Atlanta tri-weekly journal. [volume] (Atlanta, Ga.) 1920-19??, 1924-08-12
CHAPTER XXNU
A ChanUp in Gloria

TN SPITE of her resolution, Gloria did
not see her lawyer the next morning
She telephoned and made an appoint
ment and was later forced to break it in
order to- meet Manning, who wished to talk
over her new picture. Eternal Woman
was what is popularity termed a society
film. In it Gloria would wear exquisite
modern clothes, save in the flash-back
which dealt with life in Old Greece. In this
episode Gloria would wear sandals and a
loose robe bound with silver. Her hair
would be built out in the back and fiIeted
with silver bands. She was fascinated with
the part and was glad when Manning told
her that Barry Carr would play the leading
male role.
Absorbed once more with her work, Clio
ria put the thought of her divorce into the
back of her mind. Templeton was out of
town. He had gone to New York for va
cation and this knowledge made Gloria feel
that she could afford to wait. Since the
night of the dinner a strange feverishness
had taken possession Of her. She was no
longer content to return home at night with
the idea of spending the evening alone. She
wanted gayety, companiOnship, and she be-
gan to accept invitations left and right.
She bought car, cream-colored road
ster. 1T wasn't long before she had learned
to run it herself, and she grew Unfortunately
fond of dangerous speeding. 1t seemed to
bring her release from brooding thought,
and as the days passed she plunged with
more ana more rGCkI6SSn6SS INTO the
abandon of community life.
1t was strange that Nnder the circum-
stances she should develop q certain amount
of what in stars is termed temperament.
This, of course, was due in large part to the
fact that she wasn't getting enough sleep.
All-night parties are not conducive to wax
ing in the morning refreshed and rested,
and Manning was finding her increasingly
difficult to handle.
She was supposed to be at the studio at
9 o'clock, but at that hour Gloria was gen
orally sound asleep. When she finally
woke out of the drugged, heavy sleep of
utter exhaustion, it was to a feeling of ir-
ritation brought on by taut nerves. She
would make an effort to dispel this by tax
ing warm relaxing bath, and dose of
aromatic spirits Of ammonia, but in spite of
these efforts she would reach the studio
with dull feeling in her head, and a great
disinclinatiOn for work of any kind
Manning was disappointed in her, where
once he had been delighted. She had pleased
nm with her earneStness, with the fact that
she worked because she loved it and not for
the money. But Of late she had become as
Indispensable as the others Her work was
uneven and less sincere. He wondered some
times if success had gone to her head or if
the life in Hollywood had broken her illu-
sions and blinded herr to the seriousness of
her ideals. He resolved to have a talk with
her, but on the day that he asked her to-
come to his office, he had a luncheon en-
gagement and was in hurry to be off
He looked at her closely as she IoIIed back
in the chair beside his desk, and he noticed
how nervous she was. She kept tapping with
small restless fingers the arm Of her
chair, and her face seemed suddenly robbed
Of its fresh ea9erness and masked with
veneer of bored Indifference
"Miss King, is anything the matter?" he
asked kindly. "You seem changed some
how, not so interested in your work.
Gloria raised her eyebrows. "Really?"
she drawled. 'You haven't called me in
here to suggest breaking my contract, have
you?' There faint insoence in her
manner and in the smile she gave him,
conceited self-assuranCe that she had always
despised in Rolf TempletOn. 1t was patiently
insincere, and the pathetic part of it was that
she did not realize it.