In this earnest letter from Dart, he poses some difficult questions and a possible solution to one.  He prefaces all of that by telling her that he is filled with a sense of nervous apprehension about her well-being. There’s no discernible reason he should feel that way, and he hopes she’s alright. He tries to chalk up his foreboding to missing her too much.

Meanwhile, he and Pop drove out to Ashtabula today with Uncle Tom and Aunt Mary to say farewell to Aunt Flora. Her sedatives are not working anymore and she suffers from great pain in her chest. Meanwhile, Dart worries about his mother who has spent 24 hours a day for two weeks tending to her sister. She’s exhausted!

Now, at the risk of Dot thinking he’s trying to postpone their wedding – which he assures her he’s not – he asks the question of where they might live when they are married. It must be close to wherever he might go to school, and wherever she might find a job, so that they can save money on transportation. He stews about finding any place, because the papers are full of ads looking for houses, apartments, rooms and hovels. He doesn’t expect the housing shortage to be over by next summer. He knows they’ve agreed that living with parents is the least favorable solution because they want to be free and independent as they begin their life together, even though his folks’ apartment has a semi-finished third floor which might be converted into suitable living space for very low rent.

The Burke siblings own their home on Elsinor St., and he knows his Uncle Tom built a spare bedroom in the attic years ago. They might be approached with the idea of allowing Dart to finish out more of the space with a sitting room, storage and a small kitchenette, thereby enhancing the value of the house. Still, living with a group of unmarried eccentrics  might have it’s own drawbacks. They may not be too keen on having a young couple upstairs. Plus, what would they do with all the ancient junk stored in the attic now? (I should point out that both of the “third floor options” Dart has mentioned would involved sharing the home’s only bathroom with the other occupants of the house – far from an ideal situation.)

True to form, he includes a sketch of the attic floor plan, with some idea of where to place storage, etc.

Dart is clearly nervous at the prospect of saving enough money in the 14 months they have until their intended wedding. Even simple remodeling and furnishing of a small attic space would take money, added to the cost of a wedding. How will they manage?

He hopes she won’t think him too pessimistic, or imagine that he’s trying to postpone the thing he wants most in life, but they must be practical and come up with a plan soon, if any solution is to be found. He implores her to think about these questions and send him any ideas she has on how they will manage. “Above all, Dot, I want our married life to begin on a sound basis – economically, socially, and psychologically.”

#          #          #

Dot went to bed at 3:00, worked from 11:00 to 2:00, and again from 5:00 to 10:00. Now it’s 10:30 and she has three hours of work to do before going to bed. Then it;s up early for church and off to work again. She’s not complaining, because she loves being busy and earning money. She’s not sure exactly when she’ll study for her three upcoming tests, but the time will have to come from somewhere.

Although she was hired to just work banquets, her boss is so pleased with her customer service that she’s now being added to the regular waitress staff, too. She’s flattered, and thrilled at the prospect of making more money, but she’s sad that her new schedule will cut into her time with Dart. Her plan is to save enough money to pay for her mother’s trip out to Ohio at the end of the school term, as a surprise for her mom.

She mentions his humdinger of that letter about his hobby. She’s kicking herself about making that sarcastic comment about him “playing with trains,” because he now believs she has no interest in his interests. She loves to hear him talk about his fascination with model railroading, and she gets a big kick out of helping hunt all over town for one particular part that he needs. “I’m thankful you’ve chosen a hobby that will be so much fun for both of us. … In fact, it’s high time you learned that I love you and all the things you and I do together, whether it’s sitting on the couch having one of our long talks, or driving across Cleveland in search of parts of a narrow gauge railroad.”

He was absolutely right about her disgruntled mood after their date. She’s grateful that he knows her so well and can explain things so clearly. Here she is, trying to be a good Christian, and trying NOT to be a hypocrite, and she fails at both. She needs to learn not to be so judgemental. She surely hopes she her apology will patch things up with Ellie.

She wonders how long she can go on loving him more every day before something breaks. So far she’s managing, but her love grows deeper everyday and something’s bound to give! She doesn’t know if she can bear it until they are together again a week from tonight.

Phyll has asked if Dart had any reviews of the date. Apparently Al Frobush was able to come to Kent with Dart and he escorted Phyll to the weenie roast. “Phyll wants to know what the bold ones are like if Al is an example of a shy individual. She liked him a lot cuz she thought he was so easy to talk to. Do you think he’d really like to come down for a dance sometime?”

Now Dot wants to clarify for Dart why she hasn’t been coming to Cleveland so often. “I thought you understood the set-up until I heard the doubt in your voice tonight. In the first place, it is a kind of discipline which I feel I must impose on myself. Oh, I know you drive down often enough that I see you almost every week, but it’s hardly the same as sitting up almost all night until it’s nearly impossible to go to bed alone. In the second place, I am really serious about earning enough money so that Mom will be able to drive out in June. In case you weren’t aware of it, I want her to come out very much – so much that it’s worth  sacrificing some of the weekends I would ordinarily spend with you. I don’t like it one bit, but in the long run, I do feel it’s better for both of us. ”

“I worry that you ever doubt my love, even for the slightest instant. I realize my description is inadequate, but the love is there, in a most concentrated form, if you’ll just look for it. ”

As she drops off to sleep she’ll be thinking of how sweet he is, and how much she loves him for it.