Bless the Bride

so antiquated. When a couple no longer wishes to remain married, they should be able to shake hands and part amicably, without all this ridiculous subterfuge. If Gus and I ever decided to part ways, I know we’d be most civilized about it. Wouldn’t we, Gus?”
    “I don’t want to think about it.” Gus turned away.
    “Not that we ever will,” Sid said hastily.
    I turned over Mr. Lee’s card. “His office is on the Bowery,” I said. “Hardly the best of addresses. I wonder what his employer does for a living?”
    “I agree it’s not Fifth Avenue, but it’s quite respectable in its upper reaches around Cooper Union. Perhaps the employer is a lawyer,” Gus suggested. “I know I’ve seen law offices around there.… So are you going to pay him a call?”
    I looked up from the card. “Why not? What have I got to lose? Just as long as Daniel doesn’t find out.”
    “Our lips, as always, will be sealed,” Sid said.
    “Now you must let Sid show you the wonderful articles she is writing,” Gus said. “The history of the suffrage movement. Most edifying and illuminating. Take Molly upstairs and show her the one you are writing at the moment, Sid.”
    “I haven’t polished that one yet,” Sid said. “The prose is still rather rough. But she can read the one that was published this week.”
    “It’s her best yet,” Gus said, sitting beside me as Sid went upstairs.
    I had been the model of calmness for two weeks. Now my naturally impatient and curious nature had risen to the surface and was threatening to boil over again. I was dying to see what Daniel had done to my house and I wanted to find out about the mysterious Mr. Lee and his lucrative assignment. Sid and Gus were dear friends. They had been very good to me, but they had no concept of the word urgency . Life to them was one long game to be enjoyed and savored. I accepted the magazine that Sid offered me and read. Actually it was extremely interesting to read about the various states that had passed laws allowing women full participation in the governing process. Unfortunately New York was not one of them.
    “This certainly reveals how far we have come,” I said, handing it back to her.
    “No,” she said. “It shows how far we have to go. For every state that acknowledges women as rational beings who can only enhance the political process, there are four or five who think us fit only to scrub floors, bear children, and give tea parties.”
    I nodded.
    “We are hosting one of our meetings tonight,” Gus said, “so you will meet our fearless warriors for yourself. If you are here, that is, and the important Mr. X has not invited you to dine with him at Delmonico’s.”
    “Oh, I don’t think that is likely to happen,” I said. “But I have to confess I’m impatient to find out more now. And I’m also anxious to see what Daniel has done to my house. Have you had a chance to peek inside yet?”
    “No, we were not invited to have a look and one can see almost nothing through the net curtains.”
    “I know,” I said. “I tried to look through them myself. I didn’t like the idea of going inside, in case someone was working upstairs.”
    “I believe they are finished,” Gus said. “We haven’t spotted anybody for the last few days, have we, Gus?”
    “As quiet as the grave,” Gus said. “And we have to admit to being equally curious. We’re dying to see if we approve of Daniel’s taste in decoration.”
    “Then let’s take a look, shall we?”
    They needed no urging to follow me across the street. I opened my front door cautiously and listened for signs of activity. The smell of new paint made my nostrils twitch, but there was no sound. I stepped into the front hall, followed closely by Sid and Gus. As Gus had predicted, the place looked brand, spanking new. The hallway was light yellow, the parlor, which previously had contained one rather dilapidated armchair, now boasted a new sofa and attractive striped wallpaper.
    Sid gave a grunt of surprise. “The man has remarkably civilized taste for a policeman,” she said.
    “And look, Molly. You actually have a dining room,” Gus said, peering through the next door.
    “So I do.” The dining room now contained a dining set, complete with an impressive sideboard carved with grapevines. I had no idea where it came from. It certainly hadn’t been in Daniel’s rooms.
    “Holy Mother of God,” I exclaimed. “I’m going to be the mistress of an elegant house.”
    We went