The Washington times., 1931-03-06

fast Then she let him have
It her own Mary Lou-ish con-
Victions, her complete and truth,
full opinion of the boy and glrI
love affair. She spoke in the
person of Delight Hartford, but
whether the real Delight would
have harbored such opinions
Mary Lou neither knew nor
cared.
Look here, Lorry," she said
evenly, "we'u have this OUT.
here and now. How old were
Won when we met? How old
was I? A couple Of crazy kids,
thrown out Of our normal
stride by war, beglamoured and
bewildered. You were in a dan
gerous service, you'd had
months Of it, your number
might be up at any time. IL
lived in an atmosphere Of war
mad desperation, frivolity, deS-
pair, sorrow, hectic gayety,
alternating, like moods. An cpl
demic, an air raid and my num-
,ber might be up, too. Anyone
was, bound to fall in love, al
most everyone did. You'd have
fallen for the first pretty girl
you saw, after your weeks at the
front. and I with the first pre-
sentable man. And we were fun
of q lot Of romantic ideas about
snatching at happiness, because
the next day might be our
last" She paused for breath
and to her astonishment, Lori
mer nodded.
Eyes, you said just that" he
told her. low, II haven't forgot
ten, Delight"
'"That's how we all felt. It
was-madness, it was like a
curious nightmare, it wasn't
real. Suppose you had found
me, right after the war ended?
You-you could easily have
been disappointed, you could
have easily fallen out Of love.
I, too! But because you didn't
find me, because I was appar-
emily lost to you, you built up
all sorts of dreams and images
about me. I'm not those dreams
:. I am not those images. I am
myself! Not the same girl you
knew 10 long years ago. If I
remembered you, and I did, Of
course, it was with the same
dreamlike quality in remember
ing. How long did we know each
other. two weeks, three weeks?
Was that sufficient time upon
which to base, or risk, the hap
piness of two hves?"
She Did Try
"You couldn't have thought
so. you didn't try very hard"
he began, stubbornly. But, she
saw, his color was beginning to
return.
ITO find you? I did try. I
had my own life to live, Lorry,
my own struggle to make. I
thought you dead. I remem-
bered you as dead. But I
went on living. We have to go
on living. Then-c h ance
brought me here. But you have
no right to Lame your condi-
ton on me. All very well to
faIl in love with a girl in a few
days time and make a fetish
Of her memory, but there's
more in life than that"
"Than-fidelity?" he wanted
to know.
"Was it fidelity to me as you
remembered me, or sort OF
4idelity of your vanity?" she
flung at him. "You have made
yourself into legend Of faith
fulness the few people who
know, speak about you in awed
tones-your mother, a vital,
glowing, wonderful woman with
years of happiness before her,
has sacrificed herself to that
fidelity of yours. Suppose -
suppose you had never gone
back to the front that time,
suppose the war had ended,
Tnen ana GneTe! HOW happy
would we have been, I wonder?"
"You can't ignore the fact
that we are married"
y She had a wild impulse to
cry . . Are we? Did you marry
her? Or is that part of your
i,dream? Think! Try to remem-
her! But she did not. She re-
;iplied, merely:
i st do ignore it. I must. 1t
As the only way to see light in
this situation. I have your
word. Your promise"
,"I shall keep it," he said,
N.eavily. 1.-THE day you come
to me and tell me I admit your
claim'-will be the first day I'll
remind you of it. And if that
day never comes, well, you can
90 free. We've can get an
annulment. But whether am
q fool or not, to be faithful, l.
I love you. Delight" said Lor-
Tfmer.