Page:Strange Interlude (1928).djvu/102

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Round and round thoughts  damn pests! mosquitoes of the soul whine, sting, suck one’s blood  why did I invite Nina and Sam on this tour  it’s a business trip with me, really  I need a new setting for my next novel  “Mr. Marsden departs a bit from his familiar field” well, there they were stuck in the Professor’s house  couldn’t afford a vacation  never had a honeymoon  I’ve pretended to be done up every night so they could  I’ve gone to bed right after dinner so they could be alone and  I wonder if she can really like him  that way?

[The sound of voice and his mother’s is heard from the garden. goes over and carefully peers out]

Sam with his mother peculiar woman  strong  good character for a novel  no, she’s too somber  her eyes are the saddest  and, at the same time, the grimmest  they’re coming in  I’ll drive around the country a bit  give them a chance for a family conference  discuss Nina’s pregnancy, I suppose  does Sam know? he gives no indication why do wives hide it from their husbands? ancient shame guilty of continuing life, of bringing fresh pain into the world

[''He goes out, rear. The outside door in the hall is heard being opened and and his mother evidently meet  as he is about to go out. Their voices, his voice explaining, are heard, then the outer door being opened and shut again as departs. A moment later and his mother enter the dining room''. ''looks timorously happy, as if he could not quite believe in his good fortune and had constantly to reassure himself about it, yet he is riding the crest of the wave, he radiates love and devotion and boyish adoration. He is''