Part 37 (1/2)

”Oh, I can't do that,” I said. ”I couldn't bear to feel that he might prefer to take the train with her.”

Lillian came to my side, gripped my shoulder hard, and looked into my eyes grimly.

”See here,” she said, ”are you going to be a baby or a woman in this thing?”

I swallowed hard. I knew she was right.

”I'll do whatever you wish,” I responded meekly.

So I called d.i.c.ky on the telephone, and after explaining my unexpected presence in town, arranged to meet him at the station and go home with him.

”Sounds as if we were going to dine with Friend Husband,” said Lillian, as I hung up the receiver.

”Yes, we are going home by trolley from Jamaica. It ought to be a beautiful trip. d.i.c.ky must have been thinking of such a trip before, for he told me there was a train to Jamaica at five minutes of four which connects with the trolley, and he usually gets mixed on the schedule of the trains from Marvin.”

”What's that?” Lillian stopped short, then turned the subject. ”How would you like to go down to the station on top of a bus?” she asked, ”or would you prefer a taxi?”

”The bus by all means,” I returned.

”I see we are kindred souls,” she said. ”I dote on a bus ride myself.”

We were within a few blocks of the railroad station when she said:

”I hope I am mistaken, but I think Miss Draper will be a member of your trolley trip home, and I want you to be prepared to act as if it were the thing you most desired.”

”If you are right, I will not go,” I said, a cold fury at my heart. ”I will take the next train home.”

”You will do no such thing.” Lillian's voice was imperative. ”You promised you would let me be your big sister in this thing, and you've got to let me run it my way!”

”See here, my dear,” her tones were caressing now. ”You must use the weapons of a woman of the world in this situation, not those of an unsophisticated girl. The primitive woman from the East Side would waltz in and destroy the beauty of any lady she found philandering, however innocently, with her spouse. The proud, sensitive, inexperienced woman would have done just what you have contemplated, go home alone and ignore the wanderers. But, my dear, you must do neither of those things. You cannot afford to play in Draper's hand like that.”

”Tell me what I must do,” I said wearily.

”In a minute. First let me put you right on one question. d.i.c.ky is not in love with this girl yet. If he were, he would not wish any meeting between you and her. He is interested and attracted, of course, as any impressionable man with an eye for beauty would be if thrown in constant companions.h.i.+p with her. And, forgive me, but I am sure you have taken the wrong tack about it.

”You must dissemble, act a part, meet her feminine wiles with sharper weapons. Now you have been cold to her, avoided seeing her when possible, and while not quarreling with d.i.c.ky about her, yet evidencing your disapproval of her in many little ways.”

”It is quite true,” I answered miserably.

”Then turn over a new leaf right now. You may be sure at this minute that d.i.c.ky is worrying more over your att.i.tude toward this trip than he is over Miss Draper's dimples. He expects you to have a grouch.

Give him a surprise. Greet the lady smilingly, express your pleasure at having her companions.h.i.+p on your trip, but manage to register delicately your surprise at her being one of the party. No, better leave that part to me. You do the pleasant greeting, I'll put over the catty stuff. But on your honor, until I see you again, will you put down your feelings and cultivate Grace Draper, letting your att.i.tude change slowly, so d.i.c.ky will suspect nothing?”

”I'll try,” I said faintly.

”You'll do it,” she returned bluntly. ”I want her to be almost a member of the family by the time I get there.”

The trip by trolley with my husband and Grace Draper through the beautiful country lying between Jamaica and Hempstead will always remain in my memory as a turning point in my ideas of matrimony and its problems.

Lillian Underwood's talk with me had destroyed all my previous conceptions of dignified wifely behavior in the face of a problem like mine.