The Washington times. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1902-1939, 1918-06-16

Hyeres. with a semiinvalid, hospital
nurse and quantities of medicine bottles
and neutrality-suspicious. is not the ideal
place one reads of in guide-books. Theo,
dora grew to hate the sky and the blue
Mediterranean. She used to SIT on her
balcony at Costebelle and gaze at the olive.
trees, and the deep-green velvet patch Of
frs beyond, toward the sea, and wonder
at life
She longed to go to the islands any.
where beyond-and one day she read Jean
d'Agreve"; and after that she wondered
what Love was. It took a mighty hold
upon her Imagination. It seemed to her
it must mean Life.
1t was the beginning OF May before
Josiah Brown thought Of leaving for Paris.
England would be their destination. but
the doctors assured him a month Of Paris
would break the change Of climate with
more safety than II they crossed the
Channel at once
Costebelle was a fairyland of roses as
they drove to the station, and peace had
descended upon Theodore. She had fallen
into her place, a place occupied by many
wives before her with irritable, hypo.
chondrical husbands.
She had often been to Paris in her maid
en- days. she knew IT from the point of
view Of a cheap boarding house and
snatched meals. But the, unchecked
gayety Of the air had not been furnished
by that She had played in the Tuilleries
Gardens and watched Ponchinello at the
Rond Point, and later been taken once or
twice to dine at a cheap cafe in the Bots
by papa. And once she had gone to Rob
inson on a coach with him and some arts
tOcratic acquaintance Of his, and eaten
luncheon up the tree, and that was a day
Of the gods and to be remembered
But noT they were going to an ex.
pensive, well-managed private hotel IN the
Avenue du Bots, suitable to invallds, and
II poured Sith rain as they drove from
the Care de Lyon.
All this time something in Theodore was
developing. Her beautiful face had an
air Of dignity. The set of her little Greek
head would have driven a sculptor wild
and Josiah Brown was very generous in
money matters, and she had always known
how to wear her clothes. so It was no
wonder people stopped and turned their
heads when she passed
Josiah Brown possessed certainly not
less than forty thousand year, and 50 felt
he could AFFORD a carriage in Paris and any
other fancy he pleased His nerves had
been too shaken by his illness to appreci-
ate the Joys Of an automobile
Thus daily might be seen in the Avenue
des Aeaciss this ill-assorted pair, seated in
a smart victoria with stepping horses, driv-
ing slowly up and down. And a number of
people took an interest in them.
Toward the middle of May Captain FitS-
gerald arrived at the Continental, and
Theodore felt her heart beat with Joy when
she saw his handsome. well-grOomed head
Oh. yes, It had been indeed worth while to
make papa look 30 prosperous as that-so
and happy-deaT, gay papa!
He was about the same age as her hus-
band. but no one would think OF taking him
for more than forty. And what a figure he
had! And what manners! And when he
patted her cheek Theodore felt at once that
thrill of pride and qualification she had al.
ways experienced when he was pleased
with her. from her youngest days. She was
almost glad Sarah and Clementine should
have remained at Dieppe. Thus she could
have papa all to herself, and oh, what pres
ents she would send them back by him
when he returned
Josiah Brown despised Dominic Fitzger-
AID and yet stood in awe OF him as well.
4 man who could spend a fortune and be
content to live on odds and ends for the
rest Of his life must be a poor creature.
But on the other hand, there was that I'M
comfortable sense of breeding about him
which once when Captain Fitzgerald had
isen to a situation Of Dignity during their
conversations about TheO-
iora's hand, had made Josiah Brown I'M
say Sir" to him
He had bluEhed and bitten his tongue TOT
ioing it, and had clustered and patronized
afterward but he never for
got the incident They were not birds Of
Gather and never would be, though the
exquisite manners Of Dominic Fitzgerald
.ould carry any situation.
Josiah was pot altogether pleased to see
IFS father-inlaw He even experienced a
title jealousy. Theodora's face. which gen