Great Falls tribune. [volume] (Great Falls, Mont.) 1921-current, 1922-06-01
MY MARRIAGE
I'VE
Adele GarrisOn's
New Phase off,.
REVELATIONS
OF WIFE
WHAT MADGE FINDS SHE MUST
DISCOVER IN ALLEN BRAKES
! EYES

At my request that she bring me
some flowers, Marion darted toward
me to give me ar ecstatic little hug,
then stopped short with a thoughtful
ness far beyond her years.
Il almost crushed your dress she
cried remorsefully, but, oh, Auntle
Madge, you're just like a picture in
that own And those e~scarlet and
orange nasturtiums, they're exactly the
%colors to set you off. You do think of
the incest things. I'll hurry like every
thing and get them. One of each from
Grandpa Spencer's room, you said"
She danced off, repeating my last in
junction, and / turned to my mirror
again with eager questioning.
Was it true what the child had said,
or was the compliment simply the
tribute of her childish imagination? |
remembered that Dicky had said laugh
ingly when he had designed the gown
for me that it brought out the red
tint which my hair holds in some lights.
But Dicky had expressed no unusual
admiration when l first had donned the
dress for his inspection. Indeed. | had
felt with a trifle of pique that he was
more concerned with the success of his
own handiwork than with my appear
ance in the gown.
/ scanned myself relentlessly in the
mirror for the little lines which should
tell me that my youth was fitting
away from me. But excitement had
given me the flip ] needed. and with
a little gratified thrill | acknowledged
not the truth of Marion's words-I
wasn't so vain as that-but the unde-
niable fact that / never had looked bet
ter than did in this gown.
Madge Is Triumphant
| possess very few jewels, all Of
them presents from Dicky and my
father. and | opened my case with a
distinct idea of the thing which | should
select. My father had once given me
a necklace of quantity carved Oriental
beads in odd shapes. strung irregularly
upon a slender silver chain. This |
fastened around my neck, and when
Marion. breathless and triumphant, re-
turned with the flowers. ] fastened
them in my corsage. Then I bent to
kiss the child, whose eyes. wide and lus-
trous. remained fastened on me in the
enthusiastic admiration which only
childhood can give-the most genuine
feeling in the world.
Run and tell mother I'm ready,
sweetheart" / said. and when the child
had departed o~bediently, ] turned TO
my mirror again with a most unholy
little feeling of triumph.
I'm old enough TO know better, am
r. | Knocked aloud. We'll, perhaps
am, but I'm still young enough not to
sit down tamely in a drab dress and
knit by the fireplace while my husband
d~isports himself at a luxurious Adiron-
dack camp
Not until then had / realized fully
how deep my mother-in-laws structures
had cut. She had taken the position
that ! was past the age for youthful
gowns, that ] had no business making
myself attractive. Indeed, so caustic
had been her words that | had Won
dered if I were not losing my youth,
and the first freshness of what Dicky
in his atrocious slang called the map
and mop" which first attracted him.
A Sure Test
Dicky's fitting to the city, his ref
erence to Edith Fairfax. this trip to
the Adirondacks-all had intensified
my fear that | was losing my lure for
my husband.
The particular little devil which al
ways comes to me when | am troubled
whispered in my ear:
why don't you find out?"
Find out what?' ] answered, star
! tied into speaking aloud.
You know" The answer came al
most as distinctly as IL 1t were a spoken
one, and startled, shaken, I knew that
I did recognize the meaning of the
question.
If ! were really losing my youth and
attractiveness, j knew with a certainty
which told me how surely | had read
the man, / would read it in Allen
brakes eyes. Fastidious to a fault,
selfish and spoiled, his regard for any
woman. | knew would be but admira-
ton, which would automatically cease
when her, attractions lessened in any
degree.
For a moment my conscience lifted
its head and tried to speak to me, but
another glance at Dicky's telegram
made me ruthless. And as the ring
which announced Allen brakes arrival
sounded through the house, / sent an
other satisfied little glance into the
mirror and went down stairs to meet