Show TT ON ii I 1 1 t by el ethel thel hueston I 1 service L copyright by the dobbs morrill merrall co CHAPTER IX continued 18 16 jerrold carefully prudence and jerry into tile the cur car and sat in tile tho corner beside them holding jerrys hand jerrold would have considered it nn an to have a chauffeur drive him about town ton able hodler and in my right inland for file part na its lie said but on rare at aid d state occa like the present lie lind one of the ilie hoys rus front from the take tile out icille lillo lie sat with the llie others in the lie lon neati of tile 1 19 Y erect und alert and 4 prepared d fur for the worst jerry jeny laughed at him settle down father settle down silo urged snuggling her lingers finger ii closer into tits hand well dlo die io together gether en fa fanellie nillie ono mn foit folt jerry jerian lofters were like lee but there liere nothing of drooping sadness in tier her pose rather with alth a strained alertness site she remained stiffly upright tier her eyes ees brilliant tier her slender chin title tilted to on an unwontedly high degree they knew everyone tit nt the clubhouse lilt wid us as they mado their way to the llie table reserved for them in a far corner they were obliged to stop hy fly many haars for a laughing WOW word with one an and another they saw duane on tho moment of their entrance lie he wag tins tit at a with irvin weatherby and ills fits akito afo and ICIl th tho the oldest of ills hla tin oo 00 daughters happily tint thit table wag not directly on n the lie nasio they pushed passed through they lifted their hands to jerry us its site die wont cut by nodding laughing and jerry them all in a quick bright blight greeting forming the ill see you iou later with tier alpa ns as silo passed dunne was ns amaded at the studied perfection of tier hr manner the lio nho abao lubel v impersonal impel junul friendliness of tier her glance ift I ft tile get someone to sit with 1 jerrold bug suggested us its they reache tj their table able ini im arrild no e may lany seem dull wo should kiino mado made up a 11 party jerry jeny put a pleading liand on hla 1118 arm aim no father id so much rather be just by ourselves oui heles 1 I dont want ailin to think you we I 1 dont want ft ant anyone to jerrold floundered for words in his partisanship or of jerry lie would have no stranger not lunne duane allerton nor tiny any other hinc have it a chance to suspect tier her of any loneliness or subject to any slight jerry gratefully for ills concern as till mir sli iel into tier her chair she shook tier liend head you tire are it sweet old lulng fattier lint lilt I 1 am not trying to lawress illin him I 1 dont cine care to make in ike him jealous I 1 dont want ant to try tr tiny any childish bluffing I 1 just fitl feet like having you iou and mother so soli alay bother bot lier for tit at least tile llie thousandth time in tits ids life alfo jeriold jen old told hini himself self proudly that jerry was ns a little brick bikk she ahe looked tile lie grent great dooin with alth tier her usual air of friendly interest intel est nodded to tier her friends here and there chatted cliatt ed a little with those near liei her and discussed the lie gons gonns complex completions complexions Ions and coll Tures ef cf the other omen with tier her mother mot lier sli she anade in ide a brave brae pretense of mieng nil UK her dinner ns as it was ft as placed glicr in i but when dpn once in a while tier hui s touched tier her fathers liand hand 1 icy lc hill of them cut him like it a chish at flatt in tits ills loyalty to tier her li ifould not ean e n lerk 1 i across to the VC weatherly fatherly table after that aliat erst greeting tit as they lilt lh dooin but finally ihan lie ie realized milled that lint jerry lind had herself lier self pei factly in hand and needed to 10 of ills lda ho turned that way dunne s eydi vs smoldering somber were lived upon tier lovely profile pro lie cloudy blackness of tier her dark hair tile llie cr chamy atily whiteness of tier her throat and the shoulder sli half turned from ailin beirold jet i old could not withhold a friendly sympathetic smile an and duane responded with a grateful unsmiling nod any fool could seo te in his mind jerrold thought the whole town will be buzzing with it now when they went vent into the he ballroom the orchestra was waa play playing inz they found a pla pint place for prude prudence to sit alt and jerry danced with he her r father tien then she danced with young aft doctor tor moi morse se anil and then with newton alack linbach time returning to her place beside her hei mother it was after tile third bird ewhen dunne duahe had P performed e r his bis duty MB as guest to his bis hoste hostasa a s and to edith and had sat out a stupid dunce dance with mr air berby that lie ho excused himself with stumbling words and with stubborn determination with trepidation in his heart he be turned hl hi steps toward jerry they saw jim him coming jerrolds Jer rolda pleasant smile froze upon his features and hi he toyed nervously with lie narrow phuon at tits his watch prudence held field tier her breath only jerry kept up tier light bright chatter although her fingers shook duane continued doggedly toward tier her his fits eyes upon the cloudy blackness of her hair jerrold spoke quickly as lie ho drew near holding bolding out ills his hand ills his voice was very fr friendly fendly oil oh liello hello duana how do you like the file middle west at its very wicked eat oh very much sir thank you duane clung citing to his hand like a man drowning but jerrold passed him on perforce to prudence youve met my wife I 1 know oh ob yes mrs airs harmer but it seems it a very long time it Is very good to see you again prudence lifted her hand lifted both hands bands greeted him with a warm warin almost foolish effusiveness but site could ou id not postpone the inevitable lie looked beyond tier her to jerry G good evening he said lamely and lili fils eyes were riveted to the haughty lift of tier her chin jerry anilleo Binl anil led mindful of the eyes 0 of f the friendly always interested homo home town silo lifted a slender fee ce cold band ind dropped it for a moment in lila ills slie she caught lie he breath at the lie sudden contact if lie he retained it it lo lie 10 drew it warmly into ills his caret caressed sed it its H lie ho had lone done in the lie studio that lint unforgotten and unforgettable night she knew sin could not withstand the I 1 tie tenderness of ills his touch duane duaine held it burely barely a second longer than to Is a allowed I 1 by a strict convention and released leased it slowly IV will you sit down she offered generously in gratitude lor for tits hla relinquishment the way lie dropped into a choir chair beside her gave ave somehow the imar slon of a ship tossed in a stormy sen sea suddenly and surprisingly finding that its anchor held hald oil mother look I 1 said gald jerry brightly feres judge I larris nud ills bla new nev little wife from california site e pinioned to dunne judge als Is la Is one of the city pillars b been een for cen it seems seeing and a few beeks beka nao a 0 o lie bo everybody by marrying a seven teen yea rold r old girl on tile coast naturally lie Is our chief of gossip silo glio Is pretty silo Perlin pei imps ps people will ft think site she la Is only ills datig daughter liter duano profit bcd a tremendous in i vt in fit the wild mar garringe ringe of lie he old judge and the lie four or of thein discussed it alin to lie detail until the lie subject stink bunk of its own and died mouy there was an awkward interval ill you dunce dance mrs airs harmer prudence stood up tit lit once id to 00 oo e to silo declared quite as it if elie bile it then jeraj acry laughed she touched lier her hand bund to duanes oriu ariu let me warn mother cannot dunce dance she Is likely to do perfectly terrible things on oil tile floor father unit I 1 have been leaching hilling tier her to dunce dance for twenty years and site she cant to do it yet I 1 ashes univ only trying to ing to be polite to you oil jerry protested prudence blushing Sonie I 1 am sure I 1 get along little bulte nicely 1 11 I nin full not a bit alar nied dunne duane assured tier her and then to jerry very plen pleadingly please walt prudence e had bud a little getting the step at first arst Is la is I 1 it t ft altz nl tz slip slin asked apologetically 1 I never cun tell the things apart lie ile laughed tit nt tier confusion its a foxtrot fox trot never inand we 11 ll get on finely I 1 know just why your daughter dibin liter wits very unjust to you you dance I 1 and all my fears ere groundless I 1 prudene wits was in a desperate quandary site she so BO wanted to he be pleasant to tile poor toy ley but when han site she tallied she lost the step she danced conscientiously half may ay around the room before she puke epure 11 1 inn ani so EO gond to see you again mr allerton 1 I 1 I wish visit things were it a little illi Terent I 1 know u wo 0 should be very good fi lends friends if we had in a chance would you mind I 1 suppose you would rather not cull call ine duane he sald hopeb 1 I ily yet diffidently id love to it is it a nice name it anil jerrold and I 1 always speak of bod you as dunne duane when wo we are alone 11 dunno duane smiled a little ruefully at that lint your husband Is in wonderful to me lie said 1 I never neer met anyone liko lafin before he he ii just jast fine yes int lie he I 1 know knew you would llod dunne patiently helped her back into the be rhythm and when they were dancing smoothly again unable to resist ills great desire to talk of 0 jerry he sat said blie Is so eo beautiful she she seems lovelier every time T y ae her 1 yea taeg she Is a beautiful girl everyone says g SO so 1 og she always seema BO well poised so sophisticated she Is always sure of herself never perturbed sophia tica ted that Is ithe word for it tuat was what deceived we me about her at drat yes yea she bhe looks sophisticated but really silo she Is the most innocent and artless thing I 1 imaginable magi be I 1 surprised yes I 1 was waa girls are like that now they get that air of advanced maturity when they tire lire LO more than children they julic of the lie most intimate and secret r filings in the most outspoken manner and they dont really know what they are talking about 1 they plot up tip a lot of superficial expressions from the lie books they read from plays from movies they think it Is quite clever clem to repeat what they hear clever and just a bit shocking at heart they ore are just as innocent as we were silien we were young but they sound oll oil so very much worse I 1 if the lie twins had talked the way girls do now well I 1 should probably have s spanked pin I 1 ie d them 1 I dont think the lie others are like jerry though i krucli an air of assur abuce and such ardess innocence te nel ith it 1 oil yes dunne duane most young girls fire like that in lie he beginning and moil men never understand it they think garli really linow know and understand the things they talk about so freely they dont bitont ut at all ani ali so quite innocently they lead them on oil und and on and whose fault mrs harmer in the lie end it was mine I 1 know in our cast case but I 1 was bure she was play 1119 tile liu game I 1 never dreamed of anny tiling else the way she looked thu way ay site she tallied talked why dunne ive heard those girls jet jerry ry and tier her friends say things thing 3 to ench other discuss things that honestly I 1 should not dream 0 saying to one no of iny bisters even to jerrold Jerrol dl I 1 they dont know what talking about I 1 tell you they think its smart to appear sophisticated and blase and tit lit heart thoy are children oli oh after a while they aliey learo learn but they yet it too bad that men dont understand them as their moth ers era do when they returned to ad and jerry who were waiting yr r them Frude prudenco Iru denro ined brightly now you see terry I 1 did very well aft ir all I 1 I 1 was only out of step a 11 time thile or two 1 I una dun mr air allerton anti anil we tallied talked all the time and you know usually I 1 cant talk when im dancing I 1 think I 1 may learn after all in time ahne others came caine up joined tho the little group chatted a while and drifted on tile tho music begun began again duana turned to jerry IV V will you dance yes slie she ant briefly when they had moved away jerrold turned to prudence site she can say what she lilies likes and you may believe it it if you want avant to lint but jerry wanted to dance with him unit half a dozen boys dime cattle up and asked tier her to dance and she made excuses every time she wits was just waiting for to como back prudence smiled at its his stupidity and said nothing jerry and duane lind lanced tho full length of lie room without a word bet between veen them jerry he said at last very softly 1 I realize of cour course coure e that aliat you wore this gown gon mostly la in defiance della but I 1 hope it was just a little bit for remembrance too mr air allerton please Du duahne alne lie he interrupted you called tile me duane tit in new york that night site she lifted a slender shoulder aban boned the uso use of tile the name entirely 1 I would not for the world humiliate you before other people but you must help in me e they know I 1 met you in new york buiey are watching us together make it easy fur for me wont you stay slay away from me talk to others jerry how can you ask roe me to see anyone else when you are here oil please dont 1 the aliey danced for a while in silence jerryl jerry 1 was it a little for heinem tr ancell mr allerton I 1 ask you to help me I 1 aw am trying dobard so hard to let things go off oc nicely so no one will suspect anything dont make it harder for me than it t Is already but jerry if t you would only lot let me m talk to you just once let me tell you let me explain there a thing in the world to tell me a thing in the lie world to explain I 1 understand you perfectly now and I 1 am not such a fool as to think you dont understand me as well I 1 linow know you do and then she added bitterly with the experience exper lenca youve had ills his eyes byca contracted sharply at the cruelty of her words you need to turn the knife jerry the first cut was wn sharp enough again they bey danced in silence hence jerry I 1 love you that make any difference s sno no if you love me it does not mate make any difference after a I 1 long on S interval he sad very softly jerry tell me when you if are with me ilao tills this it make you think a little bit night in the he studio you were so sweet mry jerry you were flere the loveliest thing I 1 ever saw I 1 shelf shall never forget the feeling I 1 had when you first looked up at me tile the flame colored gown your bour cloudy black hair and most of all that brine brave glau brigl brightness itne h a in your eyes cyca oh jerry it was a wonderful night you cant deny that it was a beautiful night you cant dont do that I 1 jerrys voice was very low very intense donl I 1 am trying so hard to let things go when you ou talk to me melike like chrt t ive just got to be insulting to y ou to keep keel to keer keel from loving me jerry he be finished when her v voice faltered jerry lifted tier her misty blue eyes under the shadowing fringe of the dark lashes looked at him directly very frankly and answered surprisingly yes oh jerry he pleaded you love me already you cant put me off any longer you A slight sll glit almost imperceptible movement and jerry was free of his arm she bile called softly across to N newton ewton macklon Mackl ln standing near them oil newton we have been looking everywhere for you when he had joined them hem slie site slipped tier her fingers in ills arm arin slie she looked at duane with ice cold eyes and smiled with lee ice cold lips it wag a wonderful dance mr air |