TOWN WEEKLY MACAZLNE SECTION
Af
THEY SAT In drswinr roam A as Icily
polite as only two people can be who
have discovered that their three-year-old
marriage is a mistake. They were Mr. and
Mrs. Roddy Parks. Except for Aunt
Helen's quixotic whim, Mrs. Roddy
Parks, familiarly called Ginny by all the
people in Sai. Francisco who mattered,
would haw been ttstablrsned in Reno and
well on her way.nie^marryinr Kerry
Lathrop who was sit«ady and serious and
successful in I>UMUCHS, definitely unlike
Roddy. And except for Aunt Itelan, Roddy would gladly have helped O.inny carry
out her plan, so that he could marry
l>essie True who was short and blond,
, the exact opposite of Giany.
Aunt Helen had been tke stumbhag
block. She nfaaid te see aaw tragically
nu-miated Giaay aad Baddy
••Stuff,1' ake'd nsattered (rafty. "If
can't make a ro af it tke arst tisat, yaa
can't the isrsad " Ska weat faither. Sae
said that if Giaay, her oaly Irving rein
tive, shoald gwt a divorce, ska woeld diainherit her. Since Ciaay, wick or wkkoat
a fortune, compared te tkat paragon af
femininity, Dearie Tree, ia no way coa
cerned Roddy. Aaat Helen kad employed
craft. She BTwasiaed ta make Gmay aad
Ro<tdy co-heirs if they • iuld eeescicatiou'lv try far one year aa raperiaaeat
she hail ia mh»d. Bat if a a their honor
they followed tka pan aad failed, they
could get their divoice and aaan j wbana
ever they pleaaad. At her death her fartune would be eaaaUy divided between
them. "After aB." ska tsnehsded abruptly, "one year aat of year lives wkea
neither of ywa has raacatd tka eaartar
century nmrk can't do any piiaamas
damage."
"I wish," Baddy said now tkraag* stisT
lips, II i iaiaa.lj latent sa tke tying and
scape, "that Aaat Helen didn't bckeva
everything ska saw ia piial It's aaaiaa
to mt here aad reehsa tkat an articla
w rittrn by a ckap called Crwwder ea 'Tka
Ten (oinmaadmeasa e( Mailings* is bohm.l sll tkaaiasiasi."
"If only Aant Helen hadn't stressed
the honor sag hi, we eeuld take aa apart*
ment in New York. Bat ska kad to chseea
Carthage, New Jersey, aumaty hwsuae
she once speat s aaBMner tkere, and bwcause the Brat caasanuMkaeat aays that
the safest psaco to stay —11111 d is en tka
Middle Atlantic seaboard!'*
"Tomorrow we bay a ckarmiag cattage. Then we select a bonck of funntara
and a hungry hound that well learn ta
lu\e. After that you gwasip with tka
neighbors over darning my socks while I
run a one-horse book store because I
have a yes to write. And a e aren't to boas
each other. That's the sixth commands
uitiiL" Koddy saaasked his cajarette huts
against the window s>IL
"When I see you tinging ashes every*
where and doddering srownd taking a s
hour to drees—-"
" VMan 1 see you Basing a fool of yourself over every m u in ue>*.—"
tinny broke in coldly. "Just you."
JllmUrsttJ
•Don t forget," countered Roddy
staunchly, "thai you must allow me loses
h
to assert oty ea<o. l'ai to be ana—not what
you think 1 saeabi he. Nor nusst we forSKRE\DJ
get," he continued inexorably, "tkat sex
Mild money are the rocks apoa wbnrk
most marrmgen faiL Yew aaast renlina
that aside from tke cottage, which Aunt
ia a low chair facing Mary Knowles. ker
Helen is to pay for as stipulated, the incaller, who was •ppiaa. tea ia tke winded,
come from say trust fand bays everyckair oa tke ipyssits sale of tke keartk.
thing: famstare, rent for tke show,
Batwaaa tkrss lay Jack, tke eelbc tkat
books, the hoand aad piaiiaiaas "
Uinny skaddtrtd. "Wkea 1 tkiak af
Oddty eaoaek Giaay found kararlf likour apartaaeat ia Saa Franctara—"
ing tkas girl who worked ia tke peat of"Besides tka iacaavenieacaa, we aaat
see. ia spite of
tin
lisaalj strive ta k v s one s s - surktly prosniaent nose. Us
fal af alder w
other—IO tke real meaning; of tke word.
We are te share interests. We most ka Giaay. Mnry Kaawles was sarpranaaiy
well i
sympathetic."
"I wonder if it's worth * . " Giaay said.
Itolocal gisaip. And
"Too late now to wonder. Anyway sTa
"Ttrvs snadc thai rooas
only for a year. Twelve •oatfcs."
eaito avakle wnk tke v a n toac of roaa
"It wouldn't be so hepelcaa if we eidnt
ywa'va aaed ia paintnig tke n a , " Giaaj
was eai iansli plrasi< ky tke aaezpected
each love seaneaody else," said Giaay dsatrikate.
perately.
"Are yea tolling aw? Wkea I tkiak of
and I did tkeas ourselves tka
Dessic and tka tkiur* that can happen ta
her. 1 mean, what if she eaoJda't wait—"
pkuaeoV "Baddy painted tke eefliaw aad
"At least," Gmny was tkoroarkfy
had a crick ia his seek far days afterheartless, "Kerry is loyal. He -.Hid that
ward."
he'd wait for me until his last day on
When her caller had (rone (Jinny stood
earth."
al the living room window, her nose flat"Humph!" It wa'; quite insulting, the
tened against the cold plass. watching for
contempt Koddy put into those four linkRoddy. She waa wearing a navy skirt and
ed consonants.
iweater enveloped in a crisp yellow
unlock Her cropped hair was a mass of
IT WAS FIVE O'CLOCK on *. cold Fel>tangled chestnut curls hecau«e »he had
ruary day one month later thnt (Jinny sat
discovered that a finger wave wag no
\
Ginny shook her head. Big tsars
ran down her cheeks. "1 can't
do it, Roddy," she said. "1 can't
ifaveJoik. You go, I don't bflirve.
to. Baides, 1 like it lure."
wa
wa
coi
II
bool
rest
love
da in
Can
twis
year
•tor;
thoi
fash
chai
stac
•utc
er a
ovei
his <
heel
for
T
buff
thei
mat
of <
And
step
T
mile
ny.
love
in a
It
•ast
\y •
ad vi
roic
thin
R
dow
nvar
"I
•uui
COUI
**
he h
post
on i
ed.
do«r
hU
the
her
a co
tion
M
Joel
like
store tkan a gestare acataat tke aO-aervsdiag daaipasai af tka eceaa two inert
blocks away.
It waa • 16. Ahready Koddy waa ftfGiaay diatatatod that
her caller had left ker with a daaperate
ka careless aaBe asaakiat Vis aSaromntan over another "as sale" day ID the
keek store.
"Hi, JaefcT He beat to male tka pup's
dared, aa sae always did. what Kerry was
silky earn. Giaay waa always asrprncd at
aoiag each hear af tke day. Bja dafly MV
the *dd iwaectiea af Baddy's voice when
ter wkirk kad ceane ia thai
kttseke to tks das.
lory as to
"Haw's haamees?" It waa tka usual
Too, tke wide.
•aasiry ia tke auae orisary matter of
Carthago a
*•«».»•«. ««a anta toaiakt Ciaay had
any para lie hi ake aVed to draw.
i eaiia. 11 d it a aaatMaitu- Bat now,
Sac fekt a saddea d u s n s l s aaed af
stsadiac ky tke table arksle Baddy shrugKerry. Wksa Koddy awnng iato view, ha
res eat of his coat aad hanr it in the
closet, bar werda anaaded tat aad lifebead - w a r back and kia jaw sKrktly forless, thortntrfciy anfntemted.
ward, she ttrurrled to ret bold of her"Not %o good." After conscientiously
self.
kissing the corner of her mouth he went
She wondered dully why Roddy, pre
to stiin.l with his hack to the fire. "That
tended he had to stay at work each eveMrs. (Joodwin who called on you and
ning until six o'clock. He hadn't sold a
rave you her recipe for maple pecan rolls
half dosen books in four weeks'. She
came in today. I recognised her from
knew hy heart the quick way he hurdled
your description before she introduced
their three low front steps on to the herself; it didn't seem reasonable that
square of porch and flung open the doox.
anyone else would have three black
— ar——•
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—
-
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>
a)
—
»w«w.
a^swa a p
saaa
aaMW
a g
•tre
lips
that
of t
hers
inex
•d v
year
turn
TH1
May
bulk
sunr
droj
han<
ing '
cred
her
Stan
the i
ling,
youi
catc
whe
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