The Richmond palladium and sun-telegram. [volume] (Richmond, Ind.) 1907-1939, 1913-10-03
Married Life
the Second Year
BY MABEL HERBERT URNER.

& UNDAY morning-a warm sun
shiny morning with all the soft
ness of spring in the air.
y was the first Sunday of Helen s
visit She had awakened to find the
sun streaming in at her window, and
the room filed with the fragrance of
cherry blossoms. She drew back the
white muslin curtains and looked out
on the old cherry tree that had bios
somed just as prOfusely every spring
since she could remember.
The lilac bush by the fence was al
so in bloom, and a bed of pink and
white hyacinths added their fragrance
70 the air.
Over everything was the lazy peace
and quiet of a village Sunday. At ten.
the stiffness was broken by the ringing
of the church bells. Helen knew the
sounds Of them all--the Baptist, Pres
byterian and Methodist. The faint one
in the distance was the old Roman
Catholic church.
Aunt Mollie insisted on staying
home to take care of Winifred, so that
Helen might go with her father and
mother to church.
AS they went down the walk and
through the front gate, which swung
to after them with the old familiar
click, Helen felt as though she were
living through again a Sunday morn
ing of her girlhood.
Even the narrow boardwalk and the
stepping stones at the crossings were
the same.
Even the narrow boardwalk and the
stepping stones at the crossings were
the same.
The dazzling sunlight filtered
through the vtvid-yellow green of the
maple trees and lay in wavering
splotches on the walk. Now and then
buggy ratified by raising cloud of
dust from the dry dirt road.
Already several buggies and sur
reys were hitched to the white-wash-
ed pailng of the trees before the
church. The horses dropping heads and
slowly switching tails were part of
the whole lazy atmosphere.
Helen paused to glance at the old
graveyard beside the church. There
were a few stones, marked by their
Wilderness among the weather-beaten.
The moss-Covered slab under the will
low tree was her grandmother's. How
often as a child she had wonderingly
read its inscription:
Here lies
The dearly beloved wife of Samuel
David Joyce, who died at the age of
81 in the year Of our Lord 1874.
A faithful wife and a loving mother.
The dearly beloved wife'-that
phrase had different meaning for
Helen now. How much it meant! Had
her grandmother been that-a dear
1y beloved wife" Had her married life
been a happy one? Had her grandfath-
er been tender and gentle, or had he
at times been as coldly Indifferent as
Warren?
She thought of the quaint old du-
guerrotype of her grandfather, stand
ing beside his young wife, who was sit
ting stiffly in a straight-back chair, her
hands primly folded They had looked
very simple and happy.
But even with an imagination as WV
Id as Helen's-it Is difficult to picture
romance in the life of ones grand
parents. And she smiled now at her
own whimsical sentiment.
Inside the church her father led the
way to their family pew.
The carpf< of the aisle and pulpit
was a little more worn. the gilt gilt
tering the same-even the red satin
marker that lay between the leaves
u Tie pdStDT open biDl6.
It was not the same pastor but the
droning monotonous notes Of his voice
were no different from his predeces-
sors.
The hymn, prayer, the announce
ment of the weekly prayer meeting,
and the ladies aid society, the reading
of the text and then began the long
and tedious sermon.
Helen settled herself back in the
pew, her eyes on the nodding flowers
OF a childs hat in the seat before her,
and her mind on Warren.
Where was he this morning? Would
his Sunday be lonesome without her?
Would he go to his mothers for din
lner? Would they speak much of her?
When they asked him about her
what would they say? Oh, if she could
only know just how he would speak
of her. If she could just hear the tones
of his voice when he said Helen" it
would tell her so much.
While the minister droned on, Helen
lived over scene after scene of the last
year of her marriage. Had it been in
her power to have made things differ
ent? That was the maddening ques-
ton which was ever beating in her
mind With another woman--might he
have been more loving? Had she been
colder and more elusive-had she low
ed him less or shown it less-might
he have loved her more?
After the final hymn and benedic-
ton, Helen was surrounded by rela-
lions and friends. They stopped and
talked in the aisle and again out on
the steps Uncle Martin and Cousin
George were invited home with them
to dinner.
AS they walked slowly back. the viii
Iage seemed even more lazy and
sleepy than it had in the morning.
Here and there some one lay in
hammock on the porch or under trees
in the yard. An occasional dog stretch