Show 0 T 1 r N son A A SYNOPSIS victoria herrendeen a vivacious little earl had been too young to feel the shock that came when her father keith herrendeen harren lost his fortune A gentle unobtrusive toul soul he Is now employed as an obscure chemist in san francisco at a meager mcager salary his wife magda cannot adjust herself to the change she Is a beautiful woman fond ot of pleasure and a magnet tor for mens attention magda and 1 victoria I c have been down at A a summer and nd keith loins joins them lor for the weekend week end magda leaves tor for a bridge party cucu excusing sing herself lor for being such a runaway later that night victoria Is grief strick stricken en when she bears her parents quarreling the herren deens return to their small san francisco apartment keith does docs not approve ot of magdas mad social me life and they quarrel frequently ly magda receives flowers and lk a diamond from ferdy lu manners anners a wealthy man from argentina whom she had met less than a week weck before manners arrives a lew few hours later magda shows him valuable chinese shawl that has been in the herrendeen family tor for many years vie vic Is I 1 shocked when she learns her mother had contemplated selling it magda tells manners a dealer had offered her for the haul magda takes victoria to nevada to visit a woman friend who has a daughter earned catherine there she tells her she Is going to get a divorce victoria soon Is in boarding school with her friend catherine magda marries manners and they spend two years in argentina victoria has studied in europe and at eighteen she visits her mother when ferdy rents a beautiful home magda Is unhappy over berdys drinking and attentions to other women when her mother and stepfather return to south america victoria refuses to go with them magda returns and tells vie vic she and ferdy have separated victoria Is now a student nurse CHAPTER ill III continued 5 you are handsome magda said under her breath not listening dont they let you use makeup at all not on duty and you sort of get out of the habit what are you looking at victoria asked with an embarrassed laugh as her mother continued her placid scrutiny well youre yousie simply adorable vicky she said at length and you get enthusiastic just the way you used to but although its a little soon to talk about it I 1 had rather a different plan in mind for you I 1 was thinking of europe after your debut europe Eu ropel 1 vicky echoed her own eyes suddenly blazing she remembered her student year there under the gentle unremitting chaperonage of the dominican nuns again she heard the fountains of rome splashing saw the lights of the place de la concorde settino setting white statues and dark tree tops in bold relief against a blue night sky caught a whiff of wet spring greenness from the grass beside the london mall oh mummy she said would you like it oh well mother you and 1 I 9 victorias voice shook with excitement e we two ferdy mind instead of answering mrs manners looked away through the exquisite suky silky shadows of half low ered lashes victorias heart sank she knew that gentle patience oie knew that long resigned sigh all was not going well between her mother and ferdy the luncheon was cleared away the two women resumed their chairs by the wood fire 1 there are a thousand persons to w whom hom I 1 ought to telephone magda said lazily 1 I wont I 1 love this sitting here with you you told me anything about yourself vicky have you seen or heard anything of your father a yes I 1 saw dad about two weeks ago go victoria replied magda added no further questions but her eyes were expectant hes married again you know mummy ammy I 1 wrote you that and going to have a baby they were married last february and they expect the baby at christmas he simply adores olivette and hei hes all excited about the baby hals ha magda said and fell thoughtful still up in seattle he says he loves it magda twisted the herrendeen pearls in beautiful restless fingers but for some reason or other she felt that her mother wholly pleased with the news ferdy said magda out of thought 0 ferdy is a strange creature vicky I 1 may as well tell you now as at any time that every things wrong its all wrong victoria was vas silent puzzled and after a pause magda went on lightly and so mr fernando ainsa y castello manners and I 1 have decided to separate no no no not a divorce she interrupted herself t to acsay say quickly as stricken face was turned from the fire in involuntary protest he want a divorce it if he got a divorce maud campbell would have him married before he could turn around so eo he want a di vorce and neither do I 1 if you get a divorce they can do all sorts of funny things about alimony go to court and have it adjusted and lessened LI I 1 dont know what they cant do but a separation means that you and I 1 can live where we like and do as we please and so its to be europe off we gol go ill get you some things or we can get them there the only thing victoria began somewhat hesitantly ought ferdy pay for me too I 1 mean its all right tor for a visit its all right tor for a few months but after all after all lie he owe me its my money and youre with me magda explained simply with a touch of impatience 1 I was thinking of ferdy vie vic magda said out of a silence and thinking she stopped for ai a long sigh thinking of the tremendous difference there is in men she said 1 11 I mean vie vic she began again as victoria could find n nothing to say 1 I mean that well I 1 suppose I 1 was thinking of lucius farmer chos lie he A familiar tightening a familiar sinking sensation was at victorias heart oh dear oh dear this was commencing avain again t was it you must know his name darling hes about the most successful painter of murals in america he made the trip with us from buenos aires but he lives down here in carmel with a perfectly impossible wife and daughters and what did the impossible wife and daughters think of you mummy oh they along perish the thought though tl no he was alone magdas voice fell to a dreamy note one of the finest men I 1 1 I love this sitting here with you she said under her breath 1 I mean one of the simplest and and biggest and gentlest this life would be heaven for wo women men vie vic if many men were like I 1 I 1 him and again victoria could find nothing to say more flowers came the telephone rang magdas old friends were beginning to realize that she had arrived lucius farmer came to see them the next morning magda was restless victoria had gone into her own room to try on a gown her mother had brought her it was of sheer batiste embroidered delicately with tiny garlands of roses re all in white it was the sort of gown that makes any girls eyes dance and victoria coming back with its frail folds blowing about her wore the radiant expression that only a new gown gives to twenty years she halted at the sight of a strange tall man standing at the foggy window talking with her mother they both turned victorias hand was taken in a big hard hand she liked the man at once one must like him there was something about lucius that disarmed criticism that won all hearts something simple and friendly and a little uncertain and timid and at the same time something definite and vital there was a world of mirth a childs secret and delicious merriment in his gray eyes he was not smiling this morning he seemed serious and burdened immediately the pleasantries pleasant ries of greeting had died away victoria presently going back to h her er room could hear through the open doorway the gravity of his tone as he and her mother talked at the window their heads together 1 I cant magda he said more than once im so sorry I 1 cant but when victoria came out again to find her mother alone there was an air of disappointment or defeat in mrs manners attitude she was glowing with inner fires she was shaken laughing ecstatic she put ler ier arms about vicky hold held the girl away from her to laugh into her eyes my darling do you like him victoria regarded her with a smile that had small heart in it the question do you vie vic on the steamers steamer the di day ay we left buenos aires we found each other magda said ile he came cam e up to me and said arent you the valdes friend senora manners I 1 dont ont know how he ever nerved himself to do it tor for hes not like that as a rule but he said he had seen me at the country club we hardly spoke to anyone else on the voyage we had our meals on deck we talked and talked as if we never could talk enough for the first time in my life vie vic I 1 have met a man who stirs in rie me something something gom ething that I 1 might have been might have had magda continued he loves me I 1 know that although hes never bold told me so but it that its the companionship the exquisite delight of being understood understood magda broke oft off to say in amused scorn he knows more than I 1 of everything books music people e and his attitude toward life is so beautiful so simple and eager and fine there was a silence magda smiled and wiped suddenly wet eyes and victoria smiled too a mothers patient smile for a child 4 so what the girl asked good natu so nothing my darling the tragedy magda answered lightly and there was another silence no she went on presently ending it ferdy gets here next week and lucius goes down to his wife and the little girls in carmel and the end the day moved on that night when they went downstairs to join the kendalls and be carried off for a dinner victoria saw lucius and a woman and two gawky dark shy girls all sitting in the great red chairs of the hotel foyer evidently waiting for someone was it for mother whether it was or not they all came over to vie vic and magda and there were introductions mrs farmer barnier was a plain stout wholesome looking little woman in glasses with ropes of oily gray brown hair wound about her head the girls were like her although althou although gK both gave promise of some beauty ann constance victoria vicky said her mother in the course of the next few days when you fall in love make it with a man to whom you can be an inspiration its a sacred thing its worth all the pain and the ache to inspire a truly great danl man at first victoria felt most pity for the man he was clever keen affectionate simple and he was suffering cruelly after a few weeks she perceived that her mother was in misery as great as his magda carried it better but it was there ferdy was back now restless irritable ri unreasonable he went to rades races fights polo games with men le went off on hunting and fishing trips sometimes victoria thought him entirely oblivious of what was goin going on sometimes she thought he knew magda was burning up with it ale she could not have wholly concealed it even if she would she glowed and trembled laughed and cried she was strangely awkwardly like a girl again a girl upon whom the inexorable forties had set their tragic seal somehow it hurt victoria to the deeps 0 ol 01 her soul to see her mothers agony in this grip of young love lucius was fighting it grimly honestly uselessly he and magda met sat long over hotel tea tables telling each other that this must be the end that there was no honor no happiness for them except in in renunciation magda in her dark violet velvet with the broad brim of her dark velvet hat shadowing her splendid eyes and the rich goldbrown of sables setting oft off her exquisite skin was perhaps as beautiful at such moments as she had ever been in her life just to be with lucius brought the transparent color to her face and the strange liquid pulsing to her eyes but when they had parted it was only to begin the agony again ferdy was settled in a suite of rooms connecting with magdas own it was ferdy who brought to victoria and magda a handful of steamship companies folders T they h e y opened the shining brightly colored little booklets eagerly studied floor plans discussed deck B and deck C it was fordys idea that magda and victoria take one ot of the canal steamers to new york stopping at south america and island ports using up the coldest of the winter weeks on the leisurely trip its just possible that lucius wa will ill be on the El with us magda said one day innocently mother dont let himl vie vic pleaded magda looked at her and the color rushed into her own face but what am I 1 to do vie vic I 1 cant stand this ma magda ada suddenly en ay muttered defensively TO BE CONTINUED |