The Waterbury Democrat., 1934-03-09
SYNOPSIS

After Gypsy's son is born her 01y1 become a dreaRy round of caring for him and for her home. She suspects Tom is interested fin VERA CRAY who works in the same office.
 LiIB diyorces Derek. Vera finds exeuscs to sec Tom often and one night after tricking him into talk ing her home, suggests they run away together. Tom leaves hast ily.
 Derek, learning Lila divorced him to marry MARKO BROUGH TON. richer and older, comes uhinvited to . dinner party given bx LAla. Gypsy Is there and also HUNT GIBSON. Derek, who has been drinking. falls from a bal- coTly to tbe street.
 CHAPTER XII
 The summer night was deadly still. Heat lightning flashed some- where, far off to the north, and in- doors the clink of crystal could faintly be heard, mingled with the i sound of light, careless voices. Gypsy stood alone on the parapet, her apricot gown floating around her. her face ashen in the dimness. "Derek," she whispered faintly. ''Derek!" She felt a gnawing nau- sea at the pit of her stomach. She was desperately afraid she was go- ing to faint. And she continued to < stand, as if rooted to the spot, fro- zen into a dreadful immobility.
 Perhaps not 30 seconds had passed, although to her these sec onds ticked past like hours, before Hunts tall form was silhouetted fve n~t able voice said carelessly, How're tricks, you two!"
 "You two!" With the words Gypsy's immobility cracked and she rushed toward him as to a sa- vior, hysteria in her voice.
 'Hunt-Hunt, he's gone"
 "Bliss? Why, he ." Hunt looked around quickly. "My God, you mean he's ." He could not go on. He went to the rail. looked ! over. Gypsy flung her hands over her eyes.
 "Come alongw He had her hand in his and they were in the candle lighted room again and he was speaking briefly. quietly. An acci- dent, he said. If someone would Lila had risen. Her face was chalk white above the black sha- dow of her gown. Marko's pearls lay on her throat.
 T was afraid of this =" she { said in monotone. T was afraid a ."
 Chairs were pushed back, voices gabbled. Gypsy noticed duly that someone, had overturned a glass of wine and that the stain was spread ing over the lace of the runners.
 Someone said, "Give her a drink. somebody. She needs it :" Then she saw Davies holding a bottle of smelling salts to Lila's nostrils. One of the pretty young women Tainted dead away and had to be carried out.
 "Its got to be kept out of the papers," Lila was saying over and ov0r. with deadly precision. As if thought Gypsy with scorn. as if that nattered now! Everyone would know what had happened. Marko went out with the other { men; all the women were left < alone. It was horrible. No one knew what to say or to do. Derek Gypsy simply could not let her. self believe this had happened to Derel, with his strong, supple body and his crooked, faun-like smile. < Why, less than two years ago he and Lila had made all sorts of pre- posterous VOWS to each other; to love, to cherish, to honor. What did it all mean? Was fidelity. after all, such an unimportant thing as peo- pie seemed to think nowadays? And had Derek perished because he had believed in 1t?
 
 changed they all turned their eyes fearfully in its direction. The sultry tension grew and deepened. "Im afraid I'm going to scream the girl in the ice-blue confided to Gypsy. Somebody give me ciga- ret, for heavens sake"
 "Ghastly affair. simply ghastly,"' whispered another. She looked absolutely shattered. but she kept renewing her complexion with fin- gers that shook little.
 "Why doesn't somebody do some thing?" Lila interrupted fretfully. "Where's Marko. Why did Marko have to run off and leave like that Where is everybody"
 At length there were steps in the hall and the women looked gratefully, hopefully at Hunt as he came in. Gypsy felt she had never liked him better than she did at that moment. He seemed a very tower of strength.
 He came toward them swiftly and said something in a low tone to Lila. She uttered one faint shriek and buried her face in her .wadded handkerchief. Davies led her from the room.
 Hunt faced the others. "He hit the parapet three stories below, he told them gravely. He's alive-but they think his back is brokent
 If there is anything more irritat- ing than mans discovery. or avoiding the very jaws of tempta- tion and rushing home to his wife that the latter is nowhere to be found. I cannot think of it at tho moment. Tom Weaver felt decid edly silly, distinctly priggish ant | finally, bitterly angry. Gypsy hat said she would be home early; sh' had seemed genuinely to mean it Here it was past midnight and sh' had not appeared.
 Tom didn't like it. He pridet himself on his modern attitude especially toward his wife. She wa. a free agent, wasn't she? The day of the possessive husband wer' gone forever-and yet-and yet
 The telephone rang and he an swered it in a cold, dispassionat voice. It was Gypsy and she wa excited. Her voice sounded a though she had been crying. Thi made Tom argrier than ever. Fin goings on, His wife off-heavel knew where with another man upset by something. He couldn' hear half she said but he gathere' she was on her way home. H scarcely answered her. The coldly bitterly stubborn mood which wis ited him infrequently was shuttin down upon him. He could no noth ing to conquer 1t.
 He stalked into the bedroom stared down at the sleeping baby But the utter dependence and aba don of the curled small figure di not serve to dispel his gloomy tenn per Although he knew 1t was no