Show II LOVE AND DISHES Ry By Margaret Wood J i CHAPTER TWENTY FOUR I Bonnie looked thoughtfully at Marcia Marcia indolently at lt home In her beautiful ul living room the perfect setting for lor her own loveli lovell ness She smoked languidly using her long rather wide expressive hands constantly and graciously even in this conscious habit She was smoking and waiting for Bonnie to answer her question Gregory Long Is he your Greek god with the millions she he had asked And Bonnie was wondering how much to tell teU Marcia She twisted her handkerchief like hike a little girl who doesn't want to tell teU all she knows and then she admitted Yes Do you know him I used to think I loved him Marcia larcia Why not No reason at all aU except well its it's strange Not at all Gregs Greg's good looking and nice in his way i Yes Marcia looked at her quietly her blue eyes wrinkling at the corners Did he offer you life in iii large do doses e. e too Bonnie Bonnie swallowed hard What do you mean Oh you needn't tell teH me rue unless you want to Honey I know all aH about Gregory Long and his philosophies You I Um That was as a a long longtime longtime longtime time ago He was splendid and his modern ideas very wonderful wonder ful to me then I lived with Greg a whole dayl she laughed A whole day 1 A CONFESSION Just that Then twilight came Im I'm afraid I wasn't very modern Bonnie I found after all aU that I Iw w wanted the man I loved to feel some sort of obligation toward me mel mcl He went smugly into his room to dress for tor dinner and I left his diamond bracelet on the table and went back to my cheap hotel and place in the chorus you ever see him again Of OC course Infant We were very good friends He thought it clever of me Men always think a show showgirl showgirl showgirl girl is a canny bargainer he raised his bid But he never did get around to asking me to marry him himl hirni Bonnies Bonnie's eyes questioned and Marcia Marcia Mar Mar- cia laughed Babe in the woods that's all aU there is there aint no nomore nomore more morel You you wanted the things he offered Well Vell the things he represented meant just about everything in the world to me Marcia hesitated But ButI I 1 couldn't forget the most important person in the world right then You loved somebody else Oh yes I was terribly in love with Marcia FairI Fairly I see Bonnie glanced at the clock and rose She Wanted to go home to Bill Bill with his drawing board and his eye shade and his selfless industry for his mother and for or her Bill who asked only for time and a chance to carve a career for himself wanting success and working ceaselessly toward that end Bill who demanded everything and gave everything in return DESERTED BILL BILLAnd BILLAnd BILLAnd And she had left Bill sitting over his board destroyed his work for the night had been glad all over Gregory Long Lons Gregory Long A stage John stalking chorus girls flaunting his wealth his automobiles and diamond bracelets babbling of his philosophies not just to Bonnie Donnie Harrell but to any girl poor enough to be impressed And innocently enough she he had hOld been impressed She had been one of those girls In her revulsion Bonnie overlooked overlooked over over- looked the timeliness of Marcias Marcia's rev revelation lation It didn't occur to Bonnie that without it she would have gone on thinking more and more of Gregory Greg Gregory ory until it might have become di dif difficult difficult dif dif- indeed to hew a straight line with Bill always at the end of or it that thai she had that very day wondered why Gregory pad had iad failed to ask herto herto her to lunch with him She left Marcia without formality and ran home to Bill She wanted to curl up in his hi lap hide her face on his shoulder to feel the rough scratch of his tweeds and cry She wanted to tell teU him what a simpleton shed she'd been ever to have weighed his honest industry his faithful loyalty his future future fu fu- ture against Gregory Longs Long's millions mil rail lions But she couldn't tell Bill any of oC that The door was ajar for her Bill had watched her down the hall hail and had left it so He was quietly working work work- york in ing and she went straight to him Still mad she asked anxiously Uh Bill Bm I want you to sit In this big chair Bill looked up questioningly Please All right Infant What's on your our mind 1 I 1 want to cry What did Marcia do to you whisp whispered red Bill BiU holding her close MAKING l UP She told me things Imagine that Anybody thinking they could tell my girl anything Oh Bill BiU theres there's a lot I dont don't know wailed Bonnie very seriously No Ive been such a fool Bill And you OU admit it Bonnie nodded Even to you Now look here Infant youre you're growing up too fast Papas Papa's worried B b but you love lore me Bill Every last infuriating scrap crap of of you Then everything's all right about about the the the telegram Dont crowd me Sugar Even the mention of that bird bus burns me up Swaggering round with h his Mi pretty blond head and his Infernal money playing Santa Claus Glaus to poor little working girls Oh Bill Well He docs does And what's more re reI they fall for it I 1 No thank God Lets Let's cat eat It wasn't so hot eating by myself you know ow And now there will be dishes t to wash vash ash again Do you hate it so much Bon Yea verily I do hate it sh she grinned Wish you OU were back at work eat eat- lag ins In quick k lunches Bonnie shook her head Bill went vent back to his board and Bonnie washed the the dishes She wanted to keep busy to do something some some- some thing for or Bill to make up somehow for those treacherous thoughts shed she'd had that day Bill liked fudge with nuts and sh she hadn't made fudge In n ages Shed She'd make it thick with nuts nUb and she would use real cream This fudge means something she thought but he wont won't know cant can't know how rotten I feel fee AN APOLOGY What Whal else could could she find to do for for- Bill His Hi shirts and socks were Vera brought out for a careful inspection Bonnie sat with her mending basket and prosaically worked for Bill Good candy honey Im glad I didn't mean to be rough Bon Boa about er the the ah me mes mes- sage all right Im I'm sorry orry I sent It It 1 Bill didn't answer but she saw a quizzical expression pass over his face and fade into one of oC surprised satisfaction What would Bill be thinking now Never mind she mused I r want him to know Im I'm sorry that he needn't ever think about Gregory Lo Long g again No matter what hap pens he is out of the picture for tor good Never was more than a dark brown spot on the canvas and never can be that Bonnie was vehement She w was ws sure that she meant it it Gregory was out From ri right ht n w on there was no such person as G Gregory eory Long and how she would enjoy letting him know v Furs that will make your hair even lovelier than It is he had said you know like burnished copper Oh yes she knew Furs that would make Marcias Marcia's hair r even love lier her like spun gold maybe Furs to make lovelier all the heads of f all lovely w women men poor enough to listen Bonnie lay Jay awake that night till sunlight streamed under the half half- drawn shades streaking the patchwork patch patch- work coverlet picking objects out of ot the gloom But Gregory no longer engaged her thought She was think ing o of Bill and loyalty 4 To Be Continued 9 Copyright 1932 the Register ancS and Tribune Syndicate |