"The governor was speaking now..."

The present work was reproduced as an illustration for Vina Delmar's novelette "A Matter of Honor," published in the November 1942 issue of Cosmopolitan. The story follows young Joseph, who discovers that his father is an infamous criminal and becomes fearful that the stain on his family's name will deter his love interest from marrying him. After he returns home as a war hero, during the community's homecoming celebration in his honor, he realizes that perhaps the only great quality he inherited from his father is his fearlessness and that this is perhaps a good enough reason for his love to marry him. The present moment captures Joseph deep in thought as the governor speaks his praises: "The governor was speaking now. He had been speaking forever, it seemed. Joseph had not been listening. He caught sentences now and then." (V. Delmar, "A Matter of Honor," Cosmopolitan, November 1942, p. 120)