Meade County news., 1917-09-06

there" she said. Gan the big produe-
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, II 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: "Ive
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. 1 can SEQ
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 ONCE, 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 I"
she said. Then she came back to the
point. ut is a real Job, and I think
I 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 It
wouldn't work.
"What will work, then2" 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 If you only came down
here for your two big seasons-fall
and spring"
"That doesn't seem fair to you" she
protested. "You deserve real wife,
Roddy; not somebody dashing in and
dashing out"
II don't deserve anything I can't
get" he said. 'Td rather have a part
interest In you than to possess, lock,
stock and barrel, any other woman I
can think Of"
She came back to him again and
settled In his arms. "a man told me-"
she said, "John Galbralth 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 1t would bend In your fingers.
like copper, and still be a spring. He
said that was true of him, anyway, and
he felt sure 1t was true Of nine men out
OF dozen. Do you think IT'S trueI
Have we got to decide which wen
ber
1--WE can't decide" he said with an
impatient laugh. "That's Just what
I've been telling you. We've got to
take what we can get. We've got to
work out the relation between our
selves that Is our relatlon-the RoSa
and Rodney relation. It'll probably
be little different from any other.
There'll be friendship in 1t, and there'n
be love in It. Imagine our deciding
that we wouldn't be lOverst But
guess that what Galbralth said was
true to this extent: that each of those
will be more or less at the expense
of the other. It won't spring quite 90
well, and 1t Will bend little"
After while he said ;,"Here's what
we've got to build on: Whatever else
1t may or may not be, this relation be-
tween us is permanent thing. Views
lived with each other and without each
other, and we know which we want
If we find 1t has Its limitations and
drawbacks, we needn't worry. Just 70
ahead and make the best of it we
can. There's no law that DEGREES
we've got to be happy. When we are
happy it'll be so much to the good.
And when we aren't :"
She gave q contented little laugh
and cuddled closer down against him.
"You talk like Solomon in all his so
lemnlty," she said. "But you can't
imagine that we're going to be un.
happy. Reallyf"
His answer was that perhaps he
couldn't imagine 1t, but that he knew
1t, Just the same. "Even an ordinary
marriage isn't any too easy; q mar
riage, mean, where It's quite we'll un-
derstood which of the parties to 1t
shall always submit to the other, and
which Of them is the important ono
who's always to have the right Of way.
There's generally something perfectly
unacceptable that decides that ques-
ton. But with us there Isn't. So the
question who's got to give In will have
to be decided on Its merits every time
difference arises" She burlesqued q
look Of extreme apprehension. She
was deeply and utterly content with
life Just then. But he wouldn't be d.
verted. "There's another reason" he
went on. "Pve a notion that the thing
we're after is about the finest thing
there is. II that's 30, well have to
pay for 1t in one way or another. But
we aren't going to worry about II.
Wen just 60 ahead-and see what
happens"
"Do you remember when you said
that before2" asked Rose. ''You told
me that marriage was an adventure