Henderson daily dispatch. (Henderson, N.C.) 1914-1995, 1938-01-31

kept out OF the way. He was
given an allowance, I believe. and
Mary once told me that the last
that was heard Of him for a long
time was that he was thought to
be in America But even then she
wasn't sure If it was not Aus
tralia."
| Thurston was speaking very
slowly and thoughtfully. 1t
seemed that he had nerved himself
to this recital, and was deter
mined to get through it. But it
was easy to see that he was suffer-
ing.
"They were married for 10
years." he continued, land I think
that they were fairly happy to-
gether. Mary certainly never real
lied the faults Of her first hus-
band. Or Of her second husband
either. if it comes to that. She
was not a woman to find the
faults in any human being.
During the early days of their
marriage. Mary lost both Of her
parents. and one of the few really
considerate things her husband did
for her was to leave the district
Of her first home, and move to a
house about a mile from here. I
first met them when I attended
him for influenza, not long after
they moved. Then the war came,
and Mary's stepson came home to-
serve, and did so with some dis
tinction. But even when he was
on leave he was not asked down
to his fathers home. Occasion
ally Mary's husband went up to
town to meet him, and spoke
rather more kindly of him at this
period. But she never met him.
after the war. the son, like so
many sons who had fought, was
again a problem. A few years on
a private allowance abroad, fol-
lowed by three or four years of
war, do not represent the ideal
training for a citizen. He was not
a bad boy, but he was difficult
one. He had the normal vices,
slightly pronounced, and I don't
think he ever cared much for his
father. He was put unsuccessful
ly into number of jobs. and sent
to a number of places. But he
had a way of turning up in Lon
don. Not an unusual case, I sup
pose.
"It was after his father had
sent him with some finality to
Canada that the old man made his
will, and in the circumstances I
suppose it was fair enough, though
not very generous to his son. The
young mans small allowance was
to be continued, the rest of the
fortune was to provide an income
for Mary during her lifetime, and,
should she die before the son, it
was to revert to him. Actually
do not believe that Mary was
VERY much older than her stepson,
but she never seemed to her hus-
band a young woman, because in
his self-centered view she was his
wife, and to be regarded as about
his own age. It was not there
fore quite such an unfair ar
arrangement in his mind as it may
seem to you. He expressed the
hope, in his will, that should his
son ever inherit the money he
would by then have learned it's
value" s
Again he paused. you will
understand that it is not very
pleasant for me to go over all
this. But I want to make things
as easy as possible for you. And
whether it has any bearing on the
matter or not, you might feel you
had to find it out for yourselves,
and so waste time. But I have
nearly finished now. I attended
my wife's first husband in his last
illness. She and were thrown
together a great deal at that time.
And those of you who knew her
will not be surprised that we were
married within year of her be-
coming widow"
Williams murmured something,
and DR.. Thurston shifted uncom-
Ifortably in his chair. "And now
I must touch on something even
more intimate. o he said. my
wife had an income Of nearly
$4,000 a year. My own income,
Iapart from the practice which 1
then had. was considerably, very
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