The Richmond palladium and sun-telegram. [volume] (Richmond, Ind.) 1907-1939, 1921-01-25
A SWEETHEART AT THIRTY
The Story Of Woman's Transformation
~ MARION Ru6INcAM


a flash. what Francis Meade was going
to say. And when he said it, it was
all so much like the working out of
dream, that l scarcely believed it,
even while heard his voice.
do you-like me?" he asked qui-
city. Gould you-love me?"
Love you?" I heard my own voice
repeating. How could I. help but
love you? You have been so fine to
us-and, oh. Francis. you are SO won
derful!"
1t simply came out of me like that
And when I stopped speaking, looked
up at him half frightened. wonder
full" l had called him-and he was
but l wondered how I had dared to
tell him so.
Enid dear-dear Enid" he said.
And then his arms were around me
suddenly. the whole world beyond the
circle of his arms was lost, and there
was only the two of us and great
radiant light that seemed to be over
everything.
DO you know" he said" I almost
did this the other day? But I lost my
courage. Enid, do you love me?
want to hear you say So"
l tried to tell him how much, but
could not. All could say-in a weak
little voice that must have been muf-
fled by his big overcoat, was
Eyes, I do love you.
But that seemed enough. And after
all, words are sometimes unnecessary!
I wonder whether l can really tell
all that followed. / remember every
word, every look, and even now I
find myself going back over that
scene and calling up every detail of it.
Yet there are things that are hard to
tell
For he kissed me then. and how
can I tell about that? 1t was the
first kiss of love since-ah well, really
the first in all my life. For fifteen
years ago when Mark kissed me and
said he loved me, it was different. 1t
was nothing. / only thought I was in
love then. And l had been in love
with love, not with Mark.
And certainly Mark had not been
in love with me. But now
This was a rebirth. Or, rather,
it was the supreme moment of the
gradual process of being born over
which I had been going through
during the last year and a half.
For it was not the first careless
caress of youth-it was some
thing infinitely sweet and Won
derful, this first kiss, something
dreamed of, hoped for-and all
the more marvellous because 1t
was so long despaired of. From
that moment I was different.
remember that l chung to him
fn
look up at him-his graying hair, his
gray eyes, with spots and flecks of
brown, the handsome nose and the
mouth that was now so tender. He
was even handsomer than usual, in his
great fur-lined overcoat with the sable
collar that rolled high around his
neck.
But I don't see why you should
love me-" l said finally. you are so
good looking-and nice-and-well.
should think lots Of women would
fall in love with you"
He laughed at that, and / smiled
in answer to his laugh. Then l went
There as so many women who are
young and pretty and charming, and
all the things l am not. No-wait,
please" because he made mo-
ton to stop me speaking-'I know
what l am. At home they called me
a hopeless old maid. They said I was
getting aged and was homely and no
one would look at me. My sister.
Esther thinks I'm a fool-and / was,
perhaps. l know I'm better now-but
haven't those other qualities-1 am
not young, for instance. l am go"
Never mind" he broke in. What
ever age you are, you are the sweeter
for it. Perhaps youth is desirable, but
youth is sometimes shallow. You
have a depth and a maturity-and
Enid, dear, you don't look like any
thing but young child, and l shall
patronize you awully."
He fairly swept me into his arms,
And it was not for some time that we
realized we had intended starting for
a drive But we did not so out on
that particular ride.
Tommorrow-We Hear from Esther.