Evening star., 1925-02-08

f, knew she cared for Jim wentworth.
do know that neither Jim himself
nor Peggy ever suspected 1t. Posi-
| bly, Anne knew. The explanation, IL
| she did care for him. was simple
enough. Anne was greatly maternal,
/ and for years she had lavished her
love on Peggy. The, time had come
| when Peggy no longer needed her and
Jim somehow did. She had to love
somebody,
In all of this / am aware that Jim
| has been rather a shadowy figure. l
did not know him we'll, and my chief
| recollection was of square and solid
| figure, over middle height and fault
lessly dressed for his marriage, sub
mitting to being photographed with
| his famous wife.
There has never been any doubt in
my mind but that he went into mar
| riage soberly and after much thought,
and that he cared intensely for Peggy.
He was a serious sort of person, but
he had humor and most engaging
smile His main characteristic was a
sort Of quiet strength.
| TT was year or SO before went to
I New York again. I had not an
| ticipated the change 1 found in
| Peggy. She was thin and fine-drawn,
and her girlish look had gone. On
the stage the change escaped detec-
tion. She even looked, because Of her
| slimness. younger. and her voice had
certainly gained something.
I sat with Jim In their box and
from the moment she entered he
never took his eyes from her. l have
heard of hungry eyes, but 1 had never
really seen them until then. 1t gave
me queer feeling, rather as though
life was separating them and that he
felt that she. was only his when, Is
now, she sang to him.
Sing to him she certainly did. Per-
| haps she felt the same thing he did,
| that in their home they were drifting
| apart, but that here they were to-
| gether.
| 1 stayed with them several days,
and saw that they were almost never
| alone. On off nights Mazzari and
others of the company would lounge
in, bringing visitors.
Not once while I was there did any
of Jim's people or friends appear.
1t was after one of those crowded
| evenings that had short talk with
him.
You don't have her much to your
self do you?"
''Much?" His voice was savage.
| Never"
Couldn't that be arranged, Jim?
I think she misses II, too"
"Once. perhaps Not now. Her life
| is too crowded. She doesn't need me.
She doesn't even need me to support
her"
had an answer to that last. /
| said that many marriages had sur
| viyed because women were financial
ly dependent. But that when q. wom-
an who was economically free elect
band, 1t was because she wanted to-
| In other words, because she loved
him.
You leave out an important ele-
ment," he said finally. Habit. She
has formed the habit of being mar
ried to him.
| He was Withdrawing himself from
| her.
Peggy herself gave me no conf
| dence whatever. The nearest she
| came was when, apropos of my own
children. she said suddenly:
| Sometimes think IL we had chill
| dren 1t would help. They would be
one thing in common"
| But Anne was there, and she said
nothing further. BY that time l
saw that the old intimacy between
the sisters was almost gone; that
Anne resented her own dependence,
and let Peggy see 1t. But she made
no move to go away, and as far as
that goes, she had no place to go.
She hated her father.
Peggy undoubtedly saw that with
every other element to drag them
| apart, her own family also stood be-
| tween Jim and herself. They were
| never alone together.
EOR two years 1 heard little or
nothing of them. Then I received
a letter from Anne.
! hardly know why I am doing this,
she wrote, except that must talk
to some one. Things really are about
| as usual, and yet somehow We seem
to be moving on toward a catastrophe
| of some sort.
| Peggy is pretty tired, for one thing.
Tired of the everlasting crowds and
Of work, and tired of Harry and me.
| Harry has been doing very badly.
AS for Newell, I am always around,
and I haven't the strength Of char
acter any more or any training to
| start out for myself. I have made
the effort. asked Peggy to give me
a small allowance and begged Harry
to go with me to a boarding house
somewhere. But he won't do it.
| know Jim would be happier with
once in q while, and a lot Of things
would clear up, think. But per-
! haps I am morbid about this. The
real truth is not only that Peggy's
! family has been ruined by her sue
| cess, but that it has como between
her and her husband. I told you
once that men like their women de-
pendent, but It is deeper than that.
| A good many Of them resent any
| outside interest, except what occupies
the time they are in their offices.
and they want the main interest to
| themselves.
| When I tell You that Jim is often
at his club now on Peggy's evenings
at home, you will see what I mean.
The whole question is whether she