| Show I i r r W 11 I W I ANC 1 d ANNE CHAPTER CHAFTER 31 Jo i WHAT HAS liAS GONE BEFORE DEFORE Nan Kan Hardy brilliant young oung new newspaper news news- paper woman oman marries s Jocko Jacko Welt WeIL- Weltman Vellman man in lu the midst of an unhappy love lov affair with Harry Gordon he her papers paper's star reporter After the Ule marrIage marriage mar mar- she finds that she loves h he her r husband and they are very happy happ until trouble begins to Yo develop bEcause be because bE- bE because cause she makes more money than thai he and he is sensitive At last Nan Nai gives up her job to allow Jocko Jacko hi his full tull chance and throws herself wit with zest into being the perfect house house- Wife But she finds that she I Is growing owing dull and feels Jocko is losing losIng los los- ing ng interest in her She begins ins t to tobe tobe be suspicious that he is getting Inter Interested In In- ter in his secretary Iva Clark Clark- son ron Harry Gordon returns to New Nev NewYork NewYork York from Europe and calls caUs Naron Nanon Nanon Nan Nar on the phone She urges him to conic come right out and Nan is pleased to se see that he and Jocko enjoy enjo seeing each 1 other Now go on A CHANGED LIFE It was Jocko who asked Harry to It come to dinner the next night much to to-Nan's to Nans Nan's surprise Nan worked hard haic over the dinner to have the food and anc the Uie appointments pcr perfect Harry could not believe that it t was ai all allNan's all allNan's Nans Nan's work No IINo siree youve you've got Oscar from the Waldorf Waldor out there in the kitchen kitchen Oscar couldn't get in that kitchen Jocko Jacko grinned And Nans Nan's got him skinned a a mile anyway But when the compliments had been paid about the food Nan found herself once more subsiding into the background The men again found many things to talk about that were vere outside Nans Nan's province Even when they touched the matters she knew she he felt diffident about speaking she had been so long out of the current current current cur cur- rent of things Harl Harry seemed to have forgotten forg entirely that he hc had once considered considered consid consid- ered her fascinating Apparently she was to him Jocko's wife now and that was all This evening sitting quietly inan In tn Inan an easy chair listening and saying little Nan became somewhat bit bit- ter It was not fair that she should have hae to grow ow dull in order that Jocko might grow grO clever That was too great a price to pay It did not seem to occur to either cither man that she had once done exciting interesting things too and written of them brilliantly That she might do so again HARRY'S HARRYS PARTY The next meeting Harry insisted must be his party They would have dinner with him and go so to a show Im dying to sec ace a New York revue he said Paris is a marvelous marvelous marvelous mar mar- city but even the thc French cant can't stage a revue like Flo feld And Im I'm going to wait till you folks can be with me i iNan Nan made a a. rapid mental tion Her evening clothes I needed much refurbishing She simply would not nol go 10 out on such a party I as this In the old rags r she had So Soshe Soshe she he set the date a few days hence pleaded engagements that made th this necessary I didn't know Inow we were all dated up like that Jocko Jacko remarked after Harr Harry had left We cant can't keep on seeing each cach other every night Nan replied Which struck Jocko Jacko as a very ery sen seii- sensible sible remark Though he lie liked Gordon Gordon Gordon Gor Gor- don at that much better than he had thought he would And the least he could do for Nan was to be pleasant to her friends Nan went next neat day to a smart little shop where she had had an account in her working era cia and bought with a grim disregard for price and budget She had budgeted long Jong ong enough All she had gained from it was the knowledge of how to make flank steak taste like Ue tenderloin tenderloin tenderloin ten ten- a knowledge that was no social asset that she could see sec On the other side of the ledger was a large arge debit of or charm wit and in in- in terest Putting the budget out of her life was as just what she he needed Nan decided decided de de- dc- dc as she surveyed ed in the glass the results of her shopping In the silvery cry gown in the lovely evening wrap rap with its it downy fur collar she sh e looked lovelier than she ever eyer ha haIn had hadin d in her life before Harry Gordon will know Im I'm on or onearth i earth now she exulted At the last minute Jocko had to tc give up the party part having ing been call called ed l to the office by a printing cm emer r- r gency Nan looked so disappoints disappointed d that lie he kissed her Why you go gc Just the same hone honey This must not nol spoil poil your jour fun At the end of the evening c which was nearly breakfast time for Harry had had lead to see the thc famous nightclubs nIghtclubs nIght clubs after nIter the revue Nan knew mcw the party Jart had been anything but spoiled She tiptoed about so as not to wake the sleeping Jocko putting her new ne clothes away carefully Then she looked long at her face still sUll lovely lovel even en after the long round of gaiety and laughed softly to herself YOURE YOU'RE LOVELY NAN Harry had indeed been conscious of her of her beauty of her charm Clothed beautifully once more admired admIred ad- ad mired she had sparkled as brightly as RS of yore ore Harry had been enthralled en- en en en- Do you jou know knots Nan he confided this this was at about the second night nightclub ht club club I I was awfully heart sick when I first saw you the other evening You were not like the old Nan at all No pep pcp no dash A sort of ot quiet little mouse I thought One more girl ruined mined by marriage But tonight tonight- Ive I've seen en some sonic of the lo loveliest women in the world in the last year ear and a half Nan but no one to compare with you OU Nan pretended not to believe him so that he would say more He did So 1150 you jOU dont don't care for me as a she said presently Good Lord Nan To think ol ot you oti spending your our life at a job you could hire some woman to do for 10 a week Nan might have ha told him that a i 10 a week woman did not make a ahome home But she was in ht no moed tobe to Lo tobe be practical She wanted to be bc reminded that she had qualities above cool cooking ing cheap but nutritious cuts of meats meat and ard washing dishes She plunged deep into Harrys Harry's adulation luxurIated luxuriated luxuriated in it How arid and the recent months had been This was indeed an oasis In the desert in which she now found herself Who could blame her for wishing to make the most of It After that there were many more parties Harry always had to be bc go goIng going going go- go ing somewhere doing something ana aim he could do nothing alone He liked Jocko and Nan better than anyone any any- amone anyone one else in New York as he frequently frequently frequently fre- fre fre fre- asserted so they must be his companions SMART CLOTHES S Sybil Harris was dug up to beHarry's be beHarry's beHarry's Harrys Harry's partner on these occasions the girl who had taken Nans Nan's place at the syndicate In the old da days s 's Sybil had looked up to Nan who was the radiant star of the syndi syndi- cate Now she no longer need do that It was Sybil who could enter into the conversation of the men for forshe forshe forshe she was in touch with the things that thai Interested them Sybil had a stunning brunet beauty which she set of off with dashing dashing dash dash- ing lug clothes Nan knew how much they must cost There had bad been a time when she too wore clothes like that Now the good ones she had left were out of style such new on ones a. a as she could afford to buy must be bought at the cheaper pl places s. s But after these evenings with Sybil Nan simply could not buy the in inferior inferior cute little dresses copies materials of more expensive models with which she had thought to be content content She tried them on dutifully surveyed them with distaste dis taste then found her steps turning inevitably to the smart little shop which was to o delighted to extend her credit STUPENDOUS BILLS Nan made a discovery When she looked lovely she need say little What she did say sar of course was clever for she still was Nan But for the rest it sufficed to sit immobile immo immo- bile bUe brooding her deep unreadable eyes turned first on one then on another She alwa always s created a stir now in a public place That was I gratifying when she had starved starred for attention so long It was something too too too-a a great deal that that she was living again Having Having Having Hav Hav- ing a good time seeing good shows eating good dinners at interesting places It was terribly expensive of course Just how expensive c Nan could not say since she had thrown the budget budget budget bud bud- get overboard And Jocko Jacko always Insisted on paying his share and his money seemed to be holding out But at last he showed her a 10 I bill bUl my last till pay day i he hc said id Have Ha you jOU any we could coula use I Nan hadn't Only a few dollars to tide them then over oyer till the next check But tha would be only a few days she reassured Jocko But before the tho check could come the bills biUs arrived Nan looked at the totals of the thc first few and felt faint C Continued how will Nan manage mana c on Jocko's salary to pay for the things thinS'S she has been buying |
