Show A A AL an ak A CHAPTER VIII continued 11 Offend offended edl how could you possibly offend a lambert martha after all youve done for us but theres more to this business than you understand der stand the mans face darkened he was recalling a hot june day a blow that had left his jaw lame for a week there are things one cant forgive or he paused not knowing just how to proceed and the woman said in the gentle way she had told him many truths in the years gone by excuse me mr ned but theres nothing we cant forgive if we care enough run along up now run up and see your father and when I 1 got there ned told his wife later that evening dad was sitting in the big wing chair noras bedroom there was a fire on the hearth and the place did look more well more cheerful perhaps than the rooms downstairs he was reading a letter but when he glanced up and saw ire he stuffed it into a pocket which made me wonder if it was from leonora I 1 thought honestly corinne I 1 sort of felt that he like my finding him there he got right up and said why hy you telephone if id known you were coming over id have been downstairs did you go down then no it was plain he wanted to but I 1 said sit still dad im only anly going to stay a minute did you know that nora sailed for italy this afternoon you see corinne I 1 thought it was better to speak right out I 1 felt after what marthad Marl Marf had fiad said that it might do him good to talk if he once got started 11 he say nothing for just a minute I 1 think my question took him a bit off guard but you know dad he can always pull himself together and after a minute he said quietly yes I 1 know all corinne it made me feel almost uncomfortable as if held hed said its none of your business ned get along home you know what I 1 mean oh yes I 1 knowl know Co rinnes eyes narrowed unpleasantly he made me feel that way just after nora left when I 1 was trying to tell him that hed done exactly right im fond of your father ned but there are times when he irritates me to distraction A vision of the faithful martha slinging teacups tea cups caused ned lambert to smile a little then his wife asked did you speak of nora any more we did because I 1 rather forced the subject not because I 1 was curious you know but I 1 wanted to help him it if I 1 could dads had such a lot of trouble through his family corinne ive always ever since I 1 was old enough to think about it wanted to feel that 1 I dhove never gone against his wishes had made it up to him but tonight sitting there in noras bedroom it came over me that I 1 was accountable for this last break hurt him more than anything since the trouble with my my mother you accountable corinne closed the most talked of 0 novel of the month forgot its 50 unread pages and gave him her entire attention of all the absurd statements 1 what would your father have had you do when that fellow hit you turn the other cheek it was a jaw dear ned reminded her in a feeble attempt at humor he hated his wife to get worked up if eu to be funny she retorted 1 I dont see the joke why you were black and blue if your father stood by you hed have been a beast ned well what else did you say saya not much I 1 ventured the remark that I 1 wondered how their trip was financed and father answered with that uncanny way he has of understanding something y you 0 u said well I 1 finance it if troubling you that riled ailed me a little ill admit but I 1 kept my temper I 1 felt so sorry for him corinne ive never thought of my father as being an old man but he looked old tonight old and unhappy I 1 decided not to say anything further about nora and then with the best intention in the world I 1 put my foot in it how ned smiled regretfully it was this way A As the atmosphere seemed a little strained I 1 got up and began bega n moving about the room such a beautiful room corinne beautiful that shows your ignorance of such things ned corinne spoke as one with authority ill admit it has a sort of charm but its no special period so in an artistic way its not correct why that wing chair you spoke of is covered with flowered chintz and there are silk hangings hannings hang ings at the windows d imagine making such an error and the bed and bureau are early american while the rug which must havekost have cost your father a small fortune too is oriental besides so many books are out of place in a bedroom any good decorator would tell you that but nora refused any advice you know and that rooms just like her awfully pretty if you admire that sort of thing but well its really a hodgepodge hodge podge A damn fine hodgepodge hodge podge 11 retorted ned and it was that early american bed that made the trouble ive always thought it the handsomest bed I 1 ever saw I 1 stopped beside it to admire one of the posts I 1 never expected to stir dad up when I 1 asked where it came from he answer right 0 away so I 1 turned around and honestly corinne he looked as if someone had struck him then he pulled himself up and said it came from a c country auction down in maine it was a rainy day only one antique dealer to compete with and he know his business I 1 got that bed for forty dollars 1 I said you certainly got a bargain and any time you want to get rid of it 1 I well prodded corinne as her husband stopped that it seems was my mistake father said and his voice was exactly as cold as if id been some smart aleck trying to get the better of him in a business deal e 4 e e e C X what do I 1 care about a son that bed is not mine to get rid of as you unpleasantly put it it belongs to my daughter just that corinne neds wife sat up so suddenly on the chaise longue that the great american novel dropped unheeded to the floor he has no right to answer you like that ned I 1 hope you told him P so oh calm down my dear I 1 have to I 1 guess he saw by my face how awfully surprised I 1 was for he came over and put his arm across my shoulders said I 1 pay any attention to him that he was upset about something we quarrel never have you know we sa sat down again and talked about nothing in particular the stock market the weather anything in fact except nora he promised to go to bed soon as I 1 left but james lambert go to bed just then he sat quite still in noras big wing chair 1 I want one big enough to curl all up in daddy until he heard the front door close and knew that he would not be interrupted then he drew from a pocket the letter he was reading when ned came in not that he know it pretty well by he heart a rt having already perused it a dozen times as he did all noras letters his eyes lingered on the signature those childish black crosses below it james knew instinctively that she had kissed them as she used to in the days of little girlhood the same nora and yet not the same never never he vowed with stubborn bitterness would she be the same to him never again would he let her get near enough to hurt him and then softly 1 I wonder if she could possibly have seen me there on the pier I 1 dont believe so I 1 kept well back until the very last and there was such a crowd but it was strange too the way she waved at the last moment very strange I 1 could have sworn even at that distance that her face brightened CHAPTER tx IX it is a wise providence that blinds our eyes to what lies ahead nora little thought as she stood 0 on n the deck of the larino with dons hand on hers that she would be twice a mother before she saw her native land again that she was to descend into the shadow of death herself that she was to watch fine lines etched by the ruthless hand of care gather about dons happy spa blue eyes that she was to fight for the life of a little boy tossing with fever in far off cape town her first son was born in england on a may night the winter had gone well As carl venable promised dons letters from capri were welcomed with enthusiasm by the london editor and the same letters supplemented by thumbnail sketches by the great venable found a ready market in america and living in italy was inexpensive nora soon made a home of the tiny pink villa with its glimpse of sapphire waters and rocky hill sides which constance venable had ready for their arrival this is the most heavenly spot she wrote her father and im fast becoming a thrifty italian housewife or should be if I 1 compelled to stop my work every few minutes to drink in the beauties of this twin humped camel of an island kneeling so gently in the blue blue waters of the mediterranean its well worth the effort of climbing the million or so steps that lead to our front door 1 I can hear you say dont exaggerate nora its a bad habit to gaze down on this wealth of flowers and foliage nature was in a lavish mood when she fashioned capri I 1 wish you could see it dad in fact the only thing needed to make me supremely happy would be to look out some day and discover that my handsome father had overcome his prejudice against every country not flying the stars and stripes and was climbing that rocky path though he have breath enough to kiss me when he reached the top the venables e na bles are only five minutes walk perhaps I 1 should say climb away and if you could look upon the seascape vens painting now mortgage the house to possess it incidentally they have a beautiful piano on which they seem to consider it an honor for me to practice so my fingers wont grow stiff as I 1 had feared they might there are four young venables ranging from sixteen to six such jouy jolly youngsters youngs and their mother is every bit as good a mother to me as she is to them though she cant be fifteen years my senior 11 this was quite true nora had not counted on constance venable in vain you say its to be in may the older woman questioned thoughtfully and then we must take you to england not that bam binos banos dont arrive daily in italy she smiled but my phil was born in london and I 1 had a most skillful doctor the nurse was a wonder too ill write at once and engage her for you nora ill arrange everything ery thing want a room in a nursing home and ill write the doctor we were planning to sail for new york the first of may I 1 must tell carl to put it off another month and no protest on the part of leonora would make her change of course I 1 shall stay with you V she said almost indignantly dont you know that our alice be here if it for don he kept on working over her when everybody told him it was useless nothing you ever ask of us nora will be too much what don and nora never knew was that half the expenses incurred by the arrival of this first son of theirs were paid by carl venable who would have paid them all had it been possible to do so without arousing dons suspicions all the young couple ever knew was that the bills were far far less than anticipated for nora was very sick indeed don sometimes wished he could forget that nightmare time when the firm hand of an english doctor thrust him unceremoniously from the bare white room which sheltered nora get outside and sit down my dear chap he commanded briskly she wont suller suffer any more he had a very english accent that doctor which made don wonder if the man were quite efficient 1 there was a bench in the corridor and he sank down on it very weak as to knees wondering how long this horrible business would go on w why hy the universe had to be populated in such a manner and what for had they sent him out and let connie venable stay inside and after an interval which seemed hours there came from beyond that door a cry like nothing he had ever heard before but don knew it instantly for the wail of his first born it was then that all the remaining strength went out of him and he wiped the sweat from his forehead and said thank god its over but no one came from noras room except a nurse she had a blanket wrapped bundle in her arms and was hurrying so fast she see him but when she returned a minute later without the bundle don caught her skirt and though his question seem to come the girl appeared to understand and told him hastily its a boy A splendid little boy but and with that but he was left alone again the door closed though during the moment it had opened a strong and sickish scent of ether drifted out to him it was constance venable who came next after a lifetime it seemed to don with that nurses ominous b but ut still ringing in his ears and with one look into connies face his heart stopped beatini beating literally he told nora afterwards that he died for a minute and then constance sat down and took his hand she said youve a son don a beautiful little boy and he broke in harshly what do I 1 care about a son happened to nora constance was still stroking his hand as hed seen her stroke the hands of her children when she wished to calm them she answered nora will be all right don I 1 dont care what they say she will be all right there were complications something no one had foreseen just at the last we very nearly lost her but she will be all right then after another the door opened it was the english doctor the man with the accent he threw one significant glance at connie and laid his hand gently on dons shoulder she needs you old man he said just that but don knew and constance knew what he was thinking and connie still held dons hand when he crossed the threshold of that quiet room he stood there looking down on nora a nora as white as the bed on which she lay as white as marble her eyes were closed don could not see her breathe he wondered and then the doctor spoke softly id take her hand my dear fellow if I 1 were you his voice despite the accent which had sounded so ladeda la de da an hour before was very kind and because no one had thought to bring a chair don dropped to his knees beside the bed and took that white strangely transparent hand into his own he had forgotten the nurses the doctors and constance venable he said so connie told him later come back nora I 1 cant go on without you come back dearest TO BE CONTINUED |