Show D LEA T T L 0 V I 1 by BEN AMES WILLIAMS copyright ben ames williams service Str vict CHAPTER I 1 11 the events to be related began upon a certain afternoon and early evening when doctor Gr ceding Leding became for almost the first time in in his life furiously angry call these events coincidence yet it is permissible to suggest that if human passions be supposed sometimes to have a force of their own so that a violent emotion in one individual may without any physical action on his part project itself and impact upon other individuals then these occurrence will fall into an ordered pattern doctor greetings Gre edings own expert experience had persuaded him that incidents do occur and conditions do arise for which there can be no natural explanation certain episodes in his life certain unique traits which he recognized in himself had long since convinced him thus his sense of smell was far more acute than normal if he came into an empty room he knew instantly who had last passed through that room in the same way perhaps from a peculiarity of structure which his oculist early remarked he could see with some precision in the dark incidentally his eyes sometimes shone like those of an animal and mrs breeding Gre eding might be startled when they both awoke at night to see her husbands eyes thus gleaming doctor breeding Gre eding cultivated these unusual capacities taking care for instance not to smoke lest he blur his sense of smell but this was a matter as much of inclination as of choice for he had a dogs distaste SOT for tobacco breeding Gre eding and his daughter nancy respected this feeling on his part mrs breeding Gre eding never smoked at all nancy never when she was near him but he had other gifts not so definitely physical for instance he sometimes knew what a person was about to say before the word was uttered or when he approached a street corner or a closed door I 1 he might find himself perfect sure that when he turned the carper corner or opened the door he would discover a certain person or scene also he had had occasionally the experience of wishing very much that something entirely out of the ordinary run of expectation would happen and having the wished for event occur but this he attributed to his luck doctor breeding Gre eding was in fact a child of good fortune life ran well for him lie he had married with the deliberate intention of furthering his career the girl he chose and their life together had been all that hs he had hoped he had desired one child a daughter nancy was their only child he had sought material and professional success and found it and in other ways in the small incidents of daily life luck was likely to break in his direction his mother she was a simple woman once told him that he had been born under a caul so always be lucky she explained Th ething began with ira jerrell a wealthy business man near doctor greetings Gre edings own age whose life the doctor had saved by a difficult operation from that day as a not unnatural consequence their friendship had steadily deepened today jerrell jarrell had telephoned dr breeding Gre eding and made an appointment to lunch with him at their club during the luncheon they spoke of casual matters afterward jerrell jarrell started to light a cigar then hesitated light it ira the doctor bade him smiling the windows open and if any tobacco can be tolerable to a sensitive nose it is yours so jerrell scratched a match he was a man physically fit lean and hard his thick hair cantril con contributed buted to the youthfulness of his aphea appearance rance but there were betraying lines aj at the corners of als mouth ile he said after a moment quietly 1 I want to have a talk with you ned about nancy there was a slow color in his cheeks the doctor nodded yes I 1 know jerrell looked at him curiously how can you know he asked doctor breeding Gre eding only smiled and jerrell said ned I 1 always have a feeling in talking with you that you know what im going to say youre a curiously understanding man he chuckled chur kled 1 I should not like to try to keep a business secret from you if I 1 could read your mind id have been able to retire long ago doctor breeding Gre eding remarked ked you dont speculate do you jerrell inquired ile he had nev never a r invited the other to participate in any business alfair affair breeding Gre eding shook his head no at least I 1 never have I 1 im m latoral ly IY cautious and it been necessary ive been lucky in my investments I 1 was born under a caul you know his tone SUR sug that he was laughing at his hii own voids jerrell finally spoke again well youre right ned he said it is about nancy ashes a beautiful a lovely girl why yes doctor breeding Gre eding smilingly assented rather amused at the others indirection 1 I think so after a moment jerrell came to the point ned ho he said here it is in words words of one syllable if befi well I 1 should like to marry nancy doctor greetings Gre edings heart quickened its beat but he held his tongue jerell went on hurriedly of course I 1 spoken to her jerrell explained it seemed to me that under the circumstances I 1 ought first to come to you my old friend and nancys father and he be continued 1 I see quite clearly the difficulties in the way I 1 am twenty years older than she is twenty two or three years older that is an obstacle then I 1 have known her as a child and as a young woman for years but she has thought of me as an old man who grew older for as long that is is another obstacle there may be still others it may be that she is in love with some one hei own age and it may be that even if she were not you and mrs breeding Gre eding would object to her marrying me either because im so much older or for some other reason he hesitated and when doctor breeding Gre eding still held silent he be went on 1 I dont want to distress her if she already loves some one else some youngster her own age and I 1 dont want to embarrass you or mrs breeding Gre eding by putting you in the position of opposing her marriage to me he hesitated said then the situation ned what do you think after a moment doctor greed ing chuckled well ira he said 1 I cant pretend to le be surprised ive not been blind to your new in interest in nancy in these recent months mrs breeding Gre eding has told me some things about your visit with them in georgia he added calmly I 1 and nancys fine I 1 should have been more surprised if you had failed to discover the fact he went on thoughtfully nancy has friends of course boys her own age A girl of twenty tw two is very much a young woman but a boy of that age is still a boy she has a troop of these youngsters at her heels most of the time but no one of them more often than the others he smiled 1 I feel sure the field is open he said how about you and mrs breeding Gre eding jerrell jarrell asked bluntly the ine doctor hesitated then went on the difference in your ages may teem seem to her an obstacle as you say she may feel it a barrier too great to be surmounted on that point 1 I cannot speak that is for nancy to decide jerrell jarrell said simply of course in the last analysis but would you ou and mrs greed ing 11 the doctor met the other mans eyes straightforwardly 1 I know you pretty well ira 1 he replied if nancy loved you and wished to marry you mrs breeding Gre eding and I 1 would be gratified jerrell chuckled with a quick youthful pleasure but he sobered then and he said gratefully thanks ned I 1 appreciate your attitude and after a moment he added 1 I love nancy ned and im not as old as my years ive lived decently taken care of myself I 1 believe if she came to love me I 1 could make her happy doctor Gre breeding eding nodded 1 I know as much about you physically lyas as you know yourself he was proud of his to tone ne it was wag dispassionate si and calm with no hint in it of the excitement he felt jerrell colored there was always in in him something deeply likable ab 1 e he said awkwardly 4 1 4 I know that this is an old fash boned proceeding my speaking first to you and I 1 dont lantto be rebuffed are you sure she is free perfectly sure doctor greed mg ing promised 1 I have her confidence if there were anyone I 1 would surely know jerrell smiled and his ey as lighted thanks ned he said 1 I shall bank on what you say doctor drove back up town in a complacent triumph he had no least misgiving ot of what was to come edward greeling Cre Gre eding was vas the only son of ofa a maine farmei even as a boy on the farm he revealed some unique and unusual quality and his mothers pride furnished a driving motive force by his own labors he put himself through bowdoin and afterward through harvard Ilar varo medical school where he ranked S second in his class by the time he had finished his hospital work both his father farthier and mother were dead in cambridge he had learned to value the atmosphere mo sphere 0 of o dignity and pride which surrounded same some of 0 th lh fine old houses there in one of them that of doctor bandon he was a welcomed visitor and he shrewdly decided that if myra bendon were his wife his career would begin under good auspices he wooed the girl she was a little taller than he plain and awkward not beset by suitors and won her later when doctor bendon died doctor and mrs breeding Gre eding came to live in the old house that had been built by her great grandfather a hundred years before mrs breeding Gre eding would have preferred more modern surroundings but her husband insisted there were in the old house many things furniture silverware and the like which had been old and fine when the house was new and doctor breeding Gre eding had a keen appreciation of these possessions he took pride in them took pride in having achieved them but mrs breeding Gre eding kept the old things from a sense of duty there were a few things a vase a modern painting or the like which she had bought and against the doctors protests insisted on keeping and her own dressing room her particular domain was decorated and furnished in a modernistic erni vein the house stood on half an acre of well landscaped grounds with a fine bay hedge in front and flowers and a pool where goldfish swam and a tennis court the tennis court was at one side and the wire screen designed to catch stray balls was itself overgrown by vines so that the court was hidden from the eye of anyone not actually within the enclosure this afternoon it was a day in may when spring was already full way M V P thanks ned tie he said 1 I shall bank on what you say say blown and the sun was warm and only a little while afeei doctor breeding Gre eding had assured jerrell jarrell that nancy was heart free the girl was playing tennis with dan carlisle this young man was an assistant professor of economics in the university ver sity and his book on the business cycle had already won respectful notice and was used as a text in the business school he telephoned nancy soon after lunch asked whether she were free S she he told him eagerly to come and at a little before three he arrived to find her driving balls against the batter board at the end of af the court doctor breeding Gre eding did not suspect that those great plans he had for nancy were guessed by halt half the world but they were not ea as secret ar he supposed thus when dan arrived ai arrived rived he peered through the gate in the screen around the court and hissed sharply nancy heard and called oh anellol eo and she sh came swiftly toward hirra him sh h h he warned her finger on his lips and lie he looked right and left cautiously are we alone he whispered idiot she laughed laug heu yes of course mothers gone one to play bridge wont be home till late ahl ah I 1 dan sighed contentedly and your father wont either so its perfectly safe for me to show myself ft dont be silly dan nancy indignantly dign antly protested youre not exactly an outcast you know he insisted with mock gravity indigent instructor plays clandestine tennis with daughter daught cr of wealth and beauty he shook his head bad he said nancy cried half irritated just for that I 1 shall beat youl you she spun her racket rough or smooth rough said dan and the racket feu fell smooth s se le announced triumphantly antly ill take the servel serve so dan stripped off his sweater and crossed to the farther court and nancys racket rose and swung in a frer full circle the ball clipped the line went untouched into the backstop dan had not moved had made no effort to return it you ready she called sorry he confessed with a grin you ought to wear a veil or something nancy or black your teeth how can a man keep his eye on the ball better watch this onel she retorted her cheeks bright and served again but the ball came back low and fast on her backhand tack hand and at her very feet and thereafter dan managed to keep his attention on the game yet inattention might have been forgiven him nancy was slender with loose dark hair and she wore one of those scant tennis costumes calculated to permit the greatest possible freedom of movement with no sleeves and a skirt which even in repose scarce reached the knee her bare legs were golden brown from three months of southern sun and her arms and throat were the color of honey dan thought her like that classic figure of diana with the stag her movements were liquid and effortless her body flowed through a succession of postures each beautifully composed like a fine work of art which the eye recorded and remembered dan himself was no aoa war of art he was taller than nancy but so broad of shoulder and heavy of leg that he seemed short and almost chunky he moved about the court with a robust zest and a reckless waste of energy his stroke seemed awkward but had a surprising e efficiency f fici ency and power nancy had learned her tennis in a good school and played easily and well and she did in fact win that first set from him though by sheer stubborn persistence si he carried it thrice to deuce but in the second set his superior pace began to tell the balls he hit had a steam behind them which when they struck her racket communicated mun munica ted the shock to her hand to her wrist and arm little by little her returns began to drift faintly to the right of the spot where she aimed them she made errors ile he broke her serve golly nancy he protested youre blazing too hot of course not she laughed at him youre no iceberg yourself she r retorted e youre red as beef I 1 it makes me hot just to 10 look at you want to call it off he urged no sense killing ourselves of course not well play two sets out of three she insisted IS stubbornly and they came back to the court again she coasted through the remaining games of that set husbanding hus banding her strength making him run when she could placing the ball rather than driving it he took the set at six four there he suggested that makes it even stephen lets call it a dr drawl awl of course if youre tired she said derisively lie he grinned youre a glutton tot tor punishment ive just begun to fight she bained him all right have it your way ray he assented its my serve lets go CO and without pause they began again but dans game now had softened she won war his serve then her own and the first three points of the next game on the third point he served a double fault and she picked up the balls and walked toward the net dan you beast youre letting up she said in angry accusation not a bit of it he insisted liar she retorted and her eyes were hot dont you suppose I 1 know and if theres anything I 1 hate its to be babied why listen nance he protested 1 I well as a matter of fact he confessed honestly 1 I thought you were pretty hot and tired were not playing for blood you knowl know im going to beat you if I 1 can she said furiously and youre to beat me if you can Is that clear he hesitated himself angry now perfectly he retorted then you asked for it ill give it to youl you and he turned and stalked back |