The Washington times., 1931-03-13
CHAPTER 25

Mary Lou was permitting her
self to drift. For one entirely
dreadful moment, that winters
afternoon in the library when
she and Lorrimer had come in
from skating and looked at the
books together-and at each
other-she had been Sicken-
ingly afraid that he had guessed
the stark, wonderful and yet
terrible fact which she had
tried so hard to conceal. But
he had made no gesture and
said no word, and she had be-
gun to believe that the recognl-
ton which she had fancied she
saw in his eyes had been a fig
ment of her over-stimulated
imagination. If anything, things
had been easier for her since
then. Lorrimer had seemed
light-hearted, interested in mat
ters other than herself, in NC
Evan, in his own now rigorous
routine. in the complicated run
ming of a big place like West
wood, and was talking quite Sc
riously of going to work, of tax
ing his place in the office in
New York which ran his fathers
estate, a complete business OF
renting, leasing and investing
in itself. He had talked it
over with Doctor Mathews and
Mathews had agreed, with one
reservation.
Fine. The very best thing
you can do" he had said. But
give yourself until the autumn.
You are in perfectly good
health. as far as I can judge,
but I don't want you TO plunge
into office work, with all its
confining conditions, "ush, and
general expenditure of energy,
too soon. Give your nerves a
chance to get padding OF
sound, firm flesh; get a few
more solid pounds on those big
bones of yours. Get lots of,
sleep and exercise, and by fall
we'll have you fit to lick Demp-
sey in his prime. And then
I'll wash my hands of you
medically and discharge you as
q patient. hope. for good"
Glad of 1t ALI
Lorrimer had consented. He
was. in point of fact, secretly
anxious to be with Mary Lou as
much as possible. for a little
while longer, feeling, as he did.
that the resistance he laid to
pride would wear down and
that by the time autumn came
all misunderstanding and with
holdings would have vanished
between them and she would
come to keep her promise to
him. And then" thought Lor-
rimer, exultant. I'll have every
thing-everything!"
If these dreams of his came
true he was perfectly right.
Health and work. home and
friends, wife and love; no man
can have more. and many have
q good deal less.
The Lorrimer party returned
to WestWood House presently
and Lorrimer, with his increased
interest in life in general and
business in particular, began to
confer with his mother over the
routine of the place, and to see
occasionally, both in town and
at home, the manager of the
Lorrimer estate. John Kent.
He and Mary Lou read evenings,
listened to the radio-which
had never, until recently, af-
forded him anything but exaS-
peration-and now and then to
town for a matinee or an eve
ming play. He was an absolutely
different man from the man
who had come into the morn
ing room, that day in early No
vember.
In sense, Mary Lou couldn't
understand it; the change was
so great and the time had been
so short.
Not Really Ill
She spoke to Mathews about
1t and he laughed at her, in his
friendly fashion.
But he wasn't i'll, not really"
said Mathews. His conStitu-
ton was perfectly sound. He
needed merely-an interest in
life. That. you have given him.
my dear. And the rest followed
naturally, the building up of a
run down physique and the
healing of sick nerves. He could
have gone on in that other half
invalid state indefinitely: we
could do nothing: he had to be
taken out of himself, volun-
tarily. He needed the will to
live, the will to be we'll. He'll
not backslide now, I think; but
we have to watch out. a little.
These old fits of depression,
have you noticed that they
have bothered him at all?"