Montpelier examiner. [volume] (Montpelier, Idaho) 1895-1937, 1907-10-25
CHAPTER xxx.-contlnued.
R79RE52- Aa2S A

wishes to 60 said Anita. with quiet !
but energetic bitterness. besides"
she hesitated an instant before going :
on--"Gladys deserves her fate. She
doesn't really care for him. She's
only jealous of him. She never did
love him"
How do you know?" said sharp
ly, trying to persuade myself it was
not an ugly suspicion in me that
lifted its head and shot out that ques-
ton.
Because he never loved her" she
replied. The feeling a woman has
for man or man for a woman.
without any response. isn't love. isn't
worthy the name of love. It's sort
of baffied eovetousness. Love means
generosity, not greediness." Their
why do you not ask me whether
what she said is true?"
The change in her tone with the
last sentence, the strange, ominous
note in it, startled me.
Because" replied i, las / said to j
her, to ask my wife such a question /
would be to insult her. III you were /
riding with him, it was an accident"
AS if my rude repulse of her over
lures and my keeping away from her
ever since would not have justified her
in almost anything.
She flushed the dark red of shame,
but her gaze held steady and unfiinch-
ing upon mine. 1T was not altogether
by accident" she said And think
SHE expected me to kill her.
When a man admits and respects
a woman's rights where he is him
self concerned he either Is no longer
interested in her or has begun to love
her SO well that he can control the
savage and selfish instincts of pas
sion. If Mowbray Langdon had been
there, | might have killed them both;
but he was not there. and she, facing
me without fear, was not the woman
to be suspected of the stealthy and
traitorous.
1T was he that you meant when
you warned me you cared for another
man." said !, so quietly that | Won
dered at myself; wondered what had
become Of the BLACK Matt" who had
used his fists almost as much as his
brains in fighting his way up.
Yes. she said, her head down
now
A long pause
on WISH 10 De Tree. dShGus dhA
my tone must have been gentle.
4 wish to free you she replied
slowly and deliberately.
There was long silence. Then
said 4 must think it all out.
once told you how | felt about these
matters. I've greatly changed my
mind since our talk that night in the
Willoughby; but my prejudices are
still with me. Perhaps you will not
be surprised at that-you whose pre-
udices have cost me so dear"
| thought she was going to speak
Instead she turned away, so that
could no longer see her face.
Our marriage was a miserable
mistake" I went on, struggling to bi
Just and judicial, and to seem calm
81 admit 1t now. Fortunately. We ar
both still young-you very YOUNG
Mistakes in youth are never fatal
But, Anita, do not blunder out of on
mistake into another. You are n
longer a child. as you we're when
married you You will be careful no
to let-judgments formed of him Ion
ago decide you for him as they ID
cided you against me"
Il wish to be Free" she said. eac
word coming with an effort, 'as niue
on your account as on my own.
Then, and 1t seemed to me merely
truly feminine attempt to shirk r
sponsibiiity. she added, Il am gla
my going will be a relief TO you"
Yes, it will be a relief" | CO.
fessed. Our situation has becon
fntoIerable." had reached my lin
of seIf-control. | put out my han
"Good-by," | said.
II she had wept it might have mod
fed my conviction that everythir
was at an end between US. But 81
did not weep. Can you ever forgi-
me?" she asked.
Lets not talk of forgiveness sa
I. and I fear my voice and mann
were grnff, as strove not 20 brei
down. Lets try to forget" And
touched her hand and fastened ava
When two human beings oct out
misunderstood each other, bow Il
and far they go! How shut-in
are from each other. with only haiti
means OF communication that bre
down under the slightest strain.
As I vas leaving the house n
morning, l gave Sanders this note
her:
4 have gone to live at the Dor
town hotel. When you have decie
what course to take. let me know.
my rights ever had amy substan
they have starved away to such w
things that they collapse even as
to set them up ! hope your freed
will give you happiness and
peace
You are III. ssr2~ asked my
rar4 ~ Ga friend ~ he froIr