No Nice Girl Read Online Free PDF Page B

furnished, you know, and I gave him twenty-four-hour possession, and the wife almost cried, she was so glad to get settled and know she wouldn’t have to be evicted again.”
    She beamed happily at Terry, childishly relieved that he had not condemned her for the price she had asked.But Phyllis remembered the generous piles of flowery lingerie, the cobwebby stockings, and the half dozen or more frocks and hats and slippers that had all but crowded Phyllis out of her own room. That outlay must have taken up her thousand dollars—for clothes like that were not cheap, as Phyllis had every reason to know. If Anice had sunk her whole thousand dollars on a new wardrobe, then Phyllis could quite understand her moving in here where she would not have to pay rent.

CHAPTER FOUR
    T HE EVENING WAS NOT an unqualified success so far as Phyllis was concerned, though Terry and Anice seemed to enjoy it thoroughly. Anice was quite scrupulous about sharing Terry; she danced with him, and then insisted— As though I were a maiden aunt who must be placated , Phyllis told herself, fuming inwardly—that he dance with Phyllis, leaving Anice alone at the table, to look about her with bright, excited eyes, and to imbibe copious draughts of lemonade or ginger ale.
    â€œShe’s a cute kid,” said Terry when he and Phyllis were dancing for the third or fourth time.
    Phyllis looked up at him with a faint smile.
    â€œI knew you’d think that,” she told him coolly.
    Terry flushed. “Meaning, I suppose, that you think I’m falling for her.”
    â€œAnd if you are, Terry, surely that’s your privilege,” said Phyllis, and there was a faint edge to her voice. “After all, you’re heart-whole and fancy-free.”
    â€œAnd you don’t give a damn, so what am I waiting for?” Terry finished for her.
    â€œWell, Terry, you’d make some woman a darned good husband.”
    â€œAnd you’d pass me on to her, though I remember quite well your saying of her, ‘I’ve seldom met anyone I liked less,’” Terry reminded her grimly.
    Phyllis danced for a moment in silence and then she said flatly, “What I can’t understand, Terry, is why she would have lied about the time she arrived.”
    â€œI also remember you say she was famous for ‘telling the truth and shaming the devil,’” Terry recalled.
    â€œI think I’m going to have to revise that,” Phyllis admitted her error. “She couldn’t possibly have arrived this afternoon, for she has done a good two days of hard shopping. There’s evidence of it all over the place.”
    â€œShe told us she had the stuff bought by a personal shopper and sent down south to her.”
    â€œWhich was as barefaced a lie as I’ve ever encountered,” Phyllis pointed out grimly. “No woman in her senses shops for hats by mail, nor for slippers, nor for the kind of frocks and stuff she’s got. It doesn’t make a scrap of difference to me if she’s been in town a week or a month or even a year—it’s just that I can’t understand why she should bother to lie about it.”
    Terry nodded. “That does seem a bit odd. How long does she plan to stay?”
    â€œShe said in her wire until she could find an apartment,” answered Phyllis slowly. “But from the way she’s settled down—of course apartments are practically nonexistent nowadays.”
    Terry was alarmed. “You don’t think she plans to stay with you permanently, do you?”
    â€œI’m beginning to be a little frightened, Terry,” Phyllis admitted.
    Terry was frankly downcast.
    â€œWell, if it gets more than you can take, remember I’ve got a little place and you’re welcome to share it permanently, with or without the formality of a trip to City Hall—though I’d much rather prefer the formality.”
    Phyllis laughed and slipped her hand