Evening Star Newspaper, June 29, 1936, Page 27

CHAPTER I. ALL white candles burned steadily in the heavy silver candelabra, gardenias reflect- ed their white fragrance on oblong mirrors, old Ephraim—the im- peccable butler—passed slowly around the table straightening the silver for the dozenth time, brushing an in- finitesimal speck from here and there. Patsy Warfield, standing straight and small and slender at the window, her golden head up, a look of quiet ex- pectancy upon her face, waited for the first car to turn into the drive- way of Tree Tops. For tonight Admiral Warfield, her grandfather, with whom she and Marcia, Ted and Tippy, had lived gince the death of their parents, would announce her engagement to Richard Bowie. And in October she would marry him. They would go to Canada for a month or two and then come back to Annapolis and live serenely and graciously in Richard’s dignified Colonial home on the banks of the Severn and only a stone's throw from Tree Tops. That would please her grandfather | and almost compensate him because | eghe was marrying a scientist and a ecivilian. She would have a husband who was wealthy, a philanthropist, Ted Warfield wasn’t alone. cause she had known him all her life and was only passively fond of him. Eventually she would go on with her voice, her lessons with Dmetrieff, the great impresario in New York, driven again by that strange force within herself which she had recognized three years ago, | but did not understand, and which Dmetrieff said was one of the first signs of greatness. And that would please her! She didn't want love. For a long time now Patsy Warfield had been afraid of love. Not wanting love, she thought, went back to a soft Summer twilight and a garden that smelled sweetly of roses and hibis- cus and dew on the grass. had been many people at grand- father's garden party that night: Ladies who drifted over the spacious grounds with the grace of swans and officers resplendent in brass and gold braid. But she only remem- bered a few; her father and a slim dark young woman who had wandered off with him into the wistful shadows of the live oaks, not aware of the amall 9-year-old Patsy who followed them: who stood, wide-eyed and wondering when her father swept the young woman into his arms and held her lips close beneath his own for & long, long while. Back on the pillared porch of Tree ‘Tops, she remembered her mother's starkly white face, her stricken dark eyes, her softly plaintive voice. And she remembered Grandfather War- field saying, gently, “Women can't resist Carter, Leila, and his vanity won't permit him to resist them. It's nothing more than that. And he for- gets them so quickly.” Her mother bad sobbed something about “would it never end” and “the tortures of hu- miliation.” But most clearly of all, Patsy re- membered the ladies in picture hats and flowing pastel chiffons, who had gathered around the tea table and had stood holding fragile cups in their pale hands. One goldenly lovely woman had said: “Don’t you feel sorry for Leila Warfield! The commander is so fatally handsome, so attractive to women and so attracted by them. There are few women who can re- sist & man in uniform, and I sup- pose Teresa Evans can't be blamed any more than the others. You'd certainly think she'd be more dis- creet, though, wouldn't you? You can see their shadows very plainly down there under the live oaks. And Leila has seen them! . . . Poor dear! Indeed, I'd rather be dead than live a life like hers . . . that wretched sense of insecurity . . . that —" Another lady in & picture hat had turned suddenly, had seen the small big-eyed girl behind her, had held & silencing finger to her crimson lips. “Ssh-hh! There's Patsy!” she had said in an undertone, “Little pitchers, you know!” But later she had undersfood. Un- derstood fully. And in the years that followed there grew within Patsy _ & strong fear of love—strengthened “Jay Marcia’s tragic marraige to There | young officer who was killed in a balloon crash, and Ted’s wild, futile infatuation for Virginia Keith—un- til at 20, she was obsessed with it. ‘Whatever else happened to her, there were three things that must not. She must never fall in love; she must never become even slightly fond of & man that other women found irresistible; she must never look even a second time at a man in a uniform. This latter resolve had been a little dificult, being Navy born as she was, and moving from one navy yard to another until her father had died in Guam, and her mother, grieving, had quickly | life. | In the kitchen, there was a rattle of dishes a scurrying of feet and the happy humming of the servants, who liked nothing better than a party at the big house of Admiral Warfield. Upstairs, Marcia's petulant voice rang through the wide halls. “Tip- |py! Won't you be a gentleman for lonce and give me a chance at the shower! It's late. People will be coming any minute now!” Tippy's strong young voice came back, muffied by the spray of the only shower in the house. “I'm not | & gentleman, Marcia! I would have been an officer and & gentleman by |act of Congress if I hadn‘t flunked out of the Academy! So-0-0, not being & gentleman, I'm going to take my time and look my best! You see, if Ted doesn't make it back from the Coast tonight I'm going to make a play for his gorgeous Virginia Keith! What a girl, Marcia! Eyes like Sum- mer stars, hair like a flame—" “Like & flame to burn your fingers, Tippy!” Patsy smiled and was glad that Marcia sounded in a happy mood to- night. Lately she had wondered if Marcia would ever get over Tom Kane's tragic death. Ted said that | it would drive her off her nut if she didn't stop thinking about him. And Tippy said he thought some one ought to keep an eye on Marcia all the time, for she might do something horrible to herself or some one when she was in one of her black, despairing moods. But grandfather believed that Mar- cia’s decision to teach painting this year would probably help more than anything else and put an end to those days of locking herseif in her room and crying for hours into the pillow on her bed. Patsy left dining room window then and went through the hall and out on the Colonial portico. For a while she stood there listening to the orchestra of the night tuning up—the castanets of the cicadas, the resonant throb as of a bass viol close by, a sharp cornet note in the distance, the wind singing through the live oaks like wild harp strings—sporadic night sounds that slowly began to harmonize in the music of the country. She closed her eyes for & moment and stood very still, as if a single movement of her body would silence the world. Years later, hearing §n- *other orchestrs tune up and standing very still, listening, Patsy would re- member this night and tears would magnify her eyes, and those seeing would wonder why and never under- stand, When her lashes lifted once more her gaze lay soft and dreamy and darkly blue on Richard’s house in the distance. The broad expanse of grass and trees between the two homes glittered with its myriad points of cold dew, like old silvered brocade. She could see the light burning in his basement laboratory and wondered if Richard would forget that he was becoming engaged to tonight. Richard might forget am¥.ning when he was in that curious, clumsy b- thé ! oratory of his, moving back and followed him in death, as she had | Another uniformed officer got out of the car with him. “Patsy, may I present Lee Cavendish, the Navy’s flying fool himself,” shouted Ted to her. and who could never hurt her be- | followed the fleet and his ship in a chair, crumpling & chart, his slim | THE EVENING STAR, WASHINGTON, D. C., Hof Love; by PHYLLIS MOORE GALLAGHER between the bunsen burner and the shelves disorderly with flasks and test tubes and pipettes; dropping some- thing on & tiny slide and putting it under a miscroscope. How many times had she sat silent- 1y in that basement waiting for Rich- ard to complete some experiment that he hoped would ultimately benefit hu- manity! How many times had she sat there studying him intently—his tall, lean darkness, the brown eyes that were not quite soft . . . speculative, rather, with the clarity that comes of introspection, nerves and analysis; the sensitive mouth with only a hint of cynicism in the corners. Then one night he had slumped to | face changing gradually from an ami- | able dreaminess to stark ducourub! {ment. She had gone to him and had I run her fingers through his wavy brown hair. It had felt soft and dear to the touch. That was when she had made up her mind at last to marry him. ‘The hum of a motor car and the sound of tires slewing against gravel | ad a car swung into the driveway scattered Patsy’s thoughts. The twin shafts of gold brought a rush of beauty to the gardens of Tree Tops—dahlias, strong and dusky and rich; maple leaves ing gently in flaming color to the ground. Then the car stopped under the portico and the gald was dashed off and for s moment the earth seemed plunged in darkness. Patsy snapped on the porch light, moved a little to- ward the steps and stood waiting, smiling. A lovely young girl in & trailing blue chiffon engagement gown | and her flance's corsage of gardenias sgainst her slim throat. Ted climbed out of the car, whis- tling, cap a little to one side. Like most very young Navy officers he had only one respectable uniform, sacred to affairs like hid sister's engagement dinner. The seat of his pants was a trifie incandescent from much sitting and pressing, but his braid was bright and his aviator's eagle glittered. Patsy’ ymile broadened. She thought: “Ted Warfleld, lieutenant (junior grade), attached to the U. 8. 8. Saratoga, plane carrier with the Pa- cific Fleet, but feeling very important, if you please, because he's temporarily stationed in Annapolis to scout for the foot ball team. He's back now from a flight to check the technique and maneuver of a dogen college teams that Navy will play. We'll hear all | about it at breakfast and dinner and supper for a week. He's trying to look excited because I'm becoming engaged to Richard tonight, but he's really ex- cited because he will see Virginia Keith again.” Ted Warfield wasn't alone. Another uniformed young man got out of the car behind him. A very tall young lieutenant, and straight, who had an arrogant way of holding his blond head. As he came up the steps beside Ted, Jeft hand in the pocket of his coat, his cap a little to one side, Patsy thought he was the most handsome man she had ever seen. He had the bluest eyes she had ever seen, too, and she could tell by the eurve of his upper Hp that he knew how to laugh at him- self. Ted reached the top step with a anything of Virginia since I've been away, have you?” Patsy swiftly remembered Virginia Keith as she had seen her last week at Log Cabin Tavern, a little drunk and flirting outrageously with Victor Caldwell. Neither Victor nor Virginia, at their table far across the room, had seen her. She wondered briefly if all the stories afloat in Annapolls about Victor were true—if the rugged, dark- eyed little boy with whom she and Richard and Ted had played with years ago on the banks of the Severn could have turned into the mysteri- ous—possibly criminal—character that a few natives thought him. Victor came of a wretchedly poor but proud family. They were still poor, but his minister father refused any of the things that Victor offered to do for them. She wondered if it was be- cause he was wealthy and yet had no position, no tangible background to| prove how he made his money. She said evenly, “No, Ted, I haven't seen Virginia.” And Ted, whistling again, picked up Lee's suitcase and his own and van- ished into the house. Patsy smiled at the “Navy's flying fool” then. Her back was to the porch light and her eyes lay in shadow. But Lee Cavendish could see her mouth clearly—her mouth and the clear, lovely line of her chin and the faint dimple that came out in her right cheek when she smiled. She sald: “You really didn’t need an introduction, Mr. Cavendish. Your reputation preceded you. Aside from being the Navy's flying fool, given to dazzling speed, incredible careenings, swoops and what have you, the Navy says—and when the Navy speaks it usually says plenty!—that you were the best athlete the academy ever turned out! And that's why you're stationed in Annapolis now giving the team the benefit of your experience. You play a banjo, dance divinely, paint a little, as evidenced by your cartoons in the Log"—the dimple grew deeper in her cheek—"and if you hadn't gone in the Navy you'd probably have gone on the stage.” He lifted an eyebrow at her. “Swell! And what else has preceded me?” “Oh, lots! You're from Virginia— not Navy born, but Navy made. You were captain of the foot ball team your second-class year, No. 1 boy in crew, but I missed seeing you because dad was stationed in Shanghai then | and I was busy watching Chinamen | turn soapstone into jade and sell it at fabulous prices to tourists. mission. The women, I am told, fall for you—one and all!” “So I really go to town with the I dies? You see—I hadn't realized it “And there my story ends. Grand- | father being retired now and giving me no chance to go places and hear things, I miss most of the best Navy patter. But I can remember the time” —the dimple deepened in her cheek again—“when you were the heart- smasher of the Navy! All the matrons buzzed over their bridge tables and cocktails and teacups up and down the “God help me!” Suddenly he stop- ped smiling. He said: “Look here, I You mar- | ried Kitty Mitchell at the academy | chapel the'day you received your com- | know s few things about you, tool When your father was naval attache in Paris you studied voice. “You have a fine, delicately beauti- ful voice, and the great impresario, Dmetrieff, says you have a future. During the first aria you sang for him you almost fainted because you were afrald you couldn’t reach the high note. It was a little black note way up on the ceiling waiting to pounce down on you and crack you to pieces. But you caught it by the tail and handled it like a diva and Dmetrieff promptly visioned you doing ‘Madame Butterfly’ at the Metropolitan. You probably will some day, for you have everything else that it takes and Dmetrieff says you have a voice. “Also, you wouldn't marry in the Navy if they tossed in all the battle- ships a§ & wedding present. You see, Ted did a spot of talking while we were flying in from the Coast. Tell me—what has a girl like you, born on a transport somewhere off Samoa, Navy tradition, Navy trained, got against the Navy?” She couldn't tell him that the only thing she had against the Navy were the uniforms that did glamorous things even to almost homely men. That would sound a little idiotic. So she fell back on the complaints of Navy women who, nevertheless, if they had to do it over again, would jump at the chance to marry in the Navy. She sald: “Well, look at grand- father. A retired admiral of 67. Just & heart-broken, lonely old sailor fin- ishing out his days here at Tree Tops, satisfying his craving for active duty, the sea, salutes, flags waving and the rest of the show, by tinkering with his ship models and dreaming over his Reuterdahl paintings of destroyers. “From the wife and sweetheart | angle, a girl would be a fool to marry | any officer until he's getting a four- striper's pay. a four-striper's pay he's usually too set- | circles under my eyes and callouses on my hands and all my JG's earnings | going for his uniforms and to pay his | mess bills! Not that any JG has in- vited me to face what it means! Now, | of course, if I were an heiress—" Lee waited for her to finish, his eyes amused, regarding her a little uncertainly. had been a long time since he had ex- changed this many words with any one so young and eager-eyed and utterly precious, and that the moon- light was doing something extraordi- nary to her hair. He was thinking that if he had come upon her like this several years before | do something about the craving to know all about her, the feel of her golden hair in his fingers, the softness of her lips beneath his own But for some time now Kitty, and what Kitty had done to him while he was still a midshipman at the Acad- emy, had stood between him and any chance of happiness. His jaw hard- |ened and the left hand in his coat | pocket clenched until the knuckles | ached. He didn't know where his rep- | utation as & heart-smasher had | started. Certainly he wasn't one. He'd never had love, Infatuation, yes—a wild, bovish infatuation for Kitty Lejt—Dotted swiss with Irish type lace. Brown. navy, wine and pasiels. 14 to 0. $2.9; Center—Novelty cotton lace. flesh. copen or aqua. 14 to 20. Right or orange ard navy. 12 to 18, Tuesday! Cotton Frocks No limit to this collection—TWENTY styles! One piece and two piece, country, and sports, two-piece frock. Dotted batiste in two-piece style. Peach, $2.95, Red and blue $2.05. —800 NEW. $3.95 for street, for misses and women! MONDAY, JUNE And when he’s getting | tled to be exactly romantic. No, sir, no | | tired little wife role for me, getting | He was thinking that it | he would have been in a position to | 29, 1936. Mitchell, who was older than he, who had blinded him and made him believe for & while that something not quite beautiful was love. He wanted love now—real love. He was starved for the right woman's arms, the one woman’s lips. He was wretchedly homesick for the enduring realities of life. It occurred to him, with a sort of pang, that he'd like to have a small white house with the right girl waiting in it for him. Some one in a blue silk dress to match her eyes; some one arranging daffodils, to match her golden hair, on his supper table; some one who would always be in the small white house waiting for him at the end of sea duty; and some one he'd know wasn't in another man’s arms the moment his back was turned. He wondered swiftly if Patsy had heard that Kitty was in Reno waiting to divorce him so she could marry Count Rolfe de Veau. “And s0,” Patsy finished, her eyes bright, “don’t tell me anything about the sea being a man's job and the Navy being romantic! I've heard all that before and it's just so much duck soup.” She looked straight into his eyes. She was smiling, but her mouth ‘trembled a little. | He said: “You're lying, of course.” | & And she said softly: “Yes, I'm lying. | I love the Navy better than anything in the world. For one little thing | that can be criticized about it there are a million compensations. You | know that. I don't have to tell you!” He grinned at her. Then abruptly he was conscious of a breathless ten- sion between them. He thought swiftly: “God, If I were only free to fall in love with her, to hold her in my arms. She's so—untouched.” But as quickly as his blood had flamed, it cooled. For there was Kitty and he had nothing he could offer Patsy—not even friendship. He had quite forgotten that Tree Tops was ablaze with lights, perfumed with | countless flowers and that dishes rat- | Admiral Warfield would announce | g Patsy's engagement to Richard Bowle. | | Patsy thought: “I like his blond hair | | and his blue eyes and I think he has | | the most gentle mouth I ever saw. | Perhaps I'm losing my mind, but I | feel that I would like to creep into | his arms and stay there forever.” She | knew she was being very foolish, of | course. Lee Cavendish was exactly | the man she had aveided all her life— | | handsome, attractive to women, Navy. | And he was married. Her heart began to pound and the pulses in her throat and wrists ached. 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