Evening star., 1926-05-30
OOKING across the table at his
wife Vincent Hall decided that

she was most lovely, after all,
IL in this somber mood. Her face
was too young to show an un-
pleasant line. Her eyes were larger and
darker and deeper now than when
she laughed When she held her
head high this way the curve of her
neck where it met her smooth. white
shoulders was more free and soft
than ever.
He was able to appreciate Kath-
crimes freshness, for he was eleven
wears older than she. He was able
to appreciate her grace and the fine
ness of her features, for he was lean
and angular and his face was too long
for itself and the hair on his head
was thin and getting gray. He had.
in fact, never been able to understand
how she had brought herself to marry
him in the first place. She remained
a. miracle to him-a woman quite
beyond hoping for, fascinating in the
most commonplace action. Every day
he discovered her afresh. Yet they
had been married four years-since
the day before her twenty.first birth
day. They had always been friends,
companions. Their tastes were the
same; they had wanted the same
things and enjoyed them together.
Their very emotions were so nearly
identical that they had been able a
hundred times to communicate mex
pressible things merely by touching
one another's finger tips. Each had
supplemented the other, had made
the others life more pleasant by un-
counted little services that were the
expression of perfect devotion.
They had been SO openly in love
that they were the talk of their par
ticular stratum of the town. People
marveled at such a married couple.
People wondered what they did when
their nerves were ragged. Some
smiled crooked smiles at the corners
of their moUhs and hinted that the
whole affair vas too good to be true,
that 1t would ell come out sooner or
later, and that it would make pretty
reading in the newspapers when it
did. But even that talk, which had
sprung up during the third year of
their marriage, had been refuted and
hushed to an intermittent whisper by
the peculiarly confidential way kath-
crime and Vincent had of looking into
each others eyes. Their friends had
come to accept them as a phenomenon
beyond understanding and were will.
ing to let 1t go at that.
Katherine patted her folded napkin
and nodded across at Vincent, raised
her eyebrows a tiny fraction of an
inch in interrogation. He pushed his
chair from the table and rose, busting
possible crumbs from his trousers.
They went up to the library.
Vincent was satisfied with silence.
Dinner had been good and the cigar
smoke was pleasant He crossed his
legs and looked at the bookshelves,
wondering whether this would not be
a good night to make a fresh start
on the Outline of History" He had
hAa1 n OF hot IN,
He must not let his mind stagnate.
A maid entered noiselessly with
the coffee. He watched Katherine
help herself, admired the slender
symmetry of her hands as she took
sugar. the flicker Of her eyelashes as
she said something inaudible to the
maid. He took his own cup, uncross-
ed his legs. leaned forward and
stirred the coffee gently, studying
Tie took a drop Of the hot coffee be-
tween his lips and found it's un.
sugared bitterness refreshing. He
glanced at Katherine and found her
intent on her cup, her eyes narrow,
the corners Of her mouth drawn slight
ly down.
s'Clothes?"
The center of her. mouth went up a
little. Something not unlike wrinkle
appeared above and between her eye
brows. Other things, harder to define,
happened to her face, and her look of
seriousness became unhappy. She did
not look at him.
katherine" he said, as though he
thought she had not heard. The look
on her face intensified itself. He
placed his coffee cup on the little table
beside his chair.
you have been extravagant." he
said. you've spent a smar fortune
on something and you're getting ready
to show me the bill" But he didn't
believe what he was saying. She
shifted her glance from her cup to her
knee. Still she said nothing.
Vincent pulled himself out of the
soft chair, took two long steps to the
sofa, seated himself on the edge of
it at her side. He could see that her
hands were trembling. He leaned to.
ward her and spoke in slow, gentle
voice.
was not.
NO" she said, still staring at her
knee. II am quite WELL" Vincent
felt a shiver wriggle down his spine.
me! What is it?"
He put his arm around her shout.
ders, but her body grew rigid under
his fingers and she pulled away. He
let her go. He spoke as one speaks
to a child:
please. dear. You see 1 can't help
tell me!''
She answered in a strange, taut
voice, Yes l must tell you.
|. =" Again he tried to take her
pulling away. For no reason his mind
noted details about her hair-just how
1t glistened, in waves
Whatever 1t is - he said
"You must tell me. You know you
can tell me everything"
She took one of her hands from him
and produced tiny lace handkerchief.
quite inadequate. She turned her
body away.
''Vin-you remember - Her
voice stopped.
''Yes. darling" he encouraged.
There was a silence. Then:
You remember we agreed--a long
time ago-before We were married
when we first talked about being mar
ried-" She stopped. She need not
have gone on. He felt his muscles
tighten at his foreknowledge. She
went on: You remember
we agreed that If ever one of u.s.
she sounded as though she were read
ing words she could not understand
'ff ever one Of us should stop-stop-
II ever one of us should feel"
He did not know why he had let her
stumble on so long. Now, at last, he
broke in and spared her the rest Of it.
He picked his words carefully.
''You have found you do not love
me?n he WHISPERED. He saw the back