Arkansas State press., 1942-05-22

| THAN WIFI Il Nbllltit h'N'
one man and loves another.
Ann had never really been mar
lied to John Manning. She ned
| been his legal wife for three years
hut she still considered herself
free woman,
The whole thing had happened
when Bob Whitley had taken the
| ich as foreign correspondent for
The Globe. He had called her on
the phone rather casually and told
her about it.
"But Bob we were to announce
our engagement she had protest
ed.
For moment the phone be-
came quiet Then she heard his
strained voice again. 1t seemed
to Ter if he were a judge sentenc- /,
ing her to the gallows,
"That can wait" he said.
ooh, is that how unimportant it
is?' she answered, forgetting in !,
her anger everything except the |
fact that Bob was going away
and that the invitations were al
ready cut for their engagement
party,
Cant you understand what
this means to me- he was say
ing. "Things are happening in the
world and this is chance that
i never get again. Be sport,
sweetheart, and say you'll wait"
His words had become blurred
and meaningless to her. She was
thinking of those cynical friends
of hers who would claim that Bob
had walked cut on her.
"Still the career man." she
laughed, trying TO h de her feeling
of resentment under q sophisti- I
Gated manner. "Well, | wish you
luck with your new assigrmet."
81 guess I'll need it, he said,
in calm matter of fact tone.
"How about having dinner with
me tonight at Toneys ?"
She hesitated for the moment.
She wanted to go but her PRIDE
had been hurt. Her mind held
but one purpose, however, she
was determined to pay him back I
for having ruined her plans so
completely.
"Tm having dinner at the Valid |
OFF with John Manning" she told
him. "After all, l just can't de-
vote my attention on a man who !
suddenly decides he wants TO see
the world before he marries.'
"And John is supposed to be
my friend" he thought to himself. !
"But darling" he protested, "my |
plane leaves at ten o'clock and |
still have to pack When will | |
see you?"
when you come back, if they |
don't assign you to Siberia" she
told him. "And if | marry in tie
meantime I'll save you a piece of
the wedding cake"
81 guess it's goodbye them he .
SAID in a voice that had become
coldly formal. He was trying
hard not to let her know how !
deeply her words had hurt him.
Eyes, of course she said. at ,
is goodbye Bob, and won't be :
burning any candles for you
either. It's me Or the new job
and you seem to he pleased with |
the choice you've made"
Anne had not meant TO close
their conversation so abruptly.
She lad hoped she could change
his mind at the last moment. The
click of his phone told her that
she had slut the door bch nd her.
Bob was as stubborn as a mule
and ne took his career very seri-
ously in spite of the fact that hel
had inherited from his father a
very substantial income. She turn
cd over in her mind their hasty
conversation. She admitted to
herself that she had been hot-head
ed, but Bob had no right to en-
barrass her before her friends
Shed show him that she was no
doll baby that he could put on and
off shelf at will There were
plenty of other men who would be
glad to marry her.
That night as she dressed for
dinner she made up her mind that
she would marry John Manning
1t was true that she did not love
him, but that did not seem as i'm
portant as the fact that he had ask |
cd her. There was a cynical look
on her face as she considered what
married life would be with him.
Her mind seemed suspended in air
as she tried to give reason to her
decision. Even then she knew
that 1t was a blind desire to get
revenge from Bob Jackson that
was influencing her action.
The three years of her marriage
had failed to change Anne's feel
lngs toward her hushpnd. As time
went on she wondered why she had
allowed herself to marry a man