Evening star., 1936-07-14
CHAPTER XIV.

you we're looking in on me. old man.!
and Virginia, sliding off the edge OF
the bed and throwing her cigarette
out of the partly opened Wlndo",
added. Indeed, I think you're right,
Ted!'
Lee smiled at them, hiding his
embarrassment. Then his face So
bered, and he wanted to know II
they had heard from Patsy. When
they told him they had not, ne
said: I'm really worried. nao
hardly expected to hear from her
myself, but it seems that you folks
should have had word or two, or
at least Admiral Warf1eld."
Ted said: "Aw, Patsys o. x
And then. trying hard to keep his
voice natural, Il sure get pretty SICK
of this darned room. think Ia
he willing to do a stretch in the
brig lust to break up the monotony.
Virginia dominated the scene now.
A new attractive man always stlmu-
lated her. She became witty ana
yiv3ciols, and laughed often in that
soft throatv way OF hers. She
plucked amusing anecdotes lroih
her mind. dressed them up lnoecor-
ouslv. and served them with Wnlte-
flashed smile to enchant Lee ana
tn torture Ted. Being esSentlally
eeotistical. she did not realize that
abe was succeeding only in the latter.
Finally Lee picked up his cap ana
said that he'd have to be on MS
uav. The Court Martial Board was
assembling now over at Dalghren
Hall and in a few moments Ieo ana
Virginia could visualize him nerV-
ousiy pacing the corridor "alVihs
to be called to his trial.
Ted said: Cheer up, old man
But his voice was fiat and ne
thought: IT'S a serious charge.
Even if Comdr Regner defends hlm'
I'm afraid it's zero he 'aA-
ing it hard. too. And Kitty iylng
here in this hospital, dying. ana
the finger of suspicion pointing at
him won't help his case bit.
Virginia went over to Lee then.
She hung on his arm and tlppeo
. her face UP to his and said In that
SLOW. sensuous drawl: "Oh. Lee, OAR
ling. I do hope everything goes all
right for you. Will it help any 10
know that I'll be thinking OF you
every minute?
Lee disengaged himself gently.
When she made a motion as II 10
cling to him again he looked at her
sternly and kept his hands behind
his back. He said, not un&lndiy:
. "Perhaps you'd be wasting your
time, Virginia. Id suggest you speno
the afternoon reading to Ted.
Resentment burned under her
fair skin but his indifference only
CHALLENGED and intrigued her the
more. She had never met such
man-at least not one who remained
utterly cold, unresponsive to her
Lee Cavendish had treated her this
wav that night at the dinner an
nouncing Patsy's engagement TO
Richard Bowie. He had had eyes
for only Patsy then.
But Patsy was out of the picture
nov. A thing like a man having
q wife who wouldn't divorce him or
be divorced was like a brick wall
in that child's face. She Wouldn
touch it or scale it or go round the
ends. But that was Patsy "arnela
and not Virginia Keith.
And Lee Cavendish had awakened
something within her that no man
ever had. When he looked her
frankly in the eyes. completely un-
charmed. and cut her pretty flowers
of epccch with the sharp scissors OF
indifference, it made him only more
alluring to her,
His face was sapped thin, his
mouth grim in its annoyance when
the door flung open and the nurse
hurried in. He turned slowly like
an automaton. Ted raised up
little in bed. Virginias smile be-
came fixed and ghastly. The young
nurses eyes were dilated and bright
and her face was almost as white as
, the starchy cap on her black curls.
She said. breathleSSly. The case
In 216! She's conscious! She's talk
ing"
No one spoke. In the long corri-
heard. excited whispers. some one
telling newspaper man that he
couldn't enter the room. Thoughts
raced through their heads: What
would Kitty Cavendish say about
that night? Would she live, or was
this just that last flash of con-
sciousness before eternal oblivion?
In the meantime, what about
Patsy?
The afternoon was cloudless and
blue and the air was touched with
a heady sparkle like champagne. All
around Patsy as far as eye could
reach, the great limbs of trees
thrust upward, one over the other, in
a riot of dazzling Autumn reds and
colds that seemed incredible.
In the 10 days that she had been
here at Victor's house she had grown
tn like this view from the balcony off
the bed room where he kept her
locked
She had grown to look forward also
to brisk days like today, when Victor
> would come and unlock her door and
suggest a walk in the woods. Victor
had been kind and considerate and
generous and often it was hard to be-
lieve that he wasn't Victor at all, but
a strange man. motivated by strange
impulses. A man whose past and emo
tions we're hidden always beneath the
surface of the skin.
She had come to understand this
new Victor a little. She knew that
no matter what surged rampant with
In him he did not show it. News
|. flashes on the radio would announce
that Kitty Cavendish was not ex-
pected to live through the night. and
Victor would rise calmly from his
chair, dial to another program, and
[NezUL4