The guardian. [volume] (Boston, Mass.) 1901-1960, 1940-10-05
The Note
go
By RICHARD HILL WILKINSON
CReleased by Western Newspaper Union.)


she no longer loved him, that his
little, peculiar ways annoyed her,
that she was going away with Paul.
She didn't want to hurt him any
more than she could help, yet there
was no sense in beating about the
bush. .
Dear Joffe, she wrote. 81 hope
this doesn't come as too great a
blow. The fact is, I've suddenly
realized that our marriage was a
mistake. I'm afraid I never loved
you as at first thought. l am going
away with Paul. Please try to I'M
derstand and forgive. Zita."
She read it through twice, frown-
ing. There wasn't much there but
cruel, hard facts. She would like to
have softened the blow, yet it was
better this way.
She copied the letter on her very
best stationery and threw away the
original. Tomorrow she'd place the
carefully penned note at Joffe's
plate at the table, where he'd find it
when he came home from the Of
fee.
She fell to rejecting then, sitting
there at her desk, with the penhold-
er's and clicking idly against her
teeth.
How glad she'd be to get away.
Alone with Paul. Dear precious
Paul. So kind and gentle and I'M
derstanding. A pity she hadn't met
him before she married Joffe.
Joffe! The mere thought of him
gave her the willies.
Promptly at $50 Joffe would slam
into the house. He'd boom out a
greeting and give her a great bear
like hug, and in so doing he'd dis
arrange her hair and spoil her
makeup. That was like Joffe. No
matter how many times she scolded
him about it, it made no difference.
Never thinking of her looks, her
feelings.
He'd sit down then and eat a big,
hearty meal, telling her the while
of everything that had happened at
the office. And after dinner he'd
roam around the house and begin
picking up things, emptying waste
baskets, busting off shelf or piece
of furniture with his handkerchief.
The mere thought Of it caused Zita
to shudder. AS if she hadn't spent
half the day cleaning house! And
then to have him go right over the
same ground, betraying by his atti-
tude the fact he thought she was
shiftless and lazy!
Joffe never complained. It was
his actions, the way he looked at
things and at her that had worn on
Zita's nerves. 1t was what he didn't
say that bothered her most.
Poor idiot! 1t would be a hard
pill for him to swallow when he
read that letter. She wondered how
he'd get along with no one to look
after him.
Zita sighed and went below stairs.
Joffe was just coming in. He swept
her into his arms, nearly crushing
her bones.
All during dinner she thought what
a fool he was, a fool because he
hadn't been able to read the hand
writing on the wall. Hadn't even
suspected she was bored and fed
up with him. Why, once he'd even
come into the living room and found
her in Pauls arms. Quick-thinking
Paul had Immediately explained
that he'd been trying to remove a
speck from her eye. And Joffe,
poor, dumb Joffe, had believed him.
Paul, he believed, was his best
friend.
That evening as usual, Joffe made
his customary tour about the house
and seemed almost disappointed
when he failed to locate a dusty
shelf or piece of furniture. Zita had
made sure that day to clean the
place thoroughly. She didn't want
to have trouble with Joffe on her
last night.
Somehow Zita lived through the
night and the next morning. At
noon Paul came. The letter she
had written for Joffe was already
at his plate on the table. His din
ner was on the stove.
They departed as unostentatiously
as possible and motored at once to
the docks. The liner on which Paul
had purchased tickets, sailed at one
o'clock. They stayed below until
the moorings were cast off, then
went up on deck.
Zita saw the city slipping away
behind them. She felt Paul's strong
arm about her shoulder. She was
happy. She had no last-minute re-
grets; no feeling of wrong-doing.
She was leaving behind a life of
drudgery and monotony, facing a
glorious new adventure. She was
glad. o
At exactly $50 Joffe returned
home. There was on his face look
of anxiety He yelled a greeting to
his wife, and on receiving no answer,
carefully removed his coat and hat
and walked into the dining room.
Instantly his eye fell on the letter
lying so innocently at his place. He
picked it up, unsealed it and read
what his wife had written.
After moment he removed from
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