Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1922-10-15
:, ritter MARRIAGE

the theater. 1t could not even be mon
toned. She could not and would not
dance and looked upon such inclina-
tions in him as not only worldly, but
loose and sinful.
Although he prided himself on be-
ing a liberal, and even a radical. to
her he pretended a profound tndif-
ference to such departures from con-
ventions He thought her too fine
and intelligent a girl to stick to
such notions and was doing his best
to influence and enliGhten her.
BY slow degrees Che was about
the business Of counting her two or
three years. he was able to bring her
to the place where she would stay
downtown for dinner on = week day
and occasionally would attend =
sacred concert on a Sunday night.
Also. which he considered great tri-
umph, he induced her to read certain
books. especially bits of history and
philosophy which he thought liberal.
and which no Coubt generated some
thin wisps of doubt in her own mind.
He had always looked upon the
theater as the chiefest Of the sources
/ of his harmless entertainment and
eventually persuaded her to attend 4
| performance, then another and
another. In short. he emancipated
her In so far as he could and seemed
delighted with the result.
! With their marriage came a new
| form of life for both of them, but
more especially for her. They took
small apartment in New York, and
it was not long before she Joined q
: literary club that WAS being formed
in their vicinity, where she met two
restless. pushing. seeking women for
whom he did not care-a Mrs. Drake
and q Mrs. Munshaw-both Of whom
he insisted could be of no value to
any one. But Bessie liked them and
spent 4 great deal ot time with them.
l visited them at their small apart
ment about this time and found that
she was proving very apt pupil in
the realm to which he had intro
duced her. II was plain that she had
been emancipated from her old no
lions as to the sinfulness Of the stage.
as well as reading and living in gen.
eral. Wray had proved to be the
Prince Charming who had entered
the secret garden and walked the
sleeping princess to a world such as
she had never dreamed of.
She spoke of certain popular au-
thors. of an enlightening history of
France she was reading. of bits Of
philosophy and poetry which her
reading circle at the club was dis
cussing / could see that Wray was
beginning to feel that the unsophisti-
Gated girl he had married might yet
outstrip him in the very realm in
which he had hoped to be her perma-
nent guide. More than once she ques-
toned or contradicted him as to
matter of fact, and l think he was
astonished. If not irritated. that she
knew more than ne about the import
OF a certain plot or the relatively OF
certain dates in history.
Whenever he met me after this he
would confide the growing nature of
his doubts and perplexities. Bessie
was no more like the girl he had met
in his Office than he was like the boy
he had been at ten years Of age. She
was becoming more aggressive, more
inquisitive, more self-centered. more
argumentative all the time; more this.
more that. She did not like the same
plays he liked. He wanted a play
that was light and amusing and she
wanted one with some serious moral
or intellectual twist to 1t. She read
only serious books now and was in
terested in lectures; whereas he. as
he now confessed, was more or less
bored by serious books. She liked
music. or was pretending that she
; did-grand operas. recitals and that
sort Of thing: whereas grand opera
bored him. And yet II he would not
accompany her she would 60 with
one or both of those women he was
beginning to detest. They seemed to
have no household duties and could
come and go as they chose. 1t was
they who were aiding and abetting
her in all these things and stirring
her up to go and do and be.
What was he to do? No good could
now going. They were beginning to
quarrel. and more than once lately
she had threatened to leave him and
do for herself, as he we'll knew sic
could.
X x y X
IN about two months after this Wray
i came to see me, and in a very dis
trait state Of mind. After vainly
attempting to discuss casual things
casually, he confessed that Bessie had
left him. She had taken a room some
where, had gone back to work and
would not accept any money from
him. Although he mot her OCCASION
ally in the subway, she would have
nothing to do with him. And would
I believe 1t? She was accusing him
of being narrow and ignorant and
stubborn! And only three or four
years before she had thought he was
all wrong because he wanted to go
rowing on Sunday!
Could such things be? And still
he loved her; he couldn't help 1t. He
recalled how sweet and innocent and
strange she had been when he first
met her; how much she respected her
parents wishes-and now see.
II wish to God" he suddenly ex-
claimed, that I hadn't been In such
q hurry to change her. She was all
right then. If had only known 1t.
She wasn't interested in these damned
new-fansled things, and wasn't sat-
isfied until she was. And now see.
She leaves me and says I'm narrow
and trying to hold her back intel
lectually."
I shook my head. OF what value
was advice in the face of such q stu
alton as this, especially from one