Atlanta tri-weekly journal. [volume] (Atlanta, Ga.) 1920-19??, 1922-10-14
SHOULD / HAVE HIDDEN
AFTER THESE ISLANDERS?
MRS. DEBOUCHEL ASKS
Former Fiancee Says Mr.
Gambler, Sru Seemed Will
ing to Give Demanded In
formationi Son Prevented

What was I to dc in mg situa-.
tion?"
Mrs. Onezima DeBoucheI pro-
pounded the question, then proceed
ed to answer it with an analysis of
her situation as she saw it.
"Mr. Gambler andI are engaged to
be married. Tie engag cement is an
nounced. 1t is announced that I
have shipped my furniture here to
take it's place in his home when we
return from the honeymoon All
preparations are made.
"Just as he lifts his foot to mount
the steps of the train to join me in
Reno, he turns around and goes back
and sends me a telegram, and then
writes me a letter, informing me
that reports rejecting on my char
acter have come to him from sources
he is bound to believe making it
impossible, or at least unwise, for
us to go on.
what was 1 to do? What is any
woman to do in such circumstances?
Please remember that I have no
near male relatives. My father died
when I was a child. 1 have never
had a brother. 1 have no near cou-
sin, even. / am almost the last of
my family line.
Under such circumstances a
| x,ro,1,oxo -, NV ,,OSition who had "A
near male relative would, Of course,
send him to the gentleman in the
case to demand, and to get, full
explanation, and to demand, and
get, the evidence, the proof, on
which he had broken the engage
ment.
; Mr.. Gambler Seemed Willing"
"Having nc near male relative,
the best l could do was to send my
lawyer, Mr.. Gamble, a gentleman
who stands very high in our city.
He came fully expecting to get from
Mr.. Gambler a satisfactory showing
of the evidence on which MIR. Can
dler saw fit to break the engage
ment. At first, it seemed that MIR.
Gambler was willing to give 1t to
him. Mr.. Gambler assured him that
he was heartbroken, that he believed
in my character, that he would new
er be happy without me.
"Then Mr.. Gambler put him off
: with the statement that he would
consult his lawyer. The next inter
; view was attended by Asa G. Can
dler, Jr. He prevented his father
from disclosing the name of this
travelling salesman whom I am &C.
| Of ott inc n
my room in the Piedmont hotel at
, night.
Mr. Gamble was dumfounded.
He could not comprehend such an
attitude. Here were the family of
Mr.. Gambler destroying my char
acter, and here was Mr.. Gambler
breaking the engagement on that ac-
count, and yet he professed in one
breath to believe in me, and in the
next breath refused to give my
lawyer the name of this man who
perpetrated this SANDER upon me.
Suppose I Had Hid"
Suppose l had accepted the ulti
matum. Suppose I had gone quiet
ly back home and hidden myself
away. Or suppose 1 had gone to Eu-
rope, as some of the Gamblers sug-
gested, to try to forget my trou
bles in travel.
There had been so much pub
Lefty given the engagement. When
the marriage failed to take place,
would there not have been a great
deal Of publicity as to the reasons
why it failed to take place? Would
there not have been a furore of
speculation in the newspapers?
Everybody would have been asking:
why was the Capdler-DeBouchel
engagement broken off?' They
would have been asking it here,
asking it in New Orleans, asking it
all over the country-certainly ask
ing it wherever either of us is
known.
"And even though Mr.. Gambler
himself had withheld his reason,
would not some of those standing
close around him have dropped a
little hint lin strict confidence here
and there? And would not the das-
tardly libel have soon become com
| mon gossip in Atlanta? And then
in New Orleans? And then every
where?
"And suppose, in the future, after
gossip had subsidized, some situation
had come up in my life where this
4 old SANDER would have risen again
to blacken my name. I have no
idea in the back part of my mind
that 1 shall ever again consider
marriage. But suppose my hand
should again be sought in marriage,
and the gentleman who sought my
hand should have the suggestion
communicated to him, perhaps
anonymously, that it would be ad
V.sable to investigate the reasons
why the Candler-DeBouchel engage
ment was broken off. And suppose
an investigation brought up again
this Gastardly SANDER, too late to ex-
rose 1t, too late to find this man
who was said to have slandered nc
too late to clear it up.
''Tilere Was No Other Way"
mo, / ;ell you there was no other
way. OF course it is frightful-tnis
publicity-this appearance of thrust
ing myself into the newspapers-ths
exposure to the charge, which Pc
haps people are making against me.
that lady ought not to take such
a course in such circumstances.
"Mr. Gamble very frankly advised
ME that this would be a frightful
ordeal. My friends in New Orleans
were stunned with the idea that
should come here and make this
fight, openly and publicly, for vindi-
cation.
But there was no other way.
Again and again I came back to that
conclusion. L could not get away
from it. There was no other way
out. The Gambler family had way
lald me and fired on me from
ambush. I was either to throw UP
my hands and surrender-or I was
to fight. And whatever else my az.
nn-c.tcA l. L. lcr