| Show Serial Money Isn't Everything By Anne Mary Lawler Jill Ji l Writes Letters Explaining the Situation Chapter Two Twenty-Two Jill was aghast at at the result of her impulsive telegram legram t to her father father fa- fa father fa fa- ther instead of reassuring him of her safety it had produced exact exactly ly y the opposite effect A fresh burst of news staggered the al already already already al- al ready overburdened burdened presses The name Morton had become a permanent permanent permanent per per- manent headline The strain of worry told on her She seized on the excuse of an Incipient incipient in In- in cold sniffled pathetically in n Brinkers Brinker's direction and was sent home lome with orders to see a doctor She rushed back to the apartment apartment apartment apart apart- ment packed a hasty bag called the he airport for reservations on the 3 p. p m. m Chicago plane plane and and then sat at down to compose two letters one to Toni and one to Mike Tonis Toni's would be easier Jill tackled that first Dear Toni she scrawled I had lad no idea when I borrowed Joan Merrills Merrill's name that all this trouble would come of it Im I'm not Joan Merrill Gay had plenty of reason to o be suspicious of me Im I'm Jill Morton ToniI Toni I had planned that when my aunt came back from Cuba I would tell ell you everything I hadn't planned on a lot of things that Mike happened Mike for instance or Aunt Lucy dying This whole foolish business back in Chicago when Chicago when Lyle yle eloped with another woman It t was pretty ghastly Toni Topi Being left eft at the altar may be a comic situation but not when it happens to o you The reporters the reporters the the raphers-the the continual and eternal publicity I couldn't bear it another another anther an an- other ther minute Aunt Lucy and I planned to take ake a trip but at the last moment mo- mo moment mo ment just before we sailed I knew I couldn't go through with that either ither There are so many people in n the world Toni And they gossip I had a letter Dad gave me for Joan oan Merrill to help her get a job at the store I went to see Joan and shed she'd left town indefinitely It seemed a stroke of genius to use it and get the job for myself I thought hought foolishly that if I had work among people to whom Iwas I Iwas Iwas was a stranger it would be easy for or me to forget everything that had gone before It I died I think a little every very day I was just about ready to o give up and go home beaten when you asked me to come and share the with apartment you After After After Aft Aft- er that things were different Baring Heart Secrets to Toni Then I met Mike He knew from the he beginning that I was pretendIng pretend- pretend Ing ng to be somebody I wasn't I had hado to o concoct a lurid tale to satisfy him lim I was very important to me then hen that he believed me And he did When I knew I was falling inlove Inlove in inove love ove with Mike I knew I wouldn't dare tell anybody my real name Mike with his weird Ideas about money money- I wrote Aunt Lucy everything She promised to stay away as long longas as I thought necessary Somehow I f fooled oled myself into thinking Mike could be told But how I didn't know know enow Its a terrible thing Toni to be with people you love and to live a continual lie Lyle Putnam came to town and recognized me He gave me a bad few ew minutes at Mortons Morton's and a worse scare right here in the living living living liv liv- ing room knowing you were in the kitchen and could probably hear every word we said Then Then the the awful news about Aunt Lucy dying Dad of course lost his head and immediately leaped to the conclusion Id I'd been I wired him that I was well and happy hoping that would keep him calm till I had a chance to write and explain everything Instead he got excited and turned the wire over to the papers and the police Her hand grew cramped with writing She flexed it idly and pondered what to say next There isn't anything left now but to go home and tell Dad the truth Hell He'll probably have me locked up as criminally insane and andI I dont don't blame him But breaking the news to Dad will be a simple matter beside telling Mike the truth That after all is s the only excuse Ive I've had for this masquerade these last four months When all this blows over Toni I will come back to see you if I Iam Iam Iam am still welcome Love JILL MORTON She the letter in an envelope en en- tagged it Toni and propped ped it against the Hie lamp Then she began the letter to Mike Her Letter To fo Mike Dear Mike The blank page stared at Jill accusingly What were the words to say She ripped the offending sheet began again My Darling You Darling You always knew my name wasn't Joan Merrill and you never asked me what it really was I never could tell you until now Im I'm Jill Morton Mike The pen spattered Jill brushed a stubborn tear from her eye This was harder than she had imagined If you and I had been nothing more than friends I would have told you long ago But I fell inlove in inlove inlove love with you Mike And if you wouldn't marry a well-paid well model what hope was there for a millionaires millionaire's millionaires millionaire's millionaires millionaire's million million- aires aire's daughter Always I kept thinking and hoping that things would work themselves out I know now my m my dear that nothing works out unless we take our courage in our hands and make it work out Deceiving you was anything but amusing Mike If I hadn't been so happy loving you you being being loved by you you you-I'd Id I'd always have been the most miserable woman in the world Part of me was The least II I I can do now is go home and straighten things out for Dad Ive I've done him a pretty terrible terrible terrible ter ter- wrong And you too My only excuse is that I didn't know it at the time Toni knows all the facts In the case case now Shell She'll tell you if you are still interested I love you Mike Nothing in inthe inthe n the world world nobody nobody in the world world- will ever change that And surely the accident of my having money is no excuse for forgetting it I wont won't love you any less as Jill Morton than I did as Joan Merril Mer Mer- ril rill Im flying back to Chicago on the 3 p. p m. m plane Ill I'll be waiting to hear from you If you dont don't come cometo cometo cometo to me Mike Ill I'll come to you What we have is s too big a thing too too fine a thing to break over a little matter of pride Tears rained on the letter blistered blistered blis blis- the paper blurred the ink here and there Jill continued Dont be angry with me The only mistake I made was loving you so much I lost my head Always Always Always Al Al- ways JILL She folded the note into an envelope envelope envelope en en- addressed it to Mike ilke and phoned for a messenger The small freckled boy arrived was entrusted with the note and duly tipped Jill cast one last lonely look around the shabby little apartment and closed the door regretfully behind her Forever maybe Jill Meets Slick And Gets Lift She walked down the worn brownstone steps to the sidewalk turned valiantly toward the corner I forgot to call a taxi she mourned I always seem to forget forget forget for for- get something A neighborhood urchin grimy of face and paw grinned as she passed go goin in Miss Joan Dont tell a soul Jill assumed a conspiratorial air Im eloping His wide eyes blinked open delight delight- edly She thought I may never see this youngster again Jill set her suit case carefully on the sidewalk and drew a shining half dollar from her purse Here sonny she offered Buy yourself some sodas The gesture made her feel eel lighter at heart It also al although al al- though hough she did not realize it at the time saved her life Jill swung around the corner walked a block straining her eyes for a taxi A slim sleek roadster paced her footsteps by the curb She looked up It was Slick Can I give you a lift he asked smoothly Central airport Jill stepped gratefully into the car Im making making making mak mak- ing the 3 o'clock plane For once one even the odious Slick was welcome Slick thought to himself This isa is isa isa a break Ready made The street was empty of people Only one pair of eyes watched them whirl off those off those belonging toa to toa toa a grubby little boy who clutched a half dollar in one sticky hand Morton Receives More Information A AS his daughter stepped heedlessly heedlessly heedlessly heed heed- lessly into Slicks Slick's superb custom custom- built chariot John Morton was receiving receiving receiving re re- re- re some staggering news from his detective agency We got a report on the Merrill Merril dame Weber offered triumphant triumphant- Continued on the Following Pa Pages Page e |
