Daily capital journal. (Salem, Oregon) 1903-1919, 1918-04-11

WrlnkIln0 her nose like q rabbit to help
her think.
And her affected little mannerisms of
gram. I smoothed it out, and read:
"The bunch are to come up for sup
per. Join US. IT was dated the night
before and signed, ~. c."
I Immediately thought of what Mr..
Carpenter had said to George when I
lunched with George at the Elite res
~taurant about "The Bunch; it must
be some of that crowd with whom
George had been so intimate, before
I knew and married him. But who could
have sent it? Then, all suddenly, the
thought Of that gay widow, Julia Collins
came to me. 1t must be she. But I had
heard so much of "good form" of what
was au fat in polite society, and what
was not, that I could but wonder at
her lack of good taste-or so it seem
ed to me-in inviting a married man to
an affair. and in ignoring his wife. At
home such a thing was unknown.
That George had paid no attention to
the summons, that he had not joined the
"bunch" was comforting, until I re-
membered how often he remained out
without my knowing ANYTHING about
where he was. He probably had spent
his time with this crowd-some of
whom T had met, none of whom I cared
for in the least. My happiness in the
success of my dinner of the night be-
fore, was elouded with the suspicion,
and it was in a verv different spirit
that I laid the clothes ready, forgetting
TO look further for anything George
might have left in the pockets.
The Message Is Destroyed.
I tore up the message, then immed-
lately wished I hadn It. Had I not, I
might have handed it to George and
he possibly would have talked with me
about it. No. L would say nothing about
it. That, I was sure, would be Mrs.
Sexton's advice; and, strangely enough
l wanted her approval.
Not that my feelings toward her had
radically changed; | still resented the
fact that she had been hired to teach
me in my duties-me, a married wom-
an. Yet she had proved herself right
so often, and her REAL HELP with
my dinner had been so kindly given,
that I had now a certain respect for
her, her opinion, that insensibly influ-
enced my thoughts of her.
1 burned the scraps, and tried to think
no more about it. But either because I
was weak, or because I was too young
to have yet learned to control vagrant
thoughts, I could not wholly dismiss the
matter. Even when Evelyn came over
to talk about my dinner, it still obtrud-
ed.
Evelyn Is Enthusiastic.
"It was wonderful Simply wonder
full I had a heavenly time. So did all
the rest. And didn't everything look
lovely9 Really, Helen, l don't think
there's a person in Moreland could have
done any better, and in some things
not so well. I had luncheon with Hurts
mother. J Just can t call her ~"mother''
it sticks in my throat. Not that 1 do
not like her; but she is so dignified and
cold, not ''motheryp a bit. But she
was quite nice today. She thawed out
considerably while I told of your love-
ly decorations, and the menu. And you
should have seen her when I told her
that Merton Gray painted your place
cards. Her face was a study in express
sion. I can tell you. I had to promise
to take ours over for her to look at.
I'm sure she will ask him to do some
for her, at her next dinner, and if he
refuses I don I know what she viii do. -
"I am afraid he will refuse. You
know he gave me mine"
"Yes-that is part of the wonder.
He gets perfectly fabulous prices, you
know"
"I'm going to frame mine, and
Georges too" 7 told her.
ga good idea. I'll frame ours. We II
go together and get some dainty frames
for Them Then:.
Evelyn Adnires George.
"Your husband looked stunning.
should think you'd be awfully proud
of him. He is an awfully handsome
man. And in that costume he was ire
sistible.n
Gle did look wen, didn 7 he"
81 should sav he did. June Lawson
raved about him all the way home,
and Olive Rivers said she never had
danced with such a fascinating dancer
and that he talked as well as he dane
ed.v
After Evelyn left, I recalled what she
had said, and it gave me quite a thrill
of pleasure to know that George had
thought my guests worth talking to. ]
knew how well he could talk-if he
wanted to.
Tomorrow Contretemps)