Evening star., 1935-12-01

marry Lydia. Then he saw the face he was
looking for, and the blood leaped in his throat
and temples and became small, steady hum
ming in his ears
Ion Varney and her face bright above a coat
of tweed that only man should have worn,
but that she wore with beauty and grace. As
he broke through the crowd toward her, he was
vaguely conscious that the others watched
him with surprise or disapproval on their
faces. They had heard of Ion he recalled, but
never seen her.
Lord, it's good to see you" he said in a
low voice. Her fingers frightened in his own.
You were very grand, she said.
Malcolm, you're coming with us?" His
mother was not questioning him; she was
giving a command. Anger flashed at the edge
of his eyes. The voice excluded Ion. They had
heard of his going with her. but none of them
had taken it seriously.
He was young and flushed with victory and
in love. NO, he said, levelly. But I'll see
you at the house later He paused. II don't
think you've met Ion Varney."
Their Acknowledgements were murmured,
vague and Ions fingers in his own, tense and
hard Anger moved in him again. He turned
to Ion and walked with her out of the colon
made and into the rain. They got into her old,
light car and drove to where the Charles River
cleaned in the rain He stopped the car and
kissed her Her cheeks were wet.
What the matter9"
II don't want to come between you and
your family"
ITO hell with my family"
That's brave" She was calm again But
this is Boston. And what could you do with
out your family2 You're expected to work for
them when you graduate. The Hales always
do. Great merchant princes :. Her voice
trailed off Almost it seemed to mock him.
IN call your bluff, he said. with some
bitterness. II don't need themor theirstores or
banks. | can sign to play pro football to-
morrow The Indians want Harvard man in
their lineup. And can get plenty for the
games still left on the schedule"
She touched his cheeks with her finger
tips to quiet him and shook her head. mo.
You'd lose lot of time at school and per-
haps not graduate in June We can wait until
June and see what happens by then. Besides,
think you might tire of the pro game.
You've been pretty sick of football this season.
And while you play it well, often it, an effort
to do so. Your instincts if you don't mind my
saying so are more toward the building up of
a business It's something the Hales have
done for years"
Maybe you're right" NAL said. We'll
wait until June"
They ate at quiet restaurant, and he took
Ion to her home in Natick before going home
himself He found his father and mother wait
ing for him in the living room of the big house
on Commonwealth Avenue
His mother wasted no words. II suppose"
she said, that you realize how much you en-
barrassed me by not coming here this evening
instead of running off with that girl
I'm sorry if did," said NAL "Unfortu-
nately, you didn't seem to like her. and since
I'm going to marry her, didn't care to bring
her here for you and the rest to look at
through lorgnettes all evening"
Marry her?"
"Yes. You'd best become used to it now"
Very we'll" his father said; then you'd
best become used to this now - to putting
yourself through school for the rest of the year.
And you might also get used to the fact that
the day you marry her, I'll disnherit you"
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