“I certainly hope so,” Hutch said. “You look as if you’re being drained by a vampire. Are you sure there aren’t any puncture marks?” Rosemary smiled. “Well,” Hutch said, leaning back and smiling too, “we’ll assume that Dr. Sapirstein knows whereof he speaks. God knows he should; he charges enough. Guy must be doing sensationally.”
“He is,” Rosemary said. “But we’re getting bargain rates. Our neighbors the Castevets are close friends of his; they sent me to him and he’s charging us his special non-Society prices.”
“Does that mean Doris and Axel are Society?” Hutch said. “They’ll be delighted to hear about it.”
The doorbell rang. Hutch offered to answer it but Rosemary wouldn’t let him. “Hurts less when I move around,” she said, going out of the room; and went to the front door trying to recall if there was anything she had ordered that hadn’t been delivered yet.
It was Roman, looking slightly winded. Rosemary smiled and said, “I mentioned your name two seconds ago.”
“In a favorable context, I hope,” he said. “Do you need anything from outside? Minnie is going down in a while and our house phone doesn’t seem to be functioning.”
“No, nothing,” Rosemary said. “Thanks so much for asking. I phoned out for things this morning.”
Roman glanced beyond her for an instant, and then, smiling, asked if Guy was home already.
“No, he won’t be back until six at the earliest,” Rosemary said; and, because Roman’s pallid face stayed waiting with its questioning smile, added, “A friend of ours is here.” The questioning smile stayed. She said, “Would you like to meet him?”
“Yes, I would,” Roman said. “If I won’t be intruding.”
“Of course you won’t.” Rosemary showed him in. He was wearing a blackand-white checked jacket over a blue shirt and a wide paisley tie. He passed close to her and she noticed for the first time that his ears were pierced-that the left one was, at any rate.
She followed him to the living-room archway. “This is Edward Hutchins,” she said, and to Hutch, who was rising and smiling, “This is Roman Castevet, the neighbor I just mentioned.” She explained to Roman: “I was telling Hutch that it was you and Minnie who sent me to Dr. Sapirstein.”
The two men shook hands and greeted each other. Hutch said, “One of my daughters used Dr. Sapirstein too. On two occasions.”
“He’s a brilliant man,” Roman said. “We met him only last spring but he’s become one of our closest friends.”
“Sit down, won’t you?” Rosemary said. The men seated themselves and Rosemary sat by Hutch.
Roman,said, “So Rosemary has told you the good news, has she?”
“Yes, she has,” Hutch said.
“We must see that she gets plenty of rest,” Roman said, “and complete freedom from worry and anxiety.”
Rosemary said, “That would be heaven.”
“I was a bit alarmed by her appearance,” Hutch said, looking at Rosemary as he took out a pipe and a striped rep tobacco pouch.
“Were you?” Roman said.
“But now that I know she’s in Dr. Sapirstein’s care I feel considerably relieved.”
“She’s only lost two or three pounds,” Roman said. “Isn’t that so, Rosemary?”
“That’s right,” Rosemary said.
“And that’s quite normal in the early months of pregnancy,” Roman said. “Later on she’ll gain-probably far too much.”
“So I gather,” Hutch said, filling his pipe.
Rosemary said, “Mrs. Castevet makes a vitamin drink for me every day, with a raw egg and milk and fresh herbs that she grows.”
“All according to Dr. Sapirstein’s directions, of course,” Roman said. “He’s inclined to be suspicious of commercially prepared vitamin pills.”
“Is he really?” Hutch asked, pocketing his pouch. “I can’t think of anything I’d be less suspicious of; they’re surely manufactured under every imaginable safeguard.” He struck two matches as one and sucked flame into his pipe, blowing out puffs of aromatic white smoke. Rosemary put an ashtray near him.
“That’s true,” Roman said, “but commercial pills can sit for months in a warehouse or on a druggist’s shelf and lose a great deal of their original potency.”
“Yes, I hadn’t thought of that,” Hutch said; “I suppose they can.”
Rosemary said, “I like the idea of having everything fresh and natural. I’ll bet expectant mothers chewed bits of tannis root hundreds and hundreds of years ago when nobody’d even heard of vitamins.”
“Tannis root?” Hutch said.
“It’s one of the herbs in the drink,” Rosemary said. “Or is it an herb?” She looked to Roman. “Can a root be an herb?” But Roman was watching Hutch and didn’t hear.
“ ‘Tannis?’ “ Hutch said. “I’ve never heard of it. Are you sure you don’t mean ‘anise’ or ‘orris root’?”
Roman said, “Tannis.”
“Here,” Rosemary said, drawing out her charm. “It’s good luck too, theoretically. Brace yourself; the smell takes a little getting-used-to.” She held the charm out, leaning forward to bring it closer to Hutch.
He sniffed at it and drew away, grimacing. “I should say it does,” he said. He took the chained ball between two fingertips and squinted at it from a distance. “It doesn’t look like root matter at all,” he said; “it looks like mold or fungus of some kind.” He looked at Roman. “Is it ever called by another name?” he asked.
“Not to my knowledge,” Roman said.
“I shall look it up in the encyclopedia and find out all about it,” Hutch said. “Tannis. What a pretty holder or charm or whatever-it-is. Where did you get it?”
With a quick smile at Roman, Rosemary said, “The Castevets gave it to me.” She tucked the charm back inside her top.
Hutch said to Roman, “You and your wife seem to be taking better care of Rosemary than her own parents would.”
Roman said, “We’re very fond of her, and of Guy too.” He pushed against the arms of his chair and raised himself to his feet. “If you’ll excuse me, I have to go now,” he said. “My wife is waiting for me.”
“Of course,” Hutch said, rising. “It’s a pleasure to have met you.”
“We’ll meet again, I’m sure,” Roman said. “Don’t bother, Rosemary.”
“It’s no bother.” She walked along with him to the front door. His right ear was pierced too, she saw, and there were many small scars on his neck like a flight of distant birds. “Thanks again for stopping by,” she said.
“Don’t mention it,” Roman said. “I like your friend Mr. Hutchins; he seems extremely intelligent.”
Rosemary, opening the door, said, “He is.”
“I’m glad I met him,” Roman said. With a smile and a hand-wave he started down the hall.
“’By,” Rosemary said, waving back.
Hutch was standing by the bookshelves. “This room is glorious,” he said. “You’re doing a beautiful job.”
“Thanks,” Rosemary said. “I was until my pelvis intervened. Roman has pierced ears. I just noticed it for the first time.”
“Pierced ears and piercing eyes,” Hutch said. “What was he before he became a Golden Ager?”
“Just about everything. And he’s been everywhere in the world. Really everywhere.”
“Nonsense; nobody has. Why did he ring your bell?-if I’m not being too inquisitive.”
“To see if I needed anything from outside. The house phone isn’t working. They’re fantastic neighbors. They’d come in and do the cleaning if I let them.”
“What’s she like?”