| Show Telegram Fiction LOVELY LITTLE FOOL By Phyllis Gallagher WHAT T HAS GONE BEFORE Betsy Seymour is torn between love and jealousy over Marshall Van Devanter who professes love for her but clandestinely meets Libby Stockton spoiled daughter of at an old and wealthy Washington Washing Washing- ton family Betsy is also admired by Raoul de Latin Latin- Am American rican diplomat and J Jphn Jhn hn Storm Boston youth studying law aw in thee the the capital Because of ot Marshalls Marshall's attention to Libby at ata ata ata a dinner given by Jennie Travers Betsy asks John to take her home and on the way he kisses her and tells her that some time she will love him Arriving home she finds her brother Terry In his room with a pistol in hand ready to kill kiU the gangster companion of or Sonia a dancer he had met duning during during dur dun ing a student escapade and with whom he is Infatuated She quiets him and retires The next morning morning morning morn morn- ing she is invited by Raoul to attend a legation reception and accepts Marshall calls and upbraids upbraids upbraids up up- braids her for running away from the dinner He again protests his love for her and tells Betsy that when Libby makes her social de debut debut debut de- de but Betsy is also to be presented at the same affair and will be saved the tremendous expense He quie quiets her fears and she then tells him about kissing John CHAPTER CHArTER SEVEN That morning Betsy called caned Marshall Marshall Marshall Mar Mar- shall at the office When he heard her voice on the wire he promptly hung up Betsy laundered some of her pressed them then while they were still damp am and caught up the torn seams anc and straps Then she called caned Marshall Marshal again He cut her oft off gruffly with Please dont don't call mo mc again Betsy Dont Don't make a nuisance of yourself Ive I've got to think this out see sec She She didn't call can him again after that She told herself herselt Hell forgive forgive for for- give me mc after atter he thinks about it It does a man good to has some competition Her mother left to togo go downtown at 10 o'clock and her father went out to look for work worl as he always did each da day so Betsy did the housecleaning But no matter how hard she worked she was cons conscious ious of a dun dull ache around her heart Suppose Sup Marshall Marshan didn't forgive her Suppose Suppose Suppose Sup Sup- pose he made a 8 very big and hideous thing out of her kissing John Storm Oh he wouldn't do that He couldn't And yet hadn't she made a big and hideous thing out of at his attention to Libby Hadn't she taken a few harmless things and twisted them into horrIble horrible horrible hor hor- meanings At last she went wearily to Johns John's room She stood there for tor a long while looking around before she started to clean Ans Angelica A photograph of ot a stern gray- gray haired laired man who was probably the father ather with whom he had climbed the last summer was on his desk and on his dresser not framed but lying face upward was the picture of ot a girl One of oi those misty lit dim-lit photographs that hat disguise the soul and cost like the very dickens A blonde beautiful beautiful beau beau- girl she was Her eyes were heavily shaded by long curling lashes and her mouth was small smal and sculptured Scrawled across the bottom bollom of the folder was To Tomy Tomy Tomp my mp darling John From Angelica Christmas So last Christmas John Storm had been Angelica or Somebody others other's darling Betsy wondered 11 If he were still Angelicas Angelica's darling and suddenly she didn't like mc the blonde beautiful picture It was silly to feel that way about an inanimate object of course John didn't mean anything to her But the girl in the picture looked cold and hard and yes fes cruel despite cruel despite all an the had lad done to disguise her soul Betsy turned the photograph face downward and said Down with you my good woman Youre You're not good enough for tor him Ive I've a hunch that hat you'd make him miserable Angelic Angelica Angelica An An- you whoever Then she he started to clean the room The telephone shrilled through the he stillness of ot the small house and Betsy flew into the hall saying I call can that mental telepathy or something something some- some thing But it wasn't Marshall It lt was vas Jennie Travers Jennie wanted to o know how Betsy was and if she had lad completely recovered from her fainting spell Betsy etsy said Its sweet of ot you to call calI Jennie Ill I'll manage to live I 1 guess And Jennie Jennie Jennie Jen Jen- nie said Libby tells me mc that youre you're going to make your debut debut- with her this his winter That's great Im I'm making mine right after New Years Year's Im I'm asking you right now my little sister debbie debbio to assist me that hat day Of course I realize no noone noone noone one will wUl look at me mc with you ou passin passing pass pass- ing in- nj cookies but Ill I'll have to bear bearup bearup bearup up under it Then she asked If John was there and when Betsy told old her that he had gone to school Jennie said Tell him that Angelica Dodd blow blew in town from Europe and is spending the week with m me 1 Which means she probably wont won't leave cave until I blast her out with T TNT N T Betsy Beby Novel Non l lAfter After a few minutes more of nonsense nonsense nonsense non non- sense Jennie said Dont do anything any any- thing hing you cant can't do on a bicycle Betsy and Ill I'll be seem you and Betsy hung up and scribbled the note for tor John and left it on tho the hall ball table Then she went to her room She locked the door carefully and took ook the pads of paper the pencils and erasers from the bottom drawer of her bureau If It Terry or mother ever caught her at this she's n ver be be beable able abc to live it down Terr Terry would sa say So youre you're going to be an authoress are you and his voice would sound as if he had hit upon the he most supremely funny thing in th thc world Mother would say Whatever makes males you think you can cnn write dear No one in our family ever had a writing turn You'd better spend your time taking shorthAnd shorthand short- short hAnd at one of the business schools so o you ou can get el exchanged from typist to stenographer r In the gov gov- But father knew about her ambition and father had said Stick to it it ne Betsy sy If you think you youcan youcan youcan can write you write you can an And so so more than a year and a half ago she had started on her book She had ad written patiently tediously 30 whole chapters had hac cried over them because she had expressed herself herselt so so poorly She had torn them up had rewritten them twice and had almost al al- al almost almost most convinced herself hersel that tha she create anything that would be worth a plugged dime to a pub pub- lisher Y Yet t in the end she had kept at it Now she had 40 chapters that she really liked Two or three more and the novel would be finished It was a beautiful story It never left her Sometimes when she was dancing with Marshall shed she'd say to herself Ill make my hero's heros voice like Uke his or r I r wish could get on paper that look that fames comes into Marshalls Marshall's eyes when hes he's angry Its It's fiery and passionate and yet at the same time its it's gentle A As M. M if It he had hac two natures one battling against the other other one one good one bad Today as she wrote curled up upon on the bed like a fluffy kitten she found herself herselt describing John JohnS S Storms Storm's orm's mouth Its odd she thought that a mouth can express so much Eyes are supposed to be bethe bethe bethe the windows of the soul but sometimes sometimes sometimes some some- times I 1 think a mouth expresses a a persons person's character infinitely more Angelicas Angelica's lips are cold and crue cruel and Libby Stockton's are mocking icily mocking Johns John's mouth looks look as if it could never utter anything harsh and Jennies Jennie's is as friendly asa as vs s sa a wet pups pup's Mrs Seymour Semour returned at 4 o'clock and knocked on Betsy's door In a sudden panic Betsy packed all of oC her writing materials under the cretonne coverlet on her bed almost overturning the ink on the rag rug and hurried to open the thedo do door or Her mothers mother's slim face was flushed from the walk from the downtown district dIstricts her coat was w damp with the nebulous mist of ot the afternoon and the feather on her herold herold herold old faded straw hat drooped de de- de She had a big stor store box box under her arm and she bristled Importantly importantly importantly im Im- im- im into Betsy's Darling she said snapping the string on the box Look what I have The Ice-Blue Ice Satin Betsy looked her eyes ees widened Her mother was taking out of the box an ice-blue ice satin robe de do style studded on its tight bodice with glittering rhinestones It had an anold anold old colonial neckline that was made to circle the shoulders like an oval and which would be Betsy saw zaw instantly vastly b Mother r she cried How How did die you do it How Never mind said her mother Try It on dear Oh I do hope it fits Its It's a 16 it ought to I 1 thought that if you OU were going to toa toa toa a legation reception tonight you should have something better than the white taffeta When we wo made that dress dres we didn't know you'd be going on cruises and to dinner parties parties parties par par- ties at homes like the Travers ant antto and to legations Betsy was pale with emotion But mother You shouldn't have done this How did you manage 1 I 1 said her mother scolded gently Never mind Bets Betsy scrambled out of her dress and slithered into the new ice-blue ice satin Her voice was as muffled be beneath beneath beneath be- be neath the luxurious silk She said It was John Storms Storm's room rent wasn't it mother He paid In advance advance advance ad ad- vance didn't h he You bought this dress for tor me with his money Oh you shouldn't have done it How about the electric bill and that new dress you really need for church church- oh mother When her small golden head came up through the colonial neck neck- lino line there were tears brimming on her dark lashes Her mother stood back on her flat heels shaking her head her tired face tace beaming Ill declare she said awed Fine feathers certainly do make the bird I 1 never never never- Then Then words Tailed failed her She could see Betsy at atthe atthe atthe the legation reception tonight And she knew in her mothers mother's heart that If any young diplomat had had hada a notion of ot asking the Betsy of the white taffeta to marry him he would be unable to resist her in this new ice Ice blue blue satin That it had cost the whole of John Storms Storm's rent and ind 15 15 besides which she had got gotay by ay pawning her watch were thelast thelast the tho last of ot the things to be considered at a time like this Until Raoul called for her at 10 o'clock that evening Bets Betsy y had expected expected ex ex- Marshall to telephone and say that he had forgiven her It cant can't be thai thal serious she told herself herself herself her her- self as she bathed and powdered and slipped Into tho the Ice blue satin for or the reception I r explained that I kissed John because of oC the way he had been acting with ith Libby I 1 told him that But Marshall didn't call To Be Continued Tuesday Copyright for tor The Tho Telegram m |
