title: Beauty by Diane
author: Roberts, Virginia
description: The work she loved would only by a means an end and the man she loved would never be hers until she could escape the past...
  
  Diane Carson, in her ruby-red linen sheath, fitted beautifully into the decor of Madame Fredericks' New Orleans Beauty Spa. Diane was an esthetician, or -- in plain language -- a dermatology assistant. . . The joys and sorrows of a plush beauty resort are vividly set forth in this light-hearted novel of a girl whose love for her job of giving beauty and encouragement to her 'guests' almost equaled her love for a rising young attorney.
  
  Too Good to be True...?
  
  To Diane Carson, her job at Madame Fredericks' plush beauty spa outside New Orleans--where the latest "guest" arrivals included a senator's bored lady, a 19-year-old heiress on the verge of divorce, and the 350-pound wife of a railroad tycoon--was fascinating. It was also her chance to pay off a secret debt she felt she owed--and clear the way for her too-long postponed marriage to young attorney Bill Martin. Then a rumor started that Madame, a former actress, was planning a movie comeback and the spa would be closed. Soon there were signs that it was more than a rumor. And while Diane was still trying to get up enough courage to tell Bill their wedding day would have to be put off again, disaster of another kind reached out for her...
  
  Questions...
  
  Bill drew her close and they stood by the rail, not talking, listening to the muddy waters of the Mississippi wash against the old boat's side. Finally, Bill whispered, "Diane, wouldn't it be terrible if we didn't have each other? If we weren't in love?"
  
  "It would be the worst thing in the world," she said...
  
  And then he was saying something she hadn't wanted him to say--not tonight anyway. "Darling...Diane, marry me now!"
  
  She heard herself stammer, "Bill--I--I love you, but--"
  
  "But? But--what? Tell me Diane, what's so important in your life that it stands between us and marriage? Tell me!"