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Show synopsis Victoria IlerrtMulen. art ocnMookln. vivacious lutle trl. had broil too youui; to feel the shock that came when her father, Keith Herretuieen, lost his fortune. for-tune. A gentle, unobtrusive soul, he Is now employed as an obscure chemist In San Francisco, at a meaner salary. 1U3 wife. MasJa. cannot adjust herself to the change. She is a beautitul woman, fond of pleasure and a magnet for men's attention. Mada and Victoria have been down at a summer resort and Keith Joins them for the week-end. Maso'a leaves for a bruise party, excusing excus-ing herself for tvms such a "runaway." Later that ni.cht Victoria is grief-stricken when she hears her parents quarreling. The. Herreiuieens return to their small San Francisco apartment. Keith docs not approve of Mazda's mad social life ar.d they quarrel fieo.uer.tly. Mn.sd.i receives re-ceives flowers ar.d a diamond from Ferdy Manners, a wealthy man fiom Argentina whom she had met less than a week before. Manners arrives a few hours later. Magda shows him a Chinese Chi-nese shawl that has been In the Her-rendeen Her-rendeen family for many years. Vic Is shocked when she learns her mother had contemplated sellir.s tt. Manners has it made into an evening wrap for Masda. CHAPTER II Continued It was cn this night that there was the first talk of sending Victoria to a boarding schooL Victoria's heart rose on a bound of joy at the thought This seemed to be a time of thrilling plans. It appeared almost Lrr-med:a-.ely that she and her mo'-her were going up to Tahoe to visit Anna Brock. Mrs. Brock was an old frtend who had a daughter Catherine; Victoria and Catherine had known each olher, not very intimately, in-timately, all their lives. They had always rather shyly liked each other. oth-er. "Dad. will you be up at all, weekends?" week-ends?" "That's a pretty expensive trip, Vic." "But once? If we can a.Tord to stay there, surely you can afford to come up once?" "I'll try." "It isn't going to cost us very much." said her mother. "The cottage cot-tage belongs to Anna's sister, and our food won't be much." "Oh, are we sort of boarding, Mother?" "Something like that" Keith Herrendeen. putting them on tie train, gave Victoria a little box in parting. . "That belonged to my mother, and her mother before her you've seen it the pearl and onyx set I w-ant you to have it." Victoria clung to him. "Dad, you're not going to have much fun. I wish you were going!" And she called back to him over her shoulder: shoul-der: "I'll write you I love you!" For the first day or two Mrs. Brock and Magda talked together confidentially and inexhaustibly. Catherine and Victoria did not care, for they were embarked upon the most enchanting adventure of their lives. All day long, and far into the beautiful summer nights, the two girls talked and laughed, swam and cooked and walked together, to-gether, giggled their way through adventures that supplied them with endless material for laughter and reminiscence. Tne little cabin was on the east side of the lake; it was so small that the happy party had the feeling feel-ing of living out of doors. A mile or two to the west was the hotel, in a settlement of informally grouped lake homes; the Erock place was all by itself, with a little triangular sandy beach of its own. Anna and Magda and the two girls concocted for themselves the sort of meals that women love in summer: sum-mer: salads, bowls of berries, boxed cookies, fruits. Victoria's beautiful mother had for a friend one of the homeliest of women. But Anna Brock had an odd abrupt charm of her own, and she was extremely brilliant. She spoke French and German, and in September she was going to New York to teach Latin in a boy's schooL And then Catherine joy of joys! would be placed with Victoria Vic-toria in the San Rafael boarding school. They would still be together! togeth-er! "Mother, how can we afford that?" Victoria asked one day. M?gda and her daughter had swum out through the shallow clear water to a great rock and were basking on it. "This is a good chance to talk to you, Vic, without Anna or Kittsy hearing." Magda said, by way of reply, after a moment's hesitation. "Vic, I don't want you to feel badly about this," her mother presently pres-ently began. I'm getting a divorce from Dad. We're in Nevada did you realize that? Aunt Anna's cabin is well over the line, and on that day when we took a long drive we went to Reno and arranged it." Victoria was looking at her mother steadily; she had not moved a muscle. Now she swallowed with a dry throat. There were tears In Magda's yes and in her voice; and she stopped short and looked away over the daz-rle daz-rle of blue water. "Oh. the break Is terrible, I know that I know it now! But after a few weeks after a month or two everyone gets used to it and the two persons who have grown nervous nerv-ous and irritable and wretched together to-gether are free!" "Bat then when will I see Dad?" Victoria asked, tears gushing from her eyes. "Can I write to him?" "My darling, of course. And he'll come to see you at school, take you out to movies! Why, I'm writing him today, and I'll put your love in." It seemed less strange the next day; Dad and Mother separating. Still Victoria tried to adjust her thoughts to all the amazing angles of this new turn of affairs, thought that she would go and see Dad often, too, if she could get away from school. , And perhaps next year he and she would have their little dream house on the shore for a few weeks, and cook waffles and scrambled eggs. This was late August. It was in early October that Victoria, slim and busy and happy in the dark I blue Dominican uniform, with the dazzling collar of her bluejacket's blouse turned back at the neck, and the pale blue scarf that marked her as a freshman blowing in the autumn wind, was stopped as she was racing in Catherine's wake across the school playground. "Letter for you, Victoria," said Sister Beata, extending it in a clean, cool hand. "Oh. thank you, S'ter," Victoria gasped, seizing it It was from her mother, who was down in Santa Barbara with the Arnolds. It told her happily, simply, that her mother and Ferdinand Ainsa y Castello Manners, "for you may as well have his whole name, my darling, although I've only got the first and the last on my new cards," had been married that day at noon. Her father came to see her now and then, on Sundays. They were oddly silent oddly ill at ease with each other. Victoria saw her stepfather only in Eying glimpses for the remainder of her school life. He and her mother were at the big Manners cattle ranch down in the Argentine for two years, and when they came back Victoria was preparing for a second trip to Europe. Mother Raymond Ray-mond had written to her mother about leaving her in the school there for the final year of French and music and culture generally, and Victoria had only one real visit with her mother before it was time to go. Ferdinand Manners had leased the big Chalmers place in Burlin-game; Burlin-game; Magda was back among her friends again and giddy with happiness happi-ness and triumph. Victoria spent a somewhat bewildered be-wildered yet happy Easter vacation there, exploring all the garden paths and all the big rooms. She came back to California at another Easter time, eighteen years old, and ready to graduate with her class. Her mother met her in New York, and they made the transcontinental transcon-tinental trip together. Ten weeks later Victoria's handsome hand-some bags were packed again, and she went down to the Chalmers piace for the summer. The beautiful Chalmers house was open to summer breezes and filled with summer flowers; the Chinese butler, discreet in his purple and blue silks, motioned her upstairs. Another Oriental took her bags; her mother's maid, who had crossed the continent with them a few weeks before, met her at the top of the stairs. Vic asked to see her mother. Magda was in her magnificent bedroom, a large airy apartment flanked by an enormous bath, by a complete dressing room, by an awn-inged awn-inged upper balcony. Victoria found her mother stretched on a couch by a window; she was not reading the magazine she held, and her eyes were absent and reddened a little from recent tears. At the sight of the girl she began to cry again, and they clasped each other closely. "My darling, you're home at last! If you knew if you knew how I've wanted you!" Magda sobbed. She instantly regained control of herself and smiled with trembling lips, straightening the collar of Victoria's i blouse as the girl knelt beside her. ' "Va it all wonderful?" she said. "It was perfect. And at the end we all cried because we weren't all going to be back in September!" Victoria laughed. "But. Mother . dearest you're not well?" "I've been feeling wretchedly Something." Mrs. Manners miltl hesitantly ".something rather horrid hor-rid happened lust nii;lit, uiul l'Vnly was iirrcsted." ller eyes lllleil again, she straightened the collar again. "It was all rather horrid, and it'll nil be forgotten this time next week," she said cheerfully. "So let's not talk about It!" "Arrested!" Victoria echoed, aghast. "Why what happened?" "There was an accident. I don't know Just what happened," Magdn said, her eyes waterlog. "It was nil so horrible! He had been drinking, drink-ing, of course, and he was driving May Finee home they were both In the car nsleep, right near where the smash was." "Who were?" "If It had been anyone but May!" Magda sighed. "However, they say the 'poor fellow'll get well, and Ferdy can stand the damages. He was all smashed up, the man they ran Into, nnd it's a miracle they weren't all killed! But if he'd been with anyone but Mayl" "Who's she?" "Oh, she's a cheap little Idiot I used to know years ago May Smith; she married Tony Feeney and divorced him nnd spent a few weeks In Faris, so now she's 'Madame 'Ma-dame Finee,' and sha can hardly remember an English word!" "And does Ferdy like her?" Magda looked nt her daughter ruminatively. answered mildly. "Rather. And of course she's making passes nt Ferdy." "Oh?" Vicky said. It was the old atmosphere again! "Or rather, nt the Manners money, mon-ey, which is very stupid for me," Magda ended the subject cheerfully. cheerful-ly. "Stupid, that's what it is, for Ferdy'd never look at anyone like Mayl And now tell me more about today did you say Grace Peacock was there?" "She's Margery King's mother." "I know she is, and I know she went all over Europe trying to get a priest to marry her to Joe Fea-cock. Fea-cock. and couldn't" "Margery's nice," Vicky said slowly. "And you're adorable, only you have those Herrendeen eyes that you must remember to keep open," Magda said lovingly. "Did you get yourself some lovely tilings in Paris?" Par-is?" "Some. Not expensive. But I got one yes, I have two or three you'll love." "Have you had it waved. Vic?" "My hair? No, that's just brushing brush-ing and setting." Convent-bred, and with an instinctive instinc-tive distaste for Ferdy and for For- Hffe Victoria Spent a Somewhat Bewildered Be-wildered Yet Happy Easter Vacation There. dy's world, yet she knew that she must either meet him halfway with flattery and flirtatiousness, submit to kisses and embraces, concede him confidences and little harmless intimacies, or he would not like her at all. On the very first evening Magda told him good-naturedly that he must stop carrying on with her daughter. The idle days began to go by. Victoria wondered what she was to do with the endless line of them that stretched ahead. For a week she enjoyed the new life lazily; then quite suddenly the whole thing began be-gan to pall. Magda had her own beautiful suite of rooms; Ferdy had his. They lived entirely separated lives; sometimes some-times they saw each other during the course of the day, and sometimes some-times not. Quite often they dined at the same house, but the dinners were large, and Ferdy went to them before Magda did, explaining perhaps per-haps to a servant that he was meeting meet-ing some friend first at the club for preliminary cocktails, and Magda always went late, in great state, in her beautiful car with her own driver. driv-er. So that even then they had no moment together. cn after in Her mother was not happy. Gallant Gal-lant and smiling, keeping a brave front to the world, Magda's soul was trying to feed itself on husks. What she told Victori;- of the last few years was a story of disillusionment and loneliness, in a setting of luxury, lux-ury, travel, extravagance. Biarritz had been dull. London dull. Paris dreadful. Rosaries down in Buenos Aires, where Ferdy's Spanish mother and Spanish sisters lived, had been insufferable. "Perhaps I oughtn't to tell you this. Vicky. Hut the beginning of It nil going wrong was of course Unit there were always other women. wom-en. Ills wife was only to wear the jewels nnd be Introduced to nil the business friends, big German nnd Spanish cattle men, scores of theml The wife It u llguri lteail utter the first year. If she hns sons, nnd keeps the peace with his family, und forgives him every tiling, the man Is pleased with her. If she gets temperamental, tem-peramental, tries to nssert herself, he Is nnnoyed. But he goes his own way Just the same." Victoria looked thoughtful, her fine dark brows drawn together. "You oughtn't to stay here." "Where," Magda asked simply, "ought we go?" The summer Idled Itself Into autumn, au-tumn, und Victoria nnd Magda went down to the shore again. This tlmo they had the smartest cottage nt the lodge, nnd the beautiful Mrs. Manners was much admired nnd entertained. Mr. Manners, she explained ex-plained to everyone, with a flash of white teeth, was fishing for steel-head steel-head up In the Klamath. Every hostess told Victoria's mother that she had a "wonderful man" for her as a dinner or bridge partner, but Victoria noticed that Magda found none of them really wonderful. In October Ferdy went off on somebody's yacht for six weeks. He seemed a little guilty nbout it and gave Victoria a large check "to waste in New York." Later she suspected that his twinges of conscience con-science were because the yachting trip that he had mentioned ns Involving In-volving only "a few fellers" actually Included the owner's wife, another woman, nnd the ubiquitous May. Magda did not know that, or Victoria Vic-toria believed nnd hoped she did not They came back to California In December, nnd Ferdy came back I for Christmas. Little was said of the feminine element on the yachting yacht-ing trip, and the thref) spent the holidays In a splendid suite In the Fairmont hotel up nt the top of the hill with the green Iron balconies of their breakfast room hanging over the fascinating Jumble of masts nnd stacks and long pier roofs on the Embarcadero. Ferdy now said that he thought he must go back to Ro-sarios Ro-sarios for a few months. He thoughtt Magda would be a great fool to go. It would be hot traveling; and she hated the place anyway. An unusually long period of affection affec-tion and placation resulted In April In Magda's decision to go with Ferdy to South America. Victoria told her mother she was going to stay in California. Well because Catherine and Mrs. Brock were going up to the lake again, and wanted her. Well and because she really would like it like it better. bet-ter. She might come down to Ro-sarios Ro-sarios later, all by herself. But but really she would like it better this way, now. Magda was gently hWrt. puzzled. Ferdy smiled, but Vicky knew that he was furious. She held her ground, good-natured and affectionate, affection-ate, but not to be moved. In the end they left without her, and Vicky and Catherine went up to the lake. A week later, when, she and Catherine Cath-erine were sitting down on the lake shore one day, Victoria told her the reason: "Catherine, cross your heart and hope to die if you ever tell anyone this!" "I do," said Catherine solemnly, suiting the action to the word. "It was he," Victoria said. "Who? Your stepfather?" "My stepfather nothing!" Vicky echoed, repudiating the relationship. "He Catherine, if you ever tell anyone this I'll never speak to you again! he followed me into the sitting sit-ting room one night we'd all just come home from a movie and kissed me and crushed me against him." Victoria was at the dock, in the fine soft November fog. to see the big ship come in; the Empress of Panama was on time; at exactly one minute before eleven o'clock she drew up alongside, and all the excitement of landing began. Then mother and daughter were in each other's arms, and Victoria was laughing. "And how's Ferdy?" "Frdy " Mrs. Manners' glance returned from the luggage and fixed itself upon Victoria. "Ferdy is just the same as ever." "And when does he get here? Or does he go to Paris? You were so vague!" "No, here. When the Loughbor-oughs' Loughbor-oughs' yacht does, whenever that is," Mrs. Manners said, in the same tone of pleasant indifference. "And now, is a car here, and did you reserve re-serve my rooms?" she demanded gayly, as the customs formalities were concluded and she could pick the Pekinese from Victoria's arms again and accompany her along tse pier. "Don't tell me it's going to be freezing like this." "It's been actually hot. until today. to-day. This is just fog." Victoria explained. ex-plained. (TO BE C0T1MED) |