The Wilmington morning star., 1947-12-25
CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE

...,rned ..U and looked first at Aunt
1ai Edith and then at Cathy.
"Well, grls," he sad at last,
"Well, girls" he said at last,
II, voice trying hard to sound
tIS Iisbt, here we 60. i went to
Atlanta, Aunt Edith, as you
nnr1st , have guessed by now, to
inok I for a job-a job that would
nsrp1it me to take decent and
ppdeouate care of-my wife"
Edith Kendall was stunned,
although her eyes showed that
sba s had expected this and
dreaded it and wanted to refuse
10 accept it.
But, Bill darling, you've got
iob-a fine job. The salary is
n,ore than ample for you - and
Won your wife. If it isn't, it can be
;ncreased," she protested I'm
steadily.
"That, of course, depending
entirely upon whether or not I
marry as you wish me to, Aunt
Edith," said Bill quietly.
"You've held that over my head
much too long, and I'm rebel
Ing | have chosen my wife,
and I'm sorry that you disap-
nrove, but naturally, l quite un-
dderstand just what it means.
That | shall have to give up my
lob and my chances of being
Tour heir and all the rest of it..
I admit l fought a long time
against making this decision.
I've shamed Cathy and hurt her,
over and over again, because I
had my heart set on sharing
with her the money that l feel
I have every right to in herit.
But I've realized, at long last,
that having Cathy is all that
really matters. | swore, always,
that | would never marry un-
less | knew beyond all reason
able doubt that my wife could
have every comfort and luxury.
| tried to sell Cathy the idea,
Int she feels that love is far
more important than money
end feel that Cathy is the
most important thing in my life.
so-I'm sorry, Aunt Edith, but
that's the way it is. I'm leaving
Cvpressville at the end of the
month and starting work on my
new Job two weeks later. The
two weeks is for a honeymoon. "
put. Bill - Bill, I've told
no longer object to your
age - that I'm perfectly
for you to marry her
il few months, maybe"
mmered Mrs. Kendall.
Cathy held her breath, her
eyes on Bill. And Bill smiled at
her family, reassurlngly, and
said quietly, "Cathy and l are
married, Aunt Edith. We were
secretly married several weeks
ago"
There was a stunned silence.
Mrs. Kendall stared at him as
though she could not believe her
ears And then she looked at
Cathy, wide-eyed, shocked.
This - this shameful thing
isn't true, Cathy?" she gasped.
I'm afraid it is, Mrs. Ken
dali"
Bill flushed and ran mis- fin
gers through mis- hair with q
gesture that Cathy remembered
as characteristic when he was
INFUSED or uneasy.
Il suppose it was shameful IN
a way - great inJustlce to
Cathy," he a d m i tt ed unWllI-
lngly,
ITO Cathy? What about the in
justice to me? Surely l deserve
better treatment than that from
you, Bill. That you should sneak
around behind my back and
marry some girl you knew l dis
approved of as your wife
Mrs. Kendall set her teeth hard,
biting off what she had meant
to say as though fearful Of Bills
anger.
"You have only yourself to
blame, Aunt Edith, that l didn't
trust you more" said Bill.
You've always held the Kendall
estate over my head-or rather,
Just ahead of me-like a carrot
ahead Of a donkey to make it
pull harder. Even the donkey,
stupid as he is, finally begins
TO suspect he isn't ever going to
get the carrot, TO matter how
hard he pulls. Well, I've never
made any secret of the fact that
felt the Kendall estate was
more mine than yours. After all
my mother and your husband
should have shared tn e estate
equally, and at his death, the
least he could have done was
% have left q will dividing it.
But you hung onto it with both
lists and used it as a whipover
me l learned in very hard
way that money is desperately
important; I watched my moth
s' whom I worshipped, die OF
Malnutrition and overwork,
Snen only a few of the dollars
v, Which you chung so jealousy
might have saved her. I meant
never again, so long as I lived,
" put myself in a spot where
"a have to watch someone 1
myed n0 suffer for lack of the sheer
necessities of life"
ne put his arm about Cathv
sIo drew her close, his cheek
dganSt her bo;r