Radio and television mirror (Jan-June 1942)

It was the night Carol fainted over the dishpan that Ken asked her to go away with him. He hadn't meant to ask any such thing — not ever — but when Carol went down in a heap with a sound that was half sigh and half sob, he lost control of himself. He had her in his arms so fast that he was surprised at himself, and he was kissing her when she came to. "Darling! Darling!" he said. "You're dying by inches. . . . Come away with me — and after a while you can divorce Stan and we can be married." Carol said, "I didn't faint because I was tired. Stan — this afternoon — was talking about his wasted opportunities and it upset me." She stopped short and let Ken think that the wasted opportunities were business ones — she didn't explain that Stan had been needling her for hours about the rich women he could have married if he hadn't come into the Mulberry Room on a certain night and fallen for a girl who had nothing but big eyes and glossy hair. Ken kissed Carol again. He said, "Why you fainted doesn't matter — the fact that you fainted is enough. . . . Oh, my dearest, your marriage to Stan is through — and it never was a real marriage! Come away with me — tonight." Carol said, "Not tonight or ever, Ken — so long as Stan needs me. Our marriage is a real one and it always was and it always will be — so long as Stan needs . me. . . . No, Ken, you mustn't kiss me again — no, you mustn't." AFTER that evening when Carol ■^ fainted and announced her platform in regard to Stan, Ken began to keep to himself. He wasn't quite as helpful as he had been and Stan — smoking and drinking brandy and finding fault with Carol's meals — accused him of getting lazy. "I thought you were assistant cook and bottle washer around here," he told Ken. "Once upon a time you used to help Carol with the dishes for your board and keep but nowadays, as soon as dinner's over, you run upstairs and start pounding on the typewriter. How come?" Ken said slowly, "I'm trying to get ahead on my scripts so that I can take a vacation . . . Why don't you help Carol with the dishes for a change?" Carol murmured, "Stan can't dabble around in a dish pan — not with his throat." "I was suggesting that he use his hands," said Ken, and turned on his heel and went upstairs — a man can be pushed just so far, even by the one woman. A few seconds later his door slammed and the typewriter started going at a double quick tempo. When it had been clicking for perhaps half an hour, Stan threw down his paper and turned on Carol furiously. "I wish to heaven Ken would go on that vacation!" he said. "Instead of talking about it." Carol told him very slowly, "I'll always remember how you looked that night you came into the Mulberry Room. I thought I'd never seen anybody so handsome and so distinguished and so fine — my heart stopped beating. It's a pity I couldn't see inside you, Stan. It would have saved us all a lot of — of tragedy." Stan said, "It would have saved me my voice. You deviled me into going out in an open car in the rain." Carol said, "I'm tired of hearing about that open car episode — I'm very APRIL, 1942 1 Bill is beginning to wonder . . ."It's funny how Jane always folds after wash-day I see other women . HOLD it Bill! Washing a tubful of clothes is no pushover. If you saw the time it takes, the way Jane has to rub — and rub — just to get your shirts clean, you'd get a shock. She doesn't have to work so hard though. Not if she'll use Fels-Naptha Soap. Fels gives her a combination of gentle naptha and richer golden soap that gets dirt out much faster. No matter how it's ground in. She won't spend so much time bending over the washtub if she uses Fels-Naptha Soap. She won't have to break her back, nor ruin her hands, rubbing. You'll have whiter shirts and they'll probably wear better . . . We've been trying to get Jane to use Fels-Naptha Soap— like 'those other women.' Maybe you can persuade her. Go/c/en 6ar or Go/c/ei2 c^^s FELS-NAPTHA 6am/ie/:Sff/e-]Z/eGrqx" 55