Show TANGLED WIVES by PEGGY k SHANE fea E copyright by peggy shane WU service SYNOPSIS A girl linds finds herself in a taxicab in new york with a strange man vrho ho speaks peaks 0 of an awful shock he leaves her for a moment roo nent and she drives on tor for she fears ears him she tops stops at the biltmore wondering who haa she ho adding Is her memory Is gone she has a w wedding ring the nameless girl meets a young woman who speaks of her desire to go BO to reno for a divorce if 1 she can get bet the money the boia woman n vanishes with the nameless girls 1900 an elderly woman mrs oscar du do val cordially greets erects the nameless girl addressing her as doris wife of mrs du do vals son rocky rocky Is abroad and doris bewildered Is taken to the home of mrs du val and her sculptor husband oscar doris falls in love with photograph but cannot remember having married him visiting a store she Is astounded when a saleswoman insists she hide from observation rocky returns he demands to know who she to Is and why his wife sent her to his home sho she cannot tell him they agree tor for the sake of his parents to pretend tor for the time being they are husband and wife after much quarreling rocky takes doris to his new york apartment to confront his wife and hae bae the strange straightened out ile he finds the flat empty and not even a note left tor for him by his wife CHAPTER V continued it 11 rocky had let her go as suddenly as he be had seized her 1 I dont think I 1 care at all about kissing you he retorted still tingling from rom the contact of his lips she started for the door before 1 I go I 1 want you to know that ive never known a more rude more boorish more impossible person than you from the very first youve been awful I 1 As soon as you came home you burst into my room without even the courtesy of knocking and without a word of apology apolo gyl 1 you assume that im perfectly crazy to have you for a husband she seized the back of a chair her face was white in the first place youre the most conceited young man ive ever met and after that youre just plain ordinary con temp tible rude I 1 dont know your doris 1 I 1 dont believe you even have a wife named doris 1 rocky hocky stood with an amused smile what do you say we have dinner now dinner I 1 I 1 yes dinner what do you say we come out of the hysterics and have a little food instead I 1 apologize for ever every thing im sorry youre right I 1 am in a terrible mess and you were sweet to help me out by not telling rny my father and mother about it ile he hesitated will you forgive me mel rocky knew liow how to get around her defenses feeling this doris anger turned on herself you lind had no right to kiss me like that she said sulkily youre married ile he sighed god help me why 1 I was just thinking that when ray my family does meet the real doris they wont be nearly so go pleased I 1 owe you something for being so ale to my parents you certainly did the job doris hired you for well ell you still think doris harel me ills his lips twisted in amusement to be quite frank it seems the alternative to your being a member of the criminal classes which seems very unlikely ile he pulled a heap of cardboard boxes out of an easy chair sly my wife Is a very untidy packer sit down cut but doris had turned to the desk and was looking at the framed picture of a girl the face was familiar she was excited was she going to remember something who Is that ab ohl I 1 she knew the girl who stole my money in the Bilt biltmore inore she spoke involuntarily rocky answered eagerly when what are you talking about that Is doris doris she dropped her hands helplessly ohl I 1 must be mistaken then she was on her guard but her mind was whirling rocky followed her thought non tense sense I 1 put it past dorla doris to steal when did this happen please doris sat down weakly 1 I cant tell you yon but youve got to you mean doris took your money and so you decided to get revenge by taking her place no no I 1 cant possibly explain its all a mistake probably I 1 only saw the girl for a few minutes she was confused she did not know how to go on she was trying to remember what the girl in the biltmore had said but the she could nL arid and rocky stood oer her vigorously lie ile pelted belted her alth ith questions when was all this the day I 1 met your mother yes I 1 imagined that the day I 1 sailed galled now tell toe nie about it where did you meet her doris sank down her chin rested on her shoulder she crossed her feet unhappily 1 I dont know whether she stole it or not nol I 1 have hare said bald that I 1 net met her in the washroom I 1 was talking to her and I 1 left the room for a minute when I 1 came back it was gone and so was she now n much was it about nine cine hundred dollars a lit tle more rocky whistled that explains many things look here weve got to be frank with each other ill lay all my cards on the table he pushed a soiled pink mule oft off a chair and sat down dont you agree 1 IT I dont know tell me about doris its voice was low emotional 1 I cant tell you what ive gone cone through worrying about mother and doris it was cowardly ot of me to go abroad and leave them tog together ther at least east I 1 that at Is what I 1 tried to do rut but until I 1 saw how a different kind of girt girl might fit in at home V I 1 his face twisted as he paused to keep beep his voice on its even level 1 I real izod 1 I think I 1 understand said doris yes you would if you met mer doris she was very pretty I 1 can see that a man might rind find her attractive rocky made a gesture of dissent it was a ghastly mistake its hard to explain but to me marriage was wag nothing I 1 I 1 connect it up lip with mother and dad or think of it as anything hut but a rather personal incident in my lire life until she told me we were going to have a baby then I 1 sud denly woke up tip to the significance of the whole thing the way it fitted in with mother and pad did tic lip broke off 1 I expect youre thinking what an awful ass I 1 made of myself over it doris said well I 1 should think you would have told your family more about it as it seems you had been married for some time rocky flushed you see I 1 got mar ried on impulse I 1 cant explain it then but when alien I 1 thought the flip baby was coming it was different I 1 wanted doris to change and be with Blot mother ber lie ile looked at doris wistfully fa 10 d I 1 got married just the way rd fd buy ft suit of clothes or order myself a dinner ever body I 1 knew was married and divorced rind and remarried to each other but I 1 still cant understand why you would go abroad without introducing your mother to your wife or r about the baby or doris and I 1 had a row the morning that I 1 was sailing doris wanted some money she wanted a thousand dollars I 1 give it to her then she said she had to have it because she was going to have a baby it sounded pretty fishy now thae that 1 look back on it and I 1 thought well theres no use telling what I 1 thought hut but I 1 going to give her a thou sand rand dollars and leave her alone to do what she pleased if she was in that condition so I 1 called up tip mother fixed it so doris have a cent unless she went with mother and sailed doris sighed you can be mean 1 I suppose so said rocky where do you suppose she Is now 1 I dont know I 1 cant believe ashes having a baby you dont know doris she the kind that has babies and well the way she lot told lt it I 1 li believe it was just a stall to get gel money out of me she denied it while title I 1 was wag phoning mother but of course I 1 take any chances so you thought I 1 was a girl doris had bad hired to take her place doris Is d n resourceful she gets her own way and she care much how she gets it he smiled his friendly disarming smile and looked expectantly tit at doris now will you tell me how the haayes you got there CHAPTER VI it would be a relief to tell somebody doris closed her eyes youre worn out said rocky im a terribly self absorbed ape you ought to eat something im all right ile he pulled his chair closer to her she drew a long lone breath wondering worrying half an hour earlier she glie would not have thought it possible that she could confide in rocky nut but his friendliness made her former attitude impossible she looked at him wistfully listen Ll sten you eat something she laughed faintly youre hungry yourself you old fraud ill go e out and baie supper though it if you like ue he grinned you read me like a book but you honestly look tagged im going to have something sent up from bens send anything anywhere any time it seems rie ile went to the telephone she watched him as he gave the number after all she could not go on this way forever she would have to tell someone in order to find her home would you like roast chicken lobster id love chicken say rocky yes baby III all right I 1 will tell you youl I 1 ile he raised his eyebrows nodded 0 K spill everything just a rain min ute until I 1 finish here but it was not until the food had come that she did find the courage to tell him meantime she had bathed and was feeling much better openings tor for the confession had gone by but each time panic seized her meantime rocky was hungry and very friendly ile he was trying to make up for his bis former unkindness it seemed to doris from the way you talked while I 1 was telephoning for this mess of vita rita mins I 1 thought you had made up your mind to tell me AM all he be sald said 1 I have well why dont you shoot im afraid you wont believe me be well have a shot at it she drew a long breath begin at the beginning said rocky and re member I 1 dont bite and I 1 dout sting but aside from the fact that im probably dying of curiosity dont tell me if you dont want to you are decent ive got to tell someone and youre the first person ive met who think I 1 was wag absolutely sol crazy it if I 1 told the truth she cupped her chin in her hand and went one casualty casually you see ive lost my memory I 1 lost it quite suddenly and I 1 dont know where I 1 came from I 1 dont know who I 1 am or even what my name Is rocky was looking at her with his jaw dropping slightly the h I 1 you GAY bayl III she nodded smiling a little at his astonishment s on s men I 1 then rhen my lord maybe you know whether you were married to me or not doris smiled ruefully 1 I was reasonably certain as soon as I 1 saw sav you you leave me in much doubt 1 I guess I 1 was pretty brutal then she told him everything unable to evade his quick questioning lie he found out how bow she had been riding in a cab with a man she hated how she had left him gone to the Biltmore been robbed of her money and met the kind little woman who had said she was her mother in law As she finished she took off her wedding ring and showed him the inscription on the inside so youre married too he said thoughtfully to somebody I 1 hate or at least I 1 think so rocky hocky considered it ought to be easy enough to find out who you are you look to me like a girl with a large devoted family probably all out looking for you you look in the papers to see it if there was anything about a missing girl tour family take any papers 11 1 right one of the old eccentricities ills his eyes were tender say this Is a d n shame ill make inquiries at the police station and well find out who you are in no time then if you dont like your husband you dont have to go back to him do you doris felt frightened 1 I 1 dont know there was something dreadful you know once I 1 was listening to the radio and something was said in the news of the day I 1 think it was that brought it all back to me but only for a second then I 1 fainted it seems as if there Is something so awful in my past that I 1 just dont dare to remember it rocky reassured her oh that very likely doris youve been badly shocked perhaps you were in an accident ive thought that it if I 1 could see the papers perhaps there would be something in them that would help me to remember an idea supposing we go out now and buy some gome papers its much cooler now lie ile walked to the long windows and looked down into the street we can ride around or something ile he looked at her over his shoulder would you like to go and see some girls waving their legs around in the theater please lets she laughed of course id love to youre sure youre positive we to sit around and be tragic this evening ne he jumped up then were off I 1 wont be two shakes but it was later than they thought when they emerged finally on the street they rode over to broadway in a cab buying the world telegram from a newsboy in the lobby doris had a moment to look it over but she found nothing that roused her memory III 1 I cant get over the way you impressed father said rocky during the intermission ne he was absolutely nuts about you III 1 lie ile looked down at her happily you find anything in the paper nothing seemed to rouse any echo cut but I 1 did see one comforting thing an advertisement by a reno divorce lawyer saying you can now get a divorce out there in six sit weeks really yes I 1 remember they did pass a law like that last year well that means you can get rid of the man in the cab if he be should turn out to be your husband and speaking of men med there are two men in the back of the theater that cant tako take their eyes oft off you where perhaps they know me doris screwed around hopefully but bul the curtain was rising As they came out of the theater the street vi was as filled with people in evening dress the women holding their short gay jackets about them you know everybody Is staring at you said rocky teasingly as they stood beside the curb lie ile took her arm as he be spoke and slie she felt e t a warm protecting glow clow which see seemed d to come from his tall body TO BE BB CONTINUED |