The times-news. [volume] (Hendersonville, N.C.) 1927-current, 1938-03-22
ceeyrisht, 1893, NeA Service, lac.

red to you. Derek, Constance
thought, that Pm being made a
little uncomfortable, too.
"tMr. Thorvald is so busy, and
Young George is away SO much,
Derek wrote on, that she and |
are often alone in the evenings.
She enjoys being read aloud to,
and | have been reading to her
lately some of the books of travel
and exploration of which she buys
so many. For some strange reason
she seems particularly interested
in Tibet. She has huge illumi-
mated globe on which she follows
the text as / read.
Constance was finding her own
evenings unendurably lonely.
Since the beginnings of Derek's
swift courtship until he went
away there had hardly been an
evening that she had not spent
with him, dancing, at play OF a
concert, or quite as often just sit
TING in her cosy chintz-hung
apartment.
It was almost impossible to
touch an article that had not
some poignant association with
him. the armchair in which he
used TO lounge, his fingers clasp
ed behind his handsome blond
head, while she sat on footstool,
her head against his knee, and
thew talked and talked and talked.
The gateleg table at the win
dow. where they had eaten so
many gay. informal little suppers
bv candlelight. The piano,
where he sometimes sat for hours
for Derek loved music, and
played remarkably we'll.
II was three days before an
other letter came. Derek had a
great deal to say about the con-
Tenience of the studio Mr.. Thor
valid had fitted up for him-about
the bridal beauty of the fruit
trees-about his moonlight horse
back rides. At long last, Con-
stance found the paragraph for
which she had been waiting:
Something came up here after
| wrote you last that has made 1t
impossible to bother Miss Thor
valid with my own affairs for the
immediate present.
ut seems that there is some
trouble about her brother, to
whom she is devoted. | do not
entirely understand the circum-
stances: but ! gather that the
young cub has got himself mixed
up with some woman, and that his
father is furious. The poor girl
is in a terrible spot between the
two. | am sure you will agree
with me that it is out of the
question to intrude our plans on
her just yet"
If Constance felt that some Of
this chivalrous tenderness might
have been devoted to her own
need, she suppressed the thought.
Besides, it was not chivalry she
wanted from Derek. If he did not
long for her as she did for him,
then she lid not want anything
from him, she told herself.
And one could not blame Derek
for that fine sensitiveness that
made him so sympathetic to the
moods of those about him.
There was no reference to
young George in the next letter,
or to Derek's impending talk with
Miss Thorvald-nor in the next.
Constance continued to write
cheerful, chatty letters about her
experiences at the store-there
seemed, strangely enough, to be
so little else she had to tell Derek
about, since of the one thing
closest to her heart she would not
write. She thought some of her
efforts really amusing, even
! though she sometimes composed
them with tears in her eyes.
Derek'S one reference to her
work had been to say, IL am a
little hurt, darling, that you did
not take my suggestion that you
give yourself complete rest I'M
til we can be married"
On what? Constance thought
little grimly. But of course
it wasn't Derek's fault that she
had thrown her money around
like a prodigal fool.
In the meantime, it was rumor-
ed in the department that Lucille
was better. Elsa O'Dare referred
to it once.
81 hope Wen be able to keep
you, too. &. That is, if you care
to stay"
Constance, ignoring the implied
| question, murmured her thanks.