The Key West citizen. [volume] (Key West, Fla.) 1879-current, 1940-06-27
Chapter 80
No More advice

Chapter 80
No More advice
IT WAS only when she was in bed
that she allowed herself to face
this trouble. Everybody in The
Street is far happier for your hav-
ing come" Mac had said.
"Not everyone on The Street,"
mo, not everyone" he had
agreed. I'm not-fOr one"
In all her tenderly guarded life
no one had ever said anything like
that to Brenda. It had wounded
her sorely. Mac, who had been her
friend, in spite of their many
quarrels; Mac, who had stood by
her so staunchly all through this
business of Adelaide's illness: Mac,
whom she liked and admired
Mac to tell her ne was not happier
for her comingl
"And / haven't So much as put
a finger tip on his affairs" she
thought, her cheeks burning in the
darkness. Except for the type
writer being moved and his pencils
misplaced and that was the
merest temporary inconvenience
I've not touched his life in any
way.
"But ! suppose its because he's
seen what I've done to the Others"
she admitted. mo one-least of
all a man - likes a meddler. ]
haven't meant to do anyone harm"
she told herself, catching her lip
beneath her teeth to still its trem-
bling. 81 haven't even meant to
interfere at all. / came here to
work-to mind my own business.
And instead"
But the insteads were so many
and so accusing that she could not
bear to think about them. Sleep
claimed her like grieving child.
In few weeks, Adelaide was
fully recovered She was as a mat
ter OF fact better than she had been
in years, she said. She had &C
quired new briskness of manner,
an efficiency which, while it ex-
hibited enough gaps to assure her
friends that her lovable casualness
had not disappeared, still called
forth admiring comment.
Discovering the plan by which
Isobel had arranged the meals,
Adelaide did her best to adopt it.
Each evening she made out the
menus for the next day; the gro
Gerry order. To be sure, the scraps
or paper which she insisted on US
ing were frequently lost; and even
If they were not, Grenadine was
apt to grumble at one or more
of the dishes Adelaide asked for;
but on the whole the housekeeping
ran more smoothly because of Iso-
bepS brief reign.
Brenda was working doggedly
at her book, looking neither to
the left nor to the right, either!"
as she herself said. i've had
enough of trying to help people.
From now on I'm going to keep in
mind that firm that made fortune
tending to its own affairs"
No More Quarrels
IN VAIN did Isobel ask her ad-
L vice about the new man who had
come into her life; the tenor whom
she had met at the broadcaSting
station and whose accompaniment
she had played in an emergency.
He had liked her work so much
that he asked her to play for him
often. Presently flowers began to
arrive for Miss Burke with graft
flying regularity.
"But two musicians in one fam
ily!" Isobel protested. "a tenor,s
so apt to be conceited. too, don't
you think? Not that Gage is"
she added hastily. HE honestly
doesn't realize how good his voice
is, how popular he's getting to be.
What do you think about it.
Brenda?"
Two months ago Brenda would
have leaped eagerly into the affair,
scattering advice in all directions.
She would have tortured herself
by wondering if this romance
would break Macs heart; would
have set herself to discover the
state of his affection, and ruth
lessly returned IsoEel to him if he
wished her to be returned. Now
she said mildly:
ITS something you'll have to
decide for yourself, Isobel. don't
even know the man."
you've met him several times!"
"But that's not knowing him."
replied this newer and wi ser
Brenda. "One has to be acquainted
with people a long time, and in
timately, before one knows them
If ever"
Isobel gave a confident little
smile. II knew. Gage from the mo-
ment ] met himl"
Brenda was free now to drop in
to Hugh's studio whenever she
wished. Even the exigent Miss Or
niond was forced to admit that a
wife was an entirely adequate
-chaperon, more especially when
that wife was rapidly becoming
Brenda's closest friend.
Because no matter what you
say" said Linda. at was you who
brought me back to my Hugh. No.
V01l NAV shake vorfr hea1 All vn,s