Show lueen iseko anos annes lace by frances parkinson keyes a 0 frances Pat parkinson kinson key beyea service Berr lct J SYNOPSIS disappointed through 9 h her inability to put finishing touches louche to her cost costume u me for or a dance ate anne chamberlain Is irritated by the stolidity B 4 her emort george hildreth at the dance 41 visitor la in the community neal conrad young lawyer Is impressed by anne precely ing her ber tina fine character A few ew dys dayi later the b him and his hostess boi teis mrs griffin on a 11 picnic at the end of the day neal doclar declare his hl love and they become enga engaged gedL the th marriage li Is solemnized at washington an 00 their honeymoon the conrads conrad meet cwm clarence hathaway friend of neal neala young diplomat ce the me young couple start housekeeping annea anne health begins begin to fall all neal engrossed in poll bics tics alc tlc does riot not notice she realizes realize she ahe Is to be a mother while neal is I 1 away anne has it visit from an old friend mr goldenburg CHAPTER VI continued 15 mr goldenburg disengaging his hand walked over to the telephone there Is a doctor in I 1 suppose heln ho he asked sarcastically doctor pratt so led me see vat Is his number seven thirty alve yes yea doctor pratt was in he be would be av over er tie lie said right away and in the scant half hour vint that elapsed before his appearance mr air goldenburg proceeded to tidy things up with a dexterity and a swiftness remarkable in so plump and placid a person then with complete composure he admitted the surprised physician still wearing one of annes aprons firmly tied about his waist 0 doctor pratt was not long in rendering his verdict there must be regular care and skilled treatment without delay annes condition was not dangerous but he be could not venture to describe it as otherwise than serious would she rather be moved to a hospital altal or have a nurse and maid installed and of course her husband must be advised at once it was useless for anne to protest doctor pratt spoke brusquely about the danger to the baby when she tried to do so ap she turned to mr air goldenburg do you suppose if you telegraphed mabel bel she would come and stay with me I 1 know where to get a maid or what to do with her afterwards but mabel alabel mabel Is ray my best friend she explained to the doctor except mr and mrs airs goldenburg weve often planned that she should come and visit me but somehow why not telephone then she bouw get here sooner mr air goldenburg was already in action again without much difficulty he located mabel alabel and mabel said aid that she would be delighted to come that she would be there in ID the morning the doctor departed promising to send around a nurse at once and within an hour the nurse materialized and leaving tier her to bathe the patient and make tier bed mr goldenburg sought at first mrs airs simmons next mrs airs conrad and finally catching the last train to belford neal anne never knew exactly what he said to any of them she was in fact too ill III to inquire or to care for several weeks but as those weeks dragged their slow course through she became vaguely and comfortably conscious sick as she was that she was happier than she had been in a long long time mabel arrived bliss T keep beep the nurse waited on her by inches neal camo came home looking very much cowed badly frightened all the gay self confidence the driving energy wiped from his face he brought her flowers flowers the first he had given her since her honeymoon and sat down beside her on the bed his shoulders sagging end and tried to talk to her but because his voice shook so at first that is afterwards he collected himself and spoke better but not until she had bad seen how bow shaken he was how sorry and forgiving him forgot there was anything to forgive by the first of april anne was sufficiently better so that miss keep could leave mabel caring for her ber since now she did not need so much care and doing the housework too by the first of may she was up for a little while each day the session of the legislature was over and nial neal was home again for good home that is until another election at least he be had bad decided to run for office again then this time for tile the state senate he was very kind to her very thoughtful the first of june mabel habel went home leaving them alone again and they were very happy anne did quantities of sewing 61 B on the little porch she trimmed et with pink silk and white e muslin and lace which the Ginden Goiden burgs sent her she lined a little wicker chest of drawers with scented pads she feather stitched tiny flannel petticoats and hemstitched hemstitcher hem stitched tiny muslin dresses mrs airs simmons did the washing and ironing and the cleaning and neal took care of the garden but except for this help she did her own work again annes baby was born in the hins bins boro hospital on a torrid night near the end of august she was in labor for thirty six hours when the doctor began to rive her whiffs of ether to take off the sharp edge of the pains neal who had sta stayed with her up to that time became deathly sick from the smell or of it t and left her when doctor pratt finally held the ether erne to her face telling her to breathe as much as she wanted of it she snatched matched it t from him and bulled ailed it down over her mouth and nose tightly tightly oblivion the only mercy she sought if it could last forever it if it it only could her last conscious prayer ile her r consciousness returned in waves she babbled telling secrets she did not mean to divulge and yet unable to be silent she felt bruised and beaten she longed to be left to die in peace and still they kept doing things to her things that disturbed her things that hurt her if they would only go away I 1 she cried weakly the tears dropping down from her cheeks to the pillow and yet she could not move to wipe them off and no one else seemed to notice them then suddenly neal was there beside her kissing the tears away and between them on the bed lay their 1 ittle son CHAPTER vir VII rn in the next eight years neal built up his law practice which continued to grow riot not indeed by leaps and bounds but steadily and satisfactorily ue also served four terms in the state y then with complete composure he ha admitted the surprised physician legislature the third as speaker of the i house the fourth as chairman of the most important committee in the seni ate during the same eight years anne smothering again and again her disappointment at taking no tangible part in her lius husbands bands campaigns and at being left behind when he went to belford washed cashed cooked cleaned sewed and took care of junior presented that husky youngster when he was three years old with a little sister nancy took care of them both washed cooked cleaned and sewed some more when the second baby was imminent it became apparent that tho the little flat in which they had continued to live up to this time would not suffice for the family needs any longer so they moved to a els room cottage which they were able to rent cheaply and which was sorely in need of paint paper and plumbing by degrees they persuaded a reluctant landlord to make it more comfortable and attractive with two more rooms in their possession than they had bad had since their marriage they converted one into a nursery and one into a den while the large yard provided the children with a space in which to range and anne a space in which to plant and cultivate both a flower and a vegetable garden 31 mabel abel came and spent a month with them when anne left the hospital after nancys birth a complacent mabel alabel engaged to george who had become more and more prosperous and who had the largest farm and the finest barns in hamstead after she left anne was unable to go motoring with neal or entertain her little bridge club worse than this her close confinement to the house and the never ending drudgery of her work began to tell on her heavily she not only grew very thin herself but the baby stopped gaining became fretful and turned blue under the eyes alarmed anne consulted doctor pratt and he be told her that unless she had regular help and equally regular recreation she would have to wean nancy and that he added you should not of course consider in this warm weather annes dread of the servant problem rose from a deeper source than the horrible stories she had heard from her mother in law about the depravity of all domestic workers it rose also from her very sincere sense of her own probable incompetence in directing rather than doing work and her unwillingness to entrust the care of the children to anyone else but 1 to her infinite surprise and relief dora hing the first applicant in response res ponso to the advertisement nt came when she said she would contentedly took tooh possession of the attic and seemed perfectly satisfied to remain she nas n as like anne herself a farmers daughter daught pr who had bad drifted to a little city she WEIS was willing to learn and anne far from resenting tier her ignorance marveled at the quickness with which she overcame IL it TO bab CONTINUED |