The Indianapolis times. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1922-1965, 1931-10-14

Ollt SdW Ills QdIk iledQ bilItdOlAlB It's
way among the throng, saw Cor
neliai leave the man she was talk
ing to and move off with him, look
ing terribly pleased. Swift, unrea-
soning jealousy smote her; need he
have taken her quite so literally at
her word?
She mustn't stand here, being
jealous where everybody could see
her. What was it she had come
over here for? Then she remem-
bered. Putting those two out of her
mind, she went toward the tele-
! phone, a strange uneasiness clutch
ing at her heart.
MARY turned away from the
lVl telephone with deep mis-
givings The few frightened, jerky
sentences her brother had gasped
out filed her with alarm that grew
deeper the more she thought
about it.
Something must be very wrong
indeed to have upset her brothers
cool f-possession in any such
manner. If there was anything
Mr.. Edward Hardness Jr. had
prided himself on since his prep
school days, it was his nonchalance.
"A man of the world"-that was
Eddie, always. What could have
agitated him so?
Mary sat still for moment, try
| ing to think what he trouble might
/ be. All that betting on horse races
it was gambling, of course, and
against the law. Eddie had had
one or two skirmishes with the
/ police before for the unconventional
manner in which he drove his road
/ Ster.
1t might be that-he might have
struck somebody, and be running
away. The police might be after
him. The very thought left her
sick with shame and fright. Or he
might need money. She tried to
think how much she had.
I'll be there in ten minutes. Tell
the doorman I'm coming, and to let
me in" Well, what could she do?
She had told him to come ahead,
but to come round to the side door;
she would leave word that he was
to be admitted. He could go right
up to her room, and she would go
later and see what was up.
That she had done wrong in per-
mitting him to come here, to seek
sanctuary in the Jupiters' house,
without asking their consent, did
not occur to her at the moment. It
was only afterward, as she sat
thinking it over, that she thought
about that. But where else could
Eddie go if he were in trouble? They
had no home, the two of them; she
lelt the shame of that.
She got up and went back to the
ballroom. She must find Mrs. Jupi-
ter or her husband right away and
tell them what she had done. She
did not really believe that either Of
them would mind.
Afterward, there seemed to be no
reason for what she did during the
next few minuteS-Or for what she
failed to do. Even to herself, wild
with regret and self accusation, it
seemed as if she might have told
Somebody-found someone to share
with her the awful responsibility for
what came after. But at the time
her reasons seemed excellent. What
she did seemed the only thing to do.
The floor had cleared during an
interval in the dancing and across
the room she caught sight of Mrs.
Jupiter, magnificent in gold lace
and far too many jewels, seated on
a divan, watching the dancing with
a listless eye.
At her side, Mary noticed just in
time to check her forward progress,
was Dirk's mother, a pale woman
in gray chiffon who seemed to be
thinking Rather nice party-but
horribly overdone!"
1t would have been easy to go at
once to Mrs. Jupiter and tell her
her troubles. if it had not been for
Mrs. Ruyther. She was, Mary had
to admit to herself, congenial
snob, and a priggish one.
With Dirk for a son, she never
would be able to understand Eddies
peccadilos, or condone them. And
Mary felt miserably that she had
little enough to bring to her union
with the impeccable Ruyther family
Just herself and name that never
had been brought to shame. If that
scant dowry was in danger, Mrs.
Ruyther must not know.
MRS. JUPITER did not look any
Nl too happy; she looked
tired and uncomfortable. The strain
of being nice to Mrs. Ruyther was
telling on her naturally jolly dis
position.
From the grimaces she made
from time to time, Mary judged
with amusement that her shoes
hurt, into the bargain.
No, she would not add her own
trouble to those from which that
poor woman was already suffering.
Mr.. Jupiter would be somewhere
about-he would be better able to
tell her what to do than his wife
would. Mr.. Jupiter absented him
self from the social scene as much
as possible: she knew she would
find him outside somewhere, roam
ing around the grounds, smoking,
listening to the music as it filtered
out to him, mercifully mellowed by
distance. She would go out by way
of the terrace, and look all round
the house.
AS she moved cautiously along