Suicide seemed like the only way out.

Sometimes, especially after starring in one of Fred Hartman's shows, she thought of suicide and felt it was the only way she was going to get away from him and this double life she was leading.

Sometimes it was the double life, the modern, female, Jekyll and Hyde existence that got to her. She felt she was a split personality, a schizophrenic. At home, with Allan, her husband, she was one kind of person. And… when Fred Hartman or Tom Nelson called… she was someone else. With Allan, she was genteel and her elegant cool looks were just right when they were having people over. At home with Allan she was witty and the proper hostess. Then… when Allan was at work, at the bank… and the phone would ring…

Tears welled in her eyes and she had to slow down on the highway. She couldn't see where she was going and, for an instant, she didn't care. For one wild moment, she felt like flooring the accelerator and driving at top speed until she went careening off the road or hit something and ended it all. She choked back her sobs and swiped at her eyes, knowing she couldn't do it; she was too much of a coward and too much in love with life.

And Nancy did love life with a gay and appealing zest. It was the thing that had originally attracted Allan to her. It was part of her charm. Allan was quiet and thoughtful and conservative. Everyone felt, when he spoke, that his words were weighty and carefully considered. He looked like a banker with careful good looks and grooming and somber business suits. He talked like a banker. He even thought like one. All of this was to the good, for Allan was a banker. He was assistant manager of a branch office. He did his job with quiet devotion and the smooth determination that showed he was going to get ahead.

Allan and Nancy were a good combination, for what he lacked in wise-cracks and just plain impudent silliness, she more than made up. Friends felt that Allan kept her in line, while Nancy kept him from being a stuffed shirt. Their marriage was looked on as a good one.