Middlebury register. (Middlebury, Vt.) 1886-1937, 1906-03-09
MATRIMONIAL
FELICITY.
BY GERTRUDE E. REBAszE.

Cullu, Sdlu, you III nave 10 speak
to Mary, for she is not careful enough.
There are two flies in the oatmeal this
morning"
Perhaps they are twins" my wife
suggested.
I'm not speaking with view to as
certaining their relation to one another,
but merely to suggest that in the in
terest of maintaining an appetite, you
have Mary use few precautions"
AS lord of the house | threw consid-
cradle dignity into my little speech,
and Edith, being a wife of only a
year, appeared a bit nettled l might
have known that trouble was coming
That it should lie in the little pile of
letters that Mary had placed beside my
plate that morning, | did not at first
suspect.
| Ralph" said my wife sweetly.
| Eyes, dear" | answered hastily, a
bit repentant for my brusqueness of u
minute before.
There is letter from lady in the
pile for you'll" Her voice was potent
with hidden meaning.
kissed or to any noticeable degree even
| looked at any prepossessing female for
the last year But a man who doesn't
marry until he is % has generally been
in love once or twice-or more-before
| settling down, and this letter might
contain secrets that in my wife's posses
sion would prove a bane during my
future life. Why they might even lead
to divorce. for women imagine them
selves wronged if their husbands have
even had Irritation before marriage
that they have not confided to them.
took up the little pile and sorted them
nonchalantly. The letter referred to
was unmistakable, in its pale pink
envelope, neat little seal and small del
icate handwriting. And yet | did not
recall the hand. | slipped the envelope
in my pocket.
Ralph" said my wife quietly-but
oh, there was depth of meaning in
the pronunciation of the name.
"Yes-dear"
DO you know who it is from?"
'No-dear." l replied, truthfully.
Then why don't you open it?" There
was an impressive silence, the longest
I've known since the momentous night
I proposed and she accepted and then
we sat side by side without a word for
half an hour She seems to have re-
GREETED the wasted time, for she has
not been silent since.
Ralph LOring, you are hiding some
thing from me-your wife," she finally
said, dramatically. You are indulg-
ing in some miserable love affair when
you've only been married to me for a
year,"
Il have not" shouted holly. And
you know haven't"
"Oh, yes, you have, and you're doing
everything you can to make me miser-
able. You've refused to give up smok-
ing vile cigars"
Yes, they are vile" roared. and
40 wonder. l have to give you so much
for your dresses and ice cream sodas
that where l used to smoke a decent
Book occasionally, I'm lucky If have
money enough to get a Pippin nova
days"
oh, l spose you think you've got
some young, innocent girl that you can
fool and make love to other women,
but I'm not as young as that"
I'll bet you're not" | exclaimed,
brutally, And | bet your birth GER
tificate was lost in the civil war"
Mr.. Loring!' she exclaimed, and
chuckled inwardly. l had hit a bulls
eye.
Are you going to show me that let
ter?" she continued.
I'm mott" | said, shortly Not be-
cause there is liable to be anything in
it that you could not see. but because
believe | should be allowed bit of
privacy. By George, if we are going to
have much of this III be like poor John
SON."
well, what has Mr.. Johnson got to
do with this. He's dead!"
That's just it. l envy him. He
jumped off Long Bridge a couple of
years ago and saved his wife's life, and
was so sorry afterward that he jumped
in again and drowned himself And
that is what | shall do if you keep on
nagging me-" Meanwhile had thrust
hand in my pocket, and digging open
the disputed letter with one finger I
felt of the sheet within. Glory-it was
embossed!
And now. madam to make you duly
repentant, I'll let you be the first to
read that COMPOUNDED letter" | tossed
1t across the table with a magnificently
injured expression.
IT'S open, Ralph" she said, a bit
abashed already.
rs it," l said sternly Did you do
that with my letter before | came to
the table? Were you so mean as to
mistrust me?"
Il didn't Ralph" she pleaded. | sub
sided wrathfully.
A minute later looked up to find her
watching me guiltily. Its only tail
or's announcement of the season open
ing. all done up on fancy paper oh,
Ralph, and | suspected you. Can you