The Key West citizen. [volume] (Key West, Fla.) 1879-current, 1940-07-25
Chapter 19
Memory OF Lenore

Chapter 19
Memory OF Lenore
HOT and tired from an unsuc-
l L cessful fishing expedition, Jan
was In no mood to find Derek
auctioning off her paintings.
Jan charged through, her ell
bows working to good advantage,
and confronted Derek. seeing be-
hind him all twelve Of her pre-
cious canvases.
Derek was staging an exhibit
ton a la Greenwich Village.
Jan dropped her fishing pole
and grabbed for as many canvases
as she could carry. Into the house
she marched with them. her
cheeks flaming with fury.
81 guess the shows over, folks"
Derek shouted and herded his
passengers back to the tram car
He would, he reflected dourly,
not only get the devil for being
off the time schedule and maybe
lose his job, but Jan. from the
look in those flashing blue eyes of
hers, would not only heap. but
throw, Goals of fire on his head.
81 don't know where l got the
idea" he tried to explain to her
later. 81 was rolling along and all
at once | thought of the brilliant
idea of staging an exhibition in
the front yard. | figured l could
bring all my passengers for Gus
toners and try to raise some
money for you"
you're a madmani" she ragged
at him. scooting her hair behind
her ears with shaking fingers.
"Can't you mind your own bust
ness? They are my paintings! The
least you could have done was
ask me. Nobody bought any,
either. / knew no one would want
them. All you did was humiliate
me and make me laughing
stock! Oh, II hate you'll"
"Now listen. JAM" he pleaded.
Il l1on't listen" She stamped
her foot. "And l won't forgive
you. It was mean and contempti-
BILE of you'll" And she fled to her
room and locked the door.
This Eternal Anxiety
DEREK ambled restlessly
II through the house, wonder
ing how he could make amends
to Jan. 1t had, he sighed. seemed
a good plan at the time of execu-
ton. In fairness he tried to put
himself in her place. What if she
had invited a lot of strangers into
the house and played his original
compositions for them on the
piano. then offered to sell them
cheap. He would have felt like
choking herl
All of this present life was so
new and so strange to him. This
eternal anxiety over bills and
earning money; this boarding and
counting and distributing of pen
MES. He had never in all his life
known need of money. At birth
his father had established large
trust fund for him, the income
from which more than satisfied
all of his needs; at the age of
tWenty-one he had inherited more
than FIVE millions from the estate
of his grandmother. He had taken
the possession of money for
granted just as the Merriners
took the lack of possession of it
for granted. No. poverty had
never haunted nor bedeviled him.
but wealth had. He'd come 10
loathe great riches because they
effectively shut him off from the
things he wanted most.
All during adolescence he had
yearned fOT normality. for a
home. for roots. Children. he
thought, do not want TO be diff
ferent. TO be set apart from their
fellows He wanted TO say 10 his
school friends: Come along &c
my place for vacation. Mother
and Dad like my friends around.
They'll see TO it we have a Jolly
time"
He had learned. and the in
forming was a bitter. ruthless
process, that he could not pur-
chase love. a family or recognl-
ton as a composer. But he could
have bought Lenore Page. Would
have bought her. too. albeit I'M
Willingly. if two things had not
interviewed.
The walls of this sh a b by.
weather beaten old house seemed
to close in about him. In growing
dusk. from the chair where he
Slumped, ne saw only the great
solid outline OF JAMS piano. His
own piano had been much like
thiS-the one he kept in his Man
haitian apartment.
His penthouse apartment atop
the latest of modern apartment
houses on Sutton Place in New
York City was crowded with a
colorful group of names promi-
nent in society. stage. sports and
films. Lenore Page. exquisite in
a Lanvin creation of black VEL
vet, wearing the priceless dia-
monds ne had given her. played
hostess, her sleek platinum head
turned graciously to this and that
celebrity. her great, dark eyes
wide with interest, her small
homeless hands with sharp. blood
colored nails keeping things
smooth Lenore. beautiful as
Helen of Troy. clever as Delilah!
He supposed. thinking back,
that he had drunk too much