To Love and To Honor

Octavus Roy Cohen

Sevmek ve Sayg Duymak

Octavus Roy Cohen

t was rather surprising to discover a deep vein of sentiment in little Geoege Potter. I had been his fried and his lawyer for many years and had watch the always fat and once alert little man settle in to a domestic routine. He had been moderately succesfull in business, sufficiently succesfull to permit him to retire from business and to trawel about the world a little if he had wanted to do so. ut instead he and !sther were content to sit night after night in their pleasant living room" she was busy with her sewing or reading, he passing the time with his e#cellent collection of postage stamps . $oo%ing bac% over the years of my friendship with Potter , I can see that the vein of romance had probably been there all the time . there was, for instance, his very romantic lowe&affair with 'lthea (eane ) an affair which almost became a scandal. ut *ust when peole began to gossip about them, George married her. +hat marriage appeared to estinguish George Potter,s last spar% of romanticism. It never had a change to be succesfull, and when 'lthea left him suddenly, George,s friend thougt that he was fortunate to lose her. $are came the news of 'lthea,death while living abroad, and a couple years of later George began to call up on !sther seriously. +he people of our group were only slightly interested& it is dificult to become gereatly e#cited over a possible mariage when both the man and the woman are e.ually rather dull and uninteresting. +he marriage was a very nice affair. +here followed the usual series of the parties for the newly maried couple . then it seemed George and !sther retired from life. !ven his business affairs ran so well that there was little need on George,s part for my sevices as his lawyer& and when I never ceased to li%e him, we found less and less incommon as the years passed .
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/0/% George Petter, de derin bir duygu %e1fetme% ger0e%ten 1a12rt2c2yd2. 32llard2r ar%ada12 ve avu%at2yd2m... i1inde orta derecede ba1ar2l2yd2. !me%liye ayr2lma% ve o da isterse %/0/% bir d/nya turuna 02%ma% i0in yeterince ba1ar2l2yd2. O ve !sther bunun yerine her gece g/4el oturma odalar2nda oturma%tan memnundular" !sther di%i1 veya o%uma ile me1guld/,George m/%emmel posta pulu %ole%siyonu ile 4aman ge0iriyordu. Geriye" Potter ile ar%ada1l2% y2llar2m24a ba%t252mda bel%i de her 4aman var olan o romanti% hissi g6rebiliyorum. 7rne5in, 'lthea (eane ile neredeyse bir s%andal olan bir a1% maceras2 vard2. 8a%at tam insanlar onlar ha%%2nda dedi%odu yapmaya ba1lad2%lar2nda George 'lhea ile evlendi. u evlili% George Potter, in son romanti4m %2v2lc2mlar2n2 s6nd/rece% g6r/nd/. !vlili5in ba1ar2l2 olma% i0in hi0 1ans2 olmad2 ve 'lthea O, nu aniden ter% etti5inde George,un ar%ada1lar2 onun 'lthea,y2 %aybetti5i i0in 1ansl2 oldu5unu d/1/nd/ler. (aha sonra 'lthea,n2n yurt d212nda ya1ar%en 6ld/5/ haberi geldi. ir i%i y2l sonra George !sther,2 ciddi 1e%ilde 964lemeye: ba1lad2. O, nun gurubunda%i insanlar sadece y/4eysel olara% ilgilendiler, %ad2n ve er%e5in her i%iside anlay21s24l2%ta e1it oldu%lar2nda muhtemel bir evlili5e heyecanlanma% 4ordur. !vlenme t6reni 0o% g/4el bir olayd2. unu yeni evli 0ift i0in al212lm21 parti serileri i4ledi. undan sonra George ve !sther hayattan eme%liye ayr2lm21 gibi g6r/nd/. ;esle%i i1leri dahi o %adar iyi gitti %i avu%at2 olara% servisimde George, un %at%2s2 gere%ti ve onu sevmeyi hi0 b2ra%mad252m halde y2llar ge0ti%0e orta% y6nlerimi4in a4ald2%0a a4ald252n2 far% etti%.

I couldn,t imagine that they were happy. +here wasn,t eough sentiment & that,s the way I figured ut George . 'nd nothing happened to change my oppinion until a few wee%s before their twenty&fifth aniversery. It was then that he came into my office , his fat little face shining with enthusiasm, and told me his unusual plans for the silver anniversary. His bright little eyes shone as he a#plain the thing, and I,ll confes that I was prwtty well confused" not alone because his plan was sentimental and profoundly impressive, but mainly because it was .uiet , dull, old George Potter who was planning this thing ) the George Potter who had lived a .uiet life since his second marriage and who had avoided social contacts. 'ccording to waht George told me, he was doing this things for !sther,s sha%e. <It,ll please her < he e#plained.< =oman li%e that sort of thing, you %now& and this seems to me a real idea. 3ou have to be part of it, because you were to be a best man when Iand !sther were maried. It,s *ust a gesture on my part& a sort of sacrifice to please the old lady. < I,ll say this for George, he didn,t do things halfway. Instead of the usual part, he presented a perfect duplication of his mariage to !sther twenty& five years before. there was even the same minister ) very old now& and the same violenist who had played < Oh promise me at the other ceremony. ' good many of the oreginal guest were there. ;ost of us rather gray haired now. ut the thing was very impressive> !sther in the same bridal dress she had worn twenty ) five year before& let out around the hips perhaps ) and carrying a bou.ued of bride roses, the bridesmaids in pin%, with boughed of ?illarney roses" even a person to carry the ring. It was great fun and very impressive where one might have e#pected it to be absurd.

Onlar2n mutlu oldu5unu hayal edemiyorum. 3eterine duygu yo%tu& enim d/1/nebildi5im yolu buydu. @e yirmi be1inci evlili% y2ld6n/mlerinden bir%a0 hafta 6ncesine %adar 1ey bu d/1/ncemi de5i1tirece% hi0 bir 1ey olmad2. A1te o4amanlar b/roma geldi. ?/0/% yuvarla% y/4/ hevesle parl2yordu ve bana g/m/1 y2ld6n/m/ i0in al212lmam21 plan2n2 anlatt2. ?/0/% parla% g64leri bir 1ey anlat2yormu1 gibi parlad2. ?afam2n oldu%0a %ar21t252n2 itiraf edece5im. -adece bu de5il 0/n%/ plan2 0o% duygusal ve 0o% et%ileyiciydi, fa%at as2l sebep bu 1eyi planlayan2n i%inci evlili5i boyunca sessi4 bir hayat ya1ayan ve sosyal ili1%ilerden %a0an George Potter,dan 0o% sessi4, s2%2c2, ya1l2 George Potter olmas2yd2. George,un bana dedi5ine g6re bu 1eyleri !sther,2n hat2r2 i0in yapt2. BOnu memnun edece%B dedi. <?ad2nlar bu t/r 1eylerden ho1lan2r biliyorsun, ve bu bana do5ru bir fi%ir gibi g6r/nd/, sen onun bir par0as2 olma% 4orundas2n. C/n%/ !sther ve ben evlendi5imi4de en iyi adam sendin.......ya1l2 bayan2 memnun etme% i0in bir t/r feda%arl2%. unu George i0in s6yleyece5im" O, i1leri yetersi4 yapmad2. !sther,a al212lm21 parti yerine DE y2l 6nce%i evli5inin m/%emmel bir %opyas2n2n verdi. 'yn2 ba%an, 1imdi 0o% ya1l2, ve di5er t6rende <Oh, promise meB par0as2n2 0alan ayn2 %emanc2 bile vard2. O 4aman%i davetlilerin pe% 0o5u oradayd2, 0o5umu4 1imdi a% sa0l2y24. !sther,2n DE y2l 6nce giydi5i ayn2 gelinli5in i0inde olmas2, bel%i %al0a etraf2 geni1lemi1ti, bir bu%et gelin g/l/ ta12mas2, y/4/%leri ta12yan biri bile 0o% et%ileyiciydi. a42lar2na sa0ma gelebilirdi ama 0o% e5lenceli ve 0o% et%ileyiciydi.

's for !sther, I never saw a woman loo% more beautiful. she too% on a aura of genuine beauty. Of course she would have been lest then human and far from feminine to have failed to responed to this magneficent e#hibition of husbandly devotion. ut finally the ceremony was finished and the guests went to the dining room for the rich supper which had benn prepared by special coo%s employed for this occasion . George and I were left alone and he sang e#housted into a chair. I placed my hand on his shoulder and congratulated him on the success of his party . <3ou really thin% it was a successF< <=onderfulG 'nd,< *oc%ingly,< you certainly should feel completely married . < <3es, I do.< He became silent for a moment or two, and when he spo%e again it was in a deeply serious tone.< +here is something I have got to e#plain to you as my friend and my lawyerB He stopped for a second, then as%ed suddenly>,,3ou remember my first wifeF,, H,'ltheaF< I was surprised by the .uestion.< Certainly.< < (id you %now , < he went on in a strange voice , < that she died only last year F < <Good $ordG I thought she died twenty&seven years ago. < <-o did I,< he said .uitely. < 'nd when I married !sther , I thought I was a widower. ut I wasn,t ) and in case anything ever comes up ) well, I want you to understand that affair tonight was a real wedding for !sther and me.<

!sher,e gelince, daha 6nce ondan daha g/4el g6r/nen bir %ad2n g6rmedim. Ger0e%ten g/4el bir hava ta%2nm21t2. !lbete bu %ocan2n sergiledi5i b/y/% ba5l2l252a cevap verme% i0in , bir insandan daha a4 bir di1iden 0o% u4a% olabilirdi. George,un %endisi o il% evlili% t6reninde%i durum %adar %or%mu1tu. -onunda t6ren sona erdi ve davetliler bu olay i0in 64el olara% i1e al2nan ah02lar taraf2ndan ha42rlanan 4engin a%1am yeme5i i0in yeme% odas2na gittiler. George ve ben yaln24 %ald2% ve o yorgun olara% %oltu5a g6m/ld/. !llerimi om4una yerle1tirdim ve onu partisinde%i ba1ar2 i0in %utlad2m <Ger0e%ten ba1ar2 olara% m2 de5erlendiriyorsun FB George himself was a frightened as he had been on the occasion of their first wedding . <;/%emmelGB ve alayl2 bir 1e%ilde <?esinli%le tam olara% evli hissetmelisinB <!vet hissediyorum.B ir veya i%i da%i%a sessi4 %ald2 ve te%rar %onu1tu5unda sesi 0o% ciddi bir tondayd2.B 'r%ada12m ve avu%at2m olara% sana a02%lamam gere%en bir 1ey var.B ir saniye dura%lad2, sonra aniden sordu> < enim il% e1imi hat2rl2yor musun FB <'lthea m2FB -oru beni 1a12rtm21t2 <Ger0e%ten.B < iliyor musun,B diye garip bir sesle devam edere% < o daha ge0en y2l 6ld/B <'man tanr2m, en yirmiyedi y2l 6nce 6ld/5/n/ 4annediyordumB < en deB dedi yava10a. B!sther,le evlendi5im 4aman dul oldu5umu san2yordum, fa%at de5ilmi1im. @e e5er bir 1ey olursa, senden anlaman2 istedi5im mesele bu gece%i !sther ve benim i0in ger0e% bir evlili%ti.