Brownsville herald. [volume] (Brownsville, Tex.) 1910-current, 1928-10-03
CHAPTER XVII

The thing had certainly been "A
shock. IN spite of the commonplace
ending. and along with the sense of
relief which she experienced came
a feeling Of disappointment quite
natural III the circumstances.
The thirg puzzled her. disaprcint-
ed her. Was he. then. too selfIh -
marry. too cautious 10 reveal his
actual feelings toward her? Such
r~rfect self-control. admirable a. it
might be. was not her idea OF pas
s~ionate love. Jane would certainly
not have been glad. had he insisted
upon batterinE down the door in or
der to possess her. but ID would have
been more Of A compliment to her
charms than his cool. almost broth
erly good night. The truth Of the
matter was that Jane had expected
fireworks NJ Some sort. and there
had not been 10 much a. the tiniest
pinwhcel. She burst out laughing.
The joke was certainly on her.
And vet, mr. might well have come
IN, when she told him ~ come. have
set On the side WI her bed. talked
to her-even taken her IN Nil arms
and kissed her. asked her "a marry
him. Frankly. il was what She had
hoped. lonEed for.
Caring for Tony ~ she did. she
had wanted his arms about her, had
experienced. in a riot Of magma
tion. the sweet pressure Of his kiss
G., the warmth ar his presence. %
near To her. And there had been
nothing. Was il because he was IN
his thirties. instead Of his twcnties.
like herself Had age made him
cautious. dulled his ardor? She had
often feared that gulf Of years be-
tween them. Or had he been afraid
~ open the door. not daring 10 trust
himself. once they were together?
az all these iumbled thoughts
crowded through her brain she was
conscious Of one certainty-Tony
had not asked her To the bungalow,
offered her the lead in his new pic
ture. because OF any Interior mo-
tive; Ne might not care for her. Al
she had hoped. but Ia had no de-
signs on her virtue-the events of
the night had made that clear
enough. Far back IN her brain rose
4 primitive emotion: she found her
self %resenting that fact that he had
not.
Jane. like other women. desired 10
be desired; pursuit BY a man Is al
ways a tribute. even thou~h ID end
in failure. Few women III the world
have %outErown the primal instinct
which causes them u thrill a. the
a~~roach III the amorous male. II
affords them no pleasure "a have
him turn his back. no matter how
noble his reasons may be. Who.
after all. ever heard Of a moral Pan d?
IL was hours before Jane finally
drifted off To sleep.
Brilliant sunlight, striking through
the curtained windows Of her room.
woke her early. She glanced AZ her
watch. found that II was only seven
o'clock. Rather sleepily she leaned
to the window and drawing aside the
curtains. looked out. The waters
OF the bay were turquoise and pearl
in the early sunlight. Tony was al
ready M; she saw him. in his bath
ing suit. just diving off the pier
for his morning swim.
She bathed and dressed quickly
and went into the living room. sup
posing that Tony would join her at
once; he must, however. have
thought her still sleeping, for she
could see his dark head DobbinE
through the waves a quarter or a
mile from shore. As she turned
from the window a picture magazine.
lying among a mass Of papers on
the table. attracted her attention
and she took il UP TO examine the
woman's head which decorated the
cover. Beneath ii. To her surprise.
lay a large photograph OF Irene
Shirley. 1t was not, however. the
picture itself which sur--ised her.
but the inscription across the bot
tom Of il. in a bold. irregular hand
writing: ITO my dear. unreasonable
old hubby-lrene Hull"
Stupefied. Jane stared ut the
words. Her world had in an instant
crashed in fragments in the ground.
Amazed. Mortified. she replaced the
picture on the table. covered IL with
the magazine. Irene. Tony's wifeI
II seemed unbelievable, let the evil
derce lay before her, proof strong
as Holy Writ. From the very first.
she remembered, it had been clear