So—”
“So you took over? Most men can stand a little intelligent guidance, I’ve heard. None of them would stand still long enough for me to try, darn it. But it’s not a bad basis for marriage, either. You’ve never met this family of his?”
Janet shivered. “No, but I will this summer. I’ll be terribly nice and refined, too. That’s why I’m studying speech and Emily Post so I won’t look to them just like a green Polack from south of the tracks, or pick up the wrong fork. Because—” the girl hesitated—“you see, while Guy is now estranged from his family, he’s terribly in awe of them and I know he’d never be happy for long without their approval of his marriage. Now that he’s found himself and become a different person and stopped drinking, now that he’s starting out to be a successful composer and another Cole Porter, maybe—”
“It should certainly make a difference in their attitude, and I hope they will see clearly enough to give you credit for the transformation. And has he met your family?”
Jan’s smile was glowing and proud. “Of course! And he did beautiful . He went down to Long Beach with me one week end; he ate my mama’s bigos and kielbasa and drank a couple of puddlers—that’s the Polish name for boilermakers—with my pop. Guy took it all in his stride; he didn’t even seem to mind pop sitting around the kitchen in his undershirt. He did disappoint by brother by refusing to go out in the back yard and wrestle, but he beat him at chess. It all went off better than we’d even dared hope; they seemed to like him really. But of course anything I do is okay with my family; I could marry King Kong and if he had a regular job and didn’t beat me too often they’d give their blessing.”
Miss Withers nodded, feeling that she, too, would be inclined to trust this long, tall, open girl. “So far so good, then,” she said cautiously. “Is your Guy the jealous type?”
“ Him ?” With quick understanding, Janet said firmly, “Don’t think what I think you’re thinking. Guy isn’t at all the jealous type; he was never jealous of Larry Reed or anybody I went out with before he came into my life. He’s got reasons to know there was never any important man for me and that I’m all his, period.”
“Period and exclamation point, eh?” The schoolteacher was inclined to believe her. These one-man women, and how well she understood them! “Sorry, but in this business we have to ask all sorts of questions. When there’s a murder, and the threat of three more, everyone is in a way suspect. I confess that I do not at the moment see a plausible motive for anybody’s killing Larry Reed, but—”
“Larry Reed was a sweet guy!” Janet protested. “A sorta wolf, but a sweet guy. Just because he pulled some practical jokes—”
“Practical jokes can cut rather deeply sometimes,” Miss Withers reminded her. “How about Tip Brown? Didn’t he have a feud with Reed?”
“Tip?” Janet laughed. “He’s a sweet guy, the second sweetest I know. He’s the sort of person who feeds the mice around his apartment, and climbs trees to put baby robins back in the nest when they fall out. I’d love Tip a little, I guess, if I wasn’t so very bespoke.”
“An excellent attitude, but—” began Miss Withers, and then looked up to see Guy Fowler returning, complete with unnecessary cigarettes and the waltzing poodle, who made it clear that he had adopted Guy as a foster father.
“It’s cold outside,” Guy apologized. “I walked your dog down to the corner, but he wanted to go seventeen blocks at double-pace and I’m not in condition. You girls are maybe through discussing me?”
Janet shook her head warningly at him, and he subsided into a chair. Miss Withers said, somewhat tactfully, “We are about through discussing everything at the moment, young man. Take that small chip off your shoulder—I am quite as interested in protecting your fiancée as you are, and
“So you took over? Most men can stand a little intelligent guidance, I’ve heard. None of them would stand still long enough for me to try, darn it. But it’s not a bad basis for marriage, either. You’ve never met this family of his?”
Janet shivered. “No, but I will this summer. I’ll be terribly nice and refined, too. That’s why I’m studying speech and Emily Post so I won’t look to them just like a green Polack from south of the tracks, or pick up the wrong fork. Because—” the girl hesitated—“you see, while Guy is now estranged from his family, he’s terribly in awe of them and I know he’d never be happy for long without their approval of his marriage. Now that he’s found himself and become a different person and stopped drinking, now that he’s starting out to be a successful composer and another Cole Porter, maybe—”
“It should certainly make a difference in their attitude, and I hope they will see clearly enough to give you credit for the transformation. And has he met your family?”
Jan’s smile was glowing and proud. “Of course! And he did beautiful . He went down to Long Beach with me one week end; he ate my mama’s bigos and kielbasa and drank a couple of puddlers—that’s the Polish name for boilermakers—with my pop. Guy took it all in his stride; he didn’t even seem to mind pop sitting around the kitchen in his undershirt. He did disappoint by brother by refusing to go out in the back yard and wrestle, but he beat him at chess. It all went off better than we’d even dared hope; they seemed to like him really. But of course anything I do is okay with my family; I could marry King Kong and if he had a regular job and didn’t beat me too often they’d give their blessing.”
Miss Withers nodded, feeling that she, too, would be inclined to trust this long, tall, open girl. “So far so good, then,” she said cautiously. “Is your Guy the jealous type?”
“ Him ?” With quick understanding, Janet said firmly, “Don’t think what I think you’re thinking. Guy isn’t at all the jealous type; he was never jealous of Larry Reed or anybody I went out with before he came into my life. He’s got reasons to know there was never any important man for me and that I’m all his, period.”
“Period and exclamation point, eh?” The schoolteacher was inclined to believe her. These one-man women, and how well she understood them! “Sorry, but in this business we have to ask all sorts of questions. When there’s a murder, and the threat of three more, everyone is in a way suspect. I confess that I do not at the moment see a plausible motive for anybody’s killing Larry Reed, but—”
“Larry Reed was a sweet guy!” Janet protested. “A sorta wolf, but a sweet guy. Just because he pulled some practical jokes—”
“Practical jokes can cut rather deeply sometimes,” Miss Withers reminded her. “How about Tip Brown? Didn’t he have a feud with Reed?”
“Tip?” Janet laughed. “He’s a sweet guy, the second sweetest I know. He’s the sort of person who feeds the mice around his apartment, and climbs trees to put baby robins back in the nest when they fall out. I’d love Tip a little, I guess, if I wasn’t so very bespoke.”
“An excellent attitude, but—” began Miss Withers, and then looked up to see Guy Fowler returning, complete with unnecessary cigarettes and the waltzing poodle, who made it clear that he had adopted Guy as a foster father.
“It’s cold outside,” Guy apologized. “I walked your dog down to the corner, but he wanted to go seventeen blocks at double-pace and I’m not in condition. You girls are maybe through discussing me?”
Janet shook her head warningly at him, and he subsided into a chair. Miss Withers said, somewhat tactfully, “We are about through discussing everything at the moment, young man. Take that small chip off your shoulder—I am quite as interested in protecting your fiancée as you are, and
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