Atlanta tri-weekly journal. [volume] (Atlanta, Ga.) 1920-19??, 1924-04-15
MY WIFE AND |
BY CAROLYN BEECHER
CHAPTER /


CHAPTER 1
400 1 am the only woman you ever
loved?" Natalies eyes searched me.
~ 1.-THE only one | ever have really
loved" evaded, flushing under her glance.
A low rpling laugh her only COM
ment. Her laugh was of her fascina-
tons; it reminded of softly gurgling
brooks. But now as it died away my cheeks
grew hot. 1t had rippled knowledge How
was | to know my lovely bride had no IL.
Iusions about men or matrimony?
/ had been neither better nor worse than
any other young man l knew. | had my
affairs-what red-blooded man OF twenty
eight has not? Some of them I had escaped
only by using considerable diplomacy. l had
mad the normal healthy young mans desire
or female campanionship. Yet | had spoken
.,po.v Until i met Natalie 1 never had
thought seriously of marriage.
We had been married two weeks when we
settled in our New York apartment.
wen get acquainted now" / laughingly
told her, sure that | would be loyal to her,
fonGer of her than ever | had been of an
other, although | knew so little of her.
Il think / know you quite well, Bruce
better than you think / do, perhaps" Once
again l saw that disturbing look OF compre-
do not think Natalie would have been
| tabulated as clever But versatilei To dance
with her was to dance with a nymph She
, was vavacious and would be, | was sure
what we men call "a good mixer" Then ID
was excitngly pretty, had positive flair 7bfS
| Clothes and-she loved me-
| The ideal woman with whom to spend nv
| life!
With Natalie | never would be bored-
| that bette noire of married life She seemed
; TO know lntu1tiVely just how to keep a man
| on the qui vive of expectancy. 1t never en-
tered my mind to speculate upon how she had
gained this knowledge. She also had all the
modern girls belief in the freedom of tho
1nd1VlQual-a hat
own. -
IL s SO foolish to expect people to give nm
their Old friends just because they marry,
she said, and | agreed with her-then
lhose first weeks Of my married life were.
was sure, the finest of my life They nulli,
ned all my previous acquaintance with tha
lar sex. In Natalie l had found the "ono
woman my mate.
She pouted charmingly when confessed
aeslre TO get back to work, wanted to know
II had already grown tired of her? Thor
laughed gaily, po1ing fun at herself for being
! such baby" 'eins
IN those first days in our home she wora
her WifehOod with evident harninoes ;t,
JOY. 0he busied herself in furnishing ~
partlnent-l knew nothing of such thinos
ana she was artistic to her finger tins T.uoh
ihsly she apologized for her extravagance te11.
lns me she loved beautiful things wanted orr
| nome to be lovely W
/ U6r
oo" ana as result our apartment. small bn+
! perfect in its appointments became nro,as
| setting for its lovely mistress
My uncle, for whom | had been named
| ana with whom 1 had lived senior member
Oh the law firm of Bruce Hancock did
not knew, approve of my marriage but
as he had said nothing I could not well
Drlng up the subject. l was his confiden-
tlal secretary and looked forward to being
a junior partner De
Uncle Robert had welcomed me hack blvd
! ~ accumulated business made nv ret,r,,
! IimeAy, ana dug into work with zest
| Natalie ~ efei'
Her love of beauty, lovely things, was a
passion Occasionally, even in those first
beautiful days, | wondered if 1 should be-
aole 10 satisfy this passion-give her all she
demanded. When l voiced this she said.
! GU are clever, and a lawyer LAWYERS
always make money, don't thew"
Her naiyette delighted me.
| Not always dear but you shall have ev-
erythng | can give you" 7h
You see Bruce, l have to keep myself,
our home, lovely for you. I might lose you
| if | didn't"
Lose me! I could scarcely endure my
| absence from her during business hours.
The prosac things of daily intimacy took
J on a different aspect because of her. Moth
! ing shared with her seemed commonplace.
was sure of her love. She had seemed
&C Eager as to be married, to have our flu
! ture settled-a futrse that seemed so rosy
that even thought of spending my life with
henry Natalie, my wife, the mother OF
my children.
[ gave no thought of her upbringlng 10
her environment, the kind of mother she
had the advice she might have received.
! What man in love considers these things2
- y,
| Continued Thursday. This latest story by
Miss Beecher will delight those who read
her serious novels, "a Woman Obsessed"
| and Her Money"