Atlanta tri-weekly journal. [volume] (Atlanta, Ga.) 1920-19??, 1923-11-15
HER MONEY
BY CAROLYN BEECHER

What has gone before.-Althea Cros-
by, an old maid, dying. in loneliness and
Iovelessness, leaves her fortune to her
niece and namesake, on condition that
+ the girl marry before she is thirty-fve.
Althea falls in love with handsome
young DR.. Peter Graham and thsX,,wed.
but A1thea does not tell him OF TINS
strange condition in the will. invent
ually he hears of it, and assumes she
, noorried him to get possession of the
fortune. His manner becomes COOL anu
sbe assumes he married her for the
noonev Her jealousy is aroused by her
bushand's attentiveness to Mrs. RUIN
Williams, a wealthy patient, whom ne
desires to please for business reasons
Now go with the story
- CHAPTER XVIII
ITHEA often tormented herself by won
| u dering what she should 40 Il Sne aosS
L Peter He was going! II ne passeu
Lout of her Iife-what would there pc ,ieIt
for her? 1t came upon her. suddenly tha una.
she would go mad if he went, II she really
! lost him. ..--o,,ox,,-
| ing her up. .,4Lx,,,
@What are you thinking about, Althea?
Peter asked, startling her. She had NOT
| heard him enter the room.
''I an thlrlcIrg of-Gfe,
Interpretation into the WORD.
| Life is pretty near what we make IL
what we will it to be-" he said.
| Althea sighed. 1t was the vain signing
for the Whole of Life, all that Life and Love
| meant.
Peter bent over and just brushed her hair
with his lips.
Althea accepted the kiss passively and let
him go without word. She heard the oooA
| open and close Then there was stiffness.
| save for the wild beating of her heart she
| lay back in her chair with closed eyes, fight
| ing a desperate longing to call him back, to
| throw herself into his arms, to beg him TO
| love her. :.
| TWO streams of emotion flowed over her
| and she felt as if She were swayed by their
| tides. One was a cold unreasonlng regret
that Peter had married her for what she
could do for him; the other mad onrusn
| of desire to have his love- The soft-footed
years would go on, flying past her without
| leaving her the joys of youth, the love she
| SO craved The limits Of her future closed
| in upon her like the four walls Of some
grated cell from whose windows she cou4o
| see the sunlight but could not battle in 1t.
| Nell Langford was giving dinner party at
smart restaurant where there was dancing.
Althea was delighted when she found Peter
was going, that he made no eXcuseS-aS She
| called them-for remaining at home. She
had ordered a new dress and when he COM
plimented her, telling her she was growing
| prettier every day, she was almost happy.
| She was so proud of him. He looked We'll
| too in evening clothes; so distinguished. Yes,
Peter was the best looking man in the party,
! she decided she gazed around the table,
and there were four others. A group Of
| ten in all.
The dinner, about half over, had been
delightful one and Althea was thoroughly
enjoying herself when she saw Peters face
| express surprise and anxiety. Following his
glance she noticed disturbance at a table
| not far away and looking more closely she
saw Mrs. Williams, standing, a distressed
| look on her face.
Excuse me a moment 1t was Peter
who spoke. He left the table and went at
once to where Mrs. Williams stood,
Someone must be ILL., Nell said. Then
she noticed Mrs. Williams, "a patient Of
! Peters, Althea?"
. A little more connection man was
helped out by the walters, then Peter re-
turned, but only to say:
| you'll excuse me, Nell, but [ must go.
| I'll come back if possible If 1 don't.
| you'll take Althea homer"
"Of course 1 will! But come back il
you can
! Without a glance in Altheas direction he
was gone
For a moment she sat in frozen silence 1t
had been so nice to have him with her; she
had been quite happy. Now he had left her
| to be with that Mrs. Williams. What il
she were his patient, wasn't she his wife,
and so deserving of a little consideration?
Once again he had made her the odd num-
] Der at a party. She tried to persuade her.
| self it was because of that she felt as she
did, knowing all the time that had he left
! because of anyone but Mrs. Williams she
would not have resented it nearly as much.
After bit she pulled herself together
and was almost feverishly gay. She talked
and laughed more than usual and danced
| indefatigably. Peter did not come back She
| had not expected he would.
| When Nell dropped her at home she said.
| "YOu zee what it is to invite a doctors
wife anywhere" Nell and her escort laughed,
| told her they would keep on inviting her.
but after this they would have an extra man.
"It might be WISE" she returned Il
would not then have to impose upon you"
! The first days of her marriage hung in her
memory as she put a soft robe and sat
| down to wait. She would not go to bed She
had been happy then-before Peter showed so
! plainly he had changed, thrown off all dis
guise on that day before they left Holden.
1t was o'clock when Peter came in He
| looked white, tagged, but after gently child
ing her for sitting up so late he went to his
room and closed the door.
Continued Saturday. Renew your subscrip-
ton now so as not to miss a chapter of this