Show ee s jace by FRANCES PARKINSON KEYES oi frances parkinson keyes keyei servia SYNOPSIS at a dance a visitor in the community neal mea conrad young lawyer Is I 1 impressed by anns anne chamberlain pretty daughter of a shiftless farmer fanner prec elving her bar fine fin character A few day days later she ehe accompanies him and his hostess mrs griffin on a picnic at the tha end of the day neal declares his bis love at wash ington on their honeyb honeymoon the conrads conrad meet clarence Hatha hathaway wayt wool friend of neals neal young diplo diplomat MA t th 71 young couple tart start housekeeping annes health begins begin to til fall neal engrossed la in politics politic does doe not cot notice she realizes sir she to Is to he be a mother while neal if 18 away anne ann has ha a visit from an old friend mr goldenburg in neals nali absence he be takes charge of the tha situation Itu atlon neal li Is la in an agony of remorse over his bis neglect their son 1 Is torn br in the ensuing eight years neals law practice an and d his position in politics both mount A daughter has been born bom to anne but her beauty cau ty Is fading clarence hathaway now new in diplomatic post poil in paris visits the conradd he reproaches neal for allowing anne to star stagnate and suggests nealand anne take a holiday with him in fr france ance 1 in pai pails 1 anne is rejuvenated physically and sar torl ally hathaway long secretly enamored endeavors to win her from neal without success t CHAPT CHAPTER ar VIII continued 19 somehow anne wrenched herself free iier her lips were shaking as well as her body nevertheless there was waa an inner force about her which compelled him to listen 1 I dont love you she reiterated brokenly but persistently ive been grateful to you and I 1 always shall be in in spite of happened I 1 believe some day be as sorry that it happened as I 1 am and youre right I 1 have been been attracted by you perhaps what made me for the moment kiss back something restless and reckless and primitive women are primitive sometimes as well as men I 1 wish more people would recognize that but I 1 dont love you its neal I 1 love id rather go back to Hin to all that drudgery and isolation as you call it to being neglected and forgotten by him as youve hinted as long as I 1 can be with him than to stay here in paris and all that it means with you because I 1 love him because I 1 know lie he belongs to me no matter what he does or do because I 1 belong to him if he falls im willing to fall with him and if he succeeds in the end im going to be there to see it even it if I 1 cant share it for one vibrant moment of silence they faced each other then he bent his head stricken by the consciousness that he had been very close to violating a shrine from the bottom of my heart he said 1 I ask your forgiveness 0 4 0 0 groping her vay down the dark winding little corridor that led to her rooms anne was suddenly confronted with a large lozenge of light neal had heard her approaching footsteps he must have been listening for them and had flung the door of their little salon with its welcoming radiance wide open and dashing out to meet her lie he almost smothered her in a bear hug oh ob anne where have you been so long I 1 thought never come I 1 do hurry I 1 you cant imagine happened anne anne read that cablegram she snatched at the flimsy bit of blue paper which he was waving in her face it was signed by low the governor of their state and it read SHELTON JUNIOR SENATOR DIED THIS MORNING ROPE HOPE YOU WILT ACCEPT appointment PRO FROM ME HIS SEAT BEAT UNITED STATES SENATE CHAPTER IX to the day of her death anne conrad will remember her first winter in washington as a senators wife with driving insistence she and neal discussed the question of a temporary home all the way over on the boat coming back from paris and finally decided on account of the children that a small house would be preferable to an apartment she went on at once to washington with neal to begin her search for a dwelling place it should not she thought be very hard to find exactly what they wanted and she urged neal to follow his impatient desire to begin getting settled in ills his quarters at the senate office building these certainly left nothing to be desired neal felt himself swelling with national importance fron fro n the first moment that he be sat down in front of the blank polished surface of his enormous desk and pushed the little bell which summoned miss letts to come and take dictation from him A cable had informed miss letts of the impending change in her sphere of usefulness and she had preceded the conrads to washington anne recognized the competence of miss letts and was grateful for it because it made everything so much easier for neal she agreed with him perfectly when he told her that everything was in terrible concu confusion slon and that he did not see how he be was war ever going to get straightened ont olt and adjusted so she went out to took look for houses by herself the real estate agent to whom she had applied led her to several untenanted marble palaces hung with mangy tapestries and furnished in rickety gilt and to a long succession of tali talf narrow edi edifices flees made of bright red brick with one tin hath end gloomy finck back par mrs lors she regarded these docilely at fl slip hrenn to tn wea mildly will you please show me w what bat I 1 asked you for in the beginning small houses with about eight rooms conveniently leniently arranged and at it a re reason a s on able rental unless it la Is clear to you now nov what I 1 want I 1 think I 1 had better go to an another oilier agent the agent was grieved it had not occurred to him that such a youia pretty and gentle lady would he so rim enable to hla his blandishments blandish ments allowing her to see that his feelings were hurt he led her from one small dingy dwelling to another they were all dirty beyond description find and in most of them both plumbing and heating plants were antiquated and inadequate anne went back to the willard Wll lard dizzy with discouragement and neal expressed surprise at her lack of success arent you a little too fussy we ought to be getting settled you know and having dorn dora and the children come down surely you yon must be able to get something id talce take a lay ilay oft off and help you hunt but things fire are so terribly piled up at the office 1 I know neal ill try again but honestly its awfully hard the next morning she dismissed the agent and started out by herself on foot stopping before every house that displayed in its window a sign of for sale or to let at last she discovered tucked away between two handsome brownstone residences a small house of yellow painted brick it was only two stories high its location was excellent and a notice so large that it completely filled the modest bay window tn in which it was placed proclaimed that it was seeking a tenant tremblingly anne sought out the agent the house proved to contain a small but sunny drawing room opening into a dark little dining room whose one window overlooked a diminutive hack back yard and a kitchen in the ell on the second story two large bedrooms and one small one and a bathroom in the basement under the drawing room a storeroom which might conceivably be used as a playroom the furniture was shabby and anne was amazed that any woman could leave her house so far from clean but she felt at last that she had found something which offered possibilities at least she asked the amount of rent two hundred and fifty dollars a month without heat or light linen and silver of course very reasonable anne was aghast but she was also desperate ill let you know tomorrow I 1 think probably ill take tl it im sure you do better mrs conrad it was because anne was so miser ably sure of this herself that she painted the little house in brighter colors than it deserved to neal that evening and even with this effort at couleur de rose he was not entrust enthusiastic a terrible price why we have any more room than we did in the cottage not as much really and you know what that cost I 1 and theres no garage it was on the tip of her tongue to urge him to go out and hunt himself if he felt he could do better but she managed to restrain herself remarking only 1 I wish come and look at it in the morning 1 I really ought to get to the office in good season you see yes I 1 know but it will take only a few minutes somewhat grudgingly neal consented to accompany her and equally grudgingly he signed the lease a few days later conveying the impression though he be did not actually say so that he could have done much better himself if the affairs of the nation had not weighed so heavily upon him then anne bought herself some cheap gingham dresses a supply of scrubbing brushes cleansing powders and soft cloths claths and began tile the process of cleaning house from top to bottom it was backbreaking work and her muscles were soft after her summer of physical inactivity but she did not know where to seek for a an and she already saw very plainly that she would have to begin to save pennies again by evening she was so tired that once she actually went to sleep while neal was telling her about the exciting events of his day and he was offended site she did not even have the satisfaction of doing her house housecleaning cleaning in uninterrupted peace the telephone rang constantly at first she answered it conscientiously believing that its peals might portend tidings of importance to neal it usually proved however to be a photographer who wished her to have her picture taken when the same firm called her three times in twenty four hours she hung up the receiver with ft a bang and answered the telephone no more then of course a magnate from belford who had only a day in the city called and received the report that they an answer siver it did not seem to occur to him that he could call up the senate office building lie he went home to bev bel ford and wrote neal an indignant letter and spread the news among his neighbors that conrad was getting a swelled head already neal was very angry about it and anne felt that he had a right to be TO BE CONTINUED |