FREE BOOKS

Author's List




PREV.   NEXT  
|<   137   138   139   140   141   142   143   144   145   146   147   148   149   150   151   152   153   154   155   156   157   158   159   160   161  
162   163   164   165   166   167   168   169   170   171   172   173   174   175   176   177   178   179   180   181   182   183   184   185   186   >>   >|  
"Aren't you ever coming to see me, Clay?" Her voice had been wistful, and it had been a moment before he had himself enough in hand to reply, formally: "Thank you. I shall, very soon." But he had not gone to the little fiat again. Through Natalie he heard of her now and then. "I saw Audrey to-day," she said once. "She is not wearing mourning. It's bad taste, I should say. When one remembers that she really drove Chris to his death--" He had interrupted her, angrily. "That is a cruel misstatement, Natalie. She did nothing of the sort." "You needn't bite me, you know. He went, and had about as much interest in this war as--as--" "As you have," he finished. And had gone out, leaving Natalie staring after him. He was more careful after that, but the situation galled him. He was no hypocrite, but there was no need of wounding Natalie unnecessarily. And that, after all, was the crux of the whole situation. Natalie. It was not Natalie's fault that he had found the woman of his heart too late. He had no thought of blame for her. In decency, there was only one thing to do. He could not play the lover to her, but then he had not done that for a very long time. He could see, however, that she was not hurt. Perhaps, in all her futile life, Natalie had, for all her complaining, never been so content in her husband as in those early spring months when she had completely lost him. He made no demands whatever. In the small attentions, which he had never neglected, he was even more assiduous. He paid her ever-increasing bills without comment. He submitted, in those tense days when every day made the national situation more precarious, to hours of discussion as to the country house, to complaints as to his own lack of social instinct, and to that new phase of her attitude toward Marion Hayden that left him baffled and perplexed. Then, on the Sunday when he left Graham and Marion together at the house, he met Audrey quite by accident in the park. He was almost incredulous at first. She came like the answer to prayer, a little tired around the eyes, showing the strain of the past weeks, but with that same easy walk and unconscious elegance that marked her, always. She was not alone. There was a tall blonde girl beside her, hideously dressed, but with a pleasant, shallow face. Just before they met Audrey stopped and held out her hand. "Then you'll let me know, Clare?" "Thank you. I will, indeed, Mrs. Valent
PREV.   NEXT  
|<   137   138   139   140   141   142   143   144   145   146   147   148   149   150   151   152   153   154   155   156   157   158   159   160   161  
162   163   164   165   166   167   168   169   170   171   172   173   174   175   176   177   178   179   180   181   182   183   184   185   186   >>   >|  



Top keywords:
Natalie
 

situation

 

Audrey

 
Marion
 

submitted

 

Hayden

 

demands

 

increasing

 

comment

 

neglected


discussion

 
assiduous
 

attentions

 
national
 
precarious
 

country

 

social

 

instinct

 

baffled

 

complaints


attitude

 

prayer

 

hideously

 

dressed

 

pleasant

 
blonde
 

marked

 

elegance

 

shallow

 

Valent


stopped

 

unconscious

 
accident
 

incredulous

 

Sunday

 

Graham

 

strain

 

showing

 

answer

 

completely


perplexed
 
thought
 

remembers

 

mourning

 

interrupted

 
angrily
 

misstatement

 
wearing
 
moment
 

wistful