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away the dark shadows that had fallen between us and

lingered in the secret corners of our hearts. He

stopped by the kitchen and asked Letty to make

something extra special and he served our most

expensive wines, both he and James drinking quite a

bit. At dinner our conversation was light and

punctuated by many moments of laughter, but I could

see Jeanne was troubled and wanted to have a private

talk. So as soon as dinner ended and Paul suggested we all go into the living room, I said I wanted to show

Jeanne a new dress I had bought in New Orleans. "We'll be right down," I promised.

"You just want to skip our political talk, that's

all," Paul accused playfully. But when he looked at

me closer, he saw why I wanted to take Jeanne

upstairs and he put his arm around James and led him

away.

Jeanne burst into tears the moment we were

alone. "What is it?" I asked, embracing her. I led her

to the settee and handed her a handkerchief.

"Oh, Ruby, I'm so unhappy. I thought I would

have a marriage as wonderful as yours, but it's been

disappointing. Not the first two weeks, of course," she

added between sobs, ,"but afterward, when we settled

down, the romance just seemed to die. All he cares

about is his career and his work. Sometimes he doesn't

come home until ten or eleven o'clock and I have to

eat dinner all alone, and then when he does arrive, he's

usually so exhausted, he wants to go right to sleep." "Did you tell him how you feel about it?" I

asked, sitting beside her.

"Yes." She sucked in her gasps and stopped

sobbing. "But all he says is he's just starting his career