The guardian. [volume] (Boston, Mass.) 1901-1960, 1940-10-12
DECEPTION
g
By BARBARA BENEDICT
ASSOCIATED Newspapers-WNU Service

by her family. she was sup
posed to marry the rich man in Or
der to save her fanrily's social posi-
ton and her father from financial
ruin"
Darl Evans looked at Sonia and
in the moonlight his face was very
grave.
cts a grand night for story tell
ing. Go on, finish"
That's about ALL" Sonia
shrugged. GAS in all good stories,
the poor girl was, of course, en-
dowed with many scruples and
very noble sense of honor. She hat
ed the role she had been given, but
her family had reared her from
childhood, given her every advan-
tage. She felt that she owed them
that much. And that's the end of
the story"
"The end?" said Darl. "But you
haven't told me whether or not she
found the rich man, whether she fell
in love with him, whether or not
she married him and saved the
family from disgrace, bankruptcy,
and ruin"
"That part of it," said Sonia,
doesn't matter"
Darl lit a cigarette. Suddenly he
laughed.
"You know" he said, "that re-
minds me of a story that is so sim
liar one might think they were writ
ten by the same author"
Really" said Sonia.
SIN my story" said Darl, "the
girl hated the man before she met
him, simply because she knew he
was rich and it was her ignominious
duty to inveigle him into marriage.
Even after she met him, she con-
tinued to hate him. And then what
do you suppose happened?"
81 can't imagine" said Sonia.
"Well, after about six months, the
girl discovered that the man was as
poor as she. Like her father, he
had lost everything in the crash and
was merely putting up a front in
the hope of one day marrying a very
rich girl in order to rescue himself
from a distressing situation"
"And the ending of your story?"
said Sonia softly.
Darl crushed out his cigarette and
gestured.
"I never did hear the ending. It
was very annoying, too. So annoy
ing that I improvised one to my own
satisfaction"
Both the girl and the man
thought it was a great joke and
went their respective ways" Sonia
guessed.
But Darl shook his head.
"On the contrary, each confessed
to the other. You see, they had
fallen in love, and when each dis
covered the others deception they
realized they had been blinded by
their individual purposes. There
came an awakening, and both lived
happily ever after. AS man and
wife, of course"
Sonia caught her breath and was
silent for a long time. Then she
said:
"Is yours true story, Darl?"
"What do you Think" He caught
her in his arms. "Sonia, I love
you. Madly. Will you marry me?"
She tried to free herself.
you're forgetting - my story.
You can't want to marry me-"
"I'm forgetting everything, ex-
cept that I love you. That's all
want to remember. That's all
that's necessary. Look at me,
Sonia. Look at me. You know I
love you"
eyes, l know. I-oh, Darl, you do
love me. And 1 love you, too, so
very, very much"
"That's all that matters. That's
everything. Let's get married.
Now. Tonight"
Tonight? Darl, I can't. My
family. They'd never forgive me-"
ut isn't they who should be for
giving JOu, II yOu VIII SIlOuIu DG
forgiving them. This is something
you'll have to decide for yourself.
You'll have children of your own
some day. Are you going to be self
ish enough to expect them to dedi-
cate their lives to your happiness
to give up everything they want
and long for, because Of your aged
selfish pride?"
"No! No! Never! I couldn't be
that cruel"
"Of course not. Then think of
yourself-of us-that way. 1t isn't
fair for anyone to expect you to
deny yourself the things that they
refused to deny themselves. To do
so wasn't written in the great
scheme of things"
Sonia looked up at him. There
were tears in her eyes, but her face
was radiant. o
"And you want to marry me-
despite everything?"
He laughed. Il should be asking
that question. VIII you marry me
despite everything?"
eyes, Darl, dear, I'll marry you
because l love you"
Despite what I've said, the story
/ told, despite even the conse-