New Britain herald., 1928-06-30
Mhen ! \. ] <. !!.!! .!A!GjG1!a Gj1a h9zss !E!e !!gs'

sharply. You '. insist upon il ?"
 she cried.
 Dean misunderstood her. She re- | ferred to the need of discussing
 their plans.
 You're not thinking of welch- 1 ing, are you?" he demanded. Virginia stiffenai. Please take me back to my hotel, if that is all
 you have to sax to me. You may 1 make whatever plans you choose
 but don't forget that l have nearly two months yet in which to get you your pound of flesh.' Dean laughed scornfully. still chasing rainboWs? Well, dear girl, let me see your lH.nd. want to order your wedding ring For many nights after that drive Virginia dreamed of huge wed- ding ring that slipped over her head and shoulders and contracted | inch by inch until she was slowly crushed. She would wake. gasping for breath. with beads of perspira- ton upon her forehead, and trem- bling until her teeth chattered. It was hideous dream. And the days were only waking night | mares. Nathaniel did not come near her. She lived in a terrified
 loneliness. broken only by the oc-
 casional compalaonship of Miss
 Evans. who saw that something
 was very much the matter with her.
 Virginia never gave her a chance to offer sympathy and not often would she accept her invitation to ! have lunch or dipner together. The days would have seemed in- tefminable to her had it not been for the abyss that yawned such a short distance ahead.
 At night. listening to her clock tick through the darkness, she
 would be seized with frantic de-
 sire to spring upon stop it. But she knew if she did her mind would
 be shattered. Dry sobs welled chokingly into her throat and she would pull the covers over her head to shut out the sound. And time nftrched on. bringing sorry mockery. Two weeks be- fore the last day of grace Virginia received notice from Mir. Gardiner that her fathers estate had been
 finally settled and that there was N2.0o0 to her credit in the bank. It meant nothing to Virginia (now. Except that she redeemed
 the things she had pawned with Uncle Simon.'
 She might have retrieved these things before but she wanted to
 keep available all her funds. Twelve thousand dollars year ago might have saved her. She did
 not know how, but 1t might have. As the last two weeks faded, Vir-
 ginia's longing to see Nathaniel grew beyond her control. She | wrote him note, asking him to call at her hotel the following eye- i ming. He did not answer. But she was ready and waiting before eight o'clock She had put on her prettiest frock, a blue-gray taffeta. with a cream lace bertha. Around her neck she wore a choker | of amethysts.
 Nathaniel would appreciate the
 delicate harmony of color. She
 wished to delight him, to leave a charming memory picture. Very carefully she applied a
 makeup to hide her paleness. There was no need to do anything
 to her eyes--they sparkled with
 unnatural brightness.
 At eight thirty she applied a sec- | ond touch of lipstick. At nine she
 repeated the process and at ten she removed her pretty dress. the amethysts and the lipstick. Much later she slept little. still
 huddled brokenly in the shabby
 armchair. And about the same
 time one who had kept vigil
 across the street turned wearily | back to his cheerless studio. | There was dullness in Virgin
 ia's suffering after that. As though 1 IL ulu ilol IidllSl Co liluIli lidt llCi l gallant youth was demanded as a
 sacrifice to old desiNs. The morning of the day before
 the last brought Virginia a brief
 note Hom Frederick Dean. It in- l formed her that he was prepared
 to receive her at his home any
 time the following day. but if she
 chose to put off coming until the
 last minute of her year he would
 still be waiting to welcome her at
 midnight.
 Virginia read it, dry-eycd and
 stonily calm. Then she sat down
 to write to Nathaniel.
 l She had decided 10 tell him that
 she was going to marry Dean. II seemed. somehow, less cruel than
 letting him learn of the event in- | directly.
 The temptation 10 tell him the
 whole story came 10 her as she
 wrote his name, but she put it
 aside.
 Let him continue 10 believe that she preferred the love of riches
 10 the love of q man. II would
 hurt him less than the truth, she thought
 With the letter finished and put asie for mailing after her mar