Atlanta semi-weekly journal. (Atlanta, Ga.) 1898-1920, 1917-07-10

| CHAPTER Ii.
| TN HAT night after dinner l COM
menced to talk to Robert as l
! - had planned l begged him to
give me his confidence, citing the att
ernoons experience as a very good rea-
son. | told him of Mrs. Mulhany. how
she said that he had told Tim of his
success in having Mrs. Lawson's case
| ried before referee; and how chagrined
| [ was because ] knew nothing of 1T. He
| listened quietly, never once speaking
| Lutil ] had finished Then he said:
Margaret, you may as we'll get the
idea 6ut of your head that | will talk
| BUSINESS with you. | shall never bring
my office home; nor discuss my clients
or their affairs with any one, not even
with you"
But you do" l exclaimed. Others
| know things of which l, your wife.
I'm ignorant"
THAT is as it may be. Whatever the
| .ublic knows, whatever is published, you
re at liberty to read and know, as are
U others. But otherwise the affairs of my
| office, my clients are not subjects for
| discussion"
| have often wondered if Robert could
| by any possibility have known how his
| zones Of finality when we were discuss
| ng anything affected me. would he have
I altered his manner AS usual the calm,
| determined tone in which he spoke
| showed me plainly that he would make
no change in his treatment of me; that
| | was to know nothing of him or his
business affairs save what others told
me, or l found out by spying. My
cheeks flushed as | thought of the only
time ever had stopped to that, yet I'M
| consciously ! registered a determination
| n IN in Yafln fhnn TN hn hint
out from my husbands life, rather than
not to know.
! | wonder If any one can understand
| the complex emotions which swayed me
at this time. | was young, full of life,
dissatisfied. l had married the man of
my choice For the first time our
finances were in a prosperous condition.
my Homework. which l still hated. was
made easy for me; yet, because of my
| innate jealousy, the feeling that l was
neglected, perhaps for some other wom-
an, ! was miserable.
often when Robert was out / would
go to bed as he wished, only to toss
and tumble, sleepless, for hours. I
would clench my hands. and declare
over and over that l wouldn't stand 1t,
only to get up In the morning and go
| through the days routine just as I had
the day before. and just as 1 would
| an the udyS TO come dILer.
| l had heard that sometimes men beat
| their wives. ! wondered how it would
seem to feel that Robert cared enough
to beat me. OF course, I knew such
thoughts were ridiculous; yet they often
required. Then. too, / felt sometimes
that Robert was not truthful with me:
not realizing that If he were not it was
my fault.
Robert. as l have said, abhorred w.
| ing. Decent men as rule do. They
seldom lie to each other: but I found
out that they often did lie to their
wives. The reason of this I suppose is
because the average woman is so con-
| stituted that she cannot stand the
| truth: that is, she will nag and find
fault If told the truth. Really I believe
| the ordinary, the usual, woman, would
prefer that a man lie tc her, even
| when she knows he is lying, rather
than have him tell her an unpalatable
| truth. 1t is the wife who makes an
Ananias of her husband.
| I think at this time that Robert and
| ! were playing at cross purposes. he
wrapped up in his profession, I unhap-
Ply because of fancied neglect where
none was intended. So we two lived
| together, and because each was an in
dividual, wrapped in a shell. Neither
could realize how great were the
product of a nature readiusted to GER
tain conditions of environment. Each
had reacted to the changes, and neith-
err had quite sensed the fact
Robert was engrossed in his bust
ness. 1t seemed that all I had was an
empty heart, loneliness, and q great
yearning for the expression of some
thing-love, perhaps and always the
| children.
! So now at the end of our talk, which
ended as all other had ended. by his
| having his own way, not conceding
anything, l stood off and looked at him
with a certain detachment ] felt his
complete absorption in himself and his
faith in that self, in his ultimate sue
| cess. But what of me?
| | knew instinctively that any emo
tional expression of my inner feelings
would be repugnant to Robert, so
controlled them. and said in a tone I
might have used about any small mat
ter:
80 l am to know nothing of what
interests your"
"In so far as business goes. no."
VERY well. I shall never ask again
for your confidence" l replied and
commenced to talk about the coming
marriage of Holland Lansing and Tod
Freeman.
"They should be very happy" | OBJ
served "They have loads of money
| Money does not always means hap
! piness" Robert sententiously answered.
! NO perhaps not. But 'oftentimes
the lack of it means unhappiness," I
retorted.
Speaking of money, dear, can you
get time to look at that lot on the cor
ner of Hampton and Gardner streets
tomorrow? / have made an offer for
it. If they accept l shall build. We
have rather outgrown these quarters,
and if | get it, it will be bargain"
Yves, I'll look at it, l replied, won
dering why he thought it necessary.
Evidently he had already decided, and
once more without consulting me.
CHAPTER LII.
TIME day of the wedding came. 1t
/ was a lovely winters day, and If
- Happy is the bride the sun
shines on means anything. Holland
Lansing should have been gloriously
happy
1t was a quiet wedding. Neither Tod
nor Holland had any Immediately rela-
tives Myrtle gave a small reception
afterward. Then the newly married pair
I took the night train for San Francisco,