The Indianapolis times. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1922-1965, 1928-06-21
= ", b e a. iirsA \, A9 [ YES

Out in the other room Virginia
herself was disturbed, though she
did not display any outward signs
of being so.
She took seat near the fireplace
in which Chiri had set a few small
pieces of wood blazing for the sake
of cheerfulness.
The night was mild and the wir-
dowS swung open to a. soft breeze.
Virginia could see a patch OF sap
phire sky above the old brick
houses on the opposite side of the
narrow street.
What a lovely night it was!
Strange that your heart could ache
so when there was love in the
world and sky like that to walk
under! Virginia leaned her head
back against the old italian chat
and closed her eyes.
Why was Chiri here? Nathaniel
always had seemed~to treasure this
hour when they could be together.
Never had he been willing to share
it with a third person before.
So thorough had been Chris
domination of the situation that it
did not occur to Virginia to guess
that the girl was intruding. She be-
lieved, without question, that
Nathaniel had asked her here.
And Chris drawing, II suppose
you are having dinner with us,
Smarted not little. Had Nathaniel,
then, not told Chiri he expected
her?
That other remark, about the
bundles, hurt, too. She had under
stood that Nathaniel was not seeing
much of Chiri. The girls remark
gave a distinctly different impress
sion.
But Nathaniel did not come in
laden with bundles at dinner time,
Virginia knew.
He was with her usually at that
hour. Unless, perhaps, Chiri was in
the habit of eating here when Ma
thaniel and Virginia met uptown.
On those occasions Nathaniel might
have brought the food in for her.
Virginia asked herself why he
would not have mentioned it if the
situation stood as she had con-
ceived it.
Yet she was compelled to admit
that Nathaniel might have felt the
same way about it as she did in re-
gard to her relations with Oliver.
She flinched a little as the
thought came to her that Nathaniel
probably belived she would be
jealous.
But why should Chri want to dine
here alone? Surely she was not a
person to find her own company
sufficient.
Virginia concluded that Chiri
must have referred to other hours
of the day. Lunch time perhaps.
It might even be breakfast, con-
Chris complete lack of re-
gard for worldly conventions.
She knew enough about Chiri to
invest her with daring enough to
rush into Nathaniel's studio in any
sort of morning garb-black silk pa
jamas most likely-and order him
out to buy the groceries.
Virginia tried to turn her mind
from the whole thing, feeling
wounded and somehow cheapened
by the presence of this girl who
made herself so much at home in
studio.
The problem Of her future needed
immediate attention and Virginia
sought to occupy her thoughts with
it to the exclusion of everything
else.
She succeeded only in realizing
that the outlook was black indeed
black as the heart of the man
who held her loyalty like a sword
over her head.
She could hear Chiri stirring
round in the tiny kitchen, noisy
cook, humming a naughty little
French chanson.
"She's very much at home" she
thought wistfully. IT suppose Mel
likes to have some one around him
who is happy. I'm not so sure that
a man doesn't prefer a cheerful
companion to loving one"
1t was in her mind that she
would be incapable of singing in his
kitchen. Was Chiri, after all, the
superior person of the two?
"She loves Mel" she thought as
she tried to make comparison of
herself and the model ct know she
dAas Vat rlan cit,nc rylaa,.o r,a,,nt l>o