF
Peggy Robson? Because one man and one
woman have chosen each other from the
ranks of all mankind does that sweep away
all sense of duty save duty to themselves
Is love the only thing to be considered when
love is in question? Margaret Robson
thought otherwise. Nay, the very fact that
her inclination led her to the arms of this
young man, Lorimer, compelled her, I'M
consciously, to lean the other way. Lori
mer, be 1t understood, did not now mis-
Judge her. He knew that she told the
truth when she told him that she loved him.
He had keen perception OF the SITUATION
But to him it meant his whole life; to her
1t meant hers-and he could see nothing
else-could understand nothing else. be.
side, he knew, as he told himself ana
her. that she was ihjudicious; that the
life which meant unhappiness to her would
bring with it also unhappiness to her
mother. He couldn't realize altogether that
Peggy Robson was not defending the
theory Of her mother: could not understand
the desire Of the girl to do that which her
mother desired, whether she herself were
inclined to 1t or not. He could not under
stand her, and. what made 1t worse, she
saw that he could not.
Marriage, birth and death-these are tho
three fundamental occurrences OF life
And yet there are no things in life about
which people have more widely divergent
views. What ought to be done before each
occasion, after each occasion and upon
each occasion-these are things that sepa-
rate families, that destroy affection, that
ruin life.
Some insist on marrying for love; others
for money, beauty, convenience com1ort-
anything, in fact. Many who marry TOT
love are unhappy; many who marry with
some Interior motive are happy. the Worlo
looks on and strikes an average. Men and
women are constantly disappointed either
at marrying the wrong individual or at not
marrying at all. Some marriages, on the
one hand, are made in heaven, and, on the
other, it is said that there Is such a thing
as love at first sight Some marriages are
made in hell. Some happen. Sometimes
two people, neither of whom Is at first at
tractive to the other, are bound together
by the ties of propinquity. They love mere
ly because they are thrown together They
do not seek each other because they love.
These are often happy marriages.
From the worldly stan lpoint, Mrs. Pa
tricia Jelliffe Robinson may have been eter-
nally right. Many girl has loved poor
man-so she thought-and married him,
only to regret adversely. Many girl has
married well, having no personal regard for
the man of her choice. and she has been
happy. Happiness, even for refined and
educated and aristocratic people. consists
largely In material things-Peggy's mother
knew it. And yet Peggys mother In this
instance was wrong-woefully and lrretrlev-
ably wrong. John Lorimer knew it. Peggy
Robson, beloved of John Lorimer, she
knew it also. But what of that? 1t was
not, as she had said, question of the eter-
nal fitness of things. 1t was purely
question of her duty to a mother whose
ideas may have been. from Peggys stand
point, somewhat warped; but whose ideas,
In their execution and completion. meant
that mothers happiness. Who shall say
Their, who shall say that Lorimer was
wrong? Some judge only dvinely impair
tial, and not of the earth earthly:
Peggy Robson and John Lorimer stood
In the Lorimer house for long while. with
a great silence between them. Finally she
bent over toward him and put her arms
about his neck.
John Lorimer,' she said, the knell of all
lnelr hopes ana joys ringing III Hef soice,
"for the last time you-you must kiss me.
For the last time-I love you. This is-it
must be-the end. Heaven help us BOTH"
Amen" echoed John Lorimer, fervently.
crushing her to his breast with an emotion
fierce and almost uncontrolled.
All that night she lay prone upon her bed
face downward, shaken by sobs that tore
her soul asunder.
And John Lorimer, consulting chemist!
What of him? Lorimer strobe. till dawn in
the teeth of the bleak, bleak storm-any-
where he knew not whittier, he cared not
whither-crushing in his palm the flower
she gave him when he left.
The next evening another caller rang the
doorbell at the house of Mrs. Patricia
Jeliffe Robson. This man, bearing book