The Columbian. [volume] (Bloomsburg, Pa.) 1866-1910, 1910-03-10
A Husbands
Mistake


ampes of which are so rare now and
growing more and more so in this
iin-de.siecle epoch. A woman born for
the Olympian cothurne and the sim.
pie drapery clasped upon the shoulder,
neither pretty, nor witty nor marvel.
ous in any way, but Greek, pain
Creek from brow to instcp-upon the
word of her estimable husband, the
shrewd, far-sighted and successful
tinancier NJ. lc Baron and banker,
Alonzo de Givone.
The baron, moreover, was not
wrong; madame his wife reflected the
universal admiration as a polished re.
hector throws back the light; they
always chose her to preside over those
functions that required traditionally
statuesque patronesses; men bowed
before her as before an armed senu.
me-. and women never thought of such
thing as being Jealous of her.
The age Of this beautiful Greek,
however, announced by herself, was
of a very vague character, like the age
OF a statue as given ON the bill OF
EtItt oDlIttN lNi q INH 'F Gel lll4a' Az
twenty and acknowledgement
As for the baron's age, it was that
Of all husbands when they are loyal
spouses fifty years. Ncry rich and
childless. every evening saw them in
the social swim. but leading there, as
elsewhere, the solemn, ceremOnious,
wourogulatcd. dignfed life of the
old clock in the salon of their stately
Old mansion in the outskirts Of the
BOis de Boulogne.
But-alas, that it should be SOL
transcendent virtues are always cub
lect to thunder-cl9p relapses. One
day, at the house of a diplomatic per-
eonage--a careless parvenu. who open
ed his doors to all sorts Of arts and
artistes through an affected democra-
cy--Mme. de Givone made the fatal
encounter. She trembled-sh the
proud distinguished Baronne de Gi.
vone. trembled before comic singer,
ihe vulgar star of cafe concert hall.
He had come there, poor devil, to
earn louis and his supper, without a
thought of terminating goddesses OF
The Parthenon. and was chiefly con-
uerned, while chirping out his "inimi.
.able limitations" by a suddenly dis.
covered slit that striped with white
.le sooty black of his coat under the
grm, and the necessity for keeping his
hand clasped over his heart to hide
me fiery stroke of an unpaid laun.
t'res's iron, which spread itself out
l.. brownish tint upon an otherwise
snowy shirtfront.
The physique Of this singer Of comic
hitties perfectly corresponded with his
nmploym thick-lipped,
nose like ducks bill, awkward in
gait, and with only the knowledge Of
making a stage-bow fairly well-an
ungainliness, all the same, that mat
tered little; Nine. de Givone was
caught by the epidemic that at times
seizes all too-perfect women of vague
ly defined years.
She believed that she loved Caesar
lbes, and fell upon him, like bolt
from clear sky, with all the notes,
flowers, invitations, ct cetera, that
women of the great world employ in
such cases as barometers so to speak,
of the condition of their affections.
Caesar did not, however. return this
love, though touched a little, of course,
like all amiable animals to whom,
through an impulse of pity one speaks
caressingly as one passes. He did not
love her; and when she called him
the ray of sunlight in the autumn of
her life" instead of telling him, as she
might have done, of his "ininitable
tones" dull dislike rose up in his
heart against her.
Caesar Ibes was not rich, either;
uerminie bankrupted him in cabs en-.
gagged by the hour, and actually dared
10 offer him on his birthday a cigar
case embroidered by her slim Greek
fingers, when he would have infinitely
preferred to the work of the needle a
diamond scarf-pin, or even a good
imitation diamond, provided the
mounting was not too sham.
Still one can taste little Of love
and not become a drunkard. Caesar,
not knowing what else TO do, permit
ted himself to go on being loved and
being ruined by cab hire, in obedi-
ence to the will of the goddess, who
made of this prosalc and useful vehi-
Gle their regular and not too comprom.
Using trysting-place.
1t went on thus-well really, 1t does
not matter how long-when. one
morning at the breakfast-table, VI. de
Givone, with frowning brow, announc
ed a sudden departure, possibly a
weeks absence, and a call to Lyons
on a serious banking errand.
Herminie saw him set out with the
Joy of an emancipated schoolgirl. and
promptly dispatched a note to hel
dear friend" to call upon her that
coming evening, closing with drec
tons as to finding the servants stair
way.
"My husband deceives me-" she de
clared: 81 am sure that he deceives
me, because he has grown so cold to
me of late. This voyage is but a pre-
IN inin