Evening star., 1939-04-16
Coatiavsd from poss five

tered one of them. The ice came. She
filled the rubber cap with it. and ad-
justed the cap on Martins head. A
good-looking head, by the way, she
noticed. Sandy hair on top. tanned
face underneath. Tanned, probably,
from sitting on a beach in Florida.
"Ah, that feels good, he murmured
as the ice cap settled on his head.
There was three-alarm fire inside
there. Fire engines, too. think"
Elizabeth didn't answer. She pressed
her lips together firmly so that the
words that formed wouldn't slip out.
Except for her duties, she ignored
him. and was very obvious about it.
His murmurs that he'd never again
look at creme de cocoa, with or with
out thick cream on top; that he hadn't
ever had liquor creep up from behind
on him before, and all the other sage
observations of the morning after
made something boil inside of her.
Her face grew stonier with each broad
invitation to be chatty.
Everything she saw or heard was a
goad. The opulence of his mono
grammed luggage, the richness OF his
clothing. the leather case of golf clubs
in corner, the stuffed wallet tossed
carelessly on the writing table. He'd
probably never done an honest days
work in his life. And here he was, in
silk pajamas, with a solicitous doctor
to prescribe for him, nurse to put an
ice cap on his head, pharmacists and
bellboys to rush him ice and medicine
"a whole machine built to assuage a
well-deserved headache.
After twenty minutes. "Am l
wrong" he asked, ''or don't you feel
like talking to me?"
She should have said, why, no, Mr..
Martin, it was merely that it was
better for him not to talk. But she
couldn't. Deliberately, cuttingly.
you're entirely right, MIR. Martin"
she said.
There! She felt hot flush of salts
faction at the blank look of astonish-
ment in his face. Go ahead! Complain
to the management! What do care?
Complain of impertinence. Have me
fired. I'm sick of you and your kind!
The astonished expression faded.
He looked puzzled. "Really?" he said.
'I'm surprised"
"Why?" Studiedly insulting.
"Why?" He foundered. momentar-
lily on the defensive why - well.
know I'm not Gary Cooper or Clark
Gable, of course - but. on the other
hand, I've never been mistaken for
Frankenstein's monster and I've
never bored girl to death in my life.
Sole me ask you why you insist
on treating me as though l we're
peevish skunk"
He struggled up to sitting posi-
ton. carefully balancing the ice cap.
GO ahead and tell me.
She drew a deep breath. Well, he
asked for it. Because" she said,
slowly, choosing her words, I'm sick
of people who swill too much liquor,
sick of people who haven't anything
more important to do than to drink
all night - and then demand to be
coddled and sympathized with the
next day. I'm tired of people -"
All the things she'd thought in the
last three years came pouring out.
along with some of the things Bill
had said. 1t took quite some time.
and she was flushed when she finally
ran out of breath and things to say.
But she was no less angry. because
he sat there, looking amused. Il
wasn't aware that drunkenness was
confined exclusively to the upper
classes" he said.
That's just being clever" she
snapped back. 1t was irritating that
he didn't climb on high horse and
order her out, irritating that he just
sat there, amused by her passion.
"You can afford to be witty about it.