Evening star., 1932-02-11
Spite Wife As. % S~ rs,.,,.;

it's embarrassing tom say this
Stan better not be seen too much
with Eunice. I noticed Fred Wilson.
glowering at you that last time We
we're there" >
Stan turning. scowling dark color in
his face. Lord, there you go again!,
Couldn't resist that dig"
Judy did not lose her temper. She,
turned q page of the newspaper she;
was reading-this scene took place IN
the bressfast room one early Spring
morning-and her tone was cool, even
little amused. Not digging, dare
ling! But-listen to the gypsy's warm
ing. Beware Of dark man He.
bodies no good for you! If you could
see Fred Wilson watching you when,
you dance with Eunice! After all, YOU
must remember he is years older than
she and you're not exactly hard to look
at, my husband"
Stan stared uncertainty at her. more,
than q little at q loss as to how to take
this new Judy. But Judy continued
reading calmly without lifting her head,
She had an excellent excuse for re-.
fusing invitations. Every month found.
her firing more easily. A little clum-
sier. Secretly frightened at the ordeal
which steadily approached. 4"
toinette Wentworth had tapered to q,
pleasant acquaintanceship. Tony was
still the debutante with nothing more
weighty on her mind than Junior
League dance. Judy was more than a
bride now-she was a wife-and about,
to become mother.
But her friendship with Mary Lock-
erbee had become a warm and lovely.
thing. Mary was like trusted older.
sister to the lonely girl-the only one.
aside from Nine. Carter-in whom
Judy could confide. Long talks they
had. sitting before the fire in Mary's
private sitting room. Or. as the weather,
grew milder. sitting in the old-fash-
antly warm on their bare heads and
the fragrance of mignonette and mar.
ctssuS rose about them.
She's a darling!" Mary said fer
vently to her husband one night as
they prepared for bed. And to think
once thought she was dumb! She's
lovely mind as delicate as-as
that china lily over there. And to
think she's married to that half-baked
collegiate!' Mary's opinion of Stan
was as uniatteringly candid as Stan >
of Mary. And that isn't the worst CT
tt" she went on darkly. This
thing is drifting toward a tragedy, and
I don't like it" /.
But when Girls Lockerbee. his atten-
ton seriously caught for the first time
that evening, pressed her for her
meaning, she only looked cryptic and
refused to answer.
The months going by. bringing q
strange new experience through which
Judy must wander-alone. She felt
I III hi oil fr-I1n ha
undergone a similar experience. A
sweet deep sympathy-a deep lake of
sympathy on which lay thin glaze
of fear. All women felt like this at
such time, she supposed. And UNDER
meath, hiding it bravely because moth.
ing could be done about it-all women
feared.
Each day-closing her into a silence
of waiting. Only two people seemed
real. Old Nine. Carter in her third
floor kingdom. And Mary Lockerbee:
They belonged in this charmed circle
| where she sat waiting -.
The others might have been so many
shadows which didn't matter Mrs.
Carter fluttering telling her things
which she thought Judy should know
rambling disconnected conversations
which bored the girl nearly to tears.
Vera, talking with a brisk hard bright
ness which hid an avid curiosity which
repelled Judy. Vera's talk made her
think of a biology class dissecting a
bug. Judy much preferred Amy's
bored aloofness
Stan made a point Of coming to see
her each day and making determined
conversation, mostly about golf scores.
After Is minutes of this he would es-
cape with obvious relief. Stan was
I for
engaging boyishness had worn of his
good looks. When his eyes met his
wife's now, they held a defiant gaze
as though he willed them to remain
steady.
Judy had not seen Nick since the
New Year eve party. The sound of a
motors thrum the news of some
plane accident or the newspaper men
ton Of an air endurance flight would
flash him back to her mind-Nick,
steady gray eyes in his dark face &.
Nick-flying away-high above. like a
dragonf1y in the sun. Free and strong;
learned that he had made two rush
trips to see his grandmother and her
heart was sore that he had come and
gone like that. without seeing her.
Warm February melting into a
March of strong winds and racing
white clouds April great rows of
long-stemmed yellow tulips making a
gold spot in the garden. Gladioli
standing in tall rows-yellow and coral
and salmon pink. as though a flock OF
butterflies had lit on their stems.
Sitting in the garden, feeling the sun
warm on her body. feeling the fecundity
Of the warm brown ground, Judy knew a
throb of rebellion. People should have
kinship with the ground. Birth
should be like this-easy, lovely like the
fragrant rows of stocks pushing up out
of the earth. Easy and gracious, like
that glorious yellow rose opening its
heart to the May sun.
She hoped it would be on day like
this, when the sun was golden and the
garden full Of fragrance and the sound
of bees.
But it was on night Of sudden and
inexplicable wind. A night when doors
slammed, and window shades ratified.
and the petals were torn from the yell
low rose in golden shower.
A wind piercing with sudden
terror to her brain. Chilling her with
strange new pain.
Pain. Waves of pain. A sea Of pain
tossing her fran helpless body from
one crest Of agony to another. Deep
dark troughs of inconsistencies. Ris-
ing-being rushed up to a sense of
dizzy terror
Voices. Coming from very far away
where light burned A shaded light.
A deep voice she can't stand
more pain Chloroform. nurse
|. A thin feverish voice, amusingly
like her own "Oh, dear =
said the voice, "Oh. dear-Oh, dear"
Something stopped 1t. Something
like dark thick cloud, smothered that
plaintivc voice.
The waves closed over her-and this
time there was no Nick to pull her out
(Tomorrow-Birth).
| BRAVADO BETRAYS MAN