Radio and television mirror (July-Dec 1942)

He came to the little room while I was packing, and he didn't say a word. He just sat in the big, worn chair by the room's one window, as far away from me as possible, while I moved swiftly about, afraid to look at him, afraid that if I did I wouldn't have the courage to go. Only when I had put on my coat did he move. He got to his feet, walked heavily, as an old man walks, across the room to me. His face was like stone. "I meant what I said, Norrie. If you go, it's final. If you can't share the hard times with me, I don't want to share the good times with you. If you go now, don't come back." Automatically, I picked up my purse, my bag, still looking at his strange, cold face. And while I looked, it crumpled and twisted, and the coldness drained away. And then he cried out, as a man cries who is so torn by pain that he forgets his pride, "But Norrie — don't leave me, Norrie. You might as well kill me outright!" Big Michael, strong Michael, crying like a child, "Norrie — don't leave me!" But I had to go. Something was making me go, telling me that if I didn't leave him now, while I still loved him, I would leave him soon in bitterness and hate, with the ruins of our love crashed in about our heads. So I fled, running down the dark, rickety stairs, his voice pursuing me out into the other world for which I was bound. SITTING there in the quiet of my apartment, remembering that night and the agony of it, I had to remember the rest — the strange half-and-half life in which I found myself after I left Castle. Half of me then was given over to the exquisite pleasure of the new world I had gained, half to loneliness and heartbreak. For my letters to Michael went unanswered. The checks which I sent to him came back to me, the envelopes which held them unopened. There was nothing but silence from Castle. And presently pride stiffened my back as time began to dull the pain. Then there came the one letter from Michael — one letter in two years. It was brief. "I'm not meant to live alone. I need someone to share my work, my pleasures, my burdens. Come back, Norrie, or divorce me." But I had that morning signed a new contract, a better contract. More money. More things. And I had spent so much; there was very little left on which to go back to bring a new era of prosperity to WNUX. And, having tasted the glories of luxury, I knew that, even for Michael, I couldn't face life in Castle as it had been. I couldn't go back just yet, and I wrote and told him so. The next word from Castle was the service, like a slap in the face, asking me to show cause why the bonds of matrimony existing between Michael Sean Sully, plaintiff, and Nora Bayliss Sully, defendant, should not be dissolved by the court. And then, after a nightmare of waiting, a long envelope, and a paper that chilled my hands as I read it. ". . . Now, pursuant to said order and on motion of attorney for the plaintiff, it is hereby adjudged and decreed that the bonds of matrimony existing between plaintiff and defendant be, and the same are hereby dissolved, and said parties absolutely divorced from each other. . . ." After that, nothing from Castle but the brief announcement of the mar DECE1VIBER, 1942 "Mommy, did they really save us enough to buy a WAR BOND?" HAVE CLEAN, NEW WINDOW SHADES, EVERY YEAR. You can afford to— CLOPAYS cost so little. In actual test, 3 out of 4 women couldn't tell them from expensive cloth shades, from 4 feet away. CLOPAYS are quality window shades . . . hang straight., .won't pinhole, fray, crack. KEEP LIGHTS ON DURING BLACKOUTS behind CLOPAY Blackout Shades. Lightproof. Made of tough, heavy, midnight blue material with holddown clips. Save upset minds, stumbling in dark. Big help to daytime sleepers. From 39c up. AS PATRIOTIC as they are practical. Attach easily to old rollers — save metal. 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