Read Online A Mother's Spirit by Anne Bennett - Free Book Online Page B
Authors: Anne Bennett
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silencegot uncomfortable Gloria sighed and said sadly, ‘All right then. You can’t blame yourself for not being able to love me in return. At least now I know where I stand.’
Joe felt as if he was breaking up inside at seeing Gloria so upset. As she reached the door, he cried, ‘Wait, please …’
Gloria turned. ‘What for? More humiliation?’
‘No,’ Joe cried. ‘Oh God, I have no wish to humiliate you or hurt you in any way, for you are dearer to me than anyone, and that is why I cannot take what you offer. A fortnight ago I was thirty-six and you aren’t quite nineteen yet.’
‘I don’t care how old you are.’
‘You must care. I care. And I am also employed by your father. I am a working man, Mi— Gloria.’
‘And none the worse for that,’ Gloria said. ‘But none of this – your age or what you do for employment – has any effect on one’s love for another.’
‘Gloria, I cannot return your feelings because I will not allow myself to,’ Joe said. ‘You know many young men, who move in the same circles as yourself, who speak the same language. Any of those—’
‘All of those young men were measured against you and found wanting,’ Gloria said. ‘I was hoping that being in their company would help me to get over the feelings I had for you, but in fact seeing them made me value you more.’
Joe felt as though all his limbs had turned to jelly, but there was a pain around his heart.
Gloria, watching his face, suddenly said in a voice that shook slightly, ‘You said that I am dearer to you than anyone. D’you think you could ever come to love me?’
Joe looked at the face of his beloved, at the tears now seeping from her eyes and trickling down her cheeks, and knew she deserved the truth, even if he was to go no further than this. ‘I love you with all my being,’ he said gently, ‘and have done for a long time. I love you so much it hurts.’
‘Then, Joe, if we love each other, together we can conquer the world.’
Joe smiled. ‘It would be nice to think so. But there are numerous obstacles in our path. Your parents will never agree to any sort of match between us. They will have a much better marriage planned for their only child. In fact, they might send me packing for even considering it.’
‘No,’ Gloria declared. ‘I won’t let them. No one will part us. I will speak to my parents – not now, for they have probably retired for the night, but certainly in the morning.’
Joe nodded, but he was certain that they wouldn’t stand for any sort of union between their daughter and Brian’s secretary, but he didn’t say this, for he couldn’t bear to dim the light that was setting Gloria’s face alight. When she asked, ‘Will you kiss me, Joe?’ he could no more have stopped his arms going around her than he could have stopped the sun from shining, but he knew that for him it was the end of the road for his career with Brian, which had once seemed so promising.
The next day Gloria faced her parents over the breakfast table and told them point-bank that she and Joe had discovered that they loved each other.
Brian was both astounded and furious. Banging his fist on the table, he said, ‘Well, my dear, you will have to unlove Joe, for I am afraid I will not have it. By God, the barefaced nerve of it amazes me. I have taken that man in, given him a leg up, thought of him as my right-hand man, and this is how he repays me – taking advantage of my own daughter. Talk about biting the hand that feeds you.’
‘It wasn’t like that, Daddy. It wasn’t at all,’ cried Gloria. ‘You have no right to say any of this. I had to almost drag the words from Joe, yet I know that I have always loved him. And don’t say that I loved him as a child alone. He said that too and I gave him the same answer as I give you: that as I have grown and matured, so has the love I have for him. Does my happiness mean nothing to you? Why d’you think I have been so miserable
Joe felt as if he was breaking up inside at seeing Gloria so upset. As she reached the door, he cried, ‘Wait, please …’
Gloria turned. ‘What for? More humiliation?’
‘No,’ Joe cried. ‘Oh God, I have no wish to humiliate you or hurt you in any way, for you are dearer to me than anyone, and that is why I cannot take what you offer. A fortnight ago I was thirty-six and you aren’t quite nineteen yet.’
‘I don’t care how old you are.’
‘You must care. I care. And I am also employed by your father. I am a working man, Mi— Gloria.’
‘And none the worse for that,’ Gloria said. ‘But none of this – your age or what you do for employment – has any effect on one’s love for another.’
‘Gloria, I cannot return your feelings because I will not allow myself to,’ Joe said. ‘You know many young men, who move in the same circles as yourself, who speak the same language. Any of those—’
‘All of those young men were measured against you and found wanting,’ Gloria said. ‘I was hoping that being in their company would help me to get over the feelings I had for you, but in fact seeing them made me value you more.’
Joe felt as though all his limbs had turned to jelly, but there was a pain around his heart.
Gloria, watching his face, suddenly said in a voice that shook slightly, ‘You said that I am dearer to you than anyone. D’you think you could ever come to love me?’
Joe looked at the face of his beloved, at the tears now seeping from her eyes and trickling down her cheeks, and knew she deserved the truth, even if he was to go no further than this. ‘I love you with all my being,’ he said gently, ‘and have done for a long time. I love you so much it hurts.’
‘Then, Joe, if we love each other, together we can conquer the world.’
Joe smiled. ‘It would be nice to think so. But there are numerous obstacles in our path. Your parents will never agree to any sort of match between us. They will have a much better marriage planned for their only child. In fact, they might send me packing for even considering it.’
‘No,’ Gloria declared. ‘I won’t let them. No one will part us. I will speak to my parents – not now, for they have probably retired for the night, but certainly in the morning.’
Joe nodded, but he was certain that they wouldn’t stand for any sort of union between their daughter and Brian’s secretary, but he didn’t say this, for he couldn’t bear to dim the light that was setting Gloria’s face alight. When she asked, ‘Will you kiss me, Joe?’ he could no more have stopped his arms going around her than he could have stopped the sun from shining, but he knew that for him it was the end of the road for his career with Brian, which had once seemed so promising.
The next day Gloria faced her parents over the breakfast table and told them point-bank that she and Joe had discovered that they loved each other.
Brian was both astounded and furious. Banging his fist on the table, he said, ‘Well, my dear, you will have to unlove Joe, for I am afraid I will not have it. By God, the barefaced nerve of it amazes me. I have taken that man in, given him a leg up, thought of him as my right-hand man, and this is how he repays me – taking advantage of my own daughter. Talk about biting the hand that feeds you.’
‘It wasn’t like that, Daddy. It wasn’t at all,’ cried Gloria. ‘You have no right to say any of this. I had to almost drag the words from Joe, yet I know that I have always loved him. And don’t say that I loved him as a child alone. He said that too and I gave him the same answer as I give you: that as I have grown and matured, so has the love I have for him. Does my happiness mean nothing to you? Why d’you think I have been so miserable
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