Worcester Democrat and the ledger-enterprise., 1938-08-05

seat of her room. The slow, soft
English twilight lay over the downs
and the sea beyond. The last muted
notes of birds were small, clear pune
tuations of the silence in the air scent
ed of waning summer and of the sea
A landscape, an air incredibly peace
full! How many besides herself in
the three hundred years since that
house was built to face that serene
vista, must have regarded it with
their own eXigencies so strong, so i'm
mediate, that this strip of earth and
shore was meaningless. So many
people, who had fought for what they
wanted, had won it or lost it, and been
done with it at last. She shivered
All, one had only a short time in the
sunlight, to snatch at all the lovelv
things!
She went down the staircase max
ing an entrance that she had calcu-
lated days before, but did not remem-
ber now that she had planned it. For
Keith was smiling up at her, as he
had used to smile.
What had they done to him He
was white; he was SCARED; he look
ed as if he had suffered so. No, he
was not quite the light-hearted young
man who used to take her dancing.
She thought: "He came close to dying.
He might have died, and we should
never have seen each other again" !"
Her mothers eyes were on her.
Lightly she said: ''Well, Keith, nice to
have you here. I meant to be dress
ed to welcome you on arrival of
course-but it was such a lovely lazy
day."
He said: "Denise-Denise all grown
up." She knew from her fathers ex-
that he considered that too
personal tone of voice.
Felicia linked her arm in Keith's.
Shall we go outside. The British
dusk is wholly admirable, like the
British character; but not as formid-
able!"
Keith went outside with her. De-
Mise and her parents followed them.
Keith turned his head to look back at
Denise.
She thought: Nothing matters, ex-
cept that we find each other again!
He was too young last year to be GER
tain; l was too young to be clever-''
Her fathers voice interrupted. "You
look very pretty tonight, my dear. 1
wish Gilbert dould see you"
She made herself smile. She was
very glad Gilbert could not see her!
He was all right; he had been good
to them all; she was grateful. But
she and Keith were once citizens of
a carefree world in which smile, a
tone of voice, was magic, where there
were no problems, and ones heart
was never empty, never troubled. A
world that existed again when he
looked at her with his eyes smiling
just as they used to, though the smile
of his lips was changed.
AS the Merritaria moved down the
North River, Gilbert was aware he
had never embarked on any voyage
in his life with such eagerness. Five
days to England and Denise, who
would be glad to see him. Her let
ters, written with a dutiful regular
ity apparently, though received at odd
intervals because of the limitations
of the postal service to the far North
west, had been friendly, cheerful,
sometimes affectionate. He had no
right to expect more from a young
wife who had not been in love with
him when she married him!
The extreme doubts as to their re-
lationship which he'd felt on the voy-
age westward had vanished behind a
busy summer, and much rationaliza-
tion. Such as: "The first year OF
every marriage is supposed to be diff
ficult. Mines a little more so thar
most, because Denise fancied herself
in love with some one else. But now
the some one else will marry her sis
ter sooner or later; and after Denise
has faced that, We'll be all right
That business of a years trial was
just mad. No doubt Denise has for.
gotten about it, because she never
mentions it, just writes in the friend
liest way that her parents are having
a pleasant summer-and that sistel
or hers is getting on all right"
More and more in retrospect did ht