Henderson daily dispatch. (Henderson, N.C.) 1914-1995, 1937-03-06
CHAPTER 30


RUSSELL BEDE sat at Janet's
feet on a deck pillow. His face
was turned from her and in the
few minutes that followed his ask
ng her to marry him, Janet saw
lir the firm set of his features,
lighted by the moonlight, an ex-
preston of steady waiting that she
had never seen on his face before.
She saw the man that he was,
the man whose willpower, whose
brain, whose foresight and deter
mination has made a fortune out
Of slipping business, the man
who was accustomed to getting
what he wanted and giving full
value in return.
Oh, yes. he would give full value
late.
RUSSELL" she said softly. 1T
am not only married but I am
married happily" Still she didn't
say that she loved Joel; she
thought that he would have known
it.
Some day you will marry me-"
he said evenly. "Janet, am no
boy to speak impulsively. Nor are
you a young girl who would mis-
understand. I knew the first night
met you that you were the girl
i wanted to marry. In these few
weeks I have learned much about
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Janet was going to protest that
he could not have known anything
shout Joel but she kept silent.
You give and he takes"
Il like giving" she said simply.
"And he likes taking and that is
wrong, my girl. The time will
come, as it inevitably does in such
a design for living as these people
out here practice, when that un-
balanced weight will topple. Like
and like are the only ones who
find and use the qualities that sur
Vive."
But Joel and I are alike" she
said and thought she said it aloud
but it was only a question, not a
statement, in her mind.
You were a couple of kids who
fell in love. Kids who turned out
to be diametrically opposite. I am
not being impertinent, Janet, in
saying this. It's important to me.
I know you as well as though I'd
known you a lifetime. I know the
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ty and your love. And I dare to
criticize you. I dare to tell you
that you cannot make a success Of
the thing you have so nobly begun,
that you are building castle on
sand. Hollywood marriages do
not last. You have the world at
your gates, the world that will give
more than you can. That world
gives things which your husband
wants that you haven't got simply
because it must be multiplied to
have value"
Janet said nothing but her face
was as set as his own. - !
do you talk about the future?
Are you building things together?
Do tomorrows count in your mar
riage? Do you believe that you
can make this transient thing Last?
How"
Russell, you don't know me.
You said that you knew my cour-
age, my loyalty and my love. You
don't really know my love. You
don't know that it isn't a fragile
emotion, that it is more than my
heart. It's my everything and
with it goes determination and
strength. I forgive you for talk
ing about marriage as you have
because can see where you get
your ideas out here. You know
that Joel is matinee idol and
that women are crazy about him
but you don't know him."
It was then that he kept silent.
He had learned to judge men, he
believed.
"You don't know what my plans
are. You only see that we are
childless, that we have no obvious
plans for q lifelong ties. I've
thought Of those things but these
are Joel's years and he shall have
them as he wants them. We have
all the years of our life together
ahead. My marriage is going to
last because I'm going to make it
last! I'm going to hold my hus-
band only because heN want to be
held. I am equal tn meeting all