Atlanta Georgian. [volume] (Atlanta, Ga.) 1912-1939, 1914-03-12
THE WOMAN THOU
GAVEST ME; R By HALL GAME
The Greatest Story of the Twentieth Century

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young bride approach the home Of
her husband with less curiosity, but
as our motor ear toiled up the drive
| could not help seeing the neglected
condition Of the hand, with boughs Of
trees lying where they had fallen in
the storms, as well as broken gates
half off their hinges and swinging to
the wind.
The house itself, when we came IN
sight of it, was a large castelated
building with pany lesser turrets and
one lofty Sbnal tower, covered en-
tirely with ivy, which, being appar-
emily unshorn for years, hung in long
trailers down the walls, and gave the
whole pile the appearance Of a huge
moss covered rock of the sea planted
on promontory of the land.
Neglect and Decay.
As our car went numbering up to
the great hall door nearly the whole
of the servants and some of the ten
ant farmers (under the direction Of
the tall, sallow man who had been my
husbands guardian in former days,
and was now his steward were walt
ing to welcome us. as we'll as Lady
Margaret ADselm who was still re-
served and naughty in her manner,
though pleasant enough with me.
My husband nodded to all, shook
hands with some, presented Alma to
his aunt as "one of Mary's old school
friends Ga designation which. as
could see. had gone ahead of herr, and
then we passed into the house.
found the inside cores pended
with the outside in its appearance of
neglect and decay, the big square hall
having rusty and disjointed armor
on its wainsoted walls and the mark
of water on the floor, which had come
from glass dome over the well of
the stairs, for il had rained while we
on the sea
The drawing room had faded cur
tains over the windows. faded Vel
vet on the square sofa and stiff
chairs, faded carpets, faded samplers
and faded embroidery on faded
screens.
The dining room (the sedate origi
nal of my fathers rather garlsh copy)
was a paneled chamber, hung round
with rubicund portraits of the male
O'Neills from the early ones of the
family who had been LORDS OF Elan
down to the bad Lord Raa,' who
had sworn at my grandmother on The
high road.
felt as il no woman could have
made her home here for at Least a
hundred years, and thought the gem
eral atmosphere of the house was that
of the days when spendthrift noble
men, making the island a refuge from
debt spent their days in gambling
and their nights in drinking bumpers
from bowls of whisky punch 10 the
nameless beauties they had left in
town
They were all gone, all dead as the
wood Of the worm eaten Wainscot-
ing. but the sound of their noisy
merrymaking seemed to cling to tn
rafters still, and as went up to my
rooms the broad oaken stairca Sc
seemed to be Creaking> under then
drunken footsteps
My own apartments, to which Lady
Margaret conducted me, were on the
southern side of the house-a rather
stuffy bedroom with walls covered b,
a kind of pleated chintz, and a bou-
doir with a stone balcony that had q
hight Of steps going down to a ter.
race of the garden. which overlooked
a glen and had far view of the sea
on the opposite side of the landiny
outside (Which was not immediateh
off the great staircase though opei
to the view of it) there was a similar
suite Of rooms which thought nigh
be my husbands. but | was told they
were kept for a guest
On the Balcony.
Being left alone | had taken off m,
outer things and was standing on The
balcony, listening to the dull hum o.
the water in the glen, the rustic OF
tho oh he 81 /.
sea on he rocks below, the Creakine
of rusty weathercock and the strik-
ing of a courtyard clock, when | also
heard the toot and throb of another
motor car, and as soon as il came ur
| saw that il Cntained Aunt Bridget
in he half-moon bonnet and Betsy
Beauty, who was looking more than
ever like a country belle
When I went down to the drawing
room Lady Margaret was pouring out
tea for them, and at sight of them
Aunt Bridget cried
"Sakes alive, here she is herself"
But how pale and pinched and
thin said Betsy Beauty
Nonsense. girl. that's only nat
ural,' said my Aunt Bridget, with
something like wink; and then she
went on TO say that she had Just
been telling her ladyship that If felt
lonely auG a little helpless on first
coming home Betsy would be pleased
to visit me
Before could reply my husband
came in, followed shortly by Alma.
who was presented as before. as
"Marys old schol fellow" and then,
while Betsy talked to Alma and my
husband to his kinswoman Aunt
Bridget, in an undertone, addressed
herself to me
You're that way, aren't you?
,... No? Goodness me, girl, your
father will be disappointed
Just then a third motor car came
sy. who was standing by the window.
cried;
Its Uncle Daniel with Mr. Curley
and Messy
Messy. of course" said Aunt
Bridget grumpily. and then she told
me in a confidential whisper that she
was much-injured woman in re-
gard to that ungrateful stepdaugh-
ter, who was making her understand
the words of Scripture about the pang
that was sharper than a serpents
tooth.
As the newcomers entered I saw
Messy had developed an old maids
idea of smartness, and that my "a =
theirs lawyer was more than ever like
an over-fatted fish; but my father
himself teNCept that his hair was
whiter) was the same man still with
the same heavy step. thessame loud
voice and the same tempestuous
gayety.
An here? Good Glad to be