“Tell me more about Father,” said Caroline.
“No. No. That’s sacred. Your father never worried me about another woman, not even before we were married. Julian, I think probably Julian—not that it’s anything against him, because he was quite grown up when he fell in love with you. But I don’t think you were the first girl in Julian’s life. I’ve often thought so. That may be a good thing in some cases, but I don’t know.”
“Mother, don’t talk about it if you don’t want to. I’m sorry.”
“Conversations like this aren’t good, Caroline. I’d rather go on, living my poor useless life and loving your father for what he was, a good, decent man, than exhume chapters of our life together. Men are weak, darling. In the hands of a woman the strongest man in the world is weak, so don’t think any the less of Julian or your father or any other man if he has a momentary weakness…. Oh, here I am, talking away about something I don’t know the first thing about. But you do feel better toward Julian, don’t you? If you do, that’s all that’s necessary.”
“I’m sorry if I was inconsiderate.”
“Oh, you weren’t inconsiderate. You couldn’t be. You were just curious. That shows you’re still a little girl. Want some gum?”
“I’d love some.”
“It’s really very good for the digestion, and I think the muscles of the jaw need the exercise. How are your teeth, Caroline?”
“I’m going to have to have a wisdom tooth out, Dr. Patterson says.”
“Well, he probably knows his business. I still like Dr. Baldwin.”
“Not after lunch, though, Mother.”
“What? Why?”
“He bolts his food or eats too much or something. His stomach rumbles.”
“I never noticed that when I went to him,” said Mrs. Walker. “Are you sure?”
“Oh, yes. I wouldn’t make up a thing like that.”
“Do you want to stay here tonight? Isn’t there a dance tonight?”
“There’s one in Reading. No, I guess I better not stay here. As a matter of fact, we’re having a party.”
“Oh, I didn’t know that. A big party? Who are you having?”
“The usual crowd. The younger crowd, a few from the school crowd, and our own friends. Which reminds me.”
“Is there anything you want?”
“No, but I must go. I was going to call it off when I first came here, but I might as well go through with it, so I must do some shopping, odds and ends. I’ll see you tomorrow or next day. Give me a nice Beech-Nut kiss. Good-bye.”
“Good-bye, darling. You’re a sweet girl.”
“You’re the one that’s sweet,” said Caroline. She put on her things in the hall, knowing that her mother was standing at the window, waiting to wave to her. Well, at least she had made some kind of gesture for tradition; she had run to Mother. The visit had been a fiasco, but she was glad in a way that it had been—glad that it had been a fiasco in the way that it had been, but sorry if it were to result in awakening disturbing memories, whatever they were, for her mother.
She ran down the steps and turned and waved to her mother before getting in the car. Her mother waved and then the curtains fell into place and her mother withdrew from the window. Then Caroline heard a long blast of a Cadillac horn, and she saw Julian in his car, half a block down the street, on the other side. He was waiting. She drove her car near his, staying on her side of the street, and stopped. He got out and sauntered over. He looked like hell.
“Well,” she said.
“You were in there long enough. What did you have to see her for?”
“Now really, Julian. Is that reasonable?”
“Is it reasonable for you to be down here now? What’s it all about? I suppose you had to take down your back hair and have a good cry and so forth.”
No answer.
“Oh, that’s it. Giving her a song and dance about me, I suppose. Little bride runs to mother because hubby doesn’t like her biscuits. For Christ’s sake. Good God, I tried to—what did you tell her? Come on, what did you say?”
“This is no place for a scene.”
“It’s as good a place as any. Better, in fact. It’s safer for you, because I probably won’t do here what I feel like doing.”
“You mean punch me in the face, I suppose.”
“How did you ever guess it?”
“If you take your foot off the running-board I’d like to get going.”
“I suppose you heard about the club.”
“I didn’t. What club? What do you mean, the club? Has the club suspended you on account of the other night?”
“Now she’s interested. No, the club hasn’t suspended me, not as far as I know. This is a different club, this time.”
“The Gibbsville Club?”
“The Gibbsville Club no less.”
“What happened there? What did you do there?”
“I had a little get-together with Mr. Ogden, Captain Ogden, the war hero, the one-armed wonder and snooper extraordinaire.”
“What do you mean?”
“You’ll find out. You’ll find out soon enough. You said something about going a minute ago. Go ahead.”
“I don’t want to go now till I find out what you’re talking about. More trouble. God, I’m so tired of it.” Her voice broke and she began to cry.
“No scenes on the street, dearie. No scenes on the street. No street scenes, if you please. It’s your idea. Can’t have things like this in public.”
“Oh, Julian, what did you do? My God.” She was now really crying. Her voice had the far-away sound of hollow pain, despairing women in removed rooms down a hospital hall, wailing women at the mouth of a blown-up mine.
“Listen, will you go away with me? Now? This minute? Will you? Will you go away with me?”
“No, no, no, no, no. What did you do? Tell me what you did? What did you do to Froggy?”
“I can’t talk to you like this. Let’s go home.”
“Oh, no. I don’t want to go home. You’ll make me stay with you. Oh, go away, Julian. Please let me alone.” A horn sounded and a small coupe passed. Caroline waved. Julian waved. It was Wilhelmina Hall and the visiting Gould man, from New York. “Are they going to stop?” said Caroline.
“No. They’re going on. Me too,” he said.
“No. What did you do? Tell me. Come in to Mother’s with me. She knows we’re having a quarrel. She won’t bother us.”
“Like a whole lot of hell I will. I’m not going in there. I’m going.”
“If you leave I’m going to call off the party and I’m going to stay here. Be reasonable, Julian. Tell me what happened.”
“No. Come on home with me and I’ll tell you. Otherwise no. This is a pretty good time for you to stick by me.”
“I can’t stick by you if you don’t tell me what for.”
“Blind, without knowing, you could stick by me. That’s what you’d do if you were a real wife, but, what the hell.”
“Where are you going? To get drunk I suppose.”
“Very likely. Very likely.”
“Julian, if you leave now it’s for good. Forever. I won’t ever come back to you, no matter what happens. I won’t ever sleep with you again or see you, not even see you.”
“Oh, yes, you will. You will, all right.”
“You’re pretty sure of yourself, but this time you’re wrong. It’s no go.”
“I didn’t mean that. I didn’t mean I was sure of myself. What I meant was, you’d see me. You wouldn’t be able to help it.”