Show RE lueen e en 15 jace cace vy FRANCES PARKINSON KEYES ca franc parkinson aon deyse key service SYNOPSIS disappointed through her inability to put finishing touches louche to her costume for or a done dance anne chamberlain Is f irritated by the th stolidity of her bor escort cort george hildrath A visitor in the coin community neal conrad young lawyer Is I 1 to b be the sensation en atlon of the evening and hildreth annea suitor Is I 1 vaguely jealous conred is by anno anne readily perceiving her ber fine hn character he ha invites invite her to accompany I 1 him fin and his b bosted opt mrs mr griffin Criff in on a picnic the following sunday anno anne accepts though aware she ho is being 44 unconventional ann el cupping into scanty canty savings buys buy uit suit able finery for or the trip from an old friend mr Gole lanburg the picnic to a rod red letter day ford for anne CHAPTER IV continued 9 they were in the lane now near the rosebush with its sharp thorns anil and falling petals neal could feel her young body quivering with rapture beneath his encircling arm what Is it anne tell me 11 1 I was only thinking I 1 came here the night of 0 the dance in nam stead to pick some flowers to wear to the party mummer had taken the sweet peas I 1 was saving and put them on aunt grave they were all I 1 had bad you poor child 1 so aupper suggested the rosebush agot I 1 got all hot and dusty hurrying and then I 1 pricked my fingers there enough roses anyway george followed me down here and asked me why I 1 mix mis them with some of those flowers growing in the rne meadow adow 1 I noticed them at the dance of course do you know what called certainly I 1 do queen annes lace by jove ilow how quickly he had sensed the symbolism which had eluded george entirely I 1 she caught her breath it grows where the soil Is very poor the farmers think its just a weed an awful pest because they cant see how be beautiful it Is anne anne my darling 1 ills arms had tightened about her like bands of steel tie ile bent and laid his face against her hair then suddenly with a little cry his lips brushed across her cheek seeking her mouth and found it already upturned to the hard hot kisses which he pressed down on it they clung to each other two clean passionate young creatures fused in the white lame flame of their first great desire neal was wag the first to recover himself he drew away from anne gently with a caress that he might have given to a child then he took her face between his two hands look at me anne 1 I am looking 1 I mean that this should happen not for a long iong time yet not because I 1 love you 1 ai I know you love me but because I 1 want to hurt or even startle you you I 1 love you it would have killed me not being sure she thought he was going to take her in his arms again to kiss her until it hurt as he had before instead he knelt down in the long iong grass and bowed his head anne he said so softly that she could hardly hear him anne you are a queen a queen in disguise a fairy changeling perhaps but a queen just the same will you help me earn the lace for you to wear a 0 a 0 0 ap A little over a month later anne and neal were married lie ile did not allow their sudden betrothal to interfere with his plans the following morning he started off in pursuit of his wealthy client four days liter later he returned with the report of complete success in his venture that meant five hundred dollars to me to us he told anne and well need it you think of me as some kind of a fairy prince even if you are a queen 1 I dont said anne flushing you do too you know you do bless you I 1 rut put im not id be willing to bet that george got twice as much salted away as I 1 h have aye this very minute sure you dont want to change your mind neal I 1 wish you re he saw that her love was so strange to her still so sacred that she could not jest about it all hialit dear I 1 wont but we must talk over the practical side of things because I 1 want to marry you rl right 9 bt away yes what mint I 1 want too anno anne I 1 wish you woul du he mocked Ight lightly ly you have no idea how hard it Is for me to behave when you speak to me like that cut but we ought to straighten out a few important details first as I 1 said ive got a good practice for a fellow my age and its growing im earning a fair income and ive saved something not an awful lot but we can begin clear with something ahead and something behind us tic only weve got to be in small I 1 thought id try and rent a little place we could live in this winter and we could look around together after we were married for something better id like to buy or build a little house for our very own right away its poor economy in the long ions run to pay rent yes I 1 see that and ill get ready too ton clothes an and linen of course I 1 cant bavo much but ive a little legacy from aunt sarah id rather spend it on my trousseau than anything I 1 can think of well settled then now w where here would you like to go for our honeymoon anywhere with you what would you say to washington tour oh neal how did you ghessi guess 1 ive ion longed ed and longed well so have 1 I so settled too and we are wont stint on that trip either well have a good time I 1 dont believe ive told you im tremendously interested in politics even more than in law im a member of the city council in nin flin now perhaps some day I 1 can go further oh neall neal I 1 im sure you can anyone can be president you yon know he sold said teasingly you could well perhaps I 1 can be mayor but well have a loot look at the white house anyhow maybe it wont appeal to you and that would settle it he laughed then changing the subject abruptly another thin thing we economize on Is your ring Illo honestly nestly I 1 dont need an engagement ring I 1 mind a bit nonsense let me hold your hand band a while so I 1 can measure your finger neals second visit was even briefer than his first hut but in the course of it he had a long talk with his prospective parents in law whom he found stunned but acquiescent and then insisted in announcing the engagement in the wallacetown Wallace town bugle having thus burned all his bridges behind him he departed to tell his own father find and mother of his impending plunge into matrimony lie ile had adroitly contrived to avoid much discussion of the conrads with anne lie ile knew all too well how bitterly they were bound to oppose the match but he hoped as far as possible to keep this knowledge from her sirs conrad came from one of the oldest families in the country and she never defer forgot it or allowed anyone else to forget it she belonged not only to the daughters of the american revolution but to the colonial dames to the episcopal church and the wednesday sewing circle all humanity to her was divided into two classes those who were refined and those who were not the display of all human emotion was to her disgusting she was fond of the words good breed breeding inz culture and tradition tradition oL iier husbands standards were much like her own and his sense of self im quite equal to hers h 7 rs though I 1 like ike herself he depended largely on the past to establish his claim to distinction lie ile had never made much headway in his profession as an architect they had bad very little money but they contrived to keep up appearances in a way that was almost uncanny their elder son arthur an unmarried clergyman and their widowed daughter harriet lived with them as well as neal by pooling their resources in this way their income went much further than it otherwise would have done harriet had very pronounced views all neals decision of character without his charm her husband had committed suicide by lamping jumping from a sixth story window while they were on their honeymoon neal burst in upon his family kissed his mother and sister dutifully but without enthusiasm and told them immediately med lately of the fat fee which he ha had bad captured in the course of his vacation then he told the rest of his story 1 I knew think that was good news but ive got some better yet im going to be married there was a moment of ominous horri bor rifled Oed silence then a simultaneous exclamation married to whom A girl named darned anne chamberlain she lives in a little place called west II Il amstead 1 my son are you really telling DS this in earnest 1 I certainly am the conrads exchanged terrific A glances then I 1 must ask you yon to explain yourself neals keals worst enemy could hardly accuse him of a lack of eloquence on tiny any theme or on any occasion and this time he outdid himself the results however were even worse than he had feared do you expect us to admit this engagement ga if we are questioned certainly its been announced in the wallacetown Wallace town bugle already ne he noticed his mothers shudder 1 I shall see that its in the Ilin times tomorrow and you expect us your father and 1 I your brother and sister to go to the wedding to receive this this person my fiancee very soon my wife of course perhaps you were thinking of bringing her here to live 1 I be so cruel to her Us ite had scored nis nig mother attempted to draw blood in her turn nave ilare you thought what the withdrawal of y your ur contribution to the 0 family expenses Is going to mean to us in our old age harriet larriet I and arthur arent so very aged it hurt either of them to get out and hustle a little as ive had to do ne neal I 1 do not degrade us and yourself with vulgarity vulgar ityl I 1 I 1 suppose your language and your conduct are the result of your political association you should never have allowed yourself a gentleman by birth at least to be drawn into them TO BE BB |