The Parisian. (Paris, Tenn.) 1907-1962, 1915-01-22
CHAPTER LIv.
The Wife


In charge of Alan.
He remained as he had been ever
since the falling Of the thunderbolt-
in absolute coma.
But he lived, and-or the physicians
lied-must soon regain consciousness.
Kneeling beside his bedside Judith
prayed long and earnestly.
When she arose 1t was to answer
tap upon the door. She admitted
Tom Barcus and suffered him to lead
her into the recess of the window,
where they conversed In guarded
tones in spite of the fact that the
subject of their communications could
not possibly have heard them
I've come to tell you something"
Barcus announced with characteristic
awkwardness i've known 1T for
three days-ever since the wedding,
in fact-and kept 1t to myself, not
knowing whether I ought to tell you
yet or not"
He paused, cycling her uncertainty,
unhappily.
II am prepared" Judith assured
him calmly.
You're nothing of the sort" he
countered, argumentative. "You
couldn't be. It's the most amazing
thing imaginable. See here :"
"Well?"
You understand, don't you, that
Alan must never know that Rose was
killed by that lightning stroke?"
What do you mean?"
Il mean," the man fioundered mis-
erably, you see, he loved her SOL
thought-Pm sure 1t would be best
II you can bring yourself to ito let
him go on believing 1t wasn't Rose
who was killed, but Judith. And that's
skating so close to the truth that it
makes no difference: the Judith Alan
knew and the Judith | knew in the
beginning is gone as completely as
though she and not Rose had been
killed"
After long pause, the girl asked
him quietly: II understand But is
1t possible you don't understand that,
If | were to consent to this PROPOSE
ton, lend myself to a deception which
| must maintain through all my life
to COMEDIAN would consider me his
wife?"
We'll, but-you see--you are his
wife. Oh, don't think I'm off my
bat. Pm telling you the plain, unvar-
nished truth. You are Alan's wife.
No, listen to me. You remem-
Der that day in New York when you
substituted for Rose, when Alan tried
to elope with her, and you went with
him to Jersey City, and stood up to be
married by a preacher-guy named
Wright-and Marrophat broke in Just
at the critical moment and busted up
the party?"
'Well?" she demanded breathlessly.
Barcus produced a folded yellow pa
per from his coat pocket and prof
fered 1t.
Read that. 1t was handed to me
as best man, just before the cere-
mony. Seeing it was addressed to
Alan and knowing he was in no frame
of mind to be bothered by kilograms,
slipped 1t into my pocket and forgot
all about 1t temporarily. When l
came to find 1t, l took the liberty of
reading it. But read 1t for yourself"
The typewriter lines of the long
message blurred and ran together al
most indecipherably in Judiths vision.
None the less, she contrived to grasp
the substance Of its meaning.
WHY DIDN'T YOU WIRE ME-
SOONER" 1t ran: MARRIAGE TO
ROSE IMPOSSIBLE. REV. MR..
WRIGHT INFORMED ME- YOUR
MARRIAGE TO JUDITH LAST
WEEK HAD GONE TOO FAR WHEN
MARROPHAT INTERRUPTED. JU-
DITH LEGALLY YOUR WIFE.
WOULD HAVE ADVISED YOU
SOONER HAD YOU LET NE KNOW
WHERE TO ADDRESS YOU. HOPE
TO HEAVEN THIS GETS TO YOU
BEFORE TOO LATE"
The message was signed with the
name of Alan's confidential man of
business in New York.
When Judith looked up she was
alone In the room, but for the silen.
! patient on his couch.
Slowly, almost fearfully. she crept
to his bedside and stood looking down
into the face of her husband.
And while she looked Alan's lashes
fiuttered, his respiration quickened, a
faint color crept into his pallid cheeks
and his eyes opened wide and
looked into hers.
His lips moved and breathed word
of recognition:
Judith"
With low cry Of tenderness, the
girl sank to her knees and encircled
his head with her arms.
Judith" she whispered, hiding her
face in his bosom. Judith is no
more
A pause; and then the feeble voice:
Then, If l was mistaken, II you
aren't Judith, you must be Rose-my
wife!"
She said steadily: T am your wife"
His hands fumbled with her face,
closed upon her cheeks, lifted her
head until her eyes must look into
| his
And for many minutes he held her
so, looking deep into the soul of the