Atlanta tri-weekly journal. [volume] (Atlanta, Ga.) 1920-19??, 1924-10-02
CHAPTER IA.
Cheap Perfume


Y ULIE was not stupid. Dimly she realized
/ that her choice OF clothes had been all
~ wrong, and yet she was puzzled. She was
not sure why they were wrong. To her they
had seemed beautiful, but on that first night
of her honeymoon, when she had descended
with Matthew into the large dining room, sha
had been made to feel that she looked
ridiculous.
Matthew had been kind, even gentle. At
the table he had deferred to her wishes, and
Julie had tried to respond to him, but in
vain She knew that he was disappointed in
her, and she knew also that people were look
ing at her not kindly but with yelled amuse-
ment in their eyes. The incident went far
toward spelling her first days with her hus-
band.
However, those days were not altogether
spoiled jules freshness, her youth and shy
ardor were very sweet to Matthew. He had
not been mistaken; there was something in
trinscally fine in her, something unspoiled,
and he did not regret the step he had taken.
In the moments when they were alone, when
he held her in his arms and kissed her he
forgot everything else. 1t was only when he
contrasted her with other women that he felt
irritated, annoyed, and he resolved to put
Julie in the hands Of competent dressmaker
as soon as the honeymoon was over.
For Julie, too, those days were very sweet
Long afterward she associated Matthew with
the whispering of the sea, spread out vague
and mysterious under d star-StreWn sky.
There was enchantment in his presence, and
under the magic Of his touch she gloWed like
a flower blooming for the first time. 1t wasn't
until the last night of their stay that some
thing happened to really hurt her, and it was
then that she realized how wide a gulf stretch
ed between herself and the man who was her
husband.
They were atone in their room. 1t was a
night in early spring, and the air was warm,
almost balny. Julie, draLed in a white dress
ing gown, a garment that brought out the
lovely warm tints of her skin, stood before
the open window looking dreamily out to sea.
Tomorrow, she reflected, all this would be
over She would no longer have Matthew to
herself. She would have to take up her new
life, and the thought Of it was somehow terri
flying. She wished vaguely that Matthew had
told Claudia Of their marriage. Ee did not
understand perhaps how difficult it would be
for her to meet Claudia when the girl had
been told nothing about the marriage. Then,
tOo there would be responsibilities. Matthew
would expect her to take her place at the
head of his house There would be servants
who would be supposed to take orders from
her, servants who would doubtless SUSPECT
that she, Julie had never in her life been
waited on.
With little shiver, she turned from the
window. Matthew, still in his dinner coat,
lay back in a chair, reading. 1t was a cosy
scene, and as though to rid herself of her
vague fears, Julie went over to him and
snuggIed on the arm of his chair.
He put his arm around her, and for a
long moment there was silence. Matthew,
too, was thinking Of the morrow, and as he
thought there suddenly daWned on him the
knowledge that Julie would appear for the
first time in her new home, in that awful
costume she had worn the first day of their
marriage. For the moment he forgot the
charm Of jules nearness, an irritation
amounting to anger rose UP in him, and the
clasp Of his arm grew lax. Then he spoke,
words that for the time being were careless
of whether or not they hurt her.
Guile, what is that COMPOUNDED perfume
you use? 1t smells like the perfume counter
at the five and ten-cent store
She drew away from him, but he persisted
in his questioning, until finally, without a
word, she went over to the dresser and
brought him the bottle
He laughed, and, taking careful aim,
hurled the cheap scent out of the open Win
dow.
TN get you some French perfume" he
said lightly, and for him the incident was
closed But long after he had fallen asleep
that night Julie lay with wide eyes staring
into the darkness. She was hurt, and her
heart was heavy within her. If Matthew had
struck her with his fist she couldn't fave
suffered more.