Should She Have Left Him? — page 143: what you’re looking at

Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.

A CRITICAL POINT. 137 cetera, upon her right to engrave on her cards “ Mrs. Courtenay,” a privilege Mrs. Herbert Courtenay arrogated? While all these various and sometimes hostile divisions were ready to combine to repel the invader, apparently they always were willing to take up arms against one of their order if the contest was to be waged within society's circle. Trescotte feared that a contest in which Mrs. Courtenay should be the leader would only result in insult and humiliation for Dorothy. For himself he cared nothing at all; it was Dorothy and Dorothy’s happt: ness that was upon his mind. Trescotte often discussed this question over the wine with Mr. Magrane. The lawyer had become a frequent guest at the Trescotte table. The cook was excellent and the wines superb. And he had grown to be very fond of the two young people. While Trescotte could not be satisfied that the world would accept the common law marriage as a solution of their troubles, Mr. Magrane could do no more than assert his positive opinion that it must stand in law, if they could only bring it under judicial review. They never got beyond these propositions, but the subject had an irresistible attraction for them, and they returned to it fre- quently when Dorothy had lett the table. The real result of all this thinking and discussion upon the subject was, that Trescotte persuaded him- self that the course he and Dorothy should pursue was that of self-imposed isolation; to refuse to accept invitations and to give none, If these peo- Comicbookks C@ 3