The Washington times., 1937-03-15

exigent too, for brief time, about
Keith. And Felicia had not been
exigent through years of her mar
riage with Eustace, when she made
the best of things, and never GER
tainly took advantage before Of
her innumerable opportunities for
adventure, at EuStace's expense.
People were not consistent! That
was her first bit Of wisdom about
people in general. From that she
progressed, slowly and painfully,
to realization that Keith and
Felicia we're rather alike in their
dispositions, were reckless, impa-
tient, without belief in anyone very
much, nor in themselves at all.
Yet with herself gone from their
lives, she could understand that
they could have found a great deal
in common. If she. Denise, had not
married Gilbert, Felicia's loyalty
would have held her from Keith.
If she had not married Gilbert,
though Keith quarreled with her
and they parted, he would have
gone to her sister for consolation,
last of all women in New York.
Even if she had married and still
remained person present in their
days, though Of her might have
kept them from each other. But
she had married, and sailed the
day after her wedding day. 1t was
as definite a punctuation, almost,
as if she had died. They could feel
justified in ignoring any possible
effect upon her. of their approach
to each other.
In either Of their places, she
might have done the same thing.
Felicia and Keith had much more
in common than herself and Fe-
lcia, and herself and Keith.
When she was able to say those
two things, much bitterness went
from her. But besides the hurt to
her feeling of self-importance
(Which she could estimate now, and
divide from the hurt to her love
for those two), something else dis
turbed her: The feeling that it
was unworthy of the sort of per
sons she had thought them, to have
a furtive love affair.
CHAPTER XIX
If either Keith or Felicia had In
sisted on telling EuStace! Instead,
they had deceived him, apparently
so blithely. That deceit seemed to
overlay with tarnish all her life
long affection for her sister, all
her own love for Keith, the re-
membranes that she had so
cherished Of their moments of
closeneSs.
Once she thought wildly: per
hapS they deceived me, too. Per-
haps they always cared about each
other, and that's why Felicia
wanted me to marry Gilbert, and
why Keith didn't ever much want
to marry me-" That suspicion
grew in her.
Past Berlin, on the way to Mos
COW, she and Gilbert were thrown
more closely than ever before into
each others physical presence. By
the accident of the time of year,
and the approaching May Day
celebrations in Russia, tranSporta-
ton was almost impossible to get.
They were obliged to share COM
partment all the night across East
Prussia, all the day after, across
the long stretches of the plains of
Poland.
Gilbert took as much pain as
possible to save her from embar-
raSSment at their sudden prox-
unity, but it made her curiously
aware of him. In the night listen
ing to his breathing in the berth
opposite hers, all through the day
sitting facing him, he had became
more real to her than he had been.
Besides, she had the rather usual
reaction Of a person used to
America and the obvious cities of
western Europe, on the train Jour
ney, that she was going farther
and farther from any world she
knew. 1t was all sliding away be-
hind the train wheels. Gilbert was
the only connecting link with what
had been before.
ITO be cOntinued)
Lcopyright by. UrsuIa Parrott