Detroit evening times. (Detroit, Mich) 1921-1958, 1941-10-22
Daily Short Story
Nv MIRIAM Z. BRANDON

MIL $1,000 on quietly N iiFN
- spoke. Quick. careless words,
casual. thoughtless gusts OF laugh
ter. They say he's quite boy
."
wonder how true II i, that
AFFAIR he had with Marcia
stark
MARCIA stark OF course.
She appeared IN his last three
plays"
"And aren't they a riot:
Those plays. I mean
BET he'd be hellish 10 live
with"
"HelliSh - In an interesting
way" Another roar OF laughter
The girl in the orange sweater
listened. There was little 10 dis
tinguish her from the other stu
dents, clustered in chatterlng
group. Her thick chestnut cuiis
were free Of the usual beret. A
high, broad forehead; almost
straight brows above the level.
Questioning eyes those eyes
and the strange high planes OF
the cheek bones were the girls
only claim 10 beauty.
And even those features were
not beautiful. They merely limited
at a beauty which might come
with maturity. The only other
feature of note were the lips: full
and sensitive. Lips limiting OF a
compassion, n courage. of which /
she seemed to be totally unaware.
The other students turned to /
her and piled her with questions.
els ne always like that"
what makes him 80 caustic:"
what In he really like"
The lecture apparently had left
far less impression on the col
legiate audience than the lecturer.
II don't know, really" she
told them evenly. Il never knew
him well. He was . friend Of
ny fathers, you know. And
when my father was alive--well.
anyway, father often told the
story about the time they were
both at Oxford :"
BUT SHE ESCAPES
Her voice went on, low. pleas
ant voice, repeating the anecdote;
never by single intonation be-
traying either the lecturer or
herself. She escaped shortly after.
IL wasn't difficult. The buzz of
excitement seemed 10 hover over
the group as an odor hovers over
q freshly baked pie. /
Back In her room, she seated
herself at her desk. Her eyes /,
darkened as her thoughts travelled
backward over the last three
months-and forward toward the
next five hours. =
Absently she made scribbling :,
little marks on the block of paper
before her. She had not been !.
truthful when she had told her :,
classmates that she did not know =
Humphrey Black well. G
What could be more innocent ?
He had come as a visitor some !.
months ago. Found the daughter !.
of q former friend. Asked her to
tea. When he had been invited to
deliver a series of lectures al the :
university, what could be more I'm |,
derstandable than that the associa-
ton between two old friends should q
continue? And the association. of q
course. had its roots deeply i'm u
bedded in family ties. $
That's what the dean saw. That's
what everybody else saw. That's :
what Humphrey intended them to-
see-and what the girl. under I
standing the wisdom of such aIp
thing good care that theylc
should see. Because an explanation
of the situation would not explain, j
and would only mean great deal e
Of difficulty for herself.
CAN'T SEE ALL
That the situation was begin
ming 10 get out of hand was hers
problem alone. The dimly luxuri-
otfs drawing room; the jeweIed-
toned rugs. The cracking of the ;
logs. and the bright flames re- ,
fiected in the FURNISHED copperll
sannovar. The delicate porcelainlt
cups. the dull silver tea service
Strangers would, of course. seel
the beautiful elements of Hum I,
phry's home. and envy her her
friendship with this man. What |,
they could not see nor could they,
ever understand was that one
dreadful scene this afternoon.
II had followed a magic mo-
ment: moment when his lips,
expert and clever. had met herl
own. When his embrace had in
closed her, when she had permit
ted herself 10 dream that she be-
longed someplace.
Not for the first time had this
occurred, but today, this afternoon. /
there was subtle difference in
his embrace. A note of authority. |
a decisive element which made |
her wrench herself out of his 1
careSs. Reluctant TO escape, it is
true; but an escape made impera-
tive by something more deeply
ATVFPTTRVNFNT