Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1927-08-23
CHAPTER XXXVIII.
Fear.

Martin finished his dinner. and then
as Nan was about to precede him into
the living room he spoke.
| II am sorry to have to leave you
alone, but it is necessary for me to go
out tonight"
| Relief was the first feeling that
surged over her. 1t meant an eve
ming of freedom. She herself could
do exactly as she liked. In the old
days when she had waited loyalty for
Tom to finish up piece of work she
| had propped herself up with pillows
and either surrounded herself with
! flock of new magazines or buried her.
self in a good book 1t had been such
| fun.
| He would call in.
ION the last lap, darling, but don't
wait If you'd rather not"
Perhaps she would be in the midst
of a thrilling mystery story and would
sing back at him. Take your time,
I'm not a bit sleepy"
Or perhaps she might be starting a
book that dragged. In that case, after
several pages she did grow tired.
1t might be on one of the days when
she had posed. Posing did take it
out of one physically. Usually she had
a hot bath after dinner, filled with
| bath crystals, although it was an eX-
| trayagance.
But she loved the hot, steamy smell
| of them filling the small bathroom,
and afterward the lovely scent of her
| skin.
| Now she could have every such ex-
travagance, but she wasn't happy.
| How strange life was!
But if the first feeling that surged
| of he
was very different. For moment she
waited for Martin to tell her where
he was going, as Tom would have
| done. When Martin made no attempt
to tell her anything she was vaguely
resentfuI.
| After he had departed she carried
this feeling of resentment with her.
She knew that inasmuch as she was
| not his wife, save in what the name
implied, she had no reason to feel as
she did. But in spite of everything
she could do. her thoughts kept re-
turning to the mysterious caller who
had arrived during the dinner hour.
Did Martins hurried departure have
anything to do with that? Somehow
she felt that she a right to know.
And yet when she stopped to apply
reason, she knew quite we'll that she
hadn't right in the world to know
anything Martin didn't wish to tell
her.
BY her own attitude she was in an
equivocal position. She was Martin
Lees wife, she was accepting his
money and support, but she had given
MN nothing. 1t made her cheeks burn
| with shame to even think of it, She
simply couldn't go on with things as
| they werei
She had flung herself, fully clothed,
on the bed. to- wait for her bath to
| run. Muriel was in the bassinet. al.
ready bathed, fed and asleep. The in.
terruption that startled Nan out of her
thoughts regarding herself and -..9rtin
was small one. 1t was a tiny
| sneeze.
Instantly she was on her feet and
nad rushed to the bassinet. The baby
looked all right, but she had sneezed
Ihat wasn't normal in a perfectly
healthy baby. She wondered if Miss
Lambert had gone out.
She had kicked off her slippers, but
now she hastily buckled them on again
ana left the room. Miss Lambert
usually took advantage of the early
evening for her own simple pleasures.
| There was no answer when Nan
Knocked at her door.
Strange how that same feeling of
panic surged up in her. She had felt
it when Tom had developed pneu.
monia. She had remembered after it
was too late that he had sneeZed often,
and when she had remarked upon 1t
he had laughed at her.
| Nothing to worry about, darling
just silly cold"
| But it hadn't been a silly cold. 1t
mad been pneumonia. Suppose MI.
riel-just suppose Muriel-she couldn't
go on thinking Her throat felt dry.
She could hardly swallow.
| Half blindly she made her way
along the hall toward the dining
| room. Hilda and the second maid
were still there, putting away linen
and removing dishes. In place like
this the dining room was a character
less room, and it was always left quite
in order, with the glass-topped table
freshly cleaned and a conventional
| bowl of flowers in the center
In the old days she and Tom had
eaten in the studio. The vaulted top
with its skylight had given an air Of
mystery to the place. This dining
room had the usual conventional ma
| hogany furniture. A table, q huge
sideboard. also glass topped, serving
| table and the required number Of
chairs. Everything was quite correct.
quite perfect and in good taste. But
she missed those dinners in the studio.
| She and Tom would jump up at the
same time to remove a course, and
| there wouldn't be room for the two
of them in the small kitchenette. She
would kiss him and order him out,
| whereupon he would refuse to go and
would seize her in his arms.
There would be an interlude--a
inter1yeda II WAS aaSv IN