Daily capital journal. (Salem, Oregon) 1903-1919, 1918-01-31
Margaret CARROTS
Husband
THE BOOK.
CHAPTER CXXIv.
K By JANE PHELPS ;
< \. X X X X 4 X X X x X X :

anu SeHJ one TO Elsie. bod QlQ not come
home to dinner that night, someway
knew he wouldn t. He would stay in
town ana be with the author. L thought
bitterly; not yet having proof that she
was the magnet that helu ann; Out pos
1tlve IN my own mind.
After the children were in bed and
had eaten my lonely dinner, com
menced to read the book. With amaz-
ing cleverness she had depicted my life
wlln Bob. There was no snghteot doubt
in my mind as to wnom she meant. She
had neroized Bob, and in doing 50 had
made him but little less than a martyr
because of me. She called the man,
FGreame," f" and the woman " "Lorraine"
| In the condition [ was in it was har-
rowing to read the tale. L was held up
| to the reader as woman devoid of
feeling, of anything save my phenomen-
al seltishness. She had left her heroine
no shred of goodness, she had stripped
her stark naked of all that the sue
cessful wife and mother possesses. and
and left her sitting in her bones. The
story ended by him leaving his wife
and marrying the woman who had made
up to him for his mistake in marrying
the wrong woman. 1t was fairly SIM
lple story, but its appeal lay in the pow
er with which it had been told. L fin
ished it before l went to bed; then hid |
I it away in the bureau drawer. L would |
not let Bob know l had read it-not !
just yet; although l doubted if he would |
appreciate that L had understood.
But in some way | must find out if
Charlotte Heating were the woman Bob
cared for that all my efforts to win
him went either unnotlced or unknown
Perhaps at the party l was going to give |
for John and Elinor l should be able
to find out. 1 would ask Miss Keating
of course. L could not well leave her
out; it would cause comment if 1 did.
She was invited everywhere by the
crowd, and was evidently a great ia
vorite.
So when / submitted the list of guests
to Bob her name was very near the
top. He approved my selection at once,
only suggesting that I ask Mr.. Lansing
and Mr.. and Mrs. Baldwin.
''They are friends of Elinor' Is and it
would please them to be invited with
the New York crowd,'' he had said and
had acquiesced as l did in all that he
said nowadays. 1 had not included the
Baldwins simply because was afraid
she, with her keen eyes, would see be-
low the surface and know that I was
unhappy because of Bob IS detection.
The night came and with it every
single one of my guests Not one dis
appointed me. And had l any doubts
as to Bob s feeling for Charlotte Keat
ing, the light in his eyes would have
dispelled them.
He greeted her in the same fashion he
had all the others. AS far as his man
ner went there was not shade s diff
ference. But that look in his eyes as
he bent them upon her, tender, caress-
ing, joyous, was not to be mistaken. My /
heart almost stopped beating; my blood
went cold, yet l too greeted her cor
daily. So much had my training of
the last months done for me. In the
face of fear l never until lately had
acknowledged I did not lose my poise.
While paying all necessary attention
to my guests, no word or look of their
escaped me. must know. The suspense
was too hard to bear.
In two months my year of grace would
end. When I thought of how little 1
had accomplished I almost groaned :
aloud. In spite of all I had done all I !,
COULD do, we were further apart than i,
in the beginning, 1 hal started too late. !
realized with a tightening of my i,
throat that had 1 been to Bob in the
first years of our marriage what 1
was now trying to be, companion and
sweetheart, 1 would not have lost him. :
For it was each day coming home to
me more forcibly that l HAD lost him.
That Elsie was mistaken, and he would
go when the year was up. And that
night as I watched him returning to !
Charlotte Heating every few moments; !,
each time with wonderful light in )
his eyes, / realized l had absolutely no
chance-I had had my chance and lost.
Our guests all voted my party great
success; but sOmeway l did not seem to :
care that Bob heard them praise me as
a hostess. What did it matter. Only one
thing mattered. That was the knowledge
that l had failed. Yet even then hope
whispered, "you are not sure, make
him tell you.
Ask him if he loved another. 1 Won
dered if ever l should have the courage,
not to ask, but to listen.
But as the days went by I felt sure
it was the only way. Now he scarcely
ever came home until late. Even Donald
would ask for his daddy. Once l told |
him that the boy was fretting for him.
For days afterward he got up half an
hour earlier each morning and played
with him. But he came home no earlier
at night.
Gle won t rob her of his society,""
thought, "even for his boy" And if
he wouidn t for Donald whom he al
most worshipped why should I expect
him to for met
So matters stood when one Sunday |
afternoon 1 sought him in the library;
a question on which my whole future
happiness depended on my lips.
(Tomorrow-The Question: