mumbled. “Unavoidably detained.”
“No problem,” said Keith. Rather than the dinner suit Blake had feared, he too had opted for something casual. “In fact, you’ve got here just in time. Lee Yong was on the point of telling us all about herself.”
Lee Yong! So she
was
Malaysian after all. Blake pricked up his ears – this was something he wanted to hear.
“…intend to travel the world,” she was saying. “For a year. Maybe two. It depends.” Although on what, she did not immediately make clear. “Then, I want to go to America to study.”
“America!” exclaimed Mrs Biltmore. “You know what, honey? I am so glad to hear you say that. Why, there isn’t a finer place for learning in the whole wide world than the United States – you just can’t beat it.”
Blake found himself rankled by this assertion. There were other equally good alternatives he could think of but for the sake of maintaining peaceful relations he decided to keep his counsel.
“And we know just the spot, don’t we, Ira?” continued the American.
“Yup,” said her husband. “We sure do.”
After his bout of unexpected freedom that morning, Ira had reverted to his normal monosyllabic self – although with his wife’s bulky presence looming beside him, there was probably little else he could do but concur.
“You need to come to Johns Hopkins, honey,” said Mrs Biltmore. “I guess it must be just about the best university in the country. We sent both our boys to Johns Hopkins and they turned out just fine. We wouldn’t have sent them anywhere else, would we, Ira?”
“Nope,” said Ira. “We wouldn’t.”
“But we do have a little secret.” Mrs Biltmore lowered her voice to a conspiratorial whisper. “He’s too kinda bashful to tell you himself, but Ira used to work at Johns Hopkins, didn’t you, Ira?” And then, before he could respond, “How long were you at Johns Hopkins? Thirty-three years, was it, Ira?”
“Thirty-four,” said Ira.
“Oh,” said Mrs Biltmore, taken aback. “I thought we discussed this the other day and you told me it was thirty-three years.”
“Nope.” Ira nailed his colours bravely to the mast. “Thirty-four.”
“Now are you sure about that? We’ve been married thirty-two and I swear you said you’d been there just the one year before.”
Blake sensed that this was about to develop into a repeat of the previous evening and he felt his blood pressure starting to rise. With her continual dominance of the conversation the American had begun to annoy him. He’d spent too long living alone to learn how to tolerate the foibles of others. He no more cared how many years Ira had worked at Johns Hopkins than he did as to whether Mrs Biltmore’s handbag had been lost or whether it had been stolen. What he wanted was to hear Miss Malaysia’s story and he’d have been prepared to interrupt affairs in order to achieve it. Fortunately it did not prove necessary as things moved quickly on.
“Anyways,” said Mrs Biltmore. “I guess it doesn’t matter if it was thirty-three or thirty-four, it sure seemed like a lifetime to me. Good old Johns Hopkins! Well, that’s what I’d do if I were you, honey. And as soon as you’re ready, you just come right over to Baltimore and Ira’ll put in a word for you, won’t you, Ira?”
“Sure will,” said Ira, reverting to type once more.
Blake wondered what position at the university he might have held. His lack of words hardly seemed to qualify him as a lecturer. So had he been principal – or janitor? No explanationhad been given and as he did not wish to delay matters further, he declined to ask.
“That’s very kind of you,” Lee Yong resumed, after the long interruption. “I’ll definitely consider it. But I’ve a lot of travelling to do first.”
“Of course.” Keith had been waiting patiently on the sidelines. “But what do you think you might study?”
“I don’t know yet. That’s why I have to travel to find
“No problem,” said Keith. Rather than the dinner suit Blake had feared, he too had opted for something casual. “In fact, you’ve got here just in time. Lee Yong was on the point of telling us all about herself.”
Lee Yong! So she
was
Malaysian after all. Blake pricked up his ears – this was something he wanted to hear.
“…intend to travel the world,” she was saying. “For a year. Maybe two. It depends.” Although on what, she did not immediately make clear. “Then, I want to go to America to study.”
“America!” exclaimed Mrs Biltmore. “You know what, honey? I am so glad to hear you say that. Why, there isn’t a finer place for learning in the whole wide world than the United States – you just can’t beat it.”
Blake found himself rankled by this assertion. There were other equally good alternatives he could think of but for the sake of maintaining peaceful relations he decided to keep his counsel.
“And we know just the spot, don’t we, Ira?” continued the American.
“Yup,” said her husband. “We sure do.”
After his bout of unexpected freedom that morning, Ira had reverted to his normal monosyllabic self – although with his wife’s bulky presence looming beside him, there was probably little else he could do but concur.
“You need to come to Johns Hopkins, honey,” said Mrs Biltmore. “I guess it must be just about the best university in the country. We sent both our boys to Johns Hopkins and they turned out just fine. We wouldn’t have sent them anywhere else, would we, Ira?”
“Nope,” said Ira. “We wouldn’t.”
“But we do have a little secret.” Mrs Biltmore lowered her voice to a conspiratorial whisper. “He’s too kinda bashful to tell you himself, but Ira used to work at Johns Hopkins, didn’t you, Ira?” And then, before he could respond, “How long were you at Johns Hopkins? Thirty-three years, was it, Ira?”
“Thirty-four,” said Ira.
“Oh,” said Mrs Biltmore, taken aback. “I thought we discussed this the other day and you told me it was thirty-three years.”
“Nope.” Ira nailed his colours bravely to the mast. “Thirty-four.”
“Now are you sure about that? We’ve been married thirty-two and I swear you said you’d been there just the one year before.”
Blake sensed that this was about to develop into a repeat of the previous evening and he felt his blood pressure starting to rise. With her continual dominance of the conversation the American had begun to annoy him. He’d spent too long living alone to learn how to tolerate the foibles of others. He no more cared how many years Ira had worked at Johns Hopkins than he did as to whether Mrs Biltmore’s handbag had been lost or whether it had been stolen. What he wanted was to hear Miss Malaysia’s story and he’d have been prepared to interrupt affairs in order to achieve it. Fortunately it did not prove necessary as things moved quickly on.
“Anyways,” said Mrs Biltmore. “I guess it doesn’t matter if it was thirty-three or thirty-four, it sure seemed like a lifetime to me. Good old Johns Hopkins! Well, that’s what I’d do if I were you, honey. And as soon as you’re ready, you just come right over to Baltimore and Ira’ll put in a word for you, won’t you, Ira?”
“Sure will,” said Ira, reverting to type once more.
Blake wondered what position at the university he might have held. His lack of words hardly seemed to qualify him as a lecturer. So had he been principal – or janitor? No explanationhad been given and as he did not wish to delay matters further, he declined to ask.
“That’s very kind of you,” Lee Yong resumed, after the long interruption. “I’ll definitely consider it. But I’ve a lot of travelling to do first.”
“Of course.” Keith had been waiting patiently on the sidelines. “But what do you think you might study?”
“I don’t know yet. That’s why I have to travel to find
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