Page:Strange Interlude (1928).djvu/74

68

[Bitterly]

And how, if I may ask?

There’s only one way I can see. Get her to marry Sam Evans.

[Astonished]

Evans?

[He makes a silly gesture toward the door]

[Thinking confusedly]

Wrong again why does he want her married to  it’s some trick.

Yes, Evans. He’s in love with her. And it’s one of those unselfish loves you read about. And she is fond of him. In a maternal way, of course—but that’s just what she needs now, someone she cares about to mother and boss and keep her occupied. And still more important, this would give her a chance to have children. She’s got to find normal outlets for her craving for sacrifice. She needs normal love objects for the emotional life Gordon’s death blocked up in her. Now marrying Sam ought to do the trick. Ought to. Naturally, no one can say for certain. But I think his unselfish love, combined with her real liking for him, will gradually give her back a sense of security and a feeling of being worth something to life again, and once she’s got that, she’ll be saved!