Show A L D an V 0 YA AE 0 KATHLEEN NORRIS 0 0 0 will cops right Kilt kathleen hleen norris capter continued J 19 p I 1 let myself resent it ithac I 1 was out of luck falling in with a man I 1 have it if done that have marfone one of those fellows in tile the office ayou you ever think of that 11 is was in the alie deep leather chair ang him seriously suppose so si s so of every i women alre you it jo to ile be so you were young in lots ays old in lots lota of ways eager impulsive and mad to live you L had to run your head bead into some t t wonder tony said frowning froning ly looking away ou on changed for larry iou ou grew jou ou were well like those pictures dendys andys book when you first met 1 bijou I you grew older and wiser iser and ter nd better and more beautiful suggested in the paine tou u know L abow its true youre one of women of san irani frani now youre ceita certainly one of the blest llast loe be tony began after a pause I 1 flung down an armful of logs bog hoot 0 o you suppose a person ever could I 1 to be glad of of anything like like what hurt me and humiliated rod ind made me hate myself and evne elsel else think joe said standing pant jn the hearth looking down at her link that just one of the things night might be glad of la Is browning tony suggested ten welcome each rebuff tint thit turns to V smoothness rough a la Is Brox crowning ning and a la f one who ever really grew up ys yb never really grown up you T r and neither has caroline ny iny was not listening her der eyes in reluctance and apprehension appie hension looking straight through tile the east windows toward the stretch of f i road that curved to the bl highway avny lie ile winy away kompany om pany she exclaimed disgust III ih hell joe said simply md jid I 1 dont know that car and I 1 t recognize that man chos daiv I 1 ts a chauffeur ti theres jeres a man and lan an in tile the back damn joe said tog ing over her shoulder they turned ird the terrace door and together out to meet the visitors in the car s larry tony sald then larry carolane Carol lne she dropped a sudi cold hand to meet joes warm hard and waiting im in for it I 1 r e newcomers descended there was tle le laughing confusion of handling II 11 ng and kissing on the terrace y was heavier than lie he had been thought but as handsome and in a as shrewd of gray eyes as ever line was at the peak of her exotic startling beauty in dashing bashin black white with a great scarf tied r her chin gauntlets gauntlett gaunt lets with flaring a great silver fox skin linked t her shoulders and a hat about freeks in advance of the mode on I 1 latin black hair she instantly made in her bronn pumps and pleated r and sweater feel like a little fany tiny luck to find you here larry I 1 1 I was going to ring you up to low low fl he mean it or was he be just a confused tony could not tell r afas ie s only 0 overwhelmingly derx helmin gly conscious uie dreaded moment had come or iras speak speaking lD to lawrence bellamy jou u let us know the ehe stam KL OT in must both lunch vath us to DW w 11 said caroline hend you get in larry this was tills this morning we been 1 hour before we thought of cora com lown here I 1 tried to telephone hey bey said you be readied reached I 1 le ep phone lione ali have one though put cut its not I 1 e b book oo 00 1 11 oe de this about RIO alor de aed ed his sister lh i they want me to go down there haec ce years tor for the roun foundation dation its 0 of a chance tod d ar are e you 1 lets not let lei to tony ny I 1 a a wonderful chance tony said lets stop freezing out here and aarm 11 ay iy all went in to the fire larry the be driver away with careful in bons ons it t your dinner at the hotel and back at nine joe you can give nera n we tony e were burled in food weve weve enchiladas weve alligator k 1 finel larry said ile he gripped hands bands in a hearty happy manile cant always have been like tony thought thou glit tony joe lie he lt it seems good to get back and your tour voices again and have tony ing for meals 1 bleats iwed to lie he fate ate tony wt int they v and how are you all your aunt and clin cliff and brenda renda IS all nourishing my illy brother brohier cruce bruce lias has a political job in sacramento vow dow lind and lie stays up tip there cults cliffs married you know and they have a baby girl bendy has two boys and feels that slie she ought to write a book to tell other mothers how bables babies should be raised arid and nhen hend il you come down tony asked caroline joe picked me up at bendas this morning moraln mor there nas a I 1 big red ked cross thing yesterday and all I 1 had to do it and hows the alio old city office ot lice just the same the sime line old story clicking and the boys washing and dripping all oer their collars coll irs and betsy ross mooning about some murderers little gray fistful c e od cd motter you doing signed stuff three or four times a week and I 1 run n No iwans biage we e hae two ivo new girls in III ahe lie ollice office now both stan roll foid gra grid 1 I ill 11 nits aits es im grins going round allide tomor tomorrow kaie aie aou ou going to have hare your office again up upstairs stArs it all depends Carof caroylne Iii ruHne lne hates san an francisco yes iut bill caroline necessarily harily lime to stay eliere I 1 think joe and I 1 could have a very nice time la III RIO hio caroline Ca ioline iciline said fot for heisele hei seir self you can see us olt off youe yone only been in five months joe 4 innocently five months or five ave minutes caroline said larry cant expect me to sit up there alone in the fairmont while he runs ills his old newspaper she likes to pretend ashes jealous larry said with a little laugh that was not quite easy 1 I dont like to pretend anything of the kind caroline retorted warmly tony perceived with fill a sense of shock that there was more to in this than met tile the enes some earlier quarrel was lending depth to this one 1 I say seriously that id like to go to south america with joe if liell hell take me caroline said adding with a coquettish laugh phil Iol hemus Is down therel there 1 well viell rell discuss it later larry put in temporizing as she paused looking evenly at her brother and tony saw the dark angry red come up under his skin she went nent out into the kitchen when caroline went upstairs and began the familiar inspection or of icebox and cupboards wood crackled in the stove and tony dodging the green thick smoke as she put back the iron plate found larry beside her this Is a lot of fuss our staying oli oil no its not truly we thought cliff and mary alary rose itose might come all im doing tony said bringing forth a halt half consumed ham and hunting in k began the familiar inspection of 0 ice box and cupboards a table drawer for her longest knife all im doing Is to reheat the en clil ladas and cut tile the ham aud and lets see heat up biscuits and open plum jaw jam and make a salad larry was not listening and she knew lie he was not lie he said in a low tone tony how are you perfect she told him smiling no but I 1 mean how are you the little intimate significance did riot not escape her but there was nas no lint hint of fluctuation in her steady wide open blue eyes Hap happy she told him with a nervous shred of laughter im glad he be said in a low tone with his narrowed gaze keenly used fixed on her do you realize that it Is more than ahau two years since we have seen heen each other two and a half almost tony agreed it aas as spring you know enow I 1 was very ill joe told me caroline wrote him you know and when I 1 would come loa dou weekends week ends hod hed tell me you and lie he have become great friends Ir lend youl joe and I 1 theres nobody like lil m tony said smiling her brown hands went on steadily slicing the firm pink ham she lifted each slice on her knife and laid it evenly on the blue dolphin platter how well vell do you like him tony oil oh tremendously I 1 and are you going to marry him larry asked her eyes clouded and she gaie gae him a dubious look slowly shaking her head no she said then may I 1 say something to you tony because I 1 have an opportunity now and may not have another slay may I 1 say that im terribly terribly sorry 1 I know aliat you mean tony said her bright eyes fixed steadily on ills the color coming up quickly under her clear brown skin 1 of couise you know what I 1 mean of course you know and I 1 know what hat ve ie meant to each other I 1 nad ni been ill 1 I was vas badly shalen shaken by ruths koutlis death caroline was right there larry sald and as her oes ees narrowed uncomfortably and she made a gesture of ie lie went on my aly dear tony tills this Is no disloyalty caroline and I 1 been married six weeks been married six il days before ne ae both knew that it was a mistake wed been dr drawn a N 1 n into it lulled into it you know aliat hat the circumstances were ere in that little place with ruths mother dying nurses tile lie doctor corning coming every day ne ie lived as much alone as if wed ed been on an island I 1 thought shed told me that she caled for phil Iol Pol hemus bemus wed seen him out in china I 1 never thought of myself at all and then ilion only a few days after ruths death she told me told me in e that I 1 hall had been the one always even in tile the early days of ruths first knowing in mi me when caroline N was a s a C child 1 I 1 id S she be said ve e would go to carls entertain she said that that aas as why she hall had refused pill phil 1 I rather thought that it was something like that tony said in the pause the man followed her a little awk to the table and sat down facing her across its end tony had a soup plate before her she began tile the concoction of 0 a salad dressing pouring oil measuring vinegar occasionally sio nally tasting the mixture on the tip of her finger tony larry said if I 1 had come straight back after ruths death would you have been waiting for me you know I 1 would tony answered alth alth a full steady look 1 I failed you yon larry muttered looking away carolines interest Is clothes men he said there was a liasse pause oh yes did caroline get her chinchilla coat tony asked cheerfully ending it the man looked up in surprise how do you mean I 1 caroline used to say that if ever she married again the first thing shed make her husband buy her ald would be a chinchilla coat our marriage was a mistake we both see it now larry said paying no attention its all like a dream a bad dream cut but you dont mean larry that you and ca caroline roll n e already are thinking of a break ive come back here to work hs he said do doggedly she says she despises san FraD francisco CISCO society and hates the west her heart Is set now on going to itlo with joe you heard her just now I 1 cant go I 1 dont want to go I 1 want to stay here and dig into my job ile he looked up and his dark face brightened with the HIP smile she remembered so well lanys masterful slow smile and now and thou then take you to lunch he said instead of smiling in return slie she slowly shook her head her face very sober no no do more of that I 1 what I 1 paid tor for so dearly larry knowing knowis that you belonged to lier her to ruth and pretending that I 1 had any right caring for each other a right 1 I thought so then im older now I 1 see things differently now youre oure changed 11 he said in all the lovely was lovelier and in so many other ways nays changed youre definite now youre outstanding tony I 1 dont ask aou ou to forgive tile inc I 1 was confused with the suddenness of everything 1 I was changed too from my illness everything at home seemed far away and dreamy the only realities were the villa i and the lot hot sunshine and caroline all in white aping tremendously helpful and und kind tho the one lovely living tiling thin in all our lives cant you understand 1 I do understand tony said and I 1 think she added almost timidly 1 I think you admire caroline more than you think you do larry it seems to me no now w since you are married since you did marry so so soon so soon after ruths death yes we both feel that we both feel that for that very reason we have no right to separate he be conceded as she hesitated but it was one of those marriages that could only have taken place in exactly that way if we had waited a year scar if we e had waited until even three or four months after ruths death it never would have happened tony dipped her littlest fingertip into the salad dressing tasted it narrowed her eyes I 1 but you are not always unhappy larry not always at base theres something that holds us together only sties quarrelsome tony and jealous 1 I see the jealousy 11 sties intensely jealous of you tile the man sat said of me it seems to me the shoe ought to be on the other foot cut but she knows of course how flow I 1 felt how I 1 feel for you 1 I wonder onder how caroline would have hare felt it if all ruths money been involved vol ved tony asked idly it all ruths money larry reminded her quickly slie she wrote joe of tile the legacies and joe got a splendid slice and joes the one that ought to have it too tony sat said lie ile helps so many people theres no end to joes goodness I 1 and yet you cant love him tony tony tony how blind ive been 1 its and yet you cant love him sickening larry said with a rueful smile to have had to have had all the difficulties in ones life that I 1 had to meet and to have felt as I 1 did feel that if I 1 ever were free I 1 could make my own destiny so wonderful so happy and then to have had my chance and instantly thrown it away were you terribly young when you married ruth larry twenty one A boy that was aas all and did you love her 1 I admired her tremendously she was a grent great horsewoman horse woman you know and she had bad a splendid stable I 1 remember thinking her glorious galloping along those lanes in autumn and telling her men in the stables what to do with this one fine horse and that yes he said with the thong thoughtful fitful expression she liked best of all on his fits h handsome I 1 dd SOW e face 1 I always loved ruth not but then there are dir erent ways 0 of loving I 1 think she never dever find any misgivings I 1 think she was never anxious until you came along and everything got out of hand the t thing hing I 1 find it hard to for gle ins self one cant always help those till things tony TODY we after all we ill da t what shall I 1 say betray her not in actual fact no I 1 tony TODY said in a lighter tone as she rose to carry her salad dressing to the icebox 1 I surrender there were times she smiled at him over her shoulder dor but ie e she said 1 I remember III IOng ing about it hanging on to my code until my iny fingernails were almost torn out lint im glad now every woman is glad afterward when she remembers coming back she sat down at tile the table with nith idle hands looking at him film frankly for that part tire fire and name flame and breathlessness and not eating your dinner and lying awake all night that part tile important part Is it it neer has lasted it never will it the man asked a lark dark lush flush on his face his bis voice low no for it the light the wise ise and true part tony answered and for the rest larry seriously seriously you and caroline a great deal in common you two more in common cominos than you and I 1 ever could have had bad you like dinners chI chinchilla coats 1 I despise dinners I 1 despise chinchilla coats if you two had a handsome apartment in san francisco entertained a good leal deal were in on opera nights and polo meets what are you talking about the tuan man asked almost roughly youre not youre surely not trying to trying to persuade me that caroline and I 1 are rightly married I 1 tell you it was one of those stupid things that men and women only do when they have lost their bearings when been under a heavy strain A week later we were lu in paris then we both seemed suddenly to wake make up to come |