The Meridian times. (Meridian, Idaho) 1909-1938, 1917-08-31

| to DO, R0doy, Ill come Dack TO Jnl-
cago for good"
"Give up your business, you mean?"
| he asked quickly.
She nodded. at can't be done out
! there" she said. "All the big produc-
tions that there's any money in are
made in New York. I'll come back
and just be your wife. I'll keep your
house and mother the children, and
maintain your status, If you don't
think I'm spoiled for that"
That last phrase though, was said
with smile, which he answered with
one of his own. But with an instant
return to seriousness, he said: 1--WE
not asked that Rose. wouldn't dream
of asking it,
There's real job there" she per-
| sisted "just In being successfully the
wife of a successful man. | can see
that now. / never saw It when 1t was
my job. Hardly caught glimpse of 1t.
didn't even see my bills; let you
pay them down at the office, with all
your own work that you had to do"
ut wasn't me-" he said. ut was
Miss Beach,"
She stared at that and gave a short
laugh. IF I'd known that !"
she said. Then she came back to the
point. "It is real job, and think
could learn to do 1t pretty well.
And of course wife's the only person
who can do 1t properly"
Still he shook his head. But he
hadn't, as yet, any reasoned answer to
make, except as before, that 1t
wouldn't work.
"What will work, thenT she asked
And this he couldn't answer.
We've just got to go ahead" he
said at last, "and see what happens.
Perhaps you can work 1t out so that
you can do part of your work at home.
We could move the nursery and give
you Florence's old studio. And then
1t would do IL you only came down
here for your two big seasons-fall
and spring."
"That doesn't seem fair to you" she
protested. "You deserve a real wife,
Roddy; not somebody dashing In and
dashing out"
81 don't deserve anything / can't
get" he said. I'D rather have part
interest in you than to possess, lock,
stock and barrel, any other woman
can think of
She came back to him again and
settled in his arms. "a man told me-
she said, "John Galbraith told me that
he couldn't be a woman's friend and
her lover at the same time, any more
than steel spring could be made soft
so that it would bend in your fingers,
like copper and still be spring He
said that was true of him, anyway, and
he felt sure it was true of nine men out
of a dozen. Do you think it's truel
Have we got to decide which we'll
be?"
J 'We can't decide" he said with ar
impatient laugh. That's just what
? I've been telling you. We've got tc
take what we can get. We've got tt
: work out the relation between our
4 selves that is our relation-the Rose
] and Rodney relation. It'll probably
be a little different from any other
: There'll be friendship in it, and there'l
: be love in it. Imagine our deciding
I that we wouldn't be lovers! But
i guess that what Galbraith said wa,
/ true to this extent: that each of thos,
will be more or less at the expens,
of the other. 1t won't spring quite 81
/. well, and it will bend a little"
!. After while he said: Here's wha
, we've got to build on: Whatever elst
e 1t may or may not be, this relation be
r tween us is permanent thing. We've
1 lived with each other and without eacl
E other, and we know which we want
I If we find it has its limitations ant
: drawbacks, we needn't worry. Just G,
0 ahead and make the best of it W,
d can. There's no law that decree
n We've got to be happy. When we ar
Z, happy it'll be so much to the good
9 And when we aren't -
She gave contented little laugl
7. and cuddled closer down against him
e you talk like Solomon in all his SO
e lemnity," she said. "But you can
imagine that we're going to be III
s happy. Really?"
2 His answer was that perhaps h
s couldn't imagine 1t, but that he kneN
IS it, just the same. seven an ordinar
e marriage isn't any too easy; a maj
il riage, mean, where it's quite well III
It derstood which of the parties to !
:" shall always submit to the other, an
4 which of them is the important on
l. who's always to have the right of way
10 There's generally something perfect
d unacceptable that decides that ques
IS ton. But with us there isn't So til
II question who's got to give in will hav
X to be decided on its merits every tim
IS a difference arises" She burlesqued
II look of extreme apprehension. Sh
was deeply and utterly content wit
q life just then. But he wouldn't be d
n verified. There's another reason" b
10 went on. "Fve notion that the thin
ID we're after is about the finest thin
IF there is. If that's so, Wen have t
y pay for it in one way or another. Bu