The Bismarck tribune. [volume] (Bismarck, N.D.) 1916-current, 1934-10-18
C1lRaL IN THE FAMILY \

taking long steps and coming down
hard on his heels, important - only
. small self-important man knows
how to be.
After . moment Susan could hear
the sound Of his deep rumbling
voice. He seemed to be reading
something aloud to Aunt Edna who
had been sitting beside the parlor
fire al day making Christmas pres
ents. Aunt Edna had grown too
stout to enjoy getting out Of tho
house, and she spent most Of her
time in the parlor-like the Old
Man Of Cape Horn, Susan often
thought, who "sat on . chair till he
died Of despair"
Her own room was upstairs ct tho
back Of the house, and it was not Of
all the kind Of room that she would
have made Of it II she had had tho
furnishing Of it. The bed, the
dressing table, the writing desk and
chairs were al Of the style Of 1880.
Large ungainly pieces Of solid ma
hogany with too much carving on
them. On the floor was worn Au-
busson rug, Ill scrolls and faded
roses, and there were brownish-gold
roses on the wall paper.
It was only in the curtains Of
white dotted muslin, hemmed byI
hand, and in the soft blue liner
cushions on the window seat, the
Susan had been able to express he
own taste for things that were SIM
pie and fresh and dainty. Without
realizing it, Susan loved the room
and always came into it with . feel
ing Of relief and escape. She knew
merely that it was the best place IN
the house for sewing and reading
and for Just being alone and quiet.
On the writing desk stood . small
framed photograph Of Wallace and
Is Susan began to dress for her eve
ming with him, she paused two or
three times to look 1t it. In the
picture he was much better looking
than he was in life, for he had been
photographed from the side and the
side view Of his face was exception.
ally good.
Everything about him seemed to
be good, she reflected, getting into
her favorite dress-an old blue han-
mel that had been washed 90 many
times that it had taken on the soft
ness Of . pastel. :. :. Good face.
Good character. Good position at
the bank. Good family. Good dis
position.
And yet there had been . few
fleeting moments during the past
year and . half when she was not
1t all certain that she would marry
Wallace if he asked her to. Some.
times she had wished that he would
not try to hold her hand q they sat
in the moving picture theater.
Sometimes, on . Tuesday or Fri.
day or Sunday night, she had
wished he would telephone to say
that he couldn't come to see her.
Her feeling Of warm friendship
and affection for him was utterly
different. somehow. from what she
had been led to expect in ! love
affair. Like most girls, she had
picked up . good part Of her knowl.
edge Of love from the books that
she read, and she was very sure
that she felt for Wallace none Of
the desperate passion that Jane
Eyre had felt for Mr.. Rochester or
that Ann Veronica had for Capes
when she ran away to Switzerland
with him.
oh, we'll, it was all settled now,
and she was engaged to him. And
on Susan's face, % she sat down
before her dressing table to spray
violet toilet water behind her ears,
was the clear calm look Of . person
whose future is assured.
She thought suddenly with re-
lief Of escaping from the old house
and getting into new house Of her
own. A house that would be Ill
Powered cushions and plain thick
carpets, long low chairs and Chinas~
emtroide.ies. There would b -
family portraits on the walls, no
overstuffed furniture and cutglass
lamps, no clocks like the white
marble clock downstairs that a.
ways reminded her Of the Brod-
ericks' family vault in Woodland
Cemetery. She would have moth.
ing that resembled in the least the
ornate old-fashioned things that
she busted every morning Of her
life and that she had come to de.
test with all her soul.
! Ito Be Continued)
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