The Washington times., 1937-01-11


to her!
With sure, light steps she turned
from Wall Street into Broad Street,
the wide sweep of the Battery
drawing her irresistibly.
Ships rode at anchor. Water
craft of all kinds skinned over the
waves. There was the tarry smell
of shipping, the clean tang of a
breeze blowing over salty water,
giving one a sense of wanderlust,
of adventuring to far countries.
Ann cast care behind her. shifting
the ozone, her skirt whipping about
her ankles as the wind eddied
about her. 1t was gloriouSly stim-
ulating.
Over and over she repeated to
herself Paul'S words on that never
to,be-forgotten ride.
I'm afraid I'm falling in love
with you, Ann" he had whispered,
kissing her-and then he'd kissed
| her again . and again.
She hadn't resisted. With every
pulse hammering in a divine
I ecstasy, she had yielded to the
glory and wonder of his arms, his
kisses.
Its amazing, but it's true! He
means It'll" her heart sang in her
breast.
Words seemed superfluous be-
tween them. This physical urge
for cloSeness, this breaking down
of barriers between them, spoke
volumes. Hadn't she dreamed OF
it for months past
Finally, it was he who had
drawn back. But not for an in
stant had he taken his eyes from
her as she sat beside him in
sweet dream. Then it had all be-
gun over again-his tenderness,
his kisses. She could have SWooned
from the sheer rapture Of it.
Impossible to connect him with
the steam, buSsiness-like executive
she had first known! The streak
of hardness, of scepticism in him
cleaned from the difficult places in
life, had vanished. He was deli
cate, tender, the ideal lover, find
ing her utterly desirable and lovely,
his every caress telling her so.
He was her man.
How we'll he had hidden his feel
ing for her during the long Winter
months at the store! But Spring
was coming. Spring with Paul in
Paris, enchanted city Already,
down by the Battery, there was the
faintest blurring on the trees in
the public square, as if a brush
dipped in green paint had been
gently brushed on the branches
more promise than reality-a
vague, vernal budding.
Life was like that. The waiting.
The hope. After long season, the
sap stirring, rising. Then the bud
ding. More waiting. The flower
ing.
Love was like that! thought Ann.
Afraid you're falling in love?"
she had whispered to Paul in the
taxi, Am I so terrible?"
What he had said had sent the
blood in delicious waves to her ten
fingers, her ten toes.
Then you aren't afraid!
You're happy!"
Are you happy, Ann?"
No need for words. She had
turned her pretty face to him, as
a sunfloWer towards the sun,
and he had kissed her as though
nothing in the world could ever
separate them.
Came the eternal woman's
question: why do you love me,
Paul? I want to hear"
For something more than the
allure of you-something above
and beyond physical attraction,
important and necessary as that
is" had come his earnest answer.
"D'you know so very much
about me?" she had ventured
happily, in the haven of his
arms.
His dark eyes were very tender
as he told her that he loved her
for her courage in shouldering
family burdens-Rosalind had
told him all about it during the
course Of the evening, and before
that. her grandfather, old Tom
Bradley, had enlightened him.
For her standards of conduct,
too, he loved her, that innate
delicacy and refinement that was
Ann. For her loyalty to her job,
for the capacity she had of never
tattling, of soft-pedalling or over
looking the defects of her fellow
workers, even when they were
catty to her, and sought to harm
her, through jealousy. She was
above such pettiness. From his
own observation he had seen it,
and tthough he did not tell herr
he'd had a long talk with Re
nita Parrish. who had corrobo-
rated it. and Renita had assured
him that it was Ann who had
Weaned her away from drinking.
For her dignity, too, he loved
her. For her sweetness of nature
that had been severely tested.
For the sheer femininity Of the
young girl that was Ann.
Brains and beauty are
wonderful combination, he had
told her in the taxi, "but there
are still better things, and you
have got them, dear"
Would he ask her to marry
him? OF course, if he really
loved her. he would!
Are you happy, Ann?"
There was strain of the old