Chapter XXIV

I heard from Juno regularly and she came to this country once a year to visit me. There was very little comfort for me in those visits, but still I wanted to see her, hoping all the time I would find that she had tired of her life with Irish.

We tried to break off entirely. I did not write to her for several months, nor did she to me at my request. Then came entreaties again from Irish that it was cruel to keep up the silence and that Juno was pining for my letters. So again I yielded and resumed the correspondence.

The rich relative died and Juno was left a very comfortable fortune. She came to this country until her affairs were settled and was with me much of the time. Finally, at the opening of the war when she was again in Paris, she had to come home and she took a lovely apartment in the city. Soon she sent for Irish to come over to be with her, as she had money enough for two at that time. I was compelled to receive them both at my home in the country where I was engaged in the work which I have described. This was very upsetting to me. At last I felt that I could not see another with the one who had been my all in all, so I decided this time to put the continent between us and went to the other side of America.

I resolved not to go back to my work in the East and resigned my position. The whole town and the children and parents protested and petitioned me to come back. But I could not face the heartaches that would be waiting for me.

I established myself in a little home in the mountains where I could conduct a business which would bring me a living. I hoped to live and die there. About the time that I was well settled and was making some headway in conquering my sorrow, Juno wrote to me that she had at last become tired of Irish and had made her marry a man from her own home in Ireland who had long been a suitor. Juno accomplished this by promising that she would go with her to Ireland and see her married, which she did during the war. Juno had returned and wanted to come to visit me in my mountain home the next spring, promising that she would stay six weeks.

When she came I was again in raptures, but there was no resumption of anything intimate. She then told me of her love for a married man and that it was returned. Well, that is her history. It was another heartbreaker for me, however, when, after she had been with me for ten days, the man appeared and demanded that she should go home with him the next day, which she did.

The following Christmas, Juno’s brother wired for me to come for the holidays and sent me the money for the trip. He said he needed me. I went. Juno did not know of my coming until her brother asked her to go with him to meet a friend who was coming that night. When she saw me she was far from pleased, and my stay in New York was anything but pleasant. Her brother was distressed at the thought that his sister could become entangled with a married man, and thought that I could persuade her to give the thing up and go back to me.

I got back to my mountain home as soon as possible and have never seen the lady since. The man got his divorce and they were duly married. Her husband has gone through all of Juno’s money. We still write occasionally and I do not suffer all the time, but even now I have the old sorrow come back and I will always look upon those years with my beloved Juno as the most perfect that anyone could have, and worth all the suffering they have brought into my life.

THE END

Transcriber’s Notes

This text was transcribed from the unchanged reprint edition in the collection _HOMOSEXUALITY. Lesbians and Gay Men in Society, History and Literature_, Arno Press: New York, 1975. Materials from a later date than the original publication year 1930, such as series title, editorial information, or publisher advertisements, have been omitted.

The original spelling was mostly preserved. A few obvious typographical and punctuation errors were silently amended. All other changes are shown here (before/after):

[p. 34]:
... it the sign that you are going to have a baby.” I did ...
... is the sign that you are going to have a baby.” I did ...

[p. 72]:
... but I loved life and the thought of ending brought ...
... but I loved life and the thought of ending it brought ...

[p. 77]:
... like wild Indians, and I was of the most ...
... like wild Indians, and I was one of the most ...

[p. 82]:
... had tried many: In my junior year I did become ...
... had tried many. In my junior year I did become ...

[p. 90]:
... for myself no greater happiness that that. ...
... for myself no greater happiness than that. ...

[p. 162]:
... go the front of the apartment and do her work there. ...
... go to the front of the apartment and do her work there. ...

[p. 196]:
... here and said I would put a stop to it at once. I was ...
... her and said I would put a stop to it at once. I was ...