Show E A UT DAUGHTER OTER CHAPTER VII continued 11 men have always med liked me and yet ive never had any character and I 1 never do anything I 1 dont want to do the older wom woman an explained simply 1 I sleep late I 1 wander downtown in the afternoon to a movie I 1 never assume the slightest responsibility and I 1 am altogether unwise and idle and use useless lessl in the beginning victoria would laugh at such whimsicalities but her mother had not been long her guest before she discovered that they were partly true magda really never did make any effort or assume any responsibility except to interest and please men she would not be left alone at home at night with the children even though they were all asleep in their beds one of them would set something on fire and then think I 1 deliberately libera tely killed the lott she pleaded and the mere suggestion of this calamity prevented victoria from ever urging the arrangement for the rest it was astonishing to discover that magdas self re had suffered ered no whit by her long and exciting career in the beginning of the european experiences lucius farmer had become strange he had been a delightful person in tahiti and majorca but somehow southern germany had bad affected him badly it his fault but he really have quality vie vic magda explained it generously he a gentleman it simply therel perhaps I 1 was to blame for Ih thinking inking that it ever was victoria listened on scrambling as she did so along the line of the sitting room bookcases taking out childrens books matching sets stacking the volumes neatly now and then she sat back on her heels smiling at her mother magda busy with a nail file and a tiny pair of scissors occasionally in her turn raised her eyes from her hands and looked seriously at vie vic while without anger or resentment she recounted the strange actions of luclus lucius farmer after all she magda haldone had bad done for him he had been unappreciative enough to desert her As the days went by and vie vic found herself drawn more and more under her mothers influence affected more and more by her mothers point of view she found it increasingly crea singly difficult to maintain her own standing the solid earth rocked a little sometimes beneath her feet poor faded mummy with nothing to show for all the flattered romantic years the presents and the checks the beautiful face and the beautiful gowns mummy be entirely right in her preposterous ideas and attitudes but there were moments when victoria felt uneasily that perhaps she entirely wrong either mummy for one very important thing thought that having more than one or two children was a mistake it was a forgivable mistake for you have them so easily vie vic and you do adore them so but I 1 tell you its selfish lose himl him I 1 victoria felt that she could afford to laugh at this according to mummy every man between the ages of sixteen and eighty was interested te in any reasonably pretty woman anywhere everywhere at all times and seasons no wife was eafe but magda was not to be laughed out of her position she said thoughtfully women must go crazy about him hes stunning ill 1 hes forty three vie vic laughed and he has a large family and the hardest surgery practice in the city P forty three hes not at the dangerous age yet magda mused Is anyone specially crazy about him theres always some woman telephoning ep vie vic answered edly 1 I know the signs but he take them seriously magda was hardly listening her eyes were narrowed in speculation 1 I dont think any woman gets hold of a man vie vic submitted comfortably fort ably relaxed in a big chair now with her feet stretched out before her 1 I dont believe any woman loses her husband because some other woman wants him she sub beginning again her mother regarded her in astonishment ment what do you think magda demanded 1 I mean I 1 think the wife has lost him first victoria explained ali ah yes but it all depends upon what you mean by losing him the other woman said it always mean that quarreling that made up their minds to sepa separate ratel it may mean that drifted apart perhaps they dont don realize it themselves I 1 mother do you really believe that all married women are waiting for affairs with other men to come along that all married men have hav an eye out for charming women fresh women mrs Herren deens surprised stare stan was sufficient answer why but of coursel course she said amazed vicky look at them they do they all don dont dontell till vicky muttered but she was thinking some men never would magda magd conceded but some men are after women smart women and by KATHLEEN NORRIS 0 kathleen norris service ful women all the time the worlds full of them now women who have comfortable big ali monies or settlements and who are on the loose hunting for someone like quentin someone to lovel love there are lots of men handsomer than quentin for them to go after victoria observed with a laugh but it looks that count vie vic that hard faced deep voiced dark headed square sort of man is well I 1 tell you mrs herrendeen said shrugging lightly looking away 1 I tell you that if I 1 were ten years younger id give that lad of yours a run tor for his money moneal 1 for once vicky was not amused she was secretly affronted by her mothers words magda broke the s silence marriage what it used to be vie vic in the old days if a man wanted to wander there were places lie he could go that his wife never heard about women suspected what was going on but they were having their ten or a dozen doze n children and 00 r ir 06 I 1 4 A V L Z I 1 ile he a gentleman it simply there feeding chickens and making soap and putting up preserves and they have much to say its different now the women they can buy are of their own class and not all after presents and trips and alimony they want love got money after the love part theres a sex war on vie vic women dont want one experience they want twenty bowl well I 1 hate the word sex and chate I 1 hate so much talk about it and chate I 1 hate the idea that its the most mo st important thing in the world 1 vie vic presently said with feeling but it is the most important thing in the world her mother assured her seriously victoria shook her head frowning she fell into thought and her mother idling in her favorite fashion on a couch beside the fire was silent too later that evening victoria asked quentin if he thought sex was so important sex he echoed in surprise vicky laid a hand on his 1 I dont mean in youth when flirting is natural and right but afterward does it have to go all through life men tempting women and women tempting men to throw everything else over decency and home and honor and obligation often the doctor said slowly it is that way they tell me about it he added how do you mean it is that way 1 I mean that a man who really loves his wife and kids who is is perfectly satisfied with his home life perfectly satisfied the tame phrase affronted her and she laughed well perhaps what I 1 mean is is that his new affair has nothing to do with his his organized life he meets some woman who appeals to him tremendous tremendously ly ir irresistibly resist ably Physic physically vie vic put in scornfully as he hesitated for a word he accepted it simply unsuspicious ly oh yes primarily that primarily that she has some trick of using her eyes some note in her voice something that sets him on fire just as definitely as if a fuse were lighted there was a pause victoria was studying his face attentively yes but suppose all that she presently said grant all that Is he then to tear up his whole life kick his wife out deprive his children of their father its usually the wife who does that vicky A man might expect his wife to forgive him vicky said after thought but then how would woul d she know that it happen again she quentin said mildly unsmilingly hat hal vicky exclaimed out of deep thought quentin laughed it would bould teem seem that it takes you by surprise he observed well it does ive always felt ive always hoped that a man liked a woman for other things her being sweet tempered and a good sport and making him a comfortable home and loving him she stopped short in her catalogue so much in earnest that tears were near her eyes he does vie vic A man who has a wife like that is lucky and he knows it but that mean that oh well that the look some woman gives him over her shoulder r as she goes out of his office wont wont stay with him for days oh quentin Quen I 1 victoria exclaimed in surprise and dismay and irresistibly she added does that happen to you sometimes Sometime sl the doctor admitted laughing but ut but theres there no sense to it look what it leads to look at mother and so many others the mess the they y make of it I 1 in the end in the end in the end its the who show them what fools they were quentin said teasingly quentin have you s since 1 ince we were married I 1 mean ever had that feeling about any other woman id tell lell you if I 1 had would I 1 1 I think you would well I 1 dont know but that I 1 would I 1 believe be very understanding der standing about it pity the sinner and forgive the sin but a man with five kids another coming a new stove to put in bills unpaid and an operation at eight tomorrow morning has a swell chance at that sort of thing quentin yawned dawned id be afraid of your mother anyway he laughed CHAPTER VIII serena wife of spencer ashley george morrison was by birth part english and part dane she had been married to this her third husband for only a few years and was in her early thirties when the mor came to california in search of sunshine and health not that serena herself was not glorious in health and strength and her child gita seven years old as strong as a little bullock but her husband had been seriously injured in a hunting accident and would never be whole and well again there was a good income somewhere the little family could afford to choose what place and what climate it preferred menlo park some eighteen to twenty miles down the peninsula from san francisco finally had seemed to b be e the ideal place and they had bought the tracy house right next door to dr quentin Hardi big place in the week when madeleine hardisty was a year old the Hardi old fashioned place was spacious plain comfortable but the morrisons Morri sons residence was quite new and lovely in plastered spanish patios tiled oddments of sloping roof oaks peppers roses flagged paths little gita stewart daughter lonely and curious and bold had lost no time in creeping through the evergreen hedge that separated the two gardens crossing the Hardi old tennis court and skirting the berry patch threading her way under the oaks and over the lawn and finally discovering what she later had described to her nurse as the most fascinating family she had ever met a mother who was fixing the hurt head with rags and water and medicines and boys named kenty and dicky and bobs and girls named gwen and sue and a baby that could walk the adult members of the family did not meet so simply it was at I 1 a country club lunch that victoria first noticed the straw haired woman oman and identified her as the beauty quentin had noticed more than a year earlier everyone evelyon e was noticing serena that day and asking about her it was her first social appearance since the long ago night at the opera although she had been in her new house for almost a month quentin and some of the other 1 men had been playing golf since breakfast time victoria had come later to the club to carry her husband home for lunch with gwen and her two older children she was watching the tennis when she saw mrs morrison for the first time presently phyllis tichnor came up with the newcomer in tow I 1 vie vic you know mrs morrison 1 I dont vie vic said smiling im so glad tol I 1 remember seeing mrs morrison at the opera last year and I 1 think our children know each other our children echoed the beautiful mrs morrison raising the delicate dark line of her eyebrows your small girl gita stewart you ought to know each other said phyllis you live right near Is there a place between you and the tracy house or arent you right next door oh of course we are serena said slowly with no change of expression beyond a hint bint of languid curiosity its your children gita talks to amah about 1 I am not a very formal person you cant be when you have six children vicky explained when they were comfortably seated watching the tennis but I 1 d do mean to come and see you 0 one 11 e 0 these days TO BE |