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Show woman to marry an ugly man, but how anyone with such eminent good sense as Ellen had misfired so grossly. . . . tr What was most paradoxical was, what - - their complemenarity? Each of Smead's vices matched one of her virtues: where he was a braggart she was modest; where he was rude she was polite; where he was grasping she was generous; where he was hated she was loved. In marriage, Phyllis Parker had said (leering at Hal) we maka our own beds, and Sid tended to agree. We get what we deserve - - but the Smead sum didn't total. And to make matters worse, Smead was mean to her, had no compunction against calling har down, even in public, nor, in his cups, assailing her with insults. From time to time, as a matter of fact, he struck, after which she wore dark glasses and blamed a swinging hanger. At this thought Sid, having reached the BOQ, rammed his brakes harder than usual, bringing the jeep to a skidding halt. The BTJQ was a handsome old building: what he thought of as British colonial, with a high ornate facade painted in Wedgawood blue and white. Tha entrance-hall was vast and baronial, though now, after the war's neglect, unpainted and grimy Hearing voices abovs, hs climbsd the stairs, and walking down ths hall notsd that untidiness was a prsrequisite to rank. The officers, it sssmsd,wsre free to be filthy, though (he granted) part of the fault lay in the system. Americans ware |