The Washington times., 1938-04-08
The Man She Won
A modern romance of life in tho
Nations Capital By Washington Writer.
By Phyllis Moore Gallagher

WIldC ne was QOlng-QlQn I care.
Indeed, he hadn't cared when
Isabel had curled her arms about
his shoulders, had chung to him
and had demanded in that curl
ously husky voice of hers that he
settle an enormous sum of money
on her before they were married.
II don't want to be running to
you for pin money darling" she
had said gently. THAT would be
degrading" You couldn't care
when Isabel's fingers stroked your
cheek and Isabel's dark eyes
tainted you and her mouth prom
ised ecstHsy. You'd do anything.
That is, until the shot began to
wear off -.
But when it had worn off with
him 1t was too late. He had
driven her to Rockville that crisp
December morning and had mar
ried her; had married her without
remembering he was engaged to
another girl, without being the
least distressed or having any par
ticular regret over having lost
Gloria.
NOTHING ELSE MATTERED
He hadn't given any thought at
all to what his marriage would do
to Gloria-the embarrassment,
the sickening humiliation, the
heartbreak. He had thought, if
he had thought at all, that Gloria
would have to work things out for
herself. Nothing mattered but
Isabel and his desire to possess.
And it had seemed that marriage
was the only way.
But lately, because Isabel
grated on his nerves because
the women he had met in Juan
les-Pins and Ostende, in Deauville
and Paris had not been suffi-
GENTLY attractive . he had found
h mself remembering Gloria,
missing her and regreting her
loss, which was in itself new
experience, for he usually made
it policy to let dead loves stay
dead.
However, the desire to see her
again had excited and puzzled
him. He had never been an imag-
NATIVE fellow, given to sentimental
dreamings, yet for the last three
months a strange hallucination
had possessed him. He was al
ways seeing Gloria clearly with
his open eyes, hearing her speak,
even though he knew that more
than 5000 miles and the Atlantic
Ocean separated him from her.
Suddenly Isabel leaned forward.
The frail gray ash of her cigar
cite dropped from the tip of the
white cylinder to the rug. Her
eyes narrowed slowly until her
black lashes lay almost on the
waxen white Of her cheek.
"Stop twirling that cocktail
glass, Rodney" she said angrily,
Either drink the stuff or throw
it out the window! And stop that
brooding! If you're planning to
send me to Reno because you
think Gloria is going to come run
ming back to you, you're crazy!"
ALWAYS GLORIA"
She laughed softly, mockingly
"You see, I've known what was
running through your mind all
these months. And, incidentally,
I'm fed up with hearing you talk
about Gloria-'Does that girl re-
mind you of Gloria?' Wouldn't
Gloria like that Napoleonic plate?'
'Gloria's crazy about old pressed
glass; Why do you suppose
Gloria married Henry Drake the
day we were married Was it be-
cause of us, or was she giving me
the slip?' Gloria! Gloria! AL
ways Gloria! If you were so
crazy about her, why didn't you
marry her instead of me?"
Her hands were clenched
Whitley over the arm of the chair.
She felt her self-control slipping
treacherously away from her, and
yet, for once, she made no attempt
to stop it.
Rodney stared at her, incredu,
lousy. He had never seen her like
this before, her face distorted, her
mouth shaking. He said: Il
should have married Gloria. ]
know that now"
well, go back and marry herr
Isabel screamed out, furiously. I'll
give you your freedom! I never
loved you for a moment, anyway!
I was tired of being poor des'
perately tired Of it. I married you
loving some one else, because ]
couldn't stand poverty. married
you for your money!"
Are you trying to tell me that
you really loved Peter Kent?" Rod
ney demanded.
eyes" said Isabel. But she
didn't really mean it. She hadn't
thought of Peter more than once
or twice in the last year. And she
thought now: IT was a fool to say
that. A laundering, hysterica.
fool?"
For it had been a dangerous
thing to say. She didn't want Rod
ney to divorce her. It had never
occurred to her that he might
want to, she was so sure of her at
traction for him. True, she didnt
love Rodney. But she did love
what he could do for her-the
ease, the comfort, the security
that shining place in the socia
sun.
SPENT SETTLEMENT
AS for the money Rodney haG
settled on her, it had dwindled tt
almost nothing. She had bough
jewels and cars and extravagantlN