Henderson daily dispatch. (Henderson, N.C.) 1914-1995, 1937-03-13
CHAPTER AZ


JOEL CAME in quietly about
half past 2. He left his stick
and top hat in the foyer and, see
ing light in the living room un-
der the closed door, whistled.
There was no answer and, think
ing that Janet had gone off to bed
without turning out the light, he
went in boldly-then hesitated,
embarrassed and angry on the
threshold of the room.
ooh, sorry!" he said in a tone
that said plainly that he had no
idea his wife was entertaining but
that he respected it and would
never have broken in on them UNI
announced.
That tone made both Janet and
Russell Bede embarrassed as nei-
Their of them would have been
under any other circumstances.
Joel didn't notice their embar-
lrassment; he only knew that he
had seen their two brown heads
outlined in the radiance of the
table lamp at tl><ir backs as they
sat on the big lounge; knew that
he had seen them draw apart.
Its all right" Janet said easily
without betraying that she was
angry vi m Tor making her
feel guilty when there was moth
ing to feel guilty about.
"Come in, darling. I've been
trying to persuade Russ to have
something to eat. Suppose make
some coffee?"
mot for me, thanks" Joel an
sWered and politely stifled yawn.
I've got to get up early in the
morning. I'm going to see some
polo practice"
I'D better be running along"
Russell said and got up. eff you
think that whole thing has been
ironed out, Janet, I'll leave it in
your hands"
Joel wanted very much to know
what Russell was leaving in
Janet's hands but he maintained
an aloof silence. Joel never took
Janet's job seriously and it didn't
occur to him in that uncomfort-
able moment that Russell could be
talking about work. N
Damn the fellow! He had some
thing to offer a woman and Joel
knew that he was in love with his
wife. He had background, an as
sured present and a secure future
10 give Janet whereas, he 49,.
! Joel thought of that and said
CURLY, Good night, old man.
Night, Janet"
Good night, darling, I'll be
along in a minute"
She saw Russell to the door and
fingered for a few minutes. Rus
sell was leaving for trip to Can
ada and she had been working out
some promotion booklets for him
to take with him as well as an adj
vertising plan which one of his
New York stores was anxious to
get out.
They had returned early to dis
cuss the final details since this was
the last opportunity they would
have to do so.
Janet, closing the door at Rus
sells back, sighed little and Won
dered what Joel was going to say
now. It didn't occur to her to
wonder where Joel had been:
Once she would have FASTENED
back to him to tell him that she
had been glad to see him, that
RusselPs being there alone with
her at that hour had been simply
because they had business to talk
over.
Once she would have been I'M
able to think of what Russell was
saying to her during all those
hours after the theater was out
and Joel was not with her. Once
she would have been tortured by
the jealous fears she could not con-
troll. Her attention would have
been for the man she was with but
a thousand questions would have
tripped over each other in her
mind. What woman was Joel
with? What was she saying?
What was Joel saying to her? Did
that woman have some allure that
would take him from Janet?
Oh, she had known them all, but
repetition had dulled the edge of
the mental pains she had suffered.
Time had stilled a sharper fear and