The Pensacola journal. (Pensacola, Fla.) 1898-1985, 1921-12-13
REVELATIONS
OF. A WIFE
eY ADELE oARRIsog.
What Can This Love Letter in Dieky's
Handwriting Mean?


Handwriting Mean?
why did Dicly display so much So
hcitude about the burning of the
waste papers he had brought down
from his room, and where in the world
had he kept so many Of them hidden2
These were the questions that
buzzed through my brain like so many
tormenting bees after Dicky had fin
ished burning the papers in the fur
mace, incidentally running the fire and
making the rooms smudgy torment
for some time afterward
He couldn't possibly have used up
so much paper in writing or in draw
ing in the short time he had been up
stairs, and yet I had not seen a scrap
of paper about his room for some time.
l was sure Of this. for had remarked
the fact with wonder, knowing Dicky's
usually tidy habits. He must have kept
them hidden in his locked desk and
chiffonier drawers, and only had dis
posed of the accumulation this morn
ing.
But why such secrecy? I looked at
the matter from all sides while a hun
bred idle, ridiculous smmises occurred
to me. Finally 1 reso1utely dismissed
the matter from my mind, and went
about the odds and ends of packing
for our respective removal to the
house we had bought.
II went through all the rooms gath
ering up the more fragile of my vases
and ornaments, intending to wrap
them in tissue paper ard to pack them
carefully in baskets. SO they could be
carried to the new home when any Of
us made a trip there. I had a foolish
feminine dread OF trusting them to a
packer.
It was on one of my trips to the
dining room, where I was packing the
things, from my room upstairs, that
noticed in corner of the hall large
crumpled piece of paper
My first thought was that Katie had
been careless in her cleaning of the
hall the day before, and / picked up
the piece of paper to carry it to the
kitchen. It had been carelessly crum-
pied, and from a, corner of it some
words in Diczy's handwriting stared
up at me.
Now forever your own"
Fortunately I had nothing in my
hands but some large sheets of tissue
paper BY the abruptnes3 with which
they dropped to the floor, could judge
the fate of any breakabIe thing if I had
CHANGED to have such in my hands.
For a long moment stood motion
less, my eyes fixed on the words in
Dickys handwriting. Then, leaving the
tissue paper where it had fallen on the
floor, fled upstairs to my own room,
clutching the piece of paper in my
hand.
1 closed and locked my door, and sat
down breathless in a low chair The
sight of those words in Diclty's hand
writing had turned my world upside
down. Curiously enough I could think
Of nothing but the expression upon the
face of Edith Fairfax, the art student
from Virginia, when in the restaurant
where we casually met had seen her
look at Diclxy all unconscious of the
love for him her face betrayed, tried
to tell myself that had no possible
reason to connect these words in my
husbands handwriting with Edith
Fairfax, but I couldn't rid myself of
the obsession.
A moment later I deliberately
smoothed out the crumpled page and
read its contents. do not remember
that was troubled by any scruples
concerning it. l would not have read
a letter addressed to Dicky but this
was a dropped, crumpled piece of paper
which I had seen first by accident Al
though knew that DicBy had never
meant my eyes to see it, yet reasoned
that words such as had seen in my