Worcester Democrat and the ledger-enterprise., 1938-08-26
CHAPTER 18

word, fond He was not specially clev
er or witty he was just old-fashioned
and simple and honorable. Now he's
dead"
'T can't stand this" Felicia said.
She rose, and caught Keith's arm.
"Run away from it, then, both OF
you, as you've been running away
from everything all our lives! If you
stay in this room, you'll have to lis
ten."
They stood immobile then; and Gil
bert, for an instant, thought of In
terrupting. Then he did not. This
way or another, Denise had to stumble
into reality at last. If she spoke her
thoughts, to her and to him who had
been so dreadfully important to her,
she would know her thought after
ward.
He had been furious with her that
day, had considered that scene in the
garden-trivial it seemed now-out-
rageous in it's implications. Ever
since, until the telephone rang, he had
said to himself furiously: ""She might
have the taste to remain loyal to me
in my own establishment, in sight of
nv own servants at least" But all
that suddenly did not matter.
Nor did he care about the effects
of her words on her sister and Keith
Sheldie. He suddenly judged them
himself. One way or another, they
had killed a decent man between
them. And he knew they would sur
vive even that, would buttress them
selves with light words, with pretense
that nothing had happened until they
could almost disbelieve that this hour
had been. So they could survive any
thing his young wife, on her desper-
ate way to learning her own soul,
would say to them.
She was saying now: "Eustace dead
nothing either of you two do will
hurt any more. He's free and I ex-
pect he's glad. 1 expect it was the
only thing you left him to be glad
about"
Keith said: "Will you stop, Denise!
It doesn't matter what you say to me;
but for Felicia's sake"
She answered that steadily: 1T
doesn't matter what 1 say to either
of you ever again. You say for Fell
cia's sake now. You would not have
thought of Felicia five minutes, any
time these last weeks that I chose to
show you you could have me, whom
you wanted first. I came near show
ing you, because my old love for you
made me blind-blind to the import
ant things, that you are nothing, and
have nothing for me, but my own old
stupid belief in you"
Felicia said to Keith softly: "Shall
we go now, my dear?"
mo; let her finish"
For that matter" Denise said,
Felicia wouldn't have thought of You
five minutes, either, if any specially
attractive young Britisher had turn
ed up, who didn't happen to know
about the scandal in which she was in
volved. You will suit each other very
well, Keith and Felicia, better than
any two people I know"
"Nice of you, my DEAR" her sister
said.
Denise's words began to stumble
a little. maybe you were not always
as you are now, either of you. Maybe
wears of thinking first what you would
get out of anything you did, and be-
having as if life were just candy
box and you were childen choosing
the best pieces greedily-made you as
YOU are. You always did just what
you wanted"
"Put that on our epitaphs then,
and excuse us now, Denise. Will
YOU excuse US too, Gilbert? Must
say, you don't have much control of
your wife,"
Gilbert did not answer that, because
he saw that tears were streaming
down Denise's pretty cheeks. And he
saw her sister, seeing those tears,
stop on her way out of the room be-
side Keith.
Felicia said: "Now I'm curious
enough to stay. Why are you weep
ing Denise? If 1 don't, shall al
ways wonder"
"I'm weeping because 1 used to love
you both, and never shall any more"
Gilbert saw something move in
Keith's face, at those quiet words.
But Felicia, still mocking, said: II
hope the consciousness of virtue will
suffice you, my dear. You'll have
missed a lot, never doing what you