The Coolidge examiner., 1937-01-28

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did not speak. 1 knew that no
more than 1 would he have inter-
rupted the flow Of that story.
Doctor Marden went on. MY
wife threw herself into war work
too, For four years she worked
daily at the American Ambulance
in Neuilly. Eleanor-perhaps now
had better tell you about Flea
nor.
Eleanor was a natural nurse
She never took a course in nurs-
ing, but l taught her everything
l knew. She volunteered when l
did and the French sent her to the
hospital at Courcy-sur-Seine. She
stayed there for about a year. l
saw her only at irregular intervals
l had an occasional permission
from the front and then she and my
wife and l would try to manage a
reunion at our home in Paris. But
l did not see much of Eleanor dur
ing the first months of the war. l
went through what many husbands
were going through in France then.
/ saw my wife getting more and
more atigued-nervously exhaust
ed. But Eleanor stood up to it
marvelously. But every time l saw
her, it seemed to me that she had
become more of a woman, more
and more beautiful. Then Ace
Blaikie appeared in her life
Again Doctor Marden came to a
pause and now he did not cover his
face with his hands. He presented,
unscreened, the hard bitter eyes,
the tight-shut lips; the setness of
every line and curve.
Il know that you, Mrs. Avery,
are acquainted with the factors of
Ace Blaikie's war experience be-
cause I've heard you discuss them
so often"
'And BESIDES" I reminded him,
my husband was in France"
well then, l will merely say
that it was while he was in the
Foreign Legion that he met Eleanor.
1t seemed to have been a case of
love at first sight. Certainly with
Eleanor. And as she afterWard told
me, Doctor Blaikie said it was so
with him. But when it comes to
Doctor Blaikie and love-"
The expression on Doctor Mar
denis face deepened so horribly
that it was as though the blood
behind the flesh had turned to ink.
he did not know really what
love was. On that side he was not
man but beast. At any rate they
met as often as his permissions and
hers allowed. What happened of
course was that Ace Blaikie dis
covered that in order to possess my
daughter, he must offer her mar
riage. Understand" Doctor Mar
den'S voice shot to us a peremp-
tory order. Understand that this
was not a subject that Eleanor
would discuss with any man. He
had to learn that-to sense it. And
he was apparently extremely acute
in sensing the reactions of the 9TH
er sex At any rate they were mar
ried secretly. That was before the
United States came in. 1t was in
the summer of 1915. I will not
60 into all the ins and outs of this.
1 will say only that marriage in
France is very complicated mat
ter. Ace Blaikie had made friends
with French officer who had a
long pull. He fixed it so that Ace
and Eleanor were married secret
ly.
presently Eleanor round herself
pregnant. She told me afterward
that there was nothing in the world
she wanted so much as to bear a
child. 1t was several months aft
er this discovery before she saw
! Ace Blaikie. At their first meet
ing, she told him that she was going
to make their marriage public. She
could see. as she told me Subse.
quently, that Ace Blaikie was ap-
palled at this discovery. He tried
to get her to withdraw from the
hospital and go to America And
if not to America, to Italy or Spain
Eleanor steadily refused. Finally,
she told him if he gave her no
help, she must apply to me-that
the marriage must be announced.
Thereupon, he told her that she
was, in reality, not married at all.
That, a few years before, he had
secretly married in the United
States an actress by the name of
Drina Demoyne-"
''Drina Demoyne!" interrupted.
I've seen Drina Demoyne. Why,
what was it l read about her just
the other day? She died recently"
Yes" Doctor Marden answered.
Her death has a great bearing
on this story. That revelation of
| Ace Blaikie's was really Eleanor's
death warrant She never saw him
again. But she communicated with
me once. l got permission and
came back from the front. She
told me the whole story. My wife
and l had but one idea-to save
Eleanor's reputation. Now it hap
pened that my Wife's son by her
first marriage, Theodore PrentisS,
Wac LIVING 6IIripo tho war in a re-