{ title: 'The watchman. (Mattituck, N.Y.) 1937-1940, June 02, 1938, Page 18, Image 18', download_links: [ { link: 'http://www.loc.gov/rss/ndnp/ndnp.xml', label: 'application/rss+xml', meta: 'News about NYS Historic Newspapers - RSS Feed', }, { link: '/lccn/sn96083588/1938-06-02/ed-1/seq-18/png/', label: 'image/png', meta: '', }, { link: '/lccn/sn96083588/1938-06-02/ed-1/seq-18.pdf', label: 'application/pdf', meta: '', }, { link: '/lccn/sn96083588/1938-06-02/ed-1/seq-18/ocr.xml', label: 'application/xml', meta: '', }, { link: '/lccn/sn96083588/1938-06-02/ed-1/seq-18/ocr.txt', label: 'text/plain', meta: '', }, ] }
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MATCHMAKER DE LUXE By MADELINE Sue Had Been Chief Aide to Cupid So Long She Did Not Recognize Hinn When He Turned the Tables SHE wore a blue-flowered chiffon gown, a wide drooping hat Altb a bunch of cornflowers on the brim and she carried a fan-shaped raffia garden basket flUed to overflowing with Sweetheart roses and forget-me-nots. She walked along a brick path that was edged with gay tulips and behind her there was a small white house with a single oval red brick door- step and small porches spraying out at its sides and cool green awnings drooped over its windows like the lids of sleepy eyes. The garden grass was very green. It was starred here and there with a gay umbrella and saucy red lounging chairs with green cushions like the awnings. The entire lovely picture was framed in a quaint white pale fence that had a prim little white gate with black hinges to clasp it. But. alas, the delightful sccne was a fake! The flowers had never bloomed in that lovely garden. They had been brought in trucks and arranged there. The green grass had been laid in place, square by square, and the picturesque little house had no back. It was all front, like her life, thought Sue Glendenning as she sauntered there nlth her basket In fact, she merely decorated the ex- quisite floral set which was the exhibit of Van Alden, Wyck & Van Alden, fa- mous nurseries, at the flower show that spring. WHILE Sue. who held an enviable so- cial position and had not a hundred dol- lars to her name, knew the loveliness in- side that pale fence was an utter sham, that she couldn't go through that ador- able front door and get ansrwhere. not unless slie wanted to step out among the seeds and biUbs display of the Braden Brothers behind it, she had never been K) happy as she was on that first day of the flower show. Sue Glendenning had never had a gar- den. She had not had anjrtMng of her ova for yesss. And yet no social gather- ing w^complete wit^ut her. She^uld swim.mnce, sing amtle, act, pla^cn- nis and golf and ride. It WM her duty t^keep her pl^e in the siA E\'er sinceVer father ha* lost his fortune and she had lost him in her final year at a French finishing school, she had been doing that. People sought her for tips, for news, for cards, for in- troductions. She had a pass on several important railroads, she had gowns and hats and gems and shoes and lingerie from the best shops because of the way she wore them and the trade she brought In. She could work wonders with invalids, children, guests who were bores and Jeal- ous husbands. She had no home. She was booked with invitations to great houses the year around. She was Sue Glenderming, the perennial housr guest. She was to be found at fetes, flower sales, Junior League affairs, bazaars, horse shows. She was lovely to look at, like tue girl In the song, and she was acutely miser- able without knowing why, until she strolled through the Van Alden, Wyck & Van Alden set during the first week of the flower show. Then she knew. If she might walk in her own garden like this, if she might have this little white house for her own. If she might build a back to It—^to it and to her own life. SOME one very clever had arranged that set. fV)r among all the great gar- dens and Impressive fake mansioi^ they had placed this delightful little house with its Sue Glendenning. It rested the eyes sated with too much loveliness. It caused many a maiden who hat' hesi- tated long to say yes. Even on the first day Sue began to furnish the little house and people it with her dreams. To the right of the front door was the dining room, old blue with some rare pieces of silver, to the left the living room, warm with browns and golds. There would be one bath for the family and another for the solitary maid. She was sick of baths. Orchid ones, blue ones, black and silver ones, white and gold ones—ugh! She was sick of baths and guest suites. She woul \ never have a guest if she could help it. And she would have s maid with whom she could discuss the price of eggs and the fact that junior s blouse had mysteriously vanished in the wash. FinaJly she came to Hun in her thoughts. Although she had never met him. she had know him always. He was self-made and progressive, but not too successfxn. She was fed up. too, with successful men. He would have to be dark to go well with her red gold head. He was not above washing the car on Saturday with a great deal of water sloshed all over the place or mowing the lawn in possibly soiled white knickers! On the second day she noticed tlie young man across the path. He was seated on a camp stool on the edge of the Cruthers set that faced Sue's gar- den. He u-as not there for decorative purposes. He gave the Impression of 8lwa>'B being everj-where on business. Just then he was sketching, with a frown, her house, her garden and possibly herself. For some reason she was indignant, al- though she was accustomed to being on show. Soon, however, it would be over and she could use Lydia Conover's check to set herself free. The young man met her gaze casually and she noted that he had reddish hair like her own and a pleasing face with a stubborn line along the jaw. He wore a brown suit not too well pressed and he was certainly sketching her set. CARRYING her basket to the seat under a gay umbrella. Sue thought of old Dan Wyck, one of the finr of Van Alden, Wyck & Van Alden. Thought of him and of Lydia Conover angling for his millions. \Sue the moment I say yes. I'll give you my check for $25,000. I can afford it then. If he once asks me. I will never let him go.\ Lydia had not meant anything as cheap as a breach- of-promise suit. Lydia was one of the Boston Conovers. She had meant charm and tact and shrewdness. Sue had earned the check. She had Introduced Lydia to old Dan Wyck and she had done little things that no man could have detected. She had made many marriages, happy ones, she was glad to say. About this one she was not so sure. But it meant freedom for her. She would see an architect the mo- ment she had Lydia's check. A real es- tate man was not necessary, for she knew where her little white house was to be built. She had seen the lot several times, marred by the \for sale\ sign. It had a few old trees and a crooked stream along which Sue would do a lot of planting. She would take Aimie Parr is to keep house for her and she would find various ways to make a little money. She could get a job. She was Sue Glendenning. Annie had no home, either. She sewed for great houses when the regular seam- stress was overworked. On^e third moming, Lydia Clover came TO Sue's little gate as she tolled in a wistaria-colored organdie, a knot of \iolet^at her thro^ Lydia was^mart in brwn linen, would hav\been gray had it not been for an expensive tialr wash. \Sue darling,\ she said, with a flash- ing smile, \behold the future Mrs. Daniel Wyck! And here, my lovely match- maker de luxe, is my check. Had it not been for you he would never have noticed me.\ Sue took the check, the paper that made her her own woman. And then some one carrying a sketch- book stepped from behind the cedars beside Lydia Conover and walked to the edge of the Cruthers rock garden. Sue smiled back at Lydia and settled the check against her heart under the sheer organdie and secured it with the diamond barpin Teddy Trant had given her when she patched up his quarrel with Babs Merrill. That had been a famously happy marriage. The baby was named Sue Glendenning Trant. \Thanks she said to Lydia. \This means just about everything to me.\ She joined the men and women who were waiting for her and Sue stood at the gate, trying to realize that she, pos- sibly of all the people in the world, had seized the gossamer wings of a dream and found them real. It was then that the young man with the sketchbook rose and came so close to her that she got the odor of good tobacco that clung to his brown suit. \So it was you!\ he said, and every word was a lash. \What?\ gaspeo Sue. \You who managed and fooled my father into engaging himself to that social register gold digger!\ gritted the young man. \If you were a man I would knock you down!\ \Your father!- Sue's eyes opened a bit wider. \I am Daniel Wyck, Jr. My mother lias been dead only four years and Father is at a dangerous age where he wants companionship, and the whole rotten game is as old as the world!\ The low, controlled voice seemed still to be lashing Sue. \Well it won't be worked this time. Miss Glendenning. Not by a gold digger like Lydia Conover and a social para- site like you!\ HE WAS gone, through the crowds, his angr5', arrogant head held very high. She asked Mary Ashland when she came to the gate a little later with the coun- try club set she ran about with. \Oh yes,\ Mrs. Ashland told Sue \Young Dan. Yale. Botany. Some sort of specialist. Tropical plants and that, you know. Parties of workmen trailing after him from Zulu Town to Cannibal City. Articles in weird maga- zines nobody ever reads. No time for social matters. Strong, browTi he-man Never around home. But why. Sue?\ \He's been across the way sketching this set and I never heard his father speak of him. that's all,\ said Sue. \Peeved because young Dan doesn't approve of his young ways.\ giggled Mar>' Ashland. \Heavens and earth, Sue, how you belong in that garden!\ SHARPE BUCHANAN Illustrated by Henrietta McCaig Starrett Sue looked after her with eyes that ached with tears. In a few days her little home and its fairy garden would be dis- mantled and uprooted by mer In dirty overalls and carried away in noisy trucks. The stuff that dreams are made of! On the fourth day of the flower show Sue Glendenning went over in the Cruthers set and climbed on wet rocks and with an excellent camera took sev- eral fine views of her house and garden. MR. DANIEL WYCK. SR.. held out his hand to Sue Glendenning. \You look like some sort oi a situa- tion.\ he smiled. \Tragic. Can I help?\ \Mr. Wyck,\ Sue's level gaze held his admiring old eyes. \I am going to hurt and shock you. I have come here to break off your engagement with Lydia Conover.\ \Wh-what?\ Mr. Wyck blinked a little. \I can,\ rushed on Sue. \for I made it. I was paid $25,000 to make it.\ •'To make what?\ Old Dan Wyck was utterly bewildered. \Your engagement to Lydia Conover,\ snapped Sue. \I fixed it. I've fixed lots of them. And marriages and di- vorces and quarrels and financial trou- bles and big deals and—and even wills!\ •'But \ \Fiddle.\ said Sue. \Lydia paid me twenty-five thousand to get you to pro- pose to her. The money was the bulk of what her father left her. \1 wanted to be my own woman, to be free,\ she cried and flung out her. gloved hands. \But now I will never be. They've torn down my house and I've sent Lydia back her check and I'm through.\ \But why?\ asked old Dan Wyck quietly, and Sue s eyes filled with horror. Why, indeed? She could not tell him about his son. \Lydia is cold and scheming,\ she fin- ished weakly. \Other things I arranged were happy things. But I wanted her money. I wanted to live where I would never again see a sunken bath or a second footman or an odd man at dinner or a dress some one grew tired of. or a corsage o\ brown orchids or a champagne cock- tail or a visiting celebrity!\ Dan Wyck took a few steps along the Oriental rug. His face was very red. \I understand you perfectly,\ he told Sue and the words snapped out like It was then that the young man with the sketchbook rose and came close to her. \So it was you!\ he said, every word a lash young Dan's words had snapped. \A hell of a life.\ His eyes looked off as though they saw his own youth and he was for the moment remarkably like young Dan. Then he spoke more gently. \How would you have kept the little house?\ \Foimd a job.\ said Sue valiantly \Would you like one with me?\ \What could I do?\ Sue was wide- eyed. \I don't know,\ groaned the old man. \Those flowers you carried each day on the set^who arranged them, and your dress?\ \I did.\ \Then there is hope.\ said old Dan \You know the tastes of these silly society fiuffs. If you could arrange colors for me, baskets—suggest Our Miss Helden- brand is getting married. I can offer you thirty a week to start with.\ \I've never had a job.\ said Sue softly \No. my dear, you've held a position, said the old man grimly. \Now. we'U see whether or not you could have kept the house after I married Lydia.\ \I'll move into Annie Faris* little apartment.\ said Sue delightedly. \She has an awful time paying the rent. It's a sweet place. Two parrots and a cat.\ Old Dan Wyck watched her gathei up her beige fox neckpiece. \Few men can turn down $25,000,\ he said thoughtfully. \I shall expect things of you.\ \You're pretty fine.\ said Sue. \I hope you can forgive me.\ \Lydia will feel it worse than I will.\ said old Dan Wyck. \To tell the truth. I was feeling a little doubtful about the matter.\ At the end of her first week at Van Alden, Wyck & Van Alden. Lydia Con- over walked into the office where she stood behind a table working out a color scheme with artificial flowers. Lydia was so furious Sue felt that perhaps she had a gun. But not Lydia. None of the Boston Conovers had ever committed murder. \Sue she said In her clear carrying voice, \you will never get the game you took from me. I will show you to old Dan for the philandering hussy you are.\ Sue said nothing, but apparently Lydia wanted no answer. She stepped to the door and turned for a final word \Don't try it,\ she said. \I make a bad enemy, and 1 will find a way to make him see you as you are.\ After Lydia had gone Sue looked down at the scissors she held with horror, and looked up to see young Dan Wyck stand- ing where Lydia had stood. THAT was a horrible moment. Not because once more young Dan had heard. But because meeting his eyes across that unromantic office she knew that she loved him. this hostile young man with a head as red as her own. He was why she had sacrificed her house and gar- den and returned that check! He was why she had a job. darn him. He had practically ruined her life. \I dropped in to say thanks,\ said yotmg Dan in a humble voice that was at frantic variance with his red head. \Well you said it,\ nodded Sue over the scissors she still grasped. \Can't we be friends?\ begged young Dan. \I hoped you'd come to dinner with me and let me tell you what a brick I think you are.\ \No. thanks,\ said Sue firmly. \I'm off dinners. I'm not eating any more of them.\ She had to speak like that, for she was realizing that love invested in this young man would pay tremendous divi- dends. and feeling like that made her furiously angry. She did not see young Dan Wyck again. That is, not to speak to. She glimpsed him about, but he never seemed aware of her. It was along in August that fate took a hand. It had been one of those days when the heat of an entire Summer seemed to be crushed into the hours between dawn and dusk, and Sue had been busy. The Barclays had given a lawn party that afternoon and Sue had arranged the flowers for the tables in the screened sun porch. She knew Ekiith Barclay's fragrant taste. Annie Farris took the telephone mes- sage that evening while Sue, in thin pajamas, was eating her lalad in the cool little apartment. \The Allen girl from the ofBce, Mln Sue, wants you to go out to Mr. Wyek with the sketches of the Fielding wed- ding,\ she told Sue. \She says he is out at No. 20 Bromley Road.\ \He never did that before I\ She lifted distraught eyes. \He must b« crazy. We've had a simply awful day In the office. Oh, well, I have a Job now, Annie.\ \Take my little car.\ soothed Annl*. \There's a grand moon.'* There was. Driving slowly through the country, Sue realized how many beautiful things were free. AND then Sue turned ofT the ooncret* onto the hard gravel of Bromley Road and began to foUow its winding turn^ and presently, after rounding a earner, she came upon it. a dim rose light in th« li'vlng-room windows, her little whit* house of the flower show! Her homa. Bringing the car to a stop, she sal there staring, her breath coming very fast. There it was. White pal* fenoa and little gate and everything. And somewhere there was tbe faint, «o01 sound of rippling water. On the white gate there were tw« black numbers, 20. This was wh«r« old Dan Wyck had told her to com*. Then the door opened and young Dan Wyclc stood there, tha eraninf paper in his hand. And past him Sua saw the wide hall which opened at tha back onto a lawn, where sha aaught the glimmer of a stream In tha moon- light. \Do come in.\ said young Dan. Sha did not go In. Sha fait aumli and sick and angzy, toa \Your father ad»d ma to coma baz« with some sketches,\ sha lakl itUBy. \I expect him later,\ said young Daa. \but I don't know anything about sketches. This la my house, you saa. And do coma in.\ He did not wait for her to do ao^ bul put out his hand and draw bar over the threshold, which had never bafora existed, and Into the living room, wblcb had been furnished only in Sua Olen- denning's mind and heart, but whlcb was there in all Its rich brown-and-gold loveliness. \After you talked with father,\ ba told her, and put her into a deep chair. \I built this. After you gave It up with that woman's check. Iliey mada good time, dldnt they? Tba gardan wi^take years, ^thlnk the ot|^ tblnga are correct. Ftiuer had them straight I Imagine, for he's a wow for detalL Sua stSed at hlm.^on ttpa parted, he took a paper from bla pockat. The paper looked well thumbed. \Brown-and-gold living room, old blua dining room, with bits of good sUrar. Red-And-cream kitchen. Qreen break- fast nocdL Dorothy Perkins roaa ovar back porch. I tried to get tba lot you liked, but some ohi^ from Boston had paid a deposit on It. But this Is qulta aa good. Stream and alL\ SUE caught her breath. Sha waa sitting very erect \What do you mean?\ she asked, but she knew. \When two people fall in love wltli the same little house, Sue, they should live in it together.\ Young Dan spoka gently and lifted the hat from her damp curls. \I designed that set for the firm, and then I fell for II myself. After I saw you in the garden I began to sketch It I determined to have it. And you with it\ \Your father \ gasped Sua. \He's romantic, you see,\ chuckled young Dan. \You impressed him. Ha felt so damn sorry the little house waa just clapboard and the garden just squares of sod.\ \And you built it all,\ breathed Sue. her eyes warm with sudden loveliness. \I've dreamed over it, cried for It \ \I wasn't ready for you to see it\ Dan knelt by the chair and took Sue's shaky hands. \The second floor is not finished yet.\ \But your father sent \ \I fancy I can explain that\ Young Dan looked grim. \Father and X lunched at the next table to Lydia Con- over today and as we were leaving father said to me: \I shall be at No. 20 Bromley Road tonight. Shan't mind tf I m alone. He wanted to look over tha house, you see. If the Conover woman has it in for you, she sent you the message to meet father here, thinking it would get you in wrong if you chased out here after him at night. She was probably just getting started on her campaign. Wouldn't she have a fit if she knev she had sent you out to the little house you gave up because of her?\ \But \ \Listen. Sue,\ iiis clasp on her hands tightened, \I'm through with rambling about. Father is retiring and I'm taking his place. I built this little house for us. I've loved you from the moment you walked down that brick path be- tween the tulips. Well plant the tulips in the Fall, and then there won't be a detail missing.\ Sue struggled to free her hands. She dropped her lashes over her radiant eyes. \Please she begged, \let's see the house, Dan!\ \Our house,\ said young Dan. and took Sue into his arras. \Our house.\ said Sue obediently, and gave him her lips with a long, delicious, satisfied sigh.
