Read Online Irish Gilt by Ralph McInerny - Free Book Online Page A

life. Then had come the visit to Kansas City and the exciting news about Zahm’s travel diary. So he got hold of Weber’s biography of Zahm, and the next thing he knew he was sitting in the archives at Notre Dame asking the archivist to bring him stuff on Zahm. Well, it was one thing to fool a girl who worked in Grace. Boris wouldn’t need two minutes to see how little Eggs Kittock had learned during his weeks in the archives.
    He called the Morris Inn and asked for the room of Boris Henry. He was registered, but Kittock didn’t leave a message. Better to just go over there and meet him when he came in.
    Half an hour later, as Kittock entered the Morris Inn lobby, a girl rose from a chair and hurried up to him. Good God, Bernice.
    â€œI thought you would be staying here,” she said.
    â€œBut I’m not.”
    She waved it away as an irrelevancy. “Did my husband threaten you?”
    Eggs looked wildly around, but no one seemed to be paying attention. A good thing. Bernice was clinging to his arm and looking up into his face with more excitement than anger.
    â€œI could kill him,” she said.
    He took her outside, and they sat at a table where they wouldn’t be visible from the dining room. Eggs tried to laugh away her anger with her husband, but it became clear that she was enjoying this.
    â€œI don’t know how he found out about you,” Bernice said.
    â€œThere’s nothing to find out.”
    â€œTry to convince him of that.”
    â€œI don’t think so.” What he was thinking was that it was time he got the hell back to Florida, teed up a ball, and went back to being Eggs Kittock. He would leave Zahm to Boris.
    â€œI can’t tell you how bad I feel.”
    â€œLook, I am a middle-aged man. This is ridiculous.” She wasn’t that much older than Rebecca. Well, anyway, she was one helluva lot younger than he was. Nor was she anyone men would fight over—past any prettiness she had once known, and not managing too well now that she was older. Her thin face was long; her mousy hair responded to the slightest breeze. The big staring eyes were hungry for something she was unlikely to find. Involuntarily, he compared her with the sophisticated and mature Clare Healy. It was one thing to chat with the girl where she worked, but now she had come to the Morris Inn on the assumption that he was staying here and had sat in the lobby until he showed up. Hadn’t she even checked at the desk?
    â€œDid you go to the archives?”
    â€œI had to tell you how upset I am.”
    â€œWell, I appreciate that.” He stood. “I hope you work things out with your husband.”
    â€œWe’re divorced.”
    â€œI’m sorry.”
    â€œWhy?”
    â€œOkay, I’m not sorry.”
    She gave him a slow, sly smile. Good God. She was still seated in her chair when the doors from the lobby opened and Rebecca came out.
    â€œUncle X,” she cried. Then she noticed Bernice. Her eyes went back and forth from her uncle to the girl. “Oh. Sorry. I saw you from the lobby and.…”
    Bernice was standing. Rebecca looked as if she expected Eggs to introduce her to the girl. Not on your life. He took his niece’s arm and went with her into the lobby.
    â€œWho was that?” Rebecca whispered.
    â€œDarned if I know. She was there when I stepped outside.”
    â€œBetter be careful. She looks as if she’d like to have you for lunch.”

15
    Boris Henry loped across the lobby of the Morris Inn and stopped. “Eggs!”
    Kittock actually jumped at the sound of his name, but the girl with him smiled receptively. Boris put his hands on Eggs’s shoulders. “You old pirate. How are you?”
    â€œThis is my niece, Rebecca.”
    â€œWell, that’s a relief. I thought you were going through a midlife crisis.”
    â€œI’m looking forward to it.”
    â€œLet’s all have a