Evening Republican, Volume 18, Number 11, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 13 January 1914 — SUBMERGING EVELYN [ARTICLE]

SUBMERGING EVELYN

By BREWER SMITH.

When Evelyn Doane*s parents died suddenly, within a week of each other, the shock was so ever whelming that her sister’s suggestion *to sell her town house and go to Jive with her was accepted gratefully. To be alone was more Than Evelyn could endure, and she looked to Alicia’s cheerful young household to help her bear her bereavement. In a surprisingly short time everything was arranged, and it was not until she had looked her last upon ber familiar old home that the first doubt as to the wisdom of ber decision assailed her. i But Mrs. Reade was so thoughtful, the young people so affectionate, that her fears sooh vanished, and from a strictly material standpoint she was certainly well placed. Everything was done for her comfort, and during the early months of her bereavement nothing else mattered. At the end of her second year, however, when her nerves had regained their tone and she began to feel an interest itt living oice more, she made the startling discovery that during her deep mourning the family bad by unanimous consent laid her gently but firmly upon the shelf, ei Not yet thirty-one, attractive and still beautiful, to the young pecple of Alicia's household she was nevertheless a pronounced (Id maid. Had they seen her at home, the center as her own fashionable circle, this would not have been, but the black-swathed, sorrowful woman who had dwelt with them for two years had in their mind;) no association with pleasure or youth. Their attitude at first amused Evelyn; it seemed incredible in an age permitting women to be attractive as long as they so desired, but by degrees she felt Its deadly effect. It is difficult to stem a current unaided, and shat away for years from the pleasant life she loved, Evelyn bad unconsciously lost the vivid interest in things that nad kept her spirit young. When it awakened again and she prepared to take up her old life, it was something of a shock to find herself regarded with youthful contemptuous surprise. Even Alicia, who loved her and who well knew what a series of t rlumphs her life had been, shared the young people’s views of heY awakening. It was an aggressively youthful household -a household where athletics, motoiing, cotillons and clothes formed the principal topics of conversation, but to Evelyn it was all interesting enough until she discovered that her part in it must be as spectator and not as participant. She could discuss Barbara’s lilac organdie, or Betty’s embroidered voile with enthusiasm, but order one for herself, drape her own graceful bddy in some of the dainty stuffs she loved —ridiculous! -----;<■ - She dsd not give up the fight supinely. She was too spirited to fall out of -the ranks at command, and for a time she strove bravely to keep her footing and remain in touch with the social life, flowing so pleasantly about her, but almost imperceptibly the family had .impressed their viewpoint upon their friends, and ' her invitations came almost entirely from older people. She who had been the leader of an envied set at home, found herself making a languid fourth at whist tables where ancient dowagers wrangled and revoked, or dragging through dull dinners, partner to some fagged old man more interested in his meal than the slight, aristocratic woman beside him. She was expected to satisfy herself with book clubs, charity and music. When Alicia entertained her daughters Evelyn helped her with the sandwiches and salads, assisted the girls to dress, and then, tired of body and mind, retired to her own room to listen the night through to music whose echoes awoke longings that nobody seemed either to divine or understand. Constant dripping win wear away a ■tone, and repeated iteration of the same idea finally has its effect even upon the most Independent mind. Blowly but none the less surely Evelyn began to let go. To retain her own dignity she was forced to do so. Of sparkling intellect and vivid pet tonality, she could not easily assume the role -of onlooker, but the lesson was at length learned, the impossible accomplished, and she effectually effaced heryelf. - When the young people voiced their opinions upon every conceivable suh Ject—when Barbara denounced suffragettes, and Betty with equal ardor defended them —when John misquoted her favorite author, and Phil labeled the brightest modern essayist as "beastly commonplace, don’t you know?"—sbe ssld nothing; she listened with a smi)e that would have revealed much to a sympathetic bystander. It was not that they did not care for Evelyn—they were sincerely fond of her, but as a naiden annt and not as a companion. It never occurred to theWi that individually she had no existence —that under their deadly egotism her mind was being starved to death, her ardent spirit ground to pieces. Oddly enough her brother-in-law, lasy, selfish Tom Reade, understood j her better than all the others. And upon one occasion, when argument bad waxed warm and opinions bad flashed back and forth .across the table, he had turned to her, fitting silent and thoughtful at hia side, and said: “Young fools —aren’t they? Not

~~ worth wasting ammunition OB theta?* and when she flushed guiltily he cod' tinned: “Don't worry, Erie; I won’t give yog away, and the rest are too blind to see.” Evelyn had been with her sister four tears, years that had taught her to discipline her pride and subdue her ego, when Gay Travis returned suddenly from abroad. He had pnjfmtd to Evelyn the week before her father’s death, and having been courteously but firmly refused had gone away, seeking in travel to ttllle the resties* hopes whose denial had broken bis life. Convinced finally that it was of no use, and like a moth eager to singe its wings again, he returned to Ames' ica and to Evelyn’s home, only to learn that she had moved to Westwood. A day later found him sitting in Mrs. Reade’s library with Barbara serving tea and Betty talking witty nothings, while Evelyn In a big chair by the fire listened silently. Her attitude puzzled him, and he set himself to unravel It. Her greeting of him. for instance, had been kinder than he had anticipated, but upon the entrance of her nieces she had withdrawn into herself and subsided into a mere spectator. It was not that she was bored. Patiently she enjoyed the girls' nonsense—it was rather that she felt herself outside of it all and apparently did not object. Contrast' ing her with the brilliant, animated girl she had been, he found her bard to understand. " ' While not profound, Travis lovsd Evelyn devotedly, and for the nest week he studied her closely. He asked seemingly Idle questions of the girls—he won the boys’ opinions upon divers subjects. He talked earnestly with Mrs. Reade, and flippantly with her husband, and in the end he mastered the problem. Once assured Of this fact, he hastened in search oi Evelyn, finding her in the library mending Betty’s music. She was somberly clad —her hair drawn severely back from her forehead. When he entered she looked up carelessly. .. ... 2 r 12...\2 “Evelyn,” he exclaimed, “I want yon to do me a favor.” “A favor. Gay—why, of course—what do you want me to do?” “I want yon to go upstairs and brush your hair as you used to." She stared at him wonderingly. “What an extraordinary request — and why should I make myself ridiculous?” "Is it ridiculous to make yourself attractive?” “Possibly not, bnt I must dress appropriately.” “Tou and I have different ideas of the appropriate. See here, Evelyn— if 1 hadn’t seen this thing with ay own eyes I. wouldn’t have believed it. Hour old are you, anyhow?” ’Thirty-five.” “And far more beautiful today in that impossible gown you have on than either Of your nieces! Go up and get into some of the floaty, fleecy clothes you used to wear. Put ftnrn about your throat and wear a hat such as Barbara had on yesterday. Take her’s if yon haven’t any of yonr own.” “I haven't,” she admitted wlih sudden bitter distaste for the appropriate toque selected by Alicia for her that morning. “Rouse up, Evelyn, it to time this absurd farce ended. Do you realise what has happened to you? Tou have been submerged—the youth in this house has overwhelmed you.” "Oh, Gay!" she cried, touched and surprised by his comprehension, "it Is quite true—they take my breath away. But bow did you ever guess it? Nobody else ever did.” “Nobody else ever loved yon as 1 do. Will you marry me, Evelyn?” “Thank you kindly, sir,” she said, with the old arth smile he had loved, and as she came into his opened arsis he ejaculated over her gold-brown head: “Great heavens, what fools these young people are!* (Copyright, 1918, by the McClure Newspaper Syndicate.)