The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1911-04-08
THE FARMER: APRIL 8. 1911

TIE
an estate somewhere "out West"
where you could really live we'll and
have good time, at about a tenth Of
the cost of their present hotel exist
ence.
She heard him out, and in the end
consented. What else could she do?
She had apparently drawn a matri-
monial blank-a man who could give
her only a very short run for her
money. Her nature was of different
fibre from his. He had an under
layer Of sound tissue below the low Of
pleasure and surface Incidence. She
ris''-fundamentally animal ana
dependent upon creature comforts.
She did not say to herself in so many
words, "I must have luxuries, and
if Lionel cannot provide them, I must
find some man who will But that
was what it all amounted to, in real
ity. He was fond of her. She had
been a very amusing companion, as
long as things went well. The in
herited tradition of long, clean
English ancestry behind him, caused
him to believe that, now the tide had
turned, she would rise to the situa-
ton and help him to work as she
had helped him to play-help him to
earn as she had SO freely helped to
spend.
They went to America together.
And the life suited Lionel we'll. He
knew a. good deal about horses, he
liked fresh air, he was a good mas
ter and a competent workman. The
powers he had wasted in such places
as Monte Carlo and Biarritz came
back to him in the fine climate and
healthy surroundings Of his new life.
But to Mrs. Gladwyn it was living
death. She dropped and pinned, and
grew peevish, so ailing, that he was
half-distracted. He sent her, with
maid, to Colorado Springs, to try
and get her acclimatized, as he said.
She prayed to be sent to England.
He could not afford it The remains
Of his patrimony had been sunk in
the purchase of his pretty estate, and
for him to make her such an allow
ance as would keep her in England
was simply out of the question, quite
apart from his disapproval Of the
idea of separation. She went to Col
orado Springs, and wrote to one of
the men she had known and liked
best in her society days, to come and
relieve her boredom. The result OF
| it was that she returned to England
with this man, Percy Martin.
Those swho had known young Glad
wyn were unprepared for the extent
to which this catastrophe Frustrated
him. His change of fortune had
braced him, had given him a sense
Of responsibility. If his wife could
have reconciled herself to the life, i,
! would have been for him a happy one
| He had thought of coaxing her to be-
| come the mother Of one or two dear
little sons or daughters, whom ne
could teach to ride and row and shoe,
and garden, and who would make the
wilderness a true paradise in the eyes
Of their father.
And now his wife had left him. Be-
cause he could no longer supply her
with the creature comforts and lux
uries which she craved, she had gone
away and left him disgraced, miser-
| able, alone.
'I never gave her rough word, >
he said in a dazed kind of way.
| OF course, she put it on the usual
modern grounds-the plea of irresis'
tible passion. But even Lionel had
sense to see through that. She was
not that kind of woman. "She thinks
Martin can do her better than car
now" he bitterly remarked; and n
that sentence summed up his wife's
motives justly and completely.
| It was just at this point of his ca.
reer that he fell in with Mr.. Wilmot
The estate he had bought had become
| odious to him, and under the ad-
vice of his new friend he sold it, and
| came to live with him The English
air of comfort and good manage
ment which pervaded everything II
| the Wilmot household was soothing
to his lacerated affections. He be-
came very fond Of the little English
girl, whose father was almost conf
cally careful of the purity of her &C
cent, and pleased that ,she should
have an English play-fellow.
| Time by very slow degrees lessen
ed the smart of his wound.
There had been no divorce. To tht
simple-minded Lionei, his wife's de
sertion of him had had in it some
thing SO cold blooded as to harder
his heart against her. He had full,
expected her to write and appeal tt
him to set her free, but no such let
ter arrived. In the isolation Of hi:
remote life, he heard no news-nc
news of any kind. He still remained
the legal husband of the woman who
sold herself to the higher bidder.