HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Wingham Advance-Times, 1939-12-21, Page 18THE WINGHAM ADVANCE-TIMES
__________________- ...,..... ... Ml
ljr stirs out of the big top-heavy house
in which she went housekeeping when
she was first married. A five there
because it pleases her, and because 1
like jt myselt.” He leaned close to
the speaking tube. “Stop at the corner
Charles, 1 want to get some flowers.
When he came back he handed Jan
a transparent box containing a spray
of bittersweet berries, red and gold
against evergreen.
"How lovely with this dress. Jan
took out the unusual corsage and was-
tened it at her waist. .
"Lovely with your eyes and hair,
Brad said grevely. "More red than
your hair, less golden than your eyes.■
Charles was maneuvering the car
deftly to the surb how, stopping be
fore a great pile of a brownstone
’house, all bay windows, it seemed to
Jan. A high fence enclosed a little
garden space at'the side.
“You see, it’s a throwback to the
elegant eighties,” said Brad, Mpmg
her mount the steps that climbed ui
the front of the house, past an Eng
lish basement, to the parlor floor. Be
fore they reached the door it was op
ened by an elderly maid in a volum
inous uniform that all but touched the
floor. Her white hemstitched apron
was voluminous too, and she wore a
read cap, not a part bow. Jan was
' •* sure she must have served in this
house many years.
That was true, she learned later,
when, after she had greeted old Mrs
Curtis in the drawing-room, dinner
had been announced by the same maid
and they were all three seated at the
heavy mahogany table m the dining
room.” Everything in the room was
heavy — the tapestry covered chairs,
the thick draperies drawn together at
the tall windows, even the silver on
the table. Only the china was frg‘ s
ile, and that was so delicate that Jan
was careful about touching it with
her knife and fork. It looked as if it
could be shattered by a sigh, she mur
mured tp Mrs. Curtis, admiringly.
"It's real old Irish Belleek," ex
plained the doctor’s mother, it s my
ravorite tabieware — that s why 1
brought it out tonight.”
"That shows you what she thinks
of my friends, Jan,” Brad put in.
“Funny part ot it‘ is, she wouldn't use
it if this were a dinner party for her
own pals.”
“I’m glad she brought it out to
night,” said Jan, very fragile herselt
against the high back of her chair,
•’I've never seen anything like it.
When the meal was..over the old
lady suggested coffee in the library
for Jan and Brad. .She never drank
coffee herself, she explained, and
would go to her own room at once.
Jan waited until Brad had escorted
his mother to her room and called her
maid to make her comfortable for the
night; lie returned to the dining room
and drew Jan’s arm through his, and
they went into the library. Here only
one lamp had been switched on; the
light of a coal fire behind the bars of
an old-fashioned grate seemed very
br“SLet me pour that for you," Brad
half rose from his ch'air as the maid
left a silver tray with the coffee se: -
vice and two of the fragile Belleek
cups on a small table beside Jan.
"No, you stay put,” she ordered.
“1’11 pour — how many liimps? She
looked across at him, the sugar pois
ed in the old silver tongs.
"One. No cream. This is luxury,
as he took the cup from her hands
and watched her return to her own
Ch*Do you know this is the tirst time
I’ve ever had coffee in a library? she
said as she settled back, her own cup
still on the silver tray. A ^e read
about it in stories; I often wondered
what it would be like. •
"Is it anything like what you ex
pected?”. The doctor’s eyes were am-
US"No. I never dreamed that a room
could be as beautiful as this — and
only one of a whole houseful of beau
tiful rooms. There’s something about
it, about this whole house, that makes
it different from anything I ve evei
S“<YWre right, Jan. This house has
something — it has a past. It lias
years of living and loving m it, and
th^r8emo*e" have been very
h’?Shehwa^ Not always, ofcourse
There was a younger sister-— ne
broke off. M“I’m you ,ke the
She smiled at him.
"Enough to live in it?”
“You mean-?” .."I mean that now I’ve seen you in
my home, I cant’ let you go out of it.
Not without telling you that I hope
you will come back soon to stay,”
Brad rose and crossed the space
that lay between them. "Come over
here,” he said, drawing .her to her feet.
Into eacii .side of the hearth a seat
had been built facing the fire. They
were made of the same old polished
oak which paneled the room, and the
glow of the fire was reflected in the
gleaming wood. The doctor led her to
one of these narrow benches and took
the other himself.
"It’s not very comfortable, but 1
• like the view,” he smiled. "I want to
look at your face by firelight.” He
was silent for a moment and Jan, con
fused, was unable to speak.
"You belong here,” Brad began ag
ain after a while. “You should have
the things that I can give you. You
belong here, and you belong to me.
I knew that the moment I first saw
you. Do you remember that first day,
Jan? You opened the door, and when
I told you who I was and that I had
come to see Dora, you turned so
white I thought you were going to
faint. „ . ,
" ‘Not Dr. Bradford Curtis,’ you
kept .saying, ‘not the only man in the
world who can cure Dora!’ *You re-
member that, Jan?” the doctor asked.
“I remember.” Jan’s voice was
husky. The miracle was as great now
as it had. been then. It was a miracle-
that had brought the great Dr.Curtis,
the one man who had had conspicu
ous success in cases like her sister’s,
to their door that day.
“1 was so gratetut that 1 nearly
died," sue said simply. '’And yet i
didn't Know what gratitude, was till
1 Heard that the operation had Deen a
success." .. . ■ „
" Y ou can forget about that now,
the doctor went on. “1 don't want
anything 1 have been able to do lor
Dora to influence your decision, Jan,
when 1 ask you what I'm going to
ask you. Will you marry me?
"fm tiiirty-tive years old and you
are — twenty r mats lineen years
uetween us. vouid you learn to iove
a man imeen years ouler than your- ,
selir Win you give me a chance to
teacn you to love mef'
ide paused and Jan, twisting in her
fingers, a mt oi evergreen irom tne
bouquet lie had given ner, sat staring
into the iiery heart of the cqals.
••Perhaps; ?aid Brad gently, “1 «
ought to ask’you, is there anyone else,
Jan?”
"No,” whispered.Jan.
"For a little while I thought you
and Tony - er - Williams —"
"No,” said Jan, firmly this time.
“That didn't mean anything.”
"Then —- you'll try to love me?”
"Oh, Doctor Curtis, I do love you!”
Impulsively Jan rose and threw her
arms around his neck. ’He disengag
ed them after a moment and held both
her hands in his.
"'Chat’s not quite the way I meant,
he told her softly. Then, “We’ll leave
it at that, shall we? And now I’ll
take you home. I’m flying up to Ver
mont in the morning; I’ve got a camp
at a place called Moose River. I’m
going up up there for a little rest ov
er Christmas.”
“You’re going to spend Christmas
all alone?”
"I need a glimpse of the mountains
every once in a while. This is the
only time I can get away. There’s an
old guide who has a shack nearby —
he always looks after me on these oc
casions.”
“Brad, I do wish you a happy
Christmas!” said Jan.
He put his arm around her, draw
ing her close as she stood beside him
before the fire. After a minute Jan
looked up, mischief in her dancing
eyes.
"Brad,” she asked, "isn’t that mis
tletoe?” She pointed to a vase filled
with Christmas evergreens, just above
their heads.
"There must be some around
there■
Laughing, he bent his head
kissed her.
H
%
UP
and
i
Chapter XX
It was December 23rd. Jan was ex
pecting Tony to ring up any
now. With such an excuse „„
Christmas eve party he would surely
make an attempt to see her again! If
he did She would just have to be firm
and say!
"No, Tony, that’s all over now. Ev
erything is settled. Let’s leave it that
way.”
Or perhaps, it would be better to
be reluctant at first, but give in grace
fully before Tony hung tip. Under the
circumstances Tony would be con
cerned, no doubt, about Devetest’s
moment
as this
coming party, and would’be particiN
larly perturbed because of the effect
it might have on Jan’s future. Probr-
ably he would want to talk it over
with her and help her find a way out
of the situation in which she found
herself involved.
But days had passed since that last
ride with Tony. This was the third,
to be exact, and he had not called.
That was a relief, of course, JTan told
herself over and over. Only it was the
kind of relief that made her turn pale
every time the telephone rang and
caused her to wonder irritably each
time she hung up why it was that peo
ple bothered to telephone about such
trivial matters!
She was due at Mary Elizabeth
Howard’s at eleven this morning. She
presented herself dutifully. Mary El
izabeth herself came in to supervise
this last fitting as Jan did as they dir
ected her before the big mirrors. She
watched her image advance and re
treat in their depths.
"There.” Mary Elizabeth pointed
out,, to the seamstress sitting back on
her heels just out of Jan’s line of
march, the cause of the1 defect in the
hang of the full skirt, for which they
had been looking.
It was a nice enough dress, Jan
conceded. A queer blue, though, she
thought. Miss Howard called it “ro
mantic blue.” It did remind Jan of
midnight winter skies she and Tony
had seen together. Suppose he called
while she was out. Would Molly, the
telephone operator, remember to give
her his message? He wouldn’t call!
Jan forced herself to consider the
dress reflected in the mirrors. What
soft, soft velvet! And how the color
darkened or took on added sheen as
new lights or shadows played on the
sweeping ripples of the skirt! A "pic
ture” gown, Miss Howard called it.
The bodice was the off-the-shoulder
type and her skin looked very white
against the intense blue of the velvet.
Oh, the style suited her all right, she
acknowledged to herself, but what
difference did it make? She would
never wear this dress!
1 “Turn again.” Obedient to Mary
Elizabeth’s commands, Jan moved this
way and that, stood still at the turns,
pacing slowly in a wide circle around
the beautiful modern salon.
‘Twill never,- never wear this dress.”
Jan had made her decision. Right
here, with the Utting in progress, up
to now she had had no idea what she
would do. As the time for the Dever-
est Christmas party drew near she
had seemed to De under a spell. She
couldn’t think her own thoughts.
That didn't make sense, she told her
self. Surely there was something she
could 'do! Something she. ought to do
— before catastrophe descended upon
her! But she remained dully obliv
ious to the passing of the hours. She
simply could not rouse herself to take
any course of action.. Now, suddenly,
, seeing herself reflected in the “en-
gament” gown, she came face to face
with reality — and she k'new what she
had to do! t
When the fitting was finally over
to Miss Howard’s complimentary sat
isfaction, Jan went to see Dora. She
must be assured once more that Dora
was being well cared for. She could
come home by New Year’s, Dr. Cur
tis had promised. That was nearly a
week away. Well, the> course of Jan’s
life would have been mapped out long
before that time. Long before * that
time it would be necessary to decide
what would be best for Dora, too.
Jan wished she could tell her little
sister her plans, but it seemed better
to wait. Dora would be overjoyed
when she learned of the step Jan had
now determined to take.
As for Jan, what did her happiness
matter? Dr. Curtis had said that she »
had it in her power to make him hap
py. She had told him not long ago,
and meant it, that she wished there
was some way she could show her
gratitude for all he had done for Dora.
Her way seemed clear enough now.
She would be doing the best thing for
everybody by accepting Brad’s pro
posal. She would make him a good
wife, too: respect, admiration, real
liking — she felt all of them for Dr.
Curtis. Surely that was enough on
which to start a successful marriage.
Beside, hadn’t she heard often that
love was* a matter of .propihquity? r -- That many a girl who married a man blades, thought Jan. But she smiled
merely liking him, actually grew to ' T —...............................
love him sincerely? It. shouldn’t be
difficult to fall in love with Brad, she
z assured herself. All she needed was
a little time to forget Tony.
It would be different, Jan’s thoughts
ran on, if knowing hei* had had the
right effect on Tony. But, as it was,
she could bring him nothing but dis-
"aster. With her out of his life he’d
find some other «girl -r~ someone to
whom he could be just Tony Wil
liams, without any of this pathetic ef
fort toward munificence.
Jan lingered at the hospital with
Dora as long as she could. Dora was
looking forward to Christmas as a
child might. She wondered if that
"nice Tony Williams” really meant
to give her a present. "Oh, I’m sure
he does!” Jan exclaimed. And she
hoped that in spite of what had hap
pened Tony would not forget her lit
tle sister.
"I’ll bet that he’s paging Santa
Claus this minute,” she told her with
conviction.
They had agreed that it would be
best for Jan to bring over to the hos
pital all the wrapped-up presents
from the hotel. Jan would be very ■
busy on Christmas eve with Mr. Dev-
erest’s party and would not have time
to come to the hospital. Dora .prom
ised solemnly that she would not op
en a single present until Christmas
day, and Jan listened, her heart a lit
tle heavy at the thought that Dora
would have to spend this Christmas
day alone. But that’s the way it would
. have to be. Dora would be happy en
ough when she knew!
Jan had never seen a day race by
so fast. At the hospital she stdwed
Dora’s gifts away in the dresser draw
er while Dora looked on delightedly,
trying to guess from the shapes of the
packages what each one held. When
it came time for Jan to go she clung
to Dora a little and then, because she
would have burst into tears if she
waited another minute, she jumped to
her feet and ran out of the door.
There was still so much to dol She
musj stop at a store and buy a trav
eling basket for Pussy-puff. She’d
never have forgiven herself if any
thing happened to Dora’s kitten while
she was away. Pussy-puff must go
with her. Her packing took very lit
tle time. Just an overnight ca’se that
held a few things she really needed.
With her own bag in her hand and
Pussy-puff mewing piteously in his
basket, she hurried toward the elevat
or.
"Going away?” There was Mrs.
Talbot coming out-of her room just
as Jan was .passing her door. She
would run into Mrs. Talbot, thought
Jan, annoyed. 'Not that it mattered at*
all, but there was no use in broadcast
ing things before you were ready.
"No. I was just taking the kitten
to see Dora.” She couldn’t think of
anything better on the spur of the mo
ment.
“Humph!” said Mrs. Talbot.
Chapter XXI
Jan walked to the subway station
as last as sne could. She knew sue
had very little time to spare if she
was to catch the alternoon north
bound bus. -When she reached it she
thought for a moment that she was
too late. Every seat seemed to be ta-_
ken. She stepped into the bus quick-'
ly and looked over the sea of hats,
two by two, in every seat. ’Way to
ward the back she saw a break' in the
solid phalanx of heads and pushed her
way down the aisle. Everybody had
been Christmas shopping, apparently.
'.Boxes and bundles of every imagin
able shape and size all but engulfed
the passengers, many of them even
resting their feet on one or two of
the studier purchases.
The unoccupied seat that Jan had
thought she saw was next to the win
dow. A middle-aged, tight-lipped wo
man sat on the aisle and had formed
a barricade in the space between her
seat and the window with all sorts of
bundles. "Ready to hold the fort ag
ainst all comers,” thought Jan.
Jan wedged her way down the aisle
until she. stood beside the stern vis-
aged woman
"Is this seat taken?” she inquired
in a low voice.
Her tone did not mollify the occu
pant in the least. She turend her
steel-rimmed spectacles full on Jan
and stared at her without speaking.
"I said, is this seat taken?” repeat
ed Jan.
"Can’t you see it is?” the other
snapped. "A voice like ground razor
sweetly. "I mean, is there’1 anyone sit-*
ting there?”.
At this point the bus driver looked
around. He was due to start in one
minute flat, and he did not propose
to be kept waiting while passengers
argped over priority rights, or any
thing else.
"Everybody seated, please,” he said.
"And I do mean you, miss,” as Jan