The Richmond palladium and sun-telegram. [volume] (Richmond, Ind.) 1907-1939, 1915-12-28
THE
UNCHASTENED
WOMAN

Lightly the door swung to after the
departing guests. Hildegarde stood
alone in the stiffness Of the white
room, which seemed thronged by all
the movement OF changing situation It
had known during the past hours.
Outside, the hum Of tenement life,
forced itself into Hildegarde's con-
sctousness. A baby's shrill whinin,:
cries seemed to knock for admittancs
at the door Of her already crowded
mind. The sounds of street hawken 8
crying their wares, the shouts of chill
dren at play, the inharmonious melod y
Of a hurdy-gurdy, the hoarse Changer
Of uncultured voices seemed to force
themselves up into the room where
lately Caroline Knolys' we'll modulat'ad
coldly overbred voice had uttered its
cruel lesson in life.
:. The world seemed pressing in on
Hildegrade, forcing her into a correr
where the burden of all the squa7Dr
about her overmastered her. And cut
in a realm beyond--a realm of culture
and beauty--was the other woman
the woman for whom Lawrence might
have cared If fealty to his wife had
not held him.
'HiIdegrade Feels
Drab and Unattraetive
Hildegarde felt suddenly drab and
unattractive. She wondered why LEW
renee had ever cared for her: how he
could not care for her after seeing SO
much of charm and beauty quite for
eign to her work day world and ma
ture.
About her swung the hubbub of pow
Crty. Il had never seemed desuate
and arid hefore-never before. But
now. when her own life seemed bar
rem. the circumstances in which it was
set became hideously uncomfortable. If
she had lost Lawrence, she wondered
how she could bear it.
And then suddenly, more horrible
than all. became the uncertainty as to
whether or no she had lost him. She
led not TO doubt. not to suspect
ind all the while cold fear was grip
ping her heart.
If Lawrence were SO easily lost, had
she ever really possessed him? And
:hcr, with a new doubt---the doubt of
the sincerity Of what had once seemed
SO wonderful to her--her pain became
even more terrible. She began ren,Cn,-
bering the glory of loye-that had Cnce
been hers: aud she tortured herCclt
with wonder as TO how she WOul0 sc
en- without 1t.
She sat in the Stiffness OF the room
which the slanting rays of pale af'eT-
noon sunlight were lighting. And moth
ing in ell the world seemed real to
IIildeoarde Sanbury. The telephone
began TO ring, but that meant nothing
10 her tortured consciousness. It was
Just part of all the hideOus noise in
the suuald world in which she lived.
The steady repetition of the peal Of the
bell focused at last on her conscious
ness.
She staggered over to the little oak
en- stand on which the telephone
stood and sinking into the chair be-
fore it she lifted the receiver mechan-
ically and replied in voice that
sounded cold and dead, for the fires
banked beneath It.
"Yes-this is Ms. Sanbury-who is
this . oh. Miss Ambie-yes-Mrs
Knolys has just left quite under
stand good bye"
Then suddenly the GOODNESS of her
voice vanished and in its place came
sudden desperate heat. Emotion is
not a stationary and steady thing. and
because Hildegarde had conquered her
first feeling did not mean that she
was to be saved from dealing with
others equally as torturing.
Walt! Hello! Is Mr.. Sanbury still