Evening star., 1936-07-04
|E4Nea&&SSEE a !! q! :! s.! 81
sN1.E XxPAlLH MOORE GALLAGHER - ~
ypHYllIS MOORE GALLAGHER L

eyes. She hadn't answered, but he
had read her eyes and her eloquent
red lips. Il knew you'd understand.
I knew it! I've wanted to tell you-"
But" broke in Kitty, "the fact still
remains that If choose to tell you'll
get a court. Lee. And if the Navy |
means all that to you. should think
you wouldn't let a blond infant like
this ruin your life"
Kitty's words made Patsy see clearly
something she hadn't before. She saw
ruined-his career smashed-the long |
bitter years of fighting his way back
to respect in some other profession for
which he had no love nor understand
ing nor training. He was navy-it was
his life-it was in the very marrow |
of his bones. She was a Navy girl |
herself and it was easy for her to
understandable lure of the Sea-the
grip that the service gets on man.
She heard Lee say, deadly even:
Kitty, it's no go. We're through.
can't help what you tell. Perhaps 1t
would be best if you did. I'm tired of
living under this cloud of fear. I've
stood enough of threatened exposure
every time I did the slightest thing
that didn't please you. You may not
let me divorce you, but understand
this-I1l never live with you again, so
help me God! Patsy, I'm taking you
home now"
mo. Lee, mol" Patsy cried. And
she turned and ran out of the room,
slipping on the stairs, breathing fast.
in panic to get out of that apart
ment. Away from Kitty-away from
Lee-forever away from Lee and what
her love could do to him. She reached
the bottom step in a feverish night
mare of haste and ran out into the
clear night, cold with the deathly
beauty of Autumn.
For long moment Patsy stood quite
still, bracing herself against the wall,
waiting to catch her breath, waiting
for the pounding of her heart to cease.
She saw Courtney Valance come out
of the apartment house alone and
walk toward his car at the curb. She
lifted her head then and fought for
poise and set her lips in smile. VAL
lance was beneath the steering wheel
when she reached him and said: Il
wonder if you'd be good enough to take
me home. Mr. Vallance?" And then
she was in his long. shining car and
he was smiling down at her in that
way he had of understanding. And
presently they were driving off slowly
into the night and she was sobbing
on his shoulder and telling him every
thing that had happened.
Back in Lees apartment Kitty stood
very white and still in the center of
| the room. The first angry tumult of
Illustration had passed The desire to
draw her ruby fingernails down
Patsy's lovely young face had gone
The urge to beat her fists against Lees
chest had gone. too. She stood very
white and still, forgetting Rolfe de
| Veau and Millicent Ward for the first
time in days-forgetting just why she
had come back to Annapolis and to
Lee.
Only one thing beat in her brain
like the warning rattle of a snake-to
| hurt him as he had hurt her tonight
to humiliate him as he had Inundated
her before Fatsy Warfeld. She hadn't
remembered just how tall and blond
and handsome Lee was-she hadn't
remembered how his lips had once
famed against hers-how she had
loved him so desperately and impa
tiently th7t she had resorted to trick
cry to get him.
But seeing him. with Patsy tonight.
it had all come back over her. A
hundred poignant memories. Foot
ball games with Lee starring Dances
at the armory. A kiss on the sea wall
have hurt her; could not have hui
inflated her Not until now when she
had known definitely that she had
lost Lee did she realize just how much
she still loved him: just what stupid
inane affairs she had had with Rolfe
and countless other men. And loving
Lee. oddly enough as only a woman
passionately in love can, she despised
him, too. DeSpiSed him and wanted
to hurt and humiliate him. And she
knew how she could do it.
She picked up the telephone, called
a Washington newspaper and asked
for Wally Walters, who ran a gossip
column. He wasn't easy to locate
She trailed him by wire from hot-spot
to private homes and at last, about
midnight, found him at a diplomatic
reception. She said: "Wally, this is
Kitty Cavendish. Yes-I thought you'd
remember me- You've written such
delightful tidbits about me. Well,
here is scoop for you. I'm in An
napoliS. Lee wrote to me, pleading
with me to come back to him. And
1 did. But before I could get here