Atlanta tri-weekly journal. [volume] (Atlanta, Ga.) 1920-19??, 1923-06-30
CHAPTER XIII
An EDiSOde of the Past

~ URlNG the first days of her marriage,
] Lorry thought often of a certain book
49, that had been very popular during the
past year. Rumor had it that the author had
reaped enormous royalties from it and GER
tainly 1t had had tremendous popular vogue.
She as we'll as the rest of the girls in her
set had read it and talked it over and most
of them, Coralie Wells more than the others,
had pronounced it delectabIe
She could hear Coralie's calculations now.
"Of course the psychology of it is true!
Any girl placed in her position would have
felt exactly the same Most of the time,
women don't know their own minds; they
need to be swept off their feet; they want
men to have the upper hand even when they
strenuously deny it,"
The other girls had all agreed. They
thrilled to the idea of masterful man who
knew what he wanted and took it regardless
Of everything, even consideration. Only
Lorry had been doubtful and her silence had
provoked the others to stronger protest in an
effort to draw her out to get her to give an
opinion.
What do you think, Lorry, don't you
agree?"
And Lorry, with the eyes of the others
upon her, had finished and looked doubtful.
81 don't know. I don't think I could love
a man like that. I'd be too terrified to feel
anything but fear; I'm sure I'd hate him."
Nonsense! You're simply not willing to
tell the truth You're stalling, you're fond
of thrills as the rest OF u.s., were some of the
remarks heaped upon her.
But Lorry, with her first shy love for Tom
hidden away in her heart, had not been stall
ing She could not imagine a ruthless love
that, regardless Of anything, would trample
over fine sensibilities. Her consciousness of
love was based mainly on tenderness, recipro
cal feeling, mutual give and take Like other
girls she had her Dreams but they were gen.
tle very grlish dreams, and she did not
respond to the wild rush of passion depicted
in the book under discussion.
She could see Coralie now, as with flushed
cheeks and sparkling eyes, she had leaned
forward eagerly.
you say, Lorry, that you'd hate the man
who in spite of anything you could do, had
the power to sweep you off your feet?"
Lorry had nodded slowly
yes. I'm sure l would"
well, so did the girl in the book, but
don't you know that hate is dangerously akin
to love? There's some primitive instinct of
the cave woman preserved in all of u.s. and
long before romantic love ever thought
of, the only method Of selection was one of
force"
"but the trouble lies in the fact that today
men don't love like that. l don't believe an
incident like that could ever happen in Amer
ica men are too absorbed with business and
other mundane things<to fix their minds on
one woman and go after her regardless of OBJ,
stacles.
How well Lorry remembered every word
of the conversation, and how little she had
dreamed at the time that such thing would
ever happen to her, for she had been swept
off her feet as relentlessly had the girl
in the book. And what was the result? She
was Courtney Herrington's wife, because long
ago he had made up his mind to have her
He had not used physical force with her, it
is true but she> had found the compelling
force of his mentality far more terrifying. The
brillance of his eyes confused her. the con-
centrated passion in his voice struck terror
to her soul
Did she hate him? She couldn't tell; her
thoughts were too confused whenever lie was
near her, and besides, he was kind, he
,considerate, excepting for the fact that lie
never allowed her wishes to stand in the
way of what he wanted.
Tuesday-"Bars of Iron" Renew your SUD-
scriptiOn not to miss a chapter,