The midland journal. (Rising Sun, Md.) 1885-1947, 1937-09-24
.BEAUTY'S DAUGHTER


is so damn discreeti Doctor, Mrs.
Morrison, and she says she's in
great painl' That's for the benefit of
the people who are waiting, people
in real pain. We used to think it
was great joke. It doesn't seem
so funny nowl And the minute she
comes in, 'Quent, what have /
done? Who's been talking about
me?'"
Quentin stared for some time into
the fire in silence. After time he
said:
would you go away?"
eff / were your"
II mean all of us. Simply move
out. We could have a city house
now, for the kids schools, and a
country place, too. Or we could
take up that Boston proposition.
Why not get away from it all?"
"You mean run away" Victoria
amended the phrase slowly.
"Well, suppose that's what 1t
would amount to-"
II don't think you can ever run
away from anything, Quent. l was
thinking" Victoria said, "of Marty;
if anything ever happened to Marty,
I was thinking: How can 1 bear
the nursery and the crib and his
brown dog on the chain, how can I
bear to go back to five children
when I've had six?' And I thought
then," she went on, speaking stead
lily, but with trimming eyees-I
thought then that we'd have to 60
away, that we couldn't stand it!
But don't think so now. You can't
run away from anything. You can't
run away from sorrow, or from"
she jerked her head in the direc-
ton of the Morrison house-"or
from anything you've DONE" she
said.
"But Vic, l tell you honestly, /
can't stand her! She's making my
life a burden" Quentin said sim
ply, and if there was anything alb
surd in the situation neither husband
nor wife was in the mood to see
it. every time I come out to the
elevator at the Office, I'm afraid
she's there. I've had ten days of it
now, and l tell you it's getting on
my nerves!"
Victoria's eyes were on the fire.
"I've had three years of it," she
said quietly. There was long 81
lence.
eyes, know you have, / know
you have" Quentin said then, gruf-
fly.
"You haven't any right to run
away! You belong here" Vicky con-
tinued after pause.
"What are we to do? Just go on?"
Quentin presently asked, looking up.
"What else? AS far as she goes"
Vicky said, with a movement of
her head in the direction of the Nor
rison houee, "she'll gradually-well,
get over it. If you ran away she'd
follow you. AS it is, she'll annoy
you for a while, and come over
here and break the news to me-"
Her voice died away into musing,
and Quentin raised his head and
stared at her strangely.
You're an extraordinary wom-
an, Vicky," he said. "You can
talk about it. Don't you-don't you
care?"
For full half-minute Victoria re-
turned his stare. Then she said in
voice that trernbled, that was
pitched very low:
ooh, I care! Any woman cares.
I'm hurt in my pride and my faith
and my-my heart. It isn't ques-
ton of whether or not one cares.
It's only question as to what one
does about it. / choose to do it my
way"
She got to her feet, stood looking
at him irresolutely for a moment,
opened her lips as if she had some
thing further to say. But she
thought better of it, murmured in
stead a goodnight" crossed the
room and was gone. Quentin did
not look up when she moved, nor
answer her goodnight. After she
was gone he sat beside the dying
fire for a long, long while with his
head in his hands and his shoulders
bowed.
In the next week for the first
time in years Victoria and Quentin
Hardisty, to the great satisfaction Of
those who loved them, were seen
lunching together on the fashionable
Monday at the St. Francis hotel.
They were together later at the re-
ception given to two distinguished
visiting physicians. Vic wore a new
smart suit of blue banded with gray
fur, infinitely becoming to her warm
brown coloring. and a dark blue
hat. On the gray fur violets were
pinned. who gave me the vio-
lets?" Vicky said to DR.. Austreich-
er, Quentin, of course, and he
brought me the suit and the hat
from Paris. Don't you think that's
having a husband!"
"Vic, you know you've grown aw-
fully pretty" John Keats told her.
what have you done to yourself?