The daily independent., 1937-06-30
CHAPTER XXXII

LII Illt llChU lOOiii h0ebliJ Doo ~
the window smoking. Her eyes
smarted. She wouldn't cry. She
never cried except to get her
own way and what good would
that do her now?
Yes, it's Rose, Sally, it always
has BEEN"
Idiot!
He deserved all he'd get, a stuff
fly little house, stuffy little wife,
babies, debts =.
No, he didn't.
Rise wasn't stuffy. Sally lit
another cigarette. Rose was -
person. clear-eyed, friendly, a
good enemy. She liked Rose.
The lump in her throat thick
ened. She was very sorry herself.
She began to hum the wedding
march absently, Di di dbl di di
-di -.
They'd do the church in arum
lilies and spring flowers. The tint
ed light would stream in from the
stained glass windows which her
father had given in memory of his
father and mother. The Bishop
would officiate. She'd wear not
white, but flesh pink, the colour
of pale tea roses. she would carry
white orchids. People in the
church would nod approvingly and
nudge each other, herself so fair
and Phil so dark. A handsome
couple.
She began to laugh a little,
down in her throat. She stubbed
the cigarette out on the window
sill, careless of the mark, and lit
another.
1 hate him, she told herself
quietly, I could kill him, I never
want to see him again q. -.
She hadn't meant it, of course.
1t had been-Oh, Phil had been
insistent, she was tired of his kiss
ing her. he had kissed her for
year, it was monotonous, uneXcit-
ing, boring. a little disgusting ..
She hadn't wanted to settle"
things as he had urged, to be pin
ned down to a day, date. Shed
felt imprisoned So she'd done
a foolish thing. she'd thrown her
self at another man. Well, her aim
hadn't been very good, had il?
Phil wasn't SO bad. She was used
to Phil. IF Jonathan Kimber had
not come to town she would have
married Phil eventually.
Eventually. why not now?
Shed show them. She'd show
them all that she hadn't really
given a snap of her fingers for
Jonathan Kimber.
And he'd be sorry, he'd always
believe he'd driven her to it, he'd
reproach himself. he'd look at
Rose a hundred times in the
months to come and wonder . .
Sally got 10 her feet. She left
her room very quietly. Rose, deep
in that sudden, almost deathless
sleep, heard nothing. Sally went
down the corridor and raped
lightly on Phil's door. She'd say,
I've changed my mind E. but it
must be now Let's give them a
run for their money, let's give this
town something to talk about :"
Sally was remembering, as she
waited for him to open the door,
the name of the town doWnstate,
the Gretna Green of New York. 1t
wouldn't take ten minutes to
dress, to pack a bag E. The punt
was moored at the Island pier.
Phil's people were on the neigh
boring island. He mustn't stop for
anything. He could buy what he
wanted If they started now
within half an hour and drove
like mad, seventy miles an hour
they could be there by early
morning they could even be
back by night if they wished -
walking in, saying, We'll, we fool
ed you, we're married :. :"
Jonathan, waking early, lay a
moment froWning at his surround
ings. His first conscious thought
had been that something disagree
able had happened. What was it?
Oh, now he remembered. He shook
his head as if to dispel it. Mid
summer magic, stars and a velvet
sky. Sally would laugh at him
when next he saw her, as if moth