Olive Higgins Prouty

“ Thus did Stella proceed. She mustn't marry Ed immediately, out of a clear sky, on top of the discussion with Laurel following her return from New York. Laurel might smell a rat. There must be no blundering this time. Ed must be slipped onto the field of action naturally, inadvertently. Funny how things worked around. That which Ed had been years ago between herself and her husband, through carelessness and indifference, now, to-day, through diligence and effort, she must make him become again, between herself and her child—an issue, a sore point, a bone of contention. ”

“ Somehow she must make her marriage to Ed seem logical.
Laurel's light laughter faded, disappeared; the soft light in her eyes hardened like a disillusioned lover's. Night after night she lay, on the extreme edge of the bed, beside her mother, silent and unrelenting, and drifted into an unrefreshing sleep. She grew years older.
One afternoon in early June, after a particularly difficult morning of argument with her mother about Alfred Munn (afterwards Stella had called good-bye to Lollie out of the front window, but she wouldn't answer) , she returned to the apartment to find it empty. ”

“ Helen replied slowly, distinctly, looking at Stephen. "Laurel is here. She is here to stay. Who has accomplished it?"
He didn't answer her—just looked at her a moment, then shook his head, and gazed down again into the dead logs in the fireplace.
Helen placed her hand very lightly on one of his folded arms.
"She has always been judged just by appearances," she said in a low earnest tone, "valued just by impressions. Some people go through life with nobody seeing the good in them because of the blurred, unbeautiful reflection they give back. ”