“TOO WISE TO MARRY”

Manawatu Times, Volume 63, Issue 42, 19 February 1938, Page 9

“TOO WISE TO MARRY”

Synopsis of Preceding Instalments: Sterling Lord’s wife gets a divorce when Eomanza is 4 years old. Lord becomes New York’s foremost divorce lawyer and Romanza, now 23, is a member of his firm. Justin (Dusty) Rhodes, whose father was Lord’s college mate, gets a job with a rival law firm. At the Lords» Long Island home he meets Aliah Sandell, popular radio singer, and Dr. David Tree, a neighbour. Dusty twits Romanza, saying no judge or jury can resist her beauty. Soon afterward she wins a divorce for a husband whose wife Dusty represents and Romanza’s picture appears in every paper. Aliah retains Dusty in a suit for divorce against honest Jim Sandell, wealthy contractor. Jim goes to retain Lord but in his absence tells Romanza Aliah’s evidence is a frame-up and agrees to her handling the case. Previously Prank Talmadge, a young Sandell employee, shot himself at Aliah’s penthouse door. At the hospital he tells Romanza Aliah vamped him into planting a woman in her husband’s room at his club, then laughed at him. Frightened now, she offers him 10,000 dollars to disappear, but he says ho will testify for Sandell who took him out of the bread line. When Romanza pleads with Dusty to drop the crooked case he angrily refuses. Three days before the date of the trial Allah goes to Romanza, saying they ought to patch up their friendship. When Aliah refuses to drop her suit, Romanza surprises her by recalling Aliah’s singing for pennies in her father’s San Frascisco saloon, and her coming to New York at 16 with a whisky salesman, their subsequent marriage, and his suicide.

All day Monday and Tuesday Romanza waited for a move from Aliah Sandell. Surely, in view of all the things that had been found about her past, the prima donna would not go through with her attempt to win a divorce from Jim Sandell.

But Tuesday night Romanza abandoned hope. It was evident Dusty had decided they would not show the white flag.

On Monday Sterling Lord had received a wire calling him to Washington. When Romanza learned her father would not be near even to lend encouragement to her efforts, she became panicky with the responsibility. When he kissed her good-bye on Tuesday night he tried to appear optimistic. But Romanza knew he was far from being so. It was a job he would dread himself, and seeing his daughter tackle it with her inexperience did not appeal to him. But he had warned her, and she would not listeu. So whatever happened she would have to take the consequence. It was her show.

It was dawn of Wednesday morning before Romanza closed her eyes, to sleep fitfully for less than an hour. She awakened with a start and jumped out There was a great deal to do before she left for town. A cold shower took the dead tired feeling away and she no longer felt sleepy. Romanza stopped uncertainly when she saw her wardrobe laid out on the bed. It was the mo3t unbecoming array of clothes she had ever possessed. If she had not been so weary from weeks of hard work, and so determined to give Dusty Rhodes a break, she would have realised how overdramatic her next move was about to be.

Several days before the idea had occurred to her. She had been thinking over the day she and Dusty had lunch together and she had walked out on him because he said she would vjin any case—hands down. How furious it had made her because her rival for barrister honours had told her she was too beautiful to have brains! On that if she did happen to have them they’d be only excess baggage. If Judge Cassinolli refused to grant Aliah Sandell a divorce, there was no doubt what Dusty would say. It would be the same thing he had said when she won a divorce for Philop Martin—that no judge, especially Tony Cassinolli, could resist her loveliness. That the minute she walked into the courtroom it would be ail over for the other side.

Suddenly Romanza had been seized with what she thought was a brilliant idea. There was no doubt in her mind that she would win the Sandell battle. And if she could win it entirely on her intelligence, it would be a double victory. There was only one thing to do—masquerade. Hide her charms!

That had been the beginning of busy plans to carry it out. The fruits of several shopping expeditions lay on her bed. Romanza couldn’t quite make up her mind whether to smile, or shudder, when she tried the array on the first time.

She stood on the final morning looking down at it—and almost lost her nerve. Beautiful clothes had always been a part of her, and she could not imagine facing the world looking like a caricaturist ’s idea of a bookworm. With a tremendous effort to bolster her will power, Romanza began dressing. No front line chorus girl in the Pollies ever possessed a more perfect pair of feet and legs than Romanza Lord. But when she slipped on the service-weight stockings and flat-heeled brown oxfords with big brown ties, not an eye on Broadway would have taken a second look at her underpinnings. Her suit was a three-piece tweed ensemble of the most masculine lines she could flnd. It had been selected to hide her figure, and was a horrible henna, mixed with a blue that murdered the green of her jade eyes. With it was a blue blouse that finished off all the unkind work the suit had not been able to accomplish. Romanza had always thought it a crime to try to blend blue with green eyes. She knew it was when she looked at herself in the mirror.

(By Alma Sioux Scarberry) Instalment 22.

(To be Continued.)

Her eyes seemed to be drained of colour. A part of this was due to sleepless nights, and to the dark lines weeks’ of hard work and worry had brought. Romanza *s face was pale as a ghost’s from strain, and the unhappy choice of colour gave her a sallow, lifeless look.

When she had pulled her copper hair over her ears, and stuck it under a blue hat with a crooked brim, she put on a pair of horn-rimmed spectacles. With this accomplished, she crossed to the full length mirror in her bathroom door and stoodfor a final inspection. Even her father, she told herself, feeling cold all over, could not love her as she looked then. And certainly the biggest Ananias in all the world, could not say she was beautiful —without laughing in her face. For several minutes Romanza sat down on her bed, her resolution to be an ugly woman for a day growing weaker and weaker. Then with a supremo effort sho got up. Picking up her brief-case, she left the house by a side door, hoping none of the servants would see her go. Luck was with her, and she ran to her car out front to speed away before she lost her courage. All of a sudden it did not seem such a good idea after all. For the first time she wondered if what she was about to do was not ridiculous to tho point of insanity. But—it was too late to turn back. She’d less than an hour till time to appear with her client before Judge Cassinelli.

The Sandell hearing was set for ten o’clock. At five mintftes to t6n Romanza rushed in to join James Sandell in the corridor outside the courtrooms. The contractor was chewing a cigar nervously when the heavily tweeded girl in the horn-rimmed spectacles spoke to him. He stared at her with no light of recognition in his puzzled eyes, until she laughed nervously.

"Am—l so bad as all thatf” Romanza thought her knees would buckle under her. “I should have warned you I was going to look like a schoolma ’am. I’ll explain later.” Jim Sandell’s jaw dropped; he stared at her stupidly. * ‘ What in the devil have you done to yourself, Miss Lord!” “We haven’t time to go into explanations now,” Romanza evaded hurriedly. “Is everybody here!” “‘Yes, I guess so.” Sandell followed her into the courtroom trying not to look as stupid with astonishment and curiosity as he felt. He’d decided years before that you never could tell what a woman was going to do next. But this was about the limit. Hiring the most beautiful woman in the New York legal world for a lawyer, and having her show up on the most important day of his life looking like something left over from a rummage sale in Oshkosh. A quick glance at the front of the courtroom told Romanza that Dusty and Aliah had arrived before her. They sat, with their witness, to the left of the judge’s bench at a long table. To the right was her table, anji she moved to it with a great show of haste and energy.

It was obvious no one recognised her. She laid her brief-case on the table and glanced over at Dusty. He looked puzzled when she fcowed and smiled. Then suddenly he recognised her.

First astonishment—then unbelief—finally amusement chased themselves in rapid succession across his face. He collected himself with difficulty to return her bow. Then he turned to whisper something to Aliah and the prima donna stared dumbly at her erstwhile friend.

On a sudden impulse, Romanza scribbled a note and handed it down the table.

With an inscrutable expression, Dusty read in Romanza’s bold, sure hand:

“To prove to you the Sandell case can be won on its merit.”

With a twisted little ‘aren’t-you-noble’ smile, Dusty bowed toward her again. Then Judge Casinelli came into the room, and every one stood up. The Sandell battle was on!