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Show TRAILER. GIML By VERA BROWN WNU Servica CHAPTER XIV Continued 10 As Lynn came down the staircase she looked absurdly young, Wild thought as he watched. They went oil down a winding path to the pool. There must have been twenty people gathered about, rno:;t of them with highballs. Wild took Lynn directly to his mother. Khe seemed so much younger than Lynn had Imagined that the girl was startled. "What in the world kept you two in town so long on a day like this?" demanded Mrs. Austin with a lovely smile for Lynn. "I didn't get through work until 5:30, Mrs. Austin. I hope I didn't disturb things." "Good girl! " thought Wild as he grinned down at his mother. First round to Lynn. Mrs. Austin looked speculatively at the girl. "Why, she's lovely I" Mrs. Austin's Aus-tin's heart contracted. She had had a hunch all along. Wild had been so different this Summer. Mrs. Austin was a clever, charming charm-ing woman and she adored her boy. She had seen one son. make a disastrous dis-astrous marriage. She was determined deter-mined that Wild would not be taken In the same way. "This is my brother. Chuck, this Is Lynn," Wild was saying. Other introductions followed. "Come, we'll take a plunge." Wild led her to the pool. Lynn slid over the edge of the pool. It was wonderful to be swimming swim-ming again. Wild took a running dive and was beside her. "I'll teach you to dive one of these days," he promised. The others were calling to each other across the water, laughing easily. Lynn felt a little out of things, and then chided herself for her thoughts. "After all, I am an outsider." Mrs. Austin gave the signal shortly to everybody that it was time to dress for dinner. Dinner seemed interminable. Lynn sat down the table from Wild, between his brother and a young man from Asheville. Coffee was served on the terrace. Then Mrs. Austin suggested bridge. Of course, Lynn did not play. "Then that means one table's out, unless Wild will play," a pretty brunette bru-nette moaned. "Chuck won't, you know how he is," Mrs. Austin apologized for her elder son. 1 "Please sit in, Wild!" begged a pretty brunette, whose name was Marie. Wild came over to Lynn with a shrug. "I guess I'm sunk. Never mind. They won't keep me late. Will you mind talking to Chuck?" Lynn did, very much, and it was clear to her Chuck was just as annoyed. an-noyed. But there was nothing to do but smile gracefully and accept 4 1 n;t..t.nn ulc si lua null. The five tables settled themselves and there was a lot of talk about stakes which Lynn did not understand. under-stand. She went out on to the terrace. ter-race. The night was gorgeous. Chuck followed her, glaring at his mother. "Well, here we are!" he announced. an-nounced. "Yes, here we are!" Lynn - laughed. He was so frankly annoyed. an-noyed. . "I don't mind just being here alone. Run along. Really, I mean it." "Mother would be furious. I can't." "All right. Then let's promise each other we don't have to be polite. po-lite. We'll just sit and brood!" CHAPTER XV Chuck laughed in spite of himself. him-self. "You're a funny kid, a lot younger than I thought you'd be." "I'm nineteen." . "A terrific age!" "It is. I feel a hundred years old." "I suppose it's not much fun being on your own." "It is, though. Things are going so well for me. I'm a lucky girl." Chuck looked down at the white blur of her profile. "I didn't suppose working girls like to work." He was quite sincere. "There's where you're wrong. I've not had an easy time since I got out of high school. But it is wonderful when you feel secure, able to take care of yourself." Chuck was a little abashed. He had not expected such candor. They'd come to a stone bench and Chuck sat down and lighted a cigarette. ciga-rette. "What do you, 19, know about troubles?" "I know what it means to be hungry, not to know where my next meal is coming from or where I'm going to sleep! That's trouble enough! " "Are you serious? A pretty girl like you?" "Certainly, I am! The trouble with people with money is that they hunt around to find something to be unhappy about. I see it in the shop. Most of those wealthy women! wom-en! I'd hate to change places with them." "What do you know about life? I'm 35. My wife has left me for another man. I haven't seen my son in almost a year, don't even know where he is. She's using him for a settlement. Those are the bald facts. Everybody knows them. you'll hear from the girls before you leave!" "You sound as though you minded the gossip more than the loss of your family." Chuck struck the bench with his hand. Lynn suddenly felt sorry for him, for it was plain he was suffering. suffer-ing. "That's a lie! I loved them! I suppose I still do. But, God when your wife runs off with your best friend! I did everything for her, everything. She never had anything any-thing until I married her " How different Chuck was from Wild; "I wonder what she'd say?" Lynn spoke her thoughts before she realized what she said. "What do you mean!" "That maybe a gorgeous home and money were not enough." "What more could a woman want?" "Companionship, sympathy, understanding. un-derstanding. I'd die, I think, without them." Nobody had ever before talked to the eldest son of the Austin millions mil-lions like that. "She had a string of pearls which had -belonged to a Queen." "I imagine one might be very lonely here, if one didn't belong." "She didn't belong. 1 admit that!" Chuck turned impatiently. "She showed me how much she didn't belong!" "Did she take the pearls when she left?" "No; she had the decency to leave them." "You shouldn't complain then." Chuck had a sudden desire to slap this impertinent young person's ply A 'M f ff K V'l The place seemed full of young people and Wild was talking to a beautiful blonde. face. He turned, realized she was smiling: "You're nice, only you're afraid everybody's after you for your money! mon-ey! You're nice yourself, you know, and very handsome." Chuck had the grace to laugh a little. "I'm just a bitter old man crying for the moon," he said, a little shamefacedly. "You're not alone in that. We all do it. Only we cry for different things." "What are you crying for? Hollywood, Holly-wood, maybe?" "Not Hollywood." She considered for a little, trying to be honest "I wonder if I know?" I'm just restless, rest-less, that's all." "Be careful and don't stub your pretty toes," Chuck warned. Talking seemed to help Chuck. This girl was. not of their world, she wouldn't be looking at him across from dinner tables, with pity in her eyes! ' "I hate pity. That's what I get now! You see she was pretty. She worked for me. My secretary. They tried to stop me, but I wouldn't listen. lis-ten. At first we were happy and I adored the boy. Then things went to pot She didn't care about my friends, they didn't care about her. I suppose she was lonely " Chuck talked for a long time. Then he stopped as suddenly as he started. "What a bore this must have beerr for you." "No. I like you. You're really nice and kind, underneath." "And you're certainly a candid young person! Chuck stood up. "We better be getting back or the tabbies tab-bies will start." The place seemed full of young people, and Wild was talking to a beautiful blonde whose name was Heloise. Then suddenly Lynn saw Terry McNair. "Lynn!" He came rushing over to her. Lynn was in a panic at what he might say. "That snake Wild never told me you were here!" He took her hand. "She's been in the garden romancing ro-mancing Chuck," Marie North said with a laugh. Mrs. Austin was standing nearby. She prayed Terry might be discrete. "You look lovely in that white shawl, Lynn," Terry rattled on. Reminds Re-minds me of Florida." Mrs. Austin made a mental note to speak to Terry when the opportunity oppor-tunity arose, and it came then, for Mr. Austin was presented to Lynn. Wild joined Lynn and his father. The girl was telling Mr. Austin about the little Vermont town where she was born. And then Austin Aus-tin began a long story about hig afternoon's golf, of which Lynn understood un-derstood hardly a word. Wild realized suddenly how hard it was for Lynn to talk to these people. peo-ple. They had so little in common. He must be sure she had a nice time Sunday and Monday. Wild apologized: "I felt miserable about deserting you tonight." "You needn't I enjoyed myself." "You must be tired. I'll see you break away early. There'll be dancing danc-ing tomorrow night, and it will be late then." When she finally went to her room, Marie North came along with her for a little chat. Lynn had the feeling feel-ing that the girl was frankly curious about her and had promised to make a report to the rest "That's a grand frock," Marie remarked re-marked as Lynn hung it in the clothes closet. "It's one of Mme. Reanoud's. I model for her, you know." "It must be fun working, having freedom from your damned family," fami-ly," Marie remarked. When Marie had found out where Lynn lived in New York, and whether wheth-er she liked posing for Bouchier, she left. CHAPTER XVI Sunday was a perfect day. Wild and Lynn, both up early, ha"d breakfast break-fast with some of the golfers, and then the two of them went off for a sail. Wild took along a basket, and Lynn wore her bathing suit. Lying on the deck, covered with sun-tan oil, Lynn relaxed, watched Wild sail the smart little catboat expertly, They were so perfectly happy there together., scooting along in the wind. Lynn did not atopic to i ask why.'-- "fta vom ltof'' Toward noon they made for a reef which offered some shade, and went for a swim. Later, lying in the shade, they had their lunch. "This is perfect. You're a nice companion, Lynn." Wild turned over and smiled up at her. "You know something I've always wondered. How did you get back up North?" Lynn's heart was pounding. She felt there was danger ahead. Finally Final-ly she answered: "Rene." "Rene?" "I've meant to tell you the whole story, Wild." Lynn made a resolve to tell' the truth, then and there. "You remember the car you chased that night? I was in the back seat, hidden." "You wretch! If I'd only found you then! Think of the trouble it would have saved me." Lynn's eyes widened in surprise. "Don't vou know I moved heaven and earth to find you?" He was suddenly serious. "I had no idea." "Well, I did. I never forgot you. I tried but I couldn't." He raised himself on his elbow. Suddenly he took one of her hands, brushed the sand from its palm and kissed it. "I must tell him!" Lynn tried to draw her hand away. "I'm pretty much off the deep end about you, Lynn. You know that." He drew her to him, lifted her face to his. "Please." "Sweet!" He kissed her suddenly, sudden-ly, holding her close. "Wild, please!" Lynn struggled away from him. "There's something I want to tell you. I " "What does anything matter " "Wild, Rene came north in a trailer. trail-er. He didn't have much money, but he let me come along. I tried to pay my way by cooking our meals " "You mean you lived with him in his trailer?" "Yes." "For how long?" Lynn tried to explain the whole thing, their arrival in New York, Rene's illness, and no money. She hesitated once, and then decided not to mention Mr. Mortimer. Lynn was horrified at how difficult that story was to tell It sounded bald and cheap as she recounted it Wild's eyes on hers. "You were with him for weeks and months?" "Yes." "Were you in love with him, Lynn?" "Of course, not. But he is the kindest person I've ever known." "You weren't sweethearts, Lynn?" Lynn's wide brown eyes met Wild's squarely. "We weren't sweethearts, Wild, ever." "I believe you, darling." He took her in his arms. "Now, never speak of that again. Never! It is forgotten!" forgot-ten!" "But there's more" Lynn made one more try to tell him about the wedding. How could she? It seemed so improbable, nobody would believe be-lieve it "Not for you and me. I can read between the lines. You looked after him when he was sick, supported support-ed him until he got well. That's it, isn't it?" "I owed it to him." "And your debt's paid." Wild's arms were about her again. "Look at me!" Lynn buried her face in his shoulder to hide the tears in her eyes. But Wild persisted. (TO BE COMIM EDJ |