Maryland independent. [volume] (Port Tobacco, Md.) 1874-current, 1911-02-24

AhN ~ AZ Jouh ucdrt 70 grant IL 10
me-"
The uncle knit his brow, and my
wife waited to hear more.
Il have taken upon myself" | said,
"a condition that will doubtless pre-
vent me from marrying a real wife
for a long while to come, and few
girls care to marry a divorced man.
| have done this to assure to you a
fortune. 1t seems to me that the re-
ward l ask. though to me It will serve
as pleasant memory connected with
this episode, will not be much for you
to grant. l ask one kiss from my pro-
visional bride"
Her uncle made step forward to
interfere. My wife stood for a mo-
ment irresolute. with her eyes fixed on
the door, then slowly turned her face
toward me. The movement was all
asked for. l bent forward and bare
ly touched her lips with mine.
l turned my eyes from my bride to
Mfr. Marbury and saw on his face an
expression Of satisfaction. Then for
the first time 1t occurred to me that in
his mind there had been something
more than making me a mere legal
husband and that he was well pleased
with the manner In which l had ac-
quilted myself. Without another word
to any one. without a glance at my
wife, ! went out Of the room and,
seating myself at my desk, dived again
into my law books.
A year passed. at the end Of which
received a letter from my wife. 1t
began Dear Sir and ended Yours
truly" 1t said that in the matter Of
our bargain marriage she had placed
herself in the hands OF others, since
she knew nothing Of law or the fulfill.
ment of 1t. with a view to inheriting
an estate. She was now In possession
of her property and was of age. She
intended to manage the rest Of the
matter connecting her with me her
self. There was now nothing in the
way OF getting the divorce, and she
would be pleased to see me with re
gard to the obtaining OF decree
Above all things. she desired to worl
in harmony with me, since she ho,
been informed that the matter coull
be thus far more satisfactorily han
died. From what little she had seer
of me she felt assured that was {
gentleman and would not stand In hel
way in becoming free woman.
However we define love, its begin
ming is indefinable A man, fancy
free, may propose TO a girl who is
fancy free on the ground that she is
not displeasing to him and their mar
riage will be an advantage. II she is
accepted his feelings will go out to her
as naturally as the tendrils of a vine
and hers will advance to meet them.
| attribute to this fact my coming to
love the girl l had married, and rea-
soned that If she had been at the time
of our marriage and had remained
fancy free 1t was quite possible that
something more than an ordinary in
terest In me might have been growing
up In her. But | realized that our
parts were reversed. l must be court
ed; she must do the courting. Any
indication that | hoped to make our
marriage a real one would be fatal to
hopes l might have Of doing SO.
l replied to her letter that she was
at liberty to take any steps her law
yers might advise to secure a decree.
All asked was that might be put to
as little Inconvenience as possible, for
my time was taken up In preparing
for my examination for admission to
the bar. did not refer to her sugges-
ton for meeting.
She replied that, considering the
fact that she was under an obligation
to me for a favor, she desired an op-
portunity Of thanking me personally
therefor and on no account would she
take steps for the divorce without my
approval of the plan to be adopted. To
hit upon a plan to which would give
my willing assent would require an
interview.
So called to see her One thing
noticed especially She was dressed
in a very becoming costume. Since
could not make myself look beautiful,
whatever | might wear. concluded to
put on something besides clothes.
something that finds great favor with
women. l displayed all the Difference
| could assume.
She could not conceal from me the
fact that stood in the position Of
something more than a mere legal
dummy. Nevertheless she tried to.
She outlined several plans her lawyers
had sketched out for her by which the
divorce might be obtained. but | OBJ
jected to all OF them on the ground
that they might reflect upon her.
insisted upon assuming all the obloquy
myself. But when it came to pointing
out exactly how ] was to do this
failed. knew enough law to suggest
the different methods that might be
used, but l had not been studying my
profession for the purpose of enabling
a woman to divorce me. especially one
from whom l had no desire to be di-
vorced The consequence was that
after a conference lasting two hours
left her without our having made any
hc1UNos
l had many conferences with my
wife on the subject OF our divorce
without finding a satisfactory plan. At
last one evening when we were de
batting the matter at the door. Just be-
fore my departure, in At OF absent
mindedness | kissed her. She must
have been equally absentminded, for
she received the kiss as matter Of
course. not stopping in what she was
saying.
Suddenly It occurred to both Of us
that we had given and received a
marital kiss.
That ended the talk about divorce.
Since II was raining hard | concluded
not to go home till the rain let up
BIT never went home at all.